Shirayukihime and The Lost Fox

Chapter 18: Not Normal

Third POV

Zen was beyond angry. He was enraged. If he was just a few more seconds late Akira would have been seriously hurt, or worse. Zen took the culprit and jabbed the hilt of his sword into his stomach. The young man, who was maybe in his twenties and over seven years older than Zen, once again lost his breath.

Zen pushed Mihaya against a tree, where he slumped against it to the ground, clutching his gut. Shirayuki stood still, staring at Zen in awe as he held the man at sword-point. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Akira stumble and collapse against the wall, his mismatched eyes slowly closing. She let out an alarmed sound before running to his side.

Akira was in no good shape. His skin was pale, almost matching his hair, but at the touch was burning hot with fever. He weakly gripped his burned forearm to his chest, and his breathing was labored. Akira was quickly losing consciousness. "No!" Shirayuki yelled at him, roughly patting his cheek. "No! Don't sleep here, you have to stay awake!" She began riffling through her satchel, taking out the cheesecloth that had wrapped her lunch and ripping it into strips before bandaging Akira's burnt arm.

Zen looked over his shoulder when he heard her distressed yelling. His blue eyes widen at the sight of the sick boy before hardening and turning back to Mihaya. "What did you do to him?" He demanded lowly. Mihaya looked up, asking back, "Do to whom?" So he still maintained his sickening humor after all this.

"What did you do to Akira, mountain monkey?" Zen raised his voice, shouting at the other party. He raised his sheathed sword threateningly towards Mihaya, but he only laughs. "Oh, so that's the mutt's name, huh? It sort of fits him." Zen grits his teeth at the insult, even if it wasn't his. "Shirayuki, can I kill him?" He calls over his shoulder to the redhead, moving to unsheathe his sword.

Mihaya's eyes widen. "Shirayuki, so that's your name, huh Rosylocks?" Zen began to shout at him, but was quieted down when Shirayuki started speaking. "What did you do to him? He's so sick." Her forest green eyes became as hard as emeralds as she stared down Mihaya. He was quiet for a moment, before he clicks his tongue. "The mutt got what he deserved. I gave him a sedative I bought from a hunter. It was a last resort if I couldn't subdue him." He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. "And he made me use it twice."

Shirayuki's face pales slightly. She looked back at Akira, feeling his temperature again. "A hunter's sedative?" Zen asked. Shirayuki began rummaging through her bag again, but stopped after a moment, looking a little frustrated. "Give us the antidote. Now. A hunter's sedative should not be used on people without lasting affects," she said, approaching Zen and Mihaya.

"Don't have one," he replied blatantly. Before they could interject, he continues, "He recovered after just a few hours and seemed fine to me. Even the sedative didn't fully work on him. It only paralyzed him instead of knocking him out fully." Both Shirayuki and Zen exchange glances, ones that did not go unnoticed. Mihaya studied them both for a moment, contemplating asking the question on his mind.

"He's not a normal boy, isn't he?" They both turn back to Mihaya in surprise. He was surprisingly serious, the only thing lightening up the mood was the small pained smile on his dirt-smudged face. Zen raised his guard, asking, "And what if he isn't?"

"Oh, you don't have to tell me, I can tell. The way he acted was not normal at all, it was as if he were relying on his instincts." Shirayuki thought back to when she heard Akira give a growl, saw how he bared his teeth at Mihaya. Her eyes flicker to his poorly bandaged hand for a moment. "Your hand?" She asked simply.

"Ah, yes," he said waving the bandaged hand in the air. "The mutt was the one to do this. Very sharp teeth, that one. He left me quite the gash that will very likely leave a scar."

The two of them stood in stunned silence, staring at Mihaya before glancing at the sickly pale boy behind them. How could he do this? But Shirayuki knew that this was true, that Mihaya wasn't lying about the bite or the feral behavior. Zen started a mental list of questions to ask Akira when they got back. Mostly on how they got into this position in the first place. Speaking of which...

"Now tell me, mountain monkey. Why did you even kidnap the two in the first place?"

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Akira POV

All that I could think of was the terrible ache throughout my body. I bring a hand up to my head to somehow soothe the pounding headache in my temples. Opening my eyes, I look around to see a familiar blank white void. I couldn't suppress a groan. "Why am I here...?"

"Because we needed to chat. A long, overdue chat."

I turn around, looking for the unfamiliar voice. "Who-?" The words die on my tongue at the sight of a little girl. She was maybe around ten years old, with long golden hair and bronze colored eyes. She wore a simple white dress that blended so well into the background, I might of not have noticed it in the first place. She clasp her hands behind her back, smiling at me as she shifts on her bare feet.

"Hello, Akira," she said, giving me a closed-eyed smile. "Nice to finally meet you." I cock my head to the side in confusion. "Um... hello?"

She giggles at my obvious confusion. "W-well," I start, bringing a hand up to run through my hair. My ears were pricked up, twitching at my touch. "You obviously seem to know me, but I don't know you. So..." I'm cut short as the girl practically prances up to me, excitement in her young eyes. She takes my sleeve into her hands and tug me down until I'm kneeling at her height. Then she does something I was not expecting.

The young girl reached up and began to rub and play with my ears. She giggled as my cheeks start to burn red with a blush I couldn't suppress. I gently grab her hands and pull them away. "Alright, alright, you've had your fun. Now will you introduce yourself?" I look at her curiously. She takes a step away, once again clasping her hands behind her back.

"Sorry, sorry!" She said, smiling sheepishly. "I got pretty excited there. That was practically the whole reason why I gave you fox ears in the first place."

"Gave me?" I echo. If I heard her right, this isn't a normal little girl. Wait, I passed out, so how could she be normal if she was in my mind? "Yep!" She sang happily. "Let me introduce myself. I am known as Kiitami-sama, goddess of the worlds!"

I stare at her in dumbfounded silence. "Y-you're... the Goddess?" I ask. But she's so young! How could a child be a goddess? She looks at me and simply laughs. "This isn't really how I look. I just chose this form because I thought you would take to it better rather than a ten foot tall grown woman with a pretty noticeable aura."

I simply shake my head and reply, "Well, you made a good call. Anyway, is there a reason you summoned me here?"

"Oh! That's right," she said. She clears her throat before looking at me regally. "Akira Kazumi, for your bravery and sacrifice to protect a friend, I bestow upon you a gift that will help you in coming trials." The young goddess leans forward, cupping my cheeks and pecks a kiss on my forehead. Leaning back, she gives me a wide smile before continuing, "This gift will help you conceal your tail at your will. This will not, however, pertain to your ears." I look at her curiously. "Why not my ears?" I ask.

"Because," she huffs. "I like your ears and I've realized that the tail was a little... unnecessary." She admits reluctantly as she plays with a lock of her golden hair. I smile at her. Even if she was a who-knows-how-old goddess, she was really cute as a child.

"Anyway," Kiitami-sama coughed. She smiled at me warmly before touching a finger to my temple. "It's time for you to go, Akira. Your friends are waiting for you." Then everything went dark, as if someone had flicked the lights off.