By the time practice was over, the sun had already started going down, leaving a stunning visual display, casting a beautiful orange-purple hue across the sky. As the baseball teams made their way off their respective baseball fields, they were met with dark grey clouds looming ominously in the distance. The juxtaposition of the vibrant colors and ominous clouds created a beautiful and calming mood, as the players made their way towards their dorms.
Inside the dugout, Rei sat in the back of the empty dugout, looking over the empty field and enjoying the scenery in silence.
- Beep
The sound of a notification interrupted his blissful silence, but instead of being annoyed, a smile crept up onto his lips as he grabbed his phone.
[Wolf Girl: I just got out of practice, and I need to head back to the dorms for my stuff. Meet me at the stairs? :)]
[Fox Boy: And make me miss out on meeting your friends? No way I want to hear all the embarrassing stories they have about you. ;)]
Rei let out a small chuckle before he put his phone away and grabbed his backpack, making sure he left nothing behind, after checking that he left the field.
As he made his way toward the girls' dorms, he continued enjoying the scenery before he eventually appeared at the dorms.
But then, like a bolt of lightning out of the blue, Yuxin appeared on the scene, her hair slightly disheveled and her bags scattered haphazardly on the floor.
"Not one step closer, fox boy!" she shouted, trying to hold the door closed from the outside.
Rei couldn't help but burst out laughing at Yuxin's fierce determination. "What are you doing?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.
Yuxin panted, trying to keep the door closed despite Rei's amused laughter.
"You can't just waltz into the girls' dorm unannounced!" she explained breathlessly.
An amused smile crept onto his face as he held up his hands in surrender.
"Hey, I was just admiring the view. I wouldn't dream of intruding on your territory," he said innocently, as he tilted his head to the side.
"Uh-huh," she said skeptically, as Yuxin narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she continued her little act.
"And what exactly were you going to admire? The girls in their pajamas?"
Rei rolled his eyes playfully.
"Of course not! I was just admiring the beautiful scenery," he replied cheekily. "You know, like that tree over there?" He pointed to a nearby tree as if it were an obvious choice for appreciation.
Yuxin shook her head with a chuckle.
"Are your friends really that bad?" Rei asked, but before Yuxin could answer, she lost the war with the door as she disappeared into the room before Rei saw four figures leaning over the rail, looking at him.
Out of the four, he only recognized Ji-Yeon, who had striking features and a unique style. She had an angular face with high cheekbones, a small nose, and full lips. She even had the same piercing green hooded eyes, exactly like her brothers. Ji-Yeon's hair was black and styled in a messy wolf cut, which accentuated her facial features. She has a tall and slender figure with long legs and toned arms, as she leaned lazily against the rail with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Then there was the girl next to her, who had a bright and approachable face with round cheeks, a small nose, and full lips. Her blue eyes were almond-shaped, and she sported blonde hair in a straight style that fell just above her shoulders. Her figure looked athletic and toned, with slender arms and legs. She was eating a cookie like a rabbit.
The person next to her had an oval face with high cheekbones, a small nose, and thin lips. Her large, brown eyes are upturned, giving her a beautiful appearance that complements her porcelain skin tone. Her black hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders. She had a petite frame with slim arms and legs that added to her graceful demeanor. She stood straight as she held a thick book in her hands.
Then the final girl also had a petite frame, with a slim and delicate figure. Her facial features were defined and striking, with sharp cheekbones, large expressive hazel eyes, and full lips. Unlike the other girls, she had red hair that went to her waist and was watching Rei as if he were entertainment.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking." Sun Yuxin said with a face full of sarcasm as she appeared next to Ji-Yeon, giving a stink eye to the rest of the girls.
"Are you okay?" Rei asked, amusedly.
"Shut it, you're not funny." Sun Yuxin pouted, but a smile silently crept onto her lips.
Suddenly, Ji-Yeon pinched Yuxin's face as she laughed, "Look at her smiling like a little schoolgirl."
Yuxin smacked her hand away before sighing, "Let's get this over with. Rei, these four rascals are unfortunately what I call my best friends, as you know, this is Ji-Yeon, a pitcher, and the girl munching on the cookie is our little glutton, Madison Taylor, our first baseman. The bookworm over there is Duan Luan, our catcher, who spends more time with books than people, and then the redhead is Li Shen, our fearless center fielder with fiery red hair."
"Hey, Rei." Ji-Yeon waved.
"Hello," Madison gave a simple greeting.
When it was Duan Luan's turn, her eyes glowed like she had found a treasure, "This isn't fair! Why does she get a book boyfriend, and I don't?" She pouted as if the heavens had done her a great injustice.
