---

 
Author's Note: This one started out when I was researching possible backgrounds for Moriko in my DRU stories. We will learn more about Moriko in those stories and I decided that rather than giving her her own story I would develop this story idea that came to me while doing my research instead. I hope you all enjoy. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 1: Love and War

The blade of my opponent sliced through the air toward my neck and I only just raised my own in time for a block. The impact nearly knocked the blade from my hands. It served me right for not giving my opponent my complete attention. I put my focus back on the fight and we circled one another warily, watching one anothers eyes for some clue as to what the others next move would be. She moved first with a series of quick successive thrusts that I barely knocked aside with my own blade. As I parried her last thrust I moved my blade in an arc toward her own neck only to have it meet her own. She brought her blade back and it whistled through the air as I dropped down to the floor, swiveling my body in a roundhouse sweep to try and take her legs out from under her.

She leaped into the air and over my leg as it moved for the back of her legs, coming back down in a two handed overhand strike that might have split my head in half if it connected. I raised my own blade to block, my hands on the handle and the back of the blade to absorb the blow. The blade landed on my own with a loud crack and the impact jarred my shoulders. I rolled back in a backward somersault to get some distance between us and returned to my feet as I considered what to do next. She didn’t give me much time to think as a flurry of blows rained down on me and I was having trouble moving my own blade in time to stop them.

Finally I managed to knock her blade aside long enough to get in some attacks of my own. I swung for her left side and she blocked. Then I swung back around and over her head in an arc toward her right side which she blocked again. I danced backward and forward making a few feints before I saw an opening and thrust my blade toward her chest. Her own blade was quick to meet it blade on blade and with a twist of her wrist mine was wrenched from my hand and skittered across the floor. I raised my hands in defeat, “I yield.” *Thwak* “Ouch! Dammit Okasan! What was that for?!” I snapped as my mother’s bamboo practice sword hit me on the shoulder.

“Always be on your guard. You weren’t focusing Mitsuo,” my mother said. “You were thinking about that Rei Fujimoto again weren’t you?” Her tone was cold as Antarctica as she spoke Rei’s name.

I sighed and nodded. “Hai Okasan.” I knew she didn’t like Rei but she had been getting more and more hostile about her as it got closer to my birthday.

Grandfather gave me a stern look from where he sat watching us practice. “You know better than to let your attention slip while practicing Mitsuo.” Grandfather used to practice with us all the time but his arthritis had been getting worse lately and his age could be seen in his graying hair and tired eyes. He hadn’t really been the same since Grandmother died a few years back.

“Sorry Ojiisan, I will try to focus better,” I replied as I recovered my practice blade. Mom and I both got back into a ready stance and waited for his command to begin. Mom took after Grandmother; deep brown eyes, skin as white as snow, tall and really beautiful. She was also stronger and faster than she looked, a never ending source of amusement for her when new students at our family dojo thought she would be an easy opponent. At the moment though she was my opponent and I decided I’d better focus if I didn’t want to be sporting a wide assortment of new bruises.

Grandfather gave the word and we began to move against one another in a dance of thrusts, dodges, parries, and blocks interspersed with some kicks. Soon we both paused to lay down our practice blades and went at one another hand to hand. I was one of the few people I knew who could keep up with my mom and give her a good fight. I had been training since I was old enough to walk while our students were mostly still new, Grandfather was getting too old, and Dad wasn`t into martial arts as he claimed to be a lover not a fighter. Dad isn’t even Japanese, he’s Canadian and works as an software engineer for a large Tokyo company. He and mom had met when they both attended a private school and had fallen in love. When they graduated they married and he moved to live here in Japan with her.

After a good workout Mom and I bowed to one another and took a seat beside Grandfather who smiled at us both. “Good work Mitsuo you may beat Yuki someday after all.”

“Domo arigato, Ojiisan, if I do well it is only because I had a fine teacher,” I replied.

Grandfather laughed at that, “Yuki said the same thing at your age. You take after her so much.” It was true; I was pale like my mother with the same black hair and brown eyes and my face was just a little more feminine than I would have liked. My appearance and the fact that I was only half Japanese often made me the target of bullies at school, but given my skills at martial arts and my family it didn’t often go past name calling.

Grandfather Tanaka was from a wealthy family with a long and proud history in Judo and Kendo. We were privileged enough to live in a large home with an attached dojo and a koi pond in the back yard. Mom had learned the traditional Judo and Kendo and had also picked up Karate, Akido, and Kung Fu. She and Grandfather had taught me all they knew and now at almost sixteen years I was almost as good as my mom. I turned to Grandfather again as I realized he was saying something to me, “Hai Ojiisan?”

“You turn sixteen the day after tomorrow,” he said. “Since your parents wish to take you out into the mountains on your birthday and you have plans tomorrow I thought that I might give you your gift tonight.” He reached behind him and pulled out a long narrow package and handed it to me.

The package was heavy, four feet long, and three inches in width and depth. I took off the wrapping and opened the box to reveal a katana in a white saya, or scabbard as the English call them. I carefully drew the sword, which looked to be of good craftsmanship, and examined it. The blade was three feet long and of a steel alloy and almost white in color as was the tsuba (guard), a work of art in itself, which was in the shape of a snowflake. The foot long tsuka, or handle, was in that same near white wrapped in pale blue ito (braid) that was soft to the touch and fit comfortably in my hands. On the end of the tsuka was a tassel of the same pale blue color and material as the ito. A fingertip to the blade proved that it was very sharp and I just stared at it for a moment. “This is a beautiful blade Ojiisan,” I finally said as I carefully returned it to the saya. I noticed that the sageo, or cord, on the saya was also of the same pale blue as the ito and would secure easily to my belt.

Grandfather nodded looking pleased, “I had it made especially for you. Your mother bears our family blade but I felt that you deserved one of your own. I named it Yuki no Hana, may she serve you well.”

“Snowflower? The name suits it,” I responded. I thought it was an odd name to give to a guy’s sword but then Grandfather always referred to swords as female so maybe it wasn’t so strange after all since it was the swords name and not my own. “Domo arigato Ojiisan, I will treasure it always.”

I placed the sword in my lap and caressed the tsuba and tsuka in wonder. My own sword, made especially for me, this could be the best birthday gift ever. Mom seemed to be of similar mind as she looked teary eyed as she watched me run my fingers over it. Finally she sighed and spoke. “Mitsuo, I know you probably don’t want to hear this but I want you to be careful tomorrow when you’re out with that Rei girl. I have a bad feeling about her.”

I groaned at that. I knew my mother was only looking out for me but it was starting to get on my nerves a bit. “Really Okasan? She’s a Miko at one of the most prestigious shrines in Tokyo, what’s she going to do? Somehow I doubt she is planning to take me to a sex hotel. She likes me, but I don’t think she likes me that much.”

“She likes you now…” Mom sighed and shook her head as she trailed off not finishing that sentence. “Just please be careful, not everyone is what they appear to be. Make sure you’re not home too late, we want to leave tomorrow night for your birthday trip so we have enough to time to get out into the mountains.”

Grandfather nodded and looked at the dojo entrance. “The shadows grow long, you had best get some rest Mitsuo. You have school tomorrow, your plans afterward and then you need to pack for your trip and a weary body makes a weary mind.”

“Hai Ojiisan, good night. Good night Okasan.” I let mom give me a hug and kiss good night and then I took Yuki no Hana and headed to my room for bed. Grandfather was right I had a few busy days coming up. First I had a big date with Rei tomorrow and then my parents insisted on leaving tomorrow night to go out and spend some time out in the mountains communing with nature for my birthday. I wasn’t really the outdoorsy type but my father had insisted that this was important to him and my mom. I was going along mostly because they seemed excited about it and it would get me out of school for a day or two.

After placing my new sword reverently on top of my dresser in its box, I got out of my clothes and headed into the bath. I ran the water hot to ease the pains in my muscles from a strenuous workout though I had to make the bath quick. Once I was clean and had gotten most of the kinks out I dried off and took a look in the mirror. “Mitsuo Thompson, you sexy beast.” Okay I’m not really sexy, I’m more cute in that effeminate way that a lot of male J Pop artists and some anime characters are known for, maybe I should think about that as a career, I thought to myself. Well the J pop thing, not an anime character, though voice acting could be a possibility.

Despite my training I wasn’t even heavily muscled, but rather lean, well-toned and effeminate. Even my height wasn’t anything to write home about as I was just a bit below average height for a guy. Once I was finished cataloging my physical shortcomings, no pun intended, I returned to my room and climbed under the covers on my futon to try to sleep. I had trouble sleeping and I half wished my mom would come in and tell me one of her stories.

When I was a small child my mother used to tell me the most wonderful stories; western fairy tales and stories about Yōkai. Her favorite stories were about Yuki-onna. Yuki-onna were beautiful women who lived in snowy, cold, or mountainous regions. Sometimes a man lost in a snowstorm would stumble across a Yuki-onna. Some of these women would be alone while others held babies or small children. Helpful Yuki-onna would lead the men to safety and then sometimes sleep with them, indifferent ones left them alone, and the wicked ones would lead them astray to begin with, kill them, or steal their warmth leaving them frozen. In all the stories they were cold to the touch, pale, and Mama said they could control snow and ice.

In the stories where the Yuki-onna slept with the traveler the result was always the birth of a child that took after its mother. Most times they would take this child and disappear into the snow and when the child came of age she too would become a Yuki-onna. But in Mama’s favorite story the Yuki-onna slept with the man she had led to safety and the pair fell in love, married, and raised their daughter together. I thought Mama liked this one best because she was a bit of a romantic and her parents had met when Grandfather got lost in the woods in the snow while traveling and Grandmother had led him to safety. They had even named her Yuki in memory of how they had met. When I was small I could almost believe my mother was the daughter in that story as beautiful as she was.

My father had told me stories too, though he usually only did it when we were camping or during a storm since he seemed to prefer western ghost stories. He had a favorite story too. His favorite story was about a father and son who were traveling through China, even though they couldn’t speak the language. They had hired a guide to take them through some of the wilderness and had planned on hunting for their food. They passed through the mountains in an area that was populated by snow leopards, an endangered species, and the guide warned them not to harm any of the felines or they would face dire consequences.

The boy was a cocky sixteen year old and when dad told the story you could almost feel his resentment of the stupidity of the boy. He ended up shooting a snow leopard that was a mother of a litter. When the old guide discovered what the boy had done he cursed the boy and all his descendants when they came of age to become snow leopards to make up for the life he took and the kittens he had left motherless. The boy grew up and learned to regret what he had done and to respect nature. He married and they had a son and like his father he too turned into a snow leopard, though he could control it.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of Scandal playing on my computer. Scandal isn’t really your typical J pop band as they have a harder edgier hard rock sound that I like and listening to them first thing in the morning gives me an energy boost to help start my day off right. I quickly got up and went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth before returning to my bedroom to put on my school uniform. Then it was downstairs for breakfast with Grandfather, Mom, and Dad before school.

“Ohayou,” I said as I joined my family at the breakfast table. Mom already had the table set and I sat down to a traditional Japanese breakfast of steamed rice, miso soup, tamagoyaki, and broiled fish. Mom was a traditionalist when it came to breakfast but she was also a great cook so I never went to school hungry. Once we were all sat at the table and ready to eat we all chimed in, “Itadakimasu!”

“So,” my father said as we dug in to our meal. “Are you ready for the big trip into the mountains Mitsuo?” He was smiling from ear to ear and only a fool couldn’t have seen that he was excited about it.

“Hai Otosan, I’m looking forward to spending some time with you.” I really was. I spent a lot of time with my mother, but my father was usually pretty busy with his work so we seldom got to spend any one on one time. I may not be the outdoorsy type but doing anything with both my father and mother as a family would be welcome.

“Great!” he exclaimed, “I’m looking forward to it too. Remember not to be out too late tonight. I want to leave as soon as you get home. We’ve already got the gear we need packed so you’ll just need to pack some clothes.” After that we both hurried to finish our breakfast and Mom gave us both a quick hug and kiss before sending us on our way.

I made my way through the streets of Shinjuku with my book bag in hand on my way to Hatomori High School. I was adjusting the collar on my uniform and looking at a motorbike in a shop window when my eyes were covered from behind. “Guess who,” Rei said with a giggle.

I scratched my head as I pretended to try to guess who she was. “Yumi? Rika? I know! Is it Aoi?”

She removed her hands and stuck out her tongue at me. “It’s me silly, Rei.” Then she looked me over in concern. “Are you alright Mitsuo-kun? You’re really cold to the touch; I hope you’re not getting sick.”

I shrugged as we started walking toward school, “Well it is late November, and the weather is starting to turn cold. Don’t worry, I’m feeling fine and I wouldn’t miss our date tonight for anything Rei-chan.”

Rei smiled and took my hand as we walked, “Good, I’ve been looking forward to this all week.” That girl had such a beautiful smile. I wondered, not for the first time, why she had chosen me out of all the possible guys at school to ask out. She could have had anyone with her looks, brains and prestige but three months ago she had asked me out and we had been steady since. She claimed it was because she respected my strength. When I had argued that there were stronger guys in school than me she specified that it wasn’t my physical strength, but my determination and skills in martial arts. She seemed to think I would make a good protector, though I couldn’t think of just who she would need protection from.

Our walk to school was made in companionable silence and soon we were entering the school gates. Rei was pretty popular and it seemed everyone had to say hello or have a quick word with her. I was getting quite a bit of attention too, mostly hostile glares from the guys. One of those guys was Rei’s ex-boyfriend Daisuke, who had made it quite clear that he’d like nothing better than to get me alone for a good pounding. I could see him watching me sometimes, just waiting for a chance. Once we were finally inside the entrance we both got our inside shoes and changed into them with a few minutes to spare before class. Rei leaned in and kissed me before we parted ways, “See you after school Mitsuo-kun.”

“I can’t wait Rei-chan,” I replied. Then I headed up to my class and thus began the long wait for the school day to be over. Class was boring and I slept through most of the morning lectures. Mrs. Sugisawa had to have the most boring voice in the world. I somehow made it through to lunch and as I sat there at my desk eating, my best friend Keigo Hiromori came over to talk. “Hey Mitsuo, do you want to go watch a movie or something tonight?”

I shook my head as I swallowed a mouthful of sushi from my bento box. “I can’t Keigo, I’ve got that big date with Rei tonight and then my chichi, haha, and I are going camping in the mountains for a few days.”

Keigo sighed, “Damn you’re lucky Mitsuo. You get to go out with a beautiful older woman and you get to miss out on school.”

“She’s only older by a year Keigo, but I won’t deny that she is beautiful.” I leaned back in my chair and sighed contentedly, “And getting to miss out on school is great. It’s good to be me right now.”

Keigo gave me a jealous look. “Yeah it must be. Fujimoto-san is older, beautiful, smart, and she’s a Miko at Meiji Shrine. How did you get so lucky?”

I just grinned at him. “Clean living my friend.” Then I went back to finishing my lunch as Keigo griped about my love life. Soon we were back to boring class work and I was fighting off the need to take a nap once again while counting down the time on the clock. If anything the afternoon seemed to pass even slower than the morning had but eventually the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. I said goodbye to Keigo and loaded my school bag so I could go meet Rei.

Rei was waiting for me outside by the school gates, talking to some of her friends. Once she caught sight of me heading her way she quickly excused herself and met me with a kiss. “Ready to have some fun?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said with a grin. “Lead the way; you’re the one who made all the plans.” Rei had insisted she wanted this date to be special since we couldn’t be together on my actual birthday. The whole date was supposed to be one surprise after another. “Just remember my parents don’t want me out too late,” I reminded her.

“Hai,” she replied as she half dragged me along the street. “I hope you enjoy what I have planned Mitsuo-kun. First we need to stop by my place.” I merely nodded as she led the way through the streets of Shinjuku. I had never been to Rei’s house before nor had I met her parents yet. She said she was waiting for the right time. She hadn’t met my parents officially either yet though I know my mother had seen her from a distance and took an instant dislike to her. I was so not looking forward to an actual meeting between the two.

The house she led me to was near the forest that surrounded Meiji Shrine. From the outside it looked like a nice home similar in size to Grandfather’s with a small walled courtyard in the front. Once we got through the gates I saw a middle aged man wearing a gi sitting on a stone bench. He looked good for his age with no visible fat, good posture, and a full head of shoulder length hair pulled back in a ponytail. He rose when he saw us approach. “Konnichiwa Rei-chan, how was school today?”

“School was good Otosama. I would like you to meet Mitsuo, the boy I told you about,” she replied.

I gave a polite bow, “Konnichiwa, it is good to meet you Fujimoto-sama, I am Thompson Mitsuo.”

Rei’s father seemed to assess me for a moment before nodding, “That’s an unusual family name Mitsuo, are you American?”

I shook my head, “No Fujimoto-sama, my chichi is Canadian and my haha is Japanese. I was born and raised here.”

“Good,” he said with a smile. “Rei tells me you’re quite the martial artist Mitsuo, I was wondering if you might do me the honor of sparring with me.”

“It would be an honor Fujimoto-sama.” I carefully placed my book bag on the bench and Mr. Fujimoto and I both got into our respective ready positions. Rei sat down on the bench to watch us and I wondered just what was going on. If I hadn’t agreed to spar it would have been rude and I would have dishonored my family. Did Rei and her father have this planned?

I let him make the first move so I could get a feel for him. He threw a quick jab followed by a high roundhouse. I blocked the jab, using my left hand to push his own away and raised my right to block the kick and used the moment to launch a kick at his midsection. It went on like that for a while both of us attacking and counter-attacking as we tried to get a read on one another. He was pretty good and hardly telegraphed his moves at all. Finally I saw an opening as I kicked at him and he stepped aside launching a kick of his own at my side. I quickly dropped to my knee spinning to grab his foot as I used the momentum of the spin to sweep the leg he was balanced on, knocking him to the ground as I let go of his foot and rose to my feet to offer him a hand up.

He took the offered hand and got to his feet and we both bowed to one another. He gave me a nod and a smile. “Well fought young man, you’re as good as Rei said you were. I must say though I am a bit surprised. I find most young people these days talk a lot and use insults during a fight to keep their opponent off balance, but you didn’t say a word.”

I shrugged as I replied, “I find that a waste of breath Fujimoto-sama. It prevents one from focusing completely on the fight and talking means you aren’t controlling your breathing. Focus and control over your whole body and its functions are the keys to good form. Also if your attention is on distracting your opponent, you too are distracted and all the talk in the world isn’t going to do you any good if you don’t have the focus and skills to back it up.”

“That is a wise way of thinking for one so young,” he responded.

I grinned at him, “My Ojiisan says ‘One is only as wise as the lessons one chooses to learn.’”

Mr. Fujimoto nodded at that, “He sounds like a wise man himself and he has taught you well. I must speak with my daughter for a moment, would you mind waiting?”

“Of course not Fujimoto-sama. I will wait on the bench.” I went to sit on the bench beside my book bag while he pulled Rei aside and the pair walked toward the house.

Despite the distance and their hushed tones I could mostly make out what they were saying to one another. “… an outsider but he seems sensible and he would make a good…” Came Mr. Fujimoto’s voice.

Rei responded with, “I told you he would be good and he turns sixteen tomorrow.”

Her father nodded, “Do you think you can convince him to…? We could have him come over…”

I knew eavesdropping was rude but it’s not like I was intentionally listening in, I just seemed to be hearing well. I was getting annoyed though at hearing snippets, but not everything. The trend seemed to continue as Rei said. “No, he’s supposed to be going away with… won’t be back until…” At least I had a good idea what I was missing there. She was probably talking about my camping trip with my parents.

“Try to convince him tonight then, there’s no harm in telling him a day early. If he accepts we can start training him once he gets back. Make sure he knows to tell no one. Are you certain…?”

“Hai Otosama, I like him and I think he will make a great husband and help to carry on the family…” was what I caught of her reply. He nodded and she came over to take my hand. “Sorry to make you wait Mitsuo-kun I needed to ask my father about something family related. I’m just going to go inside and change, I’ll be right back.” She gave me a quick kiss and dashed into her house after her father. It was then that I noticed the slips of paper on the door and the windows of the front. It looked like something was written on them in kanji but it was hard to tell what without going right up to them and reading. They looked like spirit wards but I guessed that it kind of made sense with Rei being a Miko and all. Still it was a little strange to see them these days.

I shrugged it off as Rei came back out the door dressed in a nice looking black dress and matching jacket with a pair of black heels that made her legs look incredible. She came and gave me another kiss, this one longer and much more enjoyable, before checking her purse to see if she had everything she needed. I was feeling a bit hot under the collar as I asked, “So where to first?”

She put her arm around me and started guiding me back out to the street. “Would you like to go home to drop off your books and change first?”

I thought about it and nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. It’ll be nice to get out of my uniform and carrying around my book bag would be a pain in the ass.”

“Okasan! Ojiisan!” I called out as I removed my shoes and stepped inside the house. Rei was waiting outside by the gate as she was in a hurry to get to our first stop and I really didn’t want her and my mom to meet right yet anyway. I had a feeling that that could only end badly for me.

Mom came out of the kitchen and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, “I thought you had a big date this afternoon.”

I nodded, “She’s waiting for me but we thought it would be a good idea for me to drop off my book bag and get changed first. I just wanted you to know I was doing that and I should be back home sometime after dinner.”

She gave me a tight hug and then shooed me up to my bedroom. “Hurry up then and get changed, and remember to be careful tonight. Make sure to take your phone in case of emergency.”

“Hai Okasan,” I replied as I tossed my book bag on my bed. “I’ll be careful and if anything happens that I can’t handle I’ll call you.” Then I shut the door to my room and quickly got out of my school uniform. After that it was a mad search through my room for something date worthy to wear. I finally decided on a pair of black jeans, a charcoal button-up shirt and a black blazer. I shoved my phone and wallet into various pockets of my jeans and ran downstairs to give my mom a quick kiss and practically jumped into my shoes and out the door.

Soon Rei and I were walking arm in arm again as she led the way to Yoyogi station. She still wouldn’t tell me any destination other than that and I was a bit surprised when we got off the train after only one stop at Sendagaya station. Once we left the station she led me straight to the entrance to Shinjuku Gyoen. We spent the next hour there walking hand in hand through the gardens stopping only once in a while for brief kisses. It was a romantic walk and the only thing that could have made it better would have been having the cherry blossoms in bloom.

Far too soon the park closed and we left to catch the train again. This time we got off at Harajuku station and she led the way to a restaurant she knew of that served western cuisine and had the appearance of a 1950’s diner with a jukebox and a small dance floor. One thing I love about Harajuku is that nobody there seems to conform to any one style. People are free to express themselves however they wish In their clothes, hair, and attitudes and everyone just accepts it. For example the booth behind ours had one girl dressed in a Gothic Lolita style, one pink haired cyberpunk, a guy in jeans and a fishnet shirt with electric blue hair, and a third girl who was cosplaying Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Half the fun of going to Harajuku is people watching.

I ate a really good burger and fries with a coke and once we were finished eating we selected some slow songs on the jukebox. Dancing in one another’s arms felt so good and I was reluctant to let her go as the last song we had chosen came to an end. “This is nice,” I said as I kissed her. “I’m really enjoying myself tonight.”

“I’m glad,” she replied. She kissed my neck and then tugged on my earlobe with her teeth before whispering. “I wanted this night to be special for you since we couldn’t do anything tomorrow. I was hoping to take you to the Sword Museum too, but it’s already closed.”

I shivered at her kiss and turned her face so I could kiss her on the lips. Once our lips parted I smiled at her. “This has been special and I’m sure there are other things you want to do. Besides I got a sword as a gift from my Grandfather so I think I’ll want to appreciate that one for a while. So what’s next?”

“I thought we’d go to the shrine,” she replied. “There’s something I want to talk to you about privately and I thought we might pray together there.”

“Umm, sure that sounds great.” I was a little caught off guard by that. Maybe she really was serious about me if she was planning something like that. This whole date had been one romantic thing after another and she was obviously making an effort. And then there was that whole secretive conversation with her father. I wondered what exactly she was planning on asking me. We paid for our meal and then she took me by the hand and led the way to Meiji Shrine.

It was a new moon so there wasn’t much light to walk by but Rei seemed to know the path to the shrine fairly well. We were walking through the dense woods and holding hands as Rei spoke, “So Mitsuo-kun, I need to talk to you about something very important. You may not believe me, but I want you to keep an open mind because this is really important. I really like you and I want you to…” she seemed to be having trouble coming out with the words.

I took her hands in mine and asked, “Want me to what? Marry you?” I remembered her telling her father I would make a good husband.

She nodded and I wasn’t sure in the dim light but I think she may have been blushing. “Yes, but you need to know that joining my family comes with certain duties. We have a long history to uphold.”

“A history?” I asked.

She took a deep slow breath before saying, “My family are Yōkai Hunters. We have been hunting and either killing or sealing them for centuries.”

Swell, I thought, she’s smart, pretty, and she seems to really like me. Of course she’s insane. Yōkai don’t exist. She must have sensed my doubt because she opened her mouth to say something. A snapping twig caught my attention and I put my finger to her lips. “Shhh, someone is following us.” I turned around searching the darkness as five large figures made their way out of the trees to surround us. I couldn’t make out any faces in the darkness.

“Well look what we have here guys, if it isn’t Rei-chan and her new girlfriend.” I recognized that voice, it was Daisuke.

Rei moved closer to me, gripping my hand tight. “Daisuke, leave us alone.”

“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you Rei? I bet you want to get your girlfriend there all alone out in the woods. I can’t believe you left me for this loser,” Daisuke said, his voice full of disdain.

I got between Daisuke and Rei and watched carefully as he and his four cronies moved closer. “Obviously her taste has improved,” I shot back with more bravado than I was feeling. One on one and maybe even two on one I would have no problems, but there were five of them. Maybe if I could take out their leader quick the others would run. I whispered back to Rei, “If you get a chance, run for it.”

“You shut up,” Daisuke snapped. “I’m going to make you regret ever being born.”

“How are you going to do that? By boring me? Listen asshole I have places to be so if you’re going to try to kick my ass get it over with and stop standing around trying to be intimidating. It’s not working and it’s a waste of all of our time.” I started to shift my position into a ready stance. I had succeeded in pissing him off enough to attack first and he rushed me throwing a punch. He had absolutely no technique. Obviously he was the type who relied on physical strength and numbers to win a fight. I could work with that. I quickly blocked, batting his fist aside and delivered an open hand strike to his nose, breaking it and causing a gush of blood.

He dropped to the ground holding his bleeding nose and I had hoped that would be the end of it. His friends didn’t appear to be of the same opinion though as they rushed me from all sides. I didn’t have time to waste on being nice. I kicked the first in the solar plexus and delivered a chop to the nerve bundle in another’s neck. One managed to hit me on the head from behind with something and I was seeing stars as my vision swam. Then Rei did something I couldn’t see that dropped one of the guys behind me and I kicked hard at the knee of the one who had hit me from behind dropping him as well.

Rei grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to my feet. I was seeing three of her in the dim light but I managed to stand and she pulled me along behind her as she took off through the woods and away from the path and the group who were starting to get to their feet. We ran through the trees for a while until we were sure there was no sign of pursuit. “I think we lost them,” Rei said as we leaned against a tree to catch our breath. She seemed to be saying something more but I was having problems focusing as I fell to the ground and darkness claimed me.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 2: Reborn

I woke up to a ringing in my ears, no wait, it was music, very familiar music. That’s right, it was the ring tone for my phone. I shook my head and looked around at my surroundings. I was in the woods and the position of the sun indicated that it was probably after breakfast time. Rei was sleeping beside me and had her arm around me. “Oh kuso!” I cursed as I fumbled through my pocket for my phone. I took a look and saw that it was November 28th, my birthday, and I had 21 missed calls. Mom and Dad were going to be pissed. I might as well get it over with.

I hit mom’s number and tried to focus past the pounding of my head as I pressed the button to connect the call. It hadn’t even finished ringing when mom picked up. “Mitsuo?!” She sounded panicked and my mom never sounded panicked.

“Hai Okasan, it’s me,” I replied.

She let out a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. “Are you alright? We’ve been worried sick. Where have you been all night?!”

“I’ve been unconscious in the woods,” I grumbled. “Five guys jumped Rei and me last night. We managed to give better than we got and escaped by running through the woods but I took a blow to the head and I must have passed out.”

“Where are you? Your father is out searching for you and one of us needs to get to you as quickly as possible.” She sounded really worried.

“We’re somewhere in the woods near Meiji Shrine, the lake isn’t far away, I can see it from here. I don’t think this is the time to be worried about our camping trip Okasan,” I replied.

“Is the Fujimoto girl still with you?” she asked.

“Yeah, she’s asleep right beside me,” I answered.

I had never heard my mother curse before so it was somewhat of a surprise when she let forth a long litany of practically every Japanese curse word I knew. “Wait by the lake. Your father will be there as soon as he can. If you start to feel any strange sensations in your body like cold shivers or strained muscles get out of sight. Do not let Rei see you if that happens.”

“You’re scaring me Okasan,” I said. “What the hell is going on?”

I could hear her take a deep breath. “You turn sixteen today Mitsuo. With your mixed heritage we can’t be sure what will happen but you will go through changes today and you cannot let anyone see what happens. If you feel the changes coming then get out of sight.”

I groaned and rubbed my temples. “Domo arigato Okasan,” I replied sarcastically. “You’ve explained everything and nothing all at once.”

“Wait. By. The. Lake.” She responded in a chilling tone. “I’ll let your father know where you are.”

She hung up and I disconnected the call and turned to start to gently shake Rei’s shoulder. “Rei-chan, wake up.”

Rei’s eye’s fluttered open and she looked blearily at me for a moment before suddenly putting her arms around me. “Thank goodness you’re alright Mitsuo-kun! I was so worried when you passed out last night! I was going to go get help but it was too dark to find my way back and even if I got help I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to find you again.”

“Don’t worry,” I said in an attempt to reassure her. “I’m fine other than a massive headache. I just talked to my haha and she wants me to wait by the lake. Maybe you should get heading home. Your parents must be worried and I think school has already started.” I helped her to her feet and started to lead the way to the lake.

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” she replied sternly. “Can you call my phone? I think I dropped it near here. Then I’ll call my parents and let them know we’re okay.” I made the call and we heard her ringtone a short distance away. We soon found it and as we got closer to the lake she called and I led her to a quiet part of the lake, heavily wooded and away from the benches used by the tourists who may be visiting the shrine today. Mom had said to be ready to hide and I wasn’t about to go against her advice even if I didn’t have any clue why. Here I would be able to hide quickly and I could see the tourist area to know if my father arrived.

I climbed up onto a thick low hanging branch that stretched out to hang over the lake as Rei moved away a bit to speak with her parents. Despite the distance and her back being turned I could hear her end of the conversation. “Hai Otosama. Sorry to worry you. Daisuke and some of his friends caught us by surprise last night. No I’m fine, we managed to hurt them enough to get away through the woods. Mitsuo took a hit to the head and he passed out after we got away. ” She turned and looked at me and smiled before turning away again as she listened to her father on the other end. “He seems fine now Otosama. I asked him but he didn’t get a chance to answer me before we were attacked, I’ll ask once I’m done talking to…” I got kind of distracted at that point as all my muscles locked up and it seemed like my entire body was frozen and threatened to shake itself apart from the shivering.

I hardly noticed when I fell off the branch and into the lake. It felt like my bones, muscles, flesh and my entire being were suddenly being stretched, pulled, and pounded. I was vaguely aware of sinking below the water’s surface and then splashing in the shallow water as I instinctively tried to stop myself from drowning and tore at my wet clothes which threatened to entangle me. Buttons popped and my shirt seemed to burst at the seams and then fall off from my contortions as I practically fell out of my jeans. Suddenly the pain was gone and I made my way back to the shore, coughing and sputtering water. I heard Rei calling my name as I crawled up the bank toward her but she suddenly stopped and I looked up to find her staring at me, a look of confusion, fear, and anger spread across her face.

I tried to ignore that and crawled onto the top of the bank, soaking wet as I put one hand in front of the other to crawl toward her. My whole body felt off and looking down I quickly realized why, I had paws and fur. A quick look behind me showed a white feline body with black rosettes and a long fluffy white tail. What the hell? Did I fall into the pool of drowned cat or something? No wonder Rei looked so scared; she was frozen in place just staring. How the hell do I calm her down?

