Foxfire (Nine Tails, 1)

by Yuki Edo

  “You came for me. That’s all that matters.”

  The sweet gratitude in Hiro’s voice made his chest tighten. “I’ll have to make a deal with her, to free you and to ensure she never returns, so we must find her.”

  Hiro bit his lip, worry and fear marring his face. “Can’t we just go home? Can’t Inari help?”

  “It would only be temporary. Inari was present when I killed the witch, yet she still returned.”

  “She caught you? That’s what the girl who made the sculpture said. She told me she’d caught a fox once and been forced to set it free.”

  It angered Masaki that the vile bitch had spoken to Hiro for even a few moments. “Yes, that’s what happened. Inari rescued me, then gave me permission to kill the witch when she threatened us all. She vowed she’d take all nine of us from Inari, and this is obviously the beginning of her plan.”

  Hiro looked around as he inched closer to Masaki. “What do we do? This place changes. I hear laughter and strange noises, but then silence will follow. I thought it was a dream, but I realized where I was when I saw one of my paintings come to life. A painting of … Yomi.” He gazed into Masaki’s eyes. “That’s where we are, isn’t it?”

  Masaki nodded. “Yes. And we must stay together.” He reached into his pocket and drew out a silver chain. He joined their wrists and then explained, “This can stretch up to a mile.” As soon as he took his hand away, the chain seemed to vanish. “It will not inhibit our movements, as it is only solid where it touches us. If we’re separated, simply pull on your wrist. This will lead me to you.” He moved his arm, tugging. “Do you feel it?”

  Hiro looked at their wrists and nodded, and then he joined their hands. “Thank you for coming for me,” he said softly.

  Masaki pulled him close. “This is the worst time and place, but I don’t care. I’ve been watching you for months, and when we finally touched and became one, I realized I’d already fallen in love with you. You owe me nothing, but I won’t face this trial without telling you.” He kissed Hiro, pleased when the young man held him and returned the kiss.

  Hiro looked up at him, tears misting his eyes but never falling. “When we get home—because I know we will—I’ll stay as long as you like. I’ll tell my whole damn family I’m gay and show you off,” he said, laughing nervously before reaching up to kiss him.

  Masaki longed to stay in this moment, but it wasn’t possible. “Then we must find the witch. Have you seen a house or anything like that?”

  “There was a pavilion with food.”

  “Did you eat anything?” Masaki asked, holding his breath.

  “No. I’ve read enough mythology to know better.”

  Masaki nodded. “Then as you said, we will go home, and I’ll be honored to show you off as well.” He glanced around, clutching Hiro’s hand to his heart. “Which way?”

  Hiro looked around a long time, but then he finally pointed. “That way, I think.”

  Masaki pulled Hiro to his side and began walking, keeping alert with every step. He knew that, despite his protest, Inari might still come for him, but he also knew that he could not win this battle relying on help from others.

  Chapter Six

  Hiro eyed the landscape, expecting danger in every shadow. He’d felt safe—or at least safer—ever since Masaki had found him. The trees around them seemed to change and move, and he no longer had any confidence he’d picked the right direction.

  “Masaki, I think I was wrong.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. We’d have found it by now if I’d picked the right direction.”

  Masaki paused and looked around them. “I doubt it mattered. As you said, the landscape can change. The witch who has done this claimed to have moved in and out of Yomi many times. She might have other powers as well.”

  “Then what can we do if she can simply keep tricking us?” Hiro had only been thrust into this world a few days ago and had no idea how to handle this situation.

  “You could surrender,” a melodic voice said behind them.

  Masaki pulled Hiro close as they turned. “Never, Kilana,” Masaki said. “But I can offer you a deal.”

  The figure before them was not the girl Hiro had spoken to at the museum, yet the eyes held the same glint. Her pale skin contrasted with her red lips and gold eyes. Her hair now fell all the way to her feet and continued to flow behind her. She wore a black kimono that shimmered as she moved. She grinned, revealing sharp teeth. “You remember my name,” she said to Masaki. “Not going to hide behind your kami this time?”

