"Onibi has been quiet for a while now..He's not normally like this when he's out playing.."

"Want to go check on him then?" Mizuchi suggested.

Nodding the two stood up and walked outside. To Kyuubi's horror, his little flame was nowhere to be seen. He could feel his heart sink as he looked around trying to find Onibi.

"Do you think he wandered off? Children's curiousity normally gets the best of them you know"

"I doubt he'd go into the forest and risk getting lost though"

"What about the path?"

"The path..but it leads to..a small town inhabited by humans.."

Hearing this they immediately took off toward the town. It would be bad if Onibi had got caught by humans. If those humans hurt him in any way, there would be hell to pay.

. . .

"The hell is this brat? He looks human but he has horns" the man who had grabbed Onibi asked.

"Kyuu!" 

"Who or what is he calling for? Shut up already" 

"Let..go..!!" Onibi exclaimed, flailing about trying to get out of the man's grasp.

Some other humans had gathered around them while the children were ushered inside. They wondered what exactly Onibi could be.

"Don't hurt him, he's still a child regardless!" a woman said.

"Child or not, he's clearly not human!" another human yelled.

The more the humans talked, the more scared he got. Human? Is that what they were? All he wanted to do is go home to Kyuubi. Is this why he said to not leave the area near the house?

"*hic* Kyuu..*hic*" he sobbed. Why won't they let him go?

The humans paid no attention to him.

"Pitiful humans..You made a mistake by upsetting my precious flame" 

Looking up, there stood Kyuubi and Mizuchi at the entrance of the town. Waving his arms out toward Kyuubi, "Kyuu!!" he whined.

The kitsune glared at the group of humans, specifically at the man who had dared to grab Onibi. The mere presence of the two powerful yokais was enough to scare the humans. Enough to cause them to drop Onibi and run away. None of them wanted to face the wrath of the yokais. Though Onibi began crying even more after he hit the ground. 

Walking over and picking Onibi up, Kyuubi hugged him gently. "I've got you.."

"Kyuu..bi.." he said, burying his face against the fox's chest and gripping his clothes.

"Let's get back to the house" 

Nodding, the two older yokais quickly made their way back to Kyuubi's home. Onibi settled down a bit knowing that they were going home and he was safe with the fox. After a few minutes, he ended up falling asleep. He was drained of energy from everything that just happened.

. . .

"Will he be okay?" Mizuchi asked.

He was sitting on the couch waiting for Kyuubi to come back from setting Onibi down in the bedroom to sleep.

"Yes. He must of been overwhelmed by the experience. To think those humans dared to lay their hands on him though.." Kyuubi said, clutching his fan tightly. Mizuchi thought he was going to end up breaking it.

"Calm down. He wasn't hurt or anything. Maybe a few scrapes from being dropped but fine nonetheless" 

Sighing and sitting down next to the water god, "I know. But he could've got badly hurt if we hadn't saved him.."

"You know his curiousity is going to keep getting the better of him if you don't teach him about this stuff right? About humans and all"

He simply nodded in reply, folding his fan. 

"Well I'm heading off, take good care of Onibi. Maybe next time I visit he'll be older" Mizuchi smiled before standing up and leaving. 

What to do now, Onibi was still sleeping. Hopefully he wasn't traumatized from what happened. If anyone, yokai, human or anything in between tried to harm Onibi, he'd make them suffer.

Standing up and walking into the bedroom, he laid down next to his small flame and pulling him close. Even as a human, he felt so warm. He didn't want anything to happen to Onibi, but could he really protect him forever? He would surely try. 

"I'm glad you're not hurt Onibi. But please don't wander off again, you had me worried.."

His reply was just a small sigh and Onibi moving closer to him. Chuckling, Kyuubi hugged him, letting him get some rest. It really was lucky they found him quickly or else who knows what would of happened. Not all humans were accepting of yokais. Probably because not all yokais were accepting of humans either and were just plain out evil.

But what could a small defenseless child do to them? 

Humans were strange.

"Sleep well my little flame"

. . .

The next morning it was as if nothing had happened. Onibi continued to play around close to the house happily and without a care in the world. It was a relieve for Kyuubi, he was worried Onibi wouldn't want to leave his side ever again, not even to play.

Maybe when he was older, he'd teach him to use his powers and be able to defend himself. But for now he was much to young and deserved a peaceful childhood. 

"Kyuu! Play!"

"I'm fine where I am. Come here Onibi"

As usual he immediately went to Kyuubi. He pat the child before picking him up and setting him on his lap. "Look" he said, summoning a small flame in his hand.

"Ooh"

"You were a small flame like this once. You kept me warm for years. But you've grown a lot"

"I help Kyuu..!"

"Fufu, yes you helped me. But even though you gained a human form you're still so small and warm. Once you're older I'll teach you all you'll need to know"

"Okay!"

Onibi leaned against the kitsune, he wanted to learn about everything now. But there was no way he could convince the kitsune to do so. Once he was older he could protect Kyuubi instead of the fox protecting him. 

He was determined to make him proud.