Hello, it's me again, this time with another long fic! As per usual with my stories, I have a few notes to start things off.
1. This, like most of my fics, is in a continuity separate from the games, anime, and manga.
2. While this could be considered a sequel to another one of my long fic works, Reflections of the Magical Watch, reading that story is completely unnecessary to enjoy the story here. Most of it is a few small references and cameos, which will mostly be explained to fit this universe.
3. This body of work has one of the major characters in it have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), which can be a complicated disorder to represent. I have it myself, and I can't say my depiction will be accurate to everyone with ASD so please take it with a grain of salt and understand I have done my best.
4. This is a work of fiction, all characters in it are fictional and are not based on anyone living or dead.
Chapter 1: New Juniors, New Elders
The year was 2040, many years had passed since the escapades of a young girl and her spectral friends. That girl was now a woman, but despite her becoming older, yokai remained.
You see, yokai are spirits, often mischievous, and reside in their own realm called the Yokai World. Though, plenty of yokai make their way over to the human world to cause trouble, and can present themselves to any human they want, or remain hidden. No need for a special watch to see them, all a matter of fate.
There's still plenty of mystery about the yokai, perhaps ones that stay far away from humanity...but for now, we have a tale to unfold…
It all begins one late night, several trucks and carts began to unload in a park just outside of a suburb of Tokyo known as Sakura Motomachi. The trucks all seemed to surround a giant retro styled circus tent. Not a light seemed to shine within, as something uneasy seemed to be brewing.
"Alright, let's take these four fallen souls, oozing with grudges and regrets..." A voice that carried deception in every word said, overlooking a giant cauldron that radiated with an eerie green glow. As each of the souls went into the cauldron, puffs of smoke appeared, until an object finally manifested from the smoke. "...And I've done it! I've made the key that will bind the resurrection together!"
"...How will some fancy arm toy benefit me?" Another voice responded in the shadows, being cold and unkind.
"Simple, we have to find a human host who will use it and contaminate the human population from within," The first voice answered back. "And I just know how..."
The first figure snapped their fingers, another shadowy being making their appearance. However, they were a bit easier to make out, being a long shadowy figure with black, tattered robes decorated with piercing yellow eyes.
"Yes, Boss Shiki-Sharu?" The shadow asked in a deep yet slimy tone of voice.
"Take my newly developed creation, the Kigan Gear, and go find a human oozing with enough misery that they can spread the Onimaro Virus all across this city, then the country, and then...the World!" The mischievous yet dastardly voice of the first shadow, Shiki-Sharu, explained to his henchman.
"Boss, I can't exactly physically manifest myself, especially in broad daylight," The cloaked shadow began to explain, Shiki-Sharu rasing his barely visible, lanky finger at his underling.
"Don't worry, I've prepared for this occasion..." Shiki-Sharu responded, looking over at the other shadow. "Jibunkageki! Bring over one of the cages!"
"I suppose..." The colder voice, Jibunkageki, responded, something very large seeming to manifest from under the shadowy figure. The dim reflections of several bars could be seen, as the small but effective figure of Shiki-Sharu leapt all across the cages…
"Hmm...Which one is most suitable for my dearest Onimaro Commander..." Shiki-Sharu muttered to himself, before picking up the smallest cage there was "Aha!"
"I was promised candy, you big meanie!" The voice from the smallest cage spoke back in a childish tone, rather frustrated with the evil yokai.
"Oh you'll get your candy..." Shiki-Sharu taunted, literally tossing the cage to the cloaked figure known as Onimaro Commander. "Here! Take them!"
"Yes boss-" Onimaro Commander tried to say, only for the Kigan Gear to be thrown at them as well, with Shiki-Sharu saying "Take this as well!"
