A Fox's War

by Brandon Varnell

  “That is true, but the Yamata no Orochi is the biggest threat to us right now,” Sarah said with an emotionless voice.

  “Bigger even than the Sons and Daughters of Humanity?” one of the humans asked. Kotohime knew him as Sergeant Kernel Johnston. At one point, he’d been a member of the US army, but when the war against yokai began, he’d abandoned his post. His wife was a nure-onna, an amphibious yokai with the upper half of a woman and the lower half of a sea snake.

  “None of you have fought him like we have,” Sarah said. “We nearly died during that battle. It took all of our power just to seal his youki away. However, he is a cunning snake. The same trick that we used to seal him will not work twice.”

  “That is why we need to go,” Kuroneko added. “Before the Yamata no Orochi can regain all of his power, we need to confront and defeat him. If we do not defeat him before he breaks the last seal, then everything that we have fought to protect up to this point will be destroyed.”

  “We’ll be leaving Mack in charge of the daily operations. Johnston, you’ll be in charge of defense,” Davin said.

  “Just leave everything to us, Boss,” Mack said with a lazy salute.

  “I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that Neo Seiryuu remains safe in your absence,” Johnston added.

  Davin nodded. “We’re counting on all of you.”

  As the meeting adjourned, Kotohime stood up and made her way out of the room with everybody else.

  I wonder… what is this strong sense of foreboding that I feel?

  In the skyless city, Kotohime could only pray that nothing would happen while the Four Saints were gone.

  Thoe sat in the hospital room as Athena was given another checkup.

  Since the girl had been cleared by customs, she was now living with her and the other yama uba. While a few had thought it odd, most of her sisters had gushed over how cute Athena was. Thoe was glad that everybody had accepted her.

  Of course, even though she was now allowed to live in Neo Seiryuu, Athena still needed to undergo a series of checkups. These were different from the tests the doctor had done previously. Unlike before, where they were checking her for any harmful substances that might be inside of her body, now they were simply doing a standard doctor’s checkup.

  “Now to test your reflexes,” the doctor said. “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit.”

  Thoe held the girl’s hand as the doctor tapped her knee with a Taylor hammer. After testing her reflexes, he observed her pupils then checked her throat, heart rate, and blood pressure. Athena seemed to take it all in stride, so she must have done this before. Theo remembered the first time she’d been forced to do this. It was when she and the others had first arrived in America. It had been humiliating.

  “It looks like everything checks out,” the doctor said as he finished. He jotted some notes down on a clipboard, then turned to her. “You two are free to leave now.”

  “Thank you.” Holding her hand out to Athena, Thoe said, “Come on. Let’s go home.”

  “Okay.”

  Hopping off the patient bed, Athena took the hand and walked out of the hospital room with Thoe.

  That morning after opening presents, Kevin decided to visit Justin in the hospital.

  Lilian was busy playing with her new Wacom tablet, and Iris and Christine went off somewhere together. However, that did not mean that he was alone. Walking down the hall with him were Camellia and Kirihime, who’d decided to join him.

  “I want to play with Kevin-kyun!” had been Camellia’s words.

  He kept a firm grip on Camellia’s hand as he wandered through the halls. Knowing her as he did, if he let go for even a second, she would try to wander off.

  “Are you sure it is okay for you to see this boy, Lord Kevin?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Kirihime’s face scrunched up in an adorable fashion. “What I mean is that this boy betrayed you. It seems dangerous to go near him.”

  “Maybe, but that’s why you’re here, right? I’ll be counting on you if something happens.” Kevin winked at her.

  Eyes widening, Kirihime flushed at his words. “Of course. I will do everything in my power to protect you.”

  “Camellia will protect Kevin-kyun, too!”

  “…”

  Kevin and Kirihime both stared at Camellia, who returned their blank expressions with a bright smile.

  “Camellia will also protect Kevin-kyun!”

  “We heard you the first time,” Kevin sighed. “Right, I’ll be counting on Camellia, too.”

  “Tee-hee!”

