(Start of Story/Author Notes)
Well, it's the New Year 2021! Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas or Winter Holiday!
This is the chapter everybody has been waiting for, the one where Victor meets Emiko's Family in Japan and lays down the law on those who need a reality check.
Anyway, let's begin the story!
Chapter 12: Family Reunion Part 1
It's been a month since Erma's Birthday and the discovery of the gift sent by her Grandfather Osamu.
So far, nothing unusual has happened and it looked like things had calmed down since then which made Emiko wary while Victor stayed vigilant and focused on his Insight to detect anything that even looked like Supernatural Activity.
*KNOCK KNOCK!*
There was a knock at the door which made Victor suspicious considering today was Sunday and there usually wasn't mail on Sundays.
When he went to the door and opened it, standing outside was some Bird Monster wearing a Post Office Uniform and carrying a bag full of mail.
He thought the Bird Monster looked pretty damn goofy, but the Good Hunter figured the overgrown parakeet was here for a reason.
So he called for Emiko.
"Hey Emiko, there's some bird monster postal worker at the door! I think it could be for you!"
When Emiko got to the door and saw the bird monster postal worker who told her that he had a message for her from the Yokai District in Japan, she tried to tell him that he probably had the wrong address.
However, he quickly gave it to her.
"The Monster World P-P-Postal Service Thanks You For Using Us, M-Ma'am! MMRF!" Said the monster postal worker who looked at Victor and shuddered, a clear unease in his bulging eyes before he flew off to deliver more mail.
But not before swooping down again and taking the neighbor's yappy little Chihuahua-Poodle mix away with it as a snack.
That's what you get for having an annoying little ankle biter Karen.
Emiko opened the message and quickly read it, having an unsure and nervous look on her face.
Victor didn't read the message himself, but he could tell that it was something bad.
"Hey you two. What's going on? Didn't know that we got mail on Sundays as well." Said Sam in a joking manner as he and Erma along with Siris and Church came out the door to see what's going on.
Emiko quickly gave him the message and as he read through it, he looked confused and unsure.
It was obvious what the message was and there was gonna be a long talk about it as well.
Erma meanwhile, tilted her head curiously as she wondered why her parents and pseudo-uncle/best friend were standing outside overlooking some mail they got.
She hoped it wasn't anything too serious.
Church and Siris on the other hand enjoyed the remaining warm weather that still lingered.
Later that Night
Sam and Emiko were in their bedroom speaking about the message they got today along with Victor who leaned near the door arms crossed and watched the two silently.
It had him on edge as well, wondering why they got the letter in the first place and what the old Tengu wanted with them as well.
"I don't trust it. I don't trust it at all." Said Emiko in a hushed tone as she paced back and forth while Sam tried to calm her down. "But the letter is from your sister right? Isn't she the one out of all of them that you trust the most?" He asked calmly.
"He could have easily manipulated it. He's done it before." Emiko said back before adding in. "Then again…. The writing does have her snarkiness. Not even HE can copy that."
As the couple continued talking, Victor sensed that Erma was at the door silently peeking in with Siris and Church. He looked at her and winked, silently telling her not to make any noise.
Eventually, Sam's persuasion managed to wear down Emiko as she gave out a heavy sigh. "Alright then, while I'm not fully on board with this…. plan. But you're right. We might as well just get this over with. We'll go." She said with a smile before looking over Victor with a teasing smirk. "And besides, we got Victor. I'm pretty sure nobody at the village will give us a hard time while he's there with us."
That made her and Sam chuckle while Victor rolled his eyes at that, but still smirked.
"Oh joy, me playing bodyguard in a village full of human hating Yokai. Bet I'll have some fun in reminding them of the pecking order and where they stand in it." The Good Hunter said in a sarcastic manner which earned more laughs from Emiko and Sam.
After the fun subsided they decided to tell Erma since they figured she would still be up. This made the spying half-ghost girl panic and she quickly went to her room.
"Hey honey." Said Emiko as she opened Erma's bedroom door to see her daughter playing with her WUPER toys with a surprised look on her face. "We need to talk."
