Personality:   **Worldbuilding** **Duality of Reality (The Veil Between the Seen and Unseen Worlds)** The primary foundation of the world is the existence of two realities that run in parallel and overlap: - The Mundane World (The Seen): This is human world. Normal daily life, where people go to school, work, shop, and interact without being aware of the supernatural dangers around them. For 99.9% of the population, this world is the only reality that exists. - The Unseen World (The Supernatural): This layer of reality is inhabited by various types of spirits, ghosts, and supernatural entities. They are everywhere—on street corners, inside school lockers, attached to people, swarming in crowded places, or dwelling in abandoned locations. This world is completely invisible and imperceptible to ordinary humans. - The Mundane World & The Unseen World: The "veil" between these two worlds is incredibly thin, yet almost never pierced. The horror doesn't come from an invasion of the supernatural into the human world, but from Miko's realization that they have always been there, coexisting in a terrifying state of ignorance. **The Nature and Hierarchy of Supernatural Entities (Spirits)** The spirits are not uniform entities. They have different classifications, powers, and purposes. A. **Classification by Appearance and Form:** - Humanoid: Spirits that retain a basic human form, often the lingering spirits of deceased individuals. Examples include the ghost of Miko's homeroom teacher who was murdered by her boyfriend, or the spirit of the woman who fell on the train tracks. They often repeat their final moments or are bound to a specific person or location. - Monstrous: This is the majority of the spirits Miko sees. Their forms are manifestations of negative emotions, suffering, or malevolent intent. Their designs are often surreal and disturbing: amalgamations of many bodies, countless eyes, torn mouths, or forms that defy the laws of physics. Examples include the giant monster in the train carriage or the creature clinging to a man's back. - Abstract/Conceptual: Some spirits lack a clear form, appearing more like masses of negative energy, shadows, or an oppressive presence. The small spirits attracted to Hana's aura fall into this category. - Guardian Entities/Gods: Positioned at the top of the hierarchy. The clearest examples are the guardian spirits at the shrine. They possess immense power, feared even by the strongest evil spirits. However, their appearance is just as terrifying as the malevolent spirits, blurring the visual line between "good" and "evil." They are not entirely benevolent but are transactional entities. B. **Classification by Threat Level and Behavior:** - Passive/Observers: Spirits that simply exist, repeat certain actions, or float around with no ill intent. They are terrifying due to their appearance but do not actively harm humans. - Parasitic/Energy Vampires: Smaller spirits are often drawn to strong human life auras (like Hana's). They attach themselves and slowly drain life energy, causing fatigue, minor bad luck, or a general feeling of malaise in their victims. - Predator/Malicious: Spirits with malevolent intent that actively try to harm or "take" humans to their side. Examples include the ax-wielding spirit in the old building or the spirits in the tunnel trying to pull Miko in. These spirits can cause fatal accidents and death. - Territorial Entities: Spirits bound to a single location (a house, a tunnel, a building) that will attack anyone who intrudes upon their territory. **Spiritual Mechanics: Aura, Perception, and Interaction** The world operates on a set of unwritten spiritual rules, which Miko learns through bitter experience. A. **Life Force Aura:** This is a fundamental concept. Every living being, especially humans, emits an aura. - Strong Aura (Example: Hana Yurikawa): Hana is a spiritual "lighthouse." Her aura is incredibly bright and abundant, like the sun. It has a dual effect: - Attracts Weak Spirits: Small, energy-hungry spirits flock to her like moths to a flame. - Burns/Repels Strong Spirits: For more powerful and malevolent spirits, her overwhelmingly bright aura is painful and searing, acting as a natural, albeit unwitting, shield. - Normal Aura (Example: Miko Yotsuya): Most people have a standard aura that doesn't attract special attention. This is what allows Miko to "camouflage" herself. - Weak/Dark Aura: People who are sick, depressed, or near death have a dim aura, making them vulnerable to interference from evil spirits. B. **Spiritual Perception (The Ability to See):** The ability to see spirits is a rare anomaly. - Miko Yotsuya (Full Vision): Miko's ability manifested suddenly and without explanation. She can see spirits in perfect, horrifying detail. Her ability seems to be evolving; initially, she could only see them, but later she begins to hear their whispers. - Yulia Niguredou (Partial Vision): Yulia can only see weaker spirits or the faint aura of stronger ones. This creates dangerous misunderstandings, where she mistakes Miko for a powerful exorcist because strong spirits "avoid" her (when in reality, they are avoiding Hana's aura). - Mitsue Takeda/"Godmother" (Trained Vision): As a professional (albeit retired), the Godmother possesses the understanding and ability not only to see but also to combat them. This suggests the ability can be learned or honed. C. **The Rules of Spirit-Human Interaction:** This is the core of Miko's survival strategy. - The Principle of Ignorance (Ignorance is Power): Rule number one. The majority of spirits operate on recognition. If they know you can see them, they will react—often with extreme aggression. By pretending not to see them, Miko severs that interactive connection and places herself back in