Chapter 1 : The Respectful Fox

There was no doubt about it: there was a fox behind the tennis courts. And it was watching.

"It is, isn't it? "

The fields around the tennis courts were teeming with kids, their gray uniforms flapping as they ran and kicked balls into makeshift goals. Amid the shouting and the games, a few people were watching the fox that watched them.

"It definitely is. It's just watching us," a red-headed girl said, dismissively. She could see the animal clearly behind a fringe of grass and thistle. "Why isn't it moving?" She walked slowly towards it, stalking.

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At first the friends had thought the animal was a small dog, and had started ambling towards it while they chatted amongst themselves. But halfway across the tarmac they had realized it was a fox. A fox that could have rabies.

It was a cold cloudless autumn morning and the sun was bright. None of them could quite believe what they were seeing. The fox kept standing still as they approached. It moved about as much as a statue.

"I saw one once before," whispered Ann, shifting her bag from shoulder to shoulder. "I was with my dad by the canal. He told me there's loads in London now, but you don't normally see them."

"It should be running, nyah," said Eiji, anxiously. 'I'm staying here. That's got teeth."

"All the better to eat you with," murmured Sakuno.

"That's a wolf," said Ann, amused.

Ann and Eiji held back: Tomoka, the red head, slowly approached the fox, with Sakuno, as usual, by her side. They got closer, expecting it to arch into one of those beautiful curves of animal panic, and duck under the fence. It kept not doing so and they were lost as to why.

The girls had never seen any animal so still. It wasn't that it wasn't moving: it was furiously not-moving. By the time they got to the edge of the tennis courts they were creeping exaggeratedly, like cartoon hunters, stalking in a rather loud manner.

The fox eyed Moka's outstretched hand politely; its calm eyes spoke millions. Sakuno frowned.

"Yeah, it is watching," Sakuno said, albeit a bit hesitantly. "But not us, Moka. It's watching you."

Moka--she hated her name Tomoka, and she hated "Tomo" even more--had moved to the estate about a year ago, and made fast friends with Ann and Eiji and Ryoma and some others. Especially Sakuno. On her way to Kilburn Comprehensive, on her first day, Sakuno had made Moka laugh, which not many people could do. Since then, where Moka was, Sakuno tended to be, too. There was something about Moka that drew attention. She was decent-to-good at things like sports, schoolwork, dancing, cheering, whatever, but that wasn't it: she did well enough to do well, but never enough to stand out. She was tall and striking, but she never played that up either: if anything, she seemed to try to stay in the background (an: I know. Doesn't sound all that much like Tomo-chan, does it?). But she never quite could. If she hadn't been easy to get on with, that could have caused her trouble.

Sometimes even her mates were a little bit wary of Moka, as if they weren't quite sure how to deal with her. Even Sakuno herself had to admit that Moka could be a bit dreamy. Sometimes she would sort of zone out, staring skywards or losing the thread of what she was saying.

Just at that moment, however, she was concentrating hard on what Sakuno had just said.

Moka put her hands on her hips, and even her sudden movement didn't make the fox jump. It kept staring her down, it hadn't blinked. At all.

"It's true," said Sakuno. "It hasn't taken its eyes off you." –and at this point, I don't think it'll stop, she thought.

Moka met the fox's gentle vulpine gaze. The group watching, and the animal, seemed to get lost in something.

…Until their attention was interrupted by the bell for the end of break. The group looked at each other, blinking. They arose from their stupor.

The fox finally moved. Still looking at Moka, it bowed its head. It did it once, then leapt up and was gone.

Sakuno watched Moka, and muttered, "This is just getting weird."

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Ok.

That's the end of the first real chapter.

This makes me unhappy (not sad, just unhappy).

None of you care enough to review (except for bluepenguin15- YAYS!)…I really need your support…

At this point all I really want to do is just sit all cozy by an open fire, sipping hot chocolate while typing away and reading my beloved Un Lun Dun book…