Archive of Our Own ^beta

If you tame me, then we shall need each other.

To me, you will be unique in all the World.

To you, I shall be unique in all the World.

— “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry;

The Temple might have been still closed at this time of the morning, but that did not stop Liu Yangyang from snapping a few pictures of the old architectural building from afar. Now, the young male sat on a bench in the shades besides a nearby convenience store, munching on his early breakfast. The said Temple was right across of him, the fence and road separating them, the top of it seen clearly, outstandingly. What a contrast, thought Yangyang as he bit into his melon bread, a box of juice and a packed rice-ball his only companions beside him on the bench. An ancient Temple, surrounded by a few trees. A glass building right beside it, separated by another road, the traffic light blinking red, few cars stopping because of it. And then, there was Yangyang, sitting across of said Temple with his snacks from 7-Eleven. Japan thrived on clashes of tradition and technology and Kyoto was one of the centres of this clash.

How did he end up there?

In Yangyang’s defence, playing computer games was a full-on activity, it made him move from side-to-side and use his fingers and brain skilfully. Not his fault he had browsed through all of the available steep places in the neighbourhood back in Tokyo – the place they were staying at was not well known for greenery, either – and startled a few grandmothers. Good thing he was cute enough to get away with it. His Mother, who brought him along with her travel for work to this island, thought he was cute, too, but she did not agree on Yangyang laying in a starfish position in the middle of their assigned apartment or having his nose in the phone being an activity. That was how the boy ended up being sent away to their family’s friend, with Kyoto being an in-between stop. And one would not be Yangyang if he did not think of the cheapest travel option to the said city, and that is by using a night bus. Albeit not comfortable like a bullet train would have been, Yangyang arrived just alright and ready for his one-day adventure in Kyoto.

Besides his games, Yangyang liked travelling as much as he liked hiking – his agreement to the proposed trip six hours away from Tokyo to a place, which was famous for many spots to explore only sparkled much-needed happiness, so he grabbed it without a second thought (who knows when such opportunity would pass again, too) and did a research on what to do in Kyoto for a day beforehand. Turns out booking at least three days in Kyoto, before moving to said friend’s place, would have been more reasonable, but this was Yangyang – an active, multitasking boy. He could manage to visit all the marked spots before his departure just fine. With how energy cruised through his veins, brown eyes catching sparkles of the early sun, Yangyang was bound to succeed in this travel’s adventures.

And since this Temple he wanted to see first was still closed, Yangyang quickly decided to move on with his next destination on the way – Fushimi Inari Taisha, a famous Shinto shrine. It alone took about two hours to explore and boy, was he hyped to go all around that base of the mountain, where the shrine was located at. But of course, before that, Yangyang needed to be even more energized, so food came before trotting off according to the maps in his phone.

A couple of ladies in their sportswear passed by Yangyang and he suddenly felt a tiny bit guilty for eating not the best type of breakfast, but once again in his defence, he exercised just enough to swallow the said guilt with the delicious, last piece of melon bread. And the boy promised himself a fine lunch later, too.

“Did you hear? They said it will rain later,” One of the ladies said to her companion. Obviously in Japanese. And obviously, Yangyang did not know the language, what he knew were tiny bits, so he understood only the simple word ‘rain’ and the rest was history. The dialect of this region intervened as well, so with the miniature knowledge of Japanese, Yangyang now understood absolutely nothing, if the words were not similar.

“Eh? But with such clear weather, it is impossible to believe!” Exclaimed the other lady. Yangyang opened a rice-ball now, giving up trying to hear anything around overall as he focused on the savoury taste. Food won over anything.

“I should warn my son to not stay out for too long if that’s the case.”

“If it’s the fox’s wedding again, better not go out at all!”

The ladies exchanged looks, giggling as they entered the same 7-Eleven store Yangyang did minutes ago and it once again became silent besides the whooshing sounds of cars. The boy’s ears, however, picked a familiar word just before the ladies disappeared inside the store. Fox, kitsune in Japanese. Maybe they were going to visit the Fushimi Inari Taisha like Yangyang planned since it was the head shrine of Inari Ōkami, who is associated with foxes? Must be it. But Yangyang will be faster than them, or than any crowds in general. The thought made the boy grin, giddy all over again as he finished his breakfast faster, ready to continue his adventure.

If only he had known.

The fox’s wedding, otherwise known as kitsune no yomeiri, was a strange event, that could mean several things: atmospheric ghost lights, a sunshower or literally a wedding. And usually, all of these were linked together and closely related to foxes for the sole reason of it being a tricky time.

Since atmospheric ghost lights can resemble paper lanterns from afar, the two were often compared in between. These lanterns were also widely used during a fox’s wedding ceremony specifically, so the phenomenon came to be called after it, too. However, there is a catch to the ‘tricky’ part – although such lights may appear, signifying a wedding somewhere, there was no wedding anywhere and the entire thing was a planned trick by the foxes; the paper lanterns resembling lights disappeared once one got close. It looked as if a fox played an illusion on the innocent, curious human or any gullible wanderer.

The same belief goes on to the appearance of sunshowers as rain falling even when the sky is crystal clear gives off a feeling of an impossible situation like a trick is being performed before one’s eyes. Foxes often made it rain like that to keep anyone from coming and witnessing their wedding happen – but was it really happening, like with the ghost lights, was another question. When a rainbow would appear soon after, no one usually dared to go that way, either way, because if one got to see a fox’s wedding, punishment would follow.

Of course, at the modern times at hand, not everyone believed all these legends taken from folklore, but the majority in Japan still did. It seemed like a thing to be cautious of, but should one be afraid for real? Actually, who said all fox spirits were scary and evil? Some of them were quite friendly!

When the weather forecast informed of a possible rain later, albeit it being such a beautiful day without a single fluffy cloud, Yukhei instantly knew, what was going on. After all, not every day you get invited to a wedding. Even if it was one, that of your distant cousin, who you forgot the name of until a few days ago. Yukhei felt guilty at first, but his Mother reminded him not to – after all, he was being invited over just because the procession took place at the path, that belonged to their family’s territory, and he was the honourable fox along with his Mother, who had nine-tails; a show-off that such still existed in the bloodline of the wife.

At first, when Yukhei was just on the way of getting his ninth tail and even long before it, he felt excited basically everyone wanted him over for any kinds of events. The excitement ended, when he figured after years and years of invites and sometimes even demands of participation, that he was there just because he was a figure of highly respected status – a fox, that lived long to get all of the nine tails – and not because he was, well, just Yukhei, the friendly and energetic fox spirit. Yukhei remembered how he cried because of this realization to his Mother, who had run her fingers gently through his light brown hair, scratching his at the time reddish-brown ears. She understood. And it was kind of ironic, how your kind tended to trick you besides humans and other beings, when most of the same humans, even with some being scared, saw foxes as something to respect and bring gifts to. Though, no matter of the kind, Yukhei was sure such things happened everywhere.

At the present, the nine-tailed fox, the kyūbi no kitsune, Yukhei was content with his status. Surprisingly proud of it, even if it was the reason, that he only had his Mother, brother and a few friends view him as just Yukhei and not Yukhei the most powerful fox. Sure, getting all the priorities (‘freebies’ in human language) just because you were a super fox was fun, but also not, when it came to decision making and complicated ceremonies. What also helped the fox spirit overcome the loneliness he sometimes felt himself submerging in, were the moments he watched over or interacted with humans (not directly, of course). Their world was fascinating – one of the things, that amazed Yukhei the most, were the weather predictions. How did humans figure out his cousin will have a wedding today and then pass it on to others? The technology was something else.

Even now Yukhei watched the day go on with the humans, rather than begin preparing for the wedding procession. The sun was bright, it was almost blinding, but it has not reached the middle of the sky yet. The procession will take place close to the evening. Plenty of time to prepare, in Yukhei’s opinion, who sat on the ground outside of his residence, surrounded by the greenery of the trees, the songs of the birds and gentle wind, staring down at the flowing stream. An odd version of what humans today called ‘live stream’. One way to know what was going on outside the bubble of what everyone referred to as ‘myths’. Besides Yukhei, his family and, well, all of the fox spirits and auntie Inari herself. All of them knew they were real.

“Yukhei-nii!”

At the call of his name, Yukhei gave a slight startle as the fox spirit was so concentratedly staring at the tiny humans in his live stream, that he did not even hear, nor feel his own brother approaching. At his jump, the stream gave a splash and the images of humans disappeared. Despite living so long, going through and witnessing all sorts of things, Yukhei still easily got caught in jump-scares. But just not like all of the foxes could be scary and evil, not all foxes could be brave, too.

When Yukhei turned his head, he was greeted with the sight of his younger brother Renjun breathing deeply like he was rushing to get to his older brother faster. The shorter in height male, with reddish-brown fox ears poking out, had his deep brown eyes full of concern, instead of the usual intimidation. A prime example of the difference between honourable fox spirits: even if the siblings were hundreds of years apart in age, mighty nine-tailed fox Yukhei, who in theory should have the final word, was more than sometimes afraid of his younger brother Renjun, a two-tailed baby fox.

“What is it?” Yukhei asked, feeling the unknown concern for something from Renjun now sweep to him as well. Did something bad happen? Was Mother angry for he still has not started preparing? Renjun had gotten his look from their Mother, so if it was the latter, Yukhei was, to put it gently, screwed.

“The guardian has abandoned our gate,” Renjun said in a hurry and Yukhei gawked at the information presented, “Mother is worried something happened, Tamotsu never leaves unless requested and even then, he’s reluctant because it’s his duty to protect the place.”

