A Fox's War

by Brandon Varnell

  I don’t want to know what Iris might have bribed them with.

  “How did you convince me into this?” Kevin asked as he followed Iris through the bath house. He noticed, with a sense of clinical detachment, that they were going to the female’s side.

  “Because you love me and want to make me happy?” Iris suggested. She was leading him by the hand, walking with a sensual confidence as only she could. Kevin’s eyes were invariably drawn towards her butt as she sashayed her hips.

  “Because I love you,” Kevin repeated with a sigh.

  Iris turned her head and grinned. “Was that admittance, or are you just repeating what I say?”

  “Maybe a bit of both,” Kevin confessed.

  He frowned when Iris turned her head back to the front. He wondered if he’d said something weird, but before he could ask, they arrived at the locker room.

  “Come on, Stud. Let’s strip you of those clothes.”

  Grinning like a lecherous old man, Iris grabbed at his shorts and shirt, trying her best to pull them off.

  “Stop that! I can take my clothes off by myself, thank you very much!”

  “Uhuhuhu, don’t be like that, Stud. Let this beautiful vixen strip you down.”

  “Don’t talk about yourself in the third person! And let go of my shorts!”

  In the end, Kevin let Iris have her way. It wasn’t like she hadn’t taken his clothes off before anyway.

  “I really do love how… sturdy you’ve become.” Iris’s eyes trailed down his body. “You were such a scrawny kid when we first met.”

  “I wasn’t that skinny.” Kevin scowled as he tightened the towel around his waist. “Aren’t you going to wear a towel?”

  Iris was also naked, having stripped after stripping him. She looked down at herself. Unlike him, she wasn’t wearing a towel. Hair fell about her body, long and darker than raven’s feathers, like a curtain of shimmering silk. Several strands hid the sacred parts of her body, offering only a tantalizing glimpse of her most intimate places. Kevin continued letting his gaze wander down, past prominent bust, shapely hips, and long legs. He blinked several times when he saw her cute toes wiggle against the tile.

  He groaned. I do not have a foot fetish!

  “Are you done admiring my beauty?” asked Iris.

  Kevin shook his strange thoughts off and shrugged. “For now.”

  “Good answer.”

  Much like the rest of this place, the baths were completely empty. Iris led him to the showers, which they both used to rinse off the day’s accumulated grime. Kevin didn’t bother hiding his erection as Iris washed his hair. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it before. After she had determined that he was clean, she made him wash her.

  Kevin was already intimately familiar with Iris’s body. However, despite having already seen it dozens—maybe even hundreds—of times, it never made the sight any less stunning. Iris was perfect. There was simply no other way to describe it.

  It wasn’t just her body that made her so perfect, however. It was how she acted. Physically speaking, she and Lilian were nearly identical—minus the differences in hair and eye color. What made them so different, what made Iris so much sexier, was how every action that she made was designed with the intention of bringing attention to herself. It was extremely arrogant, but damn if it wasn’t effective.

  “All done? Good. Now let’s relax before your big date.”

  “My what?” Kevin blinked. “Did you say date?”

  “That’s right. But never mind that right now. This is our time together. Sit down right here.”

  Kevin sat down in the large tub. He’d barely gotten seated before Iris sat between his legs, close enough that her butt was rubbing against him. His arms moved on instinct, wrapping around her waist before he was consciously aware of it. Iris nodded in approval.

  “Isn’t this nice?” she asked.

  “… It is.”

  “Why did you hesitate before saying that? I know!” Iris grabbed Kevin’s hands, taking them off her waist and placing them on her breasts. His fingers twitched as he felt her nipples stiffen. “There, isn’t that better?”

  “Iris…”

  “Does it still make you uncomfortable?”

  Kevin didn’t need her to elaborate to know what she was talking about. “A-a little. This… what we’re doing… it still feels wrong to me.”

