A Fox's Family (23 page)

Iris
looked at Christine, whose face steadily grew a darker shade of blue
with each passing second. She then looked at Kevin, who appeared
wary, as if he was expecting the snow-maiden to erupt.

Raven
hair fluttered as she looked back at Lilian.

“Aren’t
you worried that she might take him from you?” she teased, her
mischievous crimson eyes glittering like diamonds.

“Why
would I be worried about something like that?” Lilian asked. “I
don’t mind if she loves Kevin. However, I don’t think
Kevin is really interested in going the harem route, so I doubt
anything will happen between them.”

“…
Right…”

“To
be honest, I feel kind of bad for her,” Lilian admitted. “She
clearly likes him, but she’s so tsundere that I doubt Kevin
even realizes it.”

“Hn.”

Kevin
noticed how Christine continued standing there, not speaking, the
blue of her face spreading to her neck, and he became worried.

“Are
you alright?”

Christine
jumped in surprise. She looked at Kevin, and then looked away. Back
at Kevin. Then away again. After doing this exactly six more times,
she crossed her arms and tried unsuccessfully to look nonchalant.

“O-o-of
course! W-w-why wouldn’t I be?”

“Your
face is blue.”

“Wh-w-w-wha―IT
IS NOT!” Christine exploded. Kevin winced as several strands of
his hair froze like icicles. “And so what if it is?! It’s
not like that’s any of your business, idiot! Jerk! Stupid!”

“Woah!”
Kevin held his hands up. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean to upset you. Please don’t be mad at me.”

Christine’s
eyes widened. “I-I-I’m not—I mean, it’s not
like—IT ISN’T LIKE THAT!”

“Wow,”
Iris chuckled in condescending amusement. “She’s got it
bad.”

Incapable
of disputing that fact, Lilian could only nod.

Christine’s
face looked like an icicle ready to spontaneously combust.
“T-that’s—I’m s-s-s-s-s-s—”

“Christine?”
Kevin leaned in closer. “Seriously, you’re beginning to
worry me. You don’t have a fever do you?”

Christine
froze when Kevin placed a hand on her forehead. Her eyes became the
size of hockey pucks and her jaw started to tremble.

“Ten
buckss says she blows up on him?” Iris said to Lilian, who
shook her head.

“I
don’t take sucker’s bets.”

“Tch.
Spoilsport.”

“W-w-wha…?”

“Hm,”
Kevin murmured as he placed his other hand against his own head,
feeling the difference in their temperature. “You are awfully
cold, but I don’t think you have a fever.”

“W-w-wha…”

“But
if you’re not sick, then why is your face all blue? Is this a
yuki-onna thing?”

“W-w-w-wha…”

“Christine?”

“WHAT
THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, JACKASS!”

“What
the―gack!”

Kevin
never managed to finish his sentence before Christine’s swift
uppercut slammed into the underside of his chin. He felt a brief
chill, like the skin there was being flash frozen, and then came an
unusual feeling of weightlessness.

Several
seconds later, he hit the ground.

It
really hurt.

“Gu…
huu… uuhhh…”

Christine
stared at Kevin as he lay on his back, his eyes crossed. Her own eyes
were wide, and they went wider still the longer she stared, as if she
couldn’t believe she had just hit Kevin. “This isn’t
what I―I mean, I didn’t mean to―THIS IS ALL YOUR
FAULT! JERK!”

“Kevin!”

While
Lilian went to help her beloved mate, Iris watched the snow-maiden
run off and disappear around the corner.

“So
that’s a tsundere, huh?” she pondered something for a
moment before chuckling. “It looks like he really does have one
of every type.” She glanced at Kevin and Lilian to see her
lovely sister place a kiss on the young man’s chin, and ignored
the irritation she felt. Now was not the time for that. “Hey,
kiddo, do you plan on getting a kuudere as well? You know, to make
your harem more complete?”

“Be
quiet!” A thoroughly embarrassed Kevin hissed in pain, the act
of moving his jaw hurting more than he expected it to. “Ow, ow,
ow. Pain. My jaw. I think it’s broken.”

