#will be seeing some ceramics soon though 😊😊😊

[beatriceportinari]

miss hanging around poisoned birds 😔

[ninapi]

○●○●○●○●●○●○●○●○●●○●○●○●○●●

┊┊┊✧ ⁺ ⁺╚══ Kita Version ╝

Premise: The connection he had with his past made Kita want you more than any of the others. He wanted to be like his grandma and she had a human by her side, always. Looking for the village best interest he ends up finding the real meaning of true love.

Word Count: 3102

Note: I highly suggest you read chapter 0 first (link here) 😊

Chapter 1: A Princess

The fox village somehow reminded you of your own human village.

They would normally stick to themselves, to their own family, yet they would always greet the neighbors, know everyone around and function like normal society back home.

You heard the very much feared old lady who ruled this place for thousands of years had a human as her husband, and you could easily see his influence live on, to this day.

Unlike the fancy cottages you’ve experienced among the other clans, the housing arrangements here were standard Japanese town houses, tatami matted rooms, same daily usage tools like ceramic cups and lacquered bowls. They used chopsticks the same way you did, ate the same types of food you did back home. It felt like a very welcoming place, to you at least. The fantastic aspect of the other clans was pretty impressive on its own, but the familiarity of the environment made you feel more comfortable.

You knew how to eat properly, how to dress like them, what was expected of you, it was a comforting feeling not being so out of place. Of course, the lack of fuzzy ears on your head made it very obvious to everyone that you weren’t one of them.

To some it was fascinating, most of them had never seen an actual human besides the former leader, but to others you were the pest, a constant threat, you had blood of the killers running through your veins, a danger to have around.

The Suna clan, who was entrusted with your care, was a lovely household.

Rintarou himself wasn’t half bad, even if at first he terrorized your nightmares with his scary looking grin. He takes care of the handling of the customers in their family-owned inn and as such, has wonderful people skills.

His parents were a very warm-hearted older couple, you could still feel in the air around them how much they loved each other and how much love they had for their children. They took you in almost instantly without questioning your origins, his mother was excited as this was the first girl her son ever brought home and her husband was just as excited to have an extra pair of hands to help around the inn. Overall, they made it very pleasant to transition into this new area of the forest. Made you feel welcomed, loved even.

As for their second child, she was younger than Rin, by a lot. When you heard she was already ‘sold’ as the leader’s mate you thought she’d be closer to his age, but that was further from the truth. With foxes it’s complicated to know their actual age, but to your standards, she looked like a ten-year-old in human age.

She quickly got closer to you, happy to have an older sister figure of some sort, her brother had already passed the age of playing with her, so she was feeling very lonely, and you came with perfect timing. Though, the more time you spent together, the more uneasy it made you feel thinking she would marry soon and would have to bring babies to the community. She was still very much a child, and you felt the need to protect her from such an ill fated destiny, you wanted to protect her innocence and for her to have a choice in who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, even if the leader was indeed one of the best options around, it still didn’t feel right.

So, you decided to touch on the subject the day the leader himself came to visit you, no longer than a few days after your arrival.

“How have you been liking your stay with us, (Y/N)? I think having you with the Suna clan was a fantastic idea.��� he walked beside you aimlessly towards a nice river nearby.

“I have, yes. They’re very kind to me.” you still didn’t trust this man, people feared him, to you he looked anything but kind, but an extra layer of cautiousness was added when he mentioned they would have to kill you if you tried to leave the village.

He nodded gladly, taking a detour to a flower field hoping to rise your spirits, “I’m glad, they do work in the field, it was expected of them. The Miya’s are fine too, but they can be a bit possessive… a neutral home seemed the most fitting. Apologies for taking this long to visit, I’ve been holding counseling meetings with the elders on the matter. The majority disagreed, they didn’t want another human in our home ground and some even suggested to keep you as prisoner, so it took some convincing to get their approval.” he could see you swallow hard, being able to physically feel your discomfort yet causing a little smile to creep on his face.

“Nothing to worry about though, I managed to convince them by telling them I would bring you to the castle and keep an eye on you. So that’s why I’m here today, I’m bringing you with me.”

This certainly took you by surprise, you found a home with the Suna’s, this was so sudden you didn’t even know how to feel about it, yet you were thankful to the leader for fighting his way through the elders to get you to stay with them. “With all due respect, Kita-sama, aren’t you marrying lady Suna? Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for me to share your residence? That’s what Rin said when the Miya house was offered for me to stay in.” for some reason he didn’t like how matter-of-fact your statement was, as if you knew for sure you would end up with one of the twins, Osamu most likely.

