Chapter 1: The Fox Hole and a Fake Exorcist
–Haru–
In my past life, I had a singular dream—one I worked tirelessly to achieve. Years of study and practice went into making my dream into a reality. Fate, however, proved to be a cruel mistress, and despite my efforts, I never realized that dream. A sudden accident cut my life short, leaving all my hard work and training seemingly in vain.
Or was it?
Fate wasn't as big of a bitch as I first thought. She granted me a second chance—an unusual one, but a second chance nonetheless. Eighteen years ago, I was reborn into a new life. A slightly stranger life than my previous one to be sure, but thankfully I was reborn into a modern world.
Why was my new life strange? That's because I was not reborn as a human, but as a supernatural creature.
A kitsune!
Not just any kitsune either, but the most powerful— a nine-tailed fox! I was born with immense power and potential. The son of Yasaka, the mighty Yokai Queen who essentially ruled over Kyoto, and by extension, Japan itself. Ignorance truly was bliss in this world. The regular humans had no idea how truly outclassed they were by the supernatural.
I was something far beyond human. I was a creature from ancient myth itself. Nine-tailed foxes are revered as Gods for a reason. We are essentially walking weapons of mass destruction. The training my mother provided only enhanced my natural born OP abilities. I possessed the power to shapeshift into a 30 foot tall demon fox at will. One that could unleash untold devastation upon entire cities!
…But none of that really interested me. The power was nice, I suppose, but it didn't help me fulfill my dream.
My dream of one day owning my own restaurant! Not just any restaurant either, but the greatest the world has ever seen!
Yes, that was my dream. Cooking was my true passion in my last life and it still was in this one. Years of dedication and study in my last life were devoted to mastering my craft, and mastered it I had. I traveled the world, visited the top restaurants and chef schools. I challenged all the biggest names to cooking battles. All so that one day I would be ready to make a name for myself! And now, here it was, coming to fruition. I had opened my own restaurant at long last.
"You're doing that thing where you space out again. Is my food ready yet, nii-chan?" my cute little sister asked me, snapping me out of my own daydreams of future culinary glory…
I shook my head, realizing it was rude to make my first ever customers wait. Even if they were my own family. I took the Wok off of the fire and emptied all of the sauteed vegetables onto the plate next to the roasted pork and steamed rice. Finally, I poured the slightly spicy curry sauce over the whole thing
"Here you go, Kunou," I placed a steaming plate of curry on the bar counter. It wasn't too spicy or too sweet, just the way my sister liked it.
"Thank you so much, Nii-chan!" Kunou gave me a beaming smile. "Your cooking is the best. Mom's food can't compare!" She immediately sat up on her stool and started digging in. While children are typically not allowed at the bar in most restaurants, this was my place, my rules.
"Ara, that's not a very nice thing to say about your poor mother, Kunou," Yasaka teased her daughter, who was busy shoveling the food into her face so quickly she probably wasn't even listening. Kunou always got that way when she ate my food. I could see her nine tails swishing behind her happily, so she clearly liked it.
"She still needs to work on her manners, mom." I said with a small laugh. Kunou had already finished half the plate and was still completely ignoring both of us.
Yasaka giggled as well. "She only eats like this when you cook. I have no idea how you do it, Haru," she said. "Are you sure you didn't receive any blessings from any cooking Kami?"
"Nope," I said smugly. "This is all natural skill." Even if any of the Japanese Kami tried to bestow their blessings onto me, I would reject those blessings. I worked hard to get good at cooking, I didn't want any cheats to diminish all that hard work. I had only met one actual Kami in my new life though and she definitely didn't know how to cook.
"Fine then, keep your secrets," Yasaka said as I placed a plate full of Katsudon down in front of her. I could see her own tails start to swish back and forth behind her in excitement as well.
Today marked the grand opening of my restaurant, and to celebrate, I wanted my mother and little sister to be my first official customers. It was a bit of a private affair, and none of our family's retainers were invited. I wanted any other customers that showed up to be the real deal instead of people just trying to curry favor with Yasaka.