  Nodding, Iris spoke almost idly, even as her hands went over his, manipulating them into groping her breasts. “I suppose I can understand that. Living your whole life in human society would do that to anyone—even the yokai who’ve been raised in human society act more human than yokai. Give it some time and this will feel as natural to you as breathing.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about my morals being corrupted like that.”

  “I prefer to call it liberation myself.”

  With a dry chuckle, Kevin leaned down and pressed his lips against her shoulder. Iris hummed pleasantly.

  “Iris… do you mind if I ask what you see in me?”

  “You want to know why I love you?” Kevin twitched at the word. It was the first time that Iris had ever said that she loved him. Iris grinned as if she could see inside his thoughts. “Are you surprised?”

  “A little.”

  “Hnnn…” Iris hummed again as she arced her back against him, the action thrusting out her chest, which gave Kevin even more incentive to play with her breasts. “Why do I love you indeed? Honestly, I think the reason is quite simple.”

  “If you say it’s because I’m the main protagonist, I’m going to shun you.”

  “Uhuhu, you know me too well, but that isn’t the reason.” Settling back down, Iris made herself comfortable before continuing. “If I had to give a single reason, I would say it’s because you make Lilian happy. I love my sister, but I can’t give her the happiness that you can.” Turning her head, Iris sent him a bitter smile. “I was quite resentful of you for that for a while.”

  “I know,” Kevin said dryly. “Believe me. I am well aware of that.”

  “Just making sure.” Iris turned, sitting lengthwise across Kevin’s legs and using one of his shoulders as a pillow. “Of course, that’s not really the only reason. I think you know that, because of what I am, I’m not very well liked.”

  Void Kitsune were generally hated by other kitsune. It was because of their connection to the Void, that insidious power that desired to consume everything. No one knew where the Void came from, or what it was, and because of that, those who were connected to it were feared and despised by others. Kevin knew this, having been taught by Kotohime.

  “Despite being what I am and despite the things that I’ve done to you, you still accepted me,” Iris continued, and for the first time in a long time, the look on her face was neither playful nor seductive. It was earnest and open. It made her truly resemble her sister. “Not only did you accept me, but when I was on the verge of being consumed by the Void, you saved me. At the cost of having your existence erased, you reached into the Void and pulled me out. No one else has ever done that for me before.”

  “Iris… I just…”

  “No.” Iris put a finger to his lips. “I know what you’re going to say, and you’re wrong. You didn’t do what anyone else would have done. Don’t even bother using cliché lines like that, especially when they’re not true.”

  Kevin grabbed Iris’s hand and pulled it away from his mouth. “I wasn’t going to say that.” He entwined his fingers through hers.

  Iris snorted. “Sure, you weren’t.”

  Grinning, Kevin decided to ask the question that had been on his mind since Christine’s massage. “So, what’s all this for?”

  “Maybe we just want to do something nice for you.” When Kevin’s expression turned flat, Iris chuckled. “It was Lilian’s idea, actually. She noticed that you were depressed and told us that we should do something to cheer you up.”

  “Lilian, huh?”

  Somehow, that did not surprise him. Lil
ian always seemed to know when he was feeling down. She was the only one who could read him so thoroughly.

  “I suggested a foursome,” Iris said proudly.

  “I bet that went over well.”

  “Christine froze me.”

  “I assumed as much.” Kevin paused. “And why did you decide on a bath of all things?”

  “Because I don’t have anything else to offer.” Iris shrugged. “I’m not like Lilian and Christine. I don’t like watching anime or reading manga. I’m not into video games. I don’t care about fashion. There is only one activity that I really care for. Sex. Acts of passion. Skinship. Call it whatever you want. That’s the only thing that I’m interested in.”

  Kevin had already figured that out. Whenever he and the others did something, Iris was always a part of their group, but she was also separate from them. She didn’t do activities with them. When they watched anime, she spent more time watching Lilian. When he and Lilian read manga, she was antagonizing Christine. When they played video games, she would politely decline when it was her turn.

