UPON arriving at Hakata Station, Mr. Takahashi and I immediately split up. We’d devised a plan on the train, and I was to idle near the roundabout in front of the station.
I spotted far more men in suits than I would in Tenjin, unsurprising given our location was near the business district. Department stores lined the Hakata entrance to the station, and the gorgeously illuminated area hosted many events. Conversely, the Chikushi entrance brought a faux commercial jingle to mind.
Tourists in suits! Tourists in suits, suits, suits! Have ramen for lunch and hit the pub at night!
I spent ten minutes near the roundabout, mindlessly counting taxis. A van screeched to a halt in front of me much sooner than expected.
“Why hello there!” came the familiar voice. “How are you on this fine day, Miss Kikui? Lovely weather we’re having, wouldn’t you say? Have you finally decided to come work for me?”
A slender man with long, black hair and elegant, round glasses stuck his head out of the van window. His rapid-fire speech and excessive friendliness, combined with his penchant for drama, made him seem like a comedian. Nonetheless, he was strikingly handsome.
“Xu Fu,” I said. “You actually came.”
“Quickly, quickly. Hop in, and we can chat somewhere more comfortable. Or if you’re ready to sign the contract posthaste, I have the documents right here.”
“No, um, hold on a moment, please.”
Xu Fu tried to pull me into the van, grinning all the while. As he reached for me, Mr. Takahashi materialized by my side and grabbed his hand.
“Wha—?!” cried Xu Fu.
“I thought you might appear if Lady Kaede stood here alone,” Mr. Takahashi said. “Looks like I was right.”
Xu Fu’s purple eyes widened as he regarded the samurai. “Hold on!” he spluttered. “Why are you with Lady Kaede, good sir?!”
“I’ll get straight to the point,” Mr. Takahashi said. “Kindly take us to the shapeshifting foxes of Chikushino—Tsukushi and Shino.”
Xu Fu furrowed his brow. “Pardon? I’m not sure I understand your request. What is this about all of a sudden?”
“We need the location of the shapeshifting foxes of Chikushino. Don’t play dumb. You know where they are, yes?”
Despite his beauty, Mr. Takahashi could be incredibly forthright. He skewered right through Xu Fu’s seeming bafflement.
“If you must know,” Xu Fu answered flatly, “I haven’t the faintest idea where they are. How would I, a simple, virtuous fangshi, know where foxes make their dens? We operate in completely different territories.”
“Is that so?” Mr. Takahashi leaned forward. “Say, Lord Jofuku, haven’t you expanded your onsen business to Futsukaichi?”
“Well, yes, but what of it?”
“And your ayakashi patrons sometimes visit Dazaifu for sightseeing, no?”
Xu Fu froze momentarily. “My…guests might visit Dazaifu of their own volition, true, but it has nothing to do with me.”
“Oh? Are you sure that’s wise? A certain lord and I are hoping to remain on friendly terms with you, the two-thousand-year-old fangshi.”
By “a certain lord,” did he mean Sugawara no Michizane? I nearly spoke the name out loud before clamping my mouth shut. Shinozaki said to call him Professor M.
“Ugh…” Xu Fu groaned. “Threats aside, I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
“Lord Jofuku,” murmured Mr. Takahashi, leaning into the other man and slamming his hand against the van.
Now kiss! Wait, what the heck am I thinking?!
“The other ayakashi in Hakata aren’t blind to your poaching here,” the samurai said. “Shino—no, Shinozaki—has built a mutually beneficial relationship with you by acting as a buffer, has he not?”
“Do you, um, mind backing up a little?” asked Xu Fu.
“You want to maintain your relationship with Shinozaki as well, don’t you?”
“Fine, fine. It’s not as though the vixen asked anything of me.” His tone reluctant, Xu Fu shrugged and opened the van’s back door. “Why don’t you come inside, and we can chat?”
As soon as we climbed in, he snapped his fingers and—
We were suddenly standing in the entryway of a traditional Japanese inn.
“What the heck?!” I shrieked. I stepped through the entrance, peering left and right, but couldn’t see Xu Fu anywhere.
High-pitched laughter echoed around us as if through a PA system. “Ahaha! Gotcha, suckers!” jeered Xu Fu. “Did you really expect to get anything out of me so easily? Honestly, I don’t mind sharing what I know, but where’s the fun in telling you without getting anything in return?”
“Wh-What do you want in return?” I asked.
“If you come work for me, Kikui, I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Seriously?!” Panic seized my chest.
Beside me, Mr. Takahashi rubbed his chin. “Aha,” he chuckled, sounding impressed. “Played us like a fiddle, didn’t he?”
“What should we do?”
Mr. Takahashi strode farther into the inn without answering, so I followed. The hallway twisted and turned with no end in sight. Worse, the doors we opened led to the same rooms and gardens. We were clearly dealing with sorcery; even an amateur like me could tell that much.
“He likely intends to trap us in this labyrinth until we yield,” Mr. Takahashi said. He scrutinized the corridor. “Breaking the enchantment with my power will prove somewhat difficult. However, so long as we’re in the labyrinth, we won’t be subject to the flow of time on the Near Shore.”
“What does that mean?”
“No matter how much time passes, we won’t age or grow hungry. In other words, we’ll be trapped in this so-called inn forever.”
“So…we could just go goblin mode?” I asked.
“Rather than trembling in fear, you’re more concerned with indulging in degeneracy?” Mr. Takahashi smiled at me, testing the wall in front of him with his hand. “But rejoice, Lady Kaede, for this is the perfect opportunity.”
“For what, exactly?”
He muttered something under his breath, drawing a sharp line through the air with his finger. Afterward, he kneeled to slap both hands against the floor. A moment later, a pair of towering oni, one black and one red, appeared on either side of us. Straw ropes fettered their bodies, and flames wreathed their hands. Their terrifyingly divine visages rendered me speechless.
The two oni were large enough to pierce through the ceiling. Yet, strangely, it lifted and warped around them. Could this labyrinth be more overpowered?
“Unbelievable…” I murmured, otherwise still speechless.
Mr. Takahashi grinned at me mischievously. “I can’t use foxes as familiars, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. After all, I was born in a temple.”
“Sorry, but does being born in a temple have anything to do with this?”
“More importantly…” He pointed at my new, unbroken Hayakaken card. “Lady Kaede. Lord Jofuku has been kind enough to provide us with ample time and space. Allow me—a former human—to teach you a thing or two about sorcery.”
🍁🍁🍁