Yeperdoddles. At least Luigi aint going to be alone for the events of Luigis Mansion at least... maybe...probably.
Edit: Now that I think about it that could serve as plot hook For Super Mario Sunshine, have Himari deliver the F.L.U.U.D to Mario and ask him to help clean Isle Delfino since its ruining Rei's, Akemi and Her vacation.
Your Place
3:20 PM, 20 minutes after Rei left for her meeting with the Archmages…
You are Jun Akimitsu. You are fucking bored.
The sentiment seems to be shared. Himari has put down the Monster Hunter for once. She's twiddling her thumbs and nervously looking down the hallway where Rei and Kirata's portal was. Akemi is reading the latest physical issue of Shonen Jump with one hand and petting Purrson with the other. Speaking of Purrson, the mysterious cat-god-thing that jumped into your life recently is sleeping on Akemi's lap right after devouring a whole bar of chocolate.
In moments like these, most people would assume that living with two (admittedly both cute in their own ways) girls is very fun. Those people are wrong. Each day, you have to monitor twenty different underground transactions and tell ten different bunches of criminals info that's accurate but just vague enough to keep the girls safe, and meanwhile Akemi's blowing up your new PC build in the background while Himari is doxxing a racist on Discord and sending a trojan horse virus their way. There are two women who could kill you in your sleep who are living in your house who you also have to cook for because apparently the Guild didn't teach them normal people life skills, and you also have to watch out for two criminal organizations who are literally specialized in not being watched. And you still have to pay taxes.
To put it very simply, you are not a harem protagonist despite how many women keep on running through your life. You are a side character. But that's ok. Protagonism is best suited for the young and the insane. You're 23 going on 24 but you are already much too old for this shit.
Ahem. Back on task. Let's do something fun now. "Hey, Himari. Wanna take a short walk? You've got the sunglasses and everything, so we should test them out, see if they mess with your vision."
Himari wrenches her head away from the empty hallway, and slowly nods."Ok, sure Just gimme a second to freshen up."
Akemi barely looks up from her manga. "I'll hold down the fort. Don't worry, I'll call you two when Rei gets back." 3:30 PM
Shinjuku, Tokyo
You wanted to go to Akihabara, but Himari said that it'd be awkward if you somehow ran into one of Rei's coworkers, no matter how unlikely that is. Himari wanted to go to Harajuku, but you don't want to take any risks of meeting the Sugimoto Family. So right now you two are in the center of Shinjuku, window shopping. You two somewhat stand out a bit, with the purple streak through your hair and the fact that it looks like Himari's prematurely graying. But there are weirder people, like the girl who just passed you with a hair clip that looks like a crescent moon, and someone who looks like she's dressing up as a… landmine girl? Is that the word? Japanese fashion is hard for you. Actually, fashion's just hard for you in general. Sweaters are better.
If Himari notices your internal monologue (she probably doesn't) she doesn't show it. Her feet lightly tap the floor as both you and her look over at a street cart selling crepes.
"Hey Jun, can we get some? I want the strawberry flavor."
The crepes are brightly colored, the flat French pastry… thingies colored strawberry pink and chocolate brown. If you had to guess, the vendor probably has a few gallons of food coloring dumped onto them. Ick.
So anyways, you pull out your phone and go pay for two crepes by touching your phone to a reader, ordering chocolate for you and strawberry for her. The things you do for this crazy girl…
As both you and her sit down against a wall, you watch her reaction. Her empty eyes are well covered by the sunglasses you bought, and from the way that she (neatly) devours the crepe with quick stabs of a fork, you'd assume that her eyes are glowing if it wasn't for the fact that she physically can't do that. All the Guild kids you've met do that thing, where they eat like it's their last meal on earth. Doubly so when they get non ration/mushy food. Carefully, you bite into your crepe.
Mm. Nutella. Tastes good.
Himari finishes up just as you're halfway done with your crepe. She wipes away some of the whipped cream with her hand, and softly smiles. (Cute.) "Dang, that was nice. We gotta get something to make one of those at home."
"I think it's actually pretty easy to make a crepe, now that I think about it. I can help you make some for Rei and Akemi."
"Really!?"
"...on the condition that you help out with cooking dinner. Akemi can't do it, since she'll burn up the stove, and I don't care if he's magic, I'm not letting Purrson get any fur into my food."
Himari's head dramatically droops a bit, but she nods, before standing up and pointing towards the sky. "Ok, fine. But we better make the best freaking crepes in Japan! Blue and green and all of those colors!"
"Most crepes are supposed to be light brown, y'know."
Her hand that was pointing towards the sky drops as well. "...oh. Ok, good to know."
You can't help but snicker a bit, and before you know it, Himari's silently laughing as well. The best crepes in all of Japan, huh? It's not the worst business proposition you've heard.
You stand up, and dust off your pants. Once again, the crowd ignores both you and her, leaving both of you with some time to think. Himari looks around the Shinjuku streets, and doesn't seem to find anything too interesting. "...man, anywhere you want to go next? A museum or something?"
You sigh. And man, you've been sighing too much recently, you need to chill on that. "No, too many cameras, we might get our faces captured."
"Well, I guess we can go back home, I've gotten enough fresh air," she says, leaning back onto the wall, "and besides, we can definitely grind out a bit more Monste-"
As she says that she leans back a bit more, you blink, and something—
Pops.
And Himari just isn't there anymore. You look around. It doesn't look like anyone even reacted to what just happened. Shit. It takes you about five seconds to decide what to do next.
