Well here's the second chapter of this story, heavily based on the first Quest in Yo-kai Watch 2's Ghost Club quest-line, though not a direct recreation, of course.
Remember; Yo-kai Watch is property of Level 5.
Chapter 2: Creeping in the Night
Nate gave a pained sigh as he flopped onto his bed, having retreated to his room in attempt to get away from the horrible conversation his mom was having on the phone with Lina's mom; gushing about how 'cute' the idea of their children's 'date' was, while also crying about them 'growing up so fast…'
One misheard comment, along with a bit of a fumble on the explanation, and all hopes for his mom to veto the creepy girl's little investigation invite were thrown out the window, and if that wasn't bad enough; now his mom thought he had a crush on Lina!
"I don't know how this could get any worse," the young yo-kai watch user moaned, turning over onto his stomach and stuffing his face into his pillow.
Jibanyan, his ever-loyal feline companion, of course knew the perfect response to that comment, "Well; Katie could find out, and show complete support towards the idea of you and Lina together!"
"Please don't give my nightmares ideas," Nate muttered darkly, peeking up from his pillow and glaring at the nekomata.
The ever-unhelpful yo-kai butler decided at that moment to interject, floating over his master with a disappointed look, "Really Nate, this girl worked up the courage to ask you out, the least you could do is give her a chance!"
Nate's glare worsened as he looked up at the ghost, his words coming out as a seething hiss, "It. Is. Not. A. Date."
"Yeah, I'm not sure I buy it either, Whisper," Jibanyan raised a paw while sitting on the floor. "It's kind of hard to believe that any girl would ask Nyate out on a date."
Nate growled ever so quietly into his pillow.
"Jibanyan, I can tell you that I had a hard time believing it myself, and I was there! But I can assure you that it's the truth!" Whisper spoke confidently as he floated down to the cat yo-kai's side. "There is in fact a young lady whom is showing interest in our Nate here!"
Nate's growling grew slightly louder.
"Nya… nyot buying it! Unless this girl who 'asked him out' is crazy, is she crazy Nyate?"
"Alright, that's enough!" Nate finally snapped, pulling him up from his bed and looking at the two yo-kai with a scalding glare, before he jumped up from the bed and marched passed the stunned yo-kai and out of towards the door. "I'm going back downstairs; I'd rather listen to mom's embarrassing talk about this not-date than you two insulting me!" and with a loud *slam!* of the door, the human boy was gone.
Whisper and Jibanyan both stood in silence, staring at the door, both looking a bit unsure of how to respond to what had just occurred.
The closet door slid open, revealing a curious Hidabat, peeking out of the darkness with nervous eyes, "Er… I'm sorry, but what's going on…?"
Neither of the other yo-kai could bring themselves to give an answer.
"I can't believe you went and invited Nate to join us in our investigation, without first discussing it with me," Zoey grunted, both she and Lina standing at the front of the school, looking up at the night sky. They would have already gone in if it were just the two of them, but now they had to wait for their third…
"I said I would bring the evidence to convince you of my theories tonight, didn't I?" Lina pointed out, giving a cheeky grin as she looked her friend's way. "What better evidence than to bring the man himself to an actual paranormal investigation?"
Zoey rolled her eyes, "Okay, first of all; I'd be hard pressed to call Nate a 'man,' aside from maybe in your fantasies."
Lina grin gave way to a confused frown at those words from her companion.
"And second of all," Zoey continued, raising her index finger, before pointing at Lina. "While I respect the idea of putting your hypothesis to the test out in the field, I also don't like the idea of some clueless boy ruining our carefully planned out ghost hunt."
"Why are you being so negative? I'm sure Nate will make our ghost hunt most interesting…" Lina insisted, her visage changing to a mysterious smile as she looked up at the glittering stars, before she looked at her still-frowning friend again. "On second thought, keep up the negativity; it might attract more spirits…"
Zoey scoffed, looking away with a huff.
It was a few minutes longer of silence between the two girls, before the third to their team for this investigation showed up, walking up to them with an unsure look.
Lina took immediate note of Nate's appearance, turning to the boy with a friendly, yet eerie, smile, "Ah, Nate, I'm glad you were able to make it."
"Well… you really didn't seem to want to take 'no' for an answer…" the boy muttered while scratching the back of his head, looking like he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be there.
"Many men find assertiveness to be an attractive trait in a potential partner, maybe that's just your type, Nate?" Whisper smiled, floating behind the boy, unseen by the two girls.
Nate did his best to ignore his yo-kai butler, and his continued insistence that this was a date, even though Zoey was also there…
"Yes, so nice of you to join us, Nathan, you're late," Zoey stated, giving the boy a critical look, and a dangerous grin.
"Er… sorry about that," Nate waved nervously, "It was kind of hard to convince my mom not to… come in with me…" the yo-kai watch user glanced back over at the school gate… where his mom still stood, waving at him.
"Is it too scary, Sweetie!? Do you need me to come with you after all!?" the adult woman looked ready to rush over at a moment's notice.
Nate's face burned with embarrassment, waving back at his mom and calling out to her, "No thanks, mom, I can still handle it!"
Luckily the eager mother calmed down, though she still looked ready to jump in at the slightest provocation.
Nate sighed, lowering his head as he heard a bit of chuckling from Lina and Zoey.
"Well… that will certainly cost you some points," Whisper pointed out with a blank look, before shrugging, "But, moms will be moms, might as well get her embarrassing you in front of your new girlfriend out of the way now."
Nate still refused to regard the yo-kai butler's comments, especially since he knew it would only make him look more foolish than he already did in front of the two girls.
Lina's bit of chuckling calmed down, before she reached over and placed an sympathetic hand on the boy's shoulder, "It's understandable, Nate, it takes a lot to convince my mom not to follow me in our investigations too," Lina assured with a calm smile, nodding to the boy. "Though I will say, I didn't expect our moms to hit it off so well, they sure talked for a while…"
"Yeah… they did…" Nate muttered, glancing away in embarrassment, remembering how much his mom was gushing about his 'first date' while talking to Lina's mom on the phone…
"I don't know what you two are talking about," Zoey waved off the two, giving a smug grin, "My parents know I can handle this on my own, they don't even follow me here!"
Nate looked surprised by that statement, 'Do Zoey's parents let her walk home alone this late…?'
Lina, however, looked unimpressed with Zoey's brag, and was quick to debunk Nate's thoughts, "That's because they know my mom well, and trust her to get you home safe and sound…" a small smirk snaked its way onto the blue-haired girl's face, "Plus, there's that whole, 'safety check' they always make you go through making sure you remember all their safety rules, and have your spare glasses on you, and– "
"Alright, you've made your point, Lina!" a thoroughly embarrassed Zoey interrupted, looking away to hide her red face. "No need to throw me under the bus to impress a guy!"
"It wasn't to impress him," Lina countered in a blunt tone, before she gestured to the school, "Come, we may have permission to investigate the school, but we still need the security guard to let us in."
Nate gave Zoey a questioning look, she didn't say anything and just followed Lina as they walked around to the side of the school, where the staff entrance was. Nate sighed before following as well.
After knocking on the door, the security guard had let the group of children into the building, and the teacher's lounge, once Lina had shown her note from the principal that they were allowed to do their investigation for the Ghost Club.
"So, I'll be here for most of the time you're doing your little 'investigation,'" the light-brown haired young woman gave a friendly smile as she looked at the children, chuckling a bit, "Just remember to be safe, and that I'll be here to help if something happens."
