“Dare I ask what that is?” inquired Lilian.
Iris was all too happy to explain. “It’s when—”
“Quiet, you,” Kevin quickly put the two-tailed Void Kitsune down before she could get going.
“Tch!”
“I read in that Sekirei picture book that men enjoy it when a woman wears this French maid outfit for them,” Phoebe answered his question with the utmost seriousness.
Kevin resisted the urge to facepalm. “Please don’t go through my manga collection anymore.” A pause. “Wait. Did you say Sekirei?”
“That is, indeed, what I said, Master.”
“Don’t call me master,” Kevin mumbled, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t remember owning that manga. Which volume was it?”
“I know not what volume it was, but if it would please you, Master, I could check.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” Kevin decided to just ignore the way she called him “master.” It wasn’t like she would listen to him anyway. “It’s probably Eric’s—unless you bought it, Lilian?”
“Nope,” Lilian shook her head. “I wouldn’t waste my money on Sekirei. If I want a harem anime with lots of T&A, I’ll buy To Love Ru or Highschool DxD. Sekirei is fun, but I prefer the anime for that over the manga.”
“I figured as much.” Kevin turned his attention from Phoebe to the other girl, who was also dressed as a French maid. “And you? How did Phoebe rope you into wearing that?”
“D-don’t think I am doing this for you.” A blushing Polydora scowled at him. “I-I am only doing this because Lady Phoebe asked for my assistance, and there is nothing that I would not do for Her Ladyship.”
“Uh-huh…” Kevin nodded ever so slowly, his brain trying—and failing—to come up with a proper response. “Yeah, I got nothing. Lilian?”
“Have either of you seen Kotohime?” the redhead asked.
“I am right here, Lilian-sama.” Kotohime strolled out of the hallway and into the living room, her bearing the epitome of grace and elegance, her kimono rustling lightly as she walked toward them. As always, the woman was carrying her katana in her left hand. “I hope you three had an enjoyable time at school.”
“It was boring,” Iris answered before anyone else could. “The only upside to school is that I get to see Lily-pad looking adorable as she concentrates on taking notes.”
“It was fine,” Kevin said, ignoring the raven-haired girl behind him.
Kotohime graced Kevin with her beautifully upturned lips. “I am very pleased to hear that.”
“There is something we need to tell you, though,” Lilian added, her expression surprisingly serious.
Kotohime must have sensed the gravity in her charge’s tone, for her demeanor also shifted. It was a subtle thing. Her expression remained unchanged, but her eyes became hard and sharp, much like the katana she wielded so efficiently.
“I see,” she started. There was a short pause as she considered the trio. “Very well, then. I am all ears. What is it that you wished to tell me?”
***
After adjourning to the living room, Kevin and Lilian told Kotohime about what they had learned from Juan. Sitting seiza on the floor, the yamato nadeshiko took in what she had been told with a calmness befitting a swordswoman of her status.
“That is indeed troubling news.” She looked pensive.
“Are you sure the tale that this Juan told you is even accurate?” Phoebe, who’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt at Kevin’s request, asked. She was standing by the couch alongside Polydora, who was back in her armor. “This story of a creature made of liquid silver seems awfully far-fetched to me.”
“That part about the creature made of silver, at least, is most likely true,” Kotohime informed the blond girl. “Last year, my sister and I fought against two creatures that appeared to be made of liquid metal. Heather-san informed us that these are not actually creatures, but rather, machines created by an anti-yōkai organization. They were quite the troublesome foes, but we defeated them easily enough. What concerns me is that Juan said the ones seen in Europe destroyed an entire yōkai village. They should not be that powerful.”
“Do you think this might be an improved version of what you and Kirihime faced before?” Lilian asked. She was sitting next to Kevin, snuggling into his torso. The swell of her breasts pushed into his side, squashing like a pair of marshmallows.
