Yama uba were one of several yōkai that were composed entirely of women. They were similar in many ways to yuki-onna, who were also a race of nothing but women. Like all female-only yōkai, they required human males to keep their population from dying out. This was because human DNA was weaker than yōkai DNA, so when a yama uba or a yuki-onna had a child with a human, all of the human DNA was overwritten and the child produced would be purely yōkai.
Lilian had learned about this recently in their newest class at school: Yōkai Genetics 101.
“Before the creation of long-range weaponry like rifles and explosives, we yama uba used to select our men through combat,” Polydora continued. “We would find strong warriors and fight them. If we deemed them worthy of us, then we would take them home and allow them to help us conceive a child. Ever since the late 1800s, this has been impossible, and our clan has been slowly dying. In order to regain our numbers, we were forced to rely on the likes of the Mul Clan to bring us men whom we could mate with. However, all those men were weak. They were unworthy of helping us bear children. It was only because we didn’t have any choice that we allowed them to mate with us.”
Lilian hummed thoughtfully, though only a small part of her was listening. The rest of her focused on the word “mating.” Just hearing that word made her loins tingle, and she absently rubbed her thighs together as she sat in the hot spring.
“After the Mul Clan stopped sending us men, our already dwindling population was threatened. We were on the verge of becoming extinct, and we needed to find men with whom we could produce children with, which was why we attacked the train that Kevin and Iris were on back when they were on a quest to rescue you.”
“I remember that,” Iris said as she slid into the water, sitting right next to Lilian. “You, Ms. Babymaker, and all your pals nearly destroyed the car we were in, and then you kidnapped the stud, and I had to chase you down. That was a pain in my ass, you know?”
Christine also sat down next to them. She stared at everybody’s chest, at the way their breasts floated on the water like circular flotation devices. Then she looked at her own chest, which was so flat her breasts didn’t need to float.
“I really hate all of you right now,” she said harshly.
Iris just laughed at her.
Polydora bowed her head to Iris. “I do apologize for the trouble we caused you. To be fair, at the time, we had no idea that you were on a quest. We simply needed to find some men to help us repopulate our clan, and Kevin was the only one who caught My Lady Phoebe’s eye.”
“That’s because Kevin’s the best!” Lilian declared proudly, thrusting her chest out and grinning at Polydora.
Christine eyed Lilian’s chest as it bounced several times in the water. “I’m really, really beginning to hate you people.”
“Aw, don’t worry, tiny.” Iris threw an arm around Christine’s shoulder and pulled the girl into her bosom. The yuki-onna’s face turned blue as she squirmed and struggled to break free. “It doesn’t matter how flat-chested you are. You’re still a cutie. I’m sure the stud thinks so, too.”
“W-w-w-what are—why would I?!—I mean, it’s not… like I care what that… that idiot thinks…”
Christine’s face went from a deep blue to an almost icy shade of the same color. No longer resisting Iris’s pull, the girl buried her face into the two-tailed vixen’s bosom as though seeking to hide her blush.
“I won’t deny that a child produced by Kevin and My Lady Phoebe would be strong,” Polydora continued. “However, ever since she met him, I feel like My Lady Phoebe has forgotten her purpose. Our entire reason for coming to America was to find strong men that we could have children with. Yet My Lady Phoebe has not even tried to find a strong male, and instead remains fixated on Kevin.”
“Like I said, it’s because Kevin’s the best,” Lilian reiterated.
“Perhaps you are correct. However, your opinion is very biased and not all that reliable.” At her words, Lilian pulled her left eyelid down and stuck her tongue out at the woman. An angry red vein pulsed on Polydora’s forehead, but she didn’t respond to the taunt. “In either event, all of us who followed My Lady Phoebe only have a few more years of fertility left. After we reach twenty-five years of age, our bodies are no longer capable of having children. I am already twenty-three years old, and My Lady Phoebe will be turning nineteen in two months. Our time is running out.”
