/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Then, she started coughing. A high-pitched, childish sound. "Sakuya!" She cried. "It's too hot!" Her voice, too. Was this really someone who could have brought together the incident that killed my parents?

"Are you quite certain, Mistress? The temperature should be-" Sakuya's voice sounded a little confused.

"Not the temperature, Sakuya! The spice!" Remilia Scarlet was whining. "It's too spicy!" She grabbed one of the napkins and gave it to Sakuya, who...Took care of it, somehow. I didn't really want to know. "Why did you bring me this half of a napkin? What am I supposed to do with half a napkin?"

"You said to bring you fourteen and a half napkins. I arranged them, look." Sakuya indicated the remaining napkins, which had apparently folded themselves into very complex shapes in the space of a split second.

"That's - Very...Interesting, Sakuya, but how am I supposed to use them for their intended purpose when they're all supporting each other's weight? I was exaggerating, you know?" Now, she just sounded confused. Probably about as confused as I felt, watching the whole exchange. "It's not a very useful design, is it?"

"Rather, mistress, I think it's a rather avant-garde design." I didn't know what that meant, but it looked like Reimu was getting sick of standing around.

"So, you snuck all of my food out just so you could complain about it?" She asked, stalking forward with her arms crossed. "And you didn't even bother with the alcohol? What kind of maid are you?" Remilia and Sakuya turned to look at Reimu.

"Ah, Reimu!" Remilia exclaimed, hopping to her feet. As I'd thought, she was tiny. Barely up to Reimu's waist, I thought. "I'm sure you're glad that I've graced your party tonight. It's quite the honour, is it not?" She had dropped her voice lower, something which I could approximate to a child's concept of a charismatic and charming voice. "I do apologize, but it seems that Sakuya here was unable to locate any wine amongst your collection. As such, I've brought my own." She raised a glass which contained a dark red liquid. "Now, you've been avoiding me, haven't you?"

"Didn't see you making any effort either." Reimu muttered in response. "It didn't rain every day."

"Wh- Yes, but-" Ah, there it was. I knew it couldn't last forever. "You were - I mean, there was a human, and - Wait, it's him!" She cried, pointing at me. Now, I felt put on the spot. "Hello, you interesting little human. I am the Eternally Young Scarlet Devil, Remilia Scarlet." I think I was supposed to be impressed, but I managed to keep myself calm and introduce myself in turn. "You have been keeping my favourite Shrine Maiden from me. Tell me, are you the one she calls her brother now?"

"Wait, how do you-?" Reimu tried to ask.

"There's nothing you know that I don't know, Reimu." Remilia told her haughtily.

"How do you perform a Cogon Grass Ring ritual?" Reimu asked dryly and without a moment's hesitation. I got the feeling that it was the sort of thing that she'd failed to respond to in the past and was determined to bite back with tonight.

Remilia stared at her with a smug smile. Then continued staring. The moment stretched into two which collected into a third. "Sakuya?" She suddenly asked casually.

The maid, who'd been re-arranging the napkins a second time, suddenly jumped. It was about the most emotion I'd ever seen her display. She muttered something under her breath, then looked between everyone. "U-Um, Reimu, why don't you tell us more about this brother of yours?" Everyone involved knew that Reimu had won that little exchange.

As I sat down opposite Remilia Scarlet, I thought that she was nothing like I'd expected.

It looked like it was going to be a long night.