Chapter 5: Just Friends
"Bye, Clodzilla, Enerfly!" Nate waved to the two departing yo-kai from the front porch of his home.
"Thanks again, Nate!" the clumsy dinosaur-like yo-kai turned back to wave at the boy, almost tripping, but catching himself thanks to Enerfly's inspiritment. "Whoa there!"
"Don't worry, Nathan, I'll have this guy stomping on his own two feet without issue before you know it!" Enerfly called out energetically, following Clodzilla as he kept moving down the street.
Nate smiled as he kept waving to the newly formed duo, before he let out a sigh of relief, "Well, glad that all worked out. Hopefully Enerfly will be able to help Clodzilla out in the long run…"
"Nate, dinner!"
The boy turned back to the house at his mother's call, "Coming!"
The boy rushed back inside to enjoy dinner with his parents, and decided to go to bed early after, knowing that neither Lina or Zoey would be happy if he were sleepy for their 'investigation' tomorrow, and not wanting to know how either of them (particularly Zoey…) would inflict retribution on him if he did show up as such…
The sun soon rose again over Springdale, marking the day of the Ghost Club's camping trip, and next investigation…
"Let's see, do I need anything else…?" Nate scratched his head as he shuffled through his backpack, looking over the various pieces of supplies.
"Flashlight?" Jibanyan popped up at Nate's side, holding the device up.
"Oh, thanks Jibanyan!" Nate smiled, taking the flashlight and placing it in his backpack.
"Nyo problem!" the cat yo-kai gave a thumbs-up.
"Make sure you don't forget anything, Nate, you don't want to give Lina the idea of you being unreliable!" Whisper interjected as he hovered over his master's shoulder.
Nate did not respond to the butler as he looked through the contents of his backpack once more, nodding with a satisfied expression, before zipping it up.
"Nate, I'm talking to you!" Whisper called out with annoyance.
The human boy continued to ignore his butler as he exited the room and made his to the stairs.
"I think I got everything! I'm gonna head off to meet Lina and Zoey now, Mom!" Nate called out as he came down the stairs.
"Alright, Sweetie, have fun," the mother smiled at her son as he approached her position on the coach.
"Yeah… fun," Nate looked unsure, but quickly forced a smile as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure it will be fun."
"You know, it is a bit surprising that you're going camping with Lina and Zoey, I would think if you were going to go camping with anyone, it would be Eddie and Bear," Lily pointed out with a curious look towards her son.
Nate let out a nervous chuckle, "Well, I can't say I was really expecting it either, but I kind of got roped into joining their club, and this camping trip is one of our club activities."
The mother chuckled, standing up from the coach and nodding, "Well, it is nice that you've found something new to be interested in here, even if it's something like a 'ghost club.' And it's good that you're finally reconnecting with Zoey."
Nate blinked with a surprised expression, "Er… yeah, I guess so…" he looked a bit troubled as he glanced at the floor. 'I should really talk to Zoey when I get the chance…'
"Just make sure you don't do anything dangerous while you're out there," the mother's tone turned stern as she looked at her son with serious eyes.
"R-Right!" Nate quickly nodded, his eyes drifting towards the floor as he decided to not mention the true mission of the Ghost Club's little camping trip…
Luckily, Nate's mom did not seem to pick up on his nervousness, "Good, I hope you have fun out there!"
"I'll try," Nate nodded, giving a small sigh.
"And you promise me that you'll be sleeping in a separate tent from Lina and Zoey, right?" the mother spoke with a serious edge to her voice, despite her pleasant smile.
"Yeah, of course!" Nate nodded quickly, his expression turning embarrassed. "But why is that important again…?"
That question had Lily giving her son a deadpan expression, "You don't need to know why, just make sure you're sleeping in separate tents!"
Nate gave a look that was a mixture of curiosity and annoyance, "Wait, why don't I need to know…?"
Lily, however, was having none of it, "Nathan!"
"Okay, okay, I get it… I think," the startled child quickly affirmed, holding up his bag and nodding. "I packed my own tent and everything, see?"
Lily's anger faded and was quickly replaced with a cheery expression, "Good boy! Just remember everything I told you and have a good time out there with your friends!"
"Y-Yeah, of course…" Nate nodded as his mother turned and walked off, the boy still feeling nervous after that burst of anger from his mother.
"Honestly Nate, you should be ashamed!" Whisper chastised as he drifted up behind the boy, crossing his arms.
"… Huh?" Nate blinked, giving his butler a blank look.
Whisper did not seem to pick up on the boy's confusion, "I mean really! Fantasizing about sleeping in the same tent as two girls, have you no decency!"
Nate still looked confused as the yo-kai continued, before gaining an annoyed look, "The idea barely crossed my mind, and what are you even going on about?"
Whisper turned away, keeping his arms crossed, "You're too young to understand why it is inappropriate, just know that it is!"
"I know why it's inappropriate, Whisper!" the boy paused after that statement, glancing down thoughtfully, "Kind of…" he shook his head before glaring at the butler again, "But one thing I do know I'll never understand is you."
Whisper chuckled proudly at his master's words, "Well, I am quite the enigma, young Nathan, so I can hardly blame you for you failing to fully comprehend my greatness!"
Nate just sighed out of annoyance, choosing to ignore the butler as he walked out of the room.
"Hey, Nathan, get back here! I'm not finished!" Whisper called out to his departing master, shaking his fist.
"Come on Whisper, just give it a rest already!" Jibanyan huffed, padding over to the butler. "There's obviously nyothing going on between Nyate and Linya!"