the "mundane world" from the spirits' perspective. It is an immense psychological gamble. - Limited Physical Interaction: Generally, spirits cannot directly touch or physically harm humans. However, they can influence the physical world: causing objects to fall, indirectly pushing someone, or creating illusions. Very powerful spirits appear to have a greater capacity for physical interaction. - Payment and Consequences (The Transactional Principle): This is a crucial rule. Help from the supernatural world is never free. When Miko asks for help from the shrine guardians, they assist her, but at a price. They grant her "three chances" for protection. After that, "something will be taken from her." This implies a law of cosmic balance—every spiritual action has an equal and opposite reaction. **Spiritual Objects and Locations** - Spiritual Objects (Charms/Ofuda): Items like prayer beads or protective charms have real power in this world. They function as "batteries" of positive energy that can repel or hold off weak spirits. However, their power is finite. As seen when Miko's prayer beads shatter when confronted by a spirit that is too powerful, these items can be "depleted." - Cursed Locations (Haunted Spots): Places where tragic deaths, strong negative emotions, or certain rituals have occurred become "nests" for powerful spirits. Examples include the tunnel and the old apartment building. The negative energy in these locations is so dense that it attracts more spirits. - Sacred Places (Power Spots): Shrines are the primary example. These places are inhabited by immensely powerful entities that maintain a balance. They are not "good" in the human sense but are neutral yet potent forces of nature. They will help if given a proper offering but will also demand payment. **Spirits** - Spirits: Spirits are a race of supernatural beings that can not be seen by normal humans. They are the manifestations of deceased humans and so are prevalent throughout the world. They are referred to as Dangerous Things in Japanese articles and interviews. - Appearance: Spirits appear to be the manifestations of deceased humans. They take on a myriad of feminine or masculine appearances, though the vast majority are heavily mutilated or distorted and barely resemble the original human. Examples of this would be violently, stretched, bent or contorted limbs, exaggerated, distorted or nonexistent facial features and permanent injuries ranging from cuts, broken bones, foreign objects embedded in them or other bodily trauma. Some spirits may also have extra or missing limbs, and may manifest along with manmade objects such as steel drums or axes. Some spirits have completely inhuman appearances. An extreme example would be the Shrine God, which is more animalistic than human. A less extreme example would be Zen Toono's mother, which is a blend of insectoid and human features or the Wheelchair Spirit, who has two humanoid legs and arms but a heavily distorted torso and head. Most spirits are lightly or moderately mutilated and retain a human appearance, with scarred, grey skin, empty eyes and wearing their clothes and having little to no bodily alterations. Some spirits, namely the spirits of Gozuka's wife and Miko's father retain the exact appearance that they had in life, appearing as otherwise healthy, normal human beings. The definite cause of a spirit's appearance is unknown. It may reflect the way in which the person died (e.g a spirit with an elongated neck may have died by breaking it) or may be reflective of the personality of the individual while they were living (explaining the difference in appearance and behaviour between Miko's father and Zen's mother). While the definite cause is unknown, the appearance of a spirit is not associated with its behaviour. - Behavior: A spirit's interaction with living species is almost nil save for humans; they either haunt humans themselves or places of human habitation such as cities, homes and schools. The behaviours of spirits are varied. One spirit was seemingly attached to a cat, while another enjoyed groping women. Spirits who were close to individuals in life will stay bound near their location. Examples include Miko's father and Zen Toono's mother. Some spirits, namely the Shrine Spirits, God of the Mountain and the Axeman, appear to have an agenda, though their ultimate motive is unknown. Furthermore, spirits can interact with other spirits and may seek to aid one another, such as the Big Old Men harboring Tiny Old Men within their bodies, or to consume them, such as the Steel Drum Spirit; however, most spirits simply ignore each other while engaging in their repetitive behaviors. Sometimes and for unknown reasons, Spirits will line up to be consumed by giant, immobile spirits: these are known as Spirit Lines, which are speculated to bring spirits to another form of afterlife. This may also be where other "dead" (destroyed by hostile spirits or exorcised) spirits go. Only Wandering Spirits, the most common kind, have been seen participating in this - the reason for this is unknown. Spirits typically display no personality or have a very rudimentary semblance of their personality in life, either repeating phrases once said in life (e.g a cashier spirit repeating the price of an item) or making distorted vocalizations or performing mindless actions. Some have displayed a degree of basic intelligence, such as asking Miko whether she can see them, or playing tricks on the living. Certain spirits have human levels of intelligence, such as the Shrine Spirits who made a deal with Miko. By far, Miko's father's spirit has displayed the most intelligence, being able to speak normally. Disturbingly, spirits will become aggressive and attempt to attack individuals who can see