My mom doesn't speak right away. She looks at her hands, folded on the table, as if she's searching for the right words somewhere between her fingers. The kitchen smells like coffee and toast, but no one's touched breakfast.
“The full moon is Friday.”
Four days. Four days, and I'll transform for the first time.
My stomach twists. I expect her to tell me to get ready, stay calm, and absolutely not forget the necklace. But what she says is:
“The family will be here.”
I blink. “What family?”
My mom smiles. A real smile, the first since Monday morning. “The women in our bloodline. Your aunts. Your cousins. Your grandmother. Everyone who carries fox blood.”
I didn't even know I had aunts. Well, I did know—but I never saw them. Christmas at our house was Mom and me, a tiny tree, and a movie in our pajamas. No huge dinner tables, no loud cousins. Just the two of us.
“They're coming… for me?”
“It's tradition, Sakura. When a female descendant transforms for the first time, the whole bloodline gathers. We call it the Night of Reunion.”
The Night of Reunion. The name sends shivers through me—the good kind, the ones that creep up my arms.
“Every woman in the family has been through this. Every one of them was scared. Every one of them was welcomed.” She places her hand over mine. “You won't be alone.”
I don't know why, but that's the sentence that brings tears to my eyes. Not the fear of the transformation. Not the thought of becoming a fox girl. The thought of not being alone.
At high school, the day drags on. I can't concentrate. Mr. Oren explains the properties of elemental powers, and I stare at my notebook without writing a thing. Friday keeps looping through my head.
During break, the girl with color-changing hair sits beside me on the courtyard wall. Her hair is orange today.
“You look awful.”
I turn toward her, surprised. It's the first time anyone here has spoken to me—really spoken to me, not just to ask for a pen.
“Thanks,” I reply, and she bursts out laughing.
“My name's Lina. And you're Sakura, right? The new girl?”
I nod.
“Don't worry. Everyone freaks out at first. The first time my hair changed color, I was in the middle of a French oral exam. In front of the whole class. It turned bright red. The teacher thought I was having an allergic reaction.”
I smile despite myself. Lina talks fast and uses her hands, and her hair turns yellow when she laughs. She doesn't ask what my power is. She doesn't ask why I wear a beanie. It's simple. It's easy. And it makes me feel so much better.
That night, in my room, I pull the crumpled piece of paper out from under my pillow. The ten digits are still there. I send a message.
*Hey. It's Sakura. We talked at the park yesterday.*
The reply comes in less than a minute.
*Sakura. The girl with the gray beanie. I remember you very well. Glad you texted.*
We exchange a few messages. His name is Haruki. He likes animated movies and basketball. He hates Mondays and spinach. I don't tell him about Kitsune High School. I don't tell him about the necklace. I don't tell him about Friday.
When I set my phone down, the smile stays. But underneath it, there's something else. A strange impatience mixed with fear. On Friday, I'll see my family. On Friday, I'll find out what I look like in fox form. On Friday, women who share my blood will watch me become what they are.
My mom knocks on my door before I fall asleep.
“Your grandma is arriving Thursday night. She wants to see you beforehand.”
I haven't seen my grandma since I was seven. I remember her hands, small and dry, and the smell of jasmine tea. I remember her looking at me for a long time without saying anything, as if she were searching for something in my face.
Now I know what she was looking for.
I touch the necklace. The metal is warm, as if it's gotten used to me. Outside, the sky is clear.
The moon is almost round. And for the first time, I don't look at it with fear.
I look at it with curiosity.