I ever mention how I hate the times Loraine went boosted animal on the road?

I mean probably most people do, but instead of yelling, she whispers so many curses in the lowest breath. And that's what intimidated me the most. Not because it was scary considering Loraine's chatterbox persona. It was because of that foreboding feeling in my gut that I knew someone like this from before and I couldn't remember who.

Whoever they were though, I wished I'll never meet them again.

"You doing okay, Dragon Child?" Rudo's voice brought me back. It was a mellow red, like a fire, the color rising and falling with each pitch.

I snapped out from my thoughts and gave him a glare. "Not so good considering we almost got eaten by a giant skeleton."

He bit his lip trying to stifle a laugh. "Sorry. But gashadokuro are a rare bunch. They only appear when an enough number of corpses congest into one being."

I groaned. "Okay, stop talking. Don't wanna hear anything related to death."

"Heh, alright then... What else do you want to talk about then?"

Where in the heck are we going, I thought. What am I, why me, why is fate tugging at my life-

"You said you knew about the camp, right?" I turned to him. "Explain everything about it to me."

He took a deep breath. "This... It's not a camp, more like an entire city. Like if you get a city with around 5,000 people inside one place then you got Okayama."

"Okayama? What's that?" I asked him.

"The name of our home. Our Empress chose that name. It originated from the actual city with the karasu-jō. Quite fitting actually, since our Okayama almost looks like the city." Rudo tapped his knees in an unknown rhythm. "But... There is catch, though. You see, the place is guarded by a bunch of protection seals."

"You mean like that slip of paper you stuck on the skeleton?"

He nodded. "The place is practically hidden to mortal and mythical eye. Meaning no one can get in or out."

I mulled over his words. If nobody can get in then I'm screwed over when we get there. If nobody can go out then how is Rudo here? And if that's the case, then...

Anger starting to bubble inside of me. "So what you're saying is-you escaped from the city, and made me do this quest for nothing?"

Rudo waved his hands in an attempt to calm me down. "I meant nothing like that! Well, the escaping part was right..."

"Don't kill him or you'll have to run to Okayama." The fox chastised. "Look, I've been there. You'll be fine."

I bared my teeth. "I can't even get in there! Who's to say your just lying?"

The dark man gave me an antagonizing look. "Lady! I saved your shiri from a man-eating skeleton and this is how you treat your saviors?" He flicked my forehead, the flames not bothering him. "No wonder you look like a social freak in your interviews, you're never going to get a significant other at this rate!"

"Shut up!" I snarled, the flames getting higher. "Who said I was a social freak-"

"Most of the interviews you had, your hands would often move about, never stopping. It's either rubbing both of them together or tapping on any surface including your skin. Not only your hands but also your legs. You keep bouncing one leg whenever the interview takes too long but you try to hide it. Your facial expressions were so obvious to a point where I wanted to punch myself." He paused, rubbing his temples. "Your way of talking was always stuttered and uneven like you're not even used to interviews. The last interview you had, the fourth of April, right? You looked horrible even if you were aesthetically beautiful."

From my fish-like expression, Rudo smirked triumphantly. "Th-That's just conjecture! You can't prove that-"

He tutted. "Psychologically speaking, those types of behavior stimulate from either physical or verbal abuse or both during childhood. Signs include having a hard time conversing with people, low self-esteem, and the like." He went near my face, smirking. "You're busted, girl. You're not fooling anybody with that act of yours."

And with that, throughout a few minutes in the ride, I said nothing. Not even the fox said anything.

Was I... really that transparent?

"How...?" I breathed out.

"I'm a child of Inari, Kasumi. Children of Inari are excellent at cracking down people. Most of the children excel in psychology. Kind of like Pavlov, in which he is also related to Inari. That's why most of us are great at reading through habits."

We rode in silence through the ride. And I was thankful, give or take. I didn't want to listen to his list of things that made me awkward but I wanted to know. What else is there that made me weak so that so that I could fix them so I wouldn't be helpless?

"Any more questions, Kasumi?" He said in a soft voice.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah. Uh... How long is this ride?"

He adjusted his glasses. "Soon-ish. This automaton runs at a fast rate. We'll be there in no time." He then took something from his bag, a small glass vial, and placed it near my head. "So I don't seem to recall a child of Ryujin having ears, tails, and blue fire, now have I?"

I ignored the vial and called out, "Hey fox, somebody wants to meet you."

The next second, the white fox situated herself on my lap. She yawned.

"Wow... First time I've seen a white kitsune before." He whispered. "But... this one's just a borrowed spirit. How could you summon one, Kasumi?"

I tilted my head. "Huh? I didn't borrow her from anyone, and how did you know?"

He shrugged. "Inari-sense. Now tell me little fox, who do you work for?"

And in that moment, she disappeared in a puff of smoke. I coughed out as my hand waved to get rid of the smoke.

"Ah, well it doesn't matter. We're almost there."

Just when he said that, the ride came to a halt as I lurched forward, tumbling out of the rickshaw and onto grass. "We had seat belts, Kasumi."

"Good to know." I groaned from the dirt. I lifted my upper body up and I thanked the kami that no dirt was falling from my mouth.

"Mother of dragons..." I gasped.