[In retrospect, playing tricks on spirits twice as strong as himself should have seemed like less than a fantastic idea at the the time, but he's well aware of it now which is what counts. He ran through the forest and well away from the oni, sadly leaving its club behind to be retrieved either by him when it's safe to return, or it,if it's clever enough to find it - which he doubts.
Soon enough, he finds the trees thinning and human roads criss-cross between their houses. He manages to stretch his strength out to make it to the foot of a shrine, which should be enough that no spirits intending to do him harm will pass by.
He might be exhausted but he's not actually dead, so that's something, but after that run and his fight with the oni he can't do more than tuck his tails around his paws and squeeze his eyes shut as he hopes that no humans decide to take issue with a fox taking shelter on the side of the road as he fades into sleep.]
[As it happens, Oikawa's not the only one visiting that shrine today seeking refuge—though for Yamaguchi, the term is used less literally. It's the start of a new academic year, his first one at high school as a matter of fact, and just past the two-week mark Yamaguchi's already dreading the remainder. He's somehow even more unhappy now at his new school than he was during the preceding break, when there was nothing for him to do but wait at home alone for the days to pass. There aren't many kids from his middle school attending Karasuno (which was definitely a factor in Yamaguchi choosing it, if he's being honest) but he's still unable to shake the sense that they know he isn't like them. That he's weird, and odd-looking because of his freckles, and that he's pretty much destined to be alone indefinitely now because Tsukishima's moved to America with his family. His classmates last year would drop hints about it sometimes under the pretext of harmless teasing, at least when the teacher was around: Yamaguchi the chatterbox. Yamaguchi the crybaby. Yamaguchi who used to jump at his own shadow over things he thought he'd seen, but weren't even there.
Tsukishima's little pet friend…
By eighth grade his childhood bullies had mostly grown out of sticks and stones and backpack duty, so bad the encounters were only infrequently violent. But even so, nearly a year of being treated as a joke or else charitably ignored at school has made it hard for Yamaguchi to be optimistic. He's not sure how to go about making new friends and so keeps to himself out of habit in high school, which of course hasn't helped with ingratiating himself to his new classmates.
Now more than ever, Yamaguchi misses Tsukishima. But since there's nothing he can do about it, he finally decides that taking a detour to the shrine after school is at least a better alternative than wallowing in self-pity. Maybe if he buys a paper lot out of the fortune box today, it will tell him better luck is on the way…
Better luck doesn't seem to be holding its breath for him, though. As Yamaguchi nears the shrine entrance with his mind distracted, his foot lands on an unnoticed object lying on the ground. The item rolls unexpectedly beneath his weight, and Yamaguchi is sent toppling to the ground, shriek of surprise cut off as his backpack chokes his air supply.]
Wh…What… [Instinctively, he looks around for what tripped him, and picks the item up when he spies it rolling to a stop by his head. Closer inspection proves it to a smooth, shimmery-colored orb that feels oddly warm to his touch. Yamaguchi rubs his head a few times in bewilderment, assessing his condition as he tries to think of what it could be for.] …A ball?
[The sound of a notably human body tumbling to the ground manages to make its way through Oikawa's sleep and gets him up and alert enough to pull himself to his feet and back into the bushes, just in time to see the boy close his hand over Oikawa's Hoshi no Tama.
As bad days go, this one is turning out to be a nightmare.
Because the fact of the matter is, with the boy having touched it while Oikawa was unconscious, he owes him. Even though he'd rather bite the kid on his leg, grab his Hoshi no Tama and run back to somewhere he can recuperate in peace, ancient powers are meddling things and won't let him just do that. Not if he wants to keep the magic stored in the ball, at least.
Humans aren't his favourite, and even though coming here was his best option, he's regretting straying so close when he wasn't in a position to prevent a scrawny kid like this from touching the one thing that it's important no one touches. It's typical that a human would. He's done without them for over a hundred years and the one time he's less than completely cautious, he ends up in a bind.
