Chapter 12: I'm not cut out for Hero Work!

"Do we have everything?" Lily questioned, the mother was dressed in a yellow sundress, with a sunhat on her head.

Aaron was dressed similarly casually, with a light blue t shirt, and a pair of white shorts, as well as a hat of his own over his head, and a pair of sunglasses pulled up to his forehead. The father was looking through a basket, "Let's see here, sunscreen, lunch, picnic blanket… looks like everything's here!"

Nate's grade at Springdale Elementary was having a big beach party for all their students, and their families. The exact reasons for which were unclear, but many were happy to take this opportunity to have fun, socialize, and eat good food.

Many, didn't mean all, of course…

"Do we really have to go to this thing…?" Nate asked once more, giving his parents a pleading look. "Can't we just make up some excuse for why we can't make it?" the boy was not looking forward to what a potential trip to the beach, with all the kids in his grade, would surely bring…

"Nathan, that would be incredibly rude!" Whisper scolded, floating up behind the boy.

"No, Nate, that would be incredibly rude," Lily unknowingly echoed the yo-kai butler's sentiment, before giving her son a sympathetic look, "I know things have been difficult for you, lately, but a day out will be good for you, trust me."

Nate seemed reluctant, but he nodded, "If you say so, mom…"

"I am ready to depart for the beach at any time," Venoct announced proudly, standing by Nate in a battle-ready stance, "No threats will get near Master Nathan, as long as I stand!"

"That's great," Lily nodded absentmindedly, checking over the list one last time, before she paused, "Wait, why are you here…?" she asked slowly, staring at the humanoid yo-kai.

"I am sworn to protect Master Nathan for the entirety of my existence, this is my sacred vow!" Venoct's response was without any change in tone, the humanoid yo-kai standing straight, his eyes shining with pure conviction.

Nate released a tired groan, shaking his head.

The mother gave the Slippery yo-kai a strange look, slowly nodding her head, "Ooookay…" she glanced to her husband, who just shrugged. "I… suppose you can come with us."

Nate stood back as his parents were momentarily distracted by the inexplicable yo-kai ninja, 'I just know this is not going to end well…' he couldn't help but dread, remembering the very reason he had declined his yo-kai butler's offer to go to the beach the other day. 'All those cute girls in swimsuits… NO! I need to stay strong,' the boy shut his eyes tight and shook his head, denying the creation of another fantasy.

"I can't wait to go to the beach!" Sailornyan cheered as she danced around the boy's feet, "I love being in Captain Nyate's home, but I am a sailor at heart!"

The cheerful voice of the pink cat had Nate's nerves eased a bit, looking down and smiling at her, "I'm glad you'll enjoy this, at the least."

"Nya?" Sailornyan blinked, looking up at her beloved captain curiously, "Is something wrong?"

Nate quickly shook his head, not wanting to worry the adorable nekomata, "N-No, it's fine. I'm looking forward to this too!" he assured, petting the feline's head.

Sailornyan seemed a bit unsure, but happily purred when the boy's hand stroked her fur.

As he continued petting the cat, Nate's smile fell a bit as his insecurities started rising again, but he did his best to force them down, 'At the least, I'll probably have chance to talk to Katie… if she even wants to talk to me, that is…'

Over at the Forester home, a certain young girl was in preparation for the beach party, but the problems still plaguing her mind were limiting her expectations for enjoyment.

"Should I take the opportunity to talk to Nate? What do I even say to him…?" Katie nervously paced the floor of her room, uncertainty practically emitting from her. "Should I just be straightforward, tell him everything I know? Tell him I don't understand fully why he didn't tell me, but I also don't hold it against him, and that I've just been confused and that's why I haven't returned his text?"

"Noko…?" Tsuchi blinked, staring at the girl as she kept walking back and forth.

"I mean, maybe I should be a bit more confrontational than that, I don't want Nate to think he can just hide things like this from me!" a bit of a frustrated look crossed the girl's face, which was soon replaced with worried one, "But, I don't want to make him think he can't keep anything from me, everyone has secrets, but…" Katie growled, clutching her head, "This is all just so confusing!? What am I supposed to say to him!? We haven't even talked in days! What if he thinks I hate him!? What if he hates me now!?"

"Noko, No-no ko!" Tsuchi interjected, hopping down from the bed and over to the girl, lightly bopping his head against her leg.

Katie blinked, staring down at her snake companion for several seconds, before all the frustration and confusions he felt seemed to just evaporate, none of it any match for the serene and innocent smile of the little yo-kai, "You're right, Tsuchi! I shouldn't be agonizing over all of this, I'm never gonna get anywhere if I don't at least attempt to talk to Nate! I'll worry about how I'll do that, when I get to that!" the ponytailed girl let out a chuckle that sounded, just slightly, off, while she patted the snake yo-kai's head, "Gee, thanks for your help, Tsuchi! I needed that!"

Tsuchi stared at the human girl blankly, "… Noko, Noko-Noko…?" the reptile tilted his head with confusion, internally questioning where this girl had pulled that 'advice' out from him saying; 'hungry, feed me!'

Meanwhile, in another home somewhere in Springdale, a different girl was at a dilemma of her own.

"Beach party with Natey-kins! Beach party with Natey-kins!" Megan Jones happily chanted to herself as she danced around her room, letting out a dreamy sigh as she came to a stop, clasping her hands together as her eyes sparkled, "I know this will be the day, the day Natey-kins finally asks me to become his girlfriend!"

The young popstar-to-be giggled a bit to herself as the perfect scenario started to play out in her mind.

The setting sun created an orange tint over the ocean view, combining with the soft sound of waves crashing onto the beach, creating a soothing ambience.

Megan Jones and Nathan Adams stood facing one another, their silhouettes framed by the setting sun.

"Meg, I love you!" Nate declared with complete certainty, putting both hands onto the girl's shoulders. "I've loved you since the moment I first laid eyes on you, but I was nervous to tell you! Now though, I can no longer hold it in!"

Meg's smile widened, her cheeks glowing bright red, and her eyes sparkling, "Oh, Natey-kins, I knew it! I knew you loved me too!" she snuggled her head into the boy's chest, giving a dreamy sigh while he hugged her tightly.

The sounds of crying had the happy couple pausing in their moment, the two separating and looking over at the crowd of girls where the noises were coming from.

However, the cries were not being wept in agony over having Nate's love be decided, no; the other girls seemed to be crying tears of joy…

"They look so good together!" Lina and Zoey voiced in unison, holding each other tightly.

"I could never make Nate that happy!" Alex admitted, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Oh, Meg, we feel so foolish for trying to stand in the way of true love!" Maya cried out, tears flowing from her and the other girls' eyes, "Can you ever forgive us!?"

Meg smiled at all her friends, stepping towards them, and grasping Maya's hand with her own, "Of course, I forgive you, we're friends, no matter what!"

Cheers erupted from the various females over being forgiven, as well as congratulations over Nate and Meg becoming a couple.

"Meg, that was so kind of you," Nate smiled, hugging the girl once more.

"Holding grudges will do us no good, Natey-kins, I'm happy our friends could see the error of their ways!" the pigtailed girl smiled widely, hugging her boyfriend back.

Nate chuckled, "You're right, and that type of insight is one of the many reasons I love you!" the boy picked the girl up, bridal style, before looking at her with shining eyes, "Now, let's get married!"

Meg hugged herself as her giggling intensified, her face bright red, before she released a happy squeal, "Oh, I can't wait!"

Skipping over to her closet, the pigtailed girl opened it and starting vigorously searching through it, "I need to find the perfect swimsuit to wear! Something to really catch my true love's eye, but which one…?"

Tossing the various swimsuits that she owned onto her bed, the young girl started comparing them.

"Too plain!" a pink swimsuit was tossed aside.

"Too gaudy!" a rainbow pattern suit joined the pink one.

"Too blah!" a green, camo-pattern swimsuit was thrown.

"… How'd one of mom's swimsuits get into my closet?" Meg shook her head, holding up the butterfly pattern bikini, shaking her head, 'Maybe someday, but I'm way too young for something like this!' deciding it would be a bad idea to just toss her mom's clothing into the pile, she placed the bikini onto her dresser, making a mental note to tell her mother once she was finished.

Eventually, after throwing aside several more potential suits, Megan was down to the final two that she was having trouble deciding between…

"This one is super cute…" Meg held up the swimsuit that emulated the design of a mermaid, interest in her eyes, before she lowered it and held up the one with the flower pattern, "But this one is totally adorable!"

The pigtailed girl let out a slight whine, her eyes continuing to dart between the two swimsuits, "Cute, adorable, cute, adorable!?" she sighed heavily, flopping down onto her bed, "How am I supposed to know which one to go with!? Which would Natey-kins like better…?"

As Megan's internal struggle continued, she glanced around her room a bit, before one item in her room caught her eye, "Of course, why didn't I see it before!" the girl pulled herself up from the bed, walking over to the mirror and smiling brightly at her reflection, giving a wink and a little twirl, "It doesn't matter what swimsuit I wear! I'm just that cute!" giggling to herself, Meg put her hands to her cheeks while her smile widened, "Natey-kins will no doubt be thrilled to see me in any swimsuit, so there's nothing to worry about!"

Giggling in an excited manner, the young girl skipped around her room, before pausing, glancing back to the swimsuits on her bed, "Though… that still doesn't help me decide on which one to go with…"

Unknown to the pigtailed girl, an unseen being was watching her, interest gleaming in its big, round eyes…

Of course, elsewhere, yet another young girl was in preparation for her own trip to the beach (completely unrelated to the beach party for the Springdale Elementary students…)

"Oh, this is going to be so fun, a day at the beach is just what I need!" Amy exclaimed excitedly, looking through her closet for the perfect outfit. "I bet the ocean will provide some great inspiration for clothing designs, and I've been craving some fun in the sun!"

"Right," a red-furred nekomata gave a skeptical look as he rolled around on the girl's bed, before sitting up and crossing his arms, "And it has nyothing to do with Nyate being there…"

The young fashionista's face briefly flashed red, a dreamy look in her eyes, before she quickly shook herself back to normal and gave an awkward chuckle, "Whaaat, that beach party was today!? I had compleeetely forgotten!"

In response to the girl's innocent smile, Jibanyan gave an unimpressed grumble, "Aren't you supposed to have school today, anyway? How'd you get out of that?"

Amy nonchalantly waved off the question, "Nah, we've got a break from school today."

"… Why?" Jibanyan questioned blankly.

The pigtailed girl shrugged, "I dunno."

Jibanyan looked unimpressed with the non-answer.

Amy sighed out of annoyance, "Don't give me that look. I really don't know why school is off today, but I'm going to take advantage of it all the same!"

"… Nyaaaa," the nekomata still looked skeptical, rolling over on the bed.

Amy huffed, choosing to ignore her cat's mood for the moment, returning to looking through the clothing in her closet, "Anyway, I'm not the only one from my school going to the beach, some of my friends are going to meet me there!"

"And subsequently become indoctrinyated into Nyate's harem," Jibanyan pointed out, a sarcastic tone to his voice.

The human female froze, her eyes widening as the probability of her pet's statement was processed in her mind, "W-What… no, that won't happen!" she tried to wave away the concerns, chuckling to herself. 'Maybe I should hold off on having my friends meet Nate… at least until we're officially dating.'

"If you're having trouble picking an outfit," a blue, pterodactyl-like creature spoke up, peeking out from the closet, "I suggest that blue tank top you picked up last week, I do not believe you've worn it yet!"

Amy blinked in surprise, before pulling said clothing item out from the closet by its hanger, and smiling, "Huh, you're right, I haven't worn it yet… thanks, Letsbifrenz!"

"No problem, my friend," the Classic yo-kai smiled, giving a bow.

Shady Tribe: Letsbifrenz

Jibanyan discreetly glared at the winged yo-kai, a low growl emitting from him.

"Now, what would go best with this, pants, or a skirt…?" Amy hummed to herself, placing the tanktop on her bed, before returning to searching through her clothing. "Oh, by the way; Letsbifrenz, do you want to go to the beach with us?"

Letsbifrenz' eyes widened slightly, "W-What, I could go…?"

Jibanyan hissed.

Amy briefly glared at the cat yo-kai, before smiling at the winged one, "Of course you could go, you wanted to meet Nate, right? This is as good a chance as any for you to do that!"

"I could become friends with the Yo-kai Master…?" Letsbifrenz almost drooled at that prospect.

"Red flag, so many red flags…" Jibanyan muttered in a warning tone.

"Rudy, stop," Amy growled under her breath, sending her cat a scolding glance.

Jibanyan groaned again, curling up on the bed and giving a tired sigh, "Fine, but I'm going with to make sure nyothing funny happens!"

Amy released a scoff, rolling her eyes, "Whatever you say, Rudy. Just promise me you won't do anything to ruin my time with Nate!"

Some growls came from the twin-tailed feline, before he reluctantly nodded his head, "Fine!"

The human girl smiled, stroking the fur behind the cat's ears, "Alright, good boy!"

Jibanyan tried to resist but ended up purring in response to the contact.

Letsbifrenz had a little smile on his face as he watched the two, 'They're such good friends.'

In an undisclosed location, somewhere in Springdale, the yo-kai superhero team known as Tempest Pride were having a meeting, discussing a matter of absolute importance…

"I don't know guys, what do you think would make the best costume for Nate's sidekick persona…?" Little Charrmer questioned her team, while she was seated at a table, a pencil hovering over a paper where she had already doodled several costume ideas.

A collection of tired, and/or annoyed groans sounded from the other heroes in the room.

"Boss-lady, could ya please focus!?" Unbearaboy! snapped, making a fist as he glared at the leader, "We're not here ta talk about yer 'boyfriend!'"

That comment had the fiery leader's face turning as red as her costume, "W-What!? He's not my b-boyfriend!" she stuttered slightly, turning to glare at the youngest member of the team. "He's my new sidekick!"

"Whatever you want to call him, I don't really think it's a good idea to drag that poor kid into any of this," The Jawsome Kid spoke in an unsure tone.

"Yeah, we should be focusing on the recent break-in of the museum, not kidnapping and playing dress-up with some human kid," Dr. E. Raser scoffed, crossing his arms.

A tick-mark formed on Little Charrmer's head as she glared at her teammates, "For the last time; I'm not going to kidnap him! And this isn't 'playing dress-up,' the costume is an important part of a superhero's image!" the red-clad yo-kai hero picked up the paper she had been doodling on, waving it around for emphasis. "And, Nate's not just 'some poor kid,' he's the Yo-kai Master! He's dealt with serious threats before; he has what it takes to be a member of Tempest Pride!"

"Thekidbefriendsalotofyo-kai,butthat'sabitdifferentfromdealingwithvillains,don'tyouthink!?" Double Time spoke in his almost incomprehensible manner, doing a few dashes around the room in the blink of an eye.

"Shut up, Double Time," Little Charrmer regarded the speedster with an annoyed tone.

The Jawsome Kid let out a gasp at that comment, before moving over to Unbearaboy!, and attempting to cover the smaller yo-kai's ears.

"Hey, get off me, shark-man!" the baby-like yo-kai shouted in protest, waving his fists around erratically.

"Look, can we just focus on how we're going to approach this patrol, and what we should prepare for with the potential criminals!?" Dr. E. Raser gave an annoyed grunt, pointedly glaring at the leader.

Little Charrmer scoffed, "Fine, I'll put away the costume designs for now! Let's talk strategy and all that stuff, mostly how we're going to kick butt!" 'I'll find a way to get my little sidekick in on the action anyway,' the red-clad heroine wisely kept that last though to herself…

Nate suddenly felt a shiver of unease dancing up his spine, that had the boy glancing around warily, "I just got a really bad feeling… maybe I should try to find a way to get out of this beach party after all…" he muttered, a slight look of panic clear in his eyes.

Turning to look where his parents were discussing some details about where the class was going to meet up for the party, the young boy started trying to come up with an excuse to get out of going, as he started stepping towards them.

"Darling, what's with that look on your face?" Damona made her presence known, seemingly popping into existence from behind her fiancé, giving him a small smirk.

Nate froze in his tracks at the yo-kai girl's questioning, before he stiffly turned to her, "Um, well… I was just, you know, gonna– "

"Gonna chicken out?" the dark-haired princess gave a knowing smirk as she circled the boy, twirling a bit of his hair with her finger.

