FSE

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This story, a long time (if you've been avidly reading the series) in coming. The fifth chapter of the Kitsune series! What will happen? No one knows... Not even me, so don't even think about asking. Nyaa :p

As Ranani held Bao-Hadir close, the somewhat larger fox squirmed a little and she let him go. He slid out of her arms and onto the floor, his tails waving softly behind him. Ranani watched him go, her eyes greedily absorbing every detail of his sleek black fur. He wasn't handsome, as most boys preferred to be called. He was beautiful.

"Thank you," he whispered, and Ranani jerked back in surprise. Could he read her thoughts?

A voice within her head whispered, "Yes...Just as you can read mine...We are one...My secrets are yours and yours mine..." Ranani blushed bright red. She had several secrets that she didn't want to share with anyone. Secrets that would make people laugh at her. "Your secrets are mine now, Ranani...I won't tell a soul..." Ranani relaxed slightly, the red coloring fading from her cheeks.

Her parents watched the secret exchange between the two. They had no idea what had happened for Hadir to thank Ranani. And for the past two minutes, the fox and their daughter had simply been sitting, staring at each other. Ranani blushed, but it faded rather quickly. What had passed between the two for her to be blushing?

"Now, Ranani," began the spirit-fox. Ranani jumped. She had expected a voice in her head, but had received a voice aloud instead. She blinked several times, then looked at him again. "It is time to complete the deal that was struck before you were born."

"Deal?" she asked. He had said something about a deal earlier, but she didn't know what that meant. He had said something about 'saving three lives' by the deal, and that it also made her his daughter. What did he mean?

"Seven years ago, you father," he nodded to Derek "called me to him, asking that I save his wife and unborn children. Your mother had been attacked by another kitsune. As it turned out, the other had forced its way into your mother's womb, and was trying to possess your unborn body." Ranani's eyes went wide. "I used my magicks to force it out, then I swiftly killed it. However, while I was forcing it out, one of my tails became trapped within your mother's flesh, where it attached to you." She looked down at her shiny black tail. So that's where it came from. "At the time, I hadn't known where it had gone, but I suspected it had joined with you. So I postponed my repayment until you were born. When I saw you had a tail, I went to your parents and told them my part of the deal. You are to spend every other year in my realm. While you are there, I will teach you to control your powers." He lashed his seven tails. Suddenly, the ends burst into flames! Ranani yelped in fright. The kitsune grinned. "You will learn thousands of things from me. I will teach you to conjure fireballs. You shall learn possession and mind control. You shall learn illusion and creation." He flicked his tails, sending the balls up. He then began juggling them with his tails, never looking back at them. Finally, the fireballs landed on his tail-tips and extinguished. "You will learn how to draw energy through the power of deals as well as the land. You shall learn everything I know. Then, you shall truly be kitsune."

"I-I can learn to do all that?" she asked timidly.

Hadir smiled genuinely. "All that and more," he said. "All you have to do is come with me."

"But...where is your home?" asked Ranani.

"My home is in the realm of spirits, and the entrance to it is close by."

"Can you show me?"

"Of course."

The assembled people (all except for poor Jake, who lay insensible on the floor still. He would stay that way for over a day) left the house together.

Five minutes later, they were around back of the house, standing before Derek's beloved tool shed. Yumi had a suspicious look upon her face.

"Here?" she asked.

"Indeed," replied Hadir. "Now, watch." With a wave of his tails, the door opened, revealing the dusty, dirty interior. Yumi shot an 'I'm not pleased' look at Derek, who sighed, knowing he would have to clean it now. He may have given it to Hadir, but it was still attached to the house; therefore, Yumi would insist that he clean it from top to bottom.

Hadir stepped inside, beckoning the others to follow. He led the way through the shed, which was odd in itself. The shed was only ten feet deep on the outside (one could see the shelf at the back from the door), yet it seemed as though Hadir was leading them hundreds of feet. Yumi looked back toward the exit and gasped. It was getting further and further away! Did they perhaps pass though the shelf?

Finally they came to a stop. "Here is my home," said Hadir proudly. Derek, Yumi, and Ranani looked down upon his home, and doubt played across all three faces.

It was a birdbath, THE birdbath. Derek had given it to him some time ago, but hadn't seen it since. Now here it was, in his shed. It was strange. The top had been pretty much filled in with clumps of dirt and grass, with a medium-sized depression in the middle, filled with water. Around the edges of the 'lake' were miniature houses, as well as a tiny mansion. Derek asked the obvious.

