Under The Fox's Tail ⁷

Coincidence

His stern gaze travelled from Yukio to you and vice versa quite sometimes after your friend had brought the tray with food and laid it on his lap. Food which she had consulted you about and then had proceeded to order, in thoughts that someone in his condition would need to eat well to recover faster

"You have never taken care of anyone sick before, haven't you." Hoseok raised an eyebrow at you two, for despite not being well acquainted with this modern world, he doubted that anyone would bring pizza and sushi to someone that is supposed to be unwell.

"Of course we have. We take care of one another when we get sick." You replied, slightly offended by his attitude however what had made your nerves to be on edge was the fact that he had his hand, still on your inner thigh, as the seal had awakened a bit prior and he had heated its flames, not letting you suffer for even a minute, yet after he was done, he claimed that it was better to keep his hand there for he gets better and a stronger energy source, leaving you in an awkward and slightly uncomfortable situation.

"Let me guess, that's the reason you both don't recover quickly." He added and Yukio just left an awkward laugh to escape her lips, feeling slightly called out on the issue for indeed you both had a hard time recovering from cold and flues when it was to happen and get one.

"Stop complaining and just eat. It's not like you even paid for the food, you ungrateful spirit. And for your information, it's not like we don't know better, it's just that at this hour, no other places do delivery." You shove his hand away out of irritation and he just proceeded to ignore you and replace his hand on the inner part of your thigh and lightly squeeze it. 

That sensation almost had blood to rush down your cheeks for he may not understand how this was wrong but your mind surely did and that was not being helpful at all.

"Oh great fox spirit, excuse our ignorance. Please accept this token despite how worthless and lacking it is an honour our good intentions towards you." Yukio bowed her head to him, speaking words that had you giving her a weird look but Hoseok seemed to enjoy her approach as his stern gaze, softened a bit.

"I will be generous then despite the fact that this food brings nothing to my condition for I don't function like you. I will take into consideration your thoughtfulness and efforts and eat from this unworthy cheap-looking meal." Through elegant and polite words somehow he still managed to offend the food you had paid for to give him and while you scoffed at his reply, Yukio portrayed her thankfulness.

"Stop that Yukio. Why are you even thanking him for and doing all this? He is obviously being ungrateful." You stated as you took off his hand from your thigh once again, stopping his movements for Hoseok had grabbed his chopsticks and was ready to devour some sushi.

"He is not being ungrateful and a thank you is too little to say for he saved my life. Our lives. Remember?" Yukio reminded you of the things that happened earlier in the forest and basically shut you up, making you grab his hand again and place it on that place on your inner thigh on your own, then cross your hands above your chest in frustration while he left a smirk to appear on his lips and proceeded to eat the piece he had on his chopsticks.

"May I ask who was that guy from earlier oh great fox spirit? Why did a god come to harm you?" Yukio uttered an important question that had your attention travel to Hoseok who didn't hesitate much to reply.

"He is no God. He is just someone that has sold himself to one in exchange for more power. Once upon a time, were good companions however he voted for my doom and imprisonment in the forest on that fatal day when the Goddess held a court for my case. Because of him and the claims of some other spirits, I was condemned to imprisonment in my own forest. However he always knew, I was better than him and now that I am free, and trying to get my ticket back to the spiritual world, he most likely felt threatened enough to attempt to eliminate me before I get the chance to eliminate him."

"A snake indeed. Why did the Goddess appear though? As far as I know, I don't think she is much on your side either." You spoke, gaining his attention as his eyes travelled from Yukio to you.

"She is a Goddess and she is just. She is not on my side nor is she on his. However, his visit here had been made without the proper permit and thus she came to collect him. He is most likely to withstand a punishment for his acts and for endangering human beings." The satisfaction that fact gave him was something Hoseok did not hide on his face as he spoke, feeling victorious from that encounter of his with that old friend whom he did not particularly mind if he was to see his spirit die.

"I am happy to hear that he will get justice. I have never seen such a bad spirit in my life."Yukio presented her dislike towards the mentioned stranger and you couldn't help but laugh a bit despite the fact that after what he got her through, it was normal that she would end up hating him.

"Miss Yukio, I keep getting more and more pleasantly surprised with you. Keep honouring your family as you are." Hoseok praised her in a way that had her eyes lit up and her body start bowing repeatedly, to the point that you questioned if you had ever witnessed her being this happy and delighted about something. Was his approval really that important for her?

"I won't disappoint you oh great fox spirit. I humbly request you to accept me as your caretaker. I will assist you to the best of my abilities for the rest of my life."

"The heck?!" You blurred out unwillingly after those words that she said, finding it super weird and even absurd to offer her lifetime as a servant to a fox spirit that can live way beyond her years.

" I shall accept your offer, Miss Yukio, for I am certain you will do well as your grand grand grand grand grand grandmother had once done." You almost lost count of how many times he repeated the word 'grand' being a bit astonished by how far down the line Yukio's bloodline actually went and for how long of a time, Hoseok had come across and communicated with people of her bloodline. 

"Isn't this weird?" You uttered making them both look your way as Yukio questioned what was that you considered weird exactly.

"I am not trying to be rude or degrade the beliefs of your family Yukio nor I am belittling your wish to serve him for I guess you have thought well about it, before uttering those words. What I am finding weird is the fact itself. The occurrence. Like what were the odds of you meeting the fox spirit? There's been a gap of generations in your family that have not encountered him and even though they kept his name alive down the line, isn't it too much of a coincidence that in your time, this grumpy fox right here, decided to be awakened and pester people?" You prevented your words the best you could manage at that moment, considering this coincidence, was way too amazing to not be pointed out.

 The room fell in silence for a bit, after Yukio had admitted that sure it was a pretty crazy coincidence and the probability was narrowed for both you and her. She because as you said, he could have awoken at any other day and encountered any other person or even approach someone of her bloodline that was around his forest. And you, because of all people in the world, you had happened to meet Yukio while studying away from home and had happened to become close enough with her to travel with her on that fateful day, to her grandmother's hometown.

"Coincidence is nothing but a word made up by the ones that are in denial and unable to face their fates. Coincidence is nothing more than the desire of a god, hidden under worldly clouds. Yet if this belief and knowledge of mine are certain, then it means that there's somewhere, someone who has wished for us to cross paths and be living to this exact moment." Hoseok seemed quite nonchalant in the conversation as he stated his opinion in a calm way and proceeded to eat a bit more of the tray that lay on his lap.

"Isn't that scary, however? The thought of someone else meddling with the direction of my life...doesn't sound nice to me." You admitted as you felt incredibly alert at that very moment. As if someone was watching you and stepping on private spaces you would never let anyone into.

"Fear not my lady for you are still free to make your choices. Whoever it was that wished for our encounter, did so because he held some knowledge that we do not. No matter where we are to end up, we will be responsible for our actions and choices for none can bend an entity's free will." His words sounded reassuring yet as you met eyes with him, you found yourself feeling scared of your own self.

Because it seemed like a day was about to come where you would have to make a decision and you couldn't help but be insecure. What if you were to make the wrong choice? What would the consequence of that be?

---To be continued...