Chapter 16: The California Kingdom Part 1

The five of them reached another portion of the massive den. Here they could see the school that was in session through a glass window. The classroom was big, consisting of forty students. Inside the school was a female adult Yuki that was instructing a class.

“It is time that you learn about us,” Fumi told them. “We are the Yuki. We are the children of the Yuki San ... the former princess of the kingdom of the rats. Our kingdom prospered. Yuki herself struggled to find a husband.”

“I am well aware of this story already,” Ryujin told her, interrupting her. “Your mother was transformed into the new type of bodies that you have now. She was capable of reproducing with the humans, but she was the only survivor of the kingdom.”

“Ah...” Fumi was left at a loss of words. Taweret and Vinayaki both were also caught off guard.

“Wait,” the elephant goddess replied. “I know a little bit about your story Ryujin. You said you knew a lot about these people thanks to Renenutet and Theo,” she said as she turned to look at Fumi. “They seemed to know everything about your ... family.”

Taweret looked inside the glass window of the classroom. “They are so cute,” she said as she put her hands to her cheek. “Those kids ... mmmm so cute.”

Vinayaki focused hard on the classroom. She crossed both sets of her arms as she observed the scene. The teacher was pointing to a math board as she was talking about something dealing with multiplication. She noticed the offset of children in the class. Of the forty students, 18 of them were female Yuki, 18 of the others were human boys, two were human female, and the other two were male Yuki.

The male Yuki was noticeable and comparable to the female Yuki children. The children themselves appeared to be around the age of twelve or thirteen. The elephant goddess could tell the small chests that were beginning to appear in the Yuki girls as they were nearing puberty like human teen girls. The Yuki boys, on the other hand, wore different clothing and were dressed just like the human boys were. The clothing was a white or yellow shirt with blue pants. The female Yuki wore the same pink or white colored dresses among each girl. The only noticeable difference was the different color fur patterns among the Yuki all together.

“You seem to know so much about us, Ryujin,” Fumi told him. “Why do you show anger and malice towards us?”

Gary remained quiet as the dragon showed his teeth momentarily before he turned away. His wings blocked his face as he looked down the long hallway. He refused to answer.

Fumi sighed as she turned to see Taweret look at the classroom. One of the students, a girl, turned to look at the window. Her rodent eyes lit up as she saw the hippo goddess wave to her. She waved back before she focused again on the teacher.

“Curious...” Vinayaki remarked. “I noticed some unusual things with the class layout.”

“What about it?” Fumi asked as she focused her attention back to the classroom.

The elephant goddess pointed two of her arms as she explained. “The desks are essentially paired tables. It consists of two seats linked closely together. The seats are so close that it would cause the students to be right next to each other. Each table and desks consist of a male and a female, typically of the female Yuki and a human boy.”

The elephant continued to observe as one of the students held the hand of the girl Yuki that she sat beside. Their fingers gripped together as if they were happy together.

“I see no attempts to stop this,” Vinayaki continued. “They are happy, and the classroom seems to accept this form of public show of relationship.”

“That is because the den wants it that way,” Fumi answered. “We encourage both human boys and female Yuki to be as close together as possible. Relationships are encouraged by all of us, even if they lead to romantic encounters.”

“Why do you encourage this?” the elephant goddess asked. “I am not the one to usually say anything against this. The way that you operate your lives and society is your business and your own, but to do this ... it is most unusual.”

Fumi put her hand to her distended stomach. “We have our reasons. When we reach the age of fifteen, the female Yuki goes into heat. If we don’t have sex, the pressures on our body can kill us,” she paused as she reached her hand to Gary. Their hands held together as they looked at each other and back to the elephant goddess. “Gary and I grew up together. I went through it when I reached the age ... he saved my life. I choose him to be my husband and the father of my offspring.”

“Awww... , “ Taweret said as she heard the words. “I understand why you are so close.”

“This heat process,” Vinayaki continued. “Have you tried to fight it or cure it?”

The rat woman tilted her head a little bit. She put her furred paw to her head as if she was scratching her head. “Cure? ... Hmm ... I don’t know if I would use the word for cure. It is so unusual for it to be spoken of this way. The fact is that it is a part of our life and culture. We have put effort to lessen the strong and demanding effects on our body during the process, but in the end, we simply choose to have sex and let nature take its course.”