“You sound like an old maid,” Iris said, grinning as she leaned back. By this point, Christine had finally extricated herself from the vixen’s grip and was now using Lilian as a shield.
Polydora glared at Iris, who ignored the look. “Yama uba have the same lifespan as a human. However, even human women are capable of having children at an older age. None of you need to worry like we do—except for the yuki-onna.”
“I have a name, you know?” Christine muttered.
“My apologies, Lady Christine. I am still not used to addressing you. Please forgive me.”
Polydora’s overly polite apology made Christine blush and look away. “I-it’s fine. Just don’t do it again.”
“Of course. I shall do my best to address you as Lady Christine from now on.”
“Um, no, you don’t need to go that far…” Christine murmured.
“Speaking of mating…” Polydora turned to Lilian. “Why have you not allowed My Lady Phoebe to bare Kevin’s children?”
“Because Kevin doesn’t want to have a kid with Phoebe,” Lilian answered with a “duh” sort of tone, as if the answer should have been obvious. “I don’t think you or Phoebe realize this, but Kevin’s not the kind of person you can just have sex with and then go your separate ways. To him, sex is more than simple fun under the bed sheets, or an act meant to procreate. It’s giving yourself to another person, wholly and unconditionally. That’s why he was so reluctant to sleep with me at first. He wanted to make sure he could dedicate himself to me like I’d dedicated myself to him.”
Lilian paused. Polydora studied her with keen eyes, and Christine was leaning forward, listening to her words as though they were the most important thing she’d ever heard. Iris didn’t look like she was paying attention, but she knew her sister well enough to understand that it was just a ruse.
“That’s also why Kevin didn’t begin sleeping with Iris until me and her were in heat. Like most humans, Kevin believes that relationships are between two people only and can’t include more.”
“Well, they are, aren’t they?” Christine asked.
“Not necessarily,” Polydora answered. “Back in our village, yama uba would often share one man between three, four, and sometimes even five women. A lot of us are related because of that. My Lady Phoebe is actually my half-sister.”
“Kitsune also have many mates in their lifetime,” Iris added. “Even if most of the mates we have are simply a means to an end, it doesn’t change how we’ll mate with someone every mating season. Sometimes we might mate with the same person, but in most cases, after our first mate, it’s rare for us to mate with the same person twice.”
Christine wrinkled her nose. “I don’t understand how you can be so promiscuous.”
“It’s not promiscuity,” Iris defended. “It’s nature. This is just how kitsune are. Asking us to change is like telling humans to stop watching porn, or demanding a dog to stop peeing on a fire hydrant. It’s impossible.”
“Wonderful similes there, sister,” Lilian said.
“Uhuhuhu,” Iris’s perverted old man giggles echoed across the hot spring. “I try my best.”
As the conversation about mating, babies, and Kevin continued, Christine looked at the divider that separated them from the teenager in question.
‘Are nyou thinking about asking Lilian if she’s willing to share?’ the voice that sounded so much like her asked.
Wha—n-no! Of course not!
‘That’s such a shame, nya. It would be a waste nyot to at least ask. Nyou only have until nyou turn twenty-one, nyou knyow.’
Quiet, you shameless bakeneko!
‘Nya-ha-ha!’
Christine stood up rather abruptly, startling the other three girls.
“Is something wrong, Christine?” Lilian asked.
“N-no.” Trying to hide her blush, Christine shook her head. “Nyothing’s wrong—I-I mean nothing is wrong. I’m just feeling a little light headed, so I’m getting out.”
“Speech impediment,” Iris teased in a singsong voice.
“Shut up, Titan Tits!”
“I think I’m done, too,” Lilian declared as she stood up.
“Well, if Lily-pad is getting out, then I’ve got no reason to stay,” Iris said, also standing up.
Polydora hesitated for a moment before, with a sigh, she also climbed to her feet. “It would feel awkward if I was the only one in the hot spring, so I shall get out as well.”
