Night at the Museum! 🎃

[mermalaide]

Shiro Kunekawa had a lead in his box when he had got into the NAPI offices. It was a new case with a few details, and the Tokyo Museum was nervous about it. They could not afford to close the museum during the day, so they were asking Kunekawa to come and investigate overnight. There would be a small crew of security to help out and monitor, as well as a rest area in the guards' office. The details were very simple. During the night, exhibit pieces were moved, some were damaged, and others were straight missing!

The worst part of all of this was the fact that only small blurs were caught on  closed circuit television camera. Things could be seen knocked over and dragged even, but there were no footprints, finger prints, or anything like that. It was all pretty strange. Originally, the night security thought it could have been a yurei. But that idea was soon scrapped when very real damage started to appear on some of the kimono collections, claw marks, very small ones. The other strange thing was that there were a few empty bottles of sake and sochu just left about for someone to slip or step on. 

So, the museum had decided to call upon NAPI, and one of it's members Shiro Kunekawa to investigate!

[datmass]

The museum closed for the day, and shortly thereafter, Detective Kunekawa arrived on the scene. He had parked quietly and came to the door to be let in by security. After showing his ID, he said "Alright, let me see what you've got." and proceeded to examine what evidence and information they had. There were still-photos, first of all, of exhibits moved, with evidence showing that security personnel were definitely not in those locations when they happened, so they were off the hook. The ones that were moved were relatively harmless pranks, annoying at worst. That wasn't much of a problem, per se, though putting a stop to it was a definite must. The damages and outright thefts were the main issue. Much like those mad bastards who go to the Louvre and try to destroy the Mona Lisa, this was unacceptable. Art was to be enjoyed, learned from. All this occurring without much direction other than they think it may have been a ghost? No, wait, there was more. There were claw marks and blurs. Okay, that was something. Shiro stared at these blurs of motion, then looked to the pictures of the marks.

Hmmm. Small, and very fast, with no trace of them afterward, except for what they've done to the area. The claws prove that they have a physical body, so they must have a presence, and this continued action means that they're likely always on the premises.

He faced the security team he was working with in their station.

"I have a thought or two. What's most important is for me to trace where they live. They've made it difficult to find them, but I think I will."

He would take a walkie-talkie to stay in contact, and then head out into the museum. The security guards would see him walking with a kind of thick black cane, a unique design, though strangely...he didn't seem to need the aid of such a device. No matter. Shiro was going to locate the area which has had the most incidents, and then look for some place that would housse very small creatures, especially if the entrance to such a place was hidden behind something...

[mermalaide]

One gard spoke up, he was an elderly man with a neat uniform, thick glasses and white hair that was tucked under a cap. "The place where we have had the most activity is in the Ancient people of Edo exhibit. I have even found a few little holes in the walls! You know, like that cartoon, Tom and Jerry." He spoke with a madness that only Christopher Loyd could play in a movie. The younger man with him shrugged. "Oh those. Kino-san made me patch them and put out rat traps. Only.. I don't think it was a rat, ya know?" The young man was clean cut, but only because he looked like he had to for the job. He was a little rough around the edges.

"I am telling you, those weren't rats young blood! Those were some kinda yokai! I swear on my last bottle of Suntory Whiskey!" He scowled at the younger man, who again only shrugged. "The patch is still wet, I can take you in there." The older man frowned but, he accepted it. "Well that patch is gonna come down anyhow, they always come back!" There was a tired sigh for the younger man. He damn sure was not paid enough for this. No way.

"I can take him, you go rest in the office, need you to watch the cams. Radio me if you see anything."

The younger man would take point to show Shiro, while the older man stayed behind in the office. He turned on his touch and led the way. Most of the exhibits were dark, with a few exemptions to show the way for security staff. "Every three or four hours we walk the grounds. The inside has five wings, though, one is closed due to construction. That does have cameras, but the last few nights they haven't been working." His footfalls echoed on the linoleum as he walked. "I would get it if it was a ghost or something. My uncle worked here for twenty years, with gramps back there, by the way, and he would tell me stories. Never believed him though. Thought this job would be pretty quiet."

