Chapter 2: the flood gates open
It was merely halfway through spring break for Nate, and she was trying to enjoy it. Hanging out with friends, enjoying the cherry blossoms, it was just a great time of year…
Which is of course why now she had to be dealing with not only the stress of keeping the fact she was trans to herself, but of course yokai had to start being trouble again.
She didn't entirely remember how she ended up having to deal with a mosquito in a yellow sweater that felt like the embodiment of toxic positivity, but she was.
If she recalled correctly, it something to do with the yokai making her friend Eddie act completely insensitive to the fact her friend of a friend, Sarah's dog ran away… or something like that.
"Just quit it, Positibuzz!" The girl called out.
"Happy, happy all the time~!" The insect yokai said in a sing song tone.
Positibuzz: E rank
Shady
"I'm purretty sure he's lost his marbles…" Jibanyan, who she had called to help deal with him said, "can I just knyock his lights out?"
"I really don't want it to come to that," Nate said with a sigh.
"Yes, she's right! Violence doesn't solve anything! Why can't we all be happy, bzz~!" Positibuzz sang, dancing in midair.
"Alright, he's starting to creep me-owt," jibanyan said, giving the human a pleading look, "can't I just hit him once?"
"Jibanyan, i… wait… what did he say?" Nate stopped for a second.
"That violence doesn't solve anything? Bzz," the yokai repeated.
"No, before that…" Nate clarified, "...did you call me 'she?'"
As she asked, a bit of internal panic set in. She'd never met this yokai before today, how did he know her preferred pronouns? She'd only told a handful of people!
"Oh, yes! You're a girl, aren't you?" The mosquito spirit said.
"Well… yes, but where did you learn that!?" Nate's face went a bit red, her voice raising a bit, "I've barely told anyone… did Whisper tell you?!"
"Um… no. I read it in a magazine!" Positibuzz answered in a confused, yet still chipper tone, "the yokai weekly~!"
"... a what?!" Nate said, now thoroughly fuming, "so then… someone outed me… in a magazine… to the entire yokai world!?"
Positibuzz look at her, before replying, "yes!"
Nate, now completely enraged and utterly lost for words, gave a low growl. Wordlessly, she picked up Jibanyan by the shoulders, holding him almost like a plushy(a habit she'd picked up recently)
"Nya?" The nekomata squeaked as his friend began walking away, "aren't we gonnya deal with him?"
"Later." Nate's tone caused him to shrink a little, "first. I wanna who exactly decided to play with my private information!"
The girl angrily stomped off, leaving a still happy but quite confused Positibuzz, "... I wonder what's got her in a tizzy?"
…
"So, would you rather fight one hundred Noko-sized gargaroses, or one gargaros-sized noko?" Hailey asked her yokai partner, lounging in the chair of her detective agency. It had been a rather slow day so she was trying to pass the time.
"Hmm… tough call…" USApyon said, "if I had ta choose…"
The space themed yokai was unable to answer, as he was cut off by the door slamming open.
"Ooh, a client!" Hailey said with glee as her boredom was now over.
"Hailey!" Nate yelled as she stomped in.
Hailey immediately shrunk in her chair, terrified and racking her brain for what she could have possibly done to incite this previously unseen fury in her friend, "...um, hey Nate! What's up, gurrrl…?"
Nate stared her down, maybe squeezing Jibanyan a little tight. In an absolutely serious tone she asked, "what's this I've been hearing about 'Yokai Weekly?'"
With that, Hailey went from terrified to confused, "... am I supposed to know what that is…?"
"Its some tabloid magazine," USApyon said, "Never read it myself, but Treeter's always reposting whatever gosh darn nonsense they're on about that week…"
Nate gave them a glare… before sighing a bit. Releasing her tense grip of jibanyan who promptly gasped for air.
"Sorry about that…" she apologized in a more calm tone, along with a disappointed look, "should have known you guys wouldn't do something like that…"
Continuing the whiplash of emotions, Hailey took note of the other girl's expression, she immediately felt something was off, "...did something happen…?"
Nate was quiet for a moment, before slumping into the couch by Hailey's desk.
"...someone outed me over that magazine…" Nate said, "..the whole yokai world knows…"
"WHAT?!" Haileys newest emotion came forward with that revelation, Rage.
"Um… is that really that big a deal?" USApyon asked, receiving a glare from the girls, "i-i mean, I might not fully understand what Nate's goin' through, but doesn't every yokai knowing save her a bunch of trouble?"
"No!" Nate shouted, "it's bad because if someone close to me was going to hear it, it should have been from me…! I wanted to come out on my own terms but…"
"...whoever did that took that chance away from you…" Hailey said solemnly. The other girl was quiet, only giving her a nod in affirmation, "... do you have any idea who did it?"
Nate was quiet again, an uncomfortable look on her face.
After a bit, Jibanyan broke the silence, "well… there's only one person's nyot in this room who's been told… and we haven't seen him in a while…"
Nate gave out a huff as the nekomata suggested that.
Hailey looked between the two, both of who looked visibly uncomfortable…
"Wait… do you mean Whisper?" Hailey asked.
"Why in tarnation would he go and do something like that?" USApyon asked.
Once again, silence. Only this time, Nate was the one to break it.
"When I came out to whisper… it didn't go as well as with you guys…" she explained with a sigh…
'Ok nate… you can do this…'
I'd already gotten jibanyan and Whisper there, I'd worked up the nerve to tell them… so I did.
'What did you want to tell us Nate?' Whisper had said.
'Yeah, you've been acting weird lately,' Jibanyan didn't seem too interested.
I took a deep breath, I could do this.
'Ive… been meaning to tell you this for a while now guys… you're some of my best friends, so you have a right to know…'
'Nate, I am your butler, there is nothing you can't tell me~!' Whisper did his normal thing.
'Yeah, we're buddies, Nyate!' Jibanyan said between bites of his chocolate.
'Well… here goes nothing…' I psyched myself up one more time, 'I'm … I'm Trans…'
After that… the two looked at me confused. And Whisper tried to hide it, but he was clearly looking at his YokaI-pad.
'Uh… what's that mean, Nyate?' Jibanyan tilted his head a bit.
'Uh… w-well, it means even though I was born a boy… I'm actually a girl…" I figured that was the best way to word it.
'Oh… you are?' Jibanyan asked again. I gave him a nod, 'so… you're gonnya start acting more like girls, like Amy?'
'Well, in a way, yeah,' I thought it was going pretty good at first, 'I'm gonna start dressing more like a girl, and doing more… well, 'girly' hobbies I guess…'
And then, I heard Whisper panic a little, I'm pretty sure his YokaI-pad died. He then turned around with a nervous look on his face.
'Ah yes, Transgender, I see…' he said, which I thought was a good sign as he at least had to have an idea what it said, 'the belief someone was born in the wrong body, and wish to rectify it, of course…'
'Um… that's one way to put it…' I wasn't sure where he was going with it, but his odd wording was making me uncomfortable, 'really, I've just been thinking a while, and I think being a girl just kinda… fits me better…'
And after I said that, was when the trouble really began.
'Um, well I'm not sure about that,' Whisper also seemed to be uncomfortable, but he kept on, 'afterall, experts say 90% percent of people who feel like that will eventually grow out of it. I'm sure this is just a phase you're having…'
I'm not sure why, but those words just… cut me. It felt like I was being stabbed the moment he said that, '...what?!'
'After all, biologically speaking, ones gender is immutable,' Whisper kept it up, 'I-I'm sure soon enough you'll laugh at the idea..'
And the moment he said that… I just snapped.
I mumbled 'get out.'
'Um… Nate, I didn't quite hear tha-'
'I SAID GET OUT!' I screamed at him, 'GET OUT, GET OUT!'
