American Kitsune, Volume 7 (Light Novel)

1. Weak to Strong Protagonist (Expect Kevin to grow both mentally and physically as the series progresses)
2. Aggressive Main Love Interest
3. Accidental Perv Moments / Ecchi Shenanigans
4. Harem Hijinks
5. Classic Harem Archetypes
6. Fourth-Wall Breaks
7. Over-the-Top Fanservice

Fan Shénshèng stared at her reflection in the mirror. Dark eyes were set within a round face. Her fair skin complemented her golden locks of hair, a trait of her clan, which trailed all the way down her back before branching out into a dolphin’s tail. Her cherubic features contrasted with her stature and 92 centimeters of bust.

Many of her fellow clan members often told her that she had a very young-looking face, and they were right. Despite being 216 years old, she still had a bit of a baby face that didn’t quite match her womanly body.

Maybe that’s why I’m the one pretending to be a high school student.

Fan scowled at the thought of going to school. Just contemplating returning to that dump of an educational institute for another day, another minute, even another second, was enough to make her stomach curl. Desert Cactus High School was such a bore. There was nothing to do there. The people were boring, the classes were boring, just about the only thing that wasn’t boring was watching her target. Even then, she still disliked going to school.

Spying wasn’t her thing; it was Zhìlì’s.

“Lady Fan? Are you awake yet?” asked a voice from the other side of her door. It was deep, a low baritone that made her bones rumble.

“Of course I’m awake,” she called back. “What do you want, Li?”

“If you’ve finished getting dressed, please come down to the kitchen and have breakfast,” Li said. “Today’s the day we complete our mission. Guang is already here. We’re going to go over the plan before you head to school.”

For the first time since arriving in Phoenix, Fan felt a burst of relief. She was more than ready to leave this state. Arizona was a place that she would never wish to live in. The sweltering heat made her skin burst with sweat, the arid atmosphere caused her flesh to dry and crack, and the desert landscape bored her to tears. She had been counting the days before they could leave.

“Really? That’s great! I’ll be out in just a second!”

“Alright, but don’t take much longer getting ready.”

Li’s footsteps receded, growing softer and softer, until they vanished altogether. Fan waited a moment longer to see if they would return. When they didn’t, she turned back to the mirror that hung from her closet and studied her attire.

That day she had chosen to wear the newest outfit that she had bought recently. Her white lolita dress had a tight bodice that pushed her chest out, further accentuating her sizable bust. There were ruffles at the shoulders, and several bows decorated the front below her chest. Voluminous sleeves hid her hands from view, and the dress flared out after reaching her hips. Knee high socks went up to her ankles. White slipper adorned her small feet.

She twirled around, allowing her dress to lift and flutter. Completing her spin, she reached down and held the ends of her skirt, curtsying.

“Hmm, I wonder if my dearest little brother would enjoy seeing me in this outfit?” she asked herself out loud, feeling just a hint of bitterness seep into her heart, which her expression in the mirror reflected. “Not that he’ll be able to enjoy seeing it anymore.”

Straightening back up, Fan whirled around and walked toward the door, her mind teeming with dark thoughts. She left her room and traveled down the hall. There was only one thought on her mind.

Lilian Pnév̱ma, I hope you’ve enjoyed your life up to this point, because I am going to enjoy taking everything from you… just like you took everything from my little brother.

***

Kevin Swift’s lungs burned every time he breathed. Sweat covered his forehead, causing his messy blond hair to stick to his face. It ran down his forehead and dripped into his blue eyes, stinging them something fierce. Even so, he dared not close them. He knew that if he did, he would lose, and losing meant being on the wrong side of a brutal ass kicking.

She came at him more swiftly than lightning, attacking his weak points—or what she thought were weak points. Her blond hair, styled in a bob cut, bounced as she launched several kicks designed to slam into the openings that he had presented.

None of them hit.

With his breathing ringing harshly in his ears, with sweat caking his shirt to his skin, Kevin avoided the first kick by sidestepping. Then he swerved around the follow up reverse heel kick that would have broken his solar plexus. He leapt over the low kick that followed the reverse, tucking in his legs into his chest to keep her from hitting his shins.

The style that Kevin used didn’t have a name yet. It was a style that he had created specifically for the purpose of fighting against yōkai. By presenting someone with an obvious hole in his guard, he could predict where they would attack.

Of course, he called it predicting, but it was more like he was manipulating them into attacking that opening. Fighters relied on instinct to battle. They didn’t have time to think things like, “is this a feint?” or, “could this be a trap?” When a fighter saw an opening, they went for it out of habit. It was even worse with yōkai, whose animalistic nature made them naturally predisposed toward attacking any opening they saw.

“You’re never going to beat me if all you can do is dodge!” Heather shouted. Kevin didn’t deign her with a response. He lacked the oxygen necessary to respond.

She came at him again, throwing a series of punches and kicks that he avoided by shuffling along the sparring mat. His movements happened at nearly the same time hers did. He knew that to the average eye, it would have looked like he was moving before she even attacked. Heather probably knew differently, but that didn’t stop her from getting frustrated when none of her punches and kicks hit him.

“Dammit! What are you waiting for? An invitation? Hurry up and attack me!”

Kevin didn’t let himself be goaded by her taunts. If he attacked now, if he acted on impulse, then he would lose. He only had one advantage over her, and that was his fighting style, which he had been working on ever since the disastrous spring break vacation to California.

Two months ago, Kevin, Lilian, along with his friends and family, had gone to California. They had planned to enjoy the beach and the San Diego Comic-Con. What happened instead was that he and Lilian were nearly killed during their trip to the beach, Lilian had an assassin sent after her, and they were caught in a battle between a kitsune clan and an anti-yōkai terrorist group at the Comic-Com. While Kevin had been in several dangerous situations before that, it was the trip to California that really hammered this fact home: The yōkai world was a dangerous place.

While there had been some issues upon their return to Arizona, Kevin had eventually come around and accepted what had happened. All he could do now was press forward. That was why he was working on perfecting this fighting style.

That was also why Kevin didn’t fall for Heather’s taunts and waited for her to make the first move. Heather’s fists blurred by him on either side, ruffling his hair, practically shaving off layers of skin with their speed and power, but still he waited. His lungs burned like they were on fire, but he continued to wait. He left holes in his defense, invited her to attack them, and waited for that perfect opening.

Heather launched another attack at the opening that he gave her. It was a straight jab at his left flank, an easy attack that even a beginner could replicate with ease. It should have been easy for her to do. However, due to her irritation at his continued defense and her inability to hit him, she overextended herself and stumbled forward.

Now!

Kevin moved almost before the attack was made. His left foot came forward into Heather’s instep, keeping her from proceeding further. He moved his left hand up and redirected her jab to the side. He felt a surge of triumph as he launched his first attack since the beginning of their spar, a short jab to the kidneys. This battle was as good as his—

“YEOWCH!”

… Or not.

Pain exploded in Kevin’s chest as something hard and sharp stung him worse than a thousand bee-stings. He could feel something gooey sticking to his skin, having gone straight through his T-shirt. As he hit the ground, his hands came up to clutch at where he had been hit, a hiss of pain escaping his clenched teeth.

“Shishishi.” Heather chuckled as she twirled her paintball gun around her finger like a cowboy. The weapon, an all black gun designed to look like a Millennium G2 9mm compact pistol, seemed to taunt him as it spun with an almost lazy arrogance. “Did you really think it would be that easy to beat me? Come on, Kev, I’ve been trained to fight against all manner of opponents. I’ll admit: that style you’re trying to create is frightening, but it only works if you don’t know how your opponent thinks.”

“G-gu.” Kevin covered his face with a hand as though hoping to hide his blush. “So you’re saying that all those angry remarks and that last overextension on your punch was done to lull me into a false sense of security so I would attack and you could shoot me?”

“Pretty much.”

Kevin only had one thing to say to that.

“… All my hate.”

Heather’s loud laughter rang out through the sparring center. Kevin grimaced as he rubbed his chest, wiping the paint off. He could feel the mark the paintball had left on his skin. It felt like a tiny crater dotting the canyon between his pectorals. And it stung. By Inari’s hairy left testicle did it sting.

“Ha… don’t feel too bad about losing… again.” Heather chuckled when Kevin growled at her. “You did really well this time. Your stamina has increased a lot, too. Give yourself another year or two and you might even get better than me. Of course, that’s only if you can remember to start using your guns. Kiara bought those for a reason, you know?”

Heather held out her hand, which Kevin accepted, allowing her to help him up. He winced a bit when cool air hit his chest, but that was his only reaction to the ugly red crater marring his flesh.

“I would if I could, but it’s hard for me to unholster them at the drop of a hat like you can.” He patted the two holsters hiding underneath his armpits and sighed. “I’ve been practicing, but my fastest time is three seconds. The placement of my holsters doesn’t help. It’s hard to pull them out from underneath my armpits.”

Lilian had been recording his gun drawing speed. It had been pretty bad at first, ten seconds just to get them out of his holsters and another five to aim them. Now it only took three to four seconds for the whole process. It was better, but it still wasn’t good enough.

“Yeah, that kind of speed won’t do much against someone like me.” Heather crossed her arms and nodded. “I’d shoot you before you could put a hand on them. Still, I think three seconds is enough time for you to get the drop on any yōkai who’s not trained in combat.”

“It wouldn’t work on yōkai with a predisposition for combat, though,” another voice spoke up.

Kevin and Heather turned to Kiara, who had been watching them spar. She pushed off the wall that she had been leaning against and walked up to them. Her dark brown hair looked as feral as always, jagged and spiky like a dog gone Super Saiyan 3. She had grown it out a bit more, and it now hung past her shoulders, making her whole Amazonian appearance seem even more, well, Amazonian, he guessed.

She wasn’t wearing her standard business suit that day. A white sleeveless shirt showed off her lean arm, which had several scars and incredible muscle definition. Her thin waist made a sharp contrast with her modest bust. Black shorts adorned her waist. They were booty shorts, so it pretty much looked like she was wearing a second skin, which meant he saw the ridiculous muscles her thighs were sporting.

I feel emasculated everytime I see this woman wearing clothing like this. She cuts such an imposing image, even with the missing arm.

Kevin glanced briefly at the stump where Kiara’s arm had been. It wasn’t there anymore. The skin around her arm had healed, though the pink flesh still had scars from being cauterized. He found it odd, but her missing an arm made Kiara look even tougher than if she still had the appendage.

She had lost that arm the previous year, during a rescue operation when Lilian had been kidnapped by a two-tailed brat of a kitsune named Jiāoào Shénshèng. The arm had been hit by a kitsune’s void fire. The all-consuming flame was something that couldn’t be extinguished. It was a terrifying power that erased the very concept of that which it consumed. In order to keep herself from being taken by oblivion, she had torn her own arm off.

Kevin used to feel guilty. He was kind of the reason she had lost it, but Kiara had never expressed dissatisfaction with her missing limb, and in fact, she seemed to take pride in it. She displayed her stump of an arm like a badge of honor.

“Done checking me out, boya?” asked Kiara, a feral grin peeling her lips back and revealing her sharp canines.

Kevin’s right eye twitched. “I wasn’t checking you out. I was looking at your scars.”

“So you're admiring my battle wounds?”

Kevin tried not blush. He liked to think he did an admirable job, especially considering how a comment like that would have made him blush like a schoolboy in front of his crush nine months ago.

“Something like that.”

Kiara’s grin spoke of her amusement better than words could. “I’ll tell you how I got some of these sometime. Maybe when you finally beat Heather.”

“Trying to motivate me with a story?” Kevin crossed his arms and pouted. “I’m not that easy to please, you know? And besides, I’m trying my hardest.”

“And you’ve gotten pretty good,” Heather informed him as she stretched. Kevin tried not to look at her breasts as the fabric of her hot pink shirt stretched across them. She wasn’t wearing a bra. “You’ve come a long way from the boy who’d gotten kidnapped like a damsel in distress that had to be rescued by a handsome prince.”

Kevin felt an acute pain in his chest at her words, which were about as emasculating to him as Kiara’s ripped body. “That was a low blow.”

