Kongou's Backstory by Rolly-chan
A soft, mild night's breeze brushed through Kongou's fur and made the curly ends of her two tails wave in the air. The bright full moon illuminated the forest canopy, colored it a ghostly shade of green, and cast pitch black shadows all around.
Kongou strolled along a narrow path, leisurely glancing from side to side, sometimes catching a swinging branch with her eyes. She loved her nightly walks; they always managed to cheer her up immensely. Especially on a full moon night, when she could watch the round, glowing ball in the sky. It always reminded her of the hoshi no tamas, the small star balls, that the kitsunes possessed.
She sighed. She would very much like such a hoshi no tama, even though she was aware of the fact that it was probably safer without one. But she couldn't help her fondness of those glowing balls.
The narrow path broadened and she finally came to a halt right in front of a small lake that reflected the moon almost like a mirror.
Smiling, Kongou jumped high into the air and landed on the surface of the seemingly black water. The air pressure of her dark paws almost slamming down on the lake caused small circles in the water that seemed to glow with the moonlight, and her white eyes that held no pupils narrowed slightly with her happy smile. For a moment, she stood there and looked at her slightly moving reflection, noticing again how different she was from all the other kitsune she knew.
The next moment she flew across the lake, running sharp zigzags and curves, sidestepping and jumping on the water, never actually touching it. Roaming, being free, feeling the wind in her face, the sparkling life in her soul. She closed her eyes before she slowed down and finally stopped. When she opened them again, she stood on solid ground, the lake behind her, but still smiling.
It was then that she heard the rustling of leaves and the muffled sound of footsteps a small distance in front of her. Instead of being alarmed, her smile morphed into a sly grin, and she quickly hid behind a bush, where her contours dissolved and grew, making her taller and broader, and also multiplied the simple square pattern on her back. Her tails grew with her, now ending in black flames, which also appeared at her shoulders and hips.
Her other form completed, she disappeared completely into the black shadow of the trees, as though cast invisible by magic.
When the human, dressed in his strange, dark robes, came into view, Kongou was surprised not to see the same human she had met several times now in this forest. This was not the human that had laughed at her fox fire and tried to play with it. Shrugging, she created a small, floating, black fire, and let it fly right in front of the humans face, who jumped in surprise.
Kongou couldn't help but snicker.
"Where are you, you tricky, sly little fox?" the human asked and Kongou instantly froze.
How did that human know? How COULD he know?
Kongou held her breath, even though she knew that human couldn't possibly see her in the shadow, even IF he could see youkai. But what if he knew a way to reveal her? She didn't want to think about the possible consequences.
Instead, she soundlessly turned around and wanted to move through the next shadow, but she was cut short by some mumblings of the human. She had never heard the words that human was babbling before. She wasn't expecting anything good, though, and so she quickly moved forward until she reached the lake.
She yearned to be able to run across it, but not this time.
The human mumbled again and suddenly Kongou felt herself being pulled out of the protecting shadow, right into the moonlight that fell upon her dark fur. At night, it seemed to be a dark shade of grey.
Slowly, she turned around her head and looked right into the eyes of the human. Who was not alone any more.
"Dragon?", she asked aloud, eyes widening. The dragon, although in human form, stood beside the human, staring at her. And she didn't care about anything anymore.
As quickly as she could, she turned back into her first form and ran across the lake in a straight line. The faster she got away, the better. She just couldn't afford a confrontation with a dragon. Despite them being mostly benevolent creatures, in the hands of a human, they could cause so much damage.
And Kongou didn't want to be the target of that power.
Right in the middle of the lake, however, the water suddenly started to ripple, until there appeared waves as big as Kongou that disrupted her sense of balance completely. She fell to the side and crashed into the water with a loud splash.
It was over, Kongou thought. The water was the dragon's territory. In the water, Kongou didn't stand a chance against him.
But she didn't want to lose. Neither her life, nor her freedom.
And so she struggled to swim to the surface again, but just as she broke through it, the dragon grabbed her and encircled her like a spiral, making her unable to move or even twitch a muscle. In that fashion, he dragged her over to the lakeside, where he remained.
The human came into her view again. This time, he was smiling.
"Now, now, what have we here? A black kitsune? What a lucky day."
Kongou widened her white eyes in fear as the man stepped right in front of her. He smelled like anger, resentment and hatred.