Pressed back into the bush, Oikawa figures he's mostly hidden from view, it's not the biggest bush or the most leafy, but most human's eyes aren't observant and this one doesn't look like the brightest with the way he's turning Oikawa's Hoshi no Tama over.
He flicks his ears back as he watches, he's going to have to make himself known at some point, but he's debating on whether the time to do that is now or after observing him. Knowing humans, he's probably so delicate he'll fall over dead before long anyway.]
[Thinking he hears something rustling nearby, Yamaguchi glances up from the ball and gives a cursory look around. He's not really looking hard, though, and so manages not to notice the wary kitsune hiding in the bushes.]
Weird…
[He returns his gaze to the shimmery ball in his hand, steadily entranced. Is it some kind of ornament for decorating the shrine? he wonders. The round surface feels eerily smooth when he turns it over, almost not solid…when he peers at it closely in the afternoon light, it seems to glow faintly. The ball also seems to radiate a familiar aura that makes Yamaguchi feel…connected. To something outside himself, or…
Aughh. I'm doing it again.
Tearing his eyes away from the orb, Yamaguchi slowly shakes his head and exhales, hiking up the remaining steps to the shrine. No more playing around. He wants to just grab his omikuji from the coin box and go, hopefully without running into the local shrine priestess on the way out. She's an older woman, who's terrified Yamaguchi every visit of his life since before he can remember. It's not a holiday or anything like that so he'd rather not deal with any more unnecessary grief.
Just get in, grab his fortune, and go. After that, he can finally go home. Nothing's going to bother Yamaguchi there. Right?]
[And he's taking it. Great. Not that he expected him not to, or that it would make much difference but it's still annoying that he would pick things up off the side of the road and take them. Testing his strength, Oikawa creeps out of the bushes. His nap was short but has done him enough good that he's able to scramble onto the bough of a tree and then up onto the top of the fence that runs around the shrine, where he walks, a touch precariously, along.
He's drawing a fortune, how human. Not that there isn't some power to them, but they're low level and inaccurate and generally it's better not to have that information in case it limits the possibilities he thinks of. But maybe he has a test coming up.
He perches with his paws close together on the fence, flicking his tails and again contemplating the best move when it comes to approaching him.
What he doesn't count on - and what having drawn a fortune might actually have helped - is that his luck today is awful. The kind of luck that could ruin a life. A strong gust of wind smacks into him, he scrabbles to keep his paws on the fence but it's too thin and he's not back to his regular strength. He tries to pull from his magic to keep himself in the air but he only finds a trickle where his reserves should be thanks to his supplies sitting in possession of a human, and he lands on the ground, just barely catching himself on his feet, with a clearly audible thump and a bark to match.]
[Oblivious to the trickster's presence at first, Yamaguchi collects his tiny scroll from the vending machine while keeping the strange orb tucked safely in the crook of his elbow. He bites his lip as he heads back down in the direction that he came from, glancing around once more to make sure the shrine priestess isn't nearby. Unwilling to wait in case the message is bad, Yamaguchi slowly unrolls his omikuji to look.
He's hoping for something lucky—something that will signal an end to the purgatory of loneliness and boredom he's been stuck in ever since Tsukishima left. Yamaguchi's eyes catch immediately on the large inscription at the very top of the scroll, and his face falls, disappointment overwriting his features as he sees the elegant inked characters adorning the paper in warning: Half-Curse.
The rest of the fortune beneath that goes ignored, at least for now. So much for bettering his luck. This sounds like more of the same, just bad enough to make him feel worthless and pathetic for not being able to tough it out. Wondering angrily what a generalization like 'half-curse' even means, Yamaguchi huffs angrily beneath his breath and is in halfway through process of debating whether or not to toss the fortune away instead of hanging it properly when a flash of fur from the fence catches his eye. Some kind of creature is definitely alive and just fell down from the top; it lands a few meters away from Yamaguchi barking. It's a fox, he sees when his head snaps automatically to look. Cold sweat immediately breaks out along Yamaguchi's skin and he freezes, wondering if the animal is injured or carrying some kind of disease. Rabies from a fox-bite might get him out of school for a while, he thinks frantically, but it definitely qualifies as more than a measly half-curse!]
