Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Musouka ~ Dare to Dream ❯ Kitsune no Hon ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

 

If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.

 

St. Sohma of Assisi - Year 1927

 

The Rabbit

 

Kitsune no Hon

 

“Come on Eriko, you can help me with the decorations,” Yuri said happily as she hung a wreath over the fireplace. Dikatou and Sarah were in the spirit too, while Sarah was cleaning, Dikatou was shoveling the driveway. And just as Eriko had predicted, it had started snowing.

 

“No thank you,” Eriko said dully as she walked up to her room and shut the door behind her.

 

It had been three days since they last saw the Sohmas, and in two days they'll be over for Christmas. Sarah already agreed that Shigure could sleep on the bed that unfolds from the couch in the office. They also had already gone shopping for their friends' gifts yesterday, and today they were to decorate and clean.

 

“Where's your sister Yuri?” Sarah asked as she walked by with cleaning supplies for the bathrooms. Yuri was working on putting lights around the stair railings and banister.

 

“She's in her room, ever since we came back from Shigure's house she's been as anti-social as ever.” Yuri answered.

 

“I'll go and talk to her when I go up there to wash your bathrooms.” Sarah suggested.

 

“That might be a good idea,” Yuri agreed as she went back to the wrapping.

 

“Phew! The snow just keeps falling,” they heard Dikatou say as he walked into the house. Sarah stopped for a minute to shout to him not to step on the floor with his boots.

 

I can't wait till they come over, it'll be so much fun! Yuri thought as she watched her mother vanish into her bathroom.

 

I hate this… Eriko growled in her mind, it was too silent for her taste. There was nothing to do no one to talk to since they were all busy, but than again why would she want to talk to anybody? She didn't need to; she lived at least sixteen years without being social, than it all changed when she met Kyo. Never had she ran into someone like him, but than again, there were a lot of boys she ran into that were temperamental, but Kyo was unlike them, in so many ways she couldn't describe.

 

I wonder what will happen on Christmas? During the time to wish… Eriko sighed; maybe they won't have so much as to have them over if it continues to snow this way. It wasn't till something nipped at her ear that she snapped out of her fantasy, she looked to her left to see a slim red fox look at her. It was a full-grown female with wise, golden eyes.

 

“Mistress Fox is sad, for the loss of someone dear am I correct?” the she-fox asked, her young, cunning voice said carefully.

 

“Not as much as the loss of someone, more like a, well, I'm not sure. How can you explain something that you can't explain?” she suddenly asked her, the fox sat on her hutches, her tail silent and still.

 

“Something you cannot explain can be spoken from actions and gestures, and even the heart. If the one you truly care about cares about you, he will know what it is you wish to say. That is how the correct bond of relationships work.” She explained.

 

“But how can you tell if someone likes you?”

 

“If one cares for you Mistress Fox, he will come for you,” she answered. “If one is shy, than he will come later. If he is one that hates to wait, he will come quickly. Either way, the correct one will come when the bond in the hands of God thinks the time is right.”

 

“Do you believe that miracles happen?” Eriko asked.

 

“It depends, on what miracles you wish to happen. Your eyes tell me you want something to happen on Christmas, and I agree miracles happen on those special occasions to everyone around the world. But it also depends, if two certain people think it is right on that certain time.” The fox explained.

 

“I lived for sixteen years, and no happiness had ever come out of it. Do you think God is just taking his time with me? Or had he forgotten me?” Eriko asked, looking into the fox's eyes.

 

“Thy Lord treats everyone with equal balance Mistress Fox, for he holds all power of the creatures he created. He certainly has not forgotten about you I'm sure, but I do believe he made you go through life the way you did for a purpose, something that you'll have to figure out on your own.” The fox said.

 

“You're starting to sound like one of those old ladies we use to see in America in church.” Eriko commented lightly.

 

“Maybe I am, I'm starting to age. One that is young is quick to act and slow to think, as age comes, the more wisdom and experience you gain that will probably help your children in their children, and so on.” The fox said.

