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Showing their animal traits, whether it is their tails, ears, or claws, is considered something indecent for a yokai who has gained their human forms. Transforming into a proper human form isn't an easy feat; it requires a lot of essences gathered for many decades to do it. Why would they parade around showing their original traits? Especially when it indicates the yokai hasn’t properly transformed and thus, is considered weaker and below the levels of those who are without them. On top of that, they simply look strange on a human.
That belief is ingrained in most yokais’ beliefs, Kuya included. No, particularly Kuya. He’s a powerful yokai, perhaps the most powerful one to exist at this time, respected and feared by many. It’s only natural for him to never show his fox ears and tail, even during Transformation Banquets. Showing them would be unbefitting for a yokai his level. What would the other younger, weaker yokai say if they saw him like that? His old friend might not care about what others think, but Kuya does.
Kuya doesn’t hate them per se, but he can’t say that he’s proud of them as well. You can say that he's embarrassed by them. They’re a part of him, yes, yet their existence signifies weakness. And Kuya hates being weak, as much as he hates being bored. One must not be proud of their weaknesses, isn’t that right? That’s why he prefers to keep them hidden. Sometimes when he's alone in his home he'd let them out just so he can brush and groom his tail, but that occasion is rare.
It doesn’t help that Huey once implied that he preferred yokai without their animal traits, as the lack of them demonstrated strength, dignity, and honor—basically for a similar reason why yokai hides them. Kuya’s respect for Huey only encouraged Kuya to keep them out of anyone’s sight, and increased Kuya’s distaste for them; to the point where he can get offended if someone ever mentioned his fox ears and tail.
For decades, Kuya lives scorning his fox ears and tail. Then one day comes this weak human whose essence is similar to Huey’s, claimed as the successor of the missing Grand Sorcerer. This human, who is nothing like Huey, irks Kuya a lot in the first place—enough that Kuya will be more than happy to reduce him into dust. No one can sully Huey’s reputation, and Eiden’s very existence does that. How dare this little human call himself Huey's successor when he isn’t even a tenth of Huey? No, perhaps even less than that. He—Eiden, is nothing. Kuya can flick him to death with a single wave.
His past self would be surprised at how fast his opinion is changing towards Eiden. Somehow Eiden manages to gain half a leaf of appreciation from him, and Kuya deems him tolerable enough that he starts to allow Eiden to bother him; not without his sharp tongue, of course. Kuya won't let the young master do that without some consequences, would he? Where’s the fun in that? Besides, what else could the young master do to him? Kuya is an esteemed fox yokai who only respects and regards Huey. He wouldn’t get attached to Eiden, he’s just there to provide Kuya some entertainment in this boring, dull world.
Or that’s what he thought. Without him fully realizing it, the young master has wormed his way into his life, way deeper than Kuya had assumed. Eiden gets lost several times in the maze within Kuya, which Kuya built as his whole personality, but he never gives up and keeps looking. The little surprises he shares with Kuya are the lights that help him navigate through Kuya. He’s still far from truly understanding Kuya, yet he’s getting there. Slowly, surely, he'll reach the deepest part of Kuya that he had locked for a long, long time.
The young master then becomes someone special to Kuya; regardless of everything Kuya says to Eiden to deter him, both of them, from getting attached. He’s not Huey and Kuya probably will never respect him in the same way as Huey. And at the same time, Kuya finds himself intrigued by Eiden—a lot that he can’t resist walking along Eiden's path, following and indulging in the young master's whims even though those are way below him. With prices to pay, definitely, but for Kuya to accept requests from other than Huey or Quincy is something beyond most people’s minds.
How special is he exactly to Kuya, one might ask. Surely not that special. Kuya is Kuya, the only special person in his life is Huey. Maybe Quincy, to some extent.
Apparently, no. Eiden is special enough that Kuya takes his opinion into consideration, and that opinion is the trigger that changes Kuya’s whole attitude.
(He will never admit it, obviously, even on the brink of death.)
See, here’s the thing. Kuya does care about other people's perceptions regarding him, but not just anyone can change his opinion, much less his attitude towards a certain thing. Even Quincy probably won’t be capable of reaching that feat if he tried.
And this… human does that so effortlessly.
“What’s wrong? Do they look strange? As I said, they’re indecent—”
“They look great! How should I put it… they’re very graceful? Handsome? In any case, they look awesome!”
Says the young master, with his eyes sparkling and his cheeks glowing with a soft blush; completely unaware that what he just said to Kuya is a compliment Kuya hasn’t heard in a very, very long time. Probably never. Kuya is praised because of his power, his capabilities, and his graceful, stunning human appearance. But he doesn’t seem to recall an instance where his fox ears and tail were complimented.
