Kami town, Mikata District, in the Hyōgo Prefecture, was normally a sleepy fishing port village. It had a station on San’in main line connecting it to Kyoto and the Kasumi highway passed through it in between diving into tunnels under the mountains, and it had won the ‘most beautiful village’ award several years in a row for the Prefecture, narrowly missing out on the national title once.

The centre of Kami was charming, full of old style wooden houses, and curious little shops…although there was also some quite obviously modern construction. The younger girls had their faces plastered to the windows as they passed the combined Elementary and High school buildings on the way to the sea-front park where the festival was being held.

Inari, having sat in the onsen’s cold pool until her teeth were chattering, was accompanying Paul. Rin was there as were Shoko, Kiko, Jiao, Tatsuo, Yuko and Yuri. Paul suspected Tatsuo had come to keep an eye on Jiao, and brought back-up in the shape of the two sisters. Aimi-chan declined attending until later, when it would be darker. She could go abroad in daylight, but preferred not to as it weakened her. She likened it to having a very bad bout of flu. It also made her translucent, which was a bit too realistically ghost-like to be explained away as a costume.

Ash cried off attending too, she could pass as ordinary with a turtle neck sweater, but simply said she had other matters to attend to. Paul didn’t ask, but figured since she was of the Old Religion, she probably had ritual duties. Either that, or she didn’t approve of the commercialisation of what was a sacred holy day to her.

Inari was looking very modern and smart in a bright red miniskirt, white silk blouse, red faux-silk jacket and her favourite sneakers. She was also in disguise, a spell masking her kitsune ears and tail. Although Paul supposed that for her, that was a costume. Kiko wore a more muted version, her skirt was both longer, less fitted and a darker red, and she wore a hoodie top in navy blue. Paul had opted for a black turtle neck jersey top and a dark grey pea-jacket with his usual jeans. The only part of which could be considered a costume was the walking cane.

The young girls however, had gone all out. Apparently they’d found a trunk laden with bolts of cloth that was still in good condition, and had spent the past few days sewing and making costumes for themselves and anyone that would hold still. Shoko had embraced the notion of hiding in plain sight, and was currently dressed as an anime character fox-girl. Paul wasn’t familiar with the source, but the pseudo-medieval outfit suggested some sort of fantasy genre.

Jiao was wearing her favourite pink sakura Yutaka, but had turned it into a costume by creating a fake devils tail out of some wire and silk, simply pinning it in place so it emerged from under her robe. She’d applied something to her horns to make them a darker red, and used a couple of butterfly shaped hair clips to hold her bangs back from them. She’d made a pair of small bat-wings, and pinned those to her robe at the shoulders. She made quite a cute little devil.

Paul suspected that Jiao had bent her brother’s ears a bit, because the other older Oni were also in costume as three samurai. Tatsuo had even found a full set of red painted armour from who-knows where. He had a ‘sword’ at his hip that he’d found in the rafters of the main hall, that was mostly hilt, scabbard and a lot of rust, or at least so Paul thought, since it was jammed solid and couldn’t be drawn. But it looked good stuck through his silken rope belt. Yuri was playing to the Oni stereotype and had a huge iron maul over one shoulder that she’d painted so it looked somewhat fake. Yuko in contrast was ill-at-ease, and had a plastic toy axe thrust through her belt, which looked faintly ridiculous.

And Rin… well Rin had turned up as a classic ‘Bram Stoker’ vampire. Their costume was largely a dark suit Rin had packed anyway, a home-made cape and a length of black bootlace to tie Rin’s hair back in a pony tail. Rin had smudged a bit of borrowed lipstick in the corner of their mouth to give the impression of blood, and that was that for costume and make up, as Rin was pale enough already.

The park at the sea front was packed, thronging with people milling between the rows and rows of stalls. At one end of the park was a covered stage, and at the other various food booths, mostly the usual suspects but with Halloween themes, such as fried ‘bat’ chicken wings.