[datmass]

Japanese Christopher Lloyd was clearly a national treasure and should be protected, but for now he was an asset to the case, as he and the younger officer were providing more background information to the case as they spoke. The mention of rats and their potential for being yokai was taken down, and Shiro nodded as the two men argued with one another. Afterwhich, they were ready to leave, and the younger guard escorted him to the Ancient People of Edo exhibit. The young man scoffed with an attitude of the uninitiated, one who hadn't seen too much yokai activity himself personally, though he knew it was there. Skepticism was healthy enough to keep you from jumping at mere shadows, but he needed an open mind. So, on the way, Shiro would speak to him on that, right after the explanation of their security habits and how there was an ongoing construction at the wing they were going to.

"You shouldn't dismiss him so quickly, though. There is evidence here, and rats wouldn't be leaving those marks and making off with exhibits. This actually reminds me of a couple of cases I read about that happend over in the United States, some years ago. Your construction work may've accidentally released something, much the same way a scam artist - a false spiritualist - accidentally woke up eighteen Russian spirits known as Domovoi and angered them. They began to wreck the place and had to be excised from the property. Real shame. They were the good spirits, just trying to do their job."

The yokai experience was all over the work, truth be told. It's just that other countries had different words for them, all amounting to a similar phenomenon of the supernatural taking shape and doing things to the world. Some of them were good, some of them were bad, and alot just sort of were, existing by their own standard, or no standard at all. Shiro always considered the legends to be all a telling of close to what was true, or as much as could be understood at the time.

"The other incident involved a house that had become host to a cross-dimensional event where creatures of an unknown origin began filtering through holes in the wall, the size of the hole determining the size of the creature, with something much bigger trying to force its way through, all the time."

He paused, looking at the guard, as he was sure to be worrying the man a little.

"This isn't that, though. You'd hear scratching in the walls, rustling in the shadows, and baying at the moon."

Moving on again, the guard could see that while Shiro was walking with this cane, he wasn't dependent on it. It was just sort of like walking stick or gentlemen's cane, in use. It thunked alongside them as they kept walking.

"No, with what's been going on, I think the museum staff either disturbed something, or accidentally created the perfect nook for something small and light-fingered, something which could sabotage cameras and move quickly enough that the ones that DO get them are all blurry."

[mermalaide]

"We have something like Domovoi in Japan. Zashiki-warashi, I think. Grandma had one if I remember correctly. They can be good, until you piss them off." He visibly shuttered. "Yeah we haven't had anything like that. Just like little holes, like something Jerry from Tom and Jerry would come out of." Boy did he want to take a smoke break. "I shouldn't lose my patience with the old timer, he has been here forever. I just think that we will freak ourselves out if we jump at shadows an' shit all the time."

He noticed the cane, though he also noticed no limp and just figured maybe Kunekawa-san was just like that. Some dudes just had style or were fancy. Nothing wrong with that. It was no different than someone carrying an umbrella. "Well there is the exhibit they have been tryin' to open for a year. That has been a bit of a disaster. The first renovation was only supposed to be some new mounted displays and a case or two. Maybe a fresh coat of paint." He walked a little slower for Kunekawa just incase. "We did find empty sake containers, but this is the kicker, they were those little travel sized ones you get at a grocery. Not a bottle or anything like that. Oh god, and chicken bones! We would find whole stripped birds."



They rounded a corner and he went over to a trash can. picked some of these up a few hours before you came, they probably are too funky for prints huh?" He pulled out a few combini bottles, which were basically the salaryman's best friend, a single glass of sake. These were in little glass cups with a pull off lid.  If Kunekawa looked in the garbage, there were piles of chicken bones. More than a family of four could eat!  It was crazy how full the big trashcan was. "Most of this is just from tonight. I took pictures before I cleaned. We didn't think anyone would believe us, and didn't want to get blamed. The cameras keep going out too. The jobs wasn't always like this." He looked tired from all the chaos that had been happening.

"I can lead you around and show you whatever you want after we look at the holes, though, if you want to go into the construction zone, I will need to get a key from the office."

