“Huh? U-Um…?”
The man stilled. His almond-shaped eyes studied me in disbelief, the amber irises shimmering under creased upper eyelids.
“U-Um, have we met somewhere before?” I ventured.
Frantically, I searched my memory as I quailed under his scrutiny. Is he one of the men who interviewed me for a job? Or does he work in human resources at one of those places? I’ve never seen a man this gorgeous up close.
“I’m sorry, but…I can’t remember you,” I admitted.
After a beat, the beautiful man murmured, “I see.” He let out a deep sigh, and the furry ears standing atop his head abruptly drooped. His bushy tail deflated too. He looked quite crestfallen. Had he been looking for someone and mistaken me for them? I felt a pang of guilt for disappointing hi—
“Huh?” With a start, I looked at him again. Wait, furry ears? And a tail?!
Unmistakably, two large, pointed animal ears protruded from the man’s head. Likewise, a large fox’s tail sprouted from the center vent of his finely tailored suit.
“A f-fox?”
The gorgeous, young man radiated a dangerous aura. And sported fluffy ears and a tail.
Oh, I see. His blond hair is actually the color of a fox’s coat, huh? That’s kind of adorable.
A loud clatter rang out behind me. I spun around to find the fortune teller’s booth empty. “Wait, what?!”
“Hey!” the fox shouted.
The fortune teller was attempting to escape on unsteady feet.
“Stop right there!” the fox shouted again as he grabbed the man. “Don’t even think about running!”
The fortune teller twisted his thin body in protest. “Gah… Let go of me!”
“Don’t be stupid. I may have gotten distracted, but I originally came here for you. Once is bad enough, yet you keep conducting this illegal business in the domain of Lord Tenjin himself!”
“Oh, so it was illegal,” I muttered under my breath.
The fortune teller struggled in vain to break free from the fox’s grasp.
“Listen,” the fox said, “I don’t care if you want to tell fortunes on the street, but you need to get permission first. If we don’t follow the humans’ rules, all of us ayakashi will lose our place in this world. You’re here because you don’t want to go to the Far Shore, right?”
“Let go of me,” the fortune teller grunted. “I’ll stop, okay? I’ll…stop!”
“U-Um, excuse me, Mr. Fox!” I grabbed his sleeve.
He glared at me.
After stifling a yelp, I tried again, finding his eyes. “U-Um! Please let go of him!”
“This is between me and him,” the fox replied. “I don’t want to drag you into our dispute. Just pretend you didn’t see anything and run along.”
“I can’t do that. Um… This fortune teller might have broken some sort of rule, sure, but he was listening to me vent a little while ago. It took some of the weight off my shoulders, so could you please let him go? Just for today?”
The fox appeared momentarily taken aback. Then—
“Grr!” the fortune teller growled.
“Ouch!” the fox cried. “Hey, wait!”
The fortune teller had taken advantage of the fox’s distraction. Raising his free arm, he’d scratched the fox’s hand and wrenched the other free before bolting like a startled cat. There was no hope of catching him as he began to merge into the sea of people thronging the Shintenchō shopping district.
“Damn it. He got away,” cursed the fox. Yet he didn’t pursue the fortune teller.
As I breathed a sigh of relief, something odd caught my eye. “What’s that?” I murmured.
Two strange, snakelike objects poked out of the fleeing fortune teller’s robe. They looked like the twitching tail of a black cat, albeit two-pronged.
My jaw dropped. “H-He’s a cat?”
“He’s a nekomata,” the fox explained. “He uses fortune telling as a pretext to lure humans with spiritual energy. Then he feeds on their worries and vitality to sustain himself.”
“O-Oh, I see,” I managed.
“Considering what an idiot he is though, I doubt he’s had a decent meal in a while.”
“Still,” I said, “I feel kind of sorry for him.”
“You feel sorry for him?” The fox shrugged, then scoffed, pointing to the energy bracelet abandoned on the booth’s counter. “That was a marker to keep track of you.”
“A marker?”
“He planned to attack and eat you later.”
“Seriously?!”
“Don’t worry. The contract is void since you didn’t accept the bracelet. The jewel in the center is just a glass bead now.”
“Th-Thank goodness.”
Donning a serious expression, the fox bent slightly to peer at my face. “Speaking of which…”
“Y-Yes?” My heart hammered in my chest. Normally I wasn’t so affected by a handsome face.
“Is that spiritual energy of yours on purpose?” the fox asked.
“Come again?”
“You’re leaking spiritual energy like a busted pipe. How have you survived so long so defenseless? What the hell are you?” He eyed me. “Some kind of exhibitionist?”
“Wh-What did you just call me?!” I clutched the shoulders of my business suit, then started to pat myself down, paranoid that there was a tear in the seat of my pants or something.
The fox chuckled, and the laughter made him seem a little more charming, a little less imposing.
Wait. Charming? After he called me an exhibitionist? Fat chance.
“Well, anyway, it’s about that time,” he said, glancing at his wristwatch. He snatched my tote bag from my arms.
I squawked. “Hey, what are you doing?!”
“I have an appointment now. Feel free to tag along.” Pivoting back toward me, he smiled slyly. “You see me as a fox, don’t you?” He handed me a business card printed with an adorable fox pattern.
“Fukuoka Ayakashi Career and Moving Services,” it read. “Rai Shinozaki, President.”
I finally realized, at long last, that he was the president of a company.
🍁🍁🍁