“How is this training?! They’re trying to kill meeeeeee!”
“We’re training your endurance, my boy! You must be able to outrun women if you ever want to excel in the art of peeping! Now run faster! Mwahahaha!”
“UUUUUUUUWAAAAA!”
Heather followed behind the group, laughing like a loon as she goaded Eric to run and spurred on the girls chasing after him. Pretty soon, Eric ran past them, screaming like a prepubescent little girl. The Horde, for that’s all they could have been, followed, a large cloud of dust flying off of the ground behind them.
Everyone sat there as Eric disappeared into the distance, listening as screams of terror became squeals of agony. It sounded like the girls had caught up to him.
“So…” Lindsay started again, “… are we still on for spring break?”
Jumping off her seat, Lilian stood on the table, left foot on the bench, right on the table itself. She raised a hand to her face, clenching it into a fist, eyes blazing with an inner fire.
“Of course we are!” she declared, wearing a large, excited smile. “There’s no way we’re going to alter our plans now! This is my first spring break, and by Inari, we are going to travel out of this state and have fun!”
A grinning Kevin followed his girlfriend-slash-mate’s example. He, too, jumped onto the table, imitating Lilian’s pose. An excited gleam had entered his eyes.
“That’s right! This is something we must do! It’s going to be the adventure of a lifetime! There’s no way we can pass up on this opportunity!”
Everyone stared at the two with the kind of “WTF?” expression that had become commonplace among them. Iris snickered. Seeing them act like this made her realize that maybe, just maybe, this strange human really was meant for her sister.
Lindsay pressed a palm against her face and sighed. “I swear, it’s like Kevin gets more insane every time I see him.” Despite her words, the smile she wore blunted any harshness they might have held.
Several months had passed since the incident that had rendered Lindsay’s mother in the hospital. She’d had plenty of time to think about what had happened. At first, Lindsay thought that avoiding her two friends was the best idea. This had caused a lot of drama and angst to go on between the group.
Fortunately for everyone involved, Lindsay had come to her senses, thanks to a surprisingly passionate speech from Christine. In the end, the problem was solved with a heart-to-heart conversation that involved talking, hugging, and lots of “hawas.”
“I’m beginning to see what you mean,” Christine muttered. “And to think, he used to be such a shy, innocent boy.” She shook her head sadly. “Lilian’s corrupted him.”
“That reminds me!” Lilian turned to Kevin, her eyes sparkling. “We need to think of which costumes we should bring with us!”
Kevin’s eyes widened. “You’re right!” The two raised their hands, pressed their palms together, and laced their fingers. “This is a very important decision. We need to think carefully about which costumes we should bring. We need at least… two? No, three. No, it’s two. I’m pretty sure it’s two.”
“It’s two, Kevin. We’re only going to Comic-Con for two of the seven days we’ll be there.”
“Right.” Kevin’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t believe we’re going to Comic-Con together!”
Lilian’s beaming smile was a reflection of her joy. “Me neither!”
“Oh, Lilian, I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, Kevin.”
“Lilian.”
“Kevin.”
“Lilian!”
“Kevin!”
“Stop hugging already!!”
***
“Gravity is a most unusual force. It’s different from magnetic forces, electrical forces, and it is connected in some way with the geometric properties of space and time. And that connection is known as the General Theory of Relativity…”
Kevin Swift often wondered why he’d decided to take AP Physics. Every single lecture was filled with overly complicated explanations that explained very little. His head hurt just from thinking about some of the garbage his teacher filled it with. Really, what had he been thinking?
…
That’s right. I wanted to get into a good college.
He felt like slamming his face against the desk. Curse his need to excel!
“Before we get into the General Theory of Relativity, we’re going to study an older form of gravity, Newtonian gravity, and build upon these lessons first, then expand on the theories behind…”
The man speaking up front, his teacher Leroy Dupout, was an old man. Kevin would even go so far as to say ancient. His skin, wrinkled and ashen, contained multiple sunspots that people tended to get when they aged. That same skin hung off his elbows, gangly, wrinkly folds that quivered as he moved his arms. It disturbed Kevin a great deal.
