Kitsune Matsuri: The Open Gateway

by William H Johnston

  Little one?

  I followed her gaze. A pair of golden luminescent eyes peered out from the shadows beneath a gutter above. They were softer, rounder eyes than Matsuri’s, a child’s eyes.

  A very young girl crept from the shadows clinging upside down from the metal drainpipe. She was dressed in a pink kimono and like Matsuri her face was concealed by a fox mask, only with pink accents instead of blue like the elder kitsune’s.

  She tilted her head, staring accusingly down at the other kitsune. Her single fox tail bristled behind her as two distinctly red fox ears perked on her head. “Anata wa, ane watashi o mita ka?”[31]

  Matsuri folded her arms, chuckling to herself. “Yes, I saw you. You’re not that well practiced in hiding as I am in seeking, little one. You’ll get your eyes plucked by a tengu’s talons for spying one of these days, you know.”

  “Karera wa shimasen!”[32] The girl huffed. She let go of the pipe, flipping through the air and landing on her nimble paw feet. She stood mimicking Matsuri by folding her arms and lifted the edge of her mask just enough for me to see her tongue stick out. “Mā, sukunakutomo watashi wa, mojiretsu no omocha no yō ni mawari no gaijin ga tsunagaranai.”[33]

  “Ah such a playful little one. Do not mind her.” Matsuri ruffled the cub’s inky black hair.

  The girl swatted her sister’s hands away, ears flattening against her scalp. “Sore o teishi shi, sā!”[34]

  “Sate, buji Aya-chan!”[35] the elder chuckled. “Ah, where are my manners? Tobias, this is my little sister. You may call her Aya-Chan.”

  “A pleasure, little one,” I stammered. There was an unusual aura about her, a bright almost electric energy.

  “Aya-chan is a fox child. She is still inexperienced in changing forms,” Matsuri explained, indicating the girl’s ears and feet.

  “Kare wa tashika ni mawari ni watashitachi to shinkeishitsu ni natte iru.”[36] The little fox giggled, tilting her head from one side to the other like an inquisitive dog.

  “What did she say?” I wished Michiko was there to translate.

  “Nothing of consequence. You will have to excuse her. She is still not used to speaking English.”

  “Am so!” The little one quipped. “I can speak …” She stopped mid-sentence and the fur upon her tiny tail bristled out like an angry cat’s. I saw her little fox ears flick toward some unheard sound.

  “Anata wa sono shimai o kanjiru nodesu ka?”[37]

  “Yes, I sense it too.” Matsuri held out her palm, quieting the child. Her gaze turned toward where the younger kitsune pointed. “Sore wa, futatabi chīsana ichi onidesu.”[38]

  She turned toward me. “Something important has come up, Gaijin, something of grave consequence. Aya-chan, take the Gaijin up into the forest. I will come and get you when I have dealt with this other matter.”

  “Kono yō ni, Gaijin!”[39] The younger creature nodded, padding over to tug my sleeve.

  I looked down at her offered hand, and Matsuri rested her own on my arm. “Go with her, Gaijin. I must attend to another matter.” Then she turned and disappeared into the crowd like a puff of smoke.

  I smiled nervously at my shorter companion, closing her paw around my larger hand. “Lead on.” We ducked back into the dark alleyway, Aya-Chan padding almost silently on her soot black paws and me trying to keep up. I felt like Alice led by the white rabbit, uncertain about what lay ahead. We weaved in and out of buildings and streets that grew smaller and smaller. We passed through a torii arch and like magic, downtown was gone.

  The asphalt beneath my feet became rough earth, and tall bamboo replaced man-made structures. I’d no idea what had happened or where we were going, but we followed a gentle slope into the hills. Aya-chan finally let go of my hand, and I paused turning around. Kyoto twinkled far in the distance behind me.

  “Where am I?”

  I was standing on an old, unused pathway that wove up into the hills. There were no buildings and no people. It was just the two of us, a splash of red fur and pale human skin against the sea of green bamboo and trees. They rose up around me in great thick shoots as big as my arm, towering over us.

  “In hills, West Kyoto,” the little girl replied.

  Wait, how’d I get out here? I turned to ask her for an answer, but she’d plopped down on the dusty earth now, legs pressed lightly against her chest. I was struck suddenly by the stillness around us.

