Chapter 1: Hayami, a Legendary Shifter?!

"Happy birthday, Hayami!" Hayami's close friend, Riniko Yamasaki, said, running up behind Hayami as she retrieved her books and backpack from her locker. Riniko had short, caramel brown hair tied into small pigtails, which, if she moved her head, were low enough to brush against the back of her neck. She was a shorter girl with a modest chest and, like her name and greeting suggested, she was innocent, carefree and happy go lucky. (Note: The name Riniko means "little bunny child" in Japanese, used as foreshadowing by the author for her coming Transformation.)

"Oh. Thanks, Rini," Hayami replied, using the pet nickname their friend group had assigned her. Hayami closed the door to her locker and slung her backpack over her shoulders.

"So...what do you think you'll Transform into, Hayami?" Riniko asked. The question was only logical: most people's first Transformations happened on their fifteenth birthday. And today, May 21st, was Hayami's fifteenth birthday.

"Well, my mom transformed into a squirrel and my dad a dog, so I'm not really sure. Maybe a rodent or some kind of house pet?" Hayami mused as the two of them made their way to Class 1-A, where they would be spending homeroom.

Parent's transformations rarely had anything to do with what their children Transformed into, but on occasion, the type of animal that a child's parents became would foreshadow something about their child's animal form. For instance, Riniko came from a family of all rabbits, so it was likely that she would also Transform into a rabbit. But hers was one of the rarer, less common cases.

Usually, people's Transformations were purely random and, as some explained it, "decided only by fate." Since no science could explain the origin of the Transformations (humans have been Transforming for as long as our species can remember), most people thought of it as one of those pressing questions people ask to drive religious beliefs, like "where do we go when we die" and "how did we get here?"

To those individuals, the explanation of the origin of Transformations and secondary animal forms was just as pressing a question.

"Or maybe you'll become a Legendary Shifter, and Transform into a unicorn or something," Riniko chimed energetically. They were now standing in front of the door to Class 1-A.

"I think I'd rather be a normal animal. If I was a Legendary Shifter, I would get too much attention," Hayami stated bluntly, shutting down Riniko's fantasies. She wasn't the type of person to daydream or fantasize; in fact, she knew the true dangers of being a Legendary Shifter, and that was the last thing she wanted to deal with.

But considering their city was home to the highest concentration of Legendary Shifters known to mankind, it was a possibility.

"You mean like the Hunters and everything? Yeah, I guess you're right." Riniko sighed in defeat as the two of them entered classroom 1-A. "But it would be kind of cool, though. To be a unicorn or a dragon," she added

under her breath, huffing as she sat down in her usual seat beside Hayami, near the front of the room.

"Riniko, being a bunny wouldn't be that lame, would it? And I highly doubt you would enjoy the attention of being a Legendary Shifter even if you did end up being one," Hayami replied. Her friend's complaints were starting to stress her out—it wasn't as if she hadn't thought about the possibility of becoming a Legendary Shifter at some point that day.

She set her backpack down on the ground beside her and left it propped up against the leg of her chair, her ruby red twintails whipping to the side. Riniko did the same. Hayami was only three quarters Japanese and one quarter British, which explained the hair. She already got enough attention as it was, being one third British and all. The added attention of being a Legendary Shifter would ruin her life, she was sure of it.

"It's Hayami, right? Happy birthday." Oh, great. It was that guy again—Shunsuke. He kept trying to hit on her, and she would have been surprised if he hadn't tried the "happy birthday" tactic.

"Shut up," Hayami replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Speaking of chests, hers could just barely be classify as "medium sized." She wasn't flat chested like Riniko but she also didn't have enormous breasts like Neckiery, another one of her friends who was famous for exactly that reason: massive breasts. She had a good reputation among the boys at school for her breasts size, but many of the girls despised her for it.

"It looks like Twintails is pissed at you again, bro," Shunsuke's friend commented. Every day Hayami told him to screw off, and it seemed like this guy had unrelenting motivation.

"Screw you, Daichi," Shunsuke shouted, pissed.

So that makes two of us now, Hayami thought glumly. The last thing she really liked was attention, but with her striking hair color, she always got it.

