OH CRAP THIS FIC STILL EXISTS?!
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It hadn’t worked.
Maybe it was the feel of the bed. It was softer than the chairs she was used to sleeping on. Or maybe it was an aftereffect of the transformation she’d been through the night before. Whatever it was, Shiro didn’t dream of her master as she’d hoped for.
When the dream began, she could feel the mud clogging around her paws. Rain battered her from above, and her fur did nothing to stop her from shivering. The night was dark, and she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her.
Making to move, Shiro found her legs refusing to communicate with each other. When was the last time she’d eaten? Days ago? A week? She couldn’t remember. Her four legs carried her forward, all taking her in roughly the right direction, but she stumbled to the side now and again.
The smell of refuse and waste hung in the air. This was the dump where the humans would discard their garbage. Consequently, it was also Shiro’s main source of food. A half-eaten piece of meat would keep her going for at least a few days, and humans always threw away their fish well before it went rotten.
There was nothing to be had here, though. All she could find were broken pieces of furniture and other trinkets she was relatively certain were inedible. There were other strays in the village - stronger, tougher cats who fought her off when she tried to feed herself.
They’d become less common, now that she thought about it. Like someone was collecting them and taking them away.
Shiro’s stomach grumbled. Her legs trembled, struggling simply to keep her standing. She stepped off of the pile of debris, lying on one side and curling up. She’d have to try and rob the butcher’s tomorrow, try not to be on the wrong side of that knife of his. It was a suicide mission, but one she’d have to go for.
She felt tired. Empty. There was a feeling of finality as she closed her eyes, and at some level she knew they weren’t going to open again. She’d make plans for tomorrow, but she knew she wouldn’t be around to go through with them.
Would the master be waiting for her? Would she see him again? She hoped so.
”...Hey. Don’t laze around down there.”A voice muttering to her from above. Her eyes flickered open again. A cat’s voice? No, it couldn’t be. Those were human feet in front of her. Then why did she understand what it was saying...?
”...You really are starving, huh. Well, I figure I can spare one of these...”The human leaned down, and from this height Shiro could see her holding a bag in her hand. Two long, feline tails emerged from her rear, tied up in each other to try and hold onto the warmth.
When she pulled a full, fresh sardine from the bag, Shiro stopped paying attention to anything else.
F...Food?The human...cat? Whatever she was, she placed the fish on the ground in front of Shiro. Shiro didn’t hesitate, munching at the first full meal she’d had in a long time.
”Wow, you’re a hungry one. Guess I showed up just when you needed me, huh?”The fish-lady chuckled. What was she? She looked like a human, dressed like a human, but she had the ears and tail (no,
tails) of a cat. She spoke Shiro’s language, too, and she’d never seen another creature do that before. Those were all questions to be dealt with at a later time, though. Now was the time to feast on her windfall.
After a few minutes, Shiro had eaten all the sardine she could manage. A few chunks of meat still hung to the skeleton, but it had otherwise been entirely devoured. The fish-lady leaned down again, hurling the ex-salmon into the waste pile.
”Y’know, I know a place you can stay where you won’t have to fight for your supper anymore. I’ll get you fresh sardines everyday, and you’ll even have your own house to live in. Sound good?”Free food. Free shelter. Was there anything more Shiro could honestly have asked for? She nodded feverishly, stronger already now that she’d found something to eat. The fish-lady smirked, opening her arms out to take Shiro in.
”Alright then, buddy. Let’s take a little trip into the mountains.”-----
“Mmh...”
Shiro rubbed at her eyes, slowly coming back into the world of the living. The morning sun struck her square in the face, effectively forcing her to wake up. As always, she glanced to the side in the vain hope that her master would reappear.
Still nothing. She was used to that by now.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d woken up from a dream so relaxed, so well-rested. Maybe she hadn’t dreamt of the master, but it had been a pleasant dream. That had been the night when Chen had saved her from the brink of death, brought her to the village in the mountains. It was no exaggeration to say that she owed Chen her life.