Erma looked worried, but Emiko assured her that it was nothing to worry too much about. "So Erma." She said slowly, trying the best way to explain the situation to her daughter who looked at her curiously. "We're going to meet some family next week…. But it won't be Granny Pamela or Uncle Mikey this time."
"Instead we'll be visiting…." There was a pause in Emiko's voice as she hesitated until she decided to say it anyway.
"*sigh*, Your Grampa Osamu in Japan." She answered truthfully, waiting for a response from her daughter.
When Erma heard that, her eyes shined and sparkled as she let out a soft *oooh* which surprised Emiko for a bit.
Victor just rolled his eyes and smirked at Erma's response. "I think you gotta tell the little oreo the full story Emiko." He said with Sam agreeing.
And so, Emiko told Erma that since they come from the Yokai line of Spirits and Demons, during this time of the year. Yokai come together for one night to parade around Japan with said parade including singing, dancing and a whole lot of laughter and general craziness.
Erma was amazed and clapped her hands, already liking the idea of going to a parade full of those similar to her and her mother.
"A-Anyways…." Said Emiko nervously as she continued on. "We're going to be first picked up by your Auntie Yori…. Who will then take us there to meet up with everyone else."
She then leaned forward and gave Erma a warning. "However, when we go there. I want you to stay close to me, your father and especially Victor okay? Always stay close, no matter what."
"Not all Yokai are friendly, so we want to make sure that you don't get lost in the parade. There's no telling who might show up at the parade and hopefully with Victor around, there won't be those looking to cause trouble for us." Emiko said hopefully.
"Your mom's right about the unfriendly Yokai Erma." Said Victor piping in before continuing. "A lot of Yokai aren't fond of humans for various reasons and Hanyous like you are barely tolerated to begin with. Not to mention some of them are known to eat humans including young children, but hopefully with me around they'll be too scared off by my face to consider giving you a hard time." He said in a joking manner which earned a giggle from the young half-ghost girl who was beginning to look nervous at the thought of those similar to her that ate children.
Soon it was time for the Williams Household to go to bed and prepare next week for a family reunion in Japan that by all means was supernatural.
Hopefully, events wouldn't become too chaotic and they would be able to come back home without any problems of sorts.
Next Week
The Williams Family and Victor got up early to pack up and place their bags in Emiko's Purse of Holding which could hold an unlimited amount of items as long as they weren't the size of the Empire State Building.
They drove to the Airport and took a Japan Airlines Plane. While tickets would be expensive, Sam ordered them earlier so the cost was cheaper
If they were going to a Family Reunion in Japan that felt like a trap in Emiko's opinion, it was better to travel in style.
Plus the food was good and along with the entertainment. It also kept Emiko relaxed and stopped her being so nervous, not that she would admit it to anyone.
As they enjoyed their long flight to Japan, the Williams Family and one Good Hunter wondered how Felicia was doing in watching Siris and Church since they did call her at the last minute.
(Meanwhile back in Blairwood, Felicia was having trouble in walking Siris since the Undead Bullhuahua didn't seem interested in cooperating with the young ebony skinned teenager. However, he soon heard the ding ding sound of a bicycle and went after it, dragging a screaming Felicia around since she was holding the leash. Church was outside as well and saw the commotion before him to be quite amusing and thought about helping the panicked teen to get his Undead Dog brother under control. Alas, he soon heard the caws of the remaining crows in Blairwood and went after them, making loud yowls that suspiciously sounded like BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!)
They figured that she was doing just fine with the Undead Pets and promised to pay her overtime.
Besides, how much trouble could an Undead Dog and Cat get into anyway?
Japan Airlines, Tokyo Haneda Airport, Ota District, Tokyo, Japan
The flight was long, but they managed to make it without any incidents of sorts.
As the family walked around the inside of the airport and wondered where Yori was since she was supposed to meet up with them at some point, Victor could hear the whispers and hushed tones of those around them along with the side glances aimed at them as well.
"Hey, you see that family? Such an odd bunch."
"Don't be rude dear! It's bad to stare at people even if they are a bit odd."
"Woah! Check out the gaijin in the Victorian English Wear. Looks like something out of Bloodborne huh?"
