I rubbed my eyes again, staring into the bathroom mirror. Nope. Not dreaming. There was definitely a catgirl in the mirror. Emphasis on the girl part. My hair had grown again, now reaching my upper back. Aside from that, Yuki seemed to have given me the full girl treatment - much narrower shoulders, wider hips, a general increase in daintiness… you know, the works. Oh, and small bumps on my chest that would definitely be considered boobs, and a lack of a bump in my pants, too.

You know, for being a guy up until yesterday, you’d think I’d be freaking out more, or mourning my loss of masculinity, or something. But honestly? Meh. The girl part wasn’t, like, the end of the world. I could probably get used to it, and hey, maybe it’d help me get over my social anxiety and make some friends. Sachi and Ada and Evan all seemed like good starts, right?

“Miyu!” Yuki whined from outside. “Hurry upppppp!”

…

Yeah, the cat part of ‘catgirl’ was really what bothered me. Too many unknyowns. Like this damn nyaccent that’s invading my private thoughts! And apparently being able to talk to cats. Or was it just because Yuki is a Maneki-Neko?

“I’m going!” I yelled back, grumbling as I slipped into my cat-feature hiding gear. Oh. The skirt fits properly now, goes spinny, and feels really nice. Okay.

Oh. my new chest features were peeking out underneath my white button-down. Not okay.

My ears swiveled towards the door, alerted by the crinkling of plastic being slid under it. “Nyu forgot this!” My cat… said. God that’s weird. And she’d delivered me a blouse that had chest padding sewn into the design. Given that my options were to either be dress-coded or wear the blouse, I sighed and picked the latter. Oh well, at least these clothes are comfier than the stiffer blazer and pants combo.

Ding!

“Nya!” I jumped in surprise as my phone went off, banging my head on the ceiling. Ow. Stupid cat powers.

Ding! Another text. Both were from Sachi.

[Hey, drop by the Cafe after school today!]

[I made a care package for you and Yuki :3]

[Thanks. We’ll be there.]

“Miyu! School, school!” Yuki whined again.

“Augh, I’m coming, you micromanaging little brat!”

“Nyu love me.”

“Don’t push your luck.”

***

“Uuu…” That was an exhausting Friday. There were so many eyes on me all of a sudden… and people wanted to talk to me! And more eyes on me meant more people could potentially discover that I’d been smuggling a cat to school all week. To make matters worse, my magically afflicted partner in crime was absent from History this morning, so I had to fend for myself most of today. And here I was, waiting at the bus stop to get to Cafe, willingly walking towards more social interaction.

“What’s wrong, Miyu?” My bag asked.

“Nyu- You know what’s wrong! How have nyu not been found yet?”

“Huh? I told nyu most people can’t see me. I’m a good youkai.”

“Wha- No you didn’t! When did you tell me that?”

“On Tuesday.”

“I couldn’t understand you on Tuesday!”

“Oh yeah.”

A miserable-looking girl walked up to me, interrupting my cat-versation. “Uh… are you talking to your bag, Miyu?”

“Nyo! Uh- No!” I said defensively, trying to figure out who this stranger was. Pale skin, long dark-brown hair, blood-red eyes… almost like a vampire. Almost like…

“Evan!?”

“Emma…” she groaned. “If I’m stuck like this, I can’t really call myself ‘Evan’ anymore, can I?”

“Well-”

“What about you?” she snapped. “Are you really just okay with being a catgirl?”

“Of course nyot!” I said defensively, shrinking back a little. I’m pretty sure Yuki hissed from within my bag, too. “This… nyaccent is really embarrassing, and I can’t hide my cat parts forever…”

Seeing my discomfort, Evan- Emma backed up and out of my personal space. “Sorry… it’s just been a hell of a week, and this,” she said, gesturing to herself. “This sucks.”

“Mmm…”

After that, there wasn’t much to say, so we rode the bus in awkward silence together. Hopefully, the two baristas would be able to help both of us again today.

***

“Hi, welcome!” Sachi chimed as we walked in, smiling a bit wider once she recognized who we were. She called to the back, “Ada and I are taking our breaks!” I wonder how they always beat us here- don’t they go to the same school as us? I guess it’s not something I really have the luxury of worrying about right now.

“Hey,” Ada greeted us, approaching with the same tray of drinks she brought out yesterday. Sachi followed shortly behind, carrying a paper bag. “You two look… girly.”

Emma made a pained groan. “I know…” I guess it was pretty obvious, but I didn’t think it really hurt all that much.

“Sorry dude…” Sachi said, giving Emma a pat on the head. “We’ll try to find a way to fix it.”

Emma just pouted and mumbled something in response.

The catgirl’s ears folded back as she frowned. “Come on, some boba will cheer you up, right?”

“Snackies!?” Yuki said, poking out of my bag.

