Paul couldn’t help thinking that this had to be what parents felt like… Inari could be described as an introvert, bordering on a hikkomori or shut in. Tamamo-no-mae however, was almost the exact opposite, an extrovert with a fearless sense of curiosity about the world.

He reflected that he shouldn’t have been surprised. Quite apart from the fact she was immersed in a whole new world, both strange and with echoes of the familiar, she was also feasting off everyone around her. Every casual contact, even passing close to another person, and she drew a tiny bit of power from their emotions. The result of her partly demonic nature she said, a way of converting raw emotion into mana.

As a consequence she was recovering from their misadventures rather quicker that Inari… and behaving not unlike a kid in a candy shop. Darting from one thing to another in wide-eyed wonder. To the extent that Paul was seriously considering if it was possible she was ‘high’ off the rush of emotions.

Thankfully Izumi was with them, and was assisting in keeping Tamamo going more or less in the right direction. Which was just as well when they arrived at Tokyo’s Shinjuku station, because Tamamo audibly gasped and bolted into the crowd, while Inari shrank against Paul’s side.

By the time Izumi returned, dragging a petulant looking Tamamo, Paul had checked the timetables, and the tourist guide.

“Given that it’s nearly lunch time, might I suggest we find somewhere quiet to eat, before catching a slightly later train?”

Inari nodded emphatically against his sleeve, while Tamamo looked cautious for a moment, then slowly nodded. Izumi noticing that, carefully casually mentioned;

“There’s quite a lot of new types of food nowadays, dishes you haven’t tried. Tokyo has some of the very best restaurants and other places to eat.”

Tamamo’s face lit up, and she swung on her heel to look at Paul.

“Can we?”

Paul nodded.

“I was thinking our best course of action would be to pick up some ekiben, that’s bento boxes sold on trains or at train stations Tamamo, and go eat in the Shinjuko Gyoen National garden, since it’s only a short walk from here.”

Izumi gave Paul a thoughtful look, while Inari nodded enthusiastically. In a casual voice Izumi offered.

“I’ll buy the food Paul-san, while you guide Inari and Tamamo out of the station.”

Paul rather suspected that Izumi's offer had less to do with being helpful and more to do with the opportunity for five minutes without a hyper-active Kitsune hanging on her arm..

“Good idea Izumi-san, we’ll wait for you at the South-East exit. Tamamo, no haring off please, it’s too easy to get lost.”

Tamamo looked round the concourse and slowly nodded.

“Yes! I’ll stick close. I’ve never seen so many people in one place. Edo… sorry, Tokyo has grown”

Paul chuckled.

“You have no idea how big… where we were before is actually considered a subdistrict of Tokyo now, and it’s not even on the edge of the city!”

Tamamo’s eyes went wide in surprise.

“It is?! But… we were over an hour getting here, at a speed I’d never imagined before! How big is this city?”

Paul opened his mouth, then stopped considering his answer.

“Hard to say.. ten million people more or less, in an area of umm.. five thousand square miles I seem to recall. I think I read that it’s 55 miles east to west and 26 miles north to south.”

Tamamo looked at Paul her head tilted one side.

“What’s a mile?”

Paul, stumped for an explanation, looked at Inari.

“A little help here Inari. What units did you used to use back then?”

Inari paused in thought for a moment then replied.

“Fourteen and three quarters chō is one mile, more or less. Or to put it another way, almost two and half miles to a ri.”

Tamamo was silent for a short while as they walked. Then she exclaimed…

“Wait.. so…. that means this city is twenty two and half ri wide?!”

Paul nodded slowly.

“Yeah, and that’s just the main district.”

“It would take days to cross it on foot! A ri is an hours walk!”

Paul nodded.

“Yup, that’s why there’s public transport and cars. Ten million people need a lot of space after all.”

Just then they exited the station, and Tamamo looked up at the buildings around them, tilting her head up, and up, and up as she followed the line of the skyscrapers, her eyes widening.

“T..those are some mighty castles!”

Paul shook his head as Inari laughed.

“They’re not castles, those are office buildings, places of commerce you know. People work there.”

Tamamo tilted her head back up and then down before asking.

“But why build them so tall then?”

“Saves space. Land costs money here, and building up is the only way to go when you have so many people crammed together.”

“Oh… and the Emperor rules over all of them… he must be mighty indeed!”

Paul smiled.

