“That it’s! Just die! Die for me, please! You’re no longer needed! I refuse to let myself be thrown away! I won’t allow you to―Gurk!”
Maddison ceased ranting. She opened her mouth, but only wet rasping sounds emerged, along with several streams of blood that ran down her chin.
Lilian, her teeth grit and her eyes narrowed with unusual ferocity, twisted the kunai she’d plunged into the other kitsune’s chest. The hands around her throat slackened, allowing her to gratefully suck in a lungful of air.
Maddison fell onto her backside. She looked down, staring at the small metal object piercing her heart. Rivulets of blood ran down her body and stained her clothes.
Her eyes went back to Lilian.
“W-why…?” Tears gathered. “All I wanted… was to not be thrown away again… I just… I just…” Her eyes glazing over, Maddison went limp and fell onto her back.
She didn’t get back up.
“Oh…” Lilian’s body went into a series of shuddering. She wrapped her arms around her legs, which she had curled into her chest. Tears leaked from her eyes to streak down her cheeks.
She’d just killed someone… she had… and this person was…
“Oh, no…”
Gasping sounds escaped from her lips as she tried to breathe. A different type of constriction had blocked her throat. The shuddering increased.
“Oh, please no…”
Her eyes wide, Lilian cried as she realized that she had just murdered someone who had been broken, unable to think straight. Someone who, through no fault of their own, had been backed into a corner.
“I can’t believe it…”
She had killed someone. She had killed someone. Why? Why had she done it? Surely there had been another way. That girl hadn’t needed to die.
“Kevin…”
She wanted to see her mate. She wanted him to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. She wanted him to tell her that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
Kevin… I need to see Kevin.
“I’m sorry,” Lilian whispered as she slowly clambered to her feet. Her body shuddered and swayed as she was overcome with a sense of vertigo. She raised a hand to her face, covering her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. She looked down at the two-tailed kitsune and shed several more tears. “I am so sorry, but I can’t let you kill me. I need to save my mate.”
That’s right. Her mate was in danger. She had to protect him. She had to…
The earth suddenly screamed.
About a mile or so away, a large pillar of black flames rose into the air, as if hell itself had decided to invade the Earth.
“What is that?” Lilian asked herself, then shook her head. “Focus, Lilian. Kevin needs you.”
Sparing one last sorrowful glance at the dead kitsune, Lilian ran out of the room.
***
Kevin noticed something odd about this kitsune. Ever since the battle had started, there had been something strange about Jiāoào. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he hadn’t fully realized just what that something was until the battle had turned in his favor.
A tail tried to smash into him from above. Kevin moved to the side as swiftly as his name implied. The tail created a small indent in the ground. Kevin stomped on it. Hard.
“Gya! My tail! Damn you!”
Jiāoào tried to punch him, but it was oh so sloppy. Kevin stepped to the left and forward. His right hand came up, almost gently nudging the fist wide and sending Jiāoào off-kilter. The two-tailed kitsune practically stumbled into his left hook.
“This is…”
Eyes narrowing, Kevin waded into Jiāoào’s guard. His right hand redirected the sloppy jab thrown at him. At the same time, his left hand shot forward in a swift straight. Jiāoào’s nose broke under his assault.
“Damn you! Damn you, damn you, damn you!”
Two tails came at him from either side, trying to hem him in. Kevin knew from his lessons with Kotohime that those tails packed a wallop. A kitsune’s tails were the strongest appendages they had, because they were where all of their youki was stored. Even without reinforcement, their tails were capable of lifting boulders with ease.
Throwing himself forward, Kevin rolled along the ground. The tails struck the spot he’d been standing seconds too late. Kipping back up to his feet, he bashed his forehead against the underside of Jiāoào’s jaw.
“Gah!”
Jiāoào stumbled backwards. A hand came up to his mouth. Blood leaked from between his fingers, dripping onto his stupidly extravagant robes. Kevin would have smirked, but he was too busy dealing with his realization.
“You can’t use Celestial techniques yet, can you?”
