#i should replay yokai watch i miss it

[claitea]

new world of steam looks so GOOOOOD AUGH I’M SO EXCITED

[munofsilver]

Stuck In Between Chapter 4

Here I am again. Back on the @gaalee-bingo train. It took me to bingo card 2 red Lost. Ao3 link.  Summary: Lee gets lost in the yokai world where he meets Shukaku. While Gaara ignoring his father's orders to never enter without his persimmon goes looking for Lee with help. 

Warning: There is talk of testicles because tanuki. You knew it was going to happen.

Lee woke up, still hugging Gaara’s tail. It has seemed to have returned to normal size. Once again, the tip is tickling Lee’s ear. With a smile, Lee rubs his face against the tail. The tip wags and tickles his ear some more, making Lee giggle.

“You do like my tail,” Gaara smiles.

Gaara got Lee. The human does like how soft the tanuki’s tail is. Gaara’s ears flick again. Lee frees Gaara’s tail as he gets out of bed, heading to the back wall. Lee stays in bed and watches even though he knows what’s going on.

“Someone is coming?” Lee asked.

Gaara nods and places his hand on the wall opening it. He looks back at Lee, still in bed.

“How can you tell?” Lee asked, removing the blankets that have wrapped around him.

“I can hear the chime they ring for me. Your human ears will never be able to pick up the sound,” Gaara’s ears flick again, “Hurry up now; they seem to be in a hurry.”

Lee moved to the wall, and it closed before he got there.

“It’s alright. You can stay,” Gaara walks towards the back of the cave, “Matsuri,” all he needed to say.

Gaara opens the portal, and Matsuri pokes her head in. She looks around the room and smiles.

“No need to close. I’m only here to drop this off,” she hands Gaara his new attire, “Try it on. I want to make sure it fits, and you approve.”

Gaara puts on his new attire. It fits perfectly and looks the way he wanted.

“Thank you, Matsuri. Just the way I wanted,” Gaara bows.

Matsuri laughs into her sleeve, “I see you learned something from your human companion,” she waves and leaves.

Gaara closes the portal up. He was about to release Lee when he remembers Lee didn’t go into hiding. Then why isn’t Lee in the cave?

Lee was watching Gaara do something with the back of the cave before he felt dizzy from this strange light coming from the area. After rubbing his eyes, Lee noticed he’s not in the cave anymore. Where could he be? Is this the yokai world?

“This can’t be good,” Lee whispers, looking around.

Looking back, Lee only sees a large tree. It has tiny shrines all around it and a bell in a branch like it’s a part of it that Lee can’t seem to reach. He tries to climb up the tree, like with the garden, something he can’t see prevents him from doing so.

“This is definitely, not good. I need to find a way to return home,” Lee is too much on edge to notice he called the cave home.

He is walking slowly while hugging the wall with his back against it. He hears all kinds of sounds. Every step felt like he was getting closer to some horrible fate worse than death. Now at the corner, he has no choice but to face it. Poking his head out, he looks left, right, even up. His eyes widen by the site he sees.

All kinds of yokai, all running, walking, flying, jumping, or floating around, talking, laughing, having a good time. Lee was glad to see some humans around with the yokai. Still unsure how safe he is, Lee slowly steps out, hoping to find Matsuri for help. Sadly he can’t see her, but he keeps looking, hoping no one will notice him.

It looks like Lee in some marketplace. There are stalls full of things for sale, some bars, and ever a playground looking area for kids. This place reminds Lee of his village during a festival. The only thing missing is the food stalls. Trying not to stick out like a sore thumb, Lee slowly makes his way through the crowd. Try as he might, a human is still news to the world of yokai, and it didn’t take long for something to notice him.

“A human, and a new one at that. More interesting, he’s alone.”

Lee turns around to see a human with black rings around his gold color eyes. His pupils are four-pointed star-shaped with dots around it. Lee can tell he is a yokai but not what kind. Based on the rings around his eyes, Lee would guess a tanuki like Gaara. If that’s the case, where are his ears and tail? The yokai smiled, showing his fangs. Gaara doesn’t have any.

“I should tell Rasa that his son is slipping, letting a human enter without permission. Maybe I should keep you as a pet,” it laughed, “Would you like that?”

Lee starts to back away. The yokai block Lee’s movements by grabbing him and running off. Everything is a blur to Lee as the yokai rushes past everything. Dodging other yokai and people, soon reaching a small building near a forest. Lee is tossed inside and locks the door.

“Good, he didn’t notice you. Not yet at least,” he turns to face Lee, “I bet you’re wondering what’s going on and who I am?” The yokai laughs, “My name is Shukaku. I am a proud tanuki,” he puffs out his chest.

