The Academy, Part 5

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The Academy

Part 5: A Personal Marathon

"Say, Emily—how old are you, anyway?" Cassie asked. "I mean, your 'true form'?"

"Uh...late twenties...I think? It's still very strange to not know that precisely..."

"Well—enjoy being young," the catgirl advised. "I was a balding old man before coming here!"

"So, your 'true form' is of an advanced age?"

"Oh, no—not anymore," she clarified. "Astra made this my true form, on a trip to town sometime last year."
"A feat such as that is trivial for a five-tailed fox," the blue-haired girl affirmed proudly.

"Hey!" Cassie suddenly, sharply yelled, cutting off the conversation and storming toward a student near the trashcans. "That is a plastic bottle, missy! P-E-T number one! It goes in that can!" she ordered, gesturing.
"Uhm—oh, sorry." She put the bottle in the right place. "My college still doesn't have a recycling program..."

"Just keep it straight around here. The cleaning club has enough work to do without having to sort the garbage!"

Coming back to their small, group, she sighed aloud. "Must be another visitor for that math conference. I swear, though, some people..."

"It's like herding cats, eh?" the wolf-girl said, with an obviously teasing tone.
"That's not funny, Halley," Cassie said, annoyed.

"Oh, well—paw-don me, missy! At least Astra appreciates my hiss-terical sense of humor." The fox-girl was grinning wide, but not quite laughing.

"No, she just knows it irritates me!"

"Aww, I thought you were feline fine with her just a minute ago."

Cassie blushed in response to this, and protested: "Still not funny! R-right, Emily!?"

It was too bad the catgirl looked to her for affirmation at this point. The rational, empathetic part of her mind understood that this was nothing but an annoyance to Cassie, and wanted to back her up on this. However, the rest of her mind currently had the floor. So she lightly snorted—"Snrk—" and then broke out into an uncontrollable laugh. "Pffheeheeheehee...! Haa~AAHahahaah..!" It was bad enough, and long enough, that the whole group had to stop walking for a moment.

"Goodness—seems like the majority's against you, Cass~," Astra commented as the redhead's laughter finally started to calm down.

"Heheheh..um.." When it was finally over, Emily sniffed and wiped a tear out of her eye with a finger to keep it from getting in her glasses. "Sorry Cassie—I've got an awfully dorky sense of humor sometimes."

The catgirl crossed her arms, putting on a weak frown. "Well, I guess it's alright if you can't help it."

"I'll, try to keep it under control."
"Aww, you've got such an adorable laugh, though!" Halley said, smiling up at her. "Anyhow, Cass might act like she hates it, but she knows I'm just kitten around~!"

Emily couldn't suppress a big grin, but clamped down on the urge to start giggling again. "C-come on, let's keep going," she said, gesturing forward.

Soon enough, they reached their destination—which, evidently, was the school's gym. After seeing the cafeteria and the dorm, and hearing about how the latter seemed to "grow" alongside the student population, Emily had the impression of the entire campus as an impossibly well-kept-up, state-of-the-art set of buildings, and the gym was no exception. It was giant, with a running track on the upper floor and tons of different exercise machines, plus smaller rooms for (presumably) exercise classes to use. The group's destination, it seemed, was yet another impressive part of the gym: an enormous indoor pool. There was a purple-haired girl in a blue one-piece swimsuit—exactly the kind that high school girls in anime wore—doing laps in the pool, besides several other girls—mostly in similar swimsuits, though there were exceptions—just swimming, playing, or lazing around.

"Heey, Ariel!" Cassie called out, and the one doing laps swam her way up to the edge of the pool, resting her arms on the floor in front of her and looking up at them.
"Hello dearie~," she said, giving the catgirl a kind of grin that Emily immediately thought of as 'grandmotherly'—even though that made no sense on such a small, young woman. "You need my help?"

"Well—not in the usual way. Just got a question or two," Cassie said. Turning to the others, she introduced the swimming girl: "This is Ariel, one of the cleaning club members who originally interviewed me for the job." And then, to Ariel herself: "You said once that you thought you were one of the first to come here?"
"Oh, my, yes," Ariel nodded. "I was an old lady, you see, getting on in years—when a kind gentleman who I'm fairly sure was actually a Kitsune in disguise suggested I take a walk through the forest. And, well, I've hardly ever left since!"

