Chapter 4: Barking with the dogs
Morning has arrived, but right before the sun had a moment to rise. The night was having it's final moments of grace as one figure stood within the shadows, something he was familiar with.
"I'm like a shadow, huh..." Touma thought aloud to himself. He knew right now, he had one and final chance left. One last chance to prove himself as worth it to the eyes of the Onimaro Circus. He felt the grip of the kigan gear get a lot stronger, more intense. It felt it was directly connected to him at this point, and wanted him to suffer dearly if he made a wrong move or think about things that weren't about suffering.
Without much more hesitation, Touma took a deep breath and held his last and final arc over the Kigan Gear. The main eye on it focused, before a large shadow began to appear, absorbing the dark and evil arc into the shadows. The being took the form of a large beast, paws as large as a man's hand with large green insectoid wings on their back just giving the slightest bit of illumination to them. Their glaring eyes looked at Touma.
"I'll be the one to serve you..." The bestial being spoke, remaining mostly in the shadows. "Now, let me know what you desire..."
Touma reached out his hand to the giant beast. "Let me work with you, we can be more effective together..."
"Unity is usually a thing reserved for fools..." The beast spoke, before closing their eyes briefly. "But, if you insist..."
The mysterious beast allowed Touma to climb onto their back, the being jumping all through the shadows to avoid the light of the morning sun.
Touma reflected on how this was similar to how he started, and this was likely how he was going to end if he didn't prove himself worth the time and resources to the Onimaro Circus.
Even if there was a small feeling in his heart, he had to shake it off, no matter what. It was all for the sake of the goal of his masters…
With the rising of the morning sun, everything started normal. Natsume got up and went to school, Akinori slept in a bit and then checked to see if there were any sightings, it was all pretty normal.
There wasn't even a new Usuranura post from the looks of things, as the worst of the worst happened after school and Natsume coming to meet with Akinori and co.
"T-The site is down?!" Natsume gasped in shock, Akinori nodding as there was a constant error on the page
"Yeah, and I don't even know what happened..." Akinori commented.
"Do you think it's your internet connection?" Whisper inquired, Akinori pulling up a screen on the computer.
"No, as you can see, it's perfectly fine," Akinori answered, showing the internet was very stable. Junior looked over into the matters.
"How about restarting your computer thingy?" Junior asked, tilting in curiosity.
"I don't think that'll wor-" Akinori tried to say, only for Junior to quickly press the button, causing the screen to go to a solid color and display a text saying that it's restarting.
"Aaaaaaack!" Akinori screamed in horror at Junior's actions. Junior didn't have much to say on the remark, acting pretty innocent about the whole thing.
Thankfully for the group of Yokai Detectives, the computer ended up rebooting pretty quickly, even the browser re-opening to where Akinori left off.
By some miracle by aligning the stars, Usuranura was back online, and there was even a new post!
"See? It worked!" Junior cheered, feeling pretty proud of himself. The group didn't have time to even scold at Junior, they had to see the new post before things went offline suddenly again.
! Important Post Please Read !
Hello, while it shows that this is a post from the admin of Usuranura, I am not actually the admin. U='x '=U"
Anyways, this is an important post, as the head admin of the site has gone missing as of very, very, VERY early this morning! What I remember is there were three loud barks outside, getting louder and louder, and then they were gone!
Everyone, please stay safe! I'll try to keep things updated as best as I can! Wish me luck! U(= ÒㅅÓ=)U
Thank you, the Web Admin.
"So, seems the admin of the site has gone missing?" Natsume thought to herself, before looking over to Akinori. "Do you think we can try contacting the admin?"
"Eeeeh!?" Akinori yelped in shock at the suggestion. "B-But the admin of Usuranura could be literally anyone! A powerful or dangerous person or even yokai! We don't know what we would be getting ourselves into!"
As Akinori continued to panic, stepping away from the computer to list off everything that the admin could be, Natsume quickly got the instant message information for the admin and sent a message.
"Good news!" Natsume said, looking at the instant message info. "We can meet up with the admin at a nearby ice cream parlor!"