Lee only blinks his eyes. He is still wondering where his tail and ears are? Lee was broken from his thoughts when Shukaku spoke again.

“You doubt me, don’t you, human. Gaara is the only tanuki you have seen then. You are mistaken to think all tanukis are like him. For one thing, this is my human form. For another thing, Gaara is only half yokai. He was born to a human mother,” Shukaku snorted.

Lee sits down from the shock he just got. Gaara has a human mother! After his recovery, Lee looks into Shukaku’s eyes.

“Excuse me, sir. Can I please see your tanuki form?”

Shukaku laughs out loud. Never in his life has he encountered a human so bold before. Is it Lee’s innocence that makes him so bold? Shukaku smiles as he answers the young man’s request.

“You are very bold, kid. Asking such a thing. It is called yokai form, not tanuki or animal. Do tell me, why do you want to see it?”

For some reason, Lee is now nervous, “I just wanted to know what it looked like. That’s all.”

“I bet you’re wondering if I would look like a tanuki from your human drawings. I’ll tell you one thing, tanuki’s testicles are not that big. They are normal size for a tanuki,” Shukaku crosses his arms and closes his eyes, “Since you are stuck here for a bit, I guess I can humor you.”

It looked like Shukaku the human melted away into a two-legged animal with a big fluffy tail having a stripe towards the end of its tail. Two big ears with a point. The pupils look like those of a dog still has his golden color eyes. Paws, instead of feet like Gaara, also like Gaara, has black clawed hands. A muzzle with two fangs poking out when he smiles. No testicles are shown at all.

“Told you normal tanuki size balls. No one knows why you humans think us tanukis have giant ones that can be used as nets. You, humans, got one thing right. We can use bellies as drums.”

“Thank you for humoring me,” Lee bows.

Shukaku grins as he turns back into human form. He never saw a polite human either, unless they were bred that way like royalty. Shukaku can tell by looking at Lee that he is not a nobleman. The tanuki takes another sniff of Lee taking in his many scents. He can smell not only Gaara and Matsuri. He also smells the princess from the palace.

“What is your name? Don’t worry; tanukis can’t use a human’s name against them.”

“My name is Lee,” he bows again.

“Lee, does the name Princess Ino ring a bell?”

Lee froze with his eyes wide, looking down. He starts to shake while hugging himself. He knows hers; he knows her way too well. He has seen a side of her no one else has. A dark evil side and will forever haunt him. She is the reason the last six years were hell to Lee. Seeing his reaction, Shukaku received his answer.

“I thought so.”

Gaara is freaking out while he looks for Lee. He has to be in the cave somewhere. The portal was only open for a short time for Matsuri to enter and leave. He opens every room in the cave to look. No Lee insight. Then he remembers the portal was open when he went to change. By then, Lee could have accidentally.

“This is not good. I have to save him. Get to him before someone else does. Or worse, my father.”

Not caring about himself, Gaara opens the portal and enters the yokai world to search for Lee. Once on the other side, Gaara removes the bell from the tree. He then tries to pick up Lee’s scent. His nose may not be as strong as other tanukis, but Gaara can get by. If it weren’t too long of a wait, Lee’s scent would still be in the air even if it’s faint. Picking up his scent, he was able to tell Lee has made it to the marketplace.

Gaara knows that it will be hard to keep Lee’s scent there. It looks like he might need some help, and he knows just the right yokai. He hopes he’s home. Luck was on Gaara’s side since when he knocked, he got a replay. The door opens to a human with red marking down his cheeks, slights for pupils, and of course, fangs. With a yawn, he greets Gaara.

“Whada want half-pint?”

Gaara hates working with this yokai, but he needs to find his friend before it’s too late. He fights the urge to roll his eyes and snarl.

“I need your help tracking someone for me, Kiba. A human got in without permission by accident. I need to find him quickly.”

Kiba stretches his chin with his paw-like hands, “Does he know?” he lowers his voice.

“As far as I can tell. My father doesn’t know he’s here,” Gaara blinks twice.

“Take me to where you found his scent,” Kiba sighs.

It took Lee ten minutes to return to normal and ten more to be able to speak again. By this time, Shukaku has already drunk one full bottle of sake and is starting his second.

“How do you know,” Lee pauses, unsure if he will be able to say her name, “Princess Ino?”

Shukaku slid over a cup of sake to Lee, “You look like you could use some. I don’t know her, just what some humans around here say about her. You are the third human I know that acts that way when someone says her name. Those are the humans that used to work in the palace that had the same reaction.”

