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Continued from Fox in the Center. Join Tomi as he travels through the the new kingdom! |
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The stream of string lights and lanterns casting a warm glow of the street took his breath away. Something about it was so familiar, but he'd been alive for so long he couldn't recall what. Red lanterns floating were floating on the ground. One in front of him broke free of its strings and lifted into the starless sky. He reached up for it, but someone called out to him. Some human strangers walked up to him. Their voices were high and most had long hair. He assumed they were females. "You've come a long way from Komorebi, haven't you? Welcome to the city! Need help looking for your way around?" She had a strange dialect. He wondered why they would talk to someone with a mask over their face. "I am not from Komorebi," he said. The two (probable) females smiled and waved at him. He waved back in confusion, and they giggled. He wished they didn't talk amongst each other so closely. Humans were so hard to differentiate. "What's your name? I'm Yarrow. The black-haired girl is Xi Jin, and the blonde one is Yang." "I am Tomihiko," he said. Some old lady opened the window and shouted down at them. "Troublesome girls! It's past curfew! Leave the poor boy alone!" She yelled, and slammed the window shut. Yarrow stuck out her tongue. Yang flicked up her middle finger, which Xi Jin tried to pushed down. Tomi stood there still, unsure of what to do until Yang turned her attention back to him. "What's with the mask? It's not even festival season," she said. "Take it off, let us see your face." Tomi slid it to the side of his head to make sure his tails and ears don't appear. Somehow, they were still awestruck. "Y-You aren't a demon, right?" Yarrow asked, backing away. He shook his head. "Where I'm from, we have..." He trailed off there, letting them come up with their own conclusions. Fortunately, they seem convinced. Their mood flipped in the opposite direction so fast it gave him whiplash. They were scared just a second ago. "You're so handsome, you know." Yarrow said, her voice taking a different quality that he couldn't place. He thanked her. Yang seemed to think the same thing, as she walked towards him with a simper on her face. "My friends and I were going to get a drink. Wanna come?" Xi Jin stood back, mouth hanging open, chanting the word 'beautiful' to herself. She was the only virgin of the three then. Tomi's god status affected humans differently. For violent or evil individuals, they felt fear. For normal individuals, they felt anything in between admiration to adoration. For virgins, he was pretty sure their minds exploded or something.. The thought of sake got him quenched, but he'd rather avoid the advances of humans if he was able. He had always known humans tended to love his appearance. He caused a lot of ruckus among the village girls near his shrine when he escaped to 'borrow' steamed dumplings and sweets from stands. A large amount of prayers came that day wishing the said girl would marry him. He couldn't grant that, of course. Yarrow and Yang must be sexually mature girls. Usually girls of their age acted just like Xi Jin. Maybe it was different in the future. They graduated from straw huts to steel towers. Good for them. Earthquakes would suck. "Is that tattoo permanent?" Yarrow asked. She touched her finger on the golden lotus on his forehead. He stared at her, wondering why humans were so nosy, but she flushed and broke the stare. "Yes," he said. There were three types of markings on his face. The golden lotus he got from The Man. It was a symbol of his elevation from fox familiar to deity. It was present in his fox form on his back. The red outlining his eyes was custom for any fox. The two and three red dots under each eye symbolised how many thousands of years he had lived. After 6000, he would probably die. He didn't know. Most foxes lived to around 2000. By now, a lot of people on the street had taken notice of him. He pulled his mask back over his face. Because of the human souls around him, he hadn't noticed the change in the air. It hit him that there was an abnormal amount of miasma in the air. The brick that flew in his direction missed, though. He caught it with his hand. The perpetrator was a short human. It looked horrified. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know why I..." She trailed off, looking ashamed. A few buffer humans gathered. They began loudly saying things about his markings, calling him a demon. Yarrow approached them with a scowl. "Stop saying rude things to people you don't even know," she scolded. One, wearing a fabric hat, stepped in front of his friends with a grin. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Even if he's prettier than you, he doesn't have your tits." He and his friends laughed and clapped hands with each other to that. Yang stormed over and slapped him. Tomi hardly noticed the altercation. There was a traveling miasma and it came from the direction of his shrine. The area around him was unaffected, which was why he hadn't noticed til now. He couldn't exercise it though, not here in front of so many humans. There was a shriek. Finally he directed his attention to the females and the humans who didn't have anything to do but start trouble. The talkative one had Yang by the hair. She was clawing at him, but it didn't look like they were too evenly matched. Xi Jin was on the floor, holding her knee and Yarrow was being held down by the other buff humans. Tomi strolled over to them. "It would be good if you let the females go. They don't have the same physical strength as you," he said. "Please hurry. I have somewhere to be." They scoffed. Tomi tilted his head. Humans of the future didn't really have a sense of danger, he noted. Next time, he would approach the situation more aggressively, as to end it sooner. He grabbed the human's hand and twisted. The human screamed. Before the others could react, he kicked it on the shoulder, sending it flying to the side. He treated the other five or so with the same consequence. The females, all free, huddled back together and asked with relief if they were all okay. Yarrow turned to him abruptly while he was checking if the humans were still alive. They were. Hm. "Uhm, Tomihiko... Thanks, you really saved us there," she said, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Do not pick fights you cannot win in the future," he said. With that he nodded his head, and turned in the direction with the highest concentration of miasma. Before he could leave, she ran towards him, hugging him from behind. "I fell in love in with you," she said. He didn't have time for this. The miasma was growing thicker by the minute. Soon, more humans would be affected. He pried her hands off and faced her. "Thank you, but I have somewhere I have to be. Exercise caution and take care not to pick fights nor fall in love with strangers in the future," was his sage advice to her. He made his way quickly to the miasma epicentre. Humans seemed to devhonorThey didn't worry about honour and food as much as they used to, judging by the display made by the ones he parted with. Back then, they could at least recognise that he was a powerful being. He wondered if his power had decreased or something, but decided that there was no good reason for it to. Past the glowing red lanterns and the yellow street lights, he approached the brightest-lit place he had ever seen. Boards of lights and pictures were on top of buildings and poles all around. The amount of humans walking was ridiculous. He couldn't see the road nor the path in front of him. The miasma was like a violet fog here. He disappeared to the top of the highest tower that he could see. Once on top, he pulled out his fan. Without musicians, he called upon nature to sing for him. The winds switched direction and whistled as a flute would. The Moon cast her adoring gaze upon him and all sound quieted to admire. The ancient Dance of Purification began. |
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