“It’s a little more complicated than that… lets just say he has a lot of vassals to do the actual ruling part, and those vassals command other vassals and so on…”

Tamamo nodded her understanding, while not taking her eyes off of the glittering glass and steel towers. Inari stepped forward and took Tamamo’s hand.

“Hey, cousin… it’s ok. It all seems so overwhelming I know, but the people are still just people.”

Tamamo looked at Inari, and smiled slightly.

“Thank you… you’re right. I was losing sight of that. I was just thinking the Celestial City had to look like this, and what manner of people could build this in the Earthly realm, by hand..…”

Inari laughed, shaking her head.

“Oh, no, that old place was nowhere even near as big or impressive! Not really. Half of it was just illusion you know. Bragging as to who’s got the biggest castle, if you know what I mean.”

Inari giggled a down-right dirty little laugh, causing Tamamo to snigger as well, while Paul just rolled his eyes, thinking how come he was the adult here?

Navigating the streets, even for the short walk to the ‘Garden’ proved to be a bit fraught. Izumi had returned with a couple of carrier bags full of provisions, causing Paul raise an eyebrow only to be answered with a shrug by her. Without a word he’d taken one of the bags himself, leaving Izumi a spare hand that Tamamo claimed instantly.

After a short while Paul felt Inari’s grip on his arm growing tighter, as she murmured in an almost inaudible voice.

“It’s not just my imagination, people are staring at us.”

Paul sighed.

“Inari… how often do you think they see a pair of nine-tailed kitsune strolling down the street?”

“But… oh! Of course.”

“Did you forget you’re too depleted to maintain a disguise?”

Inari laughed self-consciously and nodded.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I had. It’s so much a part of life that to go without it… um… I suddenly feel a little bit naked.”

Paul glanced at her and grinned.

“That’s never bothered you before.”

Inari gave him a sharp glance, scowling slightly.

“There is a difference between naked and being unclothed.”

Paul was silent for a moment as he considered that statement, then slowly nodded.

“I get it.. one is where you feel exposed and vulnerable. Which I would guess is the case now.”

Inari sighed.

“Yes!”

Paul grasped and squeezed her hand briefly, reassuring her wordlessly. After a moment he remarked.

“You notice however, that although people are looking, they’re trying not to look as though they are looking.”

Inari nodded fractionally.

“That’s common courtesy. One might see things one is not meant to, like nakedness, but one does not see them. The illusion of privacy is important. That has always been the case. That is also why your habit of observing everything can be so disconcerting at times. In polite society, one is so used to deliberately not seeing things, that one puts them out of one’s mind immediately, without a thought. You, my Herald, do not. You observe and you think about what you have seen.”

“True Inari, I hadn’t entirely thought about it that way, but you’re right. A bad habit of mine I guess. In my defence, when I was younger I got compared to a certain detective so often, I started doing it out of self-defence. Although, I tell you what I’ve observed right now… that there’s rather a lot of people around us, all being very polite and according you the privacy of pretending not to have noticed.”

Inari opened her mouth, then closed it for moment, obviously changing her mind about what she was about to say.

“Hm… you’re right. I feel better knowing that.”

Paul glanced sidelong at Inari, a grin on his face.

“Although I think a certain black fox would prefer it if people did notice her!”

Inari leaned forward briefly to look past Paul at Tamamo, and then nodded slowly, a slight smile on her face.

“Sadly I think you are right. Thankfully we don’t have time to go shopping, or I am sure she would want to buy some truly outrageous modern fashions.”

Paul laughed.

“Maybe you should ask Kiko to take her and Izumi shopping in Osaka later on?”

Inari cast her mind back to her own experience of Osaka with Kiko, and smiled wistfully.

“Perhaps I should go as well…”

Paul glanced at Inari, and interpreting the slight smile hovering around her lips, quietly remarked.

“You should. I’m sure I can manage by myself for a day or two.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“Inari… have I ever minded?”

Inari sighed, shaking her head.

“No… although there are times I wish you would!”

Paul was about to answer when the Shinjuku gate came into view, and Tamamo stopped in surprise.

“There’s a forest here!”

Izumi laughed slightly.

“No Tamamo-san, it’s a public garden. Shall we go and find the cherry trees? The blossoms should be at their best.”

Inari blinked, then smiled.

“Cousin, it has been far, far too long since our last flower viewing party. Shall we see who’s skill at poetry has faded with the years?”