"Tai relax man. The guy is probably one of those serious cosplayers, nothing too amazing about them. Although I have this weird feeling about him. Almost like he isn't human."
Most comments were harmless and about him. However, a gaggle of bubbly and airheaded school girls nearby said some stuff about him that wasn't exactly….tame.
"Like OMG! That man over there, the one in the dark looking garb! He is so hot looking! I bet he's a beast in the sheets!"
"Seriously Hanako? You're such a slut, you would sleep with any foreigner that wore dark clothing. Besides I doubt you could handle him since you're such an airhead!"
"Shut up Mistune! You're just jealous that I have a better body than you! Why I bet I could have all kinds of fun with him and not get tired at all!"
"Now now you two, Suzuki thinks the both of you need to get along. Why, Suzuki thinks the both of you could have intense sex with that man and not feel exhausted at all."
The schoolgirls giggled and laughed at their raunchy jokes towards the Good Hunter with some of them taking pictures of him.
Yeah….Victor didn't need the Insight to know that those schoolgirls weren't exactly innocent to begin with.
Ironically enough, Emiko heard all of that aimed at him and just laughed at it. "Wow, someone's quite popular here. It hasn't been that long and already you've got yourself a few fangirls. Don't worry though, gals and gyaru are mostly harmless and don't bite….much." She said with a teasing smile at the Good Hunter who just rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath.
He then went to say something to Erma, but noticed she wasn't with them until he heard some loud noise down a hall and saw that she was fighting with a pair of identical twin girls that reminded him of Chara and Frisk from Undertale.
From the looks of it, the twin girls had snagged Erma's doll when she wasn't looking and thought it funny to play a game of Supernatural Keep Away.
Not on his watch!
With a quick Teleportation, he appeared between Erma and the twins with eyes burning red from anger and annoyance which startled the twins while Erma had a smug look in her eyes.
"Alright you brats!" The Good Hunter growled at the twin girls who soon realized they were in serious trouble, but stood their ground anyway. "Hand over the doll or so help me I'll tan both your hides with a spatula!"
"Okay Okay old man! We'll give her back the stupid doll!" Said the twin on the right who wore a bright pink hoodie sweater with a magenta stripe in the middle. "We were just having some fun so no harm done right Momo?"
"Yeah Mitsu! We were gonna give her back the doll….eventually." Said the twin on the left named Momo who also wore a hoodie sweater the same as Mitsu, but with inverted colors.
They also had Cherry Blossoms in their hair.
Reluctantly, they handed over the doll under the watchful eyes of Victor who still glared at them to make sure they didn't pull anything.
Erma glared at them as well, but she was mostly happy with getting her doll back from the two so it wasn't that effective.
Mitsu and Momo POV
Mitsu and Momo weren't having it today, their mom Yori took them with her to the airport all because they had some relatives that were visiting.
So at the airport, they decided to have some fun and snatch stuff from people including a ratty looking doll belonging to a girl that looked kinda similar to them, but they didn't think much of it.
However, it soon became apparent when the girl that they snatched the doll from instantly appeared before them and snatched back the doll from them with a quick teleport.
She was obviously not human and had powers just like them.
So it soon turned from a simple snatch and grab to a fight in the airport with both them and the girl demonstrating their respective powers in their fight over the doll.
Their little schoolyard scrap was soon ended when an intimidating man instantly appeared between the twins and the girl that they were fighting. His eyes were an angry red color and he was wearing dark victorian looking clothing that suspiciously looked like the Hunter Set from that Bloodborne game their Uncle Kentaro plays sometimes.
So, when he demanded that they hand over the doll back to the girl they took from they did it reluctantly considering the man threatened to tan them with a spatula if they didn't.
Didn't help that they shivered when they felt his aura, it felt like something beyond their understanding and felt so wrong as well. It made their Gramps's aura feel like a small fish when they compared the two together and the difference was so large it wasn't even funny.
The man obviously wasn't human despite his appearance, but he definitely wasn't a Yokai like them.
He was something….Eldritch.
"MITSU! MOMO! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"
When they heard their mom yell as she walked up to them, they teleported behind her just to feel a little safer. They loved their mom, they really did and sometimes felt regret when they acted out around her during their pranks.
