Days turned into weeks.
Weeks turned into months.
And finally after 12 months, Kiyomi officially completed one year of her life.
The first birthday is regarded as a prestigious event, that's why the Kuzunoha clan invited every clan.
From the Zenin Clan to the Gojo Clan, and even the minor clans.
No one other than Kuzunoha clan inhabitants had seen her face (with the sole exception of Satoru Gojo, of course)
THE KUZUNOHA CLAN
The Shinoda forest is alive today, not just the quiet rustle of leaves.
It hums with cursed energies of hundreds of sorcerers arriving today.
The torii gates have been polished, and the white fox statues guarding the entrance gates are draped in fresh white silk.
For one year, we have hidden her.
We have whispered her name like a secret prayer, shielding her from the prying eyes of other clans.
She's the only female heir among all clans.
But the "Four Great Clans" balance requires this- a debut. A formal introduction to the world she lives in.
And the first birthday is the perfect time.
We invited every clan,every inhabitant within the jujutsu world, formal invitations like these are not to be ignored.
But the Zenin clan didn't bring their twin daughters, Maki and Mai, both are supposed to be around 6 months old.
They didn't celebrate their birth just because they're twins and born without cursed energy. Pathetic. They treat daughters like a burden, while we treat ours like a blessing. Even the founder named our clan after his mother.
(The founder of the Kuzunoha clan, Abe no Seimei, named the clan after his mother, Kuzunoha, instead of his father.)
Kiyomi was seated on a raised dais, dressed in a miniature kimono of pale iris silk. Her black hair smoothed back.
She doesn't fidget. She doesn't cry watching unknown faces.
She is silent, watching the sea of greedy, judgmental eyes with a calm that unnerves even us.
"Look at them," the Head Elder whispered.
"The Zenin want to buy her. The Kamo want to study her. And the Gojo... well, the Gojo already think they own her and Gojo heir already adopted her, unofficially."
The barriers are down for one day, the same barriers that kept assassins out last year.
(Note:-Just like toddler Gojo Satoru, Kiyomi was also a main target for assassins, but she has a cousin and the whole clan mysticism keeping her safe every second)
The Fox was being watched. And she was watching back.
SATORU GOJO (Age 11)
I stood off to the side, leaning against a pillar with my hands shoved in my pockets.
I didn't need to be at the front with those old men.
I've been seeing her every week for a year.
Sneaking into the Shinoda estate is basically my favorite hobby now.
But watching the other clans react?
That was real entertainment.
The Zenin old men were literally leaning forward, their eyes bulging as they tried to measure her Cursed Energy, squinting like they could see the frames of her soul.
Idiots.
I looked at Kiyomi.
She looked back at me for a split second, her dark eyes tracking me through the crowd.
She didn't cry.
She didn't look scared.
She looked like she was memorizing everyone's faces so she could haunt them later.
"Happy birthday, brat," I mouthed at her.
She's the only thing in this room that doesn't make me want to yawn.
She looks like a doll, sure- but my Six Eyes can see the fox's tail twitching in her shadow.
She's growing.
Soon, she won't just be my "little cousin."
She'll be a problem for everyone else.
And I can't wait.
NAOBITO ZENIN
I took a long draw from my flask, the burn of the sake matching the irritation in my chest.
My eyes narrowed as I looked at the girl.
So this is the Kuzunoha treasure.
The rumors didn't do her justice.
At one year old, she already possesses a refined presence that most of our elite sorcerers lack even after decades of discipline.
The "equality" of her clan, that soft, idealistic way they run their house, has produced something... dangerously elegant.
But beauty is just a shell.
I'm looking at the flow of energy.
It's fluid.
Natural.
Like she isn't even trying to hold it in, yet it's isn't leaking.
If she manifests the Nine Tails, the Zenin will have to rethink our entire strategy for the next decade or even longer.
We can't just suppress the Kuzunoha anymore.
We might have to negotiate.
And I hate negotiating.
Especially when the other side holds an ace like her.
NAOYA ZENIN (Age 10)
I stood behind my father, scowling so hard that my face ached.
So that's her?
Kiyomi?
