Kitsunebi

I woke up slowly early in the morning my alarm clock blaring like it was the end of the world. Groaning I quickly turned it off and stretched crawling out of bed. Downstairs I could hear my parents shouting at a recorded football game. "Here we go the arguments are about to begin." I mumbled grabbing a spare set of clothing heading to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and did my morning routine hearing my parents start to argue about what to watch next. I glanced in the mirror seeing my six-foot giant of a man smirking back at myself. "Good morning Steven, how did you sleep?" I asked sarcastically to myself. I reached down to my bottle of hair dye and found it to be empty. "Well shit, better get some more before I come home." I tossed the bottle in the trash and made my way back to my room to grab my backpack when I hear a smash from downstairs.

"God damn it Jeremy what the fuck?!" My mother screamed as I rolled my eyes knowing what my father would say next. "It would be easier to hit you if you stayed still Martha!" My father screamed back. Of course, my dad was a bully and he would throw stuff, but he was always too much of a blowhard to throw a punch. My mom never called the cops because my father was her main source of income and she is used to his shit by now, so she doesn't bother anymore. I climbed down the steps and watched the two continue to bicker as I grabbed my lunch from the fridge. "Ah milk and peanut butter and bologna sandwiches!" I said with a smile putting it into my backpack. "With the crusts cut off." My dad chimed in and I groaned trying to not throw the nearby butter at his head. "I cut them off because I don't like the texture it bugs me." Before he could say anything else, I began to rush towards the door. "Tell Ricky it's that time of the month again!" My mom chirped as she sat down taking a breather from their screaming match.

"I love you to mom." I said closing the door. "God damn bitch." I mumbled heading off to my high school. My parents care more about the blood money they get from my bully then how my day was. The school refused to touch the little ass because his parents were loaded, and his dad pays my family some hush money to prevent them from suing or reaching out to the media. Though it's not all bad considering I sneak a couple hundred bucks from the envelope. With a little white lie here and there I convince my family that the payment they get is just and with the agreement that my parents don't contact Ricky's parents directly to confirm anything, well life is easier for me since I buy most of my own stuff. I mean if your gonna screw me I'll screw you.

Once I got to school, I rushed to my locker before the first bell could ring to put my backpack away. "Hey Steven!" My bully Ricky called as I glanced down at the three-foot-tall terror. "Hello Ricardo." I said closing my locker as he punched me in my right knee as hard as he could making it buckle. "My name is Ricky get it right!" He said as a teacher walked by on their phone. Even if I did pick this little shit up and punt him over the back fence the school has a zero-tolerance policy which they enforce oh so well. So, if I do something to him, I get in trouble and he gets away with a slap on the wrist until the next time.

"Ah but you know Ricky calling you that really brightens up my day! Now if you don't have anything else to discuss to me, I have to go to class." He punched me in the balls as I walked past groaning knowing that it was going to be another long day. "Yea keep walking that stupid Asian bitch would have been so impressed to see you become my punching bag!" He mused starting to walk away as I stopped dead in my tracks reaching into my pocket pulling out my phone. I opened it up and hit a special little app that would launch a virus I installed on the security camera's in the school. Once activated I sped walked up to Ricky who had his back turned. "Ricky." I said slowly as he turned around. I grabbed him by his neck and picked him up spinning around and slamming him into ground, breaking his nose as he screamed in pain covering his bloody nose.

"Kitsune wasn't some Asian bitch she was Japanese!" I said taking a deep breath as someone shouted at me down the hall. Seems like a teacher looking for kids that were tardy. I took a deep breath knowing that this was not going to end well. Later I was stuck inside the principal's office while Ricky gave his side of the story no doubt crying crocodile tears. He deserved what he got talking about my late best friend like that. She was my everything and one of the few friends who got me. She didn't treat me strange because I had such a black and white outlook on the world. She treated me like family.

Back then she lived with her grandmother who raised her when her parents were killed in a car accident on the way to the hospital to get her induced into labor. While her mother was dying in the hospital bed the doctors cut her out as the mother passed away. She spent awhile in one of those incubation chambers but lived none the less. She had fire red hair and piercing violet eyes. The doctors also commented at her face which was almost fox like, her grandmother was old fashioned and superstitious, so she named her granddaughter Kitsune. I still remember the day I lost her. Here I go again down this rabbit hole.

