(D6, EN) Frighteningly Relaxing

[Kitsu Murato]

"That doll was certainly creepy," he said with a nod. "But I find some dolls to be quite lovely."

"As for the creature and the knife, yes... the knife was a real knife as far as I could tell. I was tested afterwards for spiritual contamination, but there was nothing wrong. But it hurt much more than any other wound I've gotten. As for the creature? I believe it was some type of gaki, the way it was feeding off of the family."

"I suspect most people would not enjoy a good number of my stories like this. The fact that they are either based in reality or are simply true stories of my experiences removes the levity from them for some people. But if there were an event of ghost story sharing I would participate given the time was free."

He saw her squirming and suddenly grew concerned, his eyes looking to hers with a bit of worry. "Do you need to take a break? Or has something I've share made you uncomfortable?" he asks. "That is the last thing I want. I'm enjoying spending time with someone appreciates the darker things I've had to deal with. So I hope I have not put you off somehow."

[Agasha Inoshishi]

She shifts again. "No, Kitsu-san, I can definitively say that you had nothing to do with my present discomfort. Perhaps this night when I enter Yume-Do you WILL be the cause of THAT discomfort. But now? No. I believe I just...had too much to drink.

Also...in your experience, are there other reasons to have a shrine of that sort? My parents never mentioned another child. But they were, and are, quite old to have had only one. I assumed they were just too interested in studying fires to get around to it..."

She trails off, clearly spooked by the implications of whatever it is her mind has created.

"I think most would enjoy your stories and those of others like you, the Kuni, for instance, myself, although mine are not at first hand. But only in special places and times. Such as at night, in the dark, when there are others around that they may grab onto without losing honor or On in the doing. Perhaps with others taking turns to tell the stories, the lights just so...like this, but creepier. Cousin, I think we have a good idea here."

She blushes after realizing the slight slip of her tongue. Not that it was a secret, surely. But would Kitsu-onii-san really want her just casually bringing it up? Well, the cat is out of the bag now.

Shortly, nature would snatch her away from this new idea. But right now, the feeling of perhaps having a ghost sister all of her own was enough to wake the Agasha up.

[Kitsu Murato]

"If you have had too much to drink, then I can wait for you to come back. The proprietor of the house can guide you and then bring you right back," he replies, seemingly more concerned for her comfort than anything else and not wanting to hold her up. "You only make yourself more uncomfortable by putting it off."

[Agasha Inoshishi]

Inoshishi nods, face burning.

“I will avail myself of those services. I will be thinking as well. Your story…it burns my soul, I must confess. Too many unanswered and unanswerable questions burn in my mind. I fear you will be the cause, indirectly, of a sleepless night, in a sadly unromantic fashion. I am truly glad we’ve had this conversation, it leads my mind to new questions, new stories to seek. Truly, this meeting has been fortuitous.”

She is very pensive as she leaves, her tired face clearly preoccupied as she ponders the implications of the doll story.

She returns a quarter of an hour later, eyes slightly haunted but also filled with humor.

“Kitsu-san, if I did not know the Lion to be straightforward tacticians, I would swear you’d bribed that man! He took me through a room FULL of dolls! I may have squealed slightly. You, Kitsu-san, are a bad, bad man in the best possible way. I find I am pleased to know you.”

Her smile makes it clear she’s joking about the first part and she bows with the last sentence, yawning as she stands then blushing fiercely.

[Kitsu Murato]

"I'm glad to have shared with you, Agasha-san. If you like, before you go, I can share another story that is not so dark. I would not wish to thing I kept you up at night... and you'd still have a little more time to figure out how to change my eye color," he said with a wink.

"But if you feel you must go, I would not wish to keep you."

[Agasha Inoshishi]

"I'm glad to have shared with you, Agasha-san. If you like, before you go, I can share another story that is not so dark. I would not wish to thing I kept you up at night... and you'd still have a little more time to figure out how to change my eye color," he said with a wink.

"But if you feel you must go, I would not wish to keep you."

Inoshishi smiles at the Kitsu and plunks down in her seat, a little less decorously than normal. She gives him a crooked smile. "You mean you would not wish to think you kept me up from fear, hai, Kitsu-san? It's less fear, more...confusion. I don't think my parents ever kept something from me." Silly summer child. Silly. Summer. Child.

She tears her eyes away from her shadowed hands, looking back into the Kitsu's intriguing eyes. "But yes, I suppose I could do with a happier story, especially if it's one I've never heard. Do all you Lion boys know the way to a girl's heart?"

Her smile is warm and innocent here, just curiosity and excitement.

[Kitsu Murato]

"Actually, yes. We all know the way to every person's heart. It's a secret technique of the Lion clan. And you'll get to learn it too once you are a Matsu," he says with a wink, giving away the game. It was the final story after all and she seemed to be much more sober now.

He readies his shamisen and starts playing a small lilting but pleasant tune.

"Love. Even the boundaries between realms cannot stop it," he says with a smile. "Not all stories that I've collected have been of ghosts or monsters. Like Norako and Tenko. You see, Norako was a young woman from Lion lands who was..." he pauses the music and waves his hand in the air, "...of reasonable beauty. But she could sing with the best of them. She had a voice blessed by Tengoku. If you were to close your eyes and listen you might think that Benten was singing through her voice. Seriously... I've never heard better."

He makes the song slightly more tense but still pleasant.

"But she was being plagued by some sort of malicious spirit. Not really a big deal or anything. Had some personal items stole or broken, strange markings left in her home, that sort of thing. I was there to help with it, and it was clearly spiritual activity rather than any stalker or criminal. But what we couldn't do was even catch a glimpse of it. And that's my specialty... catching glimpses of spirits. So anyway, a fellow Kitsu and I were trying to track down the thing and we couldn't figure out why it wouldn't show when we were around. Because... Norako was not singing when we were around. We had the bright idea of trying to ambush it by lying in wait for it to show. We heard her singing and that's when I spotted the spirit, a lovely young woman.

There was a slight bit of discord, but the plucking was light.

"It passed right by me, looked at me and waved for me to follow it. I was dumbstruck, because it wasn't trying to hide from me at all. I followed along and had my partner come too. We watched as it made it's way into Norako's room, but when we stepped in she stopped singing and the spirit started weeping. I urged her to continue singing and the spirit grew happy once more. It was not some malicious spirit after all, but one that was either love or awe struck. Norako finished her song and the spirit wept and wailed, begging Norako to start singing again to no avail. Then the spirit pushed a vase over causing it to crash broken on the floor. My heart broke a little for her honestly.

Finally the music became bittersweet but gentle.

"I explained the situation and described the ghost to her. Norako's lover Tenko... She had died two years earlier in a tragic accident. And apparently it wasn't long after that the incidents started though not as frequently. We performed the funeral rites again for the spirit while she was there, this time with Norako's song, which allowed her to finally find peace."

This time there was no flourish, but instead he gently strummed out quietly.

It would be hard to notice unless she had payed close attention to his eyes but they did gain a slight shimmer, though they didn't change color. It might be held back tears... but he didn't seem to be struggling to maintain his emotions.

"And how did you like the story of Norako and Tenko?"