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"I have brought the supplies," Okuyasu announced, half-kicking the front door open. Koichi reflexively covered his ears before noticing Josuke's casual demeanor and lowering his hands self-consciously.
Josuke dug through the box Okuyasu offered and nodded. "Good. Looks like everything we need. Everyone ready?"
Koichi shifted his weight nervously. "Ready for what? You just texted us to meet at Okuyasu's house with this…" he gestured at a shredded stuffed animal in the box. "…stuff."
"Oh. Yeah, okay." Josuke set the box on the ground and sat cross-legged in front of it. "So, I was thinking about some things Reimi said, about ghosts and how she didn't really see her killer, all of that. And I found a listing online about instructions for performing a seance."
"A seance?" Okuyasu balked. "You can't expect us to believe we're going to contact the dead!"
"We contacted Reimi," Josuke pointed out.
"That was an accident," Koichi said. "And I think she's kind of unique."
"Yeah, I know all of that," Josuke said impatiently. "But I think the listing I found was from a Stand user, so it should be legit. Just don't tell Mr. Joestar and Jotaro, they'll want to investigate the guy."
Okuyasu and Koichi stared past Josuke with wide eyes. "What is it?" Josuke glanced up from the supplies and glared at them briefly before turning around. "Ah. Hi, Jotaro."
Jotaro stood in the doorway, staring impassively down at Josuke. Josuke waved him inside. "We're doing a seance, trying to see if we can get any more information about the killer in Moiroh. We have to start it at midnight. Can you shut the door?"
Jotaro stepped inside and shut the door. He sat down next to Josuke. Josuke pulled a printed sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Jotaro. Jotaro read the page while Okuyasu and Koichi sat down across from them.
Koichi nervously dug through the box, pulling out a lump of air dry clay and feathers. "Josuke? This all looks like arts and crafts stuff."
"Yeah." Josuke dug a colorful clump of string out of the box. "Do you know how to make friendship bracelets?"
Okuyasu and Koichi exchanged a glance. "Yukako gave me one," Koichi offers. "I could… or you could… someone could call her and ask her to walk us through it?"
"That's good." Josuke sounded distracted. "So, Jotaro-"
"This is a bad idea," Jotaro said, answering his unspoken question. "You shouldn't be so careless about a potential enemy Stand."
"Okay, but hear me out!" Josuke listed off his reasons on his fingers. "The killer is smart, he wouldn't be so casually offering to let people talk to the dead because it would have given him away ages ago! And he only started offering seances recently, so he was probably shot by the bow and arrow instead of having a Stand way back when Reimi was murdered. Also, if anything goes wrong, there's four of us and we can handle it."
Josuke smiled his best convincing smile to Jotaro's deadpan expression.
Eventually, Jotaro sighed. "Okay."
"Yes!" Josuke excitedly began to pass out the arts and craft supplies. "So, the seance has to be conducted at midnight. We don't have a lot of time to summon the spirit helpers, but we can do it!"
Okuyasu nodded gravely and took the teacup Josuke offered him. "How do we summon the spirit helpers?"
"It says we have to try these rituals, using all the stuff you got. And if we're successful in at least one of each ritual, the spirit helpers will have the best connection to the other side and we can ask questions." Josuke picked up a candle in a mug with a cute cactus on it. "There are six rituals. I think we can do them separately, but let's do them one at a time for now. Just in case."
Koichi picked up the paper Josuke and Jotaro had discarded. "Litwik… Klefki… Sinestea… Mimikyu… Yamask… and Baltoy?"
"Uh huh," Josuke confirmed. "Which do you wanna start with?"
Koichi inspected the list again, then dug through the box for a vampire costume mask. "I think the Yamask ritual sounds easiest to start with." He looked at the mask and shuddered. "Do I have to do it?"
Jotaro silently held a hand out and Koichi handed the mask over with a relieved smile. "Thank you, Jotaro…" he mumbled.
