FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Today was just another boring day for Kouya Tatsunagi. The cat of 20 years of age, unusually blue fur and darker blue markings under his eyes sat hunched over his work desk working on a manga for the studio he's employed at.

Personally, he wasn't too keen on the idea they went with, but the job pays, so he just ducked his head and did as he was told. It was an old and tired storyline about the protagonist gaining mystical powers and fighting the forces of evil, and of course, the protagonist is a young, bright-eyed girl, because the editors are a bunch of loli-perverts.

He wouldn't call them that out loud, let alone to their faces, though.

He decided to take a break, raising his glasses and rubbing his eyes a bit from staring too much at the sheet of paper and all the lines, maybe some fresh air will do him good, right now. "Fucking deadlines..." Since it was summer, he decided on a plain t-shirt and some sweatpants, he was never a fan of belts and any sort of pants that required them. Instead of going to the store that was less than a block away, he decided on the extra trek and walked all the way to the small playground that was, almost, double the initial option, on foot.

He wasn't muscular or the sporty sort, but it was still clear that he regularly worked out and did the occasional long-distance walk or jog to keep his slim and slightly fit figure. It was more of a fear of becoming obese that drove him at first, then it became as natural to him as breathing.

He found the vending machine he was looking for inside the playground and bought a can of milk coffee, he was just about to open it when his ear twitched as he picked up a sound coming from the trees a small distance away. He tried so much to ignore it... to forget about it... but curiosity is gonna kill this cat, eventually.

He pocketed his coffee and made his way to the other side of the playground... then gulped back his nerves before stepped over the tiny wall. Well, tiny in comparison to him, he wasn't extremely tall, but he was slightly taller than average at six feet ten. He walked slowly towards where the sound came from and looked around for a bit... not noticing anyone, he let out a small sigh of relief and went back the way he came.

Once he was out of the foliage, he rubbed and craned his neck a bit, what did he expect to find in there, anyway?

He began walking back to his house at a slow pace, well, it was his grandparents' house actually. He was just borrowing the place since it was pretty close to his college.

The house itself was pretty impressive, nothing too big or royal, but still way too big for one person. The general design was a minka house, a wide structure sitting on an impressive piece of land, complete with a spacious backyard, a koi pond that was empty for the time being, and even a sakura tree standing near the corner with a shimenawa around it. The house also came with a nice, showering area that leads to an open-roof onsen that can fit quite a number of people.

But he just made his way back to his studio, which was, more or less, his room that he turned into a makeshift gaming studio, with his grandparent's permission, of course. The place was just an otaku's heaven, figurines, plastic models, three shelves filled with all kinds of manga and doujinshi, a widescreen TV and various gaming consoles with smaller shelves for the games themselves. On the side was his workstation, where he works on the mangas he was assigned to work on. Then there's a nice area where his bed and wardrobe were placed, with a small bedside table.

Can opened, coffee drunk, now it was back to work. God, deadlines are a pain in the ass.

---

The next day, he made his way to the local college, he was taking computer and programming as a major, hoping to land a nice job out of it.

He was instantly met with Tanemaru Nishima, an old friend from middle school who wore thick, round glasses and was pretty tall for a meerkat, way taller than Kouya actually, at a full seven feet, but was totally slim, unlike Kouya who had some definition to his physique.

Soon came the other members of their otaku club, Tane's adopted younger sister, Sayaka, a human girl with long, curly brown hair and small, square glasses. Her highschool friend Ran Futaba, a blonde human girl with slightly shorter blond hair that she usually ties into pigtails. A chubby, reddish brown-furred boar male called Shinji Aoyama. A tiger-striped akita with dark-yellow fur by the name of Jotaro Suzuki. And finally, Jonathan Atlas, an American golden retriever who lived in Japan most of his life, to the point that even his accent was perfect when speaking, the others were pretty shocked when he told them he wasn't Japanese when they first met.

"So, Kou-chan! How's that manga coming along?" Ran asked from the seat behind Kouya, looking mighty bored today.

"It's coming along nicely, but the editors keep breathing down our necks to finish it quickly. Like, we have fucking time, take a chill pill. Can't really say that to their faces, though." He finished with a sigh of frustration.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll turn out perfectly~!" Tane encouraged, giving the cat a couple of pats on his shoulder, his hand lingering there for a few seconds.

"You complain about that? Try see our firm, not even an ant colony preparing for winter is that busy." Shinji stated with a huff of frustration of his own.

"Oh yeah, forgot that you work for a law firm." Sayaka stated as she leaned over her desk slightly, her chest pressing against it slightly.

"Oh yeah, we have all of these incidents that have been happening lately. Totally absurd stuff and absolutely no leads."

"You sure it's fine to share that information with us?" Jonathan asked as he pulled out his notebook from his bag.

"As long as I don't go into details. Besides, those incidents aren't really a secret."

"Ooohhh, man. That is some scary business. Sure wouldn't wanna be outside at night..." Jotaro stated as a shiver physical ran through his spine.

Kouya began thinking as he heard Shinji talking. Bizarre incidents have been happening for quite a while now, almost half a year, but some theorize that they have been happening for way longer than that and the police and officials managed to contain and keep them a secret... until recently.

