“It’s important.”
“Ha… fine.” Eric stood up. “But make it quick, alright. We’re just about to get to the best part of the entire episode.”
Which Kevin took to mean they were getting to one of the parts where Natsumo found herself randomly stripped naked for no apparent reason. It happened a lot in anime—spontaneous stripping, that is.
Kevin took Eric to the spot outside where he’d conversed with Kotohime several nights ago. He didn’t want anyone overhearing their conversation, least of all Lilian.
Eric crossed his arms and stared at his friend. “All right, now, what’s so important that you felt the need to drag me all the way out here?”
Kevin took a deep, calming breath to center himself—
“IthinkI’minlovewithLilian!”
—and then spoke complete gibberish.
Eric stuck a pinky in his ear, pretending to clean it out. “Eh? What was that? I couldn’t understand a word you just said.”
Kevin grimaced and took several more deep breaths. When he finished finding his zen, he looked at Eric again. “I… I think I might be in love with Lilian.”
Eric’s stare made him feel like an idiot.
“Is that all you wanted to say? I could have told you that.”
“Eh?”
At hearing his friend’s most elegant way of expressing confusion, Eric rolled his eyes. “Look, man, it’s obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that you like Lilian.”
If Kevin hadn’t been startled before, then he certainly was now. “It is? Really?”
“Kevin, only an idiot wouldn’t notice that you like her.” Eric held out a hand and began ticking off reasons with his fingers. “You spend more time with her than anyone else―and don’t give me that crap about you two living together. That doesn’t stop you from avoiding her at school. You treat her with more kindness than anyone else.”
Kevin opened his mouth, but wasn’t given a chance to speak.
“Ah ah, don’t interrupt me. I know exactly what you’re going to say. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Eric said in an approximation of Kevin’s voice, “‘I don’t treat Lilian any differently than I do anyone else.’ Bullshit! You treat her way differently than anyone else. You might be a complete pansy when it comes to women—”
“Oi!”
“—but that doesn’t mean you’re weak-willed. If you didn’t like Lilian, she would have never gotten away with half the crap she’s done since you two met. The mere fact that you let her say the stuff she does, that you don’t put much effort into stopping her when she clings to you, tells me that you like her.”
To this, Kevin said nothing.
“Besides, you stare at her all the time.”
“W-w-what?!” Kevin shrieked as his face turned into a neon sign. “I do not stare at her!”
Kevin looked away when Eric gave him a surprisingly deadpanned stare.
“W-what? I don’t… do I?”
“Kevin.” Eric’s voice had never been more serious. “Just the other day, you were so busy staring at Lilian that you couldn’t even run properly during track practice. Coach Deretaine actually had to curse you out like a sailor stuck in a desert just to get you to start moving.”
“T-that’s because…”
“And what about today,” Eric continued, “the whole time we’ve been hanging out, you’ve hardly gone ten minutes without looking at her. You also let her feed you, hold your hand, and you’re always smiling at her.”
“ What does me smiling have to do with anything?”
“Everything!” Kevin jumped in shock when Eric shouted. “Look, Kevin, most people probably think I’m just a good-for-nothing pervert, and they’re one-hundred percent correct. But! I am also a pervert who happens to be your best friend. I know you; your habits and your thoughts and how you act when you’re uncomfortable, so I know when you like someone. Even Lindsay never got the smiles you’ve been giving Lilian. Face it, you’ve been struck by Cupid’s arrow, you’ve caught the love bug, the doctor of love has come knocking on your front door, you―”
“All right, all right! I get it,” Kevin interrupted. He really didn’t want Eric going on one of his rants. “I’m in lo-lo-love with Lilian. But… how can I know if this is real love and not just a silly crush? What if it’s not true love?”
“True love?” Eric snorted. “Kevin, there’s no such thing as true love. That’s a fairy tale coined by Disney in order to con money out of tween girls and their parents.”
