A Fox's Family (American Kitsune Book 4)

by Brandon Varnell

  “Have you ever gone costume shopping, Lord Kevin?”

  Kevin didn’t think he’d ever get used to the way Kirihime (or Kotohime, for that matter) addressed him. He just didn’t feel very lordly. He still answered her, however. “Plenty of times. I’m a human, remember? I grew up celebrating Halloween.”

  A small frown crossed Kevin’s face, something that Kirihime did not fail to notice.

  “Are you alright, Lord Kevin?” she asked, concern radiating from her voice. Kevin looked at her and smiled a bit. He really liked this woman. She was so much nicer than her sister.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just remembering something.”

  Kevin looked back to Lilian and Iris. Lilian was chatting her sister’s ear off about what kind of costumes she wanted to try on, while the raven-haired kitsune merely watched her with an amused smile. He didn’t think Iris was listening.

  She’s probably too busy staring at Lilian’s chest.

  Kevin absently eyed his mate’s chest, watching it bounce and heave as she made wild hand gesticulations.

  There could be no doubt that it was what Iris was staring at.

  “What were you remembering?” Kirihime asked. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

  Kevin turned away from his mate and her sister. “You know how my mom is always out of the country for her job, right? I never really got to celebrate Halloween with her because of that. Sure, we celebrated Halloween together when I was really little, but I don’t remember those times that well. I can’t even remember my mom ever taking me costume shopping. All throughout elementary school, I went shopping with Lindsay and her family. And when I was in middle school, I went with Eric and his dad.”

  There was a moment of silence as the group of kitsune looked at Kevin. This silence broke when Lilian grabbed his hand and beamed at him.

  “Don’t worry! Now that I’m here, you don’t need to worry about not spending Halloween with your family. I’m your family now!”

  “Lilian,” Kevin felt his cheeks grow warm. He wondered if he would ever get used to the feelings she evoked in him.

  Probably not.

  “Ah. Camellia… Camellia will treat you like a son!”

  “Uh…” Kevin didn’t know if Camellia even knew how sons were supposed to be treated. “Thanks?”

  “Tee-hee!”

  “It may not be my place to say this,” Kirihime placed a hand against her chest, her lips curving in a gentle arc, “but everyone here, including Lady Iris and my sister, see you as a part of our family. I don’t know if this will make up for not having your mother around, but I do hope that you will eventually see us as your family one day.”

  Kevin felt a strange warmth pass through his chest as she spoke. It was bliss, ecstasy in every sense of the word, this strange but pleasant feeling. He allowed himself a smile. Strange as it may have seemed, these people… kitsune, really were almost like a family to him now.

  Hard to believe that I’ve only known three of them for about two weeks.

  “Hey, Kirihime! I hope you’re not making a pass on my mate!”

  Lilian wrapped her arms around Kevin’s left arm and glared at Kirihime, whose wide eyes reminded him of water balloons.

  “N-no! Of course not, Lady Lilian! I-I would never—I mean―Kevin is handsome but, you know, he’s just too young. Ah! Not that being young is a bad thing,” she assured Kevin, as if he needed some kind of reassurance. “It’s just that you’re too young for me. Hm-hm.” She nodded her head. “Don’t worry, Lady Lilian, I would never make a pass at your mate.”

  “Good.”

  “You know that you really don’t need to worry about that, right?” Kevin whispered in Lilian’s ear. “Even if she did like me, it wouldn’t matter. I’m your mate, remember?”

  “I know,” Lilian whispered back. “I just wanted to watch her squirm a bit. It’s funny.”

  “Huh…” After a moment, Kevin chuckled. “I guess you really are a kitsune.”

  “But of course.” Lilian’s smile epitomized mischief. “In any case, I wouldn’t mind if she did make a pass at you, just so long as she recognizes that I’m your mate.”

  “Hm-mm… wait. What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Would you two stop whispering over there!?” An irate Iris stared daggers at the duo.

  “Sorry,” the two said in unison.

  Under Kotohime’s guidance, the group exited the apartment and locked the door behind them.

