The young lion's piercing scream sliced through the air like a blade and cut off all conversation. Time slowed to a halt as his brother, the middle-aged poodle, and a small bulldog peeping his head out from behind the poodle all turned to him. Gula's flaming mane simmered with rage and embarrassment, raising the temperature in the room considerably.

"Meramelion!" Gulagulion roared, his lips turned up in a snarl, "what's gotten into you? Is this how you treat your new housemates?!"

Typically, Meramelion would be contrite and ashamed about having reacted in such a disrespectful way. Not this time. He ignored his brother's question and pointed straight at the mangy poodle.

"You...you were talking about him?!" Mera sputtered. The man-mutt hybrid in question raised an eyebrow.

"...I don't believe we've met before," he spoke courteously in his somewhat raspy voice.

"Don't play dumb!" Mera snapped as drops of sweat slid down his furry forehead, "I know that you—"

"It doesn't matter who it is," Gula interjected, "I will not allow you to treat people like this! Go back to your room until you're ready to be civilized."

Mera let loose a low growl before stomping off to his room, shoulders slumped. He had only complied to his brother for one reason and one reason alone—he could still hear what was going on through his door. As soon as he got to his room, Mera slammed the door and then immediately pressed his ear up against it.

"...Typically never acts like this. I'm so sorry, Jinmenken," Mera heard his brother apologize. Jinmenken. That was his name. "Jinmenken the troublemaker," some called him. And a troublemaker he was, otherwise he wouldn't have ended up in police custody nearly ten times.

"Ah, don't sweat it. I'm used to that kind of reaction, anyway," Jinmenken said to Gulagulion with a dry chuckle and added, "This is a big change for the kid. He'll adjust soon enough."

Mera wanted to adjust his face.

More words were exchanged about financial agreements, rearranging the basement, all the formalities. With nothing interesting to listen to, Mera let his rage-filled thoughts drown out the conversation. He still couldn't believe this. A criminal! In his home! As a crusader for justice, he simply would not stand for this. Even forgoing the criminal activity, it's not like Jinmenken was a pleasant person to be around. He was brooding, rude, pessimistic—the complete opposite of everything Mera wanted in a friend. He couldn't live with this. He just couldn't.

Mera spent the next few minutes with his back turned to the door thinking about the various ways in which he was going to call out his new neighbor. A knock on the door disturbed him from his thoughts.

"It's me," Gula's gruff voice spoke on the other side. The frustrated feline sighed and reluctantly stood up to open the door.

"Are you ready to try again?" Gula asked. Mera could hear his foot tapping on the wooden floor.

Mera had two options here. He could pretend to have calmed down and or tell his brother how it really was. Mera didn't know how to lie, so he took the second route.

"He can't stay here," Mera said flatly.

"And why not? He hasn't done anything objectionable."

"But he has!" Mera insisted, "Every Yo-kai that keeps up with current happenings knows that he's been jailed multiple times. He's been in Alcatraz, for crying out loud! Also, I've met him before. He's a wet blanket. I don't like him."

"Well, sometimes we have to deal with things in life that we don't like. I don't like going to work for twelve hours a day, but I do it." Mera rolled his eyes. Gula may as well have dyed his fur white.

"Besides," Gula continued, "he could've changed, you know? I mean, you're still being awfully vague about what exactly he's done, but if he's out of jail now it couldn't have been too bad."

"Do you even know what Alcatraz is?"

Gula rubbed his chin in thought. "It's...that city in Egypt, right?"

Mera slapped his palm against his forehead. "Just...just believe me, okay? He's putting on a facade. You'll see."

"Come on, Mera. You barely know him. Give it a chance."

Mera exhaled slowly. His brother's hide was tougher than Murikabe. He could only fight him for so long.

"Fine," Mera said, admitting defeat. "Where is he now?"

"He's in the basement. Otonabull—the little guy, that is—and him are sorting through and emptying out all the crap we've stored down there. I'm letting him keep whatever he finds unless it's something personal."

Mera mulled over this and quite quickly came up with an idea. His nose twitched as he tried desperately to hide a confident smirk.

"I guess I'll go help out, too. Maybe have a chat," Mera said. His brother's expression softened and he patted his younger sibling on the shoulder.

" 'Atta boy. Just please promise me that you'll be good, okay?"

"Promise!" Mera exclaimed with an affirmative nod. Gula grinned and stepped aside to allow Mera to march out the door towards the staircase.

He wasn't just going to have a chat. He was going to have a talk.

The lions' basement was about the size of your average one-room apartment. An alcove, which led to a currently unfinished room big enough to be a bathroom, was carved into the rightmost side of the area. Said area itself was quite vapid, with a crusty beige carpet and white-colored walls with a peeling paint job. Boxes upon boxes filled with endless amounts of trinkets, clothes, and more were scattered all around the room. The once family of four tended to hoard basically everything that had ever been brought through the house's doors—this was mostly encouraged by Todorokijishi, of course, as he had an almost motherly compulsiveness to record every memory his family made. Even after Useppelion and Todorokijishi left, Mera and Gula didn't have the incentive to sift through it all and let anything they didn't use regularly to rot. If the cursed dog just had to be here, at least he was cleaning out the basement for them.

