Volume 11 - Building Up, Chapter 77 - First Resort

On the morning of December 2nd, a frosty fog hung in the air over the mountainside and drifted slowly down to the town of Okayado below. A little snow was in the forecast for the town, but there was no telling how much would fall on the Nakahara house, nestled in the folds of the mountains.

Yuisu sat on her bed, wearing comfy flannel pajamas and wrapped in a warm fleece blanket. She was alone in the chilly bedroom, since Haru had already left for work at the butcher's shop. In her lap, held tightly with both hands, was a framed photograph of a man. Like Yuisu, he had vivid green eyes and straight black hair, but he had a rounder face, with wide cheeks and a broad smile.

"Happy 45th birthday, Uncle Ichiro," Yuisu whispered.

It had been just over a year since he'd passed away, taken from the world too soon by cancer. It seemed like only yesterday that Ichiro showed her around town, taught her how to drive a car, and told her all the tricks needed to take proper care of a huge, aging house. The times they shared were some of her most treasured memories.

Yuisu's father left before she was born, so her mother Kazumi raised her alone, working two jobs to make ends meet. Kazumi's older brother, Ichiro, helped out from time to time and often babysat Yuisu while her mother was at work, becoming the father figure in Yuisu's life.

Yuisu smiled down at the photo in her lap. "I've been trying to honor your memory, Uncle. I've been sharing the house with exchange students, people that needed a helping hand in a hard world. Just like you gave me and Mom all those times." As her walk down memory lane continued, her smile faded.

Just after Yuisu graduated from high school, Ichiro fell ill with cancer, and the doctors discovered that it was inoperable. Since he couldn't be cured, Ichiro wanted to live out his remaining days at home, rather than in a hospital. He wasn't able to fully care for himself, but he stubbornly refused to leave his home that he loved so much.

Yuisu volunteered to live with him to take care of him, but Kazumi insisted that Yuisu should go to college and make something of herself. Kazumi never had that opportunity, and she wanted her daughter to be successful in life. However, Yuisu didn't want to attend college; she was never great at school and she was worried she'd just fail out.

The disagreement grew into a huge argument, and they both said hurtful things they wished they could take back. The worst was when Yuisu said, "You want Uncle Ichiro to die all alone in a hospital? I bet you don't even love him." Finally, against her mother's wishes, Yuisu moved across the country to take care of Ichiro.

Ichiro's house had to be remodeled to accommodate a wheelchair, and it wasn't long before Ichiro was too weak to leave the house at all. The doctors gave him a short life expectancy, but he was always strong willed so he beat their estimate by a few months. When he finally lost his battle with cancer, he died peacefully in his sleep, one week before his 44th birthday.

Yuisu wiped her teary eyes with the back of a hand and said, "But now I'm going to do even more. I'm going to open an inn, and share this land that you loved with the world. I've just been saving up and planning so far, but the exchange program already built the first cabin. I think I can get an actual resort up and running by your next birthday."

Yuisu hugged the picture frame tight to her chest one more time, then stood up from the bed and returned the picture to its spot on the shelf. "Thank you, Uncle Ichiro, for everything."

That afternoon, in a small side room in the Sports Club Kobold gym, Tsuen wiped her brow with a towel. "Whew, that's a wrap. Great work, Rokune," she said, addressing a woman with royal purple hair, a blue tank top, black exercise shorts, and six huge and fluffy fox tails. She was a kitsune, a fox-like liminal, and she had furry red-orange ears with black tips just like her tails.

Tsuen was sweaty and a little winded from all the physical activity, but Rokune was thoroughly exhausted. Her perky ears had wilted flat against her hair and between panting breaths she said, "Thank you, Tsuen."

"You're welcome! Now just keep that routine up every day and you'll be fit and happy and healthy," Tsuen replied, then handed the kitsune a printout outlining all the exercises they had just finished.

"I don't have to change my diet?" Rokune asked hopefully. "I can keep eating those delicious pastries from the Muse's Grace?"

With a sympathetic smile, Tsuen said, "It'd probably be for the best if you cut back a little on the pastries too. I find that snacks like that are all the better when used as a rare treat instead of a daily routine."

"Aww, alright. Thanks again, Tsuen, for designing that routine." Rokune chuckled and added, "And for getting me to actually start it." She made her way to the door, a little wobbly on her feet but her face was practically glowing from the post-exercise rush. As she left, she waved and said, "I'll see you around the gym!"

"You got it!" Tsuen called back, then gathered up her folder of printouts and her other supplies. Once the room was all cleaned up, she signed out on the schedule, then nearly galloped down the hallway, thinking, Finally. That was my last session of the day. Time to hit the showers!

Tsuen stepped into the locker room and went straight for an empty shower. She averted her eyes as she passed several women changing, showering, or even stretching while naked. Seeing all those beautiful nude women would have been awesome if she didn't feel guilty about it for several reasons. They're my clients so I should be professional, they came here to work out, not to be ogled, and I'm with Mara, so I definitely shouldn't be looking at other women, Tsuen thought as she stripped out of her exercise clothes and stepped under the shower.

