A Fox's Alliance (American Kitsune Book 10)

by Brandon Varnell

  Waiting outside of The Yōkai Café, Jack and Jill watched from a store across the street as the group in question exited the café. Someone else was with them. Judging from their data, the woman who strolled casually by their side was none other than Kuroneko, the so-called Queen of Saint Byakko, the name which Los Angeles had been rechristened.

  “All right, you three,” the one called Kuroneko said. “Let’s be off.”

  “Are you sure it’s okay to just leave your store unattended?” asked Kevin.

  Kuroneko gave him a lazy, cat-like grin as she waved a hand over her shoulder. “It’ll be fine. My girls know what to do. They don’t need me looming over their shoulder.”

  “Could you two please be quieter?” Iris complained as she stumbled along beside them. “Gods, what the hell is with all this noise?”

  “It’s cause you got wasted last night,” Lilian chided, wagging her finger at Iris. “You really shouldn’t have drank so much.”

  “It was a party,” Iris mumbled morosely.

  The group went off, walking into the crowd of people. Despite the war, and in spite of being considered yōkai territory, there were a lot of civilians in this part of town—not all of them were yōkai. It made tracking them without being spotted easy. Jack and Jill silently blended into the crowd, keeping an eye on the group by tracking them in the reflection of windows.

  They weren’t trying to hide themselves. Their tails and ears were out for all to see, but no one present even batted an eyelash since this place already had so many yōkai walking around in broad daylight.

  Kuroneko spoke to Kevin and Lilian, talking loudly to be heard over the crowd. Iris was dragged behind them, her left hand trapped in the fierce grip of her sister. She looked miserable. Bags under her bloodshot eyes. Hunched shoulders. Stooped posture. She was clearly suffering from a horrible hangover.

  “I wonder where they’re going,” Jack whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

  “Who knows,” Jill whispered back. “Yōkai are an odd breed.”

  Jack and Jill didn’t have the prejudice against yōkai that many humans did. The only reason they were fighting was because of their loyalty to the United States. Personally, they felt it would have been better to broker peace with the yōkai, but it wasn’t their job to express such thoughts. They did as they were ordered and nothing more.

  It didn’t take long for Jack and Jill to realize the group’s destination. The Grove was a major shopping mall in Los Angeles—a masterpiece of faux architecture filled with water fountains synchronised to music, cobblestone pathways, and a wide variety of stores.

  Jack and Jill glanced at each other in confusion, but they gamely followed the group into the mall.

  ***

  Perhaps following the group into the mall wasn’t such a good idea.

  Following them wasn’t necessarily a problem. The problem wasn’t in their abilities, but in where the group they were tailing went into.

  A store.

  A store that exclusively sold women’s swimwear.

  Yes, it was a store that sold bikinis.

  “What should we do?” Jack asked, for once, at a loss.

  “There’s no choice. We have to go in,” Jill determined.

  Jack shuffled. “I’m… not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  Jill rolled her eyes and grabbed her brother by the arm. “We have no choice. Do not worry. I’ve gone shopping at places like this with my friends before. Just follow my lead.”

  “… You have friends?”

  “...”

  “Owch! Not the ear! Let go of my ear!”

  ***

  “Why are we shopping for bikinis again?” Kevin asked.

  “What’s wrong, child? Don’t you want to see your mate in a bikini?” Kuroneko asked, studying a risque two-piece swimsuit, her split tail swishing around.

  Kevin clicked his tongue. “Don’t answer my question with another question. I thought we were traveling toward Saint Byakko, your secret hideout. Why are we not doing that?”

  Kuroneko laughed. “Haven’t you already guessed? You’ve been in Saint Byakko from the very moment you entered Los Angeles.”

  It took him a second to understand the implications of that statement. “You mean…”

  “That’s right. This entire city is Saint Byakko. Everyone here works for me; the yōkai, the humans. Everyone.”

