The Family Idyll Interrupted

“Oh, Auntie, it’s delicious!” Kasane smiled at Nene after tasting her ramen. “I have your recipe, but I can never make it as good as you!”

“You’re too kind!” Nene Kagurayama blushed at the praise. “The vegetables you crafted made it tasty. I couldn’t find such flavourful ingredients in any market!”

“Come on, cooking skills are far more important than the ingredients!” Kasane turned red.

Nene’s husband, Dragon God Dairyū, and their son, Kenzō, had no time to talk. They guzzled their ramen like hungry dragons, dropping their human act altogether. Nene’s father, Hiroto, and his sister-in-law, Rin, ate delicately. Both of them complimented Nene on her cooking skills. Kazuya was delighted as well.

Auntie Nene’s ramen is supreme. He thought, stuffing the slices of pork and juicy noodles in his mouth. All my worries are washed away when I eat her dishes.

He glanced at his girlfriend and colleague, Inuko. She was wagging her fluffy white tail, tearing at the slices of pork in her chopsticks. She yelped like a satisfied puppy.

Inuko seems to be enjoying it, too. Kazuya smiled. I’m glad I brought her along.

Dairyū’s friend, the white guardian fox, Shiroki, ate in silence, but his wagging tail betrayed his joy. The only one feeling conflicted and tense was Kasane’s friend, Yukihiro.

This ramen is superbly cooked. He thought, savouring each bite and wagging his nine white tails. Every step of the cooking process must’ve been performed with mathematical precision! Ordinary humans can’t do that. He glanced at Nene, who enjoyed her ramen happily alongside her guests. How on earth did she accomplish this? Yukihiro wondered. There’s no such thing as Cooking Magic. What type of magic does she have to execute such miracles?

After dinner, the group sighed with satisfaction. Everyone had finished their bowls, except Dairyū and Kenzō, who were going for their fourth ones. Nene chuckled at their enthusiasm.

“Nene, you’re a genius!” Hiroto smiled at her, his cheeks red from delight and pride. “I only wish you could’ve used your magic in family business, too.”

“Ugh, you have Kenzō now, don’t you?” Nene’s smile vanished, replaced by a frown. “He’s much better than what you would’ve gotten from that bastard, Tetsuhiro Watanabe!”

His daughter’s rebuke stung at Hiroto’s heart. He slumped his shoulders and cast his eyes down.

“You know I didn’t mean it that way…” he muttered.

Rin Hattori, Kasane’s and Kazuya’s grandmother, felt sorry for Hiroto, her brother-in-law, and placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. But Nene couldn’t be placated even after her father displayed sorrow and remorse. She crossed her arms and turned away, pursing her lips.

“Tetsuhiro Watanabe?” Yukihiro pricked up his ears at the name. “Do you mean the prime minister?”

“Auntie was betrothed to him in their youth,” Kasane explained. “It was Granduncle Hiroto’s arrangement.”

“He made me frequent the same school as that moron, hoping I’d fall for him!” Nene snorted.

“Nene, you know I didn’t have a choice!” Hiroto tried to reason. “Our family had to have an heir. We needed someone with magical skills worthy of a blacksmith to be your husband. Tetsuhiro Watanabe’s Steel Magic was perfect, and since his father and I were acquainted…”

“Let’s not bring up the past, please!” Nene cut him short, her blue eyes flashing with anger. She took a deep breath to calm herself and added in a lower voice, “We have guests here.”

Hiroto sighed. No matter how many years had passed, Nene hadn’t forgiven him for thrusting her into an arranged marriage, which she barely dodged.

“What sort of magic do you have, Ms Kagurayama?” Inuko asked, wagging her tail curiously. “I-I’m sorry for asking this out of the blue!” She blushed and shook her hands, realising she might’ve been tactless. “It’s just that… My dad works in the government, and he says Prime Minister Watanabe sees people’s worth based on their magical abilities.”

“Your father is smart, seeing through him.” Nene sneered. “Tetsuhiro has always been that way. And he saw women as trophies. He believed I was ‘destined to be his’ no matter how many girls he hooked up with before our marriage! All because a certain someone”—she glared at Hiroto—“naively believed that a blacksmith’s position could satisfy such an ambitious bastard!”

Hiroto didn’t retort. He knew his daughter was right. He had realised his mistake after Tetsuhiro Watanabe became a politician, rose to the rank of Prime Minister, and campaigned for city expansions over yōkai habitats. He used his Steel Magic to craft poisonous bullets against yōkai, which killed them without purification, unlike the sacred bullets Hiroto and his clan crafted from Dairyū’s scales.

