Try To Catch Up With The Fox Tail

Amari High School, Aoyama-Itchome, Tokyo

The girl went to school as planned, but her mind was not ready. Her head was full of thoughts about the events that had brought her to this point. How it all began in Nasu when the Sessho-Seki, the sinister stone in which she had succeeded in sealing the Evil Goddess Tamamo-no-Mae, had split in two only a short time ago. With her unleashing panic in the national association of Onmyoji, who rushed to investigate what had happened, the terror did not dissipate afterward either, for they realized that there was no trace of magic left in her, the goddess had escaped from her confinement, with most likely revenge as her main objective, she would destroy all of Japan in a fit of fury, just as some seers had predicted centuries ago. Every priest, helper, and family had thrown themselves into the search for this being supreme and incomprehensible to simple mortals like humans because the survival of their people was at stake now.

The surprise was worse when the first reports came in about how the kitsune had been identified, for they did not come from national soil, but from a village deep in the mountains of neighboring China, an old woman named Xiang Fan, a mysterious sorceress feared and respected in equal parts, called to exchange information, among the topics discussed she said how a demon-possessed a house in Midorigaoka had been purified by a group of first-time fans with the help of one of her incredible tools. Monster hunters are few in number and usually consisted of clans, families dedicated to the eradication of evil, so the appearance of new prospects with which to increase their ranks was good news, so researchers were deployed to identify them and try to add them to their ranks. But the investigation not only revealed the presence of foreigners, but also strong hints of ancestral magic, one that humans could not even dream of using, a command order from a God, but not just any God, but one personally signed by Tamamo-no-Mae. With the huge clue they followed the footsteps, as they had come to see how Haru Yamamoto, the granddaughter of the Tokyo police inspector had been involved along with several classmates, two of whom were clearly not human, as they looked as if they were challenging their pursuers and did not even bother to hide their animal features, The Evil Goddess had been found. Searching further it turned out that the Kitsune was not only hiding among the humans but had also been increasing her political influence, being as clever as her race implied, knowing that influencing the government of Japan would have led to her being discovered quickly, she had gone to foreign forces.

Adelis was a Latin American mother, officially she had come to the country on a personal adventure to open a coffee shop, but that was only on the surface, for she was actually quite a powerful person in international politics, secretly people and whole countries were always looking to her for help, she somehow always found a way to fulfill requests, but the price to pay was curious, for she expected future collaboration for something else. The few who thought of taking advantage of more and not paying were quickly subdued by her long and extensive power, a person who had friends everywhere, great or unknown. She had come to the country to play more of these long political games, and the Goddess somehow discovered this and used it to her advantage. Most likely Tamamo-no-Mae managed to do something to please the foreigner and collaborate with her, Adelis believed she could get help from the girl, not knowing that she was the one who was actually being used. 

It was right here that Asuka's story began, just after the national Onmyoji association tried to convince the government to let them meet with Adelis alone to confirm their fears. But the government flatly refused, as the woman was backed by the United States, arresting her for no reason would only create huge international tension without any benefit. Then they tried to talk to her personally, but it was just as impossible, for as her job informed them she was extremely busy, and meeting with her without knowledge of the cunning fox was impossible outside of when she was in her office on a U.S. military base. So they went to other, more subtle methods.  Asuka was a descendant of Urakaze, one of the hunters of the Goddess, although she was not of the main branch, she had been trained by her parents to be a demon hunter as well, she was also at an age similar to Maria, the daughter of Adelis, so if she was transferred from school and put in the same class as the girl, Asuka could get close enough to investigate Tamamo-no-Mae much better and find some weakness to exploit.

