A Fox's Hostility

by Brandon Varnell

  She really didn’t understand. Lindsay was aware of their battle against Fan Shénshèng, which had nearly ended in their deaths, but that was all she remained aware of. She didn’t know about how Lilian had been kidnapped, nor about how he and Iris had traveled into the very heart of the Shénshèng Clan’s stronghold, the Citadel of Light, to rescue her. Despite that, she knew enough about what had happened to know why he, Lilian, and Iris were training.

  But Kevin knew that his friend’s thoughts weren’t necessarily on what they had gone through.

  “Are you thinking about Christine?” he asked.

  Lindsay looked down at her feet. “Yeah…”

  Christine had left Arizona while Kevin, Lilian, and Iris had been living at the Pnév̱ma Clan estate.

  Kevin had been shocked to hear that Christine had left to learn how to better control her powers. It had taken time, but he had eventually come to understand how helpless the yuki-onna must have felt. To have these powers and not be able to help her friends must have hurt her a lot. Tsundere personality aside, Christine was a very kind individual who cared a lot about her friends.

  Lilian placed her hands over Lindsay’s and gave the girl her most encouraging expression. “I’m sure you’ll see her again. She left because she wanted to get stronger so she could protect her friends, right? That means she’ll come back. After all, she can’t protect her friends if she’s not even here.”

  Lindsay stared at the girl for several seconds before, unbidden, her lips twisted, curving into a delicate U-shape that lit up her entire face.

  “Yeah,” she chuckled, “I guess you’re right.”

  Kevin felt bad for Lindsay. He knew of her feelings for Christine, but, well… he was pretty sure their tsundere gothic lolita friend went for hot dogs instead of tacos.

  “So,” Iris started, breaking up the touching moment between friends. Her devious grin struck fear and arousal into the hearts of those who saw it. Kevin almost facepalmed when several boys and a few girls were blown back by nosebleeds. “What exactly did you think we were talking about just now? Could it be that our little Lindsay has a dirty, perverted mind?”

  “Wha—no!” Lindsay’s face looked ready to spontaneously combust. “O-o-of course not! I wasn’t imagining Kevin’s half-naked, sweaty body pinning you and Lilian to the ground or anything! Why would you even think that?!” she shouted, waving her arms in front of her face as fast as she could.

  For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then…

  “Kevin?”

  “Yes, Lilian?”

  “I like this girl’s idea. Can we try it?”

  To his credit, Kevin actually looked like he was considering the idea. “Uh… well… maybe… some other time.”

  While Lilian pouted, Iris’s grinning face peered over his shoulder. “Oh ho. So, you are considering doing some naked wrestling with Lily-pad and me?”

  “No!” Kevin shouted at the same time as Lilian’s, “Maybe later.”

  “Hmph!” Iris leaned back, crossed her arms, and puffed her cheeks in a petulant expression. “I swear, Stud, you never let me join in on yours and Lily-pad’s fun.”

  Before anyone could give her a comeback, the teacher walked in and class began. As Kevin took out his pen and some paper to jot down notes, he felt a pair of eyes on him. Looking up, he tried to ascertain who was staring at him, but couldn’t see anyone. Just Dr. Allan Spencer gazing at the class from where he stood at the front of the classroom. With a shrug, he went back to taking notes.

  ***

  “… And that concludes my report,” Justin finished giving his report on yōkai to the delegation of government officials. He’d told them about the types of yōkai he had observed, to the many ways they manipulated and abused humans. What he didn’t tell them was that most yōkai didn’t abuse humans and just wanted to live in peace. He also didn’t mention that the ones who abused humans were a very small minority.

  “It would defeat the whole purpose of our coming here to humor these fools,” he could practically hear Commander Paine’s words in his head. How many times had the commander said that on the way here? Ten? Twenty?

  “I always knew these yōkai were no good, but I didn’t realize they were this dangerous,” one said.

  Another nodded. “They’ve clearly learned how to cover their tracks well over the years.”

  “Something must obviously be done about these menaces!”

