Kyūri Sensei's sumo heya had two shrines to see to the students spiritual needs. On the males' side of the river was a shrine dedicated to Takemikazuchi, a kami of thunder and the martial arts who was hailed as the inventor of sumo. On the side of the river that held the wing of the heya for the futanari students was a shrine dedicated to Inari Ōkami, the hermaphroditic kami of fertility, prosperity, agriculture, rice, foxes, tea, sake, merchants, swordsmiths, and the protection of warriors.
Akane Inarimago stood before the haiden (or prayer hall) of Inari's shrine. "Please, Inari Ōkami," the kitsune prayed, "please let me grow a beautiful potbelly with the aid of Kyūri Sensei's chankonabe. You are the kami who blesses the crops of our land with your bounty; please bless my master's chankonabe... and inspire him to soon give me the right to taste it." Shi rang the prayer hall's bell, tossed a 5-yen coin and some fried tofu into the offering box, bowed twice, clapped twice, and bowed again.
As Akane turned to leave, shi saw Misaki ritually washing hir hands in preparation to enter the shrine. Akane decided to go greet the newly minted kitsune. "Hello, Misaki-san," Akane greeted, bowing slightly. "Have you come to pray?"
"Yes," Misaki said. "I'm pretty new to being a kitsune, and I hoped their―OUR―patron kami could offer me some guidance. Thanks for helping me complete my transformation, by the way."
"Your welcome, Misaki," Akane smiled. Shi stared across the river at the wing of the campus where the male students were segregated away from the shiyūdōtai. Shi looked back to Misaki. "Does it ever bother you that we have to live separately from the boys, only ever seeing them once a year when the two wings compete against each other in a tournament?"
"Not really," said Misaki. "I've never been interested in boys. Girls are more my thing. My father insisted it's just a phase a lot of schoolgirls go through and then grow out of, but I can tell in my heart that I never will. If anything, Kyūri Sensei's traditionalist gender segregation makes things easier for me. I won't have to deal with boys looking at my body lustfully or, worse, asking me out. It'd be such an awkward conversation to have regularly, to always be explaining that I'm a rezubian."
"Rezubian?" Akane repeated.
"It's a loanword from America," Misaki explained. "I think it was originally spelled with one of those funny 'L' letters that they use in English. It means I'm a girl who's exclusively interested in romance and sex with other girls. I hear America's a bit more open to the concept than Japan. Not perfect of course, but at least it isn't usually mistaken for a high school phase over there anymore."
"Do humans really have a problem with girls who love girls?" Akane asked in disbelief. "Yokai really don't care. We love who we love, and the presence of shiyūdōtai blurs the line between gender anyway. We wouldn't be allowed to learn sumo if it didn't, and yet Kyūri's had a shiyūdōtai wing of his school standing on this side of the river since 1578."
"Good thing I'm a kitsune now, then," Misaki smiled. "This just goes to show how much I need to learn about my own species. I had no idea we were that tolerant until you told me. You know, you just might be the answer to that prayer I was going to make. Mind if you tell me a bit about kitsune?"
"Of course," said Akane. "Let's start with our patron kami, Inari Ōkami. You may have noticed we're standing on the grounds of Hir shrine. Shi's a shapechanger supreme, of course, and Shi's appeared in forms that are male, female, shiyūdōtai, and completely genderless, but Hir true form is that of a beautiful, seven-foot-tall shiyūdōtai kitsune with pure white fur and nine tails. Shi lives where the Spirit World touches a mountain in the Fushimi ward of Kyoto, so not all that far from here actually. Inari's a very kind kami, always trying to help humans and yokai overcome their challenges and achieve a fulfilling, prosperous life. Of course, Shi's also a little mischievous too, but only in the name of goodness. Shi's been known to do things like turn into a giant spider to terrify wicked humans into good behavior. The unchecked, selfish knavery of the yako and the Western werefoxes is an abomination to Hir. Besides the usual 5-yen coin, the most appropriate offerings to Inari are rice, sake, fried tofu, tea, and fox statues. Here, offer Hir this."
Akane handed Misaki an Inari-zushi, a pouch of fried tofu filled with sushi rice. Thanks to its pointed corner, the fried tofu resembled a fox's ear. Misaki smiled at the snack in recognition. "Oh yes, I see these all the time. My father's the head priest of an Inari shrine."
Akane laughed to hirself as Misaki offered the Inari-zushi to the fox kami. "Then I guess I've been telling you a lot of things you already know, huh?"
