“Sorry you two had to see that,” mumbled Billy, the sanctuary owner, apologetically. “But thanks for finding the sumbitch for me!”

Kai and Kazuma stood stock still as their eyes remained frozen on the smoking barrel of the man’s gun.

“Ugh,” groaned the poacher, lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. He clutched at his side, unable to move through the pain.

“Why?! Why did you kill the love of my life?!” shouted the Kitsune, running to his would-be kidnapper and kneeling over his body. “We were going to be so happy together…”

“He ain’t dead, Kenshi,” deadpanned Billy. “I used [Non Lethal Shot] to make sure.”

“He’s dead! I can’t believe he’s dead!”

“I’m not dead, dumbass,” angrily whispered the poacher.

“My love! Your ghost speaks to me from beyond!”

“By the gods, why did I ever agree to this job?”

“Cuz yer an idiot!” shouted the sanctuary owner. “Sorry to be the one to burst yer bubble Kenshi, but that man never loved you. But I’m sure we’ll find someone who’ll treat you well soon enough.”

“I-I… alright,” said the fox man. He rose and slowly made his way back to Billy’s side.

“Head over to dinner with the others, I’ll be there shortly. I’ll even give you an extra slice of pie to cheer you up.”

“Really? Ok!” replied Kenshi, some vibrancy returning to his face, as he bounded up the hill and over the fence.

“Talk about rubber banding,” mumbled Kai as he watched the Kitsune leave their sights.

“Yeah, and I thought he was about to commit seppuku or something with the way he was about to cry,” added Kazuma.

“Well, Kitsune happen to be pretty fickle like that until they’ve bonded with someone. Lucky our friend over here hadn’t gotten to doing so yet.”

“There’s no amount of money in the world that’ll get me to do it with him,” the poacher groaned. “Damn boss wanted to be the one to do it themselves.”

“Speaking of your boss, how about if you tell me all about ‘em?” asked Billy with a sadistic grin. “I might be a bit more favorable if I had some details. Might even get the royal guards to go light on you.”

“Ugh,” whimpered the poacher once more before his eyes closed and head fell back onto the grass.

“Shit, I guess I’ll have to get him patched up before I get that info. Anyway, thanks for finding him! He’s been sneaking around for the past month, and none of us have had any luck catching him until now!”

“You’re welcome,” hesitantly nodded Kai. “But uh, could you not tell anyone about this? We’re already on pretty thin ice with TOAL about getting into trouble.”

“Tell them?! If I did that, they’d never let any of you come back! The Kitsune and the farm hands loved having y’all around, so my lips are sealed. Now get yourselves some dinner, just follow Kenshi over to the side of the barn and you’ll be in for a treat!”

Quickly thanking the man, the two troublemakers made their way over to the rest of the field trippers to join them for dinner. What awaited them was a series of fire pits with metal grills placed on top. The smell of cooking meat reached their nostrils, and they quickly made their way to the closest barbecue line.

“Where were you two?” asked the man waiting just ahead of them. “They’ve got one hell of a setup for us and you’re missing out!”

“Uh, we got lost while following one of the residents,” quickly replied Kazuma. “Nothing bad or anything! Ha ha.”

Kai nudged him in the shoulder. Hard.

“What, trying to grab a peek at them in private?” he chuckled. “Not surprised with you, honestly.”

“Hold on, that’s not what I meant!” quickly blurted out Kazuma.

“Yeah, sure buddy. Can’t say I don’t blame you, though.” The man dropped into a whisper. “So, what’d she look like underneath those robes?”

“She ended up being a dude,” deadpanned Kai.

“Ooh, even better! What’d he look like?”

“He didn’t take anything off, you know,” replied the teen. “Kazuma’s telling the truth about that.”

“Sure, but I bet you’re just saying that because you’re disappointed. But don’t worry, I know how to keep a secret, and yours is safe with me!”

“Uh, thanks?”

“Don’t mention it! Now let’s get something to eat, it’s our turn!”

The farmhand working the grill placed a brown, barbecue sauce-slathered patty onto a pair of buns sitting on a plate and handed it to the man. As the keeper of secrets walked away, the farmhand repeated his actions and handed the duo their own burgers.

Not bothering to walk over to the condiment table, the two each took a greedy bite out of their meals. They chewed for some time, the only sounds coming from the smattering of their lips and the roaring fires fed by the dripping grease, until they stopped and stared at each other in unison.

