The next morning Eva had slept in quite a bit. When the white fox opened her eyes and rolled around to stretch her paws out, it was already half past ten. Blinking the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, she slowly trodded towards the door. Only to arrive and remember with an annoyed growl that this door came with a doorknob not a handle. So instead of jumping up to grab said non-existing handle, Eva shifted into her human shape and opened the door to leave for breakfast.
After a few minutes of walking, she soon reached the area where the initial reception had been held the day before. Though now much of the space was filled with small tables and a buffet of various breakfast foods. Taking off her hoody and draping it over the back of a chair with an especially nice view of the countless islands they were passing through, Eva went to get some food. After filling a small plate with a pair of pancakes and a slice of french toast for now, she made her way back to her seat and enjoyed the food and the view.
Watching the islands pass by, Eva was a bit surprised by both their variety in size and number. Some were large enough that they could just about fit all of her shrine, if they were flat enough to build on them. Others barely managed to have room for a lonesome tree.
When she returned from getting a second helping of food, Eva found her seat occupied by Hikari nibbling on an onigiri, her tiny fox laying asleep at her feet.
After she loudly cleared her throat, the young half goddess turned to look at her. “Good morning Lady Mayer.” Pointing to the hoodie still hanging over the back of the chair she continued. “Do you know how to get this back to whoever forgot it here?”
“Morning Hikari.” Eva replied as she set down her plate to then take and put on her hoodie. “Don’t worry, it’s mine. I left it here to reserve this nice seat for me.” She finished as she sat down in the other chair at this table.
“Why did you leave your clothes for that and not a note?”
“Maybe you don’t really do that in Japan. Where I come from, if a seat has a jacket or a towel or anything similar hanging over the back or lying on it, it usually means someone’s reserving that for themselves. Usually because they had to step away for a bit, like to get more food from a buffet.”
“Aha.” The young girl commented, her attention drifting back to the sea and islands around them with her curiosity sated for now.
“Say, why are you here on your own?” Eva inquired as she began to eat again.
“Dad’s still sleeping and I am not supposed to wake him up.” Hikari began to explain between bites of bean paste filled rice. “But I was hungry already so I went and looked for breakfast. That’s when one of the nice little foxes led me here.”
Hearing that the young girl was unsupervised for now, Eva got a bit worried. She’d heard enough stories about her cousin’s children to know that Hikari might end up causing trouble unintentionally if left on her own too long.
“Does your father know you came here?” The Kitsune inquired.
After the half goddess shook her head, Eva continued. “Then once you've finished breakfast we’ll go find one of the servants so they can write a note for him.”
Hikari nodded and resumed eating her onigiri.
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Once they had both finished, Eva quickly waved over one of the fox servants, and told it to let Jiro know the whereabouts of his daughter once he woke up. Meanwhile Hikari had picked up her pet fox, now cradling the sleepy kit in her arms.
“So what would you like to do until your dad gets up?” Eva inquired with a friendly smile.
“Dad always told me how Mumei could turn into a beautiful fox. Can you do that too?”
Nodding, Eva quickly turned into a fox, her shoulders standing about as high as Hikari’s hips.
“Ta-da” She said with a facsimile of a smile stretched across her muzzle.
Seeing this, Hikari oohed and aahed for a few seconds as she watched Eva turn around, showing off to the little girl, especially her three wagging tails.
“Can you grow a bit bigger and give me a ride?” Hikari requested after a few more moments.
“Let’s find out together shall we?” Eva said as she tried her best, and succeeded in turning into a larger fox. She then laid down on her belly so Hikari could more easily get onto her back. While it wasn’t the most comfortable thing to do, and caused a few amused snickers from those that spotted them, it at least occupied the little girl and kept her out of trouble.
About half an hour of foxy-back-rides later, one of the servants came up to them and informed them that Hikari’s father had woken up and was waiting for his daughter to come back.
They soon arrived in the lounge area where he was waiting for them. Once he noticed the pair approaching him, he got a concerned look on his face and walked up to them, quickly pulling Hikari from Eva’s back and onto his own shoulders.
“Thank you for watching over my daughter.” He thanked Eva, still looking at the Kitsune with concern clearly filling his gaze. “While I have no doubt she would have behaved herself, I feared she might have unknowingly caused trouble, as she did. I hope you won’t hold it against her.” He continued while taking the fox kit from his daughter into his own arms so she could better hold on. “She simply didn’t know yet that riding a fox without a saddle is not good for the poor canine’s back.”
“It didn’t hurt that bad.” Eva played off his concerned words. “And besides, giving her a ride was more entertaining for me than trying not to make any faux pas while talking to all the Kami around here.”
“I would still suggest getting a back massage. From what I heard the last time a Kitsune tried this, their back allegedly nearly killed them the next day from the pain.” He then sighed deeply before he continued. “Even so, watching my dear child of your own volition just makes me wish to repay the debt I owe Mumei that much more. If there is something you could use help with, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Well there is actually one thing. While I will have to return to my home country next fall, I can’t just abandon all the responsibilities Mumei shoved at me, can I?”
“Not as far as I know, you can train and hire aides to help with many of them, but there are some you will not be able to relinquish until death, though many of those would wane if your shrine’s popularity amongst mortals were to plummet.”
“So is there a way for me to perform them while living back home in Germany?”
“Maybe.” He said before explaining more clearly. “While establishing a second shrine in your honor might help you travel, if what I hear of kitsune is true, it would not help with the time difference at all.” As she was to reply he held up a hand to stop her. “But if you don’t mind, I know a few European deities as well as some well travelled Kami. I will see if they have any ideas on how to ease your burden.”
“How did you get to know European deities?” Eva inquired incredulous. “If you don’t mind me asking that is.”
“I don’t, but the explanation involves many things not suited to Hikari’s young ears.” He explained. “I will write about it to you alongside the results of my inquiries.”
“Thank you very much.” Eva said, before turning around. “Now I think I’ll go get that massage you suggested.”