The Thief, The Trickster, and The Stolen Kiss

Kain found himself standing in the dreamscape again.

But this time… it was different.

The soft glow of foxfire lanterns was gone.

The breeze that once carried the sweet scent of flowers was still.

And the garden—

It was empty.

---

A Memory, Not a Dream

Kain didn't move at first, just taking in the silence.

The place was eerily frozen in time.

No playful whispers.

No flickering tails.

No laughter.

Then—

In the distance, he saw her.

---

Tsuki, But Not The One He Knew

She was alone again, sitting beneath a dead tree, gazing up at a sky with no stars.

Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders, not styled into its usual playful waves.

Her golden eyes, usually filled with mischief and mirth, were dim.

She looked… small.

Vulnerable.

---

The Fox That Stood Alone

Kain frowned.

He had never seen her like this.

She was always so loud, so confident, so impossible to fluster.

But here?

She wasn't teasing anyone.

She wasn't causing problems just to watch people squirm.

She just sat there.

Alone.

And something about that didn't sit right with him.

---

"Why is she alone?"

He took a step forward.

Then another.

His boots barely made a sound against the cold, empty ground.

For some reason, he didn't want to disturb her.

Or maybe…

Maybe he just wasn't supposed to be here.

---

A Glimpse of Her Past

The scene shifted.

Suddenly, he wasn't in the empty garden anymore.

He saw **figures—**other gods, spirits, beings of power.

They were laughing.

Not cruelly.

Not maliciously.

But Tsuki wasn't laughing with them.

She was watching from a distance.

Her usual grin was nowhere to be found.

She stepped toward them—

And the moment she did—

They dispersed.

No one said anything.

No one looked back.

They just… left.

Kain's stomach tightened.

It was too familiar.

---

The Similarity Hits Kain

For a brief moment, he felt something sharp twist in his chest.

That feeling.

That moment of thinking you were part of something only to find out you weren't.

That distance.

That isolation.

It was the same feeling Kain had felt a thousand times before.

In every guild that turned him away.

In every tavern where adventurers spoke of great quests while he was just a thief with no place.

It was the feeling of being outside, looking in.

It was the feeling of being alone.

---

"You're not supposed to be here."

Kain jerked back.

Tsuki was right in front of him now, standing far too close, her golden eyes wide with shock.

But not just shock.

She was red.

Embarrassed.

Maybe even panicked.

---

Caught in Something Personal

Kain opened his mouth to speak, but—

She grabbed his wrist.

The moment her fingers touched him, the world around them shattered.

---

Kain woke up with a gasp, body jerking upright in bed.

His heart was racing.

His room was quiet, but the weight of what he saw clung to him.

Then—

"You saw."

Kain whipped his head to the side.

Tsuki was standing there, her arms crossed, her ears flattened slightly against her head.

She looked annoyed.

But not her usual, playful kind of annoyed.

She looked flustered.

Genuinely flustered.

Kain swallowed.

"…What was that?"

Tsuki's tails flicked sharply, her face still slightly red.

"Nothing."

Kain narrowed his eyes. "Nothing?"

Tsuki turned her back to him. "Forget it. You weren't supposed to see that."

Kain hesitated.

Then—

"...It was real, wasn't it?"

Tsuki stiffened.

Just for a second.

Then—

She sighed dramatically, flipping back into her usual smirk.

"My, my~. Peeking into a lady's past without permission? How scandalous~."

Kain glared. "Don't change the subject."

"Oh, but I must~." She turned to face him, wagging a finger. "It wouldn't be any fun if you started understanding me, now would it~?"

Kain scowled. "That's not an answer."

Tsuki grinned, but it was a little too sharp, a little too forced.

"Then stop asking."

And just like that—

She vanished.

---

Kain Is Left With Too Many Questions

Kain ran a hand down his face.

He was still processing what he saw.

That wasn't a dream.

That was real.

That was a memory.

And if it was a memory…

Then that meant Tsuki wasn't always the carefree, playful goddess she pretended to be.

She had been lonely.

And for some reason—

That bothered him.

A lot more than he wanted to admit.

---

A New Thought Creeps In

Kain sat in the dimly lit room, staring at the wall.

For the first time, he wasn't annoyed with her.

He wasn't thinking about how smug she was or how much she enjoyed torturing him.

For the first time since meeting her—

He felt something else.

Something dangerous.

Something he refused to acknowledge.

He buried his face in his hands.

"No. No, no, no. This is just the bond messing with me."

"It's just the bond."

"It's just the bond."

But somewhere, deep down, he wasn't so sure anymore.

---