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Akiko's New Path

For VeronicaFoxx

By Draconicon

Four years passed since Michelle was cured and Hideo Noguchi met his watery grave. In that time, Akiko Nishimoto had lived a life of quiet pseudo-contentment, pretending that she was fine with her furry body and youthened self. It was easy enough to do with both of her 'parent' figures so in love and so happy that their trauma was over. Seeing them as happy as they were, it was impossible to bring up her own problems when she could simply bury them instead.

She had lived in their house for nearly half a decade, slowly growing from her kitten form into something more like a teenager. The familiar urges and annoying issues that always came with that age returned, and Akiko did her best to not take it out on Michelle and Lucas the way that she had on her original parents. After all, it wasn't their fault that she was stuck this way. No, that particular piece of blame rested on her.

The thirteen-year-old white cat rested on her bed, staring up at the ceiling as she adjusted her clothes for the hundredth time that day. Nothing fit right, always either pressing down on her fur too much or pressed out by it, with the fuzz slipping through gaps in the clothing and getting tugged every which way. She seldom had a chance to be comfortable for more than a few minutes before the adjustments she made slipped, and then she went as long as she could without touching it again. It was like a persistent sunburn in the way that it annoyed her, constantly grabbing her attention and never staying away for long.

But that wasn't what held her attention today. No, it was the ever-present reminder that she'd chosen this.

Save Michelle...

She remembered saying that on the bridge four years ago. The kitsune could only save one of them, either bringing Michelle back to life or transforming her back to her human self. Back then, she'd given up her own chance at humanity, thinking that Michelle deserved to live a better life rather than dying from her captor's attack. In truth, there was a hint of vengeance to be had there, as well, to take away the last victory Hideo could have had.

Akiko told herself that she didn't regret the choice. She told herself that every single day, and most of the time, she believed it. This was one of the rare times that she didn't.

I could have gone back to my old life, she thought. There are more things to hunt than kitsunes out there. There are other monsters that still live in this city. The signs are everywhere. I could be doing something about it, instead of...this.

She wasn't even allowed the pleasures of a normal childhood. In feline form, she was as close to a magical freak as one could get without actually having the powers, and she doubted that anyone would be willing to overlook her presence if she ever went out in public and was seen. The world wasn't ready for the idea of her, let alone the reality. It was why both the magical creatures and their hunters always remained hidden, the idea being to keep their conflict out of the light of the law, and to allow everyone else to believe nothing of the sort existed around them.

It worked, for keeping the peace. It didn't work when something like this happened to someone like her.

"Akiko?"

There was a knock at her bedroom door, and after a moment's hesitation, the cat sighed.

"Yes, Michelle?"

"Lucas and I are going to be going out tonight. There's some food in the fridge if you need it."

"I understand."

"Will you be okay?"

"I've been fine every other time you've gone out."

"I know, but -"

"I'll be fine."

"...Okay. See you later."

She listened to the retreating footsteps, slowly shaking her head before sitting up on the edge of her bed.

It's time for a change.

There was no getting around it this time. The world had moved on too far for her to simply take it as it was any longer. She couldn't pretend that this was a happy life, locked in an apartment, never allowed to go out save for in a poncho that was completely black, hooded, and going all the way down to the ground. Even then, it only worked out for her to leave once a year, and she had to push for it every time. That was not enough. Nowhere near enough.

She got up, stripping off the useless baggy shirt that she wore, and then the pants that pinched at her legs and tail. Kicking them over to the corner of the room, she walked over to the closet and dug through it, nudging aside the bits and bobs that the lovebirds had bought her over the years until she could reach the little compartment she'd buried in the back of the closet. Even during the time that Hideo ruled them, she had kept some of her past hidden back there. Never enough to kill him, but enough to have hope, and she'd added to it over the last few years.

First to come were clothes. Her hunter's outfit was no longer suitable for her furry form, nor did it fit her smaller size, but she'd scavenged the fabric to create a different uniform. Leather straps held small plates and squares, none of them polished but all hardened sufficiently to stop punches or light blows. She'd modified it further, scratching it and polishing it down to not pull at her fur, or allow the strands to get caught in little holes, and she was delighted to find that it was far more comfortable than the cotton that she'd been wearing.

It was a looser fit than she'd have liked, but it covered her chest, her belly, and her neck in all the important places. Her legs were less protected, but her modesty was safe, and that was enough for her.