Apart from shopping trips for food, Paul hadn’t bothered exploring Kami before, so he was a relative stranger. In fact, judging by the way Shoko called out to some other children, she knew more people than he did. Shoko quickly dragged Jiao off to meet her friends, with Tatsuo and the other two Oni in tow.

Inari grabbed hold of Paul’s arm as they got off the bus, pressing against his side, somewhat to his surprise. Paul raised an eyebrow at her, but it was Kiko who answered his unspoken question.

“Too many people, is that not so Inari?”

Inari nodded, and reaching out, pulled Kiko to her, linking arms, so she was sandwiched between Paul on one side and Kiko on the other.

Paul exchanged a look with Kiko, and then slid his arm around Inari’s waist, pulling her against him, as Kiko did roughly the same on the other side. Paul, thanks to his height, looked over the crowd, and indicated with his head the direction they should go. Together the walked Inari over to a small section of the park, bounded by trees to the left and right and protected from the rest of the park by a semi-circle of bushes, with the only opening facing the sand and the sea.

All three sat down on the bench in this small oasis of seclusion, Kiko resting her head on the trembling Inari on one side, Paul with his arm around Inari’s shoulders.

Paul sighed.

“I am sorry Inari, I should have realised this would happen.”

“Ehh…? Why? I didn’t know I would feel so..so.. afraid. So small.”

“Inari… how often have you left your Shrine in the past, oh, lets say in the last 10 years before we met.”

Inari paused a moment, thinking, then shrugged.

“Eight or nine times... I think.”

“And when was the last time you went so far as to leave the temple complex, not the mountain, just the temple?”

“I don’t know, thirty or forty years perhaps?”

“Do you know what a hikikomori is?”

Inari paused, as Kiko gasped softly. Looking between them Inari frowned.

“I know what the word means...pulling inwards, being confined... but, it has another meaning yes? Not a good one.”

Kiko nodded, answering Inari’s question.

“It means someone who has withdrawn from society, retreating into their own space… a ‘shut-in’ in modern speech.”

Paul nodded.

“It’s bad because generally it means someone who’s given up on society, cut themselves off, but in this context it means that you literally can’t cope with crowds. It’s… well the only analogy I can think of is that your ability to deal with lots of people is like a muscle and you’ve not flexed those muscles in so very long they’ve wasted away from disuse. So suddenly being in the middle of a crowd is like someone handed you a really heavy weight, when your arm is super weak; you can’t hold it, and it hurts to try. It overloads your muscle.”

Kiko nodded.

“Put simply… you’re overwhelmed because you’re out of practice.”

Inari stared down at the ground thinking, and then slowly nodded.

“Yes… it feels like I’m drowning in people… I can feel all that life flowing around me. It’s overpowering. I...I think I can manage, I did before, but it was just the shock of suddenly stepping out into it. Like stepping into a cold pool unexpectedly.”

Paul nodded slowly.

“I think with help you’ll be ok. You just need us to make you feel safe until the feeling passes. It’s ok, I understand what you’re going through.”

“You do?”

Both Inari and Kiko looked at Paul, surprised. Paul sighed.

“Hey, I wasn’t always this confident. I’ve been there, done that...”

Inari’s eyes widened as she put two and two together.

“Oh! After Kate.”

Paul nodded, but made a so-so gesture with his other hand.

“After Kate, yes, I relapsed for awhile. But I used to be a painfully shy kid too. I was well on my way to being a hikikomori even before I knew that was a thing, never mind what it was called.”

Inari tilted her head, looking up at Paul..

“Then how..?”

Paul grinned, slightly lopsided.

“I dared myself.”

Inari giggled.

“Oh! Yes of course, that explains a lot!”

Kiko looked at Inari puzzled, Inari smiled back at Kiko.

“Dearest one, I found out that one should never, ever say to my Herald; ‘you wouldn’t dare!’ Because yes, he would, and he will!”

Paul shrugged.

