The second time she left without Eiko and found herself mysteriously in the park, Yuki was convinced something was very wrong. She wasn’t on the park bench or path. She was in the middle of the bushes, standing next to a hole in the ground.
“Eiko?” she called.
A long slender snout poked out of the hole, one with red fur. “Yuki-chan?” Eiko asked. Then she jumped from the hole, landing in human form. “Yuki! I can explain!”
“Kitsune,” Yuki murmured. She’d heard stories about them, but didn’t know more than that they appeared as foxes.
Eiko bowed her head. “Yes. I’m sorry I tricked you into coming home with me, but I needed you. I loved you. I hoped, one day, I could tell you.”
Yuki chuckled dryly. “You had no plans to ever tell me. If I hadn’t found myself lost so many times, you could have kept me tied up in there forever. Why did you let me out?” she asked, confused.
“Because I never wanted to trap you, only hold onto you."
