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Strangled Time
Chapter 63
Sleep came easily for Kagome that night in their large, warm rooms, buttoned up tight against the chill. For Saburo, on the other hand, it was a different story. This time around he wasn't in the dark about the true nature of that village. In fact, he was all too aware of the foxes that surrounded them somewhere out there in the darkness.
It was one thing to accept a demon or two after getting to know them or to have tea at a shop run by shy Tanuki, but to blindly trust an entire village of mysterious, mischievous foxes?
That was asking a lot from somebody still so new to the supernatural.
The pinprick sharp nerves that were keeping him awake also had his senses alert, searching the shadows for monsters and the wind for any sinister thoughts that might pass by.
Much to his shock and horror, it hadn't actually been long at all before the sinister truly did come out to play.
It started out as a single yip–sharp, but far away. And then there was another, much closer. Saburo set his teeth tight and gripped his dagger as the strange yips turned into barks, the trilling, ear cutting sounds communicating with one another from all corners of the town and filling the night air with their eerie fox song.
Then came the rustling in the garden. The soft, crisp sounds of compacting snow.
He sucked in a breath.
Only once he could hear the padding of paws and the clicking of nails on floorboards did Saburo jump to his feet. Blade in hand, the blacksmith carefully pried open the door that separated his room from his companion's.
"Miss Kagome?" He called out in a hesitant whisper that wasn't nearly enough to wake her.
Her garden door was open, he noted, letting in a sliver of moonlight and a curl of cold wind. Letting in whatever else could have been stalking out there under the pale starlight as well.
Just then a shadow moved across the opposite wall in his peripheral. Saburo flinched towards it. Now both of his hands were holding the dagger out before him. There was another flutter of paws and a clatter. He spun back to the open door.
"Get!" He hissed, voice cracking an octave too high to be intimidating.
"Saburo? Oh!" Kagome exclaimed, arousing from her slumber.
Saburo swung around to where she had been curled up on the floor just in time to see a small black creature slip from her grasp and dart out the door.
"What was that!?"
Another furry creature scampered down the outer deck, casting a shadow when it passed the crack in the doorway. Backs and snickering yowls picked up. They were surrounded. In the courtyard, along the decks, under the floorboards-
Then something cold and damp touched his ankle, like the nose of a small dog.
Saburo shrieked and leapt away. When Kagome grabbed his wrist he almost screamed a second time.
"Hush!" She commanded with a finger to her lips. Her eyes were fierce, shining like ice in the glow of the snowlight. She scanned the room as Saburo reigned back his panic. "There!" She pointed to another shadow out on the deck and when she raced to the door he was right by her side, ready to be her back-up and fend off any attack that might come their way.
When she threw back the barrier that separated them from the gardens they were graced with a most frightening sight.
Eyes.
Dozens and dozens of glowing eyes, all trained on the priestess and her blacksmith.
As soon as they were exposed, the eyes began to flee. Foxes of all sizes and colors raced this way and that to once more disappear from sight. Some lept from the fences where they'd been perched, others from decorative boulders and bamboo rain tippers. They skittered away down the building's outer hallway and ducked beneith the structure's crawlspace. Like ants on an overturned rock, they dispersed quickly and chaotically.
"Wha–"
"Wait!" Kagome cried out as she leapt from the deck and added her own footprints to the snowy grounds.
What was that woman doing?! She was gonna get them eaten!
No. Saburo halted his dour thoughts. Trust her.
Even as the heinous sounds of that insidious, animalistic laughter continued around them, he needed to trust that this was not a dangerous situation. Kagome's shoulders were alert, but not fighting-tight. Her fingers were splayed, not fisted. She sought answers, not retaliation.
Slowly, the noises began to fade.
And then, as they teetered to silence, a new demon turned the corner of the decks and entered their back courtyard.
He was sure they all must have been demons, but this one was far more obvious than the rest. It was too large to be a normal fox-it stood nearly as tall as a pony-with a lankier, leggy build and a mane of long fur tracing along the ridge of its back. Dark spots dappled its flank and the thing had ears so large that it could probably hear every word ever spoken in that Kitsune village. It walked, no, stalked straight for Kagome.
Kagome could handle demons.
They could handle demons.
Everything was fine.
Even so, Saburo kept the dagger in his hand, just in case.