Christine didn’t really want the others following her, but she also didn’t want to tell them they couldn’t follow her. She was stuck in a small quandary, so she did what she always did in situations like this.
Tsundere Protocols: Activated.
“Hmph! You can do whatever you want! It’s not like I care or anything!”
Stepping out of the water, Christine padded along the rocky tiles and entered the changing rooms via the sliding door. Lilian, Iris, and Polydora followed her.
After drying herself off, Christine began the long, complicated process of putting on her lolita outfit. After sliding her panties up her hips, putting on her bra, pulling up her stockings, and donning her dress, she tried to tie her bodice. It was harder than it looked, especially because the ties were in the back.
“Would you like me to help you?” Lilian offered.
Christine was about to say no, but she paused for a moment. A light blue blush slowly crept along her cheeks.
“T-that would be nice… thank you.”
Thumping her chest, Lilian grinned at her. “Leave it to me!”
Christine felt embarrassed as Lilian came up behind her and tightened the bodice of her outfit. She knew there was no reason to feel embarrassed, but it didn’t stop her from feeling this way.
‘Nyow is your chance to ask her.’
Christine tried not to scowl.
I’m not going to ask her if she’d s-s-share… K-K-K… I’m not going to ask her that!
‘Nya, why nyot?’
What do you mean ‘why nyot’?
‘Nyou don’t want to be one of those old hags who lives alone with a bunch of cats, do nyou?’
T-that’s not—shut up! I’m not gonna do something like that! B-Besides, you heard Lilian. Kevin doesn’t want another woman. He’s perfectly content with Lilian.
‘He’s also with Iris.’
…
‘If he’s with Iris, then it means he might be willing to be with someone else, nya. And that someone else is nyou.’
… Shut up.
‘Nya, such a stubborn girl. I’ll be quiet for nyow, but don’t think I’m gonna stay quiet forever.’
“Is something wrong, Christine?” Lilian asked, and the concern in her voice snapped Christine out of her daze.
“N-no. I’m fine.”
“If you say so.” Lilian finished tightening her bodice, then she tied it together. Christine knew she was done when the vixen clapped her hands. “There, all finished.”
“Thank you,” she said in a soft voice.
“You’re welcome.”
The others also finished getting dressed. Iris put on her pants, shirt, and jacket combination. Polydora had been given a makeshift set of clothes by Lilian; jeans and a t-shirt. The shirt was a little baggy because her chest wasn’t as big, and the pants were meant more for Lilian’s shapely hips than her muscular physique, but they fit well enough. Lilian quickly donned her jeans, long-sleeved shirt, and uggs.
Every single one of them was gorgeous. For just a moment, Christine felt an ugly green jealousy boil in her chest. She was ashamed of this feeling, but she couldn’t help it.
Maybe if I was that beautiful, Kevin would have begun dating me instead of them, she couldn’t help but think. It was wrong. She knew that. Kevin wasn’t the type of person who dated people based on their looks but on their personality, on how well he connected with them, on their bond. But there was a part of her that felt like, if she was as pretty as these other girls, then maybe Kevin would have noticed her over them.
“Christine?” Lilian tore her from her thoughts once again.
“W-what?” asked Christine.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Your face took on a pretty scary expression for a moment there.”
Christine needed a moment to realize that she’d been glaring at Lilian. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
I shouldn’t be feeling this way. Lilian is my friend. I should be happy for her.
She thought she had gotten over this after Kevin turned her down at the Halloween dance last year. Apparently, she was wrong.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Christine said before she noticed that Iris was staring at her. “What are you looking at, Monster Mangos?”
“Oh, nothing really.” Iris gave her a mysterious smile. “I was just thinking about how cute you are.”
Christine glared at her. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Of course not. I was being quite serious.”
“Whatever,” Christine grumbled.