"You contacted them and got an answer that fast!?" Akinori questioned loudly, Natsume rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Well, it was worth a try, so let's head on out yeah?" Natsume suggested, the group soon heading out into town to see who was the temporary admin of the site of spiritual sightings…
With a short and brisk walk, the group arrived at the meeting spot of the replacement admin. Though, to the shock of Natsume, it was someone she knew.
"M-Mrs. Suzuki!?" Natsume gasped, surprised to see the teacher here. Akinori looked confused.
"Oh Natsume?" Mrs. Suzuki began, her tone being soft and curious. "Didn't know you had some friends coming along, let alone you were wondering what happened to the Usuranura admin..."
"Who is she?" Akinori asked, Mrs. Suzuki looking at the group.
"She's a special education counselor that transferred to my school recently," Natsume explained. "We met the other day, and she can see yokai on top of that."
"That's correct, something was worrying her and I couldn't help but lend my hand," Mrs. Suzuki opened with, looking pleased. "Though, who are your friends here?"
"I'm Akinori Arihoshi, and this is Whisper and Junior!" Akinori introduced himself, and the two yokai tagging along with them. Mrs. Suzuki gave a gentle smile.
"It's nice to meet you, though I believe I have a small friend who I'd like everyone to meet as well," Mrs. Suzuki responded happily, making a motion with her hand to call someone, or rather something forth.
Making their appearance was the form of a yokai. They took the form of a pure white shiba inu from the looks of it, aside from the blue whisps on their head, front paws, and tail. Their eyes were eternally closed, but that didn't seem to bother them.
"Hmmm yes, what is it?" The dog yokai asked, scratching behind his ear like any other dog would.
"Everyone, this is Komasan of the Omamori tribe," Mrs. Suzuki introduced the dog yokai.
"With a name like Komasan, shouldn't he be more...stubby?" Whisper inquired about the dog yokai. "And say things like Mongee?"
"There's more than one set of Komainu yokai out there, you know," Komasan filled in for Whisper. "Though the ones you've described sound interesting..."
"While he's our household dog, he's usually with my wife who runs Usuranura most of the time, but..." Mrs. Suzuki started to fill in, stopping when she felt a bit fearful about finishing her word.
"But she's gone missing, trying to defend me from a large green beast that was the steed for the grim reaper," Komasan explained, keeping his blank expression but the solemn tone in his words describing things well enough.
"Just where did you encounter this reaper and green beast? A Green Rider if you will?" Akinori asked the dog yokai in hopes to get an answer. Could he even see?
"While it was dark and hard to see, we chased the Green Rider into an old costume company warehouse just outside of town," Komasan explained as best he could. "My master said she could handle trying to face against the Green Rider herself, and told me to run and find help."
"Costume company warehouse? That's odd..." Natsume remarked, thinking in deep thought. "But, even if it's weird, it's definitely the work of a yokai!"
"Right, we'll solve this case and make sure your wife is a-ok, Mrs. Suzuki!" Akinori reassured, Mrs. Suzuki putting her hands to her side and tagging along with the two.
"Well, let's all have Komasan lead the way then," Mrs. Suzuki finished, seeming pretty confident. "I'm going with you all too."
The group seemed shocked that she was tagging along, but it made sense. It was her wife in danger after all.
With the team assembled, everyone followed Komasan, the dog sniffing and leading everyone to the whereabouts of this mysterious warehouse…
The aforementioned costume company warehouse was pretty dark and empty. There were a few boxes of old, unsold stock, and very little lighting to keep the light of the warehouse illuminated.
Contained within a powerful magic barrier in the warehouse was a woman with greyish brown eyes that were filled with mystical energy behind her thin rim glasses. Her very dark blue, nearly black hair was magical heroine lengths. Around her neck was a moonstone magatama and she wore clothing like a miko with a distinct moonlight aura.
It seemed there were several attempts by the woman to try and break out of the warehouse, but she only folded her arms upon seeing her captor.
The ones who seemed to have put her here was a figure in a black cloak that obstructed most of their face, and their ride was a large, shaggy green, wild wolf dog. The wolf dog had piercing red eyes, a very long, coiling tail, and large green insectoid wings.
"Just what do you want from me?" The priestess woman asked, looking irritated at the cloaked figure.
"Do you care?" The cloaked figure asked, their tone cold and monotone. The priestess looked confused.
