/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Um, sure, if I'm around." Yamame nodded. "I'll, er, do my best." She looked back at me. "So...We can leave, right?" I hoped so. It was a little bit worrying to have three tengu with very sharp weapons surrounding us, especially when they seemed to be itching for a chance to bring them out again.

"Yes. You may leave. I'll deal with this lot. Their overzealous tendencies cause a lot of problems. The waterfall's all but frozen over, you see. They can't stay there because it's too cold, so their restless behaviour spills out into this." She turned and dragged the other tengu together, then waved us off.

"I wonder if they're just bored." Yamame commented as we reached the mountain path. "It can't be fun being stuck on the mountain in the middle of Winter. Freezing cold, and they can't even admire the waterfall. I feel a little sorry for them." Inubashiri could probably hear her, I replied. At that, Yamame squeaked and shut up. After a few silent moments where the only sounds were the wind and the crunch of snow beneath our feet, Yamame spoke up again. "Can I carry you? I'll be gentle." She asked me. I looked at the long path down to the human village, then just double checked that she wasn't going to fall asleep on me mid-flight. "I've never done that in my life!" She told me indignantly. "Wouldn't be much of a youkai if I did." I thought about it, then nodded. Walking the rest of the way seemed exhausting. "Oh, good." Yamame sighed in relief. Then, she got behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist, low enough that I wouldn't be carrying it all on my chest. Carrying method resolved, she took to the air and launched us off of the mountain, right as I started to see the snow swirling around us.

And about five minutes later, we were back home. It would have been another half an hour to an hour on foot. "Urgh, I hate Winter." Yamame moaned, throwing her coat over the pegs by the door. "Going outside makes me all stiff and cold, like I'm going to shut down." At least she hadn't done that in mid-air. "Oh, shut up. You run so hot that It'll never happen if I'm holding you." That was...adorable. "Snake." She muttered. "What does that letter say?" I blinked, then reached into my pocket and pulled it out. I'd almost forgot. The seal was wax, and bore an insignia that I didn't recognize, but presumed was some sort of tengu thing. "Probably." Yamame filled me in. "I know the stuff we got from the tengu when we were building for them had something similar. We were working for the crows, though. I don't recognize this one, but I guess it might be the white wolves?" I supposed so. I broke the seal and opened the envelope. The piece of paper that I slipped out was thick and heavy, though it felt very smooth to the touch. "High quality paper." Yamame commented. "They must really feel sorry. I wonder if any human in history has ever received an apology letter from the tengu?"

The letter was indeed from the daitengu of the white wolves. Dearest human, it began. I guessed that they didn't remember my name, but they did remember what I looked like, so I supposed that was something. The letter went on to extend the official apologies of the white wolf tengu for my kidnapping from the Rainbow Dragon Cave. Apparently, the tengu who'd found me hadn't been acting under any official orders, and the False Heaven Shelf wasn't officially their territory anyway, though they usually considered it to be. I was assured that they were being punished for their actions, which made me wince. Overall, the one in charge of them, who I'd been calling Miss Short-One, had been fairly more understanding than the others, and she'd made the decision to bring me to Iizunamaru. Either way, the letter again expressed apologies, told me that I'd be owed a favour personally from the white wolf daitengu, and finished with her name.

"Well, that's...Nice of them. A favour? Wow." Yamame commented, peering over my shoulder. I looked down and couldn't see her feet behind me, which probably meant that she was floating a little bit away from the ground. "Now, I'm certain that no human's ever gotten a favour from a daitengu. You'd best keep that letter safe." I nodded and slipped it into my pocket again, then took off my coat and hung it next to the door. "Are you cold?" I nodded. "Yeah, me too. And it's snowing again. Wonderful." She sighed and shook her head. "Tired, too. Definitely not enough sleep today. You want a nap?" I opened my mouth. "Just a nap. For - Actually, for most of the day. I'll need a lot of sleep before I'm ready to do anything." That, I could work with. I liked cuddling post-moult Yamame even more than pre-moult Yamame, too. She was so soft, and she was apparently very pleased with how warm I was.

So, off to bed we went. For the next few days.