“Now,
let’s—”
—And
promptly fell face-first to the floor.
Lilian
sighed. “Now do you see why I told you to remain in bed? You
suffered a lot of damage and that damage has affected your motor
functions.”
Kevin
rolled over onto his back and gave his mate a mild stink-eye. “I
wish you would have told me that before I tried standing up.”
Lilian
had the decency to look abashed. “Um, whoopsies?”
“Ara.”
Kotohime was amused.
***
Because
of Kevin’s desire to not let what had happened that morning
affect their plans, he and Lilian ended up doing what they’d
intended. Iris had gone off somewhere, so she hadn’t joined
them, though Kevin had the feeling that Lilian wouldn’t have
let her sister come near him anyway. Kirihime had also vanished. He
assumed she was following Iris. Kotohime had some errands to run,
which meant it was just him, Lilian and Camellia.
Their
destination for that day was called R-Galaxy, the largest store in
Arizona for anime, comics, manga, movies, video games, and other
types of nerd paraphernalia.
Kevin
had agreed to take Lilian there after the kidnapping incident, but
hadn’t been able to find the time due to training with Kiara,
track practice and meets, and his part-time job delivering
newspapers. It was also further away from his apartment than the
mall. Getting there required them to take a bus which, while
inexpensive, meant spending an hour on a bus.
Kevin
really, really hated buses.
For
a place that sold nerd paraphernalia, R-Galaxy was surprisingly
large. Then again, comics and movies had always been popular in the
US, and anime and manga had been gathering in popularity for years.
Kevin could still remember when
Pokemon
had
swept through the nation and children everywhere were getting caught
up in it. He even used to collect the cards for it—until they
started making more than 151 Pokemon.
“Inari-blessed!”
Kevin
almost chuckled as he observed Lilian’s nearly bulging eyes
after they had walked into the store. Not that he could blame her.
R-Galaxy
was
like a massive dungeon, only instead of having monsters and dark
hallways, it contained aisles, racks, and displays.
“Big,
right?”
Lilian
nodded absentmindedly, her wide eyes still exploring the large store
and all the people browsing it. There seemed to be quite the crowd
that day. Many of the aisles were filled with customers wandering
through them, checking out the racks and rummaging around for
whatever took their fancy.
“Come
on, Beloved!” Lilian grabbed his hand. “Let’s go!”
“Eh?
W-wait, Lilian! What about your―”
But
Lilian wasn’t listening anymore. She’d already begun
dragging him along behind her. All Kevin could do was pray to any god
that was listening that Camellia would follow them.
***
From
the moment Kevin had resisted her enchantment, Iris knew she’d
screwed up in a big way. The downward spiral of what happened
afterward; her sister’s rage, her sister’s rejection, and
the knowledge that it was her own fault, led to Iris running out of
the apartment. After wandering around the streets for what felt like
hours, she had eventually arrived at the mall.
Iris
dragged her feet across the tiled floor, observing the shops through
the display windows. There was a lot of different stuff being sold.
She saw everything from toys and clothing to jewelry and makeup.
Having been isolated in Greece and the Pnevma estate in Tampa Bay all
her life, she’d never seen so many different items on display
before.
Just
another reason to hate that old hag.
Dozens
of people stopped what they were doing as she walked by, no matter
what they were doing or who they were talking to. Boys. Girls. It
didn’t matter what their gender, age, or sexual orientation
was. All of them stared at her.
In
most cases, Iris would have played it up. She knew she was sexy, and
she loved letting everyone else know it, too. However, the events of
a few hours ago had left her in a rather sour state. Much like that
time at the airport when she’d wanted nothing more than to see
Lilian, in that moment, all she felt was annoyance. Didn’t
these people have anything better to do than ogle her?
She
sighed. Maybe she was being too hard on them. After all, they were
just humans. Then again, Kevin Swift was supposed to be just a human,
yet he’d managed to throw off her enchantment. Sure, it might
have been at great personal cost to his physical health, but that
he’d been able to shunt aside her most powerful enchantment was
nothing short of astounding.
So
lost in thought was she that, upon turning the corner, she didn’t
see the other person also turning the corner at that exact same
moment.
