The Fox Hole

Chapter 52: Where'd her clothes go?

– Haru –

…I noticed Akeno and Tsubaki pouting at me from the other side of the room. They were clearly annoyed that I had revealed my yokai status to these kids and the old man. I didn't see what the big deal was, honestly. None of them had cameras, and if they couldn't keep their mouths shut, we could just erase their memories afterwards.

I never liked messing with people's minds as much as other supernaturals seemed to, but I would do it if it meant keeping my family safe. It was a small price to pay. I shot a quick wink at the girls who kept pouting. Only Alice smirked back. She stood next to Asia and the girls from the Kuoh cooking club, who were all gaping at me like I had grown a second head.

I realized I had forgotten they were there with everything going on at once. Yeah, we'd have to erase their memories later because those Kuoh girls loved their gossip. The news of Rias Gremory being engaged to a yokai would spread through the school by tomorrow if we didn't. Oh well, we could deal with that after they watched the competition.

Speaking of the cooking competition, the only one who seemed to recover was Soma. Meanwhile, Alice—white-haired Alice—along with Megumi, looked like their brains were still rebooting from my sudden reveal of tails and ears.

Finally, one of the girls snapped out of her daze. She was the white-haired Alice. "Yokai!? Are real!? How? Is this some kind of trick?" She blurted it out with her eyes wide.

I smirked and held out my hand. A swirl of blue foxfire appeared in my palm, bright and flickering. The room felt warmer as the flames danced around my fingers, then I closed my hand and snuffed them out. "No trick," I said. "You kids all go to the greatest cooking school in the world—well, the human world. I thought I'd show you it's a lot bigger than you imagine. There are ingredients out there that'd gobble you alive if you tried to hunt them."

Megumi's voice wavered. "L-like what?"

I grinned and reached into my personal storage space—basically a pocket dimension only I could access—and pulled out a giant hunk of tender meat, slapping it down on the workstation table. None of them recognized what it was, and I wasn't surprised. Most humans would never see this stuff.

Soma blinked. "What is that?"

"This? Dragon meat," I answered. "I hunted this evil dragon myself after it tried to burn down a small city." I reached back in and pulled out more slabs, stacking them on the table. "How about we use it as the base for our competition?"

Megumi fiddled with her apron. "C-can we do that? I thought we'd be cooking chicken or pork or something."

I turned my head and grinned at Tsubaki, who looked like she was fighting the urge to facepalm. She sighed. "Do whatever you want, Haru. Just know I'll be telling Sona all about this later."

I shrugged. "I think she'll be too distracted with her new boyfriend to care."

Akeno's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "What?! Sona has a boyfriend!? When!? How!? Rias never told me anything about that!?"

Tsubaki stared at me like I'd just dropped a bomb. She was obviously stunned.

Senzaemon cleared his throat, drawing our attention. The old man had recovered from his shock and now gave me a pointed glare. "I've lived a long time…"

Yeah, nobody was arguing that.

"…and throughout my life, I've heard plenty of rumors about yokai. But you're the first one I've actually seen." He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I have just one question for you…"

My tails swayed behind me, and I smirked. "Oh? And what's that?"

"Is dragon meat delicious?" he asked, looking excited.

"Grandfather!?" Erina, who stood right next to him, looked appalled. "We just found out yokai are real, and all you can think about is the food!?"

The old man chuckled and ran a hand over his beard. "Food is one of the few pleasures an old timer like me has left. Of course I'm curious!"

I liked this old guy. He was fun. "Dragon meat is absolutely delicious," I said. "It's far better than the most tender beef you've ever tasted in your entire life."

Senzaemon broke into a broad grin, then addressed his students with a dramatic flourish. "What are you all waiting for, then!? Get to cooking! Show this yokai the pride of Tōtsuki Academy!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" the challengers called out at the same time.

– Yasaka –

Yasaka watched as Enri hesitated near the door, shifting her weight from one foot to the other like she was working up the nerve to say something. It had been a slow day, with no customers coming in after she kicked out the Fairy Tail group, or maybe everyone was just preoccupied. Even Yasaka was technically skipping out on her own work by being here, though she wasn't exactly concerned about it. With a small chitter, she turned her attention back to the girl.

