Side Story: Human Child (Kenji’s Perspective)

 I’m not sure how old I was when I realized my family was different. I knew by the time I was three that it was unusual to have a mother who came home in November and left in March. I wished she was home all-year round. When Mom was home, everything was about me. Dad had work, and at the time, so did Grandpa. I would spend time with Grandma, but she was no fun. No toys to play with. No story time. She never got me snacks, and the only things Grandma watched on TV were the news and a detective drama. Both were boring.

When Mom was home, it was a different story. We would play games, and she would tell me fanatic stories: some from her head, and some from books. Mom would bring home toys and candy. Not to mention Mom let me watch anything I wanted on TV. At the time my favorite shows were Marshmallow Man, MechaBusters, and Together with Friends. When I told Mom that Grandma didn’t let me watch those shows, she seemed shocked.

“Why not?” Mom asked.

“She only wants to watch the news and Kai’s Case Files,” I said.

“Do any of these shows air at the same time as Kai’s Case Files?”

“I don’t know.” I was three; I couldn’t tell time yet.

Things changed when Mom became pregnant with Hana. She didn’t want to play with me as much, but at least she still told me stories. Dad would sometimes come home from work early to check on us. Grandma and Grandpa bought children’s books and toys. Grandma of all people.

This was the one time Mom stayed with us a little longer than usual. (Well, according to Mom, Dad, and Grandpa, she stayed home longer when she was pregnant with me too.) Dad filled our bath with ice, so Mom would have a comfortable place to be. Eventually, Mom announced that she was returning to the spirit realm. Since my future sibling was still inside her, the baby naturally got to go with her.

“No fair!!” I shouted. “The baby gets to go with you Mom!”

“You were born in the snow village too,” she Mom. “I can’t stay in the human realm, but don’t worry, we’ll be back as usual.”

“Why haven’t you taken me to the snow village since then?”

“Because I can’t.”

“Humans can’t enter the spirit realm,” explained Dad.

“That is not the issue,” said Mom. “Children can enter the spirit realm, and Kenji is definitely young enough. It’s just that it’s dangerous. There are yōkai who are willing to eat humans. Some even love the taste, and the yōkai that don’t eat or harm humans, will call you ‘Human Child’ as if it were your name. If you stay within the snow village, you must remember that it’s cold. Yuki-onna, yuki warashi, yukibo, and yuki-otōko live there because our bodies are designed for that cold. Humans aren’t. Even some yōkai can’t handle it. If you’re lucky, you might find an outsider who keeps a fire or other heat source, but they are usually travelers. Some are more friendly than others, but you must remember even those who don’t see you as food will call you ‘Human Child.’”

“Why can’t I stay with you? You’ll protect me.”

“It will be cold, and by cold, I mean freezing temperatures that will literally kill you.”

“But you said I was born there. The freezing temper-whatever didn’t kill me then.”

Mom looked at Dad. “Keep him warm and safe,” said Dad.

Mom sighed, “Fine I’ll take you, too.” She seemed displeased for some reason.

We arrived at the snow village. Haru, a shape-shifting fox who took care of Mom while she was pregnant, came with us. The snow village was different then I excepted. It was cold like Mom said, but it was also boring. There was no TV in the snow village! There wasn’t even electricity or a bathroom. My best friend became a lantern named Bu. Bu would tease me. He liked to blow out his own flame at inconvenient times. Sometimes I would play with the yuki warashi and yukibo, but since they could withstand colder temperatures than I could, we didn’t play long. They never asked for my name; I was just the human child. I didn’t think anyone would actually try to eat me. However, when a nure-onna came to the village, I realized how serious of a warning that was. She was a vicious, and she was hungry.

“What do we have here,” she said wrapping her snake-like body around me. “A human.” She lowered her human-like head towards me and gave me a lick with her forked tongue. “I haven’t tasted human in so long. Even a child would do.” Before she could bite me with her sharp teeth, Bu flung himself at her.

“Stay away from the human child,” Bu said.

“I was just having a little fun,” said the nure-onna. “Besides, what does a chōchin-obake want with a human? If you’re going to steal someone’s prey, at least—”

Bu interrupted her, “I’ll have you know I am an okuri chōchin! There’s a difference. Now, what’s a nure-onna doing in a snow village? I thought you guys didn’t like the cold.”