Tamamo grinned.

“I accept your challenge Inari-san. If I recall I bested you last time.”

“I seem to recall differently! But no matter, let us go!”

Tamamo took hold of Inari’s hand, and as they hurried ahead, Paul and Izumi were hard pressed to keep up. Paul wasn’t quite out of breath by the time he drew level with the pair of young-again kitsune, who were standing at the entrance glaring at a sign board.

“Well who ever heard of Hanami without rice wine!”

Paul saw the sign forbidding alcohol in the park as Inari turned to look at him. Noticing the frown on her face as she seemed to stare past him, he turned, and saw Izumi more than a few paces behind, pale faced, sweating and visibly distressed. Belatedly he remembered her heart condition.

“Crap! Inari, look for a place to rest for her. Tamamo..”

“Understood!”

Tamamo darted forward, and supporting Izumi by the shoulder placed her small slender hand over Izumi’s chest. For a moment there was soft golden glow, and with a gasp Izumi straightened up, a relieved and grateful expression on her face. Tamamo sagged slightly, and then shook her head.

Inari stepped forward the same time as Paul, murmuring to Tamamo.

“Are you well? Even a small healing must have drained you.”

“I’ll manage Inari, the crowds sustain me.”

Paul in the meantime had offered his arm to Izumi.

“Sorry Izumi-san, I didn’t realise we were putting that much of a strain on you.”

“Neither did I until it hit me. I feel… mostly alright now. Lets just go slowly and find somewhere to sit and eat while looking at the sakura. I’m sure that’ll help.”

Inari picked out a spot on the grass under the cherry trees, and they spread out the picnic blanket that Izumi had bought along with the bento boxes. Both Inari and Tamamo admired the design of of the elegantly made boxes before opening them. Inside were a variety of local speciality foods, as was usual for ekiben. Paul couldn’t help thinking they were a very, very long way from the standardised, mass produced and nearly inedible food available at British stations.

There were a number of other groups of people, and more than few single individuals, all enjoying the day by flower viewing as well, and while their small group drew quite a few stares, nobody was being obnoxiously obvious about it. Paul leaned back against the tree trunk behind him, and closing his eyes sighed. Despite the surrounding bustling city, here in the garden under the cherry trees it was peaceful… a peace, that now that he thought about it, he’d been sorely missing of late.

“A penny for them.”

Paul opened one eye a crack and looked at Inari.

“Hm..?”

“Is that not the right saying? A penny for your thoughts?”

“No.. that’s right. But I think I’d owe you change. I wasn’t thinking of much.”

Inari laughed softly.

“Still, whatever it was that was making you smile, must be worth something surely.”

“Oh well, I was just thinking it’s been rather busy of late, and that this stolen bit of peace is nice.”

Inari nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“You are not wrong my Herald. As you said before, we are victims of our own success. I think that perhaps we should work a little less and rest a little more. Truthfully, I’ve noticed these past few weeks that you were looking over worked and it concerned me.”

Paul raised his head to look at Inari for moment, then sighed and leaned back against the warm wood of the tree.

“Nice idea, but there’s way too much to do, and not enough hours in the day.”

Inari made a soft ‘tch’ noise and shook her head.

“Must I command you my Herald? You do too much, and take on too many responsibilities. You will rest, for your own good.”

“After you Inari.”

Paul opened one eye, and grinned at the sight of Inari pouting at him.

“What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander you know.”

Inari frowned at the unfamiliar to her saying, then sighed as she puzzled out the meaning.

“Very well Paul-san, a deal. I will rest when you do in future, and you will rest when I do.”

“As you wish Inari-sama. Although I suspect that’ll end up with either both of us not getting anything done, or both of us working our fingers to the bone.”

Tamamo interjected at that point.

“Or I could tell both of you to take a break! Really Inari, when did you become so serious and responsible?”

Inari opened her moth to reply, thought better of it, and took a drink of the still lemonade instead. After a moments considered thought, she sighed.

“You’re right… thinking back, I have changed, by quite a lot. Being the last kami weighed heavily upon me. The prospect of fading way, dwindling into madness and eventual death, made it hard to take pleasure in anything in life, and all I could think of was the obligations I had not the strength to fulfil.”

Paul stretched out a hand and laid it upon Inari’s as she sat beside him.

“Understood… when you’ve lived under a pall for so long, it’s hard to shake it off even if life has changed. Tell you what, lets modify the deal. I’ll take a break and enjoy life, when you do, and vice versa.”

