The Back-Alley Market - A few hours later.
"We've been walking for a while now, we there yet?" Kyuu asked as she and the Inarigumi trio made it through the busy marketplace street. It was the middle of the day, and to Kyuu's surprise hardly anyone gave them notice. Then again, she was fresh meat being escorted by a trio of foxes. She looked taken. In a way she was, looking over her shoulder at the big-eared pygmy strolling behind her with her head held high, content look on her face.
Fa the lead fox, who had been so chatty earlier dealing with her little sister, said nothing to Kyuu. The big one, Loba, also kept quiet only occasionally looking behind herself to see if Kyuu was still there. That and remind her that she was just an order away from eating her. Kyuu found the sickening crunching and munching noises the wox made as she loudly snacked on her lunch, very obnoxious. Specifically a fried rabbit's leg they had bought on the way here to placate large canid. Kyuu could tell the crass wolf hybrid was doing it on purpose as she would periodically catch the wox's eyes peering down at her and the wox would grin ever so slightly whenever their gazes met.
Out of the trio, she only had Lùn to hold a conversation with. "Keep walking, Psycho. Enjoy the exercise." The pygmy vixen joked.
Kyuu just gave an exasperated huff and kept pace. Very soon over the horizon, she saw a large brick building; a high school, or what was left of one. The decrepit-looking structure looked very run down and poor like much of the Back Alley.
"That's the Den coming up," Lùn announced, eagerly. "We're almost home."
"So, this is the so-called Scoundrel's Den?" Kyuu commented with very underwhelmed gravitas. "This dump is where your stuck-up Ice Princess rules from? Woooooow."
"Oh, what's that 'Basement Dweller'?" Lùn sassily countered. "You say something? I can't quite make out what you are babbling about in 'Ironinese'! Sounds like you had the audacity to judge someone else's place, but you got to be a smarter beast than that right?"
Loba could be heard snickering lightly as she looked over her shoulder down at the two of them still munching on the rabbit meat.
"Oh, haha!" Kyuu shouted at the short fox, running her hand over her scalp and trying not to think about the larger wox's hungry stares. "Give me a break with the pet names already."
'Flopsy', 'Psycho', 'Snack', 'Basement Dweller', the list just kept growing of all the names they kept calling her, all though she had no place to complain. She usually got her jollies off from getting people's names wrong all the time, on purpose as a tactic. And now she was taking a bit of her own medicine. And it tasted bitter. At least they were joking though, she thought except maybe the big hungry one. She would watch her for sure.
"Alright, Kyuu… I'll cut you some slack, " Lùn said with some punny emphasis, winking with her scarred eye and snickering as she threw an arm around the rabbit's shoulder and leaned on her like a drunkard. "I kid, I kid… well at least until you eventually piss me off that is,"
The two of them nearly tipped over from the slightly heavier fox's weight. "Well, aren't you getting comfortable?" Kyuu remarked annoyedly, straining slightly as she kept them both up.
"Let's hold each other up, huh?" The fox suggested. Really the rabbit was holding her up more than anything.
"Don't fall asleep on me then." Kyuu cheekily responded, her hand finding its way around the other girl's waist.
"Drop me and I'll slug you." Lùn promptly warned.
"Don't tempt me with a good time." Kyuu rebounded.
Of course, both she and the fox were recovering from their fracas earlier so it felt fitting that they keep each other up as they clumsily stumbled along. Kyuu almost found herself smiling, it made it seem as if they were all of a sudden lifelong drunk chums on their way into a favorite dive.
The rabbit acted like she was annoyed, but rather she found Lùn's company rather quaint. She could appreciate having someone close to her height embracing her like this for a change, it felt like the bright spots in the darker days of her youth when she and San huddled together with one of their lost cellmates, Shi the deer (Four) or their time under Master Gouhin with his son when he was little. Such moments were rare and fleeting, reason enough to cherish it now while she could. She forced herself to smile. She wanted to enjoy this.
Still, it felt strange, feeling this way about Lùn in particular. After all, she could really count on her hand the number of beasts in this world that had truly been nice to her throughout her life and Lùn was a relatively new and still unsure entry into that list. Hell, their day started out with them nearly murdering each other just hours before. Now they were supporting each other, walking through the Back-Alley together. So strange, Kyuu thought.
Even stranger were her fingers, touching the other girl's exposed belly, feeling the fox's toned abdomen under her fingertips. Impressive, she thought as her eyes wandered downward, seeing her rival's muscles for herself. Carnivores had it all, she thought. She herself had to work out non-stop just to obtain a similar physique like that. Perverted curiosity beckoned for her to go down further as her hand slid slowly down the fox's thigh.