Lee can understand. Only her father can’t see how cruel she is. Even her lady in waiting is scared of Ino. She is always yelling at the staff, threatening them over everything, and demanding things to go her way. She doesn’t even want her servants to look at her face, only her feet. Lee was able to see her face, it was only once, and that moment will scar him and leave him forever full of shame.

“She is evil. I bet she could scare off any human. No matter how brave they are,” Lee speaks in a low stoney tone.

He takes a sip of the sake. He never had any before, and the taste was overwhelming for him. Lee didn’t hate it, but he didn’t like it either. Not to be rude, he will drink it all in small sips. Sadly only one sip was all it needed. For Shukaku being the tricky tanuki, he put a little something in Lee’s drink. Now Lee can only speak the truth until it wears off in 24 hours. Shukaku wants to have some fun with the human. It has been a while since he encountered a newcomer.

“Let’s have a little chat, Lee,” Shukaku grins, “Why do you have Gaara’s scent on you?”

Lee looks up at the tanuki. He seems to be unable to look away. It also seems his voice has a mind of its own. Lee doesn’t like that.

“I got lost in the rain, and he’s letting me stay there until it stops.”

Gaara has done that a few times over the years. Let some stray human stay in his home until the weather clears up. He usually never talks much to the person or anyone that’s not his siblings or Shukaku. The young tanuki likes to stay away from others. The fact that Gaara’s scent is on Lee means that Gaara was near this human. Since the scent is strong, he was near Lee a lot and recently. That made Shukaku more interested in this human.

“How long have you been there?”

Lee has to think for a bit. He can’t lie, but he is also not sure how many days he’s been there. It’s hard to tell when all you see outside is rain. Once again, his voice acts on it’s own.

“Three days, maybe four. Hard to tell with the rain.”

“How did you end up in the forest in the first place?”

Lee tires as hard as he does not want to answer that question. No matter what, he can’t help himself.

“I was running away from the life that Princess Ino forced me into.”

“Tell me everything about Princess Ino and you,” Shukaku grins.

“This is where I first pick up his scent,” Gaara is explaining everything to Kiba.

He sniffs the air, “I do have a strong scent of rain and maple.”

Gaara’s ears perk up, “That’s his scent,” he speaks excitedly.

Kiba stares at Gaara in confusion, “Odd scent for a human coming from a cave. Why was he in the cave, anyway?”

“Rain and forest spirit,” Gaara answered coldly.

That’s all Kiba needed. He tracks the scent to the marketplace. The scent is faint, but Kiba can still get a small amount of it. Kiba gets on his knees and places his paw hands on the ground. White fur starts to cover his body as a tail begins to grow, and his ears turn into floppy dog ears. Then his knees bend the other way, and his face stretches out. A huge white dog big enough for Gaara to ride is standing sniffing the air than the ground.

“Get on,” Kiba growls.

This is why Gaara hates working with him. In this form, all Kiba can do is growl, howl, and bark.

“Right Kiba.”

The dog snaps at Gaara.

“Sorry, I forgot you like to be called Akamaru in this form,” Gaara bows and jumps on Akamaru’s back.

[inklingleesquidly]

YO-FEST

Chapter 4

Lee Squidly gets a special call by the headpriestess of Knifefish Shrine to take part in special preparations for one of the biggest holidays celebrated by Inkopolis’ ghostly neighbors, Yokai. Yo-Fest is only a week away and it’s up to Lee to make sure the fesitivies go off without a hitch.

He’s not alone though; joining him is his pals Guist, Juddinyan, and his many Yokai friends who are just a dial away via his Yokai Smartwatch.

Featuring the characters of @askvincent

Chapter 3 available here

Word count: 5,004 words

Less than one day left, it was Yo-Fest Eve. To honor the most important holiday to all Yokai a feast of blessed bamboo would be harvested and prepared for consumption by spectral beings and mortals alike. The success was due in big part to none other than Lee Squidly, the crop's reluctant protector.  

“Huff.” Lee let out an exhausted sigh as he wandered up and down the rows upon rows of bamboo that now stretched well over his head. The summer sun peeked out from behind a stray cloud, casting a powerful shine on the supernatural stalks as a passive wind bent them ever so slightly. The scene was so serene, so quiet—too quiet.  The sound of a gentle lapping of water from the nearby creek soon caught his ear, causing the young squid to break out into a cold sweat as he recalled why it was so quiet.

It was Leakina, of course. Her and her pranks on him. This one was the worst of all; it took place in the bath house and it was so fast that he wasn't even sure of what happened at all. One thing was for certain there was water, so much water.  

