/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46885711

Lunch had passed by quickly, Sanae and Hana had eaten with the other miko’s of the shrine shortly after landing. Both of their appetites had been stoked by the flight over, and the smells coming from the large kitchen; part a large building the Moriyans commissioned the Kappa to build long ago. It was where the mikos in training practiced everything but danmaku, and some of the more devoted even lived there as a second home. Till now, Hana had little reason to ever visit the interior, preferring to visit the real residents of the mountain directly.

Hana did like how convenient the kitchen was, the metallic stoves had the mark of Kappa tech. The sinks on the walls were able to run water through them, and the electric bulbs on the ceiling made it bright and welcoming. The building was even perfectly warm, it was like the outside didn’t even exist in here; certainly, it was luxurious and all that, and everyone was smiling and happy as they sat around long the long wooden tables for lunch.

However, there was something missing… Something that Hana couldn’t put her finger on. She dug into the meal in front of her, a ‘set c’ meal as Sanae called it, part of three other sets that were swapped out every now and then. Hana couldn’t help but feel that something was just a little off about the expertly made fish dish she nibbled on, perhaps it was just in her head? The old couple that worked the kitchen were certainly nice to her, they even snuck in a serving of pudding onto her tray.

Was it how Sanae seemed to rush her into that building? How the mikos all seemed like copies of each other, they all village girls around her age or younger, often sporting some kind of styled hair clips and ties that looked like stylized frogs, snakes, thunder bolts, and so on. Their faces were almost all blemish free and full of smiles when they saw Sanae, their uniforms were nicely pressed and well maintained, all of their goheis were adorned with little drawings and cutesy clip-on figurines.

Perhaps what made Hana feel off was how everyone seemed to know her name and spoke plainly, as if they were old friends. Sanae’s apologetic glances as Hana shook hands and endured hugs told the miko everything she needed to know about how they got their information. Hana nodded along and tried being polite, but everyone kept treating her way too comfortably, even giving her little nicknames like Hachan, Nana… or ‘Ana…

Finally, as they sat together, Sanae at one hand happily nibbling on her food, and seemingly every miko at the shrine crowded to her other did the living goddess speak. She commanded the attention of the girls around them naturally, giving Hana some desperately needed breathing room. With a breezy tone somehow free of Sanae’s more playful mannerisms she addressed the girls, “Like I said, you’ll have to ask Hana-chan about details of her work directly. It’s improper to speak of others~!”

Hana could practically hear the wink Sanae made, she could’ve sworn a small danmaku star shot out on cue. The girl she was talking to, one of the tan-haired older miko sporting a pin almost exactly like Sanae’s, if Hana remembered right her name was Sayori. Sayori pouted as she whined, “That’s no fair! The other day you were telling us all about how strong she is! That she already made her own spell card, and can handle the dangerous requests you don’t let us go on!”

She what…? Hana looked at Sayori up and down, she was around the same age as Hana, though maybe a year or so younger or so if she had to guess. Sayori was dressed in the blue and white miko’s outfit that seemed to be uniform here, though everyone’s was stylized to be notably different, hers seemed to much more ‘proper’; looking the most like Sanae’s own winterized hakama. Out of the gaggle of girls numbering a bit over a dozen Sayori seemed to be in the oldest age group, with most of the girls being her junior.

She looked reliable, she was more than old enough, and despite how childish she acted there didn’t seem to be a hair out of place; even her gohei seemed well maintained and its paper was starch-white. By all means she seemed well put together and smart, Sanae is a great teacher even if she does get side tracked, so she should know plenty about taking down youkai. It’s not like Hana hit the sky flapping by any means, but channeling magic and the divine powers into a youkai till they pop, or pummeling them with a gohei till they beg for mercy is youkai extermination 101.

A look of embarrassment crossed Sanae’s face, but she rallied herself and with a straight face managed to say, “That was merely for education, after all; thanks to my information you know all about your biggest rival as a miko and Moriyan.” Sanae glanced at Hana and winked, “After all, even if you’re the best at danmaku and team leader, it might just not be enough~”