Chapter 5: Your Own Medicine

The news her mother told her gave Yuki quite the shock. For almost a month, she spent her time in seclusion in her bedroom. During this time, she didn't feel like playing with Izumi at all. Izumi would still have plenty of playtime whenever Ame would visit and would bring Inari along. Despite this, Izumi still found herself bored on many certain days. To help with this, Sōhei decided to bring her along with him to work so that she could see what he did. During this time, Izumi got to see several city sights and interact with her father's clients. This helped her discover that the world was much bigger than she initially imagined, and she loved it just as much as how she loved it back home. Eventually, she started to notice her mother was still too depressed to do anything, and she didn't want to see her sad anymore. As Yuki continued to lay in bed one afternoon, Izumi decided to help ease her mother's emotional pain by turning into a wolf and cuddling up with her in bed; from her own experience, that seemed like a good way to help. When Yuki took notice of this, she couldn't help but feel immense comfort, both physically and emotionally; she embraced her affectionate pup of a daughter as the two relaxed away her pain.

When the winter snow came and blanketed the ground, both Yuki and Izumi got excited because they would be able to share their first snow run together. Yuki always said that her happiest memory was the first time she did so with Ame, who also says the same thing, so they have always re-created that moment whenever the snow first comes. When the mother and daughter stepped outside, they saw Ame and Inari already waiting outside. Yuki could tell her brother couldn't wait to share this moment with each of their respective children either. She found their old scarves that she keeps for this special occasion and tied the blue one around Ame and the red one around herself; she then took a newly made green one and tied that around Izumi. As soon as that happened, Izumi rushed out the door into the open snowy fields, turning into a wolf on the way. Both Yuki and Ame laughed at her enthusiasm as it reminded them of themselves and figured they should not waste any time catching up with her. Yuki turned into her wolf form and rushed out towards her daughter along with Ame and Inari. Once they caught up, all four started to run around together; at times they would even pounce and wrestle. Izumi laughed through the whole event, not just from the fun she was having but from seeing her adult mother and uncle act like children as well. They raced around some more and eventually found themselves back at the house, where they celebrated with a howl, except of course for Inari, who could only yip. Sōhei had waited inside while they were all playing and later came out to take a photo of the moment. Izumi told them all that this was the most fun she's had yet, and they couldn't agree more.

Months later, Yuki and Sōhei went to register Izumi for school. Yuki knew that she had to make sure her daughter would be able to handle being in public without showing any of her wolf instincts. Weeks before the school year started, the two talked it over.

"So, you're about to head into kindergarten; you know how to properly behave, right?" Yuki questioned her daughter.

"Yes, Mom!" Izumi replied, "No wolf anything!"

"Yes, but you also need to make sure you don't do anything that might scare others while you're still human," Yuki added. "Look at how the other kids act, and try to be like them."

"What do you mean?" questioned Izumi.

Yuki began to explain, "For example, if anyone asks if you have any friends, don't say you have a friend that is a fox named Inari; they would think you're weird. Also, you need to play nice with them; don't play like you were a wolf even if you aren't in wolf form."

Izumi tried to take this all in. "How am I going to remember this all?"

Yuki decided to teach her daughter what her mother taught her when she first started school. "Repeat after me: 'I'm gonna be a little girl all the way home.'."

Izumi did as she was told and soon got into the rhythm of it. Yuki was trying not to cry as she realized more and more that she was walking in her mother's footsteps.

"Just remember, being a little girl means more than just looking like one, okay?" Yuki reminded Izumi.

Izumi acknowledged that and thanked her mother by hugging her.

The first day of school finally came, and Sōhei drove Izumi to school on his way to work. The first day went smoothly for Izumi as she reminded herself of what her mother taught her. At first, she was shy trying to make friends with classmates, but as days went on, she eventually started to open up to them. When asked about what her life was like, Izumi only brought up things about herself that seemed similar to what the others would say. Some of the unique things she mentioned were that she lived on a farm and that her father was a "picture-taker" who visited the city a lot. Her classmates took an interest in hearing about these stories to her own surprise, so she simply decided to tell them all about that. As the first term passed through, she was able to handle herself along with other children just fine. That didn't stop her from finding time at home to play as a wolf, that is, as long as she got caught up with homework.

