White chuckled as he left Tola in the hands of Sora and the other girls, holding his hands behind his back; his mind was lingering on the dance they had shared. One of the new bands he’d had a hand in tutoring in the art of music had put on a performance, and its memory would last with him for a lifetime.

How long has it been since I’ve enjoyed myself around a woman? Too long…

His heart was free, and it didn’t matter if Tola liked him or was doing it for duty; he’d waited over fifty millennia to experience these emotions again, and if it meant he could continue feeling young again, then taking things slow was perfectly acceptable for him.

Walking around in a dream, he laughed, seeing the world in a new light as his eyes passively wandered between other couples; love was blooming in the Vulpes Realm now that they’d been freed from the previous suffocating controlling leash Niomie had placed on the vulpes and humans.

He had no plans for the night, and suddenly realized he had nowhere to call home to rest his head; it was such a trip to not have his powers, and, typically, White would have never even entertained the idea Sora proposed, but the unique circumstances had pulled his life in a direction even he couldn’t have predicted.

Damn you, Mia… You must have seen this coming, and that cunning white devil sister of yours was stripping me of all my duties over time to pave the way. Such a troublesome family.

A smile touched his eyes while recalling the last few months teaching Emilia, Tola supporting where she could, but it was more like he was instructing both of them; his date was truly so innocent to the realm of magic and how Existence worked, which was quite cute at times when she’d look at him with those sparkling aquamarine eyes upon learning basic weaves.

Going to the bathroom, feeling hunger, and becoming fatigued to an extent, it had been a long time; he had naturally kept his body fit with magic before, so he was brimming with energy, where Tola hadn’t had such forethought. A few thoughts regarding that avenue played through his mind as he turned his focus to the sky.

Maybe I should stop by in the morning and see if Tola wants to start jogging; we can build up to running and other exercises. I’m sure the little princess would love to design us outfits.

“Hmm-hmm. So much to look forward to,” he whispered, stopping off at a rather unexpected location; it was the only place he really had to go, and it did seem appropriate.

Wearing a charming smile, he knocked on the door; it swung open after a few minutes to reveal a black-haired girl with absurdly thick, messy hair and amber eyes.

“Mmgm?” Kari grunted, giving him a lifted eyebrow as if asking why he was standing in front of her little, one-bedroom house; she only wore a sports bra and shorts, seemingly prepared to go to bed, and it was lucky he’d caught her at home and not the training room.

“Evening, Kari. So… I don’t have my powers anymore, and I need to crash somewhere. Got a couch I could use?”

Kari smirked and stepped aside, shoving the door open. “Well, that’s gotta be quite the story. Fill me in while I brush my teeth with some meat and get ready for bed.”

“Thanks,” White said, walking in without hesitation.

The building only had a front room with a kitchen to the side, with stairs leading to the second floor, where the bathroom and bedroom were; not the most efficient designs, but it worked for the wolf.

“I’m guessing it has something to do with Sora,” she said, followed by a yawn as she went to the fridge to extract some thick slices of fish she’d caught herself; he’d noticed her moving throughout the realm over the last few weeks, reflecting on the abilities she’d gained from her father.

“In order to fulfill a bet Tola and I had, Sora has developed a way to block us out of our magic and spiritual functions. Heh. I kind of feel bad with how draining it is on her; she’ll probably need to do it again tomorrow to keep it from breaking.”

“Meh. Training for her,” Kari dismissed, chewing on the raw fish while leaning against the counter; she didn’t appear to have much at all, choosing a more minimalist lifestyle, and White could see she was interested in learning more about what was happening with Sora.

Testing the waters, he filled her in on what had been happening with the vulpes family, and there was a complicated smile on the wolf’s face as she laughed at the ups and downs. White could see she regretted something as they talked, with her asking specific questions; it wasn’t hard to see what was bothering her.

She still blames herself for giving Sora a piece of her father’s energy and causing her to become sick…

Taking the chair as Kari jumped back on the couch, White raised an eyebrow, seeing a few random novels on the floor, which the girl noticed.

“Random fantasy books from the realm,” she explained. “It passes the time when I need something to distract me, and I’ve already worked out. So, you’re going to continue dating to figure out if Tola does want to go further or back away?”

“Basically,” White nodded, wondering if the novel was something more than just fantasy, and figuring if that was the case, she’d take it with her upstairs when they were done. “When do you think you’ll hang around Sora again?”