I kept on screaming, and with a panic look he frantically floated out the window. He was gone, but the anger very much wasn't.
I screamed into a pillow for a bit… then that screaming eventually turned into crying…
…and, I haven't seen him since," Nate finished her recount, "... I know I lost my temper there, but… hearing him say that stuff it just…"
She let out a huff. She wouldn't say she was happy Whisper was gone.
"... I'm not entirely sure he even meant all that. I'm half sure he didn't know what I was talking about, panicked and clicked the first website he found…" Nate admitted, "especially that '90%' thing, I looked into it, and that's from a defunct study from before I was even born…"
"Yikes… " was all Hailey could vocalize.
"I just… I don't know! Whispers far from the sharpest tool in the shed, but he always has my back when it counts!" The girl growled a bit, "and hearing him say that stuff to me, even if he didn't know what he was talking about… it really got in my head, I guess…"
"Im… legitimately at a loss for words…" Hailey said.
Nate stared at her feat for a bit, a million thoughts coming through her mind.
"... this didn't just pop up over night…" she finally said.
"Hmm?" Hailey tilted her head, not quite sure what the other girl meant.
"I've always had this… nagging feeling in the back of my head, I guess. Well, not always either… like, it wasn't there when I was young but…" she paused, clearly trying to put her thought into words, "like… I never really thought of myself as 'handsome'... sure, I'd hear my mom and my grandma call me that plenty of times but… it never meant anything to me…"
The other three looked at her, focusing on her words.
"And… I dunno, that bothered me…" she continued, "I tried to ignore it. I was never really unhappy I guess I just felt… nothing I guess. Like, I'm fine. I'm alive, why complain?"
"I'm… not sure that's healthy…" Hailey said.
"Maybe not, but it was mostly my experience until… well, I met Dandoodle," Nate continued recounting, "supposedly, he was "handsomness incarnate" right? And everyone he inspirited followed suit. He ended up inspiriting me. It was weird, but… I thought 'maybe this will he make me understand…'"
"And…?" USApyon asked.
Nate was quiet for a bit, before groaning, "... ugh, and I didn't understand anything! After he inspirited me, I just felt so… so wrong! Like my brain wanted to explode! It was terrible… at first I thought it was just the inspiritment, so I tried… different avenues…"
"Let me guess… no dice there, either?" Hailey had a feeling they wouldn't be here if her friend got positive results.
"Everything I tried just… didn't make me feel good. Sure, some of it got me popular with girls, but that was about the only thing I enjoyed!" Nate groaned, "nothing was working, so I just started ignoring it again until… u-un…til…"
The girl began shaking a bit, a grim look on her face. It was immediately clear whatever she was thinking about was far from pleasant.
"...until…what?" Hailey asked.
"...i-i… don't wanna talk about it…" Nate finally said, "...what matters is, after that… incident, I realized I didn't have time to just keep… ignoring whatever was going on with me. If I didn't figure it out, it would eat at me til the day I died…"
Hailey wasn't sure she liked the implications of what Nate was saying. She'd seen enough Shonen to know the face of a traumatized protagonist. For now though, she knew that poking an opened wound wouldn't fix it. (Though she made a mental note to try and convince Nate to get a therapist.)
"So… how'd you figure it out?" She finally asked.
"That's the funny part… ironically all it took was yokai shenanigans…" Nate said with a laugh, "you know Dazzibel, right? I… accidently ran into her sister, Rattelle. Apparently she has this thing about putting guys in girls clothing, especially over the top Lolita stuff…"
"What?!" Hailey gave an over the top reaction, "you're telling me I missed you in a Lolita dress?!"
"Yeah, yeah, should have seen this coming…" Nate held back a laugh, "at first I found the inspiritment annoying, as usual but… when I saw my reflection in a store window, I… I just couldn't look away… I looked… cute, and I didn't know why but that just felt right to me. Like I instantly understood myself for the first time…"
Her melancholic expression turned to a happily nostalgic one.
"Sure, Rattelle got bored pretty quickly, left me her medal, then left, and my clothes went back to normal…" Nate admitted, "but…now, I had an idea of what I was going through… and the rest is history I guess."
"A chance encounter set your mind straight and let you find your true self~!" Hailey squealed, "it's just like a manga~!"
"But… now I think you get it," Nate sighed, "I'd finally figured out why I felt like this and… someone I trusted more than anyone called it a phase…"
Hailey got a sad look at that. She pulled her friend close, startling her with a huh.
"Well, in my opinion, Whisper is wrong, cause I see the cutest girl in town right in front of me!" Hailey said, "and if he can't see that, he can jump in a lake."
"...thanks Hailey," Nate gave a small grin at the complement.
"But, there is still the issue," Jibanyan spoke up, "Whisper or nyot, someone outed ya."
"Yeah, and I'm not happy about it…" Nate groaned, "I mean, yeah, it's likely not to leave the yokai community… but I have… choice words for whoever violated my privacy like that…"
"Yeah, I get what you're saying, yokai mistress…" Hailey said, a hand on her chin, "we'll track that sucker down and make 'em pay!"
"Wait, what?!" Nate said in shock, "that isn't what I meant at all! I wouldn't even know where to start!"
"Yeah, the source of the "trans yokai master rumor" was anonymous," USApyon said, reading off his YokaI-pad, "but, It does say the editor. He lives in New Yokai City."
"See! We've got a lead!" Hailey shot to her feat, "I say we get them to spill the tipper, and you can give them a piece of your mind!"
Nate looked at her, "Hailey, is that really a good id-" "I say you do it."
The girl was surprised to find Jibanyan had cut her off, "that jerk just aired out something really purrsonyal to you for the whole yokai world to see! As far as I'm concerned, they shouldn't get the nyice treatment!"
"As we say down south, snitches get stitches!" USApyon chimed in agreement.
Nate looked at the three of them. Collecting her thoughts. She really hated to admit it… but they were kinda right. Whoever this was not only learned something deeply personal she was working up the nerves to share, but decided it was there place to start spreading it through tabloids!
She didn't want them to just get away with that…
"You know what… yeah. Let's freaking do it!" Nate shouted, "I'm still really mad, I might as well take it out on the right person!"
"Yeah, that's right yokai mistress, let's get this fool!" Hailey said, a hand diving into her pocket, "mirapo ready for a round trip to New Yokai City!"
"Yeah!" A unanimous cheer was let out.
…
A short mirapo trip later, and the group found themselves in the hub of activity in the upper regions of the yokai world, New Yokai City.
A bustling city scape in a similar vein to its living world counterpart, something was immediately clear to Nate upon their arrival…
"...does anyone have any idea where we're going?" She asked, taking a look at the large buildings all around them…. Yokai architecture was weird.
"Umm… forth… no fifth street?" USApyon 2said unsure, reading from the YokaI-pad.
"Nyo, nyo, that's avenyue… or is it…" Jibanyan red over his shoulder.
"I'll take that as a no…" Nate gave a sigh.
"I'm surprised you don't have a decent idea of this place already, yokai mistress~" Hailey said with a grin. The rabbit-like yokai seemed to have some kind of route figured out and they began walking.
"Seriously? I've only been here twice, and one of those times I had to fight a god…" Nate said.
"Oh yeah! The day we met!" Hailey gave a cheer, "and ever since it's been you and me against the world!"
"Eh, wouldn't say that… to be honest we mostly just do are own thing most of the time, hehe…" Nate admitted, "though… I guess I wouldn't mind hanging out more. You are one of my only close girl friends…"
"Really? I'm honored…" Hailey said, "but what about that 'Katie' girl? Aren't ya friends with her?"
