Holly awakes with a jolt to the piercing sound of their alarm. What the hell?! My finals are over, so why is my-?! Dammit! I forgot to turn it off. Inwardly cursing themself, they turn off their alarm. Their new ears are far too sensitive. Is elf hearing really that good? Well, at least Holly is feeling a bit better. Speaking of, their stomach growls. They never really did eat much yesterday. With a huff, they get up from the bed and go to their closet to get dressed.

To Holly’s dismay, their wardrobe seemed to have been stolen and replaced with more feminine attire. They aren’t sure how to feel about it. They love skirts, dresses, cardigans and even the occasional corsets and fancy dresses (but those are usually reserved exclusively for cosplay in Holly’s mind.) But… they didn’t feel like it fit them. Or that Holly shouldn’t wear it. Which is dumb and they acknowledge is dumb because anyone else can wear whatever they want- Nope. Holly quickly shakes those thoughts out of their head and pulls out a flowy maxi dress with a pink lace bertha collar in a rose pattern, sitting above a sweetheart neckline. The hem and ends of the sleeves are lined with a deep cobalt blue to match their new hair color. Huh. It’s really cute…not my first choice but it’ll do. 

After putting on skin-tone leggings, they head to the kitchen to whip up some breakfast. They make a simple mushroom and sausage omelet, and top it off with okonomiyaki sauce, kewpie mayonnaise, and chopped green scallions over a bed of leftover rice. Their friend Ryuki recommended this recipe a while back and it’s delicious. It has a rich and tangy flavor from the sauce but it balances out with the rice. 

While they eat, Holly thinks up a game plan. There were roughly 14 people in the cafe, including staff members. All were transformed into various SSO races and varying sex changes, but the only ones who seemed to be aware of the changes were Morgan, Shay, and themself. Luna was out of it, so maybe she isn’t as aware as the others, and who knows where she went after she bolted. Hopefully, Holly can search for her today as well.

The best option would be to try for the nurse’s office or perhaps her dorm… but which dorm is she in? There are three major ones… but one is a male-only dorm. The other is female-only and the third one is mixed gender. Looking in dorms could also help find the other victims since I should get their account as well. The nurse’s office is a good spot too. And the cafe is the best place to find the workers. But…it’s also finals week. There’s a chance people are going home for the winter holidays. That’s what Ryuki did yesterday.  

So…I need to find 14 people. Morgan, Shay and I are excluded, so that means there’s around 11 people to find. Ugh, that’ll be difficult. Luckily they are all transformed and will stand out like a sore thumb. I think my plan of attack will be the mixed dorm first, then the male-only dorm lobby. The female-only dorm is on the far end of the campus, so it makes more sense to try the nurse’s office and cafeteria first. Finally there is the cafe itself, if it is not closed to the public. Jeez, this really is up to luck and chance, huh? Oh well, I’ll give it my best shot!

With a plan in mind, Holly cleans the dishes and gets a cute crystal-themed handbag th1at they have never seen before and fills it with their phone, a few protein bars (emergency rations), a flowery notepad, and a pen. Oh! And they cannot forget their wallet and keys. They have accidentally left those behind far too often to admit. 

In the mixed dorm, it wasn’t hard to spot a small mouse-like beastkin running down the hall with a poptart in his mouth. He was running straight towards Holly and before they could react, he smacked straight into her with a squeak. 

“Ack! Sorry! I didn’t see you there! I’m super late for my final andmyalarmdidn’tgooffandIamfreakingoutbecauseIcouldn’tstudyyesterdayand-” the mouse boy rambled as he picked up his bag and Holly picked up the poor poptart that fell on the floor.

“No worries. I’m sorry about your poptart. Oh but here! I have a protein bar if you need it.” Holly reaches into their bag and offers the bar.

He looks at it with wide eyes and quickly takes it. “Thank you so much! I owe you my life!”

“Haha, it’s not that big of a deal, but if you are okay with it, can I talk to you about yesterday after your final? You went to the cafe right?”

He nods. “I did! It was only supposed to be for two hours and then I was going to study! I swear! But I couldn’t and now I am screwed for my stats test! …AAAAAAAA I AM STILL LATE. IWILLSEEYOULATERBYE!” He tries to run but Holly quickly holds him just long enough to slip him a note with their number to text later. Well! That was easy. Perhaps finding all 11 won’t be that bad! 