After it was over he was left stupefied; his breath came in short, desperate bursts, his eyes spun in his head, and his whole body shook in fear for his life but her ghostly laugh was a telltale sign this was her doing. “YA HA HA HA.” This time though, she took it too far. Somehow, some way, she broke an exquisite hand carved statue that adorned the inside of the thermal bath, and the head priestess, Lyra was there to bear witness.

As Lee was still reeling from it all he couldn't catch what happened but he could certainly feel Lyra's fury. She yelled until she was red in the face, culminating in what he could only describe as the most justifiable punishment. “I don't want to hear it,” he heard Lyra said, “You are banished from this shrine forever. Now leave.”

Leakina did leave, and without a single word to. Aside from hunks and pieces of the broken statue and traces of water where it wouldn’t be, there were no other traces of the liquidy Yokai to be found anywhere on the shrine's property.

“Mmmf.” Lee let out another heavy, conflicted grumble. He should have been overjoyed that she was gone but he wasn’t. That feeling was soured by what had happened after the incident.  

Drying himself and changing his clothes, Lee approached his ever-present companions in this weeklong endeavor, Guist and Juddinyan. “All right!” Lee was gleaming with excitement. “It's about time that stinker finally got out of here.” Neither seemed to acknowledge him so he tried to confirm, “Am I right? Am I right? C'mon, up high!” He raised his hand, seeking a high five from either of them. He figured Guist would be unable to resist so he waved to him. “Guist? Don't leave me hanging.”  

Then they finally looked his way; their faces were so questionably melancholic.  

Guist finally said, “Uh I’m not really feeling it Cus.”

“Huh?” Lee babbled unsurely.

“It’s just like, ya know, the vibe here ain’t the same.” The squid spirit tried to explain, “The mellow’s gone totally harsh and I can’t dig it.”

Lee still couldn’t grasp what he was trying to say but luckily Juddinyan was able to lay it all out for him. “We don't really like that you’re so happy about Meowkina getting the boot, meow.”

“Ar--are you kidding?” He wondered; Lee didn’t get mad often but he didn’t take kindly to how his supposed friends responded to his feelings. “After she’s been so mean and all the stuff she did this week alone to me?”

Guist quickly interrupted, “No no no Cus we’re with you there, totally there.” He floated in front of the agitated Inkling to hopefully explain more. “We got your back but like, I mean, she’s just doing what Yokai do, and to get punished for that like she did, it doesn’t feel right.”

“That’s no excuse!” Lee's voice crackled as it raised in volume. That was such a foreign action for him that it made the two Yokai flinch in surprise. “It's about time she finally got everything that was coming to her.” As he spoke, he tightened his fists and bared his teeth. His disdain and aggravation radiated so powerfully and it was that kind of anger that was too much for either of them to bear.

“Yah-huh, you got it Cus. Say if it’s cool with you, Imma head back n’ do my thing of looking out for dudes playing Turf Wars.” Guist slowly floated away from Lee.

Juddinyan said, “Meow, and I haven’t been doing any judging for about a week. If I’m gone too long I’ll get rusty so I’ll head back to Shee-Meowya too.”

With that, they both took their leave and Lee was left alone to stew in his feelings. I don’t believe this? Do they even care at all about what she did to me? Those thoughts made his blood boil even hotter. Do they even care?

He continued to replay the conversation as he absentmindedly wandered along the bamboo orchard. Brushing soil from side to side with his foot, he contemplated how he felt about their reaction. As confusing as they were, what ended up being worse in his eyes was how Lyra responded when he went to confront her soon after.  

Following the early afternoon prayers, Lee found Lyra sequestering herself in the main hall of the shrine looking as if she was in deep concentration.

Entering, Lee gave a stout greeting. “Hi Miss Lyra, I’m sorry if I’m interrupting something.”

“Hmm?” Peeking up, having barely noticed his presence she beckoned him to sit with her at the low table centered in the old-fashioned room. “Oh no please come in.”  The priestess questioned him genuinely, “Are you feeling all right? Would you like some tea?” Her hand grasped the piping hot kettle while she slid a ceramic cup across the table toward him.

Lee declined. “No thank you Miss Lyra, and I’m fine too.”

“Good! Good good good,” Lyra repeated, sipping from her own cup before she let out a breath. “Good.” It wasn’t one of satisfaction but of discontent and Lee picked up on it right away.

“What about you, Miss Lyra?” He sat forward with his hands on his knees. “Is something wrong?”

There was no hiding it, she admitted right away. “Yes.” Resting her elbows on the table and lacing the fingers of her hands together, the holy woman revealed what troubled her. “I think I was too harsh in banishing Leakina.”