  “It’s so quiet.” My ears were used to the bustle of the city. I now strained to listen through the soft cacophony of the fronds shifting back and forth in the slightest stirring of wind, creaking like an old mattress.

  “Is good place,” the girl replied, patting the earth. “You sit.”

  I sighed, sitting down. “Well, I’m glad we weren’t roof hopping because, with all due respect, I don’t think I can lift you and jump as far as your sister did with me.”

  “You funny, Gaijin,” she giggled, resting her chin against her knees. Those golden eyes twinkled up at me from the darkness of her mask.

  I had to remind myself that this wasn’t just a little girl. This was a kitsune. Youth didn’t mean ignorance. Still, she seemed as childlike as my own students.

  She sat with her tail curled and twisting lightly against the earth, ears flicked from side to side. After a little longer, however, those golden eyes began to dim and her head drooped forward.

  “Tired, little one?”

  Her head came up abruptly, and she shook it. “No.”

  I frowned, “I would think it’s far past your bed time.”

  “Gaijin no tell bed time,” she huffed. “Sore wa, imōto ga watashi ni katatta toki ni wa jūbun waruidesu.”[40] Irritation dripped in the last few words.

  We waited in silence, sitting there staring at one another. After a few minutes, my ears began to pick out a distinctive sound, a slow drip-plunk, like single drops of water falling down into a puddle. Then I became aware of another sound, a steady thump-thump, thump-thump, loud like a hurried heartbeat.

  There was a flash of golden coat as a buck leaped across the clearing, pronged antlers wide and tall. He swerved, mouth frothing against frightened breaths, skidding against the earth and darted away from us veering down into a narrow gully.

  Suddenly, I heard a dull compacted and resonating thud. The sound of hoofs abruptly stopped, followed by a short scuffling. Then silence.

  I turned to my small companion. “Aya-chan?” Her tail was erect, fur stiff. Her eyes searched the dark, her form rigid as a statue. She grabbed at my sleeve, pulling me down to the ground with such sudden strength that I had barely time to react. “What, what is it, little one?”

  She put a finger up against those pink painted plaster lips, silencing me and pointed down into the shadows of the ravine. The buck lay there on its side with legs stretched out at grotesque angles. The flesh of its belly was coated in blood. Its eyes were dark with the mists of death.

  Beside it sat the figure of a woman with long raven hair flowing down her back like a river of molten ink. I felt my heart skip a beat as I recognized the broad demonic face and leering jaws coated crimson, brackish stains covering her kimono.

  That same demon!

  Aya-chan grabbed my arm, tugging me back. “Is hannya! Bad, very bad Gaijin! We go, go away from this place!”

  “I think you’re right, little one!”

  The cursed thing couldn’t be more than twenty yards from where I crouched, and I had no desire for a reunion. I slowly rose, carefully silent, then something caught my eye. A strange light weaved through tall strands of bamboo like a ghostly blue candle. The demon stirred, shifting to all fours like an animal, and let out a low growl.

  A moment later that growl became a howl of pain. Through the gloom, I could see the quivering arrow shaft sticking out of the demon’s right shoulder. The creature twisted around lunging at the light with long, wicked claws.

  In an instant, the glow flicked out reappearing just behind the demon, then again to one side and the other. Each time t
he fiend attacked, another arrow lodged into her flesh.

  One, two, three, four, five arrows pierced its shoulders, back and chest. But they seemed to have little effect! The thing was still coming. Now the ghostly blue flame came to touch the earth and took shape.

  Matsuri!

  Her eyes were cold and keen like yellow fires behind the gold iris of her mask. Her right hand reached up to grasp an arrow from a quiver slung over her shoulder. She brought it taut against the yew bow in her other hand.

  “Watashi wa ni-kai mae ni, korera no chiikide wanai fuhō shin’nyū ni anata o keikoku shita, oni.” Her voice was sharp and cool as ice. “Anata ga yama ni modotte shukuhaku shite iru hitsuyō ga arimasu.”[41]

  Now it was the demon’s turn, a voice dark and thick as if coated in grimy liquid. “Norowa reta kitsune! Kore wa watashi no tabemonodesu!”[42]

  The form shifted, growing ever larger. She hurled herself upon Matsuri, landing with a thud that shook the earth. The shape of the fox slipped from beneath the monster and scampered off to one side, paws outstretched, ready to run.