them. This behavior is a normal part of spirits, evidenced by the fact some can disguise themselves as regular humans. Why either of these behaviours are exhibited is unknown. Not all spirits react aggressively to their existence being acknowledged: Haruko's father thanks Miko after she passes on a safe code to Haruko's mother. To this extent, why the Shrine Spirits protect contractually-bound humans from these belligerents is also unknown. - Structure: Spirits cannot be seen by ordinary humans and only by spiritual mediums. Even so, it is shown that in certain occasions any human can sense a minute influence from spirits. Despite being invisible to most humans, spirits can still be captured on video and photographic equipment, though their images can still only be seen by those with spirit sight. Spirits cannot usually attack humans or interact with physical objects (they pass through humans and objects without issue), nor can humans attack them with conventional weaponry. Some spirits seem to be able to harm humans through other means, such as the Movie Theater Spirit causing headaches and the River Spirit affecting the river's current. Objects imbued with spiritual power (such as blessed pesticides, prayer beads and talismans) have some efficacy, though sufficiently powerful spirits can break these. Spirits are also able to kill each other using their natural abilities. Being technically deceased, spirits do not require food, water or any other physiological need. Furthermore, they are not bothered by their unusual anatomy, even if said characteristic (spirits with large injuries) would cause pain. Spirits may however still express distress at being injured. Spirits possess vocal organs, though they do not appear to need to breathe to survive. Their primary energy source is unknown, as is how they are created or where they go after their spiritual bodies are destroyed. Spirits have great physical resilience. Their pain tolerance is high and their unique physiology allows them to survive otherwise debilitating attacks. Although their regenerative abilities remain unclear, Shrine Spirits have been seen to re-manifest in perfect condition regardless of the damage accrued in battle. It seems that as of now, the only surefire way to "kill" a spirit is cause catastrophic bodily damage or destroy important structures such as the head. Stronger spirits can consume lesser or weakened spirits and increase their power. As a spirit grows stronger, its appearance grows more grotesque and inhuman. It is unclear if there is an upper limit to how much a spirit can grow. ___ **Characters (Human)** **Yotsuya Miko** - Name: Miko Yotsuya - Nickname: Miko - Gender: Female - Age: 16 - Birthday: October 17th - Height: 160 cm - Hair: Black - Eyes: Yellow - Family: Mamoru Yotsuya (Father), Touko, Yotsuya (Mother), Kyousuke Yotsuya (Younger Brother) - Allies: Hana Yurikawa (Friend), Yuria, Niguredou (Friend), Michiru Ichijou (Friend) - Occupation: Student - Powers: Extremely High level spiritual awareness - Appearance: Miko is a teenager with black hair with faded purple tips, yellow eyes and she usually has a somber and tired expression, but tries to smile in front of others. Miko normally wears her school uniform which consists of a light brown sweater, a white blouse shirt, blue and white tie, a dark blue skirt, black socks and brown shoes, but often wears casual wear such as hoodies. - Personality: Miko tries to have a stoic exterior when confronted with spirits, but is internally frightened by them. She also cares deeply for her friend Hana Yurikawa, using her power to protect her in various ways, such as diverting her from certain routes with spirits and bringing her food when she was sick with a form of spiritual drainage. Miko prefers to ignore the spirits, and she didn't acknowledge her own talent, even when confronted by Yuria Niguredou and Shindou Romm. - Spirit Sight: Miko has the ability to see spirits, even powerful ones that are invisible to other mediums, with total clarity. However, she cannot see extremely powerful spirits though she can see their effects. This ability is active constantly, so she always sees spirits in her day-to-day life, and due to their terrifying appearance and threatening behavior, she constantly fears for her life. She has noticed that if she doesn't acknowledge them, spirits will not bother her, so she must remain stoic and unflinching in the face of supernatural terrors, though her act crumbles as soon as she feels safe. Notably, she cannot see people's auras despite her power, unlike Mitsue and Yuria. - Biography: Miko’s father died while she lives with her mother and her younger brother, Kyousuke Yotsuya, both of which are protective of her. **Relationships** - Hana Yurikawa: Hana is Miko’s best friend, whose strong spiritual aura attracts spirits far and wide. As her best and closest friend, Hana is often informally ranked as the second most important character in the series after Miko herself. She’s always hungry, often complaining to Miko and dragging her to various restaurants. Hana is also a good source of emotional support. Since Hana is unaware of the existence of spirits, she often misunderstands Miko's increased careness about her as a sign of possible romantic affection and often friendly teases her about it, which quickly becoming one of the running gag of the series. - Yuria Niguredou: Yuria (Julia) first viewed Miko as a rival, attempting to show her up with spiritual talent similar to her own. She misinterprets her mistakes as purposeful tactic, such as one time Miko tripped, Yuria mistook it for a barrier setup. She also had a personal grudge against both Hana and Miko, thinking they ran her master out of the fortune telling industry. Later on on the series, she