Chapter 5 - Man-Fox

"Urgh..." Violet groaned and mumbled as she slept warmly with a blanket of fur wrapped around her, her head throbbing with pain and stomach aching because of hunger.

Wait... fur?

Violet's eyes immediately shot open upon realizing this.

"How...?" Violet asked almost to herself as she inspected the blanket.

Strangely, the blanket seems to be made of white fox fur. But where could a gray fox be found around here? It is not like a fashion designer just waltz into the woods and threw it at her. That's madness! Not just madness, but completely impossible.

And being lost and alone, cold (but now warmed), and hungry in the woods, she felt crazy for agreeing with her Dad for coming here.

"My father will definitely hear about this," she swore.

"Talking to yourself? Do you have a loose screw on your head because of hunger or something?" a male's voice came that made Violet look towards the direction where the voice came from.

The man dropped a wooden bowl filled with mushroom soup in front of her.

"Eat. I don't think old man, Seto, would want his granddaughter in a mental hospital," the man added as he walked around the fire and stirring a small metal pot using a wooden spoon above the fire.

"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!" Violet asked harshly.

"Tch. You're something. Is that how you treat the person who just rescued you?" the man said as he tilted his head a bit to look at her, probably just to show his smirk and amused look for the girl.

"Ugh! Excuse me! I don't know you and I demand to know!" Violet shouted.

"Why not try asking in a more polite way, pumpkin?" the man cooed as he turned around and crossed his arms in front of Violet. He still has that amused look on his face that annoys Violet every second that passes.

Violet glared at the man and that is when she actually took a good look at the man. She immediately dropped the fur blanket in shock and ran behind the tree.

"Who are you and most importantly... WHAT are YOU?!" Violet asked in a panicked voice.

The man looks only two years living ahead of her. He's got chestnut brown hair that matches his skin perfectly. He's got wild, golden yellow eyes. But looking at him happily wagging his long, gray, tail, anyone could see that he is not a normal human being. It is clear as crystal that he is amused by Violet's sudden expression not only by the look on his face and the wagging of his tail but also by looking at his gray fox ears that are a shade of pink in the middle, twitching over his crown of brown hair.

"A man fox? What are they called again?" Violet asked herself, panicking.

"Guess," the man said, clearly enjoying this situation. He is like a fox playing with his rabbit meal before actually devouring it.

Violet, on the other hand, is completely done. "I AM DEAD SERIOUS HERE!" she shouted.

The fox-man laughed, "You're not just amusing, you are also... dumb."

Violet gasped. No one ever dared call her dumb in her whole life before. "How dare you!"

The man walked towards her and leaned on the tree. Violet stepped back.

"I am a kitsune, you little gumdrop," he said in a way that Violet surprisingly found very sexy. "I live in this forest. I have the power to shift into my fox form and this form any time I want. I live in this forest for as long as I can remember and I. RESCUED. YOU." he said, emphasizing the last three words with a proud, cat-like grin.

Violet hoped that this kitsune didn't notice her knees trembling as she asked, "And... your name?"

The man paused, his grin disappeared for a second. Then, he sighed and answered the girl's question.

"Renji," he answered with a quick blow of his bangs. "The name's Renji of the Kitsune Clan."