Was Chen good master material, though? Shiro wasn’t too sure. She was a good person, but she was also pretty childish at heart. She was definitely a friend, but maybe not someone that Shiro would be willing to serve under.
The fox from last night, Ran, had acted more like the master Shiro wanted. Maybe she had a temper, but the warmth of that embrace still made Shiro’s heart tremble even now.
Both were better than the parasol lady. That she could say for sure. Yukari was still a character Shiro didn’t like the look of - she smiled just too much to be believable. She seemed like the sort of woman who struggled to tell the truth when she had a chance to lie, and because of that Shiro decided to stay as far away from her as possible.
A knock on the door pulled her away from her analysis of the house’s residents.
“Shiro-kun,” Chen said from the other side of the door. “Breakfast’s ready.”
Breakfast sounded good. Shiro stretched, pushing herself off the bed and standing up. She was getting pretty good at the whole walking thing, if she said so herself. Opening the door, she found Chen in a different outfit from what she’d been wearing the night before - a set of bright orange pyjamas, with black pawprints running across in every direction. Her hat was missing, revealing her bed-hair in all its glory
“Lemme get you to breakfast. It’s kinda a long walk, so keep up with me.”
Chen held out a hand for Shiro to take, and the new nekomata accepted the offer. Once again Shiro found herself being led around this monster of a house, leaving the traditional Japanese architecture for another style she didn’t recognise. This time their destination was a glossy Western wing, with pristine red rugs and dozens of portraits on the walls. Shiro turned to them, tilting her head as she examined the unfamiliar faces. All women, she noticed, dressed in spiritual-looking robes.
“Who are they, Chen-sama?” she asked.
“Those are descendants of the Hakurei bloodline,” Chen replied. “They’re the family of shrine maidens that’s basically kept Gensokyo alive along with Yukari-sama. They may be human, but they pack a helluva punch.”
Chen spoke with a hint of hurt, rubbing at a shoulder as if tending to a long-healed wound. Shiro’s eyes drifted between her and the nigh-identical faces of the Hakurei maidens, then went all the way to the portraits when she made it to the last of the pictures. In comparison to the modest, kind smiles of her predecessors, this girl was drawn with a distinctive growl and a stern look in her hazel eyes. She must not have shared her mother’s willingness to be immortalised in art form.
“Oh, you’re looking at Reimu-san? Yeah, she’s the scariest one yet. Doesn’t even have to practice - she just beats up half of Gensokyo with nothing but talent. See, that’s the example I wanna follow, but Ran-sama keeps insisting that I have to do my math homework...”
Chen pouted, her steps slower, as if she wanted Shiro to take point and lead her around instead. Shiro took the moment to examine the portrait more closely. It was an impressive piece, almost indistinguishable from a real face, and the brushstrokes had managed to capture their subject’s inherent aggression. This was not the peace-loving maiden the Hakurei shrine would have been defended by 50 years ago - this was a forward-thinking combatant who weeded out problems - forcefully - before they really started. The eyes seemed to follow Shiro around the room, glaring with the best stare a canvas could manage. Shiro needed to look down to realise the things curling around her legs were in fact her own tails.
“D...Does Reimu-san live here too?”
Shiro squeezed at Chen’s hand, and her fellow nekomata offered a quick squeeze in return.
“No worries, Shiro-kun,” she replied, grinning. “I’ll take care of you.”
Shiro felt her fears fading away, focusing on the hand in hers. It was comforting having someone around to protect her. The feeling of loneliness, of being abandoned, had been replaced with a sense of belonging. It was like she had a master again.
And Shiro valued that more than she valued Chen saving her life.
“...Chen-sama, will you be waking me up every day?”
“Huh? Uh, I guess so. Usually it’s Ran-sama’s job, but I talked her into letting me do it.”
“Nya...? Why?”
Chen didn’t answer right away, her head jerking to the side. Shiro felt the hand squeezing hers grow tighter, almost clingy.
