Anon-san’s Escort
Part 3.5

“This is what joy feels like. It has to be.” 

The words were said aloud, and yet the world was silent. The only sound I could hear was the slow, rhythmic beat of a heart, echoing through the whole of my being. I had never felt this way before. This warmth, this comfort, was unlike anything else in my world. 

So warm. 

It was like being submerged in a hot bath, but dry, safe, and soft. I let the feeling carry me like the current in a river. I sighed, I stretched and I let my thoughts wander. 

The life of a programmer was definitely lonely. So much of my time was spent hiding away from other human beings. I had spent so many late nights hammering away at the keyboard.  And I’d spent many more late nights doing the same, but with one hand off the keyboard. 

But this feeling, it drew something out of me. Before, I had been afraid of other people. The reason? Just a simple inferiority complex.  That’s what I had told myself. Everyone seemed better than me, so I spent all of my time trying to better myself. So I worked hard. I learned my trade. I developed a confident persona. I excelled in my class, and even landed my dream job. I never wanted to be a burden on anyone, and so I became independent. 
That drive to get stronger was all a lie, though. I knew, probably all along, that the real reason I threw myself into my work was dumber than that. I was afraid. Afraid of letting myself get close. Afraid of opening up. Afraid of letting someone else see my weakness, if they could see me at all. 

I was afraid. Was. Not anymore. This joy I felt. This comfort came front vulnerability. Someone had opened themselves to me, and I had let myself be enveloped by their presence. That’s what this was. 

Right?

“Eeep!”

I jolted awake at the sound of Shiori’s cry. And nearly blacked out again when the back of my head hit something hard. When I opened my eyes, I was on my back, as well as on the floor, in my t-shirt and pajama bottoms. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, anxiously looking around as a yawn escaped my mouth. “Shiori? Where are you? Are you okay?” I sat up, looking toward the couch I had tumbled off of.

Shiori was there, and dressed in her adorably snug pajamas just as before. Her hands were clasped together in front of her bountiful chest, her posture hunched and stiff. “Anon-san, you’re still here! Did you…D-D-D-Did we!?” She stammered. One again, her blushing cheeks shone through her black fur. 

“Did we what?” I yawned, dumbly. I stretched my back, then my arms.  When I looked back at Shiori, she was wringing her hands nervously. Her big, fluffy tail, having pried itself from the tight squeeze between Shiori’s bulky behind and the couch, was wagging rapidly.

Shiori’s lip trembled. “D-D-Did we…do…something?” She said, her ears down. I swore I could hear her heart slamming away in her chest. She was beginning to hyper ventilate. It was absolutely adorable.

Or it would have been had I been fully conscious. I tilted my head to the side. “We enjoyed some cherry cola, you played Shadow of the Colossus…” I said, the events of last night returning to me. Shiori looked mortified. “…And then we bonded over how cute the Colossi are, and we had this moment.”

Shiori nodded seriously, her ears perking up. It seemed she was remembering the night as well.

I scratched the back of my head. “And then you held on to me, and I held on to you too.”

Shiori blushed deeper at that. She closed her eyes, and a tiny smile appeared on her face. “You comforted me until I fell asleep, Anon-san.” She opened her eyes and looked down into mine. “Thank you.” 

With the cobwebs clearing from my head, I suddenly remembered the situation we were in. Even though Shiori towered over me due to the way we were sitting, I could feel how small and vulnerable she was emotionally. I looked back into her eyes, and I could see the puffy redness; a reminder of the tears she shed. I didn’t have any words this time. I just smiled back at her.

I remembered the feeling of holding her. In the back of my head, I knew that I desperately wanted to experience that again. I wanted to memorize every curve of her body, feel every plump contour of her tall frame, and let her overpowering warmth surround me again. She was just so damned beautiful. Distractingly so, if fact.

Shiori’s light blue eyes were dazzling even after having cried so much the night before. The sunlight streaming in through the hotel room’s balcony door cast a heavenly golden glow on Shiori’s pitch black coat of fur. She gazed into me with intensity, her smile gently widening. I was so caught up in her beauty, I barely noticed her eyes slowly drift downward.

She covered her face almost instantly. “A-ANON!” she squealed as she peeked at me through her big, soft paws. 