"Okay, you need to make eye contact with the mask and begin a partner dance with it, for at least one song," Josuke directed. He stood up and flicked on a radio, which began belting out an American rock song.
Jotaro glanced at him skeptically.
"Just try it," Josuke pleaded.
Jotaro rose to his feet and began making careful, deliberate steps that did not match the song that was playing at all. The song ended with no apparent reaction from the mask.
"Did it not work?" Josuke asked. "Maybe it needs to be a whole song?"
"I'll try it," Okuyasu announced, picking up a Frankenstein mask as an electric swing song came on the radio. He held the mask up and launched into a swing dance, or at least a valiant imitation of one. Koichi covered his mouth to keep from laughing.
"Alright, nice energy, Okuyasu," Josuke said, moving out of the way of his frenetic dancing. "You can do it!"
"I can do it," Okuyasu agreed. The mask sat motionless in his hand.
As the song wound down, Koichi and Josuke leaned forward in anticipation. The song ended with a riot of noise that Okuyasu responded to by dramatically dropping to his knees. The mask remained inanimate.
"Aw, man. Maybe that guy was just pulling my leg…" Josuke huffed. Jotaro handed him a werewolf mask. "Oh, me? Well, I guess so."
The next song was another swing song. Josuke moved confidently, in a style that seemed to be patterned after Jotaro's dance, though lacking the underlying knowledge of what the dance should have looked like. He sashayed all across the parlor of the Nijimura house without regard to the music, forcing Koichi and Okuyasu to jump out of the way.
"Wow, Josuke, where'd you learn all that?" Okuyasu asked. Koichi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye but didn't say anything.
"I'm a man of many talents!" Josuke answered. The song ended, and Josuke bowed with a flourish like he was dipping an imaginary dance partner. The werewolf mask remained inanimate.
"Aw, I was sure you had it," Koichi said.
Josuke shrugged. "Well, nothing for it." He reached into the box and dug up an oni mask, which he presented to Koichi. "Your turn."
Koichi gulped and took the mask. As another rock song came over the radio, he nervously hopped in place, then hopped to the side.
"Um, Koichi? We're supposed to be dancing," Josuke said.
Koichi glared into the mask. "I didn't have a problem with yours!" He jumped to the other side and wiggled.
Josuke and Okuyasu snickered.
"I! AM! DOING! MY! BEST!" Koichi yelled, continuing to hop around the parlor.
"Hey, we know!" Josuke said. "You're doing great, Koichi, keep at it!"
Koichi huffed and continued his jump dance, clearly trying hard to land on beat with the rock song. The song began to fade out and his arms trembled as he stared into the oni mask. The oni mask, and nothing else, stared back.
Koichi held the mask out to Josuke. "Are you sure we're doing this right?"
"Maybe we should try a different one," Jotaro suggested.
Okuyasu snatched the rules page off the floor and glared at it as if he could make it explain how to perform the rituals better. "The Litwik ritual does not appear to need any preparation," he announced.
Josuke glanced at the instructions over his shoulder. "Yeah, alright." He picked up the candle in the mug and fished a lighter out of his pocket. He lit the candle and set it on the floor. He then raised his hands above his head and pressed his palms together.
"It says to… dance like the candleflame," Okuyasu read.
Josuke nodded, staring intently at the flame of the little mug candle. He moved his hips from side to side and waved his pressed together hands above his head, keeping his feet firmly planted on the floor.
Koichi watched with dismay. "Are we all going to have to do this silly dance?"
"You have no right to speak," Okuyasu snapped. "You were hopping around the place just a minute ago!"
Jotaro's eyes went wide. "Be quiet, both of you!" He pointed to the flame of the candle, which was now glowing a bright blue. "Look."
The candle shuddered, the mug warping in ways a solid object ought not to. Josuke continued trying to match the movements of the candle's flame even as it shook itself through the transformation. His bottom lip stuck out in concentration as he contorted a half second behind the twisting of the fire.
