Intro Notes: All of Yo-kai Watch belongs to their respective owners.
P.O.V. of Keisuke
I tried to fall asleep but couldn't. All I could think about was what happened at 3 am this morning. I was kidnapped by Shuutendouji and Douketsu, as I was an idiot who decided to wander outside and not just deal with another yokai case. The two yokai made a deal to exchange me for the Yoseiken that my friend Touma possessed. At the time of the agreed-upon deal, my older sister, Natsume, revealed something nobody expected. Being that she was the princess Shuutendouji and Douketsu were searching for all of this time. After that discovery, we left as Natsume ordered those two to leave us alone for the time being. "If only I could do something to help my friends," I said to myself while letting out a sigh.
"Isn't that a shame, to think that you're just a burden to not only your sister and friends but also to your family name," a voice said in my mind.
"What?" I said sounding a bit ticked off.
"What else should I say? Your sister fought against the Oni King Rasen along with the others, your great grandfather invented the yokai watch with your great grandmother befriending various yokai with him, and your father was regarded as the 'yokai master' before unfortunately losing his ability to see the yokai after all of the watches disappeared. At least your grandparents and mother were never introduced to yokai in their lives," the voice explained.
"Is that the actual truth?" I asked before the voice responded with a yes.
"The yokai watch elder still chose me, but I can't do anything with it. I could only cower and scream in fear. That's all I could do for most times, and I almost died a few times from them," I thought to myself frustrated before tears formed on my face feeling lost on what to do with yokai. Why did they choose to get involved with yokai? Why can't I just normally approach them? What about my current yokai friends? I eventually fell asleep from the constant thoughts before seeing something in what I presumed to be my dream.
"Is that?" I wondered. There were two figures, yet small. One resembled Whisper, and the other resembled Jibanyan. "Is it you two?" I thought before seeing another silhouette. It was a young boy with the two acting all happy. His face looked familiar though. "Wait, dad, is that you too?" I asked. The three soon started to disappear as I tried to catch up with them. "Wait, come back!" I screamed, waking me up. I looked around before breathing a heavy relief. "Just a dream," I said before getting ready to leave for school.
"Are you ok Keisuke? You seem a bit anxious," Natsume said.
"I'm fine, don't worry," I said in a somewhat calm voice which seemed to convince her as we soon split ways to our school. During that day, I still couldn't get the thoughts of that early morning and the mysterious voice out of my head. I honestly started to believe that I was a disappointment to my family, which I know is stupid to believe that, but that voice threw me for a loop.
After school ended, I went to our meeting place in hope of trying to find some information on the history of the yokai watch. "If it's about lore, Akinori's grandma should know or have some books about it," I thought as I arrived at the place. Nobody else was there except for Komasan and Komajiro who were napping away. I soon browsed the bookshelves before finding a big dusty book that said Timeline of Yokai.
"This should be it," I thought as I began to flip through the pages before stopping on a page that said: 'Birth of the Yokai Watch'. During the 1950s, it was reported that the first-ever model of the yokai watch was invented by an unknown inventor who already befriended some yokai. The page also consisted of some beta models of the watch. "Interesting," I thought to myself before flipping through more pages while Whisper approached me.
"What are you reading Keisuke?" Whisper asked.
"Oh, just some lore about yokai and the yokai watch," I replied.
"Now that's strange, given how you never showed an interest in either of them," Whisper remarked.
"You do know that I can change my mind about something right," I snapped back. The next page had the title 'The Yokai Master'. The regarded yokai master began his journey when he obtained a yokai watch at Mt. Wildwood while making his first yokai friend at a haunted intersection in Springdale. Despite being seen as average by everyone, he was known for his ability to befriend the yokai while also solving many daily problems involving them. "Wow, dad is amazing," I thought before looking down at the provided image to see what looked like what I saw in my dream with those three figures before flipping over to the next page. The yokai master fought against several evil yokai who threatened the balance between the yokai and human worlds with his friends. Unfortunately, as the years passed, he began to lose his ability to see the yokai as the watches disappeared due to his finished duties with the yokai.
"No wonder dad never brought about this up if he forgot about everything," I thought once more. I soon put the book away before saying bye to the yokai crew as I returned home.
"Welcome back Keisuke," I heard my mom say.
"Hello mom," I reply.
"Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes," she said.
"Ok," I said as I went to my room to finish the last bit of my homework.
"I'm back," my father said as I went down to greet him.
"Hi dad," Natsume and I said before seating myself next to her. Dinner felt a bit too silent, and I thought about if I should bring up what I read about to dad, but I hesitated as I didn't want to interrupt the atmosphere nor the happy looks on everyone's faces.
Later that night, my sleep was disturbed by a faint white light before hearing that eerie voice again. "Do you want to meet your father from thirty years ago to see why he was involved with yokai?"
"But isn't that dangerous to travel through time?" I asked back worriedly.
"Don't worry, as long as you follow this light, you will be fine," the voice replied.
"But wait, why are you helping me, considering how you mocked me earlier for being useless?" I asked.
"Don't you realize it? I'm only here because of the darkness and regret you formed by thinking about those same thoughts. If you want to get rid of that, you'll need to overcome those insecurities/worries too," the voice answered.
"I see. Ok, I will," I said knowing that sooner or later, I'll have to be involved with the yokai regardless if I almost die from them. I soon changed my clothes before following the light outside to where I came to a strange white door in front of us after a while of walking. It soon opened with a bright flash of light before being transported through the door before arriving in a forest.
"Is this Mt. Wildwood?" I wonder to myself as I wandered around not knowing where I was going.
