A Fox's Maid (20 page)

“
That-that’s just because Kevin said it would start getting chilly soon,” Lilian mumbled, “And besides, those were jeans. They’re completely different than the pants on display here.”

“
So you’re allowing Kevin-san to influence your clothing decisions? How interesting. Ufufufu…”

Ms. Swift ignored Lilian giving the kimono-clad femme the stink-eye.

“
There’s nothing wrong with a good pair of pants. Kevin was smart to get you those jeans when he did. Even with the deal they have going on right now, these are still very expensive.” She eyed the price tags and nodded to herself. “Pants bought during the summer or even near the start of fall are cheaper than during the winter, because that’s when everyone’s buying them. Store owners like to jack up the price while masking it behind something like a two-for-one deal. It’s an old trading tactic.”

Lilian tilted her head to the side before slowly nodding. “That makes sense. My mate is so smart!”

“
Mate?” Ms. Swift frowned at the young woman. “Did you just say mate?”

Lilian cursed inwardly. How could she be so stupid? Humans didn’t take mates. They got married. “Ah! Oh, um, d-did I say mate? I mean, uh, um, boyfriend!”

“
Boyfriend?”

“
Yes.” Lilian was all smiles as she nodded like a bobblehead doll. “Boyfriend.”

“
I see.” Ms. Swift looked at Kotohime, as if to ask,
“
what the hell is your charge talking about?”
The other woman just shrugged, causing the single mom’s frown to deepen.

In the end, Ms. Swift simply shrugged the word off.

“
Well, all right. Let’s head to the next store, then, shall we?”

***

Kevin frowned as he entered the arcade by himself.

Lilian would normally be with him these days, always be his side when he went to the arcade, or anywhere else really, but not today. No, today she was out shopping with his fashion guru mom and the frighteningly beautiful woman with the katana. Even though the arcade was full of people, Kevin felt strangely alone.

Rubbing a hand against his face, he released a deep gust of breath. “Why am I thinking about her? I should be glad we’re not together.”

Yes, he should be appreciative towards his mom for dragging Lilian off to go shopping. This was the first chance to have some time for himself that he’d had since the fox-girl entered his life. Kevin should be ecstatic.

So why aren’t I?

Deciding that dwelling on this issue wouldn’t help him, Kevin marched further into the arcade. He put twenty dollars worth of credits on his card, then went over to the first game that caught his eye. It was, of course, the zombie killing first-person shooter, “House of Haunted Horrors.”

Five minutes later Kevin stood in front of the screen, plastic gun in hand. His index finger pulled the trigger, killing zombies with every shot. Yet his actions were automatic, mechanical, like his body was just going through the motions while his mind was off somewhere else.

Despite this game being one of his favorites, Kevin couldn’t get into it. He looked over to his left, at the other station for the second player, and his mind visualized Lilian standing there, blasting away at zombies wearing the largest grin he’d ever seen.

Dispelling the image with a shake of his head, Kevin sighed and put the gun back in its holster. His character was still alive, but he just didn’t care enough to play anymore.

“
Kevin!”

Eric, Alex, Andrew and Justin waved as they approached. He hadn’t realized they’d also come to the arcade, though in hindsight, he probably should have, as his friends rarely did anything else. While their presence didn’t make his strangely gloomy mood disappear, it was enough to bring a slight smile to his face.

“
Hey, guys. What’s up?”

“
Not much,” Alex said, “You know how this works. Same crap, different day.”

“
Is it strange that I’m actually getting kind of bored?” asked Andrew. “I mean, I love coming to the arcade, but this place feels like it’s becoming a real snore fest.”

Kevin tilted his head before shaking it. “I don’t think so. It’s not like we can anywhere else in the middle of September. The arcade is one of the only places that’s open, and if I’m not mistaken, you and Alex have gone here pretty much every day since school shut down, so of course you’d be bored of it.”

“
That is true,” Andrew admitted.

“
We also can’t go on vacation since the world hasn’t stopped with us,” Kevin added, “just because our school is closed doesn’t mean our parents have stopped working, and since none of us have a car, or even a license, well…” Kevin trailed off and shrugged.

“…
Disneyland…”

Justin got several looks.

“
That’s right, you’ve never been to Disneyland before, have you?” Alex asked.

Justin shook his head.

“
California Adventures is better.”

“
Never mind any of that,” Eric shouted before whirling on Kevin. “Where is my Tit Maiden?”

“
Oh, for the love of… are you still going on about that?!”

“
Of course I am! I need my Tit Maiden and my Goth Hottie! Now tell me where you’re hiding them!”

“
I’m not hiding anyone.” Kevin paused as a vein began throbbing angrily on his forehead. “And stop calling them that!”

***

Shopping with someone who wasn’t Kevin was an interesting experience. That the person she was shopping with happened to be Kevin’s mother made it even more interesting.

Then again, Lilian would admit that she didn’t have enough experience with shopping to make many comparisons. The only person she had shopped with before was Kevin, and Kotohime had bought all of her clothes before then. That was what happened when your family never let you travel to any human population centers.

The first thing Lilian discovered about Ms. Swift was that she was an expert bargain hunter with a keen eye for detail. She possessed profound knowledge on all things fashion. Every store they entered, Ms. Swift would lead them around, grabbing clothes off the racks seemingly at random for Lilian to try on. She was like a whirlwind.

Ms. Swift’s sense of style was also similar to that of her son’s, if a bit more refined. When Lilian commented on how her son made similar remarks after she had tried on some clothes, Ms. Swift had given her a smirk.