Without warning, the beast loped forward, closing the distance between itself and Kagome with a frightening grace and met her nose to nose. She studied it, still as a statue and chin held high as the tall Kitsune began to circle her predatorily, three bushy tails curling around her waist and thighs as it passed.
Kagome then released a breath he hadn't noticed she'd been holding.
"Yuugo." She said, naming the fox.
Yuugo?
Right, the village weapon's smith. He must also have been a Kitsune. A strange person, for certain, yet not unfriendly. Unpleasant? Yes, very much so yes. But that was all in personal taste and since Kagome seemed to put up with him and deem him not to be a threat, then Saburo would accept him as well.
With quiet care, the blacksmith tucked away his dagger and allowed Kagome to commune with her colleague uninterrupted.
"They're curious about us, aren't they? The priestess asked as she got to work prying the tawny tails from her body.
The sound that the fox version of Yuugo huffed out of his throat was the single most haughty noise that Saburo had ever heard coming from an animal.
Not an animal.
"We'll walk around town tomorrow. Can you ask them to back off for a bit? Especially at night, we seriously need to sleep."
Yuugo growled at that and Saburo couldn't tell if it was because Kagome's request had come out sounding more like an exasperated demand, or if he was verbally warning away the other foxes that had been peeping in on them. Either way, it gave him goose pimples up his arm.
The fox's tails were like cleaver-weed to her clothes as he made another circle around Kagome, which she kept trying futilly to detach. And then he pushed in closer to rub his large maw against the side of her face.
That's what seemed to cross the line.
"Hey buddy," She snapped, grabbing a hold of the tender fur at his neck. "Personal space, remember? Or do you need me to remind you as I singe every pretty hair on your head until you're bald?"
A mixture of horror and humor passed through the demon's expressive eyes and he must have believed the threat well enough, because he backed up, releasing Kagome in the process.
Or perhaps he didn't. Because when he turned to leave, he ended up giving Kagome a face full of furry tail that knocked her off her feet and down into a fresh mound of snow.
"Yuugo!" Kagome shouted as the atmospheric scent of her purity filled the air. He was already gone though, well before she was able to get her butt unstuck from the snow. Not a tail to be found.
Trying hard not to laugh at the priestess' predicament as she floundered about like a turtle on its shell, Saburo lept from the deck to give her a hand. "Are you alright, Miss Kagome?" He asked automatically, although he knew she was fine. She was smiling, after all. Smiling was a good indication. It meant that they'd never been in any true danger.
In that Kitsune village they were safe.
He finally understood that.
"Yeah." She replied, accepting her fate as a beached halibut before taking the blacksmith's outstretched hand and finding her feet once more. She was about to wipe the snow from her face with her other arm, but then she paused, bringing her sleeve to her nose.
Kagome's smile was replaced with a horrified grimace.
"Well." She lamented. "We're definitely going to be left alone tonight, that's for sure."
"Did he say that he'd keep 'em at bay?"
"Technically he didn't say anything." Kagome said, waving her sleeves. "But he just scent marked me so strongly that even I can smell it."
Unfortunately, Saburo could smell it too.
It was at that moment that Saburo was grateful for their separate accommodations. Because now that his fears had been cleared from the air, he'd be able to fall asleep quickly and easily.
Kagome on the other hand, was left tossing and turning, yearning dearly for her morning bath.
...
Kagome's hair was still damp from its wash when she left the inn the next day. So damp that the wind had cured her locks into curly icicles by the time she was knocking her fist to the door of the weapon's shop.
It swung open quickly to reveal the speckled Yuugo, human form and wearing nothing but a pair of loose green trousers and a shit eating grin.
"Why, good morning my dear Little Rabbit! And how might we be on this beautiful chilly morning? A mite crunchy, by the looks of it. You truly should dry yourself off more thoroughly before wandering off in the middle of winter. Don't you know how terribly fragile humans can be? Speaking of which, did anyfox else give you grief last night? Surely not, but I do worry-"
"You–" Kagome cut him off by jabbing a cold finger to his bare chest. "And I are about to have a discussion about boundaries."
A tumultuous spark of chaos lit a flame within the Kitsune's blonde eyes.
"Oh, must we? How Delightful! And I quite agree, those naughty chaps were well out of hand last night and need to learn their place. Do come in and get your frozen tush by the fire, Kagome my demon kindred, before you collapse at my doorstep. That would be most unsightly, and honestly, what would the neighbors think? Come now, chop-chop. I'll make tea."
