If there was one thing that I could safely say was an actual thing now, it was that my Aunt and I had a real hard time defining what a happy medium between casual and overly dressed up was. We both walked out of our rooms at the same time to find each other dressed to the nines. But I’m so glad that glamouring was a thing. I would’ve absolutely hated to attempt to doll myself up like I had done now without the use of magic. I mean my hair was perfect, my make up was perfect, my nails and my outfit were perfect too. If I would have tried to do all of this myself, it would have taken me hours. But with the use of a bit of magic and a pack of custard cream biscuits, I got the several hours long task down to twenty minutes. It could have been shorter, but I did change my hair and outfit a few times before I settled on what I liked.

I had a few designer pieces that my mum or my Aunt had bought me and had decided to throw on one of my favourite outfits out of my small collection; a rather interesting ready-to-wear shirt mini dress by Vivienne Westwood. Designer clothes weren’t really my thing, but this was a comfortable frock and didn’t make me feel self conscious at all; as it was at a length I liked stopping a little above the knee and could be worn with a belt to give it a bit more of a cinched in look, to show off my waist a bit. Paired with a small clutch, a chunky pair of heels that lifted my height by a few inches, along with some sleek make up and a simple hairstyle, I was ready to go.

My Aunt, stood opposite me wearing a black, sequinned mini dress with similar shoes to mine; some chunky platformed, black strappy numbers. I ogled her shoes and dress.

‘Prada. Balmain.’ Auntie M said as she pointed to her shoes, then dress respectively. She was probably wearing about six grands worth of designer gear. ‘Westwood, very nice.’ She said to me approvingly.

‘Oh, one of the very few designer things my mum actually bought me.’ I said as I twisted round making the hem of the shirt dress swish along with me. ‘The shoes are just Kurt Geiger though.’

‘They’re nice though, a well thought out outfit Maddie I approve.’

I felt quite proud of myself now after getting my Aunts fashion blessing, to the point were I was actually quite excited about going out. First we were off to get some food before we went out on our night out/investigatory mooch around Manchester. Auntie M said we could go around the known various haunts; no pun intended, that were frequented by supernatural beings for whatever reason. Apparently most of them were literally out for a good time, but the occasional few were probably up to no good.

If there was one thing that was cool about Manchester, then I reckon it was the free bus. The local council had buses that operated throughout the city, free of charge. So instead of walking to wherever the hell my Aunt was taking me; we hopped on one of the free buses and about ten or fifteen minutes later, jumped off where we needed to be.

‘Not many people know about this place so it should be quiet. I’ve known the family that owns it for quite a while.’ Auntie M said to me as she led me over to an odd little alleyway or a “ginnel” as Auntie M called it, somewhere further up than Deansgate but not quite the Northern Quarter. It was a bit dingy round here and a touch off the beaten path, but looking up the alleyway made it seem more like a cut-through or shortcut; and not some area full of overflowing wheelie bins, puddles and the occasional rat. We then found ourself at a door, a rather Japanese looking sliding door, with the half fabric curtain at the top. I followed my Aunt inside. There was some low music playing from some speakers in the ceiling, it sounded very eighties and as I continued to listen I recognised it as Japanese city pop.

‘Irassehaimase! Welcome!’ A voice behind the counter called out. It was a Japanese man wearing a navy blue t-shirt, a white and navy blue bandanna round his head and had a white pot towel slung over his left shoulder.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

‘Hey there Takashi.’ My Aunt grinned at the man. His eyes bulged as he looked at her then he shouted something in Japanese at what must have been some kind of back room. He was soon on this side of bar, hugging my Aunt in some vice like grip.

‘Ah Morrigan! It’s been so long!’ Takashi squeaked as he hugged the life out of my Aunt. I could hear a little hint of an accent in his voice when he spoke; his English was perfect though, to the point where sometimes, a Northern pronunciation of a word would pop in.

‘Put her down Tak. C’mon I want a hug now.’ A female voice sounded. Behind Takashi, stood a woman about the same height as my Aunt without her heels. She nudged Takashi out of the way and proceeded to give Auntie M her own death grip hug.