“It’s a bit of a red rag to me, a challenge. And if one backs down from life’s challenges, then what are you? Although granted, I’m not a fool either. A hopeless challenge is not a challenge, if there’s no way of beating it, if the outcome is already certain, then what’s the point? Unless of course, that’s the real challenge.”

Kiko frowned..

“So… if I was to dare you to eat a dozen hot dogs in a minute?”

Paul looked thoughtful.

“That’s the challenge, but what’s the other half? The reward to counterbalance the risk... of being violently ill in this case I guess.”

“Umm. So you wouldn’t accept the dare unless the reward was worth it?”

“Of course, life has to have balance after all. Right?”

Inari nodded in agreement, then frowned.

“Wait, so when I said ‘you wouldn’t dare’, and you dropped me in the freezing cold pool at the onsen, what was the reward for you then?”

“Proving the point that although I was your herald, I wasn’t your slave or servant. Besides, saying ‘you wouldn’t dare’ is different. It’s the same as saying; ‘you’re too scared to do it’… which is something I just cannot let stand. That, and sometimes the challenge is it’s own rewards. You should have seen your face!”

“You’re cruel Paul-san.”

“Only when I have to be. Speaking of which... Inari you are not going to get better by hiding away from the problem. We will take it nice and slowly. We can find somewhere quiet when you need it, but we are going to head on out and explore the festival. Kiko and I will be beside you every step if needs be, but you are not escaping it. I dare you.”

Inari’s head came up, a mulish look on her face.

“And my reward?”

Paul looked thoughtful, his eyes shadowed as he considered his answer, staring out across the ocean at something only he saw... then a slow smile spread across his face.

“A kiss…”

“That’s all?”

Paul shook his head slowly.

“Consider Inari… this is me making this offer. Now consider what I just said about a suitable balance of risk and reward.”

Paul caught and held her gaze, adding in a low tone.

“Trust me Inari-san, I will make it worth your while.”

Inari swallowed; half-mesmerized, she nodded.

“Cha… challenge accepted!”

Kiko piped up.

“I’ll help too Paul-san… but I think I’d prefer a different reward.”

Paul chuckled.

“Oh, your reward’s the fact I’m only going to kiss Inari… what happens after that is up to you!”

Both Kiko and Inari blushed all the way up to their ear tips.

After walking around for a bit, in constant contact with Paul, Kiko, or more often both, Inari began to feel less overwhelmed. A strawberry crème crepe also went a long way towards that. Inari had once had strawberries before, long ago. They’d been a rare delicacy back then, not long after the tender plants had been imported at great cost, and first grown in the Imperial gardens.

These ones were nothing like the small tart berries she remembered, they were larger, far sweeter and juicier… and apparently common enough even this late in the year that they were available to anyone for a few yen.

She also had no idea what a crepe was exactly, apart from a thin pancake, or where it was from, although the name suggested a French origin… but she very much approved of the combination. There were other sorts of crepe too, from the utterly unfamiliar, she had no idea what a ‘nutella’ might be, to the commonplace such as red bean paste.

Inari was very tempted to try them all, but mortal bodies had their limits.

The people were also a combination of the unfamiliar and the common place. Dress styles had changed; that was to be expected and she delighted in some of the more modern wear… although some of the modern customs left her baffled. What was meant by ‘trick or treat’ for example, and why did it involve bowls of sweets left out for anyone to help themselves?

But the group of youths hanging around at the edge of the crowd were familiar, even though they dressed in outlandish clothing, with leather jackets that glittered and clinked with so many studs and chains, and had hair shaved and coloured in ways Inari had never imagined.

Even so, she had seen their sort before many times. Young men, seeking to prove themselves, looking for a little excitement. In days gone by they would be lesser swords, hirelings or samurai for hire, that sort of thing.

Inari watched one of the policemen in their blue uniform and white gloves approach the young men and have words with them, before they left sulking, posturing to each other. She shook her head, it was something she’d seen so many times before… town guards and young samurai, or these youths and policemen, it was all the same.