"Hey Steven snap out of it!" Twelve-year-old me snapped out of my confusion while we walked through the woods to something, she wanted to show me. "You need to stop worrying about the legality of things and focus more on enjoying life!" She said jumping onto a rock and danced around for a moment before jumping back down. "Be careful! It's still wet out from the morning dew!" She rolled her eyes and jumped down putting her hands in her sweatshirt. "Oh come on stop being so serious!" She punched my arm playfully as we approached an old warehouse. "I'm starting to get a bit impatient, when are we going to get to whatever you want to show me?" She rolled her eyes and crawled through a small hole in the fence.

I reluctantly followed her as she rushed to the warehouse going through a small door. I followed behind and watched as she climbed some boxes. In front of them was a large tarp strapped to the wall. "If you fall, I get I told you so rights!" I called up to her as she rolled her eyes and put a hand on the tarp. "Steven my friend I brought you here to invite you on an adventure!" She said tearing down the tarp to reveal that the entire wall underneath had been covered with notebook paper with the drawing of a massive jolly roger, but instead of a normal skull there was a fox head. "I want you to join my crew and live a free life with me!" She said climbing down from the crates. "How long have you been working on this?!" I asked astonished as she shrugged. "A few months? Mr. Anderson keeps thinking he is going mental when a stack of his papers goes missing." She said with a grin as she stared me down waiting for an answer.

"So, aren't skull and cross bones a sign of danger or death?" I asked as she groaned. "Steven you know I love you like a brother but for someone so smart you should know it's a jolly roger not just some skull and cross bones!" I looked back at it then back at her. "What do you mean by freedom?" I asked as she went over to the wall and slammed her open palm against it. A piece of paper started to fall off when the scotch tap got knocked away, but she moved her hand up and tapped it back down without even looking to it. "I'll be real with you Steven the adults don't care! A bunch do but the schools seemed to stop caring if they ever did! What can they teach us that's going to come in handy? How is learning stuff about calculus gonna help me learn how to drive or pay taxes? The world is messed up and we gotta stick together!" I opened my mouth, but she rushed over to shush me. "We are not a gang we are two people uniting under one banner to watch each other's backs when one day no one else will!"

How could I have said no to her? Someone to watch my back so long as I watched hers. My own parents pushed me to do good in school so much that it became borderline abuse back then. "Sounds good to me! So, what are we called?" I asked as she pointed to the jolly roger. "The fox pirates duh!" Even if she was more creative than me, she still sucked at names. "Come on I need you to go get us food and snacks!" She offered me twenty dollars. "We need to set this old place up as a base!" She said with glee as I nodded taking the twenty and heading out of there ducking through the fence and heading back into the city. After getting an arm full of snacks from a local gas station I rushed back into the woods. The sound of a gun firing in the distance. I figured it was just some rednecks hunting until I remembered the fact that my friend was in an old abandoned warehouse all alone.

I booked it nearly falling flat on my face as I saw someone rush away. I never got a look at the fucker, but I tossed my snacks to the ground and crawled through the fence kicking the door open once I was at the warehouse. My heart sank as I saw Kitsune on the ground bleeding with a hole in her stomach. I rushed over and put her left arm over my shoulder. "Y-you're going to be alright Kitsune just keep your hand on it!" I said as she took a deep breath and coughed as I rushed her out of the building heading for the hole. "He wanted to join." She said as I dragged her through the hole and back up getting both of us covered in dirt. Not that we weren't already. "Who?!" I asked panicked as I rushed with her as much as fast as I could towards the exit of the forest.

