It’s not fair.
“You… are you… okay?” Her voice was tremulous, hesitant, and feeble, like fragile autumn leaves caught in a powerful wind.
“Yeah, I’m fine. We had a pretty close call when that wave nearly crushed us, but we managed to get out alive,” Kevin said as he continued rubbing Lindsay’s head. Christine frowned. She wanted him to rub her head, too.
W-wait a minute! What am I thinking? I-I don’t want him to rub my head at all!
It’s nyot good to deny yourself what you want.
Shut up, cat!
“Really?” Christine knew that she was being silly, but even though Kevin was standing in front of her, she wanted to be reassured again. “Really, really? You’re really alright?”
“Yeah, I’m really alright.” Kevin’s words had her sighing in relief. He gave her a soft look, one filled with gratitude and warmth. “You were worried about me? Thank you.”
Critical hit.
“W-w-w-w-w-worried?! W-w-w-who—why would I—what makes you—no—I just—uh—I-I-I—what makes you possibly think I could be worried about an idiot like you!?” Her cheeks turned an icy shade of blue. “I-I-I wasn’t worried at all! I just—Lindsay! It was because Lindsay was worried! I was only asking because she was worried about you! Don’t look too deeply into this.” She grabbed at the left sleeve of her dress with her right hand and tilted her head, refusing to look at him. “Idiot,” she finished in a whisper.
She looked back up at him from beneath her bangs and gasped when he smiled. It was so bright! And wait. Were those tears in his eyes?
“Thank you, really.” Kevin wiped at his eyes. “It makes me happy to know that you were worried about me.”
He might as well have proposed to her on the spot.
“Chu!”
Christine trembled. Those eyes. How could anyone have such bright, warm eyes? They were like a beacon of warm emotions, filling her with fluffiness and flowers and all sorts of nice, pleasant feelings.
“I-i-i-i-idiot!” She tried to roar, but she was far too embarrassed. “D-don’t look at me with such wonderful—disgusting! Don’t look at me with such disgusting eyes!”
“Right, right. My bad.” Chuckling, the young man held back a grin. “Tsundere indeed,” he whispered. Lindsay giggled against his chest.
“What was that?!”
***
While Christine’s tsundere protocols activated as Kevin unknowingly raised several of her flags, Iris sniffled as Lilian’s tender hands gently ran through her hair. They were still lying on the floor. Iris refused to move, and Lilian didn’t have the heart to make her move.
Iris looked up, resting her chin on her sister’s chest. Dark eyes rimmed with red and bloodshot with tears stared into vibrant green.
“I was afraid that I had lost you.” Ruby red lips trembled, as if she would start crying again at the slightest provocation. Lilian felt like she’d been slapped in the face. “You don’t know how happy I am that you’re alive.”
Lilian’s countenance softened. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Iris shook her head. “It’s not your fault. I know that there was nothing you could have done. Don’t worry about it. Just…” she sighed, turning her head and resting her face against Lilian’s chest. “Just let me stay like this for a while longer, kay?”
Lilian nodded as she rested her hands on Iris’s back. “Okay.”
As she stared at her sister, Lilian looked down at the hand gripping her shirt.
She gasped.
“I-Iris…”
“Hm?” Iris looked up.
“Your hand…”
Blinking several times, Iris looked down at her hand before she flinched. Her nails were black, and they had extended into a set of ugly-looking claws, but that wasn’t all. The darkness was expanding, traveling across her fingers like inky tendrils.
Iris sat up and jerked her hand back as if she’d been scalded, but Lilian didn’t let her get far. She grabbed the hand and pulled it to her, examining Iris’s fingernails with horrified eyes.
“Lilian, this is—”
“When did this start happening?” Lilian asked softly.
Iris looked down. “S-since I found out that you had a mate.”
That was nearly seven months ago. Lilian closed her eyes.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I… I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”
“Iris, you’re my sister. You could never be a burden.”
“But you—”
“Just because I can’t be with you in… that way doesn’t mean that I don’t love you.”
Lilian brought her tails up to curl around Iris’s hand. Her sister gasped as she channeled celestial youki through her tails and into Iris’s hand. She waited for several seconds, then removed her tails to reveal that the hand was back to normal. However, just to be on the safe side, Lilian inspected the hand further, making sure that the blackness was completely gone.
“There,” she said, nodding to herself. She gave Iris her hand back.
“Thank you,” Iris whispered.
Shaking her head, Lilian smiled at her twin. “You don’t have to thank me for that. Also, if something like this happens again, I want you to come to me.”
“Okay.” Iris nodded once, then closed the distance between them once again. “Thank you, Lily-pad.”
Lilian decided to ignore her sister’s use of the accursed petname. She wrapped Iris in another hug.
Glancing around the room, Lilian saw that Kevin was still chatting with Christine and Lindsay. Lindsay was being a bit clingy, but considering what had happened, that didn’t surprise her. Christine was also being her tsundere self, but again, she wasn’t surprised.
She looked back at Iris, whose face was snuggled into her bosoms. It had been a long time since they’d been in this position. Of course, the last time they were in this position, both of them had been bereft of clothing, but that was beside the point. Lilian felt guilty for having neglected her sister for so long. She wished there was something that she could do for Iris, but no matter how much she wanted things to return to the way they had been, she knew that it wasn’t possible.
I have a mate now.
Yes. She had a mate—a human mate. While Lilian was still learning about human culture, she knew enough to understand that polygamy and incest were frowned upon, never mind both at the same time. So, even though she felt bad for Iris, there was nothing she could do. She wondered if the shame she felt would ever fully fade.
Probably not, she concluded sadly.
***
They heard the rumbling of footsteps long before the door burst open.
“My Lord! You’re alive!”
Like a hurricane of perversity, Eric swept into the room. He immediately sought out Kevin, who was still being hugged by a worried Lindsay. Brown eyes blinked once. Then blood dribbled down the boy’s nose as he looked down at Lindsay’s bare legs, which were toned and muscular from playing soccer.
“Eyes up, pervert!”
“Gao!”
Sweat trickled down Kevin’s head as Christine drop-kicked Eric like a pro kick-boxer. The power behind her attack must have been something else, because the poor kid was sent face-first to the floor.
Several other figures also entered: Alex, Andrew, and Justin. They stopped upon seeing him, if only to stare in shock before exploding into action.
“Kevin!”
“You’re alright!”
“Are you okay?”
“You’re not a ghost, are you?”
“… Hurt…?”
The questions came pouring in, a threnody of voices that barraged his ears with incessant amounts of noise. Kevin felt a headache brewing from just listening to them.
“I can’t answer your questions if you don’t even give me a chance to speak.”
The group calmed down, and Kevin was able to explain that, yes, he was perfectly alright, and that, no, he wasn’t a g
host. It took a while for the reassurances to sink in, especially because he couldn’t tell them that the only reason he was alive was because his supernatural girlfriend used a celestial technique to protect them from the giant wave of doom.
“Man, you don’t know how worried we were when we saw you get crushed by that wave,” Andrew said. “We thought you were a goner.” He shook his head. “Course, we don’t remember much of what happened. The last thing I saw was that wave crushing you. Everything after that is completely blank.”
From those words, Kevin inferred that either Kotohime or Kirihime had cast an illusion over his friends to keep them from seeing anything incriminating. While Eric and Lindsay were aware of the yōkai world due to Lilian’s recklessness back when he’d been kidnapped, the others weren’t.
I’d like to keep it that way, if I can.
The group eventually moved over to the beds. Kevin and Lilian sat down on her bed. Iris also chose that bed, sticking to her sister like they were glued together. The others arranged themselves wherever they wished. The twins sat on the floor, Justin leaned against a wall, and Christine and Lindsay sat on the bed right next to Lilian’s—Iris’s bed.