"How can that be your home? You're too big to fit."

Hadir chuckled. "Magic," he said. "You two go on about your day," said the fox dismissively. "Ranani and I shall return in one year's time. Grasp a tail please." He turned his back to the others. When the little girl didn't grab his tail instantly, he turned around again.

Ranani was crying. Not loudly, no, actually silent, but still the crystalline tears fell from her eyes. She stared up at her parents with a feeling like this parting was permanent. The adults went down on their knees, holding their little girl close while she began sobbing. Yumi whispered comforting things in Japanese to her child (she had taught all her children how to speak Japanese; they were all pretty close to fluent in it) as she stroked Ranani's back. Derek squeezed Ranani against his chest, tears in his own eyes.

Hadir frowned. No matter how long he lived, he still couldn't get over how humans reacted when they were going to be separated. Sure, he may have been human once, but the things that had tied him to that life were gone now, so he had no real recollection of what it was like to be human. Still, he was not without sympathy. While the three humans were engaged in their sorrowful goodbyes, he slipped away into the house and grabbed, amongst the sea of stuffed animals on Ranani's bed, a large red fox plushy, which could double as a backpack. She had won it at a carnival a few years ago, and to this day it remained her favorite stuffed animal. She had named it Abosidah, since she thought it looked a lot like Aboridah. He hauled the large creature back to the shed, just as the crying died off.

"Ranani," said Hadir softly, his voice somewhat muffled from holding the stuffed animal in his mouth. She looked at him sorrowfully, then smiled when she saw her plushy. He held it out to her and she took it into her arms, hugging it so hard it looked about to explode. He nodded to her. "It's time..." She returned the nod as he stepped passed her. Ranani slipped her arms through the straps on Abosidah, then giving a slow wave to her parents, she reached out and grasped one of the fox's tails. Hadir leapt forward, towards the birdbath. Ranani, to her surprise, was jerked off her feet and flew through the air after him. There was a bright flash and they were gone.

Derek held Yumi close as he slowly led her out of the shed, which seemed to have shrunk back to its normal proportions. A few minutes of walking and they were inside the house. After a few moments of silent discussion, they picked up Jake together and placed him on the couch, then went up to their room to sleep. It was still the middle of the night after all. Derek held Yumi close as she cried herself to sleep. He followed her not long after, wondering what would become of their little girl.

As she followed Hadir into his realm, Ranani couldn't help but be reminded of the movie "Alice in Wonderland". While this fall wasn't down a rabbit hole, nor were there clocks and such everywhere, there were other things...hundreds of things passed before her eyes at such a pace that she had to close her eyes to keep from becoming dizzy. The tunnel they were falling through, as she continued to hold onto Hadir's tail, was a brilliant blue, shot through with white. It pulsed, ebbed, flowed, and swirled all around them, which threatened to make her vomit.

Then they were done. With a light bump, her rear collided with something hard, but not painfully so. Hadir's tail was jerked out of her hand and her eyes flew open to find it. Only then did she get a good look around.

She was sitting on a ring of ground that was about six feet across and covered with grass. They sky, rather than being dark, was showing the fading light of the day. Paths led out in four directions from the ring she sat upon, while rice paddies occupied the spaces between the roads. And the surprising thing was...there were people! Japanese-looking people working in the paddies, wearing the straw hats with the points on top. Her mommy had told her about rice farmers. Her grandma and grandpa were rice farmers still, over in Japan. Yumi had said she'd had to wear one of those hats while working, simply because it kept the sun and rain off one's head and neck.

Hadir sat a few feet from her. He looked back at her for a moment, grinning, then let loose a loud yip! The nearest farmers stopped their work to look. The closest one, a young girl not much older than Ranani, broke into a grin. "Master!" she cried, sloshing through the flooded rows to the dirt ring. Once on dry land, she prostrated herself before Bao-Hadir, whispering words of happiness in Japanese. Ranani was surprised. This place looked as though it belonged in a time about two hundred years ago, yet this girl spoke both English and Japanese. Ranani couldn't remember exactly, but she believed her mother had said something about Japan being an isolationist country at the time. Whatever that meant...

Hadir smiled down at the girl. "Good morning, Kojoro. How fares the paddies?" Hadir liked Kojoro. Of all the inhabitants of the village, this twelve-year-old was his favorite.

