Chapter 3: West Side Cat Story
A new day, a new dawn as they say. Though, while Natsume was able to sleep peacefully the last night, something bothered Akinori so much that he had to make a phone call to the girl at the crack of dawn.
"Akinori, what's wrong?" Natsume sleepily gave an answer, ending with a yawn. "It's six in the morning..."
"Natsume! Last night there was some crazy weird stuff happening!" Akinori practically screamed through the other line, seeming to be borderlining on hysteria. "People were burning things that smelled like...meat...fish...milk...and some kind of plant I think? Saying weird stuff too."
Natsume hastily got out a notepad and started to quickly jot this sort of thing down. "Yeah so people are burning meat, fish, milk, and some kind of plant? What kind of weird things are they saying?"
"I couldn't really make things out, but it was something about big ears?" Akinori tried to explain, seeming a bit unsure. "Do you think you can come over soon?"
"Well, not soon," Natsume responded sadly. "I have school today, but I'll see if I can come by this afternoon, but mom says I might need to help around the house a bit today..."
"I see, I see," Akinori finished the call with. "If you can, try to see if you can see suspicious activity around your school if possible, yeah?"
Natsume gave a sheepish "mhmm" before things hung up. Natsume decided it was best to keep that in mind, though it felt like many things were rushing through her head already today.
She couldn't let those things weight her down today, she had to stay focused, and get ready for the day.
Thankfully nothing suspicious as Natsume got ready, headed out, and arrived. In fact, her morning classes went by pretty normally, aside from feeling a bit drowsy initially. Though, there was one thought that seemed to weigh Natsume throughout the day.
Encountering Touma yesterday, and thinking he might be the one responsible for Pixie becoming Madame Cassee, and who knows what to the other two fae yokai Pixie said got captured.
But what bothered Natsume the most was how did this happen? While they were friends for only a blip in time, she always wanted to try to be his friend. He seemed lonely, even hearing how his parents weren't home a lot when she was young...But why was fate this cruel in not letting her help a fellow peer?
This feeling of doubt reached an all time high by the time lunch break happened. Her mind felt clouded as she tried to get her lunch and sit down somewhere to try to relax and focus.
All the doubt Natsume was feeling was noticed by a teacher, taking note of the girl's soured look.
"Are you okay?" The teacher asked softly and kindly. She had dirty blonde hair tied with a green bow in a side ponytail and deep sea-green eyes, her face gently dotted with freckles and a gentle look on her face.
Natsume made sure nobody else was around, leaning in and whispering. "No...Can we go somewhere more quiet to talk this out..."
Giving a nod, the teacher lead the way, over to her office. It was a bit small, with a desk and a chair right across from it, and few boxes still needing to be unpacked. Of the few things out of the corrugated cubes were some photos and small plush animals and mementos.
"Sorry for the mess, I'm still fully transferring here," The teacher explained, before nodding. "I'm Mrs. Suzuki, and I'm slowly moving to be a counselor here. You seem a bit familiar..."
"I'm Natsume Amano," Natsume greeted, trying to stay upbeat, but it was clear what was bothering her was still deep within her.
"Huh, I think a vaguely recall such a name," Mrs. Suzuki began to think aloud to herself. "I think you were the only children who really wanted to reach out to one of my students, right?"
Natsume was shocked at what Mrs. Suzuki had to say. "W...Was that student's name Touma by chance?"
"Touma Tsukinami, yes," Mrs. Suzuki answered with a nod.
"Were you his teacher or something?" Natsume asked, Mrs. Suzuki putting her finger on her chin in thought.
"Sort of," Mrs. Suzuki answered Natsume's question. "I'm actually technically a special education counselor, and despite how large this city is, Touma was really the only student I had to look after, all the way from First Grade until graduating elementary school. But seeing you so saddened, I couldn't help but to lend out my hand..."
"Special Education?" Natsume asked, being a bit puzzled at what Mrs. Suzuki was saying. "You meant like a tutor?"
