"Then fight!" Mori urges you, his voice booming in the empty dojo. "Fight to set her free! You just admitted you will leave her behind."

"Oh and you know better maybe? Enlighten me, what can I do?" This time you scream at him; while he doesn't flinch, his eyes melt to yellow and something moves under his skin, but you are beyond caring. "Barge in and kill them all? Kidnap her and flee? Ask them her hand? Oh bummer! Guess what? I'm not a man, and that's precisely the problem! She's 35 but she won't disobey them... and I won't force her to. So what, she gets married, I stay, and then... then... see her every day? Miserable? Unhappy? Or adjusting, moving on, avoiding me so that she can heal, while I slowly die?" Your voice breaks, and enraged sobs shake you from head to toes.

"First, you get yourself together and snap out of this self-pity. You are useless to her in this state. Second... maybe I can help."

"Ha!" You snort in your sleeve, wiping your running nose. "Yeah, that's what she said the other night, when she thought everything would go smoothly. That you would scare them so much they'd cave in. Is that what you plan to do? Hell yeah, go ahead and give them a heart attack for all that -"

"Enough with this childish behavior!" It seems as if lightning has struck inside the dojo. Your eyes widen and you gulp hard; your instructor is no longer in front of you. Instead, a monstrous grey and black fox towers above your head. His maw closes on your nape, right where he left his mark the other night. Huge paws push on your breastplate and shoulder, and claws grate on the kurozan leather of your armor. You have no choice. Eyes shut, you stop struggling, instinct telling you exactly how to offer submission.

That long, hot and wet tongue that has plagued your mind since the other night licks your neck and jaw slowly, and then moves to dry your temples and cheeks. You heave and shiver; against your best judgement, a moan passes your lips. A mix of arousal and bare human need for comfort has you grabbing his fur, demanding something more, although you don't know what. A long muzzle nudges you.

"We're not abandoning her to this fate," his gravelly, inhuman voice raises hair on your neck. "There might be a solution... but you will not like it."

"I don't care... Any... anything... to help her..." You rasp, face pressed against the fur of his chest. So warm, so much power running under your fingers.

He growls again and this time, the acute pain of pressing fangs and claws shoots throughout your body; but there's no blood. Yet. "Don't say this. Never. Especially to me." Subdued, you merely nod.

The next second, pressure and pain disappear. Aghast, you sit up on your knees and try to get yourself together with long, deep breaths. He is back in his human form, except for the five tails moving behind his back like snakes, betraying his agitation. He collects his equipment and puts everything in his duffel bag. Straight naked.

"Follow me."

Speechless, but feeling somewhat better for the first time since you got Kanako's messages yesterday, you jump on your feet and follow him outside. He closes the building but instead of turning toward the road, he disappears into the dark backyard. At a loss, you trot behind him carefully as your eyes adjust to the night.

"Leave your bag right here, next to mine. We'll pick it up later." You swallow back a shriek. You didn't hear or see him approach you. "Take off everything, except for your hakama and undershirt." Puzzled, you comply and put the rest of your training gear in your bag. "How good are you at track running?"

"Er... last time I did any was back in the States..."

"Time to find out what's left your endurance then! Don't lose me from your sight." And with those words, he shifts into the smaller, standard-sized fox that you know best and slips under the fence of the backyard.

There's no time to waste. You jump over the fence and land in a sweet potato field. He's already far and his swift shape is almost invisible. You start off; the thought that this will be the oddest track run  ever pops in your mind. After twenty minutes, you have crossed several fields and are at the tree line of the forest that covers Mt. Odake. As soon as you are among the ancient cedar trees, he stops and grows to his normal size. Wheezing, rubbing the side where you've got a stitch, you lean against a trunk, sweat drenching your back and face.

"Hmm, that won't do. We have to go up to the summit, near the shrine, and look at you: barely standing on your legs. I expected better. A little boost is in order."

Before you can find your breath to protest, his tails have wrapped themselves around your four limbs, and hold you fast against the trunk. His face shifts again and a barely human mouth claims yours with a hint of rough possessiveness. Deft fingers that are much too soft and warm, with steel claws almost out, untie your hakama to rub your clit and stretch your entrance.

Annoyed and aroused, exasperated and overwhelmed by his actions, you struggle feebly. Is it really the right time to fuck like wild animals? What about Kanako and his mysterious plan? A part of you considers biting his invading tongue just for the principle of it, but a bigger one is happy to climb fast the ladder of the powerful climax he is building. There's too much bottled-up fury that demands release.

His - single - large shaft that slides inside you, pinning you against the trunk, rips a muffled roar from your throat. He moves to bite down your nape with teeth still a little too sharp, and this time your cries resonate in the night.

"Right here, yes! Please! Please, harder! Yes! Ohhhhh..." Your hands are bound but you can still squeeze your thighs to lock him in place. A few more thrusts and soon enough, copious amounts of lava-hot cum fills you.

Like in the dojo, he's gone as fast as he jumped on you. Panting, you half-expect to crumble down, but your legs are surprisingly steady. Stronger than before, in fact. Energy courses through your veins. You inhale the moist and rich air of the forest, and new smells - some fresh and flowery, other putrid and decayed- assault you. Including the pungent scent of your combined juices dripping along your thigh.

"Better now?" Mori rasps, when your incredulous stare meets his steady and placid yellow eyes. Hard to believe he was rutting inside you just a moment ago. But then, you're not an expert at reading body language or facial features of supernatural foxes. Yet. "Fix your clothes, and let's go."

Thousands of questions rush to the tip of your tongue, but you gulp them down. It's not the right time, and in any case, you've got a nagging hunch about what's happening to you. Shivers run down your spine as you fasten your hakama, but you're neither afraid nor mad at him.

This time, your feet are barely touching the steep and uneven soil of the forest. Everything looks sharper than before even with next to no light under the dense canopy. Slaloming between trees, you catch movement of smaller and larger beasts behind bushes or wide trunks, but you don't stop to stare. Odd noises, whiffs of scents reach you, but none spells danger so you focus on the large, swift changeling running even faster than before in front of you.

Finally, there's an opening ahead, and a few strides bring you to a wide open space with several shrines scattered here and there. You've been here before, but it was daytime and Kanako was with you. The Inari shrine. Slowing down, you realize that Mori is nowhere in sight but this doesn't distress you. He hasn't gone far, although you can't explain how you know this.

Regulating your breath, blood pumping hard in your ears, you walk to the viewpoint near the cliff. The eastern part of your town, its neighboring fields and forests lay at your feet, shrouded in darkness. In the distance, several kilometers away, the black mass of the ocean fills the horizon. But with this enhanced vision of yours that still lingers, the moonlight is enough to make out houses and streets, with the lights of occasional cars flashing now and then as they take turns.