A Fox's Family (21 page)

“Hawa…”
Camellia’s shoulders slumped,  her eyes becoming dewy as
tears started to gather. “Sowwy…”

“It
is fine. Do not worry about it.”

“Kay.”
Camellia wiped a few errant tears from her eyes. She then presented
them with a smile. “Thank you.”

Kotohime
felt eyes upon her and turned her head. She blinked. A woman whose
skin was so pale that it appeared almost translucent was staring at
her with a narrow-eyed gaze. Her outfit, an outdated skirt with an
equally out of date collared shirt and black stockings, kept much of
her body covered. She had no clue who this woman was, but that
scrutinizing expression, those eyes that stared at her in distinct
disapproval, bothered her.

“Can
I help you,
Josei
-san?”

If
Ms. Vis noticed Kotohime’s use of the Japanese word for
“woman,” she did not let onto this fact. If she heard the
tone of warning in Kotohime’s voice, then she willfully ignored
it.

“You…”
her frown increased. It looked like she was thinking really hard.
Kotohime could practically see the gears in her head turning. “Look
awfully familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”

Now
it was Kotohime’s turn to frown. “I am quite sure that
you and I have never met before, though I must admit that you look
familiar. Perhaps we have―ah, now I remember. You’re Ms.
Vis, if I am not mistaken.”

Ms.
Vis’ eyes widened. “Y-yes, but how did you—”

“Lilian-sama
has spoken of you quite often, and I recognize you from the
description that she gave me.” Kotohime eyed the woman before
her with a studious gaze. So this was the woman that Lilian always
complained about?

Hmm…

“Lilian-sama,”
Ms. Vis mumbled, her eyes blinking. “You don’t mean Ms.
Pnevma, do you?”

“Indeed.”

“You…
just how do you three know that girl?”

“Ah!
That’s easy! Camellia is…”

“Camellia-sama
is Lilian-sama’s mother.”

“Hawa…
Camellia wanted to say that…”

“My
apologies, Camellia-sama.”

“Hawawawa.”

“M-mother?!”
Ms. Vis seemed shocked. She even pointed at Camellia with a shaky
finger. “You’re that girl’s mother?!”

“Um!”
Camellia nodded with a happy smile.

The
chalky math teacher pressed a hand to her forehead, as if she could
already feel a migraine coming just by being in the presence of
Lilian’s
Mother
.

“And
what about you two?” Ms. Vis tossed the sisters a stern look
complete with thin, flat lips. “How do you know Ms. Pnevma?”

“Kirihime
and I are this family’s humble and hardworking servants.”
Kotohime, ever the proper
Yamato
Nadeshiko
,
bowed to the shocked educator. “I would like to thank you for
taking care of Lilian-sama and helping further her education.”

Having
apparently not expected such a polite and proper response, Ms. Vis
stumbled over her words. “I-it’s… that’s
alright. You’re welcome, I guess.” A second passed before
her glare returned. “If you know Ms. Pnevma, does that mean you
also know Mr. Swift?”

“Yes.”

“And
what is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Swift?”

“Ah!
Kevin is―”

“Lilian-sama’s
fiance.”

“Hawa…
Koto is being mean to Camellia.”

“Ufufu.
Please accept this humble maid’s apologies again,
Camellia-sama”

“Muu.”

Ms.
Vis stood before the strange trio of beautiful women, her mind
blanking as the word “fiance” bounced in her skull like a
linear equation.

“Is
she going to be okay?” Kirihime looked worried as she waved a
hand in front of an unresponsive Ms. Vis’ face.

“Ufufu,
I believe she will be fine.”

“I
don’t know, sister, she looks broken.”

Once
the word “fiance” settled in her mind like an isosceles
triangle, Ms. Vis snapped out of her fugue and began to sputter.
“M-m-m-marriage?! Did you just say t-that girl is
m-mar-mar-m-m-marrying Mr. Swift?!”

The
three kitsune glanced at each other.

“Um,
yes?”