Unfortunately, the plans were quite affected by several reasons, like when Adelis had to leave the country for almost 2 weeks due to some mysterious situation, or like her daughter Maria, despite being quite friendly she was quite closed to her family matters or the people around her. At first, Asuka thought that Maria was under some spell of the Kitsune, but she couldn't find anything, the girl didn't say anything because she herself did it voluntarily. She also tried to make various excuses or situations to visit her target's house, but this never worked, so she went for other things. Summoning up the courage like her ancestors, she decided to face the demon head-on and joined the same club that had been formed by Haru and of which Tamamo-no-Mae was a member. She thought this was where her opponent was preparing something but was disappointed to see that it was Haru who was taking the lead and that they didn't really have any activity as such, it was just a decorated room to talk about any topic and eat.

Finally, he also remembered what happened yesterday, and how a representative of the main family of the Urakaze clan told him that he should try to do as much harm as possible because even if it cost him his life it would be for the benefit of others. But the conversation with the mysterious being from yesterday had put things in a different perspective. One where she mentioned that the evil Goddess, the one who almost destroyed the country the first time was not the one they should really worry about, but the girl who was almost always next to her, the white kitsune, because it was this one who was the real danger and power. But what could be stronger than a Goddess? What kind of power did she have that it was simpler to let her pass and let her do whatever she wanted? These questions, although important, were not the ones that really worried her, but the fact that according to the vision she had, the main family knew about it but were hiding it, they were using her life to measure the strength of this new enemy? to test how far she was able to tolerate their anger, and whether she would be capable of destroying her entire family, the ones important to her, her father and mother. Asuka since that night was quite resistant to what she was ordered, trying to find out if she was being lied to or not.

A call interrupted her thoughts, and quickly the girl picked up the phone and answered. It was again the representative of the main family, he had called to inform her that there was a team waiting for Asuka's report or that if she thought of attacking they would enter combat a few minutes later. She asked again about the white kitsune, if they knew anything about her, as a vision the day before told her it was a bad idea. The man was silent for almost a full minute, only to reply that it was not necessary to be distracted by minor matters and to focus on the real mission. His words only increased, even more, the girl's suspicions.

Asuka had arrived at the school, still quite early, much earlier than her targets. On the way to her classroom, she met teacher Xi'an. She knew that the teacher was somehow related to Xiang Fan, the sorceress who had helped them find Tamamo-no-Mae, so she thought she would try to get her cooperation in dealing with this threat as well. He managed to find a more private place and talked to her to team up to fight together, which the teacher refused, stating that she did not want to hunt demons and only wanted to have a common work. Asuka kept insisting, this time informing her that one of her students was the legendary Kitsune and that they should join forces to fight her, even going so far as to give her proof of their suspicions. But just when she finished speaking, the teacher began to act strangely, because her head started to hurt so much that she even screamed, and shortly after she fainted. Asuka noticed how a great magical concentration was coming out of her, so she placed a barrier around her, something hit, but thanks to a talisman made by her father that she had, nothing happened, the minutes passed and nothing else happened. Xi'an stood up as if nothing had happened and walked herself back to her living room. Asuka tried to talk to her again but saw how the teacher did not remember anything of what she had just said, thinking that surely her enemy had already foreseen that and left Xi'an under the effects of a rare spell, so she decided not to bother her anymore.

Asuka returned to the classroom and waited for the classes to start she went back to check the items she had brought with her, because this time her suitcase was full of objects to help her in her hunt, a katana and her talismans with spells, as well as her Miko uniform, which would help her to protect herself better. The door opened and another girl entered, it was Maria, so the girl quickly put everything away so as not to raise more suspicions. But no matter how hard she tried to pretend it too, the girl's nerves were impossible to hide, Maria, looking at her face, quickly found out and asked her friend if she was all right. Asuka using all her wits thought of an easily believable excuse, "I have a doctor's appointment later, it's quite important" she said, doing her best to calm herself down.

When it was time for lunch Asuka went to the classroom next door, with the excuse of talking to Haru she managed to approach without arousing suspicion among the rest. At one point Haru was called by another classmate to explain a math subject to her. This was the opportunity that Asuka was looking for, she quickly took out the mystic magnifying glass that had been given to her and looked through it at the elusive Kitsune.

