A/N: lol an even shorter chapter www I guess I'll make it up later as the plot got further in XD

For the next few days, nothing much changed from the daily observations. Though Ace did notice that Keiwa continued to have difficulties waking himself up lately, even when he should've had enough sleep the previous night! Even when he himself tried to actively help Keiwa to wake up on time, it kept getting harder to do that efficiently.

But of course, when Ace told this to Keiwa... he didn't think too much about it, even when he was still grateful for all the efforts that Ace had done.

Well, at least Ace could still watch over Keiwa to make sure that he's all right.

.

"Do you know what's funny, Ace? Lately, people at the office had been calling me by the nickname of Tanuki Keiwa."

"Isn't it funny? Considering how Tycoon's motive was based on a Tanuki—"

Ace couldn't find it in himself to find the 'story' amusing. So even Keiwa's colleagues had started to notice it. But since most of them were aware of Keiwa's medical history, they were pretty understanding about the situation and reminded Keiwa not to overwork himself.

So at least that was one thing less for Ace to worry about.

xxx

Still, if possible he'd like to somehow have another meetup with the others to discuss this issue. Except there's still the fact that only Keiwa could understand anything Ace said. And it's not like Ace can always drag Keiwa around as his translator...

.

Ace let out a small yip from his usual perch. If only it was possible for him to talk to other people normally. Like seriously, he had two tails now! Couldn't he do anything else besides casting an invisibility shimmer over his extra tail? Does he really need to gather all NINE of his tails back in order to regain his human form?

Immediately as the thought crossed his mind, Ace was overcome by an overwhelming sense of dread.

But if he had to wait to regain all of his nine tails—by then, what will happen to Keiwa in return? Because it must be connected; him gaining another tail and Keiwa having his energy drained. Did he somehow... unknowingly, drain Keiwa's life force to restore his own powers?

That cannot be true!

xxx

"Ne, Keiwa..."

Keiwa glanced down towards Ace as they walked home together. "What is it?"

"Take me inside the office starting tomorrow."

"Eh?" Keiwa gasped as Ace looked up at him. "B-but... why did you want to get inside the office?"

Ace rolled his eyes and bumped his head against Keiwa's leg.

"It's to make it easier for me to take care of YOU, idiot Tycoon! If people ask, tell them I'm your service dog or something!"

Keiwa laughed when Ace started to use that old name again. And then he knelt down beside Ace to see him better.

He sighed. "You're still worried about me, aren't you?"

Ace immediately bared his teeth at Keiwa. "Of course I am! I don't like how you kept dozing off all day!"

Keiwa immediately winced at that comment.

"Ah... that did seem to keep happening more often, huh?" Keiwa wrapped his arms around Ace. "Thank you... for always watching over me."

Keiwa cocked his head at Ace suddenly. "But a service dog though... isn't that a bit too much? Won't people notice that you're actually a fox?"

Ace just rolled his eyes at him.

"I don't LOOK like a normal fox now, do I? Also, I noticed how people tend to just assume that I'm a dog at first glance anyway."

Keiwa snorted, before placing a kiss on Ace's nose. "If you say so." He smiled. "You're really acting like my own personal bodyguard, aren't you?"

Ace returned the gesture by pressing his muzzle against Keiwa's lips.

"You bet I am."