But since the end of last month, these incidents took a turn to the violent, young adults, men and women, who were found with multiple and various wounds on them. Some lived with a thread of their lives, others weren't as lucky. Those who were alive couldn't remember who or what attacked them and caused all of those scars.

The younger generation started speculating the existence of yokai, oni, yurei, so on and so forth, but that's just urban gossip with no shred of truth. The recent attack, just last week actually, was rumored to be the work of a Kamaitachi, a weasel with sharp, blade-like claws or actual sharp blades coming from its arms that ride violent gusts of winds and attack whatever prey that steps in its way. Others were even more bizarre, as they included drowning in areas with absolutely no water, least not in that amount, insect attacks, freezing, burning, pummeling with abnormal strength, the list just goes on. Again, no evidence of any supernatural involvement, even when the circumstances and methods were all pretty abnormal.

Just then, their teacher walked in and the class soon started. Kouya loved the subject, but it was super boring, he almost slept a couple of times throughout the lecture, one student was actually caught snoring way in the back.

But, class finally finished and everyone couldn't get out faster. "Hey, Kouya!" He turned to find Tanemaru speedwalking towards him. "Hey, there's a new cafe that opened around this area. Wanna head there together after classes?"

"Sorry, Tane, but I did mention that our editors are pretty hasty with this project, so I doubt I'm gonna be free for a while. Sorry." He felt his heart being tugged painfully from the look of heartbroken disappointment on Tane's face. "I'm sure we'll be done in no time, then we'll go. I promise, yeah?"

Tanemaru smiled slightly, but still had a pained look in his eyes. "O-oh yeah! Sure... Hope you're still alive when you finish with work." He said with a slight chuckle, remembering the few times that Kouya was totally drained after finishing a project, he actually looked like a mummy for an entire day.

"Perfect! It's a promise, then!" Kouya gave the meerkat a double thumbs-up before heading out while Tanemaru made his way to their club room.

---

He arrived at his neighborhood, stopping at a grocery shop to buy some light essentials before continuing on his way home, good thing his bag was pretty big and he can put his groceries inside, not that he has anything big inside. Passing by the playground, as usual, he stopped briefly to look at the foliage behind it... remembering the strange sound that he heard last night. "Could've been an animal-" He stiffened a bit as his ear twitched, there it was again.

'Keep walking. It's just an animal. That's right, just an animal returning to its nest.' He kept rolling those thoughts around in his head again and again... "Ah, fuck it all!" He growled to himself as his curiosity got the best of him and he went to investigate, again.

He went in a bit further this time and looked around... again, nothing. Why was he so curious all of a sudden? He wasn't the type of guy who'd go headfirst into such situations, so what's different this time?

He stepped back into the open space of the playground, letting out a sigh of irritation, mostly at himself. "The hell is wrong with me...?" *K-THUNK* He jumped slightly as the loud sound of the vending machine dumping a purchase drummed out. The person he saw made him stop in his tracks.

Even with such a slim figure, Kouya knew he was looking at a male, a fox at that from the bushy, white-tipped tail alone, but the shoulder-length, pale-pinkish hair and the yukata would've indicated otherwise. The yukata was black with shodo writing of random words, the ones he could make out were 'Beauty', 'Spirit', and 'Body', completing the look with a pair of getas.

Once the man turned around, holding a can of peach juice, Kouya's breath was caught in his throat, he saw a fox with an almost golden fur instead of the usual red or orange and a white underfur, a slightly slim snout, smooth, almost feminine features, and those mysteriously, but beautifully pink eyes were out of this world. The fox was about to open his can but noticed the young cat standing a short distance away. "Oh! Didn't see you there." That small smile made Kouya's heart melt.

Kouya knew he was gay, all the way back from middle school. The fact caused a bit of a rift between him and his parents, but his grandparents supported him fully and with no issue. And now he was looking at the most beautiful man he has ever laid his eyes upon.

"Is something wrong?" He was shaken out of his trance by the fox speaking to him. "Cat got your tongue?" Most felines would've been irritated by that question, but Kouya's heart was getting tugged in all directions, he didn't even notice the fox walking closer to him until he was right in front of him, so close that their noses were almost touching. From this very close distance, Kouya noticed that the fox was actually shorter than he looked, the wooden sandals actually giving him a very slight boost in height. "You're a cute one~" That made Kouya's face exploded with the hottest blush ever. "I suppose I could give you a turn."

"A turn- What?" His words came out barely more than a whisper.

"Just relax and let me handle this..." The fox instructed as one hand rested gently on Kouya's chest, claws gently grazing against it. "Oh my~ Do you workout?"

"U-uh... Y-y-yes... no hardcore stuff... just s-some, uh... cardio and calisthenics... n-no weights."

"Mmm... could've fooled me with such a nice body... I can tell..." The fox began leaning his face in. "Now... just relax..."

Kouya was about to ask something, but he forgot all about it when he felt the fox's lips against his own. No tongue or anything steamy, just their lips locked together, and oh god, he can taste the peach juice on the fox's lips, he could feel his tail hiking straight up and becoming as still as a wooden pole

His mind was getting clouded, a haze covering his thoughts, almost as if his brain was shutting down... *PLING* But the loud chime from his phone instantly woke him right up, he realized what was happening and gently, but firmly, pushed the fox away. "Now hang on a minute!!" He was panting for the breath he didn't know he needed.

