Songs of the Illusionary Veil: Favor
A Touhou Project story by Achariyth
Idly swirling a too sweet German white wine, Ran Yakumo sat in the corner of Miko Toyosatomimi's bar, slumped over the table. Around her, a line of empty glasses lay like fallen soldiers. Blotting at her eyes, she drained the last of the glass in her hand.
A shadow fell across the fox. She looked up, her cheeks slick, into the stern eyes of a tall fairy waitress. The vixen flashed three fingers.
"If I had my way, I'd cut you off now," the fairy said. A distant cousin of Lily, she placed the empty glasses onto her serving tray. Ran flashed a set of needle-like teeth. "And for that, I should just run you straight out of here. Be glad that Miko said you could stay."
The vixen flashed three fingers once more as the waitress shook her head and walked off. Cradling her head in the crook of her arm, Ran took off her cap and covered her face. The damp cloth muffled her faint sobs.
"Ms. Yakumo," the waitress said, returning with three glasses of a chilled Yamanashi red wine. Setting two glasses on the heavy oak, she said, "Your kit called. She wants to know when you're coming home."
Ran's free arm swept across the table, showering the fairy in spilled wine. The waitress shrieked with the cold and again as she looked down at her newly red dress. Sliding the last glass onto the tabletop, she ran, disappearing into the women's restroom.
Three clawed fingers tapped against the table. The red wine sat undisturbed.
"What's your poison?"
"I'm surprised Miko let you through the door," Ran said, opening a bloodshot eye. She stared up at Mamizou Futatsuiwa for a moment before covering her face with her cap.
The trickster tanuki picked up the wineglass and sniffed it. "At least you don't scrimp on the good stuff."
The vixen's ears twitched. "Don't you have a shrinemaiden to bother?"
Mamizou snatched the white cloth from Ran's face. The vixen flinched from the sudden light. "Nue said that you needed help. And as much as I'd love to see a fox drink herself to death, I still owe her a favor or two."
"Lucky me," Ran deadpanned before a sigh.
Mamizou's smiled grew as she slid into the chair opposite to Ran. "Quite. She was going to ask Kasen."
Ran groaned and the color drained from her cheeks. She threw back the wineglass, emptying it with one gulp. "Where's that waitress?" she said, wiping her wine-stained lips with a cloth napkin.
"Let's keep it to tea," the tanuki said, placing the empty glass out of reach. "That is the traditional drink between enemies, is it not?"
The vixen pointed towards the door. "Go ask the shrinemaiden."
"She's not a fan of my impression of her," Mamizou said with a shrug. The tanuki had dressed as Reimu during a spellcard duel. "There's no accounting for taste out here. For instance, you know better than to drink pop-skull by the tub, even if it's higher quality than a mere art student will see in her lifetime. What're you trying to forget?"
Ran sat up, leveling a cold stare at her rival. "You're serious."
"Nue says that sorrow shared is sorrow divided," Mamizou said. She rested her chin on her hands. "I think she's spent too much time at that temple, personally."
Ran sighed and picked up the empty glass, watching the light play through the crystal. "To desire is to suffer."
Mamizou waved at another of Lily's cousins. "So you go to the same temple as well."
The vixen sighed, setting the glass upside down on the table. "I'm acting like some newly besotted kit."
"So, pretty little fox-maiden, who holds your heart?" The tanuki ordered two cups of tea as a fairy passed.
Ran sighed, closing her eyes. "A human male," she said. Rose flooded her cheeks. " I should have known better. My sisters warned me long ago."
"What's the big deal?"
"There's countless tales of fox-maidens falling in love with human men. None of them end well for the fox." She slumped over the table. "I was so certain this time would be different."
"I meant about human males. Where's the tail?" Mamizou said, taking a tea cup from the waitress. "No tail, no date, at least in tanuki circles."
"The flame that burns briefest..." Ran said, wistfully. She shook her head. "Forget it, it's a fox thing. You tanuki wouldn't understand." She sipped at her tea and made a face. Setting the cup down, she stirred a pair of sugar cubes into the drink.
"So, what went wrong this time?"
"That damned cuddle-bunny floozy," Ran snarled. Her fist slammed against the table. "He had his arms around her. That useless, no-good bunny-" the vixen trailed off, muttering coarsely under her breath.
Mamizou's eyes widened. "You lost to prey?"
"You know, I don't need your help to feel miserable," Ran said, baring her teeth.
"You do have quite the pity party going on," Mamizou said, sipping at her cup. "Forget about him. You should find a nice fox, settle down, and as much as it pains me, have kits."
"Forget it. Not as long as Yukari is my mistress," Ran said with a cold laugh. "Watching over her and Chen is bad enough. Do you really want me to bring kits into that?"
The tanuki added raw honey to her cup. "Not really. One of you is bad enough. I don't want to be around when mini-Ran goes into her first 'I found my true love' funk."
Like clockwork, the bar descended into a periodic awkward silence. For a minute, both the tanuki and the fox found their drinks more interesting than conversation.
"What does she have that I don't?" Ran said with a sigh. She leaned back and slid the teacup and saucer away.
"Well, I can say that Little Bunny Fufu doesn't have your glorious tails," Mamizou said, settling her chin on her hands and smiling. "Honey, you'd make a wonderful fur coat."
"And you'd make a wonderful cap on a hunter's head," Ran said. The vixen laughed freely and loudly. "Thanks."
Mamizou waved the compliment away. "Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't. I have my reputation among the tanuki to consider. I don't want your wanton ways rubbing off on me."
"You couldn't catch a man even if he fell into your arms," Ran said, smirking.
"Nice to see you're in a better mood," the tanuki said. "But I think I might strike a blow for predators everywhere and steal your boyfriend from Reisen."
"Have the two-timer."
"Does Prince Charming have a name?"
"Hikaru."
Mamizou's eyes widened as she whistled. "As in the same one Lord Hieda caught sniffing around his daughter? The guy who managed to court Alice, Patchouli, and Marisa all at the same time? No thanks. Let the bunny floozy keep him if she can. He's probably making a pass at Kaguya as we speak."
"Then he's in for a surprise," Ran said, shaking her head. "How could I have been so foolish?"
"Well, you do work for Yukari. Face it, if you fell for his tricks, your taste in men sucks."
"It's not like you have suitors lining up outside your door."
"Nue scares them away. It amuses her," the tanuki said. "Besides, you did say that most human-fox relationships ended in tragedy."
"I guess even a tanuki can get something right. Will wonders ever cease?" Ran said, feigning surprise.
"Just giving you an outsider's perspective," Mamizou said with a shrug.
"I'll have you know I can stop loving humans whenever I want," Ran said. She froze, a sly smile lighting up her face. Behind her, nine tails beat against her chair. "Just not tonight."
Mamizou looked over her shoulder. Sure, the new guy chatting with the fairy hostess was handsome, in a tall, dark sort of way, but the lack of a tail killed any interest the tanuki might have. Ran, however, glided away from the table, her form already shifting away from the tear and wine-stained wretch to the glamorous fox maiden she normally was. "Don't come crying to me when this falls apart," the tanuki said, shaking her head. She drained the last of her tea. "Nue had only one favor."
Author's Notes:
Folklore is full of fox-maidens falling in love with humans. I couldn't help but play with the idea, especially since it gave Ran something else to do besides be obsessed with Chen.