“Awua, it tickles~”

Her small hands keep pressing my paw pads. It gives me this ticklish sensation as I can feel her small fingers on them.

“You really do like those pads. Is it because you don't have them? But I think your soft hands are more fun to touch!”

As I try to grab her hand, I realize that my hand also became small. When did it happen? It doesn't matter. I try to feel the softness of her hand, but why can't I do it? The girl who was playing with my paw just now is nowhere to be found.

“Ah, where did you go?”

As I try to look around, my consciousness slowly returns.

“Yawn~”

I stretch myself while reminiscing the sweet dream I had.

'Luxe you are so cute~ I want to hug her again today.' I look around to realize that I am alone in my room. I walk out to Luxe's bed to see if she is sleeping there.

“She is not here neither.” It has been like this for the past days. Although I couldn't find her whenever I woke up, I still felt like she was with me while I was still asleep.

“Well, she usually comes back for breakfast, so what shall I prepare today?”

---

'She didn't come back.' I think as I eat the toast I prepared. It's a bit too much to eat by myself, so I will give away the rest.

'I wonder what is she doing right now?' Eating alone makes me lonely, but I can also think of stuffs that I didn't before.

'She always looks like she is busy doing something when she is with me. Either eating, reading books …' I was surprised at her appetite for knowledge. When I showed her my mother's library, she seemed really happy. And of course, her appetite itself is amazing as well.

'I wonder where all the food goes in that small body of hers?' I try pressing my belly that has the same size of hers. I wonder if there is a four-dimensional space inside it?

'But then, she sometimes goes to where I can't find her. Just where are you?' I go back to munching on the toast with honey on it. The sweet brush combined with the crunchy crust of the bread makes an excellent combination.

'If she went around in the village, that would be fine. But what if she went outside? Even the monsters around the village can be dangerous for her!' I look around to find the mirror in the corner of the room. The figure inside it is my human form I took based on Luxe's appearance. I can see the small arm holding the bread then my orange eyes meet those in the mirror.

'Yep, if she went outside, it would be super dangerous. But it's not like I can find her when she disappears like this.' I thought about putting a collar on her so I can keep her near me, but I quickly gave up on the idea as I don't think she likes it. However, leaving things like this is also unreasonable.

'What do I do? I couldn't find her no matter how hard I looked for her. Fortunately, the monsters around the village aren't very strong...'

'Ah, that's right!'

If it is only about the weak monsters, giving her a way to scare them away should be enough. They are well aware that the Tail Foxes live in the area, and they won't be too reckless if she acts like she isn't scared of them. It's just like those monsters who pretend to be bigger, or stronger, or poisonous to intimidate their opponent! It has to be a suitable way of self-defense.

'She also doesn't really show her expression, so even if she is scared, they won't be able to tell!' Monsters around here will think twice before attacking one that isn't scared of them. All she needs is a small push to scare them away.

“Heheh, I'm so smart.”

Even though it is something that would only work against the monsters in the area, I managed to think of a solution so quickly. I finish off the toast I was eating, and start thinking about how she can scare them away.

“It would be showing her claws and teeth, right?” Even though my teeth don't look so threatening, it is all the more a reason to be mistaken as a Tail Fox. As long as the monsters think that she is one of us, they won't dare to attack her.

“Well then, it makes it simple!”

I jump down the chair, and take the pose as if I was in fox form. Bending my fingers in a way I can best show off my claws... or nails, I also show off my teeth to intimidate an imaginary opponent.

“Rawr!”

I pounce forward intimidatingly.

“Rawr!”

 

Practicing in front of the mirror, I nod to myself.

'Yep, this is good enough. Let's see if it's effective.'

---

With the remaining toasts in a lunchbox, I go out to the plaza where children like to play. Some of them might already have eaten breakfast, but I'm sure I can find ones with more room in their stomach. They are growing after all.

As I approach the place, I see from afar foxes playing with each other. With only one to two tails, they are too young to be able to transform.

'I feel a bit bad for them, but they will have to be my test subjects!'

If they start crying or something, I'll just give them food afterword. Thinking as such, I sneakily approach them.

Even though they are children, they are still a lot bigger than I currently am. Some have noticed me, but I put my finger on my mouth to signal them to stay silent. I approach one of them from behind, and tab his leg.

“Rawr!” As I take the scary pose, he jumps back in surprise.

“Ah, is that Rina? That scared me!”

“Heheh, was I that scary?” Although I feel a bit bad for him, the experiment was a success!

“Here, I brought some food, do you wanna eat some?” As soon as I show the bag, the foxes around started gathering. Four.. five, there are five of them total. There should be enough for everyone!

“Ah! It's Rina's cooking! I love it.”

“Me! Me! Can I have some?”

“Sure, that's why I came here!” While seeing them so eager makes me happy, I'm also glad that I brought enough food thanks to Luxe's appetite. It would be sad if there wasn't enough food after all!

“Let's see.. There are five of you here, come over here and sit down. I'll serve you.”

---

“Rina, what was that just now? With the 'Rawr~' thingy?”