"Thanks for helping me set this place up, Mom," I said. I really appreciated all the support she gave me. This place could not have been cheap to set up, especially with all the top of the line cooking equipment that had been imported in from overseas. And that wasn't to mention the prime location either. Located in the heart of Kyoto, right on the border of yokai territory, my restaurant was accessible to both Yokai and humans. Or whoever else decided to stop by. I wasn't one to discriminate.
"Of course, dear," Yasaka said with a proud smile. "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't help my children live out their dreams."
–Yasaka–
She was immensely proud of her son for pursuing his dream and starting his own restaurant. Though it might not be a roaring success yet, she was confident it would get there eventually. For now, she was perfectly content enjoying her son's cooking, along with her darling Kunou, of course.
Her son's cooking was truly divine. Yasaka had no idea how he managed to achieve such excellence in the culinary arts, because he certainly didn't learn it from herself. While she wasn't a terrible cook herself, she often relied on their servants to prepare meals due to how busy she was managing all the supernaturals in the country. Her servants were actually all very skilled cooks, but they unfortunately didn't even come close to measuring up to her son's superior skills in the culinary arts…
"Mmm," Yasaka purred with delight as she took a bite of her katsudon. "This is absolutely amazing, Haru. You'll have to teach me how to make it sometime."
"Sure thing, Mom," Haru replied while wiping down the kitchen counter. Kunou had adorably made a small mess by eating so quickly. Her face was covered in curry sauce. Yasaka took her own napkin and started wiping her daughter's face with it.
"Mom! I don't need you to do that for me, I'm a big girl now!" Kunou whined in embarrassed protest.
"Whenever you're not too busy managing all of Japan, feel free to drop by," Haru said with a laugh as Kunou squirmed in embarrassment.
Yasaka groaned to herself at his words. She would have liked nothing more than to take a day off to learn how to cook some of these amazing meals. She doubted that time off would come anytime soon. Getting today off from work was hard enough, she didn't know how many more she'd be able to get in the coming days. Especially with the whole Nekoshou mess the Devils caused a few years back. Yasaka's people were still very pissed off about the massacre and wanted vengeance. It felt like every single day she had to stop her faction from starting a war.
Being the leader of a fraction was hard…
That's why she really appreciated this one day off with her son, celebrating the grand opening of his restaurant. Other Yokai who coveted power must have thought Haru was insane to willingly toss aside his status as the heir of the Yokai faction, but she believed he was the only sane one amongst them all! She's a borderline Goddess, and yet she spends almost sixteen hours every day going over paperwork. Freaking paperwork!
It was too bad her family were the last lines of the Nine-Tailed Kitsune, otherwise she would have hoisted all her responsibilities on someone else long ago…
She and her daughter Kunou continued enjoying their meals as Haru cleaned up the kitchen and prepared for his eventual next customer. The delicious smells coming from his restaurant were bound to attract any passerby. With her enhanced senses, the smells were practically divine. It was hard for Yasaka to hold herself back from ordering seconds and avoid ruining her perfect figure.
Kunou didn't have the same level of self discipline. She tried to order seconds, but Yasaka shut that down. Her daughter's first plate had already been double the regular portion size as it was…
It wasn't long before the door opened and a man in a cheap business suit walked in. He stopped in his tracks when he saw two nine-tailed foxes at the bar and a third standing behind it.
"Erm… Is this some kind of cosplay café or something?" he asked, causing Yasaka to chuckle. Modern day humans had a way of always denying the supernatural, even when it started them directly in the face.
"Welcome to the Fox Hole! We're a full bar and restaurant catering to everyone—humans, yokai, and whatever else," Haru said invitingly.
"Yokai?" The man tilted his head curiously as he examined them all further. "Huh, I didn't know yokai were a real thing. I mostly deal with evil spirits," he added with a shrug before taking a seat at the counter.
