Foxfire (Nine Tails, 1) (6 page)

“
Honorable? Bring him all
the way out here, alone, and try to seduce him?” Daisuke smirked.
“Sure. I see.”

“
I kissed him. I didn’t
chain him to my bed and crawl on top of him.”

“
Maybe that’s what he
needs. Seems a bit repressed. I can feel it too. His yearning.” The
smirk changed to a grin. “He’s cute, you know.”

Masaki frowned and fixed his brother
with a glare. Daisuke had the good sense to back up and raise his
hands in surrender.

“
Point taken. You like
him. Not just a fling.”

“
And don’t forget it.”
Softening a bit, Masaki asked, “Did you need something?”

“
Yes. Bit of coincidence.
I met someone.” He pushed his long hair off his forehead and tucked
it behind his ears, still grinning at Masaki.

“
Someone special, I take
it?”

Daisuke nodded. “Yes. Though,
technically, we haven’t been formally introduced. He works in this
flower shop, and I keep buying flowers to talk to him. I told him I
was doing it for my brother, and I thought maybe it would help if
he never finds out I lied.”

“
And you want me to,
what?”

“
Just, if it works out,
say it was you. That’s it.”

“
Fair enough. If it works
out, I sent you to buy flowers a few times.”

“
Well, every day for
almost a month. To decorate your office.”

“
I don’t have an office. I
have a library.”

“
But you could have an
office. In the city, I mean. The offices of the Ibuki group are
right down the road from his shop. It’s not like he’d ever want to
see your office. Just remember that, okay?”

Masaki nodded, waving his hand
dismissively. “Yes, fine. Whatever.”

“
Thanks. I’ll leave you to
your seduction.”

“
Not happening tonight. He
said to leave him alone.”

Daisuke raised one eyebrow. “And you
believe him?”

“
No, but I’m still going
to honor it. I promised he could go home in a month. I’ll lose my
chance if I make him hate me.”

Daisuke rubbed the back of
his neck. “Feels pretty tense here. I’d bet he’s up there…” He eyed
his brother, obviously sensing Masaki didn’t like where he was
going. Clearing his throat, he finished, “Um, well, you know.
Probably. You should pop up and, uh,
help
.”

Masaki concentrated. Yes, the tension
was there. Whether Hiro was masturbating or not, he wanted to.
Badly. “If I only wanted sex, I’d agree. But I need more from this
one. I’ve never felt this way before.”

“
Does Inari
know?”

“
Yes. And I have an
official blessing.” He watched Daisuke a moment. “How about
you?”

“
I haven’t said anything,
but he probably knows. I’ll see him later tonight.”

Masaki nodded his
understanding. Daisuke and Inari had always spent lots of
quality time
together.
“Prepare for meddling, of course, once the secret’s really
out.”

Daisuke chuckled. “I’m counting on it.
I want Inari’s help. I plan a swift seduction.”

This time, Masaki arched an eyebrow.
“Just be careful, if this one’s special.”

Daisuke considered this. “I … don’t
know yet. But … maybe. I always feel happy when I’m in the shop.”
He smiled and turned. “Good luck getting any sleep
tonight.”

Masaki sighed and went inside,
shutting the door on his laughing sibling. The tension was even
more palpable within the house, but Masaki still went to his room.
Perhaps given time to think, Hiro would see that Masaki not only
wanted him but also accepted him. That seemed to be the key to
getting Hiro to open up completely.

Chapter Three

Hiro lay on his bed and stared at the
ceiling. He’d given up the idea that Masaki would come and try to
talk to him tonight. Though he’d been startled by Masaki’s words,
Hiro didn’t understand why he’d become so angry. Fear, perhaps? He
sighed as he considered that. He’d been hiding and defensive for so
long, but Masaki hadn’t been judging him, which made him regret his
harsh reaction.

Licking his lips, Hiro
rolled to his side. And that kiss had felt amazing.
My first kiss from a man, and I jerked
away.
He’d lain there a long time waiting
for Masaki to come to his room, but the kitsune hadn’t come to him.
The house had fallen silent. He rolled over again.
I told him to stay away, and he is.
Anger surged forward again, but this time Hiro
aimed it at himself. He’d spent most of the day thinking about
Masaki. Wondering what his kiss would be like, how his touch would
feel. The clock by the bed said it was after midnight, but Hiro
knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He played with his collar,
thoughts of summoning Masaki chasing each other in his head, but
instead he grabbed his sketchpad and began to draw. Instead of
drawing the man he’d run away from, he drew the fox he’d seen upon
arrival the day before.

Once he had a rough rendering, he
leaned on his elbows and studied it. The memory didn’t frighten him
much now. He worked on details, the markings of the face and curve
of the tail. The kitsune had probably lived hundreds of years, and
no, he wasn’t human, despite being able to take human form. Was it
fair for Hiro to expect him to behave exactly like a human? While
Hiro felt bad for his reaction, he didn’t really think he owed
Masaki an apology. Not exactly. The fox spirit had lied to him, in
a way, keeping back the fact he could sense things about
Hiro.

So I really am gay.
Hiro rolled to his back now, his body still
aching for a fulfillment he’d never truly had. Jerking off wasn’t
the same and never would be. And he couldn’t stop thinking about
what Masaki had said. Did Akira really know about Masaki’s
“interest”? What had Masaki said to him? Akira had said nothing
about that. There had been moments over the years when Hiro had
felt like Akira suspected, but of course, talking about such things
was out of the question. Their father would have disowned him if
the subject had even come up.

Shame filled him again. But then
desire pushed it away. Hiro lay awake a long time, the two emotions
warring within him until his mind shut off from the sheer
exhaustion of the debate within his head.