"Well… I'm in a… weird position with Katie…" Nate said, a bit of a blush forming on her face, "I used to think I had this big crush on her… but now I'm not sure if I'm just jealous of her… you know, like she's everything I wanna be…"
"Ah, life goals, or wife goals, I've had a similar dilemma myself many times…" the Otaku gained a serious face and gave a nod.
"... you like… girls?" The other girl said, her blush deepening.
"Yes…" Hailey nodded again, before a dreamy look came to her face, "I've long debated if I'd rather be sailor Heart of marry her~!"
"I… don't think that's the same thing…" Nate said dryly, she even felt a sweatdrop rolling down the back of her head.
"Hey Nate! Is that you!" The girl's heard a familiar voice call out. Turning to its origin, they saw their mutual yokai friend clad in an icy blue kimono, Blizzaria. The yuki-onna floated up to them.
"Oh, uh… hey Blizzaria!" Nate gave a friendly wave.
"HI! I read the thing in the article, so you're really a girl then?" Blizzaria was straight to that point, causing Nate to cringe a little.
"Well, yeah… I would have preferred to tell my friends myself bu-" she explained, before the blue haired yokai interrupted.
"Oh! Congratulations, Nate!" Blizzaria said happily, before her expression turned to a thoughtful one,"Oh, wait, should I still call you that? Or do you have a new name yet?"
"Umm… Nate's fine for now. I don't have my heart set on a new one just yet," the girl explained kinds sheepishly.
"Ah, I see. Hope that goes well for you," Blizzaria's happy face returned, "oh! I'm glad I ran into you, I was just about to meet up with some gal pals for a mani-pedi! You should come!"
Nate looked at her bewildered… she was already being invited to hang out with more girls…? she'd hoped her friends would be comfortable with that at some point, but she didn't expect to be offered it before she was even properly out of the closet…
"Um… maybe another time, I don't have much money right now an-" Nate was about to respectfully decline, but Blizzaria was quite insistent.
"Don't worry, it'll be my treat! Believe me, a girl feels her best, when she looks her best!" The yuki onna said.
"Yeah, makeovers always make me feel great~!" Hailey interjected happily, "we should do it! You deserve to treat yourself!"
"But, aren't we looking for that yokai writer?" The brunette girl brought up.
"Eh… honestly, it might be a bit before i actually know where we're going…" USApyon sighed a bit, "dangrabbit, it's like this cities layout keeps changing…"
"Knyowing yokai… it probably is," Jibanyan said dryly.
"Yeah, besides, maybe someone at the salon knows where it is!" Hailey suggested, "we can have fun, and get intel!"
"Um…" Nate was still unsure.
"Come on!" Hailey gave her puppy eyes, "you know you want to~!"
Nate looked at her a bit. She'd be lying if she said she didnt want to do it…
"Alright, fine…" she finally gave in.
She was promptly grabbed by both hands by a very enthusiastic Blizzaria and Hailey, both of whom cheered as the former began leading them off. Their other yokai companions following behind…
…
Meanwhile, back in the human world, a different yokai was engaging in another, far less wholesome activity…
"Another round, miss…" Whisper sighed, leaning on counter of a neon lit bar.
Specifically, the bar known as Frostia's place. A small establishment in down town springdale, mostly known for catering to both humans and yokai, as the owner was a yuki-onna in disguise.
The room smelt of cheap liquor of both the mundane and supernatural kinds. A few human patrons were around, already too drunk to notice the bartender serving drinks to thin air. Eh, it was happy hour somewhere in the world.
The lady dressed in an icy blue kimono placed a cup in front of the white yokai.
"Thankyou," he weakly said, taking the glass and chugging it. Only to be met with immediate disappointment, "what?! This is just water!"
"Yes, it is," the woman behind the counter said cold, "sir, you've been in and out of here for three days, til close. You've had enough."
The hostess walked away from sniveling yokai to serve other customers.
"Hmmph, what kind of service is that…" Whisper huffed.
"Yeah, frostia is as cold as they come…" a very drunk Manjimutt by his side said, his face red and his words slurred, "though honestly that just makes her cuter~!"
Whisper gave him a look, before silently scooting away.
"Really hope his post death crisis ends soon…" Whisper muttered. He supposed the hostess had a point. The last few days he'd either been here, or the wayfarer manor…
"Why hey there, whisp-cream!" The butler heard a familiar voice, with an unmistakable country accent to their voice.
It was none other than the local lion-dog, Komasan. A yokai leaf present on his head, indicating he was posing as a human, though most yokai likely weren't fooled.
"Its Whisper…" he barely even looked at the other yokai while he corrected him.
Komasan waddled up to three bar stool next to the butler, taking a bit of effort to leap up to it.
"What are you doing here?" Whisper asked, "this isn't your kind of hangout…"
His question was answered when the hostess returned.
"Ah, city food inspector," she gave a bow, which komasan returned.
"Howdy miss! I'm here to make sure your food and drinks are delicious enough for all yur fine customers!" The lion dog said with a happy grin.
"Very well, I'll have today's special for you in just a moment," the hostess bowed again before turning away.
Whisper eyed the canine yokai beside him, "...how many jobs do you have?"
"I've been trying loads of different things, lately, its sure been fun!" Komasan replied. Though he noticed the unhappy look on the butler's face when he didn't respond,"...hey now, you doing Alright, partner?"
"Hmph… in a word, No" Whisper groaned. He supposed now would be as good a time as any to leave.
"You sure 'bout that…? You look more sour than wasp in a lemon tree," the other yokai voiced concern, "maybe you wanna talk 'bout it?"
Whisper gave a sigh, "not much to talk about, I'm afraid. I've let Nate down… probably for the last time…"
"What makes you say that?" Komasan asked.
"Hmph, I've been called Nonuttin, but I'm not an idiot…" Whisper huffed, "... Nate was more angry with me then, than after any other mistake I've ever made… I've been at this long enough to know when I'm not wanted…"
Komasan gave him an odd look,"...are we thinkin' bout the same Nate…?"
"Yes, we are…" Whisper groaned, "komasan… you're you haven't been around as long as I have, so let me be blunt. I messed up, I spoke on something I had no knowledge of, and I know how this goes…"
The lion dog looked at him for a bit, before turning away, "huh… guess you really are a no nuttin…"
The yokai butler gave an uncomfortable sigh once again, "see, you understand why I can't go bac-"
"That's not what I'm talking 'bout," komasan said in something that was rare for the guardian spirit. His tone was full of annoyance.
Whisper was almost flabbergasted. Very rarely was Komasan truly mad, and he was sure he'd never seen him annoyed with anything. He was just a go with the flow kind of yokai.
Komasan looked back at him, his eyes only half open showing clearly the emotion he was feeling, "I'm sayin' you're a no nuttin cause you think one mistake is so bad you gotta stop helping Nate out."
"Um… komasan, I'm not sure you understand… this always me-" Whisper was about to argue, but was cut off.
"No, you don't understand…" Komasan said, taking a deep breath, "when I first came to this city, I didn't know nuttin about nuttin… but I had kin to take care of, so I couldn't just say that…"
Whisper was silent as the younger yokai kept on.
"... and yeah, at first I did the same thing you did. I talked all big like, acted like I knew what's what," Komasan explained, "and just like you… I only done made a fool o' myself."
At that utterance, Whisper realized the meaning of the other yokai's words.
"I… suppose I can see your point," he said.
"Listen whisp-cream, way I see it you can do too things…" Komasan said, "you can keep on mopin' over it like you have been, or you can try to be better. And bein' honest, I don't believe Nate wouldn't be willin' to forgive ya."
The yokai butler looked at the lion dog for a moment, before a determined look appeared on his face. Wordlessly, he floated up from his chair and out of the bar.
Komasan gave an approving look as he left.