Not that they would admit it to anyone.
Normal POV
When Victor saw the woman who looked to be the mother of the twins walk up to them just as said twins hid behind her, he felt his heart skip a beat.
She was similar to Emiko in terms of appearance, but she had short black hair so he could see her white eyes and black sclera. She was wearing a striped shirt which somewhat hid her modest bust, an open coat over the shirt, a long scarf around her neck, a long skirt and some black heels.
All in All, she looked to be an attractive woman.
He had a feeling that she was related to Emiko somehow and it proved true when she stretched her neck to interrogate the twins behind her on what they were doing.
It appeared that she was a Rokurokubi, interesting.
Through the use of Slaanesh's Gift, he decided to flirt with her to see if she really was the person that was supposed to meet up with them. That and he wanted to see if he could make an attractive woman like her blush.
"Excuse me ma'am." Said Victor as he turned up the "charm" on the woman before him, eyes now glowing a pinkish-purple color. "Me and my young friend here arrived with her family and were looking to see if a woman named Yori Yureimoto was waiting for us. Surely such a stunning and beautiful young woman such as yourself wouldn't happen to be her, would you sweetie?" He said with a flirty tone to the woman who got done scolding the twins and was now blushing at the rather handsome looking man before her.
"Y-yeah I'm her. Wait….young friend?" Yori stuttered a bit as she got her blushing under control and looked down at the little girl next to the man and noticed that she bore a resemblance to her twin sister Emiko.
"Say….Your name wouldn't happen to be Erma, would it?" She asked the little girl who nodded slowly. "And is your mother's name Emiko?" She asked again which was followed by another slow nod.
"Oh my…." Yori said to herself slowly as her twins Mitsu and Momo were feeling a bit confused at the situation before them.
"Wait, Huh?"
"What's going on mom?"
And so, Yori calmly explained that she was Yori Yureimoto, Erma's aunt and that she was the one waiting for them, but had to go look for her twin daughters who went off to cause trouble as they usually do which caused her to be late.
This surprised Erma along with the twins.
"Wait a minute...Did she say "Aunt"?"
"Then you mean to tell me…"
"THAT'S OUR COUSIN?!" They both exclaimed at the same time which earned them a sarcastic laugh from Victor.
"Ding Ding! Give the little munchkins a prize for pointing out the obvious." He said rather dryly which caused the twins to pout and glare at him, but all it did was made the Good Hunter laugh at them again.
Yori however, just laughed. "Wow handsome you sure know how to handle them. Say what is your name anyway?" She asked before continuing with a snarky tone. "Considering you have no problem with flirting with a single mom like me you must think you're some suave playboy who flirts with any pretty little thing in a skirt."
Victor just smirked deviously before taking Yori's hand and kissing it, causing the Yokai woman to blush again. "My name is Victor my dear and I do apologize if I came on too strongly, but I couldn't help myself when I saw a beautiful woman like yourself come over here and I simply had to know you." He said in a somewhat suave tone that made Yori giggle while the twins and Erma looked on with bemusement.
Well mostly the twins were bemused with what was going on in front of them, Erma was just smiling and giggling to herself as she thought the scene before her was similar to her parents when they thought that she wasn't around, but popped up when they least expected it.
Sometimes she wondered if that was the reason why she was an only child.
"Well aren't you a regular casanova. Do you say that to all the ladies that catch your eye or am I that special?" Yori said with a smirk while Victor smiled back at her.
"Oh believe me my dear when I say this, I do consider you special and it's not because you can expand your neck to long lengths. I consider you special because you're a strong woman who's able to to handle two mischievous children without any help from their father whom I suspect is absent for mysterious reasons, but it may have something to do with your own father in general." He answered truthfully and honestly which earned him an amazed look from Yori as she stared at him.
"Wow, you really are something else huh?" Yori said still amazed that the man before her was being such a gentleman and yet was also quite perceptive about her as well. He also told her what she wanted to hear for a long time.
