Lucy has pulled off something incredible to the gang. She was able to get them a trip all the way to Japan. The lights, the buildings, and everything else about it was incredible.
"I can't believe you actually managed to get us to come to Japan, Lucy!" Gray said as they were all amazed with what they were seeing.
"Well, my mom is here on business, but she did say I could bring some friends." Lucy said. "This is just really a small trip for us."
"Small? You call this small?" Natsu said. Happy emphasized what he was saying as he tried inflating like a balloon. This small trip seemed pretty big to the others.
"Lucy! This way!" Her mother called from a museum. They all went in the museum and were amazed with what they were seeing. "Feel free to look around, but be sure not to touch anything."
"Wow. This has to be one of strangest museums around." Gray said. "I can't believe they have an exhibit on anime." The museum was certainly a strange one, but they loved being here either way.
"Aw! Layla-san! I'm glad you could make it!" They all looked to see a Japanese man with glasses and his hair perfectly combed walked over to greet them.
"Takumoto! It's great to see you as well." Layla said as they shook hands. "I like you to meet my daughter and her friends. I hope it's all right that I brought them along."
"Of course. Anything for one of my best investors." Takumoto said. "I am pleased to have you all here. let me show you the latest piece of my museum that we will be displaying." He showed the way and brought them all to a case that had a pink gem in a gold necklace. "This is the Gem of Sakura. One of the most valuable treasures from a former emperor."
"It's beautiful." Erza said.
"I've never seen anything so...pink." Natsu said.
"Try looking in a mirror. There's one right there." Gray said as he pointed to one.
"My hair is salmon." Natsu corrected.
"It certainly is a marvelous piece. I'm glad others will be able to see it's beauty." Layla said, but something that beautiful is sure to attract unwanted attention. That unwanted attention soon found its way as an explosion of smoke came from a beam above them. They all looked up and saw a dark figure with a face like demon's with it black and red with a hood and cape and large black shoulder pieces with a cloth around his waste.
"What is that?!" Lucy said as they were all a little spooked by it. It jumped down with everyone moving out of the way. Natsu and Happy looked back and saw him smash open the case and took the necklace.
"He's got the necklace!" Natsu called and got the monster's attention. He looked like he was ready to attack them, but the police showed up and was going to try and stop him. He didn't get the chance to fight back as he created some black smoke and just vanished inside it.
"He's gone!" Erza said.
"What was that thing?" Gray said.
"I don't believe it. I think that was an Oni." Takumoto said as he was completely shocked.
"What's an Oni?" Natsu questioned.
"An Oni is a Japanese demon." Layla said.
"Yes. That particular one is called Bloodman, I believe." Takumoto said. He went over to the display case and saw it smashed open with the gem gone. "He took the Gem of Sakura! It was suppose to be the center of my new display! The debut is the day after tomorrow! If word gets out that the gem is gone, my museum could be in trouble!"
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Takumoto." Layla said as she tried comforting him.
"Looks like we have another mystery." Gray said.
"But what would a demon want with something like that?" Erza questioned.
"It must be valuable, but how are we going to find him?" Lucy questioned.
"Let's all head back to the hotel for now." Layla said. "I'm afraid there isn't much that can be done now. We'll just have to hope the police find something."
"But we can help, Mom." Lucy said.
"I'm sure you can, but let's just leave it to the professionals for now." Layla said as she didn't want her daughter or her friends be in any danger. She just escorted them back to the hotel and hoped for the best.
...
The Hotel
"Man, we shouldn't be going to bed." Gray said as he and Natsu were getting ready for bed. "We need to get out there and find that Oni before the museum has to display a whole lot of nothing."
"Yeah, but you heard Mrs. Heartfilia. There's not much we can do now." Natsu said. "Besides, Happy doesn't look like he's in much mood for mystery solving right about now." He's right as Happy stuffed himself with sushi. Not much he can do until his body process all of it. With nothing much going on, the boys just went to bed. They began to drift off to sleep, but that was right about the window was smashed opened.
"What the heck?!" Gray said as they all woke up and saw it was the Oni again. He just grabbed Natsu and Happy and tossed them out the window. "Natsu! Happy!" Gray called as he was about to get the Oni, but the Oni just created more smoke and disappeared again. Once Gray moved past the smoke, he looked out the window and saw Natsu and Happy holding on for dear life on a ledge.
"Gray!" He heard the girls at the door and hurried to open it.
"We heard something crashed. What's going on?" Erza questioned.
"It was the Oni! He just showed up and threw Natsu and Happy out the window!" Gray said with the girls getting scared. They hurried to the window and saw them holding on.
"Hang on! We'll be right down to get you!" Lucy called as the three of them hurried.
"Happy, you better teach me how to land on my feet!" Natsu said as he was struggling to hold on. They were about to fall, but some miracle happened. A girl with her hair in pigtails and blonde highlights made her way up the building by using amazing acrobatic abilities and what was around her. Just as they were about to fall, she caught them and was able to make sure they landed down unharmed. "Whoa! What a ride! Thanks!"
