Fox Hunt

Tags: Mystery, Inari, no smut, thievery
Commissioned by: AruAzifu
Length: ~3k words
Want something written? Check https://pastebin.com/VPD1jDNq

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Before him had been placed a little cup on its own porcelain coaster. The smell greeted him shortly afterwards, that of the morning coffee he had grown almost dependent on after so long.

"How's your little search going?" Greeted the one to serve. An inari in her waitress uniform, too smug for comfort.

There was hardly any answer to give. A rhetorical question, almost a taunt, frustrating him before the inari gave a quiet laugh to herself. No matter how many times he saw her, there was no getting used to it.

"It must be harder than I imagined, to find evidence." She asked, her fox tail ever so slowly flowing from side to side.

"I can't do anything without it." He answered, almost in retort. "Who'd believe a kid would do such things?"

Her eye twitched as her fox ears perked up, threatening to break that smug smile of her as she kept it up by force. 'Kid'; certainly a fitting description for her physique in tragic ways; despite being as old as him, her height and washboard-like properties had always been her weakness. At least it was enough for him to pop a smirk.

The ringing bells of the door creaking open caught her attention, sign of another client to arrive. Returning her eyes to him, she winked before walking off, smiling as smugly as ever. Peace at last, he imagined as he brought up the cup for a sip.

As for the little search, he found himself stuck. Evidence. That was all he lacked. All that the investigation now demanded, that of several cases of thievery about. There was hardly a need to even look for suspects; he knew all too well that the inari was the culprit, as if her taunting had not been enough to cement the point. Inevitably, without evidence, he could not pursue a case against her, condemning him to smug mornings in the tiny cafe she worked at.

At least she served some mean coffee.

---

With the sun hidden past the horizon, he returned to an apartment complex. A place he had grown to call home, much to his displeasure.

His own room didn't do him much justice. Though certainly it had been normal in the early days, now it looked straight out of a satire. Boards on the walls with numerous newspaper articles pinned on, over which certain words had been highlighted. All, surrounding several maps with circles marked on a few spots. It didn't even touch upon what he had saved on his laptop. Nowadays, he certainly turned into the stereotype of his profession.

And despite it all, there was really nothing to look at anymore. The newest addition to the piles of potential clues had been days ago, piles which made no sense nor had any discernible pattern. One day, a little unremarkable store could be robbed in the dead of the night, and the next, the victim could be a megacorp CEO. What all had in common turned into his curse: That none had seen the culprit, regardless of how many cameras there'd be.

Too tired. He dragged his feet and plopped onto the bed face-up. Mental exhaustion. He slept well enough already, caring not to overtax himself into insomnia, but he could only spend so much time thinking about one singular case continuously. Day after day, it was the same.

Inconclusive.

What he had to tell himself each night before, he told himself then. There was nothing left to do now, all the clues had been inspected without result; to stay awake would hardly do anything other than steal what sleep he'd get. He couldn't turn into an obsessed madman.

Obsession.

To think that each waking hour, that taunting smug smile of the inari haunted his mind, from dawn till dusk.

Blinking blankly, it was only then that he came to the full realization: He had been thinking about her all this time, without pause. For better or worse, she was in his every thought.

---

Another morning, and another cup of coffee placed before him. His visits to the cafe had turned into so much of a habit, that he needed not to even ask for a cup anymore; one was always prepared the moment he crossed the door.

"You never give up, do you?" A familiar voice greeted, taunting yet still with an honest compliment hidden in tone. "You must be expecting a lot of pay... Or do you feel you're within reach of something?"

"If I give up, I wouldn't be here to have you serve me coffee."

At the response, the inari returned a chuckle. "Is it over having the excuse to order me around, or are you happy seeing me almost every day?"

"I'll leave you in suspense."

With her smile still on her, she took a slow, deep breath.

"It must be pretty tough to know who did something, and yet not be able to do much about it." She said. "To know the culprit runs free, doing whatever it wants..."

"You've been trying to get me to do something outside the law ever since I figured out it was you." He answered in frustration.

"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to." She said, smile growing smug. At that time the door creaked open, its bells ringing out to catch her attention; more clients, as it ever was at this hour. "Well, work calls. Have a nice day." She said, to then depart.

A tone leaving him in wonder. Rather than a taunt, it seemed an honest wish for well-being. Perhaps it was his ears playing tricks on him, or having not picked up subtleties that'd turn it into a taunt again. Rolling his eyes, he took his coffee and sipped.

It only invited different thoughts, however. Questions with uncomfortable answers, if any. It had been so long ever since he started the investigation, and even now he found no hard evidence to prove her as culprit. There was no reason to believe this trend would not continue on and on. The possibility that he would simply not find evidence could not be cast away. And if he didn't find his evidence, would it be right to just leave and forget it all, letting her keep robbing people?