Yukhei knew Tamotsu, the small white fox guardian spirit at their family’s torii gate, for ages. He was there ever since auntie Inari assigned him to the gate, that the Huang clan had built for her shrine as a sign of gratitude. Of course, torii could exist without a guardian, its existence alone working as a transition from the real to the holy, but it was safer when someone was protecting it and guiding those entering or exiting. In this case, not only Yukhei’s family was suddenly left unprotected, but it also set the whole wedding procession in a complicated situation as there was no guide for it. Everyone here knew prior, that the honourable fox family had a guardian and it was supposed to allow the passage of the procession... Now, the absence of Tamotsu could only mean three things to Yukhei: a) his family disagreeing for the wedding to pass through their path, b) disrespect towards all of their relatives and guests and c) abandonment of Inari Ōkami support.

Suddenly the idea of his Mother being angry at him did not seem that bad, compared to this.

“It wouldn’t happen, that auntie Inari needed sudden assistance of Tamotsu in something?” Yukhei asked, now standing up and dusting his dark green yukata of any dirt, “Like, it was so urgent, she and Tamotsu forgot to inform us and—”

Renjun deadpanned, “Inari Ōkami has thousands of messengers and whatnot, why would she suddenly take Tamotsu out of all of them when she is for sure informed of the wedding?”

That made sense. Yukhei fell into step with Renjun, frowning, as the later lead the two of them around their residence. The younger boy continued, “The thing is, besides the disappearance, Mother also lost connection with Tamotsu. She can’t communicate with him, nor see him anywhere. She thought maybe you can do it.”

Yukhei looked at Renjun in alarm, “Doesn’t that happen, when one dies? Did we get attacked and they killed Tamotsu?”

This time Renjun frowned, “Now, why would someone do that to a family of two nine-tailed foxes and one in the process of becoming such? That thing must itself have a death wish, then.”

That made sense again.

“To top it all,” As if this all was not strange enough, Renjun looked at Yukhei and added, “Tamotsu’s statue is gone along him. Mother viewed the gate after she couldn’t find him and the place it was always at was empty.”

Now, Yukhei was actually scared, besides feeling concerned and confused, “What? Why would anybody need his statue? Does it mean he was kidnapped, then??”

“Just send the message and try finding out.” Renjun urged and Yukhei did as told.

As the bothers entered the main yard of their residence, they were immediately spotted by their Mother, sitting on the porch with a few of their servants by her sides. The yard itself before her opened a view to a beautiful Japanese style garden and an enormous lake with bridges connecting small pieces of lands. Their Mother had all of her nine white tails showing, moving in gentle waves of worry.

Unfortunately, just like his Mother, Yukhei received nothing in reply.

“Nothing for you as well?”

Yukhei shook his head at their Mother’s question, still holding the message in case the guardian fox finally appeared.

“Should we send out someone to look for him?” Renjun asked and their Mother nodded.

“If even Yukhei can’t see Tamotsu anywhere, we have no choice but to hurry and send a lookout for him. Ah,” Their Mother rubbed her temples, a painful expression on her face, “I will also need to inform your cousin about it. They might need to cancel the procession’s pathway. This is so troublesome. Dear Inari, what could have happened?”

Renjun quickly crouched beside his Mother, determined, “We will figure this out, don’t worry—”

“I think I found him!”

Everyone present looked at Yukhei’s sudden shout. All the time the second nine-tailed fox was silent, trying hard to concentrate on messaging Tamotsu and looking around the area of their gate.

“Well? Where is he?” Renjun pressed after a moment.

“Uh…”

However, what Yukhei witnessed, once pinpointing just where was the guardian, looked far from okay.

The moment Yangyang saw the beauty, that was Fushimi Inari Taisha in real life, he could not uphold his excitement any longer. He was holding it in badly from the very beginning as he arrived here, but now it increased tenfold. The huge bright red torii that greeted him? Marvellous. The main gate behind it, standing tall, powerful and unbothered by time? Amazing. All the small shops of souvenirs with a fox theme at the entrance? You got him there. And to think, that this was only the beginning, the small part of the whole place, made Yangyang wear a huge grin as he purchased his first souvenir in this shrine – a keychain. Sue him for it was too cute to resist.

Along with a wooden magnet.

A few postcards.

And Yangyang definitely needed that cool fox mask.

And— Okay, he should stop, he still needed to eat and buy something at other places, too. Wearing the fox mask at the side of his face, Yangyang took a silly picture of himself, before sending it to his Mother. Proof he also arrived safely.

With that, began Yangyang’s main part of the journey. As it was still early, the place was still pretty much empty except for a few tourists or locals here and there. It was a perfect opportunity to not only take clearer photos but also not be pushed around by masses. Yangyang thrived in the freer space as he walked up the stone stairs, ready to go up and up, see every bit of this place available. And maybe even unavailable, if there happens to be a secret pathway somewhere else, preferably leading further into the forest. Being raised in big cities with huge populations, Yangyang always found his peace walking paths, which were surrounded by tall trees, his only companions being the sounds of his footsteps, the rustling of the leaves and branches, birds and his own brought music. But the latter was for the cases when he did not want to be completely alone in the unfamiliar. After all, nature for him was only an escape, a chance for exploring – Yangyang could not, in the end, exchange it with the city, from where he truly was from. And well, where all his computer games stayed.

Another big gate before Yangyang; of faded orange it stood before him, but not as enormously big as the first one at the entrance. It had a sign of something written on it, but Yangyang could not make it out and he still could not understand the Japanese language fluently to read it correctly. The boy passed right through the gate, witnessing a long pathway leading up the mountain this place was at. Behind the big torii came smaller versions of it, continuing on and on, and like that, Yangyang found himself in an open-air tunnel, composed from different shades of red and black all around him. When Yangyang did his research, he read that people, who became successful in business or so, often donated a torii bearing their names to Inari, the kami, of whose honour was this shrine standing. By the sheer amount of these gates around here, Yangyang saw a lot of successful and thankful people.

When Yangyang exited the tunnel, after a few meters, a new one began. He even saw other explorers like him further ahead. The feeling, when walking through such a pathway, was indescribable; as if with each step you entered something sacred and unknown. The path was bound to lead Yangyang up the mountain and then down from it, so it was not really unknown, but during such moments, it felt like that. The light-haired brunette closed his eyes for a moment as he walked, a content smile on his lips, hands in his pants’ pockets, one of them grasping for his phone in case a good picture was in sight.

Hm. Maybe he could live like this, in the end.

Or at least for the few seconds till the boy tripped over a rock, that almost sent him face-first into the now clearly rocky path. One of those fellas just decided to stick out and show Yangyang that he, in fact, was not welcome to live here. The young man glared at the rock like it just verbally insulted him as he reached to check for his sneaker.

And that was the moment, that Yangyang caught something straying way out of his currently abusive path. Another pathway from the main one, when just exiting the second batch of torii, leading right up into the forest to his right. It was not restricted, so it clearly allowed visitors to go up and see what was there. What was there? Well, Yangyang was about to find out as he abandoned his original way and proceed to go up this secret path he thought of earlier in big strides.

Yangyang’s Mother once told, that being so curious, would lead him in trouble or make him injured. So far, he got away with this curiosity of his just fine – what could go wrong this time? Worst case scenario he would get lost, but this forest before him was not even that big, it was within the perimeters of the shrine – all the paths inside can lead to one main pathway or another, eventually leading Yangyang out. Therefore, he was confident in his choices.

Besides, it was the reason Yangyang arrived here – more hikes, more adventures, more happiness. Was he an adrenaline junkie by going further and further into the silent forest? Well, maybe a bit. Not a soul currently existed but Yangyang. It was both frightening and exciting, now going for real into the unknown. Yangyang dared to think, that he would even be disappointed if he was met with nothing, once he reached the evening out area further away. What was the point of leaving it open for curious souls like Yangyang? To trick them?

When what seemed like the only boy in this place finally reached the area, it felt like he entered a completely different place – compared with the way he just walked, surrounded by thick tree branches and bamboos, it was almost impossible to see the sun. It even gave a cold, eerie feeling. Now, the golden sunlight was streaming through the branches, lighting everything clearer. The sky was still as blue as before as Yangyang stopped to look up at it. If he listened closely, he could finally hear a few birds chirping somewhere further away. The contrast of this country existed even in forests, it seemed.

When the male looked away from the spreading blue and faced forwards, he did a doubletake.

Was that torii there the whole time?

Yangyang stared at the discovered gate as if seeing it for the very first time when he had just passed more than fifty of them, more counting. So, this was the reason the straying path was open for everyone – it had a single torii placed at the destination. Kind of strange for someone to place it just there, but this was Japan – they had such gates placed at unhabituated hills, caves, tops of buildings in cities… anywhere, where it was believed to be a place to connect humans and Gods, it was not strange. What was strange here, was that Yangyang has not noticed it at first.

Was it because of its height? It was barely Yangyang’s height when he approached the lone gate, that looked older than him with how faded and scrapped it was from up close. A small statue of what looked like a fox with a cute red scarf around its neck was placed beside the gate. Yangyang remembered seeing these at the entrance, too, but those were bigger, more polished, even held something.

All in all, this came to look like a rundown gate, which was open to curious eyes to pay a visit, to not completely forget it. Feeling sorry, Yangyang gave a bow of respect for it. Well. At least, in the end, this mini-adventure was worth it. Time to continue with the original plan as there was nothing else to see, besides trees and bushes into which Yangyang was not crazy enough to jump to continue his exploration. Maybe this holding back was what kept him unharmed all the previous times.

