Visit from a fox

I woke with a startle. Continuing over from my dream, my body still felt heavy. What was new was the wetness around me. I had sweat profoundly during the night.
Raising my weary body, I stepped out of bed to the bath. More stumbling than walking, I soon realized that the dream from last night was no joke. Luckily, I had been able to recall it in clarity. ‘In my current state, I seriously doubt I will be heading anywhere. Should give me more time to think about all the consequences involved.’ Trying to keep a positive spin on the situation, I encouraged myself to move on.
After taking care of my business, I slunk back into bed, and drifted off back into sleep

Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes, and saw mom standing next to me, concern on her face. ‘She must have come to wake me. What time is it even?’ I turned my head, and saw it was just past seven. Normally I could get some more time, but it looked like her worries from yesterday accelerated the action.
“How are you?”
“Not too bad. Tired, and hot, but that’s it. I should be able to recover with some rest.”
“And how did you come to that conclusion?”
Now, I couldn’t tell her I now that because a fox told me in my dreams, so I went another route. “Just how I fell. Some rest and I should be good to go.”
Mom studied me under an unwavering gaze. “It does look like you have no infection. And going to a doctor might be bad in your state, but going to the hospital might be a bit much right now… Okay, I will allow you to go with your idea. But if it gets worse, we are going to see a doctor. Understood?”
“Yes.” Her commandeering tone made it clear that there was no room for negotiation.
Then, with a warmth opposite to that, she crouched next to me, and talked more quietly. “Don’t worry about anything else than recovering. We are going to call the school. Is there anything you might need?”
“Some water, please.”
“Alright, just hang tight for a moment.” As she turned and walked away, I managed to remember one thing.
“Ah.” Hearing me, she turned around. To make myself more visible, I propped my body up, leaning on my arm. “Please don’t be mad at dad. Yesterday, upon returning home, I really felt all better, so-”
“Don’t worry.” She smiled at me. “Neither of us two would ever lie to the other when it came to your health. I know it was a genuine mistake, so I do not hold it against him. But now, lay down again, and sleep some more.”
And with this, she left my room. Slouching back onto the mattress, I rested my hand on my forehead. It was hot. ‘This is gonna prove a lot of fun.’

Some time had passed. School was called and I got excused. Dad went off to work after checking in on me, and me reassuring him several times it wasn’t his mistake. Mom brought something to drink and to eat, letting it stand on the small table next to my bed.
I managed to eat a bit, and drink a lot. From there, I would just daze around, time passing by indeterminably.

***

At some point, I must have slipped off into a deep sleep, as I found myself in the clearing once more. And as last night, the influence of my real body were effecting me in the dream too. Not only that, it was nighttime once more.
Looking around, I found the familiar shape in the bushes. And looking at the spirits shining their light around, I took it to be the one from the first time. I silently stared at it, unsure of what to do.
I didn’t have the amulet yet. And while I didn’t fully trust the other black fox, I had a feeling she didn’t lie to me. So, while wary, I slowly approached the newcomer.
Perhaps my delay had made it suspicious, but as I moved closer, it moved away. A few more steps, and it moved out of sight. With no clear path visible to follow, I slunk down against a nearby tree.

As the clearing was empty aside from the spirits, I observed their flight through the air. In the beginning they just seemed to buzz about with no inherent destination, similar to a young child running around on a playground. But after a while, I seemed to see some patterns repeating themselves. If I were to make a comparison, it would be like an overly complicated dance. It took a long while to even see the basics, never mind understanding why they move the way they do.
And my observations were not met with interest. Perhaps it was due to this being a memory, and me not being able to fully interact with it. Or they simply didn’t care.
Whatever it was, it didn’t last long. It got harder and harder to keep my eyes open. And soon enough, they fell shut, returning me to slumber…

***

A cold sensation on my forehead awoke me. Taking it as an impulse to start waking up, I pried my eyes open. I could make out a silhouette sitting next to me. I took a few seconds, but then my surroundings became a clear. After that adjustment, I knew who was there for me.
“Good morning.” Ayame’s voice rang out cheerfully.
“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
A slight frown appeared on her face. “School is long out.”
On that prompt, I took a look outside the window. The eastern window showed only shadows, so the sun must have moved to the west. That meant it was well past three, maybe even four. “Looks like it.” But from there, another thought arose. “How did you get in?”
At first, I thought she must have used magic to circumvent things, but that was proved untrue. “You mother let me in. She is out shopping.” Her evident cheer diminished over the sentence. With a more serious expression, she continued. “Sorry… for right now. …Have you met her?”
“If you mean that black fox, yes, I have. She explained the situation to me, so everything is fine. …Well, maybe not fine, as I am right now. But I do not fault anyone for this. It was the right decision. So do not even think about beating yourself up over it. Okay?” I tried giving a reassuring smile.
Despite my circumstance, it must have been at least partially successful, as Ayame returned the smile. “Thanks.” Once her mind had settled down, she remembered something. “Ah, yes. I was told to give this to you.” Out of her bag which laid off to the side, she took out a small satchel.
‘So this is the amulet in question.’ “Thank you.” I took it from her, and held it in my hand for a moment. Unlike the other one, I could not feel anything from it. But after the stern warning I had received beforehand, I did not wish to try out anything that might have adverse effects. Therefore, I put it down next to my pillow, as I assumed it to be close enough.

