[X] Agree … if she can convince Byakuren.
"Alright," you say, but even as she starts to smile joyfully, you hold up a finger. "If you clear it with Byakuren first." Her expression falters and shifts - confusion, irritation, resentment - but you're looking past her now, at the shocked monk. Kogasa turns, following your gaze … and after a moment she walks over to Byakuren, and the two walk a little farther away. You exhale slowly. Why are you doing this? Do you have a reason? Is it just something to do? You look down, focus on a particular cobblestone as you order your thoughts.
Of course, it's not the worst thing you've done - helping another youkai inflict fear is much better than granting some form of legitimacy to a bunch of fairies - but not knowing why, exactly, you're doing this is … concerning. There isn't any real worth or value in befriending this youkai, and you don't gain from any disruption to the temple, either. So …. "Can we listen, too, Flan?" You straighten slightly and look at Lulu, and she blushes and squirms. "I mean, if you start teaching her right now, of course! If …." She starts to get excited, then trails off as you pat her shoulder gently.
"Of course, Lulu. If you and Ilya want to listen in, I don't mind at all." No, whatever is going on in your head, you wouldn't want to push your friends away. You look up as Kogasa and Byakuren start walking toward your resting group. When you get back, you should probably ask Remilia about it. Kogasa walks up to you, smiling nervously.
"It's okay, Byakuren doesn't have any problems." She looks over her shoulder and Byakuren nods. She turns back to you, blushing slightly. "Um, so … can we start now?" A light smile crosses your lips and you dip your head.
"Of course. Let's take a walk." You hop off the bench and start walking back toward the visitors' hall. You hear Kogasa cut herself off as Lulu and Ilya stand up as well - but then there are three sets of footsteps following you. Kogasa catches up to you, but Ilya and Lulu hang back a meter or so. "Explain how you usually go about trying to surprise people, Kogasa. And then guess why you think you keep failing."
"… Well, I go looking for humans, or sometimes I pick a place - like right now I'm trying the cemetery, because humans go there a lot. And then I try to find a good spot to jump out at them from, and go 'Blah!'" She demonstrates, hopping forward while thrusting and shaking her parasol. "It … it doesn't usually work, and … and a lot of people don't even pretend to be surprised."
"You can tell if someone's actually surprised?" You and Kogasa both turn around, walking backward.
"Yes. A lot of youkai need to physically eat to sustain themselves, but I eat the spirit directly from a person when I surprise them. I used to be able to scare people so well that they would have trouble walking! But now …." She sighs. "I know part of it is that I'm so old-fashioned. I'm so used to youkai being inherently feared that I didn't realize that scaring people during the day is a lot harder than scaring them at night. I've been reading ghost stories to try and get better, but … I can't tell if it's helping." You nod - lack of imagination. Of course, you would have had the same problem if you were in her position.
"Alright. First, something you need to understand is that 'fear' and 'surprise' are related emotions. For example, that graveyard is a good place to surprise humans. Firstly, because humans get nervous around their dead, especially when the dead outnumber the living. So in the cemetery, humans will normally be more tense and susceptible to shocks. It is also the case that humans tend to be more respectful toward the dead, so they won't be expecting someone to jump out from behind a gravestone, because that isn't polite." Kogasa nods determinedly. "But that only makes things easier. Actually scaring people, especially if you're going to use the jump-out method, is still going to be difficult."
"I know it's … not really the best way," she admits. "But I don't really want to hurt anyone, just … scare them." She sighs and angles her parasol to fit through the doorway, then collapses by the table, hugging the parasol tightly. You take a seat across from her, and Ilya and Lulu sit on the side to your right.
"Well, we'll start with the jump-out method, since it's what you're already familiar with." You take out several sheets of paper and a pencil, and start writing as you speak. "Now, the first problem with the jump-out method is that it requires set-up - it can't be used just anywhere, and you have to be able to make certain that whoever you're targeting doesn't notice you. It's all well and good to find a nice tombstone to hide behind as someone walks down the path to his grandmother's grave, but if your parasol is sticking out from behind the tombstone, he's going to see you." Kogasa scowls at you, but Lulu smiles and rests her head on her hands.
"I know that, I'm not -" Your hand leaps forward, thrusting the pencil at her, and she swallows her words. You stare at her mismatched eyes for a moment, then relax.
"Of course, that's an extreme example, but it's also very basic. If you watch human children playing, the younger ones don't realize that just because they're behind something doesn't mean they can't be seen. Now, you are not inherently a predator, ambush or otherwise, which means you have to learn these things rather than knowing them inherently, but the main idea - and I'm writing everything down, so you don't need to feel overwhelmed - is to know exactly what your territory is like. What sounds are normal, and what their absence means. What smells are normal and abnormal, and which are uncommon and can be used sparingly. Know where you can move without being seen from a given position." Kogasa wilts under your lecture.
"This all sounds … hard." You nod.
"It is. Success requires work, and if you don't have advantages, you have to work harder. And you've lost your primary advantage - that of the inherent fear of youkai that humans have - so you need to work a lot harder to catch up. Let's step outside for a moment." She follows you to the door and you gesture at the paved path leading to the hall. "How good an area is that for surprising people?" She looks out at the wide open space, with only stone lamps near the road itself, and shakes her head.