The hot, soothing water felt amazing on her tired muscles, and she spent several minutes washing the sweat from her coat and massaging any muscles she could reach. Tsuen tried to stay flexible, so she was able to bend her upper body around and reach most areas. I think I'll still ask Mara for one of her massages later… she thought.

After her wonderfully relaxing shower, Tsuen made her way, naked and dripping, to her assigned locker. She spent another few minutes drying herself with an extra large towel, trying to ignore the fact that her naked body was on display to other women.

They're probably straight, so they don't even care, she thought, running the long towel under her belly and between her legs. After she was dry, she pulled an orange sports bra over her chest, pulled her magenta hair back into a ponytail, and started bundling up in preparation for jogging home through the snow. Her winter clothes consisted of jogging shorts, leg warmers, a blanket-like cover for her back, a heavy jacket for her upper body, and finally a knitted scarf and hat.

She stepped out of the locker room, fully dressed and ready to leave, just in time to hear an announcement on the intercom system.

"All available staff members please gather in the west meeting room for an important staff meeting. A repeat meeting will occur in one hour for anyone currently occupied with a guest."

Tsuen sighed and made her way to the break room, taking off her warm hat, scarf, and jacket on the way. She arrived to find Korbin addressing a handful of liminal and human staff members who were seated on chairs they'd turned to face him.

Korbin was wearing tiny blue running shorts and a white Sports Club Kobold shirt, stretched thin over his huge muscles. He turned to the door and smiled broadly, showing off his big canine teeth. The boisterous kobold called out, "Ah, Tsuen! I'm so glad we caught you before you left. Come on in and we'll get this started."

Tsuen knelt down at the back of the room, but she was still tall enough to see Korbin over the other seated attendees. Her long brown ears perked up and she listened intently to his announcement.

"I'm sure you've all at least heard of my plans to build a ski resort here in Okayado. It'll be a real game changer when it's complete. Well, design and construction have been in progress for a while, and it's time to start thinking about staffing. We're hiring up for literally hundreds of positions, and every one of you guys and gals are more than welcome to apply."

He paused to cast a proud, fatherly look out on the two dozen or so employees gathered. "This can be a great opportunity to move into a position related to your passion, or to take on more responsibility and move up the ladder. Don't worry about your positions here, since we can backfill them."

A muscular brown-haired man raised his hand, then asked, "When would the job switch actually happen?" It took a moment, but Tsuen remembered that the man's name was Jiro. He was an instructor for weightlifting, which was one of the few parts of the gym she didn't usually interact with.

"Excellent question, but one without a simple answer. It depends on the position, the training time required, and the weather, of course," Korbin said with a grin. "Skiing-related positions will be brought online later than hotel staff, for example."

Tsuen raised her slim, toned arm into the air. When Korbin nodded in her direction, she asked, "Hotel? It isn't just a ski lodge with lifts?"

At that, Korbin burst into warm laughter, his deep bellowing voice filling the entire break room. When he calmed down, he said, "Oh, it is much more than that. Ski Lodge Kobold is launching as a full-scale resort, featuring year-round hotel rooms and nature trails in addition to the core offering of two lodges, four ski lifts, and over a dozen individual slopes."

As Tsuen processed all that, he continued, "We're planning to soft-launch this summer with the year-round offerings, but some jobs will be starting up even before that." He pointed a furry paw-like hand at pile of printouts next to him and said, "Please check out the full list of positions in these pamphlets ASAP and act fast if you want one, since we'll start opening up positions to the outside world in a few weeks."

After that, Korbin shooed everyone from the room, saying, "That's all for now. I've got another meeting to squeeze in before I run that whole spiel again for the stragglers."

Tsuen carefully rose to her hooves and made her way for the door, but Korbin blocked her path with an outstretched paw.

"One more moment of your time, if you'd please," he said, being more polite than his normal rowdy self.

"Oh, sure thing. What's up?" Tsuen stopped while the other employees continued streaming out, leaving her alone with Korbin.

"I realize you haven't had much time to consider yet, but have you thought about whether you'll be moving to the new facility?" he asked cautiously, like he didn't want to influence her one way or the other.

Tsuen gave it a couple seconds of thought, then said, "Sorry, but I'd like to stay here."

A huge grin spread across Korbin's furry face. "Oh, don't be sorry, Tsuen! That's exactly what I was hoping you'd say! While I'd never force you to stay if you wanted to leave, I think you do amazing work here."

Tsuen smiled too and said, "I really like that I can help people improve their lives here. I don't think I could do as much good at a vacation destination."

"Aha! I couldn't have said it better myself! I'm glad to have someone of your skill and dedication on board. You're too good to give up!"

Tsuen blushed at the praise, but then a question popped into her head. "I assume the hotel will mostly cater to liminals?"

Korbin nodded. "Of course. I'm always looking out for my fellow liminals, and as a businessman I just can't turn down such a growing market."

"Oh," Tsuen said with a frown, "It's just that my exchange program host Yuisu was planning to make an inn for liminals and…" Then she shook her head and said, "Nevermind. I'm heading home. See you tomorrow, Korbin."

After Tsuen had left the room, a crafty smirk formed on Korbin's lips, his fuzzy ears angled forward, and his eyes narrowed. "Competition, huh?"