Move! She's got a gun.
I do not know what that is…
Fires projectiles. A hundred times faster than arrows!
Oh.
She pulled the trigger, and I tried to close my eyes for what I was sure was going to be the very last time. They didn't budge, and time slowed around me as Fenrir lifted us up from our crouch and batted the bullet aside with the flat of my katana.
I could feel his sense of pride.
It shoots more. A lot more.
The muzzle erupted in fire again, catching Fenrir off guard. The slug hit my shoulder, and blood blossomed through my blazer. Luckily, it wasn't the shoulder holding the blade. His pride turned to embarrassment as the pain hit me. He didn't feel a damn thing, the bastard.
My apologies. I thought she would have to rearm her weapon. I have never seen such a wondrous thing! You must get some.
Don't like guns, I answered through gritted mental teeth as I fought for control of my body to cradle the arm hanging limply at my side.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roki round the corner of one of the sets of metal shelves dividing the cooler. He was twenty feet away, and I wanted to scream at him to stop, but just like the rest of me, my mouth belonged to Fenrir. That sounded really dirty.
Roki ran in slow motion, calling his katana as the gun went off three times in Sabine's hand, visible just past her wrist as the rest of her was snuggled safely in another world. Cheating bitch.
She fights like a coward, Fenrir said to me.
An effective coward. I had to stab into her pocket space to get her the last time.
I see. I felt him combing through my memories and shuddered. Fenrir had done all that in the space it took for the three bullets to travel to me. Roki had just begun to scream my name as he blocked the first bullet that had been on a trajectory to splatter my insides level with my belly button. I knew he had no chance against the other two. The bullet hit the blade and deflected off behind me and to the left. I just hoped there wasn't anybody behind me.
Two spheres of glowing gold erupted in front of the other two bullets before they could get to me, and immediately sensing the respite, Fenrir launched my sword at the disembodied hand like a spear.
In a completely anti-climactic scene, the sword spun instead of flying true, and the handle hit the gun, knocking it from her hand. Two more glowing spheres flew right after it and exploded just as she pulled her hand through and closed the rift.
Fenrir let go, and I dropped to the ground, groaning in agony.
Thank you, I said softly to him. For all his faults, he had done the best he could and kept me alive, if slightly perforated.
My apologies for your injury. I did not know such weapons existed. Mankind has come a long way.
Not always for the better. I'm alive. For that, you have my thanks.
I felt his mental nod, and then heat erupted from the wound, feeling like someone had set off a volcano in my arm. My groans of pain turned into screams of despair, and then blackness overwhelmed me.
Chapter 7
"Welcome back."
I blinked at the blonde-haired head hovering over me. "Lornca?"
"Aye."
"I'm in the infirmary again?"
"Aye."
I groaned as I sat up, expecting a torrent of pain. When nothing happened, I blinked and rolled my shoulder. There wasn't even a twinge. "Pretty sure I remember getting shot…"
"Aye. Luckily the two new students were with you. They have miraculous healing abilities. You should probably keep them near you at all times," she said with a small chuckle.
"Or, I could just not get shot. Or stabbed."
"Well, I don't see that happening in your near future."
"What day is it?"
"Still Tuesday."
"Did I miss dinner?"
"No."
"Thank fuck."
"Language."
"Arigato kuso."
"Saying it Japanese doesn't make it better." She lightly smacked me in the forehead with her handy dandy clipboard.
"Well, thanks for the bed! I'ma go grub me some sterk."
"Sterk?"
"Steak."
"Kaede…" She set the clipboard down on the counter.
"I feel fine Doc."
"You're changing."
"Like, getting hair in funny places changing?" I laughed at my own joke and stopped short at the face she made. "What?"
"Call your demi-form. I noticed the change when you came in. Parts of you were shifting."
"What?"
"Bring out your tails."
Shrugging I slid off the bed and did just that, chasing them around to get a better look at what she was talking about. "What the ever-loving fuckballs of a motherless goat?" I resisted the urge to scream. Barely.
My pure white tails were tinged slightly gray at the end and straight up the back. And they were floofier. Maybe a bit longer, too? At least there were still nine of them.
"There's more…"
"I can't handle more. This is bad enough!" Reaching into the drawer, I pulled out the mirror she had shown me my tattoos in during my last visit. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down on the bed. "At least the hair on my head is still white."
"Shift completely."
"I don't wanna."
"Please. It is important that you understand the gravity of your situation."
"What situation?"
"You will understand when you shift."
Sighing, I stood back up and let my fox out. Lornca seemed much taller from my prone position on all fours, and she squatted before me, grabbing the mirror off my bed and holding it out in front of me.
Ice blue eyes blinked back at me in the mirror. And that was the only thing I recognized. The fur on my back matched my tails, a wide streak of gray running the length and branching out over my tails. The fur on my face had a mask of gray, too. I wasn't a wolf, but I didn't look entirely fox, either. Like some weird hybrid. I looked like a fucking husky. Huskitsune? Kitsky?
I whined pitifully at Lornca, begging her to take away the mirror. In a fit of depression, I leapt onto the bed, spun in three circles, and plopped down on the mattress, putting my larger snout between my paws.
