“You cannot escape!”

“Why is it so frilly?!”

I was cornered. Emily stood before me, brandishing a frilly pink dress that could only be described as a princess outfit. I frantically looked around for an escape path, as Emily inched ever closer to me..

“Just give it up. There’s no helping it when she gets like this.” Zoey spoke up from just behind her. Melissa had somehow managed to get her into a similar frilly dress made from lavender coloured fabric.

“I’ve known you for- how many years? How come I’ve never seen this side of you?!” I yelled desperately, trying to find some kind of explanation for the situation I had ended up in.

“Well,” Melissa chimed in, “You were a guy back then. You had no reason to dress up, so we never tried.”

“But now…” Emily had successfully herded me into the corner of her room, and I had nowhere to go. “These clothes are too small for me, but they should fit you perfectly!”

“Just give it up, Flora.”

“She dressed me up, so let her dress you up too.”

Everyone’s working against me here!

“...Alright, fine. I yield.” I dropped my arms down to my sides. Emily immediately took the chance and picked me up, slinging me over her shoulder with one hand.

 

Couldn’t you do this a little more gently?

 

*****

 

Having carried me off to an empty room, Emily handed me the dress, directing me on how to put it on while maintaining the fluffyness of all the frills.

“Seriously though, where did you get all of these?”

“Mum made them.”

The dress was rather heavy, and the ruffles flowed gracefully as I moved.

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s her hobby. She rakes in a lot of cash, too, making costumes and dresses for formal parties.”

I had no idea. There was this whole side of her family that I didn’t know about, just because I wasn’t a girl.

I jerked forward with a start.

...Am I getting too used to this?

 

Carefully walking back to the living room, where everyone had moved to, I shyly peeked around the door. Emily gave me a gentle push from behind, and I stumbled into the room.

A chorus of “Aww”s echoed as I entered.

“You’re so cute!”

“It suits you perfectly!”

“I knew it would fit you.”

...This is super embarrassing! Everyone’s staring at me!

 

Melissa had a slight smile, seeming pleased at how I was wearing the clothes that she made. Zoey had sparkles in her eyes again, and Emily was wearing a silly grin on her face. A camera appeared out of nowhere in her hands, and she quickly held it up. Upon hearing the distinctive clicking sound of photos being taken, I gave up.

 

Quickly walking over to the couch, I flopped down face first into it.

 

“That’s not a very elegant pose, you know. I can’t take photos like that.”

I don’t care!

“Why are you taking photos?” I asked, my voice somewhat muffled by the couch cushion.

“Because you’re cute.”

Not again!

 

After I had given up, the living room was silent, save for the occasional noise of the camera shutter. Melissa loudly inhaled, poising to say something, but she was interrupted by the powerful growling sound emitted from my stomach.

 

“...As I was about to say, should I make some dinner?”

I raised my arm, attempting to give a weak thumbs up as I buried my face further into the couch in embarrassment.

“I’m ready for dinner.”

“What do we have?”

Zoey and Emily both chimed in, clambering out from the very soft armchairs to start making their way towards the kitchen. But, Melissa spoke up before they could.

“Go get changed first. I don’t want food all over my nice clothes.”

Slowly levering myself up off the couch, I followed a little behind them as they walked off to Emily’s bedroom.

 

Zoey stopped off at a different room to get changed, leaving Emily and I to walk to her bedroom. Turning around, she giggled as I blearily walked in.

“You look like a princess who just woke up.”

My hair was messily strewn about, and I kept having to brush it out of my face. I didn’t have the energy to deal with Emily, who was holding the camera again and rapidly taking photos from various angles.

After I finally adjusted my hair to the point where it wasn’t tickling my face, I found Emily pushing the camera screen towards me, showing a photo she had taken. The picture perfectly matched Emily’s earlier comment about the sleepy princess, showing a girl with messy hair and crumpled clothes.

“Who’s… wait-”

Of course it’s me, she literally just took the photo…  I barely stopped myself from asking the same question I had a few days ago.

“You’re still not used to it?”

“Could you get used to something like this in three days?” I fumbled around with the dress, trying to find the zipper.

“...I guess not. I still get startled slightly every time I see my ears. Like, I don’t have human ears anymore.”

She pulled her hair back a little, showing off the sides of her head.

“It’s smooth!”

There were no traces of her previous ears, instead replaced by a few hair roots.

“I can’t tie my hair back anymore because of that.”

You wear a hood, anyway. Can’t we find some way to hide your ears, so you don’t have to wear a hoodie every time you go out?

I fiddled with the dress for a while longer in an attempt to figure out how to take it off, but to no avail. Emily, having stepped back to watch the spectacle with a slight smile on her face, finally spoke up.

“...Do you need some help?”

“Yes please.”