Almost all his life—and he lives a long one—Kuya thinks they are just a nuisance, serving merely as a bitter reminder of what he used to be. And here Eiden is, praising them so sincerely that Kuya can’t help but think that maybe, they’re not too bad. It’s strange, isn’t it? Eiden’s genuine compliments can set off that kind of thinking. Kuya received a lot of compliments throughout his life, and that’s a compliment that actually strikes him.
Still, Kuya has his doubts. The young master might be lying. He might be saying that just to make fun of Kuya later, or find some information he can use against Kuya. Choosing to believe in something based on one insistence is foolish. Only fools and naïve people believe a one-time coincidence to be the truth. Kuya needs to prove it, so he sets a little experiment. He randomly reveals his fox ears and tail in front of Eiden, then he'll notes down each reaction Eiden makes. By random, he means it’s completely random that Eiden isn’t going to know when or where Kuya will do that.
The young master doesn’t disappoint him. Every little gasp of surprise, every flush on his face, every delighted smile, and every earnest compliment, Kuya drinks them all. Like a parched man, Kuya keeps seeking more and more. With each gulp of them, Kuya’s view of his fox ears and tail changes. From shame and contempt to a more favorable notion.
Kuya always remembers Eiden’s first compliment for his ears and tail, carrying it around like a trophy. They look amazing and not strange at all according to the young master, so he shouldn’t be too ashamed of them. Eiden likes his ears and tail very much, and Kuya grows comfortable in showing them—who is he to refuse the young master’s keen attention? Eiden sometimes offers to brush and groom Kuya’s tail, and Kuya enjoys being serviced.
It’s also that compliment that he uses when his past self criticizes his current self for showing his fox ears and tail.
“Hmph, allowing the double eclipse to affect you to the extent that you show your ears and tail. That’s the very definition of embarrassing.”
“…And what’s wrong with showing my ears and tail?”
What’s wrong with showing off parts of him that look great, graceful, and handsome? What’s wrong with showing off the things that he’s proud of? Kuya is a very proud fox yokai, after all, and he’s very proud of his fox ears and tail now. They allow him to bask in the young master’s sweet praises. He gives not care if his past self thinks of him weirdly; his past self will eventually experience it by himself.
His past self will eventually understand that about a hundred years later, someone will come and make him proud of them.
“—yaa…”
Ah, there is that ‘someone'.
“Ku—yaaa…”
Blowing up a smoke from his pipe, the tips of his lips tug in a faint smile, but he doesn’t move from his position; lounging on a wooden bench outside in his garden, watching over the foxtail flowers swaying gently. He has both his fox ears and tail out—it feels pretty good to have the wind ruffle his fur. The young master asked a renowned carpenter of Klein Kingdom to make Kuya a wooden bench as thanks for his help during the double eclipse.
“So you can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air anytime you want! See, it would be tiring if you had to stand all the time while admiring your garden.”
That’s what he said, and albeit not fully understanding Eiden’s reasoning, Kuya accepted it. The bench is beautiful, crafted to fit Kuya’s taste, and is a good addition to his garden. By now it becomes Kuya’s favorite place to sit outside. Watching his garden while smoking his pipe used to be a boring activity, but Kuya has grown quite fond of it.
“Kuya?” Eiden’s voice comes closer, and Kuya can hear the hint of annoyance in his tone. “Where is he? It’s freezing out here!”
Kuya has no intention of letting Eiden know his location that easily. He enjoys it when Eiden is fumbling around and suffers a little. The young master makes the most delightful reaction when he’s tormented; whether by pleasure or by his own incompetency. He calmly smokes and waits until Eiden stumbles upon him, wrapped in one of Kuya’s thicker robes. The smooth material of his robe nicely accentuates the young master’s lean body, and Kuya’s stomach stirs with a sense of possessiveness. It sure was a good idea to soil Eiden’s clothes and force him to wear Kuya’s instead.
“Here you are!” The young master exclaims and hurries up to sit next to Kuya, huffing under his breath. Feeling in an oddly indulging mood tonight, Kuya allows Eiden to curl up close to him, huddling for warmth. Even through the clothes, Kuya can feel cold radiating from Eiden’s skin. “Ugh, it’s so cold!”
Amusing as usual. “If you’re cold, young master, why aren’t you inside? Staying here will make you colder.” It’d be a pain if Eiden got a cold while visiting him. His old friend will scold him for it. “Why are you awake at this hour? It’s time for the fragile young master to be asleep.”
