Fukuro

Tatsuko silently stared at Fukuro who had been looking out the window for a few days now. She hadn’t moved from her spot ever since and had completely stopped eating.

Tatsuko dangled a dead rodent she had killed in one her hunting expeditions with Vivian over her silent friend’s face.

“C’mon Fukuro, you need to eat,” she said, but when the owl still didn’t move, she rested her head on the counter beside her and stared into her vacant eyes.

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded and she heard the voice of her brother.

“Tatsuko! Are you okay in there?” he shouted.

“Yeah…” she called back, but didn’t make the effort to open the door.

“...Can I come in then?”

She let out a sigh and tossed a dagger from her pocket towards the lock on the door, causing it to pop open.

Yoruhi warily looked in, and noticed his sister laying her head down on the counter beside Fukuro.

“She’s still not eating?” he quietly asked, seeing the mouse dangling from Tatsuko’s hand.

“No…” she said.

The two kids silently stared at the owl, watching as its chest heaved up and down.

“Something’s wrong with it,” Yoruhi said.

“You think?” Fukuro said sarcastically.

“I mean that she should’ve already been dead if she hasn’t eaten in this long. She should at least be thirsty at this point.”

Tatsuko wanted to smack her brother at the mention of her best friend dying, but knew he was right. Although owls could survive a few weeks without food, they couldn’t do so without water, and since food was where they obtained most of their water from, not eating meant death.

“Do you think we should give her some water then?” she asked.

“I don’t know, you’re the animal expert here,” Yoruhi said.

But not enough of one to save my friend, she silently thought.

Deciding that giving her friend water was the least she could do, she used her speed to quickly grab a cup before presenting it in front of Fukuro’s face. When Fukuro saw it, her eyes seemed to open up for a moment, but the light in it shortly faded right after.

“She’s not drinking it,” Yoruhi said.

Tatsuko shot him a glare.

“Could you stop saying the obvious and at least try to help out?!” she shouted.

“Well what am I supposed to do? I don’t know how to make her drink,” he protested.

“Well you’re the smart one! Come up with something! Come on! You’re supposed to know what to do in this situation! If you don’t then… then you’re useless…!”

She covered her mouth as soon as she said that.

Her brother looked at her with sad eyes.

“I’m… sorry…” she murmured. “I…I didn’t mean to say that… I was just…”

“No, it’s okay. You’re right… I’ll think of something…”

What are you doing? Tatsuko asked herself. Why are you trying to make an enemy of everyone? If you’re going to lose one of your friends anyway, you shouldn’t try to lose more…

Suddenly, she felt a cold sensation beside her, and she looked up to see Yoruhi casting some sort of magic.

Magic… she silently thought. Yes… magic. If only I had magic. Then I could save her.

A piece of ice began to form in Yoruhi’s hand, and when he finished it, he pointed it up at the ceiling and fired it. The shard of ice hit the ceiling with a thunk and was lodged inside wood.

“Sorry,” he said. “Could you get that? I don’t know how to do summoning magic yet so I had to shoot it somewhere.”

Tatsuko leapt up and plucked it from the ceiling.

“I was thinking that we could maybe drip the water into Fukuro’s mouth,” he suggested.

She tightly held the ice in her hands. It wasn’t cold to her, for she was used to holding frozen things that Vivian often created for practice.

“Could you lift her head up?” she asked.

Yoruhi walked over to Fukuro and tilted the bird’s neck up while Tatsuko placed the ice above its beak and let the melting water dribble inside.

As soon as the water entered, the bird began wheezing, much to Tatsuko’s relief. It was the first major reaction Fukuro had to anything in a long time, and seeing it meant that she was showing signs of life.

Suddenly however, Fukuro began to twitch before spasming violently.

“Fukuro? Fukuro what’s wrong?!” Tatsuko shouted, trying to get her to calm down.

Yoruhi tried to hold on to her wings, but the bird sat up and began wildly attacking him.

“Fukuro! Stop it! Stop!” Tatsuko pleaded, however she only got more aggressive.

“I’m sorry Tatsuko, but…!” Yoruhi shouted, conjuring something in his hands. He then quickly blasted a gust of ice towards Fukuro, causing her wings to stiffen and her body to collapse.

Tatsuko quickly grabbed her friend before she hit the ground. She was still violently spasming even though her wings were frozen stiff as if some uncontrollable anger had suddenly welled up inside for some reason.

“I’m sorry…” Yoruhi said again.

“It’s okay…” Tatsuko said.

Nene suddenly burst into the room upon hearing the commotion.

“Is everything okay, you two?!” she shouted.

Neither of the children wanted to admit what had happened but the bits of ice on Fukuro’s wings and the scratches on Yoruhi’s hands told her all she needed to know.

“Did… Did Fukuro attack you Yoruhi?” she asked.

He silently nodded his head.

“But why…?”

“I don’t know…” Tatsuko said. “There’s a lot of things I don’t know but… Please don’t take Fukuro away from me…”

She knew the animal regulation laws. having studied them in the past, but she also knew that Nene cared very much about her.

Nene rested her hand on her head and let out a sigh as she thought for a moment.

“Okay…” she finally said. “I’m willing to make an exception this time, but if she attacks Yoruhi again, I’ll have to report it to your mother. She’ll be the one to decide what to do from there… Just… keep her in the cage for now okay?”

Nene floated over to Yoruhi and began to heal the small cuts caused by the attack. Reluctantly, Tatsuko picked Fukuro up and quickly placed her in her cage before she defrosted. She never really liked keeping Fukuro in a cage—it was mostly only for the owl’s own safety when she was still recovering from her wing injury four years ago, but since then, Fukuro had been allowed to roam freely.

“Now come to the living room, dinner’s almost ready,” Nene said.

Giving one last look to her best friend, she left the room to go eat, but by the time she came back to her room, she gasped in horror.

Fukuro had gone missing.