Mrs. Suzuki shook her head. "Not quite. Some people need specialized assistance because they simply function very differently than others, and Touma is one of those people."
"So Touma's disabled or something?" Natsume asked, hoping for an answer from the consuler. Mrs. Suzuki gave a hesitant nod.
"That is a term used that's technically correct," Mrs. Suzuki answered. "He has a fairly complicated disorder known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD for short, that hinders social abilities in particular."
Mrs. Suzuki looked stunned as she paused for a moment.
"Oh dear I've completely gotten off track...My apologies..." Mrs. Suzuki commented to herself in shame, Natsume trying to assure Mrs. Suzuki it was okay with some simple hand motions.
"Hey it's okay," Natsume reassured, before looking a bit distant. "In fact, what I wanted to ask was about Touma since well..."
Mrs. Suzuki looked uneasy. "Did...Did something happen to him?"
Natsume was quiet for a moment. "Yes, I'm not sure how to explain it to adults like you, but he's been missing for a few days as far as I know, and there was a dark aura around him and a strange thing on his arm..."
"And it...it was like his heart was sealed off from all that was good within..." Natsume concluded, Mrs. Suzuki looking shocked, horrified even.
"Oh dear...oh my..." Mrs. Suzuki began to wonder in fear, seeming to clutch something hidden in her sweater. "How...How did this happen..."
"I don't know..." Natsume answered, before Mrs. Suzuki held out her hand and put it onto Natsume's shoulder.
"Natsume, I don't know how I can put this but..." Mrs. Suzuki began her speech. "Please, remember the kindness in your heart, since Touma is going to absolutely need it if you want to prevent that darkness from taking him over and shattering him."
"How...How do you know how to combat this?" Natsume questioned, Mrs. Suzuki giving a nod.
"I simply know my ways, and I learned one very important thing in my youth," Mrs. Suzuki stated firmly, her eyes glistening with a genuine passion for what she was saying. "That being genuine kindness can heal, and those who let the light within their heart die cause nothing but destruction and will eventually decay."
"M...Mrs. Suzuki..." Natsume gasped, seeming to be pretty moved by the teacher's words.
"You wield a device that connects humans and yokai together by bonding your heart to those spirits," Mrs. Suzuki began for her conclusion. "So use that power in your heart to save those you care about."
The braided haired girl looked over to her watch, noticing it was pretty visible. "Aaaah! You know this is a Yokai Watch!? But how!?"
Mrs. Suzuki got out what was hidden within her sweater. It was a beautiful pocket watch looking thing done in shining gold and pink, the image of a colorful star done in pink, purple, green, and blue surrounding a bright red heart.
"I have one myself, actually," Mrs. Suzuki explained, Natsume looking shocked at what the seemingly normal teacher had.
Before long, a bell could be heard, the two women looking a bit surprised by the sound of that bell.
"Uhh...Well..." Mrs. Suzuki began, her usual collected bit of emotions seeming to fade off. "That's...an awkward interruption. You should probably head back to class...If you're feeling better."
"Don't worry, I am," Natsume reassured, starting to feel a bit fired up. "Thank you for your kind words Mrs. Suzuki!"
Both girls went their ways, Mrs. Suzuki going back to work and Natsume on her way back to class, a heart full of vigor and determination now to get through the day, and help Akinori solve what had happened last night as soon as she was free from classes.
As Natsume was busy in school, Akinori was running around town to try and find hints and clues to get to the bottom of this mystery. Why were some people burning such odd amounts of goods? He didn't seem to come to a conclusion, thankfully asking to borrow Whisper's Y Pad to browse Usuranura in hopes that maybe a post was made about the strange activities Akinori caught word of last night.
There was a new post, but it was a bit of a shock to the boy.
"A post...from the web administrator!?" Akinori gasped in shock at seeing the site with a new post, and one that was a warning.