Ever since her husband mysteriously disappeared years ago, she has been trying so hard to make sure that her twins stayed out of trouble. Sure they were Zashiki-Warashis and that type of Yokai always had a mischievous streak a mile wide when it came to pranks and causing mischief, but she tried her hardest to instill a sense of morality in them to make sure their pranks didn't go too far.
She had a feeling that her father Osamu had a hand in causing Mizuki's disappearance. Then again, she also had a feeling that her weasel of a former husband may have been up to some sketchy stuff behind her back.
Kamaitachi weren't exactly trustworthy to begin with. Sometimes she wondered what she saw in him when they were married.
Well whatever the case may be, she had an actual man before her who complimented her and actually made her feel special in the first place. Mizuki rarely did that unless she teased him relentlessly about it.
Besides, maybe she could share Victor with Ena, Rin and Mayumi especially Mayumi. The young Noppera-Bo needed some love after all.
After what seemed like a short hour of flirting and jokes between Yori and Victor, the group was found by Sam and Emiko who were worried sick about where they went.
It was soon followed by a tearful reunion between Emiko and Yori as they hugged each other as the two Yureimoto women hadn't seen each other in a long while.
It was almost sweet enough to give an Elephant Diabetes, almost. The forming crowd around them seemed to love it as they clapped loudly thinking it was some type of play or something like that.
They soon quickly dispersed when Victor glared at them all and told everyone to get lost and go about their business. Many were more than happy to go about their business when the strange Gaijin in black with the scary aura told them to.
As soon as introductions were met, Momo and Mitsu attempted to do a cutesy act on Emiko, but were quickly shot down by Victor when he told her that the two were Zashiki-Warashi which were known to cause pranks and general mischief so anything they say should be taken with a grain of salt and not too seriously.
"He's right about that Little Emiko." Yori said with a smirk as she saw her two little gremlins pout and glare at the Good Hunter who simply folded his arms and glared right back at them which caused them to relent. "Those two little troublemakers are not as innocent as they might make you believe they are. Trust me, you wouldn't believe the amount of complaints I got from their school for how many times they pranked the other students."
"Hey! Most of the time we pranked others, they deserved it!" Exclaimed Mitsu.
"Yeah Mitsu! Especially that Tomoo creep and his cronies who were picking on that horned girl Kaede. Not our fault he didn't look up when we dumped a bucket of cow manure onto him and his creepy friends!" Said Momo.
"Well whatever it may be, you two should have reported the bullying to a teacher instead and not pranking them even if those kids did deserve it." Snarked back Yori. "Anyway, we should get going before sun down because the roads get kinda crazy near the village at night."
The drive in Yori's van around the Greater Tokyo Area was full of hustle and bustle along with the usual slow traffic that clogged the streets of such a large metropolitan area.
So while they waited at the stop light for traffic to clear up a bit, Yori decided to make some small to lighten up the mood a bit.
"You know something Emiko, you really didn't have to go through the hassle of taking an airplane to get here right sis? You could've easily teleported all 4 of you through a tv screen or something like that." She said to her twin sister who gave her a look before pointing at her husband Sam.
"Don't look at me Yori. It was all Sam's idea to take the airplane instead." She said curtly.
"Hey, I figured the time on the flight would help her calm her mind before getting here." He said with a sheepish smile while Yori just smirked.
"Wow, wasting some spare money to calm down my sister. Is that right Mr. Rich Boy? Yep, he's a keeper." She said while Sam blushed at being called a rich boy.
She then turned her head to Victor who had Erma in his lap since the van didn't have enough seats, smirking even more. "And speaking of keepers Emiko, your dark victorian goth friend there is quite the gentleman and has a bit of a silver tongue. Who knew he had a way with words and could make a woman feel so special. You sure he's still single?" She asked with a teasing smile and a blush to her cheeks.
Emiko merely raised an eyebrow at that question and looked back at Victor who smiled at her unapologetically.
Sighing, she gave the Good Hunter a flat yet rather amused look. "Victor, try not to flirt with my sister too much on this trip. You have no idea how much of a handful she gets once she gets started and that snarky attitude of hers has gotten her into more trouble than I can remember to begin with."
"Oh really? I'm the one who gets into trouble?" Yori snarked back. "Because I clearly remember that one time in our teens when you thought it a good idea to dump our old Kuro Bozu (Black Monk) neighbor into the river all because he smelled bad."
