Senko was in the kitchen preparing dinner while humming a light tune. Beef stew with fried tofu. One of Nakano's favorites. She couldn't wait for him to get home. He was in for one hell of a pampering tonight. The rice and stew had just finished cooking. She turned off her flame and got the table ready. He should be back any second now… The front door opened.

"Hey Senko, I'm back. Ugh…"

"Welcome back! I made beef stew with fried tofu, just the way you- Oh my! You look awful!"

"Yeah, I probably do."

"Was work really that difficult today?"

"Well, not today's work, necessarily, but… hey, how about I sit down first. Let me explain."

"Sure thing! Let's eat."

"It smells delicious."

Nakano put his bag down and sat at the table. Senko brought the stew and rice over, and gave some to Nakano.

"Mm! Delicious as always. Thanks."

"So, what's going on at work?"

"Ugh, it's the next two weeks. We have this huge project we're going to be working on, and the boss needs all hands on deck for this one. It means work is gonna be pretty tough and exhausting for a while. And I might have to stay at the office longer. As if it wasn't hard enough already."

"Oh no! That sounds awful!"

"Yeah, it is. At this rate, I might drop dead from exhaustion in the next few days."

"Please don't! ...I mean, don't worry about it. Just know that I'll be here to pamper and take care of you, always!"

"I appreciate it, but it's gonna take a miracle to get me through the next two weeks."

"Oh, is my pampering not enough for you anymore?"

"No, it's not that! It's just that I'll be spending less time at home, so-"

"I'm just teasing. Would you like some more stew?"

The next day…

"Alright, have a good day at work! Goodbye!"

Nakano left for work. After this weekend, work would be a complete slog. He hoped that Senko would grant him the strength to pull through.

Senko decided to clean up the place today. She put the bedsheets in the washing machine. She cleaned the dishes in the sink. She then started dusting the place, making sure to get the bed and desk and shelves and wall and- Hang on, is that a speck of dirt on the wall? Senko rubbed the dirt off the wall with her finger. Suddenly, a portal appeared on the wall. Shiro came through and hopped out the other side.

"Hey, Sen. How's it going?"

"Oh, It's going fine. I was just cleaning up a little. Care to help out?"

"Nah. Hey, so, I got nothing to do for the next two weeks. Any suggestions?"

"...You could help me clean the place."

"No thanks. So, did Nakano head off for work today?"

"Yes, he did. He's very busy these days."

"You alright, Sen? You look a little.. off today."

"Well…"

A few minutes later…

Senko and Shiro were sitting at the table. Senko had brewed some tea for her. She had told her about Nakano's work situation.

"Sounds awful."

"I know."

"I mean, two whole weeks of hard labor? At this rate, he'll work himself to death!"

"Please don't say that! He's a very hard worker, he'll be fine."

"You really think so?"

"..."

"Sen?"

"Well, I did some thinking. His work period will require 12 days of labor, not including weekends. And he'll only be home for a few hours each day."

"That's a lot of malice you'll have to clear."

"Right. But even with my pampering, I estimate that he will only last a week before the malice consumes him."

"And he dies?"

"I- ...Right."

"So what you're saying is that you need twice the pampering power to get him through the next two weeks."

"Well, I suppose, but I don't know how I could double my pampering power, if that's even possible."

"I think I know a way."

"Hm?"

Shiro stood up and slammed her hand on the table triumphantly.

"We'll use the Fox Fusion technique!"

"The what technique?"

"Sora told me about it. It's an ancient technique in which one fox grants their body and power to another fox, greatly increasing their power and ability."

"Why would Sora tell you about a technique like that?"
"She was drunk. Anyway, I figured out how to do it. How about we try it out?"

"Wait, what are you proposing?"

"How about I give you my power for two weeks. That should allow you to sustain Nakano and keep the malice away."

"But aren't you doing anything?"

"Jazzko's gonna be away for a while. She said it was a business trip or something. I'm completely free until then, so I'll be able to help you out."

Senko pondered the idea for a moment. She had never heard about this technique before, and she didn't know if it was safe. However, she knew that Nakano might not survive the next two weeks. The malice would surely overpower her pampering and consume him. She had to do everything she could to prevent that from happening.

"I'll do it, then."

"Great! Let's get started!"

"Wait, you mean now?"

"Yeah! It's a simple procedure. Let's do it now and surprise Nakano."

"Well, alright then. What do I do?"

"Just stand right there and don't move. Let's do this."

Senko stood up and walked over to beside the table. Shiro stood in front of her. She summoned her fox fire in both hands and chanted a series of barely pronounceable words. A strong wind started to encircle her. Her eyes began glowing.

"A-are you sure this is safe?"

"Pretty sure."

"Have you tested it before?"

"Nope."

"What!?"

Shiro continued to chant the spell. The wind was getting stronger and the fires were burning brighter. She brought them together in front of her, creating a larger flame, which then turned into a glowing disc. Shiro jumped through the disc, covering her body in light. She then landed on Senko, and her body was absorbed into Senko's. The wind faded and the room returned to normal. Senko felt her stomach.

"Shiro? Are you in there? Did it work?"

Senko looked around. All Shiro really did was make herself disappear and mess up the room. She began to pick up the room, but then she heard a voice in her head.

"Hey, Sen."

"Shiro? Are you in my head? What's going on?"

"Hang on a sec. We're not done yet!"

Senko felt a strange sensation on the sides of her torso. She took off her red and white Miko kimono to see what was going on. She was growing taller! Her torso was extending, and small bumps started to protrude out from under her arms, one on each side. They grew longer and more defined, until they turned into two extra arms. Two dots appeared on her chest, growing out a little to form two extra breasts. Her tail grew a bit larger, with the white on Shiro's tail mixing with the orange and white on Senko's tail. Her eyes started to feel a bit funny. Her irises multiplied like cells, with one orange and one red iris in each eye. She grew another set of fox ears. Her ears and hair turned completely white on one side of her head. The transformation was complete.

"Wh- wh- wha-"

"We look good, Sen."

"What is this!?"

"I told you, Fox Fusion! I grant you my power and you become more powerful. Simple as that."

"Is this permanent?"

"It shouldn't be. Wouldn't be a very good technique if it was permanent."

"So, now what?"

"Well, with our power combined, we should be able to keep Nakano alive with our pampering power."

"Oh, well, good. I'm not sure how I can explain this to Nakano, though."

"I'm sure he'll understand. Now go clean up the room!"

"What will you do, Shiro?"

"Well, I don't have control of my body right now, so I get to kick back and watch the show!"

"I see…"

Senko moved all four of her arms. It was a bit difficult to get used to. She put her kimono back on, putting two arms through each sleeve. Due to her increased height, the kimono felt more like a shirt than a dress. Then she used her power to pick up the mess on the floor. She noticed it was a lot easier than before. She was able to make short work of the messy room, and cleaned the whole apartment in no time.

"I don't know what to make of this."

"It's great, isn't it? Oh hey, you know how Jazzko is a combination of Jasuko and Koenji? We should do that too! I'm thinking, 'Shirko.'"

"I feel like 'Senkiro' would be more appropriate, don't you think?"

"What? Why is your name- ugh, fine."

"I just hope Nakano isn't too surprised by my new form."

"He'll be fine. Now turn on the TV, my show's on."