Wiping the sweat from her brow, Lilian completely missed Kotohime entering the room until the woman spoke up behind her.
“How is he?”
“I’ve managed to heal him,” Lilian responded, turning her head. “I’ve stopped his blood hemorrhaging, and I’ve repaired the damage done to his mind as well.” She reached out with her left hand and placed her palm over his forehead. “We’re lucky I managed to get to him when I did. Had I not started healing him right away…” Lilian trailed off. She didn’t want consider what would have happened had she found him a second later.
“Indeed, we are quite fortunate.” Kotohime looked at Kevin for a moment, then shifted her gaze back to Lilian. “Your healing abilities have improved. I can see that you’ve been practicing.”
“When I can.” Lilian rubbed her arms to ward off the chill that came over her. “Kevin’s spars have been getting dangerous. I’ve had to heal him a lot this past week. Without me there to heal him, he’d be going to school with broken bones and bruises.”
“Hmm…”
Lilian looked at Kotohime with a curious frown. What was she smiling about?
“Anyway, would you mind looking after him?” she asked.
“Of course.” Kotohime sat down on the bed. “If you want, I can even heal the part of his brain that ruptured. You seem to have missed it.”
Lilian felt both horrified and embarrassed. “I would like that,” she said softly.
Kotohime gave her charge a gentle look. “Do not worry too much, Lilian-sama. You did an admirable job on everything else. You simply need to remember to look deeper next time.” As she spoke, a soft blue glow emanated from her hands. The swordswoman placed them under Kevin’s head, where the rupture was located.
“I’ll remember that next time, though I hope there won’t be a next time.”
“Of course. Might I ask where you are going, Lilian-sama?”
Lilian’s face darkened. “To speak with my sister.”
***
Lilian found Iris sitting on the couch in the living room. She appeared nervous. Her posture remained relaxed, but her eyes were flickering about, as if she was expecting something to leap out at her. Fingers occasionally twitched, and her left foot tapped incessantly against the beige carpet.
Normally, such out of character behavior from her sister would have thrown Lilian for a loop. However, she was angry enough right then that she found herself not caring.
She stomped into the room.
Iris looked up. Her eyes widened. She stood up from the couch and tried to speak. “Lilian, I’m―”
“You hurt my mate,” Lilian’s harsh whisper sounded out menacingly. “Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve done? I had to spend almost an hour just to stop the bleeding! He could have died!”
“L-Lilian, I―”
“And for what? Why would you do this to him? Why would you hurt him like that?”
“Because he was taking you away from me!” Iris shouted, stunning Lilian into silence. “Ever since you first met him, he’s all you would talk about, all you would think about. You started ignoring me in favor of him. Even when he wasn’t around, you wouldn’t think of anyone else. It’s like you completely forgot I even existed.”
“I never ignored you, Iris. I simply can’t be what you wanted me to be. Kevin would never accept our relationship. And don’t give me that speech about me being brainwashed by our matriarch; we both know that’s a lie. I have never once let anything that hag has said guide my decisions. Every decision I’ve made is one that I chose myself.”
Iris looked like she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what to say.
“Not that any of this matters anymore.” Lilian narrowed her eyes into angry slits. “You and I are done.”
“You don’t mean that,” Iris whispered, her voice conveying a sense of shock. “You don’t mean that… you can’t! I’m your sister!”
“Correction: you were my sister until you decided to hurt my mate. Now you’re just someone I share the same blood with.” Lilian turned around. “I could never be related to someone who would willingly hurt the person I love the most in this world.”
“W-wait! Lilian! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please, come back!”
But Lilian did not come back. She left the living room, leaving a distraught Iris in her wake and ignoring the way it felt like her heart was breaking.
She went back to her bedroom. Kevin remained lying on the bed, but Kotohime was sitting in seiza against the wall.
“Do you know how long it’ll be until he wakes up?” Lilian asked.
Kotohime cocked her head to the side. “It’s hard to say, as I am unsure of how much damage was done to him. However, he is a rather strong-willed young man. I imagine it won’t be long before he wakes up.”
As if on cue, Kevin groaned. Lilian rushed over to the bed and sat down. One of her hands reached for Kevin’s face, cupping it as blue eyes slowly opened.
“Kevin?”
“Lilian?” he whispered, blinking. “Wha… what happened?” Eyes fluttered about in confusion as they took in their surroundings. “Why am I in bed? What happened? The last thing I remember is…” Something wet fell on his face. Tears. Lilian’s tears. “H-hey now, Lilian, what’s wrong? Please don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry,” Lilian sniffled, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes before they could fall. “I’m just so relieved to see that you’re not hurt. I was so worried. I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”
Kevin still looked confused. At any other time, Lilian would have found that expression adorable. Not right now, though. Not after what had just happened.
“Lilian,” Kevin placed his hands over hers, “what’s wrong?”
Lilian tried to calmly explain how Iris had used an enchantment on him to increase his arousal and sexual desire. Kevin listened with an oddly calm face, as if he was not being told that someone had just tried to manipulate him by increasing his lust to levels even Eric Corrompere couldn’t fathom. By the end of it, Kevin was sitting against the headboard while Lilian leaned against him.