“Kai, is something wrong with this hamburger?” asked the Japanese man. “It doesn’t taste like… meat.”

“That’s because this is the veggie burger line!” shouted the man from before, as he loaded his own burger with tomatoes, pickles, and a healthy smear of mustard. “That’s what happens when you wander off! You really should be more careful, you know.”

“Hold on, I recognize him,” whispered Kai to his friend before shouting back at the man. “Aren’t you the guy who fell into manure? What was that about being more careful?”

“Et tu, brute?” he replied, dramatically placing his free hand over his heart.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep it a secret too!” shouted Kazuma.

The two decided to salvage their meal by filling their buns with all sorts of accoutrements. To their pleasure, the burger still ended up tasting pretty good! It still wasn’t what either of them expected, but it wasn’t bad for being its own thing. Still, not to leave disappointed, the two made their way to the other lines to grab seconds. Kai got himself a rib sandwich while Kazuma settled with a smoked brisket.

For dessert, the sanctuary served pie. Peach cobbler, strawberry rhubarb, and even apple! Topped with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. When the owner came back to eat with them, he made sure Kazuma and Kai each got an extra slice. Still, with the massive two slices each guest was given, the duo felt that it was just overkill. But they didn’t complain.

Eventually, the night drew to a close, and it was time to say goodbyes. The visitors from TOAL, residents, and farm hands shook hands, each of them with heartfelt promises to meet again.

“Uh, excuse me?” asked one particular Kitsune as he slowly approached the duo. “Thank you for saving me. I didn’t realize that man was trying to take me away somewhere bad, but Billy explained everything.”

“No problem!” replied Kazuma with a puffed out chest. “That’s what heroes do!”

“It was nothing,” added Kai. “We were just looking for an adventure and accidentally found some. You should be thanking the owner for saving all of us.”

“I think I’ll stick with thanking you,” said Kenshi, quickly planting a kiss on Kazuma’s cheek before scampering off.

“Hey Kazuma, why’s your face all red?” teasingly asked the teen.

“Why do you think?” he asked back, turning an even deeper shade of scarlet. “Because he’s hot!”

Kai simply looked back at him with a knowing smile.

“I’m not having this conversation.”

That night, everyone had gone to sleep. Kai lay on his own bed, ready to drift off himself after a long and tiring day, when he was interrupted by an all too familiar voice.

“Oh Kai, I thought we had something special!” moped an incredibly campy voice. “So why did you have to go and snitch me out!”

The teen’s eyes opened wide as he quickly sat up, coming face to face with the ghost from the arcade. “Aww, shit.”

“Shit is right, I’m in it deep because of you.”

“Well how was I not supposed to tell Sheila about you? So of course she has Gus looking all over for you!”

“What? Gus and Sheila? I’m not talking about those two nobodies, I’m talking about them!”

“Wait, them? The ones you said you were trying to hide from earlier? You know I have no idea who they are, you read my mind and everything!”

“Maybe you learned that juicy tidbit after our meeting? It’s been a couple of days, maybe they approached you?”

“I-”

“No wait, don’t tell me. I’ll just take a look for myself,” said the ghost, reaching out a hand towards the teen.

“I haven’t met anyone since I got here! I don’t even know who you are! Seriously, who are you?”

“Oh ha ha, very funny. Now give me- ow!” the phantom grimaced. “Damn, why am I even bothering with you? It’s not like someone like you would have anything useful to me in that little noggin of yours. Tata!”

The creature flew up through the ceiling, disappearing from sight. Not wanting to take any risks, Kai lightly mumbled several more nonsensical phrases, in case the specter was still listening, but not loud enough to wake anyone up. Satisfied that the ghost was either screaming in pain or long gone, he closed his eyes again and began drifting off.

But one more thought came forth before he entered dreamland. The only other people he’d told about the creature were Rory, Kazuma, and the librarian. The diplomat did mention it sounded a lot like the villain he’d fought when he was first summoned, but he was otherwise clueless. And Kazuma? Kai felt bad for thinking it, but there was no way he was part of anything the ghost would be scared of. Except maybe for his internet search history. The librarian on the other hand acted quite surprised when the teen had told him. In fact, he pretty much immediately left… for several hours… just to find a few textbooks.

Kai didn’t bother opening his eyes this time and let himself fall asleep. The librarian was definitely part of this whole mess, and the teen was definitely going to be asking him some questions the next time they met. But it wasn’t like the library was open this time of night anyway. So off to sleep he drifted, dreaming of what the next day would bring.