The Helpful Fox Deity, Ahri! Ch. 01

(This story was inspired by the anime series, The Helpful Fox Senko-san!)

*** Sam's Weekend. ***

Bright, colourful lights illuminated the small apartment living space. The mouse and keyboard sang clicks and ticks as fingers desperately, yet skilfully, played them like instruments. A chuckle came from the player as he read a comment in the bottom left corner of his screen.

'Spam that life drain, noob'.

Sam typed back: 'Get good kiddo'.

The game continued and Sam, using the character 'Ahri', helped his team push back the opposition. Even over his headphones, Sam could hear the sound of his keys as victory grew closer. When the team's fortress exploded due to Ahri's and Jinx' final attacks, he leaned back in his chair and cheered.

It was rare that the company Sam worked at allowed its employees to take the entire weekend off. It was one of the happiest moments he'd experienced the whole year when Mitchel, his boss, told him he didn't have to come in over the weekend. Sam could have wept for joy, but instead held onto his dignity as a man. When he went home the past Friday night the only things on his mind were how he'd catch up on his anime, wrestling PPV's, and try and boost his rank on League of Legends.

The weekend was over now. Sam spent it precisely the way he planned, and he felt awful for it. Empty bottles of soda filled the recycling bin in the kitchen, and there were wrappers of various chocolates and candies all over the place. Maybe I should clean... Sam thought as he looked around the apartment. Just then, he heard a ding from the League of Legends main menu. There was a new message in his inbox. It read:

'Yo, I dare you to fight me again scrub!'

Sam smirked and typed: 'Feeling salty my child?'

'Not as salty as your mum's mouth on my dick!'

Sam rolled his eyes. There were always players like this that took the game too seriously. The man couldn't help but chuckle as he responded with 'All right then, I'll meet you in lobby z120.'

Sam dominated the 'boy' in the game. That's what it felt like he was dealing with anyway; a child -- after all, who else but children would get so mad at a video game? It wasn't until the second half of the match that things began to turn around. The boy kept blindsiding Sam and getting cheap shots from the trees, then retreating and hiding behind his mobs. Sam sighed to himself in frustration -- he doesn't get to play League of Legends enough anymore, and he guessed his skills were no longer up to par. The messages the kid sent weren't helping Sam, either. After each death Ahri suffered at the hands of Teemo, Sam tried to ignore the comments, but he found them almost as funny as he did triggering. Sam was never able to push the kid back, and eventually, mobs of NPCs had swarmed his team's nexus. Sam had to watch as the hit points for the fortress whittled down to nothing, and all the while, the kid continued with his barrage of insults.

Sam maintained his calm and politely demanded a rematch. The next three games ended in much the same fashion.

Sam felt embittered with the losses, and to make things worse, it was late. The entire weekend had been great, but one petulant little shit on the internet managed to bring a happy weekend to a disheartened close. Although Sam was equally responsible for the result, he supposed. His own words came back to haunt him: 'Only a child would get upset with a video game'.

Frustration filled Sam's heart as he had to end the weekend on a loss like that, but at least he was able to play the game he loved. It wasn't often he got a full weekend of free time. Working as a salaryman took almost everything out of Sam, and the mere thought of returning to work after a whole free weekend drained him of all joy. He climbed into bed and shut his eyes. Several empty bottles of soda laying near the trash can reminded Sam he filled up on too much sugar. It was 12:30 am when he last looked at the clock.

*** Sam's Daily Life. ***

When Sam woke up the next day to the sound of his alarm clock, it was 5:30 am. The man dragged himself out of bed and prepared the coffee machine, then dropped some bread in the toaster. Next came the bathroom, followed by a quick shower. He didn't have time to idle, not with how far away his work is. Sam left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, poured the coffee into a cup, fixed some butter and jam on his toast, then ate breakfast.

Once Sam finished, he left the plate and cup in the sink and returned to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Finally, all that remained was suiting up. The phrase reminded him of Barney from How I Met Your Mother, and it was something that always brought a brief smile to his face. Sam's suit top and pants hung from a rack on the clothesline on the balcony outside. When he finished getting dressed, he looked one more time at his apartment and mentally hit himself for not attempting to clean the mess last night. When I get home I'll do it, he thought -- but Sam knew that was a lie.

Dozens upon dozens of men and women filed into the train together, each wearing various uniforms. There was barely any space to move, and Sam had to stand like that for the entire forty-minute train ride. The elevator he entered when he arrived at the workplace took him to the 22nd story of a 30 story building. Sam greeted other workers and clocked in for today's shift at 6:58 am. He spent the next two minutes before work hours began sorting through some emails he received over the weekend. It seemed someone in the higher echelons made a mistake, and Sam was the one who had to clean up the mess. There was so much to do, and Sam knew he'd be spending the entire day with this task.

