A Fox's Family (31 page)

It
was tall. Whatever the thing was towered above her by at least three
feet. While it appeared vaguely humanoid in shape, with two arms, two
legs and a head, the resemblances ended there. What she at first
thought to be armor plating rippled when the creature moved, its
metallic surface gleaming brightly in the moonlight, giving it an
organic appearance. A sleek, bullet-shaped head swiveled in her
direction, its red v-shaped visor flashing, presumably scanning the
area. Clawed hands and feet clacked as it moved, scraping against the
ground and gouging small strips out of the cement.

“What
the hell are you supposed to be? Some kind of
Kamen
Rider
villain
reject? Wait, I know!” Heather pointed at it. “You’re
one of those human-sized
Gundam
things
that ended up being scrapped because no one cares about human-sized
Gundams
.
Am I right?”

The
thing did not answer. Its head tilted this way and that, as if
studying her from a different angle would help it figure out what she
was talking about.

And
then it charged. Without warning, without prompting, it rushed at her
like a missile locked onto its target.

Heather
rolled across the ground, avoiding what would have been a most
painful shoulder ram. Coming back up on her feet, she twisted around
to face this creature and reached behind her back, pulling out two
weapons from hidden holsters; a 9mm handgun and a flashbang. She
fired the already loaded gun several times, frowning when the bullets
just sunk into the thing’s armor.

Okay,
so bullets won’t work on this thing. That’s fine, I have
other weapons in my arsenal.

Clicking
the button on her flash grenade, she fast-balled the object right
into the strange creature’s face. The explosion, while not
harmful, was incredibly bright. Hopefully, that would scramble
whatever this thing used to perceive its opponents.

With
the thing distracted―hopefully―Heather turned tail and
ran. She didn’t know what that thing was, but it was already
clear to her that, whatever it was, she would not be able to defeat
it with her current arsenal. All she had were guns and stun grenades.

A
sound from behind made her eyes widen. She threw herself to the
ground just in time to avoid something with a fusillade shooting past
her. A rocket. The wall several feet away exploded in a shower of
flames and cement.

Heather
scrambled to her feet just in time to avoid being impaled through the
back. She warily eyed the weapon; made from the same organic material
as the creature, it shifted and morphed. What had once been a clawed
hand was now a large gun with multiple barrels. It pointed the gun at
her, the barrels spinning with a loud
whirr!

“Oh,
shit!”

There
was no time to think after that. Heather bolted. She jinked and juked
left and right, zigzagging across the blacktop, avoiding the many
hundreds of tiny bullets that pierced the ground and air around her.
Thankfully, whatever this thing was, it didn’t have very good
aim.

She
turned a corner leading into an alley. A ladder stood on her left.
She took it, ascending as swiftly as possible. The thing also turned
the corner and saw her. It aimed its gun and opened fire, but she was
already on the roof, sprinting across the rooftop.

It
followed her.

Heather
hissed as bullets whizzed past her. She reached the end of the roof
and leapt off, landing on the other roof. She stumbled, knees
bending, then rolled along the ground and shot back up. She continued
running and jumped to the next roof.

It
continued following her.

Releasing
a fierce groan, Heather put more effort into her running. It was
gaining on her. She could hear its feet pounding along the ground in
a series of loud
thack-thack!
sounds
that struck her ears like a violent heartbeat. The series of roofs
ended and Heather jumped down, rolling across the ground to absorb
the shock of impact. She ran to the right, quickly turning a corner
and ducking into an alley. There, she hid behind a large dumpster,
ignoring the smell. She’d rather deal with the scent of rotten
eggs and sulfur than whatever that thing was.

With
her back pressed against the dumpster, she could not see the thing as
it approached the alley. She could certainly hear it, though. Heather
held her breath, careful not to make a sound. She waited and waited
and waited, and after what felt like several hours of waiting, she
heard it move away from the alley and walk away. She breathed a deep
sigh of relief.

Striding
out from behind the dumpster, Heather was just about to begin walking
back home when a loud
click
echoed
behind her. Eyes wide, she spun around just in time to see a gun
pointed at her chest.

The
sound of a gunshot rang clearly in the alley.

