Chapter One:
Palace Prison

The night was quiet, a shift in the wind rustling the leaves in the trees, and the warm green grass below. The moon hung high in the air, the full glow lighting up the evening sky,practically blinding the evening stars with its glare. Below the high moon was the wide estate of a feudal lord. A few oil lanterns lit around the front gateway, two guards standing at its entrance in full attention, one hand on their spears, the other resting strictly and stiffly at their side, wrists angled at the hilt of their swords. They were illuminated by the glow of flames, giving their silver armor an orange tint and casting eerie shadows across sternly set faces.
Past the entrance was the long stone paved pathway leading to the main house, basked in red and brown posts, the glow of oil lanterns casting orange hues on the paper doors.
The quiet of the night didn't last long, however, as a scream ripped through the silence. It was a cry of pain, and anguish. Deeper into the main house, in what would be labeled as the lord's Lady Wife's rooms, the screams emanated from beyond the sliding doors.
Inside, the lady of the house was resting in a futon, a simple kimono thrown over her to cover herself as a whimper of pain came from her lips. She gripped the futon tightly, and desperately attempted to keep herself from turning over and writhing in pain. She breathed heavily, trying to keep them even but found it difficult as she tried as hard as she could to push the new born baby out. She was by herself, which she suspected. Her husband enraged with her, yet not having it in him to kill a woman with child. She could vaguely hear her mid wife encouraging her to push from the other side of her paper door.
After several long moments of breathing and pushing, she could finally hear the cries of her new born. As soon as the cries could be heard, the midwife urged herself into the room. She quickly took the babe, heavily sighing as she stared at the weeping infant.
A girl, with dark curls atop her head, and pointed, golden ears with back tips protruding through her scalp. On top of that, she had a fluffy little black and gold tail coming from her back side. "A demon child..." the woman said softly. It was then that the lord of the manor came bursting into the room. He took one long look at the woman panting heavily on her futon, sweat coating her face, black hair sprawled out beneath her she looked up at her lord, and her heart fell.
"M-my lord... please, allow me to hold her... b-before you..." she barely got the words past her lips before she felt her last breath sweep through her. Her body slacked, and the cheating woman laid motionless. Angered, he turned his attention to the baby the mid wife held and yanked it from her grip, with the intentions of killing the half breed. He stared at the child, which he aggressively held by the fluff of her tail, eliciting louder cries of pain from her. He stared at it, for several long moments before he adjusted the infant better to support her head. He stared at her cute, small nose that resembled his wife's. Her dark locks that she had likely inherited from her as well. Her sweet plump cheeks. Right down to her tiny toes and feet. He breathed in deeply, signaling his frustrations, before he caved at the sweet babe that would forever remind him of the wife he had loved... and how those ears and tail would remind him of her betrayal.
"Kasumi." He said simply. "Kasumi Ishikawa shall be the babes name." The lord said, handing the child off to the midwife to clean her and handle her for him. "You will tell no one of this. Yuriko died giving birth. The child is human, and no one shall see her ears and tail. You must make strides in hiding them midwife. And you must keep this secret, or even you shall perish." He lightly threatened, as he went to announce to the house that a princess had been born.

( ^_^)/~~~

"Young lady, please get down, quickly before someone sees you." The midwife who had raised the young Kasumi pleaded with the kit climbing high upon the highest peach tree in the family garden.
All the midwife could hear was the childlike giggle of the young child as she just kept going. "But Kyah, this is the private garden. None of the servants can come in." Came the girls sweet, innocent voice as she placed one hand on a branch above her, and a foot on the one below her.
"That does not mean there are not prying eyes, my lady. Please come down before someone sees those ears and tail of yours." The elderly woman tried pleading again. She was met with silence, when suddenly the young princess swung down on the lower branches, holding on with her knees tightly squeezing the branch.
She had small little cuts on her pristine face, her gem like eyes staring at the elderly woman she knew only as a mother, in slight confusion. She was hanging upside down, her long black and gold locks swinging down, the edges of her hair hardly glancing over the white sand. Her ears were perked up and happy looking, though that likely had to do with her current upside down position, and the elegant robe the princess typically wore everywhere to hide her tail and ears was flopped down as well, reaching well past her hair and pooling around her swinging arms. Before the expensive garb could fall to the dirt, she swung up, wrapping her arms around the tree branch and unwinding her legs before she jumped down, her bare feet elegantly landing on the soft, smooth sand. "Kyah, what does prying eyes mean?" The seven-year-old girl asked, and with her up right position it was clear now that her ears were perked to the side in confusion.
