/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"-Doesn't look good tied up in a topknot, no, no. He tried that when he was a young teenager, but it just made it look like something was nesting on his head, so-" That was Keine's voice. It sounded like they were in Reimu's room in the Shrine, because I was fairly certain that Sakuya was still in the main spare room, unconscious and perhaps still smoking slightly. "So, what did you say about your sisters? You were telling me...Er, about the one with the curly hair, I think."

"Oh, Ruka? Well, she's definitely got curls, but her hair is closer to shoulder length and looks a lot more manageable. Looks, mind you, because it isn't actually. It's unruly and resists nearly all attempts at taming, and-" That was Yamame. It seemed that Keine and my spider had hit it off greater than I could have imagined, something which pleased me, but also filled me with dread since Keine had wasted no time in trying to tell Yamame every little embarrassing thing I'd ever done.

"U-Um, are you coming back!?" I heard Kogasa call nervously. "Mister - Er...Ghost? Mister Vengeful Spirit." I carried the shovel back over, telling her sharply that I was in fact still a perfectly ordinary human. I paused after that, then amended that to a mostly ordinary human. "So, um...Like - Like half a vengeful spirit?" I didn't think that was a thing. Alright, I told Kogasa cheerfully. I told her to stay still so I didn't accidentally hit her instead of the thread. It wasn't actually likely, but it did get her to keep still, which was good. I planted my feet, hefted the shovel, then swung as hard as I could.

Fortunately, Yamame's thread, while clearly durable, couldn't withstand the strength of a large shovel coming in at speed, and snapped immediately, though I did see it then get caught on the shovel and float through the air with it as I pulled it back. Kogasa crashed to the floor and groaned as the breath god knocked out of her. A moment later, she scrambled to her feet. "The umbrella!" She cried, finally spotting it. She took off in a sprint, then tripped and slammed into the ground again, garnering a split lip for her trouble. That didn't stop her from immediately hopping up and rushing to the umbrella, which she snatched up and clutched almost defensively. "Phew...I thought I'd dropped you down the stairs..." She mumbled, looking at the umbrella. Then, she looked back up at me. "Um, please don't haunt me for this, but please don't separate me from my umbrella again. It's like...Like when a human loses a limb? Um, I think, anyway..." I couldn't exact do any haunting regardless, so that was fine by me. "Wow...You're, um, really friendly for a vengeful spirit."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. Again, I said, I was not a vengeful spirit. "B-But, isn't that just what a vengeful spirit would say?" Kogasa seemed entirely fixated on this idea that I'd died. Giving up again, I sighed and asked her why she'd even been coming to the Shrine if she was convinced that Reimu was planning to kill her for what she had supposedly done to me. She looked away. "Well, um...Why are you at the Shrine?" She asked. Because Reimu invited me and asked me to help set the whole thing up, I replied pointedly. "She wanted a vengeful spirit to help!?" Kogasa exclaimed, looking a little worried. I watched her for a moment longer. "I...Decided that I should face Reimu head on. The paranoia was too - Too much." That sounded - Suicidal, but I didn't say it out loud. Clearly, I should never have left her thinking I was dead for so long. Much Like Keine and Miss Narumi, it had been cruel and had left them worried. With Kogasa, it had apparently made her so terrified for her life that she'd considered walking into a Shrine where she thought that she wouldn't walk back out.

I needed to fix this, I decided. Kogasa, I said. I was not dead. And I was sorry that I'd let her think it was the case for so long. I sighed and shook my head, then asked her if she wanted me to have a look at her lip. "My - Um, what? But - The fall, and you can't..." I repeated my question again, then asked if it hurt. "Um, a little bit..." She said in a small voice. I offered her a hand, and she slowly took it. "It's - Um, warm. Ghosts aren't supposed to be warm..." I sighed and led her inside Reimu's room, where I stopped and blinked.

Keine was sat toward the door, and Yamame had acquired a comb from somewhere. To the pair's side sat Keine's funny hat. Yamame, it seemed, was combing Keine's hair. "-Or a few long strands, like-" Yamame was saying, but she noticed me right after. "Oh, you're back! I thought you'd gone back to the party." And then she spotted Kogasa. "Oh, Kogasa! I haven't seen you for a while, you know." Yamame looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I shrugged.

Kogasa Tatara

10/10

Friendly, fun, charming. Would want to hang out regularly and try and spook her. She has the shape of a friend.

