A Tanuki's Life (Paused)

Chapter 16

"This cursed snow never ends!"
It has been snowing almost continuously for four days now. Only occasionally did the sun peek out from between the cloud cover, but then immediately disappeared again.

"Whining doesn't help either," Redd said with a grin. The two of them were just taking a break and sitting on the counter with a sandwich in their paws. The radio was playing next to them, from which K.K. Slider sounded. Otherwise the shop was completely quiet.

Even Redd barely spoke a word. His gaze fell into space while he chewed on his tuna bread. Either he was just tired - since he had hardly slept the last night because he really wanted to finish a painting - or something was bothering him.

Whatever it was, Tom wouldn't find out because Redd didn't want the tanuki to worry about him. But it could also be, that everything was fine with the fox and that Tom had only imagined it.

After all, it doesn't have to mean something right away, if Redd acted differently sometimes. Tom also doesn't have the same mood every day. But then why does he feel, he has to take care of Redd?

Was that just an instinct of his, since the tanuki himself has a little brother, who always had to keep an eye on - even if he didn't always want to. Tom suppressed a sigh. He shouldn't worry all the time about something, where he was probably worrying for nothing anyway.

His ears perked up when the radio reported the weather. In the evening it should stop snowing and the sky would clear up. "That's good news, isn't it?" Redd said, jumping down from the counter.

"Time to go back to work, Nooky!" He hurried to the shop door and flipped the sign from "Closed" to "Open". Tom stretched. "Yeah...let's do this."

The weather forecast wasn't wrong - in the evening the snow settled and you could see the stars in the night sky. However, an icy wind was blowing that made Tom shiver to the skin. He wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck and put his paws in his jacket pockets.

The tanuki looked behind him at Redd, who was walking cautiously down the path. Although he was wearing loose clothes and not even a scarf, he didn't seem to be cold. "Aren't you cold, hm? You don't even wear a scarf!"

The fox looked up. "Nope, I'm used to the cold. I've had to go through some tough winters on the street, and believe me ..." he grinned slightly, "they were much worse." Tom trembled at the thought.

"Uwah ... I don't even want to imagine that." The tanuki quickened its pace. "Why are you walkin' so fast?" Redd asked and caught up with him. "Because I'm cold and want to go home as soon as possible."

"Better watch out," the fox warned. "The path is pretty slippery. If you're not careful, you could end up on your nose." Tom snorted. "I'll be caref- waaaaah!"

But he was probably too confident, because the next moment, he slipped and landed backwards on the cold floor. "Ow, ow, ow! My butt!", The tanuki whined and gritted his teeth painfully.

Beside him he heard Redd laugh out loud. "I told you to be ca-careful!" He wrapped his arms around his stomach and bent over in laughter. "I-I can't!"

Tom rolled his eyes. "Haha, very funny." However, he couldn't help but chuckle himself. "Aw, I'm sorry, Nooky!", Redd snickered after he calmed down. "Did you hurt yourself?"

He held out his paw. Tom took it gratefully and let the younger one pull him up. "No, no. I'm fine!" He replied, amused. "I should really be careful now."

The tanuki looked down at his hand, which was still held by Redd. It felt so warm that Tom didn't want to let go of it. But the fox pulled out of his grip as he followed the older one's gaze.

He twitched his ears in shame. "Uh ... let's go now?" Tom nodded with a smile and wondered where this warmth came from, which was drawn through his body.

Minutes later they were trudging through a park to take a shortcut. The deep snow reached to Tom's knees and he had trouble moving. His feet were probably frozen to ice by now, he was sure of that.

Suddenly something cold hit his head and made him wince in shock. When the tanuki turned around, he saw Redd grinning mischievously at him. Toms eyes sparkled.
Just wait, you get that back!

He formed a snowball and shot it straight at the fox. The younger one didn't expect a counterattack and therefore could not duck back in time. "Gotcha!" Tom exclaimed happily when the snowball landed right in Redd's face.

He shook himself. "So, you want to mess with me, dontcha?" His bushy tail wagged back and forth playfully. Redd hastily shoveled up a large amount of snow and ran towards Tom with it.

The tanuki turned and stormed off, laughing. He meandered between the few trees that grew here and hid behind one. He stayed there for several seconds and tried not to make a sound.

When after a while he heard nothing, he peeked out from behind the tree and looked around. No sign of Redd. Thinking he was safe, Tom crept out of his hiding place. But the next moment a load of snow fell on him and trickled down his neck.

He shivered at the uncomfortable cold and shook himself vigorously. "You have to be more careful, buddy!" Tom turned around in surprise and saw Redd in front of him. "Where did you come from all of a sudden?!" He asked, astonished.

The younger one grinned and lifted his chin proudly. "A fox never reveals his tricks!" The tanuki rolled his eyes in amusement. "Ah yes, makes sense." He pounded the ground with his foot, so that the snow fell right on Redd's face.

"Hey!" He laughed and wiped his muzzle with his paw. "Haven't had enough yet, huh?" The fox growled playfully and jumped towards the older one. But due to the jerky movement he slipped, fell directly on Tom and brought him to fall as well.

The tanuki gasped in surprise when he felt the cold snow below him. Redd, who was lying over him, stared at him in surprise for several seconds. It was only then, that Tom realized how close he was to him.

Their bodies touched and their lips were only inches apart. He felt the fox's warm breath on his cheek. Tom's face turned red and he felt hot from the tips of his ears to his toes.

"I-I'm ... I'm sorry ..." Redd muttered, embarrassed. For a few seconds the tanuki thought he had lost his voice. "Uh ... never mind..." The younger one sat up slowly and began to laugh.
"That ... was a bit embarrassing," Redd said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah ..." Tom agreed with a slight chuckle. His heart was pounding so fast, that he was sure it would jump out of his throat at any moment. Why is my heart beating like crazy?!

The tanuki rose and brushed the snow off his pants. He tried to ignore this strange feeling and resigned himself to the fact, that it didn't meant anything.
The icy wind brushed his nose and he had to sneeze.

"Let's go home. It's getting colder and colder." But the fox didn't seem to have listened to him at all. His gaze was directed at Tom, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

"Redd?" He snapped a few times in front of Redd's face. "Are you there?" The younger one winced and perked up his ears attentively. "Uh ... y-yes." His cheeks flushed slightly and he looked at the ground.

"S-sorry, I was a bit distracted ..." Before the tanuki could ask what had just gone through his head, Redd looked up with a grin and nudged Tom with his elbow.

"Well then, move on, Tomski! Otherwise you'll freeze to ice." So the younger one jumped forward and pointed to follow him with a flick of his tail. Tom grumbled listlessly. "Jeeez, Redd! You know I hate to run!"

Nevertheless, he hurried after the fox, panting. I should really do some sport ...