His shoelaces, however, had a different plan of action.

Or the Japanese nature suddenly started having a personal grudge against Yangyang as this has never happened before. This, him being pulled down by the harsh tug of gravity once he stepped on his untied shoelace, in the middle of a forest, which he came to explore countless and countless of times before. Well, back at his home country. Yeah, starting with that rock, that encounter now being luckier, than this one right now, Yangyang just knew, that the Japanese forest did not fancy him here.

Somehow, by the luck of fate, Yangyang managed to fling himself not exactly nose-first into the dirt, but onto his side as he tumbled down with a yowl. Goddamn it, that hurt. The boy was sure he must have scrapped and hurt his elbow and his left leg somewhere, but good thing he wore black clothes – at least the consequences of him dirtying his clothes will not be that visible on public as he still got a long way to go. When Yangyang sat up groaning and rubbing said elbow, the first thing he saw was the cursed shoelaces on his outstretched leg. How dare it. At least the backpack on his back made the fall a bit softer as Yangyang tied the shoelace with hate showing. When he was done, he then understood something was unceremoniously digging into his side, so moving, Yangyang looked down into what he had landed.

The statue of the earlier mentioned fox stared back at him with its lifeless eyes, the middle of its head cracked, a piece of its halfway broken ear laying beside it. Yangyang pulled away from it as if burned, yelling out in German from the horror. Turns out, when Yangyang was saving himself, he ended ramming right into the poor statue and knocking it off. Why was it not secured, in the first place? Wow, this place sure was old if a statue can manage to break like that… or maybe it was just the force of Yangyang’s body.

Wind subconsciously picked up as Yangyang sat staring at the fallen statue for another minute or two. Well, damn. This was not going according to his plan. Suddenly Yangyang remembered his Mother’s words and his what could go wrong this time thought. He never felt like cursing his curiosity so much than now. What should he do? Leave the statue be? Try to put it back together? Report to someone in the shrine, that this happened? Yangyang crawled back, inspecting the damage and taking the cracked statue along with the piece of its ear into his hands. Yeah, and then get fined for a lifetime, because he managed to destroy a whatever of age relic in a well-known shrine. Panic began settling in after the initial horror as Yangyang tried to put the statue back into its original spot and stick the ear where it belonged. For a second, it seemed to stay there and Yangyang almost cheered, had it not fallen off again. Panic more. And the crack was still visible. What if he put the tiny red scarf around the fox’s head? It could even look cooler then and the broken ear will not be seen, either! Genius.

A shiver ran down Yangyang spine as he began working on the knot of the scarf. The wind sure was picking up and it was nothing of that summer breeze anymore. It was cold and the branches and leaves rustled as if trying to warn him of something. Yangyang had no idea it will rain later, but it felt like it was about to now. Even the sun seemed to dim at the moment as if random clouds appeared to hide it. Honestly, Yangyang could care less about the changing weather as long as he untied this knot, put the ‘renewed’ statue back and dashed out of there as fast as his legs allowed.

But of course, the moment any plans start getting out of control, there is no stopping it. Therefore, when Yangyang caught happy sounds of chatter coming from where he had just arrived, he wanted to cry. Tourists. Curious tourists, just like him, caught sight of this stupid path and now were coming to see this torii. Great. Not. No way in hell will Yangyang manage to settle this situation in his hands in time to not seem suspicious. The boy quickly looked around, in hopes something in this forest will miraculously give him an idea what to do.

And then, gathering his limbs and the statue, Yangyang jumped into the nearby bushes.

Difficult times called for drastic measures, okay?

Yangyang managed to hide just on time as a few tourists appeared in the clearing, chatting in an unknown foreign language. Sure, that jump equalled in him getting scratches on his face and hands, not to mention the branches pulling at his clothing and hair, but hey – he saved his butt. Now, all the young man had to do was sit quietly curled to himself in the grass, holding onto the statue for dear life and wait for the people to leave. Yangyang sure as hell hoped nobody had the curiosity level of his to go and peek inside or behind the bushes, because then they were in for a surprise.

Luckily, the tourists left quickly after snapping a few photos and talking amongst themselves. The fading voices never sounded like such a big relief for Yangyang before. The boy gave a loud sigh as he moved out of the bushes, struggling on his way as he realized some nasty branch held him back by his backpack. Oh, the irony of the forest trying to kick him out and now trying to pull him back in. Decide, goddamn it.

Once out and now crouched between trees in case he needed to hide again, Yangyang once more inspected the laid-out fox statue before him with the piece of ear beside its head. A leaf stuck in his hair and the boy felt dirty, but his main matter now was this statue, whose scarf was not coming off. What if Yangyang just hides it somewhere here and leaves, as if nothing happened? There were no cameras to prove him guilty… but Yangyang felt guilty as it is. He broke, well, damaged an important part of this shrine. He did not want to get fined, but he also did not want to just leave. Snip the scarf with scissors? Yangyang had no scissors and that would look like further damage. Superglue the piece of the ear back? Seemed smarter of an action. Where to get superglue now?

Letting out a sound of frustration this time, Yangyang held his head between his hands, after pulling the still ever-present fox mask from it and around his neck. Ha, and to think he bought things with foxes, to now only destroy one… Okay, calm down, think. He could leave the statue hidden, run to get superglue from a nearby convenience store and then return to fix it. If he was fast enough, maybe he could still make it until more people started gathering around.

Feeling a spark of hope, Yangyang brightened up. Yeah, not everything ended yet! He can still fix it and proceed with his day! This seemed all simple enough and he prayed the glue would hold the piece of ear perfectly. If not… well then, he was for sure screwed. Maybe he should just buy a new statue all together?

Yangyang mentally counted how many yens he currently had as he put the fox statue into the bushes, that he hid in. Sure, if he skipped a meal… maybe it would result in a statue. Or would it not? Ah, he prayed superglue was not that expensive. Thank God he had his train ticket secured for the other ride already. Yangyang pulled his phone out to browse for close-by convenience stores as he rounded the bushes, preparing to dash.

“Hi.”

Never had Liu Yangyang screamed like this before, dropping his phone in surprise and proceeding to back away at least three feet radius.

A tall male stood before Yangyang, blinking owlishly from the scream he had just received in his face instead of a greeting back. He had his in dark green yukata sleeves clad hands in front of him as if trying to defend himself from Yangyang’s loudness. The white locks of his hair gently danced along with the wind, sun shining onto him like it did before Yangyang damaged the statue. When did everything calm down? Scratch that, when did this man appear?

And were those actual animal ears poking from his head? Yangyang’s brown eyes bulged out once zooming in on those. What the hell, those seemed too real to be fake.

“My ears are not fake!” The man said defensibly, further scaring the shit out of Yangyang with the fact he just read his damn mind. The stranger reached to smooth the ears down and after a moment they were gone, “They weren’t supposed to show, but you startled me! Is this how you greet each other around here?”

Honestly, Yangyang did not know how to reply to this stranger, so he just continued to stare at him all freaked out. It added, that he might have possibly witnessed Yangyang hiding the statue. Should he just dash out, forget this all ever happened and never come back?

“Stop right there, mister human!” Yangyang froze on the spot, haven not even done anything yet besides breathing as the stranger pointed at him, “You’re the one responsible for breaking Tamotsu’s statue and thus putting me and my family in trouble! You’re not going anywhere until you fix this unless you want to die!”

Now, hold on.

“W-What do you mean ‘die’?” Yangyang shuttered out. Pretty sure Japan did not give the death penalty for a broken statue… or did it? Yangyang had no idea who Tamotsu was, but he figured it must have been the name of the statue he indeed damaged, “Look, it was an accident, I tripped and, and in fact, I was on my way to fix it, so yeah—”

The strange male put his hands on his hips now, “You just thought about running away, don’t lie to me!”

The more minutes passed, the more Yangyang felt like indeed running away, but this time because of this man and not the statue, “How would you even know?!”

“I read your mind!”

A crow sounded somewhere nearby.

Yangyang began laughing uncomfortably, a sign he was very nervous and had no idea what the heck was going on, “That’s impossible. If you can read minds, then I can shapeshift into a fox.”

The man gasped, clearly not catching the sarcastic meaning, “No, you can’t, you’re a human, that’s my ability!” The more this man talked, the more Yangyang felt like communicating with some outer space.

“Right,” Yangyang replied dryly, looking past him for the said dash, when the man whined, stepping closer.

“I can prove it to you!”

Yangyang instantly backed away, “Prove what— holy shit.”

In the second Yangyang blinked during his sentence, the man before him was gone and instead before the boy stood the most beautiful white fox he had ever seen. It was bigger than a typical one, its grey eyes staring right into Yangyang’s soul. It would have been not that bad if not for the exactly nine tails of this human-turned-fox swishing around the place, looking like they were ready to strangle someone and that someone was Yangyang.

“See, mister human?” The fox… spoke to Yangyang? “I’m the real shapeshifting, nine-tailed fox here! My name is Yukhei and I came here to teach you a lesson!”

Yangyang did not reply, nor did he scream this time.

He simply lost consciousness.

Yukhei bit his lip as he stared at the laying human beside him in worry. Did he go overboard, when he revealed his real form to him? But the human refused to believe him and to top that, he already saw Yukhei’s ears unintentionally! Remember, Yukhei startled easily – on more than one occasion did he reveal himself like that to others. He did not remember others blacking out, though. Was he too intimidating? Yukhei did not mean to. He made a mental note to apologize for everything he had done when mister human wakes up.

