Experiences
“Everyday tasks took on a different meaning,” Aria replied, her tone growing lighter now, gentler. “It was like I was reborn almost; one part of me recognized things like going for a walk, going to the mall, and so on, but Shina saw them through my eyes and just… enhanced it. I learned to appreciate my life thanks in part to her. She gave me inspiration, she gave me humility. And now, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
Daniel was fascinated. To hear this, he began to wonder if choosing to allow Kura to merge into him was a better choice. Perhaps it had more benefits than being able to turn into a cool - if apparently female-bodied - magic fox creature.
Kura scoffed. “I’m no ‘magic’ anything, you. I’m a spirit. It’s different.”
Daniel was about to respond outwardly, but, checked himself and instead thought. ‘You didn’t exactly tell me what you were, Kura. You were super vague.’
“Er.” Kura shifted somewhat again. “Fair. I didn’t know what scope your knowledge was of the supernatural world. There’s no word in your language to exactly describe what I am, and while the term ‘yokai’ is common in Japanese culture, it isn’t quite… appropriate, I suppose. Spirit is the closest thing I can come up with.”
Daniel made a mental note of this.
“But to answer your thought, yes, this will have such benefits,” Kura said, her tone warmer. “I am genuinely excited to experience the various things you go through. No matter how simple or mundane, it will be new to me, and it will likely continue to be new to me every single day for the rest of our lives. That’s one of the benefits of being a kitsune; you don’t FORGET your experiences, we just… derive pleasure from them much, much more strongly.”
‘Wow…’ Daniel thought. He didn’t know what else to think, but, he was honestly kind of eager to see what this would be like.
“Having a deep conversation, are we?” Aria asked, amused.
Daniel blinked. “Oh, right. Yes.” He forgot that she was still there and that she couldn’t hear his thoughts to Kura. “So, uh, how often do you… do you become a kitsune, I guess?”
“Whenever I wish,” Aria replied. “Obviously if I have some kind of engagement, I don’t turn into a kitsune and vanish, but when I have nights to myself, or a day to myself…” She sighed. “It’s so incredibly freeing to live in this form.”
She started to run, pausing only briefly to wink at him, and Daniel found himself picking up his speed to a run as well. The two ran through the woods, rushing past trees left and right, Daniel doing his best to keep up with Aria while also trying to avoid running into anything.
“Don’t be so afraid, Daniel!” Aria shouted. “Your body and your partner will keep you from crashing! Run and live free!”
“She’s right,” Kura said. “Let your inhibitions go.”
Written by Hollowpages on 21 September 2019