NOVEL NEXT Chapter 342 – What a change
Sophia explained the very basics of magic to her sister after she became able to use it. After a short introduction, Steph was immediately able to create a small ball of water out of nowhere. Afterward, the shorter blonde immediately wanted to go ahead and change her looks because it meant she could start exploring the world sooner. Once she got a lot of references from Chloe, the queen of fluff, and Sophia made sure she understood the difference between looking like a member of the beastfolk and becoming one, the little sister went ahead and changed herself.
“I want to BECOME a dog-girl!” Judging by Steph’s intonation, she definitely made extra sure that she used the correct type of magic while adjusting her appearance. And what an adjustment it was.
For the most part, Steph’s body stayed the same. Her height was still somewhere between Sophia and Chloe, around 157cm, and her size also remained similar to her medium-but-premium tiger sister, maybe slightly smaller. Other than that, she changed a lot, though.
Her somewhat longer and unruly dark-blonde hair was gone. Instead, her hair turned relatively short, not even reaching all the way to her shoulders. It was still slightly unruly, though. Quite fluffy-looking, as well. Even so, the biggest change was that the blonde had been replaced by a light-violet color. It was slightly multicolored, too. Some of the tips faded into a white while others, mostly around her neck, turned into a darker violet, as well.
On top of her head, two dog-like ears in the same violet and white hue could be found now, naturally with a generous amount of fluff inside of them. One ear looked completely perky like it was supposed to be, but the other was slightly kinked to add a bit of extra cuteness.
Her eyes had also changed. Compared to all the other girls, she had not changed to slit pupils as she decided to go with a dog base. However, the design still got altered a little because there was a slightly more prominent black rim around her eyes now. She didn't stop there, either. One of her eyes had remained blue, but the other one turned into a deep pink in a similar hue to Chloe's hair.
Even with all that, the most striking feature was her new tail. It was nowhere close to the mountain of fluff attached to the backside of the fox-girl, but it had more than a decent size for her style. In fact, if it wouldn’t be wagging from one side to the other behind her back and pointing down to the ground, it might be almost as long as her legs, just much wider. It also had the same light-violet base color as her hair, with a few darker-colored strands here and there. The underside of her tail was a pure-white, as well.
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“Wow, what a change!” Maya was the first to react. “You look adorable, though.”
"..." Chloe simply stared at the dog-girl with a slightly agape mouth.
“I love the design!” Sophia also got excited. “WAIT! Why did you say that you want to BECOME a dog-girl?!” She got loud. “I told you what that means, didn’t I?!”
“E-Exactly!” Steph nodded a few times. “That’s... That’s why I worded it the way I did... W-Why would I only want to look like this if I can be like this for real...?” Her expression was somehow turning complicated along the way.
“I hate that I get what you mean...” The tiger hung her head. "You still should've tried it out first before doing... Changing for real comes with some other caveats, after all... For example..."
“ITCHY! Why am I feeling so itchy?!” The little sister couldn’t take it any longer. “T-This is horrible! Why?!”
“Because you fundamentally changed your body and grew an extra limb, idiot!”
"A-Ah... Why didn’t you warn me about the itch?!”
"BECAUSE I told you to change your looks!”
“You didn’t! You told me the difference between changing one’s looks and becoming part fluffy! Any normal-thinking person would decide to become a member of the fluffy after you listed all those amazing features!”
“Is it really my fault...?” Sophia then looked at Maya for help.
“For a normal thinking person, no, you worded it quite clearly...” She shook her head. “You were talking to your sister, though... so... debatable.”
“I should’ve seen it coming, huh?”
“You really should’ve.”
“Can we focus on the itch?! This itchingly itchy ITCH!”
“I can’t deal with this again...” Feeling the dread of a strong déjà-vu, Maya got up from the sofa to leave for the kitchen. "I'll get some drinks ready... Steph, good job on the change. You look adorable. Love the eyes~.”