Nate's face turned red as he averted his eyes from his fiancée, "Well…"

"I thought so," Damona didn't wait for the boy to finish, floating upside down and drifting over his shoulder, "And I'm going to tell you this now; don't!"

Nate jumped a bit in surprise, blinking when Damona floated over his head, giving him a serious look, her smirk changing to a frown, "What do you mean…?"

"Honey, this is my first time going to the beach since you released me from that infernal Crank-a-Kai, and I will not be going without my fiancé!"

"I, uh…" Nate's eyes nervously darted around, trying to look anywhere than at his fiancée's frowning face, before he finally gave a defeated sigh, his stance drooping, "Alright, fine, I'll go to the beach party."

The frown on the yuki-onna/oni's face became a smirk once more as she twirled around in the air a few times, drifting a bit further from the boy, "Yes, you will; I'm really looking forward to this party, you know!" she admitted, her smirk turning to a more genuine smile, and a slight tinting of pink coming to her cheeks.

Nate found himself pausing at Damona's expression, a similar shade of pink coming to his own cheeks, 'Has Damona always been that cute…?' the boy quickly looked away from the princess, slapping both his cheeks and rapidly shaking his head, 'NO! STOP THOSE THOUGHTS! She is an EVIL creature, who has trapped you in a nightmarish engagement to keep you from marrying Katie and is trying to lure you into a life of POLYGAMY! Which, maybe, wouldn't be so bad if my wives were just Katie and Isabel, and possibly even Amy–STOP! JUST KATIE! I ONLY WANT TO MARRY KATIE!'

Damona raised an annoyed brow as she watched her fiancé twitching with his head down, and clearly trying not to look at her, "Nate, what are you doing…?"

Nate snapped himself out of his chaotic thoughts, before he turned back to look at Damona, letting out some very fake chuckles, and forcing a sheepish expression, "Um, nothing, just… thinking…"

Damona's eyes narrowed with suspicion as she kept staring at the boy.

Nate gave a few fake coughs, averting his eyes from the girl once more, before a thought occurred to him, which had him looking back at her questioningly, "Wait, this is a human party, how are you going to enjoy it, when nobody can see you…?"

The question had the yo-kai princess blinking for a moment, before she released an amused chuckle, "Oh, don't you worry about that, Honey, there will be no issues with my attendance to this affair," as she said this, Damona briefly pulled a leaf out from her kimono, before quickly hiding it once again.

Nate vaguely recognized the leaf; a 'yo-kai leaf,' he was sure, an item that allowed a yo-kai that didn't normally have the ability to take on a human disguise, 'So, that's her plan…' Nate honestly didn't know how to feel about that…

Damona just gave another amused, and slightly mischievous laugh, floating away and towards the sliding door, blowing her fiancé a kiss before waving and winking at him, "I look forward to you officially introducing me to your parents. See you at the beach!" with a quick twirl, the yo-kai girl phased through the glass, and floated out of sight.

Nate stared dumbly in the direction his fiancée had gone, his face going slightly red again, before he quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it, 'Hold on, did she say she's looking forward to me 'introducing' her to my parents…!?' the young boy gulped at that prospect.

"What was that about?" Toiletta suddenly voiced, sneaking up behind the boy.

"Gah!? Toile-Hanako!?" Nate turned in surprise, quickly correcting himself from referring to the girl by her yo-kai name.

"Yes, that's who I am," the ghost girl crossed her arms with a frown, glaring at the door where Damona had escaped from, "Where'd the Princess Witch go?"

"I'm… not sure," Nate admitted, scratching his head nervously. "Also, could you not call her that…?"

Toiletta simply scowled, "She keeps calling me a 'servant girl,' I'm not very inclined to offer her much respect."

Nate sighed, looking away from the ghost girl, but nodding his head in acceptance.

Toiletta frowned a bit at the boy's reaction, before her frown slowly shifted into a playful smile, as she moved closer to Nate, putting her hands onto his shoulders, "Hey now, let's not think about that right now, we're gonna have fun at the beach after all!" she leaned closer, and whispered in his ear, "And, I bet you're looking forward to seeing me in a swimsuit, aren't you?"

Nate froze, his face blazing red, unable to react as the ghost girl let go of him, giggling as she ran to the other end of the house.

Nate put a hand to his forehead, giving a deep breath to calm down, 'I'm not going to survive this day, am I…?'

The drive to the beach was uneventful, for the most part; Sailornyan and Toiletta seemed intent on subtly annoying each other as much as possible, and with the pink nekomata seated in Nate's lap, and the bathroom-dwelling ghost beside him, Nate was at the center of it as well…

"Poke," Toiletta's voice was a monotone.

"Captain, she's touching me again!" Sailornyan whined she clung to the boy's shirt, pointing to the humanoid yo-kai's outstretched figure.

Nate released a long sigh, "Toiletta, I know you're more mature than this please stop," he was sure to keep his voice down so his parents would not hear.

At Nate's words, Toiletta's face turned a bit pink, before she gave a huff, "Fine, I'll stop," she sent one last jealous glare at the cat in the boy's lap, before turning away.

Whisper floated at the back of the car, chuckling a bit to himself, but choosing not to comment.

The rest of the car ride was relatively uneventful, and before they knew it, they were in a parking spot just looking over the beach.

Stepping out of the car, the group started to head to the beach, Nate's mother holding the picnic basket, while his father was carrying the parasol.

Nate and the yo-kai moved ahead and onto the beach, with the human boy looking around a bit warily, though he a small smile made its way onto his face.

"You know, in some ways, the ocean could be considered the largest 'toilet' in the world," Toiletta suddenly spoke up, adjusting the sunhat on her head, before smiling at the boy, "In that sense, do you suppose a beach, could be considered a giant 'bathroom?'"

Nate's smile quickly faded at the ghost girl's descriptions, "Not what I wanted to think about today, Hanako…"

The black-haired girl blinked, before a troubled look crossed her eyes, and she reached out to grasp her crush's hand, "Um… sorry, Nate? How about we just…"

"OCEAN!" Sailornyan suddenly exclaimed, jumping between the human and ghost, excitedly looking towards the water over the horizon, "Ocean! It's been too long! Sun, sand, fish!" the pink nekomata kept giggling as she scurried ahead and jumped onto the sound, rolling around in the sand happily.

Toiletta moved her hand away from Nate's grumbling to herself about the 'moment being ruined.'

Nate didn't seem to notice what Toiletta was doing, keeping his focus on the feline, a fond smile coming to his face, "You know, kind of unexpected how much the ocean excites her, considering how cats are usually known to react to water, especially ones with flame-tipped tails, but that's just one of the things that makes her special I guess."

Toiletta furrowed a brow, looking a bit bothered by Nate's fondness for Sailornyan, she looked to be considering saying something, but…

"Master!" Venoct suddenly shouted, jumping from behind the duo and landing in front of them, bowing to Nate, "We have arrived at the beach, I will survey the area, to make sure there are no ambushes or approaching enemies!"

"Venoct– "the young man tried to speak to tell his 'bodyguard' to relax, but the ninja yo-kai had already sped off. Nate let out a sigh, "I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to get through to that guy…"

Toiletta sighed, "Well, he's devoted, if nothing else, if real danger does pop up again, he'll at least be helpful in keeping you from dying."

'Again…' Nate couldn't help but think, a slight shiver going down his spine as particular memory went through his head, of falling, of colliding with the hard ground, bones breaking, heart stopping…

"Nate, are you… shaking…?" Toiletta voiced with concern, glancing at her crush with wide, confused eyes.

The brunette boy's eyes widened, looking down at his hands, and realizing that the female yo-kai was correct, he quickly shook his head to rid himself of any memories of his untimely, and undone, death, "It-It's nothing, I'm fine," he almost hiccupped as he looked to the ghost girl, but manage to keep a decent enough composure to smile.

Toiletta's worry didn't fade, a skeptical frown settling on her face, "Well… if you say so..." she glanced away, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, "B-But, you know, you can talk to me about anything, right…?"

"T-Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Nate gave the best friendly smile he could to the shorter girl, before he turned his focus forward again, "Come on, let's get down there and find a good spot!"

Toiletta was still blushing as she watched the boy walk a few paces ahead of her, nodding a bit, "Yeah… let's…" she managed a gentle smile, following along with her crush…

"Sand! Sun! Ocean!" Sailornyan kept cheering and rolling around on the beach, before she took notice of what looked to be a tiny blue nekomata a few meters away, wearing an Egyptian pharaoh's headdress, "Nya…?" the pink feline blinked in confusion.

"This spot looks good," Nate smiled, finding an open spot on the sand, a good distance from any other families' setups, but not so far as they couldn't see them.

"Y-Yeah, looks good to me," Toiletta nodded, still looking a little awkward, but giving a small smile.

"Aren't you going a bit out of your way to be separate from your classmates, Nate?" Whisper questioned the boy skeptically.

A nervous look briefly crossed the boy's face, but he quickly shook it off, "It's not too out of the way, Whisper, it's just good to have some space," Nate coughed a bit as he looked away from the butler, before he noticed his parents coming down the steps, and waved to them, "Mom, Dad, I found a good spot!"

When they noticed their son, Nate's parents started heading over, and did not see any issue with the spot, so they set up their blanket and parasol there.

Sitting himself on the ground, Nate gave a somewhat relieved sigh, happy that nothing crazy seemed to be happening now, and that he could take a moment to relax…

A blue-haired girl walking across the beach took notice of the Adams family's setup, and smiled widely as she waved, "Hey, Nate, Aunt Lily, Uncle Aaron!"

Noticing the girl, Nate smiled, getting to his feet, and rushing to meet her. "Jessica!" he exclaimed, happy to see his cousin, and that the first girl he ran wasn't one of the various girls who had crushes on him.

"Hey, cuz, how's it going?" Jessica smiled as she approached the boy, "Still having a lot of 'girl problems?"

Nate's mood immediately dropped, "Could you not mention that…?"

Jessica chuckled, "Sorry, but I don't think you're going to be able to avoid it today…"

The boy groaned, "I know…"

"Jessica, how are you doing?" Lily spoke up, stepping over to give the blue-haired girl a hug.

Jessica smiled as she hugged the woman back, "I'm doing great, Aunt Lily! I got a new cat, isn't that cool! He's so cute!"

"Wow, that is cool!" Lily chuckled, ruffling the girl's hair a bit.

Nate smiled at the interaction between his mother and cousin, as well as the change of subject from his 'girl problems.'

"Oh, Nate, is that you?"

Nate blinked, before his smile widened as he looked over at the source of the voice that sounded so much like his mother.

"It is you!" the woman who looked identical to Nate's mother, aside from her shorter hair, which went to her shoulders, chuckled as she looked over the boy. She was dressed in a light blue blouse, with a pair of white shorts. "I swear, you get bigger every time I see you!"

"Aunt Emilia!" Nate cheered, running over to his aunt.

"Nice to see you, sis," Lily smiled at the near-identical women.

"Always happy to say the same, Lily!" Emilia giggled, giving her nephew an affectionate hug as she looked to her sister.

"Oh, hey there Emilia," Aaron waved to his sister-in-law, before glancing around with a bit of confusion, "Hey, where's Zachary?"

Lily's twin gave a bit a small sigh at that, "Yeah; he's sorry he can't make it, but unfortunately he's gotten held up by the development of some new project at work, and there was no negotiating his way out of it," she shook her head, a sympathetic look crossing her eyes, "He definitely tried, that's for sure, but it unfortunately didn't pan out…"

"Wait, Uncle Zach's not here?" Nate looked disappointed at this revelation.

Jessica sympathized with her cousin, "Yeah, I know you were probably looking forward to seeing him; I was looking forward to all of us spending time together again, but dad just couldn't make it," she sighed a bit, before a slight smile came to her face, "But, he did say sorry, and that you should expect a surprise in the mail soon, Nate!"

"Huh… a surprise?" Nate blinked, his disappointment towards not seeing his uncle still present, but a bit of intrigue in his eyes, "What kind of surprise?"

Emilia released a small giggle, alleviating some of her own disappointment towards her husband not being present, "We don't know, you'll just have to wait and see!"

Nate crossed his arms with a bit of a pout, but that quickly melted away in favor of a cheerful smile, "Well, either way; I'm happy to see you both!"

"I didn't realize Nathan's mother was a twin…?" Whisper commented as he floated overhead, looking between Lily and Emilia with fascination.

"Well, he doesn't seem to talk about his family that much with us in the first place," Toiletta muttered to herself, too quiet for the yo-kai butler to hear.

Though she didn't pick up on her words, Jessica heard the yo-kai girl's voice, and turned to look at her, before waving, "Oh, hey Hanako!"

"Yeah, hey Jessica," Toiletta regarded uncaringly; she had met her crush's cousin a few times at school, and she overall didn't have any strong feelings one way or the other on her. She at least wasn't another rival for the young Yo-kai Master's affection, so that was a point in her favor, but for the most part she simply didn't care.

"Alright then, nice seeing you too," Jessica's enthusiasm seemed to die down a bit, seeing little reaction from the 'transfer student,' as usual.

Nate subtly glared in Toiletta's direction.

"I-I mean, hey there, Jessica! It's nice to see you!" Toiletta quickly spoke up again, giving her best cheerful smile as she quickly waved at the blue-haired girl.

Jessica blinked in slight confusion, "Um, thanks…?"

Nate rolled his eyes.

"And I'm here too; Hailey Anne Thomas!" the purple-haired girl exclaimed enthusiastically, suddenly popping up and draping her arms over both Nate and Jessica's shoulders.

"Hailey!?" both Nate and Jessica voiced in confusion, and a bit of annoyance (from Nate.)

"And Usapyon," the spacesuit-wearing yo-kai commented dully as he stood nearby.

"Hailey, nice to see you," Emilia greeted the girl kindly.

"Likewise, Mrs. Stonewood!" Hailey smiled brightly as she looked to the woman, allowing the other two kids to escape from her grip, "You know; I never realized you were Nate's aunt before, but looking at you and his mom, I can't believe I didn't put it together!"

"Well, despite being twins, my sister and I are rather different," Lily chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, I'm not quite the 'hothead' you are," Emilia smirked as she glanced at her twin.

Lily's face scrunched a bit at her sister's comment, "Don't start with your 'passive-aggressive' tendencies now, Emilia," she spoke in a friendly, but threatening manner.

Emilia eye twitched just the slightest bit, her pleasant smile unchanging, "'Passive-aggressive?' Dear sister, I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about, I'd never be, as you put it, 'passive-aggressive,' not at all… though you are just plain aggressive, if you don't mind me saying."

Lily grit her teeth as she strained to keep smiling, "Oh, I'm 'aggressive,' am I?" a red aura started to form around the woman as she glared at her sister.

"Well, I'm not sure what else I could call you, considering your… fiery disposition," the light blue aura that seemed to form around Emilia matched the cool smirk on her face.

Aaron gave a nervous gulp as he looked between his wife and sister-in-law, "Um, ladies, why don't we just take a moment to calm down…?" he immediately regretted his choice to speak up when both women turned their focus to him, "Er, I mean… carry on…?"

"Well, this is sibling rivalry taken to a rather… scary conclusion," Whisper gulped as he floated down to Nate's level.

"Yeah, that's Mom and Aunt Emilia for you," Nate muttered while shaking his head.

Despite not being able to see or hear Whisper, Jessica nodded along with Nate, sighing, "Yup; one moment they get along great, the next; this!"

"I'm really confused, but this feels like some kind of epic face-off," Hailey chuckled a bit nervously as she looked between Lily and Emilia.

"It may be 'epic,' but I'd rather not be here at the moment," Nate muttered as he turned to walk away.

"Yeah, let's get a bit of distance between our moms and us, for a little bit at least," Jessica agreed with her cousin once more, moving to follow him.

"I kind of want to watch more," Hailey confessed, before feeling a strange tingle go up her spine, alerting her of imminent danger, "Although, I guess I should listen to you guys…" she gave another nervous chuckle as she followed her best friend, and (secret) crush.

"You're not leaving me!" Toiletta growled, getting up from the blanket and quickly running after the human children.

"Well, even if they can't see me, I'd rather not stay here either," Whisper spoke quickly, flying after his master in a hurry.

"Took the words right outta' my mouth," Usapyon grunted, following the ghostly butler's example.

"Aaron, you spend pretty much every day with my sister, you know what I'm talking about, right?" Emilia smirked as she looked to her brother-in-law.

