Blind Faith

"It looks delicious," she said, beginning to grin. The scent of the food was making her loopy, she couldn't wait to eat! But, she was a guest. Her manners would not allow her to begin until her host was ready, as well.

"It's nothing special," Kaito said humbly, handing Kokona a plate. "But food presentation doesn't mean much to a blind man. Besides, the ingredients here in Akyo are high-quality, so I think you'll like it."

He handed her a pair of chopsticks and they sat down on the floor.

"Let's eat!" they said, offering a small, customary nod.

Kokona took a piece of meat and placed it in her mouth. Warmth and happiness filled her as the food's flavor burst into her mouth.

"Mm!" she said, stopping and letting the flavors dance across her tongue. Her tails gathered together in a corkscrew as she chewed, savoring the texture of the meat.

"It's great!" she gasped. "You're quite the chef, Kaito!"

"Thank you," he said, returning her smile. "It's good to know that I've improved." They ate quietly and contently, the muffled sounds of the rain now feeling comfortable, instead of oppressive. They finished their meal at the same time, sighing contently.

"So," Kokona started. "Tell me about yourself, Kaito."

"A vague request," he chuckled. "But alright. I'm an only child, I suppose. My parents were traveling merchants, each from a small village at the corner of Zipangu. They met during their travels, fell in love, and settled down in the capital."

"They passed when I was around sixteen," he sighed. "An infectious disease swept through the capital. A cure was developed, and ultimately, not many succumbed. My parents were the exception, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kokona said, nodding sympathetically.

"Your kindness is appreciated. Anyway, it was about that time that my sight began to fade. I consulted with people that my parents had connections with - priests, scholars, even exorcists, but none could offer a solution. My vision worsened, day after day, until it was eventually gone completely. And while none could help me, it was around that time when I became involved with a temple in the capital."

"They sheltered me," Kaito explained. "My parents did not leave me a beggar, but I could not yet care for myself. I provided whatever odd labor I could, honing whatever skills that I could. I spent three years at that temple, and in that time, I learned two things."

"What were they?" Kokona asked. Her tails gently swayed side to side as she listened intently.

"My greatest lament was that I was no longer able to read," Kaito smiled. "But that loss presented another opportunity. I spent a great deal of time talking with all manner of people. At first, I mostly just loved to hear the stories of travelers. But that soon grew into a love of conversation with all sorts. I would talk with anyone who wanted to. I became good at it. I liked it, and people apparently liked talking to me, too. There were even a few times where people would come back just to see me again, as strange as that sounds."

"I asked someone about that once," he explained. "And they said that talking with me...helped. I didn't really understand how, but I learned to respect the power of simple conversation. And over time, as I got better at talking, and such events became more regular. I would help people by talking with them, easing their woes and anxieties as best I could. That was the first thing I learned - the power of conversation."

"I think I can guess the second thing," Kokona said. Kaito nodded, prompting her to go on.

"Is it your ability to see people's colors?" she asked.

"Indeed. It was around that time, when I was becoming better at talking with people, that I realized that I could 'sense' people. And not just by hearing the sounds of their approaching footsteps, or the displaced air as they passed by me. I started to find that I just...knew where people were, even seeing their auras through walls. And more than that, I could roughly understand how they were feeling, without even talking to them. This too, grew stronger over time. Eventually, I was able to discern colors, which let me read people more accurately."

"When I shared this information with the temple's priests, they were quite happy," Kaito smiled. "They had heard of similar cases before, but never had the chance to study the ability before. So as to thank them for taking care of me, I took on a new responsibility - helping them document this soul-seeing ability, while continuing my 'counseling' of visitors in the process."

"I see," Kokona said, nodding alone. Then, her ears flared straight up. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that-"

"It's fine," Kaito said, waving her off. "You are perhaps the thousandth person to think that would offend me."

"Honestly," he laughed. "Do you think a blind person could have thin skin? With how many times I tripped and fell as I adjusted to my new life, I'd like to think that I built up some durability."

