キツネの手紙
*** Kitsune Letter (Tomo POV) ***
Blossoms pass
Cicada fall silent
Remembers plum
I sighed, placing the poem in front of the picture of Ume and me in Hanno. Those had been good times, and I wished we could go back. She’d missed the flower viewing this year, lost somewhere in Kakuriyo. Summer and the screaming of cicada had passed, and I still hadn’t heard from her. My attention shifted to a new picture of Kan-chan and me under a flaming autumn maple tree. We had so much fun leaf viewing. Ume would have loved it.
Kan-chan shouted from the living room, breaking my reverie. “Shiro’s waiting; she’s paying for yakiniku, so we don’t want to keep her standing around!” The rule of the house was that you didn’t keep Shiro waiting. She was mistress of the house, benevolent, but still mistress. I missed the days when Ume and I had wrangled over the rules of our home. I would have moved out of Shiro’s place months ago if it hadn’t been for Kan-chan.
“Just a minute,” I yelled back, leaving my bedroom. “I need to leave Hanayome-shin an offering.” Hanayome-shin had a shrine down the hall from my room, and I hurried there with rice, sake, and incense. I hadn’t heard from her since the Suffocating Shadow attacked me, but I could still feel her protective presence. Not that I expected to hear from her. She was Ume’s protector, not mine. That’s why I stopped in the shrine room doorway when I saw an envelope lying on the altar.
“Kan-chan, come here!”
A minute later, she joined me. I would have complimented her on how cute she was under normal circumstances, but my eyes only flickered to her momentarily and then returned to the unadorned envelope.
“Did you leave that there?” I said, pointing.
“No. None of us would put something there.”
I reached for the envelope but stopped when Kan-chan said, “Don’t! Let Kao check to see if it’s cursed before you touch it.”
“Kao!” Kan-chan shouted toward the back of the house. “There’s something you need to look at.”
Kao emerged from the back of the house. “What do you need?”
“See if that’s cursed,” Kan-chan said, pointing at the envelope.
Kao approached, peering at the object in question. “It looks okay on the outside. Where’d it come from?”
“I don’t know. It just appeared there,” I explained again. “Maybe Hanayome-shin?”
“Can I open it?” Kao asked.
“Sure,” I said.
“No address,” she said as she opened it and removed a cheap sheet of paper. She turned the sheet over, unfolded it, and looked closer. “I don’t see anything bad. Go ahead, read it,” she said, passing the paper to me.
The sheet contained a poem and a brief message, written in large, poorly drawn characters. I started with the poem and read,
Under Tendō’s peace
In Mayoiga, they wait,
Swallow and Plum.
Now is the time to rescue,
If you come, we’ll save them. [Note 1]
“It’s about Shishi and Ume,” I said, looking at the third line. Swallow referred to Shishi and Plum was Ume’s name. “The last lines talk about rescuing them, but I don’t understand the first two lines. Something about Tendō, the realm of the gods, and Mayoiga. I have no idea what that is.”
“It’s a blessed house hidden in the wilderness, but I don’t know what those lines refer to,” Kao said, looking over my shoulder. “Does it mean they literally live in the Mayoiga, or is it symbolic? Tendō is supposed to be a wonderful place until you fall from it. It’s a karmic trap. I would guess the lines mean they are someplace that appears safe but is actually a trap.”
“That makes sense,” I replied. “The note at the end reads, ‘Meet me at the Haruyama Shrine near Kitataka any evening this week.’ And it’s signed ‘Anazawa Yuka Maiyoi Sanbi no Kitsune.’”
“A letter from a kitsune,” Kan-chan observed. “Interesting. I assume we’re going.”
“We? You’re going too?” I said.
“Of course,” Kan-chan replied while Kao shook her head no.
“Why? Ume’s not your responsibility.” I said.
“It’s what family does,” Kan-chan replied.
Her words made me happy. I was glad Kan-chan viewed me that way. Family was important, and that’s why I needed to rescue Ume. She was family, too.
Kao smiled broadly. “Shiro’s waiting for us. We can plan over dinner, and tomorrow we should consult Mikito.”
And that is what we did. Shiro gave Kan-chan the green light to accompany me, and the next day we spoke with Mikito-sensei. He agreed with our interpretation of the poem, and his son prophesied, “There is a long journey ahead, a decision involving Hanayome-shin, a reunion, and something involving the kudan and a frog youkai.”
Armed with that information, Kan-chan and I left to meet the kitsune at Haruyama Shrine. We packed sturdy clothes, food, sleeping bags, etc., assuming we might cross into Kakuriyo. By midday, we reached Kitakata, and from there, we made our way into the mountains, through a nearly abandoned village, past a closed school, and finally onto a narrow, one-lane road. We parked in an overgrown turnoff just beyond a sign for the shrine and a path that led into the dense, green forest.
“You think this is the right place?” I asked Kan-chan as I shouldered my pack. We might not need our gear, but it was better not to be caught unprepared.
Instead of answering, Kan-chan silently started down the path, pushing aside the foliage.
I followed her up a steep path that threaded through the trees. I called out after a few hundred meters, pointing at a sign next to an animal trail, “Hey, Kan-chan, it says, ‘Danger, stay on the path.’”
“Imagine that,” she replied. “Leaving the trail is dangerous with a three-tailed Kitsune around.”
I chuckled and said, “Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.”
Other than the sign, we saw nothing of interest until we reached the end of the trail, where we found a small, unpainted wooden shrine building in the middle of a clearing. Grasses and weeds grew right up to its sides. It was still a few hours before dusk, so we paid our respects at the shrine and then found a sunny place to wait.