“Huh?”  Maybe because he couldn’t stop thinking about his life flashing before his eyes during that prank he thought he wasn’t hearing her correctly. With what he knew about Lyra there was no way she was earnestly having second thoughts, so he believed. “B-but how? I mean she broke that statue! Wasn't it important to you?”

“Yes it was,” Lyra confirmed, “My father built it and my mother blessed it. It's been here since before I was born so it may as well had been the only connection I had to my parents.” That was the source of her anger as he vaguely recalled her fiercely hollering at Leakina.

Confused, Lee asked, “If that's the case than you have every right!”

She had quite the surprise in store for him as she explained. “Be that as it may I've been doing a lot of thinking and I feel like you deserve to know. Since we began preparing for Yo-Fest, my eyes have opened up to a lot of things.” She took a moment to take in a breath, as if readying what she had to say. “I've flelt fings—ahem, felt things, excuse me, that I can't explain, especially when it comes to Leakina.” Lee watched as Lyra closed her eyes and held her hands over her heart. “She did go too far this time but she's shown me that I shouldn't desperately hang onto my past as much as I do.”

“You do?” Lee said.

Nodding in reply, Lyra continued. “As far back as I can remember I've tried so hard to feel any kind of closeness to my parents. I thought that devoting myself entirely to my faith would make me feel like I could know them even just a little bit.” Her hands tightened against her chest. “But ever since she came I haven't really thought about that nat nall, ahem, at all, and that—that scares me a little.” Lee sat in silence, listening to everything she was saying to him. He watched as her hands worked their way up to cover her mouth, holding them there until she said, “But one thing’s for sure, I feel as though— as important as that statue was to me I can't keep waiting around forever hoping a connection to my mom and dad just falls in my lap. I have a future ahead of me and I just wish I wasn't so rash that I threw that future with her away.”

“Your future? With her?” Lee repeated unsurely. "Did she finally give you her Yokai card?" He dumbly said, not getting what she meant.

Lyra replied, “No she didn’t and you know, I don’t really care about that anymore.” She didn’t see Lee give her such a baffled look. The shrine maiden could only look into the pool of hot green tea in the cup she clutched so tightly. So much lament was in her voice as she spoke. “I don’t think I’ll ever know how she feels but for me, even dough, though she might be a handful and I know she'll cause trouble if I don't keep a constant watch on her— I was happy to have her here with me.” She inhaled deeply before finishing. “I shouldn’t really be thinking like that. It’s impossible for someone like me.”

He was asked to leave after that to check on the condition of the bamboo orchard and that’s where Lee currently found himself. There was one thing she said that stuck with him as he took his leave. “If only I did my job like I was supposed to. I’m supposed to talk to spirits, soothe them, not banish them outright.”

Talking’s great, he thought to himself, settling down on the bank of the creek. But there’s not much point in talking to somebody who’s probably not gonna listen. That musing came to him as he trepidaciously held onto his smartwatch. All of his thoughts were coming together in a way that made him grimace and aim an irate scowl in the direction of his timepiece. After all he had endured from Leakina since meeting her; the teasing, the laughing, the tricks... In his mind it was so egregious that people he called his friends were even entertaining the idea that her punishment was too severe.

So much for friends. He thought to himself, a rather dangerous thought that made his mind wander to even more alarming notions. It wasn’t just Lyra, Guist, and Juddinyan that he thought of but of all the Yokai he was supposedly friends with. Of all the calling cards he had in his possession, every friendship he made with a Yokai was established only on their terms rather than his own. Until now he didn’t mind that but the more he thought of his past encounters with Yokai and how each one made his life difficult, miserable, or shameful in some way. Biting the inside of his cheek, lowering his brow, and taking in long breaths that came out as equally long groans—he began to resent them all. That resentment ran deep

He unfastened his smartwatch, then held it out as arm’s length, dangerously dangling his only means of communicating with the spirits over the running water. With the seemingly unending amount of trouble these mischievous poltergeists brought to his life it was possible to rid himself of it all in an instant. Clenching the silicone strap in his hand hard enough to make his whole arm shake, all he had to do was let go, just let go and his subjugation to Yokai would be finished.

Just as he was about to make such a drastic change, the water mysteriously began to swell. Quickly, Lee secured the watch back onto his wrist as he watched the creek’s water behave strangely. It frothed and bubbled, collecting together until it took a form right before his eyes. Much to his dismay that form ended up being Leakina who casually greeted him with a wave as if nothing had happened. “Hiiiii,” she said.