“Not
happening! No way. No way, no way, no way, it’s not happening!”
Ms. Vis showed just how much she disapproved of Kevin and Lilian’s
apparent union by crossing her arms in an “X” pattern.
“They are too young to be thinking about marriage! Way too
young! They haven’t even been properly educated yet! And that
girl is just no good for Mr. Swift! No good at all!”

Two
of the three kitsune’s eyes narrowed.

“Ne,
Sister, can I cut her?”

“No.”
Kotohime sent her sister a glance. That odd glint in Kirihime’s
eyes. The strange smile on her face. She recognized those signs, and
they meant nothing good. “There shall be no cutting.”

Kirihime
looked disappointed, but relented under her sister’s unwavering
gaze.

“I
know! I’ll give her detention!” Ms. Vis’ eyes had
taken on a maniacal glint as she continued raving like a lunatic.
“That will teach her! I’ll give her an entire month’s
worth of detention! No! I’ll give her a whole year’s
worth of detention!”

“No,
you will not.”

Ms.
Vis growled, an unusual sounding snarl that bubbled up from her
throat. She turned to glare at Kotohime, and made the same mistake
with the four-tailed kitsune that she often made with Lilian.

She
looked into the woman’s eyes. Her glowing eyes.

Ms.
Vis’ own eyes glazed over.

“You
will not do anything untoward to either Lilian-sama, Iris-sama or
Kevin-sama.”

“I
will not doing anything untoward to them…”

“In
fact, from this day forward, you will treat Lilian-sama with love and
respect.”

“Love
and respect…”

“Kevin-sama,
too. You will treat him as if he were your own son.”

“My
own son…”

Kotohime
made a vaguely dismissive gesture with her right hand.

“Move
along.”

“Move
along…”

When
Ms. Vis turned around and walked away, disappearing down one of the
store’s many aisles, Kirihime turned to her sister.

“That
was an impressive use of enchantments, sister. You really have that
whole Jedi thing down to a T. Obi-Wan’s got nothing on you.”

“Please
do not compare me to an old man in a bathrobe,” Kotohime
muttered. “Now then, let us continue shopping. We’ve
already wasted enough time here.”

“Sure.”
Kirihime was about to look back at the shopping list when she
realized they were missing someone. Again. “Um, hey Sister,
where is my Lady Camellia? I could have sworn she was right behind
me.”

Kotohime
looked at where Camellia had been standing just a few seconds prior.
When she saw that the space was unoccupied, she brought up a hand and
used it to palm her face.

“Come
on,” she moved off, leaving their cart behind. “Let’s
go look for her before she breaks something or some human tries
taking advantage of her.”

Kirihime’s
eyes widened in alarm. “Y-you don’t think that would
really happen, do you? It wouldn’t happen, right?”
Kotohime said nothing. She was already walking off. “Sister?
Sister? Wait up! Don’t leave me!”

***

The
first rays of light peeked in through Christine’s window.

Unlike
most mornings, when the rise of the sun would wake her up, Christine
did not wake up from it this time—because she was already
awake.

She
sat on her bed, dark bags underneath her eyes. In her lap was a book,
and her hungry gaze devoured the words written on each page with the
vigor of a dog gnawing on a chew toy. However, despite how much
Christine enjoyed reading, she was not doing so for pleasure. Not
this time. She was a snow-woman on a mission. An important mission.

It
had become increasingly obvious to her that if she wanted to get
Kevin to notice her over that big-breasted bimbo, then she would need
to step up her game.

She
sat on her bed, holding a book titled “Five Easy Steps to
Making Him Yours” and flipped through the pages, scanning the
text like an alchemist searching for clues about the Philosopher’s
Stone. Situated around her person were numerous other books, all of
them bearing similar titles: “So You Want to Get a Boyfriend?”
and “The Best Way to a Man’s Heart is His Through His
Chode” were just a few of the titles stacked haphazardly on her
bed.

