Himself smiled at Kurenai, as if he’d discovered a shiny and much less boring plaything. “Bargained? This should be good. What could you possibly have bargained with? I hope you don’t owe them any favors. They tend to be very nasty about repayment.”

Kakashi put a casual hand on Ryouma’s thigh and clamped his fingers down before Ryouma could open his mouth.

Raidou, seated between Kurenai and Genma, leaned forward. “I’d like to give you the whole story, but let’s get a few things straightened out first. My plan for this day ends with us going home, in one piece, with no one missing. How about yourself?”

Curling up over his shoulder, Himself’s fluffy white tail twitched playfully. “I told that whelp I intend to show you a good time. You tell me your story, we’ll have some good food and drink, and enjoy a nice starry sky. And then when everyone is satisfied, all of you will go back where you belong.”

Kakashi contemplated that for loopholes, and decided there was more hole than loop.

“Uh huh,” Raidou said, after a moment. “Do you have Nomiya Harubi and her children?”

Himself’s jovial enjoyment wiped away like chalk letters in rain. “Are you hunting for Nomiya Harubi and her children?” he demanded. The edges of his testicle-futon curled up, ready to fold over and trap them all.

Genma scrambled forward on his knees, bowed nearly to formal supplication, which was intelligent but stomach-clenching to watch. “No! We aren’t. We’re looking for her, but we’re not hunting her.”

Ryouma had gone stiff, fingers curled in Kin’s ruff like he planned to pick her up and hurl her out. Raidou was also up on his knees, but braced behind Genma like he was ready to catch whatever weight fell. Kurenai had frozen to absolute stillness. Kakashi’s fingers drifted to the sharp edges hidden under his clothes. He wanted to reach for his chakra, but there was still just void and nothing.

Himself’s pale lips curled in a snarl. “Then why are you asking about her?”

Kurenai, with quiet precision, began, “We’re concerned for her. We know some of what happened—”

“We know her husband beat her,” Ryouma broke in. “She must’ve asked you for help. But you’re not the only ones who can.”

“Who can what?” Himself asked, with scorn. “Answer prayers?”

Ryouma bared his teeth. “We don’t answer prayers. We take missions. You saved her, but we can kill him.”

Outside the circle of tanuki, beyond the rising edges of Himself’s trap, a quiet voice said, “I don’t want him dead.”

Himself stilled. The furry edge nearest the voice uncurled, lowering enough for Kakashi to see that the cluster of tanuki had split like a wave, surrounding two elderly female tanuki wearing only their own dark fur, shot through with silvery threads, and a human woman.