Chapter Text
It had been snowing a lot these past days, and Dojima Ryotaro and his daughter were going home from a short trip to Junes' shopping centre where they had bought cakes for the next day (and gifts for each other). It wasn't often that Ryotaro had a day off, especially around Christmas, so they had decided to walk to spend more time together and visit the new shopping centre that got implanted in Inaba recently.
They were crossing the Samegawa Floods Plain when they saw a body-shaped mound of snow in the middle of the road not far from them, from which stuck out a lump of black fur. Ryotaro didn't hesitate a second before hurrying to its side and shoving the snow away. Just beneath it he discovered the blood-covered body of a peculiar kind of young boy, with fox ears and thee tails as black as his hair. Ryotaro checked his vitals as he snapped his cell phone open to call for an ambulance. Despite the blood and the frozen skin, he could feel a pulse under his fingers. The ambulance was on site in a jiffy, after all, you just couldn't ignore an emergency call for a Kitsune, because that was what the near-frozen kid was and it explained why he wasn't dead yet. Kitsune had inherent magic that was designed for their protection and that of their kits.
As the medics put the kit on a stretcher, they noticed that he was part of a long dead Clan, meaning it would be near impossible to make him go within one of the Clans living in the surroundings of Inaba. Kitsunes were territorial creatures and rarely they accepted a foreigner in their midst.
And judging by the fact that the kit wasn't from a living Clan, nor was he Asian, somebody would have to take care of him while they searched for any living family.
The Dojimas went back home, both worried about the kit, but there was nothing they could do for him as of yet. The next day, they went to the hospital, hoping to see him. They were able to enter his room but he was still sleeping from the surgery the surgeons had spent the night and a good part of the day doing. His head was bandaged, passing over his left eye which had been seemingly savagely pierced, and from his neck down, his body was covered in bandages too. Nanako put her Christmas present that she got for him on the nightstand. It was a red fox doll with a heart between its paws, 'Get well soon' stitched over in golden letters.
Ryotaro brought Nanako to the hospital the next day, and the next, and the next for two weeks before there were signs that the kit would even awake.
The day he woke up, the kit panicked as foreign scents assaulted his sensitive nose, but the panic went through the roof as he noticed that he couldn't see from his left eye and that his legs from feet up to his thighs were unresponsive. His quickened heartbeat alerted the doctors of his conscious state. They sedated him to calm him and soon, a day after, when he woke without incidents, the Dojimas were permitted to visit.
Surprisingly, the kit was much calmer around them, but he still didn't appear to be doing better. Over the days that followed his awakening, the kit seemed to become more tight-lipped than when he had fist woke. They still didn't know his name nor if he was from anywhere near Inaba.
It was the middle of January when the doctors decided that he would be better off outside the hospital and Ryotaro volunteered to take care of him after they told the Detective that the kit was getting worse, mentally.
Thus, the kit was pushed on wheelchair toward the Dojima's residence. The first thing Ryotaro did when they both arrived home was to give the apathetic fox a bath. He didn't fight the shampooing of his hair and tails nor did he flinched as Ryotaro scrubbed him clean before soaking him in a tub of warm water even though the older man registered minute movements of his muscles at his touches.
Nanako came home that day to find her father and the kit sat in front of the television, the latter leaned against the former's chest, wrapped in a fluffy white towel that covered his scrawny body, one ear over Ryotaro's heart, asleep. The Detective Inspector had discovered that the sound of his heartbeat calmed the young agitated kit more than anything else.
"They let him of the hospital?" asked the young girl to her father, putting her things away in the entrance hall.
"They said he was giving up... He had stopped eating after a while."
Ryotaro passed one hand through the kit's hair causing the young fox to whine and snuggle closer. "He needed someone to take care of him."
After taking care of him for a long week, they finally learned his name: Hadrian Snape. And with that, the fact that he could only talk English; fortunately, Ryotaro was fluent in the language. They also learned that his father had been forbidden to look after him, being retained against his own will, else he wanted to die and make his kit an orphan, so Harry had been left with hateful relatives, hoping that someday, his daddy would come for him.
The Dojimas helped him gain weight since he was just skin and bones, and with his health coming back, the lustre of his fur and messy hair came back with force. Still, Harry showed signs of depression when he suddenly remembered that his legs were useless now and he was far from being totally fine.