"It's okay, Kaede."
I growled.
"I'm sure once the chains are broken, you'll be back to your normal foxy little self."
"Easy for you to say," I mumbled through my long jaws, my larger canines threatening to pierce my tongue while trying to form words. That was the last thing I needed. Father was already going to flip his fox lid if he saw my new form. A tongue piercing might cause irrevocable mental damage.
"You are drawing too close to him. He is a wolf. Try and limit your contact as much as possible. It will probably slow the change."
"Probably?" That's what I was trying to say, but the word that filtered through my face was almost unintelligible. I should have picked an easier one. I had trouble saying “probably” with a human mouth.
At least Lornca understood me. "Yes. Probably. You are sailing in uncharted waters. I suggest you stick to the shallows."
"Doggy paddle?"
She smiled at my joke. For the first time. "Yes."
I shifted back and sat crisscrossed on the mattress. "He took over my body when Sabine attacked. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead."
"I am not saying you shouldn't show him gratitude, just limit your conversations. The more you interact with him, the faster the change will come, and the faster he will wake."
"Tell him that. He's like a peanut gallery."
I do not understand that term? What is a peanut?
Ignoring him, I made a shushing noise at Lornca and pointed at my ear. She nodded in understanding. In a fit of brilliance, I grabbed her clipboard off the counter and motioned for her to hand me her pen out of her lab coat pocket. Flipping over the page, I hastily scrawled, He's listening, but I don't think he can read. If you want to say mean things about him, write it down.
<
br /> She nodded.
"Well, I need to get some food into me. Getting shot takes a lot out of a girl. Need to replace those holes with some beef."
"Okay, but if you feel ill, come back to the infirmary. If I'm not here, the night nurse will be."
"Thanks, Lornca." I gave her a quick hug, ignoring the fact that she totally stiffened when I did, and headed for the door. Stopping just before the exit, I turned back around and stared at her thoughtfully. "Hey, Lornca?"
"Yes?"
"This changing stuff… Did anybody else see it?"
"Hiroki and the two new students were there when you started shifting. Hiroki may have noticed, but I don't think the other two would have thought anything of it. Why?"
"It stays between us, okay?" If she told Tatsuo, he might mention it to my father. That was the last fucking thing in the universe I needed.
"Nurse-patient privilege. I'm not allowed to discuss your health with anybody but you."
"Kami bless HIPAA."
She actually chuckled. "Be careful, Kaede."
"I'll just be happy if somebody captures Sabine. That stabby, shooty little bitch needs to go."
Lornca's eyes narrowed, and she nodded solemnly.
I opened the door to the infirmary and left, skidding to a stop outside the door. Roki, David, Remy, and Rome were all pacing outside the door. "Uh… Hey?"
They all spun and surged toward me like a masculine tidal wave of sexy. I got lost in the hug that ensued, and I'm not gonna lie, I fucking liked it. By the time they pulled away, I was grinning like an idiot. Don't get me wrong, I did a lot of things like an idiot, but I don't think I'd ever been happier in my life than I was at that moment. "It's like you missed me or something."
Roki dropped to the ground in front of me, bowing his head. "Kaede… I failed you."
"No, you didn't. And don't ever let me hear you say stupid shit like that again. That's my job."
He looked up at me, tears streaking down his cheeks. He seriously blamed himself. "I should not have left you alone."
"I should have called for you. Geri saw Sabine and warned me the minute she did. I froze. My fault."
"Geri saw her?" Romy's eyebrows knit.
"Yeah. Why?"
"I know of Sabine's talent for traversing dimensions. While I did not know she possessed the talent, it is known among our clan. It takes a vast amount of magic to maintain. She cannot simply wander the school undetected. She had to traverse to where you were and then shift. Wherever you are, you will be guarded outside the location. If Sabine comes for you, we should be able to spot her and get you to safety."
I blinked in surprise. "That's not a half-bad idea. How is the guard going to warn me?"
"The staff uses two-way radios, and I use that term loosely. They rely on magic instead of technology. I might be able to procure a set or two from the Headmaster."
"You talkin' bout the walkie-talkie rocks?"
"You’ve seen them."
"Yep. Lornca called for the Headmaster on one."
"I'll go speak to him now."
"Avoid my father if you see him."
Rome, and there was no doubt it was him with his take charge attitude, nodded. He seemed angry. I wasn't sure if it was at me or his sister. "I'll find you after I speak with the headmaster."
"Don't look too hard. I'll be eating."
That earned me a smile. He looked at Roki and narrowed his eyes before he left, communicating silently.
"What was that?" As soon as Rome was gone, I had to ask. The exchange worried me.
"Rome was less than happy that Sabine had managed not only to find out that you were still alive, but to attack you again within a day." Remy ran his fingers through his hair and leaned against the wall.
"He blames Roki?" That pissed me off. If I didn't blame him, Rome had no reason to, either.
"No. He blames Sabine. But he wasn't too happy with your bodyguard for not guarding your body. He yelled at him for moving more than five feet away from you."
"And if he had been closer, he would have died. He didn't have a Fenrir to take over his body and slash bullets out of the air."
All three of them stared at me uncertainly.
