/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Now it’s your turn to be afraid. “W-what do you mean by that” you stammer out in shock, if certain stories you heard about these creatures are true, you may be in very real danger, “are you going to eat me?”

“N-no” the girl replies, “I sustain myself by scaring humans, but now, with my umbrella body broken, I’m too weak to even stand. Also, it seems from what you’ve said that I’m stuck in the Outside World, which means I’ll probably f-fade….” She doesn’t finish the sentence as tears stream down her cheeks again.

Convinced that a creature so fragile could not cause genuine harm to anyone, your fear is immediately replaced by pity. “Is there anything I can do to help, I’m no good at fixing umbrellas, but I could try”

“Well, you could give me some of your spirit energy voluntarily” she says, a glimmer of hope returning to her tired eyes. “I-I promise I won’t take too much” she quickly adds to encourage you, “here, hold my hand”.

Slightly unsure about the situation, you carefully reach out and grasp her slender ivory fingers. Her hand, cold at first, quickly begins to warm as you also notice the ribs of her umbrella, which is lying by the bedside, begin to slowly mend. After a few minutes, she pulls her hand away, her face bearing a radiant smile.

“Thank you so much!” she exclaims with joy “I hope I didn’t tire you out too much”.

You quickly assure her that the fatigue you’re currently feeling will be remedied by a good night’s sleep and inquire on what she plans to do now.

“I would like to head back, but I don’t know the way around the Outside World and it’ll take some time before I’m back to full strength” she replies somewhat distraught “At least I can stand up now so I won’t burden you any further” with that, she attempts to get out of the bed.

You immediately push her back down, “I won’t let you go anywhere in this state plus these streets are hardly safe at night as I’m sure you already know, you can stay here for as long as it takes”.

“But I’ll just be an inconvenience for you, the only thing I’m good at is scaring people, I’m useless otherwise” Kogasa attempts to convince you to let her go.

“I’m perfectly fine with you being useless and if you really want to make yourself useful, you can help me with tidying up the apartment or other housework”

With these words, you manage to convince her to stay for at least a few days more, at least until she regains her strength. In the meantime, you let Kogasa sleep in your bed, despite her insistence on sleeping on the floor, as well as take a little of your own vitality each day. Eventually, a whole week passes like this with the two of you spending these long autumn evenings telling each other stories of your respective worlds. Kogasa seems to be no less eager to learn about the Outside World than you about Gensokyo – seemingly the last refuge of fantasy creatures and things forgotten by the rest of the world, separated from the Outside by a great barrier.