These seem to be the standard for a handful of multichapter YW fics here in the west, so I might as well get these out of the way as well.

1. If self-insert stuff, fancharacters, headcanons, and occasional canon divergence and that sorta junk aren't your thing, best steer clear of this. Not even claiming to be "better than canon" or anything, just having fun.

2. Additionally, this fic is set in an "American" setting for the most part. I tend to draw setting inspirations from real life (despite the setting itself being wholly fictional), but I also don't live in Japan. Think of it as taking place in the english version of the games/anime, and you'll probably worry a lot less.

3. English/dub yokai names take preference, though there may be cases where the Japanese names are used instead or used interchangeably. This can essentially be summed up as "I really don't like the name Venoct".

4. Yokai will be spelled as "yokai", save for in the case of proper nouns and place names such as "Yo-kai Watch" and "Yo-kai World".

5. There will be some violence, heavy themes, and light swearing in this fic. Worst you'll get is "hell" and "damn", but even then don't expect it too often.

6. Probably should go without saying, but this story is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and events are entirely fictitious, and any resemblance to places or peoples that exist in real life are completely coincidental. Besides, I trust you guys can separate fiction from reality.

With all these said, I feel I should say another important note, especially since it ties in heavily to the first two points.

Fantasy media is a very important part of my life. Games, books, tabletop RPGs, TV shows and films, and much more that'd be impossible to list. Not only have fantasy works been a source of inspiration for my creative works, but they've been an important escape from real life as well.

Growing up sucks. Tragedy sucks. Awful people suck. When the ugly side of the real world shows, fantasy games take us away from all that, even if just for a short time. Games like Morrowind, Banjo-Kazooie, Disgaea, Warcraft, and of course Yo-kai Watch, they've all helped me deal with some of the worst things that've been tossed my way. Escapism through fantasy media like those has been a powerful coping tool throughout my life.

Of course, as much as escapism is all well and good, never underestimate the power of good friendships to help you weather the storm. I've known some fantastic people throughout my life, and I'm glad they're still a part of it to this very day. In a sense, this fic might as well not even exist without their support, both in my life and in my art and writing. I wanna thank you guys for sticking with me for so long. 3

Anyhow, with that taken into consideration, it's not entirely weird that a twenty-something-year-old like me quickly stuck to a franchise like Yo-kai Watch. I could go on and on talking about why I love this franchise, but I'll keep things short.

To me, YW is a celebration of the relationship between both the supernatural and mundane, how folklore and how we see and interpret the world shapes our culture and inspires creative minds the world over. Of course we can't forget its themes of friendship as well. It may be cliche, but it's still a powerful theme and one that still personally rings out to me.

With more "fantastical" settings like Disgaea and Ratchet&Clank, it always feels rather strange to project myself on a fancharacter based around those settings, and I've never wholly based any of my "persona" characters on how I am IRL because of this. With Yo-kai Watch's more "familiar" world, I think I'll have a more comfortable time writing "myself" in that setting, as it's mostly just the "real" world with a supernatural side to it. It's a good mediator between "fantasy" and "reality" for me to explore myself in a writing medium and enjoy it.

So yeah, that's the explanation as to why there's going to be a bunch of self-insert stuff in this; self-discovery in fantasy escapism.

Though as a reader, I wouldn't worry about all this in the long run. In the end, you're just here for a fun ride, and I'm sure as hell going to do my best to give you one.

TL;DR, don't take this fic too seriously, I hope you enjoy the read, and remember: any attempt to replicate yokai behavior would be ill-advised! c:

~gensou ichida / the real Alex Holmes

Prologue - Merry Belated Christmas

DECEMBER 26, LAST YEAR

Tonight was not a very restful night.

Alex found himself wide awake at 2 in the morning. He always had trouble sleeping, but it seems like going to bed earlier wasn't fixing the problem, not with how his mind was at the moment. Even the din of his bedroom radio couldn't drown out the kind of thoughts he had swimming through his mind.

Anxious thoughts. Worrisome thoughts. Thoughts that he kept dwelling on years after the fact.