Whisper shook his head/body at the nekomata, giving a few 'tsks' before speaking again, "You only continue to prove your immaturity in emotional matters, Jibanyan."
The nekomata simply hissed at the insult.
Whisper shrugged, "Anyway, regardless of if you can see it or not, something is clearly developing there. It can only be good for Nate to move past his obsession with Katie, and Lina seems like a nice young girl as well! As his butler, I must always lookout for young Nathan's best interests, and that's exactly what I'm doing!"
Jibanyan snorted skeptically as he turned away from the other yo-kai, "Well if you ask me, I think you're just doing it for your own entertainment!"
The yo-kai butler twitched at this accusation, before he glared at the cat yo-kai and raised a finger, "Excuse me!? How dare you insinuate– "
"Bored!" the nekomata interrupted, padding out of the room without even so much as glancing the other yo-kai's way.
"Hey! You get back here and listen to me!" Whisper shouted after the departing cat. "Jibanyan! I'm talking to you!"
"About time you showed up, Adams," Zoey snorted, sending the boy a smirk as he approached their riverside campsite. "I was beginning to think we were going to need to head over to your place and drag you out here!"
Lina frowned at her bespectacled friend, "What are you talking about, Zoey? We just got here a couple minutes ago."
Zoey rolled her eyes and sent a faux-annoyed glare to the other girl, "There you go again, Lina! Ruined another perfect opportunity to guilt trip him into doing more work!"
"Nice to see you too, Zoey," Nate sighed as he walked over to the girls. "You never change, do you?"
Zoey chuckled as she turned back to the boy, "Why mess with perfection?"
Nate blinked, "I refuse to answer that."
"You're getting smarter every day, Adams!" Zoey mock-praised, her smirk widening.
"Not so much smarter, as I'd call it getting wise to your games," Nate sighed, before he quickly realized his mistake and covered his mouth, but it was already too late…
"Hmm… is that so? Well, seems I'll have to up my game!" the bespectacled girl laughed evilly as possibilities danced through her head.
"Well, that doesn't sound good," Whisper commented from behind Nate.
'That's an understatement,' the human boy thought with a side-glance towards his butler, letting out a heavy sigh as he accepted his fate…
"I would like to point out that this line of discussion is not productive towards our current goals," Lina interjected, a light frown on her face as she glanced between Nate and Zoey.
Zoey snorted, "Neither was inviting this guy to join our investigations, but you didn't see me complaining when you decided to do that!"
"You did complain…" Nate muttered, averting his eyes with a small scoff.
"And inviting him was productive towards our goals!" Lina stood firm, frowning as she glared at Zoey. "Or did you forget all our near-encounters during that investigation?"
"We still were never able to conclusively determine if Adams here had anything to do with those," Zoey waved her hand dismissively. "And I still think you only invited him because you like him!"
"Of course I like– "
"And don't even pull that, you know what I meant!" Zoey cut Lina off before she could complete her pre-prepared line.
"Doesn't this feel like beating a dead horse at this point?" Nate muttered under his breath, trying to keep thoughts of finding Lina cute from resurfacing in his mind.
The bespectacled girl snorted, unable to resist the obvious joke, "Well we are the Ghost Club, Adams."
Nate simply groaned, his head dropping, fully aware that he had walked right into that one. 'This is gonna be a long day…'
After the three tents had been fully set up, the three kids took a few steps back to admire their handywork.
"Two tents, up and ready!" Zoey smirked, proudly putting her hands onto her hips. "Now, how are we gonna divide these up? Shall we draw straws to decide who gets a tent to themselves?
"… Zoey, you know I'm the one getting my own tent," Nate pointed out bluntly.
"Hmm, seems kind of presumptuous of you to assume that, isn't it?" Zoey's smirk widened, a mischievous gleam crossing her eyes. "Maybe I want a tent to myself, did you perhaps think of that?"
"… Should we have packed another tent?" Lina put a finger to her chin thoughtfully.
Zoey's smirk turned into a slightly annoyed frown as she turned towards the other girl, "Lina, stop taking all the fun out of teasing!"
Lina looked back at Zoey with a blank expression, "… No."
Nate could not help but release a bit of a laugh at Lina's response, "Good one!"
A tiny smile appeared on Lina's face, "Thank you."
Zoey groaned loudly, "What is wrong with the both of you!? In what way was that a 'good one,' Nathan!? And Lina, why can't you just play along with my teasing for once!?"
"It was a good one though…" Nate mumbled, looking away.
Lina kept smiling at Nate for a few seconds longer, before she turned to respond to her other friend, "I don't play along with your teasing… because I don't want to."
"Aha! I knew you weren't really that clueless! You've been faking this entire time!" Zoey shouted, pointing an accusing finger to the other girl.
Lina's expression became neutral, "… I have no idea what you're talking about."
Zoey's eye twitched, "YOU JUST ADMITTED TO UNDERSTANDING!"
Lina innocently tilted her head, "Did I…?"
Zoey released a low frustrated growl, before sighing, pinching her forehead and calming down, "I know what you're doing, Lina, and I'm not gonna let you get to me; I'm the one in control here."
The tiniest of smirks crept onto Lina's face, "Are you…?"
The frustration on Zoey's face grew, only to suddenly die down as she gave a subtle smirk of her own, "Okay Lina, but mark my words, I will get you back…"
The two girls kept staring at each other silently for several tense moments, before the lone boy of the group decided to interject.
"So, are we gonna check out the hospital yet?" Nate asked, giving a somewhat nervous chuckle as he gestured towards the old building.