Warning from the Admin.
Thank you for using Usuranura. I never make posts myself, but I would like to issue a warning to those who have cats of any sort in their homes and families.
Last night seemed to have been the first step in a ritual to summon a being named Big Ears. As far as I can tell from my research, it involves the burning of meat and fish based cat food, milk, and catnip. Please be aware, cat owners. Currently, it's unknown who's causing this activity, but if I have to look into things myself, I will.
Thank you, the Web Admin.
"Goodness me, burning such resources and for what gain?" Whisper responded in dismay at the absolutely ridiculousness of those people. Junior, who was nearby, looked pouty.
"Hmpf, those kinds of people like that should get a hard lesson from papa!" Junior huffed, Akinori looking intrigued by what the red yokai was saying.
"Just who is your dad anyways, Junior?" Anikori asked, Whisper looking in with an uneasy look.
"He's a bit of an old flame of mine, and one that's pretty uhh...wild?" Whisper tried to explain as best as he could.
"So he's like a delinquent?" Akinori questioned, Whisper adjusting his bowtie nervously.
"Oh my, far worse than your garden variety hooligan," Whisper continued with his explanation of the yokai. "He's a powerful yakuza that's like a dragon! The fangs, the power, all of that!"
"Which is precisely why I have to make sure this little one stays away from that rough and dark path!" Whisper concluded with his reasoning. Though, something, or rather, something seemed to be missing from the equation.
"Say, Whisper, did you happen to see where Junior went?" Akinori asked, the well dressed yokai to finally notice that the child under his care had ran off.
"Not again!" Whisper gasped in fear, looking all around for the little round yokai. "We have to find Junior and fast! Who knows what kind of danger that child could have gotten himself into!"
The dynamic duo soon ran all around town in search for Junior. He was a small yokai, and combine with his shape shifting ability, he could be literally anywhere.
Bless both of their stars that Junior didn't seem to go too far, just over by an infamously dangerous intersection.
Except the dangerous intersection part, that part was very bad indeed. Akinori and Whisper were about to scream as a truck was headed right for Junior, only for a large shadow to catch the tiny yokai and dent the speeding truck like it was a cheaply made toy.
"Tsk, learn to use your breaks when the light is red," A tough sounding voice cursed to himself, the driver of the truck running in a panic. It didn't take long for the source of the rough voice to make himself apparent to the two looking for their friend.
The source of the voice and truck destroying was a large red cat yokai, easily towering over any average human easily. He had large white fangs and claws, and pure yellow eyes that burned with an intimidating spark in them.
"Ah, Whisper, it's been a while hasn't it," The red yokai commented, Junior in his large paw resting easy.
"It certainly has, Jibanyan, wasn't expecting to run into you again so...soon..." Whisper remarked, Akinori looking shocked. Was that really Jibanyan? With a name like that, one would expect him to look a lot more cute, and a lot less like a giant monster cat.
"So, do you think you could maybe help us out with the case involving people burning cat food and the like?" Akinori asked, Jibanyan furrowing his eyes a bit.
"What do you think I am, some fists for hire or somethin?" Jibanyan questioned the two rather aggressively. "I ain't about that life."
"But...could you do a favor for an old friend?" Whisper pleaded with Jibanyan, the feline, kicking something aside.
"Honestly, you nearly got Junior here ran into a truck, and I don't wanna know what other kinds of trouble you've gotten him into!" Jibanyan snapped back. "Who knows what could have happened if I wasn't there!"
"But..." Whisper tried to reason, only to get a tire knocked in his direction from a powerful kick.
"As I said, I ain't just fists for hire!" Jibanyan scolded one last time, before starting to turn away. "At least if you want me to work for you, bring two tons of chocolate!"
And with that, Jibanyan was gone, away from his usual intersection and away from the two who begged him for help. Junior seemed quite a bit frightened as he held close to the large cat.
