The Daily Life of Students

“Please, Kayoko-dono, you must teach me how to make that air of unapproachableness! That aura of ‘don’t mess with me or get bent!’ That glare that would bring anyone to their knees!”

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The strange fox girl clapped her hands together and bowed deeply. “Please, I believe you’re the one who will elevate my ninjutsu to the next level!”

I sighed. I have no idea what this girl was on about.

“Please! It’s to protect My Lord!”

Tsk, alright alright. I took out my A-Pods Pro and put them in their charging case, closing it with a satisfying clack and stashing it away in my pocket. “So,” I began. “First, what are you talking about and who are you?”

The fox girl quickly stood back up straight and bounced around like she had one too many energy drinks. “I’ll tell you, but not here. It’s too crowded here. Ninjas like us should be whispering in the shadows, nin nin!”

“Ninjas…?”

The girl grabbed my hand and began dragging me away.

“H-Hey, hold up!” I protested. She paid me no mind. Damn, she was way stronger than she looked. After being hauled around town as an embarrassing amount of people watched this bubbly fox girl drag a loner with a scary look on her face, we finally stopped in some strange dark alley in a part of town I had never been to before. I had hardly ever been to the Hyakkiyako district.

The fox girl let go of my hand, still practically bouncing off the walls. “This is a good spot for us to do some ninja training!” She gloated, pride practically radiating off of her.

Maybe she wouldn’t notice if I just tried sneaking awa—

“Aaah! Kayoko-dono, where are you running off to!?”

Damn. She quickly pulled me back into the alley before closing her eyes and letting out a big breath of air. “Let me start things over, Kayoko-dono!” She began. “My name is Izuna, and my dream is to become the greatest ninja in all of Kivotos!”

“I didn’t think ninjas still even existed.” I said, looking a little confused.

She put her hands on her hips, displaying an incredible amount of pride and joy. “Think again, Kayako-dono! Ninjas are still very much alive in Hyakkiyako with the Ninjutsu Research Club!”

They have a whole club of ninjas at Hyakkiyako?

“And so! The reason I brought you here is because My Lord said we should meet!”

“‘My Lord’?”

“Yes! Though I think you would know him as Sensei.”

Ah, suddenly, everything's falling into place. I’ll make a mental note to send him a strongly-worded Momotalk message later.

“Uh-huh, and why did Sensei tell you to reach out to me?”

“My Lord is the biggest supporter of my dream to become the greatest ninja in all of Kivotos! Well, him and Michiru-dono and Tsukuyo-dono, but still!” She took a deep breath, having been firing words off like a machine gun. “Recently I’ve been asking My Lord how I could bring my ninjutsu up to the next level to be able to better protect him, and he said I needed an air of danger! A scary look! A mean mug!”

“Is that so…Well, I guess I do look pretty intimidating. I don’t really know what to tell you or teach you though, this is just my regular face.”

“No way! That aura around you like a knife’s edge, almost like you’re about to take your pistol out of your holster and fire at me simply comes natural to you!? No way!”

“Is that really what I seem like?”

I didn’t know how to deal with this girl. She was so loud, so cheery, so bubbly, our energies didn’t mix at all. I’ve dealt with my fair share of colorful characters like Mutsuki or Aru but this girl was just…Too bright. Like someone opening the curtains in my dorms in the morning.

I looked at Izuna. Her giant bushy fox tail was wagging a million miles a second behind her, kicking up dust all across the pavement. I looked into her eyes. Her amber eyes were practically glowing in the dark alleyway we were in. She looked at me expectantly. A million-watt smile burned a hole through my soul.

I sighed. There was no stopping this girl, I figured, so I might as well go along with her.

“Fine, I’ll try to teach you how to look intimidating.” I said. Izuna was about to shout out in joy before I pushed my finger onto her lips, shushing her. “On one condition.”

Izuna turned her head to the side, looking puzzled. My finger still rested on her soft pink lips. I brought my gaze above her lips to her ears, wiggling around as if they were antennas trying to pick up signals.

They were.

Really cute.

I looked behind me, making sure we were still alone in this alley, before I looked back at her and took my finger away.

“...Let me rub your ears.”

“...Huh?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it again. This was so embarrassing, but I just couldn’t help myself. Gehenna is primarily made up of demons and humans so I didn’t have many opportunities to see kemonomimi girls like her. I mean, who wants to rub demon horns!? Sure she wasn’t a cat, but a fox is good too!

“I said, let me r-rub your, uhm. ears.”

“...Okay! Izuna loves headpats!”

Her million-watt smile evolved into a billion-watt smile as she closed her eyes and brought her face closer to mine. I hesitated. Was this really okay? I brought my hand up slowly, inching towards her head of hair where two fluffy fox ears just begged to be rubbed. My hand drew closer and closer, and then.

My hand landed on her head. I felt my face getting hotter and hotter. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. Normally I’d be able to retain my composure and cool but, this girl was just so cute!

