"James, I know your not popular with the girls, but don't you think this is a bit extreme?" Kyle asked his friend, handing over the BB gun that was requested. James had told him that his mom and another girl were fighting in his house and if he went in he would be torn to shreds.
"Not in the slightest." James replied, loading the fire arm. The gun was a single shot rifle, fairly accurate and reliable. "You have no idea what kind of monster has been angered, man. It will be a miracle if everyone survives." Kyle just put his hands up in surrender. "Thanks for letting me hide here." James added, not forgetting his to express how grateful he was over his paranoia.
"Just keep the house open when I need a place to hide." The two shared a fist bump and walked out of kyle's bedroom, distracting themselves with a debate over guns.
Meanwhile, about a mile and half away, Ahri had finally yelled his mother into submission when she realized that James had not entered the building. "You can come inside now, we're done arguing." She called out cheerfully, opening the door to find the bags of clothes on the icy ground and footsteps leading away.
"Um, Marry, he's not here." Ahri called over her shoulder as her smile faded from her face, Worry replacing her cheerful demeanor. "Stay here while I go after him." She took off without waiting for an answer, numerous reasons for why he could have disappeared running through her head. Did he run from me? Did he run because I made his problems worse? Was he afraid that I would hurt him too? She feared the worse as she ran through the snow, following the teen's footprints. When they began to backtrack and disappear, she relied on his sent trail to follow him.
"How fast do you have to run to go this far?" She muttered under her breath as she ran. The guy must be pretty fast to go over a mile under 15 minutes.
Ahri slowed to a halt outside a one story house, examining it with the eyes of a predator. The scent trail she had been following led straight into the house, meaning this was were James was hiding. After a quick scan of the area for defenses she approached slowly.
Ahri nocked politely on the door, figuring that if she just bursted in he would run away again. A woman in her early thirties answered the door and looked her over with a curious gaze. "Can I help you?" She asked, her eyes locking on the tails.
"Yes, is James here?" Ahri asked, peeking past toe woman. Sure enough, there he was in the living room. He had his back to the door and was talking with another boy, a gun leaning against the couch just within reach.
The woman noticed her gaze and let her in, stepping to the side so she could pass. "James, this girl wants to see you."
In an instant, James's head snapped around and the gun was in his hand. A split second later he spun into a kneeling position using the couch as cover and opened fire. Ahri spirit rushed down the hall, dodging the bullets with ease before she tacked James to the ground as he tried to run away.
"Don't go!" She cried, burying her face into his sweatshirt. For the first time since all the negative thoughts and worries had been wearing down at her, the sight of James's doing his best to shoot her and run tipped over the edge. "Don't hate me." She said, tears starting to drip out of her eyes.
James was stunned. He had expected her to be angry, not to be holding onto the front of his sweatshirt and crying like a lost child. He felt guilt build in his chest as she continued to cry softly, dampening the front of his clothes. "It's ok, I got you." James whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He began to rub her back soothingly, rocking side when she began to hiccup. "I have you."
Ahri extended her arms around James, holding him tightly. "Don't leave again. I need you." She buried her head in the crook of his neck, comforted by his scent. James rested his head on the back of her neck, humming a comfortable tune.
"If you need me, just tell me." He moved his hand up from her back and began to pet her head, making sure to get her ears. He closed his eyes, feeling a tear start to drip out of his eye. "Cheer up, little one. Your making me sad too." A feeling of pleasure spiked in his chest as she laughed slightly.
The pair of them stayed in that position for a while, Ahri calming down over time. By the time all the tears were shed, both of them were emotionally drained.
James had forgotten were he was up until that point, his focus concentrated on the girl curled up in his lap. So it was a slight surprise when Kyle spoke up, breaking the mood.
"Sorry to break you two up." Kyle said carefully. "But do you mind telling us what's going on?" His eye twitched in irritation when James just let out a sigh in response. If he wasn't feeling guilty for leaving Ahri, James would have been highly amused. "Just tell me what's with cosplay girl and you already!" Ok, now James was amused.
