/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Turning off the censers and replacing the weird combination Yukari forces me to use for every single 'job' with the combination Chen likes, I excitedly murmured a lullaby, a calm smile and an oddly good attitude following my every move.

Even though I know and dread what will happen when 'we' open again in an hour, I have grown to appreciate these small and routine moments of respite like a man lost in the desert appreciates rain. Godsend, I'd call them.

My smile grows a bit when the door opens, and I turn with a greeting on the tip of my tongue, expecting hugs and a resume of what Chen did today. Yukari locked the door with malicious intent, her golden eyes on mine like those of a predator. Day turned to night, and a lump rose from my stomach to my throat, lodging there like a parasite. She was, like always, dressed in a Miko outfit.

The silence hung for a moment, and, feeling dead, I put on a fake smile, feeling the blood drain from my cheeks and my eyes desiring to close. "Yukari, good morning. I'm on my break now." —Go away, please—my mind pledged, but mechanically, my body moved to prepare tea for us. She went through the motions in silence, and I didn't question; the looming dread creeping like shadows.

We sat down on the kotatsu with tea between us.

She smiled, satisfied. "Darling, good evening. Yes, I know you are on break and were expecting another person. Chen will not be coming; she's busy." I struggled to hide my contempt. Questioning Yukari never ends well, so I nodded slowly. "But I have an important matter to discuss with you." She picked up the tea and put her other hand on top of the table. Like a robot, I reached for it and intertwined our fingers.

She was not smiling anymore.

"A woman I've had an eye on just entered the village and is heading here. She's dangerous and powerful." She described 50% of the clientele, but I didn't dare to say it. "Toutetsu Yuuma is her name, and she's likely coming here to 'save' you." There was cold disgust in her voice.

My body jolted, fingers squeezing Yukari's. She squeezed back: I felt like my hand would explode, a whimper barely hidden.

"But we do not want that, do we?" I motioned my head, and she stopped squeezing, retracting her hand and drinking from her tea. "Yet, I can't exactly go against her. Despite my powers, I have limitations and, mainly, masks to maintain. Do you understand what this means, Anon?"

... I nodded: There's hope this Toutetsu can help me, and I almost smiled. Almost. Common sense saved me. It's Yukari telling me this: whatever she's doing, it was thought and pondered.

She acted like merely moving a piece.

"I can't have that. You're here to be punished. Leaving before your punishment is done wouldn't be good, nor would it help Reimu become a better person—which means you're not leaving." She gently moved the liquid inside the teacup—!

A gap opened on top of the kotatsu, and a small pebble inside a small, transparent plastic bag fell onto it.

Another gap opened beneath the plastic bag...

Yukari drank the rest of the tea, eyes closed.

... The third and last gap opened; the same bag was now covered in a fetid and horrid yellow liquid splatting on the kotatsu. I winced.

"Someone you know felt a small stomach pain just now," she began. "It was light and lasted only a moment." My eyebrows frowned, and I felt my heart clenching. Someone? Who...? Yukari then opened her eyes, not a smudge of good humor as she pointed to the bag covered in the acidic liquid. "When Toutetsu comes here, you'll remain in character: 'I am here to teach Reimu a lesson', 'Yukari is taking good care of me', and 'I'll return to Reimu when she redeems herself'..."

She paused for a moment, letting the words sink.

"And if you get out of the script or show any sign of doing it, I'll be teleporting this ricin pellet—a poison that can't be traced nor cured, and in this quantity, it'll kill before the person even gets on a stretcher to Eientei—inside this bag and leaving it there."

... What...

My mouth dried, hands were shaking. I looked at Yukari, then at the plastic bag covered in stomach acid. I felt faint.

"... W-Who?"

Yukari smiled calmly. I paled.

Anyone... Hana, Marisa, Sanae, one of the Primrivers, Sanae—it could be anyone I know, and I won't know and—

Feeling like left in a pit to rot, tears on the edge of my eyes, my throat burning, I frantically nodded. Satisfied, Yukari got up from her seat, rounded the table, and stopped behind me, her arms locking around my neck.

It reminded me of the start of this nightmare.

A gap took the bag and acid away, Yukari's lips on my ear. "Good boy... Now, we still have some time before your day starts—would you care to give your wife her special treatment~?"

I felt like crying, yet I simply gulped it down, her firm hands already on the way of taking away my clothes.

"Sure, darling. Everything for you."

Robbed, used, and left shackled again, awaiting the next one. Another day of many.

Maribel Hearn

You're going to gensokyo tonight, anon
Yukari broke the 4th wall boundary
Good luck

Know what's the best part about Yukarin? She could be looking at you right now, and there's NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABO