What If Zero Really Were a Nine-Tailed Fox?

[Announcement: The story will go behind a paywall from Chapter 26 starting October 24. Please be careful when purchasing!] ----------- Story blurb below ------------- Zero thought it was all unbelievable. From the accident to waking up in a hospital bed, five years had passed. His parents had died, his childhood friend was already in the upper grades of elementary school, and even technology had advanced far beyond what he remembered. But more unbelievable than any of that was waking up to discover that he had been stripped of half his human status. He had become a half-yokai. His materialist worldview had taken an inexplicable hit, but life had to go on. Whether human, ghost, or yokai, everyone needed to live well. Once he accepted that, Zero kept working toward his dream. Fortunately, he had never been alone along the way. There had always been people by his side. They were his family and his friends. They were the people Zero treasured most. Warnings: * This is a slice-of-life story about half-yokai Zero in the Detective Conan world. Since it's a slice-of-life story, it will be slow to warm up. * The setting is inspired by the anime Natsume's Book of Friends. It's a world where humans and yokai coexist. (It crosses over a little with Natsume's Book of Friends and characters from a few other older anime, but the main story is still set in the Detective Conan world.) * For certain reasons, Zero has an "age gap" with the police academy group and isn't the same year as the four of them. Please keep that in mind! He is still childhood friends with Hiromitsu. * Rei Furuya is the central character. There shouldn't be any obvious romantic pairing in the main story. There may be some in the bonus chapters. But the story might have ideas of its own, so if things change later, I'll let everyone know in advance! (scratches head) Theme: Live grounded in reality and work hard to make each day better.