They'd always been there, and he hated it.

Still, it wouldn't be much use to just lay in bed staring at the basement ceiling all night. On nights like this, Alex had his own ways to keep himself distracted until morning (or at least until he felt sleepy enough). Specifically, he could spend the rest of the night either playing handheld video games, staying up on the computer, or reading under lamplight. Unfortunately, the last thing Alex wanted was his parents waking up in the middle of the night to notice the lights on in the basement.

Whatever he went with, it still would've been better than lying in bed worrying about whatever was going on in his life.

Alex rolled out of his sheets, sat on his bed, and flicked on a nearby lamp on the end table. While it didn't illuminate the entire room, there was just enough light to make out the colorful creatures that decorated his bedsheets, and the posters and pictures of various characters on the basement walls. Most importantly, there was his trusty computer desk just across from his bed, monitor off and tower softly whirring.

Near the keyboard was his Gamestation Go, which Alex wasted no time in swiping off of the desk. Now all he needed was to dig around for a game cart to stick in and play.

Alex's room was far from the cleanest, but it also was far from the messiest. There was enough space in the room to walk around without bumping into anything, and he made sure to vacuum the floor every now and then. It could only really be called "messy" because the tables and shelves were cluttered with all sorts of objects: books, game consoles, plush animals, pencils and pens... You could easily tell what kind of hobbies Alex had just from the stuff in his room. And yet somehow, even in this "organized chaos" he would call it, he always knew where he put certain things.

Alex opened the end table drawer, trying not to be too noisy. Usually he kept a few Gamestation carts in here, there had to be something he could play for the night. Surprisingly, the first thing he noticed in the drawer wasn't any specific cart, but something else.

A brass pendant of some sort, about as big as his fist, attached to a long sturdy ribbon.

Alex received a few keepsakes from his grandmother on his 18th birthday, but he couldn't remember getting anything like this. You'd think he'd recall getting a fancy pendant. As far as he knew, he probably must've stowed it away ages ago and just forgot about it.

Or maybe not. That's memory problems for you.

Perhaps it was a surprise gift from Santa? Nah, couldn't have been. Alex was 24 years old, well past the age where you usually stopped believing in things like that. He had a colorful imagination, sure, but he was still grounded enough to tell apart fantasy from reality.

Still, he always did like looking at his grandma's trinkets every now and then. She usually gave him some pretty cool stuff.

Alex took the pendant out of the drawer and sat back on his bed. Whatever this thing was, it sure looked like an antique. One side of it was embossed with odd markings, the brass itself worn and weathered with age. The other side seemed to be a window-like lid, but the glass was too scratched and cloudy to clearly make out anything inside, even under lamplight.

He noticed a small latch on the side of the pendant. With how old it looked, Alex wasn't able to swing it open with a quick flick of the thumb. He dug through the drawer again and pulled a small screwdriver out of the mess. Tool in hand, he pried the latch open, and the lid flung open with a shimmery-sounding squeak. As soon as Alex had the time tomorrow, he was going to oil the hinges on this thing.

The thing in question seemed to be a bit more than just a locket pendant. It was a compass, but not any that Alex had ever seen before. The compass rose pointed in eight directions, none of which were labeled. The needle didn't seem to be pointing north either; whenever he turned the pendant around in his hand, the needle would face a new direction.

Interestingly, while the rose didn't have the cardinal directions marked, there were eight symbols circling around it, each a different color: red, yellow, orange, pink, green, blue, purple, and cyan. With how worn the compass looked, it's surprising the colors on the rose weren't faded.

With its age in mind, something else about the compass caught Alex's eye: the glass lid. It was so scuffed on the outside that it was difficult to make out what was inside the pendant, but the inside was practically spotless. An odd kind of spotless, specifically; looking through the lid from the inside, it was perfectly clear, as if the wear and tear on the lid's outside didn't exist.

Alex held the compass at eye level, trying to get a good view through the glass. Perfectly and oddly spotless. Except...

He lowered the compass, then raised it, then lowered it again, until once again holding it up to peer through the glass.