"No, not a black kitsune. You are different," he said and reached out one of his long fingers that he let brush over her forehead, where she assumed was her tipped white rectangle. She pressed her eyes shut as he touched her, and only opened them again when she couldn't feel his finger on her head anymore.
"Now, how would you like a name, little kitsune?"
In a heartbeat, Kongou started to struggle against the steely grip of the dragon. If the human managed to give her a name, it would all be over. But she wasn't meant to be bound to a master she didn't want. She was meant to be free. And she already bore a name
But not matter how much she tried to stem against the long, snake-like body of the dragon, it didn't budge even the slightest bit. She pressed her eyes firmly together in anticipation of the next thing the human would say.
"How about Rin? Yes, that suits you well, as elegant as you look. Your name, from now on, will be Rin."
The second he confirmed the name, Kongou felt something similar to a pull. Like a rope that had been fastened around her soul and that had been pulled towards the human. After that, everything felt normal again. Except that the fact of her new bond with that human sank in deep, and left nausea in its wake.
"Don't struggle against it, little kitsune. You're mine now, no matter what you do." The human nodded towards the dragon, who instantly removed its body from Kongou and floated over to stand next to the human, just a step behind and to the side.
Kongou stood on shaking legs, not able to run anymore, not able to do anything to escape this situation.
It WAS over. She was bound. And if she disobeyed, the consequences would be awful. She had heard enough stories from other youkai.
"Tell me, where do you come from? I have never seen you around here."
Kongou pressed her jaw tightly together so she didn't have to answer, but the pull of her bond didn't allow her to disobey.
"I don't know. I only know that this forest is my home."
The man sighed and shook his head. When he looked at her again, he showed a small smile.
"Welcome, Rin."
All she could think was that her name wasn't Rin - it was Kongou. Even though she didn't even know why that was her name. She didn't understand why that human asked her about her origin. It had never been a topic among youkai. They just were there, which was quite enough.
She wondered whether they knew where they came from and how they came to be.
"Come, Rin, we're going home."
Obeying grudgingly, she followed her new master.
***
Kongou sat in the corner of the room and watched the human intently, who sat at a narrow wooden table, as humans called it. The dragon, in his human form, sat diagonally opposite from him, head tilted forward and eyes closed.
The human smells all pressed in on her nose, rendering it pretty useless in these surroundings. With much willpower, she held back a sneeze.
"So, Rin", the human said, "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" He smiled, which only managed to confuse her. He didn't show such a behavior back in the forest.
"My name is Daiki Kurosawa. I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. I don't like being tricked."
His eyes narrowed the slightest bit.
"Will you tell me what powers you have? You don't seem to be the average kitsune."
Kongou averted her gaze and now looked at the open door, out into the beautifully arranged garden, with its small pond, Sakura tree and neatly placed stones that were faintly illuminated by the moon.
"I am not much use without shadows."
She didn't want to talk to that human. In fact, she didn't want to talk to any human at all. She wanted back into the forest; she wanted it to be as it was before that human came along.
"Shadows, you say? I have never heard of a kitsune that used shadows."
Kongou finally turned back to Daiki.
"Because there are none that do. At least I haven't heard of one."
He smiled again, causing Kongou to furrow her brows in confusion.
"What is it then that you can do? When you tried to trick me with your fox fire, you were invisible."
"I can dissolve into shadows. I can switch my form..." She demonstrated it by fluidly morphing into her second form again, which she hadn't used since she was caught.
Daiki widened his eyes, seemingly impressed.
"I can create shadows and form them into illusions at night. And I can walk over the surface of water... or on air."
"And you can send out your fox fire," Daiki added, still smiling. Maybe that man really wasn't so bad, Kongou thought.
"You are a very interesting kitsune. Maybe even unique. I'm sorry again for my earlier behavior. And I'm sorry for naming you, but I need support for a certain plan."
Kongou twitched her ears while watching Daiki again without moving.
"There is another man; an exorcist. He is naming a number of youkai to control them. And his intentions aren't anywhere near good with them." His facial features formed into a concerned grimace.
"I am sure those youkai don't want to be bound to him, much like you don't want to be bound to me, I assume."
Kongou leaned her head to the side, interested. She hadn't known there was someone like that nearby. That human, Daiki, didn't seem to be that bad after all. He was just a bit impulsive, as it seemed.
"I need your help freeing those youkai. Will you assist me?"
