The Fu dog, Kojiro, had found him a pair of pants that fit around his wait. They were a bit on the short side. Kaoru had longer legs than Henry, apparently. The stupid ape brained idiot kept chuckling whenever he looked over at the Kitsune.
"Its not like I had time to shop while running from a demon!" Kaoru pouted as he tugged on the over sized tee shirt he still wore.
It still hung low over his butt, but he had tied it up on the side. One shoulder kept slipping off. At first he would pull it back in place, then it just became too annoying so he left it.
They had just stepped off of the bus, when he felt a feather light touch to his shoulder. His face reddened when he saw Kojiro gently pull the shoulder back into place. The Fu dog wasn't looking at him as he did this. Kaoru was slightly satisfied to see a dusting of color on the others cheeks.
"Alright!" The Fu dog cried clapping his hands together.
"Clothes don't spoil, so let's do that first!" He turned to walk straight ahead. A tall man had just moved out of his way. As Kaoru watched the guardian spirit walked right into a pole.
The burst of laughter that escaped the Kitsune's lips was spontaneous. The Fu dog turned his head, rubbing at a red spot right between, and a bit above, his eyes. The expression on his face made Kaoru laugh even more. Tears formed in his eyes as he bent over. A hand slipped around his waist. He was about to jerk away but he saw the sandals that Kojiro was wearing.
The Fu dog was strong as he carefully pulled Kaoru out of the way of the other pedestrian traffic. Once he was able to regain his composure, Kaoru looked up at Kojiro. The open friendly face was split with a cute, quirky smile. The way it lightened his tan face, brought a dancing light to his red eyes, was almost breathtaking.
"I'm sorry. I don't know when I laughed that hard before." Kaoru fixed his shirt once again.
"Don't worry about. You looked cute." Kojiro said as he used his thumb to brush away a stray tear from Kaoru's cheek.
"I'm not cute!" Kaoru pouted as he began to walk away.
Kojiro grabbed his arm, turning him toward a fashion store.
"Then what are you? Your pink hair your pretty eyes, that face you make when you think I said something stupid! It's all too cute!" Kaoru watched the tall muscular man beside him as he spoke. He didn't turn his head to look at Kaoru once.
"I'm a Kitsune. A powerful supernatural deity of the Fox clan." He hurumphed.
If Kaoru was to be honest with himself, he loved how easily the Fu dog laughed. He also really enjoyed the warm timber to the sound.
Inching a bit closer to him, Kaoru felt the vibrations of the chuckle as he placed his fingers against the Fu dogs back.
"So strong." He muttered.
"Well, I do work out." Kojiro said as he opened a door. The whoosh of cool air blasted Kaoru's face.
He stepped into the dim interior of the store. A woman with heels that looked like she may break her ankles in them, tapped her way up to greet them. Kaoru was surprised when she spoke to Kojiro by name.
"Yes, my friend here had a misfortune. All of his stuff was lost in a disaster. Could you assist him with getting a new wardrobe?" Kojiro inquired.
"We certainly can. Shall we put it on your tab?" She asked tapping long red painted nails against a tablet in her hand.
"Yes, thank you. I'll sit over here." Kojiro pointed to a bench.
"Oh we did get in some of those Hawaiian shirts you like..." She pointed with a painted nail to a far corner of the store.
Kojiro's eyes lit up. Kaoru smirked he had an idea. Reaching out he caught the meaty arm before Kojiro could walk away.
"But, I have to follow her..." Kaoru looked worried as he gazed up from under his long eyelashes. He peeked at Kojiro.
"You said I had to stay within arms reach of you while we were out!" He trembled his lower lip slightly to show he was afraid.
"Yeah, yeah I did. Uh. OK. Um." Kojiro sent one last longingly look to the corner where the ugliest shirts Kaoru ever saw sat bathed in a pool of over head light.
"Yeah, I can come back another time." Kojiro turned to place his warm large hand over Kaoru's on his arm. They followed the sales woman to the back.
Kaoru gasped as he saw all the styles and colors. Kimonos of such beauty he couldn't keep his hands from traveling over them. The woman was talking away explaining about this or that, but Kaoru wasn't listening. He grabbed a white one with Cherry blossoms all over it, two dark blues, a grey, one purple then he saw the red silk one. That went on top as he turned to demand where the dressing room was.
Kojiro eyed him with a raised brow and smirky grin. Kaoru ignored him too as he hurried inside to try on all the clothes. He stepped out so Kojiro could see each one.
The man had a face that didn't hide a lot of what he was thinking. Kaoru noticed how he eyed the Cherry Blossom one. How he just look neutrally at the solid prints, but arched his brow at the silk one. He then ordered three more silk ones, one with another Cherry Blossom design, on with what looked like a shrine but was red and gold. And one... it took Kaoru's breath away as Kojiro held it up.