Chapter
6

Perverts
and Precarious Predicaments

Kevin
stepped out from one of many shower stalls at Mad Dawg Fitness. He
grabbed the towel hanging from the nearest rack, wrapped it around
his waist, and walked into the changing room. While changing into his
normal clothes, Kevin noticed his reflection in the mirror and, being
a teenage boy, he ended up doing what all teenage boys did when they
saw their shirtless reflections in the mirror.

He
started flexing and checking out his muscles.

Unfortunately,
he was disappointed.

“Tsk.
Doesn’t look like I’ve grown much, does it?”

While
his chest and shoulders seemed a bit broader, he couldn’t see
any major differences between now and before he’d started
training with Kiara. His pectorals weren’t any more defined and
his stomach didn’t have those washboard abs he had always
wanted; he looked more or less the same as he always had. How
disappointing.

With
a sigh, he finished getting dressed, exited the locker room, and
strode to the gym’s entrance. Lilian stood near the door,
waiting for him. Kiara was there, too, and Kevin noticed that his
girlfriend kept as far from the other woman as possible.

His
lips twitched.

Even
though she dislikes Kiara, she still comes here to support me.

Every
day since the morning that she had first delivered breakfast, Lilian
had started coming to watch him train. She woke up earlier than she
used to, even though she didn’t have to, and rode over on his
bike, despite how cold it had become. It touched him more than he
could say. His heart warmed up every time he thought about it.

“Are
you ready to go, Kevin?” Lilian’s eyes brightened like
million-watt bulbs as he walked up to her.

With
his gym bag slung over his shoulder, Kevin grinned. “Yep.”

“Great!
Then let’s get going.”

“Thank
you again for training me,” Kevin addressed Kiara, who merely
smirked at him.

“Don’t
sweat it, boya. You’re a good student. I don’t think I’ve
ever met someone as determined to get stronger as you. Keep at it and
I’m sure you’ll be strong enough to take on some of the
less powerful yōkai someday.”

Kevin
blushed at the praise, just a bit. “Ah-hahaha, t-thank you.”

“Come
on, Kevin. Let’s go.”

“All
right, all right, no need to rush.”

He
and Lilian left the gym and rode back to their apartment. Kevin
didn’t even need to enter to know what he would find; Kotohime
cooking breakfast, Kirihime doing laundry or cleaning, Camellia still
sleeping, and Iris taking a bath. He’d gotten used to their
habits. It was hard to believe that they had only been living with
him for three weeks now.

After
locking up his bike, Kevin opened the door.

“HAWA!”

And
suddenly found himself getting a face full of breasts.

The
world around him spun as he and Camellia tumbled down the stairs.
After smacking various limbs against the hard cement of the
staircase, Kevin found himself sprawled on his stomach, on top of
Camellia, with his face still embedded in her massive cleavage.
Blinking several times, he looked up to see Camellia’s
not-quite-conscious face.

“Hawa,”
the woman mumbled in her semi-concussed state.

“M-My
Lady! Lord Kevin!” Kirihime rushed down the stairs in a panic,
Lilian following close behind. “Are you two alright!? You’re
not hurt, are you?”

“Ugh,
I’m fine,” Kevin mumbled, sitting up. He looked down at
Camellia, whose eyes held the glazed-over appearance of someone who’d
been knocked for a loop. “Don’t know if I can say the
same about Camellia, though.”

“Hawa,”
Camellia mumbled again, seemingly in agreement.

***

Kevin
and Lilian sat at the table, the amazing food cooked by Kotohime
arrayed before them. Camellia wasn’t sitting at the table with
them, and instead sat on the couch, watching some kind of early
morning kids’ cartoon, Adventure something or other. He didn’t
know what it was called, since he didn’t watch American
cartoons.

“Something
wrong, Kevin-sama?”

“Hm?”
It took Kevin a moment to realize that he’d been staring at the
same space for over five minutes. Returning to reality, he tossed
Kotohime a grin. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“You
seem to be doing that an awful lot in this story.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”
Kotohime waved off his question while Lilian giggled into her miso
soup. “What were you thinking about this time, if I may ask?”

“Just
all the changes that have happened.”

