Chapter Two

Anyone who walked behind the old gym of Ashfield School would be granted with an interesting sight. A smallish, blonde girl in a ratty, short school uniform was facing three guys in front of her, all wearing their uniform as well. One would think that such a brazen, open act would be foolish, but since the school had mostly migrated to the new buildings, the old part of school was patrolled only sporadically, making it a breeding ground for all manner of delinquents. Another reaction would be the feeling of immense pity for the girl, as she was outnumbered by larger, more physically robust men, each easily able to overpower her.

Sticking around for any length of time would have them proven wrong, as the young blonde girl was Kiko, the most delinquent of the lot. The teen furthest on her left would charge in, at the same time as the one in the centre, clearly with no co-ordination or forth-planning. A strong kick to the side, carried though with formidable leg muscles would knock the left-charging teen off his feet, and send him crashing into the second boy, introducing them both to the ground in a painful manner. The largest of the three then let out a growl of vexation and rushed her, only to have a fist sunk firmly into his gut, and his nose broken across her knee as his body doubled over and allowed her to grab his head.

“It’s always the same with you lot” Kiko commented as the third man saw how badly it was going and decided just to stay down. “Chat shit, get hit. Are you notr bored of this already?” she asked rhetorically. A fourth man, a slimy and insidious git, tried to come round the back of her with a makeshift garrote out of his tie, but never made it to his target as he let out a convulsing gurgle and collapsed to the ground.

"Give me your lightning fingers. You cannot measure the level of jealous I am" Kiko exclaimed, turning round to see a much, much better dressed woman of similar age.

"Mmm, most people do seem to like them. Except when they are turned on those people, then I lose popularity fast" The savior replied, stepping up and checking the physical state of the four. "But still, you got in a fight, and really did a whammy on two of them, the third pretending to be hurt so he doesn’t have to face the music" She quipped, a strangled cry of surprise coming from below them. The Lightning Girl then pushed the unconscious teen off the pretender, and dragged him up roughly.

"Ease up Remmy! Man's threads are precious, ya get me?" He exclaimed, and looked like he was going to carry on, but quickly shut up after some static danced between Remmy's fingers.

"Remokr. You are not my friend" she replied, staring intently.

"Hell, she is my friend and even I don't call her Remmy. Something about her nature as a walking Taser makes me want to be polite" Kiko put in, with a coy half-smile.

"Friend or not, I have my duty. Now come on" She ordered, dragging the man along and trusting Kiko to move on her own volition as they headed to the Head Teacher’s office.

Tall, fanged, and hairier than the average man, the Head Teacher was clearly not one to hide his Lupus nature. And this overt showing of his nature just added to the intimidating nature. Even Kiko’s thuggish assailant was cowed in the Head Teacher’s presence. He did not seem very happy to see Kiko, indicating that she was a repeat-offender to his office.

“So. Why has Remokr dragged you here this time” He growled, staring down the two of them. The teen boy just muttered incomprehensibly, but Kiko had clearly been planning a speech on the way here.

“Well. This one and his friends stole a girl’s schoolbag, and told her that if she wanted it back, she was to go to the old gym and get it back from them. I, happened to be passing by at the time, and took it upon myself to go get her bag back personally” She explained.

“Knowing your opinion on my staff, I can see why you did not go to them. But this is the third time this month you have been brought here for acts of violence” The Head replied, sighing softly.

“You have a crap anti-bullying problem. Half the time it’s done in front of the teachers, and one of them actively joins in” Kiko retorted. Not that it elected too negative of a response, however.

“I am aware of that. I cannot simply maul the offenders into obedience, so I must take subtle steps that do nothing. Really, any anti-bullying campaign is for publicity more than any practical outcome. It relies on the entire staff being upright people unafraid of conflict, and no school has that. But, this does not change the fact that you are a menace to the school, and the people in it. Everyone is on my back about you and the state their ‘darling children’ return home in. You have to stop this one-woman war against every asshole in the school, or will be expelled. Do you understand?” He asked, staring down the blond teen.

“You know that’s never going to happen, right?” Kiko replied, her eyebrow cocked.

“I do, but it sounds good” he sank back into his chair and brooded some about what to do. “The number of incidents with you are growing, and I know there are three others behind my back for each one. I may…” he’d stare into the distance for a moment and then glanced to Kiko. “If you can keep yourself from assailing anyone for the next week or so, I shall contact your father and start a plan of action. This has honestly gone on far too long, and it is time to start a crackdown”

The giant wolf man would nod to himself, and then look at all three gathered before him.

“You can go now. Finish your classes and return home without causing any more trouble, ok?” He did not receive a reply, just another nod before Kiko left, leaving Remokr and the teen boy in the office.

She did as she was told, and did not start any more trouble, as difficult as that was to accomplish. There was always more trouble to start around this place. On the way home she expected the little brat and his band of dickish dooshbags to try something, but they did not. So she got home pretty easily. Opening the door, she saw a person in the kitchen, but didn’t pay any mind to it, purple hair aside. She lived with her dad, so having someone around wasn’t strange. Of course, she got as far as half way up the stairs before realizing that her dad was off at work, and wasn’t a woman besides. So she slowly walked back down the stairs and stared at the apparently random person in the kitchen.

“So, do you often break into people’s houses like this, or am I just special?” Kiko asked. The woman seemed to be standing there like she owned the place, which she didn’t because it was their house, not hers.

“On occasion. But, in this instance, you are special” The woman replied, slowly walking over to Kiko. As she moved, Kiko’s eyes were drawn to her body, and could make out the uniform she was wearing. It was very militant, and she recognized it immediately, the black base and red trim was famous worldwide these days. And the recognition made her slightly embarrassed to be so rude. But then, the woman did just break in without invitation.

“You are a SIR agent? Now I’m both confused and curious. Why did you break in here, and why am I special?” Kiko asked. She tempered her tone so it wasn’t quite as pointed as it was, but she was still rather annoyed.

“I broke in here to get to you. And you are special because your father was special. He worked for us for quite a long time. Almost everyone in the ODD knew him” She has a soft tone to her voice now, as if trying to avoid her voice breaking.

“Why are you speaking in past tense..? It's kind of ominous, you know” Kiko said, looking at her with eyes that didn’t want to think about the reason why and suppressing the stutter that came with her nerves. Suddenly, the woman came forward and embraced her in a hug. It was surprising, and made her even more filled with dread.

“He died. We don’t know how; it was far too precise for what he was hunting to have done it. But he’s just…dead” the woman’s voice did not hold out, and cracked at the end, her sorrow clearly evident. However, Kiko just stared, frowning softly. Like she was trying to comprehend, to understand. And it wasn’t really happening.

“I….” she started, but didn’t know how to continue, so just didn’t. The woman eventually stopped hugging her, and pulled back, wiping her eyes.

“You don’t know how you feel, right? You don’t really feel anything at all?” She inquired, regaining her professionalism as Kiko nodded. “Your father told me it’s a Kitsune thing. Basically, any strong emotion is suppressed, and fed to your psyche over time. A holdover from The Great War. It can be overwhelmed, in which case its activation is delayed, but for the most part it helps keep you sane” she explained. Then when Kiko cocked her head softly, she continued.

“Wha…?” Kiko was not in a mind to think properly, just looked up. And the woman took it as a prompt to continue.

“It’s not taught in schools anymore, it’s held for higher learning. There was a time when the creatures that SIR hunt roamed this land like any other animal. You’ve no doubt heard about them, seen news broadcasts. It was a bad time, I am told. But then, the history books tell of a many tailed man who rose up, wielding a crystalline sword of the deepest blue, he led his people into battle against the creatures.

And after victories began to mount up, he gathered support from both the humans and the quasi-humans. With the human’s ingenuity and determination, combined with the quasi-human’s versatility and raw power, the creatures were hunted down and killed in their millions, with a few escaping somewhere unreachable. Apparently it was decided that such a upsetting concept should be kept out of the schools and reserved for those who take a higher course of history. But, several of the quasi-humans have kept traits from that war. The Kitsune most of all, But the Lupians and the Dragons as well, to name a few” She looked to continue, but Kiko buried her head in her hands before she could.

“Why are you telling me all this? I didn’t need to know any of it. And now you are telling me all of it, and just…why?” The cold, slightly dead eyes were unnerving, but the woman was a member of SIR, she had seen much more unnerving things in her life, and brought them to heel.

“You, as your father, are a Kitsune. Kitsunes rarely interact with humanity these days, and so we really have a shortage of them on our staff. With the passing of your father, there is a space we need to fill drastically. Which is why we have come to you” She said, before straightening her uniform, and holding out her hand.

“So, to do this formally. I am Colonel Lysaida Mizia. On behalf of ODD, I would offer you a place within the specialist squadrons of SIR” Lysaida almost barked, in a very military fashion. As a response, Kiko could only stand, somewhere between awestruck, and confused.

Chapter three

Totally unaware of how, exactly, it happened, Kiko found herself outside the building of the Supernatural Incursion Response division of the Otherworld Divination and Defense. It was an impressive place, but that wasn’t the point. One moment she was in her kitchen, talking to Colonel Lysaida, she was crying, Kiko was feeling nothing, and then…. she was here. Maybe she just wasn’t paying attention and agreed to all of it…that would probably be the clearest explanation. Her mind had gone on vacation, it seemed.“Thank you for accepting my offer. We need all the Kitsunes we can get to fend off the threats, and your race are among the best to do it” Lysaida told Kiko, reinforcing the idea that she had agreed, but not sparking any memories. Kiko just nodded and stepped in. The world was numb right now, and concentrating was hard. So she didn’t realize Lysaida taking her by the arm until she had been led off in another direction. Kiko stared, but said nothing and allowed herself to be led. Up, and down halls, it felt like forever, but eventually she was led to a small wing with half a dozen people milling around.“I’ve got a fair bit of work to be getting on with, your transfer and all. These will help you, Kiko. They know a lot more than I do” she told the young Kitsune, and then just, vanished, the air where she was making a sucking sound as it filled the suddenly vacant spot.

And then, she was surrounded by all the people. Tails swished, ears perked, and then someone stepped forward. Four tails could be seen, bushy and looking so amazingly fluffy. She almost wanted to hug it. And then she was dragged into the girl’s amble bosom, and embraced.“We see your pain, little one. We will sooth it, so you may hunt again” The woman who was quite obviously the leader exclaimed, in a tone that sounded more like a quote than anything. The other tailed people all placed hands on her, shoulder, hip, back, head, and started to hum softly. A few seconds of this strange treatment, and Kiko felt her heart start to flutter, her cheeks flushed, and then something was taken from her body. Flushed out as if she was made entirely of water. Then, as abruptly as they had come, they all backed off, leaving Kiko on legs that felt like they could barely support her, and the world so much brighter than it had been.“We are sorry you had to experience that so young. Your father, was a father to us all. His greatness shone like a beacon, and was the strongest leadership we have had in so many years. The burden now falls to me, and I fear I will never match him, even in part. But enough of this horridness. I am Asha. I am a Kitsune of Four Tails, and I lead this skulk of Kitsunes, and provide assistance to them when they are sent out to battle the Great Beasts” Asha’s words had a reverence for Kiko, and for the rest as well, it seemed. They all hung off her words with religious-like fervour. Unknowing why, or where it came from, Kiko felt like she was so secure in this woman’s presence, like nothing could ever go wrong. “Now, you may release your tails, young Kitsune” Asha continued, like she was giving permission. Totally out of her depth here, she just stared for a few moments, and then managed to speak.

“I…. don’t have any…” it was a revelation that was met with soft gasps of shock. But Asha just stared for a few seconds, and nodded, as if understanding.“He did not bring you into the fold. Did not make you aware of your heritage, nor inform you of your culture. It is understandable, Kitsunes are called upon to fight the Great Beasts, and he wished to save you from this fate. He was great enough that he could do this, but now, he is gone, stripped untimely from this world, and his legacy falls, to you” Asha put two hands on Kiko’s shoulders, and they felt tremendously heavy, more so than any hands had the right to feel. And her eyes burned so intensely. “There is fire in you, child, and it is our duty to kindle it, so it may grow” Asha’s words, in fact the entire situation, seemed so much like a ceremony, and Kiko was caught in it, like a leaf in a hurricane. It filled her, like a balloon, the deep breath of the ritual inflating her as it did. This feeling, this connection with people who were both total strangers, and close kin, was one that she would never be able to get used to, but would not want to see it go for the life in her.

