Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 10 – An Uncomfortable Realisation

[Raynelle POV]

What am I gonna do now?

I knew that it was my fault that I was in this position, but that didn’t make it any easier to figure out.

I really didn’t want to stay in this city very long. It’s always just felt kinda uncomfortable.

But now that I’ve taken that kitsune in…

…

“Ahh! I can’t just leave her alone now!”

…

It took a few seconds for me to cool off after shouting out into the ether like that.

At that point, my only hope was that she had some kind of parent or guardian who was looking for her; then, I could just head out with Ava.

Might even be able to get out of here today if things work out.

However, seeing that she was running around at night dressed in rags, the chance of that was probably fairly slim.

…

I’ll just try to ask around the market. If someone lost their kid, I doubt they would stay quiet about it.

With that thought in mind, I made my way down the market street, looking for someplace to stock up on food.

I quickly came across a fruit stand, which normally wouldn’t be that big a deal, but this stand had something rather unusual on display. Wanting to satiate my own curiosity, I walked up to the stand.

“H-hello there, what can I do for you?”

An old man came up beside me, although looking down at him, it was clear that he was a little intimidated by me. Not that it’s anything new for me.

“I just wanted to ask you about what you have in that barrel over there?” I said, pointing at the unusual display.

“Oh, t-that. Y-you must not be from around here. T-that’s all the fruit that d-didn’t sell and started to rot.”

Yeah, I can see that; I want to know why you’re selling it.

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“And people buy that?”

“Y-yes.” The old man responded, seemingly taken aback by the question.

“Why?”

I just can’t imagine why a normal person would want to buy rotten food, even if it’s at such a hefty discount.

“E-every so often, this little h-heretic comes around. M-many p-people buy the r-rotten fruit to throw. I-it’s cheaper, so they can do it m-more often.”

There was something deeply disturbing about seeing this timid old man talk about pelting someone with rotten fruit as if it were perfectly normal while still keeping a smile on his face.

“I-if you wait a little while, she might s-show up today. I-it’s about time for her to c-come around.”

She?…

A rather upsetting thought came to mind, but I quickly pushed it out.

“No, just throw together whatever you recommend, enough for me and two kids.”

“A-alright then.”

The old man then turned around and started filling a basket with various fruits. He was clearly grabbing a bit more than what I asked for, but with how Kit devoured that loaf of bread we gave her, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

“T-that’ll be-”

“Hold on a second there. There’s still something else you can help me with.” I interrupted.

The man was a little surprised, but I continued anyway.

“Don’t worry so much, just want some information. I am new in town after all.”

“A-alright, that isn’t a p-problem.”

“Good. Now, has anyone around here been looking for a little girl with fox ears?”

“F-fox ears?”

“Yes, fox ears.” I put my hands up on top of my head in case he didn’t understand what I meant.

The man paused for a second before saying anything.

“W-well, the new Baron has been l-looking for a girl with f-fox ears.”

“That sounds rather interesting; what else do you know?”

“H-he says that the child c-cursed his f-father. H-he is offering a r-reward to anyone who can b-bring her in.”

I froze momentarily after hearing that. My mind couldn’t help but start putting everything together.

The Baron hunting down a young kitsune.

A girl regularly assaulted with rotten fruit.

And me taking in a young kitsune girl in the middle of the night…

The old man gestured for me to bend down, which I did.

“B-between you and me, i-if you find her j-just let her g-go.” The old man whispered into my ear.

Huh?

That wasn’t what I was expecting; from how this old man was casually talking about throwing rotten fruit at someone with a smile on his face, I didn’t expect him to have a conscience like that.

“W-we all know that she is the little h-heritic who comes around here. B-but everyone has agreed to l-let her go. S-she’s too good for business.”

Of course…

Really shouldn’t get my hopes up like that.

“Sure, doesn’t bother me.” I said putting on a feigned smile, “Well, you kept up your end of the bargain so keep the change.”

I threw a silver coin his way, which he seemed more than pleased with.

“T-thank you for your p-purchase.”

Don’t worry about it; you won’t be seeing me again any time soon.

After picking up the basket of fruit he put together, I quickly left the stall and continued on down the street.

I ended up picking up quite a lot of food and ended up asking around a bit more about Kit, although all the information that I got seemed to point to the same conclusion. Even if I really didn’t want it to be the case.

…

“Gods, what has Kit lived through?”

…

Guess I’ll be staying in this city a while longer.

“Well, with that decided, I guess it means I need to try even harder to get Kit to open up to us.”

But with what she’s been through, it might be a bit of an upward battle.

…

Who knows? I already picked up one daughter on this journey…

After that thought crossed my mind, I instantly shook my head.

I shouldn’t be thinking like that. It’s not my choice to make.

I distracted myself by trying to come up with ideas about how I could get Kit to at least stop being as afraid of us. But unfortunately, nothing came to mind.

This was so much easier with Ava… If anything, I wish I could make her a bit quieter.

…

Maybe a gift?

Well, it might not have been the best idea, but it was an idea, at least. The only problem with it was that I didn’t know what sort of gift she would even like.

Clothes would probably be good…

But it would be better if she could pick herself…

I don’t want to get her something she doesn’t like…

Maybe something small…

I thought back to what Kit was wearing, and that’s when it hit me.

She was wearing a tattered scarf!

“That’s perfect!”

With the gift decided, I ran back to a clothing store that I had walked past earlier in the day.

As soon as I got there, I went over to their collection of scarves and picked out the first one that screamed ‘Kit’ to me. It was a pitch-black scarf with no special embroidery on it; it just called out to me as soon I saw it.

While doing that, something else caught my eye. Something that was hidden away on the top shelf.

I have to have this!

“Hey, excuse me. Do you have this in purple?” I called out to the shopkeeper.

Raynelle, you really are a genius sometimes.

“Kit, I’ve got you now! You’ll be talking before the morning!”