Searching For You

Chapter 10: In Too Deep

Kounoa sat Fudge on her couch and swiped the letter from him. Fudge looked around, seeing her bodyguards give him murderous looks. "This is a weird party!"

The shiba looked around. "Stand down. He's just my neighbor."

Her bodyguards relaxed and got out of their battle stances, but they watched Fudge.

"I got my eyes on you, cutie!~" Saboten winked at Fudge.

Fudge blushed and chuckled, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Thanks, I think?"

"Fudge, these are all of my bodyguards. You've met a few before." Kounoa said.

"Oh, yeah! I remember!" The dog responded, wagging his tail.

Kounoa switched her focus to the envelope. She opened the envelope, pulling out a letter. She unfolded the letter.

"You can't do anything to protect anyone. Do you understand, my love? Therefore, you must come to me and bring out what's inside of you. Drop those stupid bodyguards of yours and let me show you a proper body!"

-The Raiser

"Ugh..." Kounoa crumbled up the paper and tossed it away. She looked at Fudge.

"Oh, yeah! I heard that loud boom outside! Are you okay, Kounoa? Were you involved with any of that? Do you need a hug?" Fudge rambled on.

"All right, Fudge, you need to leave." Yoku told him.

Kounoa sighed. I know Yoku's just jealous, but... He's right. "Yeah. You should go home and stay home, Fudge. It's safer that way."

"Really?! Aw, man..." Fudge got up and stretched. "Well, thanks for having me over! Let's party again sometime!" He headed to the door.

Kounoa waved to Fudge, watching him leave. "Bye!"

Yoku slammed the door behind Fudge after he left. Kounoa groaned. "Can you all please stop slamming my door and nearly tearing it off?"

Her bodyguards nodded in response.

"We also need to be on high alert. Taida can stay with me while everyone else goes back to where they usually are. Keep watch of those areas and the city altogether. Make sure nothing suspicious is going on, and if someone is getting hurt, prevent it from going any further. Also, look for letters so we can hopefully find clues leading to this damned creep..." Kounoa instructed.

"Got it, Kounoa." Taida responded.

Suguru gave Kounoa a thumbs up. "Don't worry! We got this, and we won't let you down!"

Bou nodded in response, heading to the kitchen.

Saboten winked. "Yes, ma'am!"

Kiiroibara nodded.

Yoku couldn't help himself. He hugged Kounoa tightly. Kounoa embraced the hug, wagging her tail. A few seconds passed before Saboten inserted herself into the hug, wrapping her arms around them both.

The opossum groaned and broke out of the hug. "All right, that's enough of that. I'm going back to the slums to see if I can find anything there." He left the house after saying that.

"I'll come back later to check on you, dear." Saboten told Kounoa before she left as well.

Bou carried food from the fridge out of the kitchen and over to the door. She turned to Kounoa and smirked at her before chowing down on the juicy and sweet foods and leaving.

"I-I don't want to leave! I want to stay here!" Kiiroibara pouted and stomped her foot on the floor.

Kounoa patted the tanuki woman's head and smiled. "It'll be fine, Kii! Have trust in yourself and everyone else! Plus, you still have classes to go to!"

"F-Fine..." Kiiroibara hesitated before answering. "Make sure you keep her safe, Taida!"

"I will. Don't worry about it, Kiiroibara." Taida responded.

The tanuki woman stared at Kounoa and Taida and gave them a worried look, but she left soon after. Suguru kept a grand smile on his face and put his hand on his chest. "I'll use my fine inventions to patrol the town!"

"Sounds good, Suguru! I appreciate your help a lot!" Kounoa's tail wagged as she spoke to the lion man.

Suguru headed to the door and stopped in front of it. He looked over his shoulder to Kounoa. "I won't let you down. I promise you that!"

Kounoa nodded. "I know you won't, Suguru!"

The lion left with a proud smile on his face. Kounoa felt something buzz in her pocket. She realized it was her phone. Uh oh. I forgot about my job. My boss called me like 20 times! Kounoa took out her phone and called her boss back.

"Kounoa! Where in the world have you been? Are you okay?" Her boss worried over the phone.

"I'm fine! It's my off day today, remember? I'll be at work tomorrow!"

"All right..." Her boss sighed. "Everyone here is lacking, so, I'll need you. You're my best worker."

"That's good to know! I'll show everyone how to work once I get there tomorrow!" Kounoa giggled.

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow. Stay safe, Kounoa."

"You do the same!"

Her boss hung up and she put her phone in her pocket. She sighed and sat on the couch, putting her phone next to her.

Taida looked at her. "Everything okay? Apart from the Raiser stuff..."

Kounoa shook her head. "Not really. I talked to my boss about work tomorrow. God, I have to keep watch of everything at work tomorrow. Who knows when Raiser will strike next?"

"I can go with you to the factory tomorrow." The rabbit woman offered.

Kounoa got up and stretched before she headed to the kitchen. "Sounds like a good idea! For now, let's focus on what we're having for dinner."