Once upon a time in the Edo Period, there was a tanuki. He lived with his vast family, who were all Tanukis like him and lived in an abandoned hut in the deep forest. His name is Hisoki. He and his family spend their days having fun, like eating, playing, dancing, sleeping and pulling pranks on humans who wander in their territory. While his family was having fun, Hisoki grew bored with living the same lifestyle and wanted something new.
At night, the Tanuki Family were having dinner. For starters, they have a large platter of chicken gyozas, miso soups, and sushi. For the main course, it was an enormous bowl of udon with fishcakes, shrimp and seaweed and ten huge grilled salmon fish on rice. There were many jumbo-sized mochi cakes for dessert soon.
Hisoki asked his mother.
"Mom?"
"What is it, my little dumpling?" Said Hisoki's Mother who was slurping down Udon Noodles and munching crunchy shrimp.
"Why couldn't we explore the outside world?"
Hearing "the Outside World" causes them to spit out in shock.
"The outside world you mean?" Sputtered Hisoki's father.
Hisoki nodded. Their eyes widen and jaws drop on the table.
Hisoki's grandfather slammed the table and suddenly yelled at his youngest grandson. "But no Tanuki had ever gone to the outside world before! From what I learned, there are many hunters in the outside world who tried to hunt down Tanukis like us!"
It is true the Tanuki family had never gone to the outside world for many years after the father of Hisoki's mother left the forest and entered the outside world, but he never returned.
"But I'm tired of living the same lifestyle repeatedly! I wanted something new and I think the outside world had many things to do that aren't eating, playing and sleeping!" Hisoki talks back to his grandfather. Despite being the most quiet and shy member of the family, Hisoki is no pushover and knows how to speak his mind.
"But the Outside world is very dangerous!" cried Hisoki's mother with an anxious look on her face. "Before I met your father, my father once went to the outside world and went missing! I heard some rumours that a human killed him!"
"You don't want to end up like your other missing grandfather, do you?" warned Hisoki's uncle, glaring at his youngest nephew.
Hisoki couldn't speak and looked at an empty old chair kept in the corner. It belongs to his missing maternal grandfather.
There was silence for a moment until Hisoki stood up from the table.
"I'm not hungry," he said, leaving the table and going to his room.
At night, the whole family was sleeping. Except Hisoki, who had already finished packing his bags and had written a goodbye note to his family. Grabbing his bag and note, he left the room and tiptoed downstairs, trying to be as silent as a mouse. Reaching the dining room, He put the note on the table. He was about to open the door, but he thought for a moment. Did I do the right thing? Hisoki thought to himself. He thought for a moment and quickly decided. He quietly opens the door and walks out of the hut.
He put the bag in his mouth and transformed himself into a bird. He flew out from the forest and went to the outside world…
The sun rises as Hisoki flies over the mountains, hills, and the Paddy fields. He felt a pleasant breeze in his face as he flew. When he left the forest, he felt free and enlightened. He finally went to the outside world and was ready to explore and find many things. It was a beautiful morning…
… until an arrow shoots him in the arm and he falls down.
THUD!
He lost consciousness.
Later, Hisoki woke up to find darkness everywhere. He got scared. Did he die from being shot by an arrow? Is this the afterlife?
Hisoki had regrets about leaving his family behind.
Perhaps this is my punishment for abandoning my family, he thought to himself sadly. The outside world is dangerous, after all.
Suddenly, there was a light. Hisoki climbs himself to the light and climbs out of the sack. He was in the kitchen. Hisoki checked his arm. The arrow had come off, but his arm was bleeding. Hisoki finds the bandages on the other kitchen table near him. He crawled out of the kitchen table and went to the other kitchen table that had bandages on it. He climbed up to the table and was about to reach for the bandages. Suddenly, the door slammed open. It gave him such a shock that he knocked over the table and bandages! It was a mess.
"Who is there?"
A tiny old lady with bushy eyebrows and a mole on her face came into the kitchen. Her hair is tied into an enormous bun with two chopsticks. Her hair bun resembled a big dumpling. She looked at the mess and wrinkled her face with a frown and suspicion. She turned her face and called out.
"Takeshi! Come here! Someone must have broken into our kitchen and caused this mess!"
Hisoki quickly hid inside the cupboard and he bandaged his wounds fast when he got inside. He heard big footsteps coming.
A burly, tall, and scary-looking man came in. The man was about seven feet tall, with three big scars on his face and had the same bushy eyebrows as the old lady. He turned to see the mess. He turned his face to the old lady and spoke.
"Who did this? Mother?"
Takeshi's mother scratched her chin and started thinking up thoughts in her head about who broke into their kitchen and made a mess.
"I'm not sure who did this, but I doubt it was a person because the door had a sturdy lock and the windows were too small for a person to climb out," she said. "So I assumed it must be some rodent who broke into the kitchen and caused the mess".
