Okami Renshin:
I can confidently say the moment I buried my own father, something within me broke. I grew angrier with each waking moment. However, what angered me the most was my lack of understanding of any of the new changes in my life. I couldn't understand why my hair faded to white when I heard what my father did. Not only that, I grew a set of ears and a tail that resembled that of a wolf. Mom always told me that our family was special, but she always refrained from telling me how exactly. The only logical conclusion that I could come to is that I am somehow related to the Wolf God, who watches over Japan. A part of me actually thought that was insane. My mind didn't want it to be true. However, no matter how hard I tried to refute that reality, there was no denying that everything that happened to me was real. My mother was poisoned, I murdered my father, and somehow my body was changing. For as long as I could remember, my mother kept all of her 'work' equipment in the basement of my home. The basement I was always told to stay out of.
Since I was devoted to my mother's every instruction, I gladly obeyed this one as I obeyed all the rest. But this time was different. I was different. There were questions that burned in my mind, and I needed the answers. "Going down into that basement is my only option," I said out loud in an attempt to reassure myself of my choice. I wrapped my hand around the handle and gave it a twist. However, just like I expected, the door wouldn't budge. I gnashed my teeth together out of rage. I didn't have the time nor the patience to find a key. With a quick glance at my hand, I asked myself, "If a tree couldn't stop me, what chance does a door have?"
With my mind made up, I raised my hand above my head. I trained my eyes on the part where the handle was closest to the door and swung down with all my might. I was anticipating that there'd be at least a little resistance as soon as my hand struck the handle. But to my surprise, the handle snapped off instantly, causing the door to open slightly, almost as if inviting me down. As I cautiously went down each step, I began to think of everything I knew about my family.
The first unusual thing that came to mind was the fact that I had my mother's last name rather than my father's. For fourteen years, I was Okami Renshin and hadn't thought about what it meant to be who I was. Perhaps that's why my grandfather and mother taught me how to defend myself. They had taught me how to kill. After all, I used what they taught me to kill my father. When I reached the bottom, I immediately thought my basement was right out of an anime. There were multiple talismans with Japanese prayers painted on them. Even stranger, they hung from the ceiling. One of them said, "Ward Off." While another read, "Dispel." Another prayed, "Conceal." I titled my head out of curiosity. "What are these?" I asked myself in an astonished tone of voice.
Upon reading and contemplating the meaning behind these talismans, something that the three-tailed fox said came to mind, "We are no longer protected now!" "Protection…" I mumbled to myself. I was trying to bring the word's meaning into light by repeating it. It wasn't until I repeated the word several times that another question popped into my mind. A question that I should have asked the second I heard the fox state this, "Who was protecting them? And what did they need to be protected from?!" I asked as if the answer would come to me. However, it did! Rather than someone else answering, I answered my own question by looking at myself in the mirror. My now scarlet eyes stared at the ears that sat atop my head; one drooped down and the other standing erect. I watched as my tail swayed behind me, almost as if it possessed a mind of its own. "the Wolf God," I said to myself with an expressionless face. "the Wolf God," I said once again, trying to grasp the gravity of my situation. I couldn't have been sure. Perhaps I was reaching.
Maybe this is just a result of some kind of panic attack or delusion. After all, I did just kill my own father. In fact, this may be nothing but a delirious dream. I mean, talking foxes, sudden changes in my body, my father killing my mother, me killing my father, a set of ears and a tail? I couldn't have been the only one who thought this was ridiculous. "You're dreaming, Okami," I convinced myself. With a swift turn, I began heading back up the stairs before I could even get a look at the rest of the basement.
However, it wasn't until I caught a glimpse of the shade of my hair that I remembered something. This caused me to stop in place, spin back around, and look at myself once more. My hair, being this color, was nothing short of an anomaly. It was unnatural. Suddenly, a memory of my mother popped into my mind. I remembered how there were always strands of her hair the exact same color as mine despite the rest of her locks being all black. I grabbed two fistfuls of my hair and tugged at them while asking myself, "H-How do we have the same color hair!?" Vague. That's one of the words that come to mind when I think of my mother.
She was vague with most things at best. Always giving me just enough of the truth to satiate my curiosity without exposing the entire story. This beckoned me to ask myself yet another question, "Besides what's displayed on the surface, how much do I actually know about mom?!" I realized silence would be my only answer. I grit my teeth and continued walking down the rest of the steps. Once I reached the bottom, the first thing that caught my eye was the large painting of a crescent moon displayed on the center wall. The second thing that caught my eye was a shrine.
The moment I turned my head to see who it was dedicated to, my heart sank into my stomach. "grandpa?" I asked in a tone that sounded like the wind was knocked out of me. It was my grandfather, alright. However, he looked different. In fact, he and I looked similar for once on the account that his hair had faded to the same hue as mine. Even our eyes were the same color! What truly convinced me that I had no idea about what was going on was the fact that he had the exact same ears on top of his head that were currently sitting on mine. "What the fuck is going on around here?!" I yelled out as my confusion and anger got the better of me. The third thing that caught my eye was the katana that rested at the very top of it all.