The dog in question was currently digging through a box filled with old decorations and centerpieces, carefully examining each object before either putting it off to the side or back in the box. His companion, apparently called Otonabull, was pushing another box towards the stairs. Being too young to lift the heavy container, he had his body shoved up against it as he inched along. Mera, watching from the middle of the staircase, grimaced. Todoki was going to have Gula's head when he discovered he had allowed complete strangers to take their "antiques."

Mera watched in silence for a minute or so as he reviewed his plan in his head. He finally gave a determined nod towards nobody in particular and jumped the remainder of the flight of stairs, gracefully landing on the ground by the mouth of the staircase. Both canine Yo-kai turned their heads towards him in surprise when they heard his feet hit the floor.

Otonabull immediately stopped pushing his box and leapt on top of it, puffing his chest out.

"No more yelling at us!" The orange bulldog commanded proudly. Mera instantly took note of the child's strange fashion sense—he wore only a black fedora and a purple, goofily large tie.

"Hey, hey. I'm not going to yell anymore," Mera replied, holding his hands up defensively, "I'm just here to hang out." He tried to avoid making eye contact with Jinmenken who, based on the few furtive glances Mera took at him, was wordlessly staring at the lion Yo-kai.

"Well, I think you should apologize first!" Otonabull pouted. Jinmenken slowly rose from his position slumped over the box and trudged over.

"That's enough, squirt," the man-faced poodle snapped, lifting the puppy up from underneath his arms and placing him on the floor. "You aren't helping by yelling at him."

Otonabull's bent post-it shaped ears drooped as he frowned.

"But—"

"It's alright. I'm sorry about that, honest," Mera interrupted. He really just wanted to cut to the chase.

The bulldog Yo-kai turned to him with his head cocked, humming in thought as though evaluating his statement. He finally gave a short nod and perked up.

"Fine. I'm Otonabull," he said with a tip of the hat. He reached his paw out for a handshake. "Sorry to get so defensive. I thought that you were going to attack us."

Only one of you, Mera responded in his head. He was a little surprised at how quickly the bulldog changed his demeanor, but accepted the handshake anyway. "Meramelion. I know your name already; my brother told me."

Otonabull released the handshake and plodded over to the other side of the room, where he was getting ready to push another box. Again, Jinmenken said nothing—he simply stood with his arms folded across his chest. Mera almost found this a little eerie; it's as though the mutt was anticipating his next move. For just half a second, the two looked into each other's eyes. Mera noticed the most subtle angry squint through the other's glasses, while Jinmenken noticed the flame in Mera's irises glowing brighter than usual.

It was decided. Mera might as well get it over with.

A bright yellow aura surrounded the lion Yo-kai. With a flick of the arm, he sent a similarly colored flame towards Otonabull, who grunted as he struggled to move another box. The bulldog flinched with surprise as the flame enveloped his body, then fizzled out. Otonabull suddenly turned around, his beady black eyes now obscured by simmering flames. He thrust a paw into the air energetically.

"Boxes! Boxes! Move those boxes!" Otonabull shouted, his voice notably higher pitched than before. He thrusted his small body into the box with a determined yell and began shouldering across the carpet, his teeth gritted. The possession had been successful.

When any living being was being possessed by a Yo-kai, they typically lost awareness of their surroundings. Any response to their environment was actually that of their possessor's—they were simply a puppet. So for as long as Mera wanted, Otonabull was out of the picture. He almost felt bad, as the kid just seemed more confused than anything. But actual apologies would have to wait—and Jinmenken knew it, based on the cold stare he was currently giving Mera.

"I was waiting for that," Jinmenken announced flatly, confirming Mera's suspicions. Before the poodle could say anything more, he suddenly felt something slam into him with enough force to make him grunt. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground stomach-up with his biceps held down. Mera, fiery mane billowing, was mounted on top of him.

"You're smarter than you look. Now fess up!" The lion roared, fangs barred.

"'Fess up?' To what?" Jinmenken replied with an acerbic chuckle. "You're just as vitriolic as usual. Simmer down."

"I knew it!" Mera exclaimed, "You do remember me! Liar!"

"Nice to see you, too. Mind telling me what your deal is?"

"Get out of my house," Mera growled, ignoring Jinmenken's inquiry.

"You know, yelling at me again doesn't really resolve anything." Jinmenken rolled his eyes.

"I know everything about you," Mera continued, "and I'm not gonna live with a criminal! A defacer of property! A—"

"Oh, so that's what this is about. Should've guessed."

"Why are you so nonchalant about this? Don't you feel any regret? Or are you too self-absorbed to care?"