'It's too early for this shit', he told himself before taking another sip.

---

Another day, another failure, inconclusive in all. Night had fallen, and with nothing else to do, he made his way back 'home'. That apartment complex, its main attracting factor being its dirt-cheap rent. That was all it had going for it.

"You're looking pretty down nowadays."

Surprise befell him, hearing that voice directed at him. Turning his head, he found the landlord brooming about. Man of few words, or simply rarely having the chance to speak. Probably the latter, if all the detective does is bee-line to his own room. The rest of the apartment dwellers weren't too fascinating to deal with. The landlord didn't even know he was a detective, with how little chat there had ever been.

"Someone got you down?" He continued. "You've been looking grumpier and grumpier."

"Yeah, someone." Answered the detective without even thinking.

"Must've been pretty bad."

Staying in place, staring aimlessly in thought, the mental images of the inari came to mind. "Pretty much." He answered.

"Don't you wonder when bad people are finally gonna get what's coming to them...?"

The detective furrowed his brow, skepticism brewing over the landlord's remarks. That almost devious smile on his face certainly didn't help.

"What brings the chit-chat?" Asked the detective.

Before an answer, the landlord looked around. Not a soul walked in the surroundings; the two of them stood alone.

"Do you want to get even?" He asked in whisper, stepping closer. "I have a buddy who can help you. Whoever got you down won't even know what hit him."

"You want me to hire a thug to beat people up?"

"What? No, not that far, but your pal will be pretty upset that they came back home to a couple things missing."

His attention had been caught. Though uninterested at first, a few things struck a chord in his mind.

"...Go on."

"All you have to do is give me a place and a fee."

"A fee? On top of what your buddy gets to keep?"

"It's just to make people really think if it's worth it, plus it's not like money is always what's stolen. I'll add the cost to your rent to make it easier as well. So, what do you say?"

Tempting. A chance. Thievery on demand? Decided by others, rather than the thief in question? Could be the clue he had longed for. It could be the inari, or it could not; only one way to find out.

"Fine."

"Good, good." Answered the landlord. "Meet me in a couple minutes to settle things, alright?"

---

A few days had passed, morning arriving anew. Same old thing, to enter the cafe and sit down by a table. Without the need to call, a few moments later footsteps approached. Heavy ones, however; couldn't be the inari's, with how light she was. Felt like those of an elephant's, and when he glanced aside, he found the boss of the cafe himself arriving with his coffee, a giant in size with a beard and moustache covering his mouth entirely.

"Good morning." He greeted as he put the cup on the table, friendly and polite contrary to his viking-like physique. "Must be a surprise to see me, no?"

"It is. Has something happened?"

"Well, she called in sick. Must've been pretty bad, she sounded like she was dying on the phone. I'm not gonna force her to work, but it's gonna get hectic today with me having to do her part as well."

"Dreadful. I'd hope there aren't many people today, but that'd just mean bad business."

"I know, right?" He chuckled. "You're lucky by coming when there's hardly anyone yet, otherwise I might've had to call you to pick your coffee up yourself."

Sick, he had said. If he gauged it well, the inari wasn't sick at all; she had plans that required her to not be here today.

---

The plan was sound, or at least as sound as it could be in those rushed moments. He had given a certain place to the landlord and tips as to how to go around it. Days of opportunities, schedules of the inhabitant, hours of safety and danger to the thief, all of which combined would make it clear to the keen eye whether it was the inari or not. Inevitably, the safest time to do so would be within the hours of the cafe's activity; the inhabitant would return shortly before closing hours. Thorough preparation needed to be considered as well, leading to the logical conclusion that she'd need to take the day off if it was her.

Sickness turned into a good enough excuse.

Now, he waited here. Behind the wheel of his car, in an old ruined alley overlooking the back of the building he arranged for, in the dead of the night. That mean morning coffee still kept him awake as well, somehow.

And after an eternity of boredom, he finally caught glimpse of movement. He immediately took his phone with the camera already prepared, to then start filming towards the window of the building. Too dark to see anything other than a silhouette, but there it was, the thief with a bag hanging over its shoulder. Much to his shock, rather than to cautiously descend from the wall, it jumped down to the ground; certainly not something he'd imagine the average joe would do when descending from a two story building, much less with luggage.

Without delay, he lit the headlights of his car, illuminating all that remained ahead. As he had thought, he came to see a prominent trait of the thief:

The tail of a fox.

It was her. The inari, dressed for the occasion, wide-eyed and petrified in shock staring at the lights. At the same time, the detective stepped out of his car.

"Running away isn't gonna help you, if you're thinking about it." He said. "I have it all on camera. You better come here with that bag."

