A Fox's Tail (American Kitsune Book 2) Read online

  Even if I had known what sort of trouble this would cause in advance, I don't know if I would have done anything different. How could I not save someone when they're hurt? What kind of person would I be if I just left her to die?

  Sometimes, Kevin really hated being of the Hapless Hero variety. Why couldn't he have been born with a cooler personality?

  It must be genetics, he grumbled to himself, My dad's probably some wimp who lets women walk roughshod over him. That's why I act like this.

  “Beloved?” Lilian's voice shook Kevin from his increasingly depressing thoughts. By now, he had managed to get his blush under control, and raised his head to look at her. “Since it's Saturday and we don't have school, are we going to do something fun?”

  “Something fun?” Kevin blinked once, twice, then adopted a thoughtful expression as he rubbed his chin. “Well, sometimes my friends and I will go to the arcade on the weekend…” he trailed off when he saw the look in his housemate/pseudo-girlfriend/kitsune mate's eyes. The expression her face possessed could only be described as unadulterated hope.

  And was it just him, or were those stars in her eyes?

  After taking another glance, Kevin realized that, indeed, they were stars. Spanning the entire iris of her eyes were two bright, yellow, five-pointed stars that had somehow replaced her normal pupils.

  What. The. Heck?

  “I've never been to a real arcade before,” Lilian's voice snapped him out of his incredulity. He looked up…

  … And then leaned back as Lilian's stare seemed to intensify. He nearly fell off his chair when she leaned over and got nose to nose with him.

  “Do you think we can go there? Please?”

  “I… I don't see why not,” Kevin hedged. The look in her eyes was almost as creepy as that laugh of hers. “But the arcade doesn't open until ten, so we'll have to wait for a while before leaving. There's no point in going to the arcade if it's not even open.”

  “Oh,” Lilian's shoulders slumped. “I was hoping we could go now. What are we going to do for―” she glanced up at the clock, “―three more hours?”

  “I have to clean the apartment, anyways. That's going to take a good hour and a half at the very least.”

  “Oh! I'll help clean!” Lilian smiled at him while Kevin just arched an eyebrow. “Then we can get it done in half the time, right? Two people are better than one and all that.”

  When Kevin saw how enthusiastic the girl was about helping, he agreed.

  It would be one of the biggest mistakes of his life… at least until he made the next biggest mistake of his life. Kevin could already tell there would be a lot of those. Mistakes, that is.

  ***

  Not even ten minutes later, Kevin was cleaning the windows and dusting the windowsills as he lip-synced to a song playing on his MP3 player. Lilian was washing their clothes.

  Kevin had been cleaning this apartment for so long that he actually picked up the habit of zoning out while he tidied the place up. Everything was pretty routine anyway: clean the windows, clean the windowsills, vacuum the floor—the usual stuff. It was boring, mundane work in every way possible and required very little thought.

  When all the windows in the living room and kitchen were clean, Kevin walked into the hallway, which led to the washing room, laundry room and his bedroom. He stepped foot into the hall… and promptly stopped dead in his tracks, the cleaning supplies falling from his nerveless fingers.

  His eyes widened in horror.

  “What the heck is going on here?!”

  “Wah! Beloved!” Lilian ran over to him, tears in her eyes and a pitiful look on her face. Her clothes and body were soaking wet and covered in white, foamy suds that looked nothing like soap. They caked to her clothes and skin, including her face. She almost looked like a snowman―erm, woman. “I don't know what happened! The washing machine just started shaking, and soap and water kept shooting out of it and I don't know what's going on!”

  Kevin tried to keep calm while observing the situation as unbiasedly as possible. He looked down the hall to the washing room, which had foamy water running out of it, soaking the tile and carpet. A little further in the washing machine was going berserk, shaking and jumping like someone had decided to crank it into overdrive.

  He rubbed a hand over his face. For some reason, he felt ridiculously exhausted right now―it probably had something to do with the girl in front of him.

