In the time it took Hisoka to transport back to his room at the inn, set the bleeding fox down on his futon*, get the first-aid kit from the bathroom, and return to crouch by the animal's side, the young Guardian honestly wasn't sure the fox was still alive. He carefully unwound his jacket from around the animal and set the bloodied article of clothing aside, already knowing that it was likely far too stained to be salvageable.

At first glance it didn't look like the animal was breathing, as he couldn't see if its' sides were moving beneath its' blood-soaked fur, and the bedding beneath it was soaked with the blood from the fox's wounds, despite the fact that he had only just removed it from his jacket. He worried over how much of the vital liquid the poor animal had lost, since he vividly remembered how much had been left in the small clearing where he'd faced the hellhounds.

Sticking a hand in front of the vulpine's snout; he felt just the faintest whisper across his fingers that meant that the fox still lived. Sighing quietly in relief, he didn't have time to relax as he quickly turned to the side and raided the well-stocked first-aid kit he'd found, pulling out bandages, disinfectant, and many other things that he thought he'd need, including a needle and thread to sew up some of the larger gashes on the animal's body. He steeled himself, mentally apologizing to the poor creature as he swallowed, took a deep breath, and then got to work doing what he could to save the fox's life.

He went and got all the towels and washcloths from the bathroom that he could find along with two large bowls, one of which he filled with water and the other he left empty. He figured he'd have to clean the wounds then ring out the towels thoroughly over the empty bowl so the injuries didn't get infected after he finished treating them. He didn't have access to a large supply of towels, so wringing them out to reuse them was the best option on that score.

Hours later, the Guardian of Death breathed a sigh of relief as he was finally able to sit back and let the tension drain out of his shoulders. The sun was peeking over the horizon; he was able to see the rays of light through the curtains as he leaned back and braced himself on red-stained hands. He had spent the entire night treating the fox's wounds, and the animal was thankfully still alive, though it had been a close call on multiple occasions.

The eternal teenager had had to pause frequently to check and make sure the animal was still alive, his empathy being of no help, since strong emotions such as pain sometimes lingered even after death. He had managed to find the most serious wounds and do what he could for them. Some of them were so bad that he had used a healing spell on them, regardless of the fact that the one he was trying to save was an animal instead of a human. The animal's torn throat, for example, had required two healing spells before he had felt alright with just bandaging it. Hellhound saliva burned like acid in open wounds, causing a great deal of pain and increasing risk of infection, but simple purification spells usually took care of that problem.

Hisoka looked thoughtfully at the creature than now resembled a mummy more than a fox, covered in bandages as it was. The hellhounds had definitely done a number on it, he acknowledged as he pushed himself to his feet and headed to the bathroom to clean up. Claw and bite marks had covered almost its' entire body, the worst looking to have been focused on its' legs and body. Among the fox's myriad of injuries were several broken bones in the animal's legs and a few cracked ribs.

As he washed his hands, scrubbing intently in order to get all the animal's blood off, he was running down a mental list of things he'd have to do in order to clean up the room so the staff at the inn didn't find out he'd turned one of their rooms into an impromptu veterinary clinic. He kind of thought that that might get him tossed out of them inn at best, even if he wasn't sure about the hot springs' policy on animals.

Burning his jacket, jeans, and the bedding were at the top of his list, and he wondered where he would be able to get exact duplicates of the sheets and blankets…perhaps a storeroom for spares or something along those lines? The inn had to have spares in case of one of the guests spilling something or otherwise ruining a blanket/sheet. He wasn't sure if blood soaking the bedding qualified as a 'spill' though…

Releasing a heartfelt sigh, Hisoka dried his now-clean hands off and got to work. It would probably take at least another hour to get everything cleaned up and track down replacements for his ruined bedding. And then he had to contact the Summons Section and let them know about the pack of hellhounds (not to mention chewing out whoever had somehow missed the multiple demons in the area when compiling that very thin report). Gathering up the scattered pieces of gauze and unused bandages took around fifteen minutes, but collecting the blood-stained towels and washcloths took longer, not to mention repacking the first-aid kit with the things he hadn't used and the bottles of antiseptic that still had liquid in them.