“So all of that was an enchantment, huh?” He sighed in obvious relief. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Glad?” Lilian’s brows furrowed. “How can you be glad? Iris tried to manipulate you. She used an enchantment, a very powerful one. You’re lucky that your brain isn’t oozing out of your ears right now.”
Kevin smiled at her, and Lilian’s breath caught in her throat. “I’m glad because I, well, I was worried. When I saw all those images in my head and felt those overwhelming desires, I thought that… I thought they were…”
“You believed they were your own feelings, yes?” Graceful as always, Kotohime rose to her feet and walked over to the bed, stopping at the edge and gazing down at the young man. “You need not worry, Kevin-sama. Those images you saw, those feelings you had, all of them were implanted within your psyche by Iris’ enchantment. None of what you saw or felt came from your own mind.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Still, I must say, I am most impressed.” Lilian and Kevin looked at Kotohime curiously. She saw this and gave the young man a warm gaze filled with pride. “Few humans can resist an enchantment, especially one that powerful. The fact that you were able to speaks highly of your willpower and mental strength. That’s quite admirable.”
“Ah-hahaha…” Kevin’s awkward laugh made Lilian smile. His embarrassment at her maid’s words was very endearing. “T-thank you. So!” Kevin coughed into his hand. “I believe we had some plans today, didn’t we?”
Kevin tried to sit up, but Lilian put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down.
“Easy, Kevin. Don’t try to stand up just yet,” she fretted over him. “Even though I healed you, the damage done to you isn’t something you can walk off so easily.”
Kevin did his best to wave off her concerns.
“Ma, ma, I feel fine. Really.”
H
e insisted on sitting up again. Lilian tried to stop him, but eventually gave up. Her mate, it seemed, could be just as stubborn as her when he wanted to be.
“There’s no way you can expect me to lay around in bed all day doing nothing.” He scooted over to the edge of the bed, his feet dangling off. “We made plans today, and I would hate to see those plans ruined because of something like this.” Heedless of Lilian’s previous protests, Kevin pushed himself off the bed—
“Now, let’s—”
—And promptly fell face-first to the floor.
Lilian sighed. “Now do you see why I told you to remain in bed? You suffered a lot of damage and that damage has affected your motor functions.”
Kevin rolled over onto his back and gave his mate a mild stink-eye. “I wish you would have told me that before I tried standing up.”
Lilian had the decency to look abashed. “Um, whoopsies?”
“Ara.” Kotohime was amused.
***
Because of Kevin’s desire to not let what had happened that morning affect their plans, he and Lilian ended up doing what they’d intended. Iris had gone off somewhere, so she hadn’t joined them, though Kevin had the feeling that Lilian wouldn’t have let her sister come near him anyway. Kirihime had also vanished. He assumed she was following Iris. Kotohime had some errands to run, which meant it was just him, Lilian and Camellia.
Their destination for that day was called R-Galaxy, the largest store in Arizona for anime, comics, manga, movies, video games, and other types of nerd paraphernalia.
Kevin had agreed to take Lilian there after the kidnapping incident, but hadn’t been able to find the time due to training with Kiara, track practice and meets, and his part-time job delivering newspapers. It was also further away from his apartment than the mall. Getting there required them to take a bus which, while inexpensive, meant spending an hour on a bus.
Kevin really, really hated buses.
For a place that sold nerd paraphernalia, R-Galaxy was surprisingly large. Then again, comics and movies had always been popular in the US, and anime and manga had been gathering in popularity for years. Kevin could still remember when Pokemon had swept through the nation and children everywhere were getting caught up in it. He even used to collect the cards for it—until they started making more than 151 Pokemon.
“Inari-blessed!”
Kevin almost chuckled as he observed Lilian’s nearly bulging eyes after they had walked into the store. Not that he could blame her. R-Galaxy was like a massive dungeon, only instead of having monsters and dark hallways, it contained aisles, racks, and displays.
“Big, right?”
Lilian nodded absentmindedly, her wide eyes still exploring the large store and all the people browsing it. There seemed to be quite the crowd that day. Many of the aisles were filled with customers wandering through them, checking out the racks and rummaging around for whatever took their fancy.
“Come on, Beloved!” Lilian grabbed his hand. “Let’s go!”
“Eh? W-wait, Lilian! What about your―”
But Lilian wasn’t listening anymore. She’d already begun dragging him along behind her. All Kevin could do was pray to any god that was listening that Camellia would follow them.
***
From the moment Kevin had resisted her enchantment, Iris knew she’d screwed up in a big way. The downward spiral of what happened afterward; her sister’s rage, her sister’s rejection, and the knowledge that it was her own fault, led to Iris running out of the apartment. After wandering around the streets for what felt like hours, she had eventually arrived at the mall.
Iris dragged her feet across the tiled floor, observing the shops through the display windows. There was a lot of different stuff being sold. She saw everything from toys and clothing to jewelry and makeup. Having been isolated in Greece and the Pnevma estate in Tampa Bay all her life, she’d never seen so many different items on display before.
Just another reason to hate that old hag.
