CHAPTER 18

There were actually several types of kitsune—different types had different magics, different moral leanings, different standings … they’re basically a small model of the feudal human society, except for the facts that their strongest didn’t rely on the Mandate of Heaven or anything because they just sprouted wings and started flying.

Kou’s sister called the woman ashirei. That was one type of kitsune. The name itself means ‘spirit of Ashi’, ‘Ashi’ being the Japanese rendition of the name Azi, a Chinese fox spirit. Azi was basically the root of all kitsune legends: the very beginning of a fox who lived for hundreds of years, developed magic, learned to shapeshift, and became a temptress to human men. Ashirei was the lowest rank of a kitsune, the most common form, as literally any fox who lived beyond their means would, in spirit, be like Azi.

In other words, they would turn into Azi’s spirit—or ashirei.

Most kitsune were of this class, which was the real reason Kou thought to be how Chi knew that the woman was an ashirei. That said, the typical ashirei couldn’t even use magic properly yet. Chi probably just chose whatever venomous word that would hurt the vixen the most.

As the ashirei said, the kitsune were a vindictive bunch. It’s probably why Chi went for her ego.

“Either that, or there’s some other subtlety in kitsune society that she was aware of,” Kou said. “Something I clearly am not.”

Himiko grinned. “Aw, no need to feel bad. The kitsune are an elusive bunch, even with their whole hierarchy and community and all.”

“It’s probably less that and more the fact that I feel so blindsided,” Kou admitted as he sipped his juice. The cafeteria felt tense, even more so than usual, with barely any chatter buzzing in the air, but Himiko was convinced that being as down as everybody else was not the way to go. If there’s no chatter in the air, then she had to be the chatter in the air.

It’s why they could openly talk about the youkai despite the eerie silence. It wasn’t really a secret that Himiko read manga, too, so that’s probably what people thought they were talking about. Himiko giggled. “So what are you doing with the little one, anyway?”

“We’re keeping him in my house for the time being. He’s been trying to go out for a while now, but anywhere out of our reach would be too dangerous for him.”

“Trying to go out? Why would he try to escape?”

Kou scratched his head. “That’s the other thing. I think I got this kitsune all wrong.”

There were actually several types of kitsune. They were a model of the feudal human society, so they had hierarchies—and, more than that, there were also distinctions on a horizontal level.

Dealing with different types of kitsune needed different types of attitude, sometimes different levels of power. Kou realized that he probably misjudged the situation.

“So what’s your first take on this?”

“The little one was an osaki.”

Himiko fell silent for a bit. “Osaki, huh.”

An osaki was a very small kitsune. They weren’t all that impressive on their own, mostly keeping themselves out of sight, hidden within sleeves and small spaces in clothes or in houses. However, they’re great at retaining curses, and they’re mostly used to enrich a family through preternatural means. Their curse would be very difficult to dispel, as the osaki reproduced quickly, and they would wholly and entirely possess their masters and their family.

In fact, it’s impossible to find an osaki alone in the wild. They traveled in packs, and every member of the family they possessed would have a few osaki on their own. Those possessed by osaki were called osaki-tsukai, ‘osaki users’, and while they’re usually very rich, they’re also basically isolated because people on average would avoid people possessed by the kitsune.

At least most people possessed by the kitsune could be exorcised. The osaki, since they function by cursing the bloodline itself and rapidly reproducing to possess each new family member, was just about impossible to get rid of.

Oh, yeah, people possessed by the osaki also exhibit the usual symptoms of kitsune possession—fevers, foxy faces, agitation, voracious appetite, and being a general eccentric mess that just couldn’t fit in. Being an osaki-tsukai was basically trading your place in society and your mental well-being in exchange for money.

“The osaki were small. The osaki were agile. The osaki’s curse was nigh-impossible to uproot, but individual osaki weren’t difficult to kill. Also, osaki myths were from the Kanto region. I thought that was an osaki.”

“There are a few issues with that,” Himiko pointed out. “One—it’s impossible for an osaki to enter Tokyo.”

The Ouji Inari Shrine was basically keeping lower-ranked kitsune from entering Tokyo, after all. “Wasn’t Ouji Inari Shrine weakened? Wasn’t that how the oni and Kurotarou managed to sneak inside?”

Kou could see Himiko wincing a bit. “Fair. Two—the kitsune was alone. The osaki travel in packs.”

“He could just be separated from the pack, and that’s why he tried so hard to leave my house.”

Himiko nodded. “Three—the osaki-tsukai stay away from human settlements. You found the osaki in a populated area.”

Kou paused this time. “They’re probably just passing by? They’ll still need to trade with people since they need to use all that money, no?”

“And leave an osaki behind? They’re bound by a curse to stick together.”

“So you’re saying that if this osaki was separated from a pack, it couldn’t have been from an osaki-tsukai, but that would mean there’s no curse—but if there’s a curse, there’s a master, so there’s no way this osaki could be separated from the pack?”