You get up, turn your back to the wall, and throw yourself back first into the wall.
If you notice someone about your height chasing after you as you fall, you don't have enough time to worry about it. 3:36 PM
???
And now you're falling. Oh no. Oh god. Gravity as always seems to ignore your pleas to stop, as your legs and arms flail around for some sort of balance. You brace for impact, as the ground gets closer—
And as you hit the floor, you open your eyes and realize that you're still alive. Not only that, your bones are somehow all intact. And that's saying a lot, because your right hand should still be as fragile as a spring deer after what happened all those years ago.
You get up from the floor, and Himari's nowhere to be found. Instead, there's nothing but the hustle and bustle of a swap meet. Stalls upon stalls line the streets as far as you can see. While some of the stalls are empty, some of them are inhabited by people, all wearing traditional festival masks over their faces. The hell…?
"Hey there, young'un. What're you doing here?"
You do not scream. At most, you mildly jump, maybe flinch a tiny bit. "Uh, hello?"
There is an old dude behind you. 60 to 70ish, but with really good posture for a dude of that age. He wears a traditional kimono (surprising, considering he doesn't look like a tourist) and carries an open orange parasol. Unlike everyone else you can see in the background, he doesn't have a mask on. That's weird, considering that…
You look up. The sky's still blue as normal, but when you look closer… it's magic. Even though there's a blue filter over it, there's a gray ceiling over everything, and the ceiling is covering the entire sky. Ah. It was only so long until the weirdness would get to you after it got to Rei.
You look back at the man. "Where is this? I'm not in Shinjuku anymore, am I?"
The old guy laughs, and it takes you a second to blink and look closer. As you do, the wrinkles of his face seem to vanish, and the gray in his hair is replaced by a startling orange. "Oh! You must be a human! We don't get many of your kind, even after magic went above ground. Here, follow me!"
The (old? young?) man grabs your wrist, and before you can talk back, you're dragged from your spot. Oh dear.
You thankfully are still pretty good at running, but this is testing your patience. You can't get rid of the man's grip on your wrist, so instead you have to keep up in order to not get your arm ripped off or your face dragged against the asphalt. Voices and complaints ring out, as both you and him topple over a few set up chairs and carpets with precious items. You spot jewelry, toys… swords? Huh.
As you run, you eventually manage to get used to the running enough to gasp out a question. "Hey dude, where are you taking me! Just wanna know!!!"
The dude looks back at you, with this infectious grin on his face. You didn't notice it earlier, but the parasol that he was holding is folded up now, held over his shoulder by his other arm. "To somewhere where we can get a better view of the market. Check this out!"
He grabs your full arm, and chucks you over his shoulder. Your legs flail as both you and him collide into what look like a stall— 3:38 PM
???
"Hey. Hey! Kasaru, you hit the dude too hard!"
"Well, I thought that he'd be fine. He already fell into here, I thought he could take one or two more teleports."
You have to rub your eyes because oh man your head hurts. As you open your eyes, you see two faces: the ageless man from before, and a young dude, about your age. The young dude has some sporty clothes on, a black and orange sport jacket taking up most of your view. "Uh, hey? Can I not get my butt kicked like that next time?"
The young dude seems to flinch back in surprise. "Uh— you're awake?! The heck?"
You blink, before pinching yourself. Nope, not a dream. "Hm. Yeah, looks like I am. And can you guys give me an explanation? I'm so tired right now."
The ageless man (Kasaru?) opens his mouth, but the sporty boy opens it first.
"No, you go first, young'un."
"No you, you're a local."
"Alright, fine! My name's Kasaru. I'm a Karakasa who gained this form recently."
As Kasaru says that, the parasol he was holding unfolds. A black eye made of ink materializes on top of the orange paper and looks at you, and you realize with a jolt that the parasol is his real body.
"And I'm Obara Kazuki! Kamen Rider Apollo, you might have heard of me from what I've been doing against the Shades in this area."
You… you… eh, this doesn't even crack the top five weirdest things you've seen this year. "So yokai are real? Like, I knew about Kamen Riders but…"
Kasaru just shrugs. "Eh, we pop up a lot! Obara over here and his sister are honorary yokai for their contributions against some of the Laborers in the Shinjuku section of the Market—"
"Explain to me without using so many proper nouns, please."
Kasaru opens his mouth, rethinks what he's about to say, and then keeps going. "Basically, we pop up when enough memories gather around an object, or when enough magic gathers in an area, you've got the generic vengeful spirits that just kinda start doing their own thing after a hundred years, and also when a daddy yokai meets a mommy yokai—"
Thankfully for your mental health, Kazuki puts a hand on Kasaru's shoulder. "Kasaru, you're getting off topic, I'm gonna take it from here. Uh, dude, what's your name?"
"Jun," you say, taking the hand that he offers and standing back up, "Jun Akimitsu. I came here to look for my friend who… fell through a wall."
Both men visibly blanch, but Kazuki visibly decides to put that to the side for a while. "Well, the wall that both you and her fell through must have been one of the randomly appearing gates to here. The Night Market. This place is sort of a… weird magic subspace for yokai. It connects all of Japan. If you walk far enough, you can find a gate that'll teleport you to Kyoto or maybe Osaka."
In the distance, you can see the entire market. It's huge, spanning as far as your eyes can see and maybe a bit further than that. The sky ceiling thing is still blue, and multiple masked and unmasked people and creatures alike come and go. You spot one kitsune looking dude walk into a wall and just pop out of existence like Himari did.