"Right," she said, blushing and smiling. "You're right again, of course."

Their conversation fell into a lull, and Kokona took the moment to finally examine her savior more thoroughly. Kaito had short, black hair, which was actually quite clean and orderly. While Kaito may not have cared about how his food looked, he certainly took good care of himself. He was about a head taller than Kokona, and his simple gray tunic was unbuttoned at the top, revealing hints of a lean and disciplined body. Kokona figured that it made sense that he took such good care of himself - losing one of your senses must surely fill you with a deep appreciation for the others.

Kokona blinked, suddenly feeling very grateful for the gift of vision.

"So what made you leave the capital?" Kokona asked.

"I felt that I could accomplish more," he shrugged. "The scholars and priests had plenty of records about me. I suppose I wanted to see the world...or its people, more accurately. The capital was an excellent place, but it did not see many new faces. That is why I choose to come to this city, to Akyo."

"Because it's a trade crossroads," Kokona finished. "You would get to meet many more people this way."

"Precisely. The temple at the capital was kind enough to notify the temple here about my skills, and Lady Hana, the resident inari of our local temple, was more than willing to provide for me, if I would help her in return."

"So you really do just...have conversations with people," Kokona said. "And you talk them through their problems?"

"I do a bit more than that," he chuckled. "I've performed more than one exorcism, you know. It turns out my ability to see and read spirits applies to the deceased, as well. Helping spirits let go of their grudges and move on is perhaps the deepest satisfaction I have ever felt."

He rubbed his chin and turned away, as if looking off into the distance. "Actually, it was during one such experience that I first met a certain someone..."

Kokona's ears twitched.

"A young nekomata," he explained. "The spirit that I helped to move on was her father."

"That's awful," Kokona lamented, silently shaming herself for jumping to conclusions.

"I have a strange feeling that you'll meet her soon," Kaito hummed. "Anyway, I ended up taking her on as an apprentice...of sorts. I would hardly call myself a professional, but I would like to see others recognize the merits of my abilities and take them up for themselves."

"I'm even writing a book about it," he said, puffing his chest out proudly.

"A...book?" Kokona questioned. "How so?"

"It is a book read not with the eyes, but with the sensations of touch," Kaito explained. "Small dots form bumps on the page. The arrangement of the dots determines the letters. It is a slow process, but it has allowed me to read again...even if it is merely my own writing."

"That's incredible!" Kokona beamed. "What a clever method! I would very much like to see this!"

"Sure," Kaito smiled. "Let me go fetch it. Would you mind cleaning up in here?"

"Leave it to me!"

Kokona set about clearing off the table, setting the dirty bowls into a basin of water and washing them off. She made quick work of it, using her magic to manipulate the water and move it according to her will. She scrubbed the bowls and knives throughly clean in a matter of seconds, then wiped them dry with a towel. She had grown used to preparing her own food and cleaning after herself, having been alone for the better part of a year. But there was something different when another person was involved. It... just felt good to be around someone again. To be useful.

Perhaps this is what Kaito felt, when he found a new purpose after feeling helpless for so long.

Her host soon returned to the kitchen, carrying a thick, hardbound book in hand. He sat down on the floor and opened it up, inviting Kokona to sit next to him and take a look. He opened to a random page, revealing a vast array of little black dots.

"Wow," she muttered. "It's like an entirely different language. I can't even begin to read this."

"It is a different language," Kaito agreed. "It's based off a foreign language. Our own is not compatible with this system."

"You are a man of many talents, Kaito," Kokona said, smiling gently. "I am thoroughly impressed."

"Thank you," Kaito said, returning a smile of his own. "If I may, Kokona, there is something I would like to ask you."

"Of course."

He frowned, hesitating a little. "Let me preface by saying that you are welcome to stay here as long as you feel you need to."

He cleared his throat. "I will not ask you to talk about your past, if you do not wish to share it. But...what of your future? Do you have a plan? Something you would like to do?"

Kokona frowned.

