“Would you stop that?!”
Kevin shoved his right foot into Eric’s face, trying to get the other teen off him. It didn’t work. Eric just began kissing the bottom of his shoe. Kevin wrinkled his nose.
“That’s disgusting! Get off right now! Get! Off—eh?”
While he’d been busy trying to get Eric to stop making a fool of himself, he’d failed to notice that his other friends were all following the perv’s example. They didn’t try kissing his shoes, thank the eight-million Shinto gods, but they did fall onto their knees in a strange form of abject worship.
“Master! Please teach us your ways!” they cried out in unison.
It was seriously beginning to freak him out. Why did this always happen to him?
It took a while, but he eventually shoved Eric off of him, and the others stopped making fools of themselves. Of course, after that he had to put up with Kiara and Heather teasing him about being a player, which he did not appreciate one bit. Their teasing lasted all the way until they met up with Lilian and her group. Fortunately, while Kotohime seemed willing to get on the “let’s tease Kevin” bandwagon, the other girls were more interested in talking to the new female that Kevin had picked up.
“Oh, wow! Your hair is so pretty! Is that color natural?” Lindsay asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“I love your outfit! It’s so cute!” Lilian gushed. “Where did you buy it?”
“In my homeland.”
“You had sex before coming here, didn’t you?”
“Iris!”
“What? You two were asking her questions as well.”
“I did,” Taer admitted before either Lindsay or Christine could berate Iris.
“EH?!” the two girls shouted at the same time.
A few minutes later, they met up with Kirihime and Camellia, who appeared several minutes later from the opposite direction.
“Lilian!” Camellia shouted upon seeing her daughter.
“Mom!” Lilian shouted at nearly the same time.
The two met in the center and hugged each other, both of them giving simultaneous, “hawas!”
“I’d never realized how similar Lilian was to her mom until this moment,” Lindsay said, blinking.
“I think it’s kind of cute,” Christine admitted, until she received several stares. “I-I mean it’s totally gross! Disgusting! Filthy!”
“That sister of mine,” Iris sighed. “There are times when I love her, then there are moments like this.”
“I still love her even during these moments,” Kevin said, grinning smugly.
“Shut up, Stud.”
With everyone present, they traveled to The Grill on Hollywood. Upon entering the expensive restaurant, they noted the pleasant but not over the top decorations. Dark lighting set the mood, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. A hostess showed them to a private table on a balcony outside, promising to bring them an extra chair and tableware for Taer, who Kiara had not accounted for when she’d made reservations.
“You don’t need to worry about finding an extra chair. I’ve got my seat right here,” Lilian said before making herself comfortable on Kevin’s lap. Kotohime, Heather, and Kiara all chuckled in amusement. Lindsay flushed a deep red, while Christine’s face turned into an icicle. Alex, Andrew, and Eric began crying, but Justin merely stared at them with an unfathomable expression.
On a side note, the hostess seemed appalled by the redhead’s blatantly shameless attitude.
Kevin gave his mate a dry look. “I have no problems with you sitting on my lap, but it’s going to be really hard to eat like this.”
Lilian turned sideways and faced him. Her smile, brilliant and dazzling in its stubbornness, told him all he needed to know before she even spoke. “Don’t worry. I’ll feed you.”
“And who’s gonna feed you?”
“You are.”
Kevin snorted, amused. “Should’ve seen that coming.”
“Indeed you should have.”
Sob!
“Dang it, Eric! Stop crying!”
***
While everyone else conversed, Taer observed the strange group. Seeing them made her finally remember what she was supposed to be doing. These people, she was supposed to be spying on them, especially that elegant beauty with the incredible bust.
So she watched, and she observed, and she studied their habits. The human girl and the snow maiden sat next to each other, talking.
“I still think you’d really look good in that one-piece. The frills would go well with your cute figure.”
“C-c-c-cute—don’t say things like that!”
“What? Why not?”
“B-b-b-b-because you—a-ah! You just can’t, okay?!”
They were obviously talking about swimwear. The yuki-onna seemed embarrassed by the blonde tomboy’s praise. Taer wondered if that girl was what people called a tsundere.
“I think you’d look good in a one-piece as well,” Kevin added. “I saw one in a store that we walked past. It was really cute, and it made me think of you.”
Poof!
Taer blinked when steam burst from the yuki-onna’s head.
The others chatted as well, conversing about a variety of topics that she knew nothing about, or had only heard of in passing: School, games, anime, manga, which girl in school was the hottest.
“I’m telling you, Iris is definitely the hottest chick in school. That girl is sex on legs,” Alex said loudly.
“Why thank you.” Iris winked at them.
Andrew blushed at the wink, but he still didn’t look convinced. “Yeah, okay, I’ll agree that she’s eroticism in motion, but the hottest girl in school? No. That title definitely belongs to Lilian. She’s got that innocent princess thing going for her—the way she talks about Kevin ravishing her notwithstanding.”
“Don’t talk about my girlfriend in front of me! In fact, don’t talk about her at all! And for the love of God, stop talking about my sex life!”
Alex looked mockingly thoughtful. “Let me think about that. Nope. Nu-uh. Not happening. No way. You want me to stop talking about your sex life? Stop bringing it up in public.”
