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Tatarime’s Mischief
By Vivian Liu
Tatarime snuck over to the closest grave he could find and took out his star jewel. It began to glow brightly as Tatarime tapped into its powers, the wind jewel’s presence in the Kitsune world enhancing. A portal began to form, and in mere seconds, the portal expanded into a glowing spiral, illuminating the shadow of night surrounding him.
“Hopefully The Lady will forgive me for using the portal for this,” Tatarime said to himself. He took one last look at the sleeping group in the distance, and then turned to face the portal.
Soon, Tatarime arrived in the middle of an empty street. Townhouses lined the sidewalks and stood over him. Street lights hung over the road and illuminated patches of the sidewalk.
“Wow,” Tatarime said. “Humans sure have nice houses, but they’re villages are so dirty.”
Tatarime sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Catching a scent, he followed it until he stood in front of one house.
“This is the one,” Tatarime said, grinning.
In front of Tatarime stood Mirru’s house. He had not finished looking around Mirru’s stuff before when she left him in her room, and Tatarime was planning on finishing what he started. If Mirru’s world had such wonderful things such as cards, he could hardly wait to see what else was in Mirru’s house.
Tatarime marched forward triumphantly only to trip on something and hit the sidewalk face first.
“Ow!” Tatarime said. He sat up and rubbed his sore face. Turning around, he looked down at the culprit: a long piece of curved white rock.
“So that’s a curb,” Tatarime said with disdain. “No wonder Ryu hates it.”
Tatarime stepped carefully over the curb, scowling at it as he stepped over. Taking out his star jewel, he disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke and emerged as a tiny fruit fly. He flew up to the second floor and looked for an entrance.
“Aha!” Tatarime said as he found an open window. He buzzed into the room and landed on the floor. Another cloud of smoke emerged as Tatarime changed back into his human form, dissipating in a couple of seconds.
Tatarime knew the room just by the smell of it. The room was smothered in Mirru’s scent, from the floor to the furniture. Rubbing his hands together and grinning, Tatarime walked over to the dresser where he first discovered cards.
Tatarime scanned the top of the dresser, the mirror on top reflecting the contents. No cards lay on the dresser this time. Disappointed, Tatarime opened one of the drawers and pulled out the first thing he could find: a bra.
“What is this?” he asked himself as he examined it carefully, turning it around on all sides and sniffing it. After poking it several times, Tatarime smiled.
“I think this is a piece of clothing!” Tatarime said. “But I wonder how Mirru wears it.”
Tatarime lifted his leg and put it through one of the bra straps. Holding onto the dresser and jumping up and down, he managed to put his other leg through the other strap. He gripped the bra and pulled it up his legs until he could no more. Finished, he turned around and looked in the mirror above the dresser, the two cups covering his butt.
“So that’s how Mirru makes her butt look so big,” Tatarime said. “She must wear it under those clothes she always has on. Now all I need to do is find Mirru’s clothes so I can wear this properly!”
Tatarime pulled out some of the other drawers in the dresser. After going through all the drawers, he pulled the bottom one. Inside it laid stack upon stack of hot pink clothing.
“Awesome!” Tatarime said. “This is even better than the clothes Mirru always wears. I wonder why she doesn’t wear this instead.”
Tatarime pulled out a pink skirt with faux fur edging. Without taking off his pants, he pulled it up his legs and looked into the mirror. A wide grin spread over his face.
“I’ve so got this!” Tatarime said, beaming and posing to the mirror. “I wonder what else Mirru has in her house”
Tatarime turned around and walked to the door. He swung the door open and looked down the hallway, completely entrenched in shadows. Tatarime could not discern anything. He closed the door and held up his hand, palm facing upward.
“Kitsune bi,” he whispered. A small blue flame illuminated the hallway, casting shadows on the picture frames hanging on the wall. Curious, Tatarime moved his other hand in front of the fire. He put his thumb with his middle and ring finger and stuck his index finger and pinky up.
“Ha ha!” he chuckled. “Look, a fox!” He moved his fingers up and down to make the fox appear to be barking. Tatarime laughed in amusement, moving his fingers to create new shapes and shadows. When he was finished, he lowered the fire, a tall figure with face with red eyes suddenly appeared before him.
“Ah!” Tatarime screamed before the figure covered his mouth.
“It’s just me,” he said. He removed his hand from Tatarime’s mouth.
“Oh, it’s just you, Uragiru” Tatarime said. “What are you doing here?”
“Keep your voice down!” Uragiru said. “Mirru’s parents are asleep. What are you doing here, and why are you wearing a skirt?”
“Is that what it’s called?” Tatarime said, looking down at the hot pink skirt around his waist. Uragiru glared at Tatarime.
“We shouldn’t be here,” Uragiru said.
“I know!” Tatarime said, clenching his hands in fists and waving his arms in front of him. “Isn’t it exiting?”
“…No.”
“You’re no fun,” Tatarime commented, crossing his arms in disappointment. “Wait, where’s the kit? Did you hurt her?”
