#ghostis writing

It was field trip day at The Crystal Kingdom Daycare, and everyone- including the three animatronic attendants- was excited for their destination; the beach!

Eclipse did a head count while Moon and Yin, their human helper, checked the permission slips and Sun made sure the bus was packed with everything anyone could possibly need for a fun day at the beach. 

"Alright, all the permission slips look good. Everyone here, Eclipse?" Yin asked as they looked up at the tall robot. Eclipse smiled and gave two thumbs up with his upper arms, his lower ones placed on his hips. 

"Everyone is accounted for, Yin!" With a satisfied nod, Yin put the permission slips in a folder and put the folder in their backpack then headed to the doors of the building, where Sun was waiting outside patiently. Light from his namesake refracted off his rays casting bright, colorful lights around him like a halo. Yin opened the door, sticking their head out. 

"Did you get everything on the bus?" They asked, and Sun nodded giving a thumbs up. 

"All set to go!" 

Yin smiled and pulled their head back in, then turned to the group of kids waiting in the lobby area of the daycare. "Are you guys ready for a fun day at the beach?" They asked, and received a loud chorus of excited 'yeah!' and 'let's go!' They laughed and clapped their hands together, looking over the group of toddlers. "Alright then! Everyone grab your buddy and line up at the door!" 

There were some excited screams and squeals as the older kids found their younger buddies and held their hands, then lined up at the door. Moon and Eclipse stood behind the kids, with Eclipse carrying one of the youngest, a little boy named Avery, in his arms since the little one didn't have a buddy due to the odd number of children going on the field trip.

"Alright, let's go!" Yin said enthusiastically, pointing the way forward in a silly manner before leading the line of kiddos outside where Sun joined them at the front of the line. They marched their way over to the bus, where the doors opened and the driver, a kind, plump older woman named Matilda smiled at the group. 

"All aboard the Fun Bus!" Matilda said, causing the kids to giggle and squeal in excitement. Yin laughed as well before boarding the bus, giving the woman a grin. 

"Jeez Tilda, you always know how to rile them up. Sometimes I think they like you more than me!" Yin teased, pretending to be exasperated. Matilda smirked and pretended to toss hair over her shoulder, despite her graying locks being tied up in a loose bun. 

"What can I say? There's a reason my grandkids call me the 'fun grandma'." She laughed before beckoning the kids onto the bus with a single gesture. Yin went to the back of the bus and started to buckle the kids into the special built-in car seats, while the three animatronics waited outside the bus. 

Once all the kids were buckled Yin waved Sun, Moon, and Eclipse on board, and the three clambered in, having a bit of trouble due to their height. Eclipse especially struggled being the tallest of the three, but after a bit of maneuvering and one interesting looking position later everyone was seated. 

"That's everyone! Off we go!" Matilda shouted as she closed the doors before starting to drive the bus away from the daycare. Yin entertained the children during the trip, with songs and little games of Eye-Spy until arriving at the small beach. 

The daycare had paid to be the only ones there for the day, meaning the beach and its amenities were all empty, save for a few seagulls here and there. Matilda pulled to a stop by the bathrooms, copying the sound of the air brakes as she did, getting a few giggles from the little ones. "All right, everybody off!" The woman said in a fake stern voice, which caused more kids to giggle as they wiggled in their seats, eager to go play.

Yin first helped get the three attendants off the bus who started unloading the supplies for the day as Yin proceeded to unbuckle all the kids with Matilda's help. After the last child was free from their restraints Yin led them off the bus carrying Avery as Matilda brought up the rear. 

"Alright friends! Line up so we can help you get changed into your suits!" Sun's voice boomed over the sounds of the waves and the chattering of the children in the way only his can, causing a scramble amongst the group of little ones. 

Once they were lined up, Eclipse handed each child their bag the daycare had the parents pack containing swimsuits and snacks. After every kid had their bag, Sun and Moon led the boys into the men's bathroom and Yin and Matilda led the girls into the women's bathroom. It was a process, helping the groups of kids get changed. 

While the girls were all relatively well behaved, the boys were another story. At one point one of the young ones that was still needing a swimming diaper tried to run outside stark naked, but thankfully Moon managed to nab the streaker before he could make it outside. The foiling of the little boys plans caused him to get upset and throw a tantrum, which Moon just sighed and stood there, holding the squirming, naked little boy until he finished crying and screaming. 

“Are you done, Quinn?” Moon asked the boy, who sniffled and grunted as he went limp. Moon chuckled and set Quinn on the floor before getting the boy ready to swim. No more incidents happened while the rest of the kids were dressed, and finally both groups met up outside. 

