/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"I asked him that too." Yamame told her, smiling slightly. "Must just be his charm." She sighed and crossed her arms. "Sorry, I didn't think she was serious about it. I'll...leave her be." Reimu even agreed, though she looked uncomfortable about it.

Finally, Reimu clapped her hands together. "Time we were off, I think." I agreed but asked if we needed to say goodbye. "Nah. They won't care." Yamame looked relieved as she nodded too. "Anyway, Aunn will be a state, and I'm sure the oni are planning to head back to the hot springs soon too. You don't want to be travelling with them." I shrugged and asked how bad it could be.

"No, she's right. They get distracted constantly. It's really quite annoying." Yamame told me. "Well, we're off to the hot springs too, actually. But I'd feel better if we got there before Miss Yuugi does." I knew that her sisters had said they were struggling, so it would be good if we could get there earlier. "Okay, well..."

The three of us stepped outside of Lady Kasen's senkai, and immediately Reimu was shivering. It wasn't raining, but it was bitterly cold, and I could tell that Autumn was coming to an end. Winter would be on us soon. "Ugh, this is horrible. Alright, I'm going. You," She came closer and gave me a hug, which was nice. "Take care of yourself, for once. And you," She pointed at Yamame. "Take care of him."

Yamame smiled slightly, nodding. "I'll do my best." She spoke. "And, um, you too. Thank you, as well. For letting me come with you." She bowed deeply, almost as deeply as she had when she'd met Lady Kasen.

Reimu placed a hand on Yamame's shoulder. Yamame looked at it in surprise. "It's fine. Glad you enjoyed yourself." Reimu looked over at me and I got the sense that she was making a point about being more friendly to Yamame. "Well...I'll see you soon, I'm sure." Reimu nodded once. "Oh. Actually, how about...I'll come by Yamame's house in a couple days. See if we can meet up with Marisa and Tenshi again." She then turned, but before she could take off, I reminded her to tell Aunn to make sure she got regular amounts of sleep again. She rolled her eyes at me and took to the skies, and before long, she was nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

"Okay, then..." Yamame mumbled, taking my hand. "Are you okay?" I was always okay, so I asked her if she was okay. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm okay." I asked her what her thoughts were on everything that had happened. "...I hope the two halves of Ibaraki-douji join again. Even if it's only for a bit, I'd like to meet the genuine article." I just hoped that the two of them could find peace, but I was curious. We wandered away from the clearing and back toward the mountain path when there was a sudden gust of wind and I found myself struggling to stay upright. After a few moments, I started to notice something moving at speed around us. With some idea of what was happening, I waited until I saw the blurry something coming toward us, and I pointed a finger back at it right before it could hit.

It shot backwards and came to a halt, and Aya Shameimaru glared at me. "All clever now, aren't you?" She muttered, then shook her head and let her usual personality take over. "Anyway, morning, morning, morning! Nice and cold, hmm? What do we have here? Two lovers taking a stroll?"

"Go away, reporter." Yamame muttered. "Unless you want influenza."

"My, my, so rude! I don't know how he puts up with you..." Shameimaru strolled forward, the clack-clack of her geta against the ground the only sound, since the wind had disappeared. "But regardless, I'm here to collect!" I straightened up with a clenched draw. "You owe me an exclusive, and I'm here to collect!" I looked at Yamame, then back at Aya. Finally, I shrugged and said that it would have to wait, since we had an important family meeting to get to.

Yamame frowned slightly, then nodded and stepped forward. "Yes, Shameimaru. Big construction meeting. He's needed. Come back later."

Shameimaru frowned. "Oh...Is that right? Well, looks like I'm out of luck. Guess I'll have to come back later. Oh, don't worry, I'll find you." She smiled mysteriously and I got an uncomfortable feeling, but before I could do anything about it, she had shot off as if she was never there.

"That was weird." Yamame muttered. I nodded, wondering what that was about. I suspected that she was going to try and get something more than just the basic interview now that I had rebuffed her, but it would have to wait until after Yamame and I were done with the hot springs. "Let's just get out of here. Too exposed for my liking." I felt the exact same way, so we left as fast as we could, and I hoped that things would be calmer at the hot springs.