"Woah, okay, slow down, kid. I admit I slipped up a few times—okay, maybe more than a few times—but what can I say? I'm not what you would call stable, y'know?" Jinmenken let out a frustrated sigh. "And anyway, what's this got to do with the current day?"

"Because I, Meramelion, despise lawbreakers! And that's what you are! Nothing but a no-good nobody!"

"Can't argue with the 'nobody' part," Jinmenken grumbled under his breath.

"Also," Mera added, "you're old and gross and I don't like looking at you."

"Wow. I'm simply flattered."

The two locked eyes once again. Mera lowered his head to be closer to Jinmenken's, scrutinizing him with the most menacing glare he could manage. The poodle, slightly intimidated but not willing to admit it, lifted his head until their noses were nearly touching and growled. Mera responded with a hiss of his own, and soon they were simultaneously making guttural noises at each other, face muscles tightened, their gnarling crescendoing as the seconds passed. They both finally wore out their throats and relaxed, panting heavily. Jinmenken let his head back down and Mera loosened his grip on his arms, going from being in a mount to simply sitting on top of the dog's chest.

"Look," Jinmenken sighed after a period of silence, "I still don't understand why you're making so many assumptions even though we barely know each other. Things are different now, alright? I'm done trying to make a splash in the human world. I'm just trying to survive here, and now generous-to-a-fault old me has to take care of a kid as well. So have some sympathy, yeah? I have nothing to gain by being an ass anymore."

Mera stuck out his lower lip. "And how do I know you aren't gonna pull something anyway?"

"Such as...?"

Mera shrugged. "I don't know. Taking advantage of us. Peeing on the carpet."

"Look, I may be desperate, but I'm an honorable man. I'll pay your brother in full and be perfectly well behaved. Honest." He guiltily scratched behind his ears and added, "I can't promise anything about not peeing on the carpet, though. My bladder's a fragile thing."

Mera huffed at this, but didn't make a remark.

"Let's make a deal," Jinmenken stated. "You leave me alone to my sad self and I won't cause any trouble. I'll be a good dog, you be a reasonable person, and everyone's happy."

Mera didn't believe a word of it, but frankly, perhaps this was a good thing. All it meant was that one major slip-up would ensure Jinmenken's eviction—or at least, that was the best case scenario. The feline nodded curtly.

"Fine. But let's make one thing clear." He jabbed a finger into Jinmenken's cheek. "The first person to screw up is gonna pay big time. And it won't be me."

"Whatever you say. Now, can you get off me and stop possessing 'Tona? I don't think he's aware of what he's doing."

Mera swiveled his head around and noticed said bulldog was furiously pushing one of the last boxes of rejected items, only it wasn't actually going anywhere. His brain must have been in another realm, as he was apparently putting all of his energy into moving the box through the wall that was adjacent to the staircase. Mera giggled at the display and then did as Jinmenken asked, releasing the bulldog with a snap of his fingers. He and Jinmenken quickly stood up to make it seem as though nothing had happened.

Otonabull blinked a couple of times as the fire in his eyes died down. Nonplussed and strangely sore, he looked around him frantically. His expression of confusion turned into one of triumph as he noticed all of the boxes neatly lined up near the staircase ready to be carried upstairs.

"Oh, wow! Jinmenken-san, we got so much work done!"

"Right. Of course," Jinmenken replied with the faintest hint of a chuckle.

Mera spent the next hour "helping" Jinmenken and Otonabull with the rest of their work—or at least being as cooperative as possible so as not to raise his brother's suspicions. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful—Mera spent the day wandering around town by himself and working out; Jinmenken and Gula ordered furniture and hired some Yo-kai to redo the walls and carpet and finish the incomplete alcove. The dog and cat did a fairly decent job at hiding their little secret—so good a job, in fact, that Jinmenken had almost forgotten about the whole thing in the first place. Every so often, though, a pair of eyes that burned into his own as they glared reminded him that it was only an act.

The game was on.

A few days of tranquility passed by. As Jinmenken gradually made himself at home, Mera did his best to go about his daily routine as usual. Despite the fact that the smell of dog wouldn't leave his nostrils and a couple of clumps of matted brown fur had ended up on the kitchen floor, he wasn't having that hard of a time living.

At one point, Gula had even pulled his brother over and said "I told you things would be alright, didn't I?" to which Mera replied with a one-shouldered shrug. The truth was that Gula was right—Mera just didn't want to admit it, lest he spoke too soon. It turns out that his hunch was correct—perhaps Jinmenken had gotten just a bit too comfortable. Five days after the pair of canines had moved in, the first shot was fired.

When Mera wasn't alone, nine times out of ten his companions were the Atti Soul Brothers. Named, of course, for their affinity for heat, the bond between the Atti Soul Brothers couldn't be put out by the most powerful of fire hoses. On this particular day, the venue for their hangout was Mera's home. The four of them sat around the rectangular kitchen table.

