A Fox's Revenge

by Brandon Varnell

  “Where is Iris?” Lilian asked.

  Kotohime placated the girl with a placid smile. “Do not worry, Lilian-sama. Iris-sama is residing within her bedroom.”

  Lilian nodded stiffly, then tugged on Kevin’s hand and led him up the stairs. A hallway with a series of doors greeted them, and his mate pulled him along to one specific door. Lilian took a deep breath, as though steadying herself, and then she opened the door and went in.

  The room was rather plain. Kevin didn’t know what he had been expecting, but, well, a room completely unadorned with decorations was not it. This room had nothing save a divan, a closet, and a dresser.

  Lying on the divan was Iris.

  Lilian walked over to the divan, where she sat down and reached out a trembling hand to her sister. Kevin walked up behind her as his mate stroked Iris’s hair. He couldn’t see her face, but he could see from the way her body shook that Lilian was close to tears.

  “It’s really odd,” Lilian began in a whisper. “Iris has always been there for me, protecting me, loving me, fighting for me when no one else would. Yet I could never do the same. Whenever Iris had nightmares, I couldn’t stop them. When the Void whispered to her, I could never do anything. All I’ve ever been able to do was stand on the sidelines and watch as she suffered alone. Now she’s been poisoned by the same type of youki that I have, and I can’t do a single thing to help her.” A sob wracked Lilian’s body. “Why? All I wanted was for us to have a normal life. Is that too much to ask?”

  Kevin didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Lilian as she cried. He didn’t know if she’d been holding this in until they were alone or if this was just a spontaneous burst of tears, but he supposed it didn’t matter. He held Lilian tightly as she cried out her sorrows and frustrations until they finally subsided.

  “Feel better?” he asked.

  Lilian sniffled as she wiped her eyes. “A little.”

  “I’m glad. Why don’t you show me your room?” Kevin suggested.

  “M’kay. I can do that.”

  Taking him by the hand, Lilian walked to the door. She paused to take one last glance at her sister before heading to another door, which opened into a room that made Kevin blink.

  It looked like a typical room, minus the stone floor and the divan that acted as a replacement for a bed. A large bookshelf to his left was filled with manga. There was a huge collection of various series, some of which he didn’t even know existed.

  He had known that Lilian was obsessed with manga. She read the stuff all the time, and she was even learning how to draw her own manga. For some reason, though, he had assumed her love for manga came after meeting him, but now it looked like it had come long before they had ever met.

  Manga wasn’t the only thing in this room, he realized upon glancing at the walls. Numerous posters hung from each wall. All of them were of various manga that she must have read.

  “Is that a Rurouni Kenshin poster?” he asked, pointing to one poster in particular.

  Lilian glanced at the poster and smiled. “Yes, it is.”

  Kevin nodded as he looked at the poster next to it. He deadpanned. “And that… that’s a hentai, isn’t it?”

  Indeed, right next to the Rurouni Kenshin poster was another poster. This one was of a naked woman spread eagle on a desk. Behind her was another woman, also naked, and holding a ruler as though it were a paddle with which to smack people with.

  “Erm…” Lilian went into her version of deep thinking, complete with a hand on her chin. “Would you be upset if I said yes?”

  “No.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But it does make me wonder about your preferences.” He glanced back at the bookshelf. “Still, I didn’t realize you had such a large collection of manga.”

  “Ah, well, before you and I had ever met, manga was my only escape.” Lilian smiled as she walked over to her bookshelf. Kevin followed her. “This was even before Jiāoào became obsessed with me. I didn’t have much hope back then. The negotiations between Granny and the Bodhisattva were proceeding smoothly and it looked like I would be mated off to some old fart. Kotohime noticed my growing depression and went to the human world and bought me several manga volumes of Ranma ½. I absolutely loved them. They allowed me to escape my own bleak future, if only temporarily. After that, well, I just kept asking her to buy more and more, until I had filled up this entire bookshelf.”

