𝓐 𝓝𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓔𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓑𝓸𝓷𝓭

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕣

𝓐/𝓝: Thank you guys so much for the views! I've never had so many in such a short time! And my apologies for the delays. I actually moved, and I wanted to get this out, so don't be afraid to point out mistakes as usual! Also, feel free to give me ideas for my next chapters! This took me a long time to come up with, so apologies again for the delay.

            I walked up a pathway to a tree at the top of a mountain. The night before, I had seen something up here. I was never sure what, though. It just felt.... Right.. To walk up the steps to the shrine placed in the center of the pretty tree.

          "Just as predicted, my lady, you've come back. Welcome." A cat lady spoke to me. "Who are you? What do you mean 'I've come back'? I don't understand." I said in confusion. "Aishi. My name is Aishi. You remember me, not in this form, though. You've come here three times before, Lei-sama." Aishi said, half disappointed.

             I tried to recall any memories of coming to this shrine. None. Nada. Nothing came to mind. "I came here in my past life three times?" I asked the cat girl. "No. Two. You've come here once before when you were young. This was where you received your spirit ally." Aishi replied, moving closer to the little shrine box in the tree. She took the box and handed it to me. "Take this. I made a promise to Hao-sama to keep it here for you. I suggest you give your relations with him thought before opening it." She said, placing her hand over the small box in my hands.

            "May this very object protect you from harm... It does you no good to linger here any longer. I ask you politely to leave, Lei-sama." Aishi said, turning back around and leaving behind a tree. Her voice had calmed more as she placed her hand over the necklace around her neck, turning into a white and red cat.

            As instructed, I left with no trace that I came in the first place but the box in my bag.

           I returned home with a deep breath and opened the door. Ren was pacing back and forth again. He heard the door open and turned to me. "Sorry I'm late. I had to stop by somewhere for a quick moment." I apologized with a quick lie before closing the door. "A quick moment? Where was it you stopped to?" He asked in a suspicious tone. "Not important. I'm off to bed." I said, not willing to lie to my brother, also not willing to say the truth.

            I laid my bag down in front of me and grabbed the box out of it. "Take this. I made a promise to Hao-sama to keep it here for you. I suggest you give your relations with him thought before opening it." I thought about what Aishi had said a few minutes ago. It was a small box, octagon-shaped, too. It had a twenty-tailed fox imprint on the top in white. The rest of it was brown. The gold hinges on the back kept it shut, the front, silver, lock kept it sealed.

            I played with the little lock as I thought if I should open it or not. Under the little lever I switched, there was a keyhole. It was shaped weirdly. Like a fox head, almost. Aishi hadn't given me a key with it. I was confused for a moment. I played with the fox head-shaped keyhole for about a few minutes before realizing I couldn't open it with any ordinary key or bobbing pin. I needed this particular key. But where I would find it is a mystery.

           I heard the door open with a knock after. "Weren't you gonna be sleeping?" Ren said quietly, not disturbing anyone in the room next door. "Was. I can't figure out how to open this thing." I replied, struggling to find anything of use. "What is it?" Ren asked, picking up the box. "No idea. Someone gave it to me on my way home." I replied with a half-lie. "Have you considered breaking it, Suki?" I glared at him. "What? It's an idea. Better than what you have going on over there." He gestured to the mess I'd made trying to look for something useful.

            We spent 20 minutes trying to open the box. Nothing. I laid down with the box in hand and stared at it a while. "There's gotta be some way to open this thingy." I said to myself, again twisting and turning the keyhole. My hair perked up in frustration. "I'll ask Hao to open it tomorrow." I said with a sigh, drifting into sleep.

          I woke up with a soft yawn and looked around. "Where did the box go?" I asked myself quietly. I got up and brushed the wild animal we call hair, somehow taming it, and walked into the kitchen.

           "REN WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I yelled loud enough for practically everyone in Japan to hear. He didn't reply. Instead, he kept trying to pry the box open with a knife. "If you break that box, I'm gonna drown you." I threatened, snatching the box away from him. "Good luck getting farther than that. Unless you can find the key." He said in frustration.

          I ate breakfast and walked out of the house, my hair now sticking up in irritation. "Why does he have to be my brother?" I asked myself as I made my way to the shrine from the night before. My hopes were that Aishi'd be there and help me to open it on some lucky chance.

         I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Hao? I thought to myself. Him of all people? Here? Crazy. Though, Aishi did mention he'd been the one to leave it here for me. "I suggest you give your relations with him thought before opening it." The sentence flooded into my head. I didn't even think about Hao trying to open the thing.

          I sat on the bottom step, staring at the box in hand. I began to give me and Hao more thought, playing with the lever. Was a relationship with him really what I desired? Why was I so in love with him to begin with? What does he mean to me? What do I mean to him? What did Aishi mean? Do I need to rethink my choice? No. No way. We're meant to be together, right? Yeah, there's nothing wrong with our relationship. Even if he's a villain, he deserves love, too.

          I felt a small tap on my shoulder from behind. It was Hao. "Good morning, Lei-chan." He said with a smile. "Good morning, Hao-sama. What are you doing here this early?" He chuckled. "I could ask you the same, you know. But I prefer to keep my reason top secret." I giggled at his reply. He glanced to the box I held. "But there's a reason I said 'could'." He said in a trailed voice. "I see you met Aishi. Were you here to ask her to open it?" He asked calmly. "Yeah.." I replied, staring at the box in hand and toying with the lever. "Well, just a little hint-hint, neither of us have it. The key, I mean."

//Question! What other fanfics would you guys like to see? I'm currently accepting requests for things like Seven Deadly Sins, Genshin Impact, Honaki Star-Rail, Bungou Stray Dogs, Angels Of Death, Oshi No Ko, Naruto, and Shaman King as well! I'm gonna start posting updates on my announcements page shortly, like once I am making the first chapter to a fanfic or if I have a question for yall. Have a lovely day/night!//