Chapter Text
Natsumi dreamed.
It was a nice dream, a pleasant one. Sunlight warm against her skin, air clean and bright around her.
She was small, around five years old if her memory was correct, tiny and pudgy as all small children should be, eyes wide as she looks around her environment.
She stood barefoot in the forests on the farthest side of her family’s fields, with trees that were older that the fields her family ploughed, and a thick as two men. The ground was covered in thick soft undergrowth which squished under her careful steps as she traversed the woods.
She had never been allowed in before, the forest so large and trees so massive that she would surely be lost, especially if she was alone.
But this time she was not alone.
Beside her walked a fox, taller than her with fur of shining white, seven long tails, six waiving behind it and one curled gently but securely around her wrist as they guided her through the forest. Her father’s protectiveness in full force as they guided her through the woods.
She giggled as her father gently lifted her with three tails over a particularly large log, and they laughed out loud when Inari allowed her to splash merrily in a shallow river, all the while they hummed an tune her mom had sang to her as a child.
The light glittered where it came through the many small gaps in the foliage, physical streams of light shining on the green undergrowth and numerous wildflowers that grew thick and vibrant in springtime and Natsumi reached for them all, enjoying the burst of warmth as the light hit her tanned skin.
Soon enough they reached a natural clearing, the grass long and thick, the flowers covering nearly every inch of ground, the petals silky, faces leaning towards the sun. Her father sat her down at the clearings centre before siting down on their hind legs.
“Natsumi.” They spoke, lips unmoving but voice echoing through the clearing drawing her attention from a particularly pretty flower she had been admiring, looking into her father’s deep amber eyes.
“I am going to teach you how to become a fox.”
Natsumi vibrated in place.
She remembered having wanted to learn this for an age, remembered wanting to become like her father so badly it hurt.
It was a common thing for her now, as easy as breathing, but then it had been so new, out of reach to her at that young age with her limited abilities.
“Now listen closely Natsumi, we’ve gone over most of the lessons but remember this. It is the nature of Kami of to transform, we are the energy of the universe given life, form. We are the fire, the shadows, the trees and the rivers. Change is the nature of the universe and we are it’s children, the power is within you to change, become better, become your truest self. The fox is only part of that, but it is still a part of what you must become.”
It made barely a lick of sense to her at five years old, but it was one of the main tenants of the Kami.
One must be able to change, to transform with time and nature, to evolve and follow nature or perish.
For Kami’s were nature and must evolve as it does.
Each Kami had certain aspects they preferred, limitations as only small parts of the universal mechanism, and half-kami often inherited these forms.
People often saw Kira as a force of positive change, but she saw him as a relic, a sadist using an antiquated thought process to disguise his sickening nature, twisting the natural fabric of the universe. Killing those who were evil was not an entirely opposing subject, but there were so many reasons to become a criminal that were not truly evil.
Kira was killing the sick, the desperate, the poor. Yet the corrupt politicians, the grasping greedy rich, the mad with power were left alone. Even the innocent were not above becoming collateral for their mad quest.
It was disgusting, the mind of a person who had few troubles in life yet saw themselves as societies victim, above the regular crowd with thoughts they believed no one would be able to understand.
When really there was nothing special about them.
“Now.” Her father’s voice drew her back in to her dream and away from her dazed thoughts, and she stared intently into their amber eyes.
“Reach inside yourself, to the core of your soul. Feel the pulse of the energy within you, the bind you have to the deep earth.”
The rest of her father’s speech began to warp as her vision blurred, their voice becoming a gentle unintelligible whisper as Natsumi in both dream and unconsciousness began to reach for the place deep within her soul, to the pulsing stream of energy that lay in wait for her, guiding her to her next stage of life.
Her muscles began to stretch, her skin shifting like water.
Her eyes burned like the first time she had swam in the sea.
And all became black once more.
And she awoke once more with a gasp.
She felt different she realised quickly. Something inside felt different, colder than it had been, and for a moment her breath felt like ice against her teeth. The sensation made her gasp, but quickly it faded, laving only a vague chill inside her.
Her eyes blinked, shadows flickering in and out of her vision oddly, like ghosts or smoke in the wind.
Sitting up carefully her ears twisted as a strange ringing sound faded from them and she could hear her father humming the same song as her mom has sung all those years ago.
Shifting carefully, she sat up in the bed just as Inari poked their head through the door, still in their female form.
“Sweetie you’re up!” they said with a sigh of relief, pushing the door open with their tails as they carried a tray through.
“Dad? What happened?” Natsumi asked blearily, coughing as her spit stuck in her dry throat.
