“GYA!”
—and struck Lilian, if that scream was any indication.
“Oh, crap! Lilian!”
Before Kevin had time to rush to his mate’s side, Kotohime thrust her blade forward, finally connecting. The tip of her sheathed katana struck Kevin square in the jaw, launching him into the air and sending him crashing to the ground mere seconds later.
“Kevin!”
The chains around her calves dispersed. Lilian rushed toward her mate, who sat up, looking dazed and confused, as if he’d just been punched in the face several times by Mike Tyson. Considering she struck him in the jaw with her sheath while using reinforcement, he probably had a broken jaw. Whoops.
“Are you okay?” Lilian knelt by Kevin’s side. He tried to open his mouth and speak, but only gibberish came out. He definitely had a broken jaw. “Hold on. Don’t try to speak yet. Celestial Art: Divine Tongue.”
As Lilian began licking the spot where she'd struck Kevin, Kotohime raised her hand to hide her mouth behind the sleeve of her kimono. It was not to hide her snort. She was a yamato nadeshiko. She did not snort.
Only Lilian-sama would create a healing technique that requires her to lick her mate.
“You taste salty,” Lilian murmured in between licks. She shifted position, straddling Kevin’s legs to better lick the spot that Kotohime had hit. Kevin said nothing, merely groaning in mixed pleasure and pain. One of his hands had grabbed a handful of Lilian’s rear.
“If you two are quite finished,” Kotohime said in a loud voice, which she made sure contained the proper combination of amusement and exasperation. “I would like to give you my assessment on your abilities and teamwork.”
Kevin and Lilian were quick to stand up after that. While Lilian tossed her a small, displeased glare, Kevin’s cheeks were stained a very mild red. Kotohime shook her head and withheld a giggle.
“Now then, I can say with honest certainty that you two work quite well together.” She smiled when Lilian and Kevin broke out into matching grins. “I suppose I should not be surprised by this. Despite having only fought together twice, you both know each other well, and you clearly understand how the other thinks.”
Kotohime paused, collecting her thoughts.
“That being said, there is still much room for improvement. While you have good teamwork, it takes too much time for you to implement your plans. All of your attacks are simple and straightforward, which makes them easy to see through. I also have yet to see you string together any combinations. This is common among people who are relatively new to battle. You unleash one attack and expect it to hit, and when it doesn’t hit, you’re thrown off your game and become susceptible to counters. You will need to work on correcting this.”
Kevin and Lilian looked at each other. Kotohime wondered what silent conversation they were having, though she could take a few guesses. She coughed into her hand, bringing their attention back to her.
“That being said, your last attack was truly inspiring. You, Kevin-sama, kept my full attention with that unusual style of yours. Meanwhile, Lilian-sama used Chameleon Masquerade to sneak behind me and bind me with Underground Chambers Prison, which gave Kevin-sama the opportunity to fire at me when I couldn’t counter. Had I been a three-tailed kitsune, or even a four-tailed kitsune with little combat experience, that attack might have worked.”
Kevin’s and Lilian’s faces brightened. Kotohime decided to crush their happiness right then and there.
“Of course, because Lilian-sama deemed it necessary to sneak up behind me, she ended up getting hit with Kevin-sama’s bullet when I dodged. That shows a complete lack of awareness on both your parts. You’re lucky that we were using my youki, otherwise Lilian-sama could have been killed.”
Kevin paled while Lilian flushed.
“I had to get behind you,” the redhead muttered. “Underground Chambers Prison only works at a certain distance, and since you and Kevin were moving so much, getting behind you was the most sure-fire way to make sure my technique worked.”
“In that case, you need to work on your technique,” Kotohime informed her. “It’s clearly incomplete if it requires you to be a certain distance from your opponent.”
Lilian crossed her arms under her chest and pouted. “I’ll have you know that I’m rather proud of that technique.”
“Proud or not, it doesn’t change the fact that it needs more work.”
“… Mugyu.”
“Don’t use other people’s catchphrases, please.” Kevin sighed.