S...Stay back! [His voice is shakier than he'd like it to be, but most animals are scared of humans, right??]
[He's not exactly most animals and all that happens when he speaks is Oikawa narrows his eyes and he swishes his tails. Most humans can only see one of them unless he wills otherwise, he's looking forward to the day when he has more and can unveil them properly but two is better than one.
He takes a step forward, trying not to wobble while he's at it - his previous fight and lack of rest is catching up with him again. At least this gets the initial introduction out of the way. He barks again, this time in a controlled yip, short and sharp, he's not some animal to be shooed away.]
[Yamaguchi yelps himself and scurries backward, tripping in his haste and nearly losing his grip on the pearly orb's smooth surface. He manages to keep it from falling to the ground purely on instinct, frantic mind unsure if it's something that'll break. But he lands hard on his elbow and sees stars, hissing in pain and unable to even hold the offending arm so badly due to the bruise. It's not broken, he's sure, but that's going to be ugly tomorrow and—his eyes snap open, because that damn fox is still there.]
G…Go on! Y-You'd better get out of here! …Y-You got that?! [If the fox were human, Yamaguchi would be begging for his life right about now, but since it's not he's just trying to say anything scary-sounding that it might convince an animal to get the hell away from him. He hasn't noticed the tails yet, but the feeling of (-something-) when he picked up the orb is growing stronger, though he can't let himself acknowledge it while there are bigger problems.]
[Oikawa rolls his eyes - a unique kind of a gesture on a fox - and steps further forward. That's the second time in ten minutes that this kid has fallen over and the sound his elbow made makes it sound like that hurt, stupid fragile humans, Oikawa's previous caution seems completely unnecessary. Of course he won't be getting out of here.
Once he's just out of arm's reach of the boy, he sits down again, trying not to make it look like it's because he might collapse if he stayed on his feet, and yips once more.
[Yamaguchi cringes in total fear, trying to back up without making much progress—given he's got one arm still clutched around the orb from the ground. He doesn't even think for a moment to drop it to make it easier on himself to scramble back; not that he's honestly thinking much at this point. As far as animals go, Yamaguchi's never been confronted by anything more untamed than a dog, and the fox's boldness (and, distractingly, the same strange press of -something- threatening to spill over onto his vision) scares him too much to think through this logically.]
S…S-Stay back!! [He throws his free arm in front of his head so it's partially blocking his face, scared senseless that this strange and angry fox is going to close the distance between them and bite him with the ferocity of a wild animal.] Please…!!
[Just how dense is this kid? If he wanted to harm him, Oikawa would have done it by now.
His shuffling does take him far enough away from Oikawa that he's fairly tempted to comply with his request, his energy is draining fast and he wonders if there's an injury that he didn't notice before which will take more than a bit of rest to fix, but complying to a human's request when there's nothing on the line isn't in his nature so he picks himself up and - Black clouds his vision and his hind legs fold under him with a yelp. He flicks a quick look at the boy, that was less dignified than falling off the fence and his position is starting to look worse by the second.]
[At the yelp, Yamaguchi drops his arms unthinkingly to look over at the fox—that noise sounded pained.]
…?
[It's…? Just sitting there?? Sitting there and looking at him, no less. Yamaguchi sucks in a breath when he realizes this, and stares back, nearly afraid to blink. If he didn't know better, he'd say the creature sitting before him looks nearly…tame.
…No, not quite. Without his vision clouded by panic, Yamaguchi can see the fox looks hurt, like it can't stand or walk right. It also looks irritated, bizarrely (can foxes feel be irritated?), but definitely hurt first and foremost.]
Ah. [Slowly, carefully, Yamaguchi stands, watching the animal in front of him apprehensively for any sudden movements.] Y-You…um…you've gotta be pretty badly hurt to be just sitting there like that. R-Right?