"No problem." The girl said before she just took off and had the two wondering who she was.
"Natsu! Happy!" Erza called as they all made it outside.
"Are you two okay?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. Some girl just did some amazing flips and totally saved us." Natsu said as Happy tried doing some flips himself to show what Natsu meant.
"That was weird. The Oni already took the gem. Why would he try to get rid of Natsu and Happy like that?" Gray questioned. This was one mystery they can't ignored now.
"Lucy! Is everyone okay?!" Layla asked as she caught up to them.
"We're fine, Mom." Lucy said. "Guys we need to figure out what that Oni wants now. We've got to look around and find something."
"Lucy..." Layla said with Lucy thinking her mother is trying to talk her out of this.
"Mom, we'll be careful. It's just that thing tried eliminating our friends. We've got to do something." Lucy said.
"I was going to say that you can't go around in your pajamas." Layla said with them realizing they're all in their sleeping attire. It would be embarrassing to walk around a foreign country like that.
...
Later
When the gang changed into their normal clothes, they searched around for anything that could be related to the Oni. They searched the streets, but it seemed like they couldn't find anything. The five of them just walked through until Natsu heard something.
"Hold on." Natsu said as he stopped. "There's something going on inside this building." They all had a look inside and it saw a bunch of people performing some sort of acrobatic routine. Natsu took a closer look inside to see the girl that saved him was in there. Wanting to talk to her, they all went on inside.
"Excuse me!" Lucy called as they all stepped inside and got their attention.
"Oh! It's you again!" Rin said as she recognized Natsu and Happy.
"You're the girl that saved us earlier." Natsu said.
"I'm sorry I took off before I introduced myself. My name is Rin Takumoto."
"Takumoto?" Gray said.
"Yes. You probably know my father. He's the museum director." Rin said.
"He's your father? What are you doing here?" Erza asked.
"Rehearsing our performance." Rin said as she introduced someone with messy black hair in a purple leotard. "This is my partner: Bradly." All he did was bow rather than speaking. "Please excuse him. He doesn't really talk. We use this space to practice our acrobatic routine. My dream is to travel around and perform, but my father insists that I stay here to take over the museum."
"Well, we're sorry to interrupt. Rin, have you heard about what happened at your father's museum?" Lucy asked.
"Yes. He says some sort of demon attacked and stole the museum's valued possession." Rin said.
"The Oni. The same creature attacked Natsu and Happy when you saved them." Erza said. "Can you think of anyone who would want to ruin your father?"
"Not really. I do hope my father isn't in any danger himself." Rin said.
"Well, we're again sorry we interrupted. We should get going." Lucy said as they showed themselves out.
"Do be careful now." Rin said as she does hope nothing bad happens to them.
...
The Next Day
They searched around for anything involving the Oni, but there was no sign of him since last night's attack. No one even knows much about this particular one.
"No one seems to know anything." Lucy said.
"The only other time it showed up was when Rin did." Erza said. "Do you think it's possible she has something to do with this? Her father is preventing her from following her dream."
"No way. She saved me and Happy." Natsu said.
"It wouldn't make much sense. Why save them if she was the one that threw them out?" Gray questioned.
"I think I see someone we can ask: The Oni itself!" Lucy said as she pointed down the street. People were running out of the way as the Oni was coming right at the gang. They all ran for it and tried to ditch him.
"This way! I have an idea!" Gray said as they ran down an alleyway and took some sheets from some wires. When the Oni was about to go after them, he encountered white figures. They all bowed to each other and tried passing each other until the Oni just realized he was tricked. He hurried after them until he grabbed the one that was Natsu.
"Didn't fall for it? Well, you know what they say. Sayonara!" Natsu said as they all split-up and ran off!"
...
Chase Scene
Sense nieitahita
Tocotochi ga uyouda
Saishu le esheto o saa caruu
The Oni chased after Natsu and Happy first. They ran into a sumo place with the Oni running after them. Just as they ran past the ring, a sumo wrestler was pushed out of the ring and landed right on the demon
A se ru cala mawaru ikitsuma ru
So to waku lainoni atsado cu rru
Eso wo
A kireru woronii
Eso wo
Nande mo aruse cae
The Oni chased after the girls into a small hut. They disguised themselves as gaeshas and served him some tea. What he didn't know was that they put in the hottest peppers there were in there. When they served the tea, the demon's mouth was burning and he ran out of there.
Eso wo
Tle panasumae nii
ko ko ma deuits ke lo
Eso wo
Gray took cover in a sushi place. When the Oni followed after him, he was served an entire platter. While the Oni was eating, Gray took an entire role of seaweed and wrapped the Oni up just like sushi and ran off.
AN: In case you don't know this, it's UREI from Puffy Amiyumi
...
The five of them regrouped, but the Oni was still after them. They didn't know what they could do to lose them.
