*Rowan's POV*
Although it has been a week since our last important chat, it has been... a very odd week... weird, too weird even for my taste. My workplace is indeed gone and I'm pretty sure the whole media knows it by now. I have been job hunting this week but it's not entirely my focus... I just can't get Hariko out of my head and unfortunately it's not the love sick type of scenario, but even so I am trying my best to ignore it all.
The house, while it's definitely more lively thanks to Hariko's presence it still charged with a tense atmosphere, unanswered questions. Hariko's still the same as I remember but my gut is telling me that's something is wrong, eldrich levels of wrong. "Rowaan?" that snaps me out of my thoughts as I look behind my shoulder, seeing Hariko with her usual grin on her lips, hand on her hip "Trying to become a philosopher again?" she wiggles her eyebrows as I roll my eyes, she's still teasing which I assume that's a good thing... she's not emotionally vulnerable as she was a week ago.
The fox lady takes a seat across the table, clasping her hands together and looking at my half eaten oatmeal "...Let me guess dum dum, you are still thinking about our last conversation. You barely react to any of my jabs anymore, and here I thought we could go back to normal..." my eye twitches slightly but I try to be calm "...Back to normal after you left for four years? yeah I don't think so" the air charged slightly around us as Hariko leans forward "Oh? but I thought you loved having a fluff by your side?-" "God dammit Hariko stop it! this is... ALL of this is too weird for us, I don't even know how to put it in words woman!".
We just stare at each other after my outburst, only the clock ticking is heard... or an occasional neighbor screaming at one another. But then the fox's grin got slightly wider, resting her chin on her knuckle "Good, it seems you are indeed following my words from our last conversation. ...At least I hope you are" her gaze trails off towards the window, her fox ears twitching as if picking up the smallest noise my ears can't "...Alright, fine, let us address the elephant in the room, who in their right mind eats PLAIN oatmeal?-" if I wasn't slightly annoyed my jaw would've dropped, is she for real-
"God dammit Hariko..." she chuckles, shrugging her shoulders "Alright alright jeez... you used to be more... hm... fun? regardless... have you not noticed something off?" that made me raise an eyebrow as I look over her features once more, but I fail to detect anything out of the ordinary... unless she became more of a menace? "...Nope" she pouts, puffing her cheeks out, crossing her arms over her chest "Hmph... ungrateful, and here I thought you missed them!" her pout did a 180 as it turned into a predatory grin "W-Wha? THE HELL ARE YOU ON ABOUT!-"
She burst into laughter as she throws her head backwards, even slapping her knee "My my... you are as easy to rile up as ever! don't worry It's not my chest... but honestly now, it's something you used to lay your head into most of the time" I still can't figure out what she's on about, and she felt my confusion as she rolls her eyes again, sitting up from her chair "My goodness you're a doofus at times..." she turns around and shook her lips as if performing some sort of dance ritual, okay what got into her? as the days go by I feel like she's either insane or- the tail. The bloody tail is missing.
"...Where is the-" "FINALLY you figured it out! jeez did you even had your morning coffee yet?" she sits back down, her ears twitching in annoyance "...Can you blame me? It's not like the first thing I did when you came back out of nowhere was to check you out!" "And that's a shame if you were to ask me!" I can't with this fox woman I swear... "To answer your question dear Rowan, we must descend into kitsune culture! at least what that lady told me... I'm not sure how to put it in words but my tail is undergoing a... procedure, per say".
Procedure? ...the more she talks the more my brain wants to explode, though from the looks in her eyes even she doesn't know what she's on about "I am at a point in my fluffy life where I'm gonna receive a second tail. Prepare for trouble and make trouble darling~" trouble? double the tails? double the fluff? woman that is paradise what you're describing! "..So... receiving a second tail? ...how does that even work? and does this have to do with your weird divinity path?".
"Oh but of course my dear Rowan!, there are still a lot of information I have yet to grasp about this new... section of my life. It is said that once one hundred years, a chosen divine kitsune will go underway a state of... stasis, if you will, it's something the body does it automatically and ... yeah, other biology terms I don't know about. It is not my time yet, but it's certainly reaching that point" I'm trying to absorb her words, but I'm pretty much stuck on the fact she'll have two tails now, talk about monke.
I take another bite of my oatmeal to get my brain going before glancing at her again, her eyes were staring at the window again... "Is there a limit to these tails?" she huffs, giving me a grin "Oh is that what you worry about dear? or perhaps that's what you're looking forward the most?~ ...but, yes, nine tails is the limit. Their length will also increase from what I've been told... but don't expect much, each God has it differently".
After a pause she continued "I've seen that there are some kitsunes that grow their tails once a thousand years... as one would imagine they're as rare as a non corrupt politician I'm afraid. I'm pretty sure there are three categories of divinity in terms of... tail growth, our tails are basically our beacon of power" so we have a fox that grow their tails once a hundred years... the second type once a thousand... "What's the third?" at that she shrugs her shoulders "I dunno, even the lady I trained with doesn't exactly know if it's real or a myth. It is said the third category grow their tails once ten thousand years".
How can she keep such a straight face while telling me about these things..? ten thousand years? god damn that's like my entire ancestor blood line for ONE bloody tail... "It is rumored that these kitsunes are very... interesting individuals, with powers gifted greater than gods themselves. It is said they have slender like bodies to accommodate their magic... minimum over nine feet in height, their tails as big as your body" Hariko are you describing a eldrich being or a mommy..? as Hariko kept talking a knock came from the front door, snapping Hariko out of her story teller state "...I'll get it, Hariko" I stood up and I could've sworn I saw Hariko grab a spoonful of my oatmeal already...
I gently open the door and the next second some arms wraps around me "Hello Rowan~ long time no see~" "Uh.. happy to see you too Larisa?" she breaks the hug and hands me a box which wasn't very light, okay what's going on with all of these reunions..?! "What in the world is in this box..?" "Oh you know, a surprise? did you had your coffee yet?" she giggles and looks at me with an raised eyebrow "Anyway, I'll be waiting for you in the car, I have some business that we have to deal with and you must come along" she smiles warmly and walks back to the car leaving me confused, with a sigh I went back inside.
I walk in the living room and placed the heavy box on the table "Hariko! I'm leaving for a bit so you're in charge!" she eyes the box suspiciously but gives me a thumbs up. I walk out of my house again and made my way to the car, where Larisa was already waiting in the driving seat. As I get into the back of the car I also spotted her lovely boyfriend sleeping "So.. what's going on Larisa? where are we going?" "In a paradise full of people" she starts the engine and drives off "So we're going to heaven?" "No silly~ we're.. going somewhere important which involves my father's business" "And why do I have to be a part of this..?" she shrugs "Honestly I don't really know, but you know what? we will know when we arrive there" I groan and sit back, why is Larisa such a cliffhanger?