Chapter 10: Taking Matters Into Your Own Paws
As morning finally broke on the farm, Sōhei woke up but was surprised to find Yuki wasn't next to him in bed. Usually he's the first one up since Yuki has been much more sleepless the past years. Regardless, he thought it best to just get out of bed and see what's up with his wife, if she was even still here. He walked out into the kitchen, and there he saw Yuki already serving and eating breakfast.
"Oh, you're finally up," Yuki stoically said to her husband.
"I should ask you why you're already up; this is unlike you," Sōhei rebutted.
"I was just busy," Yuki casually responded.
"With what?" Sōhei asked in confusion.
"Take a look outside and see for yourself," requested Yuki, pointing toward the front door.
Sōhei did exactly that, and when he looked outside directly to the left of the door, he saw a huge pile of hunted pheasant on the ground. Not even Ame had ever brought them that amount of hunted food.
"You hunted all of that?" Sōhei asked in astonishment.
Yuki nodded. "If Ame isn't going to provide us as much as he had before, then somebody's got to step in," she added.
"Well, this is a little extravagant, don't you think?" Sōhei countered.
As he was saying that, Izumi walked into the kitchen, having just woken up. She asked what was going on, and Sōhei also showed her what her mother had just brought back home.
"Mom! That's amazing!" Izumi commented. "I didn't think you had any interest in doing that."
Yuki smiled back. "I'd do anything for my precious pup," she replied.
Sōhei didn't look as pleased. Not only did his wife decide to do something behind his back, but she also seemed to not be aware of any of the potential danger he constantly warned his family about. As he and Izumi sat down at the table to have some of the breakfast that was prepared, he mostly stayed silent. He didn't know exactly why Yuki was suddenly acting the way she was now, but he felt there really wasn't much he could say at the moment. After cleaning his plate, Sōhei then headed out to fulfill some work requests. Izumi then started to take care of hers while remaining silent, confused at her father's own silence. Once Yuki saw him drive out of sight, she turned her attention to her daughter.
"Now that he's gone, I have something I need to tell you," she said to Izumi.
"Exactly what?" Izumi questioned in confusion.
"Well, you still want to learn how to hunt bigger prey, don't you?" Yuki questioned back.
"I mean, I do," Izumi answered. "It's just that I'm still worried about what Dad might say; besides, Uncle Ame doesn't really seem interested in teaching anymore."
"Don't worry about any of that," Yuki assured her. "This time, I'll be the one to teach you."
Izumi's eyes widened in surprise and excitement at that statement: "Mom! You're really willing to do that?!" She said in a happy but concerned tone, "What if Dad finds out?"
Yuki took her daughter's hand and responded, "We don't have to tell him anything. I want you to be a proper wolf, and we've waited too long for you to do so. Are you good with this?"
Izumi was conflicted; while she wanted to finally be able to expand her skills, she also didn't want to have to deal with a berating from her father, or worse. At the same time, she knew that her mother seemed really adamant about wanting to do this, but just like her father seemed to notice, her mother was clearly not acting like she normally does. In the end, Izumi decided to go ahead with it, knowing that at least her mother would fall on the blade for her.
"Mom," Izumi hesitated at first with her response, but then she shifted her expression to a confident smile and firmly gripped her mother's hand. "Let's do this!"
Yuki smiled back and hugged her daughter in approval. After changing into their day clothes, the two then began to make their way to the door. As they walked out, they saw Ame approaching the farm; he was already in human form.
"Bro, what are you up to?" Yuki questioned her brother. "There's no need for you to be human right now; nobody else is here."
"I... I just felt like it." Ame hesitated to respond, wanting to keep the truth hidden. He then saw the pile of pheasant and reacted in astonishment, "Sis, was that all your doing?"
"Are you impressed?" asked Yuki in a smug tone. "Since it seems you're no longer interested in keeping us provided, I went and did it myself; now I'm off to finally teach Izumi the more advanced lessons.
"You do realize that you shouldn't overhunt anything, right?" Ame said back in a concerned manner. "Why are you suddenly acting like this, sis?"
"Ame, I thought we agreed to not tell each other how to live," Yuki countered back.
Ame just remained silent at the fact his sister just said his own words to him. As he stood near the front of the house, he saw Yuki and Izumi run off toward the mountains, both changing into wolves upon being a distance out. Ame sighed at how he was confused at the whole matter but figured that since the house was now unoccupied, it was the perfect opportunity to do what he came to do and call Satsu.
Upon reaching the wooded area of the mountains, Yuki prepared to teach Izumi everything she knew about hunting. She told her about the proper prey that's suitable for a wolf her size to track down and kill, such as pheasants and deer. Izumi was also told that fellow canids such as foxes and raccoon dogs, despite being inferior, should be treated as allies since they speak the same language as them; she knew that already due to memories of her old friend Inari. Yuki had her daughter memorize the scent of a deer and then track it down. Izumi was able to find several, but they all ended up getting away. Yuki reminded Izumi that practice makes perfect and that she still has plenty of time to learn before she eventually moves out to junior high school. Training continued on weekends in secret whenever Sōhei had to head out to the city. When he left early enough, training would also start that early so that pheasant hunting would be much easier. Izumi still attended school naturally whenever it was a school day, and all of her teachers and peers, including her friends, were still ignorant of the truth.
