Chapter Text
Morning, as ever, brought the struggle of a sleepy fennec against the cold, harsh world. Light pierced between the curtains in relentless pursuit of her eyelids, and Polka turned over with a groan. It was probably like barely eight or something. Not the kind of hour sane people got up at.
She pulled over her tails, and nestled back under her soft, warm blankets. But just before she could doze off again, something dimly flickered in a corner of her mind.
Wait. Tails?
She glanced down, and a moment later she was bolt upright and scrambling for her phone. ‘Fubu-chan!’ she yelled as soon as the call connected. ‘Help me!’
‘Nnn… what is it, Polka?’ her fellow fox yawned on the small screen, floppy-eared head sticking out of her own cozy nest. ‘It's not even noon yet…’
She'd sympathise, if not for the far more urgent matter at hand. ‘I have a tail! What do I do?!’
For a long moment, Fubuki was silent. Then she let out a tired groan. ‘If this is a joke, I'm going back to sleep now.’
‘Ah, I mean, I have another tail!’ she quickly said, waving her hand at the camera. ‘I don't know what the heck happened, I just woke up with it!’
Fubuki blinked, her ears finally perking up. ‘Wait, seriously? You awakened a second tail?’ she asked. ‘But you're not…’
‘Yeah, I'm not like you guys right?’ she nodded. ‘Or can you, like, become one? Is that what happened to me? But there's no way you just suddenly wake up like that, right? Did I get cursed or something? It's not a curse, right?’
‘Calm down, Polka,’ Fubuki laughed, her smile promptly turning into a yawn. ‘Why don't you just, nnn, come over in a bit?’ she added, rubbing her eyes. ‘We can take a look together, and ask Miosha while we're at it. Sound like a plan?’
She let out a breath. ‘Yeah. Okay. I'll be there, Fubu-chan. And thank you.’
‘Hey, don't sweat it,’ she smiled. ‘That's what us senpais are for!’
‘There really are two!’ Fubuki said, curiously leaning around as soon as she opened the door. ‘I kinda thought it was a joke to be honest, but those actually look like the real deal! Ah, but where are my manners? Come on in, come on in!’
‘Really, I wouldn't believe it either if I couldn't use both of them,’ Polka sighed, letting her energy wash over her as she followed her inside. ‘Wouldn't put it past Nenechi and Shishiron to sneak in and glue one on, right?’
‘Totally!’ she laughed, leading her into the living room. ‘Ah, but we do already have some other guests. You don't mind a little company, right? Not that I think you'd ever mind these two!’
‘Polulu-onee-chan!’ two familiar puppies chorused before she could ask. ‘It's been ages, bau bau!’
‘Ah, Fuwamoco-chan!’ she exclaimed as Fubuki slipped off into the kitchen. ‘I didn't know you two were in Japan! Bau bau!’
‘We had to come over all of a sudden for some stuff with our move,’ Fuwawa explained. ‘They really had to see us in person, and we decided to make a little vacation out of it, you know? Like a free trial on living here! Well, not free, but you get what I mean!’
‘But why are you here, Polulu-onee-chan?’ Mococo pouted behind her. ‘We wanted to surprise you tomorrow, bau bau…’
‘Hey, it's great to see you again either way!’ she quickly said. ‘And this time I've got a tail for each of you!’
‘Oeh?’ she gasped, both their eyes drawn past her and to the twin tufts of blonde peeking out behind her. ‘Oeh!’
‘Are you saying… we can touch them, Polulu-onee-chan?’ Fuwawa added as they quickly made place between them at the low table, her eyes sparkling no less than her sister’s. ‘Really?’
And how could she possibly deny them? A moment later she had two eager puppies snuggling into her tails, and all was right in the world.
‘It's so soft…’
‘Polulu-onee-chan’s really is the best, bau bau…’
‘You sure got them settled down fast,’ Fubuki giggled as she rejoined them with tea. ‘But Miosha should be here soon, and then we can properly talk about what happened to you, okay?’
Polka just hummed, savoring the fragrant steam of her cup as she smiled down at the puppies who'd wasted no time dozing off in her tails. They really were just too cute, weren't they?
But before she could spend all afternoon indulging in their adorable sleeping faces, Mio bustled in with a cardboard box bulging with fresh vegetables. ‘Sorry I'm late!’ she smiled, quickly stowing her load into a corner. ‘I just couldn't abandon these, I'd never have forgiven myself if I'd passed on a bargain like this!’
Then her eyes found Polka's tails, and she covered a gasp. ‘You really have them! They're so fluffy!’
‘Calm down, Mio,’ Fubuki laughed. ‘Maybe you should sit down and explain to Polka what's happening first?’
‘Ah, yes,’ she quickly said, tearing away her eyes as she joined them. She scraped her throat, and gave her a smile. ‘Congratulations, Polka-chan. You're a spirit fox now!’
She just blinked for a long moment, the words slowly sinking in. ‘What?’ she finally said. ‘That's… how does that even work? How- you can become one? Just like that?’
