She and Lilian ran down the tunnel, reaching the hatch that would lead outside. As she began to climb, she remembered how Kevin had all but commanded them to leave. She understood his reasons, but even so, hearing him tell her to leave Fan to him, to take Iris and run, pierced her heart more surely than any javelin ever could.
The world was changing. Perhaps it was a sign that the yōkai world wouldn’t be able to hide for much longer. Having lived in the human world all her life, she didn’t know much about that. What she did know was that she couldn’t afford to be weak anymore.
After taking a hot shower, Christine went into her room, a towel wrapped around her small body, and stopped in front of her phone. It was an old phone, a landline phone, and one that she’d never used—mainly because there had never been any reason to. Now there was. She picked up the phone and dialed a number that she had never used but had memorized by heart.
It only rang once before someone answered it.
“Hello?” an old, wizened voice came from the other end.
Christine took a deep breath.
“Orin, I need your help,” she said without inflection, doing the one thing she thought she would never do.
With this, life as she knew it would never be the same again.
***
Kevin woke up in the middle of the night. He could hear the sounds of nightlife filling the air, a soothing lullaby of natural music. The chirping of crickets was soft and gentle. An owl hooted somewhere in the distance. Running water mixed in with animal music, a steady flow from the slowly moving creeks that meandered through the ancestral home.
Lilian was still asleep. She lay on her side, her nude body conforming to his. He was tempted to let himself be lulled back into the dreams of Morpheus… unfortunately, nature was calling, and he was loath to disobey that particular call.
After extricating himself from Lilian, who frowned at the loss of his body heat and snuggled against the spot he’d been resting in an attempt to reclaim it, Kevin went to take a leak.
The restrooms in this dwelling were odd devices. Honestly, it was just a hole cut into a rock bench with fast flowing water underneath. Not exactly what he would call the most modern of crappers.
It was absolutely ludicrous how outdated these kitsune were. He understood that, due to their longevity, change among yōkai came slowly, but come on! The Pnév̱ma Clan owned a freaking resort with all the luxurious amenities of a five-star hotel! Surely they could pioneer those inventions and use them in their everyday life? Or was the idea of using human technology for themselves just that abhorrent?
“If there is one thing that you should know, it is that we yōkai are prideful creatures. We have, for many eons, been at the top of the food chain. Even as far back as the seventeenth century, we were still more powerful than humanity in spite of their overwhelming numerical superiority,” Kotohime lectured him as he sat in the living room of their apartment.
“What does that have to do with why yōkai disdain from human technology?” he asked.
“It is not that we disdain from it. There are many instances where we will use human technology—and as you know from interacting with people like Kiara-san and Lilian-sama, there are some of us who have cast aside our pride for the sake of progress. However, by and large, most yōkai dislike using human technology. For them, the act of using something created by humans is the same as admitting that humanity has surpassed yōkai.”
“Has it?”
“Not really, but then, yōkai are no longer at the top either. It is hard to say who is the superior species now, especially as there are so many different types of yōkai, and we do not get along very well. However, that is a lesson for another time. The knowledge that I wish to impart right now is that yōkai do not like using human technology. They will use it when necessary, but only when necessary, and it will be done with great reluctance.”
“Is Lilian’s family like this, too?”
“In some ways. Pnév̱ma-denka is a very forward-thinking kitsune. She does not disdain herself from using human technology when it is convenient for her. Psyxḗ, the village located next to the Pnév̱ma Clan ancestral home, has some human technology that the matriarch has declared useful, and many young kitsune from the village are trained to use human technology so they can run the resort located on the island’s shores. She also has a bad habit of buying certain human luxuries that interest her. However, while Pnév̱ma-denka is often considered a forerunner in using human technology, she falls under the category that I like to call ‘why change what works?’”
“So, basically, you’re telling me that the Pnév̱ma Clan will use technology to do things that they cannot do on their own, but not for something that would just be more convenient for them?”
“Exactly.”
Kevin shook his head. He remembered his conversation with Kotohime nearly four months back, when she had begun teaching him about the specifics of the Pnév̱ma Clan. He hadn’t really believed her words back then. Now her words were coming back to bite him in the metaphorical, and literal, ass.
After finishing his business, Kevin was about to head back to bed when he spotted Kotohime out of the corner of his eye. She stood outside on a balcony that overlooked the Pnév̱ma grounds. Her kimono lightly fluttered in the breeze. Kevin wondered if the woman ever wore anything else.
“Kotohime,” he greeted as he moved to stand beside her.
“Kevin-sama,” she greeted him with a nod and a smile. “What are you still doing up?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“Touché.”
Kevin looked out at the grounds of the Pnév̱ma Clan ancestral home. The streams that ran through the grounds shimmered with moon and starlight. The silhouette of plants swayed as a breeze blew through the grounds, which also buffeted his hair.
Yet even though everything seemed peaceful, Kevin could not help but feel uneasy. This place sent chills up his spine. Perhaps it was simply the realization that he was the only human on an island full of yōkai, but he didn’t think so. There was just something about being here, in this place, that put him on edge…
… He felt like he was standing before the gates to the Underworld.