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" Mera and two others, a large but gentle oni and a red terrier wearing a cloak, cheered as their quirky pig friend downed a gallon of freshly-brewed soup mixed with chunks of ghost chili pepper and hot sauce. They were partaking in one of their favorite games, which they dubbed "Can You Take the Heat?". Essentially, each member of the group would concoct and drink something so unimaginably hot that any human would pass out from ingesting it. There wasn't really a winner, but there sure were losers—if one couldn't handle the scorching temperature, they'd be the laughingstock of the day. Although it was just friendly teasing, none of the Soul Brothers would dare take a blow to his pride.

When the pig, named Nobosetonman, finished his beverage, he slammed the plastic jug onto the table with triumph and pumped his fist in the air.

"Whew! Now that's the stuff!" Nobosetonman exclaimed as his friends applauded.

"Way to go, dude!" Mera congratulated. His other friend, the perpetually perspiring oni Asekakki, whistled.

"Three of us have gone and nobody has choked yet. Maybe this is a four-for-four day!" said Asekkaki.

"Could be. You ain't gonna mess up, right, Garu?" Nobosetonman jeered, sticking his tongue out at the wand-toting canine known as Atsugaruru. Atsugaruru humphed as he pulled his own jug out from under his cloak.

"You've saved the best for last, my friends. Widower curry blended with vindaloo pork." The group collectively oohed and aahed at the impossibly spicy combo.

"Wait a sec," Nobosetonman said, "didn't you bring something like that last week and choke?"

"I did indeed," Garu admitted, "but at least I didn't literally choke like that one time you blended the bones of the buffalo wings into your drink."

"Ooooh! Sick burn!" Mera whooped, high-fiving Garu. "Pun totally intended."

Nobosetonman's pink face turned bright red. He was about to rebut when Asekakki opened his mouth first.

"Alright, enough chit chat! I'm on the edge of my seat here!" Garu and Mera both nodded in agreement. Nobosetonman grumbled something under his breath, but said nothing more. With that, Garu slowly raised the jug to his mouth, a competitive smirk across his muzzle. The suspense caused beads of sweat to roll down the others' foreheads—or in Asekakki's case, he just sweated harder. Atsugaruru took a deep breath, and...

The terrier instantly took a large gulp, and another, and another, until his friends could notice his muzzle was starting to blend into the color of his fur. After the fourth swig Garu suddenly dropped the jug. His beverage spilled and slowly spread across the table as he clutched his throat with both paws.

"Waterwaterwater!" Garu cried as his friends groaned disappointedly.

"Well, he did better than last time..." Mera sighed. Garu yanked open the nearby fridge and frantically grabbed the nearest drink he could find. That's when Asekakki noticed something strange about what Atsugaruru had taken.

"Hey, wait a minute. That doesn't look like something you've ever had in your fridge before, Mera." Asekakki stated. Mera titled his head in confusion at first, but then he squinted at the bottle. His heart skipped a beat and his pupils contracted as he noticed what was going on.

"Garu, wait!" Mera yelped, but it was too late—Garu already had the mouth of the bottle shoved in his mouth like a pacifier and was furiously gulping the liquid. After downing the bottle, he put it back down on the table with a defeated sigh.

"Drat. Guess I'll have to try again ne—" Garu paused when he looked up and noticed his friends eying him, shifting their eyes to the bottle, and then back to him, their jaws agape.

"What?" Garu questioned. He took a look at the bottle himself and gasped. It appeared to be some sort of beer—a rather strong one, judging by the alcohol content of 7%.

Nobody knew exactly why—some Yo-kai just had particularly odd hypersensitivities, it seemed—but Garu was extremely, extremely alcohol intolerant.

"Ooogh...excuse me," Garu said, hurriedly placing the bottle down as though it were a hot potato and making a mad dash to the bathroom. His three friends stood in awkward silence as the sound of the poor Yo-kai violently losing his lunch echoed through the house.

"Great," Nobosetonman muttered, "guess he's outta commission for the next couple of hours."

Asekakki frowned and turned to Mera. "I thought you guys didn't drink."

"We don't!" Mera replied. Suddenly, a realization smacked him in the face. He turned towards the still-ajar refrigerator

"We don't, but...I think..." Mera trailed off as he peered inside. The shelf where Mera and Gula normally kept milk, bottled water, or energy drinks was instead lined with at least a dozen bottles of the alcoholic beverage. Teeth clenched, he suddenly slammed the fridge door shut, making his companions jump. Nobosetonman and Asekakki both winced when Mera turned towards them and they noticed their normally cheerful friend's crossed eyebrows and twitching eyelid.

"Oh, I'm gonna...!" Mera growled, then sprinted out of the room. Asekakki and Nobosetonman exchanged baffled glances.

"Shouldn't we follow him?" Asekakki asked after a few wordless seconds.

"Nah," Nobosetonman replied with a sigh, "this sounds like something he wants t' handle on his own."

"Do you think it has to do with...?" Asekakki asked. Mera's friends had been told about the surprise newcomer the day after he had arrived. Nobosetonman huffed.

