Meet the New Class – Student Number 20 – Miyoshi Youko
"Would you like to leave this place?"
She simply sat there for a moment, looking up at the stranger standing just outside the bars of her cell. "...excuse me?"
The old man smiled mischievously at her. "I asked 'would you like to leave this place'? It is a simple question, you know."
She sat up straighter and gave the old man a good look. What she saw wasn't much; he was short, old, and had an oddly shaped head and quite a beard. He wasn't really much to look at, but she had been around for quite a while, and knew all about little old men who smiled mischievously. "I don't think the guards would just let me leave."
The old man's smile widened a bit. "Not to worry, my dear," he said as he removed an ancient key from somewhere deep within his sleeve. She watched, surprised, as he inserted it in the lock on her cell. The ancient metalwork resisted for a moment, but ultimately creaked back to life and allowed him to open the door.
She watched as he walked up to her, leaning on a cane she seriously doubted he really needed. "Okay, so you opened the door, but what about these?" she asked, nodding down at the talismans hanging on the rope wrapped around her body, pinning her arms to her sides and her legs together.
"It is a simple thing," he said, pointing up at the roof with the index finger of his left hand. To her surprise, a brilliant blue flame flashed into life with a fwump. "Now hold still, this will only take a moment..." he said as he hobbled over and touched a talisman, which promptly burst into flame. A moment later, only one of the magic talismans remained.
"Well?" she said, trying to hide the anxiousness she felt.
The old man's mysterious smile disappeared and he gave her a serious look. "I am afraid I must ask something of you, Youko."
Youko carefully schooled her face to hide the dread she was starting to feel, and instead opted for that tried and true youkai tactic when dealing with humans: intimidation.
She straightened her back and looked him square in the eyes, her posture, seated as she was, became somehow regal, and even the old man paused as she no longer seemed a prisoner in a dark, ancient cell somewhere deep within the secret caverns under the Konoe compound in Kyoto, but rather a wise and powerful queen seated upon a throne. "You would ask something of me? You? What right do you have to ask anything of me, human?" she said, making extra sure to spit the last word, as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.
The old man's smile returned. "You are skilled, but you are still powerless until I remove the final talisman, Youko. As for what I must ask, don't worry. It is a simple task."
Youko faltered, her regal bearing collapsed, and the illusion was destroyed. She sighed. "You won't release me or tell me what it is unless I agree beforehand, right?"
He nodded.
Youko sighed again, deeper, and nodded.
The old man nodded in return. "Very well, Youko. With this, you are bound to me for however long it takes you to complete your task." He burned the final talisman and Youko leaped to her feet, staggering against the wall for support.
"Be careful," the old man said as he helped support her. "It has been almost three hundred years since the last time you stood under your own power."
Youko stood there a moment, swaying as she tried to regain her balance. "It's been that long...?" She thought of her old friends, human, oni, and youkai, and wondered how many were still alive. With all the warfare back then, they had probably all died. She felt a sudden buildup of moisture in her eyes and quickly wiped it away.
"Yes," the old man replied as if he hadn't seen her tears. "The world has changed a great deal from the one you knew. Here, put this on," he said, handing her a ragged cloak.
Youko took it and draped it over her shoulders.
"The hood," he said.
Youko pulled the hood over her head and felt her vision shift. "W...what is this?" she asked hesitantly.
"Invisibility," the old man said. "I am the only one who can see you. Here, hold this," he said, passing her a strange, hinged contraption of some dark transparent material. "It has been a long time since you've seen the light of day, Youko. Come, follow me."
Youko did as the old man said, and followed with trepidation as he led her up long, winding passageways, speaking briefly with any guards he met along the way. Youko couldn't help, during these brief pauses, but to sneak around behind the guards and pick their pockets or put something on their chairs or make faces at them behind their backs, all the while the old man kept a straight face.
Finally, they paused in front of a heavy wooden door.
"Youko," the old man said. "Put those on," he said, pointing at the contraption he had given her, which she had already hooked on the front of her ragged old yukata. Youko gave him a confused look, so he deftly plucked them away, unfolded them, and placed them on her face over her eyes before she could react. She was reaching up to take them off when he opened the door.