“Oof!”
Iris
winced as she fell onto her backside. It felt almost as bad as
someone stepping on her tail.
“By
Inari’s left nutsack, that really hurt.” She glared up at
the person who knocked her over, a curse on her lips, only to die
when she saw who it was. “Hey, I know you!”
“Ah…”
A
pause. Bland, half-lidded eyes stared back at her.
“… Foxy…”
Iris
stared at the young man, her face deadpanning. “You’re a
weirdo, did you know that?” When the young man said nothing,
she sighed. “Ha… whatever. Get up. It’s time for
you to show me around.”
Justin
merely blinked.
***
“What
should I get… mou, this is harder than it looks. There’s
so many choices. Tricky, tricky.”
Kevin
watched, somewhat amused but mostly exasperated, as Lilian perused
one of the many shelves dedicated entirely to manga. They’d
already been there for nearly fifteen minutes, yet his
mate-slash-girlfriend still hadn’t come to a decision on what
she wanted to buy.
“Remember,
Lilian, I only have enough money for two manga volumes at the moment,
so be sure to choose carefully.”
“I
know that,” Lilian replied absently, her focus still centered
on her options. From what Kevin could see, she had narrowed down her
choices to six different manga. “Let’s see…
Fullmetal
Alchemist
is
supposed to be amazing, but I really wanna read the next volume of
Vampire
Knight
.
And then there’s
Monster
Musume
,
mustn’t forget that one and… oh!
Rurouni
Kenshin
!
That one is a classic!” Lilian paused. “Though I already
have all the volumes for that one. Hm, I wonder if they have any
Negima
Magister Magi
…”
Scratching
his head, Kevin walked up to the redhead. He placed a hand on her
back and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’m gonna go
find your mom real quick. It seems we lost her when you ran off. Will
you be okay on your own?”
“Hm?
Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Lilian waved Kevin’s concern
off. Her eyes had yet to leave the shelf. “You go do what you
have to.”
Kevin
shook his head. This girl actually seemed more interested in manga
than even he was. It almost made him wonder if she loved manga more
than she loved him.
He
went off in search of Camellia, who proved to be quite elusive.
R-Galaxy
was
a large place; with such a spacious interior and with hundreds of
aisles, finding Lilian’s mom became more than just a chore. She
wasn’t on the second floor, and she didn’t appear to be
on the first floor either.
“Ha…
where did that woman go?” He asked himself as he looked around
the store. “You’d think a woman wearing a freaking toga
with boobs the size of Alaska would be easy to find.”
Looking
everywhere but in front of him, Kevin didn’t see the woman
turning a corner until it was almost too late.
“Woah!”
A
quick burst of adrenaline rushed through his system. Kevin’s
eyes widened as he spun around the female who’d appeared
seemingly out of nowhere. He managed to avoid running the poor woman
over—only to smash face-first into a nearby support column.
With a groan, Kevin fell backwards with a dull thud.
“Ouch…”
“Are
you injured, young man?”
Blinking
several times to clear his vision, Kevin saw the woman he’d
nearly run into leaning over him. She was rather attractive, with
long purple hair and blue eyes. Her figure was also quite impressive,
though not as amazing as Lilian’s. Her black pants were
skintight, short, and left little to the imagination. An equally
skintight crop top of the same color flattered her figure quite well.
“Don’t
worry.” Kevin sat up with a groan. “I’m fine. This
is nothing compared to some of the things I’ve been hit by
recently.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.
Don’t worry about it.” A hand appeared in front of his
face. “Oh, thank you.” He allowed the woman to help him
stand up.
“You
really should learn to be more aware of your surroundings, young
man,” the woman lectured him. “You never know what kind
of dangerous situations you might get into that could have otherwise
been avoided.”
“Um,
thank you for the advice.” Kevin frowned as he stared at the
woman. Observing her more closely, he saw that her eyes were blank
and soulless, like a doll. Talk about creepy. “I’ll be
sure to take that to heart.”
“See
that you do.”
The
woman walked away, disappearing down another aisle, and Kevin began
his search anew. It took a while, but he eventually found Lilian’s
mom sitting at a table in the cafe, munching on a sandwich.
