The Next Chapter: 25

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 25: Who's That Knocking on the Door?

"So uh..."
"Yeah?"

Ed and Jay were sitting across the table from L'hoxifel and Kyosuke, respectively. Even though he'd agreed to this 'double date' thing, it still felt slightly awkward to have an audience to their conversation. The demon-girl gave him an encouraging smile, though, and he went on: "I got a reply back to my email. She didn't have any problem sending me the code for the 'vixen society' app, but also mentioned it probably won't work on anything anymore. Also—apparently I'm the first person to ask who isn't some kind of security researcher."

"Pfft. I can see that," L'hoxifel said. "Magic is a pretty big attack surface if nothing's shielded against it. Some harmless-ish pranks are one thing..." She paused, looking Jay's way. "You know, you're kinda making him nervous there."

Ed's roommate had been leaning her elbows on the table, hands on her cheeks, just staring happily across at the kitsune, with her tail swishing back and forth. Kyo definitely seemed uncertain and fidgety, and his cheeks were a little red. She sat up. "Sorry~. I was just thinking about how cute Kyo wa—uh, is," she said.

"You should really tone it down a little," Ed said. "I think you're gonna scare him off."

"I-it's not like that," Kyo protested.
"It's okay, I know I can be a little thick sometimes," Jay admitted. "If I'm ever coming on too strong, you can just tell me, and I'll back off."
"Sure...thanks," he said, nodding and looking a little relieved after all.

"He is cute, though~," L'hoxifel said quickly.

"Soo—what's this code like?" Jay asked.

"Com-plete-ly unreadable nonsense. I've seen code written with only tabs and spaces that was more understandable. All the variable names and comments are total unicode barf, like someone held alt and tapped numpad keys until they got a symbol they thought looked pretty. Some of what I could sort of understand would only work if it was self-modifying code, but the language it's written in won't even let you do that."

"And, this program was made by some kitsune to let them channel magic?" Kyo asked.
"I dunno if they wrote it, but supposedly that's how it was used, yeah."

"Maybe they used magic to modify the code while it was running, then?"

"How would you do that? Look, 'running code' consists of a bunch of small, very specific electrical signals inside of a processor. Can magic precisely control electricity, like to the quantum level?"

"Not...that I know of. Hmm." Kyosuke rubbed his cheek for a moment.

"Maybe that's backwards, then. Magic doesn't modify the code, but the code acts like a ritual to 'program' some magic, and then the magic does stuff that looks like code?"

"That sounds even less plausible," L'hoxifel said. "How would you source the magic? I don't think ambient magic would be enough to do much, plus it'd be really noticeable to anyone nearby with the right senses if you started sucking that up into someone's phone. From what I could find, there wasn't anything obviously special about the phones running the app unless it was being actively used to channel magic at someone."

"Well, if you wanna use magic as a program, and you're gonna channel magic to the phone anyway, why not use that magic?" Jay said.

The other three at the table paused, looking at her. "What?" she tilted her head. "Is that stupid?"

"It's..probably right, actually," Kyosuke said.

"The 'front face' of the app was just a text-chat with the kitsune who made it, one of them a nine-tails," L'hoxifel added. "It'd be trivial for just one or two of the more powerful 'members' to pump a little bit of magic through all the time to make it work, and then put a lot more through when they wanted to actually accomplish something."

"There's different code for the 'server' and the 'client'," Ed said. "A lot of it is copied, but there are some differences—just not anything I can make sense of. I think some of the insane bit-shifting that looks like it's not doing anything is what doesn't work anymore, in newer phone firmwares. No computer scientist would have a clue how to make a program not 'channel magic', but I guess that part of the code might've been essential for it to do that?"

"In that case—you'd need to figure out what the bit shifting is, exactly," said the demon-girl. "Maybe someone who understands ritual magic could figure out how it translates, and give you back the 'code' it would've run."

Ed sighed. "That's gonna take me forever to work out. But I guess it's a start."

---

After getting all of their new clothes and other necessities put away, Fritz's little group headed for OZK's dining room for some lunch. Hendrix said, "By the way Gi—uh...what was it again?"

"Vanilla~! Gio's still fine, though," The catgirl said, shrugging.

"Cool. How d'you keep your tail from..." She lifted a napkin with one hand, using the index finger of the other to gently flip half of it upward.
"Oh, that? It's pretty easy, you just don't let the tail go that way. The clothes for people with tails even have extra holes if they need 'em," she said.

"You...inspect a lot of dresses in the store?" Fritz asked.
"No, no—L'hoxifel told me. I guess it's way more awkward for her, having wings too. Plus—like—how d'you keep a pair of horns from breaking every top you put on?"

"Lots of practice, I'd assume," Sasha said. Her own ears, soft though they were, were big enough to provide some experience with that kind of difficulty.

Nancy entered, quietly continuing on to the kitchen, as their conversation continued. Fritz said, "I guess it's nice to've gone with someone who had some empathy for the situation, at least..."

"You'd never know it, though," Sasha replied.

"How long d'you think it takes for someone who was transformed to be basically indistinguishable?" she continued.

Sasha and Hendrix looked at each other briefly, then at the catgirl. Finally, at exactly the same time, they said: "Five minutes."

"Whaaat? I'm still nowhere near used to any of this," Vanilla protested.

Coming back out with a plate of food, Nancy interjected: "Oh, did L'hoxifel tell you all she used to be a guy, too?"
"Uh-huh," Vanilla said, the others nodding.

"Still giving people that story...I guess, the way OZK's membership's wound up so far, it doesn't hurt one fit in," she said with a slightly exaggerated shrug.

"Are you...saying she wasn't originally male?" Fritz asked.
"Oh, no—I couldn't possibly tell you one way or the other," she said. "I didn't meet her 'till college. I guess Camilla might actually know." With that, she continued out of the room to, presumably, eat her meal elsewhere.

"...Okay, is there some good reason she felt a need to make it sound all suspicious?" Hendrix asked after a moment.

"I dunno. Little weird, though," Sasha agreed.

"Maybe she just feels left out?" the catgirl suggested. "Ooh, you should use your magic to turn her into a guy!"

"Uhh, no," Fritz said with a glare, the others giving her some similar, if milder, disapproving looks.

"Whaat? What's the use of having crazy powers if you never use them?!"

---

"You wanna try some of this, Eddy?" L'hoxifel offered.
"Uh, sure.." He reached across the table with his fork to try a little of her food. "You can..I could cut you off some of mine if you want?"
"It does look good~," she said, smiling.

"Ooh, yeah! Ed and L'hoxifel are using pet names," Jay observed. "Do you wanna do that?"
Kyo paused, his face flushing and his hand with a fry in it hovering halfway off the plate. "Errm. Y'know—there's a thing I might call you anyway. If I'm not careful."
"Huh?" The redheaded fox-girl tilted her head slightly, then caught on after a moment's pause. "Oooh, yeah, the whole 'master' thing!"

"Uh—what?" Ed asked; L'hoxifel giggled slightly.
"It's—uh—a kitsune thing," Kyo tried to explain.

"I can tell you later if you want," the demon-girl added. "Anyway—nicknames like that aren't for everyone, and I guess 'Jay' and 'Kyo' already can't get much shorter."

"Hmm..what about 'kyo-kun'? 'Kyo-chan'?" Jay suggested. "That could be cute, right?"
"Uh. Yeah," he nodded slowly. "I guess I could get used to that. Little weird when that's almost a normal way to address me in my native language, buut, I'm familiar enough with weeaboo culture to give it a pass."

---

After lunch, Rob and Camilla sat in the lounge, both of them playing games while sitting side-by-side on the couch. "Hey. Th'Rockruff I just caught has perfect IV's."