Zoey snorted, "Of course not, Adams! It's way too early, even you should know that ghosts are much more active after the sun goes down!"
"Of course," Nate released a defeated sigh as his posture drooped.
"Well, you did already know yo-kai tend to be more active at night," Whisper commented with a shrug.
"Yeah, I was just hoping they didn't think of that," Nate muttered under his breath, sending the spirit a side-glance.
"Who are you talking to?"
Nate jumped in surprise at Lina suddenly being at his side, quickly waving his hands as he turned to her, "N-Nobody, of course! Just mumbling to myself!"
"Hmm…" Lina stared at the boy with apparent suspicion.
Nate started to feel his nerves getting to him as he tried to remain calm under the girl's unseen gaze.
"How many times have they done this nyow…?" Jibanyan lazily commented from his position on the nearby grass, waving a paw around.
"This sort of thing does seem to make up a rather bulky percent of their interactions…" Whisper admitted, crossing his arms with an unsure expression.
Nate felt himself growing less nervous and more annoyed as a result of the background commentary, though internally he had to admit there was some truth to the yo-kais' words, 'I can't just keep getting all nervous and stuttering every time Lina notices me looking at or talking to a yo-kai, if I'm going to be friends with her I need to figure another way to handle this from here on…'
"Nate…?" Lina looked curiously at the boy's calming and thoughtful expression.
"Oh, uh… Lina…?" Nate blinked as he pulled himself back to reality, staring at the blue-haired girl blankly, trying to think of what to say next. "Uh, you see…" 'Maybe I should just tell her about the watch and yo-kai. She's practically the only person to notice when I interact with yo-kai or use the watch, I almost feel like she deserves to know…'
These considerations of Nate's, however brief, were cut short as the third member of the club reminded the other two of her presence. "Seriously, how long are you two planning on just staring into each other's…" Zoey paused, looking between the two, "Well… I wouldn't say 'eyes,' I suppose. You can't even see Lina's eyes! Maybe if she moved her bangs out of the way…"
The black-haired girl reached towards the blue hair of her companion, with Lina responding with a hiss and flailing her arms at her threateningly.
"Well, clearly that's a no-go," Zoey relented as she jumped back, crossing her arms and tapping her foot on the ground. "But really, stop staring at each other and let's actually do something!"
At that moment, Nate recalled that he had made a mental note to at least try and talk to Zoey and clear some of the… 'uneasy' air between them, and maybe this could be a chance to do just that… "Well… what do you feel like doing?"
Zoey gave a confident chuckle as the focus was put onto her, pushing up her glasses with a finger and smirking, "Well I think the answer should be obvious considering where we are…"
The black-haired girl remained in the same position for a few moments, her expression slowly falling as both her companions just kept staring at her blankly.
"… Are you going to finish your sentence?" Lina asked, tilting her head slightly.
Zoey sighed heavily as her posture drooped, her eyes narrowing as she looked between Nate and Lina critically, "… Do you two lose braincells depending on your proximity to each other or something?"
Lina frowned, "That seems unlikely."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Nate muttered, averting his eyes.
Zoey held back a snort of amusement, a smile creeping back onto her face as she shook her head, "Alright, come on, you guys have money, right?"
"Of course," Lina nodded.
"Yeah, and Mom gave me a bit extra," Nate reached into his pocket to make sure he did not forget his money, nodding in confirmation. "So, I'm guessing you want to head up to Shopper's Row?"
Zoey rolled her eyes as she let out another sigh, "Duh! That's like… the only thing we could do around here, aside from just waiting around!"
"Well, I don't know about the only thing, we could catch bugs…"
The bespectacled girl scoffed, turning her nose up as she began marching forward, "What is with you and bugs, Adams? And people think our interest in ghosts is creepy!"
Nate glared at Zoey for that comment, "Hey! Bugs are not creepy!"
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Zoey rolled her eyes, continuing in her stride without looking back at the boy.
Nate gave an annoyed grunt as he kept glaring at Zoey, beginning to walk after her while grumbling to himself.
"I don't think bugs are creepy, Nate," Lina smiled as she walked up beside the boy.
"Thanks…" Nate mumbled in a gloomy tone; his vision still focused on Zoey.
Lina's smile fell at the boy's tone, looking a bit concerned as she glanced from him, to Zoey, and back again.
"Oh dear, Nate's already blowing it," Whisper commented with a heavy sigh.
"Please don't speak," Jibanyan grumbled as he followed the three kids.
"… Well, that was uncalled for," Whisper scoffed to himself, crossing his arms and turning away… before turning back around and quickly floating after the departing group, "Hey! Wait for me!"
Shopper's Row was bustling with people as usual, going in and out of stores, chatting with one another, and simply enjoying themselves.
"So, where should we go anyway?" Nate asked, absentmindedly glancing at the various stores as they passed by, his hands in his pockets.
"Hmm..." Lina gave a slight noise of acknowledgement, looking around curiously.
Nate sighed and shook his head, "What about you, Zoey, what do you think?"
The questioning was only met with silence in response…
"Zoey…?" Nate blinked, looking around for the black-haired girl. "… Where did Zoey go?"
"She's right…" Lina started, but her words trailed off as she looked back to where she thought her bespectacled friend was, only to find nobody there, "Here…?"
Both kids looked around for a moment, trying to spot a trace of the third member of their club within the crowds of people walking by, or perhaps in the window of a store, but she was nowhere to be seen…
"Did… did Zoey ditch us?" Nate asked slowly.
