At night, the whole family was sleeping. Except for Hisoki, who had already finished packing his bags and had written a goodbye note to his family. Grabbing his bag and note, he left the room and tiptoed downstairs, trying to be as silent as a mouse. Reaching the dining room, He put the note on the table. He was about to open the door, but he thought for a moment. Did I do the right thing? Hisoki thought to himself. He thought for a moment and quickly decided. He quietly opens the door and walks out of the hut.
He put the bag in his mouth and transformed himself into a bird. He flew out of the forest and went to the outside world…
The sun rises as Hisoki flies over the mountains, hills, and the Paddy fields. He felt a pleasant breeze on his face as he flew. When he left the forest, he felt free and enlightened. He finally went to the outside world and was ready to explore and find many things. It was a beautiful morning…
… until an arrow shoots him in the arm and he falls down.
THUD!
He lost consciousness.
Later, Hisoki woke up to find darkness everywhere. He got scared. Did he die from being shot by an arrow? Is this the afterlife?
Hisoki had regrets about leaving his family behind.
Perhaps this is my punishment for abandoning my family, he thought to himself sadly. The outside world is dangerous, after all.
Suddenly, there was light. Hisoki climbs himself to the light and climbs out of the sack. He was in the kitchen. Hisoki checked his arm. The arrow had come off, but his arm was bleeding. Hisoki finds the bandages on the other kitchen table near him. He crawled out of the kitchen table and went to the other kitchen table that had bandages on it. He climbed up to the table and was about to reach for the bandages. Suddenly, the door slammed open. It gave him such a shock that he knocked over the table and bandages! It was a mess.
"Who is there?"
A tiny old lady with bushy eyebrows and a mole on her face came into the kitchen. Her hair is tied into an enormous bun with two chopsticks. Her hairbun resembled a big dumpling. She looked at the mess and wrinkled her face with a frown and suspicion. She turned her face and called out.
"Takeshi! Come here! Someone must have broken into our kitchen and caused this mess!"
Hisoki quickly hid inside the cupboard and he bandaged his wounds fast when he got inside. He heard big footsteps coming.
A burly, tall, and scary-looking man came in. The man was about seven feet tall, with three big scars on his face and had the same bushy eyebrows as the old lady. He turned to see the mess. He turned his face to the old lady and spoke.
"Who did this? Mother?"
Takeshi's mother scratched her chin and started thinking up thoughts in her head about who broke into their kitchen and made a mess.
"I'm not sure who did this, but I doubt it was a person because the door had a sturdy lock and the windows were too small for a person to climb out," she said. "So I assumed it must be some rodent who broke into the kitchen and caused the mess".
It scared Hisoki when he heard the word "Rodent". They must have figured out that there was a tanuki in their kitchen!
"I'm going to search for the rodent who raised our kitchen," said Takeshi. He then walks toward the cupboard where Hisoki is hiding. "I start with the cupboard first"
Hisoki panicked when the man was about to reach for the cupboard. Luckily, Hisoki remembered he was a tanuki and Tanuki had shape-shifting magic, so he quickly transformed into something else before Takeshi opened the cupboard.
"Mum, where'd you get this teapot?!"
"I did not know what you were talking about! I never remember bringing this teapot! But did you buy this teapot?"
"Heavens no, Mother!"
They began accusing each other of wasting money on it, so they went into the other room to argue about it. When the two left the kitchen, Hisoki found his chance to escape. He quickly turns into his true form and sneakily walks out of the kitchen. He heard the mother and son arguing in the other room. Hisoki tries his best to ignore the arguing and try to escape the house.