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_Kitsune Days is a romance novel focused primarily on the lives of two high school seniors, Leigh and Nathan. For future story reference, in the story, Kitsune are defined as a rare multi tailed fox of pale golden fur color modeled after the zenko kitsune fox spirit of Japanese lore. These foxes are rare and may possess three tails if they are "pure blood" and only get three tails as the rest were lost when the first kitsune spirit became a mortal in 1055 B.C.E according to folk lore. Scientifically speaking how these tails are formed is still a mystery as no mutated genes have been found. _

This chapter is written a little differently and is more dialogue focused as it doesn't take place over a large amount of time. Let me know what you think in the comments section, and once again, thank you for reading. Comments/Criticisms are welcome and will be rectified or justified.

Chapter Two: A Day of Reckoning (Part One)

The sound of someone sweeping on the floor above them awoke Leigh from his slumber. He grumbled softly trying not to wake Nathan up as he slowly slipped out from under the wolf's arm and went to look for the bathroom.

He opened the door and peered out into the hallway unsure of where to even look. After a moment of deliberation he decided the best thing to do would be to find Geoffry who he assumed was upstairs sweeping. As he wandered down the hall he took a minute to admire the beautiful artwork that decorated the space between each door. The first was a depiction of a pack of feral wolves hunting done in oil paints. Next he found a picture he remembered seeing on the roof of a church of a fur extending a hand to the fur being that many believed to be the creator of all things, his parents included.

The last painting is the one that intrigued him the most, it was a large oil painting of the first of the mortal Kitsune. It depicted a scene of one of the legendary creatures of myth sacrificing six of its tails before the six gods of the ancient lore. He stood there staring at the scene, which he had heard in stories before as a child. Staring at the painting he didn't even here the butler slink down the stares as he spoke.

"Good morning master Leigh."

Leigh nearly jumped out of his fur, startled by Geoffry. He tried to compose himself a little. "Sorry, I was just admiring this painting and I didn't hear you come up behind me."

"It is quite alright, I have been told I should be a little louder when I move around the house."

The bobcat grinned as he continued sweeping now moving on to the hallway they were standing in.

"Umm...Mister Geoffry."

"Geoff will be fine if you wish."

"Okay, Geoff." Leigh smiled a bit. "Where would I find the bathroom around here." He looked around impatient as he bladder wasn't happy with him for delaying to look at the paintings.

"The bathroom is the second door on the left, right there." Geoff extended a lanky arm pointed to a white door that appeared just as all the rest he had seen in this house.

"Thank you, sir." Leigh turned to walk to the bathroom.

"My pleasure Master Leigh."

"Leigh will be fine if you wish." Leigh grinned trying to get a laugh out of the butler as he opened the bathroom door. "Is it alright if I take a shower here? I won't have time to make it home before school."

"There will be no school today Leigh, the entire west side of the city has suffered severe power outages and thus school has been canceled." He looked up to an ecstatic look on the young foxes face. "You may still go ahead and take a shower though, the towels are under the sink."

Leigh grabbed his tail to stop the wagging that had commenced at the news. "Okay, thank you." He closed the bathroom door and searched for a towel.

"Ah, to be that young again." The bobcat sighed rubbing an aching shoulder before going back to sweeping.

Leigh dug out a towel and placed it next to the sink before checking that the bathroom door was locked. He stripped off his now wrinkled up clothes thankful he wouldn't have to wear them to school and dropped them on the floor. Slipping into the shower he turned on the hot water and turned his back to it letting the warmth work away at his morning aches as he contemplated the events of the night before.

The alarm clocks incessant buzzing awoke Nathan with a start. He sat up and took in a deep breath feeling much better than the last night. He glanced around the room looking for a sign of Leigh, finding the fox's phone. Nathan sighed in relief. 'Good that means he hasn't left yet.' Rolling out of bed he stepped out into the hall to hear the shower running and noted Geoff sweeping the hallway.

"Young Leigh is showering right now, you two have no school today due to power outages across the city. Also, good morning to you sir."

