A Tail of Woah: A Reverse Harem Academy Tail (The Fox and the Hounds Book 1)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  I screeched, jumped in the air, and landed facing Professor Welheim. She might have the body of a bull dog, but she had the stealth of a cat. "Kami. Make some noise or something."

  "Just keeping an eye on my new favorite pupil."

  "Me? I'm your favorite?"

  "Let's just say I love a good challenge. That's you." She chuckled evilly.

  "Sweet! It's a challenge!" I held out my hand to shake on it.

  She looked down but didn't take it. "Since I have you here, let me be frank. You will tone it down in my class. You will be on time. You will try your hardest to complete the assignments. And you will stop being so disruptive."

  "Um. I think you're totally missing some of the finer points of the word challenge. That means I don't get to make it that easy! May the best…um…person win!" I stepped around her, grabbed a large bag of rice, and started hauling it to where Hiroki had left me. He could carry it. It wasn't exactly light, but I needed every grain in the bag. And a jar. "Hey, Professor! Any jugs lying around?"

  She hadn't taken her eyes off me. "Utensils, pots, pans, and anything else you may need is back in the classroom."

  "Sweet. Thanks." I gave her one last grin and headed for our work station. Hiroki could handle dinner, I had something else in mind.

  I gave up waiting on Hiroki. Slinging the sack of rice over my shoulder, I practically ran back into the classroom and dropped it on the counter. Before Hiroki got back, I had commandeered a rice cooker, and a plain clay jug that would work perfectly for my plan. I filled the jar with rice and then proceeded to measure out scoops into the cooker, adding a touch of salt and oil. The jar I filled with water and covered.

  I looked around the room, and the few people who were back were busy chopping vegetables or prepping the meat for their dishes. Hiroki was either still looking for the ingredients or me, but either way, I had precious little time left. All Inari fox were granted the powers to be a messenger for their god, Inari. Inari was the kami of rice and craftsmen. Blacksmiths as well. But being an agricultural god of rice blessed us with one awesome ability…

  I put my hands against the outside of the clay jar and called a little bit of foxfire, standing in front of it to block the view of everyone behind me. The lid rattled and a puff of sake scented steam wafted upward and caressed my nose like a long-lost lover. Why long-lost lovers caressed peoples' noses was beyond me, but it didn't really matter. I had a jar of sake.

  I grinned and grabbed the small teacup I had found by the jug.

  "Yeah, buddy." I lifted the lid, dipped in the cup, and sat at my desk happily sipping and waiting on Hiroki. Actually, using a bit of caution, I opened the cabinet by my knee and set the jar inside. Pulling out a maple leaf from the inside of my blazer, I pressed it against the side of the jar. There was a brief sizzle of power, and when I pulled my hand away, the jar was completely invisible. Out of sight, out of possibility of detection from troll-like professors with culinary utensils lodged in their rectum. Unfortunately, the spell wouldn't last that long, just about until the end of class. I could turn myself invisible, too, but only for a few moments.

  I grinned like a…fox and sipped my sake.

  Hiroki returned a few moments after I had dipped my teacup in for a refill. "I believe I have everything."

  "I got the rice." I pointed at the cooker, that I had forgotten to plug in and turn on. "Want me to start it?"

  "Hai, the curry will not take long. I thought prawns would be a nice change with a white curry. There was no roux, I shall have to improvise my own."

  "Carry on."

  "Chop the vegetables?"

  "Of course. Glad to be of assistance."

  I should have shut up. He knew something was up and noticed the teacup in my hand. His nostrils flared. "You made sake?" He whispered and hissed, even though the teacher was still in the storeroom.

  "Yep. Wanna sip?"

  He looked around and pulled the cup from my hand, taking a healthy swig of it. "That might be your best yet."

  "It's because I really wanted it. I poured a lot of love into its making."

  "Please, do not get caught."

  "Do I ever?"

  "Do you wish me to lie to you?"

  "Yes. Tell me I'm pretty."

  "That would not be a lie."