She didn't answer me, but she took something from her pocket and slipped it into mine passing out. "Hey, don't go to sleep!" I said as I got the wind knocked out of me. The figure I had seen earlier had returned and punched me hard in the gut. I dropped Kitsune as I fell to the ground watching the man dressed in sweatpants and a green shirt pull out a small handgun. I wasn't ready to die in the woods that day. My whole world was spinning as I got back up by the stranger kicked me right aiming the gun at my forehead. I could see his sea green eyes through his ski mask as I grit my teeth. "I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL-!" before I could finish my curse he put the gun in my mouth and gave me a small smile as his finger squeezed the trigger, but as he did Kitsune came flying out of nowhere and tackled him biting his hand!

The gun flew out of my mouth and shot making my ears ring as I watched a bloody and dyeing kitsune was getting her face bashed in by a rock. I got up to help her but as I did the man jammed his fingers into her eyes making her howl and let go of him. He scrambled back up leaning back then jumping up to his feet steadying himself as he switched his gun to his non dominant hand, but as he did another gun shot rang out. I don't know if it was luck or some divine intervention, but a hunter had heard the gun shot and came to investigate no doubt knowing the difference between a rifle shot and a pistol. "GET AWAY FROM THOSE KIDS!" The hunter shouted as the stranger looked at the bullet hole in their pant leg then rushed off wobbling along the forest floor as the hunter took another shot shooting his other leg, but it didn't do anything.

I rushed to Kitsune's side as the hunter took out his phone to call an ambulance. "Hey stay with me!" I begged as she had a wide smile streaks of bloody tears streaming down her beaten and bloody face. "Hey... don't hate them." She mumbled softly, which at the time I believed she was delirious from the blood loss. "You can't die on me damn it!" I said as I hugged her tight her blood soaking into my shirt as she hugged me the life slowly draining out of her. "WHO SHOT YOU DAMN IT?!" I asked desperately as she smiled looking up to me kissing my forehead as a farewell my own tears spilling onto her face as I held her bullet wound. I didn't understand why she refused to tell me who shot her, maybe she didn't know or was trying to protect me. "Don't hate them, but find them, bind them tie him to a pole and break his fingers to splinters. My final order... as the captain!" She whispered as she felt down my side and patted my pocket reaching her hand inside.

I reached my hand in with hers and found a sterling silver fox ring. "Surviving member of the fox pirates... I promote thee to captain. You are smart Steven.... I'm sorry but I broke my...." She fell limp. Dead in my arms as I heard sirens in the distance. I was sobbing and choking on the bile rising in my stomach as I slipped on the bloody fox ring hugging her tightly. "You never broke your promise! I did... I'll never break another promise so long as I live. I promise you that." I whispered as the hunter started to pull me away. "GET OFF ME DAMN IT!" I shouted and began to thrash but him being twice my size was easily able to hold me down. The rest was a blur to me. Cops asked questions and my parents picked me up at the station. I went to her funeral and talked to her grandmother who explained Kitsune saved up all her money to buy this ring. I promised her to do everything I could to find the killer. She looked so sympathetic and agreed that I would do what I could, thinking I could never do anything.

I still aim to keep that promise. I'll find him with my skills as a low-level script kitty. As the principle's door opened, I fiddled with the fox ring I kept around my finger. "I'm sorry Steven but I have to suspend you, it may be your first offence, but your very lucky Ricardo's parents are not suing." The principle said as I got up without looking him in the eyes. "See ya then." I left his office without another word heading back to my locker to get my bag then out the front door without signing out at the front desk. Though as I began my long walk home, I wasn't aware of someone watching me leave the school with a small grin on their face quickly texting someone.

Once I was home, I passed my father who was sleeping with my mother on the couch. I gently pulled the blanket over them both hating my actions but knowing it made me the better person. I crept up the stairs and closed my door locking it. I tossed my backpack down and leaned under my bed grabbing my laptop. Something I bought with my extra money. I booted it up and entered my password scrolling through it wondering what trouble I could get up to today. First, I checked my neighbor's security cameras. They were unsecured and happened to be pointing at my house so it would let me keep an eye on the street in case anyone was outside. Lucky for me it seemed like just another day.

