Maiko Hiko skipped down the street to Naomi Miller's house, practically pirouetting as shi made hir way to hir host family. Naomi met hir in the driveway. The caramel-skinned biracial girl gave the Japanese exchange student a quick hug. "Maiko, you made it!"
"Sure did!" Maiko smirked, striking a flamboyant pose. "I hope your family's ready for me. Then again, nobody ever is. I'm a lot. So, what's your family like?"
"My parents' names are Matt and Ladonna Miller," Naomi answered. "Dad's white and Mom's black. I've got a brother named Evan, but he's in college and spending spring break in Cancún. Dad's a dentist, and Mom's an accountant. They're nice, quiet, ordinary people." Naomi smiled nervously. "So I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell them that I just got back from an orgy. Or that I have a dick in my pants. Or that I'm a werehyena. They're really nice, but I'm not sure they'd get it."
"How perfectly dreary," Maiko sighed theatrically. "Well, I'll humor them so long as they keep feeding me. As far as they're concerned, we're both human and definitely don't have orgies." The kitsune faked a saintly smile.
Naomi laughed. "Riiiiiiiiight. Well, let's go in."
Naomi led Maiko inside, where they were greeted by a sandy-haired man with green eyes and an African-American woman with her hair cropped short. This had to be Matt and Ladonna Miller.
"You must be Maiko Hiko," Matt Miller said with a welcoming smile. He held out a hand for Maiko to shake.
"We usually bow in Japan," Maiko giggled.
"Oh, sorry," Matt apologized, clumsily attempting a bow.
"How have you been liking America so far?" asked Ladonna.
"I think I'm digging it," Maiko smiled. "Seems like a more extroverted country than Japan. More my style, really. I'm a total theater kid, trust me on that."
"Maiko's training to join the Takarazuka Revue," Naomi chimed in.
"What's that?" asked Matt.
"It's a famous all-female Japanese revue show where all the male parts are played by pretty girls in drag," Naomi explained. "It's really splashy, lavish, and Broadway-influenced."
"You can sing and dance?" Ladonna smiled. "You'll have to give use a demonstration sometime!"
"Oh, I'm always ready to show off!" Maiko declared, breaking into a quick tap dance.
"You say all parts are played by women?" Matt asked. "Do you play male or female parts?"
"Male!" Maiko proudly announced. "I've got the height for it. Good thing, too, because those are the choicest roles. I may be a girl, but I pride myself on my boy parts!" Shi smirked at hir stealthy double entendre.
"You'll be sleeping in Evan's old room," Ladonna told the Japanese girl. "That's our son. He moved out last year to go to college."
"Ooh, my own room," Maiko tittered impishly. "The royal treatment. You guys sure know how to treat a guest." Shi ran upstairs to check out hir new room.
"Maiko!" Naomi called. "You're supposed to thank them!"
"Oh... uh... thanks, I guess!" Maiko called down from hir room.
Naomi smiled and shook hir head. Would hir mom and dad be able to handle Maiko's irrepressible sense of mischief? Could they survive hosting a yako kitsune? Shi supposed there was only one way to find out.