Even with a hand covering his face, Jiāoào’s shamed blush was visible for Kevin to see.
“W-w-what?! Shut up! Of course I can!”
“Then why haven’t you used them already?”
The blush deepened.
“I-I-I-I—th-that’s―I just don’t feel like it, okay?! You’re not worth the effort!”
Jiāoào seemed to have taken several lessons in tsundere.
“And you shut up, too!”
Kevin blinked. “But I didn’t say anything.”
“Not you! I’m talking to the author!”
“The author?” Kevin’s eyebrows twitched. “Oh, great! You mean to tell me I’ve got to deal with another one?! How many of you foxes are gonna talk to this imaginary idiot?”
I rather resent that.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Jiāoào snapped. “The fact that you don’t even know what I’m talking about proves my superiority.”
“That doesn’t prove anything of the sort! All it proves is that you’re crazy!”
“I’m not crazy! You’re just an idiot!”
“Who’re you calling an idiot?!”
Before the argument could continue, a loud explosion rocked the area. Kevin and Jiāoào turned their heads just in time to see a large pillar of black flames shooting into the sky.
“Ha…” Jiāoào sighed. “That Shílì… he’s really enjoying himself too much.”
“Whoa…”
Kevin, too, found himself entranced by the surreal display. He didn’t know what the strange fire was, but he was getting some really bad vibes from it. Even though the distance between him and the fire was vast, he still felt a strong urge to run away.
Unfortunately for Kevin, he had forgotten the cardinal rule of combat.
Never look away from your opponent.
“Oof!” Kevin grunted as a tail smacked into his stomach and stole his breath. He was lifted into the air, but before he could get too far, another tail snaked around his leg. “Oh, crap. This is not good―WAAAA!”
The tail slammed Kevin onto the ground, hard. The air left his lungs. His back screamed in protest. The rubble still piercing his skin dug into his muscles, sending molten iron dripping through his nervous system.
“Uagh!” Kevin coughed up blood. The tail lifted him up again. This time it swung him into one of the pillars, which cracked as he hit it. With a whimper, he fell to the ground, which sent lances of agony up his side.
“It seems our roles have reversed again.” Jiāoào chuckled. “Just as it should be.”
He picked Kevin up by his ankle again. Dazed and unable to think straight, Kevin dangled limply in Jiāoào’s grasp.
“Did you really think you had what it takes to defeat me?”
Slam! Kevin’s vision went white as pain overrode his mind.
“Fool. I’m a kitsune.”
Smash! Kevin’s body broke against the fountain in the center of the courtyard.
“I’m superior to you in every way possible.”
The tail lifted him again and began to spin Kevin around.
“And now, I’ll prove it to you!”
Jiāoào let go of Kevin, who flew through the air like a Gundam being launched from the Archangel.
Blurs flew past Kevin’s vision. He could s
ee nothing but streaks. His stomach dropped into his feet. The urge to vomit nearly overwhelmed him. All he could do was squeeze his eyes shut.
Then his body hit the door.
And all he knew was pain.
He could feel hundreds of small needles stabbing into his skin. They hurt, a lot, but he soon found out that this pain was negligible compared to what came next.
Kevin gasped as his body impacted with the hard tile floor. The tiny wooden needles penetrating his skin were pushed further into his body. He could feel the sharp cobblestone shards in his back tear apart his flesh. The world tumbled around him, but he could see nothing. All he could do was feel the agony of his bones being jarred, of his skin being stabbed, ripped and torn apart. He knew nothing but pain. It hurt so much! He wanted everything to stop—
“Gooaaa!” Kevin’s eyes widened as his back slammed into something hard. His mind dimmed. Everything became blurry. Darkness encroached upon his vision. He felt tired. So tired. All he wanted to do was rest. Yes. That sounded good. He would just close his eyes and go to sleep—
“BELOVED!”
—The scream jolted him back into awareness. He knew that scream.
Lilian!