"So, what do you young ladies need from me?" she asked with a tone of cheerful generosity.

"Well," Emily started, "we're attempting to track down whoever is...in charge here. I mean—I know the point of this place is that no one is exactly 'in charge', but the magical effects here seem to have some sort of powerful consciousness directing them." Something had been bothering her since hearing that Cassie had been hired by the school, so she decided to ask about it now. "To that end...how, exactly, did the cleaning club get approval to hire someone and spend the school's money paying her? Or, more to the point, who gave that approval?"
Ariel put a finger on her cheek, visibly thinking back several years. "Oh, dear, I couldn't say," she admitted. "Kristen's the one who did all of that way back then—she was the club president at the time—but she's left The Academy altogether. Anyhow, I think she just got the forms online somewhere and stuck them in a campus mailbox labeled 'administration'. But I've got no idea where that mail even goes to."
"Right," the catgirl added, "I get paychecks through the school mail too. No return address, so nothing to go on there, either."

Emily nodded, "Well, it was worth a try. Our other line of inquiry is this—who is that told you how this place works? If we can trace the 'lineage' of that information, then whoever was the first to tell it to someone must know something."

"That's if we're lucky enough for everyone along the line to still be here," Cassie said. "But still."

"Oh, well—the young lady who helped me understand the conditions of my newfound youth certainly does come to campus fairly often," Ariel said. "In fact, I believe she's usually right over there on this day of week around this time," she said, pointing toward one of the smaller rooms in the gym.

"Okay. Thank you for your time," the redhead said.
"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Hope you all find what you're after, dearies~!" Ariel said, and then juxtaposed how much like an old woman's speech that sounded by pushing off of the pool and practically jetting away through the water. This maneuver sent just barely enough droplets the group's way for Emily to feel a couple of them on her arm.

"Pflech," Cassie folded her ears back as she turned to lead the way to that room. "She oughta be more careful about splashing people."

"Wait—do you not like water?!" Halley asked, sounding entirely too happy to discover a new way to annoy the catgirl.
"I—no, I'm fine with water!" she protested, and when neither the wolf-girl nor Astra seemed to buy it, rattled off: "I can swim! I do swim! I just—don't want my uniform getting dirty, is all!"

Through the windows, Emily saw a group of girls lifting weights...although many of them were struggling with what looked like fairly light ones. A deep, mature woman's voice was calling from inside: "Two—three—four—! Come on, you can do it! One more time!"

"I suppose we should wait for..?" Emily began, but Halley was already halfway into the door (Astra not far behind), and once she'd gotten inside she waved at the owner of that voice—the trainer for the class.

The 'teacher' appeared to take this in stride; she'd been lifting the biggest weight in the class, and when she set it down she exhaled in a way that might have been a sigh of either relief or annoyance. "Okay! Everyone take five, and then we'll get back to it. Make sure to drink some water, you all!"

---

"Scrawny..."
"..small.."
"Too short!"

Ever since puberty, he'd been faced with rejections like those, time and time again—more than he could count. He worked hard to attain and maintain peak physical condition—he had toned muscles and abs and everything! But just because he was a little on the short side, just because his natural body type was thin and small, everyone looked down on him. He could outplay any of the guys, in any of the sports he tried out for, but still he was passed over just because the shallow coaches couldn't see beyond his diminutive appearance.

In the end, the best he could do was get a job at a gym as a personal trainer, helping guys with twice his size but half his skill get better. He convinced himself for a while that he was happy doing this job; it paid fine, and at least people were coming to him for advice now. But it still didn't sit that well with him. He still sometimes felt the looks of people in the gym, thinking: 'What's he know about getting fit? He's so small!' When that happened, he got a little angry, and sometimes did reckless things to prove them wrong.

