But you don't really care for music, do you?

“I… I’m a fox!” Rose exclaimed incredulously, like she couldn’t believe it was possible. She reached up and brushed her fingers against one of the golden fox ears sticking out of her hair, and felt it twitch as she touched it. It was real. She glanced behind her, and saw a big, bushy tail sticking up from under her skirt. Bristling, she clenched her ass, and saw it shake.

A chill ran down her spine.

This wasn’t like when she’d turned into a sheep girl temporarily at Gina’s first party, and it DEFINITELY wasn’t like putting on a bunny girl outfit.

She was a fox now, an actual fox girl. She wasn’t human anymore.

“I can’t keep this transformation!” She wailed, so out of sorts she didn’t even bother crying. “I look like a freak! No studio is going to let me audition! The weirdo with the ears and tail!? I’ll be laughed out of every casting room! How could you do this?! You’ve ruined me!”

Dawn scowled. “Stop being so melodramatic, Rose!” She snapped. “I’ve been living with ears and a tail since before we met! And you have the gall to complain about your life being ruined?”

“Shut up!” Rose snapped, turning to Dawn, her eyes blazing. She pointed an accusatory finger at her. “Like it matters if a veterinarian has cat ears! Your patients might even find it cute!”

“My patients are animals,” Dawn pointed out. “Their owners, you mean?”

Rose’s face burned. Like she had time to care about precision of language right now!

“My point is, you’re just, like, a doctor! Nobody cares! But I’m an actress! You think this is going to help me!? I’ll never be able to show my face in Hollywood! My career is over!”

Over before it even started.

Dawn winced. Her ears drooped down and she pulled back, understanding what Rose was trying to say. She was being dramatic about it, but she wasn’t exactly wrong, either. Dawn’s animal parts may have been inconvenient, but Rose was right- they wouldn’t exactly get in the way of her doing her job. Whereas Rose was trying to be an actress, which meant selling an image of herself. And if people asked questions about her ears and tail… or even if they didn’t…

“I think it’s iconic!” Sylvia said, pressing her fingers together. “Think about it! You’ve got something that makes you stand out now! There are tons of blondes with big boobs trying to make it as actresses, but now you’ve got the edge over them all! Everyone’s going to remember the fox girl! You could make it, like, your signature brand or something! Like the lead singer from that K-Pop band!”

Morgana poked Sylvia in the arm and leaned over. She whispered something in her ear.

Sylvia blinked, confused. “…Wait, they aren’t?”

Morgana shook her head.

“But then why…?”

The goth girl leaned over again and whispered some more.

“So it’s just a video game skin? They aren’t really a…”

Morgana shook her head again.

“…I don’t get why you people do things,” Sylvia sighed, sinking back into her chair and wondering not for the first time what was the matter with humanity. So it was okay to have animated characters with animal features, but somehow doing it with a real person was life-ruining?

Weird.

“Are you ladies quite done?” Mr. S cleared his throat loudly, interrupting them. He was still smiling, but everyone could feel the impatience radiating off him. “I’m sorry that this transformation doesn’t meet your lofty standards, Rose, but you are hardly the first person on this show to be inconvenienced by a transformation she doesn’t want.”

Dani rolled her eyes. Wasn’t that the truth?

“But Rose isn’t wrong to be upset!” Nick protested, standing up. “This really is an inconvenient transformation for her!”

“Nick…!” Rose turned to her love with tears flecking her eyes, and her lips parted in a beautiful smile. “Oh…”

“Maybe, but there’s nothing to be done about it,” Mr. S scoffed. “Like with any transformation, she’ll learn to live with it. And besides- if acting doesn’t work out for her, there’s always a future for her in your bed, isn’t there?”

His cruel sneer was the least of Nick’s concerns. He scowled, wishing he could say something, but knowing that whatever he said, it would sound hollow to everyone. So all he did was turn and look at Rose, who returned his gaze with a doting, grateful look.

She was saddened, but she was trying not to let it show.

Always trying to be tough… that’s so like you. Rose could cause a lot of headaches for Nick, but he always admired her strength.

Mr. S, still sensing the apprehension in the air, let out an exasperated sigh. “Rose, before you throw another temper tantrum, why don’t you take another look at the wording of your transformation? Have you even read the damn thing?”