"You like what you're feeling down there?" Lùn's voice shocked her. She looked up and caught the fox's green eyes locked squarely onto hers. She was on to her. The fox's large brutish hands slid down gently over the rabbit's right breast and Kyuu's heart almost jumped out of her chest from the almost electrifying touch of the vixen's fingers gently cupping them and pinching into her soft flesh. "Huh, Psycho?" She implored invitingly.
The rabbit wasn't having it; if they weren't careful, the fox might pop her bosom right out of her top for all these beasts to see. She quickly put a stop to it. "No...no. You're imagining things. My hand slipped is all. So get your hands off me." Kyuu said, rudely yanking herself free of the frisky fox and promptly elbowing her in the gut for her freshness, causing her to wheeze and stumble a little. The other foxes turned to investigate, but Lùn was quick to raise her hand to say she was alright.
"Ergh… did it now? Hehehe." The fox remarked, taking the blow in stride while having a content sly toothy grin on her visage. "Guess mine did too. I think I can walk better now. Thanks." She said, taking her place walking behind the lop.
"Right… whatever" The rabbit muttered, fixing her shirt and brushing her disheveled ears aside as they entered the Den.
The school building itself, its original name long since removed, was nothing like one of the fancy town-like academies; rather it was all one large single-floor building that reminded her of that hellhole of school their former guardian Gouhin sent them too briefly. Though this place was much older. Decades-old, at least. Likely even older than their own Livestock Tower she reckoned. An old-timer like Gouhin would have likely been a cub when this place was up and running. The inside, she observed, was a bit more lively, beasts of the marketplace loitered and took refuge inside and there were even some stands and tarps set up selling snacks like kebabs, roasted meat, and animal blood. Typical. Soon they took a left down some stairs and then they started to see a long organized line, which they bypassed.
"I just don't see how you fancy pants foxes live in this dump. What kinda hideout is this?" Kyuu complained, her eyes inspecting the old dusty halls with patchwork wires lining the walls and floors.
"It's a hideout… it needs to hide in plain sight." The tiny fox rationalized before the lead fox finally opened her mouth.
"Gambling is illegal in the city," Fa said, her tone more serious than it was at the tower. "So obviously we can't just advertise our operation's location, so it's hidden in plain sight. These stalls and stands are just freeloaders we allow to sell in our turf."
"Just wait till we get in a bit further." Lùn bragged. "You ain't seen anything yet." The fox said, slapping the rabbit on her shoulder.
Had to be one of those diamonds in the rough things she heard about, the rabbit thought. As flaunty as the Inarigumi usually were, the building felt like a stark contrast to their style. It was plain, old, out of repair, likely condemned; basically like her home at the tower.
Maybe it was by the design like they said, she reckoned. That was a common theme with the Urachi District or as most call it Back-Alley. A lot of places were old and forgotten and the people who lived here had to make do with what they had. Hardly anything was ever brand new, aside from the vendor stalls and booths out in the proper marketplace. Maybe a brick-and-mortar shop or two but mostly everything had a rusted and stale dilapidated aesthetic. Still, this was the furthest from what she expected of a casino.
Strangely enough, these visitors sorta looked the part. They didn't look like the typical riff-raff or locals one saw in the market or soliciting the stands, instead, they looked more like beasts one might see in the city zone. Well-dressed, important animals. Animals with money, animals with such wealth that they would likely scoff at the meager earnings she and San scraped by on. It was peculiar seeing them down here.
"Stay close. And don't stare. " Fa, instructed, after noticing the rabbit's head swiveling around with curiosity. "Last night we took your buddy to a place like this and he almost sparked a goddamn gang war bumping into someone important, so stick with us and try not to get snatched up."
"Pfft, yeah right," Kyuu muttered. Someone as passive as San couldn't be that capable, she thought. "Besides, any beast that lays a finger on me is losing it." The rabbit brazenly boasted, starting to pull one of her concealed weapons loose from its sheath.
"That's exactly why I want you to stick close and avoid starting shit!" The bat-eared fox growled, looking over shoulder at her. "This is our business and our customer base. Got it? You hurt our customers, you hurt our profits."
"You hurt our profits, I eat you," The brutish Loba eagerly added, crunching very loudly on the remains of the femur trying to suck the marrow from the bone.
"Yeah, yeah," Kyuu grumbled, hiding her discomfort while leaving her blade alone. "Some business anyway. I bet the real place is still a dump." Her comments got her a light snicker from her pygmy counterpart. Kyuu just scowled.
"Just listen to her gab." Lùn sneered, joking with her sisters. "Listen, Kyuu, this is our turf. Just follow our rules and you'll make it out of here alive with your skin still attached. Simple as that."
