“Lily-pad!” Iris rushed to her side, hopping over chasms with reinforced limbs.
“Watch out, Iris!”
A gunshot rang out. It missed Iris by mere inches, shooting through her fluttering hair instead of her head. Iris landed on the ground and raised a hand to her hair, her eyes bulging from their sockets like a demented chibi figurine.
“What the… he almost shot me!”
“You need to be more careful,” Lilian admonished—right before the earth shook violently. “Something’s coming.”
Indeed. Crawling out from the abysmal splits that rent the schoolyard were several skeletal figures, decked out in the tattered uniforms of confederate soldiers. They rose bearing muskets, with hats on their heads and empty eye sockets that gleamed red.
“Now then, my eternal warriors!” Seth’s voice rang out clearly enough for Lilian and Iris to hear, but not to determine his location. “Kill them. However, be sure not to damage them too badly. I still want to add them to my collection.”
As the undead skeletons took aim with outdated muskets, Iris and Lilian stood back to back.
“So,” Iris started, warily eying their new bony enemies. “Got any ideas?”
“...”
“You don’t have any, do you?”
“... I’m sure I’ll think of something,” Lilian said as the skeletons placed their bony fingers on the triggers. “... I hope.”
“That doesn’t inspire much confidence.”
“Hawa…”
***
Kevin stared at the woman that he had met a few weeks ago at the grocery store. She wore the same clothes that he’d first met her in. However, that was the only thing about her that remained unchanged. Her expression, her countenance, everything about her contained a sobriety that made him hesitate.
There was also the cat tail that jutted out from her tailbone, splitting in half to look like two cat tails, and the cat ears that twitched on her head. She was a yōkai, a nekomata, to be exact.
“Cassy, what are you doing here?” His body felt tense, coiled, like a loaded spring. The hairs on his arms and neck were tingling. “Why are you here? Are you working for whoever is fighting Lilian right now?”
When all Cassy did was look away, Kevin felt his gut clench as he realized something. All those times that Cassy had shown up while he did his Sunday newspaper run, they hadn’t been coincidental meetings. She’d been watching him, spying on him, learning his secrets, and he’d let her. He’d allowed himself to grow complacent around her.
“Why are you doing this?” Kevin asked, his voice a low growl. “Why are you working for whoever’s trying to kill Lilian? Tell me why, Cassy!”
Cassy flinched, but she quickly mastered herself and presented him with a scowl. “You wanna know why I’m here? Fine! I’ll tell you! I’m here because right now the person I’m being forced to work under is about to kill your girlfriend, and I’m going to make sure you don’t get in his way!”
Kevin clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He’d figured that much, but hearing her say it still hurt. While he wasn’t close to this woman, they’d gotten along pretty well whenever they met up. He’d kind of thought of her as a big sister, all teasing and playful, but also kind of helpless, just like a real good-for-nothing yet well-meaning big sister.
I need to stop watching anime.
“Fine then,” Kevin gritted out. “If you’re going to stand in my way, then I’m just going to move you!”
“Don’t think it will be that easy.” Cassy’s feet slid across pavement. Her center of gravity lowered, fists rising in a basic karate stance. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a yōkai, a nekomata. Fighting me isn’t going to be like fighting a two-tails.”
Kevin slid into his own stance. He felt the small gun in his back pocket shift. Should he use it? No. Cassy said that she was working under someone, and that someone was fighting Lilian and Iris. If he used the single bullet that his gun had now, then he would be useless against whoever they were fighting. He had to deal with Cassy without using his sole firearm.
“You think so, huh? Then listen up because I’m only going to say this once.” Kevin’s eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. “I don’t care if you’re human or yōkai. It doesn’t matter to me. Nothing is going to stop me from reaching Lilian and Iris. I might be a human, but that doesn’t mean I’m not without any tricks up my sleeve. Underestimate me and you’re going to be in for a world of hurt!”
Kevin spoke with enough confidence that anyone who knew him would have thought he was being serious.
However, Kevin knew the truth.
He was in a lot of trouble.
***
A shield of ice sprung up in front of Christine. The bullet ricocheted off it. Heather didn’t frown, but she did reload her gun and open fire again.
Christine winced as more bullets tried to penetrate her shield. They wouldn’t break through it so long as she continued pumping youki into it, but that was also dependent on her not running out of youki before Heather ran out of bullets.
“Lindsay, what are you doing? Let me go!”
Even though Christine implored her friend, Lindsay didn’t let go. If anything, her grip tightened, and Christine couldn’t break out of it. She was a yuki-onna. They were known for their powers over ice, not their physical prowess. They were no stronger than a human—weaker in some cases. Lindsay, with her athletic abilities, was far stronger than Christine.
“Why are you doing this, Lindsay? Let me go! You need to snap out of it!”
Several more bullets clanged off her ice shield, chipping away at it. Because she was connected to her ice, Christine felt each piece that was blasted away by Heather’s bullets. She repaired the damaged areas, but it took up a lot of her youki—certainly more than it would have for a pureblood yuki-onna. Christine, with her half yuki-onna/half-nekomata status, needed to use a lot more energy to create something as complex as an ice shield.
