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the bowl and
slurping rice loudly.
    Madame Mori looked away in disgust,
meeting Yumiko’s eyes. “You aren’t feeling unwell, are
you?”
    Tanuki paused in his meal to listen to
her response.
    “ No, no,” Yumiko assured
her. “I had quite a feast on that captain’s ship last night. I’m
still pretty full.”
    Mori didn’t look quite convinced, but
nodded and continued eating, as did Tanuki.
    The truth was, Yumiko had just turned
seventeen two weeks ago, and since then, she hadn’t felt much like
eating. It made her sick to think that her eighteenth birthday was
approaching so quickly. It seemed like she was barreling toward it
at top speed, and couldn’t put on the brakes, no matter what she
did. And she would never be prepared for the day when it
came.
    Because when she turned eighteen, in
less than a year’s time, her life as she knew it would come to an
end.

Chapter Three

    “ Um, hello?”
    Yumiko looked up to see a man in his
early twenties standing in the doorway awkwardly. He was wearing a
crisp white dress shirt, and black dress pants, his hands stuffed
into his pockets shyly. He was an American, with messy dark brown
hair, who always seemed to boast a five o-clock shadow. But it
suited him. He was a handsome guy. She knew from her last encounter
with him that he was half-Japanese, but having grown up in America,
he seemed a little out-of-place and unsure of himself in this
environment.
    “ Mr. Mathis!” Yumiko
greeted him, standing up from her desk. “It’s a pleasure to see you
again.”
    Mr. Mathis bowed his head stiffly,
then smiled at her. “Please, call me Brian.” He paused. “It’s, uh,
the full moon. You said to come a few hours before, to
prepare.”
    “ Right, right,” Yumiko
agreed, stepping around her desk. “It came so suddenly.”
    Brian nodded in agreement. “Yes. Yes,
it did.”
    Yumiko offered him a sympathetic
look.
    “ Madame Mori hasn’t found
anything, has she?” he asked hopefully.
    Yumiko hated to disappoint him, but
shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Mathis.” She caught his eye and
amended, with “Brian.”
    “ I didn’t think
so.”
    “ But it’s a top priority,”
Yumiko assured him, reaching out and touching his shoulder. She
paused when she came into contact with his arm, not knowing why
she’d done it. Then she looked up into his piercing blue eyes. It
was strange to see such eyes with his features, even if he was only
half-Japanese. She knew that it was a rare genetic quirk, but she
thought that they suited him. They complimented his features,
framed by his long dark lashes.
    She realized that she’d been staring
and looked away quickly, dropping her hand.
    “ I’m sure it is,” Brian
said, clearing his throat. “And I know that finding a cure for a
man who turns into a creature isn’t the sort of thing that she
typically deals with.”
    “ Well, we don’t just deal
with ridding the world of malevolent yokai. We study them as well.
Your unique situation is one we haven’t come across before, and it
presents an opportunity to examine a foreign concept.”
    “ Why take the time to help
me?” he ran a hand back through his hair. “I’m sure you have your
hands full already.”
    “ There aren’t a set number
of yokai out there,” Yumiko said carefully. “No matter how many of
them we face, we will always encounter new ones. Understanding what
is happening to you may aid us in a battle further down the line.”
She shrugged. “Besides, using research as a weapon can be just as
powerful as using a sword. And it gives me a small respite from the
grueling jobs that Madame Mori sends me on. If I am to outwit…well,
if I am to face dangers to come, I will need more than reflexes
alone.”
    “ But why a fox?” Mr. Mathis
ran a hand back through his hair. “I just don’t understand. And why
me?”
    “ These things happen. But
we will get to the bottom of it.”
    “ It just seems like there’s
no reason for this to be happening. It seems