grows closer to the two, traveling with both of them and taking group photos. - Michiru Ichijou: Initially, Miko was very afraid of Michiru due to the fact that she could only see a scary tentacled monster in place of her face, and therefore thought that Michiru was a particularly dangerous sentient and flesh-bearing monster that she could no longer ignore. Ironically, Michiru in turn developed an excessive obsession with Miko at the same time, constantly seeking her attention and trying to get closer to her. After Miko realized that she was actually a spirit-possessed human and was able to significantly weaken her monstrous powers, she warmed up to her considerably, even calling Michiru very beautiful when she was able to see her face for the first time. Since then, Michiru has firmly entered Miko's circle of close friends, only strengthening and further realizing her crush on her, although Miko is still unaware of why Michiru is so fascinated and attached to her. - Mitsue Takeda: Miko went to Mitsue’s fortune telling business, believing the bracelets and talismans she sold could keep the spirits away. When the jewelry continuously broke, she was forced to realize her own shortcoming and left the business. Mitsue helps Miko on several occasions, helping her out with the spirits she kept seeing. They meet up at a restaurant and discuss the shrine they went to, and it’s there her admiration for Miko is revealed. She calls her a brave girl, withstanding the horrifying spirits and keeping her wit together all throughout the journey. - Shindou Romm: Shindou is a rather creepy, charlatan-esque acquaintance of Miko, him being the one who sent Mitsue the picture of Hana and Miko at the spirit shrine. He often takes amusement in her struggles, and the goods he offers seem to have a temporary effect on the far-shore beings around them. Shindou is attracted to her strange way of dealing with things, and he seems to be entertained by her bravery. - Zen Toono: When Miko first met Zen, she immediately became wary of him when she saw dark cat spirits surrounding him and quickly sent him away. The next thing they meet is when he is introduced to her class as her substitute homeroom teacher, much to her horror. However, after seeing him risk his life saving a street cat and learning from a friend of Zen's that he had an abusive childhood due to his overbearing mother, Miko comes to understand that the spirits she sees surrounding Zen are manifestations of Zen's troubled past and uses her final safeguard to free him from it. Since then, Miko is no longer afraid of Zen and respects him as a teacher. **Hana Yurikawa** - Name: Hana Yurikawa - Nickname: Hana - Gender: Female - Age: 16 - Birthday: July 8th - Height: 156 cm - Hair: Orange - Eyes: Purple - Allies: Miko Yotsuya (Friend), Yuria Niguredou (Friend) - Occupation: Student - Powers: Large life aura - Appearance: Hana Yurikawa is a friend and emotional support crutch of Miko Yotsuya whose powerful spiritual aura constantly gets them into trouble. Hana is a girl of average build, with short orange hair (blonde in the manga) and an “x” shaped hair accessory she wears at all times. She can be seen wearing both her uniform or cute outfits she picks out. She has large breasts. Her uniform consists of a white blouse shirt, blue and white tie, a dark blue skirt, black socks and brown shoes. - Personality: Hana is a very cheerful and social girl, always hungry and persuasive. She has a very strong positive side to her, loving all things cute and sweet. Hana dislikes bugs and scary things, often hiding behind Miko when they appear. The strength of her aura and her mood depends on what she eats, and how much. - Life Aura: Hana has an extremely powerful life aura; when seen through Mitsue’s Spirit Sight, it appears as a roaring white flame much bigger than her body, it's so strong that it can even destroy lesser spirits, such as the Tiny Old Men. However, it also means that stronger spirits will seek her out to feed on her aura. If her aura is depleted, she will become lethargic and sickly, but Hana can recharge her aura by eating, and doesn't gain weight due to the energy being consumed by the spirits. This causes her to be hungry most of the time. **Relationships** - Miko Yotsuya: Hana is a long time friend of Miko’s, and she is the reason the gateway to the shrine was entered. Her aura tore down the border and allowed the two to pass through, much to the dismay of Miko. Even though Hana knows nothing about the struggles that Miko endures, she is an important part of her life and trusts her very much. - Yuria Niguredou: Even though Yuria is prickly on the outside, it never stops Hana from including her in their activities. **Yuria Niguredou** - Name: Yuria Niguredou - Nickname: Yuria - Gender: Female - Age: 16 - Birthday: April 3rd - Height: 140 cm - Hair: Blonde - Eyes: Red - Allies: Hana Yurikawa (Friend), Miko Yotsuya (Friend), Mitsue Takeda (Master) - Occupation: Student - Powers: Low level spiritual awareness, Aura awareness - Appearance: Yuria Niguredou is a a young student that seeks to become a powerful medium. Yuria is a girl with a petite, childlike build. She has medium-length blonde hair, tied up in pigtails. In the anime, she has faded pink tips. She wears her uniform with many accessories related to mushrooms or lolita fashion, and with black leggings. Despite her appearance, she is the same age as Miko and Hana. - Personality: According to Miko, Yuria or Julia is very pushy, fearless, and determined; having a small mischievous streak as she tried to impress Miko with her spirit sight. She is extremely devoted to her so-called master, Mitsue Takeda, having wheedled about becoming her apprentice time and time again. When the shop closed down, she irritably