/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"You know what this means, though?" What? "Materials~!" She said in a sing-song voice. "I mean, I'll do it without really charging you like I do my other clients, but you've still got pony up the materials with me if you want this done. Luckily, we won't need much. Just more gold, so I hope you're ready for a fun-filled trip to the mines!" Somewhat dryly, I reminded her how our last trip to the mines had gone. "Yes, but this time, you've got an official apology from the white wolf tengu, so I wouldn't worry about that." She knew about that? "Well, obviously. Yams told me. Plus, she also told me that you found that funny little card you need to get into the lower areas, so you don't have to worry about that, either." I supposed that was true, even if I wasn't exactly looking forward to getting to the mines again. "Oh, relax. It went fine last time! All the problems happened after we got to the mines, and even that girl in the mines was nice enough to let me through with only one little duel!" In a tight space like the mine? That sounded...dangerous. "Oh, you're just panicking for no reason. C'mon, we can go right now!"

"Er, Ki?" Yamame asked, making her elder sister blink and look over at her. "Are you sure about this?" I frowned and stepped over to Yamame. "I really don't think I want to go wandering around in some weird mines." She told me. Shrugging, I offered to go with Kisami myself. "You'd do that? I mean, I don't really want you down there either..." I had the card, though. "Yes, but still..." But it was important for the ring that we both wanted, and I trusted Kisami enough to know that she could keep my safe. Despite that, Yamame still didn't look very convinced. I didn't really blame her, but most of the problems on the last trip had been from the tengu, and I didn't think there'd be anything like that this time around.

"Yams, if you don't want to come, it's fine." Ki spoke up. "In fact, you could go and meet your other sisters. The ones who spend all their time bullying me." I assumed that by that, she meant Reiko, Yura, Ruka and Nai, and her definition of bullying was more that they wouldn't let her treat them like they were still actual children. "I, er, may have sent them to the usual place."

"The usual - Oh, Ki, you didn't?" The usual place? "A spot in the caves that we all used to use." Yamame told me, a bit of a frown on her face.

Use for what? "Oh, er...Just to hang out, I guess? It was just...Our little spot. Like a random alleyway or something like that." Yamame scratched her head. "Reiko, Yura, Ruka and I used it after Ki showed us how to get there. We eventually brought Nai along, and a couple others, but we all stopped after a while. Not for any particular reason, we just didn't seem to have the time." I vaguely nodded, though I wasn't all that sure on what the whole thing was about. I supposed it was because I'd never really had that. Or maybe I had, and I'd just forgotten. It was hard to know, these days. "The only problem, Kisami, is that it's a little bit close to-"

"Yes, yes, I know!" Kisami replied sharply, ducking her head. "I didn't really think about it, sorry! They asked where to meet you, so I just said there! I mean, with the hot springs work done, we can't use that building anymore and the oni would get mad if a bunch of us showed up there right after finishing all of the work, so..." She trailed off and shook her head. "Look, I-I'm sure it'll be fine. What are the odds, right?" That sort of sentence set off all sorts of alarms in my head. The odds of what? "Um, I don't suppose you can just ignore that bit...?" Probably not, I replied dryly.

"W-Well, um...Hey, so we'd best get going while it's still daylight, right? I mean, time's wasting and-" Ki, I said insistently. "Oh...Fine. It's not far from where our dear old mum lives, and she definitely knew about it." I looked over at Yamame, who squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "Y-Yeah, it's, uh...Well, she was always a bit too overbearing. Yams is worried that she might just so happen to find out that everyone's there."

Everything I was hearing about Akiru Kurodani was make me very confused. How bad could she really be? "For you...Well, you might be fine, since you're so head-over-heels for Yams. Actually, she might think that means you need your resolve tested even more. Look, just keep your wits about you if you meet her." Ki was silent for a moment. "Anyway, this is all supposing you even meet her, and Yams, I really doubt it. She's got no reason to suspect you're going to be there, and you're the one she's really dying to see." Ki raised her arms in a shrug.