“I really can’t leave you alone for a minute, can I?” Natsu growled when the two of them had returned—out of breath, but otherwise surprisingly calm—and sat down by the table with me. Looking them both up and down, I relaxed when I didn’t see any singed or frozen bits.

Natsu sighed. “It’s decided then.”

Kaoru grew pale. “No, you can’t—I mean, you don’t have to do that!” she pleaded, clasping at her long white hair, smiling nervously. “I know you have a lot of work to do, and I really don’t think the dragon king can spare you, right? I mean, aren’t you his most valuable asset, or something?”

Natsu smirked at her. “Nice try, Kao, but luckily, I just so happen to be on leave anyway, since I was going to drag your sorry ass back here.”

Kaoru made a face, but said no more, so Natsu turned to me with a bright smile.

“Mi, on behalf of this idiot here, I would like to sincerely apologize! But I have to say, it’s a pleasure to meet you—I just wish it was under happier circumstances.” She bowed, and I returned the gesture. “As you may have guessed, I’m a yokai as well, but you won’t need to worry about your curse affecting me.”

“I won’t?” The question had come out a lot more cautiously than I’d intended, but admittedly, I wasn’t convinced yet. Especially after having seen how Natsu’s emotions affected the temperature nearby.

“Nope!” She smiled brightly at me. “You see, it only really affects weaker yokai. Well, up to mid-strength. Kami and yokai near that level of strength would never succumb to those kinds of instinctual urges.”

“Kami are real, too?” I shot a searching glance at Kaoru. Just as I’d started to accept the reality of yokai, I was told that gods also existed? This was wild. At least they wouldn’t want to eat me—right?

Kaoru took a breath to reply, but Natsu cut in instead. “Don’t worry so much, Mi. You’ll be fine. And you’ll learn everything you need to learn about this realm in time, trust me.” She reached over to me and took my hand in hers, a gentle, comforting gesture, as her blue eyes watched me kindly. She smiled warmly, and it calmed me instantly. Then her smile took on a more mischievous nature and she reminded me a little of Kaoru for a moment. “So, on a different note, can you tell what type of yokai I am?”

I shot another glance at Kaoru who was sulking in a corner before I replied. “A yuki-onna, right?”

Natsu nodded, cheerfully. “That’s me! And from today on, I’d like you to think of me as your big sis, kay? Whatever you need, let me know, and I’ll spoil you rotten.” She giggled—a high, clear sound, like the tiny bells I had always associated with snow. “I’ll be living here too, as of today, because I don’t trust this useless sack of rice to look after you properly.”

“Um, okay.”

Natsu stretched as far as her Kimono allowed. “Now that that’s settled—why don’t we go for a bath together?”

Her cheerful suggestion didn’t allow refusal. 

Before I fully knew what was happening, I was sitting in the little steaming rock pool with nothing more than a small towel wrapped around myself for modesty.

I had to admit—it felt heavenly. I hadn’t gotten a chance to visit an onsen yet since I’d moved to Japan, but I had fond memories of them from when I’d been small, visiting relatives in Hokkaido. In Brazil, the natural pools had all been cool, sometimes even ice-cold, which there was the perfect contrast to the hot weather.

I weaved my fingers through the water, enjoying the sensation as though the finest sand were brushing gently along my skin. Even the scent was wonderful and refreshing, though I couldn’t put a finger on what exactly it was.

I leaned back against the stones, allowing my body relax for the first time since arriving here. Birds were chirping around the forest, and a light breeze brushed across my cheeks. I closed my eyes to better enjoy it. Now this I could get used to.

Natsu beside me gave a quiet sigh of pleasure. “There’s nothing quite like a hot spring, is there?”

I opened my eyes to glance over at her. “I guess the heat doesn’t bother you, even though you’re a snow woman, huh?”

Natsu giggled. “That’s right! I actually love hot places, and hot foods and hot drinks. That being said, I’ve never minded the cold either. I think I don’t experience temperature the same way you do.”

I moved down in the water, so I was only peeking out from the nose up. I’d always liked the contrast of hot and cold. When it was hot, there was nothing nicer than an ice-cold waterfall to stand under, but when it was cold, a hot bath or shower was the most enjoyable sensation. The same was true for my meals—I liked hot drinks with my cold food, and cold drinks with my hot dishes, like steaming coffee with ice-cream, or a milkshake with a burger.

I glanced at Natsu again.

She had said that she wouldn’t succumb to the desire to devour me, but I still wasn’t entirely convinced. Right now, she didn’t seem like she was going to attack me, and Kaoru didn’t seem worried about the possibility, but I had to wonder how Natsu could be so certain. I gathered that she must consider herself a powerful yokai, but I found it difficult to believe that she’d been in this situation all too often before. Based on what Kaoru had said, my situation wasn’t exactly common. If it was true that my curse was going to get stronger every day… how long until one of them—Kaoru or Natsu—would come for me after all?