"Er… well," Aaron did not look like he wanted to answer the question, or be there, for that matter…

"Honey, I'd be careful of your next words, if I were you," Lily hissed in a dangerous tone, giving her husband a very threatening smile.

"Eh-hehe, I assure you, I don't know what either of you are talking about," Aaron gave a nervous smile sweat pouring down his head, while the two women continued glaring at each other…

"Are your guys' moms always like that?" Hailey questioned as the kids, and yo-kai, continued moving across the sandy beach.

"Not always, but when they do, it's best to just get out of there," Nate mumbled a bit as he continued walking.

"I feel a bit bad for Uncle Aaron, usually dad's there to help him in these sorts of things," Jessica admitted, sending a slightly guilt look back towards where they had come, before shrugging and continuing to follow her cousin.

"Hmm…" Hailey blinked a few times, before a wide smirk appeared on her face, "Speaking of moms, mine's over there!" the purple-haired girl pointed a few meters to the right, where a blanket was set up, a woman sat there, along with a young boy. "The kid with her is my little brother, Joshua!"

"You never mentioned you had a little brother," Nate pointed out with a raised brow.

"Well, you and Jessica never mentioned you were cousins!" Hailey shot back with a wide smirk.

"I'm sure I mentioned it dozens of times!" Jessica gave an exacerbated sigh as she shook her head.

Hailey ignored her friend's annoyance, instead turning her focus to the little boy not too far from them, "Hey, Joshua, come over here and meet my friends!" she eagerly called while waving her arm, gesturing to Nate in particular, when saying 'friends.'

The younger brother blinked as he turned his attention at his sister's call, before glancing to his mother, who gave an affirmative nod, a pleasant smile on her face.

Joshua seemed skeptical, but nodded back, getting up and walking over to where the older kids were.

"Hey, Joshua," Jessica greeted the boy kindly. Evidently, she was already familiar with him.

"Yeah, hey, Jessica," the grayish-purple-haired boy commented, before glancing at Hailey briefly, and giving a questioning look to Nate, before his expression froze into one of one of shock and fear when he took note of Toiletta…

"Hey, Joshua!" Hailey exclaimed, bringing her little brother's attention back to her.

"Huh, what, big sis?" the young boy questioned, sounding a bit annoyed, his eyes drifting back in Toiletta's direction.

The female yo-kai took notice of this, raising a brow, 'What's his deal…?'

Joshua flinched, before he looked away from the yo-kai, putting all focus to his big sister, "Why did you call me over, again…?"

"As I said, meet my other friends! That was Hanako you were staring at, by the way!" Hailey gave a mischievous chuckle.

"Hanako…?" Joshua blinked, still looking unsure.

"Yes, nice to meet you as well…" the ghost girl gave an unpleasant grunt, crossing her arms with a slightly annoyed look.

Joshua flinched again, still trying not to look at her…

"Hmm, that seems strange," Whisper commented thoughtfully, keeping an eye on the younger boy.

"AND!" Hailey gave a loud shout, pulling all attention towards her, before she pointed to the human boy near her, "This is Nate! He's a cool guy, I bet you'd get along!"

Nate gave a strange look to the purple-haired girl at her referring to him as a 'cool guy,' but decided to ignore it, and turned his focus to the younger boy. "Uh, hey, nice to meet you," the brunette gave an awkward smile as he held out his hand to the six-year-old.

Joshua looked Nate over for a moment, before sending a sly smirk his sister's way, "So, this your boyfriend, you keep talking about, sis?"

"B-Boyfriend!?" Nate gave a shocked and embarrassed look, before looking to Hailey with slight disbelief.

The purple-haired girl turned away to hide her red face, giving a nervous chuckle, "P-Please ignore him, Nate. Joshua doesn't know what he's talking about! I talked about you a few times, but nothing to indicate something like that! I-I'm not part of your harem, or anything like that!"

Nate's face turned bright red at the mention of his 'harem,' before he gave an annoyed growl, "Don't say anything about that!"

Joshua gave Hailey a suspicious look, "What are you talking about, sis? I heard you when you were in your room, talking to yourself, going on about your plan– "

"Alright, that's enough out of you, little eavesdropper!" Hailey quickly sped over to her brother, grabbing him by the shoulder and covering his mouth, before he blow her cover to her crush, she quickly sent an innocent smile said crush's way, "Please ignore that, Nate, my brother may have overheard a little, um, 'you-know-what-kai' talk, and misinterpreted!"

Joshua struggled against his sister's grip, making a few muffled screams and growls in the process.

"Uhhh…" Nate looked unsure of how to respond.

"Really, Nate! It's nothing to be concerned about, nothing at all," Hailey assured with a nervous chuckle, 'Change the subject, idiot! You're making yourself more suspicious!' "Um, hey, Joshua, did you know Nate is Jessica's cousin!? Cool, huh!?"

Joshua gave an angry, disgusted, grunt as he pulled away from his sister's grip, "I know! Jessica mentioned she had a cousin named Nate before, it's not hard to put together!"

"I TOLD YOU I MENTIONED HIM BEFORE!" The blue-haired girl suddenly shouted with triumph, before everyone started staring at her, and she gave an embarrassed cough, "I, um… yeah; he's my cousin."

"Hehehe, yeah, I told you before; I was just kidding when I said I hadn't known!" Hailey insisted, fake confidence in her voice.

"Yer definitely not earning any points from any direction right now," Usapyon stated in a dull tone as he walked up to the purple-haired girl.

"Shut up!" Hailey hissed under her breath as she glared at the Shady yo-kai.

"Nate, do you think that, just maybe, Hailey… is, um…" Whisper began as he floated over his master's side, looking like he was having a hard time finding the right words, "Might not be as… 'immune' to your… 'charms,' as she has let on…?"

"What?" Nate blinked, giving his butler a strange look, "What are you…? Whisper, whatever you're implying, can it wait?" the brunette boy started subtly motioning to his cousin, who was giving a strange look.

Whisper stared at the human boy for a moment, before crossing his arms and sighing, "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"You didn't warn me about anything," Nate gave a quizzical look, but the yo-kai butler seemed to be done talking.

Joshua moved over to Hanako with curious and somewhat scared eyes, inching closer, ever so carefully…

"… What?" the black-haired girl questioned with an annoyed glare.

Joshua flinched, but kept looking at the girl, blinking a few times, before speaking in a careful tone "… Toiletta?"

The yo-kai girl's eyes widened in shock, before she quickly moved over to the boy and put a finger to his lips, "Shhhhhh!" she hissed, glancing around quickly to make sure nobody noticed, before glaring at the boy, "How did you know!?"

"I-I don't know, you just looked like a picture I saw once!" Joshua answered quickly, trying to keep his panic down as he stared at the girl, "Are… are you really the Toiletta…?"

Toiletta let out a low groan, releasing the boy, "Ug, I overacted and blew my own cover…"

"I'm… sorry…?" the little boy looked unsure of his own words.

"Whatever," Toiletta grunted, before giving the child a serious look, "As to answer your question, I am not the Toiletta, I am a Toiletta, there's more than one of us out there!"

"Oh…" Joshua seemed a bit unnerved by that revelation.

"Next, you will not refer to me as 'Toiletta,' at least not where other humans can hear," the ghost girl's eyes narrowed sharply, "You shall refer to me as 'Hanako,' got it!?"

"R-Right, got it," the young boy did not want to argue with the frightening spirit.

"Joshua, Hanako, what are you guys whispering about!?" Hailey questioned loudly, looking towards the spot her brother and the yo-kai girl had walked over to.

Joshua gave a fearful yelp at his sister's call, before he glanced toward the ghost girl with apprehension.

"Don't worry about your sister, she already knows who I am, but don't say anything here; Jessica doesn't," Toiletta hissed as she slinked away from the five-year-old.

"… Wait, what!?" Joshua gave a blank look.

"Wait, what, what?" Hailey blinked as she walked over to her brother, giving an odd glance to the retreating Toiletta, "What were you talking to her about?"

"Uh…" Joshua briefly considered bringing up the idea of his sister knowing that the girl 'Hanako,' was actually the urban legend; Toiletta, but after a moment, he simply shook his head, "N-Nothing…"

Hailey stared at her brother, taking note of his nervous expression, before she glanced over at Toiletta again, and a sly smirk came to her face, "Oh, I get it."

"Huh?" the five-year-old seemed confused by his sister's tone, "What do you mean…? What do you 'get…?'"

"Oh, don't worry about it," the bespectacled girl chuckled mischievously, "I'd say you're a little young, but crushes are normal, no matter how strange your tastes are."

"What…?" Joshua had a blank look, as if he needed a moment to process the words that were coming out of his sister's mouth, until it hit him, and his expression turned to one of horror and disgust, "WHAAAAAT!?"

While Hailey was teasing her brother, and Jessica began moving over to them to get her to stop, Nate had taken notice of someone else, not to far from the group…

"Katie…" Nate nervously looked over at the ponytailed girl.

Katie seemed to notice Nate after a moment, she gave a slightly apprehensive smile, and started waving.

A bit of Nate's nervousness eased at the friendly reaction, with a bit of confidence in his stride the boy was about to go over and speak to his crush, however he was held back by a sudden grip on his arm.

"And where exactly do you think you're going?"

Nate recognized that voice, and immediately knew who the girl that had grabbed him was before turning, still; he was a bit surprised by what he did see when he turned…

'F-Fubuki…?' the brunette reeled back a bit in shock, shaking his head as he got a good look at the girl facing him; she looked near-identical to Fubuki Himekawa, the only differences being that her skin was paler, her eyes and hair were purple instead of blue, with the hair being longer, going down to her shoulders, and her clothing consisted of a dark purple, short sleeved shirt, and a pair of black shorts.

"Darling, why are you giving me that strange look?" the disguised Damona frowned as she looked her fiancé over with critical eyes.

"N-Nothing," Nate quickly shook his head again, before looking at the girl questioningly, "Damona, is that you…?"

The frown on the disguised princesses' face quickly turned to a pleased smirk, nodding her head, "Of course it's me, my dear Nathan, I did say I would meet you here, didn't I?" she held her hand over her mouth as she giggled, before she started pulling the boy along, "Now come, it is about time you introduced your parents to your fiancée, or rather, your 'girlfriend!'"

Nate's eyes widened at that statement, the boy trying to pull away from the girl's deadly grip, but failing, "M-My, what!? Hold on, Damona! Stop!" his pleas fell on deaf ears, he looked back towards Katie with desperation, but his friend was just staring at him with a frown on her face, before she turned away…

Katie briefly glanced back at Nate being dragged away from that weird, purple-haired girl (who she could swear looked like Fubuki's twin…), letting out a sigh as she shook her head, before she suddenly felt something bump against her leg.

"Noko!" Tsuchi hissed, headbutting the girl's leg, trying to push her in the direction the boy was going.

The ponytailed girl looked down at the reptile, releasing another sigh, before placing a hand on the yo-kai's head, having it stop.

"Noko…?" Tsuchi blinked, glancing up at the girl and giving a head tilt.

"I know; I said I'd try to talk to Nate today," she admitted, kneeling down to look the yellow-scaled creature in the eyes, "But… just give me some more time, okay? I still need to think about what I'm even going to say to him, and him being dragged around by other girls is also going to make it hard…"

Tsuchi gave an unimpressed look.

"Please don't look at me like that," Katie turned away from the snake, "I'll talk to Nate later, I promise."

Tsuchi kept glaring at Katie as she started walking back towards her parents…

Back with Nate and Jessica's parents, the argument had calmed down after a short bit, though not until Aaron evacuated the area with the excuse of getting some sodas for them and the kids.

As it turned out; when the sisters were alone, with no one else to react to their frightening argument, they ran out of steam rather quickly and returned to speaking amicably with one another…

"So, I heard you got a cat recently?" Nate's mother questioned her sister with an interested look, both sitting on their respective blankets.

"Oh, yeah, it was the strangest thing," the other woman nodded, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "One day Jessica just brought home a little blue kitten, it was oddly well groomed for a stray, but from what we could tell, he didn't have an owner, and since Jessica had already grown so attached to the little guy, we decided to keep him."

"Aw, that's cute," Lily smiled, before she gave a thoughtful look of her own, "Aaron and I have actually been thinking about maybe getting Nate a pet of his own lately…"

"You have?" Emilia gave a pleasant smile at that idea, "Has he been asking for one?"

"Actually; no…" Lily's expression changed to one of concern as she spoke, "Nathan hasn't asked for much of anything lately, he spends a lot of time in his room, talking to himself, come to think of it…"

"Hm?" Emilia raised a brow on this comment about her nephew, "You think he might be lonely?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think that may be it," Lily sighed, putting a hand to her cheek, "I think Hanako moving in may have helped a bit, he does like to play with her and they get along well, but he probably doesn't feel entirely at ease around her, since she has a crush on him…"

"Hm, a crush you say?" Emilia giggled a bit, "Little Nate's growing up, isn't he; and from what I've heard from my daughter, he's been getting quite a lot of attention at school lately!"

"Well, I know I should be happy about girls being interested in my little guy, but this has all been just so… extreme," Lily had a troubled look on her face as she thought about her son's 'harem.'

"That old 'Adams family charm' acting up?" Emilia gave a sly smirk. "I should have figured that would happen eventually with little Nate, I remember rather clearly how we used to fight over Aaron, before I met my darling Zachary," she chuckled a bit to herself, before humming thoughtfully, "Come to think of it, there were two other girls after Aaron, weren't there? You fought with them a lot… Diana and Franchesca…?"

Lily did not seem fond of the memories her sister was bringing up, "Can we please change the subject?"

"Yes, let us change the subject, future-mother-in-law!" the sudden intrusion of the purple-haired girl, holding Nate in what could probably be described as a vise-grip, caught the two women off guard.

"Um, I'm sorry… who are you?" Lily questioned slowly, giving a wary look to how the girl was holding her child, "And… what did you just call me…?"

"Damona, please," Nate whispered in a desperate tone, "At least reel it back a bit."

The purple-haired girl rolled her eyes with a slight scoff at the boy's pleading, but gave a nod before smiling at the mother once more, "A bit too forward? Sorry, I seem to have gotten ahead of myself again; my name is Damona, and I am Nate's girlfriend!"

Nate froze with wide eyes of horror towards Damona's idea of, as he had requested; 'reeling it back…'

Lily had a similar reaction to her son, though her eyes were wide with confusion, rather than horror, "W-What, Nate's 'girlfriend…?'"

Nate's face burned red, waving his hands quickly, attempting to dismiss the idea, "N-No, we– "

"Haven't been dating for very long, of course!" Damona interjected, giving her fiancé a winning smirk, which only grew at his desperate expression. "But I can assure you, we are very much in love, and plan to be wed as soon as possible!"

"W-What!?" Nate gawked, staring at his fiancée in disbelief.

Lily's confusion seemed to fade as a skeptical look came to her eyes, "Uhm, 'wed,' huh…?" her mouth became a gentle smile, the mother thinking she'd 'figured out' what was going on here. 'I swear, these girls are getting more and more eager, my special little guy really is growing up…' she couldn't help but release a bit of a sad sigh at that thought, but still kept her smile, "Well, that's cute, have you put any thought into the wedding?"

"Unfortunately, formal planning will have to wait a few years, due to the possibilities of unforeseen circumstances between then and now, but I have had a few personal thoughts," Damona answered in a completely serious tone.

The tone of the 'little' girl's voice put off Lily, just a tad, "O-Oh… I see…" the mother glanced towards her son, who was still sputtering in some attempt of denial, his face bright red. Lily sighed again, her smile turning just the slightest bit amused.

"So, you're dating my nephew?" Emilia interjected, looking the girl over in a critical manner, "You sure you're good enough for him? He's a better catch than you would think, you know!"

"Aunt Emilia!" Nate cried out in despair and embarrassment, wishing he could just summon Mirapo and warp out of there at that very moment (which he technically could, but it would not be a great idea…)

"I assure you, I am more than good enough for your nephew, ma'am," Damona gave a confident smirk, "I come from a rather… wealthy family, plus, unlike some others, I actually see the value of a romantic partner like Nathan, and greatly look forward to the day we will be wed!"

"Hmm… I like you!" Emilia smiled widely, before looking to her mortified nephew, "She's a keeper, Nate! Hold onto that one!"

"Please, stop," Nate whimpered.

"Don't worry about Nathan 'holding onto me,' our union is written in stone, and there's nothing that can stop it from coming to pass!" Damona giggled sinisterly, clutching Nate's arm in a possessive manner.

