“Something on your mind, Frosty?”
Christine glared at Iris, who walked alongside her, hips swaying in a way that she—much to her disgust—could not help but admire. Everything this girl did filled her with a combination of admiration, revulsion, and envy. How could someone, anyone, make everything they did so damn sexy?
“Shouldn’t you be hitting on your sister?”
Iris grinned, and Christine was sickened to know that even her grins looked abnormally hot.
“I’ve decided to give her some room for the moment. I might have gone a bit too far with my prank this morning, and now she’s ignoring me.”
This was the third time someone had alluded to what happened this morning. Christine was torn. She wanted to know about what happened, but at the same time, a part of her was sure that she would regret knowing.
“Tch. Whatever.”
Christine looked back at Lindsay and Lilian. The tomboyish blond was awkwardly posing for Lilian in the sports bra. If Lilian noticed how embarrassed the girl was, she did not show it.
“I knew that would look good on you! You look amazing!”
“D-do you really think so?”
“Of course! Now, let’s look for some swimsuits! Will you help me pick out something?”
“Help you pick…”
“L-Lindsay! Your nose is bleeding!”
“What? Oh, crap!”
While Lindsay and Lilian freaked out over the tomboy’s bleeding nose, Christine sighed and turned back to Iris. “Why are you bothering me?”
“I dunno.” Iris raised her hands and placed them behind her head. The act caused that obscene bust of hers to pop out again. Was she doing that on purpose? “I suppose I could chat with Kotohime, but I felt it would be more fun to bother you.”
“Great,” Christine grunted, “this is just what I need, some skanky fox annoying me.”
“There’s no need to be rude,” Iris said, walking diagonally until she was close enough to ensnare Christine’s arm with her own. Christine would have yanked her arm out of the vixen’s grasp, but Iris had leaned in close, lips right next to her ear, and whispered, “Don’t you wanna know what really happened to my sister and the stud last night?”
Christine bit her lip. She looked at Lilian, who was making crazy gesticulations with her arms and chatting excitably with Lindsay. Then she looked back at Iris.
“What happened last night?” she asked at last.
Iris grinned. Christine grimaced.
She already regretted letting her curiosity get the better of her.
***
“Okay, my young apprentice. I believe you are ready for the next stage of your training.”
“What’s the next stage, Master?”
“Learning how to determine a woman’s three sizes from just a single glance,” Heather said. She walked alongside her pervy little protégé, who hung off her every word. Alex and Andrew were listening intently as well. Even Justin seemed interested in what the blond woman had to say.
Walking a little behind the group, Kevin and Kiara watched with disgust and amusement respectively.
“I can’t believe there’s someone out there who’s as lecherous as Eric.”
“That’s because you haven’t met enough people, boya,” Kiara informed her disciple in the ways of asskickery. “It’s a big, wide world, and there are a lot of different kinds of people out there. Don’t think you’ve seen everything there is to see just because you’ve done some traveling. You’ll understand this once you’ve met as many people as I have.”
“Have you met a lot of people?”
“Boya, in the past one hundred years, I’ve traveled all over this globe. I’ve met all kinds of people, human and yōkai. You might think that Eric is the most lecherous young man in the world, and you’d probably be right in thinking that, but there are plenty of other people out there similar to him.”
“I guess…”
Kevin looked at Eric, who had hearts in his eyes as he stared at Heather while she lectured him and the other boys.
“The key to figuring out bust sizes with a single glance is mostly a matter of experience. The more boobs you see, the easier it is to tell what their sizes are. For example, that woman over there in the levis and green shirt. Her breast size is seventy-five centimeters, or thirty-four B. And that woman over there has an eighty-five centimeter bust circumference.”
The woman with the supposedly 85 centimeters of bust must have heard Heather, because she covered her chest with her arms and glared at the blonde.
Eric stared at his master in awe. So did the other boys.
Kevin palmed his face. “I don’t know why, but I feel like I just lost an irreparable piece of my soul by listening to this.”
“Existential trauma,” Kiara added, nodding.
***
Victoria’s Secret was home to some of the sexiest lingerie around. They also sold a few swimsuits, apparently. This place brought back fond memories for Lilian, who recalled dragging Kevin to a Victoria’s Secret store the first time he took her clothes-shopping. In hindsight, that probably hadn’t been a very good idea—at least not back then.
Would he still be against taking me here now that we’re dating?
Surveying her surroundings with keen eyes, Lilian sought out her friends. Lindsay and Christine seemed to have disappeared somewhere. The last she saw of them, the blond tomboy had been dragging the Lolita off to find a swimsuit. Her sister was checking out some of the sexier pieces of lingerie. After another moment of searching, she found Kotohime standing by a rack of plain-looking bras.
Weird. I didn’t know Kotohime wore a bra.
Her eyes went back to the article in her hand. It was a cute shirt made of semi-translucent material. It would look really good with her green pajama pants. She wondered if Kevin would like it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Kya!”
