/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I watched her go, shook my head with a slightly laugh at the rush she'd been in, and then began to brave the world outside. Fortunately, the wind wasn't as bad as it seemed. The tunnel funnelled it in, but once I was in the open air, things seemed far calmer. The snow was still coming down, which promised an exhausting walk, but I only had to struggle over a small amount of powdery snow before I was on slightly more hard-packed snow, and could walk a lot easier. In fact, I made it to the village fairly quickly, and soon my boots were crunching against the well-worn snow that had been packed down by children running through it. Only a couple villagers were out at this point, and they did spare me a glance or two as I walked down the street. None of them seemed to want to speak, which I hoped was just because it was cold and they were probably tired already, even though it was still fairly early in the morning.

As I turned onto the street next to the canal, I paused. There, in defiance of all logic, was Seiran, the dango seller I'd met at the Shrine. She was setting up for the day, even though the snow was coming down and she was shivering. And - Curse my nature - I couldn't help but go over and ask her how she was doing. Surely business wasn't so bad that she had to set up in the middle of the snow? I greeted her. "A-Ah, good m-morning." She said through chattering teeth. "Y-You want a d-dango to go?" I cast an eye down. Her supplies seemed well stocked, and she didn't look like she was struggling. I shook my head and said that I wasn't hungry, but I was curious as to why she'd set up on a day like this.

She wasn't well dressed for it, either. Her blue dress looked a little thin, and an apron was no real protection against the cold. She wore a thin cloth over her head which definitely couldn't have helped. "G-Got to work every d-day." She claimed. "E-Earn a l-living." I supposed I could understand that, but surely there were exceptions? This looked...Dangerous to her health. "Not used - Used to w-weather like this." She finally said after a few moments’ pause. "M-Moon didn't get w-weather like this." She breathed out, the breath hanging in the air between us as a chilly cloud. Moon? She'd been about to say something the last time we'd spoken before cutting herself off, too. "D-Drat. Brain's all frozen o-over. D-Don't go telling everyone, p-please?" I agreed while feeling more than a little mystified. Was that much of a secret? Wasn't Reisen a moon rabbit too?

I wanted to...Give her something, or help her somehow, but I didn't have anything that I could give up. Much as I felt sorry for her, there was no way I was giving up the scarf that Yamame had just made for me. "Oh dear." I heard a voice behind me. "It appears that there's a line. Perhaps I'll have to come back another day." I looked over my shoulder, and there was that villager, the man who'd been handing out flyers for the Hakurei Shrine. He was wrapped up about as well as a villager could be, and he was holding something in his arm that I couldn't identify. "Well, who would have guessed that the abnormally tall, red coat wearing man I was standing behind would turn out to be none other than the Hakurei Shrine Maiden's new brother." I blinked. How'd he hear about that? "Well, you'd be surprised at how many loose lips there were at the Shrine's party."

Ah. Yes, I supposed I could see that. "So, you're on your own today. Miss Yamame chose not to brave the snow?" Not a chance, I replied. I was surprised that he'd remembered her name. "I've a good eye for faces and the names attacked to them. Mother always said I noticed too much." I laughed a little. "On that note...Just, ahem, between you and I..." He stepped in closer to whisper. "Miss Yamame...Is a youkai, isn't she?" I looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Don't worry, I've no intention of panicking. You might have noticed that Miss Seiran here is a little less than fully human herself." Slowly, I relaxed. Yes, I replied. She was. "Ah...How very interesting. You might have just solved a small quandary that I've been having. I'll say no more about it."

He stepped around me. "Miss Seiran! Mighty pleased to see you on this...Brisk morning!" I looked over at him and watched the exhaled breath hang in the air. "Might I get the usual?" He had a usual? I'd thought he'd only just met Seiran at the Shrine. Still, Seiran agreed with chattering teeth. She certainly seemed to be holding her hands very close to the charcoal box that she was grilling the dango over. "You know, I've seen you out here near enough every morning since Winter started." He continued in a conversational tone. "Dressed just like that. You're made of sturdier stuff than I, I'd wager."

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ZUN got threatened by Seiranfag's writing ability and had to fight back