"Stop," Nate repeated, attempting, and failing, to pull away from his fiancée.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking; where are your parents, Damona?" Lily questioned carefully.

"My father and sister are around here, somewhere," Damona answered simply, before she glanced around, "I'm not entirely sure where…"

"Nate! Where did you go!?" Jessica suddenly shouted as she came charging over, "You just vanished!"

"Seems your cousin is here," Damona commented dully, before nodding to the boy, "Well, you best go see her, I'll go and find my family, I'll find you again once I've found where they are!"

"Hey, hold on!" Nate tried to protest, but Damona had already stopped listening.

"There you are!" Jessica exclaimed as she walked over to her cousin's side, giving a weird glance to the leaving form of Damona, "Where'd you run off to, and who's that girl…?"

"She dragged me away," Nate responded bluntly, before his expression turned nervous, "As for who she was, uh…"

"Jessica," Emilia smiled at her daughter, chuckling a bit at her nephew's nervous expression, "Did you know Nate had a girlfriend? She certainly came out of nowhere!"

"Girlfriend…?" Jessica blinked, before giving her cousin a strange look.

"Uhhhh," Nate whimpered, turning red as his cousin glared at him, 'Whhhhhy!?'

Sailornyan sniffed the ground as she followed the footprints that she recognized well as those of another feline; most likely a nekomata, smaller than hers or Jibanyan's though…

'Most of us felines prefer to avoid the water, it's a bit weird there'd be anyother one here…' Sailornyan thought to herself, knowing she was a bit of an exception to the preferences of her own kind, 'Unless, there was a specific reason it was here… like if it was another yo-kai after Captain Nyate…' the pink nekomata's fur prickled at that thought.

As she kept moving through the beach, she came across a rock, and she spotted a pair of flaming tails sprouting out from just behind it…

Narrowing her eyes and getting into a pouncing position, Sailornyan resisted the urge to hiss, 'I won't let anyone hurt the captain!' without a moment to spare, the pink feline ran around the rock and jumped forward, pining the other nekomata to the sand.

"Nya!?" the red feline cried out in shock at the sudden assault.

Sailornyan blinked, staring at the cat she had pinned with surprise, "Jibanyan…?"

Jibanyan shook his head as his shock faded, before he growled and pushed the other nekomata, "Get off me!"

"Nya!" Sailornyan grunted as she fell onto the sand, before she glared at the red cat, who was dusting himself off with an annoyed look.

"What the heck is wrong with you, jumping on me outta nyowhere like that!?" Jibanyan hissed, "I knyow we don't exactly get along, but come on! I didn't even do anything yet!"

The pink cat groaned, shaking her head as she got back to her feet, "Nyo, nyo, sorry–well, nyot really that sorry–but still, I didn't knyow it was you!"

Jibanyan gave a dull look, crossing his arms, "Well I feel a whole lot better knyowing you would attack just anyone."

"NYO!" the pink nekomata snapped, waving her arms around angrily, "You don't get it! I saw anyother cat yo-kai, and I thought it was weird, since most of our kind hate water–nyo idea why though, what's wrong with you guys?–and I was worried that it might be a yo-kai that was here to hurt the captain, so–wait a minyute!" Sailornyan paused, her eyes widening in realization, "Why are you here, Jibanyan!?"

The red cat seemed momentarily shaken by that question, but he quickly regained his composure and gave a shrug, "What? A cat can't hang out at the beach? Us cat's may nyot like water–what's wrong with you, by the way?–but, the sand and rocks of a sunny beach really make for some good sunbathing spots, you knyow!"

Sailornyna didn't look convinced by this explanation.

Jibanyan glared back at the pink feline for a moment, before groaning, "Fine! I'm here because Amy happens to have school off today–don't ask me why, nyot even she seems to knyow–and she heard about this beach party Nyate's grade is holding, so of course she had to head down here too!"

"Amy…?" Sailornyan stopped in her glaring at the mention of the girl; she had some conflicting feelings towards the girl:

On one paw, she was another rival for her captain's affection, and probably one of the ones that probably had a good chance of snagging him, considering some of his reactions to her!

But, on the other paw; the girl was really nice, and she complimented her on her outfit! Amy had also mentioned possibly making more clothes for her, and while she loved her sailor uniform; she would appreciate a change of look every now and then! Also, Amy helped keep Jibanyan in line whenever he would try to attack–

Again, Sailornyan paused in her thought, glaring at her male counterpart once more, "Hold on; if you came here with Amy, why aren't you with Amy!?"

Jibanyan was shaken once more, but tried his best not to show it (he failed), giving a few fake coughs as he tried not to look the female in the eyes, "Well… you knyow, I just wanted to find a good spot to take a bit of a nyap…"

"Wait a minyute, you were going after the captain, weren't you!?" Sailornyan shouted in an accusatory tone as she pointed at the other cat.

Jibanyan started to sweat a bit, averting his eyes, "Quit with that tone, I wasn't gonnya do anything to him! I was just gonnya tell him where Amy was, and that he should avoid that area," at the skeptical glare the female nekomata was giving him, Jibanyan huffed, "Look, this is better for both him and me! He doesn't want to deal with more harem stuff than he has to, and I get enyough of Amy fantasizing about Nyate when she isn't with him!"

"Nyearly every time you interact, you end up trying to attack him!" Sailornyan grunted in annoyance, before a smug grin settled on her face, "Nyo wonder he hardly summons you anymore!"

Jibanyan's eye twitched a bit at that comment, before he shook his head and glared at the other feline, "Hey, didn't you say you were following the tracks of another feline yo-kai, one that might be a threat to Nyate!?"

Sailornyan gave a blank look for a moment, before she gasped and jumped a bit, "Oh, right! There's a yo-kai here, and it might be after Captain Nyate! We nyeed to find it!"

"Right, you do that then," Jibanyan rolled his eyes, continuing to move in the direction where Nate was, before he suddenly found himself being dragged by the tails by the pink feline, "Nya!?"

"I said, we nyeed to find it!" Sailornyan hissed as she pulled Jibanyan along by the tails, his struggles not fazing her at all. "Nyow come on!"

"Ah, alright, alright!" Jibanyan managed to pull his tails free, the pink nekomata stopping to glare at him for a moment as he stood back up, before they both continued to follow the tracks, "How are you so strong anyway, aren't you a healer!?"

"And proud of it, if the captain ever gets injured, I'll be right there to heal him!" Sailornyan exclaimed with vigor, before smirking smugly at the other cat, "But, I'm an A Rank, and you're a D Rank, you do the math!"

Jibanyan growled under his breath at that explanation, "Stupid, unfair, rankings…"

Sailornyan ignored her counterpart's grumbling, sniffing the ground a bit, "I think they've gotta be close, but where– "

The pink nekomata's thoughts were caught off guard by a loud squeal, followed by what sounded like a baby crying. Wide-eyed and on guard, both Jibanyan and Sailornyan picked up the pace and started moving towards the source of the noise…

Sitting on a log a bit away from where their families were set up, Nate and Jessica sat in awkward silence, until the girl spoke up the question that she had dragged the boy over here to ask…

"So, when were you planning on telling me about your 'girlfriend?'" Jessica spoke in a skeptical tone as she stared at her cousin, arms crossed and a critical look in her eyes.

Nate sighed heavily, leaning back, "Look… Jessica, can… can you keep a secret?"

The girl blinked with confusion, "You know I can, Nate."

"Okay, okay," the brunette boy nodded, releasing another heavy sigh, "We aren't actually 'dating,' we're…" Nate looked unsure if he should say the next word, but with big sigh and a shake of his head, he decided he needed to tell someone, "We're engaged… to be married."

Jessica stared at her cousin with wide-eyes as she processed what he just said, "En-Engaged, as in, like, an old fashion arranged marriage…!?"

"Yeah, something like that…" Nate muttered, lowering his head with a heavy sigh.

The blue-haired girl kept staring, scratching the back of her head a bit, "Uh, w-wow, I… didn't even know that kind of thing still happened, around here at least."

"Her family's kind of… old fashion, and strict…" Nate tried to explain, giving a troubled sigh, "I didn't even realize I had accepted her… 'proposal,' until it was too late…"

Jessica gave her cousin a sympathetic look, "Can't you just say you didn't want to get engaged? Like can't you get out of it…?"

"I've asked, but Damona's adamant that the engagement is airtight," the brown-haired boy muttered, glancing to his cousin with a frown, "Though, she doesn't seem like she'd want me breaking off the engagement if I could, due to circumstances, and some other sources, I'm inclined to believe her…"

"That sucks, dude, I know how set you were on getting together with Katie," Jessica spoke with sympathy, though she subtly gave an aside glance of displeasure, 'Though, I could never really understand why…' the blue-haired girl chose to keep that last, less than flattering thought regarding her cousin's crush, to herself.

Nate's face went red at the sudden mention of his crush, the boy quickly going into the defensive, "W-What, me and-and K-Katie, where would you get– "

"Nate; we've been over this, and I'm not an idiot!" Jessica gave a dull glare to the boy beside her, "Don't try to pretend you don't have a crush on Katie; it's insulting to me, for thinking I'd fall for it, and insulting to yourself, for acting like you believe I would believe that!"

"I… don't know what to say to that," Nate admitted, lowering his head.

"Yeah, that's part of the problem," Jessica criticized, but still patted her cousin on the shoulder in a comforting way.

"Hey, don't forget me!" Hailey suddenly shouted, popping up from behind the two.

Usapyon was following close behind his human partner but chose not to say anything.

"Hailey!?" Nate jumped in surprise.

"How long have you been there!?" Jessica questioned, seeming less surprised than Nate.

"Long enough!" the purple-haired girl seemed smug about that, "Now… what's this I hear about you being 'engaged,' Nate!?" Hailey exclaimed, trying to keep her usual excitement, but there was a clear strain in her voice.

Jessica seemed to notice her friend's change in demeanor, as she was giving her a slightly suspicious look…

Nate just seemed annoyed with the bespectacled girl, "You misheard, and it's none of your business!"

"Come on, buddy!" Hailey waved her arms, jumping into Nate's line of vision each time he looked away, "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

Nate started twitching from the excessive badgering from the purple-haired girl, before he thought of something, "Hey, weren't you with your brother? And what happened to Hanako anyway?" 'And Whisper, come to think of it…'

"Left my brother with my mom, as for Toil-I mean-Hanako… I don't," the purple-haired girl shrugged, "I was teasing Joshua about him having a crush on her, and she just… left?"

Nate stared at the glasses-wearing girl with slight disbelief.

"Anyway, never you mind any of that; TELL ME!" Hailey went right back to badgering the boy.

Nate growled, but right before he was considering yelling at his female friend to shut up, the group was shaken by, what seemed to be the sound of a baby crying, echoed through the air, catching the kids' attention.

Jessica jumped to her feet quickly, a frantic look in her eyes, "Nyanses!"

Both Nate and Hailey gave confused looks as Jessica rushed in the direction of the crying, before glancing to each other, "Nyanses…?"

"I think it's coming from over here!" Sailornyan concluded as she climbed up a rock, which lead up to a tide pool filled area, the sound crying still audible.

"Oh, you think it's coming from here?" Jibanyan gave the other nekomata an unimpressed glare, his ears twitching a bit, "I knyow it's coming from up here, your ears must be pretty bad if you only think it is!"

"You knyow what I meant; you don't have to be a jerk about it!" Sailornyan snapped, looking down at the other cat, before her eyes narrowed, "And stop looking up my skirt!"

Jibanyan stiffened at that accusation, a slight blush coming to his face, before he started shaking his head and glared back up at the pink feline, "I'm nyot doing that! And we don't nyormally wear clothing anyway!"

"PERVERT!" Sailornyan kicked down a rock.

"Ow!" Jibanyan cried out after the small rock hit him on the head, before he let out a hiss, "I hate you!"

"Likewise!" the pink nekomata hissed back, "Now come on, we're almost there!"

"Oh, we're almost there, huh, well then don't pelt me with rocks until I fall," Jibanyan grumbled under his breath as he continued climbing up, choosing to look to the side as he did so, in case Sailornyan tried pulling the 'pervert' card, again…

Some grunts sounded from the two felines as they made the rest of the way up the rock, with Sailornyan making it up first.

"Come on, Slownyan!" Sailornyan mocked as she looked down at the, still climbing, cat.

"Hey, how about helping me up, why don't you!?" Jibanyan snarled as he glared up at Sailornyan, only to be hit on the head by a rock.

"PERVERT, stop looking up my skirt!" Sailornyan snarled, holding another rock ready.

"That would be impossible to see from this angle!" Jibanyan snapped, only to be hit in the head by another rock, "OW! Oh, come on!"

"Pervy-PERVE!" Sailornyan roared, throwing more rocks at the red feline.

"Ow! Ow! OW! STO-OW!" eventually Jibanyan lost his grip, came falling back down, and onto the sand, "GRAH!?"

"… Oops," Sailornyan blinked, looking down at the fallen nekomata, with minimal concern.

"Nya…" Jibanyan mumbled dizzily as he pulled himself back up.

"Jibanyan, I, um…" Sailornyan gave a sheepish look as she padded over to the other cat, "Um… sorry?"

Jibanyan spat out some sand from his mouth, standing on four legs and shaking some of the grains out of his fur, before giving the pink nyan a dull loo, "Whatever, forget it, let's just get back up to the…" the red nekomata paused, staring at the pink one blankly, "Wait… how did you get back down so fast…?"

Sailornyan also paused, looking confused, before glancing back up at the rocky area she had come down from, before slowly glancing down an incline in it, going back down to the sand, a bit to the left.

"Are you kidding me!?" Jibanyan growled in a low tone.

"Uh, yeah… didn't see that," Sailornyan gave an embarrassed chuckle, before glancing down at the sand shamefully.

The red nekomata kept glaring at the pink one for a brief moment, before he started moving, "Let's just get up there, and see what's making that crying sound…"

And so, the feline duo moved over to and began walking up the incline on the stone ground, up to the tide pool area of the beach, to finally get to the bottom of where that crying was coming from…

"VENYOCT!?" both nekomata cried out in shock when they made it to where the crying was coming from.

What the feline duo were met with was the sight of the humanoid yo-kai, holding a blue nekomata kitten by the tails. The kitten was wearing a blue and gold striped Nemes on his head, had a pink pacifier in his mouth, and was crying his eyes out.

"WAH! Let Nyanses go! Nyanses didn't do anything!" the little nekomata cried as he was dangled by the tails.

"And how exactly can I just take your word for that!?" Venoct spoke seriously as he glared at the feline, "How do I know you aren't here to assassinate my master, using your small form to appear innocent, just before you strike!?"

"I wouldn't do that! Nyanses not a bad kitty, Nyanses healer!" the kitten pleaded, his eyes filled with tears.

"And, THAT'S EXACTLY WHY NOBODY WOULD SUSPECT YOU AS AN ASSASSIN!" Venoct shouted, staring at the little nekomata with wide, bloodshot eyes.

'Nyanses' eyes watered more as he began whimpering, his body shaking as he stared into the deadly serious eyes of the ninja-like yo-kai…

"Venyoct, stop that!" Sailornyan suddenly shouted, jumping over to the humanoid, waving her paws rapidly, "Let that kitten go!"

"Yeah, dude, this is screwy!" Jibanyan added, running up just behind the female, "It's just a kid, let him go!"

"Or, is that just what he wants us to think!?" Venoct hissed suspiciously, narrowing his eyes further.

"Venyoct, you're acting irrationyal!" Sailornyan exclaimed with concern, and fear for the young feline.

"No, I am just taking the proper precautions for the defense of our master!" Venoct countered, holding the blue cat up high by the tails, inciting more crying, "This could very well be an innocent child, and if so; I am deeply sorry, but the other possibility is too great a risk! I cannot leave Master Nate's life to chance, when there's something I could do to ensure his safety!"

"When exactly did Venyoct go insane!?" Jibanyan shouted with a horrified expression.

"You mean he wasn't always like this?" Sailornyan took a moment to process this, before shaking her head and glaring at the humanoid yo-kai, "Venyoct, as your superior, I order you to release him!"

Jibanyan gawked at his female counterpart's choice of actions, "Wait, what!? You can't possibly think that will work!"

However, contrary to what Jibanyan seemed to think, Venoct froze up at Sailornyan's words, before lowering the sniffling feline to the ground, and releasing him.