"Oh? Didn't you want any?" The fox asked as he craned his head to the side.

"Want any- What?" Kouya asked as he caught his breath, wiping the sweat from his face or head that he didn't know was rolling down.

Both were silent for a few seconds... then it was the fox's turn to explode in a bright red blush. "Oh dear! I am so, so sorry. I-I read into things so wrongly! Pleasure accept my apologies!" The fox was bowing constantly in apology, Kouya was afraid he might spill his drink.

"Hey, hey! I-it's fine. I didn't do anything to correct you, so I'm equally to blame here if anything." He let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head bashfully.

"Well... if you say so, I'm sorry again." Then the fox noticed something... and let out a small chuckle. Kouya gave him a questioning look. "Well, at least someone enjoyed what we just did."

Kouya raised a brow slightly, then looked down, yep there was a huge, unmissable lump snaking down the left leg of his pants. He let out a small yelp as he attempted to cover up his arousal, a very failed attempt at that. "Oh god, I'm so, so sorry. This very embarrassing..." His whiskers looked like they are close to bursting into flames from how hot his face was, he turned around in an attempt to adjust himself.

"You should be proud of what you have. I know many men who would kill for it." The fox let out a small chuckle at his own joke.

Kouya still had his back turned to the fox, blush still on his face. That was another thing he was 'above average' at, last he measured himself, out of curiosity, he was slightly above 10 inches, couldn't read the exact number though. "No, that was mighty rude of me. Sorry."

Just then, he felt the fox right beside him, his body slightly pressed against his own. "Don't be. It was quite flattering~" The fox stated as he hooked one arm around Kouya's arm, the other slowly snaked down towards his erection, gently rubbing against the length of it. "Ooohhh~ Pretty thick, too~"

Kouya's body stiffed up, almost paralyzed, his cock giving a small twitched and shooting a thick drop of pre into his pants. "I, uh... I have to go!" He yanked himself out of the fox's grip, quickly grabbing his bag and making a mad dash back home, tripping and almost tumbling down a few times.

---

That night, Kouya was in his shower, deep in thought about that afternoon as the warm water rained down on him, especially the fox he met. He sure was... affectionate. He remembered those soft hands roaming over his body and his cock, which caused his body to heat up.

He let out a small groan as merely remembering that fox made him chub up, big time. He had no choice but to relieve himself, otherwise, he won't be thinking straight for the rest of the night.

The moment his hand took hold of his cock, his mind began racing with imagination, stroking his lengthy shaft with slow strokes, for starters. How would the fox look like under that yukata? Is he as skilled as he lets on? Those soft hands roaming over his body, without the clothes this time. And that kiss? Oh, gods, that kiss! He suddenly let out a grunt as his body convulsed with pleasure, his hefty balls pulling and scrunching up, right before spraying the tile walls of the shower with a very impressive and generous amount of cum. Seems like everything about him down there was big.

He took a few seconds to collect himself before finishing his shower and spraying the walls clean, as much as possible, then grabbed some instant noodles and some other stuff, making himself a fancy bowl for dinner complete with an egg on top, a small slab of steak, and some finely cut vegetables.

As he was preparing his food, he remembered the phone's chime from earlier and checked it to see what he got. It was a message from a game company with a logo of three, conjoined triangles of different colors, clearly inspired by the Norse symbol, the Valknut if he remembers. The message read as such.

[Dear Player

We are excited to inform you that you have been chosen to be the newest player of a new game we have developed and are among the first participants.

Your participation will be handsomely rewarded, of course, just followed the instructions below to complete your participation in the game and earn your title.

Let's change the world, together!]

He didn't bother checking whatever instructions they have sent him, but he still checked his phone... yep, sure enough, there it was. The app didn't look that interesting, it actually looked pretty plain, in fact. Just a background with various hues of blue to replicant the night sky, while the front had, what seemed to be, a blue onibi with an eye in the middle.

Not bothering with any of that, he simply deleted the app, deleted the message, then turned back to his food before the noodles got too soggy.

He watched the news as he slowly ate, they were again talking about all of the incidents that have been happening for a while. Another victim was found tonight, can't really tell if they were lucky to be alive or unlucky to be the targets this time around. And from the sight of the scene, it seems to be pretty close to Kouya's neighborhood, good thing he went home early.

But his mind started wandering... will that fox be okay? He seemed like the type of guy who always dies in horror movies.

... He let out a deep sigh of irritation at himself. "Can't believe I'm doing this..." He went and grabbed a jacket, put on his shoes, and walked out of the house.

He arrived at the playground and started looking around, panting softly as he jogged all the way there. He was about to call out for the fox but then remembered an important fact: He doesn't even know the man's name!

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He reprimanded himself as he gently tapped his head with the heel of his hand. "Can't believe it didn't cross my mind!" He walked into the playground and looked around some more. "Can't really start calling 'Mr. Fox!' like a madman in the middle of the night."

