Chapter 6

“Oof. Get off me!” I woke to fur in my face along with my sister’s smug grin peering through the small gap between covers and red tail fluff.

Oh, and did I mention Kira was in fox form? I could feel the year’s seventh tardy slip falling into my hands already.

“You need to shift and shower and eat and...did you finish your homework last night while I was fighting?”

The fox who was my sister leapt off my pillow a millisecond before my fingers would have closed around her snow-white belly. Soft feet landed on top of the tiny dorm-style refrigerator three feet away from my pull-out sofa-bed, and I decided to take that as a yes to the breakfast and a no to the shifting, showering, and homework. At least we’d get the bare necessities done today.

“Kira, I’m serious,” I grumbled, even as I pulled out the wide cereal bowl that was easy for a snout to scoop food out of. Half a box of off-brand cheerios, a healthy glug of last night’s stolen milk, and my sister was at least eating her breakfast...even if she was still perched on top of the fridge while doing so.

Of course, Kira was also a fox, so nothing came easily. Three bites later, my young charge lost interest in food and hummed a request instead, drawing our mother’s star ball toward us out of the only bedroom our apartment boasted. The golden glow was the reason my sister was able to shift before coming of age, but it was also the last remnant of our dead mother’s spirit. So I didn’t argue as Kira leapt away from her half-finished meal and used the solidified magic as a platform, allowing her to dance across the room without touching the ground. Instead, I smiled fondly...then froze as I remembered the jolt of understanding that had run through my head as I succumbed to slumber the night before.

The whistle in the dark alley hadn’t been just an eerily unfamiliar melody. Instead, it had matched the tinny sound made by our mother’s nearly forgotten music box. Or so I thought. I’d need to rustle up long-packed-away possessions to be sure....

“I’m serious about that shower, Kira,” I told my sister absently, turning away as my own star ball joined the circus without any explicit request to do so on my part. “And you know you have a test today in...” I racked my brain, gave up “...in something. So, please, at least bring the relevant book to school.”

Kira hadn’t done her homework and had forgotten her test—I could see the guilt in her beady eyes. But she was a fox who was snatching bites of a filling breakfast in between her capers, so she’d land—both literally and metaphorically—on her feet.

Confident that my sister was taken care of, I took the five steps to her bedroom in a rush. Clothes covered every available surface and it took longer than it should have to pick my way through to the rather empty closet. I’d need to find an hour this afternoon to tidy up just in case Social Services dropped by for a surprise inspection....

For now, though, I was more interested in the boxes on the closet’s top shelf than in the clothes all over the floor. It had been so long since I’d been up there that dust bunnies gave even Kira’s slovenly ways a run for their money.

And yet...the box I was looking for was swept as smooth as if it held a daily necessity. And when I pulled down the battered cardboard container, the item in my hands wasn’t nearly as heavy as it should have been.

Inside, a few photos and childhood drawings fluttered against my fumbling fingers. But the music box, the jewelry, Mama’s cherished possessions—every single one of them was gone without a trace.

***

“I’m sorry,” Kira whispered as her class poured into the gym for third-period PE. She’d clearly been working on this apology for the entirety of her first two classes, because the rest of it came out in a rush. “I should have talked to you first. But selling Mama’s belongings was the only way I could think of to pay the water and electric bills. And it wasn’t as if we were using any of that stuff.”

“It’s okay,” I told my sister, even though it really wasn’t. But I was disappointed in myself more than in Kira. Disappointed that my thirteen-years-younger sister had taken household expenses upon herself without me noticing...and, I’ll admit it, disappointed that I’d never see our dead mother’s possessions again. Just because Dad—and then I—had hidden the items away in a dusty box while avoiding all mention of our shadowed heritage didn’t mean I was willing to sell the items on Ebay.

Still, my day brightened a little when Kira accepted my words at face value. She shot me a sunny smile before bouncing over to the opposite side of the room where three girls waited. And even though they were entirely human and dressed far better than I’d ever managed to deck out my ward, they still welcomed her into their midst with cheery greetings and sparkling eyes.