"WHAT!?" Jibanyan just stared with wide eyes at this turn of events.

"I agreed to serve Master Nate, with all of my being, and disregarding the chain of command would be just as disloyal as disobeying him directly," Venoct spoke in a grave tone. "Sailornyan is above me in the chain of command, as she is a constant companion at Master Nate's side, acting as loyal defender, companion, and medic for him. If she is commanding me to release the potential-assassin, it must be with Master Nate's best interests in mind."

Sailornyan nodded with a prideful smile, "Yes, I would nyever order you to do something that would put the captain in danger! You were going to far Venyoct, and if you hurt an innyocent child for the sake of defending him, it would throw Captain Nyate into a depression, that he may nyot recover from!"

Venoct's eyes widened in shock and realization at the pink feline's statement, "Ug, you're correct! How could I have been so foolish! I sought to defend my master from all possible bodily harm, but I didn't take into account the psychological damage the possibility of my mistakes could have!" the ninja-like yo-kai quickly bowed to the female nekomata, "Thank you, Sailornyan, for preventing me from committing a grievous error against our master!"

"Am I the only one who is completely lost here…?" Jibanyan muttered, his eyes going blank, blinking a few times.

'Nyanses' was just staring at Sailornyan with sparkling eyes, his cheeks turning pink, "P-Pwetty giwl…"

Jibanyan turned his blank look to the smaller nekomata, before he simply gave a grunt and shook his head.

"Nyanses!"

The small nekomata was suddenly scooped up into a set of arms.

"Jessica!" the little feline exclaimed in happiness, as the blue-haired girl cradled him.

"Wait, hold on, what's going on here!?" Nate questioned, his footsteps clicking against the stone surface of the tide pool area as he walked over to his cousin, shortly followed by Hailey and Usapyon.

"Wow, Jessica! You have a yo-kai friend!?" Hailey exclaimed in surprise and joy, thrilled at the idea of her best friend also knowing about yo-kai.

"Yo-what now?" Jessica questioned with a blank expression, "'Yo-kai?' like, the mythological creatures from folklore…?"

Nate and Hailey both gave Jessica blank looks in response to her confusion.

"Uh, Jessica…" Nate spoke carefully, "Don't you notice that the cat you're holding, is a nekomata…?"

Jessica blinked, before holding the feline up a bit, focusing on the two flame-tipped tails that dangled from his back, "Oh yeah, I guess he is…"

There was a moment of silence between the children.

"Wait, can she see us?" Jibanyan questioned after a second, but the lack of response from Jessica seemed to indicate the answer was, no.

"Master!" Venoct shouted, jumping over to Nate, and bowing, "I shamefully must report that I have committed a crime most heinous, in your name!"

"Wait, what…?" Nate gave the yo-kai a strange look, before his eyes narrowed, "What did you do!?"

"Nate, who is that weird kid dressed like a ninja, with a dragon-head scarf?" Jessica questioned as she stepped next to her cousin, "And, why did he call you 'master?'"

"That meanie shook Nyanses! He called Nyanses an 'assassin!'" the little nekomata in the girl's arms suddenly cried out, pointing an accusatory paw at the ninja.

"Wait, what!?" both Jessica and Nate had practically identical reactions of shock and outrage.

"I'm afraid it is true, my master!" Venoct nodded with shame in his eyes, "In my pursuit to protect you, I lost sight of right and wrong, and behaved in a brutish manner towards this, most likely-innocent child!" he bowed his head again, "Punish me as you see fit!"

Nate lightly swatted Venoct on the head, shaking his own quickly, "No! Would you stop asking me to punish you!?" the brunette groaned, placing a hand to his forehead, before giving his self-appointed bodyguard a serious look, "Geez, just apologize! Alright! You don't have to defer to me for everything, and you don't need to be punished for every mistake you make! Just, own up to it, alright!?"

Jessica and Nyanses slowly glanced at each other as Nate reprimanded the humanoid yo-kai, both looking rather confused.

"I understand," Venoct nodded, before turning to Jessica and Nyanses, his head bowed, "I deeply apologize for my thoughtless actions, I'm afraid I have nothing to offer in compensation, aside from this apology, but I pray it is enough to begin the road to forgiveness."

Jessica and Nyanses still looked rather confused, and a bit frightened.

"Um, so long as you learned your lesson," the blue-haired girl gave a weak smile.

"N-Nyanses fowgives," the little cat yo-kai whimpered.

"Your mercy is on par with that of my master, I shall not forget this!" Venoct rose his head with a serious look in his eyes, before he swiftly moved to a position a few meters behind Nate, keeping a close eye on the boy as he did so.

"Um… okay?" Jessica blinked, before she looked over at Nate, "Seriously, what's up with that guy…?"

"Uh, it's… hard to explain," Nate had an uncomfortable expression as he averted his eyes.

"JESSICA!" Hailey exclaimed loudly, jumping over to her friend, an excited look on her face.

"Hailey!?" Jessica jumped out of surprise.

"WAH!" Nyanses let out a wail of fear, clinging to Jessica.

"Jessica, when did you get a yo-kai partner!? When did you find out about yo-kai!? Do you have a yo-kai watch!? Why didn't you tell me!?" Hailey rapid-fire questioned as she bounced around her friend, giddy from excitement.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Jessica yelled, rocking Nyanses in her arms to calm him down.

"Nyanses is scawed again!" the kitten cried, shaking in the blue-haired girl's arms.

"Hailey, hold yer horses, would ya'!?" Usapyon snapped, "Yer freakin' 'em out!"

"Oh, come on, Usapyon, I'm just trying to bring my bestie into the fold! She's got a yo-kai friend!" Hailey exclaimed with determination.

"Who are you talking to, Hailey!? What are you talking about!?" Jessica questioned again in a frantic tone.

"She can't even see me, Hailey! I think this isn't quite the situation ya' think it is!" Usapyon pointed out, crossing his arms.

"What? But she's got a yo-kai! See!?" Hailey exclaimed, pointing to the little nekomata in her friend's arms.

"Jessica, where did you find this guy…?" Nate questioned slowly, looking at his confused cousin.

Before Jessica could answer, the kitten chose that moment to free himself from her arms, jumping down to the ground and facing the intimidating (to him) humans, "Nyanses?"

"Nyanses is Nyanses II, a yo-kai pwince!" the small nekomata crossed his arms proudly, though his tiny size, and the pacifier in his mouth, took from the image he probably wanted to give off.

Heartful Tribe: Nyanses II

"Interesting, it seems Nyanses II is the youngest child of the Mystery Legendary Yo-kai; Bastnetnyan, and the younger half-brother of the Treasure Yo-kai; Meopatra!" Whisper exclaimed as he looked over the blue nekomata's profile on his yo-kai pad, "What a royal family lineage, though it does beg the question of what the little guy is doing out here, so far from his family."

"Whisper!?" Nate gawked at the sudden reappearance of his yo-kai butler, "Where'd you come from!?"

"Okay, now who are you talking to, Nate!?" Jessica looked like she was starting to get frustrated.

Nate suddenly took on a nervous and unsure look as he turned back to his cousin, "Wait, hold on, you can see him?" the boy gestured to the nekomata kitten. "But you can't see him?" he then pointed to the yo-kai butler.

"Whoever you are pointing to; no, I can't see anyone there!" Jessica spoke with a slight growl, her patience wearing thin.

"Not sure why you think this is worth questioning, Nate," Whisper shrugged, with a slightly condescending tone to his voice, "You're well aware of several yo-kai everyone can see, after all!"

Nate glared at his butler, before shaking his head and sighing.

"All can pewceive Nyanses' fowm!" Nyanses II suddenly exclaimed, raising his paws to emphasize his point, "But only those who awe wowthy may see Nyanses as he twuly is! Othews may only see a nowmal cat!"

"Uh…" Nate gave a blank look at the small nekomata's boasting.

"I found him wandering around in our apartment building's underground parking lot," Jessica spoke up, looking down at Nyanses strangely, "I wasn't sure what to make of him at first; a talking kitten, dressed like an Egyptian Pharaoh!?" she released a little chuckle.

"Don't make fun of Nyanses!" the nekomata kitten shouted in protest, stomping his little paw on the stone ground.

The blue-haired girl just pat the small nekomata on the head, before continue, "He seemed lost, and was asking for a place to stay, so I decided to take him home, but weirdly; mom and dad didn't see him as I did, they seemed to see him as an ordinary kitten…"

"Only the wowthy can pewceive Nyanses' twue fowm!" the cat yo-kai repeated, raising both paws to the sky.

Jessica looked at Nyanses with a blank look for a few seconds, before nodding, "Right…" she looked around awkwardly for a moment, "Anyway! Mom and dad let me keep him, and we've been together ever since!"

"Jessica is Nyanses' most twusted confidant!" the cat yo-kai declared proudly.

"But… this is the first I'm hearing of this 'yo-kai' stuff…" Jessica quickly added, raising a brow as she looked between her cousin and best friend.

"Wow, that's confusing," Hailey muttered, scratching her head a bit, "You never thought to question why the cat could talk?"

Jessica's expression turned slightly annoyed, "I did, but his idea of answering consisted of going into some grand speech about his 'gweatnyess,' which I just couldn't sit through…"

"DON'T MOCK NYANSES!" the kitten started flailing around, scowling as tears started forming in his eyes.

Jessica just picked the little yo-kai up again, which calmed him down, almost immediately.

"I'm still having a hard time following what's going on," Jibanyan muttered with an annoyed sigh.

"That's because you're an idiot," Sailornyan scoffed.

Jibanyan's eye twitched at the sudden insult, before he pointed at the other cat, "I'm nyot an idiot, you're an idiot!"

Sailornyan hissed, "Nyo, you're an idiot!"

"Nyo, you're an idiot!"

"Nyo, you are!"

"Nyo, you are!"

"You are!"

"You are!"

"YOU ARE!"

"YOU ARE!"

"STOP!" Nate suddenly shouted, silencing the two nekomata, who looked at the human boy with a bit of surprise.

"Stop what…?" Jessica gave a confused, and slightly nervous, look to her cousin.

Nate paused in surprise, before giving a sheepish expression, "Oh, right; you can't see or hear them…"

"Who can't I see or hear!?" Jessica was starting to look very annoyed, tapping her foot on the ground for emphasis.

Nate coughed, glancing down at the ground unsurely, "Right, I'm… gonna need to explain some things to you now, aren't I…?"

"Daww, you're so cute when your confuddled, Nate!" Hailey let out a dreamy giggle.

Nate blinked, "What?"

"What?" Hailey questioned, a blank look on her face.

"Guys!" Jessica hissed, bringing the attention back to her, "I still want an explanation here!"

"Yes, I would like an explanation too," a cool, female voice hissed, making the group aware of a newcomer who had someone snuck up on them without any notice.

Stepping up forward on the rocky ground with red heels, (which had the kids internally questioning why someone would wear those to the beach) was who appeared to be a tall, pale-skinned, teenage girl, with short purple hair, with a red bow in it, wearing a white, long-sleeved blouse, and a red dress with suspenders, over it. The girl had piercing yellow eyes that were narrowed into near-slits, and, perhaps most notably of all; she had pointed ears

"What the–who's this now!?" Jessica gawked.

"I don't know!" Nate quickly responded, looking just as confused as his cousin.

"And the plot thickens," Hailey commented to herself.

"Shut up, already!" Usapyon growled.

"I heard a commotion, so I decided to come check things out," the pointy-eared girl grunted, glaring at each of the children and yo-kai with narrowed eyes, "Seems whatever was going on has been resolved."

"Get behind me, Master!" Venoct suddenly spoke seriously, glaring at the girl, "There's something off about her… something… threatening…"

"What are you talking about, Venoct?" Nate sighed, thinking this was more of the ninja yo-kai's paranoia. However, he soon took notice that he wasn't the only one on edge. "Huh…? Jibanyan, Sailornyan?"

The two mentioned nekomata were on all fours, glaring at the strange girl, their tails pointed straight up, along with the fur on their backs, while hisses emitted from their mouths and their eyes had turned to slits.

Nyanses was having a similar reaction, though while he was hissing with slit eyes, instead of taking an offensive stance, he was retreating further into the protective embrace of Jessica's arms.

"Captain Nyate, be careful," Sailornyan hissed.

"Yeah, I feel something weird about her, familiar…" Jibanyan growled, the flames on his tails flaring a bit, "I think she's a yo-kai!"

Nate gave a look of slight disbelief, "A yo-kai, what…?"

"What did your invisible friend say, Nate?" Jessica seemed worried by Nyanses' reaction to the newcomer.

"Oh, oh! I know this one! I know!" Hailey suddenly exclaimed, raising her hand as if she wanted to ask a question in class.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Usapyon growled under his breath as he sent his human partner a death glare, which she ignored.

"That's not your true form, is it!?" Hailey concluded with an enthusiastic smile, "You've taken on that form to blend in with us humans, and to get closer to our harem protagonist here!"

Sailornyan's hissing grew a bit more aggressive at the prospect of another rival for her captain's affection.

"Stop calling me a 'harem protagonist!" Nate snapped, an embarrassed expression on his face.

The strange girl's expression changed to one of blank befuddlement, "I-I'm sorry, what? 'Harem protagonist?' My form…?" her expression changed to one of anger, her eyes turning to slits and her teeth becoming sharp, like a cat's, "What exactly are you implying!?" a feline hiss escaped from the girl's mouth.

"Ah, so you're some kind of cat yo-kai!" Hailey concluded, undeterred by the supposed yo-kai's aggression. "But you're not interested in Nate here…?"

"Nate…?" the cat-like girl hissed a bit again, narrowing her eyes at the boy, seemingly calming down a bit, "Are you Nathan Adams…?"

Nate was surprised at being suddenly addressed, knocking him out of his embarrassed state as he looked to the girl with a bit of apprehension, "Um… y-yes?"

"The self-proclaimed 'Yo-kai Master…?'" the pointy-eared girl seemed to speak with some disgust.

"P-Please don't call me that, I never claimed to be the 'Yo-kai Master,' and I'd prefer if people would stop calling me that," Nate whimpered, feeling frightened by the way the girl was looking at him.

"Yeah, he actually hates it when people call him that!" Jibanyan chimed in, feeling strangely protective of his human friend at that moment.

"If you would dare to harm my master, I will not hesitate to fight you with my full strength!" Venoct threatened, an aura of yo-kai energy forming around him.

The cat-like girl snorted, "I see at least you have a good deal of respect from these yo-kai, but I wanted to tell you now…" her eyes narrowed further, flashing a golden color, "Whether you claimed to be the 'Yo-kai Master,' or not, either way; I don't buy it!" she sneered, revealing her sharp teeth once more, her fingernails extending into sharp claws that she held out threateningly. "There's no way a human could hold that much significance to yo-kai!"

"I won't let you hurt the captain!" Sailornyan growled, the flames on her tails flaring, like Jibanyan's.

"Hmph, I have no interest in hurting a defenseless human child!" the cat-like girl snapped, pulling her hand back as her claws retracted, "I'm just saying; I don't buy the stuff I've heard about you! And, I've got my eye on you!"

"I'm so confused…" Jessica muttered to herself, while soothing Nyanses by stroking his fur, having pretty much given up on understanding the current situation.

"So, wait, you're not being overtaken by his 'harem effect…?'" Hailey blinked in confusion, the cat-like girl's disinterest in Nate on a romantic level seemingly the only thing she was focusing on.

"HAILEY!" Nate growled, glaring at the bespectacled girl with demonic eyes, looking not dissimilar to his mother when she got mad.

"Harem-what-now?" the cat-like girl was right back to being befuddled, before she just growled and shook her head, "Okay, you know what; forget it! I only came over here to see what the crying was about, but that seems to have been resolved, so I'm gone! I've got better places to be!"

"Honestly, what a rude young lady!" Whisper chose that moment to speak up, circling around the girl with his arms crossed and a critical expression on his face, "I must ask; who exactly do you think you are, that you can just come charging in, insult and intimidate my master, and just be on your way!?"

The yo-kai girl growled, her eyes turning cat-like one more as she held up a clawed hand towards the yo-kai butler, "I'm Neko-Musume! Don't forget it, floating marshmallow!"

Charming Tribe: Neko-Musume

The name she gave in response had Whisper reeling back, his eyes widening, and his body trembling, "Ne-Ne-Neko-Musume!? THE Neko-Musume!?"

"Neko-Musume…?" Nate looked confused at the moniker, "So… your name is literally 'cat girl…?'"