That kind of bland reaction was certainly not what Yasaka was expecting. She had expected the man to immediately bolt for the door in fear and never return. Furthermore, was this man an exorcist? She didn't sense any spiritual power from him, yet he claimed to deal with evil spirits regularly.
"What will you be having?" Haru asked the man.
"Hm, I wonder what's good here…" The man muttered before he glanced at Yasaka sitting only a couple of stools down. Instead of focusing on her breasts like she had expected, he seemed more interested in the katsudon in front of her. "That katsudon looks pretty good. I'll have some of that," he said with a nod.
"Coming right up!" Haru replied, getting to work on the order.
As her son worked, Yasaka turned to the unusual human. "Hello, I'm Yasaka. Are you an exorcist?" she asked curiously. "One that actually deals with Evil Spirits?"
The man grinned widely at her. "I'm not just any exorcist, I'm one of the best there is!" he boasted shamelessly. "The name's Reigen… Arataka Reigen. Do you have any Evil Spirits that need dealing with? My pupil and I would be more than happy to take care of them… for a modest fee, of course," he said while rubbing his finger and thumb together.
Arataka Reigen? Yasaka had never heard of this man before, but his bold claim was certainly intriguing. Every supernatural being had its natural counter, and Yokai were no exception to that fact.
Evil Spirits were natural enemies of yokai. Many yokai were vulnerable to the tainted and corrupt natural energy that lingered in the world, a remnant of the damn Great War that almost brought the world to ruin!
Yokai had to be extremely cautious when dealing with evil spirits to avoid being corrupted themselves, and become feral demons that desire nothing but to feed on the flesh of humans and yokai alike…
Of course, some yokai chose to willingly give into that evil, although Yasaka could never understand why. Who would want to eat dirty sweaty humans when they could have delicious katsudon instead?
Unlike Yokai, Humans, however, were not susceptible to such corruption. Despite her suspicion that this man might be a fraud, Yasaka was reluctant to dismiss his alleged services outright. Especially since the five principal clans refused to assist Yokai in dealing with any Evil Spirits.
"I assure you that money is no concern of mine," Yasaka said, noting with satisfaction how his eyes seemed to light up at that prospect. "We have a few Evil Spirits currently plaguing Kyoto that need to be dealt with, would you be interested in assisting us with them?"
"Can you really help, mister? Some of these spirits are really evil!" Kunou exclaimed. "Mom had to lock down entire areas to keep people away."
Reigen gave Kunou a thumbs up. "Have no fear, little fox girl. My pupil and I will be more than happy to help. Of course, since you're asking us to come all the way to Kyoto, you'll need to cover our travel expenses..."
"Oh, is your pupil not in the city currently?" Yasaka asked, trying to get more information out of the strange human. "We have no problem paying for him to fly over here."
"Here?" Reigen looked puzzled. "You said the evil spirits were in Kyoto didn't you."
Haru walked over and placed a steaming plate of katsudon in front of Reigen. "This is Kyoto," Haru told him.
–Haru–
My third ever customer was certainly strange. Reigen's reaction upon discovering he was in Kyoto was one of genuine surprise and confusion. Where did he think he was supposed to be? He walked in the front door after all.
He stared at us in disbelief until Kunou stood up and walked over to the front door. She opened it, revealing the bustling midday streets of Kyoto. Various Yokai and even a few humans walked by as they went about their busy day.
Reigen began to sputter at the sight. I had a feeling this scene was not what he was expecting to see. "W—what the hell!? How did I get all the way across the country? I was just in Seasonal City, only a few blocks away from my apartment!" he exclaimed.
"Seasonal City?" I asked him. "I've never heard of a city like that. Have you, Mom?" I turned to Yasaka, who knew everything about Japan.
Yasaka shook her head. "Such a city does not exist."
I didn't think it did, the name sounded completely made up and silly.
"Of course it does!" Reigen grumbled as he angrily shoved a piece of katsudon into his mouth. "Wow, that's really good…" he muttered.