Yukhei could add, that it was a beautiful mister human. He peered down at the evenly breathing boy, his head laying on Yukhei’s fluffy, white tail. Pretty shade of brown hair. Fine facial structure, now without any scratches as Yukhei healed those earlier. Cute nose. Faded pink lips. It was almost a shame such a handsome mister got in trouble with Yukhei’s family. It was a good thing his Mother agreed to let Yukhei go settle this instead of a lookout group after he had explained what happened to her and Renjun. Otherwise, it would have not ended well…

Nor will it end well now, if mister human does not fix Tamotsu’s statue soon. The wedding was still set to happen and Yukhei promised to act quickly before his cousin came here to slaughter this boy herself because he had ruined her wedding. Yukhei winced. He did not want anything happening to the human since it looked like he did not do it out of malice. It was, like he had said before, an accident.

Said human stirred suddenly and Yukhei pulled away from the tree he was leaning his back onto, to instantly peer right back down at him, “Hi again, how do you feel?”

Truth be told, Yangyang felt amazing. Never had the pillow he used now feel like some sort of cloud from Heaven. He did not want to open his eyes, how good he felt with his nose snuggled into the fluffy… fur? Once Yangyang actually opened his eyes he was met with white fur of a stretched out long tail. Blinking confusingly as if to clear his sight from a dream he was still for a reason having, Yangyang faced upwards and was instantly greeted with a grinning face of Yukhei.

This was not a dream.

Yangyang yelled out in surprise once more, jumping in a sitting position and almost bumping heads with Yukhei had the latter not moved quick enough to avoid the collision. His fox ears were poking out again from the startle and Yangyang could not deal with this strange creature, human, fox, whatever at this point any longer as memories of what happened before he fainted resurfaced. He had a statue to fix, goddamn it, not be played for a fool.

“You again,” Yangyang breathed out, staring Yukhei down. He could not deny the visible shiver that passed through his back as he sat in close proximity with this… mythical being. The human was afraid, “Look, I don’t know what kind of trick are you pulling on me—” But he tried to be tough.

“This is not a trick!” Yukhei defended himself, not putting in the effort to hide his ears this time, “I’m a real nine-tailed fox named Yukhei, I showed you it!” Then, he quickly added, “Yeah, those of my kind are known to be tricksters, but I am not! I’m sorry I scared you earlier, too.”

Yukhei bent his body half-way, bowing in apology to Yangyang. The human continued to stare at the strange being before him like he never knew about his existence. Heck, he did not, well, he knew myths existed with such creatures… but for them to be real? What a surprise.

“What’s your name?” Yukhei asked curiously after stretched out silence and Yangyang snapped out of it.

“Yangyang, but anyway,” Still bewildered, the boy took a deep breath, trying to pull himself together and then exhaled, speaking as calmly as possible. Also ignoring the fact Yukhei called his name cute right after he said it, “I can’t say it is exactly nice to meet you… and I don’t know how you found out about the damaged statue, nor how did you appear here… But I was seriously on way to fix it. Who knows what will happen if one of the caretakers of this shrine will see it missing, but I certainly don’t want to pay a fine for it, so I need to go.”

Maybe when he fainted, Yangyang hit his head and this was still a continuing dream? As the boy began standing up, Yukhei shouted a ‘wait!’, before grabbing his wrist and pulling him right back down. Yangyang instantly huddled to himself out of fear and upon noticing that, Yukhei loosened his grip, his eyes softening as he looked at the boy before him.

“They won’t fine you with money, Yangyang,” Yukhei, however, spoke seriously and it made Yangyang tense. It added, that the more he looked at Yukhei’s ears, eyes… that one visible tail out of nine he laid on, sharp nails clasping around his skin and that one tiny fang showing as Yukhei spoke… the more he indeed resembled that nine-tailed fox from before, just in human form. Yukhei was actually real. “Let me explain properly. You damaged the guardian statue of the honourable Huang clan, my clan. Today, a wedding procession is happening, during which, it is supposed to pass through here, through that torii. Tamotsu, the fox spirit within the statue, the messenger of Inari Ōkami, needed to help to guide the procession. With him not being there, not only is my family in trouble for looking like we disrespected the soon-to-be-wed couple, but said couple won’t be able to marry,” Yukhei squeezed Yangyang’s wrist before letting him go and adding:

“Where I come from and what you did to that place… they could fine you with your life for this.”

Yukhei then proceeds to smile adorably at the butterfly that just passed by his nose. Like he did not set everything around Yangyang on invisible fire. Heck, it seemed like he was about to get set on real fire himself, according to this… fox’s words. Yangyang felt uncontrollable laughter building up inside him, but he clenched his fists to stay calm, proceeding. Breath in, breath out. What does one do in a situation like this even?!

“Inari Ōkami… as in the Goddess, whose shrine this is?” Yangyang wondered, slowly. It means he not only disrespected and angered the holy if Yukhei was here… well, the said nine-tailed fox, too, but he was almost five minutes away from ruining a wedding as well, due to the lacking statue. Yangyang let that laugh out between his deep breaths. Yeah, no wonder they all ganged against him. Would pleas for forgiveness through prayers even work here?

To his questions, voiced and not, Yukhei nodded, “Auntie is one of the principal holy powers of Shinto, this is her primary shrine, yes. She’s responsible for fertility, agriculture and success and she also takes care of foxes. Her messengers are white foxes like Tamotsu, the one you killed, but seeking forgiveness is one of the things you should do, along with—”

The colour drained from Yangyang’s cheeks the moment Yukhei said that shocking part and he could not comprehend what was the fox spirit saying any further. Yangyang… did what?

“I killed… a fox messenger of a Goddess…?” The human whispered, horrified, and Yukhei clamped his mouth shut and quickly understood he worded it wrong.

Immediately, Yukhei reached for Yangyang’s hands to hold, his tail brushing over the boy’s back in comfort, albeit panicking, “No, wait, you didn’t, well, you did, but in theory—”

“How could you kill someone ‘in theory’!?” Yangyang shouted, struggling to be let free. Then, as if sudden realization washing over, he stopped moving and looked at Yukhei even more afraid than before, “That’s why you are here, right? To kill me for what I have done? Strike me with lighting or something, and then bake me and eat me in some kind of weird ritual, and—”

Yukhei squeezed Yangyang’s hands tightly, his tail now warping around the shaking boy as he listened to the horrible things he voiced out and then interrupted, “No! I’m here to help you! Nobody will die if we hurry and fix this together!”

Yangyang looked like he heard the best joke ever, given the situation he was in, “Why would you even help me? I brought trouble to your kind!”

“Yes, my Mother and brother were displeased with you, but I explained what happened to them and we all agreed I would better help you out than you do it alone. We know you didn’t damage it intentionally. All we want is for you to just correct your mistake and make it in time for the wedding,” Yukhei smiled reassuringly at Yangyang, who slowly stopped shaking with the words, “My kind can trick you and be mean, but not all of us are your enemies, we can be your friends, too. Sure, auntie Inari could curse you or my cousin could rip you apart, but I’m here to prevent it! And,” Here, Yukhei let go off of one of Yangyang’s hands to point to their right with his sharp nail, “If you look closely, you will spot Tamotsu right there. You didn’t kill him. You injured him and put him in eternal sleep, but he will wake up once we fix his representative statue. I’m sorry I phased it badly before, I never interacted with a human normally.”

Slowly looking to his right, still feeling a bit afraid, Yangyang felt like his breath had just been squeezed from his lungs. Not just because he indeed saw a small, transparent fox spirit sleeping curled up beside its damaged statue, that apparently Yukhei brought out from its hideout, but also because the landscape view was astonishing from where Yangyang sat with Yukhei near one of the trees. It was somewhere on the opposite side of the short torii from before – Yangyang recognized the bush he hid in, too – the sun beaming through the trees, making every bit of nature around shine or sparkle. Not a leaf or branch moved this time, only a few butterflies the human caught flying in the area from far. It was so quiet when both Yukhei and Yangyang stopped talking for the moment, it almost looked like a holy place in the latter’s mind.

For the silent moments Yangyang looked at the sight, he felt like his whole self finally calmed down and found inner peace. He did not kill anyone. Yukhei’s tail was still around him, giving off the comforting warmth too, along with his hand, so Yangyang would lie if he said that that did not affect him positively as well. When Yangyang looked back at Yukhei, he found him staring at the sight as well, his side-profile turned to the boy, a gentle smile on his face. The fox spirit looked like he could not harm a soul.

Instantly, another thought entered Yangyang’s mind. The thought of Yukhei being heavenly handsome with all this nature surrounding them. He looked at the fox before him, really looked at him. Well, a nine-tailed fox was a mythical creature after all – but were all of them seriously so good-looking from where they came, when you thought about it for a moment?

The corner of Yukhei’s mouth twitched as second by second his cheeks started gaining colour – a light shade of red, “You know I can hear your thoughts, right?” The fox mumbled, finally glancing at Yangyang, albeit shyly.

It took a brief pause for Yangyang to remember that this sneaky fox had the ability to read minds. His face exploded like a finely ripened tomato, that let out a gibberish sounding mix of languages, while quickly pulling away from Yukhei’s warmth and jumping to his feet. Thank you, now Yangyang felt warm more than enough.

“J-Just what can you not do?!” The human boy shouted, flustered as he brushed his pants and hoodie clean of any dirt or grass in a rush. Yangyang spotted his backpack and phone to the side and went to grab his belongings in excuse to not face Yukhei.

