Rin meandered in the general direction of the guesthouse Paul had indicated, thinking of everything and nothing much.

Rin was rather glad Paul had turned up, and hadn’t asked what Rin was doing up a tree. The truth of the matter was, Rin wasn’t unaffected by what had been going on. Rin wasn’t genderless, but rather both genders, and sexually active either way.

But Kiko had ordered Rin to keep an eye on the place, in case Paul came looking for Inari, and ordered Rin to intercept Paul and ensure they were uninterrupted. Specifically, she’d ordered Rin to ‘keep an eye on them’… which was a poor way of phrasing it under the circumstances, but she had been distracted.

Rin had tried not to take that literally… but binding spells were generally rather inflexible. So Rin had been forced to play voyeur while Kiko and Inari had spent most of the morning in each others arms... at least until Paul turned up, fulfilling the conditions of the order.

Rin wasn’t sure they hadn’t put Rin off sex for life after that. Certainly Rin didn’t even want to think about trying to meet their eyes later. Hopefully that wouldn’t be necessary for sometime. So Rin had been rattled and off-guard, and had let slip an unguarded barb about Inari… to her Herald.

People had lost their heads, quite literally, over lesser mistakes in days gone by.

The fact that Paul, a human, had defeated an Oni in a fight quite so comprehensively, did not help Rin’s composure. Rin wasn’t sure how he’d done that, but Rin was very sure that finding out the hard way would be a bad idea.

Rin hadn’t survived this long on the streets of Osaka without a well developed sense of self-preservation, and that had been one tough looking Oni.

Rin shook their head… still, there was definitely something about Paul-san. Perhaps it might be as well to dress a little more feminine? But then, Paul had introduced Rin as Inari’s son and Rin hadn’t corrected him. So that could get complicated, Rin grinned... still, complicated could be fun!

A thought struck as Rin put a foot onto the veranda of the guesthouse. If memory was correct, Inari generally preferred men over women, although she was not averse to both, so why wasn’t she in Paul’s bed? Could it be that Inari wasn’t to Paul’s taste? That perhaps he’d prefer it if Rin was more… manly?

“Hoi! You! What are you doing here!”

Rin very nearly levitated out of their own skin at the shout. Whirling around Rin looked for who had spoken… and then very much wished they’d run instead. A Yūrei of a young school girl hung in mid air between Rin and the door. Her clothes were bedraggled and wet looking, her hair hung in lank dark strings and her skin had the pallor of a corpse to it, as she glared at Rin.

“I..I.. my name is Rin!”

“Didn’t ask who you were, stupid fox. I asked what were you doing here.”

“P..Paul-san sent me, to fetch his laptop and speakers… Inari’s being loud, and he wanted some music to drown out the sound.”

The Yūrei glared at Rin for a moment, then pointed at the ground in front of Rin.

“You, stay there. I’m going to ask Paul-sama.”

As soon as the ghost vanished, Rin tried to make a run for it… and found that they couldn’t. It was like Rin’s feet were firmly glued in place. Wildly Rin looked around… and the Yūrei reappeared, scowling.

“Paul-sama says you’re ok… but I’m keeping an eye on you anyway.”

She grinned, her smile stretching all the way up to her ears revealing long fang-like teeth, sharp as needles, curving inwards like an eels, and as long as Rin’s little finger.

“Just give me a reason little fox spirit… I’d enjoy sucking the marrow from your bones. Now go, do as you’re bid.”

Rin nodded wide-eyed, bolting for the living room and hastily gathering up laptop and speakers. That done Rin headed out, sidling past the Yūrei with Rin’s back pressed against the wall. Sliding past the bedroom door, Rin’s shoulders caught and it slid open a fraction. Rin shrugged free, and carried on.

Once outside however, Rin paused. There had been a very unforgettable scent that wafted out of the bedroom, of Inari’s arousal. Rin wondered what had happened, had she tried to seduce Paul, and failed... or perhaps, succeeded? Rin decided to file that away for possible future use, somehow.