Ayame had watched the entire process. Then, after me not speaking up, she chose to do so, uncertainty in her voice. “You are not going to ask me?”
“About what?” I was able to follow conversations, however, thinking ahead of what someone might refer to was a bit too much at that time.
“About me meeting her?” It must have weighted on her mind, as her previous expression returns. OR maybe it had never left, and I had not been able to tell.
“No. I know you won’t be able or allowed to tell me anything about it. I don’t blame you for that either. And I know she is around here, as she had been at the festival. Just… I hope she had done nothing bad to you.”
“Oh, no need to worry about that.” First surprise, than a familiar warmth had found its way into her speech. “I do not have to fear anything from her. Neither do Suzu, or anyone else. At least all the youkai. She has a certain distaste for humans, though.”
“Just my luck.” I forced a smile. “But seriously, why do I get physically sick from her altering some magic on my mind?” It made no sense to me.
“Actually, there is an explanation for it.” Ayame was willing to fill me in. “While it may not directly be physical, there are changes to your spirit, or sense of self. These changes are a lot of stress on you mentally. Not only does it result in your faculties being diminished, as they are occupied by other things, but also into a headache and a fever forming. To dissipate it easier, your entire body heats up, thereby developing the symptoms of a strong flu.” Once she finished it, she smiled down on me. “Or in other words, mind and body influence each other.”
“Well, that one is easier to understand.” I replied with a laugh. Letting these words sink in, I came to a conclusion. “Despite saying it, I haven’t learned much about these things, have I?”
“It has just been a few weeks after all.”
“No. …Well, yes. But that is no excuse. I have to take a more active role into learning about it. That being said.” I looked into Ayame’s eyes. “Would you be willing to help me and teach me? I know, I must already be a burden,-”
She slowly shook her head to cut me off. “You are no burden. I will gladly help you. After all…” She fell silent for a moment. Then, picking her sentence up again. “You would do the same for me.”
During this, she had grabbed my hand. Hers was shaking slightly. ‘She must be nervous about this.’ But there was no reason for her to actually be.
“Yes.” Despite only having met a few weeks prior, I could say this with conviction. “I may not be of much use yet, but at some point, I am sure I will be. And if you ever need me, even now, just call out to me. I will be there to support you.”
To reassure her, her squeezed her hand lightly. But a new sensation got added: wetness. Looking up, I could see tears roll down her cheeks. “Thank you. You do not know how much that means to me.”

She kept crying quietly. Obviously, I was missing some important info, and didn’t understand the entire situation. But that didn’t matter much to me. I had meant the words I had said, and was certain to stand by them.
However, there was a different change that I observed. The air around her seemed to shift a bit, and bit by bit, certain elements became clearer. Or rather, body parts. Due to her emotions, there must have been a laps in her concentration, and an illusion vanished. This revealed a part of her I had not seen before: fox traits. Fuzzy ears on the top of her head, at the moment dropping down. A fluffy tail springing from her back, resting on the bed. The color of them matched her brown her, except the white tip on the tail and the inner fluff of the ears.
The sight held something special for me, even if I could not pinpoint what it was.
Either through my silence, or my stare, Ayame must have realized something was off, as she wiped her tears away, and looked at me with clear eyes. “Is something wrong?”
It took me moment to reply. “No, not really. Just…” Her inquisitive stare wordlessly told me to continue. “I was told you were a special case, so I thought something bad might happen if I were to see your kitsune form.”
“Huh?” First surprise, then shock spread on her face, upon realizing she must have let the hiding go. In a flash, those features disappeared. Then, upon looking at me for a moment, she quickly let them reappear. “You are fine?”
“Not really, but seeing them doesn’t make me feel worse than before.” I recalled a bit from my conversation tonight. “I guess it is related to that black fox tempering with the seal. Not a bad thing in my opinion. So at least one thing she did was useful.” While I muttered the last sentence under my breath, I checked on Ayame.
Now, with less holding her back, she let herself go. I could swear I heard her say thank you, probably to the person I was thinking not so fondly of. “She really did it.”
Unbeknown to the full context once more, I simply accepted her statement head on.

