In the midst of a long journey, a rather large and luxurious inn was found.

As the quartet, which had now become a quintet, required somewhere to stay for the night that could accommodate each individual, this inn was chosen. Due to the financial circumstances in the group, the girl with beautiful white hair, Shiro, had paid for their room.

Upon entering the room, the party were shocked at the scale of how large the room had been. It was enough to almost be considered a house on its own.

Inside a door to the side had been a bathroom which had also been large in size, but not to the same degree as the previous room.

Within this bathroom…were two kitsunes.

A much taller and older kitsune with nine tails behind her, washing a much shorter and younger kitsune with eight tails behind her.

Kōkatsu: [Cover yer eyes.]

Kaoru: [Yes!]

Kaoru put her hands over her eyes, forming a shield above them, while Kōkatsu poured a bucket of water on the top of her head.

Kōkatsu: [To think I was gonna have a kid this early. Wasn’t really expectin’ it until maybe the old hag range.]

Kaoru: [Even if you were to grow old, Lady Kōkatsu, I believe you would still look beautiful!]

Kōkatsu: [Stop with this! Yer gonna make yer cheeks bleed with how much yer makin’ me pinch ‘em!]

In response to Kaoru’s comment, Kōkatsu started to smile while pinching her cheeks in a soft manner.

Kaoru: [But I am correct! In fact, I believe you will only grow more beautiful with age!]

Kōkatsu: [I SAID STOP! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!]

Kaoru: [Eeeeeeeeeeeee!]

Kōkatsu continued to pinch Kaoru’s cheeks softly while shaking her head about.

Kaoru: [By the way, Lady Kōkatsu, what is this bracelet on your wrist?]

Kōkatsu: [Oh, this? ‘S a friendship bracelet I made with my close pal. She’s the girl with the white hair ya met earlier today, Shiro. Me and her made these after a trial we had at our school.]

Kaoru: [I see. Do you think you will not only make one for her, but perhaps for each of your children?]

Kōkatsu: [That sounds like a good idea. I might just do that!]

Kaoru: [But that would be uncomfortable to wear with too many. You would have bracelets from the top of your arms to the bottom!]

Kōkatsu: [That’s true. Need my blood to flow there if I wanna hold my children! Yahahaha!]

There were a few moments of silence between the two of them, only being interrupted by the occasional splashes of water, and the sounds of feet moving on occasion.

The two of them remained there, peacefully enjoying a moment such as this.

Kaoru: [May I ask a question, Lady Kōkatsu?]

Kōkatsu: [Sup?]

Kaoru: [It may be odd of me to say this….but…is this really alright?]

Kōkatsu: [Hm? What’s alright?]

Kaoru: [I’ve lost my family, and have nowhere to go. I was quite scared at first, but having you there was reassuring. I’m not too sure how to feel now, however. Should I be happy with this, or is it not right?]

Kōkatsu’s smile faded as she got up to move beside Kaoru, sitting down next to her.

Kōkatsu: [I’m gonna tell ya somethin’ Kaoru. After I finish speakin’, ya can decide if ‘s what ya wanna do.]

Kaoru: [O-Ok!]

Kōkatsu: [When I was a kid, my parents didn’t care ‘bout me all that much. Honestly, I think they’d notice a fly sooner than they noticed me. I left home at a young age, and from there, I lived on my own. Despite how my family was, I kinda hated the feelin’ of not havin’ one. That’s where my dream comes from.]

Kaoru: [I-I see…]

Kōkatsu: [I like havin’ ya. I really do. Knowin’ that the person who gets to be my first child is someone who looks almost like they’d be a child of mine…it makes me feel happy. But that’s the thing. I feel happy, but if yer unhappy with this position, if ya feel it isn’t right, anythin’ like that, then I don’t wanna force ya to stay. This is yer decision. What ya wanna do, after everythin’ that happened, ’s up to ya to decide.]

Kaoru: [But…wouldn’t that make you sad…?]

Kōkatsu: [It might, but I don’t really care ‘bout that. I just wanna know that yer happy, regardless of the scenario.]

Kaoru sat there in silence, reflecting on Kōkatsu’s words.

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Kaoru: [I miss my family…I miss my village…]

Kōkatsu: [That so? Alright, then we can bring ya to–Kaoru?]

Kōkatsu’s speech had stopped as she felt the little kitsune girl’s head touching her arm.

Kaoru: [But…even with all of that…you’re very nice, Lady Kōkatsu. You said it was my decision, and I have fully decided now. I am yours.]