Heather’s pleased grin reminded him of a Cheshire cat. “And no less true.”

“Anyway,” Kiara interrupted Kevin before he could retort, “you should probably head home now. You’ll want to have your mate heal that paintball wound before it scars.”

Kevin grimaced at the reminder of his wound. “… Right.”

The life of a teenage punching bag was a never ending battle.

***

Kiara watched as Kevin Swift left the sparring room. If he followed his normal habits, he’d hop in the shower, get changed, and then head home. Then again, he might just head home to get that nasty wound on his chest healed.

“He really is getting better, isn’t he?” asked Heather.

She turned to Heather, who had her eyes on the door that the young man had disappeared through. The woman’s face was flushed with exertion, and her shoulders and chest heaved with every breath. It wasn’t the deep, gasping breaths of someone who had pushed themselves beyond their physical limitations, but it told Kiara that Heather had been forced to exert herself more than usual.

“He’s definitely improved a lot.” She stroked her jaw with her only remaining hand. “His skills in hand-to-hand combat have improved greatly, and he’s an even better shot… when he’s standing still. He still has trouble aiming when moving, and he can’t pull his guns out in mid-combat, which is a problem we’ll have to rectify. That’s something I think we need to have him start working on.”

“Agreed.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Kiara gazed at the sparring room. It was her own personal sparring room, which she let Kevin and Heather use when they were training. The entire floor was composed of a large blue mat. The walls were white and bare of decorations. She preferred it that way. In this room, there were no distractions getting in the way, and she (or Kevin and Heather) could train to their hearts content.

“… Do you think he’ll be ready for the threats he’s likely to face in the future?”

Kiara frowned at the question. It was a lot more loaded than it would have been if they were talking about someone else, but they were talking about Kevin. That kid was a magnet for trouble. His track record for getting knee deep into vexing situations was only matched by his mate’s capacity to do the same.

“I don’t know. There are plenty of threats that a human involved with a yōkai is likely to face. The kid’s already been through alot, so I would say that he is, but then, he’s also involved with several members to one of the Thirteen Great Kitsune Clans.” Kiara rubbed the back of her neck. “Kid’s already run into some of the problems that comes from being involved with a group of yōkai like that.”

“You’re talking about that young kitsune and his group that you guys fought in October of last year, right?” Heather asked, getting a nod in return. “But that was an awfully long time ago. We haven’t even heard a peep about those, uh… um…”

“The Shénshèng Clan.”

“Right! Them!” Heather snapped her fingers. “Anyway, we haven’t heard from those people since then. What makes you think they’ll try something eight months after the fact?”

Kiara stared at Heather, her face slowly deadpanning, and then she snorted and turned away.

“You clearly don’t know a thing about kitsune, girl. They’re not the sort of yōkai who would let a transgression against them go, especially not one like this.” Turning around, Kiara began walking toward to exit. “Trust me, they’ll come seeking revenge sooner or later, and they’ll probably do it when we least expect them to.”

The sound of footsteps preluded Heather catching up to her. The former Sons and Daughters of Humanity secret operative didn’t seem all that bothered by her words.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. He’s got us around to help, after all.” Heather paused, her face suddenly shifting into a bit of a pout. “Although I will admit that helping him out is a pain. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been able to sit down and play one of my eroge? Months! I started my conquest of Rumi Takahata three months ago, and I’ve only had enough time to raise two of her flags!”

Kiara chuckled. She had never met another person who was so obsessed with what amounted to Japanese video game porn as Heather was.

“I guess that’s true. And I’m rather fond of the kid, so it’s not like I can let him face whatever danger comes his way alone. He also has Kotohime and her sister to depend on, not to mention that mate of his and the mate’s twin. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She paused. “And isn’t the reason you never have time for those porn games because you’re still teaching at Desert Cactus High School?”

“It isn’t porn!”

“Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be getting ready to leave?”

Heather blinked at what seemed like a random question.

“What do you… oh, shit!” Heather swore when she looked at her watch and saw the time. “Dammit! I was supposed to attend a meeting before school since today’s the last day!”

Rushing ahead of Kiara, the former spandex-wearing secret agent ran out of the room, likely heading for the lockers. The door slammed shut behind the woman. Kiara heard Heather’s hurried footsteps quickly receding. After several more seconds of just standing there, she chuckled and continued on her way.

“Life has gotten a whole lot more interesting since I met these people,” she mused to herself.

***

“Let’s see now… I need one and one-third cups of all-purpose flour, two tablespoons of sugar, one teaspoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of baking soda…”

Lilian stared hard at the cookbook situated on the marble countertop, her eyes flickering back and forth, scanning the page. She had decided to make blueberry pancakes. Kevin would be coming home soon, and she wanted to have breakfast ready by then.

It would normally be Kotohime who did the cooking. She was their maid, after all. However, Lilian wanted to make something for Kevin, and so she had adamantly told her maid that she was going to cook instead. Kotohime had given Lilian her traditional “ufufufu” laugh and left her to it.

“Okay!” Pumping her fist, Lilian psyched herself up. “Time to do this!”

Wanting to get started with a bang, Lilian became a whirlwind of activity. Her two tails shot out from underneath her miniskirt, extending to at least three meters in length. One of them made a bee-line for the pantry, while the other began pulling pans, bowls, and mixers from the bottom cupboard under the counter near the stove.

While her tails got to work, Lilian waltzed up to the fridge and began grabbing ingredients: eggs, milk, butter, sour cream, blueberries, everything she needed. She grabbed them all and put them onto the counter next to the stove at the same time that her tails retracted, also putting the items they had grabbed onto the counter.

“Okay!” Grinning fiercely, Lilian pumped a fist into the air. “Blueberry pancakes, get ready to be baked!”

It didn’t take her long to mix all of the ingredients. With her tails helping add them into the bowl, it was almost like she had four arms. That stupid Goro didn’t have squat on her. She mixed and stirred and had all of the ingredients blended together perfectly in a matter of seconds. After that, it was just a matter of heating up the skillet, pouring the batter, and working her magic.

As she poured the batter onto the skillet, the sound of the door opening and closing alerted her to Kevin’s arrival seconds before he called out, “I’m home!”

“Welcome home!” Lilian spun around to greet Kevin as he walked past the kitchen “You’re earlier than I expected you to be, Bel—Kya! What happened to your chest?!”

“Ah-ahahaha!” Kevin’s nervous laughter filled the air as Lilian rushed over to him. “I, uh, well, Heather kinda shot me point blank with a paintball gun, so…”

“She what?!”

Kevin winced at the sound of her shout, but Lilian didn’t pay attention. She was too busy looking at the ugly black and purple pock mark that looked like the Ptolemaeus crater between his pectorals. It was hideous wound.

“Uh, yeah, Kiara and Heather said it’s time I start learning how to wield guns while fighting at close range, so Heather’s taken to pulling them out when we spar.”

“You mean she’s been shooting you when you spar?!” Lilian growled at the thought of her mate getting shot during training. It was supposed to be a simple spar! They weren’t supposed to injure her mate like this! “I’m gonna kill them!”

“I… don’t think that would be a good idea,” Kevin said. “Remember what happened the last time you fought Kiara?”

“That was months ago,” Lilian said dismissively, still staring at his wound. “I’ve leveled up plenty since then with my super special shōnen-style training from hell. Besides, Kiara only has one arm now. I can take her.”

“If you say so…”

“I do say so. Now hold still and let me heal that for you.”

Lilian didn’t give Kevin a chance to respond before she leaned down and began licking his wound. She channeled youki through her mouth and into her tongue, more specifically her saliva. His skin tasted like a mixture of copper and salt. The rough edge of his injury scratched her tongue, but she didn’t stop, and not just because she needed to heal him.

“L-Lilian… not here…”

If her tongue wasn’t so busy, she would have grinned. Kitsune Art: Divine Tongue was a technique that she had created for just this purpose. It essentially healed people through the use of her saliva, which she infused with her celestial youki. It was the most amazing technique she had ever conceived. Her pride and joy.

“Why not here?” she asked in between her job of coating his chest with saliva. Kevin shuddered under Lilian’s ministrations. There was a lot of dried sweat on his skin. He must have been working really hard.

Muu, I wish I could have seen him work up a sweat.

“B-Because… if Kotohime or one of the others sees us…”

“Kotohime’s hanging up the laundry and the others are still asleep.”

“She still does that?”

“Mmhmm.”

Lilian giggled when she heard Kevin mutter about there being a reason they had a dryer, though she didn’t comment. Kotohime was an old-fashioned kitsune. She preferred hanging their laundry up to dry, washed clothes using a bucket and soap, and cleaned with an old-fashioned duster. No matter how many times Kevin asked her to change her ways, Kotohime refused, stating that it, “wasn’t proper maid etiquette.”

Kevin’s wound healed quickly thanks to her saliva. However, the act of licking her mate’s muscular chest made Lilian grow rather hot and bothered. There was a burning in her bosoms. A passionate desire overflowed from her like Kirche the Ardent, a character from an anime she was watching Zero no Tsukaima, or The Familiar of Zero.

She decided not to stop with just healing his wound, and instead began licking her way up his chest.

“G-gu… L-Lilian.”

She smiled when a pair of hands grabbed her butt. She moaned when those same hands began to fondle, caress, and squeeze her plentiful derriere. Pleasant jolts raced up her tailbone. Her tails curled on themselves. The pleasurable sensations became more prominent when Kevin reached around her front and unbuttoned her skirt, letting it fall to the floor, and then slipped his hands into the waistband of her panties to feel her up directly.

“Beloved, you know that the only time I like tasting your sweat is when I’m the cause for its creation, don’t you?”

“U-ugh… that’s something I would expect to hear from Iris, not you.”

“Is it really?”

Lilian pulled her head back from where she had been licking his neck to stare up at him. His eyes, the brightest azure blue she had ever seen, were dark and hooded with lust. Just seeing the way he stared down at her made a wet trail of something besides sweat run down her thighs.

Kevin didn’t respond to her question with words. He moved down swifter than she could have anticipated, almost surprising her when he captured her lips in a searing kiss.

Lilian’s moan was muffled by the tongue invading her mouth. She fought back as best she could, pushing against the intrusion as her mouth filled with saliva, but it seemed that she had pushed Kevin a little too hard with her actions. This wasn’t a dance. He was utterly dominating her.

Her arms quickly found themselves wrapped around Kevin’s neck. It was necessary. Her legs were so weak they would no longer support her. They shook and shuddered as Kevin’s hands, still trapped inside of her panties, squeezed her ass, generating another loud moan as he pulled her flush against his body, until there was no room left between them.

Kevin had gained a lot of muscle over the past several months. While he had always been fit, these days he had the makings of a regular adonis. His six pack abs brushed against her skin, his defined pectorals pushed into her breasts. Broad shoulders. Well-defined arms. Lilian imagined that Kevin would look delectable wearing the Spartan armor from the movie 300.

A surprised squeal escaped her when, without warning, Lilian felt her feet leave the ground. She quickly locked her legs around Kevin’s waist to keep herself from falling. She could feel her panties, already damp from her mate’s presence and actions, become stained even more when she came into contact with his erection.

“Hnnn!”

Lilian moaned when she felt her breasts mash against his chest as he set her on the table. His hands seared her body when they roamed over her naked back, covered only by her signature green shirt. When those same hands moved to her front, cupping her breasts, she thought her body might explode from overstimulation.

Her breasts were very sensitive.

Their lips parted, but only because they ran out of breath. Lilian felt their mixed saliva dripping down her chin when they broke contact. She almost whined when he didn’t start kissing her again, but that soon changed when Kevin bent down and began sucking on her neck.

“B-Beloved…”

Her fingers clenched the back of his shirt when he began licking her. He had discovered several months ago through experimentation that she loved being licked. She didn’t know why this was, but having her mate’s tongue blaze a wet trail across her skin drove her absolutely nuts. It felt like his tongue was branding her.

“Lilian…”

“Hn!”

Lilian surprised herself by almost orgasming when he said her name. He didn’t speak. He growled. It was one of the sexiest things she’d ever heard.

Inari-blessed! I want him inside of me so badly right now!

