The Fox’s Contract

Aoi backed away until her spine hit the cold wall.
All that existed now was the space between her and Rei Kagami — and that space kept shrinking every second, not because he moved, but because his presence seemed to fill the entire room.

In the mirror behind him, she saw the truth.

Two triangular ears standing proudly on top of his head.
A tail — no, three — lazily swaying in the air as if breathing.
The silver of their fur caught the light from the bulbs and turned it into something unreal, liquid.

But when she looked at Rei directly, all of it disappeared.

Aoi’s throat tightened.

“W-what are you?” she finally managed to say.

Rei’s smile grew wider. Not threatening. Almost… relieved.

“You already know.”

He rose with a grace that did not belong to the human world. No wasted motion. No hesitation. As if gravity itself rearranged itself to accommodate him.

“Kitsune,” Aoi whispered.

Rei tilted his head, amused. “You know your classics. Good. It’ll save us time.”

He took a few steps toward her — not close enough to threaten, just close enough for the air between them to become charged with electricity. Aoi noticed his footsteps made no sound at all.

“Three hundred and eighty-seven years,” he said as casually as talking about the weather. “That’s my age. I watched Tokyo grow from a fishing village into this…” he gestured vaguely toward the window, “thing. I watched shrines decay and people abandon devotion.”

His voice hardened.

“Then I learned to adapt.”

“The fans,” Aoi said. “The ones who lose their memories. That’s you.”

Rei didn’t look away. “Yes.”

No excuse. No justification. Just a direct admission.

“I survive through them.”

He sat back down on the sofa, crossing his legs elegantly. In the mirror, his tails curled around him like protective serpents.

“Divinities feed on emotions,” he explained calmly. “Once, it was prayers. Shrine worship. Fear in the woods. Love in bedrooms.” He gave a bitter smile. “But shrines are empty now. Forests are gone. And love is… well, superficial.”

“So you became an idol.”

“Exactly.”
Rei raised his hand, silver flames dancing around his fingers — cold, not hot. “Stages are the new shrines. Idols are the new gods. And worship…” He closed his fist, extinguishing the flames. “Worship hasn’t changed. It’s just louder.”

He looked at her with something like curiosity.

“I take what I need. No more. Most recover completely within weeks. Compared to what the entertainment industry demands, I am altruistic…”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“And now… what will you do? Write an article? Expose me?” His smile returned, this time joyless. “Who would believe you?”

“Why tell me all of this?”

Rei stood again. This time, he approached until he was less than a meter away. Close enough for her to feel… something. Not a smell. A presence. Like static electricity mixed with ancient incense.

“Because you see through the illusion,” he said simply. “You shouldn’t be able to.”

He reached out — slowly, giving Aoi time to pull back. She didn’t. Something in his gaze held her in place. Not threat.
Fascination.

His fingers brushed her temple, barely a touch.

A shock tore through Aoi.

***

Images.

A burning shrine. Villagers with torches. A young fox fleeing into the night.

Centuries of loneliness. Hunger. Transformation.

Tokyo growing, growing, growing. Neon replacing stars.

Faces. Thousands of faces. Worshippers. Fans. All alike. All empty.

Then a different face. Hers. Aoi, watching Rei on stage — and for the first time, someone who SEES.

***

Aoi stumbled back, gasping. Rei let his hand fall.

“You have onmyoji blood,” he said with certainty. “Distant, diluted — but there.” He tilted his head. “That’s why you can pierce my illusion.”

Aoi touched her temple, trying to process what she had just seen.

“My… my family never—”

“They probably forgot. Or chose to.” Rei shrugged. “Humans are very good at burying what inconveniences them.”

He walked to the window, looking at Tokyo’s lights through the curtains.

“Four years ago, I saw something I wasn’t supposed to,” she said softly. “A producer. An exhausted idol. Something… something that wasn’t normal.”

Rei turned — suddenly focused.

“And after that, my career collapsed. Scandal. Photos. Accusations.” She gave a bitter laugh. “In forty-eight hours, I was finished.”

“Someone silenced you.”

Before Aoi could answer, the room’s lights flickered.

Rei froze. His golden eyes widened.

“Something’s coming.”
He turned to her — urgent. “Run!”

“I’m not going anywhere until—”

The window exploded.