“It could be.” Kotohime confirmed with a nod. “In fact, I am sure that’s exactly what this is. The question, however, is how does this affect us and what are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t think Juan would have said anything if it didn’t involve us in some way,” Kevin added, absentmindedly playing with Lilian’s fingers. “He clearly knows something but isn’t saying what. He probably wants to amuse himself by seeing what we do with the limited amount of information he gave us, the jerk.”
“What I want to know if why he even told us.” Sitting on the ground, leaning against Lilian’s leg, Iris looked for all the world like a cat who wanted some affection from her owner. Kevin frowned as the girl rubbed her face against Lilian’s leg. “Isn’t he supposed to be some big-wig information broker or whatever? I thought those type of people only gave away information when people paid them.”
“He is likely doing this as a favor to Monstrang-dono,” Kotohime hypothesized. “Everyone knows that Kevin-sama works for Monstrang-dono, who controls Arizona and much of the southwestern United States. You can think of it as him paying rent. By looking out for you, Kevin-sama, Juan-san hopes that it will endear him to Monstrang-dono in order to continue conducting business within this state. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that he has been on thin ice with Monstrang-dono since the debacle with Seth Naraka.”
“That makes sense.”
“Indeed.”
“This is all well and good,” Polydora interrupted, “but we still don’t know what to do about all this.”
The woman crossed her arms, breasts smashing together within her leather armor. Kevin really had to wonder about her choice in clothing. It was nothing but hardened leather shaped similar to a bikini up top and a skirt on the bottom. She didn’t think she’d blend in wearing something like that, did she?
“In a situation like this, the most we can do is keep our eyes out for any sign of danger,” Kevin said. “If what Kotohime said is true, then Juan probably told us because he thinks these things will attack us soon, which means that we should be on our guard at all times.”
“You are correct, Kevin-sama.” Kotohime gazed proudly at the boy. “That is a most astute assessment of our situation.”
“Eh-hehehehe.” Kevin rubbed the back of his neck while a sheepish grin spread across his face.
“Now then,” Kotohime stood up, “I believe that we have wasted enough time chatting. There is nothing we can do about this threat, if there is indeed a threat, except to prepare for it. In light of that, Kevin-sama, Lilian-sama, Iris-sama, how about a quick spar before dinner?”
***
A barrier had been erected around the small park. Barely visible as a thin layer of translucent lining in the shape of a dome, only those who were already inside of the barrier could see it.
Kevin didn’t know the exact mechanics behind the barrier, but Kotohime had informed him that it would keep all humans from seeing or coming near them. The barrier itself was an illusion-based enchantment. It kept people from seeing inside of the barrier and also instilled a strong sense of wanting to be somewhere else whenever someone came within a certain radius of it. So long as Kotohime refrained from using her extensive repertoire of water and sword techniques, there wouldn’t be any evidence of what was taking place here.
Kevin fired off several rounds at Kotohime, pulling the triggers as quickly as he could. Blue bullets flew from the barrels of his two guns with bright flashes of supernatural energy.
None of them hit.
Despite the amount of youki bullets being fired at her, Kotohime was undaunted. Her
sword spun in a blur as she swung it, and she wove a constant dance to avoid the few bullets she couldn’t strike. Flashes of light represented the premeditated death of a bullet that the katana, wielded by a woman who made swordsmanship look like an art form, sliced in half. Kotohime was very methodical in her movements, cutting only those bullets that posed a threat while dodging the rest.
Kevin’s guns clicked empty.
And that was when Kotohime struck.
She reversed her blade and used the pommel to attack him, thrusting her blade forward, striking his body fast and hard—except Kevin wasn’t there anymore.
He was behind her.
Kotohime raised her katana to block the hammer blow that was Kevin’s gun. A loud squeal erupted as gun ground against katana. It looked almost like an even match at first, until Kotohime started enhancing her muscles with youki, a feat that Kevin could not accomplish. He was, after all, just a human.
Knowing that he was fighting a losing battle, Kevin leapt backwards before Kotohime could hit him. In that same instant, a sphere of light shot forward, using Kevin’s body as cover to sneak up on Kotohime before attacking her in a blitz maneuver.