##

While Izumi was now busy going to school, Ame took more opportunity to teach Inari how to potentially be a suitable future guardian. She had already learned the basics of hunting by the time she reached adolescence late in autumn, and Ame now wanted her to focus on getting to know the whole land of the mountains. Ame made sure that Inari got to know what each residing species was so that she knew how each one could possibly act. The one thing that Ame was unsure of was how he could possibly teach her how to keep the bigger predators in check, as he remembered the fate of her birth parents. He hoped that by the time she reached adulthood, she'd be able to handle combat properly and be able to defend herself from anything that might have her end up that way as well. In the meantime, he figured he should stick to what was easy enough for her.

By the end of June, Inari had reached adulthood, and Ame had finally prepared himself to teach her properly about combat. He woke up in his den one day ready to teach her; however, she was nowhere in sight. Ame started to greatly worry where she might be and rushed out to track her down. Following her scent, he soon managed to spot her at the edge of a wooded area.

"Inari!" Ame called out to her. "What are you doing there? I'm about to teach you the most important skill."

Inari, however, just ignored his callings and looked away from him.

Ame tried again, "You need to know this if you want to be the future guardian!"

She ignored him again, and soon she turned her head towards the woods and ran into them.

Ame began to chase her into there while still calling out, "No! Wait! You can't just leave me! There's still so much I haven't..."

Before he could finish what he was saying, Ame froze up as he realized that this scenario was all too familiar to him. As he saw Inari a distance away from him, in the same position, he saw an apparition of himself; where he was standing, he saw one of his own mother speaking similarly to what he was saying to Inari. He couldn't believe that he was reliving a moment that caused a great deal of grief to his family and had painted a negative image of himself that he would try to shed over the years. Realizing there was nothing he could do now to keep his foster daughter from staying with him, he stayed back and watched her run off out of view. He then hung his head low in depression as he turned back towards home.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Yuki had just returned from the marketplace selling the first crop of the season. While Sōhei was able to drive her and the load to her destination, she had to bike back home as her husband still needed the truck to get to his own job and for transporting Izumi. When she got inside the house, she initially made her way to the desk to lock her profits away, but then she heard a voice call out to her.

"Yuki? Is that you?" A sobbing voice called out to her.

Yuki recognized the voice instantly; it was Ame's. She was puzzled by why he was here, but the fact that he sounded sad and that he called her by name instead of "sis" clearly meant he desperately needed to talk. She followed the sound of the voice into the living room, where she saw her brother in human form sitting on one of the chairs looking depressed.

"Ame? What's wrong?" She called out to him.

Ame remained silent for a few seconds before answering, "Have you ever had a moment where you suddenly realized you're reliving something from the past, but from the viewpoint of someone else?"

"Well, I mean that has happened many times." Yuki wanted to say yes since she recently had that experience with her own daughter, but she clearly knew this wasn't what Ame was talking about. "What exactly has happened with you?"

Ame started to tear up as he explained, "She left me, Yuki. Just like how I left Mom that day."

Yuki sat down in another chair while Ame continued to explain the whole scenario with Inari. Despite the irony of the situation, she felt pity for her brother.

"You know the real reason why I decided to raise her," Ame added. "I know you do."

Yuki briefly paused and thought about it, then replied, "It's because of my family, isn't it? Sōhei and I had a child together, and you wanted one too."

Ame nodded and further explained, "When the two of you started your family, a certain negative emotion made me reclusive to you. I had no idea what it was at first, but I soon realized it was envy. I knew there was no way you'd have Izumi learn from me, so I wanted someone to raise as my own. However, I ended up back where I was after only a year." He continued to break down, "How did this happen the way it did?"

Yuki thought about it some more. "I think I may know why, but you're most likely not going to like the answer." She paused as Ame looked at her, "It's because Inari is not the same species as you, and by that, I don't mean she's not a wolf. It's only natural for most animals to abandon and forget their parents upon reaching adulthood. This is what Mom thought had happened to you when you left her, because she thought you wanted to completely forget about being human."

Ame stopped sobbing and looked down, still feeling depressed.

"Ame, I'm sorry if that offended you." Yuki apologized.

"No, Yuki, I think you're right." Ame said while standing up. "This is what I've been thinking myself, and that's made me question something even greater." He made his way to the open door and stood outside. "It's made me wonder if I even chose the right path in life."