"No way, it does not."
"Well, you explain these stats, then," she said, waving her screen across at him.

"...That's level seven, not five."

"Oh. Well, at least I can get dusk form..."

He sat up slightly, his catlike ears twitching. "Something wrong?"
"Eh. Just the doorbell."

"Well. You know the rules." Those being: Whoever heard the doorbell first had to get it.
"Totally unfair to people with cat ears..." He got up anyway, setting his console down to go see who it was.

The doorbell didn't go off a second time; whoever was waiting for him to slowly walk to the front door was either patient, or had already given up and left. It turned out to be the former: A guy a little on the tall side, dressed professionally, with shoulder-length pitch black hair and bright, piercing red eyes. "Hello there," he said calmly, his expression mild and friendly. Nonetheless, something about those eyes made Rob not want to look directly into them. "Is Nancy about?"
"Uh—yeah. I think," he said. At least, he hadn't heard her leave since the last time his feline ears had heard her voice in a hallway. "I can go get her, but—in case she wants to know—who's asking?"

"Just her dear sweet elder brother," he said. That would make him...Richard Tanner, "Rich" for short.

"Oh. All right."

He felt a slight sense of relief after turning around to go get her. Was it because he knew who this was—from hearing Nancy and Camilla talk about him a few times—or because he didn't have to try to look into those eyes anymore? It was hard to be certain. Either way, once he delivered the message, he could get back to his girlfriend and his game.

"...What." Nancy's expression when he told her was uncharacteristically dark.

"Uh, I said—"

"I heard what you said. I—just—what in the name of seven distinct deities is he doing here!?" she demanded, not really of Rob but more of the universe in general. "Uuurrrghh...!" She stormed out of her bedroom door, nearly bowling him over in the process, and on toward the front door.

Well, now Rob was kind of curious. It had never really seemed like Nancy disliked her brother particularly; if anything, they all had reason to be grateful to him for putting up a lot of the funding—and commissioning some of the expertise—to have the new house built. He knew how siblings could be sometimes, but this reaction still seemed a little extreme. So he decided to follow at enough of a distance to be around a corner, where his kitty ears could still pretty much pick up any non-whispered conversation.

"Hello, sister dear."

"What. Do you. Want." She was still audibly seething.

"Well, since some business of mine took me nearby, I thought it might be a fine opportunity to look in on my investment. You know, see how the new chapter's doing and all."
"This...isn't really a good time for a tour," she said, seeming to recover at least a mask of civility. "Most of our members are out doing stuff, for one thing."

"But of course. I'm sure it would be much better for me to visit this evening, while you're all deciding on a provisional, initial Grand Council."
"Wha—how—!?"

Richard chuckled softly. "Well—a certain mage told me your population was on the rise, and Ursa shared a little video you recorded that confirmed you were approaching a certain sort of critical mass. Obviously both of them were just as concerned as I am that our fair sorority's major traditions are upheld, or at least rejected with intention rather than due to ignorance. I know full well how you prefer to work from backstage rather than being up front, and there's no better time to take care of official business than a Saturday night, is there?"

Nancy audibly took a long, deep breath, but didn't seem to come out of it any calmer than before. "You said. Very clearly. That we would be independent. That there would be no effort to exert control over the new chapter. That was, as far as I remember, your idea."

"Oh, of course. I don't intend to give any orders at all—just some information. History. Advice, at worst."
"You know what happens when you give 'advice', dear brother. Especially to people who don't know you!"

"Well, if you'd prefer I sit in another room and have someone else relay my words, that could be arranged."

"You're not about to tell me Gerar is in town too." That would be...Richard's girlfriend, who Rob had heard was a dragon. A literal one.

"Oh, no, of course not. Though perhaps you, or one of the other members, or even your faculty advisor could serve the role?"

"…Aaauuugh. Never mind! Fine, you can tell them whatever you want, after making it extremely clear they don't have to follow any of it."

"I have no objection to that. I'm glad we could come to an agreement."

Rob felt like he'd been nosy enough at about this point, and that Camilla might be wondering what was taking so long, so he headed back to the lounge.

"Who was it?" she asked, of course.

"Nancy's brother."
"Rich?"
"Yeah. He wanted to talk to her...something about a 'grand council'?"
"Oooh, yeah. That's what the meeting tonight's gonna be about."

"You, uh, already knew that?"
"Well. Like. I was pretty sure. Nancy totally does not want to be in charge, after all. It's all in the charter, too. You...did read that before signing up, right?"

"As I remember it, I was a little too concerned with not being stuck as a catgirl at the time," he pointed out.

"Well. Don't worry, it's no big deal. I don't think you'll be elected anyway—unless you wanna. I mean, I could nominate you."
"No thanks."

"In that case...maybe you could nominate me? It might be fun, being semi-in-charge..."

---

Slightly awkward transitional chapter leading in to what I hope will be a pretty fun one...

The Next Chapter: 24

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 24: Come to My Place?

"C'mon, open those eyes all the way up! You have something to eat yet?"
"Mrrgh."
"Well then let's get some protein. You don't wanna go jogging on an empty stomach, right?"
"Rrrfh. Thought you weren't s'posed to exercise on a full stomach...get cramps..."

"That depends on what you eat! C'mon, you told me you wanna keep those abs, riiight?"
"Urrrrrgh..."

Tokanwa showed up not long after sunrise Saturday morning to practically drag Ed out of bed. She'd been positively ecstatic to have one, maybe eventually two 'exercise buddies', and clearly maintained that enthusiasm right through the night and into the morning. As a result, Jay was pretty much wide awake—though still lying in her bed—by the time they were gone. She probably wasn't going to succeed at going back to sleep with the sunlight coming in through the windows, but that was fine; she felt well-rested enough already. It did mean that she had to decide what to do with all this extra morning-time, though.

After thinking about it for a moment, she reached over toward the nightstand to get her phone. First would be breakfast, maybe a change of clothes after that, but then...!

---

eds out jogging this morning

wanna come to my room???

Kyo hadn't gone on a date with Jay over the past week. They had talked and hung out and played DND together, certainly, but all as a part of various larger groups. Perhaps he should have pursued things a little more at some point, considering how he—at the time she—had felt after that kiss...but in a way, that was just the problem. There were nerves, but much more prominent was a certain instinct or impulse (hard to tell which) saying that this situation was dangerous. The kitsune had admitted to that redheaded hottie that at least some part of her wanted him-or-her for a 'master', but all the wisdom Kyosuke could muster said that wasn't the kind of relationship to rush into. At the same time, rush in was just what that part of the fox-yokai wanted to do..!

He had gotten up early to do some meditation and magic practice, a habit for most Saturdays, and then saw a pair of rapidly-sent texts. What happened first, on seeing those messages and knowing who had sent them, was an excited, eager emotion from his instinct-driven side, something which—if he were forced to put it into words—was probably master's calling me!, in the same way a pampered dog whose owner always gave him treats might feel it. After all, Jay was saying-without-saying that they'd have some time alone in her room...!

The kitsune did force himself to take a couple of deep breaths and really try to think rationally about it. But ultimately, he did want some petting...want some alone time with her...want to, maybe, take their relationship deeper if possible, albeit not nearly at the pace that a certain part of him wanted. That was why he sent back a one-word reply: sure

Within half an hour (since she'd wanted some 'time to get ready') he knocked on the door. "Come in~!" Jay's voice rang out. He entered to find her standing there, smiling with a slight blush, wearing a t-shirt with a yellow cartoon cat face on it and some shorts.

"Hiii!"
"Uh, hey." Kyo gently kicked the door shut behind him. "So—what'd you want? To uh, talk?"