“I believe you should know, Kevin-sama,” Kotohime’s voice startled him out of his reverie, “that I, much like Lilian-sama, do not believe that you are weak. Weak would be not accepting the reality of your situation and living in denial. Weak would be not doing something to help those you care about because you are too afraid. That is what it means to be weak, and you, Kevin Swift-sama, are not that.”
She was referring to his earlier conversation with Lilian.
“I guess.”
Kevin gave her a tentative smile. It was returned by Kotohime’s own brilliant beaming, which reminded him of the moon. He looked back out at the grounds, his mind in contemplation.
“I know that I’ve gotten stronger, that I’m a stronger person now than I was before meeting Lilian.” He looked down at his hands. “But still, sometimes I feel like no matter how hard I work, it will never be enough. I ask myself things like ‘How can I be strong enough to protect Lilian against yōkai when I can barely defend myself?’ Or ‘How can I become strong enough to defeat yōkai when I’m just human?’ I try not to think that way, but sometimes I can’t help it.”
Kotohime nodded at him, her manner understanding. “That is natural. As a human, your mind is probably overwhelmed by everything you have seen. You’ve accepted that we are yōkai, that we have powers that you cannot comprehend, at least consciously. However, choosing to accept something and truly accepting something is not always the same thing. It will probably be many years before you truly accept the differences between humans and yōkai.”
Kevin nodded noncommittally. He knew that she was probably right.
“Still,” Kotohime continued musing, “you have done an admirable job thus far, and I expect that, given time, you will succeed where many other humans have failed.” She
ruffled his hair. “After all, you have become quite the capable young man. You actually remind me a bit of my last mate.”
Kevin studied Kotohime out of his peripheral vision. She never really talked about her past, though he knew some of it. He remembered their conversation back at the hotel in California, where she’d told him about how she and her sister had been members of the Ślina Clan.
“Would you mind telling me about your mate?” he asked. Kotohime looked at him. He could see her pondering the question.
“I do not see the harm,” she said slowly. Her eyes turned toward the sky, glazing over with past remembrance. “I remember… I met him shortly after the Ślina Clan was destroyed. My sister and I were on the run. We were being chased by members of the Mul clan. Luna Mul was actually the one in charge of chasing us down. She had only been a four-tails at the time.”
Kevin had not thought of Luna Mul very much. He tried not to think about her. As the first person he had ever killed, thinking about her made his stomach churn. Even though he did not regret killing her, he despised how that act had destroyed whatever was left of his innocence.
“I had been injured back then,” Kotohime continued. “My sister had only been a two-tails and was not skilled enough to heal me. I had lost a lot of blood. I remember slipping in and out of consciousness. To be honest, I still do not remember much of what happened to this day. What I do know is that we somehow managed to evade our pursuers, but I collapsed from exhaustion and injury. It was during that time that Corban found us.”
Kotohime’s lips curved with a gentleness that he rarely saw. Her smile was breathtaking.
“He had nursed me back to health and treated my injuries. He didn’t care that I was a kitsune. All he saw was a person who needed help. I knew right then that he was going to be my mate.”
It always astounded Kevin to hear about how kitsune fell in love. They weren’t like humans, who generally needed time to learn more about a person before they fell in love. With kitsune it was a near instantaneous thing. It was instinct, just as Lilian had told him several days before they started dating.
“You should know that Lilian-sama gets her taste in men from me.” Kotohime sent him a sly grin.
“I’ve noticed.” Kevin’s voice was just a touch dry.
“Now then, Kevin-sama really should be getting to bed. I am sure that Lilian-sama is missing his warmth.”
“Right.” Kevin yawned. “Good night, Kotohime.”
“Good night, Kevin-sama.”
CHAPTER 7
MEETING THE CLAN
Kotohime stood in the courtyard, left hand on the hilt of her katana, right hand resting at her side, posture relaxed. Standing several feet away, Kevin and Lilian eyed her like prey who’d been cornered by a predator. That made her smile.
One second passed. Kevin and Lilian shuffled their feet. Two seconds. They exploded into action.
Kevin rushed forward at an impressive speed—for a human. He reached into his holsters and pulled out his guns, which were currently using magazine clips that Kotohime had charged herself. He fired off several shots. Bright blue spheres of compressed water youki sped toward her. Kotohime used her sheathed katana to block each one, all except the last, which she had to dodge because she’d misaimed her katana.
No, that wasn’t misaimed. Kotohime narrowed her eyes as Kevin closed the distance and attempted to pistol whip her. She blocked it with her katana. I sense foreign youki. I see. Lilian used an illusion to bend the light and trick me into thinking the bullet was off by just a few centimeters. Clever.
After his attempt at beaming her across the face with his pistol failed, Kevin paused as though he didn’t know what to do. Kotohime kicked him in the chest.
“Celestial Art: Orbs of an Evanescent Realm.”
