Kawakita Saika, The Nine-Tailed Fox!

"Kon'nichiwa, Yae-chan, Hana-chan." The rickshaw-puller Auntie Fox, having just stowed away her earnings from a fare, pushed her vehicle aside.

Excitedly, she shuffled over with tiny, quick steps.

"It's Fox-chan today!" The catgirl sisters happily rushed forward to meet her.

The three embraced warmly.

Fang Zuo was utterly confused.

Wasn't she 'Auntie Fox'? Why 'Fox-chan'?

Just who was whom?

And why did this 'Fox-chan' carry the scent of someone familiar?

He was about to ask when his eyes suddenly sharpened. A cold smile touched his lips as he turned back towards the dilapidated house.

A massive, soundless barrier descended from the sky.

In an instant.

The area they stood in seemed cut off from the world.

Though neon signs and billboards still flickered, the pedestrians vanished from the streets.

The clamor of the city fell silent.

Only they remained within this patch of isolated reality.

CRASH

The door of the old house shattered.

An old man in samurai robes stepped out, wooden geta clacking on the ground.

His hands were clasped behind his back, his face kind, deeply wrinkled.

His grey, unnatural eyes locked onto the catgirl sisters and Fox-chan.

The mass of sharp teeth filling his mouth churned slowly, chewing something unseen.

CRUNCH... CRUNCH... The sickening sounds of bone splintering echoed.

Blood and whitish-grey pulp oozed from the corners of his lips.

Thick rivulets of crimson blood trailed down his chin, dripping steadily onto his robe.

The sudden, horrific sight froze the catgirl sisters and Fox-chan in shock.

An overwhelming aura emanated.

The catgirl sisters buckled under the pressure, rendered utterly powerless and unable to move a muscle.

Faces deathly pale, they sank to their knees together.

Huddling tightly, they trembled uncontrollably.

Shaking so violently they couldn't even speak.

"Kon'nichiwa, Tamamo-no-Mae," the old man spoke, swallowing the mass in his mouth. His scrawny neck bulged grotesquely.

A large lump traveled downwards before disappearing into his torso. "Many years have passed since we last met."

His neck returned to normal as he pulled out a white handkerchief, dabbing the blood from his lips.

He offered a benign smile. "How long do you intend to keep hiding?"

Fox-chan ripped off her headband and tore away her mask.

Revealing a face of classical beauty.

Features finely sculpted, complexion reminiscent of willow leaves and peach blossoms.

She regarded the old man calmly.

Her gaze was clear and direct.

Gently, she shook her head. "My name is Kawakita Saika. I am not Tamamo-no-Mae. Who are you?"

"So, that's how it is." The old man nodded slowly. "You haven't Awakened yet? Naturally, you wouldn't recognize this old bones."

"This old bones is the Eighth Heavenly Man of Hokkaido's Mount Asahidake: Houki-bō. I've come specifically to take you back."

"Or rather, to capture me." Kawakita Saika's exquisite brows knit slightly. "How did you find me?"

The old man coughed a few times. "Why, they told me, naturally."

He waved a hand dismissively.

The house behind him vanished, replaced by the sight of a middle-aged couple sobbing in each other's arms.

Before them lay a tall stack of Japanese yen banknotes, spattered with dark, wet blood.

On top of the bloodied notes lay a young man's body – dressed casually, but horribly mutilated. The upper half was missing.

Only the lower torso remained.

A pool of blood spread across the ground.

"Kamī!!" Kawakita Saika gasped, hands flying to her mouth upon seeing the young man's remains. Tears shimmered in her eyes. "They... betrayed me?"

"Naturally, it was this family who denounced you." The old man coughed again. "They demanded ten billion yen. We are people of our word. They received it all, not a single yen short."

"Why betray me?" Kawakita Saika wiped her tears, her expression sorrowful as she looked at the ruined body. "You were destitute, living on the streets. It was I who took you in!"