It was almost a shame that they hadn’t done the deed yet. Kevin still wanted to wait before they had sex, claiming that at 15 years old, he was too young. She didn’t really get it. They had been dating for eight months, and in those eight months, they had done plenty of ecchi things together.

Still, Lilian couldn’t find it within herself to complain. Yes, they hadn’t had sex yet, but Kevin was still more than capable of pleasing her need for intimacy, and he wasn’t afraid of experimenting. And honestly, she was just glad that he no longer hesitated when it came to giving her affection.

To think, nine months ago, Beloved couldn’t even talk to me without passing out.

He’d been so cute back then, but she had to admit that she liked this more confident Kevin much better.

Lilian’s thoughts were shattered by another moan when Kevin cupped her crotch and began stimulating her over her panties. A jolt traveled from the point of contact, rushing straight to her brain like Pikachu’s Thunderbolt. Kevin used his other hand to push her down on the table, even as his lips claimed hers again.

Just as Lilian felt like she might explode, Kevin’s hand slipped inside of her panties and began caressing her directly. Her hips bucked as his fingers teased her entrance. One finger slipped inside of her. Then a second was added. Meanwhile, Kevin’s thumb went in for the kill.

Lances of ecstasy shot through her. It was electric. She could feel something coiling inside of her, like a knot that was coming undone. Her muscles tightened and her thighs quivered. Her stomach involuntarily clenched, and the heat gathering just below her stomach became almost overbearing. It felt like Mount Fuji was about to erupt inside of her. Her toes curled and her hips jerked as if undergoing muscle spasms.

And then, all at once, she felt it. Waves of what she could only call rapture spread throughout her entire body. She didn’t even care that the table underneath her bum was getting soaked with a combination of her own sweat and love nectar, or that she was going to need a new change of panties. All that mattered was the white hot rapture that cascaded over her, sending her mind crashing over the edge of bliss. It felt like she was having an out of body experience.

Once she had calmed down, exhaustion hit Lilian like a Vacuum Butt Cannon. Her entire body felt like it was shutting down. Even though the table was cold and hard and wet, she didn’t want to move from that spot. She wanted to pull Kevin to her and cuddle beside him until they both fell asleep.

“B… Beloved…”

“Hmm?”

“I love you… so much…” she sighed in bliss.

Kevin removed his hand from her panties and grinned. “I love you, too.” He then stuck his fingers into his mouth and sucked them clean. “I especially love how you taste.”

As they stared at each other, Lilian felt her desire for him rise again. She wanted him so badly. She wanted to mate with him, but she didn’t. Lilian held back. Kevin was already compromising his own morals for her sake, so the least she could do was keep her own desires in check. Wasn’t this also the reason she hadn’t let Iris in on their fun?

“I can’t believe you two!” a loud voice snarled.

While Kevin jerked back in surprise, Lilian only turned her head to stare. Iris stood in the entryway to the kitchen, wearing a pair of panties and nothing else. Her hair was messy and sticking up everywhere, and her eyes had dark circles under them, yet she still somehow managed to look alluring, like she had just finished having a night of wild and raunchy sex.

She was glaring at them. “I can’t believe you two would get all frisky while I’m still asleep! How am I supposed to masturbate to you two if you’re going at it when I’m not even awake?!”

“Don’t tell us that you plan on masturbating while you watch us!” Kevin snapped. “That just makes me not want to do anything while you’re awake!”

“So you would deny me even this?” Iris asked, her tone laced with an angry growl. “What kind of sick pervert are you?”

“I don’t want to be called a pervert by someone who masturbates while watching her sister during foreplay!”

Lilian gazed at Kevin with tired eyes as he argued with Iris. Despite his words, he was refusing to so much as look in her twin’s direction. What’s more, his cheeks were stained with a redness that was reminiscent of a fire truck.

Were she not so tired, she would have giggled. Kevin had grown more confident in the past eight months, and he could even please her need for intimacy, but he was still the same Kevin. Even now he became shy and embarrassed over situations like this.

“Maybe that’s why we decided to start doing it right now?” Lilian cut into their argument as she stretched her arms above her head. By the great lord Inari did she feel satisfied. “Maybe we didn’t want to have sexy-times together while you watched us and fingered yourself. Did you ever think of that?”

Kevin facepalmed, and with the hand that he had used to please her with to boot. She almost giggled at the sound of his wet hand slapping against his face.

“Do you two really have to talk about sexy-times and masturbation first thing in the morning? Can we just for once curtail any kind of dirty talk?”

“Sorry, Beloved, but it’s all written right here in the script.”

“The what?”

Iris gave Kevin a heated glare. “Maybe I wouldn’t talk about sex if you hadn’t fingered my beloved Lily-pad on the kitchen table!”

Kevin’s face turned the most interesting shade of crimson as he began sputtering. “T-that’s only because she started licking me!”

“I don’t care what your reasons are!” Iris scowled and somehow managed to make it look terrifyingly sexy. Lilian didn’t know how her sister did it, and she dared not ask for fear of what Iris would ask her to do in exchange for that information. Just thinking about it made her hot and bothered again. “I want my sexy-times, too, dammit! If you two are gonna get all frisky on the kitchen table, then you should invite me to join in!”

Kevin’s stare went flat. “Um, no.”

Iris huffed and crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them together in a most enticing manner. Maybe it was because of what she and Kevin had finished doing, but Lilian found herself staring at her sister’s tits as they bunched together like a pair of water balloons. The void vixen’s light pink nipples were hardened into soft points. Lilian hated herself for it, but seeing Iris’s hard nipples made the temptation to take them into her mouth and suckle on them strong.

She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Don’t think about that. You’re with Kevin. Incest isn’t accepted in the human world. You don’t want Kevin to hate you.

“Why not?” Iris asked with a plaintive whine.

“Because I don’t wanna,” was Kevin’s childish response.

Lilian knew the moment Kevin said those words that they were the wrong words to say.

Iris’s expression became challenging. “Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?”

“Uh…”

Iris smirked at them, and Lilian suddenly felt like she had grabbed a live wire. That look on her sister’s face was downright sinful. It brought to mind images of when she had washed her sister’s naked body several days after returning from California. Even now, that particular moment had haunted more than a few of her wet dreams. They were often mixed in with her dreams of Kevin, which usually ended with them having a threesome.

I’m so not telling my sister that I’ve dreamt of having a threesome with her and Beloved. That’s definitely not happening.

Iris stalked up to them like a predator stalking her prey. She and Kevin could do nothing as the raven-haired succubus moved, her hips swaying with an alluring sensuality, her bare breasts bouncing as she slinked over to them. Lilian told herself that the reason she was beginning to feel hot had nothing to do with her sister’s beautiful and half-naked body. Nothing at all.

“Since you seem so confident that I’m not good enough, why don’t we test that out?” Iris suggested, licking her pink lips.

“I-I didn’t say that…” Kevin mumbled, unable to tear his gaze away.

“Hmm… is that so? It certainly sounded like that’s what you were saying.” Iris’s grin was terrifying. “Not that it matters. I’m in the mood thanks to you two, and I always get what I want.”

Just before Iris could pounce on them, which Lilian knew she would do, their mother stumbled into the kitchen. Camellia’s pure white toga was ruffled and falling off her curvaceous figure, revealing slender shoulders and a bust that was nearly two times bigger than Lilian’s. Five tails the same black color as her hair hung limply behind her.

I’m surprised she’s wearing clothes.

The woman’s eyes were half-closed. She yawned widely as she rubbed the sleep out of them. She also took several whiffs of the air, as if smelling something strange.

“Hawa? Why does it smell like something is burning?” she asked.

Lilian and Kevin froze. It was only now that her mom mentioned something burning that she could smell it as well. It was the acrid smell of something, well, burning.

“Oh, no! The food!”

“Crap! Quick, Lilian! Get the skillet into the sink! The sink!”

“Don’t worry you guys. I got this.”

“Don’t use your void powers in here! You’ll destroy the whole apartment complex!”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to do nothing! Just sit there and look pretty!”

“Heh, so you think I’m pretty, do you, Stud?”

“Oh, shut up!”

“Beloved! Turn on the water! Hurry!”

“I’m hurrying! I’m hurrying!”

Standing on the sidelines, Camellia remained silent as Lilian and Kevin tried to put out the fire that had once been blueberry pancakes. Meanwhile, Iris did what she did best. She sat on the table, crossed one lean leg over the other, and looked devilishly pretty.

Lilian would have asked her mom to help, but honestly, she knew that her mom would probably end up making the situation worse. Camellia was, after all, the clumsiest woman on the face of the planet. The woman could trip over air.

In the end, she and Kevin weren’t able to save her pancakes.

Or the skillet.

***

Kotohime eyed the skillet that still sat in the kitchen sink with a flat look. The once shiny metal was black and burnt. There was also a giant hole in the center of it, the edges curled from having been melted. She didn’t even know how that was possible. Cookware like this was more than capable of withstanding high temperatures.

“I can’t believe we’re eating cereal for breakfast,” Iris complained as she stuck her spoon into her bowl of Fruit Loops.

“I can’t believe we even have cereal,” Kevin commented before idly chewing on his Wheaties. “I haven’t gone shopping for cereal in years. There was never any point, since I stopped eating cereal once mom started traveling and leaving me at home.”

“I bought the cereal,” Kotohime confessed, turning away from the burnt skillet to look at Kevin. “It was something I bought in case of emergencies. For example, if you, Lilian-sama, and Iris-sama failed to wake on time and needed to rush out of the house… or if Kevin-sama and Lilian-sama started sharing intimate relations on the kitchen table and Lilian-sama forgets that she’s cooking breakfast…”

Kevin and Lilian both blushed bright red. It amused Kotohime, the way Kevin attempted to hide in his shirt and how Lilian turned her head to keep people from noticing the bright red flush of her cheeks. She doubted that Lilian was embarrassed by what they had done. She was a kitsune. But the twin-tailed redhead most certainly felt mortified about burning breakfast.

The family of kitsune, plus one human and two maids, were gathered around the kitchen table, which Kotohime had cleaned while her charge changed into a new miniskirt and panties. Kevin and Lilian sat on one side, while Iris sat with Camellia on the other. Kotohime and her sister, Kirihime, stood next to their respective charges like any good maid.

She and her sister were a study in contrast. Their faces held the same general shape and features. Porcelain skin. Soft cheeks. A small nose. Full red lips. However, their outfits couldn’t have been more different.

Kotohime always wore long, flowing kimonos. She had a strong preference for furisode, which had voluminous sleeves that hid her hands from view. Those sleeves served as excellent distractions during battle. Her enemies were sometimes so drawn to the sleeves that they never noticed the katana until their heads were already falling from their bodies.

On the other hand, Kirihime wore a traditional French maid outfit. The black dress was decked with frills along the hem and had slightly puffy shoulders. A white apron covered her front. More ruffles ran along the outside of the apron, as though accentuating the firmness of her modest bust and thin waist. A pair of gloves adorned her hands. The white choker that she wore had a single black cord running through its center, and the white stockings cladding her legs were held up by black elastic bands. Black slippers and a white bonnet finished her outfit. Three furry black tails with white tips jutted from underneath Kirihime’s outfit. They looked a lot like Kotohime’s own five tails, which she kept hidden underneath her kimono.

“D-don’t blame what happened on me,” Kevin muttered. “I-I just arrived home when Lilian pounced on me.”

Lilian’s cheeks swelled like a balloon as she pouted at her mate. “Are you saying this is my fault?”

“Ah.” Kevin scratched his cheek with an index finger and looked anywhere but at Lilian. “W-well, not precisely. It’s just that… well… you know, you’re kinda the one who started it… and stuff…”

Lilian had to concede Kevin’s point, even if Kotohime knew she didn’t like it. However, she knew her charge, and so she also knew that the redhead wouldn’t take those words without returning fire.

“Well, yeah, but it was also your fault for getting injured during your spar with Heather. If I didn’t have to heal that wound on your chest, none of this would have happened.”

“U-ugh.”

