"What's going on here... Where am I? What… what are those things!?"

The world around him twisted into a nightmare. All he could see were squirming shapes and shifting shadows, each one stranger and more grotesque than the last. His breath caught as he looked closer, and a sick feeling welled up in his stomach.

There was a creature with a neck so long it coiled like a snake, topped by a disturbingly human face that grinned down at him, eyes gleaming with an unnatural hunger.

Another one staggered past him, a hideous face with enormous eye that seemed to almost pop up out of their eye socket. Each pupil looks at different direction as if they had mind of their own, that scene made his skin crawl. He forced himself to look away, but there was no escape; everywhere he turned, more inhuman creature with various form and shapes as far as his eyes can see, whispering and laughing in twisted voices.

"No… This can't be real." He tried to steady his breathing, telling himself it was impossible. Yokai aren't real. They're just stories… legends to scare children… right? He swallowed hard, clinging to that thought, but the chill on his skin, the smell of rot and earth, told him otherwise. It felt too real, too immediate.

A wall of terror, unlike anything he could have ever imagined. All this life he denied their existence, but when he experienced it himself, he can't muster any strength. Like a rabbits in a Wolf's den

Panic bubbled up, his pulse hammering as he took a step back. How am I supposed to survive this…?

For a brief moment, the chaos around him faded, and he found himself back in the classroom—a place so ordinary, so distant from the nightmare he was living now. In a classroom basked in the warm glow of evening sun.

A group of girls gathered near the back of the class, chatting happily among themselves. Their teacher had called in sick, leaving them to a self-study session, though it was clear no one had any intention to study. All around the room, students were lost in their own worlds, some scrolling through their phones, others whispering or doodling absentmindedly.

"Hey," says one of the girls while leaning in, her voice dropping just enough to catch everyone's attention, "Have you heard about the old building on the east side of the school? They say it used to be a music room."

Her words hung in the air, as if inviting them to a ghost story.

"Music room? Do we even have a music lesson in our curriculum?" asked another girl, the topic clearly piqued her interest, the expression of other girls is shifted, it flickers their curiosity as well.

"Not anymore," said the first girl. "They decided to turn it an extracurriculars only, so currently that buildings only used for music club. Well, it was." She leaned forward, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "I heard some rumor that our school guard, who patrols the area after school hours, often hears piano music coming from inside that building."

Their face stiffened; curiosity grew with unease as she continued.

"When he went to check it out the buildings, the sounds stop. He double checks the whole place but never finds anyone. But the moment he goes back on patrol, the music starts up again. Eventually, they abandoned the building. Some people say it's haunted by a Yokai; a student that died in that building and became a vengeful spirit."

The group shifted nervously, some visibly unsettled, while others tried to brush it off.

Not far from their group discussion, a male figure accidentally overheard the conversation, he finds if funny and barely able to contain his laugh.

"You seem amused." said the girl who's sitting across him, her chin resting on her hand, a hint of curiosity in her gaze. "Do you really like it? these sort of Yokai stories?"

"Me? of course not," he said it with a shrug. "I just find it funny that, in this day and age, people still believe in supernatural stuff like that."

"Usui, don't you believe they exist?" replied the girl, intrigued by his answer.

"Not really. How could such a creature exist. Isn't Yokai just a made-up folklore by parents to scare kids into behaving? I can hardly believe they were real." Said Ryohei confidently.

The girl pondered for a moment and question him, "Then, what do you make of the story they were talking about? Rumor don't just appear out of nowhere, right? Something must have happened to start it."

Ryohei scratched his head, thinking. "Hmm, maybe it's just a misunderstanding. The school might have spread that rumor so students would stay away from the old building—it's old, probably unsafe and prone to collapse. Or maybe another student overheard something it by accident and started the whole rumor or might even exaggerated it."

"That's an interesting take. You're sharp," she said thoughtfully.

Ryohei's gaze lingered on her for a moment. He admired her gentle, full lips and the way her yellowish eyes glistened in the fading light. Her name was Hikari Kanzaki, his close friend since junior high and his long-time crush. Yet, despite their years of friendship, he still felt a bit awkward calling her anything but her family name. Seeing her elegant figure basked in the warm evening light really takes his breath away.