Should I run or just try to do something else? I wasn’t sure I could run like this, my whole body felt wrong and I was having problems with my coordination. People don’t just turn into wild cats every day, maybe I could convince her she was seeing things, hell maybe I was seeing things. Am I stuck like this? If I turned into this there must be a way to turn back. Maybe I need some hot water? Dammit I need to be human, how do I become human? Think about being human.

Something clicked and there was a tingling sensation as I could feel myself changing again. It wasn’t accompanied by that pain or cold feeling this time. I could feel and see the toes on my forepaws lengthening into fingers as my legs lengthened and changed into more human arms and legs. My muzzle retracted into a human mouth and nose and I could feel my ears changing and moving into position at the side of my head. Finally long black hair cascaded down the side of my head down to the ground. I was on my hands and knees and moved to get to my feet.

Something was still wrong. Maybe I was tired from changing back so quickly, I could barely stand, my balance still felt off, and my body felt different even now that I seemed to be human again. There was a shifting weight on my chest as I got to my feet, and the shifting weight I was used to between my legs was conspicuously absent. I looked down to where my hair covered my breasts. Breasts? What the hell?! I didn’t have much chance to think about it though as I heard Rei’s angry voice. “Yōkai! Tell me what you’ve done with Mitsuo!” Aww shit, she looked pissed, and the flaming spirit ward in her hand did not bode well for me.

I raised my hands above my head as I stepped toward her, “Ummm… look, can we talk about this?”

“Stay right where you are! The only talking I want to hear from you is telling me what you’ve done with Mitsuo!” She looked at her phone and pressed a button, still holding the spirit ward in her free hand. She lifted the phone to her ear as she watched me. “Hello Okasama. He’s on his way? There’s a Yōkai here, I think it killed Mitsuo.” She was starting to shake a bit and tears were running down her face. She nodded and sniffled. “I’ll try to hold it here until you can get here to seal or kill it.” Well there went any hope of getting her to listen to reason, not that my story would sound reasonable.

I figured even if she wouldn’t believe the truth I should try something though. “I didn’t do anything to your boyfriend Rei, if I did wouldn’t there be a body and such? Here walk with me to the water and I’ll prove it,” I offered.

She narrowed her eyes at me, “You’re just trying to get me into the water so you can drown me like you did him. I’m not falling for it.”

I shook my head as I tried to think. “Okay then why don’t you watch me from the top of the bank while I look for proof?”

“So you can escape into the lake you came from? I don’t think so.” She kept her spirit ward held out in front of her like a talisman.

“What did I look like when I came out of the lake?” I asked, hoping maybe she didn’t see the whole cat thing after all.

She glared at me, still shaking and looking uncertain. “You were some kind of big white spotted cat.”

Well so much for that thought. “Yeah and cats and water don’t mix. I didn’t want to be in the water, so why would I drag anyone else in there? Let alone live there? I’m going down there to find proof, if you want to try to stop me then do it but we both know you’re new at this and don’t think you have the power.” I turned and jumped down the short bank and looked back around to find her at the top watching me carefully. “See no body here, just clothes.” I picked up my jeans and shirt that were floating at the water’s edge and displayed the latter for her to see once I had climbed back to the top of the bank. Then I noticed the torn seams and the claw marks that had nearly shredded the front of the soaked garment at roughly the same time she did. “Aww shit.”

Rei had reacted poorly to the shredded shirt, her face a mask of raw fury so I did the only sensible thing, I ran like hell. Luckily there was a layer of fallen leaves on the ground so my feet weren’t getting too beat up. Now here I was hiding behind a tree and hoping I had lost her. It’s not that I couldn’t have taken her, I knew I could have, but I didn’t want to hurt her doing so. I fished through the pockets of my soaked jeans for my phone and extracted it. I checked it and found to my great relief that it really was as waterproof as it had been advertised to be. I fumbled with it and hit my mom’s number. “Come on, answer.”

I heard her voice on the other end after the third ring. “Moshi moshi.”

“Okasan? Please tell me Otosan is on his way.” I blurted out as I looked around to make sure I wasn’t being seen.

There was a long silence on the other end. “Mitsuo? Is that you? Your father is on his way, are you still at the lake?”

I darted my head around to make sure I was still safe, “Yeah it’s me, at least I think I am. About the lake, I fell in and had to run for my life when Rei thought I killed… me. I don’t think the lake will be a safe place to meet. Rei talked to her mother on the phone and said she was going to try to keep me there until her mom could show up to kill or seal me. She had some kind of spirit ward and called me a Yōkai.”

I could hear a long sigh. “I take it you’re female now? I guess you took after me after all. I told you that girl would be trouble. This is exactly why I told you to be careful. When you get home you are going to tell me everything and we are going to have a long talk young lady.”

Rei’s voice rang out through the woods, she was getting closer. “Yōkai! I am going to hunt you down and kill you for what you did! I’ll find you! You can’t run from me forever!”

“Kuso!” I cursed before whispering into the phone. “It’s comforting that you’re assuming I’m going to make it home Okasan, but Rei’s closing in, I’m tired of running naked through the woods and my phone’s battery is going to die any minute now.” I looked back around the tree to see Rei’s search was bringing her in my general direction, though she wasn’t too close yet. “I think I have a way of getting away but I’ll have to leave my phone and wallet behind.”

“Do what you need to get away,” my mother replied, “Those things can be replaced, you can’t.”

“Hai Okasan, I’ll try to double back to the lake and meet Otosan there. I love you.” I felt the need to say that to her as I disconnected the call, just in case I didn’t make it home. I dropped everything and hoped that I was right and could turn back into that cat. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes thinking about being the cat and what it had felt like. I felt the tingling feeling again and hoped that was a good sign as I opened my eyes to look down at my paws. It worked!

I tried moving around a bit to get used to it and I found that it was easier if I just stopped thinking like a human and let my instincts guide me. Everything around me was so clear, the sights, smells and sounds were all in sharp focus. I didn’t need to see Rei to know she was closing in, I could hear her clumsy shuffling through the trees and brush and could smell her. I quickly took off, a bit clumsily, in the direction I knew the lake was in, slipping through the cover of the thicker trees. Soon moving became natural to me and I was running through the woods, revelling in the speed and grace of my new form.

I had almost made it to the lake when I smelled something different than all the other forest smells that I had been growing accustomed to. I followed my nose and ended up face to face with a cat that looked a lot like me with the same kind of spots only larger and grey in color. The larger cat began to slowly change, becoming human. It was my father and he looked as shocked as I was. “Mitsuo?”

“Otosan!?” I tried to reply but only hisses and mews seemed to come out.

“There’s no time to talk here, there’s a man and a woman searching the woods for you and your girlfriend and I overheard them talking about a Yōkai girl that turns into a hunting cat, I can only assume they meant you. Come on, I left some clothes for us to change into near the lake,” my father said as he turned back into a cat and padded off toward the lake.

The clothes turned out to be a pair of my sweatpants that were now too short in the legs and too tight on the hips, a t-shirt that was way too tight on my chest, and a pair of sneakers which I had to lace tightly and wear two pairs of socks under and they were still too loose. The t-shirt was especially bad, being tight enough to show off my very prominent nipples. Luckily he had also brought my bomber jacket and although my chest was too big to zip it up all the way at least it covered up the trouble spots.

Dad had looked away while I changed. He didn’t seem too surprised by my turning into a girl but actually seeing his son as a naked female probably wasn’t easy on him. Hell it wasn’t easy on me. Everything about my body felt both wrong and right at the same time. I think the worst part though was that I wasn’t freaking out near as bad as I thought I should be. There was this acceptance that this was how I was and I probably couldn’t change it and that was freaking me out. I thought that I was probably in shock or something.

The trip home was largely uneventful. I think that was due in large part to our caution as I knew that I for one was keeping a very careful eye out for Rei and her father. We walked as casually as possible through the streets of Shinjuku but I found myself getting a lot of strange looks. At first I chalked it up to my ill-fitting clothing, but as we got closer to home I realised that the guys were looking at me a lot like they looked at Rei. I also seemed to be getting near-glares from a lot of the women and wondered what I was doing to piss them off. Maybe it was because they thought I should be in school or something?

Once we were home my father led me to the dining room where my grandfather and mom had set out a large lunch for us all. I was really grateful and quickly dug into the meal since I was starving. I hadn’t eaten since the night before and all that running through the woods and changing back and forth between cat and human had seemed to take a lot out of me. My mom seemed to expect that and waited until I had some food in me before she asked me to recount everything that had happened since the night before. None of them interrupted me but all three of them looked like they wanted to a few times, like when I mentioned my transformation and Rei’s reaction.

When I was finally finished they were both shaking their heads as my mother said. “This is exactly the kind of situation I was hoping to avoid. It looks like Rei really is from a Yōkai Hunter family like I thought, and now she believes that you killed Mitsuo and we can’t really prove that you didn’t since there’s no body to be found. The real problem is that she believes you to be a Yōkai capable of murder. She as much as told you she wants you killed or sealed.”

“A Yōkai capable of murder, but I’m not…” I began.

“No you’re not a murderer,” my mother replied. “But she obviously doesn’t believe that, nor will her parents when they only get her side of the story.”

“Why did you only dispute the murderer part of that statement?” I asked, worried now.

She sighed and looked me right in the eyes as she said, “Because you are a Yōkai, or at the very least part Yōkai. Do you remember the stories I used to tell you when you were small about the Yuki-onna?” I nodded and she continued on, “Those stories were true. My mother guided my father out of the woods one snowy night and they slept together and had me. They fell in love and she stayed with him to raise me as a human. When I turned sixteen I came into my heritage and became a Yuki-onna, and you appeared to have as well.”

I just stared at her, trying to process this impossible data. I looked to Grandfather and he only confirmed it with a grave nod of his head. “Why the hell didn’t you warn me about this?!”

She shook her head sadly and took my hand. “Your father is under a curse. His father was the boy in the story about the snow leopards he used to tell you. His curse took effect when he was sixteen as well, although he seems to be able to control his ability to change, unlike his father. I don’t know of any Yuki-onna who has ever mated with a cursed man before and when you were born a boy we weren’t sure which of us you would take after when this time came. My mother told me that even boys born to Yuki-onna will become one of us so we knew there was a possibility that you would become like me. I tried to prepare you through the stories and other small things as your father tried to prepare you with his stories. When we registered your birth we claimed to have twins, a boy and a girl, just in case. Your female name is Miyuki by the way.”

I sat with my head in my hands. “So now I’m some kind of female cursed Yōkai, my girlfriend thinks I murdered my male self and wants to kill me, and she’ll probably get the police to believe her too, is there anything else I should know?”

She looked deep in thought as she answered, “You don’t need to worry about the police dear. Rei’s family wouldn’t involve the humans. Even if they tried to, Rei has no idea who you are and they’d lock her in a padded room if she tried telling them what she believes happened. They’ll just try to kill or seal you themselves.”

I banged my head on the table in front of me. “Domo Arigato Okasan, that’s so comforting.”

She gave me a serious look. “I’d rather you be prepared for the worst than not prepared at all. These days, so long as we’re not harming the humans for no good reason most Yōkai Hunters leave us alone and we leave them alone. But they will hunt down any Yōkai they believe are dangerous and some families will hunt down Yōkai regardless of whether they’re dangerous or not. Rei’s family will be after you and possibly others as well. I think we need to explain some things to you and then decide what we’re going to do now.”

Mom explained to me that magic, Yōkai, and many other creatures thought to be myths do exist but the governments often cover up incidents to avoid panic. Most countries have government agencies that operate under the radar to deal with these beings. They have departments that deal with the bad ones and recruit the more benign ones for various purposes. Sometimes Yōkai , Cursed or other such beings even work for these agencies. My mom and dad actually worked for the government at one time performing mountain rescues.

Department Nine handles all matters that deal with Yōkai in Japan and consists of three smaller agencies; one that polices Yōkai and other supernatural creatures native to Japan, one that scouts and recruits promising Yōkai for various government branches, and one that deals with foreign supernatural threats. Rei’s family was one of the independent Yōkai Hunter families that have been hunting our kind for centuries and work outside the government. They don’t care if the government has you labeled as an asset or a dangerous Yōkai and use their own judgement. Mom said that I appeared to be both a Cursed and a Yōkai and she and my father explained what I could probably expect.

As a Yuki-onna I am beautiful, not bothered by the cold, can feed on the heat from people and things, have an infallible sense of direction, and have control over snow and ice. I am also stronger, faster, and more graceful than a normal human. This heritage also has weaknesses that make it hard to blend in though. Beauty attracts a lot of attention, and my skin is very pale, almost pure white, and cold to the touch, and if I don’t consciously stop myself from feeding on the heat of things around me things might freeze. I also don’t give off a lot of body heat on my own and infrared or other methods of detecting heat might pick up on that absence. From my father’s side of the family I got the Curse. I have the ability to turn into a snow leopard and some of the benefits of being a cat such as really good vision, hearing, and sense of smell.

Once they were finished telling me about my situation we started to talk about what we planned to do now. There wasn’t much we could do at the moment except try to avoid Rei’s family seeing me and prepare in case we needed to leave quickly. I wasn’t too thrilled about the possibility of leaving Tokyo but my parents felt we were better off preparing for the worst case scenario. So it was decided that we would go see one of my father’s government contacts and try to put a rush on a passport for me. They also talked about registering me in the same private school they both had gone to. We were lucky in the fact that my parents had prepared and ‘Miyuki’ already had a birth certificate, social security card and medical card. That would make getting a passport fairly easy.

After we were done talking my father and grandfather went to go to the lake to launch a fake search for me at the lake and surrounding woods in case Rei or her family decided to question their lack of concern about Mitsuo being missing. I was about to go upstairs and quietly sulk in my room when my mom took me by the hand and shook her head. “Now that the men are gone let’s have a mother-daughter chat. There are a few other things I need to tell you about being a Yuki-onna. I didn’t want to embarrass you though, so I thought I would wait until we were alone.”

I groaned as I sat back down and asked, “Do I really want to know what this is all about if you didn’t want to talk about it with them here?”

“Miyuki,” she said, stressing the female name. “You need to know this, but first tell me how you feel about this change.”

I sighed as I tried to figure out how to answer that. “I don’t know Okasan. I know I should be completely freaking out and my body should feel wrong. But it doesn’t feel wrong and I think I’m only freaking out because I’m not freaking out. I mentally wish I could still be male but my instincts don’t seem to agree that this should feel wrong. It’s really confusing.”

She wrapped me up in a hug and kissed me on the forehead like she used to do when I was little. “As a Yuki-onna it is your very nature to be a beautiful and sexual woman. That’s why your instincts aren’t fighting it and your body feels right. It will likely take a while for your mind to adjust and accept it though. It is your body that is the biggest concern though as your natural instincts could cause you difficulties if you do not have mental discipline.”

I looked at her wondering what she meant, “Why do I not like the sounds of that?”

Mom gave me her serious look again, “I told you it is your nature to be a beautiful and sexual woman. Yuki-onna have very high sex drives and when we don’t practice safe sex we have a much higher than average likelihood to conceive. If you have sex with a boy you must practice safe sex. I am too young to be a grandmother.” The last was an attempt at a joke, but I could tell she was serious.

I couldn’t believe I was getting the birds and bees talk from my mom and that she was warning me that there was a high probability I could get pregnant. I wanted to be sick. “I really don’t think I will ever…” I started to say before she cut me off.

“You will want to, it is your nature. You must be prepared. The heat generated by sex is delicious and a great source of energy for us. But you must also be careful not to steal too much heat from your partner during sex or you could kill them and freeze them solid.” With that she gave me a long lecture on the various forms of birth control before finally adding, “When you’re alone you can try to take the edge off any pent up sexual energy in the usual way.” Oh my God, she did not just encourage me to masturbate. That is not something I wanted to hear from my mom, but apparently she wasn’t finished yet. “I know you don’t think you’ll want or need to do that but you will. But there’s another way you can get rid of that sexual energy as well, you can throw yourself into combat practice. It’s not as effective or enjoyable as the other methods but it can help.”

My face felt flushed and I could barely look at her. “Okaaaasan! Fine, I get the point! I’ll want to have sex and you have done your duty and had the talk with me, can we stop talking about this now?”

She nodded and grabbed me by the hand. “Let’s go out to the dojo so you can work off some of your frustration. You’ll need to get used to your new center of gravity as soon as possible in case you need to fight. Bring Yuki no Hana, you should get used to her weight and balance as well.”

When I got down to the dojo with Yuki no Hana my mother tossed me a bundle of cloth. The bundle contained a practice gi and a small shop bag. She told me that the bag contained some new pairs of panties and two sports bras she had bought last week ‘just in case’. She had guessed at the sizes but they would have to do until we could do some actual shopping. The important thing was that they would keep me decent and my new assets contained while I worked out. She had to show me how to properly put on the sports bra and it was a bit tighter than was really comfortable but it would keep my breasts out of the way.

Once I was properly attired my mom made me go through my kata both unarmed and with my new sword. Yuki no Hana was a very well balanced and beautiful blade and I wondered if it was one of those preparations for if I became a girl with its feminine name. Once I had finished my kata we practiced bare handed sparring and kendo against one another for close to two hours. Mom was right about my body feeling natural to me. It hardly took any time at all to get used to my new sense of balance and I found that I could keep up with my mom even better than I could before my change.

Finally I couldn’t put off the moment I’d been dreading any longer. “Ummm mom, I need to ummm you know…”

She didn’t make me say it, she just nodded and said, “You might as well get cleaned up and get to know your new self in the mirror while you’re in there. I need to go start preparing dinner so you can find me in the kitchen if you need me.

“Hai Okasan,” I replied as I gave her a bow and headed into the house, dropping Yuki no Hana off in my room first. Once I got into the bathroom I shed my sweaty clothes and undergarments and tossed them in the hamper before standing in front of the mirror. My mother was right, I was beautiful. I had waist length wavy black hair, deep brown eyes that almost looked almost black, and a heart shaped undeniably Asian face with pouty lips. My skin was pale almost white and had no visible flaws and I had a really nice figure with wide well rounded hips, a slim waist, long shapely legs and breasts that were generous without being overly large. I stood there for a while gazing at that beautiful woman in the mirror but she did nothing for me other than make me feel an odd sort of pride.

“So this is me now,” I said with a sigh. My mind was trying to wrap my head around the idea but I still wasn’t freaking out, it felt and looked like… me. “I’m not a girl, should be freaking out about this.” With another sigh I went to the toilet and made sure the seat was down before sitting. Even relieving myself, one of the most familiar and everyday acts one can perform didn’t feel wrong or unfamiliar to me. It felt normal, although I had to remind myself that girls are supposed to wipe afterwards.

I made sure the bath was hot and then knelt by the drain filling a bucket with cold water. I dumped the water over my head to find that the cold water didn’t bother me at all. I filled the bucket several more times to get my hair and body completely wet before beginning to soap myself and shampoo my hair. As I scrubbed the sweat away I couldn’t shake the thought that this should feel wrong and the fact that it didn’t bothered me greatly. Washing between my legs and my breasts only confirmed what my mother had told me as well; I got turned on very easily and found it hard to keep myself from doing more than just washing. I had hoped that rinsing with the cold water would shake me out of it but the fact that the temperature didn’t bother me at all dashed that hope.

I climbed into the bath and soaked in the hot water until I felt like I would become a prune. It relaxed me and took my mind off the desire I had been fighting against and I somehow managed to finish the soak without having done anything crass. My body might feel familiar and want the sexual release but my brain was still saying that I wasn’t ready for this, that I should be male and that giving into this would be like giving up a part of me, the last remnant of Mitsuo. Besides, the hot water had quickly gotten cold.

Finally I climbed out of the bath feeling a bit more energetic and towelled both my body and hair dry. I put on a clean pair of the new panties and the other sports bra, if only because I didn’t want my breasts bouncing all over the place. Not that their moving around bothered me. No, it was the fact that their moving around didn’t bother me that bothered me and not wearing a bra would be a reminder of that. I would almost rather have them painfully squeezed by the sports bra as that seemed to be against my new nature, maybe it wasn’t sexy and female enough or something. Once I was in my new underclothes I went to my room and put on a baggy pair of grey sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt that wasn’t too tight on my chest. As for my hair, I brushed it out and had it half obscuring my face in an attempt to make me look less attractive or at the very least obscure the fact that I was.

My father and grandfather still weren’t back from the lake yet when I got downstairs and from the smell of it dinner was just about ready. I walked into the kitchen where mom was still making dinner; it looked like we were having beef sukiyaki tonight with miso soup and rice. I offered to carry the dishes to the table for her but she was afraid I may make the food go cold. “Tonight,” she said, “You will start to learn to control your new abilities. I am hoping that the mental discipline I have been instilling in you through training all these years will help you to quickly master them.”

There was a knock at the door and Mom made me wait out of sight while she went to answer it. From around the corner I could see a tall well-built Japanese guy close to my own age with white hair and jade green eyes. He looked kind of familiar; though I was pretty sure I would have never forgotten knowing someone with hair and eyes like that. “Hello,” my mother greeted the stranger cautiously.

The boy looked nervous, scared and wore only a pair of really tight-fitting torn jeans, showing off a very well-muscled chest and abs. Much to my chagrin I immediately categorized him as yummy. “I’m sorry to bother you but I didn’t know where else to go. I need to talk to Mitsuo, I know what happened to him… her. Can you tell her I’m here? Tell her it’s Rei.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 3: Department Nine

“Rei?!?” I blurted out as I almost fell over trying to get a better look at the teenaged guy with white hair and deep green eyes. Sure he kind of looked like he could be her brother but Rei herself? If I hadn’t been recently girlified myself I wouldn’t have been willing to entertain the option. “You say you’re Rei, then prove it,” I said at last, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I’m sorry about earlier Mitsuo I thought you were killed by a Yōkai and I was worried I had lost you. I…” Upon hearing me ask her to prove she was who she said she was she recounted the events that had taken place since we had left school the day before. She even recalled fairly minor details that I asked her about to test her. Finally she… he asked, “Could I umm… come in? I’m a bit cold out here.”

My mother looked to me and I nodded my head. “Come in, you may as well have dinner with us and tell us what happened. I assume there’s some reason you’re no longer female. Miyuki please see if you can find him something better to wear. Make it quick and once he’s changed both of you come down for dinner.”

“Follow me up to my room and I’ll find you something to wear,” I told him over my shoulder as I began to head up the stairs. Once we got to my room I gave him a good look over in the interests of finding something good to wear and I found myself liking what I saw. I could feel a warmth and dampness between my legs and I quickly tore my eyes away. “So umm… yeah clothes.” He had looked close to my own size so I offered him a pair of boxer shorts, jeans, socks, and my Yakult Swallows baseball jersey. “Hopefully these will fit you alright. Where did you get the jeans you’re wearing?”

Rei took the clothes and managed a weak smile as he said, “Thanks. I found the jeans with your wallet and phone.” She took said objects out of the pockets and handed them to me. “I thought you might want your stuff back. The jeans are pretty badly torn but they covered the important part. So how did you get home without getting arrested Mitsuo?”

He started to put on the baseball jersey and I turned away to put the wallet and phone on my dresser and give him some privacy. I wasn’t about to leave him alone in my room though until I knew the whole story. “My name is Miyuki now Rei, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. My dad met me in the woods near the lake; he and Mom had been expecting that I might need clothes so he brought some along.” I wasn’t about to give him my whole story until I heard his.

Soon he was fully dressed and I led him back downstairs to the dining room where we sat on cushions at the table where my mom was waiting. Once we had all been served my mother turned to Rei. “What happened after you chased Miyuki into the woods?”

Rei sighed and looked down at the table. “I… I was angry. I thought I lost Mitsuo and I wanted revenge. I found his jeans, cellphone and wallet but the girl I’d seen run off with them was nowhere to be found and I was lost in the woods. I just sat there for a while crying and when I looked up there was a white fox staring at me with a dark green jewel in its mouth. I thought it might be a messenger of Inari.” White foxes bearing jewels are often thought to be messengers of the Kami Inari. Inari can appear as male or female and has been known to send signs to those in need.

Mom and I nodded to let Rei know we were following what he was saying and he continued. “The fox grew and sprouted more tails until it was a nine-tailed Kitsune. He said to me ‘Do not grieve shrine maiden, the one you love yet lives and I have come to guide you to him’. I didn’t believe him at first but I knew somehow that he wasn’t lying and I think I was desperately clinging to the hope that you were still alive.” He looked at me intently before continuing. “Then he told me that the balance in our relationship had been disrupted and that if I truly loved Mitsuo I could restore that balance.”

Mom frowned at that, “Did he tell you how to restore that balance? Kitsunes can be very helpful but they can also be troublemakers and they often don’t tell the whole truth.”

“He explained to me that your heritage had caused Mitsuo to change into the cat girl by the lake. He told me that my training would be useful. That Mitsuo was the protector and male but now he is female and needs to be protected.” He gave me a curious look as he said it.

“Hey! I can protect myself just fine thank you very much,” I grumbled.

He nodded at that. “I told him that, and he said that we would protect each other if the balance was restored. He said that to restore the balance I would have to leave the past behind and embrace my future and that if I felt ready to do that I must take the jewel he was holding. As soon as I took it I passed out and when I woke up I was changed with my clothes ruined and the jewel and the Kitsune were gone.”

My mother sniffed indignantly at that, “Just like a Kitsune to not give all the information. Far too often they use their affiliation with Inari to cause mischief. Is there anything else you haven’t mentioned?”

Rei picked nervously at his food for a moment. “This wasn’t the form I had when I woke up. I just sort of knew that I could take human form as well so I changed and put on Mitsuo’s jeans. I could just feel where he… she was so I followed my instincts and came here.”

“If this isn’t the form you had when you woke up, what is?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Umm… I don’t want to ruin your shirt so could I maybe show you both after dinner?” he replied nervously.

Mom levelled an icy glare at Rei but let out a sigh after a moment. “Both of you please finish your dinner then so Rei can go undress and show us.” The rest of dinner was quiet and didn’t take long after that. Finally we had all finished and worked together to put the dishes away and covered the leftovers for my dad and grandfather to have once they got home. Once that was all done we headed out to the living room and mom and I sat on cushions with our backs turned as Rei got undressed

After a moment Rei’s new masculine voice sounded from behind us. “Okay I’ve changed.”

I turned around to see a two-tailed white fox the size of a border collie with dark green eyes. “I thought as much,” my mother said beside me with a sigh. Then she continued on to say, “You should be able to change into a regular white fox as well Rei. Either Inari knows something about the two of you that we don’t or the Kitsune that changed you is having a great laugh at your expense, possibly both.” She shook her head as she looked the two-tailed Kitsune over. “Rei, your parents are Yōkai Hunters. If they believed that you are who you say you are, and that’s a big if, how would they react?”

Rei let out a very fox-like whimper. “Not well. You know how bad I first reacted with Miyuki? Multiply that by fifty. They have been training me to hunt Yōkai since I was six years old and they’re the type of Hunters that believe the only good Yōkai is a dead one. They consider Kitsune to be tricksters and likely wouldn’t believe me. They would probably jump to the same conclusion as I did about Miyuki, that I killed my female self and needed to be killed.”

“And how do you feel about Yōkai?” I asked.

He snorted and looked right into my eyes, “Well I’m hardly in a position to be throwing stones now am I? Even before this my training as a Miko taught me that not all Yōkai are necessarily evil, just like humans there are good and bad ones. I may have lost sight of that when I thought you were dead but I thought I had lost you and I wasn’t thinking very clearly.”

I was a bit shocked at his words. “You were that upset about it?”

He nodded his vulpine head, “Hai, I was serious last night when I said I wanted to marry you some day.” Being a guy and a Kitsune feels really weird and I’m scared about what I’m going to do now but if I can still be with you then this is a small price to pay.”

I could feel tears coming to my eyes and sniffled a bit. Stupid girl hormones, I thought as I tried to mentally chide myself. Crying didn’t feel wrong to me though. He had just said the sweetest thing in the world so getting a bit emotional was natural. I tried to distract myself with another question. “Why didn’t you kill or seal me at the lake like you threatened to?”

“Before I saw the torn shirt and freaked out I didn’t kill or seal you myself for three reasons,” he began with a sigh. “First, I wanted to be sure whether you killed Mitsuo or not. Second, I didn’t have any of my weapons. Third, I’m not near as powerful a Hunter as my parents are. The spirit ward I summoned probably wouldn’t have held you for more than a few minutes. I know sealing spells and some other magic but I’ve never been able to use magic very well.”

“You may find that has changed,” my mother said. “Kitsunes are gifted with magic. Like changing your shape, using magic and foxfire should be instinctual for you. Of course you’ll only be able to use magic of the element you are aligned to.”

Rei’s vulpine face looked thoughtful for a moment and suddenly a ball of pale blue flame appeared between the tips of his two tails. He looked back at it and as quickly as it appeared it vanished. “Interesting, I will have to experiment a bit when I have more time. I’ll have to become much stronger if I’m ever going to be worthy enough to marry you.” There was a determination in those green eyes as he looked into mine. I felt myself starting to tear up at him being all sweet again. At this point Rei began to shrink and lost one of his tails as he became a normal sized white fox. I quickly turned away to compose myself and so that he could change back to his human form and get dressed. He was in the middle of doing so when my father and grandfather entered the room through the front door.

At the sound of the door opening my eyes shot from my father and grandfather to Rei, in all his naked glory, who was trying to get into the boxer shorts. I couldn’t stop myself from staring. Damn, he really is yummy. Then my father’s voice caught my attention as he asked, “Yuki, why is there a strange, naked teenage boy in our living room?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and squeaked out, “Otosan and Ojiisan, this is Rei.”

I was too busy to see their reactions since my attention was on the rather nice male specimen in front of me. I had trouble not looking and looking was getting me very turned on. I vaguely heard my father groan, “Well shit. This day just keeps getting better. Miyuki, if you could please look away from the naked boy, I think we should let him dress so we can all have a talk.”

Sadly Rei was soon completely dressed and he, Mom, and I explained to my father and grandfather what had happened with him. “That explains a lot,” my grandfather said. “We ran into your parents during our ‘search’ Rei. They were very upset and claimed they had found your purse and torn clothes out in the woods. They swore to us that Yōkai had killed or kidnapped you both and vowed revenge. They weren’t even thinking rationally enough to come up with a cover story.”

My father nodded, “We’re going to have to take both of you to Department Nine tomorrow so you can give your side of things before this gets out of hand. We’ll need to also arrange with them a new identity for Rei and passports for you both just in case. I’ll call Rika first thing in the morning.”

Grandfather looked Rei over for a moment before adding, “Rei can use our guest room for now.” I felt a little disappointment as he said it. Dammit my mother was right, I really wanted him.

Mom seemed to notice my disappointment and gave me an accusing look. “I’ll also need to get Miyuki in to see one of Department Nine’s doctors while we’re there and then they will both need some clothes that fit decently. Miyuki, I need you to go through all your clothes and see what will fit Rei so we know how much he’ll need.”

“Hai Okasan,” I said and started to pull Rei along with me.

We were just starting up the stairs when my I heard my mother add, “And trying on clothes had better be the only thing going on in that room.”

“Hai Okasan.” I answered with a groan. I probably had a pretty good blush on my face as I pulled Rei along to my room.

“What did your mother mean by that?” Rei asked as we entered my room.

I looked away to hide my flushed cheeks. “We’re Yuki-onna and she told me earlier today that we have extremely high sex drives. We also have a high probability of pregnancy and she doesn’t want to be a grandmother yet. I get turned on at the drop of a hat, or shirt, or pants or…” I licked my lips at the thought. Bad! Bad Miyuki!

Rei’s eyes widened at my revelation. “You mean you find me attractive like this?”

I nodded and let out a sigh. “Hai, it’s part of my nature to be attracted to yummy looking guys.”

“That seems like a lot to take in on your first day as a girl,” he said as I tossed him some shirts to try on. “How are you handling it?”

I shrugged as I replied, “My mind is still trying to get used to the idea but it all feels natural and right to my body and instincts. So I’m not freaking out as bad as I probably would otherwise. How about you? How are you handling being on the other side of the gender fence?”

“It’s weird,” he admitted while he tried on a shirt. “Everything feels kind of wrong and my balance is off. I’m not sure what feels weirder being a guy or being a Kitsune. I hope I can get used to it.”