And then it was all over. Asha took her hands away, and just nodded before turning and walking through one of the nearby doors. The connection with the others surrounding her remained, but there were no more breaths, and for that she was glad. The whole thing was intense, she wasn’t sure she could handle it any more than she had. Luckily, she didn’t need to worry about that, because, after swaying on the spot for a few seconds in the wake of Asha’s departure, she collapsed onto the floor, and quickly passed out.

Waking up some hours later, she seemed to be in what looked to be a hospital, or at least a hospital-based wing. It had a half dozen beds and some medical equipment around, but nothing she could recognize, since she kind of avoided hospitals in general. They creeped her out and she hated the smell. She was alone, for the moment, and so decided to lay back on the rather comfortable bed, and use the time to try and clear her mind. Her dad was a SIR agent, she was apparently a Kitsune, her dad was dead, she’d been recruited into the employment of ODD, and whatever happened to that crystalline sword from the story? It seemed like the sort of thing that one would keep track of, if it had enough prominence in his slaying of the beasts to warrant an addition to the story.

A few minutes into this, a man in a white coat walked through the doors to her left, and smiled as he saw Kiko was awake, and conscious.“Ahh, you are up. That’s good. While you were out we ran some tests on your vitals and whatnot, just to make sure you were healthy, beyond the sudden passing out from Kitsune rituals and all. It’s all in the green, so if you feel up to walking around, Queenie wants to give you a check-up. She says she trusts our medical stuff to make sure nothing was wrong, but now it is her job to see what is right. It makes sense, when you get to know her” he then grinned, and scrawled something on her clipboard. Everyone in a hospital seemed to have a clipboard for some reason. But, putting that out of her head for the moment – she had enough to worry about without pondering the all-encompassing nature of clipboards – she got out of bed, and nodded to the doctor man.“Alright. I’m ready…ish. Take me to this Queenie”

As it turned out, this Queenie was the Overseer of Physical Prowess within SIR. Basically making her the boss of the gym, but the woman was imposing and so Kiko didn’t give her that title, worried that it might be taken the wrong way. She was not overly tall, but had an aura of superiority that made Kiko feel like an ant, all of a sudden. It was this oppressive feeling of power that distracted Kiko from the woman’s appearance. Horns on her head, glowing red eyes, and hooved feet, on the end of what looked to be some sort of goat legs. She was quite clearly a Demon, which made Kiko suddenly let out a noise between a shriek and a yelp and stumble backwards, nearly losing her balance as she did so. Queenie, for her part, looked to the doctor, and held out her hand. It was then filled with some blue notes, too much eye rolling from the doctor.“Thought this one would be better from what I heard, but nope. You get the shit end of the stick Queenie. Again” He then cocked his head softly, as if listening to something nobody else could hear. “gotta get back, team just got back from a Rakasha nest. One of them made sweet love to the business end of their claws. Try not to break her, aye?” He then left Kiko with this Demon, who just stared for a few seconds. Then walking up close and while roughly the same size, towering over Kiko.

“Boo” Queenie said. Kiko recoiled, expecting something totally different, and was rewarded with surprisingly light laughter. “The benefit of all this hate has to be how much fun I can get out of practically every recruit that comes by” Her voice was pleasant and soft, and even the tone shift from humour to seriousness didn’t hurt its auditable beauty. “But seriously. Take off your clothes. All of them” Queenie ordered. Kiko just gave a look between confusion and wonder, if this was a joke or an actual order. The smouldering red in her eyes was a hell of a thing to stare into though – even if Kiko mentally abashed herself for such a terrible pun in such a serious situation – and so after a few seconds, began to strip out of her clothes until she was naked. As soon as that that had happened, Queenie’s fingers ran across her abdomen. They were surprisingly gentle, and they felt very good, making Kiko blush rather deeply only a few seconds into the contact. It was not quite like skin, though. It was more, smooth and a little cold. Kiko had no real idea what it was, and right now, couldn’t really look to see. The touch traced it’s way upwards, and her mind braced herself for when the woman did what she thought was going to happen and molested her breasts. However, she went right past them with barely a glancing touch, sliding her hands down Kiko’s arms, and then moving on to her back, giving her ass more attention than her boobs ever got, and then finishing off with a swift but seemingly sensuous stroke to Kiko’s thighs and calves.

Once it was all done, Queenie stood up, and returned to Kiko’s front. Kiko was distinctly aroused from the experience, but Queenie either didn’t see it, or didn’t really care and carried on regardless.“You have a good muscular structure. Quite a few of the recruits who come here have to be built from the ground up. Now, little Kitsune. Do you have any tails? I need a good overview of your body in every form” Queenie’s eyes seemed to be staring very intently at Kiko, as if to avoid looking anywhere else.“I…no. Didn’t, know, I was, a Kitsune” Kiko stammered, broken sentences as she tried to cover herself from the gaze of Queenie. It was a hard thing to do, the woman’s eyes felt like they could penetrate right through her to the very soul of her underneath. And souls never wore clothes.“Ahh, that’s fine. Don’t wanna step on Asha’s toes too much, but don’t overthink it. Kitsunes are born with a tail in their soul, but they have to know how to call it out. You newbies have all manner of different ways. Asha tells me it’s much like supressing my Demonic appearance, only in this case you want it to come out rather than go in. It helps me to think of something or someone I really care about, and use that as the keystone” She counselled, before nodding to Kiko’s pile of clothes. “You can put them back on later, by the way. But for now I have something special for you to put on, so your uniform doesn’t get damaged” Queenie told Kiko, with no shortage of amusement in her tone. She then produced a shiny suit in a deep blue colour from apparently nowhere, and gave it to Kiko.

The Kitsune Girl scrambled to cover herself again, even if it was in a thing that gave her curves a little too much flattering accentuation, considering the way Queenie made Kiko feel. It went on easily, which was a shock considering what Kiko had heard about the material, but her mind was solely focused on Queenie and so she didn’t give the suit much thought, just pulled it on and felt it’s slightly-to-tight embrace. She seemed slightly less on edge when she was standing in the outfit, like she was trying to protect her modesty from Queenie. It was then that Kiko looked at what Queenie was wearing. It seemed to be a bodysuit of skin-coloured latex, the suit itself made so well that she would barely recognise Queenie was wearing a suit if she hadn’t felt it earlier. But, the design made her feel slightly awkward, like Queenie was naked. Not that Kiko was much better, but at least the blue in her suit made it clear that she was wearing something. The differentiation was hard to make with Queenie’s outfit.“Well, don’t you look stunning? Let’s get started with this show on the road” Queenie exclaimed, seemingly mixing her words as she led Kiko to a ring, and then turned to her. “I’m going to hit you, you are going to try to stop me, and we will see where it goes from there” as plans went, Kiko had heard worse, but she had certainly heard better as well.

Chapter 4

It seemed Queenie was serious with her exclamation, and Kiko took the first blow to her jaw, stumbling and feeling the suit fight her every movement. Not enough to hamper her in any way, but enough for it to be evident, and mentally distracting. Maybe that was the reason she had this dam thing rather than just some shorts. Queenie seemed to have pulled her punch as well, so while it made Kiko stumble, it didn’t really hurt all that much. But still, there was that stare. The stare of disappointment, like Queenie was expecting something Kiko didn’t deliver. Irritated, and annoyed by this stare, Kiko batted away the second punch, ducked under the third, and thrust out a punch to Queenie’s gut.

It was like punching a brick wall. Immediately regretting her decision with a sharp yelp of pain, Kiko backed off, scowling as she panted. The panting was confusing, she hadn’t been doing that much to warrant such exhaustion, and it didn’t really feel like exhaustion. It was more the feeling of intense warmth around her waist. Every movement gave her a new flush of the feeling, and for want of a better word, it felt good. Queenie took advantage of this distraction, and laid down the strikes harder, faster, more aggressively pursuing Kiko across the mat, making her move to Queenie’s will rather than Kiko’s. Keeping her off balance and on the defensive, while the suit still made her feel warm and heavier with every movement. Maybe Queenie was making her move around so much because the Demon girl knew that the suit was making her feel like this, so hot and fatigued. As the minutes passed, Kiko’s guard dipped, Queenie got in more and more blows, until her entire body sagged, and Queenie delivered a strong kick that knocked Kiko over, crashing into the mat with a groan, and just failing to get back up. Queenie was on her in moments, in a literal sense. The cheeks that were already flushed red blazed even hotter, with Kiko unsure what was happening, or what she should do.“Well, looks like you have had enough of that fun for one day. What do you say we have some of the other fun?” Queenie suggested, bending down to kiss Kiko on the lips, soft and quick. But to Kiko, it felt neither. Her eyes fluttered and her brain just left her for the sunny shores of somewhere saner, catching a ride of the earliest flight out of Kiko’s head when Queenie planted a longer, deeper kiss on her lips.

There was no resisting this woman. She was just too powerful, and her lips were so nice. Kiko had never felt anything like Queenie’s lips. And then a sensual whisper came into Kiko’s ear.“So, you look ready to pop. Do you want to just, give in and be my pet for the rest of your life? I’ll make sure to look after you. It might be an embarrassing time for the first month or so, but I’ll make sure to take you on walks and feed you properly, dress you up all nice, and take care of any urges you might have. Just have to surrender your will to me. You’ll get used to it, and then you’ll question how you had ever lived without me” She finished, nibbling softly on Kiko’s ear before staring into the girl’s eyes. It sounded so good, Kiko was right on the doorstep of speaking when it flashed in her mind that this was not what she wanted. While she didn’t really have any goals of such, she was not here to get turned into a pet by some dominatrix Demon on her first day here. So taking a steadying breath, she opened her mouth.“I…” she started, and then head-butted Queenie violently. It seemed whatever made her gut so strong was an active power rather than a natural one, and Kiko felt the crunch of nose as Queenie recoiled, cursing violently and clutching the point of impact.“God-dam it! Ow! Furry bitch!” She exclaimed, getting off Kiko and making sure that she wasn’t bleeding or anything before turning to Kiko with a broad grin. “Well, congratulations doll. You passed” Queenie quipped. The sudden exclamation that the whole thing was a test caused a surge of anger in Kiko, but it did not help that she was still in this dam suit, and that the feeling of great weights attached to her entire body had yet to go away. As had the feeling of unnatural, pleasant heat that permeated her whole being.

“What the hell….is even going on?” She demanded, slowly moving to get up before Queenie spoke.“Don’t try to move. You’ll only exacerbate it. As for the question, well…See, we face a lot of creatures, of many, many different varieties. And amongst them, there are Succubi. Lesser Succubi aren’t really anything to worry about, but your average Succubi can really wrap a person around her finger with the powers she’s got. And if you meet a Greater Succubus, well…you are basically a sex slave until she grows bored of you. Unless- “Queenie was, however, cut off by Kiko at that moment, with a sharp shriek.“What, the actual fuck, has this got to do with anything?!” Kiko demanded, her panting becoming more obvious as the seconds ticked on. Queenie took the interruption with an amused smirk, and sauntered over, straddling Kiko again.“I was getting to that part. But it seems you are too distracted to listen. I should take care of that problem for you” Queenie stated. And take care of it she did, with expert precision. Kiko didn’t even resist, the first touch had her melting into a pile of happy goo.

Kiko lost her perception of time in that moment, but she knew when it had ended. Panting heavily from actual exhaustion this time rather than just the strange warm weight, she had somehow lost the suit in the time between that moment and now, but it seemed such an insignificant worry, with Queenie lying next to her, basking in the afterglow.“So…...you do that to a lot of people?” Kiko finally managed to asked, in a breathless tone. The smouldering hellfire in Queenie’s eyes had changed to be something of a more nurturing nature, like a warm fire on a cold day, rather than the raging inferno that could consume a city.“Only to the people I like. And no, I don’t have a lot of people I like. So you can feel smug that you are on quite the exclusive list” Queenie replied, taunting Kiko and stroking her naked body with a teasing finger until realizing that Kiko was to blazed to really appreciate it, or even notice. So she stopped.“Well, I feel special now” She muttered, and then smiled softly. “So, I feel this subject is even more valid now, but what were you saying about Succubi?” Kiko prompted, hoping to get back on topic after the accidental derailment.“Are you sure you want a lecture, and not round two?” Queenie offered. Something of an exhausted glare from Kiko made her grin, and she took that as her answer. “OK then. If you don’t have the willpower to resist a Succubus, your mind will no longer be your own, and you’ll be a danger to your whole team. Which is the nature of this testing. The suit you were wearing was designed to stimulate erogenous zones subtly with each movement, so as time passed, you got increasingly aroused, but couldn’t pinpoint the source. Exactly how a Succubus would act” Queenie finished, watching the embarrassed lights go on in Kiko’s eyes.