Kongou furrowed her brows again. She didn't want to agree to anything yet.
"I promise you to set you free again after I accomplish my goal to help those youkai. There are so many of them that want to be free too."
Slowly, tentatively, Kongou nodded, causing Daiki to smile again, his concerned expression washed away like a faint painting in the sand washed away by the waves of the sea.
"I am happy that you want to help me, and your fellow youkai being abused by that man. But for my plan to work, you must listen carefully."
Finally, Kongou stood up from the corner she sat in and walked towards the table, sitting down across from Daiki.
"You need to lure him out of his house and capture him until I come. I need to do some preparations like purifying myself, which Migaki here," he nodded towards the dragon, "will assist me with."
Daiki looked over his shoulder at a door, before turning back to Kongou.
"I need to change my robes before Migaki and I go. Both of you, wait here for me, it won't take long."
With that, Daiki stood swiftly and walked right through the door into the other room behind it, closing it after him.
Once Daiki had left, Migaki's eyes that he had kept closed all the time, landed on her, which made her nervous.
"He is a very intelligent and ambitious man," Migaki said in the low, impressive voice that dragons usually possessed.
"That much I have seen," Kongou replied as neutral as she could. She hadn't forgotten how that dragon had overpowered her easily, holding her captive.
"I am truly sorry for treating you the way I did at the lake. I didn't want to."
Kongou cocked her head to the side, confused again.
The dragons bright blue eyes flashed as though reflecting a bright light.
"Mark my words. This man is very ambitious."
"I don't understand what you mean," Kongou said, irritated.
"You will soon enough..."
Kongou shook her head as though that could make her confusion go away like a little fly. For a moment, neither of them said a word.
"Say, dragon... where do YOU come from? Do you remember?" Kongou asked then, seizing an opportunity she maybe wouldn't have other than now.
Migaki looked puzzled for a second, but then his expression turned thoughtful.
"I remember that I was a carp, swimming up a small waterfall. There were many others with me, but only a few of us managed to climb it. After that, I changed into a dragon, as I am now."
Kongou wanted to ask him why she couldn't remember her past, when the door slid open again and Daiki walked back towards them, this time dressed in bright robes with complex patterns and drawings on them.
"You are having a conversation, how nice. I hope I haven't interrupted?"
Kongou almost opened her mouth to tell him about what had been exchanged between her and Migaki, but faster than she could blink, Migaki already answered.
"No, master Kawasaki, we had finished," he said without looking at the human.
It took all Kongou's willpower not to throw her head around to Migaki. Whatever he told her, he wanted to keep it a secret. Why, Kongou couldn't explain to herself.
"I will give you these ofuda scrolls. If you lay them down on the ground and arrange them into a square, they will form a cage and the man I told you about won't be able to step out of it once inside."
Kongou nodded and took the scrolls in her mouth, carefully holding them with her teeth alone.
"Can you follow the description I'm going to give you so you find the man's house?"
She nodded again and Daiki jumped into his explanation, which Kongou burned into her memory so she didn't make a mistake.
"That's it, then," Daiki said, smiling at Kongou, who actually managed to smile back at him.
And with that, he turned and nodded towards Migaki to follow him. Behind Daiki's back, Migaki gave her a pointed look from wide, bright blue eyes.
More than a little confused, Kongou set out behind them.
***
Capturing that human had been easier than Kongou previously thought. Appearing in front of his door had been enough to make him open it, and upon seeing her, that dumb example of a human stepped out of the house and right into the cage Kongou had laid out with the ofudas Daiki had given her.
"This is Daiki's doing, isn't it?" the man said after he had looked closer at one of the scrolls. It turned out that he wasn't all that stupid if he actually appointed them correctly.
Instead of trying to get out of there, he slumped down on the ground cross-legged, laying his wrists on his knees so that his hands hung down leisurely. In his face sat a small smile.
All in all, he didn’t' make the impression that he had lost a battle. For someone who had just been trapped, he seemed much too cheerful.
"Has he given you a name?"
Kongou cocked her head to the side and twitched her ears. Was she allowed to talk to that human? But then again, what else could she do while waiting for her new master?
"He named me Rin," she answered, lying next to the invisible cage.
"You don't like that name, it seems."
Taken aback, Kongou widened her eyes in surprise.
"How did you know?"
