Chapter One - Demonic Demands

Saturday April 16'th 2016

9:32 AM

Springdale Community Center


A futuristic pop song broke Tamago Uchi from his dreamy paradise and caused an arm to flail out from his tomb of cushions. With a groggy grunt, he successfully swiped across his phone's screen to deliver silence to his cramped dorm room. Tamago groaned and pushed himself into a slouched seated position. He rubbed his face and sorted through the events from last night. He and his three other friends had been out at Mount Wildwood and had planned on camping for a few days but that adventure was cut short by some massive red monster with a crazy bat. Tamago shook his head and got out of bed, quickly shaking his head to rid himself of the sleepiness trying to keep its pesky hold on the culinary creator. He checked the time and knew since it was 8:45, he had about 45 minutes before he agreed to meet the others over in Uptown at the Community Center where they'd try to make some funds to fuel their spring break.

He got changed into jeans, a light green t-shirt and grabbed his bag and headed out of his room. Thankfully his other roommates weren't around to ask why he was back so soon. He really wasn't sure how to explain everything to them and he was glad that for now, he didn't have to think about it. He glance down at his left wrist where his new watch was. It really wasn't a dream after all. Tamago sighed and headed out the door and found where his bike was locked. Soon enough, the green haired boy was breezing up and around the museum and towards Uptown Springdale. His stomach gave a fearsome lurch and he knew he needed to stop by Banter Bakery before continuing towards the Community Center. "i've got time..." He muttered to himself, though he knew if he checked his watch, it wouldn't be able to refute his notion since it didn't tell time, at least not obviously.

Natazume Hiroshi meanwhile, was still in bed but she wasn't asleep either.

Since she lived so close to the Community Center, she saw no use in scrambling to get there and instead spent most of her morning meditating and doing research online about spirits and myths. Before last night, she hardly gave ghosts much thought but now she was forced to open her eyes a little wider. Natazume's parents had the day to themselves so they decided to take the train to go someplace outside of Springdale. Natazume thus had the house to herself and was happy for the solitude and space. She was dressed in a summery yellow dress which had white polka dots on it. It was one of the more colorful things she owned but after last night's close call with death, she saw no point in making the most of the days she had in front of her. Around 8:50, she finally ventured downstairs and refilled her cup with a fresh splash of green tea before outside to the side garden where she tended to the plants, enjoying the sun's friendly hello.

Feeling spiritually satisfied, the woman cleaned up the kitchen and slipped into a pair of black supportive sandals and locked up the house. She glanced down at her right wrist where the watch was tightly fashioned. Though her right hand was in fact dominant, she still preferred wearing most of her jewelry on her right hand, even her watches. She brought up said right hand and flipped her dark hair back over her bare shoulders. She had eaten breakfast already and felt fairly content, considering the events of the evening, only hours ago. Natazume only had six blocks to traverse before she reached the Community Center. She passed Beautiful Blooms and walked upwards until she could cross the street safely. She passed by Everymart and continued until she reached the small building where many events and gatherings were had.

The woman pulled out her phone and saw it was 9:20 and that the others would be arriving within the next ten minutes or so. Natazume sat down on the bench outside the building and pulled out her phone. While she passed the time, she continued to read up on the local legends of the area. She was still a little uncertain but she knew what she saw the night before and knew that it hadn't been her imagination. It had been real. And terrifying. And, well...interesting. Bringing her small purse to her lap, she fished through and finally fished out the medal Whisper had given the four of them. She studied it and then tapped it against the metal bench arm. It felt solid and sturdy and she had to wonder how many other hands had held it. She inserted the coin and flipped the round cover over it and before she knew it, a puff of purple smoke appeared and soon so did Whisper. The man walking past on the sidewalk didn't seem to notice or at least acknowledge the events so Natazume breathed a sigh of relief. "Morning." She greeted her new friend.

The long ling at Banter Bakery hadn't deterred Tamago, who had finally obtained a peach tart. He felt pretty proud of himself but knew he needed to hurry if he wanted to make it back up to the Community Center on time. Tamago quickly ate the tart in three gigantic bites before he hopped back on his teal bike and headed up, weaving around a many cars and pedestrians as need be. He was worried his friends were already waiting for him. Or worse, that they hadn't waited, found a cool job and had left without him. He ended up making it to the Community Center right on the dot and before he could greet Natazume, he had to catch his breath. While he loved to stay fit, he decided not to stuff his face and then bike like a madman anytime soon. Tamago panted and walked his bike and rested it on the back of the bench Natazume was sitting on. He then noticed she had already summoned Whisper. He then thought that it might have been more useful to summon Whisper himself and to have him go ahead and find the others. A little late now though.

"Glad I'm not the last one here." He gave them a grin.