Merry Christmas everybody and happy early new years to those who don't care!
I'm really sorry I haven't been able to post for- what, almost two months now? Honestly my entire life since like a week before thanksgiving has been a bunch of incoherent screaming as stress and school caved in around me.
It kinda got to the point to where I had to prioritize what I was going to do within a day and writing always was dead last on my list unless it was for school. And fanfiction aint school work. So hopefully I can get ahead on some chapters during the week or so I have off and hopefully I will get a better handle on life so I can juggle school, writing, and more than likely a legit job next year.
There's my resolution for 2019.
Keep to a heckin' schedule.
Liz- We'll find out about that particular grave possibly soon? Hmmm… no, it's a little ways off still. I'd love to say more but that's spoiler territory if ive ever seen it.
SubjectOmega12- big things be happenin my dude. Real soon, too…. Prep yourself.
ALSO! So there's this phone app called Amino that I'd like to shout out right now. They've got a small community for Kaijudo on it and there are occasional posts about ideas and creatures and a legit ongoing RP that I think is set a generation or two in the future (I don't know I'm not part of it but I like reading the summaries when I can). Just thought I'd mention it if any of you don't know about it.
K- now onto the story!
Ray
Most of the flight to Japan was spent either sleeping, drawing, or catching up on school work. It was only when I got off the plane that I realized I was cutting some things real close.
"Hey, Allie. Sorry I couldn't call you beforehand." I paused for a moment to shift my phone to my other hand and grab my bag off the carousel. "We spent the entire night packing then left this morning. We just landed."
"Yeah, yeah." Allie sighed. "I kinda figured. Hey, Lucy and Gabe are here. We've got a group project in Chemistry due next week and we're trying to get ahead."
"Oh, hey guys!" I called out and heard a muttered 'hey' and 'what's up' in the background. "So the service is tomorrow, then the funeral's the next day. Dad and grandpa will be staying for the rest of the week but I'll be heading home in four days. Can't miss that much school."
"So do you think you'll make the party?" I heard Lucy ask.
"Yeah. There's no way I'm missing Allie's sweet sixteen! I wanna be the third person in the car your dad's gonna get you!"
"He's not getting me a car, Ray." Allie chuckled. "What time are you supposed to get in? We can come pick you up if your mom's busy."
I'll be back around six p.m. and I won't need a ride. What time is everything starting?"
"Seven. You'd definitely make it if you just use the ley lines."
"And get library dusting duty for the rest of my life? No thanks." I laughed. "I've got a ride. I'll be a little late though. I'll be there around seven-thirty or eight. Gotta head home first and settle Okami down. Mom's been blowing up my phone with pictures of her howling at the door for us to come back."
"Okay," I could hear Allie snicker as I moved the phone away from my face to look for my Father. "Well we might push the party back a little. Not just for you, but because my dad's going on and on about some surprise that should be arriving any day now. He says we can't have the party without it."
"Weird, but exciting." I weaved through the crowd and followed my father as best I could as he spoke with my grandfather. "So, we're about to head out. I'll talk to you guys later."
"Kay' see ya!" Allie replied. Once my phone was in my pocket, I was easily able to better get hold of my bags and catch up to my family.
"Ray, you are expected to attend the Wake but you won't be needed at the Funeral itself. Maybe you can wander around. Mt. Fuji isn't too far from where we will be staying. It's quite an amazing place." Ojisan smiled.
"Sounds cool." I looked up at my father for permission. He nodded and I could barely keep the smile from my face.
After a quick stop at the main counter, we headed off to find a train that would take us close to our hotel. We wouldn't be staying with family this time as Grandpa's friend lived a few hours away from them. It was late by the time we checked in, so we quickly found some food and turned in for the night.
I made sure to get up bright and early the next morning and do some research. My original plan was to give Allie a small painting of Squeaky, and maybe even of Hakura too, but now I had lots of options that weren't as time consuming. I began searching up stories that were close to us and found all kinds of specialty stores. I'll definitely have plenty to do while my grandpa and dad are at the funeral.