“Please, Lindsay, you have to let me go! She’ll kill us both if you keep me trapped like this!”
More gunfire. More ice fell away. Cracks appeared on the surface of her shield like a black widow’s intricate web.
“Lindsay, you need to snap out of it! Please! You’re my friend and I don’t want to lose you like this! Don’t let the bastard control you!”
But Lindsay didn’t let go. She gripped Christine all the more tightly, burying her face nose-first in Christine’s back. Christine started to struggle some more, but then she stopped when she noticed something that tore at her heart.
Lindsay’s body was shaking. Christine’s back was getting wet. Lindsay was crying. Even though someone was controlling her, she still seemed at least subconsciously aware of what she was doing, and she was crying because she couldn’t do anything about it. She was crying because some bastard was making her fight against one of her friends, and she could only do what she was commanded.
Because she’s human and the dickweed controlling her is a yōkai.
Fire flooded her veins. The thought enraged Christine. Who gave someone the right to cast an enchantment on her friend? What right did he or she have to steal her friend’s freedom? Who was the prick that would be tasting her boot when she escaped from this troublesome predicament?
Heather’s gunfire continued.
The ice dome shattered into thousands of crystalline fragments.
The remaining fragments, along with the bullets released from Heather’s gun, melted as flames of the purest white burst from the ground and formed a circle around Christine and Lindsay, who Christine rendered unconscious with a strike to the temple. It hurt to injure her friend, but it hurt even more to see her being controlled.
A tail popped out from underneath her lolita dress. Cat ears protruded from within her hair. Her canines became longer while her nails lengthened and turned into claws.
N-nya! Christine, what are nyou doing?!
I’m protecting my friend. What’s it look like I’m doing?<
br />
Nya, nya, nya! Nyou can’t do that! Nyou haven’t learned how to control nyour powers. Also, nyour body is still that of a yuki-onna! If nyou use our power, it will—
That’s fine. I don’t care.
Her nekomata half fell silent. Christine, sweat pouring from her body, caking her outfit to her skin, glared daggers at the still-enchanted Heather.
“I don’t know who this bastard thinks he is, but he had better pray to whatever god he worships that Kevin finishes him off before I get to him, because if I find him, I’m going to shove my foot so far up his ass it’s going to come out of his throat!”
The flames began to gather, swirling around Christine as she crouched on the ground, holding Lindsay close. The fires then morphed, gaining coherency and form.
Standing on four legs as it towered Christine and Lindsay, as if protecting them from all threats, was a giant cat made of bright white flames.
***
Kevin backpedaled away from Cassy as she swiped at him with her claws. Her right hand made a slashing motion from left to right. Kevin halted his backward movement by placing his left foot behind him, bracing his body as he ducked down and avoided the swipe. Air rustled his hair. Her attack had nearly taken his head off! Gritting his teeth, he came back up, pushing himself into a rising punch that smashed into Cassy’s jaw.
“Iron Human Fist!”
At least, he would have smashed into Cassy’s jaw, if the nekomata hadn’t jumped back, avoiding the strike entirely.
She stared at him incredulously as he set himself in another stance. “Did you actually name your punch ‘Iron Human Fist?’ Seriously? What kind of name is that?”
In spite of the situation, Kevin’s cheeks gained a brilliant heat as if Cassy had shot him in the face with hellfire. “Ah… well, I’m not very good at naming things, so I thought I’d take the name of an attack in a manga I read and just changed some of the words. You know, to avoid copyright issues and stuff.”
“Um, what?”
“Never mind that! I’ve still got to rescue Lilian and Iris, and you’re not going to stop me!”
Kevin rushed forward, meeting Cassy in a blur of fists and feet. It became immediately apparent to him that his opponent’s style was much more refined than his own. While his style was still sloppy and full of holes, Cassy’s was graceful and agile, like a cat. Her fists came in swifter than lightning, trying to pick him apart with swift jabs that wove around his guard as if her fists were water flowing around a rock. Kevin blocked them as best he could, but she proved to be much faster than him.
Dang. Picking a fight with a yōkai really was a pain. Maybe he should have tried something else? It was too bad there wasn’t anything there that he could use against her.
As another fist slipped around his guard and stung his face, Kevin realized that he really did need to think of another way to defeat this woman. She may not have had the strength of a gorilla yōkai, but she was still more skilled than him. She was also stronger, faster, and more experienced—a bad combination if there ever was one.
A glance around revealed that he was right next to a classroom. The door was probably locked, but it still had a window. Without a second thought, Kevin ducked under another punch, spun around, and then ran straight for the window. He leapt, crashing into it and causing it to shatter like, well, glass.
“Ow!!”
Kevin winced as he crouched on the ground, pulling out several glass shards that jutted from his skin. They weren’t very deep, but they still hurt.
“How come all the movies and anime I’ve seen make jumping through windows look so easy? Why did that hurt so much?”
A shadow leapt in through the window. It was Cassy. She landed on her feet several meters away, standing on top of a desk, which she crouched upon much like a cat.
“I can’t believe you just jumped through a window like that, nya. When did you get so reckless?”
