Author's Note: Couldn't get an image I liked.

The bake-danuki before her took a long drag of her pipe. The smoke fell from her mouth as she chortled, an unnaturally large and thick amount. “Oh…? And what will you do against all of us, I wonder?” From the tobacco smoke leaped a hoard of tanukis and demons.

In response, Ran dashed forward. Her left hand was on the other youkai’s right shoulder. Her right hand held its heart. “You… pathetic… wretch…” she snarled into her ear. “Did you really… think… you had a… chance… of even… intimidating me? Or do you not know my name…?” She pulled the organ out through the cavernous wound and held it high above her head. “This is what your master has earned with her defiance! No creature can hope to stand against Ran, emperor kitsune!” She squeezed the heart and let the blood drip into her mouth. It was warm, thick, and delicious.

“Well? What will it be?” Mamizou asked.

Ran Yakumo blinked. “I’m sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment; I’ve been in a very similar situation before.”

“Then I suggest you do what you did before and live another day,” the bake-danuki chuckled.

The kitsune sighed. “There are thirty-seven of you. That is just over four times the number of bake-danuki that lived in Gensokyo yesteryear. Census records show that the population of the Human Village continues to hover around one thousand in number. That’s one thousand humans that know enough about tanukis to get rid of them, and they don’t care for thieves. And that’s nothing to say about my master and the Hakurei shrine maiden. You may no longer need to forage for small amounts, but taking too much can also be cause for serious concern. I highly recommend you do something to pay the humans back for what you have… relocated. That way, at least, you might be spared from cruel retribution.”

The bake-danuki was quiet for a while. “I understand. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

“Dwelling on the past, hmm? That doesn’t seem like you, Ran.”

“I was caught in a familiar situation, Lady Yukari, that’s all.”

“Well, speaking of ‘old ways,’ tonight’s dinner will be quite old-fashioned indeed.”

Ran turned her head toward the dinner table. On it lay a human woman. “Comatose?”

“That’s correct. Last surviving member of her family and not long for this world. Before I took her, that is.”

“Chen! Dinner!” Ran called out as she sat down at the table. The bakeneko took her seat, and the gap youkai returned with a pair of carving utensils. She severed the hand left hand and laid it down on Chen’s plate, worked the heart out from its place behind the ribcage and gave it to Ran, and took the liver for herself. “Let’s eat,” they all said.

Ran savored the sensation of the raw flesh melting on her tongue and the flavor of the blood trickling down her throat. However, although it tasted better than a bake-danuki’s, there was not as much satisfaction in each bite.

Author's Note: For curiosity's sake, would you consider it cannibalism or no?