  Because the mall was too far to walk, they would be taking a cab, which Kotohime somehow managed to get for them. Kevin hadn’t even been aware that Kotohime knew how to use the phone, much less hire a cab. But then again, she was over 200 years old.

  As they made their way down the stairs, Kevin observed the family of kitsune. Lilian appeared to be the most excited of the group. She wore a smile that went from ear to ear and had a bounce in her step. Camella also seemed pretty excited, but…

  “Hawa! Halloween!”

  The eldest of the group—even if she didn’t act like it—rushed down the stairs with an enthusiasm that could not be denied.

  “M-My Lady! Please do not jump around so much! You might―”

  “HAWA!”

  “―trip.” Kirihime flinched as the person she served took a spill, falling down the stairs and landing in a heap of limbs, tails, and ears.

  Kevin and Lilian winced. That had to hurt.

  “By Inari’s saggy scrotum, can’t you be a little more graceful?”

  “Hawa…”

  ***

  Spirit was a Halloween store, though it looked more like a warehouse than a place that sold costumes. Large and rectangular, it sat near a crowded parking lot, a lone building located several hundred meters from a mall. Made of metal, the structure would normally be gleaming in the sunlight but instead appeared dull due to the cloud cover.

  Christine and Lindsay were already there, waiting in the parking lot as they exited the cab. Lindsay wore the bright grin that was so typical of her. Christine looked bored, though Kevin thought he saw hints of excitement dancing in her eyes, restrained by her need to appear aloof.

  “Hey, you two!” Kevin greeted as he strode up to them, Lilian by his side and Iris by hers. Behind them, the two maids made sure Camellia didn’t try to wander off as they trailed after him.

  “Hey yourself.” Lindsay took one look at them and shook her head. “That’s quite the group you’ve got there.” She paused to lean in, as if sharing a conspiratorial secret. “Are they all… you know?”

  “Yeah.”

  With Lindsay’s opening, introductions were in order. They had all met Iris already, but neither of them had met Lilian’s mom or Kirihime. While Lindsay greeted the group of kitsune with her usual friendliness, Christine remained silent. Her eyes were a mixture of cold and uncertainty, and the temperature around the yuki-onna had begun to plummet.

  “So, this is your family,” Lindsay eyed the unusual gathering of kitsune.

  Lilian nodded. “My immediate family, yes.”

  “Uh huh.” Lindsay eyed Camellia, whose toga did little to hide her voluptuous body. “No offense, Lilian, but I think I’m beginning to hate your genetics.”

  Lilian pouted. “That’s not a very nice thing to say…”

  “Jealousy is such an ugly emotion,” Iris shook her head pityingly.

  “You have no right to talk down to people about jealousy,” Kevin said dryly, ignoring the furious glance the raven-haired vixen cast him.

  Alex and Andrew arrived next. They were dropped off by their mother, a nice woman who owned a bakery. She would often give Kevin cookies when he visited, which was why he didn’t visit very often. Too many cookies weren’t very good for the body.

  The moment Alex and Andrew saw the large group of beautiful females standing around Kevin, the pair dropped to their knees in worship.

  “Oh, wise master, please take us under your wing and teach us your womanizing ways!”

  “Shut up,
you two,” a thoroughly shamefaced Kevin spat. “I don’t want to deal with this crap so early in the morning. And get off the ground. Everyone’s staring at us because of the scene you’re making!”

  Justin showed up after the twins, his father, a quiet and unassuming man dropping him off before leaving. The dull-faced boy took one look at all of the people gathered, and then cracked a small smile.

  “… Doki-doki waku-waku…”

  Needless to say, the boy got nothing but odd looks from everyone.

  The last person to show was Eric. The perverted high schooler was not dropped off by his parents―neither of them owned a military style Humvee, especially not one with a large painting of Alice from Monster Girl Quest on it.

  Eric stepped out of the vehicle, a pair of shades on his face. Kevin wondered if his friend was trying to look cool. It wouldn’t have worked regardless, but it failed epically here. The moment Eric left the large military vehicle with the image of a super-sexy lamia emblazoned on its hood, he froze, the glasses falling from his face to reveal dishpan-sized eyes. He surveyed the crowd before him, taking in the curves of those present with a stupid look on his face.

