Files

The Yasuki Detective Agency is a detective agency run by Yasuki Haru, somewhere in Nerima Ward, Tokyo. The agency mainly takes work from other spirits whose supernatural concerns are difficult for human-run detective agencies to solve. It was even in operation before the Namako Incident, and took on a decent number of jobs when their clients consisted only of spirits.

Yasuki Haru

This is Detective Yasuki Haru (夜木 春), the lead detective of the Yasuki Detective Agency. Yasuki is a kitsune psychopomp who's allegedly trained to be able to sense the souls of not just the dead, but the living as well. Kawazoe-san and Jiao-san additionally claim that Yasuki can contact spirits who have long since died, but we can't fully confirm nor deny this claim.

According to Kawazoe-san and Jiao-san, Yasuki's ability is known as Ocean Eyes. When Yasuki triggers this ability, the world looks ultramarine to them. Additionally, their eyes and cheeks glow, so anyone near Yasuki knows when Ocean Eyes is active. To Yasuki, the souls of humans and animals appear cyan, and the souls of spirits and eldritch appear purplish or pinkish. Using this ability, Yasuki is able to detect nearby individuals, even those that attempt to hide themselves. Eldritch souls also have a different hue from those of normal spirits, so it is possible to identify who is and isn't an eldritch just by using Ocean Eyes. Yasuki doesn't have Ocean Eyes active for more than a few minutes at a time, because the ultramarine strains their eyes.

Yasuki has a mysterious past, and most of our information regarding them comes from Kawazoe-san and Jiao-san, who seem intent on drip-feeding us information instead of giving it to us all at once. We haven't even been able to contact Yasuki themself…

Komi Shiori

Komi Shiori (黄身 塩莉)… The current head of the Komi Clan, and an employee of the Yasuki Detective Agency, from what we've been told. Things have been quite turbulent for her since the sudden disappearance of the Komi Clan's last head, but she seems to take her duties with grace. She taught Yasuki most of what they needed to know as a detective.
Komi is the current wielder of Akikaze, a blade-like magnum opus made of an unknown material. It looks like a regular if somewhat impractical blade at first, but it opens to Komi's will and spews out a flame-like energy which can apparently suck in souls and bodies alike, acting as a sort of portable holding cell. Either Akikaze is extremely lightweight, or Komi is extremely powerful. Komi usually keeps Akikaze tucked among her tails through means which we're unsure of. Maybe kitsune can just do that?

Toriame Kanzo

Toriame Kanzo (鳥天 金草) is the current head of the Toriame Clan, and, much like Komi Shiori, works at the Yasuki Detective Agency. We're not sure why he wears an eyepatch, since presumably spirits don't suffer and heal from wounds the same way humans do. Maybe it's a fashion choice?
After the death of his older brother Toriame Toro, he was forced to take the mantle of Toriame Clan head, as well as a strange katana named Higanbana. If the name is anything to go by, it must be a foreboding blade indeed.
Toriame used to go by Toriame Ame (鳥天 糖), but transitioned some time after his brother's death.

Kago Kayumi

Kago Kayumi (加護 華弓) is the Yasuki Detective Agency's secretary, in charge of curating job requests. She's a very old chinchilla psychopomp, and the fungal growths on her body indicate her age. In fact, she's on the verge of death, and she lives the remainder of her days in the Komi household, acting as the secretary because she has nothing else to do. She's a bit reclusive, so we've had no luck scheduling an interview with her.

Kawazoe Cherry

Kawazoe Sakura (川添 桜)- Oh, wait. That kanji is pronounced Cherry, not Sakura. It's one of those "kira kira names," right?

Well, according to Kawazoe-san herself, her name is meant to symbolize "Japanese tradition mixed with modern Western sensibilities." She's an ukiyo-e artist who's recently dipped her toes into manga and comics, and we're glad to have her share her talent with us alongside Jiao-san! I'm curious as to why her bosom's so large on this profile, though…

Kawazoe-san herself requested that I portray her that way! She's a strong believer in good first impressions!

Jiao Dongfeng

Jiao Dongfeng (椒 東風) is a famous writer among Japanese spirits. He's dabbled in all sorts of literary genres, from memoirs to poems to short stories, and now he's helping us compile more knowledge on the Neo Bestiary alongside Kawazoe-san.

Despite his calm demeanor, a lot of spirits tell me that his writing style is unpredictable, and Jiao-san himself tells me that he consults a lot of classic writers. I wonder how he intends to write Scarlet Trail, and how much input he has on it compared to Kawazoe-san…