Granting Wishes

Though Junes was always crowded, the passing shoppers never took a second look at a shop. Their accompanying children sometimes did, their eyes trying to focus enough to read the white printed words on the glass panel. Mas-sa-ji Pa-ra, they would read, taking interest with gleaming bright eyes as their parents pulled them away.

Watching the sixth couple of retreating parent and child, she sighed and looked down at the paper she'd been doodling on. Circles and circles, unending circles; it resembled the maze she had lost herself in.

Was it really wrong to have chosen to move to the countryside?

Massage parlours were not exactly rare in the cities of Japan, and those long established chains had favoured customers who would rather go for their usual service than try out newer ones. To open up her shop in the city, in the competition - it would have killed her. So when Junes had decided to open a branch in Inaba and she was offered a chance by a friend of a friend, she had moved here with her sister.

But the people of Inaba held only the briefest of interests in a massage parlour. She had few customers every so often but the recent murders had chased all her customers away and she had little money left.

A small bell rang, interrupting her reminiscence. Snapping to attention, she started, "Wel-"

Though her door was opened and quickly closing, there was nobody she could see from her position. A prank? She sighed, lowering her head and catching sight of a fox at the same time.

A fox...!?

Her mouth dropped as she stared at the fox and the fox stared back. A few seconds passed like this until the fox suddenly reared up on its hind legs.

Some part of her wanted to scream and run, but a small voice told her that if the fox had wanted to harm her, it would have already done so. Calming herself, she slowly closed her mouth. Still staring. "...welcome?"

The fox slowly padded forward and jumped onto her desk; she bit her lip so as to not scream. It glanced down at the papers scattered on the counter, as if looking for something.

"Umm?" The creature continued glancing downwards, ignoring her. "Are... you lost?"

Why am I talking to a fox...? Am I hallucinating? Am I losing my mind?

The fox suddenly stopped and slammed one paw lightly on the surface of the counter and looked back up.

Was it expecting something from her?

Nervously, she looked down at what the fox seemed to be pointing out. She blinked, once, and turned back to the fox. "You want... a massage?" There incredulity dripped from her voice; could a fox really read what was written on the paper? No, a part of her sanity stressed, this fox is just a coincidence-

But the fox seemed delighted at her words; again it reared backwards and there was a shimmer in its eyes.

...how does a fox manage the puppy eyes her younger sister often put on every so often?

"O...kay," she said, trying not to laugh, wondering if it was a strange dream she was having. "This way...?"

*

When the massage was over, it left the fox's fur gleaming. The creature ran circles around her legs and ran out of the massage room.

I wonder if it was here just to cheer me up, she thought. Having had somebody to massage - animal or not - left her cheerful and remembering how happy she had been when she had first started to study. Smiling to herself, she walked out after the fox and-

Oh god.

There, on the counter, was a small basket that held bundles of notes of money. She reached out and touched the money, marvelling at the amount it held. Again, the bell jingled and she glanced out, where the fox was looking back inside.

Payment for her services...?

With this much money, there was no need to worry about closing down. Smiling, the side of her eyes growing teary, she smiled and whispered, "Thank you."

The fox watched her for a moment and seemingly gave a nod before it ran off and vanished.

...but how did that one fox can these money? There were no reports of any sort of robbery recently, as far as she could remember.

Even so, money had come to her. Maybe those rumours about the shrine granting wishes were true, after all...?

"Sister!" The door flung opened again and her younger sister ran into the shop, holding something in her hand. "Here, I got a talisman for-" Her sister stared at what was on the counter, jaw dropped in shock. "You had a customer?"

"Mmm," she said, rubbing at the sides of her eyes, "one very rich customer."

The little girl grinned in glee and clapped her hands together. "My wish came true!"

"Wish...?"

"Yes," the little girl replied cheerfully, "I went to the shrine and prayed that customers would come! And one did!" She walked forward and placed a small charm on the counter. "Here, this is for you, sis."

The talisman was carefully designed in the shape of a fox and it reminded her of the fox that had just been here.

If my wish had been granted, she thought, smiling, then my sister's wish will come true, too.

*

The handwriting on this ema is small and neat. It seems to belong to a young girl.

My sister has a massage shop in Junes, but she never has any customers. If we don't get any soon, she can't pay the rent and we'll have to leave Inaba... So, umm, please give my sister some customers, please!

Souji re-read the ema again and looked down at the fox. Somehow, the fox's fur looked cleaner than usual and gave off sparkles that could very well rival Teddie's.

But a massage shop...?

He'd seen it once or twice while walking in Junes with Nanako, though he'd never paid very much attention to it. The price of that shop, however...

Looking inside his pocket, Souji frowned at the amount of money he had with him, regretting the fusions he had done yesterday while exploring some of the older dungeons. Then again, most of it had gone to the fox when Yukiko had spent most of her energy healing Kanji who had consistently found himself close to death fighting the tougher shadows.

He wondered if his friends were willing to come with him some day after school... as long as they paid for their own massages.

fin.

Notes: Written for the P4 kink meme; prompt was what does Fox do with all the money?

This was supposed to be crack fic until it evolved a eventual storyline. Methinks Margaret goes for massages too.