“I thought fairy tale princesses was the Disney concept?”
“They came after Disney created the idea of there being such a thing as your ‘One True Love.’”
“Oh.” Kevin paused. “So what should I do?”
Eric raised an eyebrow. “Are you really asking me what you should do?”
Kevin shrugged and looked down at his shoes. His black sneakers contrasted sharply with the concrete pavement. “You’re my best friend. Who else am I supposed to ask? My mom? She hasn’t dated since the jerkwad of a sperm donor left her. Lindsay? She’s a girl.” Another pause. “And now that I think about it, maybe asking her for advice is a good idea.” He shook his head. “Anyway, the point is, you’re my best friend. If I can’t come to you for help, then who else can I go to?”
Running a hand through his hair, Eric sighed. “If you really want me to help, I do have some advice to give you. But, you’re probably not going to like it.”
“At this point, I am willing to take any advice you can give me under serious consideration.”
“Alright then, here’s my advice. You listening?” Kevin nodded. “Fuck her.”
… Silence. Several crows cawed in a most annoying manner.
“I-I’m sorry, what?” Kevin looked at Eric like he’d sprouted a donkey’s tail from his hindquarters.
“I said fuck her, diddle her fiddle, stick your tallywhacker in her babymaker, shove your star quarterback into her squealing cheerleader, poke your―”
“I can’t do that!” Kevin exploded. Eric’s blank stare would have made him uncomfortable, but Kevin was already too embarrassed to feel discomfort.
“Why not?”
“What do you mean why not? Because it’s… because I… I mean… to have sex with someone that you don’t even know your own feelings for… it’s just wrong!” Kevin grabbed his left elbow with his right hand, looking more than a little uneasy. “Lilian, she… she really loves me. This isn’t some high school crush to her; this is serious. It’s the ‘I wanna spend the rest of my life with you’ kind of serious. If we had sex, it would be like I was declaring my intentions to marry her, and I don’t… I mean, I’m not sure if my own feelings for her are that strong. What if I tell her that I love her back, and then realize later on that I don’t actually love her?”
“That’s the risk one takes when it comes to love.” It was surprisingly sound advice coming from a pervert. “You can never know if you’re going to still love someone months, years or even decades down the road. That’s why so many people get divorced these days.”
“But that’s wrong!” Kevin exploded. “That’s so, so wrong! You think I can do something like that?! That I can hurt someone like that! My mom suffered because my dad left her after I was born! Even now she refuses to talk about him!”
Kevin gritted his teeth. He didn’t know his father, not even his name, but he didn’t need to. His father had left his mom. She was with child, and he left her! To be born from someone like that, to have that man’s blood flowing through his veins; it made him sick.
“I refuse to do that to Lilian.” Kevin’s eyes blazed like twin bonfires in the night. “Lilian loves me, Eric. Do you understand what that means? She loves me so much and I… I’d never forgive myself if I got her hopes up by accepting her love without being positive that I could return it with the same intensity and devotion as her.”
“You make it sound like you’re her soulmate or something.”
Ke
vin looked down at his hands. They were trembling, weak. The hands of a boy born from a man who abandoned his significant other after he’d gotten her pregnant. These hands held Lilian’s heart in their palms. That knowledge made him queasy.
“I might as well be.”
“I’m sure you’re just exaggerating.” Eric rolled his eyes at Kevin’s melodrama. “I know the girl is into you. Hell, everyone knows Lilian would like nothing more than for you to stick your rock hard porpoise into her moist cavernous passage―”
“Oh, for the love of―would you stop crapping out innuendos already?”
“―but that doesn’t necessarily means she wants to get married, have your babies, and buy a house with a white picket fence and a flower bed.”
Kevin shook his head. Eric just didn’t understand. “No, she does. Trust me on this, Lilian isn’t looking for a quick screw or anything. This is a lifetime commitment to her.”
“Whatever. I think you’re just a little too into yourself.”