"I still need to think about that," she admitted. "I...I had no plan whatsoever when I came here. I was just...walking. Without thinking."

She gripped her arm with her other hand, squeezing it tightly. She looked away, her expression gloomy.

"There's nowhere to go back to," she said quietly. "I lost everything. I don't have any family or possessions..."

Ears twitching, she held up her hands in protest. "D-don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I escaped some bandit attack or something. I...lived alone. And...my house was destroyed by a storm, along with everything in it. So I just...left. And I ended up here."

"I think I'm beginning to understand," he nodded. "However, you said that you lost everything? Well, that is simply untrue."

"Eh?" Kokona tilted her head quizzically.

"You are still alive, are you not?" Kaito smiled. "I'm rather good at identifying ghosts, you know."

"I'm not..." Kokona mumbled. "I mean, yes, I'm still alive..."

"Then take comfort in that," Kaito said, slapping his palms onto his knees, enunciating his point. "Loss is naught but an opportunity to reflect, a chance to gain again. The solution to your problem is simple - just try to think of this as an opportunity to get a fresh start."

Kokona bit her lip. "I don't think it's going to be that easy."

Kaito smiled and gently shook his head. "Oh, no. I didn't claim it would be easy, only simple."

Kokona's brow crinkled. "What's the difference?"

"It will be difficult," Kaito nodded. "But as long as you can keep the idea in your mind, even if you're just tricking yourself, that idea will eventually become your reality."

"I'm not sure I believe that..." she frowned.

The corners of Kokona's mouth curled up into a sad, yet honest, smile. She owed it to him - and to herself - to at least try.

"But I will try to follow your advice. Thank you, Kaito."

********************

After breakfast, Kaito suggested that Kokona take a bath, as she had not had the opportunity to fully clean herself up yesterday. The bath was small and plain, not much more than a smooth, wooden box. It was a far cry from the luxurious hot spring that Kohuni village once had, but...that didn't matter. That hot spring was long gone, and this bath was here now. Silently, she offered her gratitude to Kaito once more.

She sighed blissfully as she submerged herself in warm water. She wondered where this water had come from, and how it had been heated. Kaito seemed neither rich nor poor, but how did he managed to have a running source of warm water? She shook the thought away, she could just ask later. No doubt the answer would reveal some other way in which the world had advanced.

Kokona scrubbed herself with soap and cloth, wiping away the muck and grime. As she dipped her tails into the water, she shuddered at the sensation. She began to wring them with her hands, smoothing them out and cleaning them more thoroughly. After a while, she sank down to a more comfortable position, her head inclined up towards the ceiling. The sounds of rain could be heard through the building, still relentlessly falling.

She recalled Kaito's words. He was right, of course - she needed to make a plan. He had offered to shelter her for as long as she needed, but there was simply no way she could accept that as a long term solution. She could not abuse his generosity. As her skin took in the warm water, her mind took in the thoughts that she had put off for so long.

Kohuni village was well and truly gone.

It had been great, once. Over the course of her century-long patronage of the village, it had bloomed marvelously. The population flourished, and people were happy. The lives of the villagers were simple ones, with almost everyone being farmers. But their lives were fulfilling and rewarding, and Kokona did her best to foster their joy, using her magic to protect it and help it grow. And in return, the villagers showered their patron inari with gratitude, offering words of praise and humble offerings.

The power behind those signs of respect - the faith - had empowered her, making her all the more willing to continue guiding them. Eventually, some of the women of the village had taken up full-time positions caring for her, becoming her first mikos. She had taught them as best she could, instructing them in the ways of spirituality and academics alike. After many years of loyal service, Kokona had imbued some of these women with her power, making them kitsune-tsuki - yokai, like herself. Their new status had elated her attendants, many of them finding lovers and husbands to share their joy with. The love that bloomed from those bonds, the intense passion that only a yokai could truly understand, could never have happened without Kokona's influence. It was the love and admiration of these couples that had truly begun to swell her power, and with that power came new tails.