At least until the policeman turned around to walk back, and Inari saw that in this case, it was a policewoman! Inari laughed to herself under her breath, no more than a soft exhalation. But Paul glanced at her in concern. Inari caught his eye, merriment twinkling in her gaze, and glanced over towards the little tableau that was still playing out.

Paul followed her gaze, studied it a moment, then smiled slightly, as he murmured.

“Times have changed indeed Inari.. they even have women politicians now.”

“Good. About time. Maybe they will make some sensible decisions now.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. A politician is still a politician, regardless of gender.”

“So cynical...”

“Experience. There are good ones, but they’re rare.”

Inari pulled a face.

“The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.”

Paul nodded.

“Even in my life span I’ve seen that. The pace of change is much faster nowadays… and some things just don’t.

Inari sighed.

“I would have never thought I would take comfort in the unchanging nature of human greed and corruption.”

Paul smiled ruefully.

“Well, at least they’re good for something then… and enough of that subject. Shall we go see what entertainment there is? I believe the local school is putting something on...”

The three of them were approaching the stage when a woman of middle years, short hair and sensible dress, despite the cat face-paint, approached them.

“Ahh.. pardon my intrusion, but would you be Holmes-san?”

Paul blinked, wondering if he knew this woman, or if she was fan?

“Yes… I am.”

“Ah, forgive me, I don’t have my cards. I am Ms Mitashi, school principal.”

“Ohh… how may I help you?”

“I believe you have in your care a young girl… Shoko...”

Paul closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What’s happened..?”

Inari interjected worriedly.

“Is Shoko alright?”

Ms Mitashi shook her head.

“Oh, no, no everything’s fine, it’s just… well, she’s been talking to some of the children about how she lives up on Okami mountain at the old shrine with you Holmes-san, and I was wondering...”

Paul sighed.

“I had intended to enrol her in April at the start of the school year, easing her into the idea of school… but I see the scamp has jumped the gun on me.”

“Ahh, I see... it’s just when I talked to her, she said some things I think I misunderstood… Shoko said that her mother was… Inari?”

Inari nodded.

“That’s right, I am.”

Ms Mitashi blinked, taking in the way Inari was leaning on Paul and calculating from Shoko’s apparent age. Paul could see her leaping to the wrong conclusion right before his eyes. He sighed.

“Inari! Forgive her Ms Mitashi. Inari is Shoko’s older sister, biologically speaking, although she’s effectively been a mother to her.”

The Principal looked thoughtfully at Inari, who belatedly nodded.

“I see... and Inari and Shoko are your daughters then?”

Inari shook her head.

“Oh no! Paul-san is my H.. ah, hero.”

Ms Mitashi raised an eyebrow, looking between then. Inwardly Paul was all but shouting at Inari to stop ‘helping’ but outwardly he mildly remarked.

“Inari, could you go find Shoko for me please?”

As soon as he said it, he realised that was probably the wrong thing to say, as Inari looked around at the throng, panic visibly rising in her face. Paul shook his head.

“No, never mind. I’m sorry I forgot. Umm.. hang on.”

Paul stood on tip toes, adding an inch or two to his height and peered around. As he’d suspected, the trio of Oni stood out from the crowd, towering above them as much as he did. He waved, catching Yuri’s eye, and gestured or her to come over.

“Sorry Ms Mitashi, just summoning help. Inari has problems with large crowds, causing panic attacks. She’s ok with people she knows around her.”

“Ohh?”

“Yes, she’s become something of a hikikomori the last few years after… certain events. She’s recovering but… well, it’s an on-going process.”

“Is that so..?”

Paul could feel Inari nodding as she clutched his arm. Ms Mitashi’s face softened a bit as she could see the sincerity in Inari’s wide and panic filled eyes. Just then Yuri loomed up behind the school Principal, flanked by her only marginally less mountainous sister Yuko. Ms Mitashi looked round, then up, and up... her eyes going wide at the sight of the two, who at just a shade under six and a half feet, which was reduced from their normal seven foot thanks to Inari’s disguise spell, were probably the tallest individuals she’d ever seen.

