"H-Hello, Haha-ue!" Gold nervously greeted.
The others quickly followed, offering their greetings and bowing respectfully.
But their mother, Tamayō, only looked upon them with a deep frown.
"Haha-ue," Onee-sama finally asked, "is something the matter? Your face looks sour."
"What?" Tamayō's frown deepened further. "I see you are in need of more discipline… Uh…"
"You have not named me yet," Onee-sama reminded her.
"Ah, of course!" Tamayō looked away, almost flustered. "I am saving that honor for the Supreme Lord himself!"
Then she looked down at the children, her dark eyes sharp. "You see? Mama is always out there moving storms for you brats, and how do you repay me? By… by going away from the palace and leaving me to myself!"
The children felt cold sweat dripping down their faces. They realized at once that their mother had slipped into one of her occasional acts of dishonesty.
"It is not as though I felt lonely or anything!" she immediately added, folding her arms and darting her eyes to the side. "A great Dark Spirit such as myself could never feel something so disgraceful as loneliness, you see! B-But this domain is vast, and it can grow terribly quiet, which is admittedly somewhat depressing. Are you even listening to me at all?!"
Onee-sama sighed in visible exhaustion, walked closer to her mother, and then turned to face the rest of the kitsunes.
"Minasan, as we can all clearly see," she began solemnly, "we have greatly wronged Haha-ue by leaving her alone in the palace."
"What?! I said I was not lonely in the least!" Tamayō snapped.
Onee-sama ignored her correction. "As we well know, Haha-ue has a… prickly personality, which makes it difficult for her to befriend other people."
"Y-you naughty child! Silence yourself immediately! I need no friends!"
"But brethren," Onee-sama smiled faintly, "despite this bad—no, rotten—personality, what do her children still feel toward her?"
"We love you, Haha-ue!" they all cried in unison.
Tamayō's face immediately flushed red.
"H-Hmph! I do not need love from anyone!" she insisted, folding her arms tightly. "You think the Great Dark Fox Spirit is weak of mind, do you not? Telling me you love me will not lessen my fury!"
Onee-sama's smile deepened into something nearly wicked.
"So she says, minasan. Then why do we not show her how much we love her?"
"Haha-ue, I love you very much!" Gold began eagerly. "You are elegant and full of authority! Even those lowly Specter Wolves tremble at the mere mention of your name! I want to be just like you when I grow up!"
"Th-that does not make me happy at all!" Tamayō quickly closed her eyes, trying to hide her flustered expression.
Red stepped forward. "Haha-ue, we all love you, for real. You are our precious mother and role model. Just look—my beautiful silky hair is second only to yours! And my adorably cute face, too, is second only to you. Thank you for bringing me into this world!"
"Hmph!" Tamayō turned her back. "That was trivial. I can create even more adorable offspring if I so wish."
"How awful!" Red gasped, covering her mouth and sulking.
Blue and Silver quietly approached Tamayō and wrapped their small arms around her legs.
"Haha-ue is the greatest," Silver said softly. "Haha-ue is the most just within the Supreme Lord's court, and that same Haha-ue is our mother. How blessed we are to have you all to ourselves like this… Haha-ue, we love you. It is no jest, nor careless slip of tongue."
"G-Get away from me, you seducer!!" Tamayō snapped, though her voice wavered.
"But Haha-ue," Blue added gently, "we did not know you were returning so soon. In fact, we were lonely without you. We love you whether you like it or not, but I think you should apologize."
Tamayō's brows furrowed, and her arm hung at her side in rare melancholy.
"I… I did not see it that way… Uhm…"
"You have not named me yet," Blue reminded her softly.
"Ah, of course! I am saving that honor for the Supreme Lord himself!" Tamayō raised her hand, then patted Blue's hair with a sudden motherly smile. "Forgive your mother, alright? Next time, I will not stay away so long."
Then she glared at the others. "So? What excuse do you brats have for leaving me all alone in the palace?! Even if you do not love me like the blue one does, you could at least try to hide your animosity!"
The children wiped away their cold sweat and sighed heavily.
"Why does she favor Blue more than the rest of us?" Brown muttered, casually resting his hand behind his head.
"She is the smallest, and the bravest when it comes to scolding her," Shiro tittered. "Nevertheless, we all know Haha-ue's weakness. Shall we?"
They all smiled mischievously and slowly surrounded Tamayō, closing in from every side.
"Ah!" Tamayō began to frantically turn her head as the kitsunes approached. "You want to use that technique on me again? I may be invincible, but please, spare me! Alright, alright, I forgive you for leaving me all by myself!"
But the children still crept closer, their mischievous smirks giving away their intent.
"Oh, please, my children!" Tamayō cried in dramatics. "Your Haha-ue is not ready for—Eep!!"
Ignoring her protests, they drew down her arms and began petting her, rubbing her ears and tail until she melted on the spot.
"Hehehe, Haha-ue is so adorable at times like this," Green giggled, squeezing Tamayō's ears as she bent over in submission.
"This secret weapon Onee-sama taught us recently is truly powerful," Shiro observed, her tone amused. "But Haha-ue could easily escape if she wanted to."
Tamayō flinched hard when she heard that.