"Well, wouldn't you say 'My name is Rin' instead of 'he named me Rin' if you liked that name?" he asked in a matter-of-fact tone, still smiling softly. His relaxed position caused Kongou to feel relaxed as well. That was when she noticed.
"I remember you. You are that human I have tried to trick in the forest a few times!"
He surveyed her from top to toe, a grin spreading in his face. "So YOU are the kitsune behind that. You are not a normal kitsune, are you?"
"He asked that as well," Kongou said, shifting her body to the other side, "I am different. I do not have their powers and they don't have most of mine."
"Interesting. I haven't seen a kitsune like you before."
"That is because there is none like me," Kongou repeated her answer that she had already given to Daiki.
"What else is different?" the man asked, leaning his head to the side, which made him look even more relaxed.
"I already have a name. It's Kongou. All the other youkai I know don't have names."
The man whistled and made Kongou's ears twitch because of that. She liked that sound.
"Well, it's only fair to tell you my name, now that I know your true one. It's Hiroshi Fukui, but you can call me Hiro."
At that notion, he actually winked at her.
"I wonder..." Hiroshi mused, "why do you have a name when no other youkai do? Did you name yourself that?"
Kongou shook her head. "It wasn't me. I don't remember why my name is Kongou. I had that name for as long as I can remember."
"How old are you already? You have two tails, so you must be at least a hundred years old."
Now it was Kongou's time to be impressed. That guy actually knew something about kitsunes.
"I am a little over a hundred years old now. I don't know my actual age. Somewhere about one hundred and twenty." She knew that she was still a quite young kitsune. There were some kitsunes with as much as five tails that she knew. And from them, she heard that they could get as many as nine. But for that, they'd need to reach the respectable age of a thousand years. She still had a long way to go for that.
"Don't you remember when you were born?" Hiroshi asked, giving up his cross-legged sitting position to crawl nearer towards Kongou. There, at the edge of the cage, he lay down and leaned his chin on his hands, steadying them with his elbows on the ground.
Kongou waited till Hiroshi didn't move any more before she answered.
"I don't remember if I was born. I just was."
There was a sparkle in Hiroshi's eyes as he locked them with hers.
"But don't you want to know where you came from? What your roots are? Doesn't everyone want to know why he's in this world?"
"I have never asked myself that," Kongou admitted, wondering what she might have missed, thinking about if her life would be any different if she knew. Was there a purpose of her being here?
"I also wonder..." Hiroshi mused aloud again, looking thoughtfully at Kongou, who, on the outside, seemed to wait patiently, while on the inside, she yelled at that human to go on faster.
"What did Daiki tell you about me?"
The question hit Kongou unexpectedly so that words eluded her for a few seconds in which she wondered whether she could tell him. But she managed to catch herself again and decided that it couldn't harm anyone.
"He wants to free the youkai you have enslaved. After that, he will set me free too."
Hiroshi laughed, making his shoulders shake slightly.
"He actually did? That's very much like him."
"You know him?" Now, Kongo pulled herself more towards the cage, closing the gap between them so that only some inches separated them.
"Oh yes, yes, I do. We were once friends, actually. He's a pretty tragic man. I wish I could have helped him." Hiroshi sighed, for the first time looking sad rather than amused.
"Did he tell me a lie...?" Kongou asked, already expecting the confirmation. She understood now what Migaki tried to convey to her.
"Yes, very much so. I do not enslave youkai. I don't have named any of them. But I do have some friends among them."
Kongou narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How come I don't know any youkai with human friends?"
"Well, would it be wise of them to mention it?" he asked, matter-of-factly again.
"I guess not."
"What I also don't do is having amoral motives of any sorts. I really am an exorcist, if he told you that, but I only... well, extract the youkai that possess humans, I do not kill them."
Kongou didn't know what to say to that. She knew that some humans had the powers to see youkai that were usually not seen by humans, and that some of those could exorcise them. But whenever youkai told her about that, they seemed so disgusted and afraid that she just assumed all exorcists were filthy murderers.
Somehow, she trusted Hiroshi. At least, he didn't try to squeeze her with the help of some dragon friend.
"Why should I trust you?" she asked, flat out.
"Well, I'm much prettier than Daiki is." He snickered. Even though Kongou didn't understand human aesthetics, she could only agree with him. His features were much smoother, his eyes friendlier and his dark hair looked silky. "And I'm much friendlier towards youkai."