After a short breakfast, we got dressed for the traditional service and headed out. Since I only knew enough Japanese to have simple conversations and didn't know anyone else at the Wake, I kept close to my dad and stayed mostly silent. It seemed as if the service would last forever. At some point I fell asleep while we were doing a prayer, which really upset one of the older men but my dad blamed it on jetlag so the guy begrudgingly stepped back. I felt terrible and did my best to keep my mind busy.
So I began to think about Mai and the Guard. The masters, excluding Nadia of course, decided that they couldn't just kick the Guard out because of the rebellions and the Choten being once again on the loose. Mai still wants me to keep my training a secret, but now that everyone knows who Mai is, it's going to be a lot harder to sneak around.
I was also concerned about Master Nadia. Apparently there's some old rule that says after a certain point, guard members cant become a master, but none of the guard members will say where she was in her training before everything went up in smoke. Their secrecy isn't exactly a good thing though, as everyone now believes Nadia was past that point and now just wants to keep her position.
I'm not so sure that's true though. Sure, she's keeping to herself, but then again all the older duelists are. They just found out that a massive number of people, many of which they probably knew, died in a really morbid way. Fighting their own friends to the death in order to defend the rest of the order.
I couldn't hold in a sigh as I remembered how the last guard members knelt before those grave stones. All those old wounds bursting open once again and instead of getting support, they were getting scrutinized.
After some time, we headed out into a small garden. I busied myself with watching the koi fish in a small pond while everyone chatted amongst themselves. They were all white with orange splatters. I remember reading somewhere that each pattern of fish has a specific name, so I tried to identify as many repeating patterns as possible.
As I knelt there by the water, I looked out farther on the pond and noticed a shadow on the water. Looking at the opposite shore, I took in a breath.
A white fox with pitch black eyes and markings on its face was staring back at me. The markings reminded me of a mixture between Allie's and Kura's but were much more numerous and intricate. I blinked at it in shock as it cocked its head to one side.
My mind immediately began to race with indecision. Is that a Kaiju? Well duh, no normal animal can look like that. But what's it doing here? Why isn't anyone else freaking out about it? Does it live here? Should I say something to dad?
Finally, I decided to look back and see how close my dad was to me and if I could somehow silently warn him about the creature. I couldn't see him through the crowd of people and shrubbery. I had to do this myself.
Looking back, though, dread filled my stomach as I saw the creature was gone. Standing up quickly, I speed walked to the other side of the pond and looked about.
Nothing.
Of course this was going to be difficult. Deciding that three sets of eyes were better than just two, I made my way back to my father and grandpa.
"Dad, can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked carefully, knowing full well I was interrupting a conversation.
The man my father was speaking to was unfortunately the man I had angered earlier, and he scowled down at me with an intensity I wasn't ready for.
"One moment, Raiden." My father turned back to the man and began speaking again. Ojisan was standing next to him, and he motioned for me to step away with him.
I quickly followed and told him what I saw.
"Facinating…" Grandpa murmured. I raised an eyebrow at him. "You must have not seen. This place is called the Snow Fox's garden. The sign at the entrance says that a white fox spirit lives here, and that those who see it are blessed with good luck, unless it has nine tails. How many tails did it have?"
I was about to answer 'one' but then I realized I was too distracted by its markings to have noticed how many tails it had. "I don't know. I didn't notice, but it's probably a kaiju. Shouldn't we handle it?"
"Hmmm." Ojisan hummed into his fist. "I believe that is a question for your father."
We looked back and finally saw he was approaching us.
"Raiden, it is disrespectful to-" Grandpa put up a hand to interrupt dad's lecture.
I quickly told him about what I saw and he thought for a moment. "I've not heard of a creature living in these parts, so the temple must not know about it. Some creatures are harmless enough that they are allowed to stay on this side of the veil, but if this fox is a trouble maker, it'd be best to deal with this quickly and quietly."
"So, what do we do?" I asked.
"For now, nothing." My father sighed. "We shall contact the temple when we return to the hotel and then go from there."
And that's exactly what we did. I managed to sneak away from the group and searched the entire garden but never saw the fox again. When we got back to the hotel, dad called the temple and Jaha answered.
"I see. I shall ask Nadia to go through the files and see if this creature has been documented before or not. If not, I'm afraid we don't have any specalists in the area so I shall head there myself."
"Jaha, we can handle this." My father tried to reassure her, but she was adamant."
