2. Come Out and Play
Smoke swirled in tendrils from Kana's lips as he took a drag on his cigarette, the end burning red every few seconds as he inhaled, then released again, polluting the air with the nauseating scent. His ice-blue eyes rolled lazily beneath half-closed eyelids, almost hidden by fault of the pale blond hair that fell into his line of vision. Kana was a fox. But he wasn't just a fox – he was actually a shape shifter who could shift between fox and human, not just take on an illusion, as others did.
Pulling a lighter from his pocket, he flicked the hinged top off, a small, blue-bottomed flame springing up from the metal, then dissipating as quickly as it had appeared. "Damn..." Kana cursed inwardly, tossing his lighter back over his shoulder. It flew over the edge of the rooftop, landing with a metallic click on the cement sidewalk below.
The fox leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. Ah, how luxurious. His own rooftop for a day, pigeon shit-free. Well, for now, anyway... Kana shifted, frowning. Maybe he wouldn't think about that any more.
Glancing about cautiously, he waited a few seconds before shifting into his fox body. When he did, he immediately scampered to the edge, jumping off and landing catlike on a windowsill for an apartment he knew was abandoned. After all, he spent just about every day on this building.
After only a few minutes, he had reached the ground, and now flitted expertly throughout the shoes and boots that threatened to squash him. He was almost unnoticeable, being the Kit fox he was. Grinning doggedly, he dodged through the crowd, glad that it thinned out near the curbside. As soon as the light flashed to a crudely-pixilated design of a walking man, Kana (as a human) crossed the street, hands in his pockets.
Pulling another cigarette from the small supply in his pocket, he sighed, remembering that he didn't have a lighter. Oh, well... he could just keep it in his mouth. For... um... comfort?
Kana leaned against a tall brick building, stuffing his hands into his pockets again. Across the street, he could see a heavy glow pouring from the curtains of a window, orange, with shadows dancing across it every so often.
He turned his head, staring at the place next to him, where the light was making patterns on the building. It was odd, how something so simple could be so beautiful. Blinking at it in curiosity, he outstretched a hand, letting the golden color wash over it. Oh, how easily amused he was. It truly didn't take much to make Kana wonder at life.
After being distracted by the light for another minute or two, Kana started down the sidewalk, whistling some ditty or another. As he turned the corner, he nearly crashed into a dark-haired teenager, followed, after a few seconds, by a big black dog and an older man (probably in his late 50s or something), holding tightly onto her leash, with a gun in his hand. Kana spun on his heel, watching with his blue eyes wide.
".. The hell... ?", he said softly, and started following them, careful not to get too close to them in case they would turn and chase his poor hide instead. As the teen had passed by, Kana could've sworn he heard claws ticking on the sidewalk... And he had smelled wolf.
Furrowing his brows, Kana sped up, shifting from human to fox as they ran further from the heart of the city. The man finally stopped, Kana not far behind. Obviously, the man's quarry had disappeared, as he was surveying the area furiously. His dog, meanwhile, was sniffing at the sidewalk, also baffled at the departure of Taro.
The man, after about 15 minutes of looking around for the wolf, finally gave up, growling and muttering something about a 'sneaky devil.'
Suddenly, the big black dog began barking, jerking Quent on the leash. He turned around, gazing at the spot where Kana had been just seconds before. Well, well, well.. maybe Blue was losing her touch.
Kana hid behind a bag of trash in an alleyway, hoping the dog couldn't smell him past the reeking garbage. Whew... he sure couldn't.