Kyah sighed softly and quickly pulled up the robe on the girls' shoulders to cover the top of her head, hiding the ears she often found adorable, and quite suitable for the curious child. "It means there is always someone watching. A nosey servant, a guard on duty. Even your father could see you, young one. And you wouldn't want him to see you behaving unladylike, do you?" She asked.
"But Kyah, I have to play!" She explained, frowning so deeply at her that she was damned near pouting.
"Yes but your father has gotten you toys for you to play inside the manor, away from the view of others. In safety, inside, where a lady should remain." Kyah sighed at her, understanding the energetic toddler's desire to run around outside and play. It was a luxury a princess couldn't have however.
"But I'm so bored of the toys he bought me! I play with them all the time I want to play outside! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!" She exclaimed, stomping her feet and crying loudly, throwing herself onto the floor and swinging her feet and fists into the air.
Kyah slowly moved to sit on the paved ground and pulled the tantrum throwing kid into her lap, letting her wallow and weep and demand she play outside. She soothed her, rubbing her covered head, her back, and back up again. Eventually the tantrum turned into full blown sobbing, her arms wrapped around the plump woman and she buried her tiny face into her stomach.
"I know dear..." Kyah said quietly when Kasumi's tears subsided enough that she shook more than sobbed. "I know you wish to play with the other children in the house. To play with the ball as well, share your toys with them." She kept petting the girls head, which she discovered soothed her quicker than any previous tactic she tried using. "I know it's hard for such a young girl to understand that she cannot. Your father has forbade it, until you can learn to fully transform your appearance to appear like a normal human." Kyah herself saw nothing wrong with the looks of the young princess, though she had always been told she was more tolerant than others. Atop her head were the wide fox ears she was born with, the tips right down to the middle of them was a raven black, the rest of her ears were a golden hue the color of the evening sun, or the color of wheat fields. The golden color spread out over her tresses, black mixed together with the wheat color, which extended all the way down to the ends of her long locks. She was a beautiful child, her eyes the color of jades, her lashes long even for a child of her age. There seemed to be a lot of her facial features that were so alike her mother, but much more of her resembled the fox who fathered her.
Kasumi sniffled, eventually looking up at her, just to see the old woman's kindly face and smile. Kyah wiped her tears from her cheeks and kissed her forehead in a loving display of affection. "Then... then I wanna learn how to hide it! So that I can play with them! Kyah will you help me?" She questioned eagerly gripping the sides of Kyahs yukata her fluff of a tail wagging excitedly beneath the pink kimono atop her head.
"Of course I will dear." She said softly, giving her a tight hug before she stood up carefully, picking the girl up and onto her feet in the same motion.

( ^_^)/~~~

"My lady, please! Wait up, these old bones of mine cannot keep up." Kyah yelled at the princess, who was practically running through the halls. The excited teenager practically flung the sliding door wide to reveal the open courtyard she had only seen through glimpses as servants passed in and out.
The warm summer sun wrapped around her like a blanket, and she breathed in the fresh air deeply. She enjoyed the open courtyard. She had been outside plenty of times with Kyah, in the confined space of the garden she had taken to calling her own. But out here, in the front of the manor, she didn't have the sense of confinement she always felt, the walls of the estate so far away, that to her, they hardly existed.
Giggling, she hurriedly grabbed the edges of her three layered kimono and stepped past the threshold of the wooden floor, onto the rough gravel of the courtyard soil.
She marveled at the way the rough stone pressed deeply into her bare foot, loving that the texture was so unlike anything she had felt previously. The sand in her garden was like powder, small, and smooth like silk, and the crisp cut grass was always wet, and warm under her toes. She had fantasied for seven long years how it would feel to press her feet into the gravel below her now. It hurt her sensitive, dainty soles, but the sound of the crunch and grind as she walked over it, and the pressure of it under her made her shudder in pure delight. Never could one imagine to be so overjoyed to step on dirt. People would think her foolish. Maybe she was, but she didn't care what the others thought. She never had before, she likely never would in the future either.