Kotohime hid a smile behind the sleeve of her kimono as Kevin double over like he’d been shot in the back with an arrow. She could actually see the metaphorical arrow as it came out of nowhere and pierced the boy. Being the good maid that she was, Kotohime discreetly reached out and plucked the arrow from his back.

“I’m just upset that you two had an illicit affair without me.” Iris looked awfully put out as she glared at the pair, her crimson succubus eyes staring at the two and making them squirm as though they were children who’d been caught touching each other in inappropriate places. Well, they had just been getting frisky on the kitchen table, so it was an apt description.

“We weren’t having an illicit affair,” Kevin snapped at her. “The very term implies something that is morally wrong or unacceptable. Lilian and I are mates, so there is nothing wrong about what we were doing. It would have only been an illicit affair if you had gotten involved.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Iris conceded with a half-hearted shrug. Then she grinned at Kevin. “Wanna have an illicit affair?”

“Don’t make me smack you with my tails,” Lilian threatened her sister, who pouted at being denied. Again. Kotohime wondered how many times that made now.

As someone who had been mated with a human once before, Kotohime understood Lilian’s concern. Polygamy and incest were accepted and even practiced in the yōkai world, but they weren’t legal in the human world, and that wasn’t even going into the issues of morality. Kevin, as a human, would have a hard time accepting a polygamous relationship with Lilian and Iris.

There’s also the matter of stamina, Kotohime mused to herself. A human, no matter how strong, cannot possibly have enough stamina to satisfy two kitsune.

“Camellia doesn’t mind eating cereal every now and then.” Camellia seemed to have ignored the last few minutes of conversation. She happily munched on her cereal with a childish smile. “Tee-hee, it’s been a really long time since Camellia had Frosted Flakes.”

Kirihime, standing behind the five-tailed vixen, frowned. “I do not recall you ever eating human cereal, My Lady.”

“Tee-hee, you weren’t with me. It was when Camellia went into a human town.”

“M-My Lady?!” Kirihime squeaked. “Are you telling me that you snuck out of the manor to visit a human city?”

“Um!”

“W-why would you do that? Don’t you know how dangerous that is? You could have been hurt, o-or taken advantage of by some human! It’s dangerous!”

Kotohime smiled as her sister tried to scold the older kitsune. She didn’t do a very good job. Kirihime was a pushover when it came to Camellia. No matter what happened, or how much she tried to reprimand the woman, in the end, she always let the five-tailed kitsune have her way.

“Hawa, don’t worry.” Camellia tried to reassure her maid-slash-bodyguard, who didn’t look very reassured. “Camellia knew what she was doing.”

“K-knew what she…” Kirihime slumped over with an air of depressed resignation. “I really wish you wouldn’t go off on your own, My Lady.”

“Hawa?”

Camellia did what she did best: tilted her head and looked cute.

***

Kevin sat down at his desk with a weary sigh. His body still ached from his spar with Heather, and then there was also the moment between him and Lilian in the kitchen. Just remembering that moment made him feel warm and tingly in a “I really want to go for another round” kind of way.

Speaking of stuff that happened in the kitchen…

“Have you two noticed something off about your mom?” Kevin asked Iris and Lilian. The two fox-girls who were leaning against their desks, which were situated in front of and behind him respectively, glanced in his direction.

“What do you mean by off?” Lilian asked, tilting her head. “Is there something wrong with her?”

Kevin scratched at his cheek. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her, per se. It’s just that she’s been acting kind of different lately.”

Iris raised a delicate eyebrow. “Different how?”

“Well, she’s not as clumsy for one thing,” Kevin pointed out. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she hasn’t been randomly falling on top of me lately. She’s also taken to wearing clothes before leaving the bedroom. Even as far back as last month, Camellia always ran around the house naked. She sort of reminded me of a more childish version of you, Lilian.”

Lilian’s pout was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen. It still amazed him how someone so gorgeous could also look so cute. He often said that the sexy/adorable dichotomy she had going for her should be considered illegal.

Her long red hair whipped around her face as Lilian shook her head. Bright green eyes stared at him with a sort of childish petulance. She was wearing her standard off the shoulder green shirt, which revealed a healthy portion of her creamy cleavage and flat stomach. Her normal shorts were nowhere to be seen. Instead, she was wearing a skirt that stopped around the middle of her thighs.

“Muu, I don’t see how mom’s actions are similar to mine. I was trying to seduce you. Mom just doesn’t believe in wearing clothes.”

“You really shouldn’t mention how you tried to seduce me in public.” Kevin felt a bit of heat rising to his cheeks. Several people who also heard the comment looked at their small group, gazing at the trio like hyenas looking at a tasty morsel.

A quick glare from Kevin made them look away.

“But now that you mention it, she has been acting kind of differently.” Lilian tapped her lower lip with her index finger. “I wonder if she’s starting to grow up.”

“Ha!” Iris’s barking laughter caused several nearby conversations to stop. “Mom grow up? That’s like asking Rikka Takanashi to stop being a Chūnibyou. It’s not happening. Can you imagine mom growing out of her childish personality and acting like an adult?”

“Well, no,” Lilian admitted reluctantly.

Kevin saw the look on her face and almost winced. He knew that his mate wished Camellia would act more like a mother to her and Iris. She had admitted, if only to him during their version of pillow talk, that she wanted her and Camellia to have the mother-daughter bond that other people had.

“You never know.” Kevin placed a hand over Lilian’s. “She might eventually get better. Maybe whatever happened when she gave birth to you two is slowly reversing.”

Lilian directed an appreciative smile his way. Iris snorted.

“You two can believe that if you want to. I prefer not getting my hopes up.”

Kevin decided not to bother arguing with Iris. Unlike Lilian, who remained optimistic pretty much twenty-four-seven, Iris was a realist with a severe pessimistic streak. She knew how to look at the bright side of things, but she only did so when it involved having an illicit relationship with her sister.

“Hey, you three!”

A voice called out to them seconds before a grinning Lindsay walked up. Her tomboyish blonde hair, styled in a cute pixie cut, bounced as she strolled to her desk, which was next to Lilian’s. Her jean shorts fit snugly on her hips, and she wore a baggy white T-shirt that said “I love soccer!” in big, bold print on her chest with a soccer ball below the words.

Lindsay and Kevin had known each other since their elementary school days, back when life had been uncomplicated and not fraught with supernatural peril. Even though they had been friends for a long time, Kevin had, until eight months ago, been incapable of speaking to her without passing out. Of course, the same could have been said for any female his own age.

These days, Lindsay spent more time with Lilian, Iris, and Christine than she did him. That was okay. He was happy that Lilian and Iris had found such a good friend. He was happy for Christine, too.

Lilian gave her friend a million watt smile. “Hey, Lindsay!”

Iris merely crossed her arms. “Oh, it’s the dyke.”

“K-ku!”

Kevin and Lilian watched as their friend stumbled into her desk, pressing her palms flat against the surface to keep herself aloft. Even then, the tomboy still slouched over, her expression one of abject despondency. For a moment, Kevin thought he saw an arrow sticking out of her back with the kanji for dyke written on the shaft. He shook his head and the arrow disappeared.

Must be my imagination.

“Why is she always calling me a dyke? So what if I happen to think girls are attractive. That’s not a bad thing. All girls do it… I think…”

“There, there.” Lilian pushed off her desk, walked behind the tomboy, and rubbed Lindsay’s back. “Don’t worry. I don’t care what your sexual preferences are. Even if you are a dyke, you’re still my friend.”

Lindsay turned her head to give Lilian an exasperated look. “You know, when you say things like that, I can’t help but think you’re being condescending.” When Lilian just looked at the girl in genuine confusion, Lindsay sighed and gave her friend a smile. “Still, thank you, I guess. I’m glad you think of me as a friend.”

“Of course.” Lilian’s bright smile was like the sun, blinding if you looked at it directly. “We’ll always be best friends.”

“Hehe, right.”

Before Iris could comment—and Kevin knew that she would if given the chance—the doors to the classroom opened and in walked their teacher.

“All right, class, in your seats. It’s time to start our lesson.”

While most of the class groaned, Kevin studied their teacher. He was a middle-aged man with bland features. He had the kind of face that was so plain, he would be indistinguishable within a crowd. Even his outfit, a standard gray business suit with a casual cut, seemed designed to blend in with his surroundings. Dull. That’s the word Kevin would have used to describe their teacher.

Dr. Allan Spencer had replaced Ms. Vis as their math teacher after Seth Naraka had possessed her. Kevin had heard from Heather that Ms. Vis’s brain had been rendered inert. It had basically shut down, turning her into a vegetable. She was still in the hospital, her body alive, but her mind incapable of computing even basic sensory information.

He felt guilty over what had happened to her. If it weren’t for him, Lilian, and Iris, she wouldn’t have turned out that way.

Dr. Spacer walked up to the front of the class and gazed upon the students. “Today we’ll be taking our finals.” A chorus of groans erupted from the students. Kevin heard Iris slam her face on the desk behind him, and even Lilian’s shoulders slumped at the mention of the dreaded f-word. “I’ll be passing out the papers now, so get out your pencils and some paper. And remember, anyone caught cheating will automatically fail and be summarily kicked out of class.”

***

“I really hate school.” Iris groaned as she stretched her arms above her head. “Why did I ever agree to join you guys?”

Kevin turned away from her, knowing that if he looked, it would be to the sight of her breasts stretching taut against her shirt. Since she didn’t wear a bra, he also knew that he’d be greeted to the unadulterated view of her nipples poking through the fabric. He wanted to keep his blood where it belonged: inside of him and not spraying out of his nose like the tail end of a comet, thank you very much.

The first half of the day had ended. He, Lilian, and Iris were walking to their usual lunch spot. It was nearing the end of June. The summer sun blazed away, showering them with ultra-violet rays that caused objects and people in the distance to appear hazy. Kevin felt sweat cling to his brow. He wiped it away with the back of his hand.

“Didn’t you join the school so you could spend more time with your sister?” he replied absently.

“Oh, yeah. I did, didn’t I?” Iris grinned as she came up behind Lilian and slipped her arms around the redhead’s middle.

“The heck are you doing?!”

“Hehehe, come on, my darling Lily-pad. Let me give you some love.”

“I don’t want your love! Beloved gives me all the love I need!”

“Now don’t be like that.” Iris pressed her breasts against her sister’s back. Lilian’s face turned redder than her hair. “There’s nothing wrong with sharing a little love with your beloved sister, is there? I don’t mind sharing you with the stud.”

“T-that’s not…”

“Heck, I wouldn’t mind if you, the stud, and I had ourselves a good old-fashioned threesome.” Iris leaned up and started nibbling on her sister’s ear. Lilian went deathly stiff as though rigor mortis—or mortification—had set in. “Just think about it: You, me, and the stud, all naked in bed, our bodies sweaty and flushed from a night raunchy sex. Imagine it, the stud staring at our nubile flesh, his Excalibur growing hard at the sight of our hot bodies. You and I would push our breasts together with his long, hard cock between us, pleasing him until he shot his sticky spunk all over tits.”

Kevin quickly slapped a hand over his nose and pinched hard. Even so, blood still leaked out from between his fingers. Lilian was even worse. Her eyes had glazed over, her mouth had become slack-jawed, and it looked like she might start slobbering all over her shirt. He would have wondered what she was thinking about, but he had his own problems to deal with.

Guilt. Much as he abhorred the idea, there was some part of him, however small, that thought a threesome with Lilian and Iris would be hot. The other part paled at the thought. Lilian was insatiable and required a lot of effort to please, physically speaking, especially because he still refused to have sex with her. Iris was four times the sex-fiend that her sister was. He didn’t know if he would be able to keep up with them both at the same time.

They’d drain me dry before we even got past the foreplay!

“Wouldn’t that be fun?” Iris continued to whisper in her sister’s ear. Kevin noticed the grin on her face and shuddered. Iris’s grins were terrifying in how sexy they were. Erotic didn’t begin to adequately describe them. “Wouldn’t you like that? You and me double-teaming your mate? Sharing his monstrous man meat between us, licking his spunk off each other’s hot, sweaty bodies. You know that you—OOF!”