Noticing his intense stare, Hikari looked away, shyly brushing it off. "Uh... what? Do I have something on my face?"

"Uh, no. Nothing."

Now that he thinks of it, it was rare for them to talk about such things, Normally Hikari preferred practical topics, things grounded in reality and isn't made up. *Is she into supernatural stuff? * Curiosity getting best of him, he decided to ask.

"Kanzaki, do you believe Yokai exist?"

"Eh? Ah... I think so? Hehe." She seems puzzled by the question as if it were an unexpected one.

"There are so many things in this world that we have yet to know until proven, the same goes for Yokai. Only one who've experienced it firsthand would really know."

Her reasoning made sense, but Ryohei wasn't convinced. He lived quite far away from the city, traveling through hills and forest each morning and evening to go from his house and school. Yet he never encountered anything remotely supernatural nor scary experience.

As they continue talking, another girl joined the group. Some asked her where she have been, and the other was trying to retell the story she just missed. But she seems unfazed and decided to ruin it for everyone.

"Oh, that story? I've heard it. it was just a student practicing piano."

Everyone who heard that twitched and stared at her, baffled.

"What?" they said, unbothered by their reaction.

She explained that the eerie piano music was just a first-year student practicing late at night. Due to the limited availability of pianos, she didn't have time to practice during the day.

"She was a friend of my sister," she added, "an alumni from six years ago. I heard she got admitted to a famous music conservatory... Why are you all looking at me like that?"

The group erupted in exasperation at the ruined mystery, while Ryohei and Hikari exchanged amused smiles, "It seems you're somewhat correct, you very keen eyes Usui." said Hikari, but Ryohei just brush it off as lucky shot. The chatter continued until the final bell rang, marking the end of the school day. As students packed their bags to leave, even though he still wants to talk to her, he doesn't want to be an inconvenience to her. Ryohei waved awkwardly.

"Well then, see you tomorrow." he said, while raising a hand awkwardly

"Yeah, see you," Hikari replied with a small wave, her expression warm. He covered a grin with his hand as they parted ways. He'd hoped they could walk home together, but maybe that was asking for too much.

- - -

Nagano city, a city located in the Nagano Basin on the central of Chubu region, it is the largest city in this Prefecture. Nagano prefectures are surrounded by mountains and hills on all sides, making it the highest prefectural capital in Japan, with an altitude exceeding 300 meters. At its heart, both geographically and culturally, stands Zenkoji Temple, as its center.

Hikari headed toward the city center, where she lived near Zenkoji Temple, while Ryohei went in the opposite direction, to a small cottage on a hillside near Mount Katsurayama. He was used to the long journey, having made it daily.

As he moved further from the city, the scenery gradually shifted to a rural landscape with old, abandoned houses and rows of cherry trees lining the road.

After crossing a small wooden bridge over a calm river, he enters the forestry area, where started dashing and climbing the tree, jump and leaping from one branch to another, he dashes through the forest with such ease that if people were to see him, they would have left any onlooker astounded. He keeps going straight and met with a wide rocky river, carefully but swiftly he tiptoes his way around without slipping or losing his balance, he's a local resident and since he lived far from City center, he had no neighbor, no friends at his age nor any sort of entertainment.

The first time he tried to do this was when he was still 7 years old, he was inspired by an old tv show that he used to watch, the shows go under the tittle Sasuke. It features contestants attempting to navigate a highly challenging obstacle course, testing their strength, agility, and endurance. The obstacles are designed to be difficult, and many contestants fail to complete them, which is part of the excitement and appeal.

The concept of the show became so successful that it was adapted into multiple international versions, and more known as Ninja Warrior. Ever since that day he's been enjoying going to forest and do all sort of wacky parkour stuff, but everything was bound to be boring if you keep doing it alone, but he's not doing it alone, he got company and that is...

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*Squeaks!

