Chapter 7

Although the fact that Yumi doesn't know what a 'status page' is, for now, what's more important is breakfast.

Rumble rumble.

Isaiah was already starving and he could smell a faint scent of food from where they are.

Following Yumi, as soon as he got out, he could no longer see those tax collectors but...

'Huh.'

He could somewhat see a pair of large blue eyes which weren't just large, they were extremely large for a human being. It simply stared straight at him over the short wall which surrounded the compound, but before Isaiah could mull about it, it suddenly disappeared.

'Did it grin?' He wondered as a chill went to his very spine.

"Ne Isaiah... What are you looking at?" Yumi asked.

"Hmmm, ahh, nothing. Let's go?"

"Yah."

It seems that Senki was about to go get them since the moment they got in the front door, Senki was there just about to leave.

"Huh."

Senki was surprised at first but nodded in a greeting, pretending as if all those dragging around the house thing never happened.

Isaiah nodded back as both Yumi and Senki then started talking with each other.

"Is everything okay Senki-chan?" Yumi asked, curious how the tax collection went.

She sighed, "I wish it was but it seemed that something is happening."

"Ehh? Tell me."

"Sure. It seems that, oka-san."

While the two were in a conversation, their mother Saichi Oda came to greet them. It was perfect timing for Isaiah who just stood there waiting for the two since he couldn't really understand their conversations.

The height difference between Saichi and Senki was unnoticeable and so is her looks though age has already taken a toll on her face it was still pleasant to look at. Her brown hair shined greatly which she let flow down to her waist. Complementing her looks was a brown obi with white carps.

'Like mother, like daughters eh?'

"Hello." She greeted the three with a smile.

"Oka-san." The two replied.

'Should I?' Isaiah wondered, 'Why not?'

And thus Isaiah gently approached the mother with a smile of his own, took her right hand, and lightly tapped it in his forehead.

"Mano po." [1]

'...'

Saichi acted like any foreigner who for the first time received the Filipino gesture for greeting an elder, she got confused. 

Yumi and Senki seemed to go tense immediately but Isaiah with his smile said "That's how we greet our elders in my hometown. Sorry."

Yumi sighed in relief as she translated for her mother and sister what Isaiah just said.

"Oh, ara, thank you, I didn't know," Saichi replied.

"No problem." 

Now it was her turn as she scanned Isaiah up and down and smoothened out some of the crumpled areas of his obi. "Good." She said to herself. "Now then, shall we?" She gestured inside.

Saichi went ahead followed by Yumi. Senki stayed behind and gestured at Isaiah.

"Right." Isaiah nodded then followed after them.

Isaiah hadn't really seen the whole house the first time he was out of his room since Senki dragged him outside in such speed, but it definitely was a neat little house.

The outside walls were of wood while those insides were of paper with tatami floors. There were in fact little to no furniture around. It was also now that Isaiah noticed that he wasn't wearing any footwear, but his feet were clean at least.

Saichi and Yumi then turned left and soon, they were in a slightly larger open air space with a long table in the center, with various dishes from seafood to salads, soy sauce, and rice all presented in a fantastic display.

But it wasn't the food that got Isaiah's attention.

'That's him...'

Oji Koda sat cross-legged at the end of the table with a grumpy look. His slightly larger belly and his expression made Isaiah think that he was meeting one of the old daimyos like Oda Nobunaga himself. The air around him almost felt the same as well.

The three women first bowed curtly to their father and quickly went into their seats with Saichi sitting on his right side of the table and Senky and Yumi to the left.

Soon, all eyes were on Isaiah, who was left in the door.

Isaiah greeted Oji with a bow and Oji responded by nodding as he scanned Isaiah's tall figure, a smile quickly floated in his lips.

"Good morning." He said.

"Good morning," Isaiah repeated in kind as he understood some of the Japanese greetings and sat on the other side of the table.

'Don't the Japanese during the Edo eat alone or something?'

As soon as Isaiah sat down, the four quickly uttered a short prayer of thanks and then picked up their chopsticks.

Isaiah uttered his short prayer as well and as soon as he was finished broke his chopsticks.

'How do I?'

Sadly, he wasn't used to using chopsticks but by glancing over to their hands, Isaiah could mimick their movements and after three tries, he was doing very well.

At first, they all ate in silence as they watched Isaiah, seemingly examining him. This made him very tense as he could feel the stares on him as if they were daggers.

'Please let me be.' He said as he blew in the hot steaming rice.

Swallowing his food, Oji asked Yumi "Does he understand Kusenei?" [2]

"No father," Yumi replied.

Oji looked at her daughter and nodded "Translate for me please." before turning his eyes to Isaiah "What is your name?"

Although Yumi knew the answer, she translated her father's question to Isaiah.

Isaiah looked up, swallowed the fish he was chewing, and answered. "Isaiah Petre." He replied. 

The reason as to why Isaiah didn't give his last name was simply because of custom, they might think that Isaiah was a noble and it could complicate things further ahead.

Oji nodded "Isaiah-san. Hello."

"Hello," Isaiah repeated his words and then the family once again ate in silence for a while. Saichi then fired the next volley of questions.

"Isaiah-san, do you remember where you came from?"

Isaiah waited for Yumi to translate, then started thinking.

