She wasn't, in case you were curious. Doing it on purpose, that is. Lilian, despite all her sexiness, was just a bit too pure and innocent to do such an act consciously. Surprising, right?
"I'm not embarrassed." Kevin looked to the side, cursing his own body for giving him away. There was no way Lilian would believe that, and not just because he was a terrible liar. If the way his face felt like it had been set on fire were any indication, she could probably see the megaton blush that felt like it had traveled from the crown of his head all the way down to his chest.
"Ufufufu. You're so cute."
"Okay. Seriously. What is up with that laugh?"
“Ufufuf, don't worry. That's just a part of my character concept.”
“What? Character concept? ― eep!”
Kevin squeaked when he turned his head around to look at the girl and found himself staring into gorgeous green eyes that were less than four or five inches from his own. Lilian had somehow closed the distance between them in the short amount of time he had looked away. She was leaning towards him, her face and body close enough that not even the overpowering scent of macaroni and cheese almost right underneath his nose could block out the pleasant, sweetened smell of honey and vanilla that was Lilian's natural scent.
Lilian held the spoon full of Macaroni and Cheese up to his mouth. "Come on, Beloved. Say 'ah.'"
Kevin's mouth clamped shut, refusing to open it even when Lilian prodded his lips with the spoon. The lovely, red-haired Kitsune looked mildly exasperated by her Beloved's stubbornness. She removed the spoon from its position near his mouth and gave him The Look.
"Now don't be like that, Beloved. Open that mouth and let me feed you." More head shaking was her answer. It seemed that even The Look was not enough to compel her mate to do what she asked of him this time. Lilian sighed. "You are being very stubborn. Do you want to go hungry?" When her mate obstinately refused to open his mouth and let her feed him, she decided that it was time to bring out the big guns.
She pouted, and in doing so managed to make Kevin cave like a Goomba after Mario jumped on its head. This wasn't just any pout. Oh no. It was The Pout to End All Pouts. One of the most powerful weapons in a woman's arsenal when it comes to convincing people to do their bidding.
Her eyes grew wide, wider even than the normally innocent “Disney Princess” (or Shōnen fanservice girl) look that seemed to be her natural state. Kevin found himself falling into the depths of those eyes, like two pools of an endless emerald ocean.
If that were all he had to deal with, then he might have been able to resist...maybe. But on top of the large, wide eyes, Lilian's lower lip had begun trembling as it stuck out in a small pout that enhanced the lovely features of her angelic face.
With such a horribly adorable expression on her face, Kevin didn't stand a chance.
The way she was leaning over him, causing those two large, round things on her chest to sway enticingly didn't help. Not at all.
"Won't you please open up and say 'ah', Beloved? For me."
"Guh!"
That was the sound of the last bit of Kevin's resistance shattering like a vial of glass after being dropped from a fifty story window. There was simply no way someone like him was capable of resisting a Pout like that. Especially not when that kind of pleading tone was used in conjunction with it.
It was like something out of this one manga he read. Only that one had been about a vampire who used a similar tone and expression on the Main Protagonist, another boy of the Hapless Hero variety, to put him off-guard so she could suck his blood.
At least this girl didn't want to suck his blood. She just wanted to suck him off. Which honestly wasn't much better in his opinion, but at least it wouldn't kill him if she ended up sucking too much.
Unless he died from embarrassment, of course. Knowing him, such a thing was not outside of the realm of possibility.
Slowly, ever so slowly, as if his mind was trying to fight his body's instinctual reaction, Kevin opened his mouth. The smile that came to Lilian's face lit up the room in a way that the light fixture on the fan could never hope to accomplish. It was like a slap to the face. As much as a part of him felt ashamed for falling prey to this girl's admittedly powerful abilities of persuasion, another part felt like a jerk for being so stubborn. Lilian just wanted to help him. Was he really so dead set against allowing her into his life that he would willfully keep her from helping him when she just wanted to be useful?
Yes. Yes he would. Regardless of how kind, pretty and devoted she was to him, it didn't really change the fact that she had barged into his life and destroyed a good number of his perceptions about the world. He would resist her until the bitter end.