[datmass]

The same reference to the cartoon cat and mouse. Shiro knew the reference, of course, but he doubted it was any mouse or rat yokai. Something else that would do the same thing... He nodded at the man's apology for getting short with the old man, saying "I understand, and I wouldn't want you to live in a state of anxiety either, but when exhibits go missing, well..." and just stopping there with a 'You know' gesture. Yeah, when it stopped being a situation you could really explain, you call the Ghoustbusters paranormal investigators. Still, when the young guard mentioned that there'd been problems for about a year now with one exhibit they were having trouble with, that's when Shiro felt he had a real lead. The notion that their perp - or perps - also stole a serious amount of food brought forth ideas of a miniature Tazmanian Devil spinning onto the scene, eating chicken and drinking little bottles of sake, hiccupping, and then spinning away. It actually made him chuckle for a moment.

"Seems our friends have a healthy appetite. I could take prints, but I'll believe that they did this, and I thank you for taking pictures. If further evidence is needed after tonight, these are most assuredly for them."

He really didn't want to put his hand into garbage to take any, himself. He didn't have the kit on him. It was in the car, and he was sure that he had a plan that could get an in on this situation, but he needed more information first. All of this was leading to the conclusion that there were many of them, and that they were small. This might end up being a Gulliver's Travels moment, so hopefully he wasn't about to be tied to the ground. The guard was being very obliging, but now before they proceeded, Shiro needed to ask a question or two.

"Okay, I just need to get all the important facts in a row. The Ancient People of Edo exhibit is where you've had the most reported activity, as was said before, and there have been holes. Let me just be sure here: Is that the only known location of the holes, and is that where the patches you're taking me to are, or are there others that you have seen in other locations? Also, is the exhibit you're taking me to the same one that's been on renovation detail for about a year, or is that new wing somewhere else? Basically, I'm asking how many of these facts line up to the same place, or how far apart any of them are. And please, you don't need to slow down. This..."

He gestured to the cane.

"...is equipment."

[mermalaide]

"So far it is! Although, we haven't looked for any other holes, and there have only been disturbances there." He gave a look that said, good gravy I hope this does not spread through the museum. "Yeah we are going to the holes and the patches, though I get the feeling that most of the patches are poked through already. Which, is annoying because we helped the janitor just fix them." He was leading Shiro into the big room that held The Ancient People of Edo exhibit. He had to unlock the door for them to let them in.

"Do you have a number that I can send pics to? I think the old man took some as well."

The room was massive, and housed tons of glass display cases. Some were big, upright cabinets, and others, the ones mainly in the center, looked like locked, glass top tables. For the most part, the security lights were on and were dimly illuminating the room. Several security cameras were panning the area, though, one appeared to be having some issues. When the security guard approached it, he was almost dumbfounded. "Holy shit.." A small weapon was lodged in the neck of the camera, preventing it from full range of movement. It looked like a small spear.

"I don't like this at all."

He took a picture with his phone and then reached for his walkie talkie. "Hey, just took our guest in the Edo room, can you still see out of all the cameras? One looks very tampered with, definitely damaged!" There was a shocked sound on the end. "Great Scott! Camera three is fixed to the side. Wait.. it looks like it's stuck on a picture." There is a bit of cursing. "Let me see if I can pull the other cameras, and last bits of footage from that one." Chances were that any of the cameras that were unmoving had something in it. Upon looking at camera two, there was a tiny arrow lodged in it.

The security lights flickered.

[datmass]

Alright, this was good. It seemed that all the happenstance - the food, the holes, thefts, the sabotage - was in one general area, likely proving the theory he'd been working on. They had indeed either awakened something or attracted something when they originally tried to open this wing. There were small matters at first, causing delays, and then more overt problems began cropping up. Shiro was being called into the tail-end of a situation that had been steadily brewing for a good while, and now the boil had truly begun. As the security man unlocked the door leading into the wing, Shiro told him his number, and in fact sent the museum website his information for them to look into, jsut in case, as they walked in.

Here was where the trouble started.

As they came into this room filled with display cases, both Shiro and the security guard spotted the one thing immediately wrong with this picture: Camera malfunction. Upon further inspection, it had been speared to face a particular angle. While the young man called it in to the head guard in the security office, Shiro noted the display the camera was locked on, in case it was significant, and then had a quick look at what part of the room the device was no longer covering. When the call came back that another angle was hit with an arrow that was equivalently tiny to the aforementioned spear, he knew that not only was this investigation coming together, but they were witness to either a recent crime, or a crime in progress. When the lights started flickering in and out, Shiro knew that it was the latter.

