“Hey settle down.” Eva asked the over excited black bird that was flying right in front of her face. Holding an arm up for the bird to sit on for now she continued. “I can’t follow what you’re saying at this pace.”

“Oh. sorry.” The raven replied as she perched on the offered limb. “It’s just.. I finally got all the way to Tokyo. And right the first shrine I notice is yours.” She finishes her explanation with an excited chirp before looking excitedly at Eva.

“Well, this isn’t my shrine as such.” The Kitsune admits as she slowly walks towards an even more out of sight corner of the shrines more mundane visitors. “Though why are you looking for me? Did Mumei owe you something you want to cash in?”

“Who is Mumei?” The Raven inquires, her head turned to the left. “I just got curious after seeing you and your friend on the weekend. And I heard you say Tokyo, and you left through the Torii, so I thought I’d find you in this town.” After a short moment the bird added. “Which is waaay bigger than I thought possible.”

Hearing this, Eva brought her free right hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “So why would our trip to the mountains prompt you to fly all the way here from Shikoku? Not to mention this fast.”

“I wasn’t that fast.” The bird comments as she ruffles her wings. “Took most of yesterday to get here.” Poking her head under her wing, she continued. “As for why youarethefirstyoukaimyageimet.”

“Mind repeating that last bit once more?” Eva inquired. “A bit slower this time, please.”

“You are the first Youkai my age I met.” The bird mumbled burying her head even deeper under her wing.

Giving a deep sigh, Eva pulled a small block of post-it-notes out of her sleeve. “Mind if we move this somewhere less likely to be overheard then?”

“Okay.” The bird concurred with a tiny nod. After which she hopped to the ground. As Eva was writing ‘place nearby two youkai can talk privately’ on her note, the black bird began balancing a fallen leaf on her head. As the Kitsune finished her writing, she noticed the bird perform a backflip.

As she flew through the air though, her form began to stretch and warp, until a young woman landed on her feet. Her shoulder length black hair had more than a few black feathers in it. The face framed by the black locks and feathers was rather pale, reddish brown eyes flanking a long, surprisingly curved nose. The smaller woman only came up to Eva’s nose and was wearing a traditional outfit sewn from rather simple cloth. The kimono was dyed an uneven green, while the Obi holding it together was brown and embroidered with black and white thread. On her feet the former bird wore a pair of geta sandals made from black wood. The sandal's stilt like, single teeth also made her stand at least ten centimeters taller.

After blinking a couple times, Eva bent down to pick up a random stone. As she attached the note to it she commented. “I was not expecting you to do that.”

“Oh. And here I expected a talking human to be less suspicious than a talking bird.”

“It’s not that.” Eva replied as she began to pick up where they should head to have this talk with a bit more privacy. “Just surprised you could do that.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Ah.” the other woman replied as she followed after the Kitsune. Despite her awkward choice of footwear she easily kept the same pace as Eva, who had changed her clothing into a more casual combination of plaited skirt and hoodie.

The next quarter hour or so they were traversing the streets of Tokyo more or less silently. Eva’s companion oohed and aahed at just about every example of modern technology they came across though. The only thing she seemed to be familiar with were the cars driving nearby. In fact she seemed to be somewhat scared of them even, as she flinched noticeably the first few times one passed the duo. All in all though, Eva was glad she hadn’t tried to smash a TV to free the tiny people in it.

Towards the end of their walk,they were guided into smaller and smaller alleys, until they arrived at a set of small stairs. According to the sign next to them, they lead down towards a small bar. Next to the entrance was a statue of a Tanuki that seemed to be eyeing both women suspiciously as they stepped inside.

“I think you ladies got a bit lost.” Said the bartender the moment he saw them step inside.

“Why, are you closed?” Eva replied, while the former bird was preoccupied marvelling at a lightbulb.

“No, we are open alright. To a very exclusive selection of clientele.”

Thinking over what she had written on the note not even half an hour ago, Eva inquired further. “Exclusive huh? Not more like mythological?”

The bartender narrowed his eyes as he responded. “What are you getting at, young lady?”

Before Eva could elaborate, the door behind her opened again, and a familiar voice filled the room. “Hey Yo, mind preparing the usual?”As the new arrival noticed Eva standing before him, he continued. “Hey Eva didn’t know you knew about this place. Why are these girls still standing in the doorway Yo?”

“Because I have no idea who they are. And am not just about to let some random humans into my bar. You should be well aware of what happened the last time, Ratatoskr.”

“Mhm. Though you might want to be aware that Eva here is Mumei’s successor. And we both know what happens if you break a promise to a Kitsune.”

“Those aren’t inherited though are they?” The Bartender replied while mixing whatever the Squirrel had ordered.

“Well Mumei always officiated all oaths as the Kami of Mumeikitsune. Are you willing to take the risk that those oaths aren’t transferred to the new Kami?” Ratatoskr countered with a smirk.

After a shudder visibly crawled down Yo’s back, he turned to the women in his bar. “So what would you lovely ladies want?”

“A table to talk where we won’t be overheard by random humans.”

“Of course, just sit down at one you like. Anything to drink? It’s on the house.”

“Not right now, thank you.” Eva replied as she turned and tried to get her companions attention, before leading her to a table in the back.

After they both sat down, Eva was the first to talk. “So how about we start over from the beginning with some introductions. I’m Eva Mayer, a freshly minted Kitsune, Kami and exchange student from Germany.”

“Ah nice to meet you. I am Karasuza.”