Do do-do! Here's chapter 2! …Sorry, I just got done watching through Stein's Gate – which I also do not own! It's a great anime and I strongly suggest watching it. Any-who, I finally got around to finishing this chapter. Here's hoping this one gets a few more views than the last one. Meh, whatever. If the views don't pick up in a couple of chapters, I'll probably just put this story on hold for a while and go back to just working on "So Close Yet So Far" (which you should also read). Well, here it is. Enjoy.
Kaito moved as quietly as his eight year old coordination would allow as he slowly opened the sliding door in the back of his family's home. He carefully poked his head into the kitchen and scanned for any inhabitants. Seeing none, he slowly slid the door open the rest of the way and began working his way inside. He was, in his mind at least, very sneaky as he tiptoed from one doorway where he checked the pantry, to the other doorway where he checked the living room. In his mind, he was just like one of the ninja in his favorite cartoons. Finally deciding that the coast was clear, he returned to the back door and waved to the person who had been outside waiting for him.'
"You can come in now. Mom and Dad are still at work, and my sister is out doing… whatever big sisters do."
There was a brief pause as whoever was outside seemed to consider whether or not to actually believe the boy. Finally, after a couple of more seconds of hesitation, a blonde head of hair peeked through the doorway, much like Kaito's had only a minute earlier. After a quick glance around the room, and an experimental sniff of the air, scrunching his nose at the strange smells, Naruto walked in. He moved slowly and silently, making sure to stay low to the ground and ready to move at a moment's notice. His eyes and ears were in constant motion as they struggled to take in the strange sights and sounds around him – occasionally snapping to a particular direction when an odd 'tick' or 'beep' would catch his attention.
"Come on, Fluffy, we need to hurry." Kaito spoke before trying to pull Naruto along by his arm. Of course, Kaito was so small compared to the Naruto that he didn't succeed in much more than hampering the fox-boy's movements. "I don't think Mom or Dad will let me keep you, so you need to hide in my room, okay?"
Naruto couldn't help but to flinch at all the noise that the runt was making as he pulled the older blonde along. If his incessant babbling wasn't loud enough, the boy's feet made a horrible tapping sound every time they made contact with the den's strange hard floor. He scowled at the offending appendages. It was no wonder that these creatures were so noisy when they covered their feet the way they did and insisted on placing all of their weight on them as they walked. It was a miracle that any of them were able to catch enough food to feed themselves, much less their entire family.
The duo quickly made their way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, only pausing for a moment for Naruto to take note of the sudden change from hard tile flooring to soft carpeting. The top of the stairwell opened up into a long, door-lined hallway that extended to the left and right. Kaito tugged Naruto relentlessly to the left, past the first two doors before finally pulling him through the third door on the left.
Kaito's room looked just like one would imagine an eight year old boy's room to be. The walls were painted a bright green. The floor was littered with a variety of toys and stuffed animals. A child-sized bed sat in the corner, covered by brightly colored sheets adorned with equally bright cartoon characters. Really, the room was just shy of being blindingly bright, but Naruto found that he strangely liked it.
"This is my room." Keito pointed out proudly. "You can stay in here. My parents don't come in here often and my sister -" He was interrupted by the sound of an opening door followed by a feminine voice calling out his name. "My sister!" She wasn't supposed to be home so soon! If she checked his room now it would ruin everything. Kaito ran quickly to intercept his sister, only taking a moment to shut the door and tell Naruto to "Stay here."
Naruto stared at the door that Kaito had just exited through. He didn't understand everything that was going on, but it was clear that whoever had just arrived frightened the runt. Curious to see what the commotion was about, and slightly worried for the boy's safety the scrawny thing wouldn't last two seconds in a fight, Naruto decided to follow.
Shion Seinaru was certain that today, at the ripe old age of fourteen, she had just experienced the worst day of her life. Her day had started off poorly when her alarm failed to wake her up on time. As a result she had severely overslept and even sacrificing much of her morning routine had not been enough to get her to school on time. So not only had she arrived late to class, but she had also looked terrible doing it. Her day had only been made worse by a pop quiz in math, and the sudden realization that she had forgotten her English paper. Then, when the school day finally ended and she thought that she could finally blow off some steam with her friends before going to pick up her annoying little brother, she finds out that her supposed best friend, Sarah, has started dating Danny Stolfer – who she had been crushing on for forever! Sarah knew that she liked Danny and she had still decided to go out with him! The sight of the two holding hands and acting all lovey-dovey as they walked around the mall had made her sick, so she had left to pick her brother up a bit earlier than she originally planned. Of course, she arrived only to find out that he had escaped the teachers, again; and that they were panicking about losing him… again. This had happened many times before, so she lied and told the teachers that she had seen him at home (where she knew he had to actually be), and had only come to pick up some things that he had left. The teachers had calmed considerably after that and had let her go with the promise that she try to prevent it from happening again. She couldn't help but to wonder what was wrong with teachers these days to not be able to recognize such an obvious lie.
