Come by Night 3: Kitsune No Yomeiri

Chapter Eighteen - Pandemonium in the Auction House

Entering this dreadful place again with all its suffering was the hardest thing I've done yet. I shook all the way to auction house, not knowing where I would find the strength. For love of Mitsuaki, I forced myself to slip between the guards. When they did not see me, the strangest thing occurred. My fear was replaced by a rising excitement. I suppose this is what it feels like to be a kitsune. Fearless and filled with determination.

When I passed by the caged creatures, I wanted to free them. But all I could think of was my husband, until the moment I prepared to free him. Then I recalled Inari-sama's words. My key could unlock every door here.

I know what I must do, why all this is happening. Inari could not do this, nor send any agent directly. Kami are bound by the politics of their world. I see that now. For all their magnificent powers, in this moment I am more powerful by far. Where a god can do nothing, I am able to act. Mitsuaki is an agent of chaos for Inari, and now, by extension, so am I.

I stop at the first cage and unlock it.

"What are you doing?" Mitsuaki whispers as a scaled woman scampers out. "We should leave."

"We are leaving," I confirm, "after I do this." I open another cage.

"All of them?" he asks.

"All of them," I confirm.

I creep around opening cages, evading the guards with Mitsuaki's help. He's not happy, but he does not stop me, either. Cell after cell, I open them all down the line. They begin to creep out, fleeing into the night, and in their haste, too many make noise. It gets the attention of the guards. Male voices cry out all over the warehouse. Animals call out in their myriad voices. Roars, hisses, growls... In the distraction, I free the rest, until I unlock the final cage.

"Hold it!" I hear a harsh voice command from down the hall, but he's running and he'll be here fast!

"Hotaru!" Mitsuaki says harshly, holding out his wrists. Of course. I should have freed him at once, but I knew he would balk at this. To keep my nogitsune in hand, I kept him in those bonds. Now it is time. I nod and unleash Mitsuaki.

The metal falls to the floor with two harsh clangs. My husband's muzzle leers open wickedly, his eyes slit as fire erupts around him. He cackles, and it is a bone chilling sound. The guard skids to a stop, eyes wide in terror. Mitsuaki sets him alight without a trace of empathy.

I have to close my eyes and shield my ears, unable to bear the sight, much less the man's screams of agony. He bangs into the wood and metal cages, and they catch fire. Mitsuaki laughs and sets more fires, sending his demon wisps outward to do damage. And they do, turning the entire structure into a raging inferno of blue flame.

This is his purpose. I see it clearly. Inari made him a demon to do things like this, for no zenko could ever do what he is doing. I part my fingers and stare at him. My nine-tailed fox wraith of a husband is terribly beautiful in his demonic state. An avenging angel without conscience, driven to destroy. As the demons and chimera animals make their escape, I sob at the destruction. Not for its sake, for this was an evil place and it deserves its fate. My sorrow is for Mitsuaki, condemned to this existence, what I know he never wanted to be. It breaks my heart to see him like this.

I took the god's aid and did the god's deed, but I agree with Mitsuaki. I will always hate them.

I shrink away from the fire on all sides, and now I wonder if I will burn, too. Amid the remaining stampede, Mitsuaki recalls that I exist. He swoops me up and flies us out through where the ceiling crumbles above. His tails and arms protect me from his fire. I look up at the stars through a haze of smoke and azure flame, then we are free. I feel the clean wind in my face and savor the freedom of the sky.

"The palanquin!" I point.

He nods and lands on the next street over, where he transforms back into his human form. Already the hue and cry is going up. People are running toward the disaster. Mitsuaki and I dive into the palanquin, closing the doors on the smoky night. The box shifts and moves. I wish it would go faster. I want to get away from here. Mitsuaki stares at me in amazement. I blush beneath his scrutiny.

"How did you do all this?" he manages at last.

"I will explain when we get home. I have so much to tell you!" I gush.

"How can we go home?" he asks. "The gods broke into it and—"

I boldly put my finger to his lips. "No, only one did. And we are being granted peace and quiet for the next hundred years as long as we get into no more trouble."

"You mean like burning down the auction house?" he says sarcastically. He sounds just like a fox.

I can't help but smile. "That was the whole point of it all."

He stares at me in confusion. "Wait... what do you mean 'next hundred years?'"

"I told you I will explain everything once we are back safe with Tsukiko." I stand my ground on that.

He looks as if he will press me, but he grunts instead and slumps back in his seat, arms crossed and ears pinned back. I have won my first verbal victory over him. I smile inside, where he cannot see. My husband is proud, after all. I lean forward and scratch his ears and he presses into my touch without hesitation, his eyes close in that delight only a fox can know.

"Everything is going to be all right now," I tell him. It is only a little lie. It will be all right for just over a century. It is more than I could have ever hoped for, and it will never be enough.