Soon, their food was served and they quickly finished their meal. Ryo suddenly remembered he needed to look for some herbs, and headed off alone, as it was too dangerous for Miko to tag along. It was near the cliffs, where other beasts roamed and she may not be able to protect herself. The herb only grew once a month, and it was today. There would be more competition next month when all the beasts at the mountain side had complete woke up from their hibernation. Miko stayed in the shop, along with Yasuko. Although she was curious about the arguement Miko and Miru just had, she knew better than to probe right now. Miko volunteered to help out in the shop, as replacement for her brother who had ran off, probably for the whole day at least.
Suddenly, a familiar energy wafted through the shop. Miko turned around, to see a man with white hair but black eyes, standing in front of her. He was young, seeming to be in his twenties. He also looked oddly farmiliar.
"One bento set please," he requested.
"Sure, one sec," Miko replied. Now, she just needed to confirm her suspicions.
When the food was sent to the table, Miko sat down next to him. It was just after nine, and most customers had already left. It was just her and the stange man left, other than Yasuko who was already tidying up.
"Whats your name?" Miko asked.
"Tashi. Do I know you miss?"
"Maybe." Miko smiled. The two chatted for a long while, until it was time for the shop to close.
"Thank you for accompanying me today miss. I would be sure to come by more often now, maybe just to see you~" Tashi smiled. Miko blushed at his words but quickly laughed it off.
"Actually, I just came to replace someone today. I don't usually work here." Miko answered.
"Oh really? Then where do you work then?" Tashi asked.
"I don't... and I don't think I have a place to stay tonight..." Miko answered, her voice in a higher pitch as she looked down, playing cute. She needed to keep an eye on him.
"Well... I guess you can stay with me for a little while, while you take your time to find a job." Miko immediately accepted his offer, and the two headed back to his home.
His house was not far from the shop, probably around a ten minute walk. His house looked alike to all the neighbouring homes, made out of wood and green roof tiles. They both entered, and Tashi lit a lamp near the corner.
"Sorry, I don't have another room here. So I hope you can sleep here tonight." Tashi smiled. What a gentleman! At least he wasn't forcing Miko to sleep in the same room as him. Miko agreed and soon, all the lamps were blown out.
It was late at night. It was around 1, the clock ticking as the seconds went by. Cicadas were singing in the backyard outside, and the only light source was the moonlight, shining into the living room through the glass window panes. It was peaceful and serene, the gentle wind passing by. Miko couldn't sleep. One burning question she had that had to be answered was keeping her awake. Why did Tashi feel so familiar? It seemed as if he held a power of her in the past, or something else that just didn't quite sit right with her. She tip toed to his room. That was the only way her question could be answered. He was her answer.
Miko silently got up from the couch and tiptoed into his room. She flicked her wrists for fire to give her some source of light. Nothing happened. Right... she lost her powers. She tip toed over to his bed and sat beside him. She performed a series of motions with her hands, pink light illuminating her hands. It was quite faint, so it could not light up the room. Using her powers, she assessed him. Nothing seemed to be off from him powerwise.
"Hmm... Thats strange... But my intuition is usually correct..." Miko wondered. She assessed him again, this time in more careful detail, making sure to not skimp over any part of him. Just what was different about him? She concentrated her power. Still nothing.
Just then, Tashi stirred. Alarmed, Miko immediately activated her innate magic again, turning her invisible. What would happen if Tashi saw her? Obviously, he would find it strange and weirded out. Heck, he might even throw her out!
"Was there someone here? Weird... I thought someone was watching me... Maybe it was just part of my dream, I need to stop mixing them up with reality." Tashi thought. He changed his position and flipped to face the other side of the bed. When she was assured he was sleeping again, Miko undid her illusion. She appeared again in a small burst of pastel pink light. She went through with her motions again and again, with her powers fading more with every try. She was exhausting her powers so much at this rate, she might not even be able to keep up her full human disguise. Miko tried for around two hours, with each attempt in failure and leaving her utterly dissapointed.
"But I am certain there is something different... about him." Miko thought. Picking herself up from the bed, she stood up and turned to the door. She tip toed out like she came in, and closed the door gently behind her. However, due to how old it was, it started creaking. Miko immediately activated a sound illusion, so that Tashi would not be disturbed by the noise and wake up. She went back to the couch, curling herself up as she fell back asleep, after making sure her ears and tail had enough power to be kept hidden, and not sprout out the next morning.
The next morning, Miko woke up at 6, relived that her ears and tail were still hidden. She headed to the kitchen, where she sat down on the chair cross-legged to meditate. She cultivated like this everyday, since as early as when she was still a pup, as far as she could remember. Kitsunes usually reach adulthood at fifty, and gain the ability to cultivate elemental affinities when their innate magic reaches the forth stage. Usually, kitsune parents never abandon their children. However, she never remembered her mother or father dying, the most likely reason was that they had managed to ascend to godhood, or died elsewhere.
The morning purple qi was a refreshing start to the day, coursing through her meridians, giving her energy and invigorating her. She stayed like this for quite awhile, regulating her breathing and controling how much qi she was absorbing. She still had a long way to go before she could ascend past the first stage. Even if she could not attain immortalitity, she still needed to get as strong as she could get.