[Or something else, too. Though Yamaguchi pushes the possibility of anything like that to the back of his mind, trying to stifle his creeping unease. He's not seeing things, not sensing unreal things, because there's nothing to see. It's a fox. Even normal foxes are pretty smart; that doesn't mean there's anything more to it than that. Never mind the sudden feeling he gets that it can understand him just fine.]
[Have another fox eyeroll, kid. He's so impressed by you. It's not like he's actually wrong about that though, Oikawa is hurt. He's feeling better sitting down again, but as he adjusts his leg back to under him properly, something strains and he lets out a whine, reluctantly nodding his head. It's unlikely that this kid can do anything about it but he might offer a dry place out of the way to curl up - an appealing prospect about now.
It's good he seems to be losing some of his fear of Oikawa but still seems wary. Giving the impression that any fox - must less a Kitsune - is something to treat as commonplace would be a problem he doesn't want to fix.]
Keh! [Yamaguchi jumps back about a meter, looking stricken and not a little like a person facing an old nightmare they thought they'd left behind.] Y…You just nodded at me…!
[And why is that a bad thing, Yamaguchi–?] Foxes don't do that!!
[This one does!! He nods again - twice this time, then gives a yip. Surely humans still tell stories about Kitsune? There are less of them around now, but he's living proof that they haven't vanished.
He doesn't try to move closer, because the only way for him to be sure of doing that is an undignified drag and there's no way he will do that when he's already been plenty undignified in front of the kid.]
[Yamaguchi groans and rubs his eyes, hesitantly pulling them away after, as though he expects the vision before him to disappear.
But no. The fox is still there. It's more impatient than ever, and…and clearly trying to communicate with him.
Except Yamaguchi knows now it's not a fox.]
…Hoo. [Trying not to let on how badly his legs tremble beneath him, Yamaguchi takes one halting step forward, then another. After that it seems easier, and he timidly gets close enough to be just out of arm's reach from Oikawa. He kneels down on the ground with a cursory glance at the empty shrine yard, wide-eyed and biting his lip before he speaks to the kitsune.]
[Oikawa crosses "polite" off the list of things this kid could be. What. Like he's some new breed of lizard or something.
And no, he's not going anywhere either, much as he might like to.
He flicks his tails in his direction, allowing him to see both of them in the hope that they will give him the hint so Oikawa doesn't have to let him know he can speak perfectly fine.]
[Yamaguchi blinks stupidly at Oikawa's tails. Yamaguchi's clearly lost (and incredibly slow on the uptake) on what the fox is trying to say: unsure, Yamaguchi turns automatically in the direction that the tails had pointed in, but seeing nothing he just as nervously turns back.
Without meeting the Oikawa's eyes Yamaguchi glances him over nervously, as though hoping the fox will have mercy and open his mouth to say the answer bluntly for him.
waitaminute] T…Tuh……tails?! [YES, 'TAILS,' AS IN, PLURAL TAILS] You have two tails!!
[Oh very well done! Here, Oikawa's going to give him an unimpressed stare as a reward.
And then barks a yip, which is fox for "yes, you moron. last I checked your eyes are working fine". Supernatural fox is a very complex and efficient language.
Sloooooowly, so as not to startle the dense human - he doesn't know what he'd do if the kid actually runs away - he swishes his tails forward, attempting to communicate "touch them if you need to prove they're real" without speaking. If he spoke, he's fairly sure the kid would die on the spot. Plus, he doesn't want to.]
[ Yamaguchi flinches violently at the bark; he wasn't expecting such a loud noise from the animal while he was still reeling from the whole 'two-tails' thing. Thusly caught off-guard Yamaguchi can only flail violently backward at Oikawa's proffered tails, quickly enough to fall back on his ass in the most dignified manner possible.. ]
S-Sorry! I didn't know, that you're ah, a– [ what was the word, the more respectful word? was there one? THINK, YAMAGUCHI, ] –a fire-fox!!
