The Next Chapter: 4

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 4: How Can I Turn Back?

While the "boys" picked out some outfits for themselves, Camilla gladly went shopping for herself, too. She just picked up one or two things that looked cute; even with Nancy's wealth and self-proclaimed generosity, it wouldn't be a good look to go too overboard. A little while later, they converged on the checkout counter. As agreed with a store manager on their way in, the two new girls were wearing some of the purchases out on them: the short wolf-girl in shorts and a t-shirt, while the busty fox-girl had gone all-in on a dress. Nobody batted an eye when Camilla gave them Nancy's (or, more accurately, the sorority's) card, as if they'd been told ahead of time, or maybe just didn't care whose money was being spent. Regardless, after that it was a short drive back to campus and then a walk back to the house, Camilla doing her part with the bags.

Naturally, she'd picked up various essentials beyond clothes to help them with living as women, and taken care to find some really good shampoo and brushes. Even if Ed went in on her threat to have her hair cut short or shaved, there was no amount of shaving that would 'fix' the fact she had furry ears and a tail now. She had also, of course, briefed them on the right way to go to the bathroom as one of the first things. Going through the list mentally as they opened the door and went inside, she verified that the two new members were well-taken-care of, as per the wealthy miss Tanner's instructions.

They encountered a demon in the front hallway. "Hey—" she started, then noticed the others with Camilla. "Oooh, are you two..?"
"Yeah, these're Ed and Jay," Camilla said, vaguely gesturing to each in turn. "We're just back from buying clothes and stuff."

L'hoxifel made a voiced gasp, bringing a couple of fists up to just beneath her chin with the biggest open-mouthed grin; her eyes might as well have been sparkling too. "Wooow, you two are sooo cuuuuute!"

"Heheh, thanks!" Jay replied; the wolf-girl tilted her head, looking a mixture of nonplussed and annoyed (but also blushing).

Camilla had basically expected a reaction like this, so she hardly reacted at all. "I'm supposed to meet Rob for lunch, sooo. Think you could help them carry all this to their rooms?" The demon-girl hardly showed it in public most of the time, but her fascination with animal-eared girls—especially canines—was well-known to her long-time friend.

"Oh, sure! No problem," she said, nodding, then taking the bags Camilla had been holding as soon as they were offered.

The task of the morning done, Camilla turned around to head out. On her way, she overheard the start of another conversation. Ed was saying, "So, do you know why exactly we grew a bunch of fur when we changed?"
"Oh, that's probably because of the chaotic venting," L'hoxifel started explaining right away. "Remember, the enchantment on the building is specifically designed to work in a way that minimizes accidental..."

Asking her that instead of Camilla must have seemed sensible because the latter was a 'normal human', but it was perhaps a bit of a mistake. After all, the demon girl was a huge nerd about magic; she'd talk about that until their big fluffy ears fell off if they let her. Oh well—Camilla shrugged—not my problem.

"Hi!"

Robert was waiting for her at the restaurant; he called and waved her over with a bright smile, and didn't complain that she was a few minutes late, either. That was among the things she liked about him. He was athletic and fit, with short, very dark brown hair. The two of them had hit it off after they met freshman year, partially due to having a lot in common: Both basketball players, fitness nuts, and retro gamers...

She ran up to him, pulling him into a brief, deep kiss and out again. He was only a few inches taller than she was, which was convenient for this kind of thing. "Hi, babe. You wait long for me?"
"Nah, I've been here, like, ten seconds. I guess you got away early?"

"I got it done, anyway. C'mon." He was an artist specializing in pixel art, which he'd started doing when he was twelve, and she did some writing in her spare time—horror, action, pulpy stuff like that. They could form an indie game studio together if they ever found someone who could actually program or design gameplay.

They had some typical conversation over sandwiches: Video games, classes, how their most recent basketball games had gone (and which team members had screwed up during them). It eventually circled back to the subject of what she'd been handling that morning.

"So two guys really went through with that, huh? I guess they were that desperate to get out of the dorms," he was saying. Rob bragged occasionally that he could sleep in a locker room; he hadn't particularly cared how good or bad his dorm was since starting college.

