Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 27 – I Need To Get Going

My eyes opened just as the sun had started to rise. I was still lying on Ava’s lap, although she must’ve fallen asleep at some point as she wasn’t sitting up.

I didn’t know exactly why, but that night of sleep felt like the best I’d had in a long time; something about it just felt more natural.

I was tempted to just try to go back to sleep; however, there was something more important to do. So as not to waste any more time, I immediately hopped off of Ava’s lap onto the floor and stretched. However, as soon as I did, she woke up.

“Hmm… What?…” She looked all around the room until she eventually laid eyes on me, “Oh… So you did *Yawn* end up staying there all night… I guess that means… I won the bet.”

That doesn’t matter right now.

I need to get going.

Hoping that she would understand me, I made my way over to the door and scratched at it.

Just let me out.

I can go by myself.

“Kit… come back *Yawn* over here,” Ava wiped her eyes, “I still need to check if you can change out of your fox form without any problems.”

Why?

I don’t need to go back.

I have everything I need just like this.

I scratched at the door again.

“Hey, come on now, don’t be like that,” Ava stood up, “How are you going to wear your new dress like that?”

…

That’s… a good point…

But… I have fur now… I-I don’t need it anymore…

Once again, I scratched at the door, this time choosing to look Ava in the eye at the same time.

“What’s going on with you? Why do you want to stay as a fox so badly?”

“…”

“…Oh, I know something that will change your mind,” Ava picked up a brush from the table and held it out in front of her, “It will be a lot harder for you to take care of your fur with those paws… well, not that I would mind doing for you… but y’know?”

That’s…

I…

…

I can just…

I…can’t… ask a Goddess to do it for me…

…

“So?”

…

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Still somewhat reluctant, I walked over to Ava, who picked me up and placed me back on the bed.

“Good. Now, all you need to do is try and turn back,”

…

How?

I looked up at Ava, assuming that she hadn’t finished talking, but she didn’t say anything.

“…”

“Um… Go on then… Do you need me to turn around?… Is that the problem?”

I shook my head, starting to feel a little panicked.

“Just… do what you did to turn into a fox, but backwards?” Ava started to look worried, “I don’t really know how to explain it… and it might not be the same as it is for me…”

B-But I didn’t do anything.

I-I just woke up like this.

Is there something wrong with me?

“Um… I don’t know what to do…” She started pacing back and forth, “…Maybe, just try thinking about turning back… but like… really hard?… I don’t know how I’m supposed to explain any of this.”

O-okay… I-I’ll try…

I closed my eyes and tried focusing, only thinking about wanting to turn back, but nothing happened.

C-come on…

Y-you need to do this… Kierra…

You can’t make O-Ovia take care of you…

…

You can’t be a hassle…

…

S-she’ll leave you again…

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, it felt like something was sucked out from deep inside me before the room got much colder all of a sudden.

*Thud*

“Kit, you can open your eyes! You need to put some clothes on!”

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Ava strewn across the floor, with her hands covering her eyes.

Ava scrambled onto her feet, making sure to keep one hand over her eyes.

“Y-your dress is on the bed,” She said, turning around so her back was facing me, “I-I’ll tell you when I’m turning back around if you need help with the tail flap again.”

Alright.

I quickly put on my dress, still a little surprised by just how easy it was to pull my tail through the flap now that it had been cleaned up.

“I think that was enough time. I’m turning around now,” Ava slowly turned around, peeking through her fingers before putting her hands down once she saw me, “Okay, do you need me to help neaten up your tail now?”

…

I nodded.

Ava climbed onto the bed next to me before gesturing towards my tail.

I-I understand… this is for helping me turn back.

I turned around and laid my tail down in her lap; as soon as I did, she enthusiastically got to work sorting out my fur.

 After a few minutes of brushing, the door to the room slowly opened, and Raynelle came into the room.

“So… who won in the end?” Raynelle asked, looking at Ava.

“I did, as I expected.”

“Seriously?! What did you do to make her warm up to you like that? At this point, you must have some kind of secret method or something that you’re not telling me about.”

“I already told you. It’s just my natural charm,” Ava said, placing her hands on my shoulders, “There you go, all neatened up and looking adorable.”

Good.

Then it’s time for me to go now.