Li Shen laughed, hearing Duan Luan, "Don't worry, you'll find your own morally grey lover one day, anyway, hello Mr. Kitsune." Li Shen said in amusement.
Rei watched everything with amusement. He enjoyed seeing this side of Sun Yuxin, but he simply responded with a slight smile, "Hello everyone, as you know, I'm Rei Kitsune, son of Ryuu Kitsune and Mizuki Ayame, starting shortstop, pitcher, and her boyfriend."
"What really!? That's great!" Yuxin squealed in delight, hearing Rei making a starter position.
The rest of the girls also showed surprise on their faces.
"You really caught the big fish, Yuxin," Li Shen joked.
"Can I head up now?" Rei suddenly asked as he had been stuck at the bottom since the beginning.
"No, we should leave already. I don't want their bad behavior to rub off on you." Sun Yuxin chuckled.
"More like you don't want us to embarrass you," Duan Luan rolled her eyes, while Madison nodded as she finished her cookie before another one mysteriously appeared in her hands.
"Yes, now I'll see you guys later," Yuxin said as she grabbed her backpack and the two bags Rei bought her earlier.
Rei waited with a small smile on his face as he admired Yuxin, while the four girls watched in amusement.
Soon, Yuxin appeared in front of Rei.
"Hello," Rei said lowly as a dashing smile appeared on his face.
"Hi," Yuxin said shyly, but a smile lit up her face as Rei grabbed the two bags, letting Yuxin carry her backpack only.
He then grabbed her wrists, gently pulling her forward before switching his grip so their fingers interlocked naturally, the way it had happened twice already today — as if their hands had already worked out an arrangement their owners hadn't formally agreed to yet.
Yuxin looked down at their joined hands for a moment, then back up at him, and the shy smile on her face widened just slightly at the corners before she looked away.
"You're going to say something smug now, aren't you?" she said.
"I wasn't," Rei replied.
"You were thinking it."
"Thinking isn't saying."
Yuxin laughed — a soft, genuine laugh, not the performative kind she used in public — and leaned her shoulder into his arm as they started walking. Above them on the fifth-floor railing, four faces watched with varying degrees of restraint, which is to say, not much.
"They're still watching," Rei said without looking up.
"I know," Yuxin said without looking up either.
"Does it bother you?"
She considered this for a moment with the mild, unhurried expression of someone reviewing something they already knew the answer to. "No," she said. "They're my friends. They're happy for me." A pause. "They're also completely insufferable about it, but that's just what they are."
"Your catcher thinks you got a book boyfriend."
Yuxin made a sound that was halfway between a groan and a laugh. "Duan Luan thinks every remotely handsome boy with a quiet personality is a book boyfriend. She's read too many novels."
"She's not wrong, though," Rei said simply.
Yuxin stopped walking.
Rei took one more step before he felt the resistance in her hand and stopped too, turning slightly to look at her. She was staring at him with an expression he hadn't seen on her yet — not the soft warmth she gave him in private moments, not the ice-cold captain's mask she wore on the field, but something in between and entirely its own, a look that was slightly flustered and slightly accusing and mostly just caught off guard.
"You can't just say things like that," she said.
"Why not?"
"Because—" she started, then stopped. The tips of her ears went pink. "Because it's not fair."
"What isn't fair about it?"
"You say it so casually," she said, looking away from him now, the words coming out quieter than she intended. "Like it's just a fact. Like it's nothing."
Rei watched her profile for a moment — the slight tension in her jaw, the way her thumb had unconsciously tightened around his fingers while she was busy looking in the other direction.
"It is a fact," he said. His voice was quiet, the coldness completely absent from it, replaced by something that didn't have a name but sat somewhere between warmth and certainty. "Facts aren't less true because they're said casually."
Yuxin pressed her lips together. She was fighting a smile and losing badly.
"I really dislike you sometimes," she said.
"No, you don't."
"No," she agreed, and the smile won. "I don't."
They started walking again. Behind them, from the fifth floor, there came the sound of at least two people failing to contain themselves, and what might have been a cookie being dropped in excitement, though that was impossible to confirm.
Chase was waiting at the school gate with the Phantom sitting dark and quiet against the evening light, its black exterior catching the last copper threads of sunset like something painted rather than manufactured. He stood beside the rear door with his hands clasped in front of him and his usual lazy smile already in place before they were even close enough for him to see their faces clearly.
"Evening," Chase said as they approached.
"Chase," Rei replied.
Chase looked at Yuxin with the smile of a man who had known Rei long enough to understand exactly how unusual this moment was without needing anyone to explain it. He said nothing about it. He simply opened the rear door with the unhurried grace of someone who had been doing this long enough that it had become invisible.
"Sun Yuxin," Yuxin said politely, because she was that kind of person.
"I know," Chase said warmly. "He mentioned you."