"Maybe. I think one of them was legit curious what it's like."
"Man, it has to be really weird, though."
"Both of them wound up growing furry ears and tails, too."
"Yeesh. Well—I dunno. Maybe a total change to your body is so shocking that a little extra like that helps you distance it from 'normal' anyway. Or like, at least isn't any worse?"

"Maybe," she shrugged.

"Hey, do you want to watch a movie after?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure." Abrupt shifts of subject were normal between them, so Camilla didn't need any extra time to respond. "Where, your place?"
"I dunno, it's kind of a mess right now."

"The library?"

"We could..but you told me you've got like a whole theater room in the OZK house, right?"
"Yeah. But like I keep telling you, though, it's risky," she said. They'd been through this conversation before. Nancy didn't have any problem with them bringing guests at all; the issue was decidedly more bizarre than that.
"I'm not gonna fall asleep! Not with a girl as beautiful as you next to me," he said, reaching across the table to ruffle her hair a bit.
"Pfft. You say that, but you always doze off like two-thirds of the way in. I'm serious, man—if you fall asleep, I literally can't do anything to stop the house from turning you into a girl."
"I won't fall asleep!" he insisted. "Promise!"
"Okay, okay. I'll see if we can use the space," she said, getting out her phone. "I mean—I don't think there's gonna be any competition, but I gotta check."

"Sweet!"

She got permission easily enough, and the two of them sat side-by-side on a couch to enjoy a movie together. Naturally, around two-thirds of the way into the movie, Robert showed signs he was nodding off. Camilla prodded, patted, or gently shook him to keep him awake, reminded him again not to doze off, and he mumbled an apology and made a show of pinching himself to keep conscious. But all of this effort from both of them wound up keeping him awake a grand total of maybe thirty minutes longer than usual.

When Camilla felt her boyfriend's head land gently on her shoulder and looked over, she sighed. It wasn't like she hadn't warned him, several times. But he'd insisted just as many times, and this was what happened when she gave in! It was funny; this habit of his to 'catnap' sometimes was something she found generally cute and endearing, and the feeling of his head on her shoulders was comforting. But in this case, it meant something pretty inconvenient for both of them. She sighed, gently rubbing the side of his head a bit like usual, and just enjoyed the rest of the movie for now.

According to Nancy, there was no telling exactly how long after a man fell asleep the enchantment would start transforming him. It was guaranteed to keep the 'target' asleep, or at least in a state that would look just like sleep from the outside, until the change was over. At any rate, Rob stayed "him"-self for the rest of the movie, as Camilla confirmed through the occasional glance his way. She kept her arm over his shoulder the whole time too—just as she might have if not expecting him to change sexes at any moment. But not long after the credits began rolling, he wriggled around in place the way he often did just before waking up, and then she got the first sign that something was happening in the form of a bunch of hair landing onto that arm of hers.

She pulled her arm off reflexively, turning to look, then carefully brought that arm over to her side. Rob's hair had indeed grown long enough to spill across his shoulders, and that seemed at first to be the only thing that had happened. But then he let out a low, soft "Mmmh," and all of a sudden his ears were popping out past his hair, their shape shifting toward the large and triangular while some deep purple fur sprouted all across their outside. Inside, there were big white tufts of fur pushing their way out into place. He grew these fuzzy ears all the way out in a matter of five or six seconds, and then let out a slightly different murmur, a deep "Mmmrrrrhh" that was partway toward a catlike purr, as a slim tail covered in fur the same shade of deep purple slid its way out from his lower back. His hair, which had grown another inch or so longer since she'd last looked, now went through a rapid shift in color, starting at the roots and swiftly making its way out to the tips, until it matched the fur of his tail and ears perfectly.

Camilla tilted her head slightly, looking at this and thinking: Rob actually was pretty cute as a catboy. Maybe—while begging Nancy to help turn her dumb boyfriend back into a boyfriend—she could suggest keeping those parts. The purple hair was a strangely good look, really...