Occasionally Sam's co-workers brought him stacks of papers that needed checking. The hours passed slowly, and Sam felt like his mind was elsewhere. Not on video games, not on wrestling, not on anime. His thoughts drifted in darkness as he marked each file as complete while on autopilot.

"Sam," a female voice said beside him. "Sam?" The voice repeated. "Hey, Sam!"

"Huh?" Sam asked, turning his neck to look at the woman. She had to nudge his shoulder to get his attention. "What is it, Mary?"

Mary, a short, freckle-faced woman with orange hair, smiled at him and said: "It's lunchtime, space cadet."

"Oh," Sam said as he looked at the time on the bottom right of his computer screen.

"Are you okay?" Mary asked him with a chuckle, though there was a slight hint of concern in her voice.

"Yeah," Sam shrugged it off and walked together with Mary, and eventually Tony, to the breakroom outside.

"Haven't seen that in a while," Tony remarked as he saw Sam pull out a white plastic spoon filled with peanut butter, covered in glad wrap.

Mary silently watched Sam as she ate her lunch.

"Something wrong?" Sam asked with a slight smile.

Mary shook her head, returning the smile. "Just you and your peanut butter."

"What? I like it," Sam said, as he began licking the spoon.

"I mean," Tony chuckled, "At this point, everyone's used to it, but it's still a little strange."

Mary nodded.

"Huh? What, do you never do this?" Sam asked as he put the half-finished peanut butter down and unwrapped his sandwich.

"Well yeah, but who does that at work? In public!" Tony exclaimed, teasing his friend.

Sam didn't verbally respond, but he coolly pointed to himself as he bit into the sandwich.

Each employee had an hour break each day, so after lunch, the three of them continued talking. The main topic was what each of them did over the weekend, and Sam proudly told his friends about how he watched anime, wrestling, and played video games.

"Sounds like a great weekend to me!" Mary said.

"More like a wasted weekend," Tony said.

When the break ended, the three of them went back to their workspaces. Sam couldn't help but look at the time after every single task he completed. And every time he did, it only hurt him to see that barely any time passed at all.

At 4:00 pm, Mitch approached Sam. "Think you'll have all those files sorted by the end of your shift, Sam?"

"Yes, Sir," Sam said from his seat.

"Good," Mitch said and left.

Sam nodded idly to himself when the boss left. A feeling of panic rose inside of him. Sam wasn't sure if he could finish all the files in the next three hours. He knew that if he didn't, there was a chance that he'd have to stay overtime to ensure the task got completed. The next three hours went by just as slowly as the nine before it did. The salaryman felt burned out and exhausted, but at least he sorted all the files.

"We're gonna go have a few drinks at the bar," Tony said to Sam. Mary, Gregory, and Kyoshira were waiting. "You coming?"

Sam waved at everyone, who both jumped for joy at the idea of after-work drinks. "Nah, gonna have to pass."

"One of these days you're gonna have to come out with us again, man!" Tony said playfully, but Sam could detect a hint of frustration in the man's voice.

The train ride home was cramped. Sam managed to find a seat this time, which allowed him to relax for the forty-minute cruise. He's known Tony since he was a child, and the two of them used to hang together a lot. They met Mary in high school, and the duo became a trio that rarely separated. Once they reached adulthood, though, and working became the norm, they never got to see each other anymore. When Tony lost his accountant job and applied for work at a tech company, both of them were shocked to find they'd be co-workers. Mary later came along as well, as the idea of being with her two best friends every day was exciting.

The novelty wore off though, for Sam at least. He loved his friends, but the work hours were brutal, and Sam couldn't understand how Tony and Mary could happily go out and socialise after their shifts. Tony sounded unhappy when I said no today, Sam thought. I don't even know how many times he's asked me out for drinks at this point. I wish he'd stop asking me.

*** Sam Gets Surprised. ***

With drooping shoulders, Sam headed up the stairs leading to his apartment. How much longer could he keep up this lifestyle? Tony's face flashed in his mind's eye again, and Sam regretted his overuse of the word 'no'. I should say yes next time...

Sam fumbled with his keys before easing open the door. He trudged into the familiar apartment, past the familiar girl in his entrance, and towards the familiar kitchen. The only thing on his mind was dinner and the last of the frozen sausage rolls. He hoped he actually still had one. Had that been last night's dinner? Opening the door, he upended the box to sound of a satisfactory "thud" of ice-chilled food on his counter, but no sausage roll appeared.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Sam stared. There was a girl in his apartment demanding an answer for... well, he wasn't quite sure. Maybe if he found the sausage roll, she would disappear. He opened the freezer door. Perhaps it had fallen out of the box? He nudged an ice cube tray, but what he sought did not appear.

"You're just going to ignore me? You're just going to ignore the delicious meal I cooked for you?"

Again, here was that hallucination. Sam now remembered passing someone in the entrance but wrote it off to exhaustion. After all, he didn't own anything so silly as a life-sized cardboard Ahri.