She stopped when she spotted her little brother running down the stairs. "Where have you been? You know that you're supposed to wait with your teachers until I come to pick you up."
"Sorry, Sis. I was gonna wait for you, but you didn't show up. I got all bored and lonely, so I thought that I would just go home on my own. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm sorry."
He certainly looked apologetic enough. He was looking up at her with large watery eyes and she could see that his lower lip was trembling ever so slightly. Shion wasn't deceived though. Her brother was generally a sweet and innocent kid, but he could be very sly when he wanted to be and she had seen him use that same look on their parents to great effect. She decided to knock that innocent look off of his face with a healthy thump to the back of his head. "Knock it off, squirt. You know that doesn't work on me."
Kaito's wide-eyed gaze disappeared almost immediately and morphed into a more rebellious expression. He glared up at his big sister. "What's the big deal? It's like it's the first time I've walked home by (myself)."
Shion just rolled her eyes. She was in no mood to deal with her bratty little brother and his bratty little antics. "Whatever," she mumbled as she brushed past him and into the living room. "Just don't do it again." It was a token gesture, just so she could say that she tried, and they both knew it; just like how they knew that she would "forget" to pick him up again the next week and he would walk home without her just as he had today. She paused and looked around the living room as she pondered what she wanted to do with the rest of her day. It was the weekend and for once she didn't have any homework to worry about. There was no way she was going back to rejoin her friends. The living room looked fairly inviting. The living room had several small pieces of wooden furniture, wood flooring, and light tan walls, all of which served to give the room a warm, cozy feel. The large comfy sofa that served as the room's centerpiece would be the perfect place to settle down and watch her favorite shows on the family's wall mounted flat-screen television. Yes, she decided, today would be a perfect day to sit down and simply do nothing.
With that thought in mind, Shion started towards the stairs to change into something more comfortable. However, just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found her path blocked by the small form of her brother. "What do you want now, Squirt?" She asked in exasperation. She really didn't want to deal with him right now.
Kaito's eyes widened as he panicked and rushed to think of some excuse to keep her from going upstairs where she would surely discover his new friend. Latching onto the first thing that came to mind, he blurted it out. "I'm hungry!" Then, seeing his sister's startled and somewhat suspicious expression, he continued more evenly. "I'm hungry. Could you make me something to eat?"
Shion rolled her eyes. "Fine." She drawled. "Just let me get changed first. Then I'll fix you a sandwich or something." She quickly brushed past Kaito, before he could come up with some other ridiculous demand. By the time Kaito had recovered his wits and gone after his sister, she was already at the top of the stairs and in the middle of a staring contest with the naked boy in the middle of the hall. He moved as quickly as possible to stand between the two teens. Throwing out his arms in a protective gesture, he began his explanation – covering everything from his leaving the school, to his meeting the strange fox boy, to his rushed and ultimately failed attempt to hide him. His story was rushed, disjointed, and full of the self-contradicting logic that small children are most infamous for. It would have taken a miracle to understand it even under normal circumstances. But none of this mattered to Shion. In fact, she barely heard a word of her brother's attempt to get out of trouble. Her thoughts were far too focused on the naked boy in front of her.
Kaito quickly finished his explanation and closed his eyes in anticipation of the violent reaction he was sure would follow. He opened his eyes again when, after several seconds, nothing seemed to happen. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked up at his sister. She had not moved from where she stood, nor had she changed her expression. In fact, he wasn't sure if she had even blinked in the several seconds that had passed. Beginning to worry for his sister, Kaito put his hand in front of her face and proceeded to wave, poke, and generally do anything he could to provoke a reaction. Just as he was considering running to get help, she finally moved. She did not run or scream, she simply blinked once and fainted.
Agent Lankly sighed contently as he nursed his cup of hot coffee. He could already feel his headache receding and he swore to himself that he would never again neglect his favorite caffeinated beverage.
He had been pleasantly surprised to find the coffee shop in the middle of such a small town. It was a quaint little shop with more patio space than indoor space – perfect for enjoying the weather on a day like today. The atmosphere was quiet but not to the point of being stifling. It was really the perfect time to relax and Lankly was determined to soak up every bit of it that he could. It had been a couple of hours since he had reported the escape of the fox boy which meant that his partner would be showing up at any minute to "clean up his mess" her words not his. He could practically hear the lecture that she was going to give him.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Containment is always top priority."