"No, no, Zoey wouldn't– "Lina paused mid-sentence, frowning as she thoughtfully put a finger to her chin. "… Actually, under the right circumstances, that sounds exactly like something Zoey would do…"
"And those circumstances would be?" Nate looked like he already knew the answer to his question before he asked.
Lina sighed as she gave a small shrug, "If she thought it would be funny…"
Nate did not seem surprised, "Of course…"
"Hehe, alright you two, let's see how being 'just friends' works out when you're on your own," Zoey chuckled mischievously as she spied the other two Ghost Club members from around the corner, her phone ready to record.
"Did she make Lina and Nate think she ditched them just to spy on them!?" Whisper gave an incredulous look as he hovered around the oblivious Zoey. "Surely she realizes that is more than a little creepy!"
"You of all yo-kai shouldn't be commenting on that," Jibanyan scoffed as he sat on the ground.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean!?" Whisper looked down at the feline with annoyance.
Jibanyan chose this moment to ignore Whisper, instead pulling out a chocobar to eat.
Lina and Zoey walked by their lonesome through Flower Road, glancing around at the passing stores and people, neither looking entirely sure what to say to the other.
"… So…" Nate started, only for his statement to trail off into nothing.
Lina nodded regardless, "Uh, yeah…"
"Well, uh… Zoey's watching us, right?" Nate pointed out, internally noting the absence of his two yo-kai companions, meaning they had probably joined her…
"Obviously," Lina allowed herself a small chuckle. "Not sure what she thinks is gonna be so entertaining about leaving us on our own."
"I dunno, but we should at least find something to do," the brunette smiled as he took another look around, before he spotted two people he recognized walking among the crowds, "Hey, isn't that…?"
One of the two took notice of the approaching pair, turning and giving a smile. "Hey, Nate, Lina!" Katie called out as she waved.
Nate's face went slightly red as he waved back, "H-Hi Katie…"
"Yeah, hello," Lina spoke politely, her expression turning to a subtle frown as she glanced at Nate's lovestruck expression.
"Ow!" Nate jumped, rubbing his arm and glaring at his blue-haired companion. "Lina, why did you just pinch me!?"
Lina's frown turned unsure as she pulled her hand back, "I… don't know…"
Sarah chuckled a bit as she and Katie walked over to their classmates, while Katie herself looked confused.
"Lina, did you just pinch Nate?" Katie asked with a raised brow.
"Let it go, Katie," Sarah waved a hand, trying to keep herself from letting out another chuckle.
"Nate!?"
The sudden voice alerted the four kids to Bear's presence before he came rushing over.
"Huh, fancy meeting you all here," Eddie laughed as he followed not too far behind his larger friend.
Nate nodded, feeling a little awkward, "Yeah, I guess it is."
Bear, in contrast to Eddie, gave an annoyed look as he pointed at Nate, "Liar!"
Nate blinked in confusion at that sudden exclamation, "Liar…? What exactly did I lie about…?" glancing towards Eddie, he noted the other boy looked just as confused as him.
"You told us you needed to do stuff with Lina and Zoey for your club, but here you are on a date with Lina!" Bear accused with a scoff.
Nate jumped back with a surprised look, before his expression grew frustrated, raising a fist to shake, "Wait, what!? This isn't a date!"
"Zoey was with us, but she ditched us," Lina explained, crossing her arms and giving an annoyed frown. "And us being together here doesn't mean we're on a date. You and Eddie came here together, and yet you are not on a date, are you?"
Both Eddie and Bear looked surprised at the question, blinking and glancing at each other confusedly.
"Well… no, I suppose we're not…" Eddie admitted, scratching his head and sighing.
"But that's different!" Bear spoke up in protest. "We hang out all the time and have for years, you suddenly started showing interest in Nate out of nowhere!"
"It wasn't out of nowhere, I had been observing him for quite a while," Lina countered, oblivious to how that statement did not help her case in the slightest.
Nate froze for a second after those words left the blue-haired girl's mouth, looking at her with a blank expression.
"Oh my," Sarah placed her hand over her mouth, mischievous giggles threatening to escape. "So, what you're saying is that you were Nate's… secret admirer?"
Lina's response was blunt; "No, I was not saying that at all."
The bookworm's teasing grin did not falter, "But you were saying you had been watching Nate secretly, and that you took an interest in him, weren't you?"
"Well, yes I– "Lina stopped herself, shaking her head before frowning at Sarah, "Don't start with trick questions, I deal with Zoey on a daily basis; you'll never be able to pull one over on me!"
"Well, I guess you have a point there," Sarah conceded with a shrug of her shoulders.
Katie let out a small cough, giving a bit of an awkward smile, but speaking her next words in earnest, "Well, I believe you guys, but I still think you would make a cute couple!"
Nate's expression shifted to a grimace as he resisted to urge to scream in despair, shaking his head and exhaling heavily to try and calm himself. "Well, can we all just agree that two friends hanging out together is not automatically a date…?"
"Okay, maybe you have a point there…" Eddie admitted, giving a small shrug of his shoulders.
Bear on the other hand gave a huff, crossing his arms with a suspicious expression, "Well I still don't buy it!"
Nate sighed heavily, "Of course you don't."
"Well, what did you all come here to do?" Lina asked curiously, glancing between the other four kids.
"I'm headed down to Settle In Bookstore, I heard they got some new book series, and I wanted to take a look," Sarah explained kindly, before gesturing to the other girl at her side. "I ran into Katie on the way and invited her to come along."
