I look down at my scantron and test paper. “Why,” I mutter as I put my head into my hands. “Why?” I peek through my fingers, a plain red 58% mocks me for my failure. “Why does this math just hate me?”

 

I feel a hand on my back, “I don’t think this math hates you per se,” Phoebe chimes in, “I just really think you are just bad at it Seth.”

 

“I know.” I faceplant on the table. “Why do I fuck up every time I take a test?”

 

“I wouldn’t say you fucked up.”

 

I face her without lifting myself off the table. “Trust me, out of the three tests I had taken for this class, a 58 is my highest. My two online tests were 32 and 47 for each section.”

 

She cringes. “Well, you are improving at least.”

 

“But that is not enough. We have only been in school for over a month and I really am failing math right at the word go. If this continues, I might just fail this class.” 

 

“Well, it is no time to simply wave the white flag Seth.” Phoebe sits in the chair next to me. “How are your homework grades?”

 

“They are better. I usually rework each question till I get it right.”

 

“So you keep trying for a hundred?”

 

“Nineties to one hundreds, yeah.”

 

Phoebe starts to hum as she drums her fingers on the table. “Sorry, but I am at a loss with how to help.”

 

“So that is it then. I am just going to fail the class then?”

 

A pair of grey slacks steps into my vision. “I really think you should at least try something before giving up Seth.” I look up and see my teacher, Mr. Berg, standing over me. “Your grade isn’t so terrible that you can’t recover from it.”

 

 I push myself up. “Well, what do you expect me to do then? I can’t help it. I am as dull as a sack of hammers.”

 

“I would start by stopping the self-deprecation first.  What about tutoring?”

 

“Tutoring?”

 

“Yes, tutoring. Since you are a student here, you are able to get tutoring for free at the Success Center in Building C.”

 

I stare at my professor for a solid minute then faceplant the desk again. Why did I never consider getting a tutor when I first started to struggle? 

 

###

 

I walk into the Success Center and scan the room. The center is a large room with tables spread out. Off on the other side, computers in little cubicles line the wall. The place is largely empty except for a couple on one of the computers. “Um,” I really should have asked Mr. Berg how to set up tutoring before I left his class.

 

“Can I help you?”

 

I jump at the voice. I turn to see a middle-age woman sitting at the desk beside me.

 

“Sorry, did I surprise you?” The woman wears a pair of thick red round glasses. Her light brown hair isin a ponytail. Her white shirt just hasas many wrinkles as her face.

 

“Oh, um, yeah, you did, sorry.”

 

“No, I'm sorry. You just looked lost.”

 

“Well yeah, sort of. I came here for some tutoring and was clueless how to set it up. Do I need to do anything to get it?”

 

“Not much really.” The lady points at the computer on the edge of her desk. “Just sign in and select your subject and we can begin.”

 

“Oh, so you are a tutor?”

 

“For science classes, yes.”

 

“Oof, I need one for math.”

 

“Sorry, but I won't be able to help you there. But we do have a math tutor coming in; he should be here in a minute. I’ll send him to you once he arrives.”

 

That put me in a better mood. “That would help.” I walk over to the computer. It shows a login screen, “So--”

 

“Put in your student ID number and what you are getting tutored far from the list provided. When you are finished with your session, put in your student ID again and select the name of the person who helped you.”

 

“Oh, uh, thank you.” I pull out my student ID and punch in the numbers.

 

“Oh, before I forget, do you have any sensitivities?”

 

“Like food allergies?”

 

The lady shakes her head. “No, like sensitivity to sounds, light, etc.”

 

“Yeah, a bit. ADHD.”

 

“Well, feel free to use one of the rooms around the corner over there. We have some rooms in place for people who are sensitive to things. They're Soundproof, so no outside noise will distract you.”

 

“Oh, thanks. That will help.”

 

I finish signing in and head to one of the rooms. The inside of the room is very plain, with a single table with two chairs across from one another. The walls are blinding plain white. 

 

I sit at the table and pull my stuff out of my bag. I wonder what kind of person my tutor is. I really hope it is someone patient with me.

 

Ten minutes pass and my tutor hasn't arrived yet. I pull out my phone and mess with it. Thirty minutes passes. Maybe he hasn't arrived yet. or maybe that lady forgot I was here.

 

“Oh, sorry have you been waiting long?” I hear a voice say.

 

I turn my head to the speaker, “A bit are you--” I go quiet after I see the guy.

 

Standing in the doorway is...something I don't really know what it is. His body is fine, slightly chubby but fine. But his head, his head isn't human. It is covered in something I can only describe as thick fur. The fur around the eyes almost forms something like an eye mask, sticking out with the lighter shades of brown around it. 