‘It’s so good to see you again Nina! Here there’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is my niece, Madelyn.’

My Aunt stepped aside to show I was standing behind her.

‘Maddie, this is Takashi and Nina Sugiyama. They’re good friends of mine.’

‘It’s nice to meet you Madelyn.’ Nina spoke up first.

‘Oh please, call me Maddie. It’s nice to meet you both too.’

I received two warm handshakes from Nina and Takashi.

‘Come, please sit down.’ Nina said to us as she pulled two high stools out from the bar and beckoned for us to take a seat. She then shuffled round to the other side of the bar with Takashi.

‘So what is it gonna be?’ Said Takashi. He pushed two neat, little menus over. Takashi and Nina’s bar restaurant was similar to a traditional Japanese Izakaya, serving typical bar snacks and small dishes. I had already spied chicken yakitori on the menu along with omurice which I was so gonna order. The menu was small, but consisted of some really good Japanese comfort food too.

My Aunt ended up ordering for us as I wasn’t sure what I wanted. But as it turned out, Auntie M had pretty much ordered one of everything along with a big bowl of pork tonkotsu ramen each. I listened to my Aunt chat away with Nina and Takashi who were both preparing our food behind the counter.

‘How’s your mum though Nina? It’s been ages since I saw her last.’

‘She’s doing fine, she’s been coping much better now since dad died.’

‘Yeah I heard, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it for both of you I was out of the country at the time.’

‘It’s okay. We got through it, it’s just taken mum a bit longer to come to terms with dad not being around.’

‘And how about your brother?’

‘Freddie? An absolute wreck until he decided to get his shit together. We both had to go back to Japan, after the main funeral to take some of dad’s ashes back to the family grave site in Kamakura.’

I knew exactly what that feeling was, having lost my own father I could relate. Plus I also had a mother who couldn’t quite get over it too, it was a weird experience. I had noticed that there were a few photos above the back of the bar. One was of Nina, a short older woman with strawberry blonde hair, a young man who looked similar to Nina who was grinning from ear to ear and behind him was an older, handsome looking man with close cropped black hair.

A little panel on the frame read “MATSUMOTO FAMILY.” It was obviously a photo of Nina, her brother and her mum and dad. Another photo at the side piqued my interest as it looked busy and full of people. It had Nina and Takashi at the front wearing sparkly party hats, along with my Aunt bunched up beside them with glittery shapes all over her face. And next to her, holding her pretty tightly with glitter all over his own face; was a pale guy with silvery-white, wavy hair. A sticker on the frame read “NYE 2015.”

‘So how are you finding Manchester Maddie?’ Nina smiled at me.

‘Oh it’s wicked, I love it here.’ I beamed at her as I tore my eyes away from the photos. ‘Much different than down south.’

‘Down south is over-rated.’ Takashi added his two cents from the huge stock pot he was minding.

‘Can I ask, how do you all know each other?’ I hope I wasn’t about to step on anybody’s toes here, but I was really, really curious. Mainly because, Nina was human. Takashi however was not. I could sense something wasn’t quite human about him, even though he was stood before me in human form.

‘Well, me and Morrigan went to school together. We’ve known each other since we were like eleven.’

‘But it was like what, nearly twelve years ago when you met Takashi?’ Auntie M added. She was sipping on a pint of Sapporo beer now.

‘Exactly twelve in about three months time.’ Takashi sounded. I looked over the counter to see what he was doing now; cutting vegetables with a large cleaver.

‘So, I started dating Takashi in the summer. We had gone on a few dates and we had just sort of made it official when… he went missing.’

‘Missing?’ I quizzed. I sipped at my own frothy beer as I listened to the story. My Aunt, Nina and Takashi all looked at each other and chuckled.

‘You’ve probably sensed that I’m not quite, normal.’ Said Takashi.

‘Yeah I err, have sorta sensed. You smell like nature, like the forest after it’s rained, I can’t quite tell what you are though.’ I said bashfully, sipping my beer a bit more. Everyone was looking at me with kind smiles now, I felt a little uneasy but I think it was just because they were all watching me.

‘I’m a Kitsune Maddie.’