I wonder what would happen if this guy and Cthulhu faced off.
“So let’s begin with the first of Newton’s equations: F=MA, force is equal to mass times acceleration…”
He looked over at Lilian, his girlfriend and mate of four months. It was hard to believe they’d been together that long. Harder still to believe that even now, after several months had passed, Kevin felt a thrill go through him at the thought.
“Let us assume that we have a frame of reference…”
She noticed him looking at her and sent a smile his way. Kevin responded with one of his own, even as he felt his cheeks grow warm. There was just something about knowing that her smile was reserved for him that set his soul ablaze, and yet it also eased his heart.
It’s such an odd feeling. Is this what people call the springtime of youth? No, wait. I think I heard that in an anime.
“Someone gag me…”
Lilian and Kevin turned at the same time to glare at Iris, who sat behind them. As always, the girl looked like the absolute epitome of sin. The way she sat in her chair like it was a throne, her chest extended, swaying enticingly with every inhale and exhale of breath, all of it was done with the purpose of flaunting her assets. More than half the class was focused on her boobs instead of the teacher—even the girls.
There are going to be a lot of F’s in this class.
Class eventually ended and he, Lilian, and Iris left with the rest of the students.
“Don’t forget about your homework just because it’s spring break,” the teacher called to the leaving teens. “Your papers on the theory behind Newtonian physics will be due first thing next week.”
Nobody actually listened to him. Kevin felt sorry for the old man. Teachers really didn’t get much respect these days.
“Man!” Iris stretched her arms high above her head, which had the completely intentional side effect of making her chest pop out. “I am so glad to be out of that class. It’s so boring. Really…” She brought her hands back down and stared at her sister and him. “Why did you two choose such a boring class?”
“I’m beginning to wonder that myself,” Kevin admitted with a shrug. “I think I had a reason when I chose that class, but it seems to have slipped my mind.”
“Who cares about class?” Lilian declared. She walked on Kevin’s right, her left hand entwined with his right. “Class is over, school is over, and we can go home and prepare for spring break.” Her eyes sparkled at the thought. “Spring break. I’m told this is supposed to be some of the best times of a high school student’s life.” She squealed. “I’m so excited!”
“Maybe a little too excited.” Despite the harsh-sounding words, Kevin could clearly see that Iris was every bit as excited as her sister. She just didn’t want to show it.
The trio strolled to the front gates, where Kevin’s new mode of transportation awaited.
Due to his dislike of buses, he and Kotohime had gone out and bought a bike, one that was large enough to carry him, Lilian, and Iris. It was a three-seater bike with orange trim. Lilian had picked out the color.
“Kevin!”
; Before the group could leave, Lindsay ran up to them. Trailing behind her was Christine. While Lilian appeared happy to see her friends, Iris didn’t.
“Oh, great. The closet les—oof!” Iris sent her sister an incredulous look. “You just elbowed me!”
Lilian puffed her cheeks out. She would have looked angry if she weren’t so cute. “You were going to say something rude about my friends.”
“U-ugh.”
Kevin thought he saw a javelin randomly spear Iris through the chest, however, when he blinked, the javelin was gone.
I must have imagined it. He resisted the urge to rub his eyes. I think I’ve been watching too much anime lately…
“Hey, you two! What’s up?” Lilian greeted the pair cheerfully.
Kevin shook his head. No, no, no! How can I say that? You can never watch too much anime!
“We just wanted to tell you there’s been a slight change of plans,” Lindsay said. “Christine’s going to stay at my house tonight, so you won’t have to drive to her place tomorrow.”
“So, the lesbians are finally coming out of the closet are they?” Iris’s teasing grin was in full form.
Kevin palmed his face as Mount Christine erupted and Kevin palmed his face.
