Chapter 3

To his luck, he spots a window that is left open. This is my chance to escape! The tanuki thought to himself. He climbed up to the table that is next to the opened window. He jumped out of the window and landed on the ground with a thud.

Hisoki stood up and saw a man walking to the house of Takeshi and his mother. Hisoki finds a spot to hide that lets him see what happens. He dives into the garden and quickly transforms into a flowerpot. He could see the man closely.

The man wears black from head to toe. The only uncovered thing is his fiery reddish-brown eyes and thin reddish-brown eyebrows. He was about seven feet tall and had a lean, yet hulking, figure. He knocked on the door and waited for a minute until Takeshi's mother opened the door and she spoke.

"How was the assassination, Mr Ninja? Did you finally kill that bastard who murdered my husband?"

The ninja then said with a voice deeper than a lion's growl.

"The assassination is going well. I had tracked down your husband's killer and strike him in the head with my dagger"

Suddenly, the grumpy old woman burst into huge tears out of happiness. The old lady finally avenged her husband's death. She hugged the ninja tightly and her giant hairbun end up smothering the ninja. She ends up apologizing for hugging the ninja a bit too much and her hairbun nearly squashing the ninja's face.

When Takeshi's mother invited him for tea, Hisoki noticed the ninja had accidentally dropped his bag when he went inside the house.

Out of curiosity, He snuck into the bag and saw there were weapons and a bottle of water. Luckily, the weapons are all sheathed. Hisoki notices a small bag. Out of curiosity, he grabbed the small bag.

Must be some spices, he thought to himself.

He opens it and sniffs it. The aroma smells good, but suddenly he feels sleepy and ends up dozing off.

He woke up when there was a thud. Hisoki climbs up and his head pops out of the bag. He saw the same ninja praying to a Buddha statue and standing by his side was a beautiful woman with blue eyes, bluish-black hair that was tied up in a bun and wore a blue kimono with water patterns. The woman must be the ninja's husband.

The Ninja is unmasked so Hisoki could see his full face. Other than his matching reddish-brown eyes and eyebrows, He had long reddish-brown hair tied up in a topknot, rugged and sharp features and a reddish-brown moustache and goatee.

The Ninja and his wife were praying to Buddha for a child they desperately wanted. While the couple were praying, Hisoki saw a table and two chairs nearby. On top of the table are two cups, a teapot and... a big bowl of delicious assorted mochi cakes!

Hisoki's mouth drooled hungrily at the sight of mochi cakes. Tanukis love food and their appetites are nearly as big as Onis. The little tanuki crawled out of the bag and sneaked away to the table. Hisoki climbed up to the table and was careful not to crash into the cups and teapot. He reaches his hand to a bowl of mochi and finally snarfs down a handful of mochi. He heard the Ninja say as he prayed.

"Please, Buddha, give me a child—even if they are a tanuki!"

Hisoki suddenly transformed into mochi and dropped into a bowl of mochi. He tried to turn back but couldn't. He saw the couple had finished praying and was walking towards the table.

What's going on? Why could I turn back!?

He thought, panicking as the couple sat in their chairs and the ninja poured tea into their cups.

A hand grabbed him from the bowl. It was the wife. She thought he was a mochi cake. He tried to shout and cried, but unfortunately, no words came out. The wife pops the mochi (actually a transformed Hisoki) into her open mouth and eats it.

And that is the end of poor Hisoki and the sad story about how the little Tanuki foolishly disobeyed his family and ended up getting eaten by the Ninja's wife. To young readers, never disobey your family just so you can see the world or you end up having a tragic fate like the poor tanuki. I had no more stories for you to tell and goodbye for now….