  I smiled at the carrot I was chopping, my heart warming a little. Maybe it was the sake. Stopping my chopping, I downed the rest of my cup and set it aside, vowing to refill it as soon as I had finished dismembering the vegetables.

  It only took a few minutes to have everything bubbling away nicely in the pot. Except for the shrimp, they got added just a few minutes before the curry was ready. My mouth was watering from the aroma. I ducked down and dipped my cup one last time. Class would be over soon. As I sat there, sipping happily, the professor stopped in front of our table. "No beverages in class, Miss Tanaka." She held out her hand for my cup. I downed the last of it and handed it to her with a smile.

  "Sorry. Cooking is thirsty work."

  She narrowed her eyes at me and brought the cup to her bulbous nose, inhaling it briefly. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Cooking wine?"

  "Nope. Just water," I lied.

  She let it go but gave a good look over the top of our work station. "Is there wine in your dish?" She ignored me and asked Hiroki.

  "No, ma'am."

  "What is your dish?"

  "We made a white curry with prawns."

  She reached over and pulled the lid off the pot just as the rice dinged. She fanned some of the steam over to her face and inhaled deeply. "That smells exquisite. Are dishes from Japan all you can cook?" This time she looked at the two of us.

  "Oh, hell no. We're from California. We can cooks just about anythings."

  "Hopefully you cook better than you speak."

  "I does." I nodded emphatically.

  She just shook her head and moved on. I waited until she was out of earshot, then waited a minute more after learning my lesson the hard way with Headmistress Lateran. "I don't think she likes you very much," I said to Hiroki.

  "Be that as it may, she likes you even less."

  "Really? Cuz I was picking up a whole 'I dig your wittiness' vibe from her."

  "I believe that was nausea."

  "Oh. I don't think your curry smells that bad. Maybe it's the shrimps?' I picked up the pound of raw shellfish and gave it a sniff. "Nope. It's your curry. Quite possibly your cologne. Maybe your face."

  "Kaede-sama. Shush." He pulled the testing fork out of the soft flesh of one of the larger slices of carrot, tested a potato, and took the shrimp from my hands, dumping it into the bubbling pot.

  "Know what would be good with that curry?"

  "Please do not say sake."

  "Rice wine!" I grabbed the cup off the counter and knelt down beside Hiroki. I felt around for the lid, unable to see it. With a grin, I filled my cup.

  Chapter 7

  "Who the fuck puts PE right after drinking class? That's just mean," I said with my head hung over the side of the fence, the remnants of curried prawns on the other side.

  Hiroki was still holding my hair. "I believe it is called home economics. Nowhere in the syllabus, course description, or class schedule did it use the word drinking."

  "Well, I needed something to help me deal with that mean ole teacher."

  "Because patience and silence are not your virtues."

  I turned my head and looked at him. "You're being very judgy today."

  He just sighed and patted my head. "Yes. I am. You are being very frustrating today."

  "In my defense, I am very frustrating every day."

  "And yet you do nothing about it."

  "Fuck no. It's fun."

  He gave a soft chuckle.

  "What's the matter Tanaka? You preggers?" Sabine's inane giggle grated across the last of my already frayed nerves. I truly hated puking.

  "Yep. Tell your dad I want child support!" I grinned at her as she kept running and laughed when she stum
bled.

  "Push that one too far and things could get ugly," Hiroki admonished.

  "Puh-lease. She's already ugly."

  He turned and looked at her retreating backside. "In a tall, svelte, athletic, sexy sort of way, I suppose."

  "Ew. I just threw up in my mouth."

  "I know. I held your hair."

  "Plus, look at the girl's mother. We all turn into our mothers eventually. She's going to crash and burn."

  "I look forward to the day when you adopt your mother's calm, serene beauty."

  "Oh, shut up. I'm sure she was twice as wild when she was my age."

  He gave me a sad look.

  "What?"

  "Nothing."

  "Don't you fucking nothing me, spill it."

  "It is not my tale to tell."

  "Hiroki, I swear to Inari…"

  "Fine. Incur his wrath, but my lips are sealed."

