/jp/ - Otaku Culture

It was late in the evening when I pulled open the door and stepped out onto the veranda. The winds had calmed slightly, leaving nothing but the hammering of rain to fill the silence. I had woken up in a slight panic when my vision was nothing but blackness and all I could smell was cinnamon, and I had thought that I was blind until I had tried to open my mouth only to end up with a mouthful of Reimu's hair. It appeared that at some point in the night - if it had even been night, because between the closed doors, the storm shutters and the rain, I honestly had no idea what time of day it was - Reimu had managed to roll on top of me and throw her hair over my entire head before passing out so heavily that she felt more like a jizo than a human.

Seeing as she had trapped her arms behind my back and thus could not move, I saw no solution except to roll in the opposite direction, trapping her underneath me. Unfortunately, this had the effect of putting all of my weight on her. Reimu, it seemed, had some built-in instincts that I'd managed to avoid triggering until now, because as soon as her hands were free, she punched me in the jaw. When my mind had still been full of confusion and doubts about just what Reimu and I were to each other, I had felt the muscles under her skin and suspected that she was probably stronger than she looked, but when her fist connected and I found myself actually knocked hard enough to roll off of her and onto the floor, I realised that she had been hiding some serious strength underneath her slender form. I also realised that my jaw really hurt. My third realisation was that Reimu hadn't even woken up. My fourth and final realisation was that I didn't want to sleep anymore as I stared at the ceiling and wondered why Reimu even engaged in Danmaku duels when she could probably knock anything short of an oni out with her fists alone.

Deciding that I'd rather take my mind off my sore jaw, I rolled over, got to my feet and pulled my shirt from the floor. I slipped it on, clutched my jaw as it throbbed in pain, threw the covers back over Reimu before she could catch another illness, and left the room.

As I stood on the veranda, I was happy to see that there had been no major damage from the rain, or at least there had been none so far. The storm shutters still rattled slightly in what wind was left, but it seemed like the worst had passed. I stepped forward to peak through the gap in the shutters and froze.

All I could see was an eye. It was wide, bloodshot, and existed by itself in a strange dark void of swirling reds and purples. I felt frozen as I stared at it, and I soon realised that it wasn't the only eye I could see. There were multiple, all in different sizes and angles, but all sharing one thing in common: they were all staring at me.

I shot backwards, intending to hit the wall of the Shrine. I wasn't sure how I could deal with whatever had come to the Shrine, but I hoped that I could get back inside and wake Reimu up fast enough to save us. I stumbled backwards, and backwards, and backwards, and I began to feel very worried. A chill ran through me and I drew in a shuddering breath. The veranda was not this large, and I was moving far too much. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. Since nothing had attacked me yet and I didn't seem to be in immediate danger, I dared to open my eyes. In front of me, something was spinning toward me incredibly quickly. I could just about catch flashes of red and white, though it certainly wasn't Reimu. Just before the thing hit me, I cried out and fell backwards.

I landed in a chair, and just like I had in the Dream World, I found myself flailing in panic and trying not to fall over despite the fact I was completely still. "Do try to remain calm. You're making a scene." I heard a quiet, but conversational voice tell me. There was almost something familiar about it, but I couldn't seem to place it. I slammed my hands against the armrest, pushed myself into the back of the chair, and just took a moment to catch my breath as I stared across what appeared to be a dimly lit table. After a second, I could hear muted conversation, and I whipped my head from side to side, trying to understand what was happening. I could see other tables, lit by candlelight, with small groups of people sat at each one. Behind them, up a set of raised steps, was a massive structure of golden light and glass shelves. I could see bottles - so many that I couldn't have any idea what they might have contained, and in front of them was a counter which could only mean I was looking at some sort of serving station, most likely for alcohol. Things were starting to fall into place as my heart rate slowed. I was in some sort of restaurant. The chair I was sat in was comfortable but stiff, and I was on one side of a table. I could feel a coolness coming from my left, and when I turned my head to look, I nearly jumped back again.

>>41743399
Thank you for correcting the mistake, first impressions are very important