video

[haruine]

[ Haru is at her café with a frilly pink apron on making what seems to be a few latte's of varying flavors. One finished one has a little bit of milk foam art that can be seen. It kind of vaguely looks like she was attempting to make some sort of cherry blossom design, but it's a bit off in several places. She looks at the tellphone though with a bright smile. ]

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing wonderful today and if you have the chance, please stop by the café for some treats! We'll be offering up some iced lattes after I finish these few hot ones. [ She's working even as she's talking, Haru's clearly gotten a lot better at this. ]

That isn't what I want to share with you though! I wanted to tell a story. Has anyone ever heard of Hachishaku-sama? Or, sometimes she's known simply as the Tall Woman. Allegedly she's eight feet tall or more! Sometimes much more! Allegedly she has long black hair and wears an all white dress with a large rimmed white hat that helps to obscure her face. It's all very reminiscent of an Onryo.

[ She finishes another drink and calls out for a customer to come grab it before she returns to the story. ]

Hachishaku-sama is known for her very dedicated stalking! For months you'll find yourself catching glimpses of her, even if you're in your bedroom on the second floor you'll see her peering in at you from your window. You'll think that's impossible though, no human could just stand and look into your window, right? Watching isn't all she does though, she also speaks

[ Haru says the next words in an attempt at a deep voice: ] Po, po, po

or [ She changes to a high pitched feminine voice ] Po, po, po

[ and back to her own voice. ] Then she'll finally make her appearance to snatch her intended victim. Her preferences are for children and she'll even kill the family to take them.

[ Now she pulls out the stuff to start on iced beverages. ] Spooky isn't it?

Comments

Audio;

[monochromatically]

[ Wow... This story doesn’t remind Mono of anything at all. Extremely horrifying tall people that chase children? Nah... Something he’s destined to become one day? Nope. Not at all...

With a small static hiss, the boy speaks up.]

I never heard of her before? But um... I kinda know stuff like her, I guess? Does anyone know why she does what she does?

[haruine]

Oh, do you? Is it a story from your own world then? [ She shakes her head at his question. ] No, I think that's the most scary part! She doesn't seem to have a motive or reason at all.

[monochromatically]

Sorta? The true kinda story, anyway. Lots of people are a lot bigger than me there, but there’s one that’s so tall he’s gotta bend in half to get through doors… And he chases children too, so I guess he’s kinda like the lady you talked about.

[ No known reason? At least he had some ideas about why he did it. Sort of… ]

Not knowing why is scary... Is there a way to stop her, or does she never stop till she gets you?

[haruine]

True? Oh my! That sounds very terrible! You met this man in person yourself then? [ Well, that sounds much worse than her story. ]

I don't think so. Quite a lot of stories where I'm from are like that, the don't have any way of stopping the entity once it's started to hunt you.

[monochromatically]

Uh… Yep, I met him a couple times… [ Mono’s nose scrunched a bit. ] I kinda got a connection to him, I guess. But he’s not here, just me! And I stopped him the last time I met him, and I’ll keep stopping him, I think.

[ Until something broke the cycle, if anything could… The boy refused to be too optimistic on that front. ]

That’s not good. If no one knows how to stop it, that’s even scarier! Kinda sounds like there’s a lot of scary stuff where you’re from, too.

But maybe there’s a way no one’s figured out yet...?

[haruine]

I'm glad you were able to stop him last time, but I'm terribly sorry if this story brought up bad memories for you...[ oh gosh she feels very terrible about that now. It doesn't sound like a very good memory at the least. ]

Luckily for all of us, it's just an urban legend so it's not actually real. People where I'm from love making up stories like this!

[ R I P when it becomes real. ]

Maybe since it's a story you could make a way up?

[monochromatically]

Nah, it’s okay. It’s not like I forget about him, anyway. [ So she shouldn’t feel bad! Her story couldn’t remind him of someone he thought about a lot for complicated reasons. ] An urban legend? So it doesn’t exist at all?

[ This was kinda like how people came up with horror movies, right? For entertainment, and at least he kinda understood that concept now thanks to Illyana. ]

Oh, that’s a good idea! At least to make her seem less scary if anyone doesn’t wanna think about her being unbeatable!

[ … Until later on, when this became something to really worry about. ]

[haruine]

I understand that a bit. There are some bad scary people that I can't forget about either. [ It's not quite the same at all, but she's trying to relate because she feels very bad about it. ] Nope, not at all! It's just a story that someone made up that caught on and others started telling it.

[ And she will feel worse after that. ]

What do you think would be a good way of getting rid of something like her? Maybe we can make one up together!

[monochromatically]

Oh… That kinda sucks. I’m sorry you got people like that, too. [ Mono really hopes it’s not like him. That would be terrible! ] Oh, I get it now; I think! Like when someone taught me scary movies are supposed to be fun. So stories are like that too?

[ That was a good question, though. How would you stop it? ]

Maybe?? I wonder what would be a good way… I guess if she’s really tall, maybe she could trip over something if you distracted her?

Video

[doubled_speed]

What, no camp fire? This is totally campfire levels of spooky. Or sleep over. Wow, that's... That's just really scary, Haru. Are you sure this is something you should post? There are kids around.

[haruine]

Oh, you're right! A campfire and some marshmallows would have been great with a story like this. I've always wanted to have a sleepover like that... [ But never has been able to, alas. ]

I hope it won't scare any of them. You know...strangely, I'm not certain what made me tell it. It felt almost like I had to

[doubled_speed]

Sometimes stories just bubble to get out, maybe?

[haruine]

I mean, I do love to tell stories! I think it's rather fun, particularly if others offer theirs. This felt rather...forced though.

[doubled_speed]

Forced? Huh? I don't get it. Was a customer going to give you a big tip for telling it or something?

[haruine]

[ She giggles. ] Oh, I wish! But no, it just felled as though I was strangely compelled to tell the story. Or a story? It was rather strange.

[doubled_speed]

That's... probably not good?

[haruine]

No...I suppose not. I've seen a few others sharing stories too, I wonder what it could mean.

video;

[stealerofhearts]

[He smiling as the video initializes.] That's one of my favorites.

It's been a while since we watched a scary movie together. We should see what the theater has in storage.

[Not now, of course.]

Do you need a hand?

[haruine]

Oh is it? That's rather funny that we both enjoy it, isn't it? [ Her eyes practically light up at that. ]

We should! There has to be something in there, right?

Oh, well, I wouldn't say no! As long as you don't have anything better to do.

[stealerofhearts]

[He loves how excited she gets just as much, but he nods at her question, smiling.]

Has to be, and maybe there are even movies from other worlds.

[He shrugs.]

Not really. Sometimes I even miss school.

[haruine]

That would be pretty exciting to get the chance to watch some horror movies from another world. I wonder how similar they are!

You know, it's strange but so do I.

[stealerofhearts]

We should check it out. I wonder what scares other worlds.

...have you seen one?

[haruine]

Seen one what?

[stealerofhearts]

A school, besides the academy. It's weird there's not even any ruins, right?

[haruine]

That is a bit strange now that you mention it. I've never thought about it before. Perhaps most people here were homeschooled or attended the Academy?