As Kevin skidded across the ground, nine orbs appeared around her. Kotohime eyed the spheres of celestial youki and shifted her stance, feet sliding along the ground as she lowered her center of gravity. As the spheres shot forward, she tucked her sword into her wrist, grabbed the hilt, and then moved. Her body spun as she released her katana from its sheath with a near silent hiss of steel, swinging it with the full force of her youki-reinforced arms.
“Ikken Hisatsu. Senpū.”
Kotohime normally used her whirlwind technique in conjunction with one of her water techniques. However, for what she wanted to use it for now, this would work fine.
She spun a full 360 degrees. Her blade flashed out, appearing as nothing more than a streak of light. It sliced straight through all nine orbs like they were made of paper. The spheres, unable to maintain cohesion, dispersed into millions of light particles that rained down around her.
The sound of a gun going off caused Kotohime to turn. Her katana, back in its sheath, lashed out and smashed apart each bullet as it came. She also made sure to disrupt any foreign youki in her body, just in case Lilian and Kevin tried to trick her with another illusion.
A lull entered the battle. Kevin and Lilian stood still as though they weren’t sure how to proceed. Kotohime waited patiently for them to make their next move.
“Kitsune Art: Extension.”
“Celestial Art: Flare.”
Two red tails with white tips shot at her. The tips were alight with two small, yet incredibly bright orbs of golden energy.
She knew of this technique; it was one of several that Lilian had created during their spars. It was a very basic technique. All Lilian did was create a sphere or two with her youki and compress it to the point where it was ready to burst. Despite its simplicity, it was a rather ingenious use of her limited powers.
The intensity of the technique depended on the amount of youki Lilian packed into it. Kotohime knew from watching the redhead experiment that this technique could be powerful enough to leave perfectly rounded craters in the ground or weak enough to merely blind her foes by burning their retina with intense light. Judging by the amount of youki Kotohime sensed, Lilian intended to blind her, probably in order to give Kevin an opening.
She wouldn’t let that happen.
“Kitsune Art: Transient Counterforce.”
Transient Counterforce was one of her personal techniques. She had created it many years ago when she’d only been a three-tails. It had been her desire to create a technique that could negate other techniques.
Its application was simple. All youki had a flow, and if she could find the flow, she could disrupt it with her own youki, thereby destroying the technique before it could hit her. Transient Counterforce was simply applying her youki through her tails and attacking the youki fueling her enemy’s technique where that flow was weakest. The stronger the technique, the easier it was to break.
A barrier appeared before Kotohime. The two red tails struck the barrier. Lilian’s Flare dispersed before it could hit her. Kotohime then took two steps forward. She attacked with her sheathed katana before Lilian could react.
“OWCH!”
Lilian yelped as Kotohime smacked the fox-girl’s tails. A kitsune’s tails were sensitive, both to pleasure and to pain. When she attacked the girl’s tails, the extension technique was disrupted and Lilian’s concentration was shattered.
“Lilian!”
Kotohime turned on Kevin as Lilian’s pained cry distracted him. She had to give him credit. Despite being distracted, he managed to avoid her initial blow, redirecting her sword swing with the black gun in his left hand. This did not deter her, though, and she quickly spun around and attacked the opening in his right flank. She blinked when he redirected her again.
How did he do that?
Frowning to herself, Kotohime upped her speed, attacking Kevin with greater and greater ferocity. Her frown grew when he avoided all her attacks, deflecting them with one of the two guns in his hands. A thrust aimed at the opening in his chest was smacked away by the silver gun. An overhand slash aimed at the hole near his left shoulder was dodged when Kevin sidestepped it, then hit her sheathed katana with the tip of the black gun. Over a
nd over again Kotohime aimed at the openings in his stance, and over and over her attacks were deflected.
Lilian's body stiffened
This is…!
Growing curious to see how far she could push Kevin, Kotohime reinforced her body with youki. Her speed increased, as did her strength. Her physical abilities soon exceeded those of human limitations, and they continued to climb higher and higher. There should have been no way that Kevin could keep up with her.
Yet keep up with her he did.
His breathing had grown ragged by now. Sweat dripped from his brow and caked his clothes to his skin. He was beginning to give out…
… and yet he was still keeping up with her.
I see… this style… ufufufu, how interesting…
Kotohime slashed diagonally and upward at Kevin’s right hip. It was blocked, redirected over Kevin’s head, and avoided. Undeterred by her failed attack, she followed through with a thrust toward the opening under his left armpit. It, too, was avoided when Kevin twisted away from her.
She upped the ante, using her speed, which exceeded human capabilities, to get behind him and attack his spine, the only hole currently in his guard. Kevin still avoided it. He spun around almost before she began to move, almost as if he knew what she would do before she did it. Using the gun in his left hand, he smacked her sheathed katana away.
“Celestial Art: Underground Chambers Prison.”
“What?”
Kotohime looked down in surprise when something wrapped around her ankles. Chains. Chains made of celestial youki. They wound around her ankles and calves, coiling like a snake strangling a mouse.
“Gotcha!”
She looked up to see a black gun pointed directly at her face. Her body moved without conscious thought. The gun fired a round of blue energy that soared over her head—
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