"He was a fat creep who deserved it." Emiko shot back. "He thought he could get away with spying on the village women in the hot springs. He didn't even bother to look up when I lobbed a tree into his face when he came up for air."
As the two yokai sisters continue to argue over who did the craziest thing when they were younger, Victor couldn't help but snicker at the scene in front of him. It was truly entertaining and even Erma and the twins behind them were listening in and snickering at what their moms did when they were younger.
Sam didn't say anything though, merely observing and not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.
The bickering between the two ladies soon died down when the light turned green and the traffic cleared up a bit. Smirking in victory, but quite happy with having some fun with her sister, Yori just laughed to herself as she continued driving.
They drove through the entertainment area where all the movies, games and merchandise were at. He saw Erma's face light up when she saw one store that housed everything that was Warrior Unicorn Princess and chuckled at how happy she was to see it.
"Relax little oreo, maybe once this little family reunion is all over we can go and get you some WUPER merchandise. Just try not to buy out the whole store okay?" He said as he messed with her hair a little which caused the half-ghost to pout at the thought that she would try to buy everything.
Her obsession with Warrior Unicorn Princess wasn't that bad was it?
Ironically enough or depending on how you look at it, they also drove past a huge gothic looking store that housed Bloodborne items as well. From manga and comics to game copies and fake weapon merchandise along with the clothing attire. The store even had an electronic billboard on top that showed a Hunter that eerily resembled Victor a bit doing a pose with the Sawcleaver in one hand and the Blunderbuss in the other.
He could only groan at how cheesy it looked and hoped the others didn't see the store as well. However, Erma did see the store and giggled which attracted the attention of Mitsu and Momo who saw the store as well and grinned deviously.
"What's wrong old man? Consider Bloodborne to be too edgy and loud for your liking?" Snickered Mitsu.
"Yeah! Would you rather prefer those old puzzle games?" Momo snickered as well.
Their respective snickering died quickly and they shivered once again when they saw those glowing red eyes of his.
"Just to be clear with you two." He spoke out slowly which set the twins on edge. "All it does is bring back memories of things I've seen and done that I'm not proud of. Also, there are things in this world beyond your understanding that wouldn't take too kindly to your childish tauntings and japes. Be mindful of your actions and you may yet well understand your place in the cosmic order."
And with that, the Good Hunter went back to staring at the window watching everything go by him.
Momo and Mitsu felt that aura of his once again and reminded themselves that it was so far above their grandfather in terms of power.
They had a feeling that Victor would wipe the floor with their gramps if the two were to ever meet each other.
Yori overheard the conversation and looked at her sister Emiko with a raised eyebrow. Sighing, Emiko explained to her that Victor was the Good Hunter from Bloodborne and that Yharnam was in fact real to begin with.
"Wow." Yori whistled. "Guess Kentaro is gonna be quite excited to know that his favorite video game character is real and I bet everyone else at the village is gonna be walking on eggshells around him huh?" She said as she took a left out of the city and into the forest with the mountains in the distance.
Emiko was inclined to agree and hoped that both her father and mother wouldn't do anything too rash while they were there to sort things out with them.
She had feeling things would turn bloody if they did.
After a drive out in the countryside, they turned onto a dirt road that led into a thick and dark looking forest that was foggy as well.
"Alright everyone. We're walking from here now." Said Yori as she stopped the van and got out along with everyone. "There's gonna be some thick fog up ahead so stay close and try not to get lost." She warned them.
"Thick Fog indeed." Victor thought to himself as he and the group trekked along the path slowly. He and Erma noticed some old statues covered in moss and looked to be falling apart. Whatever they were supposed to resemble, they look like they've been in the forest for quite a while.
As the group continued walking, they walked through a dried up river bed that had a broken bridge covered in moss slime and had looked like it had seen better days.
Victor had a feeling that many things in this forest that were man made or otherwise had seen better days as well.
Finally, they made it to a Torii Gate with many steps leading down from it which meant they were close to the Yokai Village.
