"I'm back…"
"Ah! Welcome back, Kichii!"
"Hiip! Hiip!" Returning home from a gruelling day at school, Kichii was promptly greeted by two familiar faces.
"How was your day at school? Sorry about the mess in the kitchen, dinner will be ready soon."
"…" Ameilia, the house maid said to the teenage boy. She was about thirty one years of age, and worked under his father for as long as he recalled.
As per usual, she in the midst of preparations for supper upon his arrival.
"Good I guess…" Kichii replied to Amelia. Her long, tied back, straight black hair swayed as she slowly stood back up.
"That's good. The bath is ready for you whenever you are ready. In the meantime, I've prepared snacks and a drink for you in your room." Amelia sent him a cheery smile.
"Thank you."
"You're very welcome." Following a short pause, Amelia approached, then gave him a light embrace.
"H-hey…" Her squishy white arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to her body. Kichii was taken aback in the beginning, though following a few mere seconds, he returned it.
"Good. Don't push yourself too hard, alright?"
"…"
After retracting from the squeeze, Amelia made her way back to the kitchen, which left him with his one and only pet female fox, whom he adopted exactly two years prior.
"Hey little guy…"
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppp!!!!!" Aura wasn't your average everyday fox. She was much wiser, and seemed to understand human emotions, as well as actions. That part of her baffled him the most.
Aura scrambled up to him, then hopped into his arms. Thankfully, she wasn't at all heavy.
"Haha, missed me?"
"Hiiiiiip!! Hiiiiiiiiiipppppp!!!"
"Aww, good girl!" Aura was held close to his chest as Kichii snuggled his face into her warm, velvety fur. "Mmm…" That feeling, it was exactly what the doctor ordered after a long day at school.
Aura stayed in his arms while he met her gaze. Her big blue eyes refused to look anywhere but at him. The fox's lengthy yellow-white tail swayed swiftly back and forth in his vision.
"Did Amelia treat you well while I was gone?" He questioned.
"Hiip!" Aura gave him a hearty nod.
"Good, good. Well, since it's Friday, we're going to spend the entire weekend together! So look forward to it, okay?"
"Hiip! Hiip!!"
"Haha."
Looking back at all that happened since the day Kichii met Aura...his humiliating confession, transferring schools, the thought that his high school crush loathed him, he was grateful he made the choice of taking in the injured fox. Due to her and Amelia's doings, he was able to move past everything.
"Aura…" Her fluffiness, her playful yet caring personality, she was the whole package. Sluggishly, Kichii leaned in, and kissed the fox's little head. She froze up for a good few seconds before giggling.
"Love you, Aura."
"Hiip!"
Subsequent to Aura's affectionate greeting, the pair headed to the bathroom. He peered at his reflection in the bathroom's mirror.
"Mmm...I'm a mess…"
"Hiip…" His hair was blonde, short, and combed to the side. It wasn't particularly messy, but the dark bags under his blue eyes blatantly pointed out to him that he was in need of more sleep. Kichii's skin was white, smooth to the touch. He possessed broad hips, and a slender overall body size. Despite being a male, he had a relatively feminine body.
"Alright...let's take a bath." After a long day, a relaxing soak was just what he needed. Prior to entering the tub, he stooped down to Aura's level.
"I'll see you in a bit, okay?"
"Hiip…"
"I'm going to have my bath. Unless you want a bath as well, wait for me in the kitchen or dining room."
"Hiip? Hiip!" Next, Aura turned around and exited the bathroom.
"Wow...is that really a fox I wonder?"
"Ahh…" Before long, he sat inside the tub.
"…" What a day… It took him by surprise how Amelia was aware of his bath preferences. Then again, she had been caring for him all his life.
"…" School… He couldn't help but recall the incident from two years prior.
"Or what? As if a loser like you could do anything! Bwhahaha!"
"…"
Charlotte… Did she really hate Kichii? Will they ever reunite? He wanted them to, but could he really face her after all that occurred? It seemed pretty reasonable to believe she was infuriated with him.
"That was two years ago though…" The confession was all the way back in grade seven. She must've been in grade nine, like he was.
Kichii still had feelings for her. If only he…
"Kichiiii, dinner's ready!"
"Eh?" Suddenly, a woman's voice from behind the bathroom door brought him back to reality.
"Dinner's ready, should I take yours out now, or would you be eating later tonight?"
"O-oh, I'll be there in a minute! Could you leave mine on the counter?"
"As you wish. Have a good bath, Kichii."
"Th-Thanks…" Following the final remark, Amelia left.
Eventually, he chose to just let it all go. Concluding the bath, he hastily threw on a dark shirt, plus a pair of baggy short pants, then joined the other two for supper.
"Hiip?"
"…" He sat at a desk inside of his dimly lit bedroom, his eyes fixated on the leafy green notebook in front of him. What the hell? None of what he viewed, he understood. What even is this? Is this even Algebra?
"Boo…" Ultimately, it was left alone. Doing homework a day before the weekend wasn't his cup of tea anyway.