Yukhei grinned, standing up as well and pretty much almost towering over Yangyang’s form, when the latter was done, “Well, I’m a powerful fox, but I can’t wield thunder, for instance,” Yangyang huffed at the tease, but Yukhei then beamed, his hands clasped behind his back as his one tail swished happily, “Thank you for the compliment, by the way! I think you are beautiful, too!”

Yangyang bit his tongue to suppress a yell, his cheeks still pretty much red, “Just explain what are we, well, I, doing to fix the statue.”

“Right! Time is ticking, need to make it until the rain starts!” Rain? What did that have to do with the wedding and Yangyang’s impending doom, if he did not hurry up? Yukhei moved towards the statue and the small fox guardian spirit was nowhere to be seen by now, along with Yukhei’s fox ears and tail, “Basically, what you need to do is put the broken parts of Tamotsu’s statue together to awake him, pray at the shrine, bring an offering to the foxes and like that, to auntie Inari herself, and then you should be forgiven, if you mean well!”

Dread washed over Yangyang. Offering? Will he need to sacrifice someone or what? Shaking his head, the boy instead asked another important question, “And how do you suggest I put the piece of the ear back in its place, mister fox?”

“It’s simple, mister human,” Yukhei turned to Yangyang after gathering the statue to his chest, “You use what you humans invented and called as superglue!”

If Yangyang thought he was the one resembling an overly excited tourist in Kyoto, he never thought Yukhei would react as he did previously towards the Fushimi Inari Taisha. Instead, the fox spirit reacted like that towards a simple car, almost chased it down and then proceed to greet every person that passed by them in what looked like the upmost politeness, given the stares they received from the locals and actual tourists. Yangyang tried to hide from the stares by putting a hood over his head as he held Yukhei by the back of his yukata, so he would suddenly not rush off like before. The fact, that this fox never interacted with a human or anything of this world properly, proved to be true.

And it was both embarrassing and amusing to participate in and deal with.

Once entering the needed convenience store, Yangyang pulled the hood off, savouring in the cooling air of the store. Outside, the heat was beginning to hit and it did not help him, that he was dressed in dark colours. Besides him, Yukhei gasped.

“So, this is a convenience store?? What a magical place!” Before the human in disguise could take off exploring, Yangyang quickly held him back by his hand.

“Not so fast!” The boy said sternly and Yukhei pouted. It did a weird thing to Yangyang’s chest, “I had enough of your behaviour outside, please don’t wreak havoc here, too.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just really happy I get to interact with you all directly…” Yukhei replied still pouting and Yangyang turned around to begin walking down the stores’ aisles, leading Yukhei along. Another excuse just to not look the fox in the eye and search for the damn superglue.

Yangyang could still not believe, that in order to save his butt, he indeed needed a superglue. He felt smart for thinking about it before Yukhei revealed it, but he also felt a bit… disappointed. That was it? Superglue to miraculously fix all of your problems? So simple? Yangyang did not know what he wanted Yukhei to suggest him instead of it, but he was not expecting a superglue.

“Is this it?”

Yangyang stopped walking as Yukhei pointed at one of the shelves with one of his fingers, while the rest of his hand was holding Yangyang’s. Wait. They were still holding hands. Quickly snatching his back, Yangyang, with tinted pink cheeks, looked at the glue… and frowned.

“Yukhei, that’s a toothpaste,” The fox spirit blinked so innocently, it looked like he honestly believed he found it that quick. Yangyang sighed, “Humans use that to wash their teeth, the superglue is usually packed in smaller tubes.”

“Oh,” Was Yukhei’s only reply as he then followed Yangyang closely behind, while the human in question proceeds to overlook all the shelves in detail. Did this store even sell one, to begin with? “Mister human, does this magical place happen to have rice and sake, too?”

Yangyang angled his head towards Yukhei as he crouched down to look over the lower shelf, “I think? Why would you need those?”

“It’s for the offering, remember?” Yukhei grinned, crouching besides Yangyang, “You humans usually bring us rice and sake. Besides that, it’s also okay to bring aburaage and Inarizushi!”

Yangyang malfunctioned, even if he heard just two Japanese terms he did not understand, “What are those even and how do I create them?”

Yukhei laughed, “Aburaage is deep-fried tofu, while Inarizushi is rice-packed sushi rolls with fried tofu. I believe, that you either make it yourself or buy it somewhere here.”

Yangyang moved and Yukhei followed, the two of them resembling grown-up ducklings in their searches, “Will a simple packet of tofu do?”

“Nu-uh, I like it fried!”

Yangyang gave Yukhei a look, “So basically, I’m buying you and your godly pals a meal. Sadly, you will need to stick without sake as I’m not of legal age yet to purchase it here.”

As Yangyang stood up, he came face-to-face with superglue. This little nasty thing was there all the time? He instantly grabbed the tiny packet, checking the price, while Yukhei replied, also standing up:

“It’s okay, I will take care of it! Oh, and is this the glue?”

Yangyang nodded, it looked like one. Then, he turned to face Yukhei properly, “Just how old are you, anyway, to be able to purchase alcohol?”

“I’m 1021.”

The superglue slipped from Yangyang’s hand and Yukhei squeaked as he immediately caught it, “Mister human, careful, we need that!”

“I’m hanging out with an old fox. Amazing.” Was all Yangyang mumbled, before he turned around and proceed to search for rice this time. All the while trying to ignore Yukhei’s whining, that he was not old and that they needed that bottle of sake right there.

Yangyang also tried to ignore the look he knew the cashier was drilling into his back, while he waited outside as Yukhei made his first-ever purchase (with Yangyang’s money, of course) in a human store, after having a mini-lecture from the human himself on how to do it. The electronic cash register might have frozen after Yukhei touched it to confirm his age, but nobody needs to know that.

“Where to next, mister human?” Yangyang snorted in reply as he packed everything Yukhei bought into his backpack: superglue, a bottle of sake and a bag of rice. What a combination along with his souvenirs and survival stuff for this trip. It was becoming kind of heavy to carry now, but Yangyang hoped he and Yukhei would not be needing any weirder or bigger stuff.

“Since you mentioned that special sushi, I figured we should be getting it now, no?” Yukhei watched as Yangyang pulled his phone to search for a nearby sushi place on the maps. It was a cool mirror in Yukhei’s honest opinion, but the fox spirit bit his lip as Yangyang typed.

“It’s not necessary. You already got the rice and sake.”

“But you want sushi, don’t you?” Yangyang did not even glance from his phone as he tried to figure out what way they should go. He missed the surprise on Yukhei’s face like that, “It’s okay, let’s go grab it, besides, I’m kind of hungry,” Yangyang looked at Yukhei after finding the correct way and smiled a little, “Since I can’t visit my planned places until I fix the statue, at least I will taste something different in this city.”

An unreadable expression settled on Yukhei’s face as he followed Yangyang.

Until he saw a scooter, that is, and the chaos began again.

But even without reacting to the real-world wonders, Yukhei managed to amaze Yangyang.

“Wow, humans also have haunted alleyways?”

Yangyang’s hand with the phone visibly twitched as one of the said humans glanced at the fox spirit, while on their way to the sushi place. Man, was it kind of far by foot, but Yangyang did not know how would Yukhei react when he would see a whole train in the subway. Having him yell excitedly at anything moving so far was enough.

Now, Yukhei was looking back at a narrow alleyway between two tall buildings, casting shadows on its path, a definite shortcut if someone was rushing, while they passed by it. Thank all holy their way was straight, according to the map.

Deciding to avoid the description in question, Yangyang joked, “You walk through such places or something, that you know?”

Yukhei, however, replied in all seriousness, “Uh-hu, sometimes. Back at my home, I meet all sorts of bad spirits if I pass through, who are trying to steal from me. Good thing they scatter once I show my true form, but you, mister human, please don’t walk in such places alone, or you will end up robbed and eaten!”

Yangyang did not need to be told twice as he sped up down their way, while Yukhei called after him to wait.

“Meow.”

Before Yangyang could so much as react to the sound of a cat, Yukhei was before him in an instant, shielding him from whatever harm there was on their way. Looking confusingly at the back of Yukhei’s head, Yangyang opened his mouth to ask what was up, when Yukhei had himself spoken.

“Careful. It’s a bakeneko, a supernatural creature, that could hurt you.”

Looking past Yukhei’s shoulder, Yangyang saw a cute chubby black cat sitting at the entrance of one of the many living houses they already passed. Besides that, nothing else. The human snorted, walking around Yukhei.

“It’s just a cat.”

Yukhei, however, quickly latched himself to Yangyang and made sure he walked on his other side, while the two passed the cat, which gazed at them curiously, but otherwise, did not move.

“It’s not just a cat,” Yukhei whispered to Yangyang as they went further away from it, “It’s an evil cat spirit, that can kill and eat their owners, and then pose as them.”

Yangyang stopped in his tracks, pulling Yukhei to a stop with him.

“My friends have a cat,” A brief pause, “And it doesn’t like me.”

Yangyang’s Mother does not need to know the human made a frantic international call to South Korea, encouraged by Yukhei’s shrieks, just to find out if Ten and Hendery were doing okay.

When Yangyang and Yukhei finally arrived at the small sushi shop, it was just past lunchtime. Maybe it was the reason it was lacking in human presence, but the two did not mind as they sat comfortably on the stools by the counter, where they could watch the sushi being prepared by the chef. It was that sort of place, where you would come in for a quick meal and then run according to your day’s schedule.