"This freak just doesn't give up!" Natsu said.
"We better think of something to lose him or else we'll in trouble." Erza said. Just when it seemed like they were in trouble, a miracle happened. Rin jumped in out of nowhere and stomped down on the monster's head.
"Rin?!" Natsu said as they were all surprised to see her.
"Run!" Rin said for there was no time to talk. All of them ran out of there as fast as they could until they finally lost the Oni.
"That was close. Thanks for the save, Rin." Natsu said.
"Rin, what are you even doing out here? How did you know we needed help?" Erza questioned, but Rin didn't have a good answer.
"That's the second time she showed up to save us from the Oni." Lucy whispered to Gray. "She must have some connection to it." Before they could talk about it anymore, the Oni showed up again and grabbed Rin. When it did, the Oni jumped up and jumped from one building to the next with a piece of paper being left behind. Natsu grabbed the paper and tried seeing what was on it.
"Great. Rin's kidnapped and that thing leaves behind chicken scratch." Natsu said.
"It's not chicken scratch. It's Japanese. Luckily, I can read it." Lucy said. "It says... Midnight tonight at the museum. The girl for the boy and the cat."
"So that's what's been going on! The Oni has been after Natsu and Happy!" Erza said.
"But why us? What did we do?" Natsu questioned.
"I'm not sure, but we've got to help Rin. Since we now know where he wants to meet, we can set a trap for him." Gray said.
...
The Museum
With it getting closer to midnight, the gang set up trap to save Rin and catch the monster. While they were setting things up, Erza took a look at the display where the Oni first attacked. There must have been something they missed.
"Okay. Natsu, you wait right here." Gray said. "When the Oni shows itself, Happy will be up on that beam and use a pully system to drop the net. We'll have that Oni right where we want him."
"We better take cover. It's almost midnight." Lucy said. The others took cover while Natsu and Happy took their positions.
"Hey, freak show! I'm here! Where are you?!" Natsu called. They waited a moment for the Oni to show until he finally did in a puff of smoke with him holding Rin who as gagged and tied. Happy was ready to drop the net, but some of the dust flew up Happy's nose and he couldn't hold back a sneeze. The sneeze caused Happy to fall back and caused the net to get caught in the pully system. That also alerted the Oni of what was about to happen. Moving fast, he flipped out of the way and dropped Rin with him grabbing Natsu.
"Natsu!" Lucy called as they were all worried about him. However, Happy swung around and jumped off the rope with him landing right on the Oni's head. The Oni dropped Natsu and tried shaking Happy off, but he wasn't watching where he was going. He walked right into a stand of samurai armor and it fell right on him and pinned him down.
"We got him!" Erza said.
"Nice work, Happy!" Natsu said. Lucy hurried over and helped Rin out as she freed him.
"Rin, are you okay?" Lucy asked.
"Yes. That thing grabbed me so I stop saving you." Rin said.
"Kids!" They all looked and saw Lucy's mother with Takumoto showing up with the authorities. "Is everyone okay?" Layla asked.
"Yeah, and we got the Oni." Gray said.
"But we still don't know who the Oni is." Lucy said.
"Actually, we do. Haven't you all saw the way the Oni moved?" Erza asked. "He moves just like an acrobat. That means it can only be one person." Erza reached for the mask and pulled it right off.
"Bradly?!" They all said. Erza also dug around his pockets and pulled out the Gem of Sakura which further proves he did it.
"So it was him, but why was he after Natsu and Happy?" Gray questioned.
"I thought about that when I saw that mirror in front of the display case." Erza said. "My guess is that he took his mask off for a moment, but he thought Natsu and Happy saw his real face through the mirror."
"I get it. He didn't want to take the chance that Natsu and Happy ratted him out, so he tried to keep them quiet." Gray said.
"But what about Rin? Why is it she was around whenever the Oni was?" Lucy asked.
"When I heard you were investigating that monster, I was worried about all of you. That's why I followed you." Rin said. "I didn't want to see any of you get hurt."
"Well, I'm just glad that everyone is safe and the gem is back." Takumoto said as he took the gem back and the authorities took Bradly away. "Thank you all so much. With the gem back, we're back on schedule for the display."
...
The Next Day
With the gem back, Takumoto displaying it ended up becoming a big hit and was good for the museum. Layla and the gang thought it was all great, but what was even better was something else Takumoto did.
"It's great that we were able to help Mr. Takumoto, but I think him allowing Rin and her acrobatic team to perform for the crowd is even better." Lucy said as they all saw Rin and her team performing for everyone. It was truly an amazing display and everyone was enjoying it.
"Watch this finishing pose. They call it the Rising Happy." Natsu said. All of them had an idea on what this was about. The acrobats came together like a pyramid with Rin flipping up to the top. It didn't stop there as Happy himself became part of the act as he flipped all the way to the top and became the focus of the pose. This became one heck of a trip to Japan.
