Hone Onna

Assistant of Enma Ai, and appears to be a beautiful woman in a kimono with its obi tied in front--the trademark of a prostitute. She becomes the red straw doll when necessary by tossing her red obi strap over her neck. Hone Onna, along with Ichimoku Ren, researches the people who make a contract and the ones they have a grudge against. Hone Onna usually infiltrates human society in casual clothing to investigate cases, on these occasions she tends to use the psudonym "Sone Anna". On certain occasions, she uses throwing knives as weapons; Hone Onna is apparently extremely skilled with these weapons. Her knives seem to carry some mystic charge, since they can be used to quickly dispatch supernatural enemies. Hone Onna also seems to have some skill as a contortionist, which allows her to squeeze into very small places. Getting out of those same places, however, is an area she is less talented in. Hone Onna seems to suffer from mild vanity; she can be quite offended when she is addressed as obaasan ('old lady' or 'auntie'; a Japanese form of address for any woman of middle age and above). She can expose the bones in her body, scaring the target of the grudge; the name Hone Onna actually means bone woman. In episode 8 of Futakomori she jokingly reveals that she is "200 years old". A flashback scene revealed that she was a Geisha originally named Tsuyu who was betrayed by a fellow Geisha Kiyo when attempting to escape. She was drowned to death under the eyes of Kiyo, a samurai, and her mama-san.