If it was not for Yukhei, who spoke perfect Japanese (well… he sorts of lived here, after all?), Yangyang would not even be able to sort which sushi was the Inarizushi that they needed or order, no else. Now, he ended with that he wanted exactly for his lunch – it was not that grand as promised, but Yangyang did not know he will encounter another mouth to feed and take care of on his way, so this will do – while Yukhei had his plate full of foxes’ favourite food.

While they both ate in silence, Yangyang thought about how funny it actually was, that this food could bring peace to everything and save his life, along with a superglue. Food, in the end, was the universal language. It made him chuckle quietly, which picked Yukhei’s attention.

“What’s so funny, mister human?”

Yangyang instantly shushed him, glancing to see if the chef did not hear them, but then he realized they were not even speaking Japanese. Yangyang did not even notice, at how comfortable he had been until now speaking Chinese with Yukhei.

“How would we understand each other?” Yangyang suddenly wondered and Yukhei smiled at him as if hiding something.

“Adaptation to the circumstances,” The fox spirit replied and Yangyang had no idea what that meant, but Yukhei provided no further comment, repeating his previous question, “What was so funny?”

“I thought you could read minds?” Yukhei whined, saying he was too concentrated on eating to focus on anything else. Made sense, Yangyang was the same, “Just thought about my hilarious situation, that’s all.” He further explained, while putting sushi into his mouth. The taste was amazing.

“It will be okay,” Yukhei said with a smile, “We still got plenty of time until the rain and you already have everything ready!”

“Last time you also mentioned rain,” Yangyang took a glass of water, “Why?”

“When foxes have weddings, we make it rain unexpectedly, so humans could stay away from it. So, if you ever see a rainbow appear, know it’s us and don’t come closer!” Yukhei explained cheerfully.

“Oh?” Yangyang looked at him as if challenged, “What if I do?”

“Then you will get punished, if we find you,” Something glinted in those grey orbs and Yangyang was not sure it was because of weird lighting or because it was actually possible. Given everything that happened, it must have been it. So, the human quickly looked away, back to his food. There was a chuckle beside him, “I’m kidding, I will invite you to mine if I ever get married.”

“If I survive until then, that is,” Yangyang replied to that and then added, “Just make sure to also draw me a map or give your location, so I know how to arrive at your place there… somewhere.”

Yukhei laughed lightly, “Silly, you were there already.”

Yangyang almost dropped his sushi as he whipped his head to face the grinning fox spirit in surprise, “What? When?”

“Each time you pass the torii you find yourself entering into the sacred from the mundane,” Yukhei said, leaning closer to Yangyang’s side, as if telling a secret, “If you notice specific things at that place, you will come to feel that everything around you is not as the same as before. Be it a leaf, the sun… a butterfly, that feels different,” The fox smiled mirthlessly as the human listened with wide eyes, “And you will find yourself somewhere else, a world, that you all call a myth.”

“But if there are no such gates, where I live… what do I do?” Yangyang did not know why he whispered this, but he was afraid if he did not, he would break something.

“Sometimes the sacred appears in your world, too, as proven by the alleyway or the cat,” Yukhei said just as quietly, but then grinned, saying normally, “Or me.” He winked.

Again, that stupid feeling at his chest. Yangyang leant away from Yukhei, quickly putting the forgotten sushi in his mouth and chewing as a distraction. Cute, Yukhei thought, watching the flustered human. He’s really cute.

“I still don’t get how did you find me, I thought I was being discreet.”

Yukhei laughed loudly, “I can watch over your world when I want to and I can send messages to other foxes mentally. Tamotsu did not reply and my Mother might not have seen you for a reason when she searched, but I kept looking and then I spotted you.”

“Your Mother… is also a nine-tailed fox?” Yangyang asked curiously, to which Yukhei nodded, “And your brother…?”

“He’s two-tailed only, don’t worry.”

“’Don’t worry’? I messed with this elite family and you say ‘don’t worry’?!”

Yukhei never laughed so much during the times he got invited somewhere out of obligation. Even if this was some sort of obligation, too, it was a lot more fun. He was himself.

“But hear this, hear this!” After a few more reassuring sentences to Yangyang, Yukhei then said, “We may be the cool sort of foxes, but even we can be distinguished from others! Look at the mirror to your right.”

As Yangyang did, he almost jumped out of his seat, had it been not for Yukhei as he held him down with a hand around his shoulders. The human stared at his reflection, while a literal human-sized, white fox sat beside him from before, a paw with sharp claws around him.

“Holy shit,” Yangyang let out, his heart beating wildly as he turned his head back to Yukhei, the human-turned-for-real Yukhei, and then looked back at the mirror, “You need to be careful like this here.”

“It’s okay,” Yukhei rubbed Yangyang’s shoulder before letting go, “Whoever sees it usually thinks it’s a trick. It’s our specialization, after all, to trick you all.”

“So, you are two-faced, huh…” Yangyang looked at Yukhei with full-on suspicion now, “Is this all a trick, so you get a free meal and then eat me for dinner?”

“No!” Yukhei was quick to defend himself, “Not all of us are like that!”

“Relax, I’m kidding,” Yangyang grinned, before digging in to finish the rest of his sushi. Yukhei, meanwhile, stared as the human ate, his left three Inarizushi untouched. Saved for the offering.

“Yangyang, you’re not from here, right?”

The boy nodded, “I’m on a trip. Came from Tokyo to Kyoto for one day to explore and then in the evening, I will move to Osaka. I live in South Korea, otherwise.”

“What places did you plan to visit here?”

“A lot, actually,” Here, Yangyang smiled a bit sadly at Yukhei, “But since I need to fix the statue and am now with you, doesn’t seem like I will make it to all of the planned spots. Will be lucky if I see anything else, besides the shrine.”

There was silence as Yangyang finished his meal until a tiny ‘I’m sorry’ was heard. Yangyang faced Yukhei then, who had his head hung low, his spirits obviously down.

“Hey, don’t be,” Yangyang hesitated, but then reached and patted the fox spirit’s back, “It’s not your fault. It’s my own fault for being clumsy and making you aid me when you didn’t want to and clearly had other things to take care of.”

“I wanted to help you,” Yukhei raised his head and looked Yangyang in the eye, “And still want to. I also want for your trip to be memorable with not only Fushimi Inari Taisha but other places, too.”

“I met you there,” Yangyang chuckled, his lips stretching into a wide smile, “I think that alone will outstand any other places I planned to visit.”

Saying Yukhei was rendered speechless, would be an underestimation. He almost forgot to warp his saved sushi into a napkin, had it been not for Yangyang. After the human paid for everything and the two left the place, ready to go back, Yukhei was still silent.

“Huh, thought I would have some scratches from before.”

Yukhei snapped from his thoughts and back to reality when he saw Yangyang checking himself out while using his magical mirror. Or, the front camera of his phone.

“I healed them for you.”

The human boy looked at the fox spirit and smiled, “Oh, thank you. Also thank you for your reassuring words and help so far. I didn’t say it yet, but I appreciate it. You’re a good fox.”

Yukhei’s heart speeded up at the compliment. Not that it was not beating rapidly from earlier said words by the human, but damn, he really liked it.

Yukhei liked spending time with this mister human. The fox spirit looked up at the sky, checking for the sun as he shielded his eyes from the brightness. They still had time. Yukhei will just throw on his kimono in a whatever way for the procession, it was saved already, anyway.

So, Yukhei made his decision, “Yangyang, what was the second place you wanted to visit after auntie Inari’s shrine?”

Yangyang looked up from navigating them back to the said shrine, “Third, actually. But it was the Kyoto Imperial Palace, I think. Why do you ask?”

“Mister human, did you know,” Yukhei began playfully as he stopped closer to addressed human, who blinked at the sudden action, “That if you hug me, I can transport us both anywhere you wanted?”

Yangyang wanted to scream from frustration, desperation and excitement all at once. Why? Well, for example, if that damn fox told sooner, that he can levitate and transport them both to the places they needed to be at only in a few minutes, it would have saved them so much walking and a sore back from the backpack full of things. Had Yukhei not squished him in a hug at that moment, Yangyang would have kicked his ass right in the middle of the street, not caring one bit that this was the most powerful fox spirit with equally as powerful connections.

Partly, Yangyang should have expected Yukhei knowing something as fast travel, but it clearly left his mind. It entered his mind once he found himself in the clutches of the fox, somewhere about thirty meters above the ground. If Yukhei was incapable of hearing something for a few minutes because of the screech Yangyang managed out, served him right. Just who goes in for a hug and then suddenly you end up flying?! Should have given better heads up!

“Yangyang, come here!”

“Hell no!” The human shouted with his arms around a tree as he was perched on a thick tree branch, holding tightly somewhere at the height of ten meters this time, “I was this close to saving my life, but you decided to make it harder! Nobody said I needed to go through one more extra trial, is this you avenging me for touching your statue??” Yukhei was laughing, “It is, isn’t it?!”

“No, silly!” Yukhei, meanwhile, stood absolutely unbothered somewhere in the middle of the long branch, facing the view before, “It’s me showing you around as I told you!”

“Why can’t we just do it normally, like the previous times, why bring me on a tree??”

Yukhei directed his grin towards Yangyang, “We need to have some actual fun, no?”

When the fox spirit firstly brought Yangyang to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the human could not believe nor what he was seeing, nor what the heck just happened. He only remembered the screech and the desperation of wanting to get out from Yukhei’s hold. Where to, he did not know, he was up in the air, but he certainly did not want to stay there. Yangyang’s legs felt like jelly as he entered the Palace with a happy Yukhei behind him for a quick exploration. This was insane. If he managed to snap at least two non-blurry photos of the ancient constructions, Yangyang would be proud of himself as his hands felt shaky.