…
After a short walk(or float for Blizzaria), the group arrived at the salon. Looking like it was ready for Halloween in the middle of spring aside, it looked similar to one of the Salons Nate's mother would go to on occasion.
There were various yokai of varying shapes and sizes getting various treatments such as make-up or nail art. In the far corner, Nate even saw two employees wrestling with a yokai's hair because it had a mouth and a mind of its own.
"Fancy place~!" Hailey said, looking around.
"I come here all the time, they've got something for everyone!" Blizzaria said, "facials, haircare and dye, you name it!"
"That's why they call it 'Drop dead gorgeous!'" Another voice called out, having a bit of a distorted tone to it.
Turning in that direction, Nate saw none other than the djinn queen of all-nighters herself, Insomni. Though notably her hair was significantly more frizzy and messy than normal.
To the djinn's right was another yokai, Chatalie, typing away on her phone.
"Like, Heya Nate, congrats on figuring yourself out and junk," the dark skinned yokai said, not looking up from her phone… or maybe she did, hard to tell when you can't see the upper half of her face.
"Took you long enough to show up, you know how hard my signature look is to maintain?" Insomni said.
"Maybe It'd be easier if you actually got some beauty sleep for once," Blizzaria said with a laugh.
"Sleep is for the weak, beauty or otherwise," Insomni joked back, "well? Should we get started?"
"Yeah!" Blizzaria nodded, turning to Nate, "any clue what you want done first?"
"Umm… I don't know to be honest, I've never really been in one of these…" Nate said, a bit of a blush on her face, "just… something I can easily hide before I head home. Not really out to my parents yet, you know…"
"I get it, we'll keep things light," the yuki-onna said, thinking to herself for a moment, "I think I've got something you'll like!"
"Umm… alright then…" Nate said as Blizzaria moved to the front counter. She turned back to Hailey, "do we really have time for this?"
"Hey, you haven't gotten to do something like this before, right?" Hailey said, "revenge is sweet, but so is self-care!"
"I… I guess you've got a point," Nate said.
"So, uh… what are we supposed to do?" Jibanyan asked.
"Kinda forgot you guys were even here," Hailey said with her tongue stuck out.
"I'm looking 'round the Kainet to see if anyone has any idea where we're sposed to go," USApyon said, "so… I dunno, find something to keep yurself occupied."
"Well what am I supposed to do?!" The nekomata said in a whiny tone.
Before anyone could respond, a group of three, more feminine cat yokai. One was a purple hue with a collar designed after grapes, one was a pink shade and wearing a sailor uniform, and a yellow one with a red outfit that looked kinda like a Witch. The three were chatting about, likely on their own outing.
After a bit of silence, Jibanyan's eyes seemed to turn into hearts and his tails stood straight up.
After noticing the rest of his group was staring at him, he straightened himself out, a sly grin on his face, "enjoy the salon, ladies."
He then walked after the other group of yokai.
"Should we be worried about that…?" Hailey asked.
"Eh… it'll likely sort itself out…" Nate said with a sweatdrop rolling down her head.
"Alright, they're all ready for us!" Blizzaria called out. The two human girls walked over to her, "I signed you two up for this mineral bath thing, does wonders on the skin~!"
"That… actually sounds kinda nice…" Nate said.
"Come on, then! Changing rooms are over here, they've got swimsuits for you to borrow too!" Blizzaria took her hand, leading her forward.
Hailey followed close behind, though before she could voice her usual excitement, Chatalie floated up to her.
"Whatcha think of this?" The dark skinned yokai said, showing off something on her phone.
Hailey let out an excited gasp, "Hold the phone, is that for Nate?"
"Think she'll like it?" Chatalie asked with her usual wide grin.
"Oh, definitely!" The otaku said with glee, taking another look at the phone, "but honestly… I think a nice power blue fits her more than red."
"Hmm… I can see it," Chatalie nodded, "I'll make some last minute changes~!"
"Eeh~! This will be great!" Hailey said, skipping back toward the changing room.
…
After changing into one of the provided swimsuits, which was a simple black one piece not unlike what they typically provided at schools, Nate was sat down in a large bathtub by the employee handling her.
The yokai, a nice mermaid, started drawing water, which had a teal hue to it, almost glowing really, with foam developing on the water's surface. It had an odd, almost staticy sensation as it met her skin.
"Is this stuff… safe?" Nate asked as the water made its way up to her shins.
"Of course, it's rejuvenative to both humans and yokai alike!" The employee said. She pointed to another bath, "see for yourself."
In the other bath was another familiar yokai, Grumples. Nate watched the significantly older woman dunk her head under the water. Soon enough she surfaced, but had completely changed. Wood-like wrinkled skin gave way to a soft pale face, and white hair regained it's jet black coloring.
"Ugh… I needed this~..." the newly changed yokai gave a happy groan.
"Dang…" Nate was at a loss for words seeing this stuff change Grumples into Everfore.(Though if it kept the deceivingly youthful,elderly yokai from turning all her clothes wrinkly to keep her complexion, she wasn't gonna complain.)
"Just sit back and relax," the employee gently pushed on the human girl's shoulders, having her sit down into the bath, which had now reached just above her chest sitting down.
"Yeah, yokai mistress! It feels great~!" Hailey said from the tub to her left, leaning back with a dreamy expression.
With an exhale, Nate sat back against the edge of the tub. Allowing herself to just peacefully soak in the hot bath. She'd been to the springdale hot springs plenty of times, but she had to admit this yokai water had a good feeling to it too.
"If you'd close your eyes please, I'm going to apply some things to your face and hair, just so they get the same silky smooth results," the employee said.
Nate obliged, leaning her head back. The mermaid gently applied some sort of cream to her face, along with what were probably cucumbers over her eyes.
After that the employee moved on to massaging her head, likely rubbing in shampoo or something. She could definitely smell the strawberry fragrance it emitted. After a bit, she set the girl's head into a separate tub.
"Here, just let it sit for a moment," the employee said, and based on the silence that followed Nate inferred she must have floated away.
Letting out a breath, she focused only on the warm water that currently engulfed her.
"Enjoying yourself?" The distorted voice of Insomni said to her left.
"Yeah, this feels great~..." Nate replied.
"Yep, a good spa day can be a girl's best friend~," Insomni said in agreement.
"I mean, it's a hot bath, I don't see why anyone wouldn't enjoy this," the human girl said.
"Eh, boys are just dumb and can't understand a good thing when they see it," Insomni said, before there was a bit of a pause in her voice, "sorry, that's not offensive, is it?"
"Not to me, but I imagine some guys would be a little offended," Nate said.
"Right, sorry sis," the djinn said,"I'm sure there are guys who enjoy this stuff, of course. I mean, at the end of the day It's just self care, doesn't have to be gendered."
"Yeah, and speaking from a bit of experience…" the human girl said, "maybe they think even if they do like it, they aren't supposed to."
"Yeah, I guess you have a point there," Insomni said in a tone that implied she was deep in thought. After a bit of silence, she decided to change the subject, "speaking of, any boys in your life right now?"
"Im… not really into guys… at all…" Nate said.
"Girls then?"
"Um… well, uh…" the girl stumbled under her words a bit, reminded Hailey was also within earshot. A bit of a blush formed on her face, making her thankful it was covered in a face mask, "I'm… reexamining my feelings in that department."
"Pfft, alright, I'll have to gossip with you about it later then," Insomni said with a laugh.
Soon enough, the employee returned and began rinsing Nate's hair. Once done with that part, she moved on to filing and buffing her nails up until her bath was about finished, all the while the girl kept up conversation with Insomni, who did most of the talking to be honest.
Soon enough the bath was drained, and Nate took immediate notice of how soft her skin had become after the fact. Whatever this mineral water was, she immediately decided she was doing this more often.