“Did you… umm… mean what you said earlier?” I asked as I tossed some more clothes on the try-on pile.

“About it being worth it if I’m able to be with you? And wanting to be worthy of marrying you?” he asked as he tossed the shirt he’d taken off on my futon. I nodded but my attention was riveted on his bare chest until he put the next shirt on. “I meant every word. Since we met I felt like we were meant to be together. I think I love you and this doesn’t change that. I can get used to being male, Kitsune, or anything else as long as I have you.”

I could feel myself tearing up again and sniffled as I watched him. “You’re making it really hard not to tear all of those clothes off right now.” I leaned in and kissed him and I could feel the heat of his own desire. It was delicious and I began to drink it in until he shivered. I quickly pulled away, worried that I had taken too much of his heat. “Kuso! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…”

He shook his head, “There’s nothing to be sorry for, that was a nice kiss. I’m a little cold but I don’t think you did any harm.”

“I… I think I was stealing your body heat. I’m sorry. Maybe we should hold off on anything too intimate until I learn to control my abilities better.” I looked down at my feet slightly ashamed that I had allowed myself to lose control like that.

He nodded, but there was a smile on his face. “You’re new at this, we both are. We can take our time. Let’s finish seeing what fits.” With that we went back to me finding clothes and him trying them on while I tried to keep my hormones in check. It was a while before we finished but we found that some of my larger t shirts and my exercise clothes fit him decently. He was several inches taller than I had been and had a bit more of a masculine build though so everything was a bit tighter and a little shorter in the limbs. They would do for tomorrow but it looked like we would both be needing new clothes. Once we were finished we reported back downstairs to my parents and grandfather. It was decided that since we had a lot to do in the morning we should all get some rest.

I awoke the next morning confused and really horny after a night of erotic dreams. It took me a moment after waking to realize that the events of the day before weren’t just some strange dream. It was all far too real and even though my mind was still trying to come to terms with it my body felt perfectly natural to me. As I opened my eyes I realized that my dreams had had an effect on me and my hands had been roaming seemingly of their own volition. I quickly pulled the offending hands away from my breast and between my legs with a groan. My body may not have wanted me to stop but my mind was not ready for this yet.

I put on the last new pair of panties from the package and a sweater dress that my mother had found the night before. It wouldn’t be a perfect fit since I was taller than my mom, but it would keep me decent. Once I was dressed I went to the bathroom to relieve myself, brush my teeth, wash up and brush out my hair. After getting rid of the bedroom look for something more socially presentable I headed downstairs where mom was finishing making breakfast. Everyone else was already awake and seated at the table. “Ohayou,” I greeted everyone as I sat beside Rei at the table.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. My father told us all that he had arranged an appointment with his contact Rika at the Department Nine headquarters in Shibuya for ten o’clock. I was nervous about the upcoming meeting and I could tell that Rei was as well, so neither of us said much as we ate. Once we were finished our meal Rei, my parents and I all climbed into my father’s SUV and headed into Shibuya.

It was almost ten when we pulled up in front of a fairly nondescript ten storey building. I looked at the sign over the entrance and read aloud, “Yo-com Software Development?” I turned to my father confused, “Otosan why are we at your workplace? I thought we were going to Department Nine.”

He nodded as we entered the underground parking, “This is Department Nine. It operates under the radar. The software company is just a front. The first floor is the only floor that actually does any software development and it is completely staffed with employees that know the truth about the very real existence of magic and magical beings. Most are Cursed, Mages, Psychics, Yōkai, Yōsei, or relatives or spouses of one of the above. The upper floors are all Department Nine facilities.”

“Are you really one of the software developers?” I asked suspiciously.

He grinned and shook his head, “No, but I know enough about it to be convincing if anyone asks. I’m actually one of our counselors. One of the services Department Nine offers is counseling for the newly cursed, those who unexpectedly come into strange abilities or magic, and those who due to the nature of their trauma can’t see regular human counselors. One of Department Nine’s biggest goals is to help the abnormal to live somewhat normal lives. If you or Rei decide you need counseling to cope with your changes you could see another counselor like myself or we have a counselor that specializes in teenagers.”

“I guess it’s good to know that such services exist for us,” I said as we all exited the vehicle and headed for the elevator to the main levels. Once inside my father pushed the button for the third floor and a moment later the doors opened to reveal a waiting room. The décor was all in earth tones and very tasteful and there were a number of plants, close to a dozen comfortable looking chairs, and a table with some magazines on it. Dad led us to the reception desk and smiled at the woman seated there, “Ohayou Kirin, we have an appointment with Rika at ten.”

She smiled back and nodded. “Ohayou David, she’s waiting for you. You can go right in.”

Dad led us past the desk and down a large hallway with doors leading into large offices. Once we got to the fourth door on the left he knocked and then entered. The woman sitting at the desk rose as we entered, motioning for us to all take a seat. Since there were only two seats Rei and I were both encouraged to take one as my parents stood. The woman across the desk from us looked completely ordinary and was dressed in a white blouse with a dark blue skirt and blazer. She gave us a warm smile. “Ohayou. I’m Higashi Rika. You must be Miyuki and Rei. Miyuki, you’re every bit as lovely as your mother.”

I blushed at the compliment and softly replied, “Domo arigato Higashi-san.”

Rika looked at my parents, “I already have the paperwork done for Miyuki’s passport done I just need your signatures and I can send you to the records office to get her photo taken. They should be able to have a passport ready for her within an hour.” She turned her smile on Rei and said, “Rei-kun as I understand it you are still a minor and you will need a new Identity?”

“Hai Higashi-san,” he quickly replied looking worried. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get my parents to approve anything though. They are Yōkai Hunters and I doubt they will believe I’m their daughter. They would probably kill me as soon as they discovered I’m not human anymore.”

Rika nodded as she responded, “I can set you up with a new identity but seeing as you are still a minor I will have to assign you a legal guardian until you reach the age of twenty. Do you know of anyone who would be willing to fill that role?”

Rei shook his head, “All of my family are Yōkai Hunters, none of them would accept me as I am now.”

He looked so sad, it broke my heart and I felt ready to cry. I looked up at my parents and my mother let out a long sigh before wrapping me up in a hug. “I will consent to being his legal guardian,” I heard her say.

I heard a sharp intake of breath from Rei. “Are you sure Thompson-san? I got the feeling you don’t like me very much.”

Mom caressed my hair as she answered him. “I do not like what your family does Rei-kun. They work outside legal channels and often kill or seal innocent Yōkai. You are not like your family and now you are in as much danger from them as Miyuki is. My daughter cares for you and you cared enough for her to want to kill anyone you thought harmed her and to blindly take the word of a Kitsune to stay by her side. You have honor and if you make Miyuki happy then I will do my best to keep you both happy and healthy.”

“Domo arigato Thompson-san,” Rei said. “I will do my best to be deserving of the honor you are giving me.”

I looked up to see Rika smiling as she looked at her computer screen. “I have the forms right here. We will need a new name for Rei-kun to put on all these forms though.” She turned to look seriously at Rei, “It’s probably best to leave your old name completely behind. People could use it to find you.”

He nodded at that, “How about Kei? It’s a gender neutral name and it sounds like mine so it should be easy to respond to.”

“That would work; do you have any ideas for a family name?” she asked.

“He can use Tanaka.” My mom interjected. “It’s a common enough name and if he and my daughter do decide to marry it would give them easier access to my family’s influence.”

Rika nodded as she began to enter the name into the computer. She clicked her mouse and the printer on her desk began to spit out the forms. “Alright Yuki-san I’ll get you to sign all of these and take them to records as well. They should be able to provide you with proper identification and a new passport for Kei-kun as well.”

Mom nodded as she let me go and began to sign all the forms. There were a lot of them but soon mom put the pen aside, “Domo arigato Rika-chan, is there anything else you need from us?”

Rika shook her head. “No, they have everything pretty streamlined these days for identity changes. I’ve added the information into public records as Kei being an orphan that you have decided to take in. There are false birth records and parents death certificates. I had most of it prepared before you came in, all I needed was the names to enter and now that that’s done I’ve adjusted the public records. If anyone asks Kei’s parents died in an automobile accident when he was two years old and he doesn’t remember them very well. I’ll work on a full biography for him and hopefully I can send it home with David in a few days.”

My father grinned at her, “Rika-chan you are one in a million. We owe you one.”

We left Rika’s office and after making our way back to the elevator we made our way to the seventh floor. The waiting room was nearly identical and dad once again led us to the reception desk. We had to wait ten minutes but once we got in to see the records officer, a Tanuki of all things, he was quick to take our photos and process the forms that Rika had sent with us. Soon we were back out in the waiting room again with the promise that the passports and Kei’s other forms of identification would be ready for us to pick up in an hour or so. If only all government agencies were this efficient.

This time we got off the elevator on the fourth floor. My father pulled Kei into the waiting area while my mom dragged me up to the receptionist, a woman with a greenish tint to her hair and skin. I had a bad feeling about this. It got worse when Mom spoke. “Ohayou, is Dr. Morisawa available? My daughter Miyuki manifested yesterday and she needs to have a check-up.”

The receptionist smiled at me, “Congratulations.” She then proceeded to refer to her scheduling book. “I’m afraid Dr. Morisawa is at her human practice today. We do have a new Doctor that is working here full time, Dr. Sumida. She had a cancellation and doesn’t have her next appointment until after lunch. Should I see if she can fit you in?”

“Yes please,” my mother replied.

The receptionist went into the hall behind the desk and came back moments later. “Dr. Sumida will see her, please follow me to examining room four.”

“Domo arigato,” my mother replied as she dragged me down the hall after the receptionist.

Dr. Sumida was an average looking Japanese woman possibly in her late twenties with black hair, light brown eyes and a very genuine smile. I felt comfortable with her almost immediately. “Ohayou. Miyuki-chan is it?”

“Hai Doctor-san.” I quickly replied.

“Why don’t you have a seat on the examining table while I get your mother to tell me what your circumstances are,” she suggested. I complied while my mother explained to her about my mixed heritage and the fact that I seemed to have inherited the traits of both my parents. Dr. Sumida listened carefully and took down notes. She also had my mom fill out some forms on my medical history and my ‘conditions’. Once the forms were filled out she placed them in a folder with my name on it. Then she gave me another of those smiles, “This is a pretty big change for you Miyuki. How are you feeling about it?”

“I guess I’m handling it alright. It would probably be worse if my body and instincts all felt wrong to me,” I admitted. I didn’t really think she could truly understand what I was going through though. My new body and instincts might feel normal and comfortable but my mind couldn’t stop thinking about how everything had changed. Everything in my life, my whole world, had changed with my body.

She nodded as she replied, “I remember ten years ago when I turned sixteen. I came from a normal human family but I started to see strange things and everything seemed to be blanketed in colored lights. I could sense things about people and things. It was all very frightening to me and my parents thought I had some sort of mental disorder. They took me to all sorts of doctors and one of those doctors was a Mage who worked for Department Nine. He discovered that I have magesight. I can’t use magic but I can see it. I can see spells, auras, and magical creatures for what they really are. I can also sense things about people and things. Learning to accept a new reality and to use new abilities you may not have wanted in the first place is hard. I think you’ll do alright though.”

Suddenly I didn’t feel so alone or scared about my new situation anymore. “Domo Arigato Doctor-san, I think I’ll do alright now too.”

She motioned my mother to the door, “I need you to undress and put on the gown beside you Miyuki-chan. We’ll give you a little privacy and I will be back in a few moments.” She followed my mom out and I was left alone looking at the paper gown beside me. I let out a long sigh and started to undress. Soon I was naked except for the gown and sitting on the examining table again. There was a knock at the door and Dr. Sumida entered the room and asked, “Would you feel more comfortable if I brought your mother back in?”

I quickly shook my head. The last thing I wanted was for my mother to be in there with me. “I would rather not if that’s okay.”

She nodded and smiled. “Of course it is. Whatever makes you most comfortable. I am going to do a physical exam and then your mother asked that I talk with you about something.” I nodded and she proceeded to start the exam. First she checked my eyes, ears and, mouth, then my reflexes, followed by my heart rate, breathing and blood pressure. Once those were completed she did a breast exam and I was sure I must have been bright red from embarrassment. It only got more embarrassing after that though. She had me lay down and put my feet in the stirrups to do an examination of my new girl parts. Having her look around on the outside was bad enough but then she had to stick that metal monstrosity inside for a better look.

Finally she was finished and gave me permission to sit up again and left the room while I got back into my clothes. When she returned she gave me a sympathetic look. “I know these exams aren’t a lot of fun, I have to get them too. It’s part of your new reality Miyuki-chan. You seem to be in fine health and you’re still a virgin.”

“I wonder how much longer that will last,” I muttered.

She reached over and gave my hand a reassuring pat. “Your mother tells me that as a Yuki-onna you will have an elevated sex drive. Have you been having any sexual urges since you manifested?”

I looked at my feet as I nodded. “Hai, I get turned on a lot and it’s not helping that my girlfriend is now a very sexy boyfriend who I just learned will be living with us. I saw him naked last night and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. If my parents and grandfather hadn’t been there I probably would have jumped on him then and there. I don’t really want to talk to my haha about it because talking about sex with her is like very awkward. And she’s so forward about it.”

“Your mother has been living with this since before you were born so sex is just a normal part of life to her,” Dr. Sumida said. “She also mentioned that you have a very high risk of pregnancy. Given that, your urges, and the fact that your boyfriend will be living under the same roof as you I think it’s very important that you start on some form of birth control immediately.”

“I kind of figured you were going to say that,” I admitted. “What would you suggest?”

She chuckled at that, “Normally I would suggest abstinence for a girl your age but we both know that’s unlikely given your situation. In your case I am going to suggest birth control pills combined with condoms. This is very important. Given your high probability to conceive you may find the pill less effective than a normal girl, so you must take your pills every day and use a condom every single time you have intercourse. No missing your pills and no exceptions with the condoms.”

“Hai,” I answered somewhat less than enthusiastically.

She went to a cabinet and pulled out a three small boxes and a huge handful of condoms. First she handed me one of the boxes. “These are birth control pills. I’m giving you a three month supply. When you are close to running out come visit me and I will give you more. They are clearly marked in the order of days they need to be taken.” She put the other boxes and the small mountain of condoms beside me on the examining table and went out of the room to the water cooler to pour me a paper cup filled with water. When she came back she handed me the cup saying, “I want you to take the first pill now and starting tomorrow take them with your breakfast.”

“Hai Doctor-san,” I mumbled before taking the first pill out of the box and using the water to swallow it.

“”You’ll get used to this in time,” she offered sympathetically. “I suggest you get a purse today and always keep some condoms in it with your other necessities. Remember; no condom, no sex.” She then went on to explain about a woman’s monthly cycle and what I could expect from my new body. She also warned me that with my abilities and because I’m stronger and faster than normal humans I would need to be careful not to give myself away. Before she ushered me out of the examining room she gave me her business card with her cell phone number on it in case I had any concerns, questions, or needed someone to talk to about my changes.

I said thank you and good bye to Dr. Sumida and headed back to the waiting room where Kei and my parents were waiting. Kei’s eyes widened at the boxes and the condoms and I blushed before quickly handing them to my mom to put in her purse for me. “So, what do we have to do next?”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 4: Revelations

After we left the doctor’s offices on the fourth floor following what was likely the most embarrassing moment in my life, coming out with my new supply of birth control pills and enough condoms for my entire high school, my father took us up to the top floor of the building. This turned out to be a restaurant with an open air patio. The restaurant served a variety of cuisine and when we ordered the waitress, a woman with wings and the head of an eagle, asked if we had any special dietary needs. It would seem that a lot of different supernatural beings had such needs. When we said we didn’t she left to take our orders to the kitchen and get our drink orders. Kei and I looked at one another as she walked away and I think we were both a bit shocked.

My mom laughed at the looks on our faces and explained that the woman was a Karura, a form of Yōkai thought to be divine beings with a connection to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu as the Kitsune are connected to Inari. Kei shook his head still looking stunned. “I don’t think I’m going to ever get used to this.”

“Me either,” I replied. “But you’ve been training to hunt Yōkai since you were a kid. I thought you would have been prepared for this.”

“Learning about Yōkai and being told they exist by my parents and learning about them at the shrine is one thing but until I actually encountered them myself I couldn’t really believe it completely,” he explained. “Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever seen a Yōkai in reality, and now I am one and I’m seeing all sorts of them. It’s a lot to take in.”

I nodded in agreement. “Tell me about it. Until yesterday all I had were bedtime stories and ghost stories to work from. Now it’s all real and both our lives have been turned upside down.” I bit my lip as I looked at Kei with teary eyes. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault that you’re going through this.”

He reached over and put a hand on mine. “This is not your fault. I chose this when I chose you. I might not have realized exactly what I was getting into but I knew you were a Yōkai, I knew the Kitsune was one as well and that he probably wasn’t telling me everything. I knew all of this and I still chose to be with you. At least this way we can go through this together.” At this point our waitress returned with our drink orders and I took a sip of my juice as I tried to get control of myself. He really had to stop saying such sweet things all the time, I felt emotional enough as it was.

As we waited for and then ate our lunches my mother and father would point out and identify the more obvious Yōkai and in some cases explain what element they were aligned to. There are ten base elements when working with magic: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Metal, Wood, Lightning, Ice, Death and Divine. Many species of supernatural creatures are tied to one or more element and can use magic of that element. Some aren’t tied to any element. Mages are humans that have somehow been bound to one or more element either through an accident of birth or by other means. Yōkai Hunters like Rei’s family aren’t Mages and are not tied to any one element and can use a variety of magic, although it takes aptitude and a lot of physical energy to do so.

As a Yuki-onna I am tied to the Ice element so any magic I learned would have to be ice based. My mother believed that Kei, as a Kitsune, was probably tied to the Divine element. I argued, “But what about the foxfire he used Okasan? Wouldn’t that make his magic Fire based?”

Mom shook her head. “No Miyuki, foxfire isn’t really fire it’s actually a form of spirit energy that can be made to act like fire. So I don’t believe Kei will get any Fire magic. Divine magic will suit what he has already learned well though, as Divine magic deals with anything involving the spirit such as sealing spells. He could likely learn healing spells and other useful magic as well but we will need to find him a proper teacher since I am only familiar with magic of the Ice element.”

Kei nodded as he thought about it. “Spirit energy is almost everywhere so I guess with Divine magic I’ll always have something to work with. What do you do if there’s no snow or ice around to manipulate?”

Mom gestured to her tea cup and began to breathe in the steam rising from it and I could sense the warmth leaving the liquid; it was pretty cool to watch. Within seconds the tea in the cup was frozen solid. “We feed on heat. All we need to do is suck all the heat out of something to freeze it. So anywhere there is moisture or liquid we can make ice to work with, and feeding to make ice gives us extra energy. Most other Ice users don’t have this same advantage so they tend to stay in colder areas where there is plenty of snow and ice to work with.”

After lunch we went to the eighth floor where the investigative and policing branch of Department Nine for Tokyo is located. After we had been waiting for several minutes a grey haired man in a dark suit came out and introduced himself as Detective Hirai. He took us to a small office where Kei and I gave our statements about what had happened the day before. He seemed to take a great deal of interest in Rei’s parents and family and how they might react. Finally he nodded and said, “We’ll keep an eye on them and do our best to cover up any evidence at the lake or in the woods. I’ll make sure that when you both turn up as missing that Metro assigns some of our agents in the department to the case. Their findings will of course be inconclusive and with no bodies they will spin it to look like you eloped or something.”

I blushed at that and gave a quick look at Kei but nodded. “Is there anything else we can do detective?”

He shook his head, “Other than keeping your eyes out for trouble, no. But I would be careful if either of you encounter Rei’s parents. We’ve had suspicions that they’re into something dark for years, I’m glad you got out before you got too involved kid.” He said the last to Kei before turning to wink at my mom, “Maybe when you’re both older you can join one of our Hunter teams, you both have useful talents. We’d welcome you back anytime you want too Yuki-san, you were a damn good Hunter.”

Mom laughed at that, “Now that Miyuki’s manifested maybe I’ll think about it. I miss the thrill of a Hunt.” I stared at her for a long moment. My mom was a Hunter? She must have noticed my confusion because she patted my hand, “Part of policing the supernatural is hunting down dangerous and evil supernatural creatures. Sealing is preferred but some creatures can’t be sealed or are too powerful and require deadly force. Unlike human Yōkai Hunter clans we don’t hunt down any creatures we come across we actually use investigative methods to hunt down those we know are dangerous or need to be hunted. Usually we work in four man teams with each member having a different specialty.”

“So that’s why we had to come in and give a statement? So we’re not mistaken for dangerous Yōkai that need to be hunted down?” I asked.

Kei looked over my mom in sudden interest. “So that’s why you didn’t like me or my family. You were a government Hunter.”

“Hai, you’re both right,” my mom answered. “Though if either of you is interested in doing real Hunting then I’ll warn you there is a lot of training involved.” I saw Kei nodding eagerly and to my surprise I was as well. I thought that we had just found our future careers. “It’s also very dangerous,” she added as a warning, but I think that just convinced us both even more. “We should get going Shinji, we have a lot to do still.”

“Hai, Yuki-san, I was really hoping you would come back and join a team but we’ll manage without you. Take care of yourself and these kids. Now let’s all sign these statements so you can be on your way.” He started signing our statements and passed the finished ones to me and Kei for our own signatures.

Mom thought for a moment before we left and turned back to the detective. “I’ll think about coming back Shinji and since these two seem interested I’ll start training them to become future Hunters.” Then we left the office for the elevator.

Once we were In the elevator my father spoke up, “I’m not sure I like the idea of training our daughter and Kei to become Hunters, especially at such a young age.”

Mom turned to give him a sad smile, “They need to learn to protect themselves and each other anyway and this way I can use Department Nine’s resources to train them myself and make sure they’re properly equipped. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Rei’s parents, and that Kitsune was far too interested in their well-being. From what Kei described it sounds like he gave Kei his Hoshi no Tama and bonded it to him.”

“Hoshi no Tama?” I asked.

My mother frowned as I repeated the words. “The Hoshi no Tama is usually a jewel a Kitsune carries in its mouth. It contains a portion of its power and essence. In this case, male essence which is likely why Kei is now male and has two tails. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that that Kitsune sacrificed two of its own tails to give to Kei. I don’t think even a Kitsune would go that far for a prank.”

Dad’s frown mirrored my mother’s, “You’re right, I don’t like the sounds of that. Why make him a Kitsune if he only wanted him to be male? There has to be more to this. Kitsune are natural shape shifters and Kei should be able to change into a female form any time he wants.”

“Yes,” Mom agreed. “But it will take years of practice and a lot more power before he’s able to hold any form but one of his three base forms for anything longer than a few minutes, and even then he’d just revert when he got tired or fell asleep.”

Kei just shrugged, “There’s no sense in me trying to return to my old form since I don’t think Miyuki would find me attractive that way anymore. I tried doing that when I first woke up yesterday anyway and I only got a headache for my efforts. My time is probably better spent getting used to my new form and learning what I need to.”

“Exactly, so for now let’s worry about getting you both your passports and then we have some shopping to do before we go home and I start planning your lessons,” Mom said as we entered the records office again.

Our passports and Kei’s other identification were all ready and I quickly opened mine to make sure it wasn’t a horrible photo. I was surprised to find an envelope with money inside. “Two hundred thousand yen? What’s this?” I wondered aloud after a quick count.

The Tanuki behind the counter smiled at us as he said, “It’s a start-up payment. We give one to all Department Nine clients who have undergone severe changes and need to start a new identity. It’s basically for clothes, supplies, and other costs associated with getting you set up as your new self.”

Kei opened his passport to find that he had one as well. “Domo arigato,” he said. “This should help a lot.”

“Domo arigato,” I echoed. “This is very kind.”

“It’s our pleasure,” the Tanuki replied. “Many Cursed, Yōkai, and other supernatural creatures go through difficult changes when they manifest. That’s enough to worry about without having to worry about how you’re going to afford to buy any special needs and a new wardrobe on top of it. I wish we could give more but this should help you cover all the basics.”

After thanking the Tanuki once again we headed back to the elevator and down to the underground parking. Once we had all climbed into the SUV I brought up something that had been on my mind since we had left the policing division. “I guess neither of you could have told me what you really did as jobs until I manifested but I should have known you weren’t a personal assistant Okasan. You didn’t leave work because you wanted to spend more time at home with me did you?”

A long silence fell over all of us and it was several moments before she answered. “We were Hunting what we were told was a Vampire. It should have been an easy Hunt but we had gotten bad intel. The Vampire turned out to be a demon, and a lot stronger than we were expecting. Sealing wouldn’t work so it came down to a fight. We won, but at great cost. Two of my team were claimed by the Shinigami and the last member, Siriwen, would be better off if they had claimed her too. Siriwen is a Yōsei, they call her a Pixie where she comes from in Europe. She was lovely and had such beautiful wings. The Faith Healers hope to someday fully heal her burns but they don’t know if they will ever be able to give her her wings back.”

I could hear the sadness in her voice as she spoke. I swallowed the lump in my throat and asked, “If it’s that dangerous why are you letting us train to do it?”

“I have a feeling that the two of you will find danger regardless of what career path you choose,” was her reply. “I am doing this so you can have everything you need to protect yourselves and one another. It’s why I am training you myself.”

After we left Department Nine we went shopping. Luckily we didn’t need to go far since Shibuya ward is well known for its trendy fashion stores and it includes Harajuku district, so there was a lot of variety to be found. It was decided that my father would take Kei shopping while I went with my mother and we would meet up before dinner. I was a bit nervous about not only shopping for girls clothes but also being out in public.

Mom took me mostly to shops that were targeted toward teens and we started by buying proper underthings. My instincts and nature seemed to be guiding my taste since most of the bras and panties I bought were lacy, sexy and meant to be seen in rather than hidden underneath clothes. I bought a variety of styles and colors to make sure I had something for every occasion. My choices made me worry that I was going to turn out to be some kind of slut if I weren’t careful to keep my urges reigned in. After that we found a nice leather jacket in a feminine style to replace my now ill-fitting bomber jacket and a matching purse which I was quick to put all of my ID, money and other important objects into. Then we went on to shop for regular clothes.

Regular clothes turned out to be a lot of dresses, skinny jeans, tight midriff baring tops, short skirts, halter tops, and camisoles and every bit of it made me look sexy. Shoes weren’t much better as I got mostly high heels with the exception of a pair of sneakers and a pair of knee high combat boots that my mom insisted on. For exercise clothes I avoided sweatpants and sweatshirts, preferring yoga pants, and spandex shorts with matching tops.

Soon we were laden down with various shopping bags and I was dressed more appropriately for my age in a short black skirt, a red midriff baring halter top that showed a healthy amount of cleavage, my new jacket and the combat boots. We were on our way to meet Dad and Kei but Mom insisted we had one more stop to make first. She guided me into a small shop where we got my ears pierced and bought me a nice looking snowflake pendant and some make-up. Mom said I wouldn’t need much make-up since I was naturally beautiful, but she felt lip gloss and eye shadow would be good to have so I could blend in.

When we finally met with Kei and my father it seemed like they had been waiting for a while. Kei looked at me approaching and started to look away before he took a double take and stared at me. When we finally were within speaking distance he managed to get out, “Wow Miyuki you look… ummm… wow.”

Mom laughed at that but was quickly distracted by her cell phone ringing. While she checked the number and stepped away to have a hushed conversation I smiled at him and asked, “Do you like it? It seems that my taste in clothing has been somewhat altered in my change.”

“It’s not what I would have worn a few days ago but you look really good,” he replied.

I was about to reply when my mother frowned and disconnected her phone call. “Kei, did your family have some sort of gathering planned?”

He shook his head, “Not that I was told about. Why do you ask?”

“That was Shinji,” she replied. “Someone went over his head and got different Metro detectives assigned to your missing person’s case. He’s also received reports of no less than twenty human Yōkai Hunters known to be associated with your family entering Shinjuku and there may be others who aren’t on our watch list.”

“Am I on your watch list?” he asked, looking nervous.

“You were,” she responded flatly.

Dad was frowning. “A gathering of that many can’t be good for the local Yōkai.”

“Let’s get our dinner to go, I think we should get home,” she replied.

We arrived home to find my grandfather sitting at the table with a grim expression. Sitting across from him was a woman I didn’t recognize. Kei did though when she turned to face us. “O-okasan?!”

The woman smiled at us, “I see you two are still together, it warms my heart. I thought Rei could use a familiar face right now but it seems this one has scared him. Perhaps this one instead?” The features of the person started to blur and subtly change until it was Rei looking at us… female Rei. My eyes bugged out and I think Kei’s might have as well. Suddenly the Rei at the table started laughing, “Oh the looks on your faces!” It began shifting again until there was a large seven tailed Kitsune sitting there. “Is this better?”

Kei’s eyes narrowed, “It’s you. What did you do to me?”

“I didn’t do anything my boy, you did,” he said. “You took my Hoshi no Tama, thereby agreeing to my terms. You have a large portion of my power, two of my tails, and your relationship is in balance. It’s rather generous of me I think. And all I ask is something you’re ready and willing to do anyway.”

“What is that?” Kei asked through clenched teeth.

“Stay by the side of your one true love. The two of you have a destiny that will be entertaining to watch unfold,” was his reply. “So keep your sweetheart safe my son.”

“I am not your son,” Kei growled.

“Of course you are, my essence flows through you and a part of me will live on in you and all your children.” He looked over Kei, “You turned out better than I expected, I do good work. My sister is going to be thrilled to have you around. But enough about us, you four need to get packing, your plane leaves in three hours.”

The room temperature dropped as my mother coldly said, “Explain yourself Kitsune.”

“Oooh you’re feisty, your daughter is too, that’s part of your charm. You make sure you train these two well, they will need it.” He gave us all a vulpine grin. “Now where was I? Oh yes you all need to pack it’s simply not safe for the four of you here in Japan. Someone went and told Rei’s family that a white haired boy with green eyes and a beautiful young woman fitting poor Miyuki’s description were responsible for the disappearance of Rei and her boyfriend and they may have mentioned that Mitsuo’s parents had taken the pair in.”

“I wonder who that could have been,” my mother said frostily.

“Yes I wonder,” he replied absently. “Fortunately you have my sister and I to look out for you. We need to get you four out of Japan before all those pesky human Hunters start converging on you. I will watch over Tanaka-san and your home to make sure no harm befalls them.”

Kei crossed his arms, “You said that Miyuki and I would protect each other.”

“I didn’t say you would be doing it in Japan. You see my boy it’s not about telling the truth it’s about how much truth to tell. That’s the first lesson your dear old dad has for you.” He grinned again and I think everyone in the room wanted to strangle him at that point. “No, the four of you simply must flee Japan. I hear Montreal is nice this time of year, or rather it should be for a family so at home in the snow. My sister’s private jet awaits at the airport. Come now we need to get you all packed. I’ve already told Department Nine about your change of address.”

My mother was suddenly right in front of the Kitsune holding him a foot off the ground by his throat. “You have already lost two tails in this prank of yours. If you do not explain yourself now I will personally remove the remaining seven.”

The look of fear on his face faded quickly into another grin. “Oh yes, you’ll do a fine job training them. You will train your daughter in her new skills and my sister will train the boy in Kitsune magic. You will be responsible for the rest of their training. Word travels faster with these humans in Rei’s family than even I thought and they’ve spread the word to others of their kind. You are all in danger here, and your destinies lie elsewhere, so you must leave tonight. But we must get you packed, let me get the bags.

Mom released him, well more like she threw him. “You’re saying that most the human Yōkai Hunters in Japan know what we are and are going to come after us?”

He nodded. “They are quite eager to seal or kill you all. I don’t think even you could take on that many and win my dear woman. My sister will help you all get set up in Canada. You’ll like Montreal; it’s such a nice city.” The Kitsune shifted back into a human form which looked suspiciously like an older version of Kei and picked up a large black leather purse with a snowflake keychain hanging from the shoulder strap. “Now this is for Miyuki, I thought the snowflake was a nice touch, don’t you?” He opened the main compartment and reached in to pull out a similar purse but white which he gave my mom. “And this is for you Yuki.” Then he gave us a grin, “Oh I keep forgetting we’re on a tight schedule.” He upended the purse and shook it three times, spilling out two backpacks that were folded in half and four bundles that looked like clothing.

