First Frost

 “What do you think we'll look like, once we transform?” Lu asked excitedly.

Inês swallowed the knot in her throat.

“I really couldn't guess.” she said simply. “Maybe you'll be wearing some elegant, traditional Japanese garb.”

Lu's netsuke, faintly translucent, shined softly from the oil lamp's flame. She set it down a moment, looking pensive. Then, looking up at Inês with wet eyes, she asked: “You mean we, right?” Inês laid a hand on her head.

“Right.”

A whirring rose from Debuu's sleeping frame. It was nighttime; the guardian had accompanied the girls to sleep in the corner of their room. They looked at the loafed up bug.

“It's in his hands.”

“No.” Lu corrected her. “It's in your heart.”

She smiled at her. Inês blew the light out.

“Sentai, today you'll be heading out into the neighboring village.” declared Debuu. “A young village boy will be showing you the way.”

“You're not coming with?” asked Lu.

“What am I? A nanny?” said Debuu with an incongruous tone.

“Isn't nanny another word for guardian?” Jin pointed out.

“Anyway...” continued the guardian. “Mysterious goings-on have been…”

“Going on?” said Lu with a smirk.

“Sentai!” Debuu barked. “This is a serious issue: your first mission!”

Lu and Jin's irony in check, he continued. Marcel was all ears, straight as an arrow. Inês was quietly attentive, though she didn't feel justified in joining the conversation.

“As I was saying: the village boy will take you to the house of a man who's been acting in erratic ways. I suspect he's been possessed by a tanuki.”

There was a moment of quietude were the group confronted what they'd just learned.

“Is their anything in particular we should know about this kind of creature?” asked Marcel.

“Tanuki are tricksters who like to play with people; beware their games.” Debuu said simply. And he sent them on their way.

At the ryokan's entrance, a young boy was waiting for them. He seemed to be elementary school-aged and had a jovial disposition. When Inês saw him, she recognized the barefoot boy who had led her to the shrine a couple days earlier. He was still wearing a mino and a kasa, which gave him a freakish silhouette.

“It's you again!” she exclaimed. “I was never able to thank you or ask for your name.”

The boy smiled at her and, with the same swiftness she remembered, he was on the move.

“Let's try to keep up, Inês!” said Marcel as he passed her to follow behind him, Jin in tow.

She bristled. Lu grabbed her hand. “Our first mission! Come on!”

They scrambled to sustain the boy's pace through the forest, leaping over ancient roots and sprinting on downward slopes. Soon, they found themselves on mountainous ground. It wasn't exotic exactly; mostly it was more of the same, but with harder terrain. Up there, the snow was falling, slow and steady. They had lost sight of the boy at the turn of the trail.

“Let's keep going.” said Marcel. “He could've only gone forward.”

“Wait a second.” Inês objected. “There's no village here. Don't you think it's weird that he brought us to this place? This isolated place?”

“He's a kid. Maybe he just got distracted, or wanted to play on his way home.”

“I don't think he would do that. The last time he brought me straight to the shrine.”

Marcel rolled his eyes. He had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot.

“Look, I understand you may be a little nervous because you don't have powers, and perhaps you're scared to continue..”

“That's not at all what this is about!” she protested.

“Guys!” Lu pleaded.

“It's totally understandable!” Marcel kept going. “No one will fault you for staying behind where it's safe.”

Jin didn't speak up, but his looks betrayed his thoughts. The group continued forward, Inês a few steps back. At the end of the path, they found the entry to a dark cave. Inês held Lu's hand and whispered in her ear: “Maybe you should transform now. I don't think it's safe.”

“I was gonna say that!” Marcel interjected loudly.

He took the netsuke, which was hanging around his neck by a chain and held it forward. Jin and Lu did likewise as Inês spectated.

“Power of purification: PurePure, let the light come forth!” they said in unison.

The three charms levitated with a powerful gleam. Marcel's rabbit on a crescent moon turned to look at him, Jin's howling wolf bit his hand, and Lu's three-tailed fox flared to life. Each netsuke dissolved into glowing mist in the left hand of its bearer: indigo for Marcel, green for Jin, and red-orange for Lu. Streaming up the veins in their arms, they only stopped once they reached their hearts, where they burrowed.

“Reveal, truth of the moon.” summoned Marcel.

A full, silver moon reflected behind the young man; it seemed to send its light shining in every direction as if an invisible river was flowing underneath him. His humble yukata and haori vanished. With a breeze, a flowing, noble sokutai enveloped him. It was in shades of deep blue and pearl grey, which made his brown hair and electroplated eyes stand out. With every movement, his sleeves rippled like water and glimmered with starlight. Sound had been suspended in that instant: Inês could only hear wind chimes and trickling. A mirror fan, in equal parts delicate and strong appeared in his hands.

“Dream Child of the Mirror Rabbit.” he stated.

