FSE

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Please note that the asterisk * means that someone is speaking a different language.

Chapter One: The Deal Maker

The human man was sitting on a rock, staring off into the forest, letting life pass him by. It wasn't a big deal. A hundred years to live, thirty-five of which were gone, and he was still unmarried. His parents were upset with him; they wanted grandchildren, and it didn't matter to them how they came about. But for now, he sat, contemplating his dilemma. He wasn't a poor man. He was rather well off in fact, but he was lonely. He wanted someone to share his life with...Someone like the young woman who worked the fields. She was the reason he sat on this rock; it was the perfect vantage-point to watch her. Near as he could tell, she lived with her parents, who were very poor, and worked the paddies to keep their only source of income growing. He knew this because he owned a construction company. This wouldn't be important except for that fact that his company was supposed to bulldoze their house and build an apartment complex. The town, just two miles away from the future apartment complex (he couldn't pronounce the name, so didn't even try), seemed like it had been given the telephone and decided that was all the technology it needed. There were no computers there, very few cars, and that eerie quiet that comes from a technology deadzone. This town was about as primitive as could be, and this was Japan, the technology capital of the world, or so he'd heard. He wanted this girl more than anything he'd ever wanted before. But he couldn't figure out how to woo her. Her parents hated him for wanting to bulldoze their home, so probably wouldn't be inclined to allow him the hand of their daughter. He sighed, letting his head fall into his hand, letting his mind wander.

"Beautiful morning, isn't it?" asked a voice behind him. The man on the rock, after years in business having learned not to show fear, didn't jump, nor did he turn to look at the person behind him.

"Aye," he replied, "It's positively gorgeous. The only thing that'd make it better is a good woman to share it with."

"You speak of the woman over there, don't you?" asked the person behind him. The man nodded.

"Aye," he agreed, "that I am. She's a gorgeous woman of the perfect proportions. And if her parents didn't hate me I'd take her out and propose to her."

"Why do they hate you?"

"Because I want to bulldoze their house and land to make way for an apartment complex."

"That'll do it."

"I just wish..." the man began.

"Yes?" pressed the stranger.

"I just wish there was some way to make her mine. I wish someone could help me..."

These were the words the stranger was waiting for. "Look no further, Derek Masters." Now the human jumped, for how could this stranger know his name? He whipped around to see who was talking...and there was no one there. Derek felt his blood run cold, chills shoot up and down his spine, and his hair attempting to stand on end.

"A ghost?" he asked aloud, shaking slightly.

"Not a ghost," came the stranger's voice, this time from the direction he had been facing previously. "I am a spirit. And if you want my aid, you must make a deal with me."

"Where are you?" asked Derek, looking in front of himself, but again no one was there.

"Look down," said the voice, the hint of a laugh coming through with his words. Derek looked down and saw...

A fox. A black fox. It sat on its haunches looking up at the human man, its icy blue eyes locked with the human's brown ones, its tail shifting from side to side. Derek stared at the little fox as it stared up at him. Derek cracked a grin. "Alright!" he called out. "You got me! Joke's over! Come on out!"

"I assure you, human, this is no joke." The stranger's voice came again and this time Derek could see the fox's lips move as it-he spoke. "If you want my aid, you must make a deal with me."

Derek jerked back, staring down at the fox as the little creature's tail continued to sway. "W-What are you?" he asked nervously.

The fox smiled, at least as best as a fox could. "I am a Kitsune. If you want my aid in gaining your lady love you must make a deal with me."

The human was shocked. He had heard of Kitsune before. Some kind of fox spirit creature that had tons of magical abilities. Then his mind began working on something. "Make a deal?" asked Derek. "What kind of deal?"

The fox grinned, showing all of his teeth. "In order for me to help you, you in turn must offer me something of equal or greater value."

Derek thought long and hard. His inner businessman looked at the offer from every angle, searching for a downside to the offer. Finding no downsides of great importance, he made his decision, still a little frightened of the spirit before him. Then, looking down at the black fox, said, "I want you to help me win the heart of the woman who works in those fields. Do so, and I'll give you anything you want."