  A dark, choking growl followed the fleeing fox. “Anata ga futatabi watashi o oiharau koto wa arimasen! Konkai wa, anata wa shinu!”[43]

  Whatever the creature said set Matsuri off. She dug in her heels, lunging forward and lashing at its chest. The demon staggered back, howling in pain, clutching her chest with one huge claw. Dark eyes filled with flaming hate.

  Matsuri landed nimbly on her paws a few yards away. She was panting, her fur a mess of blood and grime, legs shaking as if she were ready to collapse. I didn’t think she had much fight left in her. She looked worn out, and I knew the demon recognized her condition.

  With a shriek, the demon pounced on her, grabbing the exhausted kitsune. Matsuri squirmed, strained, and then stopped. The beast let out a triumphant roar, shaking the very foundation of the forest, and held aloft her prize. Matsuri lay unmoving, her head like a lick of white against the black of demon flesh.

  “Watashi wa, ijinowarui kitsune anata o motte iru!”[44] The demon squeezed her fingers together sending a cry of agony from Matsuri’s jaws.

  I spun around to Aya-chan, “She’s going to be killed!” The child stood frozen in place. I grabbed her shoulders shaking her small form. “You have to do something!”

  “I can’t!” Both hands clasped tightly around her mouth as a dark shadow fell upon us. A huge, demonic face grinned down with slobbering jaws.

  “Oh, little man flesh and a fox cub for dessert! You’ll have plenty of company in my belly tonight!” Thick fingers grabbed me.

  I tried to move to escape, but she squeezed and I felt my body constrict. The demon had both of us. I stared helplessly as Matsuri lay there in the other hand, eyes closed. Her short rasping breaths scared me.

  We’re both going to die …

  Then I saw Aya-chan standing alone like a tiny speck of light in the demon’s shadow, small fingers clutched tight against her sides.

  “Run!” My words came out in a short whisper instantly silenced as the claws tightened.

  Aya-chan yelled, “Sorera o tebanasu!”[45] Her voice wavered, body shaking like a tiny sapling against the wind.

  “Ā, nani osoroshī chīsai koto”[46] The beast laughed a terrible booming sound. “Anata wa watashi o uchinomesu tsumoridesu ka?”[47]

  In an instant Aya-chan came alive. Pink fire blazed around her body and her tail as she launched herself at the creature. She grabbed a sharp bit of bamboo and jabbed it straight down into one of the monster’s eyes.

  With both hands occupied, the beast had no way to defend herself. She let out a terrible cry, and I found myself dropped like a sack of potatoes. I hit the ground hard and felt a snap in my leg as shooting pain surged up my body.

  Ignoring the throbbing in my leg, I saw Matsuri lying unconscious just a few yards away. Aya-chan wasn’t much better off. She had been grabbed up like a hapless cat and dangled above those leering jaws. Then I saw Matsuri’s bow on the ground near me. An arrow was still notched to the string.

  Gritting my teeth, I somehow managed to grab the bow and get to my feet. The slightest weight sent rippling pain up my body, but I bore it as I steadied the bow in my grasp. I felt my head spin.

  So tired. No! Ignore that! Come on Tobi!

  I don’t profess to be an expert marksman. I’d failed at getting the archery merit badge in Boy Scouts. However, something instinctual woke up inside me at that moment. I drew the string, said a quiet prayer, and leveled the weapon on the creature’s chest. Then I released the arrow.

  The trajectory flew straight as a hawk and found its mark, lodging barb, shaft and quiver through her black heart. There was a low gurgling roar as eyes widened in sudden realization and fear. Her fingers loosened and Aya-chan struggled free, looking for a place to hide.

  The beast leveled her remaining hateful eye on me. As I watched, the fire within it began to dim then winked out like a snuffed candle. The demon’s body toppled forward and dissolved into a dark ash that singed the ground. She was no more.

  I did it!

  Elation was instantly replaced by the unbelievable pain in my right leg. My fingers felt bone against the skin. All strength left me, and the bow slipped from my fingers clattering to the ground. I fell to the ground and blacked out.

  “Tobias-san?” A deep-throated male voice called through the fractured haze of my consciousness. My head pounded and my body felt sore and stiff. I felt a wet towel over my eyes.

