/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46765468
「And, that should do it.」Reimu happily said as she finished pinning the armband.「That should keep you hidden from most Youkai and Evil spirits, just don't do anything weird, it's not a protection charm got it?」

「Hai.」I responded, waving a hand in front of my eyes. I have to admit, the red armband was a little 'cute' for my liking, what with white frills, but I guess that was the style in Gensokyo.

「Huhhh, I really should go with you to get supplies... just, promise me you won't do anything weird okay? Please?」She asked.

---

I wouldn't exactly call following a map that was written on a leaflet in strange script which I found nailed to a tree 'normal' behavior for most, but I had the itch to go somewhere new, so it was normal for me! That aside, I still had this foggy memory of Reimu sneaking into my room at night to deal with and I just needed some space away from it all to think.

I'd made short time to the location indicated by the leaflet through a couple of creek crossing, a few turnabouts, under some particular land bridges to arrive at what looked like a large rock field clearing. It almost looked natural, save for the fact that it was laid smack middle in the forest like a kid had cut it out with scissors. Oh, I might be trespassing on a holy site, best not to linger...

「Hey.」 A smooth voice whispered into my ear. 「Your not supposed to be here you know? And that charm's a little suspicious does it make you harder to detect I wonder? Not so useful if you're a Human right in the middle of a Youkai meeting ground. 」

I slowly turned to see that the speaker seemed to be a floating, raven haired woman with a red, geometric looking hat and small black wings. This was probably a Tengu. I think the legends say these were the type that prized good behavior above all, so I apologized. "Gomennasai.", before making to leave.

「Ah ah ah!」 She said, grabbing my collar. 「You're don't think you can just walk away with at least giving this reporter some juicy details do you? Quid pro quo as they say! But first, Introductions, I'm Aya.」 She proudly said a hand on her chest.

I recognized the Latin phrase, suppose I wasn't getting out of this so easily. So, I bowed, was about to give my name, but before I could the Tengu's tongue clicked.

「Shoot. I should've arrived earlier. Hey can you make yourself scarce real quick? 」She asked me, but I struggled to understand. 「Ah, don't tell me you can't speak Japanese? Just my luck, here! 」Aya complained before taking out a cloak from her bag and wrapping me in it. 「There, hunch your back make it seem like the pack is part of your body, cover your face, lean on that stick like you need it, and whatever you, don't say a peep okay? You peep and you're dead.」 The Tengu said, pushing and pulling my body into a disguise and making gestures while she did so.

Without much time to question what she was doing I heard the sound of stones shifting as various people seemed to land, or appear, atop the stones. Some of whom I recognized.

「You youngins don't really understand do ya? If it's a Youkai meeting it's gotta be at night. 」A mature looking woman with what looked like a massive raccoon tail said.

「Eh, but we'd just get drunk and yap about this or that wouldn't we?」Suika commented, looking a tad more sober, but not by much.

「Then let's cut to it already, who's been putting out these flyers with youkai script huh? 'A matter of utmost import'? Sounds self-important if you ask me! 」A little girl with white curly hair and a comically huge spork said.

「That would be me actually. 」A girl wearing a blue rainsuit and a large green pack raised her hand. 「As some of you might have noticed, Reimu has been a little more serious then she usually is and it's starting to cause some problems. 」At this, some of the attendants started to grumble.

「Ahh, you're all soft. I welcome a serious challenge you know?」The goat-like girl said.

「Hmm, it might be hard for a mobster from New Hell to understand, but Gensokyo's balance rests on that girl's shoulders you know? It's certainly worth the gossip as to why she's taking her job more seriously. 」The mature(Raccoon?) woman commented.

The collection of Youkai seemed to launch into a nonsense discussion, throwing around some terms like 'economy', 'seasons', 'weather', and more sensitive feminine topics which I wish I hadn't picked up on, all centered on Reimu...

「Heyyy, I think I might know what's up with her. She got herself a man not too long ago. 」Suika commented. The other Youkai stopped at this.

The comments then rained in,「No way in either Hell!」,「That girl? Nobody in the village is rich enough you drunk oni!」,「Are one of you pulling a prank on her? I thought we agreed those sorts of incidents were off-limits!」. Maybe I could sneak out in this mess.

「Who're you?」A quiet voice asked me, I turned to see a pair of green eyes that belonged to a young girl with equally green hair. When did she show up?