“Wha--wup—y—you?” Lee blathered at coming face to face with her out of the blue. “What are you doing here, you’re banned from the shrine!”

Leakina lackadaisically replied, “I’m not AT the shrine, am I?” She dipped the tip of her tail in the gently rolling stream and continued with a mocking tone. “There’s nothing about me being banned from this river now is there?” An incredulous sneer warped Lee’s face. Logically, she was supposed to be banished from the entirety of the shrine’s property but Lyra only said ‘the shrine’ in her proclamation. It made him grumble to recollect that it was just like a Yokai to bend and twist things to their own liking. “You look dry, Leeker,” she pointed out, “Wet look suits you way better.”

Even now she was still being this way to him. She always had that voice and spoke that way; it made him bear his fangs, curl his cheek, and grind his teeth. This time he wasn’t going to take it. Taking in such a deep breath that his chest puffed out, Lee fired back with his voice firm. “You know If I was younger I'd normally let a bully like you walk all over me but now I-- well-- I'm glad you got banished!"

That took a lot of boldness for him to say, so much that he had to swallow a lump caught in his throat. Leakina wasn’t at all impressed by his fortitude. “Ooo,” she held up her hands, feigning defense and continuing to mock him. “Listen to you trying to be a raging monsoon when you're just a little trickle!" To punctuate her statement, she raised her tail out of the water and flicked the droplets that had collected on it at his face, taunting him and his moment of bravado.

That small act was the biggest insult to him yet. Lee let out an audible snarl, “Grrr,” and clawed his hands. He glared at her with so much disdain and contempt, and she had only the same intensity to offer him in return. With this being the final straw; the Inkling and Yokai rushed at each other, colliding by gripping each other by the face. It was a battle of strength and will as they both pinched, yanked, and pulled each other's cheeks.

“Lousy leak!”

“Stupid Squid!”

“Dumb drip!”

“Icky ink stain!”

“Rotten rain cloud!”

“Cruddy Cephalopod!”

“You- You-,” Lee struggled as his face’s elasticity was being stretched to its limit. “You Wet Blanket!” He finally managed to scream.

Letting out a gasp, Leakina’s eyes went wide and Lee could feel her grip loosening on his face. It seemed like such a feeble, ineffectual insult to make but looked straight at her, she gave him the most dumbfounded stare. The conundrum of her reaction made him loosen his grip on her, and his arms fall at his sides as he backed away from her. Leakina merely continued to hover there and though she was made of water, making it impossible to tell, Lee could swear he saw the corners of her eyes well up with tears.

“So that’s what you think, huh Leeker? Figures.”  Her voice was merely a murmur, one so full of defeated despair.

As much as he disliked her, there must’ve been something to that phrase that made her so overcome with dejection like that. “I’m sorry.” It just wasn’t in him to do that to somebody. “Leakina I—can we—please--?” Taking a step closer, he reached his hand out to her but the watery Yokai wasn’t having it.

She floated higher up into the air. “You don’t have to say anything Leeker, I know when to go so I’ll see you never.” Twirling around, it seemed like that was it, Leakina was ready to fly away when suddenly she felt herself stopped by something dragging her down.

“Wait, don’t go!” Lee pleaded with her as he was pulling on her tail.

Being that her tail was connected to her dress, Leakina felt it begin to sag down. Swiftly, she grasped the front of her dress and yanked it far up over her chest, complaining, “Ack! Leeker what the heck are you doing? Let go!”

“No,” Lee screeched back, “Come on, can’t we just talk?”

“We don’t have anything to talk about!” Leakina struggled to fly away, pulling on her dress and dragging Lee along the ground. The struggle between them persisted; Leakina demanding she be released between strings of insults and Lee imploring her to stay.

Neither would stop until suddenly Lee was sent clumsily stumbling backward. “Huh?” He gasped, only for his face to go bright red as he realized he was holding Leakina’s discarded dress in his hand. Fastly realizing exactly what it was, he bit his teeth and screeched, “Aiye!” He then desperately tried to reason, “I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean—I'm—mime—I'm not--.”

His gaze wandered to the Yokai  where he found that she managed to remain clothed as if nothing happened. “It’s just water, Leeker.” She explained with her arms crossed over her front, watching as her dress fell apart into drops of water in his hands. Letting out a sigh, Leakina questioned, “What do you even want to talk about?”

Thinking back to what Lyra said earlier conflicted with the thoughts he had about her. “Can’t we—mmm, can we just try to understand each other?” Despite his feelings there may just be a chance she had a reason other than just being a Yokai for doing everything she did.  