Kevin sighed. He wished he could tell his best friend the real reason that Lilian loved with him, but he couldn’t. A conversation like that couldn’t end well.
“Eric, the reason I know that Lilian isn’t looking for a one-night stand is because she’s actually a kitsune, and she has chosen me to be her mate. That means she’ll remain by my side for the rest of my life, and because I am her first mate, I’ll be the single most important person in hers.”
“… Justin hasn’t convinced you to do whatever has fried his brain, has he? That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Kevin shook his head. Yeah. Not happening.
“Look, Kevin.” Eric placed his hands on Kevin’s shoulders, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Whether Lilian is looking for marriage and children or just a young man to screw doesn’t have any bearing on your decision. It also doesn’t change the fact that, in the end, you are the one who has to make this decision.”
Kevin sighed. That really wasn’t what he’d been hoping to hear. But then, what did he expect when asking Eric for help?
“I know you’re afraid of acting on your feelings because of your old man.”
Kevin’s eyes widened.
“How did—”
“Oh, please.” Eric rolled his eyes. “Just because I spend more time looking at tits than I do paying attention to you doesn’t mean I’m ignorant.”
“… I really dont’t know how to take that,” Kevin mumbled, “so I think I’ll just ignore it.”
“Whatever. The point is that I know what you’re really afraid of, and I think you’re being stupid. You are you and your old man is just some jerk you’ve never met. You’re not him, and you’re not the type to treat Lilian like some kind of object. You’re way too nice for that.”
Kevin said nothing. His eyes remained focused on Eric, who’d never sounded so… intelligent before. Was this really his perverted best friend?
“If you love Lilian, then be with her. If you want to fuck her brains out, then by all means, have at it. In matters of the heart, it is best to go with your instincts. The question you should be asking yourself isn’t, ‘will I end up being like my old man and leave some poor, innocent girl with a child?’ The real question you should ask is, ‘am I really willing to let this chance at happiness slip away because I’m too afraid to act on my feelings?’”
“That…” Kevin needed a moment to find his voice. “That was surprisingly profound coming from you.”
“I have my moments.” Eric clapped Kevin on the shoulder. “Now, let’s go back inside. I want to finish watching Shinobi Natsumo.”
“Sure.”
“And if I missed Natsumo getting stripped naked because of you, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Eric!”
“What?” Eric shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”
Chapter 9
A Picnic Gone Wrong
The room was dark, so dark that very little could be seen. The only source of illumination came from a monitor in the corner, which allowed those present to see vague outlines of various objects arrayed around the room.
Sitting within this room were two figures. Only their silhouettes were visible, two outlines of darkness. They were seated at a small table, sitting opposite of each other.
A fist banged against the table several times.
“I now call this first meeting of the Lovely Lilian Lovers Club to order.”
“Dude, there’s no need to be so loud. There are only two of us here.”
“Two of us? Where’s our third member?”
“He said he had something important to do.”
“He had something―oh. Right. I forgot I had him doing that.”
“That? What’s that?”
“Nothing. Nothing. Just a small favor I asked for. He’ll be stopping by in a little bit. Let us not worry about him and start this meeting. To order!”
The fist banged again.
“Okay. Seriously dude. There’s no need to do the whole fist-banging thing. There’s still only two of us here. And why do we have the lights off?”
“Don’t say that, man!” The first voice whined. “You’re totally killing my vibe! Just pretend this is a big meeting filled with thousands of people. It’s not like that day isn’t far off anyway. Lilian’s popularity is growing daily. Already she’s being hailed as the most beautiful girl in school. It’s only a matter of time before more people join our club. And it’s dark in here because we’re in the process of plotting our diabolical scheme. All diabolical schemes must be plotted in darkness. That’s how this stuff goes.”
“Uh huh… and just where did you get that?”
“From the Dungeon Master’s Guide.”
“Ah.”
