"An anonymous requester wants us to find out the interests of a certain ‘Lining dude’… Where have I heard that name before?"
A not-so-anonymous requester enlists the help of Hailey and Usapyon to find out Silver Lining's interests. Unfortunately for him, they run into him and know his manner of writing quite well.
Takes place after both of Hailey's Deadcool quests.
Joke alternate title: "Larimar Writes a Oneshot for Their Comfort Friendship That Barely Has the Comfort Friendship in it"
Originally I wanted this to be part of a longer fic but then I realised that I actually had no idea how I wanted to write it so I finished this as a standalone thing.
Though the sun hadn’t quite set, the lights of Sparkopolis had already turned themselves on, easily lighting the footpaths with their combined light. However, Hailey didn’t need to run down the lit main street anymore — she had access to a whole network of Mirapo, and one was stationed right outsider her detective agency office!
The bell above the Ha-pyon Detective Agency’s front door chimed as Hailey swung it open. Cheerfully, she sang, “Good evening, Whapkins~!”
“Ah, hello again Hailey. A new request came in just a few minutes ago.”
Hailey’s eyes lit up upon hearing the news. “Really?!” She hopped about on the spot as she squealed, “Omigoooosh!! I wonder who it’s from? And what kind of mystery we get to solve?”
Usapyon, who had come in with Hailey and was now standing by her side, told her, “Don’t go countin’ yer chickens before they hatch, it’s probably just another simple request.”
Immediately, Hailey’s bouncing came to a stop. “You’re no fun, Usapyon. It’s been aaaaaaages since we last got a request,” Hailey argued as she spread her arms out, “this could be big!”
Usapyon blinked. “Our last new request was six days ago…?”
“Yeah?? That’s ages!”
Usapyon sighed.
Hailey bounced over to Whapir, who handed a printed-out copy of the new request to her. With a wide smile on her face, she opened it up from its neatly folded state and began to read aloud.
“’From: Anonymous.’ Oooh, an anonymous request! Exciting~!” However, her smile soon faded as she read on, “‘Subject: Lining Dude’s Likes??’, double question marks… ‘I wanna get to know Silly Lining” —she cast an unimpressed glance to Usapyon, who looked back with the same expression— “but I have no idea where to start. Ask him about his interests for me and report back.’”
Hailey was quiet for a moment before she sarcastically commented, “Woooow, I wonder who requested this one.”
“Deadcool didn’t exactly do a very good job makin’ himself anonymous, did he?” Usapyon said, putting his hands on his hips. “And he didn’t do a very good job thinkin’ his request through, either! How in tarnation does he think we’re s’posed to report back to him if he thinks we don’t know who he is?”
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter! Because we do know who he is!” Hailey replied as she swiftly folded the request shut. “So let’s go find Silver Lining for Deddykins!”
“Wait, we’re actually gonna—” Usapyon sighed, then asked, “Alrighty then, how d’ya suppose we find him?”
“Well, he’s probably somewhere in BBQ, right?”
“Yeah, but… where?”
All was silent in the detective agency’s office for a few moments. You’d be able to hear a pin drop, it was so quiet.
“…Anyway, let’s go to BBQ!” With that, Hailey was out the door.
“Wait a minute, ya varmint! Ya didn’t even answer my question!” Usapyon was soon right behind her as she readied herself to hop into the Mirapo stationed right near the front door.
Hailey led the search for Silver Lining by exploring all of St. Peanutsburg in a sort of circular fashion — starting from the top in Northbeech, then going down to Southmond, then further down to Meadowbrooke Farm, and then back through Southmond again to reach East Pine. All on foot, no less. The whole trip had taken her and Usapyon the entire BBQan day.
Hailey was panting by the time she and Usapyon approached the sukiyaki restaurant in East Pine. She put a hand on the restaurant’s outer wall as she bent over from exhaustion.
“We’ve checked… everywhere! Did we miss him somewhere along the way…?” she questioned.
Usapyon, who was a bit out of breath himself, told her, “Y’know… we could’a used the Pocket Mirapo…! Would’a been a lot faster…”
“Oh.” Hailey fished the Pocket Mirapo from out of her pocket and stared at it as she said, “Oh yeah.”
She put it back as she added, “Oh well! I dunno about you but I’m starving. Can we get some sukiyaki?”
Usapyon simply nodded.
