It was the dead of midnight. The time where things go bump in the dark, and bump in the dark they sure did. Out there in the middle of a forest, a boy runs through the inbetween of trees. With a panting of his breath, he strides as fast as he possibly could.
"It was supposed to be fun… moving to a new state. Learning new areas. Making friends! But…"
Laiyo says out tiredly, gripping the flashlight in his hand. Sweat beads down his head as he looks back at the monstrosity chasing him. A cow with a thousand legs?
"Gross! Yuck! Disgusting! Extraordinarily unpleasant!! What the hell even is that!?"
With a short burst of energy, Laiyo manages to get out of the creature's sight. Hiding behind a tree, Laiyo bites his nails muttering.
"Fuck… I'm so so fucked… I knew I should have never went with those bastards. I can already envision their faces. Their stupid faces! I'm going to haunt the hell out of them if I die. I swear on my -!"
A stick snaps from behind him. Laiyo quickly covers his mouth as he recalls everything that happened up to this point.
————
Just a day before
Laiyo is at home, grinding in deepwoken whilst slouching in his chair. A knock is heard from his door. He stumbles over, opening the door to see his Aunt Aina. Her smile lit up Laiyo's dark and messy room.
Aina: "Laiyo? Dear? Has your day been alright?"
Laiyo: "Uh, yeah. It's been pretty good. Why? What's up?"
Laiyo steps to the side, letting his Aunt inside. She lets out a small sigh before walking inside of Laiyo's room. She sits down on his bed, her gaze set downward.
"Baby… I'm going to be honest with you alright? I've noticed something very… very strange that's been happening."
Laiyo's expression tightened, realizing the seriousness of the situation. Aina then looks up at him, a visible upset look is seen across her face.
Aina: "It's been an entire week and a half since you've moved in here with me. Why haven't you made any friends yet?"
Laiyo: "…"
Aina: "…"
Outside, in the streets of Yolkidoodle Town.
"Tch… going out and making friends… blegh. I'm going to throw up… I know I said I'd try to live a little but the grind! The grind can't stop!"
Laiyo gargles, holding his head in his hands as the game calls out for him. A stranger walks by, their eyes meet with Laiyo's. Laiyo clears his throat, waving his hand at the stranger.
"H-hi… how is your uh, day?"
The stranger's face recoils, they then turn to walk off without looking back.
"Damn… I made such a wonderful attempt at making a friend, I wonder what went wrong?"
Laiyo asks, sighing. It was probably the fact that he was acting like a dumbass but oh well, what would I know. Laiyo narrows his eyes, looking up at the sky.
"You're a narrator. Shut up… anyways, how should I make some friends..? it shouldn't be so hard. I just have to put myself out there and talk to others! Speaking of that."
Laiyo spots someone else across the street walking by. Laiyo smiles and begins walking closer to them. He mutters "easy, I'll just talk to this guy and call it a day!" They look back at Laiyo. They then look away, continuing to walk.
Laiyo: "H-hey? How would y-you like to be my first ever friend? That sounds nice right…?"
The stranger then begins walking faster, sweat shooting down their face.
"Maybe he didn't hear me?" Laiyo thought. Laiyo then began walking faster, continuing to call out to them. They both continue to walk faster… then walk faster… until the stranger sprints away..?
Laiyo stares at the stranger as he runs off. He crosses his arms, looking confused.
"Do people really start running out of nowhere here? What a weirdo.."
"But that's friend number 2 gone. Tch, that's fine. There are thousands in this town. It's not over yet! Hopefully…?"
Laiyo then spends the next few hours walking around town attempting to make a friend. Attempt after attempt, he fails miserably. Almost even getting arrested once.
After some time, Laiyo sits down on a bench in the park. He leans back as he looks up in defeat. In silence, he closes his eyes. "It's so over… If I can't make any friends here then I'll be a loner just like how I was before. Nothing would change. If only some miracle could happe-"
A dirty flyer hits his face, preventing Laiyo from finishing his sentence. He grabs the flyer off of him, first wiping his face in disgust before reading it.
[ Group meeting at the entrance of skididi forest at 10 P:M for a fun time! Hunting the dreadful and hungry Yokai of gluttony!!! P.S There will also be chocolate and candy;) ]
There was also a picture attached. A blurry picture of someone holding a thumbs up? Their hair was… they looked… honestly, Laiyo couldn't really tell. It was way too blurry. Laiyo sighs, crumpling the paper up and tossing it away.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever read. Who'd go to something as sketchy as that? I don't care how desperate I am, I'm not going to a place where I'll get my organs harvested."