  “I'll handle this.” He didn't look at Lilian as he walked past her. “You just… dry yourself off with a towel and get changed into a dry set of clothes.”

  “Okay,” she sniffled, “I'm sorry.”

  Kevin just grunted as he stepped onto the ever expanding area of the now soaking-wet floor. His feet made wet, squelching noises each time he took a foot off the carpet. By the time he made it to the utility room, his socks were soaked all the way through and covered in the same foam-like substance that made Lilian resemble a snow-woman.

  He entered the washing room, determined to put a stop to this insanity... only to end up getting far more than he bargained for.

  “What the heck?! Woah! That was too―holy crap!”

  The machine bucked and rumbled like a bull seeing red. Kevin's toes were nearly squished.

  “Oh, dear sweet god! It's going crazy!”

  “B-Beloved, do you want me to help? I could―”

  “What the―! You're still here?! Go and get―Jesus Christ!”

  The washing machine almost ran right over him, forcing him to dodge and causing his head to hit the wall when he slipped on the wet surface.

  “B-but I―”

  “Dang it, Lilian! I need to concentrate! Go and get―EEK!” Kevin screamed like a little girl.

  “Beloved!”

  Despite the difficulties he faced, he managed to shut the machine off. The intense reverberating stopped, the machine ceased jumping like a speed addict on a pogo stick, and Kevin could not keep the sigh of relief from escaping his mouth when his toes were no longer in danger of becoming pancakes. There had been several calls that were far too close for comfort. Had he been a hair slower, his poor phalanges may have actually been crushed.

  Now he just had to find out why the machine had turned into some kind of raging berserker. It was a fairly new, state-of-the-art piece of equipment. It was so easy to use that even people completely lacking in intelligence and common sense should have been able to figure out how to make it work properly.

  That begged the question of how Lilian managed to make the washing machine act like that. She wasn't stupid; a bit of an airhead maybe, but certainly not dumb. She should know how to use a washing machine, right?

  Lilian was sitting on his bed when he entered his room. She was now dry and free of foam, and her outfit had been changed as well. While before she was wearing a pair of tight jean shorts that showed off more leg than Kevin thought was appropriate, now she had donned a red skirt that looked like it would expose her panties if she bent over. Her white, low-cut shirt had been replaced with a black tube top that left the top of her cleavage exposed and showed her wonderfully flat stomach. Settled on her feet were a pair of simple red flip flops. Her crimson-colored hair was worn in its usual style, falling freely about her face and body like a curtain of shimmering silk.

  Kevin noticed right away that she was nervous as he approached; the way her fists tightly clenched the skirt and her eyes refused to meet his told him as much. Even her stiff posture and body language seemed to convey a sense of anxiety, as if she was waiting for the hammer to fall.

  “Are you mad at me?” Lilian asked in a small voice.

  Kevin ran a hand through his hair, inhaled deeply, then released it all in one breath.

  “No, I'm not mad.” Lilian looked up, her glance hopeful. “But I would like to know what happened.”

  Lilian's shoulders slumped as she recalled the event of a few minutes ago. It was not one of her best moments.

  “I don't know. I did everything just like I was sup
posed to. I put the clothes in, then I put the laundry detergent in, and then I turned it on and started it.”

  “Um, we don't have any laundry detergent,” Kevin told her. “We use those detergent pods now.”

  “Pods?”

  “Yeah. In the left cabinet of the washing room, in a big orange bag. You can't miss them.”

  “I didn't see those,” Lilian admitted, “But I didn't really look. When I didn't see any detergent, I just thought you might have run out and decided to use my own.”

  Kevin had a bad feeling, trepidation settling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to, but he asked anyway. “And what detergent was this?”

  As Lilian reached in between her breasts, Kevin looked away. Even then, he still ended up peeking at her out of his peripheral. When he turned back, the fox-girl had pulled a box out of her Extra Dimensional Storage Space and showed it to Kevin who, upon reading the label on the box, gained several veins that visibly throbbed on his forehead.

  “Lilian, that's not laundry detergent.”