  Kuroneko’s claim made Kevin realize why Daven Monstrang held this woman in such high regard. If this entire city really was under her complete control, then she must be a truly formidable yōkai. Of course, he knew that she was strong, being a member of the Four Saints and everything, but just how strong hadn’t really sunk in until this moment.

  “Beloved! Beloved!” Lilian came running up to him. “Take a look at this! What do you think?”

  Held out in Lilian’s hands was a bikini. It was a fiery red color, much like her hair. The bottom was nothing but a g-string, while the top only had two triangles to protect her modesty. If she decided to wear this, those triangles would cover her nipples but nothing more.

  “I think you should try it on first,” Kevin said. “Although, you might want to go with black—no, better stick with red. Black’s overdone in bikinis these days.”

  “Kay!”

  A beaming Lilian grabbed Kevin by the arm and dragged him to the nearest changing stall. She then rushed into the stall, and Kevin soon heard the sound of rustling clothes. Sighing as he realized that they really weren’t gonna talk business until later, he leaned against a support pole next to the changing stalls, resigning himself to wait.

  All of Los Angeles, huh?

  It really was surprising to learn that the entirety of Los Angeles was Saint Byakko. When Daven had told him that Saint Byakko was Kuroneko’s hideout, he’d assumed it was a community similar to Neo Seiryuu. Instead of finding an underground community, however, he’d discovered an entire city filled with millions of people.

  That Kuroneko… she really is a powerful woman. Truly frightening.

  Kevin knew plenty of powerful women. Kiara, his trainer in the ways of badassery, was a one-armed walking engine of destruction. She could punch holes through concrete without relying on her yōkai powers. There was also Kotohime, whose skill with a blade was so incredible it left him speechless. They weren’t the only strong women he knew either. Lilian and Iris were powerful in their own right, and there were also the group of yama uba who’d traveled to Arizona with Phoebe and Polydora. Still, while all those women were physically and magically imposing, Kuroneko was strong in a different kind of way.

  Two people walked into his field of vision while he was thinking. Turning his head, Kevin frowned when he saw a pair of older people. They both had brown hair, brown eyes, and looked incredibly nondescript. If it wasn’t for how there weren’t many people in this store just then, he would have never even noticed them. Thinking on it, the only reason he noticed them now was because the male looked uncomfortable.

  A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around his neck.

  “Huh?”

  It was all he could get out before the arms yanked him backwards. Kevin yelped as he was pulled into a changing room. Scowling, he turned around to give the person a tongue lashing.

  “Listen you! What do you think you’re… eh?”

  Iris grinned. “Have you been stunned speechless by my sexiness?”

  Kevin said nothing for a full minute. Iris had apparently recovered from her hangover while they were walking, and she’d even chosen to change into a bikini when he wasn’t looking.

  He would have considered the bikini Iris was wearing modest—except that it looked like the bikini of a dominatrix, all leather and metal studs. He wouldn’t have been the least surprised if she suddenly pulled a whip and a pair handcuffs out of her cleavage.

  “Uhuhuhu, I see that you really have been rendered speechless by the glorious delights of this bountiful booty.” Iris laughed like a perverted old man.

  Kevin sn
apped out of his stupor, shaking his head and dispelling his senselessness. “Um, no. Actually, I was thinking you’d look better in something a little more normal. Right now, you look like someone from Bondage Babes Gone Wrong.”

  “Normal is overrated.”

  Kevin contemplated rolling his eyes, but just then, a pair of red tails wrapped around his waist. He looked at the tails. Then at Iris, who was also looking at the tails. He looked back at the tails again. Then Iris one more time.

  “Oh, crap.”

  “Beloved! Come check out my swimsuit!”

  “Waaah!”

  Kevin flew out of the changing room. Lilian must have put more strength into her tails than she had realized, because he soon slipped from her grasp and went flying across the room—

  “Get out of the way, lady!”

  — and right into the woman who’d entered the store a little after them.

  The woman’s eyes widened, but that was all she managed to do before Kevin plowed into her like a semi-truck speeding down the freeway. All of the breath was expelled from his lungs as they slid across the floor, the world spinning, everything blurring. Kevin thought he was going to throw up, but they soon came to a stop, with him on top of the woman, who looked up at him with wide eyes.

