/jp/ - Otaku Culture

never saw much of Marisa after that. She didn’t vanish completely, but she did her best to avoid us. It was clear she had gotten the message that it would be bad for us if she kept staying around. Whenever she couldn’t avoid us, like when she had business with mother the interactions were brief and to the point. She never asked how things were at home. Without the refuge Marisa gave us, Dad and I had nowhere to turn from Mother’s behavior. She was slow to forgive us for our perceived attempt to involve an outsider in her life. It took weeks for her to allow Dad to go off on his own, as she thought he would go running off and get someone else involved in “personal family matters” It was so strange that so could be so possessive of him one moment, but striking him the next. If she really wanted him so badly then why wouldn’t she treat him better? It made no sense to me.


As the years went on, Dad and I endured Mother’s temper and I slowly marched towards adulthood. Of course, this meant certain facts of life were made clear to me by my parents. This cleared up a few questions, but left me with many more. My parents advice differed. Mother told me it was best for me to find someone that could do their duties probably and wouldn’t get on my nerves. Dad said I should find someone that I enjoyed being around and would never try to hurt me or make or do anything that made me uncomfortable. Of course, he would know how bad those relationships could be.

That wasn’t the only lesson of getting older. As I grew up and my powers got stronger and more refined, I was being eased into my duties as a shrine maiden. Instead of being a bystander as she did something simple like wave away mischievous faeries or doing work did found tedious like creating ofuda, I was brought to actually deal with youkai with her. One of my first actual jobs with my mother was to deal with a cat youaki harassing a small farm. It wasn’t anything dangerous, it was just stealing supplies it use as its own and killing his chickens. Enough to be a nuisance but not dangerous enough to put me at any risk. We staked out the farm at night and waited for it to come, Mother wanted me to deal with it personally to get some experience. The plan was simple. She would wait near the chicken coop and chase the cat towards me when it appeared. I’d stop it, it would learn not to ruin the livelihood of others, and we’d be able to head home with a successful hunt under my belt.


I stood waiting, trying to pay attention and stay awake at night looking for any sign of the cat when I saw it. It was a small, scraggly, dirty thing. Just one of the many common beast youkai that could be found in the wilderness, nothing dangerous at all. I got ready, ofuda clenched between my fingers, ready to spring put at any moment. It slowly crept towards the coop. Then I heard the chickens raise a huge ruckus. Just barely over all the noise, I could hear my mother yell something and the cat yelp in surprise. It had bolted away and was heading towards where I was hidden. I breathed in, waiting for it to get closer as I steadied my aim. It closed the distance and I lept out of hiding and aimed directly for its chest. My aim was straight and true, but I did not predict it would weave slightly. My ofuda missed by a hair, and before I could aim another one it barreled into me, knocking me to the ground. By the time I got out and had another ofuda ready, it was gone into the treeline.

All the noise woke up the farmer and his wife and sent them and Mother towards me. After I explained what had happened, Mother made me apologize to the couple for failing to capture it properly and said we would come back to make sure it was gone for good. The couple seemed understanding of my failure and Mother and I headed home so we could at least get some sleep. When we were out of sight of the farm, she smacked me on the back of the head, sending me face first into the ground. “That was a real amateur mistake Hana, you won’t have any future as a shrine maiden if you can’t even deal with a mangy cat” she continued to scold me as I picked myself off the ground. “Now they think we’re idiots that can’t handle something so simple and we have to come back here again to make sure it left. Well, you just have to do it alone I guess. You’re going to have to learn how to handle these on your own sooner or later” She a sigh, she hurried down the path, not caring if I was being left behind.

I never saw much of Marisa after that. She didn’t vanish completely, but she did her best to avoid us. It was clear she had gotten the message that it would be bad for us if she kept staying around. Whenever she couldn’t avoid us, like when she had business with mother the interactions were brief and to the point. She never asked how things were at home. Without the refuge Marisa gave us, Dad and I had nowhere to turn from Mother’s behavior. She was slow to forgive us for our perceived attempt to involve an outsider in her life. It took weeks for her to allow Dad to go off on his own, as she thought he would go running off and get someone else involved in “personal family matters” It was so strange that so could be so possessive of him one moment, but striking him the next. If she really wanted him so badly then why wouldn’t she treat him better? It made no sense to me.


As the years went on, Dad and I endured Mother’s temper and I slowly marched towards adulthood. Of course, this meant certain facts of life were made clear to me by my parents. This cleared up a few questions, but left me with many more. My parents advice differed. Mother told me it was best for me to find someone that could do their duties probably and wouldn’t get on my nerves. Dad said I should find someone that I enjoyed being around and would never try to hurt me or make or do anything that made me uncomfortable. Of course, he would know how bad those relationships could be.

That wasn’t the only lesson of getting older. As I grew up and my powers got stronger and more refined, I was being eased into my duties as a shrine maiden. Instead of being a bystander as she did something simple like wave away mischievous faeries or doing work did found tedious like creating ofuda, I was brought to actually deal with youkai with her. One of my first actual jobs with my mother was to deal with a cat youaki harassing a small farm. It wasn’t anything dangerous, it was just stealing supplies it use as its own and killing his chickens. Enough to be a nuisance but not dangerous enough to put me at any risk. We staked out the farm at night and waited for it to come, Mother wanted me to deal with it personally to get some experience. The plan was simple. She would wait near the chicken coop and chase the cat towards me when it appeared. I’d stop it, it would learn not to ruin the livelihood of others, and we’d be able to head home with a successful hunt under my belt.


I stood waiting, trying to pay attention and stay awake at night looking for any sign of the cat when I saw it. It was a small, scraggly, dirty thing. Just one of the many common beast youkai that could be found in the wilderness, nothing dangerous at all. I got ready, ofuda clenched between my fingers, ready to spring put at any moment. It slowly crept towards the coop. Then I heard the chickens raise a huge ruckus. Just barely over all the noise, I could hear my mother yell something and the cat yelp in surprise. It had bolted away and was heading towards where I was hidden. I breathed in, waiting for it to get closer as I steadied my aim. It closed the distance and I lept out of hiding and aimed directly for its chest. My aim was straight and true, but I did not predict it would weave slightly. My ofuda missed by a hair, and before I could aim another one it barreled into me, knocking me to the ground. By the time I got out and had another ofuda ready, it was gone into the treeline.

All the noise woke up the farmer and his wife and sent them and Mother towards me. After I explained what had happened, Mother made me apologize to the couple for failing to capture it properly and said we would come back to make sure it was gone for good. The couple seemed understanding of my failure and Mother and I headed home so we could at least get some sleep. When we were out of sight of the farm, she smacked me on the back of the head, sending me face first into the ground. “That was a real amateur mistake Hana, you won’t have any future as a shrine maiden if you can’t even deal with a mangy cat” she continued to scold me as I picked myself off the ground. “Now they think we’re idiots that can’t handle something so simple and we have to come back here again to make sure it left. Well, you just have to do it alone I guess. You’re going to have to learn how to handle these on your own sooner or later” She a sigh, she hurried down the path, not caring if I was being left behind.