Asuka had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. It was a monster she was seeing, a powerful being that saw humans as insects living among them trying to carry out a personal vendetta. The girl was nervous and desperate, but remembering her training she quickly came to herself and analyzed the situation. Since she was a Goddess it was normal that her statistics were not easy to measure. Among the abilities she had, there were several to take into account in combat: Command of the Goddess was what a superior being could force inferior beings to obey, but it was difficult to understand because no human knew how it worked, normally it was related to actions to nature and spirits, because its effect on humans was limited. Magic Wise and Curses expert were expected to find, one was the one that allowed her to understand and use any magic, and the other was for research in curses. Shapeshifter was for her to be a kitsune that could do it, the stories in which these beings took human forms to perform pranks or revenge were already known, but it was strange that the Goddess did not use her full strength, leaving her ears and tail uncovered, as if mocking her enemies. Actress was undoubtedly another quite natural for a Kitsune to have, because you have to be a good actor to pass for other people.

The titles on the other hand were completely irregular from what anyone would have expected. Some were easily understandable, Moon Goddess, Astrologer, The Wise, Curious, Joker, Actress. But four were too strange: Loving mother could only mean that she had become a mother, which meant bad news because it meant that the dangerous monster had left offspring. Slave was even worse because it indicated that there was someone above her who could give her orders, but what being could be the master of a goddess? Finally, the final title seemed to be damaged, as only half of it seemed legible, the rest was hidden or full of letters and numbers, perhaps the mystic magnifying glass had been damaged? It was quite strange this last one.

Asuka was prepared for many things, but it was clear that something was wrong here. Something was clearly not right, something was hidden somewhere. And remembering the fear that had been implanted in her, she decided to use the magnifying glass on the only other thing that was out of place, the white kitsune.

A simple message appeared. One that indicated that the subject of his observation was simply beyond the capabilities of the mystic magnifying glass, the same one that had revealed much of the powers of a Goddess. So simple, so frightening. It was indeed possible that she was the dangerous monster, the hidden and forgotten emperor according to the words of the vision of the previous day. 

The girl had had enough, she left the room and immediately called her superior, she had to report how strange everything was becoming. But the man was only startled by the information regarding Tamamo-no-Mae. She also reported about Elise, but the man dismissed it by saying that it was a lie, for it was impossible to escape the accurate judgment of the magnifying glass, a clearly incomplete judgment it should also be remembered.

The girl was more concerned about the situation than her superiors were. They were clearly only interested in one subject and not the other, or perhaps they were feigning ignorance, one that they knew would cost Asuka her life just to test the strength of this enemy. The girl herself told them that she would not continue unless they told her what they knew about the white girl, but they replied that the only thing they found out about her was that she was someone who appeared in the battle of New York leading a part of the 400 heroes. But far from calming her, this only worries the girl, for it also indicated that she was a warrior, one with real combat experience and strength, something she really lacked.

Seeing that the girl was hesitating greatly about the mission, he reminded her of how her family had a duty to save humans from the monsters that lurked in the darkness, and how their lives were for the benefit of others. How Urakaze, knowing he was up against a goddess, decided to continue his fight to make the world a better place. How many of his ancestors had met their end in a similar honorable way by bravely facing the enemies of humans. And as their sacred profession was one of the most ancient, hidden, and respected in the world, for no matter what civilization they were from, there were always family clans entrusted with this divine task, they were given strong powers to fight and so it was their duty to do their part to hunt down the demons. 

The talk had worked, for the man was a good speaker. The girl with her faith in her mission renewed decided to continue. The man trying to give her advice recommended her to use Maria and Haru as hostages, as part of the Evil Goddess's plan was based on political influence, so she would be quite a hindrance with the death of the girls, turning them into excellent shields. Although Asuka was not in favor of the dishonorable of this strategy, she decided to listen to him, as her rival was not an ordinary one. So she went to prepare everything for a quick and strong assault. She was ready to die quickly and bravely, in a blaze of glory, so that her life would be remembered as that of her ancestor Urakaze.