But anyway, this look only lasted a few more seconds before he started actually turning into a girl. He unconsciously leaned toward her a bit, letting out a soft, low "Mrrr~rrrh," as he began to visibly, rapidly shrink. His facial hair vanished, then the hair on his arms and legs that his t-shirt and shorts made visible. Those clothes loosened up around him as he slimmed and shortened, his shoulders narrowing and his toned muscles softening and slimming away. Camilla watched with interest as his face flushed red, turning from sharp and handsome to rounded and cute. The purple locks of hair he'd grown out to either side of that face were joined by some longer bangs in making it look increasingly adorable. She could only briefly resist before..reaching across and gently stroking the top of his head a little bit.

"Aah, aa~ah..!" He squirmed a little in place in response to this, a strangely high, boyish tone coming from his lips. His face flushed even brighter, and he shrank a little faster, his hair cascading out long enough for the tips of those dark purple locks to touch the seat of the couch behind him. Then Camilla satisfied a bit of curiosity and gently touched his left ear with her right hand just a little bit. "Mmh—!" He flinched, then both of his ears lowered, his tail flicking around excitedly. Wow, this was...really cute! "Mrrr~rrrrh...!" His voice lilted up out of masculine range as he leaned up toward her, his face landing in her chest due to all the height he'd lost, and started nuzzling her. Camilla decided: The catboy look was very good, but she was starting to kind of like this, too. Maybe L'hoxifel was onto something with liking fuzzy ears and stuff after all...

"Mrr~rrh...aah, aa~aah...!" A soft, girlish voice came out of Rob as Camilla gently hugged him, feeling his body shrink one last little bit before he shifted from being a boy to a girl. This change came with a sudden shiver and a cute "Aaa~aaah...!" From his-then-her lips. Then she could feel the catgirl's clothes shuffling around, and gently pushed her off to get a better look at what was happening now.

"Mmh, mm~MMM~mmmhh..!" Rob squirmed around a little more, hugging herself, as her shorts flared out into a pleated skirt, her shirt tightening and shifting into a girl's white, button-down top. At the same time, the new girl's hips and thighs visibly puffed out wider and thicker, and the tightening shirt quickly revealed a small pair of bumps that had grown out from her once-flat chest. "Mrrh, mrroo~oowh..!" She made more kitty-cat noises as those bumps spread themselves out larger and larger, visibly stretching the shirt for a second before it quickly bounced back out to accommodate them. A blue tie grew into place around her collar, falling down between her growing breasts as she panted, making them huff in and out—coming back out noticeably larger every time. She pulled in a high-pitched gasp, then let it out in a girlish "Aa~aa~AA~Aaa~aah...!" as her bust expanded maybe another entire cup size at once, and then somehow found enough air to exhale a little bit more as the change came to an end.

Camilla easily, gently disengaged herself from the new catgirl, coming around to look at her from in front of the couch. She tilted her head a little, thinking: Yeah, this is pretty nice. Then she reached down and patted her "boy"-friend's head a couple of times. "Wake up, sleepy-head."

"Mrr...whu..wha...?" She slowly blinked her eyes open, revealing that their color had changed from a dull brown to a bright, golden yellow. "W-wha..!?" Her hands went briefly to a few places on her body before settling between her legs. "Whaaat!?"

"I told you, not to fall asleep, right?"
"C-camilla? I..I was just..um..?" She was still a little confused—as expected of someone who'd just been asleep.
"Was just what?"
"I-I..uh..um..." She looked down, the blush that had been on her cheeks since the transformation started still persisting. "I dozed off, huh...?"
"Yyyep. And so the house made you a catgirl. I think you're even bustier than me, too."
"Uh, u-um.."

Camilla exhaled a half-sigh. "C'mon," she said, offering Rob a hand to help her up. "We've gotta see Nancy about this. I'm sure she won't mind helping you turn back into a guy this once."

"Uh, o-okay..." She took the hand and stood herself up, carefully at first, although after a moment she seemed to realize that she wasn't having any trouble standing or walking despite having a completely different center of gravity.

The next thing Rob seemed to realize was that her eye level was around Camilla's chest. "Uh...this is, really weird..?"
"Yeah, I bet. I dunno, though, I think it's not a bad look for you," she said, gently rubbing the top of Rob's head a bit.

