Ray moved through the street, eyes peeled as his stomach rumbled at the sight of a dozen different food stops before he spotted Blue River Sushi and moved straight for the restaurant. When he opened the door a small bell above it chimed and a portly chef at the counter turned to him with a smile. "Irasshaimase!"

Ray moved straight to the counter and crossed his arms on it, "Hey there, heard this is some place to pick up some inarizushi?"

"Oh yes, would you like that for here or to-" The man paused, thinking and blinking for a moment, "Oh!"

The man's eyes darted about the empty restaurant as if someone was listening in then quickly moved to unroll bamboo blinds over the front window before returning to his spot behind the counter, leaning on it. He gestured for Ray to get closer and the boy did so, the man whispering, "So you're, you know... a hunter?"

"That's why I'm here, Mr. Hoyohito."

The man quickly nodded, cheeks wobbling with the movement, whispering loudly. "So I'm not going crazy, right? That really was a you-know-what?"

"That's what I'm here to determine. Walk me through what you saw."

"Right, so I was walking along 31st, like I always do because of the fish markets, you know? I got to the park and then I see... it. It was big as a bus, hungry and angry too! It looked at me like it wanted me for takeout! I wasn't going to stick around, so I threw all my stuff at it, hoping it would eat that instead, and I ran all the way here!"

"I see... can you describe exactly what you saw, Mr Hoyohito."

"I didn't get a good look, I had to run after all, but I swear it was..." The man looked about again before leaning in way too close to Ray's face, "...a kitsune!"

"White?" Mr. Hoyohito blinked. "Did it have white fur? Any distinct markings as far as you could tell?"

"I was too busy running..."

"Alright." Well, it was a start. "The park, you mean the one with the duck statue?"

"That's the one!" Ray nodded, shoving off the counter and heading for the door before Mr. Hoyohito called out. "Wait, don't I need to pay you?"

"The Regulatory Committee handles all fees and insurance claims for-"

"No, no, it's just that other young man-"

"Other?" Ray turned halfway around to look back.

"Yes, the one with the mustache, and the stringy hair? He told me there's a research fee, a-"

"Let me guess: he told you there's a number of fees you had to pay, probably to speed up the process!"

"Yes, yes! He told me it was $50 for "removal-""

Ray groaned, putting his face in his hand and rubbing. "Right... don't worry about it, it's fine."

Ray continued out, moving his way towards Willow Park. Calling it a park was kind: it had some swings, a few animal-shaped riding springs, a single slide, and a stone dome with several holes in it for kids to crawl in and out of. The place was deserted sans a pair of black jeans and boots sticking out from under the dome, and Ray stepped besides the legs, a voice getting clearer as he got closer. "Okay... been here, but when? How? Shrink or-"

Ray kicked the legs and there was a yelp, the legs scrambling inside before a shotgun pointed out one of the holes, "GET SOME YOU- oh... hey Ray."

"Hello Zanzibar." Ray nodded to the older boy with stringy black hair... then punched him in the face and caused Zanzibar to fall back and hold his nose.

"Ow, fuck! Why!?"

"Mr. Hoyohito mentioned something real interesting."

"...Listen-"

"Zan, get out the fucking hole." Ray rubbed his head again, trying to avoid the growing headache as Zanzibar climbed out from under the dome, and Ray looked up to him. "So was the threat of them taking away your license not enough, or are you looking to get fully blanked?"

"Oh I'm sorry Mr.-Owns-His-House, some of us have to pay rent!"

"Zan-"

"Fine, fine, I'll return it. I'm calling dibs on this hunt though!"

"...You know what? You have at it." Ray turned and started to walk away. He could feel Zanzibar's confused look on his back but he wasn't stopped, and Ray spent the next few hours wandering the blocks around the park, taking in the stores and sights. Eventually the sun set well below the horizon, shops locking up for the night and not a soul was in sight, and Ray took that moment to start heading towards the park-

He froze as he heard a gunshot, and then a faint "uh oh" followed by a scream that was getting closer. A blur passed and smacked into the side of a car before flipping over it, and Ray gingerly made his way around the car to see the prone form of Zanzibar. "Hello Zan."