  “It isn't?”

  “No.” Another throb. “It isn't.”

  Lilian blinked. She looked honestly confused. “Then what is it?”

  “I'm not sure.” Kevin pointed at the symbol on the box. “But I don't think laundry detergent would have a biohazard symbol on it. Just saying.”

  “Biohazard?” Lilian looked at the symbol on the box, noting that, yes, there really was a biohazard symbol on it. “Oh, um, whoops?” She looked at Kevin with a sheepish smile. “I guess I pulled out the wrong box, tee-hee.”

  As Lilian knocked the knuckles of her right hand against her noggin, one eye winking closed and her tongue poking out in an expression that he knew she picked up from the anime they'd been watching, Kevin felt like bashing his face against a wall.

  “And what exactly is in this box?” He probably shouldn't have asked, but he did anyway.

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Yep. Nothing.”

  Kevin stared at the girl for several more seconds, then sighed.

  “Right. Nothing.”

  He decided right then and there that he was better off not knowing. He looked out of the door and into the hallway.

  “This is just great. How am I going to clean all that up?”

  It would take a high powered steam cleaner to get all that foam out of the carpet. Which he didn't have. Plus, the cost of renting one was expensive. Not to mention, he had no idea how he would get one home when he didn't have a car.

  “I can help!”

  Kevin was very reluctant to let this girl help him again after what had just happened. However, upon seeing the pleading look on her face, he gave in. Hopefully, it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.

  ***

  Not very long after their conversation, the two of them stood in the hallway once again. Kevin stood off to the side, watching as Lilian dried the floor in a way he would not have thought up in a million years. Then again, he also didn't possess any Deus Ex Machina kitsune Powers, so he felt his lack of imagination could be excused, just this once.

  “So what's this technique called?”

  “It's a basic kitsune technique called kitsune-bi, or Fox Fire,” Lilian told him as she continued drying the floor. She had made this mess and she was determined to make amends to the best of her abilities.

  “Huh.” Kevin scratched the back of his head. “Isn't kitsune-bi Japanese? I'm kind of surprised you use Japanese names for your techniques. You've been pretty adamant on saying you're from England. And you don't live in Japan either, you live in Greece. Is your dad Japanese or something?” Lilian didn't look like she had any Japanese blood in her, but maybe she just took more after her mom than her dad.

  “I doubt it,” she shrugged daintily. “But then, I couldn't really say, since I don't know all that much about my father. Remember what I told you at the mall?”

  Kevin winced. He did, indeed, remember their conversation now that she'd brought it up. A part of him had forgotten because, well, seeing a sexy girl in equally sexy lingerie for the first time will do that to a guy.

  “That's right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up.”

  “No, no, don't worry about it.” Lilian smiled. “It's just as I told you before, I never really knew him, so I don't have any great attachment to him or anything.”

  At her words and smile, Kevin gave a tentative one of his own. He still wasn't too keen on this mating business, but he appreciated her honesty and how open she was with him.

  Had he been paying more attention, he may have noticed the way her eyes darkened at the mention of her father.

  “Anyway, the reason the names of our techniques are all Japanese is because The Author is an Otaku.”

  “The what? Otaku?”

  “Nothing. Don't worry about it, Beloved.”

  “Whenever you say that, I can't help but think you're hiding something from me.”

  “Ufufufu, don't think that way. I'm not really hiding anything. There are just some things that you aren't ready to know, but give it time and I'm sure you'll discover what I'm talking about eventually.”

  “I'm not sure whether I should be excited or terrified,” Kevin replied dryly. He shook his head and changed the subject. “So, is this kitsune-bi something all kitsune can do?”

  “Yes, it's the most basic of all kitsune techniques that we learn sometime after gaining our second tail. kitsune-bi is made from compressing our youki through our tails and using them to generate heat. It isn't actual fire,” she added upon seeing his expression, “But it acts like fire. It can be used to warm things up, boil water, and even hurt others.” She paused. “We can't use it to cook for some reason, though. No one knows why that is, but it's an accepted fact. I remember the first time I tried to cook using it―” she grimaced, “―it wasn't pretty.”