Rin hurried back to the kitchen block… and stopped on the threshold. Paul and Tatsuo the Oni were sitting at the table, an open beer can in front of each them, talking and laughing easily. Rin blinked, shocked… A human, and an Oni... friends? That didn’t seem likely, or even possible, and yet…

Rin shook their head, and trying to act casual, put the laptop down on the table, sliding it across to Paul.

“Hoi, got another beer?”

Paul grinned at Rin.

“In the fridge, help yourself. I should think you need one after encountering Aimi-chan.”

Rin shrugged, opening the fridge to look inside.

“Is that her name? You didn’t mention you had a Yūrei haunting the place.”

“Sorry, forgot… she comes and goes as she pleases. But generally she keeps an eye on the place for me. In return I cook for her and gave her a place of her own to stay.”

“You cook for her? She’s a Yūrei, she doesn’t need to eat.”

“Doesn’t need to eat, isn’t the same as doesn’t want to eat. It makes her feel happy and wanted, so...”

Paul shrugged. Rin shook their head slowly.

“It’s a strange household Inari has here.”

Paul smiled slightly.

“Wait until you meet Ash. Generally everyone gathers for the evening meal, so I’ll introduce you around then, but speaking of which... Tatsuo, consider yourself invited please, and please bring Jiao, you’ll make Shoko’s day.”

Tatsuo grunted, nodding.

Rin looked around thoughtfully.

“You know... I haven’t seen my little cousin, where is she?”

“Oh studying, she’s joining school in April and it turns out in some areas she needs to catch up, so she’s hitting the books. Plus, I think she’s way off out of hearing range..”

“Oh… sounds like a good idea.”

“Hmm, yeah, I was thinking of heading for the workshop later, the sound of hammer on metal might help. Hm, that’s a thought, let’s see what I can find in the way of heavy metal music. That should drown out things nicely.”

Paul put a bowl of spicy pork soup and some bread rolls down on the table in front of Rin, then sat down himself and booted up the computer, with Tatsuo trying to look as though he wasn’t fascinated. Paul typed for a minute, then stopped, staring at whatever was on the screen in disbelief. He silently turned the computer so all three of them could see the screen. Rin paused, soup-spoon half way to their mouth and frowned..

“Hey isn’t that..?”

“Aimi-chan. Yes.”

“Huh... so what’s Yokai-metal then?”

Paul shrugged, and hit play.

The screen showed a close-up of Aimi-chan against a dark background of somewhere dimly lit and cobwebby. She drifted closer… leaning into the camera.

“We are your worst nightmares. We are the monsters in the dark and We are the evil demons your grandmother warned you about! And we have something to say to you...”

From the opposite side off-camera two younger girls suddenly popped into frame. One was a young kitsune in a sort of punk’ed up Miko’s costume. The other was young Oni girl, with tiny stubs of horns and pale pink eyes, dressed in a Sakura pattern yukata. Both grinned broadly as they yelled.

“HIIIIII!!! We’re Yokai-metal!”

The camera pulled back to show the three girls, the young Oni girl holding a shamishan. To her far left was an Oni woman dressed in a beaded and fringed denim jacket, black jeans and a black tank-top, holding a bass guitar; to the far right of the stage was another woman in a catsuit, who was their lead guitarist, and apparently headless. The drummer was another Oni woman who looked like she’d just walked in from a Mad Max style apocalypse.

Rin was still trying to make sense of what they were seeing, when the music started…

“Here we come
Walkin' down the street
We get the funniest looks from
Everyone we meet.

Hey, hey, we're the Monsters
And people say we’re scaring the town
But we're too busy singing
To put anybody down!

We're just tryin' to be friendly
Come and watch us sing and play
We're the young generation
And we've got something to say, oh”

Paul hit the stop button, a shocked, but somehow faintly amused expression on his face. The Oni Tatsuo however looked as if he was about ready to kill Paul, as he growled out;

“Paul-sama…!”

“I swear on my honour, Tatsuo, I had no idea! This has nothing to do with me. Apart from anything else, what I know about music you could write on a postage stamp and have room left over.”