"That's just silly," she said, crossing her arms and frowning just a little. "Why would I try to get us alone in my room just to talk? We can do that later, at a lunch date or something. I just wanna—you know, if you're okay with it?—pet you some more!"

"Oh—wow. "
"You don't wanna?" Jay was visibly trying (and failing) to not look too disappointed at that possibility.

"No, no, it's just. I'm always surprised by how bold you are with this stuff..."
"I guess I just don't think about it hard enough to get nervous?" she suggested, tilting her head a little. "Sooo um, if you wanna—I could pet you like this? Or, you could take off your ring and be a girl?"
"Uh, hmm."

Kyosuke thought about it for a moment. While he did like the idea of that curvy vixen holding him, his sense for danger said it'd be much safer if he was a girl too...at least this early on with her. So he put one hand on the other, fingers around the ring. "I'll just, yeah..." Then he slid it off, gently placing it on top of a dresser nearby.

As usual, the removal of that accessory resulted in him rapidly shrinking, his manhood disappearing away, and then the now-short vixen gaining curves...but there was a slight difference from usual. Kyo's pants slid off onto the floor before turning into a skirt; the boxers under that changed into a pair of soft, tight black panties. His shirt grew long sleeves and a collar, split apart down the middle—growing buttons that might be used to snap it back together—and in the process tore off some of its material to cling around what was her chest by this point, becoming a bra that matched the underwear.

"Err...eheh.." In short, the part of the ring's enchantment that was supposed to fix her clothes had very specifically put her in an undressed state. She was left nervously blushing up at the taller woman.

Though her cheeks reddened a little too, Jay just smiled. "You're as adorable as ever, Kyo!"
"Th-thanks. Sh-should I uh..?"
Jay leaned forward just slightly. "You can put that stuff back on if you're uncomfortable without it, buuut. I mean. It is just us two in here~.."
"Y-yeah..." Besides, you've already seen it all now! "I-I-I guess that won't be necessary." Whatever part of her brain was still working saw fit to spit out an explanation: The exact way the rings transformed one's clothes had a lot to do with the context, and the person's expectations and thoughts and so on..so, being in a bedroom and thinking about being privately pet by Jay, this kind of result practically should've been expected!

The non-working part, incidentally, was overrun with a thought best put into words as master wants to pet me!!! That was what had her shuffling closer, gently kicking the lost skirt aside before she could trip over it, and getting herself into very easy reach while looking expectantly up at the tall, redheaded, gorgeous woman in front of her.

"Awww~wwh...!" Jay, beaming, did just what Kyo wanted, and placed her hands on the smaller vixen's ears, gently running them through her fur. It felt just as good as the first time she'd done that; maybe even better...! The kitsune shuddered slightly, leaning up into it, and then let herself pounce up at Jay, the latter's reflexes thankfully being just good enough to catch her. Kyo very quickly returned the hug, pressing their bodies (and particularly their breasts) against each other.

"Hi there~." Jay grinned, blushing even brighter than before. That was something of a relief; Kyo's cheeks felt hot enough to be doing the same.

"Eeeeto...h-hi..!" After that, the petting resumed, and she let out some soft, vulpine churring, pushing her face hard into the bigger girl's cheek. Her tails curled forward to embrace Jay's tail too; this wasn't a conscious decision at all, but happened anyway. Jay nuzzled her back, quietly giggling a little before returning the same sort of soft churring sound.

---

"That's it! See, we're almost home. Don't drop your pace 'till we get to the door!"

Ed wasn't sure if the werewolf girl's cheering her on as they went through a grueling morning exercise actually made her feel any better, but it certainly made her want to keep going, if only so it would all be over sooner. The slightly infuriating part was that, even though she'd been magically made 'fit', Tokanwa was so many levels beyond her; this was such a casual run for her that she seemingly never ran out of breath to keep talking!

They reached the lawn in front of the OZK house just before five other sorority members: L'hoxifel, Fritz, Hendrix, and two people Ed didn't recognize but who had to be Gio and Ivan. All of them were carrying shopping bags. "Hey Eddy~! Looking good," the demon-girl said.

The wolf-girl had stopped to catch her breath, and needed a moment to parse the compliment. "Uh...really?" She felt gross and smelly, and was totally drenched in sweat, but ultimately...it still felt good to hear it.

"Yeah!!" the blue-haired catgirl of the group pitched in. "You totally make 'buff cute' work! Toka too!" This was enough to discern that she was Gio.

"Thanks." Tokanwa clapped Ed on the shoulder. "See, your girlfriend likes that look! So you gotta keep working to keep it up, riiight?!"
"Uh..s-sure..." Ed flinched slightly at the use of the g-word, but didn't entirely disagree...or at least, didn't dislike the idea. L'hoxifel gave no objection, either.

"You wanna go out somewhere for lunch?" she asked instead. "Once I've got these gals settled?"
"Uh, s-sure. I, kinda need a shower anyway."
"Then it's a date~!" With that, she opened the door and led the way inside.

"Y-yeah. See you, Fel."

After that she hurried inside and then to her room, worrying that Tokanwa might suggest they work out more now that she was 'warmed up' right up until she got the bedroom door shut behind her. Then Ed finally breathed a small sigh of relief. Jay was at her computer chair, and spun it around to wave hello. "Hey! You have fun?"
"Let's be clear about one thing, okay—exercise. Is not. Fun. But, I got through it anyway." She looked around for a moment, feeling like something was off but not immediately placing what it was. Her eyes then caught a significant amount of black fur, and a little bit of white fur, on her roommate's bed. It was after seeing this evidence that Ed realized the thing that had seemed off at first was actually a slightly unusual smell—or more accurately, maybe, scent. Kyo's scent.

"I guess...you had a visitor, huh."
"Yep!" How was Jay not even slightly embarrassed about this?! "I kinda took advantage~. Hope you don't mind."
"Uh, well..I-I guess not. But, look—if you want to. Be with Kyosuke for a while. Uh. Well, there's plenty of other places in this house I can hang out, or do homework, or whatever. Just, you know, tell me. A-and let me know when you're done. I mean, I'm lucky I didn't walk in on you this time."

"Fair enough! You can tell me if you want some alone time, too," Jay said, grinning a little teasingly.

"...S-sure. Right now, though, I desperately need a shower."

---

Please come to a meeting tonight at 7 PM, in the lounge!

Official OZK business!

We REALLY need everyone present, so let me know if you have a GOOD REASON why you can't come and I can reschedule.

Otherwise please please BE THERE!!!

Nancy fired off these texts while lying on her bed, then slowly sat up, listening to her stomach growl. "It's almost lunchtime...I swear, if someone complains that I woke them up..." She shook her head, then went out from her room to the hallway, heading downstairs to go out and get something for herself. She had just exited the stairwell when a certain two-tailed kitsune nearly ran into her, the human being the one with the reflexes to dodge.

"Whoa there Kyo—you okay?"

"Oh! Uh. Sorry. I was—distracted," he said.

"I'd say very much so. Something going on with you?"
"Err. Nothing bad, definitely," he said, his face reddening a little bit. "You ever feel like you really want something, at the same time as being afraid of it?"

"Like a horror movie or something?"

"Uh—no. I mean, more like, relationship-wise. With someone else?"
"Oh. Well, definitely not that, for me. Not that that wouldn't be interesting, buuuut I haven't found anyone I like that much yet, myself."

She couldn't resist smiling just a little bit, having something like this handed over on a silver platter. "Mmmmight I guess this has to do with Jay?"
Kyosuke shrugged. "I don't think that's hard to guess. We sort of agreed to a date already too, even though uh.." He fidgeted a little, clearly not really wanting to finish that sentence.

