"Okaaay." I smiled and handed him my tie. When he upturned my collar, I licked his hand and then placed a gentle kiss on the other, stepping into his arms. "Would it be easier if I turned around?"
Without waiting for an answer, I did just that, holding my hands behind my back and leaning against his chest. Sighing, he put the tie around my neck and leaned over my shoulder to see. My hands bumped against his groin, and he shifted. When he was halfway through the knot, I cupped him and gave him a gentle squeeze, smiling as I felt him harden.
"Kaede-sama…"
"Yes, Roki-kun?"
He didn't answer, merely finished tying my tie while I stroked him. He was fully hard by the time he finished and had my collar straight. He was good. But I was better. It was going to be a fun day.
He turned and headed for the door, tossing me my jacket and getting the door. We emerged at the same moment as the twins. "You're up early," Romy said in surprise.
"I'm hangry. Figured some breakfast would do a body good."
He nodded and gave me the once over. "I can't believe you're going to class today." It had to be Remy. He sounded impressed with me, and that was something that never happened with Rome.
"Yep. Roki's making me go. He was afraid I'd get in trouble left on my own."
"Wise man. You sure you're feeling okay?"
Rome on the other hand, was staring at the front of Roki's trousers beside me. "I think she's fine," he said with a chuckle and gave Roki a thumbs up.
"Down boy," I said and pushed down on his erection. It sprang back up.
I crossed the hall and raised up on my tiptoes to plant a firm one on Remy. His hand wrapped around my back and pulled me in for that kiss. By the time he was finished, Roki wasn't the only one with a party going on in his pants.
"You better kiss me like that, too," Rome wiggled his eyebrows.
Rome never wiggles his eyebrows. Fuck. Oh, well. When in Rome… Snicker. I moved over to the other twin and kissed him just as hard, if not harder, than his brother.
"Happy now?"
"Quite."
"Can we get some food?"
"David is meeting us there."
"Yay! Let's go."
The four of us headed for the Dining Hall. Roki wasn't the only one having difficulty walking, either. Smiling, I watched them struggle.
The smell of bacon drove all thoughts of sausage from my brain, and I practically ran the last few hundred feet to the dining hall. It was the first time I'd gotten up early enough for breakfast since we started school. I was more of a drink until I pass out, barely make it to class, kind of girl. If I'd known about the all you can eat bacon, I might have struggled once or twice to make an appearance. Because bacon.
"Coffee, too?" I sniffed the air and drooled on my sleeve as I pulled the door open.
"Kaede, what is on your face?" The twins were both staring at me. In the dimly lit hallway of the dorms, they hadn't noticed. My new sporty tattoo wasn't as visible as when I stood in direct sunlight. The entrance to the Dining Hall faced east.
"What? This old thing?" I pointed at my cheeks. "It's been there foreverrr. Can't believe you just noticed." I ignored their dumbfounded looks and went inside, not stopping until I had a tray, plate, and silverware in my hand and was horning in on the tray of bacon.
"Why did you lie about it?" Roki bumped me in the line, pretending to fill his plate with fruit. Who puts fruit next to the bacon? That had to break some sort of cross-contamination rules. Wouldn't want any of that healthy shit spilling over on the salted pork goodness.
"Lie about what?"
"You know what I am talking about. What is wrong with you? You can't even talk to me anymore?"
I sighed and added another five pieces of bacon to my plate out of frustration. It was definitely going to be an angry eat kind of day. "I don't want anybody to worry about me."
"We are your lovers, Kaede-sama. We will worry more if you keep things from us."
"I told you about it."
"Only after I noticed it last night when you came home."
"I would have said something." I put some chocolate chip pancakes on my plate out of spite.
"When?"
"Sometime."
"Kaede…"
And there it was. He was frustrated and finally dropped the honorific. If I'd known it was that simple, I would have upped my frustration game long go. "Drop it, Roki."
I walked away and found a corner table large enough to seat all of us. I was into my sixth piece of bacon when Hiroki set a cup of coffee and a glass of OJ in front of me.
