A Fox's War

by Brandon Varnell

  She found Iris standing several dozen yards from the apartment. With her hand against a tree, the twin-tailed vixen leaned ever so slightly, as if she was about to topple and the tree was all that kept her upright.

  “Iris…”

  “That arrogant bastard!” Iris snarled. “Does he really think that I would stay here after everything that’s happened between us?”

  “I think he’s trying to act mature,” Christine said, though even she would admit that she was angry at him. The way he’d said they should stay in Neo Seiryuu while Lilian went with him made her feel like he didn’t trust them.

  “I don’t care what he’s trying to do,” Iris growled. “He’s treating me like an invalid! And I… I really… worry for them, you know?”

  Christine didn’t say anything. It wasn’t often that Iris acted this open, this honest.

  “You and Lilian and Kevin, you’re all I have. I’m not like Lilian, who can make friends with everybody she meets, and I don’t have Kevin’s determination and will. The only thing I’ve ever been good for is looking sexy.”

  That was so unbelievably arrogant, but I can’t deny that it’s also true.

  “Is that why you train with them?” asked Christine.

  “Yeah.” Leaning her back against the tree, her chest even now erotically thrust out, she looked up at the dome covering their heads and sighed. “If I’m being honest with myself, that’s the only reason I began training. Those two are always getting into danger, getting mixed up in things that other people just don’t get mixed up in. I want to look out for them. I… I really love them, ya know?”

  “I know.” Christine took a deep breath. “I… I l-like them… too.”

  Iris snorted. “So, you can’t say that you love them even now, huh? I like your kitten side better.”

  “Shut up!” Christine shouted, then blinked. “Wait. What?”

  “Nothing.” Iris shook her head, then became serious. “I don’t want those two going off into danger on their own.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  Christine shrugged. “We could always steal a couple of uniforms and sneak onto the mission.”

  “That… is actually a really great idea.”

  Iris’s expression brightened. Christine barely had time to comprehend what was happening before her friend was lifting her into the air and twirling her around, laughing like a loon.

  “W-what the hell are you doing?! Put me down!”

  Iris did set her down, but only so she could lean down and plant a wet one on her lips. Christine froze like a block of ice as warm, soft lips pushed against hers in a kiss that actually caused her to moan. When Iris pulled back, she presented her with a grin so bright that Christine would have mistaken her for Lilian.

  “I love you, Christine.”

  “W-w-w-what the hell do you think you’re doing?! Don’t go stealing my first kiss!”

  “First kiss?” Iris’s grin was as devious as they came. “I thought you and Lindsay had already shared a passionate lip lock.”

  “That one didn’t count! Don’t remind me of that!”

  “Then why don’t we just say this one didn’t count either?”

  With a giggle and a skip, Iris ran away from Christine, who chased after her, both physically and with spikes of icy doom. Yet even as she tried to impale her friend, Christine felt relieved. Someone like Iris, who was arrogant and narcissistic, should never act so angry and despondent. She was glad that she could help her friend.

  Now all we need to do is find a way to steal a couple of uniforms and sneak onto the mission.

  Christine sighed. The things that she did for her friends.

  Eleven

  Mission Start

  Kevin woke up early the next morning out of habit. He normally woke up to exercise, but since he was going on a mission, he didn’t plan on exercising that morning. Laying within the warm embrace of three bodies, he slowly closed his eyes and was just about to drift back to sleep…

  … Wait a minute. Three bodies?

  Opening his eyes again, Kevin realized that, indeed, there were three people sleeping with him. What was…

  Ah, that’s right. I’ve been sleeping in the living room with Lilian, Christine, and Iris.

  That still didn’t explain why they were all so close to him. Lilian and Iris he could understand, but what about Christine? Had she somehow crawled onto him in the middle of the night?

  He lifted his head to gaze at Christine, who was lying on top of him. Her long hair was spread out like a shimmering curtain of black silk threads. He could see her pale skin peeking out from between her hair. Her eyes were closed, and her eyelashes, while not long, stood out starkly against her skin. Much like her normal attire, her pajamas consisted of a long black dress with a multitude of frills.

  The other two were lying on either side of him, essentially hemming him in.

  Kevin squirmed as he tried to wiggle his way out. Unfortunately, as he was attempting to move, Christine must have sensed him. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He stiffened. Her actions had caused the hem of her pajamas to bunch up around her waist. What’s more, he could feel her panty-covered crotch rubbing against his morning wood.

  This… this is really not good…

  His breathing was growing unsteady as Christine, having possibly sensed the heat emanating from his boxers, rubbed herself against him. Kevin bit his lip to stifle a moan. A current of pleasure like electricity traveling through his body caused him to arc his back. Christine gasped as he pushed against her.

  Oh, crap! Oh, crap. Oh, crap. Oh, crap. This is not good. I have to get out of this situation before she wakes up!

  Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps he was just unlucky, but Christine chose that moment to wake up. With a groan, she placed her hands on his chest and lifted herself up. This had the unfortunate side effect of wedging his erection between her small butt cheeks, but she didn’t seem to notice.

  Kevin stilled as she raised one hand and rubbed her eyes.

