Ichiro's wish for Kumiko to become human again did not come true in the way he'd envisioned. Hours after falling asleep with her curled by his feet, he awoke to the feeling of a heavy weight upon his chest. Instinctively, he tried to peel the unwelcome object away from him and pulled at what he realized were silken strands of human hair.

He opened his eyes to see Kumiko lying with her face against his collarbone. All of a sudden, he didn't mind the discomfort and reached out to stroke the back of her head. She let out a soft murmur while continuing to sleep. The sound warmed Ichiro's heart and he contemplated if this was the kind of bliss that a married man might experience each morning. If so, then perhaps there was indeed something which linked the lowliest of people with the most powerful warlords.

Taking care not to disturb Kumiko's slumber, Ichiro planted a kiss on her forehead and enjoyed the warmth for a few more moments before the bedroom door slid open.

"Hey." The host and so-called innkeeper strode into the room with little consideration. "The night is over. It's time for you to-" He went silent and froze, which prompted Ichiro to remember smuggling Kumiko inside the previous night.

"I can explain!" Ichiro bolted upright, causing Kumiko to flop to the side of bed. "She... she's my..." He found himself unsure of what to say next and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I'm sorry..."

"Well, you should be." The innkeeper came to a stop and loomed over their barely concealed forms. "I don't know what trickery this is, but you've managed to sneak a woman in here without our knowledge. That's unforgivable."

Ichiro pulled the covers up to hide his neck as Kumiko stirred. She slowly rose with a groan and rubbed her eyes so that she could gaze at the innkeeper.

"Why, good morning," she mumbled while paying no heed to her own nakedness. "Do you like what you see?"

"Kumiko," Ichiro whispered in concern, for the innkeeper's attention had fallen upon her shapely form. He threw his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to protect her from the lustful eyes of another. "What are you saying? You're supposed to be mine..."

To Ichiro's horror, Kumiko shrugged away his touch and approached the flustered innkeeper with an enticing smile on her face. "If you want, I can make your most forbidden dreams come true. How does that sound?"

The innkeeper seemed partial to her proposition for a moment, but then swallowed and retreated from the room in disgust. "No! Stay away from me, foul temptress! I have a wife!"

The door slid shut immediately afterwards and Kumiko was left standing alone. She spun around on her graceful feet and crossed the room to reunite with Ichiro. He couldn't resist feasting his eyes on her body, even as she crouched down to retrieve her clothes from the foot of the bed.

"My apologies," Kumiko said, drawing Ichiro's gaze up to her face. "That was the best way I could make him leave. I hope you understand..."

"It's no trouble," Ichiro claimed out of courtesy despite fearing once more that he was unworthy. Either Kumiko was a master of pretense, or she really was insatiable enough to make an advance on any man in sight. "We should depart soon."

"Of course," Kumiko remarked with those ever so soft and tempting lips of hers. "But I'll need a bath first. It isn't pleasant to be on all fours."

Ichiro felt inclined to agree until he remembered that the act of bathing would mean her standing naked in front of the innkeeper again. That simply wouldn't do, so he sought to intervene in the best way he knew how.

"Let me join you. For protection."

"Oh, Ichiro..." Kumiko smiled sweetly. "You can bathe with me anytime. Let's go..."

******

As expected, the innkeeper made an effort to loiter outside and give the occasional glance while Ichiro and Kumiko shared a bucket of water between them.

This is fine, Ichiro tried to assure himself, even if the sight of Kumiko letting droplets roll between her shapely breasts was enough to make any man want her. His mere presence clearly wasn't effective enough, so Ichiro waited until she was almost finished to grab the bucket and dump the rest of the water on himself. The coldness made him shiver, but he knew that was a small price to pay if it meant taking attention away from Kumiko.

He was unprepared for the wanton admiration in her eyes when he returned the bucket to the ground.

"That was wonderful," Kumiko whispered as her cheeks took on a ruddy color. "If only you knew the power that you hold..."

"Believe me, I'm beginning to have an idea," Ichiro could only say in response to such evident praise. There was no longer any doubt that women found him attractive, but it was absurd to think that he could bring a kingdom to its knees like the famed beauties of old. He would have to be female first of all, since this was a world ruled by men who were filled to the brim with greed and lust.

Just like the innkeeper who was watching them from a distance.

