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“Where are you Ei…”
A fox ear twitches and Miko grumbles before she takes a deep breath and drops her ears back to the side of her head. Saigu’s words from earlier scroll through her mind.
”It is unbecoming that any Kitsune should have their ears subject to the whims of biology. Control! Yae!”
A pink sakura blossom hits her on the ear again and Yae physically grabs the tips of her own ears in annoyance.
“I want my girlfriend.” She grumbles, petulantly, nobody around to hear.
The barest scent of rainwater hits her nose on the clear spring air and Yae looks up at the clear blue sky, her brow furrowing momentarily.
Is Makoto bringing rain?
There’s no rumble of thunder in the air, no hum lightning in the distance so Ei isn’t responsible for any rain that might be coming. The faint scent of Ei’s perfume and a pink lily hits Yae’s sensitive nose and her head snaps towards their usual hill.
How did I not think of that?
Yae yawns, and starts her small hike.
Ten minutes later, she spots Ei’s prone form on her back in the grass, lazing underneath pretty pink trees with her braid splayed haphazardly on lush grass. And she’s covered in small brown fluffballs.
Yae trudges up to her sleeping girlfriend and glares down at the foxes monopolising her sleeping form.
”YOU DARE…” She hisses, watching with satisfaction as four sets of eyes pop open comically and stare up at her in abject terror.
The four little foxes scramble to their feet and sit at attention, staring up at her with wide, terrified eyes. One of them emits a scared little “meep” as they shiver and Yae glares down at them like a vengeful deity.
”SCRAM.” She hisses; and they scurry away posthaste.
Satisfied with her ability to intimidate small woodland creatures, Yae straightens her clothes, and promptly drops herself straight onto Ei’s chest.
Inazuma’s High Queen of Thunder wakes up with a start and blinks the hair out of her eyes as she registers a sudden lump of affectionate Kitsune dropping onto her prone form.
“Ooof... Hello Yae.”
“Mmmf.” Yae hums, shrugging, A furry ear worms its way inside of Ei’s clothes to rest over her heart.
“Don’t you have lessons today?” Ei cranes her neck up, looking for any sign of an approaching and angry white-haired Kitsune.
“Mm-mmn.” Yae shakes her head slightly.
“They’re all done?” Ei interprets.
“Mmm.” Yae hums and Ei just rolls her eyes.
“Sleepy fox?”
Fluffy tails surround them and Ei smiles.
“My Yae.” She whispers, pressing a kiss into the crown of Yae’s head.
Strong arms wrap themselves around Yae’s waist and back, and she drifts into a light doze.
The Kitsune wakes up to feel small paws swiping curiously through her tail.
“Ei.” She grunts, flicking her tail. “Stop it.”
The paws stop for a second, and then go right back to playing with her tail.
“Stop it!” With a growl, Yae opens her eyes and lifts her tail, glaring at one of the small brown foxes she thought she had scared off earlier.
”You.” She growls, satisfied as the little cub darts away in fear, crouched low in the grass, front paws spread, watching her warily.
“She’s mine!” Yae declares. Nuzzling into Ei’s warmth. Watching as the concern on the little animal’s face fades to worry.
It slowly relaxes from its alert posture, taking a careful step towards Yae, then another, then jumping in surprise when Yae snaps her teeth from her spot on EI’s chest.
The fox makes a very small noise and gently walks up to them, keeping its eyes on Yae. It sniffs at Ei’s sleeve, then steps over her hand and clamps its teeth -gently- on Yae’s clothing. Tugging.
“I’m not moving for you.” Yae grunts, closing her eyes. “She’s mine.”
The little fox gives a tiny, pitiful little noise and tugs harder, even through her closed lids Yae can feel the little creature giving her desperate cute eyes.
“Ugh. What?” She opens her eyes and offers her hand to the fox -it is, after all, a little cute-, but the little fluffball backs away, eyes begging her to follow.
Yae sighs, takes a deep breath, and disentangles herself from Ei’s embrace to follow the fox down the hill. The little animal trots ahead of her, checking over its shoulder every few seconds to make sure she’s following, before a small, plaintive little cry makes it jump and sprint off, leaving Yae to follow its footsteps with a touch of worry niggling at her thoughts.
When she catches up the little fox, Yae feels sympathy yank on her heartstrings.
“Need help?” She whispers. Crouching down to offer her fingers to the small brown fox mewling in pain in the centre of a circle of now three other small foxes. The little animal looks up at her with wide eyes and then down at it’s paw, yanking pathetically at it, then letting out a sad little bleat of pain when it doesn’t come free of the small hole it’s stuck in.
Yae makes a conscious effort to vanish her tail since she can feel it dragging through sticks and leaves. Then scoops her hands under the small fox and lifts it ever so gently into her arms.
“Are you okay?” She lets its injured paw hang free in the air away from her arm, supporting the rest of the animal gently and scratching at its ears carefully.
Yae looks down at the three adorable little brown foxes clustered at her feet and sighs.
“I’m not sharing my Ei…” She tries to glare, but several sets of wide, dark, adorable eyes peer up at her. “She’s mine!” Yae insists, but she turns away anyway and starts leading the way back up the hill.
Ei wakes up to find herself being used as a pillow by three healthy fox cubs, one with a slightly swollen paw, and one pink-haired kitsune who seems very insistent that Ei is covered as much as possible in pink fur and hair.
Eternity’s archon sighs fondly and kisses the top of Yae’s head, and then closes her eyes and falls back to sleep.