He took a seat on one of the swings there, deep in thought and worry for the fox's well-being. "Why couldn't I ask for his name...?" He let out a sigh of disappointment, deeming his current efforts a waste of time. He got off the swing and made his way out of the playground, the moment he stepped out of the small gates, he got this sense of dread crawling all over him, like a hundred murderous eyes glaring death down at him. He turned to the sound and jumped slightly.

It was not clear, but there was someone standing under a broken lamppost, if looks could kill, the glare that the person was giving him would kill him a thousand times over in a matter of seconds. The sense of dread multiplied a hundred-fold... the moment he saw the sickle in the person's hand.

He began slowly inching backward, unable to turn his back as he felt that he'll die the moment that happens. His heart slowly sinking deeper and deeper into his stomach, his breath shaken and labored, the person in front of him slowly raised the sickle in his hand, the blade gleaming faintly from the light behind him.

The moment he saw that he turned around real quick, determined to dash as fast as he could back home... if it wasn't for the person he ran into, both toppling to the ground. "What the hell?" He asked no one in particular, but his ears perked up as the person he ran into was actually the fox he was looking for.

"Ow... What's the rush?" The fox asked with a slight chuckle.

"No rush... I was just-" His expression dropped suddenly, quickly sitting up and grabbing the fox by his arms. "No time for that, we have to get out of here! There's a-" He turned to point at the sickle-wielding person...

But there was no one there... "Eh?"

"There's no one there..." The fox stated with slight confusion as he stood, patting the dust off of his yukata. "Didn't expect to see you back here at this time."

After taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down, Kouya stood up, patting himself down as well. "I was, um... I was actually... looking for you..." He blushed slightly as stated his intentions.

The fox actually blushed slightly at that. "Oh... you were... worried about me?"

"Well, yeah... with everything that's been going on... i-it's dangerous to be out alone..."

"My, how valiant of you~" The fox said with a slight chuckle, making the cat blush as well. "But thank you, for your concern."

"Hey, is your place close by? I can walk you there."

"Um... actually, I don't live around here... And the last train that I usually use has already departed."

Strange, there must be a train or two that are still running... but considering everything that's going on, it would be understandable. "Any place for the night?"

The fox blush in embarrassment, shaking his head. "Nowhere close by..."

Kouya didn't believe what he was about to suggest. He took a deep breath and went for it. "Do you want to spend the night with me?"

The fox was taken aback by the sudden suggestion... then burst out laughing much to Kouya's confusion. "Oh dear! You could at least take me on a date first!"

It took a second for Kouya to realize what he just said, right before his face exploded into a blush for, probably, the hundredth time in a couple of days. "Nonono! What I wanted to say is, um... uh, well... it's... ahem..." He took a couple of seconds to collect his thoughts... then spoke again. "Is it okay with you to spend the night at my place?"

"Sure!" Was the fast reply that he got.

Kouya blinked a couple of times at that. "Wait... really?"

"Indeed. You seem like a decent enough gentleman... and strangely enough, I actually trust you. Imagine that. And we only met, like what, two times before, this being the third?"

"Well, thank you for trusting me nonetheless. My place isn't much but it should be good enough for the night, I hope."

"Lead the way then~" The fox smiled softly at Kouya.

"A-alright... i-it's this way..." He walked a couple of steps past the fox...

And suddenly felt the fox's arms around his. "Don't want you running away like this afternoon and leave me lost." The fox let out a small chuckle at his little joke.

While Kouya blushed slightly. "Oh... right... Sorry about that."

They started walking together, Kouya making sure to match the fox's pace. Their trip was mostly spent in silence, despite the soft clacking of the fox's getas against the ground, until... "Gintoki Hattori." Kouya was broken out of his thoughtful trance, looking down at the fox, who turned his head and looked up at him. "My name. We forgot to introduce ourselves before."

"Oh! Man, that's embarrassing." Kouya said, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand, bashfully, the small fact earning a tiny chuckle out of both of them. "My name is Kouya. Kouya Tatsunagi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Hattori-san."

The fox gave his arm a slight tug. "Come on, none of that official talk. Just call me Gintoki~" He then got a thoughtful look on his face. "Tatsunagi...?" The fox, Gintoki mused to himself... then his expression perked up. "Oh! As in the Tatsunagi kendo and karate dojo?"

"Oh, you've heard about it? Yeah, my grandparents co-own a dojo, they split the weekdays between kendo and karate. My grandfather is the kendo instructor while my grandmother is... was, taking the karate."

"Is she...?"

"Oh, no. She's just... not as young as she used to be. But a couple of her former students handle the karate lessons in her place now. While my grandfather is as spry and lively as ever." He let out a small chuckle. "I actually got a bit into both when I was young... though I don't practice as often as I used to, nowadays."

"And your parents?"

"Both got into the winemaking business. I remember the multiple times that my grandfather would take a jab at my father for not inheriting the dojo." He let out a small sigh. "Better that way if you ask me. I know for a fact that my father would've sold the place and the land it was on the second he could get it."

"I see... I see..." They continued the rest of the way in relative silence, nothing but the sounds of their steps against the ground and the faint chirping of nocturnal insects around them.