Nobody but Alex himself was in the room, but through the glass he could make out something, or rather... someone?

But it wasn't someone that he had ever seen, or even would have thought existed. A large white creature, wolflike in shape yet standing as if it were human; its paws and mane blue as ice melt, and it was looking at him with cold glowing eyes.

Alex closed the compass in hopes the creature would leave his sight. The beast would vanish every time he didn't look through the glass, and appear when he did, but this time he didn't need the compass to see it. The creature was now in plain sight, standing and leering at him.

"I see you found my gift, Alex," it spoke in a soft voice.

Startled, Alex fell onto his back into his bedsheets. Did this thing know him?!

Equally as surprised, the beast jumped a tiny bit, covering its nose with its paws. "O-oh! Please don't be frightened! I-I thought this might be a bit of a shock for you, but I assure you I mean no harm." The beast's voice, more recognizable at this point, felt far more motherly than it felt threatening.

"... Okay, then can you please explain what are you and why you know me?" Alex said, keeping his voice quiet as to not wake anyone upstairs. He had a youthful voice for his age, but it was hard to tell whether he sounded more masculine or feminine.

The creature approached him, shyly gripping her fluffy blue tail in her paws.

"... I know you don't want to remember, but... Six years ago," she spoke.

"What about six years ago?" Alex asked.

The beast paused, still clutching her tail.

"... You were crying a lot. You didn't want me to leave. I think it was the only time I saw your father cry, too."

Alex's eyes widened.

The beast nodded grimly. "... I'm so sorry it took this long to-"

Alex bolted up and hugged the wolfish creature, burying his face into her soft mane. It was cold, but not uncomfortably so; more like sinking into cold blankets on a hot summer day.

"Oh my god, Snowbell, I missed you so much," Alex said, trying so hard not to cry. Any tears that fell from his face became frozen droplets decorating the beast's fur.

Snowbell hugged him back, stroking his head in an attempt to comfort him.

"I missed you too, Alex," she said. "You've grown so much..."

The two embraced for a while. Over six years had passed since Alex and his now-beastly dog Snowbell had last been together, and both wanted to savor the reunion.

In time, Alex stopped crying. He looked up at his canine companion.

"So... you gave me that compass?" he asked.

Snowbell nodded. "Merry Christmas, Alex."

Alex smiled and nuzzled into her fluffy coat once again. "So uh, what is it? And why do you look so... different? And, you know, you can talk now, and..."

"I wouldn't worry about it so much," Snowbell chuckled. "It's late, and I'm sure you'd like to sleep more comfortably after this."

"Yeah. Jeez, why'd this have to happen so late at night..." Alex muttered.

Snowbell gently tousled her owner's hair, and smiled.

"I will explain everything in time," she spoke. "There's just far too much to say. Or rather, show you."

Alex was straightening out his blankets. "'Show me'?"

"... Words are a bit lacking to explain something like this," she added. "You'll understand eventually; you've always been a bright one."

"Aw, you're being too sweet, Snowy. I mean, you've always been a sweetheart, but..."

"Oh, Alex, before you sleep, I have one more gift to give you," Snowbell spoke.

Alex was already covered in his sheets, but he still sat up. "Hm?"

"Hold out your hand for a moment," she added.

Alex did so. Snowbell gripped his hand with a cold fur-lined paw.

A bright light shone within their grip and slowly faded. Snowbell released her paw from Alex's, revealing a shining medal in his hand. A medal that had a colorful image of the motherly monster dog emblazoned on it.

Alex's eyes glimmered in awe.

You reunited with Snowbell.

[A/N: been way too deep into yokai watch hell lately. gonna be a lot of fun stuff in this one, i assure you.

and yeah if it isn't obvious (or if you haven't read the foreword which has reasons for all this), alex is pretty much based off me. except probably one of the few things separating him from me is that i'm more of a cat person than a dog person.

idk i don't have a whole lot of comments for this one outside of "i don't how to describe my own room without going into meticulous detail" and "i cried the entire time while writing snowbell's bit".]