Hiro lounged on the couch in his living room, lazily wasting away his Sunday in front of the television. A bag of chips rested by his side, while a couple more empty bags littered the floor. He’d been flipping through channels all day, stopping on whatever caught his fickle interest. He’d already watched a few episodes of anime, a talk show, and a movie he’d seen about a dozen times.
He tapped away at the remote some more, trying to find his next time killer, only pausing for a couple seconds at a time. His seemingly endless channel surfing stopped on a young woman walking down a fashion show runway. He didn’t stop because her clothes were outlandish, though they were very fashionable, or because she was beautiful, though she was. Hiro stopped because of her red skin, long, pointed ears, and horns. Shortly after the tall ogre left the runway, a lamia slithered her way down, looking every bit as fashionable as the woman before her.
There were a lot of names Hiro had heard for them: liminals, extraspecies, demihumans, monster girls, the list went on. He prefered to think of them as the latter, simpler option, ever since their existence was revealed to the public earlier that year. He’d seen quite a few monster girls since then, but this was the first time he’d ever seen a monster girl fashion show, or any program on television with just monster girls.
As he watched, initially drawn in by the novelty, he couldn’t help but take an interest in the outfits they were wearing. He thought it was impressive how the styles were made to play off of each woman’s features. Centaurs with clothes designed to accentuate, not hide, their equine bottom halves, spiders with skirts designed to work with their extra legs, and colors made to compliment various feather and scale tones. There was even a slime modeling water resistant clothes made exclusively for their species.
The show held Hiro’s attention for a good ten minutes before a commercial break lost him. He flipped through channels again, stopping when realized the bag of chips he was munching on was empty. A news report droned on while Hiro grumbled to himself. He got up to check the pantry for more while the anchorperson continued without him, talking about a string of disappearances in the city. Hiro only caught a word here or there as he peered around in the cupboard, sighing at the realization that he was entirely out of snacks.
He slipped on a pair of shoes and a light jacket to guard against the fall chill, leaving the reporter’s message that the public should remain calm, but report any suspicious activity to the local authorities, to echo through the empty house. Hiro made his way down the street, upset at himself for having run through all of his food so early in the day. He walked briskly, wanting to get back home as soon as possible, reaching the convenience store in five minutes. He then spent the next 15 carefully considering his snack options, carefully balancing sweet, salty, and savoury flavors.
Hiro paid the cashier and left the store, bags in each arm, then headed home. After walking a couple of blocks in silence, he heard a loud crash to his left. He quickly turned his head towards the noise. He saw a small, dark figure pass by a knocked over trash can in the alley. Cautiously, he walked towards the can, wondering if some small animal had been scrounging in the garbage and was scared by him walking by.
“Hey, little guy, it’s okay! I’m nothing to be afraid of, promise!” he called out gently, feeling a bit stupid at the silence that answered him. He peered around the alley, wondering where the animal had gone off to. He gently put his shoe on the garbage can and lightly rocked it, hoping he’d rouse the scared creature if it were in there, but nothing stirred from the can.
Starting to get creeped out from the dark, silent alley, Hiro figured it all must have been nothing. Just a can being knocked over by the wind and his eyes playing tricks on him. He turned around and started walking, when he felt a sharp pinch on his neck. “Ah! What the hell!?” he yelped in pain, rubbing at his neck with his hand while he jogged away from the alley. The skin under his hand felt warm, and he could feel a mound swelling up, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled his hand away and didn’t see any blood. “I must have been stung by something from the can,” he thought, making his way back home. It didn’t seem to be serious, but part of him was annoyed that he’d have to cut into his day to put some ointment on it.
Hiro set the grocery bags on the coffee table in front of the television, now playing some daytime game show, then went into the bathroom to inspect the bite. It didn’t take him much time to find it, the area having puffed up and reddened severely. Cabinets and drawers were flung open and fumbled through until he finally found the old first aid kit he bought when he’d first moved in. He tossed boxes of bandages and compresses on to the floor until he finally came across a small, one-time use package of ointment. Tearing off a corner, he squeezed the contents out into his hand and started rubbing it on the bite, shuddering at how cold the cream felt against his skin.
The ointment worked quickly as a gentle, cool, feeling fought away at the warm itch that had been bothering him on his way home. Hiro sighed in relief as he knelt down to pick up the various boxes he’d tossed around in his hunt for the cream. Of course, even after getting everything in the case, he had to spend time rearranging the boxes, putting this under that and vice versa in an attempt to force the kit closed.
