The New Winds

The eyes from the previous night haunted Yotsuo, but he hadn't been as unfortunate as Mai. Still, he thought on what he knew of the spirits that visited Ningen-do to try and determine what that eye might have been. And then the stories of the creature hit him. Rushing to find supplies, he sought out paper and paste to seal the holes around the dojo. He hoped a sensei would be able to point him in the right direction.

D2 Tiger, Lore: Spirit Realms / Intelligence, TN 15: 4d10o10k2 15

It doesn't take Yotsuo long to find someone. Upon hearing his request they nod and give him directions to a store room with supplies.

Collecting up the supplies, Yotsuo goes about a Kuni's duties, protecting people from evil spirits. Something about getting a head start on actually performing his family's role was actually quite satisfying to the young man. He started in the student dormitories, using paste and paper to cover the holes. He was no great artisan, but who cared if his patchwork fixes looked good, as long as nobody's soul was harmed.

Mai bows. "Kuni-san. Just the guy I was looking for."

"Hey," he replies as he kneels next to a shoji screen and starts working. "What can I do to help you, Mai-san?"

"So, what do you know about gaki?" She watches him work. "Need any help?"

"That they are dangerous for one," he says with a nod, inviting her to join him in repairing the holes. "That's why I'm doing this right now. There is a Mokumokuren here, in the dojo. They are dangerous beings that exist between Gaki-do and Ningen-do."

He finishes sealing up one of the holes, and blows on the paste to help it dry.

"I noticed it last night. They look through holes in paper walls and feed on victims spirits. We need to cover all the holes and it will be forced to move on. Unfortunately, it's not something that can be fought directly. Nobody has ever seen one's true form before as I understand it, because of how they exist between realms. I might not even be able to find one if I walked in Gaki-do because they are on the border and I can't travel through the borders."

"Yeah. It fed on me last night." Mai crosses her arms and rubs them. "They had to take me to Asako-sensei. The ghost almost killed me."

He looks at his fellow student, a bit worried. "That's not good. I wasn't completely sure that it was a Mokumokuren before now, but wanted to be safe rather than sorry. I'm sad to hear that it got to you, but am glad that you are still with us. We need to patch up these holes..."

Working on the next one, he wonders about something. "How many of these are there? How old are these shoji screen?"

He listened to the conversation from a friendly distance, hearing the explanation with curiosity. This Kuni... This Kuni knew a lot, indeed. What they said about the Kuni was real. Aiichirō's respect gained, the engineer approached both slowly and gave them a bow out of respect, breaking etiquette immediately after by not waiting until someone in the conversation talked to him first.
"You're truly knowledgeable, Kuni-san, and apparently discovered too what happened to Mai-san last night. That's the kind of thing that happens when you leave home without jade, though. Do you need... No, would you appreciate any help covering the holes? If the spirit can poke through paper to rip it off, I can suggest resilient materials depending on its force."

Nodding to the arriving Kaiu, but continuing working, "Any assistance would be appreciated. Jade does not really help against these creatures though. I mean, it might help if you were attacking it, but it doesn't protect against them. And you can't really attack them."

"And they shouldn't be able to make holes themselves. They are not physical beings and rely on already existing holes to prey on their targets."

She bows to the other Crab. "Hello Kaiu-san. It is always a pleasure." She turns to the Kuni. "Kaiu-san was one of the ones who helped me last night." When Aiichiro talks about helping, "I'd like to help to. I don't want it to happen again."

"Okaa-san always said that leaving home without jade attracts bad luck, though." He started putting glue in the paper, and paper on the shoji. "So it is one sort of troublesome spirit. At least it seems easy to avoid."

"It's simple to fix. Just apply some paste on the paper and place it over the hole. I don't know if the creature is still around here, but you want to look at the holes as little as possible and from an angle, so that you don't make eye contact if it decides to peek through," he explains. "Just basic patching is necessary. It doesn't need to look good because we're trying to prevent danger rather than be artistic right now. If someone wants to paint over them later to make them match the rest of the shoji or wall they can do that."

"So, like this." Mai makes an attempt. Well, it is a good thing it doesn't need to be artistic, but it is serviceable.

"Yes. My master had me do this regularly back home. More just for maintenance than for any spiritual reason, but it's pretty simple. Especially if you're just patching," he replies with a nod.

Mai continues to work. "So.... will I have to worry about it hunting me down? Or does it just attack whoever is available?

"In Shiro Kaiu, there is also a lot of maintenance. We usually are the ones who repair the mechanisms of the castle, which are many, and leave this sort of thing to the servants."

"We have servants, but I think my master likes to give me busy work like this to instill humility," he explains to Aiichiro.

"Stories about them suggest they're opportunistic predators, so I don't think it will be focused on you. But if anyone here has had their soul targeted by Gaki-do then the creature will likely seek them out. I wouldn't be able to tell if someone is touched in such a way, but doing this should help protect anyone like that."

Mai let out a sigh of relief. "That is good to hear."