Masako lounged in her shrine at the edge of the forest, idly brushing one of her trio of fox tails. The kitsune had had a rather enjoyable last few days, but also very active - she needed the break and to catch up on her grooming. It was tiring, and kinda messy, work, tricking a town full of people constantly for a week.

She didn’t do much that one could consider really bad, she thought. Swap some booze for vinegar here, use an illusion to trick a teenager into kissing a skunk there. Some hilarious jump scares, a bit of bad luck. Nothing that would ever inflict lasting harm. She needed a bit of levity, and they needed some things to laugh about - the town was filled with dour, traditional people who took everything too seriously and were just a bit too set in their ways.

It was even worse than usual lately. There had been one of those fake oracle-types stirring them up with her doomsaying and prophecies, talking about how the spirits were angry and would bring lethal storms and a poor crop on them if they didn’t repent and give them a proper sacrifice. And the townspeople seemed to almost believe her! She was finding offerings of sake and food left out, which just seemed kinda stupid for families that lived harvest-to-harvest.

Speaking as one of those spirits, Masako wasn’t particularly angry. Maybe a little miffed at how loud she shouted sometimes. Still, it wasn’t really her problem - as traditional as they were, the shrine she lived in had long since been abandoned. The humans left it alone and she wasn’t about to demand they invade her personal space in order to give her gifts.

At least, most of the time humans left it alone. Masako’s ears pricked up as she heard noise from the woods - not the light scurry of woodland creatures or anything, but the clumsy trampling of a human. Well, that was interesting. Most humans gave the shrine a wide berth.

The sound got closer, closer, and Masako began to realize that it wasn’t someone passing through. No, this human was coming to the shrine specifically. Quietly, she darted for cover - which for her, despite the white coloring of her tails and ears, meant pretty much any of the many shadows that filled the shrine at night, with the full moon; minor illusion magic would do the rest.

She didn’t need to hide, really. It wasn’t as if she were afraid of a lone human, or even multiple. It was more curiosity than anything; if the human saw her they might not do whatever it was they’d come to do, and she wanted to know what it was.

A few minutes later, the human stepped out onto the overgrown path that led into the shrine. Masako recognized her, vaguely. She didn’t know her name or anything, but she had definitely seen her in the village. The young woman - average height, black hair, dark brown eyes, and wearing some fine robes (by the standards of a village in the middle of nowhere anyway) - seemed a bit surprised about something, probably the fact she’d found the shrine at all. She also seemed more than a little upset, going by how red her eyes were; she’d been crying, and doing a lot of it.

The woman stepped into the shrine, looking around nervously. Her eyes slid right over Masako as if she weren’t there, the illusion of an empty shadow holding strong. Then she walked up to the decrepit altar towards the middle of the shrine, and knelt in front of it. And then… she did nothing.

Masako waited. And waited. She did nothing. She seemed to be muttering something - a prayer? Maybe just venting? Masako quietly crept closer, and began to make out words. “...-alone, please take this offering and leave my village alone, please take this offering…” she was repeating, again and again like the mantra of a madwoman. That was a weird prayer if it was one.

Eventually, she couldn’t help herself. She had to know. ...And she thought her reaction would be hilarious. She leaned in, right next to the woman’s ear. She still didn’t notice, even though Masako had dispelled her concealing illusion. “...What are you doing?”

“Ah!” The woman shouted in shock as she practically leapt away from Masako. She tripped and stumbled, falling flat on her face as she tried to get away.

“...Are you alright?” Masako asked.

The woman seemed to recover quickly, scrambling to her knees and resuming her former posture, now with fear in her voice. “Please take this offering and leave my village-”

“What offering?” Masako asked, head tilted questioningly. This woman was weeeeird. “Are you feeling ok?”

The woman stopped her muttering, and gulped hard. “I-I-I, um, I’m fine, spirit… Thank you for asking? Is this when you eat me?”

“...Excuse me?” Wait, what?

“I, uh, are you going to eat me?”

Masako stared. “...Why the heck would I eat you?”

“I-I-I’m a sacrifice from the town, to the s-spirits… to ward y-your wrath… I’m a virgin if t-that’s the worry!” The woman stammered.

...A sacrifice. To ward evil spirits. The hell? “Who the heck told you to do this?”

“T-The priestess said we needed to… a-and I’m useless anyway… s-so my parents volunteered…”

Masako groaned. “What the hell… why would… Gods above I hate those types.” she rubbed her forehead, partly in exasperation and part in anger. Not only was the town sending someone with the expectation of their death, it had been her own parents? This was why she messed with humans, that right there.

“I’m s-sorry to offend you, spirit…” the young woman squeaked.

“Name.” Masako asked. When the woman didn’t respond, she clarified. “I’m asking for your name.”

“I-I’m… Yui…” the young woman - Yui - said, slowly.

Masako sighed. “Well, I don’t know how to tell you this, Yui, but I think your family just wanted you gone. I can’t speak for all of the spirits, obviously, but the only thing I’m angry about is that nut’s doomsaying. Human sacrifice? Seriously? Just because some lady told you things were bad?”

Yui nodded vigorously. “That’s right! She’s always been right before, why shouldn’t she be right now? I’m sure there’s good reasons for me to be the sacrifice!”