“It’s because you left the window open!” Eiden groans, burying his red nose to his knees. “I was woken up by the cold, and couldn’t go back to sleep.”
“And your first thought was to look for me instead of closing the window and using the blanket?” Kuya sighs. He doesn’t understand the young master’s thought process sometimes. “Was young master’s brain damaged when he hit his head before?” Eiden accidentally slammed his head backward against Kuya’s wall during sex, and it was quite a shocking moment. He’s fine, Kuya secretly used healing magic on him after that, just to make sure he won’t get badly injured.
Eiden blushes, and he scratches his cheek bashfully. “It’s just… you weren’t there… to warm me up?” Kuya shoots him a sharp look—he’s not Eiden’s personal heater—Eiden quickly adds. “I know, I know! I didn’t mean bad by that! I just…” He trails off, seemingly shy, and averts his eyes from Kuya. “…I like it when you… wrapped your tail and arms around me, and… embrace me…”
Oh? That’s unexpected. “What was that again, young master? I couldn’t quite catch it.” Kuya hears that. He simply wants to toy with the young master. Seeing him all flustered is entertaining.
“Ugh, you—” Eiden looks miffed, but then he sighs. “I said I like it when you wrap your tail and embrace me. It feels a lot warmer than the blanket.”
Being honest tonight, eh? Kuya applauds the honesty. There’s a unique satisfaction in listening to someone appreciating and needing him. Pleased, Kuya decides to spoil the young master even more than he already had. He doesn’t respond, merely putting aside his pipe to pull Eiden closer to him, then gently pushes Eiden’s nape so he can lay his head on Kuya’s shoulder. Once Eiden is positioned comfortably, Kuya’s free hand rests on Eiden’s waist. As a finishing touch, Kuya wraps his fluffy tail around Eiden’s back like a coat.
“Warm enough, young master?” Kuya picks up his pipe and resumes smoking it.
“Wha—oh, mm… yeah…” Eiden sounds dumbfounded at first, but he immediately snuggles closer to Kuya’s body. From the corner of his eye, Kuya sees the young master’s eyes getting hazy and dazed as he tucks himself as small as he can into the embrace. “…yeah it’s warm…” Eiden mumbles. “…feels so nice… and comfy…”
He observes as Eiden slowly falls back to sleep, head slipping down Kuya’s shoulder—which he swiftly catches and puts back into place before it can wake him again. He waits until Eiden’s breath evens out, fingers idly twirling in the brown hair. If it was the previous Kuya, there’s no way he’d let the young master sleep like this, in his embrace and warmed by his tail. His current self has learned to give a little instead of taking things for himself.
This… is a form of giving.
“You’re getting soft, old fox.”
Kuya clicks his tongue when Quincy’s words ring in his ears. He’s not getting soft. Ever. The young master is just one of his toys, his plaything to fill the time. He’s special to Kuya, as special as the collections Kuya decorates his house with. Kuya simply doesn't want his toy to get broken too quickly. For that, he needs to take care of his toy properly; considering that the young master is perhaps Kuya’s weakest, most fragile plaything. If he didn't care about him, he'd be damaged sooner than Kuya would like. That’s all.
Eiden makes some snuffling noises and nuzzles his nose to Kuya’s neck, and Kuya stares at him for a few more minutes before shifting his attention to the flowers in his garden.
Just a toy, yes. Nothing more. It’s what Kuya says to himself, even as he continues to caress Eiden’s waist, each stroke of his fingertips sending more warmth to the chilled body. It’d be bad if his toy gets sick with a cold; he won’t be able to play with the young master until he’s healed.
Just a plaything. He’ll get bored of the young master soon, like how he is with his other collections. When that time comes, Kuya simply has to cast Eiden aside with his own hands.
Will he, though?
He knows the answer more than anyone else.
And he throws it to get carried away by the night breeze, never to be seen or heard ever again.
Because he knows, he will never be able to do it.
.
.
(Despite Kuya’s effort to warm him up, Eiden still gets sick after spending the whole night outside with minimum clothing. The young master ends up with a bad cold, and he looks pathetic enough that Kuya decides to take responsibility by taking care of him—if staying by Eiden’s side all day and letting the young master use his tail to cuddle on can be called ‘taking care’.
Then his fur tickles Eiden’s runny nose, and Eiden accidentally gets snot all over his tail. Good thing Quincy and Yakumo are there to deliver Eiden’s meal and medicines or Kuya would’ve killed him on the spot.
Anyway, Eiden now promises to groom Kuya’s tail every single day for a month straight to make up for dirtying his tail.)