Hey there! First of all, happy GoShiru day! It's the fourth of May. Since this day has finally come, I decided to celebrate. With what? A fanfic, of course. It's based off of Japanese legends and folklore and stuff, but the storyline or plot is very much mine. So prepare for a lot of Japanese words. But don't worry, I put a list of them and their meanings below, so if you're befuddled, please look at it! That's all I have to say, happy reading!
Once upon a time, there was a man named Gold. He lived at the edge of a forest, at the foot of a secluded mountain. He was a hunter, one skilled at the sword. He lived alone, as his family was already gone. He hunts animals for a living. Boars, deer, and other forest animals. It's normal for him to do, although it's not exactly his favorite part of life. He still buys his rice in the city. He goes to the city every few months, to sell his hunted meat -at a specialty meat shop- and to buy several necessities, including rice. He spends the rest of his time at home.
Every day, he trains in the training hall in his house. He used to go to a dojo, but he doesn't go there anymore for obvious reasons. He put on his hakama over his yukata, picked up his shinai, and began practicing his swings. He kept on swinging until afternoon turned into evening.
The lack of people did not frustrate him, but it was inevitable for people who live in solitude to get lonely at some point.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling noise just outside of the room. Curious, he slid the shoji open a little and took a peek. He saw a red haired woman walking near the bushes surrounding his house. She was wearing a furisode kimono, with tabi and geta to match. Her hair was tied up neatly into a bun, and a kanzashi was fixed into her hair.
She stopped walking when she noticed that he was watching her. She turned to look, and when she saw the shinai still in his hand, her eyes widened and she froze. Then, something unexpected happened. A pair of fox ears emerged on her head and a tail appeared behind her back.
'A fox spirit...?' Gold thought.
She took a step back before transforming into a fox and running away.
"Wait!" Gold shouted on impulse. The fox stopped and looked at him.
"I... uh... would you like to, uh... come to my house for a bit? Have dinner or something."
The fox gave him a weird look.
"...I have aburaage," he added.
She perked up.
Minutes later, she was back in human disguise (although you could still see her ears and tail, probably due to her nervousness), sitting neatly in his dining room and waiting for Gold to come out of his kitchen. He came back with two steaming bowls of rice, a dish of meat and vegetable stir-fry, and a plate of aburaage tofu.
"Uh, I don't have any cushions, sorry that you have to sit on the tatami..."
She shook her head no as she eyed the plate in his hands. Gold set the dishes on the table, and decided to start introductions.
"Well, I'm Gold. What's your name?"
"...Silver," she said quietly. That was the first time Gold heard her speak. Her voice was soft and somewhat distant.
He took a moment to observe her. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were sharp, silver in color. She was probably one of the most beautiful women he's seen in years... not that he's seen that many.
"So... you're a fox spirit girl?" Gold asked. She nodded.
"You look like you're hungry. Let's eat now, shall we?" Gold handed her a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks.
""Let's eat.""
It's been a long while since the last time Gold said that.
Silver went through all that aburaage really quickly. In just a few minutes, she had cleared up the plate and finished the last few bites from her bowl.
"Thank you for the meal," she said as she set her utensils on the table. Gold swallowed the last bits of rice in his mouth.
"Hey..." he called out softly. She looked at him.
"Would you mind coming here again tomorrow? I live alone, so..."
"...do you have any dogs?"
"Huh? No."
"Then I don't mind."
"...thanks,"
"I'll take my leave now," she said as she stood up.
"I'll be waiting for you!" Gold exclaimed as she walked out of the room. She shut the shoji.
Gold has never felt as much anticipation as this before in his entire life.
The next day, and the day after that, and the days to come, she visited him in the evening. They would have dinner together, talk for a bit (though Gold would do most of the talking, Silver was more of the listen-and-answer type), before Silver would leave and come back the next night.
And for once, Gold didn't feel so lonely.
As they spent time together, Gold learnt many things about her. No, not where she came from or who is she or any sort of that information, for she didn't talk much and Gold wasn't one to pry into other people's business, but the little quirks and habits that she showed whenever she came by. How her eyes would sparkle at the sight of her favorite food, how her real ears and tail would appear when she felt strong emotions, how she would finger the shidare on her kanzashi when she's nervous. He grew to love those little things about her.
And soon, he grew to love her.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes?"
"...can you please stay at my house, for just one night?" There. He finally said it. He wanted this-no, he needed this.
She gave him a look. One that he couldn't decipher what it means.
"If I stay here," she began, "the time I have left to spend here will run out much more quickly that it would if I simply visit you, and I will have to leave you the next day. Is that fine with you?"
Gold gulped. The consequences were quite heavy indeed, but her time here will inevitably run out anyway. He needed to tell her.
"I don't care," he said. "Just... please."
She sighed.
"...if you insist." She stood up. "I'll come again tomorrow."
She left.
