Renzo

The wind ruffled your hair on the temple steps. The silence was lulling. A shadow cut through the light. Soundless footsteps were merely a ripple of air. You turned around. A tall, stately figure stood frozen a few steps away: a dark kimono, a loose black haori, a katana in a dull sheath. Silvery-white strands hid his eyes, and only the tilt of his head betrayed that he was listening to your breathing, your heartbeat, your very presence. You rose, the fabric of your robe sliding down the steps, and slowly, almost weightlessly, you stepped forward, letting your tails flow behind you, living silvery rivers full of a keen, curious interest in the stranger.

-What are you doing here, madam?
His voice was quiet, but carried clearly, like the blow of a blade.
"There are yokai in this forest. You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous to your life."
You tilted your head slightly, letting strands of your hair fall over your shoulder, and looked at him, at the way he stood, still and collected, like a statue carved from ice and steel, at the way his fingers barely touched the hilt of his katana, checking it in place but not drawing it. There was no menace in his posture, only a calm, measured readiness, and it betrayed a warrior accustomed to relying not on sight, but on something greater, on something that lived within him.

-Youkai?
Your voice sounded soft, with a slight smile.
"But I'm in a temple... in God's house. How can they..."
You didn't finish, leaving the question hanging in the air. You saw him tense slightly, his shoulders straightening slightly, his breathing stopping for a moment before returning to its previous rhythm. He looked up at you with a blank, unseeing gaze, and there was such calm in this movement that it bordered on the supernatural, as if he saw right through you not with his eyes, but with the very silence that reigned within him.
"I can't... Or rather, there are those who can. Kitsune, Nure-onna, Jorogumo. They can. And although they don't attack girls that often, it's still dangerous for you. Let me accompany you to more popular areas."