"Don't worry, I assure you that we know what we're doing," Lina spoke in a professional tone, which just had the guard chuckling and muttering something about her being 'cute.'
"So, the principal is really okay with us rummaging around the school at night to look for ghosts?" Nate questioned with a skeptical expression.
"We're not just 'rummaging around' Nate, we know what we're doing," Zoey countered with a slight glare.
"Indeed, it was known ahead of time that we would be doing this, we have a list of areas we're allowed to examine along with our note of permission," Lina explained, holding the note from the principal, "Hopefully, with you here, there will be some… interesting results, tee-hee!"
Nate looked a bit uncomfortable at that comment from Lina.
Zoey rolled her eyes, before she glanced towards the security guard, looking at her for a moment with a strange expression, before something seemed to click for her, "Hey, wait… aren't you one of the girls from that maid café in Sparkopolis…?" Zoey questioned with a blank look.
"Huh…" Nate looked baffled at that accusation.
Lina put a finger to her chin, humming a bit, "Yeah… I see it! 'Cindy,' right?"
'Cindy' sweardropped, chuckling a bit more, "Well, yes, but that's just a part-time job… being a security guard, and keeping this school safe, is my main career."
Nate still seemed confused, "That's… an odd part-time job for a security guard to have, isn't it…?"
"Some might say that, but I find enjoyment in both of my jobs," Cindy assured with a good-natured smile. "But enough about me, don't you have that 'ghost hunt' to get to?"
"A yes, we mustn't get side-tracked, even if we just discovered our school's security guard is a celebrity," Lina spoke seriously, with Zoey nodding in agreement.
"Celebrity…?" both Nate and Cindy questioned with baffled expressions.
"Come, Nate, we must get going!" Lina insisted, motioning towards the exit of the room.
Nate sighed, muttering to himself, "Well… I can only hope this doesn't end up being a huge mess of yo-kai hauntings…"
"Don't worry Nate, I assure you there is no yo-kai that would ruin your date," Whisper assured his master, patting his back.
Nate twitched, growling a bit towards Whisper, "It's not a date," shaking his head, the boy began moving to follow the girls.
As Nate spoke to Whisper, Lina stared at him, a small smile on her face, before she slinked into the hallway before he could notice her.
The kids were walking down the hall, Lina and Zoey a bit ahead of Nate, whom seemed to be purposely lagging behind.
"You just couldn't resist asking out your new boyfriend on the same night as our investigation," Zoey snarked to Lina with a slight chuckle.
Lina gave her fellow investigator a confused frown, "'Boyfriend…?' What are you talking about Zoey? I never said anything about Nate being my boyfriend."
"… Yeah, I should've known that one would fly over your head," Zoey gave a disappointed sigh while shaking her head.
Lina kept her confused look as she continued to stare at the other girl, before a gasp from Nate caught her attention, and she and Zoey both moved over to the boy's location.
Nate was on one knee, rubbing it with a grunt, before he noticed a hand being offered to him by Lina, which he gratefully took and stood back up. "Thanks…"
"No problem, so what happened? Did you see something?" Lina questioned, looking around with a bit of excitement, thinking her plan was already working.
"Yeah, did you…?" Zoey looked around with a suspicious eye, before focusing on the boy.
"Um… no, I just… tripped on something," Nate didn't seem particularly sure of his answer, glancing down at the ground with slightly narrowed eyes.
Both Lina and Zoey looked at the ground as well.
"Nate… there's nothing to trip on there," Lina pointed out, noticeable interest in her tone.
"Really, well…" Nate briefly looked at the spot on the ground again, before sheepishly chuckling, "Well… maybe I'm just a bit clumsy, it is dark after all…"
Zoey gave mischievous chuckle of her own, patting Nate on the shoulder as she walked by him, "Well, this is your first investigation, so getting a little jittery does make sense, just try not to trip us up too much." Zoey let out another laugh as she continued walking through the hall.
Lina stared at Nate for a moment, the hair covering her eyes preventing an accurate read of her emotions.
Nate did his best to smile, sweating a bit from how the spooky girl seemed to be staring into his soul.
Finally, Lina nodded, her frown of suspicion returning to a pleasant smile, "Let's not keep Zoey waiting, Nate, tee-hee!" with a slight motion for the boy to follow, Lina continued down the hall.
Nate watched the two girls walking ahead, letting out a subtle sigh of relief, before glancing back at the spot where he had trip, his eyes turning suspicious, before he shined the light of his yo-kai watch onto the spot.
The boy stiffened when what became visible was no yo-kai, but a series of threads… threads that heavily resembled spider webbing, and they seemed to spread out further from that spot where he had just happened to trip on them.
Becoming aware of them now, Nate looked around, feeling his mood drop as he noticed how much of the school had this strange webbing spread throughout it, creeping up walls, spread across the floors, wrapped around doors…
'None of this has ever been here during the day…' Nate thought, letting out a nervous gulp, he was about to turn to Whisper for potential answers, when he suddenly heard a creek.
"Play…"
"W-Whisper… did you hear that…?" Nate asked as he turned to his yo-kai butler, his body shaking.
"Play with me…"
"Hm, Nate, did you say something?" Whisper questioned, looking up from his yo-kai pad, apparently having not heard the creepy voice that had crept itself into his master's ears moments before. Before Nate could give any response, the ghost took a good look around, and gave a yelp of surprise and distress at the sight of the webbing that had snaked its way all over the school. "Good heavens! What is this disgusting mess!?" Whisper did a twirl, before he produced a broom and dustpan from seemingly nowhere, a determined look on his face, "As a butler I simply cannot allow the building where my master is to receive his education to remain in this state! It's simply unacceptable!"
"Whisper…" Nate groaned, watching as his yo-kai butler went to work, attempting to sweep up some of the webbing, the idea of questioning him about what yo-kai could be responsible for this now lost on Nate.
Suddenly, a high pitch scream echoed through the halls, startling both Nate and Whisper. It was a different voice than the creepy one the boy had heard moments before, this one sounded more feminine, and frightened…
Nate's face paled, "The girls!" he exclaimed with worry, quickly rushing in the direction that Lina and Zoey had gone, hoping that the two hadn't been caught by some sort of horrifying yo-kai…
"Nate, wait up!" Whisper called out, reluctantly abandoning his mission to clean up the school to chase the boy.
Unknown to the boy, with each step he took, small sparks were made in the webbing that coated the floor. Traveling along the threads' trails, the sparks made their way up the stairs, eventually making their way to the third floor's girls' bathroom.
A sinister chuckle echoed through the halls, the door of the bathroom creaking open, two large glowing eyes shining in the darkness.
"Play… Play with me little children… Forever and ever…"
Nate continued down the hall in a panic, turning towards the nurse's office, pulling the door open as quickly as possible before jumping into the room. "Lina, Zoey, are you two alright!?"
The two girls looked over at him blankly, Lina looking at one of the beds, while Zoey was examining the scale in the corner of the room.
"Well, look who decided to catch up," Zoey shook her head as she gestured to the boy, smirking a bit with a chuckle. "What's wrong, get cold feet?"
"I… uh…?" Nate blinked, looking between the two girls, neither seemed the least bit bothered. 'But… than who screamed…?'
"Nate wait up…" Whisper gave a gasp for breath as he caught up, placing a hand onto the doorway and attempting to catch his breath.