Rose scowled at him but turned to the screen, getting a good look at the words written across it and digesting them.

• Youko Ono: There’s nothing more seductive than a demonic fox. As atonement for her sins against foxkind, Rose will receive the curse of the demon fox, and become a youko with fox ears, a fox tail, and spiritual powers of seduction and mild transformation. (Seductress)

She pulled back, eyes wide when she read the last lines. “H-huh?” Her ears twitched atop her head and her thick tail lightly swished. “Wait… transformation?”

“Oh yeah, it does say that,” Kim noted, nodding.

Sylvia’s eyes sparkled. “Does that mean Rose can give out transformations too?” She asked excitedly.

Rose made a strained face at the idea.

“No, of course not,” Mr. S scoffed. “That would be far too much power for a mere Seductress path transformation. She’s not a host.”

“No… she’s a youko,” Carly murmured, nodding thoughtfully. “That makes sense…”

“A youko?” Marley turned to her sister, confused. “What does that mean?”

Carly stuck her tongue out at her. “And you call yourself a nerd.”

Marley scowled. “Just because I care about my education, that doesn’t make me a-!”

“A youko is a type of yokai from Japanese mythology,” Dani interrupted, knowing that their bickering could go on forever if they were allowed to. “They were fox spirits also known as ‘kitsune’ and were said to possess shapeshifting powers, they could turn into regular humans.”

She blushed when she realized everyone was staring at her. “I-I mean…” she began playing with her feathery hair. “…That… that’s what I got from manga… and video games… I’m not actually an expert on Japanese folklore, so, um…”

Her eyes jumped from one face to the next, before landing on Kim. She must have been pleading something fierce with her eyes, judging by the irritated face Kim made.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” the schoolgirl said, crossing her eyes over her chest. “Just because I’m Japanese I happen to be the expert?”

“Ouch, Dani, that’s so racist,” Carly teased her girlfriend. Dani rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t… …Oh, shut up.”

“Wait, I don’t get it!” Rose exclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention back to her. “Ignoring the part about Dani being racist-”

“HEY!”

“…Is that true?” She squinted, staring intently at Mr. S. “Can I… really turn back into a human?”

Mr. S shrugged. “It is within the skillset of your transformation,” he said. “You aren’t a mere fox girl now, but a kitsune specifically. So if you experiment with those powers, you may be able to make something happen… but don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll just go back to normal and be done with it. No, no, that’s your new body, Rose. I hope you get a lot of use out of it.”

Rose gave him an unpleasant look, but she kept her annoyance in check. Losing her temper wouldn’t help things.

Instead, she concentrated really hard, trying to use powers she didn’t know how to use, focusing her mental abilities to try and transform back into her original self.

“What’s she doing?” Gina whispered loudly to Vivian. “Is she trying to take a dump?”

Vivian just shrugged.

Rose’s eyes snapped open and she scowled at the punk girl, giving up for now. She turned and headed back to her seat glumly, dreading having to sit down with this inconvenient tail wagging behind her. At least Dawn’s was small and slender, even if it was an erogenous zone. This just seemed like it would get in the way.

“Ahem…” Mr. S loudly cleared his throat. “Where exactly do you think you’re going?”

Rose whirled around, taken aback. “Excuse me?!” She screeched. “I’m going to sit back down, obviously!?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Mr. S leaned forward. “You’re not done yet, Rose, there’s still one more matter with you that needs resolving.”

Rose blinked, confused for a moment. Then the color drained from her face as she realized what he was talking about, and her hand shot to her scalp. “My hair!” She screeched. “No, you can’t!”

First he turned her into a fox, now he was going to take her hair, too!? After the day she had, Rose was practically in tears.

“Aren’t you being a little too harsh on her!?” Nick exclaimed. “Give her a break!” While he doubted Dakota would be any more lenient, the way this producer kept pushing at Rose and needling her was really starting to upset him. Rose didn’t deserve any of this!

“Nick’s right!” Mary said, nodding fiercely. “If you keep pushing her like this, she won’t be able to take it! She’s a sensitive girl!”