...
The travelers' village had changed in a dizzying way since the last time they'd been there. It wasn't the streets themselves that were causing Saburo to be so disorientated. No, they were just as winding and maze-like as they'd always been, no better or worse for their time apart. And it wasn't the buildings or a trick of the snow, either. The people on the other hand…
They had become something entirely.
An entirely different monster, one might say.
And he wasn't being witty or sarcastic about that–he knew that all of the villagers were demons, knew that they were nearly all kitsune, That was an established fact now. He even knew that his entire world view had been flip-turned onto its' side and everything he saw was now through a new perspective. But this wasn't that.
This was about the internal changes to his Saburo vision.
This was, well, different.
Before, when he and Kagome had walked the streets during their last visit, the shopkeepers and hostesses and pedestrians were subdued. Watchful. Wary. Everyone who wasn't a street vendor peddling wares to tourists had kept them at a wide berth as if one wrong glance their way could tumble some sort of game piece towards doom. But now?
Now the streets were bustling. It seemed that practically everyone in town was gathered in that one district, openly gawking as he passed. That had been strange enough–uncomfortable really. But then there was the inhumanity of it all, his new vision. Every other demon he saw had something distinctive about them–tall, flickering fox ears, swishing tails, flashing fangs, glinting claws, slitted eyes, sometimes even the whole package!
He didn't know what was going on, didn't know if they were showing themselves intentionally or if it was a part of the strange new changes to his body that had been brought on by spending so much time among their world. The one thing he did know was that he wasn't normally supposed to see those things, so he was trying his damndest to pretend that he couldn't.
Easier said than done, that was.
He was a blacksmith, not a master of espionage or theater performer, and according to the stifled snickers going on all around him…
He knew they knew he knew.
But unfortunately he'd already made it that far, so turning back to the inn would have just been silly. It wasn't like he was lost, right? He had a map! Right?
Squinting, the blacksmith rotated his hand-drawn map before turning left into an empty alleyway. Someone from the crowd passing behind him whistled a sorry note.
Oh Kagome, why, why, why did you have to run off so early?
She'd left before he had woken, leaving him alone in those rooms that had so easily been infiltrated the night before. Which had been perfectly safe and didn't require his fretting at all because everything was fine. But still.
Still.
Saburo sighed before looking down again at the little map in his fingers.
"Are you looking for the Priestess?" Came a voice.
Saburo startled and jumped back from the young fox woman who had appeared before him. He grabbed at his heart as if to hold it back from ripping straight out of his chest, only to realize that his dramatics had only succeeded in ripping the paper of his map instead.
He swallowed a lump of dread at the prospect of being utterly and completely lost amongst an audience that likely wouldn't mind having his liver as a mid-morning snack. "I-uh, y-yeah. I was."
"S-sorry!" The demoness bowed loudly. She was tiny, smaller than Kagome even, if only by a finger. "I s-should have addressed you from further away!"
"No, yer fine!" He raised his hands to apologize, but when he did the girl flinched. So he sucked his giant body inward and took a self-conscious step back. "Sorry, I'm fine, are you fine?"
She nodded even though her fox ears were pinned back against her hair. "I'm sorry." She reiterated, stealing a glance up at him through her blazing orange bangs. "I'm not very good with s-speaking to humans."
Her eyes were the color of deftly wrought bronze. Blood rushed from Saburo's cheeks up to the tips of his ears. "Well I'm not real good at speakin' ta demons, so I guess we can be not good together, er…in good company? That is…have we-do I know you from somewhere?" Aside from the fire of her hair and the ears atop her head, he was starting to recognize the curve of her face, the shallow slope of her little nose.
"You do!" She perked for a moment before recoiling like a spring to cross her arms and soothe her elbows. "Sort of."
Awkward.
"Um-" They started at the same time, which caused them both to look away.
"You've been to the restaurant where I work, I've served you. Before." She explained. "I s-saw that you were lost and assumed you were following the Priestess. Everyone is quite excited, you see, knowing that you were part of one of Lady Maki's prophecies. The village isn't always this rowdy, but considering that you two are currently the only h-humans here right now-winter is a slow season for travelers, you see–Right, the good Priestess!" Her nose grew redder and redder as the words fell tumbling tail over end from her lips.
