Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Kiko awoke some time the next day, and was surprised to find a lack of Queenie. Kiko was sure that her demon lover would wake her, if only to talk now she was out of the hospital proper. Maybe the way Kiko had snapped at her had caused the woman to really think about how she was acting with Kiko. It felt like she was dealing with Kiko like she would with anyone, dominant and slightly foreboding as she slipped their will from them, in the bedroom and beyond. At least, that is how Kiko saw it, but she could be wrong. She had been about a lot of things, like the mercenary little bitch she had tried to save and subsequently got knocked out and tortured by a nutjob. A now dead, nutjob. That made her sigh again. There was no fire of revenge burning for a dead person, and she hadn’t the foggiest who the others were. She sat in bed, naked and staring into space, before snapping back and getting up, going into the bathroom. She spawned her tail, and stared, wondering if she brushed it, or if it groomed itself, or some other third thing she hadn’t thought of. Maybe she should get it dirty and see if that dirt remained? She was getting in the shower anyway, keep her wounds clean, even if they were as healed as they were ever going to get and the risk of infection was minimal. They still burned with ghost pain, and a shower would help her stay focused.

So she got some toothpaste, and dotted her tail in a few places with it, enough to be noticeable but not enough to be hard to get out. Letting it fade away, she waited a couple of seconds, and then called it back. There were no marks anywhere, which made her smile. That amount of fur would have been a nightmare to wash and dry. And if she ever got more than one, it would be a matter of hours spent in the shower just on her tails. So she let it fade out again and did what toothpaste was usually used for, before getting in the shower. There was always something so liberating about showers. They helped intensely with the feelings and thoughts of the day, washing them away with the rest of the physical problems. Kiko showered daily so dirt and dead skin didn’t really have time to build up, but she was confident that something was around to be showered. There always was. Or maybe she just showered because she liked the way it made her feel. The peace and the lack of need to think. Either way, hygiene and nice smells were the result. And so a nice smelling Kiko exited the shower after finishing, towelled herself dry, and then got into her uniform. Queenie had been around, it seemed, since a pair of opaque stockings were laying over the rest of her uniform. She really hoped that Miss Mizia had not sent the crazy demon girl, but that was by the by at this point. Not exactly sure what by it was by though. Or where the phrase even came from.

Fully dressed, shirt tucked into her skirt, and scars hidden from view, she wandered out and pondered exactly what by it was by. However, she was drawn from this mentality by the subtle stares and mutters of the people surrounding her. Clearly the story had gotten out and even though she was hiding them, everyone knew what was under her clothes. It made her feel pretty naked, and so she hurried into the closest room that she could find, which turned out to be Bruyn’s firing range. However, she was an anomaly, with snow-pale skin, a weird ass eye and a streak of white in her hair like some mad hair stylist.

Grabbing the earmuffs and really hoping that Queenie and Bruyn had sorted their problems out, she went in, and was greeted quickly by an ecstatic super-zombie who was apparently waiting for her, probably saw her coming, or smelled her with her zombie nose. That idea made her giggle, and so she hugged Bruyn back. Her not-quite-human-body-temperature embrace was something she could really get used too, although the eyes that lit up with a scary intent was not quite as enticing.
“So, you out of the hospital fully? Can walk around without pulling a dozen stiches and causing a mess?” Bruyn asked. Kiko’s eyes went wide and she looked about herself as if she could see anything after the effort she had put into cover up.
“I have stitches?” She asked, in a rather panicked voice.
“No” came the laughing reply. “Shiro doesn’t leave anything like that. I was just teasing” Bruyn explained. Kiko gave a relieved sigh, and then punched her in the arm.
“Don’t do that. I honestly worried for a moment I was going to pull something” She grumbled. Bruyn just seemed to be even more amused by that and dragged her to a firing booth.
“Now, I remember that someone still owes me a week of servitude. I put it on hold while you were out, I knew you’d want it that way” Bruyn was so close to nibbling Kiko’s ear – even with the earmuffs on - the Kitsune girl wanted to grab the biggest gun that wouldn’t put her on her ass and shoot. But she restrained herself, and looked to the collection.

