Arc 1: Prelude to Canon
Chapter 2

The Kitsune Youkais are a powerful species. Among them, the Kyuubi are the strongest.

Their fur, their bones, their flesh, even their blood are infused with Ki and Mana, which makes them very potent magic reagents and catalysts that can be used for any number of spells, curses and rituals.

In terms of Mana, the only species that can confidently boast superiority over them are just the Dragons, which are accurately described as 'Power Incarnate'. However, they are creatures that lived for combat, their species evolving over time for that singular purpose until they were capable of fighting from the day they are born. Even the weakest Dragon has power equivalent to that of a Mid-Class Devil, meaning that new-borns are no easy targets, especially if they are being watched by their older and far stronger family members.

And in modern times at the present, Dragons are practically non-existent in the Human World, most of the surviving colonies moving to the Underworld to live under the protection of the former Dragon King Tannin, the Meteor Flame Dragon, who was reincarnated into a Devil and now ranked as one of the Underworld's most prized Ultimate-Class Devils.

The chances of ever acquiring a Dragon are about as good as a snowball's chances of not melting in the Waters of Phlegethon, the Burning River.

That isn't to say the odds of acquiring a Kyuubi are much higher considering the number of them alive today can be counted on one hand. One of them is the leader of the Kyoto Youkai, famed for being unparalleled in Youjutsu and a master of Senjutsu, but unlike Dragons, Kyuubi and all Kitsune for that matter are not born battle ready.

They have to train both their body and spirit to fully tap into the immense power within them.

Yasaka only obtained her current power from training relentlessly for several decades, and even now she has to keep up her training to prevent her body and spirit from atrophying.

Kunou, the Princess of the Kyoto Youkai and Yasaka's daughter is as strong as her 10 year old self would be and could not yet tap into even a sliver of her true power, barely able to conjure more than a few sparks of Fox Fire that will barely be enough to light a candle. The peak of her Youjutsu abilities is being able to hide her fox ears and tails in order to make her look like a Human child, albeit one with an uncommon hair and eye color in Japan.

She is practically a human child in terms of combat capability, and that makes her an easier target from a tactical standpoint.

Even discounting Magicians, there are plenty of twisted individuals out there who would love nothing more than to get their hands on a pretty little thing like her, whether they knew her true identity or not.

Yasaka was born in a much more turbulent and violent time, had been aware of the dangers to her since a very young age, and had trained from said young age to make full use of her innate power. In comparison, Kunou was born in a much more peaceful Modern Age and had lived a very sheltered life so far, kept away from the dark and gritty aspects by her mother.

Yasaka did not have a happy childhood, thus she did not want the same for her daughter, which led her to spoiling Kunou a good deal. That isn't to say that she blinded herself to the potential dangers to her daughter, which is why she assigned a full guard detail to her, consisting of only those she fully trusted.

Unfortunately, her upbringing meant Kunou cannot fully comprehend the danger she is in simply by being born to her mother, and only sees her constant bodyguards as overbearing parenting on Yasaka's part, which leads to her constantly trying to sneak away from them with varying degrees of success.

Her guards are trained to protect her with their lives, and can spot even the slightest out-of-place detail, which means that her attempts to ditch them are often met with failure. However, the sheer imagination of a child cannot be underestimated either, which leads to the occasional success and subsequent panic from her entire guard details as they try to find her.

Today is one of those successes. She has not only snuck out of the palace, but the Youkai Realm as well reaching the Human World. There are so many things she wants to see! She knows her way around Kyoto of course. It's not like her mother confines her to the palace 24/7. On the rare occasions that she becomes free of any obligations as a leader, Yasaka will bring her out to explore the ancient capital.

However, those trips are usually quick, and while she knows everything about the famous sights in Kyoto like Ginkaku-ji, Kinkaku-ji and Kiyomizu-dera, those are only small parts of the very large city. There are plenty more to the city and she wants to know everything.