Glass everywhere. Aoi shielded her face with her arms. Rei was suddenly in front of her, pulling her behind him faster than she could even move.

Something entered through the broken window.

Not human. Not really physical. A humanoid shape made of… trash? No. Obsession. Torn posters, broken lightsticks, cracked phones — all held together by something like black smoke that stank of desperation.

The creature had no face. Just a gaping hole where its mouth should have been — and from that hole came a wail like a thousand voices screaming the same name over and over and over.

“An amplifier yurei,” Rei spat. His tails were visible now even without the mirror, raised like blades.

The creature turned its faceless void toward Rei. Then toward Aoi.

And it screamed.

The sound cut through Aoi like a sheet of ice — she collapsed to her knees. Her ears rang. Her skull vibrated.

Rei moved.

Faster than any human could ever be. His hands erupted in silver flames — not heat, but cold, burning cold. He struck the creature dead center — the impact rang like metal on metal.

The yurei staggered back — then counterattacked.

Black wire-like tendrils shot from its body. Rei dodged the first, the second, slashed the third with claws that definitely hadn’t been there a second ago.

But the fourth caught his ankle.

Rei fell. The yurei lunged.

“NO!”

Aoi didn’t think. She grabbed the first thing within reach — a heavy metal lamp — and hurled it with all her strength.

The moment the lamp hit the creature, golden light burst from Aoi’s hand. Not fire. Not cold. Just… light. Pure. Warm.

The yurei screamed — differently this time. From pain.

It released Rei and staggered back, its body smoking where the light had touched.

Rei sprang to his feet — staring at Aoi with absolute shock.

“You… how…”

But there was no time. The yurei, wounded but furious, gathered itself for another attack.

Rei launched forward again. This time, his silver flames were more intense. He struck over and over — side, center, head. Every hit tore pieces off the creature — fragments of posters and plastic that fell to the floor and disintegrated.

The yurei tried to counter — but Rei was everywhere at once. Three tails whipping the air, claws slashing, flames consuming.

Within thirty seconds — it was over.

The yurei collapsed into a heap of debris that quickly turned into black dust. Then even the dust vanished.

Rei straightened slowly. His breathing was normal — he wasn’t even winded. But something in his shoulders was taut with tension.

He turned to Aoi.

“Congratulations on your first purification,” he said slowly.

Aoi stared at her hands. They were trembling. The light had vanished, but she could still feel something. A warmth under her skin. Energy that hadn’t been there before.

“I… I don’t know what I did.”

“You activated your onmyoji blood.” Rei approached, thoughtful. “But that shouldn’t be possible. Not without years of training. Not without—”

He froze. His eyes widened again.

“Give me your hand.”

Aoi hesitated. Rei extended his — palm open.

Slowly, Aoi placed her hand in his.

The reaction was immediate. Violent. Like a circuit slamming shut.

Rei flinched back — dropping her hand as if burned. His face went pale.

“That’s impossible,” he whispered. “It has never happened.”

“What?!” Aoi felt panic rising. “What’s not possible?!”

Rei ran a hand through his hair — a first crack in his perfect calm.

“The Resonance,” he said finally. “You and I… we resonate. Spiritually.”

“What does that mean?”

He looked at her — and for the first time since this madness began, Aoi saw fear in his eyes.

“It means our powers are linking. Mixing.” He clenched his fist. “The more time we spend together, the stronger the exchange becomes.”

“That’s… good news?”

Rei turned away and looked back at her over his shoulder.

“Channeling spiritual power without training is like plugging your body directly into a power plant. It will burn you from the inside out.”

Silence fell. Heavier than before.

Then — voices in the hallway. Rushed footsteps. Security, coming, alerted by the shattered window.

“You have to leave,” he said quickly. “Now. This way.”

He pointed toward a hidden door Aoi hadn’t noticed.

“But—”

“Mizushima-san.” His voice was firm. “That yurei was tracking you. Not me. You. Because you started asking questions.”

He stepped closer and pulled a business card from his pocket.

“Tomorrow. Midnight. This address.”
He placed the card in Aoi’s hand.
“If you want answers — come.”

The voices drew nearer.

He pushed her gently toward the hidden door.

“Congratulations. You’re part of the real Tokyo now. Whether you like it or not.”