Knowing that they were ready, the shadowy figure was off, with the Kigan Gear and the mysterious caged creature out of the tent, seeming to merge with whatever was inside…
"Coming soon to Sakura Motomachi! The greatest show on earth for both young and old, the Tanoshi Brothers Circus! Pre-order your tickets right now so you don't-" A loud voice from a television commercial came early in the morning, before being clicked off and turned to a much more quiet and less octane sounding news channel, but then switched to a more cheerful advertisement for a children's card game called Lightning Speed Age. Several names of the monsters, including the new, more powerful ones such as Burning Dragon, Blizzard Wolf, and the new Reaper Gryphon were shown off.
The sound of the television came within a very lonely looking apartment, where a saddened looking young man was getting ready for the day, all by himself. His hair was a blue like ocean waves struck with moonlight, and his deep brown eyes radiated with a lonely heart. The boy didn't say a word, as getting ready all on his own was very normal for him, it would shock him if someone was there.
Especially since he was reading a text from his mother, saying how she and the boy's father both had to work overnight and probably won't be home tonight either, so ordering pizza would be okay. The news didn't seem to phase the boy either, almost as if this was the norm for him.
It seemed he didn't notice the large looming shadow from his window, yellow eyes piercing at the boy from afar. Though, it seemed tricky to try and get the boy's attention...But then an idea struck in the shadowy figure's head.
The shadow phased right through the walls and formed into a book that sat on the dining room table.
Grabbing his book bag, the boy was about ready to leave, but through some dark magic, the doorknob sent a small shock, that left him jolting backwards.
"Ghh!" The boy stammered, starting to fumble backwards until getting more close to where the book was.
"Open...Read...Me..." An ominous voice called out, a dark energy seeming to call the boy forth. Taking note of the dark tome, the blue haired boy slowly and cautiously walked over to the book, reaching out for it before finally opening it.
Once the book was opened, it began to shift around and transform into a near direct replica of the Reaper Gryphon shown on the television. The dark, evil half bird, half lion beast looked down at the boy, somehow managing to fit into the apartment without knocking anything over.
"W-Who are you?" The boy stammered in shock. "Since you can't be..."
"But I am….Reaper Gryphon, and your friend," The shadowy voice of Reaper Gryphon spoke up to wipe away any of the boy's denials.
"F..Friend?" The boy asked rather confused, tilting his head to the side. "But...Your card hasn't even been released yet, and you were shown for a few seconds in last week's preview in the anime..."
"That's besides the point...Touma Tsukinami..."Reaper Gryphon answered back, giving a stronger, more sinister glare back.
"H-How do you know my name!?" The boy, Touma, responded in shock to the large evil being.
"I can see into your heart, able to see all the delightful darkness within," Reaper Gryphon gave their answer to Touma. "I can sense all that darkness spawned from decades of loneliness, and I can help you make your wishes come true..."
Touma was shook by what the sinister beast knew about him. But, the sad thing was, it was all true. His parents were always busy with work, people tended to not even notice him, let alone reach out for friendship...
Reaper Gryphon held out one of their front legs, extending their sharp talons in a sinister shake of friendship. "Now, will you be my friend? You'll be less of a shadow, and more of a dark lord everyone will have to notice!"
Touma was slightly hesitant at first, before reaching his hand out to the evil being. The moment his hand touched the begin's talons, a dark aura began to cling around his left arm, before revealing itself to be a blue and black device with silver horns and a big yellow eye, and a claw grasped around Touma's arm as opposed to a traditional strap.
"The Kigan Gear seems to have accepted your dear, dark heart..." Reaper Gryphon commented, pleased that the device had accepted a host.
The large beast unfurled their large crow-like wings, teleporting the two outside of the apartment complex. Reaper Gryphon then grabbed Touma and put them onto their back.
"Wait, where are we going now?" Touma asked, Reaper Gryphon starting to run before taking off.
"To my leader, my master...They'll teach you the ways, I have things to take care of in this city myself first..." Reaper Gryphon finished, starting to fly into the air, becoming a streak of shadowy black across the daylight sky…
Later in the same day, a rather sunny girl started to briskly walk her out of school as the final bell rang for the day. She had brown hair tied into two braids, and brown eyes that glimmered with the sunlight.