"All right, class," their homeroom teacher, Ms. Suzuki, began, entering the classroom and shutting the door swiftly behind her. The noise in the classroom died down, as though every single person there had been muted by an invisible remote wielded by their teacher. Her hair was dyed pink and tied into a simple bun by a black ribbon, glasses perched on the bridge of her sharp nose. She was beautiful, strict and traditional, but she sure knew how to have fun during homeroom when she wasn't actually teaching. "As most of us here know, today is Hayami Sugimoto's fifteenth birthday. In modern day Japan and in countries all over the world, the fifteenth birthday is a very significant day in a person's life. The fifteenth birthday is the day when a person will unlock the ability to transform into some type of animal—and today, it's Sugimoto's turn."

By now everyone was looking at Hayami. Hayami blushed, embarrassed by the attention, but for all she was worth, she should have seen it coming from a mile away.

"To celebrate this occasion, we'll be focusing on the history of animal Transformations and how exactly the first Transformation will change your life." Ms. Suzuki paused dramatically, holding a pointer staff in her hands, most likely trying to make herself look more teacher-ey. "The first Transformation is more important than any other, and it can also be the most nerve wracking. Now, how many of you here have Transformed already?"

As the year was young, not that many birthdays had occurred. It was only May, after all. And Hayami's was one of the first, the first in her homeroom class, marking this as an important speaking time regarding the issue of animal Transformation.

Only one or two people raised their hands, as was expected.

"Miss Kondo, can you please give us a briefing on what your first Transformation was like?" Ms. Suzuki prompted, referring to Yui Kondo, a girl with wavy brown hair and plain brown eyes. She'd turned into an adorable red panda, and had been one of the luckier ones.

"It was definitely alarming. I was getting ready to take a shower one second and the next I was a red panda," she replied. The class laughed appropriately. It seemed as though everyone except for Hayami herself was taking the time to make this discussion into a light hearted game.

"What does it feel like to Transform?" Shunsuke asked obnoxiously. Some kids snickered at his comment.

"It's really hard to explain. You kind of have to experience it for yourself—but basically, it's not like a werewolf transformation or anything. According to the videos it's instantaneous—like a magic trick where you go poof and turn into something else right away. It isn't really all that scary." Hayami relaxed a little at Yui's explanation of the process.

At least it doesn't sound like it will be painful, she thought.

"Did you experience any pain?" Shunsuke's friend—Daichi—added, his comment surprisingly more valid than his friend's.

"No. It was more like I was in shock. It was really disorienting, actually," Yui added.

"Were you scared?" Riniko chimed in. Hayami rolled her eyes. Of course she would ask something like that. Riniko was always worried about being afraid, which was a fear unto itself. Not to mention she got jumpscared pretty easily, especially whenever Inuyuka, another one of their close friends, tried to flip her skirt up randomly.

"A little. Not really. Depending on what you turn into, though, the Transformation could be pretty alarming." Riniko sighed at Yui's response.

"That's a relief." Hayami could see the tension leaving Riniko's body with that sigh.

"Now, class, as a special treat for being such good students today, I'll demonstrate the transformation process for you here, right in this room." Some people gasped as she began taking off her bracelet. It was a simple device made of a plain silver material, with a core made of a sacred radioactive element called Mana whose origins were believed to go back as far as the dawn of human animal transformations. It was the only known material that could stop someone from Transforming. There were drugs, but those were illegal and risky to use.

Everyone was supposed to wear a bracelet that prevented Transformation; it was the school's policy. If a student were to dismantle the Transformation-blocking bracelets, they would get suspended. It was a rule that everyone knew, and it was almost like an amendment their school followed.

She undid the clasp of her bracelet and set it on the podium beside her. She closed her eyes and, after a blinding flash of light, a pink flamingo stood in front of the class, the pointer staff on the floor in front of her and a pile of clothes on the ground surrounding her.

"Woah." Gasps of awe swept through the class. People rarely ever transformed in public—that meant losing all of one's clothes and being hopelessly humiliated.

"How is she going to get all of her clothes back on now?" Shunsuke asked. At that comment, Ms. Suzuki made a distressed cry that sounded like a warbling squawk. She was obviously not happy about Shunsuke's lewd thoughts.

Now we have a problem. If she transforms back now, she'll likely get fired...but if we get a female student to assist her and help her get to the bathroom with her clothes still in one piece, she'll be fine, Hayami thought, assessing the situation.

"I'll help her," Yui Kondo offered, as though reading Hayami's mind.

Hayami sighed. "That's great. I bet she'll thank you for it later," she said, glad that she didn't have to deal with this pressing predicament.