She has spent most of the day between sneaking out and exploring, but by lunch time, she has been forced to acknowledge the enemy that is hunger. Unfortunately, in her single-minded quest to get away from her guards, she had forgotten a little something that is practically mandatory in the human world.

Money.

And this restaurant that she is now standing in front of is the only place she can think of for her favorite food: Tofu. But without money she has been lead to her current conundrum. She has no money, which means she can't pay for a meal. And she is quite famished as is the evidence of her angry growling stomach. Now she has two options as far as she can see.

The first is to sneak back into the palace, grab her wallet and come back here. The problem with it is that her guards are definitely searching high and low for her right now. She has barely gotten away from them when they were at their usual level of attentiveness, so there is no way she can get in undetected when they are all at high alert.

The second is to plead with the patrons to pay for her, praying they are kind-hearted enough to do so. The plan is undoubtedly feasible. She has the advantage of looking like a human child, a little bit of convincing act and crocodile tears will turn the adults into putty in her hands. The problem with this plan is that she is a Princess, a Princess of an entire race for that matter. Thus she has her own pride of being one.

Going with this plan means to forgo her pride as a Princess, and that is an absolute no-no for someone of her standing. But she is extremely tempted to do so; however under normal circumstances, she will never debase herself like this. Her, a proud Kyuubi- even if she isn't as strong as one of her kind should be- and future leader of the Kyoto Youkai begging mere humans for help? She will rather die than be forced to endure that shame.

Unfortunately, this isn't a normal circumstance, for there is Tofu at stake! Pride has to take a step back and give way to Gluttony. So she swallowed her pride and rehearsed the lines she will be using on the next patron to enter the restaurant, preparing to eat her fill and then disappear before the adults can bring her to the police station or something. Yet another problem reared its head.

No one is coming by. She has been waiting and waiting, but not a single soul walked by. Heck, no one has even exited the restaurant yet. How can that be!? It is lunch hour! This narrow street should be filled with customers all waiting to get their fill of Tofu dishes before returning to whatever it is that they were doing! But against all reason, there is none.

She waited for close to an hour, the angry protests of her empty stomach getting louder with each passing moment without sustenance, and she wanted to pull her hair out in frustration. She can't even leverage her position as the Princess of the Kyoto Youkai, because none of the all-human staff had any clue of the Supernatural and did not understand the weight of her title.

Now she wishes she had paid attention to those boring Youjutsu lessons, just enough to cast a small illusion to fool the staff into thinking that she had paid her bill, but due to her lack of attention during the lessons and thus without any training, she isn't even capable of something that basic yet. And even if she can, her mother will give her Hell for doing such a thing in the first place and risking the exposure of their world to the ordinary Humans.

No Tofu, no matter how delicious they are, will ever be worth her mother's wrath. She can be downright terrifying when she is angry!

Therefore, with a sigh and slump of her shoulders, Kunou began to trudge her way back to the gate of the Youkai Realm that leads to her home. She is so hungry at this point that she doesn't care what she eats, as long as she can eat something. And just as she rounded the corner to return to the main street…

"Omph!"

…she bumped into someone and fell on her butt.

"Hey there, are okay?"

Rubbing her sore butt, she looked up to find a young couple looking at her in concern.

The woman, judging by her appearance, Kunou can tell at one glance that she is a Youkai, and judging by the cool air around her, she is most likely a Yuki-Onna. She is wearing a pretty furisode with a scarf around her neck standing behind her significant other who is crouched down to her level.

He is a Human that much is obvious, but the air around him spoke of power. But that's not what got her attention. Sure, the air of power around him is tingling her senses in a very pleasant manner for reasons unknown to her, but that still didn't catch her eye.

It's his hair, a shade of blue that she couldn't quite get a grasp on that caught her eye. His hair looked so soft she wants to pet it, and the smell of the shampoo is very nice too. His facial features seemed to be a mix of Asian and European and matched perfectly with his hair giving him an exotic look. Then there's his eyes, the same shade of blue as his hair that expressed his inner kindness and warmth. She feels like she can get lost in the warmth in those eyes of his and never worry about the world…

"Hey, are you okay? Please say something instead of sitting there. Are you hurt? Did you sprain your ankle? Want me to give you a lift home?"