Katie shrugged with a cheerful smile, "I didn't really have anything else going on."
"You're here for books? Boring!" Bear let out an exaggerated yawn as he stretched his arms.
"Bear," Eddie shook his head in disapproval, though he was clearly holding back the urge to chuckle.
Sarah's eye twitched slightly at the dismissal, "Okay, and what exactly did you guys come down here to do that's oh so much better?" she challenged, giving the two boys a light glare.
"There's a lottery going on right now over by the toy store, and the grand prize is two tickets to Space Wars 3!" Bear exclaimed, pointing further up Flower Road to where the toy shop was located, where it seemed a booth for a lottery had been set up, along with a large cardboard cutout promoting the upcoming movie.
"Space Wars 3…?" Nate's eyes widened a bit.
"The movie where we will supposedly find out Emperor Krill's true identity?" Lina added, looking more subdued than Nate, but still had a noticeable increase in interest.
Eddie nodding, looking a bit guilty, "It's unfortunate that it's only two tickets, and we would have drawn straws with you or something, but… well you were busy…"
"No, I get it," Nate assured, though the look on his face indicated he was at least a little annoyed with not being told.
"Really, a lottery? And you were criticizing us for coming here for books?" Sarah huffed, raising a brow.
"Yes," Bear responded bluntly.
Sarah growled under her breath, shaking her head.
"Hey, Nate, how about we try and win those tickets?" Lina smiled as she looked to the boy at her side. "If one of us wins them, we can go see Space Wars 3 together!"
Nate looked thoughtful at the suggestion, before he also smiled and nodded, "Hey, that's a great idea! Let's win those tickets and go see Space Wars 3!"
"Yeah!" Lina cheered, both her and Nate laughing together, completely oblivious to everyone else around them.
"Uh… guys?" Sarah spoke up after a moment.
Lina and Nate stopped their cheerful moment as they turned their focus back to their friends and saw the odd looks other kids were giving them.
"… What?" Nate's brow rose questioningly.
"You guys insist you're not dating, but you just made plans for what is obviously a date," Eddie pointed out bluntly.
Nate and Lina both stared blankly at the other kids for a couple seconds, before the implications hit them and their faces both took on a red tint as they turned their focus towards the ground.
"W-What, that's not…" Nate struggled to speak as his face burned.
"That was not my intentions when asking…" Lina had less trouble speaking than Nate, but she seemed no less flustered from the implications.
"I mean, you gotta admit, it's a pretty 'date-like' activity," Katie pointed out, looking a bit sympathetically towards the blushing pair.
"Well, I was just offering it because we're friends," Lina pointed out, managing to shake off her flustered state as she gave a firm look.
Seeing Lina able to pull herself out from embarrassment, Nate managed to follow suit, "Y-Yeah, we'll just be going as friends! Going to a movie together doesn't have to be a date you know!"
"Right, we're gonna win those tickets, and go to that movie as friends!" Lina affirmed.
Both Lina and Nate turned to each other and nodded, smiling widely, with the slightest tint of blushing remaining still present on their cheeks, "Right!" the two cheerfully exclaimed in unison, despite all the skeptical looks their friends were still giving them.
"Well, date or not, doesn't matter; 'cause it's gonna be me and Eddie who win those tickets anyway!" Bear exclaimed with a confident fist pump.
"Oh, we'll see about that," Lina looked confident as well as she looked at Bear, before she extended out her arm. "May the best team win."
"We intend to," Bear laughed as he shook Lina's hand.
"Actually, it's statistically unlikely that any of us will win the grand prize," Eddie pointed out.
Bear shot his friend an annoyed look, "You know, sometimes you're just no fun."
Eddie sighed, "Hey, I didn't say I have anything against playing. I'm just being realistic."
"And that is why you two will lose to us," Lina gave a smug smirk.
Eddie gave the blue-haired girl an odd look, "Because I'm realistic?"
"… Yes," Lina's grin widened.
"Well, I don't know about being realistic or anything like that, but what I do know is: I'm winning those tickets!" Bear grinned confidently, before he charged in the direction of the booth.
"Hey! Bear, wait for me!" Eddie called as he chased after the larger boy.
Nate, Lina, Katie and Sarah all shared a laugh as they followed their friends at a slower pace, the group making it to the booth just in time to hear the results of Bear's attempt.
"I won a packet of tissues…" Bear commented, holding up his 'prize' with a blank expression.
"I told you the odds were against us winning," Eddie sighed as he moved up to the booth for his own attempt, which resulted in the same 'prize' as Bear's. "Though… I was still hoping…"
"Well, that figures," Sarah shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess…" Nate muttered, glancing down as he started to get an odd feeling.
"Hey, you think that lottery is rigged?"
"I know it's a lottery, but nobody has gotten anything good from it all day."
Nate blinked as he overheard some of comments from the people passing by, 'Nobody has won anything good from it at all…?'
"Well, my turn now," Lina grinned as she stepped forward, before she paused, feeling a hand on her shoulder.
"Wait, Lina, I uh…" Nate stuttered a bit, holding the girl back a bit. "I… need to go to the bathroom, so could you wait until I get back?"
This excuse got the brunette boy odd looks from all his friends, but despite this Lina nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I'll wait for you to get back," Lina shrugged.
"Thanks!" Nate quickly sped around a corner, before narrowing his eyes and glancing back at the lottery booth. "This may be the work of a yo-kai…" he muttered to himself, pulling up his watch.
"Really, a yo-kai?" Whisper scoffed as he floated up behind Nate.
