Acrobatic Silky Arc

## Arc Chronology

The **Acrobatic Silky Arc** is the second story arc of the *Dandadan* manga series.

Following their battle with the Turbo-Granny, Momo and Okarun find themselves having to search for the latter's missing kintama after the Turbo-Granny had stolen and lost them before her defeat. In the midst of their search, the two are confronted by another yokai known as Acrobatic Silky who is after Aira Shiratori, a girl from their school who is in possession of one of Okarun's kintama.

## Synopsis

### Missing Kintama

After having a pleasant conversation with each other on their way to class, Momo and Okarun become eager to talk again and immediately try to look for one another during lunch. However, the two find themselves having no luck in their search as they continue to roam around the school. While sitting down on a bench outside, Okarun comes to the conclusion that Momo is intentionally trying to avoid him and starts to feel depressed (unaware that Momo is sitting on a bench on the opposite side from him and is starting the feel the same way). As he is about to walk away sulking, Okarun finally reunites with Momo after accidently bumping into her as she starts walking away from her seat. After the two clear the air about how both were looking for each other, which makes them feel relief that one was not trying to avoid the other, Momo is spotted by her friends in shock after they witness her bumping into Okarun on the lips, making them think they kissed. Momo and Okarun become embarrassed by this and deny their allegation, which leads to them arguing after throwing insults at each other and leaving not wanting to talk to one another again. As he uses the bathroom, Okarun thinks to himself that he should apologize to Momo for what he said and shockingly looks down to realize that his kintama is missing from his groin.

While in class, Momo faces embarrassment from her friends and classmates about her earlier incident with Okarun and finds her situation worsening after Okarun barges in to tell her of his dilemma. Being too irritated to talk to him at the moment, Momo demands to Okarun to leave her be, which causes him to assume that she is embarrassed to be friends with him. After Okarun leaves feeling depressed, Miko notes to Momo that she was behaving rather differently from her usual self if Okarun was truly her friend. After school ends, Momo feels bad for how she acted towards Okarun and soon catches him talking to a girl he accidently bumped into. As the girl passes by her, Momo overhears her conversing with her friends on how she played with Okarun's feelings by being nice to him and continues to taunt him. Furious with her, Momo uses her powers to drop a basin on the girl's head, much to the girl's friends' shock and confusion as to how it happened and joins back with Okarun to happily request that he accompany her home. While passing by the girl and her friends, Momo glares and snarks at her for treating Okarun badly.

After apologizing to Okarun for her rude behavior earlier, Momo learns of his problem about his kintama missing and reacts in laughter by the time they arrive at her house. Seiko on the other hand berates Okarun for not allowing her to check his condition like she wanted to during his last visit and proceeds to now examine his body with a mirror. Once finished, Seiko discovers that "something" is inside of him and makes preparations to extract it out by using a harisen, a bowl of water, a maneki-neko and talisman. Using the harisen, Seiko smacks Okarun over the head and asks Momo if she had noticed anything strange within him at the moment, to which she Momo lets her grandmother know that she had noticed that the color of Okarun's aura had changed. Seiko then instructs Momo to use her powers to pull out the aura the moment it changes again with her fan. After doing so, the three become shocked to see the maneki-neko doll ending up coming to life after it starts to run away from them. Using her powers, Momo restrains the doll and learns from Seiko that it is the Turbo-Granny who had secretly slipped into Okarun's body at the last minute before being completely exorcised to plot her revenge against them. Okarun hears from her that she is willingly to tell him where his kintama are but demanded that he kill Momo and Seiko in exchange. This demand then causes Okarun to become furious with her and unintentionally unleashing the Turbo-Granny's power that has separated from the yokai due to only her consciousness being extracted out of him, giving indication to the Turbo-Granny that she is helpless against them. Though they were enemies, Momo makes a deal with the Turbo-Granny in that she will give her back her powers if she helps her and Okarun find his kintama. The Turbo-Granny accepts but unfortunately tells them that she had lost them in the midst of her defeat.

Momo and Okarun go out to look for the kintama but end up failing to find them. The Turbo-Granny speculates that either a spirit or a yokai must have taken them due to them being attracted to the golden layer of powerful spiritual energy covering the kintama.