[That's... Close enough. But Oikawa rules out anything like moving closer in case it prompts a heart attack. He tries nodding, he's completely sure now that speaking would kill him, and killing a patron of someone else's shrine, in the shrine grounds, seems like an all around terrible idea.
His leg is starting to ache from sitting up properly so he tips over so he can stretch it out. It's not like he had to worry about keeping his dignity in front of someone so intent on giving it away. But he glares anyway to convey that he is still far scarier than any human could hope to be.]
! [ So, either Yamaguchi is suddenly insane and hallucinating out of nowhere (his day wasn't that bad, all right!!), or he's suddenly seeing spirits on Earth—not for the first time?—that happen to be real. The situation is still sinking in, but Yamaguchi is more or less prepared to move forward with the understanding that (1) this fox is a magic spirit and (2) it is thereby able to both understand Yamaguchi and to begrudge him for his ineptitude, should he mess up without giving it what it wants. That fortune from earlier was probably a warning…
Even so, Yamaguchi doesn't panic as badly when the kitsune moves again unexpectedly. He stiffens in place and unconsciously tightens his elbow's grip on Oikawa's forgotten orb, but the reaction doesn't last: he has to blink at the doglike way the fox lays down on its side and stretches itself out across the ground. It's bizarrely cute and sleepy-looking to behold for something that could possibly curse him for life.
But what does he say to it?? No, wait. What would Tsukki say? That's definitely what Yamaguchi should try doing!]
[ Maybe a little less rude than Tsukki, though. He doesn't say anything about how loud the fox's barking is, or that Yamaguchi has no way of understanding what it wants. ] Um…I'm Yamaguchi. From the neighborhood south of here.
I-I guess you wouldn't normally talk to humans like this, right? [ … ] So, could you…kind of gimme some kinda clue of…what it is you want??
[Oh Oikawa could definitely curse him for life, but not without some more magic. At the moment, Oikawa could curse him for... a day at most. Probably more like a few hours. If it was just something like itchy nose hair, he could maybe make it last for thirty hours. Either way, Yamaguchi is safe from him for now.
Communicating without talking is harder than he remembers. He could swear he never had these problems with Iwaizumi, but then Iwaizumi was a different kind of human. Oikawa doesn't think yipping or barking would do much good, so he tries pawing in Yamaguchi's direction - or, more accurately, in his hoshi no tama's direction - coupled with a whine.
[ Yamaguchi sucks in a breath at Oikawa's gesture, boxy stiffening automatically at the prospect of any kind of creature with sharp teeth pawing so close to him, magic or not. A moment later, however many self-preserving gears are left in his brain finally begin to grind together: he belatedly glances down, aghast, at the shimmering orb still tucked close in his arm. Oh crap oh crap oh crap… ]
W-Wait a…oh no! [ He cannot hold out the magicky-ball to Oikawa fast enough, once he realizes the orb's almost-certain connection to the kitsune (?) in front of him. ] Are you after this?! Shoot, I didn't mean to take it if, like…it's yours?!
[Oikawa gives him as unimpressed a look as he can. Because yes, he would like it back, as soon as possible even, but if it worked like that he'd just have taken it, injured or not.
Still, he's not quite sure how to explain to the human that he can't take it without giving something in return, so he - very gently - shifts until he can take it in his mouth. He can work out payment later. Maybe the kid will get in the way of a demon and he can rescue him.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tsukkinice) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
heleanor2015-04-02 06:59 am
The one where Oikawa is a magic fox
Soon enough, he finds the trees thinning and human roads criss-cross between their houses. He manages to stretch his strength out to make it to the foot of a shrine, which should be enough that no spirits intending to do him harm will pass by.
He might be exhausted but he's not actually dead, so that's something, but after that run and his fight with the oni he can't do more than tuck his tails around his paws and squeeze his eyes shut as he hopes that no humans decide to take issue with a fox taking shelter on the side of the road as he fades into sleep.]
no subject
Tsukishima's little pet friend…
By eighth grade his childhood bullies had mostly grown out of sticks and stones and backpack duty, so bad the encounters were only infrequently violent. But even so, nearly a year of being treated as a joke or else charitably ignored at school has made it hard for Yamaguchi to be optimistic. He's not sure how to go about making new friends and so keeps to himself out of habit in high school, which of course hasn't helped with ingratiating himself to his new classmates.