Kōkatsu wrapped her arm around Kaoru, caressing her head like she had done when they first met.

Kōkatsu: [Yer gettin’ two whole minutes of pinchin’ when this is over.]

Kaoru: [Yes, Lady Kōkatsu.]

Kōkatsu continued to stare at the girl who was now her first child. She could her eyes wavering, as if trying to cry, but she resisted this feeling to its fullest.

Kōkatsu: [My journey with a family, and yer journey servin’ me, starts here. It’ll be a fresh start for the both of us.]

Kaoru: [I cannot wait to begin my adventure with you, Lady Kōkatsu!]

The two of them sat there for a few moments, before continuing their bath.

Shortly after the bath, Kaoru once again had to endure a round of soft pinching from Kōkatsu for two minutes.

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After a long bath, the door to the bathroom had opened, with two kitsune girls walking out from within. Both of them wearing tank tops, and sweatpants. A look that was rather unusual to see from them

Kōkatsu: [So, how are all of ya doin’? We make any progress with plans and all that stuff?]

In the room that the group was staying in, three people were huddled around each other. Each of them carefully focused on their duties at hand.

Nero: [Thanks to Silvia, we have the required robes to wear in order to travel to our next location.]

Silvia: [I have quite the talent for knitting. Albeit, I can only do sssso for sssscarfssss and the like.]

Kōkatsu: [Hey, it helps so that’s worth it. Thanks for that, Sisi! Ya made any progress with that book, Shiro?]

After providing Silvia with an odd nickname, Kōkatsu turned to Shiro, who was completely fixated on the book in her hands. The book that they had received from Kaoru.

It was a book related to the tablets they had found laying on the soil of her village. Presumably, both the tablets and this very book would have a large quantity of valuable information. Unfortunately, the tablets were written in an unknown language, and the book…

Shiro: [It’s no use…I keep trying to look through it and decipher what’s going on, but nothing really adds up. I can at least read this compared to the tablets, but reading it doesn’t save me all that much trouble.]

Kaoru: [Does that mean…my village’s efforts were in vain…?]

Shiro: [N-No! Don’t worry! I can at least say this, there’s definitely something here. But I feel like I’m looking at a puzzle with some of the pieces scattered all over the place. For all I know, there were some pieces that got knocked onto the floor.]

Hearing the sadness rise in Kaoru’s voice, Shiro quickly tried to cheer her up with some good news. Upon hearing Shiro’s comment, however, Kaoru quickly looked at the floor.

Kaoru: [I see! I shall begin searching immediately!]

Kōkatsu: [Metaphor. ‘S a metaphor, Kaoru. She didn’t actually mean there were pieces on the floor.]

Kaoru: [I see! I shall put a halt to my search!]

Before Kaoru could begin searching the floor for clues, Kōkatsu grabbed her in order to stop her from moving, whilst explaining that Shiro’s comment was not to be taken in the literal sense. Thus putting a stop to Kaoru’s searching engines.

Nero: [Everything seems to just grow more strange by the minute. Our journey to the village was one thing, but now seeing those tablets, along with the contents of this book. I’m rather confused with what’s going on…]

Kōkatsu slowly pulled out her kiseru, before giving a list of commands to Kaoru.

Kōkatsu: [Window.]

Kaoru: [Yes!]

Kaoru quickly ran over to the windows in the room, and opened them up, while Kōkatsu added some tobacco to the hizara of her kiseru.

Kōkatsu: [Light.]

Kaoru: [Yes!]

Kaoru produced a small fire in the palm of her hand, directly underneath the kiseru.

The two of them then sat down, Kōkatsu sitting in a side position, with the arm holding her kiseru resting on her matching knee, and Kaoru sitting in a seiza position. The two of them made distinct differences in how they acted from their posture alone.

Kōkatsu: [Fuuuuuu. I can’t lie, I’m a little worried. Those higher ups sure don’t like sayin’ shit, and after everythin’ we’ve seen, there’s definitely somethin’ up…]

Shiro: [But…how could something like this possibly be ignored?! Those royalty people, the Bloodfire family, right? Surely they would have known about this, right? There was that other one too, the Tensetsu people. Someone would have to know, right?]

While the group had been stressed out after contemplating the situation at hand, Shiro shouted out a worried reply in regards to it.

Nero: [Shiro…]

Shiro: [You guys agree…right?]

