A Fox's Family by Brandon Varnell Read Free Book Online

tripping over themselves just to catch a glimpse
of her.
    Not
that she blamed them, of course, but it was still annoying. Couldn’t
they be a little more sporting and at least try to resist their
hormonal response in the face of someone who embodied female
perfection? It was no fun if they didn’t
struggle against their natural impulses at least a little bit.
    “Come
on, Iris,”
her
mother called out to her. The older kitsune was walking in front of
her, the ever faithful and kind Kirihime at the woman’s
side. “Hurry
up or you’ll
fall behind―hawa!”
    “M-My
Lady!”
    Iris
wanted to facepalm, but that would have been redundant. Instead, she
just sighed, watching Kirihime set down their luggage and helping
Camellia back to her feet.
    “Geeze,
mom. You’re
a complete embarrassment.”
    “Th-that’s
not a very nice thing to say about your mother,”
Kirihime
muttered, wearing a forlorn expression.
    “That
doesn’t
make it any less true,”
Iris
retorted.
    “H-hawa…
I’m
sowwy, Iris…”
Camellia
apologized, dewy tear drops in her eyes.
    “Whatever.
Let’s
just hurry up, okay?”
    “Hawa…”
    Several
more trips and a lot more staring later, they eventually made it to
their terminal.
    Iris’
stomach
chose that moment to growl. “Ugh,
I knew I shouldn’t
have skipped breakfast.”
    “Would
you like some of my Teriyaki?”
Kirihime
asked, pulling out a steaming plate of food from between her bosom
and offering the fragrantly appetizing dish to Iris.
    The
girl’s
face turned green. “There’s
no way in hell I’m
ever eating anything you make. Never again.”
    Kirihime’s
shoulders slumped. “That’s
not a very nice thing to say…”
    ***
    Kevin
and Lilian were joined by their friends as they sat at a stone table
underneath the gazebo for lunch.
    “So…
crap,
do we even have a lunch?”
Kevin
asked, remembering what had happened this morning. His face warmed up
and his heart threatened to explode as he recalled Lilian’s
warm tongue exploring his mouth. He shifted uncomfortably and hoped
no one could see the way his pants tightened.
    Curse
you hormones!
    “Don’t
worry,”
Lilian
reassured him, “Kotohime
foresaw that we wouldn’t
have time to make lunch and packed one for us. She made sure I
grabbed it before we left.”
    “How
come I didn’t
notice this?”
    “You
were too busy freaking out.”
    “O-oh.
I see.”
    Kevin
tried not to blush as Lilian reached into her cleavage and pulled out
a large lunchbox. His eyes widened when he saw the box itself.
Three-tiered and shaped like a square, the lunchbox had a lacquered
finish and Sakura blossoms swirling along its surface like a mosaic.
    Watching
as Lilian arranged the food, Kevin saw that each story contained
something different. The top story contained eggs and a variety of
meats, the second held pickled vegetables, and the third was filled
to bursting with rice.
    Everyone
gawked at the massive lunchbox, though Christine was the most vocal.
“What
the hell kind of lunchbox is that?!”
    “It’s
called a bento box,”
Kevin
answered, somehow resisting the urge to facepalm. “A
Japanese lunchbox with several stories that can contain a variety of
different foods.”
    Lindsay
stared at swirling pink petals and beautiful designs like they were
something out of a horror movie. “Why
is it that everything you do these days has something to do with
Japan? We don’t
live in Japan, you know.”
    “I
am well aware of that,”
Kevin’s
reply made deserts seem lush. He looked back at the bento box and
sighed. “Seriously
though, I know Kotohime’s
into the whole ‘adding
random Japanese suffixes to people’s
name’
thing,
but I had no clue she was this into Japanese culture. If she wasn’t
from Japan herself, I would almost think she was a Japanophile.”
    “A
what?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Hey,
I just noticed we’re
missing someone,”
Alex
said, “where’s
Eric?”
    “Who
cares?”
Christine
said rudely. “I’m
just glad