"Is something wrong, dear?" Yasaka asked, tilting her head slightly.

Enri gave a hesitant smile. "Some of the villagers have been a bit nervous since we found out the kingdom wants to attack us. I know Lord Haru will protect us, but... maybe he could come by and talk to everyone? Just to calm them down a bit?" She fidgeted, hands wringing the hem of her dress, like she was afraid of overstepping.

Yasaka sighed quietly. This might have been partially her fault for not properly coaching Haru on how to manage his new territories. He was strong, but leadership required more than just strength. He needed to show up and show his people occasionally that he was the kind of person they should give their trust and loyalty to.

"I'll make sure he comes by tomorrow," she reassured Enri.

The girl brightened instantly. "Thank you, Lady Yasaka!" With that, she turned and hurried out the front door.

Yasaka shook her head fondly before looking around. With Haru gone for over an hour, she might as well tidy up his restaurant a bit. It wasn't like she had much else to do at the moment.

"SLAM!"

The front door flew open with a force that made Yasaka's ears twitch.

"We're closed—" Yasaka started, only to stop when she saw Kunou standing in the doorway, her golden tails swaying with excitement. Beside her stood Sansa, the red-haired girl from Winterfell, who Haru had yet to properly check in on after reclaiming the territory.

"Hello, Kunou dear. Sansa." Yasaka greeted, setting aside the cloth she had been using to wipe down a table. "How is Winterfell?"

Sansa executed a graceful curtsy. "Recovering well, Lady Yasaka. The food shipments and building materials have been a great help. I hope one day the North can be as advanced and prosperous as Kyoto."

That was a long way off, but Yasaka had a feeling the girl would be around long enough to see it—especially if she underwent the 'rite' eventually. But that was a conversation for another day. Right now, she focused on her daughter, who had that mischievous glint in her eyes, the one that always meant she knew something Yasaka didn't.

Also, Yasaka noted, Kunou had once again managed to slip away from her guard, Tanya. That girl really needed to keep a better eye on her charge.

"Haru is in a cooking competition at Kuoh Academy!" Kunou announced with obvious glee. "I just got a text from Big Sister Rias!"

"Oh? That sounds fun." Yasaka smiled, already knowing what was coming next. Kunou had rushed here because she wanted permission to go. At least she was asking this time instead of sneaking off on her own. Yasaka still had a few hours to shirk her duties, so she figured she might as well take Kunou and Sansa herself.

"Did Rias say anything else in the text?" Yasaka asked, stepping closer to the girls.

Kunou nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Apparently, a fallen angel called Ko—uh, Koko-something showed up and tried to kill Big Sister Rias and her friend Sona, but he got sent packing by Sona's new boyfriend!"

Yasaka froze mid-step. Her ears twitched as she processed what her daughter had just said.

What the hell?

– Rias –

"SLAM!"

The doors to the gym burst open as Rias strode inside, Sona and Demiurge trailing right behind her. She took a quick glance around the packed room, slightly pouting when she realized the cooking competition had already started. Hopefully, she hadn't missed too much.

Her attention immediately snapped to Haru, who stood at one of the workstations, his fox ears and tails fully on display despite the sea of humans in the room. He didn't seem the least bit concerned about keeping a low profile.

"Oh my gosh, Rias-senpai! Sona-senpai!"

A couple of underclassmen from the cooking club ran up to them, their faces full of concern. Rias vaguely recognized them but didn't know their names.

"What happened to you!?" one of them asked, eyes flicking over Rias's slightly disheveled uniform. There were a few scuffs and minor tears in the fabric, and she was sure her hair wasn't in perfect condition either. Sona looked just as roughed up, though neither of them had any actual injuries. Supernatural battles just weren't very kind to clothing.

Before Rias could respond, another girl blurted out, "Did you know your fiancé is a yokai!?"

"Are you a yokai too, Rias-senpai!? Is that why you're so pretty and your hair is so beautiful?"

Rias rolled her eyes. "No," she said flatly. Her beauty was entirely her own, thank you very much. Sure, devil genetics helped a little, but she put a lot of effort into her appearance, and she wasn't about to let some overeager underclassmen credit it all to supernatural heritage.

