afterglow

chapter 1:

Being an apprentice in the bath house isn't the most fun job in the world, but it becomes bearable when you have friends and people you love to help you through it all, those friends being Lin, who was basically your older sister, and Haku, the one you love. Your job on the contract you signed with Yubaba was that every day you would run around the perimeters of the bath house and near the gate of the spirit world in your fox form to make sure everything was safe, sometimes you would help out in the bath house if there weren't enough hands. Y/N, being one of the only kitsune left in the spirit world after a tragic war, signed a contract with Yubaba to secure a safe place to live in after your beloved kingdom was destroyed. When you transform, you had nine tails, meaning you are very powerful, a rarity in the fox realm. Your fur was a beautiful F/C. It shone with every move you made and was smooth like silk. Accenting your F/C fur were white tips at the ends of your tails, paws and ears. Your fur was so fluffy that you could become a pillow or a plush for a child. Thus, you signed a contract with Yubaba. It seemed easy, but Yubaba had actually told you that though this job was simple, you had to make a deal with her. If the one you love most in the world betrays you in any form, you were condemned to slowly fade away from the spirit world, starting with fever and slowly ending up as coughing up blood. Unless they have a change of heart and begin to reciprocate your feelings, you are doomed to disappear forever.

Now, Y/N had a great older-younger sister relationship with Lin, with Y/N being the younger, obedient sister and Lin, the mother-like protective older sister who kept an eye on her 'younger sister' at all times. With the white dragon spirit however, they were a different story. Haku and Y/N were secretly shipped in the bath house by most of the spirits, but most did not dare say it out loud, in fear of Haku's wrath. Lin, however, was very open about her dream couple. Haku and Y/N's relationship was a sweet one. If Haku was ever in need of help, Y/N miraculously knew every time and would come bounding over in her fox form, ready to assist him in anything. Y/N, being the sweet soul she was, would basically look after Haku, though she nor Haku realised their relationship was different from their so-called 'friendship'. Their daily routine was that they would both go to collect their morning meal and talk for a while, before either Y/N or Haku gets summoned to Yubaba, most of time Haku leaving before Y/N to go see what she wanted. Sometimes, if Yubaba is kinder than usual, Haku would have less work to do and sometimes accompany Y/N on her daily patrol. Together, they would chat about their day and worries. Y/N would usually keep to herself, especially with any problems or insecurities she has, not even telling Lin, until she pesters her about it.

Due to this, Y/N keeps all her thoughts and worries inside of her, not wanting to worry those around her. But Haku knew that you were a strong spirit, emotionally but not physically. As the kitsune kingdom had been destroyed and your family were killed in the war, you had no chance to learn and train most of your magic. So even though you could use your magic for short periods of time, there were always aftereffects. If you used your magic for too long, you would begin to feel a headache, one that would slowly become worse and after some more time, you would faint. You had gone to see Zeniba to see if there was anything she could do about it. She told you that you should avoid using your magic too much as after time, your body would start to slowly break down and become ruined. The other option was that you learn how to control your powers and adapt to using them. Zeniba recommended that you go to her sister's library and see if there were any books she had collected that would help. Tucking the pieces of information into your brain and reminding yourself to never concern other people with your diagnosis, you left after thanking the kind witch for her help. The witch also warned you to be careful about spells and curses cast onto your body as too much powerful magic could kill you. 

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Word count: 775

I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of this story. Just a heads up that the chapters will most likely get longer and longer as the story goes on. If you think that the chapters are too long, let me know, there's no need to be shy!

love, mokkechild.