I awoke to the hotel phone ringing beside the bed. I answered it groggily. Miku was on the other line. She was calling, she said, on behalf of Ryu. How she had found out we were staying here was a mystery to me until she explained why she was calling. Apparently Ryu’s credit card had notified him of the large purchase we’d made. I chuckled at that. It had been pretty large, I had to admit. I explained the situation and Miku listened carefully. I told her we were right next to the mountain and would hike up it as soon as I could wake the girls. She agreed but told us to be careful. Once again, she rushed off the line quickly. I felt sad about that. After the warmth and connection of Hana last night, Miku felt distant. I shrugged it off and looked to my right to wake up Hana.

Only she wasn’t there.

I threw off the covers and looked towards the foot of the bed where Kira had been sleeping. She was also gone!

BANG!

A loud boom went off from around the corner where the kitchen area of our large suite was located. I ran to it quickly, expecting an intruder or attacker. Instead, I found a sheepish Kira and a frustrated Hana, hands on her hips. It seemed Kira had decided to play with the microwave and had put in some very unfriendly items. Thankfully the thing was not smoking and there was no fire. I told the girls I’d just gotten off the phone with Miku and that we should get dressed and head for the mountain.

Kira looked up at me with sad pouty eyes. “But master, I’m hungry!”

Hana snorted and then covered her mouth, attempting to look serious.

“Fine,” I said exasperatedly. “Breakfast first then hiking. But get dressed! Quickly!”

Kira bowed and scurried off to the other room. Hana walked over to me, cupped my ass through my boxers, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You are sexy when you take charge, peach-butt,” she whispered in my ear. Then she sauntered off. I watched her sexy figure clad only in a nightshirt and panties saunter off to the other room as well and whistled to myself.

What a handful, these two. A very sexy handful.

***

I vowed that it would be the last time we used Ryu’s credit card, but I justified it as a necessity. I had with me two hungry ladies, and we had a long hike ahead of us. We ate at the hotel lobby. A sumptuous buffet. Few of the guests seemed to be there, I supposed it was an elite and small clientele. We loaded up, it was fairly expensive so we wanted our money’s worth. Kira was deeply excited by all the different dishes and Hana and I had our hands full containing her and explaining to her what each thing was.

We had, of course, all of us over-ordered and this presented us with a problem. We would be charged for the extra food we did not eat. I quickly formulated a plan. Hana scoped up the patterns of the servers and kept watch while Kira and I rapidly wrapped up the leftovers in napkins and shoved them into my backpack. Feeling guilty but also enjoying being a little mischievous, the three of us, newly minted as conspirators, left the hotel and headed out to the mountain.

It wasn’t far away from us and it was only a short ten or so minutes before a trail began. As we hiked upwards the sun began to rise higher in the sky and last night's chill turned to heat. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. The trail that ran through the mountains offered us increasingly more beautiful views of the quaint northern town below. More than once I had to nudge the two girls along as they turned to point out various landmarks. I too enjoyed the nature surrounding us but I was increasingly more nervous. We were getting close to another touchpoint with our opponent.

Miku hadn’t provided too many details of the robbery, apparently it was just a footnote in the local paper. It seemed nobody really wanted to talk about it. I thought of Fenra. My dreams had been wild of late. At times she seemed to be assuring me she was okay, at other times I still felt worried for her. But I knew she was at least alive because I felt that connection within me. I Was grateful to both Kira and Hana for coming with me, for helping me on my journey to save her. I could not have done this alone.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Master, master wait!” I heard a faint voice calling.

I turned around to see my two companions, lagging quite a bit behind me, just crossing a bend on the trail. I had let my thoughts get away from me and we had gotten quite high up, past halfway by my reckoning. Kira and Hana looked beat. I was fine myself, I realized that as my spiritual power had grown so had my physical. But I bade them sit and we took a short break and had the rest of the leftovers. As Kira plopped some fruit from the buffet in her mouth she wiggled her tail. She was laying on her belly and staring up at the two of us.

“Master and Hana, what did you two do while I was asleep last night?” she asked innocently. I nearly spat out the water I had just taken a sip of. Hana only laughed. I found myself growing hot under the ears. Hana looked at me with a smirk.

“Well? What did you get up to with me last night ‘master’?” Hana repeated the question to mewith a wink.

Not helping. Not helping one bit.

I cleared my throat. “Um, well Kira…” I stumbled. Fuck it, lets just be honest with her. “Remember that manga you read? And what you and, um, Hana tried on the train?” I continued.

KIra nodded. Her tail was standing straight to attention as were her ears, her yellow eyes wide.

“Well, we were doing that stuff. Me and Hana. It's something two humans that like each other do.” I said. Wow, I felt like I was giving a sex ed talk to a kid and not a several hundred year old spirit.

“You two, like each other, huh?” Kira asked, cocking her head.

I turned to Hana and saw her blush. “Yes, we do,” She looked at the ground, her pink hair cascading over her face. It was rare to see her be that shy.

Kira stood up and pointed at her chest with her thumb. “I like master and Hana too!”

It was impossible for Hana and I not burst out laughing at her childlike and cute gesture. As we did so Kira got to her feet, folded her arms under her chest and pouted. Hana snorted and looked away, trying her best to take our little kitten seriously but failing. I coughed to cover my own laughter then forced it down.

I stood and reached over, patting Kira’s head and then petting her hair as her tail slowly went from high alert to cautious wagging.”We like you too Kira,” I said. “You just surprise both of us sometimes. You can be very…”

“Blunt?” Hana ventured with a smirk, having recovered somewhat from her laughing fit.

“Yes,” I chuckled, “Although that's a little rich coming from you.”

Miku ducked out from under my hand and then pressed closer, her hands sliding up my chest, her yellow eyes dangerous and hooded. “Master, if you like me… why don’t we do what you and Hana did?” she asked breathily, and I saw a flush deepen across her chest.

My hands encircled her waist instinctively and I drew her close. She gasped, her lips parting. I felt myself growing aroused.

DING! DING! DING!

Kira’s ears stood up to attention and I felt her fingernails extend into claws where they grasped my back.

“Ow! What the hell Kira!” I groaned.

DING! DING! DING!

The cat spirit was on all fours in a split second, scrambling around to look up the mountain. Wincing, I followed her gaze as did Hana, all of us looking up the peak. The morning fog was lifting and in the distance I saw the outline of the monster.

“It’s the lunch bell,” said Hana. “We are close it seems. Let’s go.”

Kira, still on all fours, turned, licking her lips. “Lunch?” she asked with excitement in her voice.

“You are still hungry?” Hana asked in disbelief.

“Always!” Kira replied happily, and began to climb.

I shook my head. Saved by the bell.