"About what, exactly?" The priestess seriously asked.
"About anything and everything..." The cloaked figure responded, the priestess looking unamused.
"Of course I care! Who do you think you are, some old cheesy show villain?" The priestess spoke back harshly.
"You dare to insult me?" The cloaked figure asked, unimpressed by the priestess' ability to talk back.
"You're exactly right, bucko," the priestess gave an honest but snarky answer, the cloaked figure giving a small "tsk" in response.
Before the two could keep squabbling against each other, there was a loud crashing sound, the head of the large green beast turning to the source of the sound.
"We're here to save Mrs. Suzuki's wife!" Natsume announced boldly, the other members of her group by her side.
"Cu Sith, take care of these fools," The cloaked figure commanded, the large green beast charging up to the group, fangs being bared.
"You have made a grave mistake, you foolish children!" Cu Sith ferociously barked, focusing on Komasan and Mrs. Suzuki in particular.
"Watch out!" Komasan barked, making sure everyone was able to get out of the way. The white dog stood his ground against the much larger, more frightening dog that even gave Great Danes a run for their money in terms of size.
Komasan attempted to lunge against the mighty Cu Sith, his rarely shown fangs becoming apparent. The snow white hound attempted to nip the shaggier, mangier dog, though it was like soft nibbles to the large beast.
"Is that seriously the best you have?" Cu Sith questioned in a deep, frightening tone. With sheer force, he was able to fling Komasan off. "If so, get lost. There's a reason I'm the reaper's hound dog..."
Flung onto the floor, it seemed Komasan was greatly weakened, but there was more in him. A power was boiling within him, and an utter instinct was brewing as well.
Komasan did the unthinkable, he managed to open his eyes. Upon opening them, he transformed into a much larger, more intimidating dog. The once small swirls on his body became a full on light blue, wispy mane of spiritual energy. His teeth were more glaring and red markings around his face brought attention to his intimidating yellow-green eyes.
"I'll show you!" Komasan barked, making sure Cu Sith he wasn't messing around anymore.
"Then show me!" Cu Sith yelled, seeming to be not phased in the slightest by the transformation of the white dog.
The combative brawl between the two canines continued, Komasan's Shadowside form being a lot more combat capable and prepared. Cu Sith ended up trying to lunge up at Komasan, only for the dog to slide underneath the large jump and grab onto Cu Sith's long and fluffy tail like a chew rope.
"Grrh?" Cu Sith asked, trying to hide the fact the biting of his tail hurt. With a strong running force, Komasan gained momentum and was able to fling Cu Sith into the hard metal ceiling of the warehouse, before a strong power surged in the white dog's heart, one that stemmed from his desire to protect the others.
"Falling Dog Rock!" Komasan barked to announce his finishing move, a large spirit projection of some fangs appearing near Cu Sith, only for a large komainu statue to appear and crash right onto Cu Sith, causing the evil dog to fall back down to the ground with a large crash.
"Cu Sith...your time isn't over..." The cloaked figure stated, seeming to be a bit worried in their tone. They raised up their left arm, and a large wave of dark energy. The dark energy surged onto Cu Sith, causing the dog to get back up and let out three mighty barks.
Such a force was able to knock Komasan back into his lightside form, seeming to be drained. Mrs. Suzuki quickly ran over to the aid of the dog.
"Komasan, are you alright?" Mrs. Suzuki asked, gently holding the dog. Komasan gave a smile.
"I'm okay, don't worry," Komasan reassured as best as he could despite his injuries. "Yokai are a lot harder to beat down..."
Mrs. Suzuki focused her attention over to the mysterious cloaked figure, her eyes looking displeased and shocked.
"How...How could you do such a thing?" Mrs. Suzuki asked, confused about the cloaked figure's actions. "Have such a wild beast go after a much weaker yokai..."
"I'm merely fulfilling my duty..." The cloaked figure responded, Mrs. Suzuki standing up and walked over fiercely, seeming to have gotten to a boiling point.
"What kind of duty of yours involves picking on people weaker than you?" Mrs. Suzuki asked, her tone being serious, but not raising her voice or yelling. She was speaking from her heart, and wanted this cloaked figure to listen to what she had to say. "Hurting others never accomplishes anything, it only destroys and kills, and for what? A moment of self superiority?"
