Keeping a Kitsune Ch. 03

After a glance at Ishida, Ken fielded that one. "Legally and ethically, nothing we discuss here will be spoken of outside this call, with two exceptions. If we believe you are planning to commit a crime, we have to report it. Also, if the DHS can reasonably claim you're a suspect in a terror investigation, we can be forced to break confidentiality. Aside from those two exceptions, confidentiality is iron-clad."

"So, if I just asked whether or not something was legal?"

"That's why people hire lawyers, Mr. Wiggins, to figure out what's legal and what isn't."

"Okay. So, first question. Is it legal for a Kitsune to live among humans without belonging to a human?"

Ishida took over. "Short answer is no. The answer used to be that it was legal but never happened, since any Kitsune that came out of hiding was instantly captured, but since 9/11 it's illegal for any non-human to move unrestricted in US territory. One of the provisions of the Patriot Act classifies all non-humans as deadly weapons and places severe restrictions on them. Non-humans visiting from other countries are legally considered to be owned by their embassies while they're in the US, and have to submit to monitoring throughout their visit. Non-humans native to the US are restricted in various ways; some a polite legal fiction, some true ownership. The polite legal fiction usually involves being owned by a corporation."

"What does that polite legal fiction mean? In layman's terms; are the non-humans free?"

"They're free in practice, sheltered by the wealth and influence of their corporation. However, the actual law is still quite binding. The corporation can revoke the non-human's practical freedom at any time with basically no legal consequences. The small number of non-humans who operate independently on US soil usually have someone intensely loyal to them installed as the CEO of the corporation, or registered as their personal owner."

"So assuming I'm the person a non-human trusts most, there wouldn't be any real legal difference between me owning that non-human directly or through a shell corporation."

"In terms of rights for the non-human, no; there are quite a few possible tax and liability differences, depending on the details of what you're doing."

"Okay, second question. What happens if a Kitsune lives quietly among humans, isn't registered to anyone, but just doesn't get noticed?"

Ishida shrugged. "They pass as human and live among us unnoticed. If I may make an educated guess, I think you're really asking what happens if a Kitsune who's trying to pass as human gets found out."

"Hypothetically, sure, that's a good question."

"If a private citizen catches a wild Kitsune, they have first claim on ownership. That can be contested if the citizen does not have proper hunting permits, but with a good lawyer they can make their claim stick. If an officer of the law or member of the armed forces catches a wild Kitsune, the Kitsune becomes the property of the government and either remains government property or is auctioned off. A private citizen may or may attempt to capture the Kitsune, depending on the person, but a soldier or police officer would be required to make the attempt. There are no real consequences for a human if they use violence to subdue the Kitsune and secure its capture, assuming all reasonable corollaries on property damage and risk to bystanders."

"Thank you Ishida-san. This has been very helpful. Can we pause the call for a moment?"

"One more relevant detail first, Mr. Wiggins. Since the DHS considers all non-humans to be potential terror threats, if a citizen is found to be harboring a non-human, the DHS can and has brought charges of accessory to terrorism. I do not currently have sufficient grounds to suspect you of this, at least not in terms that would require me to break confidentiality. I assume the same is true for Mr. Tanaka?"

Ishida looked like he suspected Ken knew something that might require him to report me, but Ken kept a clean poker face as he confirmed that I was in the clear. Bless you, Ken. I thanked them then cut off video and audio from my end. I turned to Chiyo.

"Well, it's not what we wanted to hear, but it's about what I guessed. My opinion is that it's too risky to try and keep you hidden, and our best call is for me to assume legal ownership of you to protect you, but if you want to try and hide, I'm willing to take the risk."

Chiyo swallowed nervously. "No, you're right. It's too risky. Besides, it's just making official what's already true. I'm depending on you to protect me from other humans."

I reached out and held her hand, tugging her chair into view of the camera. "Okay. Let's introduce you to the lawyers."

I clicked the camera back on. "Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to Chiyo. I have recently caught her, I have a Kitsune hunting license that is in order, and I would like your legal guidance on the correct procedure to file ownership for her."