"I'm sure of it."

Downstairs, Jinmenken was enjoying an afternoon nap on a cushion and Otonabull was typing away on a small laptop when the sound of the door being flung against the wall brought them both out of their relaxed state. Before they could so much as blink, a fuming lion was on the ground at eye level with Jinmenken, who was already dripping with sweat from the heat emitted from the blazing Yo-Kai's mane.

"Can I help ya?" the human-faced dog mumbled groggily, then began to open his mouth for a big yawn.

"Busted," Meramelion snarled, the unexpected toxicity dripping from his words stealing the yawn out of Jimenken's lungs. The toy poodle coughed awkwardly, trying to hide the fact that he was quite flustered.

"Say what now?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Strike one, you're outta here." Mera said, hitchhiking behind him.

"Again with the assumptions? And isn't it three strikes?"

"Don't be clever," Mera snapped. "My house, my rules."

"Technically, it's your br—" an oddly feral hiss from Mera made him trail off mid-sentence. Otonabull, eyes wide, slowly scooted backwards and away from the pair but did not peel his eyes off of Mera.

"Okay then, Goliath," Jinmenken said nervously, putting his paws up in surrender, "I give. Chew me out for whatever it is I did."

Wordlessly, Mera reached his hand over and swiped an object off of the floor that Jinmenken hadn't even remembered was there. It was an empty bottle identical to the ones in the fridge.

"And who gave you permission to bring this into the house?" Mera asked, his tone significantly lower yet deliberate and confident.

Jinmenken rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, that? 'S just one drink before naptime, helps me snooze, y'know?"

"Is that so?" Mera questioned. Jinmenken nodded his head furiously while anxiously fidgeting his paws.

"Explain to me, then..." Mera spoke softly as he leaned in closer to Jinmenken's face, causing the canine to draw his head back slightly. Mera inhaled intensely.

"WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE FRIDGE IF IT WAS JUST ONE FREAKIN' DRINK, HUH?!" Mera shouted at the top of his lungs, spittle flying onto Jinmenken's glasses. The poodle shrieked and scrambled off of the cushion, shrinking behind Otonabull, who snapped the laptop shut with one paw as his other one flew to his mouth.

"Okay, okay!" Jinmenken clamored, "you win! I kinda-sorta-maybe borrowed your fridge until my mini-fridge gets here! Happy now?"

"Happy, no. Satisfied with your admittance, yes." Mera now sat pretzel-style with his arms folded victoriously.

"For your information," the lion continued, "it's public indecency to store alcohol out in the open when you're living with others, especially when there are children around. Or people that instantly fall ill when they drink it. Or both. And clearly, being the loser that you are, nobody told you this. Or you just don't care."

"...So somebody drank my stuff?" Jinmenken uttered, ignoring Mera's many shots. Otonabull groaned and slapped a paw to his forehead.

"Precisely. And that somebody is now suffering thanks to your ignorance." Mera stood up and brushed off his tank top, then pointed towards the door. "So you can leave now."

"Wait, wait, come on. You're seriously trying to kick me out over one incident?" Jinmenken questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, dude. One is more than zero."

Jinmenken rolled his eyes and arose from behind Otonabull, who at the moment bore a rather confounded look.

"Listen, listen. So I took some liberties that perhaps I shouldn't have. Give me the benefit of the doubt, will ya? Didn't mean any harm."

"Is that what you said to the police when you hijacked someone's pottery studio?"

Jinmenken's face flushed red. "Yes! I mean, no! I mean...forget about that!" Mera chortled for a brief moment at how quickly his adversary's composure had changed, but quickly dissipated the laughter with a cough and resumed staring the dog down.

"So give me one good reason to give you another chance."

"Uh, well..." Jinmenken's eyes darted around frantically as his mind raced with possible responses. His eyes finally settled on Otonabull.

"...If you kick me out, you'll be leaving this little guy homeless, too! And I know you don't want that." Jinmenken rested a paw on Otonabull's head.

The bulldog puffed out his cheeks. "I'm old enough to live with that," he pouted, but the faint blush across his muzzle deceived him.

Mera hummed in thought. "I guess so, but...I could just have him stay here and make you leave. You're a pretty bad influence an—"

"No!" Otonabull interrupted and jumped up, the closed laptop sliding to the floor. Realizing that both Mera and Jinmenken were staring with startled looks, he quickly coughed and folded his arms in a confident stance.

"Um, I mean...we can't afford to be separated. I keep Jinmenken-san in check."

"You do not!" Jinmenken corrected.

"Anyway..." Mera spoke, turning the attention back to him, "I can't say I'm entirely convinced, so..."

"Come on, please!" Jinmenken wailed, suddenly on his knees, his pupils wide and sparkling with desperation. "I'll be careful this time, really! Just one more chance is all I ask for!"

Mera squinted. "...Puppy eyes? Really, man?"

Jinmenken abruptly dropped the look and shrugged. "Can't say I didn't try."

