Walking into the Foxes' Den

It was dead of night when Kazuya and Inuko arrived at their destination – a nightclub in the Roppongi district, Foxtails, surrounded by many other shady establishments such as pachinko and massage parlours. The club’s title banner was illuminated in blue and purple electric lights, a fox depiction embracing the letters with its nine tails.

“Wow, this is what I call hiding in plain sight,” Inuko, Kazuya’s half-dog-yōkai partner, muttered, staring at the banner. “This whole area stinks of foxes. It must be because of the Inari Woods nearby as well.”

The mention of the Inari Woods reminded Kazuya of their failure in the late politician Fuyuki Nobara’s case that day. His nostrils flared. He got out of the car, the pistol with magical bullets in his pocket.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice grim.

Inuko got out and followed him. They showed the guards their verification cards, proving they were older than twenty, and entered the nightclub, their muscles tense. They knew they were walking straight into the enemy den, and they’d already given away their identities. But they didn’t care. As a dog yōkai loyal to Thunder God Raijin, Inuko wanted to punish the foxes for their crimes. And Kazuya had personal matters to settle with the Kagenashi Clan’s heir-apparent, Yukihiro.

He bewitched Kasane. He thought, remembering his older sister’s affair with Yukihiro, the grandson of their parents’ murderer, Genzaburō Kagenashi, or so he believed. I’ll shoot his brains out, damn it! He frowned. I’m tired of holding back.

The nightclub was crowded and noisy. Young adults, both humans and yōkai, were dancing to their heart’s content under the colourful lights. A kitsune barman was serving strange drinks at the counter, where several youngsters were flirting. The crimson smoke of foxfire filled the hall, spreading the fragrance of burning spider lilies. It was especially abundant on the second floor, where shady figures in black suits and sunglasses supervised the club. They were the kitsune thugs of the Kagenashi Clan.

The techno music banged in the hall. Inuko was irritated because her ears were sensitive to loud noise. Her snarls intensified.

“Lowly foxes…” She eyed the Kagenashi thugs leaning over the bannisters.

Kazuya activated his Absolute Sight and glanced around the hall. He couldn’t see an overly powerful fox aura, which would hint at Yukihiro’s or Genzaburō’s presence. But it didn’t discourage him. He knew the Kagenashi Clan’s headmen could conceal their spiritual trace. He looked at Inuko, his only remaining hope. The dog yōkai could smell a fox or any other creature from miles away.

Inuko sniffed the air, glaring around with her golden, canine eyes, her pupils narrowed. She pricked up her ears as she looked at a black door on the second-floor balcony. She growled.

“I smell two nine-tailed and one five-tailed foxes there,” she cried into Kazuya’s ears to drown the loud music. She pointed to the dark door.

“Two nine-tailed foxes?” Kazuya widened his eyes. As far as he knew, only the main family of the Kagenashi Clan had nine tails. He glowered at the indicated door. Could it be… Is Genzaburō Kagenashi here too? Anger welled up in his heart as his parents’ mutilated bodies resurfaced in his mind. He clutched the pistol in his pocket, the will of vengeance burning through him. He took a deep breath to calm himself and turned to Inuko. “Let’s go!”

Inuko nodded. They elbowed through the crowd, heading towards the stairs. But, as expected, it was labelled “staff-only”, with two bulky guards standing on either side of it.

“Get out of here, punks!” they screeched at Kazuya and Inuko.

Inuko snarled, readying her claws, but Kazuya grabbed her arm, shaking his head. He turned to the guards, who had bared their fangs and claws by now, noticing Inuko’s hostility.

The corners of Kazuya’s lips lowered. He remembered his time at the Police Academy, when Chief Akechi Shinemori witnessed his Absolute Sight Magic, inherited from his late father, Detective Jin Hattori.

“I see you’ve mastered nearly all the components of your magic.” Akechi smiled at the twenty-year-old Kazuya, having reviewed his exam results. “Good job, Hattori! But, as Jin’s friend, I’d advise you not to use this particular skill.” He pointed to a certain word on the paper. “Jin hated it, called it ‘underhanded’. I doubt he’d want his son using it.”

