Speaking words. It was a thing that was so foreign to me and boiled my blood. I could think of the word pretty easily but forming it on my lips and trying to writing it down seemed impossible. Majority of it was unreadable scribbles and some gibberish.

Scratching out the words I was writing, I covered even more of the cloth I was using with black. Along with this, crushing up the small piece of burnt word I was writing with, sending small chunks to the concrete floor. Dropping the wood in a huff, I looked to my right as I felt the warmth's eyes drilling into me over the fit I had thrown. If it wasn't her, I would have thrown that aggravating piece of wood and stomped off to punch a wall. Instead, she was there to help me and reassure me. With a small smile she put a warm hand on my knee to try and bring my emotions down.

Gritting my teeth, I looked around the room desperately trying to not make eye contact with the warmth. Even as she stared at me I observed the small room with a giant metal door and a sink that had a small plastic plant on it. Every part of me wanted to look back at the warmth but my anger and pride made me fight it. I also looked at the floor that had countless missing tiles. I also tried to count the many cracks spidered across it, anything to keep my attention. My anger still evident, the warmth directed my attention to her with a small cough. Even though I wanted to keep looking away, I naturally looked at her with my eyes lowered.

"You don't have to be angry. You only recovered a few days ago and you're doing really good," she spoke in a soft voice almost as if she were humming the words. Her calming words and warmth eased some of my stress, some of it lingering since I knew I was doing all this for her.

"Yes…. warmth," I struggled, my words choppy as I looked up and stared into her eyes, mesmerized. 'Why is she so pretty,' was all that went through my head. Between her warmth, words, and looks, they all filled a large part of my head. Even though she walked and talk like any human she was covered completely with fur along with a fluffy tail to back it. Her eyes of bright blue contrasted with her deep orange fur. Along with this a bit of yellow that went down her chest, under the tattered black shirt she was wearing. Then there was the warmth she emitted, not only with her personality but from her very skin.

"I told you my name isn't warmth," she giggled as she heard the name I had given her.

"My names Natsuko," she spoke, the lights flickering unnaturally as if the word had caused it. The warmth jumped a bit but the flickering quickly left as fast as it had come, almost as if it had never been there. Feeling a small buzzing in my body, I heard the warmth mumble something about people being idiots.

My brain tired from all the words the warmth had tried to teach me, I closed my eyes. Seeing that I was already wiped out, she jumped off the bed to fill two small plastic cups with water at the sink. Along with this she picked up a plate of bread that was on a cabinet full of old books. She then set the cups of water on the tray and used her other hand to grab a book from the shelf.

Balancing them, she walked back over and sat on the bed, where she quickly handed me a piece of bread before taking one herself. As soon as it got to my hands, I scarfed it down, crumbs falling out of my mouth. My actions were stopped as I look over to the warmth that was gently biting her bread, like a normal person. Along with this I coughed as I felt the bread stick to my throat, the warmth quickly grabbing a water and holding it out to me. I quickly took it and chugged half of it easing my aching throat.

"You need to slow down. You're gonna end up killing yourself," she smiled, eyes showing slight worry at my actions. With her my quality of life had increased for sure but the thoughts of all the darkness clouded at the back of my mind, making me lower my head as tears began itching the corners of my eyes. Seeing this she reached forward and pulled my chin up, looking straight into my eyes with a firm look. Along with this she took a piece of cloth and wiped the tears and crumbs from my face.

"It's okay. I'm not mad. Please don't be sad," she spoke her voice slightly breaking, a small tear filling her eyes. Then blinking she turned away trying to hid her sadness.

"No sadness Naeseko," I stuttered as I took her chin to wipe the tears from her eyes. A small blush showed underneath her fur, which was followed by a small laugh and smile. The feeling of wanting to protect bubbled up in me but along with it came the questions I held in the back of my mind. The biggest ones being where did this one come from? And how did she end up in a place like this?

"You should eat the bread," she spoke as she took my hand, squeezing them and bringing them up. At that I went back to eating my bread along with her, the only sound being munching. As I finished my bread, I looked back over at her. After that I finished off the rest of my water and brushed the crumbs off me. All the while I stared at Natsuko. The warmth. The fire fox. The one who helped me through so much in such a small amount of time. But also the one I knew so little about. Even if I wanted to ask, forming the words would be nearly impossible, much less saying the right thing.

Maybe that was why I often stared. Did she think it was weird that I stared at her so much? Even so sometimes I just couldn't help since even my thoughts would drift to her. Thoughts of her brought warmth and crushed all the negative ones I had. Along with that she never seemed to mind and would smile each time she noticed it.

As I got lost in my thoughts, she ended up finishing her bread and water, before going to grab my dishes. She did it in such a swift movement that I didn't even have a chance to react. Even by the time I had a chance to cry out against it, she had already gotten to the sink.

Coming back she picked up the book she had grabbed before, and plopped down on the bed, ending anything I could have said.

"Okie dokie. Let's call it a close on study time. And go for story time," she exclaimed, eyes beaming with happiness, as she opened the leather bound book with only a sharp edged symbol on the front. As Natsuko flipped through, the pages crinkled with all the countless years they had been in this world.

"I read through and I found a story I think you'll like a lot."

Hope you like this chapter. Might rework it a little bit more. Also any ideas or thoughts, you can pm. Letting me know helps a lot with the story now and going forward. Oh also if you liked it and are down to leave a review, which helps as well. Thanks again for reading my story and until then peace out.