Her father passed her a glass of water and she sipped it eagerly, soothing her mouth and throat.
“The tea reacted very quickly with your energies. You were very compatible but it also means you were knocked out very quickly. Mother decided to send you home before you awoke and I decided to stay and make you some food!” They said brightly, presenting a plate full of rice, tamagoyaki and a bowl full of miso soup, tofu, and a small bowl of pickled veg.
The smell hit her nose and her stomach roared, and she suddenly realised how hungry she was.
“How long was I out?” She questioned in shock, as her father set the tray down in front of her.
“Around 10 hours, it was quicker than what most would come out of a sleep caused by that tea.” Her father stated with a wrinkle of their nose, and Natsumi’s head twisted so fast she heard a click as she stared out the window at the slowly rising sun.
“Holy shit…” She breathed, getting a disapproving look from her father.
“The tea knocks most people out for longer, luckily you have more of your grandmother in you than we thought. You came out quite quickly. When I had to drink that awful stuff, I awoke nearly a day and a half later!” They said, sticking out their tongue in disgust and making Natsumi giggle around a mouth full of rice and egg.
“Your cousins have been sent home by the way. Your family has arranged for distance learning until the Kira situation has been solved.” Her father continued, and from the look in their eyes they wished Natsumi had also been sent away.
“Mom isn’t happy?” she asked in response, relieved her cousins were gone, away from the danger.
“No, she is not, but she knows you like I do. She wants regular updates but unless you get into any real trouble she won’t drag you back by your tails, and neither will I.” They said solemnly, watching her with dark eyes.
“…How long until you have to leave?” Natsumi asked quietly.
“Soon my darling, the situation is getting worse and we used up a lot of time yesterday. I’m here to show you how to use your new necklace and give you one more thing before I leave.” Inari told her sadly, gently running their claws hand through Natsumi’s hair.
“But finish breakfast first, and then we’ll start.”
Natsumi ate a bit slower, savouring each bite as her father gently played with her hair.
Too soon however she was done, dishes washed and put away as the two kami stood in the large sitting room, necklace around Natsumi’s neck.
“Do you remember our lessons on transformation?” Her father asked and Natsumi grinned in response.
“Vividly dad.”
“Well it follows the same steps but as our previous lessons have shown you for the last step you have to draw the energy out rather than let it flow. We’ve practiced this before, but the gem will help you this time. I was going to give you this for graduation but needs must I suppose.” They said ruefully.
“Now focus, let the energy come but do not let it flow.”
Natsumi closed her eyes and reached deep within her once more, like she had done a hundred times before.
The energy deep inside her ebbed and flowed like the tide, pure and powerful. She could feel it begin to flow, to shift, and she carefully and gently, as she had been taught, began to guide it outwards, away from its usual path.
Soon she would be able to do this without thinking, in the time it took to take a breath.
But for now it flowed gently to her skin, the necklace warm against her skin as it began to force her armour into shape.
She opened her eyes to see her dad’s filled with tears, and she quickly turned to the mirror she had dragged out to see herself cloaked in armour. She found herself cloaked in traditional Japanese armour, the metal a shining black lined with white and gold, the chain mail underneath a vivid red. Her sword has also appeared at her side, the grinning fox head glinting in the light.
Her grandmother’s dagger was strapped to her right wrist, cold against her skin even through the leather, cold like the thing inside her she had awoken with.
“One final item I think, and then we’ll be done.” Her father said, a small wooden box in hand.
It opened to show the face of a grinning fox, a china white mask with red and black paint and wide dark glass eyes.
Natsumi lifted it from its place and carefully put it over her own face.
It was almost like it wasn’t there at all, her vision and breathing unencumbered.
“You will see the mask but others will see a face unremarkable, forgettable. This will prevent Kira from seeing your true face but you will need a name too. Any ideas?”
“I was thinking Chiari. It’s relatively normal, nothing too eye-catching. I think I will work for now.”
“Good, good. All ready…” Her father said absentmindedly, brushing non existent dust from her armour as they surveyed her solemnly.
She dove at the elder Kami, hugging her father tightly and getting a fierce hug in return.
“Stay safe.” She pleaded as they nuzzled their cheek against hers.
“You too, and remember I’ll be back before you know it.” Inari promised.
Natsumi felt purpose take hold once more. The quicker she caught Kira and stopped him the quicker this would be all over.
Humanity would be safe, her grandmother could clear the blockage of souls and repair the veil between life and death, and everything would go back to normal.
Well as normal as it could be for them.
But for now they were simply a father and a daughter saying goodbye as the world tipped over the edge around them.