  "Grrrr!" I stomped away from him, completely forgetting he had a fistful of my hair. "Ouch!"

  "My apologies."

  "Uh huh."

  "We should continue running before we get singled out by the instructor."

  "You mean Captain Doom? I swear that guy is a human drill sergeant, hell bent on making us poor, unathletic supernatural folk suffer for his shortcomings."

  "He is human. As for a drill sergeant, that I do not know."

  "Wait. You can tell?"

  "Hai." He said and started jogging. I pumped my little legs to catch up to him and fell into rhythm next to him. My stomach was still lurching, and my head was still swimming, but at least the earth stopped spinning. At least from my perspective.

  "How?"

  He touched the side of his nose and gave me a wink. "I can tell what a good portion of the students are as well. As long as I have scented their kind before."

  "Holy fucking extra credit. We're gonna pass with flying colors."

  "That would be cheating."

  "Last time I checked, using your abilities was encouraged. As long as you didn't give away what you were. What is Sabine?"

  "You are actually correct. I guess a natural ability wouldn't be considered cheating."

  "See? I told you!"

  "I shall earn as much as I can to ensure I graduate."

  "What about me?"

  "What about you? Telling you so you can earn credit would be cheating."

  "Sometimes I truly hate you, Roki." I sighed and gave up. He was a natural born trickster, but he held himself to a very strict moral code. Getting him to go against that was impossible and I would just be wasting my breath.

  "No, you do not. You love me," he said with a very foxlike snicker, scrunching his eyes as he laughed.

  I didn't deny it. Just jogged along silently. Another person came around the bend and slipped up next to me. "Still on for dinner?"

  "David!" I gave him a happy little grin. "I saw Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Roid Rage, but I didn't know you were in this class." I wasn't lying, either. I'd seen Rome and Remy stretching before our twenty-six-mile run and given them a super-wide berth. Like different time zone wide.

  He chuckled at my latest attempt at humor. "I saw you."

  "You did?"

  "Yep. Puking over the fence? Rumor is you're pregnant?"

  "Hardly. Let me guess…tall blonde and bitchy?"

  "Sabine? Yes."

  "Figures."

  "She is spreading rumors about you?"

  "Yeah. She found out I was sleeping with her father."

  "Um…"

  "I'm kidding. Yeah. She just doesn't like me. But feel free to spread the rumor of her father's infidelity around, though."

  Again, he rewarded me with his melted chocolate drizzled marshmallow chuckle. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside and out. The fox wanted to come out and play. He nearly stumbled beside me and stopped running. I turned around and started circling around him. "Are you okay?"

  "Kaede-sama?" Hiroki was jogging backward.

  "Keep going. I'll catch up."

  He raised an eyebrow but did as I asked, turning and leaving the two of us in the middle of the track.

  "David?"

  "Yeah. I'm fine… Let's go before Coach yells at us for stopping."

  "You stopped. I'm still jogging."

  "You mean walking fast?"

  "You're teasing me?"

  His grin was enough of an answer. He started jogging again and I fell into step beside him. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to break your rhythm."

  "Ha! I have no rhythm. You should see me dance."

  "I'd like that."

  "What?"

  "Seeing you dance. As long as you didn't mind if I joined you."

  "You want to dance with me?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you hate your toes?"

  "I…heal quickly."

  "Fine. It's a date."

  "You haven't even gone out on one with me yet and you're already agreeing to a second?"

  "Dinner tonight is our first? Even though it's at the school cafeteria?"

  "Yep."

  I blushed and smiled.

  "Pick you up at six? Now that we know what time they start serving food."

  "Sure."

  "What's your room number?"

  "201."

  "You're right across the hall from Rome and Remy?"

  "Yeah. That was awkward. He saw my naked butt last night." I might have said it to make David a little jealous. He didn't take the bait and chuckled it off. "So, you were the naked girl in the hallway last night. There were rumors of that, too."

  "Not my fault. Sabine slipped in the shower and blamed me."

  "Ah. So you were the bitch in the shower, too?"