Inari nodded,with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“As you say Paul-san. I will hold you to that deal.”

Pausing for a moment, Inari thought, and then spoke in a more formal tone.

“Blossoms bloom and fade,

Life's fleeting moments slip by,

Embrace each moment.”

Tamamo quietly applauded Inari’s impromptu haiku, then after a moments contemplation added her own.

“Kitsune in the breeze,

Cherry blossoms dance and sway,

Nature's symphony.”

Izumi grinned and added one of her own composition.

“Black fox in the glen,

Watching the cherry blossoms fall,

Spring's fleeting beauty.”

Paul looked at the other three, staring at him expectantly, and sighed.

“I said I wasn’t a poet, give me a minute will you?!”

Paul sipped at his soda for few minutes, thinking, and then tilting his head back to look up into the cloud of cherry blossoms above him.

“Ok..got one. It’s not very good though.”

Inari gently remarked.

“It’s alright Paul-san, we’re all friends here.”

Paul nodded then with a final resigned sigh, spoke.

“Ephemeral spring,

an eternal kitsune sighs

at transient blooms.”

Inari blinked, and then sighed.

“That’s… that’s rather good.”

“I think I messed up the middle line, it’s too short.”

“No, no it’s… um… well yes the form isn’t quite right, but it does not detract from the sentiment!”

Tamamo joined in.

“It leaves one wondering if the kitsune is sighing because unlike her, the blooms are fleeting, or because of the beauty of them.. or both?”

Paul shrugged.

“Heck if I know! If I’d known this was going to turn into a poetry analysis session I wouldn’t have bothered!”

Inari, noticing the tension in Paul’s shoulders, leaned against him.

“It’s alright Paul-san, no-one is criticising your effort… and whoever in past told you that you were no poet, lied! You have the talent, but you lack confidence in it, and experience in crafting it. That is all.”

Paul glanced down at Inari, and bending his neck slightly, leaned his head against the top of hers where it lay against his shoulder.

“Thank you Inari. But I think I prefer being an author and storyteller to being a poet. I know how to do that better. Not that I have much time for either nowadays.”

Inari, turned to look up at Paul, staring into his eyes for a moment, then nodded once, as she reached some internal decision.

“True… and that is your vocation isn’t it? Very well then, I shall make a Ruling. From now on you shall make time to work at your craft, wordsmith. Whatever else happens, I shall make sure that your true calling does not suffer for the lack of practice.”

“Nice idea Inari, but I doubt…”

“No Paul-san, I have spoken. So shall it be.”

Paul felt a faint sensation, like ripple of cool air washing over him. He raised an eyebrow, and then frowned as he recalled who, or rather, what Inari was.

“Did you… do.. something?”

Inari nodded.

“I am a Goddess Paul-san. Even without magic, my word is law. What I will, is so.”

“Uh, huh… and if I can’t or won’t find the time?”

Inari shook her head.

“That’s not how it works. You will find that circumstances will conspire to present you with the time, but it’s is up to you to use it. However, you’ll find that if you chose to spend that time on something else, it will go to waste… one way or another. I would suggest though if you don’t use it for writing, then resting would be wise.

Paul studied Inari for a moment, then slowly grinned.

“I see, lie back and accept the inevitable. Still, I’m not actually complaining. Although that’s going to bite you as well. Because I find writing itself restful, and if I’m resting, then so should you.”

Inari chuckled, nodding.

“I know Paul-san, and I am not complaining either!”

Paul smiled slightly.

“Well… in that spirit, and with respect to you all, I think I shall take advantage of this idyllic setting and take a nap if no-one objects.”

Inari laughed.

“Then I’ll join you I think! Tamamo, Izumi?”

Izumi shook her head.

“No, you go ahead. I’ll keep an watch on the time and wake you when it’s time to leave.”

Tamamo added.

“Izumi and I have much to talk over, I still have many, many questions about this modern era!”

Izumi laughed.

“Thank the gods I remembered to charge my phone! I can look up the answers when I don’t know them then!”

Inari chuckled.

“Your insatiable curiosity hasn’t changed at all cousin!”

“Oh it has Inari! After being stuck under a rock for a thousand years, I find myself with even more of a burning desire to learn about everything!”

Izumi groaned and rolled her eyes dramatically, causing everyone to laugh.