"Why don't you make it a double date? I'd bet anything L'hoxifel's planning to go somewhere with Ed today."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea! Ed's level-headed and cautious, which might...uh, anyway—I'll just have to ask her. Thanks, Nancy!"
"No problem~." She watched the fox-boy run off, already looking forward to hearing how this would turn out.

---

On her way to breakfast Saturday morning, Polaris encountered a werewolf. "Oh, heya Pol," she said, giving a friendly wave. Tokanwa was dressed for a morning jog, with just enough sweat on her brow to suggest she'd just come back from such an activity.

"Greetings." Polaris had stopped in place, and the werewolf girl took the cue to do the same. She crossed her arms. "We've hardly said two words to one another since our first meeting," the celestial observed.

"Oh, yeah? I guess I just thought I'd offended you back then, asking about your wings and stuff. Are they...what...'emotionally intimate'? Like, uh, demon horns?"
"I should say not. They are easily injured, featuring similar biology to the wings of a stork or crow..." Polaris paused, remembering what this conversation was supposed to be about. "Have you not noticed any difference? Since that first meeting?"

"Difference?" Tokanwa tilted her head slightly. "Uh...I guess, yeah! It looks like you've lost some weight, huh. Maybe a little too fast to be natural. So you did some magic for that?"
"For one with the capability, there is no more efficient way to improve one's appearance than magic."

"Suuure...I guess. So if you, like, wanted to be actually ripped—you'd basically just wish yourself that way?"

"There is much more to it than merely 'wishing'," Polaris said. "Such alterations of one's form require an immense amount of power and control, especially to make the changes non-dispellable."

"But don't you miss out on, y'know, that feeling of accomplishment, doing things that way? Like—being able to look in the mirror and say to yourself, 'I earned this'?"

"I do that every day," Polaris said. "My accomplishments need not be through rote, brutish physical toil. I would further opine that the more intelligent method of self-improvement produces superior results."

"Reeeeaaallly..?"

Tokanwa leaned back slightly, her wrists on her hips. "Well, I can see you're not 'optimized' for a physical challenge right now, eh? Just kinda skinny, tryin' to look cute? So—starting from there—how much fitness can you really make with magic alone, I wonder?"

"As much as I please," Polaris said, feeling insulted. No, that wasn't quite it—she felt like she was being issued a challenge.

"I mean, I just got through a morning jog with Ed. That girl looks great—nice, solid muscle and all. L'hoxifel did that, 's my understanding, but there's still plenty of room for improvement afterward. I'll just assume you're better at it than her."

"...Tautologically so."

"But how good aaarrre you, huh? What if we met up sometime later, after you've had plenty of time to 'improve' as much as you want? Could yooouuu—beat me in a race? Swimming? Arm wrestling? Lifting? Basketball?"

"Anything."

"Weeell, I'm not actually too great at basketball," the werewolf admitted. "Let's just start with a race, huh? Some time tomorrow, maybe?"

"Very well. I accept your challenge. Let us set a time and place," Polaris said.

---

I know, I haven't been posting much these past couple of months. IRL work has been especially rough, and when I have time to write, it's been on-and-off bits and pieces of various different things. There are some things that might be technichally publishable, but I still felt like I wanted to polish/edit/finish them up before they're really ready to be posted. This chapter was one such example; the last part was written quite a while after the rest, and after I'd nearly finished work on the chapter after it.

I really feel like I've been having some trouble getting a good "rhythm" for this story sometimes. Forgetting to give certain characters, or interactions that are supposed to be happening, enough "screen time". Hoping to rectify that as I go. It may result in some later chapters containing events that happened chronologically earlier in order to "catch up", but I guess that isn't always a bad thing.

The Next Chapter: 23

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 23: Were They Compliments or Catcalls?

Giovanni got in bed thinking of all the cute girls he'd met—and which he and Ivan were now living with!—and supposing that he'd end up dreaming of them, too. It seemed like the magic transforming people in this house only turned out hotties, and even those who had been girls all along looked great to him. To be perfectly honest with himself, though—and as he'd admitted to his friends once or twice—he'd never met a woman he didn't think was beautiful in one way or another. They all just had different charms. He would admit to liking certain figures more than others, but his personal taste was a distinct thing from whether or not a girl looked good.

That said, when he fell asleep it wasn't girls he dreamed of, but cats. He "woke up" to find himself sitting in a chair, still wearing his pajamas, in a house full of cats. There were so many sizes and shapes of them—even a few big wildcats a little farther away. Their fur patterns varied widely too, including not only several he was familiar with but others he had never seen before, and wasn't sure actually existed. This room had to be awfully big to hold so many cats; he was vaguely aware of a floor and a ceiling, but couldn't see the walls. They were all wandering around doing their own thing, the way cats do, and several brushed across his bare feet and ankles as they went along.

All of this maybe should have weirded him out, but everything just sort of made sense to him in the moment, as it often is in dreams. If anything, he felt relaxed and content in their company. Gio's family had a couple of house cats when he was growing up, so maybe he qualified as a "cat person"...although he certainly never had anything against dogs or lizards or other, more exotic kinds of pets. Anyway, he sat there watching the cats wander around, play with each other, occasionally get into fights for a few minutes...and he had the odd impulse that he rather wanted to join them.

Almost as soon as he felt that, one particular feline hopped up into his lap. "Whoa—hey there," he said, gently placing a hand on its head. This was one of the more exotically-colored ones, its fur coat entirely a bright, sky-blue color, and even its eyes reflecting back at him blue. It blinked up at him, twirling its tail affectionately, while he carefully pet it, and then it stood up and—hopped into him! "Aack!"

Gio had the natural reaction of anyone whose face was being pounced at by a cat, namely jolting back almost hard enough to knock the chair under him over, but the expected impact never came. The cat just seemed to pass right through his skin into him instead! "Uh..?" He sat up again, looking around and behind him, to try to find where it had gone or what had even happened. But at the same time as he was trying without success to locate that bright blue feline among the crowd around him, he had the increasingly strong sense that actually, he knew exactly where it was.

It hadn't run into him, and hadn't passed through him; it was in him. And...calming down a little bit, Gio noticed the feeling of something pushing its way out from his back. "Huh.." He turned around to find a tail very much like the one that cat had had, only larger, sliding its way out from between his pajama top and pants, rapidly growing longer. "Oh, wow..!" He put out his hand as it stretched out longer, lightly touching it, and shivered slightly at how this felt. The fur was soft, and the tail itself was so sensitive that this touch seemed to send a brief chill racing up his spine. The sensation also made him cry out with a soft, startled "Mewh!".

His ears began to push up and out just as the tail finish growing, and when he turned forward again and cautiously put up a hand to feel one of them, he found it covered in the same sort of soft, warm fur—and sensitive too, though not nearly as much as the base of that tail. He couldn't resist rubbing it just a little more; it felt so nice, after all, and he did know the right way to rub a cat's fur. This act made him lower both of the rapidly-growing ears to point out to his side, and he started to actually purr too. "Mrr~rrr~rrrh..."

The tone of the purring rumbling in his throat changed swiftly, going from a deep, male tone to something steadily more and more feminine-sounding. Also, he could feel his hair brushing against his hand, growing quickly longer, and a strange, slipping sensation down between his legs. When he lifted his hand off of the ear for a moment to look down and try to investigate, he found a river of bright-blue locks of hair tumbling down past his shoulders in the back, some long bangs poking down into his view in front. And..his heart was beating faster all of a sudden; he felt excited and warm. What was this feeling?! He wanted more..!