  “I didn’t hide before. I refused you and summoned Inari because your efforts affronted her.”

  “Why be a messenger when you could be so much more?” she asked.

  “I don’t wish to serve anyone but my lady. Do you wish to hear my deal or not?”

  She shrugged, as if bored, but then she grinned once more. “I’ll listen.” She turned to the left, a pavilion appearing just in time for her to step into it. “Come, we can talk as we eat.”

  A plate of fried tofu sat in the middle of the low table. Plump, colorful silk cushions surrounded it, and Kilana reclined on one, beckoning them over. She took up a pair of chopsticks and began to eat. Masaki pulled Hiro to the table, where they both took cushions and knelt on their knees.

  “Hiro and I are both smarter than this. You attempted to bribe me with food before. It won’t work, especially not here.”

  She continued eating, though her mouth twitched slightly.

  “I’ll endure a trial, set by you. If I am triumphant, you will never again attempt to capture me or any of my brothers. Hiro and I will leave here freely and unharmed.”

  “And if you fail?”

  “I’ll renounce Inari and serve you, using all of my powers to do your will.”

  She licked her lips. “And your young morsel?”

  Masaki frowned, clenching his knees as if trying to hold something back. He let out a deep exhale and said, “I request that he be delivered to Inari.”

  “You could keep him as a little pet. We could even give him a collar.” She set her chopsticks down and leaned forward. “Why not just stay with me? I’ll let you have him. Once you go back, he might leave you. I’ve been watching. He’d never have let you take him if I hadn’t put a touch of lust in my spell.” She cast another sharp-toothed grin at him.

  Hiro stiffened. He had felt a little odd at first, frenzied in his arousal, but his desire for Masaki had been real. He leaned forward, but he didn’t know how to refute her claim.

  “Something to say?” she asked.

  Hiro reached for Masaki’s hand and looked at him. “I did feel strange when we first touched, but I needed no spell to want you.” He turned to Kilana and eyed her. She did frighten him, but she seemed to want Masaki enough not to act rashly. “Maybe you did enchant me with lust. I did feel something indescribable, but I felt more than just desire. I thought Masaki was beautiful, even when I was scared of him. I like talking to him and being with him. I’m glad he was my first, and I won’t let you ruin the memory.”

  Kilana sat up and laughed, clapping her hands together like a child, which looked so odd given her elegant appearance in this incarnation. “Oh, he’s a bold one! I like him.” She held one finger out. “One alteration, and we shall have a deal.”

  “I’ll consider it,” Masaki said.

  “If you fail, both of you must stay with me.” She held both hands up before Masaki could object. “You will serve me, and he will belong to you alone. I won’t touch him. Won’t try to seduce him. You’ll lose your spirit without him, and that would make you tiresome.”

  “No one else could touch him? Absolutely no one but me?” Masaki asked.

  “Yes,” Kilana said.

  “Then we have a deal. You have half an hour to decide my trial.”

  Kilana leapt up and waved her arms. “I need no time. I am prepared.” The clouds parted, and the peak of a mountain was revealed. A great shrine appeared there, the red torii gates and flaming
lanterns standing out against the sky, and Kilana turned to them. “A shrine to Inari. You must reach it. If you pass into the sacred space, I will release you. You’ll be allowed to call on Inari and go home.”

  “How long do we have?” Masaki asked.

  “Twenty-one hours.” She bowed, laughter bubbling from her. “And then you’ll be mine and we’ll begin with my plans for your brothers.”

  Masaki gave her a barely perceptible bow in acknowledgement. “Then we shall begin.”

  Hiro followed Masaki, not looking back. While the encounter itself had not been frightening, the thought of failure began to weigh on him as they moved. He had faith in Masaki, but kitsune were not so perfect they were immune to failure.

  “It’s not far. We can be there in a couple of hours, I think,” Hiro said.

  Masaki took Hiro’s hand once more. “There’ll be dangers. Tricks. Perhaps even yokai or demons to face.” He glanced back and stopped. “You must trust me at every turn. She’ll make every effort to win.”

