Hikaru and Taichi left the library building, as the village elder was still trying to deal with the other less intelligent animals that were causing chaos. He looked up as the fox and raccoon approached, relieved that he could delegate the task of shooing the animals away to someone else.
'My apologies for the wait, sir,' said the kitsune, 'it has been some time since foxes and raccoons have spoken. We have made negotiations amongst ourselves, we just need to see if you will agree with where humans fit in. Firstly, we kitsune will not be content to live as animals any more. We intend to set up our own towns and will live alongside humans. We will defend ourselves if we need to, but I'm sure it won't come to that, will it my friend?'
The human wasn't sure he liked the idea of this, but the look in the fox's eyes implied that if he disagreed then the fox wouldn't hesitate to take this already established and thriving community through force of tooth and claw. The elder managed to force a weak smile.
'Of course. We won't stop you, great kitsune. I too hope that we will live peacefully for many years. What of the tanuki? Will they form their own towns?' The elder hoped not. It was hard enough feeding themselves, let alone sharing with foxes and it would be almost impossible if raccoons were involved too.
'They have a different plan, tell them Taichi.'
'Um... yes, well, er,' Taichi tried to control his instinct to flee, as he was surrounded by essentially two dangerous predators. He gulped, and attempted to remember the fox's words in the library. 'We are happy to remain in our burrows, and will act as interpreters for the animals that are less used to humans.' He glanced at Hikaru, who grinned. 'Er, on the condition that we are given enough food to live, and that intelligent creatures are not hunted.'
The human nodded, and thought for a moment before giving his reply.
'It will be difficult, as we rely on many of these animals for food. However, we have much farmland, and as we have had foxes killing our livestock in the past, it is clear that they are efficient hunters. We will give food to the tanuki, and allow the kitsune to develop, but only if the tanuki help us around our village- I expect our food supplies will run low under these new circumstances, so we will need something in exchange- and we will give some of our land to the kitsune if the kitsune are willing to give us a share of the meat they hunt.'
'These conditions seem reasonable to me,' said Hikaru, 'on the counter condition that you help us with supplies to build our village as well. The one-time donation of land is not sufficient to justify us giving our hard-gotten food away indefinitely.'
The elder got the impression that the fox mentally added 'not when it can be taken by force' to the end of his sentence.
'Very well, then we have an agreement? Our land and timber to the kitsune in exchange for meat, and the tanuki's labour in exchange for crops? And I would also like to add that we only give what we can afford, we always keep enough to ensure the survival of humans, even at the expense of foxes and raccoons.'
'Very well.' said Hikaru. Both the fox and human's eyes turned to the raccoon, whose eyes had slightly glazed over in the discussion. He realised he was expected to say something, and quickly nodded.
'Yes, yes of course!'
'Excellent, so glad things have worked out so amicably!' said Hikaru with a certain glee, 'Without further ado, I shall return to my cohorts and inform them of the plan.'
And so he gathered his companions and set off out of town, back to the fox's den.
'I, er, I should be going too...' said Taichi, rushing off in raccoon form before the human could reply, leaving his clothes to fall to the floor and the sake bottle smashing on the ground.
On returning to the burrow, Taichi's family were not happy to hear that they would have to start working for their food. However, it meant they had a steady supply of food, and would not have to worry about the foxes any more. They would have to train themselves to deal with humans without running away, but if they could do that then they were almost guaranteed a carefree life, the one thing all raccoons desire.
Meanwhile, the foxes were laying their own plans. They were ecstatic that the humans were allowing them to build so close, and that the raccoons were being as predictable and gullible as always. Sure, the foxes would have to keep to themselves for a while but when the raccoon's greed overcomes the humans' supply then they'll both be begging the foxes for food, and they'll both be in the palm of their paws. Ideally, the raccoons will get so accustomed to having as much food as they like that they'll try getting more than their fair share, leading to conflict with the humans. Then the humans would go to war with them, and the foxes can strike against the victors when their numbers are diminished, then foxes can take their rightful place as dominant species. It even seemed that their concern for the other animals was unfounded, as they were all too stupid to know what to do. From henceforth, this day would be known amongst foxes as the Year of the Kitsune.
That is, until a previously unknown and entirely unexpected variable would enter the equation to put a stop to the fox's plan, and cause havoc amongst all those involved.
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