Neko-Musume growled lowly at the boy.

"NATHAN!" Whisper moved to smack the boy in the back of the head.

"Master!" Venoct got between the two, using his Dragon Scarf to knock the djinn onto the ground.

"Huh…?" Nate glanced down at the fallen Whisper with a blank expression.

"Alright… not one of my most intelligent decisions," the yo-kai butler admitted as he floated back up, rubbing the back of his head, before he pulled out his yo-kai pad, and started swiping through pages, "Still, such a response to a han-yo as notable as the Neko-Musume!? I simply had to reprimand you, Nate!"

"I've nyever heard of her!" Jibanyan interjected.

"Me nyeither," Sailornyan nodded.

Whisper sent the two nekomata a snide look, "Well, that honestly doesn't surprise me."

"Do not refer to me as a 'han-yo,'" Neko-Musume growled, giving the butler a threatening glare.

"What's a 'han-yo…?'" Nate gave a confused look.

Venoct moved around the boy to stand at his side, before bowing, "Master, a 'han-yo' refers to a being that is half-human, and half-yo-kai, usually the product of a yo-kai and human having a child together."

Nate seemed to freeze in surprise at that concept, "That… can happen!?"

"Hm, you seem to have had a bit of a growth spurt since your last picture was taken…" Whisper commented as he looked from his yo-kai pad, to Neko-Musume.

Neko-Musume snarled, looking like she was ready to claw the yo-kai butler to pieces…

"Neko Onee-san!"

The sudden call had Neko-Musume stopping in what she was doing, looking over the edge of the tidpool area, and back onto the sandy beach, "Mana…?"

A brown-haired girl gave a happy smile and a wave, "Come on! There's this restaurant over on the other side of the beach that sells great shrimp fried rice!"

"Shrimp friend rice," Neko-Musume seemed interested by the prospect of food, jumping down to meet with the other girl, "Alright then, let's go."

"Mana, is this one of those 'friends,' you were talking about?" Amy questioned as she came walking over, smiling at Neko-Musume in a friendly manner.

"Oh, yeah," Mana nodded cheerfully to her classmate, gesturing to Neko-Musume, "This is Neko-Musume."

"So… is this one of those 'secret friends,' you go into the forest to meet?" Amy teased.

"Hey now, I told you I won't tell on that!" Mana stuck out her tongue, before giving a playful giggle.

Nate chose not to reveal himself to the new girl, for fear of gaining another 'harem girl,' so he, along with the others, just watched as she and Neko-Musume departed.

"Hold on, I must at least get her autograph!" Whisper cried out, but he was held by one of the heads of Venoct's Dragon Scarf. "Let me go!"

"No, you are not going to put Master into further danger," Venoct stated firmly.

"Well… I still want explanations, but… I think I'll try getting them later," Jessica commented with a tired look, carrying Nyanses II with her as she started walking down the slope.

"I'll… try to give one to you, later," Nate nodded to his overwhelmed cousin as she departed.

While in the blue-haired girl's arms, the little kitten looked back, focusing on one yo-kai in particular, "So pwetty…" Nyanses II muttered in a mesmerized tone as he stared at Sailornyan, his face going red.

"What was that, Nyanses?" Jessica blinked, looking down at her yo-kai companion.

"N-Nyothing, Nyanses said nyothing!" the little nekomata insisted as the girl continued in her departure.

"… Nya?" Sailornyan seemed to have noticed Nyanses' stare as he was leaving, though she looked mostly confused by it.

"Hey, Nate! I can see you up there! You too Rudy!" Amy shouted, waving her arms wildly to get their attention.

Nate looked down at the thirteen-year-old girl, before he shook his head, "No, can't do it right now, sorry Amy!" and with that, the boy fled before any of his companions could even try following.

"Huh, Nate!" Hailey called out in surprise.

"But… there was someone I wanted to introduce you to," Amy commented a bit too late.

Jibanyan just sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, directed at both Amy, and Nate…

Nate ran across the sand, looking through the crowds of people populating the beach, before he finally got a glimpse at his crush once more, "Ka– "

"Natey-kins, there you are!"

Nate suddenly found himself pulled into an overly affectionate hug by an enthusiastic girl, "M-Meg!?"

Megan Jones giggled as she kept hugging her crush for about ten seconds, before releasing him and letting out a cheer, "I'd been looking for you, my Natey-kins! This beach party is the perfect opportunity for us to spend some much-needed time together, don't you think!?"

"I, uh, sure…?" Nate kept trying to look past Meg, focused on the shrinking vision of Katie, but the pigtailed girl kept moving back into his line of sight.

"So…?" Meg's grin widened as she took on a showoffy pose.

"So…?" Nate was barely paying attention to Meg, continuing to attempt looking at Katie, his eyes growing more desperate as she moved further and further away.

"What do you think?" Meg questioned playfully.

"What do I think of what?" Nate still was not paying much attention to the pigtailed girl, whimpering a bit as he tried to get by her to go after Katie.

Megan's eye twitched a bit, though her smile did not waver, "My swimsuit, Natey-kins! What do you think about my swimsuit!?"

Nate blinked, finally processing that Megan Jones was, in fact, wearing a swimsuit, and that she looked rather cute in it too.

Well, Nate would admit Meg pretty much always looked cute, crush on Katie or not, it really couldn't be denied that the pigtailed girl's cuteness… that didn't mean he was interested in her, of course!

The design of Meg's swimsuit was a simple one-piece, in a pink coloration, with white polka dots. The girl posed once more, now that she had Nate's attention.

"You look good Meg, but I need to…" Nate trailed off as he looked by the girl again, only to let out a sigh of disappointment when he saw that Katie was gone. Giving a heavy groan, Nate turned his focus back to the aspiring-popstar, "Alright, Meg, what is it you wanted again…?"

Meg frowned, clearly annoyed that she didn't seem to be the first thing on her crush's mind, but still, she was going to take what she could get, and hopefully convince him to be her boyfriend along the way! "Well, as a matter of fact Nate, what I want– "

"H-Hey, Nate," Shelly, clad in a light blue bathing suit, shyly greeted as she approached.

Nate took a few steps away from the two girls, to get some space, "Um, Shelly? Yeah, hi, nice to– "

"NATE!" Fubuki cheered as she popped up beside the boy, wearing an icy blue swimsuit, and clasping her hands together, "I've been looking for– "

"GET LOST!" the disguised forms of Insomni, and Sandi, shouted as they pushed Fubuki to the side, before smiling brightly at Nate, Insomni wore a purple swimsuit, while Sandi had a red one, "Nate, we've been waiting for a chance to– "

"GET BACK, CRAZY TWINS!" Meg growled like a rabid dog, taking the disguised djinn sisters by surprise.

The girls were starting to become a free-for-all, and Nate just let out a very tired groan, before he took the opportunity to lee again…

'Alright, no more distractions! Gotta talk to Katie! Talk too Katie! TALK TO KATIE!'

"Hi Nate!"

Nate tried to ignore the alluring voice as he continued his trek to locate his crush.

"Nate? Hey, Nate! Didn't you hear me…?"

Nate found himself stiffening at her sad tone of voice, he couldn't help himself, he slowly turned to look at the one calling to him…

That was a mistake.

"I-Isa-Isabel!?" Nate found himself stuttering uncontrollably, his face burning red as he stared at the girl that he, most definitely did not, have a crush on!

"About time you heard me," the blond-haired girl let out little giggle as she smiled at the boy, a slight dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks.

Nate just stared at Isabel with a dumb expression; his vision of Isabel was one of dreamy sparkles, noting how the bow usually found in her hair was missing, and her curly locks were blowing in the wind, and staring at the dark blue one-piece swimsuit she wore, which also had some sparkling frilly bits that gave it an almost mermaid-like design, "Is-Is-Isabel, you, um–I, uh… you! Pretty!?"

The wealthy girl let out another giggle at the compliment (if you could call it that?), "Well, uh, thank you!"

"I-I-YOU! GIRL! CUTE!" Nate seemed to be unable to think coherently as he kept staring at Isabel in an absolutely mesmerized state.

Isabel was starting to look a little unsure, "Uh, th-that's nice of you to say… I think…"

"I-Uh, uh… I GO!" Nate shouted, turning to run, falling face-first into the sand, before quickly pulling himself back up and scurrying off.

"Uh… okay… bye…?" Isabel gave a confused look as she waved to her departing crush, 'What was that all about…?'

'YOULIKEKATIENOTISABEL! YOULIKEKATIENOTISABEL! YOULIKEKATIENOTISABEL!' Nate kept mentally repeating to himself madly as he kept running across the sandy ground of the beach, ignoring all the strange stares he was getting from the various people who were trying to enjoy their days at the beach…

"My Nate, I'm glad I caught up to you!" Elisabeth's voice called out from nearby.

'NOPE!' Nate quickly started running as fast as he could, in the opposite direction of Elisabeth's voice…

Nate was stopped dead in his tracks once more as he found himself running into a girl his own age, with short brown-hair and similarly colored eyes, she also seemed like brick wall when Nate ran into her, despite the fact she was smaller than him…

"Ow, what the…?" Nate groaned as he felt onto his bottom, before looking up at the girl with confusion.

The girl smiled obliviously to the fallen boy, waving her arm, "Hi there!"

"Uh… hi?" Nate found himself unsure of what to make of the girl's overly enthusiastic smile, and her bouncy demeanor, which was completely contrast to how she felt like solid rock when he had bumped into her.

"Wow, you fell just then, you okay!?" the girl quickly questioned with concern as she helped the boy back up.

Nate still seemed confused by the girl, but shook it off as he began to answer, "I– "

"I'm Mako Mankanshoku, the underachiever of Class 5-3!" the girl suddenly added, looking rather proud, holding out the same hand she had used to help the boy back up, in an offer to shake it, "What's your name!?"

"H-Huh…?" Nate was taken off guard by the sudden interruption, "M-My name is– "

"WAIT, I KNOW YOU!" Mako suddenly interrupted again, pointing at the boy as she jumped, "I heard some of my classmates talking about you, you're Nathan Adams; the Harem Master!"

"W-What!?" Nate gawked at the brazen exclamation, "D-Don't call me that!"

"OH WAIT, are you gonna add me to your harem!?" Mako suddenly exclaimed, looking strangely excited at that idea.

"WHAT!?" Nate's jaw dropped, not able to fully process what this girl was shouting about.

"It's really sudden, but I'll definitely think about it," Mako turned away, a thoughtful look on her face, as the sound of a clock ticking seemed to come from nowhere, before an imaginary lightbulb appeared over her head, and she turned back to where Nate stood, a big smile, and her cheeks turning pink, "ALRIGHT, I'LL– " Mako stopped mid-shout, realizing Nate was gone, "… Huh? Where'd you go!?"

Nate's eyes were wide with confusion from the sudden abduction, finding himself a top the roof of a building near the beach, among a familiar group of yo-kai.

"Finally caught you, Nate!" Little Charrmer gave a bright grin as she placed the boy down, before she gave a thoughtful look, tapping her chin, "Hmm, should we come up with a hero name for you? What would be good…?"

"Boss! Please tell me you didn't just kidnap young Nathan!" The Jawsome Kid suddenly shouted, making his presence known to said kid.

"Kidnap? Of course not!" Little Charrmer scoffed at the idea, crossing her arms as she glared at the shark-man, "I'm a hero! I don't kidnap people!"

"I'm seriously starting to doubt that," Dr. E. Raser grunted as he floated over, giving Nate the briefest of sympathetic looks, before fully focusing on his leader, "I thought we already went over this!"

"And, I thought I already went over this with you!" Little Charrmer snap, holding Nate close to her, which had his face going red. "Nathan Adams is no ordinary human, he is the Yo-kai Master– "

"Please don't call me that," Nate pleaded out of embarrassment, but was ignored.

"His experience in yo-kai-related matters is the stuff of legends!" the yo-kai heroine praised.

"I don't think you really understand a lot of the circumstances behind the events you're referencing," Nate tried to explain, but was still ignored.

"He's fought the toughest of opponents and befriended even those among the unruliest of yo-kai!" Little Charrmer raised a hand with an amazed expression.

"That's an exaggeration," Nate muttered, mostly to himself, expecting to be ignored at this point.

"His powers aren't bound by life or death, time or space! He transcends such things, no matter the time and place he is needed, he shall be there!" the red-clad hero's hand turned to a fist as her eyes sparkled.

Nate's expression turned blank, "Okay… that's just untrue."

"Anyway, we do still need to come up with your hero name, and design a costume, but that will have to wait!" Little Charrmer exclaimed with a positive grin, "There was a robbery at the museum the other night, and we're sure the culprits are still in Springdale!"

"R-Robbery? Culprits!?" Nate shook his head, giving a look of disbelief, "I-I didn't hear anything about that!"

"That's because the only things stolen were from the yo-kai side of the museum, and there were no noticeable signs of a break-in, from a human perspective, that is," Dr. E. Raser spoke up, giving a serious look as he floated around the group, "The culprits clearly knew what they were after."

Nate gave a quizzical look, "Wait, there's a 'yo-kai side' to the museum…?"

"You didn't know?" The Jawsome Kid looked at the human boy with curious disbelief.

"Of course he knew! He's the Yo-kai Master, he's obviously kidding!" Little Charrmer jumped in, waving her arms in an exaggerated motion, and sending a beaming smile to the 'Yo-kai Master.'

"I really don't know, and I asked you to stop calling me that!" Nate yelled out, his embarrassment having passed, and had now been replaced with annoyance, "Please, tell me!"

"Basically, to sum it up in simple terms; there's more to Springdale than you see on the surface," Dr. E. Raser stated in a plain tone, "There's a large yo-kai population here, more interaction between them and the human-side of society, whether they know it or not, than in a lot of other places."

"So, yeah; there's a lot more 'yo-kai sides' of things, even businesses like the museum," The Jawsome Kid nodded, "And that 'yo-kai side' of the museum, if what got robbed!"

"Yo-kai side…?" Nate blinked, taking in the new information, "I had no idea…"

"Well, it's not exactly somethin' dat's heavily advertised, so can't really blame ya'," Unbearaboy! assured, crossing his arms and nodding.

"I guess…" Nate muttered with a thoughtful look, 'I guess I didn't really know what a lot of the yo-kai around town spent most of their time doing, it kind of makes sense that there'd be stuff for them, alongside all the stuff for humans.'

"Yeah, no need to worry about what you knew or didn't know!" Little Charrmer suddenly exclaimed, throwing an arm around the boy's shoulder and hugging him close to her, "I am surprised someone as well connected with the yo-kai community hadn't heard of this before, but don't sweat it! I'm sure we can both teach each other lots of things in our time together!"

Nate gave a surprised gasp at the sudden close contact, his face turning bright red.

The other members of Tempest Pride gave annoyed and/or concerned looks at their leader's actions.

"Little Charrmer," Dr. E. Raser spoke in a no-nonsense tone, pointing a bony finger towards his superior, "We do have a mission to get to, so… would you mind?"

Little Charrmer took a couple seconds too long to react to the other yo-kai hero's voice, and when she did she gave a bit of a pout as she released the, still red-faced, Nate, before giving a cough and regaining her usual demeanor.

"Right, let's get going, team!" the leader cheered, being sure to send a subtle wink Nate's way, as she turned to look out at the town, spreading her wings.

"I still don't think dragging this poor kid along is a good idea," The Jawsome Kid muttered to himself with worry.

"Yeah, this isn't going to end well," Dr. E. Raser seemed to be concerned for a different reason than the shark-man, 'If this kind of stuff keeps up, that kid's going to snap…'

"Hmm…" Katie hummed to herself as she looked over a burger, before taking a bite, "Hmm…" she swallowed, before giving a satisfied smile, "Wow, that is a good burger!"

"I know, right?" Eddie smiled, holding a burger of his own, standing by his family's grill set-up, where his father was serving more burgers to other kids, "My parents got the best ingredients they could for this party!"

"I can tell!" Katie praised as she took another bite of her burger, though her enjoyment was interrupted, as her leg seemed to randomly shake a bit, as if something invisible were pushing it. The ponytailed girl grunted, glaring down at her leg, and whispering; "Knock it off."

Eddie's expression changed to one of confusion, "Um, Katie, you alright…?"

The girl gave a look reminiscent of a deer caught in headlights, before she quickly started waving her hands and giving a wide, fake, smile, "Y-Yeah, yeah! I'm fine! Great! There's definitely not an invisible snake headbutting my leg!"