"M-mrowh~..wah! Why'd I do that..?"
"Um, 'cause you're part cat I guess? And I assume that feels nice. What about this?" she asked, deciding to tease her a little more with some ear rubs.
"Tha...that's...o-oh...mrrr~rrrh..." Her response to this wasn't very different from when she'd been asleep: Ears low, tail flicking around excitedly. Her eyes fluttered shut and she swooned just a little before realizing what she was doing. Then her eyes popped back open. "That's..so weird...n-not bad though..? Wh-what am I saying!?"

"Well, there's no harm in enjoying it," Camilla said. "I was thinking, it might be nice if we could find a way to turn you back into a guy that'd keep those kitty ears. If you'd be okay with that, at least."

Rob's face flushed red all over again. "Uh. Muh...maybe.."

"Pffheheh! C'mon, you. I think I know where to find her this time of day," Camilla said, heading for the stairwell to go up to the third floor and gesturing for the catgirl to follow. She had a pretty good guess what Nancy's response to this request was going to be...

...And that guess was pretty much spot-on. After they (mostly Camilla) had explained the situation and made their request to help turn Rob back into a guy, Nancy looked briefly back and forth between them two of them. "Hmm...sorry, but no."
"No!?" the catgirl repeated desperately.

"You gotta understand, even my wealth has limits. I can't just be handing out magical artifacts or potions to every guy who happens to fall asleep in the chapter house. I mean, we have an entire disclaimer out by the front door for this exact reason," she said with an arms-up shrug.

"But..but I—I can't stay like this! I'm tiny and weak, a-and a girl, and the guys' basketball team, that I'm on, has a game next week!" Rob looked Camilla's way after this bit of desperate sputtering, and seemed to finally register that she wasn't the least bit worried about this situation.

"We~eell, I'm not saying there's no way I can help you out," Nancy continued, basically exactly as predicted. "We do have a way of helping the members of our sorority maintain male forms most of the time—I mean, aside from sleeping and waking up, pretty much. You're not affiliated with a frat already, right?"
"Nope," Camilla answered for her.
"Then you could just join OZK. There's no fees or anything at the moment, since we're pretty desperate to get enough members to be recognized by the college, and soon. Besides, you obviously like the facilities we have here."

"Uhm.."

Rob briefly looked back and forth between the two of them. "Is that..like..okay? I mean, I'm—like, we're boyfriend and girlfriend...technically. Sort of."

"No 'sort of' to it," Camilla clarified. "Any problem with that?"
"No? I mean, I don't see how it's the organization's business whether any pair of our members are in a relationship," Nancy said with a small shrug. "From what I've heard, it sure happens an awful lot in our founding chapter, anyway."

"Um—okay? I guess I'll join then, if it'll let me turn back to normal. Or, m-mostly," Rob said.

"Great! We just need to have you contact your parents, and get some paperwork together, and then we can get you moved in. You'll probably want more than just the one outfit for your girl form—at least something you can sleep in anyway—and I don't mind financing that one bit..."

Camilla and Rob exchanged a brief look while Nancy continued rolling on through her explanation. It wouldn't really have surprised Camilla if she had written herself a script for this explanation and had been rehearsing it all across the summer. Regardless, she eventually went over to a far corner of her bedroom, opening a drawer and producing from it the solution to their present 'problem': A simple-looking metal ring.

"Now, pay attention. You need to focus really hard on how exactly you want to look the first time you put this on," Nancy said. "Ideally with as few distractions as possible. From then on, putting the ring on will cause you to take on that look. When you take it off, you'll go back to looking how you do now. As a safety measure, its enchantment will have it pop off of your finger if you fall asleep inside the chapter house. Simple, easy, and efficient. Here you go~!" She held out her hand with the ring in its palm, offering it to Rob.

"Uh...you don't mind if I take that now? Before I've signed all that paperwork and whatever?"

"Sure! You can think of taking it as sealing our agreement, morally speaking, with all the legal stuff coming after. I haven't seen any reason not to trust you—or Camilla, for that matter—and trust and happiness are way more important to me than red tape anyway."
"Okay, uhm, thanks..."

Rob probably envisioned the ring turning her completely back to how she'd looked before transforming at first...but it wasn't very hard for Camilla to convince her to keep the purple hair and kitty-cat parts. And so, by the end of that Saturday, OZK had "Robyn" as its sixth member. So now, as far as Camilla understood, they only needed four more...

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It's true: It was only a matter of time before the first catgirl.