"...Sorry if I had to raise my voice back there," Jibanyan apologized to the small child, feeling his child's fear. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do sometimes..."
"Papa..." Junior sniffed, a bit frightened. "You're not gonna go away again, are you?"
"Of course not, your old man is gonna be here," Jibanyan reassured, keeping his son close by. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen again, I just don't know who to trust sometimes in this world..."
The end of the school day had finally come by, Natsume starting to jog her way to meet up with Akinori and the others.
"I couldn't find out much about the incident from last night..." Natsume remarked to herself, keeping her pace up. "But I did end up finding more about Touma, so it wasn't a complete waste..."
However, Natsume was crossing her way for sure, but was oblivious to a rather oblivious driver, thinking they could outrun a red light. Pedestrians who? It was just a matter of beating that red light.
It seemed it was all a bit too late, only for the truck to be struck once more by a powerful force, being crushed like a ball of tin foil.
"Papa's really strong!" Junior cheered, the large red feline he was hanging around glaring at the truck.
"Tsk, that's the second one today, what gives?" Jibanyan remarked, Natsume looking up to the big cat.
"Uhh, thank you very much," Natsume thanked, a bit intimidated by the large and tough feline. Junior went over to her and she whispered softly "You know him?"
"Yep! Jii-tan's papa!" Junior answered in a whisper back, Natsume looking surprised. Though, she wasn't the only one looking surprised, Jibanyan looking a bit surprised.
"Somethin' about you seems familiar..." Jibanyan remarked, following Natsume and Junior to the other side of the street. He tilted his head and looked over the Junior curiously. "Kiddo, do you know this girl?"
"Her name is Natsume Amano! She's a really nice girl and we solve mysteries!" Junior gave his most honest answer, Jibanyan taking a step back, as if his heart was starting to sink in his big feline body.
"Ms. Amano," Jibanyan spoke, looking pretty distant for a huge monster cat like him. "Do you mind if we go somewhere to talk, I feel there's something important I have to tell you..."
"S-Sure…!" Natsume agreed to, following Jibanyan to a quiet part of town. Seemed through the calming down, Jibanyan turned into a less monstrous form and into a form that was a lot smaller and slightly cuter. Though, it was still apparent that his ruggedness and age was clear, as well as his claws.
"So, Natsume, huh?" Jibanyan began, sitting next to Natsume on a grassy hill. It was peaceful, the wind feeling at a perfect temperature. "What do you know about your ma?"
"Well, she works a pretty average accounting job, and she married her childhood friend, it's pretty normal as far as I know..." Natsume began. "She's really nice and calm, though doesn't hesitate to scold me or my brother when we do something wrong..."
"I see..." Jibanyan began, closing his feline eyes to focus. "The thing is...I was friends with your ma, Fumika Kodama..."
"W-What?!" Natsume gasped, Jibanyan holding up his fingered paw in an attempt to get the girl to calm down.
"You see, it goes like this..." Jibanyan continued, starting to describe nostalgically about the times long since passed…
It was thirty years ago, things were a bit different. Yokai and humans were no longer bound by a thick hypothetical barrier, but a much more loose one. Some chose to be visible, others chose to hide in the shadows. It was a simpler time.
The weather was quite rainy, in a city close yet far away. The loud thumping of rain struck on the streets, making things more slippery and cold, perfect weather for cuddling up.
That is, if you had a house or a sturdy shelter, not a cardboard box nearby a convenience store.
"N-No!" A much younger Jibanyan cried, looking far less rough around the edges. "My beautiful home! My home!"
The feline yokai frantically tried to save his cardboard home from rotting away in the rain. Attempting to save it was nothing more than a vain effort, as the rain kept on going and the rain from the street soaked into it, things became less worth trying to save.
Jibanyan looked up in the rain, tying to hold his two fiery wisp tails out of the downpour. "Where am I going to have to go now!?"