She smiled up at him. "Very well, my lord." It was then that she noticed Ranani. She looked up at Hadir again. "Is this the girl you spoke of, my lord?" He nodded and Kojoro stared at Ranani in awe. She crawled forward across the dirt to prostrate herself before the younger girl. "My lady," she said, not looking up, "it is an honor to meet you."

Ranani stared down at the older girl before her. Why was she bowing? She looked questioningly at Bao-Hadir, who half-smiled in return. Ranani sighed.

"Umm..."she said. Kojoro looked up at her.

"What is it my lady?"

"Y-you don't have to bow to me..." In truth, the other girl's actions unnerved Ranani. Never had someone bowed to her, save for when she and her family had visited her grandparents in Japan. They had bowed to her and, just as she had been taught, she had bowed to them. However, never in her life had someone bowed before her like that.

Kojoro looked over to her master, then back to Ranani. "But I must," she replied. "It is not proper for one so lowly as I to do any less."

"S-stop...Please?" said Ranani. She was becoming more uncomfortable by the moment. This strange girl was starting to scare her. She looked pleadingly over at Hadir, who, though previously he'd had a grin on his face, now had no trace of humor on his features.

"Rise, Kojoro. My daughter asked you to stop."

"Y-yes master!" cried Kojoro, climbing to her feet swiftly. She bowed low for a moment, then rose. "My apologies, Lady Ranani. I have caused you to be uncomfortable. Please, accept this as a sign of apology." She reached into the pocket of her soft pants and pulled out...a seed? She grasped Ranani's hand and pulled it closer, then pressed the seed into it with a bow.

"What is it?" asked Ranani quietly.

Kojoro giggled. "It's a seed, silly."

"No, I meant what kind of seed?"

"Oh, um...it's a Friendship Flower seed. I hope you like it. I have the other one." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a second seed.

"Why is it called a Friendship Flower?" asked Ranani.

"Because the seeds won't grow unless they are both planted by different people. And not just any people, they hafta be friends." She smiled at Ranani who, after blinking in confusion, smiled and climbed to her feet.

"I'd like to be your friend, Kojoro..." said Ranani.

"Me too!" cried the other. What followed was a girl's hug of friendship, wherein two girls who become friends give a big, giggling hug to each other. Several minutes passed, the hug going on longer than was polite when a third person is left out. Hadir coughed to get their attention. Kojoro broke away from Ranani, blushing.

"I'm going to arrange a cart to my estate," said Bao-Hadir. "Kojoro, I want you to keep Ranani company while I'm gone. If she asks you something, you have my permission to answer." He turned away from them. "Be good!" he called over his shoulder.

The girls giggled at Hadir's parting shot, then, with a last giggle, Kojoro grabbed Ranani's hand and led her down the path after her lord.

A few minutes later, they were at the edge of the rice paddies. Kojoro pulled Ranani up beside her then dramatically waved her hand. "This is my village, Edo." Contrary to the name, it was not very large. It was little more than fifty buildings, made of rice paper, stone, and wood.

"Edo?" asked Ranani. "Don't you mean Tokyo?"

Kojoro looked down at Ranani with her lips pursed in annoyance. "No. I mean Edo. My master gave it the name when he built it."

"Bao-Hadir built this place?" asked Ranani. Kojoro nodded.

"Yes. He built the town, the paddies, the sky, the people..." She trailed off.

"The people?" asked Ranani suspiciously.

"Of course," replied Kojoro. "We are all illusions, created to serve the will of Master Bao-Hadir."

"Illusion!" cried Ranani loudly.

"Calm down!" cried Kojoro, equally as loud. "Yes, illusion!"

"But...how?"

"According to master, it was easy. He simply willed us to exist, and we did."

"No, I mean, how is it I can touch you when you're just an illusion?"

"Simple: Kitsune have the power to create illusions, simply by focusing their will into doing so. We are part of Master Bao-Hadir's reality, so we continue to exist. If he wanted to, he could destroy this whole village. Of course, the master wouldn't do that. He is our lord, and we serve him in exchange for food and a place to live.

"But...how come I can't see through you? I mean, you are illusion after all." Ranani had been shocked by her friend's admission of nonexistence, but she was taking it in stride. She stared closely at her friend, certain she could see something like tiny fibers making up her body.

Kojoro shrieked in pain, falling to the ground. Ranani stopped her observations to drop down next to her friend. "Are you alright?" cried Ranani worriedly. She searched her sobbing friend for injury, yet could find none. Ranani looked everywhere for someone who might help her, but there was no one. She looked down at Kojoro, starting to cry with fear, when a voice called out.

