Do vaporwave kitsune count technicolor sheep? - 20. Chapter 20

When consciousness returns to me, it is to the sound of someone being struck and a body falling to the floor.

“I specifically said unharmed. Does this look unharmed?”

“Please, Boss. Begging forgiveness, she bit off Larson’s finger. We took what action was needed to contain her and bring her in as ordered.”

“And if I let her finish the rest of her meal? Get out, now. Leave us alone, and no one is to disturb us... I mean no one.”

“Yes, Sir! Immediately, Sir!”

I hear the frantic scrabbling of feet, followed by a door closing shut with a click of finality. A familiar overflow of massive power looms beside me, and I growl low in my throat with eyes still closed.

“Oh ho... little fox thinks to bare her teeth at me? I’ve already thought of that.”

It is then I notice I cannot open my mouth and my violet eyes fly open to assess the situation I now find myself in. Crouching over me with snowy white hair falling loose over his shoulder, The Dragon…. no Hikaru partially blocks out the light sparkling from the crystal chandelier above his head.

Groggily, I push myself up to a sitting position, and warily back away until the wall behind me halts my retreat. Pinning my ears back against my skull, I just manage to curl my lip up enough to bare my teeth through the muzzle I’ve been fitted with.

Frantically, I look around the room, taking stock of my surroundings. The only exit is a pair of massive doors with twin Eastern Dragons carved into the wood panels. A massive ebon wood desk covered in paperwork and a clear crystal screen much like Faes used rests upon an ornately decorated deep green oriental rug. His long fingers take my vulpine jaw in hand, gently stroking the violet fur at my throat.

“If only someone would behave properly, I might be convinced to remove this.”

He gives the muzzle a little shake.

“Unfortunately... I don’t think I can quite trust you, little fox. What with your history of escaping... thieving... and biting fingers.”

With every passing minute, the effects of the drug I was injected with fade more and more. The look my eyes give him tells him exactly what I will do if my mouth is liberated from this contraption.

“Mmmmhmm, see? That’s the look that says both ‘Please, oh please let me go’ and also ‘I will do you bodily harm at the first opportunity’.”

I shake my head in denial, my tails wagging merrily behind me.

“Don’t think I’ll be falling for that.”

He stands up, straightening to his full height of well over six feet.

“We’ll have to build up some trust first, Pet.”

Again I growl low in my throat, I am no ones ‘pet’.

“Well, that one certainly didn’t go over well…”

Like two adversaries, we circle each other around the room. My foxglove gaze locked with his palest lavender. His breathing is quickening and a flush creeps up to color his complexion. I grin to myself that he is not nearly so nonchalant as he would have me believe. He is the first to break eye contact, attempting to play it off by turning to seat himself in the large leather chair behind the monstrosity of a desk.

“Come here.”

He gestures to the spot beside him, brows raised imperiously.

Okay, I can humor you for a bit.

Obediently, I trot over to him, curling my tails around me in a ladylike fashion as I sit and wait for his next edict. He looks down at me distrustfully at my quick obedience before slowly extending his right hand to pet my head. Something about his touch...his long fingers ruffling my fur as he scratches behind my ears brings me immense satisfaction. For a fraction of a second, my eyes drift shut, lost in the feeling of direct contact. My traitorous tails are wagging with genuine pleasure and I almost miss him unlatching the muzzle from my mouth. Removing it and placing it on his desk, he takes my jaw in hand again.

“We are definitely alone here, little fox, and I would like for us to have some conversation. Is that okay?”

This gentle side of him is utterly disarming, and I find myself nodding before I’ve even given it much thought.

“Very well...even though you already know it, I give you leave to call me by my given name, Hikaru.”

“You may address me as Moon.”

“Good girl. Progress.”

I yank my head back from his reach.

“Do not think to patronize me with sweet words, dragon.”

He smiles down at me winningly.

“I would never presume. How long have you had the pleasure of gracing my fair city?”

“Not overly long. ‘Yours’?”

“Well... a portion of it certainly is under my domain. At least over these past six months…”

“Care to enlighten me why you saw fit to so rudely abduct me?”

“Though my methods may have been heavy-handed, trust me when I say I was doing you a favor. Whether or not you realize it, you were in quite a bit of danger.”

“That still doesn’t explain why it should befall on you to come to my rescue. No one named you my keeper.”

“Such an ungrateful little fox.”

