Chapter 2: Childhood 2:

They’d decided on Ranmaru. It let Ranka still use the orchid kanji in her name, which her mother seemed to think was very important in preventing her from losing touch with her femininity over the winter. Despite the new clothing, which Ranka—no, Ranmaru, found a bit boring, and the new boyish haircut, the youth felt there was little risk of forgetting about her girlhood. The bigger problem was the way her mother kept crying at random, and telling the temporary boy how brave she was to go through with all this. 

It was honestly more than a little tiring.

Apparently her father thought so as well, because one day, barely into the second week of ‘Ranmaru’s’ boyhood, he’d come home with a bold announcement: his good friend Hanamoto had agreed to look after Ranmaru for the winter. While her father had insisted it was an added protection, to further throw off the yuki-onna, Ranmaru had overheard him muttering about hoping the arrangement would get her mother to calm down a bit. To the transformed girl, the idea seemed exciting. Hanamoto’s youngest daughter Fuji was one of her best friends, so it would seem like some sort of extended party.

---

Two days later, young Ranmaru was walking towards the Hanamoto home with her father. She’d been told that she was to pretend to be her own cousin. They’d say the two branches of the Mei family had exchanged children to keep the yuki-onna away, because her supposed uncle didn’t have the money to look after two children. The reason she was now with the Hanamoto family was then, officially, for fear the yuki-onna might still strike and... do whatever yuki-onna did to males, if ‘Ranmaru’ was left alone at the Mei family home. Her father would cover the expenses of ‘him’ staying with the Hanamoto family.

“Remember, you’re to act the part of a boy. So, don’t spend too much time with Fuji. In fact, you’re not supposed to even know her,” her father barked, his tone gruff as it always was in mornings.

The changed girl made a small nod. She didn’t like that part of the deal. Now she’d probably have to spend her time with Fuji’s annoying older brother, Kikuhiko. That boy cared only for his samurai training, and was always teasing her.

“Do you really think they won’t recognise me?” Ranmaru asked. 

The transformation had definitely happened, but the changes to her overall appearance were still rather minimal.

“Cousins can look alike. With your new hair and clothing, I think they’ll accept you’re someone else. Especially when it comes time to wash up,” her father said, laughing a bit at the end.

Ranmaru couldn’t really argue with that. As Ranka, she’d bathed with Fuji, and her older sister Saki, a few times when visiting. That change would be hard to deny for anyone.

Her father knocked on the front door, and, a minute or two later, Saki opened the door. The eldest child of the Hanamoto family looked elegant, as always, as she greeted Ranmaru’s father, before looking the direction of the transformed girl. Giving young Ranmaru a once over, Saki gave the new boy a smile.

“There’s no need to be nervous, young Mei. We’re happy to have you. Especially my brother Kikuhiko. He’s desperate for a sparring partner, since his best friend’s family is travelling down to Edo this winter,” Saki said.

Ranmaru swallowed nervously. Kikuhiko was a good two years her senior, and she had minimal experience with defending herself, only the few basic self defence lessons her mother had agreed were useful for a girl to know. So... basically nothing for a boy her age.

“His father hasn’t trained him much, but I do think he’ll be a quick study,” her father said. “He’s a Mei after all.”

Saki laughed politely before leading the pair into the Hanamoto home. Ranmaru knew the house well enough, but decided to hunt for any changes since her last visit, in an attempt to seem curious and unfamiliar with the place. 

The introduction with the father of the house was a bit surreal. Ranmaru was fairly certain the man was well aware who she really was, but still needed to keep up appearances. When Kikuhiko and Fuji hurried in, the transformed girl felt as if her heart were in her throat, so sure that one of those two would see she was Ranka and insist on an explanation. An explanation that would, surely, make her friendship with Fuji so very weird. 

When neither of them recognised her she was left with a mixture of relief and disappointment, so sure that her best friend would know her face. Instead, she found herself immediately dragged off by Kikuhiko, the boy insisting that his ‘new sparring partner’ be given a crash course in kenjutsu. Being both younger than him, and a guest, the transformed girl had little choice but to comply.

What followed were several hours of pure embarrassment as the older boy seemingly ran her through every kata and drill he knew. It was only when she could no longer stand that he finally relented.

“You have good potential, Mei. Your form was terrible when we started, but now I can see some actual improvement. At least before you got too tired,” Kikuhiko said, a grin on his face that Ranmaru wanted to punch. At least until the boy leaned forward and offered a hand. “Come on, I’ll help you get back to the house. I’ll make sure Saki gives you some extra food. You’ll need it.”