I stared as the contents all fell to the floor. There was no way all that stuff should have fit in that purse. “What the…?” I began to say.

“Just a little Kitusune magic my dear,” he said with another grin. “Divine magic has some interesting uses. These purses and the backpacks give you each access to your own personal little pocket dimensions. As long as an item can be made to fit into the mouth of it you can store anything in here. Just think about the object you want to pull out and presto, your hand touches it so you can pull it out. Or you can upend it and give it three good shakes and it will empty the entire contents. It’s perfect for packing light or…” he grinned at us again, “concealing weapons.”

He handed a grey backpack to my dad and held the red one. “Speaking of concealed weapons, I believe these are yours my boy.” He pulled out a large canvas bundle which he unrolled to expose two silver handguns, wooden stakes, clear plastic baggies containing ammunition and various other things I couldn’t identify at the moment.

“My Hunting gear,” Kei said seeming to be in as much shock as I was.

“You had better put that back for now, airports are just filled with metal detectors these days,” the Kitsune said. “Quickly now, you must all pack everything you want to take with you. Oh, you should probably change as well; I have just the thing for you all to wear.” A black and grey bundle was tossed to my father, a black and white one to my mother, a black and red one to Kei, and I got a black and light blue one.

We all just stared at him for a moment before my mom looked at the front door and sighed. “You heard the Kitsune. We’d better hurry if we all want to live through this, Kitsunes may not give the whole truth but they never lie.”

“That’s why I like you,” the Kitsune grinned, “You’re so practical.”

I started taking all the clothes from my shopping bags and placing them in my purse of holding and Kei quickly followed suit. Then I took off my leather jacket and combat boots and placed them by the door so I could put them on when we were ready to leave. Once I had put my regular purse in the magic one I dashed upstairs and put Yuki no Hana in as well and a few personal items I wanted to take. My computer and all my stuff from my time as Mitsuo would have to stay here.

I peeled off my halter top and skirt and put them in the purse and looked at the bundle of cloth. It felt like some sort of leather but it was lighter. When I shook it out it appeared to be a one piece body suit that would cover everything but my hands and feet. I shrugged, unzipped the front and stepped into it. It was surprisingly easy to get on and fit me like a glove when fully zipped up, displaying all my curves. The suit was mostly black but with a small light blue snowflake on the left breast, a larger one on the back, and a swirling pattern like snowflakes being blown on a winter wind along the length of the outer legs and arms in that same light blue.

Once I was dressed I grabbed my purse and headed back downstairs to join the others who were waiting. Mom’s outfit was identical to mine but white where mine was blue, Dad’s had a grey cat emblem instead of a snowflake and Kei’s had a red fox emblem. Mom was saying, “This is Department Nine combat Kevlar, how did you get this?”

“Oh I have my ways, I am quite well connected my dear,” the Kitsune replied. “I spelled these for a little added protection and your husband’s, Miyuki’s, and Kei’s should serve to protect their modesty should they require any sudden changes. “Ah Miyuki, there you are. Could you please bring me those new boots and jacket of yours? I would like to add the same enchantments I did to your body suit.”

I sighed but I brought the boots and jacket to him. Once he was done whatever he wanted to do to them, which just looked like mumbling with his eyes closed to me, he handed them back to me. As I started putting them on again I said, “What exactly do you want from me? You seem way too interested in my survival, not to mention my personal life.”

He looked thoughtful for a long moment before responding. “I think that’s obvious. I want you to live. You are very important to my sister and me. I can’t tell you why.”

I glared at him. “Can’t or won’t?”

“There is a difference isn’t there?” he replied. “In this case it’s both. We’ve already had to interfere more than I would like, but my sister is seldom wrong so I am trusting her judgement in this.” He sighed as he looked at me. “Your life was about to get very complicated, not to mention dangerous, even without my interference. I have taken great pains to make sure that you and your soul mate can stay together and to make this as easy as possible for both of you. The lot of you may not believe me but this was the best and safest possible path for you all.”

I had finished lacing my boots and putting my jacket and purse on at this point. “If that’s really the case then thank you. I don’t like having to leave japan and I don’t like the way you tricked Kei, but I am happy to still have him. Will you really protect my grandfather while we’re gone?”

“I will,” he promised. “I’ll stay here with him and I have Department Nine watching the house as well. Maybe once things settle down and we have taken care of affairs here in Japan I will bring him to come join you. Now could I please get the three of you to change to your animal forms? I would like to make sure the enchantments on your clothes worked properly.”

I concentrated on being a snow leopard and could feel my body beginning to shift and flow back into that form as I grew fur, sprouted a tail and my face and body became more cat-like. I looked to see that Kei was now a white fox and my dad had changed into his snow leopard form as well. And none of us were standing in a pile of damaged clothes. I shifted back to human and found that I was still wearing my body suit, boots and jacket and that my purse was still hanging from my shoulder. “That’s cool; at least I won’t have to worry about running around naked if I’m wearing this stuff.” I sighed and tried giving the Kitsune a smile, “Umm… Domo arigato.”

He grinned back at me, “You’re welcome Miyuki. Now you had all better get to Haneda Airport. When you get there give your family name to the people at the information desk and tell them you’re the guests of Gina Fox. They will be expecting you.”

I nodded and went to give my grandfather a big hug. “I’ll miss you Ojiisan. Things just won’t be the same without you around.” I was crying a bit when he returned the hug tightly.

“I will always be with you in the teachings I have passed on to you Miyuki.” He kissed my forehead softly and added, “I will attempt to settle affairs here and come and join you soon. Keep in contact so I know you are all safe.”

I nodded, sniffling into his shoulder before answering, “Hai Ojiisan.”

We all said our final goodbyes and headed toward Dad’s SUV and that is when all hell broke loose. I heard gunfire and I felt like someone had kicked me in the chest. Mom threw me over her shoulder and took me to cover behind the SUV as Dad was half dragging Kei. Mom sat me down and took a look at my chest. “No damage. Thank goodness you were wearing that combat armor.” She took a look around the side of the vehicle. “I count five of them but more will probably be here soon. They’re not even trying to seal us first and they’re risking gunfire in the open. David, get in and start the vehicle and keep your head down. Kei, can you use those guns you have?”

Kei nodded and replied, “Hai, I’ll have to unpack them though.”

“No time,” she replied pulling out an awkward looking handgun from her purse of holding. “Use this. It’s a tranquilizer gun. We need to use non-lethal means; I don’t want us killing a human unless it’s absolutely necessary.” She looked at me in concern. “Miyuki, do you think you’re up for taking them down hard and fast?”

“Hai Okasan,” I responded, “That hurt like hell but I think I’m okay.”

“Let’s do this then, Kei cover us,” she said. I could hear the SUV starting up as I got to my feet. My chest still hurt but I looked around the vehicle across the street where the streetlights showed two men were shooting from behind the cover of a car, a third was behind a tree and another man and a woman were behind a pickup truck. “I’ll get the ones behind the car,” my mom said. “Miyuki, get the ones behind the truck. Remember this is not honorable combat; take them down however you can so long as it’s fast and not lethal.”

I nodded and we both took off running. I could hear Kei fire the gun behind us and the Hunters dove behind their cover again. I ran straight for the truck and launched myself into the truck bed. The woman lifted her head to peek over the side and I said, “This is for shooting me,” as I punched her in the face. She fell back to the ground and I leaped on her, breaking the arm that was holding the gun. The guy with her raised his gun to fire but I snapped my foot out to kick it from his hand. I quickly followed up with a kick to his privates and then when he was bent over in pain I slammed his head into the side of the truck.

He was unconscious now but the woman wasn’t, and despite her broken arm she was likely still a threat. Her nose was bleeding pretty badly and it was ruining the nice blouse she had on. Her laundry was the least of my worries though as she had picked up the gun with her good hand and was standing up again. “Don’t move,” she said.

I didn’t move, but I did glance over toward the house where I saw Kei taking careful aim from behind the SUV. At least I seemed to have gotten good night vision when I manifested. “I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job,” I said, “But you really should be more careful about where you stand when people have guns trained on you.” Her eyes widened as the tranquilizer dart hit her in the shoulder and then she shook her head as she tried to fight off the drug. That was all the opening I needed and I slammed into her, grabbing her arm to point the gun down and away from me as I elbowed her in the underside of her jaw. She was really going to feel that when she woke up.

I looked around to see that the man behind the tree was slumped over and the two behind the car were sprawled out on the ground with limbs at painful looking angles. Mom came to make sure I was alright and once I had assured her I was we rushed back to the SUV. “Good work you two,” she praised, “Now let’s get out of here before more show up.” We all climbed into the vehicle and my father tore off as quickly as he could in the direction of Ota, and Haneda Airport.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Sorry this one is a bit late folks, it has been a rough week. On top of being jittery and not able to focus well until I can afford my anti anxiety meds and hormones next week, my computer crashed Sunday night and I lost all of Chapter five. I managed to rewrite it relatively quickly after a bit of an emotional breakdown and an anxiety attack. Thankfully it was only Winter's Child that was lost and I managed to remember most of how I had written it once I calmed down. I will hopefully be able to keep to my regular posting schedule this week unless something else happens. Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 5: Four Seasons

We arrived at Haneda airport and made our way inside as quickly as possible. Mom wasn’t sure but she thought somebody had been following us so she wanted us on that plane as soon as possible. As soon as we were safe inside the very public and crowded airport lobby we headed straight for the information desk where my father gave our family name to the lady there and told her we were guests of Gina Fox. She looked it up on her computer terminal and then nodded before making a quick call. “Your security escort will be here shortly Thompson-san.”

Waiting for the escort was the five longest minutes of my life. Soon two large airport security guards showed up with a well-dressed Japanese woman with hair down to her hips dressed in a red blazer and skirt with matching shoes and a white chemise. “I am Miss Fox’s personal assistant, Murai Natsumi,” she said by way of introduction. “It is an honor to meet all of you.” She took a quick look around, “We had best get to the plane so we can take off. Miss Fox is waiting for us on board.”

Mom nodded, taking her own cautious look around. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well Murai-san, yes we best not keep Fox-san waiting.” Then we were on our way in the company of the two guards and Natsumi through the airport. Something about the way the woman moved made me think that she was more than just a personal assistant. Her movements were fluid, she seemed to have very good balance, and there was a confidence in the way she carried herself that I only ever saw in competent fighters. I decided that she was probably here to protect us more than the security guards were.

We didn’t go to customs or the departures gate as I had expected us to, not that I’m complaining as I wanted on that plane soon. Instead we were escorted to an exit by a private runway that I guessed was used for private planes and corporate jets, those that could afford and had need of privacy and discretion. The guards left our group at the exit and we walked toward the plane in the company of Gina Fox’s assistant. It was black with a silver lining and a silver fox emblem like that on Kei’s armor on the tail fin. Don’t’ ask me what kind of plane it was because I’m not much of a plane person and have no idea.

We followed the woman in red up the steps and into the plane. The inside of the plane looked as nice as the outside with wood paneled walls, plush blue carpet and all the seats looked comfortable and were upholstered in white leather. Toward the front of the plane was a door which I later learned led to the cockpit and flight attendants area. Toward the rear was a long narrow hallway and sitting in one of the seats was a woman with platinum blonde hair and green eyes who bore a strong resemblance to a certain Kitsune’s human form.

The door was sealed as soon as we were on board and the blonde woman smiled at us. “Thank you Natsumi, please inform the pilot that we are ready to take off.” As Natsumi nodded and headed through the door and beyond the woman smiled at us. “Welcome all of you, I’m Gina Fox. It is nice to meet you all face to face, my brother was worried we might be cutting things a bit close but I was sure you would make it here on time. As you may have guessed I am a Kitsune.”

Kei was staring at her. “You… you’re…”

“I see that my nephew knows my face and name,” Gina said with a grin.

“Are you famous or something?” I asked. I had thought she was some kind of reclusive millionaire.

“You really don’t know who Gina Fox is Miyuki?” Kei looked shocked at that.

“Should I?” I wondered aloud.

He groaned and quickly explained, “Gina Fox is one of the top fashion designers in the world. She is based in Montreal and a lot of girls want to wear her clothes.”

I shrugged, “Kei I have been a girl for all of two days, please cut me some slack here.” Then I decided to move the subject away from my fashion ignorance. “Your assistant isn’t just an assistant is she? She is far too aware of her body and movements to not be a fighter of some sort.”

Gina gave me a broad smile at that. “Very astute Miyuki-chan, Natsumi is a form of Yōkai called Harionago. She may look human but I assure you she can be quite deadly. Each strand of her hair is tipped with a razor sharp barb and her skin does not cut easily. So not only does she make a great cup of coffee and do a wonderful job of keeping my affairs in order but she also makes a good bodyguard. I believe you two ladies could have done an admirable job protecting yourselves but I felt better being cautious until we got you on the plane.”

Mom nodded at that. “I appreciate your concern and your caution, Fox-san.”

“Please call me Gina Yuki-san,” the Kitsune woman replied. “My nephew and Miyuki can call me Aunt Gina if they like, as we will all be spending a lot of time together once you are all settled in at home.”

“And where exactly will home be?” my father asked.

“Well I should think that would be obvious, you will all be living with me at my home in Montreal. I assure you that you will all be quite safe and comfortable there,” she replied.

My mother frowned at that but after a moment’s thought she nodded. “I hope we will not be intruding Gina.”

“Of course not Yuki,” Gina was quick to assure. “it gets lonely sometimes in that big house with just myself, Natsumi, Zoe and Jenny. You will meet Zoe and Jenny when we get home. Besides, Kei is my nephew now so he’s family and since you’re his legal guardians and Miyuki is his intended that makes you all family too. I have taken precautions to ensure that my house is very safe for you all. Also I have all the facilities and equipment you will need for training the children on hand. If there is anything you want or need that I don’t already have please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you Gina we appreciate your help,” my mom said as we all belted in to get ready for take-off.

Gina just smiled and replied, “Think nothing of it, you and these kids need to be kept safe until they are properly trained. Speaking of training there are a few things that my nephew should know about being a Kitsune.” She turned her smile to Kei as she continued. “Kitsunes use Divine magic which I will start teaching you as soon as possible. We also have three base shapes that we can take at will. We can learn to take other shapes in time but it takes both power and practice. Finally, Kitsunes remain young and live practically forever unless someone manages to kill or seal us.”

Kei’s eyes widened at that. “Forever? Doesn’t that mean I’ll stay the same while I watch Miyuki grow old and die?”

My mom sighed at this but she seemed to have the answer for his question and after a long moment decided to provide it. “Yes and no. You’re actually well matched now. Miyuki do you remember how I told you that feeding on heat can give us extra magical energy?”

“Hai Okasan,” I replied.

She nodded and looked me right in the eyes. “It also rejuvenates us.” She saw the question in my eyes and didn’t even wait for me to ask it before adding another as she said. “Haven’t you wondered why I still look to be in my early twenties while you, at only sixteen, look closer to eighteen than sixteen?”

“I didn’t really think about it,” I admitted. “But there has been a lot on my mind the last two days.”

She nodded gravely, “I know and I’m sorry that you have had to go through all this. I’m glad you’re adjusting well to it. All Yuki-onna look a certain age when we first manifest, this age varies amongst us and I think it has something to do with the level of maturity we have when we manifest. Feeding on heat not only gives us extra magic energy but it causes us to return to the form we had when we first manifested. This can be used to heal any injuries we have and keep us young. If we feed when pregnant we will return to our manifested form but the fetus will be preserved. So long as we keep feeding on heat once in a while we can be as long lived as Kitsunes.”

I looked at her suddenly very confused. “But Grandmother grew old and died in that mugging.”

She reached out to take my hand, “My mother decided when she married my father that she would stop feeding on heat so she could grow old with him. If we don’t eat heat we age just like a normal human. Had she fed she would have healed and returned to her youth but she was old and her reactions were slowed when the human Yōkai Hunters attacked her.”

“Yōkai Hunters killed Grandmother?!?” There was a fury building inside me at that. Who the hell gave them the right to decide that all Yokai deserved death.

I was trying to calm myself down when mom squeezed my hand. “Yes they did. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like or trust human Yōkai Hunters. Did you have any other questions? I might as well answer them all.”

I returned the squeeze and thought for a moment before nodding. “You told me that we’re very sexual and fertile so I was wondering why you and I are both only children.”

Mom laughed as the question left my lips. “I am not an only child. My mother was a Yuki-Onna for centuries before she had me and I’ve been told I have a lot of older sisters, I’ve even met one of them. When she decided to grow old with my father she also decided that I would be her last child. She had one of the Mages at Department Nine cast a spell to make her infertile after I was born. If she had fed on heat the spell would have been dispelled when she returned to her younger form.”

“Okay, I understand that. Why am I an only child then?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure you feed on heat regularly so a spell like that wouldn’t work for you.”

She smiled at me and nodded, “When you were born your father and I were worried about how being a Mixed would affect you. We couldn’t be sure that you wouldn’t have serious physical or mental problems when you manifested so we decided to wait and see how you turned out before having any more children. We may try for a little sister for you now that we know there aren’t any major problems from the mixing of our bloodlines. Until you manifested I was on a very strict birth control plan and I was working out a lot to cut down on my urges, or I would take matters into my own hands.”

What was it with my mom and talking about masturbation? The topic itself didn’t really bother me as my new nature didn’t have a problem with it but I don’t think anyone wants to think about their parents having sex or the alternative. “I imagine I’ll be doing a lot of the same,” I mumbled.

By this time we were at a good altitude so we were allowed to remove our seat belts and Natsumi returned with two flight attendants. The flight attendants had some cold drinks and a meal prepared which I for one was very grateful for. As we ate we began to discuss what would happen once we reached Montreal. It was going to be a sixteen hour flight with a brief stopover in Vancouver to refuel. We expected to arrive after dinner sometime on Thursday. On Friday we would all go to the Paranormal Defense Agency’s headquarters for Quebec in Montreal’s Old Port. The PDA was Canada’s version of Department Nine and each provinces branch functioned independently rather than being federally run.

Gina continued to explain things to us. “The PDA shouldn’t have any problems getting you all registered since David is a Canadian citizen and that makes Yuki and any children or adopted children Canadian citizens as well. You might even be able to get work with them David, they can always use an experienced counselor.”

My dad nodded in agreement. “We’re always needed, I’ll be sure to ask when we’re there.”

Gina quickly continued on. “Once we have things sorted with the PDA Yuki will begin training the children and I will teach Kei Kitsune magic. The sooner they are used to their new bodies and can keep themselves and each other safe the better.”

“What about their schooling?” my mom asked.

“Their English seems to be quite good but they should start learning French as well. There is a private school in Montreal exclusively for Paranormals funded by the PDA and interested parties with enough money to make sizable donations,” Gina replied. “I will make sure they get into that school. Department Nine has already provided me with falsified school records for them both.”

My mother actually smiled at that, “I suppose that you are one of those interested parties?”

Gina mirrored the smile, “However did you guess? Being wealthy has its benefits and I try to help out the Paranormal community whenever I can.” I was beginning to think that my mom and Gina were developing a mutual respect and starting to like one another. I was also getting tired, a fact that was hard to hide when I let out a large yawn.

“Perhaps Miyuki and Kei should get some rest,” Natsumi offered. “I would imagine the past few days have been tiring for them both.”

“Good idea Natsumi,” Gina replied. “Please show them each to a room and then we can continue planning while they get a good night’s sleep.”

Her assistant nodded and led Kei and I down the narrow passage at the rear of the plane. There were three doors on each side and another at the end which we were told was the bathroom. She opened the first door on the right and ushered me into a small compartment which contained a large padded chair with blankets and safety straps and not much else. Once the door was shut I quickly stripped out of all my clothes and climbed under the covers naked. I got the covers in place and secured the safety strap. My chest hurt and I could tell that I had a huge bruise on it from being shot but I was pretty sure that that was preferable to a gaping hole. Somehow I managed to ignore it and was soon fast asleep.

I awoke to knocking the next morning. I looked up a bit confused at where I was before the events of the past few days came back to me. Finally I unfastened the strap and stood up sleepily to go get the door and opened it up to find Kei standing there. “Ohayou Miyuki, Aunt Gina told me to tell you that breakfast is ready and you should…” he trailed off.

“Ohayou Kei,” I offered before I noticed that Kei was staring at me. I briefly wondered why before I realized that I wasn’t wearing a stitch. I knew I should feel embarrassed by this but having people see me naked didn’t seem to bother me. The fact that it was Kei seeing me this way actually could feel my nipples harden and a dampness between my legs. Still I was trying to avoid sex for now and my parents might not care for me pulling Kei into my room to join the mile high club, so I took a deep breath and said, “I’ll be out in a bit.”

He was still staring like a deer caught in the headlights. “Okay Miyuki I’ll see you naked.” He blushed and quickly corrected himself, “Later! I’ll see you later!”

I giggled as I shut the door and went through my purse to place my boots and combat armor inside and pulled out a pretty pale blue backless halter dress with a hem just above my knees and a pair of powder blue panties. Once I had those on I added my snowflake pendant and a pair of white wedge heeled sandals and then left for the bathroom to relieve myself and brush out my hair. Then I joined the others for breakfast. Aunt Gina immediately smiled upon seeing me. “You look lovely in that dress Miyuki, come eat and then we have some work to do.”

Work turned out to be Kei getting an introduction to Kitsune magic while my mother worked with me on learning to feed on heat. She was very clear that I would not be learning any Ice magic until I mastered feeding. This was much harder than it sounds. I was able to sense heat sources well enough but narrowing it down to only one was troublesome at first. She had me practice looking for specific sources of heat while trying to ignore all others. It was kind of like trying to pick out a single scent in a spice cupboard while blindfolded and not knowing all the spices. It did become easier once I figured out that each type of heat had a different mental taste. It was lunch time before I got to that point.

After that she had me practice feeding on a cup of hot water by breathing it in followed by another one through touch alone. Breathing it in is far easier, especially when I place my lips on the heat source, but we can do it through touch as well. It’s not as easy or satisfying but it can be done and it allows us to feed on multiple heat sources at the same time. I was able to do it after a while but Mom said I still needed a lot of practice before I could do it without effort and that it would always take a bit more concentration than ‘the cold kiss’, as she called it. There was one good thing about all that practice; the bruise on my chest disappeared after my first successful conscious feeding.

It was after eight o’clock pm when we landed at Saint-Hubert airport near Montreal. Again we managed to bypass customs and I was very grateful for that since I was getting more than a few looks from the men waiting in the hangar to maintain the jet and rather than bothering me like I thought it should have it pleased me immensely. We went outside the hangar to where a long black limousine sat waiting. The blond man who got out to hold the door for us was over seven feet tall and a wall of muscle. He smiled at our group and said, “Welcome back Miss Fox, I see your trip was productive. Welcome to Montreal.”

“Thank you Hans, it’s good to be back. This is my nephew Kei and the Thompsons; Yuki, David, and Miyuki.” Gina then turned to us, “This is my driver Hans, he’s half Já¶tunn.” Then were all ushered into the back of the limo while I wondered if all of Aunt Gina’s employees doubled as bodyguards. As we drove through the snowy streets of Montreal Gina explained where we were going. She lived in a large shore-front home in the Pointe-Claire area of Montreal. Many wealthy English speakers lived in that area and there were a number of English speaking private schools there, including the one we would be attending. It was also a fairly short and simple trip to the Paranormal Defense Agency’s head office for Quebec from there. The head office was located in Old Port and from home we could get there by taking Lakeshore Drive and then Boulevard Saint Joseph.

We pulled up to a pair of sturdy looking steel gates at a complex surrounded by a ten foot high brick wall roughly half an hour after leaving the small airport. Once the gates had opened we continued along the long driveway to park in front of a large two story house. I stepped out onto the driveway which had developed a light layer of snow. I should have been cold wearing only a flimsy dress and open toed sandals but it didn’t bother me in the slightest, in fact I found the feeling of the snow touching my bare toes somewhat comforting as we walked toward the front door. Kei, Aunt Gina and Natsumi were all bundled up though. The limo pulled away and around to the back of the house and Aunt Gina explained, “Hans lives in the guest house in the back and he keeps the limo there.”

Natsumi opened the door and we all followed Aunt Gina inside where a pretty girl about my own age dressed in Jeans and a light blue peasant blouse with bright copper hair and golden eyes was waiting. “This is Zoe, she’s one of my rescues,” Aunt Gina said. “Her parents died eight months ago when a crazed sea serpent attacked them. The damned thing killed twenty Paranormals and almost a dozen humans before the PDA Hunters finally managed to stop it and cover the incident up. I took her in after that. She can’t speak since Mermaids are mute, but she can communicate in another way.”

I heard a musical voice almost like singing and harp strings and I knew it was Zoe even though her lips weren’t moving. ~Welcome home. It is very nice to meet you all. If you need any help with anything just think my name and I will be able to sense it. Aunt Gina, should I call Jenny so you can make the introductions all at once?~

“Please do Zoe,” the Kitsune replied. “Jenny is another rescue and has some unique circumstances. Like Miyuki she is a Mixed but she has a lot of trouble fitting in due to her differences. Her father was killed four months ago by a human game hunter, and when he realized that he had killed a human he decided it would be better if there were no witnesses and killed her mother who was weeping over his body. Jenny’s mother hid her with Earth magic and I found her in the forest. Jenny’s testimony enabled the PDA to get the hunter prosecuted and he will spend the remainder of his short life being hunted by the Fey. They were not happy when they heard he had killed a Nymph.”

I clenched my fist at that and hoped that the hunter suffered. “She’s a Mixed too?”

“Yes,” Aunt Gina replied, “You two have a lot in common actually. Her father was cursed to be a deer whenever the sun was up and return to being a man when it set. Her mother was of course a Nymph, Her nature and his Curse didn’t mix well and Jenny was born manifested and with some physical issues. Nymphs appear fully human and while her nature is completely Nymph her body ended up with some deer traits. A word of warning, she doesn’t tend to wear clothes around the house.”

“So we both had a Cursed father and a Paranormal mother, what else do we have in common?” I asked.

The Kitsune chuckled as she answered. “Miyuki, there is a reason the root word of nymphomaniac is Nymph. She, like you, is highly sexual.”

“Who’s highly sexual Aunt Gina?” asked a new voice and I turned to see another girl my own age with long brown hair and brown eyes. She looked mostly human except for the large doe ears, tail, and the fact that her long legs ended in hooves rather than feet. She was also very naked.

“Miyuki is deer-one,” Aunt Gina said with a smile. “She’s also a Mixed like you.” Then she went on to make all the introductions.

I noticed that Kei was blushing quite a bit when he finally asked Jenny, “Aren’t you uncomfortable like that?”

She shook her head and casually replied, “Not really. Nymphs don’t have a sense of modesty. In fact, I get uncomfortable in clothes and I have an allergy to synthetics. The only things I can wear are silk and clothes that have been specifically enchanted not to bother my skin.”

I nodded in agreement and before I realized what I was saying I said, “I’d walk around the house naked too if I thought I could get away with it. Mom said that our kind doesn’t like to wear clothes unless we’re in human society and when we do we’re drawn toward clothes that will make us look more sexual.”

Mom shrugged at that, “I used to go around the house naked all the time when I was your age and before you were born. I only stopped because we didn’t want you thinking anything was odd about our family until you manifested. Your father and I were actually expecting you to pick up the habit once you were more comfortable with yourself. I don’t have a problem with you and Jenny doing it so long as Gina doesn’t object and so long as you are not alone with Kei without clothes until you have a better handle on your abilities.” My father nodded to give his silent agreement. Obviously they had been talking about this.

While Kei was blushing and awkwardly trying to cover a certain part of his anatomy, Gina didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. “I already have one streaker in the house, what’s one more? Though, I do agree that we should not allow her and Kei alone while she’s like that until they are both better trained. I will give them rooms on opposite ends of the house as well, just to keep them from becoming too tempted. Miyuki will have the room in the west wing beside Zoe’s and across the hall from Jenny and Kei will be in the east wing beside my room. Yuki and David, you will be across the hall from Kei and beside Natsumi’s room. Zoe and Jenny, would you please show Miyuki to her room and help her get settled?”

~Sure thing Aunt Gina,~ Zoe’s musical voice replied in my mind. ~Let’s go girls.~

I followed the strange pair up the main staircase to the second floor where a long hallway went both left and right. We turned left and walked along the hall to stop at the last door on the right. Zoe smiled at me and said, ~The house has eight bedrooms in total and each room has its own private bathroom. It’s probably not what you’re used to in Japan but the Jacuzzi can be very relaxing.~

We entered a room decorated all in white and pale blue with a definite winter feel to it. There was a large glass door that led to a balcony overlooking the water. There was a king sized four poster bed, a vanity, a desk with a computer sitting on it, a large dresser and a walk-in closet. The room even had an altar on the wall where I could place Yuki no Hana, and I wondered just how long Aunt Gina had been planning this. The attached bathroom was huge too with both a shower and a Jacuzzi tub.

After I put Yuki no Hana in its new place I upended my bag and shook it three times to empty it. The birth control pills I put in my nightstand along with some of the condoms while putting the remainder back in my purse of holding. After that we started to put my clothes away which didn’t take long since I had only bought roughly a dozen outfits and six pairs of shoes. As we put away the last of it jenny shook her head, “We’ll need to take you out shopping for more clothes Miyuki. You’ll probably be busy tomorrow but after that we’ll have the whole weekend before school on Monday.”

“Don’t you have problems going out in public with humans?” I asked.

The Nymph shrugged. “I have a ring Aunt Gina gave me that makes me look human to anyone who’s not Paranormal. Zoe has it easier; she only has to wear colored contacts to blend in. I don’t like being in clothes that long but shopping can be fun and it’s a great way to spend some time getting to know each other. Wearing clothes for a bit will be worth it to get to know our new sister.”

~I hate those things though, they irritate my eyes,~ Zoe complained. ~But you’re right a little discomfort won’t be too bad if we can hang out with our new sister and get to know her.~

“Sister?” I wondered aloud.

Zoe nodded and her voice sang once again in my mind. ~Aunt Gina may not be our real mother but she cares for us all. She also seems to think that we all have some great purpose. One thing she made clear when taking us in was that everyone in this house is family and we protect and help one another as family. You live here too so that makes us sisters.~

“That sounds nice I always wanted siblings,” I admitted with a smile. “And does she really think we all have a great purpose? She and her brother have both told me and Kei that we have a destiny.”

~Aunt Gina is a Clairvoyant,~ the Mermaid replied. ~She claims that the four of us need to be protected until we can fulfill our purpose. She sometimes affectionately refers to us as the four seasons. I’m Spring’s Child and Jenny is Summer’s Child. She said before leaving for Japan that her nephew is Autumn’s Child and that you are Winter’s Child.~

At that point my stomach growled loudly causing both girls to giggle. “Sorry, we only had a light dinner on the plane and I was practicing feeding on heat all day. Heat might give me energy but all the effort of practicing burned a lot of calories and heat doesn’t fill my stomach.”

“That’s okay, I’ve heard that learning magic can be really taxing at first,” Jenny replied. “I don’t really remember myself since I’ve been studying Earth magic since I was old enough to walk. It’s one of the benefits of being born manifested.”

~I remember when I manifested,~ Zoe sang in my mind before sighing. ~ Damn do I miss having a real voice. Anyway, Merfolk manifest around twelve or thirteen when puberty begins. I burned a lot of energy when I started learning Water magic so I understand.~

“I baked some cookies earlier, how about we go down for a snack and a tour of the house?” Jenny asked.

I nodded eagerly. “That would be great if you’re sure you’re not tired or anything.”

She shook her head and offered her hand to help me off the bed. “No, it’s not that late yet so I’m not tired. Zoe wouldn’t be either regardless of the time since Merfolk only sleep for an hour or so a day in water.”

I looked at her as I stood and thought, what the hell, it’s not like it will bother me. “Just give me a moment to get more comfortable.” I quickly stripped and then smiled at the pair. “Much better, now we can go.”

Jenny just grinned as she led me out of my room. “We’re going to get along just fine Miyuki.”