“Huh?” I blinked stupidly. “What is it, Shiori?” 

Shiori began to quiver as she pointed a fuzzy finger at my lap. My eyes snapped down as directed, and what should I see but one hell of a raging boner. It seemed that my body had taken the restraint I had shown last night as a challenge; biding its time until I was vulnerable and half-asleep to spring into action. There was a tent pitched in my pajama pants, and the button on the front, my only ally in this battle was struggling to keep my body’s intentions from showing through. 

“Oh, son of a bitch!” I barked, leaping to my feet. I took a quick step and snatched up a pillow from the couch. Sitting down on the opposite side from Shiori, I placed the pillow strategically over my lap. As casually as possible, I muttered. “Alright, Shiori. I’m covered.”

“Hmm?” I heard Shiori murmur from the other side of the couch. When I looked up, I saw that her eyes were away from my face. She was biting her lip, staring straight at the pillow on top of my crotch. When she noticed that I was looking back at her, her eyelids fluttered and she went right back to looking embarrassed. “Oh! Um. Ah. Thank you, Anon-san.”

I smiled then. We were both awkward, and that made this easier on the both of us. I put a hand to my face, snickered for a second, and then wiped the sweat from my brow. “Okay. Okay. Shiori? Can we talk about this?”

Shiori’s ears dropped and her body once again became tense. It looked like she was trying to shrink, despite having a full head of height over me. “W-what do you mean, Anon-san?”

I took a deep breath. Just spit it out. What do you have to lose, besides your career, your dignity and potentially the respect of this impossibly beautiful, extra large kitsune? ”Shiori, it’s obvious that there’s something between us. It’s only been about a day, but I feel like I we have a connection. I get that you’re my attendant while I’m in Tokyo, and I’m supposed to stay casual.

Shiori’s gaze shifted away from me, her eyes seeming to dart about the corners of the room. She was hugging her own tail, seemingly for comfort now. 

Undeterred, I continued. “I want to know you, Shiori. I don’t want you to just be my translator or my guide. I meant what I said last night; you don’t have to be alone anymore.”

“Anon-san…” Shiori’s eyes were half-lidded. The blush on her cheeks deepened. Her mouth was moving, but no words came out. She was waiting for me to continue.

“I don’t want to let you go, Shiori. I know that we’re basically strangers, but…But it’s clear to me that you’re someone special, Shiori. And I’d be an idiot to let you go.” A bead of sweat coursed down the side of my face. I could feel the heat rising on my own cheeks, now. There was no turning back. “That’s why, no matter what happens while I’m here in Japan, I want to spend as much time as I can, with you.” My hand shot out; it grasped Shiori’s paw firmly. That seemed to spook her a bit, but she held on. The softness of her paw pads closing around my hand made me feel safe, and strong. “You said I had two days until the meeting, right? Then let’s spend that time together, Shiori. Just you and me. The only thing in Tokyo that I really want to experience is you, Shiori. Would you go out with me?”

Shiori looked taken aback. I could feel her racing pulse through her paw, and the shock in her eyes was clear. For a horrible moment, I thought that I had fucked everything up in one fell swoop. She gulped, drew in her own deep breath, then spoke; smiling radiantly. 

“Yes. I will, Anon-san.” Her face was a deep crimson, and with her smiling like this I noticed that she had one adorable little snaggletooth in her mouth of sharp canid teeth. Her paw squeezed my hand, and to my own astonishment, she began to lean in closer to me. Shiori shifted her prodigious girth, causing the couch to creak softly, and she let her forehead touch mine, never losing that hypnotic eye contact with me.

This close up, Shiori’s eyes were like shimmering lakes on the horizon, glittering in the morning sunlight. “
But, Anon-san…” She purred, in a husky, velvety tone of voice I hadn’t imagined coming from her until now. 

Beads of sweat gathered on my forehead. My mouth went dry , and I desperately licked my lips before croaking out a response. 
“Y-yes, Shiori?” I asked.

Shiori inched even closer. Her body was touching mine; her breasts smushed softly against my arm as Shiori spoke gently into my ear. Despite her sudden confidence, she still stammered slightly. “What exactly d-did you mean, when you said you want to ‘Experience’ me…?”