Back in Springdale, a boy by the name of Amano Keita was walking with his yokai friends, Whisper and Jibanyan, to a similar-looking forest. "Are you looking for more bugs?" Whisper asked.
"Yeah, since I don't have anything else to do right now," Keita replied as he was holding his bug net in one hand before entering into the forest. After a while of wandering around, Whisper heard a rustling sound that got his attention.
"Looks like something's up ahead," he said getting Keita and Jibanyan's attention to see a boy who seemed of a similar age just wandering around aimlessly.
"Excuse me, is there a problem?" Keita asked.
"Dad, is that you?" I thought looking at him. "Uh, not really. I was just walking around," I answered nervously. "Sorry to ask, but are you by chance, the yokai master Amano Keita?" I asked.
"Wait what?! You know about yokai?!" Keita asked shocked. " Also, uh, yes that's me," he said surprised.
"Yes, I can see who I presume to be Whisper and Jibanyan?" I said.
"Why you would be correct. Although, I don't seem to recall meeting you though," Whisper said delighted that someone else knew who he was.
"Whisper's right," Jibanyan added. "Huh, he looks so familiar to Keita though," the cat yokai thought.
"Do you need help with finding your way out? If so, I can help you," Keita suggested.
"Sure, that will be great," I replied. We were soon out of the forest on our way to what looked like Springdale. "It sure looks different, but also not really," I thought to myself.
"So, how were you able to see Whisper and Jibanyan without a yokai watch?" Keita asked.
"Well, uh, how should I explain it?" I asked. "Hmm, well, let's say that my dad had a yokai watch and was seen as a yokai master and that his grandfather made the first yokai watch model," I said a bit meekly. It didn't take long for the three to figure out who I was referring to.
"WHAT?!" they screamed.
"So then, you're my son?" Keita asked to which I nodded.
"I knew something was up when I saw how similar you two looked," Jibanyan chimed in.
"But why are you here anyway?" Keita asked curiously.
"Well, you see, there's been something on my mind lately involving yokai, and I didn't feel like asking my sister or my other friends who can see yokai about it. They had an important test today, so I didn't want to bother them," I replied.
"Then couldn't you have just asked me in the future then?" Keita asked as we decided to sit down on a hill nearby a river.
"I couldn't," I replied before explaining what I read in that book yesterday.
"Hmm, well, that sounds quite grim. Hope we can still change it," Whisper thought.
"Anyways, so what was it that was on your mind?" Keita asked.
"Do you think that I'm a burden to my family who has interacted with yokai? I mean, my sister and I share a yokai watch that wasn't destroyed but even after making some yokai friends, I still feel scared when dealing with them. Then there are times when I just don't want to deal with it," I said trying to explain myself.
"Are yokai in the future that different or scary?" Keita asked, which only led me to nod.
"Mainly their Shadowside forms," I replied in my best attempt to explain how yokai had two forms: Lightside and Shadowside regarding their differences.
"Interesting," Whisper commented.
"Well, here's what I think. I don't think that you are a burden to your friends and family if you don't accept everything that the yokai throws at you in your life. After all, shouldn't it be your choice whether or not you want to get involved with their activities? I don't think it's required to be fully committed to it," Keita said.
"Well, I would say that, but something happened last night that changed everything," I replied in a worried tone.
"What would that be. It's ok, you can take your time," Keita said attempting to calm the tension between us as I explained what happened on that very early morning.
"That sounds like a nightmare come true," Jibanyan said shuddering.
"So, my daughter is essentially the reincarnation of an ancient yokai princess, and the one those two have been searching for all of this time? And now, she's unsure about the whole princess thing despite the two wanting her to reawaken as the princess, while there's also a new threat to all of yokai? Keita asked unsurprisingly, alarmed.
"Yes. I'm very sorry to bother you, but even the voice in my mind says that I'm useless given how frustrated I've felt. I just don't know what to do," I cried.
"There, there, it's ok," Keita said comforting me. "I know that I haven't had any experiences like you and your friends, but there's something I learned from my experiences with yokai. There are times where you must make a decision based on your heart and that it's ok to accept that you may feel useless. But what will always be there for you at times likes these, are those who care for you whether they're human or yokai. Not to mention, I had moments where I felt annoyed by the yokai too, but in the end, they're our friends, and the times you share with them are something to be cherished. Everyone is strong in their own way," Keita said.
"Wow, that was very mature of you Keita," Whisper said.
"We will be there for you in the future," Jibanyan added with smiles of happiness on their faces.
"I see," I muttered while thinking back to when I first got involved with yokai and met everyone else. I guess that in the end, it hasn't been all that after all. "Thank you for telling me that. I feel much better and know what I should do. You know I never knew that my dad would've been someone who was able to see yokai," I continued, feeling much better.
"You're welcome. I'm glad that I could help my son," Keita said. "So, you're going to head back now?" he asked.
"Yeah, I don't want anyone to worry," I replied as we were walking back to the forest to hopefully find that door again. We soon found the door just standing there as if it was expecting us. "I guess this is goodbye then," I said.
"Right, well, it was nice meeting you, and I hope everything goes well with you," Keita said.
"Goodbye then," I waved back before entering the door as I now felt refreshed and ready as if the shadow I enveloped myself in was no longer there. I soon found my way back to the detective agency, where everyone else was already there.
"Keisuke, where have you been?" Natsume asked worriedly.
"Uh, it's a long story. I'll explain it later. Anyways, is there a new case we have to do?" I asked.
"Yes, we were just about to leave," Natsume said.
"Well then, let's go, everyone. Let's find the yokai then," I said in an energetic tone.
End Notes: Thank you for reading.