Mera groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. While he was definitely afraid Jinmenken's presence would get somebody else hurt, he did have to admit that perhaps it wasn't quite right to send him off after just a few days. No matter how much he threatened the poodle, Gula had the final say no matter what anyway—and he'd take a lot more convincing. For now, it seemed Mera would just have to play the waiting game again.

"Fine," Mera granted, causing the middle-aged canine's face to light up, "I'll give you one more shot. No more playing around, though. Don't mess up."

"You have my word!" Jinmenken promised, leaping up to give a salute and a terse nod.

"For all of our sakes, I hope I do." Mera turned around towards the stairs. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get back to being around people I actually want to be around. No offense, Otonabull."

"None taken," the puppy said, plopping back down to resume teaching himself how to interpret stocks. Jinmenken also flopped on top of his cushion.

"Fine with me," he said, his voice muffled due to his face being buried into the cushion. "I'll go back to being exhausted by my own mental instability or something."

And so another encounter had ended on a cautiously optimistic note. Upon returning to his friends, Mera discovered that little explanation about where he was was needed.

"Trust me, I know," Nobosetonman had claimed. "I had to go to Bukimi tribe meetings with the guy. Annoyin' as all hell, man."

Garu recovered from a massive headache after a nap, and normalcy was restored for the time being.

As Mera had assumed, the beer story barely made Gula any more wary about Jinmenken—he considered it an , right. "Accident," Mera had thought, I guess that means that illegal plane boarding was an "accident," too. Even pulling up a news article the other day about Jinmenken's criminal history hadn't deterred Gula from being overly generous, and while Mera admired his brother's massive heart, he wished just this once that it was just a little smaller.

Mera quite frequently confronted Gula about their housemate over the next couple of weeks, especially as the dog's muddy footprints began appearing on the floor and drunken wailing started ringing throughout the house at two in the morning each night, but to no avail. Mera was quite frankly getting very fed up with both Jinmenken's dishonesty and his brother's noncompliance and couldn't help but wonder when this battle would come to a close.

And sure enough, the final straw was bent on a cloudy day in front of the local Yoroz Mart.

Like most other days, Mera was returning home in the late afternoon from his intensive workout, which consisted of an hour of martial arts practice, two hours of strength training, and three full laps around the Sakura residential area. When he waltzed into his home with a towel around his shoulders, Gula was sitting at the dining room table while quite intensely scribbling things down into a checkbook and punching numbers into a calculator. Strangely enough, Otonabull sat beside him, his beady eyes following every move the crimson lion took.

"A checkbook? Man, I didn't know we had a time machine," Mera jested as he approached his brother. Gula shook his head.

"I know, right? Those dang Yo-kai World officials and their archaic requirements," he mumbled, Otonabull nodding in agreement but not peeling his eyes from the checkbook.

"So," Mera asked, propping his elbows up on the back end of a chair adjacent to his older brother, "whatcha doin'?"

"Taxes," Gula groaned, "twice a month, they want it. Crap's crazy! Even the humans don't have to cough it up that often!"

Mera hummed in acknowledgement despite not having much of an understanding of the concept besides the fact that it drove adults crazy. "Sounds intense."

"Sure is." Gula noticed Mera's glance was shifted toward Otonabull and immediately knew what his brother was going to ask, so he answered in advance.

"Jinmenken isn't home. He was gonna go with him, but then he noticed me doing this stuff and decided it was more interesting, I guess."

"So where'd Jinmenken go?" Mera inquired, though his interest was mostly faked—he was secretly quite relieved that he could forget about him for at least a short while.

"Out getting some hard stuff, probably," Otonabull suddenly piped up. Gula gave him an appalled look, surprised such a young child even knew that term. "That's what he calls it," Otonabull said in response to Gula's face.

Mera's ears and cheeks instantly droooped at the mention of what he was pretty sure was the cursed beverage that was likely the main contributor to Jinmenken's unpleasantness. He had attempted various times to get him to stop bringing more of it into the house, but ever since his own fridge had been delivered, it was almost as though the basement was becoming a wine cellar.

"Anyway," Gula said, interrupting Mera's fantasies of commissioning a dartboard with Jinmenken's face on it, "I'm glad you're home. I need a favor."

"Hm? Sure, anything," Mera replied, perking up a bit. He did take pride in performing even the most monotonous of tasks if it was for his older brother, after all.

"I forgot to pick up some milk at Yoroz Mart on the way home from work, but as you can see, I'm sort of rushing to get these done on time, so...could you stop over there real quick?"

"Gotcha!" Mera affirmed, backflipping off the chair and landing in a fighting stance, "Fresh milk, coming up."

"Was that really necessary?" Gula asked with a chuckle.

Mera beamed. "Always." He turned toward the door with a two fingered salute.

"One more thing," Gula called, causing Mera to swivel his head around.

"Just in the off chance you see Jinmenken, maybe ask him if he can come back? He's been gone for a while and I need to discuss how much extra he's paying me back for buying him furniture."