______________________________________________________________________________

It was bad. Never ever say things won’t be bad because then it will always become worse. After finding the mouse beastkin, they couldn’t find anyone else in the mixed dorm, but that could be because they were in class, gone for winter vacation, or sleeping in their rooms. Holly knocked on the doors of people they knew and who played SSO with them, but none of them had been at the cafe at that time because they were studying . Holly was just (un)fortunate enough that all of their finals were on one day so after that catastrophic Monday they were free. 

When that turned up a dead end, Holly went to the entrance of the male dorm. Since they don’t live there, they had to ask the receptionist if they could enter the lobby and “wait for a friend.” That worked for around twenty minutes or so while Holly scouted the residents going in and out of the building, but eventually they had to give up and apologize to the receptionist, saying that they had the wrong building before scurrying out of there. If Ryuki was still at school he would’ve covered for them in a heartbeat.

After a quick lunch break in the cafeteria, they resumed their search. They went to the nurse’s office in the hopes of finding someone, and used the excuse of feeling a little out of it from yesterday’s incident to get an appointment immediately. The nurse was kind and looked them over, saying how a few others came in from the cafe as well but all of them, including Holly, were okay. When Holly tried to ask him about the others he only said they talked about a strange smoke, but that was all he would say.

It was evening by the time they reached the female dorm. So far it was a fruitless search. Only one person has been found so far.  The mouse boy, who apparently is called Theo, texted them saying that they would be free to talk tomorrow morning if they could get breakfast together. Holly didn’t mind at all and replied with a yes.

Once inside the female dorm, they walk over to the rather intimidating and elderly head receptionist, steel their nerves, and look at her with a fierce eye. 

“Ah, Holly. To what do I owe the pleasure?” The fierce woman scowls. 

“Looking as lovely as ever, Mrs. Birch. I wish to visit someone today. It’s not against your rules.”

Mrs. Birch narrows her eyes at Holly. “You are not a man, so you know it’s fine. But I still don’t have to like your attitude.”

Holly smirks slightly. “I know. And I don’t have to love your winning personality. However, I know you care for me.” 

“...Go on. Sign in at the desk, young… child.” 

Holly takes the pen and signs in on a clipboard. Mrs. Birch is nice underneath her rough exterior, and even if she isn’t well-versed on nonbinary and genderfluid identities, she tries her best. They take out a protein bar as a peace offering. “For you. I hope you have a great winter vacation.”

Mrs. Birch seemingly glares at the bar for a minute before quietly pocketing it. “You too, Holly. Now hurry along. No loitering in the lobby and don’t stay past curfew…”

With that, Holly makes their way to the entertainment area. There, they are surprised to see a rather voluptuous yokai chatting with a merfolk while playing on their laptops. The yokai has beautiful raven black hair that is normally down to her waist but is pulled back into a loose bun with braids running along both sides. Wisps of hair dangle in front of her piercing gold eyes. Her skin is a little pale, but mostly covered with a thick royal purple wool cardigan. Underneath is a tight white turtleneck sweater above  black winter hiking pants. Holly can’t quite place it, but maybe her neck is a little long? It could be their imagination though. It is not every day you see yokai. 

The merfolk sitting beside her was bundled up in a warm beige oversize sweater, ankle length skirt, and fluffy beige slippers. Her skin is a beautiful iridescent blue, her hair a short violet, and her eyes a brilliant ice blue.

Yokai laughs. “I still can’t believe my luck yesterday! Called into work last minute on the day I was supposed to go home for the break! Talk about awful timing. And then it had the audacity to be shaken all to hell! I even broke my phone!” 

The merfolk nods in understanding. “For real. But why aren’t you heading back now?”

“My parents don’t want me driving, so tomorrow they are picking me up. In the meantime I am supposed to relax and ‘take it easy.’” The yokai shrugs and goes back to playing her game.

Holly listens in and thinks. Wait…that sounds an awful lot like… “Ryuki?”

The yokai, Ryuki, sits up at the mention of her… his name? Ryuki’s smile widens when they see Holly and she jumps up to hug them. “Ah! Holly, you’re a sight for sore eyes! I just had the worst day yesterday. Can you believe it? Your girl got called into work, got shaken up like a martini, and then worst of all, her phone broke! It’s an absolute travesty I tell you!” 

Holly is very confused at how… soft Ryuki’s hugs have become. And they mentioned her? Is Ryuki affected by sex swap curse? “Ah.. I am so sorry to hear that! I was in that accident too but I didn’t see you at all! I thought you already went home!  I’m so sorry-” Before they could wallow in guilt, they are stopped with a finger up to their lips.

