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Sarah blinked, frowned, reached for her phone. Ami had worked a technological wonder and created a charging cord for her that worked on any outlet. She owed the bluenette lunch or something. Holding the phone close to her face, she sighed. 7:38 am.

"I can snooze until eight am," She decided and put the phone back on the small table. Snuggling back down into her futon, she closed her eyes and sighed. Several seconds later, her eyes popped open. Something was tickling the back of her mind. Again.

"I need to work on my shielding." Grumbling about pushy kamis, she sat up and crawled out. Becca turned over, sound asleep. Sarah put on her glasses and blinked. The dividing wall had been opened. Shippo was curled up on his bed, ears and tails twitching. Marc snored softly. Shrugging, she tiptoed around her sleeping family and headed downstairs. Stretching and yawning, she padded into the kitchen and fumbled the tea kettle into the sink to fill it.

"Good morning, Lady Reiki!" A raspy, cheerful voice said. Sarah whirled, hands raised in defense. The bronze Yebisu statue was standing on the counter. The bronze Yebisu statue was standing on the counter and holding a fish almost as big as it was. The bronze Yebisu statue, the one from the genkan, was standing on the counter holding a fish almost as big as it was and was TALKING.

"You...what..." Sarah stammered, sagging against the sink. The statue lifted the fish a little higher.

"I brought you a housewarming gift!" It rasped. The smile grew bigger, showing off bronze teeth. "I apologize for waiting, but it seemed best to wait until you were alone. The wolves don't like it when statues talk."

"I...yes. Of course. Thank you," Sarah pulled herself together by sheer force of will and took the fish. "Um, what kind of fish is this?"

"This is a red sea bream! It's a lucky fish. Appropriate, yes?" The statue chuckled, a metallic sound that tickled the base of Sarah's spine.

"Very appropriate, Lord Yebisu statue. You guard fishermen and you're one of the Seven Gods of Fortune."

"Very good! You have studied." The statue waddled closer to the edge and peered up into Sarah's face. She blinked and focused on it instead of the fish in her hands. "Any chance of an offering?"

"Oh! Yes! Of course." Sarah pulled out a plate to hold the fish and put the kettle on the stove to heat. "What do you like best?"

"A drop of sake and a bite of fish and rice and I'm a happy statue."

"Sake, um," Sarah searched the fridge, pulling out miso soup ingredients as she went. Not finding any sake, she searched the cupboards as she brought out the rice, rice cooker and a strainer to wash the rice. A search of the pot and pan cupboard revealed a good soup pot and a grill for the fish, but still no sake. "Oh surely Kagome would have gotten sake!" She muttered, continuing to search. In the tea cupboard was a small brown bottle. She took it down with the tea and studied the bottle. Taking a chance, she found a corkscrew and opened the bottle. A rich alcoholic scent wafted out. "Okay, that's not plum wine."

"Oh, wonderful sake!" The statue clapped bronze hands, sounding like mini cymbals. "That is a very good brand."

"I'll take your word for it," Sarah said, rummaging through another cupboard for teapot, tea cups and a sake cup. She found a lovely hot sake set with tiny yellow butterflies floating against a pale blue background. "Is this supposed to be served hot?"

"Yes, yes it is. Such a clever woman!" The statue started dancing in place. Sarah used a bowl to hold the sake flask and poured a measure of boiling water into the bowl. She put the sake and a cup on the counter and set the tea to brew. The statue hurried over and stood on tiptoe to peer into the flask. Sarah took a few minutes to wash and start the rice. Once the rice cooker was going, she filled the sake cup and handed it to the statue with a bow.

"The rice and fish will take a while, I'm afraid."

"Oh, not a problem!" The statue tossed back the entire cup, hiccuped happily and sat down on the edge of the counter. "It's so nice to have a tenant who understands what kamis need and like. I will keep you company until the kitsune wakes up."

"Thank you, Lord Yebisu statue."

"Oh, call me Yebisu! No need to be formal here, Reiki! I'm so happy you're here, I could dance. It's been AGES since I've had someone to talk to."

"Does the House of the West rent this out to humans?" She asked, checking the sea bream. It had been cleaned, not scaled. Sarah pulled a flexible knife out of the knife drawer and started scraping scales into the sink.

"Anyone can rent this house, as long as they have the money and pass the background check."

"Makes sense." She rinsed the outside of the fish, removing any stuck scales. "Um, how is this traditionally cooked?"

"It can be grilled or made into sashimi or used in a soup. I prefer grilled, myself."

"So do I," Sarah said, smiling over her shoulder. The statue looked longingly at the sake flask. She turned the gas on under the grill and poured it another shot. The statue tossed it back, hiccuped again and sat down on the counter with a clang.

"Oh, that is an excellent offering."

"I'm glad." Wondering where the bronze was putting it all, she rubbed a handful of sea salt on each side of the bream, sprinkled some inside and laid it on the grill. As the fish started to sizzle, she started on the dashi stock. Two weeks of cooking lessons from Hino-ojiisan had given her the time and practice to make miso soup from scratch. While she liked it with daikon, her kiddos did not and she suspected Shippo wouldn't appreciate it either. So today she'd stick to tofu and wakame. As soups go, miso was quick and easy.

"I'm going to miss this when I get back home," She said, straining the konbu and bonito flakes out of the stock.

"What will you miss, Reiki?" The statue asked, slurring a little.

"The time and ability to cook like this." She dissolved the miso in a separate bowl, using a ladleful of boiling stock. "There are some Asian markets where I live, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to get these ingredients. Plus I'll be working full time, or I will be as soon as I can."

"Why would you leave, then?" The statue asked. Sarah drove the knife through the tofu a little harder then normal.

"I don't belong here, Yebisu. I'm from a totally different dimension, one that's seventeen YEARS ahead of this one. I have a house, a family, friends, a life back there." She glanced at the fish and flipped it with a set of tongs.

"Were you happy there?"

"I was content." Sarah added the tofu and wakame to the pot.

"Are you happy here?"

"I..." Sarah stared into the pot, watching the wakame unfurl as it reconstituted. "Yes."

"Then why leave?" Shippo asked. Sarah gasped and whirled around, barely missing the pot handle. Shippo was standing on the other side of the counter, looking at her with bright green eyes. Her eyes darted over the counter. Yebisu was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the bowl with the sake flask and the cup. Sarah blinked a few times.

"Uh, what was the question?"

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