Nate jumped a bit in surprise, before he glared at Whisper, "And where exactly have you been?"
"Never mind that," the yo-kai butler dismissed. "More importantly, I would like to point out how ridiculous it is to blame yo-kai for people not winning a lottery! It's a lottery, Nathan! The odds are simply against– "
"There it is!" Nate exclaimed, the light of his yo-kai watch revealing a shadow standing beside the booth.
"NO WAY!?" Whisper looked angry at this turn of events. "What is wrong with this town!?"
As the form of shadow became more visible it took the form of a bronze-colored castle-like creature, with a mustache, and holding a flag with three lines written on it.
"Whisper, who is that guy?" Nate looked to the butler for answers, snapping him out of his moment of outrage.
"Oh! Uh, that fella would be, uh…" Whisper quickly turned away as he hastily searched with his yo-kai pad, before quickly turning back and pointing at the bronze spirit, "Aha! That yo-kai is Castelius III!"
Touch Tribe: Castelius III
"Castelius… the third…?" Nate rose a brow at the name.
"Yes, 'the third!' Here, take a look!" Whisper turned his yo-kai pad to the human boy, showing him an image of the offending yo-kai, showcased alongside three more similar yo-kai of differing colors: silver, gold, and platinum.
Nate found himself staring blankly at the images for a couple of seconds, "… I don't get it? They're… different colors?"
"Look closer! Notice anything else...?" Whisper moved the image closer, his eyes motioning to the flags each Castelius was holding.
'Huh…?' Nate's eyes were drawn towards where Whisper's were looking, as he took notice of the lines on each flag, 'Three, two, one, infinite…' "Oh!" the boy's eyes lit up with realization "It's like the rarity of color variants for Yolo Watch figures!"
"Are you being serious right now…?" Whisper gave his human companion an unimpressed look.
"Whisper, I'm eleven," Nate pointed out, as if that justified everything.
"Right…" the yo-kai butler gave a small cough before turning his focus back to his yo-kai pad. "The Castelius line are meddlers of a particularly annoying degree, making all competitions meaningless as they arbitrarily decide who wins and who loses!"
Nate blinked, "Meaning…?"
Whisper sighed, "It means that as long as that guy is sticking by that table, nobody here has any chance of winning anything better than a third-rate prize!"
Nate blinked again, before his eyes widened, "We gotta get rid of that guy, or else I've got no shot at going to the movies with Lina!"
Whisper gave the boy a smug look.
Nate looked back at his butler with a raised brow, before it hit him what he had just said and his face flushed pink, "I-I mean, because I want to see the new Space Wars movie! N-not because I want to go with Lina, specifically, as friends might I add!"
Whisper's smug look did not falter as he nodded to the boy's words, "Right, of course that's why you're so worked up all of a sudden."
Nate twitched slightly, his blush deepening as he glared at the smirking spirit, "… Shut up!"
Reaching into his pocket, Nate dug around a bit before pulling out a yo-kai medal depicting a blue dinosaur-like yo-kai.
Whisper's eyes widened in response to the choice, "Wait a minute, you're going to call that clumsy brute here!? He'll just end up causing a huge commotion!"
Nate did not falter, "Maybe if he were alone." With a smirk the boy parted his fingers, revealing himself to be holding not one but two medals. "Come on out my friends! Calling Clodzilla! Enerfly! Yo-kai medals do your thing!"
In a burst of music, the two yo-kai Nate had sent off just this morning now stood/fluttered before him once more.
"Oh, hey Nate!" Clodzilla greeted cheerfully as soon as his eyes met the boy's.
"You need something?" Enerfly inquired as he flew around his reptilian companion's head. "A bit surprised to see you again so soon, I haven't quite gotten this guy to be able to handle being on his own yet."
"Well, I'd say you've already been a huge help," Clodzilla chuckled at the butterfly-like yo-kai before turning his focus back to the human, "What do you need Nate? If there's any way for me to help you, I won't hesitate!"
Nate awkwardly smiled back at the duo, "Yeah, sorry about calling you guys so suddenly, but I ran into a bit of an issue and you guys were the first that popped into my head."
"Again, it's no problem!" Clodzilla insisted with a huge grin. "So, what's causing you trouble?"
"That guy," Nate quickly pointed towards the bronze yo-kai by the table. "He's making it impossible for anyone to get anything other than duds from that lottery!"
Clodzilla and Enerfly both looked over at the enemy yo-kai, at which the butterfly-like yo-kai let out a laugh, "Oh, him?"
"You know him?" Clodzilla gave a questioning look.
"You could say that," Enerfly answered ambiguously, before turning back to Nate, "Don't worry, we'll have that guy out of here in no time!"
Nate nodded in thanks as the two yo-kai began to approach Castelius III, before he glanced over at Whisper again and raised a brow, "Hey, Whisper, where's Jibanyan anyway?"
"Jibanyan? Oh, you know… around," Whisper waved his hand dismissively before shrugging.
Nate kept his brow raised at that answer, before he shrugged as well, "Eh, he'll turn up I guess, can't have gone far…"
"Ah, that was great," Jibanyan sighed in satisfaction as he tossed a wrapper into a nearby trashcan. "Nothing like a chocobar to get you through the day, huh Nyate?"
After a second of silence, the cat yo-kai looked around with a blank expression, finding his surroundings to be an empty alleyway lacking any sign of his human friend, "… Where am I?"
"Psst, hey, cat…"
Jibanyan blinked at the sudden voice, looking further down the alley to see what appeared to be a human man in a black trench coat and sunglasses. The feline yo-kai looked to his left and right for any other 'cat' the man could be referring to, before pointing to himself questioningly.