"You three will forget everything you saw today and go home," Sona said, waving a hand in front of their faces.

The girls' expressions instantly went blank as the hypnosis took hold. Without another word, they turned and exited the gym.

Rias sighed. She might have let them stay and watch the competition before erasing their memories, but she had just finished dealing with an annoying battle. The last thing she wanted right now was to babysit a group of nosy underclassmen.

She continued walking across the gym, heading toward Akeno, who was standing with Tsubaki. Two humans stood with them—an older gentleman and a blonde girl. Rias vaguely recognized both of them.

"Ara, welcome back, my King," Akeno smirked, her gaze flicking over Rias's less-than-pristine appearance. "Were you standing a little too close to the fireworks club when they had their… accident?" she teased with a wink.

Rias exchanged a quick glance with Sona. They both caught on immediately.

"Uh, yes," Rias said smoothly, quickly fabricating an excuse. "I scolded them for using too much gunpowder."

The older man and the blonde girl looked skeptical but decided not to press the issue.

"Welcome to our academy, Nakiri-san and Nakiri-sama," Sona greeted, her composed tone returning as she addressed them formally. Rias assumed they were related, considering they shared the same last name.

Rias's new adorable bishop wandered over along with Haru's zombie-killing girlfriend, Alice. "Oh my gosh, do you need any healing?" Asia asked.

Sona coughed awkwardly. "No, we don't need any first aid," she said, putting heavy emphasis on those two words.

Senzaemon rolled his eyes. "You girls couldn't be more obvious if you tried. It's obvious Kuoh is some kind of secret supernatural academy none of the schools in Japan were ever privy to. I suppose that explains how you all cheated last year to almost beat our students in cooking."

Rias pouted. "We did not cheat," she blatantly lied!

"That's right," Sona added, pink creeping onto her cheeks. Shockingly, it had been Sona's idea last year to try and cheat, but they still ended up losing.

The old man scoffed at them as Asia's hands lit up green in a blatant display of supernatural ability and started healing the few cuts or scrapes that Sona and Rias both had before moving over towards Demiurge.

"It's always pragmatic to keep a healer on hand," Demiurge nodded at Asia, who smiled at him.

"SLAM!"

The gym doors were once again thrown open, and Rias saw two more nine-tailed foxes alongside another one of Rias's possible future sisters enter the gym.

"Ara, lots of doors getting slammed open today," Akeno giggled. 

– Haru –

I was definitely enjoying myself. Being a chef wasn't a particularly ruthless career choice, but all chefs took pride in their work. There was also a certain glee in ruthlessly putting some upstarts in their place.

My nine tails were a flurry of activity, shifting in front and behind me as they shuffled ingredients around the table. My hands moved at supernatural speeds, slicing through the thick dragon steak with precision. The meat had been aged just right, tender and rich, practically melting under my knife. The sizzling aroma filled the air as I seared the thick slices on the hot griddle, the fat crackling and releasing a mouthwatering scent.

Across the workstation, Soma smirked but I could see he was nervous. His hands worked as fast as they could, but he was still only a regular human teenager. "You're making Dragon steak... tacos...?"

"Isn't that like cultural appropriation?" Alice Nakiri whined as she tried her best to keep up. I could see she was making some kind of dragon stew, based off of a beef stew recipe. I'm sure it would be good, but my nose could smell she was using too many high end sauces and spices. Throwing expensive items into her pot wasn't going to give her the win.

Megumi on the other hand was just staying simple and trying to make a dragon version of roast beef. So far, I actually thought she was the best cook here since she was keeping it simple with an ingredient she hadn't mastered cooking with. 

Soma, on the other hand, was making Dragon fried rice. There was nothing wrong with that of course but I could see he was the opposite of Alice Nakiri in his culinary mindset. He wanted to prove he could make good food as cheaply as possible. Which was good for someone on a budget but not someone in a cooking competition…

We had laid out dozens of extra ingredients along with multiple types of rice, from high end to ordinary, and Soma was trying to prove a point or something by using the literal cheapest brand of rice with his dragon meat.

"Go, Niichan!" I smiled at Kunou and my mom Yasaka who had both shown up at some point to support me alongside Sansa Stark. I hadn't even noticed them all entering the gym—I tended to get a little distracted when it came to cooking.

