chapter 4

Chapter 4: Visitors in Kyoto

After Kunou finished her breakfast, I left her with her guards, who were waiting outside the front door. I had a bunch of shopping to do, and Kunou had no interest in following me around town as I "talked to a bunch of old people." Those were her words, by the way.

"Hello, young master Haru. I didn't expect to see you again so soon. What can I do for you?" old man Katsuo asked me. He was a Kappa Yokai and the man who supplied me with sake.

"I'm here to restock. I had a big party last night, and my guests drank the bar dry." I reached into my pocket space and pulled out a few gold coins from Skyrim. "Will these work as payment?"

The old Kappa examined the coin and let out a whistle of appreciation. "This is pure gold. I didn't think anyone paid like this anymore. Reminds me of the good old days, before all the humans ruined the damn economy with their worthless paper money…"

He headed to the back of his shop and came out with half a dozen small crates filled with Kappa sake. I gently placed them into my pocket space one by one before thanking the man and heading to my next destination.

My next stop was one of my distant cousins, a two-tailed kitsune by the name of Kimiko. Her family were basically servants of my own, but none of us treated them like that. Kimiko was only slightly older than me at 25 years old, although she chose to stop aging at 20. Like myself and every other Kyoto kitsune, she had golden hair and eyes.

"Hello, Haru-sama. Are you here to order more food already?" she asked me.

I gave her the same explanation I had given the old Kappa. She congratulated me on my successful first day and happily accepted the gold as payment. I also had her take a look at the galleons to see how they compared to septims in value.

"Hm… these gold coins are fake," Kimiko said with a frown as she examined the wizarding currency. "They are enchanted to appear as if they are real, but these coins are absolutely worthless." She turned it over in her hand. She explained that powerful magic had been cast on the coins to make them appear like real gold. Most people wouldn't notice, but kitsune were masters of illusion magic for a reason.

I seriously doubted Harry, Hermione, or McGonagall had intended to scam me. The fact that they all carried fake gold coins and thought they were real money suggested a wider conspiracy was going on in their world. Whoever was in charge of their money was clearly up to no good. I'd have to talk to Harry and Hermione about that the next time I saw them. 

I thanked Kimiko and placed the fake gold coin back into my pocket space before heading to my next stop. The next hour followed pretty much the same pattern as I restocked everything I needed to run my restaurant for the next couple of days.

I was about to start heading back when the hairs on my tails all stood up! 

I sensed multiple Devils nearby, wandering around the human side of Kyoto. That shouldn't have been possible, Devil's were not welcome here without permission, and even then they would be under heavy scrutiny and guard. I sensed no Yokai near the Devil's at all.

I used some illusion magic to hide my golden fox ears and nine tails, then ventured past the barrier into the human side of Kyoto. I usually didn't like coming here because of how the average Japanese human tended to view me. With my golden hair and eyes, they always mistook me for a foreigner. That shouldn't mean anything, but a shockingly high number of Japanese humans tended to be racist toward anyone who didn't look like them. I put a couple of men in the hospital the last time I ventured into the human side with my little sister, Kunou. They had made some hurtful comments towards her, and I didn't take kindly to that.

I ignored the stares as I weaved through the crowds. It didn't take long to find the Devils—a group of four, all wearing the same school uniform. My eyes were immediately drawn to one of the girls. Her fiery red hair stood out like a beacon in the crowd and I had trouble looking away.

I realized then that I might have a thing for redheads…

Maybe that's why drunk Haru shamelessly confessed his love to Aela last night. 

Right now, I needed to figure out what these Devils were doing in Kyoto. They were walking around in broad daylight without a care in the world, as if they had been invited here. I knew for a fact that wasn't the case. Someone would've told me. Even though I had ceded my position as heir, I was still an Ultimate Class Yokai, and one of the unofficial guardians of our home in the event of an attack.

The girls had just stepped out of a gift shop when they noticed me. Their giggles and chatter died down quickly as I released a small portion of my Youki to get their attention. The two queens, both with long black hair, immediately stepped in front of their Kings, taking defensive positions.

"Ara…hello, Yokai-san. Can we help you?" asked the more powerful of the two Queens. She was a real beauty, a classic Japanese elegance about her. She wasn't just an ordinary reincarnated human either. I could sense something else in her, beyond just demonic energy—was she a Hybrid of some kind?

"What are four Devils doing in Kyoto?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't the type to pick a fight, especially not with four beautiful young women, but I couldn't let them wander around freely. Noble Devils had a nasty habit of trying to add Yokai to their peerages. 

Without asking first…

To most of them, we're nothing more than exotic slaves for their collections.

"It's none of your business, but we're students of Kuoh Academy," Rias Gremory spoke from behind her protective Queen. Of course I knew who she was, her pictures were pretty much spread all across the Supernatural version of the internet. She was the little sister of the Strongest Maou, Sirzechs, and the most eligible bachelorette in the entire underworld. She was technically engaged to some other Noble Devil, but there were a bunch of threads online that mentioned how much she hated the guy and that the marriage was never going to happen.

