A winter in Yetinburg ch.3

	"You're pretty bad at this. Haven't you ever cleaned before?" I ask while watching the three tailed woman in her baggy clothing attempting to scrub the walls of the bathtub. "You're using hand soap for a tile wall."
	"I can clean it on my own, it's not that hard!" Sonia huffs, seeming to have too much pride to admit she is wrong. She has no idea what she is doing, I can tell that well enough. Learned a lot myself cleaning up after Eva.
	"Well, if you're doing it do it right. I need to go pick up some more livers for you, use some of the bathroom cleaner under the sink. You can work a child lock, right?" I ask, half joking with the fox as she attempts to scrub the bathtub next. She growls as she looks up at me, scowling even if it was a joke.
	"I'll be fine! Just go!" She snaps, though she's at least sounding a bit respectful towards me. Suppose she isn't used to handling some light criticism. I head out of the bathroom and leave her to it, though I do hear her fiddling with the child lock for a moment before getting it open as I head down the stairs. She's been cleaning since yesterday when she woke up. Seems to have a bit of energy back, and light exercise is good as long as I keep feeding her. I'm not sure why I'm still keeping her here, but it's barely a bother.
	I get myself dressed to head outside and open the door, coming face to face with the married kikimora woman from next door. I catch her by surprise with her small hand raised and ready to knock. Stepping out and closing the door behind me I pause to chat. She came by sometimes to check on me, though I had no idea why. Maybe because I used to be good friends with her husband till a few years ago.
	"Can I help you with something Catherine?" I ask, the kikimora lowering her hand and clearing her throat to speak.
	"I couldn't help but notice that there is a young woman in your house! Is she a relative of yours Sebastian?" Catherine asks, looking a bit concerned for me. Can't say I blame her, I did take in someone rather troublesome. Must have seen Sonia cleaning the windows earlier.
	"No, just took in a girl that was about to die in the snow. Doesn't want to go to a shelter, so I'm letting her stay." I explain, leaving out the parts that aren't needed. I don't want rumors of a kumiho spreading and causing hysteria. "Pretty poor at cleaning though."
	This gets Catherine's attention, though she tries to hide it. "Oh? Is she now? How bad?"
	"She tried to clean the bathroom tiles with hand soap."
	The kikimora's eyebrow twitches, but her smile stays on her face despite the sin against cleaning she had heard about. "She did now? That's no good!" She laughs. I'm getting a bit antsy to move along, and clear my throat a bit.
	"I gotta get going to pick up some food, lets talk another time." I suggest, moving around Catherine before she stops me with a hand grabbing my coat collar.
	"How about letting me teach her a few things about cleaning?" Catherine asks with a wide smile. I know better than to try and say no, and move back to the door to unlock it for her.
	"Alright, give it a go." I sigh, opening the door. "If she gets a bit... sketchy, just give her a pinch or a light slap. Something to snap her out of it. She probably won't do anything." I warn her.
	Catherine pauses a moment at the mention of the handling instructions, looking at me with a bit of concern before I explain further. "What do you mean 'sketchy'?"
	"Just has some health issues. I'm looking into it." I try to satiate her worries, Catherine just nodding once before heading inside my home. "She's still in the bathroom, be sure to introduce yourself."
	"Don't worry about me, worry about her! And go get that food!" She urges me, closing the door behind her. That's my house you know. Whatever, as long as she doesn't push Sonia too hard. I head to my truck and get it started up, moving off to go fetch the pig livers for the day. I only get one or two, depending on demands for fresh pork from the butcher. Seems to be enough to keep Sonia healthy, but her condition isn't getting better very quick. I'm almost hoping for a chance to get a human liver, if only just for research. Like anyone would believe a paper on Kumihos without any dna anyways, still can't find the chance to ask Sonia about it.
	My thoughts keep drifting as I pick up the livers and get back into the truck just as my cell phone goes off. I check the caller ID, ready to ignore it if it's only the two women at home. They can have fun with each other. It's the boss, calling from her personal cell. That means trouble. I answer it, not saying anything as I wait for her to speak.
	"Got a job tonight. We'll be bringing it around about one in the morning. Be there." She instructs before hanging up. Well, this is rare for this time of year. Don't want to know the details. Never do. I mentally plan out the day to be nice and alert with a nap somewhere before I need to show up as I start the truck, heading towards the nearest grocery store to get actual groceries before heading back home to see what the situation is.
	As soon as I hear the door open I hear a loud whining coming from upstairs. I take my time downstairs taking my snow gear off and adding wood to the fire before sorting the groceries, the noises and pleading continuing from the bathroom. What the heck are those two doing up there? I head on up to check on them, not thinking as I open up the bathroom door.
	I remember why I shouldn't forget to knock in that one moment as I see a nude three tailed fox with a red face and wide eyes staring back at me as Catherine scrubs and takes the knots out of her tails in a hot, soapy bath with her modest, bare chest in full view. It takes a few moments before she lets out a shrill scream and covers herself up, even hiding her face from me as I step backwards and close the door quick.