While we both were happy about the advancement of the situation, we didn’t notice someone else had appeared. “Oh my, I didn’t know you two got along so well.”
Both of our heads shot up, and we looked to the door. Mom was standing in the doorway, peering at us. Following her gaze, I could see it was focused on our hands, that we were still holding.
“Don’t worry, I will leave you two alone. Just don’t overdo it, you should be resting, after all.” With a giggle, she disappeared behind the closing door before I could get a word out.
To make an attempt, I quickly moved my body up in an attempt to follow her. That had been a bad idea, as my vision started swimming and my body felt shaky. As I fell off to the side, I was lucky Ayame caught me, thereby preventing me from falling out of bed.
From there, without saying a word, she gently guided me back onto the mattress. “Thanks.” Was all I managed to get out in embarrassment. To be honest, being I her hug had felt pretty good.
“You are welcome.” Her smile was one of pure happiness. “You need some rest. Now be good, and wait here.” With these words, she left the room, humming to herself.

A good while later, she came back up, with a hot bowl of food. At first, after telling me she had made it herself, she had tried to feed me. After telling her, it went to far, I ate it myself. With a giggle to me obviously falling for the trap she had set me, she told me that the her making it part held another meaning: She had added special herbs that should help with my current condition.
Besides the moral support, I couldn’t thank her enough. However, it seemed only I thought that way, as she told me what was on her mind. “I kind of feel guilty.”
“What for?” I couldn’t think of anything. She had helped me until now.
“I am happy that I can care for you like this. But at the same time, that means I am happy that you are sick.”
‘Ah, I can see where this is going.’ So now, I had a chance to alleviate her mind. “You don’t have to. It is normal to feel happy when you can help or assist someone. It shows your closeness to that person. And while it can only be done when that person is in a disadvantageous position, your will is what counts. And yours is pure as far as I can tell, so again, do not beat yourself up about this.”
“Is that so?” With a faint smile, she gave her acknowledgment. Her tail wagged slightly behind her. I took it as a sign that she had cheered up, even if only a bit.

Soon after, I was done with my meal. Maybe it was the herbs, or maybe it was the warmth of her companionship, but I could swear I felt a lot better after eating that food. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome.” And her radiant smile was back. “I hope I wasn’t too much of a nuisance.”
“No, you weren’t. On the contrary, I am thankful that you came. It makes one really happy when someones cares for them.”
“So you are saying I do not care?” As before, mom always chose a bad timing to enter.
“No, that is not-”
But her angry temper quickly flew away in a small fit of laughter. “Don’t worry, I know what you meant. But for now, you should rest some more. And Ayame has to go home too.”
She startled slightly on that note. “Ah, I can still help.”
But mom didn’t buck. “No, you are a student, you also need to rest. And tomorrow is another school day. You can eat dinner here, but then it really is time to leave.” Noticing it might have been a bit harsh, mom smiled to her in a peace offering. “You can come visit anytime again.”
A few seconds later, she caved in. “Okay.” There was still a small note of sadness in her voice, but otherwise, she accepted the decision, as was evident from her gathering her things. Then, before leaving, she turned to me one last time. “I don’t know when I will come again, but I hope you recover quickly. If there’s anything I can do for you, just write me a message.”
“Got it.” I was happy that she was so supportive.
“Okay young lady, that’s it.” Mom came, and started shoving her out, literally. “You need to take care of yourself too, or you might collapse.” There was no maliciousness, she simply cared for her too.
Waving each-other, she quickly vanished from sight as the door closed, leaving me alone in the room.

I still recalled the nicety of the situation, as I drifted in and out of sleep. Later, I woke up while mom was in the room. She told me that Ayame had eaten something, and then left.
But there was one part I was suspicious of. “No asking about our relationship?”
Mom gave me faked dismay. “To think that my own son would suspect me of such behavior, that I would take advantage of his situation…”
As she didn’t let it go after a few seconds, I apologized. “I wasn't serious about that, sorry.”
“Neither was I.” She stuck her tongue out at me.
“Then why-”
“I want to have some fun too.” Then, a moment later. “And seeing you react to it, it means you are not that bad a state.”
“Mom…” There must still be that fright in them from all those years ago. I had to give them hope. “Don’t worry, I will manage.” I flexed my arm a bit.
She replied with a smile. “I know. You are our son after all. Now, stop the horsing around, and rest.”
I laughed. “You were the one who started it.”
“Oh, rebellious, are we?” We smiled at each other. She walked to the door. “Good night. And speedy recovery.”
“Good night.” She turned the lights off on her way out.
Content that everything beside my physical condition was going well, I fell into a deep slumber for the night.