Yuri flexed, making her muscles bulge, causing the dragon tattoo that coiled around one shoulder to writhe. Paul blinked, he hadn’t noticed that before and concluded it was probably more of Inari’s disguise spells at work.

To give her credit Ms Mitashi stood her ground, even if she did look a little like a mouse staring at a pair of hungry cats… Paul reached out a long arm, and tapped Yuri on the point of one horn, gaining her attention.

“Hoi, stop pretending to be Oni for a minute will you.”

Yuri grinned sheepishly, suddenly loosing all her fierceness.

“Sorry Paul-san… what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, as such... is your sister Jiao with Shoko still?”

“Probably, why?”

“Could I ask for your cooperation, please? I need to talk to the school Principal here about… certain matters... but I need Shoko to help out, and I can’t send Inari to fetch her. Would you be so kind as to see if you can locate Shoko, and Jiao too, and bring them here?”

“Ah, yes. Indeed. Kicking and screaming if we have to.”

“No need to go that far, tell the pair they can have a sugar waffle each, as a reward if they behave.”

Yuri chuckled, nodding.

“That will work! Hoi, Paul-san, it’ll only take one of us, you want Yuko to stay?”

Paul didn’t immediately answer, instead he looked down at Inari.

“Would you be all right a short distance away, if you’re with Yuko and Kiko?”

Inari considered the matter and slowly nodded. Paul could see the twinkle in her eyes as she played along with his subterfuge, exaggerating her anxiety. Paul glanced at Kiko over Inari’s head, and winked infinitesimally so that Ms Mitashi couldn’t see. Kiko’s eyes widened, and then her lips compressed as she bit back a smile.

Inari nodded.

“Yes...not too long Paul-san.”

“I promise.”

Yuko and Kiko lead Inari a short distance away, sandwiching her between them. Inari maintained a steady gaze on Paul the whole distance. Paul wondered if she could lip read, but on the off chance she could, leaned back against a tree, positioning himself and Ms Mitashi so they’d be easily visible.

“Ok, now she’s out of hearing range I can talk freely.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Inari’s suffered considerable trauma, there are some things I am reluctant to discuss in front of her for fear of upsetting her. To start with, she’s an orphan, twice over.”

“Oh…? She’s not your daughter than?”

“Yes and no, not biologically but legally, yes. In fact, Shoko is the only one I’m even related to by blood. Ok, quick run down because I don’t know how long we’ve got before a certain little pitcher with big ears and a bigger mouth arrives… My brother moved to Kyoto some years ago, estranged half brother technically, as I was the only one of the family that he kept in contact with. Anyway, Luke married an older woman he met there, who already had a son and daughter by a prior marriage. That’s Inari, and Rin who you’ve yet to meet. Luke’s wife Aniu was the grand-daughter of the old priest who lived in the temple before me. Remember that point. Anyway Luke and Aniu had Shoko, who takes after her father. Somewhere along the line, I’m not sure exactly when, they semi-informally adopted Jiao, and her two older sisters and her older brother. Although legally they’re just friends of the family. Luke was Jiao’s physiotherapist and I guess at some point it was easier for them to move in.”

“That sounds complicated... tell me, Jiao is the small girl in the pink Yukata, with the horns?”

“That’s the one, she looks frail until you talk to her. She has a will of hammered iron. I think she talked her siblings into moving in because she wanted to be with her best friend. And before you ask.. their father died in car crash a year ago nearly, and Jiao’s mother died in child birth.”

“Oh...and your brother, Luke-san?”

“Same car cash. Aniu died of cancer when Shoko was very little. She refused treatment so she could carry Shoko to term, and by the time she started it was too late to cure it. Best they could do was hold it off for awhile. Luke managed as a single father along with Jiao’s father’s help. I gather they met at some play scheme for single fathers... or that’s what I heard.”

“Ah, I see. So when your half-brother died, they became your responsibility?”