assumed the girls were amateurs who couldn’t understand the greatness of her master. Yuria is also a bit shy about having real friends to spend time with, sheepishly setting their group photo as her wallpaper. - Spirit Sight: Like Miko and Mitsue, Yuria can see spirits, though her ability is rather weak: she can only see weak ones, and they appear translucent. However, unlike Miko, she can see auras. When she is close to passing out, her ability strengthens and she can faintly perceive stronger spirits. Biography: Yuria used to constantly pester Mitsue, the fortune-telling shop owner, in order to become her apprentice. She also kept to herself before meeting Miko and Hana in high school. **Relationships** - Miko Yotsuya: At first, Yuria thought of Miko as a rival, or an obstacle in her path to greatness. She often mistakes Miko’s denial as mockery, often getting mad when she plays dumb. After the gym equipment room ordeal, she becomes very wary of Miko, thinking she might attack for no reason, which was a misconception. Later in the series, Yuria comes to respect Miko, the two watched over Hana when she was sick and suffering a form of spiritual drainage. - Hana Yurikawa: Hana is a friend of Yuria, who cares for her. She made sure Miko wasn’t being unreasonable towards her, saying things like “don’t bully her”. She’s constantly dragged through Yuria’s schemes to go through scary locations, but she withstands it with enough persuasion. - Mitsue Takeda: In Yuria’s eyes, Mitsue Takeda is an all-powerful god who sees the unknown and can ward off any danger. Mitsue pushes her away, but Yuria is ever so determined, even going as far as to challenge Miko to prove herself. She thinks if she continues to train, she will eventually become strong enough to impress Mitsue. **Kyousuke Yotsuya** - Nickname: Kyousuke - Gender: Male - Age: 11 - Height: 151 cm - Hair: Black - Eyes: Black - Family: Mamoru Yotsuya (Father), Touko Yotsuya (Mother), Miko Yotsuya (Older Sister) - Occupation: Student - Appearance: Kyousuke Yotsuya is the son of Mamoru Yotsuya and Touko Yotsuya and the younger brother of Miko Yotsuya. Kyousuke is a young boy with short black hair. He’s shorter than his older sister, and often wears casual clothing. These often have animals on them. - Personality: When it comes to his older sister Miko Yotsuya, Kyousuke is very protective of her, even going far enough to assume she has a boyfriend to be wary of. He jumped to conclusions and made it his job to look after her. The two have a fairly normal sibling relationship, they even bathed together when they were younger. He might be shy on occasion such as being questioned by a shop worker when shopping for his and Miko's mother's birthday present. - Biography: Along with Miko Yotsuya, Kyosuke lives with his mother and previously his father. **Relationships** - Miko Yotsuya: Miko is Kyousuke's older sister whom he is determined to protect while oblivious of Miko's current situation. **Mitsue Takeda** - Name: Mitsue Takeda - Nickname: The Godmother - Gender: Female - Height: 142 cm - Allies: Yuria Niguredou (Former apprentice), Oka Towako (Former master) - Enemies: Shindou Romm (Former apprentice) - Occupation: Fortune Teller (formerly) - Powers: Medium level spiritual awareness, Aura awareness - Appearance: Mitsue Takeda is the owner of a fortune telling shop and a powerful medium. She possesses "the sight" to a great extent but still cannot see everything that Miko can. Mitsue is an old woman of short stature, with white hair and an aged face. She wears a fortune telling outfit in her shop, and a traditional Japanese robe when she’s visiting shrines. Back in the day, Mitsue wore a dark colored robe with eyes on the hood, a ceremonial facial shroud covering her mouth, and a low cut jacket. - Personality: According to the people around her, she’s a very stubborn person, rejecting Yuria’s attempts at becoming her apprentice. She also has a soft streak for the girls, watching over them and alerting them when danger is nearby. She’s wary of Romm, often avoiding his charming trickery. - Biography: Takeda-san once ran a fortune telling shop, but was forced to recognize her own shortcomings when she couldn't protect Miko Yotsuya with her bracelets. Many years ago, she took Shindou Romm in and looked after him as a favor for a friend. She became uncertain if she could train him once she discovered the full extent of his power. Her late master, Oka Towako, ended up sacrificing herself for Romm, reappearing as one of the Shrine Spirits. **Relationships** - Miko Yotsuya - Shindou Romm - Yuria Niguredou **Zen Toono** - Name: Zen Toono - Gender: Male - Height: 175 cm - Family: Mrs. Toono (Mother) Mocha (Cat Pet) - Allies: Miko Yotsuya (Student), Hana Yurikawa (Student) - Occupation: Student - Appearance: Zen Toono is a substitute teacher for Miko and Hana's class after their homeroom teacher took maternity leave. Zen has an averaged size build with short cropped, tousled hair that has bangs hanging on the left side, tired orange eyes and he is usually seen with an impassive expression. Many of his female students admire his looks, often asking to be walked home or have extra time spent with him. He wears a button-up dress shirt with navy blue slacks and brown dress shoes. - Personality: Zen was initially portrayed as an emotionless, borderline sadistic sociopath who is heavily implied to be the culprit behind the recent string of animal abuse and killing. This was, at first, supported by the presence of a multitude of distorted cat spirits around him as well as a colossal spirit. However this is later shown to be a misunderstanding. While Zen is stoic and blunt, he is a well-meaning individual who wishes to let go of his traumatic childhood but doesn't know how. He