“Yup. We can only find out the answer for sure if we know if the kitsune was tied to a master or not. However, there’s one more thing that troubled me about this interpretation—the ashirei attack.”

Kou took a deep breath. That was also the sore point in his guess. “The osaki wouldn’t have dared enter Tokyo, even with the Ouji Inari Shrine weakening.”

“Exactly. They historically kept away from Tokyo due to their rank, because they wouldn’t have been able to do anything against the stronger kitsune of Tokyo, and even the Shrine weakening wouldn’t have changed this. They would still be wary of the Tokyo kitsune. They wouldn’t dare enter the city, and their owners should know this if they don’t want to end up eating dirt or worse.”

One of the caveats of keeping a kitsune was that they had to be fed, like pets. If they weren’t fed properly, they would go wild. It was why osaki-tsukai families would seek marriage to expand and, at the same time, be shunned by society: they could only offload their osaki burden by sharing them with other families, but nobody wanted to be possessed by a kitsune.

What the osaki fed on depended on the possession contract, but it’s usually less the problem of what they ate and more a problem of there’s just too many of them. The osaki reproduced quickly. Give it enough time, keeping them would only burden the osaki-tsukai family and eat through the riches they obtained by being osaki-tsukai.

This is not to mention that the osaki were also fickle, as they were still kitsune. Like all kitsune, you don’t want to get on their bad side.

An osaki-tsukai could never get rid of their osaki, but when the osaki left them, there were usually dire consequences—their riches were, after all, not supposed to be theirs to begin with.

“So what are you proposing?” Kou asked. Himiko sipped her milk.

“I think the little one wasn’t osaki to begin with,” she said. Kou raised his eyebrows.

“So he’s another type of small kitsune?”

“Yup. I think he’s from outside of Kanto entirely.”

Kou touched his chin. “So he’s, like … a hitogitsune?”

“Something like that. I personally think he’s a kudagitsune.”

There were many types of kitsune, both in hierarchy and horizontally, and they were specialized to the things they do or could do. The osaki of Kanto were pack creatures who moved in groups and gathered riches. The hitogitsune of Chugoku also did that, but they were far more sinister: they could be used to deliver curses to other families.

Also, unlike the osaki that just multiplied and spread to other families through marriages, the hitogitsune actively attacked the other family first—making sure that they tasted the misfortune of being associated with the kitsune, and then building their fortunes back from the ground up, making them dependent entirely on the hitogitsune spell.

The kudagitsune of Chubu were sometimes considered equivalent to both. They were small kitsune that could fit in portable bamboo pipes, hence their name meaning ‘pipe fox’. However, unlike the osaki and the hitogitsune, the kudagitsune were originally just contractually tied to a single powerful psychic—a mountain hermit, or a yamabushi. Like the hitogitsune, the kudagitsune could be used to send curses. Like the osaki, they could not be mistreated.

Unlike both, the kudagitsune brought prosperity, not just material riches. Those possessed could see the future or answer secret questions. They were, after all, trained by ascetics. They were distinct enough from the osaki to the point that there were no kudagitsune myths at all in the Kanto region, and it’s often accepted that the kudagitsune were closer to the izuna of Tohoku than the osaki of Kanto.

Since they were not osaki, they wouldn’t have the osaki trauma of trying to enter Tokyo. Enemies to the kitsune could smell the danger from far away, which was why Kurotarou was terrified, but fellow kitsune could only feel the power exuded—and with Ouji Inari Shrine weakening, they could theoretically choose to just slip into Tokyo.

There was a disturbing implication to this, though. Kou tried to keep his anxiety in check. “So you’re saying he’s sent here to deliver a curse. That’s why he kept trying to escape my house.”

“That’s issue number one. Issue number two is, as I said, the ashirei.”

Kou was so preoccupied by the identity of the small fox that he forgot he had to juggle that too—the kitsune who marked him as an enemy.

A kitsune who, according to herself, was sent here from the Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Why was a Fushimi kitsune sent here?

Why did the kitsune attack the kudagitsune?

What was her mission in Tokyo?

Kou frowned. “So I need to find out two things. First, what the small kitsune was here for—this answers whether he’s an osaki or something else. Second, I need to find out why the ashirei was here—this tells me what we need to do to handle this.”

Himiko nodded. “I can try and help you handle the ashirei, but you’ll have to handle the little fox.”

“Are you thinking of attacking the ashirei? I don’t suggest that.” It’s not because Kou was worried that Himiko would get hurt—well, that too, but she’s strong enough to handle herself. He just didn’t like the idea of her picking a fight with the Fushimi Inari Shrine and, by extension, the entire kitsune-kind.

“No?” Himiko grinned mischievously. “I’m just thinking that it might be high time we go fishing.”

*