~Great now there’s two of you,~ Zoe teased. ~Not that I mind, the view isn’t bad and Merfolk don’t have nudity taboos. At least I know you both won’t mind when I swim nude in the pool.~

Before heading downstairs Jenny showed me her room. It was a near duplicate of mine only it was decorated in earth tones. Zoe’s room was the same but decorated in an ocean theme and it was dominated by a water bed instead of a four poster like in Jenny’s and my own rooms. I don’t mean your typical waterbed, this was a pool the size of a king sized bed and about four feet deep. After that we went downstairs to the kitchen where we shared a plate of chocolate chip cookies and some had some milk to go with it while we got to know one another.

After our snack we went on to tour the rest of the first floor of the house. Aside from the large entry foyer and kitchen there was also a formal dining room, living room, a well-equipped entertainment room, a heated pool, and a four car garage. Inside the garage was a sporty looking red Prius, a black SUV that was a lot like my father’s, a dark blue Hummer, and two Kawasaki Ninja motorbikes, one in red and the other in white. I looked at the vehicles in interest and noted, “Aunt Gina sure has a wide taste in vehicles.”

~Aunt Gina doesn’t drive actually,~ Zoe corrected me. ~She prefers having Hans drive her and Natsumi around in the limo. The red Prius is mine, the SUV is for your father, and the crotch rockets are for you and Kei. She’s been planning your arrival for weeks. As for the Hummer she wants all of us to get familiar with it soon.~

“But Kei and I only manifested a few days ago!” I looked at the Mermaid with wide eyes. “How could she be planning this that long? And I don’t even know how to drive!”

“She’s a Clairvoyant, remember,” Jenny put in. “Whatever’s going to happen she’s serious about keeping us safe and having us survive it. That Hummer is a military model with a full communications suite, bulletproof glass, and reinforced armor.”

~I will teach you and Kei how to ride motorbikes and drive cars.~ Zoe offered. ~I tried teaching Jenny but she isn't comfortable driving, it goes against her nature. Once I think you’re both ready you can take the test to get your license. Now let’s show you the basement.~

The pair of girls guided me to the living room and pressed a brick in the side of the fireplace. This caused a part of the wall to slide away and reveal a long staircase. We went down the stairs and there was a hallway with two doors on each side. Jenny grinned at me and said, “This is the training floor. The first door to the right is the dojo and beside it is the gymnasium. On the left are the shooting range and the armory.”

They showed me the dojo first and It looked eerily similar to the one we had at home, the floors gleamed and there were plenty of practice weapons in the racks by the wall. The gymnasium was next and it contained punching bags, weights, other fitness equipment, and what looked like a full set up for gymnastics training. Then there was the shooting range which was basically just a large room with targets hung at the far end. The only room they didn’t show me was the armory because none of us could access it yet, but the pair assured me that from what they had seen there was munitions enough in there to start a small war.

I was in a bit of shock after all that and Zoe picked up on it. ~Aunt Gina said you’re pretty good with a sword and a good martial artist. Do you think you could start to teach us some martial arts? Neither of us has really had the chance to learn before.~

The distraction would be good for me and from the sounds of it they were both going to be learning sooner or later anyway so I nodded. “Sure Zoe. I’ll start you off with some basic kicks, punches and blocks.” So I showed them two different kicks, two blocks, an open hand strike and a punch and had them repeat them for the next half hour over and over again. Then I had them spar with me so I could see what I had to work with.

Jenny was quick and really light on her feet… hooves. Her upper body strength was nothing to write home about but that quickness and the power of her legs was. Those hooves of hers could deliver some powerful kicks. Foot sweeps wouldn’t work well for her but I felt that we could train up her upper body properly and those long powerful legs would be able to give her some breathing room in a fight when she needed it. Aikido would probably work really well for her with that lower body strength.

Zoe was another story. Her kicks were slow and awkward since she was used to having a tail and being in water. Her legs just weren’t much use for anything more than walking or running. Complex kicks and foot maneuvers were out of the question. On the other hand her upper body was well coordinated and powerful. I thought she was going to take my arm off with one of her blocks, and I’m stronger than a normal human. I decided she would be served best learning punches and blocks. I had some good ideas for weapons that she could use well.

Once I had finished with them both I shared my observations with them and we headed back upstairs to shower and prepare for bed. After showering I patted myself dry and carefully dried my hair with the hairdryer in my bathroom before getting into bed. I had another busy day tomorrow and a lot of thinking to do. I didn’t sleep for a long time as my mind went over recent events and tried to puzzle out just what was so important about the four seasons. I also wondered if Kei was alright and what he had been doing during my tour. Finally with no answers and more questions I fell asleep.

 

---

 
Author's Note: I'm back in the swing of things. I have this finished and a start on Alex, T&H and Bloodlines and should have them ready to go for the weekend. Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 6: New World

I woke early the next morning and padded down to the dojo to go through my kata. As I worked through the movements I let my senses expand around me, letting my body go on autopilot while I focused on my surroundings. While I had gone through the motions once barehanded and again with Yuki no Hana I was quite aware of the other presence that had slipped into the room. Zoe though made no move to speak with me but merely watched as I continued what I was doing. Once I finished my kata and had sheathed Yuki no Hana while turning to face her as she applauded. ~That was beautiful Miyuki, you really are good.~

I smiled and shrugged at that as I responded, “I should be, I’ve been practicing all my life.” I took a quick look at the mermaid and the uniform she was wearing. There was a black blazer with some sort of gold emblem on the left breast over top a white blouse and red tie; a red, black, and gold pleated plaid skirt, and white knee socks with black Mary Janes. Her copper hair was tied back in a high ponytail and she was wearing green colored contact lenses. “You’re up early, or have I been practicing longer than I thought?”

She smiled and shook her head. ~No we’re the only ones awake; everyone else should be getting up soon though. I’ve been up for hours since I only sleep an hour or so a night. I was about to go start breakfast for everyone but I sensed that someone else was up. When I realized that you were in here I thought I would come and watch you. I hope you don’t mind.~

I shook my head, “I don’t mind having an audience, I’m used to practicing in front of my mother and grandfather.” I looked once more at her clothing and asked, “School uniform?”

~Yes,~ she replied. ~ You should be getting your own later today once Aunt Gina and your parents register you at the school. You and Kei will be going to the same school as Jenny and me. It’s a school especially for Paranormals so at least we can be ourselves and not have to worry about screwing up with normal people around.~

“Well that’s a relief; I wouldn’t want to accidentally freeze someone at a normal school, that could cause issues. But if we can be ourselves why are you wearing contact lenses?” I asked.

~I’m used to wearing them whenever I leave the house and I usually drive myself and Jenny there so it’s better to have them in just in case we get stopped by the police or something happens on the way,~ she responded. ~Anyway, I should go up and start breakfast. I can call you when it’s ready if you like.~

I smiled at her as we left the dojo and headed upstairs. “Thanks Zoe, that would be great. I think I’m going to go get cleaned up and then I’ll see you when I come down. I’d offer to help but I still don’t have the heat feeding thing completely under my control yet and I would hate to have your hot breakfast go cold because of me.”

While Zoe headed to the kitchen I went upstairs to my room to put Yuki no Hana carefully in its new shrine and then take a shower. I was noticing that I was getting a bit of stubble under my arms and along my legs and the thought of being anything less than downright sexy did not sit well with me. I hadn’t yet gotten the chance to shave and I was a bit worried about doing it wrong and marring my perfect flesh so for several minutes I just stood basking in the hot water, drinking in its heat to mentally prepare myself. When I was finally ready to brave the dreaded women’s razor I discovered that I had no need for it, the stubble was gone.

I started to go over in my head what I had been doing that could have caused that when it hit me. I had been drinking in the heat of the water. Feeding on heat effectively returns my appearance to factory settings and when I manifested I had no trace of hair on my body. Well that would certainly make my self-care regimen easier. I quickly set about washing myself and my hair and was soon out of the shower feeling very refreshed. I had to give up on drying my hair though since I was just feeding on the heat from the hair dryer and it wasn’t getting me anywhere. I really needed to learn better control I thought as I looked at the dryer in disgust.

~Breakfast is ready Miyuki,~ Zoe’s voice sang in my mind. ~Oh and please wear clothes. Jenny has a hard enough time settling in for an entire day in her school uniform without seeing other people naked.~

~I’ll get dressed and be right down,~ I replied. ~I would have been down by now but I’m having trouble drying my hair.~

~Hurry down and I can help you with that,~ she offered. ~Water is my specialty.~

I quickly got into an ice blue satin bra and panty set with a black t-shirt that left my midriff bare and a pair of hip hugging jeans that may as well have been painted on me. Then, properly dressed, I made my way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Everyone else was already seated at the table when I arrived except for Zoe, who was placing plates in front of everyone. “Ohayou,” I greeted everyone with a smile.

Before I could take a seat Zoe pulled me aside and literally pulled all of the excess water from my thick hair, leaving it dry and a lot lighter and more manageable. ~There you go Miyuki,~ she said with a grin as she held a ball of water in her hand. I grinned back at her and leaned forward to kiss the ball and suck all the heat from it to freeze it solid. ~Eeeee! That’s cold!~ I giggled at her mental yelp as the frozen sphere dropped into her hand. She juggled it from hand to hand before depositing it in the sink and motioning for me to take a seat at the table.

I took my seat beside Kei and Zoe took her own beside me, bearing a plate for each of us. ~Sorry it’s not a traditional Japanese breakfast,~ she quickly apologized, ~But I don’t really know much about what you Japanese eat in the mornings. This is fairly traditional around here, pancakes, eggs, sausages, toast and hashbrowns.~

I looked at the plate in front of me and shrugged. “Well we’re living in Canada now so we might as well get used to how things work here. It looks very good Zoe, thank you for making it for us.”

My mother nodded her agreement after swallowing a mouthful. “This is very good Zoe, there is no need to apologize. If you would like to learn about traditional Japanese foods I would be happy to teach you. I could show all three of you girls how to make a traditional Japanese breakfast tomorrow morning if you would like.”

I started to eat my own meal and found that it really was good. Zoe meanwhile was nodding enthusiastically. ~I don’t sleep much and I enjoy cooking so usually I end up making breakfast. I would love to learn how to make some Japanese dishes. Just please, no sushi,~ she joked.

I almost choked on my food at that, “Worried we’ll be eating a relative?” Kei asked while I managed to swallow and get control of myself.

The mermaid shook her head. ~When you grow up in the ocean or rivers you eat raw fish a lot. It gets tiresome after a while and I want to try new things.~

“Well there will be fish Zoe, but we’ll properly broil it. We’ll do some shopping today to get all the proper foods for a traditional Japanese breakfast and you girls can help me make it in the morning,” my mother replied. “That includes you Miyuki, it’s about time you learn how to cook if you want to be a proper wife for Kei someday. Marriage isn’t all about sex and having kids you know.” I ended up choking again at that and Kei turned a very bright red.

Jenny gave me a smile and a sympathetic look from across the table. “You’ll get used to hearing things like that. My mom was the same way. Nymphs are very open sexually. Our kinds are very similar in a lot of ways. It will be nice to have someone around who’s like me. I miss my mom and I never got to know any other Nymphs…” she trailed off, a pained look in her eyes. It must have been hard on both these girls to lose their entire families like they did.

I reached across the table and gave her hand a squeeze. “Well, you got me and my mom here now. We’re not Nymphs but we’re similar and I’m new to this whole paranormal thing but we can learn together and Okasan probably has lots to teach us.”

Aunt Gina nodded to that and smiled at us both, “You all have a lot to learn, and the training will begin soon enough. Just remember that we’re all family here and we stick by one another no matter what. I’m sure I speak for David and Yuki as well when I say that any of you kids can come to us for advice or to talk when you need to.”

My mother and father nodded their agreement and my dad spoke up. “Miyuki may be our only biological child here but we’re here for any of you if you need us.”

After breakfast Zoe and Jenny left together for school in Zoe’s Prius and the rest of us climbed into the limo for the ride down to the Paranormal Defense Agency’s main office in old Montreal. As we drove through old Montreal toward Old Port Natsumi and Aunt Gina pointed out some of the old gothic cathedrals and some of the other tourist attractions Montreal was well known for. They also told us about some of the history of the city and its historic sites. One such was Stewart Fort on St. Helens Island and its role in the Patriot Rebellions of 1837 and how Paranormals were involved. It was interesting stuff to learn and I found myself eager to play tourist.

Eventually we pulled up in front of a rather nondescript warehouse with an attached office building in Old Port. The name on the sign was “Werehouse Imports and Exports.” Not only did the company act as a front for the Paranormal Defense Agency but the warehouse in its official capacity employed a large number of Paranormals and some of the imports were unusual or hard to find items that Paranormals needed to live somewhat normal lives. Aunt Gina and Natsumi led us into the office building to the elevator and the second floor. The first floor was for official shipping company business and the remaining floors were for PDA business. All registration and government services were located on the second floor, the third floor was dedicated to counseling and Paranormals with special needs, and the fourth floor was for helping Paranormals find employment and homes suited to their needs and recruiting specialized Paranormals for emergency work.

My Mom looked concerned as Aunt Gina explained all this. “You haven’t mentioned anything about policing Paranormals, which is usually a pretty important part of any government agency dealing with us.”

The Kitsune nodded and grinned, “They don’t like to be obvious that we police Paranormals here. There is a basement level that runs beneath both the office building and the warehouse. That’s where the policing division is run. Investigations, Hunter teams, cover up teams, training center, special ops, it’s all run down there.”

Mom nodded her head and gave an approving smile, “If I weren’t going to be so busy training these kids I would see if they need an experienced Hunter.”

“You can always offer your services as an independent contract Hunter,” Natsumi suggested. “Then you can get some Hunting jobs when the PDA Hunters are overworked and do them on your own or if you feel that there’s not much danger to the kids you could use that to get them some on the job training. A lot of independent Hunters hire their own teams for contracted Hunts or use the chance to train their Manifested children in the family business, and as subcontractors the kids would get paid for any work they do as well. They’re sixteen so they can legally work.”

Mom took one look at the grins that Kei and I were both wearing and groaned. “We’ll look into it before we leave but I’m not putting you kids in any situations I don’t think you’re ready for.”

We had been waiting a while before they finally got around to seeing us. There were no issues with our citizenship or registration with the PDA though, especially with Aunt Gina sponsoring us. It seemed that she had a lot of pull with the PDA. They took our photos for our new PDA ID cards and for my parents’ new driver’s licenses and sent the appropriate paperwork to the school Kei and I would be attending as well. Once we were done there my dad went upstairs to speak with the head of the counseling department while the rest of us made our way downstairs to the basement level.

Natsumi sauntered right through the waiting area and up to one of the desks where a middle aged man with receding brown hair and violet eyes sat. He looked up at her appearance and chuckled, “Are you slumming Natsumi? I thought you gave up Hunting to live the glamorous life of a professional bodyguard. What can I do for you?”

“Oh I did Mike and Miss Fox keeps me plenty busy. I’m here to do something for you though,” the Harionago replied.

“Oh really?” he said, raising a bushy eyebrow. “I assume this has something to do with your current entourage?”

Her response was a gentle slap to his shoulder, “You don’t miss much do you Mike, is that why the PDA pays you the big bucks to sit behind a desk?”

“We don’t all age as slow as you Nat and some of us still need to work for a living,” he retorted with a smile.

“I’ve missed you too Mike but I brought you a present.” Natsumi turned to point at each of us in turn, “You know my employer Gina Fox of course. This is Yuki Thompson, her daughter Miyuki, and Miss Fox’s nephew Kei Tanaka. Yuki was a Hunter with Division Nine in Tokyo and she’s considering taking on some contract work while living here in Montreal. Everyone this is Captain Mike Klein, Air Mage and the man in charge of contract work here at the PDA.”

The Captain gave us all a good once over before nodding and smiling, “Any friends of Nat’s are friends of mine, we used to be partners over in Investigations.” His gaze settled on my mom, “So what department did you work in?”

“I was team leader for one of our Hunting teams for fifteen years. We handled investigation and Hunting of dangerous Paranormals,” my mother replied. “My specialties are close combat, Ice magic and strategy, I’ve also done mountain and ice storm rescues.”

Both bushy eyebrows rose in interest, “We definitely could use someone like that here. There’s no shortage of work here for someone with your skills and experience. Would you be working alone or with a team?”

Mom nodded toward me, “I’ll take it on a case by case basis. My daughter here and Kei are both interested in being Hunters when they’re out of school, and there are two others I’ll be training as well who may be interested. This will be a good way for them to get some experience and prepare them for working as a team while I keep an eye on them.”

He looked me and Kei over, “As long as they know what they are getting into and can follow orders I have no issues with them working with you. I’ll need you and any possible sub-contractors or team members to come in to fill out paperwork and get a photo taken so we can give you badges and Identification to mark you as PDA CHIs.”

“CHIs?” I asked.

“Contracted Hunter/Investigators,” Captain Klein replied. “It means that you are authorized by the PDA to investigate and deal with Paranormal threats but it doesn’t give you the kind of authority and influence a regular PDA agent has, so there are some things that you’ll need to know.”

Mom nodded soberly, “I can understand that, so what are these things we should know?”

He made sure to look directly at Kei and I as he spoke. “First, we may not be able to legally back you if you go too far in an investigation unless you can provide convincing evidence as to why we should. Second, you are independent contractors, not actual PDA employees, so any legal problems are your problem unless we decide to intercede on your behalf. Third, you are responsible for purchasing and maintaining whatever equipment you need unless the PDA requests special equipment on a case which we would provide. Lastly, if you end up in the middle of something that you haven’t been contracted to do, for God’s sake call it in so we know what’s going on and wires aren’t being crossed. As a first respondent at a Paranormal event you can act and have rights to a case, but only if you call it in and let us know what’s going on. We can’t support you or send in a cover up team unless we’re in the loop.”

“Those seem like perfectly reasonable points to me Captain Klein,” I admitted.

He laughed and grinned at me, “You’d be surprised how many adult contractors we get that don’t think so,” he replied while turning his smile on my mother. “So if knowing all that you’re still wanting to become a contractor we’d be glad to have someone with your experience.”

Mom nodded, “It sounds fine to me. I’d offer my services full time if I weren’t training these kids. At least this way you can have me on call if you need me, and the kids can get some real world experience. Should we get the paperwork done now? I can have Miyuki bring the other two by this afternoon if they’re interested to fill out theirs.”

“I’ll need a waiver and signed authority from their legal guardians but if you can manage that then we can get your paperwork done now and do theirs when they can come in with the needed waivers and signed forms,” he agreed.

Aunt Gina laughed, “I can fill out the waiver and other paperwork since I’m the legal guardian of the two girls she’s speaking of. Yuki can fill out her daughter’s and Kei’s forms since she is their legal guardian.”

An hour later all the forms were filled out and properly signed and witnessed. If Jenny and Zoe decided to join us in this all they would have to do is sign their names and get their photos taken. Captain Klein told us that he should have CHI IDs and badge numbers ready to be assigned to us by the end of the day and we could pick them when we came by with Jenny and Zoe. We were just heading upstairs to see if my dad was finished yet when Captain Klein shouted, “Oh Nat! Don’t forget to warn your new friends about the dogs.”

“Dogs?” Kei asked, his eyes on Natsumi.

It was Aunt Gina who answered the question though after a brief sigh. “Most local Paranormals call them the dogs and Captain Klein is right, you should be warned. The past couple years a religious group of humans has been gaining notoriety here in North America. They call themselves the Hounds of God and they preach that Paranormal creatures exist, are an abomination in the eyes of God and must be hunted down and exterminated. We don’t know where they get their intel but they have been hunting down Pararnormals and attacking places where we gather. They’re becoming as big a problem as rogue Paranormals and it falls under joint PDA and CSE jurisdiction to deal with them.”

My mom sighed as we left the elevator, “I don’t like the sound of that at all, but I guess it’s no different than organized human Hunters back home in Japan. How does the PDA deal with them?”

Natsumi grinned, “Any way we like. The government’s official standpoint is that they are terrorists. We usually try to capture them and let the courts deal with them as terrorists but in extreme cases lethal force is authorized. The RCMP isn’t equipped to deal with them and the CSE are in the loop about the PDA and will work with our people on cases which could involve Paranormal affairs. They cover PDA’s ass in any public cases that involve us and we help them out when they run across things they can’t explain or deal with themselves. If you ever get held up by a CSE agent just show them your ID and badge and usually an understanding can be reached.”

“What’s the CSE?” I asked.

“CSE stands for Communication Security Establishment,” Natsumi explained. “They are the Canadian version of the American NSA and like the PDA they don’t officially exist. That’s the reason we can work together, neither organization exists on government books and we have no accountability to any organization other than ourselves and the top levels of government.”

My head was beginning to spin with all this new information and new realities since my Manifestation and our move to Montreal. At that point though we had met up with my father and he announced that he would be starting work as a counselor at the PDA on the following Monday when Kei and I started school. In turn we shared all the information we had learned and the fact that Mom, Kei and myself were going to be CHIs. Dad wasn’t too thrilled about the possible danger but he relented when it was pointed out that Mom would be in charge and that we would need to learn about Hunting and protecting ourselves anyway.

Once we were finished at the Werehouse Aunt Gina took us all out for a nice lunch at Sergio’s, a very nice restaurant that catered to Paranormals and was hidden away in a building that looked abandoned and run down from the outside. The inside was a completely different story, there were crystal chandeliers, finely embroidered tablecloths and napkins, and possibly the best Italian food in the city from what I was told. I had to admit that the chicken Alfredo was delicious. Finally Kei asked, “How do the normal humans not realize this place is here and how do Paranormals know it is? It’s not so well hidden but I don’t think I’ve seen a normal human walk in yet that wasn’t with a Paranormal.”

Aunt Gina smiled and asked, “Do you remember that little bit of blue graffiti we saw to the side of the door? The little star with the letters PNR underneath?”

Kei nodded and replied, “Yeah I thought that was just typical graffiti, like a gang name or someone’s initials.”

The older Kitsune shook her head. “Only Paranormals can see that symbol so if you see that symbol beside a door to a place that looks abandoned it means there’s a place of business there that caters to Paranormals only. PN stands for ‘Paranormal’ obviously and the R stands for ‘Restaurant’. If there’s another letter there it refers to another type of business. Like for C it stands for ‘Clothing’.”

I thought that over and asked, “All these people can’t have just come in from seeing that symbol and I don’t know if word of mouth or repeat business would give enough business for a place like this to remain open.”

Natsumi shook her head and smiled, “You’re very astute Miyuki, most teens wouldn’t think about details like that. Most people in the Paranormal community here in North America make good use of modern technology. The PDA and other such agencies that deal with Paranormals offer phone applets and such which show local Paranormal businesses for whatever city you happen to be in. Then once you know where the business is just look for the symbol by the door.”

“Won’t people get suspicious by people walking in and out of abandoned buildings and such?” Kei asked.

Aunt Gina shook her head, “No, these type of businesses hire Divine magic users to cast a spell on the building or storefront that causes normal humans to look away and not notice anything unusual going on, then once they pass they forget they even saw an empty shop. That does remind me though; these are for the four of you. They have the applet for finding Paranormal businesses and the number for the PDA as well as mine and Natsumi’s numbers programmed in, as well as each of your own numbers.” She reached into her purse and pulled out four cell phones. A silver one was given to my father and white one to my mom, while Kei got a black one and mine was a light pink.

I looked over the phone and discovered that it was one of the top of the line touch screen models with a camera and all the bells and whistles. I looked over the contact list to find that Zoe’s and Jenny’s numbers were also programmed in. “Thanks Aunt Gina, I’ll feel better knowing I can contact any of you when I need to,” I admitted. I honestly was relieved. Montreal may not be near as big as Tokyo but it’s still a big and strange city and without company I had a feeling that I would feel more than a little out of place.

After lunch we went to Belanger Academy, the school for Paranormals that Kei and I would be attending with Zoe and Jenny. Belanger Academy was in Pointe-Claire and about a ten minute drive from our new home. We arrived at one thirty and after being introduced to the Headmaster, a Satyr we were introduced to as Monsieur Remis, Kei and I were given a run-down of the school rules, dress code, and a lengthy tour of the facilities. Besides the classrooms there was a cafeteria, gymnasium, ice rink, indoor track and soccer field, and an Olympic sized swimming pool. It was very impressive and almost totally funded by the PDA and generous donations by Paranormals like Aunt Gina.

Once the tour was completed we were given two school uniforms each as well as two gym uniforms and our schedules were discussed. Due to us arriving so late in the semester they tried to make our schedules as easy as possible on us, though we were told we were required to join at least one extracurricular activity. “Do you have any kendo or martial arts clubs?” I asked.

Monsieur Remis shook his head, “While we do have a martial arts club there are two reasons we can’t let you be involved in that activity. One, I feel that your abilities and the fact that you’ve been studying all your life would give you an unfair advantage. Imagine how it would look if we compete with other schools with teams of students that are naturally gifted. For example if we were to have mermaids on the swim team. Even in their human forms they are much better swimmers than natural humans. If all our teams were like that we could come under too much scrutiny from normal human schools and we like to keep this a safe environment where our students don’t have to worry about that kind of scrutiny.”

I sighed but nodded my head in understanding. “I guess I can understand that. You said there were two reasons, what’s the other?”

The Headmaster gave us a smile, “We try to broaden the horizons of our students. We want give you a chance to try new things that you wouldn’t try or consider normally to make you more well-rounded people. There are even clubs where you might learn things that could enhance your current skill set.”

I looked at the list of extra-curricular activities and sighed again. Nothing really interested me at all. Even worse was the fact that Kei had without any hesitation chosen to join the track team. I liked exercise but running around in a circle didn’t really appeal to me at all. Finally Aunt Gina suggested, “How about gymnastics Miyuki? It would complement your martial arts skills nicely in combat once you become good at it and you can practice in the gym at home as well.”

I actually considered it before shaking my head, “As interesting as that sounds Aunt Gina most gymnasts are not as… developed as me. My assets may get in the way.”

My mother gave me a dirty look as she said coldly, “That is a stereotype Miyuki dear. Plenty of girls with our endowments are involved in gymnastics. Besides think of it, all those guys watching you move around in a leotard that leaves little to the imagination, almost like you’re wearing nothing. And they would be imagining what else you can do with your body as you move around and contort your body into unthinkable positions.”

Damn her for playing to my exhibitionist streak and my need to feel sexy. I could feel myself smiling and my nipples hardening as I pictured it. “Gymnastics it is then.”

“I dunno Miyuki,” Kei interjected. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with other guys looking at you like that.”

I leveled a cold glare at my boyfriend, “Get one thing straight right now Kei, I love you but that does not mean you get to decide what I do in my spare time. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself if a guy decides to do anything more than look if that’s what you’re worried about. Also, other guys may be fantasizing about getting me into bed but as far as I’m concerned you’re the only one who’s going to be doing it.” That shut him up pretty quickly.

Monsieur Remis coughed and redirected his gaze for a moment to collect himself. “Ummm… yes, just so long as you both remember to keep your affections to a manageable level while on school property.” The Satyr looked very uncomfortable and I imagined it was pretty hard for one of his kind to be in a room with both me and my mother at the same time, especially with the topic of sex being thrown around so casually. Yes I said hard, so sue me. It was probably the truth if what I heard about Satyrs was true and we affected them as badly as normal men. It seemed though that we were finished and I was instructed to go see the gymnastics coach about a school leotard before we left.

We left the Headmaster’s office with Kei accompanying me to the gymnasium while Mom and Dad went home with Aunt Gina and Natsumi so they could pick up the SUV and get some grocery shopping done. I texted Zoe and Jenny and asked them to meet Kei and I at the gym one they got out of class. With that done I knocked on the coach’s office door to see about my leotard. The door was quickly opened by a tall, slender, and pretty woman with silvery hair, amber eyes with slit pupils and pointed ears. “Hello, are you Coach Sylhael? I’m Miyuki Thompson I was told to come see you for a leotard.”

The strange woman looked me over, “Yes that’s me. So you’re going to be starting school here and want to give gymnastics a try? Have you ever taken gymnastics before?”

I quickly shook my head. “No, but I’ve been studying martial arts since I could stand up so I’m pretty limber.”

“I see,” she said as she continued to look me over, “There’s something familiar about you… I’d say you were a Nymph but I don’t feel Earth magic from you, it feels closer to Water.”

I grinned at her. “It’s Ice actually, I’m a Mixed and half Yuki-onna, we and Nymphs are similar in a lot of ways I’m told.”

“Mixed?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, “You turned out well then, your other half must have been fairly compatible.”

“I guess so,” I replied, “My dad is a Cursed, we can change into Snow Leopards.”

She nodded and smiled, “That explains a lot. Even standing your movements are graceful and fluid, I think you’ll take well to gymnastics. Let me see if I can find to a leotard in a larger size. With your height and your curves I don’t think a regular size would be a good fit, well not and keep you modest anyway.” She turned and went back into her office, waving us inside as she looked through some black and gold leotards on a rack.

“I don’t think you need to worry about maintaining my modesty,” I joked, “I don’t seem to have any.”

“You do have a lot of similarities to Nymphs,” she said with a grin. “Nymphs and other forest creatures are very special to my people, I will be very interested in seeing how you progress Miyuki, you and the Kitsune boy who can’t keep his eyes off you. I take it there’s a story there, I hope to hear it someday. Ah here we go! This one should fit you well enough, if a bit snugly.” She pulled a leotard off the rack and handed it to me. “We meet Mondays and Wednesdays after school.”

“Domo arigato, I will see you on Monday Sensei.” I added the leotard to my pile of school clothes and supplies and Kei and I went to find Zoe and Jenny outside the gym. They were waiting for us and both smiled when they saw us approaching with our arms full.

~All ready for Monday then?~ Zoe sang at us.

I nodded, “Yeah, as ready as we’re going to be. I’m disappointed they wouldn’t let me take martial arts for my extracurricular but gymnastics might be fun. Kei decided on Track. What do you two do for yours?”

Jenny gave Kei a jealous look, “I wanted Track but I have an unfair advantage. My legs are really powerful and I’m probably the fastest runner in the school. Unfortunately there are not a lot of sports that are doable for girls with hooves. I ended up joining the archery club. Zoe is in the computer science club.”

“I hope we weren’t keeping you two waiting too long,” I said. “I was talking with the gymnastics coach, she seems really nice.”

Jenny shrugged, “It’s okay, we were on the phone with Aunt Gina. She was telling us about your mom working for the PDA and how we could as well as part of our training. Miss Sylhael is great. She’s one of the Fey you know, and has a soft spot for Nymphs.”

I nodded with a smile. “She almost thought I was one at first but I didn’t radiate Earth magic. I think she took a liking to me though, probably because of our similarities and because I’m part cat. What do you two think about the idea of working as CHIs?”

~If nothing else it will help our training and get us to work well as a team. I’m all for the idea.~ Zoe responded.

Jenny grinned, “Neither of my natures are very violent but I need to learn to defend myself and my family. I think you and your Mom will be good teachers for me and if it works out we’ll all have job experience in the future if we decide to join the PDA as an official team. So we need to go down there and get set up right?”

Kei nodded, “That was the plan, and after that I guess our evening is open. We should hang out and get to know one another better.”

~Great idea Kei let's go find my car and get downtown.~ Zoe replied as she led the way to the parking lot. ~Once we’re done at the Werehouse we’ll go grab some dinner. I know where they serve the best poutine in the city.~

“What’s a poutine?” I asked as Jenny dragged me alongside her in pursuit.

The other Mixed just grinned at me, “You’ll find out soon enough. You have a whole new culture to explore.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: I'm back in the swing of things. Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 7: Take-out Dinner

Once we had found Zoe’s red Prius in the parking lot the Mermaid opened up the trunk so that Kei and I could place our school clothes and supplies inside. Then Kei and I climbed into the back seat and when we were all seated and buckled up Zoe pulled out of the parking lot and started driving us toward Old Montreal and PDA headquarters. On the way Kei and I told the girls about ourselves and how we had come to be living with them in Montreal. ~I gotta say,~ Zoe pointed out, ~For a former guy you’re adjusting pretty well to being a girl Miyuki.~

“It’s not like I have much choice,” I replied with a shrug. “My nature and instincts are all telling me that I should be a girl and that I’m comfortable with it. I’m still kind of trying to wrap my head around it but I figure it’s probably easier to just go with the flow than reject what feels right. My instincts even seem to be guiding my movements and mannerisms so I’m as sexy as possible. It’s kind of creepy but at the same time I think it’s making it easier to adjust. It kind of makes it easy for my mom and others to manipulate me though.”

