A Fox's Family by Brandon Varnell

Kotohime’s face grew at her charge’s
words. “Yes, well, it is a special occasion, after all. Now,
please enjoy the meal.”
    With
one final bow, Kotohime retreated into the living room, leaving Kevin
and Lilian alone once more.
    ***
    Dinner
that evening was a surreal experience.
    He
and Lilian had gone on dates before, but those had mostly been the
kind of dates that all high school students went on: the movies, a
picnic, ice skating and so on. None of them had been super-serious
romantic dinners complete with candlelight and a table for two.
    Kevin
didn’t know if this counted as one of those dates. But, even if
it didn’t, it had enough necessary components to be considered
as such. That alone made him nervous.
    He
still did what he could to make it enjoyable, remembering to use his
best manners and doing everything possible to keep Lilian engaged in
conversation throughout dinner. It was more difficult than he thought
it would be. While talking to Lilian was surprisingly easy, coming up
with topics to discuss was tough. The butterflies fluttering about in
his chest and the scorpions poking his intestinal tract certainly
didn’t help.
    “How
is your training with Kiara going?”
    Kevin
was so surprised by the question that he almost choked on his food.
He banged on his chest several times to dislodge a bit of sausage
before looking at the red-haired vixen, his mouth hanging open as he
stared at her in stupefaction.
    “I’m…
sorry,
but, did you just ask about my training?”
    Lilian
puffed up her cheeks, her pout filled with enough cuteness to
suffocate a man from too much fluff. “What’s with that
response? I’ll have you know that I am very interested in your
training.”
    After
a moment’s hesitation, Kevin reached out and placed a hand over
one of Lilian’s. “I’m sorry. It’s just that
you’ve never asked about my training before. You always said
that you weren’t interested in the ‘stupid training I did
with that dumb mutt,’
remember?”
    Lilian’s
cheeks flushed upon hearing his words, just a bit. “Y-yes,
well, t-that’s just because I don’t like you spending
time with her. She’s an inu, and even though she doesn’t
have any romantic intentions towards you, I still don’t like
how you’re spending time with some filthy dog. You’re
mine, not hers.”
    “O-oh…”
    Kevin
and Lilian stared at each other, their faces growing more and more
red as the seconds ticked by.
    “S-so!”
Lilian
tried to get her groove back. “A-anyway, I’ve calmed down
since then, and am now curious to know how your training
is going.”

    “Well,”
Kevin
stretched out the word, thinking about how to best describe his
training with Kiara, “it’s…
productive,
I guess.”
When
Lilian stared at him with an astoundingly blank expression, Kevin
felt his cheeks burn. “W-what I mean is that Kiara hasn’t
been teaching me how to fight or anything. She just has me doing
strength training exercises. She runs me through drills and routines
that are designed to strengthen my muscles and increase my speed
while not gaining any extraneous muscle mass.”
    “Uh
huh…”
    “Yeah.
According to Kiara, having big, bulky muscles actually puts fighters
at a disadvantage against their opponents, and that large muscles not
only cause your movements and reactions to become sluggish, but that
having them can also restrict your range of motion, limiting the
number of ways your body can move and bend.”
    “That
was a terribly long run-on sentence.”
    Kevin
nearly faceplanted into his food. “You’re not even
listening to me, are you?”
    Lilian
dipped a piece of bread into her soup.  “Of course I am.
You said that Kiara is increasing your strength through exercise.”
She
took a bite out of the bread and moaned at the pleasant taste filling
her mouth. Upon swallowing, she continued. “And that having
large muscles is a bad thing for fighters. See, I was listening.”
    Now
it was Kevin’s turn to pout.