“Psst! You’ll wake the others!”.
Standing in full gear before me is that fox, my oh so “charming” cousin imposter.
“How dare you!”, I hiss. 
“Thanks to you, I’m caught up in this mess again!”
“How dare I?”, he snarls, his eyes glowing with wild, animal fire. 
“If I hadn’t shown up, you’d be dead!”
I cross my arms and glare. 
“I had – I hold up three fingers- three whole days without a single Yokai near me. The you schow up, and suddenly I’m demon bait again!”
His voice is icy: “Believe me, sweetheart, you nearly became Yokai chow more than once during those three days. You just didn’t notice”
Our eyes lock like clashing sword. Neither of us backs down. 
“You’re packing your stuff and leaving tomorrow morning. Got that, dear cousin Cuno? Or Crevan? Or whatever name you’re using now!”
He snorts. 
“Trust me, human. I’m not thrilled about staying by your side either”.
Ah, there it is. The fox’s true face at last. 
Bravo. I give him a slow, sarcastic clap right under his nose. 
His expression darkens. In one swift motion, he grabs my wrist. 
“Whether you like it or not, I’ll stay by your side until the day you leave this world. I will protect you, and finish my training. Understood?”, he growls lowly.
Now his snout is this close to my face.
But he’s in for a surprise, because I fight back. I’m not letting him manhandle me like that. Yokai or not.
And of course, just my luck I lose my balance. We both tumble-
He lands on top of me. 
If this were a cheesy romcom, this would be that moment. The accident fall, the deep eye contact, the undeniable tension.
Too bad this isn’t a love story.
We just glare at each other. 
He groans in frustration, mutters something unintelligible, and shapeshifts back into his human form.
Unfortunately no fox ears. 
Pity.
I really wanted to tug them. 
Without a single word, he storms out  of the room.
Shame he didn’t storm out of my life while he was at it.
I flop onto my bed and hug my pillow. As if Dr. Stalker weren’t enough, now clingy fox spirit and actual demons haunting me. 
Great.
Let’s see which of us three ends up laughing last. 
Breakfast goes exactly how you’d expect. 
Dr. Stalker sits across from me, and right beside me is my new personal plague Cuno. I need a good nickname for him. Disaster Fox, maybe. 
The only tiny win of the morning? My mother’s obsession has shifted from Lewin to Cuno. Maybe that’s my way out of both of them. 
I glare at Cuno while he takes a smug bite of toast. He glances back at me our silent little 
You’ll be gone soon standoff continues. 
“Katharina, sorry, but I have to leave early today”, Dr. Stalker clears his throat. 
Of course he’s been watching this whole drama unfold. Why wouldn’t he?
At least that’s one less person at the table.
“Lewin, take some sandwiches for later”, my mom says sweetly while serving Cuno an extra helping of omelette. 
Ugh. 
I miss Lauren. Everything was so much more bearable when he was around. 
“Lauren? Where did you come from?”, I hear Dr. Stalker ask from the hallway.
Wow.  
Lately, my wishes come true a little too often. Just not the right ones.
“Cuno?”, Lauren says, sounding surprised. 
Cuno jumps to his feet.
I lean in an whisper, “Leave Lauren out of this”
Then he vanishes. 
Just like Ewin before him. 
“Asta, care to explain what your problem is these past few days?”, my mom asks suddenly.
Oh?
Is this it?
Is this finally the moment?
“You seriously want to know what my problem is?”
She stares at me shocked. 
It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever raised my voice to her. 
“First of all, your mother died. She’s six feet under. And look at you, not a single proper
Tear. Was she such a terrible mother? Or are you just that cold of a daughter?”
No reaction. Of course. 
“Second, you bring home that creepy doctor and flirt with him for hours in front of your kids!”
Still no reaction. Seriously, what’s going on inside her head?
“And third, you let in this “cousin”, who everyone knows but me! Are we running a charity now, or what?”
Slap.
Not applause. 
My cheek burns. But you know what? I did it.
I got the Ice Queen to crack. 
Triumphantly, I meet her seething gaze. Her perfect mask just shattered in front of the ones she always favored. 
“To your room,”, she says coldly, forcing calm back into her voice. 
I say nothing. 
I walk right past the three stunned men and grab my bike.