 

*****

 

Dinner seemed more like a family meal, rather than something suitable for a slumber party. Emily ate voraciously, devouring all of the meats and vegetables presented to her in stark contrast to her earlier behaviour at lunchtime. She had changed into a simple set of tracksuit pants and shirt, freeing her tail from underneath her school uniform dress. It wagged excitedly behind her as she ate.

“So that’s what happens when you skip lunch…” Zoey commented, having finished a modest amount of food. She was leaning back in her chair, watching Emily eat with a slight smile.

“It’th weird-”

“Finish your mouthful first.”

“...It’s weird. I didn't feel hungry before, but it just smells so good. And mum's food always tastes great, but…”

I leant back, grinning slightly as I watched Emily return to her food. Melissa was standing next to her holding a loaded tray, ready to refill her plate.

“This is the last of it.”

“I’m sorry for taking some of your food, you two.” Emily apologised, holding her plate out towards Melissa.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t that hungry.”

“Me neither.” After Emily told me to eat smaller meals on the first day after my transformation, I did my best to dutifully follow her advice, resulting in my food intake decreasing dramatically. Maybe this body has better fuel efficiency, or something.

 

“Thanks for cooking dinner for us, Melissa.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Urp… My sense of taste must have changed or something, because that was amazing.”

“Are you sure you didn’t eat too much?” Zoey stood up, leaning forward towards Emily with a hint of worry on her face.

“I don’t think so?” She slowly levered herself out of her chair and gingerly began making her way towards the couches.

Her stomach isn’t even bulging!

“Where did it all go?!” I exclaimed. Emily turned to look at me, confused.

“She’s right. Like, with the amount of food you ate, you’d expect to be like-” Zoey paused to gesture in front of her, mimicking a large belly, “but you look no different than before you ate.”

“Hmm… I guess.” Emily shuffled around a bit, jumping up and down energetically.

“Foxgirl biology?” I suggested.

“Maybe.”

 

*****

 

“So what kind of foxgirl are you, anyway?”

Having finished dinner, we were lounging in Emily’s room. Zoey spoke up first, posing that question while hugging one of the pillows that was laying on the mattresses spread out on the floor.

“What do you mean?”

“Like, in fiction and legends, there’s different types of people with fox ears. In fantasy there’s beastkin, who just have some kind of animal characteristic, like your ears and tails. There’s animal spirits, who take on human forms, and then there’s the fox deities and demigods from eastern mythology.”

Emily grabbed her laptop from off her desk, sitting down on her bed and flipping it open.

“... Is there one where someone started out as human?” She said, grumpily.

“Not that I know of? Most of them involve someone who was originally a fox, or someone who found out that one of their parents was a fox. So unless Melissa or your dad was secretly a fox all along…”

“Aren’t foxes meant to be fickle? You remember what my dad was like, so I wouldn’t be surprised.”

 

At that point, everyone grew silent.

 

I’m glad he’s gone…

 

After a few moments Zoey hopped up on the bed, sitting next to Emily.

“Whatchya doing?”

“I just looked up ‘girl with fox ears and tail’, but all I got was like, costumes and anime pictures.”

“Try ‘fox person legends’?”

“That gives me- kitsune and… kumiho? It’s all the eastern legends.”

 

“It’d be nice to find out what I am, too.” I murmured.

“Huh? Aren’t you still human, though? I thought you just turned into a girl.” Emily raised her head from her laptop to respond to me.

“Then how do you explain me being impossibly underweight?”

“I thought that was just like, your magic or whatever messing with the electronics.” She tapped her finger against her chin for a few moments, before continuing.

“Wait, there’s a mechanical scale in the bathroom. You could try that.”

“Right, I’ll be back in a-” While standing up in order to walk to the bathroom as she suggested, I was interrupted by a towel flying into my face.

“It’s getting late, so we should all go shower and get ready for bed.” Emily said with a slight smirk, evidently impressed at her marksmanship. The blood drained from my face as I recalled something unpleasant.

 

“Um, Emily… you have a really big mirror in your bathroom, don’t you…”

“Yeah? What of it?”

Oh no.

Looking at myself in the mirror with my current appearance still felt extremely embarrassing, like I was peeking on someone. I was saved by the fact that the bathroom at my house had a very small mirror, so I could simply look elsewhere to avoid the mortifying feeling that came with seeing myself naked. However, this time, I couldn’t escape it.

 

“Go on, get going. You’re first.”

 

Emily sent me off to my certain doom. It was only when I was halfway through my shower that I realised, she had sent me off without my pyjamas.

 

*****

 

Somehow making it through my shower by stubbornly refusing to face the large mirror on the wall, as well as doing everything I could to avoid looking down at myself, I stared at the basket sitting on the shelf next to the door. A post-it note was stuck on the side, bearing the label “Flora’s PJs”. Contained within it was a pink dress made of very soft fabric. I held it up, staring at it for a while.

 

She did this on purpose.