I knew both lawyers knew exactly what was going on, but they played along with my bullshit. Ken was completely smooth as he replied; "Coincidentally, I recently spoke to Ishida-san about the procedures for registering a captured Kitsune. I believe I have all of the proper forms available, and Ishida-san and I can help talk you through filling them out."

Ken emailed me all of the forms, and they talked me through it as I printed them and filled them out. Apparently I would need to file them in person, and also present Chiyo for inspection and to be photographed for the national registry. There was only one snag.

"Purely hypothetically, what if I don't have Chiyo's pearl readily available? Maybe I already put it in a safe deposit box or something like that?"

Ken's eyes widened as he stared at me. Ishida raised an eyebrow but was otherwise unruffled. "The precise wording of the law only requires that the pearl has to be registered to ensure a smooth transfer in the event of ownership of the Kitsune transferring. If a Kitsune is being sold or passed down via inheritance, the pearl must be used to confirm that it is the correct pearl during the transfer of property, usually by having the Kitsune change shape. Though this is customarily also done when a wild Kitsune is first registered, by the exact wording of the law you are not legally required to do so. A signed affidavit confirming the pearl's location will be fine."

"Great. Ken, could you whip one of those up for me? Just leave the name of the bank and the number of the safe deposit box blank, I'm having a sudden memory lapse on where I put it, but I'm sure I have the receipt around here somewhere."

Ken looked like he was going to have questions later, but he played along. After that, I talked with them about what I could do to ensure Chiyo's protection while I owned her.

The way Ishida explained it, the laws for Chiyo were pretty similar to those for a Doberman, Rottweiler, or some other dangerous pet. She was my property so no one could do anything to her without my permission. If she attacked someone, I was legally liable for her actions, and the government could confiscate her if they believed I wasn't controlling her well enough. Her victim would also be justified to use lethal force to protect themselves and the law would side with them.

If Chiyo was running around without human supervision, she was basically 'off-leash'. Someone could claim that they thought she was wild and try to capture her or otherwise abuse her. How well that would stand up in court would depend on the exact details of the situation and how good our respective lawyers were.

The trickiest area of the law was if Chiyo used violence in self-defense. In the end, Ishida basically said it depended on the circumstances, the lawyers, and public perception, but it wasn't a good idea. If she was in danger, I should handle any violence, not her; if I wasn't around or was incapacitated, her best bet was to run and find a policeman, not try to defend herself.

The one area where Chiyo wasn't protected as well under the law as an animal was my rights over her. There was basically nothing I could do to her that would cause a government authority to step in and rescue her from me if I was being too cruel.

It was a pretty depressing picture of the law, to be honest. I knew going into the discussion that Kitsune were basically property, but I hadn't realized the full implications. Still, Ishida and Ken did their best to make sure we understood how things worked and what our best ways to deal with things were. Once we ran out of questions and all the forms were correctly filled out, I thanked them and ended the call.

Chiyo had held up pretty well during the call, chiming in once or twice with a question of her own. As soon as the call ended, her composed front shattered. She looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes.

"Jason, why is human law so cruel?"

I reached over and lifted her into my lap. She broke down and cried on my shoulder. It was the first time she'd cried since I caught her; I don't know if listening to the long list of rights she didn't have was the final straw, or if she hadn't felt safe enough around me to cry before. Either way, I didn't have a good answer for her question.

"I don't know, Chiyo. Human law is made to benefit humans, I guess. I don't know why things are the way they are."

I rubbed her back and made soothing noises while she cried herself out; it took a while. I think she'd been building up to this since I caught her, and now the dam had burst. Eventually it ended, like it always does. A body only has so many tears it can spend. I got her a handkerchief to clean her face, and was going to give her a little space, but she grabbed my arm as I was getting up, so I stayed close to her, my arm around her shoulder.

"You know we have to register you today. We have all of the forms, and if we don't turn them in, Ken and Ishida-san will be in trouble," I reminded her.

"Do we have to do it right now?"

"No, we don't, but my dad always said when you have to do something you don't want to do, it's better to do it and get it over with than sit around worrying about it."

