27 December 2022
My biggest concern with this scene (both this part and the ones surrounding it) is my depiction of the tanuki. As I understand it, they’re pranksters, and rarely if ever actively malicious. Not that the guy here is, but he doesn’t give off the vibe of toying with or playing with Hanako that a natural prankster would have… One of the options I’m considering is that he was trying to protect Ashina from this human-affiliated person by removing her weapon, but in that case his approach still seems a bit off here, and there’d be some major issues in the next section. I’ll want to think on that some more.
…breakfast. She stopped in her tracks, though, the moment she saw what was hanging above the front desk.
Hanako’s rage flared awake, but she kept a lid on it, and even managed to make a convincing smile as she approached the tanuki. “Hey, hey. Owner-san. Where did you get that sword?”
When the tanuki replied, he seemed utterly at ease, as if that wasn’t clearly the sword Hanako had brought in just the evening before. “Oh, that? Old family heirloom. My grandfather used it in battle a hundred years ago.”
The beast in Hanako’s chest roared, but she managed to keep her anger out of her face. She leaned in and rested an elbow on the desk. “Really? Because it looks a lot like my sword, before it was stolen sometime last night. Even though my room was locked.”
“I’m sorry to hear you were robbed,” the tanuki said. “Wish there was something I could do to help, but we have a very strict policy. We are not liable for any theft or lost possessions during your stay with us.”
The edge of the table crunched in Hanako’s grip, but otherwise she maintained her calm. “Hey, Owner-san. That sword wasn’t there yesterday. If it’s a family heirloom, why would that be?”
The tanuki shrugged. “Why would an oni have human money? Or use a sword instead of a kanabo. When you reek of human like you do, that’s pretty suspicious.”
What? “You don’t believe I’m an oni? Do you need to touch my horn or something?”
“I’m just saying. Even this conversation isn’t a very oni-ish way to handle things.”
The anger that’d been building since Hanako had arrived in Ashina started to break free. So she wasn’t “oni” enough for him? He wanted to see the monstrous side of her? Fine. She could show him what it really meant to anger an oni.
The tanuki’s face paled. Hanako wasn’t sure at first if she’d already started leaking pressure, when the tanuki bowed to someone behind her and she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She spun around to find a tengu, seven and a half feet tall and rail thin.
Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)