  Kevin nodded as he looked over the manga on her shelf. A number of them were manga from the 80s and 90s. He recognized a few like Rurouni Kenshin and Dragon Ball, but there were some that he’d never seen before. He made a note to read those when he got the chance. As he continued glancing over the manga, he noticed something. While there were a lot of mainstream series, there were also a good deal of other manga that were, well, they certainly weren’t mainstream.

  “Urusei Yatsura, Ranma ½, Bastard… Municipal Force Daitenzin… Ragnarock City… Adventure Kid… High School DxD… To LOVE-RU Darkness… Kanokon…” Kevin felt a growing sense of unease as he read more titles. “Lilian?”

  “Yes, Beloved?”

  “Why is it that more than ninety percent of your manga collection are either harems or hentai?”

  “Well…” Lilian took a moment to think before answering. “After meeting you, I had Kotohime get me all of the manga that boys like to read. I used them as reference guides when learning how to seduce you.”

  “I figured it was something like that.” Kevin pressed a hand to his face. Looking back, it was so obvious that she had been trying to recreate scenes from harem manga and hentai doujinshi that Kevin felt like smashing his face against a wall. How he had missed the signs was something he would never understand. “Anyway, let’s get unpacked and then head down for breakfast.”

  “Okay.”

  As they unpacked their belongings, Kevin wondered about what life had in store for them. Whatever awaited them, he was really, truly, honestly praying that it wouldn’t lead to anything like the situations found in the manga on Lilian’s shelf. He didn’t have much hope.

  The life of a harem protagonist is fraught with peril.

  And tits.

  But mostly peril.

  CHAPTER 6

  THE CONSEQUENCE OF FEELING HELPLESS

  Kevin and Lilian slept well through the morning. By the time Kevin woke up, it was around three p.m.

  Stretching his arms and legs, Kevin blinked several times to rid himself of the blurriness. Sunlight shone in his eyes, threatening to burn his retina, but he ignored that in favor of lamenting his own tiredness. He loved traveling, truly, but he despised jet lag with a passion.

  I should build a teleportation device.

  He glanced down his chest at the red hair of his mate. She’d been every bit as exhausted as him, maybe even more so. Traveling across the globe, meeting her relatives, these actions must have taken their toll.

  He rolled them over, so that Lilian was lying on her back. His hands were on either side of her head. Lilian’s eyes remained closed. Her parted lips breathing in and out, causing her bare chest to rise and fall. With her hair splayed out like a fiery halo, she appeared reminiscent of an angel.

  Feeling an overwhelming urge as he stared at her lips, Kevin didn’t hesitate to lean down and kiss them. Lilian stirred as his lips touched hers but didn’t waken. He pulled back, but only for a second, before kissing her with a little more force, while pressing his boxer-clad body against her bare one.

  “Hn.”

  A delicate sounding moan was muffled by his mouth. A pair of hands became buried in his hair, pulling him down to press deeper against Lilian’s waiting lips. He groaned as a warm, wet tongue penetrated his mouth. It rubbed against him, caressing his tongue and stirring up the increasing amount of saliva between them. One of his arms slid underneath Lilian’s back, pulling her with him as he sat up.

  They continued to kiss, but with Lilian now straddling his lap. He was rock hard, the pitch tent in his boxers was wedged firmly between her butt c
heeks. She slowly rocked her hips, making him gasp and lose ground, allowing her tongue to probe further into his mouth. He felt his boxers grow wet, both from his own precum and from the lubrication Lilian released as he rubbed against her.

  “Lilian,” he groaned as the kiss broke and Lilian began licking the sweat that accumulated on his neck. His hands went to her cheeks, which he grasped firmly and helped her move against him. “You’re going to kill me one of these days.”

  “That’s not something you should tell me, Beloved.” Lilian’s voice came out muffled, but even so, he could pick up the heady tone lacing her words. “If you say something like that, I might decide to stop. I’d feel awful if my mate died because of something I did to him.”

  “Then… I’ll be sure to shut up.”

  Kevin felt a knot coiling in his lower abdomen. It felt like a damn trying to hold back several billion tons of water during a level-five hurricane, while sixteen battering rams were bashing against the other side.