“B-Because I figured you’d wanna see more on the way to breakfast than Ran-sama’s tails in your face. Yeah. That.”
Shiro furrowed her brow. Chen was dodging the question, but why? Her face looked a little red. Did she have a fever? Either way, Chen made the rest of the trip in silence, her head bowed and her lips sealed.
A strange girl, Shiro thought. Lovable, and good-hearted - but strange more than either of those. She wondered if the household drew in strange folks, or if it was the strange folks who had built it in the first place.
She hoped it was the latter. She wasn’t strange, was she?
-----
Breakfast took place in another of these overly-extravagant rooms, on a far-too-long wooden table which smelled of nobility. Ran Yakumo seemed out of place here, her nightgown and apron making her look more like a servant than her actual shikigami. She bowed, pointing to the three plates at the far end of the table.
“Help yourselves, you two. Shiro-san, I know this is your first day, so I made you something you’ll be familiar with.”
The familiar scent reached Shiro before she actually saw the food. Fish. Fresh, smoked, perfectly prepared aquatic delicacy. Before she knew what she was doing it was her pulling Chen along instead of the other way around.
“Nyaaah!?”
Chen let go, stumbling a few steps from momentum alone. Shiro continued, vaulting into the seat and turning her head to the plate in front of her. There it was, a fully-cooked mackerel, practically screaming for her to eat it. She saw no reason to refuse the offer, making the most of her newfound hands and grabbing at it before she started to chew. She only vaguely heard Chen taking the seat across from her, the nekomata’s words sounding mumbled compared to Shiro’s own frantic munching.
“Ran-sama, why don’t I ever get any mackerel?”
“I made it for you on your first day here, Chen,” Ran replied. “Shiro-san deserves the same.”
Shiro finished her meal faster than she’d expected, even by her own ravenous standards. Maybe having a bigger mouth had its disadvantages after all. Now she’d finished with that, her eyes came back into focus, and she found a bowl placed alongside her plate. Small white pellets had been laid out in a pile inside it and she pulled her head closer to sniff at them. There was no smell of any sort coming from them, and Shiro looked to Ran for an explanation.
“Ah, that’s rice,” Ran said. “It’s a staple of human cuisine. I thought we’d ease you into human food slowly.”
Shiro eyed the bowl again. Slowly, nervously, she picked up one of the tiny pellets of rice and brought it towards her lips. She spun it around, looking for some sort of key to unleash the flavour inside, but nothing of the sort was obvious. Giving up, she flung it into her mouth and swallowed it in a gulp.
“...Nnh.”
She hadn’t tasted anything, and the thought of going through a whole pile of it wasn’t very enticing. Ran laughed nervously, one hand behind her head.
“Well, the plan was for you to eat the rice along with the fish,” she explained. “But you kind of got carried away before I could tell you, and...well, now you know, I guess.”
Shiro frowned. She took a look at the small amount of rice still inside the bowl, decided it wasn’t worth eating on its own, and instead helped herself to the water-filled cup on the other side of the plate. Chen was only just starting her breakfast, having made some sort of prayer before she started. Her plate was a lot more colourful, and she was expertly wielding a set of metal utensils to control them. Shiro would later learn these were known as ‘knives’ and ‘forks’, and she’d be expected to use them herself before the month was through.
Breakfast was not a source of conversation. Chen’s mouth was usually too full to speak, Ran was focused on some sort of paperwork as she nibbled at her tofu, and Shiro couldn’t come up with anything interesting to talk about. She doubted her companions would want to hear about the one time she had to outspeed a mousetrap to catch her dinner - mainly because she’d lost the race and went hungry that night.
Ran finished her writing just as Chen licked the last few morsels of breakfast off of her plate. She held up the paper to herself, then turned to Shiro.
“Shiro-san, would you mind testing something for me? Chen told me about your powers last night, and I wanted to see if I could test them a little.”
She reached into a pocket in the apron, pulling out three dice. Taking one of her own empty bowls, she dropped the three dice inside.