  Lilian once told him that Iris had been trained by Delphine Pnevma, their clan’s matriarch, to become the clan’s greatest seductress. Every technique used to seduce both men and women, Iris knew. Every skill necessary to please either gender, Iris had perfected. In some ways, Iris had been born for the role—even her personality, twisted as it was by the Void, made her perfectly suited to seducing and sleeping with others.

  Kevin thought it was disgusting—not Iris, but what had been done to her. While that moment where Lilian and Iris went into heat had been the catalyst that made him decide to accept her, it was learning about her past that made him try harder to be a better boyfriend. If nothing else, he wanted to provide Iris with a loving environment, where she could feel accepted regardless of what had been done to her.

  “I’m sure there is something out there besides sex that you can enjoy,” he said at last.

  “You can believe that if you want to. Me? I’ll be perfectly content if you and Lilian continue fucking me like you have for the past several months.”

  She shifted again, turning her body until she was straddling his legs. Now, facing each other, Iris could press her front against his.

  Consumed with desire, Kevin didn’t allow himself to hesitate as he grabbed the back of Iris’s head and pulled her into a searing kiss. Yet even as he let his passions control him, Kevin made himself a promise. He was going to help Iris become more than what she currently was, more than what the matriarch had intended her to be, not because he was, in her words, a harem protagonist, but because Iris was important to him, and he wanted her to be happy.

  In the end, that was all it came down to.

  Kuroneko’s maid cafe, Cafe Yokai, lacked the enthusiasm that it used to. Knowledge of their mistress’s disappearance had left many of the employees in a funk. The only one who remained positive was, oddly enough, Hina, the kijo. She kept an upbeat attitude. Everyone else seemed listless.

  “What can I get you three, nya?” asked a depressed nekomimi.

  “I want this!” Sarah said, pointing at an item on the menu.

  The cat-girl looked at the item, then jotted down the order on her notepad. After which, she looked at Kiara and Kandice. “And you two?”

  “I’ll have a rice omelet,” Kiara said at last.

  “Can I have your curry, please?” Kandice ordered.

  “All right. That’s one order of rice balls, one rice omelet, and one curry. Would you like anything else?”

  “No,” Kiara said for all of them. “We’re fine, thank you.”

  “This place seems pretty dead,” Kandice muttered as the nekomimi left.

  “This cafe belongs to Kuroneko—well, it belonged to Kuroneko. Your presence has basically confirmed that Kuroneko is likely dead, and word spreads fast in a small community like this.”

  “I see.” Kandice looked away. “Sorry.”

  Kiara shrugged. “It would’ve happened eventually. Even if you hadn’t arrived, we would’ve found out about what happened before too long.”

  “I guess.”

  “Ne, ne,” Sarah interrupted them. “What are you two talking about?”

  “Something that a kid wouldn’t understand,” Kiara snarked. She knew that Sarah was actually older than her, but with the woman’s current attitude, it was hard to hold the phoenix in reverence.

  Sarah puffed out her cheeks. “I’m not a kid.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “Can I ask what’s going to happen to us?” asked Kandice, interrupting them before an argument could get started.

  “I’m not sure what’s going to happen to Sarah, but Mack has already enrolled you in school. I guess he’s hoping that you’ll be able to live a mostly normal life.” Kiara shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. I know a number of kids who attend school that you’ll get along with greatly.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Kandice muttered.

  Their meals were brought out several minutes later. The rest of their time in the cafe was spent silently eating and trying to keep Sarah from making a mess when she learned that rice balls made good projectiles.

  When Kevin arrived home from the bath house, it was to find Lilian standing outside of the apartment. She wasn’t wearing her usual jean shorts and off-the-shoulder green shirt.

  The dress that she wore was a simple white sundress. It contrasted well with her hair and brought out her vibrant green eyes. She was wearing a new pair of sandals, which had been a surprise Christmas gift from Iris. In her left hand was a basket.

