Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 174- An Unexpected Development

[Red POV]

I stood at the entrance of the Valkyrie meeting hall, waiting for my rivals to show up. Morning had just begun with the overlapping suns just starting to peek over the horizon. As soon as that happened, I felt the presence of Big Sis Keeno appear and shortly after that I heard surprised yelp from two voices I’d only heard once.  I continued to sharpen my knives in anticipation. It was only 30 minutes later before I heard the sound of the brush moving and two women walked out, stepping in perfect sync.

Their appearance was much more feral than I imagined, though it was oddly…attractive. They both looked identical, with ash grey skin, black hair that went down to their backs, tails just as black, swaying ever so slightly in a hypnotic rhythm. Clawed feet and hands with black fur that looked like fuzzy gloves and high socks that went to their elbows and knees. Glowing eyes similar to big sis Keeno’s, though one was orange while the other was blue with trails of flame burning in ribbons out of the corners.  Their attire left very little to the imagination, though again, I found it…strangely alluring.

“Freki, I can understand the desire the others have.” (Geri)

“Indeed, Geri.  I almost don’t want to fight her.” (Freki)

“Shame, Red wants to fight the two of you. Not only are you trying to take Red’s pats, just seeing you makes Red feel strange.” (Red)

“Hmph!” (Freki)

“Hoh?” (Geri)

The one named Geri leaned slightly forward, crossing her arms under her chest, emphasizing its size.

“Like what you see, little wolf?  Beat us and it can all be yours.” (Geri)

Her words carried a strange power that made my heart race for some odd reason.

“Geri…the more I look at the little wolf, the stranger I feel.  Not rivalry…but I don’t know how to describe it.” (Freki)

“I’ve been feeling the same, Freki.  She makes me want to do things…and have things done…” (Geri)

The more they spoke, the more the odd feeling in my chest grew.  If we just continued to stand here, staring each other down, the less I felt I’d be able to fight them.

“The pats will be Red’s.” (Red)

I kicked off the ground where I was standing and shot forward in a red blur, hoping to take the two spirits off guard.  As fast as I was, however, they were ready for me.  Geri blocked my low kick and Freki dodged my knives which I threw.  I hopped back before a strangely cold blast of blue flames erupted where I was a second ago while my knives returned to my hands due to the thins strings of mana connected to them.

“Geri, she’s…” (Freki)

“I know, Freki…but it doesn’t look like she’s realized it yet.” (Geri)

“Done tell her?” (Freki)

“I thi-” (Geri)

“Less talk, more fight.  Red will never surrender her last to the two of you.” (Red)

Deciding that these two were stronger than I thought, I decided to use my full power and the cards I was hiding because I was overconfident.  Concentrating, I sunk into the shadows using magic Amaterasu taught me. The surprise on the faces of the two spirits was a delightful thing that made my heart race.

Moving through the shadows was a strange feeling. It felt wet on my face and hands, but I knew there was no moisture. The colors for everything were muted to almost black and white like everything in Vanir.

“Be on guard, Geri.” (Freki)

“I know. Just because of the connection doesn’t mean we will willingly lose.  She still has to show us how strong she is if she doesn’t want to be dominated by us.” (Geri)

I held my younger at their provocation and silently moved through the shadows until I was behind them.  Aiming at the back of their knees, I kicked my leg out of the shadows causing Freki to fall. I then threw a knife at Geri who swatted it away and charged at my position. She jumped up and aimed a strong, clawed kick at me, but I tripped up the still recovering Freki again, making Geri’s kick connect with her abdomen instead of my head.

“Gah!” (Freki)

Diving completely back into the shadows, I moved quickly left of Geri and jumped out, flinging a knife at her eyes.  She caught it between her fingers, but that momentary span when her sight was blocked was enough for me to get low, kick her legs out from under her, then, after losing her balance, grabbing her arm and throwing her with a technique my previous teacher taught me.

She landed in the place Freki was previously.  Noticing her gone, I tried jumping back into the shadows but was kicked in the stomach before I could.  The kick was strong and sent me flying back while my breath was completely knocked out of me.

“Grr.” (Red)

I tried to stand up, but my legs quivered and refused to hold my weight.