"Today was pretty great so far, even if it was kinda average," The girl cheerfully said to herself. "Then again a lot of things seem to be ordinary for me, but that's okay, at least I wasn't late today!"
"Or trying to save people and animals falling from trees or tall structures, Natsume," Another girl said, having shorter, fluffier mute blonde hair.
"Well, I kinda can't help it Saki," The brown haired girl, Natsume, responded with a bit off put from her friend's comment. "I just can't let people sit there when they're in danger, you know?"
"Yeah, I can see that," Saki stated with a shrug. "Didn't you nearly fall to your death a long time ago?"
Natsume paused for a brief moment, remembering the moment in time. It was so long ago, it was pretty hazy...But she distinctly remembers being up in a tree with a cat, and a branch broke off and she nearly fell to her death a long ways down. Then...Something saved her...the wind might've blown just right to save her? It was a hard thing to recall…
"Mhmm," Natsume answered after remembering, getting out something that looked like a key, but rusted with age. "This was there when I was brought to safety, it's sort of my lucky charm!"
"You know for someone with a painfully average life, you seem to have some odd quirks," Saki remarked, the two girls laughing it off for a bit as they walked home, unaware of the shadows that seemed to loom nearby.
Deception and Lies...Uncaring and Selfishness...Violence and Wrath...Doom and Demise…
These things will being about the fall of all that live...as it radiates in every single living being…
...All will succumb and become a demon...Light will fade from the face of every world…
...That is merely fate...
It was a vision of darkness, and a vision of ominous words. Such a horrifying sight struck the mind of another boy, focusing on spiritual related practices. He had spiked brown hair and a soft appearance to him, donning special ceremonial robes for this occasion.
There was only one thing that summarized his reaction towards such a vision.
"Grandma! Holy f-" The boy about screamed as he slid open a door, only for an old woman to get up and gently wack him with her walking stick.
"Akinori! You should know better than to use such language," The old woman scolded, Akinori rubbing his head where he was whacked. "Shouldn't you be spiritually training yourself?"
"I know but grandma, listen, I had a crazy vision when I was training!" Akinori tried to explain. "It was vague stuff, but it was about how darkness is going to consume all of us!"
The elder woman stroked her chin in thought, turning her head to the side a little. "Really? I swear these kind of world ending darkness things happen every few years it seems..."
"I suppose we'll just have to confirm that vision of yours..." Akinori's Grandma finished, leading the boy into a room with several old books and a small table with a mystic crystal ball in the center.
Peering into the ball, it was clear for a moment, before spilling in with darkness in a similar manner to dark ink being dropped into a bowl of clear water. The aura was clearly very threatening and menacing, leaving both of them quite shocked.
"So it seems it wasn't just a nightmare..." Akinori's Grandma commented on the matter, her usually closed eyes opening a little in shock.
"Well, do you have any ideas on how to prevent this nightmare from becoming a reality?" Akinori asked the old woman, the latter going back into a train od deep thought.
"Legends tell of a pure heart using a magic light mirror...Wait...that's sort of the wrong one...There's a lot of stories about people using magic mirrors to defeat evil..." Akinori's Grandma started to prattle on about. "But there's one that's been lost to time it seems...The Elder Bright Light Mirror..."
"Elder Bright Light Mirror?" Akinori questioned, a bit thrown off from the amount of words. "Isn't that something old people use?"
"Yes it's what we old timers used to search for things in the dark..." Akinori's Grandma began in a light hearted manner, before getting her serious look back and gently thwacking Akinori on the head with her walking stick. "Of course not! It's a mirror crafted by yokai since long lost to time! Myths say it's slumbering and will emerge when the time is right..."
The two looked back at the crystal ball, to see among the darkness, a small glimmering spark of light. A little star trying to shine among the dark night sky…
"I'm starting to sense something..." Akinori commented, his grandma giving a nod.
"I can feel it too, seems there might be hope somewhere, and in this city too..." Akinori's Grandma responded, Akinori starting to stand up and walk out.
