Zero Foxes Given

by Nix Whittaker

  “Probably they are working on something sneaky.” As if being a tengu meant sneaky would be their only approach.

  “Racist much.” Kiera accused Akari but with no heat.

  Akari sneered. “You don’t know them. They’re violent, and they will betray their own mothers.”

  “Again, racist much?”

  Akari rolled her eyes but forged on. “You should be careful of them.” Kiera narrowed her eyes as she took in Akari and wondered about her own agenda. Did she really want Kiera to stick around? Again protecting her brother and making sure the girl he liked stuck around. Kiera had news for Akari. No one would force her to stay anywhere.

  “If I were careful, I would never get anything done in life.” Kiera placed the cup in the dishwasher and said, “Well, if that is enough, I’m going to bed.” She didn’t want to admit that she was exhausted by the emotional rollercoaster. It hit her halfway around the courtyard. She was married to a fox.

  Her phone rang though before the whole thing got unstuck in her head. She wasn’t sure who would call this late at night, and the number wasn’t a familiar one. She answered anyway.

  The voice on the other end was bright. “Sorry to call so late, but I wasn’t sure if you were in the country or not.” The voice certainly wasn’t familiar.

  Frowning, she asked, “Who is this?”

  The voice chuckled lightly. “Oh sorry, this is Maddison. I’m the one who set up the deal with Victoria City. I’m just calling to see if you arrived in the city safely and when we can expect postings of tourist areas.”

  An ache started just behind one of her eyes, and she rubbed at the bridge of her nose, hoping to ease it before it became a full-blown headache.

  Letting out a breath, she said, “I’ve got some images up already, but I’ll have some more up tomorrow.” That was if the tengu didn’t attack her and kill her.

  She finished up the call just as she entered her room. Her room. She wondered if she should get attached to the space or not. Maybe if the tengu left her alone, she could head out to the campsite after all.

  She hadn’t closed the curtains when she had left for the council meeting, so she went over to close them. Sitting on the windowsill was a bright orange lizard. It skittered out of sight quickly as she swooshed the curtains shut.

  She sat on the bed and let her arms rest on her knees.

  She was married. Scared and confused were the predominant feelings, so she went to see why she wasn’t angry. She should be angry. Haku had taken away her agency and married her without her consent. In any court of law, she could happily annul the marriage. But instead, she was scared.

  Scared she would be trapped like she had been with her father. That had only been possible because she had loved her father, and her family had used that emotion to manipulate her.

  Maybe that was the problem. She liked Haku. She even liked the surly and scissor happy sister. It wouldn’t take much for her to love them and then she would be vulnerable. Vulnerable enough to be trapped here forever.

  Pressing a hand against her chest, she could feel the weight inside her chest clamping around her lungs and making it harder to breathe. She couldn’t be trapped and isolated again. That was where the confused emotions came from. Maybe this wasn’t a trap. Maybe she wouldn’t be isolated here like she had been in the dead horse town in the wop wops of Gisbourne.

  She squeezed her eyes shut. It was too much. Too much to take in, on top of finding out that all the strangeness she had thought was a mere fairy tale was real. She needed time to process everything, to find options that didn’t scare her or confuse her and certainly didn’t trap her.

  Chapter Eight

  Kiera took a bus to Craigdarroch Castle, leaving before the others had even risen. She knew they would argue with her that it wasn’t safe. They didn’t know yet what the tengu planned. Probably nothing good. She wasn’t about to hide. Besides, what were the chances the tengu knew she would pick this particular tourist trap to visit today?

  She wasn’t disappointed at the Hogwartseque building. There was a group who had dressed for the occasion in period outfits who tittered as the guide took them around. Occasionally, she would be in the same room as the group and listened with half an ear as he described the rich family who had once lived there. She didn’t join the tour as she preferred to take her time wandering around. The tour was just a tad too fast for her.

  The building itself was magnificent. Who would have thought coal could be so lucrative? Kiera took photos and ate lunch in the gardens while she set the images with the appropriate captions and filters.

  A bright orange newt climbed onto the arm of the bench, startling Kiera. Sporting a few dots on its back, it was a rather stunning example of its kind and looked a little like the one she had seen on her windowsill the night before.

  She brought her camera around and snapped a few before it reared back on its small back legs. Its lips split to reveal sharp teeth. Kiera recoiled back. She didn’t know newts had teeth. She took a few more images before it scuttled away. She wasn’t sure if she would post the images. They were certainly weird and unique, so maybe they would get some likes.

  Kiera finished up at the castle, unsure if she should head home or go onto the next site on her list. Her arm ached from where the scar had stretched after using the arm all day. A small café across the road appealed to her, and she thought she would wait there for the next bus. By then, she would have made up her mind about where to go next.

  She had barely stepped onto the tarmac when a car careened down the road. So far, drivers had been polite, so the speed shocked her. She flailed as she stumbled backwards.

  A hand caught her shoulder and yanked her back out of the way of the car that jumped the curb and headed straight for her. The dark hair and features of a tengu flashed in her vision as the car zipped past, narrowly missing her.

