Fox and Bunny by Imouto Kitten

Chapter 4: Fox meets a Bunny's Family

It's been a week since Hiko found and took in Tsubomi and the pair have 
developed a rather nice and productive routine. Each day would begin 
with the vixen using her honey bunny to relieve her morning wood to 
their mutual pleasure before a morning of hunting and foraging for the 
fox while the bunny played in the den. After a light lunch, they spend 
the afternoons expanding the den, Hiko using fox fire to soften the 
stone enough for Tsubomi to burrow into and clear out before a relaxing 
bath during which Tsubomi would use her bunny cunny to help her mistress 
relax. Evenings then consisted of Tsubomi assisting Hiko with both 
cooking dinner, usually a veggie stew for the bunny and grilled meat for 
the fox while also brewing various potions.

The somewhat timid bunny girl had proven more helpful than the vixen 
could've imagined, and Hiko decided halfway through the week that 
Tsubomi would be worth keeping around even if the fox girl were to grow 
bored of fucking the adorable little rabbit's bunny cunny.

Hiko's estimate of a week had been mostly an attempt to make Tsubomi 
feel useful, but the industrious little rabbit had taken it as a 
challenge and was as eager to please outside the bedroom as in, and they 
had already managed to double the size of the existing bed chamber to 
give Hiko and her soon to be harem plenty of room for bedding together, 
dug out a second bed chamber for Tsubomi's brothers, and a third to 
serve both as a bed chamber for the bunny's parents and nursery for the 
nameless, baby bunnies. Furthermore, while it would take years of 
training to make Tsubomi a potion maker on par with Hiko, the rabbit's 
help had cut the time the fox needed to prepare the potions for binding 
the bunny's family by more than half.

Hiko was now ready to meet Tsubomi's family and take them all as her 
vassals. Tieing a belt of pouches around her waist, most of them holding 
clay jars of potion or other things vital to the fox's plans, Hiko holds 
up a particularly plump carrot as she says, "Before we leave, I need you 
to eat this carrot." Mouth watering and licking her lips, Tsubomi all 
but snatches the offered veggie from the fox's grip before quickly 
devouring it, the fox smiling. The carrot had been dipped in a low 
powered elixir of control, not strong enough to strip the one dosed of 
their free will as Hiko didn't want mindless slaves, but powerful enough 
that the fox's call would be enough to bring a runaway scampering back 
to her side and make it easier to persuade those dosed to cooperate as 
long as she doesn't ask them to do something that would violate their 
core morals. Hiko has seven more carrots so treated and hopes Tsubomi's 
parents and siblings will be just as eager to eat the offering.

"Now," starts Hiko, "Leave me to you're family's warren."

Both girls transform and follow the tunnel out of the fox's den, 
scanning their surroundings for other predators before dashing out of 
the bushes that conceal the entrance. The black rabbit dashes through 
the autumn leaves littering the ground, the red fox not far behind her.

After some time, they come to a clearing with a single large tree at its 
center and several rows of vegetables radiating out like the spokes of a 
wheel from its roots. Though its foliage has completely turned to their 
autumn coloring, there are no leaves littering the ground around the 
base of the trunk. Approaching the tree, Tsubomi uses her powerful 
hindlegs to thump the ground, creating small tremors. The black rabbit 
repeats this, encircling the tree and thumping the ground in particular 
places with particular rhythms, almost as if she's performing part of a 
ritual dance. Though not familiar with the customs of rabbits, Hiko 
surmises that the pattern serves as a way of communicating to the 
bunny's family in the warren beneath what is clearly a small farm.

Suddenly, Tsubomi halts her thumping and dashes towards the tree, 
disappearing among its roots. Hiko follows, finding a tunnel hidden 
among the roots. Shorter than the one leading into the vixen's den, the 
tunnel opens out into an underground chamber with floor, walls, and 
ceiling of dirt, exposed roots poking out from above and several other 
tunnels leading off, though none large enough to let an adult human pass 
fully upright.

Though Tsubomi enters the room immediately, Hiko hangs back just far 
enough to avoid detection, deciding to let her honey bunny enjoy her 
reunion with her family. As soon as the rabbit resumes her human-like 
form, a large, pear-shaped woman who looks more rabbit than human even 
in human form hops forward and gathers the young girl in a rib cracking 
hug, exclaiming with tears of joy, "My darling Tsubomi! You've returned 
to us!"

"Mama," comes the girl's muffled reply, "I can't breathe."