I'd never seen it before in my life. However, it was made up of colors I'd seen my grandfather wear nearly every day. Even though I was only five, I've always had a vivid memory. Part of me wanted to reach up and draw the blade, and the other part told me how bad of a bad idea that was. Not wishing to incur the wrath of my grandfather, I opted to keep my hands to myself.
I saw a desk with a book sitting on it. So I walked over to the wooden desk and sat on it while picking up the book. There was no title. In fact, upon getting a closer glance, I didn't think it was a book at all. More so, a journal of some kind. When I opened the first page, it read, "The Renshin Tenets." The instant I saw the first three words, I recognized my mother's handwriting. "She left behind some kind of manuscript!" hopefully, I said to myself. My scarlet eyes returned to the journal and read, "Though most of our recorded history has been wiped out and erased, I still stoke the flame of hope inside of me that there are other Renshin's hidden and scattered throughout Japan. We've been reduced to only three living members. My mother, father (the acting Wolf God), and myself."
The journal slipped out of my hands, hit the desk, and rested on the ground. My jaw was left wide open as I realized that what I had only theorized had been confirmed. I rubbed my temples in an attempt to ease my pounding head, while I said to myself, "So, grandpa really was the Wolf God!" I shut my eyes and tried to focus every bit of energy I had into remembering my adolescence. "When did mom start working in 'public service'?" I asked myself desperately.
I raised my hand up to my mouth as I remarked, "If I'm correct, mom began that job when I was around five or so." Suddenly, my eyelids shot open as I came to a daunting revelation. "Mom was the Wolf Goddess after grandpa!" I blurted out. This caused me to look at myself in the mirror once again. My eyes scanned every noticeable difference on my body. I even glanced at the changes that weren't so noticeable. With a sigh escaping my lips, I had no choice but to look myself in the eyes and say, "You're the NEXT Wolf God." "I don't want to be," I quietly murmured to myself. While grinding my sharp teeth against each other, I started to say louder, "I don't want this! I want to be a normal kid! I want my mother!" Then it hit me! My mother…I didn't finish reading what she wrote.
Stuffing my rage back inside of me, I picked up the journal and continued reading, "We were many before. We were warriors. We were demi-gods. However, all at once, we were hunted down and eliminated by an unknown enemy. Most of us didn't get the chance to fight back against the extermination. Now, the three of us are all that remain. However, we have not given up hope. Our enemy failed simply because of the fact we are still here. My father is growing old. Soon, his term as the Wolf God will be up. Thankfully, he has taught me all that he knows so that I can become his successor when he is no longer here. It's the same that I'll do for my children when I have some. Once my father is no longer here, I will become the Head of House Renshin and take on the responsibility of being the Wolf Goddess. I will keep Japan safe from any that would attempt to cause it harm. As such, I will write down these tenets and pass them down to my children when I feel my time is coming to a close. Tenet number one-" I closed the book shut. I no longer wished to read anymore. This was crazy. How was I, a kid with little to no training, supposed to fight for and protect a country? How was I to lead a family of legendary gods? How was I the last remaining Renshin?!
"No!" I spit out. I looked down at my scarred hands and declared, "I won't do it! I can't lead! How could someone like me lead anyone?! I wasn't prepared for this! I wasn't even properly trained!" Just then, my father's words rang in my head like a bell, "Like I said, you paid me to do something I would've done for free." I stopped. I stopped crying. I stopped complaining. I stopped pitying myself. "Someone wanted mom dead," I said in realization of the situation.
More pieces started to fall into place as if I were building a puzzle. Someone wanted my mother dead. They went so far as to pay her own husband to do it. Despite what the circumstances are, someone killed my mother for a reason. I looked down at the journal and said to myself, "After all, how do I know if this mysterious attacker who supposedly wiped out my bloodline is truly gone?" As soon as I realized that I didn't, I knew that nothing was preventing my death as well. "I can't stay here," I tell myself as I grab my mother's journal and walk up the stairs. Though I didn't know the combination, I knew my father kept every bit of his money in a safe stashed underneath his bed.
While I felt my tail bounce and sway behind me as I dashed up the stairs, there was one idea burning in my mind. "Break it!" I ordered myself. The moment I pulled the black safe from under my father's messy bed, I grabbed onto the handle and tugged with every ounce of strength I had. Even though I didn't break it on my first attempt, I heard the hinges cry for me to stop. I knew I was close. Building up my strength once more, I pulled against the handle. However, the door remained locked. An idea quickly popped into my mind. I placed the safe on its back and looked at my elbow. "Well, it is the strongest weapon on my body," I said, almost as if I was justifying my own idea. With as much power as I could muster, I ran my elbow into the safe door's hinge. As soon as I heard a popping noise, I knew I had broken it. I quickly grabbed the handle again and tugged on it. As soon as the door flew off its hinges, I peered inside. To my disappointment, the first shelf of money was gone entirely. "Damned alcoholic," I scolded. Though the first row was gone, there was more than enough money for just myself. So, I grabbed a backpack from my father's closet and filled it with as much money as I could fit in there. I managed to leave just enough room for my mother's old journal to fit in there. Though I rejected just about everything in there, I felt as if it would come in handy at some point. With a backpack full of money and the clothes on my back, I left my home behind with the intention of never returning. Not until I had more answers.