The fox chuckled darkly, making the human shiver, thinking he had just made a mistake. However, before he could take his words back, the Kitsune spoke. "I accept," said the black fox. "I will win you the heart of the woman you've been watching. However, in return you must take me to America and give me the land you live on as my home. These are my terms." The fox turned to go.

"Wait!" cried Derek. The fox turned back to look at the human. "I don't want you to harm her or her family in any way."

The fox smiled. "You're smart, for a human. If I had been any other type of kitsune, I might have murdered her family and burned their lands and home. Alright, I'll abide by your guidelines. And if you need me, call my name." He began walking again. A few feet away, his body shimmered and faded out.

Derek suddenly realized something. "What is your name?!" he called. The fox didn't answer. However, the wind spoke for him.

"Bao-Hadir..." it whispered.

Derek Masters shivered, wondering if he'd made a mistake...

*==========(xxx)==========*

The young woman sighed. "*It's getting harder and harder to earn money with our rice. Soon we will have no money to pay off the American. How are we going to eat*?"

Her father gazed at her darkly. His aged face made the look seem menacing. "*We will get by as we always have. The paddies have been our family's source of food and money for generations. Not even the American and his builders will keep us from working our land.*"

His wife was busy in the kitchen, cooking the evening meal of rice and vegetables. They had no money for meat this month. Maybe next month would be better.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. The woman jumped. "Who could it be at this time of night?" she wondered. She stood and went to the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw a man standing outside. He didn't look like the American.

The woman quickly unlatched the door and opened it. The man who stood outside smiled, then said, in perfect Japanese, "*My name is Hoari Bad. My employer has asked me to come to you with a proposal. May I come in?*"

The woman stepped back from the doorway and gestured, inviting the man inside. When the man entered the home, the girl took a good look at him. This man was dressed all in black, from his suit to his shoes. Even his hair was black. His eyes however were what scared her the most. They were a hard, icy blue. The eyes of one who was all business. Even his smile seemed forced.

He stood before the girl's father and bowed low, showing his respect. Her father inclined his head to the newcomer. "*Who is your employer?*" asked the old man. "*And what is this proposal of his?*"

The stranger smiled, a wide grin that looked as if he were about to tear someone's throat out. "*My employer is Derek Masters, head of Masters Construction, Inc. Perhaps you've heard of him*?" The old man's brows knitted in a V. Of course he'd heard of Derek Masters. "*His proposal is more of a compromise. He wanted me to inform you that in six days, he is going to purchase the deed to these lands and build his apartment complex. He proposes that, if you leave willingly, he will build his apartments and allow you and your family to live in them, rent-free.*" The old man perked up. This was getting interesting. A home where they paid no rent to live in. "*He has a second proposition for you. He will build the complex around your field instead of on it, if...*" The stranger trailed off.

"*If?*" asked the old man.

"*If you allow him the hand of your daughter in marriage.*"

The old man shot up from his seat. "*WHAT!*" he shouted, his face coloring in anger. "*Your employer is a fool if he thinks I will give up my daughter, my pride and joy, to him in exchange for our fields. Tell Derek Masters he will our home over my DEAD BODY!"

"*Consider this, old man,*" said the stranger menacingly, his eyes narrowed, all pretence of kindness vanishing in an instant. "*Six days. In six days he will be buying the deed to your lands. The next day bulldozers will come in and level the terrain for apartments. If you don't accept his proposal, you and your family will be rendered homeless. You will have no source of income after your paddies are covered over with several tons of concrete. Your family will starve and it'll be all your fault. My employer has made a very generous offer, one that could benefit you and your wife for the rest of your days. All you have to do to have that happen is allow him to marry your daughter.*"

"*Why you insolent-*"

"*I'll do it.*" All eyes were on the girl as she spoke. She looked at her father with sorrowful eyes. "*I'll marry the American, if only so you and mother can live in a house and have food to eat.*"

All the anger drained from her father's face as his eyes welled with tears. He pushed his chair out of the way and walked swiftly around the table to his daughter. He caught her up in his arms as she started to sob. He stroked her hair softly as he looked up at the businessman..

