A Fox's War

by Brandon Varnell

  The satori looked around wildly, as if the yokai was judging whether or not he could run away. One second passed. Their eyes locked, then, with a loud gibber, the satori ran straight at him like it was planning to bulldoze him over. Kevin stepped out of the way and stuck out his right leg. The satori tripped, tumbled, then slammed face-first into the ground. He didn’t get back up.

  Is he… playing dead?

  Kevin stared at the satori for several seconds. When nothing happened, he turned around and began walking away. The sound of scrambling came from behind him. Then he heard rushing feet. Crouching low to the ground, Kevin placed his hands on the floor, fingers splayed, and then lifted his legs and kicked. He felt, more than heard, his feet slamming into something. Standing back up, Kevin walked forward again. The sound of something smacking the ground echoed behind him.

  Holy shit.

  Iris wondered if she’d stepped into one of her sister’s wet dreams. That was the only way she could’ve explained what had just happened.

  Sure, she’d already known that Kevin was tough. She’d seen him fight, fought alongside him, and even watched him takedown creatures that he had no right taking down on his own. With everything they’d been through, if Kevin hadn’t grown strong, he would have died.

  That did not prepare her for this. Kevin had just taken down six yokai barehanded. Two of them might have been weak and tiny, but the others weren’t so easy to beat. Yet he’d done it.

  Kevin walked through the bodies of the yokai he’d beaten, coming inevitably closer to her and Kyle, who looked ready to shit his pants.

  “You’re the last one left,” Kevin said. Iris flinched. There really was something wrong with his tone. The pitch was all off.

  Is the back of his hand glowing?

  “S-stay back!” Kyle shouted, stumbling over his own two feet.

  Kevin didn’t stop. He marched up to Kyle who, in his panic, turned to her. “P-Princess! Please rescue your loyal servant!”

  Iris didn’t even need a second to think about it. “Um, no.”

  “W-what?! B-but I’m your loyal servant. I’ve done everything that you asked of me.”

  “Yeah… no, you didn’t. You completely misconstrued my words.”

  “That’s not true! IIIIAAAAEEEEYYYY!”

  Iris winced, both at the high-pitched squeal that Kyle made and at the fact that Kevin had just rammed his foot into the other boy’s balls. She might not have liked this guy, but no one deserved to have their testies taken out. Fortunately, before Kyle’s squealing could continue, he was knocked unconscious.

  Then Kevin turned to her. Iris almost froze. He knelt down and picked up a switchblade, which she guessed Kyle had been in possession of, and then walked up to her and cut the bindings.

  “Um, thanks, Stud,” Iris said, trying to put on airs. “I appreciate the help.”

  Kevin nodded. “Are you all right?”

  “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. They didn’t do anything other than—”

  Words fled Iris as Kevin suddenly pulled her into a hug. She was so shocked that she actually squeaked. She opened her mouth, though she didn’t know why. No sounds came out. His sudden action had paralyzed her.

  “I… I was really worried,” Kevin admitted. “When I saw that picture of you, I was really, really worried.”

  As her mind calmed down and her heart stopped racing, Iris felt something new take their place. Warmth. Kevin felt warm, incredibly so. It engulfed her like a fleece blanket.

  This feeling…

  She recognized this feeling. She’d only felt it once before—that day when the Void had tried to consume her. During that time, she’d undergone the ritual that all creatures of the Void must take, but she’d been wholly unprepared. She would have died that day, her existence erased, were it not for Kevin, who’d risked his own life—no, his own existence, for her. That was the day she’d learned of this warmth, but she hadn’t felt it since.

  I see… so this is why even I’ve…

  “I’m sorry,” Kevin muttered. His voice was muffled because his face was buried in her hair.

  Iris leaned into him, enjoying his warmth. “Sorry for what?”

  “For letting this happen.”

  She shook her head. Kevin was too quick to blame himself for things that were not his fault. It was a virtue, certainly, but it was also annoying.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  Kevin said nothing for several seconds. Then…

  “I’m glad you’re safe.”

  Iris smiled as she closed her eyes. She could fall asleep like this.

  “Me too,” she mumbled.

  On that day, Iris finally remembered why she wanted Kevin to acknowledge their relationship: Lilian wasn’t the only person that she loved.

  Four

  Angst

  Justin didn’t know how long he’d been asleep for, but when he woke up, it was to discover that he was in a jail cell. His shoulders ached. Someone had bound his wrists in chains that hung from the ceiling. Likewise, his wrists hurt, and blood leaked down his arms, the skin where the chains were locked around him having been rubbed raw.

  “I’m disappointed in you, Lieutenant,” a harsh, bear-like voice growled.

  Justin blinked. There was someone in front of him; a man with a scarred visage, bulging muscles, and a military bearing. His graying hair lent him a harsh air, and the massive scar that ran down his face made him frightening to some. Blue eyes that were like cobalts glared at him with a coldness reserved for enemies.

  “Commander,” Justin murmured. His throat was dry. How long had it been since he’d had something to drink? “I see you’ve brought those two pieces of scrap metal with you.”