Rose’s mouth twisted into an “O” shape from shock as she stared at Mary, aghast. While she appreciated the gesture, Mary’s words ended up coming out as more condescension than anything!

“I can take it!” Rose stubbornly protested, shaking her head. “Don’t say that I can’t!”

Mary looked at her, surprised, and didn’t know what to say. She shut her mouth and shrugged. “Err… I mean…”

“I think we’ve established that Rose is quite resilient,” Mr. S sneered, enjoying the situation playing out the way it was. “Regardless, Mary, we must be moving along. It’s just a bit of hair… she hardly grew that much this round, after all.”

Rose winced, her pride dented by the producer’s sneering words. But she glared fiercely at him and refused to yield.

Unlike last round, when losing her hair had been a blessing due to how long and cumbersome it had grown, Rose’s hair was only a bit longer than her old length right now. She’d have loved to keep it like this.

But she knew that she couldn’t.

To her chagrin, Rose felt her hair rise up from her head, the strands slowly pulling away as her hair was shorn practically to her scalp. The threads wove themselves together and pulled and stretched, forming…

…A scarf.

“Huh!?” Rose was surprised as she looked at the long golden scarf in her hands. She wasn’t surprised that something smaller than her sweater had been made this time, given the difference in length, but what use did she have for a scarf on a tropical island?

“What’s it do?” Morgana couldn’t help but be curious, leaning in intently.

Rose was curious herself. She raised her head and looked at Mr. S, who smirked down at her.

“Allow me to show you,” he said, gesturing to the screen. The description of Rose’s new item was written plain as day.

Couples’ Scarf: A scarf big enough for two. If two people have the scarf wrapped around their necks, their hearts will become linked. Both parties will get a sense of the feelings the other has for them.

Rose blushed. Her eyes immediately flickered over to Nick as she clutched the scarf tightly in her hands. The possibilities were…

She quickly shook her head. As nice as the idea was, she didn’t need a scarf to know how Nick felt about her! He was obviously head over heels for her, and she definitely wasn’t worried that he wasn’t and thus hesitant to have him wear her scarf with her, obviously not.

“With that settled, let’s move on to our next bit of business, before we start reassigning the rooms,” Mr. S said, turning to the other girl who had a topic worth addressing. “Kim, if you would kindly step forward, please?”

Kim scowled. This was what she’d been dreading in secret. Her Just the Dregs transformation meant she got an extra transformation each round, and it was from the ones that had been rejected, too.

Which means if the producer wanted to screw her over by giving her one of her more troublesome transformations, he got another bite at the apple.

Mr. S looked at Kim with eager eyes, and it felt like he was practically licking his chops. “Now, as you know, your Just the Dregs transformation means you’ll be getting your chance to pick another transformation, out of the ones that weren’t chosen this round. So pick carefully, now! Don’t let a gem slip by!”

Words popped out from the screen, as the text from each of the unchosen transformations swirled around Kim. Unlike last round, she was prepared for it this time, and tried to follow them with her eyes. But much to her chagrin she found that whenever a word started making sense to her, it blurred out of her line of sight.

This had to be intentional. It really was going to be random. He wasn’t letting her pick her own fate, because of course not.

Sucking in her breath, Kim shot out her hand and grabbed one of the transformations, and the rest dropped down on her. As she stumbled out of the pile of animated words, she held up her prize with an almost triumphant display, not that she was feeling particularly triumphant.

“And there it is,” Mr. S crooned as the other transformations faded away. The one in Kim’s hands leapt out and plastered itself on the screen, displaying her prize.

• Roughing It: A tomboy is always a fan of the great outdoors. Now, Dani will find the idea of having sex outside in the wilderness to be an intriguing and exciting concept. Whether it’s being intimate in a tent, or in the dusky cover of a cave, the more exposed to nature she is while having sex, the more pleasurable it will feel. (Tomboy)

“Oh-!” Kim let out the breath she’d been holding in a sigh of relief. That one wasn’t bad at all! And she quite liked nature walks already, so… it could have been much worse.

“How fitting,” Mr. S mused. “The tomboy got a Tomboy transformation. I wonder if your own latent desires may be guiding your hand a little here, hmm?”