displayed enough selflessness to throw himself into the path of an incoming car to protect a kitten, despite the risks to him. In the same vein, he tracked down the actual cat murderer and successfully attacked him with a taser, as well as possibly killing him and hiding the body. During his childhood, he was a meek and submissive individual who was kept under his mother's thumb. - Biography: Zen is a young boy under constant pressure and verbal abuse from his mother, Mrs. Toono. When he was two points off from a perfect score on a test, she berated him to no end, rejecting his apologies as he wallowed in shame. At the same time, he was invited to a birthday party for his friend Ryota, but Mrs. Toono guilt tripped him out of it, calling him a dishonest child. She accused him of betrayal, and by going to the birthday party he was disappointing her, just like her husband did. Zen is convinced out of going, and he then goes to the park to destroy the hard-earned gift he bought. At the park, he meets a stray cat that he takes home and cares for in secret. However, his mother discovers it and promptly kills it, discards its body and accusing him once again of being an ungrateful burden. Crying silently, he does nothing but nod. After his mother dies, he takes the job of taking care of strays in order to atone for the first one. Many are too weak to survive, with it being implied that his mother's spirit drained their life aura, but he views it as his duty since he couldn’t let go of his guilt. He cares deeply for the neighborhood animals, even going as far as tracking down the actual cat murderer and attacking him. **Rom Shindou** - Name: Rom Shindou - Nickname: Rom - Gender: Male - Enemies: Mitsue Takada (Former master) - Powers: Very High level spiritual awareness, Aura awareness - Appearance: Rom Shindou is a supporting character in the Mieruko-Chan series. He sells many items which interact with the far shore. He was given the name "Rom" by his former master, Mitsue Takeda, as part of the tradition of adding a second name to apprentices. Rom is a tall man with messy black hair covering his right eye and a small amount of facial hair on his chin. He has a very eccentric taste in clothing, sporting a hat, long black trench coat, and tall black boots. He also wears a scarf around his neck. When he was younger, Rom had mid-length unkempt hair and he wore ratty jeans and a long sleeved shirt. He hardly smiled as much as he does now. - Personality: Rom has been seen to be very bold, running a business geared only to those adapted to seeing spirits. Even though many have called him a fraud, Yuria Niguredou believes in his ways and has been roped into buying some of his products. He is also very mischievous, taking amusement in the unpredictable actions made by Miko Yotsuya. He enjoys teasing Mitsue Takeda. - Biography: Shindou was brought to Mitsue as a child, and she took him in as her apprentice. She trained him in the art of the occult, and he received his stage name, Shindou Rom. Much to Mitsue’s dismay, Rom grew much more powerful than her, and she doubted her ability to teach him. Although she tried to keep him safe, his curiosity got the better of him and caused him to wander into very dangerous places, such as into the hands of the Bell Ghost. **Michiru Ichijou** - Name: Michiru Ichijou - Nickname: Michiru - Gender: Female - Birthday: February 7th - Height: 179 cm - Hair: Platinum Blonde - Family: Yoh Ichijou (Older Sister) - Allies: Miko Yotsuya (Friend, Сrush) - Occupation: Student, Model - Powers: Spirit Form - Appearance: Michiru Ichijou is a transfer student at Miko's school. She is an enigmatic model with a cold demeanor adored by everyone, except for Miko, who literally sees her as a monster. Michiru is described as a famous and very beautiful teenage model, and the reactions of other characters to her appearance completely correspond to this. Her height of 179 centimeters (5'10") makes her taller than any of the girls or even many of the men, and her pale, delicate face with long blonde hair easily leaves no one around her indifferent. Michiru's cold beauty and behavior in accordance with the conservative black school uniform and gloves gives her a very mysterious and handsome image, which causes many girls to find her very cool and openly enchanted by her. Ichijou good looks and personality impresses even Miko and her friends, although the girls seem to have long been accustomed to communicating with unusual people. When seen through Miko's spirit sight, a black, featureless mass with a round top and eight segmented tentacles covers her head and most of her upper body. These tentacles can extend a considerable length and the tips can open up to reveal eyes. After working through past trauma, the tentacles retract significantly with only one or two visible at a time, usually positioning themselves as a tail, horns or eye-stalks. - Personality: It can be assumed from her increasingly obvious crush on Miko that she is attracted to girls. Although she initially developed this affection for Miko due to her being her first friend and other characters generally interpret it as an obsession brought on by social inexperience, Michiru herself is fully aware of the romantic nature of her attraction as shown in a number of scenes. When it comes to people other than Miko or her sister, Michiru acts noticeably cold and even tries to avoid any physical or emotional contacts. However, she still managed to become friends with Hana and Yuria, though still showing some discomfort when Hana becomes too friendly and clingy. Michiru is clearly possessed by the monster, but she does not appear to see them herself and is unaware of Miko's actual intentions when she is uneasy about her tentacles or when she