“… Lilian…?”
“Not just Lilian. I’ve met a lot of people.” Kevin tossed Justin a grin. “Though I will admit that Lilian is definitely the most important. I really have to thank her for everything she’s done for me. I doubt she even realizes it, but all of the changes I’ve gone through are because of her.”
There was that look again. It was that strange warmth, a glimmer of tender feelings that only someone who shared in that intimate concept known as love possessed. This was the biggest change that Kevin had undergone. Before meeting Lilian, that look had never existed on his face, not even when he’d been crushing on Lindsay.
“A-anyway…” Kevin coughed into his hand, a mild blush on his cheeks. “Sorry for going off on a tangent like that.”
“… Fine…”
Kevin patted Justin on the back. “Heh, thanks. You’ve always been a good friend… even if you are a little weird.”
Justin would have pouted, but it wasn’t in his nature. He instead watched Kevin walk away, wondering if the young teen would still think that after tomorrow.
Tomorrow, the day he would betray the people he called friends.
***
A certain nekomata stood on the roof of Sobre el Natural. Arms crossed under her bust, she watched Kevin disappear into the resort. When he vanished, she sighed and crouched down, much like a cat.
Seeing Kevin again after so many years had made her job infinitely harder. Had her target not been so close to him, she was sure—no, she knew that the young kitsune would have died the night she first attacked. He made things difficult, not just because he interfered every time she tried to do her job, but also because his very presence made her feel funny.
“He’s grown well, nya.”
How old had he been when they first met? Four? Five? Something like that. She still remembered the day they met:
She was cold, tired, alone, and hungry. Lying in a dumpster, she tried to ignore the winter’s chill. It was impossible. There was nothing she could use to warm herself up, not even a blanket. Her ears were cold, her fur was frosty, and her tail felt like it was frozen in a block of ice.
“Nya…”
Her stomach made a horrible rumble. She hadn’t eaten anything in several days, her village had kicked her out, and her current job wasn’t very lucrative at the moment. If things kept up like this, she’d die of malnutrition—if the cold didn’t get her first.
“Ah!”
A gasp came from above her. Judging by the timber and pitch, it came from a boy—a very young boy, if she had to guess. Looking up, she was introduced to beautiful blue eyes surrounded by a frame of messy golden locks.
“It’s a kitty! Come here, kitty.”
Hands reached out and lifted her out of the dumpster. She shivered from the cold, but she soon became engulfed in warmth. The boy had wrapped her in his jacket and was holding her close, using his body heat to keep her warm.
Growl. Her stomach rumbled.
“Your stomach’s growling. You hungry?”
“Nya…”
The boy grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you some food. I’m pretty good at cooking.”
As the boy carried her off, she couldn’t keep herself from snuggling into his chest.
What a nice boy, she thought as sleep slowly claimed her.
That had been the first time that she met Kevin. He’d been nothing but a young and adorable little boy back then. His innocence had moved her, and his love for animals had warmed her heart. He’d taken care of her for nearly two months after that: feeding her and letting her sleep with him. Life had been bliss for those two months.
Then it had all come crashing down. She scowled upon recalling how the landlord had discovered her. He’d been livid and had tried to force Kevin to throw her out. The young boy had fought with the landlord, but then his mom had come into the picture, and Kevin had been forced to send her to an animal shelter.
Allowing the memories to evaporate, she looked back down at where Kevin had disappeared to.
In yōkai terms, their meeting hadn’t been very long ago, but yōkai and humans were worlds apart. Kevin had grown up; she hadn’t aged a day.
“He would make perfect mate material now,” she mused before scowling. “Or he would if that damn fox hadn’t gotten to him, nya.” Emotions burned hotter than a furnace inside of her. “I can’t let this stand, nya. Tomorrow, I’ll make that stupid fox regret messing with my master.” She nodded to herself. “It all ends tomorrow, nya.”