"RANANI!" It was Hadir. He was running down the path at a speed that almost defied belief. He was by her side in seconds. "Are you OK?" he asked as he looked down at Kojoro.

Ranani nodded. "I am, but Kojoro is hurt!"

Hadir examined Kojoro for a moment then closed his eyes. Ranani could feel...something...building up around her. She turned in time to see Hadir's tails fan out, sparks of energy arching between them. There was a powerful rush, then Hadir pressed his nose to Kojoro's chest, over her heart. There was a magnificent flash...Then all was silent. Kojoro's crying died down as the girl wrapped her arms around her master.

"Thank you master..." she whispered, her still flowing tears darkening patches of his fur even more.

"Where is the kitsune who attacked you," he asked softly, his tongue lapping at her forehead tenderly. Sniffling, Kojoro pointed at Ranani. Hadir frowned. "Behind Ranani?" he asked.

Kojoro shook her head. "No, master. She did it..." She looked at Ranani, fresh tears filling her eyes. "Why would you do that, Ranani? I thought we were friends..." Kojoro sat up, releasing Hadir in the process, and hugged her knees to her chest, crying softly.

"Is this true, Ranani?" asked Bao-Hadir. He didn't seem angry. Instead, he seemed...emotionless. She shook her head rapidly.

"Kojoro told me that everything here is an illusion...I looked really close at her and I thought I saw some lines making up her face. Then she fell down screaming. I don't know what I did..." Ranani was on the verge of tears for the second time in five minutes. She looked up at Hadir.

He was half smiling, in the way that basically said 'I should have known.' "Ranani, Kojoro..." began Hadir. The crying girl looked up at her master. "Ranani...A kitsune's illusions are a part of its reality. If another kitsune or a holy man notices that something is an illusion, it is destroyed. You were lucky. If you hadn't stopped staring at Kojoro, trying to figure out how to tell that she was an illusion, you would have destroyed her." Ranani gasped in fear. She hadn't meant to do something like that! She hadn't meant to hurt her friend. "Kojoro...Ranani didn't mean to hurt you. Her powers only just came into full working order today. She has no experience with using magic. Aside from that, I didn't think to teach her such things...If you need to blame somebody for your pain, my little maid, blame me, not Ranani."

Kojoro looked offended. "Master!" she cried. "I could never blame you! You gave me life!" She hugged him again. After a moment, she released him and climbed slowly to her feet. Ranani followed her example, then bowed to Kojoro.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," said Ranani. "I didn't know. When she pulled out of her bow, her eyes were closed. She didn't want to harm her friend again, but she couldn't keep her eyes from searching for the magic lines that made this place. Her mind wouldn't allow her to stop.

"Why are your eyes closed?" asked Kojoro.

"She doesn't want to hurt you again," answered Bao-Hadir. Kojoro looked down at Hadir. He looked up. "She cannot stop herself from trying to find the strands of illusion, so she's keeping her eyes closed. However, my daughter, I have a better way."

Ranani felt as though a cold wind blew through her body, causing goose bumps to spring up on her skin. Her body instinctively tensed. "Relax..." whispered a voice in her head. Hadir's voice. A relaxing energy flowed through her and she sagged slightly. "Listen to me, daughter...Swish your tail slowly...And instead of focusing on illusion...Deny that these things are illusion. Make yourself believe they are not illusion." Ranani swished her tail like she was told, then focused her thoughts.

'They are not illusion' she told herself. 'They are real. They are not illusion.'

"Good," whispered Hadir in her mind. "Now...Open your eyes."

Slowly, reluctantly, Ranani opened her eyes, to look directly at Kojoro. The older girl flinched as her friend's green eyes locked on her, yet the pain didn't come. Kojoro tentatively looked into Ranani's eyes, then smiled as nothing happened. Ranani returned the smile, relieved that Kojoro still stood before her. She knew that Kojoro was illusion, but it didn't seem to matter anymore. She simply knew and didn't need to look.

"What'd I do, Bao-Hadir?" she asked. She knew she had done magic, but she didn't know what it had done.

Hadir grinned. "I shall explain while we walk to the cart depot." He turned and began walking back down the street. Ranani and Kojoro walked swiftly to his sides, then slowed down so they wouldn't outpace him.