Rias seemed to think that her explanation was sufficient for me. It wasn't. Why would I care about what school they attended? "That means absolutely nothing to me," I said before turning to the other King, hoping she had a better explanation. 

"We've been granted express permission by the Yokai leaders to visit Kyoto as part of our school trip," Sona Sitri explained. She was the second most eligible bachelorette in the underworld. She wasn't as immediately recognizable as Rias, but her older sister was so famous in this world that most Supernaturals would also be able to recognize Sona as well by association.

Her words made me curious. "Permission from which Yokai leader?" I asked. There was no way my mother knew about this or would have approved of it. This reeked of some kind of conspiracy. The question was, who was it a conspiracy against? My family or these Devil girls?

"What's it to you?" Rias asked defensively. She raised her voice and we were starting to draw people's attention. 

I released another small burst of magic and the humans nearby immediately remembered that they had more important things to do than stand around and gawk at us. 

Being a human in my last life, I wasn't a fan of casually using mind magic on people, but sometimes I didn't have a choice. Once all the humans in the immediate area disbursed, I released the illusion on my ears and tails. The four girls all gasped at the same time. 

"Hello, ladies. My name is Haru. I'm the son of the leader of all Yokai, Yasaka. I think she would have told me if Devils had been invited into our city." These girls were lucky that it was me who had discovered them first. Had it been anyone else, they would have immediately attacked these four Devils.

"B–But… We have permission to be here," Sona tried to argue. "My sister received a handwritten letter of permission from Lord Kentaro, your mother's advisor!" 

"Lord who...?" I've never heard of anyone by that name. Yasaka doesn't have any advisors anymore—not since the last one killed Kunou's father, my stepfather. 

My stepfather was an ordinary human who somehow stumbled into the supernatural side of Kyoto. Instead of freaking out like most humans would, he was fascinated and started asking all kinds of questions. Word of the curious human made its way to Yasaka, and she invited him to her palace. They got to talking, and despite how odd a pairing they seemed, they ended up becoming a couple. Kunou was born ten months later.

That didn't make her half-human, though. Half-human Yokai didn't exist, the children of humans and Yokai were always born full Yokai. He didn't seem to mind that his child wasn't human despite that. He was a great guy and an even better dad to Kunou—until Yasaka's Tengu advisor, driven by jealousy over my mother, murdered him. 

–Rias Gremory–

"Oh shit…" Rias muttered with rising dread.

Sona's older sister had really messed up this time! 

The permission slip they had for their trip to Kyoto was fake! Was this some kind of twisted plot to get her and Sona killed? Her big brother Sirzechs was always warning her about schemes like these.

They were both deep in hostile territory they hadn't been invited into. To make matters worse, they had been assured they had permission for their school trip to Kyoto, so they hadn't bothered to suppress their demonic auras even a little bit this entire time!

If Haru, the annoyingly handsome son of Yasaka–Rias had a thing for hot guys with animal ears–had sensed them, it meant other Yokai had as well. How long would it take before the four Devil girls were surrounded?

"We need to get out of here, like, right now!" Sona's voice was laced with panic, which was unusual for her. Normally, Rias would have found her distress amusing, but now wasn't the time for teasing.

"It's too late for that," Haru said, his voice calm but his eyes sharp as he looked off to the side. "I can already sense multiple strong Yokai converging on this location. The last Devil who snuck into Kyoto was a branch member of the Phenex Clan. He tried to abduct some Yokai girls for his peerage, thinking he could be like his older cousin Riser. His so-called immortality didn't save him from being eaten alive." He grinned, revealing his sharp canines.

Rias's eyes widened at that statement. The idea of someone like Riser getting devoured was oddly satisfying, but then she realized she might be in a similar situation!

Rias panicked. "I don't want to be eaten alive!"

"It would also ignite a war between our people!" Sona added urgently.

"Please help us, Haru! I promise we weren't here doing anything bad!" Rias added with a hint of desperation. 

To her relief, Haru sighed and nodded at them. "I'm aware of the consequences if either of you are harmed in our territory. A conflict between our factions would mean the end for both our races. Follow me," he said and started walking down a street that seemed to straddle the edges of Kyoto's supernatural districts. The four girls quickly followed after him.

Rias was momentarily stunned when Haru then suddenly unleashed his power. The four Devil girls were instantly enveloped by Haru's Youki, instead of being intense and overbearing, it was warm and oddly protective. It also completely masked their own Demonic auras, hiding their presence from other potentially hostile Yokai.

Seeing him easily mask the presence of four High Class Devils, Rias realized Haru was in the Ultimate Class himself. That was incredible, especially considering he didn't look much older than any of them. She thought only her cousin Sairaorg had reached that kind of level. In fact, Haru might even be stronger than him! 

Rias and Sona exchanged knowing looks. Ultimate Class beings basically reigned at the top of this world. It was common knowledge that the Yokai faction's only Ultimate Class being was Lady Yasaka. Clearly that information was incorrect. Was Haru the only secret the Yokai were hiding, or were there even more?

Eventually, she was snapped out of her pondering when they arrived outside a medium sized restaurant.