"Alright. You should probably change your shirt; I got snot all over the shoulder." Chiyo sniffed and got up off my lap.

I took her advice, then buckled on my ND4 and led her out. Chiyo had tugged her skirt up to cover her tails, and followed me on her crutches. We stopped at a bank first, so I could rent a safe deposit box and not put anything in it.

Because the practice of capturing Kitsune predated the DHS and the new laws restricting the movements and rights of non-humans, we actually had to register Chiyo at the Fish & Game Bureau. Literally walk in, take a number, and wait for the clerk to call you. It didn't feel like the venue matched the weight of what was happening. I was going to legally enslave Chiyo for life; right after the old guy in line ahead of me finished complaining about his fine for exceeding his limit carp fishing.

The poor clerk that served us had to call her manager to look up the proper procedure. I tried to keep things discreet, but within a few minutes everyone on staff and in line knew that there was an actual live Kitsune standing next to me. I could hear cell phone cameras snapping our pictures as the manager read through a dusty manual. The process took forever, as they didn't really have things set up for this. It was likely Chiyo was the first Kitsune who'd ever been registered at this office, and she was certainly the first one these particular employees had ever seen.

Chiyo kept her head down the whole time, flushing in shame as the clerk measured her height and weight and snapped registration photos of her face and tails, pushing down her skirt to do so. They didn't have an actual kit to take her fingerprints, so they jury-rigged one by breaking a ball-point pen to get ink. The manager thought that we had to produce her pearl and make her change forms but when I threatened to call my lawyer he accepted the affidavit I'd filled out.

I got a fancy certificate of ownership; Chiyo got a laminated photo ID card with her name, species and registration number, along with my name and contact information as her owner.

Finally it was over; a couple of the people who had been waiting in line behind us came towards us as we headed out, probably wanting to ask for a photo with the Kitsune, but they backed off when I glowered at them. I got Chiyo into the car and got out of there as fast as possible.

Chiyo was miserable and humiliated, and I was pissed at my species. I just drove for a while, not really heading anywhere, just staying in motion while I fumed. After a while I had an idea.

"Hey, I know it's not noon yet, but are you hungry?" I asked, turning toward Chiyo in the passenger seat.

She blinked, bringing her attention back towards me. "A little bit."

I smiled, "So, I was thinking. We've had a kind of miserable morning. But, the good news is that we can go places now without having to hide you as long as I'm there to protect you. I mean, you should probably keep hiding your tails so that we don't get mobbed by sight-seers, but would you like to go to a nice restaurant for an early lunch?"

"What kind of restaurant?"

"I was thinking a steakhouse. Big slabs of beef, extra rare and juicy."

Chiyo gave me a faint smile. "That actually does sound nice."

"Or we could go to a pet store, and I could buy a couple live mice. We don't have to tell the pet store people that you're going to eat them."

That got a chuckle, as I'd hoped. "That's sweet of you, but the mice could claim I attacked them, and if they had better lawyers they'd win. We should probably try the steak. And besides, I've had mice before, I've never had steak."

We weren't dressed for a really high end steakhouse, but I picked the nicest one I thought we could get into, a western style place on the banks of the Kamo river. I wanted to show Chiyo one of the nice parts of the human world, after we'd just stared at the ugly parts.

The staff was all Japanese, but the clientele was mostly American. The outdoor seating was still open, and I got us a table on the balcony with a good view of the river. I ordered for both of us; a steak for each of us, a baked potato and beer for me, water and a side salad for Chiyo. I knew she wasn't a huge fan of carbs, and if she didn't like the salad she wouldn't have to finish it. Once the waitress left, we sat there quietly for a minute.

Chiyo was watching the river, enjoying a little touch of nature in the city. I was content to watch Chiyo. I loved the way the midday light reflected onto her face off the water below, the way she took deep breaths through her nose, seeming to take in as much information by scent as she did visually.

"You look so beautiful right now. I always think you look beautiful, but you seem more natural and at peace outdoors." I spoke without thinking.

