Denial, it is no longer just a river in Egypt.
In spite of his enjoyment of the manga, however, he couldn’t really focus on the pages. Lilian’s close proximity to him was intoxicating. Her natural scent invaded his nose, addling his senses and making it difficult to think. He couldn’t properly describe her scent. It was an amalgam of wonderful fragrances; a mixture of strawberry, vanilla and something else, something that Kevin just couldn’t place. Whatever it was only served to intoxicate his mind further.
There was also the fact that being this close gave him a perfect view of her face. From far away, Lilian was extraordinarily beautiful. From up close, her beauty was amplified to levels beyond his ability to comprehend.
He could see the gentle curve of her cute button nose. The way her lush pink mouth moved as she worried her lower lip made him wonder what it would be like to nibble on those lips himself. Her eyes, those wondrous and enchanting emerald irises, were open and full of life, more vibrant than a vermillion forest. Kevin could gaze into those eyes for all eternity and it still wouldn’t be enough time to truly appreciate them.
“Kevin?”
Kevin blinked. And then he was back in the real world. It only took him a couple of seconds to realize that he’d been staring, and he quickly looked away. “Sorry.”
Lilian shook her head and smiled.
“It’s all right. I don’t mind if you look at me.” She looked back down at the manga, but her eyes were unfocused. “I want you to look at me,” she whispered.
“Lilian?”
“It’s nothing.”
Kevin remained silent for a while. “You really shouldn’t say things like that, you know,” he said in a subdued tone.
Lilian’s lips turned downwards. “What? Why not?”
“Because it’s…” Kevin paused, trying to come up with a suitable answer. “That’s not something you should say to just anyone.”
“But you’re not just anyone,” Lilian’s voice was that of someone stating a fact. “You’re my mate. I love you.”
The guilt came back and brought along friends. The unbelievable sense of shame he felt was almost overwhelming. He felt sick to his stomach.
“How can you say that so easily?”
His question appeared to bewilder Lilian. “What do you mean?”
Kevin grabbed a fistful of the bedsheets. “I mean, how can you tell me that you love me so easily? You toss around words like ‘love’ and ‘mate’ without a care in the world, as if those words were candy during a parade. How can you do that?”
“Because I do love you.”
“But why?”
“I…” Lilian looked confused. Her eyes, the windows to her soul, stared at him, uncomprehending. She seemed incapable of fathoming why he would ask such an obvious question. “I don’t understand. Why are you asking me this?”
“Never mind.” Unable to stand being so close to this girl, this beautiful, incredible girl who could declare her love for him so freely and without shame, Kevin stood up, “Please forget I said anything.”
“Kevin?”
“I think I’m going to go to bed,” he said softly.
“Oh.” Lilian’s shoulders slumped and her ears drooped, reminding him of how a dog might look when their owner decided not to play with them anymore. “Have a good night, then.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Without another word, Kevin crawled into his sleeping bag. He lay on his side, listening to the rustling of paper as Lilian flipped through the pages of her manga. The movements seemed mechanical, however, as if she was simply going through the motions instead of actually reading.
His mind in turmoil, Kevin tried to rid himself of the immeasurable guilt gnawing at him. When that didn’t work, he tried lessening the unwanted emotion by justifying why he shouldn’t be feeling it.
It didn’t work. No matter how hard he tried to justify his thoughts and actions, the guilt refused to leave him. There was a girl lying only a few feet away, who claimed to love him, who spoke with no hesitation and so much certainty that he was forced to believe her when she stated that she unequivocally loved him.
And he couldn’t even say he loved her back.
Because the truth was that he didn’t know. He didn’t know if he loved her or was simply infatuated with her beauty. Kevin was uncertain of his own feelings. Of course, there was another problem as well, one far more all-encompassing and problematic, a question that plagued his mind.
Do I even deserve to be with her? Do I deserve Lilian’s love?
Lilian was so pure―even if some of her actions suggested the contrary―and open with him. She’d given him her heart unconditionally, but he didn’t think he could do the same. Did he deserve to be with her if he couldn’t offer the same devotion and commitment?
No. The answer was no; he didn’t deserve her. He would never deserve someone like Lilian. Because he was…
Don’t go there, Kevin, he scolded himself. The last thing you need to think about is that man.
So Kevin laid there. The lights eventually went out when Lilian decided to get some sleep, and still he laid there, too restless to let slumber take him, his guilt overwhelming him.
It was going to be another long night.
Chapter 6
Arcades, Big Hair, and Disastrous Meetings
The next morning Lilian woke up bright and early.
Although the term bright and early was something of a misnomer. It was early, certainly, but definitely not bright. A glance out the window revealed that the sun had yet to even rise. Looking over at the clock confirmed the early hour as well. It read three in the morning. Definitely way too early for her to be up.
Groaning softly in discontent, Lilian rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. She might have been able to fall back into slumber, were it not for her eyes catching sight of a large lump on the floor covered by a sleeping bag.
Lilian’s gaze locked onto the young man she’d fallen in love with. Despite the darkness engulfing the room, she could trace the general outline of Kevin’s form. She couldn’t make out his face, but Lilian could imagine how his closed eyes and partially open mouth looked as he slept peacefully.