Lilian shrieked and spun around to discover Christine standing behind her, staring at her with equally wide eyes, as if she was shocked by her reaction. Feeling her heart rate slow, Lilian coughed into her hand and tried to hide the mild glow on her cheeks.
“When did you get here? I thought you were helping Lindsay pick out a swimsuit.”
“She’s in the changing room,” Christine answered, still staring. “Now answer my question.”
Lilian tilted her head to express her cluelessness. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“You weren’t just rescued by those people after that tidal wave nearly killed you. You also fought against an assassin, and this wasn’t the first time either.” Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t tell me that an assassin was after you.”
After getting over her shock, Lilian asked, “Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?”
“It was Iris, wasn’t it?”
“…”
“I’m gonna get her for this. First she takes advantage of me this morning, and now she’s telling you stuff like that? And she wonders why we’re at odds with each other.”
“I don’t really care about your spat with your sister,” Christine said. “I want to know why you didn’t tell me about the assassin. Why are you leaving me out of the loop?”
“Honestly? I didn’t think you’d care.” When Christine glared at her, Lilian gave a helpless shrug. “We might get along now, but I didn’t think you cared for me as a friend. I kind of assumed that the only reason you were in our group is because you like Kevin.”
“K-K-Ke—why would I like that jerk?!”
“Your tsundere is showing.”
“S-s-shut up!” The pale-skinned young woman tried to hide her shamefully blue cheeks by getting back to their original topic. “A-anyway, from now on, I want you to tell me when stuff like this happens, got it?”
“Okay. Sorry I didn’t say anything before.”
“Well, now you know better, so don’t let it happen again.”
“Right.”
It’s good to have friends.
“What are you smiling about?” Christine asked, giving her a stink eye.
Lilian merely replied with a mysterious smile.
***
Kevin and his group of would-be sex offenders found themselves in a video game store. Why? Because when teenage boys go to the mall, there are only a few places they go: arcades, video game stores, and sports stores. They didn’t care about clothes—let the women worry about stuff like that—and there wasn’t an arcade around, so video games it was.
“Hey, check it out. It’s the latest Call of Duty game! Call of Duty: Thug Life.”
“Sounds like a poorly written crossover with Grand Theft Auto.”
“Whatever. I still want it.”
“Oh. My. God. Master, look at this!”
“Le gasp! Is that Desire Dungeon? I didn’t even know they sold this in America! Do they have anymore? Damn it! If I knew America sold H-games, I would have started shopping at these places years ago!”
Once more, Kevin smacked his face with his palm as Eric and Heather drooled over the latest Japanese hentai game.
Those two are truly made for each other.
While all of his other friends moved around the store, Kevin stuck to one place. He didn’t really feel like shopping for video games. Thanks to Lilian’s love of games, he already had the latest RPGs, FPS, FTS, and just about every other game for his current systems. The fox-girl loved her video games.
Kiara stuck with Kevin.
“You really fought against a two-tailed kitsune and won? No joke?”
“You don’t believe me?”
“Of course I do. I’m just a bit surprised. You didn’t tell me you defeated a two-tails last night.”
“There were more pressing matters at the time.”
“Heh, true.” Kiara scratched the underside of her chin. “So, how was it? Was the battle tough?”
“Not really.” Frowning, Kevin stared at his right hand as he clenched and unclenched it. “Actually, it was kind of easy. I thought fighting against a kitsune, against any yōkai, would have been more, I don’t know, difficult.”
“Yeah, I can see why you would think that,” Kiara nodded. “It’s hard to imagine that a supernatural creature with powers most humans can only dream about would be defeated by a human. But that’s what you’ve got to remember. If it’s something that you find hard to believe, then it’s inconceivable for a yōkai to believe.”
Kevin looked at his combat instructor, but he didn’t say anything.
“We yōkai tend to be an arrogant bunch. Even though you humans have come up with weapons that are so impressive that we’ve been forced into hiding, a lot of us still hold onto the belief that we are the superior race.” Kiara paused for a moment, then shrugged. “It’s easy to see where this belief comes from. Humans may have created weapons that can annihilate even the most powerful yōkai, but it’s not something that you have inherently. It’s not a power you were born with. In that way, yōkai are superior.”
“It sounds like that very belief in yōkai superiority is a weakness,” Kevin said.
Kiara’s grin told him that he had hit the nail on the head. “Definitely. If you fought a two-tailed kitsune, and they fought you like they would any other yōkai, you’d probably lose unless you found a way around their illusions. The kitsune you fought didn’t use any illusions, did he?”
“No.” Kevin shook his head. “He didn’t. Even if he had planned on using them, I don’t think he would have. I had him so riled up, I doubt he was even thinking straight.”
“I see.” Kiara chuckled. “Going for the ‘piss him off until he’s seeing red’ approach.”
“More or less.”
Kiara’s grin was one of pride, and Kevin felt himself grinning with her. He didn’t even mind when she ruffled his hair.
The grin left a second later.
