The family secret

You and Camilla stare in shock before sharing a look. Then, you speak up. "Um, excuse me?" Your glance shifts between Kara and her mother. "Would you mind explaining?"

As Kara kneels down next to her father, Miki answers. "Where we're from, life debts are an important part of our culture. When someone saves your life outside of a wartime situation, you owe them a life debt. In most cases, this debt can be repaid through certain tributes, but in your case-"

"We've discussed it, Mother. You know she's smart enough to find out the rest on her own." Kara looks with annoyance to Miki, but when she turns to Camilla, her face turns apologetic. "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

"No, no, it's fine." Camilla's head, which had been pointed downward, turns to you. "May I be excused?" Her poker face is strong, but you can feel the anger behind her eyes.

You confusedly nod, and without a second thought, she stands and walks out the door, barely putting on her boots on the way. When the door closes behind her, you turn to Miki, trying your hardest to wrap your head around the situation. "So, according to your culture, I own her?"

"That is correct. You raised her from the dead, after all." The matriarch matches your gaze.

You think for a moment that you should pick your next words carefully, but they slip out of your mouth before you can stop yourself. "Do I need to tell you how fucked up that is?"

"Dusk." Kara draws your focus with a cough. "Also as part of our culture," she glares at her mother before looking back to you, "if I wish to be with Camilla, I must offer a betrothal gift to the one who owns her." She lifts a small box that you hadn't noticed from beside the Japanese-style table. "I thought a lot on this, and believe this would both be worth her hand, as well as assist you in your endeavors." She stands, rounds the table, and kneels on Camilla's empty pillow, offering you the box. You take it, but before you can open it, she continues. "Now, Mother, Father, Dusk, if I may be excused." As the three of you nod, she rushes out the door as quickly as her yukata will let her, not bothering to take her shoes.

"I guess that just leaves us, then." You open the small chest-like box, revealing a fist-sized...flawless pearl?

Miki gasps from beside you, one of the first major gaps in her calm and collected. "What was she-"

Kaguya places a hand on his wife's knee. "Dear, she knows what she's doing. And now that it's done, we can't take it back, can we."

The matriarch looks with shock to her husband. "You knew she was doing this?"

"Do either of you mind explaining? Keep in mind I'm still new to this world."

They both look to you, then share a look. "Miki, we need to tell him. He's the only one that could understand."

She looks down and takes a breath. "Dusk, our daughter tells us you have the ability to 'read' people, and find information about them. Tell me," she looks you in the eye, "what do you see when you look at me?"

You pause. She really did tell them everything, huh? You look at her through God's Eye, and are glad you don't have water in your mouth to perform a spit-take. "You're..." You look at Kaguya, and he registers as human. "Just you, Miki, and I'm assuming your children, are kitsune?"

She nods, and without further ado, fox ears fade into existence on her head, and four tails appear similarly, all a similar color to her blond hair. They don't grow out, like you're assuming your wings and horns do, but it's as if they were always there. "We are a family of kitsune from the island of Go-bi. We were **** to flee just over a decade ago from invasion, and we settled here."

"Invasion?" Do they know about Orchid? "Wait, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. What does being a kitsune have to do with this pearl?" Now I wish I'd paid attention more when Sakurai talked about fantasy creatures...

"That is a hoshi no tama. Specifically...my daughter's." She breathes deep, her eyes fixing on the pearl. "In short, each kitsune has two. One allows the kitsune some measure of control over the receiver. The other..." She gulps. "Is the reverse. Once you absorb it, you'll take part of Kara's soul into yourself, granting you an affinity for kitsune magics."

Kaguya feels the need to pitch in. "Taking this gift also means taking a certain responsibility over our daughter. Your souls will become bound together, and as a result, if you get hurt, she'll feel it, to an extent. For example, if you were to get stabbed, she'd feel a sting in the same spot. However, if you die, she will become very sick, and even might die, herself. Even if she survives, she'll never be the same."

Miki continues. "If our hoshi no tama is lost through the receiver's ****, there is no way to recover that part of ourself. If my husband were to die outside of natural causes, I would never be able to take orders from anyone. While that may not seem bad, it means I would never be capable of listening to reason, either. If you were to be killed, the inverse is true for Kara. She would never be able to make her own decisions again, and never be able to argue with anyone. Before I let you absorb her hoshi no tama, I need you to truly understand the gravity of the situation."

You close the box and set it on the table. "Does Camilla know about you?"