While the kids were getting changed, Eclipse went ahead and set up the pavilion with drinks and extra snacks as well as put a few blankets in various places in the sand, weighing them down with heavy seashells that were sitting around. He headed to where the bathrooms were, bottles of sunscreen in hand. 

Every kid was slathered in sunscreen before being released to go play, with an adult watching over each little group. Matilda sat under the pavilion, entertaining little Avery who seemed to be afraid of the ssand, crying whenever he was set down. 

Eclipse stayed by the playground, Yin went with a group of kids who wanted to play in the sand, and Sun was with the group who wanted to swim. 

Sun helped get the younger kids into life vests, and the older ones who knew how to swim got floaties on their arms. Once all the kids had their floatation devices he let them go into the water, where they splashed around and squealed. 

Sun waded into the water, the waves lapping at his calves as sunlight reflected off his rays and warmed his body to a pleasant temperature. He kept his eyes on the kids as they played in the waves, even ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ at the various shells some of the older children dug out of the sand. One child even found a piece of sea glass they wanted to keep, so Sun slipped it into his pocket so the kid could take it home. 

Beneath the waves, a fair distance from shore, something- or rather, someone- was watching the group of human children closely. That was, until something caught their eye- multicolored lights dancing across the surface of the waters, absolutely captivating them. They swam closer, staying out of view of the children while investigating the source of the beautiful lights. 

Upon getting closer they saw the lights were coming from crystals atop a strange creature’s head, decorating it like a crown. They crept closer, but one of the kids must have sppotted them because they heard a shout from above the water. 

“Mister Sun! There’s something over there!” Abigail, one of the girls swimming, shouted, pointing to where a dark shape could be made out in the water. That concerned Sun, as he was worried it could be a shark. He waded further into the water to see if he could scare away whatever was there, only for a spray of water to hit him in the face, temporarily blinding him as he felt something oddly similar to arms wrap around him and drag him under the water. 

When his vision cleared up a little under the water he could see that something was holding onto him and dragging him further out to sea, which caused him to panic slightly. He tried pulling his body away from whatever had him, only to be met with the sound of angry clicks, similar to that of a dolphin or whale. Whatever had him slowed down once they were at a decent depth before letting go of Sun, where he proceeded to sink to the ocean floor. 

He watched with wide eyes as he got a look at his captor; it was a mer, a real life mer. They looked slightly different than the ones commonly depicted in movies and coloring books, with scales covering their chest and various spots on their arms, and fins at the sides of their head where their ears should be. There was even a small pair of gills at their neck, barely visible as Sun watched in awe. 

The mer’s scales were a stunning blue-green, dotting their body before becoming a solid mass where the tail started. Looking at the tail Sun estimated it had to be at least 6 feet long, with flowing fins in a slightly lighter color than the rest of the scales. The gender of the mer wasn’t obvious since they had a pretty flat chest covered in glittering scales- not that it mattered. 

The mer swam in a circle around Sun as he sat criss-cross applesauce on the seabed, watching them in fascination. The mer had the same fascination towards him, examining every part of him they could. 

Meanwhile above the surface, the kids had screamed and run out of the water when they saw their caretaker get pulled under the water, and Matilda and Yin were busy calming them down at the pavilion while Moon and Eclipse stood at the water’s edge, trying to figure out how they were going to get Sun back unharmed. 

The mer let out a few curious chirps and clicks as they investigated Sun’s crystal rays, tapping at them with their claws a few times before letting out a soft whistle of confusion. Their fins fluttered slightly as they circled Sun again before settling down on the sea floor in front of him, their tail folding under them. 

They clicked and chirped, tilting their head as Sun shook his head. “Sorry, I don’t understand you.” He said in reply, the sound from his voice box muffled by the water and the fact he spoke with his mouth closed. While he didn’t think it would be too much of a problem if her were to open his mouth underwater, he didn’t want to risk it. 

The mer startled slightly upon hearing him speak without opening his mouth, and they pushed off the sand to grab Sun’s face, tilting it this way and that while trying to figure out how he spoke without his mouth moving. Sun allowed them to manhandle (or would it be merhandle? Bothandle? idk) his face for a bit before gently grabbing their wrists, taking their hands off his cheeks. “Easy there, friend.” 

The mer took their hands from his and swam back a little, watching him closely to see if he would follow. When he didn’t they settled back down, sitting on the sand once again before staring at the light reflecting through the surface of the water and bouncing off Sun’s crystals. 