On a side note, Lindsay had put on a pair of pajama bottoms.
They spoke for some time. Kevin learned about what they’d done after the tidal wave struck the beach. It wasn’t much. They’d been pretty listless after arriving back at the resort.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself after putting them through that.
During the time they conversed, Eric woke up. Now that the threat of nosebleed by panty-clad female was no longer an issue, Eric could properly kneel before his liege.
“My Lord.”
“Stop calling me that!”
“I am glad to see that you’re unharmed. You had me very worried.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry for worrying you.”
The discussion continued, only with Eric’s antics now involved. It was during this time that another group of people made their way into the room.
“Hawa! Lilian! Kevin-kyun!”
Neither Kevin nor Lilian could have prepared for what happened next. Camellia, her eyes streaming with tears and snot coming out of her nose, leapt at them, literally crashing into them like a battering ram. Their backs hitting the bed, the three youngsters—Kevin, Iris, and Lilian—could do nothing as the five-tailed kitsune bawled against them.
“HAWAWAWA!!”
Yes, that was bawling.
“Uh…”
Kevin shared a look with Lilian.
“Just let this run its course, Beloved,” Lilian said, petting her mom’s head, which they all knew the woman liked. “There’s no stopping Mom when she gets like this.”
“HAWAWAWA!”
“You mean this has happened before?”
“Only a couple of times.”
“Gods help us.”
Kevin looked down at the woman lying across him, Lilian, and Iris. She clung to them like a lifeline. His already wet shirt was becoming a sopping mess that clung to his frame.
She’s totally getting snot all over me…
Trying to take his mind off how his shirt was becoming covered in Camellia’s nasal excrement, Kevin looked up as a teary-eyed Kirihime stepped in front of them. She looked at them, hands clasped in front of her in a very maid-like sort of way.
“Lady Lilian, Lord Kevin, I…” The woman raised a hand and wiped away a tear. She then brought it back down and clasped her hands together. Her smile, so wide, compassionate, and lovely, trembled with the breadth and depth of her relief. “I am so glad to see that you two are alive and well.”
“Thank you, Kirihime.”
“Um, yeah, thanks.”
“My Lord’s power over women continues to astound me.” Eric wiped tears from his eyes. These were not tears of relief, but of reverence. How could he not cry in the face of such amazing lady-killer prowess? “To think he’s cuddling with a hot family of three like it was nothing! I’m so overcome with emotion!” Even though his eyes were flooding, a fire blazed within them. “My Lord, I shall strive to be like you in all things so that I, too, might one day gain my very own harem!”
“Dang it, Eric! Enough with the ‘My Lord’ crap already!” Kevin paused, but only long enough to take a deep breath. “And for the last time, I don’t have a harem!”
***
She stared out of her bedroom window.
While the moon showered the earth with beams of light, she could not see the stars. Then again, what had she expected in a place like this? Los Angeles was a cesspool, a city of filth and decay. The stench of humanity was stronger here than anywhere else she’d ever been.
Ah, but that was what made this city so perfect for her plans. There were so many humans in this place, millions of them, and all of them were ripe for the plucking.
I’ll have to thank Lord Shinkuro for suggesting that I come to this place.
A knock on the door caused her to turn away from the starless night. She looked around her room, noting with disgust how barren it was, then turned her attention to the door.
“What is it?”
“Lady Luna, Kaine and Christian are here to see you. They said it’s urgent that they speak with you,” a male voice said from beyond the door.
“Do they now?” A frown marred her face. She’d sent those two, along with several others, to keep an eye on those troublesome kappa. “Very well, tell them that I shall speak with them in a moment.”
“Of course, My Lady.”
As she heard the sound of receding footsteps, Luna stood up, went over to her dresser, and began getting dressed. As she was putting on her panties, the lump lying on her bed stirred. A pair of furry ears poked out from beneath the sheets, which were soon followed by a sleepy face.