“I don’t bring it up in public!”
“You don’t, but Lilian does.”
Everyone stared at Lilian, sitting on Kevin’s lap and smiling her innocent, enchanting smile. She noticed all of the looks being directed her way and, realizing they were about her, knocked her knuckles against her head and poked out her cute little tongue.
“Whoopsies.”
“Ugh.” Kevin buried his face in the crook of her neck. “This is all your fault, and I can’t even be mad at you.”
Lilian grinned, held up her left hand, and gave everyone the victory sign.
“So, you said that your name was Taer-san, correct?” Kotohime addressed her. Taer was startled, but she recovered admirably.
“Yes. My full name is Taerju Kumite.” She bowed in Kotohime’s direction. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Kotohime returned her bow with a polite nod. “Likewise.”
Mistress is interested in a strange group of people.
***
Much later that day, as the sun was beginning to set, the group arrived back at the resort.
Someone was waiting for them.
“It’s Kyle the Kappa!”
“Stop calling me that!”
Kyle had indeed come back. Unlike the last time they’d met, the young kappa had changed his appearance to look more human. While his skin still had a greenish tint, Kevin could only tell when the light hit it in a certain way. His face also looked more human and not as turtle-y. He was even missing the shell that he’d been wearing before. Kevin wondered if his appearance was an illusion or a full transformation like what kitsune did.
He stood outside of the front entrance, leaning against his beat-up Bentley, arms crossed and a seriously annoyed expression on his face.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you guys
to show up?” he asked. “Four hours! I’ve been waiting here for four damn hours for you people to make an appearance! Where the hell have you been? Did you forget that you were supposed to meet my leader today? How rude can you people be?”
“Who’s this kid?” Alex whispered to Andrew, who shrugged.
“Beats me.”
“… Turtle…”
“Have I told you that you’re really weird?” Eric asked Justin, who gave him a blank look.
“Quiet down you four,” Heather admonished them.
“Yes, Master,” they said at the same time—except for Justin who lagged behind by a second before saying, “… Master…”
Kevin used Lilian’s hand to face palm.
I’m surrounded by perverted idiots.
Being the politest among them, Kotohime acted as their spokesperson. “We did not forget. However, we were not aware of when you planned on having us meet with your leader. We expected it to be later. If us not changing our schedule to accommodate you has upset you, then you have my sincere apologies.”
Kyle mumbled incoherently to himself as Kotohime gave him a formal bow. Sighing, he returned the bow and said, “It’s fine, I guess. We never did set up a time for our meeting.”
“Hey, Kevin,” Christine leaned in and whispered to him. “Who’s the rude boy?”
“This is Kyle the Kappa.” Kevin didn’t bother whispering at all.
“Do you wanna die?!”
“If you’d like, we can leave right now,” Kotohime diffused the potentially hazardous situation before anything could happen.
“Fine,” Kyle grumbled before pointing at Kotohime and Kiara. “You two, come with me.”
“What about us?” asked Kevin.
Kyle sneered at him. “Our leader hasn’t requested your presence.”
The two women entered the vehicle with Kyle. Kevin watched the Bentley speed off, pouting like a petulant child who’d been denied his favorite toy.
“What a rude person. He didn’t even give me a chance to make a comeback.”
Christine gave him a flat look. “You’re upset because you couldn’t make a comeback? Just who the hell was that anyway?”
“Didn’t I already tell you? That’s Kyle the Kappa.”
“That joke only works when Kyle the Kappa is actually here, Beloved,” Lilian chided him.
“Whatever.”
“Okay, seriously you two, who is that guy?”
“I already told you. He’s—”
“Don’t give me that ‘Kyle the Kappa’ crap and tell me who he is!”
Chapter 11
The Turtle and the Bodyguard
Sitting behind her desk, Luna listened attentively as one of her underlings gave a report on their most recent business venture.
“We’ve managed to acquire ten more specimens through the usual means this past month.”
“Have you taken the necessary precautions to ensure that we’re not discovered?”
“Of course.”
“Excellent. We cannot afford to have anybody find out about our operation, especially with Kuroneko of the Four Saints living here. We’ve managed to avoid her notice for the most part, and I would like to keep it that way.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“And what of those annoying humans? The ones calling themselves the Sons and Daughters of Humanity?”
“They have been far more active as of late,” her underling admitted. “They appear to have caught on to what we are doing and have stopped several transactions already, though they have not discovered our base of operations.”
“Tch. Do you have any idea how they cottoned onto our operation in the first place?”
“I do have a theory. About a month ago, there were several missing people reports on various news sites. While this isn’t unusual, I believe the fact that all of the disappearances were within a several kilometer radius of each other must have tipped them off.”
Luna felt the beginnings of a headache. All of the new technology that humans had been producing made accomplishing anything unnecessarily difficult. No longer could they remain in obscurity by enchanting someone to forget about them, or using an illusion to make them appear as someone else. Cameras were not fooled by illusions. Computer networks could not be tricked by enchantments. The world had changed, and kitsune needed to change with it if they wanted to survive.
This is why I despise humans.
