Chris had long felt she had a sense of power, far beyond any form of confidence she may have had.  Everything just seemed to work out for her, although she had accredited it to simply knowing the way things work, even in a social context.  There didn't seem to be anything she wasn't capable of, and it led to great success as regional manager of a large retail chain.  She had everything that anyone could ask for, including a family that she cared for deeply.  The only thing odd about her seemed to be a fascination with anything Japanese.  This did not come from watching anime, though she was aware that it existed.  The only thing that interested her about it was whenever there was a reference to Japanese culture, despite the attempts to disguise it.  There was just something so familiar about it, she seemed to know it by instinct.  Sometimes, she would picture herself as being back in Japanese history, living as if she was an ordinary citizen during various important events.  She normally took it as having an active imagination, but sometimes, she would surprise herself by knowing details that only someone that had closely studied Japanese history would know.  Kiku had no such education as far as she knew.  Only what was required of a business major was in her memory, not even personal research into Japan and it's history.  She did not know where her fascination came from, just that she had it, and would at times seek out Japanese objects or tales from Japanese myth.

	Finally, when she looked at herself in the mirror one day, she saw a fox person staring back at her, and she gasped and turned away, thinking that she was having a hallucination of some kind.  She looked again, but the fox person was still in the mirror.  She took out a pocket mirror that she had, and the same thing was there.  Chris thought she had gone too far in her pursuit of Japanese things, and tried to bury herself in her work to forget about it.  Strange things continued to happen, however, such as machines working without so much as the press of a button, or objects seeming to move on their own.  It was all very puzzling to her, but she had more important things to worry about, such as a rival chain starting to build influence in the area, so she had to establish stores in more places in order to make their presence more prominent than theirs.

	What was stranger, though, was when she was in the presence of the rival company's own regional manager.  He just seemed to sap whatever energy she had, and always seemed to be one step ahead of her.  She would applaud his resourcefulness, but there was just something malicious about him.  Research showed that there was no ends that he would go to in order to ensure a branch was created in places where they could not compete.  He demolished buildings and undermined local businesses to make room for his company to come in and overtake the local economy.

	Chris was at her wit's end with him, and could not figure out a way to outmaneuver him, but then, she got a call from the state chamber of commerce to meet with the chair of their board of directors about the actions of this rival.  Anxious to finally deal with her rival, she agreed, and the chair arranged to meet her at her office later.  She awaited, and the government figure entered her office, surprised that they were also a woman, and invited her to sit and discuss the matter.  That was not what happened, though, as she could feel a powerful presence coming from them, and it had nothing to do with their position.

	"Greetings, Kiku, I am glad to see you again," the chair said.  Chris sat there and gaped, both confused at being referred to by another name, and also astonished by the feeling coming over her entire body just by being in their presence.  "I have come because your old friend has managed to find you despite our efforts to disguise your presence.  It is time to restore your memory from the spell he placed on you so long ago."

	Chris did not know of what she was speaking of, but the woman took out a series of scrolls and unfurled one of them to show a depiction of a kitsune.  At first, she did not think anything of it, but upon regarding it more closely, something seemed to stimulate her mind.  She had seen this image before, but how?  It resembled nothing that she had seen in books about Japan, or even in collections of Japanese art.  The chair smiled at her reaction.

	"This is you, Kiku," she said, handing her the scroll along with the others.  "I thought some things from your past would jog your memory.  He could not destroy it, since to destroy that would be to have destroyed your mind as a whole.  He would rather see you suffer than to end you outright."

	Chris was confused about everything that she was saying, but she opened another scroll, showing a fox woman with three tails on board a boat, waving to people and some other creatures on the shore.  Something occured to her mind again, and she could hear the boat's horn and the commotion of the people on the shore, saying "Sayonara" to her.  Again, she heard the name Kiku.

	"Yes, you were much younger then, when the Americans opened relations with us, and you went to see their country," the other woman continued.  "You have been here since, but that is how you ended up facing Vohkeso and he suppressed your memory.  For more than a hundred years, we hid you and allowed you to live your life unaware of who you are, but now that the danger has returned, you are our best bet to catch him unawares and put an end to him for good."

	This was all strange to her, but then, the woman opened another one of the scrolls, and more came flashing into her mind.  She met more kitsune clans in this country, but here, they were known by other names, and there was one kitsune amongst them that she ended up coming to blows with.  This was Vohkeso.  She could see his fox form clearly, but to everyone else, he appeared to just be another businessman.  She had nearly managed to spoil his plans of controlling the humans by overtaking their industry, but they ended up facing each other, and she could remember no more.  As she came out of her memory, she looked at the chair and was surprised to see a shining gold fox person in her place.  A name came to her automatically.

	"Rei!" she gasped.  The woman smiled at her.

	"I kept a record of your exploits and waited for when the time was right to restore your memory.  When he returns, that is when we will strike.  Farewell, Kiku.  I believe in you."

	With that, she got up and left Chris, bewildered at everything she just experienced.  There was no doubt, she was this kitsune named Kiku, and she had lived through all those things that she would imagine herself in, and she had come to this country and faced another kitsune called Vohkeso.  She wondered how she was going to face him now, but then, all sorts of knowledge on how to control the energies around her came to her.  This encouraged her, but if that same knowledge could not save her before, how was it going to now?  She then remembered she had Rei on her side and she was bound to have her own plan for what to do with him.  She nodded to herself and waited for her next meeting with her rival.  He was bound to have something of his own waiting for her, but she was ready for it.

	When they next met, they greeted each other just like it was another business meeting, but they both knew that there was more to it.  She was shining with more strength than before, and he was cautious that she was about to spring some kind of trap on him.  He proceeded as if nothing was going on in order to throw her off balance, but she could sense his deception.  It seemed they had each other in a stalemate, but that is exactly what Chris was hoping for.  While they conversed with each other about business, in their minds, they were winding energies around each other, hoping to find a break in their assault in order to attack each other directly.  A third mass of energy came screaming towards Vohkeso, and he was unable to notice it in time for it to smash against him and blow him out of existence.  Chris looked over sand saw Rei standing nearby, and she waved at her.  The younger kitsune waved back and now noticed that Rei had nine shining tails, signifying a member of the council who watches over all kitsune and assigns them an area to protect against evil creatures like Vohkeso.  She could now remember everything, including taking the name of Chris, which was short for Chrysanthemum, what her name translated to in English.  

	What had happened after Vohkeso sealed her memory became apparent to her, and she returned to the life she made for herself while she didn't know who she was, only things went a lot better now that she knew what she was doing, and her influence brought prosperity to the region she was in charge of, along with great returns for the company she worked with.  She was very happy, but then, she came home to a family that she knew to be merely human, so she could say nothing to them.  The small glimmer of power in her children told her, however, that they were part kitsune, and thus would soon undergo a transformation to be like her and start to display their abilities.  She had much to tell them, but that would come in time.  She held them and smiled, picturing when that time would come and they could all share in the delights of being kitsune.