Misaki smiled embarrassedly. "Kind of. I've been around Inari worship my whole life. It's Hir kitsune servants I need to learn more about."
"Right," said Akane. "As you know, you have one power right now: shapechanging. Besides your anthro vixen form, you can assume your old human form and a full fox form. Of course, you need a few leaves to get the most out of your shapechanging."
"Leaves?" asked Misaki.
"Yes, leaves," said Akane. "Shapeshifting yokai breeds, such as kitsune and tanuki, can change into forms beyond their default human and full animal forms by placing a leaf on their foreheads. You could turn into some other human for a prank, a non-fox animal, or even an object like a hat or an umbrella. Also, you'll be growing your second tail in a few months. A kitsune with only one tail is REALLY young. Once you grow your second tail, you'll gain the ability to conjure foxfire."
"Foxfire?" asked Misaki. "I've sometimes heard my father say that word, but I'm a little vague on its meaning."
"Kitsune can conjure balls of colorful flame with wispy tails like comets," Akane explained. "We use them to guide us at night or as ceremonial lights in our weddings and night parades. The yako (irresponsible kitsune in rebellion against Inari's rules) use them to cause human travelers to get lost in the woods at night. Observe!" Akane held out hir hand and summoned forth a little ball of crackling blue flame. Akane gestured around the shrine grounds, and the ball of flame darted wherever shi pointed, a trail of blue light flickering in its wake.
"That's beautiful, Akane!" Misaki marveled. "I can't wait until I grow my second tail and I can make my own foxfire."
"I'm sure you'll be a natural," said Akane. "Anyway, the purpose of kitsune existence is to help Inari bless humanity. Those of us called zenko, anyway. Kitsune are split into the zenko, Inari Ōkami's followers, and the yako or nogitsune, those of us who had no love in their hearts and chose to live like the Western werefoxes do. All of zenko society's structured around the doing of good deeds. The lowest rank of zenko are the chiko, or earth kitsune. We do basic good deeds whenever we can. Anything from helping an old man get his car out of the mud to pranking a corporation that's harming the environment with its oil drilling to going into show business."
"Show business?" Misaki asked confusedly.
"Of course," said Akane. "It brings people joy, doesn't it? After earning enough merit, a chiko can be promoted to a kiko, or spirit kitsune. Those promoted kitsune act as Inari's messengers and errand foxes. It might not sound glamorous, but the kiko are doing the work of a kami. Besides prestige, kiko gain a lot of magic power, such as the power to turn incorporeal.
"Above the kiko are the myōbu, the exalted ladies. Kitsune are matriarchal, you see, and a female or shiyūdōtai kiko who impresses Inari are turned into myōbu, mighty and beautiful conduits of divine power. A myōbu can use a sliver of Inari's divine power to hand out minor spiritual blessings to the worthy and curses to the wicked. Our communities turn to the myōbu for leadership.
Above even the myōbu are the tenko, the celestial kitsune. These nine-tailed kitsune have become minor kami who dwell in the Spirit World with Inari. They only come into our world to deliver Inari's most monumental blessings or pronounce a prophesy. A tenko who has been granted a peaceful retirement is called a Kūko, a sky kitsune. They're mostly just tasked with the leisurely duty of advising the tenko. Above all else is Inari Hirself of course. So, that's our hierarchy. Hope it wasn't too convoluted."
"Not a bit," said Misaki. "I understood perfectly. What rank are you?"
"Just a lowly chiko," said Akane. "My mother's a myōbu, though. She actually doesn't know I'm here. My sister Tamiko's the only one in on the secret. I'm a bit worried what Mother will do when she hears I want to be fat. I don't think she'd understand that wish."
"Don't worry about it, Akane," said Misaki. "I'm sure you'll make a fantastic sumo wrestler."
"I intend to," Akane said firmly. "I can hardly let the tanuki be better than a kitsune, can I?"
"I don't know," said a slightly confused Misaki. "Can you?"
"Oh, you don't know about the rivalry," laughed Akane. "Kitsune and tanuki have a bit of a friendly rivalry. Well... it's friendly where zenko like us are concerned. If a tanuki meets a yako... it isn't pretty. Even good foxes like us bring out their competitive instincts, though. That's what happens when two races of shapeshifting trickster yokai share an island. Each species always feels the need to outsmart the other. So try to beat all the tanuki at wrestling, okay?"
Misaki smiled and nodded. "Promise! I want to be the best kitsune I can be, Akane."
"Then that's what you're going to be, Misaki," Akane grinned. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. Personally, this shrine's put me in the mood for some crispy Inari-zushi."