/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Um, I'm actually getting a little bit warm." she said with a frown. When she tried to pull her coat off, we identified the major flaw in her plan to wear so many layers. She couldn't quite bend her arms around enough to pull the thing off. I asked her dryly if she needed a hand. "Nope. I've - I've got this." She grumbled. Finally, she did manage to get the coat off of one shoulder, but that seemed to be her limit, so I took pity on her at that point and pulled the rest off of her myself. She was wearing a very thick sweater underneath, along with a long skirt and tights. "There. That's better." She still seemed to be quite warm, though. After a moment, she rolled up the sleeves.

For a moment, Wakasagihime watched us. "Do I spy...?" She murmured narrowing her eyes. "Miss Yamame, please could you show me your hands? I won't bite, I promise." Yamame got that slightly self-conscious but pleased smile that she usually got when someone mentioned the ring, and she raised her hand. "Oh!" Wakasagihime exclaimed, her eyes positively sparkling. "Kagerou! Kagerou, look!" She waved the wolf over frantically.

"What? Hime, calm down." Kagerou asked with a frown, stepped over. "What's so...?" She looked more closely at Wakasagihime, and then at where she was looking. At the ring on Yamame's hand. "Ooh, that's really pretty." She commented, nodding approvingly.

"Pretty!? It's beautiful! It sparkles just right!" Wakasagihime cried sharply in response. She looked at me. "That's my stone, isn't it?" I nodded and thanked her for gifting it to me, since it had gone to very good use. The mermaid princess reached out and gently brought Yamame's hand closer so that she could look a little closer. "I didn't think it could look like that." She said quietly. "You have to stay and tell us, you know. There's no way I'm letting you leave. Neither will Kagerou." It almost sounded like a threat, except Kagerou looked like she was just as threatened as Yamame and I were.

"Oh, er, yeah. I'm really curious." Kagerou mumbled. "Do you want to sit down? I've got some sake." She lifted a bottle and several cups. "It's not much of a moon viewing, I know, but..." I smiled and took a cup from her. It wasn't like I'd ever needed much of an excuse to have a drink, anyway. Passing the other cups over to Wakasagihime and Yamame, who had to take it with her free hand since one was currently trapped in Wakasagihime's hand, I let Kagerou open and pour the bottle. "Was it - Well, romantic?" Kagerou asked me quietly and calmly, compared to the mermaid. Yes, I replied. I thought so, anyway, and Yamame seemed to have thought so, which was good enough for me. "Good, that's a relief. I was worried that you'd...I don't know, propose in Eientei." Dryly, I laughed and told her that I had thought of doing it right after falling off a roof, if that counted. "Somehow," Kagerou replied, taking a drink of her sake, "That doesn't surprise me."

No, I doubted it would be a surprise. Not when I'd been practically cooked by a Master Spark on Kagerou's first night knowing me, anyway.