A Fox's Mission Read online

  Written by Brandon Varnell

  Edited by Crystal Holdefer

  Illustrated by Kirsten Moody

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  A Fox's Mission

  Copyright © 2019 Brandon Varnell

  Illustration Copyright © 2019 Kirsten Moody

  All rights reserved.

  Brandon Varnell and Kitsune Incorporated supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use the material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  To see Brandon Varnell’s other works, or to ask for permission to use his works, visit him at www.varnell-brandon.com , Facebook , Twitter , Patreon , and Instagram .

  If you’d like to know when I’m releasing a new book, you can sign up for my mailing list .

  ISBN: 978-1-7011-5324-0

  Contents

  Words You Should Know

  Reminder

  Characters

  Art

  1. The Third Saint

  2. Becoming a Magical Girl

  3. The Troubles of a Human High School Student

  4. Prejudice

  5. Making Plans

  6. Holiday Shopping

  7. Heart Problems

  8. Honor Duel

  9. Operation Commence

  10. I Hate Spiders

  11. Ōtsuchigumo

  12. Hebi

  13. The Eight-Headed Snake

  14. After Party

  Afterword

  Sneak Peak

  Manga Page 1

  Manga Page 2

  Manga Page 3

  Manga Page 4

  Hey, did you know?

  Brandon’s LNs

  American Kitsune

  A Most Unlikely Hero

  Arcadia’s Knight

  Journey of a Betrayed Hero

  Rift

  Executioner

  Follow me!

  Words you should know:

  Onikuma: a mythological Japanese yōkai originating in the Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture. It is a bear-like creature that has been known to walk upright.

  Tsuchigumo: Tsuchigumo, literally translated "dirt/earth spider", is a historical Japanese derogatory term for renegade local clans, and also the name for a race of spider-like yōkai in Japanese folklore. Alternate names for the mythological Tsuchigumo include yatsukahagi and ōgumo.

  Hebi: The word for snake in Japanese. It is also a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province of China… but that isn’t important to this story.

  REMINDER

  Lilian: This is just a friendly reminder to please consider leaving a review if you enjoy the author’s work!

  Iris: The author is prone to crying when you don’t. He’s such a baby.

  Author: I am not!

  Lilian & Iris: You are too.

  Author: Stop being mean to meeeeeee! T_T

  Chapter 1

  The Third Saint

  Despite being mostly empty, Full Brooks Café managed to convey a friendly atmosphere. Warm wood floors and lightly colored walls were illuminated by the natural sunlight that filtered in through the window. A few lamps sat in corners where the sunlight didn’t reach. Several tables sat in the center of the café, while booths lined the wall farthest from the kitchen.

  Kevin and his companions had taken a booth. Lilian sat next to him, sipping at her caramel mocha latte, while Iris and Christine sat on the opposite side. Several empty plates sat on the table, remnants from their recently finished lunch.

  Christine was a yuki-onna—a yōkai race consisting only of women. Yuki-Onna had powers over ice and generally preferred colder climates, which made their friend something of an oddball, since she hated anything cold. She ate hot foods, drank hot drinks, and lived—or used to live—in a desert well known for its nearly unbearable heat. Her porcelain skin, which reminded him of a doll, and her ice-blue eyes, which sparkled in the light as though made from ice, were clear indicators of her origins.

  But Christine wasn’t just a yuki-onna. Kevin knew that she also had bakeneko blood in her. He wondered if her small, doll-like body had something to do with the two contrasting yōkai types stunting her growth. He didn’t really know.

  She hadn’t changed since the last time he’d seen her. Her tiny figure was still clad in the same black gothic lolita attire as before, and even her personality seemed to be the same. Upon first greeting him, Christine had blushed, stuttered, and then gotten angry. He was just glad she hadn’t gone full tsun-loli on him. He didn’t want their relationship to be like the one between Saito Hiraga and Louise Francoise.

  “Wow, I can’t believe we’d run into each other out here, of all places,” Kevin said with a grin. “I’m glad to see you’ve been doing well for yourself, though. When we returned from Greece and learned that you’d left, all of us grew really worried.”

  “W-worried?!” Christine squeaked, her cheeks seeming to frost over. When a yuki-onna blushed, their cheeks turned blue instead of red.

  “That’s right. Ah! But we still had faith that you’d be okay,” Kevin assured the girl. “We knew you could take care of yourself.”

  “Speak for yourselves,” Iris said. “I thought she’d get herself killed.”

  “Shut up!” Christine snapped at the vixen. “You mind your own business and let Kevin compliment me!”

  … A moment of silence passed.

  “Did she just…?” Lilian started, her eyes wide with wonder.

  “… Admit that she enjoys it when the stud compliments her?” Iris finished, appearing equally surprised, though not for long. An amused look swiftly replaced the shock. “Uhuhuhu.”

  Christine also seemed to have realized how her words could be taken. She squeaked, and steam burst from her ears like heat from a lava vent.

  “T-t-t-that’s not what I meant! I just—I mean, I don’t get many of those! Shut up! It’s just nice to hear that someone has faith in me! That’s all!”

