Long legs…

He blinked.

" What..?" He stretched himself. He was still in his human form…but it’s already dawn. Shinya wrapped his arms around his naked body to heed off the morning chill. But the sun rays that hit his face was warm.

For once, he stood in his human form in bright daylight.

***

Toshiya nuzzled against the human’s neck, beads stringed around his closed paw. He actually looked cute. He was sleeping soundly until he felt something burning him. He let out a yelp and leapt up, landing a foot away from Kaoru.

The bracelet was burning red; scorching his black fur. He waved his paw frantically until the thing fell off. Whimpering in pain, he licked the wound that left his with a strip of hairless skin on his paw and glared at the bracelet.

What the hell??? He swore mentally, grimacing at the pain.

The bracelet glowed bright red; Toshiya expected it to start talking to him again but it only dimmed back to its original colour. Kaoru stirred from the commotion. Toshiya didn’t notice, sitting in a ball, nursing the burn.

" Where am I?" Kaoru asked to no one, scanning his surroundings. It was a cave and he was sitting on a bed of moss. He frowned, trying hard to remember without aggravating to much pain as he moved. He saw a black fox peer up at him and in flash, it ran away. His memory flooded his mind, blurred and confused. He remembered the full moon, the accident, and the voice of a young man who saved him, a exotic-looking young man…

But he seemed to be alone now.

Maybe he went off to work or something…

But he lives in a cave??????

Hm, what’s that lying on the floor? He eyed the object.

Somewhere outside, Toshiya hid among the leaves and branches of a raspberry bush. His whiskers twitched as his nose poked out.

He saw me!!! Toshiya thought in panic. Wah, he knows…! Nooo!

Kaoru squinted at the sudden brightness outside. The scent of the forest was strong; he didn’t know where he was. The face of the young man appeared again in his head. He said his name was…

" Toshiya."

Toshiya froze. He said my name! Does he know…

Suddenly something struck him.

Wait, how would he know? To him, Toshiya is a human just like him; what he saw a moment ago was merely a black fox ne?

He relaxed, his fur bristling back into place as he followed the man. He was careless, leaving the bracelet behind like that; now the human has it and he has to steal it back. He trailed Kaoru, hopping on his hurt paw, into a deeper part of the forest; the human was walking in circles and when he was going straight, he was just walking deeper into the maze and getting lost.

***

Die pulled his brown horse behind him. Kyo wanted to come along but in his condition, he would need a stretcher. Die scratched his head; there was a very, very, very slim chance of finding Kaoru in the forest. Anything could have befallen on the poor lost man. There were hungry beasts, evil spirits and bandits lurking in there…Die thought in exasperation.

" La…just my rotten luck!" He stood, staring at the narrow path stretching long and far before him. His horse whinnied and refused to proceed. "Fine!" The red-head grudgingly tied his horse to a nearby tree. "If a tiger comes, serves you right!"

The horse looked at his owner blankly as he turned and disappeared into the trees.

Die fended his face from the low branches with his arms. "Kaoru…where are you????" Die muttered through his teeth. The forest was giving him the creeps. Weird noises came out from one corner then the other, freaking him out. He took a few slow careful steps before the noises suddenly stopped.

***

Shinya looked down from his perch.

Okay…just stay there…

***

"Yaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!" Die screamed in fright as something(someone, whatever!) fell on his back, knocking him to the leaf and branch covered soil. "Ahh!"

That thing had strong hands which pressed his neck down to keep his head still. A hard rock unexpectedly hit him on the head, stunning him. He struggled at the weight behind him.

Again the rock landed directly against his head. The hand on his neck lost its grip as he was attacked with another rock stance.

Finally breaking off from the shock of the sudden attack, Die regained his strength and forcefully grabbed the (uh…) person’s(?) hands and struck him with a fist. Breathing heavily, Die climbed to his feet, his hand touched the back of his head and came back coated with blood.

" You!" He turned around and glared at his attacker who was curled up in a ball of pain…Die noticed his nudity and the long brown looked incredibly familiar…

Shinya whimpered, clutching his stomach which had innocently taken Die’s punch. "Why did you hit me?!?!" he yelled at the despised red-haired human. He was on the verge of crying.

" You’re…! You’re that- that cross-dresser that trespassed in my room!!!" Die pointed a finger at him excitedly.

Shinya glowered at him.

All I wanted was some clothes! Why did he hit me so hard?

Everybody wants to hurt me…even Toshiya…

He bit his lips, drowning the sobs that threatened to arise, but he couldn’t stop his tears. Ignoring the human, he wiped off the droplets around his eyes and pulled himself up.

Why am I still in my human form? He asked himself that question for about the 500^th time that morning. I hate being human! I hate my hair, the scent of human skin, this inefficient teeth and claws! Why is this happening to me?!

" Wait! Don’t go!" Die ran after the mysterious young man.

" What do you want?? Go away!" Shinya took bigger strides.

Die easily jogged alongside Shinya. "You can’t walk around naked like that you know…whatever you are," Die said matter-of-factly. His eyes travelling up and down Shinya’s body. "Hm…why are you naked at this place at this time of the day? Hmmm…"

Shinya noticed the look on Die face and blushed.

" I can help you if you need any…"

" I don’t need help from you!" Stubborn.

Persistent. "You need all the help you can get now…"

Shinya stopped. "You can’t help me."

Die took off his light coat and placed it over Shinya’s shoulders. "I can try…" he said softly, covering Shinya’s bare body. "I’m sorry I hit you…let me help."

The forest seemed to have fallen silent. Shinya clutched the garment quietly.

Help me change back into a fox…help me get rid of the human in my home…help me get back Toshiya…help me make Toshiya love me…

" Are you going home?" Die asked.

Home…

I can’t go back like this…

I don’t want to see Toshiya…

" I have nowhere to go…" Shinya sighed. He slid down against a tree, looking mournfully at the pine needles on the ground. He scratched his head and frowned at the dirty tangles in his hair.

Die squatted down in front of him. He grinned, showing off his pearly white teeth. He stood up. Shinya stared at him oddly.