Months passed and Harry was a little bit livelier but he was still clinging to Ryotaro and was still sleeping in the older man's futon with him. 'Smells like Daddy', he had told Ryotaro, half asleep one night when asked why he still wanted to sleep with him.
In the middle of March, Ryotaro received a call from his sister who asked him if he could shelter her son for a year since she and her husband were going abroad for work. He accepted to take care of one Narukami Yu, thinking it would be good for Harry to meet someone closer to his age. The farthest the kit had gone (sat on a wheelchair and sometimes pushed by Ryotaro himself) had been the Samegawa Floods Plain and they had only met adults who gave the fox a lot of food good for his health and other little trinkets.
Harry seemed to take the news well and was even looking forward to meet Ryotaro's nephew. He liked Nanako and he loved Ryotaro, so he could only hope that the nephew was similar to them. Nanako seemed to share his enthusiasm but Harry realised one thing that was worrying him.
"I won't be able to sleep with you anymore, Ryotaro?" he had finally asked at the start of April, still talking English for the most part.
"I think I will be even busier than before with the cases files that starts to sprout like mushrooms on my desk, I'm sorry..."
"You will have less time for us..." Harry had turned to look through the windows. Sometimes, he could tell things were going to be good or awful just by looking at the sky. Well, it wasn't really looking at the sky that did it, but the sky was a focus like any other. And now, he could only feel something grim was around the corner.
After that affirmation to his surrogate Daddy, he seemed to revert back to how he had been at first. Ryotaro was indeed less and less at home, rookies at the Police Station annoying him and making stupid mistakes that he needed to cover up.
And then, the day Narukami Yu arrived in Inaba came.
Harry had been feeling weird ever since he had made that remark to Ryotaro. He didn't know what it was exactly, but it was unpleasant at best, and left him sick. He hadn't said anything to the older man, because it would worry him and he wouldn't work as best as he was now; and though he was still hoping that he did stop working, he wasn't that selfish.
The sick feeling had abated when he met Narukami Yu. His presence was like a balm to his sick soul. Ryotaro had brought both Nanako and Harry to the train station to wait for him. It was still a bit cold for the beginning of spring but Harry had the advantage of his tails to procure him with warmth.
"Has the train arrived yet?" asked Harry, shivering a bit. He might have had tails, but he had become thinner lately. Ryotaro put his vest on his shoulders and patted his head. "It shouldn't be long now. Don't worry, we will soon be at home." Harry slipped his arms through the vest's sleeves and pulled it tight around him. It was ten minutes later that his ears perked up at the far away sound of the train approaching. "Finally!" he grumbled, gripping the wheels of his chair and rolling to the Station's entrance to wait.
Narukami Yu was used to changing school every now and then because of his parents' work, and thus, to not have too many friends. He had not a lot of expectations about Inaba, knowing it was a rural town, without much exciting things to do, but that was where his mother had said he would live for the following year, being taken in by her brother.
Although he wasn't curious, he was still looking forward to meet the Kitsune his uncle had saved from death. Like many in Japan, though the tales were still well conserved in rural areas like Inaba, he had heard about the Magical Creatures that were the Kitsunes. He still couldn't believe how someone could have attacked one, and one that was barely of age if his mother's words had to be trusted.
He shook his head. The train had arrived at his stop. As he crossed the door of the Train Station he was surprised to see the Kitsune he had been thinking about, sat in a wheelchair, shivering a bit despite the tails and the vest he was wearing. Behind the chair, the man Yu could only remember as the one who had took care of him when he visited. Next to them, a little girl who he guessed was his cousin.
"Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo," were the first words that he heard from his uncle, and Yu saw the fox raise an eyebrow at that, his face showing his confusion. I hope he's not reading in too much with this comment, Yu thought. "Welcome to Inaba. I'm Dojima Ryotaro, I'll be looking after you." He said, shaking Yu's hand. The teen greeted him warmly, clearly remembering him from when he was small, which made his uncle smile.
"That's my daughter, Nanako," he continued, gesturing to the girl who went to hide behind him. She nevertheless greeted him with a small a wave he returned. "And that's Hadrian, but you can call him Harry. I'm pretty sure your mother told you about him." A hand went to rest between the fox's ears, and Ryotaro leaned over, having caught Harry's sigh. "Are you okay, Harry? You look a bit pale."
"I'm fine, maybe I should have stayed home..."
