/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I looked around the room, finally. It seemed that it was some sort of lodging for those staying in the Hot Springs Town, and it was nice enough that I was very pleased to get a chance to stay there. It wasn't exceptionally far from the village, but with a lot of flair that I could only imagine was either the oni or the Kurodani family themselves, working tirelessly on construction. The twisting streets I'd seen outside were reminiscent of the stories I'd read of other Hot Springs Towns up in the north, where it was always snowing. From what I'd heard, I assumed it was in the Outside World. Canals ran through the major streets, the sound of rushing water audible even over the conversations between other patrons, and all the way up the massive hills that the town occupied, which went all the way up to what had to be near the ceiling of the caverns that the Old City lay in. I wondered how everything above hadn't come crashing down.

"Well, then." Yamame hopped to her feet, clapping her hands together. "We'd best go and see what my dear sisters want." She come over to me. "Feeling better?" She murmured quietly as she crouched down next to me. I cautiously tested myself by trying to stand up, and I managed it after a few moments of pain. I'd probably need a while longer before I'd healed up, though. Yamame sympathetically patted my cheek. "Let's just get through this, and then we can relax, okay? Sit in the hot springs. You'll love it!" That did sound nice, so I grit my teeth, nodded, and made to put my coat on, only to remember that it was fiendishly hot around here, so I instead asked Yamame if I'd be okay leaving my coat here. "...You'd probably be fine, but...No, actually, I'd say bring it with you. You don't have to wear it, but you can leave it with my sisters, and it'll definitely be safer." I couldn't say I was looking forward to carrying it around, but either way, I threw it over my shoulder and rolled my sleeves up.

Finally, we left the rooms, re-joining the twisting streets. I was surprised by how busy it was, and even more so by the variety of people wandering the streets. I saw oni, animals of all kinds that I suspected belonged to Satori Komeiji, a few hats that I recognized as belonging to crow tengu, and I thought I even saw a few foxes. They all wandered the streets, some in groups, some alone, and even more crowded at the variety of stalls and shops that lined the walkways. I could see talismans being sold in one store, and next to it, bags upon bags of manjuu. I briefly considered buying some, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to carry it around all day, so I let it be for now.

I turned to Yamame as we walked, trying to ignore the aching of my ribs as we went, and asked her where exactly we were headed. "Well, The keystone's over in the big hot springs, but obviously we can't just set up in loads of water, so Hoshiguma cleared out a building over here, by the path down, and had us set up in there. I think a couple of my sisters have been sticking around to keep any of the others from trying to reclaim it. It's...weird. I've been mostly absent from the process, actually. I helped with the initial setup, and I did a few days, but otherwise...I've been busy with - Well..." Busy with what, I asked. Yamame turned to look at me, a pointed look on her face, and I blankly stared back and asked her a second time. "Busy with you." She slowly replied in a strange voice, and I laughed a little. "Shut up!" She continued, though I saw a slight smile on her face too. Behind us, Nai fidgeted uncomfortably, and Yamame turned back and ruffled her hair until she complained ineffectually.

After a few more twists, turns, and plenty of stairs, we turned onto a quieter street, and I saw people of a different kind milling about. Outfits in the colours of Yamame's, and plenty of the girls I saw had similar patterns in the outfit of browns and golds. "Here we are." Yamame said brightly. "I suppose the oni aren't spending too much time around here." There was a big building just up ahead, by a crossroads. As we got closer, I saw several of the other girls - Yamame's sisters - take notice of us, and before I knew it, several of the other spiders were following. We made it to the building relatively unimpeded, and I saw that one side of the crossroads was another set of twisting and winding steps, but this one was narrower and went further down, and I could see that it came out by the massive springs that I could see since we were so much higher up.