"So, this other Fox Animalian is another Silver Fox?" Raoul Renée asked as he sat with Juliet in her main office.
"Technically, her species would be a Red Fox, silver is just one of the color phases the Red Fox has," Juliet answered, "but yes... and apparently took my name."
Raoul blinked hard at this. Some of the reports that were coming out of a "Juliet Renard-Argente taking up dancing at the strip club that was built to be on the property that Juliet owned sent off alarm bells across the region, and while he and Juliet had begun something of a formal relationship, at least so far as a Fox Animalian of a noble heritage and a French/Algerian bureaucrat in the Fifth Republic could manage, the reports that came in were still alarming and one that brought him in with great concern. For while France had no particular problems with Animalians having a higher libido than normal Humans, they did still have laws and regulations regarding those in the teaching profession, and that included morality related requirements, largely to make sure that teachers could not be blackmailed in an embarrassing position.
And with Juliet's school having the potential to run from elementary all the way into high school ages, they couldn't really allow Juliet to take up a role as a "stripper," regardless of an Animalian's libido. Privately, Raoul didn't completely mind, but he also knew that providing some education and helping children mature to where they could make their own choices and succeed was a big part of Juliet's life and enjoyment and she took pride in seeing the girls she'd taught advance, even if it was helped by conversion. He didn't want to see Juliet end up losing her life's work, and in part what helped her keep her ownership of the chateau. Thus, he had come once some of these rumors started circulating before anything happened that would force the closing of her school, which would then force her to send ALL of the students back to their homes, even those that converted. Though this story that it was actually another woman who'd apparently taken on Juliet's name sounded odd and left him curious.
"So... a Chinese or Japanese woman on Heiya Island became the same color phase of Fox as you, and took YOUR name?" Raoul asked.
“It’s quite the story if you’d like to hear,” Juliet answered.
“I believe I’ll have to in order to assure parents and my superiors that actual teacher is not getting involved in the more adult aspects that would come along with the colony here,” Raoul commented.
Juliet slowly chuckled and began to retell the story...
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The visit to Heiya Island as they celebrated Songkran was something that Juliet had worked out that would function as an extended part of her student's Easter Break but would also provide for a means of a sort of cultural exchange to let them learn more about the world. After all, those who had converted would be free to choose where they lived once they made it through the requirements for high school. From there, they could go on to university, and Juliet had made sure to see whether or not the girls had interest in that. And since they had already visited Lyre/Animalia and would likely be fairly familiar with other European cultures, Heiya Island seemed like a good place to let them experience something they wouldn't see in France.
Some of it was soon presented with some of the other surprises that came along visiting new places. Olympe and a couple of the younger male students were curious about what the kids, largely those that had been rescued by Interpol and were either in adoptive homes on Heiya island, or living family had joined them on Heiya island, did for school. This struck Juliet as simple curiosity, and that wasn't a bad thing, but when they arrived, they found that the schools on Heiya Island were still in session that afternoon and thus they didn't have the same benefit that Juliet's students got on this occasion as being part of a private school program. Some of this was a bit disappointing, but the guides that were there to meet them also explained that once Songkran started on April 13, the school day would be shorter and there would be no homework due until the Monday after the "holiday." It might then allow Juliet's students to interact with some of the local children and learn about their lives and culture on the island.
And their time on Heiya Island did provide answers for various questions for Juliet's students, such as the fact that Songkran came to Heiya Island not because the people of Japan actually celebrated the holiday, but because some of the people that had been rescued from various criminal smuggling rings and either didn't know their families or had no surviving family were from Thailand and managed to remember the celebration there and wished to continue it. Having a small Buddhist temple on the island, a lot of that was no problem, and various elements that were typical in Thailand were incorporated into Heiya Island's routine, though it gained a life of its own as many of those who were not originally from Thailand wanted to expand on certain concepts as part of a sort of "spring renewal" that seemed to involve a lot of water balloon fights in certain areas, among other things.
The thing that set things up was on April 15, the last day. Things had gone well, and some of her students had picked up a few basic words and phrases of Japanese and Chinese. It was limited to "hi, my name is..." and the like, but it worked and it allowed for everyone to learn a lot more about Animalia's colonies, and thankfully, the "fan girls" didn't bother Juan too much as he helped Juliet with chaperone related duties as part of his own education, which Juliet was to take notes on to provide as recommendations and observations to those running the education training program that Juan was enrolled in to teach at French schools. Though, Juan also mentioned that he counted himself lucky in that regard as he didn't know what he'd say to Desiree over the fawning that these girls gave him on first meeting him. As they were settling in for some lunch and a bit of relaxation before preparing for the flight back to France the next morning, one of the servers decided to play a bit of a prank and spiked Juliet's tea with something that was quite strong.