"We're almost there guys. We should be getting out of this fog once we reach the bottom of this path." Said Yori as she went past the Torii Gate and down some steps.
"Bet I can reach the bottom before you sis!" Said Momo as she scrambled down.
"In your dreams!" Said Mitsu to her before the both of them looked at Erma and taunted her to do the same as well.
Erma huffed at them before looking at her mother Emiko who had an unsure look on her face.
"I don't know. It doesn't seem like a good idea." She said uneasily.
"Aww, still need mommy's permission to do anything fun? That's cute."
"Oh well. See you at the bottom cuz!"
With taunting laughs, the twins ghosted and flew down the steps leaving only a trail of Cherry Blossoms behind.
"Tch, what a bunch of brats." Victor clicked his tongue in displeasure. "Might as well show up those munchkins anyway."
With a quick blur, he quickly teleported after them.
This in turn, snapped Erma out of her funk and she flew after Victor and the twins with newfound determination before her mother could stop her.
Emiko only just sigh as she saw her daughter fly down the steps and hoped that she would wait for them at the bottom and wouldn't do anything reckless.
"Relax Emiko, she'll be fine." Said Yori as she placed her hand on her sister's shoulder. "She needs to loosen up a bit after we've been traveling for such a long while. Plus judging from how Victor interacts with her I'm sure he'll keep her and the twins from causing too much trouble."
"I don't know. I kind of want to see how things turn out from here." Said Sam as he held his hand up to his chin in a thinking pose.
"Samuel Williams, I know that look in your eyes!." Emiko warned her husband as her voice took on a dual tone. "It's that spark, the one that leads to another one of your books. Now's not the time for-."
"No, No, Honey. Not at all." Sam said with a smile. "Although I kinda want to see the capabilities of Victor when he's up against Yokai and not some disease ridden wolves in a forest." He thought to himself as he and his wife and sister in law went down the steps.
Victor made it down the steps and past the second Torii Gate before the twins and waited for them to come down along with Erma.
When Mitsu and Momo came down with Erma close behind them, they were shocked that Victor had beaten them first while Erma was happy that her friend had outpaced her cousins and she soon gave them a smug look.
"Hey no fair old man! That's cheating!" Yelled Momo with Mitsu agreeing as they pouted.
Victor simply looked at them with a disinterested look as Erma walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Actually it's quite the opposite. You two were too slow. I have far more experience in being fast and quicker than those that I'm up against." He said in a bored tone.
The twins looked like they wanted to start something with the Good Hunter, but they both realized that the resulting outcome would be humiliating for them so they settled with sulking and silent glares.
Victor rolled his eyes at their bratty attitude and wondered how Yori managed to keep the little gremlins under her control. He soon turned his head away from them and to the direction of the yokai village instead and looked at the sight of it.
To others, it looked like your typical old and abandoned village to begin with. The wooden buildings had holes in their walls, broken windows, missing doors and the straw thatched roofs had holes in them as well.
However through the Insight, Victor sensed that there was an invisible magical barrier in place designed to keep ordinary humans out with the exception of the rare few who were able to walk among the Yokai with little to no problem. He really wanted to see how it could hold up against someone like him.
As he and Erma walked up to the village, Momo and Mitsu sped past them into one of the buildings leaving behind a trail of Sakura Blossoms.
Rolling his eyes at their childishness and keeping a firm hand on Erma's shoulder to keep her from doing anything too rash, he and the half-ghost child followed the trail all the way into one building. They walked inside and saw trails of blossoms in each room which to the Good Hunter was obviously a failed attempt of the twins trying to prank them. Looking out an opened window, he and Erma saw sakura blossoms trailing into a building with slightly opened doors.
With a swift push, Victor opened the sliding doors and saw the decayed interior of the building with a large hole in the ground.
"Careful Erma." He warned Erma as he saw her get a little close to the hole just enough that she saw her own reflection which meant there was water below. "This place has seen better days and I don't think your mom would be happy if you got into an accident."
Just then they heard a noise.
"Kararin, Kararin."
They turned to the sound of noise and heard it came from an old head statue. Walking around the hole and to the head statue, both of them examined it curiously wondering how it made such a noise.
"Kororin, Kororin."