Yuki got up and walked up to him. "If what Mom has been saying about what Dad has told her in her dreams is right, even though I'm skeptical about those, there really is no wrong path in life. Of course, if you ever feel like you need to be reintroduced to the human world, we will always help you out with that."

Ame looked back at her and gave her a mournful smile. "I know you mean well, sis, but I'm afraid it's too late for me to go back."

Yuki remained silent as she gave the same smile back in understanding. Ame then turned back into a wolf and headed back to his den. Yuki remained outside and sat on the front step as she watched him head off, thinking about how he was going to recover from this whole ordeal.

##

While Yuki continued to sit outside, she saw Sōhei arrive home along with Izumi. It was the end of the first term, and their daughter was looking forward to summer break. Since she didn't have any more homework, Izumi decided to get right down to playtime by changing into a wolf as soon as she got out of the truck. Sōhei noticed his wife sitting down deep in thought and went up next to her to see what was on her mind. Yuki continued to look ahead as she explained what had happened to Ame.

"That must be real hard on him," Sōhei responded. "I also feel bad that Izumi won't have her friend back home anymore."

"Does she even have friends at school?" Yuki asked him.

"Oh, she's really sociable," answered Sōhei. "I had conferences with her teacher recently, and I was told she has been well behaved and has not seemed abnormal to any of her peers."

Yuki looked surprised at that news. "She's perfectly normal in school, yet she hasn't given up on wanting to be a wolf either?"

"That's right, just look at her," Sōhei responded, pointing out their daughter as she continued to happily run around the property. "On the ride back home, she said she still wanted to learn how to hunt. Of course, I'm still nervous about her going out into the wild considering what I've heard before, but she seems really adamant about wanting to expand her skills while still wanting to go to school. If she's able to balance out her two forms like this, I don't think you'd have a problem with that."

As Sōhei went inside to check on the profits from today, Yuki continued to sit in thought about the news she just heard about Izumi, who seemed to be doing what was impossible by wanting to live by both of her forms. Yuki was afraid that if her daughter were to try and experience her wolf side to the fullest while still going to school, she'd either only come to disown one and embrace the other just like her mother and uncle did. If she was able to live a double life, maybe she could handle learning to hunt. Yuki, unfortunately, had only used her wolf self for leisurely purposes ever since rediscovering it and hasn't had any real hunting experience since she was a pup. Suddenly, she got an idea that just might help out two things at once.

Yuki called out to her daughter, "Izi! Want to do something fun?"

Izumi stopped playing and looked at her mother.

"You can stay in wolf form," Yuki told her. "I just thought we might take a walk together."

"Where to, Mom?" Izumi asked.

"You'll see once we get there!" Yuki said while changing into her wolf form.

Yuki then led her daughter into the mountain path, asking her daughter to stay close. While on the walk, Yuki mentioned what had happened to Inari. Izumi felt sad about that but was told that she can make it better if she just does what she says once they get to their destination. After a while, they arrived at Ame's den, which Izumi had yet to see. Inside, Ame was still in a depressed state as he sat down looking at his drawings. He placed a paw over one depicting Inari to try and cover it up, as he knew that seeing that one would only continue to make him depressed. Soon, he noticed Yuki standing at the threshold of the den.

"Sorry, sis, but I'm still in a mood," he said to her. "Unless you brought something that can help, I'd prefer not to have company."

"I believe I have just that!" Yuki happily said to him. She then beckoned Izumi to run up and say what she was told to tell him.

"Uncle Ame! Mom says you can teach me how to hunt!" Izumi excitedly said as she rushed up to him and stood on her hind legs with her paws resting on her uncle's chest. "I've been doing good in school, so I was told that I can spend summer break learning from you! You're so cool, and Mom says you're better at being a wolf than she is! So, what do you say?!"

Ame just stood frozen with his mouth agape at this as his niece sat back down and eagerly wagged her tail. He then saw Yuki walk up and sit next to him and turned his head towards her. Staring at her for a few seconds, he then suddenly placed his head on her shoulder and wrapped a front paw around her body.

"Thank you, sis!" He said while happily tearing up.

Yuki smiled back and wrapped her paw around him as well. She then quickly glanced at her daughter and winked at her in approval; Izumi just continued smiling as she was.