"This... this is different..." Juliet said slowly, and her speech slurring a bit, which soon caught Gigi and Olympe's attention and they looked toward Juliet. "What kind of tea was this?"
"A family specialty, madam," the man gave a rather toothy smile, "guaranteed to loosen things up a bit."
"Loosen things up," Juliet said, her voice slurring a bit and leading her to get up as her mind didn't feel completely there and she began to stagger out.
The last thing she heard was Gigi barking at the restaurant's server for getting Juliet drunk and with Olympe joining in, while Juan was hurriedly trying to settle things and keeping the other students present under control. Juliet really wasn't paying attention and simply staggered out of the restaurant and found herself ambling along, and swaying a bit side to side as she tried to avoid bumping into people that were around. A part of her recognized the sense that she was drunk, memories of what had happened in Lyre shortly after the girls converted. There it had been too much champagne and not paying enough attention, this time it had to be some other kind of liquor and something that had far more alcohol than what champagne or wine would have. Thankfully, no one appeared to have any cameras, as if anything like this made the internet, she could probably kiss her teaching career goodbye.
There was a little bit of activity going on that she could hear, and thankfully no one decided to throw a water balloon at her. But her mind was presently quite hazy and all she really wanted was a place where she could just lay down and rest. Her head didn't hurt, but it was clear that she was in no real condition to do much of anything as the alcohol in her system was impeding various motor functions and she sort of staggered and wasn't even fully aware that she was headed toward the north shore of the island, where a "wet tee-shirt contest" was one of the things that had been added to Songkran on Heiya Island. Given the cooler and more temperate temperatures, the rational part of Juliet's mind would question why they do that, when the articles on the holiday's tradition had nothing to do with nudity or anything close to it. The part of her that wanted to lie down, also wasn't entirely sure why she'd headed in that direction. She supposed some sand would make for a soft bed, but other than that, her mind wasn't too focused...
The only thing that snapped her mind back into some sense of attention was when she heard a voice speak over a set of loudspeakers in Japanese, "and now the winner of the 2023 Songkran Wet Tee-Shirt contest, Renard-Argente, Juliet!"
That made Juliet blink, as she wasn't in a swimsuit and neither was she in a tee shirt. Even if the main educational part of the trip was over, she was still essentially fulfilling an educational function, and thus she wore a blue button-down blouse and a dark blue skirt. She wasn't even wearing anything that would typically be used in these contests. And while her understanding of oriental languages was somewhat weak and she and her students had largely had to rely on translators, she did know her own name. And she knew she had not entered into some contest that would only end her teaching career, let alone win it.
"What?" Juliet spoke, slowly, and noticing the slur in her voice and she would privately curse herself later for butchering her own language, "I did not enter any contest."
“Oh, hello!” came a bright and cheerful voice in Japanese as Juliet looked to see another silver phase Red Fox Animalian bound before her. She wore a pair of short denim shorts and a white tee shirt that was thoroughly soaked and gave Juliet a full view of the dark black and silver fur that covered the Animalian’s breasts and with dark black nipples standing erect through the fabric, indicating that it was cold water, “You’re another Silver Fox!”
Juliet also noticed the trophy that the other Fox Animalian carried, which indicated that this Silver Fox Animalian was likely the one pretending to be her. She didn't fully know what was said, but in her present state and learning that someone had taken her name and won a wet tee shirt contest using it, she was not in a good mood. To some degree, she could accept and recognize where her libido was higher than before, but in her mind, the only one she would let see her in some state of undress would be Raoul, and she wasn't about to let some copycat essentially destroy her career.
"You took MY name!" Juliet cried out in a very angry sounding French, which wasn't great given the intoxication that she'd been tricked into had led to her words being slurred.
She could hear footsteps coming and noting that one was Josephine, and another was one of translators that had helped Josephine and her students work with those that didn't speak French. When they found some that spoke English, some things worked out well, but that wasn't always perfect, and Juliet wasn't in a state to see as to whether or not the other Fox Animalian spoke English. The interpreter was about to try and get into things while Josephine caught Juliet before she fell down. The thing that became the most surprising thing was then when the other Fox Animalian.
"You're French!" the other Fox Animalian spoke in near perfect French. There was a bit of an accent, but to some degree that often happened with those who didn't grow up with any language when they tried to learn that language, and Juliet was too drunk and too upset to really care.
"Yes, I am French," Juliet spoke, "I am Madame Juliet Renard-Argenté, born to a noble family the Champagne region of France... near the village of Mardeuil. And you are some slut who stole MY NAME to ruin MY life and all that I've worked for... to help those the government couldn't... give them an education that would give them a chance to learn and make choices... not get pushed into the army because he wasn't smart enough to run the vineyard and then get killed in hazing incident!"