It scared Hisoki when he heard the word "Rodent". They must have figured out that there was a tanuki in their kitchen!
"I'm going to search for the rodent who raised our kitchen," said Takeshi. He then walks toward the cupboard that Hisoki is hiding. "I start with the cupboard first"
Hisoki panicked when the man was about to reach for the cupboard. Luckily, Hisoki remembered he was a Tanuki and Tanuki had shape-shifting magic, so he quickly transformed into something else before Takeshi opened the cupboard.
"Mum, where'd you get this teapot?!"
"I did not know what you were talking about! I never remember bringing this teapot! But did you buy this teapot?"
"Heavens no, Mother!"
They began accusing each other of wasting money on it, so they went into the other room to argue about it. When the two left the kitchen, Hisoki found his chance to escape. He quickly turns into his true form and sneakily walks out of the kitchen. He heard the mother and son arguing in the other room. Hisoki tries his best to ignore the arguing and try to escape the house.
To his luck, he spots a window that is left open. This is my chance to escape! The tanuki thought to himself. He climbed up the table that was next to the opened window. He jumped out of the window and landed on the ground with a thud.
Hisoki stood up and saw a man walking to the house of Takeshi and his mother. Hisoki finds a spot to hide that lets him see what happens. He dives into the garden and quickly transforms into a flowerpot. He could see the man closely.
The man wears black from head to toe. The only uncovered thing is his fiery reddish-brown eyes and thin reddish-brown eyebrows. He was about seven feet tall and had a lean, yet hulking, figure. He knocked on the door and waited for a minute until Takeshi's mother opened the door and she spoke.
"How was the assassination, Mr Ninja? Did you finally kill that bastard who murdered my husband?"
The ninja then said with a voice deeper than a lion's growl.
"The assassination is going well. I had tracked down your husband's killer and struck him in the head with my dagger"
Suddenly, the grumpy old woman burst into huge tears out of happiness. The old lady finally avenged her husband's death. She hugged the ninja tightly and her giant hair bun ended up smothering the ninja. She ends up apologizing for hugging the ninja a bit too much and her hair bun nearly squashes the ninja's face.
When Takeshi's mother invited him for tea, Hisoki noticed the ninja had accidentally dropped his bag when he went inside the house.
Out of curiosity, He snuck into the bag and saw there were weapons and a bottle of water. Luckily, the weapons are all sheathed. Hisoki notices a small bag. Out of curiosity, he grabbed the small bag.
Must be some spices, he thought to himself.
He opens it and sniffs it. The aroma smells good, but suddenly he feels sleepy and ends up dozing off.
He woke up when there was a thud. Hisoki climbs up and his head pops out of the bag. He saw the same ninja praying to a Buddha statue and standing by his side was a beautiful woman with blue eyes, bluish-black hair tied up in a bun and wore a blue kimono with water patterns. The woman must be the ninja's husband.
The Ninja is unmasked so Hisoki can see his full face. Other than his matching reddish-brown eyes and eyebrows, He had long reddish-brown hair tied up in a topknot, rugged and sharp features and a reddish-brown moustache and goatee.
The Ninja and his wife were praying to Buddha for a child they desperately wanted. While the couple were praying, Hisoki saw a table and two chairs nearby. On top of the table are two cups, a teapot and... a big bowl of delicious assorted mochi cakes!
Hisoki's mouth drooled hungrily at the sight of mochi cakes. Tanukis love food and their appetites are nearly as big as Onis. The little tanuki crawled out of the bag and sneaked away to the table. Hisoki climbed up to the table and was careful not to crash into the cups and teapot. He reaches his hand to a bowl of mochi and finally snarfs down a handful of mochi. He heard the Ninja say as he prayed.
"Please, Buddha, give me a child—even if they are a tanuki!"
Suddenly, Hisoki suddenly transformed into a mochi and dropped into a bowl of mochi. He tried to turn back but couldn't. He saw the couple had finished praying and was walking towards the table.
What's going on? Why could I turn back!?
He thought, panicking as the couple sat in their chairs and the ninja poured tea in their cups.
A hand grabbed him from the bowl. It was the wife. She thought he was a mochi cake. He tried to shout and cry, but unfortunately, no words came out. The wife pops the mochi (actually a transformed Hisoki) into her open mouth and eats it.
That is the end of poor Hisoki and the sad story about how little Tanuki foolishly disobeyed his family and ended up getting eaten by the ninja's wife. To young readers, never disobey your family just so you can see the world or you end up having a tragic fate like poor Tanuki. I had no more stories for you to tell and goodbye for now….
…. Just kidding, this isn't the end of the story. For our hero Hisoki, this is the beginning of his new life in the outside world.
Hisoki opens his eyes and finds himself in the darkness.
Where am I!? What fate brought me here? I never knew the outside world could be so dangerous!