Boots, unfortunately, were no longer possible. Digitigrade legs from the transformation lingered, forcing her to go barefoot, but she was sure that the pads on the bottoms of her feet would adjust soon enough to the new environment. She took a pair of silver knives she'd kept from her old life, and stuffed them into straps along her thighs.

That will do, she thought.

Opening the back window of her room, she slipped out through the narrow hole with ease, and dropped down onto the fire escape. A glance towards the horizon showed her that the sun was already down, and the moon was about to rise. It was the perfect time to go on the hunt.

#

The rooftops of the city were close enough together that even her weaker legs could leap across it. As she moved around, looking down on the alleys like she used to do all those years ago, Akiko felt a burst of joy that she had forgotten was even possible. Even with her mutated body, her furry form leaped around with a sense of freedom that she hadn't enjoyed for far too long. Her heart leaped with her, almost like it followed behind her, staring in shock at how much she'd ignored her own needs.

How could I forget this? she wondered as she leaped from one building to another, catching herself with claws that she used by instinct, pulling herself up with kicks and shifts of her hips that were half-training and half her new body just knowing what to do. How did I live without this for four years? Four years!

She knew she was getting angry, and for once, she didn't tamp it down. The kitten had been holding back for four years, and she wasn't going to lie to herself this time. She had been...a prisoner. A prisoner for the happiness of others. Tonight...tonight, she would be herself again.

Even with her training and the abilities of her furry body, however, the feline couldn't run forever. She managed to get about three miles away from her apartment before she collapsed, tiredness catching up to her immediately. She slumped forward, leaning on the edge of the building as she struggled to catch her breath.

Teenage body. It had energy until it didn't, and then it had nothing. She would have to remember that.

As she rested, she looked over the side, glancing over the world below. New York City was busy at all hours of the day, but so far she didn't see anything that might have been a sign of the weres or their cousins. She knew they were out there, but perhaps they had gotten better at hiding since she had been captured.

Well, she would have to up her own game. Akiko leaned down, staring into the alleys around the main streets, and slowly walked along the side of the building. Her new night eyes were better than her old hunting equipment, and she could see every detail that could give someone away. Boxes stacked in an area that didn't belong, the way that trash bags could be pulled over someone's head in order to hide a bed, and many other little signs that were giveaways for someone that knew how to hunt.

She had covered three different alleys before she spotted someone moving. At first, she thought that it was a strange new creature, but on second examination, realized it was more of a gang. The feline leaned forward, narrowing her eyes as her ears swiveled around, trying to pick up the sounds rising out of the narrow concrete corridor.

"...Please...I don't..."

"Freak...Shoulda put you...years ago."

"Gonna...uck you..."

"Heh...Let's put this guy...misery..."

The constant flow of cars and other traffic blocked out most of the words, but it was clear that this was a beat-down of some sort. Akiko shook her head. Much as she hated the abuse that humans could visit on each other, she knew better than to get involved. There was little she'd be able to do at her current size, and the last thing she needed was to get seen. If someone spotted a little white cat running around on two legs, there would be papers about it.

Even if there was no discovery of her, personally, Michelle and Lucas wouldn't let her out of the house again, and bar the window to further escapes. After seeing what she'd missed over the years, she could not give up this freedom again.

So she watched, shaking her head as the poor man was beaten to a pulp. She didn't look away, knowing this was her price to pay if she was going to be free. Better to pay it now and admit it, rather than to run off and lie to herself.

Eventually, he collapsed, and the gang ran off. She hesitated, about to go on her hunt, but couldn't bring herself to just leave him there. If he was bleeding out, then he could be in danger of dying. Just because she couldn't fight the people that did it didn't mean that she could leave him to that fate.

Sighing, the kitten leaped over the edge, catching the fire escape further down. It almost yanked her arms out of her sockets, and she bit her tongue hard to suppress the yowl of pain that tried to escape.

Mmph...training or not, this body isn't used to falls like that. I can't just jump...

She pulled herself up, giving her arms a quick examination. One was more or less fine, but the other had almost been pulled out of its socket. She shook her head, getting a grip on the upper part of her arm, and shoved.

"Hsssss!"

She couldn't keep herself from reacting to that one, her eyes watering for a moment before she was able to pull herself back to her duties. Akiko followed the fire escape down, keeping herself low to avoid being seen through any of the windows.

As she finally hit the ground, she walked over to the shivering figure. He looked better off than most people would be after a beatdown like she'd witnessed, but perhaps the homeless were better at hiding how they felt. Considering what she heard that they went through on a daily basis, she imagined that they were.