With that, Yui Kondo led Ms. Suzuki out of the classroom, holding her clothes and acting as thorough nothing in the slightest was out of the ordinary.

***

When lunch time rolled around, everyone was talking about Ms. Suzuki's Transformation. Hayami sat at a table with her four best friends, the blue haired Sorahime Kato, the fastest runner in the entire city; Neckiery Ito, known for her large breasts; Inuyuka Takahashi, a serious, cold and quiet girl who kept mostly to herself in class; and Riniko Yamazaki, the daughter of a family of all rabbit Shifters.

Beside Hayami sat Riniko, and to Riniko's right sat Inuyuka. Across the table from them sat Neckiery and Sorahime, who were all currently digesting the school's daily special, ramen.

"I can't believe your teacher transformed right in front of you. Isn't it against the school policy?" Sorahime began. Although Hayami and Riniko shares the same home room, Sorahime, Inuyuka and Neckiery didn't. The three of them had homeroom in class 1-C, with Mr. Kobiyashi, a middle aged man whom most of the girls thought was attractive.

"Yeah, me neither. And it definitely is," Riniko replied. Despite her innocent, happy go lucky nature and appearance, she was quite the gossip, which annoyed Hayami to no end.

Hayami kept her attention fixed on her ramen to avoid conversation.

"I have an idea: we should all go over to Hayami's house tonight so we can watch her transform! Wouldn't that be fun?" Neckiery proposed. Sometimes, Hayami couldn't help but wonder why she was friends with these people; they were all crazy.

Hayami rolled her eyes. "Sure, why not? Actually, I have a lot of homework tonight, so I don't think I'll be able to," Hayami replied.

"That's too bad… you'll at least have to give us a video call so we can see your transformation when it happens," Riniko amended.

"Sure, I'll make sure to," Hayami replied. Out of the corner of her eye she could see an unfamiliar boy eyeing her. Who the hell is he? What does he want? She thought, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

At that gesture, he turned away sharply, and walked back to his lunch table.

That's strange…and suspicious. Why would an unfamiliar boy be posing as her stalker? And she hadn't even transformed yet; maybe he knew it was her birthday?

That was probably the case. Hayami sighed again, feeling tense. The stress of her impending Transformation was really starting to wear her out.

Luckily she was about halfway through the day. The stress would be so much easier to deal with when she got home—she could even use the excuse of her birthday to skip school the next day if the stress of the Transformation seemed like too much to handle.

"What's the matter, Hayami? You seem stressed," Neckiery fretted. Despite being obnoxiously flirty, Neckiery has a good heart, and was often the first one to step in when one of them was feeling down.

"As immature as it might sound, I just want to go home," Hayami replied. "This day has been long enough already, and I'm barely halfway through with it."

"I understand. If you're really feeling stressed, you can always go to the nurse and call your parents to pick you up if it doesn't get better," Neckiery suggested.

"Yeah. I guess I could."

The rest of lunch passed fairly smoothly, and the only thing out of the ordinary was that upperclassman who'd been eyeing her from his lunch table.

***

Hayami was exhausted when she finally arrived home from school. She immediately flopped down on her bed after a quick conversation with her parents. Luckily for her, they knew how stressful first Transformations could be, so they pretty much left her alone.

"What a crappy birthday this is," Hayami grumbled, pressing her face into her pillow. She still had her school uniform on, which consisted of a pleated plaid and blue skirt and a navy blue blazer. Obviously, she'd been too tired to take it off.

First, everyone had stared at her during class.

Second, that upperclassman had decided to make her his new target for stalking. (Hopefully he didn't followed her home in his animal form. That would have been way too creepy.)

Third, she'd nearly scapegoated having her friends crash her transformation, a very private—and personal—event (in her eyes, at least).

"Argh. I can't wait for this day to end." And she couldn't. All she wanted was to Transform and go to sleep. Please transform. Please transform. Please transform, she prayed, hoping whatever god actually existed answered her please.

It wasn't even that she wanted to be a Shifter. She just wanted to find out whatever her animal was and stop worrying about it. She just knew that, as someone who wasn't a Defect (according to the doctors), Transforming on one's fifteenth birthday was considered normal, healthy even.

It would all come in due time, but Hayami just wanted to get it over with, and now.