“They reproduce like rats!” Ryujin waved his hand. He still refused to look at the group.

“You will have to explain to me how you know this,” the elephant goddess replied. “You speak as if you lived through it.”

The dragon shook his head, sending his whisker tendrils all over the place. “No ... I didn’t, but I still know about them. He lifted his finger to display one. “All it took was one survivor, and now there are thousands of them as a result.”

“Quite productive, aren’t we?” Taweret asked with a smile.

Fumi petted her stomach. “We can reproduce but only with humans. Our bodies are capable of being impregnated by human men. When we go into heat, we are guaranteed to get pregnant unless the man is not producing sperm. It was ... the same with me.”

The elephant goddess nodded, putting one of her arms to her chin as if she was waiting for something.

“So, the question is...” Ryujin asked. “What are the boys doing in here? Why does the male Yuki also have female humans that they are with?”

Fumi put her fingers together. “They are the ... closest companion. They are the ones that the Yuki will be with.”

“Closest companion ... pah!” the dragon said with anger. “Said with such ... elegance.”

“Are you telling me that the humans that I see in here will be the ones that will relieve the Yuki when they go into heat?” Vinayaki asked.

“Yes, they are.”

“Hmmm...”

“What about the male Yuki?” Taweret asked. “Do they go through it as well?”

“No,” Fumi answered. “The males do not have to go through it.”

“Yet they have a female human waiting for them?”

“Yes. It is the responsibility of the Yuki family to ensure that all have a mate and partner to be with for the rest of their lives. The males are included.”

Taweret watched as one of the couples put their hands together as the boy kissed the female Yuki on the cheek. It was a cute scene for Taweret to see, but the elephant goddess kept a neutral reaction to it.

“Let me ask you something,” Ryujin asked as he turned around and looked at Fumi. “These humans. Where did they come from?”

The question was asked in such an antagonistic and opposing matter that it seemed to make Fumi appear guilty of doing something wrong. Fumi was taken aback.

“The answer is simple,” Gary replied. “They are orphans adopted by the family.”

“Orphans...” the dragon pointed his finger to human mortal. “You mean breeding stock.”

“Ryujin... , “ Taweret said, trying to get him to lower his angry stance. Fumi shook her head in defense.

“It ... that isn’t fair,” Fumi replied. “Yes, they are orphans, but they were not chosen to be essential ... breeding partners. The fact is that we must have a partner to survive. We must make sure that the family can continue. Please... , “ she said as she tightened her hand grip to Gary. “We, the Yuki, have the right to live.”

This seemed to cause some disturbance in the thoughts of Vinayaki. Ryujin seemed to snort as a small puff of smoke appeared in front of his nostrils. Taweret seemed to be the only one to add her thoughts.

“So, in the end, you choose to adopt human mortals to live with you. They are raised with the idea that they are to be the mates of the Yuki family?”

“Yes...” Fumi almost quietly replied.

“What about those children in that classroom? What happens if one does not want to be their selected partner?”

The question seemingly surprised Gary as if he hadn’t even thought of it.

“It is ... rare that a human boy or girl may not enjoy their selected partner,” Fumi answered. “When that happens, they are rotated with another partner until they find someone that will, but this is very rare. I don’t think it even happened once.”

“Fumi,” Vinayaki commented. “We are not here to condemn your actions or your family’s choices. We are here to observe and report back to the Coalition of Deities. What you choose to do with your mortals is your choice as long as it does not interfere with mortals as a whole.”

“This is borderline, though,” Ryujin interjected. “You don’t see us go this far. We have made it our duty to stay out of human affairs.”

“Yes, but what about those that need a mate?” Taweret argued back. “Look at Galanthis and her brothel. Human beings that are sworn to keep a secret while we go there to relieve our burdens?”

“Those humans are adults,” the dragon snapped. “These are human children that are raised to become mated partners for the Yuki. They are not given a choice! I must play the role of the adversary here. The Yuki are close to committing a crime here that the Coalition does not believe.”

The elephant goddess seemed to be concentrating hard on the conversation. “The fact is that everyone is right here. Fumi, Gary, how do you morally feel about this?”