“On the nose,” Kari hissed through her teeth, settling back to stare up at the ceiling. “Hmm. I guess it is kind of obvious I’ve been avoiding her… Has she noticed?”

Taking a sip of some water, he shook his head; she’d offered it to him earlier, figuring he didn’t want to get dehydrated, which was on-point for an athlete.

“Naaa. Thought not,” she mused, readjusting her hair to hang off the side. “She’s too busy with Emi, Tola, and that new maid chick that’s… her sister now, I guess? Hehe. Wow, how things have changed since Miami,” she mumbled, watching her tail sway between her legs.

White leaned against the side of his chair, resting his fist against his cheek. “I think it’s more like she feels you want space to further understand your father’s side than anything to do with being distracted by other things. She’s taking the week off. Maybe the two of you can catch up on a morning run?”

“Hmm. Not a bad suggestion,” Kari said before sighing and scratching her left ear. “Honestly, I’m not all that worried about the whole father thing; I mean, it’s not much different for fenris wolves when it comes to going out to start a pack of our own. We have a spat with the alpha, which would have been my mom, to give us a healthy dose of reality… I guess.”

Pondering the custom, White took into consideration her age; it would have been several centuries at the very least before Alva would have kicked Kari out to discover herself in Existence, yet all of those teaching opportunities were lost due to the trouble her brothers caused.

“I’m sure meeting your father will be quite eye-opening. No one can really tell what might happen, but if Alva could fall for him, then I’m sure that sly gray wolf found something worthy of her time and attention.”

A short chuckle came from the girl. “Yeah, who knows with my mom. Anyway, need anything before I head up for bed, and are you sure Tola won’t get jealous that you’re staying with me?”

“Haha. Who else would I stay with?” he asked, rising to stretch out. “You’re immune to my powers if they start slipping through, and it isn’t like Tola or I are teenagers—despite her innocence—we are many tens of thousands of years old.”

“Huh. I guess you are an old man and lady,” Kari mused, waving him off as she yawned again and went upstairs, leaving the book behind. “Good for you, finding love so late in life. Hehe. Night!”

“Good night, Kari,” White returned, taking her place on the couch and staring across the sofa at his nine tails, wondering how best to sleep with them since this was his first time doing so on such furniture. “Thank you for letting me crash with you.”

“Not like I had a reason to say no.”

Upstairs not having a door, he heard her plop onto her bed and curl up to rest; there was a lot she was dealing with, White was sure, even if she put off a nonchalant attitude. Her mother’s intelligent construct was there for her, yet there had to be limitations on what the incomplete copy had compared to the real thing.

Sora seems to have a knack for pulling the troubles out of her friends. Kari just needed a slight nudge to push her in that direction. Wow. You can tell a lot more than I thought without magic, he noted, finding a comfortable position to drape his tails over his body to rest.

It didn’t take him long to drift into his dreams, reliving the magical day with the blue-haired fox; she was as beautiful, bold, and steadfast in his fantasies as she was in real life.

His restful bubble popped when something soft landed on his side, causing him to groan and crack open an eye. Kari came into focus, already dressed in jogging shorts and a new sports bra, hair tied back into a high ponytail.

“Morning, lover boy,” she snickered. “Sweet dreams?”

He chuckled, wiping away the drool he’d left on her couch. “Ugh… I can’t remember the last time I felt…”

“Like normal people waking up?” Kari asked, moving to the fridge to pull out some orange juice as White stretched and adjusted his robe. “I got a lot of eggs and meat. Take your pick—both—yeah, I think both,” she answered with a grin.

“Sounds great,” he returned, scratching the side of his cheek before frowning down at his old-fashioned attire by Kari’s standards. “Hmm…”

Kari lifted an eyebrow while extracting onions and other ingredients unique to the Vulpes Realm to throw in what he assumed would be an omelet before pointing the clay bottle of milk at him. “Questioning your fit? I’ve been judging since we first met, man. Seriously, you should have Emi make you some real clothes… Heh. Yeah, pants will be mandatory if you’re going to be staying here.”

“Noted,” he sighed, moving to join in the morning preparations. “Do you have any bobby pins, straps, or ribbons? I forgot how challenging it is to have long hair without magic.”