Kongou lay her head on her paws and closed her eyes for a moment. She pictured his happy expression when he tried to play with her fox fire in the forest. When she opened them and raised her head again, Hiroshi was staring at them.
"You really have beautiful white eyes. Fascinating."
"You are a flatterer," she noted. He winked at her again, and she smiled in return.
Then, she heard steps. Two pairs of them. She instantly knew who that was, and just when she turned her head to the right, two figures appeared in the street.
"Ah, Rin. I see you have fulfilled your duty excellently."
"Daiki, long time no see", Hiroshi greeted him, pushing himself off the ground.
"What have you been doing down there, Hiroshi. Bowing at my feet, I assume?"
Hiroshi laughed lightly, but his eyes remained serious.
"I had made myself comfortable, since waiting for you can take a while."
Daiki frowned at him, but didn't remark anything.
"Now, do me a favor and call your nine-tailed friend."
Kongou widened her eyes. A nine-tailed friend? That could only mean that Hiroshi knew a nine-tailed kitsune. If he would really come, that would be the first time Kongou saw one that was so old.
Hiroshi crossed his arms in front of his chest, now glaring at Daiki.
"Why should I?"
"Because," Daiki replied, a malicious grin creeping on his face, "I will kill you if you don't."
This statement made it clear to Kongou that she shouldn't have trusted him right from the start. If he killed the man, the bonds he had with youkai (if he had them at all) would stay intact forever.
"You won't be happy about that meeting," Hiroshi replied, but then sighed. "But I will call him. Kyuubi-sama, would you do me the favor and come?"
Nothing happened.
"Do you honestly expect him to come when he's not even near enough to hear you?" Kongou asked incredulously.
Hiroshi smiled sadly at her. "He will."
True to his words, Kongou's ears twitched backwards, and when she turned her head around, she saw him at the end of the road, slowly walking towards them.
When he finally arrived, he stopped just a few feet before Daiki. His nine tails fell around his back like a peacock's and his white fur color seemed to glow.
"I warn you, human," the nine-tails said, his eyes glowing so white that his black pupils were barely visible, "If you harm him, you will not see the end of the day."
"I doubt that," Daiki said, "because I know how to stop you."
Kongou exchanged a glance with Migaki, who nodded at her and closed his eyes, making it seem as though he just tilted his head forward.
"What do you want, petty human?" the nine-tailed asked ferociously.
"You are a powerful youkai, and I heard you come around and know many things. I need to know how to add his powers to my own after extracting them."
Kongou almost let a sharp 'what' slip out, but in the last minute, she managed to constrain it.
The nine-tails let out a low laugh and his eyes shifted to Kongou for a split second, which was cue enough for her to finally do something about this dire situation.
"What's so funny, nine-tails? You won't be the last to laugh."
"But you won't be the one, either," Kongou threw in and dove for one of the scrolls holding the cage in place and ripped it to shreds with her sharp claws. Instantly, Daiki formed his hands to seals and mumbled words Kongou had never heard, but before he could finish his incantation, the nine-tails already had thrown him to the ground and put his clawed paw on his mouth. Held firmly by the nine-tails paws and tails, Daiki couldn't move even an inch.
"What will you do now, petty human?" the nine-tails growled, while Hiroshi came to Kongou and put a hand on her shoulder, smiling at her. He mouthed a soundless 'thank you' and turned towards Daiki and the nine-tails, whose fox fire danced threateningly around himself and Daiki.
"That's enough, kyuubi-sama. You shouldn't harm him too much."
After Kongou exchanged a glance with Migaki again, they both stepped towards the trio. They were a part of this too after all.
"Why shouldn't he? That man tried to trick us and threatened to kill you."
Hiroshi smiled at her again. "But your bonds would then still be in place. Don't you want to be free?"
The nine-tails raised his head and smiled at them, too. "He is right. But you should know, Hiro, that I wouldn't kill a human. I promised you, after all."
"Daiki was right about one thing, though. Extracting one's power. It is possible."
Kongou stepped forward. "You mean, you want to extract his power and add it to your own, just like he wanted yours?"
Hiroshi actually chuckled in reply. "No, no. I don't need his power. But you'd certainly agree with me that it would be better if he lost it. It would make it much harder for him to harm someone. Including youkai."
"Why don't you want it?" Migaki asked and sounded as confused as Kongou felt.
Hiroshi blinked at them. He didn't seem to understand why THEY didn't understand.