“O forest, lend me your strength.” summoned Jin.

Hidden in the sudden, viridescent mist behind him, the gargantuan silhouette of a wolf howled. Jin's clothes came undone in the wind, replaced with a black and forest-green kamishimo. The broad shoulders gave him more stature and even further presence than he typically had. In front of him, a long staff emerged, carved with words that Inês couldn't read; on one hand, it had a formidable blade, curved many times over to deter even the most foolhardy souls. Jin grabbed it and whirled it around with dexterity. As he moved, his outline had a virile, animalistic quality to it.

“Guardian Warrior of the Mountain Wolf .” he stated.

“Ignite, fire of my heart.” summoned Lu.

There was a burst of flames; in the shape of fox tails, they consumed the air around them. Like the sun setting on her, a blood-red shadow took Lu's day clothes away and replaced them with a crimson suikan. Short hakama on her legs would allow her to jump and twirl like she loved to do. To Inês, her transformation felt like a party: there was light, distant laughter, and drum beats. As she heard them, two drum mallets appeared. When Lu grasped them, sparks flew into waves.

“Sun-Daughter of the Fire Fox.” she stated.

The three of them looked like a noble trio from a Japanese historical drama dealing with court intrigue. They all seemed so mature and strong. Next to them, Inês suddenly felt like a puny pauperess; she had never wanted to go home more than in that instant. Then, Lu looked at her, beaming.

“Shining Hearts Sentai PurePure!” declared Marcel.

“So, what now?” asked Jin.

“We go in.” said Marcel.

And in they went. The cave was dark, but Lu lit the way. There wasn't much to look at in the narrow space. Mostly, there were rocks and leaves; also, dirt. They found a straw hat and an empty sake flask, but Marcel let them know that probably didn't have anything to do with the boy. Inês had a really strange feeling, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it. And even if she'd been able to, what difference would it have made? She wasn't a sentai. Not really.

Marcel and Jin, one of Lu's mallets in hand, were a few steps ahead.

“I wonder how long it's been since we left the ryokan.” she wondered in a half-voice.

“Hm. I'm not sure, but the clock said it was half past noon.” Lu answered.

“Oh. Wait… What clock?”

“The one we just passed. Over there, look.”

She pointed to a section of the wall. Sure enough, nestled between protruding rocks, there was a white clock ticking. It looked like one of those Art Deco novelty clocks with the cat face and tail. They moved and the eyes followed them, but not with the ticking of the seconds; instead, they were focused on the groups' movements.

“Lu, don't you think this clock is weird?” Inês asked.

“I mean, it looks like the ones you see in American shows and movies.”

“Yes, from the USA in the twentieth century. Not Sengoku Japan!” she replied. “Guys! Over here, look!”

The boys turned back in haste. The clock, a sly smile on its face, kept its gaze on them. Marcel deployed his fan and went over the clock with it. The illusion broke. With a plop and a giggle, the fat tanuki fell to the ground.

“Nice one!” said Jin.

But the ball of fur wasn't done yet. Joining his hands (and there was no mistaking he was a he) he blew into them and grew a balloon tanuki. First, a yellow one, then a blue one, then a red one. They were all animated, moving slowly toward each sentai. Inês felt a pinch in her heart that he didn't think it necessary to hinder her. The incommodious space wasn't fit for a three on three battle. Ducking under the chaos, the tanuki fled, but Inês kept on his fluffy tail. The cavern was dark, so she could only go by his giggles and swift paw sounds. As she ran behind him, it all made sense: indeed, tanuki were shapehifters. He had taken the form of the village boy and led them to his cave to play a trick on them. Now, she remembered: tanuki were known to wear straw hats and carry sake flasks. They also used lotus leaves to aid in their transformations!

There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Inês saw the tanuki's plump shadow against the sun and she followed it out. She could hear faintly the tumult of the fight behind her. Outside, the air was frigid and the snow was still. She looked down. Little footsteps, like those of a dog, linked to a conspicuous tree. Short and bleached, it wasn't like any tree she'd ever seen before. When she got to it, she touched it with a soft hand and found that it was fluffy; the tree shimmied with delight like a happy pup. She sat down under it.

“Why did you go through all this trouble?” she asked. “You didn't hurt us or anything. Have you been feeling lonely? You know, I've been feeling a bit lonely myself.”

There was a beat. Then, she heard a plop.

“But just because we're lonely doesn't mean we can go around bothering others.” she continued. “People aren't playthings for our own amusement. Possessing, tricking… that's not acceptable behavior.”

The tanuki pushed his white head against Inês' hand. She petted him. He laid his chin on her knees. He seemed like a cross between a dog and a racoon, but his fur was as white as snow. His eyes were soft and understanding. They looked up at Inês like they were trying to tell her something.

“Even if you're cute.”

She hugged him tightly. In that moment, she thought of home.