A Fox's War

by Brandon Varnell

  “You were just thinking that I couldn’t possibly be Davin Monstrang because I’m not fat, weren’t you?” Davin accused.

  “N-no.” Kotohime’s smile was uncertain. “O-of course not.”

  “Che. Whatever.” Sitting down, Davin glared at the group with his usual stern face. Kotohime found it very odd since he didn’t look like an overly large version of the Pillsbury Doughboy. “I—we have a mission for the four of you.” He pointed at her, Kiara, Heather, and the woman who Kotohime didn’t know.

  “It must be something important to send all four of us out,” Kiara deduced.

  “It is important, youngling,” Orin chided. “The mission that we have for you may very well determine the course of this entire war—at least, on the human front.”

  Those words captured Kotohime’s attention. Even if it was just in regards to the humans, or rather, to the Sons and Daughters of Humanity, anything that could change the course of the war was important.

  “By the way,” Orin continued, “has anyone ever told you that you have marvelous boobs—Alcatraz!”

  Nearly everybody winced as Orin crumpled to the floor like a soggy ramen noodle. The perpetrator of his new condition, Sarah, retracted the fist that she’d used to bash his head in.

  “What my perverted compatriot neglected to mention is how this mission is relevant to the war,” she began. “Some of you may know this, but one of Davin’s operatives managed to infiltrate the Sons and Daughters of Humanity’s Headquarters in Colorado.”

  “You are speaking of Mack, are you not?” asked Kotohime. “I had heard that he was being sent to infiltrate the enemy, but I had assumed it would be the Yamata Alliance.”

  “We originally planned on doing that, but Mack is too well known by the Yamata Alliance,” Kuroneko told her.

  “So, what does he have to do with our mission?” asked the raven-haired neko.

  “Patience, Cassy. We’re getting to that part.”

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  So, her name is Cassy, is it?

  “Mack managed to infiltrate the Sons and Daughters of Humanity several days ago and has been assigned standard guard duty tasks. However, it seems he’s hit the jackpot. His current assignment within the compound is guarding a young man named Justin Verrator.”

  The name sent a jolt of recognition through Kotohime. She knew who that was.

  The boy who betrayed Kevin-sama.

  Kotohime narrowed her eyes.

  “It appears Justin betrayed the Sons and Daughters of Humanity, stealing important information regarding their plans and hiding it somewhere. He’s currently locked up in a holding cell,” Orin said, recovering from the blow Sarah had dealt him.

  “Then what is our mission going to be?” asked Phoebe.

  “Your mission is to extract Justin and bring him safely here,” Sarah informed them. “We don’t know what that information is, but it was important enough that the supreme commander of the Sons and Daughters of Humanity is keeping him alive instead of killing him outright. That means it likely has to do with his plans for the remainder of this war. The four of us have concluded that we’ll likely need it if we want to stop this war.”

  “When do we leave?” asked Kiara, tapping a finger against her knee.

  “Tomorrow,” Davin said. “We want you to be well-rested for this mission.”

  “In that case,” Kotohime began, “would you mind if we brought one more person along for this mission?”

  Davin’s stern expression somehow managed to turn even more surly. “I know who you want to bring along, and the answer is no.”

  “With all due respect, Davin-dono, the person who I want coming with us has every right to be on this mission,” Kotohime shot back.

  “Who is this individual?” asked Sarah with a frown.

  Davin opened his mouth to say something, but Orin, who was rubbing his bruised noggin, beat him to it.

  “A young man by the name of Kevin Swift,” the monkey yokai said.

  “Master?!” Cassy gasped—only to be silenced with a glare from Sarah. Kotohime narrowed her eyes at the nekomata.

  How does she know Kevin?

  “Kevin Swift…” Sarah furrowed her brow. “Why does that name sound so familiar? Who is this person?”

  “He’s a surprisingly capable young man.” Orin’s smile somehow combined benign with mischievous. “I think we should send him along. He’s sure to surprise us.”