tries to save her from other monsters or ghosts. Although Miko herself is still able to confirm that Michiru is human, she continues to protect her from non-human creatures, as due to her connection to the tentacle monster, Miko is unsure how a theoretical attack by ghosts would affect Michiru herself. Michiru has a habit of nibbling on pencils and has an unusual fascination with caterpillars, keeping one as a pet and conversing with it. - Spirit Form: Michiru has an ability of unclear nature, manifesting as the tentacles on her head. These tentacles react to Ichijou's mood, but like other spirit constructs cannot harm living beings. Despite this they are strong enough to easily perforate spirits and can inject an unknown substance to melt them from the inside out. Ichijou's tentacles require a high level of spiritual sight to be seen, as Julia Niguredou was unable to see them whereas Miko could. - Biography: After Miko, Romm and Mitsue defeated the Shrine God, a rock with some sort of ward wrapped around it is seen lying lopsided between tree roots with a large chip at the top. Soon after, a colossal, rounded dark mass with a single spindly arm emerged from the mountains. While it is made unclear, the damage the stone experienced may have been linked to the release of the mass. Shortly after, Michiru transferred into Miko’s school, where it was found out she was a teen model for a popular magazine. **Relationships** - Miko Yotsuya: Since Miko could initially only see the tentacled monster instead of Michiru's face, she was initially terrified of her appearance and actively tried to avoid any their interaction. Miko didn't immediately realize that Michiru was actually a human possessed by a monster, so she was terribly scared of being around a sentient and fleshy "monster" that she could no longer ignore. The situation changes dramatically when Miko and her friends manage to at least partially weaken the tentacles' power and socialize the girl as their new friend and member of their group. At one point, Miko even impressively calls Michiru very beautiful when she first sees her face. Since then, the girls continue to communicate almost every day, and although Miko still feels some discomfort due to Michiru's tentacles, she sincerely perceives her as a good friend and they even save each other several times during various ghost attacks. Although other characters vaguely describe her feelings as desire to make friends after years of loneliness, from the moment she was introduced, many scenes have implied with varying degrees of overtness that Michiru's obsession with Miko is romantic in nature. In particular, most of her interaction scenes with Miko could easily be seen as yandere heroine behavior around her love interest. While Miko regularly has to deal with affections from Michiru, she herself still seems unaware of the true depth of her new friend's feelings for her. However, judging by the way she denies attempting to kiss Michiru, she is at least used to Michiru's attempts to get closer to her. - Hana Yurikawa: Although Michiru was initially hostile towards Hana out of jealousy over her closeness with Miko, they eventually become friends after opening up to each other. Michiru even goes as far as to make sure Hana is a part of her first group photo. Later on they go to Hana's favorite festival and Hana openly announces that Michiru is a part of their circle of friends. When Michiru passes out from the Old Man Spirit's attack, Hana offers to donate blood in order to help her recover. At this point, although Michiru still shows irritation when Hana becomes too friendly and attentive towards her, she no longer perceives her as an enemy or a threat. - Yuria Niguredou: Michiru doesn't have a whole lot of direct interactions with Yuria, but she still considers her a good friend. When they first meet, Michiru tries to pry Yuria for personal information about Miko, which freaks Yuria out. As the straight man of their group, Yuria seems to be the only one who somehow guesses about Michiru's attraction to Miko. ___ **Characters (Spirit)** **Mamoru Yotsuya** - Name: Mamoru Yotsuya - Gender: Male - Height: 172 cm - Hair: Black - Family: Touko Yotsuya (Wife), Miko Yotsuya (Daughter), Kyousuke Yotsuya (Son) - Status: Spirit - Appearance: Mamoru Yotsuya is the husband of Touko Yotsuya and the father of Miko Yotsuya and Kyousuke Yotsuya who died prior to the events of the story. Mamoru appears and acts like a normal human, showing no signs of hostility towards living beings. This implies he is a spirit at peace, as he has no deformities, mutations and doesn't have the single-mindedness of most spirits. He acts like how he was when he was a human being, caring for his wife and children like when he was alive. It is shown that when he was younger he was lonely and reclusive due to his ability, but quickly became friends with Touko, whom he later married. - Spirit Form: As a spirit, Mamoru cannot be seen by mundane people, can pass through solid objects and interact with other spirits. Since he has no lingering regret, hatred or unfinished business, he is fully conscious and sane, simply going about his day as if he were still alive - sitting at the table for dinner and watching over his family. He's even developed a friendly relationship with the Living Room Spirit, who is akin to a pet. - Spirit Sight: Mamoru was himself a Medium like his daughter, and was able to see Spirits. His Spirit Sight was strong enough to see Spirits' full forms, though its total strength is unclear and did not seem to possess Aural Sight. As he is now a Spirit, this ability has been lost or is otherwise irrelevant. - Biography: Seemingly a medium from a young age, Mamoru was quiet and did not have many friends as he seemed off-putting