/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Um, Reimu? Where's the well? I think I need to wash my hands. They're all..sticky." Yamame spoke up, examining her hands. I supposed that the icing on Miss Yuuka's cinnamon rolls had done some damage. I'd only touched them with my fingertips, so I'd gotten by just fine.

"Huh? Oh, it's outside and to the left. Past old Genji's pond. You'll see it." Reimu nodded, waving vaguely somewhere over her shoulder. "Wouldn't want to stay out there too long though."

"I'll be quick." Yamame said, turning and giving me a kiss on the cheek before she hopped up and headed out of the door, leaving Reimu and I along.

Reimu watched me for a few moments. "You love her, don't you?" She suddenly asked me, leaning forward. "You really, really do." I found myself slightly bashful, and I asked Reimu what she meant. "Come on, don't try to hide it from me. You, little brother, love Yamame Kurodani." After a moment, I nodded. Yes, I said. I did love her. "Enough to stay with her forever?" I nodded before I'd even thought about it properly, but yes, I would stay with her if she would have me. "So...What's next?" Reimu asked, her question slightly leading. "Next is..." She continued, raising a hand in a gesture for me to fill in the rest. I stared at her blankly. "You can't be that dense, right?" Reimu asked me incredulously. "What do you do when you love someone enough that you want to stay with them?" I frowned slightly. She couldn't be suggesting... "That's right." Reimu said with a wide smile. "I'm suggesting mar-"

The door to Reimu's room slid open. Outside stood Ran, who's golden eyes swept over both of us without much emotion. "Reimu, I've finished procuring your last wish." She stated, reading her hand out and examining it. "May I suggest that you two make some space?" After a moment, we got to our feet and moved back to the corners of the room, and Ran waved a hand. Instantly, a gap opened in mid-air, positioned horizontally. From it, a large, square object fell, landing in the centre of the room. "Your new kotatsu. Kindly keep Suika from breaking this one."

"Ha! Result!" Reimu cheered, spinning around to Ran. "Finally! Thanks, Ran!" She spun back around, crouching and examining the new kotatsu. "Ooh, this looks good..." She was smiling widely, and I felt the excitement too, a little infectiously, so I moved over and crouched beside her. The Shrine was cold, after all. Even with all the repairs done for Winter, it wasn't exactly a hot place to be, so I was happy to see that Ran had supplied this.

"Now, then. I have two more instructions. The first, is to inform you that my master will be making a visit here within the next day. She wants to see you, Reimu. The second, is to inform you that with repairs finished for the year, I am to take my leave." Ran nodded stiffly, but I saw one of her fox ears flick slightly.

"Huh?" Reimu said blankly. "She wants to see me?" I wondered what had made her react like that. "Well, about time." Reimu muttered, and I was surprised to see that it was just a little bit frosty. "Anyway, thanks for all your help. Thank Chen, too."

"Of course." Ran said, nodding and stepping back. "I will likely be back several times over Winter, as usual. Farewell for now, Reimu." A gap opened behind her, and she stepped backward through it. It closed without a trace, leaving us alone once more.

At that moment, Yamame walked into the room from the side. "Okay, I'm back. That water is ice cold, Reimu. Did I miss anything?" She gazed at the large kotatsu in the middle of the room. "Huh." She said.

A while later, we were sat around the kotatsu, trying to warm ourselves up. "So, er, what happened to Miss Tenshi?" Yamame asked curiously.

"Urgh..." Reimu groaned again, falling against the kotatsu. "Far as I understand, she's decided to join the kappa as an opposing faction in her war thing. I don't really get it and I don't think I want to."

Personally, I imagined that a fight between Marisa and Tenshi would be a little beyond the scale of the kappa and yamawaro's war.