“Thanks!” Steph waved after her before focusing on Sophia once again. “T-Tell me how to get rid of the itch! The ITCH!”
“You’ll get used to it.” The blonde showed her a wry smile. "It will take a while for your body to deal with it. Your brain has no idea what to do with the tail yet, so it's a little itchy because it's still foreign to you."
“I-I see… So itchy! I’m really mad that you didn’t warn me about this…”
“…” Sophia went silent for a moment before her expression changed. “You know, there’s a way to make you get used to it faster.”
“Really?!”
“Stand up, please.” While saying so, the tiger did the same and walked over to her sister.
“Okay- W-Woah!” She jumped off the sofa and almost tripped over her feat. “M-My balance is kinda off…”
"Well, there is a gigantic tail sticking out your back. Imagine a feline who even more actively uses its tail for balance all the time…" The tiger looked a little tired all of a sudden.
“That makes sense… S-So, what can we do about the itch?!”
“Turn around, please.”
“Alri-, H-HhiYaaA!” The moment she showed her back to her sister, Sophia immediately grabbed Steph’s tail and gave it a good squeeze directly at the base where it was coming out of her back. Directly after the shriek, the dog-girl sank down on her knees and looked at her with tears in the corners of her eyes. "W-Why did you do that?! W-Why did that feel so intense?!”
“I told you that our tails are super sensitive! Why do you think Chloe and I reacted so much when you jumped at us?! Also, that is nothing compared to our ears.” During her explanation, Sophia let go of Steph’s tail and slowly moved her hand closer to her ears.
“S-Stop!” The little sister immediately used her own hands to cover her ears. She tried to, at least.
“Idiot, they’re on top of your head now.” Instead of using this chance, the tiger grabbed one of Steph's hands, which she was currently pressing against the side of her head where her ears were in the past, and moved it up.
“W-Woah!” Once Steph came in contact with her own ear, her expression changed. “It feels just like the ear of a dog!”
“Because it is…” She rolled her eyes.
“R-Right…”
“Before that, isn’t there something else you want to say? If not, I’ll go for the tail again! It’s very fluffy, by the way, so I’ll enjoy it for a long time.”
“I-I’m sorry that I jumped at you earlier! I now definitely know that fluffing only has to happen with absolute consent!”
“Good.”
“Y-You, too, Chloe…” She faced the fox-girl while she was still sitting on the ground. “I had no idea it’s this extreme… I really hope everything is good between us. I’m sorry!”
“…” She had no reactions whatsoever and just continued to look at the new dog-girl with a slightly dazed expression.
“Chloe…?” Seeing her complete non-reaction, Steph waved her arm around in front of the fox-girl's face a couple of times.
"A-Ah! Eh, hmm…?" She finally snapped back to reality. "I-I'm sorry! Did you say something…?"
“I just apologized for touching your tail yesterday again. When we just met. I now know just how sensitive they are…”
“O-Oh, that’s fine! You didn’t know about that, after all. I’m not mad at all.”
“Thank goodness!”
“…” The fox-girl went back to being silent while staring at Steph.
“Chloe…?”
“Y-Yes?!”
“Is something the matter? You seem a little out of it.”
“N-Not at all! Everything’s fine!” Her cheeks seemed a little flushed when she suddenly turned her head away.
“Okay…?” The dog-girl looked a little confused. “By the way, sis, my tail is still super itchy!”
“Should I go again?” She simply lifted her hand once more.
“I-I’m good!” Steph jumped on her feet again and turned her back away from the tiger.
“It should be fine in a few days.”
“I see… I have to tough it out, then.”
“Exactly.”
“By the way, is there a- found it!" Not finishing her sentence, Steph spotted the mirror in the corner of the living room and walked over to it. "W-Woah! Is that really me?!"
“That’s how mirrors work, yes.”
“Stop smarting me!” The little sister raised her voice again.
