Chapter Text
It was beginning to get dark, the light of the sun slowly disappearing behind Mt.Sagiri as Sabito was finishing up his usual training routine. He had just finished the breathing exercises Urokodaki-Sensei had taught him when a bright blue light flashed further up the mountain and he heard a woman scream.
He didn’t stop to think, immediately running towards the sound with his sword drawn. He burst into the clearing where the light had come from expecting to find a demon, but instead found a fox kit curled up in the middle of the clearing. It was odd for a kit to be without it’s mother, and as he slowly crept closer he noticed that there was blood splattered across the grass.
That would explain why it’s alone.. He thought glumly, sighing. Upon hearing him, the kit’s head shot up and it fixed blue eyes on him before it attempted to stand and run. It didn’t make It very far due to the deep gash in it’s left foreleg and it tumbled to the ground with a yelp of pain.
“Hey, hey it’s okay..” Sabito shushed as he removed his haori and crouched beside it, ignoring the low warning growl he received. “I just want to help.” He slowly extented a hand, fully expecting to be bitten. Instead the kit sniffed his hand, then turned it’s head to look in the direction the blood trailed off in before looking up at him with a quiet whimper. It let him wrap it in his haori and lift it gently into his arms.
“Don’t worry, Urokodaki-Sensei can help.” He promised as he began to make his way down the mountain. He knew he would be scolded for bringing home yet another wounded animal, but regardless of the tongue lashing he received Urokodaki always assisted the animals Sabito brought back.
He could smell something cooking from inside the house before he even made it to the door. “Sensei!” He called before opening the door to find Urokodaki sitting by the fire cooking some sort of meat and rice dish. “I found another one..” He admitted sheepishly as he felt his sensei’s gaze on the bundle in his arms, moving forward to sit beside the older man.
Urokodaki grunted and smacked him over the back of the head. “And what have I told you? You can’t bring back every wounded creature you come across!” He groused, before sighing heavily. “What is it this time?”
Sabito rubbed the back of his head but didn’t argue, slowly pulling back his haori to reveal the fox, which was now unconscious. He could see it much better now that he had light. It was black with odd blue markings on its tail and paws. What kind of fox was blue?
He was startled when Urokodaki dropped the bowl he had been holding, and he looked up to see the old man frozen in place. He was silent for a long moment, but before Sabito could question him he instructed him to lay the fox down by the fire and go retrieve the medical kit from his room. Sabito frowned but did as he was told. He had never seen Urokodaki look like that, and he was frankly a little concerned.
When he returned he found Urokodaki sitting just as he had left him, silently observing the unconscious kit. Sabito sat beside him and offered the medical kit to him, but Urokodaki shook his head. “You need to do it. You brought him here.”
Sabito didn’t question him, only opening the medical kit and pulling out bandages and the ointment Urokodaki kept for injuries before scooting closer to the fox. He gently lifted the injured leg so that he could apply the medication, only for the kit to quietly whimper and try to pull it away unconsciously.
He wiped away the blood as gently as he could, wincing at how deep the wound was. He gently applied the balm to the gash before wrapping the leg tightly in bandages. When he was finished he tucked the small thing back into his haori and looked back to his sensei. “What do we do now?” He asked, unsure if they could release it. It surely wouldn’t survive on it’s own.
Urokodaki paused before turning back to the food. “You should wait until it wakes up. Then we will discuss what to do.” He ignored the way Sabito frowned, opting instead to fix him a bowl of what he had cooked and hand it to him wordlessly.
***POV Swap***
When Giyuu came around the first thing he noticed was that he was inside a human house, and nee san had told him to stay away from humans. He got up to escape but was unable to stand, a hot spike of pain shooting up his leg, and he whimpered in pain. He looked down to see that someone had bandaged his leg, and the memories of what led him here came flooding back.
Nee san is dead. She got killed saving me.