As they made their way further down the line they started to see some much-needed light. Ahead was a two-door entrance with a fancy neon light sign spelling out the name, Scoundrel's Den with the depiction of a grinning mischievous fox clutching cash. At the doors stood two young well-built male foxes, clad in dark cotton collared oriental style shirts and trousers. One had a standard fox's red coat, however, he noticeably had facial spots and rounder triangular ears. The dark-colored spots on it, almost like freckles.
The other looked more peculiar; tall, but not as tall as Loba, golden-orange fur and dark fur that traveled their knees and elbows like gloves and socks. They looked like a fox but still looked different enough to pass as something else. Her first assumptions were mixed genetics, it wouldn't surprise her in the slightest if something were wrong with them. After all, Lùn's little group were almost all weirdos, even her boss with her changing fur. In any case, whatever they were, their role was clear: vetting the animals at the gate.
The spotted tod's face seemed to brighten up, as the vixens arrived at the front of the line.
"Well, well. Welcome back, ladies." He announced trying but failing to sound charming. "Where is Onésan?"
"Off doing other business, Ferro-san too. I'm in charge." The bat-ear stated said sternly. "So business as usual, Takano."
"Um, well maybe I can ask you, Mistress Fa…" The tod spoke as if working up the nerve. His counterpart just shook his head disapprovingly.
"What, Takano?" The vixen asked impatiently.
"Um… I was wondering if maybe Yosuke and I could take off next week and go see the new Luke the Snow Leopard movie and um I know we're working that week and all, but… and well… I wanted to take him the opening day."
"Taka…," Fa answered, shooting narrowed eyes. Her answer was obvious.
The tod let out a heavy sigh, much to his counterpart's amusement. "Damn it. Worth a shot." He said, rather deflated as his ears fell flat to his head.
Fa said, shaking her head. "You're lucky you still have a job with all the screw-ups on your record."
"Couldn't you make an exception…just this once? Please?" He asked, nervously twiddling his fingertips at the Bat-eared while also giving her the puppy dog eyes.
Fa, immune to his ploy, answered with a serious glare of her own.
"Right… shutting up." The tod griped, hanging his head low in shame. Then he saw her, his spotted face beginning to grin as he noticed the patched-up rabbit standing next to Lùn. "What's with the rabbit?" He asked, eying Kyuu with great interest.
"She gonna be the 'special' tonight?"The golden furred one asked, seeming interested as well.
"Nice and plump little thing, ey, Chang?" Taka remarked. "I can escort her to the kitchen if you want. Might ask Riki-san for a sample. C'mere ya, little morsel." He snarled, salivating as he reached down to grab ahold of her.
Big mistake, Kyuu thought, as she reached for her knives.
Had she been a fraction faster, she would have split the fox's hand in half and jumped on the second, but however that didn't happen. Instead, a large shape rushed forward and stopped the fox in his tracks. There was a loud smack, a short effeminate shriek, followed by a crash. Startled gasps and laughter came from the crowd behind them as the tod whined and whimpered. Kyuu's hand was still on the handle, while the tod was doubled over on his hands and knees with the larger wox girl standing over him with an open palmed hand. Kyuu noticed red leaking from the male's face; Loba apparently had popped her claws for that slap.
"Keep yer hands to yourself!" Loba the wox snarled at him.
"Oh come on! Was that worth a mark?" He mumbled and whined confused as he cupped his face and grabbed hold of the entrance for stability. "What'd I do? What did I do?!" He frantically asked.
"No one gave you permission to touch her," Loba said, eying Kyuu who put her hands down away from her ears. Fa placed her hand on the wox's shoulder.
"Next time, try being more subtle." She whispered in the wox's ear, who silently nodded. The bat-ear then addressed the hurt tod. "Takano. Don't touch this one. She's a guest." Fa said very sternly.
"Guest? Could have told me that earlier." He muttered, still wincing in pain.
"You're a doorman, not a food taster," Loba scolded. "You don't touch anything, especially food unless you get the go-ahead. Got it?"
"Of course, ma'am." The male replied sourly, cupping his face and bowing respectfully as he stood up, Taka's eyes then drifted over to Lùn and he was surprised by her rough and bruised condition. His demeanor changed back to something familiar as he addressed her. "Hey, if it isn't the little Inarigumi warrior herself? What happened to you?!" He asked. "Did ya lose your fight or something?" He said, chuckling.
"Won it actually." The pygmy answered him rather smugly with a prideful smile that contrasted Kyuu's shameful-filled grimace. "Also call me 'little' again and I'll have you hobbling too you asshole." The small vixen threatened, shaking one of her kukri knives at him.
