/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Fortunately, the interview itself wasn't much to speak of. Shameimaru was pressing through from the start again, now that Yamame had given permission, so I'd tried to bring up Tenshi, only to find out that Shameimaru had already gotten agreements from most of the other key players involved in the Eientei Investigation. Somehow, I'd missed that, and I couldn't imagine how she'd convinced some of them, but her smug smile had told me that asking was not worth the effort. We'd gotten through the events leading up to my meeting with Lady Kasen and the beginning of the Eientei Investigation in earnest on my last few visits, and we were now reaching the part of the story where I'd gone back to Yamame's house after seeing the aftermath of the incident that had occurred in the previous Summer.

I suspected that Ki's incessant tapping of her foot against the floor, her crossed arms and hunched-over figure, and her unblinking stare at Shameimaru had eventually contributed to ending this particular interview early. At least, it seemed like it probably held some blame. Still, with a few words to Reimu - Who'd glanced at Kisami and deemed her an obsessed fanatic, which Kuro the cat had apparently agreed with given the way she was staring at Kisami - We were back on our way out.

Ki, brokering no arguments, had promptly wrapped her arms around me and launched straight into the sky, so I'd sighed and decided to simply hold on for dear life. Clearly, Ki knew exactly where we were going, because it was minutes later that we were touching down in front of the Ruined Mansion that the Prismriver sisters inhabited. I wasn't sure if Raiko Horikawa actually lived here or not, but it didn't seem relevant. "I've - I've never actually been inside..." Kisami suddenly admitted. "It's - Um, what if I embarrass myself? Or - You, or Yamame...?" Shrugging, I told her to just act like herself and she would probably be fine. "That's one of those things that's really easy to say and really hard to actually put into practice."

Well, practice made perfect, I replied, finally moving toward the doors. "Wait, I'm not ready - Oh..." Ki followed me, looking about as flustered as I'd ever seen her. I'd only been inside the Ruined Mansion once, and I'd earned a fast trip to Eientei for it. Still, I knew how things worked. If the sisters were feeling it, they might treat you to a little bit of a haunted house experience. This, I had somewhat hoped wouldn't happen, primarily because I knew that Kisami did not deal with sudden scares very well, which was evident in the way she'd somewhat timidly taken hold of the back of my coat and was sticking very close to me. Sadly, the darkness seemed to indicate that the sisters and Raiko were indeed in the mood for frights. "No, I'm fine..." She told me, looking very much not fine. "Wait, is that...Oh! That's - That's Lyrica's keyboard!" I could hear it in the distance somewhere. Next, from somewhere on the other side of the mansion, I could hear the haunting wail of Lunasa Prismriver's violin. The trumpets of Merlin Prismriver were coming from somewhere that I couldn't figure out at all.

Of course, Raiko Horikawa seemed to be keeping everything in time, the beat of her drum matching what I assumed was the pounding of Kisami's heart. She seemed to somehow match the beat of everything. Tentatively, I called out Raiko's name to try and ask her if we could speak, and what I was instead greeted with was a massive bolt of lightning slamming down to the ground right in front of me. It was enough to startle me, which meant that it was enough to send poor Kisami into a scream and have her pull me backwards at an intense speed. This - Her being a spider youkai - meant that she promptly dragged me into the nearest corner with all the strength that came with it, and I was left, half sitting and half standing, somewhat dazed, with Ki's arms wrapped around my neck and face. Somehow, it was a little less pleasant than it was when Yamame did it.

But then, after a moment of silence, something seemed to change. The beat had stopped, I realised.

The other instruments stopped a moment later, and then I heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Given that Ki's arms were over my eyes, I couldn't see until I'd managed to tap her enough to make her move them. She was breathing very heavily, and given the fact that my head was somewhat painfully shoved into her chest, I could hear her heart pounding. More than I could hear anything else, really. Still, she finally did move her arms a moment later, and I was treated to the sight of the slightly paler red hair of Raiko Horikawa, walking down the hallway toward us.