After the girls had unpacked their bags and set out their sleeping bags for later in the night, they decided that their hunger outweighed their need for fun at the moment and headed off to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Making their way into the kitchen, Nanami and Anjelica were the most astounded by the abundance of the delicious looking food in there. Nanami had grabbed a plate and was making her way around the kitchen like she knew exactly what she wanted to eat.
"Oh man, my sister Emiko will be soooo jealous when I get to tell her I actually got to eat from the palace's kitchen itself." Nanami said with a smile as the other girls gathered their food.
"You must've been pretty surprised when you were asked to come for a sleepover." Sachiko noted.
"Uh, yeah, who wouldn't be? My big brother comes to me and asks me if I want to have a sleepover with other girls at the palace? My jaw completely dropped when he told me. I actually thought he was making it up at first. But no, my older brother wouldn't do that to me. Genki's not really one to be in the lying habit." Nanami said as she looked around as the other girls ate and a thought soon came to her.
"You know Anjelica, maybe you and I will see more of this palace life someday too." Nanami commented nudging Anjelica on the arm.
"What makes you say that?" Anjelica asked.
"Well isn't it obvious? If Genki marries Kari, then he'll be part of the family and in a way, so will I. And you'll also be part of the family when you marry Mason." Nanami smirked as Anjelica slightly gagged a little bit on her food as Nanami, Stella, and Sachiko giggled at Anjelica's response.
"I...I mean....we're both still kind of young. But you know Mason and I had been great friends for a long time and we did become a couple not long after the war and have had a few dates since." Anjelica blushed as Sachiko, Nanami, and Stella grinned at Anjelica looking like she hadn't told them everything.
"Anything else happen between you two?" Sachiko now asked.
"Well....when he and Fenrir first fused, they....he.....held me in his huge muscular furry arms and.....I might have said I wanted to have his....puppies." Anjelica admitted almost quietly as Sachiko, Nanami, and Stella all began to snicker before they gave a hearty laugh in response while Anjelica could only blush.
"Oh, it's alright Anjelica, you just got a little flustered is all. I wouldn't mind a guy like Mason holding me in his arms if I were in your position. Besides, you two make a great couple." Nanami complimented as Anjelica nodded and the rest of them ate their meal.
As the girls finished their meal, a thought suddenly came to Anjelica.
"Hey, I just realized, we saw the royal family's portraits, but doesn't Mason and his family have a family portrait too?" Anjelica asked.
"Oh! I almost completely forgot about that one. It was made the last time they were here on vacation. Grandma insisted they all get dressed up and had a portrait their anthro forms." Stella said as she guided them down the hall.
The girls looked to see Mika and Claudia, as well as the girls all dressed up in their kimonos while the boys were dressed in their hakamas. Just as Stella had said, they saw the girls looking beautiful in their kimonos while the boys were in their hakamas. The girls noticed Anjelica smiling at Mason in the portrait.
"Alright, why don't we head back to the bedroom so Anjelica doesn't stand here all night fawning over Mason's portrait?" Nanami rhetorically asked as Anjelica gave a meek smile while Sachiko and Stella gave a little giggle.
The girls didn't notice or hear it, but two young kits were following closely behind them and listening to the fun they were having and whispered to each other about how to have a little fun of their own.
Back in Stella's room, Anjelica was showing Stella the joy of painting one's fingernails and toenails. Stella found it really enjoyable and found herself having a great time. She wondered how the rest of the night would go, and that was when Nanami came up with an idea.
"Usually at a sleepover, we can tell a scary story just for fun, any of you know one?" Nanami asked the girls as Sachiko and Stella shook their heads.
"I've got a story, but....it's not for the faint of heart. This is the story of the deadly bear." Anjelica began, but before she continued she went to turn off the bedroom lights and took out a flashlight to set the mood for her story.
"Once....a long time ago in Japan, long after the kitsune had left and had become nothing but myths and legends, the animals of the wild life remained. It was a cold December evening and one farmer's family thought they would have a normal peaceful night. That was until a brown bear suddenly burst in and attacked them at their home!" Anjelica looked as the girls were all listening closely to her story.
"The farmer's wife tried throwing firewood at the beast to drive it away and try and make her escape, but....she was overtaken, knocked down, and dragged into the forest. Men searched the next day to find the bear in the forest. The men found the bear and tried their best to shoot at the beast, but unfortunately only one managed a small hit and the bear managed to avoid death. Now the villagers believed once it had a taste for human flesh, then it would surely return for more." Anjelica continued as the girls were glued into her story.
"Did it come back?" Stella asked as the others quickly shushed her and she quickly apologized.
"The bear did indeed return again to the home, only this time he was greeted with men with guns at the ready. But just like before, somehow only one man managed to shoot the bear, and it once more vanished into the woods. But the the bear's hunger and rage wasn't enough for that night and he struck again attacking another neighboring family. Thankfully the children were only injured but managed to live." Anjelica's story was really starting to catch the interest of the girls now.
"Some time later after the last attack, men waited at the house for the bear to come back, but it didn't. In fact, the bear wasn't seen for two days following the attacking on that family. Police officers did get involved mind you, however they didn't have much luck in those first few days trying to take down the beast due to the winter snow." None of the girls noticed two shadowy figures sneaking into Stella's bedroom and grabbing a bed sheet as they listened in on Anjelica's story.
"Eventually the beast was eventually tracked down. A team of three managed to track down the bear near an oak tree and at last finally ended the bear's life by taking two shots, one to its heart and the other to its head. Now, this may just be a story of a bear, but....there are some who thought the bear to be a Yokai, but no one really knows if these rumors could ever be true, or....could they?" The girls were all now looking especially frightened as they were looking at something towering behind Anjelica.
Anjelica looked behind her to see the towering frightening figure behind them and were making a terrifying growl frightening Nanami, Anjelica, and Stella who all hugged each other in fear and screamed. Sachiko was frightened at first, until she looked down to see the feet of the apparition. She went to turn on the lights as the figure looked around in confusion for a moment before Sachiko removed the sheet to reveal the little trouble making duo Kenji and Sota.
"Relax girls, it's no bear, it's just my mischievous little brothers." Sachiko said showing Sota holding Kenji up on his shoulders before the two fell down onto the floor.
"Come on Sachiko, we were just trying to give Stella some fun for her first sleepover." Kenji said to his sister.
"Yeah, we were just adding to the story by giving you a little scare." Sota said apologizing.
"You two weren't allowed here, it's a girl's only sleepover." Sachiko said crossing her arms as an idea suddenly came into Nanami's head as she whispered an idea to Anjelica and Stella who both nodded at the idea and then Stella whispered it to Sachiko who grinned at the plan too.
"You know what? Since it's a girl's only sleep over, why don't you look more the part?" Sachiko said as the girls now gave mischief grins and giggles as they now tied up the twin boys and began getting to work on them putting makeup, lipstick, and eyeliner on the boys.
The girls soon let the twins out of the room under one condition, which they didn't want to do, but had no other choice in doing. They went up to Lord Tatsu and Lady Shizen who were most befuddled to see the two looking as they were with lipstick and makeup on.
"Hello Lord Tatsu and Lady Shizen, don't we just look pretty?" Kenji and Sota both said as Tatsu looked confused while Shizen saw the girls not far away and put the pieces together as what might have happened.
Kenji and Sota both left feeling embarrassed as Shizen excused herself and went to Stella's bedroom to peek in at the group. Shizen smiled seeing her granddaughter giggling and having a wonderful time with her friends at her first sleepover, and Stella herself couldn't have been happier for the group of friends she had with her that night before they all decided to go to sleep.