Chapter 4
Mokusatsu
Judith Hopps was too stunned to move.
She had always believed that the very idea of being so shocked by an event as to cause physical paralysis was something fictional, made up to entertain the readers of horror novels and the viewers of shock drama movies. But she sat on the sidewalk in broad daylight – propped upright by her arms, legs spread in a pose that she would have called undignified and ridiculous at any other moment in her life – and she couldn't move as she stared into green eyes that were so intense she was certain they couldn't be real. For an insane moment, she felt like she was looking into green glass just a few degrees below molten on the tip of a glass blower's pipe and she couldn't look away. The fear of the fact that she was very much under attack almost faded, a flutter filled her belly, and her mouth went dry as he drew himself up without taking his eyes off her.
Then that moment was shattered by the low rumble from the tiger, not more than a few steps away from them. She watched her guardian; watched him tug on the hem of his suit jacket once to straighten it. But even as thoughts of escape started to fill her mind, because surely that was the plan when the one trying to kill her was a much larger and stronger mammal, Nick turned and started to talk towards the threat without a hint of hesitation. This was the actual moment, watching the fox walk towards the predator that was twice his height and much more massive when she realized that someone could be so stunned by an event that they would be unable to move.
"I have no business with you, whoever you are," she heard the tiger say, her ears perking towards the sound of the voice. Whoever this tiger in the gray suit was, he clearly had no fear of being identified. "Killing a fox isn't what I want or what I was sent for, but my target is behind you."
She felt a shiver run down her spine when she heard the cool, easy voice of the fox. To her, he sounded like a priest chastising a sinner, rather than a fox standing less than a foot from a tiger.
"Then we both know which direction you have to move."
She had dozens of brothers, so she had been forced to sit through her share of prize fights, boxing matches, and even a martial arts tournament when those were the only things allowed on the TV. It had always been graceless to her; random, desperate and imprecise. Her brothers had assured her that she simply didn't understand the hidden grace behind watching grown mammals throw punches and kicks at each other in a desperate fight for survival. And she had been willing to accept that simply because so many of her brothers and sisters did enjoy it, while she remained uninterested in the flailing fists and chaos where more blows were missed than landed.
What she saw in the less than a minute that followed was nothing like that.
The tiger seemed hesitant for half a second as they both stood, unmoving. Then the decision was made as the massive mammal, without any hint or warning that the attack was coming that she could see, drove his paw forward and down towards she fox with claws fully extended. Her breath lumped in her throat as a half scream of warning started to form, but before she could even finish drawing the breath the fox gracefully tilted to the side, the deadly claws not so much as grazing his jacket in passing. The motion was followed through when two red paws gripped the tiger's sleeve and pulled the attack onward, causing the tiger to overcompensate and slam his curled paw into the hard cement of the sidewalk with the dull crack of at least one finger breaking. Before she even had time to fully realize what had just happened, the fox slammed his foot down onto the injured paw, causing another, much louder snapping sound and ripping a roar of agony from the large feline. The assassin dropped to one knee as his face twisted with pain, snatching his nearly crushed hand away and swinging out blindly with the other in a desperate attempt to drive his opponent back. He met empty air, and the opening proved damning; even as the stunned lawyer watched the tiger raise his face to search for the fox, the fox spun around and lashed out with the same foot, slamming it into the side of the tiger's head. Sunglasses shattered from the force of the impact that sent the stripped head snapping back, and she was unsure of the blood that dripped down the side of his head was caused by the fragments or by the rake of claws through flesh.
The tiger managed to drop into a roll to put some distance between himself and the fox, his injured paw drawn up to his chest when he managed to pull himself to his feet. Judy watched it all, and like the tiger, she was a little shocked to see that Nick hadn't moved more than a foot from where he had been when the fight had started. If a fight was what this could be called. So far, the stunned rabbit had watched a tiger have his hand crushed and his face slashed open by an impassive and seemingly unmoved fox. She could see clearly the surprise and outright fear on the blood stained face of her would-be assassin, but even that did not seem to be enough to deter him from his goal.