Ichiro frowned while stepping closer towards Kumiko. "We should get dressed. I don't trust that man anymore."

"Gladly." Kumiko took her folded robe from the adjacent windowsill before Ichiro did the same. As expected, the innkeeper lost interest and shuffled out of sight to return to his family.

Soon afterwards, they met with their host to discuss the matter of payment. The cost for them both was ten coins, which while cheaper than any lodging in Osaka or Kyoto, still meant that Ichiro was left with only fifty mon.

Kumiko would have to honor her promise of helping him earn money soon, or they really would end up as a pair of beggars on the street. Ichiro rolled up his fist, for he knew that such misfortune had almost befallen his parents in the past. It had taken a loan from another merchant family to save them, so Ichiro was determined to avoid a solution like this for himself.

He raised the subject to Kumiko when they had left the inn far behind and seemed to be the only people for miles. "You said that you had some ideas for us to make money. Pray tell me what they are."

"Oh, that." Kumiko stared down at the mossy path that was just wide enough for the two of them. "Give me more time to think."

"Really?" Ichiro glared at her as a bird flew overhead and let out a screech. "You've had a day and a half already."

"And I was a fox for much of it," refuted Kumiko. "Besides, you're a merchant. Shouldn't your mind be primed with these sorts of things?"

It frightened Ichiro to think that she was right. He'd hardly been a courageous person prior to setting out on this journey, and that had extended to his methods of doing business. He had been all too content to believe he would become a full-fledged tea merchant like his father and grandfather before him, without ever considering the necessity of adapting to the changing times.

With the fighting across the sea in Korea, there was still money to be made from war, and the esteemed father of his friend Shinrokurō was a prime example. However, this truth was far from helpful at the moment. He had to think of something that Kumiko could also partake in with little cost to them both.

Entertaining as it might be, he couldn't have her conjure a fiery display in front of a group of peasants. They would likely suspect her as a kitsune right away, so something more conventional would be wise.

"Can you sing and dance?" he asked Kumiko. "Men love a woman who can do those things."

"I believe I can dance," she replied. "Just not very well. And my singing is something most would rather not hear."

"What do you mean?" Ichiro inquired further. "Surely, a sweet voice like yours can make any melody sound pleasant."

Kumiko eyed him with not a trace of mirth. "If you don't believe me, I'll sing for you right now." She drew in a deep breath, then began to shriek a song that sounded somewhat familiar to Ichiro through the dissonance.

When the snow falls, and the baby cries,

How can I be happy, even when the Bon festival is here?

I don't have fine clothes, not even a sash to wear!

******

"Do you understand now?" Kumiko muttered in shame once she'd finished the song and Ichiro had removed both hands from his ears. "Us kitsune aren't meant to sing the way you humans do. We tend to be mocked when we try."

"It's all right," Ichiro said firmly despite feeling otherwise in his heart. "You can just focus on dancing."

"And what about you? I heard you singing in the forest, and it wasn't bad at all."

"That's just your opinion. My voice is hardly noteworthy compared to many others."

Kumiko sighed. "If you insist. I wanted to tell you about an idea I'd thought of."

"What is it?"

"We'll stage a magic show with my powers of illusion. You might not know it, but I used them when those two samurai passed us yesterday. I made you look like a warrior from hell."

"Good heavens." Ichiro remembered how the pair of samurai had hastily bowed to him before running away. "It does make sense now."

"So, what do you say? Shall we trick people when we have the chance?"

"It sounds wicked when you describe it that way, but I suppose it's worth trying."

Kumiko broke into a skip beside him as the road widened. "I'm glad you agree. We should reach the town of Uji by this afternoon, and I wager there'll be plenty of credulous folk to be found..."

Ichiro nodded his head in agreement. When he'd thought of exposing himself to more risk, this hadn't quite been the kind of thing to cross his mind, but it was still far more thrilling than anything else he had done over the past ten years.

At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if his parents struggled to recognize him as the same person when he returned home.

******

Author Notes:

- The song Kumiko sang was the Takeda Lullaby, with lyrics altered to better fit the prose of this story. I decided to have her be a terrible singer by human standards, since foxes can produce some pretty unpleasant cries in real life.

- There were Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597 CE respectively. The latter is the one Ichiro refers to in his thoughts.

- Uji is a town that has been known for its tea production and culture for centuries.