She decided that since she wasn't feeling any pressing changes at the moment that she would take a shower. Maybe it would help her loosen up a bit and possibly speed up the process. It would also distract her from her current distress, which was bothering her to the point that she wanted to throw up. Maybe watching anime or reading manga would help as well…? Or doing some of that oh-so-pressing homework she'd fibbed about to her friends would do the trick.

But because homework usually caused stress, she doubted it.

Hayami stood up and reluctantly walked to the bathroom, which was indeed inside of her bedroom. She opened the door and shut it firmly behind her, and began stripping off her school uniform, starting with the blazer and ending with the skirt and underwear. The sensation was freeing, almost.

She turned on the showerhead to the highest setting and, after waiting a few seconds for the water to heat up, she stepped inside, pulling the clear glass door shut behind her.

Hayami let her hair fall back, the feeling of the water beating down on her skin soothing. There was nothing like taking a hot shower in the afternoon.

After a few minutes of soaking herself, she decided to be practical and began washing her hair with soap and shampoo, freeing herself of the grime and dirt that had somehow gathered on her throughout the day. She then proceeded to scrub her body down with a bar of soap, trying to catch every place she thought might have gotten dirty, prolonging her exit from the shower.

Now that she was there, the last thing she wanted to do was get out.

Once she was done washing, she turned the water off to avoid getting pruney fingers. That always happened every time she showered or bathed for too long, and she hated the feeling.

Hayami pushed the shower door open, clumsier than usual because everything was wet. She then grabbed the towel from the hanger and wrapped it around her body, taking her sweet time because no one was watching her. It was only her parents—and besides, it wasn't like her older brother Junichiro was still living in the house. He was away studying at a university, and she doubted he wouldn't have been so rude as to peek at her when she was taking a shower regardless.

"Ah. That felt great. Too bad I have to dry myself off and change again…" Hayami grabbed a pair of red pajamas with a diamond print from her dresser drawer, holding the towel in place with one hand. She'd nearly forgot about her impending Transformation—the shower had done exactly what she'd anticipated it would do.

Hayami shed the towel and pulled on the pajama pants. Surprisingly, it hadn't taken her hands all that long to dry, but her hair was still soaking wet. She grabbed an elastic off her dresser and tied up her hair in a simple ponytail to avoid having it drip all over her face. Once that was taken care of, she proceeded to pull on the top and got into bed, taking a manga volume with her.

It's not like she was an Otaku or anything, but she did enjoy reading good manga whenever she got the chance.

***

Some time passed where nothing really happened. Hayami found herself absorbed in the manga's storyline, so much so that she forgot what day it was and what was supposed to happen to her, which could explain why she was so surprised when it finally happened: the dreaded Transformation!

Hayami was just about to turn to the next page—right in the middle of a good action scene—when all of a sudden she lost her grip on the book and it landed with a faint thump on her comforter.

There was a blinding flash of light and a second later Hayami felt one hundred degrees warmer. She also felt...furry? Was that the right word? Yes. Furry.

She looked down to see that she had red-tipped paws and that the fur she was feeling all over her body was white. She could also feel—things—protruding from her behind. Were those tails? If they were tails, then she had multiple of them. She would have to look in the mirror to see for herself.

What the hell am I? She thought, absolutely petrified. The sound that came out of her mouth in the place of words sounded like a baby's cry.

No animal she'd ever seen made that kind of noise.

With the prowess of an agile cat, she leaped up onto her dresser so she could get a better look at herself in the mirror. Her face was narrow, and the area near the tip of her nose was a bright ruby red, the same color as her human hair and her paws. Her eyes were the very same color, and everything else was a bright, bright white.

Am I...a fox? That same cry came out of the very depths of her being, and she shuddered. She was really going to have to get used to that sound, regardless of how terrible it was.

She decided to check out her behind. Her prediction was correct—she indeed had multiple tails, and nine of them. A fox with nine tails. Where have I heard that before?

She took a moment to think about it, and it didn't take her long to remember the story.

It was a story about a creature from folktales she'd heard, a creature that resembled a fox but had nine tails instead of one. If her memory was correct, these foxes also had spiritual powers and could take the form of humans. According to the folktales she'd heard, Nine Tailed Foxes commonly took the forms of young Japanese girls and women, which didn't make it completely absurd to assume she was actually a Nine Tailed Fox as they were depicted in folklore.

And if she was a Nine Tailed Fox, that would also make her a Legendary Shifter.

Which was, in all honesty, the last thing she wanted to be.