/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Inubashiri, apparently, didn't seem to care much. "I recognized him. Shameimaru's been bugging me all month about spotting him." If this was about her interview- At that, all three swords twitched upward, and I quickly grabbed Yamame's arms before she could try and attack. "Stand down!" Inubashiri barked. After a moment, the swords lowered. "As I was saying, Shameimaru's been nagging me about him. Apparently, her daitengu gave her orders to give our daitengu order to give us order about delivering something to him." She reached between her detached sleeves and into her vest, then withdrew a sealed letter.

"Inubashiri, you can't seriously be acting on Shameimaru's orders! She's-" This was a different tengu to the one that had been speaking to Yamame. I hadn't gotten a look, but now that I turned, I saw that, unlike every tengu I'd met, this was a man. He was taller than the others, but looked fairly thin. His face was rather chiselled-looking, and his red eyes were even more piercing than most I'd met. His hair was just as shaggy as Inubashiri's, but a little shorter, only coming down to his chin.

"I'm not acting on her orders!" Inubashiri replied sharply. "You couldn't get me to act on her orders with a knife at my throat. No, I'm acting on our boss's orders. Do you want to take it up with her?" That got the male tengu to back off, and Inubashiri stiffly stepped through the triangle of tengu threatening us. She extended the arm carrying the letter and offered it to me. "Take it." She said. I eyed it suspiciously. "Take it, please." With a little more emphasis that time, and I reached out and took it from her hand, then slipped it into my coat. Then, Inubashiri bowed deeply. "Our deepest and most sincere apologies are extended for any distress you may have suffered when you were taken into custody by the tengu. The letter...Expresses this a little more clearly." Blankly, I told her that I accepted the apology. "And, you are not, in fact, in tengu territory, despite what my esteemed colleagues would have you believe. So, I apologize for that, too." She bowed again. Awkwardly, I told her that we were just leaving, actually. "Ah. Good. It's unsafe for a villager to be on this mountain."

I wasn't entirely sure I counted as a villager anymore, but I just nodded. "Oh!" Yamame suddenly exclaimed. The three tengu almost raised their weapons again, so Inubashiri barked at them to sheathe their swords, which they did reluctantly. "I know you, don't I? We played shogi once, while my sisters were working on the mountain. Back in the summer?" She was tapping a finger against her head. "Er...I think you won."

"I usually do." Inubashiri said shortly and very matter-of-factly. "Yes, I knew your face, Miss Kurodani. My name, if you have forgotten, is Momiji Inubashiri. I rather enjoyed our game." She did give a slight smile, and I hoped that meant I could relax a little. "Your work was excellent. Please allow me to thank your sisters on the tengu's behalf." She bowed again. I was starting to get the idea that she was the stiff, rule-abiding type, though she did seem quite amenable to conversation, and fairly cooperative. It was somewhat like Youmu had been before she got drunk. "I would like to play against you again, at some point. Do you know of Komakusa Dayuu's gambling den?" I raised a hand and told her that I did. I'd seen it once, while Kisami and I were looking for the Rainbow Dragon Cave. "It appears in the village from time to time, but otherwise, usually appears on the mountain. Many of us white wolf tengu frequent it. I would be pleased to challenge you again, should you visit."