  Then he started drooling like an idiot.

  “And this is your best friend,” a grinning Iris said to Kevin, who merely facepalmed.

  Eric wasn’t alone that day. Clad in a black tube top, booty shorts and sandals, Heather Grant could have easily competed with the kitsune present in the beauty department.

  “Hmmm… I like this woman’s style,” Iris muttered, mostly to herself.

  “What’s she doing here?” asked a mildly annoyed Lilian.

  “You didn’t think I could allow my young apprentice to go costume shopping without me, did you?” Heather’s question was obviously rhetorical, as the woman spoke before anyone else could answer. “The number of sexy costumes in this store, the ability to peek on women while they’re changing into those costumes…” She held a clenched hand up to her face, her eyes igniting with passion. “There’s no way I could allow my impressionable apprentice enter such a place unprepared.”

  Like the ardent flames of a powerful wildfire, a flickering orange aura engulfed the young woman. It very much reminded Kevin of the main character from Doragon Fighters X.

  While the others focused on Heather, their expressions ranging from bemused to “what the fuck is wrong with this woman?” Eric, who’d still been gawking at the women around him, exploded into action.

  “Where have you sex-bots been all my life―GU!”

  Everyone switched from staring at Heather to Eric after the woman gave her apprentice a chop to the back of the head, sending him face-first into the concrete in a twitching sprawl of limbs.

  “Lesson number forty-two, my young apprentice. Control your lustful urges and wait for the right moment to strike.”

  “Ugh… got it…”

  ***

  Spirit was a very large store. While it looked big on the outside, it somehow appeared even more massive on the inside. The floors were made of polished granite, while the walls gleamed with the color of steel.

  The group stepped into the store as one, and Lilian, easily the most excited of the group, couldn’t help but stare at their new surroundings with bedazzled eyes.

  “Wow….” Lilian whispered. “It’s so big.”

  “That’s what she said―ouch!”

  “Don’t be such a pig,” Christine retracted her hand from the back of Eric’s head, which now had a massive welt covered in a layer of ice. “Idiot.”

  “Now, now, that is no way to treat my apprentice.” Heather admonished the scowling yuki-onna. “Unless, of course, you caught him peeping on you. Then he deserves to get beaten for getting caught.”

  “Hey!”

  “So, what do you think we should get?” Alex asked his brother. “Matching costumes or go our separate ways?”

  “We should definitely go our separate ways,” Andrew determined. “I have no desire to match costumes with you.”

  “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

  “Ha! The only ass I’m seeing is you!”

  “You wanna take this outside?!”

  “Ara, ara.” A smiling Kotohime stopped their fight in its tracks by shoving her katana between them. “There is no need to fight so early in the morning now, is there?”

  The twins gulped.

  “Kevin,” Lilian looked at her mate, “what kind of costumes do you think we should get?”

  Kevin cast her a sideways glance. “Weren’t you the one who had all the costume ideas?”

  Her cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink, Lilian drew circles on the polished granite floor with her left foot. “I do have a few ideas,” she mumbled lowly, “but now that I’m here, I, well, I’m not really sure where to start.”

  Kevin felt his own cheeks become warm. Lilian’s innocence was truly one of her most endearing qualities.

  “Ah, well, I was hoping we could find costumes for couples, or something,” Kevin admitted.

  “Um,” Lilian nodded and smiled at him, “I like that idea, so I’ll follow your lead.”

  “Then I guess I’ll have to do my best not to lead you astray.”

  The two shared a matching smiles as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

  “Someone please gag me.”

  Their moment was ruined by an obnoxious voice and several gagging noises.

  Kevin and Lilian turned to glare at Iris, who looked unrepentant as she gave them a sickly sweet smile.