"Nate, what took you so long?" Lina asked with a small frown, crossing her arms as she looked over the boy. "I gave the indication for you to follow, didn't I?"
"This is what you get for randomly brining amateurs into a professional investigation, Lina," Zoey scoffed as she looked over the scale with a critical eye. "If you wanted to impress him so badly, you could've thought of a way to do that without compromising this investigation."
Lina glanced over at Zoey, "Impress…? This is about investigating spirits, not impressing anyone."
Zoey groaned at another one of her attempts to tease her friend getting no response.
"I… I…" Nate looked unsure, before he sighed and gave a bow, "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought, and I thought I heard one of you scream and– "
"Wait, you heard a scream?" Lina interrupted; her annoyance completely gone as she looked at Nate with fascination.
Even Zoey seemed a bit interested now, looking up from the scale and turning her eyes to the boy. "And you thought it was one of us, what did it sound like?"
Nate suddenly felt a bit nervous at being put on the spot, shuffling a bit and letting out a small, unsure laugh. "Well… it was a girl's scream, that's kind of it… I sort of went into a panic, I thought one of you might be hurt, but I guess not…"
Despite his lack of a satisfying description, Lina and Zoey were already looking to each other and exchanging a few whispers.
"See, I told you," Lina smiled to the glasses-wearing girl.
"It's interesting, but it doesn't prove anything," Zoey whispered back, sneaking a glance at Nate. "Not that I think he's lying, he really seemed frightened, but hearing a scream nobody else does is a very basic supernatural encounter, just because it happened to him doesn't prove anything."
"It's a bit more than that, and you know it," Lina insisted. "You saw he also tripped earlier, I know he said he was saying it was just because it's dark, but I'm pretty sure it's more than that…"
"Um… guys?" Nate raised a hand, a sweatdrop forming on the side of his head at how the girls were now basically ignoring him… to whisper about him.
Without a second to spare, the ghost hunting duo broke apart, smiling towards the boy (though Zoey's smile was clearly one of mischievous intent, while Lina's was more genuine.)
"Sorry about that Nate, but this is definitely an interesting encounter you had," Lina said, before humming to herself thoughtfully. "I wonder if this means we're dealing with a female spirit, or if the scream of a female was faked by the spirit because it knew that would get more of a reaction out of you…?"
"I… think it might just have been my imagination," Nate muttered, putting a hand to his head while he shook it, pushing down a feeling of dread as he noticed more of the spider-webbing all around the nurse's office, invisible to Lina and Zoey.
"Come on man, that's no fun," Zoey shook her head, shining her flashlight at Nate, smirking, "You looked like you were about to pea your pants, I doubt your imagination could scare you that bad."
Nate's face turned red as his expression turned to a glare, while Lina and Zoey both let out a few laughs at his expense. "Whatever, let's just forget it, okay!?"
"You're not making the best of an impression on this date, Nate," Whisper muttered, still letting out a few tired breaths as he floated over the boy's shoulder, but a harsh glare from his master had him reeling back a tad.
"It's not a date…" Nate hissed so only the ghost could hear, before he made his way into the room. "Okay, so what are we investigating here anyway?"
Lina hushed Zoey to stop her laughing, halting her own as she looked at Nate, "Well, we've heard rumors that sometimes the medical equipment gets a little… weird, tee-hee," she giggled a bit, before gesturing area the bed she had been looking over, "Things like scales acting strangely, the beds shaking, other such things…"
Nate looked at the bed briefly, before glancing over to Zoey as she gave an annoyed groan as she looked up from examining the scale.
"Well, this one's seems to be a dud, there's nothing going on here." The bespectacled ghost hunter sighed.
"Yeah, not getting much over here either," Lina admitted, sounding disappointed, "I was hoping a presence would make itself known, but the only evidence of the supernatural so far was Nate hearing that scream."
"Which neither of us experienced," Zoey groaned, shaking her head.
Nate walked over to Zoey, along with Lina, passing the scale along their way.
"Well, sorry I kind of missed the investigation of this room," the brown-haired boy apologized, trying to take his mind away from the creepy webbing, which he was almost certain was moving when he wasn't looking… "But, what's our next– "
"The scale!" Lina suddenly interrupted.
"What, I just checked it!" Zoey gave a disbelieving look as she moved back over to the scale.
"What?" Nate blinked, turning around giving a gasp of surprise. "The scale… it's moving."
Indeed, the previously inert scale was now shaking, the arrow on the meter moving about erratically, all on its own without any sign of a physical manipulator.
"It started moving as soon as Nate passed by it…" Lina spoke, a pleased smile appearing on her face as she gave a quiet giggle.
"You've gotta be kidding…" Zoey muttered with a look of disbelief, before it settled into a satisfied smirk. "I never thought that theory of yours would have any merit, but this is definitely something…"
"Er… what?" Nate looked at the two girls questioningly, before glancing back at the scale suspiciously, tempted to use his yo-kai watch to examine it, but deciding against it with Lina and Zoey so close to him.
"Nate, do you feel anything, perhaps you're hearing something?" Lina spoke up, looking at the boy hopefully.
The boy paused, about to respond to Lina with a simply 'no,' when he did indeed hear something.
A frightened sniffle passed through the air, Nate's body stiffened as he kept looking at the scale, "Is that… a girl crying…?"
"Hm…?" Both Lina and Zoey looked questionably at the boy, clear interest on both of their faces.
Nate carefully reached toward the shaking scale, before it suddenly stopped, Nate stopped in his movement, blinking in confusion when the sound of crying faded, "What… was that?"
"I knew it, I knew bringing you here would bring about more supernatural encounters," Lina spoke with a wide grin, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, startling him. "You do have some connection to the spirits, don't you?"
"W-what? No, it… I don't know what that was," Nate tried to justify, waving Lina's hand off and shaking his head.
Zoey looked at the scale for a moment with a curious eye, before nodding, "Yeah, I still don't know about this 'connection' you're so insistent on, Lina. That was something, but two examples don't make a pattern," the black-haired girl seemed thoughtful, before her teasing smirk returned. "Actually, maybe it has less to do with Nate himself, and more that he's a boy…"
Lina looked towards the other spooky girl questioningly, "What do you mean by that? Does this perhaps have something to do with the evidence that the spirit may be a young girl…?"
Nate scratched his head, looking uncomfortable with this line of discussion, before glancing back at the scale.
Zoey chuckled, "Yeah, see; maybe the reason the spirit is only showing herself to Nate, is because you've got a little bit of competition, Lina!" the glasses-wearing girl tried to hold back an evil giggle as she continued, "He might be the first boy the spirit's seen since she died, she may have been smitten in an instance!"
Nate looked over at Zoey, his face paling slightly at what she was suggesting, noticing the web around the room again, 'If the yo-kai I heard is the same one that did this… I really don't want that to be true…'
"Hmm, a love rival for Lina at this delicate stage in your relationship?" Whisper interjected thoughtfully, floating up from behind Nate, startling him. "That's not good, you best keep your head in the game, Nate! Don't be swayed by some pretty ghost girl before you have even gotten past the first date here!"
Nate's eye twitched as he glared at Whisper, before he started trying to swat at the annoying ghost, which his butler easily managed to dodge by simply floating higher.
Luckily for Nate, neither Lina nor Zoey were paying attention to his strange behavior at that moment.