  While Davin looked disgruntled, everyone else was in agreement. Thus, Kevin was added to the roster of those who’d be going on the mission to rescue Justin.

  “Come on! You think you can beat me? Eat this!”

  “Ha! Your moves are weak! Now taste my steel, bitch!”

  “You two are really getting into this, aren’t you?”

  It was late into the evening. Kevin didn’t know what time it was exactly, but he knew that they probably should have gone to bed already. Instead, he, Lilian, and Christine were playing King of Fighters XII. Since it was only a two-player game, they’d decided to play best two out of three, with the loser giving up their controller to the next person. The players had been decided by a classic game of rock, paper, scissors. Kevin had lost.

  “Flying Squirrel Furiante!”

  “You don’t have to shout out the name of your attacks, you know?”

  “Ufufufu, you’re just jealous that I’m not afraid to shout out attack names.”

  “You think so? Then how about this! Psycho Sword!”

  Kevin and Iris sat on the sidelines, watching as Christine and Lilian tried to beat the crap out of each other. Lilian was playing Mai Shiranui, while Christine fought with Athena Asamiya.

  “I hadn’t realized Christine was this good at video games,” Kevin muttered as he watched the fighting on screen. He hadn’t even thought Christine liked games. Then again, she had been at the arcade when he saw her during their sophomore year.

  “I can’t believe these two are getting so into it,” Iris said blithely. She didn’t seem to care about the game. “It’s just a game.”

  “It is not just a game,” Lilian snapped, though she didn’t look away from the screen, and her fingers continued pressing buttons, creating attack combinations one after the other.

  “Yeah. Shut up, skank!”

  “Hmph! You two are really rude when you’re playing games like this.”

  Kevin felt sweat trail down his forehead. It was almost eerie how in sync those two were right now.

  As the battle waged on, the door to their apartment opened and Kotohime walked in. She glanced at the group sitting around on the living room floor, then at the TV, then back to them.

  “Kevin-sama,” she said in a stern tone.

  Oh, crap.

  “Listen, I know that you wanted us to be in bed earlier,” Kevin started, “but we—”

  “It’s good that you’re awake. I wanted to speak with you.”

  “—wanted to speak with… wait, what?”

  “Come.”

  Kotohime opened the door again and gestured for him to follow her. Unsure of what this was about, Kevin stood up and followed her outside. The last thing he saw before he received a most shocking revelation was Mai Shiranui’s boobs bouncing as she struck a victory pose on the screen.

  Kevin lay on his bed, his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.

  Lilian and Iris weren’t with him that night. They were sleeping in the living room with Christine. He’d been invited to join them by Lilian, but he’d declined. Christine hadn’t seemed comfortable with the idea, and he also wasn’t sure if sleeping with a trio of pretty girls would be good for his health.

  However, without someone else present, Kevin was left to contend with his thoughts, and his mind was in disarray.

  “It seems that your friend has betrayed the Sons and Daughters of Humanity. He is currently being held prisoner. Myself, Kiara-san, Heather-san, Phoebe-san, and another have been tasked with rescuing him and acquiring the inform
ation that he stole.”

  Kotohime’s words from less than an hour ago rang within his mind.

  “I feel that you, of all people, have the right to come with us on this mission. Davin-dono has allowed it. That said, I will not force you if you don’t want to go.”

  She was offering him a chance to go rescue Justin, his one-time friend and the person who’d betrayed him. Kevin was going on this mission, of course. That was a given. There was no way he’d let himself be left out of this, but he still felt uneasy… or maybe reticent was a better word.

  What would happen after they rescued Justin? How would he respond after coming face to face with his betrayer again? He honestly didn’t know. Even if his former friend had betrayed the Sons and Daughters of Humanity, it didn’t change how he’d betrayed Kevin first.