"BAKA!" the middle-aged woman shrieked, lifting her tear-stained face. "Why? For KAMī'S ILLNESS, of course! Where else could we find the money for his organ transplant?"

"I... I was already working to earn money for you," Kawakita Saika replied, bowing her head slightly, her voice small.

"Working for us? Kuso yarō!" The woman's voice became shrill. "You were just pulling a rickshaw! Such pittance each day, how could it ever be enough?"

"I was trying my hardest..." Kawakita Saika murmured.

"You wouldn't do escort work! My husband found you a talent agency to become a star! You refused everything! Were you truly trying?" the woman screamed. Beside her, the husband lifted his head, staring at Saika with venomous eyes.

The woman wiped her tears, her expression twisting with hatred. "Now Kamī is dead! It's all YOUR fault! If you had just agreed sooner, none of this would have happened!"

"We wouldn't have needed to betray you! Kamī wouldn't have been..." She stopped mid-sentence, casting a fearful glance at the old man before swallowing her words.

"But... but I sheltered you. I asked for no rent. I gave you most of what I earned." Kawakita Saika stammered, struggling for words. "You... you can't... can't..."

She paused, gathering her courage to whisper, "...blame me..."

"Who else should they blame?" The old man chuckled amiably. "I gave them the money; naturally, they can't blame me."

"Furthermore," his smile widened, "the agreement didn't specify I wouldn't eat them afterward. So, I haven't broken any terms. They really can't blame me."

"Most importantly, they are terrified of me. In the end, blaming you is the only option."

"BAKA YARŌ! Tamamo-no-Mae! Have you truly exhausted all your tails and still can't grasp this truth?"

"This world belongs to the one with the sharpest teeth."

"I told you," Kawakita Saika repeated, her beautiful face etched with pain, "I am not Tamamo-no-Mae. Why does everyone call me that? I am only Kawakita Saika."

"Fine, fine. Splendid." The old man clapped his hands slowly. "Come quietly now. Let this old bones consume the soul of Tamamo-no-Mae within you. Then you can be your beloved Kawakita Saika. No one will ever speak her name to you again."

"Yamete! I will not go with you!" Kawakita Saika shook her head firmly. "Ojī-san! Sayonara!"

As she spoke, a sudden shower of petals cascaded down behind her. Simultaneously, a large, fluffy white fox tail materialized in the air.

The surrounding space blurred briefly.

Her form began to fade.

But instantly, everything snapped back to normal.

Kawakita Saika froze. The white fox tail drooped limply behind her, twitching weakly.

Her beautiful eyes fixed on the old man, filled with dread.

The catgirl sisters, who moments before had been trembling on the ground in each other's arms, were now gone.

They reappeared, one in each of the old man's wrinkled hands.

Dangling lifelessly in the air, unmoving.

His gnarled fingers clamped vice-like around their throats.

His sharp nails already drawing deep crescents in their skin.

The slightest additional pressure would snap their fragile necks.

"I knew your Heavenly Fox Evasion could cut through my barrier," the old man chuckled, shaking his head. "But when you escape... then I'll kill them."

"Yamete!" Kawakita Saika cried, covering her mouth with both hands, shaking her head desperately. "You... you can't do this!"

Thud

She sank to her knees, defeated.

"I... I'll go with you."

The old man nodded with immense satisfaction.

He opened his mouth wide. His half-meter-long tongue detached with a sickening schlick and shot out like a fleshy spear.

It pierced through Kawakita Saika's summoned fox tail,

Pinning it firmly to the ground beneath her.

Success. At last!

After so many agonizing years, he would finally feast on the Celestial Fox's soul!

Ecstatic triumph surged through him.

Just then.

A voice, detached and cold, drifted from the corner of the sealed space.

"You there, you mangy old dog. If you want your death to be anything less than excruciating, put them down."

"Moreover, daring to torment a fellow countryman of mine? Your balls are colossal."