The words Mrs. Suzuki spoke seemed to have struck a cord with the cloaked figure briefly. Something about the woman's words, they were strangely powerful and even kind of...familiar? But how? And more importantly, why?
But such words couldn't cloud up the mind of the cloaked figure. Seeming to sense this, Cu Sith let out another bark that sent Mrs. Suzuki away from the cloaked figure and behind some boxes of old costume stock.
"Mrs. Suzuki!" Natsume gasped in shock, before grabbing something in her pocket and glaring at Cu Sith and the cloaked figure. "You keep hurting our friends, so we'll put an end to you!"
"Claws, fangs, and paws! Let's get wild, my Mononoke friend!" Natsume yelled with all her heart and soul, turning the keyhole in the Elder Watch counterclockwise. "Summoning...Seiya Kyubi!"
Emerging from a shadow behind Natsume was the fox guardian of the Arihoshi family, a Kyubi by the name of Seiya. He appeared in his larger, more feral and fierce Shadowside form, ready to fight.
"Another dog friend of yours?" Cu Sith asked, before focusing his glare even more. "How interesting, even a little pathetic that you keep having to rely so much on others..."
"It's my duty to protect!" Seiya yelled back for an answer, with such a voice it was as strong as the heavens. A large ball of fire began to form over the fox's head. "Now, for hurting those I protect, you'll feel a wrath like no other!"
Flames were hurled at Cu Sith, but the large shaggy dog managed to make a leap to avoid is, managing to stay airborne thanks to his wings.
"Drat…!" Akinori thought to himself, starting to focus some spiritual energy. As the boy charged focus, he got behind Cu Sith and flung a powerful star. "Take this!"
The star hit right onto the back of Cu Sith, causing the ferocious beast to crash right into the flames Seiya had created earlier.
"Alright, Seiya, this is your chance!" Natsume encouraged, the energy from her heart starting to connect with the fox. Seiya began to focus on a powerful energy, like komasan, was stemmed from his desire to protect those that were dear to him…
"Nine Tailed Fire Soul!" Seiya shouted, nine balls of red violet fire appearing around his nine fanciful tails. They each struck Cu Sith one by one, pinning the evil hound further, before promptly exploding into a massive column of spectacular fire.
"Grooooaaaa! No!" Cu Sith howled one last time, before the sheer force of the fire caused all the dark energy from the beast to finally leave.
Witnessing the events nearby, the cloaked figure was close enough to be slightly charred by the flames. He was unable to move by the actions happening to the beast. It caused him to fall down to his knees.
"No...This couldn't have happened..." The cloaked figure asked, shocked to see what happened to his partner.
The figure's partner, after being scorned by the flames, revealed their true, undarkened form. They took the form of a little brown-ish green sheltie looking dog that stood upright and looked rather stubby. The dog had bright green insectoid wings up above his eyes, like neon glowing eyebrows.
"Hey now...It's alright..." The little dog tried to reassure, tugging on the cloak of the larger figure to get his attention.
"No...No it isn't..." The cloaked figure spoke, the tiny dog tugging once more.
"It is okay, since I'm Cu Sith, Omamori Fae yokai extraordinaire, so you don't gotta worry about any weird name changes," Cu Sith, now in his Seelie form, kept reassuring. "I protect people from danger, and I want to protect you."
Though with the last tug, it brought the cloak off of the cloaked figure, revealing that it was none other than Touma. Natsume wasn't shocked, but another certainly was.
Mrs. Suzuki looked over at Touma, surprised he was acting like this. Natsume was right, but she was expecting him to hang around bad crowds, not exactly channel such raw dark energy himself...It was truly heartbreaking to see for the teacher.
Not a word came out of her mouth, just looking off distantly and being truly saddened. Not an angry kind of disappointing, but one that happens only when someone you truly cared about ends up morphing into a different, more horrifying kind of person.