Dozens of people stopped what they were doing as she walked by, no matter what they were doing or who they were talking to. Boys. Girls. It didn’t matter what their gender, age, or sexual orientation was. All of them stared at her.
In most cases, Iris would have played it up. She knew she was sexy, and she loved letting everyone else know it, too. However, the events of a few hours ago had left her in a rather sour state. Much like that time at the airport when she’d wanted nothing more than to see Lilian, in that moment, all she felt was annoyance. Didn’t these people have anything better to do than ogle her?
She sighed. Maybe she was being too hard on them. After all, they were just humans. Then again, Kevin Swift was supposed to be just a human, yet he’d managed to throw off her enchantment. Sure, it might have been at great personal cost to his physical health, but that he’d been able to shunt aside her most powerful enchantment was nothing short of astounding.
So lost in thought was she that, upon turning the corner, she didn’t see the other person also turning the corner at that exact same moment.
“Oof!”
Iris winced as she fell onto her backside. It felt almost as bad as someone stepping on her tail.
“By Inari’s left nutsack, that really hurt.” She glared up at the person who knocked her over, a curse on her lips, only to die when she saw who it was. “Hey, I know you!”
“Ah…”
A pause. Bland, half-lidded eyes stared back at her.
“… Foxy…”
Iris stared at the young man, her face deadpanning. “You’re a weirdo, did you know that?” When the young man said nothing, she sighed. “Ha… whatever. Get up. It’s time for you to show me around.”
Justin merely blinked.
***
“What should I get… mou, this is harder than it looks. There’s so many choices. Tricky, tricky.”
Kevin watched, somewhat amused but mostly exasperated, as Lilian perused one of the many shelves dedicated entirely to manga. They’d already been there for nearly fifteen minutes, yet his mate-slash-girlfriend still hadn’t come to a decision on what she wanted to buy.
“Remember, Lilian, I only have enough money for two manga volumes at the moment, so be sure to choose carefully.”
“I know that,” Lilian replied absently, her focus still centered on her options. From what Kevin could see, she had narrowed down her choices to six different manga. “Let’s see… Fullmetal Alchemist is supposed to be amazing, but I really wanna read the next volume of Vampire Knight. And then there’s Monster Musume, mustn’t forget that one and… oh! Rurouni Kenshin! That one is a classic!” Lilian paused. “Though I already have all the volumes for that one. Hm, I wonder if they have any Negima Magister Magi…”
Scratching his head, Kevin walked up to the redhead. He placed a hand on her back and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’m gonna go find your mom real quick. It seems we lost her when you ran off. Will you be okay on your own?”
“Hm? Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Lilian waved Kevin’s concern off. Her eyes had yet to leave the shelf. “You go do what you have to.”
Kevin shook his head. This girl actually seemed more interested in manga than even he was. It almost made him wonder if she loved manga more than she loved him.
He went off in search of Camellia, who proved to be quite elusive. R-Galaxy was a large place; with such a spacious interior and with hundreds of aisles, finding Lilian’s mom became more than just a chore. She wasn’t on the second floor, and she didn’t appear to be on the first floor either.
“Ha… where did that woman go?” He asked himself as he looked around the store. “You’d think a woman wearing a freaking toga with boobs the size of Alaska would be easy to find.”
Looking everywhere but in front of him, Kevin didn’t see the woman turning a corner until it was almost too late.
“Woah!”
A quick burst of adrenaline rushed through his system. Kevin’s eyes widened as he spun around the fema
le who’d appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He managed to avoid running the poor woman over—only to smash face-first into a nearby support column. With a groan, Kevin fell backwards with a dull thud.
“Ouch…”
“Are you injured, young man?”
Blinking several times to clear his vision, Kevin saw the woman he’d nearly run into leaning over him. She was rather attractive, with long purple hair and blue eyes. Her figure was also quite impressive, though not as amazing as Lilian’s. Her black pants were skintight, short, and left little to the imagination. An equally skintight crop top of the same color flattered her figure quite well.
“Don’t worry.” Kevin sat up with a groan. “I’m fine. This is nothing compared to some of the things I’ve been hit by recently.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” A hand appeared in front of his face. “Oh, thank you.” He allowed the woman to help him stand up.
“You really should learn to be more aware of your surroundings, young man,” the woman lectured him. “You never know what kind of dangerous situations you might get into that could have otherwise been avoided.”
“Um, thank you for the advice.” Kevin frowned as he stared at the woman. Observing her more closely, he saw that her eyes were blank and soulless, like a doll. Talk about creepy. “I’ll be sure to take that to heart.”
“See that you do.”
The woman walked away, disappearing down another aisle, and Kevin began his search anew. It took a while, but he eventually found Lilian’s mom sitting at a table in the cafe, munching on a sandwich.
She wasn’t alone.
“I don’t think we were ever properly introduced, were we?”
“Hawa…”
Munch.
“I’m Heather Grant, full-time PE assistant at Desert Cactus High School and part-time writer.”
“Hawa…”
Munch.
“Of course, I’m hoping to one day become a full-time writer, but it’s been slow going even with all the inspiration I’ve managed to get so far.”
A Fox's Family (American Kitsune Book 4) Page 21