Loosening her grip and letting Tsubomi take a deep breath, the woman, 
clearly her mother, continues, "We thought you had gotten eaten by a fox 
or something. It's such a relief to see you back home, safe and sound."

As her mother steps back, a trio of dirty, shabbily dress children, a 
pair of identical looking boys and a girl who is Tsubomi's mirror image 
dogpile the prodigal daughter as they shout in unison, Welcome back, 
"Tsubomi-chan!" As an balding man with a beard, the children's father, 
and a pair of older, but still youthful rabits, one a boy, the other a 
girl step forward to stand by the warren's matriarch.

After watching the happy reunion for some time, Hiko enters the warren 
proper and takes her human form before clearing her throat, "I hate to 
break-up this loving, family reunion, but I have business to discuss 
with the family of my recently acquired pet."

Noticing the intruder within her domain, the mother rabit pushes her 
younger children behind her and screams, "FOX IN THE WARREN!" as she 
leaps forward to place herself between the predator and her family as 
her husband and the two eldest of her children still at home take up 
defensive positions around Tsubomi and her litter mates. "Begone, you 
foul beast!"

Spreading her arms in a disarming fashion even as she dons a toothy 
smile, Hiko replies, "Pax, mother rabbit, I mean you and your brood no 
harm. Besides, if I wanted to, I could've slit all your throats before 
you ever knew I was here." As the vixen stares down the rabbit matron, 
looking rather relaxed despite the elder woman's intimidating size, Hiko 
takes in the sights and smells of the warren and it's occupants.

Glancing at the huddle of Tsubomi and her litter mates, the vixen can 
see what Tsubomi meant when she had said that her and Futaba looked 
alike and that their brothers Ninjin and Daikon were the same, but the 
fox's keen nose can easily distinguish Tsubomi from Futaba and Ninjin 
from Daikon even though there scents are mingled, probably from the 
litter having slept in the same pile for most of their lives. Usako is a 
rare beauty with blonde hair and looking far cleaner and better dressed 
than the rest of the family while her twin Usataro is quite well-toned, 
his lack of a shirt showing off a tanned physique that speaks of a life 
toiling in the field and giving off the impression that he's the 
strongest of the group except maybe for the mother rabbit herself. Hiko 
can smell that the elder sibling's scents are even more mingled and that 
Usako smells strongly of herbs the fox knows are used to prevent 
pregnancy, concluding that the pair share an incestuous relationship, 
the vixen frowning internally at how this might complicate her plans.

Glancing at the children's father, Hiko can tell the middle-aged man is 
a fairly submissive creature past his prime but not yet starting the 
decline of ungraceful aging and would conclude he was the type to let 
his wife rule the warren even if said wife wasn't already glaring down 
at the fox. Hiko can also see a bunch of rabbit kits huddled in a 
indentation in the floor near the back wall, but pays little notice to 
the baby bunnies.

It is the mother rabbit who finally ends the staredown by asking, "If 
you do not wish to make meals of my family, what do you want with us, 
little fox?"

Letting the little comment slide, especially since the mother rabit is 
easily the tallest one in the room and Hiko only has a height advantage 
over Tsubomi's littermates and the kits, the fox replies, "I spared 
Tsubomi, second or third of your daughters still at home, from becoming 
my dinner, and have claimed her as my mate by rite of the hunt. In 
return for her agreeing to share my bed, I've promised to refrain from 
knowingly eating any of her family. I come to offer her sisters my 
protection in return for joining her in my bed, and have agreed to allow 
each to choose a brother who will enjoy my protection so long as they 
don't let their sister come to greater harm than themselves."

"And what do you want from me and my husband?" Asks the mother rabbit, 
concealing her discomfort at the thought of the predator before her 
violating her children.

"I originally had no interest in you," starts Hiko, scratching her chin 
in thought, "but, considering that you seem to be of excellent breeding 
stock, I'm willing to extend protection to you in exchange for first 
suitor rights to any future daughters who come of age and for your 
assistance in raising any grandchildren I sire on your daughters."

"That seems surprisingly generous..." Replies the mother rabbit, not 
fully trusting the Fox's words but knowing that the protection of an 
apex predator could be quite valueable to those at the bottom of the 
food chain such as her family. "How do I know this isn't a trick?"

If you don't believe me, why don't you ask Tsubomi-chan how I treated 
her during our first week together?" replies the Vixen.
	
