Chapter Text
Spring had just arrived in the woods Suguru called home. Pools of snow were dotted around the areas of the forest floor that were too shady for the sun to melt. The air smelled fresh and clean, and the animals and insects that hid away during the harsh winter had begun coming out to prepare for summer.
For a kitsune, Suguru didn't cause much mischief or chaos. A quiet life was better suited to a fox like him, and he quite enjoyed it. The regular foxes that knew him ran in between his legs as he walked, a routine they used to get the snow of their fur every morning in the transition from winter to spring. Suguru never minded. The forest hardly had any visitors that resembled a human form, Suguru being the only creature there that could look close enough to a human. The pointy ears and fluffy, dark tail were a little giveaway, though.
It was on this morning while basking in a clearing that Suguru's ears picked up on a crunching of the snow. A crunch much heavier than any animal he knew would come around usually. His ears angled themselves to try and hear better, and he stood upright, preparing for the worst. Being about 400 years old, Suguru had dealt with human attackers a few times. The rumours that surrounded the forest were all centred around an evil, dark kitsune. Suguru relied on those rumours instead of his claws to keep people at bay.
And then he spotted it. A tiny little spotted tail swishing in a patch of snow. Not at all a threat, but definitely not common around this area. After a little self encouragement, Suguru mustered up as gentle a voice as he could to speak to the creature. "Hello? I don't bite unless something else bites first.." He tried softly. It wasn't very often he spoke, as there was no one to speak to. Despite that, the creature must've believed what he said as a tuft of white hair popped out from the snow pile.
Then, two piercing blue eyes. The kind of blue you'd see in the village during summer. Suguru hadn't been to the village since he stole a lantern and fire starters to keep his then run-down home warm.
The creature, now very obviously a hybrid child, refused to move anymore than he already had. Suguru flattened all the fur on his ears and tail that had puffed up from the scare and crouched down to make himself more approachable. "Where's your mom, cutie?" Clearly, this snow leopard did not belong here. It was uncommon to see snow leopards away from their prowl, even more so a cub. His group must be worried.
Giving up on keeping his clothes clean, Suguru sat on the damp grass and smiled in the direction of the head that slowly let itself out from behind its snow wall. The cub was dressed expensively, fine silks and fabrics adorning his cute little outfit. So he came from a clan. It was dangerous getting involved with a clan of predators as dangerous as leopards could be, but Suguru couldn't bring himself to leave the child.
And so, as the child waddled towards Suguru, he made no movements. Leopards showed vulnerability as a sign of trust, right? Truthfully, Suguru could only guess. He'd not often left his small forest, and he'd never ventured beyond the village. The leopards lived high in the mountains, and to most others, they were untouchable. Physically and metaphorically.
They all branched from one clan many generations ago, and nearly each and every branch upheld is 'better than every other hybrid' ideology. Other hybrids, like Suguru, were left with the crumbs of the respect they received. Suguru might've been bitter, but it was never a child's fault what their elders did.
"Come," Suguru beckoned, "let me take you to my cottage, I'll feed you, and we can try and find mom, okay?" For a child who was alone in a completely unfamiliar place, the boy was oddly unfazed. He nodded to Suguru and followed where he went as he took him to the cottage. He looked at Suguru when Suguru looked at the path but quickly found the path very interesting, too, when Suguru turned to look at him.
The poor thing probably missed home. He was incredibly far from it.
The door to Suguru's old little cottage creaked as it swung open, crying for oil on its hinges. The leopard cub followed closely behind Suguru as they entered. A blanket made of sheep's wool was laid out on the floor for the boy to get comfortable in while Suguru pulled off his damp robe. As he did so, a crest stitched on the back of it caught his eye. Decorated with golden threads, the Gojo clan crest made itself known to Suguru.
He was playing a dangerous game. Sneaking in the woods around the foot of the mountaint that the Gojo clan's home was built upon was suspicious enough, and the little Gojo leopard chasing after his tail was not a better look. All he needed to do was make it to the main gates, or close enough to guide the boy over. Thankfully, no one stood at the gates when they approached.