After one final hesitation behind a dumpster, she padded over to him. The rough ground made the pads on her paws ache a bit, but it was secondary to the constant worry of being seen. She kept looking over her shoulder, checking the alley entrance, making sure that there was no one coming back. Unfortunately, it also kept her from seeing the true identity of the victim until his tail tapped her ankle.

Tail...he's not a homeless man...

Her eyes went wide as she turned around, seeing the hood of an old jacket get pushed back as the were-rat on the ground turned to look at her. He was slimy looking, his eyes beady as any rodent's would be, and his claw-like fingers pushed past sleeves that were too thick for him. His tail slid back, pulled close to him, and she realized that he must have shifted form to keep from being killed, gone to the shape that would heal him from his injuries.

Worst, he almost looked like he was happy to see her, like he thought she was one of his kind. She growled, reaching down and grabbing her knives. The instant the moonlight flickered off of them, his smile disappeared.

"What are you -"

"Get back!"

She hissed, training taking over as she slipped into a fighting stance, one knife pointed forward and the other held at a guard close to her chest. Were-rats. What did she know about were-rats? Quick and strong, their tails one of their main weapons, their fingers often contaminated with who knew how many different toxins and bacteria from their lifestyles. One of the few were-species that could transmit their curse through cuts rather than bites or sex. She couldn't afford to get hit with anything but his tail, and even that would be a problem.

Akiko lunged forward when he didn't move, forcing him back a few steps into the alley. She cut at the air, making a few nicks in his coat as he dodged up and down, keeping just out of her reach every time. The kitten followed him, keeping her momentum up, using every form she remembered to drive him back. Each attack, each cut flowed into the next, each swing of her arm bringing her forward and driving the next one in. The cuts were getting closer, one of the knives cutting into his ear -

"Please, I didn't - stop!"

"Monster!"

"Look who's talking!"

He ducked the next blow, and lunged forward. The impact knocked the breath out of her lungs, and only a quick flick of her knife over the base of his tail kept her from getting pinned. He threw his head back in pain, and she went flying, soaring towards the back of the alley.

"Oof!"

The concrete wall at the end of the alley knocked the air right out of her lungs, and only a pile of trash bags kept her from getting her neck broken as she fell down. Groaning under her breath, she dragged herself upright once more, only to see that the alley was empty. The flick of the were-rat's tail as he ran out was all she had, but it was enough.

"You're not getting away from me..."

Tightening her grip on her knives, she made herself sheath them before taking off after him. The fire escapes would take too long. She'd have to follow him on foot, dangerous as it was.

Running down the street, she could hardly believe how hard her heart was pumping. It was like the old days, when she was free to hunt and chase, when she had a purpose beyond simply surviving. This...this was living. The were-rat ran from her, and that, more than anything else, gave her some faith for the future. She still had the strength to make them afraid. She still had that much to offer.

She chased him down, watched him duck into another alley. She followed -

"Well, well, look who didn't learn his lesson."

And immediately stopped as she heard the same voice from earlier. The same gang as before, this time in easy view. She ducked between a dumpster and a pile of cardboard boxes, and slowly peered around.

Her target was surrounded by four denim-clad thugs, each one pulling out a switchblade from their pockets. The were-rat was still in monster form, twitching as he looked from one attacker to another. One of the humans, the leader from all his tattoos, chuckled as he flicked his knife up and down.

"Don't know where you got the costume, freak, but it's time to cut it off you. You can't pay with cash, you'll pay with something fancy. I'm sure the blood'll come off."

Costume? These idiots are going to be infected! she thought, her hands going for her knives before she stopped herself again.

If she jumped out now, there was no way that they'd buy she was in a costume. The rat was pulling it off because his body was mostly covered, his ragged jeans and oversized jacket covering the impossible parts of a costume, and he was dirty enough to make himself look patchy, almost fake. If she jumped out, with her patched-up uniform, they'd know she was for real.

But if she did nothing...

The gang leaped at the rat en masse, their knives cutting at him. She saw his tail tip get cut off right away, and another piece of his ear go missing as the were-rat leaped and ducked and tried to get out from the cluster of thugs trying to kill him. She waited, watching for the moment when he would cut them or infect them with a bite...

But it didn't come.

Why isn't he converting them?! It'd be easy. One bite, one claw, and they'd be shaking. It's even a full moon! He'd have thralls...

But he wasn't. He just kept dodging, trying to wiggle free, but they kept coming. His healing was coming into play, fixing the little cuts as they happened, though his tail wasn't getting better. Not once did he actually strike with a claw or tooth, just with a closed fist and his tail.

