Kit and Kin   by poetheather

 
Takeshi Saito was a quiet student who kept his head down in Ravencrest High School trying to get along. But strange things happen in this small town and the spotlight finds those who would rather hide. So Takeshi finds himself pulled from his happy geek corner to somewhere else, somewhere he is not sure of.

January 24

Maeko heard hoof beats in the distance. Up ahead, maybe a hundred and fifty yards from where she was, she saw a beautiful girl with a long mane of hair walk into a watery puddle of yellow light, heading to a young man. This felt wrong to her somehow and she knew that this was bad, very bad. She screamed out, “Look out!”

The young man looked her way and waved, smiling at her. He didn’t look familiar to her but also looked older, like one of the college guys. He then turned and looked back at the girl, who smiled at him in a way that was both alluring and predatory. Maeko started running, wanting to get to the young man to try and save him from this fate before it was too late and afraid that it already was.

The girl reached up and began kissing the young man, arms going around his neck, fingers weaving through his hair. The young man grabbed the girl’s waist and held her, comfortably. That moment between the two seemed tender but the feelings of danger Maeko felt grew higher and higher. She was getting closer to them however she realized there was no way she could make it in time. She cried out again hoping to stop it.

The wet snap carried clear across to her and the girl smirked at her, chuckling some at the distress clear on Maeko’s face. She then took the young man, still alive, who was making pained noises, but not loud enough for anyone very far away to hear. If she could get there fast enough she might be able to save him. Maybe?

The water was everywhere and the boy was thrashing weakly as he fought to hold his breath against the ever growing depth. She swam as best she could but the body dropped farther and farther into the watery deep, always just out of her reach. It faded away into the darkness. Then an unseen hand grabbed her ankle and began to drag her down as well. She shrieked in surprise, precious air leaving her in a torrent of bubbles.

* * * * *

Maeko again woke screaming, fighting against the warm embrace of her covers. She fell to the floor still thrashing against the covers which held her, barely awake enough to know that she was no longer in the dream. Hands grasped her, pulling her free and she clutched them, holding tight to the lifeline they presented, panting desperately needed air. Slowly she began to register the words murmured into her hair, “It’s okay baby, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare.”

Maeko opened her eyes, saw her parents holding her and started bawling from relief and fear. She was shaking from the lingering effects of the nightmare and the cold she felt despite the warm house. Her mother rocked her gently, trying to soothe her as she trembled like a frightened mouse. “It’s okay… it’s going to be okay.”

“It was terrible…” mumbled Maeko weakly when she finally found her voice. “I… I couldn’t save him.”

“Save who?” asked her haha, somewhat confused.

“I don’t know but she took him and when I tried to save him she dragged me down into the water as well.” Maeko shuddered and her tears started flowing more freely again. Her voice sounded so small and childlike as she spoke, clinging to her mother. “I was so scared mama. She was so strong and my lungs were burning and I knew I was going to die.”

“Shhh… it’s going to be okay baby.” murmured her mother, running a hand down her hair, trying to gentle her. The trembling slowed some as she did so. “It was just a nightmare.”

“It felt so real. I could feel it where she grabbed me.” Maeko pointed to her leg and the group of them all stared at the slight red mark in the shape of a hand around her ankle. Maeko turned her face into her mother’s neck and shook, crying with renewed strength, her parents sharing a concerned look.

Pepper fluttered up and looked at her ankle, cocking her head this way and that, trying to make sense of what she was looking at. “Do dreams normally do that?”

“No they don’t.” tersely replied Amane. “Grace, do you have Maeko? I have to make a phone call.”

“Go.” She hugged their daughter tighter, watching her wife leave, worry plain on her face.

Her haha left the room, leaving the pixie unsure what to do. Pepper landed close and patted Maeko gently and said, “There there.”

Maeko gave a brief laugh at that and shook some more in her mother’s arms. Her breathing slowed as her fear faded and the soothing that her mother was doing was having a stronger and stronger effect on her. With a big sigh, Maeko let a lot of the tension go and sort of slumped against her mother. Grace kissed her daughter on top of her head, “Feel a little better now sweetie?”

“Yes. That was really scary. It really felt like I was dying.”

Her mother tightened her hug, wanting to make sure her daughter could feel what she was saying, “But you are safe and secure here in my arms.”

Maeko smiled faintly at that and snuggled closer into her mother’s grasp. It was nice to be cuddled like this. She really did feel safe, because she knew, without any doubt, that her mothers would fight off anything that tried to hurt her.

Her haha came back into the room looking a bit perplexed. Her mother asked, “What is it?”

“I talked to Chiharu and she said that she has heard of lore where this sort of thing has happened, which is news to me, but she studies more of that sort of thing than I ever did. Her advice was that we need to strengthen our wards and if it keeps happening maybe get Grandmother involved and if it keeps getting bad maybe talk to the Coven.” answered her haha as she knelt down and kissed Maeko on top of her head.