Leakina simply floated to his side. Though that glare didn’t leave her face and her arms remained crossed this seemed to signal that she was willing to actually talk to him.

“Well-- how are you?” He tried to begin.

She rolled her eyes. “What do you mean how am I?”

“How’s it going?” He attempted to continue.

“Well Lyra hates me now.” Leakina impatiently tapped her fingers against her arm. “How’s it going with you?” Her lip curled with cynical annoyance, wanting him to know how poorly this conversation was going.

However, Lee zeroed in on what she actually said. “Wait, you think Lyra hates you?”

“Don’t rub my nose in it, okay?!” Leakina seethed, making Lee jolt back in defense, “After what she said, I know it.” Lee had a number of questions; the most minor one being what she meant when she didn’t actually have a nose that he could see, and the most major being what did Lyra say when he was incapacitated? “All I wanted to do was drown you a little, that’s all, just a little, maybe even drop a wash tub on your head to make it extra funny.”

Doing his best to ignore that, Lee continued to listen.

“But then that statue fell over and just broke apart like it was made of glass! I don’t know why it happened, I didn’t mean to do it, and then Lyra—she said what she meant.” Her words were so disconnected as if she struggled to keep all her thoughts in order, but what she said next was somber though crystal clear. “Just when I thought I finally found a place to call my own.”

“You don’t have a home?”

“No,” Leakina explained, “Yokai don’t have homes unless it’s already theirs or they get invited to stay.” That was right; Lee recalled something of a similar sort with Guist and Juddinyan. They didn’t have homes either so they begged to board up at his apartment. Leakina threw her arms down and bared her teeth in frustration, “And Lyra has the best everything too! We get to come here every day and it’s-- it’s just the best. I can take a bath whenever I want, I can float on the creek, I can shake the morning dew off the trees, and I get to be with Lyra.”

Lyra, Lyra, Lyra; she wouldn’t stop talking about her. Lee pointed this out. “You think about her a lot don’t you?”

Hearing him say that caused that sense of gloom to return to Leakina. “Yes, and I shouldn’t be.”

“How come?” Lyra had said something similar and he didn't understand it there either.

She sighed. "You probably don't understand; do you even know what it's like to feel really strongly about somebody?"

Lee hesitated to answer that question. There was no way he could tell her about that. He hadn’t even talked to Guist or Juddinyan about it. He didn’t really talk to anybody about them. He didn’t have to be truthful at all, he really didn’t.“I do.” His answer came out in a hushed mumble. Was he really going to talk to Leakina about this? Something about the circumstances in which he found himself conversing with her told him he should.

Continuing, Lee revealed, "They were my best friend and they left a little while ago and well-- I miss her every day." As he thought about it he clutched the silver hoop earring that faithfully dangled from his ear.

"What happened between you two?" Leakina inquired.

He hesitated, struggling to cobble together a summation of easily one of the most traumatizing experiences in his life. "We had a fight." That was the best he could hope to muster up. “It was bad, really really bad,” he put it lightly, his voice weighty. “I haven't seen her since then. I don't think she ever wants to speak to me again.”

There was a moment where he thought back, back to that encounter. It made his breath go dry and his heartrate quicken; not helped by Leakina's rather dry, off-putting response. “Probably not,” she admitted, making him lower his head. As much as that hurt to hear she wasn't finished. “Probably might though but if not it's her loss.” That was rather shocking for him to hear coming out of her, and without some joke jabbing at him. “What are you even complaining about anyway? You've got about an ocean's more things going on than me, that's for sure.”

Curious, Lee asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well I don’t have any friends,” she admitted, “No place to haunt, and I'm no good at inspiriting people. I mean I’ve been trying to make you wet yourself since the day we met.” He ignored that as well as she continued, “And Lyra was the only one who ever welcomed me…” After what felt like an eternity she finally admitted what was deep in her heart. “Leeker, I really like Lyra, y’know?”

He naively said, “Well I like Lyra to.”

“Not like that,” she clarified, “As like, more than a friend, you see?”

Suddenly it all made perfect sense.

Within Lee's mind a number of metaphorical images flashed in his head; a phone's battery achieved 100% charge, the sun came up over the horizon, a mouse found a food reward at the end of a maze. His heart did a joyous leap in his chest when he finally realized just what was going on between Lyra and Leakina. It made him want to reveal everything he learned in his earlier conversation with the priestess but Leakina had more to add.

She shook her head and slapped her palms against her forehead. “No. Not a chance, a Yokai and a mortal as anything more than friends, it just--.”

“--Splat that!” Lee snapped back without delay. Leakina never expected someone like him to be capable of being so loud and fervent. Little did she know he had quite a bit to say. “Even if you’re not sure about something, sometimes you just gotta follow your heart. If you like her then you should tell her.”