Kevin blinked when Iris’s eyes rolled up into the back of her head. She tumbled away from Lilian and crumbled to the floor in a heap of splayed limbs. He stared at the unconscious girl. Then he looked at the person who had knocked said girl unconscious.

Christine looked the same as she always did. Her short stature meant that she barely came up to his chest. Her skin, pale as though she never saw the sun, glistened under the summer heat. Even though she must have been sweltering, she refused to change out of her black gothic lolita outfit. Then again, maybe she was perfectly fine, considering she was half bakeneko.

“Stupid… perverted… fox!”

The yuki-onna glared down at the unconscious fox-girl, her face bright blue as she huffed and panted like she had just finished running a marathon. Steam shot from her ears, billowing like a white cloud, which Kevin knew from experience meant her embarrassment had reached critical mass.

“Christine,” he greeted the girl, whose angry eyes turned on him.

“Kevin.” The blush left Christine’s face, though the frown remained. “Why didn’t you stop her? Isn’t it your job as Lilian’s mate to keep Iris from doing… doing things, like, you know, g-getting all p-p-perverted and stuff…”

“Uh…”

Kevin wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that. He couldn’t very well tell Christine that the reason he hadn’t stopped Iris was because the vixen’s words had invoked erotic images within his mind that caused him to nosebleed. That would just lead to all sorts of trouble.

“N-not that I care or anything,” Christine added, crossing her arms and huffing. “I-it’s not like I was worried about you and Lilian being taken advantage of by this stupid skank! I’m not! I just… it’s not something she should be saying in public! That’s the only reason I stopped her! Hmph!”

“Um, right.” Kevin ignored the girl’s tsundere-ness. “Sorry. You’re right. I should have stopped Iris.”

Christine’s decisive nod was that of someone who felt pleased at her advice being taken under serious consideration. “I’m glad you understand that.”

“By the way, where’s Lindsay? Don’t you and she share Home Ec. together?”

“Lindsay went to buy her lunch,” Christine told him. “Since I make my lunches, I decided to wait for her at our usual spot. I was heading there right now before I ran into you three.”

“Ah.” Kevin nodded. “That makes sense.”

Lindsay and Christine spent a lot of time together. When they weren’t with him—or with Lilian and Iris—the two were often with each other. Lindsay, in particular, seemed to give Christine more attention than anyone else, though Christine didn’t seem to notice.

“By the way…” Christine frowned as her eyes flickered toward Lilian. “What’s up with Lilian? She hasn’t said a word since I knocked out her sister.”

Kevin locked onto his mate when he realized that Christine was right. Lilian was still stiffer than a bad case of morning wood. Her eyes were still glazed over and staring into the distance, their gaze unseeing and blank.

“Lilian?” Kevin placed a hand on Lilian’s shoulder to try and rouse her from whatever spell she was under. “Lilian, are you—”

He didn’t get a chance to finish.

Mere seconds after he touched her, Lilian was blasted off her feet as her nose became a literal geyser. Crimson ichor sprayed from her nostrils like the eruption of Mount Saint Helens. He and Christine gawked as she flew backwards for several feet, crashed into the ground, rolled, and came to an abrupt stop.

“Well,” Kevin began as a crowd of people drew around them to take snapshots of the scene, “that just happened.”

Christine could do nothing but nod.

***

“My Lord! I am happy to see that you have arrived safely! Please, sit down! I have been keeping your seat warm for you!”

“My Lord, My Lord. How are you doing today?”

“My Lord, My Lord. Do you need me to fan you?”

Kevin stared at Alex, Andrew, and Eric as they knelt before him with a blank look in his eyes. They were bowing to him like he was some kind of liege lord, or perhaps a warlord from feudal Japan. This was nothing new. They had been doing this for months. It used to bug the crap out of him. Now…

“Ha… whatever,” he sighed and sat down without complaint.

I feel like some small, very beloved part of me has died.

“Would you like me to get you a cool drink, My Lord?” Eric asked as he sat beside Kevin.

“No… I’m fine…”

“Are you sure? It’s awfully hot outside. One of us would not mind getting you something to drink.”

Alex and Andrew both nodded like a pair of evil twin lackies. While a part of Kevin felt like strangling those two for going along with Eric’s whims, another part felt like slamming his face against the table.

“No, I’ve already got a cold drink.” Kevin opened the first tier of his bento box and pulled out his chopsticks.

What I wouldn’t give for a fork. Why did Kotohime have to replace all of our utensils with chopsticks? Does she think I’m an anime character?

“Really?” asked Eric.

Kevin resisted the urge to facepalm. “Yes, really.”

“Really, really?”

“Would you shut up already?!”

“Looks like Kevin’s having a hard time,” Lindsay said. She was sitting next to Christine and eating her school bought chicken sandwich. Because she sat at the edge of the table, there was no one on her left. “Do you think this is better or worse than the jealousy they used to display?”

“Definitely worse.” Christine wrinkled her nose as she punched a straw through her juice box. “Their fawning is absolutely disgusting.”

“Why did they start treating him like he was God’s gift to man anyway?”

“Because he’s living with five hot women, of course.” Iris smirked. She sat next to her sister, while Lilian sat between her and Christine. “Didn’t you know that the stud has his very own harem?”

“I DO NOT HAVE A HAREM!”

“All hail the Harem Lord!” Alex, Andrew, and Eric all said at the same time.

“SHUT UP!”

Iris chuckled under her breath. Unlike the others who sat facing the table, she was facing the opposite direction as she leaned her back against the table. She stretched out languidly, allowing all those who passed their table to admire her breasts and long legs. Numerous people stared at her. Iris revelled in those stares, the lust barely hidden within their eyes. Even other girls were not immune to her looks.

Kevin shook his head. You’d think people would be used to her by now…

As Kevin tried to ignore his friends, he watched Iris as she surveyed the courtyard with a lazy glance. There weren’t many people outside. It was simply too hot. Even sitting in the shade like they were, it was still unbearably scorching. Aside from themselves, Kevin only counted about 30 people wandering around. In a school with over 1,000 students, 30 wasn’t a lot.

“Hey, Lily-pad, check it out.” Iris grabbed her sister’s attention by pointing. “It’s that other loli chick.”

Kevin, Lilian, Lindsay, and Christine all turned to look at the girl that Iris pointed out as she walked passed their table. Her outfit presented a stark contrast to Christine’s. Where the yuki-onna’s lolita clothing was pure black, hers was whiter than snow. It also featured a much shorter skirt and a dip in the neckline that revealed her cleavage. That was something Christine, who was a B-cup, didn’t have.

“Isn’t that the girl who transferred here two months ago?” Lindsay asked. “I think her name is Fan Shenlong… something like that.”

“You know who that is?” Lilian asked Lindsay.

“Christine would know more about her than I do,” Lindsay confessed. “She has several classes with her.”

Christine growled as if the mere mention of Fan was enough to piss her off. “How dare that… that scarlet woman tarnish the lolita name by wearing such a scandalous outfit!”

“I take it you two don’t get along?” Iris observed, idly watching the female stride by their table. Her eyes narrowed when Fan’s head turned and penetrated her with a stare. It was the kind of look someone gave a person they felt was beneath their notice.

Kevin winced when Iris’s expression darkened. He almost felt sorry for that Fan girl. Almost.

“I hate her even more than I hate you,” Christine said.

“Aw, you don’t hate me.” Iris gave the other girl a lazy grin that oozed arrogance. “We both know you love me.”

“Tch!”

Iris chuckled when Christine turned her head, her face the same color as a tundra.

“So, you guys are coming to my game tonight, right?” Lindsay asked.

“Do I have a choice?” When Lindsay gave Christine a look, the girl sighed and waved a hand as though warding off a bug. “Fine, fine. Yes, I’m coming to your game.”

“You know Beloved and I are coming to your game,” Lilian added with a sunny smile. “We wouldn’t miss our friend’s championship game for the world.”

Over where he was sitting, Kevin gave Lindsay a thumb up. He was listening to their conversation. It was a nice distraction from his male friends’ flagrant ass kissing.

“If the stud and Lily-pad are going, I guess I can tag along,” Iris said. Lindsay smiled at the group, clearly pleased to know that they would be showing up to cheer her on.

“By the way, My Lord,” Eric started. “Do you plan on adding that other lolita hottie to your harem?”

“For the last time, I don’t have a harem!”

Deciding to tease Kevin some more, a grinning Iris said, “Everyone who thinks Kevin Swift has a harem, please raise your hand.”

She, along with Alex, Andrew, and Eric, all raised their hands. Kevin shot Lindsay and Christine a betrayed look when they also raised their hands.

“How could you two agree with her?”

“D-don’t look at me like that.” Christine scowled at him with an icy blue face. “How can I not think that when you’ve got all those women living with you? It doesn’t paint you in the best light, you know.”

“You have to admit,” Lindsay added, “it really does seem like you have your own harem back home. I mean, seriously, have you seen the women living in your apartment? All of them are gorgeous.”

“The dyke makes a good point,” Iris said, nodding. “We are gorgeous.”

“U-urk!”

Iris ignored the sound Lindsay made as the tomboy was speared by arrows that randomly appeared out of thin air. As her friend slumped over the table, Lilian decided to be a good buddy and pulled the metaphorical arrows out of Lindsay’s back.

“And everyone knows that when one guy is living with a bunch of sexy women like us, it’s because because he’s a Harem King,” Iris continued adding fuel to the fire.

“That’s not how this works at all!” Kevin glared at everyone present before turning pleading eyes on Lilian. “Everyone’s being mean to me again, Lilian. You don’t think I have a harem, do you?”

“Of course not.” Lilian smiled at him. “Don’t worry, Beloved. I won’t let any woman I don’t approve of join your harem.”

“What?”

“I said I won’t let you have a harem.”

“Kay.” Kevin sniffled. “Thank you, Lilian.”

Lilian’s eyes were warm, two pools of emerald love as she stared at her mate. “You’re welcome, Kevin.”

“Lilian.”

“Kevin.”

“Lilian!”

“Kev—”

“I swear to all eight-million Shinto gods that if you two start hugging, I’ll murder you dead,” Christine threatened. Kevin and Lilian pouted at her, but their attention was diverted from Christine by a loud shout.

“There he is, girls! Get him!”

It was a familiar shout. Kevin had heard it many times in the past. It was the angry screaming of women who’d had their purity tarnished and were out for revenge.

The Horde had arrived.

Everyone turned as several dozen angry teenage girls seeking blood rushed their table. Eric squealed like a little girl, leapt to his feet, and bolted as though a shinigami was nipping at his heels. The girls ran passed the table and followed the salacious young man. They caught up to him in record time. They surrounded him on all sides, hemming him in.

Then came the screams.

“WHATEVER HAPPENED, I DIDN’T DO IT!”

“DON’T LIE TO US! WE KNOW YOU SNUCK INTO THE GIRLS’ LOCKER ROOM AND STOLE OUR PANTIES!”

“NO, I DIDN’T… AT LEAST, NOT THIS TIME!”

“LIAR! WE CAN SEE THEM HANGING OUT OF YOUR POCKET!”

“MY POCKET—WHAT THE HELL?! HOW DID THESE GET IN HERE?!”

“KILL HIM, GIRLS!”

“NO! WAIT! THIS IS ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING, I SWEAR! I—OH, GOD! NOOOOOOooooo…!”

Kevin and the others sat there as The Horde proceeded to physically demolish Eric, who’s agonized screams rent the air like nails on a chalkboard. Cries of pain echoed from the mass of bodies. Kevin thought he saw blood arcing through the air, but that could have been his imagination. The screams eventually tapered off into incoherent gurgling. Then they stopped altogether.

“What… what just happened?” Lindsay asked the question that everybody wanted to know.

“Ha…” a sigh came from behind them. “Really, Apprentice, how do you expect to raise your peeping level if you allow yourself to get captured and beaten by girls of this caliber?”

Everyone turned around. Heather stood before them, hands on her hips, an expression that epitomized disappointment plastered all over her face. Her blonde hair remained in its usual bob cut. She was wearing a gym tracksuit with the white and blue school colors. The PE assistant coach shook her head and sighed, right before she noticed that everyone was staring at her.

