"The Fox of Shinoda"
By: Ruemaja
Disclaimer: SMT: Devil Summoner III and The Fox of Shinoda Legend doesn't belong to me. They belong to very talented people who are better than me. Please be warned that this is a yaoi fic. A NaruRai fic. It may contain spoilers for the game.
"Koishiku ba,
Tazunekite miyo.
Izumi naru
Shinoda no mori no
Urami Kuzu no Ha."
-Kuzunoha, The Fox of Shinoda-
"What are you waiting for, kid?"
The boy in the yukata looked up at the soldier when he felt the rain had stopped falling on his head. He did not smile nor did he answer but just looked as the rain poured down. The soldier had been walking back to where his comrades were staying when he saw the little boy standing in the rain, soaking wet and barefooted. The soldier stopped by and put an umbrella over the boy and himself.
It was a strange weather. The sun was shining and yet the rain was pouring. He'd been out on an errand with a small parcel in his arm. They might be important papers for the Major General Munakata. Afraid it may get wet, he brought an umbrella. On his way back, he saw the boy standing in front of the entrance to the great wood that made up a whole mountain.
"You'll catch a cold out here standing, boy." The soldier chided gently. "You should head back home."
The boy looked forward again, ignoring the soldier. The soldier sighed, heavily, scratching the back of his head. But he couldn't leave the boy in the rain. He wondered if he'll be able to sneak the boy in with him to the camp, at least until he finds out where he's from and take him back. He sighed again and looked down at his silent companion.
The boy was probably 7 years old or younger with the palest white skin he had ever seen. It did not look unhealthy like the others he had seen though nor artificial like cosmetics. It was just how it was. Short raven-black hair that was sticking to his forehead drops of water cascading down his pale face.
He could pass for a girl. He thought to himself, amused. Or maybe it's because he's not a girl, that's why he's bewitchingly beautiful...
Like a fox. He thought to himself. Foxes that took the shape of human beings to either punish or reward those human around them. The foxes of legend were not always awful beings. Some were sons and daughters, lovers and friends, husbands and wives of Man. They were not all malicious.
Like the Lady Kuzu no Ha. The mother of the great onmyouji, Abe no Seimei.
How fitting. He thought again. For him to think of the Lady Kuzu no Ha in such a place. They were standing in Shinoda after all, where the lady fox was said to have returned after her son had found out she was a fox. He smiled as the rain gently fell, his hand steadily holding the umbrella over their heads, to keep from getting wet.
They stayed there in the silence of each others company. The soldier knew he should be getting back but the boy... he looked down to see the boy looking up at him with an unreadable expression on his face. He smiled, amused and put his finger on the tip of the boy's nose.
Maybe the boy is a fox too. He thought to himself, smiling. A small frown on the boy's face as he looked up to the soldier with his odd gray-blue eyes, unnatural for a Japanese boy but still...
"You are so funny, looking like that, little fox." The soldier remarked, cheerfully. There was surprise in the boy's face though it only flashed for a moment before it disappeared. The soldier then removed his hand continuing to smile cheerfully. "Now, what are you waiting for here in the rain?"
The boy looked down at his feet for a moment. The rain was starting to let up. And then he tugged at the soldier's uniform. The soldier bent over, close enough that their face were inches apart. He thought the boy was going to whisper to him. Then the boy, unexpectedly smiled, very gently and happily and whispered very gently.
"I was waiting for you."
He tip-toed and gave him a small kiss on the cheek then ran off, disappearing into the woods, leaving the soldier dumb-founded. The soldier wanted to call out to him but he knew he would not be able to catch him. For the boy was a fox. There could be no denying that. The fox would come and go whenever it pleases them. And the boy...
He would meet the boy again. He knew that for a fact though he hadn't known how he knew or why.
Closing the umbrella, he took one last glance at the woods where the boy had disappeared to and started his way back to where he was supposed to go.
From the woods the boy watched, smiling as he opened his mouth and sang:
"If you love me, Darling, come and see,
In yonder great wood shall you find me,
In Shinoda of the land of Izumi,
Where arrowroot leaves rustle and dance pensively."
END
End Notes:
I found out about the Kuzunoha legend from wikipedia. I didn't translate the poem. It was already translated by Folklorist Kiyoshi Nozaki. I just altered his translation a little but i think I got the gist of it.