And all at once, the candle blinked. Koichi and Okuyasu screamed and grabbed at each other. Josuke froze with his hands at a 45 degree angle and one leg lifted, almost in a pose that could pass for an arabesque.
The Litwik stared around the room with wonder. One of the eyes intersected with the cactus design on the mug, giving the candle the appearance of partially wearing eyeshadow. It hopped forward, apparently intent on getting closer to Josuke. "Wick!" the candle declared.
Josuke fell on his butt. Jotaro stealthily approached behind him as Josuke reached a hand towards the Litwik. It hopped forward again, allowing him to brush the handle of the mug. Josuke tried to grab at the handle, but it fell away at his touch like melted wax, only to reform when he pulled his hand away again.
"Did it work?" Okuyasu asked, cautiously peering around Josuke.
"I think so," Josuke answered, sounding distracted. "What did the instructions say this is?"
"A Litwik," Jotaro replied. He knelt down to look at it better. "It isn't acting hostile, but stay on your guard."
Josuke turned his hand so the candle could hop into it if it wanted. It eyed his hand for a moment before accepting the offer. "Litwik!" it cheered, its flame momentarily glowing brighter. Josuke's face broke into a wide grin.
"It really works," he breathed. He glanced up sharply at Koichi. "You need to call Yukako now."
"Huh?" Koichi startled away from Josuke and the Litwik. "What? Why? Why me?"
"Because we need her help to make the friendship bracelets for the Klefki," Josuke explained impatiently. "And it has to be you because she won't come help if anyone else asks her."
Koichi considered this for a moment before heaving a long sigh. "Alright. I'll do it. But you owe me for this."
Josuke sniffed at the Litwik. "I could make your room smell like vanilla," he offered.
"So hilarious," Koichi muttered while dialing Yukako's phone number into the Nijimura landline. It rang once, then twice, then Koichi's face fell. "Hey, Yukako, so I was thinking… no, no, I was thinking about that friendship bracelet you made me… no, not like that… what I meant… I NEED YOU TO COME TO OKUYASU'S HOUSE AND TEACH US HOW TO MAKE THEM SO WE CAN SUMMON SPIRIT HELPERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE AFTERLIFE FOR US!"
Koichi immediately covered his mouth and wrenched his eyes closed. He was quiet for a long moment while Yukako's voice spoke indistinctly through the phone. "Thank you…" he mumbled and hung up the phone.
"Is she coming?" Okuyasu asked.
The doorbell rang. Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi all screamed. Jotaro strode to the door and wrenched it open.
Yukako stood on the pourch, one hand on her hip. She pushed her way inside and inspected the seance site. Her eyes lingered on the Litwik for a while, but she ultimately ignored it and turned to Koichi. "I cannot believe you're trying to contact the afterlife in such a mess! What is all of this?" She guestured to the supplies Okuyasu had brought, which were partially scattered around the box on the floor.
"Oh, um." Koichi scratched the back of his head. "These are… ritual components. For summoning the spirit helpers." He pointed to the Litwik in Josuke's hand. Josuke held it out proudly for her to see.
Yukako hummed thoughtfully, running one finger across her chin. "Well, clean it up. We can't expect vistors from the beyond if we can't keep tidy." She bent down and snatched up the colorful string. "Friendship bracelets are easy enough. We can start with a simple one."
She worked out a pink string and a blue string. "First you tie the strings together," she said, "then you knot one around the other." She pulled the pink strand around the blue and fastened it. "Continue with that strand until you want to switch." She continued working the bracelet, her pointed glare clearly indicating Koichi should already be copying her.
Koichi swallowed nervously and selected a green strand and black strand. His work was noticably clumsier, but he followed her motions with dogged persistance.
Yukako nodded towards Josuke. "While we're working on this, explain."
He bristled slightly at her demanding tone. "I think Koichi covered the important points. We want to talk to victims of Moiroh's killer. I found instructions for holding a seance online, and I think they're legit." He held up the Litwik as if its existance proved anything. "We have to summon these spirit helpers so they can communicate with the afterlife for us."