Both of them seemed to be quiet at first, but they had to respond to the towering deities. Fumi was the first to reply to this.

“Our situation was different. I am not a den rat; I am a surface rat. Surface rats see the world differently. The den rats are forced to live completely and away from human contact even if we use human forms to hide our appearances. The fact remains that I myself eventually went into heat. I felt the effects as my body went into overdrive. If Gary weren’t there for me, I would have continued to struggle. My heart beat faster and faster until I felt like it was going to burst. If he wasn’t there, then I might have died. I owe him that. I love him with all my heart. As the population of the dens continued to increase, so did the women that went into heat in turn...”

“So you turned to adoption as a way to combat this?” Vinayaki asked. “When did you begin this form of adoption?”

“As far back as 1968.”

“And what did you do before this? When women of the Yuki went into heat, how was it resolved?”

“Umm ... whatever way we could.”

This caused Gary to turn his head and look at his wife carefully.

“The answer is obvious,” Ryujin answered. “You relied on kidnapping, extortion, and even rape to resolve this ... I don’t need to say any more than this. You want to join the Coalition of Deities, and you continue to push the boundaries on moral rights in turn.”

“Please,” Fumi argued. “The den rats struggle with this. The fact is the humans abandon their own willingly or not. We provide human mortals homes and the ability to live good lives with us. We treat the mortals with respect and love. The human mortals have better lives here than the outside. They are given an education, medical treatment, love, and joy.”

“How long have the Yuki existed?” Vinayaki asked.

“Long ago, our kingdom thrived about 1600 to 1700. The kingdom fell by 1820, and the great mother was forced to survive on her own.”

Vinayaki was at a loss of words. Taweret left the classroom window as she stood beside the elephant goddess.

“Perhaps we will need some time to debate on these words,” Vinayaki said. “Fumi, Gary, would it be alright that we convey and debate on these words? I need to talk to both of my teammates for a little bit. We will need a couple of hours to talk and resolve some issues.”

“Of course,” Fumi replied. “We have a lobby area here where you can sit and talk alone. Gary and I will go to our temporary home here.”

“What is the location when we are ready to talk?”

“It is residential quarter 1-5,” she said as she pointed to the map on a nearby wall. They turned to look at it. “It is about a five-minute walk. You will know it when the carpet turns a dark green color. Our apartment is 42 here. Come and give us a knock when you are ready. The lobby is also indicated on the map too.”

“Thank you, Fumi and Gary, for your help here. Do not worry. We will be back.”

With that, Gary and Fumi walked away from the three deities. They continued to walk down the long series of hallways as the occasional Yuki walked by. The classroom bell rang. The students got out of their seats and were getting ready to leave.”

“Ryujin, why are you such a sour puss?” Taweret asked him.

“I have to be. I know what these people are capable of,” the dragon responded. “The fact is that if I don’t, then this will be openly accepted as if everything is alright. All things must be considered before we let the Coalition’s numbers grow dramatically.”

“I am afraid that Ryujin is correct on this,” Vinayaki commented. “However, I must consider these thoughts as well.”

“I see no harm from these people,” Taweret stated.

“Perhaps you should hear the report from Theo and Renenutet,” the dragon snapped at her. “These people will be under our wing, and they will be capable of doing great harm if things do not go their way.”

“I do have a question, though,” the elephant goddess wondered. “This happened recently. The great mother that they refer to ... how did this escape the Coalition of Deities’ attention?”

“She does have a point,” Ryujin commented. “Yuki was transformed into a new form in the 1820s. We would have picked up a magical displacement from somewhere in Japan where I assume it occurred? Why did we not send a team to it?”

“Maybe we did, and we didn’t find anything?”

“Possibly...”

“Wait, isn’t that your own home territory, Ryu poo?” Taweret asked. “How did you not find the Yuki first?”

“I ... I do not know,” he almost seemed taken aback. “I don’t remember being sent to there around that time to investigate anything out of the ordinary.”

“There were several unexplained events that teams were sent that found nothing,” the elephant goddess commented. “It very well is possible that this happened in turn.”

“It would have had to be somebody that lived in Japan that transformed her,” Ryujin added. “It had to be a sorcerer or a spell caster that lived there.”

