The Tale of Fiery Fox

Ch. 3: Getting Along

Obi: "Are you sure you still want to come with me?" Obi-Sensei asked Tamaki, who was looking around the area closely,

Tamaki: "Mhm." Tamaki simply replied turning to the middle-aged man and smiling, "I know he doesn't really remember me too well, and he can be really annoying at times...but," She explained, as Obi-Sensei sighed,

Obi: "You really have odd taste, you know that" Obi-Sensei remarked, stopping at a small cream-coloured house with a red roof, "We're here." He then spoke, his voice becoming more solemn by the second, "He's not exactly...the most hospitable type, not since." Obi-Sensei then warned, as Shinra himself appeared outside; shirtless,

Tamaki blushed madly from embarrassment at catching sight of the muscular boy exiting his home. Instinctively looking away, Obi-Sensei sighed as he walked up to Shinra,

Obi: "Put some clothes on will you? You have a guest." Obi-Sensei ordered, as I stared in confusion at Tamaki,

Shinra: "What is she doing here?" I asked, pointing her out and turning to Obi-Sensei; who smiled,

Obi: "It's nice to have friends Shinra, even if you don't want them." He explained, to which I groaned a little, "Now, go make us some tea; will you?" Obi-Sensei then chortled, as Tamaki turned to me with a beet red face,

Tamaki: "It's not like I wanted to come to your house and see you naked!" Tamaki exclaimed, averting her eyes and refocusing them every few seconds, "Obi-Sensei said he was leaving...so I took the opportunity to leave also..." She then murmured, twiddling her thumbs awkwardly,

Shinra: "Yeah..." I nervously replied, gesturing for them to come inside, "Sorry for the mess." I then spoke, finally turning on the light in the main hallway,

The house wasn't as messy as it had been before, since I had cleaned it just recently, but the lights hadn't been used in years; flickering a little as they lit up. The bare white walls reflected a more lonely lodging than what the house looked like from the outside, and Tamaki sniffed the stale air as she stepped over the threshold,

Shinra: "Is there something with the air?" I asked, giving her a suspicious look as she glared back,

Tamaki: "I was just thinking on how bad it smells in here, do you ever clean?!" Tamaki replied, her face turning red as she spoke, "Jeez, it's like you never care about anything in this-" She then began, as she noticed a small shrine in the living room; which also happened to be the cleanest part of the house,

It was a small wooden vanity, with a small picture of a young Shinra; what looked to be his brother, and his Mother, all of whom shared his appearance. Atop the vanity burned a small bowl of incense, along with a small sign,

To those whom I killed, I humbly offer myself in sacrifice.

This hit Tamaki in a way she'd never felt before. All of the shouting between the two of them ceased as she looked at the vanity with a sombre expression. Finding herself alone in the living room, Shinra appeared in the doorway not long after she had disappeared,

Shinra: "Would you mind not barging into every room pl-" I began, spotting her looking at the shrine, "What're you looking at that for...?" I then quietly asked, averting my eyes from her as I spoke,

Tamaki: "It must be lonely, living here on your own." Tamaki quietly remarked, her usual boistrous voice and loud mouth changing to a more quiet and delicate tone, "O-Oh, sorry...!" She then spoke, brushing past me as she blushed,

Sighing a little, I stared into the shrine for a moment before walking back to the kitchen; where three cups of tea were set out. Obi-Sensei; who had taken up residence in the largest chair, and at the head of the table, smiled a little as I re-entered the room,

Shinra: "So? What did you want" I then asked, sitting in the seat opposite of Tamaki,

Tamaki: "Wh-What did I want? Well...um..." Tamaki stammered, to which Obi-Sensei exhaled in frustration,

Obi: "She wanted to know how you were, am I right?" Obi-Sensei explained, which made Tamaki splutter as she tried to contain herself, "So I was..." He then chuckled,

Shinra: "Why do you care so much?" I asked, my sour expression doing nothing to help the situation, "It's not like I've done anything for you...or are you just trying to indebt me to you?" I continued, to which she turned red again,

Tamaki: "Indebt you? Where the hell did that come from? You always assume I have bad intentions, typical." Tamaki retorted, standing up and opening the refridgerator door, "You don't even have food in your fridge? How do you even survive?" She added, which ticked me off even more,

Obi: "Now, now, let's not arug-" Obi-Sensei began, his attempts at mediation failing miserably,

Shinra: "If you have such an opinion on how I live, why don't you sort it out!" I yelled back, which silenced the room,

Sitting in silence for a moment, Tamaki looked back into the fridge; her ears turning bright red in possible frustration. Standing up, I placed my cup of tea in the sink and turned on the faucet,

Shinra: "Sorry...that was out of line." I then apologized, turning off the water as I spoke,

Tamaki: "Fine, I'll sort it out." Tamaki then resolved; turning to me, "You'd better get your ass in gear, because I'm moving in!" She then declared, her amber-eyes reflecting the setting sunlight behind me,

Obi: "Wait...what?" Obi-Sensei questioned, as she turned her face to him,

Tamaki: "I live in an apartment, so moving out should be easy; especially if it means I can sort this dump out." She explained, as I gapped at her solution, "And, no objections." She then barked, walking up to me only to slip and fall,

What followed was an unusual case of her clothes slipping off as she fell. Catching her, my hands cupped her breast by accident as Obi-Sensei averted his eyes and laughed,

Obi: "I'm not going to jail." He chuckled as Tamaki turned an even brighter red,

Shinra: "S-Sorry..." I exclaimed not letting go; for fear of her falling onto the fall and losing more clothes,

Tamaki: "Well then let go already!" She then blushed, correcting her posture and covering her self as I turned away, "Jeez..." She exclaimed, privately smiling a little while no one looked, "I'm moving in starting tomorrow, so I'm going home to pack now." She resolved, picking up her bag and buttoning up her shirt, "I'll see you tomorrow." She then pouted, disappearing out the door,

Unknown to the two men inside, she leaned on the door as she slowly began to panic; while her heart beat out of her chest in shock and nervousness. However much she publicly denied it, she enjoyed her first visit to Shinra's home.