Rin slid along the bench, until they were alongside Paul, and while the Herald and the Oni argued, Rin took over the computer keyboard, scrolling down to see the stats for the video, and whistled a low note. Paul glanced at Rin, raising an eyebrow.

“They’ve got half a million views and over a hundred thousand subscribers… which for a channel that’s been up less than a week, and has three songs, one of which is metal cover of an old sixties song, is remarkable!”

Paul blinked.

“You know about this kind of stuff, Rin?”

“Yeah, Osaka’s the epicentre for the music industry in Japan. Everybody forms garage bands and uploads their stuff, hoping to be discovered and make it big.”

Paul grinned.

“You too?”

Rin shook their head.

“Nah… I’m more the manager type. A behind-the-scenes sort of guy.”

“Stage fright?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe!”

“Hoi, Paul-san, what are you going to do about that!”

Tatsuo demanded, pointing at the image frozen on the screen..

“Not much we can do Tatsuo, half a million people have already seen it, and that’s not counting who-knows-how-many after it’s been copied and reposted some place else.”

Rin thought the Oni was going to have a heart attack as his eyes bugged out and he went an alarming shade of brick red. Paul must have thought he was going to do himself an injury too.

“Calm down Tatsuo. This is the internet, home to hoaxes and fakes. I can guarantee you, no-one thought they were real. The worst we might face is a cease & desist letter from the owners of the original version of that song… except I think that probably counts as a fair-use. Although, yes, I will have a word with the young scamp. Because I am sure this was Shoko’s idea.”

“But.. but.. they’re going to school in April! What if someone recognises them?”

“Well, aside from the fact it’ll probably be forgotten by then, and there’s damn few elementary school children who listen to heavy metal... so what? They’ll just ask how they did the special effects. We can come up something plausible as an excuse by then, probably CGI..”

“What?”

“Never mind Tatsuo, trust me. It’ll be ok.”

Rin in the meantime had dug out the earphones for their currently useless phone, jacked those into the laptop’s port and was listening. Rin might not have been a performer, but Rin knew good music when they heard it... and these girls were good.

It had been one of Rin’s enduring regrets that they’d passed up the opportunity to be the agent for three other very young girls who didn’t want to be just another typical idol-band, and had a crazy idea of their own. At the time, Rin had their plate full, and had suggested the girls contact a friend of Rin’s to act on their behalf. They had gone on to bring Kawaii metal to the world, becoming a world-wide internet phenomenon.

Rin saw potential in Yokai-metal. Raw, unpolished, but potential none-the-less. Not just as a kawaii-metal band, which they were, technically, but also for a whole new genre of music.

Rin looked up, the last words of ‘Yokai metal’ ringing Rin’s ears… and found Paul staring intently at them. Removing an ear-bud, Rin raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“What do you think of them?”

Rin shrugged.

“They’re ok, it has potential. With the right management and publicity, they could be very successful.”

Tatsuo growled, as Paul ginned at Rin.

“Thought so… how’d you like to be a manager?”

“Oi! Paul-san. You are NOT putting Jiao on the stage!”

“Wasn’t going to, that’s what’s the internet is for, right?”

Tatsuo shook his head, growling.

“Paul-san..”

“Oh leave it, Tatsuo! Or would you prefer to try telling Jiao she can’t do what she’s doing, yourself?”

Interestingly, Tatsuo seemed to take that threat from Paul-san more seriously. Apparently, someone’s imoto had her Oniisan wrapped around her little finger. Or so it seemed, Rin thought.

“Well, what do we do?”

“Do, Tatsuo? Why, we do nothing… Rin however...”

“Oi, don’t get me involved in your schemes!”

“Oh, and you don’t want to be manager for the next hottest band?

Which Rin thought was a terribly unfair thing to say, because yes Rin did… very much so! And somehow Paul-san knew it. Rin was beginning to wonder if Inari’s new Herald was all that human after all...

“Oh, I suppose so… as a favour to Inari and my little cousin.”

Paul grinned, not fooled in the slightest.

“Glad you’re amenable. We can discuss details later, after dinner. Sort of a ‘family meeting’ kind of thing. Because I don’t know if Shoko-san thought of it or not, but this actually dovetails nicely with what else I’ve got in mind.”

