Mayiamaru's Closed Threads

It took weeks of planning… But Mana was able to scope out this house and figure out the best way to get in and out and take what she needed. As long as nothing had changed between last night and this one, then nothing would go wrong. If she was right, then everything would go according to plan and no one would get hurt. Or… she hoped that would be the case.

When things like this went down, one slip up was enough to lose everything. If she were caught stealing from a place like this, then she'd surly be taken to a police station, discovered for what she really was, then… She hoped that whatever was in her imagination wouldn't come true. She would rather die then become pet to some pompous asshole. Pulling her hood over her head, she breathed slowly into the dark mask that covered her face. As soon as the lights were out, she would move in. She was hiding in the bushes of the back yard, looking up at the two story house. Well, to her, it may as well be a mansion. It was big, well kept. There had to be something of value in there that she could sell to let her siblings live for at least a month in leisure.

Mana was bound in as much clothing as needed to help her hide better in the darkness, sticking to dark greens, blues, and just about any colour close to black. Her hoodie's hood kept her fox ears from sight, and the mask hid her face. The only problem was her tail… Her hoodie could keep her hair from hitting the floor, but her tail was crucial if she wanted to maneuver in ways that would make getting in and out all the easier. If she covered it, using it as a counterweight for balance would get harder, but if she didn't, then she could risk leaving evidence of her presence… She didn't have time to be worrying about that, though. She needed to get money as soon as possible, and if that meant risking her life, she had no choice. As long as they were safe and alive. Well fed… Living good lives. She'd be as horrible as she needed to be.

She had to wait for a long time, but eventually, all the lights went out. Now was her chance. She didn't dare waste any time getting out of the bushes, scaling the side of the building with her claws. Her boots making soft scratching noises against the bricks as she climbed. There was a window that was always left open… They just never seemed to close it, and that was her way in. It was a bit small, but not so small that she couldn't get through it. She was limber, slipping through easily, and it seemed that the room that it let out into was the bathroom. That… made sense. If her observations were right, this bathroom was linked to one of the bedrooms… If she was completely silent, maybe she could slip past whoever slept in that room, her ears listening closely for any sound that could have tipped her off to what was happening on the other side while she readied herself to hide at a moment's notice.

Everything had to go prefect tomorrow, he didn't know how he would mange something as glorious as that,but tomorrow had to be prefect. Charles was the only child of Doctors Amanda and Charlie Merryweather, which he never really cared for anything like that. He kept his grades up, he kept up with the things his parents wanted him to do, but that didn't seem easy anymore. Not ever since he had changed. After that day, even if he had changed four years ago, nothing felt the same. Nothing felt right. Maybe it was cause he was still wrapping his head around what his father had told him.Someone's DNA cant's just rewrite itself.

Hopefully, if things went as Charles wanted things to go, he could actually look into it. For years he had tried, but something had always come up, so tomorrow seemed like his best shot. But, there was a small problem that was making him so nervous. Finals. In the past year there were points his grades slipped up, badly, and he hide that from his parents. When they would ask about his grades he would simply brush it off by saying he was busy, or he would lie when either of them pushed on the subject. You can't always hide everything, he knew that, but he always knew that if he got a high enough score on his finals then his grades would balance out and his parents wouldn't have to know. The teenage boy threaded his trembling fingers through his sandy blood hair. To many, it may have seemed almost silly for a child to be this concerned about their final grade, however Charles was a perfectionist when it came to school. He had always been that way, as if to show that he deserved what ever his parents got or did for him. Or just to be the perfect son when he was so different.

Charles looked at the clock, in little time his parents were going to go to bed. That night had been so quiet, at dinner Charles hardly ate and spoke very little. Thankfully, Amanda and Charlie happened to be use to Charles during final exams, every time finals came around he got so nervous. There were times he would even study at the the dinner table! Although this time he wondered if that was enough, what if it wasn't? He let out a shaky breathe, he would do just about anything to stay being that normal boy his parents were so proud of.

With his parents in bed, and time ticking away Charles studied a bit more before sleep over came him. First he fell asleep at his desk with the lamp on. He woke up with a jump when his text book fell to the floor with a loud thunk. He looked around frantically, he was acted as if someone had just broken into his room. After his vision cleared of sleep he felt like a fool seeing as how he was the only one in the room. With a sigh, he stood and stretched, it seemed about time he went to bed. At least he was in his pj's already, he the text book could stay where it sat. He turned his lamp off before climbing into the comfort and warmth of his bed. Charles expected him to be asleep within a matter of seconds of his head hitting the pillow, but he felt wide awake. He huffed as he sat up in bed, this was beyond annoying.