	"WHAT THE HELL SEBASTIAN?! YOU NEED TO KNOCK!! JERK!! ASSHOLE!!" The distressed fox yells out at me through the door as I find myself caught off guard and flustered. Catherine is just laughing for a while as Sonia keeps ranting and cursing before finally trying to calm the fox down.
	"Relax, it was an accident! He hasn't had to worry about knocking in a while!" The kikimora tries to reassure her, not having much luck on the other side of the door. I decide it'd be best to to and take a nap now while they're busy. A video sounds good too. Something to calm me down a bit.
	After a good hour of watching some of my home videos in my tidied but still dusty living room with a bottle of something cheap but strong, I hear movement upstairs again. They come back downstairs after a few more minutes with Sonia still looking a bit upset at me but Catherine leads her to the laundry room to fetch the vacuum. I'm glad I got a video that doesn't need much noise on, but it still takes fifteen minutes for Catherine to explain the intricacies of the vacuum and cleaning with it to Sonia before she has her start cleaning with it.
	The vacuuming keeps going on for much longer than it should, turning on and off anytime instruction is to be had. By the time they get to the living room Sonia stops and tosses the hose down to the ground in frustration. "I don't need to do it perfect!!" She yells, storming off into the trophy room. Still don't know why she claimed that room to stay in, but clears space in the living room.
	Caterine sighs, not bothering me as she puts the vacuum away before heading for the door. "I'll come back tomorrow, hopefully she's ready for more then. She honestly  knows nothing about cleaning." She complains. Well, I still don't have Sonia's story. Probably had a doting mother who never made the girl do any chores.
	"Just be patient with her. She's probably done enough exercise today anyways." I respond, drinking some more of my liquor and clearing my throat. Catherine looks a bit puzzled before seeming to understand why I had let her inside, humming a bit before opening the door.
	"Just call if you need help. That girl's got claws. Never met a fox with claws." Catherine ponders to herself as I watch her leave and close the door behind her. Well, seems I'll get some peace and quiet for now. A nagging at the back of my head distracts me though. Maybe brought about by the activity in my normally quiet home. I groan and stand up, taking my drink with me as I let the video play and head to the door of the trophy room. I almost open it up on my own but decide to knock instead. Sonia, wearing a different loose and baggy set of my wife's clothes, cracks the door open and looks out at me with a squinted set of eyes before seeing it's me.
	"Doing okay in there? She wasn't too rough, right?" I ask, not sure why I care. Sonia takes a moment to respond.
	"Yeah, I'm just not used to... that."
	"You mean getting told how to do things?"
	"Not that!"
	"Someone talking stern? Thin skinned, are you?"
	She hesitates and grumbles as I take a drink, neither of us saying anything for a long awkward minute where we both wait for someone to say something. I decide to speak first.
	"According to some stuff I looked up, you seem to be a Kumiho. Right now it's an urb-"
	"I'm not anything! I'm just a kitsune!" She yells, slamming the door. I could just open it up again but decide against it, due to how she reacted. She's grumpy and irritable right now. I make a mental note not to mention the 'K' word again. I sigh while scratching the back of my head and then my beard.
	"Nevermind then. Wake me up when you want dinner." I instruct her. I head off to my chair and sit down again, drinking from the bottle still in my hand. It's not long before I'm drifting off to sleep while I watch Tava bringing in the cake for Eva's fifth birthday.

	The  smell of burning and the sound of the smoke alarm wakes me up out of my sleep with a start, panic coming to me for a moment before I realize what  must be happening. I sigh and stand up to head into the kitchen to see the three tailed girl whining and trying to figure out how to put out a simple pan fire. I don't even know how she got something to catch fire without using oil. Probably wouldn't have caught fire if she used some. I head on over while she's trying to blow it out by flapping her apron at it, and simply pour some water from a cup on the burning liver to put the meat out. I turn the burner off and frown at the fox, her ears folding back as her eyes tried to apologize.
	"I told you to wake me up. How do you burn a liver with so much blood still in it?" I ask, only seeming to make Sonia feel even more ashamed or guilty as she looks at the ground.
	"I didn't want to wake you up, I thought it'd be easy. I watched you do it yesterday, a bit." She explains, not looking up at me. This doesn't make me feel guilty at all. I take a drink before patting her head, making her flinch in surprise.
	"That was the only pig  liver I could get today. Hope you're alright with chicken hearts tonight." I sigh, putting the pan in the sink and pouring more water onto the smoking liver as a sizzling sound comes from it. "Next time use some oil and keep the heat lower, keeping it rarer seems to keep you healthier."
	Sonia looks a bit confused as her ears rise a bit, nodding as she watched me get a different pan and start getting dinner together. "I want to help out though, I feel guilty making you do it!" She complains soon after, and I look at her with a small frown.
	"Let Catherine teach you a bit more before you try it. I still want to talk to you about what you may be. The only name that seems to fit is that one I used, but I'll avoid it. You seem to have trouble with that one."