“The matter of our marriage is beyond the definition of love, it’s just an agreement to ensure the prosperity of our village, with that out of the way, it’s not like we will be sharing a bed, I arranged an entire area of the castle for it to be your quarters, which is another reason why it took me this long to come, the preparations were endless.” you could feel the sourness in his tone, confusing you just a bit.

“I appreciate it, Kita-sama, thank you. Should we go back then? I don’t have much to pack, all the clothing I have was provided to me kindly by Rintarou.”

Another pang of an unknown feeling hit him hard, making his guts turn in disgust, “You won’t be needing any of that, anything he’s given you I can triple it and in the finest there is.” he’s never been a boasting man, he’s usually very reserved but he was being hunted by an evil spirit of some sort eating his insides at the thought of you being chummy with the others, a new emotion developed by the leader apparently.

“You don’t have to, I’m sure he will lend me a couple if I ask him. He’s a bit exaggerated you see, he got me about twenty different kimonos and all the accessories to go along with them, yet I mostly just wear the inn’s uniform.” your soft chuckles seemed to snap him out of his crazy fit of jealousy, it was somewhat refreshing seeing someone not interested in riches, majority would jump at the mention of high-end couture.

“I already took the liberty of choosing a couple of things I thought you might like, so there’s no need to bother the Suna’s, you will be my responsibility going forward, it’s only fair I take care of all your needs.” his tone was softer now, making you smile, just the thought of having such an important and busy figure going out of his way to look for things you might like made your chest grow warm.

“I appreciate your kindness. Shall we go then?” offering you his arm, you looped yours around his as you walked back to the inn.

He didn’t seem so harsh anymore.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

The castle was a marvelous place.

A multi-story traditional Japanese castle, full of intricate carvings of fox deities and beautiful flowers, full to the brim with servants and guards of all kinds, artifacts dating thousands of years decorating the space.

True to his word, you got an entire area just for yourself.

It was a secluded room on the back of the property separated from the main keep by a pond and luscious zen garden, the room was used in the past to hold tea ceremonies for his grandma and hadn’t been used at all since her passing.

He made sure to have it decorated to what he thought could be to your liking. A permanent futon was laid on the back side of the room mounted on a wooden platform, the covers embroidered with beautiful cherry blossoms, matching pillows, and a canopy net to shield you from the bugs hanging from the ceiling.

There was also a low table at the front of the room with a few cushions for you to sit on, a tea set with all sorts of flavors, some you’ve never tried before, books and even some yarn in case you liked to knit something and keep yourself busy.

It was a lovely room, had a 360 view of the garden, you could smell nature, hear the birds sing, feed the koi fish in the pond. Not like you had any complaints about your small room at the Suna inn, but this was by all means an improvement.

Kita-sama had been overly attentive during the past few days after your arrival, coming to check on you multiple times a day, bringing you sweets or things he picked up along the way that made him think of you, some of them rather questionable like the pretty hairpin you were wearing right now.

“I knew purple would look good on you.” he was staring dreamily at your face, a common practice of him nowadays.

“You speak too highly of me, I never thought something this pretty would look good on me.”

“You’re the one selling yourself short. Your beauty is recognizable miles away and you live now in castle grounds, a princess, some would call you.” there was a slight tinge of pink dusting his cheeks, nobody would be able to notice but you did, he was way too close for you to miss it.

“I was thinking, would you like to go on a walk with me? One of my duties is to patrol the village, make sure nobody needs anything, it could get you familiarized with the places and people a like, maybe even stop by for some of those dangos you seemed to enjoy the other day.” was he asking you out like on date? Or was he just fulfilling his duties as the leader? It was hard to tell with him.

Either way there was just one answer.

“It would be my pleasure.”

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

He wasn’t kidding when he said he had prepared the finest silks for you, the kimono you were wearing for the outing was beyond words, beautify decorated with golden flowers embroidered throughout, the light purple tone of the fabric matching the hairpin he had gifted you.

You were a sight to behold. These were the words of many, not just the leader’s. Though, his arm was the one holding your figure through your lovely walk on the streets of the old town district.

To some it felt like a parade, people stopping to watch you both walk, laugh together, try the sweets being sold by the merchants in the streets. It was a beautiful sight, one they felt lucky to witness.

“Kita-sama…” you whispered near his ear, “…why is everyone staring at us…?”

Your question made him chuckle, he had noticed this hours ago, it was cute how you noticed it until now, made him feel proud of his hosting skills. “They’ve never seen someone as beautiful, I’m sure.” he whispered back, his hot breath tickling your ear.