With their dinner agreed upon, they headed into the sukiyaki restaurant. With Usapyon’s help with understanding the local dialect, Hailey ordered two bowls of beef sukiyaki — one for the both of them. The chef behind the counter seemed concerned about the order size — reasonable for someone who couldn’t see Yo-kai — but took her order anyway. Hailey and Usapyon then sat down at the table just a few steps away from the counter.
Almost immediately, though, something seemed off.
“Hailey, do ya get the feelin’ we ain’t alone?” Usapyon asked, eyeing his immediate surroundings.
With a smile, Hailey replied, “Well we already know that aliens are real, ‘cause the Droolfather stole that UFO—”
Usapyon paused for a moment as he cast a bewildered glance to his human companion. “Not like that.”
“Oh. …Well, we’re in a restaurant, silly! Of course we’re not alone!”
“A Yo-kai! I meant that there might be a Yo-kai ‘round here!”
“Oh!” Hailey hummed in thought before replying, “Well, it wouldn’t be weird if there was…”
With that, she held up her watch-wearing wrist and started scanning around the table for a Yo-kai. Nothing seemed to show up in her watch’s search light, though.
“Huh, this one’s really good at hiding… It’s probably a Hungramps or something, right?”
“Mmm… I wanna agree wit’ ya, but the aura I’m sensin’ feels a lot stronger than a Hungramps.”
“Huh…” Hailey leaned back in her chair and started scanning around the rest of the restaurant, but again, there wasn’t a Yo-kai to be seen. Other than Usapyon, of course.
“Maybe the Yo-kai’s moving around the restaurant? So if I shine my search light over here…” Hailey shone her watch’s light over to the counter. She held it there for a second before swerving it back towards the wall facing her. A humanoid Yo-kai tensed up in the search light, all according to plan. “Ah-HA! Thought you could get away, did you… Deddykins?!”
The search light faded as Deadcool came into view, seemingly frozen in place. “Girly?! What are you doing here?!” he questioned.
Hailey lowered her arm as she told him, “Me and Usapyon have been looking for Silver Lining, like your request said!” She glanced down at the floor as she added, “We haven’t found him yet, though…”
“Huh? …Uhh… What request?”
Usapyon, now standing up in his chair and peering over the back at Deadcool, said, “The one you sent us.”
“I don’t remember sending you guys a request… You sure it wasn’t someone else…?” the now-profusely sweating Deadcool asked.
“Preeeetty darn tootin’ sure,” Usapyon replied.
“You called Silver Lining ‘Lining dude’ AND ‘Silly Lining’ in it,” Hailey added. “I have the request in my pocket still, I’ll—”
“No, no, it’s okay!!” Deadcool assured her almost hysterically, hands outstretched in front of him. “I…”
“Youuu…?”
“…heard about it from a friend of mine?”
Not even the sounds of the other restaurant-goers eating or the echo of the chef working in the kitchen could ease the awkward tension between the three of them.
“Alright FINE, I admit it! I sent that anonymous request! There, are you happy?” Deadcool blurted out.
Usapyon squinted at him. “It was pretty obvious.”
“I’m happy you told the truth!” Hailey chirped. “So, Deddykins… you wanna get to know Silver Lining, huh?”
“F-For professional reasons,” Deadcool jumped to tell her, seemingly through gritted teeth. “Whining’s a real nagger, you know, so I thought that, uh… if I got him some cool gifts he would want to… nag me less!”
“I see, I see… For ’professional’ reasons, huh? And you want to get him cool gifts?” Putting emphasis on each word, Hailey slowly said, “I don’t suppose the Fs in professional and gifts would mean…” —she slammed both hands on the table— “FRIENDSHIP?”
She decided to ignore Usapyon’s quiet ‘whut…?’ and instead focus on the fact that the amount of sweat pouring down Deadcool’s mask had instantly doubled. Pretty gross, but that must have meant she was right on the mark!
“After you joined Silver Lining’s comedy act while he was inspirited by Fitwit, you realised that you secretly like him, didn’t you? And now you’ve come to us to help you resolve your unresolved platonic tension!”
“Their what?” Usapyon questioned, moreso to himself.
Deadcool, meanwhile, was awkwardly laughing and pulling at the neck of his scarf. “Yeah! Our what? Me and S-Silly Whining? Friends? It’d never happen! I don’t even like him!”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t be trying to find out what he’s interested in, would you?”
Deadcool flinched at that.
Usapyon crossed his arms. “Hailey’s got a point, even if she’s bein’ overly dramatic about it. Why didn’t you want us to know the truth, anyway?”
“’Cause it’s embarrassing!” Deadcool replied. Though still highly-strung, his fidgeting had ceased.