The spotted fox relented and gave a slight smile. "Ever the firecracker huh Loony? Wait… didn't you have the night off?" He asked, after thinking about it. However, Fa nipped the conversation in the bud right there.
"Enough chit-chat, we're going in." She dictated impatiently. They were holding up the line, which the complaining animals behind them could attest. "Open the door."
"Yes, ma'am," Taka said, formally as he leaned in to get the door. "Er...Welcome to the Scoundrel's Den." He announced formally as Kyuu was ushered seemingly into a whole new world filled with bright gold.
watch?v=ifH5lDvS1Fw (For atmosphere)
Immediately they were met with music playing; a live performance by a female white and black tiger singing on stage wearing a stunning cabaret dress while a small band of musicians played a lively selection with a bouncing and saucy rhythm. A chorus of horns and a group of percussion instruments playing in harmony with the aid of a bass player. Drunk and merry animals socializing and dancing. Televisions playing footage of sports games with announcers narrating and the crowds cheering and booing at the results. The sound of coins, slots, pachinko machines. Bright lights, expensive lamps and chandeliers, and the vibrant glow of flashy LED electronic games.
"What a racket…" Kyuu grumbled to Lùn, rubbing her floppy ears. The place reminded her of the marketplace and the arena, only more clean and less macabre.
"Rex, you got no taste or class at all," Lùn responded, shaking her head. "You'll grow to like it."
"Doubt it…" The lop said, rolling her eyes. Places like this were for rich beasts and designed to make them even poorer. This wasn't a place for her.
Another young male fox dressed similar to the doorman, brushed past them like a busy ant carrying a tray full of food, while a few more helped patrons with their luggage or gave directions. Another carried a guest's jacket while another poured wine for a very wealthy-looking bear.
"Didn't think you had males in your little girl's club." Kyuu pointed at one of the waiters. "Those guys back there at the door were Inarigumi too?"
"Yeah sorta, but males have limited roles within the organization. Most of the time it's utilitarian."
"The hell does that mean?" The ignorant rabbit asked, wary of the big word.
"Means, they don't rate much higher than simple stuff. They aren't considered full members like us."
"Seems dumb. You'd probably be a lot more powerful with males in your ranks." Kyuu pointed out. "The other gangs are like that."
"Yeah, and the other gangs are much smaller and less influential than us. While they strong-arm their way to the top with their brute strength, we get by on our wiles rather than our strength. That's more in line with our Kitsune Spirit. In any case, most of the tods you'll see here are second generation. Almost all have family within the gang; children of the old guard or original Inarigumi and older sisters, fathered by various clients that didn't stick around after they were conceived."
"So…" Kyuu began as curiosity struck her. "What? Are you all the product of some whores or somet-"
It was quick as lightning, but Kyuu soon found herself unceremoniously shoved against a nearby slot machine before she could finish. The friendly fox she had been walking with evaporated just as quickly as mist in the morning, replaced by a much more familiar creature.
"You'd be wise to watch how you phrase that! You hear?!" Lùn snarled softly, glaring emerald death lasers into her as she held the rabbit up by the scruff of her collar.
Touchy subject, the rabbit figured. All the same, Kyuu stubbornly refused to cower, breaking her hold and violently pushing the fox back.
"And you'd be wise to think twice before laying hands on me like this!" The lagomorph shouted, glaring right back at the vixen before instinctively going for her knives. She was a hair's breadth away from drawing them when she stopped. In that split second, she instead chose to close her fists and adopted a hand-to-hand stance. She wasn't going to cut the vixen, no, instead they were gonna brawl. Lùn herself, eyed the dark-faced bunny and recognized what she had in mind, taking up a stance of her own, neglecting to pull her own blades. She'd only escalate if Kyuu did.
Lùn quickly made a cursory look up then back down at the bunny, a cocky grin on her face. "Oh, what's the matter, Psycho? No Monster Girl this time? Did I demoralize her?" She joked.
"I don't need it for Round 4 with you." Kyuu hissed at her, throwing some warm-up punches.
"Yeah, Round Bloody 4... " The vixen echoed her, looking just as eager to go toe to toe, but to the rabbit's surprise, she straightened her posture and lowered her hands. Her whole demeanor changed in that instant. "...will have to wait." She finished.
"What?" Kyuu asked, a look of surprise on her face.
"There's a time and place for this." Lùn flat-out stated much to Kyuu's disappointment. She wasn't going to fight her, not here at least. "This ain't it. Because unlike you, I got discipline."
"Hmph…" Kyuu just rolled her eyes, keeping her guard up as she peered over her knuckles. Still wary of a sneak attack.