Huh, his brain wasn't usually that loud. He was startled when a stack of papers was suddenly thrown onto the table in front of him. Moving his eyes from the offending documents, he looked up into the face of his partner looming over him. Dianne Auden was the epitome of the by-the-book agent. From her shoulder length curly brown hair; to her gray pantsuit; right down to her black high-heels; everything about her screamed "regulation". Even her face – her cold hazel eyes, straight nose, and her angular jaw – seemed to be taken from the proverbial rule book. He really couldn't stand her obsession with rules and regulations. Unfortunately it was that very obsession that practically guaranteed her involvement with any mission he was given.
Whereas Dianne was obsessed the rules, he ignored them almost completely. It wasn't that he had a problem with authority or anything like that. Quite the contrary, as a former Marine he could appreciate the need to follow orders. However he often found that the copious amounts of red tape that the department made its agents go through kept him from doing his job as well as he could. Not to mention the undeniable fact that paperwork is incredibly boring. So, he would sometimes "forget" to fill out the necessary papers. And so, the department would almost always assign Dianne to the same missions as him in the hopes that she would coerce him into following protocol. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.
"Yah, well, maybe I could have 'contained' him if I hadn't had to spend so much time filling out paperwork just to get near the damn kid." He grumbled as he flipped the folders in front of him. Somehow, Dianne had been able receive her assignment, get to this town from wherever the hell she had been, and track him down all within a couple of hours; and she had still found the time to drudge up more information on the case than an entire research team could in a week. Sometimes she really scared him.
"And," she said as she joined him at the table, "had you been awake on time, you would have had more than enough time to complete the necessary paperwork and put the proper security measures in place. Now, what can you tell me about the situation?"
Chase grunted. "Probably not much that you don't already know." He indicated the files in front of him before going back to his cup of coffee – only to find it missing. He looked up to find the mug in the hands of his tormentor. The female agent raised a delicate eyebrow as she took a sip of his coffee, silently daring him to say something. Instead, Chase just sighed and waved down a waitress to order another cup. He had long since learned not to argue with the woman unless it was life or death. It just wasn't worth the trouble. So, instead he began to brief Dianne on everything he knew about the case, from the kid's physical abnormalities to his apparent feral state of mind, right down to the circumstances of his escape from the hospital. He knew that Dianne already had all of this information but she would insist on hearing it again from him anyway as per regulation. In addition to confirming the information that she already had, it would give her a new perspective on the case. And so, he indulged her.
His order must have gotten lost at some point because his coffee arrived just as he was finishing his debriefing. Sending a quick "thank you" to the waitress, he concluded his explanation. "I have the local police force out looking for him, but I doubt they'll find him." He shook his head and turned his gaze to the town. "This town has too many forests and empty fields for the kid to hide in and the police force just isn't that large. I can keep them out there for maybe… another twenty-four hours. But eventually they're going to have to return to their regular duties."
"No," Dianne shook her head in the negative. "I agree with your assessment. They're not going to find the subject anytime soon. Let them get back to their regular lives. The last thing we need is for the local authorities to start thinking that we're wasting their time. For now, there is nothing we can do but keep our eyes and ears open. Either the subject will reappear and we can deal with it then, or it will remain hidden and we can declare this case closed."
Chase 'hmned' into his coffee. He had only seen the kid once – and only for a moment at that – but he could already tell that the fox boy was going to be trouble. He could feel it in his gut. And he always trusted his gut.
If only he knew how right he was.
Shion groaned as she slowly became aware of her surroundings. The first thing that caught her attention was that her head ached… horribly. The second was that she was laying on something soft and comfortable. The third and by far most alarming thing that she noticed was that she could not quite remember where she was or how she got there. She carefully opened her eyes, mindful of the dull ache within her skull. Slowly, the world came into focus to reveal a blue eyed, blonde haired boy hovering over her – their noses almost touching. In that moment, everything came back to her. Her little brother's strange behavior. Trying to go to her room only to come face to face with a strange, naked, blonde fox boy. Her brother saying something about… a pet named Fluffy. And then nothing – blackness. Faced with these memories and the blonde hovering over her, she responded in the only way a young girl could. She screamed. And she kicked. And Naruto was sent tumbling off of the couch and onto the floor.
He immediately scrambled to his feet and backed away. He hissed through bared teeth and raised his hairs in an attempt to make himself as intimidating as possible. When the taller blonde had first appeared Runt had been so panicked, he had been sure that the newcomer had been a threat. And then when it had collapsed, he had been sure that he knew why. The poor creature was obviously sick. It would do a lot to explain the strange smell coming from it.
