He feels a cold chill run down his back as they arrive at his apartment. It’s not that there is an explicit rule against bringing home a romantic partner. It’s more that the landlady always wants to make it awkward.
‘Please don’t make it awkward,’ he thinks, his shoulders slumping.
She touches his back with her palm, a gentle, comforting gesture, but his hair stands on end.
He looks around, and the bike rack is full. The few cars owned by tenants are in the parking lot.
The challenge is set; will he be able to triumph?
The sun is high in the sky as they attempt a “reverse rescue the princess.” He tries to casually take her around the back of the building.
He slips his key into the lock and quietly opens the door. With hurdle one cleared, he looks up the staircase; it’s quiet and eerie, too quiet and eerie.
Together they ascend the steps, his every step calculated. Yoko smiles. the vision of grace. She makes no noise when she moves unless she wants to.
Meanwhile, every movement he makes thunders in the staircase as he climbs the steel stairs.
The second hurdle crossed. He opens the inner door and pokes his head in. His skin prickles in apprehension; the hardest challenge is yet to come.
Creeping down the hallway, the boss battle is just ahead. The proof is the vending machine on the right. Boss battles always let you refill your health before combat.
Combat starts.
The landlady’s door bursts open. She only sees the sweaty-looking salaryman.
“Hey you! I ran out of cigarettes. Run to the 7-Eleven and buy me 2 packs,” the landlady demands.
“I, uh, am a little busy,” he says squirrely, failing his charisma check.
“Busy? You were too busy to pay your rent on time, and I didn’t charge you a late fee; you will go for me!” the landlady demands.
“Yes, landlady!” He shouts, arms tight to his side.
Battle over: you lose.
“I, uh, yeah, sure, let me change my clothes,” he says.
“Be quick about it,” she demands.
Quest added: two packs of cigarettes for the landlady or else.
The landlady closes her door, and the salaryman breathes out.
“Silly kid thinking he is getting away with something like I am blind,” she cackles.
Back in the hallway, he frowns at Yoko. “I have to run to the store for her. Do you want anything?” he says, letting her into his room.
Immediately She sits on his messy half-made bed. “No, you go. I will be fine; I have dreamed about this bed for weeks.”
He blushes brightly. ‘She has dreamed about being in my bed for weeks.’ His blush hurts his face as he closes the door behind him. He runs down to the store, unable to stop thinking about her in his bed. What is she doing in it?.
The young guy behind the counter gives him a look as he orders 2 packs of cigarettes and grabs two chocolate bars. “Anything else?” the kid asks.
“No,” he answers.
“Where’s your ID?” the cashier says.
He digs in his pocket and pulls out his ID. His blood pressure was rising at the anticipation of going back to his room. Images of her half naked, lying in his bed….
“Sir, I need your ID,” the cashier asks again.
The man thankfully keeps the rest of the interaction brief, and soon he is rushing back to the apartment.
‘I can’t wait to see my girlfriend,’ he thinks, the thought stalling in his brain. ‘Girlfriend…?’
‘Is she my girlfriend?’ He thinks. The thought made his heart race harder than the run to the store did.
Short of breath and a little sweaty, he knocks on the landlady’s door. With a creak, the door opens, and the landlady looks at him, shocked to see him looking like he is about to pass out. “What did you do, run?”
“Yes,” he pants. “Here you are; I have to go,” he says as politely as he can.
“Well, thanks. Try not to be loud; it’s almost time for my show,” she demands and shuts the door, cackling again.
He opens the door to his apartment to see her snuggled up with his pillow, looking out the window. Her eyes were examining the garden across the street from the apartment. He thinks it’s odd. “Why didn’t you turn on the TV?”
“It’s always bad news or boring; I prefer to look at the clouds,” she says quietly, smelling his pillow. She looks over at him and sees his outstretched hand with a chocolate bar in it.
She dismisses the bar but takes his hand, the telepathic link forming.
“The bed, It’s as soft as I imagined,” she whispers, pulling him onto the bed and kissing him.
The memories become distorted and choppy as the salaryman tries to skip over this part. Izzy gets flashes of memory.
Izzy can see Yoko naked, her breasts inhumanly perky, and her total lack of body hair.
Izzy can feel the telepathic bond dancing as they both share memories and feelings and an equal bond—something that was a novelty to Yoko.
Izzy is enthralled by it, so different from her time with Charles. She craves this feeling with Jacob, unsure if it will ever be possible.
Izzy can feel what it’s like to be inside Yoko and have the salaryman inside her.
The feeling of Yoko squeezing down on him.
The way Yoko let out little moans as she bottomed out on his cock.
The strongest echos from Yoko are about what he smelled like and the taste of his skin. Salty and filled with pheromones from running.
Deep under everything there is a tingle that is the Kitsunes’ ability to steal life force being used to cycle energy between them, first a trickle, then a river.
The layers of intimacy are overwhelming Izzy.
On a physical level Izzy is seeing flashes of him grunting.
Yoko whimpering as she orgasms
He is relieved at his ability to satisfy her and shows it with a deep groan as he fills her full of cum.
The cuddling as Yoko falls asleep.
The memories become sharp again, the detail filling in. Yoko falling completely asleep and her body turning into her true fox form. He was prepared for this; the memories they shared were filled with her chasing crickets and running through fields that no longer exist. He pulls her close, the telepathic link still strong. He can feel her dreams, but they are blurry and muddy. He closes his eyes just for a moment.
He wakes up slowly, feeling a loss of something important but unsure of what it is. He feels around the bed and finds himself alone. “Yoko,” he calls out. He looks around, and one of the chocolate bars is missing, and the window is open.
That day he skipped work; he didn’t have the heart to go to his soulless job. He did something he had never done before: he called in sick. Instead, he went to the host club.
The security at the door held up his hand. “You’re not welcome here, sir.” He points to the other host clubs and says, “Try your luck somewhere else.”
“But why?” the salaryman asks.
“You have to ask the boss, and the boss is inside, so you can’t ask the boss,” the man says in an astounding feat of logic for him.
“Can you pass along a message for Yoko?” the salaryman asks.
“Not a chance.” The guard says, “Now move along, sir, before I get nasty.”
“Please tell her I love her,” he says with respect.
“You’re not welcome here, sir. Last warning,” the man says with the confidence to back up the threat.
He rode the train to work instead of going home and feeling sad for himself.
He stared at the blank Word document. He hit print for the giggles and printed 15 copies of the empty document; he stapled them together and set them on his desk.
“At least I did something today,” he says. He goes home, and the cycle repeats.
work
home
sleep
The days grew long, and despair reigned.
