Arrival of the Black Fox

キツネ

A long… you know what; forget it, I'm sure you've all heard the beginning so I'll exclude it often; and the fond Otogi Bank. My, my, Alice-san is busier than she usually is today; running to and fro from the President Liszt Kiriki office and the principal's office. It was awhile before school started and Okami-san and Ringo-chan were sitting in the usual room with the president.

"Here is the rest of the paperwork." Alice said, handing the president a stack of papers.

"Alice-kun, why don't you have a seat and rest for a bit, you've been sorting files for half an hour how." He said.

"I agree Alice-kun, what's with all the work anyway?" Ringo asked in her usual cutesy manner. She planted the rest of the paper piles on his desk.

"A young student had requested we transfer out of Tenshigashima High and into our high school." She expounded.

"Isn't Tenshigashima that really exclusive private school?" Ringo said in a surprised tone.

"Why would some wealthy girl want to transfer here, especially in the middle of the semester?" questioned Ryoko.

"That's a good question; she said while she was at Tenshigashima she had some problems to deal with and was out of school a lot. I guess she wanted to start new. And coincidently this girl has asked us some favors before and had built up three debts, including this one." Liszt said. "Speaking of coincidence she'll be in the same class as you, Morino-kun and Ringo-san." He said. Ringo clasped her hands together joyfully and beamed a radiant smile.

"Ooh how exciting we get a new classmate!" she said.

"The principal wants you to make sure that she finds her way around school and gets to class on time." Alice said. Ryoko grabbed her book bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"Alright, understood." She said. With that the two headed off to school.

###

When they arrived, Ryoshi was sitting at his desk, his nose stuck in a book. But when Ryoko came through the door, he immediately looked up and smiled happily.

"Good morning Ryoko-san, Akai-san!" he greeted with elation.

"Good morning Ryoshi." greeted Ringo with a smile.

"Morning." said Ryoko simply, taking her seat.

"Oh wait, Ryoshi, did you hear the news from the Otogi bank?" Ringo asked.

"No I haven't, what is it?" he asked.

"There's a transfer student joining our class today. I wonder where she is, I hope she can find her way around here." She said.

The door slid open again and came in a girl that nobody had ever seen before. For sure she had to be the new student Liszt had mentioned. Her hair was dark purplish pink that spiked a bit on each side of her head, making it look like she had fox ears. Her eyes were also something to behold; they were bright blue. They contrasted heavily from the dark sailor uniform and black thigh high socks that had a sole white stripe. She saw Ryoshi and the other two and smiled, as if she was acquainted with them long ago.

###

Ah yes, the long waited lunch time. Ryoshi-kun, Okami-san, and Ringo-chan were all grabbing their bento and were going to head out when the new girl had halted them.

"Hold it right there, I need to talk to you, to the wolf girl, Okami-san I mean." She said; very bluntly I must say.

"And you are?" Ryoko questioned. The girl beamed a bright grin.

"Oh how silly of me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Naoko Kitsune, so nice to meet you three." She addressed with a small bow. Ah, Kitsune, that explains a lot!

"It's nice to meet you as well Kitsune-san." Ringo said.

"Same here." said Ryoshi. She viewed over at him and smile. He caught her stare and in a few moments he broke down, just like he usually did; screaming.

"Aaaaah; stop looking at me!" he shrieked, crouching into a ball, burying his face in his knees and covering his head while trembling. Oh Ryoshi-kun you little screw up!

"What's wrong with him?" Naoko asked.

"He has severe ophthalmophobia, you know, scared of being looked at. It's pretty pathetic if you ask me." Ryoko insulted. Oh no Ryoko-chan, there we go again, Ryoshi-kun's spirit is shattered yet again by the wolf. Ryoshi sighed. Naoko on the other hand bent down and smiled warmly at him.

"Get up you silly little coward." She said in a playful manner. He peeked through a small slit between his fingers but when he still saw intense bright fox eyes, he winced and buried his face once again. She heaved a sigh.

"Alright, I won't stare at you." She assured. Ryoshi finally opened up his eyes.

"Sorry about that Kitsune-san." He apologized. "Oh and I'm Ryoshi…" she stopped him.

"Morino." She finished. "Ryoshi Morino, I know who you are. Same goes for you Ryoko Okami-san, and you too Ringo Akai-san; the three of the seven who work in the Otogi Bank."

He gawked at her, puzzled. "Huh, you do; how?" he asked. Naoko smirked and shook her head.

"Na, ah, ah, I don't reveal my sources." She said impishly, giggling as she did. My Kitsune-san, that's a bit shady now isn't it? The three companions gawked at her in unison.

"So what is it that you want; is it a request?" Ryoko asked. Naoko ceased her laughing.

"I'll get to that later, but for now let's go eat." She said.

###

The day had completely flown by; lunch was soon over and soon was school. Ryoko, Ringo and Ryoshi stopped by the Otogi Bank so they could give their report on the transfer student, whom I'm sure you're aware of is Kitsune-san.

"So you met Naoko Kitsune, that's good, how was she?" Liszt asked.

"She's okay I guess, but she already knew our names before we got a chance to introduce ourselves to her." Ryoko said.