“Can you do that?” worriedly asked Maeko.

“Yes. I can make some prayer sheets, especially for this room, to make it even safer. I’ll be right back. Just rest baby, we’ve got this.”

Once things were taken care of and the prayer sheets placed around the room, Maeko went back to sleep, clutching her old stuffed raccoon that Takeshi had insisted that his parents buy after he had seen it.

* * * * *

Her mother showed her how to use concealer to hide the dark circles under her eyes, so it wasn’t as obvious to everyone just how badly she had slept. She felt wore out and her mind felt a little fuzzy and this was not going to be helpful for a day of classes. Once downstairs, she went for coffee instead of tea, despite not liking the flavor, because she needed the greater caffeine boost it provided. Her mothers laughed at the faces she made while drinking the bitter beverage, telling her that she was cute. Her haha handed over a plate filled with food and said, “Eat up baby, food equals sleep.”

“What?” Maeko was cofused by this as it made no sense to her.

“It’s an old Arabic saying, food equals sleep. It’s pretty true. If you’re tired and you eat something, it gives you the energy you need in order to keep going. Between the coffee and the food you should be okay until lunch. Now eat up. Need to go fairly soon.”

Maeko nodded and turned to her food. It was good, as the food pretty much always was, but she didn’t feel any more awake yet. She had some more coffee and shuddered.

Her mother laughed and said, “Man that is so adorable. You are just so cute. I know I shouldn’t take a picture of that but it’s beautiful.”

Maeko glared at her mother with such a typical teenage girl glare that her mother chuckled and shook her head, happily drinking her own coffee. Her haha chose not to comment, choosing to turn her back to the events and sip her tea.

Soon enough it was time to go. She grabbed her book bag and headed out to the car. The drive was fairly quick this time and Maeko reminded her mother that she was going to hang out with some people after school again.

“Look at you, becoming a social butterfly now.” teased her mom.

“Mom!”

“What? It’s my job. I have to give you grief or they take away my mom card. It’s true and someday you’ll find that out for yourself.”

Maeko blanched. “What? Oh god!”

Her mother patted her on the leg, “You’re a woman now honey, it comes with the territory.”

Maeko shuddered as that thought played itself through her head in far to graphic a fashion. “I… just… I… no.”

“You say that now… but just wait. At some point you will look at the person you are in love with and want to have children with them. It is perfectly natural.” Grace smiled happily as she said that, clearly remembering her own experiences.

“Mom… I’m sixteen and have no intention of getting that close to a guy if I can help it. As far as I know celibacy and lesbian sex are excellent birth control methods.”

Her mother started laughing and Maeko soon joined in once what she had said fully registered. They were still laughing as she got out of the car. As she headed towards the school she was shaking her head and snickering. She felt someone heading towards her and she looked up, spotting Cindy and Tracy moving towards her with clear purpose. Cindy smiled at her and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Birth control methods.” said Maeko and started snickering again.

Cindy and Tracy looked at each other, not following. That kind of amused Maeko a little bit more. Tracy said, “Ookay… that’s a bit random.”

After managing to regain just a little bit of her composure, she asked, “What’s up?”

“Are you still good to hang out this afternoon?” asked Cindy.

“Absolutely. That sounds like fun and I could use some fun. It’s been cleared with my folks and I have not had a good couple of days.” admitted Maeko, knowing that she could trust these two. They did know who she had been after all.

“Oh? What’s going on?” Tracy drew closer, to try and keep others from hearing what the girl would say.

“I don’t really want to get into it now but maybe later, when there is less chance of getting overheard.” replied Maeko, frowning slightly.

“Sure. We can do that.” said Cindy. She then glanced up, smiled at someone and then waved them over, “Warning, incoming.”

“What?” was all that Maeko was able to get out before Dana came up to the group.

“Morning Cindy, Tracy. And you’re Maeko right? You’re in my homeroom and English class right?”

Maeko’s brain wanted to shut down as her eyes widened a little taking in the sight. Dana was right there. In front of her. Talking to her. Her grey eyes looked happy and filled with the smile that she was sharing with all of them. She was dressed warmly but still cute and Maeko’s heart was melting. She knew she had to force herself to speak before things got weird. She managed to get something out without her voice squeaking. “Hi.”

Cindy and Tracy both smirked at that, with Tracy rolling her eyes. Dana did not seem to notice.

“So from California right?”

“Uhm… yeah. From California. That’s where I lived.” Maeko wanted to slap herself for sounding like an idiot just then. This whole situation was embarrassing and was only getting worse. She was dearly hoping that she wasn’t blushing. Maybe it would be hidden by rosy cheeks from the wind? She was going to kill Cindy. She was just going to murder her. That bitch did this to her.

“Cool. Where in California?”

Maeko’s heart was racing and she could feel her palms begin to grow slick. This was an actual conversation. She was having an actual conversation with Dana Stiles. They were exchanging words and everything. True she sounded like she was spewing word salad but talking was actually happening. “Pearson’s Creek. It’s near Santa Cruz and San Francisco.”