“I followed the scent of prey. You know how rare it is to find a such a tasty specimen? And I smell two here. Now give me the child. If you don’t let me have him, I’ll take the baby instead. How does that sound?”

“The child is yours,” Bu said, and floated away. I was shocked that the lantern betrayed me, but that shock was quickly replaced with fear as the nure-onna wrapped her body more tightly around me.

“Now,” she said. “I was going to eat you alive, but now that I don’t have to worry about interruptions, I’ll eat you the fun way.” Her body wrapped around me more tightly, and I passed out. When I regained consciousness I was inside. Haru was her in fox form, and was trying to keep me warm with her body heat. She had patches of blood on her. Bu was floating back and forth above us, and Mom was sitting above next to Haru and me while holding Hana tightly. I started to cry. Mom handed Hana to Haru and hugged me tightly.

“Bu left me with…” I began. “That…that…thing.”

“There’s only so much a lantern can do!” exclaimed Bu.

“He came to get Haru and I,” Mom said rather flatly. She turned to Haru. “Take Kenji and Hana back to the human realm.”

“I can’t do that, Yuko,” Haru said. “Hana’s still needs your milk, and you should at least give Kenji some time to recover from—”

“He’s recovered enough! And Hana’s milk doesn’t need to come from me anyway. It was a mistake taking either of them here.”

Haru transformed into her human form and took Hana and I to the human realm. It was clear she suffered some injury. She took care of us until she and I recovered. (Her physically, me emotionally.) Then she returned to the spirit realm. (Presumably to check on Mom.)

Mom did not return to the human realm that November. I first I thought maybe she was late, but when she didn’t come by spring I knew that she wasn’t coming that year. She came the following year though. I asked her why she didn’t come home the previous year, but she never gave me a direct answer.

I never told Hana about the experience. When I was little I thought she’d remember it herself, and as I got older, I had no reason to tell her. Well, at least not until we were fourteen and eleven receptively. On the day Mom decided to bring a dragon-boy from the spirit realm home with her, I wondered if I should tell Hana about the nure-onna. At first, I wondered if the dragon-boy knew. He would’ve alive at the time, but then again the spirit realm is a big place. It may be even bigger than the human realm. I knew the dragon-boy wasn’t dangerous like the nure-onna who attacked me when I was three. In fact, he was the opposite of her. I’m not sure why his presence made me think about that experience. It might simply be because I hadn’t known him since I was little, or it might be because Ryūsuke couldn’t hide the fact that he was a yōkai as well as Mom could. The way he asked things he asks like, “Do all humans know how to ski?” or that fact that he had actual conversations to stray cats in public!

I spoke to Mom about the nure-onna incident once. When I had the chance. It’s hard to get time alone with Mom, since Hana and Ryūsuke usually get home from school before me.

“You remember…when you…WhenYouTookMeToTheSnowVillege!?”

Mom sighed. “Yes, I remember. Now if your asking me to take you again, I’ll have you know that you and Hana are—”

“It’s not that,” I interrupted. I knew we were too old to enter the spirit realm.* “It’s just that…what’s keeping dangerous yōkai like the nure-onna who…um…tried to…” I couldn’t make myself say “tried to kill me,” so I changed my wording. “What’s keeping dangerous yōkai like her from entering the human realm?”

“Nothing.”

“Huh?”

“There’s nothing keeping dangerous yōkai from entering the human realm. If there was, neither you nor Hana would’ve been born.”

What was she saying? “You’re not dangerous, Mom. … Are you?”

“Not in the present,” Mom said with a smile.

I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh or be scared. In all honesty, the thought of my mother being potentially dangerous was just as haunting as the thought of the nure-onna being able to enter the human realm. I was so haunted by those thoughts that I couldn’t focus on my homework, nor did I notice Dad come home from work. I was still thinking about it at school the next day. My friend, Tadaka, must have noticed, because he approached me between first and second period. I was still sitting at my desk, staring at the board.

“Rejected by a girl?” Tadaka asked.

“Huh? Oh, no.”

“Fight with your little sis?”