  “Calm down,” Iris chuckled, patting the girl on the head. “We’re just messing with you. Ah, I missed that tsundere personality of yours.”

  “Who’s a tsundere?!”

  “But seriously, Christine, what are you doing all the way out here?” Lilian asked before taking a sip of her latte again. She came away with a brown foam mustache on her upper lip.

  At Lilian’s question, Christine turned glum. Her shoulders slumped as she looked down at the table, though Kevin had the feeling she wasn’t looking at the table, but through it instead.

  “I… during the battle with that kitsune who was trying to kill you, I was completely useless. I couldn’t be of any help. Iris even ended up getting hurt because of me.” Her shoulders shifted. Kevin imagined she was clenching the fabrics of her dress underneath the table. “In the end, I couldn’t help any of my friends, and one of you almost died because of me. I didn’t want that to happen again. I want to be someone that other people can rely on, so…”

  “We understand,” Lilian said, placing her hands over Christine’s. “We know how you feel, and as your friends, you can count on us for support.”

  As she looked away from Lilian’s brilliant emerald gaze, Christine’s cheeks flushed a light shade of blue.

  “T-thank you.”

  “You�
��re welcome.”

  “So, if you’re here, then does that mean you’re the contact that Kuroneko was talking about?” Kevin asked.

  Nodding, Christine focused back on him.

  “I would assume so,” she replied evenly. “Orin is my benefactor. He’s the one who took me away from that orphanage in Alaska, and he gave me my monthly stipend when I was living in Arizona. He told me that I was supposed to meet some people out here and take them to see him.”

  “That would be us.” Leaning back in her seat, Iris subconsciously thrust her chest out. Christine eyed the other girl’s bouncing breasts with a mixture of disgust and envy. “We’re the ones that Tigress sent to find this Orio guy.”

  “It’s Orin,” Lilian corrected.

  “And who the heck is Tigress?” asked Kevin, though he imagined that was just Iris’s new nickname for Kuroneko. She came up with weird nicknames for people she actually liked.

  “Anyway, we should probably get going.” Christine stood up. “It’s a bit of a drive, and we have to do some walking, too, so the sooner we leave, the better.”

  Standing up as well, Kevin left enough money on the table to cover their tab. They’d eaten quite a bit. Having not been able to eat anything since yesterday, he, Lilina, and Iris had been ravenous.

  Turning to Lilian, Kevin almost facepalmed when he saw how much foam she had on her mouth. The redhead didn’t even seem to realize it was there. She blinked several times when she saw him looking at her.

  “Is something wrong, Beloved?”

  “Not really. You just have something on your face.”

  Lilian raised her hands to feel her face, but Kevin grabbed her wrists, stopping her.

  “No, let me get that off for you,” he said before leaning down and kissing her. Lilian leaned into him and tilted her head up as she kissed him back. He let go of her wrists, and her hands found purchase around his waist. Meanwhile, he placed his hands on either side of her face, his thumbs gently caressing her cheeks as he tenderly suckled on her upper lip, ridding it of the foam, then did the same to her bottom lip, simply because he could.

  “U-ugh, I’d forgotten how lovey-dovey these two could be,” Christine said, her cheeks flushing a pale shade of blue.

  “Hm, that was a clever move Lily-pad just pulled there,” Iris muttered, cupping her chin. “Maybe I should have also given myself a foam mustache so the stud could lick it off.”

  Christine gave Iris a disgusted look. “I see you’re still trying to interfere in their relationship. That’s not a very good thing for a sister to do, you know.”

  “Heh…” Iris smirked at Christine, who bristled at the look. “You’ve been out of the loop, Tsun-tsun. Lily-pad and the stud have made me their mistress.” Leaning down, Iris cupped a hand to her mouth and whispered into Christine’s ear. “The three of us have become in-ti-mate.”

  Christine stared at Iris for what seemed like hours. Her brain seemed to have short-circuited, and it needed some time to properly reboot. When it did, she responded in the most natural way possible… for a tsundere lolita.

  “WWHHHHAAAATTTT?!”

  Christine’s voice echoed through the city.

  Christine seemed displeased as they followed her. The girl stomped through the streets, the few people who were also walking down the sidewalk scattering when she approached. Steam poured from her head as she muttered harsh words under her breath.

  “Can’t believe it… those two… kill them both!”

  Kevin could actually feel the sweat coalescing on his temple and leaving a wet trail down his face.

  “Um, Christine, are you upset about something?” he asked.

  “Of course I’m nyupset!” Christine snapped. “Nyow shut up and follow me.”

  Okay, so Christine was upset, so upset that she actually sounded like a hissy cat. Kevin wondered why, but he couldn’t really think of the reason. Could it have been how he’d kissed Lilian? Probably not. She’d seen him and Lilian kiss plenty of times, and she’d never gotten too upset. She didn’t like him anymore, not like that anyway. They were just friends.

  I’ll never understand girls.

