Renji Arakawa, known to few as Kitsune, sat alone in the dim light of his hideout, the soft glow of candles casting long, fox-like shadows across the walls. Each flicker traced the outlines of his meticulous collection of symbols — small fox masks, folded origami foxes, and the ever-present Fox Tag, spray-painted along the corners of the room where the ceiling met the walls. His eyes, sharp and almost glowing in the candlelight, lingered on a single corner of the floor, where a thin shaft of moonlight fell through the cracked window. Within that quiet illumination lay the evidence of his newest obsession.

Renji’s fascination had begun months ago, when he first observed the ritual attendant within the Covenant of St. Ibara. There had been something ineffably captivating about the boy’s presence — the way he moved with reverence around the altars, the delicate precision with which he tended the ceremonial candles, and the soft, introspective gaze that never quite left the sacred spaces he cherished. In him, Renji had seen an untouched world, one free from the corruption and chaos that defined his own existence. The purity, the devotion, the fragility — it called to him in a way no ordinary desire could. It was not merely attraction; it was a need, an instinctive compulsion to claim what had been preserved by discipline and faith alone.

The obsession grew quietly at first, an undercurrent beneath Renji’s usual routines. He had followed his steps, memorized his schedules, and mapped every hidden corner of the covenant where the boy lingered, where the shadows fell, where he was most alone. The very sanctity of the place became an irresistible challenge, a fortress to infiltrate not for theft of material wealth, but for the spoils of devotion itself. By the time the first rays of dawn touched the rooftops of the city, the boy was already under Renji’s care — a carefully maintained possession, untouched yet wholly his.

A small smile graced his lips as he finally broke the silence; speaking to the bewildered, fragile boy for the first time since taking him; “I’m so glad you’re finally here... We’re going to have the most amazing time together, I just know it..” His head tilted to the side as he spoke, his hair falling loosely around his shoulder. The smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes; those eyes that bore into the boy as if he was searching his very soul for defiance.