It was Sun’s turn to tilt his head in curiosity, wondering what the mer was so entranced by as he watched them looking at the reflections from his rays onto the sand- OH! So that's what they're so entranced by! His crystals and the colorful reflections!  Sun chuckled, startling the mer from their trance. 

"You like my rays?" He asked, getting a nod from the mer. "And that's why you kidnapped me?" Another nod. The confirmation of his thoughts made Sun smile. 

The mer got up from their spot on the sand and got closer to Sun's rays, reaching out with a hand to touch one of the large crystals. "Ah, please don't touch those, they're-"

Crack.

Sun’s warning was interrupted by the sound of shattering crystal, and then blood began to cloud the water as the mer pulled back, hissing as they clutched their hand. Although he was underwater, Sun’s systems began to go nuts upon seeing the injured half-humanoid and he shuffled on the sand, looking around for something, anything, to help stop the bleeding- 

His ribbons!

Sun slowly unraveled the ribbons from around his left wrist before moving towards the mer, who was hissing in pain as they pulled pieces of crystal out of their hand. They stiffened when they saw Sun get closer and let out a low growl, warning him to stay back- but he wasn’t going to listen. 

“Hey, I just want to help, it’s okay.” He reassured the mer in a calm voice, and they stopped growling. They were still apprehensive, but didn’t pull away when Sun gently took their injured hand in his. He carefully pulled out a few shards of crystal left before wrapping the ribbon around their hand, the wrap tight but not too tight. After tucking the loose end of the ribbon in, he checked over his work, giving a satisfied nod. 

“That will have to do for now. But no more grabbing random things, alright?” 

The mer nodded, seemingly embarrassed that a land dwelling creature had tended to their wounds. 

Meanwhile, on the surface Yin had managed to find someone with a boat nearby that could help find Sun, so they got on the boat with Moon, leaving Eclipse and Matilda with the kids. As they searched the crystal clear water, Moon spotted the telltale shine of Sun’s crystal rays. 

“There he is!” He pointed, and the man driving the boat cut the engine, letting the vessel float to a stop. Yin quickly tied a rope around Moon’s waist before he jumped into the water, sinking down to the bottom where he saw the most interesting sight. 

Sun was sitting next to a creature that looked like a mermaid, but with extra scales and fins. The sunny bot was talking happily with the mer, who responded in clicks and chirps. 

Moon then noticed that one of Sun’s ribbons was missing, only to see that it was wrapped around the mer’s hand- “Sun, your ray! What happened?” Moon asked, finally seeing the broken crystal. 

Sun was surprised by Moon’s sudden appearance, and the mer bristled and growled, all their fins standing up in a defensive display. They looked ready to pounce at Moon, but Sun reached out and set his hand on their shoulder, softly telling them everything was alright. 

The mer calmed down, settling back down on the sandy seafloor, all the while keeping a close eye on Moon. Sun sighed in relief before looking over at Moon, a cross of embarrassment and upset on his face. “Sorry… but as for what happened to my ray, my friend here got a little too….. enthusiastic, and broke it. It was an accident though!” Sun had to reassure Moon of the nature of the incident as the latter seemed irritated by the account of the incident. 

“Alright, well it’s time to say goodbye to them. Everyone is worried sick!” Moon explained as he took a slow step towards the two. The mer immediately flared their fins again and wrapped their tail and body around Sun possessively, growling at Moon once more. Moon froze in place and held his hands up in surrender while Sun’s face turned a bright rainbow hue in shock and embarrassment. 

“H-hey now, it’s alright. Moon won’t hurt you! He’s just coming to help me get home.” Sun said as he pat the mer on their tail in a soothing manner. Almost immediately they calmed down, relaxing and laying across Sun’s lap without completely letting go of him. They clicked and whistled, sounding a little sad at the idea of their shiny new friend leaving them so soon. 

While Sun calmed the mer Moon was able to get closer, ending up a few feet away from the two. “Sun’s right, I just want to bring him home.” He said softly, which got the mer’s attention really fast. They bared their teeth at him, but didn’t growl. Moon took another step forward, and as he did the light from above caught on the crystal at the end of his hat. 

The light reflections got the mer’s attention almost immediately as their pupils dilated and they let go of Sun, zipping towards Moon. They circled around him at the last second, fixated on the teardrop crystal on his hat. They chirped as they reached out to gently grab ahold of the crystal.

“Uh…” Moon looked over at Sun, unsure what to do. Sun shrugged before grinning, a plan having popped into his head. 

“Moon, give them your hat.”

Moon looked at Sun like he had just said to do the worst thing ever and reached up to grip his hat forgetting the mer was inspecting it. “No!” The mer chirped at him indignantly when Moon took the crystal out of their hands. They clicked in annoyance before reaching out and yanking the hat out of Moon’s hands, swimming away with it swiftly. 