One afternoon, consumed by this sense of annoyance and frustration, he made one such reckless decision. He had the next day off, and he made the decision that tomorrow, he would get up early in the morning, pack a backpack of food and water, and take off jogging in a particular direction—then not stop until sunset. That is..of course he would take breaks, eat meals, and handle other bodily needs...but he was going to prove his stamina and speed. Maybe he'd even brag about it online, after taking pictures with his phone along the journey.

The one thing left to decide on was a direction. He didn't want to pound the sidewalk the entire day; that was boring. He also didn't want to wind up lost in the woods or something, so sticking to an actual path was reasonably important. Eventually, he decided on a direction that would take him through his town's park, then out of his town alongside a road, into another town, and eventually into a little forest encircling some private college. To even make it that far before sunset would be impressive, so he didn't worry about what might be beyond there. So, plans made, he went to bed early. The next morning he set out bright and early and went jogging.

Whether or not other people recognized his efforts, exercising like this always made him feel good. The burn of his muscles doing their best to keep up with his mind's demands, the feeling of heat and resulting sweat across his body, was something he cherished in a way most people—even some so-called fitness nuts—didn't seem to understand. Besides that, conquering a tough challenge like the one he'd set today was simply one of those things that made him feel like a man. Petty as it was, it was something he liked.

He wasn't feeling enough of a burn after the first half-hour or so of his jog, so he decided to take on an occasional sprint. That had the desired effect, and when he slowed back down to a jog after a sprint there was a good while of his body needing to play catch-up. He didn't allow himself to slow down too much, instead chugging water as he went to keep himself hydrated but otherwise continuing at a steady, jogging pace. It felt amazing, and he was almost reluctant to stop around noon to have a quick lunch.

After the lunch, he warmed himself up real quick before taking off on a full-on sprint. The break had left him refreshed enough to cover a good distance before he had to slow down, and then it was only a short jog more before he found himself in that college town he'd seen on the map. He realized at this point that he'd forgotten all about taking pictures, but—that didn't really matter. It wasn't what was really important to him anyway, and if anything, he could take some photos near sunset, when he finally stopped. It was only a short trek (for him, at least) along the sidewalks of the town before he reached the edge of the forest.

As he jogged along the grassy path, huffing air in and out as he went, he felt..great. He was thinking that he hadn't felt so manly in a long time, that he should do this again his next day off. He'd probably stop once he reached the other side of this little forest, even if it wasn't sunset yet, and brag online about the distance he'd covered in so little time. Maybe grab supper in the part of town on the opposite end from the campus...

"Hff...ffh..." He decided to stop to take a breath, and a drink of water, reaching out a hand to lean his weight on a tree. Given his efforts before this point, this decision would seem strange to him in retrospect—but, in the moment, he didn't think anything of it. It was normal to take a break, right? The forest wasn't especially big, so he could afford it time-wise.

As he gulped down water, he felt a refreshing, cool breeze running across his skin. That was...nice. He'd been so busy jogging through all the nature he'd come across before this point that he hadn't really appreciated it all that much. The trees and grass made for pleasant scenery to run through, but he especially liked the way the wind played across the bare skin of his face, arms, legs, and stomach, and the way it teased his hair and made it blow out behind him...

Wait.

"Huh?" His thoughts had rammed into a brick wall: His hair wasn't long enough for the wind to do that to it, silly! But, when he reached his hand up to check, it found shoulder-length blond hair. Right, and there were some locks touching his cheeks, a few messy bangs even threatening to blind him if he wasn't careful with them. That...wasn't right, though; he always kept his hair short so it wouldn't get in the way. And, anyway, what kind of guy had shoulder-length hair? All the same, he could feel the wind blowing it out behind him, making the locks tickle his face in the front—and so the paradox remained.

What kind..of guy...? "I...wha..?" The cool breeze seemed to have set off an odd, tingling sensation on every bit of skin it touched. This was different from the feeling of cool air on sweat—which he was quite familiar with, of course—and when he looked down to try to understand what was happening, he couldn't make sense of what he saw at all. His arm hair, leg hair, belly hair, and—he pulled his collar forward to check—even chest hair, were all vanishing. The hairs were becoming shorter, some of them vanishing away, and as they shortened and thinned themselves out of existence this way, they left behind soft, smooth skin. It registered to him as...pretty..? He also felt an urge to touch his face at this point, and when his hand rubbed his cheek, it found the skin there much the same as the rest of it: Soft, smooth, completely devoid of the slight bit of beard he hadn't bothered to shave that morning. But—what kind of guy had skin like this!?

