Haikyuu Creature Collection

Helping Paws 2 (Koji Hiroo)

Wizzy: Adorable Kitsune Hiroo by  DestinyExpansion (AKA AnUnknownPlaymaker)

"Mama!" A small body flopped onto my bed, waking me from my sleep. "Mama! He's back! He's back!"

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. My little kitsune was now five years old. He was in a human form now, but because he was still young, his fox ears and tail always lingered.

"Come on! Hurry or you'll miss him!" Yukiya grabbed my hand and pulled me out of bed, his bright blue eyes shining with excitement.

It's rather contagious and I found myself smiling too. "What's got you so excited this morning?"

"Koji's back!"

Just the mere mention of his name made me spring to my feet and rush out. For the past five years, I haven't seen him.

Those first couple days after he'd brought Yukiya to me, Koji had stayed with me. While he couldn't physically do much, he provided advice and information about kitsune that I wouldn't have been able to find on my own.

He explained how baby kitsune couldn't go into a human form until they were around three years old. He told me how they aged at about the same rate as humans, which was why most kitsune stayed among humans. There was so much that I never would have known if not for him...

In that time we spent together, we grew closer. There even came a night when Koji finally let me see what his human form looked like. That same night, he kissed me... and we even slept together... but the next morning, he was gone and I didn't see him again.

Sure enough, just as Yukiya said, Koji was on the back porch. He'd frozen up the minute I'd opened the door but made no attempt to run away. In front of him sat a basket, my basket that I used when picking vegetables from my garden, actually. This time it was full of berries.

"I... I thought Yukiya might like them..." Koji avoided looking at me. That confirmed my suspicion that he'd been avoiding me all this time.

Even if I didn't see him, he still kept his promise. He would leave things here for us. Sometimes there would be a note. Like vegetables from the garden or even sometimes something that would help Yukiya feel better whenever he started to seem sick.

Yukiya knew the story behind why I was human and he wasn't. He knew that it was Koji who brought him to me as a baby and that all these years, he was leaving things for Yukiya. But even if the snowy-haired boy saw the fox now and then, I'd always missed him.

As I studied the kitsune, I noticed that one of his paws was wet and a bit redder than it should have been. "Koji, you're hurt." I knelt down to get a closer look, but he only pulled the injured paw closer to his chest, away from me.

"It's nothing. Doesn't even hurt." He was lying. There was no way that it didn't hurt. "I just stepped in a trap. Nothing serious."

Yukiya tugged at my shirt. "You can fix it, can't you Mama?"

Koji looked between the child and me. He always brought hurt animals to be before... so what harm would there be in letting me help him now that he was the one who was hurt? Reluctantly, he held out his paw for me to look at.

"I'll go get the box!" Yukiya ran off into the house. He knew the drill already, considering I had to keep him with me every minute of the day up until he was able to mostly do things on his own. It made working difficult, but it made the bond we had strong.

In a few minutes, the three of us were sitting at the kitchen table. I was cleaning around the wound, while little Yukiya watched in amazement. The boy seemed to have inherited my love for animals.

Before I began to disinfect it though, the furry paw in my hand shifted into a human arm. When I looked up, I found myself face to face with the human form of Koji. His dark eyes were still avoiding mine. "I... I thought this might make it easier... Now you can see without my fur in the way... and I won't really be able to walk around on four legs for a little while anyway... so..."

It did make it a lot easier to see. Now it was quite clear what I needed to do. "I'm going to have to put in a couple stitches... but I don't have anything here to make it hurt less..."

Koji shook his head. "I can tough it out. Just do it."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Yukiya get up and run off. By the time I finished getting out what I needed to stitch him up, the little boy returned.

"Here!" He held out a small stuffed fox to Koji. "You can hold him and it will make it not hurt so much! He always makes me feel better when Mama takes care of my scratches."

The dark-haired man smiled and took the fox in one hand. Koji recognized the toy... it was one he'd left for Yukiya.

As I started to put in the stitches, I smiled. "Yukiya calls him Little Koji. Named him after you."

Koji stayed quiet as I worked. Every so often though, I'd glance up and see his eyes peeking at me from under the hair that fell over his eyes. He's just as handsome as he was the last time I'd gotten to see him, but now wasn't the time to think about that.

In no time at all, the job was done. "See? All better now!" Well, not quite all better, but I didn't have the heart to tell Yukiya that. "Mama always makes things better."

For just a second, I caught Koji's eyes. He quickly looked down though. Even if he was here now, there was still one question that needed an answer. "Koji... why did you leave?"

I can't say more than that, but I don't need to. "I... I was ashamed, okay? I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have done what I did... I got scared... and... Look, I know what kind of person I am... what I've always been... I'd be a horrible influence for a kid... I... I'm not exactly father material..."

He didn't seem all that bad to me... not like he seemed to think he was. "You and Yukiya... you've got a good thing going here... you're a family... and I... I don't want to get in the way of that..."

"But you're part of our family!" Yukiya piped up before I had the chance to say a word. He bounded over to the fridge, took down the drawing he'd hung there, and brought it over. "See?"

The drawing had surprised me the first time I'd seen it. Someone had asked Yukiya to draw his family... but Yukiya has never really had a normal family. In it, he drew me in my lab coat. Beside that was a little boy with white fox ears and a tail. That was himself. Off in the far corner were a snake and a rabbit, since he insisted that Suguru and Usagi were family too. The surprising part though, was the fox beside Yukiya. That was Koji.

The older kitsune stared at the drawing for the longest time, not saying a word. "What am I in the family...?" The words were to Yukiya, but his gaze went to me. He wanted to be a part of this. I could see it in his eyes... but there was also a hint of fear. Fear that he might ruin everything.

Yukiya didn't even have to think and answered in a heartbeat. "You could be dad, if you want to."

Koji looked at me, as if asking if that was true... if he could really be such a thing...

While should be mad at him for leaving, I can't. Even if I never saw him, he never truly left us. Like Yukiya said, he was part of the family, even if Koji didn't realize it.

"You'd let me come back and stay? Even though I'm not good at anything?"

"Mama's good at everything! So it's okay if you're bad at things... Mama wants you to stay too! Right, Mama?" Yukiya looked up at me with puppy eyes. Koji wore a similar expression.

I missed those days when Koji was always around. Without him, it had always felt like something was missing. Now, it would all be complete. "There wouldn't even be a family if it weren't for you... You brought Yukiya to me when he had no one else... and even before that, you were someone special to me... So... will you stay?"

Koji could only nod. He chose to stay with us... and he never left us again.