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Part 1 Haku Catches a Rabbit

"You don't like strawberries?"

"No, I'm saving them for last."

"Oh. I guess if you weren't the type to save your favorite for last you probably would have eaten me first, and then everything would be different." Mitsu laughed, but Haku could sense pain in the memory.

"I'm glad I do save the best for last then." He paused, not wanting to prod a painful subject for Mitsu, but ultimately continued. "Are you? I mean, are you glad ... that I ... that you ... that things turned out like this?" Mitsu had gone through a lot, and arguably he might have been better off if Haku had just eaten him immediately.

"Of course I am." Mitsu smiled. But Haku still wondered if he was actually happy with his life or just satisfied with the influence he'd had on Haku. For a rabbit, one life was a cheap price to change the ways of a fox like Haku.

Haku had met Mitsu years ago when he was out hunting. He did that a lot in those days; it was one of his primary forms of entertainment, as well as providing most of his food. He had surprised two rabbits kissing in a glen. Mitsu (though of course he didn't know his name yet) had curly black hair but contrasting white ears, although the tips were matching black. The other rabbit was more plain, black ears matching his straight black hair. Haku decided to save the decorative rabbit for second and materialized a shackle around his ankle to stop him running away--it looked insubstantial, but as the rabbit found, it was quite solid.

Haku took his time with the black rabbit, since the other one wouldn't be going anywhere. He had approached them in fox form, so he had no need to transform. Even large enough to swallow a man whole, he could be silent and unseen if he wanted to. He dragged the black rabbit out of reach of his companion and pressed him to the ground with one forepaw on his chest, then reached back to catch his feet in his teeth. If the rabbit tried to kick him, he was prepared to bite down, but the rabbit seemed too stunned to offer much resistance.

"Kazu!" called the white-eared rabbit in alarm, as Haku swallowed the first rabbit's feet. Glancing at his prisoner, he saw that the rabbit had crawled toward him as far as his bonds would permit. He smiled, wondering what the rabbit thought he could do to stop him, and swallowed the black one up to the waist. The other rabbit let out a cry. The black one turned his head to look helplessly at his companion.

Haku would have thought he might resent not having his prey's full attention, but this was actually fun. Usually he only caught one rabbit at a time, and on the rare occasions he'd caught two, the second one had just huddled and refused to watch. Now so long as the black rabbit didn't get it into his head to start pulling on Haku's whiskers, it seemed the hunt would be a resounding success.

But the black rabbit had gone helpless and limp. He said something faintly when Haku's teeth had reached his neck. Haku couldn't make it out, but it prompted the other rabbit to strain against his chain. He raised his head and let gravity assist him as he gulped down the rest of the black rabbit. Then he turned to grin toothily at his prisoner.

The white-eared rabbit stared back, wide-eyed with horror, on his hands and knees still after trying to reach his companion. Haku sat down, enjoying the bulk of the black rabbit in his stomach. He was in no hurry to eat the second rabbit. He could certainly handle two rabbits in succession, but one was enough to sate his hunger.

The remaining rabbit sat down close to where his shackle was invisibly attached to the ground, still staring at the fox. Tears welled up and flowed down his cheeks. Haku supposed that either the loss of the other rabbit or the fact that he was next had finally sunk in.

Haku returned to his human form. Although the fox was his true form--or a much larger version of the fox, of a size to match his extraordinary levels of magic--he spent most of his time human. Well, human except for the silvery ears and fluffy tail. He could have had up to six tails, but he generally suppressed the extras, as they got in the way.

The rabbit gasped at the transformation, although it shouldn't come as a surprise, since he was a similar creature, albeit with no other magic to speak of. If anything he should be happy, since Haku couldn't swallow him as a human--not that he didn't have other ways of dealing with rabbits, but few rabbits witnessed these things and lived to tell about them.

With a wave of his hand he dismissed the shackle on the rabbit's leg. The rabbit noticed and glanced down, but didn't make any attempt to bolt. That was just as well, as Haku didn't feel like chasing after him when his stomach was so full. Of course, you couldn't really tell when he was in human form--there was some slight bulging but obviously not enough to account for the entirety of the black rabbit.