“So, this is anti-succubus training, and you couldn’t tell me before because that would ruin the whole surprise?” She offered, to which Queenie nodded.“It’s to gauge your willpower and see how to tailor the situation to you personally. Usually you’d just have a trainer, but I knew your father well, and I wanted to see his daughter for myself. And I have to say, for a girl who has never been anywhere near this kind of life style, you can colour me impressed” Queenie exclaimed, moving to give Kiko a tight hug.“I…well…awkward question but….” Kiko started, but Queenie was already way ahead of her.“If you want it to be. I promise to be gentle, outside of training”

Chapter 5

It seemed Queenie was serious with her exclamation, and Kiko took the first blow to her jaw, stumbling and feeling the suit fight her every movement. Not enough to hamper her in any way, but enough for it to be evident, and mentally distracting. Maybe that was the reason she had this dam thing rather than just some shorts. Queenie seemed to have pulled her punch as well, so while it made Kiko stumble, it didn’t really hurt all that much. But still, there was that stare. The stare of disappointment, like Queenie was expecting something Kiko didn’t deliver. Irritated, and annoyed by this stare, Kiko batted away the second punch, ducked under the third, and thrust out a punch to Queenie’s gut.

It was like punching a brick wall. Immediately regretting her decision with a sharp yelp of pain, Kiko backed off, scowling as she panted. The panting was confusing, she hadn’t been doing that much to warrant such exhaustion, and it didn’t really feel like exhaustion. It was more the feeling of intense warmth around her waist. Every movement gave her a new flush of the feeling, and for want of a better word, it felt good. Queenie took advantage of this distraction, and laid down the strikes harder, faster, more aggressively pursuing Kiko across the mat, making her move to Queenie’s will rather than Kiko’s. Keeping her off balance and on the defensive, while the suit still made her feel warm and heavier with every movement. Maybe Queenie was making her move around so much because the Demon girl knew that the suit was making her feel like this, so hot and fatigued. As the minutes passed, Kiko’s guard dipped, Queenie got in more and more blows, until her entire body sagged, and Queenie delivered a strong kick that knocked Kiko over, crashing into the mat with a groan, and just failing to get back up. Queenie was on her in moments, in a literal sense. The cheeks that were already flushed red blazed even hotter, with Kiko unsure what was happening, or what she should do.“Well, looks like you have had enough of that fun for one day. What do you say we have some of the other fun?” Queenie suggested, bending down to kiss Kiko on the lips, soft and quick. But to Kiko, it felt neither. Her eyes fluttered and her brain just left her for the sunny shores of somewhere saner, catching a ride of the earliest flight out of Kiko’s head when Queenie planted a longer, deeper kiss on her lips.

There was no resisting this woman. She was just too powerful, and her lips were so nice. Kiko had never felt anything like Queenie’s lips. And then a sensual whisper came into Kiko’s ear.“So, you look ready to pop. Do you want to just, give in and be my pet for the rest of your life? I’ll make sure to look after you. It might be an embarrassing time for the first month or so, but I’ll make sure to take you on walks and feed you properly, dress you up all nice, and take care of any urges you might have. Just have to surrender your will to me. You’ll get used to it, and then you’ll question how you had ever lived without me” She finished, nibbling softly on Kiko’s ear before staring into the girl’s eyes. It sounded so good, Kiko was right on the doorstep of speaking when it flashed in her mind that this was not what she wanted. While she didn’t really have any goals of such, she was not here to get turned into a pet by some dominatrix Demon on her first day here. So taking a steadying breath, she opened her mouth.“I…” she started, and then head-butted Queenie violently. It seemed whatever made her gut so strong was an active power rather than a natural one, and Kiko felt the crunch of nose as Queenie recoiled, cursing violently and clutching the point of impact.“God-dam it! Ow! Furry bitch!” She exclaimed, getting off Kiko and making sure that she wasn’t bleeding or anything before turning to Kiko with a broad grin. “Well, congratulations doll. You passed” Queenie quipped. The sudden exclamation that the whole thing was a test caused a surge of anger in Kiko, but it did not help that she was still in this dam suit, and that the feeling of great weights attached to her entire body had yet to go away. As had the feeling of unnatural, pleasant heat that permeated her whole being.

“What the hell….is even going on?” She demanded, slowly moving to get up before Queenie spoke.“Don’t try to move. You’ll only exacerbate it. As for the question, well…See, we face a lot of creatures, of many, many different varieties. And amongst them, there are Succubi. Lesser Succubi aren’t really anything to worry about, but your average Succubi can really wrap a person around her finger with the powers she’s got. And if you meet a Greater Succubus, well…you are basically a sex slave until she grows bored of you. Unless- “Queenie was, however, cut off by Kiko at that moment, with a sharp shriek.“What, the actual fuck, has this got to do with anything?!” Kiko demanded, her panting becoming more obvious as the seconds ticked on. Queenie took the interruption with an amused smirk, and sauntered over, straddling Kiko again.“I was getting to that part. But it seems you are too distracted to listen. I should take care of that problem for you” Queenie stated. And take care of it she did, with expert precision. Kiko didn’t even resist, the first touch had her melting into a pile of happy goo.

Kiko lost her perception of time in that moment, but she knew when it had ended. Panting heavily from actual exhaustion this time rather than just the strange warm weight, she had somehow lost the suit in the time between that moment and now, but it seemed such an insignificant worry, with Queenie lying next to her, basking in the afterglow.“So…...you do that to a lot of people?” Kiko finally managed to asked, in a breathless tone. The smouldering hellfire in Queenie’s eyes had changed to be something of a more nurturing nature, like a warm fire on a cold day, rather than the raging inferno that could consume a city.“Only to the people I like. And no, I don’t have a lot of people I like. So you can feel smug that you are on quite the exclusive list” Queenie replied, taunting Kiko and stroking her naked body with a teasing finger until realizing that Kiko was to blazed to really appreciate it, or even notice. So she stopped.“Well, I feel special now” She muttered, and then smiled softly. “So, I feel this subject is even more valid now, but what were you saying about Succubi?” Kiko prompted, hoping to get back on topic after the accidental derailment.“Are you sure you want a lecture, and not round two?” Queenie offered. Something of an exhausted glare from Kiko made her grin, and she took that as her answer. “OK then. If you don’t have the willpower to resist a Succubus, your mind will no longer be your own, and you’ll be a danger to your whole team. Which is the nature of this testing. The suit you were wearing was designed to stimulate erogenous zones subtly with each movement, so as time passed, you got increasingly aroused, but couldn’t pinpoint the source. Exactly how a Succubus would act” Queenie finished, watching the embarrassed lights go on in Kiko’s eyes.

“So, this is anti-succubus training, and you couldn’t tell me before because that would ruin the whole surprise?” She offered, to which Queenie nodded.“It’s to gauge your willpower and see how to tailor the situation to you personally. Usually you’d just have a trainer, but I knew your father well, and I wanted to see his daughter for myself. And I have to say, for a girl who has never been anywhere near this kind of life style, you can colour me impressed” Queenie exclaimed, moving to give Kiko a tight hug.“I…well…awkward question but….” Kiko started, but Queenie was already way ahead of her.“If you want it to be. I promise to be gentle, outside of training”

Chapter 5

Kiko tried to get up, a few times, but Queenie’s training and the subsequent relief had made Kiko aware of an exhaustion she had never really felt before. And so, instead of walking dignified towards the showers, Kiko was carried in the arms of the Demon, like a young child. It made her cheeks flush with shame, but soon, something else entered her head, something she just couldn’t keep to herself.“Ok, what the actual frack. This place is huge, but from the outside it is barely bigger than an average house” she exclaimed, looking up at Queenie’s amused grin.“Ahh, that little thing. Well, you see, this area has Space bent around it. We aren’t exactly sure why, or what is causing it, but it allows for a vast infrastructure over a small area, like we have pulled off here. Ever wondered why the SIR headquarters weren’t in some major Capital city? This is why. Uniquely placed to deal with our needs without having to give half the city over to do it” She explained, before arriving at the showers, having set a brisk pace to get there. “Now, you need some help getting clean? I can’t promise my hands won’t wander while I assist you…” She cracked a broad grin, openly admiring Kiko’s body. The idea, however good it was, was one that Kiko couldn’t quite deal with yet, and so shook her head, and took a shaky step towards the cubicles while Queenie stayed in the seating area. Why there was a seating area in the showers, Kiko was not entirely sure, but it was probably there for a reason.“No, I am fine. Thank you” Her determination to not get sexed up in the showers by her new friend gave her the strength she needed to remain standing while she cleaned herself, brushed her hair through, and then eventually switched off the water and got out to dry herself.

Wrapped up in towels – even though Queenie had had an intimate look at her body, she was still conscious of just showing it off willy-nilly – she saw the Demon woman with a broad grin on her face. Recognising the grin as one of mischief, Kiko gave her a withering stare.“What have you done?” She asked, in what she hoped was an assertive tone.“Done? Nothing, I’m a good girl” Queenie tried, but couldn’t keep a straight face, and so broke into laughter. “Ok, fine. Your clothes were soiled, and quite damaged to boot. So I sent them off to get pampered. Meanwhile, I got you this to wear” Queenie stated. Kiko narrowed her eyes at the woman before even looking at the outfit. This was how it was going to go, huh? Then her eyes went to what Queenie was displaying, and they bulged in shock. There was nothing really wrong with the outfit, exactly. The corset was beautiful, looked crafted to show enough of her assets while also not making her downright sultry. And the skirt went down to her knees, or would if it wasn’t flared so it hung a little away from her and blended modesty with promiscuity. It was all shaded in the black with red trims that was the official SIR colours, but Kiko found herself a little wary. She had never worn something that revealing before. And that was before she even factored in the silk underwear and bra that, unlike the rest of the outfit, barely covered what it needed to cover.“Do you like it?” Queenie asked, in the teasing tone that knew she had nothing else to wear so it was like this, or go naked.“Tormenting me on purpose, or does it just come naturally?” Kiko asked, scowling a little as she strode forward and, finishing towelling herself off, took up the lingerie and pulled them on.“Why can’t it be both?” Queenie retorted, picking up the corset and helping Kiko into it, tying the laces enough so it would not slip off, but not so that Kiko would have any trouble breathing. There wasn’t much ribbing on the corset anyway, as if it had been made for its looks rather than being an actual Corset.

When she had dressed, and gotten into the satin shoes with low heels – Queenie had provided them as well, apparently Kiko’s shoes had also been confiscated – she took her through the building to Lysaida’s office. Having never worn heels before, the clicking on the ground as she walked was something new to Kiko, but she liked the metronome of it, it was kind of soothing. Once the two had arrived, Queenie didn’t even bother to knock, she just walked right in, and up to the desk, piled with paperwork, and grinned at a vexed looking Lysaida.“Still refusing my offer to burn all the paperwork?” Queenie asked, before looking back to Kiko, who was kind of lingering on the door, not exactly sure how to handle the outfit she was in.“Yes, I am. And I see you have wasted no time dressing up the new recruit. Come on in, Miss Ator. We need to officially sign you into SIR, deal with your education, and so on. There is quite a bit that goes into someone of your age joining us” She was being a lot more formal than when she had broken into Kiko’s house, but maybe that was just because she was in Work mode right now.“So, lots of pieces of paper to sign?” Kiko asked, grinning sheepishly as she walked into the office, taking up the offer to come in. It was better than out in the hallway, after all.“Yes. The recruitment sheet, the basic rules and tenants, and a list of the Quasi-humans we have here, so you know what to expect” She gestured with a folder, which Kiko walked over to take, and then opened, starting reading immediately. The recruitment sheet and the rules were pretty simple, she got through them quickly, but she took more time with the quasi-human list.“Phoenix…” she muttered, a slight elation in her voice. Phoenixes where pretty rare, mostly because they were very humble creatures and never really revealed themselves in public. Anyone could be a Phoenix until they got shot, or stabbed, or otherwise mortally wounded. But one part of the list made her look up with a broad grin. “Dragon, huh? You SIR agents get all the fun stuff” She quipped, taking a pen and beginning to fill out the form. Name, date of birth, occupation, kin, Quasi-human nature [If applicable]. It was all pretty basic.