“
Who do you think my son got his sense of fashion from?”

Lilian then learned about Ms. Swift’s job as a fashion journalist. The woman was quite popular in the fashion industry, one of the leading experts on fashion, in fact. She had written many articles for a variety of popular magazines, which explained why she rarely came home. Her job often took her overseas to countries like France and Italy where most of the big time fashion expos took place.

“
It’s a nice job, and it pays well,” Ms. Swift said when Lilian asked her about her job, “I’ll admit, sometimes I dislike how I’m always away from my son, but it really can’t be helped, and Kevin doesn’t actually need me to get by. He’s very responsible for his age.”

It was nice to learn more about the woman who’d given birth to the man she loved. She also got some really cute outfits out of the deal, so there was that. Lilian felt positive that Kevin would approve of her new clothes.

As they continued shopping, the group of three ran into a certain blond tomboy, who also appeared to be doing some shopping of her own.

“
Lilian?” Lindsay Diane strolled over to them after noticing the kitsune’s distinctive crimson hair. Lilian smiled brightly.

“
Hi, Lindsay.”

“
Hey.” Lindsay raised a hand in greeting. “I’m surprised to see you here without Kevin.”

Lilian crossed her arms and pouted.

“
Yeah, well, I wanted to spend the day with him, but Ms. Swift suggested we have a ‘girls’ day out.’”

“
Oh, I see. You―wait.” Lindsay finally realized what Lilian had said, and turned in shock to see Kevin’s mom walking up to them, carrying several sets of clothing in her perfectly-manicured hands. “Ms. Swift, I didn’t know you were back.”

“
Hello, Lindsay!” Ms. Swift graced the tomboy with a cheery grin. “I hope you’ve been doing well.”

“
I’m alright, I guess,” Lindsay said, “I was supposed to do some shopping with one of my friends, but she ditched me to hang out with her boyfriend.” She frowned. “I don’t mind that my friend decided to bail on me, but I really wish she would have told me first. It would have saved me an hour of sitting around, doing nothing.”

“
It could have been a last minute thing,” Ms. Swift suggested.

“
Yeah, that’s what she said.” Lindsay blew out a deep breath. “I still wish she would have told me.”

“
I know!” Lilian’s exuberant cry caused Lindsay to take a step back. She took another one when Lilian got right in her face. “You can come with us!”

“
Eh? I wouldn’t want to impose—”

“
I think that’s a splendid idea.” Ms. Swift clapped her hands together and beamed at the two. “Now I have two cute girls to dress up, hehehe.”

Ms. Swift rubbed her hands together, chuckling in a strangely sinister way, like a mad scientist about to start a crazy experiment. Lilian and Lindsay both backed away from the woman doing her best impersonation of Shion Sonozaki, wondering if it wasn’t too late for them to run away.

“
Ara, ara.” Kotohime had yet to play a part in this scene, so she said that.

***

Now that his friends had joined him, Kevin felt a bit less lonely. He would even go so far as to say he’d had a good time.

He and his friends had played a few games and done the things they normally did whenever they hung out together. It was nice, he admitted, being able to do something with just the guys.

“
Ha! Looks like I win again, brother!”

“
That was just a lucky shot! You’re going down next time.”

“
As if. You know I’m better than you at, well, everything. What makes you think you can beat me?”

“
I will beat you! Just you watch! Next round, your ass is grass.”

Kevin looked over to where Alex and Andrew were yelling at each other, and promptly felt like facepalming. He knew they didn’t get along, but did they really have to start an argument in the middle of the arcade?

“
You think so, huh? Well, fine! Slide your card through and start the game again. I’ll be more than happy to keep humiliating you in front of everyone else.”

“
You say that now, but you won’t be saying that for long. Not once I finish beating your avatar black and blue. I’ll show you who the ‘King of Fighters’ really is.”

“…
Fight…”

“
Gods, I hope not,” Kevin said in response to Justin’s single word sentence. “The last thing we need is to get kicked out because those two couldn’t keep from trying to tear each other apart.”

“…
Tear… like dog… fox…"

Kevin looked over at Justin oddly, but shook off the strange comment. His friend had always been a perplexing and bizarre fellow. This was just another example.

“
You know, Justin, sometimes I worry about you.”

“
Who cares about those two! I just want my Tit Maiden and Goth Hottie!”

“
Shut up, Eric!”

***

“
Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse, I run into you.”

“
The feeling’s mutual. What are you doing here anyway?”

“
I had nothing better to do.”

Ms. Swift looked at the two girls trying to kill each other with their eyes. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could swear she saw sparks shooting between them. And was it just her, or had the temperature suddenly dropped several dozen degrees?

“
There they go again.” Lindsay ran her fingers through her hair, sighing exasperatedly. “You think they’d stop arguing since Kevin isn’t here, but nope, the moment they meet, they’re at each other’s throats again.”

“
So this happens often, then?” Ms. Swift asked.

“
Every time they see each other,” Lindsay confirmed.

“
Hmm.”

While Lindsay and Kevin’s mom conversed, Kotohime remained separate from the group by a couple of feet, observing. The shopping trip so far had been a decently pleasant experience. It had been a long time since she had truly mingled with humans in this manner.

Lilian’s friendship with the young human girl was another surprise, but certainly not something to be displeased about. If anything, Kotohime felt this was a good thing. Her ward had very little contact with people outside of her clan, and none of them could be considered friends. It was nice to see her charge enjoying herself for a change.