“Well, it was either that or a state orphanage... so naturally I moved here. But while I was sorting out the paperwork for that, I discovered that the old priest had left the temple to Inari, but since she’s still a juvenile technically it became my property… and since I’m only an author of slightly successful books, and not a high paid doctor, we moved here from Kyoto to cut costs. It... wasn’t a popular choice. Especially since Aniu and Luke homeschooled the girls. They didn’t take it well.”

“Ahh... I see now, that’s explains why there are no records. Umm. One question. Who’s Kiko?”

“Oh, Inari’s friend from Kyoto… well, I say friend. I think there may be more to it, but I’m not

prying.”

“Oh?”

“Young girls you know. They’re best friends, so that’s all I need to know… and I’m only telling you in case rumours start to fly.”

“Ahh… I see you know something about small towns then.”

“Grew up in one… you can imagine what sort of rumours went around about me and my blonde brother, given that our father was as dark haired as I am. But that’s genetics for you, regardless of what people say.”

Ms Mitashi nodded sadly.

“Ah, yes. Gossip can be as cruel as it’s inaccurate. Thank you Holmes-san, you didn’t owe it to anyone to explain, but it was good of you to do so, to ally my fears for Shoko.”

“Do I want to know what tales her active imagination has been coming up with?”

Ms Mitashi laughed, shaking her head.

“Well, not unless you are a spy on a secret mission?”

“I wish. I bet it would pay better than being a middle-ranked author of mystery novels does.”

“Indeed… wait, Holmes? Paul Holmes, the writer of the Judge series?”

Paul sighed.

“Yes, that’s me… let me guess, you’re about to ask me to address your book club?”

“Oh...well I was.”

“Sorry, can it wait a month or two? Deadlines you know, and suddenly finding myself a single father-figure to a number of children and teenagers, hasn’t helped.”

“Oh goodness, no I would think so… umm, if it’s not intruding, how long have you been responsible for them?”

Paul hesitated, doing some mental maths..

“Nearly three… no... four months now. Or for an eternity. I’m not sure which.”

Ms Mitashi’s eyes widened.

“Right… and no-one’s helped?”

“In Kyoto, I got the impression they were only too eager to pass them over to me, and once that was done it was goodbye and good luck. I honestly haven’t seen much of any one here. I threw that shindig... ah.. mini festival, a bit back hoping to meet people. But that was kind of a bust.”

Ms Mitshi nodded.

“I heard about that, very few people had the nerve to go… the mountain has a bad reputation, if one is inclined to believe in such fanciful things.”

Paul nodded.

“I heard. I had thought about doing something about it, but honestly the peace and quiet made working easier.”

“I see, well... perhaps the best thing we can do is enrol them in some of the after-school classes, giving you space. We have classes for parents too, for when you have the time.”

“Ah, well, Inari has her own issues which might make evening classes a bad idea. Rin is of college age. Tatsuo, Yuri and Yuko are nearly adult. I’d look for adult learner classes for them maybe, if Tatsuo who’s the man of that family unit agrees. But yes, certainly the younger pair need something to redirect their energies.”

“And Kiko?”

“Is actually old enough to be a Miko at the Inari shrine in Kyoto… and yes... I am aware of the irony of that. I don’t know why Aniu named her daughter after the goddess. Maybe she was currying favour with her grandfather, who knows? Anyway, Kiko’s uncle, who is the head priest at the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine, knows where Kiko is, since he escorted her here, and approves of their relationship. But Kiko is technically only visiting, to help ease Inari over the transition, and...”

Paul peered out across the heads of the crowd.

“Ah, I see we’re about to be joined by a little kitsune and the head of the local Oni clan. Umm.. please don’t laugh when you see Tatsuo, he’s a young man conscious of his dignity in the way only young men are, and rather put upon by his Imoto who he loves dearly...”

Ms Mitashi did her best not to smile at Paul’s description but nodded her understanding with a twinkle in her eyes.