Ranmaru took his hand, and ended up more or less leaning against the older boy as the pair walked back inside. Maybe Kikuhiko wasn’t all bad... but there were still a lot of pranks he had to make up for before he was in Ranmaru’s good books.

---

The transformed girl had found herself sharing a room with Kikuhiko, a fact that left her a bit annoyed. She knew, logically, that she shouldn’t have expected her own room, but the idea of having somewhere to sneak off alone and break character had been too appealing for her heart to let go of.

Still, as the days wore on, Ranmaru was surprised how little acting was needed. Swordplay was, in all honesty, fun to learn. Lessons from Kikuhiko and his father were something the transformed youth couldn’t help looking forward to. Ranmaru was still a long way from being able to defeat Kikuhiko if the older boy actually put effort into it, but it was slowly beginning to feel less futile than picking a fight with a typhoon.

Things had been going so smoothly, Ranmaru had almost lost track of the flow of the days, when, just before bed after a little over a week at the Hanamoto home, Kikuhiko had made an excited announcement.

“Ranmaru! Look! It’s snowing out!” the older boy called, sliding a door open just a smidge.

The transformed girl’s heart sank, fear filling her. “I... could you close that door?”

“Close the... oh! You’re worried, because of the story about your cousin? Do you think it’s true that a yuki-onna has really come to town to hunt for her?” Kikuhiko asked, not moving from his position by the door.

“It’s definitely true. Mo-my aunt and uncle wouldn’t lie. Ranka was very scared too,” Ranmaru said, trying not to let her full fear be seen.

“Huh. I... oh, it’s really picking up.”

Ranmaru’s eyes shifted from Kikuhiko’s form to out the doorway and there was no denying that the snow was falling heavily now. The wind was picking up too. She swore she could hear an inhuman voice on the wind, but hoped that was her imagination.

“It’s going to get in here. Close the door,” Ranmaru hissed, hoping the tone wasn’t too aggressive.

“Y-yeah. That’s... that’s not a normal storm,” the older boy replied, sliding the door back closed and slipping back to his futon in the middle of the room.

The hunted girl tried to hide herself in her blankets, hoping to bury herself enough to block out the wind, and the voice she still swore she heard, calling out her true name. Gradually she had to admit it was a lost cause, however. She couldn’t get herself to warm up again with this fear. Nervously, she scurried across the room, still wrapped in blankets.

“Kikuhiko, are you still awake?” she whispered.

“Y-yeah. This storm is seriously noisy.”

“I... could I share your futon? I don’t think I can sleep alone with this howling,” Ranmaru asked, almost glad for the embarrassment heating her cheeks and reminding her she could generate some warmth of her own.

There was a moment of silence, as she worried her fear may have just revealed her true feminine heart. Men were supposed to be braver, weren’t they? That’s what her father liked to say...

“Uh... sure. I mean, it’s, um, probably going to get cold with this storm. Probably best to share our blankets,” Kikuhiko replied.

The transformed girl let out a sigh of relief and slipped in next to him, piling both their blankets into one larger wall against the cold. 

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Between the added insulation and Kikuhiko’s warmth, Ranmaru slowly felt less like an icicle and more like a human being, before gradually drifting off to sleep.

---

The storm had buried much of the village in snow, but no one had been hurt. News that there was a risk of a yuki-onna had spread through the community, as rumours always did, and everyone had hurried indoors when the snow started. As such, the main concern for everyone was digging their houses out from the snow, though Ranmaru and Kikuhiko ended up spending more time having snowball fights than digging. Other children got to work building snowmen and snow hares, though most of the boys ended up joining in with the big snowball fight. 

Ranmaru found the whole thing quite invigorating, and a great way to forget the source of the snow. Laughing and having good luck with aim, the youth managed to peg a taller boy in the face with a rather good throw, only to feel the ominous presence of a judgmental adult.

“If you boys have so much energy, you should be helping your parents out with shovelling,” the woman’s voice ordered.

Ranmaru froze, knowing that voice very well: her mother’s. Was the best plan to run before getting caught? That seemed like a good pla—her mother’s hand was on her shoulder before the decision to run had reached her feet. Turning, reluctantly, the transformed girl could only give a weak smile.

“Ranka, what are you doing roughhousing like this?” her mother whispered sharply.

“Kikuhiko and I were just having a bit of fun, and then the other boys joined in... well, I couldn’t just run away, could I? That would seem girly,” Ranmaru muttered, trying to give the impression it was all about keeping up the character and to ignore how fun it had been.