Kevin knew that despite how well-timed Lilian’s attack was, it wouldn’t be enough to defeat Kotohime. Even as he thought this, the kimono-clad beauty sliced the sphere in half. Of course, that wasn’t the end of it, as the two halves quickly turned into their own miniature spheres, which attacked Kotohime again. They, too, were sliced in half, and those halves morphed into their own spheres in turn.
“Oh, very clever, Lilian-sama,” Kotohime complimented as she spun around to avoid several spheres. She was grace personified. Her breathing was completely even, as if she wasn’t even working up a sweat dodging the now four spheres. “What is this attack called, I wonder?”
“Celestial Art: Many Sun Droplets.”
“Oh, my. That is quite the name you’ve come up with.” Six spheres were sliced in half and quickly turned into thirty-six smaller spheres. “Still, I believe you’ve given this new technique a most apt name. Ara?”
Kevin had been hoping to surprise the woman by sneaking up behind her and shooting her in the back. Unfortunately, Kotohime proved herself more than capable of sensing his intentions. She also proved herself to be capable of defending against both Lilian’s technique and his barrage of bullets.
The first thing to go was Lilian’s spheres. As ingenuitive as the technique was, it had one major weakness. The youki used to create the technique was divided by half each time the spheres were cut. Kevin liked to think of it in units. If Lilian’s technique cost 100 units of energy, then the first time it was split, each sphere would contain 50 units. When it was split again, the spheres would contain 25, and then 12.5, and then 6.25. Eventually, the spheres would contain so little energy that they couldn’t sustain themselves any longer. Thus, they would lose cohesion and disperse. The idea was a little basic, and Kevin knew he was taking liberties with it, but it gave him a means of understanding the overall principle behind Lilian’s attack.
And if he understood the principle, then working out a way around that weakness was easier.
Kevin’s guns soon clicked empty. Acting post haste, he undid the cache and the cartridges fell to the ground. As he rushed toward Kotohime, he brought his guns behind his back, where six more cartridges of ammo were waiting, and smoothly slid two cartridges into his guns.
He bent his body underneath Kotohime’s swing, sliding along the wet grass on his knees, as he pointed his weapons at Kotohime. At the same time, Lilian appeared several feet away, the light she’d bent to render herself invisible falling as she created six spheres of light around her body, all of which flew at Kotohime like blitzkrieg rockets.
It was the perfect attack. Perfectly timed. Perfectly executed. There was no way Kotohime could get out of—
“Ikken Hissatsu.”
“G-gu!”
“Beloved!”
—Kevin didn’t know what happened. One second he was in the process of getting the drop on Kotohime, and the next second he was flying through the air, the world passing around him in a blur. Through squinted eyes, he saw the barrier getting ever closer. He raised his left hand toward it, as if trying to protect himself. Then, just like that time when he fought against Shinkuro, the barrier appeared to peel apart, and he shot straight through, landing on the ground and rolling for several feet before coming to a painful stop.
He lay on his back, trying to figure out why he was suddenly looking at the sky, when a figure appeared before him.
“Beloved? Beloved?! Kevin!”
“Lilian,” he slurred.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“M’ fine,” he mumbled, “I think… I can’t get up for some reason.”
Through his blurry vision, Kevin thought he saw Lilian grimacing.
“That’s because you’ve been injured. Hold on one second while I heal you.”
“Kitsune Art: Divine Kiss.”
Kevin felt lips press against his. He tried to kiss back, but his mouth wasn’t willing to respond. He could eventually feel his body mending and imagined this was what it would feel like if someone cast a Curaga spell on him. When Lilian pulled away, he felt like he’d never been tossed twenty feet through the air.
“Are you still able to fight, Kevin-sama?” a voiced asked outside his field of vision.
Lilian glared at the voice. “What were you thinking using a technique like that? You could have easily killed him!”
“I used the blunt edge so that my attack would be painful but not fatal. Even if you had not healed him, he would have recovered.”