 

“You're wrong on something, I'm never going to have a child, I'll be long gone and probably dead before I can get that far into a relationship.” Eriko said.

 

“Must you be so hopeless Mistress Fox? Generations before had been so frightened to be near anyone, even their own parents, and most were only single childs. But there is one thing that separates you from the rest,” the fox said.

 

“How am I different?” she asked.

 

“You met so many people like you without even noticing, why else did you feel at ease with them? Don't you know why? If you don't, than I cannot answer you. All I can say is that people around others that are like them in so many ways, can feel wanted, needed, comfortable, and accepted.” The fox said.

 

“But, how can the Sohmas be like us? They're a bigger family, two of them even fight a lot,”

 

“Two that fight more than usual? Two that fight just as much as the Rat and Cat? Think about it, their family is large, your family is large, there are so many ways that you can relate to at least one of them.” The fox explained. “And I think the one you relate to most, is that boy you like.”

 

“How can I relate to him?” Eriko asked, the fox jumped off her bed and was about to vanished through the cracked door. “Don't go! Tell me how we're alike?” The she-fox stopped and her head turned to look at her.

 

“Let's just say you both suffer in such a similar way, it won't be such a surprise if you don't run away.” The fox said, than she vanished out of the door and than out of the house without anyone noticing her.

 

“How can we both be suffering? The only way I know how Kyo suffers is when he and Yuki fight. I just don't get it,” Eriko said with a slight moan. Nothing was making sense now! Than her eyes widened, That's it! Sense, I can go over to the Sanotomono Estate and look up the Fox! There has to be something in there about the Fox! When she bolted up into sitting position, Yuri came in.

 

“Excited about something?” she asked, but Eriko was already standing and getting ready to leave.

 

“I'm going to the Estate, don't try and stop me.” Eriko warned in her usual dull tone.

 

“The Estate, whatever for?”

 

“Something that I can't even understand, I'll be back sometime tonight. You can worry if I don't get back by tomorrow afternoon.” Eriko said as she put on her coat and hurried out the door. Yuri; dumbfounded, found their parents staring at the door that was now shut after Eriko left. Leaving them clueless.

 

“She'll be back by tomorrow,” Yuri said. Sarah and Dikatou didn't bother to ask.

 

There's got to be some answers in that library! There's just got to! Eriko thought as she ran at top speed, people's eyes widened when she ran by. Her black hair was the only thing standing out amongst her body to those she passed. If she walked it would have taken about four hours to arrive at the Estate, of course, the only reason she was anxious was to get some answers. She would probably have to stop by to see Kaede and Mei as well, if she were awake anyhow.

 

“Finally…” she panted as she came to the front gate. She went to open it till her aunt's voice came to her ears.

 

“Who's there! Oh! Eriko?” it was Aunt Kita, Eriko sighed when she saw her aunt open the door a little, her eyes filled with suspicion and curiosity. “How did you know how to get here? I don't believe you've ever came here before,” Eriko pointed at her nose, the car Aunt Kita drove to get Kaede from Shigure's house drove by there to get here had a faint gasoline scent still lingering. It was easy to track it to here. And of course, Aunt Kita knew that she was the Fox.

 

“I'm sorry Eriko, but Mei woke up this morning and didn't want anyone to leave nor enter the Estate, I'm afraid that includes you too.” Aunt Kita said. (She did this by writing it)

 

“But this is urgent, I want to get in to-” Eriko began. But her aunt cut her off. It was useless; her Aunt Kita was a stern, yet friendly woman that listened well to anybody that needed to talk. And listening so happened to have `orders' on the list.

 

“I'm sorry Eriko-chan, but I simply can't let you in.” Aunt Kita said as she shut the gate and locked it. “Have a good day,”

 

Fine than, if I can't get in that way, I'll find another. Eriko growled mentally.

 

The sun was long gone from the sky when Eriko decided to climb up a tall oak tree to sneak into the Estate. She had no cover since it was winter and so all the leaves had fallen. She also had to make every step as cautious as she was determined, because one slip would have her fall. And even though she would survive it unscathed, it was another possibility that if she fell the tree limbs would shake and cause noise. But now she was on a good high-leveled branch, peering down at the Estate grounds.