"Wait, Akinori, where are you going?" Akinori's Grandma questioned him, starting to slowly get up as well.
"I'm going to try to figure out what this spark of light is that I can feel is!" Akinori answered, looking quite confident in himself. His old woman came over and handed him something.
"If you're going out, you may as well need this just in case," Akinori's grandma commented on, handing the boy a small yellow jewel with a heart inside. "It's the lucky charm of our family's guardian, so it should keep you safe..."
"Gotcha! Hopefully nothing too bad will happen!" Akinori said his goodbye for now, starting to run as fast as he could out the door and trusting his senses. Just what was this feeling? What was it going to lead to? It couldn't be explained by words, but only by emotions and instinct…
Things were going normal for Natsume it seemed, she was starting to walk her way back home, back to her mom, dad, and younger brother. Though, on her road home, things seemed to be a bit astray.
"What the..." Natsume thought aloud to herself, noticing a blur in a fancy suit whiz right on past her. The body language seemed to suggest the finely suited man to be distressed.
"Excuse me, sir? Is something the matter?" Natsume asked the man, only to realize he wasn't a man at all. He didn't have legs, for starters, and instead had a whispy black ghost tail. Upon turning around, he didn't have a human face either, one that seemed a bit eerie, yet dignifed. At least it confirmed Natsume's assumptions of him wearing a nice tuxedo…
"Hmm? Oh dearie me, I keep forgetting no matter how strong my yoki aura is, some humans can still see me," The dapper ghost commented, before getting back to the matter at hand. "And to answer the question, yes, something is quite the matter, but what's your name?"
"I'm Natsume Amano," Natsume introduced herself, trying hard not to be taken off guard by the spectral being. He was quite polite, yes, but a bit spooky for lack of a better word.
"Amano, eh? Something about that seems familiar...perhaps in a differing place and time," The ghost pondered, before clasping his hands together with a shocked look on his face. "Goodness where are my manners? I'm Whisper, yokai of the Uwanosora tribe and finest butler in all of the yokai world!"
"As for what's troubling me," Whisper began to finally give Natsume the answer she was seeking. "I've been tasked to being the butler for a particularly young and mischievous yokai who has run off quite recently."
"Oh dear, so someone you've been a nanny for has run off? What's their name, I'll try to help," Natsume responded to Whisper with genuine concern.
"Butler, not nanny," Whisper corrected the girl, before getting back to his original point. "But, the yokai I was tasked in taking care of is one such known as Junior. He's a like a little round ball with one ear a whisp and one ear a cat's."
"So..." Natsume began, going over to a nearby garden with a red glass gazing globe. "Kind of like this?"
Whisper was quite shocked upon seeing the red orb, instantly grabbing it. "Yes! Like that! He can also shape shift, so this could be him!"
"That does sound like a lot of trouble," Natsume responded, Whisper tapping away at the glass orb.
"He seems to be fast asleep, which is unusual since he's usually bursting with energy," Whisper remarked, seeming to be in deep thought.
"Maybe we need to wake him up? Maybe with a food bribe?" Natsume suggested, Whisper nodding.
"Of course, that's what I was going to suggest myself," Whisper responded, holding up one finger into the air. "His favorite snacks are chips and chocobars, so if we can get a hold of those, we might have found Junior!"
"Got it, I know the convenience store might have some," Natsume added in, Whisper looking delighted. "We can stock up and get Junior up and back in your hands!"
The two gave a nodding agreement, the wispy ghost starting to follow Natsume in the direction of the convenience store. Everything seemed fine…
Note the "seemed" part, since some things weren't quite right on a similar path.
Nearby, Akinori was still trying to figure out just what the vision he had meant, looking around a pretty average looking street for answers. Being a magic user, some things should just be clear to him, right? Though the magic user did note that there was indeed some kind of mystical presence nearby…
It just wasn't a good one.
"Human magic user..." A chilling voice called out to Akinori, the latter turning to see the horrifying presence of none other than Reaper Gryphon.