Once winter break came, there was plenty of more time for training. Yuki had to be more careful with hiding the truth at home with how the snow could make things more evident, so she made sure that any paw prints that led out to the mountains were erased by the time Sōhei arrived home. With the constant training continuing through the next couple of months, Izumi soon achieved enough skill that Yuki had her try to track and attack a deer all by herself. Previously, Izumi would have Yuki assist her in hunting one, but this would be the first time she'd fly solo. Izumi soon spotted one, stealthily approached, and charged at it, attacking its legs to incapacitate it and then finishing it off. With her first successful kill of one, Izumi received a major rush of adrenaline throughout her, which made her want to do even more; her mother gladly agreed to join in. The two wolves managed to track and kill three more as the day went on, and both felt a major sense of reward upon doing so. They then carried some of the meat with them back home, but only enough to make it seem like Yuki was the only one doing the hunting. In the end, Yuki was satisfied for finally seeing her daughter perform just like her, while Izumi felt even more like a real wolf.
##
By early March, Izumi had been pleased with how she had been progressing with herself in both of her lives. Her training with her mom had given her the skill she had been wanting to obtain for years now, yet she still had yet to mature into an adult wolf, to her own confusion. Even though she had constantly focused on training for the past months, her human life was not affected in the slightest; any time she went out into public, she acted like a normal human should. Her school life was as good as ever, and she was getting well prepared to move on to junior high school. An announcement was made at school that for the sixth graders' graduation ceremony, a non-competitive talent show would be held with it. Izumi was suggested by her teachers to sign up so she could showcase her piano skills, and Mayu agreed that she should do that. When Izumi told her parents about this, Sōhei gladly accepted the idea, saying it would make her a real stand-out. Yuki, however, didn't have anything to say about it; Sōhei was a bit confused about that reaction.
One day, as the end of the school year quickly approached, Izumi kept herself busy attending her classes; while that was happening, Yuki and Sōhei went into town to buy supplies for the coming growing season. Before they had left, Sōhei took weird notice of Yuki because she didn't bother wearing her blue pinafore dress that she usually wears in public and instead opted for the pink dress she wears at home. Sōhei didn't bother to ask, but he still thought Yuki was really showing even more abnormal behavior like she had the past months. Once they got to the supply store, they immediately started gathering what they needed. Upon finding the last selection of specific fertilizer they were looking for, another customer attempted to take it as well.
"Oh, you can go ahead and take it; we'll find another suitable one," Sōhei said to the customer.
As the customer began to take it, Yuki suddenly butted in between the two.
"Excuse me!" she exclaimed, trying to grab it back. "That's the kind we really need! I know because my mom had used that for years thanks to the advice from our neighbors, and we've always been successful with it!"
"Yuki!" reproved Sōhei, pulling his wife to the side. "There are plenty of other places we can look! I thought you knew better than this!"
Yuki took deep breaths and calmed down while Sōhei apologized to the other customer. When the couple went to check out, Sōhei made his payment with cash. He then beckoned Yuki to come with him back out, but Yuki stayed at the register, glaring at the cashier.
"Don't think I know what you did," Yuki said to the cashier in a berating manner. "You short-changed us, didn't you?"
The cashier just questioned Yuki in confusion.
"You were supposed to give us ¥400 back in change," Yuki continued to point out in frustration. "You only gave us ¥350!"
The cashier responded by saying that Yuki must've seen it wrong because Sōhei was definitely given four ¥100 coins.
"Don't play stupid with me!" Yuki shouted back. "I know my coins when I see them, and one of them was definitely a ¥50 coin!"
The cashier then gave in and gave Yuki another ¥50 coin but berated Yuki back for acting so rude. Yuki took the coin with her without even saying thank you. As she exited the store, she saw Sōhei arguing with the customer that Yuki tried to fight over the fertilizer with. Sōhei was being verbally scolded for his wife's actions, and he tried to explain that she's usually not like this. The customer didn't seem to accept that explanation and threatened to report the two to the store to have them barred. Yuki, angered by seeing how her husband was being treated, went right up to the customer.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Yuki shouted out.
As she said that, she suddenly partially transformed into a wolf and scratched the customer's face with her claws. Right after that, she came back to her senses, quickly changed back into a full human, and began to worry as she saw the customer wincing in pain. Sōhei just looked at her in shock. They then heard another elderly customer nearby call out, thinking that he saw a monster. Sōhei quickly told Yuki to get right into the truck, which she did, and he followed suit and drove right away back home. As they drove back, Sōhei began to scold Yuki himself.