Jotaro handed her the instruction page. Yukako took it with her hair and scanned over it. "I see. So you wanted my help to summon this Klefki?" She held up a half pink, half blue bracelet. Untied, it looked like a decorated string. "It says I need a key."
Okuyasu stopped shoving the supplies back into the box long enough to fish out a key and hand it her. "I go along with the river with a metal detector sometimes, lots of people just dump things in there," he explained.
Yukako's nose wrinkled, but she took the key. "It says that the key can affect the personality of the Klefki," she said. "Shouldn't you be more discerning about what keys you use?"
"This is kind of a rush job," Josuke said. "Want me to hold the key up for you?" He gently set the Litwik on the ground.
Yukako sighed. "Yes." She handed the key to Josuke, who held it so the teeth end pointed down, leaving the end with a hole for a key ring pointed up.
Yukako tied the friendship bracelet to the key. Nothing happened. She glanced at Josuke. "Is it supposed to do something?"
"It doesn't always work," he grumbled, discarding the key. He stooped to pick another key out of the box. "Koichi?"
"Got it," Koichi said, holding out a green and black friendship bracelet. Yukako began braiding two strands of red and a strand of white, obviously unimpressed with the proceedings. Jotaro began knotting a purple and black bracelet the way Yukako had made the pink and blue one.
Josuke held the key out for Koichi to tie the friendship bracelet on. He did, and flinched back as if expecting the spirit helper to bite him. The key and friendship bracelet sat motionless. Josuke tossed them aside.
"Okay. We've got plenty of time until midnight, we can do this." He pick out a grey and blue strand and tried to tie them as Yukako had shown them.
"Here," Yukako said flippantly, tossing the braided bracelet to Okuyasu. She was already digging through the box of supplies with her hair for new cord.
Okuyasu jumped to catch the unexpectedly thrown bracelet. He fumbled with it for a moment before straightening up. "Right. Can you-" He stopped when Yukako held up a rusted key in the correct position with her hair. She didn't seem to be paying attention to him. "Thanks," he muttered as he tied the bracelet into place.
Nothing happened. Yukako tossed the key aside and dug up a new one, never taking her eyes off the ribbon and twine she'd found.
"Ready," Jotaro said, holding up a near perfect purple and pink bracelet with a frequently alternating pattern. Yukako held up the key for him. It was a rather large key with a single wide tooth, much like the kind in old cartoons. Jotaro tied the braclet on and Yukako immediately flung it away.
"KIIIIIIIIII!" Something tugged hard at Yukako's hair and she shrieked. Josuke and Jotaro rushed to disentangle the Klefki from Yukako's Stand. It whirred and rattled as angrily as it could while they untangled the hair from it.
"What is that?" Yukako gasped, withdrawing her Stand from the angry key.
Koichi read off the instructions. "A Klefki." The Klefki shook, whether in confirmation or fury no one could tell.
Josuke let out an amazed laugh. "Alright! Two down, four to go. Koichi, what's next?" Jotaro ignored the teenagers in favor of trying to teach the Klefki an elaborate handshake.
Koichi looked over the instructions. "Umm. We could go back to the Yamask? Oh! How about we try Mimikyu next?"
"That's the one with the mangled stuffed animals, right?" Okuyasu asked.
"They don't have to be mangled, just hollow," Koichi said. "Where did you- no. Don't tell me, I don't want to know."
"It's nothing bad, I just got them out of the dumpster behind the toy store," Okuyasu protested, holding up a teddy bear with a suspicious spot on its arm. "We just gotta take the stuffing out of 'em."
Yukako looked disgusted. "Do I have to touch that?"
"I'll get you a different one," Okuyasu grumbled. He began tearing some of the bear's seams to get at the stuffing. "What do I halfta do next?"
"Call it a name and set it down out of sight, but not out of earshot," Koichi read. "This is kind of cute."