“How so?” Jenny asked.

“Well I was unsure about taking gymnastics but my mom sort of used my compulsions to manipulate me into it. I had used a stereotype and I think she’s trying to teach me a lesson. Anyway since I was uncertain she played to my exhibitionist streak and my need to feel sexy by saying how the leotard leaves little to the imagination and how boys will be picturing me naked and doing sexual things. I even knew she was manipulating me but once she put the thought in my head I just couldn’t get it out. I needed to do it.”

“So you think she’s using that to teach you not to stereotype people?” the Nymph asked, turning in her seat to look at me.

“I think that’s part of it, but I also think there’s more to it than that,” I admitted. “I think she was trying to make me aware that I can be manipulated if I’m not careful.”

“It’s probably better that you learn that lesson from your mom than somewhere else,” Kei said with a reassuring smile as he took my hand in his.

“And probably better that she manipulated me into doing something fairly harmless that I was considering anyway,” I agreed as I smiled and squeezed his hand.

~So what’s being a guy like Kei?~ Zoe asked. ~You don’t seem to be adjusting as well as Miyuki. You still walk like a girl and your mannerisms are pretty feminine too. You’ll need to work on that if you don’t want people thinking you’re gay or something. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I’m bisexual myself.~

The Kitsune nodded as he thought that over. “You’re right, I’ll need to work on that because I’m pretty sure I’m just attracted to girls now. Do any of you have any suggestions?”

I thought about the question but I didn’t really have much to suggest. When I was a guy it was natural to me and now being a girl was natural to me so it made it hard to categorize any differences between the two. Finally I said, “I’d offer to show you how a guy walks, but I don’t think I could if I tried. It’s like I intend to do something normally and it still comes off feminine and super sexy. I tried being non-sexy in a mirror and I just can’t seem to do it. I do have a few suggestions though: Don’t move your hands around when you speak, guys don’t do that, and remember that your center of gravity is now slightly higher so try to move more with your shoulders and chest than your hips when you walk.”

“Remember that guys aren’t really as talkative or social as women are either,” Jenny put in. “When we get back to school on Monday I suggest you make some male friends. You can subtly watch them for body language, speech patterns, and such. People watching really helped me adjust to living in the city. Also, it might help if you and Miyuki make it obvious that you’re a couple from the start. If you don’t and people see you hanging around three girls all the time they may categorize you as the gay friend. So I would suggest lots of kissing and as much heavy petting as you think you can get away with.”

~Will that work? Girls should be able to tell you’re really a couple but wouldn’t guys see it as trying too hard?~ Zoe asked in concern.

I got a good laugh out of that. “Trust me Zoe, I know this from experience, if guys see another guy making out with a really hot girl they usually won’t question it. They’re far more likely to wish that they were in that guys place.”

We arrived at Werehouse Imports and Exports and made our way to the sublevel and Captain Klein’s desk. The Air Mage smiled as we approached, “Hello again Miyuki and Kei, it’s good to see you both again. I take it you’re here to pick up your documents? And these must be the other two girls I was told about. Hello ladies, I’m Captain Mike Klein, since you’re here I guess you’re interested in becoming CHIs with Miyuki, Kei and Yuki?”

~Yessir,~ Zoe replied, ~I’m Zoe Taylor and this is Jenny Lowe We were told that we would need to sign some forms and get our pictures taken.~

“A Mermaid and a Mixed huh?” he said with a smile. “Quite an interesting group the four of you make. I’m guessing that Jenny is half Satyr or Nymph?”

“My mother was a Nymph sir, and my father was a Cursed,” Jenny admitted.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” he said as he began searching through the papers on his desk and handed them both the small stacks that required their reading and signatures. “Miyuki and Kei, your CHI badges and IDs should be waiting upstairs with your PDA IDs and other documents. Let me call up and check if I can put a rush on Zoe’s and Jenny’s so they don’t have to come back on Monday.”

So as Zoe and Jenny read and signed the required documents Captain Klein picked up his phone and was soon talking to someone. “Hi Tara, how long would take to rush some CHI IDs and badges? No they’re both already in the system, their names are Zoe Taylor and Jenny Lowe and they’ll be working with Yuki Thomson, I sent her particulars up earlier today. They’re just signing the forms now; their guardian was in earlier and signed her parts. Okay, great I’ll send them up with Yuki’s daughter when she comes up to pick up her documents.”

Captain Klein hung up the phone and gave us all a smile. “Tara says she can have them ready in about ten minutes since you’re both already in the system and have photos on file. Now since you’re all minors I’m going to remind you that while you’re working you report to Yuki. If you are first responders to a situation and Yuki is not there, you call her or me immediately so we can advise you.” He handed each of us a business card with his name and number on it and went over the points that he had discussed with us earlier in the day so that Zoe and Jenny understood our legal standing with the PDA. Then when he was finished and Jenny and Zoe had signed everything he sent us up to the second floor where Tara would have our documentation.

Tara turned out to be woman with light green skin and bright orange hair that Zoe explained was an aquatic Paranormal distantly related to Mermaids. She seemed a cheerful sort and smiled as soon as we were ushered into her office. Once introductions were made she handed Kei and me an envelope explaining, “These contain your citizenship documentation, new medical cards, social insurance cards, PDA identification cards and your CHI badges and ID. I will give you the folders for both of your parents as well Miyuki.” Then she handed a pair of black wallet-like objects to Jenny and Zoe as she added, “And these are the CHI badges and ID for the two of you.”

I opened the envelope she handed me and looked through all the documentation it contained. Everything looked legal and when I opened up the wallet I found that the top half contained an official looking identification card with PDA written in big blue letters and underneath it said Contract Hunter/Investigator and had all my personal details, badge number, and a photo. The bottom half of the wallet contained a silver and bronze PDA badge. We were told that only CHI badges had the bronze as regular PDA badges were all silver.

Lastly I looked for my regular PDA identification but all I found was a laminated business card with a small photo of me that said, Werehouse Imports and Exports: Customer Loyalty Card. It also had my name and a customer number.

I looked at Tara slightly confused, “I can’t seem to find my PDA ID, all I found was this.”

Tara giggled at that. “The new ones always wonder about that. That customer card is your PDA identification and the customer number is your registration number that is used to identify you. We try to keep things pretty low profile around here.”

“Customer loyalty card huh? Does this mean we get a discount?” Kei joked.

Tara nodded as she answered, “Yes it does actually. Registered Paranormals get to buy anything in the warehouse at just a little bit above cost.”

“Really? That’s awesome.” I replied as I placed all my new IDs and documents in the outer pocket of my purse of holding so I could get them easily when needed.

“I was wondering why we have to register as Paranormals, does the government use these cards to know where we are or something?” Kei asked nervously. “You know in case we go bad or do something illegal?”

“Don’t be silly,” She replied with a shake of her head. “The registration cards just help us keep track of the Paranormals who want to blend in to human society and live normal lives. It helps us the PDA to better serve us by knowing what services local Paranormals may need. We hardly ever have to go after a registered Paranormal for anything more than a slap on the wrist offense. The ones we really need to watch out for are those that don’t register because a lot of them don’t care about blending in, or they are hiding something.”

After we finished talking Tara gave me the envelopes that contained the documents for my parents and we left the Werehouse in search of something to eat. Zoe decided that we needed to try a poutine and took us to a Paranormal café downtown that she claimed had the best poutine in Montreal. A poutine is essentially French fries covered in cheese curds and gravy, though you can get a variety of other things mixed in as well if you want. I decided to try just a regular poutine to see if I liked it before I started trying them with other things mixed in. I thought that it was actually pretty good if a little greasy and Kei enjoyed his as well.

The café was quiet and the few Paranormal customers that came in and left as we sat there talking all seemed to be on a first name basis with Luc, the Centaur who was the owner, cook, and counter person. I thought that I was never going to get used to seeing all these different types of Paranormals all the time. Luc was a friendly and jovial guy though, and I could see why people liked coming to his café so much, it was a great place to relax and get to know other Paranormals. When he heard that Kei and I were new to Montreal from Japan and had never had a poutine before he even gave us our meal for free. I definitely planned on returning to Luc’s Café whenever I had a chance.

It was after the dinner rush that it happened and it was fortunate that there were not more people there. Most of the customers from dinner had finished their meals and left and Luc and an elderly Dwarf named Landon were suggesting the best Paranormal places in town for Jenny and Zoe to show us. It was lucky for us that we were at the back of the café, the people in the front weren’t as lucky. They gave us no warning except for the ringing of the bell over the front door. We all turned to see who had entered to discover a pair of men at the entrance wearing black combat gear and some kind of goggles over their eyes. There were more men entering behind them and I had barely noticed the guns before they started shooting.

Jenny seemed to notice the guns at the same time as I did and suddenly a wall of earth and stone five feet in height and ten feet wide rose up in front of us to stop the hail of bullets. “I’m sorry Luc,” she quickly apologized to the centaur, “I saw guns and I panicked.”

“I think the floor is the last of my worries right now,” Luc replied as we all tried to stay behind the cover Jenny had provided. “We should probably worry about the people shooting at us first.”

I reached into my purse and retrieved my cellphone and the card with Captain Klein’s number on it. “I’ll call the PDA, nobody move.”

I punched in the number on the touchscreen and it seemed like an eternity before the Captain picked up on the third ring. “Policing Division, this is Captain Klein speaking.”

“Umm.. hi Captain Klein, this is Miyuki Thompson,” I said nervously. “We’re at Luc’s Café downtown and a bunch of guys in body armor just showed up and started shooting.”

“Are you all safe? Can you describe any of them?” he asked.

“I think Jenny put up an earth wall as soon as she saw the guns, we’re hiding behind it with the owner and one of the other customers,” I replied as I leaned over to peek around the wall at our attackers. “The men are all wearing black Kevlar body armor with a silver cross on the right shoulder and some type of goggles. It looks like there are about seven of them.”

“Dogs,” the PDA agent on the other end spat out. “Keep quiet and try to keep yourselves and any civilians safe and I will get a team there ASAP. Then I’ll call Natsumi so she and your mother know to get down there. If you absolutely must fight them remember that they are considered terrorists and lethal force is authorized, they won’t show mercy so take them down by any means necessary.”

“Hai,” I replied quietly before disconnecting the call and putting both the card and the cellphone back in my purse.

The gunfire had stopped and the café was eerily quiet for a moment before a voice said, “Come on out freaks. Kneel before the Hounds of God and be cleansed. It will be worse for you if we have to come after you.”

“Kei, do you have any weapons?” I asked in a hushed tone.

My boyfriend shook his head. “No, I left my backpack in the car.”

“Shit. I guess I’ll have to go get one for you then. Jenny and Zoe, if you have any other useful magic now is a good time to pull it out, I’m going to need some cover. We’re authorized to kill them, and they’ve already killed the four customers that were by the window, so don’t go easy on them. The signal will be when they start either shooting or screaming.” I slipped my hand back into my purse of holding and pulled out Yuki no Hana while calling out to the men on the other side of the wall. “You guys chose the wrong place to attack, if you surrender quietly and let us take you into PDA custody I won’t have to kill you all. So, since you probably don’t want to die painfully and I don’t want to get blood all over my nice new clothes, maybe we can talk this out in a civilized manner.”

“We don’t negotiate with abominations and we have you outnumbered and outgunned. I’m going to count to three and if you’re not out then we’re coming in after you. One…” I stood up and took a glance to carefully measure each man’s distance and position in my mind. “Two…” With all the grace and speed of an attacking snow leopard I leapt from behind my cover and flew toward the speaker, who was the closest of our adversaries, and plunged Yuki no Hana through his throat. “Thr…huuurrrk.”

“I warned you,” I said as he made a gurgling sound and dropped his assault rifle. Then using my katana as a lever I pulled his body to use as a meat shield to get back to my cover when the others started firing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the water from a burst pipe launch itself toward one of the men in a high pressure blast that sent him flying back toward the entrance even as another’s feet began sinking into the floor. Once I was behind the wall again I pulled my katana from his throat and let the body drop to the floor and said, “Here sweetie, I think this man won’t mind if you borrow his weapons, he won’t be needing them anymore.”

Kei took the handgun that was holstered on the corpse’s belt and checked the clip. “Silver-titanium armor piercing rounds, not bad, they’re obviously meant for Paranormals but they should pierce that Kevlar nicely.” He popped up fired a couple shots as I left cover and went back into the fray.

“Boys and their toys,” I muttered as I moved in to snap the neck of the one Jenny was holding in place with her magic. Another thought that this would be a good time to attack me but I kicked him hard in the solar plexus at the same time that a stone fist rose from the floor and hit him somewhat lower. Damn that had to hurt. It didn’t for long though as Kei fired a couple of shots into him from behind and he fell to the floor in a heap. Another high pressure water blast whizzed past me at the man Zoe had attacked earlier who was sitting against the wall and trying to get up. This time the blast hit him in the head making it strike the wall with a painful sounding smack.

There were still three more and Kei managed to shoot one in the leg so I took advantage of that and took him down with a roundhouse to the side of the head. I was just spinning around to look for my next opponent when I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, causing me to drop Yuki no Hana and knocking me forward. Damn that felt even worse than when I had gotten shot with my Kevlar body armor on. I staggered to keep my balance, gritted my teeth, and lunged for the closest man to me. I was barely aware of Kei shooting at the man who had shot me from behind as I leaped upon the man in front of me and gave him the cold kiss.

As soon as my lips touched the skin of his cheek I began to drink in his heat, the warmth of his very life. It tasted so good and I could feel the energy it provided rush through me as the pain in my shoulder faded and then was gone completely. I drank until there was no more and the man was nothing but a lifeless frozen husk. When I stood up Kei and the others were stepping out from the cover of the earth wall and the man that had shot me was lying on the ground with several bullet holes in his chest. “Is everyone okay?” I asked as I checked to make sure no other bad guys were going to jump through the door. Seeing nothing that concerned me I bent over to retrieve Yuki no Hana and clean the blade off on my ruined shirt. “Damn, I got blood all over my clothes and my sword,” I sighed sadly, “The white and pale blue is so pretty but that blood is never going to come out.”

Luc just stared at me in awe for a moment before replying. “Holy shit… I… uhhh… mean we’re fine now… thanks to you kids.” His eyes fell on the frozen body then my bloodied clothes and face and he shook his head as if to clear it before continuing. “I would have helped but I’m afraid that battle magic just isn’t my forte. I might be able to help with all that blood though. Clothes get all sorts of stains in a kitchen so I’ve mastered a few purification spells that should help.” A look of concentration passed over the Centaur’s face and his hands glowed white as he ran them over Yuki no Hana, my ruined clothes, and even my face and hands. Within moments all signs of blood were gone and you would have never known that I and my belongings were dripping in gore a few minutes earlier. Luc gave me a weak smile once he was done, “There that should do the trick and you shouldn’t have to worry about that happening again, at least not with your sword, I made all of the material on the sword permanently stain repellent. Wait, is that a bullet hole?” He asked in shock pointing at my shoulder.

“Domo arigato Luc,” I replied with a smile. “You didn’t have to do that, I appreciate it.” Then I examined the hole in question and shrugged, “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”

“It was the least I could do,” he said, “But are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m in better shape than any of them,” I said with a giggle as I gestured to the bodies of the Dogs. I was really feeling heady after that energy boost from the cold kiss.

Landon nodded in agreement. “I would like to do something to thank you as well if I may.” The dwarf handed me a business card as he said, “I’m a weapon smith and my kind are bound to the Metal element. If you ever need any work done feel free to give me a call, also that’s a fine blade you have there and if you let me have a look I might be able to improve it with some Metal magic.”

I looked at the card and then back at the Dwarf, “Arigato Landon I might take you up on that.” I looked at Yuki no Hana and asked, “Improve it how?”

“When I’m done with it, your pretty sword will be unbreakable by mortal means and always be as sharp as any blade possibly can be,” the elderly dwarf said with a grin.

I could feel my eyebrows rise at that, “I would be honored, but only if it is not too much trouble.”

“I owe you kids my life, my services are your whenever you need them,” he replied seriously. “If I may have your sword for a moment I’ll place the enchantments on it now if you wish.”

I handed both Yuki no Hana and her saya to the smith with a bow. “I will leave her in your hands while I see how Kei and the girls are doing.” Once Landon had both items in hand I walked over to Kei who was looking over the bodies. “Are you okay Kei?”

“I’m okay Miyuki, I was a bit worried when you got shot but you seem fine since you fed on that guy’s body heat. At least I hope you’re alight.” The Kitsune said as he looked me over and forced a smile, “You certainly look cleaner now anyway.”

“Yeah Luc helped clean me up a bit, which was nice because being covered in blood is kind of gross. What exactly are you doing?” I asked as he thoroughly checked another body.

“I’m taking all the ammunition these guys haven’t used, two of the handguns, one of the assault rifles, and any other useful hunting gear they have on them. The bullets alone are really valuable to Hunters. I’d love to know where these guys are getting their equipment,” he replied as he picked up two more clips and added them to the pile of things he was gathering in a fallen tablecloth. He pointed to the soaking wet guy slumped against the wall, “I tied that guy up, his head hit the wall pretty hard but he’s still alive. I figure that Captain Klein will want to question him.” Then he took the bundle and stood to kiss me softly, “You were pretty amazing there.”

“We were all amazing,” I said as I returned the kiss, conscious not to steal too much heat from him. “I’ll go check the others for survivors. It looks like Jenny and Zoe are checking the customers that were in the front. You finish your scavenging.” I checked the other Hounds for signs of life but there were no others. Then I went to the front to join the girls. “Any survivors?” I asked, though I had very little hope of it.

Zoe shook her head, her eyes downcast, ~No, they were all dead when we got to them. The boy and girl at the corner table look like they were younger than we are.~

I hugged the Mermaid tightly, “We would have joined them if it wasn’t for Jenny’s quick thinking.”

The Nymph looked close to tears so I pulled her into the hug as well as she shook her head. “It wasn’t quick thinking, I saw the guns and I panicked. It reminded me of how my parents died.”

“You didn’t panic, you reacted and doing that saved us all. You both did great there and there’s no two other people I’d rather have on the same team as me and Kei. Let’s go sit down and wait for the PDA and phone my haha… I mean mom,” I quickly corrected myself. I really needed to start using English words for everything.

When I returned to the somehow intact table that Landon was sitting at he had Yuki no Hana back in her saya and handed her to me. “She was a fine blade before and now she’s even better.”

“Domo arigato… I mean thank you Landon,” I said as I pulled the blade free of the saya. It still looked the same and had the same weight and balance but it felt like there was a power that wasn’t there before.

I was about to test the edge with a fingertip when Landon said, “I wouldn’t do that if were you, she’s sharp enough to split an Angel’s hair.” I pulled my finger away, placed the blade back in her saya, and thanked the kindly Dwarf again before placing Yuki no Hana back in my purse and pulling out my phone. Then I browsed through the numbers for my mother’s number and touched it to send the call. “Miyuki, are you alright?” my mother’s voice sounded very worried. “Captain Klein just called us and said that you were all under attack.”

“We’re fine Okasan, it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. None of us are injured, though I am a little pissed that one of my new shirts has a bullet hole in it.”

“Bullet hole?! You kids stay right there, Natsumi and I are on our way there now.”

It was then that the PDA response team that Captain Klein had called decided to show up. A man with dark blue hair burst through the door with a red headed Pixie, a silver haired woman who resembled Coach Sylhael, and a brown haired man armed with an assault rifle right on his heels. The four of the stopped inside and took in the carnage for a moment and I shouldered my purse to approach the group. The blue-haired man watched me carefully and I heard a voice like an electric guitar in my head. ~What in hell happened in here? We were told that a team of dogs had four new CHIs and some civilians pinned down.~

I shrugged as I got within casual speaking range. “I’m Miyuki Thompson, the one who called Captain Klein. The Dogs didn’t feel like waiting for you so we had to act on our own. Kei tied up the one who is still alive but I doubt he’ll be answering questions anytime soon. I’m afraid we couldn’t do anything for the civilians who were by the front windows.”

~Nice to meet you Miyuki, I’m glad you kids pulled through alright. I’m Davis Miller,~ he replied as he took another look around. ~We have medical, clean-up and cover-up teams right behind us. I would love to know how the four brand new CHIs I was told to expect managed to do all this. The dogs don’t play around.~

“Neither do I Mr. Miller,” I replied. “I may be new to all of this Paranormal stuff but I‘ve trained for close combat my whole life and I had Kei, Jenny and Zoe covering me from behind cover. We would have preferred to go easier on them but Captain Klein warned me that they would not show us the same courtesy.”

~You must be Yuki Thompson’s daughter; I was told that she was a specialist in Japan and will be working with us now. So I take it that you’re the one in charge then,~ he prompted as he gave me a good looking over with his amber eyes. ~Are any of you hurt?~

I shook my head to both questions. “Technically my mom is in charge and we’re only sub-contractors but she wasn’t here and something had to be done so I did it. But I called before taking action. I got shot in the shoulder but I’m fine now, I heal right up when I feed on heat. The others didn’t get a scratch.”

A look of relief passed over his features. ~I’m glad to hear none of you were seriously injured and since you were the one who stepped up that makes you the one in charge. Usually the one in charge needs to write up a report but since this is your first day with us I’ll get you to tell me what happened in as much detail as possible and I‘ll write up the report for you. I’ll also need your badge number so I can include it in my report.~

It took a while to give my report and between that and the footage captured by the security camera over the counter Davis thought it was a pretty open and shut case. My mother had arrived halfway through me giving my report and as soon I was finished she wrapped me up in a hug. Then we all looked over the security footage in case there was anything I missed. As we watched there was this look of pride on my mother’s face while Davis and the rest of his team kept looking from the video to me and back again. The brown haired man even took a step away from me after the footage of my cold kiss. When we were finally done and able to go home for the night, I remembered it and gave my mother the envelopes with hers and my dad’s new identification and other documents before she and Natsumi climbed into the limo and the rest of us piled into Zoe’s Prius to follow them home.

It was later that evening and the four of us were sitting quietly in front of a roaring fire in the living room with a cup of hot cocoa each and a plate of Jenny’s chocolate chip cookies. I was pretty sure that the others were thinking along the same lines that I was, about the events at Luc’s Café. I had been training my whole life in martial arts and with a sword and while I figured that at some point in my life I may need to defend myself it had never occurred to me before that I would have to kill someone. But not only had I killed a person, my friends and I had killed six and seriously injured another with what one of Davis’ teammates had called ruthless efficiency.

In my mind I knew that we had had little choice in the matter, that the situation called for kill or be killed, but I couldn’t help wondering if we really were the monsters they were making us out to be. “What have we done?” I whispered, not even realizing that I was speaking out loud.

~What we had to,~ Zoe replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. ~You knew that at the time, don’t second guess yourself now.~

“But we killed people, human people. I don’t think that even with all my training I ever mentally prepared myself for that,” I answered while staring into the fire.

Kei nodded across from me. “My parents were always preparing me to Hunt and kill Paranormals when I was growing up. I… I guess I never thought that I would be one of the Hunted before. It was easier to train like that when I thought that we were doing good, that we were hunting monsters, but now everything is completely turned around.”

Jenny let out a sad sigh before her soft voice added, “I think deep down I wanted revenge on the hunter who killed my parents and anyone who would hunt our kind. I may not have killed any of those men directly but I was a part of it, and now it feels pretty terrible.”

~You’re all new to this Paranormal stuff, even Jenny. She may have been Manifested at birth but she was living out in the woods and only got dragged into all this three months ago.~ Zoe sang in a stern tone. ~A lot of those normal humans see us as monsters but we’re not. Most of us just want to live normal lives without all this extra baggage. Sometimes we have to face the grim reality that it’s either us or whoever our enemy happens to be at the time. Sometimes those enemies are other Paranormals and sometimes they’re humans. We all regret having to resort to killing tonight, and that regret, that wishing that there had been another way, that’s what makes me certain that we are not monsters.~

I tried to shake off some of my sadness as I thought about what she was saying. “You’re right Zoe. We made a choice to join the CHI program knowing that we would have to hunt down rogue Paranormals and deal with other threats. This was one of those threats. Those men were murderers and they had to be stopped. We did that and probably saved a lot of lives by doing it. It might not feel very good, but it was right.”

~It was,~ the Mermaid replied. We all sat there together and fell asleep listening to Zoe singing. Mermaids use their mental voice because their physical voice is one of power. A Mermaid’s song contains the power to heal wounds of the mind and soul and at the moment we all needed a little of that.

 

---

 
Author's Note: This is for all of you who have been patiently awaiting the new chapter of Winter's Child. There's a few surprises in this one. Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 8: Mystery

~Miyuki… Jenny… it’s time wake up,~ Zoe’s telepathic voice called out. I stirred from my slumber, blinked my bleary eyes and rotated my head to try and relieve the cramps and stiffness in my neck. We had all fallen asleep on the couch listening to Zoe singing and trying to ease our collective conscience about what had happened the night before at Luc’s Diner. Kei had fallen off the couch and was curled up on the floor. Somehow he had changed to his fox form when he fell asleep and he looked so adorable there curled up in a ball in his clothes, with his tail occasionally swishing. Jenny on the other hand had shed her blanket during the night and was curled up naked beside me on the sofa with her head in my lap. I wouldn’t have minded that so much but her doe ears were twitching in her sleep and causing sensations that really made me want to release some pent up arousal.

That was going to have to wait though. I would be sure to have a nice long workout later since I was still very nervous about my mother’s suggestion of ‘taking matters into my own hands’. ~Come on you two, it’s time to get up. Miyuki’s mom is going to teach us to make a traditional Japanese breakfast, remember?~

I groaned at that thought but regardless I gently shook Jenny. “Come on Jenny deer, we’re being summoned to the kitchen.”

Her ear twitched again causing that nice sensation again and I bit my lip against it as her brown eyes fluttered sleepily and she smiled up at me. “Morning Miyuki,” she said sleepily before suddenly realizing just where her head was. “Oh! I’m sorry Miyuki!” She suddenly sat bolt upright.

“Don’t worry about it,” I assured her with a smile, “I didn’t mind. Mom and Zoe want us in the kitchen though so we should get up.”

We both shuffled into the kitchen where Mom and Zoe were waiting patiently for us. Mom didn’t waste any time putting us all to work now that we were all gathered. She showed us how to prepare each dish from the beginning, even the steamed rice and broiled fish which were relatively easy, the Tamagoyaki and Miso soup were more complex but she showed us step by step how to make them and what ingredients to use. Zoe figured out pretty quickly what the nori was but expressed a little disbelief that non-Paranormals would eat seaweed for breakfast.

I just shrugged, “It’s a cultural thing I guess, I couldn’t conceive of having what you made for breakfast yesterday a few days ago. It was really good though. Just dip a strip of it in soy sauce and roll some rice with it. If you give it a chance I’m sure you’ll like it. You said you’re used to eating seaweed anyway so this is just a new way of trying it.”

Once breakfast was made we joined the others out in the dining room where we all ate and talked about our plans for the day. The topic of the previous night’s encounter at Luc’s Diner was carefully avoided as Zoe and Jenny explained that they wanted to take me and Kei shopping for more clothes. Mom reluctantly agreed that it was a good idea but told us that she wanted us all back by dinner so we could begin training immediately after. She also wanted to make sure that both Kei and I had our weapons concealed and with us. I think what happened at the diner had her worried for us and she was in a rush to get us trained and I didn’t really blame her. We had done well enough, but Jenny and Zoe were both inexperienced in combat and we needed to learn to work as a team and cover one another’s weak spots.

She also reminded me in front of everybody to take my birth control pill, though I think that was a subtle reminder that I was female now and had to be careful with guys in general. I quickly took one of the pills, but I didn’t really need the reminder since I was all too aware of my new gender and quite frankly the thought of getting pregnant terrified me. My haha is always doing things like that, saying one thing but meaning more than just the obvious. I had gotten used to it growing up and it was usually pretty apparent when she was doing it to teach me subtle lessons.

Once breakfast was concluded I went up to my room, placed Yuki no Hana in my purse of holding, and got dressed. I decided to go with the sexy yet practical look with a pair of tight pair of jeans, a light blue crop top, my combat boots and my leather jacket. It didn’t quite satisfy my compulsion to be super sexy but I had anticipated that and wore the sexiest panty and bra set I had underneath so I could be more comfortable. Naked would have been much better but humans have a problem with that sort of thing and at least I could feel comfortable when dressed. I felt bad for poor Jenny though since she would have to wear clothes again and she couldn’t cheat her compulsions like I could.

I shrugged it off and shouldered my purse to go downstairs where the others were waiting in the garage. Jenny and Zoe were dressed similarly to me while Kei wore the male equivalent, though they were mostly wearing sweaters and winter gear as well, while I had no need for such things. Kei was also wearing his backpack of holding in case we needed it. “I see you brought your Hunting gear,” I said with a nod of approval.

He nodded back. “Yeah and I have all the gear and ammo I managed to collect from those Hounds of God last night in there too. I’m not getting caught without a weapon again.”

Before we left for the mall the girls insisted on giving Kei some ideas on how to move and act more like a guy. His first attempts at a masculine walk were hilarious to watch as he kept overcompensating. He was just as unsure about his speech; it took him a while to stop moving his hands and gesturing as he spoke and even longer before he got used to casual swearing and some of the cruder language that Zoe and Jenny were suggesting. As Rei he had been brought up to be tough but also feminine and sweet so it was a bit of a leap for him.

Finally though we pronounced him somewhat prepared and climbed into Zoe’s Prius to head toward the Fairview. Zoe explained that most locals just called it that but it was short for the Fairview Pointe Claire Mall. Apparently it had well over two hundred stores and a huge food court we could go to for lunch. As an added benefit it was in the Pointe Claire area so it wasn’t all that far away. Jenny wanted to take me and Kei to one store in particular. It was shop for Paranormals geared toward teen fashion and the owner was a Divine magic user who would place enchantments on clothes for Paranormals with specific needs. It was how she got clothes that wouldn’t irritate her skin and eased her compulsion to be naked. She figured that they may have some sexy clothes that would work for me and that the owner might be able to enchant clothes to shift with me and Kei when we changed forms.

The store was called La Luna and once we stepped past the illusory boarded up facade I found that the store had a really large selection of clothes for both girls and guys. The owner Serena was like nothing I had ever seen before. Zoe explained that that she was from a nocturnal Paranormal species with a connection to the moon and I could believe it. She had long silvery-blue hair that seemed to glow with a light all its own, her skin was a milky white, and she had these huge blue eyes that dominated her face . The latter wasn’t too difficult since the eyes were the only feature on her face. She had absolutely no nose or mouth and I gathered that she breathed from the two slits down on the sides of her neck.

Her species was called the Silia, and like Mermaids they spoke strictly telepathically. Since they had no ears either, Zoe explained that they perceived the world through only sight, touch, and a sort of telekinetic radar that let them know what was around them, where, and whether anything was moving. The woman turned as soon as we entered the shop. ~Good morning Jenny and Zoe, I see that you have brought some friends today.~ There was a smile in those big expressive eyes and a warmth in her thoughts as she turned her attention to Kei and I. ~I am Selena, how can I help you all today?~

~This is Miyuki and Kei, they both just Manifested and moved here from Japan to live with us at Aunt Gina’s and they need new clothes. We thought we would bring them here since they will both need enchantments placed on their clothes,~ Zoe explained.

~Welcome to Canada both of you. Any of Gina’s little family is always welcome here.~ came the warm thought, ~Gina helped me to get this place started. Most of the clothes here are from her fashion lines and she gives me a great deal on them. What sort of enchantments do you need done?~

~Kei is a Kitsune, he’s actually Aunt Gina’s nephew and Miyuki is a Mixed like Jenny but they both need clothes that will change with them when they change form.~ Zoe explained.

~And I kind of have a compulsion about being either naked or damn sexy when I do wear clothes so I’ll need clothes that work for that,~ I put in.

The owner of the store nodded. ~Clothes for Kitsune shape shifting are easy enough; I’ve done them before so I know how the shift feels. Miyuki would you mind changing forms for me so I can get a feel for how your change works? Each type of change has a different magical flavor to my kind and I’ll need to match it on the clothes to make sure they shift when you do. I have change rooms you can use in the back if you’re shy.~

~Miyuki is a lot like Jenny, they both have similar compulsions and no sense of modesty, it’s like living at a nudist colony,~ Zoe Joked.