The group of them started heading towards class and out of the cold. Tracy peeled off with a wave and headed towards her own homeroom while the three girls moved together down the hall. Maeko was kind of impressed that people were moving out of the way of Dana, like she was important, like the tide of humanity parted for her. Maeko knew she was awesome but this was just another sign in her mind. Cindy kept her engaged in the conversation even though she had nothing really to say as her brain kept seizing up. What she was struggling most to do was not stare lovingly at Dana, so her desire was not telegraphed to everyone in the hallway and maybe beyond. Didn’t Cindy realize just how difficult of a task that was?

Once in the classroom, the girls sat all together finding a chair near where Dana and Cindy usually sat. Cindy and Dana were still talking about all sorts of things, about people that Maeko only knew vaguely, with Maeko occasionally being dragged in to comment on something or other. She felt completely lost and unsure of what to do right now. This whole situation was overwhelming her and her mind wanted to shut down. What could she do? What should she say? Oh man Dana smelled good. Fuck, this was making her crazy. Clearly Cindy was just doing this to torture her.

Cindy glanced at her quickly and then smiled at Dana. “Oh hey Dana, what are you doing this afternoon?”

“Nothing, why?” Dana looked slightly confused, as if she couldn’t exactly follow this tangent.

“Tracy and I were going to hang out with Maeko here and get to know her a little better. Want to tag along?” Cindy looked like the cat that ate the canary after she had asked that. If Maeko were armed she would have killed the girl dead on the spot. Hand to hand would take too long. No, this death had to be quick.

“Sure, that sounds fun.” replied Dana. “It would be nice to get to know you more.”

Dana wanted to come along and get to know her? She wanted to know her? His Goddess wanted to hang out and get to know her? Was this for real? Her heart felt like it skipped a beat and she smiled, “That would be fun. Maggie showed me around downtown some but it would be nice to get to know more people.”

“After school then.” When the bell rang everyone split apart to head to their next classes, with Maeko in a little bit of a daze over how surreal that had been. Was this really happening? It felt a little like she was in some sort of dream.

As she was walking down the hall towards her Math class, she saw Mr. McC talking with one of the school monitors. Before she glanced away, a voice sounded in her, louder than it had been before, saying, “Tell him.”

Maeko was a bit disturbed, as she remembered the last time she had heard that voice and was sure that there was no way it could be the Vice Principal doing this to her, as his back was to her and he had not noticed her yet. Should she listen to the voice? Should she do what it was asking? And why in the name of all that was holy was a random disembodied voice talking to her anyhow?

She bit her bottom lip in thought, she knew she had to get to class but this voice had twice told her to tell him, presumably about herself as she did not really have anything else of note to say except that she was a ninja. Should she believe what her family has told her and that her magical protection made most forms of intrusion like this nearly impossible without it being obvious or should she go with her simply being crazy and that this voice was a manifestation of some sort of mental illness? Her rational mind was telling her that crazy was clearly the more obvious choice, but then again rational had been thrown out the window into a passing bus when she had discovered that she was a half Kitsune half werefox that sort of worked for faeries. What the hell was she going to do?

The bell rang and all of a sudden it was go time. She swallowed hard and was about to move forward when Mr. McC turned and spotted her standing there, preparing to move. He raised an eyebrow in question and asked, “Miss Saito, shouldn’t you be getting to class?”

“Uhm… Mr. McCormick… can I speak to you for a moment?” Maeko shifted uncomfortably. This was not how she had planned to do this. Now she felt like she was in trouble rather than being in control of things. How was this helpful?

He nodded and walked over to her, waiting for her to talk. Maeko looked around, spotting the monitor standing somewhat nearby and said, “In private.”

He narrowed his eyes some, as if trying to discern what she planned to say and then nodded. “Let’s go to my office.”

The two of them walked down the hall towards the front office and Maeko’s mind was awhirl. Was this really what she wanted to do? Was she seriously taking a strange, disembodied voice’s advice in this situation? And how could she hear it anyway as she was sure it was not even remotely an audible sound. Telepathy? There was just no way that could be the case, right? If so, that’s just what she needed, psychics on top of everything else. Were there aliens as well? Was the crash at Roswell real? Maeko took a deep breath and let it out slowly, realizing that she was starting to freak out. She could do this. It felt right to listen to the voice so that’s what she was doing. Her mothers might be mad, especially given her haha’s display of aggression only yesterday when she was getting registered for classes. But she felt certain that she had to do this.

Mr. McC opened the door to his office and let her through first, before coming in and shutting the door behind him. He went over to his side of the desk and sat down, looking at Maeko curiously, his hands clasped on the blotter. “So what is it that I can do to help you, Miss Saito?”

Maeko closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opened them and looked Mr. McCormick right in the eyes. “I just wanted to let you know that I am, or rather was, Takeshi Saito.”