I had been sitting on my bed with my legs crossed and eyes glued to my phone for what felt like hours now.
My brows were furrowed in confusion as I read the text from Stiles over and over again.
"I'm okay. Don't worry, be back soon."
What did that even mean? Where did he go? What was he up to?
A knock on my door caused me to look up coming face to face with my father peeking his head inside, a small smile on his face.
"Hey kiddo," He said in a soft voice as he walked over and sat down on the bed next to me, "Is everything okay?"
I let out a sigh and looked up at him, "I don't know."
"Well, do you want to talk about it?"
I leaned back against the headboard and tossed my phone to the side. I wouldn't be able to speak to him about all the supernatural going on. Thinking back to the night the Oni came for a visit, he wouldn't want to hear it. Since he didn't want to believe any of it was real, talking about it wouldn't do much of anything anyway.
I turned my attention back to him, a look of worry on his face, "It's about Stiles."
"Is that the non-existent boy that wasn't here too long ago?" I rolled my eyes at his expression, pleased with his joke.
"Yes, that would be him," I nodded and took in another deep breath, trying to think about how to keep going, "I guess I'm just worried about him, he hasn't really been feeling that well lately."
"Is it serious?"
Is being possessed by a dark kitsune that's trying to bring chaos to everything around it anything serious? "I don't know, I don't think so. I'm probably just overreacting."
We sat in silence for a moment and my dad turned to face me again, "You really care about this boy, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do," I said in almost a whisper looking down at my hands, a small smile forming on my lips. I knew that I hadn't been here long and I hadn't known him long at all, but there was something about him, I couldn't explain it.
He made me feel comfortable which was something I never truly was. He made me feel okay with the person I was and the feelings I had.
He just made everything feel okay for once.
I cleared my throat and shot my dad a grin, "I should probably get going, don't want to be late for school."
We both rose from the bed and he pulled me into a hug, "It'll be okay."
I pulled away and smiled back at him, "Thanks, dad."
-
I followed alongside Scott and Kira as we walked down the corridors heading toward class.
"The things is, in all of the stories, kitsunes are tricksters," Kira starts, glancing at us, "They're mischievous. They don't really get caught up in right or wrong or even understand it."
"Okay, so, what does that mean? It's just doing this for the hell of it?" Scott questioned.
"No, there was something else I found. If you somehow offend a nogitsune, it can react pretty badly."
"How exactly do you offend a nogitsune?" I kept quiet as I walked with them, barely listening to their conversation. My head felt heavy and I was finding it difficult to focus on anything at the moment.
"I don't know," She answered with a sigh, "But if it's doing something this bad, then someone really, really offended it."
Scott then leaves us, heading toward the field.
Kira walked with me in silence as we headed to our lockers, but before she had a chance to open her mouth and probably reassure me in some way, we watch as several students rush their way outside. We watched as Mr. Yukimura tried to make his way past all of them.
We exchanged quick glances and followed him as fast as we could.
Everyone had gathered along the rails by the school buses, facing one of them.
I noticed Parrish making his way toward the back of the bus where a student was sitting looking beyond scared.
"What's going on?" I asked a girl standing to my right.
"They've found a bomb."
I turn my attention back to Kira but she's watching her father making his way back inside the school.
She grabbed my hand without looking back and we followed him as close as we could without him noticing.
He enters his classroom and closes the door behind him. We quickly make our way toward the door and try to peek inside through the window.
"What is your mom doing here?" I hear myself whisper.
"I have no idea," She whispers back, her brows furrowing in confusion.
Mr. Yukimura grabs a book from one of the shelves at the back of the room and walks back to his desk, putting it down.
"You hid them in a book?" Noshiko's voice could barely be heard from out here, her voice coming out a bit muffled. I pushed myself closer, straining my ears, "Couldn't you find something more secure?"
"How many high school students do you know who would willingly open a book?" He opens it up, then turns his attention back to his wife, "You still haven't talked to Kira, have you?"
"Barely a word since the hospital."
"You need to tell her, especially about this," He says motioning to the book or rather, whatever was hiding inside of it, "You've already sacrificed five. Three of the Oni are gone. How many tails are you willing to sacrifice?"
She picks up one of the pieces, "If I have to? All of them."
She snaps it in half and looks back at her husband, "These Oni will be stronger, much stronger."
"We need to warn them," Kira suddenly says, taking off.
"What the hell?" I whisper to myself before running after her.
-
"They're at the station, come on!" Kira yelled out as she hung up and we both jumped into her car.
"They?" I questioned as she sped down the road.
"Scott and Stiles," She said shooting me a quick glance.
I turned to look at her with a surprised look on my face, "Wait, Stiles is there? When did he come back?"
She let out a small sigh, "I don't know, Aspen, but we'll figure it out, okay?"
"Yeah, okay," I nodded and leaned back against the passenger's seat.
She pulled over a little later as we reached the Sheriffs Station and I noticed Stiles' blue Jeep parked outside. I could feel myself getting anxious once again, but this time it was more from excitement than anything else.
We hopped out of the car and ran inside. I stopped dead in my tracks the second I saw the scene in front of me.
The place was completely shattered and several officers were down, some worse off than others.
I looked around the room in horror and that's when I saw him. He was looking up at his best friend trying to take the pain away from a severely hurt officer.
However, the expression on his face was somewhat different. I couldn't really figure it out.
That's when he looked up and noticed me staring at him. He stood from the floor and made his way over to me, I gasped in surprise as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.
I didn't have the time to compose myself as he pulled back just a little and placed his hands on either side of my face, a small smile visible on his lips.
He placed his lips on mine and I almost forgot how to breathe.
I looked back up at his smiling face and then, as if my body had a mind of its' own, I smacked his arm lightly, "Do you know how worried I've been?!"
"Okay, first of all, ow. Second of all-"
"We need to leave, the Oni are coming!" Kira said cutting him off.
"We need to get you out of here," I said as I took hold of his hand and ran out of the station behind Kira and Scott. We got into the Jeep and drove off.
"Where are we going?" Kira asked the two boys at the front.
"The animal clinic," Scott answered.
"Animal clinic?" I wondered with brows raised.
"Yeah, the place is lined with mountain ash just like my house. It will buy us some time."
"But they can get through it?" Stiles asked.
"Eventually," Scott said with a sigh.
"Nobody's got any better ideas?" No one uttered a word as we all shared a few quick glances. I spoke again, "Okay, sure. Animal clinic."
It's pouring outside as we reach the clinic and try to make our way inside.
"Stiles!" Scott suddenly yells causing us both to turn toward him. The Oni are now behind us all and getting closer. Scott tosses the keys to him and we open the door to get inside.
We stay at the door, keeping our eyes on both our friends trying to fight the Oni. Scott turns into his werewolf form and I see Kira flipping an Oni on its back and then starts beating it with a pipe.
As Scott got distracted by watching Kira, an Oni runs him through with its' sword. Kira's scream echoes throughout the place and then kicks the Oni down.
I follow Stiles over to Scott and grab his side, hauling him into the clinic.
We bring him over into the exam room and as Kira goes to remove the sword, Stiles grabs her hand to stop her before slamming her head into the table.
Before I have a chance to move, I watch as Stiles turns around closing the distance between us and slams my head against the wall, knocking me out.
A/N: How good did he look with his hair down???