Eddie just gave a blank stare to that comment, "I-I'm sorry, what?"

"I didn't say anything," Katie's expression also turned blank, though her leg shook again, and her face turned to a snarl as she glared at the ground.

"WOW! THIS BURGER IS AMAZING!" Mako suddenly shouted, holding up her bigger with flames in her eyes, bringing the attention to her, "I'VE NEVER TASTED ANYTHING LIKE THIS! IT'S LIKE PARADISE FOR MY MOUTH!"

"… Who is that?" Eddie questioned as he stared at the girl.

"I think she's in Class 5-3," Katie reasoned, giving a subtle sigh of relief that the attention had been brought off her, 'Thank you, random loudmouthed girl…'

Of course, Katie's thankfulness was quickly halted, by another bump to her leg…

"Would you knock if off already!?" Katie hissed as quietly as she could, glaring down at the yellow yo-kai, which glared back at her.

"Noko-noko!" Tsuchi hopped a few times, before headbutting Katie's leg again.

"I said I'd go talk to Nate, later, can't you be patient!?" the brunette girl growled.

"NOKO!" the reptile yo-kai did some more hops on the sand, headbutting Katie's leg between each hop.

A tick-mark formed on Katie's head from sheer frustration, "Alright already! I'll go find Nate!" she shouted, glaring down at the snake yo-kai, "Would that make you knock it off!?"

"NOKONOKONOKONOKO!" Tsuchi hopped around the girl quickly, sending a bit of sand flying in the process, which nobody else seemed to notice.

Katie let out a groan of defeat, her posture drooping… before she noticed that her sudden shout had everyone looking to her, "Uhh…"

"What…? 'Knock it off,' 'find Nate…?'" Eddie gave a baffled look.

"I uh, I mean…" Katie shuffled around nervously, unsure of how to excuse her sudden outburst.

"NOKO! NOKO!"

'Curse you, evil snake!' Katie thought with absolute hate, glaring down at her yo-kai 'friend,' as he seemed to cheer at her discomfort.

"Hey, uh… where is Nate?" Bear suddenly questioned, walking over, looking around with a clueless expression, "I don't think I've seen him today…"

Eddie looked at Bear, before his eyes widened with realization, "Hey, yeah; I haven't seen him either! That's weird…"

"I-I saw him around, he's fine…" Katie assured, though she couldn't help but feel a bit concerned, 'Though, he hasn't popped up for a bit…'

"Oh, you guys talking about the Harem Master!?" Mako suddenly interjected, rushing over to the three friends at lightning speed.

The three all gave blank stares.

"Oh, sorry! Almost forgot to introduce myself!" the hyper girl giggled, before holding her hand out, "Mako Mankanshoku; the Underachiever of Class 5-3, and newest addition to Harem Master Nate's harem!"

The blank stares turned to gawking expressions at that introduction.

"I'm sorry; you're what now!?" Katie looked like she was moments from giving up on the concept of reality…

"I'm going to say I misheard something, and remove myself from this conversation, now!" Eddie stated in an emotionless tone, before he stiffly walked away.

"… I've gotta go too!" Bear suddenly shouted, before he ran off, leaving behind a dust cloud of kicked up sand.

Katie blinked, looking between where her two friends were previously, before it dawned on her what had just happened, "HEY! DON'T ABANDON ME! JERKS!"

"Hey, are you a member of Nate's harem too!?" Mako questioned, poking Katie's cheek without a moment of hesitation.

"GAH!?" Katie pushed the other girl's hand away, before she let out an annoyed grunt, "No, I am not. Could you just tell me where you saw Nate!?"

"Noko!" Tsuchi chimed in, even though Mako could not see, or hear him.

"Oh, so he hasn't snagged you yet?" Mako smiled innocently.

Katie felt incredibly infuriated at that moment, and had the overwhelming urge to punch this girl, but she restrained said urge, "No! Just tell me where Nate is, I need to talk to him!"

"Oh, I dunno where he is now!" the self-proclaimed underachiever chuckled, putting her arms behind her neck and giving a cheerful grin, "I talked to him a while ago, when I got into his harem, but I haven't seen him since!"

Katie just gave the girl a dead-eyed glare.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" Tsuchi rammed his head into Katie's leg each time he said 'Noko!'

"OH! ARE THOSE BEEF SKEWERS!?" Mako suddenly exclaimed with excitement at the sight of another of the families giving out food, before she rushed over to get some, "I'LL BRING YOU BACK SOME! BYE!"

Katie just kept her dead-eyed glare for a few seconds after Mako had left, before she released a long sigh, her eyes falling, and her posture slouching, "Alright, I guess I should go and try to find Nate now…"

"Noko!" Tsuchi hopped around, his eyes directed on Katie's right hand, which still held her mostly eaten burger. The snake yo-kai opened his mouth wide, trying to snatch the burger out of the human girl's hand, but she kept, unknowingly, moving it out of his reach before he could, "NOKO!" he headbutted her leg.

"OW! I'M GONNA LOOK FOR NATE, ALRIGHT!?" Katie shouted, before she brought the remains of her burger up to her eye-level, "Right after I finish this burger…"

'Finish this burger… Finish this burger… Finish this burger…' the human girl's words echoed in the snake yo-kai's mind, over and over, as his pupils shrank, and his expression became one of horror.

Time seemed to go in slow motion as Katie moved to consume the last bite of her burger.

Tsuchi began leaping forward, also in slow motion, "Noooooooooooooooookooooooooooo!"

Katie finished the last of her burger in a single bite, and Tsuchi bumped face-first into her shoe…

The human girl finished chewing and swallowing, letting out a small belch, before she looked down at the yo-kai blankly, "Tsuchi… what are you doing? I just said; I'll look for Nate after I finish my burger, that didn't take long, now did it?"

"No… Noko…" Tsuchi sniffled, looking up at the sky, where he saw a transparent image of a burger, with wings and a halo, fluttering away… "NOKO!" the snake yo-kai suddenly leapt forward, and onto Katie's head.

"GAH, WHAT THE!?" the girl cried out in shock and anger, just before the snake sprung right off her head.

"NOKO!" Tsuchi opened his mouth wide, intend on eating the imaginary flying food right out of the sky, but it quickly faded from his view, "Noko…?" and he lost his focus, and came falling back to the ground, "NOKO!"

*CRASH!*

Katie glared at the reptile yo-kai, who's head was now buried in the sand, "You are such a confusing little monster…"

Walking over to the fallen snake, Katie pulled him out of the sand by the tail, before setting him back down, where he then proceeded to spit out a lot of sand.

"Noko-blah!" the yellow scaled yo-kai stuck out his tongue in disgust, once he had finished spitting out all the tiny stones.

Katie dully stared at the snake for a few more seconds, before she grunted, crossing her arms and glaring forward, "Okay, let's go find Nate already, but if I'm a bit short with him when we do, know that it's because of you!"

"KATIE!" Meg suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere, charging at the other girl, and glaring at her with fiery eyes, "DID I JUST HEAR YOU WERE GONNA LOOK FOR MY NATEY-KINS!?"

Katie jumped back in surprise at the pigtailed girl's sudden appearance, giving her a look of disbelief, as she took some steps back, "What? Yeah, I– "

"NO!" Meg shouted, holding up a finger as she glared at Katie, "I'm tired of all you other girls trying to take my Natey-kins!"

"But Meg, I'm not– "Katie tried to reason, but it failed.

"I won't stand for it! I'm gonna find Natey-kins, ME!" Meg's eyes briefly turned to hearts as she thought about 'her Natey-kins,' before she glared at Katie again, and raised her finger again, "DON'T GET IN THE WAY!"

And, just as quickly as she appeared, Megan Jones ran off, presumedly to try and locate 'her Natey-kins.'

Katie just stared after the aspiring popstar with blank eyes, "When exactly did the world go insane…!?"

"Noko…" Tsuchi was mostly paying attention to the small figure, unseen to most aside from himself, following after the departing Megan.

"You're right, Tsuchi, it's not important right now," Katie shook her head, lightly slapping her cheeks a few times, before she gave a determined look, "It's time to find Nate, and finally put an end to this tension!"

"Noko?" Tsuchi looked up at Katie with a blink of his eyes, before he nodded in agreement, hopping a couple times, "Noko! Noko!"

So, Katie and Tsuchi started walking forward, beginning their epic search for Nathan Adams…

"Looking for Nate? I can help!"

Katie could swear she heard the sound of a record scratching at that very moment, before she turned to see a purple-haired bespectacled, vaguely familiar, girl, smiling at her.

"He there! I don't believe we've formally met; my name's Hailey, Hailey Anne Thomas!" the purple-haired girl did an imitation 'Sailor Cuties' pose, to emphasize her introduction.

Katie's first thoughts on this girl, considering she was offering to help look for Nate? 'Another obsessed harem-girl…' "Uh-huh…" Katie gave a disinterested look, "That's nice…" the brown-haired girl shook her head, "Look I'm kind of busy right now, can I talk to you later?"

"Busy with what? Looking for Nate, or dealing with that little hopping snake following you around?" Hailey questioned in a blunt tone, chuckling a bit to herself when she noticed how the other girl froze in her stride. "That got your attention, didn't it?"

Katie slowly turned to the other girl, an emotionless expression on her face, "What do you know…?"

Hailey released another chuckle as she walked by the brunette, motioning for her to follow, "Come on, let's walk and talk! On the way, we may find Nate!" 'And maybe, I can figure out why you seem to be immune to our resident harem protagonist's 'Harem Effect,' Miss. Forester

"Dang, where are they!?" Damona growled to herself, trying to locate where on the beach her family had set up, "Stupid confusing human beach… though, also; stupid confusing dad-directions!" the disguised princess growled as she pulled out the piece of paper that was supposed to direct her to where her father and sister would be on the beach, "… Hold on, is this Falsina's handwriting!?"

"Nate!?"

"Son, where are you!?"

Damona paused in her thoughts of possible sisterly-deception, taking notice of her fiancé's parents, walking around, calling for their child.

"I don't understand, where is he…?" Lily frowned worriedly.

"I'm sure he just got caught up in the crowds, Honey," Aaron tried to assure, though he seemed unsure himself.

"Jessica said she saw him walking in this direction, but I can't see him anywhere..." Lily tried to keep her emotions under control, but any instance of her only child being lost brought up some bad memories for her…

Damona watched her future-in-laws from a good distance, she narrowed her eyes, and removed the leaf from her head, reverting to her true form, and becoming invisible to them once more, before she started trailing them…

The 'villain-search' Nate had been dragged into with Tempest Pride (by their leader) had been rather uneventful; most leads they came across didn't lead to anything, or led to a yo-kai who clearly had nothing to do with the robbery.

Eventually Little Charrmer had suggested they split into teams; The Jawsome Kid with Unbearaboy!, Dr. E. Raser with Double Time, and (of course); herself with Nate.

There still wasn't much sign of anything concrete, and Little Charrmer's various attempts to impress Nate had only slowed them down.

At this point, the human boy was just sitting on the roof of a building Little Charrmer had decided to take a break on.

"We've been at this for hours…" Nate muttered to himself, "I've really got to get back. I never even got to talk to Katie, how am I supposed to explain this to mom…?"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Little Charrmer questioned as she landed beside her 'sidekick,' a little smile on her face, "You seem kind of down? Is it because we haven't found any signs of the villains yet?" she let out a bit of a chuckle, "Hey, don't worry about that! We'll get 'em, and if not today, we'll just have to try again tomorrow!"

Nate shook his head, giving an annoyed look towards the red-lad heroine, "Little Charrmer, is there really even a 'villain!?'"

The leader of Tempest Pride seemed shocked by this sudden question, standing up straight with widening eyes, "W-What!? Of course there is!" she stood proudly, looking up at the sky, "I am a true yo-kai hero, sworn to keep the peace and defend the weak! I would never lie about there being a threat!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I haven't seen any signs of one," Nate grunted, pulling himself up from his sitting position, and dusting his clothing off, "And even if there is one, I keep telling you; I'm not hero-material! I just would like to go back to the beach before I get into any more trouble than I already most likely am!"

Little Charrmer flinched at her crush's tone of voice, before she started waving her hands, trying to stop him from leaving, "H-Hold on, Nate! I'm telling you, there is a villain somewhere in Springdale, and we need your help to deal with them!"

"Why!?" Nate snapped, turning to glare at the humanoid yo-kai again, "Why do you, specifically, need my help!? WHY am I so important for helping you; a superhero!?"

Little Charrmer looked unsure of how to answer this, "Uh, because…"

"And why do all the yo-kai related problems in this town, seem to always drag me into them!?" Nate snarled, a red aura starting to form around him, "I'm an ordinary, human kid! Not some 'Yo-kai Master,' not some 'harem protagonist,' or 'hero,' not anything like that! I don't understand why I can't be left alone, and not be dragged into some yo-kai problem, or be fought over by girls, for ONE DAY!"

"Um…" Little Charrmer was at loss for words, starting to get a bit intimidated by the boy's building rage.

"So, could you kindly, just; GET ME DOWN FROM THIS ROOF, AND RETURN ME TO THE BEACH, AND JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, PLEASE!?" Nate shouted at the top of his lungs, his eyes glowing red as the aura around him took on an overwhelming presence, seemingly outside of his notice.

Little Charrmer fell onto her bottom with a shocked look on her face, just staring at Nate with an unreadable expression, "I, uh… Nate, I…" she was at a loss for words…

"Boss, can you hear me!?"

The sound of Dr. E. Raser's voice coming from the communicator snapped both Nate and Little Charrmer out of the immediate moment of tension, with the hero team leader quickly getting back to her feet and pulling the communicator to her mouth.

"I hear you loud and clear, Dr. E! What's the situation!?"

Nate still felt frustrated towards the current situation, but his concern overwhelmed that frustration, with him moving closer to the fiery heroine, to listen to what the other hero had to say.

"We ran into someone, we think he might be the culprit, but we need help! He's… so strong, he froze Double Time, and– " Dr. E. Raser grunted on the other hand, some sounds of a struggle on the other end, "Get over to the delivery bay, over by Sunset Mall!" after that, the communication cut out.

Clutching the communicator in a determined fist, Little Charrmer stood up straight as her eyes narrowed, "We got to get over there!" she looked to the boy, her eyes unchanging, "I'll let you down if you want to be done with this, Nate, but you've got to walk back to the beach on your own!"

Finding himself looking at the leader of Tempest Pride with newfound respect, Nate shook his head, "N-No, I'll come with you… I'll help!"

A bit of a pleased smile made its way onto the red-clad hero's face at the boy's reaction, before her expression turned back to the cold serious look as she pulled up the communicator and contacted the other team, "Jawsome, Unbearaboy!, head over to the delivery bay, by Sunset Mall! We've got a live one, boys! Let's reel 'em in!"

Flying down with Nate in her arms, Little Charmer landed by the delivery bay, setting the boy down.

At the same time, The Jawsome Kid came charging in, Unbearaboy! riding on his shoulder, before hopping off when they met up with their leader.

As soon as they made their stop, the four became aware of the chilling air that permeated through the area, there were even a few snowflakes falling to the ground, which had a notable layer of frost over it.

"Brrr," Little Charrmer shivered a bit, pulling Nate closer to her, before the flame on her tail started to grow, warming the air around them.

"Yo, why'd da' boss only bring him for a warm hug?" Unbearaboy! questioned as he shivered a bit.

"Let's not question that right now," The Jawsome Kid grunted, before he started sniffing the air, "We need to find Dr. E. Raser, and Double Time, and whoever it is who attacked them!"

"Uh, Little Charrmer…" Nate muttered after a bit of the yo-kai girl hugging him, "I-I'm warm now, it's fine!" Nate averted his eyes, and burning face, from the girl hugging him, when he spotted something that had his eyes widening, "G-Guys, look!"

The three yo-kai heroes looked in the direction the boy was, with Little Charrmer reluctantly releasing her hold, before their expressions turned similar to the human boy's.

"D-Dudes!?" Unbearaboy! gawked in horror, at the two large blocks of ice, that Dr. E. Raser, and Double Time, were trapped in…

"I know Dr. E said frozen, but…" Little Charrmer shook her head, giving a determined glare, before she charged toward the frozen blocks with a flaming kick.

*CRASH!*

With burst of ice chunks, water, and steam, the two yo-kai heroes were freed from their icy prison, falling onto the ground, gasping.