A high-pitched squeak made him pause. Two tiny white colored weasels sat on a branch, watching him from above. One was pure white, and the other had brown spots on its head and tail.

Seeing both of them made Ryohei smile, these were his tiny little companions. Soon after both weasels jumped with no fear, as if they're flying squirrel, he panicked and catch one gently with both hands while the other one landed right on his face.

"Haha, hey there. Did you come to pick me up?" Said Ryohei with soft tone, the weasels wiggling around his hand and neck excitedly. Although he often talked to them like pets, they weren't. They were wild weasels who'd shown up near his home, and he and his sister had been caring for them ever since.

"Alright, let's go home." He continued force his way through the forest, normally there's a proper road that leads to his house, but the path takes a longer route, so it takes more time. Ryohei didn't like that, that is why he go through the forest for a shortcut. The terrain is rough with no clear path and it's even more difficult since its uphill, but for him who lived in mountainous area all his life, this sort of things are like walk in the park. It is not surprising to say that his physique and his flexibility were almost on par with a professional gymnast's athlete.

When he reached the mountain peak, uphill trip is over. All that's left are downhill and it is pretty easy once you're used to it, he dashed through and sometimes slide his way down, both weasels stayed inside his pocket and bobs their heads out occasionally. During his way he noticed something and stopped for a moment. Upon closer look he seems to recognize it.

"Shiitake Mushroom! and they're huge, while I'm at it I guess I'll collect few more stuff too." He happily, collects the mushroom, along with other wild vegetables he found, such as Bracken Fern, Perilla Leaf, and Mugwort. Since he often spends his time in the forest, he was often asked by her mother to picked up wild mushroom or veggies he found, and since more than half of the mountains area are purchased by his Ancestor and considered as private property of Usui household, Ryohei has never gotten any problem harvesting it without any permit.

Finally, he arrived at his house, a medium sized cozy cottage right beside a small slope into a beautiful calm river. A little girl came out of the house with a little bamboo basket on her hands. As she saw him, she was overjoyed and ran to greet him. "Big brother Ryohei is home!" she cried, while pointing at him.

He pats her head, "I'm home, what are you doing Ruri?" ask Ryohei with curiosity.

"Mom asked me to check the trap in the river! and I have been tasked to collect the fishes." With a hand gesture like a respecting his senior officer, she gave him a clumsy salute.

Can't stand her adorable little sister, he giggles and took the basket from her, "Are you sure you can handle it? The fish might escape if you're not careful."

Being stripped of her job she pouted, Ryohei takes out the stuff he harvested on his way home and hand over the basket full of vegetables while also play along with her little drama. "Attention private! you will be relieved of your current task! and I shall assign you with a new task! go wash these veggies cleanly, we shall have Tempura for dinner!"

Hearing that her face lit up, while performing another clumsy salute. "Aye aye sir! this one will successfully complete this mission!" as she skips her way to the river, I followed her to check the fish trap. The weasels popped out of my pocket and started chasing after Ruri to the riverbanks.

"Aah Hikage and Raisen is here too, come help me wash the veggies Private Hikage and Private Raisen!" said her while putting them in the basket too.

- - -

Hikage and Raisen—that's what we named the weasels. Six years ago, they're both females and they are twins, they suddenly appeared near our house, fierce and untamed. The first time we met, they bit my hand and ran off. When I thought we'd never see them again, they returned on the next day, and the day after that. We've been together ever since. At first, I didn't name them because they were wild animals, but Ruri grew really fond of them, so we gave them names, Raisen and Hikage.

Raisen is the pasty white colored weasels, she moves very fast, so we named it Rai which means lightning and added sen which means hermit or sage to her name and also its because her favorite snack is Raisin, so its a pretty close pronunciation with Raisen.

Hikage, on the other hand, is a white weasel with brown spots on her temples and along the edges of her tails. My sister came up with her name. This weasel always fights with my friend, Hikari Kanzaki, when she visits, so Ruri named her as the opposite of Hikari, which means light, calling her Hikage, with Kage that stands for shadow — as a playful nod to Hikari's name. Sometimes, I'm surprised at my little sister's naming sense.

