Annnnd the next chapter.

If there was one thing that Takumi learned to treasure, it was peace. If there was peace, then there was nothing strange happening. If there was nothing strange happening, then there was time to do homework. If there was time to do homework, then there was a happy family.

So, in general, peace was a great thing to have.

Takumi could almost cry in relief as he walked home from his first day at his new school. The moment he got to school that morning nothing popped up, nothing unusual happened and nothing strange talked to him. He stood awkwardly in front of the class as his new teacher introduced him, and still he saw nothing… "out of the ordinary". Even when he sat indifferently in class the entire day or got overwhelmed by his new classmates during lunch, nothing happened at all.

As soon as the bell rang, he found himself avoiding all of his classmates and walking home alone. To say that he was used to it wouldn't be a lie at all.

So, of course, he was damn near crying from the peace.

"Well, that was until he saw a little ball of white puff. A kitten, maybe?

He knew he shouldn't pick random things off the ground, but he couldn't help himself. Takumi looked once, then twice to make sure no one was looking, and bent down to pick up the weird looking ball of white fluff. He turned it around and a single, giant red eye stared back at him, wide eyed.

And then it made a downright, bone chilling growl.

Takumi paled, instantly regretting it, "Ah, shi-"

He didn't even finish his sentence as he practically dropped the ball of fuzz to the ground and took off. He leapt off the path side walk and dove into the nearby bushes, scrambling to get away. Takumi took one glance back and blenched.

That little fuzz ball steadily grew in size. Soon, little stubs emerged from the fuzz and formed into long, bony legs with tiny claws. The single eye grew as well, lolling around disgustingly as a snout formed below it.

Yup, definitely not a kitten.

"Inoka…"

He didn't stay long enough for the yokai to finish transforming. Hell, he didn't want to know what it really was.

"Inoka…!"

Takumi ran through the small patch of forest and felt his heart leap to his throat. He could already hear the damn thing racing after him.

A tree root snapped under his foot, causing him to tumble down a small hill. He cursed incoherently as he rolled all the way down and landed unceremoniously in a pathway.

Right in the way of a couple of students.

"Wah!"

"Watch it!"

Takumi shook his head and scrambled to his feet. He didn't really look at the students as he brushed his arms off and looked behind him.

"S-Sorry! Ah, I heard that there was a shrine nearby. Do you happen to know where it is?" he managed as he finally looked at the students. There was a girl with long hair tied into a high ponytail and a boy holding his bag over his shoulder. Takumi instantly recognized boy from his class, but the name didn't appear.

"A what?" The girl asked. Takumi could hear the yokai closing the distance.

"A shrine. Or a temple - Is there one nearby?" he asked again, casting a glance over his shoulder.

The boy pointed in a direction with a bit of confusion, "Well, there's one over there but it's — "

"Thanks!" Takumi took off, diving back into the bushes on the other side of the path. He searched for the shire or temple, which ever came first, as he ran. If he could just get to one, then he would be fine!

He started to notice that the ground sloped upward slightly, but he didn't bother to slow.

The forest suddenly broke into a clearing and Takumi nearly tripped in relief. There, right before him was definitely some old temple. He didn't think twice about how old and deteriorated it looked. He hurried over to the steps and reached for the door. He only caught a glimpse of the faded, chipped paint on the wood, noting that it looked like some bird of a sort.

The door budged for a second before it gave way to him. Dust fell off and coated Takumi's silver hair as he ran inside. He finally tripped inside and looked behind him. The yokai that followed him plowed through the trees and bounded toward him. Now that Takumi actually looked at it, he grimaced in nervous disgust.

The damned thing was similar to a wolf, or maybe a dog - he didn't know. It only had one eye; large, red and slitted like a snake. Its fur was now sleek and short, showing off its strong muscles. It opened its mouth, revealing its long, sharp teeth.

Down right disturbing if anyone asked him.

"Curse you, Ikona!"

The sound of its roar shook Takumi's frame, snapping him out of his observation. He quickly got up and slammed the door shut, right as it leapt at him. He fell back when the yokai slammed into the door. The yokai roared and scratched at the door, but thankfully, it stood in place.