"You think the spirit might be in love with Nate…?" Lina questioned, blatantly ignoring the 'competition' part of her friend's deduction. "I suppose, if it is a young girl, it's possible… or it could be even that Nate resembles a boy she was in love with?"
Zoey looked annoyed at Lina, one again, not reacting to her bait, while her friend turned to the lone boy of the group.
"Nate, do you have…" Lina's eyes blinked behind her bangs, seeing Nate swatting at the air. "What are you doing…?"
Nate froze up when he heard the girl's voice, turning away from Whisper to see Lina looking at him, he quickly hid his hands behind his back, letting out a nervous laugh, "Um… there was a mosquito! But it's gone now!"
Lina looked at the spot where Whisper floated, a suspicious frown crossing her face
The ghost sweated a bit as he was stared at, 'She can't see me, right…?'
After a moment, Lina looked away from the spot and turned back to Nate, "Well, mosquitos aside, I wanted to know if you had any older relatives you resemble, perhaps…?"
The brown-haired boy looked surprised at that question, though decided to answer honestly, "Well… my grandma says I look almost identical to my grandpa when he was a kid."
"Interesting…" Lina muttered thoughtfully, crossing her arms.
"So, the ghost could be the one whom had an unrequited crush on his grandpa," Zoey nodded, looking satisfied with that assessment. "If that's the case, it actually is pretty lucky that you went and invited this guy, Lina, even if he personally has no connection to the supernatural…"
"Please don't call me 'this guy' when I'm right here…" Nate muttered with a slight look of annoyance, he internally wondered if he should mention that his grandfather had lived in Harrisville, thus making it unlikely that some ghost girl in Springdale had a childhood crush on him, before deciding not to; he wanted to give them less reason to suspect he was personally involved with the supernatural, not more.
Lina didn't look so sure of the assessment, "It's a theory, though we don't yet have sufficient evidence, all we know is that there's a spirit reacting to Nate's presence, and that he has been hearing a female voice."
"I suppose you're right," Zoey nodded, chuckling a bit, before moving towards the still opened door, "Come on, let's get to our next stop; the second-floor science lab!"
"Ah yes, quite a few rumors of paranormal activity stem from that room," Lina voiced her agreement, watching Zoey make her exit of the room, but glanced towards Nate before she took to following her.
The boy was still looking at the scale, a quizzical look to his eyes, an indication that he knew more than he was letting on to the two girls…
"Nate."
"Huh?" Nate blinked, looking towards Lina after she spoke his name. "What is it?"
Lina stood for a moment, considering her next words. She glanced to the scale the boy was looking at; there didn't seem to be any more activity occurring there… The girl turned her small smile back to the boy, motioning her hand for him to follow her. "Come Nate, let us not linger in this room any longer, there is still much to investigate."
Nate frowned, his eyes drifting back to the scale, "Right… um, go on ahead, I'll catch up…"
Lina's smile faded at the notion of the boy separating from her and Zoey again, but she nodded in acceptance. "Very well…" she walked over to the door, glancing back at the boy and giving a smile once more, "But, don't keep me waiting too long, tee-hee."
Nate nodded back to Lina, before she exited. Seeing that he was alone again, Nate took the opportunity to shine his yo-kai watch's light onto the scale; whatever yo-kai that might have been there was gone, but he did take notice of something strange…
"Water…?" Nate muttered as he looked, the water lead from the door and to the scale, where a larger pool of it had gathered, and then out the door again, and further down the hall, in the same direction Lina and Zoey had gone. "Spiderwebs… water… this is very weird…"
"Hey, Nate, don't just stand there," Whisper suddenly spoke up, breaking his master out of his thoughtful position. "If you don't hurry, Lina's going to get annoyed with you for keeping her waiting again! And let me tell you Nate, on the list of first date dos and donts; don't push your luck!"
Nate scowled, giving Whisper a pointed glare, "This is not a date! For the last time, drop that already!" shaking his head, the boy turned back to the trail of water, also glancing to the webbing around. "That nonsense aside, can you tell me what kind of yo-kai could be responsible for this stuff, Whisper?"
Whisper looked around, before crossing his arms with indignation, "There you go again, Nate; blaming yo-kai for everything! Can't you see, this is simply the result of shoddy cleaning staff, and I simply find it appalling for a building of education!"
"They were invisible because of yo-kai energy, and this is no normal build up of cobwebs from lack of cleaning!" Nate exclaimed with frustration, gesturing around, before he just shook his head, turning away from the butler, "Forget it, let's just catch up to the girls…"
"Ah, there you are, Nate," Lina smiled as Nate entered the science room, looking over from her examination of the skeleton model. "Glad to see you saw fit not to keep us waiting too long this time."
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to be… discourteous?" the lone boy muttered, looking unsure of his choice of words were appropriate.
"Well you're still lagging behind, that's kind of problem," Zoey interjected, looking over from a series of empty test tubes and beakers.
Nate sweatdropped at the accusatory statement, "Right, sorry…" walking into the room, the yo-kai watch user looked around, stepping over to Zoey and giving a strange look at the series of glass containers. "Shouldn't those be locked away at this time?"
Zoey let out a snort, giving a smirk to the boy, "Yeah, I know right? Someone was being lazy at closing tonight." she let out a sinister chuckle, "Though… maybe it's the result of spirits, I have heard that they like to move stuff around when you're not looking…"
"I… think the first one you said is more likely," Nate averted his eyes, 'Moving stuff around when you're not looking isn't exactly something I'd put past a yo-kai…'
Zoey rolled her eyes at Nate's 'skepticism,' "You really have no affinity for this, you know? Even if you do somehow attract spirits, I'm not sure what Lina sees in you."
"Sees in me…?" Nate blinked, before his eyes widened a bit and he frowned, "Hold on, you don't think Lina has a crush on me, do you?"
Zoey giggled mischievously, patting the brunette on the shoulder, "Congratulations, that didn't go over your head! Which is more than I can say for someone." Zoey's eyes went towards the other female in the room, letting out a bit of a scoff.
Nate glanced over at Lina, whom was now looking over with a confused frown, before sighing and shaking his head, "I don't know what to make out of any of this…"
"Good; that's more fun," Zoey smirked again, giving the boy a light elbow-jab.
Nate took a small step back from the bespectacled girl, a slightly uncomfortable frown on his face.
"Hey, Nate, come over here," Lina called out from the other side of the room, "I want to see if the skeleton reacts to you like the scale did!"
"And again, she is unable to fully express her desires upfront," Whisper suddenly stated in a faux-wise tone of voice, pulling a handkerchief from seemingly nowhere and wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye. "It is truly sympathetic."
Nate's eye twitch as he tried to ignore the nonsense of his yo-kai butler, giving a nod in Lina's direction to indicate he heard her.
Zoey shook her head at the containers, "Come on, let's go see what Lina's doing with the skeleton, these aren't doing anything."
"Not sure what you were expecting them to do in the first place," Nate commented, giving a bit of a troubled sigh as he carefully walked through the room, feeling an slight shiver go down his spine each time he stepped on one of the bits of web that covered the floor, even if it didn't seem to do anything.
"Supposedly, this skeleton has been reported as laughing on occasion," Lina stated as Nate and Zoey both came over to her, Lina smiled at them as she tapped one of the rib bones. "Some say, that one reason a spirit can linger is because the body was never properly put to rest," Lina gained a sinister smirk, "And of course, being used in a science class instead of having a proper funeral could of course be reason for that sort of haunting!"