Rin tilted their head, regarding Paul.

“Really? Inari mentioned you had plans, but you look like a fox planning on raiding the hen house… and I should know. What are your plans?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“No, or I wouldn’t be asking.”

“Ah, right. Well… I figured out how to fix the fact magic is fading way.”

“She said that. I don’t believe it.”

“Ah, right... ok, to take a step back then. I found the source of the magic that seeps up from under this mountain, and figured out using trial and error how it’s made. Knowing that, I realised that one could use electricity to make raw mana. The workshop here has a waterwheel that turns a generator, so I’m using that to power a device to convert electrical power to mana, acting as second, reliable, source.”

Rin blinked… processing that, or trying to.

“That’s... more that anyone else has ever done.”

“Eh, it wasn’t hard. Most of the work had been done by other people at one time or another, but as a writer I collect odds bits of knowledge, and I just kinda of put the pieces together. Anyway... having solved that problem, we ran into another. Which is to say, we’re broke. I’m making do with duct-taped together bits and pieces.”

“Oh! That’s where Yokai-metal comes in, you think you can use profits from the girls music to...”

Paul shook his head.

“Oh, no, no... that’s not it all. If they ever earn any money from that, it’s theirs, not mine. No... let me continue and it’ll become clear.”

Rin sat back down, wondering when they’d stood up? But the idea of someone else unfairly profiting off the girls had made Rin see red briefly. Rin shrugged.

“Ok then... carry on.”

“Right, where was I? Oh yeah! Right, the plan is that I generate and store enough power for Inari to put in an appearance at the main shrine in Kyoto for the Rice tasting ceremony. She’ll be in full Divine Presence mode, the whole panoply of majesty and so on... right in front of the Emperor, Imperial Family and half the Diet, and with a bit of help from the head priest of the Kyoto shrine, the half we want to convince to help out. Funding after that should be forthcoming.”

Rin looked wide-eyed at Paul…

“Funding, for what?! What could possibly be so important as to do all that!”

“We’re saving the Yokai, all of them, from extinction.”

“You’re crazy!”

“Nope... well, maybe a tiny bit… but in good way. See, what with a department of monster hunters, which I’m sure you’ve heard of, and the effects of the loss of magic, yokai of all sorts are slowly dying off. I can fix the problem with the magic, by building more mana convertors. But that just rounds up all the yokai in one place, making them easy to eradicate. So, we need to change society, and people’s attitudes towards yokai. Anime and manga have already primed people to start to see them as actual people, just differently shaped. I was thinking of working with that, but Yokai-metal there plays right into that. You saw the intro to the band… they are cute! “

“Okayyy.. and then what?”

“Well, official recognition of yokai as citizens, with all the rights and protections. Which means the monster hunters would be out of business because seriously, that’s genocide. Hopefully trials of the more zealous individuals to establish that legally. Then the creation of sanctuary zones, as well as corridors of mana, so the yokai can move around freely. Although personal mana batteries might make that idea unnecessary, but I’d prefer a belt & braces approach. After which, who knows? … But the main thing is, gain official recognition and support and go public with a massive blitzkrieg campaign of positive publicity. You can see where having a popular Yokai band who don’t hide what they are, might fit in with that.”

Rin nodded slowly… their mind whirling with the possibilities. Rin was awed at the audacity of it though. They’d survived by being a hustler and a player, starting with street hustles and working their way up. But this was an entirely new league, way beyond anything Rin had ever contemplated. Paul-san wasn’t just hustling an individual, or even a group… he was setting up to pull off a scam that would fool the whole of society!!

“Hoi, what’s the end game? Once you’ve convinced everyone we’re harmless, then what?”

Paul looked at Rin, and then smiled slowly…

“You’re still not seeing it, are you? Convincing everyone to live in peace is the end game. You’ve heard the phrase haven’t you? The best revenge is a life lived well and fully.”

“I don’t get it. There’s no pay off?”