“Do
you want me to kiss the pain away?” Lilian offered. Kevin
blushed, but still managed to nod.

As
Iris watched the two, the plan that had been forming in her mind
began to solidify. She couldn’t allow this to continue. She
would prove to Lilian that Kevin didn’t deserve to be her mate.

All
she needed was an opportunity to put her plan into action.

***

After
rounding another corner, Christine leaned her back against the wall
and held a hand to her heart. It was beating so fast, like a
hummingbird’s wings with the strength of a battering ram. She
could practically feel it trying to pound its way out of her ribcage!

Her
legs, already weak from the nerve-wracking experience, gave out, and
Christine slid onto her bottom. A shiver caused her to realize that
she was also losing control of more than just her emotions. The
concrete underneath her had frozen solid. Hoarfrost spread along the
ground, slowly creeping across the pavement like an insipid creature
of the deep abyss, and had even traveled up the wall behind her. Her
breath came out as a thick white mist, and several people walking
nearby shivered.

Why
was this so hard? Confessing shouldn’t be this difficult,
should it?

N-not
that I actually love Kevin! This is just a crush! A crush, damn it! I
simply want my first dating experience to be with someone I know and
trust! That’s all!

Keep
telling nyourself that, nya.

Shut
up!

“Ha…”

Closing
her eyes, Christine began several breathing exercises, the same ones
she had been taught years ago when her benefactor adopted her. They
helped her regain a semblance of control, both over her powers and
her emotions. The hoarfrost receded, her breath ceased to produce
mist, and her cheeks returned to their pale skin tone.

Standing
up, Christine started walking to her next class. This attempt at
talking to Kevin had been a bust, but she would try holding a regular
conversation with him again at lunch.

“My
Gothic Hottie!”

Eric
Corrompere suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rushed Christine with
the intent to… well, Christine didn’t actually know what
he planned on doing, and she didn’t care either. His presence
meant that she now had the perfect punching bag to rid herself of
that last bit of pent-up embarrassment.

Tsundere
Protocols: Activated.

“I’M
NOT YOUR GOTHIC HOTTIE!”

And
so the mighty fist of a tiny little girl flew straight and true.

***

“AAAIIIEEEEE!!”

Sitting
at his desk, Kevin Swift looked up, his face etched in a stern
expression more suited to a field commander than a 15 year old high
school student.

“Is
something wrong, Kevin?” Lilian asked.

“No,”
Kevin said after a moment, his body returning back to a more relaxed
posture. “I just thought I heard Eric screaming in unimaginable
pain for some reason.”

“I’m
sure you were just hearing things.”

“Yeah,
you’re probably right.”

Another
moment passed before Kevin returned to taking notes, as Ms. Bonnet
lectured them on proper enunciation and lexicon.

Lilian
was right. He must have been hearing things.

Chapter
5

The
Great Costume Disaster

When
news that Lilian was no longer living in the Pnevma estate reached
Jiāoào, he had ordered his servants
to begin departure preparations immediately. This was the chance that
he’d been waiting for, and so, after making his servants gather
the essentials that he would need for a trip to the United States,
Jiāoào and his small
entourage started their journey.

On
October 8th, they left his family’s second home without
informing anyone that he would be leaving and made their way to
Shanghai. His plan was to book passage on a seafaring vessel that
would take him to the United States. He was eager to claim his prize.

Unfortunately,
in spite of his impatience to arrive in Phoenix and acquire his
soon-to-be mate,
Jiāoào
found himself facing several unexpected delays.

“What
do you mean no ships can set sail?”
A
growl gurgled from within his throat as he glared at Maddison, who
had prostrated herself before him. “Well?!”

“I―th-there’s
a storm, Lord Jiāoào.”
Maddison’s voice quivered as she spoke. Fear permeated her
being. That was good. She
should have known better than to present him with information that he
didn’t want to hear.
“A-a hurricane. Th-they said it’s too dangerous to set
sail.”

“Tch!”

Jiāoào
paced back and forth, his face twitching in anger. He couldn’t
believe it! He was this close to having Lilian in his grasp, and he
couldn’t even get to her!