"Fanks," I mumbled around my food.
"I am sorry."
"No, you're not."
"You are correct." At least he grinned at me, but that was Hiroki. He loved me, but when I reached the peak of petulance, he snarked and then apologized. It's how I knew when I was cut off. One time, when I was much younger and full of life, I tested those limits. He suggested weapons practice to blow off some steam. It was a quick lesson on when to stop.
Surprisingly enough, those lessons only had to do with the lines of communication between us. With everything else he had the patience of a saint. I could get drunk, start a bar fight, get arrested, and then verbally abuse the genetic lineage of every cop it took to taser me, and he wouldn't bat an eyelash. I'd never started a bar fight. Technically. The bitch in green fishnets threw the first punch.
Romy set a little pitcher of warm syrup on my tray beside my pancakes, and then put a dish of butter on the table in front of me. I blinked up in surprise. Whichever twin it was, that was sweet. And I'm not talking about the syrup. "Thank you. I forgotted."
"Just don't get killed again, and we'll call it even." It had to be Rome.
"Thanks, Rome."
He just nodded, and Roki winked. I'd gotten one right. Smiling, I dumped the quarter stick of butter on my little happy stack and then doused it, and my bacon, in syrup. Grabbing my fork and knife, I went to pleasure town, making little mmm, mmmm noises as I chowed. When I finally looked up, four sets of eyes were watching me eat with a look somewhere between fascination and amusement. I hadn't even noticed Remy or David sit down.
"Hi," I said and smiled, mouth full of food.
"Glad to see you're feeling…alive." David's face contorted in a frown.
"Can't keep a pesky fox down. How are you feeling?"
"Better. Stronger."
"Faster? Friskier?"
"Kaede, I just have to say, and I'm sure I speak for everyone at this table, please…don't ever let anything like that happen to you again. We thought we lost you, and they had to call school security to drag us from your room last night."
I nodded, not knowing what to say. My eyes got a little watery as I took a sip of coffee to clear my throat. "I'll order an anti-stabby vest off Amazon after class."
"Not funny," Rome huffed. "We need to come up with a plan to keep you safe. Sabine probably thinks you're dead. Stephanie is nowhere to be found, but she wasn't my sister's only friend. It's only a matter of time until she learns the truth and tries again."
When he put it that way, I wasn't very hungry anymore. But bacon. I kept nibbling and thinking.
When you are in danger, you will know. I blinked in surprise at Fenrir's voice in my head. He had been silent all morning.
How?
He must have gone back to sleep, because he didn't answer.
The four of them stared at me while I stared off into space, waiting for that answer.
"What did he say?" Roki knew the look on my face.
"That I would know if I was in danger from now on."
"Before or after you are a Kaede-kabob?" David slammed his fork down on his tray.
I giggled at the Kaede-kabob. I'd use that line again, next time I was impaled on him. That should cheer him up.
"It's not funny, Little Fox."
"No. I was laughing at the kabob part. Trust me, getting skewered isn't fun. With a knife."
The four of them just rolled
their eyes and gave up.
∞ ∞ ∞
I stared warily at Professor Welheim. She was at the podium in the front of the class, looking like she was about to drop the bomb on us. She only stood at the pulpit to deliver bad news or voice her frustrations with a certain kitsune to the rest of the class. She was smiling, so I knew her news had to be epically bad of biblical proportions. Everyone else in the class was chatting normally, unawares that life as we knew it was about to end in a cloud of hungry locusts.
"Class… I have some news."
Everyone shut up, and I braced myself on my stool. Roki could feel my fear and patted my leg soothingly. "We're dead. We're all dead."
"I'm sure it is nothing drastic, Kaede-sama."
"Rivers turning to blood. No! A meteor shower."
"It is unusual this late in the school year, but we have two new students joining us for the rest of the year! Please welcome Fress and Kottr." She stepped back from the podium, and the two new students stepped into the classroom.