So, there's an underground society underneath Japan, and yokai are real. Ok, that might crack top 10. "Uh, that's interesting. Do you know where my friend could be?"
Both dudes suck in a breath between their teeth. "Yeah, I was about to tell you that," Kasaru groans, "that's the real reason I took you away from the main market space. While most of us are nice, the… uh…"
"Magnanimous Ruler-Shoguns of The Invisible Indisputable Yokai Night Market," Kazuki says, clearly exasperated that he had to say that out loud.
"Yeah, those guys! There's no good way to say it. They like eating humans, and probably would have tried to go for you if I hadn't pretended to whisk you off. Your girlfriend's probably dead, young'un."
"Why— she's not my girlfriend! And she can't be dead. She's strong, and stuff. She's got—"
You shut up before you spill all the beans on Himari's technopathy, and you decide to just say something else that's close enough. "Really, really good magic."
Kazuki shakes his head. "Unless you're talking about what I really hope you're saying, that won't work. With the exception of Kamen Riders… I'm just gonna assume you know about Magical Girls as well, also them. With the exception of those two and someone who's made a special soul binding contract with a yokai, every non-yokai gets immediately put to sleep when they get in here. It's a product of the Nebulae Gas up in the air, the blue stuff on the ceiling."
This is a lot of info to take in, but it's getting through your head well enough. Underground linked society/gathering place. Might be the source of some of those missing people cases. Yokai are real. Some sort of territory conflict in the area. Cannibal spirits because of course. Well, Himari's certainly alive, at least. She's probably running through the stalls looking for you, or for some cell service at least. But, wait. You're no Kamen Rider.
Kazuki says what's on your mind, as Kasaru gazes nervously towards the horizon. "So that begs the question… How are you still awake?"
You hear the sound of somebody stepping behind you. And before that, you heard something else, which sounded like a light pop. They speak, with a voice dripping with venom. "That's a good question. And on that note, why are you still awake and struggling? I like my meat when it's not being such a bother."
Ah. That's gonna be a problem. Author's Note:
I forgot where I said it, but while Rei's playing Persona (or Metaphor, that would be a better comparison) Jun's playing Yakuza. Or maybe Judgement.
Keep an eye out for the next part! I'll get out part 2 and maybe 3 to this hopefully tomorrow or Saturday.
Well thats a nice surprise. Didnt expect a side story this quickly. Poor Jun he may not be a harem protagonist... but hes definitly a protagonist of SOME story if the constant stuff happening to him is anything to go by. Of course this happens while Rei is probably getting her teeth kicked in... also the sun and moon duo! Also huh interesting take on yokai. I guess somenof the old tale of them eating humans is real here. Some are decent some are bad, and the Night market has a sleeping spell on all non affiliate members that find it...which begs the question on how did Jun not get knocked out... is our boy being affected by the void? To much coffe? Or does he have yokai blood in him and is thus un affected. OMG Jun is slowly becoming a protag, even if he likes it or not.
[ ] Kirata
-Despite not having any transformations or much physical prowess, she's still got high magical power.
-Might help her out with those self confidence issues?
Hey so... isn't this the best time to try and awaken Kirata to a magical girl?
We have someone with a will seed here, if the idea of having someone train with people who have high wills to awaken their magic is something I'm remembering correctly, isn't this the best chance we'll get at helping Kirata awaken? [X] Kirata
There are two women who could kill you in your sleep who are living in your house who you also have to cook for because apparently the Guild didn't teach them normal people life skills, and you also have to watch out for two criminal organizations who are literally specialized in not being watched. And you still have to pay taxes
Huh. Wasn't actually expecting him to show up here as more than a cameo. Then again, having Yokai informants/contacts could certainly help in solving cases.... So what does this mean for the thing we discussed?
Also I still need one question answered before I can set about on that omake: Is Tamamo-no-Mae real, and is she still sealed in this continuity?
So she would have actually escaped when the rock she was sealed in cracked during 2022? Excellent, that gives me options. What year does this story take place in, again?
Perhaps for Your Best Friend, or Maybe Justice (pt. 3)
You are Asura-chan, and you really wish you weren't in front right now.
But Mei had insisted on getting her bearings and exploring Tokyo (read: acting like a stupid tourist), and because of her tendency towards being unlucky, she's having a short nap at the moment.
But the two of you are made of iron. And the sky above, blue and shining, is a pretty lie.
You feel the danger to your body-- the jostling as you're picked up and carried.
The body is numb. Barely responsive.
But you? You like living. And you're as much a demon-- a creature of desire-- as you've ever been.
???? check vs 65: ????+???+???(Thunder Brand)+???(Armor-Piercing Blow)+???(Surprise)=???? STRONG HIT
The shock is enough to get your assailant to drop you, and stiffly, you lift your body and hers from its torpor. "Get a girl some dinner first before you eat her, eh?" Damned iron soul has been becoming far, far too literal lately for your taste, but you're feeling her recover. Looks like your blood running hot is helping her get awake.
Finally, you get a good look at the fellow. Nice mask. Shame it doesn't disguise him that well, but you weren't going to complain. Kinda short guy, long, delicate hands, bulky in the middle with skinny little legs. Not your style, but it took all kinds, you supposed. "-- Oh. I didn't realize one of our number had already claimed her."
