*Rowan's POV*
I don't know if I really lost my sanity or not but with hesitation I turn around and no one was there "Right here silly" I look to my right and Hariko was just holding her laughter "Wait.. all of it was real?" "Yup, do I look like like a hallucination to you?" "..A bit?" she rolls her eyes, her hand moving through my hair in a soothing manner "So.. after you looked at me weirdly I just passed out?" her hand motion stops briefly, her eyebrow raising up "passing out? looking at you weirdly...? you sure you didn't hit your head too hard?" "B-But.. you were walking with me by my side, then you placed your hand on my forehead... my vision started whitening and reddening at the same time!".
She just looks with me with a blank expression, soon enough she burst into laughter "I really have no clue what you're saying, you most likely were having a dream.. none of that happened, in fact it was worse" she lays her head on my lap as if it's no big deal, also trying to contain her giggles by my confusion "You remember how I saved you after jumping off the roof yes? the burning workplace? us walking away from the scene as if we were straight out from an action paced movie?" I just nod slightly, my brain working overload to remember everything "Well truth to be told... you face was more pale than usual, I suppose your brain was still stuck on the shock value"
She giggles as she gives me a tooth grin, but I feel like she's avoiding something... "You pretty much kind of collapsed, but worry not, I was there to catch you~" her smile does reach her eyes, her fox ears do twitch, but all of this is still... odd to me, what if I'm dead and this is an extension of my brain's imagination? "Alright... well I don't really feel a headache anymore so..." she weakly nods her head and sits up "Alright energized boy.. how about you get some sleep?" "Says the one who can barely speak" she groans a little as she began to float in the air, of course I looked confused at her but she just laughs "I'll be waiting for you, just don't stay up too late.. like you already had"
She proceeds to float upstairs and I sigh, this feels like a very horrible fever dream... I'm half expecting for the house to turn into a horror anomaly at this point. I stand up shutting the TV and made my way upstairs, I open the door to my bedroom and she was already laying in the bed curled up under the covers. How in the hell did she just got in the room since she was headed to the bathroom a second ago..? it's like whenever I blink she appears in a total different spot...
"...Hariko?" "So you didn't forget about your little toy did you? they're just away at the moment.." Hariko isn't Hariko without her fox tail and ears.. I demand her to be a true fox girl "Alright alright.. just close your eyes Rowan.. remember that I can read your thoughts" I just did as she said, but my thoughts were not allowing me peace, everything about this feels too wrong, too... otherworldly in a way. Hariko was pretty firm when she said she'll leave for good... so why did she return? because my life was in danger? if so how did she knew when to show up...? too many questions...
*Time skip*
I wake up and Hariko was peacefully sleeping on her side, keeping her distance "You look oddly peaceful like this..." tearing my gaze away from her back I slowly push of the blanket as I stand up "Damn... my back is so stiff..." my body does feel a little weak, probably I had a horrible night's rest. As I turn to walk out from the bedroom, suddenly a hand wraps around my wrist and pulls me a little closer to the bed "And where ya think ye goin..." Hariko's voice was pretty thick with sleep, giving me a side eye "To take care of morning's business...?".
She sits up rubbing one of her eye with the back of her knuckle, half her hair plastered over her face "You are quite troubled, are you not my dearest Rowan?" her tone was calm and for once lacking any sort of teasing, much to my surprise. She moves a strand of her hair to look into my eyes, scooping herself up to lean backwards against the headboard. She has that look in her eyes again that I can't really put my finger on... is she going to knock me out again like she did last time? or was it a fracture of my sanity?
We have a pretty awkward staring contest, but in the end Hariko's sigh escaped her lips as she turned her head towards the window, watching the sun beams filtering through the curtains "...Honestly, Rowan? there are many things I myself don't understand the world. My parents... were a pretty interesting bunch if we were in the barbarian era. For you humans, time is a very precious resource that many don't use it to it's maximum potential... for us, fox people, it's a bless and a curse".
She throws her legs over the edge of the bed, hands resting on her lap as her gaze was now focused into the floor. I opened my mouth to say something but she cuts me off "...especially those who have been blessed by divinity" she turns to me, her fox ears pressed into her skull, eyes flickering with restrained emotion "I see the world very differently than you, than an ordinary fox foe, where you see dust on the TV, I see a wild chaotic scourge of energy waiting to be used" she stands up, her eyes meeting mine, but this time it felt like she was staring right into my very soul.
Her feet padded over the floorboards, grasping my hand into hers in a gentle manner while keeping the eye contact "...There are no words I can put in an apology to fix everything. The plan was to leave, forever. But it turns out fate has other plans for me..." she takes a deep breath of air before continuing "I broke you once, I broke your trust. I know, I know for a fact you are still questioning reality, if I'm really here or if I'm just an illusion... or a dream, a nightmare, waiting for it to be over so you can start your day and forget it".
The grip of her hand tightened around mine, the whole time I remained silent, trying to hold her almost intense gaze "...I am scared, Rowan" she murmurs under her breath, her gaze breaking finally as she returned to look out the window "...Scared because I do not know what my path is. Scared because of what that lady has in stock for me. But most importantly I'm scared of losing you again. It's ... a bit of a cliche, eh?".
She gives me a chuckle that seemed too forced even for her standards "...Hariko, stop for a minute-" She holds her other hand out, shaking her head "...No, you shouldn't just accept me because I appeared out of nowhere after four years. You must question me, you shouldn't be so comfortable around me, I even mentioned divinity... how do you still see me the same when I can't myself see the way I used to?".
We fell into a tense silence. I could feel the air itself going still around us, as if sensing Hariko's emotions going wild. I tightened my own grip around her hand, hesitantly reaching out to pet her head. The corners of her lips quirk up lightly, giving out an sigh in exasperation as she leans into my touch. Neither of us said anything, it's still... a bit too much to process everything, but her words to have a seed of truth. ...Maybe a couple more seeds.
"...Look, Rowan... I would love to talk more, to answer your question, to figure out our paths together but... right now? we need breakfast" the tense atmosphere discharged at her sudden change of topic, long before the familiar grin appeared on her lips, but it didn't reach her eyes this time either "...You need time to process what I said, we need time itself to... forge us a new path, even though the path with be broken and rowdy" with a sigh she twirls on her foot, walking towards the bedroom's door "...Just, don't overthink it yeah? let the words settle before we continue this talk." with that she left the bedroom, leaving me behind confused... "...I think it's safe to say she's not just an extension of my imagination at this point" following her advice, I try to put the topic aside and follow her, after all this new information it did made me hungry...