/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Regardless, I followed her up the steps. It wasn't like I had much choice in anything until Kisami arrived, though I was starting to worry about why exactly it was taking her so long to arrive. It hadn't felt like that long when I'd been taken from the Rainbow Dragon Cave, though I supposed that my ability to accurately measure time had suffered a lot while I was blindfolded. I hoped that she was okay. Her having to tell Yamame that I'd disappeared would be bad, but I thought that it would probably tear my heart into little pieces if I had to tell Yamame that Kisami had disappeared.

So, feeling even worse, I traipsed up the stairs heavily and found myself on a dark landing. "There's no lights in here. Give me your hand." I felt her reach for my hand and though I instinctively flinched, I managed to relax enough to accept it. She pulled me along to a door which she opened to let light flood into the hallway from a window to the white sky and the snowy rooftops of the other houses outside. "There, that's better." She said quietly, shutting the door behind her.

This room looked to be her workroom. There was a large desk, though it looked less imposing and impressive than the one I had seen in Iizunamaru's office. On that desk was a lot of things that I couldn't even begin to guess at the function of, though I assumed it had something to do with Shameimaru's newspaper. A large board took up one wall, upon which were an even larger number of photographs of almost everyone I'd ever see, human or youkai or otherwise, with different photographs connected together by bits of string. There was a waste bin next to the desk which seemed to be overflowing with newspapers, and the chair at the desk looked a little ragged, like it was close to falling apart. The surface of the desk itself looked like it had seen more than a few nails hammered into it over the years, too. On the other side of the room was a bed, just about big enough for one person, or two if they didn't mind being sandwiched together.

"That's - Er, it's where I sleep while I'm working on something important." Shameimaru told me hurriedly. "I have a bigger bed if you want to see it." I looked at her oddly, then said that I was fine. "...Right. So, I want to collect my exclusive from you on the Eientei Investigation." She was opening the new sake bottle and taking a drink. The bottle was then offered to me, but I refused. "That means I need an account of everything." She told me to sit on the bed, which felt a little strange, but I did it anyway because again, I didn't have much choice. Shameimaru looked like she was about to join me for a second, but changed her mind and pulled her raggedy chair over and took a seat. Her shirt was still undone and threatening to become entirely non-functional, so I pointed it out. "It's hot in here." Shameimaru told me, shrugging. I really didn't think it was, so I decided to just stare at the ceiling and try to ignore the pit in my stomach. "Now, let's start with a dri-" And happily, there was a pounding on the door downstairs. Shameimaru actually growled out loud. "Oh, of all the times..." She muttered under her breath.

And then, a voice that gave me nothing but relief shouted. "Aya!" Reimu Hakurei yelled. "Get him down here within ten seconds or I'll destroy your whole damn house!" I exhaled a breath that I hadn't realised I was holding. The whole thing had been feeling very strange and I supposed that it was the knowledge that I was really stuck here against my will that was getting to me the most. It was easy to pretend things were okay, I supposed. "Ten!" Reimu yelled.

"Yes, yes..." Shameimaru muttered, getting up. Now, she suddenly seemed to find it worth buttoning her shirt up, and she took my wrist and pulled me from the bed. When she let go, her fingers slid across my hand slightly, which was uncomfortable in a way that made me skin crawl. Yamame had done the same in the past, but when she did it, it felt so much better. "Am I ever going to get my interview with you?" I shrugged as naturally as I could manage and said that it would have to wait, then I went for the door myself. I was down the stairs and at the front door in seconds, though I found that Shameimaru had somehow got there at the same time. She pulled the door open with a frown. "What, Reimu? I'm trying to conduct an interview in here." While she spoke, I forced my boots on.