"She's in with Yuugo right now. They were yelling when she first arrived–don't worry, that's a common reaction around Yuug–and now they're working on something in the workshop. He doesn't like me going back there, actually he doesn't like anybody going back there since he's rather particular about his work. But I can bring you to the shop and maybe get you something to drink from the restaurant while you wait for them to finish. The restaurant where I work, the one at the end of the street with the bright blue banner–oh!"
The young Kitsune woman's ramblings were smothered by fabric as Saburo draped his thick, oversized jacket over her head and shoulders.
"Ya really should have more layers on out here, yer shiverin' like a bare bottomed babe." The blacksmith said.
It wasn't until after the words were already spoken that Saburo realized exactly which phrase he'd pulled out of his mother's playbook.
He could practically hear the blood burning in his body. "Not that what yer wearin' is bad or inappropriate or nothin'! It's jus' awful thin and it's too cold out here to be walkin in summer stuff! You'll catch yourself sick, just lookin' at you's makin' me chilly."
She looked down at the thin strawberries and cream colored fabric of her sleeves before bringing them up to her mouth to hide behind.
"Oh, that's right. I still need to switch those boxes." She mused, then folded herself into a bow once more. His giant jacket was a tarp that nearly hid her completely. "My apologies for making you uncomfortable, that wasn't my intention! My body can tolerate more extreme temperatures than most humans are said to be able to, and sometimes I forget to rotate my clothing for the seasons. I will go and change immediately, I wouldn't want to be responsible for causing you to fall ill! Something warm-I will find the warmest clothes so that you too will feel warm when you look at me!"
"Wait, wait!" Saburo grabbed her wrist before she could scurry away and leave him there alone again. He was so lost. And her hand was warm, so very warm. "I'm not gonna get sick, it doesn't actually work like that. I just forgot that demons-that you… But you were shiverin'. Yer still shiverin'. If yer not cold, then-?"
"I'm nervous!" She blurted out, unable to look his way. "You're a human."
He dropped her hand and took a step back, confused by the face twisting shame filling his gut. "I'm sorry."
"No, I should be the one to apologize. I should have asked somebody else to help you. But my brother has made it clear that he doesn't want anybody interfering with you or the Priestess and his threats are taken quite seriously. He may not act like it, but Yuugo got top marks in his years at the Kitsune academy."
"Yer brother...? Woah, wait. You mean to say Yuugo is yer brother?"
The demoness nodded.
"Oh. Oof." Saburo responded with dumb earnesty. "I'm so sorry."
That brought her attention back to his face. There was a thin film of mist in her wide eyes and her cheeks were nearly as bright as her flaming hair, but shock seemed to shift something in her small being. Her lips pulled tight, too tight. A fang slipped loose–her mouth quickly hid behind sleeves once more. Then her eyes needed shielding. And despite her best efforts to maintain a delicate composure, Saburo definitely heard a snicker.
"We're both tradesmen, though, so I suppose I've gotta respect 'im fer that." He said while scratching at the stubble near his ear. "Maybe if ya didn't mind, you could tell me more about him and th' others in the village here. Over tea? You know, at yer restraunt. And if I do anythin' frightenin' you let me know and I'll try ta stop. I wouldn't want ta get Yuugo on my tail fer hurtin' you."
Molten copper eyes lifted over the hem of her summer yukata to peer at him. Her ears were finally upright and attentive, suggesting a brighter mood. She said, matter-of-factly, "Humans do not have tails."
"Oh?" He looked behind himself. "I guess we don't. Shucks."
That one earned him the crest of smile lines at the corners of those pretty metallic eyes.
"I believe I can do that. And it isn't my restaurant, It belongs to Mistress Yenno. I only work there."
"Right, yeah." Saburo gestured for her to start leading the way, allowing himself to put his trust and safety in the hands of this small, human-shy fox he just met. "The restaurant where ya work, th' blue one. That restaurant."
"Blue banners." She corrected again and adjusted the jacket around her shoulders as if forgetting that it didn't belong to her. Then she set them off to find said restaurant with said blue banners to have said tea and perhaps even to entertain a few formal introductions.
...
"Now, why in the world would this bow not have worked for you?"
"I mean, it worked fine."