“Man, you wanna steal all my stuff.” Kari gave him a dirty glare as he started cracking eggs in a bowl to mix. “Vulpes with magic, making things overly convenient. Seriously, I’ve never had any of that to handle long hair; it’s not that hard once you get used to it.”

“Haha. I’m sure… Ugh. Here’s to hoping I don’t get hair in our food,” he mumbled, glancing back at his nine tails.

“Meh. It’s kind of par for the course, bro,” Kari said, brandishing her bushy black tail. “We can’t all have magic that keeps everything easy, and I’d be more concerned about the ear hair since you do a lot more leaning over than you think while cooking.”

White smiled at the change of pace; he wasn’t accustomed to talking to people in the morning and wondered how this would be with Tola. “Huh. I wouldn’t have thought about that. Got any more tips for your average, powerless nine-tailed vulpes?”

Kari gave him an appraising look, showing a smirk. “Stick with me, buddy; I’ll teach you the ropes. I had plenty of girls teach me how to function like a normal human, so you could say I’m an expert on the subject.”

Using a whisk to stir the large bowl of over two dozen eggs—Kari’s gestured instructions on the amount—White breathed a thoughtful chuckle, having looked into the past previously to understand the girl’s relationship with Sora. It had mainly been to grasp better how to teach Emilia, but it did reveal quite a bit regarding the complex relationship they shared.

“You quite enjoy living as a human, don’t you?”

“It beats living as a fenris wolf… Yeah, that’s the stuff,” she grinned, taking the eggs to set off to the side. “Get those vegetables cut while I grate the cheese.”

“On it, Chef Wolf.”

Kari’s expression softened while preparing the pan with oil and water to saute the items he was preparing. “I can see why Sora likes cooking with Emi. It’s nice having someone else in the kitchen.”

“Thanks,” White said, being quite careful with the knife since he’d never in all his fifty thousand years of living chopped them using his hands; in his youth, the women he was enslaved to wouldn’t even let him get close to sharp objects or cook. “This is somewhat of a new experience for me.”

“Cooking?” Kari asked. “Huh. Well, maybe it’s something you should do with Tola. I’m sure she has some experience living with Sora off and on for the last few months.”

“Maybe I will,” he smiled, anticipating the event.

It took longer than he would have thought to get everything ready, and the light outside began to brighten as they completed the item. Breakfast was nice, with Kari telling him which areas were best for a jog if he wanted to get a better view of the city.

Finishing up, they went out, Kari telling him he should probably stop back off at Sora’s when he was finished to shower because he’d probably work up a sweat—Tola definitely would—and it would be a good time to get a wardrobe from Emilia.

They walked through the crisp morning streets, and White enjoyed all the advice Kari offered; the undertone he felt from her mood had improved since yesterday. Unfortunately, nature called halfway to Sora’s, and Kari had to show him to one of the public restrooms; he was shocked the Vulpes Realm had them since it had never been a concern for him.

He’d forgotten so many bodily functions, not to mention how good the ups and downs of an unregulated body could feel; it was almost as if he felt high at times, watching the world go by in a new light.

Kari knocked on the door when they neared, and a beaming Emilia was the one to answer, still dressed in her heart pajamas.

“White, Auntie Kari; I didn’t know you were coming! Did you come over for breakfast? Moppy’s just finishing up—chocolate chip pancakes—a classic!”

“Uh…” White was about to respond that they’d had food—far too much for his unaccustomed stomach, besides—when Kari ran over him.

“We’d love to! How’s your mom?”

Emilia’s face dulled. “I swear she was peeking at me writing in my journal this morning. Isn’t that right, Mom?!”

“No! Why do you keep thinking that?” Sora cried, popping into view. “Hey, Kari, White. Tola’s in the shower right now.”

“Speaking of,” Kari nudged White, causing the two girls to turn their attention to him.

“Right, heh. I was thinking about going for a morning jog with Tola, and maybe I could get some more… appropriate clothes from Lady Emi?”

The twelve-year-old’s blue eyes lit up. “Yes, and yes! Oh, let me get ready for the Outer Body Technique—I’ve been practicing—and Mom showed me a lot of Grandpa’s clothes, so I can do that… A suit! I need to make him a fancy suit, Mom!”

“Haha. Sure, Em,” Sora mused, “but maybe we should start with some shorts, jogging shoes, and a T-shirt?”