Takumi took that time to move away from the door, dragging himself all the way to the furthest in the old temple - or was it shrine? Hell if he knew. All he was certain about was that he was safe.

He fell to his back and coughed as he tried to catch his breath, thanking whoever placed a seal on this place. He could still hear the yokai trying to scratch its way in and shivered at the thought of the door breaking.

Now that he was safe, how in the world was he getting out? He groaned at the thought of getting home late. It was only his third day in this new countryside town and already he was in trouble. To hell with it if his brother said that moving away from the city was a great idea.

Takumi suddenly felt something at his side and, out of curious habit, grabbed it. He heard a snap as he pulled a piece of bristled, old rope with a crinkly old paper charm attached to it. He looked at it for a moment and turned it over, noting that it was recently broken. He instantly paled when he heard something rattle behind him, joining with the sounds of scratching just outside.

"He slowly turned around to see a miniature shrine surrounded by an old, broken rope and paper charms, "Oh, hell no."

"The seal… it's broken? Well, thank you… human kit."

The little doors shook as the air grew suddenly heavy. Takumi bit the back of his lip as he got up and moved to the center of the room. Dread began to fill him as the tiny shrine doors slammed open.

There was an awkward silence as Takumi stared. There, sitting innocently in the shrine, was a cute, fox-like dog stuff animal. He couldn't help but snort.

"Pfft, really? It's a—" he didn't have the chance to finish as a large gust of wind threw him off his feet. He couldn't get up as something stepped on his back, pinning him to the ground. There was a loud shriek and the door to the temple (or was it shrine?) broke.

Then all he heard were screeching and snapping. He looked up to see a large jaw crushing the one-eyed dog. His eyes looked right above him to see a huge, fox yokai growling angrily. His blood ran cold at the sight of blood dripping to the ground. The one-eyed dog's screeches died the moment the fox yokai snapped its jaws shut, completely obliterating the smaller yokai.

Takumi shook slightly as the fox craned its neck to stare at him. He had met some scary and dangerous yokai before, but never one that brutally murdered other yokai.

The pressure on his back was suddenly lifted, and Takumi forced himself to calmly sit up. He looked at the large yokai and nodded.

"Uhm… Thank you…" he said, blinking up at it. The fox stared at him for a second before crouching low with an… eyebrow raised…? A strong, male voice echoed around him.

"You seem awfully calm for a human child," the fox said. Takumi gave it a flat look.

"I'm used to it," he deadpanned. It certainly wasn't a lie. He had seen enough to get a bit of a feel of it all, not that he wanted it in the first place, "Besides that, you're a pretty big fox yokai."

"I can be smaller if you'd like," it said, narrowing its eyes.

"Noted," Takumi said, dusting himself off as he got up from the ground, "But really, thank you for saving me."

The fox yokai tilted its head, "You're leaving, human kit?"

Takumi walked back into the temple and retrieved his bag, slinging it on his shoulder, "Well, yeah. I have… homework to do."

"Homework? Child labor?"

"Ahaha… something like that," Takumi laughed. He walked past the yokai and entered the clearing. The fox yokai got up as well, shaking its fur. Takumi couldn't help but feel a little unnerved when it padded next to him. He felt comically small, his own head only reaching the shoulders of the white and blue fox.

"How pitiful."

"Why are you following me?" Takumi asked when he reached the other side of the clearing.

The fox lowered its head and puff a whiff of air in Takumi's face, who spluttered, "You smell like someone I knew not too long ago."

Takumi shook his head and backed away, "Really? I never been here before."

"If I remember correctly, it was a young human kit. A female," the fox said, "She used to come by and visit, but she left one day and never came back."

"Well, I'm obviously not her."

"You don't have her hair color for certain."

Takumi stopped when a thought occurred to him. Poking the fox's nose curiously, he stared at the yokai, "You're a weird yokai."

"So are you, kit." The fox seemed to be slyly grinning as it flicked its bushy tail from side to side, "So are you."

Takumi shook his head and began his trek down the hill he managed to run up. He took note that the fox sat, watching him as he walked away. Yet, Takumi knew that wouldn't be the last time he would see that fox.