The Confrontation

“What, you’ve swallowed your tongues?” Yukihiro chuckled, watching the startled Kazuya and Inuko. He took another drag of his cigar and exhaled some more purple smoke of burning wisteria, making Inuko cough. He addressed Kazuya, smiling, “I know I laid the path for you, but you came of your own free will. So, what’s the reason for your gracious visit?”

His underlings, including the nine-tailed black fox woman and five-tailed golden fox man at the table, laughed. Inuko bared her fangs, growling at them like a cornered dog. Kazuya frowned, seething with rage at Yukihiro’s jabs. He dug his hand into his pocket, whipped out his pistol, and pointed it at the kitsune yakuza heir.

“You killed Fuyuki Nobara, didn’t you?” He snarled, asking about his failed case with the deceased politician. “Don’t lie to me! I know it was you. We were in the abandoned garage, and foxfire traces were everywhere. Miss Takeda even smelled Mr Nobara’s blood!” He pointed to Inuko beside him, who nodded gravely. “You tortured him, didn’t you?” Kazuya shouted at Yukihiro, who kept smiling. It made Kazuya’s blood boil. He loaded his gun with a click of his thumb. “I’m serious, damn it!”

Seeing that Yukihiro was threatened, his three-tailed underlings encircled the two detectives, their faces grim. The nine-tailed black fox woman snarled, unfolding her purple fan with built-in venomous knives. The five-tailed golden fox man stood up and cracked his knuckles, readying his claws. Inuko growled at all of them, her ears and tail upright. Kazuya glanced at the incoming foxes, but then set his eyes on Yukihiro again. He clutched his gun more tightly.

Yukihiro raised his pale, clawed hand, making his three-tailed underlings stop. He looked at the black and the golden foxes.

“Hikari, Kurone, please restrain the half-breed!” he commanded. “I have to deal with the boy.”

The golden fox man, Hikari, and the black fox woman, Kurone, jumped to the startled Inuko and grabbed her arms.

“No, let go of me!” Inuko barked, struggling against their grip.

She activated her Lightning Magic and tried to zap them, but Hikari emitted light that consumed her lightning, while Kurone’s black flame burned her arm. Inuko yelped in pain.

“Miss Takeda!” Kazuya cried, his heart stinging with guilt. He knew Inuko had gotten hurt because of his reckless decisions. He glared at Yukihiro. “Tell them to stop, or I’ll shoot!”

“Go ahead!” Yukihiro smiled. He stood up from his armchair and approached Kazuya with measured steps, one hand in his pocket. He stopped before Kazuya’s pistol, so that it touched his chest. He raised his eyebrows at the bewildered Kazuya. “Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot!”

Kazuya stared at him, gobsmacked. What kind of mockery was this? Everyone knew the guns of the Paranormal Department contained magical bullets crafted from the dragon god Dairyū’s scales, which were lethal for yōkai. How was Yukihiro Kagenashi not afraid? Or did he think he wouldn’t shoot? – Kazuya’s blood boiled. His rage over losing his older sister, Kasane, to this manipulative freak, and his grief over losing his parents to these beastly foxes, erupted at once.

“You asked for it, bastard!” he shouted.

He pulled the trigger. A thunderous shot echoed. Then silence. The three-tailed foxes turned pale, but Hikari and Kurone were barely startled. Overall, it wasn’t the reaction one would expect from yakuza thugs losing their headman.

Kazuya’s arm shook from the backlash. He steadied it with his other hand and stared at Yukihiro. A wet red spot had appeared on the latter’s white suit – the stains of blood from his chest. But he was still alive. He had only twitched an eye when the bullet landed, as though a flea had bitten him. Now, he drew on his cigar languidly.

Inuko watched the scene, wide-eyed. How was Yukihiro still alive?! She glanced at Kazuya. He was trembling, and his nostrils were flaring.

Why isn’t he dead?! Kazuya glared at Yukihiro, frightened and enraged in equal measure. The bullet has pierced his heart. He should’ve died!

“Well, you shot me,” Yukihiro said calmly. “What will you do next?”

Purple foxfire appeared on his chest wound, emitting the fragrance of burning wisteria. His wound healed, and the bloodstains vanished from his suit. Inuko coughed, irritated by the pungent smell. Kazuya stared at Yukihiro in a daze, sweat coming off his brow. He lowered his gun, hopeless. He had planned to kill this beast in his den, but he failed, for some miraculous reason, as though fate itself laughed at him. Now, both he and his partner, Inuko, were in grave danger, surrounded by these foxes.

Yukihiro didn’t hurry to kill them, though. He pricked his claws through the bullet hole in his suit and took the bloody bullet out of his chest, after which his foxfire mended the hole too. Yukihiro held the bullet between his purple claws and eyed it closely, his pupils dilating with fascination.