"...Well, off to bed I guess."
"Hiip!" Aura hopped onto his bed, it's light blue sheets sinking where she sat. She patted the mattress, and curled up into a batll as if saying to the boy, "What are you waiting for, Kichii?"
Although before he even made it to his sleeping area, there was a knock on his door.
"Kichii, you up?"
"Yeah. Come in."
Amela entered his room with her cellphone pressed against her ear, a sweet twinkle plastered to her lips. She relinquished the cell to him, stating that it was his dad. His father was out of country so occasionally he'd call to check up on his son. But it was the topics which were spoken about during that particular ring that got to him…
"…" He was seated outside on the front step, just ahead of the entrance to his home. The sky was black, and the streets were barren. The vivid luminescence emitting from the moon, coupled with the dampness of the atmosphere gave him a peaceful, nostalgic scene.
"Dad…" The call was about the past events. After fleeing the school and returning home, he shut the door and locked himself in his room with Aura.
Amelia phoned his dad about his behaviour and once he explained the situation, his father decided he should switch schools. Kichii was all for it. No way he would've went there again, knowing that he'd be bullied.
The topic spoken about was his previous crush, Charlotte. Despite the distance between them, he continually loved her-cherished her, even. Did she think the same about him when he confessed? She was the sole individual who didn't hurt him that dreadful day.
It was all in the past though. Even if it was...why did it still hurt him to this day?
"Hiip?" A call from his pet fox, Aura, alerted him. She stood beside him with a tilted head, staring in his direction.
"Oh...Aura…"
"Hiip…" Aura appeared to have read Kichii's emotions. Strutting up close to the boy with a steady pace, she crawled onto his lap, then melted onto him, a small purr escaping her throat.
"You always know when to show up, don't you, Aura?"
"Hiip! Hiip!" Aura happily bobbed her petite head.
"…"
"Aura…" Without even knowing it, tears leaked form his eyes and drooped onto her luscious, orange fur.
"Sob A-Aura...you...you aren't irritated by me, are you?"
"Hiip? Hiip!" Aura vigorously shook her head.
"...Even if I may get like this sometimes?"
"Hiip!"
"…" A-Aura… Aura understood his every word. She new him well. He was intensely lucky to have such an animal by his side, and he knew it.
Aura sustained her unwavered gaze on him, not even blinking.
"Hiip…" She gaped at him with a seemingly frown. He could've guessed what must've been going through her head.
"My dad called me today...it was about Charlotte…"
"...And that's what we spoke about. Heh, funny, right?"
"…" Aura remained silent. It took a while to process the details of the call. Though… why would he tell this to me...after all that went on between me and her?
Out of the blue, Aura hopped out of his arms.
"Huh? Aura?" She stared in his direction for a good few seconds, then scrambled about a meter ahead, where her legs came to a halt.
"What's, the matter?"
"Hiiip! Hiiiip!"
"W-Whoa-!"
Before his very eyes, his fox was engulfed in a blinding white yellowish-gold illumination which appeared to emit from inside Aura's body. Her entire frame was replaced with the dazzling gleam.
"W-What in the..?"
?: ...chii...muffled. K...ii…
A barely noticeable high pitched voice leaked out from her direction. It didn't sound like her usual animal-like tone...but a...voice?
"H-hey! A-Aura, if you're there, yell 'hiip'!"
"Ki...chii...chii...iich...ii…"
"A-Aura! Can you hear me?! Huh…?"
He must've been dreaming. There wasn't any explanation for what he viewed. His pet fox...where was she? As soon as the light faded, his jaw dropped flat to the ground. Instead of his little, fluffy pet fox, a young girl dressed in a white-yellow kimono stood in her place.
Whoever she was, she was gorgeous. Without even flinching, she cleared her throat, and was about to speak…
"Hello there, Ki-"
"A-A-A-A-Aura?! A-Aura where are you?! Aura!!!"
"H-Huh? H-Hey, K-Kichii-?!"
"No, no, no, no, no!!! My pet fox!! Where did you go?! D-Don't tell me you…"
Kichii's face crumbled as his mind went to the worst case scenario… "...Left me, did you…?"
"W-What? N-No! I-I'd never leav-"
"N-no…" Did Aura really leave Kichii all alone? Aura wasn't within his sights at all. So his natural thought was that she got sick of him and fled. But that didn't make any sense. Why would she depart from his grasp after living with him for so long?
"Sniffle. A-Aura...you...you finally…"
"KICHII!!!"
"Bwaah!" The eerie woman who appeared from Aura's golden light confronted him, her beady bright grey peepers glaring in his direction.
"W-Who are-?"
"GOSH!! Don't be such a crybaby, Ki! It's me, your pet fox, Aura! Dummy!"
"...Eh? Who'd you say you are?"
"I said...It's me, your pet fox, Aura! You deaf or something?"
"…" Did she just say that? No way it was true. But the evidence to back up the claim was all there. So...it must've…
"WAIT WHAT?!"