  Christine eventually led them to an old Ford truck. It looked like someone had cobbled it together using a bunch of spare parts that could be found in a junkyard. The left door was blue, the right a glaring red. Its hood had been painted a most obnoxious shade of yellow, and when combined with the black fender, it made Kevin think of a bumblebee. Much of its body was also covered in dents and marks. Kevin didn’t think it looked very safe.

  “You drive this piece of crap?” Iris asked. Despite how rude those words were, she sounded more shocked than mocking.

  “Watch it, Skank,” Christine warned. “This might not be the best car in the world, but at least she runs.”

  “She?” Iris made a face. “You actually gave your car a gender? Were you that lonely living out here in the Boondocks?”

  Christine’s face turned blue. “S-s-shut up! You don’t know anything, Boobhead.”

  “Ha! She called me Boobhead.”

  Watching the two trade barbs, Kevin felt an odd sense of nostalgia.

  “Is it weird that I kind of missed this?” he asked his mate.

  Lilian contemplated his question for a moment, but then shook her head.

  “I don’t think so. I kind of missed this, too.” Her lips twitched into a grin as she took out a sketchpad. “Plus, watching these two argue is giving me some ideas for my manga.”

  Kevin chuckled. “Of course.”

  “Look, just get in the damn truck already!” Christine snapped.

  Iris raised her hands in surrender. “All right, all right. Yeesh. So angry.”

  Christine glared at Iris, who chuckled some more as she opened the passenger side. The truck was one of those really old ones that only had two seats—one on the passenger side and the driver’s seat.

  “Sorry, but I only have one seat. Two of you are gonna have to sit in the back.”

  Iris grabbed Lilian’s hand and pulled her to the trunk.

  “Lily-pad and I can sit in the trunk. It’ll give me an excuse to make out with her.”

  Lilian blushed, but she didn’t say anything as they climbed in. Christine was stockstill for a second, but her wide eyes soon panned over to Kevin.

  “Please tell me she’s joking,” she said.

  “I wonder,” Kevin mumbled. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

  Moving around to the driver’s side, Kevin held the door open for Christine, whose icy face was the epitome of embarrassed.

  “T-thank you,” she mumbled as she sat in the driver’s seat and slammed the door closed.

  Kevin walked around to the other side and got in. There was no seatbelt, showing just how old this truck really was. Christine started up the engine, which coughed and shuddered before emitting a low bass rumble.

  Christine pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the road. Kevin studied the passing structures, most of which were small and old. This place really was the definition of a “middle of nowhere town.” It felt quaint and unobtrusive, the kind of place where everybody knew everyone else. Oddly enough, despite all of the traveling he’d done, Kevin had never been to a place that felt so far isolated from the rest of the world. This place felt almost free from the problems going on outside of this little community.

  “S-so!” Christine said, her voice abnormally high pitched. “H-how have you been doing?”

  Kevin smiled as he wondered why Christine sounded so nervous. She hadn’t acted like this for awhile.

  It must be because we haven’t seen each other in so long .

  “I’ve been doing well enough. A lot has happened, but I don’t regret anything.”

  “T-that’s good,” Christine mumbled lowly. “So you and Lilian are still, uh, mates?”

  “Yep!” Kevin felt warm as he thought of Lilian. Their bond was stronger now than it had ever been. The many trials and tribulations they’d faced had forged a loving rel
ationship that was stronger than diamonds.

  “And… what about Iris?” Christine tried to sound casual. “What’s your relationship with her?”

  “Iris?” Kevin blinked.

  “N-nevermind!” Christine squeaked. “Forget I asked.”

  Kevin wasn’t sure why she wanted to know about his and Iris’s relationship, but he was glad she’d decided to rescind her question. His relationship with Iris was strange at best and immoral at worst. He honestly didn’t know what he should think about it. Of course, the truth would come out eventually, but he at least wanted to catch up before Christine scolded him about how he was sexing up both Lilian and Iris.

  “I’m really glad to see you again,” Kevin said, quite suddenly in Christine’s apparent opinion.

  “W-what are nyou saying so suddenly?!”

  “H-hey! Watch the road!”

  The car swerved several times, moving into the opposite lane before Christine righted it. Kevin felt his heart leap into his throat. It was a good thing there were no cars driving down the road, or they would’ve surely suffered from a head-on collision.

  Minutes later they were leaving the small town. Black top became dirt, and buildings turned into trees. Kevin leaned against the window. Outside, all kinds of flora and fauna zoomed by—he didn’t recognize any of the trees, but he definitely recognized many of the animals. There were a lot of deer. Several mammals darted between the trees. Kevin wondered if he would see any bears.

  “So, this Orin guy… he’s your benefactor?” Kevin asked Christine.

  “That’s right.”

  They hit a bump. Kevin’s ears twitched when he thought he heard a muffled moan coming from the trunk.

  “You mentioned that you came here because you wanted to get stronger,” Kevin added. “Does that mean you’ve been training?”

  “I—well, yes, somewhat.”

  “Somewhat?”

  “I haven’t gotten as much training as I wished.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because the old fart’s a perv,” Christine declared with a scowl.