/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Oh, she's going to kill me. Then, Yamame's going to kill me. And after that, Kisami will kill me for good measure." Yura shook her head in some form of despair, so I tentatively put a hand on her shoulder and told her that I thought it was very admirable that she enjoyed being with all her sisters too much to send them home. After a moment, Yura sighed and nodded. "Thanks. Yams really struck gold with you, didn't she?" I broke into one of my smiles that I couldn't seem to bring myself to actually stop. "Okay, I'll...Go and talk to Reiko, then I'll come back and talk to Nai, and we'll see about getting something together. Maybe we'll have to budge a little on the money issue and take payment in food and drink for this party, instead."

Yura handed me the bundle of papers she had been holding. "Hoshiguma's your best bet. She's probably all the way up at the top of the Hot Springs Town. You know where?" I nodded slowly. Yamame and I had walked fairly high up on our last visit, but we hadn't gone right to the top. "If she isn't there...Well, she could honestly be anywhere, so you might just have to wait, actually. Still, you should be able to see her from that high up. Big blue kimono, massive ponytail, big red horn? Towers over half the other oni here, and still manages to look bigger than the other half through stature alone. Yeah, you'll see her." I did know her a little, so I hoped that it would be fine. "Alright...Er, good luck? Hopefully Nai and I can get this lot sorted out by the time you get back, and definitely by the time Yamame gets here. She'll blow a gasket if she finds out that I bungled this."

I told her that Yamame definitely loved her too much to hold it against her. I did not tell her that Yamame thought she acted immature for her age anyway. Instead, I nodded seriously, picked my way through a crown of Kurodani's who all seemed to either shy away or immediately start trying to get me to give details of my relationship with Yamame, and eventually I managed to drag myself out of the room and shut the door behind me, wondering just what sort of beating Yura was going to receive for saying the exact opposite of what she had walking into that room to say. I would probably be on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing too, since I was supposed to be helping her. Hopefully it wouldn’t be from Kisami, though. I wasn’t sure I could take that level of abuse without bursting into tears.

Well, I didn't see much point in thinking about it now, so I headed down the stairs to the ground floor and retrieved my coat, though I left the sweater where it was. I didn't have much hope that walking around wearing one of Lady Hecatia's T-shirts would let me pass through unimpeded. Even if it didn't get me attacked, it might very well have seen someone recognize it like Komachi had, and I figured that I'd look a little more imposing with the coat on. So, I threw it on, trying to ignore the heat, and stepped outside of the building and back onto the streets of the Hot Spring Town. Hopefully, I'd run into Yuugi without needing to wander through the entire place, but I didn't have much hope. If Lady Kasen, Raki, and Suika were still down here, the four of them could be anywhere. I began walking, angling to ascend into the heights of the place, and trying my best to ignore the occasional whispers I got from a pair or two of Yamame's sisters as they wandered the streets. I wondered where Kisami and Ruka had gotten to, but I supposed that they could be doing anything at all.

Fortunately, I was mostly ignored by the other inhabitants and visitors to the Hot Springs Town. I didn't know if they knew I was a human or not, but they mostly just looked past me, maybe watching me for a few seconds before continuing about their business. As it was, their business was mostly drinking and being merry, so I wasn't all to broken up about it. The Hot Springs Town was a very lively place, and I loved the atmosphere. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew an oni could get through the peach, since I had a lovely little bite mark on my shoulder to prove it, I'd probably be enjoying myself even more. I continued to walk, heading further and further uphill, and I was happy to see that my training with Lady Kasen and the sheer amount of walking around I did still kept me from feeling particularly out of breath.