10 P.M at Skididi Forest
"I might be that desperate…"
"But I'm not stupid! Using logical reasoning, it can't possibly end up too bad! Though blurry, the flyer still had a picture of someone. No criminal would leave evidence like that. Heh, I'm smart as hell. There's nothing to be afraid of here."
Laiyo crosses his arms, standing proudly. A voice is then heard from the shadows behind the trees. It speaks out to Laiyo.
"Looks li-"
"I'VE GOT A GUN. I'VE GOT A GUN. I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT! IM NOT!" Laiyo screams out in fear, taking a step back. He holds up his arms, protecting his head.
"…" "Looks like we have a newcomer, welcome to the meeting."
The voice steps out from the shadow. They were tall male, maybe 6'0" or so. They had dark black hair with a middle part. With this and their pale skin, they looked like a vampire. A vampire wearing shades. That would be pretty cool if it weren't for the fact he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and beach shorts in the middle of the night.
"I'm Ness, nice to meet ya! You're here for the sick and badass battle with the Yokai aren't you? Doesnt look like your dressed for it." He gasps "Or maybe you're so strong you don't even need to try!"
Laiyo stares at Ness, still a bit fearful. But seeing how the boy looked around Laiyo's age, 16, he lowers his arms. He also was way too stupidly dressed to be taken seriously.
Laiyo: "oh uh, Yeah… I'm here for the thing with the Yokai." 'Battle with the Yokai? Right, the flyer did mention that. So it's like a supernatural club then. Does he actually believe in this? Or is this roleplay? If it's roleplay then I can do that easily.'
Laiyo: "heh, sick battle with the Yokai? With a flick of my fingers it'd be over before it even started!" Laiyo puffs out his chest.
Ness: "Woah! Really?? I wonder what kind of powers you have! Can you cast fireballs? Use cursed energy? Are you part of the Anomaly Control Center??" Ness asks excitedly.
Another voice speaks out, coming from above the two. Someone was sitting on a branch, looking down at them.
"Stop with the bullshit, This fight isn't some joke. You look like you just graduated from daycare, go home before you get yourself killed. That goes for both of you two idiots."
Laiyo looks up at the voice. It was a girl in full camo holding a sledgehammer. She also seemed to be around Laiyo's age. Crimson hair tied up in buns, a tired but sharp look in her also crimson eyes, it wasn't only her words which seemed unfriendly.
Laiyo: "oh wow, you're taking this act pretty seriously. Bravo."
She jumps down, landing infront of Laiyo. She was about 5'9", 2 inches taller than him. She glares, looking into Laiyo's eyes.
"Like I said. This isn't some joke, go home."
Her hand clenched her sledgehammer as she spoke out. She definitely was taking this seriously, too seriously. Laiyo gulps, stepping back. He let out an awkward chuckle. Ness laughs as well.
Ness: "That's Nara. Don't mind her edgy persona, she probably has some sad backstory that made her like this. I'm sure she'll open up later."
Nara sticks up her middle finger, holding it up right infront of Ness's face.
Ness smiles and tilted his head to look at Laiyo. "Now that you know our names, what's yours?"
Nara lets down her hand, looking at Laiyo also curious to learn his name.
'Ah, I have to introduce myself to them now. They might be a bit… unique but I don't think they're too bad. Well, I'm not sure about the girl though, she's scary. I stand at a super significant 5'7", that's tall somewhere in the world! I have beautiful ocean blue eyes that could sweep away any gal~ and messy dreads which are highlighted blue, they match my eyes! My aunt says I'm a handsome man, she's probably not lying. Probably. Did I mention how handsome I am? Hm, what else should I say…'
Nara looks at Ness with a puzzled expression. "Is he gonna say anything? He's just been standing there with a dumb smirk on his face."
Ness shrugs, poking Laiyo on his forehead. Laiyo snaps out of his inner monologue, looking back at the two.
"O-oh right. I'm Laiyo. Laiyo Irawo." Laiyo said with a shine in his eyes. 'Maybe I can make some friends after all' Laiyo thought to himself.