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Dec. 26, the day after christmas

Well what a lovely christmas Bijin and I had. Though he only came to me a few weeks ago, I already love him dearly. I got him a japanese tea set and a new kimono for xmas. The sweet little dear gave me a hand made fan and drew my name in Japanese. Perhaps I should start from the beginning to explain just how I recieved such a lovely young boy.

About a month or two ago, I recieved a shiney coin from someone. It looked very old so I decided to research it. From my reads I discovered it was an ancient silver ryo, a type of money used in ancient Japan. I decided to keep in my jewerlry box since it was so valuable. It was still shiney and lovely, even after all these years. One night, I went out to get some tofu for some stir fry and when I returned, a little..child...was sitting in my bedroom holding the ryo.

I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but I saw it had my coin. I demanded to know why the child was here and it simply replied that the coin was its belonging. He introduced himself as Bijin, speaking in the male dialect of Japanese. I was confused since Bijin means Beautiful Woman/Girl. But after asking around, I discovered that dear Bijin was a child of Hamlin, one of those lost so many years ago. He had no memory of his time gone, so I vowed to help him remember. He seemed so happy to have a home and began to call me mother or "Okaasan".

So dear journal, that is how I was blessed with my little Bijin. He loves to wear his kimonos, though I've caught him staring at some of clothes in the girl's department store. I think he wants a dress or perhaps a school uniform, even though I home school him. I am concerned about this because he is a boy and should dress and act like a boy. I've tried to buy him jeans but he refuses to wear there. Oh well....Bijin wants to have lunch outside, so I will write again soon.

Bijin meets Ure, Flerida, and Rune

Asleep in the country of his "birth", Bijin's dreams began to become more real. While Kinnara's nightmares occationally woke the boy, he still stayed realtively aware of his surrounds. He would slowly fall asleep and the swirl of colors signaled the start of his reoccuring dream. The vision would fade and be fuzzy before the scenery came into focus.

It was a thick forest. Old and wise, very few men traveled this far. He knew most Japanese fables happened in the past when men were scatter about the land like a small handful of rice. He walked through it, unaware of what he was, only that he was rather short. Suddenly there would be pain in his foot and the feeling of being unable to move. Trapped, he was trapped. That feeling was more real than anything in the dream, the pain and fear of being trapped.

Then, a man's voice would speak. He did not understand it, as it was a muffled form of Japanese, but he knew after the man talked he was free from the trap. And soon, something would appear where nothing had been before. A shiny disk, which Bijin later figured out was the silver ryo he kept on a string around his neck. He never liked to be without it and would hide it somewhere in his clothes to make sure he always carried it with him.

He spoke with the man, unsure of what he was saying, then walked into the forest as the man followed. He seemed to walk for days though it was only minutes in his dream. Then.....he found a shrine. It was small, almost like a road side shrine that travelers stop and pray at. The dream would begin to fade into blackness as two animal eyes morphed into a human's gaze. What did this mean? Was he.....not human?

Bijin helped his mother carry their bags into the house. They were finally home from Japan. Kinnara had been dropped off at his house on the way. He had enjoyed his friend's company and hoped the feline had learned something about himself having visited the country where he was looked upon as a good luck charm. Bijin quickly unpacked, putting all his clothes away and putting all his new collections on a book shelf.

Later the little fox skipped outside to feed the koi that lived in their pond. He had missed his fishes, always thinking of them when he saw a pond or fountain. But he had started thinking of other things now. His dreams most of all. They were becoming more vivid and scary as they got longer. It was always the same. He was running around in the woods, then there would be pain. Something would stop the pain and it was at that point the dream always ended. Why? Why did it stop? What or who was helping him? Did he help whatever it was in kind?

He sighed heavily and splashed a bit at the water. The koi came up to nibble his fingers and he giggled a bit. They were hungry little fellows. Bijin gave them their usual food then went back inside to help his mother prepare dinner. He chopped the vegetables and helped with the tofu mostly. She was making his favorite as a welcome home dish. Fried tofo and veggies. His mouth watered at the delicious smell. The house seemed so empty now, as Bijin had gotten use to the sound of his feline friend wandering about and the noise of the city around them. It was then his thoughts turned to his friend and wondered what he was up to. Ah well, dinner time!