"Hiro is a human, youngsters. And he is a pretty honorable one," the nine-tails said with a pointed glance at said man.
"You honor me too much, kyuubi-sama," Hiroshi said and laughed lightly, before breaking off abruptly and looked as serious as before.
"Now, let me finish this." He knelt down next to Daiki, who was still held down by the nine-tails.
"I'm sorry, Daiki, but you don't leave me any other choice."
Kongou sighed and rolled her eyes. Humans were strange creatures. But at least, this Hiroshi accepted youkai as they were.
She watched him while he pulled an empty scroll out of his robes and attached it at Daiki's forehead. He started to mumble in a language foreign to her, as those humans always did. When he finished the incantation, Daiki's whole body went limp and his eyes rolled back before they closed.
The nine-tails let go of him, stepping aside. On the scroll now appeared faint complex lines that grew clearer and darker each second, until they stood out starkly against the white sheet.
Even before Hiroshi said it, Kongou felt what happened. She literally felt the rope that represented her bond to Daiki ripped from her.
Hiroshi opened his eyes, still looking sadly down at his former friend. "You are free now. He has no powers anymore."
Kongou and Migaki looked at each other, and stayed where they were.
"They are waiting, Hiro. You should at least say goodbye," the nine-tails told him with an amused grin.
The man pushed himself off the ground again and turned around to them, the scroll in his hands. As soon as he locked his eyes with Kongou's, the smile returned to his face.
"Well... that's it. You are free and can go wherever your heart desires to be."
"How poetic," Kongou replied sarcastically. She cocked her head to the side and blinked innocently. "What will you do with that scroll?"
Hiroshi quickly looked at the sheet and back at Kongou. "I'll rip it apart to dissolve his powers and let them return to nature."
A very noble move, Kongou thought. Maybe humans did possess honor after all. She looked at Migaki, who shifted restlessly.
"I am very grateful to you, human. You are the first human that does not disgust me." Migaki, now nameless, bowed down - and it didn't need Kongou or the nine-tails to point out that it was an incomparable honor to be bowed to by a dragon.
Which was why Hiroshi bowed in return. "It was an honor to me to help you."
"If you ever need MY help, you can look for me at the lake in the forest. Farewell." The dragon transformed into his real form and roared into the sky, disappearing in the direction of the forest. Where Kongou wanted to return as well, as soon as she was finished here.
"So," Hiroshi stressed and looked from the nine-tails to Kongou and back to the nine-tails again.
"Yes? In case you didn't know, I do not have the ability to read minds." Kongou blinked innocently again.
"Well, maybe if you try hard enough, you'll manage?" Hiroshi replied, grinning goofily.
"You're a funny human."
"Haha, well, maybe. What I was trying to say is… kyuubi-sama, since you are already here, you can surely help us finding out where this beautiful Kitsune comes from? "
"Oh yes, I can certainly help you find out how young Kongou came to be." His eyes met Kongou's and seemed to look through them and right into her soul. She shivered.
"How did you know her name?" Hiroshi asked, completely taken aback.
The nine-tails laughed at Hiroshi. "That is because I named her."
"What?!" Kongou and Hiroshi asked in unison.
The nine-tails laughed, sticking his snout up into the air. His tails vibrated behind him. Then he looked at Kongou and suddenly, she felt a pang of sadness rising in her chest.
"I created you one hundred and twenty two years ago. And it is a rather sad story."
His appearance, which she hadn't had the time to acknowledge before, now took her breath away, but she wasn't too surprised - being overwhelmed by the revelation that she had been created by him did the rest. She couldn't bring out one word.
"Back then, I still had eight tails... and was in the company of my beloved mate. She was the most beautiful kitsune. But then... she got ill. The disease worsened each passing day, and eventually she died."
He looked up over Kongou's head into the sky, but he didn't seem to focus on anything, lost in reminiscence.
"It had been in that same forest your dragon friend just left to. I still had eight tails... I still had my loyal mate accompany me. She was the most beautiful kitsune, too. We had grown up together, then married. We had known each other for seven hundred years. But then she suddenly got ill. The disease progressed and her condition got worse each passing day. Eventually she died."
There was a single tear rolling down his snout, and as he blinked, another tear followed.
"My grief overwhelmed me, and as I sat beside my beloved mate, in the black shadow of a tree near a lake, I cried for the love I lost. In that moment, all the love I felt for her intensified, and my tears must have been filled with it. Once they fell onto the ground, into my own shadow, it created a living being. You."