"Oh, yes, one of the three favors was to give her a bit of information of those who work in the bank." Liszt said. Their expressions were now those of shock.

"Huh, why would you give such confidential information to some stranger?" Ryoko scolded.

"The young Kitsune appeared to be a good one, besides it was a favor after all. You don't think she's some yako from folklores do you?"

"Of course not but still, something about her seems strange to me." Ryoko said as she contemplated.

"Yeah same here; I feel like I've met her before." Ryoshi abruptly interjected.

"Oh, really?" Ringo enquired.

"I think so, but my memory's so cloudy." He said, holding his head and trying to ponder.

"Anyway you all can go home, there aren't any requests to fulfill." Alice said. With that the three left.

###

As soon as Ryoshi-kun finished his homework, he took his two dogs Elizabeth and Francois out for a walk. The sun was lazily setting, painting the sky all sorts of hues of gold, pink and orange. As he held their leashes, he looked up to the sky and tried to figure out if he had really seen Naoko somewhere. Suddenly, he heard something rustling through the bushes.

"Um, is anyone there?" he asked. No response, instead more crackling noises of leaves and branches. From the shadows in the deep greeneries he saw glowing brilliant eyes. He winced. It's probably some animal, best to stay away and leave it alone. He gathered his two dogs and made his way home. Suddenly, the crunching sound ceased and the sound of footsteps came in to play. Just to be safe, Ryoshi readied his slingshot, fastening it around his right forearm.

"Alright come out now!" he ordered, readying a silver pachinko ball.

"Nyyyyyaaah!" he heard someone scream behind him. All of the sudden he found himself tackled to the ground. He opened his eyes to find Naoko on top of him.

"Hi Morino-kun!" she exclaimed happily. He gawked at her like before.

"Uh… um h-hi Kitsune-san." He greeted shakily. She covered her eyes with one hand.

"So what're you doin'?" she asked.

"Um, why are you covering your eyes?" he asked.

"Because you're scared of being stared at." She answered.

"Well staring yes, but you can just look at me briefly or something like that, not just really long gazing okay." He said.

"Alright." She said, removing her hand from her eyes.

"W-was that you in the bushes?" he asked with hesitation, hoping she'd just say no. Would she really answer a question like that Ryoshi-kun?

"Yup." She said with a smile and nod. He looked at her with shock. That would be a yes! What a terrifyingly honest girl. Naoko turned her head when she heard the dogs barking.

"Aww, such cute puppies!" she piped ecstatically. Ryoshi was about to stop her. Elizabeth and Francois were usually kind of hostile to strangers, but like they were to Ryoko, they were extremely kind to Naoko, wagging their tales and licking her face.

"So why were you following me?" he asked.

"I didn't get a chance to talk to you alone today. Besides it's in my nature to tail." She said with a small hint of wickedness. He winced when she said that. Of course it would be natural for the fox to stalk the hunter; or isn't supposed to be the other way around?

"So what is it you want to talk about?" he asked, getting up from the grassy ground.

"My repayment." She answered curtly.

"Oh yeah, the president said you had three debts to pay." Ryoshi said. She smirked.

"Well kinda I guess. I'm sure you're already aware that one of the favors was that I had asked to be transferred out of Tenshigashima." She began. Ryoshi was about to note that another favor was for that information on the Otogi members, but he decided not to. She continued.

"But I have one huge debt that I feel I can never repay fully to someone." She said with an unfamiliar austere tone, which was short lived when she snapped back to her frivolous attitude.

"And that someone is you Ryoshi Morino!" She bellowed out suddenly. Startled, he winced nearly falling back on the ground.

"What?" he managed to ask. She ogled at him, fazed.

"You mean you seriously forgot that huge favor you did for me?" she asked him. He in return looked puzzlingly stared at her.

"Huh, favor?" he repeated. She heaved a heavy sigh.

"Forget it, it was a bit back then anyway, though I'm disappointed that you'd forget something like that." She said.

"Oh, um sorry for not remembering." He apologized. She simpered.

"Hey ease up, don't worry you don't have to apologize." She condoned. "Now back to what I was saying earlier; you did so much for me back then, I want to help you out in any way possible, so…" Naoko suddenly dropped her knees to the ground, fixing her skirt a bit, and feeling a bit self-conscious.

"Please make use of me in any way you want Morino-kun!" she averred loudly. So assertive; actually too assertive! Ryoshi-kun's blushing madly! He was baffled, speechless. W-what the hell is Kitsune-san doing? Oh Ryoshi-kun get your head out of the gutter!

"H-hey hold on one minute Kitsune-san, I'm not fully understanding what's going on here." He stuttered. She got up from the ground.

"I'll be like the Otogi Bank to you, except no debt. And as a suggestion I thought I can give you assistance with Okami-san." She offered. He looked at her with surprised eyes that had a bit of happiness in them.

"H-help…with Ryoko-san?" he mumbled. Naoko frowned slightly, heaved another deep sigh and shook her head.

"Man, boys like you must be very blunt." She commented. You're not one to talk Kitsune-san. "I see that the only way to fulfill this request is to go to the wolf's den myself and soften that complicated, tsundere maiden heart of hers." She said in a hopeful tone. Ryoshi tried to stop her, but she had already vanished into the night. To be continued in the next chapter.