"Don't even bother. I have a guess at who this creature is and I would like to see it with my own eyes. I shall call you when I find out more."
And with that, she hung up. My dad, grandpa, and I exchanged worried glances. About an hour later, we received another call. "The creature is not registered in our database. I shall come through the ley lines tomorrow."
"Oh fun."
I turned in early that night in order to wake up extra early. I needed some extra time to mentally prepare myself for a creature hunting trip with Jaha. Some stores were open at this time so I decided to try and get Allie's gift before time became an issue.
My first stop was a small hundred yen store, and wow was that a mistake. I was lost in all of the cheap items for an entire hour. My first amazing find was hundred yen art supplies, and they actually seemed like they were a decent quality. Second was a ton of cutesy plush toys. There was so many things that I ended up deciding to give Allie two gifts; a bag of cheap nick-knack stuff and one legit gift.
My next stop was a high end art store. I had to set a timer for myself. One hour and then I would force myself to leave. While searching through the isles, an idea began to form. I began collecting some supplies that I had no interest in, but knew a girl who would very much appreciate the brands. I ended up spending quite a bit of money at the art store and had to actually create a legitimate idea for Allie. Something specific that she might enjoy for a while, and not just a bunch of Japanese snacks and nick-knacks.
And I couldn't think of anything.
Right before I began tearing my hair out from frustration, I got a text.
[Jaha's at the train station. Go meet her and help her find the creature.] – Dad
I shot back a quick 'ok' and let out a big sigh before heading down to find the duel master.
It didn't take too long to find her. Her gothic attire made her look like a flashing beacon in the crowd of regularly dressed Japanese people. She smiled when she saw me.
"Ah, Raiden, just finished up some shopping?" She asked.
Once I reached her, I dropped my backpack and shoved the small plastic bags in it. "Yeah. They've got some great art stores around here."
"Well now let's focus on the creature. Where did you see it again?"
It didn't take us long to reach the White fox's garden again. Now that I knew something was strange here, I took the time to take a picture of the sign so I could translate it for myself later. I could read most of it, but some kanji were foreign to me.
"So, this is where it was?" She pointed to the other end of the koi pond.
"Yeah. It was just watching me. I looked away to find my dad and when I looked back, it was gone." I scratched the back of my neck.
"Ah, so you've seen the white fox?" A voice startled me. Jaha and I turned and a short old man was grinning at us.
"Hello, do you know about the fox?" Jaha asked casually. "My grandson says he saw a white fix here yesterday, but this garden is in the middle of a city. I find it a little hard to believe."
"Oh yes, the fox is a yokai!" The man bobbed his head and motioned for us to follow. He led us to another pond near the back of the garden and motioned to a fox statue behind it. "It protects the garden and gives its blessing to those who are smart enough to see it."
"Smart enough to see it?" I gave him a confused look. "What does that mean?"
"I'm not quite sure myself." The man laughed. "Some say they don't see the fox, but they feel its presence. Despite its white fur, there are some who claim to feel a cold shadow on their back when they enter, as if their back was in the shade of a tree. Those who see the fox are often young students or scholars, but mainly children see the fox."
I cast Jaha a glance, and though her face was focused, there was a glimmer in her eyes that I have learned to be wary of.
"Does the fox live in the garden all the time?" She asked.
"There is an old legend that the fox visits its siblings on Mt. Fuji every once in a while, but the fox is only ever seen in the garden."
We thanked the man and continued searching through the garden.
"It blesses those who are smart enough to see it?" I echoed the man. "and people feel a shadow at their back… I don't remember feeling like that, but I could see it."
"This is definitely a strange creature." Jaha hummed. What were you doing when it approached you?"
"I was watching the koi." We approached a bridge that crossed over a small stream that divided the garden's far back. We climbed it and I paused at the top and looked over the edge. There were more koi, but these had black and silver scales as well as red and orange. "I wasn't even really thinking of anything. I was just bored, counting the fish, trying to pass the time…"
As I spoke, there was a sudden chill on my shoulders. Without a second thought, I whipped around.
And there it was. Sitting on the far wall, the white fox was watching me carefully. I had startled Jaha, and out of the corner of my eye, I could tell she had turned to look with me.
"What is it? What do you see?" She asked.
