Kita handed a glass to Fate, set the bottle on the coffee table, then dragged one of the fluffy pillows to the opposite side of the table. He was proud of himself when he sat on it with a reasonable amount of grace. Fate just lifted that eyebrow of his and the edges of his mouth tilted up slightly. The fox knew the god found it entertaining that he had found a way to keep his distance.

He ignored the god's amusement and took a deep drink of his wine. The flavor burst over his tongue and he closed his eyes to savor it. It was worth waiting hundreds of years for it. Without opening his eyes he said, “relish it, Fate. You won't find something more perfect on any plane of existence.”

“You're right.” Fate replied, and Kita opened his eyes to find the god once again staring intently at him. The god held the glass near his nose and lightly inhaled the scent of the wine. Then he rubbed the rim of the glass against his lower lip, still holding Kita's gaze. He took a small sip and held it in his mouth, letting the taste flow over his palate, before his Adam's apple dipped down with his swallow.

Kita followed the movement then blinked and shook his head to wake himself out of his odd trance. He rubbed his face, then took another deep drink of his wine before breaking the silence. “What was it you wanted to tell me?”

Fate tilted his head as if thinking, before answering, “when you were fighting the bakeneko, did you notice anything different from your usual state of being?”

The fox pursed his lips and his eyes moved around the room as he went over the altercation internally. He made a humph sound and went over it again, since he didn't find anything that stood out the first time. His eyes widened as it hit him, and he called forth his foxfire to dance above his hand. It glowed a misty white with just a hint of blue around it's edges.

Fate nodded and smiled, “yes, exactly so.”

“Do you know why it's turning white?”

“I do. You are about to ascend, little fox. You're in the process of changing, You're becoming more pure.”

“Pure?” Kita made a face and extinguished his foxfire. He was anything except pure. He was just a fox.

Fate nodded again, “Yes. Your spirit is adapting.”

Kita finished his glass of wine in a gulp and poured himself more. “Why?”

Fate set his glass on the coffee table and leaned closer. “The Neko who called you the holy grail of Yokai, wasn't far off his mark. You are now the oldest Kitsune alive. There have been only seven Kitsune who have reached the same age as you have, but none of them survived much longer. A couple were unable to adapt, a few had accidents, and the rest were hunted by those who were jealous of their new power.”

Kita's heart skipped more than one beat in surprise, then he drained his full glass to the last drop.