Her
eyes scanned one page and then she flipped to the next page. She
didn’t stop for anything. Not to use the restroom, not to get a
drink. Nothing. When she finished reading the last page fifteen
minutes later, she closed the book and released a sigh. Gods, she was
tired. Her eyes felt heavy and thick. All she wanted to do was take a
nap. In fact, that sounded like a really good idea.

Christine
let herself backwards onto her bed. Her hair spread out around her,
contrasting with the light blue sheets and her pale body. She
prepared to close her eyes when she caught sight of the clock.

6:34
am.

She
rubbed her eyes, then looked again.

Still
6:34 am.

“Shit!”

Jumping
to her feet with an energy she did not know she possessed, Christine
began throwing on her clothes. After spending nearly half an hour
putting her ridiculously complicated gothic lolita outfit on, she
rushed out of the apartment and sprinted to the bus stop as quickly
as her dress would allow.

It
was only after she had gotten on the bus that she realized something.

“Damn
it! I forgot to take a shower!”

Six
seconds later, Christine realized she’d just shouted and that
everyone was now staring at her. Seven seconds after that, a blushing
and thoroughly embarrassed Christine sat in a seat at the back of the
bus, doing her best to pretend she didn’t exist.

I
hate my life.

***

Kevin
bobbed in and out of consciousness as the car he was in drove down
the road.

Lilian
had managed to heal all of his injuries, but she hadn’t healed
the damage done from working out to his muscles. According to Kiara,
having his muscles healed by a Celestial Kitsune would negate all of
the effort he put in that day. This meant he would have to suck it
up.

Lilian
also couldn’t heal exhaustion. Go figure.

He
really didn’t want to go to school today. A part of him felt
tempted to ask Lilian if she would like to stay home with him and
watch anime. He didn’t, but only because the larger part of him
knew that skipping school was wrong.

Curse
his sense of responsibility.

Still,
things could have been worse. He could have been riding his bike to
school that day. Instead, Kiara had offered to give them a ride,
which was good, because even if he had been in any condition to ride
his bike, there were one too many people for him to travel with.

He
sat slumped in the back seat, with Lilian sitting next to him and his
head resting on her shoulder. Delicate, feminine fingers traveled
through his hair, and long nails gently scratched his scalp. It felt
good. Really good.

By
the gods, he loved having a girlfriend.

Sitting
on Lilian’s other side, Iris seemed to be bothered by
something. Her face had become pale and her eyes withdrawn. She kept
glancing at Kiara every so often before shifting back to look out the
window. Kevin didn’t know what was bothering the girl, but he
was too tired to care about whatever troubles ailed his
girlfriend-slash-mate’s sister.

Kevin
jerked in his seat when the car ceased moving with startling
suddenness. The action forced his eyes wide open. He looked around,
noticing the mass of people outside of the windows, and realized they
had arrived at school.

“Come
on, Kevin. Time to get out.” Kevin groaned, causing the
emerald-eyed fox-girl to smile as she gently helped him undo his
seatbelt. “Don’t act so glum. I’m sure once you’ve
had a chance to relax in class, things will get better.”

“Our
first class is with Ms. Vis.”

Lilian
winced. “Okay, after our first class, I’m sure things
will get better.”

“I
wish I had your optimism.”

***

“What
the hell is this?!”

Before
he, Lilian and Iris could take so much as a single step from Kiara’s
vehicle, one of the few people Kevin could truly say he hated marched
up to the group.

It
was enough to make Kevin wonder if there really was such a thing as
karma.

Chris
Fleischer looked better than he had in months, which wasn’t
saying much because it was clear to Kevin that the inu no longer
possessed the strength he once boasted. His body looked frail. Weak.
His muscles had long since atrophied, and he no longer held the
appearance of a hulking monstrosity. Now, he looked abnormally tall
and skinny.

Was
this the result of whatever technique Lilian had used on him those
three months ago?

“Hello
there, little brother,” Kiara greeted the younger inu with a
look that said,
I
know what you’re thinking, and I really couldn’t give a
damn.
It
was an impressive look, to be sure. Kevin would have to remember it.
“How are you doing this morning?”