“But that’s—”
“It’s fine, Lilian.”
“B-Beloved?”
Kevin clambered to his feet. His legs shook as he was overcome with a minor sense of vertigo, but he got over it quickly. He then looked down at his mate, grabbing her hand and pulling her up.
“I asked for this. My journey to rescue you from the Shénshèng Clan has taught me that I’ve still got a long way to go before I can really stand by your side. I told Kotohime not to take it easy on me.”
Lilian bit her lower lip, but she eventually nodded, though she appeared quite reluctant.
“A-all right. If this is what you want, then I won’t stop you.”
“Thank you.”
“But!” Lilian pointed at Kotohime. “If you’re not gonna take it easy on my beloved, then I want you to stop taking it easy on me.”
“Are you sure?” asked Kotohime.
“Of course! Beloved and I are in this together. If you stop pulling your punches with him, then you’re going to stop with me too.”
“Very well.” Kotohime sheathed her katana and slid into battoujutsu stance. “Come at me with everything you have.”
***
“Ugh, we lost so hard,” Kevin moaned from where he lay on the ground. He would’ve tried standing up, but his body felt like it had been squashed by the Beast Titan. Besides, the damp grass felt nice on his back.
Lilian, unable to form a proper reply, merely groaned beside him.
“Ufufufu,” Kotohime giggled as she stood above them, her kimono pristine, with naught a scratch nor wrinkle to be found. “You should have realized an attack of that nature would never work on me, especially since neither of you are fast enough to pull it off.”
“Way to rub it in,” Kevin groaned as he slowly and painfully climbed to his feet. He ignored the way his muscles squealed in protest and helped Lilian to her feet. His mate moaned in complaint as she was forced to stand, but he allowed her to lean on him for support, thereby taking most of the weight off her legs, which shook from the strain of ensuring that she remained standing.
“Thanks, Kevin.”
“Anytime.”
“That was quite the battle brat.” Kiara walked up to the group, her lips curled into an amused smirk. She must have arrived some time during their sparring session. “You two actually managed to
last ten full minutes this time. That’s impressive.”
“Kiara-san,” Kotohime greeted cordially.
“Sup.” Kiara raised a hand in a gesture of greeting. Of course, she only had one hand to raise.
“I had not realized you were here. Ufufufu, you must have become quite skilled at youki manipulation to slip through my barrier unnoticed.”
“What can I say? I’ve trained with my youki extensively.” Kiara’s eyes glittered dangerously. “If you want, I’d be more than pleased to show you what I’ve learned?”
“Perhaps some other time,” Kotohime said. Kiara sighed in disappointment.
While the two adults greeted each other, Kevin and Lilian stumbled over to a nearby tree where the other people their age sat. Phoebe, Polydora, and Iris had all watched the battle from the relatively safe location of the barrier’s edge. As they meandered over to the group, Phoebe was the first to congratulate them.
“A most excellent match, Master. You did quite well to face off against someone with so much more experience and power than you.”
“Thanks, I guess.” Kevin slumped to the grassy floor and leaned his back against the tree. Lilian curled up against his side, using his shoulder as a pillow while she held his left arm close to her chest. Kevin could feel the elasticity of her bosoms while his arm pushed into her boobs. “We would have lasted longer if someone else had chosen to spar alongside us, though.”
Already knowing the dig was at her, Iris just grinned, her eyes gleaming like twin bloody moons. “You know I never like getting sweaty unless it involves the three of us and a bed.”
Kevin sighed. “Considering you’ve never joined Lilian and I when we do, well, that, I don’t think you can make such a claim.”
“Che, whatever.” Iris clicked her tongue in annoyance at the reminder. She glanced at Lilian, who shook her head slowly, and then sighed. “The only reason I haven’t been able to join you two is because you’re a prude. You know how many guys would love to be in your position? Probably millions. Yet you don’t take advantage of it. You’re just too straitlaced. You should learn to live a little.”
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