/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Er, well..." But really, what answer could she give? "My - Er, my human, he was something worth changing for." She finally said. She hadn't really put it all into words before. At least, not like this. "Just - Just kind. He was kind, and I tried to be kind back. He's been through a lot of youkai trauma, and the fact that he still thought of me, even though it nearly killed him - It just...He's the kind of person who brings out the best in people." The words left her feeling quite warm inside.

"You love Miss Ibaraki, don't you?" Yamame asked. "Isn't she worth the pain?" Yamame might not have her humans' knack for solving other people's problems, but she could try her best. "I thought about it every day. Every moment where I was tapping my legs constantly because I had a craving, I thought about what I'd be losing." It was true, and it had gotten her through several days of frustration. “And I knew that he was trying his hardest too, to get over his own trauma. I couldn’t let him down like that.”

Raki stared at her. "I...Yeah. I do love her." The arm nodded. "She's me, after all, and I'm her. I don't think I can go back to being sealed. Not like that - Not...Not again." She shook her head. "I didn't think about what I'd be doing to not just your human but...To you, Kurodani. That's the sort of thing I'm trying to change, I think." She drew in a shaky breath. "Maybe I haven't earnt your forgiveness."

Yamame felt several thoughts go through her mind, then settled on one particular thought. The sort of thing that she thought her human would do in this situation. "Nothing to forgive." She murmured. That was hard to say. Truthfully, she still felt a slight desire to load the arm up to the gills with diseases, but it wasn't what her human would want, and it wasn't what she should do. "You didn't manage to do anything, and you know that what you were planning was wrong." She shook her head. "You're just going to have to try harder, aren't you? That's how you succeed. It's just a long time spent trying your hardest." She did something she hadn't planned on upon entering the room. She opened her arms. "But if you want a gesture, then...?" When she'd first met Ibaraki-douji, both sides of her, she'd been a bit star struck. Seeing one of them full of regret and beating herself up was a good way to cure that.

Raki stared at her for a moment. Then, slowly, awkwardly, she stepped forward and awkwardly wrapped her arms around Yamame. "Is this, um, right, Kurodani?" She asked hesitantly. "The only other person I've hugged in a thousand years was my partner." She squeezed a little too tight, Yamame supposed, but it wasn't awful. She was trying, at least. You only got better from trying.

"It's fine. Just, er, remember that non-oni can't take the level of squeezing." Yamame wheezed, then breathed in gratefully when Raki released her. "And, um, you can call me Yamame, if you want." Honestly, she was starting to get it. The whole helping people thing was quite gratifying when you pulled it off correctly. "Are you okay, then?"

"Well..." Raki trailed off. "No, but...Maybe I will be. Eventually." She nodded and turned back to the balcony. "Oh, the toilets are down there." She pointed in a direction that Yamame had walked through at least three times, so Yamame thanked her without a fuss and stepped back out of the room.

And then she decided that her human was getting a nice, long kiss, right in front of everyone. He didn't even know what he'd done, but he'd helped her find the words to say to Raki through his own actions. Kisami's comments be damned, she'd show him her appreciation.

I thought the stack song wasn't very good but I do like arm-chan