Chapter 246 - Fox Spirit

"Ueno, here I go!"

Plasma sizzled, the electricity buzzed as Ara glided on the electric wires as she crossed the city from pole to pole. The cold wind flew against her body, but she was warm enough and her face covered by a mask. If anything, her eyes which were unprotected felt a bit dry, and so she closed them from time to time after switching poles.

Her speed was the same as a bullet train's, and so the normally thirty-six minutes car drive could be done in seven to ten minutes depending on how fast she could switch poles. Tonight, she did it in eight minutes, which Ara thought was not bad.

She had been in Tokyo for a while, but tonight was the first time she'd ever be in this area, Ara realized as she perched on the electric pole, her eyes surveying the place below.

Ueno was not totally bad, and was relatively safer compared to Kabukicho, even if it also had its own red-light district. Its museums and parks were honestly very nice and were places to see for tourists and was a very good place to visit at day time. However, there was indeed a gangster element in the ward and some parks were home to tons of homeless people. It was why it was placed among the dangerous places in Japan.

Another thing that probably made it gain its infamy was its location which was the northeast direction of the Imperial Palace. For the superstitious Japanese, the northeast direction was where the demon gate was located, and so they stayed away from it – which was good.

This meant that only those who had no choice to be here or were part of the 'dangerous' crowd were there.  It would be easy for Ara to go ahead and unleash her excess energy. As to how…

She stood on the pole as she scanned the area further, checking to see any irregular happening. When she didn't see anything, she'd immediately transfer to another pole and look around. She did that multiple times in a span of minutes but didn't find any.

She was about to give up, admitting that this was indeed a peaceful night when she heard a commotion nearby. Excitement lit in her eyes. Finally!

She clamored to her feet to look for the source of the commotion and found herself looking down at an alley where a group of young punks was ganging up on someone who equally looked like a gangster.

Hmph !

Ara sat on top of the pole as she continued to watch what was happening below. She reckoned she'd try to find out what's going on first, as the one they're punching looked scarier than them. But of course she shouldn't judge by looks alone, right?

So she waited.

"How dare you snitch on us?" One punk snarled as he landed another punch on the poor guy lying on the ground.

"I didn't do it," the guy groaned as blood sputtered from his nose and mouth.

He looked like he'd been beaten for a while with his eyes swollen shut and his clothes dirty.

"Stop lying! We all know you're the only one in the group who will do it."

A kick followed the earlier punch that even Ara flinched as she looked at them. Her curious nature piqued, she wondered what was the cause of the ruckus since they seemed to be from the same group.

"I really didn't do it," man on the ground continued to groan as he tried his best to protect his ribs. "I didn't tell anyone about the stolen money," he added, making Ara more and more interested.  

Stolen money? Snitching?

It appeared the young men were ganging up on the guy because the latter told someone that they stole money.

"You're lying! Mamoru said he saw you talk to the boss," the man who seemed to be the leader growled as he delivered another kick in the gut. "We already said the guys from the other gang did it. But you just had to flap your gums, you piece of shit."

Ooooh …

This time, Ara had a clearer picture. These young men stole some money but made it appear as if another gang did it. The guy being beaten up really did tell on the others but he was caught doing it and so he was punished like this for his good deed.

But then again, the story was not yet complete.

"But you're a greedy son of a bitch. You stole the money from us after you told the boss we took it! You even bragged about it in Kabukicho! Do you really think we will not find out?"

Eeeeh ?

Wide-eyed, Ara almost whistled at the information. It seemed Mr. Goody Two-Shoes was not so good after all. He was even more sinister. He told the boss his friends stole the money after taking it for himself.

Tsk Tsk.

Ara who was about to jump in to save the guy decided against it in the end. Who would want to save such a greedy man? Definitely not her. If ever, she totally agreed the guy deserved a beating.

"What a jerk," Ara commented as she shook her head at them.

However, she might have been a little noisier than she intended that the guys below heard her. She watched in amusement as the guys whipped their heads so fast they looked like they'd snap as they turned to her.

"What the heck is that?"

"It's a person sitting on the electric pole."

"Is that a fox spirit?"

Ara almost laughed. Most Japanese believed in the supernatural like ghosts and spirits as well as deities. Well, they were not exactly wrong. She's demigod after all – not to mention she wore the mask of the fox god.

"Are you an idiot? How is that a spirit when you can see it well?" the leader snarled as it hit the one who called her spirit on the head.

Ara grinned under her mask as she stood. She did it with finesse and swiftly, balancing well on top of the pole that made the young men step back and stare up at her in awe.

"That's right. I'm a fox spirit. I'm here to punish bad boys…"