"Oh hey! You're that guy teased for next week's episode of-" Akinori commented in awe, the gryphon unfurling their large black wings as they took up a stance.
"Silence!" Reaper Gryphon roared with anger. "I have little tolerance for fools..."
Reaper Gryphon then started to sharpen their talons a bit more, getting ready for a strike. "...And I have even less tolerance for those who use magic for goodwill!"
Before Akinori could even try to quip something about the evil half bird half lion, Reaper Gryphon was already charging at him at full force, talons being bared and ready to slice the poor boy's face off.
With a swift duck, Akinori thankfully barely managed to dodge the oncoming beast. Now he had to be quick since at any moment Reaper Gryphon could be turning back around and make sure he was dead meat this time.
"Alright...Gotta focus..." Akinori thought aloud to himself, swiftly making a star-like shape with his index finger. The star-like shape began to glow a bright green, before the magic using boy threw it at the evil yokai.
Upon being stricken with the magic star, Reaper Gryphon found himself bound by the star-like shape, unable to fly or run.
"You! Foolish pig faced human!" Reaper Gryphon screeched in anger, trying to break free. "How dare you not even fight!? Coward!"
"Hey now, this 'foolish pig faced human' managed to put you in your place," Akinori quipped back at the evil yokai. "So I wouldn't be throwing cheap potshots like that if I were you."
Though Akinori didn't have much time to celebrate, as it seemed the magic barrier was slowly weakening, likely due to the yokai's sheer power. This was probably a good time to go ahead and book it.
"Alright I think now we just have to take a turn here..." Natsume instructed with Whisper at her side, unaware of the chaos that was right around the corner.
Natsume's blissful unawareness was soon interrupted by a fearful Akinori crashing right into her at alarming speeds. Upon the crashing encounter, both teens let out a loud "ow!".
"Sorry, didn't see you there!" Akinori hastily apologized, rubbing his face from where he slammed into Natsume. The girl just looked puzzled and confused.
"Who...Who are you?" Natsume asked curiously yet cautiously. It seemed quite a lot of strange things were happening to the average girl today…
"I'm Akinori Arihoshi, one of the families of magic users that protects from spiritual evils!" Akinori quickly introduced himself, though with a tone that was a bit too fast to understand.
"What was that?" Natsume asked, a bit too stirred to really understand the boy's fast and breathy words. "Your name is Akihiko, right?"
"No it's-" Akinori tried to correct, only to be interrupted by a loud, angry roar. A black shadow started to get closer and closer to the group.
"Let's run!" Akinori stated in shock, about ready to run at any second now.
"Well, Let's Run, I'm Whisper, and this is Natsume," Whisper introduced himself and Natsume properly.
The happy atmosphere didn't seem to last for very long, as Reaper Gryphon appeared once more, seeming to be very angry and displeased.
"Oh, it seems you have friends with you..." Reaper Gryphon commented, furrowing their eyes. "...How utterly pathetic that you have to rely on others as well..."
"I just met these guys!" Akinori quipped back at the evil beast.
"W-What is that thing?" Natsume questioned, shocked at the horrifying sight in front of her.
"It seems to be a-" Whisper tried to explain, getting out his Ypad to view information. Reaper Gryphon was enraged, swooping in and grabbing Whisper with their razor sharp talons.
"Hey you utter fiend! Put me down, this suit is custom tailored you know!" Whisper yelled, struggling to hold the garden ball he thought was Junior. The speeds Reaper Gryphon was flying at made it nearly impossible, before the red orb was dropped.
"Natsume! Quickly catch-" Whisper tried to yell, only for the speeds the red garden globe was going at thanks to the strong gusts of eerie wind Reaper Gryphon left behind to caused it to break midair.
"JUNIOR NO!" Natsume and Whisper both gasped in horrifying shock. It seemed the yokai Whisper was watching over was a lost cause…
...Or rather it wasn't entirely, as while the glass orb shattered into nothing but fine dust, there was something inside it.
