54 Familial Bonds (15)

Around the time Kyro was about to leave, his phone rang—it was another unfamiliar number. However, it at least came on his business phone.

"Hello?"

"Jimmy said you have some disputer over a... fox?" answered a male voice. His tone suggested that he was quite puzzled over whether someone was playing a prank on him or if it was real.

"Yeah, I found it running around my apartment complex and now somebody asked me to return it."

"One question, is the fox valuable? Some kind of a rare breed?"

"It's not in the tens of thousands, but it is costly. Couple thousand, and there's queue times to get them."

The other side sighed. "Then that woman has no case. Sounds like she just saw your found poster and decided to profit from it. It happens quite often, actually."

Kyro thought about it for a moment. It'd be great if that was it, but he didn't dare being careless. "Are you busy on Saturday? I would still like to have you around in case she brings out something." When the man was about to speak, Kyro added, "I'll pay double the consultation rate, since it'll be the weekend."

"Can you hire me too?"

"Sorry," Kyro said with a laugh. "Jimmy's quite comfortable in that seat for the moment."

"Thought so. Alright then, tell me the place and we can meet."

"I'll send you the details on Saturday, thanks."

They ended the call, and Kyro frowned at his desk. Was it possible that this was just a distraction? Could someone have come up with this scheme to divert his attention from something more important? But what would that be...

As far as he was concerned, everything was working as usual. There were no major mix ups or problems, the marketing went normal—Frank didn't seem to be causing any mishaps—and the product manufacturing was in order. There were no big scandals, either. Gale was being quite low key in his overseas adventure.

On his way out, he told Lara to make sure to update him on anything out of order if it reached her, even if it was the middle of the night. She nodded eagerly, her cheeks reddening up, but that was normal so he just ignored it.

Before going home, he stopped by the shop to get a treat for the little fox. The greedy cat had eaten the whole chicken leg himself, so Kyro needed to balance out the situation and reward the fennec with something tasty.

When he got home, he was welcome by the little fox, and Lucy also soon showed up, not wanting to be outdone. The two pets expressed their disgruntlement for being left home alone and demanded attention. It took him almost five minutes to get them off his hide and take off his boots and jacket.

Once he sat down on the sofa, Lucy left for who knows where while the fox walked over to the windowsill and jumped on it.

"Candi!" he called out to it.

The fennec's giant ears folded up at the sound, and a shudder rushed down its back. He called the name again, but the fox didn't even twitch a muscle. It was actually quite interesting how he could see an almost human reaction of fear in its actions - the rigid back, the total ignore it was exhibiting.

Still, it worried him that there was a reaction. If the fox hadn't heard this word before, it would have just ignored it like the sounds of TV or his conversations with Gale. The fact that there was fright in its actions betrayed that something wasn't fully right here.

"Iris!"

The moment he used this name, the fox turned around and rushed over, its eyes shining brightly. Like a speeding bullet, it jumped on the sofa and straight into his lap. It stood up on two legs against his chest and started crying out in excitement.

"Right, right, I get it, that's your name."

He smiled and caressed the fox. The little one was so happy, unaware that it might have to return to its previous owner. If that woman was such. Kyro was heartened by the fennec's reaction to the name 'Iris'. Although there had been a reaction to the other name, the two were like night and day.

"So Iris, do you want a treat? I remember promising it to you yesterday."

His words dimmed the fox's excitement. It cried out once, as if in habit, then fell back. It retrieved its front paws from his chest and moved down to sit by his legs while watching his face with complicated emotions.

Feeling a little awkward out of a sudden, Kyro picked up the stuff he'd bought. 'What's with that look… I'm not gonna torture you, so what's with that expression of "I'm going to hate this, but I'm going to do it just for you"?' He shook his head, trying to erase the image from his head. It was a weird day, and he was clearly seeing things.