Mana ended up standing like a statue in the bathroom for a lot longer than she would have hoped, listening to the room on the other side of this stupid door for who knows how long… She could hear the scribbling of… something on paper. Maybe a pen… But suddenly, it had stopped, the sound of scribbling shifting into the soft breaths of a sleeping person. She was cautious, opening up the bathroom door to peak inside to see a boy. He was sleeping at his desk, which worked out well for her, but as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, the book that sat by his elbow was knocked onto the floor. She almost yelped at the sounds, doing everything in her power to stay silent as the boy woke from his slumber. She couldn't move, shutting the door to the bathroom as soon as possible. No, no, no… This was not what she had planned…

Mana shut her eyes, her ears twitching to listen for every sound, every breath that this boy took, and as soon as he was in bed, she opened her eyes. Was he going to sleep?… What could she do?… Mana wanted to try opening the door again, but after seeing how stressed out he was, she wasn't sure if he would be sleeping right away. She didn't want to wait any longer, her tail whipping against her thighs impatiently… A little too impatiently.

Her tail had been moving around fast enough to knock a comb off the counter, her eyes widening at the sound. Just her luck… But maybe she could use this to her advantage. She looked around for a moment before basically just slapping another thing onto the floor before hiding behind the door, away from the light switch. If she timed this right, then she could probably get out of this dead end and actually get something useful to her. She used her fox fire to light up the spacious bathroom she was in with a soft, flickering blue light, hoping that it would be eerie enough to either scare the boy into hiding under his covers or intriguing him enough to get him to come into this room. One way or another, she was going to get out of here, her back stiff as she waited patiently for the boy to make a move.

Charles froze, he was like he a statue when he heard something fall in his bathroom. With his heart thudding in his chest, he reached for his glasses without moveing a lot. He just knew if he made one wrong move and his bed would creak, that isn't what he wanted. His glasses laid just out of his reach, his fingers tips barely brushed the rim of the glasses. Ever so slightly, he leaned over a bit, hopefully he would be able to reach now. Yes! When he felt his glasses under his hand he snatched them up and slid them onto his face.

He had put his glasses on in time to see a sliver of light coming from the bathroom. There happened to be two choices he had in mind, one leave his room as quickly and quietly as possible. Or he could go investigate, once he mustered up the courage that is. Then a thought popped into his head, Charles had something other people didn't, telekinesis. Surely that could be enough to frighten off any intruders lurking in his bathroom. If not he could use it as defense. Who would even be in a sixteen year old boys bathroom anyways? He heaved a sigh, there was only one way to get his answer.

Minutes later, Charles found himself still sitting in bed, staring at the bathroom door. He had to move, and now! He was sixteen years old, not six years old. For a moment he shut his eyes, then he very quietly slid out of his bed. With what little light the moon offered he manged to sneak over to the bathroom without tripping over anything. Of course, the only things on the floor were an old book bag for school and his text book.

There was another minute as he mustered up the courage to reach for the door knob. He turned it until the knob couldn't go any further. With one hand free and ready for anyone or anything in his bathroom, Charles pushed open the door.

The room went almost completely silent, but with Mana's ears, she could hear the very subtle sound of feet walking. He was coming this way, and she needed to figure out the best way to get out without being spotted. Or maybe… Being spotted would be the best thing. Mana could always shift into her fox form, cover herself with a little foxfire and scare the guy, but then that would mean leaving her clothes somewhere. Unlike the movies and all that, Mana didn't take her clothes with her when she transformed. Her clothes weren't part of her body, and no bandage, ribbon or clip would ever stay on right after the transformation. It wasn't an option.

As soon as the door started to move, Mana canceled her little spell, the room just a plain old bathroom again. If only Mana had the ability to walk through walls then none of this would have been an issue. He hadn't turned on the light just yet, so carefully, Mana picked up the comb she dropped earlier and threw it at the bath tub from behind the door, holding her breath and moving as little as possible to avoid making any noise. The comb landed with a loud and satisfying bang. Maybe she was being a bit too naive in thinking that this would all go according to plan, but right now, that was all she had. If she didn't try everything she could, then she was going to be sent away for sure.