“Oh, there is… the best kind. Think about it. Generations of humans trying to make yokai go away, to kill them off… and now? Well, now you get to live freely, openly, in your own way. With no more threat to your life. And they apologise for their past actions? Arresting the people who hunted you down and jailing them…. Isn’t that enough of a pay-off?”

Rin stared at Paul-san in sheer astonishment. Rin hadn’t thought it possible to be even more astounded… but the pay-off for this hustle was even more audacious and vast than Rin had thought the scheme was. Paul was talking about not just reshaping society, but actually taking it over! To become part of human society and making it as much theirs as it was the humans. Rin had heard of some scams in all their long years, but never anyone trying to steal an entire society!

It was mind blowing stuff…

“Hoi, Paul-san... what’s your cut though? What do you get out of it?”

“Me? Oh… nothing much really. I just get to retire peacefully to some place quiet and concentrate on writing. That’s all. I kind of look forward to not having to wade in and fix shit you know.”

Rin blinked, not believing that for a minute, and wondering what Paul was really after. Rin inwardly shrugged, not that it mattered what Paul-san’s cut would be, there would be more than enough of everything that skimming a little off the top for himself wouldn’t matter. Rin couldn’t imagine how they could benefit either, but Rin was sure that they could.

“Ok, count me in. If you want me to manage those girls, then I can do that. I’ll do my part!”

Paul laughed, shaking his head.

“You can tell you and Shoko are related Rin... you sound like her!”

Rin blinked at that idea… they did? It felt... odd, to think that there might be someone like them. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling though.

“Ok. Tatsuo, Rin... if I’m cooking for everyone, I need the kitchen… Hoi, Tatsuo, could you do me a favour?”

“Depends on what, but I can’t stop you asking.”

“Take Rin with you, and go introduce him to the rest of the band, please. That way Rin, you’re out of earshot of Inari.”

“Huh! Thank you! But... what about you Paul-san?”

Paul grinned.

“Oh, I think between concentrating on making curry, the music, and you know, not being a kitsune, I’m ok!”

“Curry?”

“Yeah. It’s Sunday. I don’t know how things are done here, but back home Sunday always meant curry. Partly to use up any left-overs from the previous week, and partly because you can leave it simmering all afternoon, leaving you free to just relax. Which of course means I need to get started now though.”

“Ohh… what sort of curry though?”

Paul looked thoughtful.

“Good question… I don’t know what level of spiciness everyone likes. Oh, I know! I’ll make a basic sweet curry, hm, something from Hindustan, or Kurdistan.. maybe Jamaican… but anyway, I’ll make a bunch of side dishes and sauces ranging from mild to nuclear melt-down. That way, everyone can mix in what they want and customise it to suit themselves. How’s that sound for your first family meal Rin?”

Rin blinked, and then blinked again… a… family... meal..?! Rin shook their head.

“Ah, I’m drooling already. Um, Paul-san, can I... have a word, before you start. In private... please?”

“Oh, ok. Tatsuo?”

“I’ll go take a beer outside. Five minutes, then I’m heading back. Oni have sharp ears and I do NOT want to listen to what those two are doing.”

“No girlfriend then?”

“Shut up! You leave your black magic arts out of it sensei!”

Tatsuo got up and left, taking a couple of beers.

Rin stared after him…

“Ok… now I have to ask. Black magic arts?”

“Observation, deduction and reading body language. I think Tatsuo thinks I can read minds as well. Ok, what is you wanted to talk about?

Rin scuffed the tiled floor with the toe of his slippers.

“Umm… you know Inari and I are... not... friendly.”

“Yeah. I noticed. It’ll take a lot more than one meal to patch that, if you even want to. But, I figure, got to start somewhere, right?”

“Yeahh...”

“I’ll help. She listens to me, mostly. Inari is Inari after all.”

“Yeah. Also… about that... are you and she...”

“We sleep together. And I mean, just sleep. It’s complicated, and not entirely settled either. But, yeah. We’re two people, who’ve seen a lot and had a lot of bad shit happen to us. Neither of us are keen on the idea of being alone with our nightmares. Although, I’m glad Inari found Kiko, things were getting a bit awkward there. Just… well my heart belongs to someone else. Someone else who… I shan’t see again. Not in this lifetime anyway.”

