aterat | video

[ 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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's alright, I think we may all have people like that. [ As depressing as that might be to say. At least it meant that quite a lot of people could relate to each other, right? ] Exactly! Scary movies are quite a lot of fun, at least in my opinion. Urban legends are like them but in written form. Or spoken form

[ She giggles at that. ]That might be a solution. It'd be funny to see something as tall as her trip like that, wouldn't it?

I wasn’t sure I got them before, but now I kinda do! [ So he could appreciate a scary movie, at least some of them! And the ones he probably shouldn’t see were kept in mind by the adults, unbeknownst to him! ]

Yeah, she’d have a really long way to fall, so getting up might take a while too!

Not everyone likes them, but I've always rather enjoyed them. There's a certain thrill in being frightened by something on a screen like that. [ And otherwise, but at least she has the thought to not say that to him. Even if it is mostly because she wouldn't know how to explain it. ]

That's a good point! It'd give you a fair chance to escape.

Exactly, so while she’s trying to get up, you can run and lose her that way! Hard to follow someone if you don’t see where they went, right?

[ Well… In theory. He realized not all things needed to see where you went in order to find you again. ]

But if she just finds you again, I guess you gotta do it all over again. Do you think she’d get bored after a while?

[ which probably meant trying to find a more permanent solution. ]

I don't think spirits like this ever really get bored....

I was afraid of that… The man I know doesn’t get bored either.

[ There is at least a somewhat childish pout in his voice. They needed to think of something better!

… oh. He thought he heard something. That was a bit worrying, perhaps. ]

Hey, miss?

[ Unfortunately, Mono had never met Haru and was unsure what her name was. ]

Haru, my name's Haru. Is everything alright?

Okay, Haru. I’m Mono… [ A pause, and then a little flare of static. ] I dunno. What did you say that tall lady sounded like again if she was around?

A pleasure to meet you Mono! Supposedly she sounds like po, po, po. Why do you ask?

Nice to meet you too. [ His voice has gotten a lot more quiet though, not quite a whisper, but there’s a careful, subdued quality to it. A practiced kind of quiet tone. He was hoping for a slightly different answer, and the boy was moving more carefully now for some cover instead of staying open. ] Because I think I heard a voice say that when I passed by an alleyway.

O-Oh...oh dear. That's not good at all. Are you certain? If you are then I'll try to come to you!

Uh-huh, at least it sounded like a lady saying ‘po po po!’ I dunno that anyone else would, unless they’re playing a joke on people. [ And it seemed safer to him to assume it wasn’t a joke, at least in his experience. ] What if she starts following you instead? I’m really good at being sneaky, if I can stay away from her long enough to figure out what to do then you don’t gotta take the chance, right?

[ No, the small child was not considering that it was better to let the person closer to being an adult help. ]

If it sounded like her then it's best to assume it is her. I don't think anyone would play such a mean joke here. [ At least she'd like to think they wouldn't. ] I think I'd be okay if she started to follow me, I'm surprisingly good at defending myself. I'd rather help you than anything.

[ Mono didn’t doubt Haru in the slightest, no. He was used to meeting people who were super strong and stuff. It seemed pretty normal here… But why would he let the Lady follow someone else if she was that dangerous? ]

I dunno. I’m really sneaky and good at getting away from stuff ‘cause of how things are in my world. Seems kinda mean to just leave someone else to deal with something dangerous ‘cause it’s easier. [ And yeah, the kid sounds pretty stubborn about that. Maybe a little bitter after what happened to him, even if he can’t quite understand why it happened. ] Maybe I could lead her around long enough that you could think of something that could stop her?

[ Then they both wouldn’t have to worry about her getting them. ]

I don't think it's mean to have help! In fact, I think it's the opposite. It's better to accept help from others, then there's less of a chance that something could go wrong. And wouldn't that be bad? If something went wrong and your friends here were left worried about you? [ In a way it was somewhat impressive how determined he was to handle things on his own. At the same time she really didn't want to see anything happen to him. ]

That doesn't sound like the worst plan really, as long as you're certain you won't get caught.

I mean… I guess. Kinda depends on the friend. [ Six probably hadn’t worried about him at all after she let him fall, at least that’s what he thinks. Friends here were different, though… So far. So he wasn’t going to argue too much, but the boy’s tone was definitely conflicted anyway.

But Haru is at least agreeing with his idea, and the boy would take that as a win. ]

I’m sure! I’m really good at not getting caught by stuff, really!

[ He’s totally experienced with this kinda thing, Haru. Which is… not worrying at all, nope. ]

Does it? I think all friends worry about each other. Or at least that's how it should be. So then naturally that means we should do our best to not give them cause to worry! [ Haru logic right there. ]

Alright. Please be careful and I'll do my best to figure something out....

That’s how it sounds like it should be, I guess… [ He responded with a conflicted tone in his quiet voice. Then he heard a ‘Po po po…’ faintly behind him again, he frowned. ] I promise I will. I’ll try to lead her around until then!

Okay, please be safe and I'll be there as soon as I figure something out! [ And she was going to gather her things and get on her way as soon as she could. Her first stop was going to be the library to see if she could find any information about how to banish a spirit or something of that nature. ]

I promise, I’m good at this.

[ The boy responded in a quiet down over the phone, before he fell silent himself and focused on staying ahead of the entity. Falling back on old instincts he hadn’t had to rely on in quite some time… ]

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