Chapter Text
This was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission. Get in, find the yokai, come back to tell Seiko about its whereabouts.
So why in the name of all things he dared to believe in was Ken dragging a thrashing, growling, feral Momo out of this forsaken forest?
It was a quiet night, the stars shimmering above the two young lovers. “So, what did granny say we’re looking for this time?” Momo asked her companion, lazily kicking a pebble as she walked.
“Miss Seiko didn’t say what we’re looking for, she said we’re scouting the area to find the yokai that’s been causing trouble. Were you even listening, Miss Ayase?” Ken adjusted his glasses, hoping the glare of the night light reflecting on the lens would hide his eye roll.
Momo punched his shoulder lightly, huffing and looking off to the side. “Of course I listened, you dummy! I was just… making sure you were listening.” She mumbled, turning her head further so she wouldn’t see the smirk on his face.
Ken chuckled, adjusting his glasses yet again and putting his hands in his pockets. “Sure. Miss Seiko said that some people in a nearby village were complaining about food and precious items going missing, and sent us out to scout the area to find what caused these disturbances.” He explained calmly, also finding himself a pebble to kick.
“Ughhhhh, so we’re just scouts?! We can’t do anything fun?!” Momo groaned loudly, shoving her hands in her sweater’s pockets and stomping instead of walking, grumbling all the while.
“That’s what Miss Seiko said.” Ken responded plainly, but seeing his friend’s state, he scrambled for a better answer. “B-But I’m sure that we’ll get to go on an actual mission soon enough!” He tried reassuring her.
Momo just shrugged, going back to her normal pace, one hand removing itself from her pocket to mess with a few strands of hair in her bangs. “I guess you’re right… fine, let’s just get this over with.” She grumbled, looking around at the forest, her eyes gaining a light teal glow when she scanned the area for any auras.
“Well? Do you see anything, Miss Ayase?” Ken fiddled with his fingers nervously, another nervous tick of his, only second to adjusting his glasses constantly. Momo focused, scanning the area again for good measure.
Then, a bright flash caught her eye. “There!” She exclaimed, pointing east of her, where the light shone. Ken transformed in an instant, the sickening sound of cracking bones filling the silence of the empty, eerie forest. “Let’s do this, yo.” Was the only thing he said before bolting in the direction Momo was pointing at. “Hey, dummy! Wait for me!” Momo shouted, chasing after her yokai possessed comrade.
Ken stopped when he reached a clearing in the forest, Momo panting behind him. “You bastard… Why didn’t you wait?!” Momo asked in what could only be something between a shout and a wheeze. “Sorry, yo…” He murmured back, turning to look at Momo like a sopping wet puppy. Momo rolled her eyes at his antics, still trying to catch her breath, looking around the clearing. “See anything, babe?”
Momo grunted, turning off her “aura vision”. “It’s somewhere around here, the aura’s just way too quick for me to catch it.” She released her spiritual hands, readying herself for a fight. Ken followed her lead, crouching down and looking around the area and preparing for a fight.
“Ohoho~ What have we here?” A voice sneered from above, it reverberated in their heads and echoed in the empty forest. Ken and Momo’s head snapped up at the voice, and they were met with piercing yellow eyes gazing right back at them. “A female human, possessing such raw power and… Boy, what the hell are you!?” It cackled, revealing rows of sharp, canine-like teeth. “Has the great Turbo Granny finally been bested? I must say, I’m not surprised!”
The voice was boastful, brash and overall annoying. “Don’t matter, we’re the two who’re gonna kick your ass!” Momo clapped back, fisting both her physical and psychic hands. Ken dug his feet into the ground, preparing to launch at the creature if needed- screw Seiko’s orders.
“Oh dear, whatever shall I do?” The creature mocked, lifting up a white, black-clawed paw and pressing it against its forehead dramatically. ‘So it’s a digitigrade.’ Momo deducted, going over the list of digitigrade yokai she knows of. ‘There’s Bake Danuki, but it’s too big. Bake Neko? Also too big. Inugami? Might be, it looks like a canine, judging by its teeth.’
Before Momo could decipher the creature, it jumped down from its perch above. Fur whiter than snow with red markings highlighting it, not unlike Ken’s cursed form. What stood out most were the tails swishing behind it. One, two, three- scratch that. All nine of them surrounding it like an aura- well, another aura.