Masako could hardly look at the poor girl. She desperately wanted this to be right, to make it a reasonable action and not just insanity or her family not wanting her. An idea began to form in her mind. “Are you… sure you’re ok?”

“Y-Yes, miss spirit… I’m fine. I can’t go back home anyway, so it’s probably best this way. And I can help them out too!” Yui said.

Well,that sealed it. Masako wasn’t about to… do whatever it was she was expected to do with a human sacrifice. That just wasn’t her style (much more fun to trick humans than kill them, after all). But she couldn’t well tell this girl to go back to a society that had sent her to die.

“Fine, then. You want me to take you? I will.” Masako said.

Yui winced, but nodded. “Please, make it quick…”

“Oh, not like that. I’m not gonna kill you.” The fox spirit said quickly. She took a slip of paper from a pouch hidden in her robe, and started to write something.

“Th-then what are you going to do-” Yui started to say, but was interrupted as Masako’s hand flashed out and stuck something to her head. The paper charm flashed white as it worked it’s magic. Yui’s eyes fluttered, and she slumped over limply.

“Your family, to be frank, is awful.” Masako said, carefully righting the girl and making sure she could stay seated. “So, you’re getting a new family. Me. I’ve always wanted a daughter… of course, you can’t hear me right now, can you?”

“Mmmh…” Yui said dreamily, spirals in her eyes as the charm worked it’s magic. Her thoughts had slowed to molasses - at least, the few she had at all. Masako snapped her fingers in front of her face a few times, just to check she hadn’t overdone it on the magic. She wasn’t used to that sort - a white mage friend of hers had shown her how to do charms and such and she didn’t have much practice.

“Right, let’s get this going…” Masako muttered, and worked some more magic into the charm. Instantly, Yui’s body began to change. The first and most obvious change was how her black hair started to brighten considerably - gradually, it lightened from midnight black, to a cloudy grey, and kept on going.

As Yui’s hair transitioned fully to the same snowy white color as Masako, another set of physical changes took place. Her figure filled out - not just in the sense of maturity but in the sense of adequate food. Yui was incredibly malnourished, and she was being returned to a healthy figure. With a bit of an added bonus in the chest and bottom, perhaps, but still mostly a change for health purposes.

Masako leaned in, and began to whisper into her ear. “Do you feel comfortable, Yui?” she asked.

“Yes, miss spirit…” Yui replied, although she seemed to be not all there.

“Good… good. Now… you don’t have to worry about that mean old human village anymore. They were dumb, and ignorant, but they’re not your concern.”

“Don’t worry… not my concern… okay, miss spirit…” Yui nodded.

“That’s right. You live right here, in this shrine.” she said. As she did, Yui’s drab grey robes changed, brightening much the same way her hair had. They also fixed themselves significantly, the long-patched hand-me-downs becoming good as new as it tailored itself to Yui’s new figure.

“I live in the shrine… of course…” Yui agreed. Masako felt a tinge of guilt... but honestly, this would probably be overall better for her. She didn’t expect the poor girl had much in the way of happy memories if her parents had cared so much as to offer her up as a sacrifice.

“And why do you live in the shrine?” Masako asked, gently patting the girl’s head.

“I… I don’t know… why, miss spirit?” Yui said, frowning a little.

“Because I do.” Masako answered. “And since you’re my daughter, so do you.”

“I’m… I’m your daughter… miss spirit…” Yui repeated, and as she did the charm glowed brightly. Through her newly white hair, a pair of fox ears sprang into being, while her human ears seemed to vanish.

“Not miss spirit. Mother.” Masako gently corrected.

“Mother.” Yui repeated. After some struggle, a fox tail popped a hole in the girl’s new robes. She wasn’t a human anymore, but a kitsune, albeit a young one by their standards.

“You can wake up now, Yui…” Masako whispered, taking the charm off her face.

As she did, Yui blinked, her now silver eyes losing the cloudiness that had overtaken them while under the charm. “Mama?” she said. “What are we doing sitting out here?”

Masako smiled a bit. It had worked - more than she’d expected, even. She already felt a bond where there hadn’t been one before. “Just watching the moon, Yui. Don’t you remember?”

Yui paused, as her mind filled in the blanks with new memories. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I heard you grumbling about the humans again. Did they do something to make you mad?”

“Oh, nothing much. They sent a sacrifice to the shrine, since one of them thought the spirits were angry. I wasn’t before, but I kinda am now.”

Yui frowned. “...Mama, please don’t do anything drastic. They don’t deserve it. They’re just kinda stupid. And gullible.”

Masako laughed. Even in her new form, Yui wanted to protect the village. “I promise I won’t, darling. I was just thinking I’d play some tricks on the doomsayer who caused it, maybe get her to reveal herself as a fraud. That should wake them up a bit.”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Yui sat up, grinning as her tail started to wag a bit. “Can I go? I wanna try to play some tricks! I’ve been practicing my illusions like you told me to!”

The older kitsune laughed again at her new daughter’s enthusiasm. She hadn’t done much to the girl’s mind, memory aside. The playfulness, the care for others, that was all Yui. The humans didn’t know what they’d given up. “Oh, fine, twist my tail a bit more why don’t you. As long as you’re careful and quiet, you can come with me.”

Not long after, a pair of mundane-looking foxes left the shrine, running through the undergrowth towards the human village…