Ginrei Returns

“Die!” Kasai screeched.

He shot the fireball at Kazuya and his friends. Kenzō prepared to absorb it with his Water Magic, but he realised that his powers wouldn’t be enough. Kasai, as a 999-year-old nine-tailed fox, was too strong, despite Kenzō’s elemental advantage as a half-dragon.

Kasai’s crimson fire never reached them, though. A purple fireball came from the demolished entrance of the hotel and clashed with Kasai’s shot, blasting it into smithereens.

“Huh?” Kasai snarled, twitching his ears.

Everyone looked at the door, curious about the source of the purple fireball. They all knew that only Yukihiro, or rather Ginrei, could wield purple foxfire. And yet, he wasn’t the author of that shot, for he lay helpless on the counter.

When they saw the person at the entrance, Kazuya widened his eyes, and Inuko yelped in shock, recognising him. He was an old man with crimson eyes like Yukihiro’s, but his hair was grey and dry, and he had a moustache and a beard. His fox ears and nine tails were white, certifying his kinship with Yukihiro. He also carried a silver ring with an amethyst gem like his. He was leaning on a wooden stick with his wrinkly hands. He raised his bushy, grey eyebrows at Kasai, and his pupils narrowed to slits.

“Genzaburō?” Kazuya exclaimed. He had expected anyone but him to show up in the Demon Realm – the kumichō of the Kagenashi Clan, and the person who killed his and Kasane’s parents, as he believed. “W-Why is he here?”

“Isn’t Yukihiro his grandson?” Inuko wagged her tail curiously. But then, she knitted her brows and put her hand on her chin. “However, if Yukihiro is Ginrei, the ancient guardian fox whose clan was exterminated over a thousand years ago, then Genzaburō can’t be his real grandfather, can he?” She looked at the old man. “What’s their deal?”

“Playtime’s over, Kasai,” Genzaburō said in his deep, throaty voice, his gaze set on the scarlet fox. He didn’t even look at Inuko, Kazuya, or Kenzō. But he glanced at his ‘grandson’, Yukihiro, lying on the broken counter. He walked towards him and Kasane, tapping his stick on the floor in a monotonous, menacing rhythm. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to do this… but”—he glowered at Kasai with killing intent—“you leave me no choice.”

Kasane frowned as the old man approached. Despite her relationship with Yukihiro, she had never had a good impression of his grandfather, Genzaburō. She didn’t condone his crimes as a yakuza lord. Now, seeing him tower over her and the collapsed Yukihiro, she couldn’t help clutching the latter’s arm.

“W-What do you want?” she asked Genzaburō in a trembling voice.

Genzaburō didn’t answer, but his pupils dilated with fondness as he eyed her. Kasane shuddered. An old man watching her with affection didn’t sit right with her.

This lecherous geezer! She pursed her lips. Does he want me to kick him where the sun doesn’t shine?!

“Kasane, l-let him come…” Yukihiro wheezed, finding it hard to breathe. “I-I’m sorry… for everything.” He coughed up some blood.

“Yuki!” Kasane turned back to him, raising her eyebrows in the inner corners with worry. “Don’t talk so much! You_”

“I… I’ll make it up to you,” Yukihiro muttered, ignoring her advice. He coughed again. He turned his gaze to Kazuya, his vision half-blurred. “I’ll make it up… to your brother, too.”

“What do you mean?” Kasane’s heart throbbed. He’s injured so hard that he’s raving?!

Yukihiro didn’t reply. He raised his hand and clasped Genzaburō’s wrinkly arm. Both of them shut their eyes, concentrating their powers in their touch. Their bodies glowed white, blinding the friends and Kasai so hard that they had to cover their eyes.

“What the hell?” Kasai snarled. “Can’t you die quietly, old man? You had to go all sparkly, didn’t you?”

Die?! Kasane shuddered. No, I won’t let his spirit dissipate!

She reopened her eyes to apply her healing magic on Yukihiro, but froze. The glowing white spheres – the spiritual bodies of Genzaburō and Yukihiro – had joined, forming one big silhouette of a nine-tailed fox. His magical energy was abundant, almost suffocating. The few demon tenants who hadn’t evacuated jumped out of broken windows and dashed out of the front door, howling and whimpering. Even Kasai fell to his knees, barely resisting the pressure.

“W-What the hell is this?!” He screeched, glaring at the nine-tailed silhouette.

The glow subsided, and the silhouette took concrete form. It was a two-metre-tall man with wavy, snow-white hair down to his waist, dressed in a black Heian-era kimono. He had white fox ears like Yukihiro and Genzaburō, but his nine white tails were bigger and fluffier than any fox Kasane and her friends had ever seen. His claws were purple, and his eyes were crimson. His face was the same as Yukihiro’s, except that he looked far wiser and more majestic than the 33-year-old yakuza heir could have. This was the true form of Ginrei, the 1133-year-old spirit. He glowered at Kasai, who still couldn’t stand on his feet under his immense magical pressure.