For many minutes Lilian lay there, staring at her mate―or the young man she had chosen to be her mate. He had yet to reciprocate her feelings, so they couldn’t really be called mates yet. While she stared at Kevin, a surge of emotions welled up inside of her, too many to count. However, one of them stood out the most.
Her heart constricted painfully in her chest as she thought about Kevin and all they had experienced in the month they’d known each other. They had been through a lot, more than most people experienced in years, and in that time, Kevin had actually begun to like her. That much she knew, and it filled her heart with joy to know that her mate enjoyed the time they had shared together.
And yet…
… She couldn’t help but wish for more. She wanted to take their relationship to the next level, to become lovers and not simply friends. She wanted that, but she didn’t know how to make it happen, she didn’t know how to make him hers.
Lilian had already tried every trick she knew to make him fall in love with her; stripping naked in front of him, taking baths together, purposefully leaving the door unlocked while she was showering, wearing sexy lingerie. The only thing she hadn’t done was use enchantments, which she refused to do. Despite her innumerable attempts, which would have worked on anyone else, Kevin had yet to respond to her earnest feelings. She sometimes wondered if he would ever love her the way she loved him.
But didn’t Lindsay say that Kevin is falling for me?
Lilian had noticed the difference in Kevin’s behavior around her; the way he would stutter, the things he could blurt out, almost as if he had reverted back to his original shyness when they’d first met. He could still speak to her. Indeed, sometimes he had no trouble talking to her at all. But, there were occasions when he couldn’t, when forming words seemed to be a str
uggle for him.
Lilian rolled onto her back and sighed, wondering if Kevin was actually afflicted by Gibberish of Love for her. Did he really like her as more than just a friend, or was she simply misconstruing his feelings? Lilian couldn’t tell. She had no answer, and that bothered her more than she cared to admit.
Realizing that sleep was likely out of her reach, Lilian crawled out of the bed. Her bare feet lightly padded along the soft carpet, careful not to wake Kevin. Just as she passed him, she paused.
From up close like this, it was much easier to pick out the details of his face. She gazed at his closed eyes, then at his parted lips, her own feeling suddenly dry.
Drawn to him like Pikachu to ketchup, Lilian knelt down and reached out to gently cup his face, feeling the texture of his skin. It was a bit rougher than her own skin, but this did not surprise Lilian. Kevin spent so much time in the sun, it was only natural. He also wasn’t a kitsune. He didn’t have a kitsune’s preternatural beauty.
“Nng…”
Kevin’s moan caused Lilian to snatch her hand back like it had been placed on a burning oven. The young human shifted a bit more, muttering incomprehensibly under his breath, before turning away and settling down again.
Lilian slowly rose to her feet and left the room, absently noting that Kotohime had taken a guard position by the door. Not really sure what she should do to pass the time―it was too early to even think about getting started on breakfast―Lilian decided to take a bath.
If there was one thing that was universally applicable to kitsune, it was that they all enjoyed a good bath. There was just something about the act of lounging in a tub of steaming hot water that appealed to them.
Of course, they only ever bathed in their human forms. Bathing in fox form only resulted in wet fur and an unpleasant smell. Really, the whole thing just lacked the general enjoyability that lounging in a tub in human form had.
Lilian was one of those kitsune who enjoyed bathing more than most. She loved luxuriating in the sensation of hot water soaking into her skin and cleansing her body.
She personally blamed Kotohime for this love of bathing. As someone of Japanese descent, Kotohime was a fox who believed bathing to be an art form.
The art of kitsune bathing was something that had been taught to Lilian when she was very little. Well, Kotohime called it that, but Lilian was sure it had nothing to do with kitsune, and everything to do with the traditional Japanese beauty’s own thoughts on the subject.
The art followed the way of traditional Japanese bathing: cleansing the body first, then soaking in the tub after the body was clean. It was done this way so people wouldn’t be relaxing in their own filth while they bathed.
Only the upper half of her face remained visible as she sat in the warm waters, her knees drawn up to her chest. Steam rose around her like a thick fog. She didn’t know how long she spent in the tub, only that it must have been a while, as her skin had started to wrinkle.
Left with little choice but to get out, lest she turn into a prune, Lilian unplugged the drain and rose to her feet. Water cascaded off her body as she stepped out and reached for a towel, wrapping it around herself, then grabbing another to dry off her hair, before walking down the hall.
She stopped in front of the door to Kevin’s bedroom. Kotohime still sat in seiza, her statuesque form immobile. Only her hands, which cleaned her katana (a task she did way too often) with reverent motions, let Lilian know that the woman was not actually a statue.
“Kotohime.”
“Good morning, Lilian-sama.”
“Have you been there all night?”
“No, I have not been here all night, just for most of the morning,” the katana-cleaning woman admitted.
Lilian sighed and walked up to the door.
“You may want to move from that spot when Kevin wakes up. I’d rather you not scare him first thing in the morning.”
“Ufufufu,” Kotohime chuckled, which didn’t reassure Lilian one bit. That chuckling boded nothing good. Was this why Kevin thought her own laugh was so creepy? “You need not worry, Lilian-sama. I shall try my best not to frighten the boy.”
