Life of a Stray Fox

Chapter 31

A girl who appeared no older than 7 moved quietly through the dark alleys of Yokohama, her breath coming out in small puffs of white mist. She hadn't been awake for long so she was trying to figure out what this new place was. All she could remember was a few weeks prior to this, she had been engulfed in a cold, yet safe, darkness. At least... until that voice spoke and woke her up. She wasn't sure what the voice had said now, it was nothing but a muffled noise when she tried to remember it. The only thing she could really remember was the a name, her name.
Kotori.
No last name, no family, nothing. Just... Kotori.
She stood and tried to remember what the voice sounded like for a few moments, trying to see if maybe somehow she could try and find the voices owner. To figure out what she was doing here and not back in that darkness she had been accustomed to.
As Kotori stood, the sound of voices reached her ears, pulling her out of her own thoughts and caused her to suddenly still with wide eyes.
A shiver ran down her spine, causing two fluffy ears and a fox tail to suddenly appear in a flash of black light. The girl frowned darkly, upset that they kept appearing randomly like this. She had absolutely no idea how to control them and keep them from appearing like this, leaving her to randomly look like some sort of weirdo that people gawked at. This was of course how Kotori learned that most girl's did not have fox ears and tails.
The voices sounded again, only much closer this time and much louder now that her fox ears were out. With fast reflexes, she ducked behind a dumpster just as two tall figures turned down the alley she was in. Kotori became stiff and shallowed her breathing, hoping they wouldn't find her.
As she listened, it sounded like two men. She couldn't help her curiosity and slowly peaked out from the dumpster to get a good look at them.
One looked rather odd with foreign looking clothes and a cane, he had golden looking eyes and his hair was three different colors, similar to the girl's. The other man seemed to be a bit young, yet he had silver hair. He was dressed in traditional Japanese clothing and had a sword on his waist.
This made Kotori ponder if maybe he was a samurai or something but she quickly shook the idea from her mind. As far as she knew from her short period of living here, Samurai existed a long time ago, not here in present day Yokohama.
The first man she saw knocked on a door near the dumpster she was hiding behind, causing her to duck back quickly.
Kotori stayed completely silent as she heard the creaking of door hinges before a male voice spoke.
"Ah Natsume Sensei, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
The man's voice sounded almost sickly sweet to the girl, making her wrinkle her nose in disgust. She wasn't a good judge of character yet, but she knew something about his voice was most definitely unsettling.
To avoid being found, she moved quietly to the opposite end of the dumpster that faced an open street. With a quick glance back, she ran as fast as she could out into the street, the white puffs of mist returning.
Kotori stopped finally and took in deep breathes, ignoring everyone who was staring at how odd she looked.
She wiped the dirt from her hands onto her already dirty clothes, a quiet 'blegh' leaving her lips.
The early January winds nipped at her skin, causing another shiver to run through her small body and encouraging her to go back to the slums where she resided.
As she walked she tried once more to remember the muffled voice she had heard before waking up in Yokohama, not noticing as she walked into oncoming traffic.
A young voice shouted at her, bringing her out of her daze. She looked up with confusion until she noticed the car coming straight at her, the driver not paying a bit of attention. There was another shout and before Kotori could blink, she had been lifted up and propelled into someone.
She and the person both collapsed onto the ground and the person beneath her wrapped their arms around her tightly. They both stayed still as Kotori tried processing what had just happened.
I was almost hit by that car.... holy shit
The person she was on let go of her and the girl rolled off her savior and sat up, looking down at what she now realized was a boy around her age. He stared at her with wide, greyish blue eyes, his reddish orange hair sprawled messily across his forehead.
After a moment of the both of them staring at each other, he spoke.
"You have a tail and fox ears? Are you... like me?"
Kotori's eyes scanned him up and down, wondering how he had managed to somehow get her from the street to where he was in such a short amount of time.
She met his eyes once more before nodding hesitantly. "I... I guess? Maybe...?"
He nodded his head, seemingly content with her response. "I'm Chuuya Nakahara. Who are you?"
Kotori looked down at her lap and fiddled with the hem of her battered shirt for a few moments. "I'm... my name is Kotori."
Once again, Chuuya nodded and seemed happy with her answer.
She couldn't tell, but Kotori wondered if this made them friends. She had heard people say things about having 'friends' but she wasn't exactly sure what that was like.
The orange haired boy stood up and dusted himself off before offering a hand to Kotori with a small smile on his face. "Let me help you up, ok?"
She hesitated for a moment but then decided it was safe to take his hand. Once she did, he pulled her to her feet and then brushed her clothes off, causing the girl's face to heat up.
She barely knew him and here he was helping her brush the dirt off herself.
The wind blew again, causing both kids to shiver against the cold.
Kotori's teeth chattered and she wrapped her arms around herself tightly.
Chuuya noticed this and before the girl could question, he had shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her. She opened her mouth to argue but he turned around and took off, pausing only for a moment to turn around and smile at her, "Bye Kotori!!"
Kotori stood in silence for a moment, watching as he turned and ran away again. When she couldn't see him anymore, she pulled the jacket closer around her and inhaled the scent deeply.
He smells nice... I wonder if I'll ever see him again?
The girl thought to herself for a moment before heading off back to the place she called her home, a small smile playing on her lips.
Chuuya... he was kinda cute.