“Huh!?” Kim looked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about!?”

“Well, the first transformation you got was Wet T-Shirt Contest, now you’ve got this one… it seems you’ve got a knack for picking out the transformations that turn you into quite the exhibitionist, in spite of your protests,” Mr. S pointed out. “Carly better be careful. You seem to be coming for her transformation path.”

Carly whistled in amusement as Kim’s face turned red.

“No I am NOT!” She exclaimed, shaking her head. “Shut up about that, you!”

Mr. S shrugged, not really caring one way or the other. Besides- the light from Kim receiving her transformation shut her up nicely, save for the startled yelp.

“Now then… shall we get to assigning you young ladies your rooms?” He turned his attention to the other girls, and smiled. “Just like last time, the audience will be choosing your rooms for you. The votes will be left up to them, of course. Only- there will be two important differences.”

“Differences?” Dawn’s ears twitched. She was immediately sensitive to any changes that might occur in the rules. “What kind of differences?”

Morgana gulped and leaned in nervously. Ella was also a little uncertain. Her eyes flickered hesitantly over to Rose.

“The first one will be obvious,” Mr. S said. “You’ve all gotten to know your current roommates quite well, I’m sure. And you’ve forged many strong relationships, as is to be expected from a harem as intimate as you lot are!”

He meant it as a compliment, of course, but Nick could tell that the other girls weren’t exactly receptive of it.

They were all waiting for the other shoe to drop, as was he.

“…But… it’s important not to let things get too stagnant, as I’m sure you’ll agree,” Mr. S said. “So that’s why this time, the process will be the same- our audience will pick two girls to assign to each room! And you must vote to put only one girl in each room, of course. But- this time around, it will be different because none of you will be allowed to be placed in the same room you’re currently staying in. Any vote to put a girl in the room they currently reside in will be summarily dismissed, of course, so I would encourage you all not to waste your votes.”

“What!?” Sylvia’s eyes widened.

“So much for our garden, then,” Marley sighed wistfully, shaking her head.

“That could be troublesome,” Amelia murmured. There were definitely some difficult rooms to deal with.

“Well… at least it opens me up to another chance in the Fashion Suite,” Vivian pointed out, trying to make the best of it. “Don’t you think, Dani?” She turned to the tomboy. “We can try on all the outfits together! You can show me around, since you’ve been there before!”

Dani could tell from the ache of desperation in the heiress’s voice that Vivian was thinking the same thing she was- and trying very hard NOT to.

“Vivian…”

“Oh, that won’t be happening,” Mr. S said, shaking his head. “Because the other difference from last round is that none of you girls will be ending up rooming with the same person. We’re switching everything up!”

“Oh!” Ella’s eyes widened in surprise.

“No!” Vivian’s heart sank into her chest.

“Can… can you even do that?” Rose frowned. That sounded really complicated. “Dawn?”

“I’m not sure how that would work,” Dawn said, trying to think of how to properly coordinate data that way. “If the audience is voting to put us into rooms, then wouldn’t that mean two of us could still end up in a room with another person?”

Mr. S nodded. “Certainly, there could be circumstances like that,” he conceded. “Where, due to voting, two people will end up paired with the same person in a new room. But- we’re going to avoid that. So here’s how it will work. Whoever gets the highest amount of votes, for a room they weren’t staying in this round, they will get the room. And then, whichever girl has the next highest number of votes that isn’t the winner’s current roommate, they will ALSO be in that room. You see how it works?”

“It sounds really loose if you ask me,” Sylvia mumbled. “How much influence will the audience even have, then?”

Mr. S looked at her with a glimmer in his eye. “Just enough to make a difference,” he assured his former employee. “Now then… enough talk. It’s time to let the audience make their decisions, wouldn’t you agree?”

He snapped his fingers and the island rumbled again, as a poll was presented to the audience to vote on.

Current Arcade Suite Residents - Dawn and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin

Current Candy Suite Residents - Gina and Kim

Current Fashion Suite Residents - Cinder/Ella and Rose

Current Garden Suite Residents - Carly and Sylvia

Current Luxury Suite Residents - Amelia and Morgana

Current Romance Suite Residents - Dani and Vivian

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