"The magic you performed, Ranani, is one that mortal creatures sometimes refer to as 'Kitsune Denial.' A kitsune's illusions are a part of its reality. Any illusion that a kitsune creates becomes part of its world. To see through a kitsune's illusion is to destroy a part of their reality. That can make the illusion's creator become disoriented, as well as weakened. Mortal holy people with perfect faith can see through illusion, and kitsune can see through it as well. However, it is considered a social taboo to destroy another kitsune's illusions unless it is necessary. The 'Kitsune Denial' is a power all kitsune have, which allows them to deny the fact that someone or something is illusion. While you may know it is so, you accept it and deny that it affects you. This keeps you from destroying others." They rounded a corner and Ranani could see a sign in the middle of the street. It was marked with Japanese characters, but she knew enough to know that it said something about transportation, with an arrow pointing the direction. That must be where they were headed. Hadir continued. "Both you and Kojoro are very lucky that you are only newly awakened." Kojoro and Ranani both looked down at him. "If you were even a week into your powers, looking into Kojoro like that would've destroyed her completely." Both girls shuddered. Lucky indeed. By now they had come to the station.

Hadir stepped up to the man behind the wooden stall and spoke to him rapidly in Japanese. His words came so fast that Ranani couldn't catch any of it. The fox and the man bowed to each other, then Hadir trotted back to the girls.

"The cart is ready. Follow me." He walked around the back of the building, Ranani and Kojoro a few steps behind him. When they came to the cart, Kojoro leapt onto the side, then climbed inside. Then she kneeled down and offered a hand to Ranani. The younger girl took the offering and found herself hauled into the back of the cart. Hadir jumped up into the back and curled down in a corner. The back of the cart itself was coated a few inches deep with hay, which provided a bit of warmth, for it was growing cold as well as dark. Kojoro stretched herself out on the hay, sighing with comfort. Then she saw Ranani, who was sitting at the very back of the cart, looking somewhat sad.

"Don't be shy, Ranani," said Kojoro. She spread her arms to Ranani. "There's room for two here." Ranani's sad face exploded into a look of joy as she crawled across the hay and layed down, Kojoro's body coming around to spoon hers. But something stopped her. "What's this?" asked the illusory person.

"What?" asked Ranani. Then she realized that Kojoro was staring at her backpack. "Oh, this is Abosidah." She slipped her arms out of her empty plushy friend's straps and handed him back to Kojoro. "I named him that 'cuz he looks like Aboridah..." At that, she sighed softly, wishing for her little fox friend back. But she knew he was no more, replaced by the kitsune Bao-Hadir.

"Oh, you mean the master!" cried Kojoro. Ranani looked over her shoulder at the other girl. Kojoro smiled shyly. "Umm...I mean...he told his closest servants about his plans. He even told us his character name, just before he left. That was..." Kojoro scratched her head a moment, counting out the months. "Umm...About two years ago, I think..."

"I think you mean seven." Kojoro looked at Ranani, annoyance plain on her face.

"No, I mean two! The master left almost two years ago!"

"But he came to us seven years ago, soon after I was born. I'm seven now." Ranani said those last words, feeling a sense of pride at the fact that she was indeed now seven.

"But..." began Kojoro, but a cough cut them off.

Bao-Hadir pushed his head up out of the hay to look at the girls. "Actually," he said, his voice hoarse with exhaustion, "You are both right."

"Wha?" asked both girls at the same time.

"Time flows differently in my realm than it does in your realm, Ranani. When I left, I modified the flow of time, so seven years to you and I was just a bit more than a year to the people here. And now that I've returned, I've returned the time to its proper flow. A year shall pass normally now." He yawned, his mouth opening very wide, his long tongue flopping against his lower teeth. After a moment and a loud cracking of his jaws, Hadir closed his mouth again. "Now, if you please, quiet down. I'm tired." With that, he sank back into the hay. Soft, even breathing could be heard just a minute later.

Ranani looked at Kojoro. Kojoro looked at Ranani. They both giggled and pressed against one another, swiftly falling asleep. The cart trundled along down the long road to Bao-Hadir's estate.

Night had covered the land in a thick blanket of darkness by the time the rented cart arrived at Bao-Hadir's manor. Hadir awoke as the horses were pulled to a stop. The driver turned around and said something to Hadir in Japanese. Hadir nodded and replied. Reaching under the hay, he pulled out a small pouch, the coins in which jingled lightly as the money changed hands.

Hadir stepped up to the edge of the cart and yipped loudly three times, waited a moment, then repeated the sound. There was a noise of polished wood sliding along polished wood, as well as rice paper lightly scraping against rice paper, then an elderly women, wearing a traditional kimono, came down the path to the gates, where the cart had stopped.