  Knowing that he wouldn’t last much longer, he pulled a hand away from her butt and reached down between them, fingers sliding across her stomach, through sparse amounts of red pubic hair, and finally pressing against the small button that he was looking for.

  Lilian stiffened in his arms. Her legs clamped around his waist like a vice and shook violently, as did her arms. He felt her feet locking together as her heels pressed against the small of his back. A set of teeth clamped down on his trapezius, sending mixed signals of pleasure and pain straight into his brain. His mind nearly shut down as the dam broke, tipping him over the edge and causing him to explode.

  Kevin almost collapsed back onto the bed, but he quickly placed a hand behind him to keep from falling. Lilian quivered in his remaining arm, her own arms going slack, along with her legs.

  “B-Beloved…” She sounded tired.

  “Mm?”

  “I-I love you so much.”

  Kevin chuckled. “I love you, too.”

  ***

  Christine sat within her shower, her knees curled up to her chest. The hot spray from the showerhead rained down on her, causing her bangs to become matted to her forehead and cheeks. Despite the water being on its hottest temperature, she could find no comfort in it.

  She and Iris were walking toward Kevin and Lilian. There was no sign of their enemy, who had seemingly disappeared. While Iris looked smug, somehow, as though she had chased the woman off herself, Christine felt wary. The hairs on the back of her neck were prickling.

  “Hmph, she probably ran away,” Iris said.

  Christine sent her a sidelong glance. “She had us on the ropes. I doubt she ran away.”

  “Whatever, she’s not here anymore, and that’s what matters.” Iris waved a dismissive hand in the air. She then sent her an appreciative look. “You surprised me there, tsun-loli. I hadn’t realized you were so good in a fight.”

  Christine was glad it was so dark. She didn’t want Iris seeing her blue face.

  “D-don’t think I enjoy having you c-c-c-compliment me! And of course I can fight! I might not have been in a lot of battles like you and Lilian, but I’m still a yōkai!”

  “Heh.” Iris ruffled her hair in a condescending manner. “True enough.”

  Christine scowled and was just about to swat Iris’s hand away when three things happened in quick succession. The first was that Kevin began shouting something about them being trapped in an illusion. The second was the electric jolt of foreign youki entering her body. The third was a momentary feeling of weightlessness as she was shoved onto the ground.

  Growling at the pain lancing up her backside, she looked up to give Iris a piece of her mind—

  What…?

  —only to stare in shocked horror as she saw a light spear piercing the fox-girl’s back. Iris stared at the spear’s tip, which went straight through her back and out of her chest. She blinked. Then she switched her gaze to Christine.

  Iris smiled at her. Blood dribbled from her mouth and dripped down her chin. A crimson stain expanded from her shirt. Yet she still smiled at her.

  And then she collapsed.

  Christine’s own horrified and enraged cries drowned out the sound of gunfire.

  “She pushed me out of the way,” Christine muttered, the sound of her soft voice echoing due to the room’s acoustics. “We always argued, and I kept calling her such horrible names, and yet, she took an attack that was meant for me.”

  Alone in her shower, Christine’s tears ran down her cheeks and mixed with the water.

  ***

  It was nearly half an hour later that Kevin and Lilian decided to get up. Kevin soon discovered the wonders of Greek bathhouses. It looked similar to a Japanese hot spring, if only in the vaguest sense. The bathhouse was shaped like a rectangle, made of limestone tiles. Steaming water bubbled from an unknown source, while steps descended into the bath, which stopped at about waist height.

  “This estate is built on a natural hot spring,” Lilian told him as they cleaned themselves off. “That’s actually the reason Granny turned this island into her territory. The natural hot spring is half the reason humans come to the resort. Well, that, and they also get to enjoy all of the hospitality that a kitsune clan has to offer.”

  After getting cleaned and dressed, they tried to decide on what to do. Both of them were pretty ravenous, and not just because of their previous activity. They’d skipped breakfast and lunch to sleep in. Kevin’s stomach gurgled unpleasantly, letting him know that he needed sustenance.