"They're tampering with the power. I need to act quickly."

Things began to get freaky now, and not simply because of the interfering yokai. As Shiro moved, he disappeared from the guard's view specifically when it was dark. Even if the man was okay at seeing in the dark, Shiro was gone in those brief seconds where the lights were out. Where was he going? Acting on instinct, Shiro quickly determined where it was that Camera Two and Three weren't watching, knew that the assailants were 'operating' a circuit breaker, and went wherever they wanted not to be seen to catch them in the act. He expected to find creatures either assaulting one of the displays or the circuit breaker itself. If what the cameras were now fixed on was a clue, he would use it to narrow the surface, but he was head-on-a-swivel looking for the signs of little movement and acts of sabotage and/or theft, right now.

[mermalaide]

"Kunekawa-san!" The security guard panicked a bit and went to his belt and flipped on a flash light. He stopped where he was, looking for the man he had been with and not seeing him. He was like shadow itself. Something scurried in the dark and an empty sake serving glass rolled past. He watched it roll past him and into the display case. He had no idea that it had been a distraction.

Eyes in the dark were yellow, and caught the absence of light. The power flickered again, and something cackled in the dark, more like somethings, not thing. There were a few, sounding almost like gremlins. The cameras had been pointed away from a bunch of holes that were in the wall. The patching was broken through, and there were more holes now. It almost looked like a honeycomb of holes. "Oh..shit.." The man shined his light near the holes and eyes looked back at them, teeth glinted in the dark.

The cameras were pointed away from a section of wall that looked almost like a hive.

----
While the two of them had been in the Edo Room, Lloyd-san saw the power flicker and got worried. He took a set of keys and a large, emergency flashlight with him, planning on heading to the basement. They shouldn't split up, but if the power went down they would be in a lot of trouble. He knew the other two would be busy. So, he took the time to let them know over the radio that he would be wandering down to the basement to check the power.

[datmass]

The detective was only properly visible when the lights were on, a feat that he had to concentrate on to dispell...and he was not focused upon that at all. All of his attention was focused on the many holes in the wall that had appeared, unwatched by the cameras due to the sabotage involved. With the devious cackling in the dark, Shiro knew now what they were dealing with, what type of yokai had infested this place. He had hoped it wasn't something as problematic as that, but the writing was on the walls here, almost literally, and as he faced this plethora of holes, he spoke the name.

"Yanari..."

Hearing the rising panic of the young security guard, there was then the unsheathing of a sword as Shiro said "Go back and check on the old man. Keep away from them. They're a horde of little oni, and they're deviously dangerous.", before unleathing his own power to meet the situation. Chasing after their little forms with a sword an almost pointless endeavour, but Shiro knew a way to handle this. He may or may not be able to do this without killing them all. It depended solely on how they responded to his opening move. With the guard hopefully getting the hell out, the flickery room was now host to a...much larger form than these little creatures expected. A dark samurai warrior stood where Shiro had been, tall and terrible with a mask that was impassive, but intimidating in how it glared you down unblinkingly.

Upon forming, a field of darkness pooled around his feet as the shadows came alive, and appendages - like serpants - began to shoot out. Several went for the creatures lingering about this room, but a majority went into the honeycomb in a direct assault to reach in and grab whatever dwelt within. Yanari were small and terrible things to have in a place like this, especially in large numbers, but if he could grab enough now and get them to bring in the lot...well...there was going to be some resolution, one way or the other.

Whatever Shiro grasped, whatever he managed to pull in from the wall or the room, it was all brought before this humanoid form, acting the part of a greater demon than they as it stood before them, over them, glaring holes into them for making all of these holes. To however many he had managed to grab, he tilted his head towards them and said...

"Bring the others here before me. All of them. NOW."

...with a flash of red from those eyes. Shiro was going for intimidation, to make the threat real...because it WAS real. He was going to give them a chance - just one chance - and then if they weren't feeling cooperative, things would get ugly here fast.