There was that mental warmth again and a giggling as the Silia replied. ~From the blush, I take it Kei isn’t quite used to that yet.~

Kei shook his head, ~Not yet, but I guess I shouldn’t complain since I bet most guys would love to be in my situation.~

~That’s a way of looking at it,~ Selena replied as I stripped and began to change to my snow leopard form. There was a sort of shock in the Silia’s mind as I finished my transformation. ~My, aren’t you a wonderfully complex creature? I wonder though, why you only use two of your forms.~

I think the last was sent to me privately because the others didn’t seem to hear it. Zoe and Jenny had never seen me in my kitty form before and both were gushing about how cute and cuddly I was. ~I only have the two forms.~ I insisted under the petting my friends were giving me. They were distracting me and to my embarrassment I started to purr. No, must stay focused. ~And what do you mean I’m complex?~

~Your two natures are not two as you believe; both of your heritages have merged into a new complete whole, a perfect unity. You are not the sum of your parts; you are more, something entirely new. Your change has revealed it to me; you are not Mixed, you are Fusion. I know enough to place the enchantments, you may change back now, but remember what I have said, if you are one of Gina’s chosen then you will need to achieve your true power.~

Zoe was rubbing my belly and Jenny was scratching behind my ears so I sent to the Mermaid, ~Could you two please stop, we can do this later if you like but we have shopping to do and I need to change back. In case that’s not enough incentive for you consider this, I’ll be naked when I turn back and think about where your hands will be.~

Zoe giggled at that, little bells tinkling in her mind as she gave me a mental wink. ~I thought you wanted me to stop. Okay, okay we’ll stop, but you’re an adorable snow leopard and how else are we ever going to be able to do this?~

~Later,~ I insisted. Finally the pair stopped and I was able to change back and get dressed. Kei is so cute when he blushes and turns his head away like he does.

We bought most of the clothes we needed at La Luna and afterwards we headed to another Paranormal store in the mall called Heaven Scent and was owned and run by an angel. I mean an actual Angel with the big white wings, a halo of light around him and everything. The store specialized in scented soaps, bath oils, skin lotions and the like, made from natural ingredients and targeted toward the unique problems certain Paranormals faced with their skin and hair. It all smelled really nice and there was some geared toward people who shifted into animal forms, so I made sure to get some to keep looking and smelling my best.

Speaking of smells though, after we had left Heaven Scent and made our way to the food court laden down with bags my sensitive nose picked up something familiar. The scent had been there when we got to the mall and when we left La Luna too, I was almost certain of it. When we sat down to eat the scent was still close by, somewhere behind me and probably sitting at a table. As we all casually discussed what school would be like on Monday and I gave them a rundown of what my mom would probably be putting us through when we got home, I tried to sniff around and see if I could get a more precise location.

~Is the mixture of smells here bothering your nose?~ Zoe asked.

I shook my head as I sent back, ~No, I’ve been smelling this scent since we got here and I think we’re being followed. I’m trying to sniff out whoever it is.~

The Mermaid took a cautious look around, ~I don’t see anyone being obvious about watching us, but I do see a girl I’ve seen at school before a few tables back. She looks Asian and she’s wearing a low cut black top and a white miniskirt. Should we maybe go talk to her?~

~I’ll go, and if there’s trouble I’ll call you. It could just be coincidence but she’s going everywhere we do and she always seems to be not far behind us.~ I turned around and saw the girl Zoe mentioned reading something on a tablet and appearing to pay us no mind, but she was definitely the source of the scent I was picking up. She looked about sixteen and was Japanese. I got up, approached her table, and pasted a smile on my face. “Hi, I’m Miyuki, you look kind of lonely over here all by yourself, would you like to join me and my friends?”

She looked up from her tablet and I could see that she was very conflicted about something, and more than a little surprised. “Oh, hi I’m Kasumi… your accent is pretty strong, did you just move here from Japan?” She seemed to think about it for a bit, trying to place my accent, “Tokyo right?”

“Hai, I just moved here this week. Come have your lunch with us,” I began, giving a slight pause before adding, “And then maybe you can tell us why you’re following us.”

“Shit,” she cursed. “How did you catch on? I was trying to keep my distance for the most part.”

“I have a very sensitive nose,” I retorted. “So come sit with us and tell us why we’re so interesting that you just had to follow us around the mall all morning.” She sighed, nodded, put her tablet in her purse and followed me to our table. I smiled at my friends as we sat down and explained, “Everyone, this is Kasumi, she’s going to tell us why she’s following us around.”

Everyone looked at the other Japanese girl expectantly and she sighed again. “I wasn’t told that one of you had such a good sense of smell. I’m kind of being paid to be your bodyguard. I’ve been watching Zoe and Jenny at school for months and I was supposed to start keeping an eye on you two starting on Monday,” she said indicating me and Kei. “But I got a call this morning to make sure no harm came to you while you were shopping today. Apparently something happened last night that got my employer concerned.”

“Who hires a girl your age to be a bodyguard?” Jenny asked. “You don’t look like you’d be much protection.”

“Your aunt hired me to keep you all safe until this combat specialist she hired can teach you to properly protect yourselves,” she explained. “And I am a lot older and more powerful than I look. That’s part of why I was chosen for this job. Also I look young enough to fit in at your school and anywhere else a teenager would go.”

~I was wondering if Aunt Gina had someone keeping an eye on us,~ Zoe admitted. ~She has been very concerned that we survive long enough to do whatever it is she thinks we’ll do. But wouldn’t it be easier for you if you just hung out with us?~

“Probably, but what was I going to do? Walk up, say ‘hi I’m here to protect you so I’m going to force you to act like my friends’?” She shook her head. “If you approached me it would be a different story but I was trying to intrude on your lives as little as possible.”

“Well now you have an excuse to stick closer to us. I don’t know about this body guard thing though, I can fight just fine,” I replied.

“Not every enemy you face is going to try to punch, stab, or shoot you, and I have decades more experience than any of you at using the magic of my element,” she countered. “I’m also very hard to hurt.”

“So what are we to you? Just a paycheck?” Kei asked.

Kasumi shook her head. “I’m getting paid very well, but I owe Gina my life and she told me that you four need to live and that one of you shares a special bond with me. If Gina says it then I’m willing to do what it takes to keep you all safe.”

“If you’re so hard to hurt, how come you owe Aunt Gina your life?” Jenny asked.

“Perpetual youth gets old after a while and I’m what you might call the impulsive type,” She admitted sadly. “Ten years ago I was in Hokkaido, moving from place to place when I heard about a group of Monster Hunters who weren’t exactly following the old traditions. Rather than Sealing or killing the Paranormals they went after, they used a forbidden magic to bind them. Once bound the Paranormal would be bound to the will of whoever wore the ring they were bound to. They could not disobey or cause harm to that person or anyone else that person specified. They were made slaves.”

“That’s… that’s sickening,” I said as I felt the bottom of my stomach drop. “To think that someone could do that to another person.”

“They don’t exactly see us as people. I thought that I could take them down and ended up bound. She… made me do horrible things.” There was such pain in her eyes as Kasumi displayed her hand and showed a simple gold band on her index finger. “I am forever bound to this ring and whoever wears it. Five years ago Gina killed my mistress and gave the ring to me, returning my free will. She told me that a vision brought her to me and she even helped me free some others from the same fate. I owe her a debt that can never be repaid.”

“Hunters in Japan were doing that? Do you know which clan?” Kei asked nervously. Coming from a Hunter family, this type of thing must be hard for him to hear.

I dark look passed over the girl’s face as she spat out, “The Fujiwara clan, and as far as I know some in that clan still are doing it, and recruiting others.”

I could feel my eyes widening in shock even as all the color drained from Kei’s face. The Fujiwara clan was one of the most important in the history of Japan. The founder, Nakatomi no Kamatari helped to place Emperor Tenji on the throne and was rewarded with that name. For members of such a prominent clan to do something so dark was unthinkable. Even more disturbing, especially where Kei was concerned was that the Fujimoto family, and his parents, come from that clan. It even fit in with Department Nine thinking that the family was into something dark.

I reached out and took his hand, “You didn’t know. You’re not like them.”

“I take it that Kei had something to do with that clan?” she asked. “Don’t worry I don’t blame the whole clan for the actions of a few misguided Hunters. I’m sorry if I came off that way it was just… I have a lot of bad memories about that time.”

“It’s nothing you did,” Kei assured her. “Before Aunt Gina’s brother ‘adopted’ me, my parents were Hunters in that clan. We heard that Department Nine suspected that they were part of something dark and we had to leave Japan because they pretty much set the whole clan against us when Miyuki went through her change and then I uh… ‘Man-ifested’ as well.”

I had to laugh at the way he stressed the first syllable of the word. Zoe and Jenny got a good giggle out of it too. At least he had a good sense of humour about the situation. The mood was still dark though as it looked like both he and Kasumi were starting to brood, so I decided that a subject change was in order. I turned to Kasumi and asked, “You said that you didn’t know what happened last night to make Aunt Gina so concerned that she wanted you to watch us out of school right?”

She nodded as she looked across the table at me. “All Gina told me was that something happened last night and that you all handled it well enough, but she would feel better right now if you had someone watching you when someone else from the house couldn’t be, like when you were shopping today.”

“We were in a café that the Hounds of God decided to attack last night,” I explained. “The PDA and other help would have taken too long to get there so we sort of handled it ourselves.”

“Damn, and I thought I was dangerously impulsive, are you all okay? Those assholes don’t mess around.” She thought about it a moment, “Wait, was that the attack on Luc’s Café? I heard about that from a friend in a PDA clean-up crew. She wouldn’t give me any details but she said it was an absolute bloodbath, like a small war had broken out.”

I groaned at the thought that word about that was spreading already. ”We left one of them alive, and we would have rather not killed them at all but we were told not to show them any mercy and they killed those five people at the front of the café. We were all a little shook up afterwards but none of us was hurt.”

~Say’s the one who was shot,~ Zoe quickly pointed out.

“I was just fine after I… uh ate.” I said in counterpoint. “Anyway the point is that Aunt Gina is concerned. She probably thinks we’re some sort of trouble magnets and is taking extra precautions.”

“Speak for yourself,” jenny said giving me a poke in the ribs, “Things were quiet until you showed up.” From her smile I knew that she didn’t mean anything by it though.

Kei decided to get in on the teasing as well. “Well I was living a relatively normal life until your birthday came along and you Manifested. Since then I’ve been turned into a male Kitsune, people think we’re rogue Paranormals, we had to leave Japan because my parents have put out a hit on us from practically every Hunter family in their clan, and the attack from the Dogs last night. You do realize it hasn’t even been a week yet and all that has happened. I hate to say it my love, but you are a trouble magnet.”

“You were involved in all that stuff too, and didn’t you try to kill me at first too?” I said, crossing my arms.

“That was a misunderstanding, but it supports our claim, more bad things have happened to you in the past week than most people go through in years. You’re the magnetic north of trouble. It’s like trouble has a compass that points right to you,” he said, giving me a smug grin.

I just rolled my eyes, “Thanks a lot, all of you. It’s nice to know who my friends are.”

~Of course we’re your friends, why else would we stick with you through crap like last night?~ Zoe said with a smile. ~Besides you’ve been all quiet and introspective since we left La Luna and I for one was getting worried. Was it Kasumi that had you feeling that way or have you been thinking about last night?~

I shook my head. “Neither, I’ve been thinking about something Selena told me while I was in my kitty form.”

“Don’t leave us hanging, tell us what she said,” Jenny said.

I sighed, not sure if I wanted to bring this up. Finally I said, “She asked why I only use two of my forms.”

~I thought you only had the two forms, girl Miyuki and the snow leopard,~ Zoe said with a frown. ~You’re actually pretty lucky to have your two heritages separated like that.~

“That’s the whole point, Selena said they’re not. She told me that I wasn’t a Mixed but something she called a Fusion, and that I was more than the sum of my parts. Until now I thought I only had the two forms as well so this is really worrying me, what the hell is a Fusion anyway?”

“Selena must have been teasing you,” Kasumi said with a shrug. “Fusions are a Paranormal myth. Basically it’s thought that when a Mixed has two heritages that complement each other perfectly, that they become something entirely new with new abilities and such. I’ve never heard of it actually happening before and neither has any other Paranormal I’ve met.”

“It didn’t sound like she was teasing; she sounded pretty certain about it, and that idea that I have more than two forms.” I sighed and took a sip of my soda.

~Why didn’t you mention it at the time?~ Zoe queried.

“You were rubbing my belly and Jenny was scratching behind my ears, and it was distracting,” I muttered. “I was having enough trouble holding a conversation with her. And then we were having fun picking out clothes, so I didn’t want to bother you all with it. And then I noticed that Kasumi’s scent was everywhere we were going and it distracted me a bit.”

“I’m sorry to follow you around, but I’m just doing my job. I owe Gina a lot so I promised to make sure to keep you all safe,” Kasumi apologized.

“Well now you can just hang out with us instead of following us,” Jenny assured her, “It works out better all around.”

~We should probably get going home so we can get started on our training session,~ Zoe pointed out with a mental sigh. ~I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to it. I don’t think martial arts are my thing, I’m not very well coordinated out of the water.~

“You did okay when I gave you your first lesson,” I assured her. “We just need to choose a style for you that suits your strengths. You have great upper body strength so you’ll do well with punches and blocks. I have an idea for weapons for you too that I’ll want to talk with Landon about; they’re not exactly standard so I want the best quality we can get. I think we’ll probably start Jenny on Aikido, with her powerful legs and lower body strength she’ll be good at throws and kicks, though we’ll need to work on her upper body as well. Besides, Mom will be teaching us more than just martial arts. I have no idea how to use a gun and you’re both way ahead of me on your elemental magic. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.”

“If you all are heading to Gina’s I’ll follow you on my bike,” Kasumi said. “I should let Gina know that we met, that I’ll be sticking closer to you, and see if she wants me to do anything else for all of you.”

We all left the food court and made our way through the mall to the parking lot where we once again piled into Zoe’s Prius. Kasumi’s bike turned out to be the same model of Kawasaki Ninja that Aunt Gina had for me and Kei in the garage, but hers was black where mine was white and Kei’s was red. Once the vehicles were in the garage we all headed into the house and Zoe sent out a telepathic call, ~We’re home from the mall.~

Aunt Gina, Natsumi and Mom all emerged from the kitchen continuing whatever conversation they had all been having in Japanese and laughing. Suddenly my mom stopped short and stared at us, well not all of us but rather the new addition to our group. “Kasumi?!”

“Yuki!” the girl exclaimed. “The last I heard from Mom you had settled down and had started a family. What are you doing in Montreal?”

“We had to leave Japan and I’m training those four kids you came in with,” Mom muttered. “Which you’d know if you hadn’t up and vanished. What the hell are you doing here?”

“Funny how things work, I’m their bodyguard until you get them trained,” Kasumi replied.

“Do you two know each other?” I asked, a bit confused.

Mom only nodded at first and then she added coldly, “She’s my sister.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: This is for all of you who have been patiently awaiting the new chapter of Winter's Child. Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 9: Cat Fight

“Do you two know each other?” I asked, a bit confused.

Mom only nodded at first and then she added coldly, “She’s my sister.”

I stared from one to the other as I tried to process this new information. Kasumi was my aunt? I was about to say something but Kasumi managed to speak first, “It’s good to see you again Yuki, I missed you. Wait, does this mean Miyuki is my niece?”

“No.” my mother said in a tone that could freeze the very fires of Hell. “You don’t get to call her that. You weren’t there when I met her father, you weren’t there when she was born, and you weren’t there for any of her birthdays or when she Manifested this week. You didn’t even know she existed until today, so you don’t get to pretend to be the loving aunt.”

Kasumi looked like she had been slapped with an eel or something she was so shocked and hurt. “What is your problem!?”

“You are,” my mom replied acidly. “I’ll protect these kids myself if I have to. I’m not going to let you walk out on Miyuki without a word like you did with me, or worse get them all killed with your recklessness.”

“I didn’t think…” she began to say.

“You never think!” Mom snapped, her voice rising in volume as she let what was probably years of pain out. “Most people would give some thought to how vanishing like you did might hurt the people who care for them, but not you! You let your emotions and your impulses rule you! You have no discipline! You never gave a thought to how much you were hurting your sister!”

I was staring at her in confusion. I had never seen my mother lose control of herself before. Jenny and Zoe were standing beside me and were actually starting to shiver from the cold emanating from her. I turned to see Kasumi actually crying as she headed through the door to the garage, not even bothering to shut it in her hurry to leave. I looked from Mom, to the door, and back to Mom and made a spur of the moment decision. “Okaasan, I think you really need to think hard about what you just said, and get control of yourself before you give someone frostbite, I’m going to go talk to my aunt.” Then I turned on my heel, grabbed my purse, and followed Kasumi through the door, slamming it behind me.

My aunt had opened the garage door and just finished putting on her motorcycle helmet when I walked in. She climbed on the bike and before she could start it I grabbed the helmet of from the matching white motorcycle that had been bought for me and straddled her bike behind her. “So, where are we going?”

“I’m leaving, you’re staying,” she replied crisply. “You don’t want to be around me right now; I might do something reckless and get you killed.”

“All the more reason for me to be with you,” I pointed out as I put the helmet on and placed my arms around her, refusing to budge. “I’ll be the voice of reason. You need to do something to let off steam, so let’s go and you can show me what you do for fun around here. Street racing? Underground Paranormal cage matches? I’m up for whatever you are so let’s do whatever will make you feel better.”

“Fine, hold on tight.” She muttered in surrender before starting the bike and taking off.

“You know,” I stated conversationally, “for such an impulsive and reckless person the thing that’s making you feel better is remarkably less than dangerous. Not that I’m complaining.”

“Sometimes you just need an ice cream sundae,” she replied before taking a spoonful of her strawberry sundae. She had brought us to a Baskin Robbins near the mall we were at earlier, and while it was a nice place and I was really enjoying my banana split I wasn’t kidding about my surprise.

“So here we are; two girls, ice cream, one of us clearly upset but not wanting to admit it. Help me out here, I’m still new at all this girl stuff, but isn’t this where you start to talk about your feelings? If that’s not what’s going on here I’m still up for the street racing or cage matches.” I offered.

She almost cracked a smile at that. “Okay, first you don’t have a license, and I can’t afford another speeding ticket. Second, the cage matches have rules against magic use and I don’t fight, so that leaves me out. Third, you forgot about the no rules Paranormal street fighting held at secret locations. We’d qualify for that, but it happens on Friday nights so we’ve missed it for this week.” I wasn’t quite sure if she was joking with all of that, but dammit now I was tempted to find out. I shoved that thought aside though as Kasumi sighed. “It didn’t happen like I thought it would in my dreams… It was supposed to be a happy reunion, but she… hates me.”

I tentatively reached over and covered her free hand with my own. “She doesn’t hate you, she just has a few years of repressed feelings to sort through I think. I’ve never seen her lose her cool like that, talk about giving someone the cold shoulder.”

“Me either,” she admitted. “I was the last of our mother’s children before she met your Grandfather, had Yuki, and decided to live the rest of her life as a regular human. When Yuki was ten Mom decided to tell her about our history and give her time to accept the idea that she would be Manifesting when she was sixteen and all the baggage that would come with that. I had kept in contact with Mom and she asked me to train Yuki in her place when the time came, since she had no desire to feed on heat or use magic again herself. So I came to live with them and tried to be a good big sister until Yuki Manifested.”

Something suddenly clicked in my mind. “Mom had a photo album of herself with another girl who looked like you that she kept hidden away, it’s probably still at home in Japan. I always assumed the girl was a cousin or friend or something, but it never occurred to me that she was the same age in all the photos while Mom kept getting older.”

Kasumi’s eyes lit up a little at the mention of the book. “Maybe she doesn’t hate me after all if she kept that album. When I met her Yuki was definitely her father’s child, she took mental and physical discipline and the way of the sword extremely seriously. We were polar opposites; she was extremely mature and disciplined for her young age, while I was much older, but impulsive, reckless, and carefree. Despite our differences we became very close and spent all our free time together, she even tried teaching me to fight, but I just didn’t have the interest in it that she did.

“Mom and Grandfather are really close,” I agreed. “He told me once that he knew she was going to be his only child and that he would never have a son to carry on the family blade and our history of martial arts so he trained Mom against tradition. I think she wanted to prove she could be just as good, if not better, than any boy so Grandfather wouldn’t be dishonored.”

“Anyway,” Kasumi continued, “Yuki and I became very close and we weren’t just sisters we were best friends too. Our opposite natures actually complimented one another. My impulsiveness encouraged her to do things she would never try otherwise and her maturity kept me from getting into too much trouble. Her sixteenth birthday happened during summer break and that was fortunate for two reasons: Her school would have never thought the mature woman Yuki had become could be a sixteen year old girl, and it gave me time to train her in Ice magic. She applied the same work ethic she had shown in the martial arts to learning Ice magic and learned everything I had to teach quickly and it was planned that we would both go to a private school specifically for Paranormals in Switzerland when the new school year started there.”

“That’s the school where she met my Dad,” I pointed out. “So if you two were so close, what happened? Why did you leave?” I asked.

“There are two big mistakes that Yōkai who don’t age and look as young as I do can make,” she told me sternly. “One is staying in one place for too long and the other is attracting attention to yourself. I did both. I stayed with our family for six years not aging a day because I was feeding on heat and using magic the whole time. When Yuki was in school or training with her father I would go to the rougher parts of Tokyo to find a bit of fun and find a good looking boy or two to sate my needs.”

I rolled my eyes at that and muttered “Well I can see where my mom got her openness from.”

“Don’t give me that look, our needs are part of who we are, and you’re probably becoming well aware of that by now,” she replied. “At least I made sure to use protection, which is more than most of our kind can say. That is one thing I am not reckless about. Teenage mothers tend to get a lot more attention than I need. I failed to notice the ‘reputation’ I was getting and I had sex with the same guy twice.”

“What, you mean you were getting into a relationship?” I asked a little bit confused.

“No,” she stated with a firm shake of her head, “I slept with the same guy and fed on his body heat twice… five years apart. I didn’t recognize him, but apparently the second time in his life of being left freezing cold after sex caused him to remember the first time and realize that I was the same girl. Rumors started going around about me, getting worse with each telling, and near the end of summer break a group of Yōkai Hunters came after me.”

“So you ran,” I concluded.

She nodded sadly. “I didn’t want to draw attention to Mom or Yuki so I left Tokyo to protect them until I could be sure it would be safe for me to return. I traveled around North America and Europe, working for various Paranormals who needed my skills and kept honing my Ice magic, but those damn Hunters were always close behind, and I don’t like to kill unless it’s absolutely necessary. Fifteen years ago they died when they followed me through the Himalayas and pissed off a pack of Yeti. I thought it would be safe to return home and I called to let them know, but Mom told me that Yuki had married a Cursed man, was working for Department Nine, and had an infant son, which I assume was you. She said that they wanted to raise the child as a human until he Manifested so since I didn’t want to ruin that for her, by showing up and probably making all of your lives complicated or possibly endangering you all, I decided to just stay away. I asked Mom to keep quiet about me calling and decided to keep traveling until you were closer to Manifesting. How is Mom by the way?”

I mentally cursed. She did not need to hear that Grandmother was dead right now, not after the fiasco with Mom. I gently squeezed her hand and felt like the lowest life form on Earth as I told her, “She died a few years ago. Mom says it was Hunters.”

She clenched her fist tightly under my hand as she dropped her spoon. “I...” she began to say before she was too choked up from the news. Tears were running freely down her cheeks when she managed to speak again. “I… should have been there. I was traveling Japan, trying to work up the nerve to call Yuki and see if she would be okay with me visiting when I heard about the Hunters enslaving Yōkai in Hokkaido…”

“And that’s when you were caught and bound,” I finished for her.

She nodded as she started wiping her tears away with a table napkin. When she pulled the napkin away her face was a mask of pain and grief. “After Gina freed me I was a mess, I couldn’t let Mom or Yuki see me like that. Gina brought me here, started giving me odd jobs to keep me busy, and sent me to a counselor at the PDA office. I’ve been doing that since… trying to come to terms with everything my mistress did to me, and had me do to others. When I wasn’t doing work for Gina or seeing my counselor, I was mostly just hiding in the apartment Gina put me up in, avoiding people and other Paranormals. It wasn’t until she had me start going to school and watching Zoe eight months ago, and then Jenny as well, that I actually started getting out and having some semblance of a life again.”

We finished our ice cream in silence and were about to leave when my phone rang. I sighed when I saw my mother’s name on the display, but picked up anyway. “Moshi moshi,” I said after connecting the call.

“Are you okay Miyuki? Where are you?” she asked.

“We’re both fine Mom,” I responded, stressing the one word. “I wanted to do some cage fighting, but she wanted to eat ice cream so we just finished doing that instead. Kasumi isn’t the reckless aunt you told me about. Oh wait, you didn’t.”

“We didn’t want to tell you about the Paranormal until you Manifested,” she pointed out.

“You could have just told me you had a sister you hadn’t heard from for a while, that wouldn’t have told me anything,” I retorted angrily. “The last thing I would have thought is ‘I have an aunt? I wonder if she’s human or not.’ That is not what I’m angry about though. The one time you let your emotions rule you and it’s at the worst possible time. Do you have any idea what she’s been through? Why she left without telling anyone in the first place? And on top of all that I just had to tell her about Grandmother.”

“Miyuki, please, I know that I overreacted, but it hurt me a lot when she left with no word and never came back,” she replies in a sad tone. “I was afraid she had died, and then she just walked in like she was happy to see me, how would you have handled it? Gina told me she’s been through a lot, but she won’t say what. I wanted to see if you could convince her to come back here so we can talk. I don’t think we should have this kind of talk over the phone.”

Everything about this situation was pissing me off, but if I wanted it to be resolved they needed to talk it out. “I’ll try, but you are going to damn well sit there and listen to the whole fucking storrrry before you pass judgment orrrr even say anything about it. She doesn’t need a rrrrepeat of what happened earilerrr. You two can discuss it all you like aft…”

I was interrupted by Kasumi grabbing my phone and shoving my motorcycle helmet over my head and I yelped a bit as it hit my nose on the way down. She quickly spoke into my phone, “Sorry to interrupt, but we’re having a slight emergency here; I’ll bring Miyuki home as soon as I can.” Then she disconnected the call, shoved my phone in my purse, and took off her jacket while taking nervous looks at the man half asleep at the counter and the rest of the nearly empty ice cream parlor. Another quick look around before she slapped down the visor of the helmet and instructed me in a hushed tone, “Put your hands in your pockets and keep them there until we’re on my bike. I’m going to wrap my jacket around your waist; we need to try to keep that tail hidden.”

“Tail? What arrre you talking about? I’m in my human forrr…” I stopped mid-word as I looked down at my long slender hands, which were now covered in white fur and tipped with sharp looking claws. Those hands practically flew into my pockets as Kasumi tied the sleeves of her jacket together below my midriff, leaving the rest to cover my backside down to my knees. Once that was done she was behind me, pushing me along to the entrance as she tried to keep her own body between me and anyone who might be looking at me from behind.

We got outside where it had started snowing and a few centimeters of it were already evident on the sidewalk. “Thank Takaokami, it’s snowing,” my aunt muttered. “I can’t drive the bike and concentrate on magic at the same time, I should have had her send someone with a car. Now would not be a good time to be stopped by the cops. I’ll call Gina and then use the snow blind spell to keep people from noticing you while we wait, just to be safe.” She took her own phone out of her purse and after finding Gina’s number she pressed the screen to call her. “Gina, I don’t think I’ll be able to get Miyuki home without attracting some sort of attention. She’s got a helmet, but she could still attract a lot of attention if we get stopped or have to wait too long at a red light. Okay great, we’re outside the Baskin Robbins on Boulevard des Sources, we’ll see you soon.”

Once she placed the phone back in her purse she took a quick look around and began to concentrate. I could feel a sort of tingle in the air as falling snow began to swirl around my body, until I and everything I was wearing was completely covered. “Gina is sending Hans in the Hummer, don’t move a muscle until he gets here if you can manage it,” Kasumi whispered as she leaned against the wall beside where I was standing. “The spell will reflect everything around you onto the opposite side and make it look like nothing is there, but if the snow is shifted the spell will break.”

I called upon all my years of training to remain perfectly still as we waited, but it was nearly twenty minutes before the Hummer showed up. Once we were certain nobody was watching I shook off the snow and practically leaped into the back seat of the vehicle when Hans came around and opened the door. Kasumi climbed in behind me and shut the door as Hans began doing something with her motorcycle. “Okay Miyuki, you can breathe now that you’re safely hidden behind tinted windows, and as soon as Hans finishes securing my bike in the rack we’ll be on our way. I know you’d probably like to try to change back to your normal form, but I think you should wait until Gina gets a look at you, just to be safe. Unexpected transformations could have unexpected effects.”

I nodded and sighed as I stared at my furry hands again. “Could this be what Selena meant when she asked why I only use two of my forrrms?”

“I suppose it’s possible,” she agreed as she gave me a concerned look. “It could just be another form you can naturally take, but I don’t want to take any chances until Gina can have a look at you. Let’s try to keep our minds off it by talking about something else for a while. What do you think of the Humvee?”

“I’ve neverrr seen one up close before coming herrrre,” I admitted. “Is it rrrreally a militarrry model?”

“Sort of,” she admitted once Hans had climbed in the driver’s seat, buckled up and started the engine. As Hans started driving Kasumi went on to explain, “Gina bought this directly from the company, but asked for some modifications from what they offer for the military models. She has a lot of contacts and you don’t want to know how much she paid to get this modded. Most Humvee’s are built with specific purposes in mind like communications, assault, or the ability to take a beating. This one was modified to be multipurpose. It’s EMP resistant and has the hitch mount motorcycle rack, bulletproof windows, HArD Kit, the winterization kit, an auxiliary fuel tank, and both mobile Wi-Fi and a Harris Radio system for communications. The only thing she couldn’t get put on it were weapon mounts.”

I shook my head as I contemplated all of that. “You’rrre rrrright, I don’t want to think about how much that cost.”

“And then there’s the protection spells she put on it. Gina is taking your safety very seriously,” she said as she looked out the window.

For a time I didn’t know what to say. Finally I asked hesitantly, “So… arrre you feeling any betterrrr now?”

Kasumi’s initial response was a sad sounding sigh. “I guess so, though your problem was distracting me from it a bit until now. I just can’t believe Mom is dead, and I’m really nervous about talking to Yuki. I don’t know what to say, I can’t be sure how she’ll react.”

“Just tell herrrr everything you told me, frrrrom why you left to how you ended up herrrre,” I advised her. “If I know my Mom, the worrrst that could happen is she would go back to Japan to cooly and calmly errrradicate that entirrre clan of Hunterrrrs, including Kei’s parrrents. I doubt she’d go that farrr though, she’ll prrrobably just get verrrry prrrotective of all of us.”

When we arrived home Hans had us go inside while he put our helmets and Kasumi’s motorcycle in their spots. I gave my aunt her jacket back and we headed into the house where Mom and Gina were talking in the living room. At our approach both women looked up and while Mom’s eyes went as big as saucers, Aunt Gina merely looked curious and perhaps a bit concerned. “Miyuki! What’s happened to you?!” Mom blurt out.

I winced at her reaction, was I deformed or something? What if I'm not sexy? I need to feel sexy! How could I be sexy with fur? What if I was stuck like this?! How could I live a normal life?! I knew I wasn’t human before this happened, but what if I couldn’t even appear like it anymore!? I began to have trouble breathing at that line of thinking and Aunt Gina hurried to take my hand. “Yuki, you and Kasumi are long overdue for a talk; you can’t do anything for Miyuki right now and I don’t think there’s any cause for concern anyway. I’ll take Miyuki to her room so I can run some tests on her while you two discuss what you need to.”