The Guardian of Death regularly checked on the fox, which was still lying on the blood-stained bedding (he would have to find some way of moving it so he could dispose of the bedding), to make sure it was still alive. After all, he justified to himself, he didn't want to have spent all that time patching it up just to have the fox finally die from its' injuries. The excuse sounded weak, even to him.

Contrary to what a lot of his co-workers thought – especially after the Hokkaido Incident, as that disastrous vacation came to be known – Hisoka actually liked animals. Especially furry ones, as his partner had discovered when they had encountered a fluffy cat on an assignment and the blond had spent almost ten minutes petting it. Seeing the fox's body lying on the ground, still and bloody, had tugged at his heart, and when he'd seen it was still alive he'd just had to try and save it.

It had never really occurred to him to leave the poor fox behind to die, no matter how much work cleaning up all the medical supplies and setting the room to rights (or disposing of the animal's body if he couldn't save it, a part of his mind whispered) would be. That was why he hadn't minded using some of the few healing chants he knew to try and help it, and he was relieved when he'd seen them visibly working to mend the fox's injuries. One of the reasons why he'd known the creature was still among the living was the soft whimpers of pain that occasionally escaped the vulpine's throat and the faint twitches of muscle that he had felt under his hands while he had been wrapping the bandages around the fox's injuries.

Hisoka groaned in relief as he used a simple spell to incinerate the used gauze pads and destroy the last remaining evidence of the first-aid he had performed on the wounded animal. He would have to take the soiled bedding out somewhere isolated in order to burn that (it had taken some careful maneuvering, but he'd managed to get the sheets and blankets out from under the fox), so for the moment it was shoved into the very back of the room's closet. His jacket and jeans met their demise via the same fire spell in the bathroom, after which he sprayed some air freshener to disguise the scent of burned fabric.

The old-young man could only hope that that would be enough to stop anyone from asking about any strange smells from his room.

When he'd done all he could to clean up the room, changed into one of the robes provided for guests, and checked once again to make sure the fox was still breathing, it was almost twelve o'clock in the afternoon and he was exhausted. He was leaning against the wall near the window, curtains pulled to block out as much of the light as they could, when he wearily picked up his cell phone and selected the speed-dial for Tatsumi's number. Hovering his finger over the 'select' button, he experienced a moment of doubt, wondering if he should mention everything about his encounter with hellhounds…it's not like the injured fox was actually important, but he felt bad at the thought of lying, even if only by omission, to the secretary.

Before he could make up his mind, however, he was jolted out of his thoughts by a quiet knock on the door.

Not knowing whether to be thankful or curse whoever-it-was' timing, Hisoka flipped his phone closed and pushed himself to his feet, swaying a bit before he got his bearings. An entire night without sleep was catching up to him, he noted unhappily as he took some tentative steps, then walked out of the bedroom, making sure to shut the screen behind him, and over to the door to the room.

A peek out the door as he opened it a crack revealed one of the hostesses standing there, the one who had told him about the deer/hiking trail, actually. The young woman looked relieved to see him, and his expression was inquisitive when he asked her what she wanted. A faint blush decorating her cheeks, the hostess laughed lightly and told him, "My sincerest apologies, sir, but no one saw you come in last night, and I was just checking to make sure that nothing bad happened to you while walking along the trail."

Dang, he should have thought of that before simply teleporting into the inn. He put his best polite smile on his face and reassured the woman, "I'm just fine, thank you. I just didn't want to disturb anyone when I came back so late." After a few more pleasantries were exchanged, the hostess left, and Hisoka was able to shut the door with a sigh of relief.