His body was hit with a rush of tingling then, making him shiver almost as violently as when he'd touched that tail a moment ago. "Aa~aah..!" A strangely high-pitched voice came from his lips too, and when this tingling gave way to a squeezing, pressing feeling, it was a girlish mid-alto "Mm~mmmh..!" that came from his throat. The tugging down there was getting even stronger; his manhood was excited all of a sudden, and getting noticeably smaller. In fact, all of him was getting smaller! His belly shrank before his eyes, his arms and legs became slimmer, with his fingers becoming smaller and more delicate by the second. His height slid down slowly, and his frame collapsed inward, narrowing his shoulders and slimming his waist.

All of these exciting feelings were making his tail flick back and forth happily behind him. His cheeks burned with a blush, and his heart was racing. "M-mrrr~rrrrh...!" Gio purred happily as the last little tug down there gave way to a strange, fuzzy sensation; the pajama pants and underwear beneath them pulled tight and flat down there, as Gio felt some more shifts deep in the pit of her stomach making her completely, entirely female. "O-ooh..m-meww~wwh...!" Her hips shoved out wider then, her chest erupting in tingling before bursting forward into a small pair of breasts. Then that small bust began to spread out bigger and bigger; she wriggled around in place, enjoying the fuzzy feelings down below that this continued change was bringing on. "Aah...o~oh..m-mrr~rrrrh...!" Soon her pajama top's uppermost button burst off to make more room, and then the one beneath that snapped apart too; her growing breasts became nearly too big for it, making it squeeze them together as they pushed out yet another entire cup size!

Then, finally, it was done. Gio found herself lying on her back all of a sudden, her eyes opening and blinking briefly in the dark. She was awake, back in bed under the covers. The ceiling and—turning her head from one side to another—the rest of the room were oddly easy to see, despite how dark it was. But after a second she understood: It's 'cause I'm a cat, duh! Cats had no problem seeing in the dark, after all.

This felt..very nice. But she was also super sleepy, and it was still dark after all. Tomorrow was Saturday, a day for sleeping in, so nobody would fault her for taking a nice long nap anyway. "Mrrrrnh..." She let out another soft purr as she drifted off back to sleep.

In the morning, Gio awoke to the sound of someone quietly growling: An unfamiliar high, cute sort of voice. She sat up, then hopped to her feet, looking around briefly before spotting the owner of that voice: A pink-haired bunny girl standing in front of the dresser! "Whoa~!" She hurried a little closer, getting a better look at both of them in the mirror. "Mega cutie alert!"

Her own body was that of a busty catgirl, sporting the same sky-blue fur as that cat in the dream, plus her hair having changed to that same color. It matched her eyes and PJ's pretty well, if she said so herself. And the bunny-girl could only be her roommate!

"I see you're pleased with the results," Ivan said, quickly pulling her shirt shut as she turned around to face the catgirl. Ivan had always been half a head taller than Gio; it was weird to find that reversed now that they had both shrunk in the process of becoming girls.
"Totally! You look great too, though! You're super curvy, and those ears are adorable! Did I see a fluffy little tail back there, too?"

Ivan tilted her head slightly. "You know...somehow stuff like that coming out of your mouth sounds a little less bad now that you're a girl."
"Huh?" She tilted her head. "What'sat supposed to mean?"

The bunny-girl exhaled a small sigh. "Never mind." Her stomach then audibly growled.

"Ooh, are you hungry? Me too!"

"I-I guess so," she said, blushing slightly. "But I ain't going out in this. You should, uh, put on another shirt too. Those things are gonna put someone's eyes out in that top." Ivan went for her suitcase—still packed—and Gio shrugged before going to her own suitcase too.

While they changed, the catgirl said, "Are you gonna use a different name as a girl, or the old one? I mean, you really don't look 'Ivan'-ish to me."

"What're you gonna do?"

"I think I wanna girl name! Dunno what yet, though. Hmmn."
"Well, everyone calls you 'Gio', but that's like less than half of your whole first name."
"Right, yeah...Vanni? Vann uh..oh, I've got it! Vanilla," she decided. "That works, right?"
"Sure," the bunny-girl shrugged.
"And for you...Ooh, wasn't your middle name Sasha?" In fact, Gio had teased him about this for a little bit after their initial meeting—since Ivan's full name was on the forms they both signed in the process of becoming roommates.

"Yeeaah. That's technically a—"
"—guy's name? But it can be both, riiight?"
"Hmm, yeah, maybe. I guess it'd save me the trouble of making something up."
"Okay~! Sasha it is, then!"

Only halfway to the kitchen, the catgirl could smell sausages, and her ears easily picked up the sizzle of meat on a skillet. The pair entered the dining area to find Fritz and Hendrix sitting at a table, both in cute-girl form. "Morning~!" she said, heading their way.

"Whoa. Uh—Gio?" Fritz guessed, her eyes not leaving that huge chest.

"Morning, girls!" Hendrix said, waving.

"Got it in one," the bunny-girl said, coming up next to her roommate.

"Yeah, but—I wanna go by 'Vanilla' as a girl!" she announced. "And—Sasha!" she added, excitedly gesturing both arms the pink-haired woman's way. The latter shrugged slightly in response to a questioning look from Fritz.

"I guess that makes sense," the dog-girl mused. "Chick names, huh..I guess Lyrica went for that, too."
"I don't need two names to juggle around," Fritz said, crossing her arms.

The demon-girl they'd met during their tour poked her head through the door to the adjoining kitchen to briefly interrupt: "Morning~! Breakfast will be ready in just a minute."

L'hoxifel was supposed to be handling the "adjustment" for all four of them—that is, going with them to help buy clothes and other necessities for living as women. Fritz hadn't been sure that was necessary, but some gentle persuasion that it was basically free stuff whether (s)he used it or not had convinced him. They had already heard about the demon-girl's legendary cooking, so even Vanilla had enough patience to just take a seat and wait a couple of minute more for that.

She brought out some fresh-cooked sausages and biscuits, mustard, cheese, and juices. Then all five of them ate together.

"So—using a different name, huh?"
"Is that typical?" Fritz asked.

L'hoxifel shrugged. "Some do, some don't. I think it's less common now than it was with the veil intact, since back then there was a need to keep up appearances. That, or—maybe it's just that more people are getting transformed, so more of them are people with the disposition of not wanting to complicate things that way. I went with only a tiny change, myself."
Fritz stopped with her sausage-biscuit sandwich halfway to her mouth. "Uh...hold on. You went with—?"
"Mm-hm! 'Fel' is a more feminine-sounding name ending than 'Van', at least for demon names," she said.
"I thought you were one of the 'originally-a-girl' group, though," Sasha said.

"That depends on what you mean by 'original'?" she said with a slight shrug. "I have been since before college, at least.

"What do you think of your new forms, huh? I gather Fritz doesn't like hers too much."
"It's just—being a girl feels weird," she protested.

"Mine is great~!" Vanilla reported cheerfully.

"It's uh..fine," Sasha said. "I mean—a lot of it doesn't bother me, or I even kinda like, but.."
"But?"

"It's just that I worked pretty hard to sculpt those muscles, and now I'm back to square one again. I guess it's fine—I mean, when I get a ring the male form can be back to being built again, but I'm gonna have to work pretty hard for a while..."

"You just wanna be more physically fit? Like you were as a boy? I can do that for you," she said with a small shrug.
"Wh—really? You can just zap people fit, like that?!" Vanilla said.

"Well—it's not without its price. But doing it once in a while isn't a big deal," L'hoxifel said. "I did a little adjustment for Ed just last week. Let's call it a 'member perk' of OZK, at least while I'm a member."

"I'd appreciate it, anyway," the bunny-girl said.

"Uh—this is gonna sound weird but...can I watch?" Fritz asked, her cheeks an adorable bright red.

"Oh, 'cause of your copying power thing?" Vanilla said.
"Y-yeah..."
"It's her talent as a witch or whatever," Hendrix explained for the demon-girl.