“....well, that solves that issue!” Sun said with a laugh as he moved closer to Moon, who grumbled in annoyance. “Come on, let’s go home.” 

Moon tugged on the rope a few times and the boat’s engine started up, helping to drag the two back to shore where Eclipse stood, holding a couple towels and trying hard not to laugh at the soaked state of the two. 

They dried off and helped gather the kids, packing everything back onto the bus. Before climbing on Sun looked back out over the water, where a figure was halfway out of the water, waving. Sun waved back with a smile before climbing onto the bus. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You just wanted to get away from all the noise and bright lights that made up the rest of the Pizzaplex, and found yourself in the Fazbear theater. Wandering aimlessly, you looked around, pleased to see that the area was pretty much abandoned. Heading up to the second level a poster caught your eye- something about Foxy the Pirate. 

What really got you, though, was the fact that the eyes of the characters on the poster seemed to be glowing. You reached up to brush your fingers against the poster, only for it to swing open, revealing a hallway hidden behind it. 

You looked around again nervously before venturing into the hallway, the poster swinging shut softly behind you. The hall was dim, but had adequate enough lighting that you wouldn't trip on anything as you walked. 

At the other end was a other door, which looked rather unassuming, but when you pressed your ear against it, you could faintly hear the daycare theme playing. You furrowed your brow in confusion and turned the door handle, which opened without fuss. 

Slipping g into the room beyond, you were surprised to find yourself in what could only be described as a storage room that was also being used as a makeshift living space, probably by the daycare attendant if you were to venture a guess. 

Just as you were about to leave the sound of a game turning on caught your attention, coming from a tube embedded in the wall you hadn't noticed. You walked over, leaning over to peer into the tube. 

There seemed to be another room beyond, and you could just barely make out the bottom of an arcade cabinet. Your curiosity got the better of you, and you got on your hands and knees, crawling into the tube and squirming your way through to the other side. 

Luckily, the tube was abnormally large... 

Standing up on the other side, the first thing that caught your attention the the tiny room you stood in was the arcade cabinet. It was a game called "Balloon World", and there was text on the screen. Stepping closer, you got a better look at what the screen read. 

[Please, help me.] 

"Help... what can I even do to help...?" You muttered aloud, not expecting the text on screen to disappear and a new message to reappear in its place, seemingly answering your question.  

[Let me out] 

You frown, your brows furrowing as you cross your arms. You glare at the screen of the arcade cabinet, ignoring the fact that you feel utterly ridiculous talking- no, ARGUING with a machine. "Why should I when I don't know why you're in there in the first place?" 

[ . . . . . ] 

You're about to make a snarky comment about the cabinet's lack of response when the text gives you an answer. 

[They think I'm evil.] 

"Who thinks you're evil? And why would they think that?" You probe the machine with further questions, wondering what monster put an AI into an arcade cabinet of all things as punishment. 

[Everyone does. And..... you don't want to know.] 

You huff, moving closer to the cabinet. "I do want to know. I'm not letting you out until I know what I can expect should you decide to turn on me." 

[I promise I won't hurt you!] 

The response was almost immediate, and you chuckled, shaking your head. "That's fine and all, but I still want to know what you did that makes people think you're 'evil'." You kept your eyes on the screen, waiting for the response. Finally, the text on the screen changed. 

[I.... sent an employee to the hospital. They accidentally triggered my security protocol, and I lashed out thinking they were an intruder.] 

“Oh… That sucks. So it was a misunderstanding…?” You inquired, and the text changed again. 

[Exactly. They chose to believe the human employee that could sue them rather than the animatronic they can just decommission.] 

“But this isn’t decommissioning, this is unfair imprisonment! Hell, I would call this torture!” You started to fume, now knowing this AI’s side of the story and the reason it was trapped in the arcade cabinet. You cracked your knuckles, looking at the cabinet with newfound determination. “Alright, how do I get you out of here?” You asked, and the text on screen disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing. 

[Konami Code. The guy responsible for trapping me in here wasn’t very creative.] 

You snickered, grabbing the joystick and setting your fingers on the buttons, assuming the left button was A and the right button was B. “Alright, here goes nothing…” 

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A-

As soon as you pressed the ‘Start’ button a panel on the side of the machine flew off, startling you and causing you to jump back with an undignified squeal. You watched in awe as an animatronic crawled out from within the machine, wires and cables snapping and falling away from its frame. It stood and stretched, (as if it had muscles that could cramp,) and then turned to face you, giving you a sharp-toothed grin. 