"I had wondered how you did that." Roki nodded, finally understanding. He and I needed to have a long talk. Especially about anything he might have seen with my uncontrolled shifting.
"Yeah. I was on autopilot. Where are the new kids? I need to thank them for their help. And for healing me."
The three of them looked at each other, and another moment of silent communication passed between them.
"What?"
It was David who finally spoke. "Do you know them?"
"Other than seeing them in the club the other night, and having class with them today, no. Why?"
"They seem to know a lot about you. Including what you are. When you were shot, they were working over you like a pair of EMTs. What would work, and what wouldn't, on your kitsune heritage. They were even mumbling about mutations in the DNA chains and a whole bunch of stuff none of us understood. They even called your father by name when they thought you were going to need a blood transfusion."
"They know my father?"
"His name at least. You don't think he sent them in to protect you, too, do you?"
"No. I don't think he knew how much danger I was in until yesterday. They were here before that. Maybe Uncle Tatsuo hired them?"
The three of them shrugged. Anything was possible with the mysterious dragon. Then I realized something.
"How do you all know this?"
"Geri. She was practically plowing through everybody to get to you. And then when you were shot, she went down screaming in the middle of the hallway. Rome, Remy, and I were there. She told us to find you. We made it in time to see Kotter and Fress ripping your shirt off." He chuckled.
"That's funny?"
"No, but Remy not knowing they were trying to heal you, was. They almost got decapitated."
I looked over at a very embarrassed Remy, leaning against a wall, and looking everywhere but at me. "Awww." I snickered.
"I'll apologize again."
"I'm sure they understand."
"So, what were they talking about DNA mutations for? Do you know?" David seemed curious.
"Nope. Not a clue. Come on, let's get some dinner."
"You want to change first?"
I looked down and laughed. With everything that had been going on, I hadn't even noticed what I was wearing. Or I was getting used to wearing it. "Yeah. Hospital gown isn't very chic. Where's my clothes?"
"Unsalvageable. Your blazer had a huge hole in it and was covered in blood. Your shirt they tore into wads to stop the bleeding until they could heal you."
"My entire tuition is probably going to uniform replacements."
"I doubt you have gone through three million dollars' worth of uniforms," David said with a chuckle. He stared at me when I turned white. "What?"
"Three million?" I gulped audibly
"Yeah. You didn't know?"
All I could do was shake my head. No wonder my parents were so disappointed in me. Sure, they had the money, but holy fuck. That was a lot of rice.
Shaking my head, I looked up at them. "Do I have time to take a shower?"
They smiled and nodded. Except for Hiroki. He hadn't gotten over my getting shot on his watch. I didn't know whether to give him some time to start believing it wasn't his fault, or smack him with a wet noodle until he got it through his thick skull. I was going to have to keep an eye on him.
"Great. Let's go. There should be room for all four of us." I grinned over my shoulder.
"Rome's going to be pissed he missed this." Remy chuckled.
Chapter 8
"Okay, I'ma be honest. This is not what I had in mind." I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair and stuck my tongue out at Remy's and David's backs. Roki was in the hall outside the bathroom, and the other two were guarding the stall I was showering in. They weren't even watching
the naked Kaede show.
"You were just shot. Clean now, food next, play later." Remy's voice left little room for argument.
"Boring."
"What was that?" He glanced over his shoulder.
I held up the bottle of shampoo. "No sting. That's what the package said, but my eyes are burning a little."
"Come here."
I practically skipped to the edge of the shower stall, thinking he was caving. He turned around, cupped my chin in his strong fingers, and stared into my eyes. "They're not red, but we shouldn't take any chances."
Leaning in, I closed my eyes and felt him gently kiss my right eyelid and then my left. I practically melted in his hand, and I smiled when he finished. The kiss on my lips was totally unexpected, and I had to fight the urge to wrap my naked wet self around him.
"Woah," I whispered when he let go of me.
"Not so boring, am I?"
"You did hear me."
"Yes."
"Wanna join me?"
"After dinner." He winked.
Growling in frustration, I turned around and shut the water off. Grabbing my towel and robe, I burst through the two of them, stomping off toward my room and ignoring Roki as I passed by him.
"What did you do?" I heard him ask the two of them as they came out of the bathroom.
"Told her no," Remy said defensively.
"Yes, that would do it." Roki chuckled.
I was halfway down the hallway when Kottr and Fress walked out of their room, stopped, and stared at me. There was no way in hell I was going to even acknowledge their presence. Not while I was in the middle of teaching Remy a valuable lesson.
My nerves got the best of me, and I popped to the end of the hall, just outside my door, before realizing I didn't have my key because Roki was with me, and he was the key master. I wanted to scream in frustration and did the only thing I could do… I turned my happy naked ass invisible.
"Where'd she go this time?" Remy looked behind them.
Roki just smirked and sped up, knowing I couldn't keep the invisibility going for more than half a minute. "I hope you have learned your lesson," he whispered as he shoved the key in the door and turned the knob. Stepping back, he let me in the room first.
A Tail of Two Kitties: A Reverse Harem Academy Tail (The Fox and the Hounds Book 2) Page 7