I gasped a little, recognizing them instantly. They were the two admirers that Roki had insisted were checking out my assets on the dance floor. The ones that looked obscenely alike without being twins. At least I would be able to tell them apart. I was more than a little shocked that they had ended up at Aesir Academy. I recognized their names from somewhere, but where eluded me.
"Hello. I am Fress," the blue haired one spoke up and smiled at everybody.
"And I am Kottr." The gray haired one's voice was a lot deeper than Fress', but their accents were identical. And Nordic.
"We are pleased to meet all of you," Fress finished, and they looked to the professor.
"Take the empty table in the back, boys. Today is free cooking, so make whatever you can. Ask any of the other students for help if you need anything."
"Ja. Thank you, Professor."
They took the long way and walked right by Roki and me. They both nodded at us as they passed. Kottr even winked.
"Was that for you or me?" I was unsure.
"I believe you. Would you mind if it was for me?"
"Yes. I'll claw his eyes out. You're mine. Snarl."
Roki chuckled and reached down to turn the oven on.
"What we making today?"
"I was thinking of a salmon souffle for some reason."
"Uh. Okay. Do random foods just pop in your head?"
"Almost as often as nonsensical ramblings appear in yours."
"Woah. You poor thing."
"Please remember, Kaede-sama. The key to a successful souffle is silence."
"Whelp. There goes our grades. Maybe we should make salmon pancakes?"
"You may whisper."
"Oh. Okay. What we need from the cooler? I'll go get it."
"No. I will. You watch the oven pre-heat."
"Boring."
"Actually, perhaps you should accompany me. I do not wish to leave you alone, either. Not near an open flame."
"Hey. I've been good lately. Made that soup all by my lonesome the other day."
"You cut your fingers in seven distinct places."
"Noticed that, did you?"
"I miss very little."
"Except my undying love for you that I harbored all those years."
"You are mistaking ignoring for ignorance."
"Ouch. Thou hast cleft my tiny little heart in twain."
"Please do not use the word undying or the phrase involving the cleaving of your heart again. Ever." He glared at me.
I blushed in embarrassment. My joke having hit a little too close to home for comfort. "Ooops. Sorry."
"You are forgiven. Shall we make our way to the cooler?" He motioned to the back of the room, where the entrance to the gigantic walk-in cooler and freezer the home economics class shared with the Dining Hall was.
"You just wanna see my nipples get hard."
"You are wearing too much padding for me to get a good show."
"Yeah, well. Gotta make 'em look bigger somehow."
"No. You do not." He stopped and took a step closer, lowering himself until his eyes were level with mine. "They are perfect. There is not one part of you that needs to be bigger, smaller, or different. You are absolutely perfect, Kaede-sama. All of you, and I mean inside and out."
He blushed, and my eyes juiced up like someone had switched my Visine with lemon drops. I took that last step separating us, grabbed his blazer between my thumb and forefinger, and lowered my head, pressing it into his chest. I kind of wanted to stay there forever, but we had a souffle to cook. And we were getting "Awwws" from the rest of the class.
"Please save your displays of affection for after class, Miss Tanaka and Mister Nishimura."
"Hai," Roki answered for me and stepped back. "Come Kaede-sama. You can pick out the salmon."
"Okey dokey, Hiroki." I wiped my eyes on the sleeves of my blazer, looked up at him, and smiled.
He motioned toward the cooler door again, and I stopped short. The transfer students hadn't moved an inch and were staring at the two of us intently, heads tilted in opposite directions.
"Uh… Hi? Welcome to Aesir Academy," I said with a hint of a small smile, ignoring the creepy vibe coming off them like cheap aftershave.
"You remember us," Fress said without making it a question.
"Yerp. We saw you in the club the other day."
He nodded and didn’t say anything else about it. "You are procuring food for your assignment?"
"Um…yes?"
"Would you show us?"
"Oh," I said in relief. "Sure, follow us. This is Hiroki," I pointed over my shoulder. "And I'm–"
"Kaede," he answered before I could get my name out.
"Woah. How did you know my name?"