Sam looked around, dumbfounded. His attention was directed by the girl, to a pot of food sitting on the stove. "Umm... Excuse me?"

"Umm... Excuse me?" Sam said.

"I cooked for you!" The girl said impatiently.

"Do I need to call the cops?" He asked, staring at the girl wearily.

"What?! No!" The girl said, "I cooked a meal for you!" Then the girl made a grand gesture with her arms, "And as you can see, I cleaned your apartment!"

Sam approached the girl and grabbed her by the wrist. Ignoring her protests, he dragged her along and urged her outside.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" The girl called from outside as she knocked on the door, and just as she tried opening it, heard the lock click from inside.

Sam sighed and walked back into the kitchen. When he lifted the lid off the pot, a delicious scent wafted up into his nostrils. He resisted the temptation, and soon the longing expression he had was replaced with one of suspicion and disgust.

"Hey, you're looking at it like I poisoned it!" The girl said.

Sam jumped and almost knocked the pot off the stove. "How did you get back in here?!"

"Hehe, don't underestimate the power of a fox deity!" She said.

"Look, all I want is to eat and go to sleep. I don't have time to deal with whatever this is."

The girl approached and narrowed her eyes at him. Then, she scooped a spoonful of the food into her mouth. "Shee? Noht poishoned," she said while chewing, then swallowed.

Sam reached into his rear jeans pocket and retrieved his wallet.

The girl blinked, "What are you doing?"

"Here," Sam said and offered her a five-dollar bill." Her questioning look told Sam he needed to explain. "If I pay you, will you leave?"

The girl scoffed, "Put that away! 5 dollars? That's all I'm worth? I only want you to eat the meal I cooked for you..."

When Sam noticed tears forming in the stranger's eyes, he conceded and filled two bowls with the food. "All right... All right."

The two sat across from each other. "Go on..." The girl urged him with a hopeful smile.

Sam looked at the girl, then back at his food. The grumbling in his stomach eliminated any further hesitation.

Once Sam tasted the meat and vegetables, he began shovelling the meal into his mouth like a starving child.

The girl smiled and enjoyed her meal, as well.

"Thank you for the meal," Sam finally said after several minutes of silence.

"I'm glad you liked it," The girl said.

"So... Why are you here? And why are you cosplaying as Ahri?" Sam asked. He had to avoid casting his eyes down at the girl's chest -- her breasts were enormous.

"Hmm..." The girl thought about it.

Sam tapped his index finger lightly on the table. Is she stupid? Suddenly, a big, fluffy blue and purple tail began to sway from behind her. Where was she hiding that?!

"Uh, well... I had nowhere else to go, so I followed you home and decided to live with you."

Sam began laughing, taken aback by the absurd answer. "Don't mess around, damn it!" He said.

"I'm serious!" The girl said, "I've been watching you and can see how oppressed you are... I thought you could use some help."

"Oppressed? Wait, you've been stalking me then?"

"Yes."

No hesitation at all... Sam thought. His eyes widened as the girl stood up, then moved around the table to sit behind him. He felt her breasts press into his back, and blood rushed to his face. "W-what are you doing?"

"I know it seems weird," the girl said, and began rubbing the man's shoulders, "But I promise I don't mean you any harm."

Sam had to admit the meal he ate earlier tasted fantastic, and his stomach wasn't shredding itself up from the inside, so he knew that at the very least, she wasn't trying to hurt him. "Yeah, but... why me? There are lots of salarymen out there, and some probably have it harder than I do."

"Shhh," the girl rested her cheek against his back. "It will all be fine. Let me stay with you for a while, and I promise things will get better."

It all sounded too ridiculous. It was like a plot from an anime. Sam looked at the time and slumped. "All right... Just, no funny business, okay?"

"Yay!" The girl cheered and began massaging his shoulders again. "No funny business!"

"By the way... How do you know my name?" Sam asked, closing his eyes and enjoying the relaxing sensation.

"It's on the doorplate outside," the girl said.

"Oh. And what's your name?"

"Call me Ahri."

"Come on? At least tell me your real name..."

"That is my real name!" Ahri said.

Sam relaxed on the couch for the next forty minutes until it was time to sleep. Despite telling Ahri she could sleep on the lounge if she wanted to, the busty woman ended up sharing the bed with him.

*** Life Goes On. ***

Sam's life continued in much the same way, despite having a new roommate. The landlord discovered Ahri was living with Sam, and he had to make up a lie.

"She's my cousin!" He told the old landlord. "She's just staying until she gets back on her feet, I promise she won't cause any trouble." Fortunately, the older man was happy with the explanation, even though the apartments are for one-per-unit.

Having breakfast to wake up to, and dinner already cooked for him when he got home each day brightened Sam's mood considerably. Ahri ensured that he ate plenty of vegetables and wouldn't allow him to eat the usual junk food he enjoyed. He knew it was for the best, though.