He saw the pointy - eared girl in the shadows before she saw him .   But he didn’t show any response as she crept behind a tree .   He saw her eyes, surprised and shocked over what she saw .   At first, she thought he was a ghost, but then she saw him for what he is:   A fox like creature with what she’ll realize was not eight other beings behind him but one being with a total of nine tails poking in and out of his robe .   He sniffed at the girl, called out in a “Kon, kon kon,” of a bark, and waited for her to come closer . “ . . . h - hello?” the girl said . “Konichi . . . wa?”   the fox - person replied . It was awkward on both sides . As Shadow - Tip expected . He then pulled out something from his robe and held it out for the child to take .   It appeared to be a pattern of some sort, but she couldn’t discern it .   It took her some doing, but she managed to creep up to the white - furred fox - man to take the symbol into her hands . It glowed for a moment, and then faded away . She tilted her head .   “What is it?” “That would be what we call a kanji, child,” the fox - man said . The child’s eyes shot back at him . “The kanji for ‘Understanding,’ to be specific . I thought that I may encounter someone who’s language I didn’t know yet, so I made it just in case .   As you can tell, I’m not from around here . ” “Were you washed ashore here too?”