Little Fox - Part 6
Who is this old woman, Nino wondered. Her face resembled Ohno so she must be his mother. But, her reaction upon seeing Nino was weird. Nino had expected her to be angry to see the members of the Yellowfox clan in her house. But, he couldn’t see anything close to anger in her expression. She was surprised, yet she was also happy to see Nino, which was a mystery for him and everyone else. Like him, they were also dumbfounded by her reaction.
“Ah, silly me!” she suddenly said, once again surprising Nino with her behaviour. “It has been years. Of course… You don’t just look like him… You’re him!
“Him?”
It was the only thing that Nino could utter in this strange confrontation. Frankly, this was not how he expected the meeting with Ohno's people would be. What Sho said earlier… about their clan causing the death of the Bluewolf's warrior… Nino thought that they would be treated with hostility. However, Ohno's mother didn't seem to be unhappy to see them at all. Her attention was all on Nino.
This whole situation overwhelmed him. He couldn’t help but overthink it. What if Ohno’s mother was just pretending to be excited to see them? What if, the moment Nino let down his guard, she would attack them? It was rude of him to think of her like that. But, he just couldn’t stop himself.
Thank goodness, Ohno stayed close with him. Having the man around comfort him. Ohno gripped his hands tightly, giving him confidence that the man would protect him no matter what.
“Mother…” Ohno took a deep breath before addressing his mother. But, he also seemed uncertain to continue, perhaps not knowing what he should be asking. Seeing that, Sho quickly came to his rescue.
“Your grace…” Sho begin. Ohno’s mother reluctantly took her eyes off Nino and looked at Sho, prompting him to continue. “I apologized for our sudden visit here. As you can see, we are from the Yellowfox clan. I know bad things happened between our clans in the past. But, I just want to clarify that we mean no harm to you,”
The woman responded with a gentle smile. Then, she approached Nino and stroked his head softly. It was a warm touch that made Nino miss his mother. He hoped nothing bad happened to his mother while he was away.
“You don’t have to be formal with me. Just call me Manami,” she said, looking at Sho and Jun this time. “And… I know you mean no harm. You are here with Kazu. His bond with my son is strong. No matter how far apart they are, they will always find each other,” Then, she looked at both Nino and Ohno. She took their hands and held them tightly. “Kazu, you must be here because of Satoshi, right?”
She called him Kazu, which was his first name. Not even Ohno knew since he didn’t tell the man. So, how did she know? Wasn’t this the first time they met?
He exchanged a look with Ohno. From the expression on Ohno’s face, Nino knew the man was asking if Kazu was his name. Nino simply nodded. Ohno, then, shifted his attention to his mother, voicing out the question that Nino had in his mind.
“Mother, do you know Little Fox?”
“Is that your nickname for Kazu?” she asked, chuckling. Ohno, in return, blushed.
“It’s cute,” she continued when Ohno didn’t say anything. “And, to answer your question, of course, I know Kazu. He is the heir for the Yellowfox clan, right?”
“But, how?”
“Because…” she answered. “This isn’t the first time Kazu comes here,”
Manami loved to walk in the woods. She felt comfortable when she was surrounded by nature. And, the trait seemed to be shared with her only son, Satoshi. He always had a smile on his face whenever they went for a walk in the woods together.
However, there was something different in him today. Usually, he would be following her without wandering around on his own. This wasn’t the case today. It seemed like he had a destination to go. But, when Manami asked him about it, he didn’t seem to know where he was going. He simply followed his heart as if something was calling for him.
She didn’t know how to feel about this. At first, it was exciting to go to the place she had never been before. However, as they were getting further and further from their clan, she started to worry. She knew what was on the other side of the border. The folks from the Yellowfox clan lived there and they wouldn't be welcomed if they entered the clan by mistake. If she was alone, she wouldn’t be worried. But, Satoshi was with her. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to her son.
“Satoshi…” she called the little boy who only hummed in response. “Let’s go home. It’s late,”
Her son, however, ignored her. He kept walking as if he didn’t hear what she said. So, Manami had no choice. She picked the little boy up. Satoshi was only five years old so it wasn’t a problem for her. But, the boy kept rebelling, asking to be put down, which made it hard for her to walk.
“I don’t want to go home, mother,” pleaded Satoshi.
“Where do you want to go, Satoshi?”
“I don’t know, mother,” answered Satoshi, repeating the same thing he told her hours ago. He pointed in the direction of the Yellowfox clan. “I just have to go there,”
“You cannot go there, Satoshi,” she tried to reason. But, it’s impossible because Satoshi was too young to understand. “It’s dangerous,”
“Mother, I have…”
The little boy trailed off as if something had caught his attention. So, Manami turned around, trying to see what he was looking at. And, she was greeted by a sight she didn’t think she would ever see. Standing a few feet from them was a little boy. He seemed to be around the same age as Satoshi. But, something was distinct about the boy. His hair. It was golden, proving that he wasn’t from their clan. Instead, he was a member of the Yellowfox clan. The boy wasn’t alone. Another man was with him.
“Hello,” said the little boy, pointing at himself. “Kazu. You?”
As she was surprised to see the boy, she didn’t realize she had let go of Satoshi. Her son quickly ran to the other boy. They stood in front of each other. Bright light surrounded the two of them and at that moment, she realized why her son wanted to come here.