“Calm down,” Uragiru said. “She’s with me.” Tatarime looked down at Uragiru’s coat and noticed something squirming inside of it. The kit popped its head out of the pocket and looked up at Tatarime. Twitching its nose, she turned to look up at Uragiru and smiled. Uragiru pet the kit’s head and pushed her gently back into the pocket.
“We need to leave,” Uragiru said, turning to face Tatarime.
“Why?” Tatarime said. Before Uragiru had time to respond, Tatarime walked past him. Uragiru grabbed his shoulder.
“Tatarime,” he said in a threatening tone.
“Oh, come on!” Tatarime said. “Don’t you ever have fun?” Uragiru hesitated, thrown into a memory from a long time ago: Happy Fun Park.

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“Teddy!” Uragiru gasped, finally finding the only thing he wanted to do in Happy Fun Park. He ran over, pushing several people aside as he cleared a path towards the pink teddy bear.
“Oh please oh please can I take a picture with you?” Uragiru said, jumping up and down.
“Hyuk hyuk! Okie-dokie, artichokie!” Teddy said, patting Uragiru’s head. “You just come over here and Teddy will give you a big hug.”
“Hold on a second, Teddy!” Uragiru said. He ran up to a random civilian.
“Can you take a picture with me and Teddy?” Uragiru said, shoving a disposable camera in his hand. “Pretty please, with a thousand cherries on top?” The person took a long look at the adult standing before him, from the ratty trench coat to the fox ears on top to the grinning face with red eyes.
“Oookay,” the person said, thoroughly creeped out. Uragiru squealed and ran over to Teddy. Teddy put his left arm around Uragiru’s shoulder and raised his other arm. Uragiru smiled, trying to look cool in the most ridiculous situation and held the peace sign up with his right hand.
“3 2 1 Cheese!” Uragiru yelled.

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“No,” Uragiru responded. “No fun.” By the time Uragiru came to consciousness, the kitsunes were on the first floor, in a shiny room with white tile, stove, and a refrigerator. In the center of the room hung a pot rack.
“What are we doing in the kitchen?” Uragiru said.
“Cooking!” Tatarime said. “Want some?”
“Tatarime, you’re cooking would kill an entire clan,” Uragiru said.
“Aw, come on!” Tatarime said. “Try some, and while you’re waiting, go ahead and read this book or something.” Tatarime tossed a thick volume towards Uragiru. Uragiru caught the back cover and some pages, resulting in the rest of the pages to spill open.
“Hey!” Uragiru said. “Be careful how you treat books!”
“Relax,” Tatarime said. He leaned against the counter and hit the on-button of a fan. It started to blow a cool breeze behind him.
“Oh, that feels good!” Tatarime said. “Where is that breeze coming from?” Uragiru was no longer paying attention to Tatarime and was looking inside the book.
“123x3 +456x2 + 789x = 987,654,321?” Uragiru said. “Tatarime, what kind of book did you give me?”
“What?” Tatarime said, having zoned out. His ponytail gravitated towards the fan, getting sucked into the cage and caught between the blades.
“Ah!” Tatarime yelled, feeling the pull of the fan winding around his hair. The fan wound completely around Tatarime’s ponytail and stuck right next to his head, jammed. Tatarime pulled at the contraption, but it did not move from his head. He pounded it several times.
“Uragiru, help me!” Tatarime yelled. While trying to free himself from the fan, Tatarime crashed into the pot rack. While trying to loosen the fan, he unintentionally grabbed a pot and pulled down on it, loosening a screw on the structure holding it up. The whole rack came crashing down on top of Tatarime.
“Why should I?” Uragiru said, enjoying the sight of Tatarime buried beneath the pots. Suddenly they heard a nose upstairs. They both froze.
“Mirru’s parents are awake! Uragiru hissed. “We need to go!”
“I would if someone would help me get this thing out of my hair!” Tatarime yelled. Reluctant, Uragiru looked around the kitchen and spotted a wooden knife rack. He ran over and grabbed a handful. He hastily returned to Tatarime with several knives, hurried by the sound of footsteps upstairs.
“What are you doing?” Tatarime said. “Did you forget your knife collection back home?”
“The kitsune realm is not my home,” Uragiru said. “I had to take my knives out or I couldn’t put the kit in my pocket.” Uragiru brandished a meat cleaver in front of Tatarime.
“You know,” Tatarime said. “You’re pretty scary when you do that.” Uragiru lowered the knife behind Tatarime’s head, aiming. Tatarime panicked.
“Not the hair!” Tatarime yelled. “Kill the fan!”
Uragiru brought the knife down. Tatarime tried to move forward with the bulky device attached to his head. Unfortunately for Uragiru but fortunately for Tatarime, the knife jammed the fan blades further instead of chopping off Tatarime’s hair. Uragiru snorted in disgust and plunged the rest of the knives into random locations of the fan, stopping it from spinning.
“Don’t you know how to turn it off?” Tatarime said.