“Yes, we SIR agents get all the fun stuff. Although the Dragons are not exactly social people. They can interact on occasion, but are surprisingly shy, considering they can be thirty foot of scales and fire when they chose to be” Lysaida replied, flicking her eyes to Queenie to make sure the woman wasn’t up to anything, and then returning her gaze to Kiko as she finished the form and handed it back. Lysaida checked it over, and then nodded in satisfaction. “Benefit of being the boss, is that I can accept you on the spot now this paperwork is done, rather than having to go through channels to get to me. Welcome to SIR, Recruit” Lysaida nodded, and Queenie returned to Kiko’s side, beaming like a dog with a bone. Lysaida didn’t seem to be finished, however, so Kiko kept her attention on the Colonel. “As for ranking, which is what a lot of people ask. They get something off having a title, apparently. Your rank depends on which division you chose to be in. You will probably want to join one of the assault teams, Kitsunes excel there, with their special talents, and it is the divisor that our Queenie heads. You start as a Gunner, and then Agent, and finally Striker. Your father was a Striker, incidentally” She mentioned, and did her best to not give in to the despair of such a memory.

Kiko decided to change the subject, and quickly, before the topic got to dreary.“She heads the Assault teams? I thought, she was boss of the gym” Kiko said, before blushing and covering her mouth. She didn’t mean to give her the title that popped into her head. Queenie, however, found it amusing.“Boss of the Gym? Heh. Well, I’m the Overseer of ‘the Gym’ as you put it, but the boss of the Assault Teams. Basically I lead routine workouts for the rookies and occasion squads, but I head the assault teams. The two mesh well, so I take care of both” Queenie explained, before giving a terribly wide, scary grin. “And I’ll see to making sure that you know my title much better than you do now” It sounded somewhere between a threat, and a promise for more of what happened after the spar. Kiko wasn’t sure which one worried her more…

Chapter 6

After letting Queenie torment Kiko for a couple of seconds, Lysaida stood from her chair and looked at the two.“As much as I appreciate your fashion sense, Queenie, Kiko needs a proper uniform while she is on duty. So, can you take her to Zami for me?” Lysaida asked, but with that cute little inflection that made it an order. Kiko stared at the two, slightly agape as she clocked on that Zami was some sort of tailor, or uniform person.“Just how much space is bent into this place?” She asked, intently curious, but also kind of exasperated.“Enough for all our needs. Now get out, I’ve got work to do” Lysaida replied, chasing the two out of her office and closing the door. As soon as they were out, Queenie turned to Kiko, but found the girl already staring.“She was a lot less…stern when we first met, and a lot more emotional” Kiko muttered. Queenie decided to drop her ideas to flirt with the girl and make her cheeks flush again, and just looked to the explanation while leading Kiko to Zami at a brief pace.“She’s a Schattenganger. She can walk through the shadows of most things, either organic or synthetic. Walking through the shadow of something alive, gives her a copy of their emotional state every time she uses her powers. Over her time here she has walked through the shadows of a lot of people here, and mostly everyone knew your father in some way or another, so his loss is felt by most. When she used her powers to get into your house, she had to take the sadness and loss of many people, as well as her own. To be honest, I’m amazed the woman is still on her feet and not at the bottom of a bottle, or in a padded room. Her mental fortitude is amazing” Queenie’s voice was heavy with admiration, which was pretty nice to hear.

“So, that’s the Colonel’s default state? With a stare that can crush walnuts?” Kiko quipped. Queenie looked at her with a frown, not exactly how a stare could crush walnuts.“No. She don’t really have a default state. She is an emotionally versatile woman” Queenie replied, before stopping outside a door in some wing. Kiko wasn’t entirely sure she could get back to where she was without Queenie, so kept close to the woman as they entered the room. There, a man stood, with a very strange shirt. There were eight sleeves, covering eight arms, and each arm was holding some sort of dress making tool, while a tape measure was around his neck. Hearing the door open, the man turned, showing that he had two extra sets of eyes just above his primary set. Kiko wasn’t that surprised, the list did include Tsuchigumo, but it was one thing to say you had spider people, and another to actually see spider people up close.“Hey Zami. This is Kiko, she’s the newest recruit” Queenie announced, bringing Kiko over to the centre of the room.“Good day, good day. Take a seat. I think. I am sure there is a chair somewhere” His voice had a very scattered quality, as if he was constantly on the edge of forgetting what he was about to say. “If not, move the cat. If there is a cat around here. I can never keep track of the furry bastard. If all else fails, I am sure the floor is still where I left it” his offers, while given in quite an unorthodox manner, were sincere, so Kiko looked around for a chair, and eventually found one, having to indeed move a cat off it, like she was told. Zami then gave Kiko a deep, rather creepy stare, but that was probably the six eyes and eight arms, more than the stare itself.“I have your measurements. Which division would you like to join?” He asked. Queenie seemed to have, vanished off into one of the small adorning rooms, leaving Kiko with the slightly spooky spider guy. His ability to get her measurements just by staring must have come from those creepy eyes of his, or just skill as a tailor, mixed with those creepy eyes of his. Or some third source, which involved those creepy eyes of his. His eyes were creepy!“Assault teams” Kiko told Zami, shaking off her thoughts about his eyes for more formal matters, and feeling they were the best place for her. Kitsunes were meant to fit in there, after all.

“Very well, I shall have a uniform in about a week. A lot of work, you see. And you won’t be needing it until next year at least” Zami then turned from her, and returned to what he was doing as Queenie came out of the side room, holding a sealed bag, with clothes inside.“Zami will get you your uniform the for the Assault squads. This, contains your on-duty uniform, and your physical exercise uniform. Don’t worry, it’s not like the suit I put you in” Queenie sated. Kiko averted her eyes, and flushed softly, but then turned back with a curious look.“Strange question, but where is Asha, in the hierarchy?” Kiko was glad that the question had popped into her head, it allowed her to avoid the subject at hand, which was embarrassing and would probably go on being embarrassing for a few years.

“Ahh, good question, actually. Asha is sort of an advisor. She doesn’t work for SIR officially, but is an associate attached to ODD in general. We have them for the Quasi-humans that had a wider, more varied culture. Some of them are basically just humans with extra arms, like Zami. Others, like your father’s clan, have an entirely different outlook on life and need someone else to look after them. So, in our Hierarchy, she isn’t anywhere. In your hierarchy, she is quite highly placed” Queenie explained. And then, for no reason at all, moved in to caress Kiko’s face, and kiss her lips softly. The Kitsune’s face turned a funny shade of tomato, and she tried to look at anything that wasn’t Queenie, but the woman’s hand was cupping Kiko’s face, preventing such an action.

“Sorry. You just looked so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself” Queenie told Kiko, letting her go and straightening up. “On a serious note, we need to get you situated in a room. You can have a spot in the Kitsune quarters, or you can grab one on the main building. Or, you can always come live with me. I have a large bed and I don’t snore, so you don’t have to worry about that” Kiko could see that Queenie was being serious with her offer, and it even seemed sincere. Queenie seemed to be the kind of person that developed strong feelings the moment she was accepted by a person. Having no reason to refuse the offer, and kind of liking it because it kept her close to someone she knew rather than having to go to an empty room in a wing of some place she had very little understanding of so far.

“I can stay with you while I get my head around where I am going and what I am doing” Kiko told Queenie. She was very excitable, from Kiko’s experience, so she thought it best to offer a measured tone rather than one of outright acceptance. The Kitsune expected some sort of teasing kiss or sensuous stroking, but neither of those happened, as Queenie just handed her the bag with her uniforms in it.“Wonderful. Take this, and follow me” Queenie ordered, heading for the door and making Kiko scramble to keep up, expecting her to wait until Kiko had at least gotten off the chair, but no. This woman was a nightmare, but somehow Kiko was alright with that. Maybe it was because of the Demon’s emotion flooding the place and making Kiko feel what Queenie was feeling. It was hard to be against people that were so emotionally active like Queenie was.

While setting a demanding pace, Queenie didn’t leave Kiko behind, making sure she could always keep up and measuring her step when the girl seemed to be falling behind. Mostly because of the heels, short though they were, were difficult to balance in at anything more than a walk. She had clearly not been one to wear heels in her day to day life. If Queenie had anything to do with that, however, it would soon change. Eventually, the two got to Queenie’s room, and entered. It was a sizable place, with a large bed as advertised, and two wardrobes on each side of the bed. And, for some reason Kiko was not even going to begin to try and fathom, a goat tied to a tether in one corner of the room. Two bed side cabinets, and a door that probably led to a bathroom, or another cupboard, Kiko was not entirely sure on that front.

“Well, it’s certainly roomy” Kiko exclaimed, looking around and seeing a full length mirror that she could admire herself in. The clothes really suited her, and suddenly Kiko found herself quite attracted to the stunning figure she cut. But Queenie’s words snapped her out of it.“You can put your uniform and any clothes you get in the future in the left wardrobe. The right wardrobe is locked. Don’t try to open it, or there will be frowns all around” she told Kiko. The idea of frowns was definitely something much more than a facial expression, so Kiko made a mental note not to open the right wardrobe. “Now, we have to go to your school and talk to the head teacher about why you are not going to be going there anymore. Would you prefer to tell them the truth, or do you want me to make something up for you?” Queenie offered, sitting on her bed and admiring Kiko openly. Something that the Kitsune-girl did not exactly notice, still looking about the room.“Why, would I lie about joining SIR?” She asked, a little confused at the idea.“Well, there are a few people that are less than happy that we exist. Mostly insane cultists, but some are just citizens with more free time than brain cells. Plus, the subterfuge is more until you finish your training than anything. Once you are an official SIR agent, you can handle a couple of naysaying dooshbags” she cautioned. Kiko thought it was sound logic, and so nodded.“Sure, then you can make something up for me” Kiko replied, finally looking to Queenie, and feeling a tad uncomfortable at the way her eyes lit up at the permission.

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Chapter 7

Never again, Kiko mentally stated, as she was standing in the Head Teacher’s office, wearing a Maid’s uniform that was somewhere between stately and promiscuous. Kiko would never trust Queenie with free reign over anything like this again, because what she had come up with was a literal nightmare. Sure, her dress was nice. In fact, Queenie’s outfit was magnificent. She had a ribbon wrapped around her neck and the top part of her chest was bare, with the tops of her breasts showing. The dress also had very short arms, not even coming down to her elbows before cutting off with a frilly pattern. The top of her breasts had a frilly fabric look to it but this just made the dress all the better. It then carried on down to the stomach area where it was plain and fitted tightly to her, it looked to be offering support for the rest of the dress by the way it hugged her. The actual light brown dress started around her waist and the sides had the same light brown fabric that with overlapping layers that the rest of the dress was made out of but the front appeared to be a separate part of the dress and was made of silk rather the taffeta the rest of the dress was made out of. Roughly ten tiers of this pink silk ran down her waist part of the dress, each tier getting wider until it reached the floor. The dress was studded with fire drops, rubies and emeralds in a very gaudy fashion, giving a final impression that she was some sort of rich noblewoman or something, and having a Maid just finished the touches.

Queenie was, currently talking with the Head Teacher, but Kiko didn’t hear what they were saying, just silently seethed with the betrayal. She had trusted Queenie to come up with something that wasn’t insane, and that trust had been sorely misplaced. Eventually, however, she was addressed directly, and gave a good little curtsy in reply, not actually having been listening.“Well, if this is what you want, then I will not get in the way of it” the head teacher told Kiko, before looking to Queenie. “I appreciate you coming to tell me rather than just whisking her away, Miss Fitzen. I hope you will take care of Kiko. She can be a handful at times but don’t let that dissuade you. She’s a good girl, deep down” The head teacher finished.

“Thank you for your advice, mister Ridas” Queenie replied. It was then that Kiko realized she never knew the Head Teacher’s name before now. He had always just been, the head teacher. No name plate or introduction anywhere. It was very strange, but she didn’t dwell on it too long. She was busy internally scowling at Queenie. Maybe if she thought really hard, a large pan would come out of nowhere and hit her on the head or something. Alas, the world did not work like that, and they left Ridas’ office and got to the car with no flying pans. Bundling into the very nice car and having the chauffer start the car and drive off, Queenie seemed highly amused. But Kiko was livid.“Maid!? Could you really have thought of nothing else, at all, that might have worked?!” Kiko exploded, nails digging into her palms, even though the gloves Kiko was wearing.“Maybe. But this was the most fun. Besides, you amazing in that outfit, Kiko. It was a suspicion of mine that I wanted to confirm. You can strip naked if you’d prefer. I certainly wouldn’t mind” Queenie was, with her glorious clothes and her laid back superiority and her beautiful car, the perfect picture of royalty right now. It didn’t help Kiko stay calm, however. So she just silently glared until they got back to the SIR headquarters, and immediately went to Queenie’s room to change out of the Maid uniform. Once naked, and to angry to be embarrassed, she rounded on Queenie, who was just sauntering in as Kiko finished getting undressed.“What is my schedule like? Which set of clothes do I put on?” Kiko bluntly demanded. Queenie took her time getting into the room, and then sat down on the bed.“Why don’t you come join me on this wonderfully comfy bed, and I might tell you” Queenie offered. It did not have the desired impact. Kiko just grabbed her standard recruit uniform, threw it on, and left without giving Queenie time to even admire Kiko in it. The Kitsune was pissed, it seemed, but Queenie was confident she would come to forgive the Demon in time. So she decided to just hang around her room for a bit, and make preparations to return the dress to who it belonged to. The one who loaned it was never the kind of woman to suffer tardiness.