“Well, what do you want to hear then?" Sophia tilted her head. "Is that not what you imagined? I think you did an amazing job! It's mega unfamiliar, but you look super good! I even love the short hair! I wasn’t expecting that. Not too long ago, I was quite short myself, but I always preferred looking at long hair.”
“N-No, it’s scary how much it matches my imagination! That was exactly what I had in mind! The coloring, shape, everything!”
“Why violet, though?”
“I thought it would look great!”
“Well, as good as any reasoning. True, as well. It’s an amazing color. Was the kinked ear on purpose, too?”
“Yes! I thought it would be cute! Dogs with a kinked ear always look so playful, and I love that! I was right, if I can say so myself!”
“You absolutely were!” The blonde nodded a few times. “Love the shape of your ears as a whole!”
“Ehehe~.”
"Your tail looks super fluffy, too. Am a big fan of that! Feels great to the touch, as well~.”
“T-Thanks…” After having been slightly violated by her sister, her feelings on that part were a little mixed.
“What about the pink eye, though? Odd eyes are amazing, I love those of Chloe, but I can’t say I was expecting that.”
“Ahaha, I actually wasn’t so sure about that myself… I did like my blue eyes, but my ears and, even more so, my tail were inspired by huskies, and it's quite common for them to have heterochromia. I was thinking of keeping both blue or going with the more traditional combination of blue and yellow or orange. Still, I wasn't sure if that sort of odd eyes would've worked with the light violet. Instead, I went with pink! Pink is an amazing color, after all! I love it!"
“I see! Yeah, the pink works really well with the rest of your light-violet base! Good choice! I sure have to get used to my sister looking that different, though."
"It's not like your change was that much less drastic… Sure, you are still blonde, but it's an entirely different hue, and everything else is completely different! Even your height, size, and age have changed!"
“…” The tiger paused for a moment. “You win this round.”
“Heh.” Looking slightly smug, Steph went back to the sofas and stopped in front of where Chloe was sitting. There, she did a short twirl before smiling at the fox-girl. “What do you think?”
"…" She needed another moment.
“Why are you spacing out so much?” The dog-girl tilted her head while she continued to stare at her.
“I-It’s nothing! I just think you might ended up too cute, and I have no idea what to say…"
“Woah, that was smooth!” Sophia looked impressed.
“Really?!” Steph’s eyes lit up.
“Wait, did I say that out loud?!”
“You totally did!” She got closer to her. “I want to hear it again! With as many details as possible!”
“Uuh…” Chloe’s face turned red again. “Y-You look very cute! The light violet with the white tips and the darker accents is amazing! The kinked ear is beyond cute, and the tail is perfect, too! I’m glad I could help out with making it look so fluffy! I think becoming a member of the dog family is perfect for you, too! You are super friendly and approachable and get excited about many things, after all!”
“Ehehe~.” She was so happy about her assessment that her face turned slightly red. Not only that, but her tail also started wagging in response.
“She totally is a dog. Always has been, too.” Sophia agreed with the sentiment. "It's a perfect choice."
“What about my eye?” Steph ignored her sister and kept focusing on Chloe. “The pink one especially! I got the idea from you, after all!”
“F-From me?”
“Yes!” The dog-girl reacted with a big nod while the wagging of her tail intensified. “I love the pink of your hair and tail so much that I wanted to have a piece of it for myself!”
“R-Really…?”
“Absolutely! Your looks are amazing, after all! Only topped by your personality I got to know so far!"
“T-Thank you very much…” The fox-girl’s face only got redder. “I-I’m glad you enjoy my company so much.”
“I definitely do!”
“Hehe.” Her expression got even softer. “I-I feel the same… I’m really glad you came with your sister!”
“So am I!” With her tail having never stopped wagging, Steph sat back down on the sofa while getting comfortable right next to the fox-girl.
Afterward, while the duo kept chatting and seemingly being in a brilliant mood, Sophia decided to join Maya in the kitchen because she got a little suspicious about why she was taking so long.