“Like you would know anything about siblings,” I muttered. I little louder, I said, “No, we didn’t fight.”

“Then what’s up?”

I took a deep breath. “So, I’ve never told you, but my mom’s a yuki-onna. Despite this, Hana and I were born human. Not that that’s a problem. The boy that’s staying with us, uh, Ryūsuke, you see. I’ve never told you, but he’s a dragon in disguise. Not that I mind hosting a dragon, or anything. They are powerful and benevolent, after all. Anyway, when I was three I was attacked by a nure-onna, and ever since Mom brought Ryūsuke home, I wondered what kept my attacker in the spirit realm. I finally got a chance to ask Mom yesterday, and she not only told me that nothing prevented my attacker from entering the human realm, but she also hinted that she, herself, could be dangerous.”

Tadaka blinked twice, and then started laughing. “You tell the funniest jokes, Ken.”

“What makes you think I’m joking?” I said rather flatly.

Tadaka looked me over as if trying to decide if I were serious or not. Finally he said, “I think you play too many video games. Maybe you should take a break from them for a while…”

He continued to talk, but I stopped listening. Of course he didn’t believe me. Why would he? It’s not like I had any proof aside from the fact my mom’s gone half the year, and our family already has a cover story for that. Cover story: Mom works overseas as an anthropologist. Since she needs to be away to study other cultures, this results in her being gone half the year. Most people seem to accept this explanation (my classmates included).

Even though Tadaka didn’t believe me, he did make me feel better. It’s been eleven years since the nure-onna attacked me; she’s probably not going to come after me now.

*Human children seven and under can enter the spirit realm. This comes from the belief that children under seven partly belong to the gods.

Preview: The Adventures of Haru the Midwife

Yuko requested I stay with her for a few more days after her daughter, Hana, was born, so I did. Mostly for the sake of her and her newborn, but partly of the sake of her three-year-old son, Kenji. Kenji was mostly watched over by a chōchin-obake named Bu. He seemed a good caretaker for Kenji until that one evening. I was taking care of Yuko and Hana when Bu, in panic, flew inside. Catching his breath, he said, “Come…help…Kenji…trouble…follow me.”

I looked at Yuko, and she nodded singling that she and Hana will be fine for a little while without me. I transformed into my fox form and followed Bu. He was right; Kenji was in trouble. He was unconscious and being strangled by a nure-onna. I cursed myself for not keeping a better eye on him. If he stayed with me or Yuko this could have been avoided, but we had to leave him to Bu!

“Release the child!” I demanded. My fur rose upward, and foxfires appeared under my paws.

“Come to steal my prey?” asked the nure-onna. “Well, I have sad news for you; I found him first. Get your own prey.”

“He’s. Not. Prey.” I leaped at her, and so did Bu. She quickly knocked Bu aside with her left arm and tried to do the same to me with her right, but my teeth were already sinked deeply into her side.

She grabbed me with her hands scraping my chest sides with her long fingernails. “The weakling lantern bring you?”

“So what if he did?” I muttered, releasing my bite. I threw one of my foxfires at her and jumped away. I hit the nure-onna with some more foxfires, and she yowled in pain, letting go of Kenji. I pulled the unconscious Kenji and Bu away from the fight. The nure-onna charged at me, and I at her. I leaped, transformed into a giant rock, and crushed her. I quickly transformed back into a fox and fell to my side. I knew I had killed the nure-onna. I didn’t know how to feel; for the first time in my life I had killed someone. (Well, not including the rabbits and birds I’ve killed for food.) I forced myself to stand up. The nure-onna’s fingernails left some pretty significant wounds along my sides. I wondered how vicious I must look with the nure-onna’s blood on my mouth and forepaws and my own wounds along my sides.

I carried Kenji and Bu home. When Yuko saw us, she looked at Kenji, and said, “Is he alive? Is he alive? Please tell me he’s alive!”

I wanted to say, “I should hope so, I just committed my first fucking murder in order to save his little life,” but I didn’t. Instead I took a deep breath forcing myself to stay calm. “I believe so,” I said. I took care of Kenji while Yuko went on and on about how she knew it was a mistake to take a human child to the spirit realm.