His soulmate was calling for him.
Nonsense! That's what Nino wanted to tell the woman. If he had met Ohno as she had claimed, of course, he would remember!
But, he was a little boy when it happened, a voice inside of him countered. That's why he didn’t remember.
“I was here?” uttered Nino. He didn’t realize he was saying it loudly. No one else said anything, perhaps because, like him, they found it hard to believe.
“Yes, honey…” responded Manami, sounding confused. “Why? Didn’t your father tell you about it? You came here with him,”
“My father?” repeated Nino. He was still shocked to find out that he had come to the Bluewolf clan before. And, now, Manami revealed another shocking thing. It wasn’t a lie, he could feel that. But, if his father was with him on that day, why hadn’t he told Nino anything about their time here? What happened back then?
And, now, his father sent him here to help unlock his magic. Why now? If his father knew Ohno could help him solve the problem that had been bothering him all these times, he should have let Nino come here sooner. It could spare him the humiliation and mockery that he received from their clans.
Seeing his response, Manami took a deep breath and looked at him with understanding.
“Did your father know you are here, Kazu?”
“Yes, he sent me here,” answered Nino. Then, he paused, exchanging a look with both Sho and Jun. They nodded. Taking it as permission to talk about the situation in their clan, Nino then elaborated. “Something happened in our clan and he asked me to flee. I’m looking for someone to help me with my… hmm… magic. And, I think your son could help me with it because of our bond,”
“Magic?” she repeated. “What’s wrong with…” She trailed off and tilted her head to look at Nino, eyebrows furrowed. “That makes sense,”
“What makes sense?”
After being silent for a while, Ohno finally talked. He had been quiet as they listened intently to his mother almost as if he wasn’t there. But, to Nino, despite being silent, he could feel Ohno’s calming presence. The subtle way Ohno touched him helped him remain composed so that he won’t lose his sanity over what had just been revealed to him.
“Hmmm…” Manami hesitated.
“Mother,” Ohno sounded impatient. “Do you know anything about Little Fox’s magic? If you do, please let us know. Maybe, it could help to solve Little Fox’s problem,”
Manami remained silent.
“Please, mother,” pleaded Ohno. “We need to know,”
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she stared at Nino before taking a deep breath.
“I cannot sense your magic,” she finally said.
“Because I don’t have any,” responded Nino. “My father…”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” She quickly cut him off. “You have magic… when I met you years ago… you’re only three years old… But… your magic is powerful for someone your age,”
Nino’s eyes widened, finding it hard to believe what Manami had just told him. This must be a joke, right? He never had magic in his life. Manami must have made a mistake, he tried to reason.
“You are wrong,” he told her, not realizing he was almost shouting. “I don’t have magic,”
This was too much! All these times, he was led to believe that he had no magic. And, then, Manami suddenly claimed that he had it. Not only that, but she also claimed he was powerful. How could it be? If he was powerful, where did his magic disappear to?
“Little Fox, calm down,” said Ohno softly. Nino turned to look at the man beside him, noticing that he seemed to be in pain. He glanced at their hands, feeling guilty when he realized he had been gripping Ohno’s hand too tightly.
“I’m sorry…” He let go of Ohno’s hand. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt at all,” replied Ohno. “Listen… I know this is too much for you. Should we take a break and talk about it again when you are ready?”
Nino wanted to agree. Too many revelations today. He didn’t know if he could handle whatever else Ohno’s mother was going to tell him. But, deep inside, he knew it’s better to get over everything now.
“No, I want to know everything now,” Nino shook his head. And, even though Ohno wanted to protest, he didn’t say anything. He simply smiled at Nino as he gently caressed his back. Like before, the touch helped to calm him down. Nino, then, took a deep breath before giving his attention to Manami again.
“I’m sorry for bursting out like that. It’s just… It’s hard to believe. In my clan, people ridicule me for my absence of magic. And, when you said, my magic is powerful, I thought you are mocking me too,”
“Dearie… ” Manami said, looking apologetic. “It isn’t my intention to make you feel like that. But, I’m not lying. You were powerful. I could feel the magic from you when we met. But, now, something about you seems unnatural…”
“Your grace,” Sho chose that moment to interrupt. “Maybe it would help us to understand better about my young master’s situation if you tell us what happened back then,”
She considered it for a moment and then nodded. “As I said before, your father was with you. When you started wandering around to get to Satoshi, he followed you. At first, we let the two of you played together. But, it’s getting late and you two refused to part. So, we brought you here. Your father was reluctant at first. But, eventually, he agreed,”
“Of course, both you and your father had stayed hidden while you were here. Other than me, only Satoshi’s father and his teacher knew about your presence in our clan. We talked about what to do. And, in the end, we decided to…” She trailed off. It annoyed Nino to see her pause at the critical moment. As Nino was about to urge her to continue, she suddenly shook her head. “No way… it couldn’t be,”
“What is it, mother?” Asked Ohno. Manami, however, seemed uncomfortable to continue.
“Kazu’s father and your father… they both… they do not like the idea of you two as soulmates. So…”
“What did they do?”
“They did a ritual,”
“A ritual? What ritual?”
“The ritual to break your bond,”
The answer did not come from her. Instead, it came from an old man who had just entered the room. Seeing the resemblance between the man and Ohno, Nino concluded that he must be Ohno’s father.