Lilian didn’t say anything, knowing that was the biggest concession she’d get out of her maid-slash-bodyguard. Kotohime was well-known not just for her incredible beauty and skill with a blade, but also for her mischievous streak. The woman was a kitsune through and through.
Lilian entered the bedroom, closing the door behind her. After sparing another glance at the still sleeping Kevin, she walked over to the dresser.
That morning she chose to wear jean shorts that wrapped so tightly around her hips they appeared to have been painted on. Her off-the-shoulder shirt exposed a good portion of her cleavage and even more of her flat tummy. It was an earthen green color that contrasted nicely with her fiery hair and complimented her eyes. She really hoped Kevin would like it.
The clock read 4:30 am, which caused her lips to turn down as she realized her bath must have been a lot longer than she thought. Kevin would be waking up soon. If she wanted to have breakfast ready for him, she needed to start now.
Lilian ignored Kotohime as she hurried into the kitchen, hissing as she stepped on the cold tile with her bare feet.
As she opened the fridge and eyed the contents, she wondered what she should make. Most of her dishes were either Greek or Japanese due to Kotohime being her cooking instructor growing up, but this morning she wanted to make something different.
As her indecision mounted, Lilian saw Kevin’s cookbook sitting off to the side. She grabbed it and started thumbing through the pages. Surely there was something in there that she could make for breakfast.
***
Kevin Swift’s journey to consciousness was a slow process that day.
Not getting a good night’s sleep several nights in a row would do that to a guy.
Groaning like Luffy after going an entire day without meat, he blinked several times and stared at the ceiling for a long moment. Despite how tired he was, or perhaps because of it, he could only focus on the events of the last few days, and how everything seemed to have happened so fast. Kevin wished he could just catch a break.
Kevin crawled out of his sleeping bag and clambered to his feet, groggily making his way over to the closet and selecting clothes to wear that day. As he grabbed a T-shirt, his pajamas started to slip off his frame, forcing him to pull them back up. It seemed he’d lost a bit of weight recently. He’d have to start eating more.
When he exited his room and entered the hall, Kevin was greeted with a surprise.
“Good morning, Kevin-san.”
“Gya!” Shrieking like a little girl, Kevin spun around to face the source of the voice, his pupils dilating when he saw the familiar kimono-clad figure. “Don’t scare me like that!”
“My apologies.” Kotohime raised her left arm, no doubt hiding her smile behind the voluminous sleeve of her kimono. “I had not realized you were so easily frightened, ufufufu…”
Kevin twitched. “You know, I might actually believe you were truly sorry if you didn’t laugh like that.”
“Laugh like what? Ufufufu….”
“Like that.” Kevin pointed at the woman, dropping his clothes in the process. “I mean seriously, what is up with that laugh? Both you and Lilian do it, and it never fails to freak me out.”
“Ufufufu. Does it really bother you that much? I suppose I should not be surprised. A human such as yourself would have trouble grasping the complexities that govern us kitsune.”
Kevin clicked his tongue. “I have enough trouble understanding Lilian when she says stuff like that. I don’t wanna hear it coming from you.”
“Ufufufu…”
“Seriously, stop that!”
“By the way, Kevin-san.”
“What?” Kevin’s baleful eyes stared into Kotohime’s calm face.
“Your pajamas fell down.”
At her words, Kevin looked down to see that, indeed, his pajamas had fallen
off his legs and were pooling around his feet.
“Iyahn!” Kevin’s shrill cry, like that of a girl who’d just been groped by a pervy old man on a train, echoed throughout the hall.
***
A freshly showered and dressed Kevin entered the kitchen to discover Lilian cooking breakfast.
His mind stalled as he watched the girl at work. Her hips swayed to an unseen beat as she stood in front of the stove, cooking what smelled like a delicious meal. He could see every curve of her small heart-shaped buttocks, not the least bit hidden by the jean shorts that wrapped around her hips. The glorious sight of her bare legs was something that had been engraved into his memory since their first meeting. Yet even so, seeing those magnificently crafted thighs and shapely calves never seemed to get old.
Her back was hidden by long crimson hair, which trailed down to her hips before parting to make way for the tails sticking out of a small flap in the back of her shorts. They swayed back and forth, their motions reminiscent of an inverted pendulum. Each time they moved, tantalizing hints of Lilian’s silky smooth back was revealed to him.
He slapped a hand over his nose to keep the wet slickness from escaping his nasal cavity. Kevin had seen Lilian in far less, so just why the heck was his nose bleeding?
The sound of flesh smacking flesh alerted the beautiful vixen to his presence. She turned, her bare left shoulder becoming visible, as her hair swished in the opposite direction. When she saw him standing there, her face lit up, and the room somehow seemed just a little bit brighter.
“Good morning, Kevin.”
“Uh…”
Kevin’s brain suffered a serious malfunction. He could practically feel the organ melting into a fine ooze as it overheated.
“Kevin?” Lilian grew concerned when the boy refused to speak. “Are you all right?"
“I’m kosher!”
“Kosher?”
“I mean like a fish?”
A Fox's Maid Page 14