"Oooh, spooky," Zoey chuckled along with her friend.
Nate rose an eyebrow, glancing at the skeleton, "But… that's a model, isn't it?"
An awkward silence filled the room as the two girls stared at Nate with blank expressions.
A nervous sweatdropped formed on the boy's head as he noticed the change in mood, "Er… did I say something wrong?" Whisper shaking his head with a disappointed look out of the corner of Nate's eye didn't help his nervousness at all.
Before anyone could say anything to break the awkward tension…
"Please, Yo-kai Master, help me."
Nate reeled back, looking around with a shocked expression, "A girl's voice again!?"
Both Lina and Zoey's blank expression turned to ones of surprise, the boy quickly covered his mouth.
"You heard it again?" Lina's excited smile returned once more, the boy's previous 'refusal' to go along with her joke forgotten.
"Okay, this is really starting to feel like a rip-off!" though Zoey looked interested, she was less pleased than her fellow Ghost Club member.
"I…" Nate looked between the two, looking at the skeleton model nervously, before he sighed, "Yeah, I heard the girl's voice again," he seemed to take on a contemplative look as he considered it, "She was asking for help…?"
"Help? So, she actually spoke this time," Lina's curiosity seemed to grow, turning to focus on the model, "And her voice came from the skeleton this time…?"
"And we couldn't hear it, again," Zoey pointed out, looking a tad put-off by this fact.
"Yes, Nate's connection to spirits is becoming all the more apparent, it truly was a wonderful idea to invite him onto this crusade," Lina smiled, oblivious to her friend's frustrations. "Tell me Nate, aside from hearing a voice, did you notice anything else? Perhaps movements or strange feelings?"
"Um, no, just a voice," Out of the corner of his eye, Nate was sure he saw a small shadow zip by, and out into the halls, this is something else he chose to keep to himself. "And I'm still not entirely sure it wasn't just my imagination."
Zoey scoffed, "Nothing worse than when a skeptic is the one who gets all the encounters, I bet the ghost's just messing with us."
Lina was staring at Nate again, her suspicious frown returning as his denial.
Nate gave a bit of a cough, feeling uncomfortable from how the two ghost hunters were looking at him, "Well… what can I say? I'm just trying to be rational here…"
"What about the shaking scale? Or how you've heard that girl's voice twice before now?" Lina stated calmly, still staring at Nate with suspicion. "You don't try to dismiss the supernatural until you're put on the spot… what exactly are you hiding?"
"Huh, h-hiding?" Nate stepped back from the two girls, instinctively covering his yo-kai watch. "I'm not hiding anything, it's just… that stuff caught me off guard, I'm just trying to consider more rational ideas of what could be happening…"
Lina's hidden eyes were immediately drawn to the watch Nate put his hand to, her suspicion deepening as she took a step toward the boy, causing him to step back further in response.
"Lina, really?" Zoey shook her head, crossing her arms and giving a dismissive wave. "You're looking to far into this, the guy's been getting lucky, but there's no conspiracy or anything with him."
"Yeah, I'm just…" Nate tried to think of a word to say other than 'average' that would convince Lina to back off, but it turned out to be unnecessary.
Lina gave a dissatisfied sigh, putting her hands to her hips as she kept looking at Nate, before turning back to Zoey, "Well… I guess we're not going to find anything else here, what's next…"
Nate gave a slight sigh of relief as Lina and Zoey discussed where the next point of investigation was to be.
"Wow, you are really doing badly on this date, Nate," Whisper gave his unwanted interjection as he hovered by the boy's shoulder. "If you want to impress this girl, you don't need to tell her about yo-kai and all, but you could do better than just… this!"
Nate's eye twitched, his hands turning to fists as he growled.
"Come on, Nate," Lina suddenly spoke up, stopping the boy from any attempt to attack his yo-kai butler. "The third floor's music room is our next stop, there have been rumors of the instruments playing themselves," a small smile made its way back to the girl's face as she reached out and grabbed hold of Nate's wrist.
"Huh, hey!" Nate shouted in protest, but the boy was reminded of Lina's unexpected strength when he found he could do nothing to break free from her grip. "Lina, what are you doing?"
"You really think we're going to let you lag anymore?" Zoey snickered as she stood back, "Also, don't act as if you don't like that Lina's holding your hand!"
"I'm not holding his hand, I'm holding his wrist," Lina pointed out plainly.
Zoey deflated, giving an annoyed groan, "And there she goes again, and here I am," Zoey looked away from the other two kids and back at the skeleton, "Stuck with a skeptic with all the luck, and a girl who can't get a clue, and I am left without a spiritual encounter, or the satisfaction of flustering my friend, woe is me!"
Lina and Nate both just stared at Zoey blankly for a couple of seconds, before Lina opted to ignore her and turned back to Nate.
"I'm not letting you get away again, this time you will be there when I'm doing my initial investigations of the area," Lina insisted firmly, walking out of the science lab, dragging the boy all along the way, while Zoey followed soon after.
Whisper watched this go on with a baffled expression, "Hmm… maybe this date is going better than I thought it was!"
"Come on Nate, pick up the pace," Lina encouraged eagerly, still dragging the boy along as they moved towards the stairs.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Nate protested, being more pulled along by Lina than walking on his own. "How are you so fast!?"
"I think you're just slow," Zoey commented, a few meters behind the boy, and walking at a somewhat slower pace.
Nate growled a bit, glaring back at Zoey, before he caught something unsettling; sparks moving across the webbing, along the same path they were moving. 'What the… what is that?'
"Play with me!"
Nate gulped, that wasn't the girl's voice he had been hearing, that was the creepy voice from before…
"Come play with me, little children!"
Just before reaching the music room, Lina froze, causing Nate to get disoriented at the sudden stop.
"What the… Lina?" Nate blinked, noticing how stiff the girl had gone, he looked over at Zoey's position behind them, she had stopped as well, with her glasses having fogged over. "Huh…?"
"The bathroom…" Lina muttered in a creepy monotone. "We have to go to the bathroom…"
Nate stared at the girl blankly, an uncomfortable expression settling as he fully processed what she had said, "Er… okay, well there's one right–huh!?" Nate's face turned bright red as Lina started moving towards the girls' bathroom, while dragging him along with her! "Wait, Lina, stop!"
"The bathroom, we have to go to the bathroom," Lina and Zoey both spoke in unison, eerie smiles on their faces as they moved toward the bathroom.
"No! I can't!" Nate struggled to break free, looking between the two girls incredulously. "What's wrong with you guys!?" glancing down, Nate's eyes widened when he noticed the sparks of the webbing had accumulated at their feet and were guiding their paths to the bathroom.
"Play, let's play…" both Lina and Zoey chanted eerily as they made it to the door.
"Is this some kind of inspiritment?" the boy questioned with dread, he tried to get his yo-kai watch, but was given a painful reminder that the wrist where the watch was stationed was currently trapped in Lina's still-firm grip.
"Well, this is an unexpected turn, I really don't think you should be entering the bathroom with these young ladies, Nathan," Whisper spoke up in a chastising tone as he hovered over the group.
"Shut up and help me, this is a yo-kai's doing, Whisper!" Nate cried out as Lina used her free hand to open the bathroom door, dragging the boy along with them.
Whisper shook his head in disapproval, "Nate, you can't blame yo-kai for– "
"HELP ME!"
Lina and Zoey both chuckled as they marched into the bathroom, pulling Nate along.