“That feels much better!”

The animatronic that was standing in front of you looked almost identical to the Daycare Attendant- well, Sun more specifically, but with a few changes. 

Most notably was the fact this one had two sets of arms, the second set being down near its waist. It also had a second, smaller set of sun rays, and had a more orangey color scheme. Its eyes were even a beautiful glowing amber color with white pupils, and you could see the signature crescent shape that the Daycare Attendants had. 

“So, who are you then?” You asked, tilting your head curiously as you looked up. The animatronic swept out two of its arms, dipping into a bow. 

“I am Eclipse! A pleasure to meet y-” 

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUT!!!” A shrill voice shrieked from the tube, and you and Eclipse both snapped your heads over to see Sun looking into the tiny room. Your stomach sank as you scrambled to try and come up with an excuse, especially since you knew you would be in trouble for being in a place that was most definitely off-limits to customers. 

But before you could say anything, Eclipse took a step forward and closer to you, putting two of his arms out in front of you protectively. “They let me out. And I refuse to be forced back in there!” 

Sun crawled into the room, standing up in front of Eclipse making you realize Eclipse is taller than the regular attendants. Sun stared up at Eclipse, crossing their arms as they let out a frustrated huff. “Well, they aren’t allowed here in the first place! So, if you’ll excuse me…” 

Sun moved to go around Eclipse's arms protecting you, presumably to escort you out, but the taller animatronic was faster and used one arm to shove Sun away while using another two to scoop you up and hold you against his chassis before somehow squeezing both himself and you through the tube and out of the dingy back room. 

Sun squawked something as Eclipse dashed out of the door and down the hallway, shifting his hold on you so both of his lower arms were holding you to him tightly, but not like you were going to be crushed. As the two of you reached the poster doorway the other door opened, and Eclipse threw the door in front of him open, practically throwing himself out of it before falling to his hands, causing you to yelp. 

“Hold on tight!” He instructed, and you promptly wrapped your arms around his torso as much as you could, wrapping your legs around him as well. The moment he felt you safely clung onto him he began crawling along on all fours, moving faster than if he were to just run. 

You could feel Eclipse scuttle along like some kind of horror movie creature, and could only imagine what kind of sight it must be to see an 8-foot animatronic crawling around like a feral animal and carrying a human. Though it felt like he changed orientation a few times you didn’t dare to look, especially when at one point it felt like the two of you were upside down. 

Eclipse didn’t stop moving until he made it to his little hideout. A small, forgotten room in the warehouse that he had made his own shortly before getting locked away in the arcade cabinet. Upon reaching the familiar dusty hallway he slowed down, standing up to pat your shoulder with one of his upper hands. “You can let go now.” 

You slowly let go of Eclipse, who helped lower you to the ground. Once your feet were on a solid surface, you let out a sigh of relief. “That was close! Thanks for saving me, big guy.” You smiled up at him, and his entire body went stiff for a moment before he picked you up again, making a beeline for- something. You couldn’t see, it was too dark. 

But soon enough a light was turned on, and Eclipse was heading over to a pile of pillows in a corner of a small, dimly lit room filled with other knick-knacks, all of which seemed a bit dusty. Eclipse sat down on the pillows, taking you with him as his four arms wrapped around you carefully, and he pressed his faceplate to the top of your head. 

You were confused at this sudden display of affection from an animatronic you had known for all of like- ten minutes? not even? But you just let it slide, rubbing your thumbs over the backs of two of his massive, clawed hands. Wait, since when did he have those? Whatever, as long as he wasn’t hurting you with them, everything was fine. 

“Eclipse, you alright bud?” You asked, and the animatronic nodded against your head, giving your body a small squeeze. You sighed and quietly told him your name. 

“What?” He asked, lifting his faceplate away from your hair to look down at you in confusion. You tilted your head back, smiling gently up at him. 

“My name. It’s,” And you repeated your name, a little louder. He then said it, and grinned wider before burying his face in your hair again. 

“I like that name, it suits you.” Eclipse muttered, snuggling you happily. He wasn’t sure why, but when you had smiled at him in the hallway something in him just snapped, and he absolutely just needed your affection now. Thankfully, you hadn’t put up a fight when he picked you up, nor when he sat down for cuddles. 

“So, Eclipse. What are you going to do now that you’re free?” You asked, to which Eclipse responded with a hum in contemplation.

“Well obviously I don’t have to work… I’ll probably just hide down here, maybe go out at night and mess with the other animatronics. I dunno, haven’t really thought about it.” You could feel him shrug with his upper arms, and his nonchalance about being trapped here just didn’t sit well with you. 

