Kevin had done something that should have been impossible, and not just because he was human. Not even a yōkai would have been able to do what he’d done, except for maybe another yōkai with powers over the Void. Certainly, someone like Hagoromo Gitsune could have done it, but she was the Void Kyuubi, a supreme being whose powers over the Void rivaled a god’s. For Kevin to have done something that most normal yōkai couldn’t do was nothing short of astounding.
“We should be talking about more important things than kids right now,” Kiara said, gesturing with her only remaining hand. “What are we going to do about this war?”
The United States and many other countries had officially declared war on yōkai as of yesterday. It had apparently been made by a unanimous vote in the senate. The soldiers were now being rallied, and many of the yōkai who’d tried living peacefully had been taken into custody. They were now being held in a prison built specifically for the purpose of holding yōkai.
I am positive that the Sons and Daughters of Humanity had a hand in building those prisons. They seem to have been planning this for a long time.
“The US government hasn’t made any statements about what they plan on doing with the prisoners. However, we know that, at the very least, they will not kill them outright. Doing so may garner sympathy for the yōkai, especially since news of our rescue operation has spread across the country like wildfire.” Mack smiled, amused by something. “They’re calling us a group of vigilantes.”
The thought was almost amusing. The government had designated them as a “third party” in this war, due to their actions, and it made sense, in a way. They were not just a group of yōkai. Even though it was only two people right now, there were humans within their ranks. Kevin and Heather. The boy was currently unconscious in the hospital, but she hoped that would change soon.
“Our first priority should be to rescue those prisoners,” Monstrang decided.
“I do not know if that’s a good idea,” Kotohime admitted. Monstrang gave her a cross look.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Mack.
“Just think about it. If we rescued those prisoners, not only would we have to find a place to keep them safe, which would put a strain on our resources, but we would also be considered more than just a vigilante group. Right now, we are safe mostly because the government is busy with the aggressive yōkai who are fighting back. The moment we step in and start to fight as well, all of that changes.”
“So, you’re saying we should just leave them there?” Mack’s nose wrinkled as if he’d smelled something foul.
“For the moment, we do not have much choice. We have neither the resources to give them a place to stay, nor do we have the manpower needed to protect them.”
“Kotohime is right,” Kiara interjected before anyone else could say anything. “Right now, our forces are only about five thousand strong. The US army has us outnumbered one hundred to one.”
“And the yōkai army that has gathered to fight them is also larger than we are. They outnumber us by at least twenty to one,” Kotohime added. “At the moment, secrecy is our greatest ally.”
“I still don’t like this,” Mack sighed and sat down, “but I understand what you’re saying. If we’re not going to rescue the prisoners, then what should we do?”
“We do what we can,” Monstrang started. “We help those in need when we find them, create escape routes for yōkai on the run, build an information network to gather intelligence, and train our people should the situation arise where they need to fight. That is all we can do.”
“I can train our people to fight,” Kiara said.
“And I will help build our information network,” Kotohime added.
“In that case, I’ll begin working on escape routes that yōkai can use to flee the city,” Mack decided.
“Then we’re agreed.” Monstrang stood up. Kotohime and the others also stood up and left the room.
Kotohime walked toward the elevator with Kiara, who raised her hand behind her head and grinned. “Going to see the brat?”
“I am indeed. Kevin-sama should be waking up soon.”
“I’ll come too,” Kiara decided, her grin widening. “I wanna lecture the brat for being reckless.”
Kotohime smiled, but she hid it behind her kimono. “Agreed.”
***
Kevin woke up in a hospital.
The smell of antiseptic hit his nose, a sharp scent that left him reeling.
He opened his eyes and gazed at the plain white ceiling overhead. How many times had he done this already? Woken up in a hospital? Absentmindedly, he wondered if this was going to become commonplace. That wasn’t a pleasant thought. He’d rather not wake up in the hospital after every major battle he took part in.
I don’t particularly want to battle at all.
“Finally awake, Stud?”
Kevin turned his head to see Iris grinning at him. She was sitting by the bed, and he belatedly realized that she was holding his hand in both of hers. He remembered before passing out that she had lost one of her arms. It must have been reattached. He knew there was technology capable of doing that. It even reattached the nerve endings so they could make full use of the arm again.
“Iris, are you okay?”
“You wake up after shoving your arm into a Void Monster, and the first thing you do is ask if I’m okay?” Iris shook her head, as if amused by him. “To answer your question, yes, I am okay. I’m actually feeling a lot better than I have been in a long time, and it’s all thanks to you.”
“I see. I’m glad to hear that. Where’s Lilian?”
“Getting something to eat. Lilian and I have been rotating on who watches over you.”
“Hm.”
Kevin relaxed into the bed. He wanted to ask more questions, but he was still tired. Still, he couldn’t really sleep right now, not when he felt Iris’s presence next to him. While he wasn’t looking at her, he knew that she was staring at him, her carmine eyes boring into his skull with laser beam precision.
This is getting awkward.
