Reluctantly, Tenha made her way into his kitchen. Being a rather small house, it didn't feel like leaving the living room where she found comfort in. Though the cold tile flooring definitely divided the boundaries of this space.
"Wow…" She opened up his fridge to see what there was available for her to prepare a meal. "You really aren't giving me much to work with, are you?"
"Well, sorry I've been living a life of one for a while now." He responded snidely. It was insulting that this pig of a fox spirit was criticizing his home when she was the one who tricked him into signing this dumb contract. Thankfully that binding paper didn't include how he should be allowed to talk with her. So the man took advantage of being rude to the girl. "Look, can't you just magic up a good meal?"
"We're not that overpowered." She replied. "Obviously we can't just conjure up food out of thin air. Why else do you think we take the offerings you humans leave with her." When she put it in that manner, it did make sense to him why they would want offerings from people like himself. This entire time, he thought it was for the formalities and respect to these spirits. Never once did he actually believe they were going down to take the food left behind. "Now go sit down at the dinner table and wait like a good little boy."
"Well, I don't have a dinner table." He didn't appreciate her patronizing him as if their age difference was so massive that he was still a child in her eyes. From his point of view, she was the child between them. Not only because of her appearance that reminded him of a student, but also from her actions and attitude.
Though he decided not to waste his energy complaining and whining to her. The damage was already done. So he went over to the living room and sat down on the couch where she had spent the day in. The imprint left behind was still there as he felt his bottom sink down further than usual. There were still some crumbs left on the seat, so he brushed it off onto the floor with disdain. "This is why I don't want kids." He muttered to himself. If she was any indication, then those monstrosities would leave behind a mess 10 times as big.
"Done." She announced, bringing along a few bowls to the coffee table. One in each hand and the third thanks to her bushy tail. They were filled to the brim with broth, yet she was able to carry them without spilling a single drop. It seemed she had prepared them a dinner of soup from the leftover vegetables in his fridge.
"That was fast." It felt like he had just sat down when she had apparently finished. Apparently, despite being unable to summon out food. They were capable of boiling water in an instant.
"Well, you didn't give me much to work with." She plopped down his two bowl and placed hers next to him. "Besides you shouldn't underestimate the skill of a kitsune." Well, he couldn't argue with her there.
Just as he was about to take his first bite of the soup, there came the not so familiar knocking at the door.
"Who is that?" He asked aloud. The man wasn't used to visitors coming over to his home. In fact, Nishiki couldn't remember the last time anyone had paid him a visit. "...Oh. It's just you." Unfortunately for him, the sight of Kinuko brought his slight hope down to a complete crash. He hadn't known either of them for 24 hours and already he was sick of having to see these fox spirits. "What are you doing here? Come to tell me how bad of a person she is again?"
"I'm here to do my check up to ensure she's following the terms of the contract." She answered him, walking inside without asking for permission. "So, did you prepared an extra meal for myself?"
"Yep, it's right here." Tenha pointed over to the extra bowl she had left on the table.
"You mean that one wasn't for me?" He asked, a bit surprised that this was going to be another part of his daily schedule he hadn't planned for.
"You really thought I made two bowls for you?" She replied with a disrespectful tone. As if the idea she'd go above and beyond for him was enough to send him to a mental hospital.
"Yes." Yet again, she showed him why he never got nice things. "Whatever, I'm starving. So let's eat." Despite not inviting the other lady in, he sat down between the kitsunes and began to take a good slurp of the broth she made. "E… Ergh…" His throat tightened as the liquid hit his tongue. "Blerg…" The man gagged and cough as he stuck his tongue out.
"Hmm, interesting." Kinuko commented as she took her serving of food. She had nowhere near the reaction he had to Tenha's food. "It's awful."
"Oh good…" He finally was able to speak after the coughing fit this food sent him into. "For a moment, I was worried that fox spirits had terrible taste." With everything they ate that were the offerings of humans. He almost thought for a second that they were used to stale food.
"But it does pass the rules stated in the contract." She continued on. Her next sentence made less sense to him than anything else that had occurred in the past 24 hours.
"What the heck? How does this pass that stupid contract?" He asked, dismayed there was going to be no punishment towards Tenha.
"For starters, we've already tested her abilities beforehand." She explained to him about the grading they ended up giving her after being tested. Basically, this was so the contract would be able to properly measure her abilities in order to ensure she actually put in effort. "And secondly, you should be hoping she doesn't fail either."
"Why should I care?" He responded, upset that this contract didn't take his personal feelings into consideration. "If she's giving me bad service, why should I want her to stick around?"
"Because if the contract is failed to be upheld, then she'll be erased from existence." That first part sounded good to him. This Tenha girl was easily the worst person he had ever had the displeasure of meeting. "And so will you." Though that second part gave him pause.
"What!? How come I wasn't told of this sooner?" He asked, his voicing growing in anger the more he learned about this new situation that the fox spirits had placed him in.
"I would've mentioned it sooner if a certain someone wasn't so obsessed with their meaningless work." Now it was Kinuko's turn to give him a backhanded commented. "Though on the bright side, I believe that should be all the surprises for you regarding this contract."
"Isn't that great…" He sarcastically spoke as he laid back onto the couch in utter disappointment. At this rate, he wasn't certain if he was going to make it out of these circumstances alive.