The group traveled outside, where Kevin was already waiting for them. Standing next to him was a grumpy-looking Orin and a one-armed Cien.
The look on Kevin’s face gave Christine pause. It was a serious expression, the kind she remembered seeing only once before. He’d possessed that look during their battle with Fan. Seeing it again made her shiver.
“Kevin?” Lilian must have realized that something was wrong. She didn’t use her pet name for him.
“I just got a call from Kotohime,” Kevin said. “She’ll be arriving here tomorrow morning to help us plan a rescue operation.”
Chapter 6
Holiday Shopping
Despite the knowledge that Kotohime would arrive sometime tomorrow, there wasn’t much they could do at the moment. He supposed they could’ve tried to make a basic plan, but again, without Kotohime present, their ability to conceive a proper plan was hindered. When creating any plan, one had to consider many variables, a number of which they wouldn’t know until Kotohime arrived with the rescue team she was putting together.
Since it was midday, everyone went their separate ways. Cien had gone off to be alone. Kevin wasn’t worried, since the barrier that kept people from getting in also kept them from leaving. Lilian was currently working on her manga, and knowing Iris like he did, the insatiable vixen was probably hovering around her sister—or she was unconscious. Kevin wouldn’t have been surprised if Lilian had already knocked her fraternal twin out because Iris was annoying her. Polydora had said she wanted to be alone and disappeared. She was probably fretting about Phoebe.
“Thanks for coming with me to the market, Christine. I appreciate it.”
Kevin had decided to go back to Nelsonville, the small town located an hour from New Genbu, to do some shopping. He wanted to make Lilian and the others a nice dinner. He would’ve done some shopping at the small market in New Genbu, but all of the yōkai still feared and hated him. It would be better if he kept his distance.
Christine’s cheeks turned blue.
“I-it’s… it’s nothing,” Christine mumbled, poking her fingers together. Kevin had to admit it was pretty dang adorable. “I’m glad I could… help out and stuff.”
Kevin grinned at the girl. “You’re a big help.”
Poof!
Steam burst from the yuki-onna’s head as her face gained a darker hue.
“Ah… ah…” she tried to say something, but her throat seemed to have closed up. Kevin realized that his words must have embarrassed her. Christine became easily embarrassed over even simple compliments.
&nb
sp; Knowing better than to let on that he was aware of her mortification, Kevin smoothly changed the subject. “Anyway, I’ve got my list here. Can you lead me to the nearest grocery store?”
Christine quickly shook herself from her stupor and regained her lost composure, though a light dusting of blue still remained on her face. “O-of course I can. Come on, there’s only one grocery store in this place. I’ll take you there.”
The air that afternoon was chilly. Kevin guessed it was because the date was December 21st. As he and Christine walked through the small city, he noticed that many of the buildings had been decorated. Lights were strewn across rooftops, hung from shingles, and wound around lamp posts and streetlights. Fake snow covered the ground, and there were a number of Santas sitting on sleds, eight plastic reindeer pretending to pull them.
That’s right. It’s almost Christmas. With everything that’s happened, I completely forgot about it. I also haven’t been able to buy anyone presents.
He’d even forgotten to buy Lilian a gift. Last year, he’d taken Lilian out to eat and bought her a really nice present, but this year he had nothing. What kind of boyfriend, what kind of mate, forgot to buy their significant other a gift?
There’s nothing for it.
Nodding to himself, Kevin made a decision.
“Christine, change of plans. We’re not going grocery shopping yet.”
“We’re not?” Christine gawked at him.
“Nope.” Kevin grinned at the lolita-dressed girl. “We’re going Christmas shopping.”
Christine blinked once, twice, thrice.
“… Heh?”
Christine sat on the train seat, nervously clutching the fabric of her dress. Sitting in the opposite seat, Kevin stared out the window. He was the reason for her anxiety.
W-why are we leaving town together? He said we were going Christmas shopping, but to leave town and travel all the way to Lancaster? Alone?
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