I began rubbing her head, ruffling her hair. She let out a few happy noises and began humming. My movements were slow, hesitant. I didn’t know the proper procedure to pet kemonomimi girls. Was it different from petting cats? Did foxes even like having their ears rubbed? Izuna said she does, but is that specific to her or was she speaking for all foxes?

I seriously wasn’t acting like myself, but I closed my eyes and psyched myself up. I began to regain my composure, and I felt my face start to cool down. I opened my eyes again and there my hand laid on an expectant Izuna, still wagging her tail. I started rubbing her head again, moving faster this time, going side-to-side. I noticed her tail was wagging even faster now. I guess I’m doing something right. I smiled, rubbing her head faster and faster before I stopped. I took my hand off her head as her brows furrowed and she opened one eye, looking at me inquisitively.

Then, I brought both my hands up to touch her fluffy ears. Izuna yelped a little in surprise and looked a bit embarrassed having made the sound. They felt unimaginably soft, like pillows laying atop clouds. It was unreal. I brought my fingers up to the tips of her ears and rubbed them up and down, and then gently brought my thumbs into her ears and rubbed her ear tufts.

“A-Ah! That tickles, hehe!” Izuna said, her wide smile being adorned by a slight red tinge on her cheeks. My face mirrored hers. I began giggling to myself too, enjoying seeing her reactions.

Suddenly, my heart sank to my stomach. I heard a camera shutter and saw a bright flash from behind me. A cold sweat formed as I slowly took my hands off Izuna’s ears and slowly turned my head.

“Heeey, Kayoko! Getting pretty intimate over there huh? Kufufu!”

“M-MUTSUKI!?”

Izuna popped her head over my shoulder, standing on her toes. “Hm? What’s wrong, Kayoko-dono?” Izuna asked.

“Aw, Mutsuki, you showed yourself too fast! They were just getting to the good part!” A voice said. Someone else showed themselves from behind the wall. It was Sensei.

I wanted to die and disappear forever. I could never show myself at Problem Solver 68 or to Sensei ever again.

And of all the people, of course it had to be Mutuski, that little imp…!

“Ah, My Lord!!! You came!” Izuna pushed herself past me, running up to Sensei, who also began rubbing her ears.

Mutsuki walked over to me, flaunting her phone in front of my face with a picture that had to be deleted. Now.

But at the same time, I felt too paralyzed from my embarrassment and shame.

“Ahaha, you’re so cute Kayoko! I don’t normally see you like this!” Mutsuki teased, looking at her phone. “I wonder what would happen if I showed Aru this photo…?”

“M-Mutsuki!”

“Kufufu!”

“H-How did you and Sensei even g-get here!? How did you, you—”

Mutsuki showed me her phone again, and it was our group chat with Problem Solver 68 on Momotalk. We had our locations on in the chat so we could track each other if anything were to happen. Leave it to Mutsuki to be able to twist something meant for our safety into one of her pranks…

“Don’t worry, Kayoko-chan! I won’t show this to anyone! On one condition however, hehe!” Mutsuki could hardly contain her joy. My face was burning up. I can’t believe she and Sensei saw me like that.

Mutsuki put her phone back into her dress and walked past me, putting her arm around my shoulder. Her sweet scent assaulted my senses. I looked at her as she began to open her mouth to probably give me some unreasonable request that would have me dig myself into an even bigger hole. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst.

“Make sure you befriend Izuna-chan over there, okay?”

“...Huh?”

I opened my eyes and looked at Mutsuki. Her playful and smug aura was gone.

“I mean, you hardly ever talk to anyone outside of us and Sensei. You always have such a mean mug on your face, so seeing you enjoying yourself like that was sooo cute!” Mutsuki said. “I think a friend like Izuna-chan would do you some good!”

“M-Mutsuki, I…didn’t expect you to say that.”

“Kufufu, you thought I would tease you even more? Don’t worry, I’m not that heartless!” Mutsuki giggled to herself. She then leaned in close to my ear and whispered “Sensei might also like you more if you smiled more from time to time as well.”

My heart skipped a beat. What was she trying to say?

“Well! Me and Sensei have somewhere to be, so bye bye Kayoko-chan! I’ll see you at the office tomorrow!” Mutsuki shouted, giving me a big wave as she skipped along out of the alley with Sensei in tow, who had also just finished rubbing Izuna’s ears.

Izuna shuffled her way back towards me, holding her hand out. “Come on, Kayoko-dono, we should get going too! Onward to becoming better ninjas, nin nin!”

I paused, staring at her hand before staring at Izuna’s face. She had such an infectious personality and smile.

I took a hold of her hand, as Izuna began dragging me again out of the alley, giggling all the while. Soon, I found myself caught up in her energy as well, giggling alongside this strange fox girl I had just met a few hours ago.

Maybe this whole ninja training thing wasn’t going to be so bad after all.