Nathan grinned, happy they wouldn't be attending school that day. "Thank you Geoff, how long has he been up?" A twinge of concern grew in the wolf wondering if Leigh had been up all night after he fell asleep with nothing to do.

"I would imagine not more than ten minutes or so, he may require a pair of shorts or something as the clothes he slept in looked wrinkled up and I doubt, judging by the distaste on his face, he will want to wear them until I can iron them back out."

"Good idea." Nathan turned and went back into his room pulling a box of old clothes out of his closet that was supposed to be sent to a charity that weekend. 'Leigh can just borrow a pair out of here, they should fit him.' He found a decent looking pair of black shorts he thought would contrast nicely with the yellow fur and walked back to the bathroom hearing the water shut off.

Leigh stepped out of the shower feeling much cleaner than usual. 'I need to switch to whatever kind of shampoo they use here.' He grabbed the towel and began drying off when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey Leigh...I dug out a pair of shorts that should fit you if you want to put them on and Geoff can iron your clothes for you later on."

"That sounds great." Leigh perked up at the thought of not having to wear wrinkled clothes. He finished drying off as best he could and wrapped the towel around his waist, opening the door to greet the wolf who was waiting outside.

Nathan felt himself getting a little hard as the pale fox opened the door with a towel draped loosely across his hips. 'Damn, I thought he looked good before, but...damn.' Nathan blushed a little hoping Leigh couldn't see the growing bulge in his pants. Leigh looked the wolf over with a grin before reaching for the shorts.

"Thank you for saving me from wearing wrinkled clothes, it's an odd pet peeve I have." He gently took the shorts from Nathan.

"Don't thank me, it was Geoff's idea. He said you looked horrified at the thought of wearing your clothes to school like that." He laughed a little. "I sure am happy we don't have to go back today. School is such a bore because they cover things too slowly."

"Yeah, It would be nice to pick up the pace, but I guess not everyone can work that quickly. I'll be back out in a second." Leigh closed the door and quickly changed before stepping back into the hall with his dirty clothes and towel in tow.

"Where should I put these?"

"I have a basket in my room, I'll show you and then I can give you a tour of the house." Nathan turned leading Leigh into his room and showed him where to put his clothes. He looked over the slim fox, those black shorts making his fur look a slightly stronger yellow and smiled. "Black looks really good on you."

Leigh was bent over the basket putting his clothes in and he shook his butt playfully. "Oh, you think so?" He grinned turning to Nathan who was blushing bright enough to see beneath the dark gray fur.

"Uhh...yeah...actually...but uh...I meant..." Nathan couldn't form words only blushing even more.

"I know what you meant silly, it makes my fur look brighter." He smiled trying to calm the poor wolf down.

"Yeah...of course...that's what I meant." Nathan began cooling down and managed to regain composure. "Time for the tour of the house."

Leigh let his tail wag, excited about the tour. "First you must tell me where that painting out in the hall is from."

"Which one?" Nathan walked out the door to look. "This one I'm betting." He stopped in front of the painting Leigh had been looking at.

"Yeah, that one. I've never seen pictures of it or anything before in story books and stuff. Pretty much any major painting about that story is easy to find."

Nathan tried to hide a bit of pain. "My mom was an artist, she painted all of these before she uhh...before she died." He felt the little fox cling to his side. "She loved the old stories of mythology and the feral days. She spent weeks or months on each painting around the house."

"She must have been quite a woman." Leigh gently squeezed the wolf trying to comfort him. "It's terrible losing a loved one. It really is."

Nathan hugged the fox. "Who have you lost kits?" He looked down hoping it wasn't too sore a subject.

"My sister. She was four when we were outside playing and she ran in the street after a ball. I tried to stop her but...I just...I just couldn't catch her fast enough before a car struck her." He sniffled a little trying to regain his thoughts. "That was 5 years ago, mom and dad have been a little distant ever since then at times."

Nathan squeezed Leigh a little. "How about we finish this tour and get some breakfast to help the funk." He smiled seeing the fox grin a little as he nodded.

