/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Oh, er, yes, you too." Yamame mumbled, managing to bow in return. "So, um, you two met in the past?" She asked. After a moment, the dots connected in my head and I reminded Yamame that I had told her of some of my less successful dates once. "You did?" She asked blankly. Slowly, realisation bloomed. "Oh! You did!" She shook her head, then bowed again properly. "Um, sorry about that." She said to Miss Narumi, who waved a hand in dismissal.

"No, no, it's my fault. I shouldn't have acted so overly familiar. I'm happy enough knowing he didn't actually die." Miss Narumi was still looking at Yamame. "If you don't mind me saying, I really love your outfit, Miss Yamame. You're so pretty!"

This time, Yamame did blush scarlet and no amount of looking at the ground could hide it. "N-No, it's, um, just-" Yamame, I whispered. Just accept the compliment. "Um, thank you."

Finally, I felt a shiver coming over me from the rain. "Oh, it's just awful out today, isn't it?" Miss Narumi said to me. "I almost reconsidered coming to the village to shop, but I felt like I needed to come today." She beamed at me. "And I was right! I'm really glad that I ran into you again!" I was glad too, actually, because I felt like I'd never gotten proper closure when it came to Miss Narumi. We'd gotten along fairly well on our date, even with the messy ending, and I'd half wondered if there could have been something there...

But I looked over at Yamame and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and as I flipped her scarf back up into her face, I knew that I was more than happy with the way things had worked out instead. Miss Narumi looked between the two of us, and realisation bloomed across her face. "Ah..." She nodded knowingly. "I'm happy that you're doing so well." A strong gust of wind blew between us all, and I realised that we were still loitering outside of Suzunaan. "Ah, I'd better get going before the rain gets worse. I'll put you in my prayers!" She stepped past us, waved and bowed, and soon, she was off, headed down the street.

"She was nice." Yamame said to me. I nodded and said that she had been one of the few dates I had been on where I hadn't been told to stay away from whoever I went on the date with. "But you didn't see her again?" Yamame asked me, looking at me closer. I shook my head and said that after everything else that happened, I'd never gotten a chance. For a split second, I thought that Yamame looked a little conflicted, so I pressed a kiss against her forehead and told her that I was absolutely happy to be with her. "Y-Yes, it's just, um..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "Sorry, I just...felt a little possessive." I told her not to worry, because I didn't want to be with anyone else. After a moment, she finally nodded.

We stepped into Suzunaan, which was empty, dimly lit, and smelt like the rich scent of books. I heard a noise from somewhere behind some bookshelves. "Miss Yatadera, is that you? Can I help-" The girl poked her head out from behind a bookshelf, a jingling sound following her. Her hair was a bright orange, almost like a fire, and she wore large, round glasses that made her eyes look big and curious at all times. A large apron hung from her neck and tied around her waist, declaring that she was an employee of Suzunaan. I knew her as Miss Kosuzu, the only daughter of the old couple that had ran the store themselves in years gone past, and who had put their young daughter to work so that they could better enjoy their years. It turned out to be a rather good idea on their part, because Miss Kosuzu was outgoing, friendly, and somehow had increased the number of books stocked at Suzunaan by a large number since she had began working there. No one in the village was quite sure how she did it, but everyone was eager to shop there, especially after she started selling the Bunbunmaru newspaper and Agatha Chris Q's novels. "Oh, I haven't seen you in a long time!" I had been a bit of a regular at Suzunaan, but I hadn't been able to visit since shortly before the whole Eientei Investigation had started. "Wow, I like your coat!" Miss Kosuzu said to me.