"The Fox Hole?" Rias chuckled at the name despite the tension of the situation. The restaurant's main sign was a small fox peeking its head out of its burrow. The sign in the window read "Temporarily Closed," but Haru pushed the door open and walked right on inside. 

Rias figured he must know the owner.

"Ara, this place is a bit of a mess," Akeno pointed out the trashed state of the restaurant.

"Sorry about the mess," Haru said, his Youki fading away as he stopped masking them with his power. Rias found herself oddly missing the warmth of his Youki—it had felt warm. "There was a big party here last night, and I didn't get a chance to clean up. Welcome to The Fox Hole. This is my restaurant. Even though it's technically in Kyoto, everything here is my territory. As long as you're inside, you'll be safe. We'll figure out how to get you girls out of the city after you contact your siblings," Haru explained.

Rias was taken aback. She hadn't expected Haru, who was basically a prince of his people, to run a restaurant. Most supernatural beings, especially those with his status, wouldn't go for something so ordinary.

"You opened a restaurant?" Sona asked incredulously. "Why? You have all that power…"

Haru shrugged casually. "I like to cook. My powers and status are nice, but they don't define me," he said simply.

The girls were stunned by his confession, especially Rias. 'Power and status don't define me?' she repeated in her head. She couldn't help but giggle. Finally, someone who got it! That's exactly how she tried to live her own life!

"You'll probably be here for a few hours," Haru said. "Do you want to order something? I'll make you some food, but you'll need to help me clean up a bit."

Rias laughed again. He asked them to help, but Akeno was already on it. It was a little-known fact that her queen was a bit of a clean freak. Akeno had already conjured a broom with her demonic power and was already in the process of sweeping the floor. Tsubaki immediately joined in to help her.

Rias would have pitched in too, but she wasn't allowed to help clean after she nearly destroyed the Occult Research Club room with her attempt to use her Power of Destruction on some dust bunnies. The money for all the damages had come out of her anime and manga budget—something she was still bitter about. 

She and Sona settled themselves in front of the bar. Haru was behind the counter, chopping some fresh smelling vegetables.

"So, you have your own restaurant? What's that like?" Rias asked, a lot less tense now that they were apparently safe in his territory.

"I'm curious as well," Sona added.

Haru grinned. "It's great but also kind of bizarre. I just opened yesterday, and I got a lot of strange customers. And none of them were even from our dimension…" he said with a chuckle.

Rias and Sona exchanged confused looks.

"Huh?" 

"Eh?"

–Haru–

The girls took the idea that the restaurant connected to other dimensions surprisingly well. And by "surprisingly well," I mean they didn't believe me at all. 

That was fine. They'd find out soon enough if another bizarre dimension hopping customer showed up hungry for some good food. It was approaching lunch time after all.

In the meantime, I sent a message to Yasaka, letting her know about the four visitors in my restaurant. They were here in Kyoto without permission, but they had been under the impression that they'd received it directly from her office. According to Sona, the stamp on the letter was official. 

It seemed we had some traitorous Yokai to root out, just as the Devils would have to deal with their own traitors. An obvious conspiracy was brewing…

Now, I just had to wait for Yasaka's response. In the meantime, I still had a restaurant to run. The two queens were cleaning up nicely, while their companions enjoyed the meal I'd prepared.

"This is so freaking good!" Rias Gremory declared, practically inhaling her bowl of ramen. "We have a live-in maid who cooks for my family, but she never makes ramen. She says it's not a meal befitting a proper noble lady," Rias complained, though she didn't slow down.

Sona was slurping her noodles thoughtfully. I didn't like seeing my customers looking troubled, even if they were Devils.

"Something wrong with the food?" I asked.

Sona shook her head, a soft smile on her face. "No, it's very good, Haru-san. I was just trying to figure out what's going on. Things could have turned out badly if you hadn't been the first Yokai to discover us," she said, glancing at her phone as she began typing a quick message.

"I'm sure our class is freaking out. We've basically gone missing," Rias said, looking frustrated. "Too bad I have no way to contact them." She mentioned how she'd avoided giving her phone number to the girls in her class after it got leaked to all the boys at Kuoh Academy. "I got so many dick pics that week…" she added with a shudder.

I burst out laughing at that comment, which made Rias pout cutely at me.

"I'm sure our classmates are fine. They probably think we snuck off to a love hotel for some sweet yuri time," Akeno said with a giggle.

Rias choked on her noodles and glared at Akeno. "Why would you say something like that, Akeno?"

Akeno shrugged, still sweeping the floor. "Because it's true. Half the school thinks you and I are a couple. They also think the same about Sona and Tsubaki. We've all been confessed to by almost every boy in school and rejected them all."

Tsubaki, who was wiping a table next to Akeno, paused as she blushed at the implication. "The only boy I'm interested in is Kiba-kun…" she said softly, having said the least of the group so far.

"If you're all finished gossiping, I have some news," Sona said, closing her flip phone. "I sent a message to my sister. She's trying to figure out what happened and is speaking with Yasaka now. She should be able to pick us up in a few hours if the Yokai don't let us stay in Kyoto."

"That's good," I told the four girls. "Feel free to order seconds while we wait…"

XXX