### Acrobatic Silky's Assault

The next day at school, Okarun is approached by a male classmate who becomes interested in meeting Momo and hears from him that there is a rumor going around that she is behaving inappropriately. Upon hearing this, Okarun accidently lets the Turbo-Granny's powers slip out from being angry with him but soon apologizes after regaining his composure. After taking a seat at his desk, Okarun becomes shocked to see the Turbo-Granny appearing out of his backpack with delight to see him having a problem maintaining her powers and runs out of the classroom to prevent anyone from noticing the doll spirit. He is then met by Momo and tries to tell her that the Turbo-Granny is here at their school but finds himself becoming too flustered to look at her face after remembering how the male classmate made him acknowledge Momo being cute, which then leads to him having to run away from her in panic and Momo having to chase after him in confusion. Later, Momo talks to Miko about her being angry with Okarun for trying to avoid her and is informed by her that she had heard that Okarun stood up for her when a classmate started to speak badly about her, which only made Momo more confused as to why he was trying to avoid her.

Meanwhile, Aira Shiratori, the girl Momo dropped a basin on for toying with Okarun yesterday, walks the halls taking great pride in her beauty as the boys at school start to gawk at her, while also remembering how she started the vicious rumor about Momo, having became aware that she was responsible for the accident yesterday and views her as devil after getting a glimpse of her manifested powers at the time. She then pulls out one of Okarun's kintama that she came across yesterday, which she believes is a "holy ball" and a sign that she is tasked with saving the world. With help from her friends, Aira manages to acquire the necessary items for her plan that she plans to execute after school. She then points out to her friends a woman in red outside but hears from them that the woman is invisible to them, making her come to the conclusion that the woman is Momo's familiar.

During lunch, the Turbo-Granny reveals herself to Momo and informs her and Okarun that she spotted a strange woman at school that may be connected to Okarun's missing kintama but tells them that she will give out her whereabouts after school. Before they can continue on with their search around the school, Momo is approached by Aira to talk in private. To avoid engaging in any conflict with her, Momo to talk to her at another location and tells Okarun to search without her. As the two girls shift locations, Okarun is told by the Turbo-Granny that she recognizes Aira. After following Aira to an abandoned warehouse, Momo is jumped by Aira's friends who restrain her with a zip tie, followed by Aira trying to exorcise her with a bible and a cross, much to her irritation. After using her powers to push the girls off of her, Momo finds out that Aira has one of Okarun's kintama after she pulls it out presuming that it will help defend against her powers; prompting Momo to try to explain to her what the ball actual is. Momo then sees Okarun rushing in looking for her and informs him that Aira has one of his kintama, which made her come to the conclusion that she is the strange woman the Turbo-Granny was talking about earlier. However, Okarun alerts her that Aira is actual the target of the strange woman. At the same time, the strange woman instantly appears to grab Aira and declares to her that she is her mother.

Okarun enters his Turbo-Granny form to try and save Aira from the strange woman but is unable to lay a finger on her as she possesses acrobatic movements. The strange woman then swallows Okarun, kicks Momo away after she tries to save him, and begs for Aira to call her "mother" like she did the last time they met ten years ago. After getting back on her feet, Momo is informed by the Turbo-Granny that the strange woman is a yokai known as Acrobatic Silky and witnesses her swallowing Aira after the girl behaves rudely to the yokai. Blaming Momo for Aira's misbehavior, Acrobatic Silky furiously starts to attack her with her manipulated hair. Momo then hears Acrobatic Silky's willingness to forgive her if she calls her "mother" but refuses, resulting in Acrobatic Silky swallowing her and asking herself in tears as to where her child is. Noticing that Acrobatic Silky swallowed her hair as well, the Turbo-Granny tells her to release the children from her stomach since she knows that Momo will use Aira's cross lighter to set the yokai's hair on fire but sees that it is too late for Acrobatic Silky as she starts to panic from her body being engulfed in flames. After she vomits out the three children, Momo and Okarun prepare themselves for a counterattack against Acrobatic Silky.