“I don’t suppose you’re familiar with Chinchirorin, Shiro-san?” Ran asked.
Shiro’s ears perked up. She remembered the name just for how strange it sounded - it was one of the gambles her master had played with her. Two players took turns rolling three dice in a bowl, aiming to roll at least two dice with the same number. The remaining dice was the player’s score, and whoever had the highest score won. If all three dice matched, it was a win by default - unless they were all ones, which was an instant loss.
The only other options were a 4-5-6 - another instant win - and a 1-2-3 - another instant loss. Anything else was a mess and had to be rerolled.
“Yes,” Shiro replied. She allowed herself a smile, knowing where this was going. Ran nodded in response, pulling the three dice back out of the bowl.
“In that case, allow me to start,” she said, shaking the dice in her hand. She had three attempts to produce a result - otherwise, she lost by default. The fox took a deep breath, then threw the three dice into the bowl. They jingled, slamming against both the pottery and each other. Shiro had stood up by now, at Ran’s side to watch the roll. Chen was attached to Ran’s other shoulder, not entirely sure who to root for.
The dice came to a stop. Ran smiled. The dice had come up 3, 3, 5. That meant her score was 5, an impressively high roll in Chinchirorin. She looked to Shiro with a cheeky glint in her eye, sliding the bowl over.
“Beat that, Shiro-san.”
For a moment, Shiro forgot the woman she was playing against was a full-grown youkai. The smug, childish look would have fit Chen more than it fit her. It shook her, and she hesitated in making her roll, but she managed to steel herself.
“O-Okay. Here I go...”
She held the dice in both hands, shaking them frantically. Her tails stood on point, and her ears wiggled around madly. She’d never played a game like this under so much pressure. What if she messed up? Would Ran throw her out of the house if she didn’t win? She was trembling now, and the dice slipped out of her hands by accident.
“Nyah-!”
The three dice fell into the bowl, letting off another series of clunks. Ran’s eyebrows were raised, and she smiled madly as she watched on. Chen’s mouth hung open, like the salmon Shiro had devoured no more than ten minutes earlier. Shiro’s eyes darted around the bowl, trying in vain to follow all three dice at once.
After a long series of bounces, the dice finally came to rest.
Three.
Three.
Three.
“...Hm.”
Ran seemed to be trying to examine the dice with two emotions at once - her face teetered between curiosity at Shiro’s victory, and disappointment at her own defeat. Shiro didn’t realise she’d been holding her breath until she let it out, placing a hand on Ran’s shoulder to regain herself. Chen finally gave up playing the in-between, clapping wildly.
“Shiro-kun, how did you do that? What were the odds of you getting three of a kind?”
“1 in 36,” Ran offered, bluntly. “If you mean a triple that would have won her the game, 5 in 216. And the odds of her rolling anything that could beat my roll were...” She paused, looking upwards, crunching the numbers in her head. “...26 in 216. Just over twelve percent.”
Chen blinked, looking incredulously at her master. Shiro could see she hadn’t really been looking for an answer. Not responding, she ran behind Ran to hug the victor.
“...Well,” Ran said at last, her curiosity now thoroughly piqued. “That was an impressive showing, but there’s a key difference between plain luck and actual ability. Think you can manage that twice?”
She lifted the dice again, ready to throw them as her other hand noted down the result on her piece of paper. Chen’s expression grew uncertain, and she looked to Shiro with a childish pout.
“Uh-oh. Ran-sama wants to really test you now, Shiro-kun.”
Shiro tilted her head. “Eh? Is that a bad thing?”
Chen looked over to the serious glare Ran was giving off. She was examining the dice, weighing them in one hand, and scribbling with all her strength using the other.
“Well...” Chen said with a frown. She looked out the window, seeing the sun still low in the morning sky.
“...It is if you wanted to do anything else this morning.”
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Kaiji Season 2 has taught me about FUN games. :3
EDIT: Shoutouts to Arcorann for reminding me I can't count.