"What was that all about!?" he angrily questioned Yuki.
"I...have no idea," Yuki worryingly replied.
"I thought your actions have been off as of late, but now you actually might've exposed it all!"
"Well, there really wasn't anyone else around except for those two other people," rebutted Yuki. "I hardly think others would believe what only those two had to say."
"You scratched someone, damn it!" Sōhei stated back. "I got lucky back when I told my parents that it was just a wolf when you did it to me; do you really think lightning will strike twice with that!?"
Yuki just sat in silence with her head hung low, unsure of what the consequences will end up being. Suddenly she remembered that she still had the ¥50 coin she got back from the cashier with her, and so she asked Sōhei to put it in the coin purse. Sōhei then pointed out that the cashier did in fact give him four ¥100 coins back to him, which he pulled from his pocket and showed Yuki before putting them in the purse. Yuki didn't know how to react to that, even though she realized she just did something people would consider wrong.
##
While Yuki and Sōhei were having their whole ordeal, unbeknownst to them, Ame had decided to make a venture to the city by himself to have an in-person date with Satsu. Even though they've managed to keep in touch with each other over the phone, this was the first time in a while that they were going to meet in person. Ame still had some money that Sōhei had given him saved, so he used that to take the bus. He felt that he slowly but surely was getting over his introversion, and he didn't mind riding along with a public crowd. On the way, he silently apologized to his sensei for all the times he's been abandoning his role as guardian, but somehow, he felt like that wouldn't be a problem in the near future. Upon arriving in the city, Ame searched for the restaurant that Satsu said she'd be at to meet for lunch, and after several minutes, he eventually found the place and her inside waiting.
"Sorry it took so long," Ame said, sitting down at the table with Satsu. "I guess I'm still not used to the city yet."
"Understandable," Satsu replied, "those that don't live here tend to get lost."
"It's funny because I was actually born in the city before my mother moved the family out to the farmlands," Ame stated.
Satsu remained silent for a few seconds before continuing the conversation, "I'm sorry for your loss. I know I already told you when it happened, but I now wanted to say it directly to your face."
Ame then remained silent himself while a single tear dropped from his eye. "Thanks," he eventually responded, "it's still hard for me to get over. Of course, that's not the only thing that's been on my mind."
"What else has been happening?" asked Satsu.
"It's my sister Yuki," Ame answered. "She's been acting, well, not herself, I should say."
"How so?" Satsu inquired.
Ame obviously didn't want to go into full details, so he tried to explain it the best he could: "It's just that she's usually calm and collected, but now she's been more aggressive. I don't know what exactly has caused this."
Satsu responded after thinking for a few seconds: "Well, I think that it's good that you care for her, anyways. Even though she has her own family, the fact that her own sibling is also still looking out for her is a sign that she should have nothing to worry about."
Ame silently agreed with that statement. As the lunch date continued, Ame suggested that they order some kushiyaki, as that was what his mother always liked making. The two shared their helping, and Ame couldn't help but slightly tear up again as it brought up more memories of his mother; Satsu just simply enjoyed it, eating along with him.
After lunch, the two had a leisurely stroll through the city, eventually stopping at a river bridge. Unknown to Ame was that this was the same spot where his mother found the dead body of his father, but since he was never told the specific location, it didn't cross his mind. As the two stood at the bridge looking down at the river, they continued to have more conversations.
"I'm really thinking about possibly making my dream of being a travel writer a reality," Satsu mentioned to Ame. "After reading all the books I've bought, I finally want to actually start traveling the world. There are so many picturesque places outside Japan that I want to see for myself.
"I know, the book you showed me made me interested too," replied Ame.
"Why don't you accompany me?" questioned Satsu.
"It's just...," Ame hesitated, trying to think of a normal-sounding reason, "just that it's hard to leave home. It seemed easy for me when I started my own life away from my mother, but you soon realize that things like that can be easily missed."
"Well, one can never forget where they originally came from," Satsu assured him. "It's only natural, after all."
Ame smiled at that, but then he began to feel something was wrong; not with himself, but rather with something far away. His mind began focusing on Yuki and the way she's been acting. It almost seemed like he could tell that she was having troubles of her own even though he was currently an hour away from her location and that she needed him right now. He then turned directly to Satsu.
"Sorry, but I need to head back," he told her.
"What's wrong? Was it something I said?" asked Satsu.
"No, it has nothing to do with you," responded Ame. "It's my sister; remember how I told you she's not herself? Well, I think I really need to be there for her."
"Let me come with you!" requested Satsu.
"No!" Ame initially blurted it out before calming himself. "I mean, it's a family matter, and I don't think this would be a good time to introduce you because of it."
Satsu reluctantly backed down. Ame then quickly headed back to the bus stop to head back to the farmlands. Satsu stayed where she was, thinking about all that Ame said.
"He really is more than I thought he'd be," she said to herself.