One last bucket of reddened water and soap being tossed out into the unkept backyard marked the end of Yukari and Futoshi's cleaning. They trod their way into the bathroom, where Futoshi was first to leap towards the sink to wash his hands. 

"I think I'll need a bath too after that," he moaned without much thought, filling Yukari with disgust once more. 

"Don't you dare! Nobody uses that tub but me!" she cried, gesturing vigorously behind her while at it. "Go find your own!"

Futoshi shook his hands dry and turned around. "Why are you so irritable? I never said I would do it here."

Yukari inhaled in an attempt to calm herself, but it only worked to a small degree. Far too much had happened this morning, what with her travel plans being ruined, having to kill her father twice, watching him open up a portal in the living room, and cleaning up what amounted to a crime scene. "You brought this trouble on me. Please, just leave so I can think in peace."

"You're not still thinking of going away, are you?"

Images of a tall and brightly lit building danced through Yukari's mind. She shook her head. "That's none of your business. Why do you care so much?"

Futoshi sighed and pressed his stubby fingers together. "I can't say exactly, but when you first came in for an inspection three years ago, I got the strangest feeling that we were kin. It made me want to find out more, so I followed you and even impersonated a teenage girl for fun."

Yukari blinked in utter confusion while trying to recall past events. "What the hell are you talking about? You're an old man."

"Only for now. I could abandon this identity and become someone new, but that would put all of my tenants in hot water. A couple of them might even end up homeless."

This was beginning to seem like a delusional effort to connect with her, so Yukari dismissed Futoshi with a laugh. "Ha, that's funny. You must be losing your marbles again."

"No. I'm serious."

Yukari cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yes," Futoshi said with unusual certainty. "Only a few like Kumiko know my secret, but I think it's time for you to join them. Are you ready?"

"Hey, I don't even-"

Futoshi crossed his arms and stepped further away from the sink. "I'm a tanuki. A shapeshifting one, if you will."

"Huh?" Yukari searched his gray hair and thick eyebrows for evidence to support that claim.

"I'll show you right now. Just don't make a scene." At that, Futoshi swept an arm past his face, causing it transform instantly into that of a raccoon dog, complete with bristly fur, beady black eyes, and dark circles. Yukari's immediate reaction was to shriek and slap herself in the face to make sure that she wasn't dreaming, but the abomination in front of her simply tilted his head in apparent bemusement.

Yukari's heart pounded as she fled for the bathroom door with her right arm stretched out for protection. "Stay back! Don't follow me!"

"Why not?" Futoshi shuffled after her. "I mean no harm."

She sent the door flying towards him, but he caught the edge with shocking ease. A scream erupted from her body before Futoshi's furry head regained its earlier human traits and he exhaled. "God, I didn't know you could be that dramatic..."

Yukari breathed raggedly and cast her eyes downwards while muttering to herself. "This is just your imagination. You didn't sleep much last night, and you've had a rough day. Of course, your brain is acting up..."

"That wasn't an illusion. It was all real," Futoshi insisted, swinging the door back open. 

"No. You're a liar..."

"I see it will be hard to convince you, but I have to ask you a question. Can you see ghosts?"

Yukari lowered her hands and raised her head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"There's something at my apartment that should change your mind for good. Though, if I'm going to be specific, it's more of a someone..."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"You won't know until we get there," Futoshi countered, assuming a steely frown. "So, I'll repeat, can you see ghosts?"

******

Civilian casualties from the wartime raids on Tokyo had been enormous, so for a while, Yukari had found it difficult to ignore all the mournful spirits roaming the city streets. Eventually, however, she'd become desensitized to their presence, and it wasn't until they were all but gone that she realized they must have dwindled over the years. 

Some must have found solace from seeing loved ones go on to lead fruitful lives, while others had likely been sobered by the changing cityscape and given up. Yukari could identify more with the second category, but unlike those tortured souls, she just couldn't move on or find relief no matter how hard she tried. Her numerous suicide attempts had been proof of that, with them ranging from hanging, to overdosing on pills, to even shooting herself in the head while deep within the woods.

As she joined Futoshi in departing the white Honda Civic and crossed the pavement to stare up at the two-storey residential building, Yukari figured that whatever ghost was in there couldn't be worse-looking than the people who had literally been burned to crisps upon death. 

She followed her former potential landlord inside and up the stairs, thinking to herself that said ghost also had to be a recent arrival, since there hadn't been anything otherworldly when she'd dropped by over a week ago. 