Kunou blinked snapping out of her stupor hearing his gentle toned voice tinted in worry, for her. Her cheeks burned as she realized that she had been staring at him, rather rudely at that, worrying him with her silence, completely unbefitting her status as a Princess. She should apologize to this kind young man for being so rude or her mother will never let her live it down! And just as she hastily stood up dusting herself to apologize to him…

*GROOOOOWL!*

…her stomach decided to protest again, this time being very much louder than the other times.

An awkward silence fell upon the three of them as they stared down at her still rumbling stomach.

"Hungry?" The kind young man offered with a soft smile.

How shameful of her!

'This is unbelievable…'

I stared dumbfounded at the little Youkai in disguise who is devouring block after block of Tofu, packing them away like a champ. She has already eaten thrice the amount of food that Tsurara and I ate combined and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. And with how much she has eaten, I can't help but wonder, 'Where is all that Tofu going?'

But more than that, I can hear my wallet crying. Sure I had expected to spend a bit more money than I planned for lunch when I volunteered to feed her. But this… with the amount of Tofus that she's devouring, I'm undoubtedly going to an ATM after this. As for how I found myself in this situation?

I and Tsurara came on a trip to Kyoto to relax here before I have to go teach 16 year olds History and Modern Literature in Kuoh Academy. Having settled down in a high end inn, the two of us had decided to explore the ancient capital a little, and I would lying if I said I'm only amazed. A bit of annoyance is thrown in too due to the crowd, but that's expected in a famous city like Kyoto.

Then came the lunch time and we decided to stop by at a restaurant that wasn't crowded. And just as we found one, we encountered this cute little hungry Youkai in disguise.

And hearing that loud angry growl from her stomach, I couldn't help but volunteer to feed her, she is so cute! I even overlooked her rudely staring at me for her cuteness. While I still don't know what kind of Youkai she is, I couldn't just ignore her, even if on the off-chance she is not a kid, but a prankster taking advantage of my soft spot for kids gleefully emptying my wallet.

I had asked Tsurara if she can tell what kind of Youkai the little girl is, but the woman can't figure it out too, that meant this little one knew some sort of Youjutsu to bypass the senses of a Master like her.

But now, I'm starting to realize that volunteering to feed her might've been a mistake, because now she is on her 7th plate of Abuurage after scarfing down her 4th plate of Tofu Hotpot. And the more she's eating, the louder my wallet is crying! I feel like I might start crying too! At least Tsurara is trying her best to comfort me by rubbing my back.

Then just when I thought she will be ordering more, she finally let out a sigh of contentment making me hope that her hunger has been satiated. But that hope got immediately squashed.

"A most satisfying meal indeed! I, Kunou, thank you for your generosity!"

'Can I cry? I want to cry. Really, I'm serious here about crying.'

Of all the people who I had to stumble upon, it had to be her! The Princess of the Kyoto Youkai! I couldn't even recognize her due to her looking so different in this timeline than her canon counterpart.

And Tsurara, please stop digging your nails on my back, you're starting to bypass my Hierro.

"Well, I couldn't just ignore how hungry you were now, can I?" I answered scratching my cheek desperately wishing to cry, and stop laughing old man! You're not the one who's going to have their wallet emptied, get back to the kitchen!

Kunou flushed bright red in embarrassment, and isn't that an adorable sight to behold?

"I-Impertinent! Do net dredge upon a lady's past embarrassments! Such discourtesy is punishable by flogging!" She cutely declared rather rudely pointing a finger at me in outrage. She's lucky she's a child or I would've snapped that pretty little finger of hers. At least this confirms that she wasn't putting up an act before.

