Chapter Text
Legend had it that during the reign of Emperor Toba, a beautiful kitsune named Tamamo-no-Mae had appeared and cursed him with a near-fatal illness. It had taken two valiant warriors to chase away the wicked creature and eventually kill her near the town of Nasu, thus saving the land from her influence.
This was not Ichiro's story, though he was in a comparably dire situation at the moment. Someone had gone to the trouble of chaining him between two wooden posts, and the manacles squeezed his wrists and ankles to an extent that he feared his hands and feet would eventually lose all sensation.
"Hello? Is anybody out there?" he cried out in the darkness while straining his arms and causing the chains to rattle. "Explain this! What have I done wrong?"
"Gladly," a deep male voice boomed. Ichiro flinched and shut his eyes as light flooded his barren surroundings.
The aged and distinguished face of a man in court attire greeted Ichiro when he opened his eyes again. He swallowed, then lowered his head in the best show of reverence he could muster. "My apologies, honorable sir. I didn't mean any disrespect..."
"Well, well," the man of high status uttered in cold amusement, striding behind Ichiro to give him a rough shove in the back. "I wouldn't have taken you for a humble fellow, given what I've witnessed."
Ichiro winced. "I beg your pardon?"
The man came full circle and crouched down so that he was at eye level. He pointed at his temple while giving a restrained smile. "Make no mistake, I am capable of seeing whatever I want at any time. And I had the pleasure of observing your special little affair."
"What?" Ichiro whispered, averting his eyes as he was overcome with both shame and lust at the memory of holding Kumiko in his arms while their lips met, and their bodies came together in carnal union. "How?"
"A fool like you would never understand," the man replied. "And in that regard, I cannot blame you for becoming smitten. The beauty of even a lowly kitsune dwarves that of any mortal. You were doomed to lose to Kumiko from the start."
The man seized Ichiro's chin and tilted it upwards, forcing him to look into a pair of menacing black eyes. "But what I cannot fathom, is why she would even requite your love. You are weak and wretched. Your only virtue is this handsome face, and even that will crumble away in no time."
Ichiro grunted and twisted his neck in resistance. "I am aware of that. Do you think I know nothing?"
"Quite the opposite." The man let go of Ichiro with a look of disdain. "You know too much, and that is why you must die tonight."
Those words took a few moments to affect Ichiro. His head sagged as he stared down at his own chest, suddenly all too aware of his pounding heart and the way his lungs carried air in and out. He dreaded the thought of ceasing to exist forever, so he protested as any sane person would. "No. Spare me please..."
The man in court attire turned his back and shuffled towards the open door. "I'm sorry, but your fate rests in Kumiko's hands. She insisted on being the one to slaughter you, so that we may feast on your flesh and fill our bellies. I cannot offer you any other mercy."
At that, the man slipped out of the room with remarkable finesse for someone of his stature, all the while sliding the painted door behind him. Ichiro's eyes widened in terror before he jerked against his chains, releasing a cry of desperation at what was to come and the deep betrayal which had befallen him.