“You’ve gotta be kidding!-” Momo growled, scanning its aura, before squinting her eyes, nearly closing them from how bright, colorful and powerful it was. “A nine tailed kitsune?! How the hell are we supposed to beat this thing?!”
Ken titled his head, “yo, what’re you talkin’ ‘bout, babe?” He inquired, adjusting his glasses, then pointing at the yokai. “Whaddaya mean a nine tailed kitsune?”
Momo bemoaned, her spiritual hands dissipating as she covered her eyes. “They’re like- crazy strong! Granny always taught me that the more tails they have, the older and stronger they are. One and two tails are the youngest and weakest, three to five are somewhat dangerous, no stronger than a regular Bake Danuki, six to eight are hazardous- and nine, you should start praying to the Kami.” Momo grit her teeth at the last part, glaring at the Kitsune, squinting at the brightness of its aura.
“Ah, the smarts on this one! You must be related to that meddlesome Santa Dodoria…” It bared its teeth, snarling Seiko’s stage name. Momo’s hairs stood up in seething rage. “Keep her name out of your filthy mouth.” She snarled back, “no one talks shit about my grandma.”
“And she’s a delinquent! How exhilarating!” It sat up on its back legs, clapping its front paws excitedly, its tails fluffing up and swishing behind it. “I’m positive that once I consume you, I will even get a tenth tail! Although, I’m not even sure that’s possible!” It cackled, its voice bellowing and rambunctious. “Oh well, only one way to find out.”
It quickly stood up on all fours, leaning low to the ground and preparing to pounce on the two, growling and flashing its teeth. Momo and Ken immediately retorted, standing in fighting positions again, with Momo balling up fists and releasing her spiritual hands and Ken leaning low to the ground as well.
The Kitsune only sneered, swishing one of its tails and releasing fog from it. Momo immediately covered her mouth, her spiritual hands dissipating yet again. “Don’t breathe it in!” Momo shouted from behind her sleeved hand, removing one hand so she could use her powers. “Don’t gotta worry ‘bout that, yo.” He pointed to his mask, which was covering his lower face. “‘M more worried about the visibility, yo, can’t see anything in here, what a bummer…”
Momo swung her hand wildly, trying to get rid of some of the fog around them. It proved to be in vain as the Kitsune laughed, generating even more fog and blowing it at the two. While they’re somewhat incapacitated, it striked, pouncing at Momo’s back, pinning her to the ground. It opened its jaws, slowly moving closer to Momo’s neck. Just as its teeth brushed her jugular, Ken pounced on it, baring his own teeth and throwing it off of Momo. “Thanks for the save.” Momo bounced back up, using her spiritual hands to hold the yokai in place where Ken threw it.
The Kitsune growled and thrashed where Momo held it, and she was visibly struggling to hold it in its place. Eventually, it let up, panting lightly, “curses. You truly are strong!” Despite supposedly admitting defeat, it smiled, baring all its hideous teeth. Pulling one last gambit, it turned itself into fog, flowing through Momo’s fingers- literally.
It laughed at the two as it swirled above them like malicious storm clouds. “You’d make the perfect vessel for me, girl!” It roared, concentrating the fog into a condensed cloud, then shooting down at Momo, who was valiantly covering her nose, mouth and ears. The Kitsune cloud flew in ridiculously fast circles around Momo, “you cannot hide forever, you brat!” It bellowed, closing in on Momo, the circle of fog that it blew around her turning smaller and smaller by the second.
Ken had tried penetrating the cloud, but the combined spiritual energy of the yokai surrounding Momo, and she herself trying to keep it away was like an invisible wall, blocking Ken from coming any closer than he was. “Momo!” He tried calling out to her, but the sounds of the winds had probably snuffed his voice out.
Momo had been holding her breath for a while, to the point that she was starting to feel lightheaded, and the pressure on her ear canals was really starting to hurt. She couldn’t hold her makeshift shield for long- she knew using her powers for extended periods of time would have serious consequences- and she couldn’t use her Moe Moe Tri-Bean, she’s at risk of hitting Ken. The situation was hopeless.
Unless!-
Yes! Momo had a kooky spiritual medium grandma! And Ken knew said grandma! And if Ken wasn’t stupid, he’d know to take her to Seiko when push comes to shove.
With that plan cemented, Momo relented, her psychic hands dissolving and her physical hands lowering, freeing her mouth and nose. The Kitsune let out a triumphant keen, and within an instant, the cloud was gone- inside Momo’s body. But, in her last moments Momo managed to wheeze out-
“Get me to grandma.”