You can do this… Just… Just be quiet, and everything will be okay. She thought to herself as she dug her claws into the wall, climbing up just high enough so that she could go over the door that blocked her path. The boy was in her way, but as long as his vision was just as good as any other human's, then hopefully, he would be too distracted by the noise to see her as she swung herself through the small space above his head, letting herself out of the bathroom.

She… didn't think that through very well at all. By swinging herself out of the bathroom like that, her hood fell back and there was no where for her to go other than into the bedroom, landing on her feet with a thud. Damn it… She needed to find something valuable, then escape through the back door. Money, jewelry, anything. But she couldn't do that if she were caught. So without hesitation, as soon as her feet had touched the floor, she ran for it, jumping over the bed, tail trailing after her and the white fur along the tip easy to follow in the dark. Her movements were graceful and fluid, but that didn't keep her from making some kind of sound despite her trying to keep it to a minimum as she threw open the guy's bedroom door and escaped into the hallway. She expected to just see a normal every day house, but she almost froze at seeing how the place was decorated. The leisure, the decor, the beauty… But now wasn't the time. She needed to hide, and she found herself deciding that the best place to go was downstairs, about to dash at the railing with the intentions of jumping over it.

Charles stopped when the light had faded away. Something wasn't right, obviously his bathroom light hadn't been turned on. And no what ever light that had been on in the room was gone, as if it had blinked out of existence. Now what part of that said normal? None of it, not to mention none of the night was making much sense at the moment. Charles, ever since he was already in the mess, decided to look around. He took a few steps further into his bathroom, looking for anything peculiar in the slightest. He did notice that his that the window was open, he just didn't remember opening it. Oh, that was right, his mother always opened it when she was straitening things up. He never really understood why,though.

The poor boy must have jumped a foot or two in the air when he heard his comb fall into his bathtub. His heart, at this point, had felt like it leapt up to his throat. He recalled earlier when he had been in his bedroom his comb had fallen off of the counter and onto to the floor. Unless his comb was alive,which he really doubted,that meant someone was in there with him. They could be standing behind him, planning to him with who knows what. Charles held his breathe and spun around in time something leave his bathroom. "..what the.."He started to say, but the thud shut him up.

Takeing all the time he had, he ran out of his bathroom and then stopped. Charles knew he had to be having some sort of vivid dream if he was seeing girls with fox ears and a tail. Things like that weren't possible, or were they. He glanced at his hands, what had happened to him was suppose to be impossible too. This was no dream, there really was a girl with fox ears in his room, but why? Why was she sneaking around to began with? Unless she was a thief! A very graceful one, but she was still going to still from him and his parents!

"Hey!" Charles snapped when she had thrown his door open. With a sigh, the chase began. He ran out of the room, trailing behind her. 'She's going downstairs, or so she thinks.'He thought when he was outside of his room. As soon as he left his room he took a deep breathe and focused. With any luck his telekinesis would be on his side tonight. He then raised a hand and tried to slam her itno the wall. Floor. Anything that could stop her.

Mana feared getting caught and imprisoned more than anything. She was just about to jump over the edge of the room, but she was suddenly suspended in the air. Her eyes widened as she was tossed across the hallway to the wall on the other end, her body ceasing up and trembling from having the air knocked out of her. What… What just happened? She was stunned, her head feeling fuzzy as she looked up and across the hall… Looking at the boy from across the hall, he was bigger than she thought he was, and that only added on to her fear. He had some kind of strange power, or he wasn't actually human… Whatever the case, her coming into this house was more of a mistake than she thought it could have been. There was nothing that she saw that told her that she was walking into a trap.

She froze, the fear evident on her face, when she realized what she came here for. Before the boy could get too close, she pulled up her hood and pushed herself up onto her feet as fast as she could… and ended up falling right back down onto her stomach, her head spinning in. She must've hit her head, her head feeling light and her balance off. She couldn't run like this, which made her even more scared than she had been when she was trapped in that room. What was he going to do?… That was a bit of a stupid question… He was either going toil her or call the police. She didn't really think that he would be a hunter…

With doom and gloom spreading over her, she lowered her head into one of her hands to try and sooth the aching, braced against the floor. She would need to think of something, anything, that could get her out of here. She knew that stealing something from this place wouldn't do her any good. This strange human was here protecting it… She should have kept to pickpocketing after all, her hands tense as she watched the now blurry figure of the boy and waiting for her head to recover.