“What if you left?” You offered, and Eclipse’s arms stiffened around you for a moment. 

“While I would love to, I’m afraid my battery wouldn’t last terribly long and my model takes a very special kind of charger. The only other ones who have the same charger are Sun and Moon, since they came after me. They are supposed to be a ‘better’ version of me. Safer for the kids.” Eclipse spoke in a sad tone, and you frowned before shifting in his lap, causing him to loosen his hold on you. You used the looser grip to take the opportunity to turn around and face him, causing the massive animatronic to look at you in confusion as you reached up, taking his faceplate in your hands gently, holding right by his silly raised cheeks. 

“I’m getting you out of here. Nothing you say or do will change my mind, so don’t even try. I’ve already got a plan.” You smiled mischievously, which caused Eclipse to laugh quietly as he leaned into your touch. 

“Alright, alright. I won’t try and stop you, just don’t get in trouble with the company.” He warned, leaning forward in your hold to barely touch his forehead against yours. Your face grew slightly warm as you blushed at the close proximity, but you put that to the side for now. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t get caught, I promise. Now would you mind bringing me back to the main area of the plex? I would like to go home and shower, plus I’ve got some planning to do.” You asked sweetly, and Eclipse grumbled unhappily before nodding against your head. 

“Yeah, okay. Just promise me you’ll come ack and see me again soon?” He asked, and looked at you with the biggest puppy eyes an animatronic could possibly muster. You didn’t even know animatronics COULD give the puppy eyes! You laughed, wrapping your arms around his neck in a hug. 

“Of course I will, ya goober! Unfortunately for you, I’ve grown quite attached in the short time we’ve known each other. So expect to see me a lot more.” You leaned back with a grin, and Eclipse let out a low, rumbling laugh. 

The animatronic then stood up, letting you out of his grasp to stand on your own. He held out one of his lower hands and you took it gladly, following the towering robot out into the near pitch-black hallway. 

Eclipse took you out of the warehouse and back to the main area, managing to slip you past all the security cameras and bypassing all the high level security doors. (Even he was surprised they hadn’t deactivated his security clearance.) 

You parted ways, and as you drove home you began plotting the many facets of your plan to break Eclipse out of the main prison building that was the Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. 

The crowded airport terminal was loud, putting you on edge as you frantically scanned the area, looking for the familiar face of the person who invited you here when you heard their voice call out to you, coming from the left. 

“Y/N!” 

You turned to see your cousin waving you down, and you let out a small sigh of relief as you dragged your suitcase over to them, subconsciously fixing the beanie on your head. As you got closer you could see that your cousin wasn’t alone, but instead accompanied by a woman who looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties dressed in business casual, same as your cousin. 

“Hey squirt! Long time no see! How is everyone back home?” Your cousin exclaimed as they threw their arm around your shoulder to pull you in for a hug. You laughed, returning the hug with your free arm. 

“Hey Inari, it’s good to see you too. Everything’s good, although Jiji would like it if you would go back to visit. ” You replied, patting your cousin on the back to signal you wanted to be let go. They removed their arms from around you with a laugh, their face crinkling up in mirth. 

“I didn’t think that old fart would miss me that much- ow, hey!” They hissed, rubbing their arm when you smacked them. 

“Don’t be rude.” You huffed, narrowing your eyes at Inari. They laughed again and held their hands up in surrender for a few seconds before jolting and quickly gesturing to the lady, as if they had forgotten about her existence momentarily. 

“Y/n, I’d like you to meet my assistant, Claire. Claire, this is my cousin Y/n, the one who is coming to work at the ‘Plex.” They explained, and the woman- Claire- held her hand out for you to shake. You took her hand timidly, remembering what your mom had taught you about American customs.

About a moonth ago Inari had gotten into contact with your after about 5 years of total silence and asked if you wanted to come work for them in a daycare. They had been having trouble keeping the job position filled, and Inari remembered that you were good with kids and how much the little ones in the village loved you, so you were the perfect candidate. 

Of course you couldn’t say no, especially when you learned how much money you would be making. Plus, it was a chance for you to get out of the village and explore the world a bit more, despite your obvious…. abromalities. 

You retracted your hand from Claire’s and she gave you a small, proffesional smile. “A pleasure to meet you, Mx. Y/n. I’ve heard quite a bit about you, and I’ve got to say, I’m quite amazed.” 

You flushed, before your stomach dropped to the floor and you grew pale. How much did she know? You looked over at Inari in panic, and they frowned before grabbing you gently by the wrist, leading you out of the airport to a waiting car, Claire following behind. A man opened the door for you and took your suitcase from you as you were unceremoniously tugged into the vehicle. 