Deciding to risk it, the matriarch turns her back to the vixen as she 
addresses the daughter she had believed to be her most recent loss to 
predation, "Dear little Tsubomi, how has this... young lady been 
treating you?"

Smiling widely, Tsubomi replies, "Living with lady Hiko is very nice. 
She was a bit scary at first, but she's treated me well. Her den is 
really nice, with stone walls, it's own hot spring, and it's several 
times larger than our warren, especially after I helped lady Hiko expand 
it to make room for all of us to move in. Lady Hiko makes a very yummy 
carrot stew for someone who eats meat, and the way she makes me feel 
with her tongue or when she sticks her carrot up my warren is absolutely 
wonderful!"

Though a bit disconcerted by her daughter casually discussing mating in 
front of the family, the mother rabbit senses that Tsubomi is being 
truthful and hasn't been decieved or coerced and can only conclude that 
the predator that has invaded her home is being honest.

"I won't force my daughters to go to your bed," starts the mother 
rabbit, "but if they are willing, I suppose accepting you as a 
daughter-in-law is a small price to pay to ensure my family is safe from 
those who would only see us as food."

"Speaking of food," starts Hiko, pulling the bundle of carrots from the 
largest of the pouches tied around her waist, "As an initial token of 
good will towards my new vassals, I have prepared an offering of what 
Tsubomi assures me is the shared favorite food of her family."

Still not entirely convinced the vixen isn't playing a long con, the 
mother rabbit glances at Tsubomi as she asks, "How do we know these 
aren't poisoned?"

Instead of Hiko, it is her honey bunny who speaks up in her defense, "I 
helped lady hiko prepare those carrots, and I ate mine before we even 
left her den." Taking the young girl's word as assurance, the parents 
and her siblings each take one of the bright orange veggies and eat 
them, Tsubomi's litter mates showing the same impatience she did herself 
while the older rabbits take time to savor the offering.

Smiling internally at having succeeded in dosing the entire family with 
the elixer that will ensure none of them attempt open rebellion, Hiko 
pulls out a jar filled with an orange liquid as she starts to explain, 
"This potion will mask your kit's scent from most predators. Simply 
dribble a few drops on their tongues the next time you nurse them. It's 
not the strongest protection I can give them, but anything stronger 
might be harmful at their age, and since they'll likely remain in the 
new nursery Tsubomi helped me build back at my den for quite some time, 
it'll probably be more than sufficient." The matriarch takes the jar, 
and after opening it, takes a whiff and sip, and deciding it's not 
likely to be poisoned, heads over to feed her youngest litter.

"I've marked Tsubomi as my mate, and intend to do the same with her 
sisters, which provides a very strong form of protection as only someone 
vastly stronger than myself or supremely stupid would dare touch someone 
marked as a kitsune's mate. I originally planned to do this before 
returning to my den, but now that I see the conditions you live under, 
I'd rather wait until we get back to my den."

Done with her explanations for the time being, Hiko looks over the 
family taking in how worn and faded their clothing is, even USako, the 
nicest dressed in something the fox would consider unacceptable before 
asking, "Do you need any help packing? You don't seem to have much 
beyond the clothes on your backs, and I can provide much nicer clothes 
for all of you."

"Well," says the father rabbit, speaking up for the first time, "It's 
about time to start harvesting for winter, and while Usataro and I 
aren't bad at growing food, even this small field of ours takes about a 
week to harvest."

Having prepared for such a possibility, Hiko pulls a stack of origami 
figures from a pouch, and infusing them with a bit of fox magic enlarges 
and animates them, "I've spent this past week foraging and hunting, and 
my storeroom is well stocked with grain and vegetables for the coming 
winter, but adding your harvest to the stores can't hurt and it would be 
a waste to leave your crops to rot. They aren't very smart, but these 
paper figures should be able to save you and your son quite a bit of 
time and labor."

And indeed, the veritible army of magical constructs allows the two 
rabbit men to finish the harvest in a few hours rather than several 
days. Thanks to Hiko coming prepared with several shrunken baskets and 
the family of rabbits having few material possessions, it isn't long 
before the family is ready to follow their new mistress to their new 
home. The mother rabbit hefts a basket containing her youngest litter 
while Hiko and the other rabbits each carry a basket of freshly 
harvested produce.

As Hiko leads her new vassels back to her den, it's all she can do to 
contain her excitement at the prospect of sharing her bed with not one, 
but three bunny girls.