"Lord Hadir!" she cried with a laugh of joy. The fox leapt off the cart and, with a flash of magic, stood before the woman in his traditional guise, a handsome Asian man with dark eyes. He inclined his body to her and she returned the gesture.

"It is good to see you, Hikari," said the fox. "How fares my home?"

"It is in the same condition as when you left, my lord. Only thing is, you came on a day when the floors weren't freshly washed. I've been waiting for Kojoro to come home and scrub, but I haven't seen her all day."

Hadir grinned. "I found her for you, never fear." He pointed back to the cart. With a sound of realization, she looked a hopeful question at him. Hadir shook his head. "No, Hikari. She has had a long day and needs her rest. She'd been working the paddies for hours before we arrived."

"We?" she asked. Hadir nodded, then gestured for her to follow him. He led her around the back of the cart, then, using magic, levitated Ranani into his arms. The old woman leaned down to see her master's daughter clearly. When she got a good look at the little girl's face, she gasped. "She's beautiful, my lord," whispered Hikari. Her wise eyes saw a young Japanese girl with long blonde hair. Hadir held Ranani out to her and, after a moment of staring at her master in awe, took the girl into her arms, feeling honored that her master trusted her with his child.

Hadir levitated Kojoro off of the cart and into his arms and, after thanking the driver for his time and aid, walked down the path to his home.

Ranani woke to the feeling of heavy blankets and soft sheets upon her skin. The very first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in the outfit she had worn earlier. Instead, she wore a simple cotton gown. She knew she hadn't dreamed any of the events that flashed through her mind, but she was unsure how she knew that. Then her sleep-suppressed memory finally kicked on. She remembered everything that had happened before she'd fallen asleep.

She felt no fear as she sat up in the bed. Her body wobbled a little as she struggled to maintain her upright position. Moonlight shone through the small skylight in her room, the stars twinkling prettily above her head. The room was made of wood and rice paper, patterned with small flowers in black ink. The room was devoid of decoration, but Ranani felt that this was fine. She would talk to Hadir about redecorating later. Ranani layed back on the bed once more, closing her eyes. Then she heard something...

A voice...Talking rather near her. Her eyes opened so fast that her vision blurred for a moment before clearing. Looking around, she saw...nothing. There was no one in the room with her. The voices came again, and this time she was able to guess where the voice was coming from. Her bed was pressed against the wall, her left ear close to it. The voice was coming from the other side.

Gently, ever so gently, Ranani pressed a finger against a rice paper square on the wall. Applying just a little pressure, the paper gave way, tearing slightly and inaudibly. Poking her finger through the hole a few times to widen it, Ranani shifted her body so as to see through the hole.

Hadir sat on the edge of his bed, listening to Kojoro apologize profusely for inconveniencing him earlier. No matter how many times he told her that it wasn't her fault, that it was an accident, Kojoro continued to apologize. 'Of all my servants,' thought Bao-Hadir, and Ranani could hear this thought, 'Kojoro is the most eager to please. Though I do wish she would just stop apologizing and come to bed.'

Ranani felt bad for Kojoro. The older girl thought she had done something wrong when she, Ranani, had been the one to cause problems. 'I hope she doesn't get punished because of me...' thought Ranani.

Hadir's gently swaying tails stiffened for but an instant before relaxing again. Carefully severing his mental link with Ranani (more like cinching it off for the moment), he watched Kojoro pace back and forth anxiously, his patience slowly wearing thin. He coughed loudly, causing Ranani to jump and Kojoro to stop her pacing. From her vantage point (the hole being behind and slightly above the headboard of Hadir's bed), Ranani could see the fear on Kojoro's face.

Kojoro prostrated herself before her master again, muttering apologies. Hadir sighed in defeat.

"Rise, Kojoro," he said in a powerful voice. As Kojoro rose to her feet, Hadir could see the resignation plain on her face; she was resigned to taking whatever punishment he wished upon her. However, Hadir had no intention of harming her; she was too precious to him to damage. "Come to bed, Little Maid," continued Hadir, speaking the meaning of her name. A smile broke out on her face. Slowly, seductively, Kojoro began to shed her garments. Ranani blushed softly as her friend started taking her clothes off. The blush deepened when she realized that Kojoro was getting naked in front of a boy! Yet Kojoro didn't seem to mind. In fact, judging by the look on her face, she was having fun.