 

Her nose to the air for a moment, and detected nothing except Mei asleep in her room that was probably in large house not far from the small house that smelled of dusty, old books. Kaede was asleep as well, Aunt Kita and other people that lived in the Estate were either patrolling the Estate one last time before turning in or in bed.

 

Eriko waited for fifteen minutes as she watched with keen, blue eyes one person at a time go into their rooms than fall into slumber. It was probably in the middle of the night that Eriko found no one else awake and silently jumped onto the Estate's surrounding fence. A bit of snow fell to the ground from the girl's impact, but still, no other sound came. The sight of the deserted Estate made her think instantly of a ghost town, but besides that, the fact that she was so high terrified her more.

 

Just jump! She thought as she finally closed her eyes and leaped off the fence and landed quietly in the snow that went up to her knees. She stood up and looked slightly surprised, I should do that more often, she thought as she than turned her attention to the home with the bookshelves and began walking up the stairs.

 

Holy! Her jaw dropped, the house was like a mini-library, there was a round table in the middle of the room with six chairs, and another chair was far away with a light towering over it. But there wasn't a wall in this room without a shelf full of alphabetically ordered books. She began her search instantly.

 

Should I look in the Fs or Ks? She wondered, in the tale sometimes people think of the foxes as kitsunes, so that made it more confusing as to which she could look at first. But since F was closer, she decided to look at those first. … … … … … … … ah! Here's one! She finally plucked a book out from the shelf almost as big as a dictionary called Kitsune no Hon. She happily opened it to the Table of Contents.

 

Table of Contents

 

Chapter One

 

Japan's Suspicions

 

Chapter Two

 

Inari, the Rice Goddess

 

Chapter Three

 

Kitsune Tales

 

Chapter Four

 

The Fox

 

Chapter Five

 

The Cat

 

The Cat? Why would the Cat be in the book about the Fox? Eriko thought as she skipped pages to Chapter Four, deciding that she would read that later. Her eyes looked down at the Fox, a quiet, stoic black kitsune sitting on it's hutches with the word `Intelligent' in Kanji behind it.

 

She sighed as she began reading it. It was becoming interesting by the minute, when it came to a certain time period with the Fox, her eyes widened in disbelief. It wasn't long afterwards that her ears caught quiet breathing, her hair bristled as she looked to her left. It was Mei; the scent of illness covered her from head to toe.

 

Mei was around seventeen years old she supposed with white, straight hair hanging down her back and neatly trimmed bangs right above her beautiful orange eyes that showed concern and weariness. Her lips were unmoving, and she wore a maroon kimono with golden designs of plants and flower petals. Her arms were neatly folded her large sleeves and her kimono went down the floor.

 

“Mei,” Eriko murmured, she smelled that she had been there ever since she started reading the book, she probably couldn't sense it because she was so into reading. Eriko didn't know what to expect from her, she hadn't ever seen her in her life.

 

She moved towards the girl and than sat down next to her to look at the book, she was completely emotionless, like she wasn't happy, sad, angry, nor anything. Eriko watched her in curiosity for several moments before she pulled something out from her left sleeve. It was a journal, a particularly old one no doubt. Mei handed it to her and watched her as if expecting her to do something.

 

“Do you want me to keep it?” Eriko asked, her voice cool and face blank. The girl nodded as she than stood back up and walked out of the room. How strange, it was as if she was a puppet, being controlled by strings and made with one face yet no voice. Eriko would have opened it than, but she realized how tired she was, and how the sun's first rays of light streamed through the room.

 

By morning, when Kita got out of her house and stretched, she heard a small twinge of icicles, she turned to her left, to just notice a small wisp of ebony vanish over the Estate's wisp.

 

I don't get it! I just don't get it! Eriko growled mentally as she ran through the forest of white with both books held tightly under her arm. She couldn't understand it, what was in the book, was something she couldn't understand. Was it by chance she came across the information or had God decided to put her fate into action and now, she was really becoming a puppet, probably just like Mei.