Camilla had rounded the house and gone a few dozen yards into the woods. She punches a tree and screams in anger. "Why!?" Her fist thunks against the tree, and again, and again. Eventually, her head slumps against the trunk. Why am I okay with this? I should be going in there and cursing like a sailor in their faces...but I can't even bring myself to hate them for their dumb 'culture'...

"Are you okay?" Camilla looks to the side defeatedly, spotting a fox not dissimilar to the one who spoke to her last night, and it's slowly creeping closer. The only differences she can find at first glance are that this one has two tails instead of four, and is at least a bit smaller. "I know it's a lot to take in, but you're always allowed to ask for help."

"Who the hell am I even asking from? That's two of you now and you haven't even told me who you are." Her tone is depressed, if a little sharp.

"I would think you'd recognize me after so long, Cammy." The fox walks up and rubs her neck against the captain's hip.

Camilla squints in confusion. "Kara? But-"

"I thought everything should be out in the open, now." The fox circles around itself before sitting on its hindquarters. "Why don't you sit down? I need to tell you a few things."

"It sounds like Kara is telling her, now." Miki nods.

"And you didn't think she deserved to know sooner?" You sigh. "From what I remember, they're childhood friends. So why would she reveal your secret?"

Kaguya interjects. "Prejudice and fear are strong. Harold in particular is a nasty one, and Gilford has his own reasons for hating monsters. If either of them found out a week ago, they would have rallied a mob to chase us out of town. We didn't know Camilla's exact stance, and thus...we needed to keep it a secret from her. You're the first one we've told since we came to this town."

"I...guess that's fair." You sigh again, crossing your arms. "I guess we'll see how Camilla feels about everything. Even if I did follow your 'culture' of owning other people, I'm still treating her as a person. As for this hoshi no tama...I'll wait for now. Sure, kitsune magic is great, but I don't even know what that would entail."

"We specialize in illusions," Miki starts, "but we also can have an elemental affinity, often depending on where we're from. Being from Go-bi, my family has an affinity for the forest element."

You blink. "I'm sorry, 'forest' is an element? I thought it was water, earth, fire, air for the basics, then light, life, dark, and **** for the exotic elements."

The matriarch continues, seeming a bit more calm as the conversation goes on. "That is what arcanists on this continent tend to believe. Our people recognize thirteen elements. Some align with what your wizards and mystics believe, and others do not. As for what the forest element entails, at first, you would have minor influence over the denizens of the forest, including the trees themselves. With your and Kara's practice, you both would be able to control the forest on the same level as a druid, calling wildlife and bending trees to your will."

That sounds like it'd fall into life, maybe earth too, if soil is involved in it. "That's making a bit more sense, now." You nod. "And with illusions, I assume that's what you use to disguise your ears and tails, and not shapeshifting?" You don't remember a lot of detail on kitsune, but you're pretty sure they can shapeshift.

Miki nods. "Not to say that we cannot shapeshift, but we only have two forms: fox, and mostly human. And before you ask, that is not something you will be able to do with Kara's hoshi no tama."

"I figured as much, but it's best to cover your bases. Uh, sorry, it's best to make sure I know as much as I can." I doubt they have baseball here.

"Ah, it seems Kara and Camilla are finishing up. We can finally begin our meal." Miki takes a sip of her tea.

"You're hearing them, right?" You point to phantom fox ears on your head.

She nods, and understanding your implication, continues. "That is not one of the shared benefits, no."

A minute or so later, the couple walk back into the house, Camilla taking off her shoes at the door. They kneel back in their seats, with Kara eyeing the wooden box she had handed you. "I see you haven't used it yet."

You nervously chuckle. "It's a big responsibility. I just want to make sure I'm willing to put your life on the line, even if I'm miles away."

She giggles into her hand. "I knew I could count on you."

Camilla picks up her tea cup. "I suggest you take it. If I'm going to be serving someone, I'm gonna make damn sure they're not a weakling. Pardon my language, Auntie."

Everyone at the table chuckles, even if you can feel a bit anxiety being masked by the captain's humor.

Hey again! I just want to make something clear with this chapter: I'm taking HUGE liberties with how kitsune are according to Earth's folklore. For example, according to the sources I've had, a kitsune only has one hoshi no tama, not two (and definitely not a 'dom' and a 'sub' one), and according to some, it's their actual soul or the source of their power, not just the manifestation of 'half' of their personality and power. There'll be a couple more things, but the jist of it is that you probably shouldn't use this story as a source on information about kitsune for your own stories.