A growing relationship with Haruka

“I ate very well, thank you,” Haruka said with a satisfied sigh, dropping his fork and caressing his belly. “You are a talented cook.”

I giggled, still finishing my own plate. “Well, Marie is a good cook, I mostly relied on her skills. As my old self, I was just decent at best, only knowing the basics.”

“Your abilities as a skinwalker are impressive. I admittedly only heard fearsome things about your kind before,” Haruka said. “My dad said that you were all selfish and cruel towards humans, and that we should avoid you at all cost.”

“I assume most skinwalkers are like that, yeah. Taking human lives as theirs, treating them as entertainment and nothing more. These powers can easily corrupt.” Looking at my body, I caressed my soft thighs, shivering slightly from pleasure as my cheeks reddened. “Even I was corrupted by the curse to some extent, otherwise I wouldn't love this situation so much. But I try my best to stay true to my values.”

“You wouldn't have saved me if you weren't a good person. I owe my life to you, Marie.”

I chuckled weakly, raising my feet on the chair and hugging my knees. “For a skinwalker, I might still be considered good, but it doesn't make what I'm doing any less immoral in the eyes of humans. I just… want to move on from the pain of not being with my sister anymore, explore different jobs and lives, and find a place to settle in to live in peace.”

“Well, I'm certain that place will be Japan. When you come with me, I will introduce you to my family, I am sure they will be able to help you feel at home there.”

Haruka said that with such confidence that I couldn't help but smile. “I really hope so. When are you planning on leaving?”

“I told them I would stay for two months, and I've been here for a week already.”

“Oh, so there's still time, good. I'll show you some really nice places~” I winked at him, giggling. “The Marie part of me definitely won't let your main memory of France and Provence be getting shot by some trigger-happy asshole.”

Haruka smiled back. “I wouldn't mind seeing more of the country and region.”

I grinned. “We're gonna have a lot of fun~”

Afterwards, Haruka offered to help wash the dishes, but I politely declined. The kitchen was too small for two people to be comfortable working together. I turned on the TV and let him choose something to watch while I got to cleaning.

While scrubbing one of the plates, I wondered something. “How does your shapeshifting work exactly? Can you turn into original people, or only copy someone's appearance?”

“Oh, we can do both. I normally have a human identity I use in public,” Haruka explained.

“Why were you in your tanuki form then?” I wondered.

He appeared more embarrassed. “Oh, hmm, my family isn't very rich, so I boarded the plane hiding as an object. I couldn't really buy any clothes so I thought I'd just explore the region in my original form. Maybe borrow some abandoned clothes along the way and visit the cities like this. I've noticed humans here throw away a lot of clothes.”

“You can turn into objects too?” I asked, surprised.

Haruka nodded, now puffing his admittedly currently attractive chest pridefully. “Of course. We can turn into anyone and anything we've seen and examined. This is what differentiates us from these haughty foxes.”

I giggled, remembering his beef with kitsunes. “I see. Well, if you don't mind keeping a female shape afterwards, I could lend you some of my clothes.”

“I'm not sure I make for a convincing female, but I can try,” Haruka awkwardly said, scratching his head.

It made me laugh louder. “Don't worry about that. Tomboyish girls exist, you know?” Crossing my legs and resting my hands on my knee while giving him a more teasing smirk, I continued. “Although, if you'd like to make for a convincing feminine woman, I'd gladly give you some lessons~ I'm somewhat of an expert on the subject, after all~”

Haruka seemed to have taken my teasing seriously, looking lost in thought. “It… might actually be useful. I need to learn how to be convincing as a human no matter the gender.”

“Well, you won't find a better teacher than me around these parts~ While you're healing and still can't change your appearance, I will teach you the basics about posture and speech patterns.”

One of Marie's other friends besides Soraya and Johanna was a trans man, and he told her in detail everything he learnt during his time with a speech therapist. Marie found it so fascinating and interesting to learn how the voice worked.

“I'd like to hear your teaching.” Haruka said before yawning, stretching his arms and cracking his bones.

“I think it's time to go to bed. You want to take a shower?” I asked Haruka as I myself yawned. “I can lend you a gown for the night.”

Haruka got up and bowed. “Thank you. I'll be quick.” Grabbing the gown, he swiftly went to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Before the shower started, I knocked on the door. “Since it's your first time, I need to give you your first lesson about womanhood. It's not like how guys do it. Down there, you wipe and clean from front to back, not the other way around, alright?”

I heard Haruka trip on something as I spoke, apparently startled by what I just said. “Ah, uhh, okay. I'll keep it in mind.”

I giggled, amused by his reaction. It was something a lot of men weren't aware of, so it was natural. I only knew about it because I had to sometimes take care of Claire's night accidents when we were both kids, and our maid taught me this. I already wanted to be the best big brother I could for her, back then.

I sighed, hugging myself tightly as I leant against the wall. Ah, Claire… Recalling these times hurt. God did I still miss my sister so much…

Glancing up, a painting was on the wall, in a glass frame. The glass shone with the corridor's light, partially reflecting my current face. Marie's face. What would you think of me now, Claire…?

I could feel my eyes starting to get wet, the urge to cry growing, but I closed my eyes and breathed slowly, doing my best to keep my emotions in check. I returned to the main room and sat on the couch, grabbing a book to keep my mind occupied.

Haruka returned a moment later, awkwardly dressed in the gown I gave him. Soraya hadn't been one to wear gowns, but it admittedly looked cute on her body.

I closed my book and got up, towards the wardrobe. “You can lay on the bed already if you'd like, I'll join you in a bit.”

Haruka seemed surprised. “We're, uhh, sharing a bed?”

While removing my top, I giggled. “Why not? I'm not gonna let you sleep on the couch. Besides, the bed is large enough for us two.”

His cheeks reddened as he glanced at the bed and then at me. It was so fun to see him act embarrassed like this, I didn't think I'd get tired of it anytime soon.

I changed into a comfy pair of gym shorts and a pink tanktop, and went to lay on the bed, patting the space next to me while grinning at Haruka.

I grinned and winked. “Come on, I assure you the bed is very comfortable~”

Haruka hesitantly sat and then laid on the bed, on his side, and trying to keep some distance from me. “T-thank you, Marie. It's very comfortable indeed.”

I gave him a minute before wrapping my arm around his stomach and snuggling closer, our bodies pressing, my face resting against his neck.

My action startled him. “W-what are you doing?”

Feeling more at peace, I softly replied. “Just snuggling my cute raccoon~” I then more quietly muttered. “I need to hug something right now…”

My voice faltered, a hint of sadness Haruka seemingly caught up on, as he put his hand on mine and didn't say another word. I drifted off shortly after.