"Thanks, it's a new recipe I've been testing out. I've been marinating the pork a lot longer to try and bring out the most succulent flavors possible," I explained a bit about the process. I always loved answering cooking questions. I wasn't one of those arrogant chefs who jealously hoarded their recipes from the rest of the world.
Once he was finished eating, Reigen stood up and walked back to the front door. Kunou had left it open as he examined the outside. "Is this some kind of Yokai illusion or something? Can Yokai even do that? This can't really be Kyoto can it?" he asked us.
"We can create illusions, but that isn't one. If you don't believe us, walk outside and find out if what you're seeing is real or not," I told him.
"Fine then, I will." Reigen hesitantly stepped outside and walked around. He even walked over to a few friendly Yokai and started chatting with them. They all shook their heads at him when he asked them questions about Seasonal City. He walked back into my restaurant with his head hung low. "I've seen Mob do some pretty weird stuff, but this is the weirdest thing that's happened to me yet. Is this some kind of magic door that connects to other worlds!?" Reigen pointed at the front door.
"Um…No?" As far as I knew, it was just a regular wooden door.
Kunou seemed to light up in excitement at his question. "That sounds so cool! Why don't you try opening the door Reigan-san?" She closed the door and moved aside.
Reigen walked over and opened the front door himself. "Oh, we're back in Seasonal City! That's good."
To my shock, the familiar street in front of my restaurant had transformed into an entirely different place. The surrounding architecture was still Japanese, but it definitely wasn't Kyoto! I glanced over at Yasaka, we were both giving each other looks of disbelief. What just happened should not have been possible!
"Let me go and investigate." Yasaka walked outside to stand in the street for a few minutes with a look of wonder on her face. When she returned, she had startling news for us. "I couldn't sense the Leylines out there. Wherever I was standing, it wasn't Japan—or at least not our Japan," she explained. While it was true that she could only draw upon the power of the Leylines in Kyoto, she should still be able to feel them as long as she was in Japan.
That could only mean one thing… No matter how unbelievable it sounded.
Reigen smirked at us. "See, I told you Seasonal City was real. You should learn never to doubt the great Reigen-sama!" He then sat back down and ordered a second serving of Katsudon as if we all didn't just make a mind blowing discovery.
Kunou was standing in front of the front door with a look of wonder on her face. She kept slamming it open and closed. "KYOTO! NOW SEASONAL CITY! NOW KYOTO AGAIN!" she giggled to herself madly as she played with my shop's apparent magic doorway. She was able to open the door to either location simply by thinking about it or saying it outloud.
Yasaka still looked slightly weary about our discovery, but she let Kunou have her fun for the next couple minutes.
"You sure have a gift for cooking, Haru," Reigan said as he dug into his food.
I had pretty much cooked it all on autopilot, my head was still in a different place altogether. As a chef, I knew that was a bad thing. I should never get distracted when cooking. I shook my head and snapped out of all the weird thoughts. I didn't need to worry about any of this.
Dimensional travel wasn't my forte, I was a chef!
At the end of the day, who really even cared where my customers come from? All that matters is that they're hungry and It's my duty to feed them!
"Thanks, Reigan-san. I've spent years learning my craft." I nodded my head at him thankful for the praise.
"I can tell. What's surprising is how reasonable your prices are too! I can't even afford to eat at most restaurants nowadays. Everything's been getting so expensive lately."
"I've tried my best to keep the prices reasonable, all the food ingredients come directly from Yokai farms, magical farming is a lot cheaper than mundane," I explained. "Plus, I can keep prices down by not having to pay for liability insurance." That was the reason most food and groceries were so expensive nowadays—people kept suing businesses for millions at a whack, trying to make some easy money so they never have to work again. At the expense of everyone else in the world…
"Are you not afraid of someone trying to sue your restaurant?" Reigen asked curiously.