Just then, the door to their abode slammed open. Kevin and Lilian spun around in surprise. Kotohime blinked when Daphne stormed into the courtyard.
She was scowling.
“So this is where you’ve been. Didn’t I tell you the other day that you were to head over to my abode first thing in the morning? Come here now. It’s time for your lesson.”
“Ara, ara.” Kotohime hid her smile as a horrified look crossed Lilian’s face.
“Oh, no.” The girl shook her head. “I’m not attending any more of your lessons. Never again.”
Daphne stalked forward as Lilian hid behind Kevin. “I have no particular desire to teach an ungrateful girl like you either. However, our matriarch has commanded me to restart your lessons.”
“No way. I’m not going.”
“You don’t have a choice in the matter!”
Lilian shrieked when Daphne’s seven tails suddenly extended, swerving around Kevin and wrapping around the redhead like a person being rolled up in a futon because the one putting it away didn’t realize there was someone still sleeping in it. The two-tailed vixen struggled and squirmed to no avail. All seven of Daphne’s tails had engulfed her and only her head remained visible. She wouldn’t be getting out of that unless Daphne let her.
“Beloved, help! This evil woman is going to torture me!” Lilian cried out as Daphne began walking away.
“Oh, be quiet,” Daphne snapped. “Believe me, the last thing I want to do is waste my precious time teaching a girl who refuses to further advance our clan. Now do me a favor and keep that mouth of yours shut.”
Lilian started yelling out a surprising amount of expletives, but she soon found her ability of speech hampered when a ghostly white ball gag randomly appeared and was shoved into her mouth. Even then, the girl continued shrieking through the gag until she and Daphne left, the door slamming shut behind them.
An odd stillness settled upon the courtyard.
“Well,” Kevin tried to shake off the awkwardness of watching his mate getting ball gagged by her own aunt, “I think I’m going to take a bath.”
“A splendid idea, Kevin-sama.” Kotohime nodded. “Do you have any plans after that?”
“I’m sure I’ll figure something out,” he told her, waving goodbye as he headed for the bathhouse.
***
Jasmine had always been an early riser, which was good because she had plans that day, and the sooner she got started on those plans, the better.
As the sun streamed in through the window, she opened her eyes… to find another pair of eyes barely a fraction of a centimeter from her own.
“Yo,” Violet greeted.
“GYA!”
Shocked beyond belief by the sudden appearance of her immediate older sister’s face, Jasmine did something she would lament later on; she tried to sit up.
The sound of two heads smacking together was followed by two voices crying out in shock and pain. While Violet’s head snapped backward, Newtonian physics determined that Jasmine’s head would slam against the bed. Wincing as she rubbed the new bump on her forehead, Jasmine glared at the woman straddling her.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped.
Violet smirked. “I was just making sure I got to be the first person to greet my lovely little sister.”
Jasmine glared at her for a moment longer, then turned her head to glare at her shadow. “Why did you let her do that?”
Ayane sat on the floor two meter
s away in a seiza. She was sharpening a kunai. A bright red sports bag sat by her side.
“Violet did not have any killing intent, so I didn’t see any threat in her actions.”
“That’s right, there’s no threat here.” Violet pointed at her chest with a thumb.
“Alexi didn’t see any threat either.”
An awkward silence hung in the air. Jasmine eventually shook it off. She glared at Violet.
“Out.”
“Aw, come on!” Violet pouted at her. “Don’t you want me to help you get dressed?”
Jasmine’s glare gained several levels of animosity. “Out! Now!”
“Okay, okay. Yeesh, what an unlikable girl you are.” Violet sighed as she climbed off her sister. She threw her hands behind her head and grinned. “Whelp! I’m off to go train. Smell you guys later!”
Jasmine stared at the door as it closed behind her older sister. She then turned her expressionless gaze to her shadow.
“Aren’t you supposed to stop people from creeping up on me like that?”