"Geez, I wonder how your parents would react if they found out you are being rude to the person who was generous and kind enough to feed you." I sarcastically said rolling my eyes taking amusement in her horrified face. Knowing how Yasaka is, I doubt she would be pleased with what her daughter did. And Kunou's face said as much.

"Haru-sama, you really should stop spoiling children like this." Ah Tsurara, I've lost count of how many times you've told me this, why thou repeat this?

"You know I can't help it."

"Unfortunately."

But really, I don't know what kind of luck I have. The first Youkai that I encountered had to be the second most important one in the whole capital, possibly in half the Japan that is governed by her mother. Thankfully this is still salvageable. Kunou doesn't seem to think of us as anything more than tourists of her city, though she might've realized that Tsurara is a Youkai, so I might be wrong, a human- I'm suppressing my Dragon Aura to not attract attention- interacting with a Youkai is definitely not a normal one.

Once we part ways, I doubt we will ever cross paths again in the few days that we will be in Kyoto. The fact that she's here alone, without any guard or her mother means that she sneaked out of the Youkai Realm. Therefore, the guards will double down in their attentiveness once she returns.

Knowing that worrying about this won't get me anywhere, I sighed and gestured the old man for the bill, and upon receiving it…

"Haru-sama…"

…I died a bit on the inside and can sense my wallet following my lead into the lairs of despair.

"Let me see that." I numbly handed over the bill receipt to the Princess and suppressed my urge to pop her skull seeing the pity in her eyes and the patronizing smile that her lips curled into. "Oh, you poor things." Tsurara twitched. "Is a paltry amount such is this too expensive for you? My mother and I usually spend twice the amount when we dine here. The life of a peasant is difficult indeed." Well sorry we don't grow money on trees. "Fret not, for I am neither a thief nor an ingrate! Once I am able to, I will properly compensate you for what I have consumed." Why you little…!

Settling the bill, the three of us exited the restaurant definitely looking like a bunch of weirdos with our varying hair colors and clothing. At least, Kunou seems genuine in paying me back, so I suppose it is fine, and even if she doesn't that's fine too. I'm not a peasant like Kunou assumes me to be. I've got loads of money in my bank account, those freelance jobs and bounty hunting paid a lot. Tsurara too, and I doubt she will think twice before paying for me should I lack the necessary amount of money for something I wish to buy.

"I will return home to collect my wallet." Will you now? "Wait here for me."

I really hope she's being sincere or I might end up looking stupid, not to mention I will be wasting time that I could spend exploring more of Kyoto's sights.

Then I sensed four Ki signatures closing in on our position fast. Tsurara has noticed it too if the guarded stance is anything to go by, Kunou on the other hand seemed to be unaware. Are they her guards that finally found her after searching high and low for her?

I and my PA looked up, just to see four masked and white robed Kitsunes with each of them having five fluffy tails falling from above surrounding Kunou in a formation that is not reassuring at all. Tsurara might've noted it too and I doubt they are who Kunou thinks they are if the suppressed hostility is anything to go by. Also, they didn't bother hiding their tails and ears despite being in the presence of a human even if a fellow Youkai was by his side.

And as I thought, they vanished in the next moment with Kunou making a surprised Pikachu face. But they vanished visibly, not from the spot they surrounded Kunou in. The thing is, I can sense and smell all five of them in front of me even if my eyes are telling me they aren't there. Having a 6th sense is freaking weird.

"Haru-sama, something is wrong."

"Yeah, why go through the trouble of using a spell in broad daylight in front of a Human who will no doubt notice five people vanishing suddenly?"

"It makes more sense to simply act like her family members who had been searching for her."

"Something is definitely wrong here."

"They didn't even thank us for looking after her!"

Damn it Tsurara! Not the time!

"Greetings Kunou-hime, we have come for you."

Kunou blinked in confusion as she stared up at the expressionless masks of the four Gobi-no-Kitsunes that appeared. Had her guards finally found her? How strange. Among the roster of her guards, she remembers only one to be a Kitsune, the rest being an assortment of powerful Youkai, all handpicked by her mother. Did her mother send her Personal Attendants to bring her home?