Kiko, meanwhile, was storming about the place, not even sure where she was going. She hadn’t even stopped to check out the uniform she was wearing until she passed a distinctively reflective window. There she got a better look. Skirt to her knees, polo shirt, and formal blouse, in the predominant colour scheme of SIR. It was actually quite flattering, now Kiko stopped to look for a moment. Maybe when she got back, if Queenie looked sufficiently apologetic, she’d strike a pose for her rather-closer-than-friend. Then Kiko stopped using the window to check herself out, and started using it for what it was originally designed for, and saw that she was outside some sort of firing range. Interested, now, Kiko found a door, and then retrieved a pair of earmuffs from a row of them, with a sign above stating that they were necessary for all personnel in the firing range. Probably to prevent ear damage, or something like that. Putting them on, the world suddenly became strangely dulled. Not muted like she had expected, but the edge was taken off all sound. With sufficient ear protection, she opened the second door that connected the earmuff room to the firing range proper, and was glad for the muffs. The air was filled with loud pops, bangs, and cracks as dozens of SIR agents practiced their marksmanship with a multitude of weaponry. If this was what it was like with ear protection, she wondered how people got on in the field, unless there were some sort of plugs, but then that would mess with communication. Lost in her own little world, she didn’t notice when someone came up and placed a hand on her shoulder. Jumping slightly, she turned to the amused visage of the girl standing next to her. With nothing distinctive, Kiko thought she was just another operative, and so gave her a smile. No risk of weird stuff here.

“Fresh Meat. How lovely” The girl said, flashing some impressive fangs as a glint of light revealed a cadaverous look to her face. It earned her a shriek and a punch in the face, which was apparently not what she was expecting, as the girl went reeling back, and clutched her nose.“Ow. Dam, you have a hell of a left hook, girl. I was only going to nibble” The girl stated, dropping her hands from her face to show a much friendlier smile.“We are surrounded by too many guns for you to start that kind of crap” Kiko retorted, electing a rather cute giggle-snort from the girl.“Fair point. I’m Bruyn. I run the shooting range. I hope I didn’t scare you, I just haven’t smelled you before and so thought I’d come over and say hi” Bruyn explained, and introduced herself. After a few seconds, she was confident that Bruyn was just messing about, and wasn’t actually about to bite, so walked over and took the outstretched hand. The woman’s face had returned to a normal look, so she wasn’t all that scary anymore.“Kiko. I’m…well, you know. I’m new” Kiko was still a bit nervous, put off by the look the girl had given. She had obviously plastered those emotions on her face, since Bruyn offered some more.“I’m a Draugr. Hence the rotting face” She said, before noticing Kiko had no idea what a Draugr was. “Think…Viking super zombie. Shit happened, I died, and now I am back to help the world fight the Beasts from Beyond. And in return SIR keeps me from rotting and dropping my body parts were I may. Also covers up the stretch. If there is one problem with being a super strong, neigh-invincible zombie, it’s the stench” she quipped, laughing to herself.

Kiko listened, and then cocked her head softly as she said neigh-invincible.“So, you don’t follow many zombie rules?” She asked. Normal zombies were quite vulnerable, in Kiko’s opinion.“Na. See, we are impervious to weapons, but need to be dissected and burned to die. As you might think, it’s difficult to dissect a super strong zombie when you can’t use any weapons on her. Clever, huh? Makes me a great asset on the field against the Shriekers and the Succubi. I’m dead, they can’t bugger with anything that makes you humans tick. But! You did not come here to talk about me, did you?” She asked, and then continued when Kiko shook her head. “Good. Then let us begin the tour of guns! Have you ever shot a gun before?” She finished.“Nope. I popped a guy in the eye with a bb before, but nothing real” Kiko admitted, looking around and feeling a bit self-conscious at all the confident gunslingers around here.“That’s fine. No problem with never shooting before. It’s what we work for, after all. Now, you’ll wanna start with a small calibre weapon so you can get used to the weight of guns, and the recoil, and then move up. I’ve got an open booth, we can start you off with the nine mill” she then took Kiko to the booth, and there was a spread of pistols in individual slots, with numbers above them. Kiko’s eyes were immediately drawn to a huge thing near the end, with ‘.650’ above it. She pulled it out of the slot, and marvelled at the weight, barely able to hold it in one hand.“Tsk, trust you to go straight for the Tenderizer. Tell you what, if you can squeeze a shot off from that baby without it putting you on your arse, I’ll serve you for a week, however you wish me to. And trust me, these fingers might be dead, but they are not stiff” Bruyn teased. Kiko didn’t seem as embarrassed with her as she did with Queenie, and just laughed a little.

“Heh, sounds good, maybe I can use you to keep the other nutter out of my panties” she retorted. Bruyn’s eyes light up, but Kiko ignored her and focused on the gun, clasping it tightly in both hands and taking a wide stance so she was most stable. It was just a gun, there was no way she was going to lose to something like this, even if it was hellishly heavy. So she slowly pulled the trigger, and there was a monumental force suddenly thrown onto her, the gun went up, ripped out of her grasp, and clattered onto the floor, while Kiko herself let out a strangled yelp and lost her balance completely, hitting the deck hard, to the great amusement of Bruyn. Recovering the gun, she helped Kiko up, and then gestured with her head.“This is how you do it” Bruyn stated, aiming at the target and cocking the hammer before firing off a round. Unlike Kiko’s wild shot which had gouged a small chunk of rock out of the concrete wall at the back, Bruyn’s bullet hit the wooden target and blew apart the head, sending wooden splinters across the firing range. “I guess now; we can discuss how you are going to serve me for the week” Bruyn stated, matter-of-factly as she replaced the massive pistol in its home, and gave Kiko another flash of fang.

Chapter 8

As it turned out, her servitude to Bruyn was not what she was put in mind with the quip about fingers earlier. Apparently there was a record of gunmanship here in the firing range, and Drax held a record. Kiko’s father followed her everywhere in this place, even after his death. Drax had managed a record that had yet to be surpassed, making a dozen perfect shots in eleven seconds, using the very gun that had put Kiko on her ass with a single bullet. Bruyn could manage six targets, but then the reload was too slow and she never managed to surpass him. Even her super strength couldn’t keep such a weapon tamed with one hand, which meant Drax had used ‘crazy Kitsune magic’ to make his record, and Bruyn wanted Kiko to beat it in the Draugr’s name. This was the first time she had a Kitsune indebted to her, so she was going to make the most of it. There was only one problem.“I don’t know how to do any sort of magic. I don’t even have any tails yet. What do you expect me to do?” She asked, exasperated as Bruyn had her firing off a significantly smaller gun as practice.“Learn quickly. Do whatever you need to do to bring this tail of yours out, and then use it to mess with gravity or whatever he did to negate the recoil of the Tenderizer” Bruyn replied, feeling Kiko up a bit too intimately for her to be comfortable. However, before she could do anything else, the door to the firing range opened loudly, and Queenie stormed up to Bruyn, looming over her angrily.

“What, the actual hell, are you doing to my girl?” Queenie demanded. Kiko put her gun down so she wasn’t tempted to shoot, and then turned to glare herself.“I’m not your girl. Regardless of what happened earlier, you are moving way too fast for anything to come of this just yet. Don’t you know anything about patience?” Kiko retorted. Bruyn gave a smug smile from behind Kiko, and got a sharp reply.“You do remember I don’t need to dissect you to turn you into ash, right?” Queenie almost barked, before looking back to Kiko. “I can do patience, but you said you wanted it so I thought you knew what you were getting into” Kiko shook her head violently at that exclamation.“You said if I wanted it to be, and I haven’t decided if I do want it to be or not. Some people think with more than their crotch, you know?!” She threw back, a rhetorical question that wouldn’t be answered as Kiko stormed off out of the firing range, and out of the building entirely. Let them send someone to come get her back if they really wanted, she was going to go find some place that wasn’t occupied by insane demon girls, and crazy zombies and all manner of shit that was just too much for her right now. She stormed away from the building at an angry pace, and found herself in a place she’d usually not frequent. She knew of it, all the delinquents and thugs of her school spoke about it like it was the hottest place in the city, but it was actually a run-down portion half a step away from a slum and filled with all the people in the grips of a thousand different vices. Apparently she moved quickly when she was angry, or had lost track of time.

Here was not the best place to be for someone like Kiko, especially not dressed the way she was, but she had to push on and give herself an air of authority and confidence so that nobody would mess with her. She was a SIR agent after all, even though it had only been a day and she was still a rookie. They didn’t need to know that. She wandered around, looking for a way out, but eventually came across a group of thugs harassing a girl down an alleyway. She knew that getting involved would be bad for her in this place, but couldn’t help herself as she walked over, passing some blazed out junkie that was probably so high he couldn’t even hear the cries of the girl ten foot away.“Hey, let her go” Kiko ordered, standing with a rather intimidating posture, and making sure she was ready to kick ass as soon as she needed. One of the men looked over with the usual look of surprised interest, but she never really got further than that since something heavy cracked around the back of her head as the guy she thought was just a junkie smashed a plank of wood across the back of her head. The darkness of unconsciousness came quickly, so much so that she didn’t even feel herself hit the ground. She had really bad luck with planks of wood, it seemed.

Consciousness returned slowly to Kiko, but when it did, she wished it would go away again. She was naked, and chained to the celling by some manacles that were too tight, and dug into her wrists painfully. Her ankles were equally locked to the floor, stretching her out so there was no slack anywhere. The entire posture was uncomfortable, bordering on painful, but was not the worst part. The worst part, was the man with a broad grin in front of her, openly admiring her figure. She tried to turn, to cover up, to do anything that might avert his gaze, but the chains held her too fast.“Morning darling. So, what is a SIR girl doing all alone in our neck of the woods? We’ve been good lately. Well, sort of good. Good in relation to how we normally are” he quipped, clearly amused by himself.“You know, you didn’t have to do all this song and dance just to ask me that” Kiko replied, groggy but irritated.“Ohh, na. That’s just my curiosity. We got an order in a few days ago for female members of SIR. Specifically, blonde females. I don’t know what that’s got to do with anything, hair’s hair. But, the sex trade has always been high strung, so I don’t question it” he told Kiko, who’s eyes bulged and her body tried to recoil, but was held tightly in place by the chains.“Sex trade?! You fucking pig!” She shrieked, wrenching violently at her bindings, but it was a futile action.“Feisty. I think I might just take a piece of you first. Finder’s fee, and all” He gave a very nasty laugh, and then moved up to Kiko, who squirmed and cried out, trying to get away. It didn’t help, and he forced his way in without any ceremony or warning. It hurt, a lot more than she would have thought from what she had heard about it from everyone else. If it hurt this much every time, she couldn’t fathom why anyone would ever want to do this. But then, part of it was probably his brutal, uncaring thrusts in and out of her. Might have had something to do with it.

‘Someone…please…’ she thought to herself, sobbing softly as blood began to run down her leg. She tried her best to endure it but it was so painful, so horrible, and she couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the pain and the aggressive intruder. Several minutes later – probably, she had lost her perception of time – he began to let out deep grunts and was panting, so was probably about to blow. And then it flashed into her mind. Something she had never seen, but instinctively knew. A sort of premembering.

A girl, with nine tails splayed in a glorious fashion. An aura of peace, and power surrounded her, such that it made all those around her feel safe, and protected. Then the tails vanished in that moment, replaced by a single tail that slowly faded back into sight. With the tail came a man, scruffy looking but somehow wearing scruffy well. He was beaming with pride as the girl spawned her tail. The man looked so familiar to Kiko, but she couldn’t grasp why. The tailed girl looked to the man, and her eyes were a deep, warm gold. The man’s eyes were the same, which was kind of strange. However, the sight was uplifting, it was enlightening. It filled her heart and her body with a warmth and a light she had never known. The man finished his carnal exploits and made a surprised exclamation, which brought Kiko back into the real world. Where she was sporting a fluffy addition behind her.