"You can put those down," Lùn announced, placing her hands on her hips. "This is not the proper stage. I'm not going to beat your ass in front of our guests." She muttered, eyes drifting towards the floor with a smirk that conflicted with her tone. "What would Onésan think? Us fighting in front of an audience like this for free?" She joked.
"That's just it then?" Kyuu angrily asked, still unsure to disengage, still confused as to why the fox would avoid fighting of her own volition. Discipline? "Fucking Tease."
The fox's eyes snapped right back to the rabbit's eyes. "Yeah. Deal with it. And to answer your assholish question: No. we aren't all the products of whores. Some of us are different and that's all you need to know."
"Secrets, huh?" Kyuu unclenched her fists and just took a deep breath. "Alright."
"Loony?" The other foxes' voices suddenly called out, likely just noticing that the two were missing.
"We're right here!" Lùn shouted, grabbing Kyuu by the arm. They started to walk towards the others, but a few steps forward the rabbit held fast, jerking her arm free. She had words for the fox herself, it seemed.
"Fine. I'll be more careful with what I say." Kyuu said as Lùn slowly turned. "But the next time you get in my face like that… you better have more than words for me. You got that?" The dark-faced lop threatened with very cold eyes.
"Is that a challenge?" The fox asked as she once again walked up and got nose to nose with the lop. "Huh, Kyuu ?"
"What do you think, Lùn ?" The bunny growled at her, her brown eyes locked in on Lùn's bright greens as her muscles tensed up for the inevitable clash.
Instead, the fox just answered her arrogance with a broad mischievous grin, then suddenly... she kissed her. Kyuu was caught completely off guard as the mini vixen laid a soft peck on her lips. Speechless and wide-eyed, the rabbit froze up like cornered prey, as the fox backed away, flicking her brushtail in her face.
"I'll keep that thought in mind, Monster Girl . Now come on. I wanna show you the gymnasium." The miniature vixen shouted, pulling the shocked and blushing rabbit along like a child eager to display their playthings.
Second Hand Clothing Shop Fur & Fur - Around the same time
Not too far from the Back Alley, San stood on the stool as an elderly peacock tailor with vibrant feathers made sure the red and gold long-sleeve tunic fit him. He felt so important wearing it. Kyuu and him would usually just buy or more often than now 'procure' their clothes and just hoped they would fit once they tried them on at the tower or just grew into them, but now he was getting something tailor-made for him. It was such an exhilarating experience that he could hardly keep still as he held his arms out wide.
"Stand still, sweetheart." The kindly avian instructed cheerfully with a soft chirp in his voice. The colorful fowl just seemed so friendly and eager to work with him with a very flirty whistle. "Oh, this fierce vermillion satin is going to go so great with the piece I've prepared for Mistress Priscilla! You two are going to turn heads for sure." They giggled, clasping their hands together happily. "Your blonde fur and the gold accents blend rather well."
"Really?" San asked, posing and getting a feel for the suit.
"Of course, dear. You camelids always look so nice in outfits that show off your slim figures. You have the limbs for it, long limbs that can display large amounts of intricate designs in the fabric. Then when your light-colored wool shoots out of the cuffs. It'll just complete the look, especially with the most proper lightning," The peacock made a chef's kiss gesture. "Mwah."
Priscilla sitting cross-legged just outside the fitting room, smiled, pleased with the tailor's work. "Careful, all that praise will go to his head." The vixen teasingly commented, standing up and getting a closer look for herself. "I do have to say, Florian, you went beyond the call on such short notice."
"Oh, of course, Mistress Priscilla," The bird said with such delight as they disrobed San. "You Inarigumi girls are some of my best customers! You always treat my humble shop. I'll ring up the orders and have your suits bagged in no time." The bird hurried to the front, leaving the two of them alone as San pulled regular pants back on.
"Thanks so much, Pris." He said. "You got no idea how cool that was."
"Now San, you know I'm only buying you these clothes because of our arrangement, right?" The fox reminded him, folding her arms with a sly smile.
"It's just, it felt nice… to feel important you know?" He said looking in the mirror gazing at her reflection. "I mean, I never thought I'd be in one of these stores let alone getting clothes made for me."
"San…" She said his name again, tiring of his sappy display. "I know this is all fancy to you, but please stop such cliche lines, I get it, you're poor." She giggled rather embarrassed for him.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I know. Too cliche, huh?" He nervously giggled as well softly, scratching the back of his neck as he turned around to face her topless. "I just appreciate the notion though even if it's for the fancy party you mentioned."
