Yeni was certainly right. People were looking at her differently now. Like she was going to do backflips and skateboarding kickflips all while being on fire and chased by bees, or something equally ridiculous. But, it did give her more freedom to explore the camp. She'd go find the Fatherborn eventually, when she was less aggrieved about her life in general. She'd look about the tent sea some, and then grab a young looking Kitsune with one tail. He seemed pretty surprised to be grabbed, but immediately dampened any response when he saw Kiko's tails.

"SIR. Tell me about them" she almost ordered. The subtle disgust in people's reactions when she exclaimed she was a SIR Agent did not go unnoticed, after all.

"The Betrayers? I-i, what is there to say about them?" he'd ask, staring at Kiko wildly.

"Let's start with that one. I was born in the city, so I have no idea about the culture you were born into. Tell me about their betrayal, and I want your honest truth. I won't judge you for it or get angry. I swear on..." Kiko would pause for a moment and mentally flail for something relevant to them both. "...Vanaet" she finished. It was hard to really objectively talk about SIR in the city. The whole 'saving us from horrible monsters that want to eat us and shit on our family with the faeces from eating us' tended to colour people's perceptions of them.

'Using my name in vain already, huh? We are going to get along~' came the voice again. So glorious and vibrant, how could any living being have a voice like that? Kiko wasn't dumb, she understood the connotations of the voice's claims towards it's identity, but also wasn't just going to take it at face value.

What was taken at face value, however, was Kiko's words. The kid's eyes bulged wide and he immediately dropped the backpack he was carrying, and took a seat on the ground.

"Long, long ago, there was a War. It scou-" he started his voice entering into a tone like he was reciting an epic tale around a campfire, though Kiko sat down more roughly and held up a hand.

"Yea, I got the cliff notes. Big war, Kitsune guy, crystal sword" Kiko interrupted, gesturing with her hand for him to carry on.

"Ohh. Umm..." the kid made some incoherent mumbles and then eventually found his linguistic feet again and picked up the storyteller tone again. "At the moment of triumph, he was betrayed by his ally. A Tengu drove a blade into his back and tarnished his soul, reducing him to ashes in but moments. The fury of the Kitsunes was great, and we tore the remnants of the enemy to shred in our hatred. A hatred directed at a Tengu we could never have revenge on, because the blade he used took his own life as fuel, once the task was done.

The war ended, and we rounded upon the untrustworthy and insidious Tengu. They refused responsibility for their actions, and war would have broken out between the two, had the great Talia'Zian not stood between us, preventing either from striking the other.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Time passed, and the Beasts were driven off, though incursions were everywhere. The Kitsunes who had taken to the central plains came together to form a village, that grew then into a city, and from there into a bustling town-"

"Cities are bigger than towns" Kiko put in. Though, it seemed she was not immune to reprisal, as the kid scowled and grew irate.

"Do you want me to tell you this story or not?" He asked, some grump to his tone now.

"Sorry, continue. I'll not interrupt again" Kiko apologised. The kid took a few moments again, ran through where he was in his head, and then carried on.

"As the infrastructure of civilization grew, so did the need to cover people from the incursions that plagued the lands. Night watchmen because formalized, and over time they came together as a wing of the government, the Otherworld Defence Department.

But treason! Their armoured fist, the Supernatural Incursion Response, did eschew the valour and strength of the Kitsunes in favour of the vile, repugnance of the Tengu. How could we serve such people? And so we retreated from the cities, and those who would support the enemy and their poisonous ways. To mountain homes, were we protect our own and grow in peace. Over the ages, the Ess Eye Are became repugnant and morally bankrupt, a cruel and merciless division of the corrupt and decadent government. Power makes them bold, but blind, and they will topple. One day"

Kiko would stare, expectantly, but when the kid didn't carry on, she would nod. So much for an objective viewpoint, they were as biased as the people in the city. She'd need to go on a serious journey, to Alza or Merin if she was to get an opinion untainted by bias. Though, her own quiet bid him ask her a question burning in his mind.

"Though you didn't know any of this, surely you knew they were creatures of the darkness. What drove you to join them regardless?" he asked, leaning in with glimmering eyes.

"We've our own biases, so there isn't a prevailing thought of them being evil. Most people just see them as part of society, the same way a school education is, only less mandatory. I personally...was curious. The initial joining was a shock, I hadn't had time to put my head on right. But, could have left whenever I wanted. But, curiosity.

My father hid all this from me. Not just being a SIR Agent, but even me being a Kitsune. I grew up thinking myself a normal woman." the kid would react as Kiko paused for a moment, in a harshly negative fashion, recoiling at the very idea.

"How could someone ever keep that, from their child?!" He asked, in disbelief.

"Dunno. Never knew my mother either. The big kerfuffle there was the first time I met her. First time I knew anything of her. So, I needed to know why. Why had he joined? Why had he hidden it? Did they know my mother? I couldn't ask him because his death is the only way I know any of this"

The kid would make a sign and mutter something under his breath as he heard that her father was dead. She didn't know what it was, but it felt nice to see.

"The other half was a flash of anger. A burning need for revenge on what had killed him. And SIR was my ticket to the skills I needed for that. Though, the big secret being...I never really voiced these thoughts. I was driven by them without knowing what was driving me, until now when you asked" she'd take a breath and nod to herself, standing up and brushing off her ass. "So, I am going to find the Fatherborn, learn everything I can, and go kick it's fucking ass for stealing my father" Kiko exclaimed.

"Well at least there is diligence in you" a gruff and rumbling voice sounded. From the kid's reaction and hastily stammered apology while scrambling up, it wasn't the three tails that he recognized....