"Ooh, that was great~!" Hailey said, "my hair has literally never been this soft~!"
"Seems yokai have all the good stuff," Nate said, realizing that they even managed to get her signature cowlicks to stay down, "guess we should change back into our clothes, huh?"
"I'd wait just a second on that, Natey~" Chatalie spoke up.
"Um… why?" The girl tilted her head.
"3…2…1!" Chatalie counted down.
The second she said '1' Nate heard a voice call out, "Delivery!"
"Over here!" Chatalie called out in response.
Soon after, a snow white fox with red markings, and six tails flowing behind it, ran up to the group, a package hanging from the collar on its neck.
"As ordered!" The fox presented the package with a grin.
"Thanks, buddy~!" Chatalie said taking the package, as well as giving the smaller yokai a few scratches behind the ears which it seemed to enjoy. It then took its leave, and she moved over to Nate, "I decided to getcha' a Lil something!"
"Really, you didn't have to!" Nate said with a blush, "what is it?"
"I'm not ruining the surprise, go try it on!" Chatalie said.
"Yeah, I have a feeling you'll love it!" Hailey said with a matching grin.
Nate looked at the other girl, surprised she already knew what was in the package. But, knowing Hailey, the worst it could be was a ridiculous cosplay. So, package in hand, she walked back to the changing room.
…
"Oh my god~!" Nate couldn't help but squeal with glee when she looked at herself in one of the salon's mirrors.
This had to have been one of the cutest Kimonos she'd ever seen, and it fit like a glove! It was mostly a dark, powder blue, like the night sky on a harvest moon. Speaking of, a moon design was even featured on the left side of the chest, along with a prevalent theme of cherry blossoms all throughout it. It even had some matching sandals, and a moon hair pin to complete the look!
"Eeh~, Chatalie, this is awesome!" She smiled at the yokai.
"Thanks, but your nerdy friend helped me with the details," the dark skinned yokai replied.
"I already knew most your measurements from our last hang out!" The nerd in question spoke up.
"Wanted you to have something stylish to wear! I'd probably die if I had to keep dressing like a guy against my will," Chatalie laughed.
"Aren't you already dead?" Blizzaria pointed out.
"Figure of speech," the wide mouthed yokai stuck out her tongue.
"I can't thank you girls enough! This has been great!" The smile on Nate's face must have been a mile wide. She could barely take her eyes off her reflection, she looked so cute~!
"Guess this detour was a good idea, huh?" Hailey said with a smug look.
Immediately Nate's look went from pure joy, to one of immediate realization, "Oh crap, that yokai writer!"
"Oh yeah…. Whole reason we came here…" Hailey said in a less over the top realization,"...sowwy!"
"You've got my stuff, right?" Nate asked her, receiving a nod from the Otaku. She then turned to the trio of yokai girls and gave a quick bow, "thanks for the salon trip, girls! But we gotta go!"
Hearing a farewell from each, Nate took Hailey's hand and dragged her back to the lobby area, about as fast as she reasonably could in a kimono.
"Jibanyan! USApyon! We gotta…" Nate called out, only to pause mid sentence as she saw something she wasn't really sure how to react to… "are… you ok…?"
Jibanyan, of course, was currently redder than usual. With several paw prints on the white of his face, which the girl could feel fresh heat radiating off of.
Jibanyan gave her a deadpanned look, "...I don't wannya talk about it."
"Sounds to me like Kitty cat didn't get his mouse," Hailey grinned. Jibanyan huffed.
"Well then…" Nate said, she picked up the nekomata, "Let's go!"
Jibanyan grumbled a bit in her arms, but didn't say anything. And with that, the group left the salon.
…
"Ugh, why is this city so biiiiggg…?" Hailey groaned, her feat ached as they must have been walking for at least an hour by now.
However, the girl next to her didn't seem to share this sentiment, as Nate has a massive grin on her face.
"Hey Nate! Like the new look, really cute!" The yokai Rawry said, riding by on his scooter.
Somehow, the blush she'd been suppressing deepened even further. What could she say, she was on cloud nine! That must have been the sixth or seventh yokai she knew who noticed the change in appearance and complimented it.
"How long is she gonnya be like this?" Jibanyan asked in a deadpan.
"Affection is one heck of a drug," USApyon said in a similar reaction.
"Hey, shut it, I've gotten more compliments about my looks in one hour, than I have throughout most my life," Nate said, "quite frankly, I'm just enjoying the massive boost to my self esteem."
"Yeah, guess you did luck out on feminine features, huh?" Hailey said, "I've always thought you were more androgynous than anything, but right now, change of clothes and maybe growing your hair out, and you're actually really cute!"
The other girl giggled at this, "glad to hear I'm not just 'average.'"
"I wouldn't dream of calling you that, my fair lady~!" A familiar voice said as a purple cloud of smoke appeared before them.
When the smoke cleared, a blond boy in purple, expensive looking clothing appeared, a rose in his hand.
"Oh… hey, Kyubi!" Nate said to the familiar 'boy.'
"Greetings, Nathan! And might I say the new look is lovely~!" Kyubi said in a flirty tone, "I'm sure you're going to grow into quite the beauty~"
Nate stared at him for a moment… "not into guys, kyubi…"
Kyubi stared back at her blankly… before another puff of purple smoke, and he was in his normal look or a large bipedal yellow and purple fox with seven tails.
"It was worth a shot," the kitsune said in a deadpan tone, floating away.
The two girls continued to look blankly as he left… until they both burst out laughing.
After recovering, they continued on.
"Eeh~ this feels so good!" Nate squealed as she began walking backwards, "I feel like absolutely nothing can go wrong!"
Famous last words it seemed, as almost immediately, she felt herself walk into something big and hard. At first she thought it was a wall, only to hear a masculine voice call out, "GAH!" followed by a splat.
Nate immediately turned around to see a large, grey skinned man in sumo garb, holding an umbrella with passing resemblance to Pallysol in one hand, and staring at the other.
Additionally, on the ground at his feat was a spilled pudding, with a faint golden glow…
"Huh… usually I'm the one to get into blunders like that…" Hailey said with a surprised look.
"My… my pudding!" The yokai said in a distressed tone.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Nate said, giving an apologetic bow.
"Um… Nate…" USApyon had a worried look as he searched something on his YokaI-pad.
"My pudding… my heavenly pudding!" The yokai said, his red eyes narrowing.
"Um… I can buy some more if you'd like…" Nate could feel sweat dripping down her forehead as the yokai stood there. She began walking back to the group slowly.
"Buy me more…" the yokai growled, before stomping the ground with the force of an earthquake, "THAT WAS HEAVENLY PUDDING YOU INSOLENT CHILD!"
"Umm…" the group all said unanimously.
"H-hey… let's calm down here, we can talk about this!" Nate said, trying to salvage this situation.
"I… don't think so…" USApyon said, "that guy is called Scarasol! He's a famous yokai sumo particularly known for his short fuse!"
Scarasol: A rank
Heartful.
"I WAS ON A 300 YEAR WAITING LIST FOR THAT PUDDING! CRAFTED BY THE ANGELS THEMSELVES!" Scarasol's voice bellowed with rage.
"Dude, calm down!" Jibanyan said, leaping forward, "it's just pudding! Nyo nyeed to freak out over it!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Scarasol whacked Jibanyan with his umbrella, sending the cat flying.
Seeing their companion flying off like a homerun ball, the girls and rabbit like yokai all immediately had the same thought.
"RUN!" The three yelled out, rubbing back the way came. The sumo yokai letting out a growl as he gave chase.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Nate called out as she realized she was significantly slower than the other two, "I can't run in this outfit!"