Tsundere Protocols: Activated.
“Le-les-l-le—you! Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m not—I-I mean, it’s not—WE’RE NOT LIKE THAT!” Christine’s face looked like an atomic bomb had gone off on it. “Don’t get any strange ideas. I’m only staying at Lindsay’s house because we thought this would be easier. I was trying to be considerate, Tit Monster!”
A small black cloud hovered over Lindsay’s head. The lithe blonde knelt down, one arm curled around her legs, which were drawn up to her chest. She used her other hand to draw circles on the pavement.
“She didn’t have to say it like that,” Lindsay muttered lowly. “She makes it sound like we’re not even friends.”
“There, there.” Lilian rubbed her friend’s back in a consoling manner. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it. You and Christine hang out together a lot. You’re obviously important to her.”
Lindsay looked at her red-haired friend with hopeful eyes. “You think so?”
“Of course. Christine’s just being a tsundere.”
“I’m not a tsundere!”
Lilian gave the snow maiden a pitying look, which caused Christine’s tsundere protocols to reach power levels that exceeded 9,000.
“I’m not! Y-y-y-you don’t, ah, you don’t know what you’re talking about!”
By this point, even Kevin and Iris were looking at Christine with matching deadpanned expressions.
“You’re really not helping your case with that tsundere act, you know,” Kevin said.
“Denial is a painful thing to watch sometimes,” Iris added.
“S-S-S-S-SHUT UP! I’LL KILL YOU ALL DEAD!”
Christine’s face would not be losing its neon complexion anytime soon.
***
Kevin, Lilian, and Iris arrived home fifteen minutes later. After locking up their bike, they entered the apartment, taking off their shoes and walking further inside. There, they were greeted by their maid—one of them.
Kirihime was a three-tailed kitsune. Her shoulder-length black hair possessed a lustrous shine, and two antenna-like strands poked out from the top of her head. Large round eyes that were the same color as her hair smiled at them with a comely warmth. Unlike her sister, who preferred kimonos, Kirihime wore a black and white French Maid outfit.
“Lady Iris, Lady Lilian, Lord Kevin,” Kirihime greeted the group with a gentle smile and a curtsy. “How was school? Enjoyable, I hope.”
“Meh, it was nothing special.”
“I thought it was fun.”
Iris rolled her eyes at her sister. “You think everything is fun.”
While Lilian pouted at her sister’s teasing, Kevin conversed with Kirihime. “Did you, Camellia, and Kotohime already pack everything for the trip?”
“Mostly. Yours and Lady Lilian’s clothing have not been packed yet. I thought about doing that myself, but then I thought that you might want to choose your own clothes.” Her eyes slowly widened in a clear sign of worry. “D-did you want me to pack your clothes? I-I’m so sorry! If you want me to, I’ll go and do that right now—”
“No, no,” Kevin assured Kirihime with a gentle smile to put the maid at ease. “Lilian and I will pack our own clothes, so there’s no need for you to do that. We have to choose which cosplay to bring anyway.”
“O-okay.” Kirihime slumped in relief.
“You worry way too much, Kirihime,” Lilian said. “You should learn to be a little calmer, like Kotohime.”
“Oh, no. I could never—my venerable sister is such an amazing woman. I could never be like her.”
“Mou, I think you’re selling yourself short.”
“That’s very kind of you to say.”
Stepping further into the room, Kevin found what he’d expected to find upon arriving home: Kotohime flittering about the kitchen, preparing dinner. Her four tails were out, extending and retracting, moving in what almost appeared to be at random, but was actually a choreographed dance done with a purpose. One tail reached up and opened a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of spices. Another opened the fridge and pulled out a large slab of meat in a plastic bag. The woman was a bundle of furry activity.
Kevin felt insanely jealous.
I could cook twice as fast if I had that many appendages at my disposal.