  As they turned a corner, they almost bumped into a pair that was walking in the opposite direction. Kevin immediately recognized Thoe and, of course, he remembered Athena from the night before, though they hadn’t spoken beyond initial introductions.

  “Oh, morning, Thoe,” he greeted.

  “Good morning, Kevin—or should I call you goshujin-sama?”

  “Please don’t,” Kevin deadpanned.

  Thoe grinned cheekily. “So, what are you doing here on Christmas morning? Shouldn’t you be with your mate and her sister?”

  The suggestive tone in Thoe’s voice made him sigh. “Does everyone know about our relationship?”

  “Of course. Lilian might spend most of her time making those drawings, but Iris has visited us on occasion. She likes to tell stories of her sexcapades with you and Lilian.”

  “S-sexcapades.” Kevin rubbed his head. “Does she really call it that?” When Thoe just smiled, he groaned and changed the subject. “Lilian’s currently having fun with the gift I bought her—”

  “Is it a sexy gift?”

  “—and Iris and Christine went off somewhere,” Kevin continued, a vein throbbing on his forehead. “So I decided to visit my friend who’s in the hospital.”

  Thoe hummed. “This friend wouldn’t happen to be the one that you and Phoebe rescued the other day, would it?”

  “That’s right. Justin was in bad shape when we rescued him, so he’s resting in the hospital right now.”

  He glanced at the little girl a bit as he spoke, and he could see why Thoe was so smitten with her. The innocent blue eyes, bright blond hair, and tiny figure made her seem like a porcelain doll. Kevin wasn’t the kind of person to gush over cute kids, but he could at least understand why someone else might.

  Thoe smiled at him. “And you’re going to see him. You’re a good friend.”

  Kevin shrugged. “I guess.”

  “Anyway, I’ll see you later.” Thoe waved at him as she and Athena walked past them.

  “Bye,” Kevin said in return.

  Eventually reaching Justin’s room, Kevin knocked several times. A familiar voice said, “Come in,” and he entered to see that Justin was wide awake and sitting up in bed.

  “Oh! Kevin! What’s up? Come to spend time with me instead of your mate?”

  “My mate’s busy right now.” Kevin wandered into the room with Camellia and Kirihime. “So, I thought I’d see how you were holding up.”

  “Hawa! Hullo, biribiri!”

  Justin stared at Camellia, then looked back at Kevin. “I see you’ve brought company. Didn’t know you were into MILFs.”

  “M-MILF?” Kirihime muttered with a blush.

  “He means Camellia,” Kevin assured her.

  “I-I know that…”

  “It looks like you’re doing well,” he continued speaking to Justin as he sat down. Camellia also chose to sit… in Kevin’s lap. “Camellia, what are you doing?”

  “Hawa. Camellia saw her daughters sitting on Kevin-kyun’s lap and wanted to sit there, too.”

  “Please get off.”

  “H-hawa… but Camellia wants to sit here.”

  Kevin groaned as the fox-woman squirmed on top of him. Her plump bottom was actually even more amazing and womanly than her daughters,’ but that was exactly why she needed to get off him. This woman caused him no end of trouble.

  “Hawa?” Camellia’s tone
suggested that she was confused. “T-there’s something hard pressing against me.”

  Kevin squeaked when Camellia reached between her legs and grabbed little Kevin. Acting quickly, he stood up, forcing the woman off him with a loud, “Hawa!”

  “My Lady!”

  Kirihime dove for her mistress. She ended up getting a face full of boobs for her trouble. Kevin and Justin stared down at the duo lying on the floor. Kirihime’s face had been shoved into Camellia’s ginormous jiggly joggers, and Camellia was lying on top of her, moaning as her maid squirmed around underneath her.

  “H-hawa… that tickles, Kirikiri!”

  “Mphm!

  “Hawawawa!”

  Chuckling, Justin sent a sidelong glance at Kevin, his lips twisted into a half grin. “I was right. Hanging out with you is much more interesting than being a member of the Sons and Daughters of Humanity.”