"Yeah, you," the man nodded, giving a mysterious smirk. "Do you perhaps have any interest in… Exporbs?"
Jibanyan's ears twitched in confusion, "What's an Expor– "the cat yo-kai's words were cut short, his eyes going wide as the man opened his coat to reveal the many marble-like orbs of varying sizes and colors that lined the inside of it, "Shiny…"
"… I'm sure he'll turn up," Nate muttered.
"Why did you say that again?" Whisper looked at his master with a slightly raised brow.
Nate blinked, "… I'm not sure."
The sound of a metal clang hitting the ground jolted Nate out of his thought, and he turned to see a swirly-eyed Castelius III on the ground.
"What the!?" the human boy gawked at the sight.
"Well, that was fast," Whisper commented, scratching his head. "Then again, Clodzilla is an S-Rank, and he's backed by Enerfly…"
"Yeah, that guy won't be giving you any trouble for quite a while, Nate!" Clodzilla grinned as he stomped back over to the stunned human, Enerfly not far behind.
"Did… Did you even try to talk to him before you beat him up…?" Nate asked, glancing over the bronze yo-kai with visible concern.
"… Talk to him?" Clodzilla tilted his head.
"What good would that do? Since when can you talk a yo-kai out of inspiriting?" Enerfly huffed with a mid-air twirl.
"I… I mean, that's true most of the time, I guess," Nate muttered with a thoughtful look, before shaking his head, "But still, we should have at least given him a chance to tell his side of the story…"
"So, you want my story, huh?"
The three yo-kai and one human all blinked at the sudden voice, looking down to see Castelius III staring up at them with wide eyes.
"AH! ZOMBIE!" Enerfly buzzed erratically, doing a few flips in the air.
"I'm… pretty sure that's not how it works…" Clodzilla mumbled, tapping his small arms together awkwardly.
"I am Castelius III" the bronze yo-kai floated up, as if he had never been injured at all. "That's Castelius III, you hear? Not Castelius II! Not Castelius I! And certainly not Castelius Max!" as the Castelius said this, he held out the appropriate number of fingers with each number mentioned.
"Uh… okay," Nate glanced away from the castle-like yo-kai, looking unsure of how to respond, "So… why were you – "
"They don't respect me! None of them do! What's so wrong with bronze!? Third place is still pretty good you know!" Castelius III suddenly started yelling, shaking his flag around in fury.
"Uh…" Nate glanced at Whisper for help, but the yo-kai butler could only shrug in response.
"So is that why you were inspiriting the lottery and ruining Nate's date?" Clodzilla gave a puzzled look.
"I did what now?" Castelius III gave a just as puzzled look back.
"It's not a date!" Nate snapped, stomping his foot on the ground.
The Castelius ignored the human's outburst, doing a stretch as he looked up at the sky, "Hmm, how long have I been out here? I should probably get back home; the others are probably worried about me."
Nate stopped stomping his foot on the ground, giving a confused look at the yo-kai, "But– " he was interrupted by a medal being flipped towards him and into his hand.
"Thanks for listening, kid, I gotta get home before my brothers drink all the coffee milks!" Castelius III stated, floating up into the sky and flying off without another word.
"Huh…?" Nate glanced between the Castelius III medal in his hand, and the sky the yo-kai had disappeared into it, looking unsure about what he should think about anything that had just happened.
"Don't mention it, Nate!" Clodzilla chuckled as he and Enerfly began to leave.
"Yeah, don't mind us, go on back to your date!" Enerfly buzzed with a quick twirl.
"It's not a– "Nate paused before finishing his rebuttal, shaking his head and letting out a tired sigh, "Thanks guys."
After the two yo-kai departed, Nate was quick to rush back to where his friends were still waiting nearby.
"Hey, uh, I'm back!" Nate called out as he ran back over to the group.
"Finally! I was getting really sick of standing here!" Sarah complained, crossing her arms.
"We didn't need to stay here," Katie pointed out with an awkward smile and a sweatdrop.
Lina just grinned at Nate knowingly, "So, I presume everything has been taken care of?"
Nate slightly stiffened at the girl's tone, "Uh, well… I…"
Lina let out a small giggle as she started walking towards the booth, "Wish me luck, tee-hee!"
Nate let out a sigh as his tension eased, "Well, now Lina may at least have a shot…"
"Your friend said it best himself: even without yo-kai interference, statistically it is very unlikely that either of you will be the winner of the grand prize," Whisper stated in plain tone, shrugging.
"We have a winner" the man running the booth suddenly announced, ringing his bell excitedly.
"Huh, I didn't think I would actually win," Lina smiled, turning to look at Nate with pride.
"I can't believe she actually won!" Bear cried out in shock.
"It was always a possibility, however unlikely," Eddie shrugged, trying to hide his own disappointment and shock.
Nate glanced at the other two boys with sympathy, he could not help but wonder if one of them would have won the tickets if he had noticed the interfering yo-kai before their attempts…
"You don't intend to back out of our deal now, do you Nate?"
Lina's teasing voice brought the boy out of his thoughts, as he turned to see her grinning at him as she held up the tickets with triumph.
Nate released an awkward fake cough, before he smiled and nodded his head, "Of course not, we're definitely seeing that movie!"
"They are so obviously setting up a date," Sarah whispered to Katie.
"That's for them to decide," Katie whispered back, a little bit of a giggle in her voice.