  I guess… I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

  The sound of the door opening and closing alerted Kevin to someone entering the room. Quiet footsteps padded softly along the floor, their gait delicate and feminine. Iris, then. Lilian’s footsteps didn’t sound that graceful.

  Turning over in bed, Kevin looked at the raven-haired vixen just as she stopped at the edge of the bed. “What are you doing?”

  Rather than act surprised, Iris grinned as she climbed into bed with him. “I’ve decided to spend the night here.”

  “What about Lilian and Christine?”

  “Asleep.”

  Iris climbed on top of Kevin, until she was straddling his waist. Even though he was underneath the covers and she was on top of them, he could still feel the heat from her body. It was like a furnace. She leaned over, presenting him with a picture-perfect view of her breasts, visible through the notoriously large gap in her shirt.

  “I never did thank you for coming to my rescue, did I?” Iris asked.

  Kevin tore his eyes from her cleavage. “There’s no need for that, especially since those people were under your enchantment to begin with.”

  “Ah, so you noticed that.”

  Iris winced when he glared at her. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice once that guy started calling you ‘Princess’?”

  “So observant,” Iris whispered. “I really should learn not to underestimate you. It seems that, even now, you continue to surprise me.”

  Kevin sucked in a deep breath when she pressed her body against him. The feel of her breasts against his chest, that supple elasticity that was enough to drive any man to delirium, and the scent of her body made his arousal skyrocket.

  “What are you doing?”

  A coy smile appeared on her face. “What do you mean what am I doing? I’m thanking you, of course.”

  Kevin opened his mouth to say something—and then moaned when he found his mouth suddenly full of Iris’s tongue. Perhaps it was her scent, or maybe it was her body, or it could have even been due to intimate familiarity, but Kevin quickly found himself becoming lost in her touch and actions.

  He reached up and placed one of his hands behind her head, while the other slid across her back and slipped underneath the pajamas that Lilian made her wear. She wasn’t wearing panties. His body flush with desire, he didn’t hesitate to move his hand until he was touching her most intimate place from behind. She was already wet. The inside of his mouth vibrated with Iris’s muffled moan as he spread apart her lips and played with her.

  Kevin’s body was burning. His mind had become lost. He was lost in Iris’s voice, in the seductive overtones of her moans. He was lost in her body, in the slenderness of her waist, the delicate curve of her hips, and the swell of her breasts. He was lost in her heat, both in the heat of her passion and the heat that he could feel as she ground herself against his erection.

  They stopped kissing so Iris could discard her shirt, allowing her breasts to spring free. Kevin zeroed in on her tits, which swayed as she slipped underneath the covers. He leaned up to take one of her nipples into his mouth, rolling it between his tongue before gently biting on it. Iris’s pleased gasp drove him insane. He wanted to hear more of that sound.

  “Stud—no, Kevin,” Iris said as she buried her hands in his hair. “T-tonight… I want it to be just the two of us.”

  Just the two of us. Those words gave him pause. While Iris had cuddled with him on many occasions, they had never had sex without Lilian. That was one of the rules he’d set down. He didn’t think it was right if Iris joined him in bed when Lilian, his mate, was not with them.

  These thoughts gave him pause, but it was only for a moment, and then he remembered what he’d told Iris on their way home.

  Iris squeaked in surprise when Kevin flipped them over. Her breasts jiggled as she landed on her back, but she didn’t have time to say anything before Kevin’s mouth hampered her own. Rather than speaking, Iris kissed him back with just as much passion, filling his mouth with saliva as her tongue danced against his and her hands reached into his boxers.

  That night, the sound of their passion was accompanied only by the creaking of the bed.

  Five

  Rescue Operation

  Guilt often struck people at the worst possible time. It could come without warning or after a big fight. It could hit people when they least expected it or when someone did something that they knew was wrong. Sometimes, people just felt guilty even when there was no reason for it.