  "What the fuck? Is there a rumor newsletter that I should know about?"

  "No. Sabine told me."

  "Sabine tells you a lot of things…"

  "Yeah. Clingy ex-girlfriend."

  The hackles on my hackles rose up and hissed in annoyance. "Ex?"

  "Yeah," he said almost apologetically.

  "Completely ex, though. Right? Not in a 'still get together for dinner' or 'I'm bored and need a booty call' kind of way?"

  He laughed and there was an utter lack of warm and fuzzies. He must have noticed my discomfort and reached out and put his hand on my arm on the upswing from jogging. He slowed our jog and led us into the center of the track.

  "Kaede… This was several years in the past. I…did not care much for her and broke things off soon after they started. I'm not a masochist, so the odds of me ever courting that disaster again are non-existent."

  "Oh. Okay. When you put it that way."

  "You don't believe me?"

  "Um… Don't tell her this, but she's like a fucking supermodel. How could you not be attracted to her?"

  "While she might be pretty, her…nature makes her an unsuitable mate."

  "Mate? Did you guys mate?" I winced as the words poured from my mouth like an evil curse.

  He gave me a half-smile half-frown and narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you really want to know the answer to that question?"

  "No. I didn't even really want to fucking ask it. Sometimes I hate my mouth."

  "Why? It's beautiful."

  Holy fuck, did I blush. "Uh… Um. Yeah. Wow."

  "Too much?"

  "No. Say it again. Slowly."

  He took another step closer to me, even though I probably smelled like curried prawns, sweat, and vomit. He leaned down and inched his face closer to mine. "I said that I think you have a beautiful mouth."

  "Wasn't that in Deliverance?"

  "I think they used pretty. Pretty doesn't even begin to describe the curve of your smile. Beautiful is only moderately ample, but I didn't want to drive you away, thinking all I could think of was your lips and how soft they must be. And how much I enjoy it when they utter my name. What it would be like to kiss them, and what they would taste like…"

  "Keep talking and you're going to find out. Later. You probably wouldn't be a big fan of the taste right
now." I wasn't a big fan of how uncomfortable jogging was going to be right now, either. Hopefully nobody would hear me squish as I ran by.

  "Then I won't have anything else to live for."

  "Um… I have a lot of body parts."

  He actually blushed. I slapped his arm. "I meant my eyes and stuff. Get your mind out of the gutter." Please don't. Keep it in the gutter. Gutter is good.

  His blush got even worse. "I wouldn't! I'm…" He sighed. "I'm just kind of shy."

  "How the fuck are you shy? Like, oh, my kami… You had me at hello and then you go on this articulate rampage of sweetness. You don't get to call yourself shy."

  "Fine. I'm not shy. But I wasn't thinking of…" He looked down at my very tight gym shorts. "I would never disrespect you like that."

  I leaned in closer, putting my lips next to his ear and whispered, "But, I might like that."

  Leaning back, I grabbed his hand and pulled him back out onto the track, wanting nothing more than to get the rest of the classes done and have dinner with him.

  "So, when you said mate. You didn't mean like soul, insta-love, bonded for all eternity type stuff, did you?"

  "Of the thousands of species of supernatural creatures, I think the total that are life-bonded is around three. I can say that I am not one of them. My parents were divorced before they died."

  "Ooops. My bad."

  "No worries. Come on, I'll race you."

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "I will be close by but shall not interfere with your date."

  "Thanks, wingman," I said to Hiroki and slipped into the school issued evening wear. I hated not having my own clothes, but at least the fashionistas wouldn't have anything to fight about. Basically, they were school uniforms without the blazers and a little less fancy.

  "How do I look?"

  "Like a school girl. Kind of creepy. Ditch the makeup, it makes you look like you're trying to look older."

  "You just don't want him to think I'm attractive."

  "He would have to not have eyes for that to be possible."

  That deserved a hug. Since it was all he would allow. "I love you."

  "I am fond of you as well, Kaede-sama."

  "Shut up. You love me and you know it."