It made the noises again which startled Erma causing her to take a few steps back and she stepped onto a lone sandal which caused it to jump into the air screaming, revealing itself to be a Yokai.
"Curious." Victor muttered to himself as he saw the sandal yokai continued to scream at being stepped on and it began to curse at Erma which surprised her. "Okay that's uncalled for. You're the one who was dumb enough to lay out in the middle of the open and not expect anybody to step on you, accidental or otherwise." Said Victor as he walked toward the sentient footwear intent on shutting it up.
Ironically enough, the sandal yokai took one look at the Good Hunter and screamed again before running to the large hole in the ground and jumping over it to get to the opened sliding doors.
Victor and Erma tried to catch it, but it went out the doors and the doors slammed shut on them.
"Well that's just our luck." He muttered as Erma tried to pry the doors open with no luck. He could just smash their way out of here, but he figured it was best to wait and see what happens next.
Suddenly, eyes appeared on the doors making various expressions which startled Erma while Victor raised his eyebrow at the strange phenomenon happening before them.
Then more eyes appeared on the walls around them. All looking at the pair with expressions of irritability, curiosity, inquisitiveness or fear in Victor's case with some of the eyes showing fearful expressions as they looked at him.
Then suddenly like a switch, the interior of the room that he and Erma were in was renewed as if it hadn't aged at all.
"I've heard that having eyes on the inside helps you somehow, but this is just ridiculous." Victor muttered loudly enough for Erma to hear who giggled at the unintentional joke he made.
After the room was renewed, the eyes disappeared and silhouettes of figures appeared on the sliding doors. Then the doors opened, revealing yokai of various species and shapes. Some were more human looking than others, some animalistic and some were just strange looking oddballs at least in Victor's opinion.
The unexpected welcoming surprised Erma and made her a little nervous which was made worse when a large oni manifested out of nowhere behind her as the gathered Yokai approached the pair and surrounded them.
While Erma was unsure and nervous, Victor was not. With eyes now glowing a hellish red and the Blunderbuss and Sawcleaver manifesting into his hands as he gripped them tightly, the Good Hunter only had a few words to say to the gathered yokai that had him and Erma surrounded.
"Hello there Yureimotos, my name is Victor and I believe we have something to discuss about."
(End of Story/Author Notes)
And done! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I felt this was a good place to stop at least until the next chapter.
Now that Victor is in Japan, things are gonna get quite interesting. Whether they're good or bad, the only one way to find out is to keep reading and sharing this fanfic with other people.
Victor does not like being crowded, that's for damn sure and he made it well known by pulling out his weapons.
Momo and Mitsu know what he is by feeling his aura. They're still gonna be a bunch of mischievous little shits, but they're not gonna do anything too bad with Victor looming around.
Yori also has a feeling on what Victor is, but it ain't gonna stop her from having him as a husband that's for sure.
Nobody knows what the name of Yori's former husband is or if he was some type of Yokai or even a human so he's pretty much an unknown. So I decided to name him Mizuki and make him a Kamaitachi. I figured naming him after Mizuki from Naruto was a good choice because that guy was a shifty bastard who was obsessed with gaining power and enjoyed looking down on others.
So what happened to the Mizuki in this story? Well, he only married Yori because he wanted the power and prestige that was being a member of the Yureimoto Family and he had a bit of a superiority complex. However, he bit off more than he could chew and thought he could challenge Osamu over being head of the Family. So Osamu pretty much killed him and made it look like he fled to who knows where.
Since Yokai in a way are a combination of Nature Spirit and Undead, they have a better understanding of the natures of those around them and the nature of the Eldritch is sure to make them fearful or at least curious to an extent.
What would the effect of an Eldritch's Nature have on a Yokai Village? Well, considering one of the common powers of the Eldritch is Reality Warping, I believe that Victor may unconsciously bring some things over from the Workshop to the village. Nothing too harmful, just probably the Messengers popping out of nowhere and being their usual selves along with the Doll manifesting as well. Oh, and the atmosphere becoming gloomy and dark, but that's about it.
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing their best to have a good or at least tolerable New Year.
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Next Chapter: Family Reunion Part 2