"It's not good at all," she says, and you nod.
"I agree. The monks wouldn't appreciate it, and you would be driven out for causing trouble in the temple itself. The geography of the path is actually very good for surprising people, but the situation makes it unsuitable." Kogasa stares at you, confused, and you point out the features of the plaza. "The stone lamps are very close to the path, so if you can keep an eye on the intruder, they let you get very close. The wall, which delineates the safe temple area from the unsafe outside, so people relax when they cross it - but if you notice, the gatehouse extends inward from the wall, so you can hide in that corner and creep out behind them." She stares at the plaza, mouth hanging slightly open as she works her way through your logic, and follows you docilely back into the visitors' hall. "That's part of what I mean, Kogasa. You have to look at the area you're working in, understand it, and figure out how to use it effectively to your advantage. You also, however, have to keep in mind the problems - for example, those stone lamps are not very big, and they're also the obvious hiding spot. So you would have to be relying on the target not expecting to be scared in this specific location. So, what do you think about the cemetery?" She stares at the table for a moment, then blinks and looks at you.
"The cemetery? Umm … well, you said humans are nervous around dead people, so they're nervous in cemeteries, and they usually are there to pay respects to their ancestors, so their minds are focused on a specific thing, making them more susceptible to outside shocks." You nod; granted, she's only regurgitating information, but if she can retain information that well then this won't be useless. "Umm … the grave markers really aren't good for hiding behind - they're a little thicker than the lamps, but they're also shorter. There aren't many other things to hide behind … oh! The ground is stone around the grave markers, so - I'd have to take off my shoes, wouldn't I?" You nod approvingly; she's very clever, once her mind starts working on something. She just needs to realize that the thing exists to be worked on.
"Or fly. What about lighting conditions and larger hiding places?" She frowns thoughtfully.
"The forest is pretty far back from the cemetery itself, but there are cherry blossom trees scattered around. And it's not completely flat, there are hills - oh, there's a cave! It's kind of creepy, and Byakuren and the other monks said to stay away from it." You nod again.
"Then something you can consider is creating a spookier atmosphere." She leans forward, listening eagerly. "Now, some of these you probably won't be able to do, and others will require a lot of set-up. First, humans get more nervous when they can't see - this is why they're easier to surprise at night. They don't see well, and since the dark, the unknown, is something humans generally fear, they become more fearful and are easier to surprise. So adopting a night-time routine, if possible, or working in other conditions of poor visibility - fog, for example. If you can find another youkai who can call up fog or mist, either with magic or just by knowing what plants burn with a lot of smoke, you can use that -"
"And then jump out of the mist to scare everyone!" She leaps up excitedly, but you shake your head, and she frowns in confusion.
"Oh, you can, especially if the fog or mist is everywhere, but if the fog or mist is concentrated in one area, it can be much more effective to sneak up behind them, because they're going to be focused on the mist. There are tricks you can use with mist or fog to enhance the effect, but those are usually fairly technical and need you to take into account existing lighting and atmospheric conditions, as well as needing manipulation of light and some other things. Something else to keep in mind, however, is your target." She nods and rubs her head. "You've run into Reimu, I take it. Yes, there are humans who will fight back, and learning who those are is a good idea. But there are also other considerations - for example, if anyone is very old or appears seriously sick, remember that a good scare could actually kill them, and might get you in trouble. Another thing to think about is whether you want to focus on the cemetery, or if you're going to surprise people in other areas as well, and with what frequency." She cocks her head, confused, and you tap the pencil on the table for a moment. "It's easier to surprise people in the cemetery, but if you stay there, you will eventually be known as 'the youkai who haunts the cemetery'. Which is a pretty big bit of prestige, as long as the humans don't decide to have you exterminated. But it also means that people won't be as easily surprised - they'll know you're here, they'll learn what you do, and they'll become more used to you. So even though it's more difficult, it's better from a long-view perspective to use another area as a haunting ground if you can do it without getting into a territorial dispute."
"Although …." Ilya trails off as you and Kogasa look at her, then nods when you motion for her to continue. "You get more spirit from people being more surprised, right? Then you could keep trying to scare people here. If you can surprise people who know you're here and know you're trying to scare them, that would be a lot of spirit energy, right?" Kogasa cocks her head as she considers the matter, and you tap your lips.
"Possibly. Some youkai work like that, others don't. It would be balanced by a longer time between scarings and more work setting up a scare, though." You look at the pages on the table - five pages of small, neatly-written instructions, suggestions, and thoughts on the subject of scaring and surprising people. Good enough for a single lesson, at least.
What do you do?
[ ] Give her the papers and let her know she can come to the mansion for more ideas and suggestions.
- [ ] Then catch up to the others.
- [ ] Then go see Remilia.
- [ ] Then just wait in the visitors' hall with Ilya and Lulu.
[ ] Walk Kogasa through some scaring routines; she won't get any spirit, but you'll be able to tell her more about anything she's doing wrong.
- [ ] Then catch up to the others.
- [ ] Then go see Remilia.
- [ ] Then just wait in the visitors' hall with Ilya and Lulu.
[ ] Other?