“Do you have any guesses?”

“Unfortunately, anything I have would be speculation. Kuzunoha, Chiasa, Abe No Seimei,...”

“You are correct, this is speculation,” the elephant goddess interrupted him. “Without any hard facts, we are left with a mystery on these Yuki. More information is needed, come and let us head to the lobby so we can sit down and talk some more. My feet are beginning to hurt.”

“You enjoy sitting down so much, Viny,” Taweret joked. “You Hindu deities always like sitting down so much.”

“Hmmm ... that isn’t fair. Just because you always see the famous paintings of us sitting all the time doesn’t mean we always sit.”

“Yeah ... I bet your flabby butt well tell the truth on that!”

“Ugh...” Ryujin reacted.

The door closed behind them as Fumi and Gary entered their apartment. The apartment of their temporary home was small. It was designed for first-time couples and consisted of one bedroom, toilet and shower, a living room, and a kitchen. The wallpaper depicted various flowers on the wall that all originated from Japan. With the rooms all underground and underneath a mountain, there were no windows of any type. A blue carpet lined the bottom floor. The living room itself had one couch and TV along with a telephone that connected to a wall. The kitchen, which was connected to the living room, had a small table for two. The refrigerator and cabinets had a small set of retractable steps to allow the shorter Yuki to reach the various items and food they needed to retrieve. The rooms were well lit with artificial lights.

“Phew...” Gary commented as he sat down on the couch. “Still not done yet.”

There was a discouraging look in Fumi. She looked down as she rested on the couch next to Gary.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her as she looked upon her.

“This is...” A tear ran down her face. “I can see it in their faces. They are thinking twice about letting our family join their Coalition. I don’t think they want to have us.”

“I think they have let us known what their thoughts are. They have a lot to debate and discuss.”

“I don’t think they want us. That dragon ... he doesn’t want us. I can see such resentment and animosity. He sees us as dangerous. Gary, I think we might fail this.”

“Don’t talk like that,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her neck. He could feel the fur as she put her arm to his lap. “Just tell them the truth and let them decide.”

“It was like we were guilty the moment he saw us.”

“Maybe he is doing that on purpose.”

“Ryujin ... the dragon god of Japan. If the rest of the family knew what he was, they would revere him. He is a strong connection to our birth nation. If only he felt that way.”

She wrapped her pink tail around to let it hang near her legs.

“Hmph...” she reacted.

“What?”

“Your baby just kicked.”

“Heh ... maybe, the baby is just telling you to calm down.”

Fumi smiled as her emotions thought of other things. “Maybe I should calm down and let things go the way it should.”

“Look at it this way,” he said. “Them seeing everything is their way of assessing and learning about us. They have to be a little hard on us on purpose. I mean, if a bunch of strangers just plopped down on our doorstep, would we let them in?”

“Depends ... if they are male, then the answer is obvious.”

“Alright, what if they were women?”

Her thoughts changed. “They are right ... we are hostile towards human women. I suddenly felt the urge to say no when you asked that.”

“Think of your reasons when you felt like saying no.”

“Human women are not bad ... it was just the fact that there are so many female Yuki. The human women would simply compete against the other women of my family for males.”

“Now imagine those thoughts with the other Yuki. Somehow I think Ryujin is right. Maybe in a post-apocalyptic setting, I can see the Yuki running around trying to find human men to capture and take.”

Fumi shook her head. “I just ... I can’t picture it. I know so many of the family. They don’t seem to be the type...”

“Imagine if I was going to die the next day, and you were able to have my child. Would you want to have sex with me so you could get pregnant?”

She thought about it. “Yes ... I would. With us going into heat as well ... Gary ... I think he is right. If the world came to an end, we would resort to basic instincts. It is horrible. I just don’t want to picture it. What would have happened if I never met you or the world fell apart? I would be some rat that goes into heat and just ravage some human male if he didn’t agree to it. It is savagery.”

“Well, you never know,” he said, trying to console her. “I mean, I felt attraction towards you for a long time.”

Her pawed hand went to his crotch. The denim of his pants blocked her from feeling much. “You did? I try to remember...”

“What?”

“The first time I saw you with an erection. Not the first time when we had sex, but the first I remembered seeing a bulge in your pants.”