Or at least until she brought out her more fearsome techniques. That pout was no joke. Seriously.
In any case, there wasn't much he could do to resist her now, not after she pulled out what he hoped was the most powerful ability in her arsenal.
So he opened his mouth and allowed her to place the spoon full of cheesy goodness inside. He then closed, allowing her to pull the spoon away, chewed, and swallowed. It was a process that repeated several times until the plate of cheesy noodles was nearly gone.
Eventually, he even got used to her feeding him. It even felt kind of nice, having someone take care of him like this.
Not that he would ever let Lilian know these treacherous thoughts. There was no telling what kind of chaos that would unleash.
"Lilian?" He asked after he finished swallowing a bite of food. Lilian, who was mid-process of blowing on the utensil bearing another spoonful of packaged All-American goodness looked at him, her eyes blinking.
"Hm?"
"What happened after I lost consciousness?" When Lilian just looked at him, he quickly clarified. "I mean, I don't remember much of what happened after we ran into that alley. I was just wondering about how we got out of there alive... and what happened to Chris."
Lilian sighed as she put the spoon down and set the tray aside. She had finished feeding him for the most part anyway. And with the tray out of the way, she could move in to snuggle with her mate, which she did not hesitated to do, much to his consternation.
"After you passed out I was so worried... and angry," Lilian admitted after she had gotten comfortable, her body tucked into his side and her head resting on his shoulder. One hand absently came up to his chest and her index finger began tracing patterns against his pectorals. Kevin shivered at her touch. "That damn dog nearly killed you. If I hadn't had my healing techniques, you could have very well died."
As she said this, her finger traced a line where his wounds had been. They were gone now, not even a scar remained, but she remembered how bad the damage had been. How horrendous the four large slash marks had looked. The blood that had gushed from those wounds in such copious amounts that the only reason she hadn't hyperventilated at the sight was because her mate's life had been in danger. That was not something she wanted to see again, to experience again. Never again.
Kevin felt his blood run cold at the words passing Lilian's lips, his face paling. The thought of death was not fun for anyone, much less someone as young as him. He still had so much he wanted to accomplish before kicking the bucket.
Like getting together with Lindsay for starters. He couldn't die, not until he at least told her how he felt.
Makes you feel kind of bad for Lilian, doesn't it?
"So what happened to Chris?" Deciding that the best course of action was to steer this conversation away from his possible death to something a little less unnerving, Kevin asked about the one who had nearly done him in. Which probably wasn't a good topic to discuss with Lilian either, but he was curious.
Lilian sniffed derisively. "He won't be bothering us anymore." It took Kevin a few seconds to work around her statement and realize what she meant.
His eyes widened. "You didn't... I mean, is he...?"
"I didn't kill him, if that's what you're asking," Lilian assured him. Kevin breathe
d a sigh of relief. He didn't want someone's death on either of their hands. "But he won't be in any shape to contest me again. Even the famed durability of an Inu Yōkai won't be enough for him to recover from the wounds I gave him. A good deal of the damage I did to him was internal and will require someone with healing abilities to fix." She gave him a fanged smirk. "And Inu don't have any healing techniques. He won't die, and he'll be able to live the life of a normal human, but his days of torturing others with his immense strength are over."
"I see." Kevin was glad to know he wouldn't have to worry about Chris anymore, especially since they went to the same school. The last thing he needed was to have someone constantly trying to kill him because of his association with Lilian.
He frowned a second later, however, when he realized something else. "Wait, if you could have beaten him, why didn't you just do that sooner? You know, like when he first transformed? Or even before he transformed?"
"Ah, well..." A small tinge of pink appeared on Lilian's cheeks as she smiled sheepishly. "Us Kitsune don't like Inu very much," she admitted reluctantly. "In fact, most Kitsune are downright petrified of them. I'm not!" she hurriedly added, though the way her body seemed to shake as she spoke did nothing to convince Kevin about the sincerity of her words. "But a lot of us are."
