/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>44670847
“A proposition?” I said. Damn, here it comes. There really was no such thing as a free lunch. She’d try to rope me into some sort of scam. I tried to figure out the best way to turn her down. Maybe if I held out until I had my meal I could leave and make it up to her later.

“Are you willing to help us with the upcoming festival? We could really use the help” Sanae pleaded as she clasped her hands in front of her. “You see, we’re been getting more and more worshipers but it means festivals are so much to handle. This upcoming one in the next few days might be a big one, and I could really use an extra pair of hands to help me out. We’ll give you some of the profit” That wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. It sounded like a normal job, almost. Maybe the gods were looking down on me. Whichever one helped me out had my thanks.

“But is that allowed, for me to do work for another shrine?” I asked as I wondered if this would break some sort of law, divine or other. “Oh no no no” Sanae clarified “I’m not asking you to join us or anything. We just need some extra help. You’d just direct worshipers, hand out charms, that sort of thing. Please?” It didn’t seem all that bad, I could use the money. “Sure, I’ll do it”

“Thanks so much!” Sanae said. Like a shadow, the owner came back and placed our orders in front of us. Sanae blew on her soba to cool it off. “I think you could learn a lot from this. Even way back then, your mom never could handle something like this. If she succeeded at something, it would go to her head and she’d find some way to ruin it. Oh, excuse me” she suddenly found herself much more interested in eating then talking. I tried out my own soba. It was delicious! This hole in the wall places really did know how to cook. I thought about my decision as I ate. I might as well just learn how the financial side of things work. Spirituality and Danmaku are all good, but it could be hard to fill your stomach with them alone.


“It’ll be great” Sanae said as she gulped down some noodles. “Maybe we’ll have some proper competition in the future if you want to do” She chuckled at her own joke. “We could start tomorrow. There’s a lot of preparations to go through. Checking to make sure all the stalls will be there, hauling out the supplies, cooking, but it’s worth it when you see so many people enjoying themselves. You’ll get it” I nod, my mouth too busy with slurping to respond. We continued to eat for a while until she dropped another question. “So, you’re doing alright here? The separation and all”


I guess it was impossible details of your life hidden once they’re been printed in bold print all over the newspapers “We’re fine. Dad’s been taking it well, I think. He’s a lot happier now, I noticed” Sanae smiled at this “Good” she said “I’m glad to hear it. It’s a shame it all went wrong. The wedding was so nice. I really did try my best” she sighed. I had to take her word for it. It was before my time.

“How about you?” I offered up to be considerate , as I took the time to eat more. “Can’t complain” Sanae said “We’ve been getting enough worshipers and money to get by. It’s been increasing recently, but all that means is more work” Well, I guess Moriya shrine was safer then the alternative, all things considered. “So tomorrow then? Probably before noon. I’ll meet you at the shrine” she said. “Sounds good to me” was my response. We finished up eating as we talked a bit, catching up on things that happened. When the last of the broth was gone, Sanae put down the money on the counter. “Nice seeing you Hana, See you tomorrow” she left me. The owner grunted and grabbed up the money. Time to wrap things up I suppose. I went home to check on things. Dad was gone, that was a good sign. He must haven recovered enough to work. With some time to kill, I swung around my gohei. All these rituals during festivals are meant to be flashy, right? Maybe If I moved a little more gracefully it would look more dignified. I kept up my practice until I heard the door unlock. Dad was back, looking much better then before. I felt too awkward to practice the right way to swish my gohei around with company, so I packed it away and helped with dinner.

>>20941988
Don't ruin the sweater!