  “I’m glad you're so entertained,” Kevin said with a sigh.

  “Hmm… this is harder than I thought…”

  Lilian should have known that using a Wacom tablet wouldn’t be a simple matter. It didn’t have the same feel as pencil and paper, nor did the stylus respond like she wanted it to. Supposedly, it was a pressure-sensitive stylus, which allowed her to add “weight” to her lines, but that feature didn’t seem to be working.

  “Ugh… did I even set this up right?”

  Photoshop was open, and she’d created a new file of 6x9 inches and a resolution of 300. Staring at the screen, she watched lines appear as she moved her stylus across her Wacom tablet. None of the lines changed in thickness no matter how much pressure she used.

  “Mou… this is harder than I thought it would be…”

  Lilian’s words were met with silence.

  Awkward was the word that Kevin would have used to describe this moment.

  When he’d decided to visit Justin, he hadn’t really thought about what he would say. What did someone say to the person who betrayed them? It wasn’t like he had experience dealing with these kinds of situations. While Lilian might have decided to go the shōnen route and welcome her companion back with open arms if she was in his place, Kevin was not so altruistic.

  Camellia was playing with her stuffed nine-tailed fox. Her occasional giggle broke the awkward silence, though having a full-grown woman giggle like a nine-year-old was awkward in and of itself. Kirihime watched her mistress play. The compassionate look in her eyes told Kevin all he needed to on what she was thinking.

  “It’s been awhile since we’ve had a face to face like this, hasn’t it?” Justin said casually.

  “I guess it has,” Kevin admitted. “The last time you and I really spoke was after I kicked your butt.”

  “I think it would be more accurate to say that you had to fight an uphill battle to beat me.”

  “That’s what everyone who loses says.”

  “So harsh.”

  Conversation petered off again. Camellia looked up at Kevin, but when it became clear that he wasn’t saying anymore, she went back to playing with Mr. Nine.

  “I still haven’t forgiven you,” Kevin said into the silence.

  Justin’s smile was mirthless. “I figured as much. That’s why I told myself I was going to work hard so that you would forgive me. I even brought some information on the Sons and Daughters of Humanity for you.”

  Kevin furrowed his brow. “This information… it wouldn’t happen to be on a USB device, would it?”

  “Yes, it is. How did you know?”

  A grimace. “Because the doctor found it when he was scanning you for internal injuries.”

  “Oh…” Justin needed a second to respond. “That was the only place I could think of where Commander Paine wouldn’t—”

  “I don’t need to know anything about that. In fact, why are you even telling me something so disgusting? Do you want me to hate you?”

  Justin grinned. “Of course not.” The grin soon died away. Justin leaned back and looked at the ceiling. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said that day when we fought. Ever since I was little, I’ve always done as Commander Paine ordered. It was all I knew until he sent me to infiltrate your school. I felt like, because of that, I needed to do my duty, even when doing so went against my own beliefs.”

  “And I’m guessing you believe differently now?” theorized Kevin.

  “Yeah, I do. Thanks to you, I’ve decided to follow my own path.”

  Kevin didn’t know what he should say to that, so he said nothing.

  The silence that pervaded the room wasn’t so awkward this time.

  Kevin returned home later that day.

  He didn’t spend the whole day with Justin. After leaving the hospital, he and Kirihime took Camellia to a park. There were several that dotted Neo Seiryuu. They’d been built as a place for families to gather and relax. With everyone on edge from the war and unable to even see the sky, Monstrang had gone to great lengths to create places that would put noncombatants at ease.

  Entering his apartment, Kevin discarded his shoes and held the door open for his two companions.

  “We’re home,” he called out.

  The gentle pitter-patter of feet proceeded Kotohime appearing from within the hallway. She smiled at them as she clasped her hands in front of her and bowed. “Welcome back, Kevin-sama, Camellia-sama, Sister.”

  “Kotohime, we went to the park!” Camellia exclaimed.

  “That sounds lovely,” Kotohime said with a tender smile.