  “I see,” Kevin mused, “So it requires two tails?” He eyed the tails sticking out of Lilian's tailbone. He was sure he should be blushing by now, but most of his attention was focused on the two bright yellow flames hovering over the tips of her tails instead of the deliciously tight derriere just below them.

  “It only requires two tails because a kitsune doesn't become a supernatural creature until they gain their second tail,” Lilian explained. “Before that, we're just ordinary foxes.”

  “Oh,” Kevin blinked. “I didn't know that.”

  “Well of course not. It's not like you could have known that unless you met another kitsune before me and they told you.” Lilian smiled as the flames hovering above the tips of her tails were extinguished. “There! All done.”

  “Now we just need to clean up and dry the washing room.”

  Lilian's shoulders slumped. “Don't remind me.”

  “Don't worry too much.” Kevin knelt down and ran a hand through the carpet. Whatever that biohazard stuff Lilian used was, it had caked to the floor, and it was going to take a lot more than a day's effort to get the strange substance out. Forget renting out a high-powered steam cleaner; he might just have to get it professionally cleaned. “It shouldn't take as long to dry the washing room, and I can clean it just fine since we're dealing with tile. After that, you can help me clean the rest of the house.” There was no way he was ever going to let her wash clothes again, and he wanted to keep a close eye on her to avoid her creating another mess. “Then we can go to the arcade.”

  “Really?!”

  Kevin chuckled. Her enthusiasm was actually kind of infectious. “Really. So the faster we work the sooner we can leave.”

  “All right!” Lilian held a fist up to her face, which had gained an expression of determination. Kevin thought he could actually see flames igniting behind her irises. “Just you wait, Beloved! I'll have this room dry in no time!”

  Kevin felt a lead weight drop into the pit of his stomach as he stared at the gorgeous, emerald-eyed girl with a look of mild trepidation. Despite the sudden misgivings he felt at seeing her expression
, the young man decided not to let it get to him.

  “I'm sure you will.”

  ***

  After cleaning the majority of the apartment, Kevin and Lilian left for the arcade. They rode on Kevin's bike, speeding down the bike lane. Trees, light posts and shrubbery passed by in a blur as they rocketed down Dunlap Road.

  Being a major roadway and a Saturday, there were a lot of cars on the road that day. At every stoplight they passed, cars were packed bumper to bumper, jostling and honking and revving their engines impatiently.

  It was definitely a good thing they were riding Kevin's bike and not driving. Not that they could drive anyway. He didn't have a license. Neither did Lilian, but she was a kitsune, which explained her lack of a permit. She'd probably never even seen an automated vehicle until she ended up living amongst humans.

  While Kevin peddled the bike, Lilian sat behind him, arms wrapped around his torso and her right cheek resting against his back. It was a very distracting position for Kevin, who could feel her―well, her, pressing into him. It didn't help that her hands were shamelessly groping him as they wound around his body.

  “See? I told you I would finish drying that room in no time,” Lilian said, shouting to be heard over the sounds of traffic, before rubbing her cheek against the muscles in his back. He really wished she would stop. “Isn't the kitsune-bi an amazing technique?”

  “It is pretty convenient,” Kevin admitted with a shout of his own, glad for the conversation. It took his mind off those two large, round mountains pressing into him. “I mean really convenient. Even more so than those Power Ups that manga characters get during training arcs. It's almost Hyperbolic Time Chamber convenient.”

  The Hyperbolic Time Chamber: a room where someone can get a year's worth of training done in a single day.

  “It is, isn't it?” A pause. “Say, how long does it take to get to the arcade?”

  Kevin actually had to think about that for a second. “It's not that far. I'd say about… fifteen minutes, twenty tops. Something like that. We'll be there pretty soon.”

  “I can't wait to finally see a real arcade. Are the games anything like the ones we've played at home?”