Charles flinched upon her slamming into the wall. He had stopped the girl dead in her tracks, which was good, great in fact! But, why did he feel guilt bubbling up from the pit of his stomach? Slowly his hand dropped down to his side as he stared in disbelief. There was some many thing go through his head that in the end he really wasn't sure what to do, to think or to feel. Well, other then an odd numbness spreading from the tip of his finger until his whole arm was numb. As if his arm had simply fallen asleep.

The teenage boy quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of the daze he had fallen under. Then he looked around, surely his parents had heard all of that commotion, but the house sat in silence. He heard no footsteps, and no yelling, that was a shock but a relief at the same time. After waiting for a few more seconds he finally started walking toward the fox girl. His pace seemed to grow a bit quicker when she tired getting up, but instead fell back down. "..What do you think you're doing?"He asked in a low hiss. Charles had stopped at least a foot away from the girl, his arms crossed over his chest.

He let out a long sigh and shook his head. "I mean seriously, what the hell were you thinking? What did my parents do you to go this far to stealing from us?!" Charles asked in a demanded tone. He took another step towards her, a sudden anger that her presence seemed to be fueling. Although, the more she seemed to struggle the anger that bubbled inside of him began fading away bit by bit. Charles got down on the floor, sitting not to far from her. "...What makes you think thivery is the answer for anything?"

Mana's determination didn't weaken while she stared forward. Despite the intense fear welling up in her chest, she didn't want to give up. She wasn't just doing this for herself… It wasn't just her life on the line. So she braced herself, waiting for her head to clear and for whatever punishment was coming. The longer she stored her strength, the further her legs could carry her. Just one trinket would probably be enough to feed her family for a few days.

Her ears twitched atop her head at the sound of his voice. She was losing her nerve… But she tried not to lose her composure, shrinking back as he looked down at her, demanding answers from her, but if she spoke… Would that give him ore information to give the police? She shivered at the thought, pulling her hood further over her face to hide the terror in her eyes. He was coming closer… And Mana wasn't equipped for battle. Well, she could always blind him with a little fox fire, but she wanted to do this without hurting anybody.

"… Not everything… But it is the best way to make money." She murmured, her eyes scanning her surroundings for something that she could snatch and run away with. A vase was too hard to transport, so what she wanted had to be small, but valuable. Maybe a watch or a necklace. Something expensive. Something that wasn't too easy too break. "Not that people like you would understand…" She murmured, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She needed the boy to let his guard down a little more. She could search for something as soon as she could stand.

"..the best way to make money? The best way to make money?!" Charles echoed, his voice rising higher the second time he spoke. He shook his head in annoyance, there were other ways to get money. Many other ways that didn't involve taking things from other people. What would a person gain for taking the path of a burglar? To Charles the answer wasn't any more pleasant than it was good. There was the chance of getting caught at ever corner, and the high chance of someone getting hurt. And if someone wasn't hurt, then someone could get killed. Then there was jail, stealing just didn't seem worth it. In fact it seemed stupid and immoral.

"You are the biggest moron I have ever met..What is so improtant that you have to go out of your way to take something that belongs to someone else? What if it was something important?!" Charles droned on for a bit before falling silent. He was debating on what he should do. Should he call the police? Get his parents? This girl would have to pay in some way, but he had to keep an eye on her just to make sure she wasn't going to steal something again.

He glanced back, his phone was sitting on his desk, that was too far. Even if he had walked backwards to get to it, he could trip and boom, there was an instant opportunity to grab something and run. His parents room was on the other side of the hall past the girl, even that was risky. "Damn..."He hissed under his breathe. He hung his head, clearly evaluating the problem at hand.

Getting criticized wasn't the way that she thought this was going to go. He wasn't hitting her, threatening her… His parents weren't coming out here… What was going on here? Humans were strange. But she had to remember that they were dangerous and stupid considering what they actually knew about the world. And the more that this guy spoke, the angrier she became. He lived in this big, beautiful house with parents who loved him. He had the opportunity to be stressed out about something like school. He was human, therefore normal, and even if he had those strange powers, he still looked like a human on the outside. He could hide it.

