/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Was it really Setsuban tomorrow? "Uh...What's today again? Thursday?" Friday, I replied. "Oh. Yeah, then." Was Reimu not supposed to be...Doing something? "Way ahead of you." She said, a smirk on her face. Then, she loudly called. "How's it going in there!?" For a moment, there was nothing and I wondered what Reimu was talking about, but then I heard muttered words and footsteps across the veranda, and I managed to angle my head toward the door again just in time to see Clownpiece, the fairy who had been stuck with Miss Yuuka during the New Year's Party, stumble in, her face covered in sweat and her breathing extremely heavy. "Oh, there you are. How're the beans coming?"

"Fine, Reimu..." Clownpiece gasped, bending over and resting her hands on her knees. "It's - It's really heavy - The pan..." She took a moment to just breath in and out. "I - I know you said that Master Hecatia would be happy if I did something for you, but do I really need to prepare all of these beans for Setsuban...?"

"Well...Most of them." Reimu said, smiling widely. She looked over at me and whispered. "I think what Hecatia actually told her was to do something that would make you happy - Since she's still trying to hire you, or whatever it was, but since I'm your official big sister, making me happy does make you happy." That seemed a little...Mob boss-like, but I supposed that I did like it when Reimu had something to make her life easier. "Actually, what is going on with her?" Had I not explained my talk with Lady Hecatia? "No...? Unless you explained it that night, because I was pretty drunk at the time, so I don't think I'd remember even if you did."

"E-Er, Reimu? How many is most of them...?" Clownpiece looked a little worried, and I wondered if I should nag Reimu into helping her. It was the sort of thing that I thought Lady Kasen would have done, but it was Setsuban, so I didn't think I'd be seeing much of her, Raki, or any of the other oni for a few days. "It's only one night, right...?"

"Hmm...I did make a load of money when I ran it for three nights, though..." Reimu hummed, rubbing her chin. As if I'd been possessed, I could practically hear Lady Kasen's voice in my head, loudly admonishing Reimu for greed, for overflowing with worldly desires, for not caring about safety, and a whole host of other things. Silently, I asked the Lady Kasen in my head to be slightly quieter so that I could hear what Reimu was saying. "Though...After last time..." She paused, frowning. "Okay. Don't do all of them, but make sure you roast them for long enough. If they're too lightly roasted, they'll get people sick. Once you think they're done, you can go. I'll fix it up later." There was a moment of silence, so I poked Reimu in the side. "A-And, er, thanks." She quickly added.

"Um, okay...But I really don't want to make this a habit!" Clownpiece replied, frowning and placing her hands on her hips. "Master said that I should do something for him, not you!"

She turned and took off toward the kitchen, leaving me to frown at Reimu. "What?" Wasn't it a little bit mean to make Clownpiece do the work so that Reimu could laze around? "I'm not lazing around. I was watching Aya so she didn't, you know, be herself, but then I was cruelly and viciously trapped under a terrifying white cat, and I couldn't move for the life of me." Very funny, I muttered dryly, since said cat was now sitting on my back instead, and yet Reimu hadn't moved at all. "Yeah, well...I don't really have an excuse for that one." She shrugged.

I sighed. At least she was honest about it. "So, uh, what is going on with Hecatia?" Shrugging, I explained what we'd talked about. "Oh, so...Wait, she said - Like a Shrine Maiden?" I nodded weakly. "Oh, that is precious. Imagine, my little brother starting in the family business. Well, sort of. I mean, I'd much prefer if you were working for my Shrine, but..." She was silent for a moment. "And you won't have to give up your humanity...And you won't be living in Hell...Yeah, this really doesn't sound too awful. I thought it would be way worse. I mean, officially I have to say that you shouldn't do it, but honestly, there's worse things you could be doing. So...I guess I approve." Well, that was nice to hear.

After a few more minutes, Reimu finally gave a long-suffering sigh and got up. "Well, you decided on a date for the wedding, didn't you? April fourth?" I nodded. "Want to go and tell Marisa? Tenshi too, if she's there?" I looked up at Reimu, then had to awkwardly point at Kuro, sitting on my back. "Oh, right. C'mon, you..." There was a hiss, then a curse from Reimu, and then I saw Kuro stalk over to the table and take a seat on top of it. "Every time..." Reimu grumbled, examining the thin, long red line of blood trailing down her arm. "At least she's not tearing up the clothes anymore." I pushed myself up to my feet, wondering whether Kuro was doing it for fun or not.