Silvia: [Pleasssse do not take thissss assss a rude comment, but you are aware of how that flessssh looking sssspessssimen moved, correct? Whatever that creature may have been, along with whatever happened to ussss while we moved towardssss the village, there issss ssssertainly no doubt a method in which all of thissss remainssss hidden.]

Kōkatsu: [Hate to say it, but Sisi is right. Whatever this thing is, ‘s smart. The little shit is a crazy type of clever, and it seems to know what to do in a situation in order to prevent any further suspicion or caution towards it. Pardon my language.]

Kaoru: [It is quite alright, Lady Kōkatsu.]

Shiro: [You were swearing when you met her though…]

Kōkatsu: [Ha?]

Kōkatsu had given Shiro one of her frightening death glares after the retort, causing Shiro to fall into a silent state.

Nero: [For now, let’s not worry about this matter too much. I feel as though if we focus on it for far too long, we will lose track of time and waste our chances to conquer these trials.]

Shiro: [...Right, let’s move on from this.]

Nero nodded to Shiro, before turning to face Kōkatsu.

Nero: [If it’s alright for me to ask this of you one last time, are you sure you would like to bring the girl with us?]

Kōkatsu put her kiseru to her mouth, and blew smoke towards the windows, before responding to Nero.

Kōkatsu: [It’s better that we do than we don’t. If she comes along, it could be tricky, but if she stays here, I’d argue there’s a far greater risk she gets hurt. Plus, Shiro would have to pay for the room bill every single day, and I don’t need my ass kicked by Airi Fuloreen. Thank you very much.]

Kaoru: [That name almost scared me, Lady Kōkatsu. I felt you were going to refer to Airi the Hero for a moment.]

Kōkatsu: [When’s yer birthday, Kaoru?]

Kaoru: [The twentieth of November, Lady Kōkatsu.]

Kōkatsu: [Tell ya what, I’ll give ya a fun surprise alongside yer gift.]

Kaoru: [Thank you, Lady Kōkatsu!]

Nero: [Well then, if you believe it is correct, then that is the option we shall work with. I only worry that we may find ourselves in some trouble during our journey.]

A clap came from Shiro’s direction, as she had just closed the book she was so diligently focused on.

Shiro: [I think it’s best for now that we get some rest then. Tomorrow we’ll start moving again, and hopefully by the evening at the latest, we’ll reach Yoro.]

Kōkatsu: [Good call. I was gettin’ kinda tired anyways. If we need anymore plannin’ we can do so durin’ breakfast.]

Silvia: [Very well. I will focussss on finisssshing our robessss, and after that, I sssshall get ssssome resssst. Do have a good night, everyone.]

Nero: [Yeah. Goodnight everyone.]

Nero and Silvia moved towards their beds, with Nero climbing into bed in order to sleep, and Silvia leaning on her own while knitting more robes for the group.

Only Shiro and Kōkatsu remained sitting in the middle of the room.

Shiro: [Guess we have quite the big day tomorrow. Well, see you both then!]

Kaoru: [Miss Shiro…]

Shiro: [Hm?]

Kaoru: [I just wanted to say…thank you for taking good care of Lady Kōkatsu. I am deeply grateful.]

Shiro smiled at the girl who had bowed to her. Though she had gotten up in order to get some sleep, Shiro sat back down in front of the girl.

Shiro: [There’s no need to bow. It’s thanks to you that Kōkatsu is in the happy state that she’s in. We have both contributed towards helping her.]

Kaoru raised her head to face Shiro, and responded to Shiro’s smile with a smile of her own.

Kaoru: [Thank you, Miss Shiro!]

Kōkatsu stared at the two of them, a smile had also been casted upon her face.

Kōkatsu: [Come on, Kaoru. There’s only four beds, so you’ll sleep with me. I hope ya don’t mind bein’ too warm.]

Kaoru: [I much prefer the heat over the cold!]

Kōkatsu: [Heh. Guess that works for ya pretty well then. Alright, see ya in the mornin’, Shiro.]

Shiro: [Yeah, see you in the morning.]

Kōkatsu and Kaoru stood up, and walked over to the bathroom in order to change out of their clothes. To Shiro, it was odd to see an action like this from Kōkatsu, given how she had always slept in their dorm. But in the room that they were in, where everyone was within view of one another, it had made sense.

Shiro had stood up and moved over her own bed in order to get some rest.

A new task awaited them by sunrise, and this task…would likely prove to be much harder from the last.

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