"Why is that?" asked Kevin. Now that he had found his curiosity growing, Lilian literally conforming herself into his side didn't bother him... much.
"It all started a long time ago, like, one thousand years or something, when a Kitsune fell in love with a human." Kevin raised an eyebrow. Lilian saw this and smiled. "It's not unusual for a Kitsune to fall in love with a human, is it?" When he flushed and looked away, she giggled before continuing her story. "Anyways, this normally wouldn't have been a problem. Plenty of Kitsune have mated with humans before, but there was a problem when she fell in love with this human. You see, this particular human already had a companion. An Inu Yōkai."
"So, what?" Kevin furrowed his brow. "Did he cheat on this Inu after he met the Kitsune or something?"
"No. Good heavens no." Lilian giggled as if he had said something funny. Kevin pouted at being laughed at. It wasn't that funny, was it?
The girl finished laughing at his expense, then continued speaking. "Back then Inu rarely ever used their human forms. They usually preferred to stay in their hybrid form, which is what you saw that ugly mutt transform into, or their dog form, which just makes them look like a regular dog. This particular Inu had been in dog form and the human in question had thought it was just a normal dog. It wasn't, and when the human started spending more time with the Kitsune, the Inu became jealous. In a fit of rage, it killed the Kitsune in a brutal and violent manner, then killed the human for his betrayal. Ever since then we Kitsune have had issues with Inu Yōkai."
"Oh, well, I guess that make sense." He wasn't really sure what to think of that story. In some ways, he could sorta, kinda see where the Inu was coming from. Kevin was sure he wouldn't like being ignored in favor of someone else by the person he loved.
At the same time, killing both the Kitsune and the human just because they fell in love was really extreme. Besides, it wasn't their fault they fell in love. These things just happened some times.
Of course, if that Kitsune had been anything like Lilian, he could see why problems would have arisen. But surely not all Kitsune were as... um... devoted (read, obsessive) as she was when it came to their mates, right?
"Besides, it's like I told you before, we Kitsune aren't fighters." Kevin's eyes focused on Lilian. "We prefer avoiding fighting whenever possibly, unless, you know, it furthers The Plot in some way."
"The Plot?"
"Inu, on the other hand, are born fighters," Lilian continued without answering Kevin's question. If he didn't know any better, he would say she was ignoring him. "You could say they're natural warriors. Born and bred for combat. They revel in violence and bloodshed. It's in their nature to fight."
"I can kind of see that," Kevin admitted. "Chris was on the school wrestling team. While I've never seen any of the wrestling matches―" because, you know, watching sweaty men grappling each other wasn't really his thing, "― I've heard that some of them have gotten really violent. I remember this one rumor about how Chris was nearly expelled from the team because he had almost broken another boy's spine during a match once."
"I'm not surprised," Lilian wrinkled her nose in barely concealed derision. "Inu have always been a bunch of mindless, violent brutes."
Kevin shrugged. He was sure her perceptions of Inu were colored by her own nature and dislike of them, but seeing as he had never met any Inu other than Chris ― at least he didn't think so ― and that boy had done nothing to make him think the red head was wrong, he couldn't really say anything against her.
Either way it was time to change the subject.
"So what was the power you used against him?" asked Kevin, "You know, that strange ball of light?"
"That was my specialized ability."
Kevin tilted his head.
"Specialized ability? Is that something unique to you?"
"No, all Kitsune have specialized abilities." Lilian sat up a little straighter so that she could look at him. The action ended up inadvertently pushing her bosom into his arm. Kevin squeaked, causing her to look at him for a moment before shrugging off the strange noise and continuing her small lecture. "All Kitsune are born with a special affinity to a specific element. There are thirteen specialized affinities that come in three tiers, or levels; Lower, Middle and Upper."
"The first, or the Lower tier consists of what we call normal elements. They are Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Lightning. The Middle tier contains Ghost, Forest, Magma, Ocean and Ether. And the last tier, the Upper, only contains two specialist affinities; Celestial and Void."