“Gu… ha… ngg…”
He twitched and struggled to move, but his muscles spasmed in agony and seized up. His body refused to do what he told it to. He had reached his limit, it seemed.
“Inari-blessed! Beloved!”
Kevin’s vision became filled with red, strands of silk that caught fire from the low light filtering in through the windows. He saw green as well. Two emeralds glistening with unshed tears. A face, one that he couldn’t forget even if he tried, an apparition of loveliness and beauty like something out of an evanescent fantasy, stared at him with worry.
He tried to call her name, but his mouth wasn’t working.
“Inari-blessed, you’re hurt!” Lilian’s cried out. “Hold on! I’ll heal you!”
His body was lifted. He couldn’t feel it, he couldn’t feel much of anything, but he could tell because Lilian’s face was closing in on him. Closer and closer. Kevin’s ocular perception was filled with worried gem-like irises.
Warmth. Kevin’s body became engulfed in an odd warmth. It was different from when you curl up underneath a blanket or sit beside the fire. This warmth came from inside of him―no, it came from the girl kissing him…
Wait. What?
Kevin blinked several times, his mind finally beginning to realize several things he’d missed in the past few seconds. The first was, of course, Lilian’s lips pressed against his own. He also thought he felt some tongue action going on, but that could have just been the delusions of a teenage mind. The second thing he noticed was that he felt better. A lot better. His back no longer protested with each movement. He could no longer feel the splinters digging into his skin. Even the cobblestone rocks seemed to have disappeared, and his previously torn muscles felt brand new.
The kiss ended and Kevin absently realized that, yes, there had been some tongue action going on there.
“Lilian?” Kevin’s mind still felt disoriented.
“How are you feeling?” Lilian asked, her tone still fraught with worry.
“Good.” And a little confused. “Really good. You healed me?”
Her smile was warm, tender and loving. Kevin turned into a pile of goo. “I did.”
“Don’t your healing powers come from your tails?”
“They do.”
“Right, so, why did you kiss me?”
Kevin and Lilian stared at each other for several silent seconds. Lilian’s cheeks turned red. Kevin thought he would die of moé.
“… Because I wanted to?”
Kevin stared at her some more. Then he reached up and his hand found purchase on the back of her head, where his fingers threaded through her hair.
“Good answer,” he said, right before he pulled her lips back down to his.
“W… what the hell is this?!”
The screech put an end to what might have been one of the most epic make out sessions since Louise Francoise Leblanc de la Valliere almost had sex with Saito Hiraga in a small boat floating in a lake in the middle of her father’s estate—which had also been interrupted.
“Please don’t make references that only a few people will get,” Lilian stated flatly.
Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.
“Whatever. Just don’t make a habit of it, okay?”
I won’t. I promise.
“You know,” Kevin started with a dry look etched on his face, “I’m really getting sick of listening to you talk to imaginary people like that.”
… I’m not imaginary…
Lilian giggled. “I’m sorry, Kevin.”
Kevin deadpanned. “Somehow, I don’t believe you.”
Their small moment finished, Kevin and Lilian eyed the source of the screech. Jiāoào stood near the busted entrance, his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide and round. His face was pale, like he’d just witnessed the woman he’d obsessed over for nearly two decades making out with the boy he’d been trying to kill a few seconds prior.
“Lilian…” Jiāoào trembled. “How could you… you’re choosing him over me? How… why… I don’t… I don’t understand!” Jiāoào shook his head, as if trying to deny what lay in front of his eyes. “What does he have that I don’t?!”
“A pair of testicles,” Kevin muttered, eyeing the boy’s long hair.
“Shush, Beloved. There’s no need to antagonize him.”
“Yes, dear.”
Lilian tossed him a smile before giving Jiāoào a flat look. “There are a lot of things he has that you don’t, Jiāoào. Unlike you, Kevin is kind and compassionate. He’s also strong, both in mind and body. He’s protective of the people close to him and actually cares about their happiness. You, on the other hand, are selfish and only care about your own happiness. But, most importantly…”
Lilian’s eyes strayed to Kevin for a moment. He tilted his head, obviously confused, but she just smiled and turned back to Jiāoào.