Chiyo blushed and lowered her eyes. "Thank you Master."

She fidgeted in her chair, and I felt bad about interrupting her moment of peace. I reached out and took her hand, tugging it onto the table where I could fold it between my larger hands. I gently stroked my thumb over her knuckles. "Tell me about growing up; you told me that you used to live with your mother before she drove you and your sisters out. Was it someplace like the valley I found you in?"

"No, my mother's den was deep in the forest. The trees were so much taller and older than in my valley; you could run for miles without ever leaving the shade of the trees. My mother had a little wooden house with one room next to a stream, and we lived there until we were old enough to run and hunt. After that, every few weeks she took us on long hunts through her territory. The hunts got longer and longer, until eventually one day she took us all the way to the edge of her territory and told us we couldn't stay. What was it like where you grew up?"

"My family moved around a lot when my brothers were young, but when I was four years old my father got posted to an Air Force base in Colorado and we stayed there my whole childhood. I was lucky to be the third child; I didn't have to change schools every few years like my older brothers. When I was ten, my mom declared she was tired of military housing and made my dad buy a big house on the edge of town. It was a big property, several acres, and I spent as much time as I could outdoors. My dad loved hunting and fishing, so we would take trips to do that whenever he could find time away from work. When I was eighteen I moved out to go to college at Colorado State; after I graduated, I wanted to see the world so I jumped at the chance to take a job here in Japan."

"You lived with your family for eighteen years?" Chiyo seemed shocked at the concept.

"Yeah, most people do. Why, how old were you when your mother drove you out?"

"It was just after my second winter, as soon as the snow melted."

"She drove you out when you were two years old?? How did you survive on your own as a toddler?"

Chiyo frowned. "You're not making sense. A toddler is, like, a baby who's just learning to walk, right? Why would I still be that after two winters?"

It took a little more conversation to work out the details of our misunderstanding. Apparently Chiyo had matured on a timeline closer to that of a fox than a human. By the time her mother had driven her out, she was basically as physically mature as she was today. We had to pause that portion of the conversation partway through as our food arrived, but I finished explaining human maturation while we ate our steaks.

Chiyo frowned wistfully as she finished chewing a bite of her steak. "That sounds so nice. Eighteen years with your mother, and father, and brothers. I wish I could have spent more time with my family. I know a Kitsune is supposed to be independent, but I liked my mother and my sisters, and I wish I could have kept living with them forever. My valley was peaceful and I loved it, but it was lonely too."

A thought occurred to me. "Chiyo, did you ever meet your father?"

"No. Mother never talked about him, or where we came from. This sounds really dumb, but until I talked to you I never really thought about having a father. I mean, I'd seen other animals mate, but I was a Kitsune; I guess I always just kind of assumed mother made me and my sisters with her magic."

"He had to have been a human, you know."

"I remember, you said something about that. You said Kitsune can only have children after they mate with humans. So that means my mother must have met a human, and had sex with him. Like me and you. I can't even imagine her doing that, but it must have happened."

I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked away. "Well, probably not exactly like you and me. I mean, your mother was free and living in the wild, not owned and registered."

Chiyo sighed. "Maybe. Or maybe it was like you and me, but he set her free afterwards. I wonder how she felt about him."

"I guess we'll never know, unless somehow you meet your mother again and ask her."

I wanted to ask Chiyo how she felt about me, but I couldn't find the courage to ask. We finished the rest of our meal in silence except for a couple comments about the food, both of us caught up in private musings about family.

The drive home was quiet. I let us into my apartment then put my ND4 back in my safe. Gun safety had been drilled into me at a young age. While I did that, Chiyo used her crutches to get over to the couch where I'd left my tablet and settled down.

I grinned and strolled over to stand next to her. She'd forgotten one of the rules, so Master was going to remind her.

"Chiyo, can you tell me what's wrong with this picture?"

She looked up at me. She'd always been hyper-aware of my body language, and she could tell she'd done something wrong. She held her body very still as she looked around the apartment, then looked up at me. "No Master, I'm sorry, I don't know."