"What would you know about anything living in a place like this? You have no clue how hard living is. Your crap isn't more important than-" Mana growled, her fangs sharpening with her rage until she realized that she was losing her composure. She couldn't reveal that there were more kitsune than just her… This boy was dangerous, and after getting thrown at a wall like that, having him stare her down wasn't helping.

And having him understand her position didn't guarantee her safety. As willing as she was to die for the sake of her family, she knew that they relied on her. If she made a wrong move, who knows… If this boy was powerful enough, he could collapse her lung or something like that. She could feel her back sting as she tried to stand up, realizing just how bad her injury really was. She had to be smart about this. Another hit like that and she'd have to camp out somewhere in this neighbourhood tonight.

"… If you don't want to get hurt… I suggest you let me leave with what I want." Mana snarled under her breath, letting her tail lull about behind her as she cast a bit of magic. Bluffing usually worked in these situations… At least enough to scare her opponent enough to give her a chance to run away. If she couldn't steal, then at least she could get home safe and sound. Her body was enveloped in a soft, eerie blue glow. It was like she was being swallowed by the blue flame, but she felt no heat. It was an illusion, there, but not quite. She wasn't too sure as to how this power worked either, no one around to teacher her the full extent of her power, but she learned enough to survive, and that was what mattered.

{OOC: I'm terribly sorry for not replying in a while, I had a little too much on my plate roleplaying wise. I just wanted to say this before I posted.}

[No worries X3 you don't have to applogize for not posting for a couple of hours. Once it gets to being a couple weeks, then maybe an apology would be warranted I look forward to your post whenever you get to it.]

His jaw clenched, he was trying not to snap or say some snide comment at the moment. This girl, no matter what her reason was, she just really got on his nerves. He seemed to be getting her nerves, too. Charles ran a hand through his messy, sandy blonde hair. The night ticked on later and later into the night when Charles needed to be sleeping. Why did destiny have to drop something like this into his plans. Something else different, he wondered why she had to bed different. Why couldn't this girl just be another girl that aspired to be a sneaky thief? There was a little normal in that at least.

Charles looked at the fox girl with curiosity sparking in his blue green eyes. What was this girls problem? No, he clearly didn't have the same problems as her, and most likely never would. Still his problems mattered to him and he certainly wasn't naive about things. "...my crap isn't more important than what?"He inquired, his voice dripping with an icy rage. He could feel his patience slowly slipping away, bit by bit. He clenched his hands to keep in control of his powers and emotions. Pain shot from his palms as he dug what little finger nails he had into the soft flesh of his palms.

As silence ticked by Charles took the change to calm down. To consider what he would be doing if he let his abilities rule over his logical thinking. Now don't get him wrong, Charles was a kid that wanted to help people, not put them in the closest hospital. For him to do something like that would he his worst nightmare. He looked up from the floor to girl as she struggled to get up. The urge to stop her and point out the reasons why she shouldn't try moveing until she had been checked and her wounds properly treated. But when he raised a hand to say wait he stopped, placing his hand in his lap.

Charles registered the girls mouth moveing as she threatened him, he even noticed the odd glow coming from her. Still his blue-green gaze went past her and to straight to his parents room. Very faintly, he could hear his parents voices slightly muffled by the shut door and walls. He held his breathed and tried to sallow the rock lodged in his throat. "Shut up.."He snarled at the fox girl. His own back started to as he strained to sit up as straight as a wood board. Suddenly a light spilled out from underneath the crack of their bedroom door, his parents were defiantly awake!

"Okay, take me hands, take them right now if you don't want to get caught!" Charles ordered quickly, but quietly. He wasn't sure what his parents would do if they saw her in the house. Surely freak because there was an intruder but what about the tail and ears? What then? He didn't want to risk finding out. "Come on.."He hissed.

Bluffing usually worked in these situations… But this time, it failed. Before she could even try running, the boy snarled back at her, her eyes widening with fear in the moment that it took for him to utter those few words, her body ceasing up and the illusionary flames dying out. That scared her, Mana having tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Was this guy really human? He had a lot more nerve than any non-hunting human she'd known, and that in itself was terrifying.

She was silent, staring up at the boy with the same fear in her eyes until she heard it too… The sound of a bed creaking. The parents were up, and she realized it well before the boy seemed to have. From what she could hear, they assumed that it was someone named Charles making all that noise… She blinked, looking up at the boy. Was he Charles? Her ears twitched again at the sound of footsteps, and the low and subtle click of a lamp… They were coming, and her fear only worsened from there. She wanted to go home… This was a bad idea, and she wanted to go home.