"There is also the black suit you tried on." She reminded him. "To be frank, I liked that one the best. Not too flashy, you don't need to stand out… I don't want anyone noticing my prize." She said, with a flirty tone. "You'll probably work in that one."
"Working… Yeah. I mean whatever job you got in store... I mean… well…" He hesitated. A very unpleasant feeling came upon him, like a tightness in his gut. It wasn't the prospect of work by itself. In fact, he looked forward to working, the prospect of earning an honest pay for once was exciting to him, but he knew what kind of racket she was in and that concerned him. He wasn't a saint, but what if she asked him to do something unforgivable? What if she wanted him to kill? She offered Kyuu that job after all.
"You're just a murderer anyway." A raspy voice uttered. A chilly sensation ran down his spine, he assumed it might just have been a draft in the building. Maybe another customer? San's eyes studied the room but saw no other beast beyond Priscilla.
The arctic vixen noticed the pregnant pause and prodded, "Something wrong, San?" She asked. "You're acting a lot less confident than usual. Don't tell me you have reservations."
"Well, I…uh," The lack of confidence could be heard seeping into his voice it seemed. Rex, he thought. He wanted to say he was fine and let it pass, but he couldn't just remove the thoughts of those beasts. Those kids last night. He had tried to push it to the side, try to enjoy himself at the arcade, when they made love at the hotel or when they enjoyed breakfast. But now that it had come back into mind and it stuck around like a bad odor.
"You killed me. You murderedme," The raspy voice spoke again, he couldn't tell where it was coming from as he jerked around looking for its origin. "You should have died that night. What have you done with your life to make up for killing me huh? You nobody." The voice taunted. "You murderer."
Then suddenly he saw it, materializing there in the doorway entrance; the man he had killed. The decaying cougar frowned at him as it glared with blank dead expressionless eyes. "I had a family. I had a wife. What do you have?"
"I-I-I...y-you aren't really here," San muttered, backing up towards the mirror. He knew it wasn't real, just like the other night with the teenagers he had mistaken. He closed his eyes and looked away, trying to convince himself it wasn't real.
"Look at me! Look at me!"The cat growled his name in his hoarse unnatural voice, grabbing hold of him and snarling in his face. The sensation of his touch surprised and frightened the camelid, who screamed. He opened his eyes and gazed into the rotting corpse's muted and dull lifeless eyes. " Look at me, San!" It shouted in his face. The llama screamed in terror as he fell to the floor.
"San?!"
Priscilla's voice brought him back. He opened his eyes and stared into her warm orange pupils, she was shaking him trying to see if he was alright. San took a moment to process what just happened. Florian the tailor poked their long neck into the room to see what was the matter.
"I heard screaming." The bird said, eying them both. "Are you alright in here?"
"He tripped off of the stool." Priscilla lied, giggling as she immediately donned the guise of laughing at him for making such a silly mistake, trying to avoid sounding suspicious. "Stop goofing around, you silly boy." She made like she was scolding him.
"I uh… yeah…ahaha!" San trailed off into mumbling, still frazzled. "Clumsy." It wasn't the best performance but it convinced the tailor who after a very skeptical double-take, left alone.
"Are you alright?" Priscilla asked, pulling him up and giving him a quick look over. "You look like you just saw a ghost or something." She was right on the money actually, he thought. "Something's troubling you isn't it." She frowned and already he could see on her face where her first thought was going.
"It's not-" He stammered. "It's not Kyuu." He blurted out, thinking she meant his cellmate's meltdown earlier was eating at him. "It's not Kyuu. She gets like that sometimes. But that's not…that's not what I'm dealing with." He finally said.
"Then what is it?" She asked, impatience in her voice. "Are you nervous about working? I promise not to be too much a slave-driving boss." She tried to joke with a weak smile trying to bring up his spirits.
"This job. You won't make me hurt anyone, will you? Right?" He asked.
"Hurt anyone?" The canid tilted her head at him perplexed. "Of course not." She quickly insisted. "San, you aren't Flopsy and I think I got a good gauge of your skills. You aren't a hitman, I mean you're a good shot, but I don't think you have the nerve for that type of work. You have nothing to worry about."
"Y-yeah. Yeah, you're right." He said, his voice still shaky. "Sometimes I don't even think I should have this gun, Ahaha!" He laughed, but it wasn't that funny. "So maybe you can take this back. I don't think I have what it takes to take someone's life anyway." He said, reaching into his pants pocket, intent on just giving it back.
"Not so loud." She raised her hands, shushing him. "Let's not get too hasty, San. I thought we went over this. That's just for your protection. I'm not expecting you to go on a killing spree. " She hissed at him in a hushed voice.