"They can certainly try," I replied, my nine tails swaying ominously behind me. "But it won't end well for them…" If anyone tried to ruin my restaurant, they would have a very bad time. I might just be a chef, but I wasn't reborn in a peaceful world. I still knew how to fight if I had to. I'd spent years training with my mom, Yasaka, one of the strongest women in Japan—someone even the Kami in Takegahara were hesitant to tangle with. They certainly liked to act like they ruled Japan, but the only one whose orders mom actually followed was Amy-chan herself. If any other Kami came down from Japanese Heaven and tried to bark orders at her, she would send them packing!
"I can respect that," Reigen nodded at me. "I've had a few clients threaten me with lawsuits in the past…" He sighed and explained that he didn't always live in Seasonal City. He had had to skip town on more than one occasion after people came after him for thinking he was a fraud.
Somehow, I didn't doubt any of that. Reigen seemed like a decent enough guy—at least he didn't immediately perv on my mom like most other men who met her. Still, I wasn't sure if he was a legit exorcist or not. I sensed no supernatural power from him.
I wanted to chat with him a bit more, considering he was my first ever human customer, but it seemed he had to get back to work.
"I'll be back later, and we can discuss business then. Unfortunately, I've got another job lined up currently and need to go fetch Mob," he said to Yasaka before leaving some money on the counter. Despite being from another dimension, the bills were still identical to Japanese Yen. He walked out the front door, disappearing back into the strange city that had somehow connected itself to my restaurant.
Once he was gone, Yasaka turned to me with an unusually serious expression. "Something is very strange with your restaurant, Haru. I can't even begin to understand how that interaction was possible."
"It's not strange! It's super awesome and cool!" Kunou argued. "I wonder if anyone else from other dimensions will come to eat at Nii-chan's restaurant?" Kunou said. Her tails were swishing behind her happily. Sometimes she was more like an adorable puppy than a fox.
"Yeah, it is certainly strange," I said with a shrug. It's not like there was anything I could do about it though.
"You're not freaked out about this?" Yasaka asked me in disbelief.
Sure, I was surprised, but what could I actually do about it? The answer was most likely not a damn thing. So why bother worrying about it? "Not really. I'll just assume this is either a prank or a blessing from Amy-chan," I replied. Was this something a Kami was even capable of? Probably not, but I didn't really have a better explanation.
Yasaka facepalmed. "Son, please stop calling Lady Amaterasu, the leader of the Shinto pantheon 'Amy-chan.'"
I snickered at her exasperation. "No can do, mom. She asked me to keep calling her that. She hopes it will catch on one day," I said.
It was a little-known fact that Amaterasu was a massive hikikomori and NEET! One who played a lot of video games and watched a lot of anime in her spare time. She was jealous that the Devil Maou Serafall Leviathan was running around as a magical girl calling herself Levia-tan. Amaterasu wanted her own cutesy nickname too!
Hence… Amy-chan.
I came up with it myself on one of her visits and she really liked it. Although, I was pretty sure I was the only person with the guts to actually call her by that name. "Amy-chan drops by at least once a week to stock up on food, we can ask her when she visits my restaurant. She knows it's open now, right?" I asked Yasaka.
Yasaka nodded. "Yes, I sent her a message with my last monthly report. She's very happy for you, Haru. As am I."
"Me too! I'm super happy for you too, Nii-chan," Kunou added enthusiastically. "I'm going to come here everyday for lunch and dinner! And breakfast and second breakfast too!"
"Second breakfast isn't real, dear," Yasaka tried to explain to Kunou. "And even if it was, you're not allowed to have it. You'll get fat."
"I won't get fat and yes it is real! The Hobbits have it every day!" Kunou argued back. She was still only 8 years old, and wasn't quite old enough to understand most of the movies she watched weren't actually real. In my past life I remember thinking Scooby Doo was real until I was 7 or 8 years old as well.
I stepped out from behind the counter and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Kunou-chan. "You can have second or third breakfast here anytime you want," I told her, ignoring the glare our mom was giving me.
Ding Ding
Our touching family moment was interrupted when the door swung open. A few more potential customers entered the Fox Hole…
XXX
A/N: Welcome to the Fox Hole, one of my new stories!