/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"S-So, um...Is that fine?" Yamame asked me tentatively. I supposed that I was still curious as to how much she could do with the addition of the limbs, but it was enough for now. I told Yamame what I was about to do, then gently reached out and placed my hand on the tip of the claws, just to feel what it was like. Surprisingly, it was rather pleasant. I'd...probably played with a spider or two when I was young, but my memory in a lot of that department was still fairly fried, so I wasn't sure. I imagined that with smaller spiders, the claws would feel gentle, or perhaps a little ticklish. "Okay, I'm going to just..." She made a movement that was sort of like a shiver, and the limbs faded out of existence as if they'd never really been there. I waved my hand through the space they'd occupied and felt nothing. I looked back at Yamame, who smiled weakly at me, and I assured her that I was fine.

Potential relationship crisis dealt with, I remembered the reason the whole situation had even come about. There's been a loud crash, and the last time I'd heard that in Yamame's house, it was because Reimu was banging on the door and about to attack Yamame. This time, no one had come to knock on the door, which was good since it probably would have caused some problems. But still, I decided that I should probably go and see what it was, especially in case it had broken through the snow. "I suppose so...Be careful, okay?" Yamame told me, and a few minutes later, I was wrapping my coat around me and stepping outside of Yamame's warm house and into the cold of the tunnels. Winter had made them cold enough that I could see my breathe in the air, but Yamame had, in her wisdom, lined the coat thermally when she had made it, so even with the cold air, I felt warm enough to walk through the tunnels.

Once I started to get close to the cave entrance, I began to hear voices. "S'not my fault the damn surface can't control the weather." One voice, which sounded rusty and a bit dangerous. "If they don't want me to smash through, they shouldn't put snow there."

"Wouldn't you have done that even if it was rock?" That voice, I did recognize. I rounded the corner where I could see the light coming from, and was happy, as well as a little surprised that the wall of snow was gone. There were two figures standing where the snow had been. One was shorter, and was holding something over her shoulder, but the bright white outside the cave was turning the figures into nothing but silhouettes. "I like this entrance, though." That said, I'd recognize that particular hair anywhere. I called out, and both figures turned. "Oh, hey!" Kisami Kurodani called, waving at me. "No Yams with you? I'll have to give you all of her hugs and kisses instead, you know?" I got down the tunnel, and Kisami jumped at me just like always, throwing her arms around me and showering me with kisses while I tried to push her off and complained.

"Do you...Normally do this with humans?" The other girl asked. Once I'd finally gotten Kisami's hair out of the way, since that seemed like an easier task than the girl herself, I could see the other girl. I'd seen her before. Small, with white and bushy hair and two long, curling horns with blue horns tied to them. Over her shoulder was a massive...spoon. No, it had tines at the end, like a fork. A...foon. No, that sounded stupid. A spork. That sounded even stupider, but it would have to do. "You're an energetic person, aren't you?" She asked Kisami, who I'd finally managed to push away.

"Only with people I love embarrassing!" Kisami replied, spinning and pointing a finger at the smaller girl. "Maybe if you were a little bit nicer, I'd do it to you too!" She turned back to me. "Now, I'm going to go and embarrass Yams, then I'm coming back and kidnapping you, so don't you go anywhere!" She poked me in the chest, then took off back down the caves, leaving me with the other girl, who I had just recalled being one of the mob bosses that I'd seen at the aftermath of that party at the Shrine.

"Aren't you humans supposed to be afraid of youkai?" The girl asked me. I slowly said that things had sort of...Gotten out of control. "What if I got out of control right now and ate you up?" She asked me, licking her lips. I scratched my head and said that youkai tended to have a tough time biting me. Plus, my big sister Reimu would probably be pretty upset about it. "Hmm. Well, you don't have to be scared. I'd give you one good hit before eating you anyway." I resolved to never attack her.