L'hoxifel shrugged. "I don't mind if you don't," she told Sasha, who also shrugged.
"Sure, whatever. Let's just do it in here when we're done eating, I say."

And so, when they had finished breakfast, L'hoxifel and the bunny-girl stood across from each other. The former visibly concentrated, lifting a hand to gently touch Sasha's forehead while a bright purple glow appeared all over that hand. The glow moved to the target's head, spreading down across her body while L'hoxifel dropped her hand and let out a brief huff of air from the effort.

"Mmh...aa~aah...!" Once it had enveloped her, the glow pushed in against Sasha's body. Her arms and legs quickly and visibly tightened and toned. She gasped alongside a sudden upward motion as her height increased an inch or two, and her bust puffed out bigger; then she exhaled slowly as the big, ill-fitting t-shirt and boy-cut shorts she'd put on earlier shrank into a much more tight-fitting outfit, perfectly hugging her curvy frame. The shirt shrank maybe a little too much, its lower hem not quite hiding some solid abs now adorning a belly that had been completely soft a moment ago.

"Haha...yeah!" she put her hands on her hips. "That's way more like it!"

"Ooh man, I was already missing these babies," she said, gently patting her abs with a hand.

"Um..so..." Fritz mumbled.
"If you're not gonna say it, I will," Vanilla said.

"Your rack got a little bigger," Hendrix concluded.
"Oh..yeah? I guess so," she said, hefting one of the breasts under her hand. "Well, whatever—I was gonna have boobs either way."

Fritz said, "I have no idea how you're all so okay with this..."

"So did you learn how to do that with that talent of yours?" L'hoxifel asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I think," Fritz said, shrugging. "I guess...I can try it later. On myself, or something," "Thanks."

"No problem~! Now, we need to get out of here to have any hope of finishing the shopping by lunch time!"

Maybe a little under an hour later, Vanilla was standing in a dressing room. She'd had some help putting on a bra and some girl-type underwear, and now changed out an ill-fitting shirt and those pajama pants for a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt that were made to fit people of her new sex. Once she'd pulled the shirt on, she looked to the mirror. "Oh...wow~..heehee..." She giggled slightly, lifting one hand and grinning at the girl in the mirror.

I actually look good in this! It's super basic too! It's like I can look good in anything now...!

After turning and walking a little in that outfit, she took it off, deciding to go adventurous. L'hoxifel had been nice enough to whisper her a few tips when she'd seen the catgirl picking these things off the rack...

"Hii giiirrrls~!" She came out of the changing room to greet the others in that one: A full-on sailor suit type of outfit, with a short skirt, stockings, and an azure-blue tie to match. Her three friends—all of which were wearing some kind of pants still—paused to stare.

"Are you sure this's our Gio?" Fritz said.

"Dead certain," the bunny-girl assured her.

"Am I the only one seein' sparkles?" Hendrix asked.

"Well, you do look good in that," L'hoxifel said. "I presume you're all wearing what you wanna leave the store in, then?" A brief chorus of assent followed, and they gathered their huge pile of new purchases to take out with them.

"Isn't wearing a skirt really weird?" The blue-haired 'witch' asked.

Sasha added, "Especially one that short..."

"Heheh...it's definitely different," Vanilla admitted. "I think I could get used it, though, especially for something so cute~! You'd both look great in something like this too, y'know?"

Fritz's cheeks flushed red. "Uh, s-sure..."
"I think we've created a monster," the bunny-girl concluded (joking (probably)).

The Next Chapter: 22

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 22: How Did We Get Here? (Reprise)

Ivan shut off the lights and climbed into bed. Even in the dark with nothing to see, he could tell he wasn't in his dorm room anymore. The sheets and cover and pillow were all the same, but the mattress was like heaven compared to what he'd been sleeping on for the past few weeks, and the entire school year that had preceded the summer before those.

It was only now, lying in bed and expecting to fall asleep fairly soon, that he thought about it a little harder. Was this a mistake? He'd been thinking about sticking with his friends—especially with Gio. He'd been thinking about helping Gio down a path to a healthier lifestyle. But he hadn't really put a ton of thought into one, admittedly fairly important, thing.

---

Ivan crossed his arms. "I really can't believe I agreed to this."

"Whaaat? Getting cold feet already? Dude, we're just visiting our friends who live here now!"

"I know it comes naturally, Gio, but don't play dumb."

"Hahah!"

The two of them were standing a few steps out from the front door of the OZK building. It was afternoon on Friday, not long after both of their last classes had let out. Ivan had stopped to make his comment, and Gio had stuck with him. Their voices were joined by a third from behind: "Hey—you two holding a meeting on the lawn?"

They turned around to find a tall, white-haired wolf-girl in some shorts and a fairly tight-fitting t-shirt.

She seemed very fit and toned; Ivan could tell she'd put a lot of work into those abs. Gio had a different impression, and hurried to get a little closer. "Heeey, cutie! You live here?"
"'Cutie?'" she mumbled quietly, tilting her head a bit. "Well—I'm 'bout to move in, anyway. Name's Tokanwa."

Ivan sighed. "Ignore my friend here, please; he's not too bright. I'm Ivan, this's Gio."

"I can't help givin' out compliments when they're deserved, is all!"

"Huh." The wolf-girl shrugged. "I don't really go for 'cute', but I'll take it as friendly at least. I guess you guys know the deal with this soror? Soro? What is the short form anyway?"

"Pretty much," Ivan said. "A couple of our friends joined yesterday after some, uh, 'wacky events', so we're...visiting them. Do you want any help with your stuff?"

"Hmm, maybe—once I get my room settled with Nancy." She paused, her ears twitching and turning as she tilted her head slightly upward. "..Sounds like karaoke. That, or someone just decided to start singin' on their own."

That got Gio's attention. "C'mon, let's go in!" he said, waving excitedly. Ivan shrugged apologetically in Tokanwa's direction before following. His roommate at least had the presence of mind to stop with the door held open and let the others in before continuing on himself.

"You work out, Ivan? Kinda looks like it, though I've learned lately not to assume."
"Yep," he nodded. "You too, I guess?"
"Totally! I actually found out about this place during a morning jog. Ran into Ed then—you know Ed?"

"Not really," Ivan admitted. They had heard the names of a few members from Hendrix and Fritz, but hardly knew what any of them were like.

"They're upstairs, right? Where's the stairs again?" Gio asked.

"You're the one who's been here," Ivan reminded him.

"Maybe I should lead," the wolf-girl suggested.

They went upstairs, and then to a big sort of theater-like room, where—indeed—a group of the sorority's members had gathered for karaoke. At the moment, a blond dog-girl was sitting on a stool on the little "stage" and not only singing, but also playing a guitar in her lap, along to "All Along the Watchtower". Ivan hadn't actually seen Hendrix's new "girl form" before, but from a previous description and the context, he was pretty confident that was who this was. She also took a hand off of the guitar for a second to give the two of them a friendly wave as they came in.

Gio looked around the room; there was a mixture of guys and girls present, but definitely too many of the latter for him to comment on all at once (never mind the fact there was a performance of sorts going on right now), so he settled for a slightly-voiced gasp for now. Once the song was over, Hendrix hopped down to her feet. "Yo, glad you guys could make it. These're Gio and Ivan," she said, gesturing.

"Hey," Ivan said quickly.

"Hiii!" Gio waved. "Can I go next!?" A number of voices saying something along the lines of 'sure, I guess' was all the encouragement he needed, so he ran up to the stage, picked out his song on the computer (the Chalkeaters' "Trash Can Song") and launched straight into it. He wasn't the best singer, but he certainly had confidence. He was also enough of a goofball to have his audience more laughing than confused, even though several of them seemed unfamiliar with the context. He gave a big bow afterward, and hurried off the stage.