Hearing that, Hailey panicked, "oh! Right, uh… I've got this!"
The bespeckled girl instantly picked her friend up bridal style, and began running again.
Being in such a position, Nate blushed at the Otaku, "what the- how can you lift me?! Aren't we the same size?!"
"GOOD GENES!" Hailey shouted as she ran.
"GET BACK HERE!" Scarasol yelled as he followed them.
"NOT A CHANCE!" Hailey picked up speed.
As the chase continued, they passed various yokai onlookers. In particular, a pair of yokai girls. One draped in pink and black, and the other in eggshell white.
"What the…?" the darker dressed one said.
"Was that…?" the lighter one added, sensing a bit of familiarity with the fleeing humans.
…
After minutes of chase, multiple turns, and at least one yokai cheering it on, it finally came to an end… when Hailey took a turn into an alleyway that was a dead end.
"HAILEY!" Nate called out, seeing nothing but a brick wall in their path ahead.
"HEY, I DIDN'T SEE YOU RUNNING!" Hailey shouted back.
"YUR BOTH IDIOTS!" USApyon gave a scream of his own.
"End of the line!" Scarasol said, punctuating his threat with a stomp. He began stepping closer to the group. Eyes red with rage… or maybe they were just naturally red…
"And just what do you think you're doing…?" An unknown voice with a clear… venom to it.
The sumo yokai turned around, and the group looked over his shoulder to see who the voice belonged to.
She seem to be a human girl, but was more than likely a yokai who looked human. She was incased in the shadows of the alley, but they could see the silhouette of her spider-leg-like hair, as well as her piercing, glowing green eyes.
"I'll ask again… what do you think you're doing?" The mysterious girl asked, the venom just as clear.
Scarasol gave a huff, "claiming my retribution!"
"Retribution? Really…" the girl said, "I see a grown man threatening two children and…" she squinted a bit, "some kind of rabbit in hazmat suit?"
"Its a space suit!" USApyon huffed.
The newcomer blinked a bit, before regaining her glare, "whatever. I'll give you one chance, you won't get another… walk. Away."
The Scarasol huffed, "and what if I don't?"
"Well…" the girl said, cracking her neck, "at least I warned you."
The sumo stomped forward, leaning in fo grab the smaller yokai. However, she caught his hands, mirroring his force.
Scarasol growled as he was unable to overpower the newcomer's grip. For her part, the newcomer smirked, before headbutting the sumo yokai, disorienting him.
As the larger yokai reeled back, the smaller one gave a low kick, knocking him off balance. Then as he was falling, she gave an upper cut with a enough force to launch him into the air.
Nate, Hailey and USApyon could only watch in awe as the newcomer beat down an opponent 3 times her size.
Before Scarasol hit the ground, a web like string shot from the yokai girl's wrists, latching onto the sumo yokai.
She pulled back, beginning to spin on her heels. Using the larger yokai's own momentum, she launched him away into the distance, a twinkle in the sky as he flew away.
Admiring her handy work, the newcomer dusted off her hands, before turning to the group, "you all alright?"
Naturally, the humans were too stunned to speak.
"Its ok. I don't bite… usually," the yokai was… probably joking.
"Um… thanks…" Nate said.
"That guy didn't hurt you, right? I know humans are pretty fragile," the spider-haired girl said.
"Nah, we gave him the slip for the most part…" Hailey said, before her eyes lit up, "but that was awesome! You took him out like you were the star in a martial arts movie!"
The yokai girled laughed a bit, "yeah, what can I say, I know a thing or two about combat."
"Yeah… I can tell…" Nate said. The girls relaxed attitude putting her at ease.
"Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself," the girl said, coming out of the shadows. She had pale skin, dark pink hair, and light pink kabuki makeup. Her wardrobe was a black and pink style of kimono. She gave a small bow, "my name is Arachnia, it's a pleasure to meet you, miss yokai master."
Arachnia: S rank.
Eerie.
"You… know who I am?" Nate asked.
"Yeah, Nate right?" Arachnia asked, "I belive you've met my uncle on your 'time travel escapade.' General Arachnius?"
"Um… name doesn't ring a bell but…" Nate said, examining the yokai, "but I do think my grandfather summoned a yokai who kinda looks like you."
"Really? But that's not what he…" Arachnia paused, "oh, right, time travel… eh, forget it. Point is, yeah, I know of you."
"Nice timing with the save, I guess…" Nate said.
"Hold up, whats this about time travel?!" Hailey shot up, she grabbed her friend by the shoulders "yokai mistress, you traveled to the past and didn't tell me?!"
"Um, listen Hailey it's a long story!" The other girl said as Hailey shook her a bit.
At this display, Arachnia couldn't help but laugh a bit, "and you must be the Yokai detective I've heard so much about. Honestly, I'm glad to have found you two."
At the mention of her title, Hailey dropped Nate, "wait, you've heard of me too?!"
Before Hailey could go full blown ball of energy, Nate stood up.
"And you were looking for us?" The girl asked.
"Well, more specifically you, but…" Arachnia said, "Yeah! I'd like to say-"
"Nia! Wait for me!" Another voice called out.
The group was joined by another yokai girl, with similarly pale skin and flowing white hair… she also seemed to be sitting in an eggshell. She seemed to be holding a cake box as well!
"Nia! You said we'd talked to her together!" The white yokai said.
"Hehe, sorry Yoko," Arachnia said.
The two talked a bit to each other quietly. Afterwards, they stood side by side, each holding up the cake box with one hand.
The two shouted out in unison, "welcome to the club!"
Arachnia flipped open the box showing off a cake with blue, pink and white frosting in stripes.
"Uh… huh?" Nate said in confusion. She recognized the look of the cake, of course. It was the trans pride flag, but the gesture was what she was having trouble understanding.
"Well, a little birdie told us you'd recently figured out you were trans," Yoko said.
"And, so are we!" Arachnia gave a warm grin.
"Wait, really?" The human girl said.
"Yep! Turns out spirit bodies are pretty good for gender affirming care," Arachnia said, "the yokai community is generally pretty accepting, but we know its not easy being like us."
"Add in the fact you're human, and let's be honest, humans can really suck sometimes, and we wanted to make sure you had some friends who understand what you're going through!" Yoko added, she turned to the other yokai, "Nia even decided to bake you a cake~!"
"I mean… it's nothing too special" the spider girl said with a bit of a blush, "then, when we heard you were in town, we decided to give it to ya."
"You're a hard girl to track down, you know?" The egg yokai said with a grin.
Nate wasn't sure how to react. Sure, she'd obviously known other people like her were out there. But seeing two before her who were in the same boat… it made her feel a bit more assured in herself.
"Thank you guys," she said with a grin, "I'm sure we'll be quick friends!"
The two yokai returned said grins.
"Hey, speaking of, I don't think you introduced yourself, egg lady!" Hailey pointed out.
She had a point. Nate was only assuming the white clad yokai was named "Yoko" from Arachnia.
"Oh? Oh right! I'm sure you don't recognize me!" Yoko said, "we've actually met once before, yokai detective, but I wasn't out then."
"Really? I'd think I'd remember seeing a bombshell like you before," the Otaku put a hand to her chin as she looked Yoko up and down.
"Quite sure! You helped me crack my egg, so to speak…" yoko said, "...after I stole USApyon's suit, that is."
At that, both Hailey and USApyon's jaw dropped, as they both said, "UNSHELLTERED?!"
They couldn't believe the awkward little egg yokai they'd met before had transformed into the beauty before them.
"The one and only! Quite the glow up, huh? Though these days, they call me…" The egg yokai made a pause, striking a dramatic pose as a heavenly chorus seemed to play, "HER EGGCELLENCY~!"