Kevin
looked around. Lilian sat next to him, Kotohime stood by the
redhead’s side, Camellia sat on the couch while laughing at
something he couldn’t see, and Kirihime stood beside her while
wearing a gentle smile.

“So
much has changed. Even now, it’s hard to believe that not even
four months have passed since I met Lilian.” Kevin sent the
redhead a warm look which actually made the girl blush, allowing him
to chalk up another point for himself. Kevin: Five. Lilian: Over
9,000. “I never imagined my life would take such a drastic
turn, but you know what?” His warm look turned into a joyful
grin. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“Kevin…”

“That’s
some pretty deep stuff you’re talking about there, kiddo―I
mean, Kevin.”

Everyone
looked up. Iris stood in the kitchen entrance dressed in a dark red
skirt, tan winter boots with fur lining the top, and a red shirt with
a black jacket thrown over it. Her hair was still wet from her bath.

“What
do you want?” Lilian asked menacingly. Iris flinched, but tried
to hide it. Kevin placed a hand on Lilian’s left thigh and
rubbed it in slow, concentric circles.

“Easy,”
he said. Lilian shuddered, her cheeks flushing just a bit as she
released a breathy sigh, relaxing completely under his ministration.
And with her no longer hissing like an angry viper, Kevin greeted
Iris. “Morning, did you sleep well?”

Iris
looked stunned for a moment, but recovered admirably. “Yeah, I
slept fine… thanks for asking.” She sat down opposite
the two, dark eyes the color of blood peering at them; conflicting
thoughts visible beneath her calm facade. “So… I imagine
you slept pretty well, right? After our little talk, I mean.”

“Talk?”
Lilian snapped out of her pleasant fugue.

“Nothing
important.” Kevin tried to wave her question off.

Iris
saw the opportunity for a prank.

“Oh?
You didn’t know?” A sinful smile. “Your mate woke
up late last night and comforted me in my time of turmoil.” A
dreamy sigh. “He was so gentle and tender. I can see why you
like him so much.” Iris winked at the gobsmacked Lilian. “He’s
quite the charmer.”

“That’s
not how it happened at all! Don’t say things that could be so
easily misunderstood!”

“Kevin…”

Wincing,
Kevin turned to see Lilian. She was angry. Well, sort of angry. He
imagined that if he ever saw an angry chipmunk, it would look a lot
like Lilian did right then.

“Now,
Lilian,” Kevin wanted to run away, but resisted that particular
urge. “Iris is just pushing your buttons. I woke up last night
to get a midnight snack and saw her standing on the balcony. We
talked for a bit and came to an understanding. That’s all.”

“He
also offered me his carrot stick.”

“Right.”
Kevin nodded. “I also offered her my―wait.” He
blinked. Then he blushed. “I did not! And it was just a carrot!
A CARROT!”

“Beloved,
I can’t believe you would do this to me!” Tears sprang to
Lilian’s eyes. “How could you offer her your carrot stick
when you haven’t even offered it to me!”

“Would
you stop it with the carrot innuendo already?!”

“Huhuhu,”
Iris snickered behind her hand.

“And
you stop laughing!”

While
the three youngsters bantered amongst themselves, Kotohime placed her
hands on her cheeks and smiled. “Ara. It’s so nice to see
these three getting along.”

***

Despite
the zaniness during breakfast that morning, Kevin, Lilian, and Iris
made it to the bus stop with plenty of time to spare.

Upon
their arrival, Kevin immediately started sulking several feet away.
He crouched next to the stop sign and drew circles on the ground with
his right index finger. His HP gauge had taken several hits that
morning, and he needed some time to grieve. That meant Iris and
Lilian were alone, which gave them a chance to talk.

“Why
don’t you tell me what really happened last night,”
Lilian demanded, not asked. It wasn’t a request.

Iris
sighed. “It’s more or less exactly how Kevin put it; he
woke up, got a midnight snack, saw me on the balcony, and we talked.”

“About?”

“About
how I shouldn’t dislike him until I’ve gotten to know him
better.”

“And?”

“And
I agreed to try and do that.” When Iris saw Lilian smile in her
direction, she looked away. “Don’t look too into it. I
doubt I’ll ever like him. I just don’t want you to hate
me. I couldn’t care less about your… mate.”