Kyo sat at the corner of his neatly-made bed, pouting as he glared at Die. Die made an ‘I’m-sorry-but-I-just-couldn’t-help-it’ face. Well, of course, Die can’t help it! So he found this pretty boy wandering around, lost, in the forest…what could he do but bring him home right??? Damn right!

"Why do I have to lend him *my* clothes?!"

Shinya was digging through *his* clothes looking for something to wear, his shamelessly naked butt poking out of the cupboard and Kyo could just see Die’s eyes unerringly flit over to caress the round curve. Kyo let out a cough.

"So, Die…is this your new friend?" he asked sarcastically, one hand scratching the bandage cloth on his forehead.

" Yes," Die replied; he didn’t even turn to look at Kyo, his eyes dreamily gazing at Shinya who had worn a shirt inside out.

"Oh…so what’s your name?" Kyo tried to be a little friendly but the new man obviously was not interested in making friends. Kyo snorted. "What’s his name, Die?"

"Hn?"

Kyo rolled his eyes. He was getting a little tired of this. "Name…" he drawled.

Die grinned sheepishly, realising he didn’t even know his name.

Shinya ignored both of them.

***

"You’re telling me you don’t *know* his name?!?!" Kyo exclaimed as the three of them sat in the carriage that bumped along the uneven road in town.

Shinya peered out, looking at the many people and horses and shops outside. He has never seen anything like this. He was wear a white blouse and black vest, borrowed from Kyo, and a pair of light brown trouser that belonged to Die. The hem of the pants swept along the road as Shinya awkwardly stepped into the sunlight as he got out of the carriage. Kyo followed after, glowering.

***

Somewhere else in the woods…

Kaoru wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was seated on a big rock, looking around, thinking of a way out of this maze. But every direction he looked, it confused him more.

Did I come from that way? Or that way???

He knitted his brows, frowning at the situation he was in.

At his feet, sat a black fox that gazed up at him…Kaoru thought it looked very familiar. There was a silver stripe on its bushy tail.

That fox Die caught!

"Can you show me the way out?" he talked to the fox. It didn’t run away when he reached out and smoothed down the ruffled fur on his head. Kaoru sighed. He was worried about his Master, both the Madams and…He sighed again.

Suddenly the fox skipped to a path. It appeared as though it was waiting for Kaoru.

***

When Kaoru stepped near enough to him, Toshiya leapt and snatched the bracelet away from his hands with his teeth and darted into the trees.

***

"Hey!!!" Kaoru exclaimed in dismay and ran after the black furball. Low branches smacked into his face and just as he thought he had lost the mysterious black fox, he would find it waiting for him somewhere before running off again.

Why am I chasing that fox? Because it took that bracelet?

That bracelet doesn’t even belong to me!

Why? Why I have this intuition that somehow…I have to find the fox…?

***

" Are you hungry?" Die suddenly asked Shinya. The brown-haired man kept quiet and warily stared at all the peasants on the street suspiciously. Kyo rolled his eyes.

"Hello?!!! Are you hungry, forest-boy!!?!?" Kyo grabbed Shinya’s head and yelled into his ear.

Shinya winced and hit Kyo on his head. He was hungry but…there was nothing to eat here… "What do you eat?"

" Huh?" Die’s eyebrow arched up. "Well, there’s a nice restaurant over there…we can go there." Die smiled. The strange yet attractive young man had spoken to him, finally!

Shinya tried to smile back, resulting only in a crooked awkward smile. The weather was nicely bright and sunny, a beautiful summer’s day. Maybe it wasn’t that bad being human, after all…

Suddenly a bolt of pain hit his heart and he doubled over, clutching his chest. It was like fire blazing inside his chest and voices echoed in his head…voices that were strange and unfamiliar. An image flickered before his eyes when he closed them. An image of him in a long white dress, with crimson blossoming from his chest, and a bloody knife in his hands, standing in flames. There were people all around him and they were screaming at him…

As sudden as it came, the pain disappeared together with the gory picture. Shinya tried to breath.

" Are you okay?" Die had an arm around his shoulders supporting him up. "Are you sick?"

"His face is so pale…" Even Kyo looked a little worried.

Shinya shook his head. "I…I’m okay…" He glanced around. They were still on the streets, there was no fire, no angry people…Everything was fine.

***

Kaoru ran into the clearing, after the black fox with a silver stripe on his tail. He nearly tripped over a root when he found himself standing before the same cave he exited earlier on. The fox sat at the mouth of the cave, licking his fur which glinted in the sunlight, the bracelet was coiled around its ankle. Its eyes gazed up at Kaoru’s and the man felt a chill run down his spine.

That stare…it was almost human…

Panting with the lack of oxygen, Kaoru shook his head. His legs ached but they had brought him back to the same place. He was still in the woods…He dropped down on the earth. His body was still sore from the accident. He pulled his sleeve up and saw a wound had opened up, oozing red blood from the flesh. He muttered a curse and tore of a piece of his shirt to tie up the wound.

The fox suddenly stepped onto his lap and looked up at him, its whiskers twitching as it sniffed him. Then it surprised Kaoru as it licked his bloody wound.

It stung.

" Toshiya…"

***