Worst school trip in history?!

I came, because I had nothing better to do.

The warm light radiated the room.

Washing over the high ceilings, beige floors, and pale walls.

Silver engravings caught the light.

A beautiful field trip.

To an art museum.

I ended up somewhere in the middle.

A camera clutched in hands.

I snapped a picture of the artefact before me.

My friends grinned at me.

And that should have been my warning.

It all happened in a second.

My bag was snatched off my shoulder.

“HEY!”

I wailed.

But it was too late.

They already bolted across the hall.

Straight to the exit.

“YOU TRAITORS!”

I sprinted forward.

Left?

Right?

No clue!

I just needed my bag.

I just needed my sandwich.

My foot caught onto an edge of a step.

And I skidded across the floor.

An ice-skater on marble.

But this time.

It was without any brakes.

I crashed into something.

Or maybe someone.

My mind decided otherwise.

The figure fell flat to the floor.

His face all red.

He got up.

And dusted off the shoulder.

“Better watch where you are going!”

But before I could say anything.

He walked off.

Yeah! With those sunglasses!

In style!

Who does this guy think he is?!

I launched after him.

“You don’t get to say that to my face!”

He scrambled.

But too fast.

“GET BACK HERE!”

CRACK.

Beside the entrance.

Was a stack of boxes.

Boxes with precious artefacts.

And one tumbled.

And it exploded.

A streak of red flared out first.

Then yellow.

Bright enough to sting.

Blue followed.

Twisting around the others.

Almost like it was chasing them.

All of them whipped around.

Quick.

Uneven loops.

But then.

The colors crossed paths.

Red and yellow collided.

Blending into a bright orange flare that broke off from the rest.

And that one, slowed down.

It drifted towards me.

Hovering a few inches from my face.

Flickering softly like it was trying to hold a shape.

Cold warmth.

But behind me.

It was closer now.

Footsteps.

A whisper.

Behind my ear.

“Debt owed to you.”

I turned back.

Nothing! But that arrogant dude staring!

***

“Wait! Do I- “

He crouched beside me.

Grass brushed against my palms.

Wait...

Grass?

Where was I?

My fist left a streak of red across his face.

I flared.

“Do you know what you made me do?!”

“What exactly?”

“I just broke that…”

“Vase?”

He smirked.

“Oh please! It can be simply rebuilt.”

“It’s centuries old!”

“Well, not for this guy!”

He started posing.

A superman pose.

“Are you serious right now?”

I rolled my eyes.

“After all that mess!”

He flailed.

“Chill! I was sent to…”

He paused.

“Go on! Continue!”

He sighed.

“I need to fulfil my debt!”

Why did I get myself into this chaos?!

He smirked once more.

“You don’t really have any clue, huh?”

He lunged forward.

Closing the gap between us.

Face level with mine.

He didn’t reach out a hand.

He didn’t utter a word.

His gaze sank deeper than it should have.

Deep enough to pierce reality.

What was I just seeing?!

The hood of his jacket shifted just enough.

Emerald.

Too bright to ignore.

It stayed for a second.

Until they came alive.

A tiny shift.

Barely anything.

But it went down.

Down onto that cold marble.

A perspective.

His.

***

“Hey! Are you still here?!”

He flicked my forehead.

I groaned.

I just ran to get my sandwich back.

And this is what fate had for me!

“So…”

He stared.

"So, about that debt?"

A pause.

“What would you like me to do for you?”

I snarled.

“TO GET BACK HOME!”

He moaned.

“I can’t do that.”

Huh?!

“You got me into this mess! And now you must get me out!”

“Noted.”

He stood up.

“I will try my best.”

He sighed.

“But may I remind you that I’m not the only one who has to pay your debt.”

“Does this mean it’s going to take a longer time?”

“Precisely.”

I froze.

My stomach had to grumble so loud.

He chuckled.

“Hungry?”

I nodded.

“Don’t worry! I will find you something to eat!”

I slumped to the ground.

“I am too lazy right now, so…”

“NO! YOU HAVE TO COME WITH ME!”

WHAT THE-?!

“We need…”

He froze.

“If you want to go home faster, of course!”

“Ok.”

He just beamed.

“So, what’s your name?”

“The name’s Kai!”

“So, what do you do?”

“Nothing, actually.”

“Really?”

“Just a fox roaming around.”

“Fox?”

He just crossed his arms.

“Got any problem with that?”

“No, but…”

I froze.

Something soft was swirling around my ankle.

I looked down.

Its moonstone eyes were wide on my gaze.

“SO CUTE!!!”

Kai just sighed.

“That’s Aki! Be careful, those eyes bend time.”

“Bend what?”

“Time!”

The creature squeaked.

Wait! Did it just speak!

“And you’re coming with me.”

***

The world flipped.

A blast of cold air hit my face.

The creature simply darted across a frozen street.

“What?!”

I took one step after it…

And heat slammed into me.

Sand.

Blinding sun.

A desert stretched forever.

Its paws kicked up clouds of dust.

I began to run after it.

Sweat already prickling down my neck.

In the next second, steam billowed.

A train station.

A whistle screaming overhead.

It dashed between suitcases.

I lunged.

The floor disappeared beneath me.

Ice-cold water swallowed me whole.

I struggled to reach the water surface, as strong winds dragged me viciously.

In the eye of a tsunami, the creature still leaped at ease.

How does it do that?

One step and everything vanished.

I was not falling or standing.

I wasn’t anywhere.

I was just… floating.

Weightless.

Suspended in a world of different colored lines spread out in many directions.

Am I dead?

Dreaming?

Hallucinating?

Or simply having the worst school trip in history?!

Something shifted.

The creature floated in front of me.

It didn’t run.

It didn’t tug.

It didn’t leap.

Its whiskers trembled.

Then it opened its mouth.

“Kitsue…”

I froze.

“How do you know my name?”

“Because I have already met you.”

I frowned.

“When exactly?”

"I can time travel!"

He puffed out his chest proudly.

"Just... not to the future."

His ears drooped.

"Nobody gets to do that."

Wait...

That's what Kai meant by bending time.

“Anyways…”

The creature drifted closer.

"Thank you..."

"For what?"

Aki looked down.

"For not letting Kai pull me away."

I frowned.

"What?"

"He would've stuffed me back into his sleeve..."

His little paws flailed.

"And then I'd be stuck again!"

“That’s harsh!”

Aki nodded miserably.

“He stuffs me in there when I get too excited or too loud or too visible or too everything… he always does that!”

“That’s not— that’s not imprisonment!”

“It is to me!” Aki snapped, tail curling around himself.

“I don’t like being grabbed. I don’t like being hidden. I don’t like being shoved away like I’m a problem… typical older brother stuff…”

His voice cracked.

“But you didn’t do that.”

His ears drooped.

This was so sad!

Well, almost.

“UGH!”

I screamed so hard my throat nearly tore at the edges.

Aki flinched, paws curled tight and ears pinned flat.

“Are you okay?”

“No!” I snapped, stepping toward him

"I don't want a debt! I don't want time travel! And I definitely don't want talking foxes! I just want my sandwich!"

My hands shot out.

He squeaked, backing up.

“Kitsue… don’t…”