“A Kitsune, huh? Well shit. Looks like we aren’t parting company just yet. You are a gold mine, I ain’t letting you go to get fucked by some richie bastard when I can become a richie bastard with you around” the man walked over to a table that Kiko had missed before – it was not like she had thought to look around while this mad bastard had told her that she was going to get sold off. The table held copious amounts of clutter, from which he pulled a large jar, and brought it back to Kiko. Then he pulled out a large knife from his belt, and brandished it in front of Kiko’s face, stroking her cheek with the cold flat edge. “So, your blood is something of a rarity, ya know? I don’t know if it’s just homeopathic voodoo, or it actually works, but what you have in your veins is wanted in dozens of different recipes, for all manner of things. It’s also illegal to possess but hey, no risk no reward, am I right?” He asked rhetorically. Kiko knew his plan, knew what he was wanting to do with her, but was entirely helpless to stop him. Tugging at her binds availed her nothing, and she had no idea what she was actually meant to be doing with her tail.“So, try not to squirm, and I won’t make too much of a mess, ok?” He seemed to have a thing for rhetorical questions, but Kiko had bigger problems. His blade moved to make a practiced cut across her thigh, and then the screaming began.

Each cut felt like it took hours to finished, and then he would gather the blood that spilled out of it, Kiko screaming and crying hysterically as her nerve endings lit up with a burning pain she had never felt before in her life. She was confident she had passed out a few times, which messed up her perception of time entirely. One second he would be slicing her up, and then the next she would be alone in a room that was far too cold to be comfortable, unsure if when he was coming back, but intensely aware of her new scar. She didn’t know how long she had been here, there were no windows and she blacked out a lot from the shock of the pain, the loss of her blood, and generally a desire to escape what had become her life. It had taken a moment for her to lose everything that was going for her and become merely a cretin’s blood bank. Occasionally she would wake with a sore arm or leg, and a tiny needle hole as the source of the pain. They were putting something in her body, probably to make sure she didn’t die on them from all this stealing of what she sort of needed to stay alive. Without any frame of reference, she could only assume she had spent days here. Days of being tortured until she dropped, days of being fed something by needle, and days of being taunted by her own tail. She had it, it would come out when she gave it a thought to show itself, but it did nothing to explain how anything worked.

One session, she was surprising even herself with her mental fortitude. Maybe her body had just adapted to the pain of being cut open, or maybe the sadistic bastard had given her something that forced her to stay conscious, bleeding from different wounds and then those cuts cauterized with a special lighter he had on him. He said it made him look cool when it lit his cigars with what amounted to a miniature blowtorch, and it had its uses in other places as well. Setting large fires, burning peoples eyeballs out, and right now, making sure his honeypot didn’t bleed more than he wanted. Her body was a canvas of scars. The man had some artistic desire because he had made them into crude but legible sigils, symbols that dotted her body and either denoted something, or merely showed a window into the madness of his mind. The one thing she could not understand was the brand, on her lower stomach. Maybe he was some sort of Homopyromaniac or something equally insane. She could accept by this point that he just enjoyed the smell of burning flesh.

Eventually, the world became muted and dull for her, and she was not entirely sure what was real and what was imagined by her blood-starved brain. Her physiology had undergone changes over the past few days, the appearance of her tail turning her away from the path of the human she had walked, and down the path that she was born to walk. It was either this reason, or because she had never really been semi-conscious from blood loss – generally conked out by this point - that she totally hallucinated her torturer getting thrown through the wall to her holding cell, and another, tall and powerful man, stepping through the hole.

Of course her tormented mind would try to keep her from going into the night entirely by putting on this lovely show for her. But it could have waited until she was a little more lucid and less groggy like she had just been woken up with far too little sleep. They spoke like her head was submerged underwater, but she got the gist of it. The large man was distinctly unhappy at her torturer. Maybe they had different tastes in art. Her torturer lunged for him with a knife, but was blindsided by a fist and smashed into the nearby wall hard enough for Kiko to feel the shudder through her cuffs.‘Were fists really that strong?’ she thought to herself, before she smiled to herself softly, dry lips cracking and beginning to bleed softly. She was questioning the validity of her hallucinations. It seemed her brain’s endeavour to keep her away from the land of the people who wear pants on their heads and lumberjack exclusively with small fish had failed. Only a mad woman would have the gall to question the inflight entertainment that her brain had so obviously worked very hard on. It was vivid enough that she could smell the fear in the room. It smelt like ammonia. Her nose had become sharp over the days of her imprisonment. She could always smell her own blood, and the odour of her torturer. He seemed to have something against personal hygiene. The climax of her movie was when the man began to delimb her torturer and discard the limbs carelessly about the place. The head was last, and discarded with casual disgust, before his eyes settled on Kiko. Her brain had really done it well, he looked so realistic his eyes like pits of darkness into an endless void, and then he spread large, black wings, that defied physics and shone with the sheer depth of the dark hue. It was a spectacle of such beauty she found herself profusely apologizing for any mean thing she had ever said about her brain. She would remember those wings until she was too dead to remember anything. She only had a few seconds to stare, however, since he launched himself upwards, and vanished before hitting the celling. Her hands waved numbly, and then she just watched the body pieces. She had no experience with hallucinations, but she thought they vanished eventually when reality reared its ugly head. A few minutes into the staring, she started to frown, as reality was taking a long lunch break, it seemed.

Maybe it was because she always passed out before this part, but she felt like her torturer was taking a long time getting back. He had to hurry up, she was a busy girl after all. There was screaming to be done, writhing in immeasurable agony as his knife kissed her skin with its edge, and intense despair to be felt when looking into his eyes to see not lewd, perverted pleasure, but the satisfaction of a man doing what he loved, as if carving her up and bleeding her dry was like the whittling of an icon, or the sewing of a dress. He had never forced his way into her again, as if he enjoyed the deflowering more than the act, or just didn’t enjoy the act. Maybe Kiko didn’t have what he liked. Maybe she was too much fox now and he was the kind of person that didn’t enjoy a quick Yiff in the morning before work. But it seemed the man had no respect for punctuality, and he was rude to boot. His head was faced down, not even looking at her so she could scowl at him for his lack of thought for the plans of others. And scowling at the back of a hallucination’s dismembered head just didn’t have the same satisfaction as scowling into the eyes of a hallucination’s dismembered head. But, he was her hallucination, and so she would make him do what she wanted. Concentrating on his head, she told her brain that no, it had not landed away from her, but actually facing her, hoping that that would change the outcome of the little brain video and give her something to do. It didn’t happen spontaneously, but instead came the tingly feeling that heralded her tail coming forth. It then pointed it’s tip in the direction of the head, and extended a strange orange tether, with attached to the head and tugged it around so she could see his eyes. Her brain didn’t seem to appreciate the fact that she was butting in, as it distracted her with loud noises coming from nearby. Clearly a sequel to distract her, try to keep her from being a backseat hallucinator. They were gunshots, but she couldn’t see anything, only hear them. And occasionally screams. Screams of pain, of panic, of determination, of death. The scent of the blood of others filled her nose. She could feel how violently this blood was being spilled, in glorious battle, and it aroused her, a warm tingle in her crotch filling her body with a pleasant emotion that the man could never extract if he tried all day with his insufficient little trouser snake.

Wait, what?

No, no, no, no. She might have been a resident of Loony Town now, living on the corner of Nutter Street and Insanity Lane, but she still had standards. Getting turned on by some guy’s blood was not something she was about to stand for. It was like she was some sort of perverted vampire, which she wasn’t. The teeth proved it. She had neither retractable fangs, nor fine points to her teeth. If she tried to get into someone’s neck, there would be blood. Which, was the point of being a vampire, now she thought of it. And that revelation made her question her earlier statement. She could bite people, there would be blood, and she could drink that blood. Did that make her a vampire? Logic – such as it was – pointed to yes. Fortunately, for the tiny shred of rationality that still clung to existence like a man with hay fever clung to his antihistamines in summer, a familiar, albeit bloody, face appeared. Horns and all. The face said something muffled and distorted, and then the curtains fell on the performance, and Kiko’s eyes rolled back into her head, sagging into blissful unconsciousness, to await the next act when she finally awoke.

Chapter 9

The next act was boring, when she woke. Sure, the graphics were great - it had changed the scenery entirely, she was in some hospital stroke infirmary stroke health place, laid up in a bed with a machine that went ‘ping’ attached to her - but, there was nothing going on. It was another case of great graphics, terrible gameplay. Why brains thought that was anything approaching a good idea, she would never know. But, lacking any sort of binding in this new and vivid 3d hallucination, she slowly sat up in the bed. Stupid brain even added in her bodily woes. She wasn’t feeling the dull roar of constant pain, but her entire body ached, felt exhausted like a fifty mile run followed by three hours of intimate attention in bed with a very greedy lover. Except she didn’t have the satisfaction of those three hours. She felt cheated. Bloody brain, why not give her something nice to watch.

As if on cue, a cute girl in a pink uniform walked through the door, and saw Kiko awake, so came over.“How are you feeling?” she asked, her voice soft, and as easy on the ears as her appearance was on the eyes. Speaking of, her eyes were crazy. Pure white orbs without any features in them at all. Incredibly pale skin, pure white hair, eyebrows blending into her tundra-esque skin as they were exactly the same hue. She was like a large clump of snow had come together and put on a pink nurse’s uniform. Not that Kiko was complaining, this was much better.“Well, let’s get started. Not sure how long this is going to last. Knife through the thigh has been known to throw off my concentration, and this looks pretty cocentrational” she slowly reached out her hand to pull the girl in, but there was no strength in any part of her body and the advances were easily rejected.“Tip for the future. Kitsunes have been known to have hallucinations in times of great physical or mental duress. But the eyes of those your mind crafts have a warm golden colour, without exception. Nobody really knows why. The one person that seems to have understood is tight lipped with his knowledge. Which is a shock for him because usually he loves to talk, and boast, and brag” The nurse’s voice was like honey to Kiko, such that she wasn’t really hearing what was being said. Just the tone, the voice, the beauty of it. However, as much as she might not have been hearing it, Mr Brain was doing overtime at the office and was surrounded by mugs of coffee, since her eyes snapped to the girl upon registering the information.

“So…if, hypothetically, a person had eyes that were like deep dark pits that were scary and beautiful at the same time, they wouldn’t be part of that rule?” Kiko put in. Testing the waters, so to speak.“Sounds like you met a very interesting person. But you are right, he would not be a hallucination. He was real, as I am real. As, unfortunately, is everything that happened to you. You were a mess, to the point they called me in. Your physical state has been altered, so it may come as a shock to you when you see a mirror” The nurse warned, before handing over said mirror. Kiko just stared for a moment, trying to comprehend the idea that everything had happened. She could imagine the state she was in right now, something that would never be considered attractive if she were to show herself off. A self-conscious fear gripped her tightly, but then let go, her Kitsune mentality splitting the trauma up into bite sized chunks. So she looked in the hand mirror, and was certainly surprised by what she saw there.

Her left eye had become identical to the girl in front of her, and her hair had a relatively thick streak through it, also the same colour as the girl. Her skin had taken on the same pale colourings, and a stray thought drove her to check if downstairs had the wallpaper changed, but it was covered by the gown, and she found it a bit coarse to strip naked to see those hairs down there.“Ok. So. I’m really pale, my hair is dyed, and have a weird eye” she muttered. As if saying it would help her reconcile. It didn’t.“And you are not dead. Best change, in my opinion” The snow-girl quipped, smirking softly as she looked at a clipboard and then wrote something too fast and without proper rhythm to be anything more than a scrawled mess.“I’m guessing I’m locked in this bed for, ever? Legs broken or some such” Kiko muttered, laying back on the pillows. It was about par for the course, really. However, the comment seemed to annoy the pale girl.“If I couldn’t heal a pair of broken legs, then I would not be worth anything, now would I? Honestly….” She shook her head and wrote more, even making swirly motions far too much for any manner of writing she had ever heard about. “Now the runes are a different matter. Self-fed by the time I got to them. Unfortunately, removing them would also kill you. And you dying was literally the exact opposite of my plan, so they are there to stay” She finished, before turning and walking out, still clearly offended by the quip about broken legs. Kiko didn’t even get a chance to apologise. Which kind of sucked but then those kind of people were highly strung, and anything could set her off. It was only a matter of time.