“Dairyū Ōji no Kami-sama’s scales, huh?” he muttered. “Back in the day of our founder, Ginrei, people forged only swords out of Dairyū’s scales. Humans invent many new toys, thinking it’ll help their trifling existence.” He chuckled. He wiped his blood off the bullet with a handkerchief and threw it in an ashtray on a small table next to his armchair. He turned back to the trembling Kazuya. “You wonder why it didn’t kill me, hmm? – Well, my family and I are immune, just like your friend there.” He pointed to Inuko, who gasped. Yukihiro drew on his cigar and exhaled some purple smoke, smiling at Kazuya. “You see, a kami can’t kill another kami’s guardians.”

“What the hell are you saying?” Inuko barked at him, her pupils narrowing to slits. “How can murderous freaks like you be Inari’s guardians? Only she can be the foxes’ patron, and she’s a goddess of fertility!”

“Well, just like you, white dogs, kill ‘in the name of Raijin’, so do we, white foxes, kill ‘in the name of Inari’.” Yukihiro chuckled. He pushed his fading cigar into the ashtray. “You see, our founder, Ginrei, was once a peaceful white fox, protecting the area known nowadays as ‘Inari Woods’.” The corners of his lips lowered. His crimson eyes flickered with sorrow. “That was in the era of peace, when Inari’s shrine stood tall in the forest. Then, wars broke out among humans, and large areas of the forest were burned. That’s why it has dead trees now.”

“That’s no excuse to kill people!” Inuko growled. “We, Raijin’s dogs, never harm humans! We only protect our territories and punish malevolent yōkai.”

“Let me finish!” Yukihiro glared at her.

Kurone, the black fox woman, placed the knife of her fan at Inuko’s throat, so she wouldn’t dare interrupt again. Inuko yelped and shut her mouth, although she glared at her captors defiantly. Yukihiro smiled at the restored order.

“The fire consumed the Inari shrine, but that wasn’t all,” he said. “During the warring era, samurai established a heretic tradition of killing Inari’s guardian foxes. Whoever managed to kill one was regarded as a ‘conqueror of gods’. So, the whole clan of the Inari Woods’ foxes was exterminated.” His smile vanished again. He teared up, as if he were revisiting his own past rather than his ancestors’. His voice sank. “Only the smallest pup, Ginrei, survived. He swore to protect the remnants of the Inari Woods and make humans pay for their crimes. So, he established the Kagenashi Clan when he grew up. As his descendants, my grandfather and I are guardian foxes, upholding his creed.” He eyed his silver ring with the amethyst gem, the testament of his divine lineage. “We adopt the kitsune who have no home, and punish humans and yōkai who challenge us.”

He sighed and wiped the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief. His underlings, including Hikari and Kurone, watched him with compassion. Kazuya’s eye twitched, confused for a moment by Yukihiro’s vulnerability. But he drowned this feeling. These beasts’ sob stories were no excuse for killing his parents or manipulating his sister.

Inuko frowned, troubled by her feelings. A part of her began to understand Yukihiro’s motivation for killing Fuyuki Nobara. After all, that politician had threatened to cut down a part of the Inari Woods to build hotels. If Yukihiro was a guardian fox as he claimed, and if there was a destroyed Inari shrine in those woods, it was natural for him to keep protecting it. Inuko’s mother, Raihi, also protected the Raijin shrine near their home with her fellow white dogs. But Inuko believed that killing people for it was extreme.

“But I digressed too much,” Yukihiro broke the silence again. He pointed his clawed forefinger at Kazuya. “Let’s talk about you! You’re not here to seek justice for some politician, are you?” He grinned, showing his sharp fangs. “Admit it, Detective Hattori! You’re here because your sister chose me as her intimate friend.”

Inuko gasped, looking at Kazuya in dismay. So, his sister was dating Yukihiro Kagenashi?! And he was here because of that?!

“Hattori Senpai…” she muttered, tears coming to her eyes. I thought you brought me here to seek justice for the victims! Not this…

Yukihiro glanced at Inuko, his smile deepening. He pitied the poor half-breed, manipulated by her human colleague. Humans might speak of justice, but in truth, they were selfish creatures.

Kazuya’s blood shot up to his temples. He dashed to the grinning Yukihiro and tugged at his tie, glaring into his crimson eyes.

“How dare you mention Kasane, you bastard?!” he shouted. “I don’t care if my bullets don’t work, I’ll find another way! I’ll kill you and your grandfather if it’s the last thing I do!”

The foxes laughed, while Inuko’s heart sank. She had always looked up to Hattori Senpai as a hero, but it seemed the reality was different. He was just a vengeful man.