Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 29 – I Need to do Something for You

…

How do I ask her?

We had been sitting next to each other for a few minutes, but neither of us had said anything.

…

Kierra, you need to say something.

But I don’t know what to say.

…

You’re the one who asked her to sit next to you.

I know that… but…

…

It didn’t matter how much I thought about it; I just couldn’t find the right words to use.

Why is this so hard?

…

I turned and looked up at Ovia, but she was busy playing with her hair in her lap, wrapping and then unwrapping her hands over and over again.

…

Just… follow the plan…

…

That’s all you have to do.

…

Before I could do anything, there was another flash of light; however, unlike last time, it didn’t disappear. When I turned to look at it, it felt like something warm entered my body. Immediately, I tried to stand up, but before my feet touched the ground, everything around me went black.

Help!

“*Yip*!”

…

Yip?

I immediately started struggling, pushing against anything that touched me until I eventually managed to free myself. Looking around the room, the first thing I saw was Ovia staring directly at me. However, she was much bigger than I remember, easily towering over me… well, towering over me more than she did before, at least.

“…U-um…” Ovia inched closer to me.

I looked down at myself and saw two small white paws trampling on my dress.

Did I?…

How?

I didn’t do anything yet…

Somehow, I had turned into a fox without thinking about it, but that seemed to be a good thing. Ovia’s eyes were locked solely on me, containing what I could only call a desire that I had never seen from her before.

Was I right?

…

Is this what she wants?!

Without wasting any more time thinking, I hurriedly pushed my dress onto the floor before making my way over to the edge of the couch and lying down.

“W-what?” Ovia asked, “D-do you w-want something?”

I responded simply by pointing at my body with my tail, assuming she would understand what I wanted her to do.

Before saying anything, she reached her hands out towards me before abruptly stopping herself.

“C-can I?” She asked while holding her hands out in front of her.

Yes! Of course!

I need to show you what I can do for you.

I nodded.

“R-really?” She held her pose although her hands started trembling.

I nodded again, pointing at my body with my tail again in case she had misunderstood me.

“O-Okay.” She started moving again, but instead of lying down like I expected her to, she picked me up and held me in her arms.

Huh? What?

This isn’t right.

I wriggled my way out of her arms, making sure not to scratch her with my claws, and lay back down on the couch in the same spot.

“…O-oh… D-did I do something w-wrong?” She moved away, putting her hands behind her back, “I-I knew I shouldn’t have d-done that. W-what was I thinking?”

No!

You didn’t do anything wrong.

I didn’t explain well enough.

…

That’s what happened.

…

It’s not your fault.

“*Yip*!” I made a noise so Ovia would look back at me.

“Y-yes, w-what’s wrong?” She brought her hands out in front of her again.

Using my paw, I pointed at her head and then at my body.

“I-I don’t understand.” She started frantically looking around the room.

After only a brief moment, she flicked one of her tails, which caused a black tendril to appear from the ground. The tendril then grabbed the notebook that Ovia had dropped a little earlier and gave it back to her before disappearing into the ground just as quickly as it appeared.

“T-there must be s-something,” She rapidly flipped through the pages, “W-what am I supposed to do?”

“*Yip*!” Once again, I tried to get Ovia’s attention.

She looked up from the notebook and back at me. I then repeated the same action I had done before, but this time, I also briefly pretended to be asleep afterwards.

Please.

“S-sleep?” She glanced at the notebook and then back at me, “Y-you want to sleep in m-my lap?”

I shook my head, which caused Ovia to visibly deflate slightly.

What?

I-is this wrong?

I repeated the actions again, hoping she would understand me this time.

M-maybe it’s just unexpected.

I-I doubt anyone else has offered to do this for a Goddess.

That must be what’s going on.

…

“Y-you want me to… s-sleep on y-you?”

I nodded as quickly as I could, and my tail followed suit, rocking my whole body back and forth along with it.

“B-but-”

“*Yip*!”

Just do it.

I know you want to.

You have to.

…

“B-but you’re-”

“*Yip*!” I stared directly into her eyes.

You have to do it.

It’s… all I have right now.

“O-okay… I-If that’s what you w-want,” She lay down on the couch but made sure to keep her head up, “I-I’m doing it now… O-okay?”

I’m ready!

“*Yip!*”

She slowly started to lower her head onto my body. Before her head even made contact, the first thing I noticed was that her hair brushing against my body gave me a slight chill, just like her tails did.

That…

Feels nice…

Without warning, a low rumbling noise started coming from somewhere deep inside my chest.

What is this?

Am I… purring?

It seemed that I wasn’t the only one caught off guard as Ovia had stopped lowering her head and was instead staring directly at me without saying anything.

W-what am I supposed to do?

…

I just pointed at my body with one of my paws, hoping that she would ignore that embarrassing moment.

I-I… didn’t mean to…

I didn’t even know I could.

…

Ovia didn’t say anything and instead continued to lay her head down on me. However, as soon as her head made contact with my body, I felt an immense weight start pushing down on me, making it harder to breathe.

What’s going on?

It’s just her head.

Why is it this heavy?

Am I… that weak?

…

“A-are you okay?” Ovia asked, sounding a little panicked.

…

I… can’t stop…

Just… need to… force my way through it…

…

I-I’ve been through worse.

“*Y-yip*!” I nodded, making sure not to show her how much I was struggling.

I can take it.

…

If I just do it enough, I’ll get stronger.

I-I have to…

After a few more seconds of gritting my teeth, the weight abruptly disappeared.

Huh? No!

I looked up at Ovia, who had propped herself up over the top of me.

“I-I… can’t…”

What?! Why?!

W-what did I do wrong?!

I-It’s not supposed to go like this.

I pointed back at my body, hoping she would give me another chance.

Please, I don’t have anything else…

“I-I don’t want to h-hurt you…” Ovia was clearly panicking.

“*Yip!*”

It didn’t hurt.

I’m fine.

“B-but… y-you started crying.” Ovia wiped away the tears from under my eyes, proving that she was telling the truth.

So… That doesn’t matter…

I… cry all the time.

…

I… I… had to do this…

…

Ovia stopped lying down and instead sat up next to me.

What can I do now?…

…

I-I have to prove my worth…

I need her to let me stay with her…

“W-what about this?”

Yes! Anything!

Just… I need to do something… for you…

I don’t care what it is.

She picked me up off of the couch and carefully placed me in her lap.

“*Yip*?” I looked directly at her, waiting for her to tell me what she wanted.

What now?

What do I need to do?

“U-um… n-now you can go to s-sleep,” Ovia looked down at me, with her hands hovering just above my body.

What?

That’s something for me…

I need to be the one doing something for you.

“B-but… C-can I?…” Her hands started trembling again.

My ears perked up.

Can you what?!

“C-can I… s-stroke your… t-tail… w-while you sleep?”

…

Is that it?

Why wouldn’t you be able to?

Despite my confusion at her request, I nodded my head, causing Ovia’s eyes to immediately light up.

“T-then… Go on…” She waved her hands at me, “M-make yourself comfortable.”

Is this really enough?

I curled up in her lap, just like I had done with Ava the night before. As soon as I settled down, I felt Ovia run her fingers through my fur.

Her lap felt surprisingly different from Ava’s; instead of having a slight warmth, hers was cool, which didn’t make it any less comfortable. If anything, it was more comfortable as I was already kept warm by all the fur covering my body.

“T-thank you,” Ovia muttered under her breath.

I wanted to respond to her but wasn’t able to as my eyes started to close by themselves.

…

Just… stay here…

Don’t leave me…

…

Not again…