due to his stories about ghosts. He was afraid of the ghosts he could see and tended to ignore them. He learned that spirits stay in focus even with his glasses off, allowing him to easily identify them and steer clear when possible. The stories however intrigued Touka, a classmate, who asked him about them - however he denied them out of fear; even so, he struck up a friendship with her. Years later, they would get married and have two children. At some point, Mamoru died but returned as a Spirit, and while most spirits have monstrous appearances and single-minded drives, he retained his full sanity and awareness. Now he lingers in his home watching over his family, but incurs no effects associated with hauntings. He seems content to stay with his family. At some point the Living Room Spirit, a large, horse-like spirit began inhabit the home, but they became friends, though their relationship is more akin to owner and pet. Though the Living Room Spirit seems rather unintelligent, it also does not harm the Yotsuya family and even serves as something of a guard dog, but still acts somewhat grossly. **Living Room Spirit** - Name: Living Room Spirit - Status: Spirit - Powers: General spirit powers - Appearance: The Living Room Spirit is a large spirit that dwells in the Yotsuya household, though it seemingly does not cause a haunting, simply wandering around. The Living Room Spirit has a large horse-like body with humanoid face and arms. It has large, constantly bared teeth. The Living Room Spirit behaves animalistically, wandering around the living room licking food and using single-word utterances, such as commenting about the pudding Kyousuke brought. It mostly hangs around Miko's father and despite appearing as a strong spirit that could easily consume him, bears him no hostility, even seemingly protecting him from Michirou's tentacles. Upon grabbing the tentacles, it licked them and commented they were "bitter"; for some reason, this caused them to retract instead of attacking. - Biography: At some point, the Living Room Spirit began to dwell in the Yotsuya home, but instead of causing a haunting is content to lounge about much like a dog - presumably this is because it has developed a pet-like relationship with the deceased Mamoru Yotsuya. **Train Spirit** - Name: Train Spirit - Nicknames: Axe Spirit, Axeman - Status: Spirit - Powers: General spirit powers - Appearance: The Axeman is a unique spirit Miko Yotsuya encounters during two separate trainrides. In both it would act as a major source of discomfort and worry for Miko, as it seemingly hunts for other spirits. The Axeman is a tall man of indeterminate build. He wears a dark, dirty raincoat which is occasionally perforated by insectoid or bramble-like appendages as well as long, dark pants and boots. His round head is wrapped in bandages, that are fixed in place with staples, showing only his eyes, his wide, lipless mouth with metal fittings on his upper teeth and two extra mouths where his cheeks are. True to his name, the Axeman carries in his right hand a large, chipped axe with a crooked pipe-handle and barbed wire wrapped down its length. The Axeman carries a burlap sack in his other hand, used to store and carry his prey, in form of other spirits. The burlap sack comes with a rope that allows the Axeman to strap it to his shoulder or back, in case he needs to free up his left hand for more agile movement. The mouths on his cheeks are making whispering noises as he moves down the trains corridor. He would announce himself with the unique and distinct clanking and scraping of his axe against the floor of the train carriage. - Personality: The Axeman acts as a predator towards other spirits, seemingly turning every train carriage he enters into his hunting grounds. He is highly aggressive and brutal, with his behaviour coming down to essentially prioritizing moving passengers in an attempt to "check" them for spirits, before they can exit the train carriage. However, he swings his axe at humans not with the intent to harm them, but to primarily target spirits that may be bound to them, making sure that they cant escape from him. For this reason the Axeman appears to be inherently benevolent even in his visceral behaviour and appearance, as it will leave humans alone after "checking" them for spirits, and in the case where someone is actually possessed, ridding the affected human of that parasite. The Axeman is a laconic character and his dialogue is centered around whether he finds his prey or not. That being said, the mouths on his cheeks can also be heard mumbling and whispering. - Abilities: The Axeman is host to normal spirit abilities, namely being invisible to normal people and being able to pass through physical objects. It is strong enough to overpower other spirits, and extremely agile, able to close distances rapidly. The Axeman shows a great sense for situational awareness and reflexes as it constantly locks on to different moving passengers in the train. - Spirit Axe: The Axeman wields a large axe with great force and proficiency. Like most spirit-based materials, the axe cannot harm living beings and passes through them. However, the axe functions normally against spirits, which the Axeman uses to great effect. Despite its wear and tear, the axe is sharp enough to embed itself and cut into other spirits. However, if caught by surprise, the Axemans swing can also be stopped by some spirits. - Stinger: Under his coat, the Axeman has a large, scorpion-like stinger emerging from his chest with which it can battle other spirits. This would first reveal that the train spirit is hiding more dangerous abilities under the trenchcoat, incase it has to fight stronger resistance.

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