"Yeah, I'm a little self-possessed," you say, dusting your clothes off, such as they are. "I'm... Call me new in town. I heard you can get pretty much anything here."
"You're not wrong, you're not wrong," the bastard said, "but if we don't know you, that's an issue."
"How about we make this easy on each other, then?" You extend a hand, stiffly. "She calls me Asura-chan, and that's as good a name as any to call me."
He took it. His grip was cold, and... were those the hint of scales under his fingerless gloves? His grip is incredibly solid. You're kind of amazed the shock got him to drop you. "Asura-chan... A bit obvious, isn't it?"
"As obvious as any other." The handshake is dragging on quite a bit too long.
"Oh, you're young."
"By and large," you reply. It's really far too much to get into right now. "But I enjoy her desires. They're quite strong."
"Yes, yes, I imagine so."
You tighten your grip, and feel the iron in it. Yes. Good. "Well, this has been a very calm and polite introduction, but I imagine you're not trying to keep me here for my health."
"Ha! Seen through me, have you?"
"Well. I do like living and that has given me a certain love of not dying. Dying sucks. Can't recommend it." What happened? comes the internal voice of your savior, Mei, and you hope you're going to have enough time to explain you were both gassed and were hauled off by what is obviously some sort of yokai while still sounding and looking normal.
You've heard there are people with more than one voice in their head. Considering your relationship with your 'big sister', you wonder how they stand it.
"I was paid to bring something for one of the Magnanimous Ruler-Shoguns of The--"
It is at this point that you lose the front, and Mei employs judo and your opponent's firm grip to get him into an arm-lock. Hey! I was still talking! "There's chuuni man-eating youkai running the Night Market here. Got it."
"you must be the human," he says, weakly.
"As human as I get~" She's retreating into Kansai-ben again. Great. That trick doesn't work when we're holding someone like this, Mei.
"Now, how'sabout we all put aside our differences with regards to me getting eaten and actually have a talk about what's here, eh?" You're glad you don't have the lungs to sigh. You can feel her genuine worry-- not about herself, she's perfectly confident in her ability to fight yokai all on her own.
No, she's worried about what happened to her dragon friend, the one who would be a lot hotter if he'd just be a girl. But then, apparently, she needed money to get leads, since she had no connections. Which made sense, but this hardly seemed like the--
Sis, we've got company. Together, you turn to face the latest indignity.
That. Is definitely not human.
But it's definitely not a yokai, either-- no attempt to blend in, no attempt to be polite, just a firm and complete reminder that she's from another world. She lets go of the yokai and, despite their earlier disagreement, immediately moves to defend him--
??? check: ???+??? MISS
and instead, gets tossed aside, nearly through a stall with food that, on second thought, you're pretty sure Mei does not want to identify.
She informs you that he's here to intimidate, to send a message. If it was here to kill people, you and her would be in a lot worse shape. So it's an idiot.
Because you would be damned if you or Mei were going to take being casually tossed aside and left for dead lying down.
... There's more of them, you see. Coming out of the nearby walls, likely where you did, with several skull-faced men.
Sadly, with the deal on their side broken, you can feel the bindings on Mei-- and Mei alone-- melt like cotton candy in a pond. Save your strength, we'll need it soon.
Mei pulls out the Heart of the Wild Fox, showing it briefly to the beast, and you feel... You both feel... Something.
Something heavy. Something full of the weight of chains you've both broken, slightly heavier now with the binding dissolving, but not so much as you'd notice.
The Heart intones, as it usually does, "Wild Fox."
The heavy chopping saber appearing in your collective hand intones, "Chainbreaker."
You have no idea where it came from. Neither does she. Neither of you are willing to look this gift horse in the mouth, however. Mei slams the Heart into the sword that called itself Chainbreaker, and you hear the sonic tingle of a magic circuit powering on.
Mei, without thinking, presses something on the hilt of the blade, and shouts, "HENSHIN!"
"Friday, we have to show some Night Market yokai what their place is."
God, I love how you managed to put this together so well, and changing it up on such short notice is no easy feat. +50 EXP, +10 EP, I really need to put aside some time to read TomoFlake.
To put it very simply, you are not a harem protagonist despite how many women keep on running through your life. You are a side character. But that's ok. Protagonism is best suited for the young and the insane. You're 23 going on 24 but you are already much too old for this shit.
You look up. The sky's still blue as normal, but when you look closer… it's magic. Even though there's a blue filter over it, there's a gray ceiling over everything, and the ceiling is covering the entire sky. Ah. It was only so long until the weirdness would get to you after it got to Rei.
Kazuki shakes his head. "Unless you're talking about what I really hope you're saying, that won't work. With the exception of Kamen Riders… I'm just gonna assume you know about Magical Girls as well, also them. With the exception of those two and someone who's made a special soul binding contract with a yokai, every non-yokai gets immediately put to sleep when they get in here. It's a product of the Nebulae Gas up in the air, the blue stuff on the ceiling."
This is a lot of info to take in, but it's getting through your head well enough. Underground linked society/gathering place. Might be the source of some of those missing people cases. Yokai are real. Some sort of territory conflict in the area. Cannibal spirits because of course. Well, Himari's certainly alive, at least. She's probably running through the stalls looking for you, or for some cell service at least. But, wait. You're no Kamen Rider.
Kazuki says what's on your mind, as Kasaru gazes nervously towards the horizon. "So that begs the question… How are you still awake?"