***
Ken stood behind Kaine and Christian. They were in Luna’s office, listening to the woman as she gave out orders. By Inari’s left nutsack, he hated receiving orders from this bitch. Women weren’t meant to order people around. They were meant to make babies. He held in his distaste, however, as no one else agreed with his beliefs, and he couldn’t afford to let them know.
“Taer has informed me that tomorrow, Kotohime and her companions will be going to Comic-Con,” Luna said, her voice flowing smoothly through his ears. She had a very pleasant voice, but really, he’d much rather listen to her screaming his name than giving him orders. “That is when you’ll attack.”
“Pardon for asking, Mistress,” Christian started, stepping forward, “but why do we need to attack these people at all? Sure, they attacked us, but it hasn’t interrupted our operations. It almost seems like they attacked us by mistake.”
“A fair enough question,” Luna admitted, nodding several times. “I do not doubt that you know at least two of those people: Kiara F. Kuyo…” At the mention of that hated name, all three male kitsune scowled. “… and Kotohime. What you do not know is that they are with three very high profile targets. Lilian, Iris, and Camellia Pnév̱ma—three members of the Great Ghost Clan. The Bodhisattva has offered a reward to anyone who can bring him their heads.”
Ken thought about that beautiful redhead and her sexy raven-haired sister. So, they were members of the Pnév̱ma Clan? He’d not known that.
“And you intend to collect that reward?” Kaine asked.
“The reward is merely a side benefit to what we stand to gain,” Luna told them. “Thus far, the Bodhisattva has merely requested our aid; however, I do not doubt that his requests will eventually become an order. By presenting the corpses of those three to Lord Shinkuro, we can get him off our backs.”
The Bodhisattva, Lord Shinkuro Shénshèng, was a Kyūbi. With power that was on par with many minor gods, Kyūbi were often considered divine entities themselves. One did not dismiss an order from a Kyūbi, for they reigned supreme over all kitsune. Luna’s decision was probably the best course of action.
“Now, then, you three understand the plan, correct?” Luna asked.
“Yes, Mistress,” they said in unison.
The smile on her lips made Ken nearly growl. Those lips would have been better off wrapped around his cock.
“Good. I’ll be counting on you boys. Do a good job and I’ll reward you.”
He could think of plenty of things she could do to reward him. All of them involved her naked and tied to a bed.
Luna dismissed them. Ken followed Kaine and Christian, not really listening to their conversation. He instead focused on something more significant.
“You! You’re the fop who kept hitting on my mate!”
“Aw, whatever. You are a fop. I mean, just look at your hair.”
“Nothing, nothing at all… if you’re a girl, that is.”
Ken clenched his hands. He would show that damn human his place. He was going to enjoy torturing that boy until he was nothing but an empty shell, a husk devoid of life. Then Ken would find Lilian and take her.
He wanted to at least get a few fucks in before disposing of her and handing off her corpse to the Bodhisattva.
Chapter 13
The Los Angeles Comic-Con
Justin looked at himself in the mirror. A one-piece suit darker than his hair adorned his frame, stretching across his body. He really hated the feel
of these spandex, but it was a necessary part of his uniform. Fitted over the spandex was a Kevlar vest, dark brown, with several pouches where smoke grenades and flashbangs were stored. Strapped across his thigh was a holster, which held his Beretta—a standard 9mm pistol. His outfit was finished off with a pair of dark gray boots.
As he looked himself over in the mirror, he felt a little bit of sadness. This would be the last day that he spent with the people he called friends. They were an amusing bunch. Few people were as entertaining as they were, especially after Lilian had entered the picture. He was going to miss that entertainment.
Ah, well. Such was life, he supposed.
During his walk to the entrance hall, he allowed his mind to drift. Christine and Lindsay probably wouldn’t be wearing cosplay. Neither of them were really the type. Alex and Andrew might, but he didn’t know if they had a costume to wear. He suspected that Eric would, and Kevin and Lilian would definitely be decked out in something. Those two were crazy about stuff like this. He still remembered their cosplay costumes for the Halloween party that Desert Cactus High School had hosted.