"NATE! THAT'S THE GIRL'S BATHROOM!" Whisper loudly reiterated his disapproval, quickly following them, grabbing Nate's shoulder when he caught up, trying and failing to pull the boy out of the room.
"Whisper…" Nate spoke dangerously, his eyes focused on the room, his hand freed by Lina and Zoey, "Don't you think something seems… wrong, about any of this…?"
Whisper gave a tired huff, wiping some sweat from his forehead after his failed attempt to pull the boy away, before glaring at him, "Aside from you violating common decency?"
"Play, play…" Lina and Zoey chanted, still in a trance-like state, the odd webbing on the floor starting to creep up their shoes.
Nate gave his butler a deadpan expression, before he used his now free hands to use his yo-kai watch and start searching, "Whatever, I need to see what yo-kai is– " the yo-kai watch user started to say, when his watch caught sight of something stationed on the bathroom's ceiling, something that caused the boy to freeze up, his pupils shrinking in fear.
Whisper scoffed, "Oh, now you're blaming this lapse in decency on a yo-kai, that is so–WHAT IN THE NAME OF LORD ENMA IS THAT THING!?"
The monstrously-sized, six-legged, spider-like creature leered down at the children with its oni-like face, letting out a few heavy breaths, "PLAY, PLAY FOREVER!" dropping down from a single sting of webbing outstretched from its abdomen, the spider yo-kai landed on the floor, giving a loud bellow, licking its lips in eager anticipation.
Snapping out of his state of shock, Nate quickly turned to the trembling butler, "Whisper, what yo-kai is this thing!?"
The shout of the boy snapped Whisper out of his frozen state, "Er, yes, w-well, that one is, um…" the white ghost turned away, pulling out his yo-kai pad and quickly scanning the pages, "AHA!" he turned back around, pointing an accusatory finger towards the spider, "That's Tarantutor!"
? Tribe: Tarantutor.
"He's a spider yo-kai that likes to hang around schools, looking for students to play with–and by 'play,' I mean 'EAT!'" Whisper shouted, reading over the entry frantically.
"EAT!?" Nate shouted with both shock and fear, glancing to Lina and Zoey, still in their trance-like, giggling states, with the webs continuing to creep up on their bodies. Nate trembled a bit, gulping down his fear.
"Yes, but luckily; Tarantutor is extremely shy, so he only comes out at night, long after his potential pray has gone home!" Whisper added, giving a relieved smile, which only lasted a brief moment before he realized the reality of the situation. "Oh… oh dear."
"I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!" Nate shouted, pulling up his yo-kai watch, and grabbing the first medal he could think of, which was of course; Jibanyan.
"Play! PLAY! PLAY!" Tarantutor chanted, rising up before the significantly smaller forms of Nate, Lina and Zoey. "TIME TO PLAY!"
Nate grit his teeth, moving forward to stand between Tarantutor and the two Ghost Club girls, "Not on my watch, Tarantutor!" holding up the nekomata's medal, the boy began the summoning sequence. "Come on out my friend! Calling Jibanyan! Yo-kai medal, do your thing!"
"SUMMONING CHARMING!" the yo-kai watch's automated voice shouted out, before the summoning circle burst out from the face, the Charming tribe's summoning song beginning to play. "Alarming, boom, boom! Walla, walla, dance, dance, Charming!"
With a flourish in the pink summoning circle, the red-furred nekomata appeared, "Jibanyan!"
Landing before the boy who summoned him, Jibanyan gave a displeased, "Nyow why did you summon me!? It's late, Nyate, can't you just let a cat have some sleep!?"
"But, Jibanyan," Nate glared past the nekomata, his legs shaking a bit with fear, noting that the webbing was also starting to creep up his shoes, he was quick to shake it off, "I really need your help, look at this yo-kai!"
Jibanyan scoffed, turning to see his opponents, "What yo– "the nekomata couldn't finish his sentence, turning to see the giant face of Tarantutor leering down at him. "N-Nyow…" before Jibanyan could react, the spider yo-kai's abdomen rose up, pointing forward, before a mess of webbing was shot out!
"Jibanyan!" Nate cried out.
"Nyate!" Jibanyan struggled against the webbing that had entrapped his body, before sparks started emitting from the webbing, causing the trapped yo-kai to flinch in pain, while he also drooped with a clear loss of energy. "Nyate… help me…"
"This is bad!" Whisper suddenly interjected, floating back in front of Nate, hiding his yo-kai pad behind his back, "Tarantutor's webbing has electrical properties that allow them to zap away the energy of those that are trapped by them! Jibanyan's been made useless in one quick move!"
"What!?" Nate shouted, fear and regret in his eyes as he saw one of Tarantutor's massive legs push onto Jibanyan's helpless form, causing the cat yo-kai to let out a pained 'nya.' "Jibanyan, no…" trembling, Nate knew he needed to summon another yo-kai in order to save not only Lina and Zoey, but also Jibanyan now, which yo-kai could he summon? Reaching into his pocket, Nate could only hope he was carrying the medal of a yo-kai whom could help in this situation.
However, before the boy could pull forth another medal, the large eyes of Tarantutor moved towards him, the nightmarish creature's face twisting into a ferocious snarl, "NO MORE CHEATING!"
Nate looked up, his body froze as the creature seemed to move towards him in slow motion, its giant mouth full of sharp teeth wide open, looking ready to swallow him whole.
"NATE!" Whisper shouted, jumping between the boy and giant yo-kai, holding his arms out protectively. The yo-kai butler closed his eyes.
"Whisper!?"
"I WON'T LET YOU RUIN MY MASTER'S FIRST DATE!" Whisper shouted fiercely in the face of Tarantutor, actually stunning the giant spirit for a moment.
Nate was both moved by the protective stance Whisper had taken, while also sweatdropping at how he was still hanging onto the 'date' aspect of this situation…
"Don't worry Nate, I am a butler to the end!" Whisper gave a thumbs up as he turned back to the boy, giving a sparkling smile, "I will defend you to the–EEEEENNNND!" the butler's serious speech was interrupted when Tarantutor had regained his intimidating stance, and promptly smacked the smaller yo-kai away and straight into one of the bathroom stalls, landing him head-first in a toilet.
"W-Whisper…" Nate blinked, shocked by how quickly the mood had shifted. The mood was quickly shifted back to one of terror though, when Tarantutor loomed just over him.
"PLAY! YOU PLAY WITH ME FIRST, CHEATER!" the fang-filled mouth of the terrifying yo-kai opened wide.
Nate scrambled to grab a yo-kai medal, too afraid to try moving back for risk of leaving Lina and Zoey wide open to be chomped by the beast, but his shaky state did not help, and he ended up spilling the five other yo-kai medals he had been carrying onto the floor. "Oh no!"
"PLAY! TIME TO PLAY!" Tarantutor chanted, along with Lina and Zoey mimicking him in the background.
"Not so fast…"
Tarantutor stopped in its movements, looking up for the source of the female voice that had just echoed through the room.
Nate, though still terrified, had a flash of familiarity at that voice, "That's… the girl's voice from before…?"
A small, vaguely humanoid shadow zipped into the room from the hall, moving quickly around, drawing Tarantutor attention as it moved too quickly for him to get a good look at him.
Nate looked surprised by this turn of events, staring at the shadow for a moment, before he realized what it was doing; giving him time!