“How’s this possible?” Kasai yelped, eyeing Ginrei. “That old fox must’ve been an illusory clone of yours! Why didn’t it perish when I beat up your main body? And how did you recover so fast after all the damage you took?!”

“‘Yukihiro’ wasn’t my main body any more than ‘Genzaburō’ was,” Ginrei replied calmly. His voice carried the deep and seductive notes of Yukihiro’s, but sounded more ethereal, resonating like temple bells. It gave the friends other than Kenzō goosebumps. “I’ve been splitting myself into several parts for all this time, to diminish my strength.”

Kazuya widened his eyes. He recalled his father’s last message to Chief Akechi Shinemori: “All are one.” Back then, they didn’t know what it meant. Now, Kazuya realised that his father, Detective Jin Hattori, had discovered Ginrei’s secret long ago – that he’d been splitting himself into clones and posing as different kumichō of the Kagenashi Clan for centuries.

This means every kumichō’s crime ties back to this guy! Kazuya thought. That was the ultimate evidence Dad found. It could send him to prison for life!

“What are you talking about?” Kasai hissed, staring at Ginrei in shock. “What kitsune in their right mind would diminish their strength?!”

“A lowlife like you wouldn’t understand.” Ginrei frowned. He walked towards Kasai, and at each step, he increased the pressure on him. Kasai banged his forehead on the floor, bowing against his will. “You run amok as you please,” Ginrei said with contempt, “devour innocent creatures, and think it will increase your power. That’s why you remain weak.”

“I don’t need… lectures… from the one who ate a Herbal Mage!” Kasai wheezed, coughing up blood as the pressure on him increased tenfold. Struggling against it, he managed to raise his head a little and glared at Ginrei. The latter’s crimson eyes twinkled with regret at the words ‘Herbal Mage’. It brought Kasai glee. “Oh, you haven’t told your chick?” He chuckled, glancing at Kasane. “About how you ate her predecessor? Or is that why you’ve hooked up with her?” He turned back to Ginrei. “Is she your next snack? And you still have the nerve to preach!”

“Shut up!” Ginrei growled, his thunderous voice shaking the hall. He pushed his foot onto Kasai’s head, smashing his face into the floor. “Filthy pup…”

Kasai lost his consciousness. Ginrei snarled and kicked his body off. He turned around and looked at Kasane. She watched him with her hands clasped to her chest. Ginrei read dismay and fear in her eyes. His ears drooped. He stepped towards her.

“Kasane, I…” He began.

“Don’t come any closer!” Kazuya shouted, his green eyes flashing. He covered Kasane with his arm and pointed his pistol at Ginrei.

“Uhm, you know Dad’s bullets don’t work on him, right?” Kenzō chimed in, nonchalant. He placed his hands behind his head and eyed Kazuya, unimpressed.

“I don’t care!” Kazuya cried, his nostrils flaring, and sweat streaming down his brow. “I won’t let this freak near my sister any longer!”

Inuko yelped and lowered her ears, sorrowful for Kazuya. She could tell from his scent that he was in pain, but didn’t know how to help him.

Ginrei sighed and hung his head. It was heart-wrenching to be called a “freak” by his beloved woman’s brother, but he couldn’t blame him. He looked at his clawed hands, trembling in regret and despair. Kasane recognised Yukihiro in his youthful face with its graceful features and his vulpine eyes filled with sorrow and wisdom.

“D-Did you really kill Lady Mineko?” she asked. She gently pushed away Kazuya’s arm and stepped towards the white fox.

Ginrei pricked up his ears. Kasane had stopped before him, gazing at him intently. He sighed, his heart throbbing with guilt.

“I… I ate her,” he confessed, his voice low and shaky, “out of rage. I wished to punish her and her husband for slaughtering and skinning my children! But I’ve been repenting ever since.”

His ears and nine tails slumped again. Kasane could even swear she heard him yelp. She raised her eyebrows in sympathy when he mentioned his children – the foxes he adopted long ago. But she still had another question.

“How about me?” she asked. “When I drugged you… I mean, Yuki, all those years ago… Did it work, or were you pretending?”

“I had split myself into two equal parts – Yukihiro and Genzaburō – each with the powers of 600-year-old nine-tailed foxes.” Ginrei smiled. “Kurone is of that age, but you pummelled her. Isn’t that enough evidence?”

Kasane laughed at his half-joke, so similar to Yukihiro’s quips. She sighed to regain her composure.

“Then, you and your clan didn’t kill our parents?” she asked, her voice shaking as she recalled the gruesome event.

Kazuya flinched. Now Kasane was talking business! He listened intently.

Ginrei’s heart choked at Kasane’s depressed sight. He patted her head.

“Jin Hattori was the only human who saw through my guise of 800 years,” he said. “I told you then as Yukihiro, and I repeat now: how could I ever kill such a man?”

Kasane smiled bitterly at Ginrei’s reassurance. Kazuya, on his part, lowered his pistol. The realisation struck him like lightning, the truth that he’d been avoiding even after Kasane’s, Kenzō’s, and Dairyū’s repeated admonishments – that for all these years, he’d been hunting the wrong yōkai.