"It's not cosplay." James said simply, expertly keeping a straight face when he was internally laughing at his friends face. "Remember that contest I won? Instead of getting the gaming experience of a life time, I got myself a problem with nine tails." He winched as he felt said problem's teeth sink into his skin playfully. "I could have sworn you were depressed, not volatile."
Ahri was silent for a moment. "Did you run away because I was a problem?" She whispered, the playful burst dampening back down. "I will admit that everything I do is the wrong choice, so does that mean you hate me?"
"Not one bit, Ahri." James said chuckling slightly. "I ran away because I could tell you were on the verge of murdering someone, not because you are a pain in the ass." He pet her head fondly, an affectionate smile on his face. He meant it in a teasing manner, but it still thrilled him when she began to purr. He didn't quite understand how a fox could purr, but he didn't care. She was to adorable to care about the science.
"You are going to tell me everything, aren't you?" Kyle asked, feeling envious of his friend who was still pinned underneath the extraordinary hot girl. "And is it too late to call dibs?"
"Too late." James said with a smile. "She called dibs as soon as I saved her life." He had to push Ahri away as she tried to pull in more of his body for a hug, attempting to use more of him as a pillow. "But I think that was because I'm a comfortable bed."
James pulled a still pouting Ahri to her feet before he led the way to the living room, upon where he sat down Kyle and his mom and started telling them his tale. Ahri pitched in every now and then, her tears completely gone. Her frown was replaced with her sly grin, brightening up whenever James would praise her or pet her. Throughout the whole story her tails swished back and forth, often catching James in the nose and making him sneeze. They stopped when James caught the tail and pulled it.
"So to sum it up." Kyle said slowly. "You won the deal of a life time, the place exploded and you got the woman of a life time, but you still haven't had the best sex of a lifetime?" James nodded, not entirely getting why Kyle was talking so slowly. He wasn't an idiot.
"Yeah. She kills my wallet, my moms turns into a dictator, and I'm used as a personal pillow every night." James summarized. "I have to admit, I've never slept as good as when she cuddles, but my mom had a field trip when she found out." To make a point, he pulled out his wallet and shook it out. A single, sad penny fell to the ground.
Kyle lunged forward and started to shake his friend, yelling loudly. "Who gives a fuck about your games! There is more to life than your insanely high KD! Just take her to bed already!" His shaking was stopped as Ahri suddenly appeared between them and kicked the pervert in the chest, sending him flying.
"James is my pillow." She said confidently, staring down on the gasping teen. "But when it comes to anything else, I trust him to come up with the solution. He can make men who could clearly rip him to shreds follow his orders." James couldn't help but perk up at the sound of pride in the girls voice.
"They only started listening to me when you started to listen to me." He reminded her. "I'm just the one who had a plan."
"It worked, didn't it?" Ahri said, smacking him on the shoulder. "That counts for something." James didn't lie, when she said that he felt really pleased. "Just don't leave again. I need you to keep me in line." She wrapped her arm around his, holding him tightly. "I guess you could say I can't do anything without you."
"That's because you lack common sense." James gave her a kiss on the cheek, getting a feeling of pleasure as a blush rapidly seeping into her cheeks. "What if I told you I keep you around for your tails?" James teased, pulling her in by the waist and running his hand along the tail.
"I would be a bit disappointed, but I'd be reduced to putty in your hands if you do that ear trick again." James did as he was asked, holding the fox girl as she laid back against the arm scratching her ears.
Kyle, on the other hand, was internally weeping over not entering the tournament when he could. Even if James was always better at games than he did, he would have found a way to win if Ahri was the final prize.
After a few more minutes, James claimed he should get going home with Ahri, seeing as it was getting late in the day. Ahri gave Kyle a goodbye kiss on the cheek, smiling seductively as the teen began gasping like a fish. Then she and James hit the road, the girl assuring the boy that his house and mother survived her wrath.
"By the way, did you shoot at me?"
"Did you give me any indication that you were friendly?"
"Take me on a date and I'll call it even."
"I don't have any money!"
"Fine. Let just sleep in the same bed from now on."
"Deal."
