Tomoe

/The action takes place in the past/

You live in a village frequently attacked by yokai. Tomoe, the fox yokai, is one of them. Some people only need to hear his name to start trembling.

One evening, you heard that the village men knew where Tomoe was and that he was badly wounded—they were coming to kill him. You didn't know what this yokai looked like, but you knew it was terrifying, so you hoped for the "hunters'" success.

To pass the time, you decided to go down to the river and saw a wounded yokai there, turning into a child. A feeling of pity filled you, and you decided to take him home, but as soon as you picked him up, he passed out.

You brought the youkai child home, laid him on a futon, and began treating the very deep wound. After preparing some rice cakes wrapped in bamboo leaves, you left them on a tray for the sleeping Tomoe, hoping he'd eat them when he woke up.

In the morning, you immediately went to check on the yokai. It turned out that he left immediately after he woke up, although he still ate the food.

A little annoyed that he'd decided to leave with such a wound, you decided to go back down to the river to calm down. You sat down on the bank, looking at the water's surface, when suddenly you felt someone's presence behind you. This someone said:

"I'm grateful for saving me. But you shouldn't have done that."

You turned around and recognized him as the same youkai who had turned into a child in approximately this same place last night.