“Luna…” Droopy eyes the color of wine peered at her. “Who was that?”
“It was just Martaeux.” Luna snapped on a black lace bra. “Apparently, Kaine and Christian have left their post because they wished to speak with me.” Her eyes darkened. “They had better have a good reason for abandoning their station.”
“Will you be coming back to bed afterward?”
Luna smiled and walked over to the bed. She sat down and let her hand travel behind her lover’s head, wherein she pulled them into a kiss. The person underneath the mattress kissed back eagerly but submissively. Luna plundered her lover’s mouth with her tongue. She could still taste herself on the three-tailed kitsune’s lips.
“Go back to sleep,” Luna urged her lover. “I’ll be back soon enough.”
Her lover nodded and, yawning widely, snuggled back into the covers and fell asleep. Luna finished getting dressed and left.
While her bedroom might have been insultingly spartan, she refused to let her appearance be the same. Her off-the-shoulder blue evening gown glimmered every time she moved, sparkling like a sea of stars. A slit on the left stopped at her thigh, not only allowing freedom of movement, but also revealing a wonderfully long, dusk-colored leg. The back of her dress plunged into a deep “v” that exposed her back, and black heels clicked against the tiled floor.
She found Christian and Kaine in her office, a modestly sized room with a couple of bookshelves and a desk. Once again, the lack of decorations had her scowling. It had been her own decision not to bring her favorite decor, but she still hated how barren this place was.
The two men bowed to her as she sat down. Looking them over, she could see that both were injured. Kaine’s entire torso was wrapped in bandages that were stained red, and Christian’s left shoulder bled from a large wound that was reminiscent of claws.
“I’ll hear your report now,” Luna stated, leaning back in her chair. At least her seat was comfortable, if not to her liking. “And it had better be good.”
***
In the quiet and warm comfort of a relatively large room, four people slept.
These four were an odd group—really odd. Three of them were family: a
mother and her two daughters. One of them was not family, but considering his relationship with one of the daughters, he might as well have been.
They were snuggled together, the teenage male in the middle, the two daughters on one side, and the mother just sort of sprawled out on top of them. It made for a highly unusual sight, as Kotohime and her sister could attest to.
“He looks uncomfortable,” Kirihime said, worried. She was, of course, referring to Kevin, who lay in the middle of a bundle of prettiness. “Do you think we should get him out from there? Maybe we should put Lady Camellia and Lady Iris in a different bed.”
Sitting in seiza beside the bed, Kotohime took a glance at the pile of sleeping bodies, then giggled. “Ufufufu, I believe they are fine where they are for now.”
Kirihime did not seem convinced that letting the poor boy sweat and suffocate underneath a pile of females was a good idea, but she deferred to her sister.
“If you’re sure.”
“I am,” Kotohime declared before changing the subject. “On a more important note, I need to fill you in on the most recent string of events.”
Kirihime stood with her hands clasped in front of her, listening as her sister described the events that transpired after everyone arrived at the resort. By the end of the long and thorough explanation, her knuckles had turned white.
“I see. There was a battle going on several miles off the coast,” Kirihime murmured. “Do those yōkai not realize what they’ve done? An attack of that magnitude going out of control…” Her hair antenna bounced as she shook her head. “They could have revealed our existence to the humans.”
“Indeed they could have,” Kotohime agreed. “They are very fortunate that their battle was so far away, and that the yōkai who have infiltrated this country’s media networks managed to play the whole thing off as a natural disaster brought about by global warming.”
Ever since the creation of photographs, the possibility of humans discovering the existence of yōkai had been a pressing concern. To combat this, various yōkai had banded together and infiltrated the many media networks and news stations around the globe. It was their job to cover up any incidents involving yōkai.
“Global warming?” Kirihime made an expression of adorable inquisitiveness. “The humans actually bought that?”
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