Phillip had been read fairy tales by his birth parents before, and had heard stories about love at first sight, of people’s hearts suddenly fluttering, everything else in the room fading away, and hearts appearing in people’s eyes (okay, maybe that last part only came from the Floyd Fox Show). And looking at the pink kit in front of him, Sakura…
Phillip wasn’t feeling any of that.
Was he doing something wrong? Or would this be like all the movies he saw, where the parents set someone up to be married, and the person they set up was a jerk, and the real true love would come in later?
Still, she hadn’t done anything mean yet. He stepped around the large, circular table to sit closer to her, Arata sitting next to him.
“Phillip?” She said, sounding like she wasn’t sure she was pronouncing it right. “Oh, Momma told me about you! You’re the one the Kazura Clan adopted! She said we were gonna be married someday!” She smiled, and suddenly wrapped her arms around Phillip, who wriggled slightly in her embrace. “I knew something special was going on when I met you during my astral projection! You look really cute!” Her voice became quieter. “I heard some of the adults saying you were a human before. Is that true?”
“Yeah…” Phillip nodded slowly, surprised by the question.
Sakura smiled wide. “That is so cool! I wanted to meet a real human for a long time, but my parents said it’s not a good idea for kits to go out of our demiplane on their own, and they talk too much when I get to go out with them. What’s it like being human? Do you guys really have no magic at all? I heard rumors that you’ve got some magicians in theaters who can pull rabbits out of hats and cut people in half without killing them, and I haven’t even seen Nine-Tails magic do that! Is THAT true? How do you do it? And do you guys really hold electricity in stuff without sparkstones? And do you-”
“Sakura, dear,” a five-tailed, yellow furred vixen interrupted. “Young Phillip only just woke up, and his body is still adjusting to the time here. I’m sure he’ll be happy to answer your questions in a little while. The poor boy hasn’t even touched breakfast yet!” She moved a plate with several tasty-smelling strips of meat in front of Phillip’s seat.
“OH! Yes Mama! Sorry, Phillip.” Sakura let go of him and went back to her seat, leaving the overwhelmed looking Phillip time to start chowing down.
“That reminds me!” Arata said, after swallowing a sausage, “Phillip, if you want to see your friends today, we should probably go right after breakfast.”
“Won’t they be in school?” Phillip asked, confused.
Arata shook his head. “No, the time’s different here, remember? When it’s day here, it’s night there. I don’t know their schedule, but I figure they’ve been out of school for at least an hour now. If we want to see them before bedtime, we’ll need to get moving.”
“Wait, are you going to see your human friends?” Sakura piped in. “Can I come too? I promise I’ll be good!”
“No,” Sakura’s mother said quickly. “You’re too young to leave this plane by yourself. Frankly, I’m a little surprised to hear Kari allowing Phillip to, even if he used to be human.”
“Oh, he wouldn’t be alone,” Arata said. “I’d go with him.”
Sakura perked up. “See, we wouldn’t be alone! Arata would be there to watch us.”
“Arata is old enough to handle himself, since he has his second tail,” her mother acknowledged, “but I doubt he can keep track of both of you. No, I want you to stay here with the family. You can ask Phillip about humans once he gets back.”
“Aww…” Sakura pouted and poked at what was left of her breakfast.
-
Phillip had rushed through his breakfast, not wanting to miss this chance to meet his friends and tell them that he’d finally become part of a family. As he followed Arata though, he felt his tail brush against a statue as he passed it, reminding him of an important detail.
“Hey, Arata?”
His older brother looked over his shoulder, but kept up his pace. “Yeah, Phillip?”
“Could you show me how to do that disguise thing you did? I’d like to look like I did before, so my friends now it’s still me.”
“Oh, right, that probably would help, wouldn’t it?” Arata chuckled. “Well, shape-shifting into other species is nearly impossible for a one-tail. Most you can usually do at that age is make yourself look like a normal fox kit, or change your fur color.” He stopped, and snapped his fingers. “But... since you’ve been human before, I think you might actually have an advantage there!”
“I would?”
“Yeah. Your soul remembers what it’s like to have a human body, so it shouldn’t be any trouble for your magic to bring you back to that.”
“Okay,” Phillip said with a nod.
Arata turned around and continued walking to Uncle Kenji’s room, only to top again when Phillip spoke once more.
“But how do I actually DO IT, though?”
“Er…” Arata paused. “Well... uh… hmm…” He shook his head. “That’s the thing… for most of us kitsune we learn all the basics before we can even remember. It’s like learning to walk or talk. We watch the adults, then just… kinda… do it.”
“Oh…” Phillip looked down, disappointed.
Arata stroked his chin in thought. “Okay, how about you try to remember how you felt as a human, having no fur or tail, or any of that stuff, and… think of it like striking a pose; just try to move yourself into that position.”
“Okay.” Phillip imagined what he’d looked like yesterday, and remembered what it was like to not have fur. He clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and focused.