Her Eggcellency: S rank
Charming
The egg yokai returned to her normal pose, "buuttt that's a bit of a mouthful, so my friends just call me 'Yoko!'"
"Wow!" Hailey said in awe, "looks like you figured yourself out too, huh?"
"Yes, it took some soul searching, but I've been much happier since I came out of my shell," Yoko said.
"Glad to hear it!" Hailey said with a laugh.
USApyon spoke up, "after there was nothing underneath yur shell, I honestly thought I'd committed manslaughter."
"Eh, yeah. But as they say, don't crack an egg, build a nest," Yoko said.
"I have no idea what that means!" Hailey smiled.
"So, you guys wanna hang for a little bit? Maybe grab a bite?" Arachnia asked.
"Well, we are kinda looking for someone right now…" Nate said.
"Actually, I could live with a lunch break. Scarasol ensured I burned my calories today," Hailey said with a sigh.
"Ditto," USApyon agreed.
"Um… well then, yeah! We'll take you up on that," Nate said, turning back to Arachnia.
"I know this great Sukiyaki place just a bit away from here!" Yoko suggested.
"Sounds like a plan…" USApyon said, "... but we should probably get Jibanyan first…"
Nate looked at him blankly for a moment, then face palmed, "right! He got yeeted somewhere…"
The girl took out his medal, and called the feline yokai back to them.
When the summoning ended, a scuffed up jibanyan landed in front of her.
"You ok?" She asked the cat, only getting a grumpy stare in response, "...will some food make you feel better?"
Jibanyan grumbled, "yes."
The brunette girl picked him up, "Alright then, let's go!"
…
The sukiyaki restaurant Yoko had, 'Wicked flavor,' had a very appropriate sengoku period style to it. It honestly reminded Nate of some Japanese fairytale.
After entering, Yoko chatted with the waitress, a yokai woman with pale skin and hair, a gleaming red eye with the other covered, and a kimono suspiciously similar in color to wicked yokai… it was probably just to fit the restaurant's name.
After that, the yokai led them to a booth, they placed their lunch order, and began chatting. Nate explaining what they were doing in New Yokai City to begin with.
"Seriously?!" Arachnia shouted as she finished, "someone seriously outed you without your consent?!"
"Unfortunately," Nate sighed, "we've been trying to track down the article's writer to figure out who it was, but this city is a maze."
"Nah, don't worry, I'm helping," Arachnia said matter of factly, "that military training is finally gonna be useful for something."
"You were in the military?" Hailey asked.
"Eh, more like I'm from a military family, my uncles one of the two general's of lord Enma's army," the spider girl said with a sigh, "not that I'm particularly proud of that…"
The yokai girl's face gained a sour expression.
"Issues with your uncle?" Nate asked.
"More with his job than anything…" Arachnia sighed, "look, war in general is pointless. It's even more pointless when neither side can die, so it just amounts to punching each other until one side says uncle."
"Oh no, here comes the rant again," Yoko sighed, sipping from her drink.
"All I'm saying, is it's hard to find a posting 'prestigious' when all you do is start another war with General Toadal Dude, just because they couldn't decide what donuts to get," Arachnia groaned.
"Um… that didn't actually happen, did it?" Nate asked with a worried tone.
"Oh it did. Those two idiots will get into an argument over the stupidest things, and drag hundreds of yokai into it!" The spider girl groaned, "it genuinely wouldn't surprise me if they started a war over boxers vs briefs."
"Answer c, they both suck," Yoko said absently.
"Yeah, I know, that's the point," Arachnia said, "I never wanted to be a soldier to begin with, but I keep getting dragged into their dumb conflicts. Like, just kiss already and stop making it my problem!"
The yokai girl huffed a bit.
"Well…. What did you want to be?" Nate asked her.
Giving her a blank look for a moment, a bit of a blush came to Arachnia's face, "well… I wanna be a geisha to be honest."
Hailey's eyes lit up at that, and an audible squeal could be heard.
"Like, I've always had a passion from makeup, and cooking, I think I'd be pretty good as a geisha…" Arachnia said, "...and I also took a toxicology class, so I can moonlight as an assassin!"
And that got her nothing but blank stares.
"What? I don't enjoy senseless violence, but poison is cool," Arachnia said.
Soon after that the waitress returned with their food, after thanking her the group began to eat.
"Alright, enough about me," Arachnia said in between bites, "what about you, Nate? Got any big dreams, or are you content to just keep saving us idiots?"
Nate thought about the question for a moment… What did she want to do with herself…?
She shook her head for a moment, "hey! I just dealt with one existential question about my life. Don't give me another one!"
"I face existential questions all the time!" Hailey said with her tongue stuck out.
The group let out some collective laughs at that.
"Well, whatever you decide to be, I hope you stay as kind as you are," Another voice said from behind Nate…. A voice she recognized instantly… which caused her to instantly panic.
She practically leaped out of her seat to turn to the voice's origin, "D-D-Dame Dedtime?!"
Sure enough, present was the self proclaimed 'Queen of the Wicked,' Dame Dedtime. The 15 foot tall woman clad in her dark kimono… looked… different.
Her face lacked the signature scowl and gaudy black makeup, and her hair even seemed a lighter shade of purple.
And it wasn't her appearance that had shifted. She had a completely different aura as well. Instead of radiating malice and hate, she had an almost grandmotherly aura to her.
"Pleasant to see you again, Nate. You don't seem to have aged a day since you defeated me," the Dame said in a calm tone, she chuckled a bit, "but, that's time travel for you."
"You… aren't mad…?" Nate looked at her in confusion,"...or… evil?"
"Or a complete nyutcase?" Jibanyan asked.
"Jibanyan!" The girl shouted at him.
The Dame gave a bit of a smirk, "oh believe me, I was angry initially. When my form regenerated in the infinite inferno…"
"What… is the infinite inferno?" Nate asked with a worried expression.
"I'd bet it's some super max security prison for nasty yokai supervillains!" Hailey called out.
The Otaku was met with a blank stare from her friend, who looked to the yokai beside her.
"Actually… yeah, that's pretty spot on," Arachnia shrugged.
"Regardless. When I was imprisoned, I had a lot of time to think, reflect, process…" the old yokai said, "I think we both have been doing a lot of that."
"Yeah… I'd say we have," Nate said.
"Now… I can put my past behind me," the Dame said, "new life, new name… speaking of, you can call me Dame Deartime."
Dame Deartime: S rank
Wicked
"I don't have a new name yet, I'm afraid…" Nate said. She thought for a moment, "this is your place, isn't it?"
"Wicked Flavor? Yeah, trying to rebrand a bit," Dame Deartime chuckled, "my tribe hasn't changed… but 'Wicked' has more than one meaning."
"Well… I hope it works for you," Nate gave her a smile..
"Thank you for that," the Dame gave a bow, "and quite frankly, thank you for stopping me."
With her piece said, the group returned to their meal, and even splitting Arachnia's cake!
With everyone's stomachs filled, it was time to return to the search.
"Alright, no more distractions," Nate said, "we're finding this guy, and we're getting this done!"
"Greeeaat, more walking," Hailey groaned.
"Who exactly are you looking for?" Nate heard the dame's voice once again.
"Ah!" She yelped a bit, "how is someone as big at you so good at sneaking up on people?!"
"Years of practice, but that's besides the point," Dame deartime joked, "who exactly are you looking for?"
"Are you sure you can help?" The human girl asked.
"She runs a popular restaurant, she's bound to be the type of npc who gives the heroine info on all the important people in the city!" Hailey explained.
Nate once again gave her a blank look, before turning to the dame.
"...I've no idea what an NPC is, but she's right. I do know a lot of yokai in this city," Dame Deartime said.
"HA! Im two for two!" Hailey called out in triumph.