You hear the sound of somebody stepping behind you. And before that, you heard something else, which sounded like a light pop. They speak, with a voice dripping with venom. "That's a good question. And on that note, why are you still awake and struggling? I like my meat when it's not being such a bother."
Oh
Well see- I was right! And honestly Jun becoming a Magical kinda fits, especially if Himari goes and become a Kamen Rider, that would perfectly balance out the team!
There are yokai! Those dudes are real! You chat up a vendor with an oni mask (are those real blue horns behind there? Cool!) excitedly— looks like your shades are working!
"Oh, do you want these bracelets? I got the pearls on them from a kappa friend of mine, they come all the way from down in Shonai."
"No way!"
"Way. I'd be willing to part with both of these if you'd be willing to trade me… how about those shades? I've got some friends above ground that would adore that kind of thing for their wardrobe."
"Nope, sorry. What about something else? Would 100 dollars…?"
"Heh, must be new here, kiddo! You gotta swap something with real emotional value, otherwise you may as well be giving me scribbled notebook paper. Tell you what, I'll reserve these two bracelets for you, as long as you do me a tiny favor."
Before you can consider shaking his hand, someone grabs your wrist. Oh right, you were here with somebody.
The girl across from you is someone you met a few minutes ago, after you (somehow) fell through the wall along with Jun. She's dressed smartly with a navy blue wool sweater and nice pants, and a hairpin in the shape of a silver crescent moon. Obara Tsukiko is… kind of a bore, not gonna lie.
"Hey, sorry about that Aoki, but she isn't an official or affiliate member. Do you have any idea where the nearest Gate back to Shinjuku is?"
The oni-masked… oni scoffs. "Alright, alright. Ten stalls down that row, take a left."
"Aw c'mon! I was having fun." you lightly complain.
"Well, you'll have to stop it with that fun." Tsukiko lightly chastises you, "I don't care what type of person you are, it's best that you get out of here before any of the Ruler-Shogun guys try to catch you."
"You're not my mom, or my sister. Besides, my friend's still probably up top, waiting for me to come back. He can wait for just a bit. Until I can snag just one magic souvenir from this place, nothing that you can say will get me to move from this spot."
"Well that's just—" before Tsukiko can speak again, her phone rings. A bevy of masked faces and unmasked yokai look at her, but she just gestures for them to mind their own business.
"Uh, hey? Kazuki?"
There's some awkward silence for a second, before you see her eyes widen. "Kazuki. Kazuki. What do you mean that another dude fell into here as well. What did Kasaru say— he's awake now?"
You hear the line cut off, before Tsukiko shoves her phone into her pocket. "Ok, new order of business. Kuromi, who came with you to Shinjuku?"
"Uh, Jun? He's got this really funny looking purple streak through his hair, can't miss him."
Tsukiko sighs, and grabs you by the wrist. "Follow me. He's here and he's probably in danger."
Now that gets you moving. 3:39 PM
Eternal Night Market - Tokyo Oversight
You are Jun Akimitsu. You are cornered. As it turns out, there being so many random teleports in this subspace lets people sneak up on you concerningly fast. Both Kasaru and Kazuki's eyes are widened in fear, the yokai putting his human body in front of his parasol and the sporty boy having his hands up. But you are not going to turn around.
"Oh, why such fear? Don't we all want to share this meal? Or are you the cowards that I think you are? Heh, just kidding. Don't move or the boy gets it."
You are not going to turn around. Even though you feel something touching the back of your head right now. It feels… fuzzy.
"Hmph. Getting him to stay here and stay awake is impressive, but I'm just gonna be honest. I won't bother to share with you two. I've been hungry for… oh, so long now."
Nope. You turn around, and oh fuck. There is a giant spider behind you, with big, red beady eyes. With a speed that you didn't think you still had, you punch it in the eyes on instinct, and just barely duck underneath the web it instinctively spits out at you. Hell no.
In an instant you jump back and get behind Kasaru and Kazuki. "Geez, is everyone here this crazy?!"
"Most of them aren't this annoying, young'un! Stay away from the legs, and you should be pretty safe!" Kasaru says, pulling out his parasol/body and putting it in front of both you and Kazuki.
Now that the spider yokai is away from you, Kazuki pulls off his black hoodie, and tosses it away to the side. On his belt is a stylized glyph, shaped with words that you can't read from this distance. It looks a bit like a mini version of the sun. His eyes glow a shining gold for a second. "Kasaru, new plan! Get Jun out of here, we can explain more later! Henshin!"
Kasaru silently nods. He grabs you by the wrist (how many times has this happened now?!) and shields you from the burning light that emanates from Kazuki. As you and the spider yokai uncover your eyes, Kazuki stands tall. He looks like Rei, with the same full body suit of armor and helmet. Where he differs is the rest of the outfit. His helmet glows with an ethereal light, with the exception of the eye sockets which are pure black. His armor alternates between asymmetrical steel bands and segments spotted with stars that seem to go on forever. In the center of his chest is a large steel plate, adorned with a stylized sun.
Basically, he looks awesome. The spider yokai seems to agree in how it simply stares for a few seconds, right before flames envelop Kazuki's body and he flies up before punching down into its big head. When he speaks, his voice comes out as if underneath a metallic filter. "Mister Gu, I'm sorry but I'm going to have you stop right there!"
"C'mon boy, I just want a feast— stop punching me!!!"