>>34041076
"Keheheheh" A menacing laugh came from everywhere.

It was the voice of a young girl, but it filled you to the core with dread.

"I know that scent...Yes it reminds me of a very filling meal I had not long ago"

Out of the darkness flutters a black skirt. Her read eyes glow. It's dark, very dark, but somehow you can still see her blonde hair and red bow. Rumia!

"You bitch!" Anger and terror well in your breast. This is the youkai that ate your parents. You reach down and pick up a stick, assuming a defensive posture.

"Oh what's this? how cute. You have that little ugly umbrella with you. Are you friends?"

"Shut up!" you cry, raising the stick. Really, what are you doing? Why are you defending a youkai. You should run. Every fiber of your being wants to run. But you don't. Have you really become friends with Kogasa? You, who has never had a friend, and whose parents died by the youkai in front of you, have become friends with a youkai?

"You can't!" Kogasa cries and steps forward. Holding up her umbrella, she prepares an attack.

But fast, faster than you could see, Rumia darts forward and sends Kogasa flying into the darkness. You swing the stick but Rumia is not there anymore. It is so dark you can't see anything. You fall back. Suddenly Rumia is straddling your chest. You can only hold your mouth agape. She slashes at your chest, ripping the skin and causing you to scream.

"It's good to terrorize them. It helps the meat."

Her eyes are wide and pupils mere slits. She looks like a beast, though her body is that of a girl. Her teeth have became fangs which drip with saliva, and her nails are red claws glistening in your blood

"But it's not enough"

With a swift movement she shears your arm off and holds it up, drinking the blood flowing from it. The pain sears white hot, and its a wonder you aren't passing out.

"It's not nearly enough"

She opens her claws and prepares another attack.

"STOOOOOP!!"

A beam of light dispels the darkness, slamming into Rumia and knocking her off you. Kogasa steps forward, holding aloft her umbrella. She fires another beam which blows apart a tree trunk.

"I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY FRIEND"

With tears in her eyes Kogasa fires bullets into the gloom, but they only hit foliage.

"You useless umbrella. What do you think you're doing? Not only do you not eat humans, but here you are defending one as a friend? It makes me sick. This is why you are such a weak Youkai. Yes, I know. You came to Gensokyo after being thrown away by humans. Yet here you are ready to throw your life away to defend one."

Rumia shot out from the dark and slashed at Kogasa, tearing into her side and ripping her umbrella.

"You're pathetic."

"Y-you're right." Kogasa said in pain. "Humans did throw me away. I couldn't fulfill my purpose. I wanted to get back at them, that's why I scare them. But I won't hurt them. Or else I'll end up like you, a lonely and blood thirsty monster who other youkai won't even approach!"

"Tch! useless talk!" Rumia slashed at Kogasa again.

"If you abandoned that pointless sentiment maybe you would have a chance of beating me. Go ahead. Eat that human there. Let's his terror fill you. Then you will get a taste of power."

"I won't!" Kogasa cried. "I may be useless, but he is my first friend. There may be no point to any of it, but that is what makes life beautiful. Ever since I met him I've been happier than I've ever been. Even when I don't scare him, he plays along. He accepts me! And I love him!"

Kogasa redoubled her attack and leap forward, firing bullets. Really? When had you said all of that? She loves you? you were only being nice out of pity. But maybe...

Lying there in your blood, the world was dark and cold. You could barely here anything, but Kogasa's words echoed in your barely conscious mind.

Your whole life you had not had a friend, and once you were alone in the world, you found a kindred spirit in Kogasa. Is that why you kept going back to see her. Looking back, whenever you had been with her you were happy.

Idiot. You really are an idiot. Falling in love with a youkai...

You barely are holding on. Your consciousness is bobbing just at the surface of an ocean of black and you are being pulled down, down, down, down.

As it all fades away you can still see Kogasa blue hair softly waving in the breeze. Her umbrella's tongue hands out, like a dog. Her heterochromatic eyes look up at you, filled with happiness, shining. And that smile...

"If this is it, then i'm glad that I met you Kogasa, please live." You say this, knowing that it was not heard. "I...I..."

You can't hold on anymore. But before you the world goes dark, you think you can hear the voice of a teenage girl.

>>21776667
Yes she is!

>>14257744
Kogasa has the perfect thickness!

Kogasa's got a surprisingly good amount of beautiful artwork.