And he started to shake even more, when Yukhei once more approached him with wide-open arms, ready to engulf. It took shouting ‘no’ in all the languages Yangyang knew, running through the open areas of the territory in the Palace and more yelling for Yangyang to finally end up in Yukhei’s arms again. And all the time the fox just laughed and asked where to bring them next.

Eventually, after visiting two more shrines, a castle and a few temples like that, with Yukhei acting like a guide at each stop, telling random stories of the sights, Yangyang got used to the miniature seeming buildings below him, the cool wind blowing as he held onto Yukhei like an octopus for his dear, poor life, like he currently did with the tree. He also did not know how many times Yukhei needed to reassure him, that he will not drop him suddenly, they will both not fall suddenly, nor will they crash into a random bird. But eventually, Yangyang started feeling excited, even smiling during his last unusual flight. Who gets to fly during their one-day adventure like this?

Maybe he was an adrenaline junkie, after all.

“Mister human, c’mon!”

Yangyang hesitated as he peeked at the ground below the tree he sat in currently. Yeah, but all the previous times Yukhei actually landed them on the soil and not a tree. Yeah, he might not have exactly paid for all of his visits, too, but it was still ground.

At least Yukhei took the backpack from him halfway through their jumping from one spot to another. Yangyang admired the strength of this fox spirit as he ever so slowly tried to turn around to properly face Yukhei and the view. One wrong move and he will be accidentally ending his life himself and not by the help of a couple of angry fox spirits.

Two steps. Two big steps and he will be near Yukhei. Yangyang can trust him on catching him if he falls, right? Not all foxes were tricksters, right? Looking at the fox spirit’s profile, who was smiling in the sun, while admiring the Golden Pavilion further away, Yangyang got the feeling of once again being in a dream. And that he will soon wake up on his train ride to Osaka, all of his plans successfully done without any statues, foxes, supernatural beings, threats…

…suddenly thinking about it without all of this made Yangyang feel empty. Would have he really enjoyed all of what he got to experience in the same way, without time pressure and Yukhei? Without finding out there is something else besides just their world and that all you need to do sometimes, is just look around?

The feeling in his chest tightened at this moment. I like it. I like being with him. I trust him.

“Yukhei-ah!”

The moment the fox spirit turned his head to Yangyang, the human took the step. And another one. And finally, ended in Yukhei’s arms, face flat in his chest as Yangyang hugged him tightly as he did through all of their travels.

Arms quickly wound around Yangyang and the strong feeling of warm safety settled in. Maybe it was always there when they flew through the air, but Yangyang was just not focused on it. Admitting it now, with his own arms, felt refreshing and overwhelming at the same time.

Something brushed at his ankle, but this time, Yangyang did not startle. It was soft and he already had an idea what it was, so when he glanced down briefly, he caught a long, white tail.

And eight more.

Baffled, that Yukhei was showing all of his tails, the human quickly looked up at the fox spirit, while still holding onto him and understood, that not only all of his tails were out, but also his ears. His grey eyes looked silver in the sun and, to top it all, Yukhei was blushing.

The sight made Yangyang have a little blush himself, “W-What’s wrong? Did I startle you?”

“Bold of you to not assume, mister human,” Yukhei said, slight heat evident in his words, “That I also might like being with you.”

The feeling in Yangyang’s chest completely squashed the breathing out of him as he gazed at Yukhei like he just said the impossible. The look made Yukhei chuckle lightly, smiling softly afterwards.

“You should seriously look around yourself, Yangyang. Ah, what an oblivious human.” The last part was meant as a joke, but Yangyang’s lips pulled into a tight line. He did not answer.

Instead, he stared straight into Yukhei’s eyes and thought, If I was an oblivious human, I wouldn’t be looking at you now.

Yukhei’s heart did a backflip. His cheeks darkened in red shade.

“Y-You should enjoy the view; we will need to return soon.”

I’m enjoying the view. Yangyang lips pulled into a smile. I’m looking at you.

Yukhei puffed his cheeks out, “Stop it.”

Yangyang angled his face, so he could give Yukhei’s expression a once over with the same smile. No, you’re really cute like this.

“Please stop thinking!” The poor flustered fox shouted and here, Yangyang grinned.

“Oh? I can speak then.”

Yukhei wailed, “Golden Pavilion, Yangyang, please look at the Golden Pavilion, so we could go.”

The boy laughed, leaning his head onto Yukhei’s chest as he adjusted his hold on the fox spirit and finally looked at the needed view. And honestly, if he saw the pavilion, swarmed with visitors, before all of this, he would have considered it as his second favourite after Fushimi Inari Taisha. Now, this sight before his eyes will go to a third place.

Yangyang leaned back, admiring his handiwork as he kneeled in the same spot, he stood hours before. Where everything started, at the clearing in the forest. At the gate, that he thought was rundown and nobody cared about. But in reality, had such an amazing background history, it now seemed almost unbelievable. And now, the short torii before him seemed liked it was about to have a fiesta; a bottle of sake, a bag of opened rice, Inarizushi, all laid out on a beautiful patterned cloth Yukhei gave him for the offering before the fox himself disappeared. To dress up for the wedding procession, for his Mother threatened to bring him back herself if he did not hurry. Yangyang surpassed a chuckle, clasping his hands together and closing his eyes.

And let’s not forget the put back together statue of the fox, that stood back in its original place. Thank God nobody sounded the alarm for the statue being gone, or give Yangyang weird looks when he came back. Sure, there were still cracks visible on the statue, but at least it had its ear back. That Yangyang almost glued to his finger, but we are skipping that part for now. All that mattered currently, is his sincere apology to the deities. Yukhei promised to come back when everything is settled. But when will everything be settled, when Yangyang apologizes? When the wedding will happen? How will he even know something will happen at all, for all he knew, maybe it already was settled?

But no.

Yangyang will feel it. He remembered what Yukhei told him and he was not about to forget it. Look for signs everywhere. Listen closely. The other world, he was at the brink of the sacred now, before the torii. If Yangyang concentrated hard enough, he will be able to see what others usually do not. What he did not, until meeting Yukhei.

It was just the forest and Yangyang before.

Now, it was the forest with Yangyang and Yangyang with the forest. No thought of someone else seeing him like this entered his mind as Yangyang prayed for forgiveness. It did not matter anymore. Yukhei and his kind mattered.

I’m sorry for hurting you, Tamotsu. I’m sorry for putting Yukhei’s family and the wedding of the foxes in danger. I’m sorry for disrespecting you, kami Inari. Please take these offerings as my sincere apology.

After a few more silent minutes of hoping, Yangyang peeked with one eye open. The goods were still in their place as were the statue. The old gate looked as old as before, if not older. The greenery around him did not change either and the sun was still shining through the branches, albeit lower in the horizon. It was nearing evening.

“Why…” Yangyang let out quietly as he looked around and then proceed to stare intently at the fox statue, hands on his knees, “Did I do something wrong?”

No, he did everything how Yukhei instructed. Was he not sincere enough in his prayers? The boy quickly clasped his hands together once more, this time leaning his forehead onto them. If this was it, will he die? Yangyang did not even say a proper goodbye to Yukhei as the fox spirit dropped him off at the shrine. Only a promise to see him later and nothing else.

Please let everything end well.

Opening his eyes once more, Yangyang looked at the offerings sadly this time. He did not even have the strength to panic anymore. He glanced at the little fox statue again. Remembering to what beautiful fox it belonged. Without hesitation, Yangyang reached out and brushed over the crack on its head with his finger. Maybe he should have just bought a new statue. Even if the ear held on, the cracks will remain.

“I’m sorry I failed you.” Yangyang did not know to whom he addressed this, to the tiny fox, Yukhei, the rest of his family, the wedding or the Goddess.

For a split second Yangyang wondered if he should consider calling his Mother and telling her goodbye or something, before a drop of water landed onto the statue’s head, right where Yangyang touched it. The area quickly became darker in shade as Yangyang looked up at the sky in confusion. A drop landed on his nose. Then another onto his cheek, forehead, chin. Suddenly, it was beginning to rain from a sky where no cloud existed.

Was the wedding procession approaching?

As the boy looked down, he let out a gasp. A small white fox sat before him, instead of a statue, no longer transparent or sleeping, but looking him in the eye with its own wise, golden ones. Tamotsu.

“You did your part, human. You’re going to be okay. I will continue from here on,” He said, “Go hide quickly now and cover your face.”

Despite his amazement, Yangyang did not need to be told twice. The human boy nodded and getting up, ran behind the thickest tree he could spot on the opposite side of the gate. The rain was increasing steadily as Yangyang pressed his back into the tree trunk, while he pulled his slightly wet hood over his head. Will this do? Suddenly remembering the all the while dangling fox mask around his neck, he quickly put that on, too.

Before him, the endless forest opened up, still covered in late sun’s shine, the green of the trees and the grass more alive than previously by the power of the raindrops. It now thrummed into the ground hard and Yangyang was soaking as he once more looked up at the sky. No cloud. No wind. No reason for the rain to pour. And yet there was a reason, happening behind his back, behind the tree he hid.

Yangyang did not dare take a look for good ten minutes, even if he badly wanted to all this time. He felt the wedding procession happening, he could distinguish the footsteps behind him among the sounds of the rain. He could hear murmurs of something being told. Something, something, something was happening and along it, unsteadily and nervously beat Yangyang’s heart. Look for the signs, this was the sign.

