Kinji

Golden Sky Stories
GM
Benjamin
The Player Characters
Tovera - Young Dragon Miyako - Horse Henge Haru - Tosa Inu Henge Okuni Abe - Kitsune Kinji - Tanuki Miguel de Almeida - Ghost Tsukiko (月子) - Witch
The Stories
Story List
NPCs
The Local Gods Goddess of Mt. Kaminaga · Goddess of Gokou River Humans of Hitotsuna Arata Misuzu · Arisa Aikawa · Miyuki · Natsu · Daisuke · Billy Watts · Anna Watts· Hibito Maruyama · Akinari Nakamura· Sena · Junpei Kawakami · Shinjiro NPC Henge & Mononoke Touki the Kodama · Haruko· Ryuha Animal Friends Ghost the puppy· Buckeye the Sparrow

Bio

Name: Kinji きんじ 金 次 meaning “gold" and "second”

(Fun fact: Also the name of a clothing resale store.)

True Form: Tanuki

Age: 3, roughly, depending on the season we're in. (looks 17-19 yr when Human)

Gender: Male

Human Form

Kinji appears as a late teen or college aged male with somewhat kept hair and fashionable glasses. He wears a business suit that is slightly worn and tailored, but tailored for someone else, so it doesn’t fit quite right, like maybe it was for an older brother or other male relative. His kicks are white and ready for the street, or any circumstances. In winter he bulks up a bit (a lot) with an oversize coat, taking a nod from street fashion. He speaks with an Osakan accent or dialect. (See TV Tropes: Kansai Regional Dialect The Idiot From Osaka )

Kinji often has something in his pockets, whether pebbles and leaves that he palms into yen, bits of twig, or things he pilfered from the recycling pickups looking for things to better his current burrow. His rougher appearance, nocturnal hours, and laissez-faire attitude generally give off the appearance of a freeter or NEET depending on the person's point of view. In a way, as a tanuki, he is the ultimate freeter, the anti-salaryman, who is honest and dreamful but will never actually pay real money for anything in his life. Kinji will readily admit to participating in the mischief making of freeter "fun" cosplay protests but not knowing what they were for except that he was happy he didn't have to take the effort to be a full human for a while.

Tanuki these days also appear with hats and umbrellas to show preparedness and sake flasks to harken back to a particular story. Kinji is particularly enamored with a smartphone with a broken screen that was dropped by a tourist. Everyone carries one, so he picked it up to carry too. Even if it doesn't turn on anymore, he thinks he will figure it out someday. Whether or not it's sake, one can bet Kinji is carrying something tasty to drink that he snagged from a vending machine (although there may be pebbles and leaves in the vending machine in the morning).

History

Kinji is a newcomer to Hitotsuna Town, yet to arrive, meet, or make connections. He’s getting a little sleepy after the journey...

Originally from the suburbs outside a large city, Kinji spent his early months in the company of family and a large extended network of trash-bandit cousins- whether or not they were actually related, they were all cousins. As pups they were told stories of tanuki who could become like people, and the names of legendary tanuki were said with awe, but Kinji and his siblings and cousins were too busy digging through the burnables and outsmarting the raccoons to consider them more than moral stories told in order to remember to stay clever and a step ahead of the other foragers.

At least that’s what he thought until he changed into a human himself.

It happened in the months when Kinji was coming of age. There was a car coming, and Kinji thought, if only he could just tell the driver off for going so fast at night by wildlife, and make them go the other way to protect the other tanuki. They most certainly did go the other way, to their mutual surprise. His older brother teased him for having kept such abilities a secret. Kinji only wondered if height and manual dexterity would make him more attractive to Haruka with the floppy ear. At first things didn’t feel any different, but then Kinji started to learn that the world was not how he thought it was as a pup.

Being henge taught Kinji to look up and observe the world around him. He noticed a few others like himself, but keeping a low profile in the nosy, sleepy suburbs. He also noticed what people did with themselves which he hadn’t paid mind to before; where they went and what things they had, how they talked and acted. He practiced transformations, small ones with coins, imitated other tanuki and animals, and then walked about as a human. He learned he could turn into even crazier things and manipulate perceptions from the older henge. Kinji became bolder, and this boldness led to mischief.

Realizing that unlike some other henge, it would be hard for him to stay hidden in the suburbs, Kinji tried a move out of the human playbook. He transformed enough pebbles and leaves into yen to pay for a train ticket into the City. He was, after all, at the age for a tanuki to leave his or her family and strike out. Why not go into the City? The City was overwhelming and stunning, frightening and mesmerizing, amazingly exciting but very terrifying. The first sight of electric lights at night are seared into his memory; the City - unlike the suburbs- was nocturnal like him.

