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"I don't know," Xodiac said as he gazed uncertainly into the mirror. "This looks a little..."

"Oh relax, already!" Shigeo interrupted as he stepped in close. "You look fine!"

Xodiac turned and looked at his companion. The diminutive fox had approached the dragote as he was checking some of the shrines in rural Japan and offered to play guide. It was an offer Xodiac could hardly refuse, especially when the little guy had turned down any offer of payment. He hadn't thought anything of Shigeo's five tails; his own girlfriend back home had three. What's two more?

"Thanks, I guess. But–"

Shigeo frowned. "You guess?"

"I... sorry." Xodiac didn't want to offend someone who had been so kind. "Thank you." He turned back to look at his reflection and chose his words carefully. "But where'd the hair come from?"

"My family has a knack for illusions," the fox said, perhaps a little too casually. "I thought you needed some to complete the look."

Xodiac ran his hand through the shoulder-length blonde hair that framed his face. "Sure feels real enough," he muttered. He was always wary of magic. He'd had a few... bad experiences.

"It's just an illusion, I promise!" Shigeo said. "Now stop fussing with it. We'll be late to the gokon."

"Fine... Wait, what?" Xodiac blinked and looked down at his diminutive host. "I thought we were visiting the street festival. What's a gokon?"

Shigeo shrugged. "Just a sort of meet and greet with close friends. Maybe some drinking, as well. We can do the festival afterwards, if you're still in the mood."

"Well, all right, just so– EEP!"

"What?"

Xodiac glared. "You groped my ass, that's what!"

"I did no such thing!" Shigeo protested, an innocent expression plastered across his face. "I merely tried to put my hand around your waist. It's not my fault you're so tall!"

"Actually, I'd rather you not do that, either. Or stand quite so close..."

Shigeo smiled apologetically. "Sorry. It's just how we do things, here."

"Uh huh." Xodiac glanced one last time at his reflection, his gaze lingering a moment on the large, colorful flowers printed on the fabric, before reluctantly letting himself be led towards the door. Shigeo's hand was still rather disconcertingly pressed against his rear. "And you're sure this is a men's yukata?" he asked as they left.

The kitsune just laughed.

---

This came out a little differently than I expected -- but in a good way. The initial idea was for him to be looking doubtful or suspicious as he looks into the mirror, and for there to be a word balloon with Xodiac's last line in there somewhere to explain why. But  bluepanda1, who did the art, changed the expression slightly, and had the then-nameless kitsune give Xodiac a pinch. That was fine; I don't mind giving artists a little leeway when I commission them. Then, in the description of her posting of the picture, she mentioned a gokon, which after looking up I found is something akin to a mass blind date, and "maybe some drinking" qualifies as a contender for Understatement of the Year.

I hadn't meant for there to be a story accompanying the picture, or even a simple 396-word vignette like this. But all together, her tweaks to it kind of made it imperative, and the little scene above pretty much wrote itself. I think the hardest thing was deciding on a name for the kitsune.

EDIT: I rewrote this part of the story after part 2 came out, 5+ years later. I changed the title (it used to be called "A Lesson in Culture" when it was a standalone) and added a couple of lines (it used to be only 213 words) that help set things up for how things will go, should I continue this into a part 3 and beyond. But the essence of it is the same as before.