[mermalaide]

The younger security guard bolted, you did not have to tell him twice, he started booking it back to the security room to try to head Lloyd-san off. When he did, something started to give chase, it was small and dark, and low to the ground, almost on his heels as he ran, but he was just a little bit faster. Young-blood ran as if the devil was chasing him.

As for the others, when Shiro commanded them, they started pouring out, like the bigger version, weapons in hand. Some tried to scamper and hide in other places, but a few of them gathered like a bunch of tiny thugs in front of Shiro. The leader of them was a small, red, squat oni with a pompadour and what looked like small sunglasses. The others, the ones that were not hiding also had similar sunglasses. They climbed on display cases, they lined the walls, ect. Some where even poking out of some of the items in the display cases.

They looked non-compliant, as if Shiro was the party pooper, and you could feel it emanating from them like miasma. The pompadour mini oni crossed his arms. "An' why the hell should we do that?" At least it spoke the same language. A few of them started chanting "Ora! Ora! Ora!" It started to get noisy and Pompadour raised his hand and made a closed fist, silencing them. His glasses slid on his little oni nose and his tusks gleamed. He had some sort of patchwork rag coat with Kanji on the back. A few of them did.

Much like a gang.

"Bring us Lawson, an' we'll consider yur offer."

[datmass]

I did not expect this.

Seriously, who ordered Cromartie High School? All the creatures he knabbed, all the wee beasties running around, and all of what came out to confront him... They were all pomped-up delinquints, like...come on. Kazuma Kuwabara called. He wants his do back! Still, this was kind of the circumstance he wanted to create. While it wasn't really a peaceful gathering, getting them all or enough of them in one place was his goal, and that they were in a speaking mood for the moment was definitely helpful. Because...well...he could take them, but let's just face it. It wouldn't be without wrecking alot of thingss, things belonging to the museum that might not be replaceable, or at least would be costly enough to affect his paycheck. So...Shiro let them strut their stuff while his face was an impassive mask. And when the leader showed himself, he addressed the uhh 'big man' himself. He wanted someone called Lawson. It sounded like a joke, but let's see where this goes first.

"Before I do ANYTHING for you, I want to understand what's brought us to this point. I've pieced parts of it together. This wing wasn't open before, so if you were here first, you've been relatively undisturbed, but now that they want to use it, they're officially on your turf, and you don't take kindly to that. So begins the pranks and theft, followed by the burrows and active sabotage. And now that they've hired ME, you decided to call in reinforcements. Am I getting warm? And tell me more about this demand of yours. I want to know just what it is you want here."

It helped that they were emulating street punks, since that was a common ground they both understood the patterns of. It was just weird and surprising to see it on a large gang of so many small creatures. This has all been going on for a year, so no matter who got here first, the Yanari were going to be very stubborn about any possibility of leaving. It was more likely that if he wanted them to let the museum operate unhindered, some sort of deal was going to have to be made...or a fight would break out. Well, as stated, let's just see...

[mermalaide]

They were stubborn and territorial too! Which was maybe why the Bozozuko spoke to these guys so very much. They did a huddle with the boss oni, who listened and grunted and made a face of concentration when they spoke. "What should we do about this guy Oyabun?" The whisper was a little bit of a harsh one. Another oni with what looked liked dyed hair spoke up. "You think he'd honor any agreement? Do humans ever?" The head oni listened to them bicker for a minute and when it got heated, the oya-oni with the big delinquent hair raised his hand and they became really quiet.

"I want to parle. But, for posterity's sake, bring out mechaonizawa."

The oni group gave a collective gasp. 

Clearly this is something they did not like. Two eyes glowed red and the sound of a switch flicked on. It sounded like power was activated somewhere. An small, metal oni rolled out of one of the holes and rolled forward to reside behind the oyabun oni. It had a little antenna on its' head, which was somewhat squarish. 

"We were here first. This whole place was a bunch of caves way back when. Humans came, like they always fuckin' do." The boss paces, telling his tale. They built this warehouse of antiques over the top of us. Hell, we were sleepin'. Last time we were awake, we befriended a school delinquent. That was probably about fifty years ago." He spoke so nonchalantly. The small oni around them had gathered, mostly to hear their leader speak. They hung from the security cameras and lights, they peaked out of spaces.