The oldest boy that I scared earlier asks me.

“Oh, its a self-defense that I'm going to teach Luxe.”

“You mean that human girl that you brought, right?”

“The soft girl! I like rubbing her cheeks!” Since she has been meeting people from the village, it looks like they know her as well.

“Yep, that is right. But if she doesn't like it, you should stop doing that.”

“I'm not sure, but I think she likes it, since she also rubs me.” She smiles brilliantly. Mhm, I know that feeling.

“But... Is that going to be okay for self defense? I mean...”

“She just needs to scare them off a bit. Since monsters around will be careful because of us Tail Foxes living around, they won't easily attack her if she scares her a bit.”

“But that wasn't really scary...”

“...?” Is he trying to hide his embarrassment by denying that he got scared? Really, boys do like to act tough!

“I know, there is nothing wrong with that.”

“Argh, what is that smug face you are making?”

Oops, I can't hurt his pride by making it look like I am laughing at him.

“No, it's not like that at all.” I try my best to hide my smile.

“Sigh, but seriously, I don't think that is really going to work.”

Is he on this again? Respecting his pride is one thing, but I can't let him off with this one.

“Are you certain about that?”

“Sure and certain!”

Heheh, I'm going to give you a good scare then. I smile in anticipation to his reaction. I gather my hands, and fold my fingers.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

It's too late. You are going to have to admit that I look scary like this. I expose my fangs to threaten him.

“Rawr!”

I pounce at him, and pretend to bite. I'm not attacking for real, but how about this? Are you still going to try to act tough?

“Ahh, stop!” He screams desperately.

“Me too! Me too!” The other foxes who were eating join in and start biting him.

'They are just frolicking, so it should be fine.' I convince myself so as I start to feel bad about him.

“Alright, alright, please let me go~~” His scream resounds throughout the sky, as he tries to run away with others chasing him.

---

The fox who got played by everyone is lying on the ground spiritless.

“Rina, he is not moving!”

“He will get better soon... I think.”

“Is that so?”

“Then let's go play more!”

Those children sure are energetic. It's good to exercise after eating, so all is fine! I feel a bit bad about the boy but he should get better soon.

“What do you wanna do?”

“Let's go play the bite game again!”

Ah, It looks like they got addicted to it. I guess I can test how efficient is my threatening.

“Alright, follow me!”

As I walk in front, the foxes start following me. I head towards the village's entrance. My target this time is Joel : since he is on a guard duty, if I manage to scare him off, it should be a perfect proof that my technique is working.

As I approach the gate, I see Joel and an Arachne... oh, it's Shilky!

“Shh!” I put my finger on my lips to signal the children to stay silent. They nod and look at me with shining eyes.

I approach from behind Shilky. Joel seems to have noticed me since they are facing each other, but I signal him to stay silent as well.

As I get close enough, I prepare to leap.

“Rawr!”

As I jump towards her, I get suddenly stopped.

'What happened? I should have reached her!' As I look around, I notice my limbs are tied by threads barely visible.

“Shilky!”

“Oh, Rina it's you.”

“Release me!”

“What are you doing this time?” She responds as she lightens the grab on the threads.

“I was trying to scare you.”

“Oh, is that a prank? Too bad you aren't sneaky enough for me.”

“Pooh.” It's true but it doesn't make me happy to hear that. Maybe going for Shilky was too much after all.

“Rather than that, do you have that thing from last time? You know the sweet one.”

Did she just come to eat? I'm glad that she liked it so much that she came looking for it, but that doesn't change that she is just trying to shrug it off as nothing happened!

“I do have it but... before that...”

I look back at where the foxes are hiding.

“She is the new target! Now attack!”

“Rawr~”

I see the foxes jumping towards Shilky. She managed to catch a couple of them with her threads but she starts running away as the rest of the foxes keep running towards her.

“Hahaha!”

“Stop laughing there and stop them already! What are you doing?”

“Rina, what is happening here?” Joel asks me.

“Oh, we are practicing threatening tactics!”

“Threatening?”

“Yep, what do you think about it?” I show him my claws and my fangs and smile.

“Ah.. c..cute?”

“?!?” That has nothing to do with threatening. I wonder if his brain is okay, did he overwork himself?

I tilt my head while the foxes are still chasing Shilky.

“Rina! Stop them already!”

“Shilky is so fast~”

“Shilky is amazing!”

While children are praising her, she doesn't look happy at all about it. I guess I should intervene.

“Come here everyone. Shilky also came here for some food... So what about we go make something delicious? If we go gather the ingredients now, you will get hungry again by the time we finish preparing!”

“It's hunting~~”

“No, it's gathering!”

They line up and respond energetically. Fufu, with this many of them, I can gather enough ingredients to last for a while. But what shall we go gather? Since Shily wanted something sweet, we can go get more honey! Then we can make some cake with what I have at home, and I will still have leftovers for later. While hiding my evil plan, I order them.

“Alright everyone! Follow me~”

“Yes~” Their responses resound throughout the sky as Shilky follows us while shaking her head.