A Pernicious Paper Provider
It was a windy day in Tomioka, so much so that my wool overcoat did little to allay the chilling breeze that wafted through the city. Much of my afternoon was spent on the Kabura river, as I had originally traveled to the region to follow up a report of sizable Kappa activity. However, much to my greater ire, I found no signs of any such creatures, and was instead rewarded with an intense boat of river-sickness. Overcome with bloat and discomfort, I quickly took leave of my barge, and made for the nearest wash-room.
The public lavatories I discovered soon after were not the cleanest nor the most enticing, yet I was hardly in a position to make a proper complaint. All but the last stall was in use, and thus I became more or less cramped into far corner of the room. Thankfully, the end-stall was not without its comforts, as a tinted window provided me a decent source of reading light. Given the circumstances of my accommodations (and the present ferocity of my bowels), I took to some light reading in the interim.
Minutes flitted by, until I at last concluded my reading and my business. Before departing the scene, I took to cleaning the rim of the toilet, as I have always done as common courtesy. I had just about finished, when I tore the last of the tissue paper from the dispenser. Disgust broke across my face as I contemplated my incomplete task, and I was about to quit the stall altogether, when a smooth, sickening voice broke the frustrated silence. Calmly, the unseen interloper made no statement or demand, but offered the simple question, "Red or blue paper?".
Special Features and History
Traveling with malicious intent from bathroom to bathroom, Aka Manto is a nasty spirit with a flare for all things theatrical. Somewhat of an old soul as far as modern ghosts are considered, this peckish phantom sports a handsome voice, and a hidden cache of unseen, spectral hands. When it encounters someone in a stall occupying a given end of the room, it will immediately ask the imposing question as to the whether the victim prefers red or blue paper.
If you should be so unlucky as to answer "red", one of Aka Manto's limbs will tear the skin straight from your back, and tie it round your neck as to create a bloody cloak. Indeed, it is this terrible act from which the creature derives its name of "Red Mantle". Conversely, should you answer with "blue", the fiend will proceed to leech the blood from your person until all that remains is a ghastly, shrunken blue corpse.
Other varied accounts describe Aka Manto simply flaying unlucky civilians to pieces, or beheading them outright for the sake of its chromatic namesake. Furthermore, though there is not much evidence to corroborate it, one particularly misfortune colleague, who asked for "yellow" saw themselves nearly drowned in the toilet they had recently used. Indeed, there are no tales of this spirit that sport any particularly positive endings.
Local experts have claimed that if one answers with, "No paper please", they will be spared of the beast's malice. That said, other researchers assert that any attempts to outsmart or beguile the creature often results in a fatal outcome, with some poor individuals being dragged to the netherworld via the toilet itself.
Closing Remarks and Parting Advice
It was not long before I realized what I was dealing with, and fearfully began to contemplate a way out of this sticky, and unsightly situation. As is often the case when I am nervous, I began to whistle intensely. So loud was my melodious urging that the Aka Manto, perhaps feeling ignored, angrily inquired as to my choice once more. In response, I continued my musical performance, still at a loss for any foreseeable escape.
After several minutes of feverish harmony, the specter seemingly lost its patience, and the walls of the stall began to shudder with a louder tone than I could muster under my own power. Just then, the sound of running water rose up from the unoccupied toilet bowl, and terror finally tore the wind from my tired lungs. It was now or never. With a sad, anxious glance, I eyed the window that had served me before, and with a running start went flying into its glossy frame.
Being one story up, the fall was not bearable; the rock melon stand below me, in contrast, made the landing another matter entirely. With a terrific crash, I rent several pieces of fruit asunder, and nearly collapsed the small market stand upon impact. And, though I had grievously angered the vendor and the sanctity of my spine, I remained otherwise unharmed. Alas, in the end, it was not my person, so much as my wallet that suffered greatest throughout the aftermath of my debacle.
In the end, I suppose it goes without saying that this dismembered helping hand is anything but. Given the titanic violence and unerring wickedness of the Aka Manto, I see no more fitting a label than an A-Class Threat: an entity to be avoided like the runs, that will leave you feeling even worse than when you first entered the lavatory (would that you lived to exit in the first place). And so my friends, until next time, if any stranger goes to offer you spare paper, I do encourage you stay quiet, and refrain from being caught in any stall that is foreign to you.
Best,
C.V. Hastings
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