 

“Yeah, sorry about that,” the creature closes the door behind him. “I couldn’t find a parking spot close by so I had to go all over the place to find one. Ended up parking in a nearby store’s parking lot and walking here.” He reaches out his hand. '' I'm Miyuki Irwin.”

 

I stare at him. What? What the fuck am I staring at? Is it some kind of costume? Is he a furry?Is that his fursuit? Why is he wearing a fursuit in college? Is he even allowed to wear it on campus? Better question why the fuck does he think to wear it to a tutoring session? Is this a normal thing for him?

 

“Ummm, hello, anyone in there?”

 

Oh shit!  “Sorry, I just zone out at times. I’m Seth Renies.” I shake his hand. His hand feels very much real, from the roughness of the paw pads to the fur. If this is a fursuit, this is a really well made one.

 

The creature takes a seat in the chair on the other end of the table. “So I was told you needed help in math?”

 

“Yeah, I failed all the tests I had taken so far so I am worried that I might fail, Mr. Irwin.”

 

Mr. Irwin laughed. “Mr. Irwin? I’m not that much older than you are.”

 

“Wait, you are not that much older than me and you are already a professor?”

 

“Who said I was a professor? I’m still a student here.”

 

I feel a headache forming trying to follow this. “Wait, why is a student tutoring another student?”

 

Miyuki has a large grin on his face, “For money of course. This college has a program where students can get paid to tutor other students. Once I heard money was involved, I had to get my hands in it.”

 

“Hands?” I look at his big furry hands. They look like paws really.

 

“Yep. Being allowed to be a tutor was a pain though. I needed to maintain an A for a subject for an entire year to prove I am qualified. But enough about me. Tell me what I am working with Seth.”

 

“Umm,” I pull out my test paper and scantron from my binder and hand it to Miyuki. “It might be easier to show you.”

 

Miyuki places it on the table. He pulls out a pen and starts to do something. He would look at my scantron and then make a mark on the test paper. This continues for a while. He then hands them both back to me. “I want you to start by redoing the ones I marked. Just work them out. I want to see how you work them out.”

 

“Okay?” I pull out some scratch paper.

 

“Feel free to take out your notes as well.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“I am being quite serious. Can’t you tell by the look on my face?” I think he's trying to make a face or something but I can't tell.

 

I pull out the notes from my class and work on redoing the problems.

 

Miyuki starts going through my notes as well. He says nothing as he went over each piece of my notes.

 

As he goes over my notes, I make mental notes about Miyuki. His head doesn’t act like it was part of a fursuit. His eyes move around a lot. His ears even twitch at times. No matter what kind of thing you have, fake eyes and ears don't move on their own .

 

After I complete the problems, I hand the sheets to Miyuki. Without a second glance, he look me square in the eyes and says, “Okay I think I get why you got these problems wrong.”

 

“You do?”

 

“You did everything wrong.”

 

“What?”

 

“Most of your errors are miscalculations; not surprising since you went through it so fast.”

 

I stare at Miyuki, jaw slack.

 

“Another thing I noticed is that your notes are pretty bare. You are probably just straight-up copying from the board. You probably don’t even make notes using your homework either.”

 

“I-I--”

 

“With all this, I can really see why you are struggling with math so much. You have a whole plate of bad habits you need to fix.”

 

I am mortified. This guy is pointing out every flaw he sees. It is humiliating, it's embarrassing. “Fuck you, you giant raccoon!” I storm out of the tiny room and into the Success Center. Seems like every eye in the place ison me Like I  care at this point.

 

I walk out of the success center and wander about the campus.

 

I eventually lean against the wall, calming down from that episode. I feel ashamed of that outburst earlier. I really shouldn’t have yelled at Miyuki like that. Sure I didn’t like how he dissected me, but calling him a raccoon might have gone too far.

 

I take a deep breath. I really should go back and apologize to him. I won’t blame him if he doesn't want to tutor me anymore.

 

As I turn around, I see Miyuki standing there. He is glaring at me with his arms crossed, holding two bags, one of which belonged to me. “If I knew you would explode like that,” he scoffed, “I would have kept my mouth shut.”

 

Since he is here might as well get it over with. “Look, Miyuki. I want to apologize for yelling at you earlier. You were trying to help and I lashed out at you because I got upset.”

 

Miyuki sighs “It's fine. I’ve been called worse than a raccoon plenty of time. Most of the time, people take a jab at my ethnicity.”

 

That's an odd thing to say out of nowhere. “What even is your ethnicity anyway?”

 

“Can’t you tell?”

 

I shake my head. “Nope. Can’t see your face with you wearing that fursuit or whatever.”

 

Miyuki hasan odd look on his face. Like a mix of shock and maybe fear if I am reading him correctly. His face goes back to normal., “Are you okay?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I heard that when you don’t get enough sleep, your brain plays tricks on you. You know seeing hallucinations and stuff. I’m in business, so I am not too familiar with what to do in this situation.”

