AFTER my night out, the weekend passed in the blink of an eye. Monday arrived, and Shinozaki and I headed to Hakata Station. We would be escorting a woman seeking a live-in position at a hot spring resort in Futsukaichi. The establishment, of course, was one frequented by ayakashi.
I sat in the passenger’s seat while he drove us to the parking lot outside the Chikushi exit of the station. After unbuckling his seatbelt, he pulled out his tablet to catch up on correspondence as we waited.
“Having you on the team really helps during times like these,” he said to me. “A lot of female ayakashi don’t want to ride alone in a car with a man.”
“Yeah, a lot of women are uncomfortable around unfamiliar men,” I replied. “I’m glad I can help out.”
I’m trying my best to act normal, but is it working?
Ever since our recent kiss and my night at the pub, I felt awkward being alone with him.
“…We’re taking our client to Futsukaichi Onsen, right?” I asked.
“Correct. It’s an ancient hot spring that dates back over a thousand years to the Dazaifu government period. It’s a popular spot for those of our kind seeking work. After all, it has name recognition even among old ayakashi.”
“Yeah, that startled me a bit. As soon as we posted the job listing, applications came pouring in.”
Shinozaki nodded. “It was mentioned in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, after all.”
The hot spring resort was seeking to fill just one position, and we’d received a startling number of responses. Emails, phone calls, and letters had only been the beginning… Disembodied voices spoke to us from empty air as well, and telepathic messages had beamed directly into our minds. The deluge of paranormal applications had been nothing short of chaotic.
“It’s a popular listing, to be sure, but there is one problem,” Shinozaki said.
“What’s that?”
“A rival business—another nearby hot spring resort—has been poaching employees.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded, frowning slightly. “The proprietor waits outside Hakata Station, makes his pitch, and steals the would-be employees. He’s famous, so his name carries a lot of weight.”
“He’s that much of a bigshot?”
“Indeed,” said Shinozaki with another nod. “Plus, his resort is in Saga.”
“Saga?”
I opened a map on my tablet. Fukuoka Prefecture formed a crooked greater-than sign near Dazaifu where the northern and southern halves of Chikuzen met, and its mouth bordered Saga Prefecture. Every major artery linking the two halves—the Kyushu Expressway, the Kyushu Shinkansen, and the Kagoshima Main Line—ran through Saga. To lure someone with the promise of such a nearby, convenient location would be incredibly easy.
Wait.
Futsukaichi, our destination, and Dazaifu were practically next door to each other. Shinozaki could visit Futsukaichi yet wouldn’t step foot in Dazaifu. What lengths would he go to in order to avoid his old acquaintances?
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“Eep!” I squealed, startled out of my reverie.
“Don’t give me that. You’ve been spacing out for a while now. …Wanna touch my tail?”
“You say that like you’re offering candy to a child, but… Ugh, it’s so soft.” I nearly swooned when his tail brushed my cheek. As I surrendered to fluffiness, he addressed me in a somewhat serious tone.
“Something about you seems off today.”
“It’s nothing,” I replied. “I’m perfectly healthy. No fever or anything.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard if you’re feeling unwell. Go home early for the day if you need to. I can always ask Hainuzuka to be the female employee. You’ve been working nonstop through the summer. Why don’t you take a paid day off and—”
“No, really, I’m fine. I mean it.”
He sounded concerned, though I couldn’t see his expression as I ran my fingers over his tail. I glanced at his necktie. Why didn’t he loosen his collar or wear cooler clothes during the summer?
Oh, I thought, realization dawning on me. It’s because he doesn’t want people to see the sigil on his chest.
“If your boss isn’t normal, how do you know he’ll be able to accept your love?” Tsukushi had asked. “What if he already loves someone else?”
Her words echoed in my mind over and over again. Shinozaki treasured someone so much that he’d bound his soul to that person. Would my feelings for him only bring me pain?
“Tell me what’s bothering you,” he wheedled. “We have plenty of time until our appointment.”
I stayed silent.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll knock you out with a kiss and force you to go home early.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll spill it!”
My poor heart couldn’t handle another kiss. I scooched away from the hand he’d placed on my backrest.
“So…” I paused, scrambling to find an excuse. “I met two samurai clients the other day, remember?”
“Of course.”
“The older gentleman seemed worried about you. And I found out… Your real name is Shino, isn’t it?”
“People insist on calling me that, no matter how many times I tell them my name is Rai Shinozaki now.”
He admitted it far more readily than I’d expected.
“And for the record, Shino isn’t my real name either,” he said without prompting. “I received that name upon entering a master-servant contract. When I first gained power as a kitsune in the distant past, people worshipped me as a god of agriculture. So Shino, which means ‘purple field,’ was a fitting name, no? At any rate, I’ve had several names throughout my life, but I was most accustomed to the God of Chikushino. Thus, Shino.”
“You’re being way more forthcoming than I thought you’d be.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t answer your question?”
“You never tell me about the past,” I pointed out. “I didn’t even know you were acquaintances with that samurai.”