Fox Trapped in a Trap
"Hek... hek..."
I was straining hard right now, rubbing one stick against another tree with all my might.
Boss was sprawled on a rock, grooming himself after stuffing his belly full of prey, and watching me work.
Of course, what I was trying to do was make a fire.
But no matter how hard I rubbed, not even smoke came up, much less a flame.
"Hwaek! I can't do it..."
In the end, my strength gave out, and I flopped onto the ground.
I had at least wanted to roast the mole I’d hunted over a fire and eat it...
"Meow."
"Sorry, Boss. Even so, I can’t eat it raw."
He wore a look of complete incomprehension, as if he couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t eat such precious food, but then he just yawned widely as though it didn’t matter at all.
"Since I’m the one who caught it, I’ll definitely eat it later once I can make a fire."
On instinct, I picked up the mole I’d caught in my mouth and started digging a hole nearby.
Once it was deep enough, I laid the mole inside and carefully buried it.
"Wait here until then."
I promised the mole we’d meet again, then let out a regretful sigh and looked up at the night sky.
The city lights were visible far away, but now they seemed like a place that had nothing to do with me at all.
It was one thing to succeed at hunting. It was another thing entirely to not be able to eat what I’d caught!
"I'm hungry and my feet hurt."
I had been trying not to think about it, but my feet were killing me.
When I first awakened and ran away, I had lost the socks and shoes I’d been wearing, and ever since then I’d been going barefoot.
No matter that I had awakened, there were limits to running through rough mountains with bare feet.
Looking at Boss’s paw pads, they seemed small and soft just like my own feet, so I couldn’t understand why he was perfectly fine, but if this kept up I might end up with permanent scars on my feet and a serious problem with walking.
"I need shoes and clothes."
Shoes were the first priority, and I decided to get clothes while I was at it.
It was embarrassing to admit, but right now I wasn’t wearing anything except my top, so for the sake of human dignity, too, I made up my mind to get something by tomorrow morning.
"...Dignity?"
Thinking of human dignity, I suddenly remembered how I’d already lost to Boss and even gotten fed by him.
My dignity was already gone no matter how hard I scrubbed my eyes and looked for it...
...
"No, right now I'm learning the laws of nature!"
I comforted myself and closed my eyes.
The next morning.
I did not wake up refreshed.
All night I’d been following Boss around and moving about, and because I’d fallen asleep on the bare ground in the mountains, my whole body felt stiff and sore.
On top of that, I’d woken up cold in the middle of the night, but Boss had come down and slept with me in my arms, so I’d at least been able to hold out.
"Fuaaaam."
I stretched both arms up toward the sky and yawned, but something still felt about ten percent off.
I thought maybe I was just short on sleep, but then Boss came into view, stretching his own body luxuriously as he yawned.
"That looks kind of refreshing."
I immediately copied his posture and stretched again, and was startled by the sensation of my body opening up so cleanly from tail to spine that I gasped in delight.
"So refreshinggg."
Once I felt refreshed, my body automatically shivered and shook out the dust and leaves that had clung to me all night.
"Boss, I'm going into the city today!"
"Meow."
Boss answered as if it had nothing to do with him and lay back down on the rock, so I immediately headed down the mountain and returned to the place where I’d first met him.
Of course, before coming down from the mountain, I’d been on guard for people, so there was no problem.
"Sniff, sniff."
Just in case, I kept using the sense I’d learned from Boss, staying alert to my surroundings as I went down.
"Good."
For a moment I wondered if being this wary of people was really right, but my instincts were shouting that strangers were dangerous, so I decided to trust them.
But if I wanted to get clothes and shoes, I had to go to a shop and meet people.
And I also needed money...
...
My eyes glittered wickedly as I said, "Should I steal it?"
I was different from yesterday's me. I’d been trained by Boss.
Maybe if I killed my presence and pounced quickly, the way I would while hunting, it would work.
If anyone saw me right now, it wouldn’t be strange for devil wings and horns to sprout from my back, so utterly wicked was I, but I gave up that thought at once.
"Still, I can't make trouble for other people."
Defeating the devil inside me made me feel rather proud, but the situation was still hopeless.
Money.
It had been the problem before I awakened, and it was still the problem now.
"I have to earn money!"
Even if I was only F-class, I had awakened, so there had to be something I could do.
The moment I tried to take one small step forward in my life, I happened to step on a pebble right in front of me and collapse onto my bottom.