They proceeded around the house, Nathan showing him bathrooms, bedrooms, offices, and plenty of other random rooms until they stepped out into a large room on the base floor. Leigh looked around in awe at the instruments that lined the walls, each having its own rack to hang on surrounding a grand piano in the center of the room.

"This is the music room. It isn't used very often, usually just by the musicians dad hires for parties." He turned to watch the fox as he ran around the room studying each instrument carefully.

He stopped at a dark rose finished violin. "This is the same one I have at home. I had to beg my parents for years before they got me one for Christmas."

"You play violin?" Nathan smiled walking over perching himself on the piano bench to watch. "Why don't you play me something."

"Are you sure?" Leigh reached out gingerly picking up the violin and bow. "I'll be extra careful."

Leigh thought for a second before deciding on a tune. He reached up placing the bow gently on the strings and began playing 'Song of the Caged Bird.' Nathan sat in shock at the beautiful music that was coming from the violin, he looked up and saw Leigh lost in the music he was playing and he flipped his legs over to the piano. He reached down, knowing this song all to well as his mother's favorite to listen to while she painted and began playing along with the fox. He heard Leigh miss a note when he heard the piano start up but he quickly got back into the music with a grin, enjoying the fuller sound of the two instruments.

After they finished playing Leigh looked up to see a large graying wolf standing in the doorway with tears running down his face.

"Dad." Nathan ran over and hugged his father. "I didn't know you were home, I know how that song makes you feel."

George McKinley wiped his eyes looking down at his son. "It is quite alright buddy. Why don't you introduce me to this..." He stopped for a second seeing Leigh who was the first real Kitsune he had seen in his life. "to this friend of yours."

"Dad, this is Leigh, a friend I made at school. Leigh, this is George McKinley, my father."

"Nice to meet you sir." Leigh extended a hand to George.

"You can call me George." He took the small hand and received a firm handshake that caught him by surprise, causing him to smile. "Quite a handshake you got there. You must hide your muscle pretty well."

Leigh blushed. "Yes sir it is pretty lean, sorry about upsetting you with the song. I didn't even think anyone would know it."

"It's fine Leigh, it was just my wife's favorite song to paint to." He paused for a moment, regaining his composure. "It just brings up many memories, most of them are really good ones though so don't feel bad."

Leigh relaxed a little before realizing he never talked to his mom this morning. "Excuse me please, I need to call my mom." He headed out the room and went to Nathan's room.

He began dialing the number hoping that she wouldn't be too mad at him for not calling. After three rings he heard his mom pick up the phone.

"Hi mom, sorry for not calling. I accidentally fell asleep over here at Nathan's."

"It's fine sweetie." She sounded unusually happy for the morning. "Your father and I figured as such so we just let you be.

"Thank you, I just wanted to make sure you didn't stay up late worrying or anything. I'm going to stay over here for a while longer then stop by Lilly's on the way home. Is that alright?"

"That sounds fine dear just be safe, and no we weren't too worried. We figured you would be safe at a friends."

"Okay good." He smiled. "Bye mom, I love you, tell dad I said hello."

"I will dear, love you too."

He closed his phone and headed back down stairs to see what was cooking in the kitchen. It smelled like sausage and French toast. Upon reaching the kitchen he found Nathan and his dad talking around a pot of coffee and sat down to join them.

"Was your mom alright? I hope she didn't worry too much with you falling asleep over here."

"Yeah, she seemed unusually happy for some rea..." He stopped realizing the probable reason behind his mothers happiness. "Yeah, she wasn't too upset about it or anything." He finished hoping he didn't say too much.

George chuckled a little bit causing Leigh to blush. "Well at least she wasn't mad and got the wrong impression about us or anything." He turned to the fox. "Your last name is Kaliah, is your dad's name Robert?"

Leigh nodded cautiously. "Yes, why? Do you know him?"

"I sure do." George beamed. "We used to play golf all the time, bastard always beat me." He laughed seeing the young fox relax.

"He never mentioned a name but I have heard about the wolf he used to golf with." Leigh smiled. "He told me about a couple of the times you two raced around the track in golf carts."

Nathan cocked his head suddenly interested in what was being said. "Did you really do that dad?"