“Wanna see a magic trick?” my sister asked as she joined them, pulling out three scarves and a deck of cards before her companions could reply. And I’ll admit it—I let the pre-class bustle linger longer than usual so Kira could enjoy her moment in the limelight. Gave everyone three long minutes to gab and gossip and make objects disappear.

But, finally, I could drag my heels no longer. “Line up in two rows. We’re going to start with drills parrying four and six,” I bellowed in a voice guaranteed to garner even argumentative sixth graders’ attention.

The girls obeyed as sluggishly as Kira had caved to the necessity of her morning shower. But, eventually, clanging practice swords proved that nineteen over-indulged princesses—and my orphaned sister—would go to math class with hearts racing and endorphin levels elevated.

Which should have been good enough. But my skin itched and my eyes kept being drawn to the three students in front of and beside my kid sister. So I drifted closer to hear what kind of muttered secrets were being exchanged along with sword blows.

“Keep the tip of your blade pointed at your opponent’s chest while you parry,” I murmured to a rather over-excited redhead as I worked my way closer to the girls in question. “Hand parallel to the floor,” I corrected another student, angling toward the girls upon whom the entirety of my attention now rested.

And then I could hear their chatter above the din...at which point I finally realized that Kira had been lying when she told me everything was just peachy at school. “Maybe you can use your magic tricks to get Jared’s attention,” Kira’s current opponent sneered, eyeballing my sister’s body in a way that made the shorter girl’s cheeks flush crimson.

“Or maybe you could make yourself disappear. That’d be a good one.” The girl on Kira’s right was barely moving her sword while she indulged in a verbal offensive of her own.

“I don’t know why they let gooks into our school,” the third student interjected contemplatively. “Asian kids are supposed to be smart, but we can all tell from Kira’s uniform that she’s a scholarship student. She can’t even pay her own way.”

At which point, I stopped even pretending to pay attention to the rest of the class. Started sprinting toward my sister...even though I knew any intervention would come far too late.

Because Kira might have been abjectly apologetic at the beginning of class, but all foxes have a temper and Kira was no exception. Unlike me, however, she tended to save words for later and to dive straight into the physical when cornered and outmatched.

So I wasn’t surprised when my nose caught the faintest hint of fur as Kira unleashed a tiny fraction of the vulpine agility she’d been holding back earlier in the session. I wasn’t surprised when she knocked off each girl’s face mask with a quick dip and jerk of her blunt-tipped sword. One, two, three helmets clanged onto the floor then one, two, three sets of manicured fingertips rose to feminine throats in unintentional unison.

Behind me, air pushed against my back as someone opened the door leading to the hallway. But I ignored whoever was coming or going, channeling all of my attention upon my sister as I turned my sprint into something a little faster. Because I’d learned the hard way that an angry Kira was unable to think through the consequences of her actions. And, like the rest of her family, my kid sister was remarkably good with a sword.

Sure enough, before I could interpose myself between the four battling students, my sister’s practice blade rose for a fourth time. Thankfully, the swords I’d handed out to these children boasted unsharpened edges and a soft rubber ball protecting each tip. Still, any hunk of metal can do real damage if wielded by a pro.

Kira was well on her way to becoming such an expert.

“Don’t!” I demanded, sending one curt word where my feet had failed to carry me.

But my sister’s lashes didn’t even flicker in response to my order. Instead, she slapped those bitchy girls with the flat of her blade so fast the first wasn’t even crying before the third was being similarly assaulted. Within seconds, three red welts stood out against perfectly moisturized skin...then the floodgates opened up.

“I...I...I....” the leader of the posse stuttered, spinning to take in her damaged face in the mirror that covered one entire wall. “My face is ruuuiiiinnned!” another girl wailed. For her part, the third student was too overwhelmed to even emote verbally. Instead, she collapsed into a silent heap, cradling her injured cheek in both hands.

“Maybe you should grow up and shut up,” Kira whispered in a voice blazing with passion. “Maybe you shouldn’t talk about things you don’t understand.”

Meanwhile, behind me, an equally familiar tone cut through the room’s hushed silence. “Mai, Kira, I’ll see you both in my office immediately,” the headmistress informed us. “Injured parties report to the nurse’s station. And the rest of you, it’s time to go to math.”