Lei was by nature a very calm person. She was the oldest of her parent's children. The first and also the hardest to conceive. Her father had not been sure that it was possible at all. Dragon's in the farthest sense were reptiles, and in general with those and fishes it was not impossible. 

But they were also magic and ancient in a way, to do it was easy and difficult at the same time. It had happened unconventionally, after they had tried it so many times in their dragon form, only to succeed one solar eclipse in their humanoid form. 

They spoke of it so frequently, of their little gift - Lei had stopped blushing. 

What remained true was her attunement to the sun. Her golden eyes and the time, at which she was most energetic during the day, both served as proof for it. 

At the moment, it was very hard for Lei to keep calm, somehow... Was it her own heart that beat so fast? Or was it this quirkiness of the other, which affected her and made her jumpy? When she asked her to join her and her friends, it was true that she only would like to get to know Yu in this instance, but at the same time, she also, at least sometimes, enjoyed making other acquaintances.

She pondered and smiled at the other encouragingly. Trying to communicate with her expression that Yu did not have to worry about being this effervescent - as Lei found it quite endearing. 

Yu waited for a reply, on her thigh, her phone buzzed incessantly, and she was at this point very much tempted to turn around and yell at whoever thought of disrupting this moment right now. Even though she knew they were long gone, but she did not want to get her phone out and she also didn’t want to yell. 

The minute Lei smiled it looked similar to the light of the stars, no even brighter, the sun started to shine and it was absolutely dazzling.

It was enchanting in a way that Yu had thought only fox spirits and sirens could take hold of someone's attention. Here she was though, Yu's heartbeat accelerating even more, as if she had just run a marathon and was close to the finish line. 

"Why don't we just go for a walk for now?", she whispered, unsure of who had spoken, until Lei answered with a nod. 

If there hadn't been an answer, Yu still would've thought, she had only thought this invitation. But rather, Lei made a gesture away from her that encouraged her. 

"Lead the way.", she uttered and Yu's smile opened her mouth and she showcased her canines again. 

Both of them left the spot they were standing at. 

Since Lei had just arrived, it was Yu's responsibility to show her around. 

She excused herself for a second, though. 

They had already walked around for 20 minutes, she only then informed her bandmates of the change of plans. 

"Oh noo... I guess I deserve this though.", she mumbled half-audibly, while Lei was still reminiscing about the skyline she had seen, and all the small shops and restaurants, before they had now arrived at the ocean. 

Lei had taken off her shoes, and Yu hadn't even worn hers anymore. 

Lei was standing and looked out to the mostly calm waves, the warm breeze playing around with her curls and Yu's escaped strands. It was interesting how the temperature changed depending on where you were and since the ocean held on to warmth longer it seemed it easily warmed the breeze, which came landward.

She had waited patiently and now that Yu returned, she previously had taken a step away to text her band. 

So now, Lei faced her gaze with a curious expression, which entailed one raised eyebrow.

"What did they ask of you?", she inquired, guessing, who she had written to, since her phone had been buzzing non-stop. The whole way they had taken, as well.

 

Everytime though, Yu was thinking about answering it, her eyes had caught sight of something that she could explain to Lei, or give more context for, than was obvious. 

Lei knew that she had wanted to answer the phone for a while now, because of one hand, her left, always, reflexively reaching to where her phone was stored during their walk. Only to stop shortly before it and then starting to explain something.

"They demand an invitation to the expensive Udon restaurant, which I showed you." - "You mean the one with the fried options as well?" - "Yes... I will be poor for all of next month..", she proclaimed, her expression mimicking a desperate smiley 😫.

"You will still get food with your monthly coupons.", Lei reminded her and got a sigh as answer. "Very smart of you. But let me complain a bit.... Even though every place accepts the Coupon's...", she adds the moment Lei's expression changes, and seemed like she wanted to throw this at her. 

Why was it so easy for her to guess, what Lei would say?

"I can invite you. To a place of your choosing. What is your favourite?" - "Kitsune-Udon.", Yu answered, before Lei had finished speaking. "Where do they sell it? I didn't see it on the menu, of the other place?", Lei was very calm, and her voice was soothing like a warm hug. 

If Yu thought about it, she really wanted to hug the other right at this moment. 

"It's in another town. I lived there before, and it takes a bit to get there, but we could also incorporate the train ride into the trip. If you want to?", Yu was very enthusiastic about it, which Lei found particularly charming, and so she nodded in agreement, again, and though she noticed she was very tired by now, she still followed Yu for a bit more. 

"So...", the fox hesitated a bit and suddenly stopped moving, the moment she was next to a bookstore and showing Lei a faster way to get to her apartment. 

"Yes?", it was less of a question and more a nudge of encouragement, for her to continue speaking. 

"I'm a fox spirit. I would like to know, if you are a dragon?", again she had at first lowered her gaze, before now lifting it and directly staring holes into Lei with those dark blue eyes, glimmering with their own set of stars - a truly mesmerising sight.

"I am.", she agrees. 

"I have not seen one in so long. A lot of them are slumbering. Eternal life can be exhausting at times...", Yu adds, in order to denote her sympathy for them. 

She was barely 1000 and not yet experienced in being nine-tailed. The unique mixture of her spirits had enhanced her progression in magic and in the growth of tails, but she wasn't quite sure if that made her a full-fledged one yet. Gumiho's took over a 1000 years, same as Kitsune, but she was a Tamamo no Mae as well. 

A hitch and an only child, born of magic from her father. 

She wasn't sure, of course, but this could've been one reason for the insecurity.

"I'm ... I have turned, 10024 on March the 5th. I can relate to them. But the world has offered so many wonders during my travels...", without finishing the sentence, she locked gazes with Yu, who was so astonished that her eyes were widening even further. 

"You are older than .... About the same age as ....", stumbling and fumbling for words, Yu was truly speechless. 

"It's weird that we look the same age?!", both said at the same time, but with different intonations.

Lei returned home, the smile glued to her face, her eyes sparkling and her phone richer with one more contact, she brewed herself some tea and changed into more comfortable clothing. 

She put her hair into a bonnet and knelt down at her tea table. She did this ritual not only to make herself a bit more tired, but also to calm herself down. 

Whatever this encounter was, it seemed fated, she thought.

She had been here for a whole week, exploring the city, texting her cousin's and siblings, calling her father's but nothing had been as memorable as today, as if it was an unwritten law, no one contacted her.

She sent a text indicating her gratitude, for Yu taking her home, and then wished her good dreams. Before finally settling in herself, she had finished two cups of tea and sporadically chatted with Yu. 

Meanwhile, Yu was so full of energy she needed to write a song... or a trillion. She couldn't stop and had 2 songs written and started on the 3. one, as her alarm reminded her to get some sleep. 

She would have 3 lectures tomorrow on history of architecture, theory of it and creative design possibilities, and so she would have to go to bed.

Her third alarm rang cruelly and, it was now, eventually forcing her to stop and change into her sleepwear. She lay down in bed and thought about the red dragon. 

She could not wait to meet her again, which was why she had always replied, told her, when she had also arrived home, asked her if she was well and mused with her, about her favourite singers, while asking Lei for her hobbies. 

Lei loved sewing and also sent a myriad of dresses and other clothes that she had sewn. This encouraged Yu to send a myriad of her constructions, be it houses or instruments. Even some weapons had been made by those nimble fingers, that were now slightly worn out after playing on her violin like a lunatic. 

She had already set her phone aside, but Yu could not stop thinking about Lei. 

It took about an hour, before she could fall asleep and even though Lei was the same, she slept earlier, both dreaming about the other though. Something they wouldn't quite remember.