As I roll my sleeves and start dipping my feet in that shallow river, walk slowly and find the trap location. The trap we're using is the hidden net trap, it's a nets trap made out of bamboo and hidden underwater, camouflaged among rocks or vegetation, fish swim through the opening and become caught in the net. After finished extracting the fish from each trap one by one I came back to the riverbanks. It seems Ruri has finished washing them and currently playing chase with Hikage and Raisen.

As I roll up my sleeves, step into the shallow river, and carefully walk to where we set the traps. We're using a hidden net trap made of bamboo and camouflaged it among rocks and plants underwater. Fish swim through an opening and become caught in the net. After extracting the fish from each trap, I return to the riverbank. I saw Ruri running around playing chase with Hikage and Raisen, it seems she was done washing the veggies.

While Ruri plays, Ryohei bashes the fish head with a stone. He takes out his pocketknife, starts descaling, and removes the fishes' guts. All the while, he can't shake his thoughts.

*Sighs

Ruri doesn't know, but a weasel's life span is around seven years—ten at most. We met them six years ago, so their life span must be...

Ryohei scratching his head and try to forget about it, after finished cleaning up the fish, he calls for Ruri, enter his house and greets his mother who's busy in the kitchen. "I'm home."

"Welcome home, Ryohei! Oh, you brought the fish." his mother says, poking her head out of the kitchen and smiling.

"Yeah, I got the fishes cleaned and grabbed some veggies along the way." Suddenly, Ruri barged in, shouting, "Tempura!" with weasels perched on her shoulders and the basket of veggies held high.

"Yeah, I got the fish cleaned and grabbed some veggies on the way." Suddenly, Ruri bursts in, shouting, "Tempura!" with the weasels perched on her shoulders and the basket of fish held high.

Mom jumps, startled because of her, but composes herself quickly. "I was planning to make a Hotpot... but I guess tempura works, too." She sighs, accepted the change in the dinner plan. She took the fish and vegetables and asks us to wash up. Ruri nodded and immediately runs toward the bathroom. I look around searching for someone, and ask her, "Where's father?"

"Tonight, it's just the three of us. He got caught up with work and will probably be staying over," she explains. Unconsciously I clicked my tongue, feeling a little irritated.

Usui Koji, my father is a civil servant working in Tokyo, he's away most of the time. but comes back once in a while, he rented a small apartment as place to stay when he can't come back home.

With Ruri busy in the bath with the weasels, I decide to help Mom. "Mom, is your body alright? you don't need to push yourself; I can make dinner you know..."

"Thanks; that's kind of you, but I am fine, I need some exercise too!" She rolls up her sleeves and showed me her thin muscle less arm. Normally she's not like this, she has a clear bright expression and was brimming with vitality, but ever since she gave birth to me, her body rapidly deteriorates overtime, she tries all sort of medication but none of it works.

When mom marry father, he brought her to Tokyo, at first she was fine, but after her pregnancy, her body is soo weak that she can't stand handle the pollution there, so she went back to our grandparent's house which is the house we currently live in.

She hands me some fish to cut into bite-sized pieces and vegetables to slice for easy frying. "So, how's school?" ask her. I brush off the question casually. "Same as usual. Nothing special."

She looked at me suspiciously. "Are you sure? That's exactly what you said yesterday." I sigh; sometimes, my mom is a bit nosy. But I know she's just concerned that I'll have trouble fitting in at school, so I tell her a little about what's been going on to ease her worries.

"Everything is fine. I get along well with my classmate. We chat about many things."

"Such as?" said her, it took me by surprise, and I don't know what to say... I take that back, my mom is not nosy, she's very handful person.

"Well, we talked about school, gossip, and school project... Oh, recently there's been talk about ghost stories too. Like a rumor about yokai that haunted an abandoned school building, but it's probably just exaggerated nonsense."

"I see, speaking of Yokai... I've heard a story about Yokai too. Your great-great-grandfather used to eat one."

After hearing that I paused for a moment and turns my head in confusion and ask again as if I misheard what she just said, "Excuse me? did you say... he ate one?"

