/jp/ - Otaku Culture

What had she done with Marisa and Tenshi, then? I'd half expected to see them with her now. "Oh, they're a bit tied up right now." Curious, I asked what they were doing. "No, I mean...They're a bit tied up. I tied them both up to a post and left them in the Shrine. Clearly they can't be trusted to be left to their own devices." I...Wasn't entirely sure that was the best way to deal with that. Reimu shrugged. "Well, it was the easiest. Now I can yell at them and they can't leave." Privately, I had a feeling that even if Marisa couldn't, Tenshi could probably break out of the ropes without much trouble. Just to be sure, I asked Reimu if she'd tied them up inside. "Oh, yeah. I'm not a monster, you know." I wondered if Marisa would answer the same.

By the time all of that was over with, it was dark outside and I had spotted Oseki staring at us from time to time like she wanted us to leave. "Hey, do you need anything more?" She asked, stepping over to us. "It's nearly closing time." Okay, I thought. I guess she really did want us to leave. "No? What about you?" She nudged Kagerou, who'd started to doze off at some point. "Lazy w- Er, Lazy human." I wondered what she'd been about to say. Woman? "Do you need help getting home?"

"Whuh?" Kagerou stirred, lifting her head. One of her ears had managed to poke out from under the hood. "Er, sorry...What did you say?"

"I said, do you need help getting home?" Oseki's voice was surprisingly sharp for a waitress. "You must live nearby, being a villager, right?" Kagerou stared at her, her brow very furrowed. "Nice hood." Oseki continued dryly. Kagerou blankly looked on for a few seconds more, then blinked.

She felt up at the top of her head. "Ah!" She cried, hurriedly pulling the hood back down. "W-Well, um, it's just - It messes my hair up, that's all! Makes it all stick up like that!" Oseki watched her for a moment, then nodded. "A-And, um, I'll be fine. I can just - Just stay with, um..." She was staring at Oseki for a moment. "A...Friend of mine...?" I looked between the two, feeling thoroughly mystified. There seemed to be a second conversation going on underneath the conversation I was actually watching, but I had no clue what it was about.

"...Right." Oseki replied stiffly. "I'm sure they'll be happy." Kagerou gave a wide grin, so I assumed that whatever the hidden subtext was, it went well. I almost asked her if she could have stayed with Sekibanki, but I didn't really know anything about her, so I wasn't sure there was much point. For all I knew, Sekibanki lived out in the woods somewhere. Maybe I'd run into her again one of these day. "Anyway, it's about time to close, so-"

"'Seki!" I heard the old man who ran the place shout. "Stop chasing people out, y'hear!" For once, he actually came out from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a rag. "My wife'll have a fit if she hears yer up to that sorta stuff." Then, he looked toward me. "Ain't seen yer face in a hot minute. S'posed to be dead, ain't ye?" That was a bit of an over exaggeration, I replied. "Right. Best try and keep it that way, eh?" I nodded with a thin smile. Curious, I asked him where his wife was. "Ah, she's got a sister who's gone and had a kid, so she's off helpin' them out. Luckily," He slapped Oseki on the back, and she let out a little noise of surprise as her head tipped forward followed by her body before she righted herself, "I've get 'Seki here to help me out. Ain't that right?"

Oseki looked very annoyed by the action as she rubbed her head. "Y-Yeah..." She grumbled. "Seriously, can you not do that?" It looked like an argument was about to occur given the way the old man started laughing, so I looked around and decided that it was probably time to make ourselves scarce. Reimu went to stand up, then groaned and clutched her stomach, so I helped her up.

"Er, I'll just...Stay here, shall I?" Kagerou said. The wolf looked a little confused about the argument brewing between Oseki and the old man, but otherwise, she seemed fine. "It was nice seeing you all again. And, um, thank you again for the hood, Yamame. Oh! Er, I think we were planning on another meeting of the, er, Network. In three days."

Yamame stopped about halfway off the table, so I pulled her up the rest of the way and placed her down on the floor in front of me. She absentmindedly turned back and slapped me on the arm for it, but then got herself together. Personally, I thought it was very cute. She wasn't particularly tall, even compared to her sisters, nor was she too heavy. "Oh, er, I'll try and make it. Is it at the same place?" She asked Kagerou.