There was some general chatter after that—as they tried to decide who would go next—and Tokanwa came over to the back row, where Ivan was sitting. "Yo—is the offer to help me move in still good? I got my keys and stuff."
"Yeah, sure," he nodded. A big crowd like this wasn't exactly his style anyway.

---

"You, have got the prettiest, bright blue eyes I think I've ever seen."

"Uh—thanks?" Ed had no idea how to take this comment from the newcomer. Fritz had warned he was a 'huge flirt', but her eyes...had never been changed at all, by any of the transformations she'd been through recently.

"Heeyy, don't get me wrong. The whole package is totally gorgeous!" he said, grinning. "That's just the first thing I noticed, y'know?"

"Psst. Ed's already dating someone," Kyosuke (currently male) advised him with a light elbowing.

"Yow! Hey, I didn't mean nothing serious by it."

"Shh—Jay's starting!" Ed bit back an urge to point out the double negative, just focusing on listening to her roommate sing again.

It was, of course, another of Ursa Major's songs. Equally predictable was her basically knocking it out of the park, capturing the full attention of everyone in the room. Ed glanced around a couple of times—just a usual, nervous habit of hers—and noticed Nancy holding out her phone to record this particular performance. There was no way Jay didn't see it too, so if she had a problem with it, surely she would say so.

---

Tokanwa found a fast friend in Ivan, talking about their workout routines and diets and making time to exercise alongside school as they went back and forth from her car a few times. He was also majoring in biochemistry, which meant she would talk about her own studies a little bit without him immediately getting that look on his face like most people did. She was careful not to go too deep into it this time, and he actually seemed semi-interested, which was nice.

On their last trip to her room she said, "So—level with me. You guys tryin'a join OZK?"
He sighed. "Yeah. Gio really wants to, and won't do it without me. It'd be pretty lame if all three of my friends are in and I'm out. Besides, it'd be a pain for me to break in a new roommate at this point."

"I guess you're not too freaked out about being a girl some of the time, then?"
"Me? Guess not. Long as I stay fit, anyway," he said. "Gio's kind of mentally skated past that part, mostly. He's just excited about the place's amenities...and especially living in the same house as a lot of 'cute girls'."

"I can admire the honesty, at least. The vibe I got is that he's not serious enough to cause any trouble."

"I'd say so, yeah."

"Given what Nan told me 'bout OZK's history, I feel like a motive of 'living with cute girls' isn't even that outta line," Tokanwa pointed out. "Their first chapter started as a fraternity; you can bet some a' those guys stuck around for a reason like that."

They came to her door and set down the last few things. "..Yeah, right there's perfect. Phew. Okay—I got one more carload to get, and then I'll have officially joined," she said.

"Great. Lemme know if you need any more help. I guess I better go check on Gio," he said, heading off toward the stairwell.

---

In all the time arguing with Gio about this, Ivan had begun with a tacit assumption that his friend and roommate wouldn't want to turn into a girl. Probing that assumption so many times had seemingly proven it completely false; Gio knew he could turn into a guy at any time with that ring OZK would provide, and that was plenty good enough for him.

When Tokanwa had brought it up, he'd sort of brushed it off; the first thing to come out of his mouth had felt correct, but he hadn't thought about it that deeply, really. Lying in bed now, he tried to assess just how much being a guy really mattered to him. The possibility of having some magic transform him into a girl had never come up before this very week, so he honestly hadn't been mentally prepared for it. He didn't think very deeply about his own looks—other than working out to keep himself fit, and being fairly proud of his hard-earned muscles. Maybe his answer to Tokanwa was right after all: Girls were just as capable of being fit as guys, after all. That wolf-girl herself was even a prime example of that possibility.

---

"Whooaa, hi there!" Gio grinned. He'd been going along with his three friends out of the karaoke room, and paused upon seeing the winged girl standing next to another one he hadn't seen before. "She a friend of yours, Polaris?"
"Indeed—Mary is a long-time friend, as well as my roommate."
"Nice to meet ya, Mary!" He said, offering her a hand to shake. "You pull off that goth look better than anyone I've ever seen! It looks great on you."

"...Likewise." she paused the game she was playing just long enough to very slightly and briefly shake his hand. "Thanks, I guess."
"And duuude, is that a 3DS? You got any homebrew running on that thing?"

"...A little bit."

"Well, hey, I know some guys online working on a brand new game for it, if you wanna see what that hardware can really do!"

"Fair warning, it might melt your console," Fritz added, grabbing his friend's shoulder to lightly shove him along. "C'mon."

"Whoa, hey—I'm coming! No need to drag me!"

They continued from there to the lounge, for a meeting with Nancy that Fritz had helped set up for them. She gave them a brief interview: Basic introductions, why they wanted to join, and so on.

---

Thursday night, Ivan said: "Look—I get that it looks like a pretty nice place to live. Being real here, I do kinda get wanting to hang around with a lot of hot girls, too. But, like, with Fritz and Hendrix already members, we could basically hang there as much as we want without actually joining. You could easily ask one of 'em out or whatever. Is it really worth getting us both turned into girls just so we can live there? I mean, we've figured out how to handle living in this dorm, right?"
"Yeah, but...look. I mean actually look," Gio said with a gesture toward his body. "I'm not such a pleasant view to most girls. I might never meet anyonee into this no matter how charming of a personality I've got. With those rings that'd let us turn back into guys though...I mean, I could be fit. Or at least—not—so overweight, y'know?"
"I never got the impression your looks bothered you," Ivan pointed out.
"Well—not that much themselves. But, in how I get treated by people? A little."

He sighed. "I know what it's like to hate being overweight, and wanna improve. That's why I started exercising, and built up the discipline to keep doin' it. You know if you used this as a way to get fit, it won't stick without a commitment to work to keep it."
"Yeeeeaaaaah, I guess it wouldn't, huh?"
"Okay. I'll make you a deal. We can try to join—obviously up to them if they let us in or not. And if they do, and you get the body you really want or whatever—then you've gotta work to keep it. No backing out—you work with me to make time for working out regularly and put up with it."

"For real? Yeah, dude, I'll take that! It should be easier anyway, if I start out better than I am now! Right?"
"Yeah, probably."

---

"Listen: I am not in charge," Nancy explained. "I think this weekend is the time to fix this issue, so I won't be the one doing this anymore—especially if you two do join and put us at, what, fourteen members now? But anyway: I had time to plan ahead this time, so I've got a poll ready." She waved her phone in the air for a second. "I sent out something to all our members—now that most of 'em had a chance to meet you, is it cool to let you join. Just a yes-or-no, and I made it a package deal to simplify things since you definitely want in together in the first place. Fritz, you and Hendrix didn't get the text since I'm assuming you're both 'yes' anyway." He and the dog-girl both nodded. "So, just give everyone a few minutes to answer."

They chatted for another couple of minutes while they waited. "There's a group that's started playing DND," Fritz mentioned. "We kinda walked in on them for a couple of minutes yesterday."
"Sweet! You think they have room for one more?" Gio asked.

"That was the first session, so it might not be too much trouble," Nancy said.

Ivan said, "So uh—you're just hanging out as a girl now?"
"Hah—well, I only got to look like this in our dorm room 'till yesterday," Hendrix answered. "I thought I'd take this look around for a spin today, I guess. It's fun! A little weird to adapt to a totally different voice when singing, buuuut. There's loads of chicks in rock and roll, every one awesome! Plus I guess that Ursa Major chick might be taking advantage of a male form to like, be her own backup singer? That's what Jay says, anyhow; maybe that'd be fun too."