  Justin watched with what almost passed for amusement as the government officials all rallied against the threat posed by yōkai. They were like a group of children ganging up on that one boy because he was different.

  However, even while many of the people present spoke in agreement with Commander Paine’s idea of getting rid of yōkai, one voice rose above the din.

  “I have not heard anything that would warrant us initiating hostilities between humans and yōkai.”

  The woman who spoke was young. At a guess, Justin would say she was in her mid-twenties. Her dark hair appeared to be more of a dark blue than a true black. Intelligent amber eyes peered out from behind smart-looking rimless glasses. The black business suit and skirt combination that she wore made her look more like a secretary than a politician. How she had become a UN delegate was beyond him.

  “Of course you would say something like that, Sophia,” an older gentlemen started, his voice dripping with condescension. “We all know that you’ve been obsessed about opening up a dialogue between yōkai and humans for years.”

  “Naturally.” Sophia’s glasses flashed as she pushed them up the bridge of her nose. “Just think of all that we could learn if we opened a dialogue with them instead of tried to eradicate them. Their powers could easily be used for the betterment of mankind.”

  “The betterment of mankind. Ha!” Another politician barked. “Don’t try to sweet talk us, Ms. Grace. We all know the real reason you’d rather we open a dialogue between them. Your dalliances with these menaces is well known.”

  So, this girl has been sleeping with a yōkai? Justin eyed the woman curiously.

  It wasn’t all that unusual for a yōkai to bed a human. It was, in fact, very common. Yōkai had a tendency to seduce humans, though it was rare for someone to actually know they were sleeping with a yōkai.

  “Who I sleep with is no business of yours,” Sophia stated cooly. “Especially since rumors about your own sexual appetite have recently come to light.” The man she talked down was practically spitting at her, but the woman ignored him and directed her attention to the others. “However, now that my relationship with a yōkai has been brought up, I can honestly tell all of you that you clearly know nothing about yōkai.”

  “And what makes you say that?” one of the calmer gentlemen asked.

  “Because I have firsthand experience.” Sophia adjusted her glasses again. “I’ve spoken to them. Having conversed with several yōkai, I like to think I know them better than anyone who has never spoken to one.”

  “And what does your experience tell you?” asked the calm man.

  “That they are just like us,” was Sophia’s answer. “Aside from their abilities and general longevity, they are no different than a human. In fact, most yōkai have willingly chosen to live completely normal human lives. They have no plans for world domination. They do not want to subjugate or exterminate our species. They, like us, merely want to live their own lives how they see fit.”

  “It is exactly because they live as they see fit that we humans have been placed in jeopardy,” Commander Paine cut in. “I don’t know if you’ve realized it yet, but over thirty percent of all human deaths are caused by yōkai. Most of the time, these deaths aren’t even done on purpose either. We humans simply get in the way of their secret wars. To them, we are like bugs. We’re not even worthy of being noticed when they squash us.”

  The commander’s gloves creaked as he clenched them into fists.

  “Of course, that’s not saying there aren’t yōkai who take the time to screw
with us humans. There are many yōkai living in the human world who abuse us. They take us in, steal us from our family and friends, use us, and when we’ve been all used up, they throw us away. We mean nothing to them.”

  “That is a blatant exaggeration and you know it.” Sophia reminded Justin of a cat. She looked ready to start hissing at the commander. “While there might be a few yōkai who do exactly what you just said, the vast majority merely want to live in peace with us. Don’t let your irrational hatred of the yōkai get in the way of making the right choices.”

  Commander Paine twitched.

  Uh oh. Looks like she pissed him off.

  “Ms. Sophia Grace,” Commander Paine’s voice was a low bass rumble. “I do not appreciate what you are insinuating. I have never let my hatred of yōkai get the better of me. Every decision I make is always made with humanity's best interests in mind.”

  “Is that why you want to start a war that could end with our species on the brink of extinction?”

  Sophia’s biting comment caused Commander Paine to smile.

  It wasn’t a very nice smile.

