/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"My master's current business is somewhat private business, so I'm afraid that I must refrain from explaining at this time. Suffice to say, my master is currently indisposed and delegated her work to me in her stead." I asked Ran if that meant that Hearn usually handled these Shrine visits. "No, it's always-" She began, then realised what she was saying and clamped her mouth shut. I felt a wide grin threaten to split my face open at catching her out. "Urgh." Ran muttered, rubbing her forehead. "Certain tasks, my master finds, are best left to my discretion, and of those tasks, some do I then further delegate to Chen."

Speaking of Chen, I wondered what the small shikigami was doing. "Reimu must be consulted on Shrine maintenance, and she will report back to me once she is done." Ran made it sound like that was all there was to it, but I had a feeling that Ran had a second reason for sending her out of the room. "Chen is still young." Ran said, sipping at her tea again. "She is maturing quickly, but I still feel that some things must be kept from her for her healthy development." Ran gave me a pointed look. "Such as the specifics of the Eientei Investigation, including any gory details." She certainly seemed to care a lot about Chen. I remembered the way that Hearn had spoken of Ran, and it hadn't had quite the same sort of warmth to it. "Chen is my charge, and I intend to raise her well." Ran told me, and I nodded understandingly. I was about to ask her what she wanted to know, when I started to hear some faint shouting from outside. I caught a slight flick from Ran's hat, which further proved my theory that there were the ears of a fox underneath, and Ran looked over at me. "It appears that Chen has run afoul of the local komainu." She told me gravely. "I knew they should have built a fox instead."

That would be Aunn, I realised. In fact, it could possibly be both Aunns, which could be bad. I looked up at Ran and said that Aunn was probably feeling territorial, but she was kind-hearted and I doubted that she would do any real harm. Ran didn't look entirely convinced, but the shouting soon stopped, so I assumed that someone - Probably Yamame - had resolved the problem.

I would like to know all the pertinent details that have happened since your last visit to us." In Australia? The mention caused Ran to look away with some annoyance. "So hot." She muttered under her breath, and I agreed wholeheartedly, though it had been breathtaking in a way that few places in the valley or the village could. "Perhaps to you, who got to sit and look out of the balcony with the air conditioning running instead of overseeing the cooking of your meals in that furnace of a kitchen." Suddenly I felt like I'd said something wrong, and Ran looked a little more annoyed than she had before. I supposed that she might have been annoyed because she'd wanted to relax like Hearn had, but hadn't been allowed to. And, of course, Hearn had eaten - or at least, appeared to have eaten - human flesh, rather disturbingly, so I couldn't imagine getting that meal cooked in a busy kitchen full of other humans could have been easy.

"Never mind. The deed is done. Now, explain to me what happened in regards to Eientei in the time since Australia." Ran's voice had taken on that slightly more clinical, cold tone that it had been in the beginning. "Every detail." She told me, tilting her head downward slightly and favouring me with her sharp eyes. "I already know that you had a meeting with Eirin Yagokoro in Eientei, and you had another one more recently. You may gloss over the exact details if you feel they are too personal, but I want to know the details in at least broad strokes."

I hoped Yamame was having a better time than me.


Yamame was having a rather boring time of it. She knew her human had meant well, but Reimu was still off doing who-knows-what with that ex-celestial, and as a result, she was just...sitting. At the back of the Hakurei Shrine. Where the main blessings were youkai extermination. What a strange situation. And yet, it was still fairly comfortable. It was chilly, but the sun still shone done pleasantly, even if Yamame's body could handle the cold just fine. She'd gotten dressed and cleaned up while her human had been cleaning the courtyard, so it wasn't as if she was just wearing a kimono either. Just as long as that silly man didn't try and carry her off somewhere even stranger than the Hakurei Shrine.