Turning around and leaning back on the wooden barrier, Hisoka let the back of his head rest against the door for a moment as he stared up at the ceiling. That had been a close one, he registered, and he was profoundly grateful that the hostess hadn't asked him if he'd seen anything interesting during his walk…

His stomach growled abruptly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything that day, and the young Guardian decided that calling Tatsumi could wait another half hour or so while he got something to eat. He firmly ignored the little voice in the back of his mind that accused him of stalling.

After checking on the fox one last time (the animal, he was relieved to find, was sleeping peacefully, and its' breaths were visibly lifting its' sides), Hisoka changed clothes and exited the room after grabbing his wallet and room key. Shutting and locking the door behind him, the eternally-teenaged death god set off for the communal dining room, which was really just a fancy way of saying cafeteria/buffet/restaurant where guests went when they didn't want to order room service.

Unlike the rooms, which were designed with privacy and quiet in mind, the dining room was built in a traditional Japanese style, with low tables and comfortable cushions arranged around those tables. The servers, all of them women, were dressed in traditional kimonos and sported buns, braids, and other old-fashioned hairstyles. In an alcove set on the opposite side of the room from where he'd entered, in the wall between the one that sported the entrance to the kitchens and the one that had the entrance to the inn's lobby, a hostess dressed as a geisha played soothing melodies on a koto*. She was actually rather good, Hisoka noted as he sat down on a plush floor cushion in front of an empty table and ordered what he wanted from the menu, providing pleasant background music while everyone enjoyed their meals.

The blond kept to himself, staying quiet as he waited for his food to be brought out (he had ordered one of the rice dishes with a side, not wanting something that took too long to cook) and glancing around at the other guests in the room from the corner of his eyes. Everyone, from the couple sitting at one of the corner tables and feeding each other to the middle-aged woman chatting amiably with the slightly younger woman several tables away, looked happy and the emotions he felt drifting through the room supported that image. He looked back down at the polished, lacquered wood in front of him and resumed waiting for his own food, mind whirling as he waited.

The entire time he waited for the food and then while he ate, his thoughts chased themselves in circles, coming up with reasons why he shouldn't tell Tatsumi about the injured fox and then coming up with just as many reasons why he should. He probably would have already been dizzy if revolving thoughts counted as turning around at high speed, he mused wryly in the back of his mind. As he ate the last bite of his meal, wiped his mouth gently with the provided napkin, and left a small tip on the table he was fairly certain he'd figured out what he wanted to say to the Secretary of the Judgment Bureau.

Hisoka went back to his room, fighting to keep a casual pace and not look like he was hurrying to check up on anything. The fox had been hurt really badly, and just because it seemed like the animal was stable didn't mean it actually was…The Shinigami wasn't a vet – he was pretty far from it, actually – but he'd done the best he could with what he'd had on hand, in addition to the few healing spells he'd cast. He knew that there wasn't a lot he could do even if the fox's condition had gotten worse, but he just couldn't stop himself from worrying about the poor animal.

Being attacked by a pack of hellhounds and surviving it was no easy feat, especially for a mortal animal like the fox, so it was natural for him to be concerned, he tried to tell himself, and his tense shoulders relaxed slightly at that rationalization. Now if only he could get his mind from going back to his aforementioned concern for the wounded animal and he would be all set, he thought wryly as he opened the door to his room and slipped inside, shutting and locking it behind him.

*A Japanese bed (anyone who watches anime should know this one...)

*A traditional Japanese stringed instrument

Author's Note: Kind of short, I know, but I figured that that was as good a place to end the chapter as any. And yes, Hisoka has no clue that he saved a fox demon instead of a regular fox. :P Also, I post this second chapter in honor of the fact that, if all goes well, one of my original stories is going to be published in an anthology! *Does a happy dance* Wish me luck!

On a completely unrelated note, I've recently started playing Dungeons and Dragons Online…yeah, I have no idea why I mentioned that. I have enough plot bunnies already. *Head-desk*