Unfazed, she continues dipping ingredients in tempura batter and frying it one by one. "That's right; I heard it from your grandpa."

Taken aback by that, I just laugh it off. "Haha, very funny, Mom."

She gives me a serious look. "It's not a joke. This story has been passed down since your great-grandfather to your grandfather, then to me, and now to you. Though whether it's true or not is still a mystery."

"That doesn't count as evidence, Mom," I say, but she goes on. "At first I thought so too, but now... I'm not so sure. You might not remember this, but he used to live up to 147 years old—he even outlived your great-grandfather. We went to his funeral nine years ago. Don't you remember?"

I'm speechless, trying to process this new information. She said I went to his funeral, but I don't remember it, I suppose I was still around eight or nine years old a that time. Ruri finished her bath; Mom tells me it's my turn to take the bath. Still in disbelief, I go take bathe, but I can't shake the thought.

'147 years old? That would make him the oldest person in history.' When I finished my bath, the three of us have a heartful dinner.

After dinner, Ruri who is standing by her room looked downcast. I asked her what's up? "Big brother, I forgot I have art class tomorrow; I asked Dad to buy crayons, but he won't be back until the day after. What should I do?"

I twitched when she said dad, "It's fine Ruri, you don't need to ask father about little stuff like that, I'll buy some for you."

Her face lit up, "Really!" as she joyfully pulls my shirt.

"Yes, just in case that the store closed or if they are out of stock, use this coloring pencil." I took my old coloring pencil from my room and gave it to her.

It's my old coloring pencil, it might be a little worn out, but still useable. I'll go our right now, but don't stay up waiting—it's almost past your bedtime." She hugs me happily and runs to her room.

"Mom! I'm heading out for a bit." She softly replied, "be careful".

Since we live on the outskirts, the nearest convenience store is a few minutes away by foot. So, I decided to take a relaxing walk there. I could take the shortcut for even faster trip, but doing it at night would be risky, so I don't have any choice but to take the regular path.

- - -

Fortunately, the first convenience store he found still had small packs of crayons in stock, he bought one and headed back immediately. As he walks, he couldn't help but notice how much darker it had gotten, the only source of lights was the flickering streetlight, blinking on and off every few seconds

He felt uneasy so he quickened pace. Normally a night trip like this won't bother him, as he was used to going out on errands at night. But after his conversation with his mom earlier, it made his nerves on edge.

*Rustle

A rustling sound come from the bush besides him, he jolted and took a step back. but a wild fox emerged, with a mouse on its mouth. Ryohei sighed in relief, maybe he's just overthinking things. But soon after, a powerful gust of wind swept by. Despite wearing a jacket, he could still feel the bone-chilling coldness as it passed through him. His whole-body shivers as he heard a loud howl from distance.

Panick started to rise in him. He looked around, noticing stray dogs and the foxes he had just seen howling for no reason. The flickering streetlight grew more erratic and then suddenly died, leaving him in a complete darkness. Another gust came from behind and knock him off his feet. As he tried to get up, he felt a strong grip on his legs, dragging him away.

He screamed for help, but his voice was swallowed by the sounds of howling that rang in his ear. He kicked at whatever was grabbing him, but it was useless, he kicked nothing but air. He tried wriggling his body to break free only made it worse, as the grip tightened and suddenly changed its direction. He found himself slammed head-first into an iron pole by the side of the road.

His head rang with pain, and slowly, everything went black.

- - -

When he regained consciousness, Ryohei's vision was blurry. He saw shades of white and light blue around him. A sharp pain pierced his head, and he realized that blood was flowing from the wound. As he rubbed his bloody forehead and tried to clear his vision, he froze. When he looked around him, row of floating light blue flames with tons of eerie figures surrounds him holding a black wooden umbrella, he was also holding one too.

His heart raced. He was surrounded by strange, inhumane creatures. He was no longer on the street of his way home, but somewhere far more unsettling—somewhere he couldn't yet comprehend.

Without knowing it, he found himself right in the center of a Hyakki Yagyo — The Night Parade of 100 Demons.