And slowly, he felt his fur shrinking back in his face. It felt like something inside him was pulling his mouth back, flattening his teeth, and drying his nose (the smells around him becoming duller, in turn). More fur began to slip back into his skin, in his cheeks, then his neck, then his chest.
He opened an eye to take a look, and gasped when he saw it was working… then he noticed something vital that was NOT coming back.
“EEP!”
And as easily and instinctively as he would have dropped a hot object, he quickly grew back his fur and snout, the scents around him becoming vibrant once again.
“Aw, so close!” Arata said, patting Phillip on the shoulder. “Did something startle you?”
“My clothes were still gone!”
Arata chuckeld. “Oh that’s not…” He paused. “Oh, right, it’s a big deal for most humans, isn’t it? I guess since they’re not natural parts of you, imitating them doesn’t come as easy… Wait! I remembered Uncle Kenji has something that should help with that too. I’ll ask if we can borrow that too.”
Arata knocked on one of the doors, which, like every door in this hall, had writing in a language Phillip didn’t recognize.
“Who is it?” Came an older sounding voice on the other side.
“It’s Arata! And Phillip’s here too.”
“Arata?” The door slid open, revealing a yellow-furred fox sage with seven tails. He wore a tall black hat, a strange pair of green goggles, and looked like he’d had several red markings painted along the fur in his arms and legs. He smiled as he saw the two kits. “Always nice to get a visit from you! And Phillip! We didn’t get a chance to meet yet, did we?” He reached down and shook Phillip’s paw. “You can call me ‘Uncle Kenji!’ Now, come in, come in!”
After the older fox pulled the kits into his room, Phillip looked around in awe and curiosity. Nearly every part of the wall was covered in shelves, holding scrolls, charms, shiny things, glowy things, nicknacks, doodads, and even displays holding stuff that looked like bug wings, or horns from other animals. Seated on a table in the far corner were glass vials with liquids in all kinds of colors, and closer to the door was a writing desk with scrolls and inkwells scattered haphazardly over the surface.
“What is all this stuff?” Phillip asked, poking at a glowing, golden ring that reminded him of the angel he’d seen yesterday.
“I’ve collected all kinds of magical items from other creatures around the world. I like to study them, so we kitsune can understand, and sometimes copy, their magic. That right there is a halo replica. Can drive out evil spirits and sometimes even heal wounds, if someone with enough love is holding it, so it can.”
He turned Phillip's attention to a pair of spiraling horns, with little sparks of light flying between their tips. “This one was my first attempt at imitating unicorn teleportation. Was a bit too unstable, but it still makes for a good light show, so it does. Managed to improve it a lot with the help of some fairy magic. That’s how I made the portable portals. Handy little things, they are, beats having the only way in and out of the demiplane being the Nine Arches. Far more flexibility. Of course you already know my portals are quality stuff, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” Phillip nodded. “I came here to ask for another one, cause I wanna go back.”
“Go back?” Kenji’s goggles flipped upin surprise. “But you only just got here! Is something wrong? Did one of the family scare you? Was it Ruki? I bet it was Ruki. Always far too serious for her own good, that girl. Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her pull a trick on someone. Don’t know where she gets it from.”
“It’s not like that, Uncle Kenji!” Arata interrupted. “Phillip just wants to visit some old friends. We figured your portals would be the fastest way.”
“Oh! Right, right, my mistake! I think I still have the coordinates to Phillip’s neighborhood around here, it won’t take me long to get another portal ready for you.” He grabbed another pair of imitation unicorn horns, and brought them over to his desk, where he began writing on them in tiny print.
“And while we’re here, could we borrow a Tanuki leaf?” Arata continued.
“As long as you don’t plan on impersonating an oni and picking fights you can’t win again.”
“That only happened ONCE!” Arata groaned. “And you know if the actual oni hadn’t shown up, it would have been the best prank I’d ever pulled.”
“The best tricksters always have another trick ready in reserve, so they do!” Kenji snickered, writing a few more lines on a pair of horns. “Oh, you should have seen the prank wars I had with a fey clan that was moving eastward back in the sixteen-hundreds. I’d only had three tails back then, but I really made a name for myself back then, so I did. Learned so many useful fey magic techniques, too! Ah, those were the days!”
“Can we have the horns now?” Phillip asked, getting tired of the talking.
Kenji frowned down at Phillip. “Ah! Rude, aren’t you? Asking me again while I’m putting the finishing touches on these little gifts.” He suddenly smiled again. “But you’re new here, and still young. I remember how I was when I’d only got one tail. I can forgive you, but you’ll need to watch your manners around your elders, so you will. Our clan can be particular about them.” His tails flicked back for a moment, the horns glowed, and he picked up a bright green leaf from one of the shelves, and handed it and the horns to Arata. “Stay safe out there. And be sure to be back before the clan meeting. Wouldn’t want Phillip to miss the chance to get to know everyone.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be his friends’ bedtime long before then,” Arata assured him, “we won’t be gone long. See you later, Uncle Kenji.”