She wasn’t a good shot by any margin, but she was still immediately put off at the .22 pistol. It just struck her as dainty, and she wasn’t a dainty girl. The .357 looked more her style, but two guns seemed to have the same calibre and she didn’t really know which one to go for. Bruyn followed her eyes and smiled, stroking her hips while she explained.
“One of them is a cylinder fed revolver, the other is a mag fed semi-auto. However, if you are in the mood, I could show you something with a bit more…kick. I am sure your team will appreciate a girl who knows how to handle something big, long and hard” the innuendos made Kiko blush, but also feel a little sick as it reminded her of the man who had made her handle his rifle. It seemed Kitsune mentality didn’t work if it was something that was a minor feeling, only dealing with the truly crippling feelings. Still, not wanting Bruyn to be put off by Kiko’s problems, she nodded and let Bruyn lead her off. It was a different part of the range, less populated, only three people including her in all of the stalls. Rifles it seemed, were less popular than side arms.
“Now, a secondary weapon out in the field would not go amiss, but I want you to get some work in with the higher calibre stuff. Run into anything real ugly and they are going to thank your ability to shoulder a thirty oh six” She exclaimed. Kiko had no idea what one of those was, until she was lead to an empty stall with the butts of rifles on offer. She saw the calibres above guns, including the 30-06 but her eyes were on the .800, which she drew out. The dam thing looked like an oversized shotgun, two barrels, each one a force of intimidation.
“Or that. But seriously, if you couldn’t handle the Tenderizer, that will break your shoulder. And we don’t want to send you back to the hospital after you just got out, now do we?” Bruyn asked, teasing as she took out a .22 rifle. It was small compared to the rest, but was still pretty decently sized when she put it up against the pistols.

“This is small, easy to handle, not a lot of recoil. Great for getting used to the size of rifles. Finding your firing stance. All our rifles are generally the same size, so you get comfortable with one, you can get comfortable with them all. Now, my suggestion is like this” She helped Kiko into a comfortable position, so that she would take most of the recoil into the majority of her upper body rather than just into her shoulder. “Aim down the sight, line up the barrel, don’t be hesitant to let your instincts guide you, and then slowly squeeze the trigger” Bruyn counselled. Kiko nodded, and did just that, lining up the rifle with the dummy and then firing. Its recoil was considerably less than she was expecting, and she managed to keep it on level, but that level wasn’t sufficient to actually hit the target. She passed that without even being close enough to clip the dummy. She looked to Bruyn, expecting some sort of scolding, but there was only an amused smile.
“What, you expected to hit first try? Pfft, love, only the Main Character of some action novel gets that kind of luck. The rest of us have to work at it” She quipped. It made sense, it wasn’t like she was in any sort of novel. This, was real life. So she tried again, lining it up and trusting that niggly little voice in the back of her head. She shot the gun dry, and clipped the target once, which wasn’t a terrible record for someone who had never been anywhere near a gun before.
“Spare mags are here. I want you to do an hour of practice here in the firing range every day. You’ll see the progress soon enough” Bruyn told her. Still in the belief that she had to follow the girl’s orders for the week, she nodded and stuck another mag into the gun.

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“Alright, time to get some rounds down range” Kiko exclaimed, before setting down for the firing practice.

The hour passed surprisingly quickly, the focus demanded in such an action was really drawing her in, and she went through mag after mag of bullets, none of them getting much more than clips and grazes, but she could feel herself adapting to the pace of the rifle after every dry mag discarded. By luck or yet-unrealized skill, she managed to get a bullet right through the target’s skull, but couldn’t repeat the act, so put it down to a fluke. Which made her a little sad, she had hoped to get somewhere in the hour, but Bruyn didn’t seem to waver in her smile, so Kiko tried not to let it get to her too much. Putting the gun back in its slot, she rolled her shoulders and stretched most of her body. It didn’t have much recoil on a per bullet basis, but an hour of consistent shooting could put a strain on a girl like her.
“Well, you did pretty well for your first day. Do I get a kiss?” Bruyn teased, puckering her lips exaggeratedly. Kiko rolled her eyes and planted a quick kiss on her cheek before heading to the exit to get out of the firing range.
“I’m hungry, I don’t think I got breakfast. Doesn’t feel like I got breakfast…I should probably get breakfast. Breakfast sounds good. Probably twice. Can I get breakfast twice?” Kiko babbled, staring at Bruyn and feeling her mentality slip away like an oil covered log. Bruyn just grinned and nodded.
“Sure, you can get breakfast twice. I’ll give you my portion of brains” She replied, holding out her hands in a stereotypical zombie fashion, which made Kiko laugh, and then Bruyn led the fox girl out of the firing range and into the hall, were a large, well-endowed girl was waiting. Queenie. Demon, Boss, Lover? Maybe. Kiko wanted to take things slow, especially after what her torturer had done, she didn’t know if she could handle any manner of romantic attachment, regardless of Kitsune mentality. There was a glance towards Bruyn, but it wasn’t a fire-filled glare, more like an arrogant acknowledgment of a rival. And then it looked to Kiko, and softened. No pity in that look, but a sadness for what had been lost.