“Oh. Hello, everyone.”

After everyone greeted Heather, Lilian asked the question that was on everybody’s mind. “Was all that you're doing?”

“Shishishi, of course.” Heather grinned. “It’s an important part of my apprentice’s ongoing training. To become a Master Peeper, he must learn how to react to a horde of angry women, no matter the situation.”

“I see.” Lilian paused. “And those panties, did he really steal those?”

“Naw.” Heather waved a dismissive hand through the air. “That was my doing. I stole the girls’ panties while they were having PE, and then slipped a few into Eric’s pocket when he wasn’t looking.”

In the wake of hearing something so incredibly stupid, Kevin and his friends simply went back to eating their food. It wasn’t like Eric getting the crap beaten out of him by a horde of angry women was anything new. Heather doing something dumb and potentially life-threatening to her so-called apprentice in the name of training wasn’t anything new either.

As if to shatter the sense of normality, Eric’s dad, the Principal of Desert Cactus High School, appeared before them. He rushed toward the horde of teenage girls, who were still beating the crap out of his son.

He was wearing nothing but his underwear.

Kevin and everyone else stared in horror as the rotund man raced forward, his flabby gut bouncing in the air like a uniboob, and his bald head gleaming in the light. Oddly enough, while the only article of clothing he was wearing were those ugly white undies, he also had his sunglasses on. He leapt at the girls like a tiger pouncing on their prey—or a really fat and perverted old man pouncing on a horde of young girls.

“Give me some love as well!” he shouted at the group of girls, who all turned their rage on him.

Everyone remained silent as the Principal followed in his son’s footsteps. The mob of teenage girls proceeded to unleash unholy hell and massive bodily harm on his person with various locker room implements. The sounds of bat smacking flesh, rake smacking flesh… and claymore smacking flesh, rang out across the courtyard.

“This is good, too!” was all the Principal shouted as he was pummeled into a mass of bleeding meat.

“Is it just me, or is the Principal even more perverted than usual?” asked Lindsay.

“It’s just you,” Alex said.

“Totally just you,” Andrew agreed. “The Principal was always like this. I think he’s just finally become unrestrained.”

Christine turned a deadpanned stare on Iris. “I feel like we somehow have you to blame for this.”

Iris’s unrepentant grin told everyone present that Christine’s accusation was right on the money. “Do you really think that I would use an enchantment on our wonderful principal to unleash his normally restrained lecherous tendencies, turning him into a raging idiot of lust and stupidity?”

“Yes,” Kevin said while everyone else nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Iris gave him an amused glance, her eyes glimmering with an ominous light that spelled nothing good for him. “Huhuhu, it seems you know me too well, Stud.”

Kevin had nothing to say that. However…

“Lilian?” Kevin said in a voice so solemn that everyone paid attention. The curious glance on his mate’s face was only matched by his friends leaning in, as though expecting him to share his most embarrassing secret.

“Yes, Beloved?”

“If I won the Holy Grail War, could I ask for a new soul? I think mine’s been tainted.”

Lilian looked uncertain. “… I don’t think so.”

“Tch!” Kevin slammed his head on the table. “Figures.”

***

The end of school couldn’t come fast enough for Fan. She absolutely despised being forced to attend classes. There was nothing more dull than sitting behind a desk, listening to some fool lecture her on a subject they didn’t know half as much as they thought they did. She hated it even more because she was surrounded by lesser beings, these filthy humans who thought they were at the top of the food chain, even though that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Humans were scum; they were nothing but a group of hairless monkeys. They mistakenly believed that they were the most powerful species on Earth, but the truth was that they were just the most populous. Were it not for their large numbers, humans would have been killed off or enslaved centuries ago.

Everyone stood up from their seats as the bell signaled an end to class, the many students packing their bags and slinging them over their shoulders before rushing out of the classroom quicker than a nekomata being chased with a spray bottle. Her eyes eventually locked onto one particular person in her class, a girl whose childlike body and all-black outfit made her look like the classic definition of a lolita. Their eyes met. She became amused when the girl glared at her before huffing and stalking out of the room.

According to her observations, that girl was Christine, one of her target’s friends. She was also a yōkai. Having not seen her powers, Fan couldn’t say which type of yōkai for sure, but judging from the cold feel to her youki, Fan believed that Christine was a creature with control over ice. She was betting on the girl being a yuki-onna. The famed snow women were one of the best known manipulators of ice in the entire world.

Though just what a yuki-onna is doing here of all places, I’ll never understand.

She grabbed her own bag, a small sack made from the threaded fibers from an onikuma, slung it over her shoulder, and proceeded outside.

The bright sun hit her eyes as she waded through the crowd of people. The stench of humanity made her nose wrinkle, but she tried to ignore it. A number of boys stared at her as she walked by them, lust obvious in their eyes. She could practically feel the pheromones they unleashed.

She snorted. Teenage boys are so easy. You don’t even have to show them a little skin before they become drooling sacks of flesh. Honestly, do none of these boys know the meaning of the word restraint?

Not that she could blame them for lusting after her. A woman as beautiful as her would obviously attract attention. She had a body that was to die for, and when combined with her lolita face, it made for an irresistible combination. She was the best of both worlds, as it were.

She walked past buildings that shielded her eyes from the sun, hideous blocks made of drab colored bricks. There was no sense of aesthetics to these structures. Every building looked exactly the same, with only minor differences in shape and size.

That was another thing she disliked about humans. Their uninspiring architecture. They simply lacked ability to create aesthetically pleasing structures. Everything was too uniform, too plain, too bland.

Hopefully, our mission here will be over soon, and we’ll be able to finally go back home.

As she walked into the parking lot, she immediately caught sight of Li. It was hard not to. He towered over everyone there with his nearly seven feet of height. His expression, stern and uncompromising, made for an intimidating sight. Several students looked at him, but they quickly turned their heads when they met his unwavering and serious gaze.

Unlike most members of the Shénshèng clan, who had blond hair and blue eyes, he had dark hair and dark eyes, which made sense. Unlike the immediate members of the family, Li and Guang were branch members. They served as her bodyguards, though ever since Father had given her this mission, they had acted like a combination of parent and superior—well, Li more than Guang. Her other bodyguard was merely dumb muscle. All brawn and no brain.

“Lady Fan,” Li greeted as she walked up to him. “I hope your day at school was eventful.”

“Please be serious,” she said as Li opened the door to their car, a red Porche Boxster. She sat in the front passenger seat, then waited until Li had closed the door and entered through the driver’s side before continuing. “You know how I feel about attending this farce of a school. The people are boring, the school is dull, and I’m surrounded by a bunch of filthy humans. Being near this useless species of feces throwing apes is almost more than I can bare.”

“You should not be so quick to dismiss humanity,” Li warned her in his usual, serious way. “Humans might be frail creatures, but they are also intelligent and crafty. The many technological advancements they’ve made in the past century, advancements which have forced all yōkai to create laws against revealing our existence to them, proves that the primate race is not to be underestimated.”

Fan clicked her tongue, but she didn’t argue. Even she knew that human technology posed a threat to their existence. She remembered seeing the aftermath of several nuclear explosions when China had been experimenting with nuclear weaponry. Just recalling the sight of those mushroom shaped clouds, of the intense blast from the detonation, of the fierce winds the explosions had kicked up, sent chills down her spine.

The car’s engine thrummed to life as Li pulled out of the parking lot, using his unique talent to avoid people and other cars while continuing to accelerate. It didn’t take long before they passed the light blue gates of the school and began traveling down the road.

She watched the wildlife that passed her by in boredom. There wasn’t much to see in this state. It’s flora and fauna, much like humanity’s architecture, was uninspiring and dull. She missed the bamboo forest that surrounded her home, with its beautiful lakes, colorful plants, and various wildlife.

“Do you remember the plan?” Li asked after they had traveled for several miles.

“Of course.” Glad to have something that took her attention away from her boredom, Fan turned from the sight of cacti to look at Li. “My job is to take care of Lilian, her human mate, and her sister. They’ll be going to a soccer game later today, which means they’ll be out of the reach of their bodyguards.”

Lia nodded approvingly. “Meanwhile, I will take care of Kotohime and Kirihime. I have no doubt that Kotohime will sense any massive youki emissions, especially since none of us specialize in the creation of barriers. They currently pose the greatest threat to our plans and will need to be taken out, or at least kept distracted, until you can complete your mission.”

“And while we do that, Guang will take out the dog.”

Fan wrinkled her nose in disgust. They’d found out early on that the human mate of Lilian was apprenticed to Kiara F. Kuyo, a disgusting inu who was well-known in the human world. She didn’t understand how that stupid girl could let her mate spend time around a filthy mutt. She didn’t want to understand.

“I’m glad to see you know the plan. I’m quite proud of you.”

Fan rolled her eyes and went back to staring out the window. Such a boring, dreary landscape.

It’ll all be over soon. I’ll be coming back home to you. Wait for me… my beloved Jiāoào.

***

Because Lindsay had a soccer game and they had agreed to go see it, Kevin, Lilian, and Iris didn’t return home that day. Instead of hopping on the bus and heading back to their apartment, they remained at school with Christine. The idea was to wait around until the game began.

Alex and Andrew had left. They weren’t interested in watching a soccer game. Kevin knew that Eric was still around somewhere, but he didn’t know where that lecherous jerk was.

“Probably trying to peep on the soccer girls while they’re changing,” he muttered under his breath.

“Did you say something, Stud?”

“I asked: why are you hanging off me? You’re too close.”

Iris, her body draped over Kevin’s back and her chin resting comfortably on his shoulder, took a moment to seriously ponder the question. She hummed and shifted. Kevin knew she was doing it on purpose. Her nipples were touching his back through their shirts. She was also groping his pecs. Soft hands were slipped underneath his shirt, blatantly trying to play with his nipples in public. Kevin had, for a time, slapped her hands away, but he had stopped several minutes ago.

He didn’t know what was worse: the fact that Iris was groping him in public, or the fact that he didn’t even care anymore.

“Because I want to,” she said at last.

He sighed. “I shouldn’t have bothered asking.”

“That’s right. You shouldn’t ask such obvious questions.” Kevin could see Iris’s sexy smirk out of the corner of his eye. “It’s good to see that you’re learning, though it’s an awfully slow process.”

“I almost feel like I should be insulted by your words,” Kevin mused.

He and Iris were wandering down one of the many aisles in the library. This particular aisle was dedicated to manga. He scanned the various titles, most of which he had already read. It was kind of disappointing, but the school library just didn’t have a wide manga selection. He thought they were discriminating against manga because it used images instead of words to tell a story.

“You should read this one,” Iris suggested, momentarily stopping her groping of his chest to grab a manga from the shelf and present it to him.

Kevin eyed the front cover illustration before shaking his head. The cover had one guy and two girls. One of the girls was a blonde-haired beauty with blue eyes, while the other was a brunette cutie. The title was Nisekoi.

“I’m surprised they have this manga, but Lilian and I have already read it.”

“Hm, how about this one?”

“Read it.”

“That one?”

“Read that, too.”

“It seems like you’ve read all the ones here.”

“I’m beginning to think I have.”

“Too bad they don’t have any hentai.”

Kevin twitched. “Why would I want to read a hentai?”

“So you can gain some ideas for when you, myself, and my sister start screwing like vixens in heat.”

I won’t facepalm. I won’t facepalm. I won’t facepalm.

“Of course, if you wanted to, you could also add Mom, Kirihime, and Kotohime, though the latter two might kill you if you tried to sex them up. Maybe we should just add Mom to our orgy, then. That would be hot.”

The sound of Kevin’s palm smacking against his face echoed throughout the library.

He and Iris soon emerged from the aisle. Kevin managed to find a manga that he hadn’t read. It was the first volume to a series called The Heroic Legend of Arslan. The series was actually based on a Japanese fantasy novel. It even had its own anime adaptation, though Kevin had yet to watch it.

They went over to where Lilian and Christine were sitting. Kevin’s mate had a pencil and sketch pad out. She was nibbling on her pencil’s eraser as she poured over a book titled So you Wanna be a Mangaka? Christine had a book in her hand as well, the cover of which made him think it must be some kind of romance story. He couldn’t see it well, but the cover, with clearly manga-style artwork, was probably a shōjō romance of some kind.