* * * *

Hiro woke when his phone vibrated on
the bedside table a few minutes after eight. He grabbed it and saw
a text from Akira. Instead of reading the whole message, Hiro sat
up and dialed his brother’s number.

“
Hiro?” Akira asked,
sounding surprised. “You okay?”

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”
Hiro’s fingers dug into the bedspread, anger surging once more at
the sound of his brother’s voice.

“
You’re going to have to
be more specific. You said you’d call me back yesterday, but you
didn’t. I wondered if you were okay and sent a text to
check.”

“
I was busy. Now, why
didn’t you tell me Masaki liked me?”

Akira didn’t reply right away.
“Honestly?”

“
Yes, please.” Hiro wished
he could see his brother’s face. Akira could hide his emotions
well, but Hiro could still tell when he was being sincere. He
wanted to know that his brother hadn’t simply dropped him off not
caring what would happen to him.

“
You’d never have gone if
I’d told you. I know our family ignores the subject, but you can
tell me. Okay?” He paused, and then softly asked, “Was I
wrong?”

“
Wrong? About what? That
I’d flip out about being given to some guy who wants to get in my
pants?” He knew exactly what his brother was really asking about,
but he wasn’t going to make it easy for him, after what Akira had
shoved him into. He toyed with the edge of the bedspread, nervous
even though they weren’t having this conversation face to face.
He’d never admitted his feelings to anyone—had even run away from
Masaki for pointing them out—and his stomach churned as he
waited.

Akira made a frustrated sound, half
grunt and half moan. “Are you gay or not? I think you are, and
Masaki’s a good man. I saw no harm in seeing if something could
develop.”

“
He’s not a
man.”

“
He lives as one. Acts
like one. Looks like one. What else matters?”

Hiro didn’t answer.

“
So, are you? I’m not our
father, Hiro. My love isn’t conditional.”

“
You can’t tell anyone,
okay?”

Akira sighed. “Is that a
‘yes’?”

“
Maybe.”

“
I’ll accept that as a
confession and not force you to say it.” Another pause. “I take it
something happened.”

“
We’re not talking about
that. We’re talking about you sending me here knowing the kitsune
wanted me in that way.”

“
He’s honorable. No matter
how much he wants anything, he won’t simply take it.”

“
What did he say?” Hiro
realized suddenly that he really wanted to know exactly what Masaki
had said to Akira. “How did he put it?”

“
He’s always praised your
work. But you know that. When he made his proposal, he also made it
clear he was interested in more than your work. He expressed strong
feelings for you, as well as attraction. He promised to back off if
you rejected him.”

And Masaki had done exactly that, but
Hiro wasn’t about to dish out their encounter. “What else are you
two hiding? And how can he have feelings for me? He doesn’t know
me.”

“
You know it all now, I
swear. And you should read up on kitsune.”

“
What? Just tell
me!”

Akira muttered something and then
replied, “Nine-tailed foxes can see and hear everything that goes
on in the world, remember?”

“
Vaguely, but he isn’t
that old. He only has one tail.”

“
Well, that power doesn’t
just come from nowhere. Masaki made it clear when we met that he
and his brothers can all check up on our family at any time. Each
kitsune has its own way of doing this. Mirrors, bodies of water,
magic objects. They can watch us.”

“
Spy on us, you mean.”
Hiro felt sick at the thought. How long had Masaki been watching?
What had he seen? Was he watching right now? “Can I leave? I don’t
want to stay here.”

“
As long as you didn’t
agree to any specific timeframe, yes, you can. I delivered you, but
nothing was agreed upon. That’s why I didn’t promise you anything
when you said you’d do it a month. Presenting you to him is the
only action I was bound to take.”

Hiro groaned.

“
What?”

His hand clenched again, longing to
either punch or strangle Akira. “You’re a moron! And a liar. You
didn’t say anything, so I told him I’d only stay a month. He
agreed.”

“
And? Did he say you could
leave?”

“
Yes. If I wanted
to.”

After a long paused, Akira said,
“Well, can’t you make it a month?”

“
No.” Whether he literally
could or not, he didn’t want to. His gaze searched the room now, as
he wondered if he was being observed.

“
But you’re gonna have to.
I’m sorry, but I can’t help you if you agreed to that.”

“
I’ve been deceived at
every turn. Unless you come up with a way to get me out of here,
don’t bother calling back!” Hiro ended the call and threw his
phone. It bounced on the carpet and seemed unharmed, but Hiro left
it on the floor.

Under different circumstances, he’d
have been thrilled to hear his brother express his acceptance, but
the rest of his feelings about the situation made it impossible to
focus on that. Even if Akira truly was more enlightened than their
father and could accept Hiro being gay, what did it matter after
such a betrayal?

“
No wonder no one believes
in the gods anymore. All they do is trick us and use us,” Hiro
muttered as he got out of bed.

A knock sounded at the
door.

“
Go away!”

Another knock.

“
Just leave the food. Or a
note. Whatever.”

The door flew open, and Hiro faced it,
eyes wide. A thin, elegant woman in an incredibly long and flowing
blue kimono stood there. Amber-colored eyes covered the garment,
and she wore a glowing blue necklace. Several kanzashi held her
long black hair up, little silver bells dangling from the end of
each stick and tinkling as she moved into the room.

“
Masaki’s promise doesn’t
apply to me. I can go wherever I choose, whether people believe in
me or not.” Her necklace glowed brighter, and Hiro could see it was
not a jewel but an orb of foxfire.

Inari. Hiro had never been religious
at all, or remotely spiritual or superstitious, not even as a child
admiring the beauty of shrines, but still he hit his knees. “I
didn’t mean to offend.”

She actually smiled as she approached
him and drew him back to his feet. “I’m not offended by what you
said. I’m angry you’re hurting someone I care for.”