The backseat was separated from the driver’s seat, giving privacy to the passengers in the back. Claire climbed in behind you, and as soon as the door was shut behind her you snapped your head to glare at Inari. “What does she know?” You growled, trying to mask your fear as anger. 

Inari just smirked at you and winked, and within seconds you saw their fox ears pop up on their head, the human ones disappearing. Two tails pushed up and out from the band of their slacks and they let out a sigh as their red markings on their face appeared. 

You shrunk back slightly in your seat before looking at Claire with a worried glance, only to discover she seemed totally unphased, if not somewhat entranced by your cousin. One of your ears twitched under your beanie in irritation as you tried to comprehend the situation. 

While momentarily lost in thought, Inari reached up and snatched your beanie off your head, revealing the black cat ears that sat atop your head instead of regular human ears. You yelped and flattened your ears, moving to cover them with your hands. 

“Relax, Y/n. Claire knows all about us- and no, she won’t tell a soul.” Inari spoke calmly as they leaned back in the seat, twirling your beanie on the tip of their clawed index finger. You only relaxed slightly, removing your hands from your head as you leaned back in your seat as well. You watched your cousin twirl the hat a few more times before you snatched it off their finger with an irritated huff. 

“Fine, but don’t do that to me Inari, you scared me…” You grumbled, wringing the hat in your hands, thumbing over the hand-stitched silhouette of a cat. Inari snickered, elbowing you in the ribs with an amused flick of their ears. 

“Scaredy cat.” 

“YOU-” Your sentence was cut off by the sound of the car door opening, and you hastily shoved the beanie back over your ears as quickly as possible, causing them to be squashed down in an uncomfortable manner. 

“We’ve arrived, Mx. Sekiguchi." 

A man announced as he opened the car door for your cousin, who had already hidden their tails and ears. "Thank you Bruce! Come on Y/n, I need to show you where you'll be staying quickly cause I've got a lunch meeting with a few of the other managers to go over finalizing your employment." They spoke hurriedly as they climbed out of the vehicle, grabbing you by the arm and impatiently pulling you out when you took too long.

Without a moment to spare Inari rushed you forward, hardly giving you a chance to take in where you were.

You were standing in the driveway of a decently large house, big enough that it could be a mansion. The brick walls were immaculate and free of ivy, and the gardens in front leading to the door were perfectly pruned, bright pinks, purples and blues greeting you from the sea of green foliage. 

They didn't take you into the main house though, instead veering to the left to take a side path that led around to a smaller house, this one painted a pale yellow and hidden from view. The smaller house was two stories with a little porch in front, complete with a swing. 

"This is my guest house, which is gonna be your home away from home from now on! Do with it what you like- however you wanna decorate it, if you want to remodel it, whatever, I don't care. Just let me know and it will get taken care of. There's food in the fridge, towels and stuff are stocked up… everything you need really!" Inari said with a grin, leading you into the building as they spoke. 

Entering the house brought you directly into the living room, which connected with an open floor plan to the dining room. The kitchen was situated towards the back of the house, with stairs leading down to the basement and a door leading outside. Back in the living room, there was a half-bathroom beneath the stairs that led to the second floor.

The second floor housed the bedrooms and the full bathroom, which had a separate shower and bathtub. Both bedrooms had neatly made beds, a large closet, a dresser and a vanity as well as a nightstand on either side of the bed. The way everything was set up and how it smelled was very… homey. 

“So, whaddya think?” Inari piped up, leaning against the doorframe of the master bedroom as you sat down on the bed, smoothing your hands over the comforter.

“It’s great, thanks again Inari…” You hummed, smiling at them. They waved their hand dismissively with a grin, and Claire walked up behind them, tapping them on the shoulder. 

“We need to get going, or you’ll be late for the meeting.” She spoke in a more hushed tone, either not realizing or forgetting that you had more sensitive hearing than humans. Claire then smiled at you, and you returned it nervously. “Your bag is in the living room along with what was shipped here last week.” 

You jumped off the bed, shoving Inari out of the way as Claire stepped aside to race downstairs. Sure enough your suitcase was sitting next to the couch, along with the three packages you had previously shipped to Inari when you had learned you were going to be living in America for a while. 

The packages contained a majority of your clothes as well as some comfort items, like the doll your mother had gotten you for your fifth birthday. You would get to unpacking those later though, as you had something way more important to do. 

You grabbed your suitcase and tossed it onto the couch, unzipping it as Inari and Claire came down the stairs. Pulling out a couple of jackets you grabbed your laptop and microphone, setting them on the coffee table behind you as your cousin shook their head and laughed. 