He moved again, this time dashing towards the blade that had been knocked out of his hand after his first attempt at her. He swooped down quickly without losing stride, snatching the blade from the ground with his uninjured paw. She tensed, moved, drawing her legs up and starting to rise to her feet when she realized that he intended to bypass the fox and simply finish her off. She managed to rise to her knees, one paw on the ground and braced to run before Nick was between her and the tiger again. Wide violet eyes watched him slip his paw under the back of his jacket, and even as the tiger tried to dash past him, the paw whipped out so fast that all she saw was a streak of black as he met the larger mammal's forward motion with his own. The audible crack of something solid smacking into flesh and bone was heard, and the forward motion of the tiger sent him crashing to the ground face first as one of his legs seemed to crumble and twist under him at an unnatural angle.
She finally pulled herself to feet and backed away a few steps, her heart thudding hard against her chest as the tiger groaned and rolled onto his back. When Nick came closer, the wounded mammal tried to lash out with the knife, only to have that motion met by the black baton she now realized had been used to cripple his leg. The knife went skidding across the sidewalk and into the street, and the baton swung wide again. When the feline's head snapped back from the blow, dropped, and he lay limp on the ground without movement beyond his own raspy breathing she was sure it was over.
Her gaze locked on Nick now as he walked calmly around to the assassin's side, the baton held in a relaxed position at his side while his other hand slipped into his pocket. As far as she could see, the dark suit hadn't even been wrinkled by the encounter and it left her feeling so many mixed emotions that she wasn't sure what she felt. The lingering fear that had her nose twitching and her heart racing. Awe and something deeper as she stared at the fox had her feeling a clutch in her belly that she was quick to ignore, turning her focus on the relief that the worst seemed to have passed. Her ears trembled, perked and turned towards the tiger when she heard him speak a single word. A question croaked out in a pained but almost reverent whisper.
"You're… Him. Yūrei."
She saw the fox pause for a moment, green eyes focused on the bloody face of the larger predator for a moment in consideration before he gripped the end of the baton and rose it high.
"Do I look like a ghost to you?" was his cold reply, before he slammed the haft of the baton into the bridge of the tiger's muzzle with a sickening crunch.
She felt her stomach turn as the tiger's body jerked and convulsed once before growing still and silent; even the rasping breaths had stopped, and she felt nausea rise when she realized that he would never breathe again. Her legs trembled when she managed to draw herself to her feet, looking from the still tiger to the fox. Some part of her realized that she maybe should have been frightened, or at least wanted her to be frightened. She had just watched him kill someone, even if it had been to defend her. There had been no need to kill him.
Had there?
But when she watched him raise his eyes towards her, those now cool emerald green meeting hers for a brief moment, it wasn't fear she felt. Far from fear. She felt drawn to him. Maybe it was the high of adrenaline or the fear of what could have happened to her – would have happened if she had come to the city alone – but she wanted to be close to him. Telling herself that it was because she felt vulnerable suddenly was acceptable enough that she focused on that and silenced anything else. She watched as he turned the baton in his hand once. It looked like metal, blackened and furrowed down the length, with a circular design of some sort that she couldn't quite make out because his thumb covered half of it. Then he moved it behind his back and having returned it to whatever he used to sheath it, walked towards her with now empty hands.
Seeing his gaze move past her, her ears turned when she realized there was a commotion behind them. The click and whir of cameras, the mutter of voices ranging from boldly loud to whispered. When she turned to look at the gathered reporters, they all went silent except for the arctic vixen who continued to talk excitedly to the camera with her silver eyes focused on Nick. Likely for their own good, she decided, they had kept their distance. But they had obviously caught every second of the tiger's violent end on camera.
"We need to go before the police arrive," he said simply, though his tone was as calm as ever. She almost had a moment to feel resentment for his callous attitude, before she turned her gaze to him and found his paw extended towards her. His eyes were on her now, showing even the slightest concern as they moved over her slowly from paws to long ears, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air around them. She assumed he was trying to determine if she was injured and bleeding, so she gingerly accepted the offer. Feeling the warm, rough pads of his fingers close over her smaller paw made her belly flutter again as he drew her to her feet. Then he bent down and grabbed her case, holding it out to her until she took it with still trembling paws.
"Thank you," she said, not even sure herself if she was thanking him for the case or for saving her life. Saying 'Thank you' to the fox who had just killed someone to save her seemed… Inadequate.
"Let's go," was his only reply as he placed one paw between her shoulders to lead her down the sidewalk. He matched his pace to hers, as it took her a moment to gain steady footing, leading her further down the street and around the corner. He sent a glare – what she would now see was a glare – towards the reporters to keep them from following them.