With a shake of her head she quickly informed him otherwise. “Leeker stop being so dense, It doesn't work that way. Besides I'm already enough as a black sheep among Yokai as it is!”

That didn't deter him from replying, “What have you got to lose then?” With his spirit still high he declared with a strange ironic hilarity, “If you can try and drown me then you can tell her. Like my mom says; you should say how you feel or else no one knows how you feel.”

"I don't know about that, you don't understand." Leakina mumbled unsurely.

"Maybe I don't," Lee admitted, "But I do know we're gonna give it a shot!" It might've just been his soft, sentimental heart but Lee was so driven to get them to talk to each other that he swiftly took hold of Leakina's wrist and began leading her back to the shrine. "C'mon!" He beckoned.

"Acck! Leeker! Hey! Quit it!" Both knew with absolute certainty that she could go intangible or even dissolve her arm into water to escape his grasp but she didn't. Even though she protested, she didn't resist being brought back to the shrine, meaning Lee knew that in her heart she really did want to talk to Lyra.

Reaching the central courtyard, Leakina finally snatched her arm back, chiding, “Leeker I told you I don’t think Lyra even wants to speak to me.”

“You might be surprised,” Lee reasoned, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

The Inkling boy nearly jumped out of his skin and even Leakina jolted up, both startled by a chorus of screams coming from—the bathhouse?  

Without a moment to spare the two dashed over to the thermal bath, only for the double doors to burst open. They watched as a bevy of the shrine maidens poured out, yelling and screaming with one of them; a fairly young jellyfish girl bumping into Lee. “What’s going on?” He attempted to ask but she shrieked at him before running away with the rest, chanting a prayer in fear along the way.

Lee and Leakina worked their way in. Once inside, Lee first caught sight of, of all people; Guist and Juddinyan. The cat Yokai was huddled against the floor, covering his eyes with his paws, and Guist hiding behind him. Both were cowering and whimpering in fear and attempting to spin around to hide behind the other’s back. What of? Lee found out after hearing Leakina gasp, “Lyra!”  

“HELP! HELP ME!” He turned his attention to the center of the huge room where he found the head priestess suspended in midair, kicking her legs and struggling against some sort of mysterious force keeping her aloft. Whatever it was, it was invisible, but just barely; it exerted some sort of radical power that made its massive, frightful form indistinguishable. Lee still aimed the revealing light of his smartwatch, dispelling the cloak that shrouded the powerful entity.

Revealed, this Yokai clutching Lyra around her waist turned out to be more frightening than any they had already met. They were a huge, horned brute; an Oni with curved horns, and yet despite the menacing visage they were dressed in a cleaned, ironed, finely fitted suit begetting someone of importance. Unknown to them, the big bad Yokai was none other than Goredinator, the one responsible for all the attacks on the bamboo harvest. Now tangible, they slowly cocked their head in Lee's direction who only thought to reply by hiding his yokai smartwatch behind his back.

“Well, well, I should have guessed someone of amazing spiritual power like a high priestess was the one being a thorn in my side.” Goredinator mused with a reserved menace in his voice.

Lyra snarled, “Let me go!” She made an attempt to strike back by pinning a paper ward to the Yokai's arm, only to watch as it uselessly curled up and burned away into nothing.

He looked at the useless talisman and scoffed. “Maybe you aren't as powerful as I thought but I can't be too careful.” With that he turned on his heel. “We’ll be going now,” he threatened.

SPLASH!

He was stopped by a blast of water flung at the back of his head. “Hey! Where do you think you're going, put her down!” Leakina demanded, shaking her curled fist.

The big bad Yokai peeked over his shoulder, eyeing the spirit who wished to challenge him—only to turn his head back around and walk away. “Make an appointment after the holidays.”

“Get back here! Get back here!” Leakina commanded, zipping toward him in vain hope of rescuing the struggling Lyra. Goredinator vanished before she could make contact, leaving in a puff of black, ghostly smoke.  

With only the sound of flowing water from the spring of the thermal bath; Leakina sunk down to the ground on her hands and knees, and Lee stood in disbelief, frozen by the raw power given off by that Yokai. The silence was broken by Guist whose body trembled as he tried to speak. “That bull dude made off with the shrine babe, what are we gonna do Cus?”

Lee knew he was talking to him and fully expected him to come up with a plan but where was Lyra taken to? Who was that Yokai and what was he talking about? What could he do? What could any of them do? “I-- I don’t know,” was all Lee could think to say.

To be continued...