I got a Kitsune Caregiver, but...

Chapter 31: Set up

Fusa still held the face of disbelief as she headed towards the correct location where some friends at work were at. The event she had been put through as a result of an incorrect address almost seemed like a dream. As if there were no mistakes made and she simply woke up from an odd dream and now went to where she meant to be.

The women headed to a different house, where when she knocked, out came the expected person there to greet her.

"Hi." She said quietly, walking inside. "I can't believe you gave me the wrong address."

"Oh, I guess I did." The friend who sent her the initial text replied, Puting a hand over her mouth and had an a tone where she clearly wasn't remorseful for her supposed mistake. "Oops."

"Yoshiho, you didn't do that on purpose, did you?" If she did, then Fusa didn't find it very funny. Even leaving aside the events which transpired while she was at his house. It was embarrassing to say the least for her to knock on his door unannounced and realize she had gone to the wrong place.

"I guess you could just call it a happy accident." Her two friend giggled over the pranks they gave her.

"What? That's not funny." She got flustered over their mockery of her. "You made me look dumb in front of Nishiki." Not that looking dumb in front of him specifically was the problem. Being made a fool in front of anyone would cause any girl her age to be self conscious.

"Well? Was his house nice?" Asked her other friend, Emako. "I'm sure someone like him was glad to see a pretty girl like yourself showing up at his front door." As they chattered about, the pair led her towards the living room. On the coffee table was a plethora of tasty treats picked up from the nearby local cafe.

They had gathered it about to enjoy a little bit of a get together and getting more used to one another in private situations. The three had already garnered a good friendship during work and would hang out together in public places. But this would be the first time any of them were inside the other's houses. "He lives by himself, so it's probably not as nice as my place."

"Well, he doesn't live alone anymore..." She quietly admitted, making sure to avoid giving away the secret Nishiki and Tenha had entrusted her with. "It turns out there's this girl who's living with him right now."

"Ooh!" The pair of girls both exclaimed in excitement. "Some drama huh? Isn't that exciting."

"Yeah." Yoshiho went behind the girl and put her hands over her shoulders. "Looks like you've got some serious competition."

"I'm not competing for anything!" She responded, embarrassed. Fusa quickly reached for a cookie to stuff into her mouth to try and not overreact. "I've told you a million times, I'm not interested in Nishiki."

"And why not?" Asked Emako. "You've seen how miserable he is at work normally. He needs a good girl in his life and he talks to you a lot."

"And you're always complaining about how you've been single for a long time now." Yoshiho followed it up as she returned to her seat to enjoy some more delicious pastries. "You two would be perfect together."

"That's not how that works." She countered. "Besides, I've read in magazines that it's not a good idea to date coworkers." Fusa would know, she spent a lot of her weekends reading those magazines to try and figure out how to make herself a better woman now that she was an adult.

"Those magazines aren't always right." Emako brushed her off.

"Oh, but did you read that article about the new fashion coming out soon in the Spring?" Yoshiho then derailed the conversation onto a separate conversation. Which did lead to a sigh of relief for Fusa that she no longer had to deal with their constant attempts to get her hooked up with Nishiki.

It was nice of them, she wasn't mad at either of the two for trying. This was more of a matter that Fusa herself wasn't certain if she was ready for a relationship, let alone one with any specific man in her life. She never really saw herself as having a particularly close friendship with him that they apparently did. So thinking of him as a boyfriend was a bit of a stretch.

***

Things after that went by normally and she enjoyed herself with her friends. It also wasn't anything special though as soon enough time passed afterwards and Fusa was already back at work performing the tasks expected of her.

The day at work was pretty much the same as it always had been as she chatted on break with her friends at her desk. Nothing about today was unexpected, but what occurred as lunch time got started did.

"Fusa." A rare moment occurred where Nishiki approached her as she sat at her desk while talking with the others. "Could we talk about something?" He asked. His eyes darted back and forth between her two friends. "Alone?"

"Ooh." Yoshiho had a smug smile as she nudged her companion in the arm. "Sounds like he's going to hit on you."

"Oh quiet." She got red in the face from them openly saying something of that nature in front of the man. "Yeah sure, we can talk." He didn't think much of the comments made by her friends. Those two were always saying stupid things, so Nishiki paid little mind on what they said.

"Great." He said, leading her out in front of the office where no one would see them. "I just wanted to get an update that you really are going to keep what happened at my place a secret." Given that nothing had happened in terms of unwanted visitors since he last saw her. Nishiki was confident on her keeping her mouth shut thus far. However he did want to try and clear up any other questions she might have.

"Of I will." She answered. "It's best that no one knows." Even though it would primarily affect him and Tenha. Fusa was a kind soul who didn't want anyone to be inconvenienced because of her. She respected him as a person, but even if they hated each other she wouldn't consider exposing his secret.

"Great." He breathed a sigh of relief too. "Oh, I forgot back then, but I should apologize. Didn't mean to be so rough on you back then." She thought it was odd he lied about that. Obviously being the person who got pushed, she knew it was Tenha to blame.

"I don't mind." While it did hurt to be taken down to the ground by the fox girl. She understood how desperate they were to keep their secret and prevent her from calling the police. "I was being disrespectful, so it's really my fault and I should be the one apologizing."

"Nah, that's no big deal." Now it was his turn to brush off the apology. "Besides, you're free to swing by anytime you want."

"I'll keep that in mind." That was it for their conversation. Nishiki was the first one to leave the room, satisfied with how things had turned out despite her now learning about his fox spirit companion. She was about to follow suit shortly after, but a certain duo cut her off. "Oh, you two are taking a break here now?" She asked. They had on some smiles which filled her with concern.

"Fufufu, what's this?" Asked Emako. In regular fashion of some nosy friends, they had followed the two and eavesdropped on their conversation. Nishiki had a suspicion someone would attempt to listen in. And even if there was no attempt, he still played it safe in case someone happened to walk in on them. Which was why he spoke vaguely and avoided saying Tenha's name, or even properly referencing her.

"Were you two listening in?" She asked, beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

"Obviously." Said Yoshiho. "Didn't realize you actually went inside his house."

"Yeah, sounds like you left out a lot of details when you 'accidentally' went to his place." Emako continued on. "Looks like you two were up to something, weren't you?"