"..Okay, we have enough results," Nancy concluded after checking her phone again. "Basically everyone who's met you two said yes; a few who haven't abstained from voting. Nobody said 'no', which is ideal. You have a majority vote, so you're in if you'd like to be.

"Yeah!" Gio hopped to his feet and cheered. "Woohoo! We're in, dude!"
"Yep." Ivan stood up a little more calmly. "I guess that means we've gotta go move our stuff over. You didn't learn a Sword in the Stone-type packing spell, did you?" he asked Fritz.

"Uh..I learned how to pick stuff up with magic yesterday, but not very well."
"You shoulda seen that pillow hit the ceiling!" Hendrix added.

"Oookaaay, never mind."
"I'll help you guys move anyway," she said. "Lemme go get my ring to change, and I'll be right with ya."
"Yeah, I'll lug some stuff too," Fritz said. "As long as you carry your share."
"Hey, what kinda guy do you think I am?" Gio said. "It's my stuff, so I'll get all of it I can! Really appreciate the help, though!"

---

Hendrix liked being a girl, as far as he could tell. It was, maybe, just a new and exciting thing, which on reflection might be how Gio would see it too—at least at first. Fritz seemed to hate it, needing the temptation of access to a witch's phenomenal cosmic powers to even consider going back to that form. However...Ivan knew him to be a cautious person who disliked sudden change, so it was plausible that he was already in the process of warming up to it, and just reluctant to admit that.

He hadn't really asked how being a girl particularly felt. It would be a strange subject to bring up in the first place. A few of OZK's members, now that the two of them were officially joining, had given Gio and Ivan the warning that it might feel weird; the exhortation that it would probably feel 'good'; and the further warning that they would probably wake up very hungry. None of this really helped him understand what it would be like, or whether he would like the results or hate them.

Do I value being a guy? Ivan fell asleep with this question still not fully answered. But maybe this was for the best; it was very hard to even estimate the value of something like that before experiencing the alternative anyway.

He awoke to the sound of a voice he didn't recognize, a fairly deep female one. It seemed to just be some sleepy murmuring, a soft "Mrrrrnh" kind of sound, but (once Ivan was conscious enough to remember where he was and what was going on) it was a sign that his roommate's change had already happened—or was at least partway done. He squinted his eyes just the tiniest bit open, and found the same pitch darkness as when he'd first laid down; then he closed them again. There was just barely enough time for him to wonder why he wasn't a girl too by now before he noticed a warm, fuzzy feeling running all across his ears.

He tried to move, and succeeded in squirming a little bit in place. As that fuzzy feeling spread to his scalp and face, then began to flow down along his neck toward the rest of him, his ears felt like they were stretching out. He could feel them moving across his pillow as they got taller and taller; he shivered as the fuzzy sensation hit his torso and made a brief tingling race down his spine.

Now he managed to move one of his hands, slowly, upward, and it found some softer, longer locks of hair than he was used to on its way to examine an ear. Then he jolted again as his fingers found soft, warm fur—and the ear that fur was covering proved awfully sensitive to this touch. The base of his spine was still buzzing with that same fuzzy feeling too, even it faded from his torso and made its way out across his limbs. Something very slowly stretched its way out from down there, at the same time as his hand moved up from the base to the tip of a rounded, fuzzy ear that was at least as tall as the length from his wrist to his middle finger.

He shifted around slightly in bed, feeling the thing that had stretched out from his lower back rub across the sheets beneath him. It was covered in fur, too. And he could feel the soft locks his hand had encountered earlier making their way down his cheeks and starting to push their way down in between his back and the bed beneath him. The fuzzy feeling that had spread all across him had left him feeling warm and...comfortable. His ears and hair—and that tail—were nice and soft, and he felt kind of like he wanted more of that same softness everywhere.

"Mmh..." In response to this unexpected desire, his body began pulling itself inward. He shifted around a little more, feeling like that fuzzy warmth was touching him all over, resculpting his build. His arms and legs pulled slimmer and shorter, his face softening and rounding, his shoulders narrowing and his frame collapsing slowly inward. "Aah..aa~aah.." And he was getting shorter, too, made most obvious by the feeling of his feet pulling closer to the rest of his body even as he stayed fully stretched out across the bed. "Mm~mmh.." The soft sounds from his throat came out higher in pitch every time; he gradually became aware of a stronger warmth to his cheeks and his heartbeat picking up as this shrinking continued. And...down between his legs, the fuzzy feeling was getting very strong, pushing the part of him that made him male to get smaller—and yet, at the same time, seeming to stimulate it, causing him to grow still more excited...!

A high, boyish tenor came from Ivan's lips: "Ah..o~oh..mmnn~nnh..!" He squirmed around a lot more now, the changes to his body seeming to grow faster and more intense. Ivan could feel the softness sinking deeper into him, massaging his solid muscles in a way that made them want to relax. And so they did just that, steadily softening and weakening, as he continued to get smaller and rounder all over; he was too enveloped in the fuzzy, pleasant soft sensations all over to really register or worry about what was happening to all of the strength he'd built up over the past few years.

He could feel his underwear shifting, his boxers losing their leggings and pulling tight down there; even the material of that shrinking bit of cloth had turned velvety-soft. And now..there was a tugging, slipping sensation bringing even more heat to his whole body, as the underwear found more and more room between his legs to pull closer against. "Aah, aa~ah..!" His voice left masculine range now, lilting higher, softer, and cuter, as he felt the unbelievably, bizarrely pleasant sensation of his manhood melting fully away, his body's sex shifting completely to female.

"Mm~mm~mnnNNNN~NNNNnhh...!" The girly parts down there erupted in fuzzy, tingly, pleasant sensations just as soon as they had formed, making her squirm and thrash in place. All at once the new girl could feel her hips spreading wide, her thighs pushing themselves out a little thicker, and chest pushing itself out into a small pair of breasts. "Aa~ah..mnf...mm~mmh..." It was only a few seconds before her girlish figure had grown fully into place, the warmth that had spread all across her since the start of the change seeming to settle deep into her core to stay. "Hffh...mm~mmh..." A soft, not-quite-immature soprano tone echoed from her throat as she slowly settled down, enjoying the afterglow of all of the excitement and pleasant feelings the change had brought on. And no sooner had she managed to catch her breath than she felt totally exhausted and drained, and began to drift back to sleep...

In the morning, Ivan woke up in a soft, curvy body with bunny ears and a small tail to match. She sat up, slowly remembering the experience of change itself, and then jumped down onto her feet, hurrying over to the dresser to have a look in its mirror. Her shirt had changed into a long-sleeved dress shirt, completely unbuttoned, and her underwear was a pair of frilly sky-blue panties. She had already noticed a cape of brilliant hot-pink hair trailing into her vision, the tips of its locks touching her upper thighs; a pair of bright-yellow eyes also looked back at her in the mirror from a cute, brightly-blushing face. She hesitated for a second, then pulled the top apart to get a better look at her torso.

"Mrrrrgh." She growled a complaint quietly to herself; it was just as she'd feared. Her belly was soft, slender, and flat, with no trace of the abs she'd had as a boy just the day before. Her legs were likewise completely lacking in muscle tone, and—while there were shirt sleeves covering them—there was no doubt her arms were just the same.

Being a girl felt..nice? Being soft, cute, and curvy sure didn't bother her, to say the least. Bunny ears and a tail were certainly different, but seemed to just add to that pleasant softness and cuteness. The pink hair was...whatever; it made sense enough for a girl like the one in the mirror. But, now that she was awake, she was feeling very annoyed at just how not-physically-fit the magic had made her!

---

Gio is the type to go hard into the "rap/dubstep" section of that song with absolutely zero hesitation. Anyway, I guess the existence of gacha-based games proves this modern-fantasy setting isn't exactly a utopia.