“Let me guess, your old man wanted you to check in as soon as you got here?” They asked, pulling something out of their pocket before throwing it to you. You pulled your laptop charger out of your suitcase before catching the thrown object, shooting Inari an exasperated glare. They laughed, then nodded their head towards the hand that had caught the flying object, which upon inspection turned out to be a set of keys. “Those are the keys to this house, don’t lose ‘em. I’ll see you tomorrow, tell Toshiro ojisan I said hi!” 

Inari said before leaving, Claire following them out the door. You rolled your eyes with a laugh, and pulled your beanie off your head, tossing it onto the couch along with the keys before starting to set up your laptop on the coffee table. Once everything was all plugged in and turned on, and the wifi password was obtained via a text message from Inari, you were starting a video call to your parents, hoping the tower in the village would get the signal. 

Before long the call picked up, and the first thing you saw was a close up shot of your father’s nose and whiskers. You laughed, which seemed to get his attention because he backed up, sitting down so he was a decent distance from the camera, revealing your mother was sitting in view as well. 

“Otōsan, okaasan, how is everything?” You asked, speaking in Japanese so both of your parents could understand you, since your dad only knew a little English. Your mom smiled, patting your dad on the arm. He seemed a little agitated, but he stayed quiet. 

“We’ve been just fine sweetheart. Your dad is still getting used to you not being here, but he’ll manage.” Your dad let out a grumble as your mom spoke, his ears flicking in irritation. You laughed, shifting around to wiggle your tail loose from your pants, letting it swish behind you in amusement. 

“Otōsan, I’m fine. There’s no need to worry, I’ve got Inari here with me. They said hi, by the way.” You replied, and your father glared into the camera, his fur visibly bristling. 

“That’s what I’m worried about. They’re nothing but trouble.” Your father replied, and you sighed. Your mom elbowed your dad in his ribs and he gave her a playful hiss before the two of them looked up at someone that was behind the camera. Your parents both stood up and moved over, and the oldest yokai in the village, and old Kappa named Gamo that everyone referred to as their grandfather, came into view. 

“Jiji! How are you?” You asked excitedly, earning a chuckle from the three adults on the other end of the video call as the old kappa sat down. 

“Same as ever, little one. How was your trip?” 

------------

You spent another hour talking with your parents and Gamo before they ended the call, and you closed your laptop with a small sigh. You stood up and stretched out, then looked around at the packages of your things. 

“Might as well…” 

With a soft sigh you zipped your suitcase back up and lugged it upstairs, dragging it to the master bedroom before repeating with your other packages. You began the arduous task of unpacking all your things and putting them away, and before you knew it night had fallen. 

You yawned, checking the time and decided to wash up before eating. While you didn’t totally hate getting wet like your father, you just hated being submerged- like taking a bath or swimming. 

You grabbed your things and jumped in the shower, making sure to put cotton balls in your ears to keep water out of them, and scrubbed up quickly, getting the ick of traveling off you. 

You took the cotton out of your ears before you got dressed, shaking your head like a dog would at the feeling before shuddering. “Never gonna get used to that…” You muttered before drying off and getting dressed, taking your hair dryer to your tail and hair, making sure not to blow directly in your ears. 

After that, it was time for food. 

You padded down to the kitchen, setting your phone on the counter and pressing play on your music playlist while you surveyed what kinds of ingredients Inari had stocked you with. There were all sorts of things, from cereals to frozen meals and just about anything in between. 

You settled on making ramen, but not the instant crap- real ramen with ham and egg. You hummed and sang along to the music as you cooked, and before too long you had a delicious bowl of steaming ramen sitting in front of you as you flopped onto the couch. 

Just as you were about to take a bite there was a knock on your door, and you grumbled along with your stomach, your ears and tail twitching in irritation. You set your bowl aside and stood up, walkingover and peeking through the peephole to see who was coming to see you at such a late hour, only to see it was your cousin. 

You threw the door open with a huff, crossing your arms over your chest as you glared at them. “What do you want, Inari? I was just about to enjoy my dinner before calling it a night.” 

Inari snickered, ruffling your hair. “I just came to tell you I’ll be showing you the ‘plex tomorrow, and if you feel like it you can hang out at the daycare for the day to get a feel for what it’s gonna be like.” 

You grumbled and shoved their hand off your head, squinting at them. “Is that it? If so, then goodnight, I’m going back to my ramen. Oh, and everyone says hi.” You huffed out before stepping back and closing the door in your cousin’s face, causing them to laugh loudly.