He didn’t know why, but even though he couldn’t see it, Iris’s stare made him feel embarrassed, like a child who, after staring at his crush, suddenly realized that she had noticed him. His self-conscious made him almost wish he had tsundere protocols to activate, because at least then he wouldn’t feel this way.
“Hey, Stud,” Iris said.
Kevin sighed, but realized that he couldn’t very well continue to not look at her. That would be rude.
He turned his head.
“Yes—hmph!!”
And found himself on the receiving end of Iris’s kiss.
Iris’s lips felt almost identical to Lilian’s, and yet, they also felt so extraordinarily different. He couldn’t really understand it, but if he had to put it into words, he would say that it lay in her technique.
Lilian’s kisses were always passionate but somewhat clumsy. She had improved with time, just as he had, but since they only ever kissed each other, it meant they had no one else to really practice on, nor did he have anything to compare it to. Kevin didn’t mind, and honestly, he loved Lilian’s kisses.
However, Iris was another beast entirely.
A loud groan escaped from Kevin’s throat without permission. Iris plunged her tongue into his mouth in what almost felt like reckless abandon. Yet even then, there was skill in her kiss, experience. What at first seemed like reckless passion was actually skillful guidance. Kevin didn’t really realize it until he discovered that he was kissing Iris back, without having ever realized that he’d been doing it in the first place.
He wanted to stop, but Kevin was also a male, and he was tired. His mind wasn’t working as it should have been, and Iris was pushing all the right buttons. At least, that was what he told himself as he kept kissing her.
While her tongue skillfully guided his along, playing with it in ways that sent shivers up and down his spin, a hand slipped into his shirt and mapped out the conto
urs of his physique. Soft fingers roved over the dips of his six-pack, then five nails sank into his pectoral, not enough to draw blood, but hard enough to make him hiss in mixed pleasure and pain.
Kevin felt the need for oxygen become paramount, but Iris wasn’t about to let him go. Her tongue continued to plunder his mouth, unbridled and without reservation. Had Kevin not been so tired, perhaps he would’ve been able to resist her. But he was lost. Kevin was lost in Iris’s touch. He was lost in the feel of her tongue gliding through his mouth. He was lost in her moans, a symphony of orgasmic sounds that nearly tipped him over the edge.
And then she released her hold on his mouth, and Kevin gasped for breath. It took him nearly a full minute, but when he finally got his breathing and heart rate under control, he turned to Iris, red-faced and confused.
“What… what was…”
“That was a thank you for saving me,” Iris said, smiling at him in a way he’d only seen from her a few times before, “and, it was also a promise.”
He rapidly blinked several times and tried to grasp what she was telling him. “A… promise?”
“I promise you we’re going to do that again. Kissing, I mean.”
Kevin opened his mouth to say that, no, they were not going to kiss again, because he had a mate.
“Are we friends?”
Kevin paused, then thought about her question, and then realized that it was a stupid question.
“Of course we are,” he answered.
“Then how come you’re not accepting my friendship?”
Kevin wanted to say that he had accepted her friendship, but he paused again. There was something about the way she said that, about how she enunciated the word “friendship” that made him hesitate.
Iris sat there, eyes on him, a carmine gaze that waited patiently, expectantly.
“I have been trying to give you my friendship and affection for a long time now, ever since you and I went off to rescue Lilian from the Shénshèng Clan. Yet every time I offer it to you, you reject it.”
“That’s because of the kind of affection you’re trying to give me,” Kevin said. “I have a mate. I won’t betray her.”
“And what marks a betrayal? Kissing? Would you betray Lilian if you kissed me? Would you betray her if you had sex with me? What if she gave you her permission? Would that still make it a betrayal?”
Kevin closed his mouth again. Iris shook her head.
“You know, for someone who’s so smart, you can be awfully stupid.” Kevin wanted to dispute her, but the words had stunned him into silence. “Lilian has already said that she’s willing to let me join you two. I might never hold the place in your heart that she does, but Lilian has still given you permission. I know she’s talked to you, so I know you know that she’s okay with it.”
“T-that is true… but still… it feels wrong…”
“Gods be damned human mentality,” Iris swore under her breath. “That’s the first thing I’m gonna work on, getting rid of those human morals you have about relationships and sex. They’re stupid.”
Before Kevin could say anything, Iris stood up. At the same time, the door opened and Lilian walked in.
“Anyway, I’m gonna let you think about what I said.”
Kevin gawked as Iris turned around, pulled Lilian into a quick kiss, and then strode out of the room, her hips swinging from side to side.
The door closed behind her.
“So…” Lilian started as she sat down. “I’m glad to see you’re awake. You… you really had me worried, you know? When you stuck your hand into that beast, I thought I was going to die.”
“Sorry.”
“I should Gomu Gomu you for that.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Forget I said anything.”
Kevin decided to do just that. It had been a long day, and he was still tired. His left hand also felt numb.
He looked down at the hand, which was now just a hand. It no longer glowed, and that strange key symbol had disappeared as well. He wondered about it for a moment, but then decided that there were more important things to think about. He could figure out what that key was later.