Usapyon hummed in thought and glanced at the restaurant floor for a moment. He looked back up at Deadcool as he told him, “I kinda understand where you’re comin’ from fer once. Fixin’ to make a new friend can be scary, but you just gotta buckle down and face yer fears! Silver Lining don’t seem like a very stand-offish fella to me. You’ll be fine!”
Deadcool was silent. It seemed he was looking down at the floor, based off the slight dip of his head.
“Usapyon’s right, Deddykins! How about you come over to the detective agency later so we can plan?”
“That…” The confidence in Deadcool’s voice came back as he replied, “That sounds like a plan! I’ll see you later, then!”
Hailey waved goodbye as Deadcool vanished from the restaurant in a puff of purple smoke.
As if on cue, the chef came over holding two bowls of sukiyaki. “Uh… Dunno who you were talkin’ to but… here’s yer order…”
Taking the bowls, Hailey replied, “Oh, thank you!”
As soon as Hailey and Usapyon had their fill of sukiyaki, they headed home (with the Pocket Mirapo this time, Usapyon made sure Hailey didn’t forget about it again) and immediately hit the hay. Several hours went by before the KaiNet notification noise pinged, stirring Usapyon from his slumber. He crawled out of his cubby hole, grabbed his Yo-kai Pad and was immediately greeted with the time being almost noon and a DM from Whapir. He unlocked his Yo-kai Pad and opened up the message.
“Sorry to disturb you if you’re sleeping, but please come down to the detective agency as soon as possible. Deadcool has sent me 20 messages asking about you and Hailey’s whereabouts and I doubt he’s going to stop any time soon.”
Sighing, Usapyon muttered, “Right, I almost forgot.” Putting his Yo-kai Pad away, he hopped up onto Hailey’s bed and poked her cheek. “Psst, Hailey, wake up. Deadcool’s been botherin’ Whapir on the ol’ KaiNet.”
Hailey grumbled a little before murmuring, “He has? Oh, that’s not good. Wonder wh—” Her eyes shot wide open as she yelled, “OH RIGHT THE REQUEST!!”
She sprung out of bed, nearly knocking poor Usapyon over, and got ready for the day in a blur. Usapyon took the limited time to send Whapir a quick reply.
Hailey was pulling her cardigan over her shoulders with one hand while grabbing her Pocket Mirapo with the other as she said, “Alright, Usapyon! Let’s head to the detective agency! We can’t keep Deddykins waiting any longer!”
With that, it was just a quick teleport to the detective agency. Hailey dashed inside while Usapyon followed behind at a slightly slower pace.
“Hi!! We’re here now!!” Hailey announced to Whapir.
“Hello, Hailey. I’ll pass that along to Deadcool.” As she began typing on the office laptop, Usapyon could have sworn he heard Whapir mutter something about deleting all the messages Deadcool sent her.
A few moments later, Whapir said, “And done. He should—”
A puff of purple smoke appeared in the room with Deadcool inside. With a wave, he said, “Hey, girly!”
“Hi Deddykiiiiiins! Sorry about the wait, we catching our Zs…”
“Speakin’ of which,” Usapyon asked, “did you get any sleep yourself, Deadcool?”
“What?” Deadcool questioned, looking down at Usapyon. “Of course I did! I had a nap just earlier!”
Glancing away, Usapyon muttered, “Wit’ how many messages you were sendin’ Whapir, I’m sure it lasted real darn tootin’ long…”
“Anyway, take a seat, take a seat!” Hailey chirped, gesturing to one of the chairs by the coffee table. Deadcool did so, wiggling a little to try and get comfortable, while Hailey took the other chair. Usapyon decided to sit next to Hailey on one of her chair’s arms.
“So the first order of business is figurin’ out where to find Silver Lining, right?” Usapyon asked.
“Yeah… I don’t really know his schedule,” Deadcool said. “I know he sometimes goes to the sushi restaurant in New Yo-kai City after patrols, but that wouldn’t be ideal.”
Tilting her head curiously, Hailey asked, “Why not?”
“’Why not?’ If anyone other than you guys see me trying to get to know Whining, the press will explode! I’m not taking that chance!”
“Hmm, okay… Well, let’s skip that for now! I’m not exactly a friend-making pro, but I think it helps to be on good terms! You are on good terms with Silver Lining, right?”
