/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Out in the sticks, near the mountain, there's a nice little trail that I like to walk through. I first walked it when I was young and invincible, and now, during the summer months when the sun stays high in the sky for endless hours, I walk it still. It passes by a little stream and is just high up enough to allow a nice view over the treetops all the way back to the village. Out in the distance, you can see the great steps that lead up to Hakurei Shrine. Sometimes you can even see Miss Hakurei engaging in a duel with whoever it is she fights up there.
I felt the need to explain this so that I can provide some context to explain that while I was gazing up at the mountain and wondering if that Hermit that Miss Tenshi mentioned lived somewhere up there, I heard the slightest noise. A little scrape of cloth on cloth behind me. I decided to not turn immediately, because if it was a youkai, I didn't want it to take my surprise as a queue for it to eat me. I still feel quite energetic. I don't know what the difference is between a Heavenly Peach and a regular one, but it was not only extraordinarily tasty, it was also lasting. I'm usually a little out of breath by the time I get to this trail, but this time I reached it without even feeling the need to catch my breath. It was also useful earlier, when I left my house. I had been thinking about what Miss Yuuka said about youkai being attracted to me when I spotted Miss Hakurei speaking to Marisa in the alleyway that I caught her attacking that rabbit in. I couldn't hear their whole conversation, but I could make it some of it. They were saying "Reisen's being cagier than usual about things.", "I don't know how long we can keep him in the dark about this." and "Eirin might throw caution to the wind before long." I think they might have been talking about me. I didn't want them to notice me, so I took the chance to sneak away, and then I felt too paranoid to stay in the village, so I decided to go to my little trail.
I waited until the sound I had heard seemed to have faded, then I spun around on my heel as naturally as I could. I didn't see anything at eye level, so I looked down. Crouched at my feet, just out of my normal eyesight when looking forward, was an umbrella. It was an unappealing shade of purple, looked like it had weathered a fair few storms, and had a large red eye on it along with what seemed to be a massive tongue below it. Come to think of it, I felt like I'd seen it before, but I couldn't place where. Before I had a chance, the umbrella shot up as what appeared to be a strange girl hiding underneath it jumped up. I had enough time to spot her blue hair, faded and patterned clothes, and her strange eyes (one red, one blue) before she yelled "Urameshiya!" I wouldn't say it was all too surprising, because I don't think she realised that I could see her umbrella for a few seconds before she thought to pop up, but she was close enough that it forced me to take a step backwards.
This would prove to be a mistake.
My foot went back and landed perfectly on a loose rock, which shook and bounced as soon as my foot was off-center. This caused my foot to slip, sending me further backwards slightly off the trail. Before I had a chance to recover, I realised that I was slipping into a spot on the trail where there were some densely packed bits of grass. This wouldn't have been an issue, but as I hit it and then, impossibly, slid through it, I realised that it could have easily been hiding a hole this whole time. Of course, by the time this thought crossed my mind, I was already halfway inside. As far as ways to die went, I didn't really think that 'spooked by an ugly umbrella into falling to my death' was all that great. I wonder if making the Yama laugh might improve my chances of getting into Heaven. I didn't really want to see what Miss Hecatia's Hell project had turned into. The last noise I heard was the cheer of the umbrella youkai being cut off abruptly. I hoped it was because she had realised that I wasn't just coming back.
So there I was, falling down a dark hole in the ground, with no idea where it went and no clue if I'd survive the next few minutes. I tried to keep myself from screaming so that, at least, my last moments would be a little more graceful.