Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 38 – It’s not a Gift, It’s A Bribe

When I finally managed to calm down a little, I found myself standing just in front of one of the easels. On it, there was a painting of a street I didn’t recognise at night, with all of the houses and other buildings having light spewing out of their windows. But, at the centre of it all, there was the silhouette of a single person.

Just a single person painted in all-black right in the middle of what would otherwise be a fairly typical painting.

That person being there made the whole thing a little bit eerie, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if I was that person.

Nobody would chase me anymore…

I wouldn’t have to hide…

…

But…

No, what are you doing?

I turned away from the painting and looked back to see what Raynelle was doing, but she was simply talking with the old man. But then, in the middle of their conversation, the old man abruptly looked over at me, causing me to run behind one of the shelves to hide.

On the shelf I hid behind, there were little wooden sculptures. Surprisingly there were no two that were exactly alike; some were of birds, others were of squirrels and other small animals, but right at the end of the shelf, there was something that caught my attention.

It was a whole castle that had somehow been carved out of a single log. But the castle looked to be falling apart, with holes covering the walls and entire roofs missing from some of the towers, and one of the towers was completely missing. It was clearly an intentional design with how much attention was put into each little detail, which was especially evident when looking at the broken bricks and how each individual crack had been carved into them.

Standing just in front of the castle walls was a single man, with long flowing hair and his sword raised up to the sky.

Who is that?

…

I turned to face the shelf just behind me and saw a glass sculpture of the same man, though it was much bigger. However, what drew my attention this time was the man’s coat. It was simple, probably made from leather, with the sleeves rolled up to just above the elbows and the hem ending just above the hips.

…

What would Ovia look like in that?

…

For some reason, it was the only thought on my mind as I looked at the sculpture. The imaginary images just continued to flood my mind. So again, I had to pull myself away from it and move on to the next shelf.

This one was instead covered in small accessories, from embroidered handkerchiefs to surprisingly elaborate earrings.

…

I do want to get a gift for her…

She’s already given me so much…

…

But… I don’t have any money…

…

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I decided to continue walking through the store until I ended up at some more easels, just like the first; each had an incredible painting displayed on it, except for the last one. Instead, all it had was a faint sketch on an otherwise blank canvas.

As I got closer to the sketch and started to make out the details, my heart immediately sank. It would have been impossible for me not to recognise that view.

…

There was an extravagant boutique, a small bakery, a jeweller, a tailor and many other storefronts that had already been burned into my mind.

…

No! I-I…

“I-I don’t want to go back…” The words just slipped out of my mouth.

For some reason that I couldn’t understand, I instinctively looked over at Raynelle. As soon as I did, her eyes met mine, and she immediately came over.

“Hey, what’s going on?” She asked, crouching down in front of me before looking up at the sketch I had just seen. She paused for a short moment before clicking her tongue, “If you want to leave, we can, okay?”

“Did something happen?” The old man walked up behind Raynelle.

I shook my head.

“That’s good. You gave me a little scare. I don’t want to be known as a mean old man after all,” He looked up at the sketch I was standing in front of, “Oh, you ended up here. This is what I was working on just before you came in, so it wasn’t quite ready for you to look at. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed… Although it probably isn’t the sort of thing a child like you should be interested in anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Raynelle asked, looking back at the sketch.

“Well, you see, I heard this story about a young child, probably no older than the little one here.” The old man reached out to pat my head, but I pulled away before he could, “Poor thing was stuck out on those streets all alone… I probably shouldn’t go into the rest… it’s not a happy story.”

Raynelle turned her attention to me but didn’t say anything.

“The last I heard was that nobody could find that child anymore.” The old man’s expression darkened a little, “It’s hard to say if that’s a good thing or not… but all an old man like me can really do is hope for the best.”

We all stayed completely silent for a few seconds, at least until the old man spoke up again, with his smile now having returned.

“That’s enough doom and gloom for one day. Now, did you manage to go and find your favourite thing in this store?”

…

I shook my head.

“Hmm, that makes things a little difficult… for a nice girl like you, I was planning to let you take whatever you picked home.”

Why?

…

Why do so many people want to give things away?

Especially if you’re a store owner…

Don’t you want money?

Isn’t that the point of running a store?