  “Ms. Grace, I never proposed that we start an actual war with the yōkai,” Commander Paine said, his voice calm yet commanding. “I merely believe that we should put some… precautions in place to help protect humanity from their manipulations.”

  “It’s the same thing!” Sophia looked ready to smash her fists on the table. “If we go with your proposal, we might as well be stating our intentions to initiate genocide!”

  “You’re young, Ms. Grace. You do not yet see the world for what it is, and you have to understand how it works.”

  “I know how this world works plenty. It’s you who understands nothing.”

  Before the argument could erupt further, the gentleman with the British accent spoke again. “We do not need these kinds of arguments right now. The United Nations and various world governments must always be united during times such as this, so I would like to ask that you two cease bickering.”

  “Very well,” Commander Paine acquiesced easily enough. Sophia did as well, though she did not look pleased.

  The British man coughed into his hand. “And now, perhaps we should put Commander Paine’s proposal to a vote. All those in favor of the notion?”

  Many hands were raised, though a few seemed reluctant to do so. In fact, only two people seemed to have not raised their hands — Sophia and a younger man who didn’t appear to be paying attention.

  “All those opposed?”

  Only Sophia raised her hand.

  “With one vote against and nine in favor, the notion set down by Commander Ethan Paine has passed,” the British man said. “May our choices today help better protect humanity from the potential manipulations of yōkai everywhere.”

  ***

  Lunch time rolled around and Kevin, Lilian, and Iris were joined by their friends.

  They sat inside instead of outside. Being that it was still August, the temperature was such that none of them wanted to spend more time out in the heat than absolutely necessary. They had chosen to sit at one of the many round tables that littered the cafeteria.

  Almost as soon as they sat down, Kevin found himself beset by minor annoyances.

  “My Lord, would you like to have some of my lunch?”

  “Why would he want your lunch when he can have some of mine?”

  “It’s the same lunch, you dolt!”

  “Except mine is better because it’s coming from me.”

  “As if!”

  Kevin resisted the temptation to cover his face with his hands as Alex and Andrew began to fight. Such occurrences happened near daily ever since school had started this year. They’d been fighting long before that, however, ever since he had known them, in fact.

  He didn’t know what was worse: How they kept fighting, or how they’d been treating him like some kind of lord ever since Iris jokingly mentioning his nonexistent harem?

  I guess that question will remain as one of life’s greatest mysteries.

  “If you two don’t stop fighting, I’m going to beat you unconscious,” Kevin threatened.

  “S-so manly!” the two cried in unison, seemingly impressed by his words instead of afraid.

  Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose.

  What did I do to deserve this?

  As he tried to deal with his exasperating friends, Lilian and Lindsay held their own conversation, until the tomboy noticed the sketchpad situated in front of the kitsune.

  “Are you drawing those comics again?” Lindsay asked, leaning over to try and peer at the sketchpad.

  “It’s manga, not comics,” Lilian said before she noticed that Lindsay was trying to look at her work. She covered her sketchpad so the tomboy couldn’t see her illustrations. “And yes, I am.

  “Right. Manga,” Lindsay agreed, still trying to peer over Lilian’s shoulder. “Can I see?”

  “No.”

  Lindsay actually had to blink at the swift and blunt answer. “What? Why not?”

  “Because they’re not ready.” Lilian’s cheeks colored. “And I don’t really want to show anyone. My drawings aren’t that good.”

  Ever quick to defend her lovely sister, Iris jumped at the opportunity to speak. “My beautiful Lily-pad is being modest. I’ve seen some of her completed manga panels and they’re really good. They’re like sex on paper.” It took Iris a moment to realize that Lilian and Lindsay were giving her matching deadpan stares. “What? It’s true. Her manga panels are amazing.”

  “I-Iris, don’t tell people about my manga… wait.” Lilian’s face took on a flabbergasted and slightly betrayed quality. “You went looking through my sketchpad?”

  “Um, no?”

  “Iris!” Lilian hissed, her face flushing a furious red that matched her hair. “How could you?”