"*Tell your employer...*" the old man began. His breath came in ragged gasps as he fought back sobs. "*Tell your employer...we have a deal.*"

The businessman smiled again, the same predatory grin as he bowed. He turned and let himself out of the house.

The old man did a double-take. It couldn't have been...Could it? For a second there, he thought he saw a tail on the businessman's rear...

*==========(xxx)==========*

Derek lay back on the bed in his hotel room. His mind raced as he considered what he had done. Would the kitsune keep his word? Would he get to marry the girl? Would her family be safe? Oh why had he asked for the kitsune's aid?

Suddenly there was a loud pop at the foot of the bed. Derek shot up and looked down. Sitting at the end of the bed was the kistune, Bao-Hadir. The little fox had a grin on his face.

"Mission accomplished. Now all that remains is for you to bring me to America with you." Bao-Hadir quickly outlined the deal he had struck with the girl's father (though he omitted the threats he had made). The human was amazed at the fox's efficiency and praised him. And yet, Derek wondered how the fox knew that he would obtain the deed in six days. That was something the only he himself should have known. Lucky guess? Probably not.

"So, after the wedding I will bring you to the United States." The fox nodded. "And then, you will take up residence on my land?" Again the kitsune nodded his head.

"I will take my leave of you for now. If you need me, just...call my name." With that, he faded out.

The human sat shocked for a moment, then a huge grin broke out on his face. He leapt off the bed and began dancing for joy, barely keeping himself from shouting for joy. He was finally getting married AND he was going to get the complex built. Today went perfectly.

*==========(xxx)==========*

"Perfect. Absolutely perfect." Bao-Hadir lay flat on his belly in some bushes outside the hotel. He had no home of his own...yet. But soon. Soon he would be in America, a land where no kitsune had ever gone before. A land many kitsune didn't believe existed. "Idiots, the lot of them. Ah well, I'll have a good-sized territory all to myself. And it's all thanks to that human..."

*==========(xxx)==========*

The wedding was beautiful. One week after Bao-Hadir's visit, Derek married the young woman he had watched from afar. Yumi Masters was beautiful in her poofy snow-white wedding dress, while Derek Masters was handsome in his black tux. After the ceremony was over and the usual acts of drinking, dancing, toasting, eating, cake chomping, and well wishing to the bride and groom, the couple hopped into their car and went straight to the airport. Several hours and a flight transfer later, they arrived in Duluth, Minnesota. A half-hour after that and they were at Derek's home, a modest two-story house out in the country. It was painted a tasteful sky-blue, with a chimney attached on one side and a single car garage on the other. Derek left the bags in the car and lifted his wife into his arms and carried her over the threshold.

Unseen by either of them, a black fox slipped out of one of their bags and trotted off behind the house. Once there, he looked around at the wide-open space. A tooth-baring grin played across his face.

"I think I'm gonna like it here." Bao-Hadir turned in place once and faded away, into the realm of spirits.

*==========(xxx)==========*

Four years passed. Bao-Hadir became sort of the family guardian, always on call when Derek or Yumi needed him. However, they only needed him three times during the span.

The first time was when a psychotic killer escaped from a prison in southern Minnesota. Derek asked the fox to guard him home until the killer was caught. Six hours later, the psycho was pronounced dead at the scene of a nasty traffic accident, wherein one car jumped the median and slammed into another car, with a man caught between them. Police were stumped as to how that could've happened. Hadir was given his requested birdbath.

The second time, somebody was sabotaging Derek's construction sites, using explosives to bring down the buildings Derek's crew were working on. The bomber was caught in the act when he, for some strange reason, attempted to affix explosives to the Police Headquarters during broad daylight. Hadir received the storage shed behind Derek's home as payment, which the fox quickly emptied of tools and moved the birdbath into. The birdbath, at this point, had been filled with patches of grass and dirt, with a small depression in the middle, which was filled with water.

