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✊ ravi just clobbers someone harassing nami
Nami's a little taken aback but relieved that situation is over. Takumi secretly approves (and would have taken care of it if she hadn't), but Ravi's not allowed back in town probably. Have to stay on Dejima out in the harbor.
There's talk about a barbarian woman who strikes down men bare handed for weeks.
Drop onami? (*holds back a raving ravina*)
How could you possibly kill this poor little cat? You monster!
You get to think about what you've done. She may have been able to take a human form magically, but she was just a little cat. You don't even get a collar with her name.
You better hope the others, especially Takumi, never find out what you've done.
*thinking about my characters that started off based vaguely on people I knew* ok yeah I couldn't see her being a miko. This character is different enough...
I want to talk about my cat spirits.
High school AU for the cats
I'm going with a high school with three years (10-12th) so I don't have to decide whether this is in Japan or America.
O Nami is 10th grade. Her best subject is English (or Japanese if this is in Japan), and her worst subject is gym but she tries her best. She has a bit of a crush on Takumi.
Goro is 11th grade and is fairly good in math and home ec, but bad in English/Japanese. He's kind of one of the outcasts in the school and Takumi picks on him, but isn't as mean as with some folks.
Takumi is 12th grade, and mostly skips classes despite one of his parents being a teacher. He's good in gym tho and likes chemistry and wood shop. Kind of a bully as above but can be sweet if he likes you. Only nicer to Goro cuz the guy is a brother to his big sister's friend.
Suzu is also 12th grade and Takumi's closest friend. She's talented in most subjects but really excels in writing specifically and foreign languages. She's also part of a gardening club. People think she and Takumi are dating but neither of them see it that way.
Kurenai and Yawatama (would have different names but let ignore that) went to the same high school as the other but they're in college now. Kurenai is Takumi's older sister and Yawatama is Goro's. These two are dating.
When they were in school, Kurenai was good in gym but didn't skip other classes like Takumi, and she was actually part of the debate club and on the soccer team. Yawatama was also on the soccer team and was better with geography and took a lot of electives like sculpture and other art stuff.
Matasuke teaches several math classes and home ec so he's very close to Goro. He's a bit disappointed with Takumi skipping classes so much especially since it's his last year in school but neither he or Takumi expect Takumi to go to college, but it would be nice to get Takumi into a trade school.
Makoto is a business woman, pays for Kurenai's college and even gives her a little bit of spending money so she can focus on her schooling. Used to model when she was younger, which was the start of her company (makes affordable but fashionable street wear) as well as where she met Matasuke before he became a teacher. (His father was a photographer and Mata came along on shoots to help set up.)
Tell us a little more about the cats (non troll)
Without getting into timeline or setting bs, I'll try to explain the main cast and some basic story stuff.
The main cast are Makoto and Matasuke (his name is likely to change tho for reasons), who are the leaders of the clan and basically own any of the businesses the clan runs, Takumi, Kurenai, Yawatama and Nami with a few others showing up here and there. Makoto also turns into a younger version of herself, who everyone calls Aotama, and outside the clan no one knows are the same person, she's just assumed to be Makoto's daughter. Luckily the rest of the bunch are easier to explain.
Takumi is a nekomata, unlike most of the cats who are bakeneko, and he has a grudge against certain people. He's basically in a contract to get rid of those folks in return for staying "alive". When he doesn't have a specific target, he just works as a body guard for the other cats but also covers other duties as needed. He's been adopted as Makoto and Matasuke's son.
Kurenai, Yawatama and Nami (along with "Aotama") are entertainers working for the clan, which has different details depending if it's the modern AU or the Edo one, but most of their time is spent working on routines, advertising to clients, putting on shows. Kurenai acts as an "older sister" to Nami, in the sense that she's the one who helps teach her various things and Nami's reputation reflects back on Kurenai.
Nami actually starts off the story as a waitress, and in modern AU it's at the clan's cat cafe. (Edo AU it's a teahouse.) She later gets chosen as an entertainer. She has two conflicting dreams and one is to be famous and well loved by the public. In Edo period, she wants to travel even knowing that if she did she could never return to Japan. In modern times I actually haven't decided what her alternate goal is since I haven't worked as much on that.
I feel I should also mention that Kurenai and Yawatama are girlfriends in both timelines. Kurenai is a bit brash, and despite being a good few decades older than Takumi has a sibling-like rivalry with him. They might fight and cause trouble but they don't let it get too rowdy, and they'd defend each other fiercely from anyone outside the clan trying shit. Yawa's more soft-spoken and polite but is good at handling difficult situations/customers.
Tell us a little more about o'nami's species and their lifestyle?
So, O Nami is a youkai or specifically a bakeneko. She the spirit of a cat that can take human form, but she's never completely human. Most of the cats are bakeneko, but there are other kinds of cat youkai, like Takumi (a nekomata) and O Suzu (manekineko). Bakeneko are kind of like the base form; If nothing majorly good or bad happens, but a cat lives to an old age, they'll become a bakeneko.
Mostly the cats are just trying to get by. They mostly work as entertainers in their own little community within the entertainment district. O Nami works at the tea house as a waitress, and they serve both youkai and humans.
Also, I'm not an expert on Japanese myth or folklore but I am trying to keep things as close to the sources as possible, except a few places just to make it work a bit better. I'm a big folklore nerd overall tho. Also, cat youkai are collectively called kaibyou, written 怪猫.
Open: You find a strange little tea house.
On the bustling street of the entertainment district, you find a tea house much like many others, but something makes you decide to head inside for a beverage and maybe a bite to eat. You are greeted by a young man with a long ponytail wearing a blue and red kimono. Something about his eyes catches you off guard, but when you look again, you aren’t sure of what you saw.
From behind him, a young lady rushes out. She seems to be the only waitress working right now, in a cheerful yellow kimono and an apron. With how small most of these tea houses are, there might only be one waitress at a time for most hours. She finds you a seat near the front of the tea house and takes your order.
You notice you’re alone now except for the greeter. There seems to be private rooms off on the other side of the building that you can hear people talking in, but it’s too muffled to hear what any conversations are about. Those types of thing are usually an extra charge or only for regulars.
What will you do?
> Ask the greeter about the rooms?
> Wait for your order to arrive?
> Try not to stare at the greeter from your seat?
