Chapter 1

## Chapter Chronology

**The Dorotabo of the Kanoko Village**  (鹿の子村の泥田坊, *Kanoko-mura no Dorotabō*, ***The Dorotabo of the Kanoko Village*** ?) is the 1st chapter of the Kemono Jihen manga series.

## Summary

Kabane is working in the field when Yataro hears a person from Tokyo was visiting and told Kabane to stay there as he stinks. Inugami is arriving at Kabane's village with Mrs. Kusaka, who is explaining to him about the dead animals and hired him to deal with the situation. Mrs. Kusaka tells Inugami that they haven't told the kids yet as they will get scared, resulting in them not being able to go to school. She also further tells him that they can't let a stranger spread rumors either and asks him to keep it a secret. Inugami responds that keeping secrets is his specialty since he is detective to which Mrs. Kusaka refuses to believe since he doesn't dress like someone who can stay quiet.

While on the road, a deer blocks their path. Inugami asks if they can just go around it to which Mrs. Kusaka replies that deer are their village's specialty. Inugami then leaves the car to smoke a cigar and then sees Kabane in the rice fields. He tries to speak to Kabane, but he doesn't reply.

Later that evening, Inugami is in a hot spring called "Kanoko Inn", when Yataro comes to introduce himself and tells him that he will be helping him during his stay. Yataro then shares that he wants to get a job in Tokyo when he grows up and tells Inugami to not tell his mom since she she will say that Yataro will take over the inn. As he was taking a bath, Inugami asked Yataro about the other boy, Yataro tells him that the boy's name is Dorotabo, which came from the name of the yokai that lives in the mud in the rice fields since Dorotabo is always covered in dirt and fertilizer when he's working in the fields. Yataro reveals that they gave him a job where he won't be able to be around anyone since he smells bad since he was born. After his bath, Inugami approaches Mrs. Kusaka and says that he wants Kabane to be the one helping him instead.

On the next day, Mrs. Kusaka tells Kabane that he will be helping Inugami, which came as a surprise to Kabane. He then washed and went to bring food to Inugami, who then introduced himself as a detective who specializes in the occult. He then asks Kabane if he has seen something strange, but Kabane tells him they will speak after he eats as he stinks and people usually can't eat around him, but that doesn't bother Inugami. Kabane then tells him about the rotting animals he had seen and that it usually occurs at the new moon. Inugami gives thanks to Kabane and checks that the next new moon will occur in five days.

The next day, Mrs. Kusaka is shocked seeing Inugami doing farmwork. She asks what he is doing to which Inugami replies that he doesn't have anything better to do so he decides to help Kabane. A friend of Yataro asks him what's the reason Kabane is with Inugami and Yataro responds that people from Tokyo has everything so a moron who doesn't know a thing must be new to them. Kabane then spends the next couple of days with Inugami, who was also helping Kabane do his job while waiting for the new moon. As they worked on the field, Inugami notices the stone around Kabane's neck and when he inspects it, he understood it was very valuable life calculus and no parent abandoning someone would give them that. Inugami asked Kabane if he wanted to see his parents, but Kabane wasn't sure as he never had thoughts on that before.

On the night of the new moon, Kabane is waiting outside, when Yataro approached him and started yelling for ruining his chance to go to Tokyo and in anger took Kabane's life calculus. Kabane immediately punches him, his face and hands started to transform into a monster, which scared Yataro into running, dropping the calculus. As Kabane took his calculus back, he returned to normal.

Kabane was crying behind a shack saying he was the monster, when Inugami found him. Inugami then decided to reveal that he is a kemono and explained that Kabane was a hybrid between human and ghoul and that the calculus works as a shield against Kabane's kemono thirst. He then told Kabane that it was a different monster that was killing the animals, hearing that Kabane got worried about Yataro and they went looking for him. As they found Yataro, and saved him from two infected dogs, they saw the culprit; a monster deer. Inugami shot the deer monster but wasn't able to fully separate its his head from its body. Kabane then jumped and put his hand in the deer's mouth and then ripped it from the monster's body.

On their way back to the house, Kabane told Inugami that he won't be able to stay, as Yataro now knows what he is. Inugami then pointed a gun at him and explained that his aunt had hired him to kill Kabane and that she also knew what he was, as his mother left him in her care. Inugami then asked again if Kabane wanted to meet his parents, but Kabane said no and asked for him to kill him. Inugami proceeds to shoot him in the head. Inugami showed the dead body to his aunt and then took it with him. As Kabane woke up, he was in Inugami's car, who told him he can't die as he is a ghoul and that they are now in Tokyo.

## Characters In Order of Appearance

* Kabane Kusaka
* Yataro
* Mrs. Kusaka
* Kohachi Inugami