"Not... a word." Zanzibar strained to speak, and Ray looked towards the park to see a single massive brown tail thrashing between the trees. That... was curious. Good, but curious. Ray reached into his hoodie's pockets before he pulled out three paper dolls, holding up one and whispering to it.

"Distraction." The paper glowed a faint green and he threw it, the doll sailing towards the tail. He held up the other two dolls. "Find. Watch."

The dolls glowed and he threw them, shutting his eyes. His vision was only dark for a moment before he could see the world through the "Watch" doll's "eyes." He could see the one doll sent as a distraction swarming in and around the face of a... ludicrously buff kitsune. The fox spirits could change shape, sure, but something was clearly wrong here: its muscles were so swollen they actually stymied its movements, even its eyes were practically hidden by the swollen cheeks of a constantly-snarling face. A flex of his magic and his shikigami moved to focus on the dome he had found earlier. Claw marks, chunks of fur not belonging solely to the kitsune, small bones-

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Ray was pulled out of his vision by Zanzibar pulling him down the sidewalk, shotgun up and aimed at the kitsune that was now standing on the car Zanzibar had been tossed against. The shotgun went off and there was a spray of blood sa the kitsune fell back, the two quickly scrambling to stand, Zanzibar with his shotgun ready and Ray drawing a knife and more paper dolls out of his pocket. Another shotgun blast and the kitsune's face was almost blown away to the bone, but despite that it still shakily stood, groaning and whining. A bright green light was starting to form through cracks on the kitsune's face and as Zanzibar tried to swap the shells in his shotgun out, Ray rushed forward and planted his knife into one of the cracks. Light came rushing out almost like a fire and with a sharp movement Ray dragged his arm to the side and the kitsune's head vanished into light. He quickly stepped away and the two watched as green light pour from the stump, the kitsune's body struggling for a moment... and then launching itself into a car. The body thrashed and clawed at random and Ray quickly drew more shikigami from his pocket.

"Bind!" He sent the flock of paper dolls out and their arms stretched over the kitsune's body, trying to restrain it as Zanzibar was finally ready. Shot after shot left his gun, blowing more and more from the kitsune's hide, green energy flowing off it until the body finally collapsed. Neither of them approached for a long moment until the body began collapsing into motes of light, and the two steadily approached. On the ground was a swirling brown crystal with one curling away from the crystal like a kitsune's tail. Zanzibar breathed out as he saw the crystal, Ray nodding as he looked at the cracks.

"Wow..."

"Yeah. Clearly, something-"

"Score!" Ray blinked as Zanzibar quickly snatched up the crystal and all but sprinted off, Ray reaching out towards him before sighing. He fished out his phone and began to call his dispatcher. At least someone should be the professional here...

----------------------------------------

"900... 1,000... 1,100." The woman at the counter finished counting out Ray's reward, and he nodded to her as she smiled. "Big win today, huh?"

"Weird win, too." He stuffed the money into his wallet and he could clearly see she wanted to ask more questions, but silence was golden here. He made his way out of the office building, staring up into the now dark sky. He should probably head home... buuut he was kind of hungry, freshly paid, and he did just takedown a kitsune, even if it was a one-tail. He moved around the building to an alley and tapped on a manhole cover there, symbols lighting up before the manhole slid away like a shutter, and Ray began climbing down into the hole. He came down to a glass-encased room, moving to a door with a metal detector, x-ray machine, and a very bored looking security guard who didn't even look up from his computer as Ray approached.

"Please put-" He didn't bother finishing as Ray fished everything out of his pockets and put them on the x-ray's conveyor belt, stepping into the detector with his arms up.

"Hunter ID-42290, Rei Tomino. Registration-"

"Go on through." The guard clearly only gave a glance at the result coming across his monitor and Ray felt like he should say something, but after a moment he mentally shrugged and gathered up this things. He stepped out of the Hunter Admisnistration and into Yokaitown, purple light of the "sky" revealing... empty streets? Sure, the government district wasn't exactly a party palace, but it shouldn't be so quiet. He started making his way down the street, and as he reached the shopping district things were much more like he expected; hunters on break, yokai moving through the streets or in the air, and more mythen going about their nights. Ray kept his eyes peeled and finally spotted a restaurant that was decently empty, ducking inside.

