/jp/ - Otaku Culture

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Really good chapters. Very nice handling of the Suzu and it's funny to get confirmation that Mokou is still a little bitter over lacking in that department. Really nice to see Miko start to play a big role in the story as well.

>>45112527

It was a few days since I left the HSE. The last few days have been quiet,other than the whole issue with Keine's pregnancy-or her lack of it. Of course I only found out after I put in all that effort for the party for her. Well, it was her job to deal with it now. I guess I could understand how the rumors started. The baby boom was hard to ignore, and even the children were all talking about it, with plenty excited to see their new siblings. Maybe I could have a third as well? No, I had to focus! There was a major youkai presence in the village, my friend was held captive there, and my life could be in danger for noticing.I had to figure things out so I should next-

"Excuse me"

I jolt up and try not to look too startled. An assassin? She looked perfectly human to me, but of course that didn't mean much. If she was here to threaten my life, then she had guts to do so here right in my shop. But then she must be powerful and connected to get away with it if my experience with this taught me anything. Or she could be just a normal customer and I was overreacting.

"Can I help you?" I ask, trying to seem like I hadn't just spent the last few moments thinking of the best way to scream for help if she attacked me.


"Are there any books you don't put on the shelves, books about certain subjects maybe?"


"Like what?" I look around to make sure the kids aren't listening in and shift forward in my seat.

"Uh, do you have 'Pay your debts, Shrine Husband'?"

"We don't"

"How about the one where he catches the rabbit breaking into the kitchen and punishes her?"

"No, we don't have that one either" I say, silently disappointed in her for bringing another one of those books to my attention.

"Oh, what about 'A night in the shrine'? That's a good one from what I've heard'

"Huh I do-No wait, I don't!" Shit, I still had that one hidden away. I swear, once I can't get any more leads out of it, its going right in the trash. "We don't have any of those books here, just get them elsewhere"

The woman groaned and leaned forward. "It's too expensive to buy them and they hassle you to pay if you try to read it. Are you sure you don't have any?"

"Certain. Besides, why'd you want to rent a book like that? Don't you know what people do while reading those?" I gave her my most judgemental look. I had gotten good at it by taking notes from Akyuu.

"Fine,I get it. Thanks anyway" she slinks away, finally.

Why were so many people coming in for books like this recently? The books on pregnancy and childrearing I could understand. There was so much demand for those we never had them in stock and had to make waiting lists for them. But there were plenty of customers that wanted books of a more stimulating nature. Bedroom guides one could say. I suppose it was better than the ones asking for outright smut. Maybe the Hakurei Shrine Experience was getting everyone worked up. It would explain the baby boom if the mere presence of the HSE had people in the mood to do it more. At least Anon could have a laugh at what was going on when he was free, I'm sure her find it amusing.

But still. I needed to get help and tell someone about what I found out. I could tell Reimu who certainly would be able to do something about this. But I wasn't sure how good her mood would be if I told her. Maybe Hana? She'd been seen around more recently and had proven herself to be capable, but I've never told anyone that their father was being held in sexual slavery and I didn't feel like changing that. Akyuu would be perfect, but reaching out to her would be a one way street with no way back and she couldn't do much in her certain position anyway.

How about Marisa? Of course! Gensokyo's back-up hero was just the help I needed. Strong, wise, of good moral character. She was a close friend of Anon so she would take it seriously. But there was one issue. I hadn't seen her in a while. She'd gradually stopped coming over and I haven't seen her for weeks. The last time I saw her she seemed sluggish and tired. Maybe she was doing her own investigation and the whole thing was draining her. If I tracked her down we could compare notes and make a lot of progress. I got up from my desk and stepped outside. It wasn't too late, I could spare a few hours out of the shop and be home to make dinner. I went inside and told my husband I was going out to see Marisa about some books she never returned. He nodded and told me he'd watch the place. In all honesty, with Maris's habit of forgetting to return things, she probably did have a few books of mine in that heap she called a home. I put on my cost and quickly make my way outside. The path to her home was usually save, but I wanted to get home before it got too dark.