As the red cat looked around at the people walking past, it seemed hopeless. He was going to be out in the rain for the rest of his days. Was this his destiny?
That was until the rain seemed to stop around Jibanyan. It was still pouring just a reach out of him, but managed to keep himself dry. How odd.
"Are you okay?" A voice asked, Jibanyan realizing a girl was holding an umbrella over him to make sure he was nice and dry. Holding the umbrella was a young girl, her fluffy brown hair in a ponytail tied with a pink bow. She had a little pink and white pocket watch around her neck, and a familiar white ghost seemed to be floating nearby, though lacking his suit for more of an overall eggey appearance.
"N-Not really," Jibanyan sniffled. "My home got destroyed by all this stupid rain, and I'm really cold and hungry too!"
The girl ended up picking up the feline, giving him an extra jacket to dry off with. "There there, I'll let you stay with me, I can't just let some poor kitty like you to stay out in the street like this..."
"Oh my nya! Thank you so much!" Jibanyan thanked, the bond between him and the girl becoming so strong the girl got a pink jewel that encased a heart from the cat. "I'm Jibanyan of the pretty tribe, by the way!"
"I'm Fumika Kodama, and this is my yokai butler, Whisper!" The girl, Fumika, introduced herself proper, Whisper giving a little bow and saying "At your service!" in response.
It became clear from that day onwards, the group shared a strong bond. From confronting troubles all throughout the city, to simply relaxing and enjoying life, the yokai friends Fumika had made seemed to have an unbreakable bond.
However, as they say, all good things must come to an end. It had only been a handful of years, Fumika going from starting in High School when she and Jibanyan met to now her about to finish her third and final year.
The unbreakable trio found themselves in a court room within the yokai world, being stared down by almost every member of the yokai council. It was a chilling atmosphere, everyone feeling cold and constantly on edge. Even the king of the entire yokai world was there, staring down with a glare with his burning yellow eyes.
"It has come to our attention that several yokai, including innocents and those important to the yokai government, have all had their souls ripped from their physical forms," The leader of the council, Nurarihyon, began in a smooth yet ever so intimidating voice that could send a chill down even the most composed of individuals. "Effectively being murder, as the souls were ripped in such a manner that could not allow the yokai's physical form to reform."
Nurarihyon took a moment to pause to take a breath before getting back to his opening about the case at hand. "A majority of these yokai seemed to have been associated with Fumika Kodama, if the records of the direct connections of their "heart", or Yokai Jewels, are any indication."
"But...I never even did such a thing…!" Fumika tried to protest back on her case.
"The evidence suggests otherwise! While we don't know who did it, we can get a pretty good clue from how most of them were yokai you contracted with, girlie!" Another yokai, Yamimaro, talked back to the girl.
"But how do we even know if she's truly innocent?" Another yokai on the council board, Inugami, questioned. "Humans tend to be pretty sneaky with their crimes..."
"It could be a case of false accusation," Yet another council member, Yomi Gensui, remarked. "It does happen from time to time, though even then some humans like to defend their honor."
Arguing began to break out among the various council members, about if Fumika was innocent or not. It got to an eventual breaking point.
"Silence!" Great King Enma yelled, forcing everyone to become dead silent. The young adult king was nowhere near as intimidating as his grandfather or the depictions seen in textbooks, but the blood was still in his veins.
"I feel there can be a compromise to be made," Great King Enma spoke up, keeping calm though there was some tone of regret in his voice. "One of Fumika's affiliate yokai that are still living or even Fumika herself must serve a short sentence in Infinite Hell."
The whole courtroom was silent for a bit, before one feline voice spoke up.
"I'll do it, just please don't do anything to Fumika or Whisper, okay?" Jibanyan spoke up, shocking the girl in question.
"Jibanyan..." Fumika and Whisper softly gasped at the sheer nobility of the cat yokai.
"She taught me friends are important, and neither of us did anything wrong," Jibanyan began his case. "But if you have to give all the blame to someone, give it to me."