The Klefki settled its bracelet part around Jotaro's wrist. He sat down next to the Litwik, attention fully on the pair of spirit helpers.
Okuyasu held up the empty bear. "You are Osamu," he announced. He dashed out of the room and returned just as quickly. "Now what?"
"Call for it," Koichi answered.
"Osamu!" Okuyasu yelled, his voice booming through the house.
They waited. The silence was ringing in the aftershocks of Okuyasu's yell. Josuke glanced towards Koichi. "Isn't it supposed to come?"
"I guess it didn't work," Koichi said. He set the paper down and picked up a shredded bunny with a dangling button eye. "My turn, I guess. Let's see, you… are already missing your stuffing. Okay, I'll call you Akane."
He left, and returned a bit slower than Okuyasu had. "Akane!" Koichi's voice didn't carry as much as Okuyasu's.
Again they waited. "Did you put it very far?" Yukako asked.
"No, just in the kitchen," Koichi said glumly.
Yukako sighed and poked through for a somewhat clean monkey missing its tail. She tugged the stuffing out through the tail hole. "Elvis," she said emotionlessly.
She walked out and immediately there was a soft thud. She walked back in.
"Elvis," she called, barely raising her voice.
Almost instantly there was a scraping sound as the monkey stood and began to walk. It rounded the corner and they could see a black tendril, much like Yukako's stand, replacing the missing monkey tail. It grabbed a light fixture and swung the monkey up at Yukako.
Yukako fainted.
There was a brief struggle as Josuke and Okuyasu got in each other's way in their rush to apprehend the Mimikyu. Jotaro sidled over to check Yukako hadn't hit her head, and Koichi stared into the middle distance as if he would very much like to faint as well. The Litwik and Klefki hovered near Yukako defensively.
Yukako sat up groggily and brushed off Jotaro's help. She stared with wide eyes at the Mimikyu struggling in the combined grasp of Josuke and Okuyasu. She shook her head and stood. "Hey! Let Elvis go!" she demanded, pointing at them.
Shocked, the boys did as they were told. The monkey launched itself at Yukako again, and this time she caught it with her hair. She held it out in front of herself and inspected it carefully. She met the new eyes in the middle of the monkey's belly. After a long moment, she nodded and brought the Mimikyu close enough that she could pull it into a hug. "You'll do," she said, cradling the Mimikyu.
Josuke took the instructions from Koichi. "Nice. Let's do Sinestea next." He picked a teacup with a crack down the middle out of the supply box.
"Will that work if its broken?" Koichi asked.
"One way to find out," Josuke said. He marched into the kitchen and filled the teacup with water. He dumped in a bunch of spices and came back into the parlor. He sat on the stairs and beckoned the Litwik forward. "Hey, stand under this for a minute, okay?"
The Litwik hummed an acknowledgement and nestled itself under the teacup.
Jotaro looked at Josuke with a nearly undetectable air of disappointment, before turning to Okuyasu. "Do you have a kettle?"
"Yeah, I'll go heat it up," he said, disappearing into the kitchen.
Josuke shrugged. "Whatever gets it done, right?"
"Your 'tea' is dripping," Yukako said flatly.
Josuke cursed and set the teacup aside before quickly apologizing to the Litwik. Crazy Diamond briefly appeared to mend the cracked teacup, but it was only half-filled and the ritual had clearly failed.
Jotaro pulled a slightly cracked teacup out of the supply box and followed Okuyasu into the kitchen.
They returned with Jotaro holding the teacup, now filled with strong black tea. Jotaro held the teacup by the rim and gently swirled it, then set it down on the stairs next to Josuke.
Slowly, the tea stopped moving. Everyone sighed.
"Think we can rinse the teacup out and try it again?" Okuyasu asked.
Josuke gestured for him to take it. "Be my guest," he said, throwing his head backwards in frustration.
Okuyasu took the teacup and returned a minute later with oolong leaves still in the cup. He held it by the rim, though his hand shook and some of the tea spilled.
