Life of a Stray Fox

Chapter 9

My back slammed into the foam mat below me and I grunted loudly.
"Are you fucking kidding me Dazai?!" My ten year old voice rang out shrilly.
The boy in question gave me a devilish smirk before trying to kick me. My eyes widened and I rolled. I propped my hands on the ground behind my head and pushed, launching myself up into a squatted position. Dazai ran forward and tried to swing at me again, making me do a backflip to get away once more. I landed on my rear, and stood quickly, not trusting Dazai to let me have enough time to sit and catch my breath. The boy came running towards me again and I clamped my eyes shut tightly, focusing.
I started to mutter, "Legend of the Kitsune" repeatedly, hoping my ability would activate and make my body disappear into one of the shadows in the room.
A sudden cold chill ran up my spine and my eyes snapped open. I grinned when I realized I had actually done it. I'm inside the shadows!!
I looked around and noticed one whole side of the shadow was like an opening, and it looked out into the room I was in with Dazai. The male was currently looking around trying to find me, confusion filling his face.
I slowly began to walk around, as I did so, the angle that I saw Dazai at, changed. So I'm able to walk around inside the shadows... ok that's actually kinda cool...
I continued walking until I was behind Dazai, a slight predatory look in my eyes. Taking a few steps back, I readied myself to launch out at the boy. I inhaled and released it slowly, charging forward and out of the shadowy darkness. I slammed into Dazai's back and he crumbled onto the ground, with me on his back. He tried to wriggle out from underneath me, but I refused to budge. I sat up on top of him and laughed, "Nice try, you're stuck though!"
Suddenly I was thrown off of the brown haired boy, my head hitting the ground harshly. I closed my eyes tightly as a wave of dizziness hit, and then I lost consciousness.
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I opened my eyes and looked around the room with a small yawn. Mori had gathered all of the executives for some stupid 'special' meeting. Mori only did this when someone came asking for help, which meant we were going to have to kill someone or something boring like that.
My eyes flickered next to me, landing on Dazai's stiff form.
I laid my chin on the table and rolled my eyes, He's too serious. Nobody around here knows how to have fun.
The chair on my other side scraped against the floor. I picked my head up and looked over lazily, a smile lighting up my face. Elise had gotten up into the chair and was watching me with curious eyes.
"Hello, Kotori."
I gave the girl a polite nod, "Elise, how are you?"
She closed her eyes and hummed, kicking her feet slightly.
"I am well. Would you like to color with me, Kotori?"
My smile grew and I nodded, "I would be happy too."
She smiled and quickly got some paper and crayons out of her bag.
We sat and colored for the next little while, occasionally some of the other executives would glance my way and roll their eyes.
It didn't bother me much, I had always been too childish for them. No one ever bothered to say anything because of my temper though.
A couple years after I joined the Mafia, they had labeled me as the 'Rabid Fox', and I had that name for good reason, too.
The doors burst open suddenly, everyone at the table looking up. I turned my head slowly, looking up at Mori who had just stepped into the room. His strides were long and his gaze crossed over each one of us as he passed by. I watched him with a calculated gaze, wondering what he had called us all here for. When he stopped at the head of the table, he rested his hand on the back of his chair, "I would like to welcome and thank you all for coming on such short notice."
He sat down, his eyes closed and a dangerous smile on his face.
"I'm sure you all have been made aware about our warehouses that have been flooded down at the docks... No prints, or any evidence of a human at all. Sound familiar?"
His gaze quickly swept over me and I sighed boredly. This was a waste of my time. There was no point in me being here if he was just going to remind us all of how I had been recruited.
Dazai groaned, "Mori, get to the point. This is so tiresome."
For a 14 year old, Dazai was definitely someone you didn't want to get on the wrong side of. Neither was I for that matter.
Maybe that's why Mori stuck Dazai and I together.
Wait... did Mori say flooding...?
I stood up and turned towards Mori, "Excuse me, flooding? It's not Typhoon season... so how are whole warehouses being wiped out?"
The older man opened his eyes, "Ah... have I peaked your interest, Kotori? If so, that's good. Dazai and yourself will be the ones investigating this matter."
I scoffed and sat back down, "Yeah... like we had a choice in the matter."
The man laughed and leaned back in his seat, "Kotori, such an attitude. How hard is it to not argue every once and a while?"
I sighed, "Mhm, yeah. Can I go now?"
Mori stopped laughing and motioned his confirmation with his hand.
"Thank God."
I stood, flipping my black hair over my shoulder. I pushed my chair back towards the table and then stepped back, bowing.
"Thank you Mori."
He nodded and then looked at the brown haired male still in his seat.
"Dazai, go with her. I did say this was a team effort."
He sighed heavily and stood, "Fine, Mori. I'll go."
He left his chair where it was before laying a hand on my shoulder and guiding me out of the room.
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I was latched tightly to one of the beams on the ceiling of the warehouse, a raging flood going on beneath me. My left arm was clutching the beam and both legs were wrapped around it. My right hand was clutching onto Dazai's shirt collar. The bandaged male just dangling without a care in the world. A growl sounded deep in my throat, "DAZAI, I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!!"
He didn't respond, instead trying to lift his hand up for me to grab. He got it up about midway. Because I had his collar, he couldn't get it up very far.
I grunted, trying to lift the male up by the collar, "Dazai why the fuck don't you help out a bit more!?"
"It's a mystery we all want the answer to, really."
I heaved a heavy sigh and tried to pull him up once more. When I almost lost my grip, I gasped and released the beam with my left hand. I grabbed his collar with both hands, glancing down at the dangerously rising waters.
Taking a few deep breaths I mumbled, "Legend of the Kitsune."
My ability activated, ears and a tail appearing. My senses and strength suddenly increased, a relieved sigh leaving my lips. I pulled on Dazai's collar again, this time is weight wasn't an issue. I grinned, my fangs glistening slightly in the light as I pulled him up. The male grabbed the beam once he was able to and hauled himself up. As soon as we were both on the beam, I stood up and activated my ability again, this time transforming into my large fox form.
"Alright, get on. We've gotta get out of here and get that girl. I've still got her scent."
Dazai nodded and stood slowly, grabbing my scruff and hopping up onto my back. As soon as he had a firm grip, I looked around for some sort of available exit. I found a window not too far away from where we both were. I got a running start and jumped off the beam, soaring through the air and crashing into the window. Glass shattered and rained down all over us, small cuts and scratches littering my body.
My feet hit the ground with a loud thud, and I crouched down low. Dazai got off my back and I straightened. I shook any excess glass off my body and out of my fur before changing back into my human form.
I stepped towards the male quickly and grabbed his hand, "Ok come on. Her smell leads this way."