"Are you certain about your choice?" Great King Enma asked one final time, making sure the cat was serious.
"I am absolutely serious, I'm begging you, your majesty," Jibanyan courageously confirmed his choice. "Just make sure my friends come out clean from all of this! I don't care if I have to serve a sentence of a year, ten years, or a hundred! Let my friends live peacefully!"
Great King Enma closed his eyes, thinking deeply. "If that's so, then it's settled. For the sake of Fumika Kodama and Whisper, Jibanyan will be serving a sentence within Infinite Hell to settle this case cleanly."
And from that day onwards, Jibanyan served his sentence as instructed. He wondered for a while if Fumika and Whisper were doing okay, happy now that they didn't have all this weighing them down. How did this even happen? It seemed all a bit too much…
As time went on with serving his sentence as asked, he became a lot more rugged and tough, his mind having gone through a lot in his sentence. By the time his sentence finally ended, fifteen years had passed.
The world seemed mostly the same, yet a lot had changed. While Jibanyan was still a red cat yokai, he was a lot more rugged, his voice had gotten deeper, and generally looked a bit more intimidating.
But, there was one thing he had to check up on, that being his two old dear friends. As fast as he could run, Jibanyan ended up finding where Fumika was now after all these years.
What he found, however, left him shocked. The watch was nowhere in sight, nor was Whisper. It felt so...hard on him…
"Where's Whisper…?" Jibanyan muttered to himself, a bit shocked that his voice had gotten a lot bassier with time. "And why of all people did she marry such...an average looking businessman?"
She seemed to have been too busy, after all, she probably wouldn't take well to some roughed up looking mangey cat breaking into her house. He decided to turn away, ending up in a familiar section of road he once inhabited.
Seeming to sense the cat's return, an old friend of Jibanyan's had come by.
"Goodness, I can't believe such a sentence has already flown by..." Whisper remarked, starting to look more like a fine suited butler. Jibanyan gave a sigh.
"Wasn't expecting Fumika to get married in that time..." Jibanyan remarked, feeling pretty glum.
"Me neither, though a lot had happened after that trial..." Whisper began, getting out Fumika's iconic watch from his suit. "She told me to give the watch and to serve someone else, as it turns out the charges were falsely fallen onto Fumika..."
"So guess that ends our adventures with her, huh?" Jibanyan began, looking up to the sky. It started to get a bit cloudy.
"Maybe she'll change her mind later, but, it seems like it," Whisper sadly concluded.
"Well if that's the case," Jibanyan began, getting back up. "I'm going to search across the country for more trucks to beat up...But for the sake of traffic safety."
Jibanyan looked back one last time at Whisper. "And you're happy to come along with me too, if you want."
"That sounds like a bit of a rough road for my tastes," Whisper admitted, but giving a warm look to the feline. "But, just know I'll still be in this city if you need anything."
With that, Jibanyan began his journey all across Japan...For nearly another fifteen years, all by himself…
"Finally, a bit of my soul ended up breaking off in a tough battle, making Junior," Jibanyan started to conclude his story. "I tried to raise him myself, but I thought maybe Whisper could use someone else to look after all these years..."
Natsume was shocked at the tale Jibanyan had told. Did her mother really do all that? She had a yokai watch as well? Were all the holders of a yokai watch independent, or did they form a multi-colored hero squadron? So many questions went through Natsume's head…
"That...That was my mom? She did all of that?" Natsume asked, Jibanyan nodding to confirm for her.
"Your ma was an amazing, above average woman," Jibanyan began, handing Natsume something from his paw. "I'll be willin' to give you a hand in these times, but if you can, make sure me and your ma can talk things out one last time..."
"I'll make sure not to let you down, I promise," Natsume agreed to, before being thrown off by the scent of something...It was the smell of something...burning? Smelling vaguely of milk, meats, and fish…
Natsume looked over to Jibanyan, realizing he had given her his arc. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now, I was warned about this earlier!"
