/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Yamame let my mind wander for about three seconds, then let out a long and drawn out groan and flopped down on my chest. Her hair, untied, flopped all over my face and tickled my nose. I forced myself not to sneeze. "Ugh..." She mumbled, her head nestled into my shoulder, "I'd like to say that, but I feel absolutely awful right now." I asked her how bad it was. "Youkai don't recover from spiritual attacks very fast...Especially not ones from the Shrine Maiden's gohei..." She sounded absurdly sleepy all of a sudden, and I put my hands on her back in case she suddenly rolled off of me and awkwardly hit the floor. "I guess you could say it's like a human getting stabbed." That sounded concerningly deadly, so I asked her if she was okay. "I'll be fine...just takes a lot of energy. I'll just be absolutely exhausted or a while.”

That sounded normal enough for me to handle, so I told her that I'd be taking care of her tonight.

She managed to raise her head and look at me. "Really? That's...not necessa-Whoa!" I hadn't even waiting for her to finish talking before I'd pushed myself up into a seated position, rolled the spider girl into a position from which I could carry her, and forced myself up to my feet. Yamame's arms immediately wrapped around my neck, and I was surprised to see her looking quite startled. "Th-That's, um, really nice. Just...warn me first. Spiders scare easily." I apologised, then laid her down on the bed. She'd been curled up on the floor, and I could tell that she hadn't moved much since she'd fallen there. I asked her why she hadn't been in bed. "It's...a thing. A spidery thing. I wanted an enclosed space. I was under the bed until you came blundering in." I asked her if lying on the floor underneath the bed would really help her get better. "Well, it makes me feel better." She muttered.

She sniffed. "Is that...meat? Did you bring food?" I said that I'd thought to try and cook her something, in part to take the burden off of her, and in part because I wanted to thank her for everything she'd done for me. Yamame giggled and tried to sit back up, but let out a pained gasp and sank back into the bed. I told her that I would make it, so she just had to lay here and rest. "And leave you free reign over my kitchen? No, no, I'm coming with you." She tried a second time, and managed to hold herself up on her hands for about a second before falling backwards again. I pushed a hand under her back and helped her lift herself off of the bed slowly. "...Thanks." She said quietly. I reminded her that I was taking care of her, so it would be bad if she injured herself more in the process. I went to take her hand, but realised that it was the one she had used to slap Reimu's gohei away. It looked scarred, like she'd burnt it, and if the way she was trying not to use it was any indication, it hurt terribly. I let my hand drop awkwardly, feeling rather sad. Instead, I went straight to Yamame's kitchen.

Yamame stumbled in behind me, leaning against the wall, but managed to drag herself to the counter when she spotted the bags I'd carried in. "Ooh, I knew you had good taste." She said appreciatively, rifling through the bags with one hand. "I can't really get in and out of the village these days, not since that joyless excuse for a Buddhist spread all those rumours about me." I hadn't heard about that. "I...look, I was in a poor state of mind and made a stupid decision. Instead of helping me, or at least turning me away quietly, she loudly kicked me out and told everyone what I did in the worst way she could. What kind of Buddhist is that?" I asked her slowly what she had actually said. Yamame looked at me balefully, like she really wished I hadn't. "I may have said that I wanted to join the temple because the humans with all of their worries looked delicious." She finally mumbled. I stared at her for a moment, then found myself laughing. It was just such a strange thing to do, even if the head monk had probably been a little justified in sending her away. "I- Look, it was a lapse of judgment, okay?" Still laughing, I pulled her into a hug. She stiffened for a moment, but relaxed before long. I'd long since made peace with the idea that she was a youkai. It was just a fact of nature.

Then, I heard the hacking cough from the other room. Yamame broke the kiss and pressed her head against my chest. "...You have no idea how much it pains me to say this." I sighed heavily, knowing exactly what it was. "...Oh, you should take her back to the Shrine." She leaned back and let out a long groan. "Ugh, that was hard to say." I slowly nodded, knowing I really didn't have a choice. Even so, I let my arms encircle Yamame's waist again and pull her back to me. She was a little on the thin side, I realised, and her hand looked like it was in a great deal of pain. I remembered that she'd been complaining about a lack of food when I'd first met her, and I asked her if she would be okay. "Eventually. Wounds from the Shrine Maiden always take time to heal. I...suspect that your clothes might take a little longer than I'd thought, now." I asked her if that meant I'd need to come back. "Ooh, now there's an idea. I'm definitely not done with you." She said with a wicked-looking smile. "Well, give it a few days. I think you're going to have your hands full for the moment." I told her that I'd be back as soon as I could. "Mhm." She smiled. "Now there's something to look forward to."

She pulled me away from the door and opened it. "Come on, I'll get your clothes. It'll be getting dark soon and I think you'll want our dear guest home by them." Reimu had managed to drag herself up into a sitting position, but she was shivering violently and was so pale that I could have mistaken her for a corpse. I slowly asked Yamame if she was sure that she hadn't gone too far. "W-Well, um, just get her warmed up? Look, I'm not exactly an expert in human immune systems." I tentatively stepped over and crouched down next to Reimu, who looked about a step from death's door. "Here's your-" I'd pulled Reimu up into my arms. I'd never been more thankful for all of Lady Kasen's training. Yamame held out my clothes, but I didn't think I'd be putting them on. I told her to try and lay them over Reimu, just for some protection against the elements. At that point, Reimu appeared to have passed out, so I could only hope she wouldn't die before I made it back to the Shrine. I told Yamame that I wanted to see her again. "You too." She murmured. "But sadly, not right now. You'd better go." I nodded sadly, but stepped out of the house, careful to keep Reimu's head from hitting the doorframe. Yamame poked her head out after me. "I won't be much help for now, not with these injuries, but..." She looked up, squinting. "Nai!" She yelled.

After a few moments, the girl I'd already been attacked by once dropped down from above. "Big Sister! The Shrine Maiden, she-" Then, Nai's eyes caught me, holding said Shrine Maiden in my arms. "Uh." Was all she managed.

"Nai, please escort them back to the surface. No trickery, or I'll be very upset with you."

"But, I- They-" Nai's hands were waving around ineffectually.

"Nai." Yamame's voice was stern, but I could hear some strain in it.

"I-I..." She finally looked down in defeat. "Yes, Big Sister..."

"Thank you, Nai." I looked over at Yamame, who smiled tiredly at me. "Until next time, Mr. Homewrecker."

Nai didn't waste any time. She refused to look at us, and I almost had to run at points to keep up with her. It was only when the light started creeping in and we reached the mouth of the tunnel that she spoke. "Our Big Sister likes you, so I'll let you off this time. Her," She nodded at the Shrine Maiden in my arms. "We do not like." She didn't wait for me to answer and was gone before I knew it. I turned looking out over the surface. It wasn't quite evening yet, but it was close.

>>44264626
it's lovely
the clothing slits are surprisingly lewd