  He was referring, of course, to the two large YK units standing on either side of Commander Paine. Their bulky metallic frames were hidden behind a pair of large cloaks. However, even the cloaks could not mask the bullet shape of their head, nor the tri-pronged clawed feet, and they did nothing to hide the demonically glowing eyes that peered out from underneath their cowl.

  “Machines are more reliable than humans,” Commander Paine stated. “You’re the perfect example of this. I always knew that you were a soft-hearted fool, though I never imagined you would betray me like this.”

  “Betray?” Justin needed a moment to think about that, then he chuckled. “Ah, that’s right. I did betray you, didn’t I?” A mirthless chuckle escaped his mouth. “Well, if you’d like to cast the blame on someone, you can always blame your son.”

  Justin’s face exploded with blood as the commander punched him. He felt his nose break under the assault, and despite himself, a whimper escaped his mouth.

  “I don’t have a son,” Commander Paine said. “You would do well to remember that.”

  Justin chuckled again despite the blood leaking into his mouth. “Duly noted.”

  “The information that you stole from us, where is it?”

  “Now why would I tell you that—”

  Justin gasped as Commander Paine drove a fist into his kidney. He felt his bladder loosen as the overwhelming pain slammed into him like the heavy end of Thor’s hammer.

  “I’ll ask again. Where is the information that you stole from us?”

  “Where are my companions?”

  “If you’re referring to Jack and Jill, they are dead. They didn’t have any useful information, so after interrogating them, we executed them for betraying their country.”

  The only person who’s betrayed his country is you.

  Justin closed his eyes. The pain of their loss felt worse than the kidney shot.

  “Where is the information that you stole from us?” Commander Paine asked again.

  “Fuck you,” Justin spat.

  “Insolent shit.”

  Justin felt bile rise in his throat when Commander Paine slammed a knee into his stomach. His head snapped back, teeth clacking together, when, after doubling over, he received a swift uppercut to the underside of his jaw. Everything grew
blurry. He tried to focus, but he couldn’t seem to regain his sensibilities.

  “I’ll ask one more time, where is the information that you stole from us?”

  Justin struggled to reply. “I… I gave it to… your mom… after fucking her.”

  The last thing Justin saw was a boot traveling for his face.

  Commander Paine clicked his tongue as he glared at the unconscious Justin, who dangled limply within the chains that bound him.

  I should have realized that using a failed product would result in failure.

  Justin was one of their earlier products. He’d been created by splicing somatic cells of various yokai with human DNA. Having been the first child created using this method, he was stronger than the others, but that strength came at a great cost. Namely, empathy. Perhaps it was due to the yokai cells within him, but he did not harbor the hatred for yokai that was necessary for cold-blooded murder. That was why he rarely did assassination work, which was what he’d been bred for anyway.

  While the others had wanted to discard him, Commander Paine couldn’t let such strength go to waste, and so he’d sought to utilize him as a spy instead of an assassin. That had been his mistake. He should have realized that integrating him into society would result in him becoming even softer.

  Turning about, he walked out of the room. The heavy clank of his bodyguards followed him. As the door closed and locked behind him, he turned to the guard currently stationed outside. It was a tall man with light red hair that bordered on pink.

  “See to it that no one comes into or out of this door.”

  The soldier saluted smartly. “Yes, sir!”

  Walking down the corridor, Commander Paine delegated the sound of his bodyguards’ walking to the background. His thoughts lay elsewhere.

  Justin had not only stolen information from them, but had also deleted a good chunk of it from his database. Since his computer was the only one that had this information, that meant large portions of it had been lost. This wouldn’t affect his overall plans for America. However, he still needed that information for his large-scale plan for this world. Without that intelligence, his plan would be impossible to enact.

  But it seemed that, once again, his decision to utilize and train Justin had backfired. The now-former lieutenant had been formally trained by him to resist even the harshest interrogation. Standard methods of extracting information wouldn’t work.

  I wonder if I can use my enemies to gain the intelligence that I want…

  Within his mind, a plan began to form.

  Mack watched the commander disappear around a corner. Sighing, he allowed himself to relax. Infiltrating this base had been very difficult. The number of security checks he’d undergone was insane. If it wasn’t for Orin sealing away his youki, he would have been discovered for sure. Still, now he was here, and he’d just learned something very useful.

  I need to tell Monstrang about this, and soon, he thought, looking at the door that kept a young human locked away.

  Future Lilian didn’t know what was wrong with Lindsay.

  She’d gone off on her own for a while, having decided to give Lindsay a small break. There were several tasks that she had needed to do anyway. However, upon her return, the blond girl had been in a major funk. She’d discovered Lindsay curled up on her bed, tears staining her face, and bags hanging under her bloodshot eyes.

  Something happened, but what is—ah! Has it already happened?

  “Ne, ne, Lindsay, are you just going to lay there forever? Whatever happened to becoming a magical girl and having your wish granted?” she asked.

  Lindsay said nothing. Future Lilian sighed.

  “Are you really going to let something as simple as someone not returning your feelings for them get you down?”

  That comment made Lindsay stir. She sat up and turned around, presenting her with a fierce glare made all the more disturbing by her bloodshot eyes.