"We sure did. That's why we don't play golf anymore. They kicked us out." He laughed thinking back on those days. "Do you mind giving me your dad's phone number, I would like to invite him over some day."

"Sure. I'll write it down for you later when we can find some paper."

Geoff sat plates down in front of each of them and sat down at the table to join them.

"Looks good Geoff." George poured himself some more coffee and refilled the bobcat's cup too.

"Thank you sir. You didn't have too."

"Nonsense Geoff, you know at the table employer/employee goes out the window. You are a part of the family."

The old cat smiled nodding his head before beginning to eat. "Thank you si...George."

After eating Leigh got up and put the dishes in the sink turning to Geoff. "The food was good Geoff."

Geoff smiled up at him. "Thank you Leigh. Although, it wasn't anything special."

"Doesn't mean it wasn't good. Now if you will excuse me everyone. I won't be gone too long." He turned and bounded off up the stairs to the bathroom.

George turned to Nathan. "What is that black streak down his back? It's not like Kitsune to have fur patterns other than their solid yellow."

Nathan looked over where the fox had gone upstairs. "He had an accident when he was younger, maybe you should ask him about it as I don't want him to think we have been sitting here talking about him every time he leaves the room.

"Ah, but we have." George laughed. "Nothing personal like that though, I suppose you're right. I'll just wait till he gets back."

A few minutes later Leigh came back down the stairs and George turned to face him. "If you don't mind me asking, Leigh. Where did that black streak come from. It is most unusual for a Kitsune."

Leigh turned and gave everyone a closer look before he sat back down at the table. Nathan ran his finger gently down the jittering line and one of the branches noting the black lines along the skin the fur was growing from.

I was underneath a tree playing in the rain when lightning struck it. My best guess is a branch of the electricity hit me too scarring my skin which has caused the fur to grow black ever since. How it still grows at all is beyond me, my mother always just said it was because Kitsune are apparently good at healing."

George nodded taking a sip of his coffee. "Sounds like quite a frightful experience."

"It was, I still have a fear of lightning even though it was a long time ago. I guess some things just never go away."

"Yeah, sometimes it is hard to forget bad events even when it would help you feel better." George turned to Nathan. "But, enough of this sad talk, I have to get off to work.

He stood up from the table, "I'll see you tonight son. Maybe you too, Leigh." He grabbed his coat before heading out the door.

"Your dad seems like a really nice guy." Leigh got up following Nathan to his room.

"He is a great father. The man has done a lot for me." He opened the door to his room and let Leigh in before him with a smile.

"Thank you my good sir." Leigh joked, reaching for his clean clothes that Geoff had laid out for him.

"Anytime my dear fellow." Nathan played along before digging in his closet to find something to wear after he showered.

Leigh began changing while Nathan was focused on digging through his closet then looked a little sad as he spoke. "I guess I better go to Lilly's soon. I don't know what she is doing today but she should be free for the time being."

Nathan turned to hug the sad little fox. "If you need me, you know right where to find me. I'll be here for you."

"I know, I am more concerned about how she will take it. I just hope this doesn't ruin our being friends." He felt his ears droop lower as he leaned onto Nathan taking in a deep breath letting the wolf's scent calm him down.

Nathan walked Leigh to the door. "I'll see you later, call if you need me kits." He gave Leigh a little lick on the muzzle.

"I will." Leigh blushed. "I'll call when I leave and see what you are up to." He turned and headed down the driveway at a slow jog giving Nathan a wave good bye.

Nathan waved back turning back inside and closed the door with a sigh knowing he was well and truly smitten.

"I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of Master Leigh?"

Nathan jumped as the bobcat scared him. "Geoff what have I told you about sneaking around like that?" He laughed. "You cats just move so quietly, but yes, I hope we will be seeing a lot more of him."

"And what do you mean by that sir?" Geoff grinned catching what was probably an accidental double entendre.

Nathan blushed heavily. "You know what I meant Geoff."

The butler grinned as he turned up the stairs. "Knowing you Master Nathan, I'm not entirely sure I do."