The evening chill set in as the sun disappeared behind the trees, and with the chill, I began worrying that Maiyoi had set us up. The mountain nights were brutally cold. With that in mind, I told Kan-chan, “I’m going to gather some firewood.”
“Don’t get out of sight of the shrine,” she replied. Then a second later, “Wait,” and she pointed toward the woods where I could see the leaves parting. In a moment, a young woman stepped out. She was wearing an eye-catching purple kimono with a star pattern on it, but what drew my attention was her three bushy, fox-red tails. I studied her as she approached. Her hair was a reddish-brown with fox ears protruding from it. When she was close, I could see that her eyes were strange, slanting the wrong way, fox eyes.
“Evening, Shizu-san,” she said, bowing. “I’m Anazawa Yuka Maiyoi Sanbi no Kitsune, and I’m honored you came.”
“It’s our honor, Anazawa-san. I’m Shizu Tomo, and my companion is Miyazaki-san.” I replied, bowing.
The woman examined us and seemed satisfied with what she saw. “I see you came prepared,” she said, nodding at our packs. “But that’s what I would expect from the gallant Shizu-san.”
“When did I get that title?” I thought. “Gallant? I couldn’t think of a single gallant thing I have ever done.”
Anazawa broke into a mischievous smile and clapped her hands. “I’ve always wanted to meet some of Shiori-san’s fans. Let’s be friends.”
“Friends? Shishi’s fans?” I thought. “What’s going on?”
Sensing my confusion, Kan-chan advanced, bowing, and said, “Anazawa-san, we’d be happy to be friends. And we’re overjoyed to meet another Shiori-san fan.”
“Call me Maiyoi-chan.”
“I am honored, Maiyoi-chan,” Kan-chan said. “My friends call me Kan-chan, and this is my friend Tomo. He introduced me to Shizu-san and is a super stan.”
“Then you must have seen Fukitsu perform.” Maiyoi’s tail swished back and forth excitedly. “Tell me! Tell!”
“Oh dear,” I thought, “Kan-chan might have overplayed our hand. I don’t even like Shishi’s music and had no idea what her shows had been like.” Addressing the situation, I said, “We would love to, but right now we prefer to hear what has happened to Shishi and Ume.”
“Shishi! She hates that name!” Maiyoi glared. Her tail stopped moving, and her ears flattened.
Yabai, I’d messed up badly. I looked at Kan-chan, hoping for help. I couldn’t keep up with Maiyoi’s mood shifts. And this last turn of events had put me on my back foot.
Fortunately, Kan-chan came to the rescue, saying, “As her special friends, Shizu-san lets us call her that.”
Maiyoi relaxed. “You’re that close of friends? Wow, I’m jealous.”
It was obvious Kan-chan was better at dealing with Maiyoi, so I remained silent and let Kan-chan continue. Which she did, steering the conversation back to our concerns. “Could you tell us what’s happened to Shishi and how we can help her?”
Maiyoi refused to be corralled and instead of answering the question, said, “You wouldn’t have some sake? Storytelling makes me thirsty.”
My impatience mounted. Why couldn’t this girl just answer our questions? Ume was in trouble, and Maiyoi was trying to cage drinks from us. Thankfully, Kan-chan had more patience than me and responded, “Sorry, we’re traveling light, but after rescuing Shishi, we won’t forget our debt.”
“I’m glad she found such good friends. After Mikawa, I was worried,” the kitsune said.
I’d become so consumed by frustration that I only heard part of what Maiyoi said and reacted with alarm to Mikawa’s name. “Has Mikawa gotten them?”
“No, no. Nothing as bad as that. The Mayoiga seduced them, which might be okay, except Mikawa will eventually find them. Let’s sit, and I’ll tell you about it. — You wouldn’t have some snacks?”
I resisted screaming and dug some yōkan out of our pack, hoping that if I gave her something, she would settle down and tell us what we wanted to know. The tactic worked, and she told us what had happened after we’d dropped Ume and Shishi off at Himekawa Hospital. It was so fantastic that only my personal experiences allowed me to accept it. I had my doubts, though, about the heroic role Shishi played. I couldn’t picture Shishi facing down Nurse Uguisu or a knife-wielding onryo.
Maiyoi-chan explained how the Mayoiga seduced people to remain, forgetting their prior lives, and cocooned them in comfort in exchange. The phrase “Tendō’s peace” now made sense. “I wouldn’t interfere,” Maiyoi-chan finished, “but Mikawa will eventually find them. That’s why I need you.”
“Why don’t you rescue them?” I asked, my prior irritation showing.
“Can you imagine the effort the Mayoiga would take to trap someone like me? Besides, I have you, Tomo the Gallant!”
There was that stupid name again, but I refused the bait and said, “But you’ll help us?”
“I’ll lead you into Kakuriyo, and when you return, we can celebrate. I’ll even write you a glorious, heroic song.”
Kan-chan muttered beside me, “Heroic, great.”
“And she was doing so well,” I thought, but apparently, I wasn’t the only one who found Maiyoi-chan hard to take.
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Note 1: The original waka.
迷い家で
天道の下に
燕と梅
待つよ今すぐ
来たなら助け
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Story by Nara Moore
Twitter/X:@nara_moore
Bluesky: @naramoore.bsky.social
Mastodon/Fedi: @NaraMoore
WordPress: Josei Yuri and Paranormal Romance
Art by Mai-sensei
Twitter: @Maiisheree
Bluesky: @Maisart
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