“Now then! Enough dilly-dallying and silly questions! We have a meeting to get on with.” The figure leaned its left forearm against the table. “Do we have their itinerary?”
“Yes.” The second silhouette held up a clipboard. “Our stalking―um, our reconnaissance has borne fruit. It seems they will be traveling to Mountain View Park today.”
“Excellent! Do we know what time they’re leaving?”
“No.”
“That’s fine. I set up a couple dozen spy cameras all around their complex. All we need to do is watch the one by their front door and we’ll know exactly when they leave.”
“When did you have time to do that?”
“Never mind that. Now, to the computer!”
“… Uh, right!”
***
Lilian hummed a soft tune as she waltzed about the kitchen. Her hips swung to a silent beat. If her tails had been out, they would have been swishing about as well.
Today was going to be a special day. Last night she had convinced Kevin to go on a picnic with her. Lilian’s lips curled in delight. This would be their first picnic together, and one that he had promised when they’d gone shopping so long ago. She hoped it would become one of many.
This is so exciting! Kevin and I are going on a picnic!
Kotohime stood with her hands clasped behind her back, watching her charge scurry about the kitchen with a look of amusement. Lilian had always been an unusual kitsune, but it had never been more evident than now.
Very few of their kind enjoyed cooking, and even fewer enjoyed cooking for others. Most kitsune didn’t even know how to cook. They had no need to learn when they could convince someone else to do it for them, and aside from that, the Pnév̱ma Clan had several chefs who cooked for them.
Ever since that day several years ago, when Lilian had encountered a young Kevin, she’d become interested in learning how to cook. Kotohime could only assume that meeting with Kevin had been one of those defining moments in the young kitsune’s life. From that moment on, Lilian had wanted to learn how to be a good mate, and apparently, good mates knew how to cook—at least according to those manga Lilian made her buy.
“There.” Lilian beamed as she finished filling the picnic basket. “All finished. No
w I just need to make breakfast.”
Before Lilian could start something else, Kotohime placed a hand on the redhead’s shoulder. “There is no need for you to prepare breakfast as well. Why don’t you get ready for your picnic, while I prepare our morning meal? I believe that shower is calling your name.”
Lilian pondered Kotohime’s suggestion. She wanted to prepare Kevin’s food, but the idea of taking a shower appealed to her greatly, and Kevin would be waking up soon. While she’d love to take a shower with him, that just wasn’t in the cards right now.
“Okay. Thanks, Kotohime.”
“You’re most welcome, Lilian-sama.” Kotohime watched Lilian walk out of the kitchen before scavenging through the fridge. “Now where did I put that hot sauce?”
***
Kevin woke up with a groan. After taking several moments to gather his bearings, he crawled out of his sleeping bag and staggered to his feet.
Moaning and groaning like a zombie from a B-budget horror flick, he stumbled out of the room and made his way into the bathroom. It wasn’t long after entering that his mind went from start-up mode to high-alert. His eyes widened to epic proportions as he stared at the very beautiful and very naked girl standing in front of the mirror.
Why does she never lock the dang door? The question flitted only briefly through his mind before other thoughts consumed him.
Kevin didn’t know why―actually he did, but denial kept him from admitting it―but the moment he entered the room and saw Lilian standing there naked, his eyes refused to leave her.
Slowly, ever so slowly, blue irises trailed over Lilian’s body. Even now, after all this time and many instances similar to this one, Kevin couldn’t get over how gorgeous this girl was. Her hair, descending like a curtain of fire, went all the way down to her small, heart-shaped derrière. Several strands lay across key points of her body, wet, shiny and erotically sticking to her skin.
While the hair covering a good portion of her breasts should have alleviated the sexual appeal, it didn’t. If anything, the long locks of hair blocking the view of her nipples merely added a sensualistic allure to the already arousing sight. It didn’t help that Lilian wasn’t actually doing anything truly sensual. She was just being her usual self which, oddly enough, made the entire scene sexier.
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