  Kiera watched the car as it knocked over a rubbish bin before it returned to the street and disappeared into the traffic.

  She turned to thank whoever had saved her, but all she could see was another one of those bright newts sitting on the post of the gate. There was no one close enough to have been her rescuer.

  Shaken, she went to the café. Her mind made up to return home. But she needed a hot chocolate first.

  ___

  Haku slammed the door open when she was still on the driveway. He caught her up and smoothed his hands over her hair. Checking her for injuries.

  She caught his hands and said, “Hey, hey. I’m fine.”

  “You left,” he accused her with a harsher tone than she had ever heard from him.

  “I did leave a note,” she defended herself.

  He frowned at her. She was surprised by how much he was worried about her. Her own eyes narrowed as she took him in.

  She was suspicious by his reaction. She wasn’t the kind of girl who had men taking second glances. Let alone be all choked up by her being gone for a day.

  His hands tightened around hers. Turning her grasp into holding hands.

  “Why do you like me?” She didn’t ask if he was lying as she had a feeling he wasn’t capable of being that subtle with his deception.

  “I don’t know.” That had her rocking back on her heels. She had expected him to go into something about her looks or her attitude like most of the guys in her life who had wanted something from her.

  She didn’t pull her hands free, and she would ponder on that later.

  He motioned with his head towards the house. “We should get inside. The tengu are watching.”

  She spun, losing one of her hands from his grasp. She looked around and sure enough, there were a couple of black birds sitting in the shadows of the neighbourhood trees. She hadn’t spotted them because they were half-hidden in the dappled shade.

  Haku tugged on her arm, and she followed him into the house. Still keeping her eyes on the spying tengu. She asked, “Aren’t you worried they will know you like me? They probably thought you only ma
rried me to get the naginata. They wouldn’t have realised you like me.”

  He obviously hadn’t realised that as his steps stuttered. But he shrugged it off and said, “That is better. I’d rather they came for me to use against you.”

  “I can look after myself. After all, I was only in trouble after you bit me.” She regretted her words at the look of anguish on his face.

  His free hand ran over the scar on her collarbone. Shivers went through her. She stepped back, not ready for what that reaction meant for her.

  Pulling her hand free, she said, “I picked up some things to make dinner.” She walked past him to the kitchen inside. It was still early to start dinner, but it was better than continuing with their conversation, one that made her uncomfortable.

  Akari was in the kitchen making herself a snack. She glanced from Kiera to behind her. Kiera didn’t dare glance behind her, but she was sure Haku was following her, probably with a glare.

  Chapter Nine

  Kiera found a small backyard with a utility shed and a washing line. It wasn’t large, but it was larger than the courtyard inside, and it had the advantage of not having a lot in it. Kiera spun the naginata around in her hands as she got a feel for the balance.

  It had been years since she had used one of these. Then she had practised almost every day. It had been one of the few things she could do while at home with her father. It had also been that last link with her school years. A time when she had been free. That sensation was still there even if it was tinged with the panic of her time caring for her father.

  Feeling a little more centred, she let out a deep breath, moving into the first form. She turned off her mind. It wasn’t the part of her that remembered how to move. Her body was the one that remembered the hours and days of practise. Emptying herself of thought, she swirled and turned. The only time she had ever felt graceful was when she was doing this.

  An orange cat jumped onto the wall around the backyard, startling Kiera. Her body stuttered in its move. The foot she was supposed to move forward was a second behind her body, and she flailed her arms as she toppled forward.

  She caught herself and glared at the cat. The cat, unashamed at the chaos it had created, meandered along the perimeter. Kiera noticed the two tails flicking in counter to each other.

  She asked aloud, “Another yokai?”

  The cat turned a head as if it understood. Maybe it did if it was a yokai. Kiera said, “Mind if I take a photo?” The cat’s only answer was to sit down. Laying its two tails on the inside of the wall, highlighting that it had two tails. It cocked its head to the side in a cute pose.

  Kiera took that as permission and propped the naginata against the wall. Taking her phone out from where it had been sitting with her other things by the door. After taking a few snaps, she put in a comment to go with it before uploading. She saw that her image of the newt had a few comments along with shares and likes. There were a lot of WTF kind of comments that had her chuckling.

  “If I didn’t know yokai were real, I would seriously think I was going crazy.” When she looked up, the cat was gone. Maybe she was going crazy. This time, she wasn’t joking, so she quickly looked at her gallery. No, there really was a cat with two tails.

  Letting out a breath of relief, she retrieved the naginata and returned to her practise. Only when she felt herself warm and settled did she return the naginata to the size of a pencil and gathered her gear. There was a notification on her phone. Frowning, she opened it up. It was from Maddison, the lady who represented the city.

  She winced. She hadn’t done much in the way of promoting their city, and they had already sent her a payment. She’d have to figure something out, otherwise they might get angry. About to put her phone away, it rang. Her cousin’s name popped up.

  Smiling, she answered, “Hey, favourite cousin.”

  “I don’t know if that is a compliment or just sad considering you have forty-two cousins who are all mouth breathers.”