She
wasn’t alone.
“I
don’t think we were ever properly introduced, were we?”
“Hawa…”
Munch.
“I’m
Heather Grant, full-time PE assistant at Desert Cactus High School
and part-time writer.”
“Hawa…”
Munch.
“Of
course, I’m hoping to one day become a full-time writer, but
it’s been slow going even with all the inspiration I’ve
managed to get so far.”
“Hawa…”
Munch.
Munch.
“I’ve
noticed that you’re a very beautiful woman, Camellia. I was
wondering if you’d, hehehehe, allow me to use you as
inspiration for my books?”
“Hawa…”
Munch.
A
drop of sweat trailed down the left side of Heather’s face.
“You… I can’t help but notice, but you really eat
a lot.”
Kevin
stopped in front of the odd pair. “Ms. Grant, what are you
doing here?”
“Ah!
It’s the kitsune boy.”
“I’m
not a kitsune!”
“No,
but your girlfriend is.”
“Whatever,”
Kevin grumbled, “and you didn’t answer my question.”
Heather
opened her mouth to answer him, but was beaten to the punch.
“Hawa,
it’s Kevin-kyun!”
“Eh?!
Camellia! Don’t―mrphgglle!”
Everyone
in the cafe watched in open shock as Kevin found himself being
asphyxiated by two of the largest breasts any of them had ever seen.
Heather managed to sum up everyone’s thoughts on the matter
quite succinctly.
“Damn,
my young apprentice was right. It’s like he makes women fall
for him by simply existing.”
***
After
running into Justin at the mall, Iris and her new chaperone found
themselves seated at one of the long tables in the food court.
“I’m
awfully surprised to see one of the kiddo’s friends here,”
Iris made idle conversation while they ate. She’d managed to
coerce Justin into buying her lunch; a type of food called a
hamburger, which she’d never had before. “I’m even
more surprised it’s you. You don’t strike me as the type
who’d wander around on his own for no reason.”
Justin
looked up from his food―a burrito―and turned his head to
face her. His eyes met hers before they were invariably drawn down to
her boobs.
“Ho?”
Iris smirked when she saw where he was looking. “See something
you like?” She placed her hands on the edge of the seat and
leaned back just enough so that her chest strained her shirt.
While
Justin’s face remained bland, his cheeks did turn a bit red. He
turned his head. “… No…”
“Huhuhu,”
Iris’ chuckles sent shivers down Justin’s spine. “If
you say so.”
She
and Justin grew silent. Conversation continued around them, with
people talking about this and that. Iris would have normally listened
in, but she honestly didn’t care. She had her own problems to
deal with.
“Say,
you’re friends with Kevin, right?”
Justin
looked up from his food. “… Yes…”
Smiling
a devious little smile that caused Justin to actually show surprise,
Iris leaned forward and allowed him to catch a tantalizing glimpse of
her cleavage.
“What
can you tell me about him?”
***
“Beloved!
There you are!”
“Lilian―waagghh!”
For
the second time that day, Kevin found himself lying on his back with
a beautiful girl on top of him. Fortunately for his eroding physical
health, Lilian did not smother him with her breasts. She merely sat
there, straddling his hips and grinning in a vulpine manner that made
her look very, well, foxy.
“I
can see why Eric has so much respect for this kid,” Heather
said, mostly to herself. “He’s quite the player to have
all these women jumping him like that.” A perverted grin.
“Hehehe, I can already tell this kid is going to give me loads
of inspiration.”
“Hawa?”
“Nothing,”
Heather waved at a hand at the confused Camellia, “just
thinking out loud.”
“Hawa.”
“I’ve
finally decided on the two manga I want!” Pulling two manga
from her Extra Dimensional Storage Space, Lilian showed them off to
Kevin. “These ones!”
After
shaking away the stars floating around his head, Kevin looked at the
manga in her hands. “So, you’ve decided to go with
Vampire
Knight
and…”
He looked at the other manga, his face slowly deadpanning. “
Gurren
Lagann.
”
His
right eyebrow twitched. “Are you making fun of me?”