"Okay, but I just don't feel safe with this." He said, slightly revealing the pistol in his back pocket before she quickly shoved it back down. "It's dangerous."
"You don't feel safe?!" She asked him, puzzled. "It's a gun. You know how to use it." She expressed with emphasis but with a hushed voice. "Your claws and fangs. Your defensive measures."
"Look, I get that." He said, frustratingly wringing his hands. "But I just don't think I can trust myself not to harm someone is what I mean."
"What?!" She asked, looking at him incredulously. "You aren't going to harm anyone, San. This gun isn't a temptation. It won't fire on its own. It's not going to tell you to kill anyone. No one will be hurt by it unless they force you."
He paused, hesitantly considering whether this was the time to reveal his incident last night. If not now, when? He thought. "You remember that I was late last night, right?" He asked, scratching under his jaw.
"Yeah, my girls caught you loitering in front of a graffiti markup…" She eyed him very strangely. "Where is this going?"
"Alright. So... for this to make any sense…I need you to answer this." He hesitated again, drawing in a deep breath before exhaling. "Do you know what it's like to kill-" Almost immediately the fox was upon him, hand covering his mouth and looking to see if they had been heard. The peacock was in the lobby humming nonchalantly as they zipped up outfits.
"This is not the fucking place for a conversation like this! Car. Now!" She ordered.
Outside in the car
A little while later after she had paid for the outfits they sat in the parked car and the Arctic vixen was quick to lay into him for his loose tongue.
"You can't just ask shit like that! Especially in public places!" The brown fox hissed, blowing up on and punching him in the shoulder. "What if a cop or something came in there?"
"Okay, that was boneheaded of me." He admitted, shaking his head. "But I nee-"
She cut him off. "If you were Inarigumi, I'd discipline you for that!" She continued to fume, popping her nails out for emphasis before putting her hand down. "You can't just talk about that in public!" She lectured.
"But you have, haven't you?!" He shouted, cutting her off and trying to get to his point. "You said so on our date! And I know how violent things are in the Back Alley. How the Inarigumi works. Have you killed anyone before?" He asked, looking her dead in the eye.
"Why do you want to know?!" She asked, defensively. "San, you are sounding awful suspicious right now…" The sound of the doors locked shut behind him and the fox turned with fiery accusing eyes. "San, you had better start making sense. Right now. " She threatened, face very grave as she leaned into his own. San almost cowered, but found the nerve to press on, he needed her answers.
"Because I need someone with experience with this stuff… I need to know if the guilt goes away. Do you ever see the faces of the people you killed? Does judgment for every life you've claimed, hang over your head like the storm clouds?! Is there something to be done, is there a way to cope with this rotten feeling?!" He shouted, getting red in the face.
"Is this about the beasts that tried to jump you months ago?" She asked, wearing a beleaguered expression as she stared at his distraught face. "You mentioned that the other week when we were practicing at the range."
"Yes. That's exactly it!" He exclaimed, very animated. He took in a deep breath. "Okay. So remember when we were at the range, fighting against the feline couple?"
"Yeah, the hustlers?"
"Remember how I froze up during paintball and you had to save me?"
"Yeah, you saved me too. You really came through at the end." She reminded him, lightly punching him in the shoulder. "You did what you needed to do. And I was so proud of you."
The camelid still had a look of gloom upon his face. "Well, the reason I hesitated the first time was that I got distracted ."
"Distracted?" The fox asked, skeptical.
"As I held that girl at gunpoint, I-I just saw that cougar I killed that night. I saw his face on hers. I know that sounds specist, but I just saw that man I had killed in her as we drew on each other."
Priscilla's head tilted at him as she listened.
"Like I saw the man I killed just standing there; a living corpse all bloodied and rotten. That's how I see them each time. Worse than the last time. Judging me for what I had done to them. I told you how his friend wailed right? Horrible, I can't forget it. How he held him in his arms as the life slipped out of him, right? I did that Pris."
"I remember." She recollected. "And I think you are looking too hard into this, San."
"But I didn't tell you that he had someone waiting at home for him, right?" He frantically added, becoming more upset. "I started thinking, what if I ripped away someone's husband that night. I tried to stop Kyuu from killing his friend. He had a family too."
Priscilla scooched over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "San.." She said motherly.
The camelid shook at her touch, feeling undeserving, a shudder in his voice. "I know what you're going to say! I know, it was my life or his. He made his choice. But the facts are still facts. He's gone because of me!" He shouted, face red from the blood pooling in his face from the stress. "I killed him. And now I can't get his or the other guy's face out of my head. They haunt me! Judging me! I saw him in the shop there and then… saw them both again last night on the way to the arena." He shouted, dropping his face down into his hands.