This...this wasn't how this was supposed to go. They were monsters. They fought, and they dominated other people. They didn't try and hold back.

Yet...

She remembered her fight, the way that she'd been trying to kill him. No blows in return, no bites, no clawing at her. Akiko had thought that it was just because she was too fast for him to strike back, but she'd been no faster than the humans here. Maybe a trifle harder to predict, with better form, but no faster. This body wasn't used to fighting, and wouldn't have been the blinding fury that she had once been famous for. Yet, he hadn't struck back then, either.

It was a mystery...and one she had to solve. It was too wrong, too out of sorts with the rest of the world for her to stand.

With the humans too busy to see her, she grabbed a glass bottle from the ground beside her and leaped out into the open. One thing that her feline body was good for was covering distance through the air in a way that humans never could, and she took advantage. One leap brought her up to head-level for the nearest human, and she cracked the bottle over his head. As he went down, she leaped off of him, grabbing the human on the were-rat's left and pulling him down as she held onto his head.

They crashed down to the concrete, the thug's head cracking against the ground, and she made sure he'd stay down with a quick punch to the back of his neck. As his eyes closed, she turned -

Only to see the were-rat sweeping the other two humans with his tail, and finishing the fight with a quick smack-smack to their heads. The heavy limb was perfectly suited to club work, she realized, seeing how quickly it knocked the humans out.

She stood slowly, making no sudden moves as the were-rat turned to her. He looked like like he was ready to bolt again, so she didn't reach for the knives.

"Why didn't you kill them?"

"What are you talking about? I need to -"

"No."

Akiko pointed to all of the bodies around them.

"I was watching. You didn't bite, didn't claw...why?"

"Why? Because I'm not stupid!"

He gestured at them.

"They're people. They got lives. I bite any of them, someone notices they go missing, and I'm dead. They're dead. I get maybe a couple of days of borrowed time."

"...Then why do you let them beat you?"

"I'll heal, won't I? Fuck...I need to go."

"Not without explaining."

"Explaining what?! You should know this. You're not human."

"But I'm not a were."

"Oh, fucking hell, don't tell me you're one of those that thinks that they're something better. 'Oh, look at me, I've lost all my old feral ways, and now live in harmony with -'"

"I used to be human. I was changed. Not bitten, not clawed. Changed. By a kitsune."

"...Oh, shit..."

He rubbed the back of his head, and suddenly she realized how young he looked. She'd been so busy fighting him that she hadn't realized that he was barely taller than her, and that was by his ears more than anything else. The were-rat wasn't barely filling out the jacket because he was starving. He was barely filling it out because he was gangly, because he wasn't quite proportional, because he was a teenager wearing a grown-up's coat.

Her eyes went wide at the revelation, and she took a step backwards before she could stop herself. If he was just a kid...had she been...

I was about to kill him...when he hadn't done anything...

"Look...sorry for the...insults, I guess. Didn't know."

And now he was apologizing. Her head spun, her legs wobbled as the impossible seemed to come from nowhere. This wasn't...this wasn't...

Weres are monsters, through and through. If you see one, you kill it. If you do not, it will kill you, if you're lucky. If you're not, you will be turned into its thrall. There is no were that exists that will not turn you into its toy, its thrall, its slave, if it can. If you cannot kill it, kill yourself, because there is no fate worse than that.

The old lessons echoed back to her, but this was not in the rules. This was not in anything that she'd been taught. Children. Children turned...like her...

She backed into the alley wall, her head spinning as she tried to keep upright. The were-rat took a step towards her, and she held out a hand, stopping him.

"Please...I can't...give me a...give me a moment."

"Yeah...sure. Guess we got a bit...Fuck, they're gonna kill me for this..."

She barely registered that, more trying to hold her head together and make the world make sense again. This wasn't possible, yet here it was. A were that wasn't trying to kill her, one that apologized, one that was reasonable. This...they were animals, lustful, rutting animals that would never have full control of themselves, that were a danger to everyone around them. Yet, this rat had shown restraint, he'd not killed, he was trying to avoid people...He even let them hurt him rather than fighting back, the first time.

There had to be a reason for this. This had to be an exception, not the rule. Realizing she was panting, she forced herself to take a few deep breaths, making her heart slow down enough to think clearly.

"I...I am sorry for attacking you, earlier."

"You mean all the knife flailing?"

"I do. I...I thought you were like the others."