…

I was about to decline the man’s offer, but before I could, Raynelle stood up and said, “I’m sorry, but she’s not the best when it comes to accepting gifts.”

“Is that so?…” He paused for a second, “But when did I say it was a gift?”

What do you mean?

What else would it be?

“No, no, I’m running a business here. What I’m giving you is a bribe,” He leaned forward, “It’s to make you want to come back and buy even more from me later.”

…

That… makes sense…

…

And… I did want to get a gift for Ovia…

…

After some careful deliberation, I nodded.

If I just don’t come back here,…

Then there’s no problem.

…

H-he’s the one who decided to take that risk.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” The old man pointed back over his shoulder, “Get back in there and pick something out.”

I immediately ran back amongst all the shelves to try and pick something out.

I know he said I could pick anything…

But…

…

I shouldn’t pick anything expensive…

Just to be safe.

The shelf that seemed to be the best choice was the one filled with small accessories that I only briefly looked at, so that’s where I went first.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the section filled with jewellery, but I quickly moved on from that as I knew it would be too expensive for the man to just give away. The next section had the embroidered handkerchiefs I had noticed before, as well as a few different ascots, but nothing jumped out to me. Apart from the few with animals or plants on them, the rest of them just had various crests and symbols on them that I didn’t recognise.

It needs to be something that would make her think of me.

Just like Umbra makes me think of her…

The last section of the shelf was filled with what could only be called odds and ends. Nothing special; there were a few simple bracelets, a wooden paperweight shaped like a boat, and a few quills dyed in various colours, but nothing was quite right.

At least, that’s what I thought until I looked right at the back of the shelf, hidden behind all the other things on display. There was a simple hair clip; the only thing that was even a little special about it was its colour; it was pure white, just like my hair and tail.

I didn’t even have to think about it. I picked up the hair clip and headed back to the old man.

“Have you decided already?” He asked me, “You can take some more time if you need it.”

I responded by simply holding out the hair clip.

“Hmm, let’s see what you’ve found,” He picked up the hair clip and looked it over, “Hmm… I didn’t realise I had left one of these out.”

What is that supposed to mean?

Did I choose the wrong thing?

Did I make a mistake?

“You see, this hair clip hasn’t been finished, or really even started, yet. It’s just a blank hair clip I must have forgotten about at some point.”

But…

It’s what I want to give her…

I…

“But who am I to question you? I said you could pick anything, and that’s exactly what you did,” He walked over to one of the shelves with art supplies on it, “But even then, this is supposed to be a bribe, so I really should try and put my best foot forward.”

He grabbed a set of coloured pencils, a few paints and some other things I didn’t recognise before wrapping them up in some paper and bringing them over to me.

“Since I’ve been told you’re pretty good at drawing, this might actually be more fun for you to do yourself,” He said, handing me the package he had put together, “And I think it makes for a good bribe, don’t you think?”

“…” I looked down at the package for a while, trying to decide if accepting it was really the correct choice.

He’s giving me a lot…

But it’s a bribe… It’s supposed to be a lot.

…

He is the one who added the extra things… not me…

So… it’s fine… right?

…

I tucked the package under my cloak, where Umbra could just slightly poke their head out and take the package into my shadow without being seen.

“Thanks for all this,” Raynelle lifted me up, “Though I must admit, I don’t really understand what you did. Even just this morning she was humming and hawing about accepting a gift from me.”

“Well, when you run a shop for long enough, you get better at this sort of thing,” He laughed to himself.

“Well, then I might have to come back and get some advice.”

“Ahh…. It’ll cost you.”

This time, Raynelle was the one who was laughing, “I guess you really do know what you’re doing.”

The two of them continued talking for a while after that, but I didn’t pay much attention. Instead, I was busy thinking about all the different things I could put on that hair clip, although I ultimately wasn’t able to decide on anything.

“Again, Thank you for doing this,” Raynelle said.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” The old man turned to me, “If anything, I think I’ve got a good idea for my next painting.”

“Then we’ll leave you to it, right Kierra?”

I buried my head in her shoulder so I didn’t have to say anything.

“I’ll just take that as a yes. I don’t want to leave Ava alone for too long after all,” She looked back up at the old man, “Bye for now, though I’ll definitely be back soon.”

As we made our way out of the store, all that could be heard was a hearty chuckle from the old man.