She moved to the center of the courtyard, taking in the wide open space, and the large, lush manor she called her prison. The leaves of a few trees lined the walls surrounding them, and she marveled at their dark green color, and the close sounds of the cicadas in the air. The bright expanse of the blue sky had never looked so big to her before, and she excitedly thought that she would come out tonight to look at the stars and moon under the full sky. It would be so much more enjoyable than sitting in her garden at the early hours of the evening, desperately trying to view the moon that was blocked by tall rooftops and cherry blossom trees.
"Lady princess!" Kyahs' gravelly voice broke Kasumi's self-trance, and she turned her gaze away from the flimsy white clouds to the woman who hobbled over the edge of the terrace of the house, her cane held firmly in her grip. "You mustn't run! If your lord father were to have seen you, you would surely see a punishment that would tan your young hide."
The princess walked over to Kyah, helping her sandaled feet onto the gravel Kasumi was beginning to love. "I'm sorry, Kyah. In my excitement, I neglected your condition and forced you to chase after me." She said softly, holding the now old woman gently but steadily, letting her gain her own balance before Kyah heavily leaned on the sturdy cane she now typically carried. "Are you alright?" She asked her, her sweet gentle voice somehow managing to ease Kyah, though she had no reason why she needed to be eased.
She looked up at the young woman before her, and her leathery face pulled upwards as she grinned at her. She had watched this child grow from babe to a woman, and she was happy to have been a part of every aspect of her growth. She had taught her as much as she was allowed to, instructing her on how to handle the household affairs until eventually, Kasumi was able to run the household without her help, leaving her father free to handle his other duties. Kyah had taught her how to write, and read, a luxury most women didn't receive. She had taught her the basics of herbology and medicine until a doctor taught her beyond that. The chefs taught her how to cook, the maid servants teaching her how to serve the serving trays, how to plate the food and where to place certain items. Kasumi even learned how to properly clean the manor, how to repaper the doors when they got ruined in bad weather. She had learned first-hand how to deliver a baby if she ever needed to, how to care for children. She had learned everything a princess needed to know, and more. She was a bright child right from birth, she was quick to pick up knowledge and was likely smarter than any woman could or should be. She had even learned to conceal her form completely, hiding tail and ears from others, even while she slept. And she constantly held a barrier around her to hide her demonic scent from any demons. It was a wonder to Kyah how the young girl could still have so much energy, while doing so much every second of every day. She rarely saw the girl exhausted. "I'm fine, child. I am just... happy for you. That you can finally cross the paths and enter the courtyard."
"Mmh..." the princess smiled tenderly, a sign she was hiding her inner feelings, feelings Kyah dared not pry upon for fear of what they may be. "I'm not a child anymore, Kyah. I'm fourteen years old. I'm finally of marrying age."
"You will always be a child to me, my lady. I have watched you grow taller than me, yet I will still see the sweet girl that cried every day about not being able to play with other children." Kyah stated.
Kasumi rolled her elegant brown eyes. "Not that old story again." She teased the woman lightly, the two of them taking a slow walk around the courtyard. She remembered very clearly the day she decided she would learn to transform her appearance completely. It had taken her years to perfect it, but by the time she had turned ten years old, she was told to learn new things. And each time she surpassed what she was taught, more was given to her. She had proven that she was capable of a lot, despite that her maturity levels sometimes still resembled that crying seven-year-old. It had made her childhood rough, and she still never managed to experience playing outside with the others. At fourteen years old, she could finally say she had learned everything she needed to know to be the wife of a lord, to run his household while he attended other duties she was not savvy to.
The two of them made their round, enjoying the small freedom, the heat of the sun on their backs, and the sound of crisp gravel beneath their feet. Kasumi suddenly stopped, almost causing the old woman she kept her hold on to trip, when the princess had spotted her father.