He swirled the teacup around. A large splash landed across his thumb and hr dropped the teacup with a yell. Tea and teacup shards flew across the room. The people and pokémon jumped back.
"Sorry," Okuyasu said sheepishly.
"Ugh," Yukako said, though her voice lacked force. "Do I have to do everything?" She pulled a faded green teacup from the supply box and disappeared into the kitchen.
She returned after a while and thrust the green teacup into Koichi's hands. "It's your turn," she said, her face and ears red.
Koichi fumbled with the hot teacup and quickly dashed towards the kitchen. A minute later a crash came from the kitchen. Everyone quickly ran to see what had happened.
The faded green teacup was hovering over Koichi, the jasmine tea inside still spinning slowly. "Tea?" it asked, the creature inside glancing between Koichi and the group.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Koichi reassured it, standing and glancing at the pots he'd knocked over with a wince. "Sorry. You just surprised me."
"Sine-sine," the Sinsetea whispered.
"Yeah, it's all good," Koichi said. He glanced towards the group. "We got the Sinestea!"
"Nice going, Koichi!" Okuyasu cheered.
Josuke consulted the instructions again. "Looks like Baltoy next."
The Klefki flew off and returned carrying a lump of air-dry clay, which it lobbed at Josuke's head. Josuke caught the clay and took a moment to recover from his surprise. He shrugged, slipping his chill facade neatly back into place, and began to knead the clay into shape.
The Mimikyu detached itself from Yukako's grip and vanished. She turned to follow it, but it quickly returned holding a block of wood, which it nicely dropped at Jotaro's feet before clambering back into Yukako's arms.
Jotaro picked the block up. He pulled a penknife from his pocket and began to chip away at the edges of the block.
"We're totally going to get all the spirit helpers by midnight," Okuyasu bragged. "We're the best at seances."
"So, what are you going to ask the spirits?" Yukako asked.
"Stuff that will help us identify the killer," Josuke said, tongue unconsciously poking out in concentration as he pinched the clay.
"Like what?" Yukako tapped the instruction paper. "It says here they only answer yes or no questions."
"Umm," Koichi said.
Yukako sighed. Her hair enlarged and whipped around the house until it returned with a notepad and pen. She clicked the pen. "What type of information would be useful?"
"Whether the killer has a Stand," Jotaro said. Yukako nodded and wrote in the notepad.
"What the killer's name is," Okuyasu said.
Yukako glared at him. "Yes or no questions," she snapped.
"We can ask whether his name starts with a particular hiragana," Koichi suggested. "There's no guarantee the ghosts will know his name, but if they do we could go through all the characters and spell it out."
Yukako tossed her head side to side, then wrote on the notepad. "Okay. What else?"
"Whether he has distinguishing features. If so, we can go through a list of possible features, like Koichi suggested," Josuke said. He was torching a vaguely circular clay bit over Litwik's flame.
Yukako hummed. "It's a bit subjective, but alright." She wrote on the notepad. "Let's see. Scars, moles, birthmarks, glasses? That should be a separate question, I think." She busily scratched on the notepad.
"Whether he lives in a particular neighborhood," Okuyasu suggested. Yukako nodded and continued scribbling.
Josuke experimentally spun the clay on the kitchen counter. "Think its dry enough?" he asked the Litwik. It raised its flame higher for a moment and Josuke chuckled. "Yeah, I'll try it now." He spun the clay toy and quickly recited the words to "Happy Birthday."
The rest of the group stared in amazement as Josuke didn't seem to draw breath until the song was complete.
"What was that about?" Okuyasu asked in awe.
Josuke gestured towards the instructions. "It says you have to finish a song before it stops spinning." He gestured at the clay toy. "It's still spinning, I did the ritual right."
Yukako picked up the instructions and glanced at the Baltoy section. She glanced up at the still spinning clay. "How will we know if it worked?"
The toy bumped against Josuke's hand. "Balllllltoy," the toy said.