“Anyway, Kevin, Beloved, I wanted to talk to you about our relationship.”
“Eh?” Kevin blinked as her words were processed by his mind at light speed. “Um, okay. What did you want to talk about?”
“I think we should take our relationship to the next level.”
“Um, what?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve finally realized that the reason you’re so reticent about Iris is because you and I haven’t had sex yet.”
“Where the heck did you get that idea?! Those two things are completely unrelated!”
“Plus, we’ve been dating for almost a year now. I think it’s about time our relationship progressed to that final stage.”
Lilian slid over onto the bed and straddled his hips. Having already been subjected to Iris’s surprise kiss, Kevin was still pretty hard, and when her groin rubbed against his hardness, he squeaked like a little mouse trapped between the paws of a cat—or maybe calling himself a rabbit trapped by a fox would have been more accurate.
“W-wait! Lilian! Let’s not be hasty now!”
“I’m not being hasty. I’ve thought this through a lot.”
“But I haven’t!”
“I think we’ve gained enough experience about each other’s bodies that we can adequately please each other. It is time to explore the wonders of procreation!”
“D-dang it, Lilian! Would you listen to me!”
“Ufufufu, don’t be frightened, Beloved. I’ll be gentle.”
“That’s not my concern! Wait! Lilian, what are you doing? Don’t do that! Wait! No! Ahn! S-stop! Listen to me, dang it! I said stop!”
“Ufufufu, here I come!”
“No! W-wait! At least let me prepare myself emotionally first! Lilian! LILIAN!”
***
Standing outside the door, Kotohime and Kiara looked at each other.
“Lecture him another time?” Kiara offered.
“Another time,” Kotohime agreed.
Together, the two women turned and walked away from the door to Kevin’s hospital room.
They ignored the screams of “Wait! I’m not emotionally prepared yet!” as well as the moans and grunts of pleasure that came afterward.
Whether or not Kevin Swift lost his V-card that day was something that the world might never know.
AFTERWORD
Hello, everyone! Thank you for reading A Fox's Hostility. I hope you all enjoyed it. This volume has a lot of action and fan service it in. I mean, I think most of my volumes have a pretty good combination of action and fan service, but this arc is where the story starts to get serious.
However, I am not here to talk about serious, Sirius, or seriously serious this story arc is going to be. The world is basically at WWIII now. Humans vs. Yokai. You can't get much more serious than that. What I want to talk about instead is a review I got on my last book. It was a very glowing review, saying that my story was about as close to perfect as a story can get and that from now on, this reviewer was going to review my stories as though they were written by a professional...
I'm a little worried.
To be perfectly honest, I don't think I will ever consider myself a professional anything—unless professional idiot becomes a legitimate profession. I'm a hobbyist. I write because I simply love writing. It helps me deal with all those pesky issues I have like, you know, social anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, and slightly suicidal tendencies. It's basically my coping mechanism, a way to keep sane in an insane world... or is that a way to keep insane in a sane world? I could never figure it out. My point is that I'm not nor will I ever consider myself a professional author. Yes, I do this for a living. Yes, I make sure I do the best job I can to weave an entertaining tale about a harem protagonist and his group of super sexy furries battling against evil, but at the end of the day, I do this fo
r fun.
Now that I got that out of my system, I do hope you all had fun reading this story. There's a lot going on now. Yokai have been outed to the world, Kevin and his group of foxy ladies have joined what is beginning to look like a resistance group, and the Sons and Daughters of Humanity have begun a war of extermination. Shit is hitting the fan in a big way in this volume.
I have a lot of stuff I'm planning to introduce during this upcoming arc, which I've currently titled the World War Arc—though I suppose I could also title it World War III, since that is basically what this is. I want to reveal a lot of new information in this upcoming arc. There's so much more to this world than what I've currently revealed, and I'm hoping this arc will shed some light on certain aspects about this world that I haven't shown you all yet.
Like, you know, why that kitchen sink constantly appears in this story and stuff.
Anywaaaaaay, that's really all I wanted to talk about. Before I leave you all, I just wanted to thank everyone who bought a copy of this book, be it digital or paperback. I know I say this every volume, but your support really does mean a lot to me. Like a lot a lot. I would not be where I am today without all of you supporting me.
I hope to see you all next volume. Signing off.
~Brandon Varnell
Have you been turned on to Brandon Varnell's light novels yet?
Wait. That sounded kind of wrong.
If you enjoyed this story, then be sure to check out American Kitsune... it’s Brandon Varnell’s debut light novel series.
AMERICAN KITSUNE
Volumes 1-7: A Fox's Love, A Fox's Tail, A Fox's Maid, A Fox's Family, A Fox's Vacation, A Fox's Mate, A Fox's Revenge, A Fox's Rescue
Not enough light novels? Try these other great titles!
Follow Caspian's Journey to become a Sorceress's Knight in Arcadia's Ignoble Knight vol. 1-3!
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