Now more than ever, Yamaguchi misses Tsukishima. But since there's nothing he can do about it, he finally decides that taking a detour to the shrine after school is at least a better alternative than wallowing in self-pity. Maybe if he buys a paper lot out of the fortune box today, it will tell him better luck is on the way…
Better luck doesn't seem to be holding its breath for him, though. As Yamaguchi nears the shrine entrance with his mind distracted, his foot lands on an unnoticed object lying on the ground. The item rolls unexpectedly beneath his weight, and Yamaguchi is sent toppling to the ground, shriek of surprise cut off as his backpack chokes his air supply.]
Wh…What… [Instinctively, he looks around for what tripped him, and picks the item up when he spies it rolling to a stop by his head. Closer inspection proves it to a smooth, shimmery-colored orb that feels oddly warm to his touch. Yamaguchi rubs his head a few times in bewilderment, assessing his condition as he tries to think of what it could be for.] …A ball?
no subject
As bad days go, this one is turning out to be a nightmare.
Because the fact of the matter is, with the boy having touched it while Oikawa was unconscious, he owes him. Even though he'd rather bite the kid on his leg, grab his Hoshi no Tama and run back to somewhere he can recuperate in peace, ancient powers are meddling things and won't let him just do that. Not if he wants to keep the magic stored in the ball, at least.
Humans aren't his favourite, and even though coming here was his best option, he's regretting straying so close when he wasn't in a position to prevent a scrawny kid like this from touching the one thing that it's important no one touches. It's typical that a human would. He's done without them for over a hundred years and the one time he's less than completely cautious, he ends up in a bind.
Pressed back into the bush, Oikawa figures he's mostly hidden from view, it's not the biggest bush or the most leafy, but most human's eyes aren't observant and this one doesn't look like the brightest with the way he's turning Oikawa's Hoshi no Tama over.
He flicks his ears back as he watches, he's going to have to make himself known at some point, but he's debating on whether the time to do that is now or after observing him. Knowing humans, he's probably so delicate he'll fall over dead before long anyway.]
no subject
Weird…
[He returns his gaze to the shimmery ball in his hand, steadily entranced. Is it some kind of ornament for decorating the shrine? he wonders. The round surface feels eerily smooth when he turns it over, almost not solid…when he peers at it closely in the afternoon light, it seems to glow faintly. The ball also seems to radiate a familiar aura that makes Yamaguchi feel…connected. To something outside himself, or…
Aughh. I'm doing it again.
Tearing his eyes away from the orb, Yamaguchi slowly shakes his head and exhales, hiking up the remaining steps to the shrine. No more playing around. He wants to just grab his omikuji from the coin box and go, hopefully without running into the local shrine priestess on the way out. She's an older woman, who's terrified Yamaguchi every visit of his life since before he can remember. It's not a holiday or anything like that so he'd rather not deal with any more unnecessary grief.
Just get in, grab his fortune, and go. After that, he can finally go home. Nothing's going to bother Yamaguchi there. Right?]
no subject
He's drawing a fortune, how human. Not that there isn't some power to them, but they're low level and inaccurate and generally it's better not to have that information in case it limits the possibilities he thinks of. But maybe he has a test coming up.
He perches with his paws close together on the fence, flicking his tails and again contemplating the best move when it comes to approaching him.
What he doesn't count on - and what having drawn a fortune might actually have helped - is that his luck today is awful. The kind of luck that could ruin a life. A strong gust of wind smacks into him, he scrabbles to keep his paws on the fence but it's too thin and he's not back to his regular strength. He tries to pull from his magic to keep himself in the air but he only finds a trickle where his reserves should be thanks to his supplies sitting in possession of a human, and he lands on the ground, just barely catching himself on his feet, with a clearly audible thump and a bark to match.]
no subject
He's hoping for something lucky—something that will signal an end to the purgatory of loneliness and boredom he's been stuck in ever since Tsukishima left. Yamaguchi's eyes catch immediately on the large inscription at the very top of the scroll, and his face falls, disappointment overwriting his features as he sees the elegant inked characters adorning the paper in warning: Half-Curse.