"What happened to you…?" Mrs. Suzuki spoke to herself, trying her best to accept the truth that was in front of her. It was a hard thing to accept, but she had to. Was it easier to just deny it constantly? Yes, but that would be nowhere close to the right thing…
Touma seemed to have sensed just how heartbroken Mrs. Suzuki was, a student of hers having gone down a very dark and dangerous road. First Natsume, now a former teacher...Why were they the only ones that seemed to remember he existed...even if he really couldn't?
Those two people seemed to have remembered him now, but for reasons that seemed bad. They seemed bitter, and disappointed in him...But, one thing was still certain…
"I...I just wanted to win...just this once..." Touma lowly spoke to himself, something strong radiating in his heart.
However, that feeling was soon shot down by a massive jolt of pain, as if to punish him for feeling anything that wasn't constant misery, and to only get the joy out of seeing others suffer.
"Touma?" Natsume asked, wondering what was going through the boy's mind. However, she never got a chance to approach, as a large shadow seemed to have to have formed under Touma, the boy looking worried, before a large hand tried to grab him and take him with it.
"No you won't take him away!" Cu Sith gave a tiny woof, trying to grab onto Touma's right arm as best as his little paws could.
"How dare you, you persistent little pest?" An evil, shadowy voice questioned the dog, surprisingly being in an even matched tug of war with Cu Sith.
Touma, in the middle of all of this, was utterly confused. Was Cu Sith trying to stop him from his inevitable fate? What was going on...It was all rushing through his mind.
"I'm his friend and I'm going to protect him!" Cu Sith said with all his heart. "You won't ever hurt him!"
The shadow didn't say anything in response, instead flinging a jolt of dark energy that forced Cu Sith to let go, the evil shadow disappearing and taking Touma with it. Cu Sith rubbed the paw he was struck on.
"I'm sorry..." Cu Sith quitely spoke to himself, sniffling over the loss of his friend and his minor yet painful injuries.
"Are you okay little guy?" Natsume asked sweetly, turning her head slightly. "I think your name was Cu Sith, right?"
"Yep, I'm sure you heard how I'm an Omamori tribe Fae yokai too, right?" Cu Sith asked, Natsume nodding.
Before long, what sounded like spiritual glass being shattered could be heard, as well as a loud "Oh finally!" as the trapped priestess made herself clear.
"Took that barrier long enough to finally weaken..." The priestess from earlier commented, Mrs. Suzuki's eyes lightening up.
"Shinju!" Mrs. Suzuki happily cheered, jumping up to happily reunite with her wife. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Heh, honestly it wasn't that bad, Mai," Shinju remarked, keeping things a bit more light hearted. "I'll try not to get caught up by giant evil hounds again…!"
"So, I take it you're the admin of Usuranura?" Akinori asked, Shinju snapping her fingers and doing a pose.
"Absolutely, name's Shinju Tsukimori, or just Shinju Mori for short," Shinju introduced herself properly. "Blessed by Kaguyahime and the light of the moon, I help protect folks from danger!"
"Wait, so you're from the Tsukimori family, the other family of yoki magic users?!" Akinori spoke up in shock, Shinju nodding.
"Yep, the other one in these parts is the Arihoshi family, but I take it they're probably a bit reclusive," Shinju commented, only for Akinori to rub the back of his head.
"Well, you're actually looking at the heir of the Arihoshi family right here..." Akinori added in, Shinju looking absolutely shocked.
"What!?" Shinju yelped, being absolutely stunned by that knowledge. "Well, I did see you do some crazy magic, but I thought I was just seeing things..."
Cu Sith waddled in gently to the group, looking a bit nervous. "So...I was one of three Fae yokai captured...Do any of you know what happened to the other two?"
Natsume got out two arcs from her pocket, smiling gently. "Well, let me show you!"
"Double the fun, let's go!" Natsume began, unlocking the watch clockwise and holding up two arcs in front of the open watch. "Summoning Pixie and summoning Cait Sith!"
In moments, the two Fae yokai made their appearance once more, looking over at Cu Sith.
"So you're the Omamori fae yokai I saw, huh?" Pixie commented, smiling gently. "I wasn't expecting such a cute fluffy puppy!"
"I coul beg to differ ere," Cait Sith snarkily said, not seeming to be the biggest fan of dogs naturally.
