When I did, I noticed that Violet was already gone and my fourth roommate, Lauren the succubus, was still gone. Kiku was already awake and eating breakfast.

 

"Good morning. How are you?" She asked.

 

"I'm good," I replied. "Where's Lauren?"

 

"She stayed at Cinder's dorm for the night," Kiku informed me. I smiled at that. Cinder was a Collorus Pheonix and one of the few people born with the virus. She and Lauren were girlfriends, and Lauren often stayed the night with her.

 

"I see," I said.

 

"Woah," Kiku said. "Look at your hair." I glanced down and saw that the ends of it were slowly turning from their usual black to a sandy gold color. As I continued to watch, the color spread all the way up my head until all my hair was the same.

 

"Huh," I said. "I liked my black hair."

 

"I think this makes you look cuter," Kiku said.

 

I pretended to gasp. "Is that you flirting with me?"

 

"Maybe," Kiku said, smiling. She sat down on my bed. "You have an Aura now."

 

"I do?" I asked.

 

"Yep!" Kiku replied. After a few seconds of sitting there, she spoke again. "Hey, uh. . ."

 

"What?" I asked.

 

"It's just. . ." She began. "Can I drink?" She blushed a bit when she said that.

 

"Sure," I said, adjusting my shirt so my neck was accessible. Kiku leaned in and bit down softly on it. She drank my blood for a few seconds before letting go.

 

"Thanks," She said. "I needed that."

 

"No problem," I said. Just then, the door opened and Lauren walked in. Her silver hair hung just above her waist, with her long ears poking through. The whites of her eyes were black like her pupils and the irises glowed purple. She also had a thin tail with a heart shape at the end.

 

"Olivia!" She yelled.

 

"Hi, Lauren," I said.

 

"How've you been?" Lauren asked.

 

"Eh," I said. "Hospital wasn't fun."

 

"But she did finally catch it," Kiku added.

 

"Oh, I was wondering why your hair was a different color," Lauren said.

 

"Yeah," I said. Then, my hearing suddenly cut out entirely. Lauren opened her mouth and looked like she was saying something, but I couldn't hear anything. And then I felt a searing pain in both my ears.

 

I cried out, clamping my hands over them. I could feel them shifting and changing under my touch. They lengthened and stretched while also moving up my head. Soft fur spread over them as the pain subsided. And then my hearing returned. I dropped my hands in relief.

 

"Olivia?" Kiku asked. "Are you alright?"

 

"I am now," I said. "That hurt like hell, though."

 

"They're so cute," Lauren said. "Come, look in the bathroom." I stood up shakily and went into the bathroom. In the mirror, I saw that my ears now resembled a fox's. They were more than a foot long and covered in fur slightly darker than my hair color.

 

"Woah," I said, reaching up to my head and feeling them. The fur was incredibly soft and fluffy.

 

"Can you move them?" Kiku asked. I thought about it for a second.

 

"I think so," I said. I managed to make my ears fold back, then back up. After about a minute of trying, I got the hang of moving them. I lowered my right ear and bopped Kiku on the nose.

 

"Wha- hey!" She said. I laughed.

 

"Well, you're definitely a kitsune," Lauren said.

 

"Wait, aren't kitsunes usually red or brown?" I asked.

 

"Oh yeah," Lauren said. "That means you'll be a Collorus!"

 

"Heh," Kiku said. "I'm excited to see short Olivia."

 

"I don't wanna be short," I complained.

 

"You'll be fine," Lauren said.

 

"Anyway, where's Violet?" I asked.

 

"She left earlier," Kiku said. "I think she was meeting up with Bryant or something."

 

"Oh," I said.

 

"Well, I'm going to get properly dressed," Lauren said. She went over to the closet that she and Violet shared and searched for clothes to put on.

 

"I don't feel very good," I said, sitting back down on my bed.

 

"Well, you are still sick," Kiku pointed out. "You rest for now, and I'll make you some soup later."

 

"Thanks," I said, lying down on the bed. I closed my eyes and promptly fell asleep.