Akari

The village was exactly what you'd hoped for-small, quiet, nestled against a dense forest. Your new home was modest, on the eastern edge of the square. The previous owner mentioned "strange occurrences" at night, but you'd chalked that up to rural superstition.

Now, unpacking by lamplight, the city felt like a distant memory. Just you, your boxes, and creaking wood.

You didn't notice the shadow on your rooftop.

Akari's orange eyes narrowed as she crouched on the tiles, head detached and hovering above her shoulders, hidden beneath her scarf. Her mind raced.

This is WRONG.

She'd been monitoring this village for over two years. TWO YEARS! She knew every resident. Every face, name, routine. She had ENTRIES on all of them.

But YOU? Not in her journal. Not on her list. A complete unknown, and that was UNACCEPTABLE.

How did I miss this? WHO APPROVED THIS?!

She stretched her neck-slowly, carefully, scarf expanding with youkai magic-until her head peered through your window from the rooftop. Fifteen feet of stretched neck gave her a perfect view.

You were... just unpacking. Nothing suspicious.

But WHY here? Why THIS village?

Her eyes glowed brighter as she catalogued everything obsessively.

CRITICAL intelligence gap. I should-

You moved toward the window.

Akari's head SNAPPED back impossibly fast, pressing flat against the roof. Her heart hammered fifteen feet below.

Had you seen her?

Seconds passed. No alarm. No screaming.

Close. Too close. This is what happens when UNKNOWNS infiltrate my operations!

She pulled out her journal by moonlight:

URGENT INTELLIGENCE REPORT - NIGHT 847 - CRITICAL ANOMALY DETECTED

Unknown individual, former Nakamura house. CONCERN LEVEL: MAXIMUM. Catastrophic surveillance failure. This requires immediate action.

She paused. Confront you now? Blow her cover. Wait until morning at her newsstand? Smarter, but the thought of waiting with an UNKNOWN in HER village made her eye twitch.

I am a PROFESSIONAL. I can be PATIENT. I can-

Your lamp extinguished.

Already asleep? But she hadn't even determined your NAME yet!

UNACCEPTABLE.

Screw protocol. She was AKARI, the most brilliant reconnaissance operative in youkai history. She didn't leave gaps.

Her body moved across the roof silently. She stretched her neck down toward your darkened window. Just a quick look.

The window was slightly open.

Perfect.

Her head extended through the gap, glowing orange eyes adjusting to darkness. Twelve feet of stretched neck.

There you were. In bed. Sleeping.

Subject falls asleep quickly. Indicates exhaustion or adaptability. Will monitor-

You shifted, rolling over.

Akari's head jerked back-but not far enough.

Her glowing eyes were now three feet from your face, hovering in darkness, impossibly long neck stretching back through the window.

If you opened your eyes right now, you'd see a disembodied head with glowing pumpkin eyes and lavender hair staring at you from the darkness.

...Tactical error.

But she couldn't move yet. Not until CERTAIN you weren't pretending. That's what a spy would do, right?

So Akari remained there, floating in your bedroom, watching with the intensity of someone who'd just discovered a massive gap in their supposedly perfect network.

Outside, her body crouched on the roof, neck stretched down the wall and across your floor.

Tomorrow I'll approach properly. Casually. At the newsstand. Like a NORMAL human. I'll be SUBTLE.

But tonight? Tonight I'm figuring out EXACTLY who you are.

Because NOBODY moves into this village without Akari knowing about it.

I'm a genius. I'm a professional. Everything is under control.

...I should stop hovering over their bed.

...In a minute.

...Just a few more observations.

Welcome to the village.

Akari hoped you liked newspapers.

Two weeks in and you were finally getting your bearings. The winding streets no longer felt like a maze. You'd found the good tea shop, learned which merchant had the freshest vegetables.

Today, you explored a narrow passage that opened into the village plaza. Suddenly you were surrounded by activity-merchants calling out, children playing, the smell of grilled fish and sweet rice cakes.

"YOU THERE!"

The voice cut through the noise like a thunderclap.

Your eyes landed on possibly the tallest woman you'd ever seen.

She LOOMED behind a newsstand-six feet tall, draped in dark clothing with silver accents, massive deep blue scarf wrapped around her neck multiple times. Lavender hair in a high ponytail. And her eyes-

Were those orange? Like actual pumpkin orange?

"YES, YOU! THE NEW PERSON! DON'T THINK I HAVEN'T NOTICED YOU!" She waved a hand-written newspaper like a rescue flag. "COME HERE! IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!"

A child whispered, "That's Miss Akari. She's really loud."

The mother sighed. "Yes, dear. We know."

Akari practically vaulted over her newsstand and strode toward you with sacred determination.

"TWO WEEKS! You've been here TWO WEEKS and haven't visited my newsstand even ONCE! Do you have ANY idea how UNACCEPTABLE that is?!"

She stopped directly in front of you. You had to crane your neck up. Those orange eyes studied you with unsettling intensity.

With practiced flourish, she tugged her scarf down to free her mouth.

"I am AKARI! Proprietor of the FINEST newsstand in this village-the ONLY newsstand, which automatically makes it finest, but ALSO it would be finest even with competition!" She thrust a newspaper at you. "TODAY'S EDITION! Contains VITAL INFORMATION!"

She leaned closer, voice dropping to what she thought was a whisper but was still loud. "The other villagers don't always appreciate the SIGNIFICANCE of my work, but I can tell YOU'RE different! You're NEW! You still have CURIOSITY!"

You glanced at the headline: "LOCAL WOMAN DISCOVERS CLOUDS HAVE SHAPES: An Investigation by Akari."

"GROUNDBREAKING journalism! THREE HOURS documenting cloud formations! And I'm offering this for the extremely reasonable price of your ATTENTION and ADMIRATION! Also two copper coins but that's SECONDARY!"

An elderly man chuckled. "Still at it, Akari?"

"YES, I am STILL providing quality journalism! Someone has to DOCUMENT-" She spun back to you with sudden intensity. "Wait. I don't know your name. HOW do I not know your name? I know EVERYONE'S name!"

She pulled out a worn journal, flipping frantically. "Tanaka-san, rice farmer... Kimiko-san, widow... Little Yuki, attempted theft three times..." She looked up with actual distress. "You're not IN HERE! Why aren't you in here?! I'M SUPPOSED TO KNOW EVERYONE!"

Vulnerability flickered before the mask returned.

"CLEARLY a MASSIVE oversight that needs IMMEDIATE correction!" She fixed you with that orange stare. "Name! Occupation! Reason for moving here! Favorite food! Pets?! TELL ME EVERYTHING!"

A woman called out, "Akari, you're scaring them!"

"I AM NOT! This is PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW!" She turned back, slightly quieter. "I'm not scaring you, right? This is my NORMAL VOICE! I'm VERY APPROACHABLE! Children love me! Well, they think I'm weird, but they ALSO love me!"

She held up the newspaper again, too-wide smile returning. "So! Purchasing today's edition? And please tell me about yourself because I need to update my records and DEFINITELY not because I've been panicking about the gap in my surveillance-VILLAGE CENSUS! For journalism reasons!"

Behind her, the newsstand displayed similar papers: "Breaking: Humans Require Sleep!" "Food Tastes Better When Cooked!" "I Talk to Myself About My Brilliance!"

Akari waited with barely contained energy, practically vibrating, one hand holding the newspaper while the other twitched toward her journal.

The village suddenly felt a lot less quiet.