As Suguru stopped, the cub that had grown far too comfortable around him bumped into his leg, Suguru's fluffy black tail still caught softly in his jaws. Admittedly, it had been nice to be around another person who understood him for the most part. Most kitsune his age would have partners and would be preparing for offspring. He had never felt that spark with anyone before, but having a child running around his ankles seemed very appealing after this ordeal.
"Hey, up there, is that where you live?" Suguru asked softly, grabbing the boy's attention and directing his gaze to the home's lavish gardens that hid the actual building from view. The boy nodded and looked up questioningly at Suguru, and Suguru's heart pulled for a moment. "Wait here. Someone will find you and guide you back up the mountain." As Suguru stepped away from the kid a little, a look of confusion and hurt flashed across the boy's face, and he nearly tripped over himself, scrambling to cling onto Suguru's leg again.
The kid really didn't make it easy, sending him home. "I'll see you again someday, okay? I promise." It didn't count as a lie, right? He would probably see him paraded around for a while when the clan celebrated his promotion to head in a few centuries. He never promised the kid would see him.
What mattered was that the kid believed him and let him stay behind in the forest while they waited for someone to discover the returned child. It was only when the sun began to set that two other leopards showed up and, in a panic, ushered the Gojo kid behind the gate. Suguru received one last longing look before neither could see each other anymore, and Suguru was left alone again.
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The walk back was uneventful. Even though the two other leopards fussed over him, Satoru felt lonely again. There was hardly room for love among all the expectations he had to meet. The kitsune that guided him home had been kind, soft, and gentle. He'd meant it all genuinely. He didn't do it because he wouldn't get paid if he wasn't nice to the boy. He did it because that was how he was. He had promised he would see Satoru again. But it had been such a long journey back to the mountain, how would he find him again?
At home, he was scolded about running off, how a child like him was not of the status of those who played and chased the butterflies or grasshoppers. He took it all with a stone cold expression. He had sat through countless similar discussions between his father and his grandfather. It seemed that every other conversation between the men of the household was the way Satoru ought to be acting.
"How did you even find your way back? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to travel alone!? You aren't strong enough to defend yourself against the dangers that lurk. Countless creatures want you dead, Satoru!" His father's voice bellowed in the room.
"I wasn't alone.." Satoru mumbled, looking down at where his hands rested on his knees and where his knees rested on the wooden floor in front of his Father's chair.
"What does that mean?" The man's voice was eerily quieter. The change from yelling to this was more frightening than the yelling. But Satoru was a rebellious child by nature.
"I was with a black-haired kitsune. He brought me here." And white hot rage spread on his father's face, and his grandfather shook his head and turned away, ashamed of Satoru's confession.
"Why would you even let a creature like that near you, Satoru? They're greedy, evil and sly creatures, kitsune are." He stepped forward and yanked Satoru off the floor by his arm, pulling at his clothes and checking everything was where it was supposed to be while giving his arduous lecture.
He went on and on about how the Kitsune probably stole something or tricked Satoru into some sort of deal to be fulfilled once he took over the clan when nothing appeared to be missing. Internally, Satoru rolled his eyes. The kitsune had been like what he imagined babies felt like when coddled and pampered by their mothers. It was fluffy, carefree, and meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The moment was fleeting and gone far too soon.
Beneath the boredom and annoyance of the anti-kitsune lecture was a burning determination. That kitsune, the softness and safety of his words, his promise. Satoru gripped to that promise like a lifeline. Once he was the head of his clan, he could do whatever he wanted, right? He would find that kitsune and bring him to live with Satoru, in the same comfort that he had offered.
That night, alone in his room, Satoru closed his eyes and imagined himself all grown up. Strong, smart, powerful, anything he needed to be. And he would be standing next to that kitsune, on the same level as eachother. He would take care of the man, and the man would never leave in exchange. He wouldn't be lonely. He would be happy and fulfilled. All he needed was that special kitsune. It was these goals he would aim for in his heart, but to get their he would have to meet his family's first.
It was an easy trade-off, Satoru determined. A small price to pay for a happy life. A smile found itself plastered in the cub's face as he fell asleep to scenes of his future life playing in his head.