Before fear could really take hold of me again, Natsu suddenly ran her fingers through my hair floating in the water. “I love your hair.” She sighed. “It’s so silky smooth. And the color… It reminds me of onyx when it heats up in the sun.” She paused, stroking it some more. I didn’t stop her. I didn’t really mind, in fact, it actually felt quite nice. In Japan, her behavior would probably seem very forward, but in Brazil and England, this wasn’t that weird. At least, it wouldn’t be between close friends.

“Actually, it looks a lot like a tengu’s feathers, now that I think about it.”

I raised my head out of the water in surprise. “Tengu are real, too?”

Natsu laughed and nodded. “They sure are! In fact, one of our childhood friends is—”

Her next words were drowned out by Kaoru yelling, “Incoming!”

She ran toward the pool, butt-naked, and jumped in, curling up into a ball in the air.

The impact splashed water in all directions, blinding me for a moment.

Next thing I knew, Kaoru sat calmly in the bath with us, long hair pinned up, looking very pleased with herself. Self-consciously, I moved behind Natsu. Bathing with Natsu was one thing but bathing with Kaoru felt… It felt weird. Like I was doing something forbidden. I could feel myself blushing. Perhaps the reason was that Kaoru could fluidly change from being a woman, a man, or neither, at will, while Natsu was just a woman, like me. It was embarrassing, though I really couldn’t tell why—it wasn’t like Kaoru hadn’t seen everything before on herself. Besides, I was wearing a towel.

“Kao, dear?” Natsu asked sweetly after a glance at me. “Would you mind drowning?”

Kaoru looked at her in alarm. Only a moment later, Natsu had lunged at her, dropping her own towel in the process, pushing Kaoru down into the water. She turned back to wink at me. “Now’s your chance.”

I didn’t need to be told that twice. I hurriedly got out, rinsed myself off, and left the vicinity to get changed. As soon as I was inside, I could hear a splash and Kaoru yelling at Natsu.

While their relationship did seem just a little abusive, sprinkled with minor murderous intent, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that they seemed very close. I longed for a friend I could be that close with, right now more than ever.

On the way to my room, the cat found me again, and he accompanied me, his tail raised high. I sat down at the little table, thinking that, since I would be staying here for the foreseeable future, I might be able to ask Kaoru or Natsu to get some things from the human realm for me if I gave them the money for it.

As I started my list with coffee, the cat lay down in my lap, snuggling against my belly.

I glanced down at him, and all other thoughts faded for a moment. He looked so peaceful and content, proving that with a quiet purr vibrating through my legs. He still didn’t have a name.

“Luan,” I whispered. Lion, or the son of the moon. The cat opened his eyes and looked at me. I smiled. “You seem to approve. Alright then—Luan.”

He went back to his nap, and I went back to my list. Coffee. I would love my painting supplies, too. And my calligraphy stuff. With more time than I had ever thought I’d have on hand, I could indulge a little. Some dark chocolate might be nice too. Other than that… I was at a loss.

Kaoru had already organized clothing for me, and I really didn’t need anything else here. She had a huge library so it would be a long time before I would run out of reading material, and, as she’d mentioned before, I should treat this like an adventure. Some excursions might be needed. Or perhaps she was planning on inviting some other yokai here. Either way, I needed more experiences in this world to build up this potential spiritual power so I could protect myself.

I hated my reliance on Kaoru’s goodwill. If she succumbed to the curse, or decided she was sick of me, I could do nothing about it. And yet, I didn’t find myself with an awful lot of choices. All I could do was work at the spiritual power part and hope I could master it as soon as possible, not that I’d even noticed a trace of it so far.

But even if I did manage to become an omnyoji and returned to Japan, how was I meant to continue living my life normally, pretending that none of this had ever happened? The biologist in me was already curious as to the yokai’s anatomy, and where and how in their bodies their powers originated. Kaoru was a shape-shifter—how was that change possible? What happened to her bones, her tissue, her brain? Her leftover matter?

I forced myself to turn off my own brain. Enough.

At some point, I would ask Kaoru if she had a book on the matter. Surely yokai would have their own scriptures. For the moment, I needed to concentrate on figuring out my life—creating some sort of plan. That was all I’d been trying to do since dad died—create a plan. I thought I’d finally figured it out when I came back to Japan and found my job in graphic design. I figured I could work for a few years doing what I loved and then earn enough money to go back to university in London to finish my biology degree.

But considering my current situation, that plan clearly hadn’t worked out. And I didn’t even know where to begin with this new plan.

Step one: Meet more yokai.

Step two: Learn how to wield spiritual power.

Step three: Return to normal life as much as is possible.

I looked at my simple steps on the paper for a moment. Then I added another.

Step one point five: Don’t get eaten.

Well, that was as good as I could make it.

Sighing, I put the list away, and stroked Luan’s head.

The sounds of Natsu and Kaoru laughing and yelling cheerfully in the living room reached my ears. I stood up, despite Luan’s unappreciative mewl, and joined them.

“Mi! Come’ere!” Natsu’s eyes were glittering with joy, as she lounged on a pillow on the tatami mats in front of the TV.

Kaoru, in male shape, was grinning as well, plugging some wires into the machine. “We’re about to play a game. It’ll be fun!”

I took the video game controller Kaoru was holding out to me and grinned at him. “Just watch me beat you this time.”