  Now Hiro couldn’t help being afraid. He nodded. “Of course. I’ll do what you say.”

  Masaki touched Hiro’s cheek. “You’re a far greater prize than even my freedom. I won’t fail, I swear.”

  Hearing the oath made Hiro feel warm and confident, but as soon as Masaki turned away, he felt cold. The forest seemed to grow thicker as they moved, and he felt sure something would come at them at any moment.

  * * * *

  Hiro swallowed, or tried to. His throat was parched, but drinking even one drop of water would trap him in Yomi just as eating anything would. The heat seemed to be sucking the life from his body, surrounding him and near suffocating him. The forest grew thicker as they walked, and soon they had to weave in and out of the trees to move forward.

  Masaki slowed but didn’t explain why. He paused, as if listening, and then they continued on.

  “What can we expect?” Hiro asked quietly.

  “Hard to say.”

  Despite his anxiety about what would happen next, Hiro couldn’t stop thinking about Masaki’s declaration of love. He still couldn’t process it properly, as the idea of someone so experienced and handsome wanting him, let alone loving him, made his mind boggle. Hiro inched up beside Masaki as they climbed over a large tree root.

  “I’m glad you told me how you feel,” he said, keeping his voice soft. “It means a lot.”

  Masaki smiled at him, but then he returned his sharp gaze to their surroundings. “My life’s been one of ease, for the most part, and it must look appealing from the outside. But at times, there are dangers. Facing them makes you see what truly matters.”

  “Have you ever felt this way before?”

  Masaki vaulted over a fallen tree and then turned back to help Hiro over. “No, I haven’t.” They continued walking, and Masaki kept his gaze darting between the shadows and the treetops. “I was never a seducer, like some of my brothers, but I’ve had many lovers. I cared for them, but I never felt more. Neither did any of them.”

  “How do you know that?” Hiro asked, imagining it wouldn’t take anyone long to fall in love with Masaki. He could already envision himself falling. Hard.

  “They all left me. Grew tired of me.”

  “I don’t understand that. At all.” Hiro stumbled, wedging his foot under a root.

  Masaki went down on his knees right away, holding Hiro’s ankle steady and then freeing him. He felt the bone and guided Hiro over the next few feet. “I’m your first lover. It’s easy to think that person is perfect.”

  “Did you?”

  They came to a point where the trees twisted around each other in such a way that they had to change course. Masaki paused, orienting himself, though Hiro had no idea how he did this without the light of a sun in the sky. Light radiated from everywhere, but nothing floated in the sky above them. Only bleak grayness hung there.

  “Inari was my first lover. I knew from the start that it was a different form of love.”

  “It’s odd.”

  “What is?” Masaki asked, tilting his head as he glanced back.

  “Gods having sex. Just … seems strange.”

  “They have passions and emotions as we do.”

  “Since it’s a different kind of love, do you still feel that way?” Hiro asked.

  “I’ll always be devoted to Inari, but we’ll never touch that way again. I promise.”

  “I wasn’t jealous. Just curious.”

  Masaki braced himself against a tree and looked around. “Were you tempted by his seduction?”

  “Curious. But not tempted. Would’ve been cruel to run from you and then jump into bed with him.”

  Masaki pointed in a new direction, and they started again. “I’d have forgiven you, but it would’ve hurt, after I’d told Inari how I felt about you.”

  “He said he wouldn’t have done it.” Hiro sighed and cleared his throat.

  “You’ll lose your voice at this rate,” Masaki said, reaching over and massaging the back of Hiro’s neck.

  “Helps me not be scared. I trust you, but the longer we wait for an attack, the more worried I feel.”

  Masaki stopped and kissed his forehead. “Then let me distract you.” He transformed as soon as he’d pulled away from Hiro, and after shaking himself, he knelt before Hiro.

  Masaki had changed to his larger form, and Hiro could do nothing but stare at first. Masaki gestured with his head, and Hiro realized he was supposed to get on Masaki’s back. He did so, and Masaki stood carefully. And then he took off, bounding over the trees and roots at three times the speed they’d been traveling.