I browsed the web for a bit relaxing until I noticed something on the bottom right of my screen. A new email. The subject seemed to be some sort of invite and the rest of it seemed like a location inside the city. "I see and delete." I got rid of it quickly and forgot about it for a couple hours until I got three more of them from different emails. "Not your usual spam messages." I said dumping out my backpack. I loaded up my phone, my laptop and a map of the city. With that I walked out of room my curiosity ready to kill me. "You want to meet with me? Fine I'll meet you." I mumbled watching my dad roll off the couch and onto the floor. I glanced over and grabbed a permanent marker drawing all over my mother's face then set it in my father's hand. "I'm a nice person not a good one." I whispered and went out the door closing it behind me. About an hour later after catching a bus I arrived at an old house. The building itself wasn't remarkable but seeing that there were lights on the second floor was as expected.

I pulled out my phone making sure that only one person was supposed to live here. An elderly gentleman by the name of Lawrence foster. I carefully approached the door and knocked loudly waiting for a response. A few seconds pass as a boy around my age opens the door. Before I could bolt, he grabs my shirt and pulls me inside. I stand up grabbing my bag knowing it was about the closest thing I had to a weapon. as I got a better look at my attacker, he smiled at me. "So, you're the infamous Steven that slammed Ricky!" He said flipping on a light switch. I flinched from the sudden light as he helped me to my feet. "Sorry for the not so warm welcome." He rubbed the back of his head as I got a good look at his features. His smooth light brown skin reminded me of melted chocolate. He seemed to have bright blue eyes and long black well-kept hair.

Though despite his nice appearance he reeked of some cheap perfume which was the thing that stood out most about him. "You're from my school." I noted slowly. "Clever man!" He said impressed starting to introduce himself. "As you can tell I'm not Laurence Foster, my name is Martin and I work for Laurence." He explained walking over to a table picking up a leather mask, the mask was brown with shiny reflective glass in the eye holes with spikes going from the top of the head down to the chin, steampunk would be the best word to describe it. He slipped the custom mask over his face before speaking again. "Here though, I was given the name of Punk Star." That was... a weird name. "Come on, Laurence is an impatient old man!" From down the hall to my right three more men approached, each wearing their own masks which were eerily like one another being variations of snakes, a king cobra, a boa constrictor and a rattle snake. "Hello hydra triplets, if you could?" Martin asked politely as the three vanished into the farthest room.

"Please, come in I've been expecting you Steven my boy!" A deep voice called out hacking their lungs out afterwards. I walked into the other room carefully as Martin trailed me matching my every step. I found myself in a living room, the only things in there were the hydra triplets, a couch a television and a sickly-looking man. Hooked up to him was an oxygen machine that was slowly puffing out air, straight underneath his gas mask the tubes for the oxygen fed underneath its edges. "We have been waiting, I heard you're a very smart boy!" Laurence reached his hand out as I took it exchanging a surprisingly pleasant handshake. "Steven, take a seat." Laurence waved his hand as I was pushed into a rolling chair from behind. "I need someone like you Steven! Someone who can work technology. We need someone cunning!" He coughed violently as he lifted his mask slightly to wipe away some drool showing off his stained teeth. He moved the mask back down as he waited for my reply. "You already got my email somehow, you seem to be doing well for yourselves I don't think you need to hire me you already have some-." Before I could stand Martin pushed me back into my seat. "Punk Star! That's no way to treat our potential recruit!" Laurence scolded as he cleared his throat.

"Steven, I've been playing this game of life for eighty-six years. I've had conversations of every type and met hundreds of different people. I know exactly what you're going to say, and how to counter it." Laurence held up his hand as the boa walked over and handed him what looked like a USB stick in the shape of a teddy bear. "Straight from the police data base, all the evidence found at the scene of your friends murder." His voice carried confidence as he tossed it over to me. I snatched it out of the air like a hawk hunting a rabbit as I examined the small USB drive. "Bullet casings, blood samples. Everything is there Steven, and with our back door we can get anything we want." Laurence relaxed into his chair putting his head in his right hand. "......How?" Was all I could muster in my skeptical yet shocked state. "It just so happened that our school had a tour of the local police station." Martin said proudly as he motioned to the triplets. "it helps to have three different people suddenly have medical emergencies to distract people and go wild. Just a little bit of deadly nightshade." He said in a sickly-sweet tone.