  “You know, I’ve always wondered this; why does Camellia call Kotohime by her name but not you?” Kevin asked.

  Kotohime hid her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono. “Ufufufu, that’s because I require anyone who wishes to speak with me to address me properly.”

  “Uh… I-I don’t mind if My Lady gives me a nickname. I consider it a term of endearment,” Kirihime mumbled.

  “Right. Are Christine and Iris still out?”

  “I believe so, yes.”

  Kevin nodded. Bidding the three kitsune farewell, he entered his room. Just as he expected, Lilian was still sitting in front of the computer. He could only see her back, but she was hunched over what he could only assume was her new Wacom tablet.

  Walking up behind the girl, he leaned over and placed his arms around her shoulders. Lilian squeaked in surprise. He chuckled and, after kissing her temple, set his head on her shoulder.

  “Having fun?”

  “Ugh, no,” Lilian groaned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t get the pressure sensitivity to work. My artwork is dependent on the weight of my lines. Changing its thickness is the key to all of my art.” She pouted and shook the stylus in her hand. “This stupid thing isn’t letting me draw properly.”

  Lilian was never able to make programs work the way she wanted them to, though not for lack of trying. He’d been teaching her how to use a computer since they started dating. She just wasn’t used to it. He guessed 100+ years of not having a computer increased the learning curve difficulty.

  “How about we see if I can make it work properly?” Kevin suggested.

  They traded places. Kevin sat down and Lilian leaned over his shoulder, watching him work. He would never call himself the greatest computer expert in the world, but having grown up in an era where digital technology was constantly evolving, he was reasonably confident in his ability to solve Lilian’s problem. It didn’t take very long to figure out what her problem was.

  “… Lilian?”

  “Yes?”

  “You forgot to check the pressure sensitivity box in the preferences.”

  “Is that bad?”

  Kevin deadpanned, then, with glacial slowness, he nodded. “Yes, that is bad. If the box isn’t checked, then it means you’re telling the program that you don’t want the stylus to be pressure sensitive.”

  “Oh.” Lilian paused. “You’re right. That is bad.”

  They stared at each other for several more seconds, then unanimously deci
ded to pretend this incident never happened. Afterwards, they traded places again. Kevin noticed the thick notebook sitting on the desk next to the computer. It was open to the first page of what he recognized as her current work in progress.

  “Are you planning on redrawing all of your panels into Photoshop?”

  “Yes. I figured it would be easy to redraw them since I can use the original drawings as references.”

  “Couldn’t you just scan these into Photoshop and trace them?”

  “I could, but that wouldn’t help me learn how to draw using this program.”

  “Makes sense.”

  Kevin continued watching Lilian work for a little while longer, putting down line after line, changing the thickness from slender to thick. She didn’t seem to be doing much more than tinkering with the program right now.

  He understood very little about artwork. That being said, he sort of understood what she was doing. She was trying to familiarize herself with the feel of the stylus and how the Wacom performed when compared to pencil and paper. And yet as the minutes passed by, Kevin saw Lilian becoming frustrated.

  “Problem?”

  “Ah… not really. It’s just that this tablet doesn’t feel right.”

  “Is there something wrong with it?”

  Lilian’s fox ears twitched as she shook her head. “No… I think it’s just because I’m so used to using pencil and paper to draw. Using a device like this feels unusual.”

  “I see.” Kevin regarded his mate with even eyes. “Why don’t you take a break? You’ve been at this since this morning, right?”

  “I guess.” Lilian sighed. She never liked doing things half-assed, which was probably what this felt like, but she was also clearly growing frustrated with her lack of progress. A little rest would fix her right up.

  He took her by the hand, pulling her out of the chair, then directed her to the bed. He flopped down onto his back lengthwise across the bed. Meanwhile, Lilian lay with her head on his chest and her feet dangling over the side. Seeing her ears twitch, Kevin reached out and tenderly caressed them. Her ears stiffened under his touch before, with a content sigh, the ears and girl they were attached to became utterly relaxed.