Deadcool hummed in thought. “Well, I’ve known him for years, but it’s been kinda… And the comedy duo thing doesn’t count, he was inspirited…” He was silent as he thought a bit more before saying, “There might be something…”
Eyes immediately lighting up, Hailey let out an inquisitive ‘ooo?’
Tapping the tips of his index fingers together, Deadcool replied, “I may have already gotten Silly Whining one gift…”
Now literally on the edge of her seat, Hailey let out an excited ‘OOOOO??’
“About a week ago… when I was looking around a mall, I… found this sushi plushie… and I bought and gave it to him…”
“OMIGOOOOOSH!!” Hailey threw herself back in her chair and kicked her legs for a couple of seconds, a wide grin all over her face. “Deddykins, that’s sooooo CUTE!”
“Cute?! It’s not cute, shut up! I only bought it because there wasn’t a sukiyaki one.”
“Did he like it??”
“He liked it enough, I think! He didn’t look UN-happy.”
His brow furrowed, Usapyon commented, “A sushi plushie’s a bit basic of a gift for him though, ain’t it?”
Pointing at Usapyon, Deadcool replied, “Exactly! If I wanna get to know Silly Whining, I can’t be giving him such basic, lame gifts!”
After letting out a quiet ‘ohhhh’, Hailey asked, “Is that part of why you sent in the request? You were embarrassed you got him a plushie?”
Deadcool sighed. “Yeah, that too.”
“Aww, it’s okay, Deddykins! If I were him, I’d be super happy you thought of me!”
Usapyon muttered to her, “I’m not saying he wouldn’t be happy to be thought of too, but you and Silver Lining are as different as night and day…”
Either ignoring Usapyon or simply not hearing, Hailey told Deadcool, “But! You’ve already made the first step to becoming BFFs! I think that’s good enough terms to be on!”
“Ya do?!” Usapyon exclaimed.
“Yup! So! Let’s think — if we were Silver Lining, where would we hang out? Apart from the sushi restaurant in New Yo-kai City?”
The three of them hummed in thought, then sat in silence for a few moments.
“What about the sushi restaurant in BBQ?” Hailey suggested. “Little Charrmer was at the tempura restaurant in Springdale when we went to get her to stop you and Silver Lining, maybe he’d be hanging out in a similar place?”
Scratching a cheek with a finger, Usapyon said, “I was thinkin’ he might be out by Grumbler’s Grotto, myself. Whisper told me that he and the others first met both him and Little Charrmer there.”
“THAT’S what you guys are thinking?!” Deadcool questioned. “I was thinking he’d be at that Excellent Tower place near here!”
Hailey stared at Deadcool quietly for a moment before asking, “Excellent Tower? Why do you think he’d be there?”
“Well… it’s tall! And he sure does like to stand on the Yopple building, so…”
“Fair enough!” Hailey chirped. She stood up as she announced, “Now that we’ve got some ideas…” —she jabbed a finger at the front door— “let’s go find Silver Lining!”
The first stop on the trio’s list was Excellent Tower. Almost immediately after warping in front of the tower’s sliding front doors, Hailey caught a glimpse of the Springdale scratch-off booth near the train station and ran off to buy a few tickets. It was a good enough opportunity to see if Silver Lining was atop the tower, Deadcool supposed, and did a quick sweep around it while Usapyon tried to get Hailey back on task. No sign of him there, so he waited in front of the tower’s doors while Usapyon practically dragged Hailey over.
Once the trio had regrouped, they headed inside Excellent Tower to see if maybe Silver Lining was indoors instead. He certainly wasn’t on the ground floor, so they squished into the elevator and headed to the top floor. He wasn’t there either, but Hailey did take the time to point out various locations around Springdale she could spot to Deadcool.
“Ooo, there’s Mount Wildwood! And that’s Gourd Pond Museum over there! And over there’s the school… And oh hey, I think San Fantastico’s over that way!” Hailey jabbered as she darted from one spot to another.
Looking down at Usapyon, who had taken up residence on the floor, Deadcool asked him, “You’re not gonna try to wrangle her this time?”
“My legs need a rest,” Usapyon replied, not moving an inch. His reply got a snicker out of Deadcool.
The next stop was Grumbler’s Grotto, which was an easy trip thanks to the Pocket Mirapo. Deadcool insisted he take the lead exploring the grotto, and his wish was granted thanks to Hailey and Usapyon’s lack of experience exploring it. The Yo-kai living there didn’t bother them at all — most tried to avoid them, if anything.
“Clearly they’ve heard about how super awesome I am and decided that I’m the one exception to their attacking strangers rule,” Deadcool gloated.
