Intense brown eyes observed the girl before her. She snorted in disgust as the raven-haired woman let out another feeble cry in her sleep, turning to face the firelight. Beads of sweat ran down her face while her brow knitted painfully in an unreadable expression. Another cry arose from her in her sleep, this one weaker than the last.

'Why do I have to watch her?' Sayuri thought in agitation, shifting so that she could more easily view the surrounding forest.

"Stupid Takeshi!" she barked to the shadows.

She knew that nobody would hear, but sometimes then man frustrated her to no end. That and nobody could understand her. She growled low in her throat agitatedly as a familiar scent drifted to her senses.

"You're late!" she addressed the approaching figure.

"I know. Gomen, Sayu-san," he chuckled.

"Saying sorry doesn't make it okay, and don't think the fake sympathy helps either," she pouted, folding her arms over he chest and sighing crossly.

"Relax, Sayu-san. I was only a little la—"

"A LITTLE!" she fumed, her tail fluffing out and her ears sticking straight up, "YOU LEFT ME WATCHING THIS STINKING HUMAN FOR HOURS!"

"Okay, so I was a lot late. I'm here now aren't I?"

"You're right," she said, her anger fading slightly and giving way to curiosity, "where is he? He was supposed to come back with you."

"I am here," a voice sounded behind her, an obvious hint of amusement lingering in his voice.

Sayuri nearly lost her human henge in surprise as she whirled around to face the source of the voice. The sight that greeted her was a smirking blonde-haired, blue-eyed man. He laughed at the expression on her face, Takeshi's laughter joining in shortly after. She snorted crossly at the two of them, rolling her golden brown eyes in irritation.

'Guys!'

Suddenly her ear twitched as she sensed an immediate change in the mood. She looked curiously up at Takeshi to see him once again transformed into a large red fox. His eyes were locked on something across the fire. Turning to peer through the flames she saw a pair of pale lavender eyes staring fearfully back at her. The human was awake.

Here's a preview for the next chapter. I apologize for how long it's taking for updates, but my computer is experiencing problems and its been harder for me to access . I have more written, but I thought this would be a good place to stop for a preview. Enjoy for now and look forward to more later. Ja ne.