Though she remained immobile for a few moments, he came to notice how she slowly lowered her head, gritting her teeth. Resigning herself, she silently made her way to the car. Seeing this, he entered the car again, once more behind the wheel.

As she approached, he opened the passenger door. When she arrived, he extended his hand, prompting her to hand over the bag with a frustrated and defeated look in her eyes. Leaving it on the passenger seat and with his phone still filming, he opened it to find a great many stolen things, as many as could fit. Hardly an item could be found there that'd be justified to carry around in the dead of the night in such bag. Money, as well.

"Are you gonna hand me over to the cops now?" She asked, tone low and sorrowful. "You finally got your evidence."

"Why do you do all of this?"

No response, other than a struggling grimace. He could tell too well she had difficulty in finding the words, or even getting them out. At least, until a sigh escaped her.

"I... only steal from bad people, or at least that's what I tell myself." She said.

"For how long?"

"For a couple years, from back when someone stole from my family. Nobody was doing anything. They kept saying that there wasn't evidence, even though almost everyone knew who it was already. They said that they couldn't do anything until they had the means to prove him guilty. I waited on and on and on, until I got tired of it, so I snuck into his house to see what I could get. I didn't find anything incriminating, but I still took a few things with me. That would've been justice enough, at least in my eyes. Whether it was right or wrong, I didn't give it much thought, I just didn't want him running around like nothing happened."

She came to a pause, leaving it all in eerie silence. It certainly contrasted; the dead silence of the night, compared to the cafe he had always seen her in.

"I'm not doing it for the justice too much now, that I can admit despite telling myself otherwise most nights." She continued. "Sure, I'm more than happy to help people get back at those who are running around free despite doing bad things to others, but the money really helps the cafe."

"The cafe? So the boss is in on it as well?"

"A few people are. I'm guessing you came across another to set this whole thing up as well. We try to keep some semblance of morality by stealing from bad guys, at least. Well, 'try'."

Once more, silence reigned. His gaze shifted from her pained eyes to the bag, with thought after thought crossing his mind.

The similarities were striking. Of her, and him of all people. A thief, and a detective, polar opposites in most cases. At least, the reasoning had been the same, even if the result had been different.

"You too, huh?" He said, turning off the camera and tucking his phone back into his pocket.

Left silent, she could only raise her eyes to look at him in clear confusion.

"I was stolen from, as well." He continued. "Thievery isn't that high on the list of priorities for investigators compared to murders and the like, so the case stagnated. Must've been pure dumb luck, or the investigators got lazy, but when I looked into it a bit more, I found a few things. I put the clues together, and ended up finding a way to incriminate the guy with my lawyer. Investigation suddenly came to life, they cornered him with questions, and later on he admitted it. That lawyer said I might've had a talent for those things, so he with a bit of help set me up for detective work. Now, I'm here."

She could hardly give an answer, left to stare in confusion and wonder at him.

Letting out a sigh, he closed the bag and rested his hands over the wheel. "Get in." He ordered.

Shyly in fear of her future, she followed and sat on the passenger seat, bag now resting over her.

He saw too much of himself in her. Had he not found the clues back then, he'd have ended up just like her. Morality be damned, both still did what they believed was right, be it out of a sense of justice or simple revenge. He certainly didn't care about the law, he just used it to get back at the one who had wronged him, and the inari certainly didn't care about the law either. She merely didn't have the chance to use it, like him.

"What will happen now?" She asked, closing the door.

No response. Aimless gaze ahead, flurry of thoughts crossing his mind, left in quiet solace momentarily. At least till he pursed his lips and shook his head, to then turn on the engine.

"Guess I still don't have enough evidence."

"...What?" She asked, eyes widening in stupefaction, but still he accelerated onward. "Wait, are you not gonna return that guy's stuff?!"

"Nah, I hated that guy anyway."

---

For all the shock yesterday, his routine hardly changed. Again another morning, and again he arrived to the cafe, to again have a cup of coffee placed before him. One too many, he realized; the other one sat on the opposite end of the table, right before the inari sat down. Her waitress uniform was no more, replaced by casual clothes. Inevitably, his furrowed brow in reflex betrayed his confusion.

"I'm taking the day off." She said with a smile on her face, clasping her hands together and resting her chin on top. "The boss understands, even if he's not terribly happy."

"What brings the occasion?"

"It's been for too long that we've only gotten to know each other through that little rivalry, and I owe you for not handing me over to the police as well. I felt this could be an opportunity, no?"

The detective snickered. "Is this a date, then?"

"I don't know. Is it?" She asked in return, smile growing smug.

Though a quiet pause followed, soon thereafter a light laugh escaped from the two.

---

THE END