Lord Ishikawa stared at the empty courtyard and the women walking around it. Kyah had reached her prime years ago, and the plump woman was hunched over, depending mostly on her cane to help her walk, or when she allowed it, Kasumi's arm. In her age, she had shrunk, the once tough and young midwife had aged none too gracefully, as she spent all her time with the princess, and her exuberance was hard to keep up with consistently. She had gone from midwife, to her caretaker, to her lady in waiting, now that Kasumi was of the right age. She had long since abandoned the light layers of the yukata to something far thicker, to keep her constant chills at bay, to not worry her precious princess, and her gray mane of hair was always pulled up to a loose bun, the bangs framing for withered face. She had lived longer than even she thought possible, but even she knew she wouldn't live to see her princess wedded, or to even be her midwife if she so chose it. It saddened her, but her eyes turned up at the young woman, and she smiled gently. Since she had changed her appearance quite well. She maintained her own looks, and hid only the green gems of her eyes, the golden fur covered ears and tail, as well as her sharp claws and canines. With it all hidden away, no sign of the demon wretch who had stolen the late lady's heart in Kasumi's appearance, she was a spitting image of her mother. Her long hair cascaded down her back in a sleek curtain, spilling around her waist, her bangs framing her sweet cherub face, her skin like snow against the black locks. She had naturally rosy pink cheeks and lips, and rarely applied any rouge or eye coloring on her lids, like much of the ladies of the lands these days. The princess held a natural beauty that would seem otherworldly to the normal eyes of a commoner. Her long lashes were like the soft flutter of a birds feathered wing, the tips touching her high cheekbones when she blinked. The red robes she typically bore over her layers only amplified her serenity and beauty, her purity even. It was a color that suited her perfectly.
Kasumi blinked, and then peered down at the still staring Kyah with her round brown orbs. "Kyah... why is father here?" She asked so softly, as if she believed her lord father had super hearing. Kyahs' heart almost broke to hear the words she spoke. She hated her lord for many acts. She hated him for forcing his supposedly beloved wife to give birth all by herself, and cruelly yelling at the former midwife for trying to instruct the lady wife during her first pregnancy. She knew full well that an unmonitored first birth could kill a woman if she were not careful. Of course, even her lord knew that, which was why he forced her to give birth by herself. She hated him for lying to his supposedly beloved princess, who he kept around simply because she resembled her mother so purely when she hid her demon nature. It was likely a way for him to ease his guilt for letting his woman die, Kyah suspected. She wished so much that Kasumi knew the truth, why her mother was gone, who the man who would be her real father was- who had disappeared after hearing that Yuriko passed, of course assuming his child with her. She cared not the girl was half demon. She was a pure soul in it all, and she believed she deserved to know, but knew lord Ishikawa would kill her if she spoke the truth.
The lord also had a habit of mistreating his daughter, as he had done with his wife at one point. Yelling at her constantly for behaving as any baby or toddler would behave as, having exceedingly high expectations of her at such a young age that it gave Kasumi no time to be a child.
The only good thing about Ishikawa was that he was a benevolent feudal lord. He protected his lands and his people, and attempted to assist them as much as he was able to, even if they did not need assistance, he was always willing to provide for them, which was far more than any feudal lord could ever do for their people.
"Kyah?" Kasumi's soft whisper brought the old woman out from her thoughts, as she again asked her question.
"Do you forget, child?" Kyah laughed lightly at her, trying to ease the worry lines she saw forming on Kasumi's brow. "It is your birthday. The day of your coming age as a woman. He likely has gifts, and words of praise. He likely wishes to announce you as legal age and prepare you for suitors and a future marriage. You don't need to worry, dear. He has waited long for this day, he will be kind." Kyah hoped, urging the girl to walk towards the man she called father.
Kasumi hesitated for a moment, looking at Kyah, who held confidence in her wrinkled gaze, before she turned to her father and walked towards him as ladylike as she could muster with her feet on the rough ground. When she approached her father, she could now perfectly see his angered gaze. She was confused by the anger at first until she quickly realized her feet were bare. "Father, forgive me. I was too excited to realize I was not wearing the proper foot attire." She said, bowing as deeply as she could while standing, hoping to the kamis above that she would not be reprimanded. Of course hope was meaningless in the presence of her lord and father.
"Kasumi! You are a princess! A lady of the court! A woman of such high status does not walk barefoot on the soil!" He yelled at her, raising his hand as if to slap sense into her, but her trembling form stopped him long enough to let out an annoyed gruff. "You will adorn the sandals required of you, young lady while outside, and you will meet me in the main hall." He ordered before he walked off, his own sandal less socked feet quietly gliding over the wooden terrace of the manor before he disappeared inside.
She scrambled quickly, walking over to the small steps of the terrace. She sat down on the lip, and wiped off the gravel stuck to her soles, and for a moment felt a giddy sensation at seeing the indents of each hard pointed surface that had been placed in the bottom of her feet, before she forced herself to snap out of it and returned to the terrace. She didn't expect Kyah to follow her, and she quickly but as ladylike as possible walked to her rooms to adorn the slipper like socks she could wear with her sandals, and again hurried across the threshold hold of the manor to its very center. She stood in front of the door, taking in a slow, steady deep breath before she slid the doors open, closing them behind her without raising her eyes from the tatami mat of the room.