The third time, the Masters's home caught on fire (suspected arson, but no one was caught). Derek summoned Hadir to rescue his trapped wife. The fire department was a long way off, so Derek had no choice. Hadir was in an out in less than ten minutes, and the pregnant Yumi Masters, who had been taking a midday nap, was deposited outside, no worse for wear. The fire department arrived minutes later and put the blaze out. Miraculously, though the whole house burned down, the shed behind it was untouched. Hadir requested Yumi's ring, a family heirloom that she was loath to part with. She did so however, and Hadir swore to take good care of it.

Now, two years after the birth of their first child, the Masters's had need of their guardian spirit again. Derek called out the fox's name, and the little spirit creature appeared beside him.

"Problems with the labor?" asked the fox, looking up at the much taller human. Derek shook his head.

"I don't know what's wrong," said Derek. "One minute she was fine, the next she was shaking, cursing, and going pale. She wasn't this way when she gave birth to Aaron." The little boy was asleep in the room next door and was, thankfully, a heavy sleeper.

Hadir snorted. "I'll see what I can do." He leapt up onto the bed and sniffed the air. Suddenly his head jerked back and he looked startled.

"W-what is it?" asked Derek nervously. Hadir looked over at Derek, his eyes wide.

"Your wife...she's being attacked by a kitsune."

"WHAT?!" cried Derek is shock

"I say your wife. But what I mean is, she's being attacked on the inside. In her womb. A kitsune is trying to possess one of your children."

Derek dropped to his knees, a look of hopelessness on his face. "There's nothing you can do, is there?" he asked dispiritedly. In his heart, there was no hope for his wife or children. She was pregnant with twins. However, the look on Hadir's face gave him a sliver of hope.

The kitsune had a wide grin on his face. "Of course there's something I can do. You go tend to your pup while I tend to your wife."

It was only then that Derek realized that Aaron was crying for him. He climbed to his feet and turned.

"Close the door behind you," called the fox. Derek swallowed the lump in his throat and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Hadir walked around the edge of the bed and came to gravid*** woman's face. He leaned down next to her ear. "Yumi? Yumi, if you can hear me, answer." Her answer came in the form of stroking his visible tail. He looked back at her hand a moment, then turned back to her ear. "I'm going to try to save your life and the lives of your pups. However, I want your permission to use my magicks on you. Do I have it?"

The pained woman gasped out "Yes!" before falling into unconsciousness, entering into a state of shock brought on by the intense pains in her womb. That yes was all Hadir needed to get to work. Six more tails sprouted out around the first and he flexed them. Then, moving down the bed, he stopped at the woman's distended belly. He touched his nose to it and instantly he could feel the presence of the other kitsune. Obviously it wanted to take a human shape without resorting to illusion. However, it must've been new at it, for it was killing all three in its mad attempt to possess an unborn human.

Hadir felt his spirit magicks well-up inside him and he released them, making himself ghostly. He pressed his muzzle against the woman's belly and it passed inside. Hadir pressed in further and his entire head entered the unconscious woman's womb. The scent of kitsune was strong within and Hadir could tell in an instant that the offending odor belonged to a female of his kind. He could see her now, his magic illuminating the all-encompassing darkness of the womb. The kitsune was halfway inside the baby girl now, having gone tails-first inside. Hadir growled and the kitsune looked up at him.

"Leave this child at once!" he shouted. The female giggled lightly.

"Why should I? This body will be young and strong; she'll be a perfect host for me. You can't stop me now, little one. So why don't you buzz off and leave me to my work."

"Little one." Hadir was angry now. This little fox had to have less than four tails, else she would've had known not to mess with a seven-tail. Hadir pulled his head out of the womb and back into the bedroom. His teeth were bared as he turned his back on the human, standing on all fours with his tails raised.

With a bark that held much power, he lashed his tails against the woman's belly. The whip effect left imprints of seven lashes against her flesh. He did it again, then again. Seven times did his seven tails descend on Yumi's belly. Seven times did he send his magic within the womb, slowly forcing the vixen out of the girl child.