  “You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” she accused.

  “I’m from the future,” Future Lilian said. “Of course, I knew.”

  “Then why didn’t you say anything?” Lindsay shouted. “If you had said something, then I… I wouldn’t have…”

  “No, you would have,” Lilian interrupted. “Even if I told you what would happen, nothing would have changed. Would you have stopped liking Christine just because I told you that she would never return your feelings?”

  Lindsay suddenly appeared uncertain. “Well… no, but…”

  “But what? Would you have not confessed to her? Would you have kept your feelings to yourself, allowing them to fester and blacken until all you had left was bitterness in your heart?”

  Lilian saw that her point was striking home. Lindsay drew her knees up to her chest, her expression the kind she expected to see on someone who’d just watched their favorite anime character die. Sitting down on the bed, she drew her friend into a one-armed hug. Lindsay didn’t resist.

  “I didn’t say anything precisely because I know you. I knew that if I had told you how Christine really felt, you wouldn’t have said anything, and those feelings that you now hold for her would have become tainted. I also did this so you can move on.”

  “Move on?” Lindsay sniffled.

  “Right. Now that you know about Christine’s feelings, you can let your own feelings go and move on to someone who actually does love you.”

  “Someone who loves me?”

  “Ah! But I would wait for a while because, you know, you wouldn’t want that person to think she’s just a rebound, right?”

  When Lindsay gave her a look that said, “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Lilian smiled. Having already seen what happened in the future, she knew what would happen, just as she knew that if things moved too quickly, her next relationship would also get a bad ending.

  Before anything more could be said, there was a knock on the front door.

  “That would be Jessica,” Lilian said.

  Lindsay frowned. “How could you tell?”

  “Lindsay, dear,” her mother said from the other side of her door. “Your friend Jessica is here to see you.”

  “Told you so,” Lilian said with a smug smile.

  Frowning even more, Lindsay eventually climbed off the bed and left the room. As the door clicked shut, Lilian fell onto her back and stared at the ceiling, wondering what would happen next.

  “I wonder if Lindsay will actually figure it out in this timeline?” she mused to herself. Lilian certainly hoped so. She didn’t enjoy the thought of her friend becoming a bitter and cynical person like the one in her timeline.

  Kevin and Iris returned home late in the evening. It had taken longer to rescue Iris than he had expected. While there was no sun visible—they were underground, after all—the clock on his android said that it was 6:57p.m.

  Iris hadn’t said much about what had happened no matter how many times he’d asked. Kevin had the distinct sense that she was hiding something from him, but he honestly didn’t think much of it right then. For all he knew, she could have just been traumatized, though he didn’t think that was the case.

  After getting off the bus, they slowly meandered along the paved path. He glanced at Iris out of the corner of his eye. She was not looking at him. It didn’t look like she was looking at anything in particular, almost as if she was lost in thought.

  “About what you said this morning…” he started.

  Iris looked up. “Eh?”

  “… C-could you give me some time?” He looked away and scratched his cheek. “I… I’m going to try to be more accepting of our… relationship in public, so…”

  Kevin trailed off as he tried to grasp the words that he wanted to say. He was ashamed to admit it, but he was ashamed of his relationship with Iris. It felt wrong. Even though he enjoyed being with her, and even though he told himself when she and Lilian had gone into heat that he was committing himself to them both, the idea of having a polyamorous relationship just felt wrong.
That was why he never kissed her in public even though they were having sex in private.

  Even so, I…

  Yet, even though he thought it was wrong, he didn’t want to be the kind of person who disregarded the feelings of someone that he considered family. Iris was important to him. He might not go out to comic conventions, dress up in couples cosplay, and spend lazy days playing video games and watching anime with her, but she was still someone who was very dear to him. He still thought of her as someone that he wanted to cherish.

  He just didn’t know how to express it.

  Iris must have realized this. She smiled and grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers together. It was a very not-Iris move. He wondered if she’d learned some things from Lilian.

  “I understand.” She looked straight at him. “I think I was being a little hasty.”

  “No…” Kevin shook his head. “It’s been two months since we’ve, well, since you joined Lilian and me… I know that I haven’t been displaying my affection for you in public like I do with Lilian, and I know that it’s been bothering you. I’m the one who’s at fault.”

  “You know that kind of attitude of yours really pisses me off.” Iris’s expression suddenly became sharp. “Someone who always apologizes for stuff, who even goes so far as to contradict others, is annoying.”

  Kevin winced. “Sorry…”

  “Don’t apologize.”

  “S—okay.”

  “That’s better.” Iris nodded. “I’m being serious here. If someone says that something is their fault, don’t try to add blame to yourself. That’s not going to make them feel better. It only serves to piss them off.”

  “I’ll try to remember that.”

  “Good.”

  Arriving at their little two-story apartment building, Kevin and Iris entered their residence and took off their shoes.

  “We’re home,” they called out at the same time.

  “Welcome home,” Kotohime said as she wandered out of the kitchen. “Dinner is ready. I would be grateful if you two could grab Lilian-sama and Christine-san while I locate my sister and Camellia-sama.”