“I prefer using knives,” Uragiru said. “However, I think I know how to free you from this.” Uragiru ran to the nearest door and swung it open. He ran through it and closed it behind him, disappearing from sight.
“Uragiru, you traitor!” Tatarime said. “I would so kill you if my hair weren’t stuck in this infernal contraption!”
“Oh my gosh!” a voice said. Tatarime turned to see Mirru’s parents standing in a doorway. Mirru’s mother looked like she was about to faint, while Mirru’s father looked angry.
“My kitchen,” Mirru’s mother said, her legs shaking.
“You’re going to wish you hadn’t broken into my house, little girl” Mirru’s dad said, cracking his knuckles.
“I’m not a girl,” Tatarime said. He tried to stand up in order to fight Mirru’s parents, wobbling. Unable to stand with the weight of the fan attached to his head, he fell back down and landed in the pots. Mirru’s father walked slowly towards Tatarime, cracking the knuckles on his other hand.
“Dang it,” Tatarime said. “Uragiru, where are you?”
A loud roaring noise came from the door. Mirru’s father stopped his advance and paused to look at the door. Suddenly, a rotating blade cut through the door. Mirru’s mother screamed while Mirru’s father fell on the floor in surprise. The door fell down in a pile of sawdust, revealing Uragiru with his latest weapon. Mirru’s parents bolted.
“Holy Inari!” Tatarime yelled. “What in nine tails is that?”
“Tatarime!” Uragiru yelled, ignoring Tatarime. “Come closer!”
“Heck no!” Tatarime said, backing away from Uragiru.
“Stop moving!” Uragiru demanded, the blades of the chain saw whirling.
“Stay away from me!” Tatarime screamed, grabbing the fan with several knives pinned into it and swinging it in front of him.
“Kitsune bi!” Tatarime yelled.
The fan burst into giant flames. Uragiru dropped the chain saw in surprise, breaking the fuel tank and leaking gas all over the kitchen floor. The fan crumbled in the fire and released Tatarime’s hair, unsinged by the fire. Tatarime threw the fan away in relief and took a deep breath.
“Okay,” Tatarime said. “We can go now.
Uragiru looked down at the floor. His expression changed to one of horror as he realized he had broken the chainsaw. The gasoline crept out of the tank and towards the flaming fan. Realizing the deadly combination, Uragiru looked at Tatarime.
“We have to get out of here now!” Uragiru yelled. He ran over to Tatarime and grabbed his arm.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Tatarime said. “Let go of me! I demand a lawyer!”
“You don’t even know what a lawyer is!” Uragiru yelled, throwing Tatarime through the portal. He quickly jumped in the portal right after.
Uragiru and Tatarime tumbled on the ground in the kitsune world, a giant explosion behind them. Pieces of wooden debris and scorched pots flew through the portal. After leaking some smoke, the portal closed.
“Wow,” Tatarime said, coughing from the smoke. “I can’t believe we blew up Mirru’s house.”
“You blew up Mirru’s house,” Uragiru corrected, coughing as well.
“Whatever,” Tatarime said. “I hope Mirru’s not mad at us.”
“And why would I be mad at you guys?” a voice said behind them. They turned around to see Mirru staring at them sternly.
“Mirru!” Tatarime said, his ears folded back in fear. “What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for the kit, but I guess I found you two instead,” Mirru said. When she looked down at the skirt Tatarime was wearing, her expression changed. “Is that…are you wearing my clothes?”
“Yes!” Tatarime said. “The skirt is very comfortable, but I have a question. Did I put this on right?” Tatarime lifted the skirt to reveal the bra underneath. Mirru blushed in embarrassment and Uragiru hit his palm against his head.
“Why are you wearing my bra like that?” Mirru yelled, still blushing.
“So I’m not wearing it right?” Tatarime said. Mirru clenched her fists, trembling in anger, and was about to beat up Tatarime when the kit popped her head up from Uragiru’s pocket. Mirru stopped her rage to look at the kit.
“Uragiru, you have the kit?” Mirru said, confused. “That means you brought her there while you were trying to cause trouble with Tatarime?”
“Well, actually we didn’t cause too much trouble,” Tatarime said. “Although you can say you don’t have a home anymore.”
“What?” Mirru said.
“He burned your house down,” Uragiru clarified.
“Don’t you me we?” Tatarime asked.
“No,” Uragiru replied.
“You two burned my house down and you took the kit with you?” Mirru yelled. Tatarime shrank in fear while Uragiru remained nonchalant. She curled her fists and was about to beat both of them up, but stopped.
“Are my parent’s still alive?” Mirru said. Mirru asked.
“Probably,” Tatarime said. “They ran away when Uragiru pulled out a really loud spinning sword.”
Mirru became silent, meditating upon the news. Tatarime and Uragiru remained silent as well, waiting for Mirru to talk. After some time, she then looked up and pointed at the two kitsunes.
“Hey, guys. Next time you ruin my parents’ lives, bring me with you.”

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