Free Yokai by Dave Ferraro Page B

and his butt…well, she could hardly stop looking at it. She
didn’t think she’d ever seen a man’s bare butt before, at least not
in person. She couldn’t help but let her eyes drink in the sight,
until she heard him cough, and she whipped around with a start. She
immediately felt shameful for her breach of trust. He had been
vulnerable and she had taken full advantage of the situation to
ogle him. What was wrong with her?
    Kitsune couldn’t shapeshift until they
turned a hundred years old, whereupon they earned their first tail.
They could grow up to nine tails, one for each century. Clearly, it
was harder to hide the tails the more they grew, but they also got
better at impersonating humans as time passed. Only one kitsune had
nine tails, one of the great evil yokai.
    Mr. Mathis felt far too human, and he
definitely had no tail. Even if she felt a little suspicious of the
fact that he changed into a fox, she had now clearly seen with her
own eyes that he was not kitsune. And even as she stared at the
wall across the room, she found that Mr. Mathis’s behind danced
across her mind, despite herself.
    “ Um…Mr. Mathis,” Yumiko
said, clearing her throat. “It’s Miss Sato. I’ve come to see how
your night was.”
    She heard him move around the cage.
“Good morning, Miss Sato,” he replied, sounding a little
bewildered. “I’m sorry. You must have…I must have been quite a
scene to walk into.”
    “ Not at all.”
    He cleared his throat. “Well, I seem
to have…uh, destroyed my robe. Could you hand me my
clothes?”
    Yumiko stiffened.
    “ I’m covering myself,” he
added, and she turned to see that he had his hands covering his
unmentionables awkwardly. He bit his lip, his face beet-red. “Sorry
about this.”
    Yumiko strode over to his clothing,
trying her best to look professional as she handed them through the
bars to him. The sight of his powerful chest would forever be
burned into her retinas, as would the image of his muscled arm
reaching toward her. She looked away as he reached to grab the
bundle from her, and she accidentally dropped the pile of clothes
before he could get hold of them. This made him scramble to his
knees for them, and Yumiko turned away, utterly embarrassed.
“I’m…I’m sorry,” she stammered.
    “ It’s quite alright,” Mr.
Mathis assured her. “My fault. This isn’t exactly an everyday
situation. Thank you for your hospitality, though. I do appreciate
what you’re doing for me.”
    Nodding, Yumiko turned until he
cleared his throat, and seeing that he was clothed, she unlocked
the door to his cage.
    He exited the cage with what dignity
he could manage. “I hope I wasn’t too much trouble.”
    “ No, sir.”
    “ Good.” He scratched the
back of his head. “I would like to see Madame Mori, if she has a
moment, to check on any progress she’s made.”
    “ It won’t be much, I’m
afraid,” Yumiko told him, then sighed. “Follow me. She should be in
her library.”
    He nodded and followed her through the
love hotel and the Wadas’ sake bar. “I apologize for making you
uncomfortable,” he said softly as they pushed past the beaded
curtain.
    “ Not at all, Mr.
Mathis.”
    “ Brian.”
    “ Brian.”
    He smiled tightly, and let her usher
him into the library, where Madame Mori was at her desk…and Shou
was in the middle of the room, swinging a sword with
confidence.
    Forgetting Mr. Mathis all at once,
Yumiko stepped forward. “Sensei? What is he still doing
here?”
    “ He’s right here,” Shou
said, swinging his sword and sending her a smile. “I know you
missed me. You don’t have to pretend.”
    Yumiko ignored him.
“Sensei?”
    Madame Mori looked up, unconcerned.
“Yumiko, Mr. Fujiwara is to be an apprentice under me.”
    Yumiko’s jaw dropped.
“Wha…are you… what ?”
    “ That’s what I said,”
Tanuki said from the corner, where he was curled up into a ball on
a pillow, recovering from his injuries. “I think your