Yako

Yako (ヤコ) is a supernatural haunting a set of stairs at Kamome Gakuen. She is the current representative of the 2nd School Mystery, The Misaki Stairs.

Appearance
Yako first appears as a woman with long, beige hair tied and braided on one side of her head. In her hair she wears a red and white ribbon that has small bells on it, reminiscent of fox ears. Her eyes are bright green. She wears a patterned kimono with a white haori and matching white gloves and socks, as well as brown geta sandals with red straps. She is noted to be very beautiful by Nene.

Her real form is a small white fox with a red bib tied around her neck. She has bell earrings, similar to the ribbon in her human form. In the past, she was an Inari statue in front of a temple gate, presumably near Misaki's schoolhouse.

Personality
Yako is a prideful supernatural who thinks little of humans other than her beloved deceased Misaki. She was willing to do anything to bring him back. She has little understanding of humans and their anatomy. As a result, she employed the help of the students to rebuild Misaki's body and had no qualms with removing them if she deemed the bodies they created inadequate.

Later, she admits while her rumor was altered by Yugi Tsukasa, she retained full control of her actions. She describes it as a side of her that she often kept bottled up, but was then dragged out by force.

She prefers to be treated with respect, asking others to call her by her name instead of calling her "Kitsune". In moments of vulnerability, she lashes out by biting others or verbally berating them. However, she still has a bit of a soft side, as seen when she comforted Kou after hearing about the incident with his friend, and even allows him to call her "Nee-san".

With a lofty ego, she is reluctant to lend her powers, only giving in when Hanako threatened her with a knife and the promise of "Kitsune udon".

Transformation
Yako is able to shapeshift between her human and fox forms at will, although the fox form is her true one and it is the one she assumes outside of her own boundary.

Number 2's Powers
As the School Mystery Number 2, Yako has command over the Misaki Stairs — her boundary. It can be accessed by stepping on the fourth step of the stairs.

In the boundary, Yako is unbeatable and other School Mysteries are not able to use their own powers unless she permits them to. Her weapon of choice is a giant pair of scissors. If one were to get clipped by them, the impacted body part will turn into a doll part. Additionally, Yako has small kokeshi dolls that she can control to perform tasks. The dolls are often used to restrain her subjects while the pair of scissors attack.

It is later revealed in the Mirror Hell arc that she has control over space in the Seven Mysteries. Within her boundary, she is capable of accessing other areas, such as Number 3' s boundary. With Yako removed from her School Mystery seat, her boundary is still accessible despite the lack of care.

Trivia

 * Her favorite snack is sweet-bean-jelly sandwich.
 * Her latest concern is that it's very hard to groom herself.
 * In Afterschool boy Hanako-kun she fell in love with Nene's homeroom teacher, Nagisa, who looks similar to Misaki.
 * In the pilot chapters, her fox form is mainly unchanged, aside from her face. This change happened twice within her appearances in Chapters 2 and 3 of the pilot. Her face in Chapter 3 closely resembles the one she got in serialized series.
 * Yako is based on a fox Yokai called Yako/Nogitsune.
 * She's easily startled by lightning and will immediately return to the wild for refuge.
 * She seems to enjoy hunting the Mokke; her favorite festival stall is Mokke hunting.

Quotes

 * "I had been teaching my students... in the schoolhouse at the top of these stairs. But I was killed here, torn to pieces. Right in the place where you are standing. Say, would you... ...please look for my body?"
 * "I can't do anything as I am now..."
 * "First, my arm. My right arm. That is the arm... ...I use to hold the chalk for writing letters. Do hurry. Class will be starting soon."
 * "Please find my left arm... Every morning... …before class, I go to make an offering and say a prayer at the shrine. I put my left and right hands together... …and pray for everyone's good health."
 * "What a wonderful body! I was at such a loss, you see. I simply have no idea what human bodies are made of... I always knew it was a good idea to ask humans about human things. This is nothing like any of the other bodies I've ever made. I'm sure it'll work this time."
 * "Isn't that right, "Misaki"? Go on! Let me see you walk."
 * "Another failure. What a shame..."
 * "Other? Oh... you're looking for the children you failed. In that case — They're all around — Didn't you see them?"
 * "I try, and I try, but nothing ever works... I've had enough."
 * "As for you three... I will tear you apart, just as the rumors say."
 * "I'll make you into a doll first."
 * "Today I thretened a student. It waz fun."
 * "Misaki cut my hair. I hate Misaki."
 * "Today I took a "photograph" with Misaki and the other kids."
 * "Misaki gave me some hair shears. None of the other kids got any. Only me."
 * "Misaki loves me. I'll put the scissors in the shrine to keep them safe."
 * "Misaki didn't come today. I have nothing else to do, so I made dolls while I watched people come and go all day."
 * "Still not Misaki today."
 * "Today I heard a rumor. There was an accident on these stairs the other day... A teacher fell and died. I wonder what it means to die. The next time I see Misaki, I'll ask him."
 * "Misaki may never come back."
 * "The only thing to do about it is to make Misaki."
 * "Oh, please. I know that! Misaki cared for his students. If he finds out that I've been doing this, he'll be angry with me. But that's what I want."
 * "I want Misaki... ...To yell at me again... I would do anything to get him back!"
 * "My goodness, you're fragile. Did our little game upstairs take that much out of you?"
 * "Stop! I won't let you! I need my yorishiro, or I can't make Misaki… All this time, everything I've done has been for him!"
 * "Don't touch me. I have no intention of being friends with you! And... My name is Yako!"
 * "Next time you call me Fox-san... …I'll bite your hand off."