"I'm guessing your power is... Celestial?" he asked tentatively. Lilian smiled, telling him he was right.
"Yes, I am a Celestial Kitsune. My powers are those that are said to be the closest to the Divine. Among Kitsune affinities, ours are supposedly one of the strongest because the only other beings who are capable of wielding Divine powers are the Gods and their servants. No other race of Yōkai can use Celestial powers. Every other affinity, including the Void can be used by the other Yōkai races to some extent."
"Of course, that doesn't mean the other affinities are weak," Lilian continued. "Fire for example. It's in the lower tier of Kitsune abilities, but I don't think anyone can deny the destructive power of fire."
Kevin rubbed his jaw as he tried to absorb all this information. His mind absently went back to how Lilian shot those strange balls of light at Chris. "So those balls were your specialized powers?"
"Uh huh. That particular technique is called Kōkyū, or Sphere of Light, if you want to use English," seeing Kevin's blank look after she told him what her technique was called, she added."Not very original, I know, but it gets the job done.”
“I guess.”
“Normally, a Kitsune won't start learning how to use any specialist techniques until they've gained their third tail." A proud look crossed Lilian's face. "But I happen to have such a high affinity with my Celestial powers that I was able to learn a number of techniques shortly after gaining my second tail. Right now, it's limited to just those Light Spheres and basic healing techniques, but I know of a few others that I'll be able to learn once my youki is high enough."
“youki?”
“The energy that all Yōkai use.”
"Energy? Like chakra?"
"Chakra?" Now it was Lilian's turn to look questioning.
"Mmm." Kevin nodded. "Chakra is this one internal energy source in the human body that I read about in one of my manga."
"Ah! You mean Shinobi Natsumo." Lilian nodded her head thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose there are similarities to those two powers. But there are also a lot of differences too. In Shinobi Natsumo chakra comes from an internal network similar to the veins that carry blood through the body. All of a
Kitsune's power is contained in their tails. That's why Kitsune dislike keeping their tails hidden. It's also why most Kitsune can't use enhancement until they've gained their third tail at least. We don't have any network like those chakra pathways so we have to pretty much pump our bodies full of youki, which not only costs more youki than it's worth, but is also a very inefficient method of strengthening ourselves."
"I see." Kevin nodded, then blinked. "But wait. You can use enhancements and you only have your second tail."
"Yes, but only use in short bursts," Lilian informed him. "Anymore than sixty seconds of using the enhancement technique and I'd burn through all my youki."
"Oh." Kevin looked contemplative. "It's still a pretty cool ability though. Almost makes me wish I was a Yōkai." Lilian beamed at him. If she were a peacock, he was almost sure she would be fanning her feathers out.
Which, by the way, really wasn't needed. Her chest was large enough as it was.
An awkward silence soon engulfed the room. Well, Kevin thought it was awkward at least. Lilian didn't seem bothered by it at all. She just lay there, all smiles as she snuggled contentedly against him. Yes, she was perfectly happy just to let the silence ensue and enjoy the feel of her mate's body conforming to her own.
"Hey, Lilian, do you think you could, you know, let go of me? At least until I go to sleep?" Normally, Lilian would wait until he was asleep to sneak onto his couch. He still didn't like it when she did this, but at the very least it meant he wouldn't have to deal with her until he woke up the next day.
"Not a chance." She nuzzled her face against his chest. It sent all kinds of strange feelings and shivers down his spine. "I almost lost you today. There's no way I'm letting you go now."
Kevin sighed. Couldn't blame a guy for trying, right?
It looked like it was going to be a long night.
Scene Break.
Located in a small apartment in a rundown apartment complex was none other than the Inu Yōkai that Lilian had so thoroughly thrashed with her Celestial powers: Chris Fleischer. He had woken up in that Gods forsaken alley the fox bitch and her boy toy had left him in several hours after the sun had gone down. It had been a miracle no one had found him, but that could have just as easily been due to some kind of illusion that red-haired whore had placed over him to make him invisible to the eyes of others.
A Fox's Love (American Kitsune Book 1) Page 25