The spider screams as Kazuki wails on it, as Kasaru drags you by the arm off the edge of the overlook. You bend your knees, as both you and him begin to fall into the market proper. 3:41 PM
Eternal Night Market - Shibuya Connection
You are Himari Kuromi, and judging by the fact that yokai are hiding underneath their tables en masse, and also the fact that you can see what look like solar flares emanating from the hill over on the far side of the market, you might need to speed up a bit.
Tsukiko and you are transformed, with both of you silently agreeing to simply not speak of this once Jun's been saved. While the old jumpsuit is doing well for you as you vault and roll over tables and carpets (ooh, is that an antique? No, stay focused!) Tsukiko's doing surprisingly well despite her outfit. A gold tiara with a glowing metal insignia of a moon, two earrings shaped like the crescent moon, and a blueish and star-speckled dress/skirt combo, with waaaaay too many frills for your taste. Not because they're unstylish, because they'd get caught on something during combat. She must have some sort of passive enchantment, because she's flipping and running over the trinkets on the ground like they're just dust in her wake, her eyes glowing a bright silver. "Kuromi! Follow me!"
She dives into a tented stall, and you follow behind— after a split second of flailing about in the dark, you burst into the light of what seems to be a different section of the market, and it's there that you spot him. It's Jun, running alongside a weirdly buff dude with a parasol! "Himari!"
"Jun!"
"YOOOUUUUU!"
…That last part didn't come from either of you. As you look up, a giant spider and a huge crow (?!) drop down from the cliff up ahead, crushing some poor man's food card as they come down. They're both at least double your height and clearly very mad. You think you see purple cabbages roll out of the cart as the tengu man and all of the other merchants in the area pick up shop and start running.
"What the fuck man, on a Wednesday!?"
"Mr Pa, can we schedule this transaction for when impending death from those fucking weirdos isn't coming down on us?"
"MY CABBAGES!!!"
Multiple masks are thrown away, and a flurry of feathers and hoofbeats set the soundtrack for the retreat of most of the merchants, who transform into their true monstrous forms. As they do that, the crow spreads his wings out and caws. Really loudly.
"You shall pay! You shall all pay! In the name of the Great Almighty Overlord Dus—"
You don't give him a single chance. He's monologuing, so you rub together your hands and tackle him, full force. An electric shock sparks from your palms, and he's sent flying into the floor. You hover in the air for a second, before something smacks you out of the air and into a stall. Your back hurts, especially since you're pretty sure that the table you're currently sitting in the rubble of was made out of wood.
As you get up, the upper layer of your suit ripples and shifts, adapting to the hit, hardening in the locations. The giant spider (a Jorogumo? That's what you think they're called) snarls. "Ugh! I am so glad that the higher ups gave me and my partner permission to launch an assault. You may not be the flavor I was looking for, but you'll do, girl!"
Man, is that what you used to sound like? Ugh. You roll out of the way just as the spider slams down one of his many legs down into the rubble. In the background, you hear the woosh of a bolt of flame and more angry cawing, but it fades into the background. The Jorogumo turns towards you, and you just barely avoid the web ball aimed at your head. He opens his mouth. "In the name of the Magnanimous Ruler-Shogu—"
"Shut up, man!" Tsukiko seems to appear out of nowhere, teleporting in to knee the Jorogumo in the head. The spider yokai swipes at her, but as his leg makes contact, Tsukiko's visage seems to ripple before shattering. Right as the yokai opens his mouth to celebrate, Tsukiko appears again from his blind spot and shoves her hand into his mouth, before firing off a blast of lunar energy.
You take a look back at Jun and the parasol yokai he's with. It doesn't look like you'll have enough time to make an escape back to Japan, especially considering that it looks like the man-eating yokai are going all in and are sending more people after Jun. Assuming that what Tsukiko told you is accurate, you could run anywhere in Japan and they'd still be pursuing him. It looks like you'll have to fight your way out. With all that in mind, you make an executive decision.
"Jun! Me and Tsukiko can distract the spider! Try and get to the edges of this place, see if you can get the crow further away!"
"I'll do my best!" he says, before he and the parasol man run off. That's him safe, now to worry about subduing the rampaging spider… 3:43 PM
Eternal Night Market - Harajuku Connection
You are Jun Akimitsu. Why did you agree to this? Only Kasaru's advice is keeping you and Kazuki from getting snatched up by the crow/tengu chasing you.
"Young'un, duck! Follow me, we need to get to another Gate—"
As Kazuki responds to a claw swipe from the crow with another barrage of fiery punches, you and Kasaru duck into tent after dark tent, space wrapping and warping around you. As you burst again into another section of the market, all the merchants are packing up their wares and running away, sending waves of panic through the space. Every time you think you've successfully ran away, the crow bursts out of the tent behind you, with Kazuki fruitlessly trying to slow it down. "Kasaru, we can't do this forever. Is there any place we can go with less people around so that we can corner this tengu dude?"
The spiky-haired man in question sucks in a breath between his teeth as both of you duck behind an empty wooden cart to duck a barrage of spiky feathers. He closes his eyes, before looking down a vacant alleyway. "Eight stalls down to the right. The part connected to Shinjuku seems to be near the edge of the market today."
You pointedly don't ask about that "today" part as both you and him pop up from behind the cart. You take a breath, cup both your hands around your mouth, and then yell. "HEY! Tengu dude! If you think I'm really a good meal, you better earn it! YOU BIG BIRD BRAIN!"
The giant crow's head snaps over to look at you, and it slams the mask hanging around its neck onto its head. In the span of a few seconds, it goes from a giant crow into a man with a bird mask and matching black wings. "Oh, you— I won't let you say something like that to ME!"