That grew gasps from all present. Josephine was among the most surprised by some of this, as it sounded confusing. Part of her mind wondered if Juliet had offered to teach her and the others to keep them from being sent into the army, but that made little sense as her parents had no plans for that. It made her wonder if something like that had happened to Juliet, or a family member in the past. The fact that Juliet was aiming the attack on another silver phase Red Fox Animalian added to her own sense of confusion. The two Fox Animalians looked fairly similar, with the obvious differences in what they were wearing, but Josephine still noted that there were other differences. Juliet had brown hair while the other fox had black hair, and had it cut in a different style, and well shorter than Juliet's style. There were also differences in the eyes in that this other Fox Animalian had more Japanese eyes than what one would expect from a person of European ancestry.
"I didn't steal anyone's name, and I'm not a slut," the other Fox Animalian answered, lowering one ear, "I just like to have fun. Stuck with overbearing parents who were all very traditional... and by that a traditional Japanese family. No fun... no anime. No manga. No looking at all the other places in the world. In high school I was able to find a tourist guidebook that covered all the world, and it was neat. Particularly some of the things mentioned on France... Wine... parties, pastry... the can can... it all seemed fun, and I wanted a piece of that, but never could. Which lead to me being depressed, and so I ended up eating... and... that lead to me gaining weight."
"That doesn't explain you taking my teacher's name," Josephine spoke, while holding Juliet up.
"I'm getting to that," the other Fox Animalian spoke, "for while my parents were traditional... as I went into college, they let me have some freedom there. Though as I got my degree, and ultimately made decent money designing ads for various companies in Japan... I was soon busy with other things. Deadlines, schedules, and everything else... I got the opportunity to learn French and learn more about the country, which just seemed to sing to me, but it became clear that I wouldn't get the time to travel and that only added to the depression. It's only when I found myself being so out of shape that I couldn't keep up with things that I decided to convert. It'd be a new start... and the color phase for the Red Fox was just so cute. There is this lady in Minnesota... or at least I think it's Minnesota in the US who runs a rescue for foxes and has a Silver Fox that is just so cute with her long fur... so I went with that."
"And my name?" Juliet managed.
"Well... it was a new start for me, and a new life to go with it," the other Fox Animalian spoke, "so I couldn't stay with Kasumi Bindo... a boring name for a boring person held down by first family tradition and then deadlines. So I needed something new... a new name. So, I went into the various things that I'd read about from the tourist books that I found interesting... along with literature. I liked "Romeo and Juliet," though it's a shame that both main characters died..."
Juliet watched quietly, while Josephine held her up, with one hand on Juliet's shoulder and the other at Juliet's waist.
"So, I went with that... and then simply because I'd become a Silver Fox Animalian and have long loved all things French... I just added Renard-Argente as something that would be cute and a new name for a new start. My parents could still call me Kasumi, and I can still do a lot of the ad design work... but with things being a new start, I went with what I thought would be fun. And it'd fuel the hope for time to one day see France... though, I never expected to run into anyone with this name who teaches kids to keep them out of the army."
"I don't teach to prevent military service," Juliet answered, "I teach to preserve choices. If the girls I've taught... or the young men I'm teaching now one day CHOOSE to join the military, that is their choice. And your choice of name could well ruin that because when people find your name in these records... or in captions, even on "adult" sections for Animalia's website, they will assume it was ME and I will pay the price for your desire to have fun."
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"So... it was all dumb luck that she ended up with the same name as you?" Raoul asked.
"Apparently," Juliet answered, "though, I would think she was researching more than just France. Shakespeare was English, and "Romeo and Juliet" takes place in what is now Italy."
"And you brought her back here?" Raoul asked, with more narrowed eyes.
"I have no doubt that her win in that wet tee shirt contest will make the internet and WILL become known," Juliet answered, "and given that her fandom and interest in France has brought about her being fluent in our language, I felt it proper that she come so that she may be able to put out a statement on who she is and that she and I are not the same Animalian. We will be working on an alternative name for her than mine... but it will otherwise be needed to be done. Or at least to make it public that we are different people and she's just coincidentally created a stage name that matches my actual name."
"And what about the guy who spiked your tea, that started all this?" Raoul asked.
"Given that if I hadn't gotten drunk and wandered into a stupor to the north shore beach, I wouldn't have found out about Miss Bindo pretending to be me... or at least having my name," Juliet answered, "I did let the restaurant know that I wouldn't push any criminal charges, or push for him to lose his job... but I did request that a fourth of his pay check go to the school district there on Heiya Island."