"Kasumi, come." He ordered her.
For a moment the young princess wondered if her father even knew how to interact with her apart from ordering her to do something. She mentally snorted to herself at the thought of her father being so inept as she walked to the back of the main hall, which was used for large gatherings and feasts. It was typically unused when there was no other nobles in the house. With just the two of them, they took to a less formal room where they dined in silence, which had always ate away at Kasumi as he never offered words of gratitude to the food she prepared and set for him.
She had kept her gaze downcast, as was expected of her to appear meek and humble. Not that she wasn't humble, but she was not a meek woman.
"Raise your eyes," he said, his voice a tad gentler, which was what had gotten Kasumi to raise her head enough to look at him, not his words. He was an aging man, lightly wrinkled in areas where his anger, annoyance, or stress would show, and his deep brown gaze was soft as he looked at her. She was stunned to see the wrinkles on his face were smoothed, as he looked at her with a love and affection that she had never afore witnessed.
"Father?" She questioned softly, her shock slowly ebbing away the longer he stared down at her.
His rough hand touched the smooth skin of her cheek, and she found herself practically nuzzling into the gentle touch he had rarely given her. Her hands were on his forearm, small, slender fingers wrapping around the limb in a light gentle manner. "You look so much like your mother." He said lovingly, to which he had the gaze of the princess once again. He had small tears building in his eyes but she knew he would not shed them.
She struggled for a moment to wonder if the salty buildup of liquid in his weary brown orbs were of sorrow for their lost family member, or joy at seeing how much she resembled Yuriko. She chose not to question it as her fathers arms wrapped around her small frame and drew her into his chest. She hesitated a moment, again not used to the sensation of being touched so affectionately from her father, before her arms wound around him, her body too small to completely wrap around him, but she loved how small her father made her feel, and she felt so much like the seven year old child that cried every day. She burrowed her face into his haori and he returned the effort, hugging her closely and tightly like she would disappear from his life at any given second, and this was his one chance to show he loved her. "You have grown so much, so quickly my sweet Kasumi. My pure blossom." He said fondly, and this time she had difficulties withholding her tears from him. The salty liquid seeped from her closed eyes, wetting the front of his haori, but to him it didn't matter.
"Father..." she practically whimpered into his embrace loving the feel of his gentle soothing hand in her hair, petting her and soothing her like Kyah had done and still did when she got too upset and cried.
"I know; my young girl has grown so quickly. She is no longer girl, but is now a woman. My little babe is no longer little." He kissed the top of her hair, between the spot the base of her fox ears would be, but she doubted he would know that.
She tried to lighten the mood by chuckling quietly. "Kyah had insisted that I will always be a child to her." She said, lightly pulling back from the hug enough to look up at the tall man she called her father. "I suppose that applies to you too father. I will always be a child to you. Your child. Wherever I am, however old I grow. I will still continue to be your child."
Lord Ishikawa smiled at the pure hearted girl in his arms almost sadly. For a brief moment, she thought she saw something dark gleam in his eyes, as he painfully remembered this was not really his child, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared, replaced by the proud gaze a father could hold for the grown child. He wiped her wet cheeks with his hands, chuckling a bit as she again nuzzled into his warm rough hands before the two of them slowly pulled back, but stood notably closer together.
"Kasumi, now that you are of age... I have granted you gifts to be used for your future wedding. An elegant kimono you can wear to the event, an assortment of hair ornaments for you to use to your pleasure, and a new pair of geta's for you to adorn. And a pair you may wear while you explore the grounds."
She looked at him quickly, apprehensive about most of what he said, but instantly excited at the last bit. "You mean I may still wander the courtyard?" She asked, trying to appear ladylike but unable to hide her joy.
"Within reason of course. You must maintain face, and within the walls of the courtyard, and you are not to travel to the castle gates, do you understand?" He asked, and looked stunned to see the purely innocent and childlike wonder in her eyes.
"Yes, of course, father!" She said, quickly hugging him before he could react further. He looked at the top of her head, smiled softly and patted the black silk of her hair. This was apparently the only gift he needed to give his daughter for her to be truly happy.