"Golly goodness, it seems my fellow Fae friends have been saved from the darkness of the Onimaro Circus!" Cu Sith cheered, despite not knowing the other Fae yokai. Everyone just looked completely puzzled.
"Wot in the ol' blimey are you goin' on about?" Cait Sith questioned, perplexed by the dog's answer.
"The Onimaro Circus is the ones that kidnapped up and a larger, greater guardian of the Fae yokai..." Cu Sith explained. "They're the ones who have Touma under their control, and they want to resurrect a great and horrible being it seems..."
"You don't mean...our greatest enemy...do you?" Pixie fearfully asked, Cu Sith nodding.
"Goodness help the ol' queen! They wanna sum'on Nyx!?" Cait Sith gasped in shock, the others looking confused.
"Nyx?" Natsume inquired, hoping she wouldn't regret the answer she was going to get.
"Nyx...is a being combined of many, many negative emotions...It's power is immensely destructive..." Pixie began, shivering in fear as she began to describe the being. "Nobody knows how to defeat it, as Nyx is far too powerful and requires sacrifices to stay at bay..."
"That sounds pretty scary..." Akinori remarked frighteningly. "Do you know where this Onimaro Circus is so we can prevent such a thing from even happening?"
"The Onimaro Circus is in a big tent outside of town," Cu Sith informed, his little ears perking up. "It has a powerful, dark energy, so if you can sense yoki energy it shouldn't be too hard to find."
"So that's what it's called and where it is, huh?" Natsume stated, before looking determined. "I don't know if we can save Touma, but we can at least put an end to that horrifying show!"
Everyone in the group nodded, getting into a circle and putting their hands or paws together to signify unity, before heading on out of the old warehouse. They had to get to the bottom of this evil circus, and stop such a great evil from coming back to light…
However, back in the large tent of the Onimaro Circus, things looked to be going from bad to even worse.
Touma had returned to the base of his operations, but it seemed he was cruelly flung into a wooden display for the circus, as well as evidence of a harsh whip being cracked on his left arm. The grip of the Kigan Gear seemed to have gotten to an absolute painful point, being the upmost levels of unbearable.
"You've used up all three of your chances...and for what!?" Jibunkageki yelled angrily at the boy, her microphone having become a harsh whip from the looks of it. "Can you even do anything right!?"
"My my, Jibunkageki," Shiki-Sharu commented back, seeming to be much calmer yet sinister. "Do you know anything about this boy?"
"Of course not! I only care about how this boy benefits me and only me!" Jibunkageki yelled back, Touma wincing at how loud and harsh the yelling seemed to have gotten at this point...So much started to hurt… "Why did the Onimaro commander have to bring in someone who's broken and good for absolutely nothing!?"
"It's true he's very broken," Shiki-Sharu remarked, something seeming to be a bit off in his tone. "And not just emotionally, but spiritually and mentally. Such a boy is a bottomless pit of problems, his parents research day in and day out on trying to fix such a thing!"
Touma looked shocked at what the monkey yokai was saying. "Is...is that true?"
"Of course it is you broken fool!" Shiki-Sharu announced, jumping down closer to let the boy know his words. "It's precisely and absolutely truthfully why your parents work over at Sakura Motomachi's prestigious DNA research facility! They want to figure out how not to have such an utterly disappointing child in their life!"
The poor blue boy's heart felt broken, shattered. While something was just the slightest bit off from the monkey's words, it hurt. It hurt a lot. He knew from a young age he very much not like other children, socializing and other seemingly basic things being absolutely foreign and confusing to him. So much of the world didn't make sense to him that everyone else seemed to have understood easy…
Touma was just left staring, unable to speak back or say anything. It was true, he was completely broken, and being broken was nothing more than a waste of time and space. He was undoubtedly the living embodiment of actual junk. Trash. Should be disposed of as soon as possible.
"If this hunk of junk is going to do nothing but stare off into space and not even look at the marvel that is me, get him out of my face!" Jibunkageki screamed, angrily stepping towards Touma with her whip in hand. She grabbed a hold of the boy, making quite the dramatic, flying entrance out of the tent. The evil opera singing yokai looked over a nearby but vast lake.
"Now, begone at once!" Jibunkageki yelled, her whip unfurling and Touma being harshly flung into the large body of water bellow...