"It worked," Josuke said cheerily. He presented the back of his hand to the Baltoy, as if offering a fist bump. The Baltoy spun against his hand, and settled into a more relaxed spin.
"Litwikkkkkkk," the candle said to it.
"Toy!" the toy cheered back.
Koichi chuckled. "Aww, they seem happy."
Jotaro set down his partially carved wooden toy. "What's next?"
Yukako quickly counted the pokémon. "We're missing Yamask," she said.
Koichi groaned. She raised an eyebrow at him and he straightened up reflexively. "We tried it before you got here," he said.
"Well, let's try it again," she said. "Show me how it's done."
Koichi led her back to the parlor and switched the radio on. It was now playing a relaxing song, maybe a lullaby. "You pick up a mask and dance any partner dance, for a full song."
Jotaro picked the discarded oni mask out of the supply box and demonstrated. His Klefki hovered behind the oni mask, dipping and swaying in time with Jotaro's non-existent partner.
"It doesn't have to match the music?" Yukako asked skeptically, rereading the Yamask section of the instructions.
"It doesn't say that," Josuke answered. Yukako huffed as the lullaby wound to a close.
Jotaro held the mask out to her. She took it and held it in front of her. The radio started playing another lullaby. "This is a weird station," Yukako complained as she took a few graceful steps in a circle.
"Too late to change it," Josuke said. "I think."
Yukako held the mask in one hand, put the other above her head, and twirled. Her Mimikyu chattered encouragement from its perch atop the decorative railing of the stairs.
She spun around the room, ballerina-like but thoroughly dispassionate. When the song ended she stood stock-still, then dropped the mask when it was clear it wasn't doing anything.
She stalked across the room and snapped the radio to another channel. It was playing an upbeat song. Josuke pointed at Koichi. "Hey, you've gotta show Yukako those moves you were busting out earlier!"
Koichi huffed, his cheeks immediately reddening, but he picked the vampire mask out of the supply box and repeated his earlier performance. Yukako stared at this with an unreadable expression. When the song ended Koichi passed the mask off to Okuyasu and tried to bury his face in his hands.
"Not very traditional," Yukako commented. Koichi mumbled some sort of agreement. "Was it fun?" Yukako asked.
Koichi glanced at her out of the corner of his eye while Okuyasu began jumping around and flailing the arm not holding the mask to a disco song. "Yeah. I guess so."
"Then you should teach it to me," Yukako said. "And I'll teach you how to waltz. Of course."
"Of course," Koichi sighed. "So, what are we going to do if we can't get this Yamask one to work? Will we able to complete the seance?"
"Yes, but some of our questions won't be answered," Josuke said. "And that's no good, because the point of doing the seance is to get the answers."
The disco song ended with Josuke considering the Frankenstein and werewolf masks for his turn. As he settled on the werewolf mask, he looked up to find Okuyasu still holding the vampire mask and staring intently into its eyes. Its glowing red eyes.
"Oh! Hey, nice job, Okuyasu," Josuke said, putting the werewolf mask back. "That's the last one."
Okuyasu shuddered and dropped the hand holding the mask. The mask continued to hover in midair. "Right. So. We're done? We can talk to the ghosts now?"
"At midnight," Josuke answered. "Really soon."
"Do you think the spirit helpers will stay after the seance?" Yukako asked, watching the Mimikyu and Yamask throw popcorn at each other. The pokémon had spent the remaining time before the seance playing with one another and using the humans as large playground sets.
Koichi tickled the Sinestea, which giggled and flew to hide under Yukako's hair. "I hope so, they're really cute." His face fell. "But I'd hate to be keeping them from wherever they're supposed to be…"
"If they stick around, we can ask Reimi about them. They could be trapped spirits already, like her and her dog," Josuke suggested.
"Guys, its almost midnight, we should be getting ready," Okuyasu warned. Josuke rolled his eyes, but started rounding the pokémon up.
