Under The Fox's Tail ⁷

Was it a dream?

You opened your eyes slowly regaining your consciousness which you weren't sure when you had actually lost it, to begin with.

Your body felt sore and heavy and your vision was blurred, making you blink several times as you stood up into a seated position only to check your surrounding and notice the body of your friend Yukio laying some feet away from you on the ground.

You were still in the forest where the last piece of your memory was recalled however as you continued looking around in search of the fox guy, he was nowhere in sight.

"Was I dreaming?" You questioned under your breath before getting up and going near your friend, slightly shaking her to wake up.

"Yukio. Yukio~, Come on, Get up." You kept shaking her lightly and calling for her till she opened her eyes making you feel relieved that at least she was okay.

"What happened?" She asked as she seemed as lost as you were a moment ago and you just shrugged your shoulders giving her to understand that it wasn't like you knew much yourself.

"Where is the Fox Spirit?" She jumped up, clearly worried as she scanned her surroundings.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember is.." You said then halted your tongue at the recalling of the last thing you remembered before everything went blank.

"He kissed me!!" You exclaimed in shock, your eyes wide and your cheeks flashing out of anger at how had he dared do something like that without your permission.

"He what?!" Your friend showed her surprise as well at your statement and after staring at you for a moment she grabbed your bags that were laying around and then grabbed your wrist, pulling you with her.

"What's wrong Yukio?" You asked her as you followed her rapid steps, now understanding that she knew better than you and that you should follow her.

"He made a seal. If you don't get out of the forest's border within 37 minutes, the seal will be officially unbroken and you will be stuck with his spirit as your shadow for eternity." She explained, her words leaving you speechless.

They seemed serious but somehow you couldn't believe them completely because they sounded absurd to you. How could someone link a soul to another, to begin with? All these were just fantasy stories that were far from someone as realistic as you tend to be, however, what scared you was that you couldn't deny your eyes and you surely had seen him, the touch of his tail still was ghosting over your skin.

Maybe it was just a dream? Maybe I am still dreaming even now.

You insisted as you were now running next to your friend that seemed desperate to get you out of that forest.

It didn't take long for the both of you to see a clear road waiting for you ahead, making Yukio run even faster, soon ending up with both of you kneeling on the ground, catching your breaths, now out of the forest's borders as you had assumed after witnessing a white line that was drawn on the ground as a symbol.

"Did-did we made it?" You asked out of breath as you didn't know for how many hours you had been exactly sleeping and if the 37 minutes had long passed before you even regain consciousness.

"Let me check." She responded as she came closer examining your face and neck and arms, even lifting up your shirt to observe your back and belly, a thing that did startle you and made you pull away from her for a moment but she didn't back off.

"What are you doing? We are in the middle of the road and you are almost stripping me." You complained as you kept pulling down on your shirt till she let it go.

"A sign appears on your skin when the seal is completed. Thankfully you seem to not have one, so we made it." She explained, her hands going through her hair displaying the worry and anxiety that had been eating her up till now.

"I told you to not make a single sound, damn it!!" She then stormed off at you making you take a step back and apologize quickly knowing that she nags a lot when she gets mad.

"Oh, my lord. Just-Just walk!" She urged you as she fixed her backpack on her back and walked ahead, you following her in silence.

---Time skip---

You had arrived at your friend's grandmother's house and she had welcomed you with much hospitality and kindness. She was rather sweet and like every granny ever, the first thing she did once you entered her house was to make you eat food insisting that you should be hungry after all that trip.

She wasn't wrong. Especially the walking had taken much energy from you both to not mention the jump scare that that fox spirit -or whatever they called it- had given you.

After you had finished eating some food that turned out to taste quite delicious, considering that it was the first time you were tasting that dish as most of the Japanese dishes actually. Yukio took you to her room after which you will both share for the upcoming two days you will stay there before heading back to Tokyo and then back to the United States where you two were studying.

"The bathroom is waiting for you." You heard her voice as she popped her head at the doorstep, informing you that you could go take the bath that you so much needed after all the rolling you did on the ground of that forest.

Of course, she was pretty dirty herself but she insisted on you cleaning up first since you were the guest and they should treat you accordingly.

You smiled at her and grabbed your clothes then headed to the bathroom. You closed the door and placed your clothes on the hangers then opened the water to run before you started undressing.

Ah, this shower will sure be relaxing.

You thought to yourself as you threw at the side the clothes that were covering your upper body and then stripped down from your pants too.

After you were left with only the undergarments, your eyes halted as you were looking yourself at in the mirror noticing a black dot on your inner right thigh that was not there before. 

As you looked down at yourself and moved your leg to have a better view of the inner part you noticed that it wasn't a dot but a whole line that travelled to a small weird design of a circle, decorating now your skin.

"What is this?" You murmured to yourself right before some scary words flooded into your mind making you look at your reflection in shock.

We didn't make it!!  ...It's the seal!!..... IT WASN'T A DREAM!!

---To be continued...