Queenie stroked Kiko’s face tenderly, and the Kitsune did her best not to cringe, but her eyes must have betrayed her, since Queenie pulled back a little too quick to be natural.
“Good to see you on your feet. Got training in twenty, so might want to get some food before you get changed and join me and the other recruits” Queenie’s voice had a strained formality to it, and then she left. Just like that.
“Ok…that was strange. I was expecting to watch a live porno of you two in the hallway, but…” Bruyn looked to Kiko, and saw the barely restrained hysteria bubbling just below the surface. “Well, that’s a problem for future Kiko, after she’s had breakfast twice” Bruyn strategically didn’t touch Kiko, confirming to the Kitsune girl that she had seen everything there was to see. But, she still managed to herd Kiko to the cantina. Far more crowded than when she had come with Miss Mizia yesterday, she kept as close to Bruyn as she could without touching, and made it to the counter with a tray. They were serving multiple breakfasts for different dietary needs – Quasihumans didn’t always eat like humans – but she had not lost her taste buds since this physical change, and so she took the normal Breakfast, and took the plate of meat, beans, eggs and toast to a table. Focusing on it rather anything else, she devoured the food with single-minded intensity, only noticing Bruyn’s amused grin after the last scraps had been eaten. Taking a napkin and cleaning her mouth up, she blushed, distinctly embarrassed.
“Hungry then” Bruyn quipped, causing Kiko to blush deeper before her own tray was pushed towards Kiko. It contained the same meal she had just finished, which was confusing. She had been expecting brains, in some manner.
“Darlin’, I’m dead” Bruyn replied in answer to the stare of askance. “Which means I can literally eat anything that has the least bit of nutrition. Food like this is better for a growing girl like you anyway” Bruyn finished. Kiko wasn’t going to waste this opportunity just because her eating habits left something to be desired, and so tucked into the second portion, cleaning it up like a hurricane of eating food, rather than cars and buildings. Someone came by as she was eating and she gave them a vulpine snarl which sent them scurrying. Actually, snarled at them, just for coming near. Part of her thought she needed to get whatever this was under wraps before someone got bit, but the rest of her pointed out the fact that she had no idea what this way was, let alone how to get it under wraps. Being a Kitsune was new to her, and she had no idea what kind of limits this Kitsune mentality had. Maybe this was normal and all Kitsunes turned into sociopaths eventually, but her father seemed happy enough.

The plate of food ran dry quick, and Kiko felt her sanity returning to her tentative grasp, which made her look up at Bruyn with a deep blush.
“Is being overprotective of food a Kitsune thing?” She asked, hopefully able to brush it off on something she couldn’t control.

“Nope, that’s a Kiko thing. But you went through hell, dear. Even with your mentality, there is going to be a few new quirks that you are going to need to spend some time adapting too. Everyone develops them eventually, you just had the misfortune to develop them sooner than most. On the plus side, recruits are practically never brought in with a tail. So you get to learn about what that can do long before anyone else on the same level. Gives you longer to practice, and gives you better control over your tails power when you finish the year of basic” Bruyn always seemed able to see the light, which was nice. Kiko needed someone who could see the light right now, instead of someone trying to shower her with pity and condolences. She had never been the kind of girl for either.

“But, I’d prefer to stay the right side of on fire, so best not keep you from Queenie’s training regime. She’ll never forgive me for that one” Bruyn exclaimed, shooing Kiko out of the cantina and chasing her as far as the firing range before shooing her on some more before going in. Kiko pondered the idea of skipping today, the look in Queenie’s eyes was not something she could handle again. But, if she skipped this then Queenie would come storming down and bark and probably ruin everything, so best not give the girl any fuel for her fire and just go to the lesson. So Kiko completed the journey, and entered the large ‘Room of Physical Prowess’ which was basically just a posh name for the gym. But she knew Queenie didn’t like being called the boss of the gym, so giving it a flashy name suited the girl’s desire for pretentiousness. Several other people, in identical uniforms were milling about, but nothing started as she walked in, so she was clearly not the last one. A few looked in her direction, but didn’t recognize her. The rumours about what had happened to her seemed to spread across the more established people and leave the new recruits alone.

Kiko walked up to the nearest group and listened to them chatter about how exciting it was being here, and how they really wanted to impress the Overseer of Physical Prowess because she sounded like a very interesting woman to know. The way that was said made their intentions clear, and if Queenie heard it, well…the reaction from the Demon Girl would be rather amusing to say the lease. Either run them ragged in the bedroom or make some clear immutable claim on Kiko, the second was probably the one that she wouldn’t be able to shoulder for any length of time. Her nameless torturer had left scars on more than her body. She lacked any trauma from the memory of them, but it didn’t remove the memories altogether. She could still feel it, still hear it. And it flashed in her mind when ever Queenie smiled at her. She didn’t want such a beautiful act to be tainted forever, but it seemed impossible to throw off right now.

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