However, as if waiting outside for the nurse to leave, Queenie came in a few seconds and smiled softly at Kiko.“Hey. How are you feeling?” She asked. Kiko decided it would be a great idea to swing her legs over the side of the bed and get up, but the rest of her body had other plans, and she promptly collapsed as her knees buckled without any fight. Queenie darted forward and managed to caught Kiko before she hit the ground, and then carted her back into the bed.“Honestly, life with you is a constant rollercoaster. Any chance you can give me a day off?” She teased, letting Kiko tuck herself in and then glaring at Bruyn as she came in as well. The two exchanged an aggressive look, like a lion and a cheetah both after the same antelope.“So, who was the nurse that came in?” Kiko asked, trying to defuse the tension. They still glared a bit, but eventually conceded and Bruyn let Queenie speak.“That was Shiro. A Kitsune from a clan with a unique power. They are sort after all over the world for their ability to heal any injury short of death. The price, is implanting parts of their own appearance on the patient, in proportion to how much has been healed by them. Nothing detrimental, eyes still see, arms still work. They just stand out” She finished as Kiko stroked her eyebrow.“They certainly stand out. Dam. Better get used to the spotlight, huh?” Kiko asked rhetorically. Her appearance wasn’t exactly common place now. Shiro was crazy cool, but she had a whole theme that fit her. Kiko was some crazy half-girl with the ‘Shiro parts’ contrasting incredibly with her ‘Kiko parts’.“Also your mother’s clan is here. They want to see you when you are able to go to them. Very haughty creatures, they won’t come to you. And rather superstitious as well. If anyone that is not a healer enters a place of healing, then they bring calamity upon it. I guess it keeps the kids out of the doctor’s tent, or whatever, but we are civilized here” Queenie finished the last bit in a mutter, before looking to Kiko and smiling softly.“Get some rest. Me and Bruyn will work something out between us” She suddenly announced, looking to the Draugr girl.“Do I get no say in this?” Kiko asked the two, her snow-white eyebrows raised.“Nope” came the reply, from both of them at once. Clearly outmatched, there was nothing left to do about it, other than go back to sleep and let those two play with the strings of her life. She’d clonk them both over the head later or something. Sleep came quick, and easy. Not surprising considering how tired she was.

By the time she woke up again, there was no more light coming through the windows, and instead the lights in the celling lit the room. Feeling hungry and more stable than before, Kiko got out of bed – managing to stay on her feet this time – and headed for the door, pulling it open and looking around. She wandered for a few seconds, before shuddering as if something cold had just run through her.“Good to see you up and about, Miss Ator. Generally, patients stay in their bed until discharged, however” Lysaida spoke. It took Kiko a few seconds to remember that the woman could walk through shadows, but when she did she looked behind her and gave a shy sort of smile.“Sorry, Miss. Ma’am. Milady…how do I even refer to you?” Kiko asked, the uncertainly melting away her subdued tone.“Any of the above is fine. You can also call me Colonel, or Mizia if you wish” Lysaida advised, to which Kiko nodded.“Miss Mizia. Sorry. I just, can’t sit in a bed all day. I’m an active kind of girl. Also, considerably hungrier than when I last woke up” Kiko replied. Then a tingling feeling came from behind her, and she looked at the tail, that had curved around her shoulder so she could look at it. “Need something, Tail?” She asked. Clearly she was going mad if she was talking to parts of her own body, but Lysaida didn’t seem to react to it in a negative way.“See you have matured. Keeping Kitsunes in the sick bed is always a nightmare. If you think you can get dressed, I’ll take you to the cantina. Should still be something around” Lysaida offered. Kiko nodded and followed Lysaida back to the office, and then to a wardrobe filled with identical uniforms. “The field can be dangerous. Even training has been known to cause a few injuries. So we have spare uniforms on hand just in case” She explained, taking one off the hook and handing it to Kiko, who retracted her tail, stripped out of her gown, and then paused.

Looking down at her body, she could see the scars the knife had left. They looked as if she had had them for years, but were still predominant scars all across her body. Most on her torso, but some on her thighs, and a few on her shoulders. And the brand was still there as well, something that elected a scoff of disdain from Lysaida.“Keep that brand covered up, Kiko. Don’t let anyone see it” She warned, a very serious tone to her voice, which made Kiko stare in askance. “It’s the brand of an Arkavian slave. Anyone who sees that and knows what it is will probably try to ship you back as an escaped slave, there is a standing bounty on all escaped slaves and nobody stops to ask questions, so it has become a favoured method of torture in the underworld. Arkavia doesn’t care, it just gets all the more slaves because of this practice. And I’d rather not lose you to some perverted, fat fuck. So try not to wear anything that shows off your gut, ok?” She suggested, making it obvious that while it was technically a choice, there was only one sane outcome. So, Kiko took that sane outcome and nodded, donning her uniform and making sure the shirt was tucked into the skirt so it wouldn’t flash off the slave brand accidentally. She was glad for the long sleeved nature of the uniform, as it hid the deep, vicious – albeit faded – cuts in her arms. With her dressing completed, she nodded, straightened her cap in a minute fashion, and then nodded.

“Ok. Fully dressed. Probably going to need trousers though. This skirt shows off my legs” She muttered, the scar-sigils on her legs were on show, and they embarrassed her. Every time she saw them, she could hear the man’s laughter, and her own screams. While her Kitsune mentality dealt with the psychological burden, she could still hear it. Lysaida bit her lip softly and thought.“Skirt’s part of the uniform, but I can sort out some opaque leggings if you want. You got something that would suit that?” Lysaida asked. Kiko nodded, and then the woman got on some sort of communication earbud thing, so Kiko quickly put in before she could speak.“Can you send someone other than Queenie? Or Bruyn? I don’t want to add more fuel to that fire without means to put you out”. Lysaida gave an amused smile before nodding and talking to someone on the other end, sorting someone out to go to her house and grab the leggings. “I would offer the key, but you people probably don’t really care about doors, aye?” Kiko intoned, shaking her head softly.If Lysaida was a lesser woman, she’d probably be blushing, but that was not something she ever did.

“Well, you know, I needed to get in and I couldn’t really use the door because you locked it. If you’d just not keep us out then we wouldn’t have to break in” Lysaida was quite the tease it seemed, when you got down to it. Or when she wasn’t in a formal situation. Kiko decided not to say anything and just follow her to the cantina. A few people were hanging around there, but for the most part it was as she expected for being at night. She had a feeling it was pretty late as well.“Any preference?” Lysaida asked. Not feeling like talking, more wanting to just sit down and brood for a while, Kiko shook her head and took a seat, to get some much needed brooding done. The whole thing, Kitsune mentality or not, was harrowing, even thinking about it, remembering it. The scars had faded but they belied how soon it was that she had been rescued. Probably. She could have been in that bed for a long time before she woke up, and a long time again before she actually got out of it. And her torturer was dead. She had no avenue of revenge now, he got himself killed by that guy with the wings. It was all a frigging mess, much like herself. However, despite the fact that she never wanted to go anywhere near that place, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to be there because there was something important in that warehouse. Something deep, and personal, that belonged to her. They stole her uniform, sure, but that hadn’t been hers more than a day so it didn’t feel like it was hers. This strange thing was like something that had been around her entire life. Maybe even longer.

But before she could continue down that train of thought and wonder how something could be hers for longer than she had been alive, Lysaida returned with food. At this moment she didn’t really care what it was, and just devoured whatever was in front of her voraciously. Once it was done, she felt she could eat that again, but didn’t want to say anything because that would be greedy. Half way through her own meal, Lysaida smiled at what must have been a look in Kiko’s eyes.“Still hungry, huh? Don’t worry, it’s a Kitsune thing. You’ll be noticing a lot of things that come under ‘Kitsune thing’ in the future. Your body, however it does it, can store up to three times its own weight in food in case of an emergency situation were no nutrition can be found. You’ll be able to deal with the feeling of perpetual hunger when you have more control over your abilities, but right now, there is nothing you can really do about it, I’m afraid” Lysaida explained. “Except for eating three times your body weight in food. But that’s hardly lady-like, now is it?” She finished with a tease before getting back to her own food. It was awkward, to watch and do nothing because she had demolished her own food so quickly, and so she looked around. But there was nothing interesting, and so she looked within. That, was very interesting.

Her tail, even when kept within her, was something she could feel. A soft warmth inside her, comforting and making her wish she could hug her own tail. But that would require some serious contortionism and was down the road of doubtfulness. Apparently there was a lot of Kitsune magic she could do with it, but that seemed to be something she needed an instructor for, because she hadn’t the foggiest where to even begin with that one. Best to ask for help than dive head first and run afoul of the rules and limitations of her Kitsune magic. Maybe she could make some sort of happiness beam, focusing that warmth she could feel to the tip and then extruding it to make someone feel better than they currently where. The tingle signifying her tail sprouting ran through her body, and then the thought of the happiness beam seemed to be becoming reality. The warmth was trailing through her tail and gathering at the tip, making the fur look like it was made of fire. The effects were beautiful, but they dispersed quickly, despite Kiko’s attempts to keep them coherent.“The dinner table is not considered the best place to practice your mass destruction technique, Kiko” Lysaida put in. Kiko stared for a few seconds, before shaking her head. The fire made it look suspicious, but it was not anything destructive.

“I was just trying to share the warmth I felt when I focused on the concept of my tail. I wanted to share that warmth with other people so I could help when they are feeling down” She explained. Lysaida smiled, really enjoying the girl’s motivation, and really not enjoying having to be the one that was going to crush her dreams.“That warmth you feel isn’t an emotional happiness thing. It’s quite literally burn-your-house-down warmth that can be shot out of a coherent beam at the tip of your tail. It’s called Fox Fire. Most well-known and well-used trick in the Kitsune arsenal” She saw sadness in Kiko’s eyes, and felt bad, but it was better than her blasting a hole through something, or someone, as she continued to try.“Wow. My race really doesn’t do hugs, does it?” She asked, looking at herself with the same look a person coming to understand the exact function of a gun.“The Great War was not a time for hugs, unfortunately. It was a time for…well, the opposite of hugs, really. And the mods that were done to increase survival and victory rates will never be removed. Despite your feelings towards it, the Kitsune are a race of warriors” She gave Kiko what sounded like a warning and a commiseration at the same time. She shrugged off both and stood up, still not entirely stable on her legs, but much better than she was when she got up.“I’m going to retire. Thank you for coming to get me, Miss Mizia. It was appreciated to get out of there while I was still-” she paused for a moment, about to say ‘sane’ but it was hard to really joke about that considering. “- on the right side of not tearing everything apart” she finished. Lysaida caught the pause, and knew what was meant to go there, but said nothing, only nodded and allowed Kiko to go on her way. That way led her straight to Queenie’s room, where she hoped to find the girl. No such luck, unfortunately. And since there was only one bed, she had little choice on where to bed down for the night. Letting out a soft sigh, and relegating herself to getting woken by an over friendly – or over protective when she saw the scars – Queenie, Kiko stripped down, found the attached bathroom, and did her night time hygiene, before slipping into bed. She was more tired than she thought, probably still not fully recovered, because sleep came fast and dreamless, and she was thankful for the latter. She couldn’t handle the cackling of the man and the screaming of her, the smell of blood and the flash of knife. Not now.

Chapter 10

Kiko awoke some time the next day, and was surprised to find a lack of Queenie. Kiko was sure that her demon lover would wake her, if only to talk now she was out of the hospital proper. Maybe the way Kiko had snapped at her had caused the woman to really think about how she was acting with Kiko. It felt like she was dealing with Kiko like she would with anyone, dominant and slightly foreboding as she slipped their will from them, in the bedroom and beyond. At least, that is how Kiko saw it, but she could be wrong. She had been about a lot of things, like the mercenary little bitch she had tried to save and subsequently got knocked out and tortured by a nutjob. A now dead, nutjob. That made her sigh again. There was no fire of revenge burning for a dead person, and she hadn’t the foggiest who the others were. She sat in bed, naked and staring into space, before snapping back and getting up, going into the bathroom. She spawned her tail, and stared, wondering if she brushed it, or if it groomed itself, or some other third thing she hadn’t thought of. Maybe she should get it dirty and see if that dirt remained? She was getting in the shower anyway, keep her wounds clean, even if they were as healed as they were ever going to get and the risk of infection was minimal. They still burned with ghost pain, and a shower would help her stay focused.