“Oh my! How a beautiful couple! Finally, our leader is tying the knot I see! And with the finest bride at that! I’m sure your grandma would be proud of you, seeing you followed her steps to the very end.” the old ladies from the market were making a fuzz as soon as you arrived at the premise. Their words causing you discomfort.

Is this what it was all about? He wanted you close just because he wanted to be like his grandma and have a human by his side?

Kita could see the aggravated look on your face, cutting the visit to the market short. “My dear, is something the matter? You look unwell.”

“I just…thought…never mind.” you tried your best to fake a sweet smile, yet you couldn’t fool a man like him.

“What is it? Are you tired? Did I make you walk too much?” you just shook your head, walking over to a stone bench on the side of the road, wishing to rest for just a bit, overwhelmed by your own feelings.

“C’mon, you can tell me anything.” sitting beside you, he reached for one of your hands, which you retrieved back not wanting his touch at the moment, still feeling hurt. Your actions startled the leader, who now sported an equally hurt expression.

“You…you’re being this nice to me just because your grandma married a human, aren’t you?” he didn’t expect to hear those words leaving your pretty rosy lips, it split his heart in two thinking you had such a low concept of him.

“I would never.” his words didn’t have the expected effect on you, he knew he had to be honest if he wanted to get out of this situation.

“Ok, maybe at the beginning…” he got your attention, finally. You waited quietly for him to continue, wanting to give him a chance to redeem himself.

“It is true, my grandfather was human, thanks to their union is that we have such an established community here unlike the other fox clans scattered across the country, thanks to him it is said we are the closest to our goddess Inari as she gave her blessing and turn him into a fox.

Our village is at risk, the lack of pups in the last decades are making our numbers go down rapidly. The majority of the villagers are getting close to the last stretch in their lifespan and soon we would be having less than half of habitants that we currently have. The record breaking low in breeding is causing the village to be in the brink of extinction, and I’m the one in charge of fixing this, to save our people.”

“So you thought…”

“Yeah, I thought the union with a human could bring Inari’s favor upon us once more…” he let out a defeated sigh, ashamed of his own thoughts.

“I was right then, you were trying to court me…” the small smile on your face was bittersweet, it only caused his heart to break even further.

“I don’t think that way anymore, (Y/N)…I need you to believe me…” the desperate look on his face made you reconsider your actions, this time you were the one reaching for his hand. “And what is it that you think now, leader?”

“As a leader, I think I am in the right path, not because of Inari, but because pups is what we need…” his words made you chuckle shyly, his confident posture quickly returning back to normal.

“As a man, I don’t see you as just a human anymore. I see you as the beautiful, smart, kind woman you are, and think of how much I would like for you to choose me, even if I’m aware of how high up in your list Miya is…”

“Hmmm…both sound to me like the same person though, the leader and the man think basically about the same thing.” he hadn’t seen it that way but it was true, at the end both had the same answer, and that was, he wanting you for himself, to breed you and create a big loving family who would bring prosperity to his village, to spend the rest of his reign with someone equally worthy of his time and care.

“You’re right as usual.” his shoulder was now brushing yours, his warmth sipping through the layers of garments you were wearing.

A thought kept hunting you though, one that became even more aggravating as days went by, “But what about lady Suna? Isn’t she the one…?”

He had totally forgotten about the arrangement, in all truth his grandma had been the one sealing the deal once the Suna’s had welcomed a daughter to this world, he was still a young pup by then and didn’t think anything of it. Breaking a deal made by the former leader sounded like an impossible task, especially being you the one on the other side of the bargain, and the Suna family being the most prominent family in the village, after his own. There was no way the elders would easily agree to this matter, that was certain.

“I told you…there’s no promise of love in that marriage. I see her as a younger sister, don’t have any sort of interest in…well you know…”

“Breading her?” the mocking tone of your voice made him flush; you had this weird effect on him, he’s never felt so many things at once by just hearing a couple of words.

“Yeah…that…” you laughed at his expression, making him laugh as well.

He somehow knew everything would be just fine now that you were by his side even if there were still a lot of unknowns to figure out along the way.

Your disease was still a problem and fighting the elders on a matter this important could get your head on a spike.

A lot of work had to be put into this for things to work out between the two of you.

But you were worth the hassle.

And he would do his best to get you the life you deserve, to get you all to himself, to discover what true love actually means.

○●○●○●○●●○●○●○●○●●○●○●○●○●●

Previous Chapter Masterlist