The Kitsune's Daughters - A Foxy Tale From The Mera Family

Chapter 5 -- Kimiko Mera

Hanami broke the silence as she set down her chopsticks and glanced at me with inquisitive aqua blue eyes. Her bushy light brown tail flicked and swayed as she had been worrying about something that she wanted to tell me.

"I know that you are scared, and you have all the right to be so." Hanami told me plainly "But please try not to worry too much about it, sis! Once you are finished changing, it will not be all that bad. With mom and I, you will be loved and cherished forever."

"Please do not think of me as rude, Hanami. But you clearly do not know what I am going through."

"I know exactly how you feel." Hanami said, bitterly.

"Hanami-chan..." Kazuya warned "...be nice!"

"I used to be a human boy, just like you." she told me, telling me all about her mortal past in Edo, Japan "I have been alive for almost three hundred years now, though it feels only like a lifetime. I was born in the Tokugawa period. At that time, Japan was ruled by the shogunate and feudal lords. I do not remember much about my family; but I do remember that I loved them dearly." Hanami closed her eyes as she got to the tragedy of her story.

"On December 31st, 1703, my peaceful life was ruined by the Genroku Earthquake that set my town on fire and then the ocean washed onto land. I prayed to Inari Okami to spare my family, and that was when I met mother." she smiled as Kazuya held her hand as Hanami concluded "My family survived the disaster, and their fortune has been blessed by the Goddess Inari-sama. Since then, mother has loved me every day. So, believe me sis! I know what you are enduring."

I lingered as I never imagined that type of backstory would be attached to Hanami. She seemed always happy and enduring. But her world literally collapsed all around her.

"I am so sorry; I did not know." I watched Hanami take a moment to emotionally recover as she then smiled, returning back to her normal bubbly self.

"Do not worry about it, sis!" she touched my hand as I relaxed, smiling at me "That happened over three hundred years ago. I have had nothing but happiness and joy being mother's little daughter."

"Still, to survive an earthquake, a devastating fire, and a tsunami!" I admired her bravery "And to sacrifice your human life just to save your family...that is respectable!"

"Thank you!" she grinned, returning to her meal.

I picked up the wooden chopsticks as I had no clue how to use these darn things! I tried to mimic Kazuya and Hanami, but my fingers just seemed not to work. When I glanced at the egg-drop soup, I had no clue how to scoop a liquid up with two wooden sticks! It seemed like some type of dark magic or a clever trick was afoot!

Kazuya seemed to notice my struggling as she lifted her own bowl and slurped down the soup straight from the bowl's rim. I mimicked her actions as I did the same and watched her smile.

"Uhm, can I ask you a question?" I then asked Hanami as she nodded her head, slurping down her own soup "Why are you now speaking English? I did not know that you could that."

Hanami laughed, spitting out a little soup in the process, and wiping it up with her cloth napkin. She glanced at Kazuya as the wise kitsune nodded, giving permission "You silly fox! I am not speaking English; I never learned the language. I am speaking Japanese to you."

I sat there, stunned as I then wondered aloud "How is that even possible? I do not know any Japanese!"

[Do you remember your English then?] Kazuya asked me in English as I sat there, bewildered.

I knew that she was speaking in English, but I could not understand a single word that she had spoken. I glanced down, wondering how I could forget something like that. All my life, I only spoke English...so how could I forget it all in one night!?