Yu was a bit thrown out of the loop as he heard them speaking English. Guess he will have to polish theses language skills his mother had instilled in him, not that he was pants at them. He only had good marks in English lessons. His uncle led him to their car and Harry was carried to the passenger seat in the front while Yu and Nanako took the seats at the back.
They stopped at the gas station to refill the car, and for the fox and Nanako to go to the bathroom.
And while they were in the bathroom, Ryotaro helping Harry, the latter couldn't have sensed the familiar grim presence he had kept on feeling since the beginning of April.
When they returned to the car, Harry noticed that Yu was feeling a bit unwell, and Nanako had noticed too, but Yu waved it off. Must have been the travel to Inaba, he thought while Ryotaro was closing his door.
Back home, Harry was sat at the coffee table while Ryotaro and Nanako went to prepare the dinner. It was four prepared bento they had gotten from a convenience store on the way home. Harry was silent until Ryotaro suddenly left for the Police Station. Harry grew agitated, his tails lashing behind him. Ryotaro gave him a tight hug and kissed his forehead before leaving, but Harry was still teary-eyed. The kit wasn't ashamed in the slightest that he was being clingy with Ryotaro, this was the closest he could be to a Daddy in his whole life. His real Daddy had restrictions imposed to him and they weren't as free to see each other as he was with Ryotaro now. Poking his food moodily, Harry made note to introduce both his Daddies to each other. Maybe Ryotaro could become his real other Daddy and they could become member of the Dojima family, officially?
Harry chanced a glance at Yu who rose an eyebrow as their eyes met as if to ask if he was alright. Now, which role will Yu play in Harry's makeshift family? A brother? A cousin maybe? But Harry had bad experiences with Cousins, one of which led to him being crippled and away from his real Daddy.
Yu was pondering the creature called Harry. He had known his uncle was fostering one when it was decided that he would go to Inaba, but he had never imagined the cuteness the kit in front of him was unconsciously exuding. His mannerisms were somewhat feminine and that, coupled with his androgynous looks, made him wonder if the kit wasn't female instead. The fact that he was one head taller than Nanako probably didn't help. It was said that Kitsune often (unconsciously) grew to look and be like what their mate liked the most, but Yu had the feeling that his petite stature wasn't due to the desires of his mate, and that the rumour was just bullshit.
When the fox finished his meal, he cleaned his space as best as he could and contemplated his options. He couldn't use magic yet, or rather, he could but not for levitating objects to the kitchen and help him move to the bathroom for a needed bath. Nanako caught his look (conflicted) and put a hand on his.
"Will you need help for your bath, Harry?" she asked, concerned, and unconsciously making a choice for him.
"Yeah... I, manage." He answered in a choppy Japanese. He still didn't manage to talk Japanese perfectly though (perhaps it was the lack of motivation, he understood people quite well but talking was out of his league for now). He slid out of under the table and crawled with practised agility (and a little bit of magic) to the bathroom. In his mind, while scrubbing his tails clean, he was plotting his vengeance on one Adachi Tohru for ruining his bedtime rituals.
That night, Yu was thinking about Harry while lying in his futon. There was a deep sadness coming from the fox, and Yu only hoped that it would disappear one day, but the one thing that could really help was his mate and he just knew Harry hadn't met his yet. He sighed. His headache was still annoying him. He closed his eyes, and turned around, hoping that it would disappear when morning come.
He had had a weird dream that night, and could barely remember it but for the picture of fog and a feeling that this year in Inaba would be all but boring. When he went down, Harry and Nanako where sat at the table in the kitchen, Harry looking down, and Nanako serving breakfast. His uncle must have left already. Harry turned around and their eyes met. The fox greeted him meekly with a nod, which he echoed before sitting and digging in.
He noticed the gakuran Harry was wearing, with the roman number 'one' on his collar just like on his, and immediately thought about his speech skills. He had barely heard him talk Japanese, he hoped he would manage. Many students didn't like foreigners much, but there was still a majority who would fawn over him. Harry noticed Yu's look and he swallowed the rice he had been munching on.
"Ryotaro thought I could go to Yasogami High with you and enrolled me last month." He said in perfect Japanese and Yu's eyebrow went far up. Harry blinked before remembering something. "I am a Magical Creature and... I panicked yesterday so I used magic to... learn how to speak Japanese. Ryotaro that jerk had the gall to laugh when I told him this morning. I was sick, excuse me if I didn't think I had enough magic for that spell!" he started to rant. Nanako smiled at him. "I'm sure he wasn't laughing about you, Harry. Maybe he was relieved you wouldn't be picked on now that you know how to speak Japanese?"