The top was a pale cream color. The way it flowed down into the tan of the fox tails was mesmerizing. Kaoru's fingers reached out for it. The smoothness of the silk ran through his grasp.
"It has a matching robe. My gift to you." Kojiro whispered in his ear. Kaoru couldn't say anything as he watched the lady box up the gifts.
He left on a gray men's kimono, with new wooden sandals. Kaoru loved the sound they made as he walked. He tapped against the floor as Kojiro signed the sales receipt. His muscles bulged out when he picked up all of the bags. Kaoru chuckled as he walked beside him. He carried only the package with the fox outfit in it.
"I'm glad you're pleased." Kojiro smiled at him.
They used two carts at the grocery store. One for Kaoru's clothing that he pushed around, the other for Kojiro to buy food for the house.
"What about the restaurant?" Kaoru asked seeing that the supplies they had would be enough for the two of them for a week.
"Oh, I have a supplier that delivers me anything I need. Truck comes tomorrow." Kojiro explained.
"Oh." Was all Kaoru could think to say.
As they checked out, Kaoru glanced toward the bus stop. How were they going to get all of this back on the bus? He pondered. Kojiro paid for the food. Then they walked out.
"Um, Kojiro?" Kaoru began.
"Don't worry, I called for a car while you were trying on the clothes." He offered.
Sure enough. No sooner had they stepped back out into the sunlight, a long dark car pulled up before them. A teenaged boy got out, he smooshed a hat over his light blue hair. Seeing the color made Kaoru jerk a bit.
However, it looked like Kojiro knew the boy. They chatted as they placed the items in the trunk. Or Kojiro talked while the boy made agreeable grunts at him. Kaoru found this kind of amusing. He smirked as they got in the car.
Kojiro closed the door to look over at him. "Did you enjoy the outing?" he asked.
Before Kaoru could answer he got the feeling that danger was close at hand. He spun his head around. There pulling into the lot next door was another sleeker car. The driver.... Kaoru let out a squeak of terror as he saw the Yokai's servant behind the wheel. He reached for the door. He needed to get away...
A warm hand landed on his. He was drawn back away from the door. Strong arms slipped around his waist as a heavy head landed on his shoulder.
"Its ok, you're safe. I'll will keep you safe." Over and over the Fu dog whispered this in his ear. Slowly Kaoru relaxed.
The car they were in pulled out into traffic. Panicking, Kaoru watched the other car. It drew up to the front of the hotel. He saw it stop as the blue haired man got out. Neither he, nor his servant turned to look in the direction of the car they were in.
"So, that's who he is." Kojiro whispered.
"You, you know the Yokai?" Kaoru asked in a barely audible shaking voice.
"I know of him. The Shindo's own half of the town" Kojiro turned to look upon the fear filled face before him.
His warm hand cupped the fox's cheek. "Don't worry, he doesn't own the land or anything near my place." Kojiro soothed.
"In fact that half of the town is owned by my family." He smiled.
It wasn't the friendly, open, carefree smile Kaoru was growing to enjoy seeing on the dogs face. This one was more... predatory. The glint in those red eyes was like he saw in the Yokai's. It sent a shiver through his body. He drew away from the Fu dog.
"So, what do you want for lunch?" Kojiro changed the subject that quickly.
"I, uh..." Kaoru shrugged.
"Its been so long that I could actually decide, I don't know." He offered.
"How long?" Kojiro asked. His voice was slow, caring.
"A few decades." Kaoru stated as he turned to look out the window.
The passing landscape didn't hold his attention. His mind wondered back, had it been nearly ninety human years? That was hard to believe. He found he was talking as his mind strolled through his past memories.
He had been carefree then. Living in the woods by his family's shrine. His little sister was down by the creek trying to catch fish for dinner, with her bare hands. Kaoru had laughed at that. That was until the mist began to roll in. It wasn't natural. The hairs on his body stood on end. He yelled for his sister.
Rushing forward, he tried to reach her... The mist beat him to it. As it touched her body she began to scream. Her wild beautiful face turned toward him. She screamed his name as sparks of hell fire landed up her body. She was dead before he could blink.
He ran back to the shrine to tell his parents, but that was even worse. The it was in flames. His mother's leg poked out of the doorway, but there wasn't a body attached to it any longer. Kaoru had tried to get through the flames. It wasn't until morning that the fire died away.
Kaoru spent the night huddled in a tree. The mist stayed by the river. He cried all night, waking in starts to any sound. Finally the fire died away. He was able to find his parents remains. He laid them to rest. Yet there was nothing left of his sister.
"That's when I first left the woods." Kaoru muttered.