  “Kevin…?” She blinked as she looked down at him.

  “Um… g-good morning, Christine.”

  Kevin could see the slow dawning of realization enter Christine’s eyes. She looked down at where her crotch, covered only by her panties, was rubbing against him. While she couldn’t see it, she could no doubt tell that his hot rod was stuck against her trunk. She looked back up at his face.

  “Please don’t kill me,” Kevin said seriously.

  Christine’s face turned blue. The resounding noise of a hand meeting Kevin’s cheek echoed throughout the apartment.

  “Could you please pass me the milk?”

  “Here you go, Beloved.”

  “Thank you.”

  Kevin grabbed the cup of milk from the furry red tail and poured it into the pan. The sound of sizzling filled the air as Kevin used a wooden spoon to stir the contents. Standing beside him, hovering over the cooking bacon, which crackled and popped as the fatty oils burned, was Lilian.

  “How’s your face?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “It’s red.”

  “I know.”

  “Bright red.”

  “… I know.”

  “Christine has the finest pimp hand I have ever seen.”

  That morning, he and Lilian were making breakfast. It was a simple meal consisting of eggs and bacon. Kotohime had been going to make something, but since Kevin was already awake, and Lilian had woken up after Christine smacked him, they had told their maid to get some more rest. After all, she was also taking part in the mission to stop Kevin’s old man from enacting his plan.

  Breakfast was soon finished and everyone gathered around the table. There was little in the way of talking that morning, which Kevin assumed was because Iris and Christine were still mad at him. He felt bad about telling them they couldn’t go on this mission. However, he also knew that, since this was a military operation, having too many civilians would b
e a hindrance. Special permission had been granted for him to take part, and Lilian was coming because she was his mate. Iris and Christine had not been allowed to come. Somehow, Kevin didn’t believe that Mack would let them, even if he asked.

  After breakfast, everyone gathered outside. Kevin and Lilian were already wearing their enhancement suits. The black leathery substance, which protected them from elemental and cutting damage, reflected the massive lamps that acted as simulated sunlight. Attached to his thighs were his guns, a dozen ammo clips were strapped across his back, and his new jet-black knife sat in Kotohime’s holster inside of his right boot.

  “Well, this is it,” Kevin said unsurely. He felt like a young man saying good bye to his loved ones as he headed off to fight in a war.

  “Yeah, I guess it is,” Iris said in an uncaring tone. Kevin winced. She really was still mad at him.

  There’s no way I can let things go on like this—not before I’m going to leave. It might as well be the same as raising a death flag.

  “Iris.”

  “Hm?”

  Iris’s eyes widened when Kevin pushed her against the door. Her moan was hampered when he placed his mouth over hers. Grabbing her hands, he raised them above her head, pressing them against the door as he laced their fingers together. Iris didn’t even bother resisting. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, and she welcomed the intrusion, moaning as she writhed against his body.

  When Kevin pulled back, they were both breathing heavily. However, it was Iris’s skin which had grown flushed.

  “That…” She took a deep, shaky breath. “That wasn’t bad… I’ll give you an eight out of ten.”

  “If you’re joking around like this, does that mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not. Consider yourself lucky, though. If you weren’t so damn lovable, I wouldn’t be this forgiving.”

  Kevin smiled. If she didn’t love him, then she wouldn’t have cared enough to get angry in the first place.

  Letting Iris go, he stepped back. Without his weight keeping her up, the vixen sagged. Fortunately for her, she only had a minute before Lilian helped her up. Of course, considering Lilian followed her actions with a kiss that was every bit as passionate as Kevin’s that didn’t mean much.

  Knowing better than to watch Iris and Lilian make out, lest he become aroused and end up walking around with a stiffy, Kevin turned to Christine. The yuki-onna looked at the two females as they passionately kissed with an expression that mixed disgust with fascination.

  “I still think it’s disgusting to see those two sucking face like that,” Christine admitted.

  Kevin flinched. “I don’t really blame you.”

  “Hawa,” Camellia moved toward the kissing kitsune, “Camellia too.”

  She was stopped by Kirihime grabbing her by the toga. “I-I do not think a mother should kiss her daughters like that.”

  “Ufufufu, how sinful.”

  “Hawa…”

  Christine shook her head, as if resigning herself to the stupidity happening around her. Then she looked at Kevin.

  “Um…” Kevin didn’t know what to say. “T-take care of yourself, okay?”

  Christine bit her lip. She hesitated, but then she muttered something under her breath, stepped forward, wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face into his chest.

  “C-Christine?”

  “Be careful, okay?”

  Relaxing, Kevin returned Christine’s hug. “Yeah, I will. You can count on it.”

  Iris watched as Kevin, Lilian, and Kotohime disappeared. When she was sure that they were gone, she turned to Christine, who stood next to her.

  “Are you ready?” she asked.

  Christine nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Good. We’ll be following behind them in just a bit.”

  “I just have one question.”

  “What’s that?”

  Christine pointed to Camellia and Kirihime. “How are we going to get away from those two?”

  Iris grinned. “You leave that to me. Hey, Mom?”