“They haven’t made contact with any of our agents, have they?”
“No, but it won’t be long before something happens. We might want to consider discontinuing our operations for the time being, or at least changing our venue.”
“You may be right,” Luna mused to herself before shrugging. “Well, we shall cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, what of those kappa? Are they still putting up resistance?”
“They have been mostly quiet after our last battle at Long Beach,” her underling reported. “We believe they are still licking their wounds. They suffered great casualties. We’re unsure how many are left, but we know they lost about five of their people.”
“Good.” Luna was pleased. Kappa clans were not very large, usually consisting of 15 to 20 members at the most. They couldn’t have that many members left, since her clan had killed off six kappa before the battle at Long Beach. “We’ve already silenced the ones who made the mistake of stumbling onto our operation, and now that they have been weakened, we can deal with them swiftly. Have Kaine locate and destroy the rest of those accursed kappa.”
“Won’t that earn the attention of Kuroneko?”
“Doubtful. Kuroneko has adopted a policy of noninterference when it comes to yōkai affairs, unless it directly involves her, or jeopardizes the status quo between yōkai and humans. The kappa have no relations with her.” She paused, then added, “Besides, getting rid of them will keep the Bodhisattva off our backs.”
The Bodhisattva had been pressuring her clan into helping him get retribution on the Pnév̱ma clan. Luna had no desire to make war, but she also knew that it was only a matter of time before simple pressuring became an order. Much as she disliked the idea of fighting a war, she understood that, should the Celestial Kyūbi make it a command, her clan would have no choice but to join him when he made his bid to wipe out the Great Ghost Clan.
The creaking of the door caused Luna to look up from her introspection. Taer entered the room, closing the door behind her.
“Continue with our operation as planned,” she addressed her underling. “Be sure to let me know if anything unexpected occurs.”
“Of course, Mistress.”
With one last bow, the three-tailed servant vacated the office, leaving Taer and Luna alone. Smiling, she stood up and moved around the desk, taking Taer into her arms and leaning down to press her lips against the other female kitsune’s. Her lover didn’t resist. Arms snaked around her waist, and a sensually lithe yet voluptuous body pressed into hers, as if trying to meld with her. The moan that escaped her mocha-skinned lover’s was like an aphrodisiac that spurred her on.
She would have loved to take things further, to shove the items and instruments off the desk, set this lovely young thing upon it, and ravish Taer until she screamed herself hoarse. Most unfortunately, there was still business to be done, and business came before pleasure.
“May I take your presence as a sign that you have accomplished the task I set for you?”
Taer nodded, cheeks flushed and voice breathless. “Yes, Mistress.”
“Excellent.” Luna smiled and guided the woman to a couch. “Come, sit and tell me what you have discovered.”
***
The place that Kyle drove them to looked like a normal resort. While not extravagant by any means, The Surfing Turtle held its own unique charm. Painted in ocean colors, both the outside and the interior contained wave motifs that made everyone who resided there feel like they were at the beach. Palm trees and other plant life lived in the corners of every room, placed in pots that contai
ned the same wave patterns as the walls and floor. The roof overhead had a mural that depicted a clear sunny day.
Kyle led them through a hallway lit with lamps at evenly spaced intervals. They eventually reached a room that reminded Kotohime of her old home back in Japan. Barren of all decorations except for the knee-high table, the only other object in the room was the ancient-looking kappa sitting at one end and the shogi board that lay on the table.
“Are these the two that you spoke of, aru?” the kappa asked upon noticing their arrival. “Please, do come in, aru.”
He gestured toward the other end of the table. Kotohime chose to sit down as instructed. Kiara remained standing. The inu leaned against the wall, her business suit ruffling as she observed the proceedings.
“I assume you two are young Kevin and Lilian’s chaperones, correct, aru?” the kappa, who Kotohime surmised must be Shuǐ, eyed the two of them with a look that had her instinctively wanting to pull out her katana. “I must admit, when young Kyle told me about you two, he failed to mention how beautiful you are, aru.”
“Thank you.” Kotohime kept her voice polite. “That is very kind of you to say.”
“In fact, perhaps you would be willing to—”
“Discuss the matters of grave importance that Kyle-san mentioned,” Kotohime interrupted with a smile. “We would love to. Or I could show you my katana. I am quite well-versed in the art of iaijutsu, you know?”
“Ah…” Shuǐ eyed the katana resting against the table with undisguised apprehension. He tore his gaze away from the weapon and tried to hide his fear behind a smile. “Perhaps it would be best if we focused on those important matters. I believe Kyle and your charges have told you about our problems, aru?”
“We did learn about some of what has been happening,” Kotohime confirmed. “Lilian-sama and Kevin-sama have told us that a group of Ocean Kitsune have invaded your territory, and that they are attempting to get rid of you. I am actually surprised that a kitsune clan is making such an attempt.”
Shuǐ nodded. “Indeed, we were as surprised as you, aru. It did not make sense to us at first. However, we have recently learned that there is some unrest among the kitsune clans, aru.”
Kotohime’s frown was very prominent. “Unrest?”
A Fox's Vacation (American Kitsune Book 5) Page 30