"Well, here we are," Futoshi announced as they arrived outside apartment number three. "Let's enter..."

"This better not be an excuse to get me alone," Yukari grumbled, assuming her usual cynical temperament. "You know what I did last time."

"Yes, I remember." The door swung open, and they removed their shoes before walking into a mess of a living room. The kotatsu was overturned while the faint smell of beer permeated the air. Futoshi gave an embarrassed laugh. "I can explain. Hideo was watching Godzilla last night and the special effects got him so excited that he kicked the table over twice."

Yukari found the mere idea of her father having fun inconceivable, so she grunted in disbelief. "And you couldn't be bothered cleaning up after him? Something tells me this was actually you."

"I'd argue against that, but we have something more important at hand." Futoshi scanned the surrounding walls. "Tsutomu, come on out! I've brought your favorite girl!"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't take it personally. Look, here he is..."

Yukari focused on the direction that Futoshi was gesturing and saw the disembodied head poking its way through the blank white wallpaper. It evidently belonged to a man in his late thirties or early forties, though she found herself unable to recognize him as a person until he freed the rest of his body and raised a hand in greeting. 

"Good afternoon, Yukari. It's been a long time."

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"Don't you remember? We went to the beach together last week." The man's smile faded. "Oh, right. I was in Ichiro's body..."

"Ichiro?" Yukari murmured, remembering the handsome and naive young man she had befriended.  Suddenly, his eccentric behavior had a logical explanation, though this didn't make things any less confronting. She pointed an accusing finger. "Don't tell me it was you all along! Did you possess him?"

"I hate to say it, but yes."

Yukari's nostrils flared as she strode backwards and almost bumped into Futoshi. "I can't believe this!" She grabbed the old man and shoved him in front of her. "If you're going to take anyone, choose this guy right here! Being in my body is the opposite of fun!"

"Way to throw me under the bus," Futoshi complained while regaining his balance. "But Tsutomu isn't about to do such a thing. At least as far as I know."

"You sure?" Yukari hissed, refusing to loosen her hold. "The last thing I want is a man-"

"No need to worry," Tsutomu reassured. "Some people may be perverted enough, but you'd best believe I'm not one of them. I'd rather find another young guy so I can live my dreams." He gazed wishfully at the ceiling as if to drive his point home further."

Yukari decided to take his word for it and released Futoshi. She realized that even if she made the wrong choice, there would still be a chance to gain the upper hand by putting herself in a deathlike state, unpleasant as it would be. 

"All right," she spoke up to get Tsutomu's attention. "If everything you've said is true, which side of Ichiro was the real one? The aspiring actor, or that guy who was absolutely whipped?"

Tsutomu's intangible form flickered for a moment. "The guy who was whipped," he replied dully.

"Damn it." Yukari felt a pang of jealousy and tried to force the irritating yet beautiful face of Kumiko out of her mind. "That bitch..."

"Funny you should say that, because she's a-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Futoshi interrupted, charging between them while waving his hands in a panic. "That's enough revelations for today! We don't want to give our guest a heart attack!" 

Such a reaction only confirmed that there was more Yukari needed to uncover about Ichiro's so-called lover. Refusing to give up, she grabbed Futoshi's raised left arm.

"You're not going to leave me hanging like that," she snapped before stiffening at her own choice of words. "If you're a tanuki, then shouldn't that make her one too?"

"Uh..." Futoshi glanced at Tsutomu with a chuckle. "Never mind. You can tell her the truth."

"All right." Tsutomu adjusted out his ghostly tie and cleared his throat like an office employee about to give an important presentation. "You see, Kumiko isn't a tanuki. She is, in fact, a kitsune. Any questions?"

Yukari let go of Futoshi so that she could rub her eyes. "That doesn't make any sense. Raccoon dogs and foxes are different species."

"What?" Tsutomu uttered in similar confusion. "Oh, right. I dug myself into that hole. Give me a second..." He breathed in and out, then resumed the briefing. "I was lying when I said Futoshi was her father. She's actually the older one, by far."

"Old enough to be my great grandma, actually," Futoshi added with disturbing cheer. 

Yukari stumbled back, suddenly wanting to take a seat and compose herself. "No way. She... She looks so young and hot..."

"That is the power of a kitsune," Tsutomu remarked. He clasped his hands together. "I know this is a huge shock to you. It was for me as well." 

Yukari managed to avoid the overturned living room table and collapsed in Futoshi's armchair. The room seemed to spin around her. "How long have you known...? You can't have been keeping this from me the whole time, right?"