/jp/ - Otaku Culture

As was something else. That strange feeling, again. I couldn't tell what it was, but it felt like it was constricting my heart. It wasn't a panic attack, but it was certainly something.

I needed to wash Reimu's hair. Additionally, the rest of her. That, I decided, could be her job. I would handle the bits that she couldn't reach, or as she had claimed, she was too weak to reach. I asked her if she had any preferred methods for washing her hair. I knew that there were plenty of ways, and I imagined that the youkai population probably had even more. "I've got both." Reimu said, looking over to a corner where the toiletries sat. "Rice water is more traditional, but after enough of it fell into Gensokyo from the outside world, the kappa began to produce regular soaps. She pointed out a pot. "There's camellia oil in there." I'd heard of it, but never used it. "It's like anything else, really. You just rub it into the hair. Makes it shiny." Reimu's hair was very shiny, so I wasn't too surprised to hear that she was using it. I decided to stick with traditional, because it seemed like it just fit Reimu more. She shrugged. "Sure. You have to wait for the hair to dry before you use the camellia oil anyway."

This was a more specific task, and it made me feel a little more settled. I felt like that strange feeling was fading slightly as I retrieved a small bucket and filled it with water from the ofuro. I turned and sat back down behind Reimu, now wondering how I would go about keeping myself dry. Reimu looked back at me with an eyebrow raised. "I told you to take those off." She nodded down at my clothes. "They'll just get soaked." Now, I was starting to feel like I had no choice.

I told Reimu to stay facing forward, then I turned away from her and pulled the rest of my clothes off. I could feel that constricting feeling in my heart again, even harder this time. I almost stopped, but I knew that I would have an even harder time explaining that, so I grabbed the first towel I could find and wrapped it tightly around my waist. I took a deep breath, then turned back. Reimu had seemingly done what I said, because she asked me if I was ready as I took a seat behind her.

I dipped a finger in the water I had pulled from the ofuro to check if it was too hot, then told Reimu that I was starting. She nodded, then decided to make things easier for me by leaning backwards slightly, though this meant she pushed herself back slightly more on the stool. Slowly, I began to pour the water across Reimu's hair. She let out a slightly shuddering gasp as the water hit her, then relaxed against my chest. I found it slightly less pleasing, because the water cooled somewhat quickly and was slightly uncomfortable, so I took Reimu's shoulders and sat her back up straight. I began again, stopping to push Reimu's dark hair over her ears so that the water could run through it easily. I repeated this until Reimu's hair was soaked through, and when she turned back to look at me with her hair hanging in thick strands across her face, I found myself stifling a laugh. She looked almost like an evil spirit. I took a clean bowl and filled it with the rice water that had been fermenting in the bathroom for the last two days. Now, I gently laid my hand on Reimu's jaw and tilted her head back. I pulled as much of the hair as I could back, so it was all falling the same way. I told her to close her eyes, then began to pour the rice water across her scalp. This water was cooler, and I heard her take a hissed breath through gritted teeth. I tried to shift myself back slightly so it wasn't all hitting me, but it didn't work quite so well. After I'd poured enough water on to cover all of Reimu's hair, I began to massage the rice water into the roots with my fingers.