Whatever this mysterious object was, it gravitated to Natsume and attached itself to her. This object took the form of a white and gold watch with a large keyhole at its base. The actual watch part seemed to have a cover that could only be opened when something is inserted into it.
"Woah...That was in a garden ball?" Akinori commented, trying to get a hold of Natsume's watch. However, it seemed to be firmly contracted to her.
"W-What the?!" Natsume gasped, confused and puzzled about the wrist-watch like object. "What is this!? What's going on!?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Akinori remarked, getting out the yellow jewel his grandma gave him. "But maybe this might help?"
The moment the yellow orb touched Natsume's fingers, it began to transform into a key like object. Once it solidified, Natsume began to focus, inserting the key-like object and turning it clockwise. A gentle voice saying "Light!" could be heard from the watch.
"Summoning! Come out my friend..." Natsume began, focusing with all her heart as she held the key object over the open watch face. "...Ruby!"
It didn't seem to work, as absolutely nothing had happened.
"I think you might've pronounced it wrong..." Akinori quipped, Natsume rubbing the back of her head.
"Sorry, I'm still a bit thrown off, I'm not used to these weird things," Natsume apologized, before focusing again.
"Summoning! Come out my friend..." Natsume began once more, focusing even harder this time. "...Kyubi!"
This time, the summoning worked, and with a bright flash of light, a humanoid yellow fox yokai in a purple kimono had appeared, a stern look on his face.
"My, I wasn't expecting a fair lady to be accompanying one of the Arihoshi family members I protect..." The fox, Kyubi, spoke up, keeping a determined look on his face.
"Well uh...Kyubi, there's a bit of a predicament..." Natsume tried to explain, the fox holding up his finger.
"I can see that, with that shadowy beast trying to torment that fancy soft serve ice cream cone," Kyubi commented. "But for proper introductions, while my species name is Kyubi, my name is actually Seiya."
Without another word, the yellow fox yokai managed to shoot a large fireball at Reaper Gryphon, forcing the beast to come crashing down and let go of Whisper.
"Why you..." Reaper Gryphon remarked with a breathy huff in their voice. "I wouldn't expect a human to get a hold of the Elder Bright Light Mirror...let alone summon some fox that spews nonsense about love and justice!"
"I'm unrelated to that boisterous Kyubi you're probably thinking of," Seiya commented back calmly to the horrifying beast, before with a puff of smoke he changed forms from the looks of it.
Instead of being a fox humanoid, Seiya now took the form of a large nine tailed fox with fangs being beared and claws ready to strike down this beast with equal might.
"However, I do strongly believe in serving justice, for the love the family I serve and peace beyond the stars!" Seiya yelled, tackling Reaper Gryphon down on their back. Seiya let out a mighty howl right in Reaper Gryphon's face.
Reaper Gryphon didn't have much else to say, but did try to manage to use their large talons to strike down Seiya, now covered in a shadowy energy. The strategy worked, as Seiya was knocked off Reaper Grpyhon, but managed to quickly land back on all four of his paws.
"Seiya! Hang in there!" Natsume gasped, showing to be worried for the large fox. While it was clear he was still standing, Seiya seemed to struggle to stand a bit, as there were some visible slashes from Reaper Gryphon's talons on his legs…
Something seemed to click through Seiya's heart among hearing the concern from Natsume and her recent friend Akinori, as if their hearts were starting to bond. It might've been the first time they've met, but he could sense the feelings from the hearts of the two.
A magical aura began to glow around Seiya, radiating with fiery energy. Nine glowing orbs of red-violet energy began to appear around Seiya's tails, the large fox focusing.
"Nine Tailed Fire Soul!" Seiya shouted, the wisps of fire spinning and being flung right at Reaper Gryphon. All nine of the wisps hit Reaper Gryphon, the fiery energy stunning the large beast despite their attempts to blow it off. Then, the balls of flames promptly exploded into a large column of red-violet fire, enveloping the evil beast.
"H-How dare you! How utterly foolish you are to use such...Such power!" Reaper Gryphon screeched one last time, before something dark seeming to disappear back into the shadows. What was left behind was something much less intimidating, and much less large.