No matter how Hiro rearranged it, though, he couldn’t get it to shut. Considering the problem for a moment, he started leaning on it, trying to use his weight to force it close while his fingers fumbled with the latches. He started to feel a tightness grow in his chest, and started to pant from the effort. He adjusted his positioning, hoping the change would make a difference, the tight, itchy feeling in his chest starting to become too much for him to deal with, when his fingers finally got the kit to snap closed. A heavy sigh escaped his lungs, and he was relieved that the ordeal was finally over. He started to get up, something large and heavy gently settling right above his stomach as he stood to his full height.
Puzzled, Hiro looked back in the mirror. He saw his shirt stretched, straining against a pair of large breasts, and suddenly a tight feeling registered in his chest that he hadn’t felt before. “W-what the hell…” he murmured, his hands unconsciously rising up, rubbing his breasts through his shirt. “Ahn!” A moan escaped his mouth as he rubbed, the fabric of the shirt feeling good against his tender breasts. “T-these are real, huh…?” he whispered, his hands already lifting his shirt up. The breasts went with the motion, slapping down against him after finally wrestling the shirt off.
He gasped at how large they were, how smooth and vibrant the skin looked, while his fingers gripped the yielding flesh. Warmth spread throughout his body with each squeeze, accompanied by small jolts of pleasure when he brushed his fingertips against his puffy, brown nipples. “Ahn…I don’t know what’s going on, but this is pretty good…” he panted, his face starting to get red from the fondling.
Hiro continued working his fingers into his breasts, his pants feeling tighter not just from his arousal, but from the widening of his hips and his butt growing plumper, two finer points he would have been interested in, were he not so distracted with his breasts. He was also oblivious to his stomach shrinking and his waist pinching in, instead taking away that all the squeezing had made his breasts look even bigger. Tilting his head back in pleasure, he pinched and teased his nipples while his shoulders narrowed, the extra pressure from his arms being closer adding to his ecstasy.
His groping session was interrupted, however, by an uncomfortable feeling in his hands that spread up, reaching almost as far as his shoulders. Something about his bones just felt wrong, as though they were shifting, almost becoming lighter, and before he could process what was going on, his skin started to burn and itch as hundred of white feathers and down replaced the hairs on his arms. They spread out under his forearm, the feathers there growing black tips, while his hands seemed to disappear completely, covered in down.
“What the hell is happening?!” Hiro yelled, trying to grab at his chest with hands that didn’t exist while stiff feathers brushed against his erect nipples. Realizing the stupidity that his base instincts drove him to, he took a moment to try and calm down, looking at himself in the mirror, finally noticing some of the changes he’d been oblivious to early. More importantly, though, were the wings that had replaced his arms. He cautiously flapped them, trying to get a feel for them, when he noticed a dry, scratching feeling spreading up his legs.
“Oh shit, what now…” he started to wonder, before he felt the same rearranging sensation happen in his feet. His comfortable position, flat on his feet, was compromised by them arching upwards, while four sharp talons pierced through his socks. Unable to keep his balance, he fell on his butt, his pants unfastening from the tightness and quick movement. The legs also started to rip as his calves grew, letting him see the hair on his legs fade away while dark, almost scaly skin went up almost to his knees. He struggled with his wings to roll the pants down, and though he was unable to get them off, he was able to see that his thighs were now looked as smooth and soft as the rest of his skin did, though he wasn’t able to feel them to confirm.
His breathing was still heavy from the uncomfortable changes, when he started to feel a slight pain in his crotch. “Oh, shit, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” he yelled, panic filling his whole being, until he looked down and saw his penis pinched by the waistband of his underwear. Hiro sighed, relieved at the feeling being something so minor, when he felt a tightness growing in his testicles. He gasped as the feeling grew, never uncomfortable, but unfamiliar and strange, until he couldn’t feel his balls against his thighs anymore. “Ahn!” He moaned as the tightness around his penis grew, and watched as the head shrunk, retreating back into his underwear. Hiro panted and bit his lips as the odd feeling continued, the almost unbearable hardness he felt before melting away as his underwear relaxed against him, loose and empty.
Carefully, he lifted his hips up, and slowly worked his underwear down to what used to be his ankles, though he wasn’t so sure now. As he thought, he saw nothing when he looked down where his penis was, just a smooth, pleasant mound. A thought popped into his head, cursing himself for not having a full length mirror, while he tried to feel what happened with what used to be his hands. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell what had happened, but he had enough context clues at this point to have a good idea of what was down there now. A stray feather grazing against him, causing him to moan and shudder, almost confirming his suspicion.