“Ah, ah, ah. Nope. Don’t you dare start on me,  Hollyberry. It’s alright. After the smoke cleared I high tailed it out of there. Went to the nurse’s office for a checkup and I am perfectly fine!” Ryuki chuckles and pats Holly on the back. “So don’t worry. I was just catching up with Rahlia here. She was playing SSO when the smoke hit. Pretty insane stuff am I right?”

Rahlia perks her head up at the mention of her name. “Huh? Oh, yeah it was wild. But no one got hurt and that’s the most important thing.”

Holly nods, still trapped in a tight hug with Ryuki. “Mind if I ask you two about the incident?”

Ryuki pulls away and plops back down on the couch beside Rahlia. She pats the empty spot to her right as an invitation for Holly to sit as well. “Go for it! I’ve been retelling it all day yesterday and this morning! What’s a few more regalings?” She winks and continues to speak.

“So! I was all packed up and ready to go. I just finished stuffing my suitcase into my car when I got a call from boss. He said the cafe was super busy and that his employee called out sick- which I knew was a lie because I know that little shit was going on a date with her girlfriend. I saw it on her Insta. But anyways! I’m not a snitch and I could always use the extra money. It was only for three or four hours so I thought ‘What was the worst that could happen?’” 

She takes a break for dramatic effect, and to catch her breath. “So! It was all mundane and boring. I was in the back whipping up a toasted BLT with ham instead of bacon and extra mayo. At that point it’s not a BLT! It’s an HLT! But whatever. I saw smoke and I momentarily panicked thinking maybe the toaster malfunctioned and caught on fire, but then the next thing I knew I was on the floor with a slice of ham on my face and feeling like I ran a marathon. So I dipped out of there. The nurse checked me out and the rest is history!” Ryuki finishes with a laugh.

Holly blinks, only able to keep up with her fast talking due to knowing them for years. “Oh, wow. So you didn’t see or hear anything besides the smoke?”

“Nope! Rahlia did though! She was there for the whoooooole thing!”

Rahlia grunts in affirmation. “Yeah, it was pretty insane. There was a kickass cutscene and then black smoke suddenly came from nowhere. I think maybe the computers broke or maybe a gas line did. Only thing that makes sense to me.” They don’t look at Holly or Ryuki while they talk, focusing on their game. 

Holly tilts their head. “Oh? Do you remember the cutscene at all?”

Rahlia thinks for a moment. “Hmm… it was an epic fight scene between Tsukiyomi and Amaterasu. I don’t know the context because it popped up out of nowhere. There was something about followers… and something about the real world? I didn’t know SSO was about breaking the fourth wall. It may have been a bug, honestly.” She shrugs and goes back to her game.

Holly nods. That lines up with their memory. But Holly also remembered specifically that Tsukiyomi would start getting followers with “that one.” Someone HAS to be that one. They need to find out who, because it sounds bad. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know who Tsukiyomi was referring to when he was saying something about “that one?” Holly asks.

“Nope. And I couldn’t find anything online. Seems like it was more of a bug than an intentional cutscene.”

Holly frowns. That doesn’t sound good at all. “I see, well if you two hear anything else, please let me know? I am trying to get to the bottom of this weird…glitch.” 

Ryuki pipes up. “Of course! I’ll make sure my peeps get in touch with your peeps if I hear anything else.” 

With a smile, Holly gives their friend a warm hug. Talking with Ryuki always makes them feel better. “You’re the best, Ryuki.”

“I know. Say, wanna crash in my room? My roomate left for vacation already~ We can have a sleepover.”

“Wouldn’t Mrs. Birch kick me out if she finds out-”

Ryuki shushes Holly again. “She will never find out! And if she does, I’ll take the fall. So please??????” She looks at them with puppy-dog eyes and Holly caves. 

“Okay okay! But I am stealing your blankets.”

Ryuki dramatically clutches her chest. “Ah! You wound me! Fiiiiiine.” She giggles and hops up, laptop in hand. “Bye Rahlia, I’m gonna play games with Hollyberry and drink totally safe-for-work drinks.” She doesn’t wait for the merfolk’s acknowledgement before dragging Holly to her room for drinks, games, and merriment. Holly allows themself to relax and enjoy the night. There are still many unknowns, and it feels as if this day was fruitless in their search, but being with their friend makes it worth it.

And yes, Holly stole the blankets at night.