“Why are we heading to a mall in the outskirts of Tokyo, on a sunday?” Kurt inquired as they walked into the mall Komaki had determined the delivery place to be under.

“Because I need to figure out how to get a crate underneath it.” The Kitsune replied with a smirk. “And you said you had nothing else planned for today anyway.”

Kurt sighed and hung his head as he replied. “Sure, sure, but when you asked if I had time to help you with ‘Fox-Stuff’ I did not expect a shopping trip.”

“Well we are here now, so let’s make the best of it eh?”

“Fine.” Kurt said as the duo stepped inside. “So what’s your plan?”

“For now I thought we could just check out the mall. Maybe there’s a shrine or something inside, or maybe on the roof.” Eva said with a shrug as she held open the door for an elderly woman coming in behind them. “And if we find something like that, try asking who I could be meant to deliver this to.”

“So just window shopping for now.” He summarized with a shake of his head. Letting out a deep sigh he grumbled into his beard silently. “I really should start asking for more details.”

“Well, you could have asked for them before agreeing.” Eva offered with a shrug as she took the lead in exploring the, for Tokyo standards, small mall. She did bring the map that was still attuned to the crate’s destination from the divination they did yesterday. And the Kitsune used it regularly to see if maybe now her sense of direction would show her a more direct route. But either Komaki had been completely wrong the day before, or, no matter where in this mall she started, the best way was indeed to head way up river and swim through the tunnels the waterway had been redirected into over the years.

Still, at least the shops looked interesting. Only the annoyed looks Kurt was already sending her kept her from going into too many of them. Not that he was completely blameless there. When they passed a store selling traditional Kimono he pulled her to a stop as she was about to walk past it.

“What?” She asked, more surprised than annoyed as she turned around.

“I think you would look great in this one.” Kurt said, pointing at a dark green houmongi painted with a seren woodland scene covered in snow with a few foxes here and there.

“Maybe.” She said with a shrug. Before pointing at the price tag. “But I doubt either of us could afford to buy something here. And going in to try something on that’s as elaborate as that without buying something feels wrong to me.” She then stepped closer to whisper. “Besides, If seeing me in a fine Kimono is all you want, I can show you something interesting later.”

Getting a bit flushed Kurt just nodded and followed her along to see more of the 1st floor of the mall. Though they did not find anything of real interest there. Though both Germans did end up wasting a bit of time browsing through various stores on this floor.

When lunchtime rolled around, they headed up a few floors to the food court. After both buying a simple bento at one of the smaller stalls, they stepped out on the roof terrace to sit in the warm early November sun as they ate their food.

“Is that a tiny Torii over there?” Kurt asked in between mouthfuls of rice as he pointed behind Eva.

Turning around to get a look at where he was pointing, she too noticed a small wooden pillar half hidden behind the corner of the building. “Maybe.”

Quickly wolfing down the remainder of her food, Eva slowly walked over towards that corner. As she stepped around it, the Kitsune saw that it was indeed a small shrine on the roof. It definitely looked much older and more weathered than the mall it stood on top of. The wooden sign with its name had been worn out by time and weather to a point she couldn’t read it anymore. Even the decorative fish carvings were barely identifiable as such. The building itself barely came up to Eva’s hips.

Lounging on top of it was a small figure, just a tad smaller than the building it was on top of. If not for the subtle movement of its chest, and the much better condition of its clothes, she would have thought it a decorative figure. A wide, conical straw hat covered most of the figure's head, a fishnet hanging from it like a veil obscured much of the rest of its body. Which was covered by an old, worn out coat made of straw.

With a quick look around Eva made sure no one was around to watch, before she ducked under the rope cordoning off the old shrine.

“Greetings.” She began to approach the presumed spirit, bowing deeply before continuing. “Are you perhaps the Kami of this shrine?”

“EH, what’s it to you lass?” The figure slurred as it slowly sat up straighter, presumably facing her. “And how come you know I was here?”

IN what she hoped to be an answer to his second question, she quickly revealed her ears and tails for a second before replying to the first. “I am looking for someone, or some place in this area. And I thought it a lucky omen to encounter the Kami of such an ancient shrine during my search.”

“That so ey?” He replied before jumping down from the roof. He did a little flip in the middle, though Eva was not sure if he’d planned on it or not with how he wobbled after the landing. “Well you can call me Sunadori. And this is indeed what remains of my shrine.”

“Then maybe you could tell me who lives underneath the ground around here?”

“No.” Sunadori said with a hearty laugh. “For all the time men have fished along the river that still flows underground, there has been no one living beneath the earth. And I should know, I’ve been here since that day.”

“I see.” Eva said with another bow. “I still thank you for the time you took for me today.” She then slowly made her way back to where Kurt was waiting for her.

“Well according to that old Kami, there’s no one actually living where we found that crate should go.”

“Does that mean we are done with the mall?” Kurt asked hopefully.

“No, I’d still like to check the basement. There’s supposed to be an arcade there.” Eva said with a nostalgic smile. “Haven’t been to one of those in forever.”