"I, I'm...what's...?" he mumbled in confusion, feeling an increasingly strong urge to stretch. As that urge built, he became aware of some of the locks of his hair touching the back of his stomach, below where his top reached, and even seemingly crawling downward along it as a result of growing even longer. And then he couldn't take it anymore; he raised his hands up and arched his back. "Hmn—!" All at once, he felt the release of an immense tension that he could've sworn wasn't there before. "Hmm~mmm~mmmnnh..!" His body stretched itself out bigger and taller, his arms and legs growing somehow! And, at the same time, the tone of his voice steadily, subtly changed.

Coming out of the stretch, he looked around as he rotated his shoulders, feeling the tension pop out of his body and leave him feeling significantly more limber and relaxed. The trees around him looked..shorter than before, and looking down, he knew he was taller than he remembered. But also, his frame seemed differently built from before. His shoulders were narrower, his arms, legs and waist all slimmer than he remembered. The urge to stretch then hit him again.

"Aah...!" As he almost involuntarily reaching his hands up, he could feel hair all the way down the back of his stomach, the weight of it touching the top of his butt. Men...didn't normally have such gorgeously long hair. But there wasn't time to think about that, as he found himself stretching upward all over again. This time, a strangely high gasp came in through his lips before he let out a relieved "Aa~aa~aaahh...!" The subtle shift in his voice grew increasingly noticeable. It was still almost as deep as he remembered, and yet...it was sounding less and less masculine by the second. By the end of this cry, as he dropped his arms again to find himself even taller than before, it had changed into a mature, yet distinctly womanly alto.

"I-I..whaa~at's..?" His voice squeaked strangely when he tried to make it sound the way it did before. There was a strange, increasingly strong tingly sensation right...down there, between his legs. He'd grown so much taller, but his body was so slim, his skin so soft and smooth—and his hair so gorgeously long that its tips were tickling his upper thighs, past the leggings of his shorts. What kind of guy..looked and sounded like that?

"Aa~aah..!" The tingling down there progressed into a strange tugging, slipping sensation. It was making his heart race in almost the same way a good run did, but it was also exciting the very thing that was shrinking, and drawing the heat of an increasingly strong blush to his cheeks. Of course, a part of his brain said; the reason for all of these things was that he wasn't a man at all! But—that wasn't right! He'd been a man for so long! He...wanted..!

"Aa~ahmm, mm~mmnnh..!" The tugging grew stronger down there. Did he want to be a boy? And..why? So everyone could look down on him for being small, for not being 'manly' enough for them? Why not...be something else? "Aah, aa~AAAhh..!" His usually-deep voice now revealed that it had quite a range, as his cries suddenly sounded high, cute—girly. And, of course, that was what was happening—his manhood, and his very masculinity, were disappearing; he could feel both happening at once. And...it felt really good..!
"Aah, nnNNgh..." Tug, tug...slip..! His manhood vanished away! "Aaa~AAAAH..!" A girl's voice cried out as she felt femininity blossoming into place down there. That was it; if nobody could appreciate her as a boy..nor especially as a man, then she'd just have to be a woman! She'd have to be..a tomboy. A strong, tall, beautiful amazon of a woman that made the boys wish they could be as fit as she was!

A deeply, intensely pleasant fuzzy feeling spread throughout her new equipment as this realization spread through her mind, drawing a deeply womanly "Aa~aa~AAAHHHHNNN~NNNNHHhhh..!" from her lips and making her hips squirm and thrash back and forth. She could feel the underwear beneath her shorts shrinking into a pair of girly boyshorts, the shorts themselves being pulled tighter against her hips as they spread themselves out wider, her butt growing bigger and her thighs thickening up, too. Yes, yes, yes! This was the kind of girl—the kind of woman—she wanted to be. Tall, strong, and curvy...!