“I can do better than that,” the girl scoffed, waving her hands. “Come in! Come in! We eat, and then we do fashion, and then you go on a jogging date! Woooh! Mornings are so much funner now!” she cheered, running back into the kitchen. “Moppy! Moppy! We have more guests.”

“I heard… I’ll need to make more batter. Maybe some warning next time, Lady Kari, White…”

He took note of the woman’s tone toward him; she expected more from him, it seemed, and they did drop in unannounced.

Stepping inside, Kari wrapped her knuckles against Sora’s shoulder in passing. “Mind going on a run ourselves after breakfast?”

“Huh? Uh-yeah, sure. Wait, shouldn’t you not run after eating?”

“With a stomach like yours, rules don’t apply,” Kari snickered, causing the pre-teen in the other room to laugh.

“Yeah, Mom’s a total freak when it comes to her appetite. You know she can eat stars?!”

“I was there when she made that supernova,” Kari returned. “She really is a glutton, huh? Do you think she’s gained a few pounds?”

“Totally has!”

Sora rolled her eyes, closing the door and giving White a look that said this was what she had to deal with. “I’ve totally gained a few metric tons worth of weight; maybe I should body slam you to show you how much!”

“Don’t even joke, Mom; you’ll flatten me! I’m a delicate princess, slash fashion designer, slash movie director, slash magical spy—oh, and magical girl, slash chef—only for sweets, though!”

“Big titles,” Kari grinned, hugging the girl as she held open her arms. “Who are we spying on?”

“My mom! She never knows I have my own little ears and eyes on her—hehe, I know, Mom… I know…” she said, gesturing between them.

“Oh, I’m scared now,” Sora laughed before choking. “Wait. I didn’t spy on you this morning, though! You’re bluffing.”

“Ho-ho-ho. Keep thinking that,” Emilia whispered. “When you least expect it. I’ll be there.”

White liked the development between Sora and her daughter; there were some traumatic moments in the past, but things seemed to have smoothed over with all the love and attention the girl had received. It had been the right decision for her to slow things down to help her daughter adjust.

His attention shifted to Tola as she came downstairs, wearing a towel around her hair and showing a beautiful smile. “Good morning, White; what a pleasant surprise. Is there something you had planned?”

Shaking his head, he sat at the table as she joined him, and the butterflies hit him again; it was a lovely sensation. “No. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision. I thought we could go on a jog this morning; we need to keep our bodies fit now that our magic is restricted.”

“That makes sense,” she said, accepting the plate Mofupsi offered. “Anything else after?”

“Back here so I can show off the clothes I made while you’re gone,” Emilia jumped in. “I need to make some jogging stuff for you guys, and then you can go on the date! Oh, I can’t wait!”

White gave her a half-smile and shrug when her questioning look turned to him when the word date came up. “Would you go on a jogging date with me?”

“Haha. Well, I don’t have anything else planned today,” Tola laughed. “I’d love to go on a jog. I don’t know how well I’ll do; it may need to be a walking date.”

“Walking it is,” White grinned, spotting the expressions from the other women; they loved this. “So… this is my first chocolate chip pancake. You?”

Emilia’s ears pulled back, giving him a big-eyed stare that said he had a terrible childhood by just that fact. “Mom, can we invite White over for food more? I’m worried he’s not eating well.”

“Aww! So cute,” Wendy cooed, making her appearance from the stairs, still wearing her silky pajamas. “I second White joining us more—Kari—wait, is he staying with you?”

Kari rolled up the pancake like a burrito and ate it plain. “Yup. He stopped off yesterday like a lost puppy, wearing big eyes and saying he had nowhere else to go.”

“That’s so adorable!” Sora giggled. “Ack, wait, I completely forgot you had nowhere to stay after I took away your powers. My bad. My bad.”

White shook his head, noticing Tola’s soft expression; she seemed to be enjoying the company and conversation, as well. “I was in somewhat of a daze yesterday myself after dancing in the moonlight with you, Tola… Can we make that happen again?”

Everyone’s breath caught at his forward query, but Tola nodded without hesitation. “I think I do enjoy dancing. Haha. We may need to schedule more workout sessions, though, because my stamina is so poor it’s embarrassing.”

“It’d be my pleasure to oversee your training personally,” White offered, enjoying every minute they had a chance to speak as Mofupsi placed a plate in front of him. “Thank you for the meal and company, girls.”