While in his Turbo-Granny form, Okarun carries the unconscious Aira in his arms and follows Momo's instructions in letting Acrobatic Silky chase him around the warehouse. After catching up to him, Acrobatic Silky kicks Okarun away and comes in to capture Aira. However, Acrobatic Silky becomes unable to reach her after realizing that her permed hair, caused by the fire Momo started, became stuck to the things it latched onto while chasing Okarun, which Momo reveals that she had planned for this. Seeing Acrobatic Silky trying to release herself from the trap, Momo uses her powers on the yokai's feet to restrain her while Okarun resorts to launching himself to bring her down.

### Nirvana

With Acrobatic Silky defeated, Momo and Okarun retrieve the kintama from Aira while she is still out cold. The two then become shocked to learn from the Turbo-Granny that Aira is actually dead as a result of being swallowed by a yokai and desperately try to revive her. Wanting to help bring her back, Acrobatic Silky stands back on her and offers to give her aura to Aira, since a living being needs one in order to stay alive, and rips off her mouth to assure them that she will not try to eat her. While having Okarun on standby in his Turbo-Granny form in case she tricks them, Momo decides to go along with Acrobatic Silky's plan and is instructed to use her powers to make the transfer, which results in her seeing into Acrobatic Silky's tragic past and how she met Aira.

The transfer becomes as success as Momo and Okarun see Aira waking up. Due to being absent of an aura, Acrobatic Silky begins to crumble away, which the Turbo-Granny noted would end up having her existence erased. While crumbling, Acrobatic Silky apologizes to Aira for her actions and expresses her regret for not being there for her actual daughter. Feeling pity for the yokai, Aira hugs Acrobatic Silky and tells her that she loves her as a mother, causing Acrobatic Silky to pass over into the afterlife. Seeing this, Momo hopes that Acrobatic Silky and her daughter live peacefully in a better place.

## Story Impact

* This arc introduces Aira Shiratori, who will serve as Momo and Okarun's first ally at school. Ririna also made her first appearance, though her name doesn't get revealed until the Evil Eye Arc by Kei-san. She would later play a prominent role in helping Momo get a job at Moe Moe Kikoho.
* This arc introduces the second yokai Momo and Okarun meet: Acrobatic Silky.
* Okarun discovers that his kintama are missing, leading to a series of events as he searches for them.
	+ After gaining the ability to see spirits from coming into contact with Okarun's kintama, Aira develops a chuunibyou-like personality. This side to her eventually disappears after the Evil Eye Arc.
* Okarun retains possession of the Turbo-Granny's power.
	+ Okarun comes up with the idea of using the Turbo-Granny's power to launch himself at his opponent as an attack.
* The Turbo-Granny becomes the first boarder of the Ayase house.
* Momo's grandmother's name is revealed to be Seiko.
* Okarun starts to show signs that he is attracted to Momo after a classmate points out to him that she is cute.
* Aira spreads a false rumor about Momo that causes Okarun to become mad at a classmate after he brings it up.
	+ Aira would eventually reveal to her classmates that she was the one responsible for the lie, which resulted in her popularity being tarnished.
* The Turbo-Granny's ability to invite luck as a maneki-neko doll takes its first effect by helping Momo escape from Acrobatic Silky's stomach.
* It is revealed that a non-paranormal human will die if they are swallowed by a yokai.
* More information about aura is revealed.
	+ To living things, an aura is akin to a battery that keeps the heart functioning.
	+ Yokai who are without an aura will end up crumbling away into nothingness and will have their entire existence erased from the minds of both the living and the dead if they still have any lingering regrets.
* The Turbo-Granny reveals that a yokai can only achieve Nirvana if they don't have any lingering regrets.
	+ Aira helps Acrobatic Silky achieve Nirvana by embracing her and acknowledging her as her mother.
* Momo learns from Acrobatic Silky that she can use her psychokinesis to help transfer auras into others if willing and does so with Acrobatic Silky who offers her aura to a deceased Aira in order to revive her.
	+ Momo also experiences her power to view into people's memories for the first time through this process.
	+ Aira is revived after being transferred Acrobatic Silky's aura, resulting in her gaining the yokai's powers that will help her fight against potential threats.