“Most importantly, he wants to stand by my side as an equal, rather than treat me as though I’m subservient to him. I don’t want someone who’s going to treat me like a slave. I don’t want to be treated like someone else’s property. I want to be free to make my own choices, whatever those choices are, and know that my mate stands beside me, supporting me just as I’ll support him. That’s not something a spoiled brat like you would understand.”
Jiāoào stood there. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
“I think you broke him,” Kevin said.
Lilian sniffed. “Good.”
“I-I see,” Jiāoào said at last. A creepy grin spread across his face. He also began chuckling in a manner that freaked Kevin out. “Kekeke… so, you’ve decided to spurn my love for you.”
Lilian rolled her eyes. “You never loved me, Jiāoào. I was just a prize for you to flaunt.”
Jiāoào wasn’t listening. He remained lost within his own little world, which continued crumbling down around him. “Kekekeke…” More creepy laughter. “Very well. I see how it is. You don’t want me. You’re denying me.”
Lilian’s expression seemed to say “duh.” So did Kevin’s.
“In that case… in that case I will kill you right here! If I can’t have you, no one can!”
Jiāoào rushed towards the prone forms of Lilian and Kevin, his eyes glinting with insanity, showing them that he had clearly lost his last marble.
“You and your precious mate will both―”
“Keep-your-filthy-tails-away-from-my-girlfriend Kick!”
“―GURK!”
Kevin, after slamming his heel into Jiāoào’s jaw with a flying jump kick, landed on his feet and stood protectively in front of his girlfriend.
“Don’t think for one second that I’m going to let you touch a single hair on my mate’s head!” The declaration, complete with the “one hand on hip and the other
pointing at foe” stance, brought a bright blush to Lilian’s face. “Come anywhere near her and I’ll show you why you shouldn’t underestimate us humans!”
“I think you already did that, Kevin.”
“Oh.” A pause. “In that case, I’ll do it again!”
“Right.”
Jiāoào stood up, one hand on his bloody jaw, trembling.
“You… you… YOU DAMN HUMAN!”
He rushed forward again—
“SQUEEEE!!”
—And was sent back down after Kevin punted him in the testicles.
“All right! Time to clean this guy’s clock.”
“Kevin, you can’t possibly mean to fight him on your own! That’s dangerous!”
Kevin turned to Lilian as Jiāoào struggled to his feet. “Of course I do. I can’t turn my back on this. If I’m going to prove that I’m strong enough to stand by your side, then I have to do this.”
“But Beloved!” Lilian pleaded. “He’s already injured you so much! I don’t… I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you hurt like that again.”
“Lilian…” Kevin knelt down beside her. He cupped her cheeks, using his thumbs to gently wipe the tears from her eyes before they could fall. “Please believe in me. If you can’t believe in your own mate, then who can you believe in?”
Words were not spoken for the longest time. Jiāoào stood up and began to run at them again, his wordless battle cry letting them know that time was running short.
“Okay,” Lilian whispered. “I’ll believe in you.” She gave Kevin her most brilliant smile. “I’ll always believe in you.”
“Heh.” Kevin grinned. “Just hearing you say that makes me feel like I can take on the world.”
Jiāoào finally closed the distance between him and the young couple, his clawed left hand prepared to tear them both limb from bloody limb.
“Now you’ll both DIE!”
“Swift Headbutt!”
Kevin headbutted Jiāoào in the face. Again.
“Gah! My nose! I think you actually broke my nose this time!”
Kevin cracked his knuckles. “I’m gonna break a lot more than that!”
What followed was not a fight, for that term implies that the battle between the opposing forces was fair. The fight between Kevin and Jiāoào was not fair at all. Jiāoào, whose mind had lost itself to madness, didn’t even bother using his tails, or his illusions. He just ran at Kevin with no plan and no purpose.
A Fox's Family (American Kitsune Book 4) Page 38