Suddenly, Hadir whipped around and thrust his head back inside the womb. The vixen had just enough time to look up before his jaws locked around her throat and she was forcefully pulled out of Yumi's body.

Derek looked on, having tended his son and returned the boy to the realm of dreams. He desperately wanted to intercede every time the kitsune struck his wife with seven tails, but he did not. There had to be a reason. Bao-Hadir always had a reason for everything he did. This was confirmed when the kitsune, scaring the bejeezus out of Derek, shoved his head into his wife's belly, then pulled out a second later with a black...thing in his mouth.

Hadir jerked one last time, pulling the kitsune from Yumi's flesh, and flung the female against the wall. She fell to the ground, stunned. Hadir was off the bed in an instant and he latched his teeth around her throat again and bit down. Hard. The female gave a gurgling shriek of pain and fear as blood leaked from both her throat and her mouth. Finally, after nearly a minute, the shrieking died away. The female's eyes widened and her lids fluttered a few times before her body relaxed into death.

Hadir drew away, looking down at the dead kitsune. He gave a puff of laughter, seeing the female had had only two tails. He turned his back on her and summoned his magicks again. This time, the tips of his tails burst into flames. He gently touched them to the body and ignited it, reducing it to ash without harming the house. Hadir's tails extinguished and he leapt back up onto the bed. He pressed his nose to the woman's belly, scenting for any lingering traces of the kitsune. Suddenly, he smelled something he shouldn't have. His brows knit in confusion and he sniffed again. His jaw dropped and he looked behind him, counting his tails.

Hadir began counting in his head. One, two, three, four, five, six, se- wait a second. One, two, three, four, five, six...so where was seven? He looked up at Derek. He had known the human had been there for a while.

"Count my tails," he ordered. Derek knelt down and began counting silently.

"I count six," said Derek, looking up into the fox's icy blue eyes.

"Damnit," cursed Hadir. "I've lost a tail." Derek drew back slightly.

"You can lose tails?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I can. And I think I know where it went." He prodded Yumi's belly with his nose.

"You lost a tail in my wife?" he asked in shock.

Hadir nodded once. "Yeah. It might mean nothing of course. Or it might be something big. We won't know until later."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, if I lost a tail, it may go to the nearest thing that has my power on it. Your daughter."

"W-w-what does that mean, though?"

"It means that your daughter may be born with a tail. If she is, she'll have kitsune powers and we'll strike up a new deal. If she doesn't, I won't request anything from you for saving your wife's life. We'll know in a month." Hadir turned and hopped off the bed.

"Wait!" cried Derek. Hadir looked back at him. "What about Yumi?" he asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine. Just let her rest." With that he faded away.

*==========(xxx)==========*

"Ok now, PUSH!" cried the attendant.

Derek held Yumi's hand as she gave a hard push, trying to force the baby out. Slowly but surely, the little one's head pushed out, followed by the shoulders, the rear, and last the child's feet.

"It's a girl!" the doctor said loudly. He didn't need to spank the newborn, she came out screaming and gasping. "With a...tail?" The doctor turned the baby girl, showing them the tiny fleshy stub that sprouted from her rear. "Want us to remove that quick?" he asked.

Derek shook his head. The doctor wrapped the baby up and passed the girl to her mother. As the baby nursed on her mother, Derek hugged and kissed his wife in happiness.

Someone else had been watching the birth, though. In a corner of the room, invisible to the naked eye, sat a black fox. His icy blue eyes were locked on the babe's face as she nursed. A smile of pride flashed upon his face for but an instant. He hopped out of the chair and onto the bed, making no sign that he was there. He crept up to the baby and sat down next to her. He leaned forward and lapped at her head, sending his power into her, soothing her softly. After a moment she fell asleep, warm and safe in her mother's arms.

"Sleep well," whispered Hadir as he faded back into the realm of spirits, preparing his home for his new daughter.