/jp/ - Otaku Culture

So, it seemed like things weren't going to be too packed. I turned back to Yamame and asked her if she wanted to have a look at the stalls. "Hmm...Yeah. Although, I'm getting a little bit cold." I tried to offer her my coat, but she just giggled. "Please, that thing'll be dragging on the ground behind me. I left all those coats that Ki made me wear in Reimu's room. I'll just get one of those." Yamame nodded, then smiled when I offered her my arm. "Aren't you being all gentlemanly today?" I frowned, then asked her if I wasn't like that all the time. "Well, you're usually a little more clueless, but it's adorable, so I put up with it. You're very - Tender, today." As expected, my continued frown at her calling me clueless only made Yamame giggle. "Sentimental, that's what you are. A great, big, sentimental sweetheart." I opened my mouth, but didn't really say anything. I wasn't entirely sure how you were supposed to respond to that. "Ah, and now you're blushing!" She took my arm, and we began to make our way up through the crowded courtyard toward the Shrine.

I spotted Marisa and Tenshi finally moving off from Reimu and Lady Kasen, into the other row of stalls away from where Yamame and I were. It was like the world itself was conspiring against Marisa so that she wouldn't figure out Yamame's identity. Surely, I thought, we'd get a chance before the end of the night. Surely.

On the way, I asked Yamame if her tooth was okay. "Oh, yeah. Like I was saying just before midnight, Eirin got me some painkillers. I just have to not mess around with it and it'll be fine. Just like before, you know?" I nodded slowly, but wondered how she'd managed the first time around. "Well, uh...You'd broken all of the webs, so I was mostly busy fixing that. Didn't really think about it, I guess?" Not the most exciting of responses, then. "Oh, don't whine! You're still the one at fault for that." I rolled my eyes and asked her if she'd rather I hadn't fallen down that hole. "W-Well, er, no, I didn't say that..."

Finally, we were at Reimu's room, and I waited patiently while Yamame went through the pile of coats on the table. "No, that's too thin...And that's too hot...That one's too heavy..." She was muttering to herself, so I continued watching people going about their business outside. I thought I saw a guy from Geidontei engaged in an intense conversation with that woman I'd seen talking to Lady Kasen earlier, the one with the checkered scarf and brown hair. I knew that guy. He'd been one of the regulars at Geidontei for a long time, and I wondered if he'd be making it home alright. He'd definitely had one or two strange occurrences at Geidontei before, after all. Idly, I asked Yamame why she'd picked all of those coats in the first place. Couldn't she have just picked all her lightest coats so that Ki wouldn't fuss? "Nope, she knew exactly where all of the coats were and told me that I wasn't leaving without adequate protection from 'the elements' as she put it. Honestly, I think she just wanted some payback for us getting revenge on her recently." She paused for a moment. "Maybe that's why that Byakuren is always advocating peace. Now I want to get Ki back for her getting me back for us getting her back." A cycle, I replied with a smile. "Exactly!" Yamame agreed, tossing another coat to the side.

Eventually, she settled on an off-white coat that covered down to her legs. I was a little sorry to see her outfit disappear underneath it, but I was happy enough that she was more comfortable now. "Phew, that's better. Alright, let's go and, er...Wander?" I nodded and took her hand this time, then led her out of Reimu's room and shut the door behind us. "So, where did all of these guys come from?" Yamame asked, indicating all of the stalls. "There definitely weren't this many stalls earlier."

"They were waiting for midnight, Yamame." I looked over my shoulder to see Reimu's head stick out from the edge of the rooftop. Her hair hung down, creating a strange image. "No one's interested in trying to buy things before they've eaten and gotten just drunk enough to loosen their wallets." Again, I wondered just what that rabbit had been thinking when she'd decided to set herself up so early. "Plus, that means I can charge them a late-night fee for renting space in the courtyard. Tonight's great for my wallet!" She did look pretty cheerful. I asked her what she was doing up there. "Nothing! Taking a break, actually. You've been off arguing with Remi and...Well, whatever else you were doing, so you've missed all the rushing around I've had to do to keep people from killing each other before they got drunk enough to no longer manage to kill each other."