The second rabbit looked up at him warily as he approached. "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you. Yet," said Haku, speaking to the rabbit for the first time. The silver fox frowned. He should get it over with. He'd tortured this one more than most. But somehow he hesitated. It couldn't be that the rabbit was beautiful--he liked the pretty ones best. So why did he feel like it was a shame to kill such a beautiful creature?

Haku sighed. No one would dare tease him about it, but they would certainly think it strange. It would be talked about. It would damage his reputation. Yet he just didn't feel like eating the rabbit now. And letting him go wasn't even an option. "Come on," he ordered. "I'm taking you home."

"Home?" repeated the rabbit. He must not have understood. Of course Haku had no idea where the rabbit's home was, and the rabbit would never see it again. Even if he had by some chance decided to let the rabbit go, he wouldn't escort him home, he'd just leave.

"My home. I'll eat you later," he clarified.

***

"Master Haku? What's that?" The servants were surprised, of course. Haku had never brought prey home before. The rabbit ignored the questions, stoically looking straight ahead.

"Kou, get him cleaned up," Haku ordered. "I'm going back out."

"Master Haku?"

"I'm saving him for later."

This was still unusual, but at least Kou knew that the rabbit wasn't an actual guest. By virtue of belonging to Haku, he would be treated with respect, but he wouldn't be allowed to escape or entertained as a proper guest would be.

Confident in Kou's ability to carry out his orders, Haku turned and went back out into the forest. Reverting to his fox form, he ran through the underbrush until he picked up the scent of prey. Usually he tried to minimize the magic he used when hunting, to make it more sporting and more of a challenge, but right now he didn't care; he just wanted to catch a rabbit as fast as possible. So he willed himself imperceptible and zeroed in on his victim.

The rabbit was plainer than the other two, a perfectly ordinary brown, but still cute enough if you looked at him closely. He shrieked in terror as Haku knocked him over and pinned him to the ground. This was more like it. The fox felt like himself again. Haku gave him a predatory grin and without further preamble clamped his jaws around the rabbit's head and shoulders. He tilted his head back and gulped the rabbit down quickly.

Haku relaxed into a sphinx position, crossing his front paws in satisfaction. The problem wasn't him; it was that one rabbit. Something was wrong with that rabbit that made it hard to eat him. Maybe it was just that he'd drug out the process too long, put the rabbit through too much, so much that he started to feel bad for him. But he would set things right by going back home and eating the rabbit anyway. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he started sympathizing with rabbits.

But it wouldn't be a problem; it was just a fluke. He certainly didn't feel bad for the brown rabbit just now. He recalled the brown rabbit's expression of terror and surprise and felt an uncomfortable twinge. No, of course he didn't pity the brown rabbit. After all, he was nothing like that black and white rabbit. Well, maybe when he'd first captured the white-eared rabbit ... Come to think of it, they weren't so different after all. He pictured the black and white rabbit in the brown rabbit's place, curled up inside him waiting to die. He wasn't moving. Was he still conscious? Normally Haku found it quite pleasant to have his stomach full of rabbit, but now the weight wasn't comfortable at all.

But it wasn't as if he could just let the rabbit go. What was the point of hunting rabbits if you weren't going to eat them? What kind of fox would catch a rabbit and let it go? Then again, what was the point of eating a rabbit if he didn't enjoy it? It wasn't as if he needed to. His servants were perfectly capable of keeping him fed with normal, civilized food. Now he felt even worse.

With a sigh of resignation and disgust he stood and pushed the brown rabbit back up, opening his mouth to let him drop to the ground. The rabbit seemed okay, just a little stunned and coated in saliva. Wiping his eyes, the brown rabbit blinked up at the fox, too afraid or too confused to get up and make a run for it.

"Don't tell anyone about this," Haku snarled, snapping his teeth close to the rabbit's face. "Now get out of here before I change my mind."

The rabbit tensed, staring up at him in disbelief for a moment, before getting his feet under him and springing away in one fluid motion. Haku dropped back to the ground. What was he doing? What was wrong with him? After spending a little time feeling sorry for himself, he decided it was all the black and white rabbit's fault. He glared at a convenient bush in lieu of the rabbit. He would just have to take care of that rabbit; that was all. Everything would be fine after he ate that rabbit.