 

“What? No, no, no. My eyes and brain work fine.”

 

“Are you sure? That's what most crazy people say when they are out of their minds.”

 

I get angry again. “ I am not insane, you giant raccoon!”

 

“I am a goddamn tanuki you asshole!”

 

My head stops thinking and just tries to process what I heard, “A what?”

 

“Well, shit.”

 

“What... what did you say?”

 

Miyuki sighed, “Well it's too late now.” He turns to me with a sorrowful look in his eyes, “I am a tanuki.”

 

I stare at him with a blank look in my eyes, “And that is?”

 

He looks shocked, “Do you not know what a tanuki is?”

 

“Nope.”

 

Miyuki starts to pace around and mutters something underneath his paw. I think he is speaking a different language as I wasn't familiar with some of the words he was saying.

 

“Um, hello?”

 

Miyuki ignores me and just paces around.

 

Maybe I should look up what a tanuki is? I pull out my phone and put in the word tanuki. A cute creature shows up in my images. I hold the phone up and compare the tanukis. Miyuki does look like the thing on my phone, fur pattern and face wise, but the tanuki in the picture is much smaller. Maybe google can answer that. I click on the search bar and the word tanuki folklore pops up in my suggested search topic. I click on the first link I get.

 

The tanuki in folklore is a jovial and down to earth prankster yokai. Like their fellow yokai, the kitsune, tanuki are master shapeshifters and enjoy tricking humans with their illusions and pranks.

 

Yokai? I think I heard that word in high school. It was Japanese in origin, I think.

 

I Miyuki grabs my shoulders. He has a panicked look in his eyes, “Please, please don’t tell anyone you saw me.”

 

“What?”

 

“Please don’t say anything about me to anyone back at base, please. I am begging you. I promise I am not doing anything illegal, I swear on my life.”

 

I remove his hands off my shoulders. “I’m sorry can you back up a bit? Tell who what?”

 

“You're not with the Hunters?”

 

“You're losing me Miyuki. Hunters? Base? What am I not supposed to say?”

 

“You're not a Hunter either?”

 

“No. I think my uncle hunts from time to time but I am guessing we are talking about two different things here.”

 

“So, you are not a Hunter. What about a mage?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“A coyote?”

 

“No.”

 

“A kitsune?”

 

I shook my head.

 

“Vampire?”

 

 I gesture to the sun overhead, “I am standing in direct sunlight; do you think I am a vampire?”

 

“Any family history about magicians or supernatural?”

 

“I thought we already answered that.”

 

“Do you know anything?” he asks frustratedly.

 

“I am now asking myself that same question right now.”

 

 Miyuki takes a deep breath, “So you are just a normal human.”

 

“As far as I can tell, yes.”

 

Miyuki staggers and leans on the wall for support.

 

“Um, you okay?”

 

“I don’t think I am. I can’t believe I’ve been found out by a norme. Who knows what will happen once you blabr to someone about me?”

 

“Are you in hiding or something?”

 

“Yeah, we are, or were, hiding till you showed up.”

 

“Well if it makes you feel better, I have no interest in telling people about you being a tanuki.”

 

“Really?” 

 

“Yeah, I have no reason to--”

 

Miyuki wrapped his arms around, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.” 

 

I really don’t. “It's fine, I’m sure if I did say something, I would be considered crazy.” He is incredibly warm, like uncomfortable warm. “Can you please let me go? Your body heat is making me uncomfortable.”

 

“Oh sorry.” Miyuki lets go of me. “So what do you want in return?”

 

“I’m not going to need a bribe or something.”

 

“But I have to return the favor in some way. My honor as a tanuki depends on it.”

 

But aren’t you a trickster spirit? I rub my temples. You know what, I am just not going to ask any more questions. This is my reality now. “If anything is on the table, can I ask you to help me with my math then?”

 

“Is that all?”

 

I nod.

 

“Oh, that would be easy then. Leave it to me, I'll make you a mathematician in no time.”

 

“We don’t need to go that far. I just need to pass algebra.”

 

“That's fine too. Once we get back to the Success Center--”

 

“Actually” I interrupt, “I am going to head home now. I just...want to lay down now.”

 

“Okay, but you still need to come back with me. You are still logged in the system saying you're still studying there.”

 

I groan, “Do I really have to?”

 

“Yes, you do. Sure once the campus closes you’ll get logged out. But that would prevent you from using the success center resources for a while and deny me a paycheck.” 

 

“Can’t you do it?”

 

“Needs a student ID to log in and out of the system.”

 

“Okay then, I’ll go back.”

 

“Thanks. On the way back, I'll tell you how to improve your note-taking.”

 

We head back to the center. But meeting Miyuki, is just a beginning to whatever crazy world I just wandered into.