1.27: Choose to be OptimisticNatalia-sama gnawed on me while her nine golden tails swayed behind her like banners caught in a storm.

  Let me be perfectly clear…

  It hurt.It wasn’t just a baby “paper-cut” kind of hurting.It wasn’t like a “stubbed toe” kind of hurting.

  …

  Nope…

  It was a bonafide gnawed-on-by-a-giant-fox-goddess kind of hurting.

  “YAAAAAAAAIIII—NATALIA-SAMAAAAA!” I shrieked as her jaws compressed my ribs. My hands pried uselessly at her muzzle, trying to ease even a gram of the pressure. “A-are you trying to bleed me to death?!”

  Rui whistled from the sidelines like she was watching a circus act.

  “Wow. She’s not biting down hard enough. You’re just getting drenched in drool. So… how’s the kiss feel, Susumu?”

  A kiss.A KISS?!WHY WOULD SHE CALL THIS A KISS?!

  WHAT KIND OF A PSYCHO WOULD BITE SOMEONE IN HALF AND CALL IT A KISS?!

  Oddly, the thought still had an effect on me. What was wrong with me?

  My mind derailed. The thought alone detonated an explosive geyser of noh-blood inside my helmet.

  SPLORT.

  I was probably remembering the kiss that Natalia gave me in her atelier. It’s not like I liked being a giant kitsune’s chew toy?!

  “EWW—HIS HELMET’S MELTING!” Rui gagged.

  “That’s blood—ack!” Natalia sputtered and spat me out instantly. I hit the warehouse floor with a wet sp as she coughed dramatically. “Oh dear… he might need another infusion. That did not go as pnned.”

  Rui vaulted from her chair and slid to my side as I thrashed in circles, completely feral.

  “Blub—blubb—BLUUUB!”“I’M GOING TO DROWN!”

  I cwed at my blood-slick helmet, but the mask refused to budge. Panic spiraled. I kicked violently, twitching like a dying worm.

  “Oh, my…” Natalia murmured as the huge fox form folded in on itself.

  Her fur retreated. Her body shrank.She took on a hybrid form with a human shape, golden fox ears, a swishing tail with bck-tipped fluff. A divine animal judge descended from heaven to score my meltdown.

  “Susumu-san,” she said gently, leaning over me, “you’re thinking like a mortal. You don’t breathe anymore. You can’t suffocate. You can’t drown. Panicking is the only danger. Think positively. What makes you happy?”

  “Hug him,” Rui said dryly. “Use the power of your boobs. Calm him with your… fluffy marshmallows.”

  “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” I yelped…… Another flood of blood erupted inside the helmet.

  Natalia and Rui gawked at the crimson stream dripping out. I could feel their speechlessness. Even through my panic, a tiny part of me wondered how I was noh-nosebleeding without an actual nose.

  Rui crossed her arms. “Yeah, no. I’m not touching that helmet. Do you have a sink? He smells like an iron smelting pnt. If Noh-faces can smell, he’s basically a walking bloody beacon right now.”

  “Yes,” Natalia-sama said. “There’s a sink and a toilet here, but no shower.”

  “We could dunk his head in the toilet and flush it,” Rui offered.

  “HELL! NO!” I roared.

  Rui shrugged. “Then the sink it is.”

  Natalia sighed. “This is a warehouse, not a spa. Honestly… how am I supposed to train him like this?”

  “I-I d-don’t know either…” I managed. “But when you… chewed on me like that… I wasn’t scared. I knew you weren’t trying to kill me.”

  Natalia tilted her head. “Are you implying that maybe your powers only surface when your life is in true danger?” She tapped the crook of her elbow thoughtfully. “Come here. You probably didn’t gain much time from the infusion anyway. Your body may be rejecting your blood whenever you get excited. I wonder if you’ll even st until midnight like this.”

  “PERV!” Rui barked suddenly. “AVOID DIRTY THOUGHTS! Every pervy impulse drains your time! You want to die earlier, noh-guts weirdo? Huh?” She sneered at me like a Yakuza.

  “YOU STARTED IT!” I snapped, surging to my feet.

  I lunged and grabbed her shoulders with blood-slick hands.