The rest of the fortune beneath that goes ignored, at least for now. So much for bettering his luck. This sounds like more of the same, just bad enough to make him feel worthless and pathetic for not being able to tough it out. Wondering angrily what a generalization like 'half-curse' even means, Yamaguchi huffs angrily beneath his breath and is in halfway through process of debating whether or not to toss the fortune away instead of hanging it properly when a flash of fur from the fence catches his eye. Some kind of creature is definitely alive and just fell down from the top; it lands a few meters away from Yamaguchi barking. It's a fox, he sees when his head snaps automatically to look. Cold sweat immediately breaks out along Yamaguchi's skin and he freezes, wondering if the animal is injured or carrying some kind of disease. Rabies from a fox-bite might get him out of school for a while, he thinks frantically, but it definitely qualifies as more than a measly half-curse!]
S...Stay back! [His voice is shakier than he'd like it to be, but most animals are scared of humans, right??]
no subject
He takes a step forward, trying not to wobble while he's at it - his previous fight and lack of rest is catching up with him again. At least this gets the initial introduction out of the way. He barks again, this time in a controlled yip, short and sharp, he's not some animal to be shooed away.]
no subject
G…Go on! Y-You'd better get out of here! …Y-You got that?! [If the fox were human, Yamaguchi would be begging for his life right about now, but since it's not he's just trying to say anything scary-sounding that it might convince an animal to get the hell away from him. He hasn't noticed the tails yet, but the feeling of (-something-) when he picked up the orb is growing stronger, though he can't let himself acknowledge it while there are bigger problems.]
no subject
Once he's just out of arm's reach of the boy, he sits down again, trying not to make it look like it's because he might collapse if he stayed on his feet, and yips once more.
Take the hint, kid, he's not going anywhere.]
no subject
S…S-Stay back!! [He throws his free arm in front of his head so it's partially blocking his face, scared senseless that this strange and angry fox is going to close the distance between them and bite him with the ferocity of a wild animal.] Please…!!
no subject
His shuffling does take him far enough away from Oikawa that he's fairly tempted to comply with his request, his energy is draining fast and he wonders if there's an injury that he didn't notice before which will take more than a bit of rest to fix, but complying to a human's request when there's nothing on the line isn't in his nature so he picks himself up and - Black clouds his vision and his hind legs fold under him with a yelp. He flicks a quick look at the boy, that was less dignified than falling off the fence and his position is starting to look worse by the second.]
no subject
…?
[It's…? Just sitting there?? Sitting there and looking at him, no less. Yamaguchi sucks in a breath when he realizes this, and stares back, nearly afraid to blink. If he didn't know better, he'd say the creature sitting before him looks nearly…tame.
…No, not quite. Without his vision clouded by panic, Yamaguchi can see the fox looks hurt, like it can't stand or walk right. It also looks irritated, bizarrely (can foxes feel be irritated?), but definitely hurt first and foremost.]
Ah. [Slowly, carefully, Yamaguchi stands, watching the animal in front of him apprehensively for any sudden movements.] Y-You…um…you've gotta be pretty badly hurt to be just sitting there like that. R-Right?
[Or something else, too. Though Yamaguchi pushes the possibility of anything like that to the back of his mind, trying to stifle his creeping unease. He's not seeing things, not sensing unreal things, because there's nothing to see. It's a fox. Even normal foxes are pretty smart; that doesn't mean there's anything more to it than that. Never mind the sudden feeling he gets that it can understand him just fine.]
no subject
It's good he seems to be losing some of his fear of Oikawa but still seems wary. Giving the impression that any fox - must less a Kitsune - is something to treat as commonplace would be a problem he doesn't want to fix.]
no subject
[And why is that a bad thing, Yamaguchi–?] Foxes don't do that!!
no subject
Surely humans still tell stories about Kitsune? There are less of them around now, but he's living proof that they haven't vanished.
