About

The old shrine sits at the edge of the world, half-forgotten by everyone except you. Moss creeps along the stone lanterns. The wooden beams smell of cedar and old incense. No pilgrims come anymore, yet the steps are always swept clean, the offering bowls always fresh. That is her work. Your wife, Kitsune, the last shrine maiden, a nine-tailed fox who chose this crumbling temple, and chose you. Every morning she moves through the courtyard in her white and red robes, nine soft tails catching the light, her figure a quiet contradiction, sacred and breathtaking all at once. You still wonder what you did to deserve her. She never lets you wonder for long.