Feeling something being wrong Kunou asked, "Who are you? Did Okaa-sama send you?" She immediately regretted it, flinching as a palpable aura of rage manifested around the four of them as soon as those words left her mouth.

"Do not associate us with you pretenders! Only one has the right to claim the title of the Kyuubi's leader, and that is not you Human loving fools! We serve only the true Kyuubi, Tamamo-no-Mae-sama!"

All blood drained from her face. She knows who they are. She usually doesn't pay attention to her tutor's boring history lessons, but the history of the Kitsunes have always interested her. And what caught her undivided attention were the events surrounding the foundation of the formation of the Kyuubi Clan of which she is the heiress of.

A few centuries back, when Amaterasu had formed the two Youkai factions, the Kyuubi Clan was appointed the leader of the Kyoto Youkai led by her grandmother who moved to unite all the Kitsunes under the Clan's banner. While most Kitsunes weren't against this, some even welcoming the idea of uniting the species, there were others who had argued vehemently against it.

They were against the idea of living amicably with the Humans. To them, the Humans were nothing but prey and tools for their entertainment. The thought of having to treat those humans as equals was gut-wrenching to them. It was an ideology that was uncommon among the Kitsunes even at that time. They certainly found Humans amusing to play around with, but certainly not to the point of malice.

The ideology of such was inspired by a single Kitsune. A Kyuubi who was already dead at that time, but the infamy of whose had spread even after and continues to thrive even now.

Tamamo-no-Mae.

She was an outlier even among her kind during that time. A Kitsune, a Kyuubi at that, who treated Humans with outright disdain, actively sabotaging them in many ways when she was alive, most famously by posing as a beloved courtesan of the Emperor at the time and abusing her position to subtly worsen the quality of life.

That was until the legendary Onmyouji, Abe-no-Yasuchika divined her true nature and led an army to kill her. Even then, she continued to haunt the plains where she had died as a cursed stone, the Sesshoseki, releasing a poisonous gas that killed everything around it, until a Buddhist Monk exorcised her spirit and sent her to Yomi where she belonged.

Although most of the Kitsune race held her in contempt for her actions, a select few revered her as the perfect role model for how a Kitsune should conduct themselves.

The Tamamo Loyalists and the Kyuubi Clan clashed, but with the vastly inferior number along with the lack of a Kyuubi on their side had seen to them being quickly defeated, rounded up and imprisoned. However, a few had managed to escape, hiding in the darkest and most obscure corners of Japan, quietly spreading their ideology to any Kitsune that would listen.

They were far and few in between, but the Tamamo Loyalists are still very much an active problem with how they continued to poison the minds of the impressionable Kitsunes and drag the image of their race through the mud. There are even rumors of them converting a few members of the other Youkai species, touting the idea of complete Youkai supremacy over Humans.

And four of them are here, in Kyoto surrounding her. She understands that they are here to kidnap her, but how? Her mother's information network is second to none in Japan. If the Tamamo loyalists had settled a camp right in the heart of Kyoto, she would've gotten word of it within the day. The palace would've gone in complete lockdown, making it impossible for Kunou to have escaped the way she had several hours ago, until they had been dealt with.

No, that doesn't matter right now. She must return to the palace to warn her mother.

So conjuring a small spark of Fox Fire, she lobbed it at the closest loyalist and broke into the empty street. The main entrance to the Youkai Realm, an out of the way Torii behind the Kinkaku-ji, is too far for her to reach without being caught, but there is a secret entrance known only to a select few. She isn't one of them, but she had come across the entrance on the other side during one of her many failed escape attempts.

If she can just get to it…!

"Hmph! Was that supposed to be Fox Fire? Pathetic! Even a Nibi can do better than that. Has the Kyuubi lineage of the pretenders' bloodline finally waned? Is she even suitable for the ritual if she is so weak?"

