/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Yamame giggled a bit, then got up from her chair and wandered over, then set next to me. "Keep talking like that, and I might just get jealous..." I laughed a little, then told her that I'd need a couple bricks to the head to wipe all my memories of Yamame before I could fall for anyone else. That got her laughing, too. "Charming." She muttered, falling onto her back and spreading her arms out. "So, what about this Wakasagihime?" I fished around in my trouser pockets, looking for the stone that I'd pulled from the shelf in Yamame's workshop. I lifted it up, trying to catch the glow from the lights in Yamame's room. Yamame didn't get up, but did raise her head slightly. "Ooh." She murmured, looking at the stone. "Pretty..." I explained that Wakasagihime had shown me her collection of stones, but had left this one behind when she'd left, and I'd been meaning to return it ever since, though I'd failed to actually make it over to the lake any time recently. I'd hoped to have a chance on the way to Lady Kasen's senkai, but hadn't managed it, then I'd hoped to have a chance on the way out of Lady Kasen's senkai, but I'd managed to forget it, and it had just kept on going until now.

So, I wanted to take the stone back to her, and since I knew that there was that meeting happening, I thought it would be interesting to go and see it. And here was the delicate bit, because I wanted Yamame to come with me, but I thought that if I asked her normally, she'd refuse. So, I instead said that I wanted to return the stone and see the meeting, but I was a little worried about being attacked by youkai after dark, so I wanted Yamame to come with me. As protection. "Aw, that's just adorable." She said with a smile, leaning up enough to grab my shoulders and drag me backwards until I was also lying on the bed next to her. She wrapped her arms around me, smiling. "You need me to protect you from scary youkai in the middle of the night?"

There was a scary youkai right in front of me, I replied. She gave a mock-gasp. "How rude!" Then she lowered her head and dropped her voice to some sort of almost-gravelly tone, but she couldn't really pull it off because it just wasn't her natural cadence. It instead sounded a little husky, like it did when she was feeling...frisky. "I'll make you fear for your life, little human..." I projected a look of terror on my face, then, with Yamame's arms still wrapped around me, I rolled so that I was on top of her, trapping her underneath me. "Oof!" She cried as I rolled, then she looked up at me with an expression that I was struggling to read. "Er...I'll make you fear for your life...?" I growled at her, asking if she'd come with me. "O-Oh, um..." She looked away slightly, the beginnings of a blush on her face. "...Okay, I'll come." Good, I told her. "Um, I'm thinking that I want to take a break from work, so..." Her voice had taken on that tone again.
I'd never undone the buttons of her shirt so fast.


Four days later, during which little of interest happened apart from my drinking a lot of water, it was approaching evening and Yamame was panicking. "Wait, wait, wait!" She cried as I threw one of her various garments that littered her workshop at her head. "You're just returning that stone, right? We can do that and -Mmph!" The garment sailing at her head cut her off before she could finish, knocking into her and sending her stumbling backwards. Taking the opportunity, I crossed the room and took her hands, looking into her eyes. Relax, I told her. It wouldn't be anything stressful. "I am relaxed!" She insisted. I could already tell she wasn't, because she had a tendency to pull the sleeves of her shirt down repeatedly as if they were riding up her arms when she was stressed, and she was already doing it as soon as I pulled my hands away. I wasn't telling her, because it was quite useful as an indicator.

Gently, I asked her if she was okay. "Yes, I'm - Yes, okay?" I looked at her a little longer. "I'm just...I haven't been out to the surface since we came back from Miss Ibaraki's home, and I haven't been out with just you since we got, um, kidnapped." Ah. I could see how that would make her nervous. I hugged her until I could feel that she'd calmed down, then told her that what had happened was an uncommon occurrence. Hearn had only been after me, and even then, it had mostly been because she wanted to find out what was happening with Eientei, so I doubted that she'd be asking after me any time soon now that Eientei had been resolved.

A few hurried minutes later, we were leaving, Yamame dressed in a version of her clothes that had thermal layers sewn in for warmth, and me in my coat, turtleneck sweater, trousers and boots. We got about halfway down the cave, then had to turn back when I realised that I'd forgotten the stone that I was returning to Wakasagihime yet again, so by the time we actually managed to leave the caves, the sun had already disappeared below the valley.