The tengu jumps up into the air, black wings blocking out the blue facade of a sky, and you and Kasaru barely dodge his feathered talons as he collides with the asphalt floor. Kasaru grabs your arm and throws both you and him into a wall, which pops you out of existence and back into yet another section of the market.
The crow isn't far behind, with Kazuki kicking him with perfect form. The kick hits him so hard that it launches him through the gate and back into his true crow form. This is it.
The crow glares at you with bloody beady eyes, murderous intent clear. It wants you as a meal, and it'll rip off every single feather on its body if it means getting to you. It's do or die now.
Kasaru notices your hesitation, and offers… his parasol? Wait, is he…? "Hey. I'm not really a fighter. But I'm pretty durable, tough as a stone."
"You know, I'm not really a fighter myself. Also, "tough as a stone"? Really?"
"Hey, I got stoned once in 1890 by a kid, I know my limits better than you do young'u—"
"WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE STOP JOKING AROUND? I'M GETTING MY BUTT KICKED OVER HERE!!!" Kazuki yells out, as he gets sent flying into another stall by a quickly extended talon.
Kasaru pushes his parasol/actual body into your hands, and his human form disappears into a poof of orange colored mist. The ink eye on the parasol glares at you in a panic, and a mouth appears right below it on the orange paper.
"C'mon young'un, move it! Right above you!"
The crow launches itself into the sky before diving down again, eschewing any magical abilities it might have for pure brute force. You reach up and extend the parasol's brim, bracing yourself as Kasaru and the tengu's claws collide, pushing you down into the ground and leaving a crater in the asphalt. Your legs bend, but you grit your teeth and swing Kasaru, sending the tengu flying away. Nice.
"Didn't know you had that in you, young'un! You're totally the fighting type! My back hurts a lot though, after you used it to block that claw."
"Wait, the paper's your back?"
Before Kasaru can explain his anatomy, the tengu goes in for another tackle. You move your head to the side, before reaching your arm back, folding up Kasaru, and skewering it in the eye. The crow recoils back with a squawk, leaving Kazuki enough time to come out of the rubble and chop it on the other side of the head. Its head bursts into flame, and you compound that by spinning around and doing your best Shohei Ohtani impression by batting it on the other side of the head, sending it staggering back.
"SQUAWK! I simply wanted a freaking meal—"
"Shut it and go eat some human food like everyone else!"
Ink clouds burst around Karasu, and on some inexplicable instinct you swing the parasol again, this time chipping the crow's beak. Kazuki also follows up with a one legged-kick, and it screeches in pain before flying away in a burst of motion. You've cornered it. Even though it looks like there's more market to go, it seems to hit an invisible wall face first before falling to the ground. As it falls, Himari and the magical girl you saw earlier for a second also come bursting through from the other side, the spider running away and similarly hitting the invisible wall. The girl floats to the ground, sparkles marking her descent. "Alright, I warned you earlier. As Magical Girl Artemi, I'm gonna say it one more time: there's proof that both of you are with the Ruler-Shoguns. You can turn yourself into the authorities of this Market, or you can get beat up. What's it gonna be?"
Both the tengu and jorogumo put on their masks and transform into human looking forms. While the tengu still has his wings sticking out, the jorogumo has the torso of a thin and lanky man and the body of a slightly smaller but still much larger than normal spider. They both put up their hands, readying themselves for their last stand. It's the jorogumo that speaks first, putting out a protective arm in front of his partner. "I… We refuse! There's no way that we'll listen to a lowly human! Our way is the right way of yokai! The old way! The correct way!"
Kazuki stomps down and plants his feet into the floor. A column of fire bursts out of his helmet. "Very well then. You've made your choice!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Kasaru yells, his emotions and rage driving you forward. With a black inky mist surrounding you, you rush in with inhuman speed alongside him and Himari, who dashes forward, electricity cloaking her. "If that's your way of life, then you can go to Naraka alongside it!"
The tengu dodges your first parasol swing, but as he ducks, you clock the jorogumo straight in the chest. Himari vaults over your shoulder and with what looks like a sword (?!) skewers the tengu man into the invisible wall. Both of them screech in pain, but you're not done yet. Both you and Himari swing your respective weapons one more time, slamming them into each other before you both leap out of the way with grace. The two first look at you with confusion, and then a quickly mounting dread as they look behind you. The magical girl (Artemi?) raises up a silver staff glowing with lunar power, and behind her Kazuki has his fist cocked back. Heat gathers around his left arm, which begins to glow with a shining light.
Artemi's eyes glow a radiant silver, and both yokai make a squeaking noise that you can roughly assume translates to "oh fuck". "...How did my senpai say I should say this? I'm more of a Gundam person myself. Oh, yeah. In the name of the moon, this is your punishment!"
You can practically hear Kazuki grinning as he follows up on that. "Andwith the glory of the sun, it's over! Twin Eclipse…"
"RETRIBUTION PUNISHER!"
Kazuki swings his fist forward, right as a beam of light shoots out of Artemi's glowing staff. Energy flows out of his fist and her staff, and both you, Kasaru, and Himari have to close your eyes as a brilliant silvery gold laser blasts both malevolent yokai. Glowing cracks grow in the invisible wall, as both of them are fried by the equivalent of being hit by a lightning bolt for fifteen seconds straight. For five seconds, the market is set aglow with a light that you could see from a mile away. And after the light dies down…
There's only silence. Both yokai stand up straight for another second, before falling down against each other, bodies charred and smoking. The cracks in the wall go from glowing to dull, before receding away, Himari blinks, before looking over at Artemi. "Uh, Tsukiko, did you guys just kill them?"