"Ooh, oo~OOOoo~ohh...mnnh, AAH!" No sooner did the changes below her waist (and the accompanying pleasure) start to ease off than the new girl began to feel her chest tingling, then the nipples growing wide and tall before raising bumps up from behind them as they pushed forward. She had..a pair of tiny, budding breasts! But she was going to have to do much better than that. And so, the two little prepubescent bumps adoring her chest began to swell and inflate, stretching the material of her top as they grew bigger and bigger. Their sensitive skin brushing and straining against the soft cloth of the top was more than enough to stimulate more pleasant, womanly feelings down between her legs, causing her to cry out all the more. "AAH, Aaa~aAAAHhh..! Aa~aAAAHHHNNnnh..!"

This felt...even better than when she'd first become a girl! If a tomboy like her had access to these feelings, then she never wanted to go back to being a boy! She cheered on her breasts to get bigger and bigger, give her more and more of that wonderful sensation down between her legs, and for what felt like a very long time, they obliged. She could feel the two increasingly-huge globes beginning to press against each other as her top hugged in against them; they strained against the top trying to hold them in and forced it to grow to accommodate them instead. Then, finally, there was one last push, making her draw in a sudden, high gasp before letting out a deep "Oo~oooOOOOOOoooh..!" as she felt the pleasure down her legs hit a peak before finally, mercifully easing off, letting her huff air slowly in and out, feeling her breasts rise and fall with each breath.

"Hff...ha~ahff...mmngh..."

"I-I'm...it's..what..?" Coming out of the mental haze of the transformation, the new girl couldn't quite resist the thought that she was a tomboy, and perhaps even meant to be female somehow...but she still had enough of a rational mind to realize that something utterly bizarre had happened. Slowly looking around, she located her backpack of supplies before realizing it had shrunk slightly and turned pink. "...Huh."

While she dug through the backpack, she began a brisk walk—not a jog, yet with her much longer legs it covered nearly as much distance as the boy she'd been before could hope to by jogging. Maybe...there was some sort of explanation waiting in the center of this forest?

Years later, she found a small party of girls wandering into her on-campus exercise class. The animal-eared girls didn't look sorry to have interrupted her work, but the nerdy-looking girl with the red hair, at least, gave an apologetic look. "Um, sorry; Ariel told us that um..the person who explained how The Academy works to her was...here?"
"Oh, yeah? That'd be me," the blond-haired tomboy said, striding up to the group. "Name's Sean. You girls need somethin'?"

The redhead seemed flustered to have someone so tall, buff, and curvy approaching her. It was kind of cute. "Er..y-yes, but—Sean?" she asked, apparently distracted from her original question by the name.
"Yeah," the tomboy nodded. "I mean—my ID said somethin' else when I first moved in here, but I told everyone to call me Sean, and eventually it agreed with me. Don't even remember what it used to say. I mean—it's still prolly not my original name or whatever."
"Oh. W-well, I'm Emily; these are Halley, Cassie, Astra," she said, gesturing to the three animal-eared girls with her in turn.
"Nice to meet ya. Soo...?" Sean made a 'get on with it' gesture.

"Well..who told you how The Academy works? We're..trying to find out who decides on those rules. Or, 'what' decides, if it isn't a person."
"..Oh." Sean nodded, thinking for a brief moment. "Well...I can't say I know too much, but I think you girls will find what you're lookin' for in the library."

"That's uh..a rather mysterious way to put it," Emily pointed out. "Anything..specific we should be looking for in there?"
Sean put a finger on her chin briefly, thinking about how much of a hint to give them. "I guess...short, with long brown hair," she settled on. "That oughta be enough to go on."

---

It took me the longest of all, I think, to come up with an image for Sean that I was fully happy with. Cassie took a while to get any good image at all for; on the other hand, I'm pretty sure Halley was the easiest one by a fair margin. I also briefly tried to come up with an image for Ariel, but never turned up anything that was remotely close to what I had in mind, and it wasn't all that serious of an attempt in the first place.