I also noticed that Rias and Sona were both back, and they seemed fine other than some messy clothes and hair. I was glad for that, but definitely wanted to know what the hell attacked them earlier. I gave Demiurge a thankful nod for keeping them safe, and he returned it.

I put the finishing touches on my dragon tacos, placing the tantalizing meat and mouthwatering vegetables in the shell before sprinkling small amounts of handmade guacamole and sour cream over the top. Not too much, though. Dragon meat had a strong flavor on its own, and you always wanted to emphasize it.

I was the first one to finish and managed to make enough food for not only our judges but also everyone in the gym. I laid out the plates on the counter and placed a stasis and warming charm over them to keep them perfect while everyone else finished up with their food. 

…

Everyone laid out their plates in front of Senzaemon and Erina Nakiri for judging. I leaned back slightly, arms crossed, watching as they started with Alice's dragon stew. The aroma was rich, thick with spices and a deep, smoky undertone. It looked impressive, and honestly, I was curious to see how it tasted.

Senzaemon took a bite first, chewing thoughtfully. Erina followed, her expression neutral at first before she gave a small nod. "It's good," she admitted. "The flavors are bold, but…"

"You overcompensated," Senzaemon finished for her. "Too many strong flavors clashing instead of complementing."

Alice let out a tiny sigh, nodding as she accepted the critique. I could see the disappointment in her eyes, but she took it well enough.

Next up was Megumi. She had gone for a simple roasted dragon steak with a side of roasted potatoes and asparagus. The presentation was clean, straightforward. I inhaled deeply and had to admit—it smelled damn good. No excessive sauces or over-the-top plating, just a well-executed dish.

Senzaemon sliced off a piece, taking his time chewing before giving an approving nod. Erina followed suit and, the moment she tasted it, let out a soft moan. "This is… really well done," she said.

Megumi blushed but bowed her head. "Thank you."

Senzaemon turned toward her with a pleased expression. "Excellent control of flavors. You let the dragon meat shine without overpowering it."

I smirked. Yeah, she was definitely the best cook here in my opinion.

Then came Soma, who looked way too confident for his own good. "Prepare to be blown away," he declared, setting down his fried rice.

Senzaemon tried a spoonful first, and his expression instantly tightened. Erina took a single bite and then immediately gagged, spitting it out into a napkin like she'd been poisoned.

"Inedible," she declared, her voice sharp and final.

Soma's smirk disappeared instantly. "What?!"

Sona, who had been quietly observing, leaned over to Rias. "So that's the famous God's Tongue…"

Alice and Megumi exchanged glances, whispering to each other. "I've never seen Soma fail before," Alice murmured.

Senzaemon sighed, setting down his utensils. "The flavors don't work together. The cheap rice and heavy sauces completely drown out the dragon meat's natural richness. It's an imbalance that ruins the dish."

Soma looked genuinely stunned. "Damn… I thought it would work..." 

I would have warned the kid about that before, but I figured watching him fail would be a better learning experience.

Finally, my turn. I stepped forward, placing two taco plates in front of the judges. The moment I set them down, the entire gym was hit with an intoxicating wave of smoky, savory, and slightly charred aroma.

"Oh wow…" Erina's mouth was already watering.

Akeno smirked at her reaction. "Remember what I told you, ojou-chan?"

Erina scowled but kept her focus on the food. "I'm sure it's good, but it can't be that—"

She took a bite.

A second later, something happened that no one, including me, expected. Erina's entire face flushed deep red, and she let out a very loud, very inappropriate-sounding moan.

And then—all of her clothes completely exploded off her body!

"EHHHHHH!?" Everyone in the room, including me, shouted at the same time!

XXX

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I have a patreo n. My subs can read advanced updates of my stories ahead of standard release and even check out pics for some of the more naughty chapters. 

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Here is the list of Current Advanced Chapters:

The Fallen Gamer ch 318-322

The Blood Queen 35

The Fox Hole 57

Thunder and Black Wings 10

The Fox Hole 56

The Blood Queen 34

The Fox Hole 55

The Fox Hole 54

The Titan 26

The Fox Hole 53

The Blood Queen 33