“Actually, I think it’s ‘cause Hailey’s made a bunch o’ super strong Yo-kai friends…” Usapyon told him. “They’re probably afraid of gettin’ pummelled by ‘em.”
“Psh, no. I think you’re underestimating how cool I am, little guy!” Deadcool then tripped over a tree root and fell face-first onto the ground.
“…Right.”
There was no sign of Silver Lining in Grumbler’s Grotto either, so the trio headed back to the grotto’s Mirapo (Hailey once again complaining about how stupid it was that the Pocket Mirapo didn’t work in dangerous places, and much to Usapyon’s annoyance, Deadcool joining in) and warped over to their final stop, Northbeech.
The sun was setting over BBQ when they hopped out of the Mirapo near St. Peanutsburg’s city hall. After being caught off-guard by the sunlight and having to take a moment to let their eyes readjust, they dashed over to the sushi restaurant nearby. While Deadcool ran ahead and made it over without breaking a sweat, Hailey and Usapyon had to take a moment to catch their breath once they arrived.
Hailey leaned against the outer wall of the restaurant as she caught her breath. She looked over at Deadcool, who was now peering through the glass doors of the restaurant, as she asked, “Is Silver Lining in there, Deddykins?”
Usapyon waddled over to Deadcool’s side as the latter replied, “Hmm… Uh… Maybe? I dunno, it’s kinda hard to tell through the—”
“You doggone liar!” Usapyon pressed a finger to the door as he said, “He’s right there, plain as day!”
“He is?!” Hailey exclaimed, eyes lighting up. She squished herself up against Deadcool so she too could peer inside the sushi restaurant.
From inside, Silver Lining stared at Deadcool, a pair of chopsticks hovering over a roll of sushi. He smiled a little and waved a moment later.
“Come on, Deddykins, now’s your chance!” Hailey told Deadcool.
“We didn’t spend all darn tootin’ day lookin’ for him just so you could run wit’ yer tail between your legs!” Usapyon added.
Tugging on the neck of his scarf a little, Deadcool replied, “Are you sure, actually? I’m pretty sure he saw you, girly, he probably thinks you dragged me along…”
Hailey cast another glance at Silver Lining. He now had his head cocked, and he seemed to frowning. He glanced away as he put a hand to his chin in thought, then pointed at Deadcool. Judging by the way he tensed up, Deadcool noticed, and he pointed at himself. Silver Lining nodded, once again smiling.
“Go on!” Hailey once again encouraged Deadcool.
Deadcool’s hand hovered in front of a door for a moment before he finally pushed it open. He leaned on the inside of the door frame as he greeted, “Heyyy Whining…! How’s it—… What’s… up?”
“I’m fine… Why are you standing over there?” Silver Lining replied.
Deadcool didn’t respond. He just started sweating.
A small grin on his face, Silver Lining told him, “No need to be shy. You can come sit with me if you’d like!”
As Deadcool edged over to Silver Lining’s table, Hailey whispered, “You can do it!” She then stuck a foot out in front of the door to stop it from shutting, completely forgetting that doing so would hurt.
“So what brings you here?” Silver Lining asked once Deadcool had taken a seat. “I thought you were more of a sukiyaki person.”
“I am!! I just, uh…” Deadcool paused for a few moments before finishing, “…I was just wondering about something.”
“Oh? Then by all means, ask away!”
“Uh…” After a couple of moments of complete silence, Deadcool looked over his shoulder at Hailey, who just gave him a large smile and a thumbs up. He let out a quiet whine.
Glancing between Deadcool and Hailey and Usapyon, Silver Lining said, “I can ask them to leave, if you’d like.”
“No, no, no no no no no!” Deadcool hurried to reassure him. “It’s fine! I, uh… Gimme a second.”
He turned 90 degrees in his seat, a hand on his forehead and sweat pouring down his mask as he hunched over and started frantically muttering to himself. He did this for a few seconds before he turned back to Silver Lining. “Okay!! I was wondering… J-Just out of curiosity! …I was wondering what… what kind of stuff you’re interested in…?”
Silver Lining blinked. “Is that all? I’d be happy to tell you!”
Deadcool let out a sigh of relief.
Silver Lining grabbed a roll of sushi with his chopsticks and held it out towards Deadcool. “Would you like some?” he offered.
“Nah.”
Silver Lining set the sushi roll back down as he began, “Hmm, where to begin… Oh! I’m not usually one for comics, but there is this one series I was introduced to a few decades back…”