Feeling vulnerable, she jumped, hearing the boy speak so suddenly, her shoulders raising in tension. She blinked up at him, frozen for a second until there was another foot step. She didn't have the time to hesitate, taking his hand. She must have been crazy… Taking the hand of the guy who threw her against the wall with some kind of invisible hand or something. By just taking his hand, she could have sealed her fate, the only thoughts running through her mind now being her family. But now wasn't the time to be giving up on herself, ready to follow the boy, but also prepared to kill him to survive if it came to it.

{OOC:See,Charles isn't like the others. He actually cares for her health, but is torn because of her methods of getting money.}

Was Charles human,very, but he was a human child that had a mind racing a mile a minute. Not to mention he was generally alert if something or someone had frightened him enoguh. Which this fox girl had manged that just by accidentally dropping his comb in the bathroom. The only reason her bluff had no affect on him was due to how distracted he was. Normally, that would have been beyond affective, if done at the right time.

"..I know you don't trust me, and I don't trust you either, but right now isn't the time to let that get in the way."Charles whispered. If she listened close enoguh she could hear how much his voice was trembling, in fact his voice had been trembling any time he had spoken to her. Granted at times it trembled from anger, but most of the time it was due to fear. Even his hands were shakeing, but he was just a kid. Charles had barely turned sixteen a few weeks ago, and at the moment it was very obvious that he was still a child. A child that had his own problems that may never amount to what the girl was going through.

"Charles?" He heard his mother call,"Sweetie,"The door began opening with a sharp creaking. His eyes widened and he held his breathe. It took a bit, but Charles started helping the girl back to his room as quickly as he could. As he helped her he noticed how badly he had hurt her, that isn't what he intended to do earlier. He had just wanted to stop her from stealing anything. "Charles"Now a man was calling his name, his dad. His room was right there, the least he had to do was get the girl into his room and pray that she wouldn't try to take anything.

Charles stopped in front of his room and faced the girl,"..Now, quietly, please go sit behind the wall,but don't strain yourself any further." He whispered, and with that he turned to face his parents.

(I realize that X3 But she doesn't)
As soon as Mana stood, she could feel the full extend of the damages done to her back. It was like the bones were knocked stiff, her spine rigid and achey with every step. She followed him with some difficulty, but that didn't stop her from keeping up. Such a strange boy he was, Mana's eyes scanning him even as he instructed her to enter his room. The trembling in his voice wasn't hard to pick up on with her sense of hearing, but… She couldn't tell what emotion was behind it. She nodded quietly, though, stepping away from him slowly before going into what was established to be his bedroom at his command.

As soon as she stopped walking, her back pressed against the wall of the bedroom and relishing in the cool surface. She couldn't go home with her back like this… She needed to stretch or something, loosen it up enough to let her run, but she didn't feel comfortable doing anything like that here. Instead, her thoughts were centered around this boy… By now, she was sure. His name was definitely Charles, unless he had a pet that went by that name that his parents just happened to be calling in the middle of the night.

She strained, but she sat, having sunk down against the wall and shut her eyes, her heightened hearing focused in Charles and his family… If anything, this had to be a complaint about the noise. She just hoped that he wouldn't tell them that she was here. Of course, the thought was a bit silly considering that he just went to the trouble of trying to hide her, but still. Humans were ruthless if they had something to gain. At any second, he could just suddenly decide that she was a nuisance. So she waited, listening for what her fate would be, her future now lying in whatever this boy decided to do. Until her back was better, she was at his mercy.

{ Yeah...She will in time. Just like Charles will understand why she's a thief in time.}

Charles didn't leave until the girl was sitting down before leaving his room to deal with his parents. he walked to their room his head was down in thought. What was he going to tell them? Oh, sorry Mom and Dad, I was practicing my telekinesis in the middle of the night. They would not like an answer like that. Amanda and Charles{Yes, his father's name is also Charles. Thank the mother!}being doctors had to get up early in the morning to get to work on time. Oh he had to think of some sort of valid excuse or get yelled at for not being in bed already.