“Well, I would much prefer to see you somewhere others were keeping a more consistent eye on you. Snowball fights mean hiding, and what if the... the yuki-onna manages to find you while you’re hiding? Either go and shovel or help Fuji with her snowmen.”

“Yes mo-uh, auntie,” Ranmaru said, knowing that others were within earshot of a full volume reply.

It didn’t take long to find Fuji and Saki decorating the area around the Hanamoto home with a small army of snowmen and snow hares. Ranmaru waffled with uncertainty for a few moments, before stepping over to ask to join them.

“If you want?” Fuji said. “Aren’t you more interested in running around with the other boys?”

“My m—my aunt doesn’t want me causing trouble. It would look bad on both our families, I guess,” Ranmaru explained. “Not—not that making snowmen isn’t fun.”

“I think we’d be quite happy to have you around,” Saki said, smiling and lightly poking Fuji. “Wouldn’t we?”

“Y-yeah. Definitely,” Fuji added, while studying the snowball in front of her, as if to avoid eye contact. 

With the permission granted, the trio set to work, deciding to build the biggest snowman they could. Fuji insisted that, if they made it big enough, it would scare the yuki-onna away. Ranmaru wasn’t so sure that would work, but thought the challenge seemed fun. 

As the bottom ball got large enough it was difficult to roll, the pair found themselves assisted by Kikuhiko. Ranmaru was thrilled to have help with their mission (since Saki was much more focused on making snow hares), but Fuji seemed strangely grumpy about her brother’s arrival. 

Still, the trio managed to build a snowman taller than any of them, and that was something worth being proud of.

---

A few more weeks passed, with only one other unnatural snowstorm hitting the village. Ranmaru didn’t know if the yuki-onna had gone off hunting for the missing Ranka elsewhere, or had returned to the snowy mountains to pout, but was quite happy to have the supernatural threat seem to have vanished. In large part because it made focusing on kenjutsu lessons with Kikuhiko easier.

The transformed youth was starting to really get the hang of things, thanks to the nearly daily lessons. There were also more regular academic lessons, though the push to learn the names of generals and dates of battles seemed much more important in lessons for boys. The kanji lessons were harder too, though Ranmaru wasn’t sure if that was a result of Hanamoto being naturally stricter or the expectations for men to deal with more official documents.

Either way, it all kept young Ranmaru very busy as the winter passed. The threat of the yuki-onna somehow grew more abstract, despite the more frequent snows. 

The other thing that seemed to grow more abstract, though, was the idea of being a girl. Despite the harder school lessons, it felt so easy to slip into the role of a boy, exploring all sorts of new things that had never been an option for ‘Ranka’. Not that the transformed youth was doing it on purpose, it was a gradual shift that was barely noticed.

Something that did get noticed, however, came one day in January. Ranmaru had been getting odd looks from the Hanamoto family every so often the past few days, and finally couldn’t take it. That was why, just after a kenjutsu sparring match, the transformed youth took the chance to directly ask Kikuhiko. With it just being the two of them, that seemed the least embarrassing way to go about it.

“Has my hair been sticking up weird or something? Everyone keeps looking at me funny.”

“I... well, it is about your hair, but... it’s more the colour,” Kikuhiko replied, his body language a little awkward.

“The colour?” Ranmaru asked, grabbing a strand to study. “It looks the same dark brown to me.”

“Well, the tips, yeah. But the, uh... the new hair at the base looks weirdly white. Or maybe silver?” the older boy said.

“What? You’re kidding, right?”

“No. Let’s go see if Saki will lend you her mirror. That should prove it.”

Intrigued, Ranmaru followed, and the pair found Saki in the main room working on some clothing repairs. The eldest Hanamoto girl was happy to oblige, and soon returned with the mirror.

Staring at the reflection, Ranmaru was greeted by the sight of silver-white roots. They looked the same colour as the Kitsune Miko’s fur had been, at least as best as Ranmaru could tell in the polished bronze colour of the mirror.

“Fuji and I were a little worried it meant the yuki-onna might have cursed you, to make up for not being able to find your cousin, but Saki asked at the shrine and they said it wasn’t something yuki-onna did,” Kikuhiko said.

“We just didn’t quite know how to bring it up to you,” Saki explained. “Especially when we had no idea what caused it.”

“I think I know what the cause is... that’s—that’s a long story though,” Ranmaru replied.

“I’d be happy to listen,” Kikuhiko said, leaning forward. 

“Um... a long and embarrassing story,” Ranmaru offered, hoping to get out of this before concocting some lie became necessary.

Ranmaru didn’t want to risk the loss of respect that might come from Kikuhiko if the truth got out. Thankfully the older boy took the hint not to dig.

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