The dame ignored that, "so, who are you looking for?"
"Injurnalist. Some yokai came to him with, well, this," Nate gestured to herself, "and aired it out to the whole yokai world without my consent."
"We just wannya talk with the yokai who thought that was a good idea," Jibanyan said.
"And I might poison them a bit," Arachnia said with a dark chuckle.
"Maybe you can use your skills to beat them within an inch of their body dissipating, then I can use my paradise skill to heal them, and we can do it all over again!" Yoko said with a grin, joining her pink clad friend in the evil laughter.
Watching the two plan this yokai's punishment, USApyon scooted to the left a bit, sweat rolling down his forehead.
"Injurnalist… yeah, he's a regular," the Dame said, "his office is just down two blocks, take a left at the blaster's house and straight on, green building on the right."
"Wow… you did know," Nate said.
"We've been looking fur that all day!" USApyon said.
"Thanks Dame dear time!" Nate said, a determined look formed on her face "now I gotta go give someone a piece of my mind…"
With that, the Dame watched as the group left…
And almost immediately after they did, another familiar face floated around.
"Oh, Nate! Where did you get of to in such a big city?!" Whisper said, seemingly searching aimlessly while also consulting his YokaI-pad.
"Hey buddy!" The Dame called out.
The white yokai looked up, only to scream, "D-D-D-DAME DEDTIME!
Dame deartime rolled her eyes, "they went that way!"
Whisper was quite for a bit, before turning around and catching sight of the departing group.
"Uh…oh!" Whisper gave a brief bow, "thankyouverymuch!"
He then frantically floated off.
…
"Hehehe, this is the kind of chaos I enjoy~!" Snitchin grinned, reclining on Injurnalist's couch, "it's already all over the web~!"
"And they say people won't read celebrity tabloids anymore," Injurnalist said with a grin, "ratings through the roof! I can't see how this could possibly go wrong!"
Almost immediately, they were shocked by the door flying off its hinges and landing directly on top of Snitchin, who screamed as it hit him.
Stepping in, Arachnia shook her head with a grin.
"Wow, you are good at that," Nate said.
"Core strength, baby," the spider girl said, shooting her finger guns.
"I'm not sure how violent to peg you as, and I kinda love it," Hailey said with a grin.
Nate turned to injurnalist, giving him a seemingly warm smile, "hi there. It's me, Nate Adams. The one whose information you decided to leak!"
"Uh… yeah, I know yas…" injurnalist said in a worried tone.
"Good! Now, you can either tell me who gave you the information," the girl said, "or she can do the same thing to you that she did to the door."
"Please choose the second option, please, I've got tiger widow venom to try," Arachnia grinned.
"Ugh, what the heck happened," snitchin rubbed his head as he phased through the door.
"IT WAS HIM!" Injurnalist yelled, before leaping beneath his desk.
Nate blinked for a moment… before face paling, "Ugh, of course it was you! You already tried to do the same thing with my human friends!"
"To be honest, we probably should have put it together sooner…" Hailey said.
"Wait, who's this guy?" Jibanyan asked.
"Well, at least now I know for sure it was Whisper," Nate sighed in relief, "wasn't emotionally ready for that yet…"
"Nate!" Whisper said floating up behind the group.
"Wait, whisper?!" Nate immediately looked back at him, a mix of emotions washing over her.
"Later losers!" Snitchin said, scurrying off while the group was temporarily distracted, and attempting to jump out the window.
"Nope," Arachnia immediately shot a web at him, dragging him back and wrapping him up.
"Hey!" Snitchin yelled.
"Zip it, she wasn't kidding about the tiger widow venom," Yoko said.
"Whisper… What are you doing here?" Nate asked.
"I… I came looking for you," Whisper said, "you weren't home, and the kainet said you were in New Yokai."
"Alright then…" Nate said.
"And… I have to say… IM SORRY!" Whisper said, "I overstepped my boundaries as your butler, I said something I shouldn't have, and it made you very upset."
"...yeah, I am upset," the girl replied, "I really trust you Whisper… and I was really hoping you'd be supportive…"
"And belive me, Nate, I do want to support you… that's all I want to do as your butler…" Whisper said, "but… as usual, I've gone and messed it up…"
Nate looked at the yokai butler for a moment, "what to you mean, 'as usual?'"
Whisper looked back at her briefly, before sighing, "you aren't my first master, Nate… or my second… actually your like the 25th, but that's besides the point…"
"Which is?" Hailey asked.
"Ugh… my first master… I got him killed," Whisper admitted, causing everyone to look at him with wide eyes, "and my second cast me out… as did my third… and forth…"
The butler's face grew more and more uncomfortable.
"And one particularly bad firing is actually what ended me up in the Crank-a-kai…" the butler sighed, "everytime… my own ignorance has caused me to do my masters wrong… and now, it seems I've done the same with you…"
"Whisper…" Nate said, looking at him with sadness, "... ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!"
"H-huh?!" Whisper was taken aback.
"I've literally never cared that you don't know everything, or that you take info from the wiki," the girl half shouted at him, before calming her tone "what annoys me is when you act like you do!"
She let out a breath.
"You were locked up for what, 200 years? It'd be unreasonable to expect you to know everything that's happened since then," Nate sighed, "but when you don't act like a know-it-all, you've really helped me. And I don't always act like it, but I really appreciate you being there for me…"
"Nate…" Whisper said quietly.
"I am mad at you, Whisper. But I don't want to get rid of you," Nate said, "I just want you to do better. Admit when you don't know something…"
"...because that's the only way I'll learn…" Whisper finished the thought.
"Exactly…" Nate said, "do you think you can do that?"
Whisper looked at her again, a contemplative look on his face. Before a determined look formed on his face, "for you Nate… I can at least try."
Nate's expression turned to a grin, "that's all I need."
The air between them seemed to lighten, as a matching grin formed on the butler's face.
"Looks like all's well that ends well!" Hailey said with a grin.
"I'm still here you know!" Snitchin yelled.
With that, he got a glare from everyone in the room.
"Oh yeah… what do we do with him?" Hailey asked.
"I've got just the thing…" Nate said with a smirk, "unless you're truly sorry, of course.".
"Sorry? Why the inferno would I be sorry!" Snitchin laughed, "you won't do nothing to me, you're too nice!"
Nate looked at him, "yeah, I am nice…" before she grinned at Jibanyan, "him though…"
"Oh, FINYALLY!" Jibanyan called out in triumph, "after the day I've had, I nyeed this!"
"Don't go too nuts, buddy" Nate said, turning away as jibanyan began wailing on the imp, Arachnia holding him in place, "honestly… I'm just ready to go home…"
"A sentiment I share," Whisper nodded.
"Yeah… you need a shower, dude," Nate said, pausing for a bit, "...so… are you ok with this? I mean…"
Whisper was quiet again briefly, before saying, "if being a girl will make you happy, nate… than it's not my place to judge."
"Hmph, I'm glad," Nate said, feeling as if a huge weight was off her shoulders, "...I think… I'm gonna come out… for real this time. To my friends and parents…"
"You sure you're ready for that, Nat?" Hailey asked.
"Heck no… but… I want It to be on my terms…" Nate said, "so, I'm gonna do it tomorrow… before another yokai can screw with me."
"Hehe, young miss, I can assure you if any of them are smarter than me, they'll accept you with open arms," Whisper said.
"And we all know how low that bar is!" USApyon joked, causing the group to burst out laughing.
After that, and jibanyan got a few more hits in, they left the building. Arachnia and Yoko gave their medals, and the group split off to head home.
Nate left with a sense of comfort. All things considered, she felt good about herself. Sure, the terrifying feeling of coming out was impending… but that was a problem for tomorrow…