---

Back at the house, Kouya was setting up a futon in one of the guest rooms for Gintoki, who was just coming out of his shower, walking in wearing some of Kouya's clothes, a plain tank top, and dark-colored sweatpants. A few of the rooms in the second floor of the house were set up to look like modern bedrooms.

Without the yukata on, Kouya could see the fox's slim figure, not 'lack of eating' slim, but more of a 'healthy, in-shape' slim. "Phew! I really needed that bath. Thank you for letting me use the onsen too." The other thing that caught Kouya by surprise was the color of the fox's hair. It wasn't the pale pink that he thought it was before, but now, under a proper light, he saw that it was fully pink, rose-gold in fact, which added to Gintoki's mysterious beauty.

"No worries. A good, warm soak is always good before sleep." Kouya finished laying the futon. "This should do for the night." He looked over at the fox who was standing there with a worried expression on his face and fidgeting slightly. "Is... everything okay?"

"Oh? Oh yeah, um..." He looked at the ground, brows crossed slightly like he was trying to choose his words carefully, his face blushing. "Is... is it okay, if I slept with you?" The question caught Kouya off guard. "I'm just... kinda scared to be alone tonight. When I realized that I missed my train, I panicked a little. I didn't even have the money to stay at an inn or a hotel."

He looked up at Kouya, his eyes silently pleading to the cat. "I know about what has been happening the last few months and the thought of being alone scared me so much." His face then split into that small smile of his. "So when you arrived and offered me a place to stay, I was so relieved, especially so since it was you."

"Oh, um... really? I mean, we barely know each other. I could've had an ulterior motive behind all the generosity, you know." Despite his words, Kouya's heart was fluttering all the way to heaven right now.

"No, you're not like that. Call it a gut feeling."

"Well, I suppose it's okay, it's just for the night, right? No harm with that." Kouya rolled up the futon and picked it, before making his way to his room. "This way."

---

A little while later, with Gintoki's futon laid out in Kouya's room, everything was set for the night. But the way they were sleeping was not exactly what Kouya had in mind.

There they were, Kouya practically stiff as a corpse, trying not to make any sudden movements while Gintoki was actually in his bed with him, cuddled up to the cat. Their bodies gently pressing against one another in that position, with the fox's arm draped over the cat's midsection.

'Not exactly the plan, but I'm not complaining...' Kouya thought to himself as he turned his head to look at Gintoki. The fox's calm and peaceful sleeping face was a pretty welcome sight, he had to rely on all of his willpower to not lean in for a kiss.

Kouya shook his head out of whatever cloud he was on, turning back to look at the ceiling. 'I'm not ready for another relationship... but... maybe...' These thoughts ran through his mind as he slowly closed his eyes, sleep finally claiming him.

---

The next morning, Kouya woke up from the most pleasant sleep he ever had, slowly sitting up and doing a brief stretch. He looked beside him and found the place where Gintoki was sleeping was empty, and the futon was properly folded and set aside.

He got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to freshen up real quick. Once that was done, he made his way to the kitchen to get himself something to drink then back to the living room and switching the TV on. No victims last night, which surprised pretty much everyone, as the assaulter never goes a week without attacking two or three people, at least.

Luckily for him, he didn't have any classes today, so he opted to relax a bit, maybe work on the manga project later today. But just as he was setting up a mental schedule... *Ding Dong* the gate's bell rang, he wasn't expecting any visitors though.

He checked who it was through the intercom's camera, letting out a sigh of irritation. "What do you guys want?"

His friends all clamored around the camera, trying to fit into its sight, all smiles, and grins. "We came to offer our support, of course!" Ran stated before everyone showed the bags of food and snacks they carried.

"How the hell did you prepare all of that so early in the morning?"

"It's already the afternoon, dumbass!" Shinji corrected with an irritated snort.

Kouya's ear's perked up before he dashed to the living room, and sure enough, it was the afternoon... did he really sleep that well, last night?

A few seconds later, the gates were opened and his friends casually came in, making themselves at home as usual. They set the grocery snacks down in the living room while the girls went to the kitchen to prepare some homemade ones. "So, Shinji," Jotaro started, poking the boar with his foot. "Any other news about our Wind-Born Slasher?"

"Say what now?" Kouya's ears slightly perked up at the mention of the name.

"Come on, man. It's the criminal who's been terrorizing everyone recently. He's got to have a cool name, right?"

"Oh yeah, give the guy slashing and assaulting people the cool name. Very nice." Tanemaru replied with some disappointment in his voice.

"It wasn't me who gave him the name, dumbass, the tabloids have been eating this case up." Jotaro replied defensively.

"And tearing us a new one." Shinji finally spoke up, if for no other reason than to make those two shut up. "They've been up our asses about the whole thing, and not in a good way, that's for sure."

"Don't mind them, those guys are all talk."

"Not if it ruins the face of law enforcement. Some of them have also been actively calling for neighborhood watches. They're literally asking civilians to put their lives in danger."

*PLING* Everyone's ears perked up as they heard the chime of a phone, each checking their own till they realized that it was Kouya's. "Fucking dammit..." He growled to himself.