Soon enough, Kojoro had shed the last of her clothing and stood nude before her master. It wasn't the first time she had done so, nor would it be the last time. Her master loved her, from her subservient-yet-cheerful disposition, to her skinny, young body. She looked questioningly at her master. He in turn nodded, making her smile widen further. She climbed onto the large bed, a bed that was made especially for having several people sleeping in it.

Kojoro sat on her heels before her master, looking down at her much-smaller lord. A smile, which Ranani could not see since Hadir's back was to her, flashed across the fox's muzzle. Hadir waved his tails, causing the bed to rotate and move. Kojoro gasped in surprise, and Ranani drew back from the hole quickly, afraid that she had been spotted. A few moments later, when no shouts of anger came through, she carefully pressed up against the hole again, peering into her father's room.

The bed was now parallel to the wall that divided Ranani's room from Hadir's, and in the middle of his room. Kojoro was on her back, with Hadir off to her side, lapping at her face. Every now and again Kojoro's tongue would shoot out of her mouth and brush the kitsune's own. Ranani silently made a face of disgust. Her friend was sucking on her father's tongue! And seemed to be enjoying it!

'That's disgusting,' thought Ranani. 'She must be getting spit in her mouth, but it doesn't look like she cares. She looks like she's having fun...' Indeed she did, as Kojoro made loud-yet-pleasant noises each time Hadir's tongue passed over her face. Then, quite suddenly, Hadir licked a long line down Kojoro's chin to her chest. Kojoro cried out loudly, but it didn't sound like pain to Ranani. Ranani remembered that noise. She had heard it only once, two years ago. When she had heard it, she had thought it was a monster, so went to her mom and dad's room. Needless to say, when she opened the door, the sight had burned itself into her mind. Her parents hadn't noticed her and she'd slipped back into her bed, but the damage was done. And now here she was, hearing the sounds her parents had made. What were they doing?

Kojoro cried out as Hadir's tongue passed over her nipple, leaving a trail of saliva across it. She loved these times with her master. It was the only time she truly felt happy, laying here in her master's bed, waiting for him to take his pleasure from her flesh. However, Master Hadir was not one to rush during lovemaking. He preferred to take his time, drawing out the pleasure for both of them. She had never had a "mating session", as he called it, without an "orgasm", which is what he called the immense burst of feelings that occurred during the event. Her cries of pleasure died away into a soft moan as her master's tongue stroked outside her hairless sex. Her mother had informed her that, when she was of the right age, her vagina would grow hair around it. The very idea of such a thing sounded ridiculous.

Hadir lapped at Kojoro's young sex, loving her taste. Every forty years, he chose a favorite among his servants. That servant would become his own personal servant, and would feel him in every sense of the word. Within this span of years, it was Kojoro. Previously, it had been the young girl's mother. And before that, her grandmother. And her great-grandmother before that. Kojoro's family had for many years given birth to girls who made perfect servants. Kojoro was the most recent and, in due time, she would surely give birth to a girl-child, who would in turn become his servant. It was a grand cycle, and it worked for him.

'And now to the main event,' thought Hadir. Placing his front paws on either side of Kojoro's waist, he aligned himself with his servant's dampened sex. The kitsune gently slid forward, pressing his member into Kojoro's young vagina.

Ranani gasped. Hadir was putting his penis in Kojoro's vagina! Her momma had told her boys did that sometimes, but that she shouldn't let them unless she wanted them to. Did Kojoro want him to do that?

Apparently she did, since her moans became deeper and louder as the fox's cock slid deep inside. Hadir made no sounds save for his breathing as he hilted himself within his servant. Kojoro, remembering that Ranani's room was just on the other side of the wall, pressed her clenched fist to her mouth, biting into it in an attempt to stifle her sounds. Finally, Hadir was fully inside, his slightly swelled knot pressed against her lower lips, resting against her little clit. A pleasurable form of torture in his opinion. He wished to stay like this forever, feeling her warmth wrapped around him, pulsing and rippling as he kept perfectly still.

But it was even better to move. Hadir did just that, sliding himself back out almost to the tip, then thrusting back in faster, harder, his knot spreading Kojoro's lips further as it attempted entry. And he held still once more. Looking down at Kojoro's face, he saw the mischievous child looking up at him pleadingly. He knew exactly what she wanted. With a slight smile, Hadir shattered several illusions that he had long ago wrapped around his body.

Ranani drew back with a gasp. She felt rather than saw a rush of power and could feel something changing in the air. When she looked back through her peephole, she saw a frightening surprise.