He sat down next to Lilian. Iris looked at him, and then at Christine, who sat on Lilian’s other side. She huffed and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Lilian looked up to greet him.

She paused.

“Why is your face red?”

“Don’t ask,” Kevin muttered. Iris snickered at him, to which he cast her a withering glare. He then turned back to Lilian. “How are your drawings coming along?”

“A-ah.” Lilian blushed as she held her sketch pad to her chest, as though afraid he might try to peek at it. “Th-they’re coming along fine… I think… maybe…”

Kevin’s lips twitched. Embarrassed Lilian was impossibly cute. No two ways about it. It was too bad she only got like this when it came to her drawings. She was awfully shy about showing them off to others.

Two months ago, Lilian had declared that she would become a manga artist. Kevin had supported her, of course. He even told her that he would be happy to help with her drawings. However, every time he asked if she would let him look at her artwork, she refused. No one, not him, not Iris, not Kotohime, not her mom, no one was allowed to look at her drawings, apparently.

He remembered about one month back when he and Iris had teamed up to see what she was drawing. Not only did Lilian beat them both down, she also refused to speak with him for the rest of the day. While that didn’t sound like a very long time to stop talking to someone, it was when your name happened to be Lilian, and the person you stopped speaking to was your mate.

It had been much worse for Iris. Lilian had ignored her for a whole week. She had even locked the other girl out of their room. By the time that week had ended, Iris was a wreck. The girl had been like a vegetable. According to her, she’d been unable to function because she hadn’t gotten her Lily-Pad Love Battery recharged.

“You’ll show it to me when you’re finished, right?” Kevin asked, smiling at the fox-girl. “I really would love to read your manga.”

“Ah, um, o-okay,” Lilian muttered. “J-just don’t make fun of my drawings when you see them, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.”

Kevin held out his pinky. She eyed the appendage for a moment before hooking her own pinky through it and shaking.

“You’ll show me, too, right?” asked Iris.

“No.”

“What?” Iris’s eyes widened in appalled shock. “Come on, please? Pretty please?”

“No.” Lilian held the sketchpad to her chest. “The only reason I’m even going to let Kevin see them is because he’s my mate.”

“T-that’s so cruel!” Kevin muffled his chuckle behind a hand as Iris looked ready to burst into tears. “You’d show him, but not your lovely sister? How could you, Lily-Pad? I thought we shared something special.”

“The only thing we share is blood and gender.”

“U-ugh!”

Iris dropped to the ground, her arms curling around her knees as she rocked back and forth. Her actions reminded him of a psychotic patient at an insane asylum. She mumbled something to herself, a mantra of some kind, but he couldn’t hear it. It likely had something to do with her Lily-Pad hating her, or whatever.

He turned his attention to Christine, who’d been silently reading ever since they arrived. “Do you know what time Lindsay’s soccer game is?”

Christine didn’t even look up from her manga as she answered. “Her game is at six.”

Kevin looked at the clock, which told him the time was currently half past four. That meant they had one and a half hours before the game.

Maybe we should have gone home? Ah, well. Too late for that now.

“Do you all wanna grab a bite to eat before the game? There’s a small mexican restaurant about a mile from here that sells some really good burritos.”

Christine and Lilian looked at each other for a moment. Kevin was rather impressed by their silent communication skills, especially when he took into account how they’d been bitter rivals seven months ago. It seemed prolonged exposure to each other had helped them get used to the other person’s personality.

“I think getting dinner sounds like a good idea,” Lilian said. Christine said nothing. She merely put a bookmark on the page that she had been reading and snapped the book shut. Kevin finally got a good look at the cover. Erotic Fairy Tales: The Little Mermaid.

I had no idea Christine was into that kind of stuff. That sounds like something Iris would read.

He knew that Christine was into manga, even though she denied it at every opportunity. Kevin had seen her and Lilian exchanging manga when they thought no one was looking. They often made their exchange behind the school lockers between classes.

“Awesome.” He stood up. “Then let’s go there right now. I’m starving.”

“I have noticed that you’ve been eating a lot more.” Lilian also stood up.

“That’s because Kiara and Heather have been running me ragged. I probably burn several thousand calories just getting my butt kicked across the sparring mat every morning.”

As Christine, Lilian, and Kevin walked out of the library, Iris looked up from where she’d been mumbling in depression and realized that everyone was leaving without her.

She scrambled to her feet and chased after them. “Hey! Wait for me! I’m coming, too! Come on! Don’t leave me here!”

***

Fan wanted to cover her ears. The sounds of people cheering and jeering assaulted her eardrums, rattling her skull and making her wish she’d been born deaf. The noise was blood curdling. She knew that humans were loud, but she had never realized that they could be this obnoxiously rambunctious.

She sat near the top of the bleachers overlooking a large soccer field. There must have been at least a hundred people with her. The bleachers were filled to bursting. The only reason she didn’t have people sitting next to her was because she had cast an illusion over this area that made it look like there were several intimidating individuals sitting beside her.

With her sharp eyes, enhanced by the miniscule amounts of youki she sent to them, Fan had a close up view of the people playing on the field. There were a total of twenty-two people running across the soccer field. Eleven wore the uniform representing Desert Cactus High School, light blue shorts and a white shirt with blue trim. There was a cactus on the front. The other team wore red and black.

Having never been interested in what humans did in their spare time, she knew little about the sport that was being played before her eyes. She didn’t care either. It looked stupid. They were just kicking a ball back and forth.

Why humans put so much effort into the most inane and ridiculous things, I’ll never understand.

She tore her gaze from the sight of a bunch of girls kicking a ball. She wasn’t there to watch idiots work up a sweat doing something so banal, so instead of staring at the hairless monkeys as they played, she began searching for the person that she was going to kill. Her target was in this crowd somewhere…

“YOU GO, LINDSAY!”

Ah, there she is.

Fan felt the sneer on her face grow as Lilian cheered for her human friend. The girl was standing next to Christine, a raven-haired beauty—Lilian’s sister—a blond male, and a boy with a lecherous look in his eyes. Lilian and Christine were holding up a large sign that she couldn’t read because it wasn’t pointed at her. While Lilian shouted and made a ruckus, Christine retained an expression of supreme embarrassment.

Her face is blue. She’s definitely a yuki-onna.

Her eyes then traveled away from Lilian to the red-haired vixen’s mate. He stood next to Lilian and Christine, following Lilian’s example. His hands were cupped to his mouth as he cheered for their friend. The only one not cheering was the sister, Iris. Unlike everyone else, she sat on the bleachers, one leg crossed over the other. Her expression spoke of boredom.

The perverted one didn’t cheer either, but that was merely because he was busy drooling.

Fan had to admit that Kevin was a decent example of the male species. Most females would probably consider him at least mildly handsome. He had a strong build, broad shoulders and chest, and his tousled blond hair gave him a sort of carefree appearance. His eyes weren’t the same shade of blue as hers, but they were vibrant nonetheless.

But he’s still human. All humans are filthy and disgusting.

She didn’t know what Lilian saw in this boy.

She turned my dearest, beloved little brother down for him?

Fan clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white.

Soon, Lilian Pnév̱ma. Your time is coming soon…

***

Kotohime hummed a gentle tune as she went about taking down the laundry, which she had hung up on the balcony. She was very meticulous in how she worked. Undo the pins, set them in a basket, and then fold up the clothes and put them in the even bigger basket. Kevin often complained about how she hung the laundry up in such an old-fashioned manner, claiming they had a perfectly good dryer that she should use. He just didn’t realize that her method was so much better.

As she worked, she thought about the time that she had spent here at the Swift residence. It had been a little less than nine months since she had started living with Lilian and her mate. Despite the rocky start she’d had in regards to Kevin, life with him had been rather pleasant.

There had been a few bumps in the road, though. She still grimaced in phantom pain upon remembering her fight with Luna, and of the events that happened during that time. Still, in spite of what happened, it had all worked out for the best. She had begun training again in order to sharpen her skills, Lilian had started training with her, and Kevin Swift had become a stronger person because of what happened.

That boy continues to surprise me.

The sound of a door sliding open alerted her to the new presence on the balcony before her sister’s voice called out to her. “Sister?”

“Hm?” Kotohime turned around to find her sister. The hem of Kirihime’s French maid outfit fluttered in the soft breeze. “Kirihime, is something on your mind? Shouldn’t you be looking after Camellia-sama?”

“My Lady is asleep.” Kirihime frowned a bit, her brow creasing in worry. “My Lady has been sleeping a lot more lately. I’m getting a little worried about her.”

“I have noticed that Camellia-sama has been sleeping quite a bit,” Kotohime confessed. “She’s also been calmer than normal. I do not think there is anything to worry about, however, so try not to let it trouble you.”

“Yes, I suppose I shouldn’t worry.”

“Good. Now, did you need something?”

Kirihime was about to answer when a large spike in youki alerted them both to imminent danger. Killing intent flooded the area. It was so powerful that were she not a four-tails, she would have been on her knees and struggling to breath, much like Kirihime. Kotohime had less than three-fourths of a second to comprehend what this killing intent meant before their apartment building exploded in a massive shower of light and flames.

***

“One. Two. One-one. Two. Hya!”

Kiara glared at her current opponent, a large punching bag that she’d been pounding away at for the last half an hour. It was a specially designed bag made to her specifications. It was denser than the standard punching bag, made from the hide of an onikuma, and able to withstand the most ferocious of punches and kicks. It wouldn’t survive if she punched it at full power, but for the purpose of working up a good sweat, it worked well enough.

The chains attaching the punching bag to the ceiling rattled as she slammed into it with her fist. She shuffled across the mat, moving from side to side as she launched a series of rapid punches. Her fist blurred. The whistling of air as it was cut echoed around the room. That noise was quickly followed by multiple bangs! from her fist impacting against the punching bag.

Several yards away, a large sensor with a monitor attached to it counted the number of punches she released per second, along with how powerful each punch was based on the momentum at which she hit it. Her goal was to increase her punching speed.

Sweat poured down her body in rivulets. Her clothes caked to her skin. Despite how much sweat she worked up, her breathing remained even.

A loud beeping went off, her timer, which told her it was time to stop. She ceased beating the punching bag like nobodies business and turned to look at the monitor. 300 punches in a single minute.

She frowned. My speed hasn’t increased.

She supposed she should have expected that. With only one hand to punch with, her punching speed had been reduced by half. She’d been working hard to get her speed back up to par, but it looked as if she had hit a wall. Five punches for every one second seemed to be her limit.

I suppose it could be worse, but still…

She looked down at her hand, wrapped in white training bandages. She clenched it into a fist, watching as the veins throbbed to life on her forearm. Her arm was covered in muscle. Her fingers and knuckles had callouses from constant training. It was a strong hand, a powerful hand.

It wasn’t enough.

“Five punches isn’t going to be enough to beat him.”

Before her thoughts could linger, the sound of her intercom going off caused her to look over her shoulder. What could her aid want at this hour? Frowning, she walked over to the small speaker built into the wall and accepted the call.

“Yes?”

“Ms. Kuyo, a visitor wants to see you.”

“I see.” Kiara was not expecting anyone. “Did this visitor say what they want?”

“No, ma’am, and I’ve, well, pardon me for saying so, ma’am, but I’ve never seen him before. However, he says it’s urgent that he speak with you.”

“Hmm…” Kiara cocked her head to the side, doing far more than simply contemplating the situation. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones. After a second or two, she narrowed her eyes. “Very well. Tell him to head up to my office and that I’ll be with him as soon as I take a shower.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

Sighing, Kiara ended the call, and then pressed several more buttons on the console. A large slot opened up in the ceiling, which her personal punching bag disappeared into as it was hauled up by a series of silent pulleys. A section of the wall behind her timer also opened. The timer disappeared as it moved backwards on a series of treads, the wall sliding closed behind it. Once again, her personal training room looked like one large room with a blue mat covering the floor.