When Runt, through much shouting and wild gestures, had asked for his help in moving the sickly creature, he had wholeheartedly agreed. There are some lessons of survival that are so basic – so necessary – that even the simplest creatures understand them without ever needing to be taught. Among these lessons is that to get sick is to die. If you are sick, you cannot hunt. If you cannot hunt, you cannot eat. If you cannot eat, you will grow weak and continue to be sick. Entire packs have been wiped out by this vicious cycle. It was for this reason that sick animals were often banished from the den and left to either live or die under their own power. To some, it might seem cold or even cruel, but it was the best way to ensure the survival of the pack. So you can imagine Naruto's surprise when, instead of throwing the sick creature out, Runt insisted on just moving it to a more comfortable position. He had shrugged it off at the time. Maybe he had been mistaken? Maybe it wasn't as dangerous as he first thought? But that idea had been promptly dismissed once it had woken up. There was no way something that could scream that loudly or kick that hard could not be a threat.
Meanwhile, poor Kaito was stuck between the two, trying to defuse the situation before his new friend decided to attack his sister… or she attacked him. He wasn't sure which one would be worse. He tried desperately to explain everything again, but it was difficult to make himself heard over the constant screams of "What is that?" and "Get it out of here!"
Fortunately at least some of his words seemed to penetrate through the noise and the panic slowly ebbed away. Unfortunately the panic was quickly replaced with a burning rage. "No! Absolutely not!" She yelled.
"But-"
"I said no, Kaito! There is no way we are going to let that… thing stay in this house!" She stole a look at the boy in question but almost immediately blushed and averted her gaze. The boy was still completely naked and, crouched the way he was, a certain piece of his anatomy was clearly visible to the young girl. Just great, how was she supposed to get rid of the thing if she couldn't even look at it? "J-just get it out of here!" She huffed embarrassedly, hoping that – for once – her little brother would just do as she said.
But it was not to be. Instead of escorting the fox boy out as she had hoped, he seemed to grow even angrier at her words. "He's not an 'it'! His name is Fluffy and he's my friend! And I won't let you get rid of him!"
Perhaps Shion should have been surprised by Kaito's determination. Perhaps she should have been worried by how attached he had already become. But she wasn't. Instead, her mind latched onto a single aspect of what her brother had said – a single word that echoed in her head.
"…Fluffy?" She guffawed. The guffaw was followed by a giggle, which immediately turned into full-blown laughter. She laughed long and hard. And as she laughed she was struck with the pure absurdity of her situation – and she laughed harder and harder until she was barely able to stand.
All the while, Kaito and Naruto just stared at the apparently insane girl. "So… can I keep him?" Kaito ventured carefully when she had started to calm down.
Shion, still trying to bring herself back under control, managed to gasp out "Absolutely not," around the dying fits of laughter.
Kaito frowned. He had hoped… a sly smile began to slowly creep over his face. That could work. He would have to sacrifice some precious resources, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Shion's laughing died completely when she took notice of the look that had settled on her little brother's face. It was the same look he had when he was about to pull a prank and it immediately set her on edge.
"Fine. Just remember, Sister, you brought this on yourself." His voice was haughty and he looked up at his sister with a proud "I-told-you-so" look. "Now prepare yourself for… blackmail!" He finished with a (flourish), one hand fisted on his hips, the other pointing straight at his older sister.
"What!" Shion's screech of disbelief was enough to make both boys cover their ears again.
"You heard me! Either you help me keep Fluffy a secret from Mom and Dad, or I'll tell them about how I'm forced to walk home by myself after school because you are too busy playing with your friends."
"Wha-Why you!" Shion was, quite frankly, dumbfounded. She knew her brother could be devious, but to actually stoop to blackmailing her?! If their parents ever found out - ! They would ground her until she was an old woman! Could she really do this? She stole another look at the blonde in question, who was now huddled against the wall looking very confused at the events unfolding around him, and promptly broke into another full-faced blush and groaned. She was going to regret this. She just knew it. "…Fine."
Kaito immediately broke out into shouts of joy as he ran over to give his new best friend a hug.
"But you are going to take care of him! He is your responsibility – and put some clothes on him!" Shion shouted in an effort to be heard over the excited babbling.
Kaito didn't pay any attention to her though. He was far too caught up in planning all of the fun things he and his "Fluffy" were going to do.
And Naruto, poor Naruto; He just sat there in Kaito's grasp, wondering just when it was that these creatures that surrounded him had gone so completely insane.
I hope you liked it. I'll be working on the update for "So Close Yet So Far" next. You should look forward to it.