Jibanyan simply gave a thumbs up to Natsume, as the girl ran to the direction that the burning fire was coming from.
It seemed to be one of the fires burning various cat related offerings that Akinori spoke of this morning. In fact, Akinori himself was there.
"You aren't getting away!" Akinori yelled, quickly forming a magic star to throw at a mysterious and large figure rising out of the flames. The large shadow hissed as it was bound, revealing itself.
The figure took the form of a large black cat, with a small green eye with a large pupil, and a big blue eye with a small pupil. The cat had very large ears that had small yellow glowing bits on the side, and an equally as large set of monstrous big paws and a large evil grin on it's face.
"Fool! You really think your stupid magic is going to keep me here?" The large monster cat hissed, seeming to take in the fumes from the flame and gain enough power to break free.
"Just who are you?" Natsume questioned, shocking Akinori that the girl ended up coming onto the scene. The monster only gave a loud laugh, sounding like a screechy old feline.
"I am none other than the one and only Big Ears!" Big Ears introduced himself, proudly holding his giant claws out. "Granter of wishes for a price!"
"Big ears huh?" Akinori remarked, focusing once again on some spiritual energy. "Shouldn't you be more sandish colored and have spots?"
Big Ears slashed one of his claws into the ground to try and throw off Akinori's balance. "I will not allow such mockery to come my way!"
The moment before Big Ears got up again to deliver a slash, the large cat was struck with some magic from Akinori, causing the cat too loose some balance and crash foolishly.
"You could say it serv-als you right!" Akinori laughed off, but soon shut his mouth as Big Ears got back up.
"Is this how you treat a granter of wishes?" Big Ears quipped, even less amused by Akinori's terrible, terrible pun. "Well I have bad news for you! I've already got myself a master, and his wish is to make sure you're destroyed!"
Natsume took notice to Big Claws going over to a nearby tree, swiftly slashing it down and then grabbing it to use as a massive wooden club. She quickly unlocked the watch with a particular arc, this time turning it counter-clockwise, an intimidating voice saying "shadow" to announce the summoning.
"Claws, fangs, and paws! Let's get wild, my Mononoke friend!" Natsume shouted, putting the arc over the open watch face. "Summoning...Jibanyan!"
With a swift summoning motion, Jibanyan rose out again, in his much larger monstrous Shadowside form to combat against Big Ears. With a strong punch, the tree was effortlessly shattered by the large red cat, Big Ears looking surprised, but still keeping his big grin.
"Heh, you got your own big cat over here, eh?" Big Ears remarked, wiping his paw before getting back into a fighting stance. "Well, let's see what you're made of!"
Big Ears lunged forward to Jibanyan, clawing at the red cat's left side, only for Jibanyan to turn around quickly and give a kick right into Big Ear's gut, knocking the big cat backwards and into another nearby tree.
"Tsk...Your techniques are utterly maverick!" Big Ears commented, getting back up and lunging at Jibanyan again, performing an X shaped slash with his large claws.
It was a pretty strong impact for Jibanyan, managing to keep his ground by landing on all fours and sliding. His breathing got a bit heavier, seeming to have been weakened a bit by the equally strong cat specter.
"Hang in there, Jibanyan! You can do it!" Natsume encouraged to her feline friend with all her heart.
Jibanyan felt a surge of energy, knowing he couldn't give up now. He focused, feeling his energy surge through him as he stood back up, paws bared as he jumped up, ready to unleash his ultimate attack.
"Hundred Feline Fists!" Jibanyan yelled, unleashing a fury of what looked like one hundred punches at Big Ears, striking at the evil feline.
Finally, once the attack was over, Big Ears didn't seemed to be damaged, but Jibanyan was keeping his cool.
"Useless, useless, useless!" Big Ears called out with a cackle. "Your pathetic little paw attacks! They're no stronger than a mosquito's!"