Even with the sunglasses, the sunlight was too much for Youko after three hundred years in the darkness; she cried out and spun away, covering her eyes.
"Ah, Setsuna-kun, can I help you?" the old man said.
"Are you sure this is a wise course of action?" Something about the woman's voice caught Youko's attention; she let her senses extend a little, encountered something, and abruptly pulled back. The woman outside was...something special. Not just a youkai, not just a half-youkai, but...something more. Youko turned to look at her as well as she could with her eyes still trying to adjust to the light, and finally got a look at her.
The strange woman was short, wearing the traditional clothing of the Shinmeiryu, which had hardly changed after three hundred years. She bore a sword as long as she was tall, and she was looking in Youko's general direction, trying to find her through the invisibility effect of the cloak the old man had given her.
"I am as sure about this as I have ever been about anything," the old man said, then abruptly changed tack. "How is my granddaughter?"
Youko watched in surprise as the previously incredibly dangerous woman quickly devolved into a spluttering, blushing mess while the old man asked several embarrassing questions rapid fire. Finally, the formerly-dangerous woman just gave up and pointed off to the left.
"Fine! I give up! Just...just go!"
"Oh? I never intended to embarrass you, Setsuna-kun," the old man said with keen good cheer that let the whole world know that that had been exactly what he had been after. "Oh my, it seems I have spent far too much time here, I am afraid I must return to Mahora with all haste; please give my regards to my son in law and granddaughter."
Setsuna nodded miserably and the old man led Youko away.
"So what was all that?" Youko asked as she looked around at anything and everything. The Konoe estate had changed considerably in the past three hundred years; trees she remembered as small, scraggly thing were now huge, while others were simply gone. The same was true of various buildings, gardens, statuary...a lot of what she had known before was simply gone or replaced by something else. There was very little that had not been changed.
"That was my granddaughter's guardian," the old man said. "She is quite skilled."
Youko nodded in response. That much was obvious from the way the strange woman moved and stood. "Will you tell me about my task now?"
"Wait until we are in the car."
"...car?"
They arrived in front of a gate, and Youko fidgeted while the old man spoke to the two guards. One of them moved forward and grasped the handle, and Youko leaned forward. She had been trapped in this place for three hundred years, she would be glad if she never saw the place again-
The gate opened, and Youko froze, gaping at the landscape below.
The old man thanked the guards and nudged Youko. "I must go, thank you," he said to the guards, who thanked him and shut the gate after him. He took Youko by the arm, unable to miss her trembling.
"What...w-what have I missed...?" she said fearfully to herself as she stumbled along. The countryside that had once been the only thing in the wide valley she was now looking into had been overcome by the strangest buildings she had ever seen. Blocky and angular, short and tall, they filled the whole valley from end to end; the woods that had once been considered sacred were simply gone. Strangely colored things moved along what could only have been roads, though she had never seen a road so smooth and straight, and now that she thought about it, the air carried a million odd scents she had never experienced before. A distant roar caught her attention and she looked up at the sky, shading her eyes against the glare of the sun, and caught sight of some thing moving along high above, higher than a bird could fly.
"...what...?"
"It is an airplane," the old man said. "People ride in them. Come along, Youko. There will be plenty of time to catch up."
Youko blinked as she looked up at the airplane again, glad once again for the dark lenses the old man have given her to cut the glare. "This is..."
The old man nodded and patted her comfortingly on the arm. "I know it must be a lot to take in, Youko. After all, the world has changed considerably after-"
"This is amazing!" Youko blurted out. She ran a few dozen feet ahead down the winding path and caught view of the road, where one of those strange moving contraptions she had seen at a distance seemed to be stopped. She saw a woman sitting inside of it, looking rather bored, and couldn't contain her excitement as she ran up to it. "Wow! It's so big! What is it? People ride in it like a carriage, right?"
The woman inside the thing opened up the side of it and got out when she spotted the old man. "Was it a failure?" she asked; she had not seen Youko because of the invisibility enchantment on the hooded cloak he had given her to wear.
The old man shook his head. "Youko, Youko!"
Youko glanced up from the grill of the car, which she thought looked oddly like a face. "Huh?"
"Take off the hood."