“Oh, sensei he’s awake!” He heard an excited voice from behind him and he quickly looked over his shoulder to see the human who had saved him smiling at him. He heard another human coming in, and he looked to where the sound was coming from. The human was wearing a mask. It was a scary mask. Giyuu felt his ears flatten as he yelped and scrambled into the nice human’s lap.
I don’t like that. That’s scary! He whimpered, pressing close to the peach furred human, who laid a hand on his back and chuckled. “It’s just Urokodaki sensei. He’s not going to hurt you.” He soothed, and Giyuu started at the scary human as he sat across from them. The human stared at him from behind the scary mask for a moment before turning his attention to the nice human.
“Sabito, I suppose this would be a good time to explain to you why the masks I carve are all fox masks.” He began, and Giyuu looked up at the nice human, who had his full attention on the scary human. Sabito is your name?
“When I was still an active demon slayer, I came across a camp of demons in the mountains. They tried to overwhelm me, and I managed to defeat all but one. It would have killed me if I wasn’t saved.” Urokodaki explained, “I’m sure you have heard the story of the nine tailed foxes that grant the wishes of travelers, yes?”
“I have, sensei.” Sabito nodded, absent mindedly petting the fur on Giyuu’s back. Giyuu supposed it wasn’t bad, and laid his head on Sabito’s knee, listening as ‘sensei’ continued his story.
“It was none other than a nine tailed fox, a kitsune, that saved my life that day. It threw itself between the demon and I, and assisted me in defeating it. If it were not for that fox, I would not be alive today. This is why I carve the fox masks in honor of the kitsune.”
Giyuu felt the old human glance at him, even from behind the mask. This human knew what he was and didn’t try to kill him? He blinked at the human. You are not like the humans nee san told me about. I like you even if you are scary.
He huffed in protest when Sabito paused in petting him to tilt his head and ask, “But Sensei, What does that have to do with this?” Urokodaki pointed a finger at Giyuu, and he felt Sabito look down at him. He looked up at the puzzled look on the peach furred human’s face.
You are really dense huh?
He revealed his second tail, which nee san had told him to hide so he would look like a regular fox. It appeared in a glow of blue, as did the red kitsune talisman around his neck. He watched Sabito’s face as just what he had laying in his lap dawned on him. “W-wha- you’re a kitsune?!” He stuttered, staring down at Giyuu, and the kitsune couldn’t help but wonder why the human would help him if he didn’t know.
Nee san told him that humans were selfish and would hurt him if they knew what he was. She said they never did anything if it wouldn’t get them something in return, but these humans hadn’t hurt him and tried to take his fur or make him grant their wishes.
He turned back to look at the ‘sensei’ when he addressed him, asking in a calm voice, “Can you tell us what happened?” Giyuu hesitated. They knew what he was so it should be safe to speak, right? He had never spoken to a human before. He couldn’t even achieve a human form yet, but he decided he would try.
“A monster attacked me and my nee san. Nee san fought the monster but she didn’t win .”
He felt Sabito rest his hand on his back in a soothing gesture when he rested his head on his knee again. “What should we do sensei?” He asked, glancing over at the ‘sensei’, who was silent for a moment before turning to Giyuu.
“Are you able to achieve a human form yet?” He asked, and Giyuu shook his head. Urokodaki crossed his arms and seemed to ponder something for a moment before looking back to him, “Do you want to learn how to kill the creatures that took your sister from you?”
Giyuu’s lifted his head, “ You will teach me?” Urokodaki nodded and Giyuu hesitated. Should he trust these humans? It’s not like he has much of a choice.. “I will learn. Thank you.”
Urokodaki turned back to Sabito. “He will join you for your training routine, but you must watch over him until he learns to take a human form. If any others humans find out what he is they will try to kill or capture him. Do you understand?”
Sabito nodded determinedly, his hand pulling Giyuu closer. “Yes, sensei!” Giyuu looked up at him, seeing him glance down with a smile.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
(End of shitty rushed prologue. The rest will be better lol)