A Fox's Love (American Kitsune Book 1) (27 page)

Kevin felt like someone had just dropped a twelve pound bowling ball on his stomach from twenty feet high.

Several seconds later he was sitting at one of the tables, allowing Lilian to feed him. The sound of the twins fighting over who would introduce themselves to said emerald eyed beauty first was their only companion. It was during this time and just when Kevin was beginning to resign himself to his fate that another voice spoke up, one that caused his blood to chill and his heart to stop cold.

"You two are looking awfully comfy."

Kevin turned with almost mechanical precision towards the source of the voice. Internally pleading to God that the voice not belong to who he thought it did, the young sophomore student found his wish shattered the moment he turned. Lindsay Diane, his secret (or not so secret) crush. She was standing just a few feet behind him, hands on her hips, and an amused smile playing on her lips as she looked at the human and the Yōkai currently disguised as a human.

"L-Lindsay!" Kevin shouted in surprise as his rapidly paling face suddenly gained far more color than what should be possible for a human (good thing this story is based on
Shōnen manga
then, eh?). He then realized what she had said and began shaking his hands back and forth in front of his face furiously. "T-this isn't what it looks like!"

Lindsay looked back and forth between the two of them, a single eyebrow quirked. "Oh? So this girl isn't feeding you food that looks like it kicks the crap out of the cafeteria food?" Kevin flinched. “And I suppose you aren't letting her feed you?

"Uh...." There really was nothing he could say to that, was there?

"And I'm guessing all those rumors about how close you two are, are lies as well?" Lindsay continued mercilessly.

"Guh!"

That sound came from Kevin, who had just been metaphorically jack hammered in the stomach.

Grinning, the cute, athletic teen continued. "And then there are all those
other
rumors. You know, the ones about you two trying to suck each others faces off in gym class? It's all over the school. Are you telling me those are lies too?"

"I-I was not sucking anyone's face off!" Kevin tried to defend himself. Too bad Lindsay didn't
believe him, even if it was true. It probably didn't help that his face was beet red as he recalled
that
particular incident.

"Uh huh...right, because every single person who claims you two looked like you were about to have sex in class was lying."

"We were not about to have sex," Kevin mumbled lowly, his face overheating. Oh merciful, benevolent God, please just kill him now. End his suffering.

"Of course, of course," Lindsay drawled, still grinning. “You two weren't about to have sex. You were just going to shag her rotten.”

Kevin looked like he was about to cry. Why wouldn't she believe him?

"Excuse me," Lilian interrupted the two before Lindsay could continue to tease her mate further. Her eyes were narrowed as she studied the brunette with suspicion. "But who are you?"

"That's right!" Lindsay snapped her fingers, a look of realization crossing her face. "I totally forgot to introduce myself in homeroom." She smiled knowingly. "Though, you were a bit too busy staring at Kevin to pay attention if I had." While said boy swayed dangerously in his seat, Lindsay held her hand out to the beautiful red head. "I'm Lindsay Diane, one of Kevin's friends."

"I see..." Lilian cast a side long glance out of the corner of her eye to see Kevin staring up at Lindsay with reddened cheeks. Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly before a large and patently false smile crossed her face. She grabbed the girl's hand and shook. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Lilian Pnév̱ma."

"Nice to meet you too," Lindsay smiled before taking a seat on the opposite side of the two and setting her tray of food down. She absently tucked a strand of shoulder length brown hair behind her ear before focusing on the pair in front of her again. "But seriously, what is your guys' relationship? Are you two dating or something? How come I've never seen you around before?" She directed her last question towards Lilian.

"No/Yes," Kevin and Lilian both said at the same time. They looked over at each other, Kevin quickly looking away when the red head pouted at him.

Lindsay raised an eyebrow. She looked at Lilian. "So if you two aren't going out, then what exactly is your relationship with Kevin?"

Kevin's danger senses blared. Somehow, he just knew that if he let Lilian answer that question, she would say something potentially disastrous. His mouth opened, determined to answer the question when unfortunately for him, Lilian answered first.

"He's my fiance," Lilian told the girl bluntly, at the same time taking Kevin's right arm into a possessive hold and glaring at the cute tomboy sitting in front of them, as if daring Lindsay to contradict her.

Silence reigned for several seconds as everyone tried to process Lilian's words. Even the twins had stopped fighting when they heard the red head's proclamation. All of them seemed to be having a bit of trouble putting those words into a format they could fathom. Even Kevin was feeling a little dumbfounded, and he had been dealing with this girl for the past week.

Honestly, you'd think that after being forced to put up with Lilian's antics for so long he would have become immune to anything she could say or do. Then she pulls a fast one and Kevin once more found himself floundering as he tried to retain a grip on reality. It was like she got a kick from pulling the metaphorical rug out from underneath him.

"Oh, I get it!" Lindsay laughed as she looked between the two, a large grin on her face. "You guys are playing a prank! Good one! You really had me fooled. For a second, I actually thought you were being serious."

"I am being completely serious," Lilian actually looked angry that Lindsay would dare to think she was anything other than serious when it came to her mate. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously and her lips had formed a thin line as she pressed them together. "Kevin and I are engaged to be married."

...

...

More silence. Lindsay stared, and stared, and stared. In fact, she began staring so much that Kevin was getting very uncomfortable.

Finally...

"You're serious?" Lindsay looked at Lilian with wide eyes. "Like seriously serious?"

"Of course I am," Lilian clutched a near catatonic Kevin even more tightly to herself. This caused Kevin's face to become a strange mixture of ghost white and tomato red. Think about those clowns you see when the circus comes to town, take away the large red nose, and you have an accurate description of what his face looked like. "Why would I lie about this?"

