Gensoukyou:Nemui Kakaekomu

Background
“One sheep, two sheep; three sheep, four sheep. Five sheep jumping over a wall. Time to sleep, time to sleep; time to sleep while counting sheep.”

Nemui was created from the belief that counting sheep helps one fall asleep. It became such a popular belief, that it manifested into a youkai. Of course, this wasn’t a youkai born of fear, a very odd thing considering how most other youkai are ‘born’. The youkai, not knowing anything else, followed her instincts, wandering about in a half dream-state without even realizing it, gently touching the consciousness of the humans around her, easing them into a deep sleep.

She was a simple being, without much conscious thought, all she wished to do was use her power on those who needed it. Of course, over time, she gained more and more sentience, eventually gaining a sense of self. She still found herself drawn to anyone who tried to count sheep in bed, almost like a beacon, but she could think for her own well enough. She had her own wishes and desires; and what she wished to do was give humans a nice rest after a long day of plowing the fields or selling fish in the market or what have you.

The youkai, called Nemui Kakaekoma by this point, traveled world wide, giving aid to tired souls, in return, she fed on a small bit of their mental energy to sustain herself. However...there was a point that she had been spotted by an exceptionally powerful (for that particular area) priest while she fed. While normally, she would have been invisible to him, she had come fully into the physical plane in order to help the tired man. Thinking she had been some sort of demon, he attacked her, chanting the words to a sort of spell that managed to drain her of all the energy she had gained, nearly starving her. But...in a last effort, she directed her efforts at the priest, unable to escape. Before she knew what had happened, she found the man dead at her feet. She felt much better, but the thought of what she had just done horrified her.

With tears streaming down her face, she fled, vowing to keep herself in check in the future. She didn’t cease her wandering, however, coming to visit Japan on more than one occasion. She found herself drawn to a particular area there, however, one filled with many youkai and powerful humans. The youkai made her nervous, but the feeling of such rich mental energy eventually won her over and she entered the area. Once the border was put up, however, she found herself unable to leave, even in her phasing state, the barrier’s power was able to keep her inside. She was a little afraid at being trapped at first, but this place wasn’t so bad. Besides, there was a lot of potential sustenance here, so at least she wouldn’t go hungry.

Personality
Nemui is one of the few benevolent youkai that exist in Gensoukyou. She is, in fact, a manifestation of the belief that that counting sheep helps you sleep at night. In reality, this is a beacon her, calling her forth in order for her to use her power of sleep on them. In addition, she is actually rather shy and quiet, preferring to come and go without a word. Though, she won’t run if caught unless startled. Even though she won’t run, she still won’t say much, usually just standing there awkwardly, answering any questions with few words, if at all. Once she knows someone a little better, she is more willing to speak.

It is possible to gain her trust, and it isn’t necessarily very hard to do so either. It simply takes a little patience and gentleness. Treating her roughly is a sure way to upset her to the point of leaving, as she is a fairly sensitive person. It’s easy to make her cry, something a little uncharacteristic of most youkai. As might be expected from this, she isn’t very aggressive at all, as she would probably make herself cry at the first sign of actually hurting someone else anyway. That said, she is capable of fairly advanced danmaku, and will attack if she has no other choice.

Power/Combat
Manipulation of sleep. A relatively simple power that is capable of lulling targets into a deep sleep. Conversely, this power can be used to prevent sleep as well, causing insomnia. However, the power is primarily used for causing humans to fall asleep at night, and only used in combat for self defense. Nemui is a resident of the dreamworld, but doesn’t actually have any kind of control over dreams. She can also exist partially in both planes at once, allowing her to enter human homes and give them a peaceful rest while still remaining undetected. Every so often, humans will have a brief glimpse of her as they nod off.

She does this because she feeds on the energy that humans give off while sleeping instead of fear. This practice doesn’t hurt normally, as she only takes a small amount of energy from each person. However, if she were to only be allowed to feed on a single human, she might inadvertently kill them with the drain. Theoretically, this practice could apply to youkai as well, but she likes to avoid the other youkai when possible, as they tend to be a bit too rowdy for her tastes.

Spellcards
(Might do this later)

Major
N/A

Minor
N/A

Trivia
-She is fond of hugs, another thing sort of uncharacteristic in youkai-- a very unyoukai-like youkai.

-When she does meet youkai, their tendencies tend to offput her a bit, since she’s such a gentle thing. (The Nue would just make her cry, for instance.)