  “Would you mind if we explored the village?” asked Kevin.

  Lilian bit her lip. “You mean… you want to see Psyxḗ?”

  “If you’re not comfortable with that, we don’t have to,” Kevin said. “I’m sure we can find something else to do…”

  “No.” Lilian shook her head. “I don’t mind showing you around. If… if it’s just for a little while, I’m sure everything will be okay.”

  “If you’re sure,” Kevin said.

  “I’m sure,” Lilian told him.

  “Ufufufu, so you two are going into the village?” Kotohime asked as he and Lilian walked over to the entrance and put their shoes on. Dressed in a mauve kimono, the woman had appeared from behind them as if by magic.

  “That’s right.” Lilian stood up and clenched her fist. Kevin thought he saw fire igniting behind her irises. “I’ve decided that we’re going out to lunch and then I’m gonna show him around. The village might be a snorefest, but Beloved’s never been in an all-kitsune village before, so it should be interesting.”

  “In that case, I shall accompany you.”

  Lilian crossed her arms and pouted at the swordswoman. “I don’t need someone constantly watching me, you know. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

  Her short response was met with Kotohime’s placid smile.

  “I do not doubt that Lilian-sama and Kevin-sama are more than capable of looking after themselves. However, as your bodyguard and maid, it is my duty to ensure that you are safe at all times. Besides…” Kotohime continued when Lilian opened her mouth, “… it is just as you said. This is Kevin-sama’s first time visiting a kitsune-only village, and you know how some of the kitsune in Psyxḗ are, do you not?”

  Kevin did not like Kotohime’s words. He also didn’t like the way Lilian’s eyes widened in realization. Not one bit.

  “You’re right,” Lilian said, growling. “Those dirty vixens might try something with my beloved. They’re a threat to my beloved’s purity.”

  “I’m pretty sure that my purity has been all but decimated by you and your family,” Kevin retorted.

  Lilian ignored him. “Very well, Kotohime. I shall place you in charge of keeping any potential vixens away from us while I show Beloved around.”

  Still smiling pleasantly, Kotohime bowed before Lilian. “I live to serve, Lilian-sama.”

  “Come on, Beloved.” Lilian grabbed his hand. “Let’s go.”

  Kevin sighed as he dutifull
y allowed the girl to pull him along.

  ***

  Lindsay was worried.

  Being a human, and one whose involvement with the yōkai world was minimal at best, she didn’t understand what her friends were going through. All she knew was that Lilian and Kevin had left the country due to some blood feud or something, and that Christine had become abnormally quiet ever since.

  School was out. It had ended later in the year than usual, June, due to the still as-of-yet unexplained destruction of the gym last year. She wondered about that, but figured Kevin and Lilian were somehow involved. It only made sense. Because school was no longer in session, Lindsay had decided that she and her friend should go out.

  It wasn’t the pleasant experience she’d been hoping for.

  She walked alongside Christine. The mall was decently crowded, though because of the early hour, it wasn’t too congested. They hadn’t done much, merely walked around the mall. The silence between them was almost deafening.

  This is really awkward.

  Lindsay looked at the girl by her side. Her outward appearance was no different than before. Her black lace bodice was affixed to her torso. Her black skirt descended past her knees, swishing as she walked. Black slippers lightly tapped against tile, and the ruffles on her sleeves rustled as her arms swung back and forth. Nothing seemed to have changed.

  Lindsay knew differently. Christine’s steps were stilted, stumbling almost. Bags hung under her eyes. She walked with a noticeable hunch, her shoulders slouched and tired. Lindsay also noticed the redness in the little yuki-onna’s eyes, a clear sign that she’d been crying sometime today.

  “… Christine?”

  “Mm?”

  Lindsay hesitated. Should she talk with her friend to find out what was wrong? Would Christine get angry at her? Would her friend clam up? Even if the yuki-onna was willing to speak, how could she, a mere human, help when she barely understood what was happening in her friend’s life?