He
took a deep breath. There was no need to get upset. So, he would have
to wait a little bit longer before collecting his prize. All was not
lost. He was a patient fox. He had waited several years to claim
Lilian already; waiting a bit longer wouldn’t kill him.

He
looked down at the Water Kitsune and licked his lips.

While
he waited to meet with his Lilian again, he would entertain himself
with this one.

It
was the least she could do for presenting him with such distressing
information.

***

Saturday
morning was surprisingly gloomy. The sun hid behind the clouds,
concealing the bright rays normally associated with the desert state.

Kevin
was once again sparring against the one he called Midget. It had been
getting a little easier with repetition, though only a little.
Midget, like most people, seemed to have a pattern to his attacks,
and if he could discern what that pattern was, they could better
defend themselves against him.

His
eyes narrowed in fierce concentration, Kevin focused all his efforts
on not getting his face caved in by the stronger man’s limbs
and also tried to determine what this man’s attack pattern was.

A
right straight came flying at him. Kevin sidestepped to the left, his
movements just a little awkward. He tried stepping into his
opponent’s guard, but had to halt his momentum when a knee
suddenly threatened to render him a soprano.

While
moving backwards, he tripped over his own two feet. As he fell down,
however, his left leg shot out and he hooked his foot on the
underside of Midget’s knee. When his back hit the ground, his
momentum, combined with the strange maneuver, gave him the strength
needed to yank Midget’s feet out from under him.

Rolling
backwards, Kevin eventually landed on his feet. He staggered two
steps when he couldn’t quite regain his balance, but his
sparring partner was having the same problem due to his unorthodox
attack. They both reclaimed their equilibrium at the same time, but
it was Midget who reinitiated the spar, stepping into Kevin’s
guard and launching a one-two combination of right straight, left
hook.

Kevin
avoided the straight by stepping to the left, and the hook was evaded
when he ducked. This would have been the perfect maneuver to respond
with a powerful uppercut, which had been his plan all along…
except Midget fought using Muay Thai, a kickboxing style that relied
on knees and elbows as much as it did hands and feet. When Kevin
ducked low, a large hand grabbed a fistful of his hair and he ended
up having a meeting of the nose-on-knee kind.

Pain
exploded in his nose, but Kevin managed to keep it together. He moved
with the attack, rolling backwards, and came up on his feet.

He
wasn’t given much reprieve, as Midget was already coming in
swinging. His vision became filled with a large fist. Eyes wide,
Kevin tried to sidestep, but his left foot caught his right leg and
he tripped.

Fortunately
for Kevin, he had something to grab onto.

Midget’s
forearm.

“What
the―whoa!”

Using
his own fall as leverage, Kevin swung the much wider male around by
the arm. While Midget was not launched far, he did end up flying a
few good feet before landing on his stomach. Not wanting to give his
opponent the opportunity to recover, Kevin rushed forward, intent on
ending the mock-battle.

He
soon discovered that Midget had no intention of losing.

Before
Kevin knew what had happened, something that reminded him of a steel
vice grabbed onto his leg. There was a momentary feeling of being
weightless as he was yanked off the ground. Several seconds later,
his stomach rose into his throat, and then his back hit the mat hard
enough that all of the air left his lungs in a loud
whoosh!
of
breath.

“Gu…
hu…”

It
was a familiar feeling, not having any air in his lungs. Kevin would
even go so far as to say he’d gotten used to it. That still
didn’t make it any better, though.

“Hu…
hack… uh…”

“I
think I broke him.” Midget idly scratched his left elbow.
“Whoops.”

“Ng…”

“Those
are some awfully weird noises you’re making, bud.”

Kevin
wanted to tell Midget to piss off, but all that came out was a
strange, gurgling noise that sounded sort of like, “murgle.”

“Alright,
that’s enough for today.” Kiara clapped her hands
together and gestured at her three stooges. “You three can head
home now.”

“You
got it, Kiara.”

As
the trio left, Kiara walked over to Kevin, who pushed himself into a
sitting position and leaned back on his arms. Her business suit
ruffled as she stepped in front of him, arms crossing as she looked
at the young man with a critical eye.

“You’re
surprisingly clumsy for someone who runs so well.”