"Wassup?" Jotaro asked as he crawled over to him, checking the screen. "Oh! It's that app that Trinity Games have been aggressively advertising." The other boys crawled over and checked the screen as well, and sure enough that app from last night was back.

He deleted it again and put his phone aside, just as the girls came in. "Check it out, boys! Enjoy it while it lasts, you won't see us doing this often." Ran stated loudly as she and Sayaka put the trays of cookies and tea on the table. "By the way, Kou-chan~?" She asked in a mischievous tone that everyone recognized.

"What is it?"

"Would you like to explain this?" She asked teasingly as Sayaka pulled out a bento box, neatly wrapped in a cute, pink cloth with flowery patterns all over.

"Huh... the hell did that came from?" He asked with genuine confusion.

"We found it on the kitchen table." Sayaka replied before producing a small slip of paper. "We also found this message on it."

Kouya took the paper, unfolded it, and read it. 'Thanks for a pleasant night' And finished with a tiny drawing of a fox.

The moment he saw that tiny drawing, his mind raced to last night... and his face exploded in a blush. "Nonononono!!! This is not what it looks like!"

"Oooohhh! Someone's holding back on us, eh? Eh?" Jotaro hooked the cat's neck with one arm, poking at his cheek with the other hand.

"I swear, this is a misunderstanding! Just let me explain!" He managed to untangle himself from Jotaro's grip and after some more ribbing from the others, he was finally given the chance to explain what happened yesterday and last night. "And that's what happened... I'm guessing the bento is his way of thanking me."

"Okay, let me get this straight..." Shinji pinched the bridge of his snout, rubbing it slightly. "You were actually stupid enough to let a complete stranger into your home, like that?"

"He seemed trustworthy... plus it was a gut feeling I had..." Kouya's ears drooped low as he was reprimanded.

"Well, you proved to not be such a good judge of character recently." Jotaro said in a flat, deadpan tone, but that got him a sharp elbow to the side from Ran, making him double over from the pain.

Everyone went silent as they turned to look at Kouya... who's expression was pretty unreadable at that moment. "Kouya...?" Sayaka placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Please excuse me. Gotta use the toilet for a bit." He said in an almost defeated tone as he stood up and left the living room.

"Way to go, asshole!" Ran growled at the akita before giving the side of his head a hard smack.

"OW! I'm sorry!" Jotaro raised his hands, protecting himself from further attacks. "Figured he'd be over it by now."

"That's a very sore spot for Kouya, we all know that and we all agreed to not mention it ever again, in his presence or otherwise." Sayaka reprimanded firmly.

"Okay, okay... I'll go apologies." And Jotaro did just that, leaving the room and making his way to the bathroom where Kouya supposedly was. He found Kouya in the bathroom, standing over the sink, his expression stoic and unreadable still. "Hey, um... listen, dude... I was out of line back there. I shouldn't have said what I said and... if you want to get back at me for it, just go for it."

Kouya was silent for a while... taking a scoop of water in both hands and splashing his face... then turned to his friend with a smile. "No, it's not worth. You're right... I shouldn't be trustworthy of others. I'll just tell Gintoki to find someplace else, next time..." Even Jotaro knew that Kouya's current smile was forced... painfully forced at that. But he didn't say anything, just hooked his arm around Kouya, as he always does, as they both joined the others back in the living room. Just then the doorbell rang.

"Oi! Kouya! You got some mail." Jonathan called to him as he walked back to the living room at the same time as them, holding a small box.

They cleared a small space on the table for the parcel, everyone looking at it with curiosity and caution. "You sure you didn't order anything and forgot about it?" Tanemaru asked as he eyed the thing carefully, giving it a couple of cautious pokes.

"Nope. Didn't order anything." He carefully picked up the box, turning it this side and that, looking for any indication of who's the sender. "And the guy just gave it to you, like that? No signature required?"

The golden retriever shook his head. "Nope. Just handed it over and bid me a good day."

"Oh, hey, look! Over here!" Shinji pointed to the very corner of the parcel. When Kouya flipped it to that side, they instantly recognized the sender. "Isn't that the logo for Trinity Games?"

They looked at the logo for a few seconds... "Well, we're not gonna get anything done like this..." He removed the tape from around the sides of the box. "Here goes..." Then opened it... and looked inside.

"Is that... for a new game of theirs?" Ran asked as they regarded the device inside. It was completely white, loosely shaped like a key with a tiny screen at the top, it was also attached to a fingerless glove.

"Maybe it's one of those external devices that recent gaming consoles use for some of their latest games?" Jotaro asked no one in particular.

"Oh, look." Sayaka pulled out a slip of paper from inside the box, reading what was on it out loud. "Dear player. We hope you received the Onmyouji Deck with no issue. This device is mandatory to play our latest game, after you configure your game's settings with the device you were given, you'll be ready to join the hundreds of fellow Onmyouji on a journey to change the world!"

"Pretty sketchy if you ask me." Shinji said as he picked up the device, turning it from side to side to check out the design.

Jonathan hummed in thought. "They said Onmyouji. Those are Japanese sorcerers, right?"

"More like monks and exorcists, but yeah, they do utilize strange magic to battle against evil yokai. Demons, in English." Tanemaru explained as he looked inside the box for anything else.