The magical girl detransforms, and she brushes off some soot from her hair. "Nah, they'll live, though I imagine they'll be unconscious for a bit. Yokai are immortal unless you hit them with specialized magic. I don't think they'll be in danger as long as the judges down here keep them locked up for more than six months…"
"We persist as long as we can stay powered by strong emotion, either by gaining new memories or consuming yokai or human flesh."Karasu helpfully explains to you, ink eye blinking on top of the parasol,"It's why Old Oro made the Eternal Night Market in the first place: so that the yokai of the cities can continually live on… and perhaps even grow stronger. I've been around since the 1850s, I can confirm that it works. Also, can you let go of my arm now, Jun?"
"The parasol handle is your arm?" you ask confusedly, "I thought it'd be your legs or something."
"Young'un, my body parts are none of your business. Now can you please let go of my arm."
You drop the parasol to the ground, and in a poof of orange mist, the human version of Karasu reappears, still in the bright orange kimono from before. He stretches out his arms. "Thanks! Man, I was getting kinda uncomfortable, especially with all that smacking you made me do."
"Well, you were the one encouraging me earlier."
"Fair, fair."
As he says that, some of the yokai merchants and shoppers from before begin to walk back in, murmuring and whispering. Some of them are masked, while others are supernaturally tall, short, muscled, lanky. Something glimmers in Karasu's eyes. As he grabs your and Himari's arms and raises them into the air, the crowd goes silent.
"Hey! Everyone! Tsukiko and Kazuki have helped us once again, but you have someone else to thank. Meet your new heroes, Jun and… uh, what's your name, young'un?"
"Himari Kuromi."
"Himari!!! Everybody, show your thanks, because they helped us defeat two of the Laborers of the Ruler dudes with the long name!"
The crowd explodes into cheers, and they advance. You feel a furry tail lifting you up, throwing you up into the air. Himari also gets the hero's treatment, and you see Kazuki and Tsukiko signing some autographs from some exciteable yokai children. It seems that the common Kamen Rider/Magical Girl oath of silence doesn't apply down here.
"Woah, he's so scrawny but he can stil kick butt! Awesome!"
"Hey, I'm kinda mad that you grabbed my stuff to make it, but I that sword's cool. I'll get Aoki to trade you those pearl bracelets of his if you give me it!"
"Kasaru!!! Can I touch your abs!"
As both you and Himari hit the floor, and as she trades away her sword to a oni with red horns, you and her get showered by admirers and tiny gifts alike. You can't help but think one thing: Yup. It was definitely worth it to take a walk in Shinjuku today. 3:54 PM
Jun's Place
Akemi raises an eyebrow, her eyes still focused on either her manga or Purrson. "Goddamn, that's one hell of a story. I wonder if how much I could get them to give me for one of my straw hats? I'm pretty sure they don't dissapear after I transform, so…"
"Man, that's the only thing that you wanted to say? Not about the fact that there's a war between secret evil yokai and normal yokai, or about the stall Jun "inherited" from the spider dude?" Himari asks.
Akemi snaps her Shonen Jump issue shut. "Nah, I'm not too surprised that there's even more weirdness in the world. I'm just surprised that it happened to you guys in particular. Want some tea while we wait for Rei to get back?"
You sigh. Drinking some tea would do you good, especially to calm your heart. Also, you've definitely gotta clean up all these bags of random yokai trinkets before Rei gets back to a messy house.
For better or for worse, it looks like you've become more important, whether you like it or not. At the very least, it looks like you've got a new business opportunity coming up, so there's that to look forward to!
-"Kasaru", Kazuki Obara, and Tsukiko Obara have been added to contacts!
-Jun is learning to manage a stall in the Eternal Night Market! This may come into play later.
-Jun and Himari gained various amounts of Swag! It has negligible monetary value, but they now have various cool fashion accessories and some mildly trinkets.
Author's Note:
This two parter was a ton of fun to write. Some of these lines made me smile like a dumbass— that's how you know it's peak.
Also, assume that I can tell you most of the things about yokai, with the exception of some stuff about the Magnanimous Ruler-Shogu— (I am rider kicked directly in the face by Kazuki before I can finish that) the weirdos. Happy reading, heroes. If you haven't voted yet, remember to do so!
Well that was enjoyable. Its nice to se the rest of the team having fun. Well "fun" may be subjective at this point. And now we know a lot more about yokai! I can see what you meant about getting some of the facts wrong. Buy now Im wondering where Chimaera and Huntress Atelier will fit in this crazy town... also hey we got info on the sun and moon duo, plus one yokai. Nice.
As for votes I made my choice already, Its seems we are Fighting Kirata (ah... I wanted to see juat how much of a fustercluck was fighting the number 2 Archmage or The Number 1 KR... even if we would have gotten our ass kicked seven ways to sunday.) And I think we have a tie in plan with some wanting a all out assault with Altry/Plunder Patroll with Void Burst. (Something about making a bad impression?) And A interesing combination of PlunderPatroll and SSS... (Didnt think about that combo)honestly interesting combination...even if it apperently is going to involve transforming back and forth a lot (hopefully Kirata doesnt exploit that...)