"Charles..."His mother said with a yawn. "What are you doing up sweet heart, it's two in the morning. "Amanda said, ruffling her sons messy hair. There was sleepy smile in her face, she must not have heard him talking to the girl. Charles give his mother a small smile, he wasn't sure what to tell her. What was he going to say? Was he going to tell his parents about the fox girl? Was he going to lie? Not even Charles knew what to say, and he only got more nervous when his Dad walked up.

"Uhh, yeah."He began to say, rubbing the back of his neck. "I..I couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to walk around for a bit. I didn't turn on any of the lights so I wouldn't disturb you guys and fell."He lied, and thankfully they seemed to buy his little white lie. Considering the fact that his mother instantly started checking to see if he was hurt any where. "Mom, mom,I'm fine.now can I go to bed?"He asked her. His mother stopped fussing long enough to look at her husband, whom of which was falling asleep standing up. "Oh..alright, but straight to bed Charles Carrington Merryweather! It's hard enoguh getting you and your father up in the morning."She half heartdly scolded him. Then she kissed on the forehead before shooing him out of their room.

The door shut behind him,leaving him alone in the dark hallway. He let out a sigh, the mere fact that she believed him meant his mother was pretty tired. His dad didn't even say anything, he just stood there swaying from side to side. "Thank god.."Charles muttered as he tip toed back to his bedroom.

Mana was silent while listening to Charles speak to his parents. Her eyes softened, her tail curling against her body, and her throat went dry just thinking about her own family. She could still remember how her own mother smelled despite no longer being able to remember her face. The thought kept her quiet, her gloved hands gripping to her sleeves in envy and anger.

She could hear everything that was going on. She could hear Charles' mother ruffle his hair, the heavy and lazy footsteps of his tired father, and Charles as he lied to them. Whether it was for her sake or his, she couldn't tell, but the affection in his mother's voice made her feel more justified in taking from this unbearably happy family. Why did they deserve to live in this leisure? What was stealing them going to do? They had each other, and it was clear to Mana that they all loved each other dearly. Losing some trinkets or clothes wouldn't jeopardise that. Mana and her siblings all loved each other too... And yet they were treated like street rats and lived off whatever scraps they could find. They weren't homeless thanks to their irresponsible father, but having a house to live in didn't make living easy if you were constantly forced to scrounge in the muck for clothes and food. It wasn't fair.

Mana was the eldest, so it was her responsibility to protect and raise her siblings. Even if it meant nearly getting herself killed to do it.

Once Charles spoke, the door to his parents' room now shut, Mana waited, her head lowered between her family. Although she told herself that stealing from this place would be okay, she couldn't bring herself to stand. And it wasn't just her aching back keeping her down. She waited until Charles came back into his room before she even opened her mouth, having pulled the cloth mask from her face.

"... Family..." Mana said, finishing her sentence from earlier. "Your crap isn't more important than my family..." Mana restated her sentence to avoid the questioning that was sure to come, her back aching every time she tried to move. She just wanted to go back home now, willing to crawl at this point if her back really was bruised as badly as it felt.

Family, that was the first thing Charles heard the girl. She was doing this for her family, guilt washed over him. His legs felt like jelly. Why couldn't she say that before hand? Charles was feeling an overwhelming guilt until she said that wrong thing. Something that would once again make Charles appear bipolar. "You know what, for and instance I felt like crap! I felt like I had done something awful until you opened up your mouth again!"Charles snapped at her. "You can rot in a prison for all I care."He added in.

Charles turned his back to the girl with his arms crossed across his chest. There, his phone laid face down on his desk, he really could do it. He was tempted to, very tempted. Although when he went to pick his phone up he noticed how much he was shaky. Through out most of the night Charles only seemed to know anger and fear, mainly fear just like the girl. "..who am I kidding...I can't do that, I won't.."He sighed. Charles wasn't the type of person to make other suffer just because of what they said or do as long as they had a valid reason of doing such things. Just like this girl had to do things like this to get the money for her family.

He sighed, and sat down with his back pressed against his desk. "..I..i"He tried to say something, but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. 'I'm sorry for hurting you but at the same time I'm not.'His mind finished for him. no, that isn't what he really wanted to say. "Look, you can't just go around stealing things from people. One, that's just wrong on many levels, and two we may have a lot of stuff that but you can't just take it. For instance, those paintings my mother painted some of them, the others my grandmother painted. Things, whether you realize it or not, have sentimental value. Especially in this family."Charles told her. Although he was thinking that at this point he didn't think he deserved anything his parents did or got for him.