"San, look. I get you are all shaken up about it." Priscilla gripped him and tried to hold him still all the while trying to speak softly to calm his nerves. "But you need to try and to let that type of thinking go San. You did nothing wrong. You aren't guilty. And I don't see what this has to do with you holding on to the gun. It's for your protection."
"Because I almost harmed someone last night!" He shouted at her, letting loose. "I- I uh... I told you I was late last night. I was on my way to the arena, I had my hoodie on and was walking around incognito and then I saw them both. I saw them clearly as I'm seeing you now. The crocodile and the cougar. They were corpses again, holes right where I shot them."
"They were just hallucinations, San." She immediately rationalized trying to calm him down, her hand lightly rubbing the small of his back and she whispered in his ear, promising that everything would be alright. "Calm down. Calm down. They were visions. Just visions. They couldn't hurt you."
"But they weren't just visions!" He shouted, inconsolable. "That's when I saw that it wasn't them at all! Just as soon as I said I was going to shoot, they started talking and by then I knew it wasn't them. Turned out I was just holding up two kids, two kids who just happened to look like them. Rex, I almost killed two innocents, Pris!" He screamed, burying his face into his palms.
"Oh," She said softly.
"Do you see now?" He asked. "I almost killed those kids there and they had nothing to do with me. All because I have this gun." He reached into his pocket and shoved the gun at her.
Priscilla pushed it back to him. "San, look." She said, "You made a mistake. You did, but that's okay. You didn't hurt anyone last night. The problem here is you just need to be more responsible. You are beating yourself up over nothing!"
"But… I-I…" He whined, but she was having none of it as she put a finger to his lips and made him look into her eyes.
"Look, the first time..." She huffed and seemed a bit depressed from the recollection of a past misdeed, but all the same pressed on. "My first time, was when I was working my aunt's brothel. It was a john. Wolf, Timber wolf I think. He had been rough with most of the girls he had been with and some of them said that he had issues, but I took him up anyway cuz I wanted to work alone for once, I usually just tagged with Raira or Rin back then. I just wanted to prove myself with a solo, and I had a little .22 I kept on my ankle."
San sniffled as he listened intently.
"Turns out he had the 'hunger' and I was just the right size for an after coitus snack." She promptly made finger guns and fired. "*Pssshew*… put one right between his eyes. I still remember the expression on his face as I sat there on the floor naked, cowering, heart racing a mile a minute. The last thing on his mind just resting on his ugly mug." She said, "Just rage."
"You killed him…" He said with a hushed voice.
She nodded and owned up to it. "Yeah, I did. He wanted to kill me or harm me. It was him or me. That's just how I saw it. I felt bad about it at first. Taking a life isn't an easy thing to swallow… you know unless you're a sociopath like Flopsy." She joked a bit under her breath. "But eventually I got over it." She said. "I didn't let it impede me."
San just looked down at the floor dejected.
"It doesn't just go away just like that," She explained. "Don't expect it to, but you can't spend the rest of your life thinking about it. You have to push forward or else you will never get anywhere." She reasoned. "Honestly… I think in your scenario you were just as justified. They were going to kill you, devour you… over what? Because they lost money? Because they were mad? They were hungry? At the end of it all, they attacked you . They thought your life meant nothing for those reasons!" The fox just shook her head, poking him in the shoulder before a bout of very dry laughter came upon her. "Here you are mourning their lives? I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like someone I should be lamenting over San. Hell, if the shoe was on the other foot, you would be the only one with reason to haunt them!"
"I-I get it," he finally spoke up, head still down, water beginning to fall from his reddening face. "It's just me, isn't it? I'm just telling myself that I'm wrong. Right?"
"That's exactly it. Look at me, San. " She said, pulling his head up. "You can be your own worst enemy sometimes. You're not guilty. You don't deserve punishment. Not for that. And definitely not for last night. You just made a mistake with those kids. That's all." She pulled him in close and embraced him as he began to sob profusely into her shoulder. She felt the dampness of his tears beginning to stain her dress, nevertheless, the fox placed her hand on his back, whispering repeatedly in his ear as she rubbed his back, cooing in his ear like a mother. "You're not guilty. It's alright. Say it with me." She ordered.
"I-" With some hesitancy, he said the words. "I'm not guilty."
"You're not guilty," She repeated, almost chanting. "Say it again." She instructed
"I'm not guilty." She pulled him in close and they just sat there in each other's arms. Her warmth relaxed him greatly, as she nuzzled her head against his neck. "I'm not guilty."
"You're not guilty."
"I'm not guilty."
I'm not guilty.