Kojoro was still there, and so was Hadir. However, Hadir was much larger than he had been before. MUCH larger. His body had expanded to at least three times the size it had been previously. And still his shaft was deep inside Kojoro. The illusory girl was still biting her fist rather hard, though blood was now running from the places where her teeth had pierced her flesh. Ranani could only stare as she saw a bulge along Kojoro's belly. She blushed brilliant crimson as she realized that the bulge was actually Hadir's penis. It must have expanded as well.

Hadir slid his enlarged cock slowly out of Kojoro, her wetness providing just enough lubrication to make his exit possible. Kojoro sighed as her master withdrew, removing her fist from her mouth. She then cried out in pain and thrust it back in, sucking on the injury in an attempt to stifle the pain.

Hadir chuckled, causing the remainder of his flesh that was still inside her to jump. Kojoro released a sweet, loud moan, which became even louder as her master pressed his cock back inside her, causing her insides to bulge again.

Ranani cried out as a sharp bolt of pleasure shot through her, though her noises were masked by a loud yip from Hadir. Ranani pulled herself away from the hole and layed back down on her bed, wrapping up tightly in her blankets, trying to ignore the sounds coming from the other side. It became much easier moments later. Ranani was asleep before she even had time to wonder why she was so tired all of a sudden. The hole she had made shimmered once around the edges, then sealed up on its own, leaving no trace of the peephole that had led Ranani to her first orgasmic feeling...

Meanwhile, Hadir ran his tails over his servant's young flesh as he thrust himself in and out of her accepting body. Each thrust made Kojoro's moans become louder than the one before. It was a good thing he had soundproofed the room after Ranani layed back down, else his daughter would never have been able to sleep. His seventh tail slid up Kojoro's body and to her mouth. After looking at it for a moment, Kojoro removed her fist from her mouth again, her master's tail replacing it. She sucked hard upon the tip, just the way he liked it. Her mother had told her that the master's tails were the most sensitive parts of his body, so when they mated, she should stimulate them. Before her master had taken her as his personal servant, she had practiced tail sucking using an unused duster she had bought in town. She had become very good at it.

Hadir cried out in real pleasure for the first time since they had started this night. He pressed himself further into her, further than he had ever dared before. He felt a barrier block his way, but it was shattered under the force of his thrusting.

Kojoro bit down on her master's tail as she felt something within her give way, allowing her master's cock to go even deeper. The giving way caused a great deal of pain, but the pleasure that followed completely eclipsed it. Her master had filled her completely, the tip of his penis bumping against the end of her with each thrust. She knew that, due to his current size, he wouldn't try to tie with her for fear of hurting her, but she wanted it. She knew she could take it, having practiced with several special-made items designed for such a purpose. Each time he thrust forward, she thrust back, crying out in delicious agony as his knot spread her lips even more. Hadir looked down at her quizzically, continuing his thrusting, matched by her own. One final thrust and...

POP!

Hadir's knot passed into Kojoro's tight sex. Hadir had just enough time to cast a shrinking illusion upon his knot before it expanded, filling the girl's sex almost to the point of breaking. A flexibility illusion within her womb prevented him from exiting it from the top. He let out a series of loud yips, tugging on his knot a few times before he released, spraying his seed deep within her body. Kojoro cried out with the finality that had found them, the finishing orgasm. That world-shattering, mind-bending, energy-draining end to a beautiful mating session. Her insides rippled up and down his buried shaft as they both panted, Hadir's tongue lolling out of his mouth.

With a wave of his tails, Hadir created a form illusion, changing himself back into his Asian Man form. He pulled Kojoro to his chest, still buried and knotted deep within (he didn't bother taking away his knot), and kissed the top of her head. Her soft, even breathing told him she was asleep. He pulled the blankets up to her neck and closed his eyes. Just before he fell asleep, a thought occurred to him. He waved his seven tails once, then passed out.

YIP!

Ranani jumped, awakened from sleep by a loud fox-cry. Looking down, she saw...

"Abo?" she asked, staring down at the two-tailed black fox that sat at the foot of her bed. Gingerly, he made his way across the blankets to lay beside her, presenting his back to her. With a cry of happiness (and not a few tears of joy), Ranani wrapped her arms around the small fox and pulled him against her. With a sigh, her eyes closed and she was asleep once more, the nightmare she had been experiencing before shattered by the presence of her guardian fox...

Sorry it took so long. Hope it was to your liking, and I hope the yiff scene was good. I thought it was good but that might just be me. Anyway, I like comments and such so do so! Chapter six will come after I finish up another work in progress.