Tall Tails

Chapter 4: Roots

Grey and Miyuki finished their meal together, both deciding to finish off the meal with a green tea ice cream cone to go, thanking the owners of the shop on their way out who gave a small bow and a smile. Both Grey and Miyuki agreed it was about time to head back home, it was already creeping into mid-afternoon and both of them had work to do. Miyuki in particular was eager to add her mental notes from the conversations earlier that day to her thesis notes, and Grey had notes to work in over the hardware he had checked on earlier as well.

"Thank you for lunch Grey, honestly, I feel like I learn so much every time I spend time with you, even if I don't understand a lot of it right away." Miyuki smiled, her tail wagging a bit. Grey offered her an earnest smile in return. "Hey, it's my pleasure, honestly, you're ahead of the curve so to speak. A lot of people don't understand this level of depth regarding geomancy and even other foxes seldom show interest in this side of their culture." Miyuki was shocked, here she'd thought this was just another case of her ignorance about her own culture making things difficult, apparently that wasn't the case. "Really? I...I don't understand." Miyuki furrowed her brow in confusion, her ears drooping as she continued. "This is all so interesting, I feel like I'm in a fairy tale or some old legend or story. How can anyone not show interest in this?" Grey chuckled and shook his head. "Boy, I wish everyone had your enthusiasm, if they did the temples wouldn't have the issues with funding or finding people to help with upkeep the way they do."

Grey's expression shifted as he seemed to remember something. "Speaking of, I've been thinking of your request, and I want to help you...learn about your culture, I mean." Miyuki's eyes widened and a look of gratitude spread across her face. "Grey, that means a lot to me, thank you, really." Grey shook his head, with a gentle smile on his face, "no, no worries at all. Honestly I wish more foxes were like you, most don't really seem to care about this side of things." Miyuki blushed under the unexpected praise and her snout lowered slightly in an effort to contain the small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Here she'd thought she was a dismal fox compared to everyone else and from what Grey was telling her, the exact opposite was true.

"I'm planning to visit another shrine tomorrow, they're busy preparing for one of the moon festivals which are a pretty big deal in fox culture. It would be a really great opportunity to ask questions as there are a lot of priests and elders around who would most likely love the inquiries. Are you interested in coming with me?" Miyuki's expression quickly shifted back to one of excitement and a wide grin spread across her face at the proposal, her ears twitching and her tail wagging quickly. "Are you kidding? Yes, of course! I'd love to!" Grey laughed softly at Miyuki's reaction. "I see I was right to think you'd be interested, in that case, meet me here tomorrow morning at 6am? Sorry for the early time but the shrine is on the other side of the city and traffic starts to get really heavy starting at 7am." Miyuki nodded excitedly, she was already mentally preparing questions to ask. "6am, got it! Don't you worry, I'll be here!"

The next morning, Miyuki pulled herself out of bed at 5am to get ready to go. To say she wasn't exactly a morning person was an understatement and she hadn't gotten hardly any sleep the night before out of excitement. Still, this was an opportunity she wasn't going to miss. With a yawn and a Shiver, Miyuki dragged herself into the kitchen to brew a cup of coffee. While waiting for her precious elixir to brew she took a shower, got dressed, and dried and brushed her fur. Miyuki had just enough time to eat a quick breakfast, and drink her coffee before dashing off to meet Grey. Miyuki did one final smooth of her skirt and fur before taking a deep breath and knocking on Grey's door.

Grey opened the door wearing a white button down t-shirt and a pair of khaki slacks. He was holding a large flat box which he handed to her to hold. "hold that for one second..." he then grabbed two paper coffee cups and placed them on top of the box before taking a moment to lock the door. "Here, trade you..." Grey juggled the box and two cups away from Miyuki for a moment, handing her one of the cups in the process. Miyuki looked at the cup for a moment quizzically and then realized he meant it for her and raised an eyebrow at him. "The way I see it, since I'm dragging you out here at the crack of dawn, the least I can do is buy you breakfast." Grey grinned and started walking towards the parking lot. Miyuki couldn't help but smile at the gesture, taking a quick sip of the coffee as she followed alongside Grey.