He doesn't try to move closer, because the only way for him to be sure of doing that is an undignified drag and there's no way he will do that when he's already been plenty undignified in front of the kid.]
no subject
But no. The fox is still there. It's more impatient than ever, and…and clearly trying to communicate with him.
Except Yamaguchi knows now it's not a fox.]
…Hoo. [Trying not to let on how badly his legs tremble beneath him, Yamaguchi takes one halting step forward, then another. After that it seems easier, and he timidly gets close enough to be just out of arm's reach from Oikawa. He kneels down on the ground with a cursory glance at the empty shrine yard, wide-eyed and biting his lip before he speaks to the kitsune.]
Um…what, uhh, are you??
no subject
And no, he's not going anywhere either, much as he might like to.
He flicks his tails in his direction, allowing him to see both of them in the hope that they will give him the hint so Oikawa doesn't have to let him know he can speak perfectly fine.]
no subject
Without meeting the Oikawa's eyes Yamaguchi glances him over nervously, as though hoping the fox will have mercy and open his mouth to say the answer bluntly for him.
waitaminute] T…Tuh……tails?! [YES, 'TAILS,' AS IN, PLURAL TAILS] You have two tails!!
no subject
And then barks a yip, which is fox for "yes, you moron. last I checked your eyes are working fine". Supernatural fox is a very complex and efficient language.
Sloooooowly, so as not to startle the dense human - he doesn't know what he'd do if the kid actually runs away - he swishes his tails forward, attempting to communicate "touch them if you need to prove they're real" without speaking. If he spoke, he's fairly sure the kid would die on the spot. Plus, he doesn't want to.]
no subject
S-Sorry! I didn't know, that you're ah, a– [ what was the word, the more respectful word? was there one? THINK, YAMAGUCHI, ] –a fire-fox!!
no subject
His leg is starting to ache from sitting up properly so he tips over so he can stretch it out. It's not like he had to worry about keeping his dignity in front of someone so intent on giving it away. But he glares anyway to convey that he is still far scarier than any human could hope to be.]
no subject
Even so, Yamaguchi doesn't panic as badly when the kitsune moves again unexpectedly. He stiffens in place and unconsciously tightens his elbow's grip on Oikawa's forgotten orb, but the reaction doesn't last: he has to blink at the doglike way the fox lays down on its side and stretches itself out across the ground. It's bizarrely cute and sleepy-looking to behold for something that could possibly curse him for life.
But what does he say to it?? No, wait. What would Tsukki say? That's definitely what Yamaguchi should try doing!]
[ Maybe a little less rude than Tsukki, though. He doesn't say anything about how loud the fox's barking is, or that Yamaguchi has no way of understanding what it wants. ] Um…I'm Yamaguchi. From the neighborhood south of here.
I-I guess you wouldn't normally talk to humans like this, right? [ … ] So, could you…kind of gimme some kinda clue of…what it is you want??
no subject
Communicating without talking is harder than he remembers. He could swear he never had these problems with Iwaizumi, but then Iwaizumi was a different kind of human. Oikawa doesn't think yipping or barking would do much good, so he tries pawing in Yamaguchi's direction - or, more accurately, in his hoshi no tama's direction - coupled with a whine.
He wants that back, please.]
no subject
W-Wait a…oh no! [ He cannot hold out the magicky-ball to Oikawa fast enough, once he realizes the orb's almost-certain connection to the kitsune (?) in front of him. ] Are you after this?! Shoot, I didn't mean to take it if, like…it's yours?!
You can have it back. R-Right…!!
no subject
Still, he's not quite sure how to explain to the human that he can't take it without giving something in return, so he - very gently - shifts until he can take it in his mouth. He can work out payment later. Maybe the kid will get in the way of a demon and he can rescue him.]