I hopped off of the bed and immediately made my way to the door. But, before I could open it, Raynelle picked me up.

“Um, Kit? Where are you wanting to go all of a sudden?”

I pointed at the door while trying to free myself from her grip.

“That… doesn’t help very much.” Raynelle put me down, but she made sure to stand between me and the door before she did.

If I tell you, will you let me go?

I went over to the bed, grabbed the notebook that Raynelle had given me, and then pointed at the picture of Ovia.

Is that what you wanted?

Can I go out now?

“You’re… wanting to go to this person?” Raynelle gave me a puzzled look.

I nodded.

“Um… I-”

“Kit, I think you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself,” Ava interrupted, “The first thing you should probably do is eat breakfast. You barely ate anything yesterday, after all.”

I can deal with it.

…

I-It’s only one day.

I-I can do more than that.

…

“Hey, Kit, y’know, something tells me that you want to look your best in front of this person, am I right?” Ava knelt down in front of me.

…

I nodded.

“Well, wouldn’t it be very embarrassing if your tummy started rumbling all of a sudden?”

…

“I see you understand what I’m talking about. Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll sort something out, alright?” Ava then got up and made her way over to the door.

“Ava, seriously, is this something just between beastkin that I just don’t understand?” Raynelle asked.

Ava just giggled before leaving the room, leaving Raynelle just staring at the door.

After a few minutes, Ava came back in with breakfast, which I ate as fast as possible.

As soon as my plate was empty, I made my way to the door again; however, this time, both Ava and Raynelle started following behind me.

…

Why?

Just let me go alone.

“What? Did you think we were going to leave you unprotected?” Raynelle asked.

“Don’t worry about us,” Ava put a cloak around my shoulders, “We just want to make sure nothing happens to you, okay?”

…

It doesn’t matter.

My shadow coated my hair as I opened the door and made my way out of the inn with both Ava and Raynelle still in tow. As soon as I got outside, I started heading directly for the black stone temple.

When the temple came into view, Raynelle put her arm in front of me.

“Wait a moment, what are you doing? Are you trying to go back to that temple? But last time-” Raynelle then let out a stifled grunt.

“Don’t worry about her,” Ava had just elbowed Raynelle in the stomach, “You can go on ahead. We’ll catch up soon.”

I didn’t question what had just happened and instead took the opportunity to run towards the temple. It didn’t take long before I was standing in front of the two large stone doors.

…

Now… how do I open them?

…

Suddenly, the doors just started to open by themselves, and standing behind them was the man with the rabbit ears from the last time.

“Yeah… just come in; I was already expecting you to show up.” The man said.

I did just that, and the man led me over to one of the pews, where we both sat down, leaving a small distance between us.

“The Goddess just… needs a minute to prepare… so you’ll have to wait a little bit.”

…

Prepare?

…

We sat there in silence for a moment before the man suddenly started talking to me again.

“I… need to apologise to you…” The man leaned forward, “Last time… was just a bad day for me… well… and I didn’t recognise you with the black hair; I was only told to look out for white hair.”

…

Why are you apologising to me?

What did you even do?

“You don’t need to accept it… just… I made a mistake…” The man leaned forward even further to the point that his ears were resting on his knees, “I know the kind of life you’ve had… You really… didn’t deserve that… I… would know.”

…

Without thinking, I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder, hoping that he would understand that I was fine.

“Really? Does that mean you forgive me?” The man sat back up, “That’s nice… mainly because I imagine we’ll be seeing each other a decent bit from now on.”

Why?

“Anyway… guess the next thing is… I should introduce myself… I’m Benvolio, but you can just call me Beni… most people do…”

I stared at him, not sure what to do.

“I… already know your name… but well… I won’t use it until you tell me yourself… I don’t want to overstep my bounds and all that.”

…

After he finished speaking, a small dark orb appeared next to his ear.

“Hmm… Oh… she’s good to go now?… Yeah, I’ll let her go then.”

The orb then vanished.

“Well, you can probably guess what that was, but she’s ready for you now,” He stood up, “Guess we’ll have to talk more later instead.”

I got up off the pew as well and started walking further into the temple, waiting for the familiar chill to envelop me.

I-I’m ready for this.

I-I don’t need to be so nervous.