A/N: I'm back! How were your weekends?

Chapter 8: Park of Meetings

Kitsune strolled uphill towards Oga's house, her hands in her pockets. She had been going up to see Oga every single day, playing video games, keeping Berubo company, teaching stuff Hilda about the Human World and all that. Not because she really wanted to see them, but because she was always bored and alone at her own apartment. Besides, Kitsune liked being in Oga's company. He could be kind of funny, and also because he made a great friend and training partner.

Well, she didn't like Oga in that kind of way. She liked him in a friendly way, and Kitsune couldn't even imagine her and Oga dating. It sent a shiver up her spine just thinking about it.

As usual, Oga's elder sister, Misaki, opened the door for her and welcomed Kitsune warmly. The crimson-eyed girl found Misaki amusing whenever she and her younger brother fought with each other, and the fact that Oga always lost didn't help to lessen the hilariousness of the situations he was often stuck in.

"Where's Oga and Berubo? I don't hear them right now, are they taking a nap or something?" Asked Kitsune, rubbing her sore back since Misaki had given her an overly-tight hug that nearly crushed the poor girl's spine.

"They're at the park right now. Berubo was whining about going out to play, so Tatsumi took him out. Wanna leave those here first?" Misaki getsured to the paper bag containing Berubo's daily croquettes. Kitsune nodded and headed towards the park as fast as possible, her gut feeling telling her that something was bound to go wrong at the park, especially with Berubo along.

"Ugh... This is getting ridiculous. I've been walking around for so long and I haven't seen either of them around," Groaned the crimson-eyed girl and continued to drag herself around the park. "Maybe I should ask someone..."

She spotted a group of three mothers pushing their children in prams, chatting merrily and making occasional hand gestures as they did so. Kitsune doubted that they would have spotted any ordinary passerby with a baby on his back, since they were so absorbed in their conversation. Then again, Oga and Berubo stood out a lot in public. Whenever the three of them went to school together with Furuichi, people often had their eyes fixated to either the demonic-looking brunette with a green-haired baby on his back or the scowling crimson-eyed girl. But it was usually Oga who got all the negative attention.

Finally, Kitsune decided to pluck up enough courage to approach the mothers and ask if they had seen Oga or Berubo. However, the little raven-haired girl had not taken more than a few steps towards the group of mothers when their eyes turned to another female figure, to whom they greeted excitedly. "Oh, Aoi-chan! Good day, hm? Taking Kouta-chan for a walk again?"

The girl called Aoi turned back and nodded. Kitsune struggled to catch a glimpse of her face, since she was wearing a hat that covered her eyes slightly. "Yes, ma'm," she answered politely before walking off, tugging at the straps of her bag which was carrying a small boy with short, black hair and large eyes donning a cap with bear ears. Kitsune spotted the mothers turning back to their conversation while she walked off in the another direction, having changed her mind about asking for help. She perked up her ears to listen to their conversation, although she really wasn't interested in it.

"Who's that?"

"The daughter of the temple priest in the 5th block. She's only 17 years old!"

"Eh?! Sheesh... young people these days..."

'Tch! Making up false assumptions now, huh? Glad I didn't get involved in them...' Kitsune scowled to herself and jammed her fists into her hoodie pockets and flipped her hood over her head. She loved her hoodie, which had a pair of fox ears and a little fox tail attached to the hood and the hem of the jacket respectively. Kitsune often wore it unzipped over a T-Shirt or her school uniform at school.

"Um, excuse me..."

"Huh? Whaddya wa-" Kitsune whirled around and her words immediately remained stuck in her dried-up throat when she found herself face-to-face with the girl called Aoi earlier on. She instantly felt embarrassed for being so rude to somebody and bowed down as low as possible. "So-Sorry! I thought you were one of-"

Aoi quickly shook her head. "No, it's okay. By the way, I wanted to ask where I could possibly find a water cooler in this park."

Kitsune got up and nodded, her index finger pointing in a direction. "Go down there, then turn left at the intersection, and then straight down. You can't miss it." Her eyes turned to Kouta, who was smiling sheepishly at her before burying himself into Aoi's back, who smiled politely and thanked the raven-haired girl.

Kitsune watched her retreating figure in silence. She had black hair that was similar to hers, and she was a little fiercer and stricter, she could almost become Kitsune's elder sister. Not that she did have one. Kitsune only had an older brother, Kenji Kurokage, who absolutely despised and looked down on his younger sister. Oga was lucky; Misaki was someone who shared her love of fights and combat skills with her sibling, and at least they had a more positive bond than with Kitsune and Kenji. Speaking of Oga...

"Oh crap!" Kitsune swore angrily and began sprinting in an unknown direction. "I forgot that I was supposed to be looking for Oga and Berubo!"

Oga and Berubo were both worn out. They had been playing for a whole day, and Oga had been scouting for a suitable parent who would take care of Berubo. Unfortunately, he had scared away three young mothers and their children, got shocked by Berubo about 15 times, and fallen into a pond thrice. But he had met a young mother taking her child for a walk and was confident that she could take care of Berubo. Although she had left instantly and declined hurriedly, his confidence hadn't diminished one bit. Oga was sure that she could help take care of Berubo.

Sighing to himself, Oga drained his can of soda and let out a content burp. Berubo was intrigued by his first taste of orange soda, pouring the fizzy drink into his mouth and allowing the bubbles to remain there until they were gone. At the corners of his eye, Oga caught sight of Kitsune running towrads them, panting heavily.

"Where were you guys just now? If not for Natsume who told me where you guys were, I would've abandoned you guys and gone back home! Jesus Christ..." Oga looked up at the crimson-eyed girl, drenched in sweat and breathing heavy. He felt bad for making her run around just to look for them, and here they were, relaxing on a park bench with cans of orange soda littered everywhere!

Bending down slowly, Oga rummaged through the plastic bag filled with stuff from the convenience store until he found what he wanted. The male brunette held out a small white paper bag towards Kitsune, who received the bag from him and opened it, revealing three sugar-powdered doughnuts. She stared at him in shock and happiness. "How did you know..."

"Misaki told me. She said you really liked doughnuts, so I wanted to bring some up to your house, but I wanted to rest here first," Replied Oga.

Kitsune felt her face heating up quickly as she stared at the doughnuts, then at Oga, then at Berubo. She grabbed one out of the bag and shoved it into Oga's hands. She walked over and bent down to hand one to Berubo, who clutched it tightly in happiness. The, she proceeded to stuff the last one into her mouth, but not before she caught the brunette's surprised look.

"What?"

"Don't you want it? I mean, why did you give it to me?"

Kitsune popped the last of her doughnut into her mouth. "Why? You bought this all for me, and I should at least share some with you, right?" She flashed a bright smile, as if she was trying to tell Oga, "Eat it or you'll die a terrible and gory death."

Oga shrugged. He couldn't say no to a perfectly good doughnut, so he took a large bite of the pastry and munched it in his mouth. The doughnut was amazing, and the sugar melted on contact with his tongue. It was so good, he scarfed the rest of the doughnut down and sighed contently.

Maybe this kid was an angel from heaven after all...