After wandering around hungry at night, Kinji made two magnificent discoveries: first he found a welcoming old shrine he could make a den under- a refuge and safe haven - and second, he discovered vending machines. The City was also full of strange and interesting things, and it welcomed having fun and surprise. He felt like the tanuki in the stories, pretending to be priests and going to the theater. Kinji loved the City and the nightlife, lazing on the shrine grounds, and finding ways to tease others. Kinji paid no heed to how those stories often ended.

As enamored of human life as tanuki often are, city living is very difficult and was not meant to be (at this time). Kinji had a string of bad luck: he got kicked out of a favorite nighttime cafe for non-payment even though he was their best customer ever and told everyone about their okonomiyaki, his favorite vending machine was taken away for repairs- the serviceman said something jammed in the mechanism, his latest flirtation ended with a scream and a door in the face, and his den -with all the little things he collected!-had to be cleared out to repair the shrine. Or so he was told. Kinji was temporarily homeless and without his favorite foods and comforts.

Dejected, Kinji wandered up the canals, filling his belly with kushikatsu, wondering what to do and where to go. He resolved not to spend the day sleeping in a cafe, and looked for something to spark an idea or hope in the recycling, like in the old days, with his siblings and cousins whom he missed. Under a newspaper he found a postcard for the seaside town of Hitotsuna. It had mountains and forests and farms and, most importantly, a train station. Taking it as a divine message, Kinji ran to the train station and presented the postcard, asking for a ticket to the town on the card while pointing emphatically with pleading, pathetic eyes and handfuls of money made from leaves.

Kinji has no idea what he will find in Hitotsuna, but he is looking forward with unwavering optimism. He clutches the postcard along with tickets for the last open seat on a highway night bus and the first on a morning train into Hitotsuna town, wondering if he will get in before dawn.

Attributes

HENGE: 3

ANIMAL: 1

ADULT: 2

CHILD: 2

Weakness

• Carried Away: You get easily carried away when people flatter you. You have to attempt to make checks,even if they’re difficult, and even if you know you’ll fail (for example, even if your participation isn’t necessary).
• Relaxed: You move slowly and you just can’t help it. You can’t put your Animal attribute above 1 when you create your henge, and if you want to raise it for a check, you have to spend 1extra point of Feelings
• Teasing: You like to tease people all the time. You get blamed for most of the strange incidents around the town, and because of that, your connection from the town can’t go above 2.

Powers

Main Tanuki Powers

• Copy (10): You can change into a copy of a person you know. You can’t change into someone you don’t know. Also, once you’ve changed, if you talk to someone who knows the person you’re copying, you have to beat their Adult attribute (or the strength of their connection to that person) with a Henge check, or they’ll realize you’re a fake.
• Money (2): You can make leaves, acorns, and so on appear to be money. It only works in the evening or at night, and the “money” will turn back into leaves and such at dawn.
• Bogey (8): You can change into a monstrous form to scare humans. People and henge who see you like this will be Surprised. When you use this power, you get a special +1 bonus to Henge for causing Surprise. You can decide what kind of monster you turn into.
• Become Anything (8): You can turn into a tool or a natural object, such as a teapot or a stone. Also, if you change back suddenly you may be able to Surprise people. If you pay double the cost (16 points), you can become something big enough to hold several people, like a car or a shack. However, this power does not let you become liquid, gas, flame, or living things.
• Copy (10): You can change into a copy of a person you know. You can’t change into someone you don’t know. Also, once you’ve changed, if you talk to someone who knows the person you’re copying, you have to beat their Adult attribute (or the strength of their connection to that person) with a Henge check, or they’ll realize you’re a fake.
• Tanuki Drumming (12): You can call your other raccoon dog friends and have everyone drum on their bellies together. This can only be used in the evening or at night. People appearing in the scene who hear the drumming sound have their Adult attribute go down to zero, and electronics and other civilized devices stop working. This effect lasts until the scene ends.
• Dream Vision (16): You can surround someone with illusions and enchant their senses. One person is completely ensnared by these illusions, and they’ll believe they’re in a completely different place. Other people can, of course, see reality, but the victim has to beat your Henge attribute with their Henge or Adult attributes to break through the illusion. This power lasts until you cancel it or the scene ends.

Additional Powers

• Tanuki Dance (12): You can do an odd dance for the enjoyment of others. People who see you dance must make an Adult check of 4 or higher, or they’ll drop whatever they were planning to do and burst into laughter. Everyone who laughs in this way gains 3 Dreams.

From Carried Away weakness

• Rest (0): You can take it easy in order to increase your power to change. You can gain 6 points of Wonder at the end of a scene you didn’t participate in.

From Relaxed weakness

• Mischief (0): You like doing mischief, and everyone loves you for it. When you Surprise someone, you can gain as many points of Dreams as there are other participants (including the narrator).