After talking for a little bit more, the other two duos bid their goodbyes to Nate and Lina and went on their ways. Lina and Nate were about to move on themselves, when they were interrupted by the sounds of clapping and familiar laughter…
"Bravo! That was great, a bit slow at the start, but I can't say I didn't get any entertainment out of it!"
Both Nate and Lina glared at their laughing friend.
"So glad you could get so much entertainment out of watching us, Zoey," Lina spoke with a sarcastic edge to her voice, huffing and crossing her arms.
Nate chose to be a bit more direct about his displeasure, "It wasn't cool of you to just ditch us like that, Zoey!"
Zoey waved her hand with a dismissive snort, "What? I didn't ditch you two, I just gave you the alone time you obviously needed."
"While you watched us?" Nate's brow furrowed skeptically.
"Yup!" Zoey smirked at the boy's annoyed look, "Hey, there isn't any reason to get so worked up over this, besides; if I hadn't left you two alone, you never would have gotten those tickets you wanted, along with another chance for you to spend time together!"
"Ah yes, more assumptions about us being romantically involved," Lina huffed, crossing her arms. "You know, it almost feels like you have entirely forgotten about the mission of the Ghost Club…"
"Haven't forgotten, I'm just going with the flow," Zoey shrugged. "Besides, you're the one who started this, Lina."
"What I 'started' was an investigation you clearly refused to take seriously, whatever it turned into after that point you can blame on yourself," Lina shrugged back as a smirk came to her face.
Zoey grumbled under her breath, lightly glaring at her friend.
"Look, I don't think who 'started this' is really important at this point," Nate spoke up, turning the two girls' attention towards him. "I don't know about you two, but I think I'd rather go get something to eat, rather than standing here arguing."
Both Lina and Zoey stared at Nate for a moment, before their stomachs suddenly growled, bringing the realization of how hungry they both were.
"… I suppose food does sound good right about now," Lina admitted with a little giggle.
"Sun Pavilion's right over there, Chinese food okay with you guys?" Zoey suggested, gesturing to the restaurant a bit down Flower Road from them.
"Fine with me," Nate shrugged.
"No complaints here," Lina nodded, before the trio began to make their way towards the restaurant.
"Make sure to sneak me some food while we're there!" Jibanyan chimed as he popped up behind Nate.
"Where have you been?" Nate asked as he looked down at the feline yo-kai.
"… Oh, nyowhere," Jibanyan shrugged, before a small blue orb fell out of his pouch, which he quickly grabbed and hid behind his back, his eyes shifting back and forth.
Nate gave the nekomata a strange look, before shrugging. Noting that she had already entered the restaurant, Nate was about to follow Zoey, when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, the boy let out a small sigh before he turned, "What is it Lina…?"
The blue-haired girl had a stern frown as she stared at the boy, "I know that something supernatural was interfering with the lottery, but you stopped it, didn't you?"
Nate let out a small cough, before calmly averted his eyes, "Lina, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Lina pouted at the continued denial, before she stared at the boy for a couple seconds, her expression slowly changed into a thoughtful look, and she let out a sigh of defeat, "… Fine."
Nate blinked in surprise as he looked back at the girl, "Wait, fine…?"
"Yeah, you clearly don't want to talk about it, and no amount of me prodding you has gotten any results, so fine," Lina shrugged. "I'll drop the topic."
"… Thank you, Lina," Nate smiled.
Lina smiled back, before her expression suddenly turned serious, "Just promise me one thing, Nate."
The boy felt a light chill go up his spine at the way the girl looked at him, "Uh… what's that, Lina…?"
The blue-haired girl let out a small cough, looking down as her face took on a slight shade of pink, "If… whatever this is… if it becomes too much for you alone, if… if you're ever in danger, that you'll tell me… that you'll let me help you…"
Nate stared at the blue-haired girl with a surprised expression, unsure of how to respond to her words, "W-What? I, uh…"
"You don't need to promise if you don't want to," Lina quickly stated, waving her hands a bit and looking down as her face turned bright red. "I just… uh… you know, we're friends, I want to help you…"
"Well do you believe me now?!" Whisper gestured towards Lina while glaring at Jibanyan.
"I don't knyow what you want from me," the nekomata responded in a deadpan tone.
Nate gave the yo-kai interaction a side-glance, before turning his focus back to Lina, he looked thoughtful for a few moments, until a smile came to his face, "… Okay Lina, I promise."
Lina smiled back, her face still bright red, a color Nate's was starting to match as they silently stared at each other…
"Hello, are you two coming in or what!?" Zoey suddenly exclaimed, popping her head out from the restaurant's door and glaring at her two startled friends. "You can flirt later, get food right now!"
"We weren't flirting!" Nate snapped, quickly shaking the red from his face as he stormed by Zoey and into the restaurant.
"Oh yeah, I definitely believe that," Zoey snarked as she followed the boy.
Lina remained in the same spot for a few moments, her mouth shaped into a thin frown as she couldn't help but feel disappointed with the interruption.
"Hey! Lina, are you coming or what?" Zoey poked her head out the door once more, giving the other girl a strange look.
"Huh…? Oh, yeah, coming," Lina nodded, shaking her head and heading into the building.
Okay, done! Finally!
I have absolutely no idea why this chapter took so long to finish, it has been nearly done for months, but for some reason I could not finish the last few scenes, I'm not even entirely sure I'm satisfied with it as it is now, but this has been getting too ridiculous.
Next chapter we should be going to Nocturne Hospital, hopefully I won't have as much trouble with that. I have a better idea of how that chapter is going to go than I did with this one at least.