𝑆𝐿𝑌 || 𝗿𝗺𝗮

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╔                              ╗
ᵗᵉᵃᵐ ᵇˡᵘᵉ ᵛˢ ᵗᵉᵃᵐ ʳᵉᵈ
╚                              ╝

it was a normal day at the main lobby. everyone was seated on the couch and relaxing—with liu, not so subtly, avoiding lonky and miyo munching on her snacks angrily—yeah, a very relaxing day

❝ she's still pissed for getting dragged like a rag doll by the kupa-man ❞, liu whispered to kumiho who was eyeing the distasteful cat

kumiho nodded and leaned her head back on the couch, listening to the small chatters from across the room

she had taken off her peach cropped-hoodie, leaving her with a sleeveless black skin tight suit. she was well aware of the prying eyes on her, especially her left arm and back

❝ i didn't know you have a tattoo ❞, gai says, glancing at her exposed arm

she glanced at him before looking at the ceiling, ❝ us, kitsune, receive a tattoo if we work alongside the leader of our clan and have done a good deed to him and the people ❞

miyo perked up in interest, ❝ you worked with the leader? ❞, one leg over the other with a frown

❝ good deed? ❞, popo asked

❝ i worked as his personal guard with my brother and our sensei ❞, she replied, ❝ i got this tattoo for saving his life from a traitor who tried to assassinate him and his family—as a reward, he had taken the honour to mark me as a 'hero' ❞

❝ oh? ❞, lonky tried not to look interested and sat next to her, tracing his finger along the tattoo, ❝ why a fox tattoo? isn't it ironic considering you are a fox ❞

❝ foxes can be a representation of cunning, mysterious and wisdom. it's also a symbol of good luck—i guess he chose this because i managed to disarm the traitor without alerting his children who were busy playing and supposedly i'm their good luck charm or whatever ❞

❝ it suits you! ❞, popo pipes up, grinning at her head pats

seconds later, 03-32 popped up from the table, informing them that they'll be picking teams with a leader

❝ oh pick me! pick me! ❞, lonky chimed in

❝ no no—pick me instead! ❞, popo grinned

unfortunately the leaders would be with the highest score and the most popular which deflates the two cowards

the highest score was liu and the popularity chart was a tie between kuga and kumiho

❝ just pick kuga as the leader—i'm not fit to be one anyways ❞, kumiho said, winking at the tiger only to receive a smack on the head, ❝ ouch—hey! ❞

now that the leaders were chosen, everything went back to normal so kumiho decided to tag along with kuga to train

kumiho wrapped her hand with the bandages kuga lends to her and walked over to the punching bag

kuga was right at her side doing push ups

they trained in silence with the occasionally sounds of kumiho's fist colliding with the punching bag and kuga's pants and grunts

❝ why'd you give up being the leader ❞

❝ like i said, i'm not fit to be one ❞

❝ but you're a bodyguard for your leader—i'm sure you've given orders to people ❞

kumiho stifled a laugh, ❝ trust me when i said i can't give out orders without causing them to run off while crying—it's mostly my brother who barks out the orders since he's more nicer compared to me ❞