"...Sure...sure, I guess," Mera huffed before making sure he had some

money in his pockets and taking his leave. He sincerely wished the old dog would never come home.

"That last part changed his mood sort of quickly," Otonabull pointed out somewhat wistfully once the door had closed behind Mera.

Gula sighed and shook his head. "That dog's driving him doggone batty, alright."

Sakura New Town always seemed to be quite a jubilant city. Its residents cheerfully chattered away as they strolled down the streets. Like the cherry blossom trees it was named for, Sakura's downtown area especially was bright and full of life, the proverbial sun shining down on it even on a day such as this one when not a single ray of light pierced the clouds. Meramelion's mind, however, much like the weather, was overcast with anxiety—a rare occurrence for the flaming bundle of joy.

Deep inside, Mera knew his brother well enough to infer that "in the off chance you see Jinmenken" actually meant "please look around for Jinmenken", and this was not necessarily something he was thrilled about. It would be much easier to pretend he had been sent to the dog pound, Mera mused as he headed towards Yoroz Mart, but he knew he would condemn himself if he were to lie to his brother and Otonabull. So the blazing Yo-kai pressed onwards, convincing himself that his search would be brief and easy.

It was almost too easy, as Meramelion would discover as he pushed open the double doors to Yoroz Mart.

Mera's initial plan was simple enough—find the milk, pay the resident Ungaikyo that served as the middle man between Yo-kai and the human cashier (the Yo-kai's money would "magically" end up in the cash register, much to the cashier's surprise when they totaled up the day's profits at the end of their shift), and begin his dreaded search. Mera's jaw dropped when he encountered the toy poodle hunched over the counter, two paws firmly planted on the marble surface as he peered at the cashier with a vein popping out of his forehead.

"The hell do you mean, you don't sell any?!" Jinmenken yelled. The young cashier shrank back and dabbed some sweat off of his brow with his hat.

"I'm s-sorry, sir," he replied shakily, "we have never and will never carry alcohol. I'm not sure what else I can do for you."

"Bullshit!" Jinmenken slammed his fist on the counter, causing the cashier to jump. "You mean to tell me there ain't a single damn place 'round these parts that'll give me my fix when the street vendor is closed?"

"I don't know, man! I mean...maybe if you check the residential area..."

"All the way uptown? You've gotta be kidding me! Do you even know what it's like to be in withdrawl?! I feel like I'm dying! I'm already dead and I feel like I'm dying! I'm..."

Jinmenken continued to prattle on. The people behind him waiting to check out their items were getting visibly antsy—some were mumbling to themselves, others looked like they wanted to strangle the dog. Meramelion desperately wanted to intervene—do something, anything—but his feet were rooted to the floor. He could only balk at the scene before him, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment even though none of the humans could see him.

After a painful eternity, Jinmenken finally threw his hands up and stormed towards the front door, exclaiming "This city sucks!". Mera was in such shock that he barely registered the human-faced dog shoving past him. The resounding thud of the doors forcefully swinging shut jolted the tangerine feline into action. Forgetting why he was in Yoroz Mart in the first place, he darted after the furious poodle. As soon as he caught up to him, he yanked him by the arm and held tight.

"Let go of me!" Jinmenken yelped, struggling against the lion's iron grip.

"Not until you get back in there and apologize for humiliating yourself!"

"I'll bite your hand off, if that's what you want!" Jinmenken threatened, still thrashing about. A small handful of bystanders had gathered around in the Yoroz parking lot, quite bewildered at the sight of a middle aged man-dog arguing with...seemingly nothing.

"Try me!" Mera rebutted, squeezing the dog's chocolate colored arm so tightly that being crushed by a hydraulic press would probably hurt less. Jinmenken was not deterred—fueled by alcohol withdrawl-driven rage, he reached over with his free appendage and gripped the arm that Mera was holding him with, pulling it towards him and exposing his fangs. Just as Jinmenken was about to sink his teeth into Mera, the lion Yo-kai wound back his other arm and punched him square in the nose. The toy poodle doubled back and clamped a paw over his nose with a howl of pain. At this point a whole crowd had gathered around the two—or one, as far as they knew—and the parking lot was abuzz with murmurs and gasps.

Mera slowly stepped towards Jinmenken, whose lungs were inflating and deflating like a balloon, a snarl bubbling within each deliberate breath he drew.

"Forget what I said," Mera ordered, "Gula needs to see you. Now." Mera's mane wavered unsteadily as he continued his approach; he felt as though he was within distance of a wild animal. Jinmenken shook his head rapidly, his floppy ears smacking his cheeks with each shake.

"No...please...just let me...get my drinks!" Suddenly, Jinmenken took off like a rocket towards the road. What he hadn't realized was that a pedestrian, seemingly a very young girl, was right behind him next to what appeared to be an older brother. Jinmenken collided with the child with such force that she was sent flying. Within a second, she was sprawled out near the edge of the road. The sound of an engine could be heard getting louder by the millisecond. Mera's heart skipped a beat.