From Teasing weakness

Things Kinji Has Turned Into, a Running List as They are Recalled

• Other than human and tanuki forms, Kinji has become Okuni Abe, a female schoolgirl version of himself, a backpack, the scary ghost-girl from "The Ring," a Shigaraki-style tanuki statue, and offered to be a car or train car if needed (but, alas, it was not needed).

• By extension through dream visions, Kinji has conjured a realistic onsen with bobbing apples and towels for Haru, and a perfect summer's day for Arisa.

Threads

Threads with Player Characters

Haru - Rival

Haru barreled into Kinji while he was sleeping, a rude introduction, starting a chain reaction that would blossom into both a friendship and a competitive rivalry.

Miyako - Respect

Kinji finds Miyako as somewhat the antithesis of himself: hardworking and enjoys it, no tricks, heart on her sleeve. He knows he could never be like her, but respects her place and her honest, uncliched attitude.

Okuni Abe - Affection

Kinji is struggling to piece out his feelings to the first person (human, animal, or henge) he met in Hitotsuna town and why she, a minor deity two hundred years his senior, pays him any interest. As a fellow trickster, he respects her decision and techniques to stay manipulative as a child, but was in honestly in awe of her adult persona and wisdom bombs- not that it didn't stir other feelings that he could hide these deeper questions behind.

Miguel de Almeida -Trust

Kinji respects Miguel's perspective as both an elder and as a strong henge. Kinji trusts his wisdom and perspective.

Tovera -Rival

While Kinji rather likes and has respect for Tovera, they've set up a rivalry between the shrines with competing festivals. Catching Tovera post up posters for her shrine over the Hachiman shrine was just plain outrageous.

Tsukiko - Like

Kinji's initial meetings with Tsukiko did not go smoothly and started in a bit of a rivalry. Since then Kinji has grown to appreciate Tsukiko's unique abilities and feels empathy towards her struggles to fiend friends or be accepted by others. This could develop further as they spend more time together or meet more frequently, especially as Tsukiko likes on the hillside above the Hachiman and Inari shrines.

Threads with NPCs

Arisa Aikawa - Love

Kinji's affections for Arisa have blossomed since their initial encounter when Arisa hit him repeatedly with a sakura branch in her bedroom.

Kinji gave Arisa a lot of credit for being responsible towards the sakura tree Touki and also for her skills in combat, as a fine baseball player should have. Arisa also thanked him for his part in mediating between her and Touki, which was more than he expected. Before she left for high school, Okuni gave her a blessing charm ostensibly from Kinji (now in human form) in a way that made it look like he was a crush or secret admirer. Kinji was blushed into silence lest he revealed that he wanted to apologize for being in her bedroom (or show any lingering injuries) - an awkward conversation to have on a train platform.

Kinji and Arisa got closer during the test of courage in the Buddhist cemetery. Worried that Arisa might still be scared from Padre Miguel's ghostly shenanigans and lecturing, Kinji led Arisa out of the cemetery using a dream vision. Arisa called it "magical," gave a kiss on Kinji's cheek, and wrote her phone number on his hand in return. Kinji is contemplating sucking it up and asking Daisuke for actual work at the shrine (pre-dawn cleaning, errands, calligraphy, whatever) in exchange for phone or internet access - Kinji will stoop to honest labor for Arisa Aikawa.

Haruko - Family

Kinji saw an altogether familiar scene between Haruko and Natsu, and damned if he wasn't going to help make up for past mistakes. Canids stick together. And, well, he who isn't moved by a girl crying is no man. He is altogether happy to see them together, like a big brother. Haruko knows Kinji's true nature as he revealed it after catching her on the bridge to show he was like her and could trust the other henge to help her with Natsu.

Natsu - Family

Kinji has gotten to know Natsu, the shrine maiden, a little better through living near the shrine and friendship with Haruko, though Natsu has gone off to high school. Kinji had been very happy to see Natsu work things out with Haruko and Natsu's father. Kinji would like to get to know her better or be available as an ally, but he also doesn't want to impose or come off as "that pervy bum from the shrine to Inari." However, Natsu was able to rope Kinji into helping her clean the Goddess of Mt. Kaminaga's shrine, which seems like a good sign, or at least like she accepts that he can properly wield a broom for her father or Okuni Abe. Recognizing her connection to Kaminaga, Kinji wishes to support their relationship as well.

Daisuke Priest of the Big Hachiman Shrine - Respect

Currently, the priest is the closest thing to a male role model or example of fatherhood for Kinji. Kinji may be a bit nervous that he might come check up on him and his potential vices after the sake/legal age incident, and he blew up over his daughter, however, he has to give the man major props for being a single father and managing the shrine. Daisuke has only met Kinji in human form - and knows Okune Abe has taken him in, to some extent- but given the passage of time has likely noticed a tanuki actually did move in under the shrine to Inari. Whether he has connected the two pieces of information is not known.

