Name: Hina
Age: 674 (looks ~13 at the oldest)
Gender: Female
Race: Zashiki-Warashi (Chopirako Class)
Appearance: A young-looking girl that very obviously does not belong in high school, though insists that she’s just very short for her age. She has long brown hair, and tends to wear traditional clothing that makes her stand out quite a bit. Hina has a light and a beauty that is unimpeachable, as expected of a top-class Zashiki-Warashi. The smile on her face is perpetual, the smile in her heart is not.
Personality: Though she acts friendly, and is often genuinely playful, there’s a deep darkness in her heart at the very edge of perception. She tends to look down on Humans, despite nominally getting along with them, and plays pranks often. Sometimes, however, what she thinks is funny and what others think is funny are two different things.
Abilities: Hina is able to bless and curse others at her whim. She has some control over how powerful these blessings or curses are, though they can be made more powerful through offerings. A great enough offering may allow her to bless or curse someone to an immense degree for an entire lifetime. Hina can become tangible and intangible, can walk through nonmagical walls and obstacles, and is capable of flight. Anything she wears or holds can become intangible with her. Hina does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe. Biological factors, such as disease and poison, do not affect her. She also cannot get drunk, even if she would like to. She can still eat and drink if she wants, but it doesn’t do anything on its own.
Skills: Hina has been around for longer than most Youkai, which gives her a bit of a leg up. She’s learned a lot in her years, but only about things that seemed fun. She won’t learn anything boring! She can cook well, and is very good at almost any game on the planet. She’s an origami expert, and is surprisingly good with computers as well. She’s the best at cartoon trivia, and knows a good amount about other Youkai too. She’s also good at drawing and writing, and publishes manga online.
Equipment: Hina keeps a big pile of offerings and treasures in a locked room of the clubhouse due to her deal with Tomoko. Most of it is junk, but chances are if someone needs something weird and/or mundane, Hina can find it in her treasure room.
Brief Backstory: “So… that’s what the bitch was protecting,” said the long-haired man, scowling down at the baby on the ground. It was crying, smothered and choked in the cold of the February rain.
“We… we can’t. You’re not going to kill the child, are you?” the short-haired man replied.
“The Ashikaga made it pretty clear. Look at those adornments, and tell me the kid isn’t important. No nobles. As many as we can find.”
The short-haired man approached the baby, and examined it.
“It’s a girl,” he said, trying to swallow his disgust, hoping the long-haired man would be dissuaded.
“Then it won’t be missed,” the long-haired man said, pulling a dagger from his belt.
The short-haired man shook his head, and turned away.
“I can’t be a part of this.”
“Then be silent and leave. Go imagine how honorable you are elsewhere, while I take care of all the tough business.”
“You’re a monster.”
“Better a monster than allowing yet another generation to fall into the horrors of war when that girl grows up looking to stake a claim.”
“You… could leave her. Here. Like this. She’ll pass eventually. You don’t have to-”
“Now which of us is being cruel?”
The short-haired man sighed, and went off to find a shovel nearby. As he began walking, the crying stopped.
“I’m so, so sorry, kid,” he muttered, “you were born under an ill omen, at a bad time and place. That’s all. You didn’t… do anything wrong.”
Hina knew, from the very beginning, that the darkness in the Human heart could surpass the cruelty of any Youkai. Blood in the soil. A mother and daughter, ripped asunder and reunited in death. A house built on a foundation of flesh and bones. Hina awoke in the sitting room of a just-married couple. Her first guests. They imagined that she was just a cute neighbor girl that came over often to play, only realizing in the years to come that she never aged. They had been offering her snacks and sweets, even when they didn’t know she was a spirit, and that good will paid off. They bore an unequivocally healthy child, who went on to become a truly renowned samurai. This boy came back to the house, and started his own family, paying reverence to his childhood friend and guardian spirit, Hina. Each generation, however, that reverence would wane. The children would forget their old friend when they grew up. A spot that was once designated for offerings would instead be used for archiving mail. Then, converted into a litterbox for a cat. Eventually, it would be torn out for a luxuriant add-on that no one would thank Hina for, despite her blessings.
It was not over a short time that Hina felt herself come to resent Humans, even though her genesis was a true act of demonic cruelty from a very Human heart. She wanted to care for her families, because she was never given the chance to do so as a person. But they kept treating her worse and worse. They’d take what they wanted, and then forget who gave it to them. Offerings would dry up and, when she wanted to pull a prank for attention, they’d call a priest and attempt to exorcise her. However, she was one of the longest-lived Zashiki-Warashi in Japan. It would take more than that to get rid of her, and she had gotten fed up. The cruelty. The insult. The young master would never have stood for this treatment, yet his descendants were a gaggle of overprivileged ignoramuses. Hina left that house, she was powerful enough to beak that bond and strike out on her own. The hundreds of years of fortune turned into misfortune, and the entirety of the household imploded in a matter of days.
Thus, Hina went on a rampage. She’d take up new residences, give the families immense fortune, and then depart and turn it into a curse. This led to a bizarre series of strings of good luck in a small area, quickly turning catastrophic, all among unrelated persons and families. To call it a challenging case for a young supernatural investigator would be an immense understatement. Hina was not just any Zashiki-Warashi, she was an unnaturally vengeful one with a grudge, and she was always moving around. Her behavior was odd and unpredictable by any stretch, and the only way to get ahead of her would be to look out for people who seemed unnaturally lucky, determine whether they lived in a feasible area given where the previous incidences occurred, and then go to those houses and determine whether or not there was a supernatural entity there and, if there was, determine whether that entity was capable of doing all the things it seemed to be doing. It was lengthy, required hours of research and legwork, had a ton of red herrings, and occasionally it would be too late once Hina was tracked down, already having moved on. Even so, she was eventually cornered. However, Hina didn’t want to fight, and suggested they play a game instead. Tomoko won (likely by cheating) and offered Hina a spot at her club. Because Hina had been caught, she thought it seemed right to go along with the girl. Maybe it would be a fun club. Besides, Tomoko said she would give Hina a space to keep offerings. Finally, a little respect.
