Kitsune, there were only a few still alive, always on the run to escape the humans that want to sell them or make them slaves.

You went to the circus with your family when you were 8, where a kitsune was kept trapped by the owners, it's not like you knew exactly that it was a bad thing to do, and in the middle of the performance activists against the exploitation of kitsune invaded the circus, there was a bit of panic and you got separated from your parents and wandered around the circus, you found a cage where inside there was a kitsune dressed up for the show, he clearly didn't want to be there. As he saw your approach he looked up, and pointed to the keys that were on the table, you took them and opened the cage, the kitsune without waiting ran away, as fast as it could, you didn't even understand what you've done until a few years later

Now you were 25, you had your own little house in the middle of nowhere, just like you liked it, none could disturb you. You were laying on your bed when suddenly you saw a figure at your window, it was a kitsune, but the kitsune looked familiar, that face, it was the same kitsune that you freed 17 years ago. You didn't know yet but the kitsune's name was Muichiro, and he surely didn't forget you.