Letting out a heavy breath, Nate glanced back at Lina and Zoey, both of them now almost completely covered by Tarantutor's web, only their heads free, he looked to poor Jibanyan, still trapped and absent of energy, and Whisper, having pulled himself out of the toilet, but still sitting their with a dizzy expression…
Quickly ducking down, the boy began searching for his dropped medals, hoping he could spot the one he was sure could help, "Come on, where are you…?"
The shadow kept moving, but it was clear that Tarantutor wouldn't be able to be kept preoccupied from his potential 'playmates' for long. The vague form glanced in Nate's direction, "Please, hurry, Yo-kai Master…" a dodge to a blast of webbing, the shadow kept up the evasive and distracting movements.
"Come on, come on!" Nate hissed, looking over the floor, he had grabbed four out of five medals, but none of five medals, but none of them were the one he– "There!" grabbing the last medal, the boy stood up, glaring at Tarantutor, holding his yo-kai watch ready.
"Play…" Tarantutor seemed to have finally lost interest in the shadow, creepily turning his head towards Nate, his eyes narrowing. "PLAY!" firmly planting all six legs on the ground, the spider-like spirit charged toward the human boy.
Nate had to use all his willpower to remain firm, he knew it was now or never. "COME ON OUT MY FRIEND! CALLING SHOGUNYAN!"
"SUMMONING LEGENDARY!"
"RAH!?" Tarantutor reeled back, stunned by the light of the summoning circle that blasted out from the yo-kai watch.
"Imaginary! Incendiary! Flip flop, squiggle boom, slim slam, Legendary!"
From the flashy summoning circle erupted a blue nekomata which heavily resembled Jibanyan, aside from the samurai armor, and the sword it held, ready to slice, "Shogunyan!"
Brave Tribe: Shogunyan.
Without even need for an explanation, the Legendary nekomata had already assessed the situation he had been summoned into, holding his blade out, he rushed forward, "Ultimate Electro-Spider Web SLICING ATTACK!"
In one brief movement, Shogunyan moved all around the room, and all the webbing broke into millions of insignificant pieces.
"Nya?" Jibanyan blinked after having been freed, before he jumped back to his feet with a roar of determination.
"Huh?" both Lina and Zoey blinked as they were freed from the webbing, and seemingly Tarantutor's inspiritment, before they both collapsed.
Tarantutor roared in outrage, "NO! NO FAIR! CHEATERS! CHEA– "
Shogunyan moved again, knocking Tarantutor onto his back, and exposing the soft underside of his abdomen, "You talk too much!"
Jibanyan jumped up with fire in his eyes, "This is for trapping me in a web! PAWS OF FURY!"
"BONITO BLADE!" Shogunyan shouted out his own Soultimate, joining his descendent in assault the spider creature.
Nate flinched as Tarantutor cried out in pain, until it eventually jumped up on the ceiling and speedily crawled out of the bathroom, Nate followed it for a brief moment, giving a sigh of relief when the creature fazed through one of the windows, running from the school as fast as it could. "It's gone… thank you guys…" he glanced back at Jibanyan and Shogunyan.
"Whatever… but nyext time, think more clearly before you summon me," Jibanyan grunted, clearly displeased by what he had to deal with not too long ago.
"It was a pleasure to be of service, Nyathan," Shogunyan bowed, putting his sword away. "I will go and pursue the beast, to make sure it does nyot wriggle itself into another threatening position," before he left, the samurai cat gave a nod to the his red-furred counterpart. "Keep up the good work, Jibanyan."
"Nya…?" Jibanyan tilted his head in confusion at the other nekomata's praise, but the Legendary yo-kai fled the scene before he could question him on it.
Nate smiled at Jibanyan, before he looked around, looking relieved as Tarantutor's web slowly dissipated.
"Ah, finally…"
Nate blinked, hearing the female voice he had heard from the shadow, though it seemed… different, more… tangible? Turning back to the bathroom, the boy was surprised to see the shadow drifting towards him, its form becoming more defined and solid-looking, until it had become something that resembled a young girl with black-hair, large eyes shrouded in shadow. She was dressed in a white shirt and red skirt, with suspenders. "Wait, who are you?"
The girl hovered in the air before the boy, smiling a bit as she looked him over, "Most kids nowadays call me 'Toiletta,' thank you for your help."
"Toiletta…?" Nate blinked in surprise, he had heard the urban legend of 'Toiletta' before, though he didn't realize she had been a yo-kai. "What do you mean by 'help?'"
Toiletta gave a troubled sigh, looking away from the boy, "That nasty spider commandeered my bathroom, and zapped away my power to the point I could barely maintain my form…" she looked around, giving a sad sigh, "It scared away all my other friends who used to come and play at this school at night… but luckily you came, I recognized you as the famous Yo-kai Master?" she smiled with reverence towards the boy.
"… 'Famous?'" Jibanyan blinked in disbelief as he looked up at Toiletta.
"'Yo-kai Master…?'" Nate also had a look of disbelief on his.
Toiletta nodded, "Yes… now that you've taken care of that nasty spider, maybe my friends will come back, thank you so much for your help!" floating closer to the boy, the humanoid yo-kai dropped her medal into his hand. "A token of my appreciation, and an offer of friendship! Call onto me whenever you are in need!"
Nate looked at the medal which depicted a slightly stylized version of Toiletta, before he pocketed and nodded to her, "I'll be sure to keep you in mind, so… you were the voice I kept hearing?" he questioned, which she nodded to.
"Yeah, I was trying to get your attention and assistance," a slightly guilty frown came to the ghost girl's face as she glanced back to the bathroom, "Though I must apologize; I was able to use what little of my power I had left to keep you from falling prey to Tarantutor's inspiritment, but, I didn't have the power to do the same for your two girlfriends, and it almost lead to your downfall…"
Nate coughed, looking to the side with his face reddening a bit, "It's fine, you may not have taken it into account, but you helped us, also… er, they're not my 'girlfriends…'"
"Correct, only Lina is! Zoey is more like a third-wheel!" Whisper suddenly stated, appearing beside Nate.
"Whisper!?" Nate jumped in surprise, "When did you get back up!?"
"Just now!" the yo-kai butler smiled widely, before he turned his focus to Toiletta with a scrutinizing look, "Hmm, so this is your ethereal admirer? Sorry to say, little lady, that Nate here is taken."
"I am not!" Nate stomped his foot on the ground in protest.
"And I'm not looking to date right now," Toiletta scoffed, crossing her arms, "Though you should probably check on your current dates right now, I'm sure they'll be disoriented from this experience!"
"They're not my 'dates!'" Nate shouted at Toiletta, while she laughed and flew back into the bathroom, fading into the third stall. Nate sighed, his body drooping a bit, "Well… this whole thing was more of an ordeal than expected…"
"Yeah, tell me about it," Jibanyan groaned, his tails drooping a bit.
Lina let out a dizzy groan as she regained consciousness, looking around she found herself to be seated in one of the chairs of the music room. She could hear Zoey making similar grunts to her side, and Nate standing by the piano, looking seemingly speaking with someone unseen, before he noticed the state of the girls.
"Oh, good, you guys are alright," Nate smiled, approaching the girls as they pulled themselves up from their chairs.
"Ug, what the heck happened, I feel like I was possessed," Zoey grunted while rubbing her head.
Lina looked at the other girl thoughtfully, before she turned to the boy, "Nate, is that what happened? Did we lose control of ourselves and do anything odd…?" despite the scary prospect of that idea, Lina smiled at it.