He remembered he was being eaten by the ninja's wife. Is this the afterlife?
He saw a light and heard a voice. "Keep pushing! Your baby will be here soon!"
Hisoki crawled toward the light. He did not wish to stay in the darkness forever, so he followed the light. The light got bigger when he crawled more.
"I can see the head! Keep pushing!"
He crawled and crawled until he finally reached the light...
"Waaaah!" Cried Hisoki, who is now a human baby.
"Congratulations! It's a boy!" said the cheerful midwife holding Hisoki.
The midwife bathed him and swaddled him in a blue blanket. She put him into the arms of the Ninja's wife. The ninja dashed into the room to see his wife smiling and cradling her newborn son. The ninja cried big tears of joy when he saw his newborn son.
I must have turned into a human. What is going to happen to me now?
The wife handed her newborn baby to her husband. The ninja lifted his son up in the air and said.
"From now on, our son's name will be….
…. Yaketsuku the third!"
WHAT!?
Hisoki angrily shook his head and shouted.
"No! I already had a name! It's Hisoki!"
The baby spoke causing everyone's jaws to drop and eyes to widen like plates. Hisoki is confused, and he says.
"What with those faces? Have you ever seen a tanuki turn into a baby and start talking before?"
Hisoki jumped off his human father's arms and landed on the floor, standing on his two feet. He threw off the blanket and wrapped the blanket around his waist. He turned around to his human parents, midwife and nurses and said.
"I know it sounds strange to you and I have a lot of things to explain to you, but first I need some proper clothes and some fresh food to eat!"
After they gave him nice clothes to wear and a bowl of fruit to eat, they sat near the fireplace and the ninja (his name is Yaketsuku the second) poured some tea. Hisoki told his story to everyone about how he ran away from his tanuki family to see the outside world, how he tried to escape from the house of the old lady and her son, how he ended up in Yaketsuku's bag and how he was transformed into a mochi and get eaten by Yaketsuku's wife.
After the story, Yaketsuku's wife (her name is Maho) hugs her son with tears out of guilt.
"I am very sorry for mistaking you for a mochi and eating you! From now on, I promise you a lot of love by feeding you, cleaning you and giving you some toys to play with!"
Yaketsuku stood up and said,
"God must have heard our prayers and chose you as our son. From now on, my wife and I shall be your human parents!"
And they did. A year later, Hisoki grew up fast. Like really fast. He grew up from a precocious infant who can talk, read, write and walk on his own to an 18-year-old. His human father taught him everything about humans and the outside world. Yaketsuku was a member of the Ninja clan and he took his son to train him in ninjitsu when he grew bigger. His human mother did as she promised by feeding him good food, bathing him and giving him toys and books. Hisoki grew to enjoy his new life in the outside world and he could make friends, go on fun adventures and learn about the world and way of ninjitsu. However, Hisoki never forgot his tanuki family and missed them when remembering his old memories as a tanuki.
That morning, Hisoki was thinking about visiting his Tanuki family, so he asked his human parents about it during breakfast. Yaketsuku was hesitant about meeting his son's original family, but Maho happily agreed and was excited to meet the Tanukis. They packed their bags and went on a journey with Hisoki's Tanuki family. They had some adventures while on their way to the home of the Tanuki family.
After a journey, they finally left the outside world and walked their way to the forest where his tanuki family lived. Despite being reborn as a human, Hisoki still keeps his tanuki powers, and he shape-shifts into his original form, a Tanuki. He ran to the hut and knocked on the door. But there was no answer, so he waited for a few minutes before he knocked again. Again, no answer. So he waited, and then he knocked again. Still no answer. He repeated again and again. No answer!
He borrows one of his human father's weapons and uses his Katana to slash the door open with a Katana. It spooked him and his human parents at what they saw. Inside the hut is a mess.
They looked around and saw a piece of white fabric. Hisoki picked up the fabric and saw that the Fabric had a logo on it. It is a logo of a two-horned skull. His human parents widened their eyes when they saw the logo. Maho spoke first.
"I saw this logo before! This belongs to one of the yokai hunters!"
His human parents told him about yokai hunters. Some captured Yokai hoping to sell them, while some killed Yokai as a bounty. Hisoki shudders with fear when he learns Tanukis is very rare and hard to find.
"The Yokai hunter must have captured them! We must save my family!" Said Hisoki, clenching the fabric in his hand. He looked at his human parents and said shyly "I mean my tanuki family n-not you.. b-but I still considered you my family since my h-human mother accidentally ate me and later gave birth to me"
Using his tanuki powers, he took a sniff of the fabric and followed the scent. Maho cleaned up the hut while her husband and Tanuki son tracked down the Yokai hunter. Hisoki and Yaketsuku left the hut and followed the scent in the hut. They find the Yokai traps that the Yokai hunter left in there. Luckily, they were skilled ninjas and evaded the traps.