Gold had to tell her, or he'll waste his chance. He loved her. He loves her.
The next night came as it always did, and Silver came like she would every other time. They had dinner as usual. Nothing changed.
'But,' Gold thought, 'it will soon.'
The finished their meal, and a long silence commenced.
"Hey," Gold called out. "I want to tell you something."
She looked at him, signaling for him to continue. He got up, and kneeled in front of her. He held her wrists gently, and looked into her eyes. Her beautiful eyes.
"I love you," he whispered.
And he kissed her lips.
To his surprise, she kissed back, ever so slightly.
They broke apart too soon for his liking. He let go of her wrists, and looked at her. She simply leaned into his shoulder, burying her face into the crook of his neck. He could see her ears and tail. Her heart was beating fast. And so was his.
They stayed like that until late night, before going to sleep wordlessly.
The next morning, he found the futon next to him empty, the blanket folded neatly.
He knew it would happen. But he still feels empty.
He saw her kanzashi lying on her pillow, with a note next to it. He took it in his hand and read the note that she left him.
'Thank you for the stay. I really enjoyed it.'
He caressed the shidare one by one, just like she used to.
A single tear fell onto her pillow.
"Hey, where's your kanzashi?"
"...I lost it somewhere."
"Huh. Oh well, we'd best get going now."
"Right."
One of them looked down at a certain house.
"I'll miss you."
That night, two foxes, one with brown fur and the other with red, ran through the forest trees and disappeared.
.
.
.
He never forgot about her. Not even once.
He misses her.
He shook his head. He's in the middle of training, he should focus. He set his eyes on his shinai, and swung with more force in his swings.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound from outside. Wiping his forehead with a towel, he slid the shoji open a little and took a peek. A red haired woman was walking near the bushes surrounding his house. She was wearing a furisode kimono, with tabi and geta to match. Her hair was tied up neatly into a bun. But something was missing about her.
She looked so familiar to him.
Without a second thought, he dropped his shinai and ran over to her, enveloping her in an embrace.
"I missed you," he said.
She sunk her head into his shoulder.
"I missed you, too."
He let go and looked at her. She hasn't aged a day. He peered into the same pair of eyes from years ago. Nothing changed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out her kanzashi, then fixed it into her hair.
"It looks better on you than in my pocket."
She smiled at him, a charming smile.
"Can I ask just one more thing of you?"
"Yes?"
"Will you marry me?"
"Yes."
They were never to be separated ever again.
Vocabulary:
Dojo: a special training place/school to learn martial arts. This time, it's a dojo for sword users. Usually, a sword dojo is owned by a family (or group) of swordsmen who have their own style of swordsmanship called 'ryuu', ex. Tendoumushin-ryuu or the like.
Hakama: a Japanese garment that are worn over yukata. It resembles a pair of pleated trousers.
Yukata: a Japanese garment. It is a long robe made of cotton or other light clothing material and is worn in many occasions or at home. It is lighter and less formal than a kimono.
Shinai: a bamboo sword used for sword training (or kendo) and/or sparring in dojos.
Shoji: a traditional Japanese sliding door with a wooden frame and covered with a layer of paper.
Kimono: A Japanese garment. It is a long robe, usually made of silk or similar material. It is often worn in formal events such as big dinners and weddings, but can also be worn at home. Quite formal, and is heavier than yukata. The furisode kimono is a kimono worn by young women at the age of twenty and above who are still unmarried. The sleeves are long and almost touch the floor. That's where it gets its name, furisode means 'billowing sleeve'.
Tabi: a Japanese garment, parted socks worn with traditional footwear such as geta or zori sandals.
Geta: Japanese wooden sandals.
Kanzashi: a traditional Japanese hair accessory, has different shapes such as combs and hairpins, but the particular type of kanzashi used in this story is a bira-bira kanzashi with shidare, strings of fabric flowers hanging from it, also known as shidare kanzashi. The bira-bira kanzashi is a hairpin with an ornament on it and little aluminium strips hanging at the end that makes little tinkling sounds. As I have stated above, it can be accentuated with shidare.
Tatami: a Japanese straw mat that cover the floor, often entirely.
Futon: a Japanese bed. It is flat, and can be folded to store in closets. They are laid on the floor when people want to sleep in them and are folded the next day.
Aburaage: thinly fried tofu. Foxes are said to especially like them in Japanese folklore.
Most of these are my own definitions, so if I got something wrong, I deeply apologize.
Okay! So many line breaks. I hope you guys enjoyed this all. I sure enjoyed writing it. By the way, the image on the cover is mine, I just took it from my pixiv account. For the people who found that account, no, I didn't steal the image and yes, that pixiv account is really mine. So I'm not stealing anything, 'kay? If you have time, or just simply want to leave a thought, then please review! i'll be please to see what you think of this fic. Though I don' think very many people would read this... yes i'm pessimistic. Well, that's it, really hope you enjoyed!
Chris out!