"We sit in a circle, right?" Koichi asked. He sat on the floor and cupped his hands together. The Sinestea emerged from its hiding spot and nestled into his hands. Yukako sat next to him, her Mimikyu swinging itself into the partially formed circle.
Jotaro sat next to Koichi. Josuke herded the Klefki, Yamask, and Baltoy into the circle, the Klefki nearly colliding with Okuyasu's head while he was sitting down. Josuke scooped up his Litwik and gently set it in the circle when he joined.
A grandfather clock in the hall began chiming midnight. "So, do we just ask the questions now?" Koichi asked.
The Mimikyu briefly glowed, and a disembodied voice answered. "Yes."
Koichi startled. "Oh!" He looked to Josuke. "Hey, I think it's working!"
Josuke reached for Yukako's notepad. "I think so too. So! Hey, spirits. Does the killer have a Stand?"
The Litwik glowed, and the same voice answered. "Yes."
"Can we ask what kind of Stand?" Okuyasu asked Josuke.
The Litwik glowed again and the voice answered. "You already know the answer."
Okuyasu jumped in surprise. Jouske laughed a little at him.
Jotaro leaned forward. "Does the killer use his stand to commit the murders?"
The Sinestea glowed, and stayed glowing for longer than the others had. After a while the voice answered "Yes" and the glow dissipated.
The group was quiet for a moment.
"We kind of need to know," Josuke said. "Give me a minute." He steepled his fingers together. "Is it a Stand similar to any of ours?"
The Klefki glowed, and stayed glowing.
The humans exchanged glances.
"Time will tell," said the disembodied voice as the glow dissipated.
"Oh, come on, what kind of answer is that?" Josuke huffed.
The Baltoy glowed. "That is not something the spirits can tell you."
"Do harder questions take you longer to answer?" Yukako asked.
The Baltoy glowed again. "Yes."
Josuke consulted the notepad. "Does the killer's name start with (a)?"
The Sinestea glowed. "This is not something the spirits can tell you."
Jotaro frowned. "Does that mean you don't know the killer's name?"
The Yamask glowed. "Yes."
The group sighed. Josuke tapped the notepad. "Do the spirits know about the killer's distinguishing features?"
His Baltoy glowed again. "No."
The group grumbled. "How about how killer dresses?" Yukako asked, obviously growing frustrated.
The Klefki glowed. "No."
"Where he lives?" Koichi asked hopefully.
His Sinestea glowed. "No."
The group deflated. "Can you tell us anything useful?" Okuyasu grumbled.
The Mimikyu glowed. "Time will tell."
"Well this was super helpful," Josuke muttered.
Yukako threw up her hands. "All that trouble we went to, and we hardly got any information about the killer! Will we be able to do another seance later to ask about new leads or new theories we have?"
Her Mimikyu glowed again. "Time will tell."
"The point of asking you is to know now!" she shouted.
Koichi held up a hand as if to calm her. "Hey, Reimi didn't know a whole lot about the killer either, and she was able to volunteer information without us having to ask. Maybe we should ask them about something else while we think of a good question. You know, regular seance stuff."
Josuke snorted. "Like what? Does my dad love me?"
His Litwik glowed. "Yes."
Josuke's eyes went wide. "Oh. Uh. Thanks."
Yukako tapped a finger against her chin. "Does Koichi love me?"
The Baltoy glowed for a while. "Ask your friend."
Yukako blushed and looked away.
"Should I buy a lottery ticket tomorrow?" Okuyasu asked excitedly.
The Sinestea glowed. "No."
Okuyasu pouted.
"Is Echoes going to get stronger?" Koichi asked.
The Klefki glowed. "Yes." Koichi grinned.
"Will the spirit helpers stay with us after the seance?" Jotaro asked.
The Yamask glowed. "Yes."
"Will the spirit helpers be able to help us catch the killer?" Josuke asked.
The Yamask glowed again. "Time will tell."
"I guess that means you'll try?" Josuke asked.
All the pokémon glowed at once. "Yes!"