His theories were mostly confirmed when he entered the entrance hall. Christine and Lindsay were not wearing costumes. The blonde was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and the yuki-onna was decked out in a Lolita dress. Most people would probably think that the snow maiden was cosplaying anyway, but that was neither here nor there. Alex and Andrew had also not deigned to dress up.
Justin then turned to Eric.
“… Jabidaya…”
Indeed, Eric had dressed up as his favorite anime character, the perverted teacher of Natsumo Uzukami: Jabidaya. Waist-length white hair ran down his back like a lion’s mane. A headband with metal plate that had a dildo etched onto the center wrapped around his forehead, allowing two spiky locks from his wig to descend on either side of his face like a pair of testicles. A red jacket worn over a green long-sleeved shirt went down to his knees. Green pants and wooden geta sandals made up the rest of his ensemble. Judging from the quality of the outfit, it was one of those cheap ones that people bought online.
“Holy shit!” Eric pointed at him. The others were gaping, too. “You… what… where… how the hell did you get a costume like that?”
“… Parents…”
“I didn’t know your parents could afford something like that!”
“… Saved up…”
“Who? You or your parents?”
“… Both?”
“Don’t answer my questions with another question! And what do you mean both?”
Justin was saved from answering by the arrival of Lilian and Kevin… and the cat. Justin frowned for a moment, wondering when the feline had reappeared, but he shrugged the thought off. The costumes were more interesting.
“Oh, dear,” Lindsay giggled nervously as she eyed Kevin’s and Lilian’s costumes with an expression that could best be described as, “what the hell are those two wearing?”
Christine just facepalmed. Iris seemed more interested in staring at Kevin’s chest with undisguised interest.
“Holy flying fuck! What the hell are you two wearing?!” Eric shouted, pointing at the pair.
“Our costumes.” Lilian beamed at them. “They’re pretty awesome, right?”
“Awesome is not the world I’d use to describe those monstrosities,” Alex said.
Justin had to agree. Lilian and Kevin were wearing the most hideous clothing that he had ever seen. Both of them wore a one-piece green spandex suit and orange leg warmers. That would have been disturbing enough, but they also had the largest, thickest, furriest eyebrows that he’d ever seen, which Justin almost mistook for caterpillars. There was one other thing he noticed, which disturbed him even more…
Kevin had breasts. Really big breasts.
Poke. Poke.
“Are those things real?” Iris asked, poking Kevin’s boobs.
“Of course they’re not real.” Kevin swatted her hand away. “They’re made of silicone.”
“Hm…” Iris hummed as she studied Kevin’s new assets some more. “Not bad. These are almost as big as Kotohime’s. What are they? One hundred and eight centimeters?”
Poke. Poke.
“I don’t know—and stop touching them!”
“Wha-wha-wha…”
“Look, Beloved.” Lilian pointed at Andrew. “I think we broke him.”
Kevin looked as well. “It certainly looks that way, doesn’t it? Not that I blame them. They were probably blinded by our incredible cosplay.”
“No,” Alex mumbled. “Incredible isn’t the word I would use.”
“Hey! Answer my question, damn it!” Eric shouted.
“I thought that would be obvious.” Kevin frowned. “We’re—”
“I know who you are!” Eric snapped. He quickly calmed down and tried a different approach. “I mean—My Lord, surely, you don’t intend to wear that to Comic-Con?”
“Of course we do,” Kevin answered swiftly. “Why else would we bother putting these on?”
“But those are—”
“Awesome?”
“Um, no. They’re—”
“Ridiculously awesome.”
“Yeah, they’re—no! No, they’re not! And enough with the awesome already!”
“You don’t think these are the coolest costumes ever?” Kevin shook his head at his friend. “I knew you were a pervert, but I didn’t think you were also a heathen.”
