That Time My Late Husband Was Reincarnated as an Oni

Chapter 3: Return

"Hikari." A male's voice echos in the kitsune's ears. "Breakfast is ready." A male with pinkish red hair smiles. His blue eyes seemed to glisten in the morning sunlight.

"Mm...? Shoto...? Good morning." She greets him with a smile.

As the two stood up from their beds, Hikari is greeted by her young son, who was just finishing his food. "Good morning, mother...!" He smiles happily.

"Good morning, Hikaru." She returns his greeting, and gives him a tight hug. It was her husband's idea to name their son that. He was a bit cheesy. "Have a good day at school, now." She kisses his head as he leaves the house in a hurry. "Hehe..."

"Once you eat, I'm on my way out too." Shoto says as he fixes on his suit. "Then, after work, we'll all head out for some dinner tonight?" He asked.

"I can cook at home." Hikari offers.

"Nonsense. It's our anniversary today, after all. I can't have my lovely wife cooking on such a special day." He chuckles. "It's a shame I could only get a half day today, but we'll have plenty of time to spend once my shift is over."

"Of course, dear. Then I'll make sure the house is spick and span when you return." She smiles and already gets to work after eating.

Just before Shoto leaves the house, he pulls Hikari into a hug, and kisses her gently. "I love you, Hikari..."

"I love you too, Shoto... Now off you go. We don't want you to be late." She giggles.

"I'll pick up Hikaru on my way home." He says and waves, finally leaving for his work shift.

As the day passes, Hikari hums a cheerful tune as she watches the clock patiently, awaiting the return of her family. However, the weather had suddenly went dark and cloudy. As Hikari looked out the window, she could see what looked like...fire balls?! Using some Yokai magic, she sends out a scout spirit to look and find that an army of barbarians were making their way towards her little village. Her eyes widen and she quickly makes her way out of the house and to the nearby school. She trips when a massive ball of fire crashes behind her, and groans from the pain. Her ears were ringing. As she tries to stand up, she sees Shoto and Hikaru running towards her. She could see their mouths moving, but she couldn't make out their words. As the two run towards her, they both suddenly lose their balance as Shoto brings Hikaru close to protect him. However, that single stop for just a moment is what sealed their fates. In the blink of an eye, another fire ball crashes right on top of them.

The blood of the two splatter on the ground, splashing onto Hikari's faces as she lays there in shock. "Shoto...! Hikaru...!! SHOOOOOTOOOOOO!!!" She screams as an incredible amount of energy bursts from Hikari. Her vision goes red, and she can hear a roar behind her.

———

"Ah?!" Hikari suddenly shoots up and looks around. "That was...a dream...?" She pants and looks around. She didn't recognize where she was. It seemed she was unconscious, and taken to an inn in the village. She's never really been in here, but whoever took her here was definitely kind enough if they were willing to help her.

As Hikari looked around, she checked her chest, where she had been slashed. When she looked, she was surprised to see that there wasn't even a scar. Whoever helped her knew healing magic. And very powerful healing magic, at that. She looks around the room, trying to find who brought her here. However, she wasn't seeing anyone. As she moves her hand, her fingers brush against a soft mound under the covers. Confused, she goes back to that spot and puts her hand around said mound. She gives it a squeeze, and a gentle pull to see if it was attached to anything, which it was and even elicited a small sound. Finally having enough of the suspense, she lifts the covers and finds that sleeping next to her was a completely naked fox girl! This surprised her, causing Hikari to scream and fall backwards out of the bed.

"Mmmh...?" A small groan could be heard from the unknown fox girl as she sits up in the bed, then looks down at Hikari on the floor. "Oh...! You're awake. I'm sorry for the sudden surprise." She spoke with a smile, as if this was the most natural thing in the world for her.