After taking a quick shower, Kiara dressed herself in a dark gray business suit. Like usual, the suit was missing its left sleeve. While some people were disturbed whenever they saw the stump that used to be her left arm, she rather liked the look. It might have made her punches slower because she had one less hand to work with, but she couldn’t deny that she looked pretty damn badass.

Entering her personal elevator, Kiara only needed to wait for a few seconds before it took her to the floor containing her office. She exited swiftly, striding down the beige carpeted hall and reaching her office in record time. She reached out for the handle, ready to grip it—

—she paused. Her eyes narrowed. A split second later, she gripped the door and opened it, walking in with a nonchalant air.

A person stood in her office, his back to her. He was massive, towering over her like a Titan towered over a human. He was garbed in what she recognized as the robes of a Shaolin Monk. It was a long, yellow robe similar to a kimono, only looser and more flowing. The sleeves were rather voluminous, extending all the way to the floor. Short, dark hair covered his head.

Three bushy fox tails stuck out of his robes and two ears twitched on his head.

He turned to face her.

“You’re the one who wanted to see me, right?” Kiara smirked as she spread her single remaining arm wide, as though inviting him to try something. “Well, here I am.”

The man’s face bulged. His eyes, which had been impassive a second before, suddenly became filled with an inexplicable rage. Kiara saw the whites turn red as blood vessels gathered within.

“DOOOOOOGGGGGG!”

The man unleashed a most unusual battle cry as he charged at Kiara, slamming into her and smashing them both straight through a wall.

***

“Go, Lindsay! GO!” Lilian cheered for Lindsay as her friend dribbled the ball across the soccer field. She would have cupped her hands to her mouth and used them as a microphone, but her hands were currently occupied with the large banner she had made.

“Come on, Lindsay! You’ve got this!” Beside Lilian, her mate also cheered their friend on. She smiled at how supportive he was. It was even better because they were cheering together.

“Come on, hotties! I wanna see those boobies bounc—BWAG!”

“SHUT UP, PERVERT!”

Lilian, Kevin, and Iris all turned to their heads just in time to witness Christine bash Eric’s face in. The boy crumbled to the ground, his head smacking against the metal bleachers on the way down. There was a moment of silence…

… And then they went back to cheering for their friend.

Lilian only knew a little about soccer from the time she had played a scrimmage with Lindsay and her friends; it was back before Kevin decided to be her mate. She knew that the ultimate goal was to score as many points as possible by kicking the soccer ball into the opposition’s goal, but she knew little beyond that. Despite her basic knowledge, that didn’t stop her from enjoying the sight of Lindsay playing her hardest.

A loud whistle echoed around the field. Lilian watched, confused when everyone stop playing and headed back to their respective teams.

“What’s going on? Is it already over?”

“No,” Kevin answered her. “It’s just the ending to the first half. There will be a fifteen minute break before the two teams start playing again.”

“Oh. ” Lilian hummed in thought for a moment before smiling. “Why don’t we go and see Lindsay? You know, to let her know that we’re cheering her on?”

“Sure, let’s do that.”

“I guess we’re getting up to greet the dyke,” Iris mumbled.

Christine clicked her tongue. “Do you have to be so rude?”

“It’s an expression of love.”

The group stood up, leaving the unconscious Eric lying on the bleachers, and went down to where Lindsay’s team was resting. They found their tomboy friend easily enough. She stood off to the side, drinking from a water bottle.

“Lindsay!” Lilian called out, causing the girl to turn around.

A grin sprang to her face when she spotted them. “Hey, guys! What do you think of the game so far?”

“It’s exciting,” Lilian said. “Not as exciting as watching my mate speed past everyone on the track, but still pretty exciting.”

Lindsay twitched as a wan smile appeared on her face. “Yeah, I suppose it would be impossible for even something as exciting as a soccer match to beat anything your mate does.”

“Very true.” Lilian’s sage-like nod made Kevin facepalm. “Now, if my mate was the one playing soccer, that would be a totally different story.”

“Right,” Lindsay sighed.

“Try not to look so depressed, dyke,” Iris said in her usual rude voice. “Lily-pad’s got the stud on the brain twenty-four-seven. Nothing you, I, or anyone else do will ever be enough to compete with what he does. He could be staring at a wall, and she would think it was sexier than me stripping naked while pole dancing.”

“Nice imagery there,” Kevin muttered. To Lindsay he said, “try to ignore anything Iris says. She doesn’t really mean it. She’s just rude by nature.”

“Oh, whatever, Stud.” Iris draped herself across his shoulder, her right index finger making circles on his chest, her expression coy. “You know you love me—Goof!”

“Hands off my mate.” Were Lilian’s prim words as she smacked Iris down with a tail before anyone could notice. Iris fell to the ground, sprawled out, her black halter top askew, revealing more breast than it was supposed to.

Kevin felt a trickle of sweat leave a trail down the left side of his face. “Is it just me, or have we become a really violent group? Seriously, Eric’s always getting beaten up by girls and we don’t even bat an eye. Christine also tends to take her pound of flesh out of him, and you’re constantly beating your sister whenever she gets, well, whenever she acts like her usual self.”

“Hmm…” Lindsay actually thought about his words for a moment. “You may have a point. We have become pretty inured to violence. I wonder if this is what they call desensitization?”

Lilian shrugged. “Don’t look at me. All I’m doing is protecting your chastity like you asked me to. If you’d prefer I let Iris molest you…”

“I appreciate you protecting my chastity.”

“Ufufufu, the only one stealing your chastity will be me.”

“And now I’m afraid.”

Lindsay looked at the Lilian and Kevin as they bantered, silently shaking her head. Something then tugged at her sleeve. Lindsay looked down at Christine, whose resigned expression caused everyone around to become curious. Kevin, who was still trading banter with Lilian, wondered what was going on.

“Look, I don’t want you to think this means anything special, but you did really good out there… and stuff.”

Christine glanced at Iris, who was dusting herself off. The vixen noticed her look, grinned, and sent her a thumbs up. Lindsay didn’t see the thumbs up, since she was busy paying attention to her friend, but Kevin did.

Did Iris tell Christine to compliment Lindsay?

It seemed Iris was nicer than she let on, or maybe she was trying to amuse herself by setting these two up. That was something he could see her doing.

“Heh… thanks.” Lindsay smiled at her friend, who looked away with a huff.

“Whatever.”

Just then, something began falling from the sky. Kevin blinked as something white drifted lazily past his field of vision. He then looked up to see…

“Feathers?”

They were, indeed, feathers. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of feathers fell from the sky, whiter than snow, purer than fresh rain. They glowed in the dimming light of the sun, ethereal-looking feathers holding an otherworldly appearance as they descended from the heavens.

Kevin felt exhausted as one of the feathers hit his head. It sank into his bones, this biting sense of fatigue. He slumped down, his eyes involuntarily closing, his breathing growing deep. Sleep. He wanted to sleep.

“Beloved?” a voice called out, but it was far away, like a fading echo.

With his strength leaving him, Kevin pitched forward. He didn’t hit the ground. Something caught him. He felt arms wrap around his middle, pulling him into a warm bosom. Having been buried in this chest many times before, he knew, instinctively, that this was Lilian’s chest. He sighed and let the sandman take him.

He was so sleepy.

***

“Beloved? Beloved, what’s wrong? Beloved?!”

For a moment, Lilian felt panic as Kevin slumped into her chest and closed his eyes, legs and arms going limp. She kept her arms around him, holding him close as she called out to him, hoping that he would respond. He didn’t. He remained silent.

Questions assailed her mind. What was going on? Why wasn’t her beloved responding? She calmed down when she felt his warm breath against her chest. He was still alive, his breathing deep and even, almost as if he was… asleep…

Wait.

Eyes widening, Lilian looked all around her to see that everyone else had fallen asleep as well. The people in the bleachers were dropping like flies. So, too, were the soccer players and the coaches. The only people who hadn’t fallen asleep were her, Christine, and Iris. Lilian absently noticed the long black, white-tipped fox tail retract from Christine’s back and slither back underneath Iris’s skirt.

Much like Kevin, Lindsay pitched forward. The yuki-onna caught the girl before she could hit to the ground, but because Lindsay was significantly larger and weighed a lot more, Christine couldn’t hold her up. The lolita-clad girl slipped onto her knees with a grunt. Unable to maintain her hold, Christine fell back, and Lindsay slipped from her grasp.

“I got her,” Iris said, a single tail shooting from her back. She caught Lindsay, the tail wrapping around the limp girl before gently setting her on the ground.

“Good catch,” Lilian said. Iris gave her a thumbs up.

“What the hell is going on?!” Christine scowled as she climbed to her feet.

Lilian wanted to know the same thing. Her attention was attracted to another feather, which fell down right in front of her. She blinked when it fell to the ground and then evaporate into light particles. Unlike Kotohime, Lilian wasn’t much of a sensor, but even she could tell that these feathers were created with youki. A lot of youki.

It has to be powerful to affect even Kevin…

She frowned. “This is…”

“Kitsune Art: Daoists Nirvana,” a voice said behind them. Lilian turned around, Kevin still in her arms. Someone that she vaguely recognized was walking toward them. “It’s a rather powerful technique, a sleeping enchantment that requires at least three tails to use. I wouldn’t expect a simple two-tails like you to understand how it works.”

The woman before her had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her body was garbed in a white lolita dress with a lot of frills and ruffled sleeves. Her slipper-like shoes made nary a sound as she stalked across the grassy field. She had a young face, childish almost, which created a juxtaposition with her prominent chest and wide hips.

The woman stopped several yards away from her, Iris, and Christine, who moved to stand protectively in front of Lindsay. She didn’t take her eyes off this girl, who Lilian finally recognized. It was the new student they had been talking about earlier. Fan Shen-something or other.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” asked Christine. Lilian wouldn’t have posed her question quite like that, but she wanted to know the same thing.

“Yeah, what the fuck are you doing here?”

… Okay, so maybe she would.

Three fox-tails suddenly sprouted from underneath Fan’s dress. Her human-shaped ears became triangular and furred, moving up her head until they rested closer to her crown. She raised a hand slowly, dramatically even, as if she was about to make some great proclamation. She extended a single finger and pointed at Lilian.

“Lilian Pnév̱ma, by orders of the Bodhisattva, you are hereby sentenced to death, and I, Fan Shénshèng, shall be your executioner.”

Step-by-Step Guide to Sideload EPUB Files Purchased from Shopify onto Kindle

Amazon now supports EPUB files on Kindle, but you need to send them through Send to Kindle or convert them. Follow these steps to get your EPUB books on your Kindle.

Method 1: Send to Kindle (Recommended)

Amazon now allows you to send EPUB files directly to your Kindle via email or the Send to Kindle app.

Step 1: Find Your Kindle Email Address

Go to Amazon → Manage Your Content & Devices (Link).

Click the Devices tab.

Select your Kindle device and note the "Send-to-Kindle Email" (e.g., yourname@kindle.com).

Step 2: Send EPUB to Kindle via Email

Open your email client (Gmail, Outlook, etc.).

Compose a new email to your Send-to-Kindle Email.

Attach the EPUB file you purchased.

Send the email. Amazon will convert it and deliver it to your Kindle.

Alternative: Use the "Send to Kindle" App

Download the Send to Kindle App (PC, Mac).

Drag and drop the EPUB file into the app.

Select your Kindle and send it.

Method 2: USB Transfer (For Advanced Users)

This method requires converting the EPUB to Kindle’s MOBI or AZW3 format.

Step 1: Convert EPUB to MOBI or AZW3

Download Calibre (Link).

Open Calibre and add your EPUB file.

Click Convert books → Choose MOBI or AZW3 as the output format.

Click OK to convert.

Step 2: Transfer to Kindle via USB

Connect your Kindle to your PC/Mac using a USB cable.

Open the Kindle folder in File Explorer (Windows) / Finder (Mac).

Drag and drop the converted file into the Documents folder.

Eject your Kindle, and your book will appear in your library.

Bonus: Use a Third-Party App

Apps like Send to Kindle for Android/iOS or Readwise Reader can also sync EPUBs to Kindle.

Now, enjoy your book on Kindle! 📖🔥