"If you mean like those assholes from overseas, I can see why. Kitsunes are the worst."

"I can certainly agree with this..."

"So, uh...Can I go?"

"...May I know your name?"

"Why?"

"I need to...just to put something besides Were-Rat in my head."

"...Josh. It's Josh."

Josh. And like that, he had gone from a monster to a person. A monstrous person with a monstrous body, but a person nonetheless. A name changed so much, she realized.

The soft thunk of falling boxes caught her attention, as well as the crackle of shifting trash. She whipped her head to the side, saw a tail disappearing behind a dumpster, and turned back to Josh.

"You said...they'd kill you?"

"Well, not fucking literally, but..."

"Friends?"

"Kinda. Guys?"

Slowly, as if through a magic all their own, over a dozen other weres pulled themselves out of the nooks and crannies of the alley. Some were other were-rats, some were were-cats, and still others were werewolves, if one could call a domestic dog a wolf. Some glared, some sniffed the air, some came within an arm's length of her to get a better look before darting away again. All of them stared at her knives, though, and none of them looked happy.

Yet, at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to draw them, despite being surrounded by more of the enemy than she had ever seen at one time. They were all children, she realized, early teens at most. Possibly people that had been bitten, possibly even -

Possibly even born, like this, she realized, a thought that she had never considered. Did weres actually procreate the way that humans did? She knew that they often raped humans and would turn them and use thralls for breeding, but did they have children amongst themselves in their own way? The thought sent a chill down her spine, and she wondered how many children the hunters had killed over the years.

Akiko's legs finally gave out as she stared at the group, seeing the way that they looked at each other. The were-dogs stood forward, keeping the smaller were-cats behind them, and the were-rats had their tails curled around the weaker-looking ones of the group. Big brothers and little sisters, little brothers and big sisters, all moving around and shifting to cover their weak spots while putting the strongest, most intimidating face forward.

They were a family. A furry, dirty, fang-filled family.

It broke her, and she ran. Akiko darted out of the alley before they could stop her, and with a speed borne of fear and impending insanity, ran up the nearest light pole. She straddled the top, stood up, and leaped for the building beside her. Her claws nearly snapped off as she fell down the brickwork, but she got enough of a purchase to drag herself up. There was a shout from below, but it echoed in the back of her mind, forgotten almost as soon as she heard it.

Fleeing from the reality of what she almost did, Akiko dragged herself up to the top of the building, and curled herself into a ball, the kitten losing herself finally. Tears poured out of her eyes, training fighting with emotions and emotions winning as the world fractured around her. Black and white went gray, and she cried until it turned to nothing but a blur.

An hour passed, and the tears stopped. Michelle and Lucas would be coming home, soon, and she needed to be there to meet them if she wanted to keep her freedom. The white cat slowly uncurled herself, only to feel something against her paw as she stretched out. She looked down, spotted a white bag, and curiously opened it.

Inside was a piece of paper and a grubby business card, folded together. She opened the first, saw it was written in a scratchy handwriting that she knew well. It only got that bad when one had claws around their fingers, and had to work with that. Knowing it was from Josh almost brought the tears back, and she put it down, looking at the card instead.

It looked like something from the early 1900s, blank save for oil and grease stains, and a single name in the middle. 'The Moonlit Alley,' it said. She guessed it was something to do with the weres, a place where they could come together or something. Hoping for an explanation, she went back to the letter, steeling herself to read it.

Girl, I don't know who the fuck you are, but you are fucked up in a way that's worse than the rest of the family. You ever want some help getting back on your feet, get down to the Alley. Hunters took a lot of us in the past, and so did the kitsunes before they moved on. You'll get some help there, if you need it. Just keep hold of that card; it's your only way in.

You Know Who

She folded it back up, feeling the tears coming again. Why? She'd tried to kill him, and he was trying to help her. Didn't matter who she was, or what she'd done. For some reason, he felt sorry for her.

It was too much. Akiko pushed the letter and card back in the bag, tucked it into the back of her leather waistline, and took to the rooftops again. She had to get home soon, and...

Well, she could think of it after that. If there was a place for her in the city, if there was a way for her to learn more, it'd be at the Moonlit Alley. If the weres in Josh's little family thought that she was safe to invite there, then maybe...maybe...

It could be a trap, she thought, but that didn't feel right. They could have killed her then, left her in the alley to pin that murder on all the thugs that were knocked out. It would have made for two problems solved at once. But they hadn't. They thought she was safe...

And she was increasingly thinking they were, as well.

The End