"Wha... but..." Now it was Lindsay's turn to look completely bamboozled. A familiar wail sounded out in the distance. Kevin was beginning to feel the stress of the day catching up with him. Was it too late for him to find that hole?

Finally, after several seconds in which all time seemed to stand still, Lindsay did something Kevin thought she would never do before. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as the shock of Lilian's apparently honest admittance of their engagement caught up to the poor girl. Her body slumped forward and her face planted itself directly into the Chicken Ceaser Salad she had bought at the Cafeteria.

"I think that went rather well," Lilian said absently as she speared her fork into her Greek Salad and began eating.

Kevin planted his head face first onto the table and groaned. "Of course you would." It was official, this was The Worst Day Ever.

Yes, that was all capitalized.

Chapter 14: Hardships of a High School Student

"So when did the two of you meet?" Leaning forward on her right forearm, her cheek resting on the butt of her left hand , Lindsay looked at the red-haired, green-eyed beauty sitting opposite her and next to Kevin. Her eyes were alight with interest. It was clear that she had every intention of interrogating her fellow female until she was well and truly satisfied with what she had learned.

Upon waking up and realizing that, no, she wasn't caught up in some crazy dream and yes, Kevin really had somehow managed to bag himself a beauty who apparently considered them as good as married, the athletic brunette decided it was time for her to do something that she had never done before: gossip.

"And how come we've never met until now?" Lindsay was sure that if her friend had a fiancée this hot, she would have known about it long before now. It should have been all over the school! So how was it that she hadn't even heard about Lilian, much less met her, until today? That was what she wanted to know. "Did you go to another school or something? Long distance relationship?"

"The reason you haven't heard of me is probably because my Beloved and I haven't known each other for very long," Lilian informed the brunette. "As for when we met." She looked over at Kevin, a smile creeping onto her face like the dawning sun as it began to cast it's brilliant luminescence upon the Earth as she thought about the day she met her Beloved. It was an absolutely breathtaking smile, to which every male there could attest. Even Lindsay, who was a completely heterosexual female with no interest in the same gender, was feeling a little hot under the collar at that smile. "We met last week."

At least she had been hot under the collar, until her mind fully processed the last part of what was said by the red-haired vixen. Then her eyes widened.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Hold up! Slow down! Time out!" Lindsay held her hands up, forearms crossed in an X pattern as she stared at the girl incredulously. "You mean to tell me that you just met him last week and you're already thinking of marriage?" At Lilian's happy nod, Lindsay gawked at the other girl. So did the others, but they aren't as important to the story right now. "Isn't that taking things just a little too fast?"

"No," Lilian was incredibly succinct in her answer. There was no hesitation in her voice. "I know that my Beloved is the one for me. Why would I want to wait to make sure he is “The One” when I already have the answer?"

"Well," Lindsay looked a tad unsure of herself. "I guess you kind of have a point," she conceded, more from a lack of being able to think up any kind of counter argument than because she actually agreed with Lilian.

The brunette shook her head. Regardless of her own beliefs on marriage, or the fact that she felt the redhead was taking things too fast, she couldn't really argue with the girl. And it was clear to everyone that Lilian wouldn't be dissuaded from her beliefs.

Onto the next question then.

"So when did you realize he was the one for you?"

"Just a little while after we met." Lilian's eyes lit up at the thought of sharing the story about her first meeting with her Beloved. It was one she would obviously be cherishing for a long time to come. "I was injured when my Beloved found me, brought me to his apartment and tended to my injuries." She sighed, a dreamy expression on her face. "He was so gentle and treated me so tenderly that I couldn't help but fall in love with him."

"Wow,” Lindsay whistled, impressed. Meanwhile, Kevin had buried his face in his hands to hide his growing blush. “That almost sounds like something you'd read about in a romance novel."

“
Or a manga.”

“
Or a manga,” Lindsay agreed with her fellow female.

"Or a fanfiction."

"Yes, or a... wait. What?"

"Never mind."

"Right.” Lindsay eyed the red head oddly. Shaking her head a second later, a grin spread across her face as she leaned forward. “So tell me more. How did you get past Kevin's shyness around girls?”

"Urk!"

For those who are wondering, yes, that was Kevin who just started making random choking noises. The reason for this could be due to the water he had been drinking going down his air passage upon hearing Lindsay's question. Or it could be completely unrelated to what the girl said. Who can say for sure?

“
His shyness?” Lilian tilted her head, her delicate eyebrows furrowing in thought and her lips pursing slightly. Eric, who had joined the group at some point during their conversation, had to cover his nose upon seeing that expression. Yes, he was nose bleeding. And to think, this wasn't even an anime where such things were commonly expected from most male characters, especially ones as perverted as him. “He's not that shy.”

“
Not that shy?” Lindsay guffawed. “Kevin can hardly even talk to a girl without looking like someone shoved his head in a stove.” Said boy blushed brightly at her words. He wasn't that bad, was he? “He even has trouble talking to me, and I've been his friend for years.”

“
Really?” Lilian frowned. Lindsay nodded.

“
Really.”

“
There's no way he could be that bad,” Lilian defended her Beloved. “I mean, it's true he gets all cute and embarrassed sometimes." He's also passed out several times, but naturally, Lilian thought it had more to do with him just not feeling well than because of any shyness of girls. Plot Devices are convenient like that. "But I don't think he's ever been particularly shy.”

That's because you tend to ignore all of his negative traits.