The sisters, with the parasol in tow, reach the hotel around one o'clock.
"Why don't you meet us in the rooms, Mameki?" Mimi says, tiredly, the day having taken quite a toll on her.
"Mameki take bags?"
Shaking her head, Mimi peeks out the window at the hotel's proprietor, who is looking through the window at the carriage with amazement. Others, along the streets, were doing the same. Mimi smiles; it would appear the hotel proprietor would have plenty of business after she left.
"Just meet us in the rooms; we will be fine," sweeping her tails under her long skirts, Mimi gestures for Chen to do the same.
"Just don't let them see your tails," Mimi pushes Chen's hair back out of her face, "stop worrying. I will do all the talking and hide your shadow. It will be okay."
"I've never been around humans before," Chen confesses, looking over her shoulder at the proprietor.
"Just stay behind me," Mimi is a little surprised when Chen leans over and nuzzles her nose against hers in solidarity.
She had not been around other fox spirits in a long time, Mimi reasons to herself. Picking up Dumplin, Mimi opens the carriage door and helps Chen get down.
"Ladies Shen," the old proprietor bows to them, "please, please, come in. My wife and daughters have lunch and tea prepared."
"It is a pleasure." Mimi bows and Chen follows suit before nervously standing behind her sister.
"How is your wife feeling?" Mimi asks as the proprietor holds the door for her and her sister.
"Much better. Is even giving strict directions to our daughters from her cot in the kitchen," he laughs.
"I am glad. I had heard she was not doing so well from the fortune teller in town," Mimi bows her head as she sees the man's wife and three young daughters, also standing to meet them.
Two of the daughters were around Chen's age, and the youngest seemed right around Dumplin's age. She had planned this well.
"This is my family," the proprietor proudly introduces.
The introductions are quick, for the women had to return to the kitchen. And the proprietor seems to realize something.
He slaps his head, "May I get your bags?"
Shaking her head politely, Mimi says, "We traveled very lightly. I have a carrier with some luggage coming in the next few days."
The proprietor nods sagely, "It is not wise to travel with a lot of baggage."
"Would you mind if we ate in our rooms today?" Mimi asks politely, "It was such a long trip, and I fear I may collapse upon your fine dining room table."
"Yes, yes, of course! Such a long trip. You had to collect your sisters from relatives?" the proprietor leads them up the stairs to the rooms Mimi had requested.
"Yes. My sisters and I are traveling together while our ancestral home is being remodeled," Mimi smiles and enters the room, Chen following close behind.
"Lunch should arrive in an hour," the proprietor bows once more, "Let me know if you need anything."
"I will do that, thank you!"
The proprietor closes the door, and the three sisters breathe a sigh of relief.
"Why are humans so talkative?" Chen sits down on a chair, fidgeting with a bowl of fruit on the table.
"I would get in the habit of calling them people," Mimi suggests, "There are more of them than there are of us. Referring to them as humans often will get you odd looks."
Chen makes a raspberry sound with her lips.
"I think it would be a good idea if you get used to interacting with humans. I know it will be difficult, but I will help you. Maybe it would be a good idea to play with the proprietor's children. You seem close in age."
Mimi looks down worryingly at Dumplin, who still slept in her arms.
"Does she always sleep so soundly and so often?"
Mimi goes into one of their interconnected rooms and sets Dumplin on the bed. Tucking a light blanket over her. She makes sure not to close the door to ensure Dumplin knew precisely where they were at when she awoke.
"She didn't sleep very much at night. She would usually find a cabinet or a cupboard to hole up in during the day," Chen looks toward her little sister.
"We'll have to work on that," Mimi mutters as she opens a cabinet and out pops Mameki.
Biting down the surprised shriek, Mimi shuts the cabinet on the parasol, "Do not do that. I might accidentally singe you next time if my nerves are up."
Once Mimi steps away from the cabinet, Mameki hops out and begins looking around, "Mameki like. No dust. No ghosts. Just cubs."
Once again, Mimi raises her eyebrow at her being included in the "cubs" category but does not say anything. Mameki is clutching the package Shun had thrown at them as they left.
"What is that?" Mimi asks as Chen jumps out of her seat to take the package from Mameki.
Chen puts it on the table and unwraps it; her eyes were teary as she looks at the small selection of toys.
