Fox-face and Flames
First Encounter: Kitsune (狐)
∟ "Fox"
"Hey, did you know that in legend it is believed that a fox — rather, a kitsune — feasts on hearts because hearts themselves are a delicacy like none other?"
A thin and pale smile — almost teasing, almost as if the owner of such a smile is laughing at everything and everyone — is given.
"But then the question arises: 'what if a person doesn't have a heart?' What then?"
A pause.
"Well, I daresay that a kitsune would be tempted to swallow up the very one that beats in its chest. Don't you agree?"
The person recieving such questions does not care to answer them. Or perhaps, he does not know the answer to such questions. Perhaps, he does not know the answers to such questions because he does not have a heart of his own. Perhaps, he himself — like a fox — has already devoured the one that used to beat in his chest.
Edward Yamamoto sighed contentedly as he leaned back in his office chair in a room that sat at the very top of the CASCO Incorporation's main communications building. Working hours had been long over but, being one of the CEOs of CASCO, Edward was obliged by responsibility to stay after-hours — or something along those lines, he told himself. His secretary had left only minutes earlier, leaving him alone to his dim office. The lamp that rested on his desk provided only a sparse amount of light, but he was perfectly content with that too.
He arose from his chair — he ignored the squeaking protests it gave as he was quite above annoyances at that level — and turned towards the windows that glistened behind him. The city of San Fransokyo unfolded it's night-life scenery from behind the thin windowpane for his viewing. The moonlight from the sky was being hidden away by a dark and heavy cloud, but the city lights glistened with enough luminance to replace a thousand moons. He smiled at the sight. His ghostly reflection from the window smiled back at him.
This reverie, however, was disrupted when the light from his lamp abruptly died. Pitch blackness, darkness consumed the room. The reflection of his office was outlined even more on the windowpane in this darkness; and in that reflection another face that was not his own appeared just over his shoulder.
The face was not that of a human.
No human face could be that pale. No human face could have such angled eyes, nor such an angled mouth. No human face could be so animalistic, so fox-like in appearance.
Edward turned on his heels and pressed back against the window behind him. His eyes were wide with fear and confusion — an expression he was familiar with seeing on others, not so much himself.
Who was this person? How did they manage to reach his office? Where was security?!
"H-How the hell did you get in here?!" Edward stuttered angrily, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. "Security!"
The fox-faced humanoid did not answer. Instead it simply approached him. With every step it drew closer; and Edward found himself desperately smashing his back against the window behind him. He was pressing back so hard against the glass pane that he swore that it would crack if he pressed against it any further.
"What do you want?" Edward tried again in a quieter voice. Business-like, almost professional.
With his question ringing in the air, it finally stopped its approach and was now only inches away from him.
It was then that Edward was able to register the fox-faced humanoid's additional features. Reddened scars twisted along its exposed left arm; and white gauze was wrapped from both of its forearms down to the base of its palms — a stark contrast in color, almost blinding. But Edward did not take these features to heart nor did he take the time to observe the thing's other features; rather, his attention was stolen away by the the sheathed katana that rested on its back.
"A-Are you going to kill me?!" Edward stuttered in horror. He could literally taste death on his tongue.
It refused to answer once more.
"I-If you're doing this for money," Edward continued, straightening himself up and staring into what he believed were the creature's eyes, "I can pay you way more handsome—
"Edward Yamamoto," the fox-faced thing drew with a deep and cold voice — a voice that was startlingly human. "You've been investing in scientific projects that involve human experimentation."
Edward's eyes widened in shock, and all he could manage was — "H-How did you know...?"
"You are guilty."
The cloud that had been covering the moon up until then drifted away as that statement was spoken. Silver light showered the room, and Edward winced at the sudden brightness. And in that reflexive action, he missed catching sight of many things.
He missed the glint of light from the fox-faced man's drawn blade.
He missed the splatter of red that erupted from his neck as the blade finished its course.
He missed the cold smirk that arose on the fox-faced man's true face as he removed and discarded the fox-mask (not mask) onto the dark floor.
He missed seeing the final seconds of his life tick away into nothing.
The office fell into reverie once more, and the city lights continued to play behind the windowpane.
It was only half an hour later that the office was invaded once more. This time the invaders came in the form of five humans and one large robot. They entered the room in unison, taking on offensive-fighting poses almost immediately. These poses fell, however, as the six realized that the room was deathly quiet and empty.
"Uh, so where's the Yamamoto dude at?" one of the six — Fred — questioned as he took off his reptilic mask.
"The security officers said that he never left the building," another one of the six — Honey — frowned as she walked deeper into the office. "He should be in here…"
"Great," another — GoGo — scoffed, popping the bubble she carefully crafted from the gum in her mouth. "So does this mean that we just waste our one free night?"
"No," the smallest member — Hiro — scoffed back at her as he approached the wooden desk that rested at the very back of the room, "this just means that we're probably going to have a full-on chase scene in a few."
Hiro inspected the desk carefully, looking around and below it until a flash of white and red caught his eye. Resting on the floor next to the very corner of the desk was a circular object. He bent down and picked it up with a frown.
"What've you got there, Hiro?" another — Wasabi — asked with slightly raised eyebrows.
Hiro raised the object so the other five could see it.
"It's a… kitsune mask."
01.26.17 edit: Going back to fix some grammatical and spelling errors! Also spicing up some descriptions.