Slowly pushing away from the wet trunk, Yangyang careful leaned to peek from behind the tree, making sure only a bit of him was visible. Behind the white-red decorated mask of a fox, Yangyang’s brown eyes widened and his breath hitched. The clearing was filled with a long line of fox spirits. All of them dressed in formal kimonos while holding Japanese-style umbrellas over their heads. There were adults, children, elders and even real foxes running around. Someone, probably a priest, was chanting what sounded like a prayer, which confirmed the murmur from before. Of course, the stars of the procession were those at the front, husband and wife, and never before have Yangyang witnessed a Shinto type of wedding. The pair looked almost too perfect to be real, but the human boy knew better by now.

Everyone and everything was real.

Yangyang leaned back behind the tree as his gut told him it was enough of a secret ogling. He was not allowed to look, but for whatever reason, he felt like the fox mask will protect him. Squatting down behind the tree trunk, Yangyang noticed the rain begin to decrease this time. He was wet and the clothing stuck to him, but he felt unbothered by that for now. His heart still beat loudly, but he felt oddly calm, like when Yukhei pointed for him to look at Tamotsu. Remembering, that Yukhei was somewhere among that procession as a guest, Yangyang got the sudden urge to peek again. But he calmed it down by reassuring himself, that he will see Yukhei later. That he will come to check on him before both he and Yangyang will need to part ways. This bitter thought got Yangyang hugging himself as just at that moment, a gust of wind blew, making the boy shiver. He hoped he will not end up with a cold or a fever later.

Yangyang thought back to what he got to experience today. A smile rose to his lips subconsciously. Turns out, one can experience Kyoto in one day easily, if one encounters a fox spirit. And sort of breaks a relic, to cause that encounter, followed by a few more deities threatening to get rid of you. But just as Tamotsu said, Yangyang was going to be okay. He fixed his mistake.

The boy did not know when he had closed his eyes and for how long, but when he opened them, it was no longer raining. Blinking behind the mask, Yangyang pulled it off and back around his neck, rubbing his face. How much time passed? Had he fallen asleep? Glancing around, everything seemed darker, the final rays of the sun about to disappear. It cast shadows of all shapes around Yangyang, but as the boy finally stood up, stretching, the serenity and darker colours around him did not seem that bad. Well, maybe his clothing seemed bad as Yangyang pulled at his shirt and wrinkled his nose. Wet, sticky, ah, he would not mind a warm shower now.

Stepping from around the tree fully this time, Yangyang belatedly realized that maybe the wedding procession was not finished yet, but to his relief, nothing of it was present in the clearing anymore. Instead, only one figure stood before the gate. On the other side of it from Yangyang. Who smiled, as the figure spotted him approaching, slowly, afraid to startle. And the figure smiled back.

Yukhei looked divine in his formal kimono of light green hakama pants and almost whiteish haori jacket over his shoulders, which was decorated with patterns of same green colour as the pants. Bathed in the warm orange and yellow colours, were his white fox ears and all of his nine-tails. His eyes caught the sparkles of the darkest orange in them as Yangyang stopped before him, the only thing separating them being the torii. Neither were the offerings or the fox statue there anymore.

Yangyang felt incredibly warm, even if he just survived a whole shower rain.

“Hi,” Yukhei said and Yangyang could almost feel how his face was splitting from smiling so much.

“Hi,” Yukhei beamed back at Yangyang’s greeting, “How was the wedding?”

The mirth was back on Yukhei’s lips, “Well, wouldn’t you happen to know?”

Yangyang ducked his head down, looking to the side, “I only saw… a little bit.”

“I know,” The fox spirit’s look was soft, “It’s good, that Tamotsu told you to put on the mask.”

“Oh? Did I trick the foxes?”

“Maybe,” Yukhei outstretched his hand for Yangyang to take over the short gate between them, “Come back to the mundane now, mister human.”

Yangyang took his hand, “Are you saying, that I’m in the sacred now, mister fox?”

“I told you, once you pass the torii,” Yukhei lead Yangyang past the said gate, their hands connected, “Everything around you become sacred.”

Standing more closely before each other now, right beside the gate, they held hands the same way they held each other’s gazes.

“Then it means,” Yangyang’s brown eyes were crinkling with silent laughter, “That we kind of exchanged places?”

“Kind of yes, kind of no,” With his other hand, Yukhei reached out to touch Yangyang’s cheek, gently brushing his finger below the other’s eye, “We are currently connecting them as we stand at a line in between the worlds.”

“You saying that makes me feel powerful,” The human grinned into Yukhei’s palm.

Two heartbeats later, Yukhei honestly replied, “You have no idea, Yangyang.”

Almost faded-out rainbow hung above them, disappearing by the time the two went away, taking the torii together with it.

“Must you go so soon?”

Yangyang looked from the dark sky, a few brightest stars seen to a human’s eye, and at the sulking fox spirit beside him on a bench. The both of them were sitting nearby the subway’s station, that Yangyang needed for his travel to Osaka, where his family’s friend will greet him. His train will be arriving soon.

“Sorry,” Yangyang squeezed the hand that barely let go off of his since they left the Fushimi Inari Taisha, “If I randomly decline now and don’t show up, I will just make everyone worried I got lost or something. Besides, I don’t have a place to stay here.”

“You could stay at mine,” If Yukhei’s pouts did some weird things to Yangyang’s chest before, his current one beat it all, “We have a big house with many rooms, you can choose whichever!”

“And then get attacked by your baby brother? No, thank you, I barely managed to survive as it is.” Yukhei whined, continuing to sulk. Yangyang sighed, this fox was so much older than him, but looked like a young adult his age, yet was acting like a little kid.

Guess there are many, many different foxes around.

“Maybe I will come back someday,” Yangyang then added, shrugging, “Or, you will find me.” He made it sound like no big deal, but inside he was no less sad than Yukhei, that they needed to part now. Was it even correct to assume Yukhei wanted to do anything with him after today…?

“You bet I will find you!” With sudden determination, Yukhei brought Yangyang’s hand to his chest, now using both of his hands to hold on tightly, “I want to court you properly!”

Yangyang sputtered, “C-Court?!” Heat rose to his cheeks once Yukhei nodded seriously, “Isn’t that… isn’t that against the rules??”

“Foxes posed and lived as humans since a very, very long time ago, eventually settling in your world by becoming wives, husbands, friends or guards, so implying we can’t be together is kind of late, mister said human.”

Until this day Liu Yangyang really had no idea in what kind of world he lived.

But if Yukhei wanted to… court him, or say in today’s terms, appeal to him and eventually, date him, does it mean that he… liked Yangyang enough to do that?

“You… like me?” Yangyang voiced his thoughts in a tiny voice, staring at Yukhei as if the latter did not hear his mind already. Given by the fact redness was blooming on his cheeks, he certainly did.

Instead of replying directly, Yukhei avoided eye-contact and mumbled, “You are too oblivious for your own good, Yangyang,” Yangyang opened his mouth to not so subtly yell at the fox, flustered, until said fox cut him off, “You stayed when you could have easily run away and made it worse. You sincerely fixed everything in accordance with me. Didn’t leave me behind or tried to leave halfway yourself. You even paid for everything without a question. You didn’t feel it and it might look insignificant to you, but while I helped you, you also helped me feel like myself, while I learnt how the human world worked directly.”

Yukhei grinned happily, bringing a very stunned and red-faced Yangyang’s hand to his cheek, “It would only be an honour to try courting such a beautiful and kind soul like you! Besides…” The sneaky fox moved his head slightly, lightly brushing his lips against Yangyang’s knuckles, “…I thought you were attracted to me, too?”

It took a moment, before Yangyang pulled his hand back, heart ready to jump out of his chest as he shouted profanities at Yukhei in the first language, that popped in his mind, which turned out to be German. All of his face bloomed red, even the tips of his ears and neck, and it did not help that the two sat right beside a streetlamp.

“I! No! Maybe! A bit!” How does one deal with this situation even!? Earlier Yangyang at least knew what to sort of do, to save his butt and now… now what. Say something sweet to Yukhei back? Just leave as he seriously needed to leave right about now? Allow, decline Yukhei’s wish to court him?

Yangyang instantly crossed the last one. No, yes, he liked Yukhei enough to spend some more time with him. But how should he get this fox to stop laughing at him?!

A spontaneous idea formed in Yangyang’s mind and given the lack of time for a different reason, he did not give it a second thought as he was suddenly leaning in quickly and shutting Yukhei up with a peck on his lips. And then instantly pulling away.

“I-I will let you know, that I don’t usually kiss until about a third date,” Yangyang tried to say seriously, as much as his reddish cheeks, stammering and wildly beating heart allowed, “So, you better show up and… and do your courting right to receive another one. Goodbye.”

Just like that, Yangyang slung his backpack over his shoulder and mad-dashed out of there, inside of the station and towards his line for Osaka, leaving his one-day experience slash wild adventure in Kyoto with Yukhei behind. He did not believe, what he just did, but as he jumped down the stairs, two at a time, Yangyang found himself smiling big, letting out a heartful, loud laugh. No, this was certainly not goodbye. This was the starting point of another adventure.

Please come find me quickly.

And as Yukhei stared at the spot Yangyang had been sitting at just a minute ago, flabbergasted to the core, fox ears showing and touching his lips with the tips of his fingers, he heard that silent challenge. Looking up at the nightly sky, Yukhei’s lips slowly stretched into a smile, adorned by pinkish cheeks and equally as wildly beating heart.

He will.