"Oh! Okay," Youko said as she pushed the hood back and continued her examination of the car. She poked at the tires, left dirty handprints on the glass, peered into the exhaust pipe (from which emanated a strange, unpleasant smell), and finally stepped back. "Wow...how do you go into it?" she asked excitedly.
Shizuna sighed and rubbed her forehead, while old Konoemon smiled mischievously. "As you can see, she has no knowledge of the modern world," he said. "It appears she will adjust easily, however...I will leave it to you, Shizuna-kun. Show her documentaries, give her books...she must learn to speak modern Japanese and read before the new school year begins."
Shizuna sighed, once again annoyed by her boss's spur of the moment planning. "I understand." 'Five months to teach someone about the modern world. Wonderful,' she thought bitterly.
Konoemon smiled. Haru-kun would need Youko's help mastering her power, after all. If Youko wasn't prepared to help her, then things could get ugly, very fast. He hadn't needed to look at old prophecies or read minds or anything like that; the girl's denial of her true nature was plain to see for someone like him. And besides, he would be doing a good deed by setting the imprisoned fox youkai free. This way was much kinder than simply releasing her out into the world with no knowledge of what had changed since her imprisonment began. He watched Shizuna open the door for Youko, who climbed inside awkwardly, her tail and ears twitching around in excitement as she poked and prodded at everything. He couldn't help but smile. Youko was still like a child, after all; among Youkai society, while not common, it wasn't exactly unusual for someone to still be considered a child after such a time. She was curious, and that was something he could use to keep her in line whenever she started to stray.
There would be a lot of things to take care of later, but for now, he would let her enjoy herself. After three hundred years of imprisonment for a crime she most likely didn't even commit, a little bit of time to play around and sate her curiosity was the least she deserved.
Miyoshi Youko
Born – 5/30/1994 (reported)
Height - 5'10"
Kendo Club
Likes – Playing pranks, crowds, friendly people
Dislikes - Kyoto
Roommate – Inoue Ai
Little Known Facts – She is excellent at Kendo and ukiyo-e
Titles: Student Number 20, Silver Fox
Close Friends: She likes everyone
Enemies: None
Notes: Youko is a character I've used under different names in several things in the past, usually as a quick villain. This time around, though, Youko has a more youthful personality and is much, much more playful. In fact, she's the top prankster in Mahora. As for her looks, she is heavily based on the female version of Kuugen the fox from the anime series Wagaya no Oinari-sama, a.k.a. Our Home's Fox Deity in the US, though similar versions of her have been running through my head for the past decade, probably since the first time I saw a fox youkai in an anime. All versions of her, however, are extremely dangerous; she's not someone to dismiss out of hand. She has long white hair that she usually wears loose or occasionally pulls back to get it out of the way, and pale blue eyes that almost seem to take on a purple appearance in certain light. She has fox ears and a bushy fox tail, but also has the ability to hide them when she wants to.
Appearances: First Appearance- chap 3 (New Beginnings 3), Chapter 10 (Kyoto 2)
Kamo's Negi Love Chart
Motherly - 0
Sisterly - 0
Friendship - 14
Crush - 12
Love - 7
H - 20
Kamo's Comments: "Er...wow. Um...I would try to avoid being in the same room as her alone, aniki."
Haruna's Stat Chart
Friendliness - 17
Courage - 16
Attractiveness - 19
Intelligence - 16
Athleticism - 16
Instincts - 19
Anger - 8
Loner - 2
Outgoing -18
Popularity – 17
Attributes – White haired beauty, prankster, friendly girl, very long hair
Haruna's Comments: "This one's a real catch. Friendly, beautiful, athletic and brave...the only problem here is that she's an incurable prankster. Yeah...don't turn your back on her if she's in a playful mood."
Comments From The Rest
Konoe Konoka: "Youko-san has paid her debts and is free to return to the world." *pleasantly refuses to say any more about it*
Sakurazaki Setsuna: "...I don't trust her. But...Konoka-ojou-sama says she must be left free, so I will not stop her unless she breaks that trust."
Scary Max-sensei: "Youko? She always skips my classes. Tell her I'm looking for her next time you see her, okay? We have a score to settle."