“You know that strategy won’t work for every yōkai you come across, right?” Kiara’s serious expression caused Kevin to pay closer attention. “That might have worked on that two-tails, but he was obviously young and untrained. Anyone with more experience wouldn’t have allowed themselves to get so angry in the midst of a battle. This is especially true for more war-like yōkai.” She paused. “Except for Oni. Most Oni are simple-minded brutes, however, that works to their advantage. Their rage gives them power, so the angrier they are—”
“The stronger they become.” Kevin nodded. “I follow you.”
“Good. I’m glad to have a student who actually pays attention to my lectures,” Kiara said before grumbling about a trio of idiots.
Kevin felt a drop of sweat trickle down his temple. “Right. So, how would I go about defeating someone who can cast illusions?”
“You know what an illusion is, right?” asked Kiara. Kevin nodded. “The key to beating an illusion is to dispel them by disrupting the foreign energy in your body by expelling your own energy, which isn’t something that a human can do on their own. Or, you can inflict pain upon yourself. The pain will disrupt the energy, thereby dispelling the illusion. It’s your best and only option.”
Kevin shuddered. “I’m not sure I like the idea of inflicting pain on myself.”
“Most people don’t, but sometimes you don’t have a choice. You do what you have to in order to survive. In other words, ask yourself this: would you rather hurt yourself but live to fight another day, or stay stuck in an illusion until the caster kills you in what’s likely to be a painful and dramatic method?”
“Ugh,” Kevin grimaced. “I see your point.”
“That’s good to hear. If you can remember that while you’re in combat against a kitsune, or another illusionist, you’ll be fine.”
The group didn’t linger in the video game store for long. None of them except for one person had enough money to buy anything, and she wasn’t going to spend money on them.
Heather walked alongside the quartet of grumbling boys, humming to herself, a bag of H-games swinging in her hand. Unlike the other boys, who glowered at the woman for having money when they didn’t, Kevin walked through the pavilion, his mind lost in thought—at least until the earth rumbled.
Kevin blinked when the loud rumbling echoed all around them. He stopped walking and immediately tried to discover the source, which turned out to be a pretty woman with white hair and mocha-colored skin. The voluminous sleeves of her kimono hid her hands from view, or they would have had the fabric not folded back as she pressed her hands against the glass display of a store. Blue jeans fit snugly on her hips, and Kevin could see the fabric conforming to her shapely butt.
The store that she was so fervently staring into was actually a restaurant. He could see numerous people beyond the glass panels lounging in booths and sitting at tables, eating and chatting away with friends. That reminded him, he and his group were supposed to meet Lilian and the girls in another hour or so.
The rumbling came again, and Kevin realized that the noise was coming from the woman’s stomach. He hesitated for a moment before walking up to her.
“Excuse me, Miss?”
“Hmm?”
She turned, and Kevin found himself face-to-face with drooping eyes the color of wine. For a moment, he was struck speechless. While those eyes had nothing on Iris, the color was close enough to remind him of the events from this morning.
He shook his head and recovered his congeniality. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stop from noticing that you seem, um, a little hungry.”
Just then, her stomach rumbled again. While the woman’s facial expression didn’t really change, her cheeks did gain some color.
“Ah… yes.” Kevin blinked. Even her voice sounded like she was half asleep. “I am a little hungry. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” Her skin began to darken. “And I realized just a little while ago that I do
n’t have any money to buy food with.”
Well, you’ve gone up and spoken to a complete stranger. What are you going to do now, Kevin?
It was a bit troublesome, but Kevin couldn’t very well turn his back on her now. No good sentient being would ignore a person who was hungry.
“Would you like to come with my group and I?” he asked. “My friends and I are going to meet up with another group and have lunch. You’re welcome to join us. I’m sure we’ve got enough money to pay for your meal.”
The woman’s face moved into his personal space, causing Kevin to lean backwards.
“You would buy me food?”
“Um, yeah?”
She stared at him several seconds longer, long enough to creep Kevin out, before leaning back and smiling, just a bit. She bowed to him, a very formal bow with her hands clasped in front of her as she bent at the waist.
“Thank you very much. I would love to take you up on your offer.”
Kevin recovered from his shock at this woman invading his personal space. “Then let’s go. My friends shouldn’t have gotten too far ahead of me.”
***
After Kevin asked Taer if she wanted to come with him, he met up with the rest of his male friends.
It had been an… interesting experience.
Sob.
Like a man who’d just discovered life on Mars, Eric stared at Kevin and Taer, tears cascading down his face like two waterfalls. Kevin didn’t know what was worse: the tears, or the fact that his salacious friend was staring at him as if he was the ultimate truth of the universe.
“It’s like he makes girls fall from the sky!” Sob. “They just keep coming!” Sob, sob. “It’s so beautiful!”
“Eric, what the heck are you—?!”
Kevin was stunned into silence when Eric lowered himself to his hands and knees and began kissing Kevin’s shoes. The shock only lasted for a moment, however, before being replaced by embarrassment and outrage.
A Fox's Vacation (American Kitsune Book 5) Page 29