“Only good girls get snackies, Yuki,” I grumbled, pushing her head back down into the bag as we found a vacant table to use.

“But I was a good girl!” She mewed, now muffled by my backpack.

Sachi giggled, watching the exchange. “So you’ve picked up on Nyanese, I see.”

Oh. That’s why Emma was looking at me like I was crazy. “Y-Yeah. Not by choice, exactly.”

She giggled again, offering the paper bag to me. “Yeah, youkai can be pushy like that. Here. These things might help you out.”

Curious, I peered inside, pulling out a couple of things. The first thing I grabbed was one of those really popular IKEA shark plushies - a blahaj - that smelled faintly of catnip. The second was a silver charm bracelet with a single pink pawprint charm on it. At the very bottom was a super warm throw blanket, though I didn’t feel any heating elements or see any wires to plug it in.

“The charm bracelet will help hide your cat features if you put it on and then grab the pawprint charm,” Sachi informed me. “And the blanket’s been enchanted to feel like it always just came out of the dryer - you’ll be a lot colder at night now.”

“And the shark?”

“Oh, that’s just a blahaj I rubbed some catnip on. To help you sleep at night.”

“Huh…” Well, no time like the present. I slipped on the bracelet and grasped the pawprint as instructed. As I did, a warmth spread throughout my body, condensing and flowing into the pawprint charm. I hastily shed my beanie and felt my head. No cat ears! No more tail to accidentally sit on, either! Yes! Well… it actually felt kind of weird not to have them there, but maybe I’d get over that in a few days.

“Wow, um… thanks, Sachi. This helps out a ton. How much do I owe you? I don’t have a lot, but I can-”

Sachi tilted her head, interrupting me. “Owe me? No no, don’t worry about it! I’m just helping a fellow catgirl in nyeed.”

“That was magic, right?” Emma asked. “Where’d you get all this?”

“I made it,” Sachi replied simply. “My moms taught me how to enchant things when I was little.”

“Your moms…?” Emma looked between the two baristas with wide eyes. “Just who are you two?”

“We’re…” Sachi and Ada traded a look with each other.

“Let’s just say our parents are the founders of this city,” Ada finished. “Oh, but, not officially, so don’t go writing that into your history report.”

“If your dad made this whole place, then surely he could fix me, right?” Emma pressed.

Ada’s face turned serious. “Probably, but… Look, the more we tell you, the more dangerous things will get for you and everyone you know. If you want the truth, swing by here tomorrow morning. I’ll tell you what you need to know, and help you get some control over those vampiric urges of yours.”

“Sure,” Emma replied. “I’ll be there to get to the bottom of this.”

Sachi looked at me seriously, too. “You come too, okay? I’ll show you some things to look out for now that you’re part cat.”

“Um… I can’t. Mum said we were going to the shelter tomorrow morning to drop off Yuki, since we can’t afford to keep her.”

Yuki’s face snapped out of her milk cup. “Nyani!? Nyo way! I’m staying with Miyu!” 

Sachi looked between Yuki and me. “Don't worry, I’ll take care of it. What does your mom do for a living, Miyu?”

“Um… she’s a waitress at a cheap seafood restaurant. Why?”

“Cause she won’t be tomorrow,” Sachi paused. “Er - that sounds like I’m going to kill her. I’m nyot! Promise! I’m just going to send a little bit of good luck her way. You and Yuki won’t be separated, count on it.”

“R-Right…” I’m going to leave it at that. This girl knows magic, and the last thing I want to do is make her angry and get turned into a doggirl, or just a dog, or something. “Then I’ll be here with Yuki tomorrow morning?”

She smiled back at me. “Great! See you then!”

Ada stood up. “We should probably get back to work. If you’re free Sunday, we can give you a couple of extra myth lessons then, too. See ya tomorrow.”

Sachi stood up and waved. “Later Miyu, Evan, Yuki!”

Emma winced. “It’s… Emma, now. Can’t use my real name looking like this.”

“Oh.” Ada and Sachi exchanged another look.

“Right,” Sachi said. Emma, then.”

Emma nodded, and the two girls returned to their work.

After they left, Emma slumped her head onto the table. “What the hell is going on with this place!?”

“Umm… well, we’d better get the report done so we have time to find out?” I offered.

“But none of it actually happened, right? This whole place is fake!”

Something about that struck me the wrong way. “Well - it’s real now! And I want to keep my A in history, so let’s just get it done. At least we don’t have to figure out what our Halloween costumes will be, so we’ll get that extra credit?”

“You’re such an optimist,” Emma groaned.

“It comes nyatrually when you’re always looking for handouts. Come on, chin up. We’ll knock it out tonight over discord?” I offered my hand to my friend, which, after a bit of prodding, she took with a weary smile.

“...Alright. Yeah. Just gotta make it to tomorrow.”