“But she’s…” my mother began. “What if someone saw…”

“Don’t worry Yuki, I brought her here because if anyone can figure out what’s going on with her it’s Gina,” Kasumi said. After a moment’s hesitation she took her sister’s hand and began pulling her toward the kitchen. “I made sure nobody noticed her change, there was hardly anyone there, none were looking in our direction, I covered her most distinctive features immediately, blocked her from other peoples’ view until we were outside, and then placed a concealment spell on her when nobody was looking. Believe me, if anyone saw we would have known about it, so let Gina have some space to have a look at her.” Mom reluctantly let herself be led away as Gina pulled me along towards the stairs and my room.

We arrived at the top of the stairs and Kei nearly ran into us, he was in such a hurry. I don’t think he even gave me more than a passing glance before hugging me tightly. “Damn Miyuki, I was so worried when you and Kasumi stormed off like that, don’t worry me like that again.” Then he turned his head toward me to kiss me and blinked in surprise, “Whoa… that’s a new look for you, does this have anything to do with what Selena said?”

I hugged him back tightly before shrugging, “I’m not sure yet, Gina’s going to run some tests I guess. Could you give us some time alone please? I’ll let you know when we’re done.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me with you?” he queried in concern.

“She’ll be fine, and the sooner we’re done, the sooner you can see her again,” Gina put in.

“Jā matane,” I replied nervously as I opened the door to my room.

When we entered my room Aunt Gina put a gentle hand on my shoulder and guided me to my vanity. The girl looking back at me would have even more trouble passing as a human than Jenny. Sure my body was still mostly human, but I was like some blending of my Yuki-Onna and snow leopard selves. My body was slightly more slender than usual and had the powerful yet sleek muscle tone of a hunting cat. Over those muscles my whole body and face were covered in white fur with black rosettes. If I added that to my claws, that long tail swishing behind me, and my face and I could never be mistaken for human. The face was vaguely human under the fur, but with a kitty nose and mouth, large sharp canines, whiskers, large ice blue eyes with slit pupils and round white leopard ears high on my head, sticking out from my long black hair like bright white satellite dishes, nobody was going to miss those.

Understandably I began to freak out again, so much so that I was having trouble breathing. “Calm down Miyuki, you’ll be fine. I will cast some scanning spells just to be sure, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m pretty sure that this is just another aspect of who you are now and you can change back on your own when you want.” As Gina spoke there was a tingling sensation where her hand was touching my shoulder and I could feel myself starting to relax.

Once I could breathe again I gave the Kitsune a long look. “You knew this was going to happen.”

She shook her head and replied, “Not precisely. Time is not linear Miyuki, and I see flashes of possible futures, the most likely ones, but those can change based on the decisions we make, others make, and random acts of nature. So I try to guide things to the best possible outcome and hope that things I have no control over don’t screw it all up. I did foresee this possibility among others before you Manifested, but I couldn’t be sure which outcome would happen until it was almost upon us.”

“Selena said I’m a Fusion, is that trrrrue?” I asked as I tried to get used to what I was seeing in the mirror, it might not be so bad as long as I could change back.

“Selena is very good at seeing the nature of things; I was hoping the girls would take you to see her,” she admitted. “If anyone would know a Fusion it would be her. I prefer to think you are unique. Your two natures and all the abilities of each have indeed fused into one whole, but you are more than that and as you can see by looking in the mirror you have new abilities as well. You should not mention being a Fusion to other Paranormals, it could make them fear or distrust you.”

That confused me for a moment, but then I figured that even Paranormals are all human at heart and humans fear and hate what they don’t understand. “What should I tell them then? Should I say that I’m Mixed?”

She shook her head and smiled at me. “No, because that would be a lie and I will not encourage you to hide who you are from those who should try hardest to understand you. The truth is that you are a whole new species of Paranormal, so if they ask tell people that your species is from Japan and very rare. Let’s call you a Yuki-Neko. We will need to change your records to reflect this at the PDA and your school though.”

“Yuki-Neko huh? I guess snow cat is as accurrrate as anything else. Can I try to change back now?” I asked, itching to see if I could do it.

“You may if you wish, but we will need to do some testing to see what all your forms are fully capable of at some point. I think though that you might want to show Zoe and Jenny this side of yourself, don’t worry about your parents and Kasumi though, I will explain to them what this is about and assure them that you are purrrfectly healthy.” She said the last with a smile and a wink and leaned forward to hug me.

I returned the hug and rolled my eyes. “That was a horrrrrible joke, but thanks forrrr being herrrre forrr me. Beforrre you go and I call Zoe and the otherrrrs in herrrre though; could I ask you a question?” When she nodded I continued on to ask, “Why didn’t I change into this forrrrm earrrlierrr?”

She considered the question for a short time before responding. “I suspect it was because on that first day you displayed your father’s legacy first and then you were concentrating on being human specifically, not just changing form. I believe that you need to be thinking of a specific form to take it and since you had no reason to believe that you even had a third form until now you had no conscious reason to change to it. What was happening when you changed, when did you notice it?”

I thought back to what had happened at the ice cream parlor, but try as I might I couldn’t remember noticing the change myself. Finally I admitted, “I didn’t notice it. Kasumi did and she had to point it out to me. I was so frrrrustrrrated at the time because of everrrything that has been happening and the way Mom trrreated Kasumi, when she had good rrrreasons forrrr what she did. Surrre she might have done a few things differrrrently but she was being rrresponsible and herrrr hearrrt was in the rrrright place forrr the most parrrt.”

“You’re like Yuki,” she explained with a smile. “You think things through and don’t let your emotions rule you very often. That’s probably a good thing since I suspect that extremely strong emotional reactions might trigger you to change form unconsciously. You’ll need to be especially careful about that because all three of your forms are so natural to you that you don’t even notice the change from one to another. In this case you were frustrated by being in the middle of a situation that was hurting all three of you; one you had no idea how to resolve yourself. That frustration needed a release you were unable to give at the time so you changed to a form that reflected that confusion and frustration.”

“Well that’s a damn good rrrreason to keep my angerrrr underrr contrrrol,” I muttered. Then I tentatively asked, “Will Mom and Kasumi be… okay?”

She gave me another hug as she replied, “I think they will, many of the possible futures point in that direction right now, but that’s really up to them isn’t it?” Then she left the room, leaving me alone with my mirror.

“Wow, and I thought I stood out in a crowd,” Jenny said with her eyes nearly bugging out of her head as she stepped into my bedroom with Zoe and Kei. After ten minutes of debating whether I should I had sent my thoughts out to Zoe, and after giving her a brief explanation of what had happened, I asked her to call the others and come to my room. The half Nymph shook her head in awe. “At least you can change back to human… you can change back right?” The last was added hesitantly with a look of uncertainty on her face.

“We think I can,” I told her and she breathed a sigh of relief. “I just thought I would show you beforrre trrrying that.”

“It’s not like you’re ugly or anything, quite the opposite actually, you’re still sexy as hell, but that form is going to get attention. But then you would have my attention in any form,” Kei offered as he moved over to wrap his arms around me and give me a kiss.

If I had harbored any hopes that this form might make me less horny, his touch and kiss dashed them as my nipples stood up and I could feel a warmth growing between my legs. If Zoe and Jenny hadn’t been in the room I might have done something right there and then. Not that they probably would have minded much from what I knew of them both. I quickly turned my mind away from such tempting thoughts. “It looks like Selena was rrright about me being a Fusion. Though Gina thinks I’m morrre of a new species of Parrranorrrmal. She’s calling me a Yuki-Neko.” At Zoe’s mental giggling I agreed, “I agrrrree it’s a silly name, but it’s Japanese and fairrrrly accurate.”

The mermaid was still giggling as she explained, ~It wasn’t the name. I’m so sorry for laughing Miyuki, I think your new form is beautiful and kind of awesome, but I was wondering if you could do something for me… could you please say ‘roll up the rim’?~

I stared at her in confusion. “Rrrrroll up the rrrrrim?”

The mental giggling intensified and at my frown she at least had the good grace to blush in embarrassment. ~Sorry Miyuki it’s a Canadian thing. As an apology I’ll take you out for a coffee and a doughnut, my treat. Let’s see if you can change back now.~

I focused my attention to appearing human again, thinking about my familiar pale fur-less skin and more normal features. I kept my eyes on my hands and to my great relief the fur began to fade and my claws began to retract into my fingers, becoming normal looking finger nails. A look in the mirror showed my ears becoming more human and moving back to their usual position as the tail behind me shortened. Within a minute I was back to my ‘usual’ self. “Oh thank goodness that worked,” I said breathing a sigh of relief.

“That looked pretty cool, we should record that someday. It’s a lot like how Zoe turns her tail into legs,” Jenny said with a grin.

After that we talked about the possibilities for my new form and the problems that could be presented by changing in extreme emotional states and not seeming to notice. The others promised me they would keep an eye on me to let me know so I could either stop the change or find a hiding spot until I could reverse it. We weren’t so worried about at school, apparently stuff like that happens there all the time, but having it happen in a public place among the humans would be very bad. It looked like I was going to be needing training in more than just combat and magic.

There was a knock at the door and Kasumi poked her head in, “Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to say thanks for being there for me earlier Miyuki.” When she caught sight of me she smiled. “It’s good to see you looking like yourself again, though from what Gina said that other form is just as much you as the one we’re all used to. Yuki said dinner will be in just over an hour and after that you’ll be having magic lessons while the rest learn the basics of martial arts.”

“How did things go with Mom?” I asked hopefully.

“Better than I thought,” she admitted, “we had a long talk about things. You were right, once I told her everything she was more concerned about me then resentful of me for leaving and she’s definitely feeling really protective of me. Your father and I had to stop her from doing something rash; it’s kind of weird having our positions reversed.”

“I’m so relieved,” I said after letting out the breath I had been holding. “Are you going to stay for dinner?”

She shook her head. “No, I need to go back to my place and get a few things. Yuki and Gina want me to move into the extra room here.”

“That’s great, but why? I mean why now?” I asked. “Not that I’m complaining, I really want to spend more time getting to know my aunt. Is it for the whole bodyguard thing?”

She shrugged as she stepped further into the room. “Gina offered to let me stay here when she first brought me to Montreal, but I felt like I would have been intruding. Now Yuki’s all protective and wants me with the rest of the family. She wants us to make up for lost time I think, there’s the ‘bodyguard thing’, and there’s another reason as well.”

“What’s the other reason?” Kei asked from behind me.

“Yuki figured that she was going to be keeping pretty busy training the three of you in martial arts and all four of you in various weapons and other combat stuff,” she answered before turning back to me. “I also think Yuki is trying to put the past behind us and show me that she wants us to be close again, and wants me to be close to you too. I have learned a lot of Ice magic techniques and spells in my travels that Yuki isn’t familiar with, and since I taught her in the first place she asked me to teach you Ice magic. You wanted to spend more time with me? You’re going to get your wish, beginning right after dinner.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: This is for all of you who have been patiently awaiting the new chapter of Winter's Child. Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 10: Lessons

Kasumi had left the house to go start packing the things in her apartment and Jenny and Zoe wanted to try to get their homework out of the way before dinner. Since Mom, Dad, and Aunt Gina had made it clear they didn’t feel it was a good idea for Kei and me to be alone together in one of our bedrooms until I mastered my control of feeding on heat, Kei decided to return to his own room to take a nap before dinner. I briefly considered going downstairs to work out and try to get rid of some of my pent up desire, but I decided instead to take a cat nap of my own since I hadn’t really slept well the night before. Snuggling with my friends on the couch had been nice after the night we had had at the café, but my sleep had been broken, my position awkward, and Mom and Zoe had woken Jenny and I earlier than I was used to. Once they had all left my room I curled up on my nice big bed and quickly fell asleep.

“Murderer,” a voice taunted me as I opened my dream eyes to find myself standing in Luc’s Diner with Yuki no Hana plunged through a man’s throat. It was the first of the Hounds of God I had killed, the first person I had killed, and that face would be forever burned into my memory. His eyes stared at me accusing as I tried to pull my sword free of the fountain of gushing blood that had been his neck. His lips parted and he accused me again, “Murderer. You killed me.”

“NO!” I shook my head as I wrenched my sword free.

“No, you’re not a murderer,” another voice agreed. I turned to see another of the dogs I had killed, his neck bent at an impossible angle. “Murder is a human sin, when one human kills another. You aren’t human, just look at yourself, you’re more animal than human.” I looked down at my arms and hands, covered with white fur and tipped with razor sharp claws. “Humans will fear you, and for good reason, you are a monster ruled by your baser instincts.”

“No! It’s not like that! I’m not…” I started to argue.

“Tell that to him,” the man with the broken neck retorted with a lopsided sneer as he pointed to the frozen corpse of his comrade.

I covered my eyes, trying to drive the image out of my mind. A raspy voice spoke, taunting me like the others “You killed us with ruthless efficiency, like the predator you are. Did I taste good? Did I satisfy your need to feed? It felt good, didn’t it? That rush of energy you got when you sucked me dry, it made you giddy didn’t it? It wasn’t enough though, was it? Monsters like you always have other instincts, other needs… other desires.”

“No…” I began to try to refute his claim.

“You say no, but you mean yes, how can you deny it when you’re doing that.”

What was he talking about? I wasn’t doing anything. I looked down to see that one of my hands was caressing my breast as the other stroked between my legs.

I woke up gasping for air and yanked my hands away from the sensitive bits they had been exploring. If I gave in I might as well say goodbye to what was left of Mitsuo and I was not ready for that. I sat up, arranged myself in the lotus position, and spent the rest of the time until dinner attempting to mentally beat my desire into submission.

Dinner was nice, and a bit unexpected. I had thought Mom was making dinner, but apparently Natsumi had decided to cook when we had left for the mall that morning and had been in the kitchen most of the time since then. I had never really pictured the Harionago as the culinary type, but dinner was delicious. She had made lasagna, some sort of garlic and herb dinner rolls, a Caesar salad, and veggie kabobs and had even made some cinnamon rolls with a sweet icing on top for desert.

Mom’s plan after dinner was to put Kei, Jenny, and Zoe through some warm up exercises before trying to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses. After that she would decide what form of martial arts would work best for each of them. With that in mind, once we finished dessert Mom took them downstairs, but not before Kei and I exchanged a toe-curling kiss that quickened my breathing, made me feel warm and gooey between my legs, and re-stoked the desire, I had thought I had managed to reduce to embers, into a bonfire.

I decided to wait in the living room and meditate until Kasumi got back, focusing on controlling my breathing, clearing my mind of lustful thoughts, and once again pushing down the feelings of desire that had been getting more impossible to deny with each passing day. It was roughly half an hour later that she came home bearing a large backpack. I stood up from the sofa and was all prepared to help her take all her belongings up and get set up in her room, but I ended up just staring at the backpack. “You really pack light.”

She shrugged and took me by the hand to pull me along toward the staircase and up. “I just brought some changes of clothes. I don’t really have much and Hans offered to go pick up the rest for me tomorrow, since everything I do have is packed now. Besides I couldn’t really carry much on my bike anyway.”

“Hai, I guess that’s true,” I agreed as we reached the door to her room.

To my surprise my aunt just dropped her backpack in her room and gestured to my room. Once we crossed the hall to my room and made ourselves comfortable on my bed she said, “I thought you might be more comfortable in your room since we won’t be doing any actual magic today.” She smiled as she looked around the room at the clothes hung in the closet, the few framed photos I had brought from Japan, and Yuki no Hana on her shrine. When her eyes fell on my sword she moved closer for a better look. “That’s a beautiful sword.”

“It was a birthday gift from Grandfather, he had it made especially for me,” I replied, sighing as I thought about him.

She nodded and asked hesitantly, “How… how is he?”

“His arthritis is getting bad, and I worry that he might be lonely since we left. He tries not to show any weakness, but he hasn’t really been the same since Grandmother died,” I told her morosely.

“He really loved Mom,” she agreed as she sat back on the bed with her hands clasped together in her lap. “You and Yuki should call home soon; to make sure he’s alright and let him know how things are going here. Maybe I should talk to him too… I don’t know…”

“Were you close to him?” I asked, wanting to know more about my aunt.

She let herself fall back into the embrace of my bed with a pensive smile. “Close enough that he let me call him father, and that I actually wanted to. I was almost a complete stranger and I may have looked sixteen, but I was nearly as old as he was. He didn’t have to treat me well; he could have resented me or refused Mom’s wishes, but he welcomed me into his home and treated me like his own daughter because I was his wife’s daughter and Yuki’s sister.”

Her reply begged the question, “What about your biological father?”

“Never knew him, never wanted to,” she responded with a shrug. “Mom was still in the one night stand phase of her life at that point. I was her fifteenth child, and the last had gone her own way a few years before I was born. Mom and I travelled a lot, never staying long in one place, and I got used to it. When I struck out on my own I continued travelling; I kept telling myself that I was free with nothing to tie me down. Once in a while though I would feel something was missing, so I kept in contact with Mom. When she asked me to come live with them and train Yuki I had no idea how a real family worked, but I had promised Mom.”

“That must have been strange for you to get used to,” I thought aloud as I tried to picture it in my mind.

“You have no idea. There were definitely a few interesting learning experiences for me,” Kasumi answered with a giggle. “ I suddenly I had a little sister looking up to me, a curfew, rules to follow, and I had to constantly wear clothes and play normal for the humans, but Mom, Yuki, and Dad were determined to make me feel like part of the family and it made me realize what was missing in my life. Of us all I think it was hardest on Yuki.”

I blinked at her in confusion as I tried to process that. “How could it be hardest on her? I would think she would have loved to have a big sister.”

“She loved the idea of having a sister at first, but the reality was a bit hard for her. She thought having a sister would mean that I would have all the same interests as she did and that we would spend all of our time together. She and Dad tried getting me involved in martial arts, but I had no aptitude for it and I just didn’t enjoy it as much as Yuki did. She assumed that me quitting after two months meant that I didn’t want to spend time with her. One day we were all eating dinner and she asked why I didn’t like her.”

“Mom always has been one to try to tackle problems head on,” I put in with a shake of my head. “Sometimes I wonder if she’s familiar with the concept of subtlety at all. I bet that didn’t go over too well.”

“There were some raised voices in the discussion that followed,” she admitted with a laugh. “Once he figured out why Yuki was upset Dad told her that we might be sisters, but we were each different people. We could like different things and still love one another and that me trying for that long when I wasn’t enjoying it showed that I did love her. When she argued, he asked what I enjoyed doing and told her that since I had loved her enough to try what she loves doing then she should do the same for me.”

That definitely sounded like something my Grandfather would say. My cat side couldn’t stand the curiosity so I asked, “So, what happened then?”

“Does Yuki still hate skiing?” she inquired with a grin. “Dad took us to a ski resort for the whole weekend. Yuki was horrible at it; she could barely stay upright and hated every minute of it. She spent over three hours, absolutely miserable, on the beginner slope while I was having the time of my life.”

I broke out in a fit of giggles and when I finally managed to catch my breath somewhat I replied, “I wanted to try skiing last year and she gave me the evil eye and said ‘why would you want to do that?’ How did she manage mountain rescue work if she hates skiing? I bet she learned her lesson though.”

“To be fair, our kind doesn’t need skis to move around quickly in snow,” my aunt pointed out. “If you really want to try skiing though there’s some great ski resorts in the area, maybe we can go over the holidays. As for what happened with Yuki, I twisted my ankle a bit on a run just before lunch. When I saw Yuki moping because she hated skiing and had no place to practice her martial arts I took pity on her and we spent the rest of the day playing board games together and having fun in our room at the lodge.”

“Couldn’t you have just healed your ankle by stealing the heat from a cup of hot cocoa or something?” I asked in confusion.

“Yeah and Mom and Dad made sure to point that out when they found us there. I thought Dad was going to be mad because we had spent all that money on the ski trip for me and there we were in the room, but he just asked why I hadn’t healed myself so I could keep having fun. I told him it was because I couldn’t make Yuki keep doing something she obviously hated just because I enjoyed it, and I wanted to cheer her up. You could literally see the realization hitting Yuki and after that is when we really started bonding.” She sighed at the memory before adding, “I missed my family so much. There’s so much I missed. I should have been there for Yuki, and for you.”

I gave in to my hug impulse and wrapped my arms tightly around her. “You had good reasons for leaving and for staying away, besides you’re here now and that’s what’s important. We’ll just have to make up for lost time.”

We sat there just hugging one another for a while before Kasumi finally pulled away. “I guess we really should get started on your lesson. Yuki tells me that you haven’t quite mastered feeding on heat yet and I’d like to work on that before getting into magic. Today though, I thought that you might benefit from a lesson on the elements and the basics of elemental magic. Can you tell me how many elements there are?”

I thought back to the explanation mom gave me on the day I Manifested, going over it in my head before replying,” Ten. I think Mom said there’s Ice, Water, Fire, Metal, Lightning, Earth, Air, Wood, Divine and Death.”

“Very good,” she replied with a smile and a quick nod. “Now one of the most important concepts of elemental magic is the balance theory. The balance theory is the belief that each of these elements has its opposite and that they are all present on the Material Plane to maintain the balance of nature here. This balance isn’t always perfect, which is why you get earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters. If one of these ten elements were to disappear the balance would be seriously disrupted and it would throw all of nature on its head.”

“The Material Plane?” I asked.

“Think of time and space as a massive layer cake,” she explained. “Each layer is a separate plane of existence. The layer we live in is called the Material Plane, but there are other layers too, and in some of those layers a single element is dominant. These are called the Elemental Planes; they are considered to be the origins of the various elements as they relate to magic. There is one for each element and they are the Infernal Plane, the Holy Plane, the Frozen Plane, the Fire Plane, the Garden Plane, the Forest Plane, the Ocean Plane, the Thunder Plane, the Iron Plane, and the Sky Plane. There is also thought to be something called the Soul Plane, but that is more related to spirits and the afterlife and I can’t be certain whether it really exists or not.”

I was having a little trouble accepting that I should just take it as law that these planes actually existed. “How can you be certain that any of them exist though?”

“Because I’ve been to two of them,” she answered seriously. “The year before I went after the Hunters who were enslaving Paranormals in Japan I was introduced to someone named Jack. I heard some people refer to him as Spring-heeled Jack, but he was introduced to me as the Traveller. He’s been alive for over two hundred years and was human until he was changed by the Philosopher’s Stone. At least I think that’s what he told me, it wasn’t easy following what he was saying.”

“Philosopher’s Stone my ass, it sounds like he was crazy,” I muttered.

Kasumi shook her head and I could have sworn she rolled her eyes too as she replied, “Worse, he’s Irish. The Fey seem to think he just spent too much time in the Holy Plane and it changed him. Anyway, the reason Jack is called the Traveller is because he travels all the various elemental planes. He wanted my help with something and the womanizing bastard dragged me all over the Frozen Plane and then the Forest Plane before he finished what he wanted to do. Jack is a bit of a special case since he’s now a non-aligned Paranormal with an ability to form extra-planar gates, but while we were in the Forest Plane I was told by the Fey that anyone with an extremely strong connection to the element they are aligned to can travel between the plane of that element and the Material Plane. Practically all the elemental beings do it, the Fey do it, and so do Demons, just to name a few.”

I wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at and it was just a little irritating since I was already having problems concentrating, so I pressed, “Not that this isn’t all fascinating and all, but what does it have to do with teaching me magic?”

“Elemental alignments,” she answered simply. “Rarely there are Paranormals without an elemental alignment, but most Paranormals are aligned to one or more element as we are to Ice. Elements that are opposed in the balance are less effective against one another.”

Kasumi went on to explain that while most Paranormals are aligned to one or more elements that it is extremely rare for a human to be, and those humans are usually Mages. Some humans, like witches and the Hunters in Japan have an aptitude for learning magic. Those with an aptitude for learning magic can essentially use magic of any element, since they’re not bound to any specific one, but it is not near as effective or powerful as it would be if they had an alignment to the element they happened to be using.

After that she began teaching me about primary, secondary and tertiary elements. The primary elements are Divine and Death and she explained that this was because they were the most influential and their opposition to one another formed the scales of the ultimate balance. Creation and destruction, life and death, growth and decay, pleasure and pain, beauty and ugliness, hope and despair, light and dark; everything there is, including the other eight elements contain some part of both these elements. It’s like how fire can destroy, but it also gives off light and warmth. Kitsune foxfire though, being Divine in nature, only contains the divine aspects of the fire element, providing light and warmth but not consuming what it touches.

The secondary elements are Earth, Air, Fire, and Ice. Of these elements, Earth and Air were opposed as were Fire and Ice. I had thought she meant water since usually it’s the one that’s grouped with those other three but she quickly refuted that. She told me to think about the very beginning. When I looked at her in utter confusion she explained that if you thought about how the earth was formed in the cold dark vacuum of space there was no water. No, the planet was formed from rock, ice, and gasses and bathed in the light and heat of the Sun. Water on the other hand was created by the interaction of the Fire and Ice elements.

That was where the tertiary elements came in. Water, Lightning, Metal, and Wood are all created and thrive within an interaction of two or more secondary elements. Of these elements Water is opposed to Wood and Lightning to Metal. In many places on the Material Plane tertiary elements are easy to find or create in nature, sometimes easier than secondary elements. Tertiary elements have one problem though; being composed of a balance of two or more secondary elements, that balance can in many cases be disrupted, making them easier to combat. On the other hand though, tertiary element users can also use that ‘weakness’ creatively or as an advantage when working with magic users of a different element.

There was so much to know and remember and as I tried organizing it in my mind I groaned. She had already had to repeat some things for me so I could get to the point where I could attempt to organize it. It was interesting enough; I was just having problems concentrating on the lesson. “Why can’t magic just be point and shoot?”

“Because the world doesn’t work that way,” my aunt replied with a laugh. “Becoming a competent magic user requires determination, practice, concentration, and a lot of self-control. I know you’ve displayed all of those things in your martial arts training, Yuki is very proud of you, you know. I’m… a bit worried about your self-control though.”

I could feel a blush rising to my cheeks. “Look, if this is about me going all ‘catty’ earlier today…”

She placed a finger on my lips and shook her head. “That is only part of it Miyuki. It’s only natural that you’re on edge; your entire life has turned upside down this week. You’ve changed genders, you’ve suddenly had all this Paranormal and magic stuff thrust on you, you had to leave Japan, everything here is probably really hard to adjust to, there was the attack on the diner, and then today you find about me and Yuki let her own control slip. It’s understandable that you would show some emotion. I’m worried that you are focusing your self-control on the wrong thing.”

“Huh?” I know my reply was hardly articulate, but she was really confusing me.

That was when she dumped the ton of bricks on me. “Miyuki, how long has it been since you’ve had sex?” I just stared at her blankly in disbelief, uncertain what to say.

“I’ve been working out a lot so I don’t need to, I just haven’t had the chance to do that today,” I complained. It sounded like whining though, even to me.

“Exercise and intense focus on something else like your martial arts only distracts you from the urges and makes you too tired to do anything about them after, it doesn’t take them away or lessen them, They will just keep getting stronger if you don’t use the natural release valve for them. So when was the last time?” When I just shook my head her eyes widened and she smacked her forehead. “You haven’t!? Not even a little experimentation?” I gave another shake of my head as I fidgeted nervously. “Dammit, no wonder you’re so damn tense. I thought it was just everything else going on, but this explains a lot. Holding off on sex right now is probably a good thing, you can’t control your feeding yet, but you should be doing something about it when you’re alone at least.”

Why in hell were she and my mom both so adamant about me riding the five finger express? This was starting to get infuriating. “Therrre is nothing wrrrong with rrrestraint!” I mentally cursed as I clenched my fists hard enough to dig my claws into the palms of my hands and realized I had changed forms again.

“Not usually,” she countered, “but it’s been almost a week since you Manifested and you haven’t done anything. You are showing monkish levels of restraint. You’re using all your self-control to keep yourself from satisfying your needs, and look what happens when you do that, the pent up frustration keeps boiling over and you lose control whenever you get upset. It’s also distracting you and keeping you from focusing. You can’t learn magic in this state and you know damn well what happens to people who get distracted or lose focus in a fight.”

I knew she was right with her last point, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit it to her so I just stayed quiet. She didn’t though. “It’s just a natural part of our lives Miyuki and repressing your instincts and needs is not controlling them. Sex is part of who we are and the urges will keep getting worse as long as you ignore them. You will lose control and end up doing something about it if you keep this up, only you may not be able to choose the how or when of it. What if you’re at school? Or with some guy other than Kei? What if you’re not thinking clearly enough to remember to use protection or to stop yourself from stealing enough heat to kill him?”

I glared at her as my nightmare from earlier came to mind, “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

She gave me a look and let out a sigh like she was dealing with some obstinate child, and that probably wasn’t too far off from the truth. “That’s my whole point, if you keep this up it will happen whether you want it to or not. Why is this such a big deal for you? You’re obviously comfortable with your body so it can’t be that.”

“It’s…” I paused to take a deep breath and to try to find the words to explain it. “It’s like if I do that I’ll lose the last little bit of Mitsuo that’s left. I… don’t want to lose who I am.”

“That’s bullshit Miyuki,” she snapped. “Sure you’re body, your life and even your name are different now, but inside you’re still the same person. You still love martial arts, you hold the same values, and you care for the same people. Your parents and Kei both see that, the only one who doesn’t is you.”

I turned away from her and as soon as I caught sight of my furry reflection in the mirror I buried my face in my hands. “What if I rrreally am a monsterrr?”

I started to cry then. It began as a few trickles of tears that I tried to control, but quickly gave way to great heaving sobs. Kasumi quickly wrapped her arms around me and just held me, stroking my hair and trying to comfort me as I let out nearly a weeks’ worth of confusion, uncertainty, fear, guilt, and shame that I hadn’t even realized I had been carrying until then. When I finally stopped crying I told her about the nightmare I had had earlier.

“You are not a monster Miyuki,” she told me sternly, pulling away and holding me by my shoulders to look me right in the eyes. “We may not be human, but we are people. You killed those assholes to protect yourself and others and there was no other way. It was you or them and you know that. I’m pretty sure that you didn’t enjoy it and any idiot could see that you feel terrible about having to be put in that position. You even gave them a chance to surrender first. They went into that diner with one purpose, to intentionally kill other people, just because they’re different. I think that makes them the monsters.”

I couldn’t bear to look at her so I cast my eyes downward to look at my knees. “But… I think I might have enjoyed it. When I fed on that guy’s heat... afterrrwards I felt giddy, I was even giggling.”

“Have you ever eaten too many sweets?” my aunt asked. I looked up at her in complete confusion and she pulled me closer to her again as she explained, “Heat is kind of like sugar for us. We don’t need it to live, but it tastes really good, it’s a constant temptation, and it gives us a lot of energy. You drank in all that man’s heat in a matter of seconds if you ended up freezing him solid like you said. It’s like a kid at Halloween who eats all their candy in one sitting; you end up with one hell of a sugar rush. That’s all it was, you suddenly had a lot of energy, it tasted really good, and you’re still new at feeding so the rush of it took you by surprise, so of course you were a bit hyper.”

“Maybe you’rrre rrright,” I admitted. “What if I rrreally am rrruled by my instincts though?”

“All creatures have instincts: animals, humans Paranormals, it doesn’t matter what you are. But we’re thinking beings; we can choose whether or not to give into those instincts, and when and where to do so. You’ve proven that by holding off for so long. What you’re doing though is going to cause those instincts to become too strong to be controlled. If you want to truly control this then you need to give into those instincts in moderation in a time and place of your choosing before the urges become a major distraction.”

“What if I like it too much? What if I can’t get enough?” I argued.

“Then Kei should consider himself lucky,” she joked. Seeing that I didn’t even crack a smile though, she sniffed indignantly. “You are way too uptight about this. It’s just sex; you’re supposed to enjoy it. Just do so in moderation, once, maybe twice a day will take the edge off and you’ve already proven that you are quite capable of resisting the urge when you need to.”

“I guess… maybe,” I replied uncertainly.

“Once you’re thinking clearly, you’ll see that I’m right. You just need to suck it up, take the plunge, and get over the hump. Once you do that you’ll see that you were blowing this way out of proportion and the problem will get laid… to rest.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows playfully, but I could see in her eyes she was worried about me still.

I just shook my head and gave her a weak smile. She was probably right, and she had way more experience than I did. “You’rrre worrrse than Mom, you know that rrright?”

“What can I say, she learned from the best,” she retorted as she stood up and gave me one last hug. Then as she made her way to the door she looked over her shoulder and said. “Please consider my suggestion. I should go set up my room though, so I’ll clam up and leave you to play around with the idea.”