She's just a baby.
She looks like she's made of glass, wrapped in silk that's probably softer than anything I've ever touched.
But she's still a girl.
In the Zenin house, girls are background noise. They are the shadows the men walk through.
I looked at Satoru Gojo, who was acting like he was her personal bodyguard.
It makes me sick.
The Gojo and Kuzunoha are acting like they're better than us because they have history and bond.
"She looks weak," I muttered under my breath, loud enough for only my father to hear.
But then she turned her head.
Her black eyes met mine for a second.
There was no "baby" warmth in them.
It was like looking into a deep, dark forest where something was waiting to bite.
I straightened my collar instinctively , my heart giving a weird little thud that I hated.
Whatever.
She's just a girl.
A girl who happens to have the most annoying cousin in the world.
OGI ZENIN (Father of Mai and Maki)
I stood in the shadow of the great hall, my hand resting heavily on the hilt of my katana.
The air in this place was too thick, too much incense, too much of the Kuzunoha's soft, feminine influence.
I looked at the girl on the dais.
A year old. A girl. And yet, she sat there with more poise than the failures I have waiting for me back at the estate.
My teeth ached from clenching my jaw.
Just months ago (Mai n Maki were born on January 20, 2001), my own daughters were born twins.
A curse in our world.
One with barely any cursed energy, the other with even less. A stain on my record as a sorcerer.
And then there is this.
I watched the way Satoru Gojo looked at her- like she was his equal.
It shouldn't be possible. Power should be a masculine blade, sharp and direct.
"A waste," I muttered to myself, though my heart wasn't in the lie.
It wasn't a waste of power.
It was a waste that it didn't belong to me. If I had an heir with that much raw potential, I would be the head of the Zenin clan by now.
I wouldn't be standing behind Naobito, watching him drown himself in sake while the world shifts beneath our feet.
THE KAMO CLAN
We sat in perfect, rigid formation, a wall of dark ink and stiff collars.
Little Noritoshi sat on his mother's lap in a corner, clutching a small wooden charm with knuckles that were still soft.
The other children sat on high chairs away from him- sturdy, disciplined, already being shaped into the perfect heirs.
They were waiting for the day when one of them would manifest the Clan technique, the Blood Manipulation required to become the true head.
But the girl on the dais....
She is the opposite of discipline.
She is "Natural Genius" personified.
"Look at her, children," the Elder hissed, loud enough for only children to hear.
"That is your rival. That is the one who will try to claim the Kamo's rightful place as the teachers of the ritual."
The kids just blinked their large, innocent eyes, looking at Kiyomi as if she were a star fallen from the sky.
But Noritoshi, oblivious to the venom in the room, reached out a tiny hand toward her, letting out a soft, hopeful babble.
His hand was immediately withdrawn by his mother quickly- good.
He doesn't understand the bitter history yet.
He just sees another child.
We, however, see a threat.
The Kuzunoha have returned to the world, and they have brought a masterpiece with them.
KIYOMI KUZUNOHA (Age 1)
There are so many people.
They all smell like old paper, burnt incense, and hidden anger.
I don't like the way the man with the flask looks at me, his eyes are like a gambler's, counting my fingers and toes as if I'm a prize he could win.
I don't like the way the blond boy with the mean face glares, he looks funny though.
I felt the fox inside me tensing up.
It didn't like this room.
It wanted to growl.
It wanted to hide me away in the shadows of the Shinoda trees where the air is cool and no one stares into my soul.
But then I saw the Blue and White.
Satoru was there.
He was the only thing that felt clear in this room somehow.
He looked bored, which made me feel better.
He was treating the super formal event like a visit to a candy shop.
But if he wasn't worried about these people, then I shouldn't be either.
I sat tall, smoothing my little silk sleeves just like my mother taught me. It was hard, my hands were small.
I am Kiyomi.
I am the Fox
Well, that's what my mother told me.
I looked at the blond boy (Naoya) and gave a tiny, regal tilt of my head. He fixed his collars, heh.
Then I looked back at Satoru and let out a small huff of breath.
Come and get me out of here. This kimono is itchy. And I want to go home.