"Looks like he found everything that was ours," Chen strokes a particularly battered-looking toy turnip that Mimi suspects was real at one point.
Shocked, Mimi stares at the small pile and then at Chen, "You are telling me that this is everything you have in the world? You did not have any other clothing? Or books?"
Blushing a little, Chen confesses, "Well, half of this is Dumplin's."
Mimi takes a deep, calming breath, "These are all your things combined?"
"Mameki taught me to read and write!" Chen smiles at a beaming Mameki, while Mimi continues to stare in horror at the little pile.
"We are going shopping tomorrow," Mimi feels like she is going to pass out from anger, not feeling guilty at all about blowing up and or threatening her mother at all.
"Well, don't be mad at me," Chen whines, and Mimi tries to cool down; she crouches down to Chen's level, "Hey, I am not mad at you. I am mad at your so-called parents."
Before she can move, Chen does the nose nuzzle thing again, leaving Mimi a little speechless until there is a knock at the door. Chen stares at it, terrified.
"You are fine," Mimi ruffles her hair, "You don't have to be here for this if you don't want to."
The words barely left her mouth before Chen bolts, hiding in Dumplin's room.
"Okay, baby steps," Mimi mutters to herself before going to open the door.
She looks back only to realize Mameki is still standing in the middle of the room. Waving at her obtrusively.
Mimi makes a wiping gesture with her hand, and Mameki is dragged into Dumplin's room.
"Thank you so much for bringing these up. I apologize for the trouble," Mimi keeps her eye on the bedroom, "My sisters immediately fell asleep after our long trip."
The two girls smile politely and set the large dishes of food down on the tables. There were six dishes in total.
"May I ask your names, please?" Mimi asks politely.
The older girl took charge, "My name is Rieko, and this is my sister Lily."
Mimi bows, "Thank you, Rieko and Lily, for bringing our food up."
She gives them five gold pieces each and lets them leave. Their eyes shining. As soon as the door closes, Chen reappears almost immediately, her mouth practically salivating.
"Go wash your hands and face," Mimi instructs, and to her surprise, Chen does it.
Mimi goes into the other room and sits down on the bed next to Dumplin, "Dumplin, would you like some food? We have lunch ready."
Mimi begins to wonder if she should have just put a drumstick underneath her sister's nose when Dumplin slowly stirs and sits up.
"I feel funny," Dumplin complains, holding her head.
"Probably because you haven't eaten," Mimi picks her up and sets her on the floor, giving her a playful swat; Mimi says, "Go wash your face and hands, and then you can eat."
Still a little groggy, Dumplin wanders off to where she could see Chen scrubbing her face. Mimi catches sight of Mameki sneakily lifting one of the metal food tureens. She waves a hand, and the lid folds back down, nearly crushing Mameki's fingers.
"Spirits don't need to eat," Mimi scolds playfully, slightly amused at the parasol's betrayed look.
"We eat as a family," Mimi declares, going to the cupboard and pulling out enough plates for the four of them.
She hands Mameki a plate and begins lifting the lids of steaming dishes. There were steamed vegetables, rice, beef and broccoli, chicken wings. Mimi's stomach grumbled, but she steadfastly filled all four plates before sitting down.
"I have to run a quick errand when we are finished," Mimi sighs, "Do you think you can watch Chen and Dumplin while I am gone?"
Mameki crosses his arms, "Of course Mameki can watch cubs! Feed good like this Mameki watch anything! But cubs safe!"
Mimi smiles and washes her own hands and face in a basin by the sink. Finally, they all sat down and began to eat. Mimi glares at Mameki until he stops shoveling food into his mouth and picks up a pair of chopsticks.
"Before I leave, however, Chen, I think you should learn something about protective barriers."
Chen looks up with a noodle hanging from her lips, "You're going to teach me?"
"Why are you leaving?" Mimi looks to her right at Dumplin, who has begun trembling.
"I only want to do a quick errand. Then I am going to put protective barriers around the hotel," Mimi pats Dumplin's hair and accidentally zaps herself with static electricity.
Staring at Dumplin's hair with slight distrust, Mimi continues, "Mameki is going to be with you, and I won't be gone long. A couple hours at most."
Mimi then turns to Chen, "I did say I would teach you, didn't I?"