  “Uh…”

  Kevin tried to speak, but it had been awhile since something like this had happened and he couldn’t think of what to say. Come to think of it, this hadn’t happened since he’d crashed into Polydora while running from Phoebe at Daven’s old base before they arrived at Neo Seiryuu.

  Knowing better than to remain like this, Kevin tried to stand up.

  Squish.

  “A-ahn!” the woman moaned.

  Kevin froze. He looked down to see that his hand was firmly grasping the woman’s right boob. It wasn’t a very big boob. Compared to most of the boobs he’d seen, it was actually kinda small. She might have even been Christine sized. His hand had also somehow slipped underneath her shirt, which had pushed her shirt up, exposing her plain white bra. Her skin was warm. Kevin soon realized that the reason for this was because of the blush permeating most of her body.

  He looked back into the woman’s eyes.

  She looked furious.

  The “I’m going to fucking kill you” kind of furious.

  He was so screwed.

  “Listen,” Kevin started calmly. It was the calm of a dead man. “I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t what it looks like. What just happened was a complete acc—IIIEEEEEEAAAAAAAA!”

  Kevin’s words were cut off when, without warning, the woman placed her feet underneath his chest, then threw him over her body. He screamed as he went sailing through the air, flying out the door, crashing against the hard cobblestone floor, and tumbling across the floor until he smacked into a fountain.

  Staring up at the ceiling, his mind clouded with pain, and with cute little forest animals dancing around his head, Kevin tried to figure out what had just happened and came up blank.

  “This must be how Iris feels when Lilian smacks her with those tails…”

  ***

  “You all right, sis?” Jack asked his sister as she lay on the ground, her arms covering her breasts in shame.

  Jill turned her red face to glare at Jack. “You tell anyone about what happened here and you. Are. Dead. Got it?”

  In response to her threat, Jack made a motion of zipping his mouth closed.

  ***

  Kevin felt like crap.

  After accidentally groping some random woman, being flipped through the air like a teddy bear without stuffing, and having his body battered by rolling across the floor, Kevin just wanted to sleep.

  It was most unfortunate that he wasn’t going to be getting sleep anytime soon.

  “Are you feeling any better, Kevin?”

  Fortunately, Kevin at least had Lilian to help him out. She stood behind him, using her celestial powers to sooth his battered body. Who knew being launched through the air would hurt more than being pierced by a light spear?

  Lilian’s tails were wrapped around his middle, and he could feel her power circulating through his body. It was different than when she’d simply shoved youki into his left hand. This time, she was actually healing him, not giving him powers that he was never meant to wield.

  “I feel a lot better thanks to you.”

  “Ufufufu, I’m glad.”

  “Though I really wish you’d stop with that laugh. One Kotohime is enough, thanks.”

  It was interesting how no one even commented on Lilian’s use of Divine Healing, a celestial technique. While a few stopped to watch for a second, most people just went about their business after they realized what was happening. No one even seemed to care that she, Iris, and Kuroneko were in their hybrid forms.

  Several other yōkai were also present. Kevin saw them, interspersed within the crowd. There, a yōkai with blue skin and gills on his neck spoke with a young woman, flirting. Over there, a woman with a long mane of hair and a lion tail smiled as she walked with two other people, a human male of middle age and a little girl with whiskers—their daughter, he presumed. Everywhere he looked, humans and yōkai mingled. No prejudice seemed to exist here.

  “This place is nice,” Kevin said. “It reminds me of Neo Seiryuu.”

  “Except this place is way bigger than Neo Seiryuu,” Lilian said. “Way bigger.”

  “Mm.”

  “Hey!” Iris shouted at the two, furiously waving her hands. “Come on, you two! What’s taking so long?! Hurry up!”

  “Beloved?”

  “I’m better.”

  Kevin stood up and turned around. Leaning down, he placed a hand under Lilian’s chin, tilted her head up, and kissed her.