  “GYAAAAH—GROSS!” Rui shrieked and bolted away like a frightened cat.

  I pounced after her. “You loli-idiot! If you hadn’t said ‘kiss,’ I wouldn’t have thought anything dirty! YOU’RE THE REAL PERVERT HERE! I’M A VIRGIN! I DON’T EVEN READ DIRTY MAGAZINES!”

  “EEEEEEEEEEEK!” Rui squealed as she zigzagged between crates.

  She dove behind Natalia-sama as I charged after her.

  …And Natalia lifted a glowing hand.

  FOOOOOOSH.

  A wall of golden foxfire erupted around her.

  I collided with it and bounced backward like a rubber ball. Natalia looked down at me with a mixture of amusement and genuine concern.A visible sweatdrop practically appeared above her head.

  Rui stuck her tongue out at me behind her. WHAT A LITTLE GREMLIN!

  After we calmed down…. and what I mean by “calmed,” I mean that I washed an arming amount of blood out of my helmet in the warehouse’s sink and then we returned to the open training area.

  Natalia-sama looked… conflicted.Partly defeated.Partly thoughtful.Partly emanating with every fiber of her being: “I can’t believe these two idiots are my responsibility today.”

  Rui, miraculously, had no visible stains on her clothes despite my earlier “attack.” I suspected divine fox intervention.

  “Why don’t we focus on his emotions?” Rui suggested, tapping her chin like the smug little gremlin she was. “When he was chasing me, he got kind of… dark. And definitely taller.”

  Natalia nodded, gifting Rui a small approving smile.“Yes. That aligns with what I observed. His spiritual power is tied to emotional surges. Completely typical of a freshly born yokai.”

  She turned to me, her golden ears twitching gently.

  “Susumu,” she said softly, “your anger brings your yokai nature to the surface. Harnessing that is your first step to learn control. There is no better training I can offer right now.”

  Rui smirked behind her. “Yeah, noh-nuts. Try not to wet yourself this time.”

  I twitched in an impotent rage and Natalia ignored her.

  “Now,” she said, drawing her fingers lightly along her lips, “let me tell you what I know about Noh-face.”

  I swallowed.

  “Noh-face’s ir,” she continued, “is almost certainly somewhere along the Yamanote Line. It hunts there. A girl was attacked on a crowded train about a month ago. Very unusual behavior. It rarely attacks openly.”

  The temperature in the warehouse seemed to drop.

  “But something about her,” Natalia said, eyes narrowing, “forced its hand.”

  A chill ran up my spine.

  We stepped out of the warehouse into te-afternoon sunlight.The warehouse doors shut behind us with a quiet metallic thud.

  Natalia-sama looked disappointed… She looked like she felt she’d failed me. But even so, she still smiled, gentle and warm as ever.

  Sometimes the sky darkens, but sunlight always pushes through eventually.

  “Good luck, Susumu. Rui-chan.” She bowed deeply. “I wish I’d been of greater help.”

  “N-no! Natalia-sama, raise your head!” I fpped my arms wildly. “You helped a LOT! Your guidance… I’ll always remember it. When my life’s in danger, I’ll work hard!”

  I pumped a fist like a true sentai hero.Natalia’s face lit up.

  Rui stretched zily. “Let’s just hope I don’t die. I still have a hundred cakes to eat. And at least a thousand baseballs to knock into the stratosphere.”

  “Now who’s the noh-nuts?!” I crowed proudly.

  Natalia-sama’s ears twitched in delicate horror.

  Rui stared at me.

  “Uh… yeah,” she said ftly. “I have no nuts. Thanks for the anatomy lesson.”

  I flinched. “Wait—NO! I didn’t mean… NOT LIKE… You KNOW I KNOW you don’t!!! NOT THAT I….JUST—”

  My dignity imploded.

  “L-let’s just GO!” I shouted, whirling dramatically.

  I sprinted up the street, my cape fluttering.

  Behind me, Natalia-sama cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted with sunlight in her voice:

  “GO, MAGIRANGER RED!!!”

  And for a moment…Just a moment…I actually felt like a hero.

  Relwing