Hiroki stepped a little closer to me and slipped his hand against my back, just a gentle reassurance that he was there. A thousand words were conveyed through that gesture.
"We were transferring here when we saw you in the club," Kottr said in his deep, husky voice. "We recognized the uniform and knew you were a student here. When we were getting our class schedules, we asked about you. It would seem most of the faculty knows your name." He coughed a little laugh and quickly covered his mouth with his fingers, embarrassedly.
"Oh. Yeah. I get that."
"We thought it would be nice to find someone who knew the school well, and as luck would have it, you were in our class."
Between the accent and the salted caramel texture of his voice, I found myself relaxing in its almost purred warmth. He should get into radio, but he had a face for TV. They both did.
I held out my hand. "Nice to meet you both."
Fress shook first, and I blinked at the warmth from his hand. It was hot, but not sweaty. Dry, almost too dry. Kottr's was the same. Whatever they were, they had the same vibe.
Hiroki wrapped his arm around me and held it out for them to shake. They both nodded in greeting, and I was jostled as their handshakes with him were a little more manly.
"Come on. Let's go food shopping."
"Shopping?"
"Yeah, the cooler is like a veritable market. Grab a basket when you walk in."
I led the way, Roki right on my ass, and Hanz and Franz flanking us on either side. Once we were inside, I picked up a basket and handed it to Kottr, since he was closer. I grabbed another one for us, but it was snatched from my hand by a stern looking Hiroki.
"No," he muttered softly.
I played the part of the mature kitsune and stuck my tongue out at him. "Think you guys can handle it? Let me know if you need anything." I gave the transfers a little wave and headed for the fish section. The salmon pulled from the waters around the school were amazing, better than any you could find in California, and I was determined to find the best piece the school had to offer.
Master?
The unfamiliar female voice in my head stopped me in my tracks. There was only one girl who called me master in the entire school. Or planet. Geri?
Where are you
?
Home Ec. What's wrong? Even if I couldn't hear the fear in her voice, I could feel it through our link, slithering down the tendril that connected us like an oily serpent.
Be careful! I'm not positive, but I swear I just saw Sabine…
Her fear became my fear as my chest clenched, and my heart threatened to stop beating. Maybe it was just the memory of the feel of ten inches of icy steel piercing my chest and heart. Either way, I couldn't draw in my next breath as panic seized every muscle in my body.
She is near. I can taste her anger. The last thing in the universe I needed was Fenrir's confirmation.
The walk-in cooler was dimly lit, but everything took on an eerie sheen and sharpened into focus. My heart started beating again, but faster than I'd ever felt it. My limbs went numb and my katana appeared, clenched tightly in my white-knuckled fist.
This is a good blade. Hand axes would be more suited for you, Little Fox.
Uh… Whatcha doin?
Keeping you safe, as promised.
"Miss Tanaka! All of the fish have already been prepped. There is no need for you to have a sword. Put that away this instant!"
My head turned, and I focused on Professor Welheim. Fenrir was still at the wheel, though. "This is not for fish, woman. This is for protection."
Her eyes narrowed, and the hands on her hips dropped in amazement at the deep unearthly voice that had erupted from my throat. Everything around me started pulsing with blue light, and I knew my tattoos were glowing in time with my heart.
"Protection from whom?"
The air erupted in a flurry of movement behind me. Fenrir duck and spun the moment the first ripple hit the back of my neck, sweeping out with the blade.
Sabine had never stepped from her pocket dimension, so the blade passed ineffectually through the air beneath her outstretched arm. Unfortunately, she had given up on stabbing me.
I wish it was the first time I had stared down the barrel of a gun, but there had been one other time on a trip to LA that will be forever engrained into my memories. It is not a pleasant experience, and not one I would like to have repeated. But there I was.
I could feel Fenrir's confusion. He had no idea what the weapon was, let alone what it could do to my tiny frame. Hopefully I didn't end up looking like a hunk of swiss cheese.
A Tail of Two Kitties: A Reverse Harem Academy Tail (The Fox and the Hounds Book 2) Page 6