Touki the Kodama - Protection

It's not every day you work with a kitsune to convince a tree to let you help it. Or get covered by its blossoms and pollen later as an unintended thank you. But now you have a relationship. Does this mean you have to give it obligation chocolates? Touki knows Kinji's true nature.

Arata Misuzu - Protection

As the adorable human child in the circle of henge, it would go without saying that Atara-kun should be protected. However, Kinji feels like he needs to live up to his introduction - the kid knows he's a magical tanuki but not that his closest animal companions are henge - and since then he's only learned more about the kid's conditions and precariousness. Arata has met Kinji in both human and henge forms, but not linked together.

Miyuki - Protection

Scared children need protection. They need allies, and love, and hope, and dammit why did we go with the jokes? Kinji would help and look after Miuki-chan any day, if only because he's seen the terror in her eyes and seen it replaced by pure joy. And also maybe to one-up Haru, whom she glommed on to. Miyuki has only seen Kinji as a human (and as a backpack).

Ghost the puppy - Affection

Kinji's relationship with the puppy has been founded purely on play so far. Puppies are also children, who need protection and so on, but it's a baby and full of squee and d'aw and playfulness. He couldn't resist. Ghost has met Kinji in both human and tanuki forms and can smell.

Ryuha - Protection

Kinji caught Ryuha as a carp and obtained a wish from him for his release. However, seeing the young henge's earnestness to going up the waterfall to ascend as a dragon (and his friendliness) led Kinji to pay back Ryuha by spending his wish to ensure his ascension. Kinji does have aspirations and more jokingly expressed ideas for the wish as becoming a great tanuki like in the stories, or perhaps like Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, Kinji knows in his heart that if he is to become a great tanuki, he needs to achieve it of his own accord and let the wish go to help Ryuha, who would otherwise never be able to make use of his own magic.

Billy Watts - Like

Kinji met Billy while in tanuki form during the kid's bug hunt adventure. While Billy was pretty consistent in ensuring the tanuki did not partake of the bug bait, deliciously boozy bananas, and slammed the lunch box closed on his paw, Kinji gets a kick out of the kid and sympathizes with his struggle to fit in and his move to town.

Buckeye the Sparrow - Like

While Kinji met and interacted with the injured bird, most of his interactions were with the child who accidentally injured and then took on care of the bird, Sena...

Sena - Like

...and even then, Kinji didn't interact with Sena too much. However, Kinji liked Sena and got drawn into the conversation between him and the others. Unfortunately, Kinji forgot he was in tanuki form at the time, so Sena is one of the few who know that the tanuki is "magical like in all the stories." "All the stories?" "ALL the stories."

Hibito - Protection

Kinji liked Hibito and wanted to help the kid find his father. As one of the only henge with both train-riding and "city" experience, Kinji led the others on the journey to find Hibito's father. Kinji did not know that Hibito was pressured into bullying Billy until seeing the kids interact together before the bug hunt. Kinji understands why Hibito might follow the others to fit in but believes Hibito can be better. Because of these two interactions, Hibito has seen Kinji in both forms, but only knows "Kinji" as a human.

Shinjiro - Like

Kinji met Shinjiro in human form during the test of courage in the cemetery. Shinji is alright and is part of Arisa and Natsu's circle of human friends from town. Kinji got to know the manga and anime lovers a little better when going to the Goddess of Mt. Kaminaga's shrine. Kinji gave Shinji manga references to help Shinji cope with ghosts and goddesses appearing, including referencing Natsume Yuujinchou (Natsume's book of friends) for how the Goddess of Mt. Kaminaga was reminded of someone from her past by Shinjiro. Kinji feels a little responsibility in guiding Shinji's introduction to spirits, not enough to be Nyanko-sensei to Shinji's Natsume, but enough to become a friend to the human. Shinji only knows Kinji in human form. Shinji also did not ask Kinji, Miyako, or Natsu (the three apparent humans) any questions about their involvement or previous experience with gods and ghosts.

Goddess of Mt. Kaminaga - Respect

Kinji has a deep respect for the Goddess of Mt. Kaminaga. Although he does not have her years, he felt sympathy for her struggles in forming relations with humans and watching their lives pass by so quickly. Kinji admired her courage in sharing her thoughts and feelings with others and is hopeful that she will be able to forge new relationships with Shinjiro and Natsu. Kinji has promised to be a more frequent visitor to her shrine (and bringer of sake).

Goddess of Gokou River - Respect

Kinji recognizes Gokou-hime, the centipede goddess, and appreciates her indirect meddling on account of Kaminaga-hime. This event let him see more of her personality and change his view from acceptance to respect.

Memories: 56

Notes for In the middle of last adventure with sparrow: Dreams:31 Connection with sparrow 1 like/ 1 affection ALSO WITH Town Miguel miyako - nothing increased during play yet. So Wonder 7 Feelings 7