"Owie..." The small voice spoke, starting to float back up. Whisper looked relieved to see the yokai in question, as they perfectly matched his description of Junior.
"Goodness, Junior!" Whisper cried joyfully quickly scooping back up the small red orb yokai. "What on earth happened?"
"Jii-tan don't really remember much," Junior spoke up, trying to explain what happened. "Jii-tan just wanted to go to a circus that's in town and then...I don't remember anything..."
"A circus?" Natsume asked curiously. Junior looked a bit puzzled.
"...Who are you?" Junior asked, Whisper pinching his non-existent brow.
"I'll explain as it's quite the eventful one. But this is Natsume and Let's Run," Whisper informed.
"Actually it's Akinori..." Akinori properly introduced himself, Whisper giving a "my apologies" in response.
"Well, Junior, I think if we all come together we can try to help you out," Natsume offered. "I mean, Akinori has magic, Seiya is a powerful fox spirit, Whisper is a pretty competent butler...And I have a weird wrist watch..."
"That sounds like a smart idea, actually," Akinori agreed with. "With humans and yokai, we can try to solve the case of this crazy evil circus! After all you have the Bright Light Elder Mirror!"
"Bright Light Elder Mirror?" Natsume responded, looking at the wrist watch around her hand. "That's a bit of a mouthful..."
"Well, it is a watch..." Whisper began, inspecting the object.
"And it can call upon yokai..." Sieya added in.
"And Jii-tan hears an Elder in there!" Junior finished.
"So, how about we just call it the Yokai Watch Elder?" Akinori suggested, Natsume nodding.
"I agree, that is much less of a mouthful to deal with," Natsume thanked, shaking hands with the other boy, signifying their friendship. Noticing that, Junior jumped out of Whisper's arms.
"Let Jii-tan do the same with Natsume!" Junior happily stated, offering one of his very tiny hands to Natsume's. Upon having his tiny hand touch Natsume's a key like object with Junior on it manifested, and appeared in Natsume's hand.
"Is this a sign of our friendship…?" Natsume wondered, a bit thrown off. Junior nodded, though it was clear even Junior himself didn't really know what it was either.
Though while the day had ended for now with the sun setting, Akinori promised to get Natsume back on the same page tomorrow. There was a lot that needed to be explained, and a lot that needed to be solved as well.
Elsewhere within the shady circus tent, Touma was being looked at by the two shadowy figured from earlier, but making themselves a bit more clearer.
"Just how will this human boy benefit me?" Jibunkageki asked, unamused. It seemed her true appearance was that of a beautiful female opera singer, standing on a golden stage. Though, it seemed under the stage there was something malicious and evil.
"Simple really, his dark heart will make sure humans and yokai alike succumb to all their worst desires," The other yokai, Shiki-Sharu explained. His true appearance was much more staggering, being a monkey dressed in ring leader garb with a bit of an oni flair to it.
Touma was silent, Shiki-Sharu standing by the boy. "Isn't that right?"
There wasn't a response from the boy initially, before a monotone "yes" came from him.
"Good, I'm glad the Kigan Gear managed to find a good host!" Shiki-Sharu loudly cheered, only for a shadowy figure of the Onimaro Commander to return back to the circus tent.
"My apologies, boss," The Onimaro Commander apologized. "But it seems despite a good form with the host yokai you have given me, I was sadly defeated...By a group of humans and yokai, lead by a human girl with the Elder Bright Light Mirror..."
"What!?" Shiki-Sharu stated in horrified shock. "The Elder Bright Light Mirror is out in the human world!?"
"Seems like it..." The Onimaro Commander confirmed, Shiki-Sharu looking at Touma and frantically looking through his coat pockets.
"It appears it's going to be your time on stage next," Shiki-Sharu affirmed for Touma, handing him three black keys. "Use these, cause hysteria and fear among the human population in this town, or else!"
Touma simply nodded, holding the black keys in his hand. "I shall...Boss..."