They saw the Yokai hunter relaxing near the campfire and laughing at the poor Yokais trapped in cages. Hisoki spots his Tanuki family in cages. Hisoki was about to tell, but his human father shushed him that the Yokai hunter might hear them. They then hatched a plan to save the Tanuki family and the other Yokais…
The Yokai hunter is a large, excessively muscular man with wild hair tied up into a ponytail and wears a large white headband (with the same Yokai hunter logo) that encircles his huge forehead. Despite his massive physique and big square jawline, he had a small nose, small blue eyes, and short eyebrows. He wears a white samurai kimono with sleeves ripped off to show off his tattooed shoulders and burly arms. The tattoos show the yokai he hunts.
The Yokai hunter had already finished his twelfth bottle of sake and he felt he could go for another's sake. He looked inside his bag for a sake, but he frowned when there was nothing left. A voice suddenly called.
"Excuse me"
The Yokai hunter turned around and saw a young man with blue hair and blue eyes and wearing blue clothes. He is around eighteen years old. This is Hisoki. The Yokai hunter raised an eyebrow and snorted gruffly. He said with a deep, tough and loud tone and Hisoki could smell sake from the Yokai hunter's powerful breath.
"Well, pipsqueak, what're you doing around here? I've got lots of yokai to deal with. Make it quick."
Hisoki fiddled his feet shyly and said.
"I was wondering if I could apply to be your apprentice. I heard you were a famous Yokai hunter who captured Yokai all over Japan hoping to sell them"
Hearing the young man's words makes the Yokai hunter grin out of pride.
"A famous yokai hunter, you say?" He guffaws. "Well, you came here to the right place! My name is Isamu Takeo and I'm going to show you all of my greatest yokai hunts!"
He began bragging about how he tricked a Futakuchi-Onna into eating super spicy wasabi, out-wrestled the Kappa, strangled the RokuroKubi into unconsciousness, stole the club from an Oni and many of his incredible hunts. Hisoki began listening to Isamu Takeo's amazing yokai hunts. After listening to Isamu Takeo boasting about his adventures in yokai hunting, Hisoki asked.
"I saw a family of Tanukis in one of your cages. What are you going to do with them?"
Isamu Takeo chuckled and smirked.
"I'm planning to sell their fur to a wealthy Daimyo and he will give me ten enormous bags of gold and an unlimited supply of sake as a reward!"
Isamu Takeo pulled out his knife and whispered evilly.
"I'm going to skin their fur tomorrow morning"
Hisoki smiled and pulled out a bottle of sake. He whispered.
"Here is your reward for capturing the Tanukis"
Isamu Takeo's eyes widened like plates and his jaws drooled like waterfalls when he saw the bottle of sake that Hisoki was holding, but he felt suspicious.
"Take a sip yourself, I want to know what this sake tastes like"
Hisoki nodded and pulled out a small cup. He pretended to pour the sake on the cup and he pretended to sip it. He licked his lips.
"The sweetest, most delicious and finest sake I ever tasted in my life! You should try it!"
Delighted, Isamu Takeo snatched the bottle of sake from Hisoki's hand and chugged it all down. He threw out the empty bottle.
"You're right! This is the best sake I ever tasted in my life! Can you tell me who brewed this sake?"
Suddenly, The Yokai hunter felt very sleepy, and he ended up falling on the floor headfirst.
THUD!
There is a huge snore and Hisoki pulls out a cheeky grin. He added the sake with the same sleeping powder that Hisoki accidentally smelled. Thankfully, Hisoki avoided smelling the powder this time. His human father came out from the shadows with the keys. While Hisoki distracts the Yokai Hunter, Yaketsuku stealthily snatches the keys from him. They use the keys to unlock the cages and free the Tanuki family and all the Yokais. They escaped from Isamu Takeo and went to the hut that Maho had finished cleaning. Hisoki transformed into his original tanuki form and his tanuki family ran to hug him.
His Tanuki family told him they were trying to search for him after Hisoki left the family to see the world. The reason they got captured is that one of Hisoki's younger siblings accidentally left behind her doll in the outside world and the yokai hunter found it and tracked down the tanuki family.
Feeling like he had abandoned his Tanuki family for his selfish dreams, Hisoki began apologizing for how he had left his Tanuki family for two years. The Tanuki family forgives him and they all share a hug.
His human father came to him and said, "Me and your human mother had a surprise for you"
Hisoki was confused and asked. "What surprise?"
His human mother smiled and put her hand on her stomach. "I'm expecting something new to our family"
A new baby sibling! Hisoki hugged his human parents.
One of Hisoki's younger siblings came up to him and asked him. "Where have you been in the Outside world? Did you have adventures there?"
Hisoki smiled and began telling them about his adventures in the outside world to his tanuki family.
The End.