  Kiera chuckled. Hinemoa was always good for light teasing. “Take it however you want to take it. Funny. Uncle Jake called the other day. You aren’t part of all that, are you?”

  Hinemoa snorted at the idea. “Hardly. You know since I left town, they won’t even talk to me. It’s like I ceased to exist. But I’ve heard rumours.”

  Kiera didn’t question how she had found out. Their hometown was small, and their family was the core of the settlement. To the point that there were even second cousins married to each other. Hinemoa was working for Air New Zealand and had helped Kiera to leave New Zealand and the pressure from the family.

  “Dish,” Kiera asked.

  “Well, Uncle Jake has this new, cute guy working for him. He thinks if you meet him, you’ll fall head over heels and live happily ever after in the sticks.”

  Kiera rolled her eyes and snorted. Her expression probably duplicated by Hinemoa. Who she could hear snorting through the phone. Her uncle owned a garage and though she didn’t have anything against mechanics, the kind of work her uncle did didn’t require too many brain cells. He’d have to be more than cute to entice her home.

  Hinemoa added, “I know. Ridiculous. But you know they are desperate for you to return home.”

  “That won’t happen.” She shuddered. Not that she didn’t love New Zealand but whenever she was around her family, it was like they had a leash attached to her and could lead her around the paddock.

  It had only been distance that had saved her. First when she had gone off to boarding school and when she had started her journey around the world. She spoke with Hinemoa a little longer before she hung up.

  Chapter Ten

  Kiera had wandered through the inner garden six times. Nothing had changed. She knew this feeling. She had felt like this when she had been looking after her father in his last year. She hadn’t even been able to go into town for groceries. The small town she had lived in delivered food, otherwise she would have had to live off what she could grow in the garden.

  Her father would wander off if she took her eyes off him even for a moment. When she went to bed at night, she had to lock the house down like a prison. Three locks on all the doors that led out of the house.

  Haku lounged on the couch. Kiera knew he probably had other things to do. But instead, he watched her as she prowled the house like a tiger at the zoo.

  Kiera startled when he stood. “Follow.” He strode out of the room. Kiera wanted to argue that he couldn’t tell her what to do, but the mystery had her skipping after him. It was better than doing nothing.

  He led her upstairs to the half floor at the top of the house. It had large dormer windows that let light into the wide space. A large table against one wall was splattered with paint. There were stacks of canvases leaning against the side of the table. An easel that almost touched the top of the ceiling had a half-finished painting on it.

  A golden tree sat on an island in a river. The island and the tree were the only things with any colour. Even half-completed, it drew her across the room. She felt the urge to reach out and touch the fiery leaves on the tree but thought it was probably still wet as it glistened.

  “This is amazing.” She glanced up at him. “Is this what you do?”

  He nodded. Going over to a large set of drawers, he pulled out some paper and placed it on the table. He motioned for her to take a seat on a stool. Curious about what he wanted from her, she sat. When he looked up from gathering pencils, he frowned. He approached her. His arms wrapped around her, and he grabbed the base of the stool. He shifted her over a foot. She wobbled and would have toppled if his body wasn’t so close to her own; it had given her a handy object to grab.

  Once satisfied she was in the right place, he went back to the table with the paper. His pencil moved with long strokes but when she went to look over his shoulder, he motioned for her to stay in her seat. She blushed when she realised he was sketching her. Even from her perch on the stool, she could see the shape of her face and the curls of her hair.


  Touching her hair, she was still worried he wouldn’t want her to move. But he didn’t seem to mind as he continued to sketch. She asked, “Do you sell your work?”

  “Some of it. I run a gallery in town. That is where most of my income comes from.”

  “Is this a hobby then?” He paused in his sketch. She hoped she hadn’t offended him.

  “Yes, and no.” She wasn’t sure what he meant by that. He certainly painted well enough to be a professional. She had no idea about the art industry, but she knew some could make millions. The modest home he lived in didn’t speak of wealth and if the gallery was what he lived on, she doubted he would hang anything up in the louvre anytime soon.

  “You can move now.” Since she had been moving before, she assumed he meant she could leave the stool. She dragged it closer so she could see him working. He had a rough sketch of her and was now shading in parts.

  He said, “I don’t usually do portraits. But I thought you’d like this.”

  She propped her chin on her hand and watched as his own hands flicked across the page. Adding detail and body to what was only a few moments before lines on a blank page.

  “Can I ask you some questions?”

  He grunted an assent, so she asked, “How did you guys come about? I mean I’ve heard of you, but you don’t really fit into science and stuff.”

  “We are the essence of human life. When people repeat aspects of their lives, we gain power from it until there is a moment when we can manifest. After that, we’re much like humans in that we can procreate. Almost all of us have some way to hide who we are, so I’m not surprised we have faded to mere legend.”

  “Mmm, so if you guys are real, are the rest of the magical critters real as well?”

  “I don’t see why not? Like I said, we are a manifestation of human life. Atoms shed and reorganised into us.”

  She wasn’t so sure she wanted science in something that was so clearly magical, but it did comfort her that there was some rhyme to the reason. “So, no evolution? You didn’t climb out of some goo?”