His story grabbed Kongou and pulled her into the position of this nine-tailed kitsune one hundred and twenty two years ago. She felt the grief, the love. But before she could spill tears, she stopped herself.
"That is how I came to be? This is what I am? A shadow?" she asked hoarsely.
Someone blew his nose and as Kongou turned her head, she saw Hiroshi holding something white in front of his nose. His eyes looked watery and a few tears had already spilled.
"Sorry, that's just so sad, kyuubi-sama..."
The nine-tails gave him a soft smile. Then he turned back to Kongou.
"In a sense, yes, you are a shadow. But you are not my shadow, nor anyone else's. You are as real as every other youkai, every other creature. And I am very glad to have created such a creature as you."
Kongou gulped down the clump in her throat. "Thank you."
"It is me who needs to thank you, young Kongou. In that moment I lost my love, you made me realize that I could still create good in this world. That is why I didn't follow her path back then."
Kongou nodded in understanding and kept her head low. She couldn't get them to open.
"Can I ask you one question?" Kongou asked, eyes still averted.
"Go on."
"Why did you leave me back then?" she asked and finally looked up into his eyes, that narrowed in his smile.
"I didn't want to see you as a substitute for my lost love. You could have easily become one."
Out of the corners of her eyes, Kongou saw how Hiroshi went to the nine-tails and hugged him, which made her raise her brows.
"That's so sad! Why didn't you ever tell me? Listen, kyuubi-sama, you can visit me whenever you like! Don't let yourself get lonely."
The nine-tails laughed hard at this, letting Hiroshi pat his fur affectionately before stepping back from him.
"Thank you for your offer, Hiro. I know I am most welcome here. Do not worry about me... it's time for me to go. Farewell, my friends."
He gave them a last nod, before turning and disappearing the same way he had come from.
"Well, now this leaves us two," Hiroshi said and swirled around to walk back to Kongou.
"Kongou... can I give you a nickname? Like Konny? You're a wonderful Konny." Kongou couldn't hold back the chuckle that emerged when she saw his tear-stricken, smiling face. Humans were so hilarious.
"I usually don't allow any abuse of my name... but I guess I'll let you go with that, Hiro."
"Thank you very much, oh great shadow kitsune." He made a low bow.
"You humans are so pathetic."
Hiroshi chuckled. "You youkai aren't so much different from us, actually. So what does this make us?"
"Two young fools, I'd say."
Hiroshi sighed, folded that white thing and stored it in his robes. Then he looked at her.
"I guess this is goodbye then?"
"Certainly. But don't expect to get rid of me permanently. I'm not doing you that favor," Kongou warned him, but couldn't suppress the grin from spreading.
"If you ever feel lonely in your lovely forest, you're always welcome to drop by and play a trick on me," Hiroshi said, smiling, when he suddenly crossed the distance between them and hugged her like he had hugged the nine-tails. A very affectionate gesture, Kongou thought. But she didn't mind with this particular human.
"Just be careful with that liar. He's not to be trusted." As she turned and slowly walked away, she could hear Hiroshi chuckle behind her and mumble something about that he had completely forgotten about Daiki.
When she thought about the story of her creation, a smile crept upon her face. She was a product of such great a love that it couldn't be contained.
A pleasantly warm feeling grew in her chest. She had never felt so complete. As if a missing piece of a puzzle had been attached to the rest of her. Her past, she mused.
She would certainly never forget.
Those who entered this contest:
MatsumotoRangiku
Friendie30
Utopia
Eep ZigZag
Chocolate Bunny
unicornblood07
✿♥ฬαтɛɾмεℓσภ♥✿
Muffinette
Viriami
Rolly-chan
Unknown Child
ke$ha_r0x
DreamWolfess
dragon1999109
Horsemadlottie
kimmy1479
Ɔιяcʋƨ Ғ·я·ɛ·α·κ
MatsumotoRangiku
Friendie30
Utopia
Eep ZigZag
Chocolate Bunny
unicornblood07
✿♥ฬαтɛɾмεℓσภ♥✿
Muffinette
Viriami
Rolly-chan
Unknown Child
ke$ha_r0x
DreamWolfess
dragon1999109
Horsemadlottie
kimmy1479
Ɔιяcʋƨ Ғ·я·ɛ·α·κ