"Is it perhaps because this is a demon bow, threaded with demonic attributes that can only be raised by demonic power? A thing completely nullified by purity? But my, this is the piece you demanded be the one you purchase, no? This one, and not the bow that was actually crafted with your particular persuasion in mind–the one I insisted you take."
Kagome crossed her arms. "Yuugo, that bow was hideous."
"Hideous!? You take that back! I designed it specifically to look like your human shrines! With the intricately carved latticework and ostentatiously painted filigree that you humans so painstakingly adorn!"
"Temples. You're thinking of Buddhist temples. Priestesses are Shinto. Shinto shrines are way different, more modest and plain—"
"–And boring–"
"Sometimes boring is good! Boring doesn't get you singled out in a crowd! If I wanted any more attention, I'd carry around a glittering wand like a magical girl and announce my presence with a blow horn."
"Oh honey, you don't need a blow horn to stand out, you do that plenty well on your own. Ignoring her glare, Yuugo leaned forward. "So what's a blow horn? Is that a future thing? It sounds sexual."
A bush rose to Kagome's cheeks. "Ignoring that. That's not the point. The point is–"
"The point is," He interrupted for the fifteenth time, "That I created a bow just for you, one which I had believed you'd adore and take fondly to the moment I offered it from my hands. Unfortunately, that was–however unkindly–not the case. And despite my protests, you chose for yourself a piece that fit closer to your own personal aesthetic interests, and not the style that I had attributed to the idea of you. And I let you do so. I'm not a monster, little rabbit. Had I pushed the other bow on you too far, you may have questioned my reasons for doing so. Or worse, have left without a halfway decent weapon."
"The most important rule to Ma Kilin's prophecies," He continued, "is that they must be relayed with utmost confidence only to the most trustworthy and key supporting cast members until the prophecy has been fulfilled. And never must we ever involve the star of the show in the discussion, otherwise unnecessary complications may arise. No matter how badly we wish to gossip about the nitty-gritty details. Or explain why I just so happened to have a bow for a priestess, made specifically for one Kagome Higurashi, in my shop."
Kagome sighed. "First rule of Fight Club, we don't talk about Fight Club. I get it."
He joined her, exhaling a breath and resting against the workbench that held the new honey lacquer bow that he'd been working on in the time she'd been gone to replace the gaudy red one in the corner.
"Exactly. But of course... you can not simply say that and not be expected to elaborate. Tell me all about this future 'fight club.' Are you a member of one? That is so very you. What sort of fighting club is it? Is it dangerous? Do you do it for fun, like the absolute beast of a human you are? Or was blackmail involved, forcing your hand? Oh!" He clapped and shot her a deviant look. "Does it involve blow horns?"
"No!" Kagome caved to his prodding. "It's just a quote from a movie my Grandpa's been watching. It's nothing."
"It is never nothing with you, my love. You're the future." Yuugo's wicked grin widened. "Now tell me, what is a 'mu-viee?' It is a form of theater?"
"Weren't you just talking about how detrimental it could be knowing things you aren't supposed to?"
"Oh, boo." He mocked a hurt expression. "You're no fun." Then, without pushing or missing a beat, the Kitsune weaponsmith pulled out his handy box of finishing cords and set it on the workbench. "Now, let's see. For a deceptively demure look to go with this bow, I would highly suggest the oh-so-tame option of an ivory sinew with a fawn cordage. But, I get the nagging suspicion that you are going to find my expert opinion to be disagreeable. So Kagome, what colors would you like the grip of your bow to be? And any decorative strips, if you would be so inclined to allow such an obscene adornment upon this naked virgin wood."
"Well, since you actually asked. Do you have any pink?"
Confounded, Yuugo raised an eyebrow.
"Pink?"
"What? I like pink."
He chortled a laugh. "Naturally. You contradictory little minx. Pink, while not common, is certainly a color that I have on hand. Masculine, mournful, subtle."
"And green?"
"Pink and green. From a samurai's forlorn song to a plum tree in full bloom. How perfectly peachy. A ward against evil, the strength of perseverance in the face of adversity. You are a spring, so I suppose that is rather fitting. Yes, let us see what we can come up with. This may actually turn out to be rather cute."
"You're cute."
Yuugo preened like a peacock, not at all hearing the sarcasm in Kagome's words.
"I know."
Chapter End