However, before she could even take a step, a hand seized her by the hair causing her to cry out, as she was roughly held into place.

"No sister, it's not that the Kyuubi blood has run thin in her. The little runt hasn't even received any training yet. The ritual doesn't require a trained Kyuubi, simply one with latent power. We should be grateful to the pretender's uselessness in allowing this thing to run around the Human World unsupervised like this. It just made our mission all too easy."

So she isn't even considered a person now!? And how dare they call her mother useless!

"Let's go. Even with the subversions that we planned, it's only a matter of time before that pretender and her dogs find out we have her daughter and come for us. We need to complete the ritual before they find us."

Fear gripped her heart and tears welled up in her eyes. All this happened because of her willfulness. She should've never left the palace. She had to get away, but how? The vice-like grip on her hair is showing no signs of releasing her anytime soon, and with her meagre physical strength and magical prowess, she has no way of fighting back.

Is there nothing that she can do? Where are they taking her? What are they planning to do with her in that ritual? Will her mother find her in time? Will she ever see her mother ever again?

One of the Kitsunes placed talismans on the ground and channeled her Ki into it making it glow, showing the signs of a jutsu activating.

Hoping against all hope, Kunou desperately begged for someone to save her. 'Please! Anyone! Save me! Save me from them! Okaaaaa-samaaaa!'

"Alright, that's enough of that."

"Huh?"

*RIIIIP!*

The illusion placed around them was ripped in two revealing the culprit to be none other than the young man and his Youkai companion. The very same young man who was kind enough to feed her, and the very same young man she was being rude and patronizing with. She should apologize!

"Wha-?!" A sickening crunch resounded as the Kitsune that was holding her by the hair got her skull crushed by the young man with a bare hand staining her in the now dead Kitsune's blood.

Normally Kunou would've been repulsed at the sight before her unable to digest the it, but now she was awestruck by her savior, who as if hearing her silent plea, once again came to her rescue.

"You-!?"

"Tsurara, hold on to Kunou for me would you?"

"Of course Haru-sama." Kunou's shoulders were gently grasped by the cool hands of the young man's Yuki-Onna companion. "Come here sweetie." The Yuki-Onna said gently cleaning the blood stains and leading her away from the fight.

But she can't let him fight them alone! He is a human! And they are Kitsunes! Gobi-no-Kitsunes at that! "W-Wait! We have to-!"

"Don't worry, Haru-sama has this in the bag." She confidently told her and Kunou felt obliged to trust in her.

"Filthy human! How dare you interfere with our sacred mission! You will pay de-!"

"You talk too much." A powerful slap from the young man resulted in the Kitsune's head flying off of her shoulder with the neck. "Tch."

Another Kitsune manifested Fox Fire, only to have the young man plunge his hand into her chest like pen through paper, and rip out her heart effortlessly.

The remaining one, the leader trembled in fear as the young man's rage filled gaze slowly drifted to her. The young man killed the three of her companions with boring ease looking only further annoyed as one by one dropped dead by his hands.

Kunou doesn't blame her. While she doesn't share the disdain for humans, even she can't believe what she's seeing. A single human defeating three Gobi-no-Kitsunes with such ease will shock even her.

The young man's gaze then landed square on the leader, and it was so menacing, her eyes rolled into the back of her skull, her mouth fell open as she started foaming and proceeded to crumple to the ground unconsciously urinating at the same time.

"Ugh, filthy!" Kunou's attention snapped to him as he manifested a ball of water and washed himself clean. "Can't believe they were so weak! They were Gobi-no-Kitsunes for goodness' sake! Gobi! They should've put up some kind of competition, but noooooo, they had go out in one strike! Stupid Gobis! The last one outright passed out!" he clicked his tongue and glared at the fallen Kitsune making it shudder in instinctive fear. "At least we can interrogate this one." Then he relaxed and turned to look back at her with a soft gaze lined with worry and concern. "Are you alright Kunou?"