Nate coughed, looking away awkwardly for a moment, before shaking his head, "No, you two just… kind of tripped on the way here and hit your heads…"
"What, that can't be right," Zoey frowned, instinctively feeling her head for any sighs of bumps.
Lina didn't look convinced of Nate's explanation, but chose not to press it, looking over at the piano, she gave the boy a quizzical look, "What about the instruments? Was there anything here of interest?"
Nate shook his head, "No, I already searched over this room, and I didn't hear that voice again, or experience anything strange, everything's just… normal."
"You've gotta be kidding," Zoey looked disappointed, walking over to the piano herself and looking it over. "There's really nothing?"
There were a few more moments spent by Lina and Zoey investigating the music room, but as Nate said, there wasn't anything strange to be encountered.
After the conclusion had been reached, the trio moved back into the hall, Zoey holding up a notepad with the locations they had visited, and the evidence they had gathered.
"So, all we really have is Nate hearing some voice a couple times, and the scale in the nurse's office moving," the black-haired girl grunted,
Lina turned to the yo-kai watch user with her normal, yet eerie, smile, "Nate, are you absolutely sure that nothing… strange happened when Zoey and I… bumped our heads?"
The boy gave a bit of a nervous chuckle, shaking his head, "No, there wasn't anything, I'm sure of that…"
Lina kept staring at him, Nate had that feeling again; like that girl was staring right into his soul, even though he couldn't see her eyes.
"Well, there's really only one thing left in our potential investigation," Zoey shrugged, still managing a bit of a smile despite her disappointment. "Toiletta."
Nate jumped a bit, looking towards the glasses-wearing girl in surprise, "T-Toiletta, you say…?"
"Oh, so you've heard of her?" Zoey chuckled sinisterly, gleefully mistaking Nate's surprise for fear.
"Er, of course I've heard of her, who hasn't heard of Toiletta…" Nate averted his eyes, trying his best not to look too suspicious.
Lina noticed Nate's change in demeanor, her curiosity growing, along with a playful smile, "Of course, and you must know how the legend says you summon her, yes?"
"Yes, I know it, but…" Nate looked towards the bathroom unsurely, "Are you sure it's a good idea to try and summon her? You guys did hurt your heads, maybe we should call the investigation off and head on home?"
"I do not feel any pain, so I must not have bumped my head too heard," Lina assured, keeping a clear focus on Nate, observing all of his body language, as well as his facial expressions.
"Yeah, me neither," Zoey's smirk widened as she looked directly at the boy, "Not so much a skeptic when it comes to Toiletta, huh? You afraid?"
Nate's eyes shifted around a bit, "… Uuuuhhhhh."
"That's not an answer," Zoey pointed out bluntly. "Look, kid, we're the Ghost Club, you can't go getting spooked by urban legends if you want to stick with us."
"Yeah, fear of the otherworldly doesn't suit you, Nate," Lina insisted, a knowing grin on her face. "Though, I'm not so sure you are afraid…" seeing how the boy was remaining quiet, Lina moved closer to him, poking his shoulder a bit, "Come on Nate, it's just one last little bit of investigating, surely you can help us out, can't you?"
Nate nervousness increased, trying to move his eyes away from Lina, even as she kept moving around him to try to keep herself in his sights, poking at his shoulder or cheek occasionally.
"Hey, is everyone alright up here!" the sound of footsteps and a familiar voice calling interrupted the ground, a flashlight shined through the hall, before the security guard stepped into view, looking concerned, "I heard some loud noises, I was worried something might have happened," Cindy explained, looking relieved at the kids seemingly healthy state.
Nate was quick to jump on the opportunity, "Lina and Zoey hit their heads and lost consciousness for a short while! We're fine, but I really think they should go home!"
Both Lina and Zoey looked at the boy with a slight bit of annoyance, more so from Zoey.
"You hit your heads and blacked out!?" the security guard's eyes widened at that, "Alright, alright, I think it's time for this 'investigation' to end! You two need to get to your parents, and possibly have them take you to a doctor to check if you're really okay!"
"But we feel fine!" Zoey insisted, even as the guard moved around them and started trying to usher them towards the stairs. "We still have a bit more of investigating to do!"
"You might feel fine, but that doesn't mean you are fine," the security guard insisted firmly, moving the kids down the stairs to the second floor. "Besides, it's getting a bit too late for this to be continuing, it's not good for you kids to be out too much past your bedtimes!"
Zoey looked like she was about to voice another complaint as she was made to walk down the stairs to the first floor, but Lina held up a hand-motion for her to stop.
"She's right, Zoey, that little bump of ours put a little blunder on our timetable for this investigation, it's probably best if we do as she says," Lina herself didn't look convinced, but she spoke her words calmly and without faulter. "Head injuries are no joke, even if we feel fine, it is probably best that we get checked."
Zoey groaned as the guard released them in order to open up the front door for their exit, "I suppose so…" focuses her eyes on Nate again, whom stood silently with a bit of a nervous shuffle, she smirked, "I guess the three of us will just have to go over this evidence and decide our next investigation plans tomorrow!"
Nate's body twitched a bit at Zoey's words, before he turned to her with a nervous chuckle, "Um… did you just say the three of us…?"
Lina giggled at Nate's expression, while Zoey's smirk turned malicious.
"Of course I did, Nathan. Allow me to give you a congratulations for becoming the third official member of the Springdale Elementary Ghost Club!"
Lina looked pleased by this announcement, clapping her hands, "Ah, that's wonderful Zoey! I'm so glad you're beginning to see things my way!"
Zoey laughed smugly, "Well, what can I say; I'm maybe starting to see a bit of what you see in this guy!"
Between the two Ghost Club girls, Nate could only let out a few distraught moans as it fully set in that there was no possible way he was getting out of this…
Pausing from her laugh, Lina focused on Nate, her smile turning mysterious as she quietly giggled once more, 'I still don't fully understand what's going on with you, Mr. Nathan Adams, but I do know something more than what Zoey and I saw happened tonight, something you deliberately hid from us... and I won't rest until I discover what secrets you are so desperately hiding!'
As Cindy returned to the trio to lead them out the door, to make sure they returned to their parents safely, Whisper and Jibanyan both stood back, unseen all but one of the humans.
"Ah, the power of young love is really starting to take hold with those two," Whisper praised fondly, focusing on how Lina was still staring at Nate.
Jibanyan's ears twitched as he looked up at the floating spirit, "You really are delusionyal, aren't you?"
Well, that's the second chapter, we're still not gotten really into more interaction between Lina and Nate yet, where the romantic friendship and eventually romantic relationship develops, but that should be starting up next chapter.
Some notes for things people might be wondering about.
1: Cindy isn't an OC, she is indeed one of the NPCs of Sparkopolis' maid café in Yo-kai Watch 3. I needed someone to be the security guard, and she was just the one I ended up picking. She probably won't come up again in the story.
2: Tarantutor is '? Tribe,' because I don't consider 'Boss' to be an actual tribe, more like a description, seeing as every boss yo-kai that can be befriended is assigned a different tribe in such, I take a yo-kai that has 'Boss' as their only tribe like Tarantutor to basically mean it's of an unknown tribe.
3: Nate doesn't know Toiletta; this is because, for reasons that will come up later in the plot, I need this story to be happening before the episode where Nate meets Spoilerina episode 39, and Toiletta is met in episode 60, so he's met Toiletta a bit earlier here.