Yuxin glanced at Rei.
Rei was already getting in the car.
"He mentioned me?" she asked, her voice carrying a note of delight she didn't quite manage to suppress.
"He said, and I quote, 'Chase, there'll be someone with me,'" Chase said solemnly. "Very moving."
Yuxin burst out laughing as she got in after Rei, and Chase closed the door behind her with a quiet click, his smile widening once the door was shut.
Inside the car, the leather seats were cool, and the city noise disappeared behind the window glass, leaving a soft, comfortable quiet. The bags Rei had bought her sat between them on the seat, and Yuxin pulled one of them into her lap and looked inside for a moment, touching the tops of the snacks and the energy drinks and the small jar of essential oil he'd picked out without her asking, and her expression did something complicated and fond that she didn't try to explain.
"You didn't have to get all of this," she said.
"I know," he said.
She looked at him. "Thank you, Rei."
He didn't respond immediately. He was looking out the window at the city unspooling past them, the lights starting to come on as the sky deepened from orange to purple to the first suggestion of dark blue. His reflection was faint in the glass — a ghost of his face, those strange tri-colored layers of hair, the purple eyes that were softer right now than they were when the world was watching.
"You played well today," he said finally.
Yuxin blinked. "You watched my practice?"
"The fields aren't that far apart."
She stared at him for a moment. Then she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at the bag in her lap, a smile working its way onto her face quietly, like sunrise — not sudden, just gradually more present until you couldn't remember it not being there.
"You're going to make it very hard to focus on softball," she said softly.
"That would be a problem," he said. He was still looking out the window. "You're too good to lose focus."
The smile on her face deepened.
Outside, New York moved past them in its usual way — loud and indifferent and enormous —, and inside the car, there was just the quiet and the leather and two people sitting close enough that their shoulders touched, neither of them moving away.
Yuxin's house was twenty minutes from the school in a part of the city that was residential and leafy and had the particular stillness of a neighborhood that went to bed at a reasonable hour. The house itself was large and well-kept, set back from the sidewalk behind a low gate, with warm light coming from a few windows on the ground floor.
Chase pulled up outside, and Rei got out first, carrying her bags while she stepped out after him.
They stood on the sidewalk for a moment. The clouds that had been threatening all evening had arrived quietly while they were in the car, and the air had that specific heaviness of rain not yet falling, cool and dense and faintly electric.
Yuxin looked up at the sky, then back at him.
"You should get home before it rains," she said.
"I know."
Neither of them moved.
Yuxin looked at the bags in his hands, then held her arms out to take them. He passed them over, and for a moment they were both holding the handles, and neither of them let go.
"First day," she said quietly.
"First day," he agreed.
She looked up at him with those silver eyes, and there was something in them that was too full for the moment they were standing in — too much of everything, all at once, the way the first day of something sometimes feels when you're in the middle of it, and you can already sense that you'll remember it forever.
"It was a good one," she said.
"Yeah," he said. He let go of the bags.
Yuxin held them against her chest and looked at him for another second. Then she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his cheek, quick and warm, and stepped back before he could say anything, turning toward her gate with a smile she was making zero effort to hide.
"Text me when you get home, fox boy," she called back, not turning around.
"Don't tell me what to do, wolf girl," he called after her.
She laughed. The gate closed behind her.
Rei stood on the sidewalk for a moment in the heavy pre-rain air, the city quiet around him in that specific way it got right before a storm, and he looked at the closed gate and the warm light in the windows and felt something settle in his chest — not loud, not dramatic, just the quiet weight of something new that had decided to stay.
He got back in the car.
"Home?" Chase asked.
"Home," Rei said.
Chase pulled away from the curb. The first drops of rain hit the windshield a block later, light at first, then more insistent, and Rei watched them trace their crooked paths down the glass and thought about nothing in particular, which for him was a rare enough thing to be its own kind of gift.
His phone buzzed.
[Wolf Girl: I forgot to say — you were amazing today. Not just the baseball. Just... you. 🐺]
He looked at it for a long moment. Then he typed back.
[Fox Boy: Get some sleep. 🦊]
A pause. Then:
[Wolf Girl: That's it?! YOU'RE SO ANNOYING] [Wolf Girl: 😭😭] [Wolf Girl: ...goodnight rei] [Fox Boy: Goodnight, Yuxin.]
He put the phone face-down on his knee and looked back out the window at the rain, and the smile on his face was small and private and entirely his own.
In the house behind the gate, in a room with warm light and four bags of gifts she hadn't asked for, Sun Yuxin sat on the edge of her bed and held her phone to her chest and smiled at the ceiling like a girl who had just found something she hadn't known she was looking for.
Outside, the rain came down.
It was the end of the first day.