“Auntie Nene inherited her magic from our line,” Kazuya answered Inuko’s question about Nene Kagurayama’s magic. “But her skill is more powerful than my late father’s and my Absolute Sight or even my late grandfather’s Absolute Hearing. It’s the Absolute Thought – a rare skill, just like Big Sis Kasane’s Herbal Magic… although that one comes from our mother’s line.”

Inuko gasped, her white ears twitching. Yukihiro’s crimson eyes widened in shock, too. The Absolute Thought Magic enhanced the neural transmission in the wielder’s brain, making their thought process superhuman. With her magic, Nene could perform any activity with surgical precision and solve any problem that required brainstorming.

Humans’ magical abilities are blessings from different kami. Yukihiro placed his hand on his chin. Plant magic types are Inari Ōkami’s blessings, while the human sense enhancements are Buddha’s. But if Kasane’s Herbal Magic is the truest power of Inari Ōkami, then Buddha’s is the Absolute Thought. He glanced at Dairyū slurping his ramen with gusto. When this dragon asked me if I was attracted to Kasane’s magic, did he imply that he’s drawn to his wife’s ability? – A human with Buddha’s blessing is a tempting tool for any kami. Yukihiro’s pupils narrowed to slits. This dragon has eaten too many humans to have changed his ways now. He must be more malevolent than he lets on.

“Anyway, I knew my worth,” Nene said, crossing her arms and lifting her chin with pride. “I wouldn’t marry Tetsuhiro Watanabe even if it killed me! So, when our wedding drew nearer, I decided to act.”

“Wow!” Inuko brightened up, intrigued by Nene’s toughness as a woman. “What did you do?”

“Well, to force my father to cancel the engagement, I needed a better candidate than Tetsuhiro, whom no one could refuse,” Nene smirked. “So, I went to the temple next door and prayed to Dairyū no Kami-sama to marry me.” She pointed to her husband, the Dragon Prince.

Kenzō, Kazuya, and Kasane laughed, already familiar with this story. Hiroto covered his face with his wrinkly hands from embarrassment, while Rin smiled softly, her eyes twinkling behind her rectangular glasses. Yukihiro and Inuko, on the other hand, gaped at Nene. She proposed to a god?!

“And… Dairyū Ōji no Kami-sama accepted?” Inuko twitched her ears. How could a mighty kami accept a human’s proposal? – Dairyū was Dragon God Ryūjin’s oldest son!

“She brought me her home-made ramen as an offering.” Dairyū smiled, his cheeks burning. “How could I refuse that?”

Everyone laughed. Now they understood why Rin had compared Kasane’s and Yukihiro’s first meeting to Nene’s and Dairyū’s relationship. The Hattori women attracted deities with their cooking, indeed.

Kazuya was laughing alongside the others when his phone rang. Inuko looked at him, wagging her tail curiously. Kazuya dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The caller was “Boss”.

“Sorry!” He smiled timidly at his family. “I have to answer.” He glanced meaningfully at Inuko and clarified, “It’s Chief Shinemori.” He took the call. “Yes, Sir?”

“Hattori, I’m cancelling your and Miss Takeda’s assignment of that century-old case,” Chief Shinemori’s gruff voice echoed in his ear, with desperate notes in it. “I’ll give you new cases on Monday.”

“What?” Kazuya widened his eyes, surprised by the sudden change, so unlike Chief Shinemori’s orderly habits. “W-Why, Sir? I thought…”

“That fox has moved again,” Akechi cut his speech, his voice shaking. “The special forces are on the case. You and Miss Takeda are dismissed. That’s all!”

The call dropped. Kazuya stared at his phone in a daze. Chief Akechi Shinemori would never alter his plans haphazardly. Something serious must’ve happened.

“W-What did the Chief say?” Inuko’s question awoke him. Her ears and tail stood erect, having smelled his fear.

“He dismissed us from the rogue fox case,” Kazuya answered. He relaxed his muscles, realising that his tense posture had frightened Inuko. “But it was odd,” he added, choosing to be open with her – his girlfriend and partner at work. “He sounded like… crying.”

“Crying?!” Inuko yelped in shock, waving her tail. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Kazuya knitted his brows. I heard tears in the Chief’s voice.

He surfed the net for that day’s abduction reports on teenage girls. The rogue nine-tailed fox kidnapped only them, so if he moved again, the news would cover it.

His intuition proved correct. The top headline drained the colour from his face.

“Kazu, what happened?” Kasane asked, troubled by his expression. “I-Is everything okay with Mr Shinemori?”

“Kasane…” Kazuya looked at her, the phone shaking in his hand. “Yumi… Yumi has been kidnapped!”

Kasane’s blood froze. Yumi Shinemori, the sweet child who had practically grown up in her hands, was kidnapped?!