“Geri, let’s light up the area, get rid of all the shadows.” (Freki)

The blue one nodded to her sister’s request and a wall of orange, nearing red, flames spread on one side while nearly freezing blue flames spread in the opposite side, creating a ring of fire and completely lighting the area, leaving the only shadows we created.  Finally managing to stand up, I looked around, trying to make a plan, but my thoughts were interrupted by the two spirits rushing toward me.

The first to reach me was Geri, who flew into a combo of kicks that I could only dodge or parry. Any counter I tried was prevented by a combo of punches thrown by Freki who was covering her sister’s openings.  I was doing all I could to keep from getting beaten back until a particularly powerful kick pushed me back and nearly into the flames.  This caused them to both panic and the wall in that area shrunk until it was just small embers in the ground.  This panic also allowed me time to breathe. In a desperate attempt to do something, I threw all of my knives at them, which they promptly knocked away.  I ducked away and behind them closer to the center of our battlefield when the wall of flames leapt up in intensity again. I was about to pull my knives back to me when I noticed something.

“Heh.” (Red)

“Got a plan, little wolf?” (Geri)

“Try it, if you can.” (Freki)

They started at me again with their combo attacks, but before they reached me, I sunk into the shadows again, throwing them off and leaving them confused. I moved between the shadows of my knives to build up speed before jumping out of them, attacking the two spirits focusing on spots like their necks, joints, and other weak spots, and diving back in over and over, knocking them back until Freki faltered and fell to the ground.  I began focusing on Geri now that her sister was out for the count, and she fell shortly after.

“Red may not be as physically strong, but Red is faster and more precise.” (Red)

I walked over to the two downed spirits.  Looking down on them, I got another strange feeling in my chest.  For some reason I was pained, yet also somewhat excited to see the two in such a state where I could do anything I liked with them.  Crouching down, I smiled.

“Good fight.” (Red)

I placed my hands on their heads and began patting them.

“But Red claims all pats from now on.” (Red)

I continued patting them until they regained consciousness.  As they looked up at me, their faces brightened and the most beautiful smiles I’d ever seen spread across their faces.

“Geri.” (Freki)

“I know, Freki.” (Geri)

They silently reveled at my patting abilities before jumping up, causing me to almost fall over.  Geri caught me in her arms and pulled me close.  The smell coming from her made my head feel fuzzy in a good way for some unknown reason.

“Now, now, Red.  You beat us, so you must take responsibility.” (Geri)

“Will you?” (Freki)

“Naturally.  Red always takes responsibility for things Red does.  Mama Moco said it was the right thing to do.” (Red)

“Alright.  You must always remember that.” (Freki)

“Keep getting stronger, Red.  In a few years, we’ll have another match to see who gets to top next time!” (Red)

“Red will never lose!  All the pats will be Red’s!” (Red)

“…” (Geri)

“Pfft.” (Freki)

I tilted my head, confused at why they were laughing and giving me funny looks.

“You’ll understand in time, Red.  We look forward to seeing you again in the future, but for now, it seems the time we can stay here is almost up.  Master should be about to leave soon.” (Geri)

“Don’t worry, we won’t take any pats from you from now on, though if we get any, we won’t complain.” (Freki)

“That just means you have to keep track and pat Red an equal number of times.” (Red)

““That works.”” (Geri and Freki)

With that, the suns had been nearly swallowed by the horizon and the two rushed to where big sis Keeno and Amaterasu were.  I turned and walked through a shining door to my home with Mama Moco, Aunty Fu, and Ortilinde to tell them about my day.

Chaos Realm:

Luna: That’s adorable.

Tamamo: It is, though I hope she figures it out soon.

Don’t worry, she’ll understand that those two are her Fated Ones sooner rather than later.

Luna: How does that even work?  Having two Fated Ones, I mean.

It’s a twin thing.  Most of the time, when twins find their Fated One, it will be another set of twins.  Very rarely, like in this case, twins will have the same Fated One.  Though, from my experience, it always happens in worlds like this where the two to one thing happens, in worlds like your first one, it practically never happens.  I don’t know if it’s due to the cultural aspect that influences that part of Fate, or some other factor that I haven’t discovered yet.

Tamamo: It still surprises me that there are things you don’t know.

It’s willful ignorance.  If I actually did know everything, then life would be boring.

Luna and Tamamo: True.

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