‘Well, the evidence is somewhat undeniable,’ she said with a soft giggle. ‘But, ah, how much do you know about your heritage? You were born and raised here in Japan, right?’
She could only shrug to that. ‘Yeah. Grandpa told me his parents met at a travelling show, and that's about it. All I know about where fennecs come from is from the Wikipedia page.’
Mio nodded, fingers tapping the table. ‘Maybe you were just… dormant in some way?’ she finally said, looking up with an awkward smile. ‘And now your heritage manifested the way things work here? That might make some sense, at least…’
‘Couldn't getting popular do pretty much the same thing, though?’ Fubuki asked, head tilted in thought. ‘We should have noticed before if she was some kind of juvenile spirit, right? There's no way there wouldn't be any traces.’
‘Wait, hold on, are you saying my Zains turned me into Omarukami?’ Polka asked. ‘You're kidding, right?’
‘It's possible, I think?’ she said with a helpless shrug. ‘Adoration is pretty powerful stuff you know? It can be just as strong as faith and worship in some ways, and I really do think I'd have noticed before if you already had some kind of power in you. Not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty sensitive to those things!’
‘You do have a point there,’ Mio said, leaning back with a slow nod. ‘With so many fans perceiving her as something larger than life… it's possible. Maybe even plausible. But either way the result speaks for itself, doesn't it? One way or another you're a normal fox no longer, Pol-chan.’
‘So what do I do now, then?’ she asked, looking between them. ‘What does it even mean to be like you guys? I'm not gonna sprout even more tails, right? The last thing I need is a full nine of these to brush out every day, I'd literally die of exhaustion before I could ever leave the house again!’
‘I don't think you need to worry about that, Polka,’ Mio laughed. ‘You know what happened with Fubuki’s second tail, right?’
‘That's where Kurokami came from, right?’ she said, tapping her chin. ‘Wait, do you mean…’
‘Yes,’ she nodded. ‘If you're anything like Fubuki at all, you should also be able to manifest them with a little practice. It's hard to say exactly what they'll be like, but they will most likely reflect some aspect of your personality.’
‘Wait, does that mean you do have an S side too?’ she asked, curiously turning to Fubuki. ‘That's not just Kurokami?’
‘Polka!’ she yelped, ears folding flat in a vain attempt to hide her face. ‘Hey, you can't just ask something like that!’
Still, she couldn't help a glance at Mio too.
‘I will neither confirm nor deny that.’ she smiled, calmly sipping her tea. ‘But I will say she's adorable either way.’
‘Miooo!’ Fubuki whined, beet-faced. ‘You might as well just tell her if you're going to put it like that! Have mercy!’
‘Sorry, sorry,’ she smiled. ‘It's true though, you're adorable no matter who's in charge!’
Fubuki just buried her face in her hands, but she was spared further indignation by a sleepy noise behind them.
‘Mrghh… what was that?’ Fuwawa said, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. ‘What time is it?’
‘Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you two!’ Fubuki quickly said. ‘Please pretend you didn't hear anything!’
‘... ‘s fine,’ she yawned. ‘We should probably get a move on anyway, right Moco-chan?’ she added, gently poking at the twin still buried face-first in Polka's tail.
‘Nnn…’
‘Yes, I know, I'd love to stay in Polulu-onee-chan’s tail all day long too. But we still need to get our stuff out of the garage box before they close or we won't have futons tonight. You don't want to sleep on the floor do you Moco-chan?’
‘Nn…’ she complained, but slowly, reluctantly, Mococo surrendered and let her sister tug her up too.
They were just so darn precious, it was a crime against her personally she couldn't just take them home forever! They even called her big sister already!
‘Oh, but Polulu-onee-chan, are you staying much longer?’ Fuwawa asked, and her ears promptly jumped to attention. ‘Maybe we could head back to the station together? We barely got to talk yet, and I'm sure it'd make Moco-chan really happy when she remembers she's awake again…’
She had to go the other way, but ‘Sure!’ she quickly said. Who in their right mind would turn down more time with these fluffy angels? Not this fennec, no siree!
‘Haaah… I can't even be mad at them for playing favourites,’ Fubuki sighed, a blissful smile on her face as she got up too to walk them out. ‘Guess I'll just have to hold it against you then, Pol-chan!’
‘Oi, don't threaten people with such a cute smile,’ she said, giving her a flat look. ‘That's actually scary, you know?’
‘Thank you for your hospitality, Fubuki-senpai,’ Fuwawa cut between with a fluffy giggle. ‘We'll try to visit you two again before we head back home too, okay? So please don't do anything mean to Polulu-onee-chan…’
‘Ah, well, that works too!’ Fubuki smiled, and Polka couldn't help but feel like that was what she'd been after all along. ‘Oh, and Polka, I'll drop by later to explain about your new tail, okay? There's a few more things you'll want to know.’
With that they said their farewells, and with Mococo finally waking up too as the crisp winter air hit her face they set off towards the station. And what higher bliss could there be than having an adorable puppy on both arms all the way there?