>>45072028


I dropped down and felt the grass between my fingers. It felt real. I pulled at them and felt them come up, dirt shaking off of them as I lifted them up. It was real grass all right. I went over to the tree and gave one of the branches a shake. It bent just like a real branch and the leaves rustled, a few loose ones floating down to the ground. It was real as well. Then I turned my gaze upwards to see nothing but the evening sky. Was this entire place built around some sort of garden? It didn’t seem like a brothel to me. With my back back blocked, I made my way through the trees, being careful not to trip in the fading light. Maybe Ir was some sort of game whee I was supposed to chase him though the forest and catch him before anything could happen, like that one story about the hunter that lived on the island. That did seem like something youkai would enjoy. I was at a disadvantage than, my legs were a lot shorter then Anon’s and I hadn't been getting expertise lately although I promised myself I would. But when I pushed past the treeline, It all clicked.


There was a replica of the Hakurei Shrine just a short distance away. I was too far away to judge all the details, but it seemed very accurate. There was the torii gate, and the pathway leading up to the shrine, and the building itself. Everything was exactly as I remembered it. I stepped onto the path and made my way towards the shrine. I couldn’t help but feel a nostalgia wash over me. It was so long ago that I used to enjoy going up this path to the shrine. Reimu had seemed so cool to me back then, an idol almost. There were the festivals, or the banquets with friends, or just going over to discuss a few things. But those fun times were long gone, and this wasn’t the Hakurei shrine. Focus on your goal, Kosuzu! As I get nearer to the shrine, I hear something drop out of a tree. Turning my head, I see a small girl running towards me. As she got closer, it was then I noticed the twin tails and her cat ears. Another youkai. I braced myself for impact but she ran by me and opened the door to the shrine.


“Anon, someone is here!” She said, dropping down to the floor to stretch.


After a few moments, Anon appeared out from one of the doors. “Kosuzu? What are you doing here?” He asked as he moved towards me. He looked just as he did when I last saw him, although the outfit was new. It was a jinbei, but I’d near seen any so revealing. It definitely made it hard to ignore his new choice of career. It might have normally been rather exciting, but with me being a married woman and the revealed skin showing off scars, no doubt from his wife, I couldn’t feel it. But it was still rather nice. I think I saw one of the stalls outside selling outfits like this, maybe if I bought one for my husband-No he would just get mad if I tried. Dangit Kosuzu, focus! You’ve got better things to do!


“I’m just here to see you Anon, I thought you might want to talk and see what books we have to check out instead of having to run a message through someone else” I handed over the small catalog of our stock I had prepared and waited for him to take it. He took it from my hand and placed it down at the table. A small smile broke out on his face. “Would you like some tea? I still have a few things out so I can just whip it up”

"Oh, tea would be nice, thank you" Anon nodded and ducked behind a door- that would be the kitchen if the layout here was still the same. As I took my seat, the small cat scooted over to me and started to thumb through the catalog.

"Do you have any books in spiders? Me and Anon are doing an experiment on them so I have to know more so it'll be a success" She asked as she thumbed through the pages, eyes primed for any mention of arachnids. "Oh and knitting! I need to get better at knitting!"

I took it from her and flipped to the correct pages. "Here is a book on spiders and other insects, you might like that, and here is a good book on how to learn how to knit. I've read that one so I can tell you it's good"

The cats mouth widens. "Oh, I'll take them. But I don't get an allowance so I have to ask for money" Just as quickly, her smile turns into a pout.

"I'll just bill this place as I usually do, don't worry about it. Just treat the books right. Are you a friend of Anon?" I asked. She seemed too innocent to be a client, could she like being here for him?

She nods. "I'm Chen. Just Chen. I'm his friend, yes"

"Well that's good to hear. I'm Kosuzu, nice to meet you, Chen" we chatted for a few minutes, about things she caught on the fake shrine grounds, how my job worked, until we were interrupted by Anon returning from the kitchen. He placed down a platter with two tea cups and a plate of tea cakes.

"Sorry, the cakes are a little stale. But it's better then just tossing them out, right?" He placed my cup in front of me and I took a sip. He took the catalog and started to browse through it.