  The group soon split up. Alex and Andrew went in one direction and Kotohime, on a suggestion from Kevin, followed after them to keep the two from fighting. Heather dragged Eric behind her after claiming that, as her apprentice, he had to wear something that matched her. Christine and Lindsay also wandered off together, though it looked more like the tomboy had decided to drag the snow-maiden off against her will. That left just him, Lilian, Iris, Kirihime and Camellia.

  “M-My Lady? My Lady, where did you go? My Lady!”

  Correction, it was just him, Lilian and Iris. Camellia had disappeared, though none of them knew when, and Kirihime quickly rushed off to try and find her wayward mistress.

  “So…” Kevin glanced at the two sisters. “I think we should stop by the couples section first.”

  “I agree,” Lilian nodded.

  “Whatever,” Iris waved one hand through the air while the other went to her hip. “I don’t care where we start, so long as I get to see my Lily-pad dressed in something cute.”

  Lilian’s red cheeks bulged like someone had shoved helium into them. “Why won’t you stop calling me that?”

  “Because it’s fun,” Iris admitted, tossing her sister a wicked grin.

  ***

  “Alright, my young apprentice, it is time for your next lesson.”

  “You mean we’re not going to get our costumes, Master?”

  “That can wait. This is far more important. I may not get another chance to impart this lesson on you, so I need to teach it to you while we have the chance.”

  Eric and Heather stood facing each other in one of the many aisles. They were near the changing rooms, which could be easily discerned due to the shift from wall to curtains.

  “If there is one thing I have learned about Halloween, it is that women wear some of the kinkiest outfits you can ever imagine during this time of year,” Heather lectured her young apprentice. “And if you are skilled enough, then you can watch them change into those kinky costumes. No joke. I remember watching this one woman trying to dress herself in some kind of bondage cosplay or something; it had all these straps and stuff. It really was freaky, but kinda hot, too.”

  Heather placed her hands on the young pervert’s shoulders.

  “And that is why we must seize this opportunity! This is a once in a lifetime chance to practice peeping on women while they get dressed in sexy cosplay! Carpe diem, my young apprentice, you understand?”

  Eric looked up at his teacher, hearts in his
eyes and tears creating streaks down his face. He could not help but be awed by this woman, who had more knowledge about peeping than even he, an entity of salacious desires. Truly, Heather was a magnificent, wonderful master.

  “Yes, Master!”

  “Excellent! Now let us be off!”

  ***

  Lindsay traveled along the western wall, where most of the female costumes were located. She held onto a slightly dazed Christine who, after nearly five minutes of struggling, had finally settled down.

  “What do you think I should get?” Lindsay asked, her eyes scanning the costumes as they slowly strolled down the aisle. “I want to go with something classic, like a zombie or a dead cheerleader, but I’m thinking those are too cliche…” She trailed off when she realized that Christine wasn’t paying attention to her. “Christine? Hello?” She waved a hand in front of the girl’s face. “Earth to Christine.”

  “Hmm?” Christine blinked, her mind coming back to the real world. “I’m sorry, were you saying something?”

  Lindsay gave her friend a look. There was an odd glint in her eyes that Christine just did not like. “Thinking about Kevin again?”

  “W-w-w-what the—WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I-I-I―that’s not―I’m not thinking about that idiot!”

  Lindsay watched Christine explode in an almost literal sense. Her face turned bright blue and steam poured out of her ears, becoming a strange foggy mist that crystallized as the temperature rapidly dropped to below freezing.

  “Are you still trying to hide your feelings? Didn’t you already admit to pretty much everyone except Kevin that you like him?” Her words made Christine blush that much harder. “Look, I know this isn’t easy for you, but it’s just us right now. You really don’t need to hide your feelings around me. I’m not going to laugh at them. I once had a crush on Kevin, too, you know.”

  “I-I know that.” Christine pressed her hands against her face, as if doing so would hide the icy hue of her cheeks. “It’s just—it’s hard for me. I’ve never—I mean I’m not that sociable.”

  “I can tell.”

  Christine glared at Lindsay, but there was no real heat in it. “Look, it’s just not easy for me, okay? I’m not used to having friends and I’m certainly not used to expressing my feelings about the… the boy that, um, that I kinda like… and stuff.”