"Seems like this is gonna be one of those AR games..." Ran suggested as she took the device from Shinja and put it on... then stood up... took a deep breath... "Heeeen-shin!" She suddenly cried out as she struck a somewhat heroic pose... "Just kidding." That got a chuckle from the others. After that everyone took turns trying the device on, even taking selfies with each other as they wore it.

By the time it reached Kouya, everyone had tried it on, but once he put it on, he felt this... strange feeling of completion, the glove fit perfectly... too perfectly... He shook the feeling out of his mind and joined the others for a group selfie.

---

By the time evening rolled over, everyone said their goodbyes, and Kouya was left to clean up, which he did slowly as he didn't have anything else to do for that night.

By the time he finished and was on his way to take out the bags of trash... *Ding Dong* The bell rang again. "Who the fuck could that be?" He placed the bags down and opened the gates slightly to see who it was... "Gintoki?"

The fox stood there with a small smile on his face. "Hello again, Kou-chan! Pleasant night, isn't it?"

"What are you doing here?" Kouya opened the door and took out the trash bags, putting them down in the proper place for the garbage trucks to pick up later.

"Look, um..." Gintoki rubbed his neck bashfully. "I was wondering if I might be able to spend the night at your place again. Last night was... the best sleep I got in a long while. That and I think I spent all of my money for the day, so..." He stopped talking as he noticed Kouya's unreadable expression as well as his dropped ears. "Kouya?"

"I'm sorry... but you should look for someplace else..." He didn't even dare to look in Gintoki's direction. "Last night was nice, true... but it was a mistake... one neither of us should've made."

"Oh... I see..." Kouya could clearly hear the disappointment in the fox's voice. "You're right, you're right. We're total strangers to each other, after all. It's only natural to have second thoughts, especially with everything going on right now."

"I'm sorry. Good night, Gintoki." He walked through the gates and closed them behind him, not even waiting for the fox's farewell.

He went back inside, sitting in the living room and watching a comedy show with very little interest. His eyes fell down on the device resting on the table, just then his phone chimed again. "Please don't be what I think it is..." He checked his phone... yep, same app, same message, only this time, the message had more instructions on how to link the Deck to the game on his phone.

"Fine! Dammit to hell..." He finally gave up and opened the app and was met with some intense music and an action-filled cutscene with men and women in onmyouji outfits flinging spells and calling familiars to fight with them. Once the cutscene was over, he went through the tutorial that showed him the basics of the game.

Strangely enough, it didn't have anything relating to combat, gear collection, not even a campaign. "What the hell am I supposed to do then?" He then remembered the device and picked it up... "Fuck it, I came this far..." He said to no one in particular as he followed the instructions to configure both the game and the device together, once he finished the screen on the Deck lit up with the sound of a wind chime. "Huh... ain't that cute."

He finished with all of that and, for no particular reason, wore the device on his hand, that tiny but pleasant feeling from earlier coming back, so he decided to keep it on as he flipped through the game's options. There was everything else, leaderboards, personal stats, even a personal deck of 'spells' he can use. But still nothing on how he can progress in the game, not even the instructions he received showed him how.

"Ah, fuck it!" He almost tossed his phone aside with a huff as he propped his head on his hand and went back to watching the show. However, as time went on, his mind went back to Gintoki. Even if he couldn't see the fox's face, he could feel his sadness from where he was standing and the image that played in his mind made his heart drop with guilt.

"GAAAHHH!!! Why am I like this!?" He screamed into the empty house right before jumping to his feet, grabbing his jacket and racing out of the door, determined to find Gintoki and bring him back. He never felt so strongly about someone like that, so what was so different here!?

---

He arrived at the playground in record time, panting hard as he looked around. "Gintoki!... Gintoki, where are you?" He called out as he walked into the playground... still nothing... "He's always around here at this time..." He took a seat on one of the swings. "Did I really fuck it up, this time...?" He asked no one in particular...

Then suddenly... *BOOM* A large explosion of dust and debris occurred in the playground, dangerously close to where Kouya was. "The fuck!?" Once the dust cleared up, he let out a gasp as he saw a familiar person laying on the ground. "GINTOKI!!!" The fox was laying on the ground, leaning back on the small, broken concrete wall, his yukata in tatters as various slash marks were all over his body, as well as various bruises. "The hell happened to you?" Just then, his eyes fell on the scythe beside the fox, the bottom of the pole was wrapped in a small, red cloth, while the top was also wrapped in the same colored cloth, but also had a pair of suzu bells dangling from it, the blade itself was long and a bit more crooked than usual, slightly resembling a crescent moon.

"Kouya... no... get out of here..." The fox tried to warn the cat while also trying to get up, but was clearly too beat up to move properly.

"H-h-hang on... I'll call the ambulance!" He pulled out his phone, dialed the number, and waited for the call to connected... but all he got was this strange static. "Fuck! The hell is wrong with this thing!?"

"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself, rather than others?" The moment he heard that voice, the sense of dread and murder came back to Kouya, a hundredfold. He turned back and found a person standing on top of the opposite wall.