A car came rolling down the street.

With what could only been described as superhuman reflexes powered by pure adrenaline, the toddler's teenage brother grabbed her legs and pulled her back onto the parking lot just as the car came speeding by. The girl broke down as he held her sobbing figure against his chest.

For a full minute, all eyes in the world were on Jinmenken. The looks brought his maddened rampage to a halt, as all he could do was stand there like a statue in utter disbelief at what he had almost caused.

"S-sorry..." the words were formed by his lips but not projected by his voice, which was caught in his throat. The crowd gradually began to disperse, collectively deciding that what had just went down was an accident and calling for authorities would accomplish nothing. Jinmenken barely noticed the toddler's older brother flipping him off as he took her by the hand and walked away.

Meramelion wrapped his hand around the stunned dog's arm and jerked it forcefully, then began to wordlessly drag him across the road towards the direction of their home. Jinmenken didn't protest.

Gula was quite worried when Mera trudged through the door with eyes towards the ground and Jinmenken trailing behind him. He didn't even have time to get a word in before Jinmenken was finally released from Mera's grasp; he then took a befuddled Otonabull by the paw and the two did not emerge from the basement for the rest of the night. Mera looked into his brother's wide eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Mera almost instantly retreated to his room to cool down. As it turns out, he didn't need to explain a thing to Gula—some Yo-kai friends from Gula's workplace happened to be lurking around nearby during the incident and witnessed it all, causing word to spread like wildfire. The humans weren't keeping quiet, either—as Mera would find out from Atsugaruru the next day, a description of the bizarre spectacle was broadcasted on the local news channel. Gula was too flustered to do much of anything besides buy some alcohol and make sure Jinmenken didn't leave the basement under any circumstances.

"We have to do something," Mera said to Atsugaruru for the umpteenth time as they sat side by side in his bedroom. It had been a little over a day after the scene and the lion still hadn't quite been himself, partly due to the craziness of it all and partly due to the fact that he strangely felt somewhat responsible.

Garu sighed in frustration, his head in his paws. "But the police officers are so tired of seeing his mug that they hung up on me at the mere mention of a human faced dog, and Gula clearly doesn't want to handle this..."

"There's nothing he can do. We can't just kick him out like I wanted and let him wander around on his own or he'll cause something else. He's a maniac." Mera hugged his knees to his chest.

Garu put a paw to his chin. "The only way to deal with this sort of thing is professional intervention, but he won't come out of the basement—heck, I don't think Gula wants him out, either."

Ever since the incident, Gula had been much less friendly with Jinmenken, instead falling into a state of lamentation as he silently accepted that his younger brother was quite right about the housing being a bad move. He had only ever interacted with him to supply him with drinks and sustenance when needed, lest he fall into withdrawl again. Even Otonabull was repelled from his elder, spending more time upstairs with Gula than ever before. Whenever Mera tried to discuss possible options with Gula, he would shoo him away. This put Mera at great unease—his brother was always open with him.

"If only we could, I dunno..." Garu continued, "...snap him out of this state, maybe motivate him to do something about his life." All of a sudden, Mera's head perked up.

It was like a switch went off in his mind. Motivate. Motivate. He turned towards Atsugaruru, who was caught off guard by the presence of a light in his best friend's eyes that had been gone for days.

"I can do that," Mera exclaimed with a confident grin. Noticing Garu's look of confusion, Mera suddenly jumped up and puffed out his chest.

"Like, duh! What are we sitting around here moping for? I'm the motivator! I'll whip that mutt into shape faster than Captain Bully can turn you into a bodybuilder!" He began throwing punches in the air, his mane aglow with confidence. "I'll do it if it kills me! I'll do it if it kills him! Actually, I wouldn't mind if it kills him."

Garu beamed as Mera began pacing around the room going on and on with random words of self-encouragement. His Mera was back.

"So do you have a plan?" Garu inquired, causing Mera to stop in his tracks.

"...No." Mera replied flatly. He then dashed over to Garu and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"But me and you, we'll come up with a great one! I know it!" He jumped up and down excitedly while still holding Garu's shoulders. The terrier couldn't help but laugh, joy swelling up in his heart. Mera always knew how to turn the situation around.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, Gula had his ear up against the door and was grinning widely. If he could trust anyone with a crazy, incredibly stubborn old guy living in his basement, it was his brother.

And with this mission marked the end of the battle and the beginning of what would become a war.

English names for this chapter:

Yoroz Mart = Everymart

Jinmenken = Manjimutt

Nobosetonman = Sproink

Asekakki = Swelton

Atsugaruru = Swelterrier

Murikabe = Noway

Ungaikyo = Mirapo

Otonabull does not have an English name yet.

Also, these first two chapters were pre-written. The story is to get convoluted from here on out, so please bear with me if the writing process is a bit slow! Thank you.