The next morning, Ichiro woke up from a terrible dream where the only sound was wet coughing when Gin dumped breakfast nearby. She'd caught two rats and a vole. If only she could talk with the kami as well as she hunted. Or even think things through, Ichiro thought, grateful to be awake.
She wagged her tail and waited expectantly for his approval. He sighed, stood up, and licked her face before stretching. At least she’d stopped dumping breakfast on their bed.
As soon as she finished eating, Gin rose to stand on two legs. She pulled up her old kimono as she did so. It was barely modest. She was happy and excited about something. Had she come up with another scheme? Better not ask her, Ichiro thought. If she has she'll tell me, like she always does.
“I can’t wait for a bath today, big brother! But I don’t want to go to Kitsune Town. The human bathhouse has better soaps.” She was lying about the soaps. The thought of living around Kitsune that weren’t her Kitsune upset her so much. She wasn’t ready to meet others. What if they all died too? The horrible laughter from that day filled her mind. She’d even heard that awful laughter under the water where she and Ichiro swam.
“Of course, little sister. You can go to the human bathhouse. It’s on Sixth Street.” Anything to keep her away from the market today. I’ll even give her extra money for a snack if she asks for it, he thought. He planned to buy more supplies with the money he’d earned yesterday. They needed new sandals and Gin had outgrown both her under kimono and outer kimono.
“I know where it is. I found it three days ago, but the kami wouldn’t hide me well enough that I could sneak in.” She won’t tell me what distracts her when she talks to the kami. But she’s acting more like she did back in Big Fork.
Gin left wearing her new kimono over her old. She hadn’t mentioned the market or any other get rich quick schemes, so Ichiro breathed a huge sigh of relief.
His market trip was successful. He had the kami make him look he did when he tried out for the play, hid his country accent, and asked the girl selling dried meat to come see the play tonight. She had agreed. Feeling rather brave, he added, “You’re about to get busy, want some help with the customers?”
She giggled, but nodded. “My name is Yone,” she said.
Ichiro had to concentrate on the kami keeping up his appearance and hiding the fact that he hadn’t had a hot bath in long time. He wasn’t as good at creating kami smells as Gin, but he managed to project the meat scent out into the crowd. Between the customers and concentrating on the kami, Yone and Ichiro didn’t have a chance to talk beyond exchanging names.
Just after noon she told him, “That’s the fastest we’ve ever sold out! You’re good luck, Ichiro.”
“See you tomorrow?” Ichiro asked after he helped her pack up her little cart.
Yone nodded. “See you tomorrow, Ichiro.” She paid his wages half in money, half in dried meat.
He bought a new under kimono for Gin and sandals for both of them. Ichiro could make his clothing look like whatever he wanted to, but Gin couldn’t. Gin was at the age where she needed her Mother or Aunt to guide her through to adulthood. When everyone in Big Fork had died from the choking disease, Gin had stopped growing in some ways, but her body kept maturing. All the more reason to move to Kitsune Town. She needed a woman’s guidance to control her illusions, among other things.
Sorrow and loneliness welled up inside Ichiro. Everyone he’d ever known except for his sister had died within two hours. He pushed the sorrow down. Later, I’ll mourn later. Gin needs me. Ichiro concentrated on the good in his life like he always did when he felt sad. This is an even better day than yesterday. I earned money, worked with that cute human, and now have sandals for the winter. Their old ones were worn completely through and all the illusion skill in the world would not protect feet from the cold.
Gin wasn't home yet. He didn't blame her, it had been a very long time since her last hot bath. He had just enough money left to take his own bath if he used the cheap soap. He walked to the human bath house with a spring in his step.
Meanwhile Gin had her own adventure. She didn’t want to go to the human bath house only to avoid Kitsune. She realized the truth of Ichiro's words, that not everyone who bought the rice was rich. However, one thing only rich humans bought was incense. The incense shops always had well-dressed humans in them. Gin gathered a handful of dirt when she was out of her brother’s sight and went to the human bathhouse to make more money.
Part 1 here: https://steemit.com/fiction/@clarastorm/smells-like-cherry-blossoms-part-1
Part 3 here: https://steemit.com/fiction/@clarastorm/smells-like-cherry-blossoms-part-3
Pic By Keven Law - originally posted to Flickr as Whispering I love you...:O)), CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4730047