"Kya?!"
Before I knew it, I’d screamed, but I forced back the tears and got up again, braving forward.
This time I made sure to watch the road ahead better.
I kept moving while avoiding people’s presence, but I still didn’t want to go toward any road where lots of people passed.
The best I could do was search the residential area where there were fewer people around, then hide whenever someone came near.
Thump-thump.
"Footsteps!"
When I heard a person’s footsteps not far away, I immediately left the road and hid behind a trash can and a utility pole.
Fortunately, the person coming my way was on the phone and had no idea I was there, so they passed by quickly.
"Phew..."
Relieved, I stepped out from behind the pole, and something approached from behind me.
"Kya!"
It had sneaked up on me while I was careless, and I jumped in fright before turning around, only to find that it wasn’t a person after all, but a cat.
One of the cats that had gathered in Boss’s territory yesterday.
Apparently this was that cat’s territory, and it had come over when it saw me.
"Sorry, I wasn’t trying to steal your territory. I live with Boss now."
"Meow."
"Huh? Cats are supposed to share childcare as a rule? No, I’m not a cat or a baby..."
"Meow."
"No! Anyway, this is perfect. Do you happen to know where clothes are thrown away?"
"Meow?"
"I'm looking for a place where the cloth people wear is gathered..."
After I explained myself earnestly, the cat finally seemed to understand and started leading the way.
And not long after, I found a green bin nearby with the words Clothing Donation Box written on it.
"Right, it was in the Clothing Donation Box!"
"Meow."
"Thanks. Because of you, this got solved so easily!"
The cat—well, since it had yellow fur, I decided to call it Norangi. Norangi seemed to think that was fine, and it pressed its head against my leg, rubbed its face against me, then flicked its tail and left.
And then I immediately opened the Clothing Donation Box door to look for clothes to wear, but it was locked tight with a padlock and wouldn’t open.
"Why would you lock the door..."
Still, I was stronger now after learning the laws of the wild from Boss, and I refused to give up so easily. I decided to think of another way.
First I tried breaking the padlock to open the door, but there was nothing nearby that I could use as a tool, so just in case, I tried smashing it with my awakened strength.
Thunk.
"Kya?!"
The Clothing Donation Box was sturdier than I’d expected, and after licking my reddened hand, I looked for another way.
I considered waiting until someone came to donate clothes and then snatching them the moment they tried to put them in... but I gave up on that idea.
Facing an unfamiliar human directly was dangerous.
Then the only option left was...
I looked up at the opening in the top of the donation box.
It was meant for people to put clothes into, but for me now, it was a hole I could easily fit through.
It was a brilliant plan: go in through that opening and bring the clothes out myself!
"Good, let's go!"
Fueled by action, I jumped immediately to get into the donation box, but compared to my shrunken body, the box was far too tall.
I tried jumping high like I had when hunting, over and over again, but in the end I only managed to smash my face into the box before concluding that jumping wasn’t going to work.
But it was still too early to give up.
I looked around for something that might work as a stepping stool, but sadly there was nothing light enough for me to move that was also the right height.
"Hmm."
I wracked my brains for a solution, and then I remembered Norangi walking along the top of a wall.
I quickly followed the wall right behind the donation box and found a section I could climb up.
The wall was high enough to make my tail stand straight with tension, but I went forward bravely and finally managed to get on top of it.
"I'm amazing!"
Praising myself, I carefully started to enter through the box opening...
"Kya?!"
Just as I tried to go in through the opening from above, I slipped and fell straight down.
Luckily I wasn’t hurt, but I had to climb back onto the wall and repeat the whole process several times before I finally managed to catch the opening and get a chance to enter.
"Grrr, I never thought getting in through the top would be this hard."
Still, I gathered my remaining strength and shoved my body into the opening, finally succeeding in getting inside the donation box!
Thump.
"Whoa!"
When I fell in, the pile of clothes inside cushioned my landing.
Seeing so many clothes, I finally felt the reality of my success, and without thinking I shouted in admiration.
The inside of the box was very dark, but my awakened eyes soon began to make out the clothes inside.
"Let's see, something I can wear..."
I rummaged through the pile with all my might, looking for something that would fit me.
How much time had passed like that...
I realized something had gone terribly wrong.
"Kyaa..."
I glanced up at the opening high above, where light was streaming in, and said, "I think I'll just go out now."