  Hiro actually laughed for a moment, the feeling of riding on Masaki’s back exhilarating. But soon, he noticed the landscape change. It wasn’t just the speed at which they moved—the trees literally began to change. They all began to whip about, transforming into vines. He could hear and feel the ground heaving. Masaki tried to maneuver, and he did a good job at first, but soon he had to slow down. The vines tried to wrap around his legs, but he jerked away, snapping at them when they managed to grab hold of him.

  Hiro clutched Masaki’s fur and buried his face at the nape of his neck. Masaki gave a yelp as two vines whipped around him and Hiro both. He turned, snapping and biting at the vines. He freed them on one side and then managed to jerk free on the other side. They outran the vines for a while, but then one latched on to Hiro’s leg. The vine yanked him away and whipped him to the ground. The breath knocked out of his lungs, Hiro lay stunned as stars danced before his eyes and his head swam. Then darkness closed in as the vines covered him. No sound reached him as he struggled to move, to breathe. Just as the blood began to roar in his ears, Hiro heard the sound of something slicing through the air. The whizzing continued, and he felt the vines around him giving way. Air came through, and he took it in with great, gulping breaths. When he focused on the figure reaching for him, he sucked in his breath again.

  Masaki wore a strange kind of armor, crimson dragon scales covering every inch of his body. He had a katana in his hand and another strapped to his back. His hair flew wildly around him as he drew Hiro up. “Can you walk? Are you hurt?”

  Hiro tried to assess himself, but Masaki didn’t wait. He sheathed his weapon and swept Hiro into his arms, dashing forward again, almost as quickly as he had in his fox form. Hiro closed his eyes and clutched at Masaki, listening to his heart pound in an effort to drown out the sounds around him. They’d been stopped for several moments before realized what it meant. They had come to the edge of the dark forest and now rested by the bank of a river. Masaki eased them both to the ground, holding Hiro tight.

  Shaking a bit, Hiro let Masaki put him on the ground. At his urging, Hiro lay back. He felt Masaki’s fingers caressing his face, and he reached for the brave man who’d just saved his life.

  “My hero,” he said, as he pulled Masaki down for a kiss.

  * * * *

  Masaki responded to Hiro’s surprising passion, straddling him and kissin
g him more deeply. He then covered Hiro’s face and neck with kisses as well. His heart had nearly stopped when he’d seen the vines take Hiro under. He had to be more careful from now on. Masaki backed off and looked down at Hiro. “That my line, isn’t it? You’re my Hiro, aren’t you?”

  Hiro smiled. “You were awesome.” He turned his head to take in their surroundings. “How can you tell which way to go? I can’t make out shit with the trees and gray sky.”

  “Inari’s shrine pulls me. It’s why Kilana chose it. She can trick us all she wants, but in such a deal, we must at least be given a fair chance.”

  “And if she cheats?”

  “Izanami wouldn’t allow it.”

  “Why not?”

  “This is her realm. She retreated her upon her death.”

  “I know, but why would she care?”

  Masaki smiled as he moved off Hiro. “Then you also know her husband Izanagi came to take her back. She asked him not to look upon her, but he did anyway and saw that she was rotting. It’s why he fled and placed a boulder in front of the entrance to Yomi.” He stood and helped Hiro to his feet. “She doesn’t like it when others break their word or go back on their honor.”

  “Is there really a physical entrance to Yomi? With an actual boulder?”

  “Yes, in a coastal province. I can’t say more than that. No one can enter that way anymore. One must die or be brought here by supernatural means.”

  Hiro took a few steps, examining his hands and arms. “Are we … going to start rotting?”

  “Do you feel strange? Kilana’s power should shield you, but since I don’t know how she comes and goes from Yomi, anything’s possible.”

  “Just tired. Sore. It worried me.” He met Masaki’s gaze. “I keep forgetting where we are, how unreal it is.”

  “You’re not dead. You don’t need to be scared of that.” Masaki looked to the river. “We have to cross, but I fear the water will be filled with surprises.”