The place was all-wood with paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling and he found a spot at the front counter, waiting for someone to appear and take his order when one of the lanterns floated down from the ceiling, the lantern floating for a moment before there was a quiet. "Whoops."

"Hello?" The lantern turned around and Ray saw two black eye spots and two curling spots above the lantern's mouth, almost like a moustache. The lantern smiled at him and spoke with an aged voice.

"Apologies! Welcome to Kabuki Ramen! Don't worry: we have much more than simply noodles to satisfy you!" A four-legged platter came out from behind a cloth behind the counter, quickly rushing up to Ray with a menu on top. Rey took it and began looking through the options. "We're having a special today! Our chefs have prepared what we call the "Fox Platters!""

A smile broke Ray's face at the coincidence, "What's included?"

"A platter of inarizushi as an appetizer while we prepare the main dish of "kitsune ramen." Please note: the ramen does not contain actual kitsune. Lastly, our dessert of nine chocolate-dusted mochi. Do you have any questions?"

"The mochi is filled with red bean paste, right?" The lantern floated back, seemingly surprised before it smiled wide.

"Indeed sir! We could also substitute chocolate filling if you wish."

"Red bean is fine, I just wanted to ask you to skip any seafood ingredients you might be using in the broth or oil. No naruto, either." More surprise but the lantern recovered quickly, bouncing in excitement.

"Of course sir! That'll be fifty dollars!"

Ouch. Thank goodness for his job. Ray placed the money on the platter along with the menu and both objects bowed to him before disappearing behind the cloth separating the front of the shop from the kitchen, leaving Ray to look about. The only other customers were a kappa in one corner enjoying a staggering amount of vegetables with a small hand fan blowing on him, the other seemingly a drunken human but considering how he reached out to start drinking the wax out of a candle on his table, he was likely something else. A clatter and Ray turned his focus back to the counter, the platter returning with a cup full of tea on it. "Ah thank you."

The platter waited for him to take the cup before bowing and retreating, and Ray sipped at the drink. A very sweet green tea... either the yokai were psychic or they could tell he was very basic. He spent a while just absorbing the atmosphere before the platter returned, laden with his food as the lantern floated back out. "Here we are sir!"

"Thank you." Ray took the platter and set it in front of himself, taking in the smell and sight of the food before he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and picked up one of the inarizushi.

"If I may, young man?" Ray paused, looking curiously at the lantern as it spoke up. "Are you Japanese, perchance?"

"Ah... half." Ray admitted.

"I thought as much!" The lantern cheered. "Not many who visit know the fish cake is called naruto, and even fewer ask for red beans."

He felt that was a somewhat flimsy reasoning to make an assumption on being Japanese, but he kept it to himself. "A shame for them, then."

"Indeed. Feels like there's fewer and fewer who appreciate the old ways." The lantern sighed. "Now it's all "Bobby" tea, or whatever the children are calling it these days, and-"

The lantern began to ramble and Ray nodded along, not saying anything and picking at his food. Everything was perfect: the inarizushi seemed to be extra stuffed with rice, the ramen flavored to perfection, and the mochi was pillowy-soft and perfectly sweet. When he was done he clasped his hand together, interrupting the lantern. "Thank you for the food."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"It was the best meal I've ever gotten in Yokaitown." The light inside the paper lantern grew bright at his words

"I am so glad to hear it! Oh, after that incident earlier I was terrified no new customers would come in!"

"Incident?"

"Didn't you hear? Ah, I suppose you might've been in school then." The lantern leaned in, whispering. "They say some sort of dog spirit went on a rampage."

"I... see." The words were clicking back to the fight earlier in Ray's mind.

"It was subdued by the administration and taken away, thankfully, and with no one hurt either!" The lantern kept talking but Ray was dealing with his own thoughts; once was an accident, twice is circumstantial evidence, but three times?

Three tires was someone making a move, and he had a bad feeling a third was coming.

Ray thanked the lantern for the meal and made sure to grab a business card before leaving, pulling his phone out. He had a call to make and some questions to ask...