Kazuya drowned this memory. It had no business stopping him now. He looked at the thugs and reactivated his Absolute Sight. His green eyes swirled around his pupils. He gazed beyond the startled fox guards’ sunglasses, straight into their vulpine eyes.

“You will let us pass,” he said icily.

“W-We… will let you pass,” the guards muttered, lowering their hands, their voices stiff.

“You will fall asleep for an hour,” Kazuya added, placing his forefinger to his mouth. “And remember none of this when you wake up.”

Inuko stared at Kazuya in shock. The fox guards dropped on the floor with a bang, barely audible in the loud techno beats. They had fallen asleep. Their motionless bodies seemed almost soulless, giving Inuko goosebumps. Kazuya coldly stepped over them and up the stairs, his eyes reverting to normal. Inuko followed him, her tail almost between her legs from fright. Was this really Hattori Senpai, the warm-hearted detective she knew?

“S-Senpai,” she cried in his ears with her trembling voice to overpower the music, “w-what did you do to them?”

“Hypnosis,” Kazuya replied curtly, walking ahead. He remembered again how Chief Shinemori pointed to that exact word on his exam paper in the Police Academy. His father, Jin Hattori, had only attained a 70% grade in Hypnosis back in his time, while Kazuya had received a 100% mark. “Absolute Sight has more components than just zoom-in or aura detection,” Kazuya told Inuko. “Chief Shinemori didn’t want me to use this power, though. He said my dad didn’t fancy it.”

“No wonder,” Inuko said, clasping her hands in front, her white dog ears slumped. “Y-You were… scary, Senpai. I mean, it sounds like a villain’s power.”

“That’s what my dad thought, too.” Kazuya chuckled, his hand in his pocket. His cold tone gave Inuko the creeps. “But I figured that I don’t want to suppress my powers anymore, especially against these bastard foxes.” Kazuya’s heart sank. I’m sorry, father… I have to do this.

Inuko trembled at Kazuya’s bizarre state, but followed him. They’d come too far to turn back now, although a part of her yearned for it. They advanced through the second floor, and Kazuya hypnotised many other guards, ordering them to let them pass and forget they’d done it. However, he didn’t let any more of them sleep, to avoid drawing attention. Inuko yelped, hardly recognising him as her kind senpai anymore, but kept guarding his back. Soon enough, they approached the curtained door, clear of all kitsune thugs.

Kazuya exchanged glances with Inuko. She nodded, readying her claws, although her canine eyes shimmered with sorrow. Kazuya sighed, guilty of having disappointed her, showing her his ugliest side. But he urged himself on, for his deceased parents’ and Big Sister Kasane’s sake, or so he believed. He pushed the dark door open.

A purple room unfolded before Kazuya and Inuko. Several three-tailed fox yōkai guards roamed about. A round table stood in a corner, where a five-tailed golden fox man and a nine-tailed black fox woman sat, playing cards. At the opposite wall, a giant screen displayed views from hidden cameras all around the nightclub.

Before the screen, in a rolling red velvet armchair, sat one of Kazuya’s nemeses – Yukihiro, the heir-apparent of the Kagenashi Clan. He turned his armchair around, gazing at Kazuya and Inuko. He was dressed in a white suit, like a refined businessman rather than a yakuza heir. His wavy, black hair was tied in a neat ponytail, and a silver ring with an amethyst gem adorned his finger. The pupils in his crimson eyes narrowed to half-moons. He drew on his cigar and exhaled purple smoke with a burning wisteria fragrance. Inuko grimaced with disgust, the stink choking her sensitive, canine lungs.

“So, you finally arrived, Detective Hattori,” Yukihiro said in his deep, seductive voice. A mocking smile formed on his lips. “Pray, what took you so long? – We thought the trail was crystal clear.”

A screechy laugh of the demonic foxes echoed in the room. Kazuya and Inuko flinched, their eyes wide. Kazuya even let go of the pistol in his pocket from shock. During the whole drive here, he had wondered why it was so easy for him and Inuko to track the foxes’ scent. Now, he realised it was a trap laid by Yukihiro Kagenashi. And not only did Kazuya walk into it in a reckless rage, but he brought his junior partner, exposing her to danger… all for his vengeance.