"AH!Thatwashorrible!" Double Time rapidly choked out, pulling himself up from the ground, before he started jogging in place, as usual.

"Little Charrmer," Dr. E. Raser coughed as he floated back into an upright position, his eyes looking tired and dull, but still, he managed to smile, "Took you long enough…" though just as he finished speaking, his eyes widening with horror, and his smile being destroyed by a urgent shout, "Behind you!"

The other members of Tempest Pride, as well as Nate, didn't have a moment to process the warning, as they started to feel a rush of cold air moving in from behind them…

"Hmph, seems you've noticed me; a shame," a male voice nearly as cold as the surrounding air sounded, the sounds of footsteps approaching closer and closer, "I was hoping to make a clean getaway without any notice, but father would be so disappointed if I went and left any loose ends…"

Whirling around as one, the group found themselves faced with the approach of an unfamiliar, humanoid yo-kai.

Footsteps on the concrete ground caused a spread of frost that froze it over, but the new yo-kai showed no signs of losing his balance. He resembled a human with cat-like features, including white and blue fur covering his body, paw-like hands, one of which held a strange book with an eye on the cover, his feet also took the form of bare paws.

A tail was visible sprouting from the humanoid's back, tipped with a purple flame. He wore a black bodysuit underneath a dark purple coat, which had several light-purple tiger-style stripes on it. He had a golden around his neck, with a blue gem on it. Several areas of his fur had dark blue tiger-like stripes, most notably the spiky hair on his head.

Though, perhaps one of the most notable, and chilling, physical traits of this yo-kai were his eyes; narrowed with cold calculation, black where you would expect to be white, yellow eyes, dotted with glowing red pupils, which looked like they could look directly into your soul…

"THAT'SHIM!THAT'STHEGUY!" Double Time shouted frantically, pointing at the intruding yo-kai, over and over.

Dr. E. Raser narrowed his eyes as he floated forward, still clearly shaken, but trying not to show it, "He's one of the culprits, we can't let him escape!"

Little Charrmer's tail-flame visibly flared as she took on a battle-ready stance, glaring fiercely at the approaching 'villain,' "Alright, evil-doer! If you think I'm going to let you get away with– "

Within the blink of an eye, the cat-like culprit was right in Little Charrmer's face, ready to strike down with a clawed hand.

"Boss-lady!" Unbearaboy! called out with concern, ready to jump in and help, but The Jawsome Kid held him back.

The cat-man slammed down his clawed hand, but Little Charrmer was gone, "What…?"

"Up here, frosty!"

The cat-man looked up, only to be knocked back by a sudden kick to the face from the red-clad heroine.

Nate moved his hand to his yo-kai watch, an unsure and worried look on his face, but the bulky arm of The Jawsome Kid moved in front of him, motioning for him to stop.

"Not yet," the shark-man said in a serious tone, his narrowed eyes focused on his leader, "The boss can handle herself."

Nate still seemed unsure, but slowly lowered his arms, nodding, watching the ensuing battle with worried eyes, with occasionally giving a strange look to the cat-like yo-kai villain. 'He… looks kind of familiar?'

The culprit growled as he pulled himself back to his feet, rubbing the cheek that had been hit by the hero's kick, "I really didn't want to cause a big commotion, just wanted to cover our tracks, but you all have stepped into something you don't fully understand!" he stood battle ready again, the chilly air that emitted from him bursting out in full force, becoming a mini blizzard.

Little Charrmer stood battle ready, an aura of heat emitting from her.

The enemy kept walking forward, though, before the battle could continue, something caught his attention, that had he completely halting in his approach, "Wait a minute…?" the cat-like yo-kai stared at Nate, a look of recognition appearing in his eyes, "Brother…?"

Nate took a step back at the intimidating yo-kai staring at him, but paused, giving a look of confusion at what he had just referred to him as, "W-What…? I'm not your…" Nate's voice halted as he kept looking at the humanoid cat yo-kai, a feeling of familiarity overwhelming him the longer he did so…

"You look after my little sister, okay?" the older cat-boy laughed as he ruffled Nate's hair, while Kirene hugged his arm.

"From now on, you're one of us; an honorary Bundory!" the cat-boy gave a kind smile as he looked down at the human boy.

"You can just call me 'Big Brother Dandory,' alright?" the cat-boy smiled as he kneeled to the young boy's level, offering a fist-bump.

"… Alright, big brother," Nate smiled back, shyly, before he timidly returned the fist-bump.

Nate kept staring at the cat-like yo-kai with a blank expression, processing all the memories going through his head, "B-Big Brother Dandory…?"

Brave Tribe: Dandory Bundory

"Wait, what?" Unbearaboy! looked at Nate questioningly.

"Nate, this guy's your brother!?" Little Charrmer shouted with a look of pure disbelief.

"That can't possibly be right!" The Jawsome Kid exclaimed in an incredulous tone.

"N-No, he's not actually my brother, he…" Nate put a hand to his face while shaking his head, before he turned his focus back to the cat-like yo-kai, "Dandory, what's going on here…? Where… where have you been? Is Kirene with you?" the boy's expression took on a slightly pained look as he asked his next question, "Did… did you rob the museum!?"

The members of Tempest Pride looked ready to start fighting again at a moment's notice.

"I…" Dandory looked unsure of what to say, but he quickly shook his head, regaining his serious expression, "Sorry, Brother, but I can't say anything else, I'm just here to cover our tracks, and these yo-kai 'heroes' are getting in the way of that…"

"Brother or not, kid, I don't think dis guy is gonna be reasonable!" Unbearaboy! growled, holding his fists up.

"Remember, I've got this," Little Charrmer held out her hand, motioning for the blue-skinned humanoid to step back, as she glared at Dandory. "Now I know who you are, you're Dandory Bundory, aren't you!?"

Dandory didn't answer that question, but his glare increased a bit.

"I should have figured!" Little Charrmer sneered, before she glanced back at the human boy, "Nate, you can't trust this guy! The Bundory family put the 'burglar' in cat-burglar… also the 'cat,' depending on how you look at it!"

"But…" Nate looked conflicted, quickly looking between the yo-kai heroes, and the apparent 'villian,' who he had just realized he had close ties with (and many questions to ask…)

"Dandory, what is this!?" a female voice from on the roof shouted.

Dandory froze, before he looked up at the roof urgently, "Kirene, what are you doing here!? I told you; I have things here covered!"

Nate's eyes widened at the name he just heard spoken, "Kirene…?"

The female cat-humanoid yo-kai standing on the roof glanced down, her unseen eyes widening and her jaw dropping at the sight of the human, "N-Nate…?"

Charming Tribe: Kirene Bundory

Everyone else seemed to just be standing in surprise and awe, as Kirene jumped down from the roof, and she and Nate stared at each other, while slowly approaching one another.

… Everyone aside from Little Charrmer, that is, who looked like she was about to go rabid, but was restrained by her team from taking any rash actions.

Dandory watched with a slight look of awe as the two old friends came face-to-face after years of being apart…

"K-Kirene, is… is it really you…?" Nate questioned unsurely.

"Y-Yeah…" Kirene nodded slowly, a slight tint of red appearing on her cheeks, "Is… is it you? My Nate…?"

"Yeah, I… I think so," Nate wasn't sure why, but he started to feel his cheeks grow warm at that moment…

"I'm… I'm sorry, Nate…" Kirene suddenly said, a trembling frown on her face.

Nate seemed surprised by this, moving closer to the cat-girl to comfort her, "Sorry, for what?"

Little Charrmer growled madly but was still held back by her team.

"I left, I'm sorry I left Nate…" Kirene muttered sadly, taking hold of one of his hands, "I left, it was for an important reason, but… I haven't forgotten our promise! Know that, it was never my intention to break it, but the situation…" the female yo-kai trailed off, looking unsure of how exactly to explain herself.

"What promise…?" Nate questioned with a naive blink.

And, everything seemed to freeze…

Kirene stared at the boy with a blank expression, before she suddenly started chuckling, "Ah-hehehe, that's a good one Nate! As if you would forget our promise!"

"W-What…?" Nate scratched his head, looking confused by the girl's reaction, "I'm confused, what are you talking about…?"

Kirene twitched, staring at the boy intensely, though her unseen eyes making her emotions hard to determine, "You… you're serious… you really don't remember!?"

"Nate, you really should be careful of what you say next!" Dandory suddenly spoke up, a look of concern etched on his face as his eyes darted between the human boy, and his younger sister.

"What…?" Nate rose an eyebrow at the older brother's warning, before he faced Kirene again and gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Kirene; my memories of our time together are a bit fuzzy, actually…" he gave an awkward, embarrassed chuckle, "I thought my memories of you were just a dream I used to have when I was younger, for a while… I-I'm glad you're real, of course! I just, can't really remember what this promise you're talking about is…" Nate tried to give a more friendly smile again, but paused in concern when he noted how his old friend seemed to be trembling, "K-Kirene…?"

"Oh dear…" Dandory shook his head.

"What? What's goin' on?" Unbearaboy! questioned with a confused expression.

"Y-You…. Forgot…!?" Kirene started breathing heavily, a single glowing eye sparking from underneath her bangs, "I-I hate you…"

Nate's eyes widened, before he gave a nervous chuckle, "I-I'm sorry, I think I misheard you just now; w-what was that, Kirene…?"

Kirene's expression turned into a vicious snarl, showing off her fangs, "I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" sparks of electricity started to dance off the cat-girl's fur, as she dropped her whip in favor of holding up her clawed hands in a threatening stance.

Back at the beach, the party was still going strong, though a good number of girls were searching for the missing Nate, but the attention of most was caught by the strange lightning that seemed to be shooting out from an area in the distance, in the direction of Sunset Mall…

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Kirene raged as lightning struck forth from her body.

Nate narrowly dodged, but a hit from Kirene's electric whip had him falling to his knees, "GAH!?"

"Nate!" Little Charrmer tried to fly over to get to Nate, but a sudden strike of lightning sent him stumbling down.

"I hate you, I hate you, I… love you…" Kirene mumbled to herself as lightning kept sparking, before she noticed how Nate was on the ground, losing consciousness, her expression immediately turned to one of regret, "O-Oh no, Nate! I-I'm sorry, please be okay!"

"Kirene, come on! We have to return to the hideout!" Dandory insisted, grabbing his sister by the shoulder, stopping her from running over to Nate, "Father isn't going to be happy about any of this!"

Kirene growled, but seeing how hectic things were getting, she knew that her brother was right, "Fine, just let me grab something… important, before we go," as the cat-girl said that, she turned her focus to the groaning boy on the ground.

"We won't let you– "The Jawsome Kid started to charge forward, but he, and the other members of Tempest Pride, aside from the paralyzed Little Charrmer, were flash-frozen by Dandory.

"Come on, that won't hold all of them for long!" the older brother stated urgently.

"Nate!" Lily shouted as she came running in, followed by Aaron and Damona.

"What in the…?" Aaron just stared in shock at the two cat-like humanoids.

Lily, however, didn't show any signs of freaking out; her motherly instincts had taken over, "LET GO OF MY BABY, RIGHT NOW!" the woman raged as an aura of demonic energy erupted from her body.

"I'll get him!" Damona suddenly spoke, floating forward and making herself visible to the parents, surprising them.

"What the, who!?" Lily questioned loudly, though still keeping her main focus on Nate.

Damona just smiled to the woman as she floated forward, before she turned back to the opponent, and dark energy starting to swirl around her form, "SHINY CHAOS!"

The Bundorys saw the incoming attack and were swift enough to dodge it, leaping up onto a nearby roof.

"Sorry, mother-in-law, but you'll be sure to get an invite to the wedding!" Kirene called out to the, still raging, Lily. The cat-girl adjusted the boy slung over her shoulder, making sure he was stable.

"Eh… mommy…?" Nate muttered in his dazed state, hearing his mother's shouts.

"Don't mind that now, love, your mother is fine," Kirene assured, patting the boy's hand in a soothing way.

"We need to get moving! I can hear more coming, and the heroes are already recovering!" Dandory reminded.

Kirene nodded to her brother, as they quickly continued in their escape.

"K-Kirene…?" the boy questioned, still completely out of it.

"That's right, Nate, it's me; your best friend," the cat-girl assured, her soothing tone taking on a slightly more sinister inflection.

"Oh yeah…" Nate nodded in acceptance before he started drifting off again. 'Kirene… my best… friend…' Nate repeated that in his mind several times as he faded into unconsciousness…

"Camping…?" the little four-year-old boy timidly questioned his smiling mother, while he sat on his bed, clutching onto a plush toy made in the image of a little blue cat, with a red cape, as if it were a superhero.

"That's right, Nathan, we're going camping," the dark-haired women cheerfully confirmed, "Up on the mountain! Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Nathan just whimpered in response to his mother's enthusiasm, hugging his toy close, and pulling his blanket over his head.

Lily gave a small sigh at her son's reaction, before she sat on the bed, next to the blanket-covered lump that was her son, "Come on, Honey, I promise; you'll have fun."

A few muffled, whimpering sounds emitted from the lump as it wiggled a bit.

"Nathan, I know you're a big boy now; that's why I know you're ready to go camping," the mother assured, putting a hand on the covers which concealed her fearful child, "You might even make a few friends."

"F-Friends…?" Nate pulled his head out from the covers, sniffling a bit, his eyes big and hopeful, "R-Real, friends…?"

"Yes, there will be lots of other kids your own age there," Lily's smile widened seeing that her little boy was becoming interested.

Nate scooted free of his blanket, allowing himself to be seated in his mother's lap, "But… what if I get lost…?" he shivered, clutching his cat plushie tightly again, "What if I can't find you or daddy…?"

The mother hugged her child tightly, placing a comforting kiss on his forehead, "Don't worry, Sweetie, mommy and daddy will be keeping a close eye on you the whole time. And even if you do somehow get lost, remember; find the trail, that will lead you back to camp!"

"Find the trail…" Nate nodded to himself as he hugged his mommy for ease of mind, before he returned his focus to more positive prospects, "But; you really, really think… I'll make friends…?"

"Nate, I'd be surprised if you didn't make a very best friend on your first day on the trip," Lily chuckled, ruffling her son's hair, causing the little boy to release a few giggles.

Alright, done! Finally!

This chapter was going to be longer, with a lot more interactions between the different classmates and stuff, but it was already running really long, and I wanted to get it done this month, so I ended up moving some of those subplots to future chapters.

Also, in case it wasn't clear; Neko-Musume will not be part of Nate's Harem, her crush on Kitaro makes her immune. Mana will be in Nate's harem, though.

Why I used the 2018 design for Neko-Musume, when she uses a different one in Yo-kai Watch Shadowside/Puni Puni? I felt like it, and because I'm using Mana. The other members of the 'Kitaro Family' will use their 2018 anime designs too.

Speaking of crossovers, I'm sure some noticed that I just randomly had Mako from Kill la Kill as one of the Class 5-3 students, and are wondering why that is. There's a couple of reasons.

1; I decided a while ago I was going to use 'crossover characters' to fill in areas I would need to create OCs for anyway. Though it's less a crossover, and more taking the character concept, and reworking it to fit into the Yo-kai Watch world, so they're a bit more like OCs based on characters from other series, rather than actual crossover characters.

Anyway, between doing this, or just creating OCs; it would make no difference from the perspective of someone who doesn't know the 'crossover characters' I'm using, and for those who do, it makes a fun little bonus.

They're also bound to be infinitely more interesting than any OC I could throw together.

Though in some cases I will end up making actual OCs, like with Jessica's parents, but that will mostly be a thing with unseen parents, unless I found a character in something else who would really fit as someone's parent.

Anyway, reason 2 for why Kill la Kill of all things; simple, my friend amf studios asked me if I could, and I didn't see any issue with it.

There will be more 'crossover characters' to come, some that will fit better with Yo-kai Watch, which is good; because the more they already fit with Yo-kai Watch, the less I have to change them. Class 5-3 will have a good deal of them.

Also, before anyone asks; yes, Ryuko will appear eventually, she will have Senketsu (he'll be a yo-kai), and there will not be the same sort of transformation that is present in the source anime (since she'll be eleven here.)

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams;'

"Hi, I'm Nate!"

"Um, hi, Nate…? How can you see me?"

"Why wouldn't I be able to see you…?"

"I, uh…"

"Hey, want to be friends?"

"Friends…? You want to be friends with a yo-kai…?"

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' Remember Me!