Long black hair danced in an unseen breeze as she moved about the kitchen. Her dark eyes were slightly narrowed, adding a sensual allure that didn’t fool Kevin one bit. A purple kimono tied together with an obi several shades lighter covered her voluptuous body. The voluminous sleeves had been tied with a tasuki—a long white sash.
“Dinner will be ready in an hour or two,” Kotohime told them, even as one tail grabbed a knife. “I know it is not my place to say it, but why don’t you three make sure that everything you want for our trip is packed? You will not have much time tomorrow, especially you, Kevin-sama.”
“Yeah.” Kevin scratched the base of his neck. “I know.”
“M-My Lady! Please be—”
“Hawa!”
As one, everybody turned and winced as Camellia crashed to the floor. Her raven hair was in disarray, strands sticking out in several places. Bright green eyes looked at everything with a joy that reminded Kevin of a child, presenting a powerful dichotomy with her adult body, which was beautiful enough to give Kotohime a run for her money.
To think this is Lilian and Iris’s mother.
“I’m not gonna say a thing,” Iris declared.
“You just did.”
“Whatever, Lily-pad.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Aw! You’re so adorable when you get angry!”
“Iris—wa-wait—kya!”
Iris leapt on top of her sister, dragging the redhead to the floor. There, she proceeded to rub her face against Lilian’s left cheek. She also reached underneath Lilian, who was lying on her stomach, and cupped her sister’s breasts.
“Hey! Stop! —eek!”
Kevin watched as Iris continued to grope his mate. He wondered if he should stop them.
Lilian noticed him staring and reached out with a hand, no doubt hoping he would take it.
“B-Beloved! Help!”
“But you’re doing so well,” Kevin said, feeling a strange sense of vindication, almost as if he’d been in the exact same position as Lilian before. Oh, wait. He had.
“But she’s trying to rape me!”
“You’re exaggerating.”
While Iris rubbed her nose into her sister’s lovely red hair, Lilian again tried calling out for her beloved. However, Kevin found the whole situation amusing and decided to let things play out. Meanwhile, Kirihime helped Camellia to her feet.
“A-are you alright, My Lady?”
&
nbsp; “Hawa, don’t worry.” Camellia took her fall, like all of her previous falls, with a childish grin. “Camellia’s breasts softened her fall.”
“Ha…” A trickle of sweat trailed down the right side of Kirihime’s face. “T-that’s good… I think…”
“Hawa,” Camellia said, seemingly in agreement.
***
“I was thinking; we should definitely bring our matching bushy-brow costumes.”
“Mm.”
“Oh! And we should definitely bring our Nalu and Jerza costumes.”
“Mm.”
“But I don’t know what other costumes we should bring. What do you think?”
“Mm.”
“…You’re completely ignoring me, aren’t you?”
“I’m still mad at you.”
Lilian stood over by the window, arms crossed under her chest, staring at the world beyond their bedroom. Kevin wished she would face him, and not just because he knew that her crossed arms were putting her breasts on enticing display. While he didn’t obsess over it like Iris did, he still thought Lilian had the most adorable pout ever.
Chuckling, Kevin walked up behind Lilian. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back into his chest. Leaning forward, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
“There. You’re not mad at me anymore, right?”
“Mou… you’re no fair, Beloved.”
Despite her words, Lilian leaned into him. Her hands came up, and she placed them over his hands, which rested on her flat stomach. Kevin was tempted to take things a little further than simple hugging, but he resisted the urge to rub her entrancingly taut belly.
“I sense deep thoughts going on in here.” Kevin kissed Lilian on the temple. He was taller than her, so he had to lean down to do so.
Lilian hummed softly, a way of masking her anxiety. “Kitsune are among the largest yōkai population in the world. I don’t know exactly how many of us there are—it’s not like we actually keep track of our numbers—but there are more kitsune than almost any other yōkai race on the planet.”
“I know. Kotohime’s been teaching me about kitsune.”
“Then you probably know about what goes on behind the scenes? How our politics work?”
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