  “Hawa?” Camellia looked at her.

  “I think I heard Wan-chan say that he wants to take a bath with you.”

  Wan-chan was the name of the dog plushie that Lilian had bought for Camellia. The five-tails often played with Wan-chan and Sayuri—the fox plushie—together.

  “Wan-chan! Bath! I wanna take a bath with Wan-chan!”

  “M-My Lady! Please don’t run! You’re going to trip!”

  “Hawa!”

  Iris chuckled as Camellia and Kirihime disappeared from sight. No doubt they were going to grab Wan-chan, then head to the bathhouse.

  “There, you see? Problem solved.”

  Christine sighed. “Whatever. Let’s just get going.”

  Knowing that they had to leave quickly if they wanted to sneak onto the mission, Christine and Iris took off.

  Don’t think you two can leave me behind.

  A new day was dawning, but, due to the cavernous dome overhead, which blocked out the sky, neither Christine nor Iris could see it.

  Kevin and Lilian stood nervously next to Kotohime, Kiara, Heather, Phoebe, and her group of yama uba.

  They were inside of a large room filled with electronic equipment. It seemed as if all of Neo Seiryuu’s defenders were here with them. Humans and yokai stood around in groups, mingling. Their chatter flowed over him, which didn’t ease his nerves in the least.

  A hand clutched his tightly. Lilian’s. He could tell from the way it shook that she was just as nervous as him. While they’d both experienced a lot of dangerous situations, going on a military campaign of this caliber was a first for them.

  “Settle down everyone,” Mack said. Stepping in front of the crowd, he addressed all the people present. “Listen to me as I go through our plan of attack. We’ve learned from our spies that the missiles are currently being transported by three different means: land, sea, and air. We believe that two of these methods are feints designed to draw our attention away from the real transportation method. Because we were unable to determine which method is the real one, we’ll be going after all three.”

  There was a large board with a map of the United States behind him. Three red lines ran through the map like the trails leading to untold riches.

  “These are the three routes they plan on taking. The one by land is traveling through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, all the way to Virginia. The air route is taking a more roundabout approach, going from Colorado to Wisconsin, New York, then Virginia. The sea route will be traveling through the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Sea.”

  As he spoke, he pointed out each route with a laser pointer. When he finished, he turned back to the crowd.

  “We’ll be splitting up into four groups: the land group, air group, sea group, and the backup squad. The air group will consist of flying yokai and Nelson’s air force squadron. The sea group will be headed by Heather and all of the water yokai, plus a squadron from the Navy Seal’s forty-seventh underwater combat unit. The commander for the ground unit will be Kiara, who’ll be leading a squadron of earth yokai and human infantry to intercept the train that the missiles are supposed to be in.”

  Mack took a moment to regain his breath. Kevin imagined it was hard talking that much.

  “The last group will be our backup and containment squad. They’re going to be in charge of confronting and detaining the Sons and Daughters of Humanity’s leader, Commander Ethan Paine. Kotohime, you’re in charge of this group.”

  With mirthful eyes, Kotohime hid her curling lips behind the sleeve of her kimono and giggled. “Ufufufu, leave it to me.”

  Mack clapped his hands. “All right, everyone! You have your assignments! Now you need to move! The operation is starting in fifteen minutes!”

  As the massive crowd split up, Kevin and Lilian followed Kotohime. The mission would be starting soon. They needed to make sure they were ready.

  Two soldiers entered the locker roo
m at the same time. Both were male. Both belonged to the containment group. As the door closed behind them, they went straight to their lockers.

  Neither of them noticed the figure standing by the door.

  At least, not until she spoke up.

  “Hello there, boys. Could you give me a hand?”

  Both men stiffened in shock, yet they were still trained professionals. They pulled out their small 22mm pistols, spun around, and trained their weapons on the figure.

  They froze.

  She was gorgeous—no, she was more than that. Gorgeous implied mere beauty, and this woman, this creature’s exquisiteness went beyond the physical. Sex. Lust. Desire. It was as if this woman, whose hair scintillated around her body and captured sunlight, was the physical embodiment of these traits. The way her breasts heaved as she thrust out her chest sent their heart rates skyrocketing. Her shorts, which wound so tightly around her hips and crotch that she had a cameltoe, made them immediately become erect.

  She smiled at them, and it was all they could do not to faint. When she beckoned them forward, a single index finger giving them a “come hither” gesture, they obeyed.

  Neither of them saw the large chunks of ice that had formed above their heads.

  The last thing they heard was a loud crack. The last thing they saw was the beautiful creature’s grinning face. Then darkness descended upon them.

  Christine stared at Iris in disgust as the twin-tailed vixen stripped off her clothes. “Did you really have to use your powers like that?”

  “I’m not sure,” Iris admitted as she pulled on the pants that she’d discovered in one of the soldier’s now opened lockers. “But those guys are professionals. I thought it would be better to hit them with everything that I have. Better to be safe than sorry, right?”

  “I guess.”

  Christine turned to the uniform that she would be wearing. Putting it on, she wrinkled her nose—not only because of how large it was, but also due to the smell.