	The carefully picked words seem to keep her from fleeing the conversation this time, though she takes a few minutes to respond. Her voice is shaky and nervous, with a hint of fear in it. She must be worried about what she really is herself.
	"What kind of things would we talk about?"
	"Nothing you're uncomfortable about. I'm still a doctor and can't do anything without consent. I'll ask about your life, maybe about your body a bit. If you're willing, taking a blood sample for dna testing. If you really are something else other than a kitsune, I can get it confirmed cost free. And track down any hereditary diseases at the same time." I inform her, "If you don't want to talk, that's fine. I still don't know why I'm curious about this. I'm only a clinical doctor anyways."
	She takes a few more moments to think before finally responding, still sounding nervous. "I'll think about it..." She mutters, moving away and back into the living room. I can hear her starting up my laptop, and leave her to entertain herself with videos online. She knows better than to snoop in my things on there, so I ignore it.
	Dinner goes by silently. Sonia still seems to be thinking about things, and taking it very seriously. Afterwards I leave her to her own devices as I take a nap upstairs in my bed, only waking up when midnight comes around. I head downstairs and check on the fox in the trophy room before heading out. She's sleeping a bit more restlessly this time.
	I drive to a different parking spot than usual, and walk to the morgue as out of sight as I can. Tonight calls for it. I head in the back door and head right for the dissection room to get a table ready and get dressed, the boss arriving not too long after me. Even bundled up she's still a few inches taller without the single horn coming out the top of her forehead, white hair kept in a tidy bun in the back with some bangs for style in the front with her glasses on her blue skin. As usual she is wearing a business suit, with pants, under the winter clothes she peels off while moving inside the side door I open for her.
	"Good, you're ready. We want this done with quick." She frowns, watching as her muscle carries in an over-sized laundry sack stuffed full. They open it up and out spills some poor dead sap along with bloody rags, the smell of blood from the bullet wound to the head telling me he's fresh but bled. I take a drink from the bottle I've gotten through half of while the two thugs put him on the table and begin stripping the body, ice filled organ coolers ready for me as I step up when the body is ready. I don't need to know who this is, or why the poor guy got a bullet to the brain. All I need to do is carefully cut out the organs, and plan how to claim the liver. I slip the blade on accident and swear, the blade damaging the liver with a small cut that makes the difference. They aren't watching me close, boss is surprisingly squeamish and the two associates are watching the entrances while I work.
	Before long the organs are packed away, and I have the damaged liver set aside to see if I can avoid suspicion. The associates and the boss move in as I'm moving the body into the incinerator to cremate the rest of the now mostly empty body, washing up as the boss moves up behind me.
	"Hey, what's with the liver?" She asks, not amused with the cut in it.
	"Drank too much and slipped up. You can take it out of my cut, I'll get rid of it. Just needed you to see why I left it out." I reply, boss still scowling at the back of my head with crossed arms.
	"Alright, but there is a shortage of livers on the market in this region. Whoever is down south isn't selling them with the rest of the parts anymore. At least not human ones." She slips, sighing when she realizes what gossip she let out. "Forget I said anything. Just burn the thing to ashes too."
	"Got it." I respond, turning to look her into the eyes. She looks skeptical still, but moves back out to go through the door. She doesn't even remind me to clean everything up. I do so, and tuck the liver away in some thick plastic bags to take it home with me. Once I'm dressed I head on out with my nondescript plastic bag, too thick for any blood to give it away. The trip home is nervous, with my heart beating in dread. I know if I get caught I'm dead. Not from prison, but before I even get that far. The associates wouldn't want me spilling any beans.
	I finally step back into my home at three in the morning. Rather fast time for that sort of job. I leave the lights off as I head right into the kitchen and put my empty bottle in one of the boxes, before hearing a noise behind me.
	Turning, I see two yellow predatory eyes in the darkness glowing. The shadowy, predatory figure is crouching and ready to lunge. And sure enough it does, eyes streaking along as the shadow bowls me over before diving for the plastic bag. It rips it open and I hear the ripping and cutting of the bloody organ. With myself no longer a target I stand up and get the light, seeing Sonia finishing the raw liver like a starved beast, liking up any bit of blood she can in her starved trance, some of it having gotten onto the clothing she was wearing. As she sat up and licked her hands she finally saw my shocked face, coming to her senses and staring at me. She looked at the bag and then seemed to recall what she had been doing.
	"Was that... pig liver?"
	I hesitate to answer, not knowing how she'd react. I decide to be honest, no matter the result.
	"No. Some... poor soul that didn't need it anymore."
	It takes her a moment to realize what I mean, and she nearly loses the meal. Something inside of her stops that though, as tears well up in her eyes. She looks at her bloody hands and clothes before standing up and running back to the trophy room to be alone. I only notice the sharp pain of claw marks from the sudden attack afterwards. They had gone right through my clothing. I head upstairs to disinfect the wounds, just in case.
	This may be more dangerous than I originally thought it would be.