"I'd be running if I were you, then again, can't let you get away now that you saw me, now can I?" The owner of the voice asked snarkily. The man behind him was a weasel, slim and athletic in build, which was pretty evident from his tight t-shirt and tight jeans, he also noticed the wind and cloud-themed tattoos on both of the weasel's arms, apparently reaching up to his shoulders and sides of his neck. But what caused Kouya's face to turn pale were the dual kamas in the weasel's hands, he remembers them clearly from last night, no way he could forget them.

"Kou-chan... get out of here... now!" Gintoki managed to raise himself off the ground, slightly, but fell to his knees almost instantly.

"Gintoki!" Kouya's eyes turned back and forth between the fox and the weasel, clearly, there was something going on between them, but he can't worry about that now, he had to get Gintoki out of here!

The weasel jumped off the wall, landing gracefully on the ground and walking towards them, his steps completely silent. "Look at you, fox. All banged up and bruised by a lowly creature like me. What would the others say if they saw you right now? Well..." He raised both kamas as a crazed, happy look spread on his face. "What's gonna be left of you, anyway!" The weasel stopped his approach suddenly, blinking a couple of times. "The fuck are you doing, newbie?"

Before he could think, Kouya found himself standing in front of Gintoki, shielding the fox. "Not another step, asshole."

The weasel snickered a bit... then turned into an outright maniacal cackle. "Oh man. Oh boy... that's rich. Please stop... you're gonna kill!" He was laughing all the while, even holding his stomach and sides and almost doubling over.

"What the fuck is so funny!?"

The weasel calmed down a bit, wiping some tears off before speaking. "Oh man, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you?" Seeing the confused look on the cat's face, he smiled and raised his kamas again. "Well... too bad you won't get the chance!" Then suddenly charged at them, too fast for Kouya to react properly.

"KOUYA!" Hearing Gintoki's voice, Kouya thought of the very brief time they were together, only two days, but those were the best two days of his life. The only thing he could do in this state was raise his hands and block as much of the attack as he could, although he knew that would be futile.

'But... as long as it gives Gintoki a chance... I have no regrets..'

Just then, the device he wore gave off a very bright flash, blinding the charging weasel and injured fox behind him, he knew that something flashed brightly from how hot his eyelids felt at that time. Kouya waited for the attack to hit... but nothing happened... he took the chance to slacken his pose and take a peek. He saw the weasel a distance away from him, rubbing at his eyes. His own eyes looked down at the device... and noticed the color change.

Instead of the white, key shape, it had earlier, the design changed to be more like a paper fan, with the colors changed to a mix of black, pink, and blue, with the black being the dominant color, while the pink and blue were for decorations of sakura flowers and water waves, respectively. "What the hell...?"

"Motherfucker!!!" The weasel screamed angrily. Kouya lifted his gaze back up and blanched in horror. The creature in front of him was still a weasel, but the kamas disappeared, instead, large, kama-shaped blades were jutting out of the sides of his forearms, small blades came out from just above his heels, while half of his tail also changed to resemble a giant kama. Add to all that the fact that his claws and fangs grew longer and sharper than before, while his eyes turned black with blood-red irises. "You're going to pay for that!"

"The fuck... are you...?"

The weasel... creature(?) chuckled ominously, a wide and disturbing smile spreading on his face. "Shouldn't you ask your boyfriend the same question?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Kouya demanded firmly.

"Kou-chan..." Gintoki whispered to him softly.

"Don't worry. I'll create an opening, once he's distracted you get out of here as fast as you can, alright?... Ginto-" His words died in his throat once he turned to look at Gintoki... was this really Gintoki?

The fox behind him was very different. He still retained the black 'gloves' and 'socks' of his fur and black markings on his snout, but everything else was different. Gone was the golden and white fur, replaced with all white, red, kabuki-like markings appeared on his face, his rose-gold hair turned to a more silver hue. But what shocked Kouya the most was that instead of one, bushy fox tail, he counted seven, long, tendril-like tails with black tips. "G-Gintoki?"

The fox was unable to form the right words for the cat, but realized he didn't have time for that, as he pulled Kouya to him just as the weasel charged at them. He produced a ball of paper with talismans all over it and threw it hard onto the ground in front of them, causing it to explode in a thick cloud of smoke. "Oh no, you don't!" The weasel growled as he slashed at the smoke cloud, causing a violent gust of wind to blow through and blow it away... But it was too late, they were already gone at that moment.

The weasel began hyperventilating angrily, his sharp teeth clenching and gnashing against one another before letting out an angry roar. "GIIINTOOOKIIII!!!!"

---

Gintoki carried Kouya bridal-style as he jumped from roof to roof, tree to tree, until they arrived back at the cat's house in mere seconds, gliding through the air before landing in the cat's backyard. He slowly let Kouya down as they now both stood under the sakura tree.

Gintoki rubbed his neck nervously, letting out a nervous chuckle as he pushed some strands of hair off of his face. "Well, um... I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

Just then, a gentle breeze of wind blew, whistling soothingly as it passed and pulling some petals from the tree along with it. Seeing this scenery in front of him, Kouya had one thought crossing his mind at that moment...

Who was this beautiful creature in front of him...?