"It's the fox! On the wall!" I replied, unwilling to take my eyes off the creature. Barely allowing myself to blink in order to not lose track of the creature again.
"What does it look like? Give me every detail."
"White, about the size of a regular fox, but it's muzzle is longer and ears a little bigger than normal. It's eyes are completely black, like freaky black, and its got black markings all over its face." I described it as the fox began to sand.
"How many tails does it have?"
"One."
"It can't be…" She trailed off in shock.
The fox stretched like a cat, allowing its unnaturally long tail to stretch fully out behind it. It shook its body visciously before giving me one last look, then jumping down to the street behind the wall.
"Crap, it's running!" I ran off the bridge and completely ignored Jaha's cries for me to stop. When I reached the wall, which was easily twice my height, I managed to take a good jump, run two steps up the wall, then fling my hands over the top ledge.
I'm really going to have to thank Mai for all that arm training. I thought as I pulled myself up and over the wall.
Allie
Not long after Ray hung up, I got a text from my dad.
"Hey, dad says the gift got here early. He's bringing it home now and wants me to be ready for the surprise." I said to Lucy and Gabe.
"Cool! I swear if it's a car though…" Lucy playfully warned.
"It's not going to be a car guys!" I mocked annoyance as I helped Gabe clean up our research. We had been working for almost four hours straight and still weren't any closer to finding out how to balance certain chemistry equations that had missing elements.
"I don't get the try it yourself then I'll teach you approach." Lucy shoved her binder in her bag before standing and stretching. "If I learn it the wrong way, I'm just going to keep doing it the wrong way out of habit."
"Gabe, did Nadia ever answer you beyond 'do your own homework'?" I asked.
He checked his phone and sighed. "Nope. She's leaving me on read."
"Did you explain that we've got a trash teacher and she's the only other chemistry nerd we know?" I tossed my bag on the couch and headed to the kitchen for a soda. "You guys want another drink before you go?"
"Yes, I did, and no thanks." Gabe replied.
"I'll just refill my water bottle." Lucy followed me and waited as I grabbed a drink from the fridge. Once I closed it, she used the dispenser on the door.
"Did your dad say how far away he was from home? I kinda want to see what he got you." Gabe stood after packing his own bag and resting it by the door and joining us at the main counter.
"Nope. I'll ask him." I pulled out my phone and sent him another message. "You know, Gabe's like the smartest fifteen year old on the face of the planet. I feel like Nadia should realize that Gabe not understanding something is an unusual event and cut us some slack."
"She's kind of a sink or swim teacher too." Gabe sighed again. "Remember Switch Scale? I was dueling with him for months!"
"True." I cracked open my soda just as Hakura made his way down the steps.
"It's late, Allison." He looked up at us. "Working on a problem for that long is stressful, and you have school tomorrow. You all must get some rest."
"Gee, thanks dad." Lucy rolled her eyes.
Hakura cocked his head to one side in confusion. I snickered and opened my mouth to explain the joke when his head snapped towards the door.
Ears up, golden eyes wide, muscles taunt, and tail completely still. Memories of the break in flooded my mind and I carefully turned to look at the door just as the lock turned. Gabe and Lucy were also frozen with uncertainty and worry.
The door opened quickly as my Dad shouldered it open, carrying a heavy backpack in behind him.
"Allie?" He called out, then turned to us. "Oh, there you are! Come here, come here!"
I gave Hakura a quick glance, and saw he was now slowly buckling to the floor and creeping behind the counter. Carefully, I walked towards the door. Gabe and Lucy curiously followed.
"Hello, Allie." I dropped my soda in shock.
There, in the doorway, was Piper.
"Happy birthday, sweetie!" My father cried as she crossed the threshold and gathered me into a hug.
"We've got so much to talk about." She gave me a tight squeeze before greeting my friends. I couldn't register what she was saying. Glancing back at Hakura, he had his eyes locked on her as well.
Dad called out to mom. I think he's telling her about our new security system. So he told her about the break in.
Gabe and Lucy come to my side and ask if I'm alright.
I can't answer.
Gabe's phone beeps.
"Oh, Nadia says she'll help us tomorrow afternoon.
"Great." I finally manage to squeeze a word out of my throat. "That's. Just. Great.