Laurence leaned to his left and picked up a box holding it in his lap. "I learned a lot about you and judging by the fox ring you have." Laurence opened the box to reveal a red 3D printed Guy Fawkes mask with fox ears. "Curiosity is something no human can escape. A primal instinct some may say. You can't resist taking the mask, Steven. All you must do to get what we have. A constant source in the police servers is all yours. Just put it on. You will just leave your family behind and become our family!" Laurence sounded like a child getting a new toy. I picked up the mask slowly as I placed it over my face. how could I not? The first real lead in years, plus it was a perfect fit. "Don't ask how we got it just the right size. Now the boss is going to name you." Martin said patting me on the back. "Kitsunebi." I said looking up at Laurence. "Ah.... do it for her. Whatever drives you forward." Laurence said with a soft smile. "From now on, Steven you are one of us!"

A week had passed since my initiation. I'd go home, pretend things were normal and then go to work. I would review everything on that USB stick religiously cross referencing everything that could even be remotely related to the shooting. Plenty of shootings but none were close to mine. Yet something was irking me. The shell casing they found at the scene had no fingerprints. Not even a partial one! Maybe he wore gloves when he loaded the gun, but even back then I noticed how he acted. If he were smart, he would have run. He would have left us out there not come back to finish the job. "Kitsunebi, boss wants you." Martin said as he leaned into the room. "All right Punk Star I'll be there shortly." Cracking my knuckles, I stood up and left my office. Turns out their base was in a warehouse by the docks. Laurence had people who rented it out to him for cheap. I walked along the catwalk to the other side opening the boss's office. Sitting in the chair across from his desk was Ricardo his face having a slight yellow bruise left over from my outburst.

I slipped my hand into my pocket taking off the silver ring. I couldn't let the bastard recognize me! I have the worst luck. "Kitsunebi I need you your opinion. Can you write a program to get into Ricardo-?" Laurence asked as Ricky stood up. "My name is Ricky! You read up on me the moment I walked in here, so can you do it anonymous furry rip off?" Boy his teeth sure look ready to be kicked in. I shook my head as Laurence tilted his head knowing I was bullshitting. I had to speak so I chose to deepen my voice a little. "It's not like pressing a button to get in, you have to figure out what cameras they are using, you have to go in there and install something-!" Ricky slammed his hand on the desk behind him. "I don't give a damn! Steven did it somehow the cameras went out when he slammed my god damn head into the ground!" He turned back to Lawrence with fire in his eyes. "I was told you had the ability to do that!" Who would have told him that?

"I can do that right now!" Martin said enthusiastically putting a hand on my shoulder as he pushed past me. "At least someone here knows how to do their job!" Ricky said as he and Martin shook hands. "Come on I'll show you just how to set it up, but you know it's going to cost you Ricky." They both began to make their way out of the office heading to the storage area below as Laurence tapped his desk making me turn my attention to him. "Kitsunebi. I have only known you for a short time. It's been a wonderful time working with you and I apologize, but what in the hell were you lying for?" Taking a deep breath, I sat down listening to his oxygen pump. "That was my school bully. His parents are rich, and the school looks the other way for funding, they even pay off my god damn parents! I'm a walking price tag. I'm so sick of it!" I slammed my fists onto the table as he reached his leathery hands out cupping my fists. "You are among real family here." He wheezed out through his gas mask.

"Our family. The one I made here supports each other. I took Punk Star off the streets and made something...... incredible. A boy with a real future! The hydra triplets were locked in their father's basement before I ordered Punk Star to retrieve them!" He coughed a little as I cuffed my hands over his now. "I appreciate it, you've shown me more fatherly actions then I've seen in a while. I'm pretty sure Punk Star stole my program somehow." Laurence sighed in the way only a disappointed father could. "when I found him, I learned he had a dash of kleptomania and trust issues. That kleptomania like habit turned into stealing others work and changing it into his own. Much like taking a test without a name on it and putting your name on it." I tried not to smile at his analogy but realized I had a mask on, so I let myself do it.