In one lithe motion, I leap up onto his lap, looking him directly in the eye. Although he does his best to hide it, I get a small shiver of satisfaction when his breath quickens at my proximity. He is definitely not unaffected by my presence.

“Now that I am here, what exactly do you intend to do with me?”

“I have several ideas... just off the top of my head.”

Violet fur gives way to bare skin as I transform, straddling his lap while I press my lips just below his ear.

“Ideas can be dangerous things.”

I can feel his eyes traveling down my naked body before freezing on the black crescent moon marking my right hip. Gently, he sets me back from him.

“That mark…”

Following his gaze, I look down at it.

“Yes... strange... I don’t remember it being there before, but with all the excitement of late I haven’t given it much thought.”

Scooping me up into his arms, he stands up before setting me on my feet beside him. Sliding his jacket off, he drapes it over my shoulders. His eyes avoid meeting my own as a flush brightens his cheeks.

“Trust me when I say that you are a very tempting morsel, but I had... other things I wished to discuss before you present me with such distractions.”

Averting my gaze, I take a step back from him.

“I am sorry... something about being in your presence just makes me want to... tease you.”

Grasping my jaw, he forces my eyes back to his.

“Believe me when I say that I am not averse to your charms, little fox. From the moment you dashed out in front of my car... even when you used me as a means of escape to get your meat pie, you have haunted my thoughts... driving me to distraction. There are things that need to be said first, though, before pursuing more... pleasurable distractions. Will you allow me a bit of your time? I think I can shed some light on this world you’ve found yourself in.”

Pulling his jacket, still warm from his skin, closer around me, I nod in assent. Sitting back behind the large desk, he pats his lap and beckons for me to sit once more. Hesitating a moment, I give in to temptation and settle myself upon him, resting my head against his shoulder.

“The last thing I remember before being transported to this world was lying down to sleep for the night at my shrine in Kyoto. I’m sure you can imagine my confusion when I awoke to find myself in a strange alien realm… This world was a place of chaos, the likes of which I had never seen. It was a near lawless place that was rife with disputes over territories, rampant crime... It really looked like the end times those posters all over the place prophesied. Such discord... and so before I knew it, I had taken up the mantle most familiar to me and used my certain set of innate talents to rein things in under control.”

I become lost in watching him speak, drinking in the range of emotions that would play across his features. He makes me feel safe, even as he tells me of the very violent and spectacular means of bringing about the semblance of order I’ve borne witness to.

“Before I continue, would you like to tell me about your personal experiences?”

His fingers lift my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze head on.

“I want to know so much more about you.”

I can almost physically feel the words against my skin as he bends his head to murmur them next to my vulpine ears. The words pour forth in response to his honeyed request.

“It has been no more than a week since my cousin and I found ourselves here.”

“So you did not come alone… “

“No… but it wasn’t long before we had it out and I deserted him in a fit of pique, actually it was the same day you nearly ran me over with your fancy car.”

“Ghengis felt terrible about that… well at least until you decided to use me for a shield. He did feel a bit more vindicated after that.”

“ANYWAY… “ I pointedly continued without letting him pursue that particular vein of conversation, “He had the bright idea to go take up with this absolutely fishy character, Faes. I tried to convey to him that I did not trust him, not at all, but would he listen to me? Of course not… So then I got pissed and had words with him in the middle of town, but I think I have managed just fine. The kobolds at least know how to treat me with a little dignity.”

Hikaru holds up one hand, bidding me pause for a moment.

“Hold on… so the first thing you both did upon arriving here was to see Faes?”

I nod.

“It was his idea. I didn’t know the first thing about this place and he made a valid point that we need funds to survive… doesn’t matter what world we are in. I should have known you’d know a thing or two about him.”

A heavy sigh passes from his lips.

“Indeed, I do have a few choice words to say about him, but we’ll get to that… Kobolds, you say? I’ve heard of them since coming here but I can’t say I have actually met them.”

“They are precious. I’m their goddess, you could say…”

“Deservedly.”

A blush creeps up to stain my cheeks.

“Darling creatures, I am beholden to them. Did you know they have this brilliant trick called ‘veiling’? When we were robbing a house in town, it was very handy… “

“Robbing a… “

He pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

“No wonder I found you in the situation that I did.”

“I assure you I had things well in hand.”

“Of course you did. Kitsune are very wise and cunning beings.”

“Exactly.”

Hikaru spends long minutes stroking my ears and I try very hard not to let my eyes drift shut in bliss.

Must. Not. Show. Weakness.