“Oh. That’s… you know, yesterday, I would have said that was stupid, but now...”

“Don’t worry, you’re free to call me stupid. Kate would have, she made me promise before she passed away, that I’d live life and have adventures, just so I could tell her about them when we met again. She said she’d wait for me, before being reincarnated. Fairly sure she meant sexual adventures as well, but honestly, my heart just isn’t in it. I just… can’t. So… Inari gets a bit frustrated with me at times.”

Rin blinked, then wiped a hand across their eyes.

“Dammit...”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s ok. I see what she sees in you now. Just… that makes this harder to say.”

“O-kay... what? I’m listening.”

Paul settled in his chair, propping his chin up on his fist, staring at Rin, as if he had nothing else to do and nowhere to be and Rin was something utterly fascinating. Rin shifted in their chair, unused to such intense scrutiny… not that it felt hostile, just.. Rin wasn’t used to being seen.

“Umm, so… you called me Inari’s son...”

“Oh. Did I get it wrong? Grandson?”

“No. I am Inari’s child, she bore me in her womb... just… I’m not her son.”

“You’re not…? Oh! I am so sorry Rin! I didn’t mean to misgender you, but you’re only the third Kitsune I’ve met and I’m just not used to a species that can be either gender, depending on how they feel that morning. Once again, you have my apologies, I didn’t know you were female.”

“Ah… that’s the thing...”

Paul blinked, tilting his head and looking puzzled. Rin held up two fingers. Paul blinked, and realisation dawned..

“Oh! Both.. well whoops. There goes my reputation as the Merlin of observation then. Ok, what pronoun do you prefer?”

It was Rin’s turn to looked surprised at the easy acceptance.

“I.. don’t know. No-one has ever asked me before!”

“Well, give it some thought and tell me when you’ve decided. I’ll make sure everyone knows to use it.”

Rin just stared at Paul, surprised, confused and confounded.

“You... you’re not bothered? About it... me… not at all?!”

“Of course not. None of my business what your anatomical arrangement is. But what you want to be called is! Words are important after all, and what words we use to define ourselves are the most important ones. Besides, once you get past the idea that kitsune can change species on a whim, never mind gender, being freaked out about someone who chooses the best of both worlds seems a bit silly.”

Rin shook their head slowly.

“N.. not a choice. I was born this way. I was the last of her cubs. The runt, a freak.”

Paul blinked, and then got up, took the few steps towards Rin, and very carefully drew Rin into a hug. Rin stiffened at first and then something inside melted, and Rin began to cry, quietly, softly... but from the very core of their being, until they were sobbing, holding onto Paul like they were drowning.

Once Rin had quieted down to a tear stained sniffle, Rin looked up at Paul. Paul smiled slightly, and patting Rin on the head, ruffled their hair a bit.

“Hey little fox spirit, it’s ok now. You’re home and I’ll look after you.”

A shivering tingle ran down Rin’s spine… Paul’s voice had been soft and warm, and full of conviction, and had filled Rin’s heart with a sensation like a silent ‘click’ of a lost piece fitting into place. Rin buried their face in Paul’s robes, and sighed happily.

“Thanks.”

“It’s ok. So… want to help me cook instead?”

“Yeah, please. The family that cooks together...”

“..eats together! I’ve heard that one. We’ll just turn the music up and ignore anything else, ok? I’ll go tell Tatsuo there’s been a change of plans.”

“Ok... hey Paul-san... did you really beat him up?”

“I did, although another couple of minutes and it would’ve gone differently... but I convinced him I was not only winning, but had out-thought him the whole time, and that I’d flatten him if the fight continued. I bluffed, he yielded. But don’t tell him I said anything. I think he probably wants to forget about it.”

“Ok Paul-san, I’m glad you did. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“That’s good, because I’m about to trust you with my world famous curry recipe too. I’ve had warlords offer me half their territory and the pick of any woman I liked for that!”

Rin laughed, feeling like they’d shed a heavy stifling coat that they hadn’t even known was there.