“Oh, stuff it,” Kevin grumbled as he finished pulling the small glass fragments out of his arms. The wounds bled a little, but he determined that they wouldn’t hamper his fighting ability. “I’m a human fighting a yōkai. I took a calculated risk and thought jumping through a window into a classroom would let me deal with you better.”
“Was it really a calculated risk?”
“... No, it was spur of the moment,” Kevin admitted sheepishly. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea.”
“I suppose, nya.” Cassy observed all of the desks that cluttered the room. “You probably assumed that all of these desks and other objects would hamper my mobility, didn’t you? That would normally be a solid plan, but you’re forgetting something important, nya.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“I’m a nekomata. A cat yōkai. We’re the most agile race in the entire world. Avoiding stationary objects is a simple matter for us. If anything, you’re the one who’s going to find their movements hampered in this room.”
“Well, shoot.” Kevin scratched the back of his neck. “I really didn’t think this through, did I?”
“No,” Cassy agreed. “No, you did not.”
***
The fire cat leapt at Heather with a ferocious pounce, forcing the woman to dodge. When it landed, flames burst from its feet, scorching the ground.
The construct wouldn’t last long. Christine had never used her nekomata powers before. Chances were good that her flames would only last for a few more seconds.
A few seconds was all she needed.
As gunshots went off, striking the fire cat to no effect, Christine used the distraction presented to escape. With Lindsay being carried by her via piggyback, she scampered away, not caring which direction she ran so long as it wasn’t near Heather. While she’d managed to avoid human casualties through luck, that wouldn’t last if the fight continued around all those unconscious people.
Thinking back on it, she probably shouldn’t have taken Lindsay with her, but it was too late to change her mind now.
Her breathing had already grown ragged after barely a minute of running. Sweat formed on her brow. She wasn’t an athlete. Running around while carrying Lindsay while also wearing a lolita dress was hard.
Fortunately, the gymnasium was close by.
Entering the large gymnasium, Christine rushed through the halls at random. It didn’t matter where she went. She merely needed to disappear so she could think about her next course of action.
As she ran, Christine thought about her situation. She had an enchanted Heather chasing after her with a gun, an unconscious Lindsay on her back, and she was running low on youki. Things definitely weren’t looking good. Why did she agree to stick around and fight again? Oh, right. Lilian and Iris were in trouble. Curse her bleeding heart.
A gunshot went off, echoing in the hall. Sparks exploded against the tiles near her left foot. Christine cursed. She’d been hoping for more time.
As more bullets flowed around her, Christine ducked through the nearest door and found herself in the backroom of the theater. With barely any light to illuminate her path, she ran through the backstage, avoiding the various props. The door burst open just as she ducked around a corner and into a hallway filled with more doors. Choosing the first one available, she ducked in and closed the door before locking it.
Christine did her best to regain control of her breathing as she walked further into the room. Her feet sank into the soft carpet. Mirrors and stools stood off to one side, while a table sat on the other. This place looked like a dressing room. Still…
How the heck can our school afford something like this?
She knew that a school with a theater club had to have a changing room, but this was a little too nice, a little too luxurious. It must have cost a fortune. Could a school afford to spend their money so frivolously like this?
It was while she was thinking these thoughts that Christine noticed it, the camera that was situated in the left-most corner of the room.
That was when she realized
that Eric’s father, the principal, had probably made this room to get a free peep show.
A second later, several tiny needles of ice penetrated the camera, which burst into sparks and smoke.
“Damn pervert,” Christine grumbled before walking further into the room.
A couch sat in the back, against the wall, which was where she set Lindsay. The girl fell over, unable to stay upright, so Christine tried to straighten her friend’s limbs. Then she stood up and walked back to the door, grabbing a foldout chair along the way and pressing her back against the wall.
She tried to slow down her breathing and calm her rapidly beating heart as she strained her ears to listen through the door. She could hear footsteps, softly at first but growing louder—Heather, no doubt. The footsteps increased in volume at the same time that her heartbeat seemed to increase in speed.
And then the footsteps stopped. Christine found breathing impossible. Did Heather know where she was hiding? She waited, her heart hammering in her chest. She wished she could see what was happening on the other side.
The footsteps started up again, and Christine thought she might die of relief. Opening the door as slowly and quietly as possible, she slipped outside. Heather was walking further down the hall. Her back was turned.
Moving as stealthily as possible, Christine crept closer to the woman. She raised the chair over her head, preparing to bash the woman and knock her out cold. That was the plan anyway.
Unfortunately, Heather didn’t seem to be very cooperative.
Quicker than Christine believed possible, the woman spun around and kicked her in the stomach. The chair clattered to the floor as her hands went to her gut, which felt like a jackhammer had slammed into it. Bile rose to her throat. She forced it down as she stumbled backwards.
How could a human be this strong? Had Heather strapped one-hundred pound weights to her legs in order to increase her strength?
The woman aimed her gun, but a ball of ice struck her hand and knocked the gun away, causing it to fly into the darkness and clatter to the floor somewhere out of their sight. This didn’t deter Heather. She rushed in before Christine could create more ice.
A Fox's Mate (American Kitsune Book 6) Page 36