“Don’t call me a heathen when you’re wearing something like that! I thought you two were going dressed as Natsumo and Satsuki!” the young pervert said, his voice desperate.
“Why would we do that?” asked Lilian.
“So you can dress as the most famous yuri couple in the entire world!” Eric’s eyes lit up like flames. “Why else would you dress up like them?”
Kevin gave him a look. “Okay… let me put this in a way that you can understand. Why would we do that?”
Eric’s shoulders slumped. “You guys suck.”
With Eric no longer dissing their downright frightening cosplay, Kevin and Lilian then turned to Justin. After eying him up and down, they both whistled appreciatively.
“Whoa,” Lilian mumbled, “It’s like someone combined Solid Snake with those stupid spandex agents.”
Justin twitched. He would not get angry at her for that comment.
Lilian grimaced. “Man, that’s just tacky.”
He would not get angry. He would not get angry. He would not get angry. He would not—
“I have to agree.” Kevin nodded. “That spandex is just ugly.”
“Don’t insult my costume when you’re the ones wearing green spandex!”
Everyone stared at Justin in shock. It took him a moment to realize that he’d lost his composure, then another moment to realize that his friends were gaping at him. Seconds after that, he noticed that his finger was pointed at Kevin and Lilian. He slowly brought his hand back down and tried not to blush.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say more than three words in a sentence,” Eric mumbled.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him speak a full sentence period,” added Kevin.
Finding himself under the most intense scrutiny ever, the only thing that Justin could do was try to hide inside of his jacket.
***
A clear blue sky marked the beginning of the day. The sun shone overhead, bright and warm, casting its rays of ardent sunlight upon the earth. A slight breeze caused trees and bushes to sway. It also served to cool off the procession that was vacating the large bus situated in the crowded parking lot.
Lilian was beaming as she stepped off the bus. She took in the sights and sounds around her. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people milled about. Most of them were in costumes. There were a few that she recognized and quite a few that she didn’t. All of them were traveling in the same direction.
A figure stepped up beside her. Lilian turned her head. She had to admi
t, Kevin looked kind of silly wearing green spandex, orange leg warmers, long black hair, caterpillar-like eyebrows, and sporting gigantic breasts. But then, that was the whole point of these costumes: To have fun while looking silly. She probably looked just as goofy anyway.
“All right, everyone! I want all of you sticking together,” Kotohime called out to them as the group disembarked, taking charge of the situation much like a mother with her children. “Don’t separate into groups until after we’ve arrived and have picked out the time and place we’ll be meeting for lunch.”
Everyone agreed and off they went. They made for quite the sight: a group of people composed of mostly beautiful females. Aside from Alex, Andrew, Eric, Kevin, and Justin, the large gathering of 14 people were downright gorgeous women. There was something for everyone within their group: The sexy succubus with raven locks and bewitching carmine eyes; the Lolita-dressed girl who looked like a porcelain doll; the chatty tomboy with blonde hair; the French maid; the innocent woman showing off ridiculous amounts of cleavage with her flimsy Mahou Shoujo costume; the kimono-clad femme carrying a katana; the feral beauty with wild brown hair, slitted eyes, and a predatory grace; … and then there was Lilian.
For the first time since entering the human world, the looks that Lilian received had nothing to do with her inhuman beauty. Absolutely nothing. Instead, everyone was gawking at her choice of attire—or her super large eyebrows, which looked like they might crawl off her face at any second.
“Look at all the costumes! Look, Beloved! Look!” An excited Lilian pointed out several people who were dressed in costumes that she recognized. “It’s Ichika from White Out! And that’s Vagino from Dragon Warriors X! Oh, oh, and that’s Naruto Uzumaki!”
“Who?” Kevin asked, frowning in confusion.
“Eh?” Lilian blinked several times, her mind going over what she said. “Ah! I mean that’s Natsumo Uzukami!”
A Fox's Vacation (American Kitsune Book 5) Page 34