  “You only have yourself to blame.” Iris stubbornly crossed her arms. “I always ask if I can see what you’re drawing, but you’re never willing to show me. The only person you’ve let see your artwork is the stud over here.”

  Having been listening to the conversation, Kevin raised his hand and pointed at himself. “Um, hello, Lilian’s mate here. It’s only natural that she would show me her artwork. Besides, unlike you, I can actually appreciate the magnitude of what she’s trying to accomplish. And I can help her improve by comparing her work to professional works and offering my opinion.”

  Iris huffed while Kevin looked at the beautiful redhead sitting next to him. Lilian had removed her sketchpad from the table. She no doubt was hiding it on her lap so no one could look.

  “I do agree with Iris on one thing, though. You really do sell yourself short. While you might have not been that good starting out, you’ve improved a lot since then. I was really impressed by some of your more recent illustrations.”

  While her cheeks remained somewhat pink, Lilian’s lips curled into a beaming smile filled with gratitude. “Thank you, Kevin.”

  Kevin grinned and placed a hand on Lilian’s left thigh. “Anytime.”

  They stared into each other’s eyes, getting lost within their depths. They would have remained that way for some time. However, a cough interrupted them.

  “So, are you two gonna make out, or are you just gonna keep staring at each other?” Iris asked. “I don’t mind either way, but if you keep acting like such a loving couple, you’re going to make everyone here jealous, myself included.”

  “Whatever,” Kevin mumbled as he stopped staring at Lilian, who sent Iris a very mild glare. He scooted closer to his mate until their thighs were touching, and then tapped a finger against her sketchpad. “Would you mind if I looked at your most recent drawings?”

  “I-I guess not,” Lilian muttered softly, her cheeks gaining color. “B-but they’re not finished yet. I only have a few thumbnails in this one, so don’t laugh at them, okay?”

  “You know I’d never do that.”

  Kevin kissed Lilian on the cheek before pulling the sketchpad off he
r lap, setting it on the table, and opening it to look through the last couple of pages.

  While she seemed embarrassed to show them off for some reason, Lilian really was quite talented at drawing. While her lines weren’t as crisp as some of the manga artists he knew of, she had a real talent for shading. As he flipped through her sketchpad, a part of him wondered how much better she would be if she had the equipment and programs needed to create illustrations on the computer.

  Maybe I should think of getting her Photoshop and a Wacom tablet…

  “So, um, what do you think?” Lilian squirmed in her seat. The way she looked at him from beneath a curtain of crimson hair, anxiously and nervously awaiting his thoughts, was so endearing that Kevin had trouble suppressing his desire to kiss her silly.

  “Well, like you said, these are just thumbnails, so they lack details, but it looks like you’ve got the proportions right. Your panel placement could probably use some work, but you’re definitely improving.”

  “Proportions?” Eric, who, up until that point, had been silently glaring at a sheet of paper in front of him, suddenly looked up. “What’s this about proportions?” He saw the sketchpad in Kevin’s hand. “Do you draw, My Lord?”

  “Um, no.” Kevin deadpanned at Eric. “Did you not even pay the least bit of attention to the last five minutes of conversation?”

  “Not really.” Eric shrugged.

  “Figures.”

  “So, if you’re not the drawer, then who is?”

  “Lilian.”

  Eric’s head swiveled to Lilian like a robot whose neck joints had too much grease in them. “You can draw?”

  Under the scrutinizing gaze of the perverted young man, Lilian could only look down. “Uh, yeah, a little.”

  “Do you think you could teach me?”

  “Eh?”

  “Yeah, I need someone to teach me how to draw.”

  Lilian peered at Kevin who, upon seeing the questioning glance directed at him, merely shrugged as if to say, “Don’t look at me.”

  She turned back to Eric. “Why do you want me to teach you how to draw?”

  “Master has given me a most import task that I have yet to finish,” Eric informed them with the utmost seriousness. Even Iris was leaning in to hear what the salacious young man had to say. “She wants me to learn how to draw naked women. That way I can help her draw illustrations for her books.”