So she got some toothpaste, and dotted her tail in a few places with it, enough to be noticeable but not enough to be hard to get out. Letting it fade away, she waited a couple of seconds, and then called it back. There were no marks anywhere, which made her smile. That amount of fur would have been a nightmare to wash and dry. And if she ever got more than one, it would be a matter of hours spent in the shower just on her tails. So she let it fade out again and did what toothpaste was usually used for, before getting in the shower. There was always something so liberating about showers. They helped intensely with the feelings and thoughts of the day, washing them away with the rest of the physical problems. Kiko showered daily so dirt and dead skin didn’t really have time to build up, but she was confident that something was around to be showered. There always was. Or maybe she just showered because she liked the way it made her feel. The peace and the lack of need to think. Either way, hygiene and nice smells were the result. And so a nice smelling Kiko exited the shower after finishing, towelled herself dry, and then got into her uniform. Queenie had been around, it seemed, since a pair of opaque stockings were laying over the rest of her uniform. She really hoped that Miss Mizia had not sent the crazy demon girl, but that was by the by at this point. Not exactly sure what by it was by though. Or where the phrase even came from.

Fully dressed, shirt tucked into her skirt, and scars hidden from view, she wandered out and pondered exactly what by it was by. However, she was drawn from this mentality by the subtle stares and mutters of the people surrounding her. Clearly the story had gotten out and even though she was hiding them, everyone knew what was under her clothes. It made her feel pretty naked, and so she hurried into the closest room that she could find, which turned out to be Bruyn’s firing range. However, she was an anomaly, with snow-pale skin, a weird ass eye and a streak of white in her hair like some mad hair stylist.

Grabbing the earmuffs and really hoping that Queenie and Bruyn had sorted their problems out, she went in, and was greeted quickly by an ecstatic super-zombie who was apparently waiting for her, probably saw her coming, or smelled her with her zombie nose. That idea made her giggle, and so she hugged Bruyn back. Her not-quite-human-body-temperature embrace was something she could really get used too, although the eyes that lit up with a scary intent was not quite as enticing.“So, you out of the hospital fully? Can walk around without pulling a dozen stiches and causing a mess?” Bruyn asked. Kiko’s eyes went wide and she looked about herself as if she could see anything after the effort she had put into cover up.“I have stitches?” She asked, in a rather panicked voice.“No” came the laughing reply. “Shiro doesn’t leave anything like that. I was just teasing” Bruyn explained. Kiko gave a relieved sigh, and then punched her in the arm.“Don’t do that. I honestly worried for a moment I was going to pull something” She grumbled. Bruyn just seemed to be even more amused by that and dragged her to a firing booth.“Now, I remember that someone still owes me a week of servitude. I put it on hold while you were out, I knew you’d want it that way” Bruyn was so close to nibbling Kiko’s ear – even with the earmuffs on - the Kitsune girl wanted to grab the biggest gun that wouldn’t put her on her ass and shoot. But she restrained herself, and looked to the collection.

She wasn’t a good shot by any margin, but she was still immediately put off at the .22 pistol. It just struck her as dainty, and she wasn’t a dainty girl. The .357 looked more her style, but two guns seemed to have the same calibre and she didn’t really know which one to go for. Bruyn followed her eyes and smiled, stroking her hips while she explained.“One of them is a cylinder fed revolver, the other is a mag fed semi-auto. However, if you are in the mood, I could show you something with a bit more…kick. I am sure your team will appreciate a girl who knows how to handle something big, long and hard” the innuendos made Kiko blush, but also feel a little sick as it reminded her of the man who had made her handle his rifle. It seemed Kitsune mentality didn’t work if it was something that was a minor feeling, only dealing with the truly crippling feelings. Still, not wanting Bruyn to be put off by Kiko’s problems, she nodded and let Bruyn lead her off. It was a different part of the range, less populated, only three people including her in all of the stalls. Rifles it seemed, were less popular than side arms.“Now, a secondary weapon out in the field would not go amiss, but I want you to get some work in with the higher calibre stuff. Run into anything real ugly and they are going to thank your ability to shoulder a thirty oh six” She exclaimed. Kiko had no idea what one of those was, until she was lead to an empty stall with the butts of rifles on offer. She saw the calibres above guns, including the 30-06 but her eyes were on the .800, which she drew out. The dam thing looked like an oversized shotgun, two barrels, each one a force of intimidation.“Or that. But seriously, if you couldn’t handle the Tenderizer, that will break your shoulder. And we don’t want to send you back to the hospital after you just got out, now do we?” Bruyn asked, teasing as she took out a .22 rifle. It was small compared to the rest, but was still pretty decently sized when she put it up against the pistols.

“This is small, easy to handle, not a lot of recoil. Great for getting used to the size of rifles. Finding your firing stance. All our rifles are generally the same size, so you get comfortable with one, you can get comfortable with them all. Now, my suggestion is like this” She helped Kiko into a comfortable position, so that she would take most of the recoil into the majority of her upper body rather than just into her shoulder. “Aim down the sight, line up the barrel, don’t be hesitant to let your instincts guide you, and then slowly squeeze the trigger” Bruyn counselled. Kiko nodded, and did just that, lining up the rifle with the dummy and then firing. Its recoil was considerably less than she was expecting, and she managed to keep it on level, but that level wasn’t sufficient to actually hit the target. She passed that without even being close enough to clip the dummy. She looked to Bruyn, expecting some sort of scolding, but there was only an amused smile.“What, you expected to hit first try? Pfft, love, only the Main Character of some action novel gets that kind of luck. The rest of us have to work at it” She quipped. It made sense, it wasn’t like she was in any sort of novel. This, was real life. So she tried again, lining it up and trusting that niggly little voice in the back of her head. She shot the gun dry, and clipped the target once, which wasn’t a terrible record for someone who had never been anywhere near a gun before.“Spare mags are here. I want you to do an hour of practice here in the firing range every day. You’ll see the progress soon enough” Bruyn told her. Still in the belief that she had to follow the girl’s orders for the week, she nodded and stuck another mag into the gun.“Alright, time to get some rounds down range” Kiko exclaimed, before setting down for the firing practice.

The hour passed surprisingly quickly, the focus demanded in such an action was really drawing her in, and she went through mag after mag of bullets, none of them getting much more than clips and grazes, but she could feel herself adapting to the pace of the rifle after every dry mag discarded. By luck or yet-unrealized skill, she managed to get a bullet right through the target’s skull, but couldn’t repeat the act, so put it down to a fluke. Which made her a little sad, she had hoped to get somewhere in the hour, but Bruyn didn’t seem to waver in her smile, so Kiko tried not to let it get to her too much. Putting the gun back in its slot, she rolled her shoulders and stretched most of her body. It didn’t have much recoil on a per bullet basis, but an hour of consistent shooting could put a strain on a girl like her.“Well, you did pretty well for your first day. Do I get a kiss?” Bruyn teased, puckering her lips exaggeratedly. Kiko rolled her eyes and planted a quick kiss on her cheek before heading to the exit to get out of the firing range.“I’m hungry, I don’t think I got breakfast. Doesn’t feel like I got breakfast…I should probably get breakfast. Breakfast sounds good. Probably twice. Can I get breakfast twice?” Kiko babbled, staring at Bruyn and feeling her mentality slip away like an oil covered log. Bruyn just grinned and nodded.“Sure, you can get breakfast twice. I’ll give you my portion of brains” She replied, holding out her hands in a stereotypical zombie fashion, which made Kiko laugh, and then Bruyn led the fox girl out of the firing range and into the hall, were a large, well-endowed girl was waiting. Queenie. Demon, Boss, Lover? Maybe. Kiko wanted to take things slow, especially after what her torturer had done, she didn’t know if she could handle any manner of romantic attachment, regardless of Kitsune mentality. There was a glance towards Bruyn, but it wasn’t a fire-filled glare, more like an arrogant acknowledgment of a rival. And then it looked to Kiko, and softened. No pity in that look, but a sadness for what had been lost.

Queenie stroked Kiko’s face tenderly, and the Kitsune did her best not to cringe, but her eyes must have betrayed her, since Queenie pulled back a little too quick to be natural.“Good to see you on your feet. Got training in twenty, so might want to get some food before you get changed and join me and the other recruits” Queenie’s voice had a strained formality to it, and then she left. Just like that.“Ok…that was strange. I was expecting to watch a live porno of you two in the hallway, but…” Bruyn looked to Kiko, and saw the barely restrained hysteria bubbling just below the surface. “Well, that’s a problem for future Kiko, after she’s had breakfast twice” Bruyn strategically didn’t touch Kiko, confirming to the Kitsune girl that she had seen everything there was to see. But, she still managed to herd Kiko to the cantina. Far more crowded than when she had come with Miss Mizia yesterday, she kept as close to Bruyn as she could without touching, and made it to the counter with a tray. They were serving multiple breakfasts for different dietary needs – Quasihumans didn’t always eat like humans – but she had not lost her taste buds since this physical change, and so she took the normal Breakfast, and took the plate of meat, beans, eggs and toast to a table. Focusing on it rather anything else, she devoured the food with single-minded intensity, only noticing Bruyn’s amused grin after the last scraps had been eaten. Taking a napkin and cleaning her mouth up, she blushed, distinctly embarrassed.“Hungry then” Bruyn quipped, causing Kiko to blush deeper before her own tray was pushed towards Kiko. It contained the same meal she had just finished, which was confusing. She had been expecting brains, in some manner.“Darlin’, I’m dead” Bruyn replied in answer to the stare of askance. “Which means I can literally eat anything that has the least bit of nutrition. Food like this is better for a growing girl like you anyway” Bruyn finished. Kiko wasn’t going to waste this opportunity just because her eating habits left something to be desired, and so tucked into the second portion, cleaning it up like a hurricane of eating food, rather than cars and buildings. Someone came by as she was eating and she gave them a vulpine snarl which sent them scurrying. Actually, snarled at them, just for coming near. Part of her thought she needed to get whatever this was under wraps before someone got bit, but the rest of her pointed out the fact that she had no idea what this way was, let alone how to get it under wraps. Being a Kitsune was new to her, and she had no idea what kind of limits this Kitsune mentality had. Maybe this was normal and all Kitsunes turned into sociopaths eventually, but her father seemed happy enough.

The plate of food ran dry quick, and Kiko felt her sanity returning to her tentative grasp, which made her look up at Bruyn with a deep blush.“Is being overprotective of food a Kitsune thing?” She asked, hopefully able to brush it off on something she couldn’t control.“Nope, that’s a Kiko thing. But you went through hell, dear. Even with your mentality, there is going to be a few new quirks that you are going to need to spend some time adapting too. Everyone develops them eventually, you just had the misfortune to develop them sooner than most. On the plus side, recruits are practically never brought in with a tail. So you get to learn about what that can do long before anyone else on the same level. Gives you longer to practice, and gives you better control over your tails power when you finish the year of basic” Bruyn always seemed able to see the light, which was nice. Kiko needed someone who could see the light right now, instead of someone trying to shower her with pity and condolences. She had never been the kind of girl for either.

“But, I’d prefer to stay the right side of on fire, so best not keep you from Queenie’s training regime. She’ll never forgive me for that one” Bruyn exclaimed, shooing Kiko out of the cantina and chasing her as far as the firing range before shooing her on some more before going in. Kiko pondered the idea of skipping today, the look in Queenie’s eyes was not something she could handle again. But, if she skipped this then Queenie would come storming down and bark and probably ruin everything, so best not give the girl any fuel for her fire and just go to the lesson. So Kiko completed the journey, and entered the large ‘Room of Physical Prowess’ which was basically just a posh name for the gym. But she knew Queenie didn’t like being called the boss of the gym, so giving it a flashy name suited the girl’s desire for pretentiousness. Several other people, in identical uniforms were milling about, but nothing started as she walked in, so she was clearly not the last one. A few looked in her direction, but didn’t recognize her. The rumours about what had happened to her seemed to spread across the more established people and leave the new recruits alone.

Kiko walked up to the nearest group and listened to them chatter about how exciting it was being here, and how they really wanted to impress the Overseer of Physical Prowess because she sounded like a very interesting woman to know. The way that was said made their intentions clear, and if Queenie heard it, well…the reaction from the Demon Girl would be rather amusing to say the lease. Either run them ragged in the bedroom or make some clear immutable claim on Kiko, the second was probably the one that she wouldn’t be able to shoulder for any length of time. Her nameless torturer had left scars on more than her body. She lacked any trauma from the memory of them, but it didn’t remove the memories altogether. She could still feel it, still hear it. And it flashed in her mind when ever Queenie smiled at her. She didn’t want such a beautiful act to be tainted forever, but it seemed impossible to throw off right now.