  “Where am I?” I tried to rise but was restrained by a heavy, gnarled hand.

  “Anata wa anzendesuga, idō shinaide kudasai,”[48] the same voice croaked.

  I felt something sharp against my skin, and my pulse began to rise. A softer hand took my own. “It is all right, Gaijin. You are safe. Just do not move too much. You were hurt pretty badly.”

  “Matsuri?”

  “Yes, I am here, Gaijin.” She removed the wet compress from my eyes. I must have lost my glasses when I fell because everything was a blur, but I could just make out her golden eyes. They seemed softer than they’d ever been. She spoke again, her tone admonishing. “Foolish boy, who were you to try to take on a demon?”

  I managed a sheepish smile, squinting to try to see her better. “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Where is Aya-chan? She didn’t get hurt, did she?”

  “Watashi wa koko yo!”[49] Aya-chan’s young voice piped up from my left. I heard a sound from another, darker figure opposite Matsuri as he cleared his throat. This was the one who was prodding me with some sharp implement.

  “You know, as much as I enjoy being poked with sharp objects, it would be great if I knew what was going on. I can’t see a darn thing.”

  “Here, perhaps these will help.” She slid my glasses over my nose, and suddenly the blurry surroundings came into focus. “Aya-chan found them.”

  “Thanks.” I blinked as my vision slowly cleared.

  I was in a small room with tatami mat floors and a high beamed, wooden framed ceiling. Thin tendrils of steam escaped from a small iron kettle over a fire in a pit at the center of the room.

  I was laid out on a wooden platform, a splint on my right leg. Straps held me in place. Matsuri quickly loosened them.

  “You were in great pain and moving in fits when I brought you here. We had to make sure you wouldn’t hurt yourself further.”

  I noticed a strange little man kneeling with his back to me. His skin was deep moss green and hung from a slight but sturdy body. As he moved, powerful, lean muscles danced across the flesh like green spider’s silk.

  He wore a tattered orange robe that fell down over his big webbed feet and hands. The bare flesh of his belly was pale green and smooth like the bottom of a turtle’s shell. His face was vaguely reptilian with thick, wrinkled skin like folded phyllo dough, stretched along his beak-like snout.

  Wispy strands of mud brown hair fell like tangled reeds from a strange, bowl-shaped impression in the top of his head giving the crown of h
is skull the look of the top of a coconut cup.

  He spoke, and I could sense a warning in his tone. “Fuan’na koi, Matsuri-chan no yōna kare ga mitsumemasu.”[50]

  Matsuri moved between him and me. “Kare wo yurushi te. Kare wa gaijin no shōnen da.”[51] She slid back around coming close to my side and whispered in my ear. “My friend asks you not stare, Tobias. You would do well to be polite. It is not wise to anger a kappa, especially one who is responsible for your well-being at the moment.”

  “Sorry.” I quickly averted my eyes. “He’s a good guy, right?”

  “Hai. Haro is a kappa, a water sprite and old family friend. His ancestors mastered bone setting when humans were still just a wink in the eyes of the world. He’s set a few of my own broken bones over the years.”

  “What’s wrong with his head?”

  “Nothing. That’s just the way his people are.”

  He knelt by my side as his sunken black eyes searched over me. “Korera no hone wa chiyu shite mo yoi jikan ga hitsuyō ni narimasu.”[52] He leaned forward pressing long boney fingers very gently against my leg. “Kireinamizu de sono shōnen wa dokodesu ka?”[53]

  No sooner was the question asked than there was a scuffling from outside. A door slid open in the side of one of the paper covered walls to reveal the figure of a boy in an old blue robe.

  At first, I thought he was human, but as he crouched there, I quickly realized that he had the talons of a bird where his feet should be. His face was hidden behind a mask made to look like a sparrow.

  “Suzume-kun!” Haro turned to him gesturing with his long fingers. “Ah, soko ni wa arimasu! Sono shinsen’na mizu de kotchi isoide. Watashitachi wa oku no koto ni torikunde imasu.”[54]

  “Hai, Tobias-Sensei!” The “boy” replied, hauling a bucket of water half as big as he. He carried it across the room and set it down beside his master without spilling a drop.

  Haro nodded approvingly. “Anata wa kodomo no, yoku yatta. Ima suwatte iruto shinchō ni mitekudasai!”[55]