...but, I’m not going to pretend that this fabric doesn’t feel really nice!

 

Gingerly opening the door and stepping outside, I was greeted by the sounds of a camera shutter.

“Ooh, got some good shots!”

Again?!

“Eep!”

The camera sparked in Emily’s hands as I internally screamed, startling her. My stomach dropped as I saw her frantically pressing buttons, her ears standing upright and tail bristling from the shock. After a few moments, she sighed in relief.

“Good, I didn’t lose the photos.”

“...sorry.” I mumbled, still shaking off my own fear.

 

What would’ve happened if I had directed that at her? I could have really hurt her.

 

...What exactly am I?

 

Making my way back to Emily’s room, Zoey looked up from her phone as I walked in.

“That looks cute. It suits you.” She commented, sitting cross legged on the left mattress.

 

Both of them giggled as I let myself fall, faceplanting into the only mattress that wasn’t occupied, the one in the middle.

They planned this out in advance, didn’t they…

“Had enough?”

“Yeah.” I grumbled, my voice muffled by the bedding. After a few moments of moping, I lifted myself up, clambering under the flower print covers Emily had laid out for me.

 

“I’m gonna go to sleep.”

“Do you need to grab your toothbrush?”

“...already cleaned my teeth.” I conveniently didn’t mention how I had my eyes squinched shut every time I looked at the mirror while doing so.

“Alright.” Zoey hopped up, switching the lights off.

 

I’m done…

I fell asleep almost instantly, exhausted and completely unprepared for the chaos that would arrive tomorrow.

 

*****

 

I was woken up early the next morning by the sound of muffled screaming.

 

“HEEEELLLP!” Zoey’s shriek rang out, but it was oddly quiet. Glancing over at her mattress, there was no sign of her. Instead, her voice came from a small lump situated in the middle of her blanket. I reached over, lifting the covers off her bed.

 

Sitting in the middle of her mattress was Zoey. Only, she was no bigger than an ordinary house cat.

 

She was wearing a grassy green dress, which flowed out gracefully beneath her. Her hair had turned a beautiful shade of emerald green, and glowed slightly. And protruding from her back were two translucent, colourful wings, resembling a butterfly.

 

“Um, guys? W-what… happened to me? Everything feels- w-weird.” She stammered, looking everywhere around the room with fear in her eyes.

Emily clambered out of bed, having been woken up by her wailing. Sleepily wobbling over to her desk, she picked up a small mirror, and handed it to me. I placed it down in front of her.

 

She stood up, warily stepping towards the mirror, before placing her hands on it. She glanced back and forth between me, and her reflection. After a few moments, she screamed.

“Why am I so SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL?!”

 

“Did you have a dream too?” I asked, holding a tissue out to Zoey, who had tears streaming down her face. She took it gladly, drying her eyes before responding.

“Y-yeah. I dreamt that I was just outside your house, and… a whole bunch of kids with like, hair dyed lots of different colours were clinging to me. They were all really scared, screaming and crying about something. That’s all I remember.”

 

“What’s going on?” Melissa opened the door slightly, poking her head inside. Her eyes, which were still half shut from drowsiness, rapidly opened wide upon seeing Zoey’s current state.

 

“...small.” She whispered.

 

Suddenly, the window clattered open, and a young girl with bright red hair tumbled inside.

“Miss Faaaaaiiiiiry!” She ran over to Zoey, picking her up and holding her protectively.

“I heard your cry for help, and I’m here to save you!”

“What-why?!” Zoey screamed, flailing her arms and legs about, “Who are… you were in my dream!”

 

“A fairy? I thought fairies would be smaller.” Emily spoke up, causing the mysterious red-headed girl to look over at her cautiously. After a few moments, however, her expression brightened up.

 

“Fox!” She exclaimed, gently placing Zoey back on the bed before leaping just in front of Emily.

“Yes?”

“A fox!” She repeated, a huge smile on her face.

 

“Who’s this kid?” Melissa asked, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes.

“How rude! I’m not a…” The mystery girl’s voice trailed off as she looked towards Melissa. She suddenly leaped behind Emily, glaring suspiciously at Melissa while quivering slightly.

“S-she has spirit sight…”

 

Glancing over towards her, I noticed that her feet weren’t actually on the bed as she cowered, using Emily as a shield.

 

“She’s floating!” I gasped, causing the mystery girl to turn towards me. She stared very hard at me for a few seconds, bobbing up and down slightly, hovering just off the ground.

Her eyes shot wide open, and she flew rapidly towards me, tackling me to the ground in a hug.

“I finally found you!” She shouted, rubbing her face against my cheek affectionately.

S-soft…

 

Suddenly, she pushed herself off me, backing away. Placing one knee on the floor, she bowed her head respectfully.

 

“P-please forgive my insolence. I am here to serve you, my Queen.”

 

…

 

WHAT?!