【Ch. 10.5 - A Long Road】

[A little while ago]

This was quite the walk. The first time on the kitsune passageways for me was surprisingly dull. I've heard of their mystical properties of shortening distances between two locations and of their usage by kitsune messengers to ferry mail and whatnot, so my expectations already weren't high.

But this was still much more boring than I anticipated. The passageways were located on a different plane of existence than the grander spirit realm, so very little dotted the landscape aside from trees. And lots of them.

There was basically nothing else. Sure, there was the occasional sign on the path, but ultimately it was just a very long forest road. I suppose these were built for practicality more than anything else, but surely there was a limit?

Did none of the kami think to liven it up after all this time?

You really do start missing even the mundane shifts in scenery on a road once you're presented with something this monotonous. My kind were a fairly rare presence on these passageways, so I didn't even get a warning about this from them.

My kin, the tsuchigumo, have a pretty sordid history with kitsune. At least, that's what I've been told. These were mostly grudges from ages long past between our ancestors and the like. Nothing really to do with the younger ones like me.

Of course, with spirits being what they are, plenty of them are still around that remember or were a part of those times. Thankfully, its not as if they really poke their heads into modern society much. Still, these old grudges tend to play some role with negotiations and whatnot.

I was honestly surprised that I was even granted permission. My mother forced unto me a package delivery that she couldn't do herself. To Yuzawa of all places. Given the distance involved from our home in Motoyama and my reluctance to utilize human transportation, she decided to ask the kitsune for permission.

I had pretty much resolved myself to just use a train or something by the time she got back with the news it was all good. Honestly, now I just wanted to know nothing about the contents of this package or what my mother did to so quickly get permission.

Of course, now I'm really regretting not just using a human method. I'm bored. So bored. The kitsune here don't really make for much conversation and more than a few were just inherently weary of me. Maybe they were the older ones for all I knew.

Sure, I did see some other non-kitsune too but they didn't particularly want to converse either. Chances are everyone else wasn't travelling nearly as far as I was. Tragically, there was one time I did encounter another poor soul who also seemed to be bored out of her mind and actually willing to converse.

What a shame we were travelling in opposite directions.

Lamentfully, I had only really been on the path for a little over an hour by this point. The scenery truly was just that maddeningly dull. Strangely even though I was halfway to my destination if I leave the paths now I would only just be outside of Motoyama, only about a quarter of the way there.

What a strange unevenness in compression along these paths. Well, either way it still meant I had to deal with this for at least another hour. Ugh.

Before my eyes could completely glaze over, I get a whiff of a captivating aroma. I recognize it right away as the scent of a human. It was quite the delicious smell.

Wait, no.

Not delicious. Stop that.

This was the reason I wanted to avoid human transportation so much. Tsuchigumo like myself are prone to act on instinct more than most, and unfortunately one of those instincts was the consumption of humans.

Part of our training as children in this era was suppressing this urge enough to function properly around humans. It does us no good if we try to take a bite of someone in a lapse of judgement. While my own training wasn't progressing badly, I still didn't really trust myself enough to be on a train or something full of humans.

I stop in my tracks to compose myself. By the intensity of this smell, it shouldn't be any more than one human, but this scent was exceedingly alluring. I wasn't sure what exactly made it so, but it wasn't good for me.

What was a human doing here anyway? These passageways should be pretty devoid of them, or at least that's what I was told. It was the entire reason I did this, after all. I noticed a few back in Motoyama, but they were only in or around the shrine areas.

Actually, even so, I should be fine around only one. What sort of curve-ball human was this?

I look ahead and immediately notice the source of my concerns in the distance. It was indeed just one human. Travelling alongside him was a kitsune. The two were approaching me, I guess heading towards Motyama.

Alright, hold on. I was still trying to fight back my instincts, but lets think about this. I tilt my head in contemplation. If there was a human this deep in the spirit realm without being anywhere near an exit to the mortal realm, they'd have to be pretty powerful.

Those two were travelling together, so what was she? An escort? A subordinate? Either way, he must be someone important. Really, the more I think about it, the less appetizing this smell was becoming. I mean, don't get me wrong, a delicious aroma is a delicious aroma.

Its just that it gets easier to ignore if you realize there's poison in the meal. And everything about this situation told me messing with these two would not end well for me.

With this newfound strength to resist, I continue on forward. Let's just pass them quickly.

The two of them seem to notice me but don't seem to take much an interest besides noting my presence. As the distance closes, I steal a few glances at the pair.

A black haired kitsune and, well, a fairly normal looking human. He'd be utterly unremarkable in most cases, but the smell was starting to get suffocating-ly enticing the closer I got. Despite my trepidation it was getting harder to resist my urges.

As I was approaching the limits of my reasoning, I suddenly got close enough to notice the aura of power leaking from the kitsune. I was shocked. Her potential power was immense.

The difference in ability between the two of us became immediately apparent to my senses. A cold shiver travels down my spine. It was overwhelming. In a way, I should be thankful. That reinvigorated my fear to the point where I'm not even sure I could feel any desire to assault that human anymore.

I continue to steal glances every now and then at the pair as we finally close the distance. Those moments felt like an eternity; the kitsune's overflowing aura was oppressive. Thankfully they didn't seem to give me much notice at all and we pass each other without anything happening.

The two of them were now behind me, continuing on their way. I take a minute to catch my breath.

"That wasn't funny."

I say this to noone in particular.

I know I asked for something to alleviate my boredom on the passage, but that was not what I had in mind. You know what, I'll take the tedium now and stop complaining if that was the type of thing I was going to encounter otherwise.

...Maybe I should just take a train back home after this.

Well, it's not like I'll run into them again either way.