"You're already defeated," Jibanyan stated calmly without flinching as he pointed to Big Ears.
"W-What!?" Big Ears stated in confusion, only to now feel what felt like one hundred powerful fists pummeling into him all at once.
With such a great force, it seemed a dark aura was cleansed from Big Ears, the evil evaporating into thin air as only a small figure stood in the grass.
"Oi….What tae ol' blimey jus happened?" The small yokai remarked, revealing to be another cat-like yokai, but distinctly different than Jibanyan.
He resembled something like a tuxedo cat, with black fur and large patches of white fur. He had one green eye and one blue eye, long ears, and a single very fluffy tail and a puft of white fur on his chest that looked like a star. He had a simple brown belt with a pouch and from his back were a set of glowing yellow dragonfly-like wings.
"I'm not sure, but you were causing people to burn a lot of things," Akinori informed for the feline cat.
"Burnin' tings ya say!? Tha sorta thing woul'nd fly with Cait Sith!" The mysterious new cat yokai, introduced himself, before taking an eye at Natsume's watch.
"You 'ere!" Cait Sith called out, pointing to Natsume's watch. "Ya got yersel the forbi'dn artifac' I was ask'd to look fer!"
Cait Sith tried to jump up to get the watch, but was unsuccessful as Jibanyan managed to stop him by grabbing the cat's singular tail.
"Just who asked you to look for the artifact?" Jibanyan asked, Cait Sith looking a little less than amused.
"I was ask'd to look fer it by ol' Great Fae Queen Titania hersel!" Cait Sith explained. "But then I got caugh' up inna whole lotta stuff that's kinda fuszy in my ol' mind..."
"I think you were a yokai Pixie spoke of, your wings seem to confirm that," Natsume pointed out, before crouching to the cat's level and gently reaching out her hand. "Do you want me to help you out? I mean, it was pure accident that I even got this watch, I don't know who stole it."
Cait Sith paused for a moment, before reaching out his paw out to the girl's hand in friendship. "I suppose, but it's only because ya don' know who tae actual thief is out 'ere."
Once the two joined hand in hand in friendship, Natsume received the yokai arc for Cait Sith, with one side having him normally and the other showing Big Ears. The group then turned their focus to Jibanyan, namely Akinori and a Whisper who was in hiding.
"So, it seems you have returned," Whisper remarked, glaring a bit at the cat. "Now now, we're old friends and all, but I'm expecting-"
"I'm sorry for how I acted earlier," Jibanyan shot down with an apology. While his tone was rough, it was very honest deep down. "I'm just a cat bound by my own laws and don't want to be reduced to a pair of fists for hire."
Jibanyan then looked over at Natsume, before looking at the other two. "But I didn't even know this girl here was friends with you, so I suppose if you're in a bind, I can give a hand."
On that note, the sun was setting once again, meaning everyone started to get back to their normal evening lives, at least for now. Though watching the fight, there was a shadowy figure, who then retreated back to their base of dark shadows…
Back in the circus tent, the ring leading duo looked even more frustrated and disappointed at their human ally.
"Again!? You had to fail and waste my absolutely precious time and resources!?" Jibunkageki cursed loudly, getting more and more irritated.
"At least I think things were slightly more effective this time," Touma tried to defend himself from the enraged opera singer yokai. Shiki-Sharu looked even more displeased.
"Even if stuff get burned and people questioning how it got burned," Shiki-Sharu began, clenching his fists before getting even louder. "It's still completely ineffective and foolish!"
"Please...don't shout..." Touma asked, Shiki-Sharu getting more and more frustrated.
"I'm not shouting! I'm just raising my voice!" Shiki-Sharu basically shouted as loud as he could. Jibunkageki glared down at Touma.
"One. More. Chance," Jibunkageki warned, her glare getting more and more sinister. "Don't even think about blowing the chance I gave you, or I'll make sure you pay that price in full, no matter what..."