When Kokona first took up her position, she had five tails. After a decade, she had six. After a century, she had eight. And then...nothing. She never got the ninth, and final, tail. An inari with six tails was powerful, with magic capable of matching great heroes. An inari with nine tails was tremendously powerful, having ascended to the level of demigods. They could perform great feats, such as communicating with the spirit realm, curing a plague, or summoning rain.

Kokona sighed and adjusted her position in the bathtub. It had always felt a bit strange to her, to have received eight tails in such a short timeframe. Most of her species did not receive their eighth tail until their fourth or even fifth century. And yet she had received hers just after her two and twenty second birthday, a remarkable achievement made extraordinary by the fact that she did not have a husband. An inari's primary power source was the mutual love shared with her husband, after all.

Kokona often wondered why she grew her seventh and eight tails. Did she truly deserve it? Her village was prosperous and happy, yes, but it was simple and relatively small. She had not really performed any truly heroic feats befitting an eight-tail. She had discussed this with her shrine attendants, who had suggested that it was perhaps because the village and its people were simple that she had grown so quickly. Something about...the purity of it all. She had smiled and nodded, but had never been able to shake the feeling that she didn't deserve her tails. And over time, that guilt grew into bitterness, which festered into resentment.

She hadn't asked for those tails, for the assumptions that came with them. Everyone knew the rumors about nine-tailed inari. The villagers waited with bated breath. What incredible feat would she perform? What would this brilliant, beautiful being do for them, as she approached the threshold of ascension? The villagers waited and waited, eager to see the day their beloved patron shone with divine radiance. They knew it would take time, and even as the first generation of the village succumbed to old age, they passed on their expectations to the next generation.

Nothing broke her will so much as the children, their innocent eyes and questions piercing right into her heart. She didn't deserve these looks, this unconditional love. She hadn't earned it, and she hadn't earned her tails.

The years stretched on into decades, and the day of her ascension never arrived. Kokona swore that she could physically feel it, the first time someone had lost faith, finally assuming that the day would never come and ceasing their prayers. The realization bit her deep, stinging at her, but she couldn't deny that she also felt some relief. Now they didn't expect anything of her, at least.

In truth, there was no singular cause of her village's decline. It simply...stagnated. As their patron started to shut herself away, the blessings affecting the fields and rivers waned. More and more people lost faith in her, causing a runaway effect. Some went up to her shrine and pleaded with her, asking why she was shutting herself off, why she was abandoning them. She didn't have the heart to meet them.

The population stopped growing. The fields started producing less, traditional festivals seemed less appealing to the people. In time, most simply...left. They migrated to greener pastures, leaving to find new homes in the big cities that had been seeing rapid growth in recent years. Some took longer than others. Even up until the final years, some continued to make the pilgrimage up the hilly path, leaving offerings and kind words at the threshold of her shrine. But when they were greeted with uncomfortable silence, day after day, year after year, even these holdouts eventually had to leave. Kohuni village had simply become unsustainable, it's population too small to support itself.

And so Kokona had been alone, with only her last, most loyal attendant, a kitsune-tsuki named Yuko. She had tried again and again to convince Kokona to leave with her, but never succeeded. And then, one day, with tears in her eyes, Yuko left, leaving Kokona alone. She had been a hermit for almost an entire year, a living embodiment of desperate apathy. She had tried to busy herself with the pretense of magical research and meditation, but she had always known that she was lying to herself. She knew that ignoring her feelings was a mistake. She had always known that, even back then, but...she hadn't been strong enough to face the truth.

And then the gods had made their disapproval clear, sending a mighty storm to tear down the walls she had built up, putting an unquestionable end to Kohuni village and her delusions.

Kokona arched her back, rotating her neck. She could think of at least one goal, she realized. She was fairly certain that, in her final speech to convince her to leave, Yuko mentioned that she was heading to Akyo - to the very city she was in now. It may have been too late, but she owed it to her to try and find her, to make amends for her mistakes.