-------
Meanwhile, Lloyd-san was down in the basement, trying to restart the generator. He popped open the circuit breaker and was fiddling with it when something jumped on his back. Well, some things. He was pulled down to the floor and there was scuttling noises. Little eyes glinted in the dark.  Before he could say anything, he was hit with a small dart, which caused him to get groggy and pass out.

"Ok youse guys! HEAVE HO!"

Lloyd-san was pulled into the dark of the basement room.

"Lloyd? Hey old timer are you down here?" Youngblood called out to him, coming down the stairs and shining his flash light. "Hey, old-timer, are you down here?" The younger man called out to him and looked around. "C'ome on man! Where are you?"

[datmass]

You cannot see the look on Shiro's face, right now. You cannot see that the dark hulking masked face of Shokune - leaning on the tip of his sword as he watches these tiny oni go at it - as they summoned a small robotic-looking demon which, all things considered, may've actually worked or may've just been a toy. He didn't know, and he wasn't going to really chance it. This was all so perplexing that he was actually distracted from the crush-kill-destroy whispers, as he tried NOT to imagine it in Norio Wakamoto's voice.

No matter how you look at it, it's a robot. How did they ever build a mechanical oni? Is it a child's toy, or is it dangerous? I can't tell unless I end up having to fight it.

Anyway, the story shed some light on a few things, at least. They embraced the culture of the modern human rebel in Japan, both as a means of heirarchy and as a blueprint for responding to situations. While Yanari always worked in a group before, the actual gang mentality was a bit more organized, though weird. Shiro was not aware of what was going on in the other part of the building, as that was far from here, but it didn't matter. Here, with the leadership, trying to figure it all out... This was where he needed to be.

"I see. So, it was like that, then. I had a feeling that the longstanding history of this room meant that they'd disturbed something. I didn't expect caves, but they'd be pretty small for when they would've originally laid down the foundation."

The active shadows in the room would swirl together and engulf Shiro, returning him to apparent normal. The sword was still out, and there would be a clear sense here that the dark samurai could come back in an instant. He was just relaxing so they'd get that he was willing to talk, and that he could save energy.

"Listen, humans come and build things as they do, but it sounds to me like they weren't even aware of you. I've talked to the people in charge and security, and they didn't seem to know what was going on. Now, I gotta ask: The museum's here. It's built, and it's been teaching people about the past for many years. What do you wanna do here? If it were an office building, I'd tell them to cut their losses and go, but it's not. It's a place of learning. Maybe that doesn't impact you, but alot more work goes into things here. It can't just up and go."

He paused, thinking about it, then...

"Actually, I've got a question. Presumably, you're still in your caves down there, and I'm guessing you just burrowed out to here, so here is where you stake your claim, yeah? Anything wrong with making an exit to the outside? A building over your head keeps out the riff-raff, and you could go out into the world again instead of taking everybody's lunches."

[mermalaide]

They stood and listened for a bit. Humans thought they owned everything, didn't they? This one seemed a bit better than most, though the room seemed to be shadowy in spots and that was not missed by the Oyabun. "I am sure humans do," The boss' eyes were partially closed as he spoke, "Humans come and go. Yet have massive hubris about what they own." His voice was a little bit of a growl, though it was more a natural tone then something aggressive.

"Yet we should make way for their whims? I am not asking them to remove the buildin. But, if they wanna conduct business over the top of us, like we do not exist, that is a whole different thing, no isn't it?" His eyes opened, just a little bit. He looked a bit grouchy about the whole thing. "How about I meet your suggestion with an offer?"

He crossed his arms and stood there, the other oni stood around him and a pin could have dropped. "You don't do business on someone's block, not without paying a tithe, right?" He was serious. He and his brothers wanted a toll. If they were going to play ball, this would be mandatory.

If he felt threatened or the act of the dark samurai was to give a demonstration, he would not acknowledge how he felt about that, but, that was fair. A boss had to be somewhat fearless. "If we are given that compensation, we would be willing to compromise on a new entrance."

"If not, well, I am sure my boys won't take the news of that well."

The door threw itself open. The young guard fell into the room, causing everyone to tense. "Kunekawa-san! Lloyd-san is missing!"