  That morning, Kevin woke up and felt guilt strike him like Misty’s sledgehammer hitting Brock for hitting on Nurse Joy. He was lying on his back. Someone else was in bed with him. It wasn’t Lilian. It was Iris.

  His mate’s sister was sleeping against his side. He could feel her naked body snuggled against him. It was heaven, but Kevin felt like he was in hell.

  Slipping out of bed, ignoring the vixen’s whimper when his warmth vanished, Kevin dressed in a pair of sweatpants and left the room. Everyone else was still asleep. After grabbing a towel, he left the apartment and took a quick bath at the complex’s communal bathhouse. It only took about fifteen minutes before he returned to the apartment.

  “Oh, Beloved,” a voice said. Kevin froze. Lilian was awake, sitting up in her sleeping bag as she stretched her hands above her head.

  “Lilian…”

  “Morning.”

  Kevin felt awful, but he really didn’t want to see her right now. Seeing her made him remember the night before, and that made the guilt he felt squirm around in his stomach.

  Standing up, Lilian sauntered over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Kevin flinched.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “N-nothing.”

  His guilt increased. Kevin knew that he should just come clean, but he didn’t.

  Lilian frowned at him. Did she know?

  “Kevin.” She reached up and placed her hands on his cheeks. He knew that he had no right to, but Kevin closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of her soft hands against his skin. “You know that you can tell me anything, right?”

  “I-I know,” Kevin mumbled.

  After looking at him for several more seconds, Lilian leaned up and kissed him. Kevin kissed her back, and he hated himself for it.

  Breakfast was the same as it always was.

  Camellia was still the same klutz as always, Kirihime still tried to keep her mistress under control, Kotohme still cooked breakfast, Christine and Iris still sniped at each other—though Christine did send him the occasional queer glance as if she didn’t know what to make of him—and Lilian still told Kevin about her manga. It was so normal. Kevin was thrown off his game.

  After breakfast, Kevin donned his bodysuit. The matte black fabric creased as he moved. Kotohime had informed the others that she and Kevin would be going on a mission together. Lilian had asked if she could come with them, but Kotohime had told her that only Kevin was allowed on this mission. She’d complained, but Iris had grinned, wrapped her arms around Lilian’s waist from behind, and told Kevin not to worry.

  “Don’t worry, Stud. I’ll keep your mate company.”

  Kevin had frowned. He’d
frowned even more when Iris had sensually nibbled on her sister’s ear. It might have been due to what happened between them last night, but the lack of guilt that Iris had shown bothered him.

  “Are you feeling well, Kevin-sama?” Kotohime asked.

  Stumbling, Kevin caught himself and presented her with a smile. “Oh, yes. I’m fine.”

  “Kevin-sama is a terrible liar.” He winced, but Kotohime gave him a gentle smile. “I do not know why you are feeling so guilty, but if you would like to talk about it, please know that this humble Kotohime is always willing to listen to you.”

  Warmth spread through Kevin’s chest. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Kotohime’s smile turned devious. “Your guilt wouldn’t happen to be because you and Iris-sama had sex last night, would it?”

  “Urk!”

  This time, Kevin did not catch himself. He tripped over his own two feet. His arms pinwheeled as he fell flat on his face. Pain ripped through his nose and blood welled up in his nostrils. Grimacing, he stood up and pinched his nose together.

  “Are you okay, Kevin-sama?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I am not sure why you feel guilty,” Kotohime continued. “You have been sleeping with Iris-sama since October.”

  “The only times Iris and I have ever had sex was when she joined Lilian and me for a threesome.”

  “And that somehow makes it different?” The tone in Kotohime’s voice suggested that she didn’t understand the difference between a threesome and regular sex.

  “It makes a big difference.”

  Kotohime paused for several seconds before speaking. “Have you spoken with Lilian-sama about this?” When Kevin remained silent, she shook her head. “Kevin-sama, you are an intelligent and determined young man, but you can also be a stubborn idiot.”