She had to stifle the cry that tried to escape her when, upon turning the corner, she saw two towering polar bears waiting on the sidewalk next to a large white limousine. Seeing two mammals that made the tiger look small by comparison had a sliver of fear started to rise again as she shifted herself unconsciously behind Nick, gripping his jacket sleeve… And feeling a little foolish when he turned a slightly amused grin back to her.
"Don't worry, Carrots. I can handle them," he said, continuing towards the two massive mammals with their tieless suits, gold chains, opulently large rings and blank faces. She felt the brush of his tail against the back of her legs, and after releasing his sleeve she scooted closer to his side as she looked up. And up some more when they reached the two. "Raymond. Kevin. It's good to see you. The car is ready?"
There was no verbal reply to the question, and the answer came as no more than a simple nod from the larger of the two. Her muzzle dropped open bit when the same bear dropped down on one knee to lean closer to Nick, and the two each other with a kiss on each cheek before the action was repeated with the other bear. Questions flooded her mind about the odd exchange, the respect that they two mammals showed by lowering themselves to one knee, and the warmth in Nick's manner towards them. But she couldn't find the voice to ask it yet, nor was she entirely sure she wanted to ask as they were lead around to the back of the limo.
The fact that a car had been mentioned at all had her even more curious. She had expected to use public transportation, though now after being attacked in broad daylight, she understood that even attempting that would have been paramount to committing suicide. The vehicle looked simple enough when she saw it; made for mammals their size, four doors, black paint and dark windows with a design that wasn't flashy or built for speed. In fact, it looked like the sort of car that would travel unnoticed through the city and she was intelligent enough to know that this was exactly the point.
"Good," Nick said simply, and turned towards the bear that she had come to think was likely Keven. The fox paused when Keven held out a paw, and for a moment Judy thought he was expecting payment. Then she realized, once she saw the small black device against his paw pads that he was holding out a phone. The fox released a slow sigh as he reached out to pick it up and shove it into his pocket. "I will call him as soon as we are situated and safe, all right? We have to go."
The bear, who gave a low grunt and another nod in reply, followed them around to the passenger side of the car when Nick led her there. He then actually opened the door for her, which had her pausing and looking up at him with a muttered "Thank you," before she climbed into her seat and settled back into the leather with her case resting in her lap.
There was no further conversation that she could hear, not that the bears seemed overly talkative anyway before Nick settled into the driver's seat and pulled his door closed. Trying to think of what question to ask first, she blinked and jumped a little in surprise when he leaned over towards her. This put their faces close together, so close that she felt the whisper of his breath against her cheek for a moment as he reached out and opened the glove compartment. He drew out a pair of sunglasses before she realized that she had forgotten to breathe, mostly because those eyes were on her, this time clearly amused by her reaction to his close proximity.
"Don't worry, Hopps," he said as he drew back and slid the sunglass onto his muzzle. Just the fact that they were there meant that someone had known he might need them. And even as she regained the ability to breathe normally, she couldn't help the feeling of disappointment. A feeling that she pushed aside as he started the car and continued with a small smirk on his muzzle. "I didn't save you just so I could eat you myself."
Because that made her fight to control a blush she refused to accept, she turned a glare on him with all of the heat she could find before she leaned back in her seat. She ran it all through her mind when he pulled away from the curb, her gaze drifting back to the two polar bears as they climbed into the large limo. The fight with the tiger had been sudden, unexpected, and brutal, at least in her mind. To the fox beside her, it had seemed like just another walk around the block, and his unblemished suit seemed to support that analogy. Then there was his lack of reaction to being seen by the media, though that could have simply been his way of handling an unavoidable circumstance. And the polar bears, the limo, the car…
Her eyes lingered warily on his face. Now that he had the sunglasses back on, he seemed to become impassive again. All the traces of humor, heat, and even the affection he had shown the bears was just… Gone. It was like he had put on a mask that covered his entire face, rather than just his eyes. And more than ever, she wanted them gone again.
Not sure what was going to happen now, uncertain of the fox beside her, lingering thoughts of the brutality of the fight and the sudden death of a mammal on his mind, she tucked her arms around herself and closed her eyes. Trying to shut the images out, clear her mind enough for her to think. But no matter how she tried, she couldn't block the memory burned into her mind; one of a cold fox standing over a broken tiger, or the name the tiger had said with certainty even if Nick had denied it.
Who are you?