Ayane never stopped cleaning her kunai. “Correction: I am supposed to protect you from those who would threaten your life or endanger your well-being in some way, shape, or form. Violet-sama’s actions, though mischievous, had no malevolent intentions behind them.”
Jasmine stared at her shadow for several more seconds. When it became readily apparent that Ayane would not be saying anything else, she climbed out of bed and decided to get dressed. She had important research to do today.
***
Kevin wandered the grounds of the Pnév̱ma Clan’s ancestral home. He didn’t really know what else to do. Lilian was taking lessons of some kind from Daphne. Kirihime and Camellia were looking after Iris, and Kotohime was…
“Is there a reason you’re following me?”
“Ufufufu, surely you jest, Kevin-sama. With Lilian-sama taking lessons from Daphne-sama, I have decided that I can best serve my charge by protecting her mate. I thought that would be obvious.”
… Following exactly five steps behind him and slightly to his left. Kevin had learned that this pacing was how bodyguards walked during the Shogun era of Japan. It was so that if the bodyguard needed to fight, they could draw their katana without bisecting the one they were guarding.
“Right. I suppose that makes sense.” Kevin had kind of been hoping for some time alone, but he didn’t exactly mind the maid-slash-bodyguard’s companionship. She was unobtrusive enough and only spoke when spoken to, just like a bodyguard, he guessed.
The gardens on the Pnév̱ma grounds lay sprawled out before him. Kevin had learned after wandering for a bit that the Pnév̱ma Clan’s ancestral home was a lot bigger than his initial assumptions. According to Kotohime, the entire grounds had a one-kilometer radius, which explained why all the buildings were spaced so far apart. It took nearly fifteen minutes just to walk from his dwelling to the one that the matriarch resided in.
“Ne, Kotohime?”
“Yes, Kevin-sama?”
“Do you know anything about the flora in this garden?”
“Not really.” Kotohime surveyed the garden with her keen, hawk-like eyes. “While I have taken great pains to learn flower arrangements, I have never studied gardening in depth. I only know a few of the flowers located in this garden. The rest are unfamiliar to me.”
Kevin nodded as he looked around. He knew a lot about animals, but nothing about plants—unless that plant happened to be something that an animal inhabited. He recognized a few of the trees. Towering cypress trees provided several spots of shade amongst grassy knolls surrounded by flowers. The leaves of olive trees swayed in the unusually eerie breeze. He even saw a sakura tree sitting on a small island in the middle of a pond connected to the garden via a bridge.
He shook his head at the oddity of a sakura tree in a Greek garden.
“Kevin-sama.” Kotohime’s tone contained a hint of mirth—and warning, but mostly mirth.
“We’re being followed, aren’t we?” he said.
“Indeed. It seems the youngest of Pnév̱ma-denka’s daughters, Jasmine-sama, is following us.”
Kevin didn’t know who Jasmine was by anything other than name. He continued walking while scanning the area. It didn’t take long to spot the head of silvery hair peering at him from behind a bush. When the girl realized that she had been spotted, she quickly ducked down, as if that would somehow make him not know she was there.
He released a weary sigh.
“You can come out now.” He turned toward the bush, which rustled several times. “I know you’re there, so just come on out.” Still no answer. “I’m not gonna bite, you know?”
“Be careful not to disappoint her, Kevin-sama.” Kotohime hid her smile behind the sleeve of her kimono. Kevin felt like there was some hidden meaning to her words.
“Hush, you.”
Kevin waited to see if Jasmine would come out. When, after several seconds of silence had passed, nothing happened, he grew annoyed.
“Look, you can either come out right now, or I can drag you out!”
“Oh, my. Such a dominating personality, Kevin-sama. Ufufufu.”
Kevin ignored the maid-slash-bodyguard in favor of the girl who stepped out from behind the bushes. Long silver hair framed a face that Kevin felt could only be called cute. Her pale skin contrasted well with her Apollonian carmine eyes. He could see the resemblance between her and the matriarch, even though this girl was really short and flat as board.
“So, you’re Jasmine, huh? Lilian’s younger aunt?”
