/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Okay." Yamame mumbled, her arm wrapped tightly around mine despite the thick and fur-lined coat she was wearing. Given that she'd refused to walk on the ground until we'd reached the village and had floated above the snow, it had been a very awkward position to walk in. "I'm going to see this through, but please don't get too upset if I complain the entire way." I supposed I could handle that. It wasn't like I ever got tired of listening to Yamame's voice. "G-Good. So, why is it so cold!?" She cried, her teeth chattering the whole way. "It's freezing! I can practically feel my limbs slowing down already, and we're only barely in the village." I did have to ask her to complain a little bit quieter once we were in the village, since I didn't really want everyone watching me and the shouty blonde girl walking down the street. At least she'd deigned to walk on the ground instead of floating now, since the snow was much more compact, and you didn't have to practically wade through it. "And the snow - Why does it have to snow so much? I'm sure it didn't snow this much in the past. Maybe that's an incident?" I rolled my eyes and replied by saying that if it was an incident, I was fairly certain that Reimu would have done something about it by now. "She's in on it." Yamame muttered, forcing me to stifle a laugh.

Finally, we reached the café and stepped inside gratefully. It was warmer inside, with the wind outside kept away and the heat from the grills that the old man cooked the food on permeating the place and seeping into our bones. "Oh, finally!" I saw Reimu had already arrived and was practically sprawled over a table, a cup of tea in front of her and an empty plate next to it. She'd taken to wearing her long scarf, a "Thought you'd never show up." I sighed and said that it had just taken a little bit longer than I'd expected. In truth, I'd tossed Yamame over my shoulder and physically carried her to the entrance to the cave, but I didn't feel like saying that part. She'd obviously let me, too, because she could have gotten out of it in plenty of ways, so I assumed that it was just a last-minute half-hearted attempt to not go outside. "Alright, well...You're here now. Do you want to stay here for a bit, or just get it over with?" After a moment, I decided that I should probably not stall any longer, or I'd end up never getting the courage together at all. "...Okay." Reimu said, getting to her feet and stepping over to us.

"Hey!" Over by the kitchen, Oseki was stomping out, holding her tray and with a frown. "Reimu, you're not thinking of not paying, are you?" Reimu froze and grimaced, then slowly turned around sheepishly. "You can solve all the incidents you want, but you still have to pay for your meals." Oseki told her. It was quite funny, I thought, to see this human waitress admonishing the big, bad Shrine Maiden, but finally, Reimu did pull the money out and hand it over. "Honestly, trying to dine and dash on a bill that small?" Reimu let out a sort of groaning noise, then shook her head and said that she'd just been talking to me, so it was really no big deal. "Hmm..." Oseki hummed. "Alright, fine. I'll let you off. This time."

She then turned her gaze to me. "You don't come in very much anymore, you know." I ducked my head and apologized. I still wanted to, but it was hard to find the opportunity sometimes. "Ah, speaking of..." She rummaged around in the pocket of her apron and pulled out a note. "Kagerou left this." She handed it over to me. "She said she wanted you and Yamame to come along to the next Grassroots Youkai Network meeting." I nodded and pocketed it, then paused. She knew about those? "Huh? E-Er, yes...? Kagerou and H - I mean, Kagerou told me. When she was working here for that bet. Yep, then and there. Nowhere else." Well, I replied. That sounded reasonable enough. They did seem to know each other, anyway. Oseki stared at me. "How do you not - No, um, yeah. That's why. Well, I'd best get back to work, so..." And she turned and disappeared straight into the kitchens.
"The hell? 'Seki, don' just barge in on me like that, ye damn near scared the soul outta me." There was the old man, working away.

"Alright, let's just get out of here before she tries to charge me any more." Reimu finally said, turning and pushing me in the direction of the door. Yamame followed outside, and then stopped me for a moment.

"What does that note say?" She asked, peering down at it. I unfolded it, wondering just when Kagerou had managed to give Oseki the piece of paper considering she didn't live in the village.