/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I stumbled numbly to a corner and collapsed, holding my head in my hands. It was okay, I thought. Breathe deeply, like Lady Kasen taught me. In, and out. In, and out.

The wait was even more agonizing, but eventually, the door opened. "Oh, for - Seriously!?" I looked up in hope and relief. And there was Reimu Hakurei, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She turned back to Kotohime, who was walking in behind her. "You know you can't keep doing this." She told the redhead. "It's about ten different kinds of wrong. If you've got problems, come to me."

"He was a suspicious character!" Kotohime replied sharply. "I can handle suspicious characters!"

"He's under my protection. Open it up." Reimu, my saviour, told Kotohime, who scowled herself, but did open the cell. I rushed out, wrapped my arms around Reimu, and tried not to burst into tears. "Y-Yes, it's, uh, fine. Come on, let's get you out of here." She led me out of the room, then out of the building and into the fresh air. The sun was sinking in the sky, casting a strange blue sheen to everything. "I'm telling you this for the last time, Kotohime. Stop trying to arrest people yourself!" Kotohime didn't respond, and instead stormed inside, slamming the door behind her. Reimu sighed heavily, then turned to me. "Come on, let's...have a chat." She led me toward a small green area, the grass not quite finished withering under Winter's touch. There was a bench there, so Reimu sat down and invited me to join her. I did, feeling like I'd tried to climb the mountain in one go.

"Yamame found me." Reimu said, looking down at her clasped hands. "Worried sick, as you might imagine. She couldn't find you anywhere. I managed to calm her down and told her that I'd have you back before sundown, which I've managed." She gave me a thin smile, but I didn't manage to return it. "So, I assume you have questions." I asked her just what the hell had happened. "That was...A scar. Like you. Like plenty of others that night. She's one of the pieces of scar tissue left by that youkai attack that took your parents." Reimu's voice was serious, and I wondered just what I'd stumbled into. "The attack happened, and she lost her parents too. Not to youkai, but to the fires that they started. But unlike you, she was taken in by her grandparents. They treated her like the princess that her name suggests, but the attack did an even bigger number on her mind than it did on you. She thinks that she's a police officer. I think she got the term from one of the outside world books in Suzunaan, but it's why she acts...Like that."

I stared at Reimu, then shivered. "That night was bad. It's why the Spell Card Rules were invented. It's why we don't tolerate youkai trying to disturb the balance. She acts the way she does because...Well, I think it's because it lets her feel like she's in control." I sighed heavily and dropped my face into my hands. "Try not to blame her." Reimu told me quietly. "She can't help it. I've had to come and free poor trapped villagers from her before, and I think her grandparents indulge her a little too much, but that's not my place, and she's fairly quiet otherwise." Did Reimu try and protect her, like she had with me? "No. Not really. You were a special case, and she's naturally strong. It's not real youkai she has to worry about. It's the monsters in her own head." I'd thought it fairly funny when she'd first accosted me, but I hadn't expected an outcome like this. Was she older than I thought? "She was a young teenager when the attack happened, but I'd met her before that. There was a race, a long time ago. Most of us participating were little more than kids. She was involved, but she didn't win. Neither did I, actually. The girl who won was...Uh..." Reimu frowned and scratched her head. "Elly? Eren? Something like that."

After a few moments, Reimu pulled me to my feet. "I'd better get you back to Yamame before she has a panic attack or something. Just...Try to put that behind you." I'd do my best, I told Reimu. It'd just join all the other bad things that I'd need to talk to Eirin about at some point. "...Great." Reimu told me, but she didn't sound all too happy about it. We set back off through the village, and I took solace in being in the fresh air again.

And when Yamame, waiting by the café, caught sight of me and tackled me to the ground in the tightest hug I'd ever had, tears streaming down her face, I felt a little better.