“That is correct. I am Lilian’s younger aunt and the youngest of Mother’s children.”
Even her voice is emotionless. Creepy.
Kevin smiled at the girl. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“A pleasure.”
As the girl continued staring at him, Kevin became really uncomfortable. There was just something about her gaze that threw him off. It must have been how impassive her expression was.
“So…” he scratched the back of his neck, “was there something you wanted from me?”
“You are the first human that I have ever met. I would like to ask you a few questions, if you would permit it.”
Having spent so much time with Lilian, Kevin could understand Jasmine’s curiosity. From what Kotohime had told him, most of the main family of the Pnév̱ma Clan, that is to say, all of the matriarch’s daughters, weren’t allowed to interact with humans. They were trained to handle the Pnév̱ma Clan’s day-to-day operations, but they only dealt with other yōkai, if they were even allowed out of the grounds. The girl’s curiosity was understandable.
“I guess I could answer a few questions,” Kevin said. Jasmine’s facial expression didn’t change much, but she seemed pleased, or at least, he thought she was pleased. It was really hard to tell.
“Thank you,” she said… and then she randomly pulled out a clipboard from her Extra Dimensional Storage Space, along with a pen. Kevin found it disturbing to see a girl who looked so young reach into her shirt. “First question: when was the first time you masturbated?”
“W-what the heck?!” Kevin tried not to blush. He failed. “What kind of question is that?!”
“It’s a very important question. Now please answer.”
“Screw that,” Kevin spat. “There’s no way I’m going to answer such a personal question. I don’t even know you!”
“Ufufufu, so cute, Kevin-sama.”
“You be quiet!”
Jasmine frowned at him. Her two tails writhed in agitated fury. It was the only sign of her displeasure.
“You will answer my question,” she intoned solemnly, and the next moment, Kevin felt something enter his mind. It was gentle and soothing, like a loving whisper. It told him to answer all of Jasmine’s questions, that he wanted to answer her questions.
Kevin put some extra vitriol into his glare.
“I suggest you stop that right now.” Jasmine blinked. The feeling disappeared. “You tried to use a
n enchantment on me just now, didn’t you?” Another blink. Kevin nodded. “I guess I should tell you this before you decide to do something like that again, but enchantments don’t work on me, so I would strongly suggest that you not try placing me under one.”
That was only partially true. Kevin was highly resistant to enchantments. Ever since he started training to become stronger, he’d had Iris and Lilian cast enchantments on him in order to up his resistance, working his resilience toward being enchanted as he might work out a muscle.
On a side note, some of the crap that Iris had made him do when her enchantments did work was downright embarrassing. He still felt his face heat up when he remembered how she’d made him run around the South Pavilion Mall completely naked. He was very grateful toward Kotohime for erasing the memory of everyone who saw him.
While it had taken a lot of work and put him in a lot of embarrassing situations, Kevin could now say that he was quite resistant to yōkai trying to enchant him. According to Kotohime, it would take an enchantress—a kitsune who specialized in enchantments—with at least four tails of power to enchant him.
Jasmine blinked some more. Kevin had the distinct impression that she was shocked.
“Do you have any more questions? Preferably ones that don’t have me talking about my private life?”
“… I do have a few.”
“All right then.” Kevin breathed. “Ask away.”
“What is your favorite sauce…?”
Kevin smiled. That was a weird question to ask, but one that he was actually willing to answer.
“… And which part of the body would you prefer to lick it off of?”
An awkward silence followed. Kevin must have heard wrong. He heard her that wrong, right? Yes, this was all in his imagination. It had to be. It... just... had to... be...
He stared at the young girl before him, whose inexpressive face was reminiscent of a statue, his own expression slowly deadpanning.
“I’m leaving now,” Kevin declared, turning around and walking off, leaving the young girl to stare at his back.
***
I want my mate.
Lilian barely managed to withhold her sigh. She sat on a fluffy pillow while Daphne paced in front of her, the woman’s droning voice scratching her ears as she lectured her about the history of human weaponry.
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