'Now they wouldn't believe if I were to tell them that I came from another world now?' Isaiah looked at the four tenkos who were waiting for his answer, then promptly shook his head.

"I don't remember." He said.

"You don't?"

"Yes."

"And how about those?" She said referring to his wounds.

"That as well, I don't know."

"Even all those injuries?" Saichi almost gasped in shock but calmed down after Oji faked a cough. "Sorry, even all those injuries, you don't know where they came from?"

As the resident practitioner of medicine, Saichi was the one who treated Isaiah when he was first found by the villagers weeks ago, and upon examination, she was horrified to see plenty of stab wounds and injuries that Isaiah received. It wasn't simply nature or the river, they were all naturally obtained, or in other words, someone did it to him.

"Yes," Isaiah replied quietly.

"I see..." But for some reason, all those injuries and bruises mysteriously healing which was good and all, but now her interest was sparked and she asked another question. "Are you perhaps capable of magic?"

At the sudden mention of magic, both Yumi and Senki glanced at Isaiah while eating but Oji stared straight at Isaiah, curious in what his reply would be.

After Yumi translated for Isaiah, he nodded.

'As I thought.' Saichi turned to her husband who grinned slightly and nodded without the others noticing before she asked the next question.

"Can you demonstrate your powers here."

But before Yumi could translate, Oji reprimanded his wife, "Don't, using magic on food is taboo, we have plenty of time later, for now, let us eat."

"Right, I am deeply sorry."

Oji nodded and smiled at Isaiah. Isaiah smiled back, embarrassed, and wondering what Saichi just said and why she retracted it.

They then ate in silence and after they finished, Oji clapped his hand and servants came to collect the dishes leaving behind the table and a glass of tea.

They all waited for Isaiah to finish drinking tea before Oji asked a question. "Your magic, you said you have magic, can you show us?"

Setting the cup down, Isaiah nodded. "Like this."

"Woah." Isaiah got the same reaction that Senki and Yumi gave when they first witnessed his magic. "Even cups?" Yumi gasped.

But simply lifting a cup without holding it wouldn't be enough of a show now wouldn't it? Isaiah then got the cup to move around and fly past them, and as a final touch, a bolt of lightning began swirling about the cup.

"Woooo."

"What the..."

"Ehahaha."

The four kitsunes soon enjoyed the spectacle of the cup seemingly shrouded in lightning as it danced about mid-air with Isaiah controlling it effortlessly. Well, it wasn't really effortlessly, Isaiah was giving it his all in doing just that but it was still shocking how easy it was to control his powers.

Soon, Oji nodded with a smile and waved his hand. "That's enough," he said and the cup landed perfectly in the middle of the table. "A strange magic indeed, but a good one."

He was about to reach for the cup when Isaiah made it slide towards him. "Thank you very much." He said as he picked it up and examined it. 

"Thank you po."

"Po?" Yumi asked.

"Its how we refer to elders."

"Ahh, okay." She nodded and translated it for the others.

"He does have strange customs unlike those onion eaters in the south, the way he greets people as well is very strange but fancy." Saichi commented as he explained how the 'mano' greeting proceeded.

Oji nodded at her wife's explanation and then asked Yumi, "Are you familiar with that kind of custom?"

Yumi who had read about human culture and thus was capable of understanding their language thought for a while before shaking her head. "I haven't heard of that kind of custom father." 

"Hmmm, very well. Now then, Isaiah-san." Unlike Yumi, it seems that Oji could pronounce his name perfectly. "Do you know where you came from?"

After translating, Isaiah replied "Its the Philippine Island po, an archipelago nation with 7,107 islands."

"Arki-pela-go?" Yumi asked.

"Yes, it means a nation composed of many islands. Like mine which has seven thousand islands."

"Seven thousand?"

"Seven, one thousand?"

"Hmm?"

"It's like, 100's, but 70 of them."

"70, 100's... Ahhhh." 

"10 100's is 1,000."

"Ahhh, one thousand, okay. Thank you very much."

"No problem."

Now, Yumi had trouble translating and so took her time but after that, Oji asked her. "Are you familiar with that nation?"

"No." Came the quick reply.

"Okay... Hmmm," Oji then looked at Isaiah, "Isaiah-san, what will you do after this?"

"Hmmm?"

"Will you be going home next?"

Chapter 7 Fin...

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Things to learn.

[1] Mano Po - Standard Filipino greeting of the elders, usually used with older family members. It is simply taking the other's right hand and placing the front, not the palm, to the forehead as a sign of respect. I am not aware of its direct translation but it does mean "Bless please." Or just simply asking for a blessing. BY FORCE! jk. (since the elder doesn't really offer his/her hand most of the time and it's the younger who just takes it from them.)

[2] Kusenei - It is what they call Japanese since the Kitsunes culture is based on Japanese but they are officially called Kitsuneans and their language is  therefore Kusunei. But it's still Japanese.

Daily Reminder that Yumi can fully understand English but cannot speak it fluently which is why her translating isn't smooth.

Also, Po is simply the term in the Philippines used to refer to someone in a polite manner or someone you don't know. It is not gender-specific and neither age-specific as well and can be used by all. It is also the only way of referring to others as we don't have plenty of suffixes like the Japanese or Koreans.