  “He’s all ready for you, Lily-pad,” Iris said, walking up to the redhead. Planting a kiss on her sister’s lips, she moved past them and headed inside. “Have fun, you two.”

  “So, what’s the plan?” Kevin asked.

  Lilian grinned. “Ufufufu, we’re going to have dinner and watch a movie.”

  “Eh?”

  Kevin soon learned what Lilian meant by “dinner and a movie.” Grabbing him by the hand, Lilian led him to a grassy field, where a large screen had been set up. Kevin noticed a projector several yards away, which Kotohime was manning. Kirihime and Camellia were next to her, though they seemed more engrossed in playing with plushies than what she was doing.

  “Come on. Sit down, Beloved.”

  Lilian had chosen a spot underneath a tree. She spread out a blanket and pulled two sets of plates and utensils from the basket.

  The food that night was pasta with marinara and meatballs. As Lilian opened the container that it was in, a rich and thick aroma wafted from it. Kevin’s stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

  “Wow… that smells amazing,” Kevin said as Lilian served both him and her a plate of pasta. “You made this, didn’t you?” It wasn’t a question. Kevin knew this was Lilian’s cooking, which always had a distinct scent because of the spices she used.

  “Ufufufu, yep! I spent all afternoon while you were with Christine and Iris making this. The meatballs took an especially long time to cook because I had to use a slow cooker.”

  “You didn’t have to go this far.”

  “What are you talking about? It’s not a matter of whether or not I had to go this far. I wanted to do this for you.”

  Kevin wondered if the warmth in his heart, which always spread through him when Lilian said things like this, would ever fade. He hoped not. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he wanted this feeling to last forever.

  “Thank you.”

  He and Lilian conversed while they ate. Kevin told her about his sparring with Kiara’s three disciples, while Lilian talked about her manga. She was apparently getting the hang of using the Wacom tablet. At the very least, she’d managed to create semi-decent thumbnail panels—or so she said.

  After they finished dinner, he and Lilian put their plates and the pasta container back into the basket. Then Kevin grabbed the blanket and leaned against the tree. Lilian snuggled herself in between his legs, a
nd he folded his arms around her, wrapping them both in the blanket. In return, Lilian’s tails coiled around his legs.

  That must have been some kind of signal, because Kotohime started the movie seconds later. Kevin immediately recognized it. Wolf Children. An animated movie directed by Mamoru Hosoda. It was one of his favorite animated movies.

  Kevin set his chin on Lilian’s shoulder. “Thank you for doing this, Lilian, and, I’m sorry for being such a downer these past two days.”

  Lilian shook her head. “You don’t need to worry about that. I’m always going to be here for you.”

  As the story about a young woman who fell in love with a wolfman unfolded on the screen, Kevin decided to tell Lilian everything. He didn’t want to keep this a secret from her. He told her about his father—about the man known as Commander Paine, who was the leader of their enemies and the one who’d started this war—and everything else that he knew.

  Lilian waited until he was finished before speaking. “Are you going to tell Christine and Iris?”

  “Yes,” Kevin said immediately. “I don’t want to keep this a secret from them, but I wanted to tell you first.”

  He could tell that his words pleased her. Lilian’s foxy ears had perked right up, there was a blush on her cheeks, and her smile could’ve outshone the sun. She changed positions, turning in his arms so that she could lean up and kiss him. Kevin returned the kiss, sinking into the softness of her lips and the feelings that she invoked within him. When they parted for air, Lilian looked up at him with a tender smile and an effervescent light in her eyes.

  “Thank you for always putting me first,” Lilian said. “However, make sure you also tell Iris and Christine as soon as we get home, okay?”

  “Okay,” Kevin agreed.

  Snuggling together underneath the blanket, inside of an underground city, hidden in the midst of a war, Kevin and Lilian turned back to the screen so they could continue watching Wolf Children.

  They really did love their anime.