“Bye uncle Kenji.” Phillip waved as he followed Arata out.
“Come back anytime!” Uncle Kenji waved, before turning his head back to his work.
Arata and Phillip made their way past the conversing kitsune throughout the hall, several of them stopping to say “hello” to their newest family member as they passed. The kits eventually made their way to the front door, which, just like yesterday, opened on its own for them, the front gate doing the same.
“Alright, here we go,” Arata said, tossing one of the faux unicorn horns to the ground. Just like the day before, a green circle of flame appeared around it, and a red archway rose from within. Through the arch, Phillip could see his old neighborhood, the sun hanging low, turning the sky a pale orange color.
“It worked!” Phillip cheered. He started running, then stopped. “Wait, how am I gonna look like my old self again?”
“Oh, right.” Arata took the Tanuki leaf, and placed it on Phillip’s head. “Try imagining your change now.”
Phillip focused like he had earlier, and found the change suddenly happening much quicker than before. His tail practically zipped back inside him, his fur vanished, his ears moved down his head, and his muzzle flattened down. It almost was enough to make him dizzy. And sure enough, looking down, he saw his t-shirt, jeans, and shoes back on his body.
Arata, nearly as quickly, changed back to the human appearance he’d used when presenting Phillip’s “adoption papers” the day before. “Ready when you are, little brother.”
The two brothers stepped through the portal, not noticing a little pink figure watching them from behind one of the trees. Sakura waited until the portal was about to close, and dashed in after them.
-
Patty knew something was wrong. The teacher didn’t believe her. Her parents didn’t believe her. And she was pretty sure Will was just acting worried with her so she wouldn’t be lonely. But even if she was the only one who saw there was clearly a problem, she wasn’t about to ignore it.
It had started when she hadn’t seen Phillip in class that morning. At first, she thought he might just be late, but when she and Will couldn’t find him at recess or lunch, she started to wonder if he’d gotten sick. When she’d asked her next teacher if that was why he wasn’t at school, he didn’t answer her question, only mumbling something about “confidentiality” and other grown-up junk.
After school, she brought Will with her to Phillip’s foster home. Mrs. Yancy, Phillip’s foster mother, (Patty had never liked that woman,) had first just told them to go away, that Phillip wasn’t here anymore. But Patty hadn’t given up, and kept on pressing, until Mrs. Yancy finally told her that Phillip had been adopted last night, before shutting the door in the kids’ faces.
Will had been happy to hear that Phillip had finally found a family, but Patty had found that explanation even more suspicious. She didn’t know much about adoption worked, but she knew adults took care of most of it, and adults were slow about everything they did AND they loved to waste time talking about it. There was no way they would have just suddenly adopted him in the middle of the night like that. And if they’d been working on it before, they would’ve said something about it to Phillip, who’d tell them that a family had found him.
“There’s something fishy afoot!” She huffed, sitting on her family’s front porch with Will. “And I’m not going to rest until I get to the bottom of this!”
“But what can we actually do, though?” Will said, resting his head on the porch’s banister. “We’re not detectives. I know my Mom’s not gonna let me leave the block without her, and yours already thinks everything’s fine, so you can’t go looking for him either.”
“Anyone can be a detective!” Patty declared. “Haven’t you ever read a book or watched TV? There are kid detectives, little old lady detectives, police detectives, doctor detectives, lawyer detectives, even dog detectives! And whenever somebody gets killed, they always find a way to get the bad guy, no matter what happens!”
“My parents never let me watch the shows where people get killed.”
“Neither do mine,” Patty admitted, “but that doesn’t stop me from sneaking out of bed and hiding to watch when they put those shows on. Anyway, the point is, if we wanna find Phillip, we’re gonna have to look ourselves! He’s not gonna just walk up to us and-”
“Patty! Will!”
The two kids turned in surprise to see Phillip running toward them from down the street, a twelve year old boy following close behind him.
“Phillip!” They cried, running up to hug him.
“Did you really get adopted?” Will asked.
“Yep!” Phillip said with a smile. “This is my new big brother, Arata!” He pointed to the twelve year old, who waved at the two friends. Phillip continued, “and the best part is, we-”
Arata quickly waved both hands, motioning for Phillip to stop.
“Uh… It’s that we… um… don’t have to go to school anymore!” Phillip corrected himself.
“That’s awesome!” Will said. “Wish I could have a family that did that.”
Patty’s eyebrows furrowed, and she put her hands on her hips. “What were you REALLY gonna say?”
“Uh… nothing...” Phillip shook his head. “Come on, do you wanna play some before the sun sets? I wanna have some fun before you have to go to bed.”
Patty wanted to argue more, and find out what was going on… but she also wanted to play with Phillip again after spending all day worrying about him, and in the end, that side won out. “Sure, let’s go.”