Harry frowned and shrugged before finishing his breakfast. "We should go, we both need to go to the teachers' office."
So they were soon on their way to school. They separated from Nanako on Sasagawa Flood Plains and Harry shivered in his wheelchair passing around the spot he remembered where he was found. He pointed it out absent-mindedly to Yu who didn't stop, merely glanced to the spot. There was a faint red spot and he shuddered at the thought that he had indeed been found bloody and battered right there.
When they neared the school, Harry's ears twitched and he turned his head to look at Yu. "You should go a bit to the left. There's someone coming from behind and he doesn't have a great control of his bike."
Yu obeyed and was glad he had as a teen barrelled into some trash bin. He barely stopped, deciding that he shouldn't bother with it. First day at new school, mustn't arrive late. That guy shouldn't have taken his bike and holding an umbrella at the same time.
As they arrived at the school gates, Harry remembered what Ryotaro had told him.
"Ugh, I forgot that I can't very well roll around in a wheelchair here. What will I do?" he moaned to himself, face in his hands. "Can't very well crawl over the school all day."
"There might be someone who can help you." Yu tried to comfort him. Harry raised his head to look at him with a teary eye and Yu couldn't help but pet his hair affectionately. They didn't have to search for too long, since there was a teacher coming in their direction. It was a man with the upper row of his teeth showing. He was balding and Harry could smell the bad in him and he shuddered.
Words were exchanged, and Harry couldn't help but bare his fangs when he badmouthed Yu. Of course, that reaction had been seen by a handful of students and the teacher was now in a bit of a bad position, but Harry was sneered at and, had he functional legs, he would have pounced on him and tore him away. Fortunately, the blood bath in his mind didn't happen, but another teacher had approached them. She would be his homeroom teacher, just like the Moron King would be Yu's. Oh, he knew about Morooka Kin'ichiro, rumours travels fast and that man was the worst.
Harry took Yu's hand in his and wished him good luck before he was helped in his classroom. One of the things he loved in Japanese schools was the fact that he didn't need to change classes at every period all times, just for sports and sciences and home economics. As he sat on his chair, he waved his tails sharply twice before feeling them merge together so that he wouldn't be all over the place, and he let it curl around his waist. He noticed the gaze of the others, but ignored it in favour of his teacher whom he felt he would like.
One floor up, Yu had a different opinion about his own homeroom teacher. Morooka never let slip a chance to humiliate his students. Fortunately, he had a friendly seat neighbour and even recognized the students that fell into the trash bin earlier sat behind him. The scathing remarks were tuned out by Yu. At recess, he avoided everyone and went to the first floor to check on Harry. The fox wasn't in his element, people had gathered around him. But before he could do anything, a bleached blond tall first year snapped at them.
"Quit your yappin'! He ain't a circus attraction! Get lost!"
He looked like a punk, a rebellious twerp, a thug, but Yu knew that appearances weren't everything. He also noticed the looks Harry and the pseudo-thug had exchanged, both were a bit confused, but there was something in their eyes that both didn't know it was there, nor what it was, but Yu had seen it in the eyes of his parents on more than once occasion. He smiled and stayed in the corridor for a while before going back to his classroom.
It was at the end of the day, that thing went wrong. In the distance, sirens could be heard and the students were advised not to leave the school grounds. Many minutes went by before they could go home. Yu stopped by Harry's classroom only to see him near the shoe locker in his wheelchair.
"Someone got you out of the classroom?"
"Yeah."
"Let's go then."
Yu pushed his wheelchair outside but as soon as they were out, Harry stopped him.
"I'm going home on my own. I see two girls eager of talking to you and... I'm not a people person."
"Be careful then."
"Don't worry, there are plenty of people willing to help the Kitsune of Inaba get home." Harry sent a wink to him before rolling away. Yu heard him cry in surprise as he rolled down the slope in front of the school gates and shook his head. He turned around to see two girls approaching him. He had fled the classroom to check on Harry – he had made a silent vow to keep an eye on him after his reaction to his Uncle's leaving for work last night – and had barely had time to get to know other people.