It took her a few seconds to realize the question was directed to her and she flushed red in embarrassment. What was with her acting so out of character today!?

"Y-YesIamThankyouverymuch!" She blurted out a jumble of words, all forms of decorum gone. Realizing this, steam poured out of her ears in shame as her saviors chuckled good naturedly at her.

"Kunou-hime!"

Kunou and the young couple looked up to see a Tengu wearing a Samurai Armor with a Katana sheathed at his left hip descending from the Sky. Fortunately for her, he is someone she trusts and she cheered in relief. "Karasu!"

The Tengu that descended is the second son of the Tengu Clan's current Chief, a longtime subordinate of her mother's, as well as the leader of her guard's detail. Karasu was personally appointed that position by her mother since he had served her for a bit over two centuries. While he isn't the physically strongest of her guards, he is extremely skilled, easily running around in circles around the rest during their training sessions.

Being the only child of her mother, Karasu had always been the closest thing to an older sibling to her, though his overprotectiveness has caused no small amount of exasperation for her. Just like it will now.

Taking one look at her saviors and the bloodshed around them, he misunderstood the situation and immediately drew his sword. "Unhand the Princess immediately, you ruffians!" He yelled taking a stance with the Katana only amusing her saviors.

"Stop! Karasu! Sheath your sword at once! They saved my life!" She commanded him hastily before a fight broke out. As skilled as Karasu is, her savior despite his Human nature is equally as skilled as him. She doesn't know for sure who would win in a fight between the two of them, but she sure does know that she wants neither of them injured.

Karasu paused, tension leaving his body and her savior relaxed. "They… saved you?"

Kunou nodded and pointed at the three dead Kitsunes and an unconscious one. "They were the ones who attempted to abduct me! They are Tamamo-no-Mae Loyalists!"

Karasu let out a squawk of outrage as he glared at the unconscious Kitsune and the dead ones. During the short war between the Loyalists and the Kyuubi Clan, the Tengu Clan had already been one of their closest allies and joined them on the battlefield. They had won but not without casualties. One of which had been Karasu's grandfather.

The Loyalists are a very sore spot for the Tengu Clan, and whenever news about the Loyalists popped up, they would be the first to arrive on the scene. Karasu pulled out several talismans and threw them at the Kitsunes. The dead ones were absorbed into them while the alive one was bound with ropes of Ki.

"Scum… to think they actually dared to so brazenly enter our territory and make an attempt on the Princess!" Karasu seethed in rage getting a nod from her and her savior. "However, your safety is the most paramount now Kunou-hime. I will contact the others to secure the heathen. You must return to the palace immediately. There may still be more of them in the city. We will need to organize a search and purge."

Kunou felt the Yuki-Onna release her grip on her shoulders, allowing her to go to Karasu's side. The Tengu then turned to her savior and bowed.

"I apologize for my rudeness. My name is Karasu. Might I ask for yours?"

Her savior and his companion exchanged glances and shrugged. "I'm Haru Hinode and she is my Personal Attendant Tsurara Oikawa."

Karasu's eyes widened and he took a step back squawking in shock. "Hinode?! Oikawa?! Are you by any chance related to Yukihira Hinode and Setsura Oikawa?"

They tilted their heads in confusion. "Yes? They are my grandfather and her mother respectively."

Karasu gaped at them for a few seconds before shaking his bird head and bowing. "My apologies for calling you ruffians, Hinode-dono, Oikawa-dono!"

"Heh?"

"Hinode-dono, Oikawa-dono, both of you have my gratitude. Might I ask you to stay around? I'm sure Yasaka-sama will personally wish to thank you and ask a few questions about the attack."

"O…kay?"

"Excellent! We will see you soon. Come Princess, we must return to the palace and report to your mother immediately."

Kunou nodded and managed to demurely glance at her savior one last time before leaving with Karasu at the nearest gate. As she reached the end of the street, her ears twitched as they faintly picked up her savior's words to his companion.

"Well that happened."