  “Thank you,” he said after straightening.

  Lilian’s beaming smile was like flowers blooming at the first rays of light. “You’re welcome.”

  ***

  “They’re leaving the mall,” Jack commented.

  “Thank you. I hadn’t realized that.”

  Turning to gaze at his sister, Jack saw that Jill wasn’t looking at the group they were tailing, but was instead staring at, well, everything but them. Her cheeks were still red.

  “Are you still angry about what happened in that store?” he asked.

  Jill sputtered. “O-of course not!”

  “Really? Because you seem kind of angry.”

  “Shut up! Let’s just follow them.”

  As his sister stomped off, Jack sighed and trailed after her. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a really long day…”

  ***

  After exiting the mall, Kuroneko bade them to follow her. He, Lilian, and Iris trailed after the nekomata as she walked through the crowd, which parted before her like the ocean being split by a speed boat. Everyone seemed to know who she was. Kevin, with Lilian and Iris walking on either side of him, could hear the mutterings of the people around him.

  “Woah… it’s Kuroneko-hime.”

  “Kuroneko-hime is here.”

  “Kuroneko! Kuroneko! Hi!”

  “I wish I was like her!”

  “Totes.”

  “Hey, who’re those kids?”

  “Kuroneko is really well liked, isn’t she?” Lilian whispered into Kevin’s ear.

  He nodded. “Seems so. I guess it’s not that surprising, though. I mean, she is the leader of Saint Byakko. Also, is it just me, or are we being followed?”

  “Now that you mention in, I think we are being followed.”

  Lilian glanced at the people around them. Indeed, some of them had been present when they had gone shopping. While that wasn’t unusual in and of itself, she actually recognized a good number of people. Most of them were yōkai.

  “I guess Kuroneko’s just that popular,” Lilian said.

  “I bet you they’re following us because of me,” Iris exclaimed. Kevin and Lilian gave the raven-haired girl a deadpanned stare, which the vixen immediately noticed. “What?”

 
; “Hurry it up, you three. Don’t get lost in the crowd,” Kuroneko called out to them.

  Kevin, Lilian, and Iris shared a look before hurrying to catch up with Kuroneko.

  “So, where are we going?” asked Lilian as they caught up with the woman, who walked along the street with a lazy elegance befitting her nekomata nature.

  “And why did we buy swimsuits?” asked Iris. She paused, then added. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  Kuroneko turned her head to give them a smile. “Oh, no reason. No reason. I just thought it would be nice to have some swimsuits.” For some reason, Kevin didn’t believe her. “Now, then, why don’t I take you three on a tour of my wonderful city?”

  ***

  Several yards away from the group, Jack and Jill watched as the four climbed onto a bus.

  “Contact HQ,” Jill said. “Tell them that our contacts have boarded a bus and that we’re no longer able to follow them.”

  “On it.”

  Jack pretended to mess with the collar of his shirt, when he was actually activating the communication device installed in his ear. His finger grazed against a small button. Static burst in his ear, then quickly canceled out.

  “Report,” a voice spoke up.

  “Our targets have taken off on a bus. We can’t follow them without looking suspicious.”

  “Why not?”

  Jack paused. How should he answer that?

  “They, um, they saw us.”

  “They saw you?”

  “… Yes.”

  “How?”

  Jill glared at Jack, a warning look in her eyes. She could hear what the man was asking, and this glare was obviously her way of saying, “I’ll kill you if say anything.”

  Jack gulped. “Um, well, Kevin Swift, our target, he sort of… flew into us.”

  “He flew into you?”

  “Yes.”

  “...”

  There was a moment of silence. Jack wondered what the person on the other line was thinking. He didn’t know much about Sergeant Verräter other than what he’d been told, and what he’d been told was that the sergeant was some big shot from the Sons and Daughters of Humanity.

  America has become party to terrorism, some people said. Jack didn’t really know about that, but what he did know was that America was traveling down a path he didn’t like. The whole world was traveling down a path that he didn’t like.