After recovering, he considered how best to get off of the floor, lacking hands to give him leverage and feet to give him, well, footing, but some part of this body seemed to know instinctively what to do. With a quick rocking motion, he was on his talons and pulling himself up with a leg strength he never knew he had. It took significantly longer for him to manage to pull his pants back up, relying on the tightness of the clothes against his new body to keep them on. The shirt, he concluded, was a lost cause, after failing to lift it above his head a few times. A couple of quick hops and he was facing the sink once again, just in time for a numbness to spread across his face. “Fuck,” he swore, exhausted at this point.
Hiro braced himself against the sink best he could with his wings, watching as his face seemed to ripple and shift and change, all the stubble and hair fading away. His face, round from an easy life full of snacking, got more angular and defined, though a feminine softness still persisted. His eyelashes grew thicker and longer, while his eyebrows thinned, spreading long across his head. Dull, blue eyes became a shining amber, while their shape sharpened, an entrancing look when coupled with the new eyelashes. His largish nose shrunk down, his face scrunching up as his sinuses adjusted with it, leaving a new one that was small and cute. Hiro was surprised, almost, by how soft it looked, half-expected something sharp, almost like a beak. He was also surprised to see his ears change, growing long and spreading out from his head, ending in cute little points.
As he tried to process the face in the mirror in front of him, he felt an itch spread over his scalp and watched as his black hair lightened into a lustrous silver. He shivered as the itch became a tingle, long locks of flowing silver spreading out from his head, some only stopping once they brushed against the back of his knees. The hair was healthy and had an amazing sheen, but it was also messy, flowing out however it wanted, with a long ahoge right in the middle of his head.
He found himself having a hard time breathing next. Hiro watched as his Adam’s apple disappeared along with the inflamed skin from the bite, right before being consumed by a coughing fit. Each cough sounded different from the last, almost like a musician tuning an instrument, until settling on a uniform sound. The tickling feeling finally left his throat, and he gasped desperately for air.
“Is it over yet?” he asked, before moving his wings over his mouth. “Y-you’re kidding me, right?!” He balked, unable to believe the high, indignant sounding voice that came out of his mouth was his own. There was a rough edge to it when he was loud, but it was far softer and gentler than his ever was, even as a child. “What am I supposed to do like this?” he wondered aloud, partly just to hear his new voice some more. He sat on the closed toilet, hanging his head in his wings, unsure if another change would come or not.
After about ten minutes, Hiro concluded he was in the clear. He wasn’t sure what the next step was, but he figured that sitting in the bathroom wasn’t a sound choice. Still, he was at a loss for how to actually get out. He fumbled with the doorknob a bit, but his wings offered no grip. The window would offer the same sort of problem, his new wings too unwieldy to unlatch it.
Carefully, he tried out his balance on one leg, slowly piecing together the only way he’d accomplish anything in his new body. Once he was comfortable and felt he’d found his center of balance, he lifted his right leg up higher and gripped the knob best he could with his talons. He slowly turned the knob, hoping that whatever his ankles were now could rotate better than his old ones could. The knob turned with him, and, with a little pressure, the door swung open, while Hiro hopped frantically to regain his balance.
He made his way out into the living room. Some over-produced drama was playing on the television, but that was the least of his concerns, he thought, until the memory of the news report from earlier in the day surfaced in his mind. He couldn’t remember what the report was about, but he did remember something about calling the police about any strange goings-on. This definitely qualified as strange, and he didn’t have any other options, so Hiro grasped onto the only thread of hope he had.
Using his talons, he grabbed onto the jacket he’d left on the couch and started shaking it, gently, until a solid thump against the floor accompanied his phone tumbling out of the pocket, landing screen up. Hiro carefully straddled the phone, bracing it against one foot while he pressed the power button with the other, waking the device. As he stared down at the unlock screen, sudden dread overcame him, as he realized that touchscreens were made to work with fingers, appendages he didn’t have anymore.
With as much reserve as he could manage in the unfamiliar body, Hiro carefully lowered a talon onto the screen and started to draw his unlock pattern on the phone. A high pitched scraping sound filled the house, causing him to flinch and close his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw the screen had turned off, the motion not being recognized, though deep scratches in glass marked lines he followed. He tried again, this time prepared for the sound, but this time the scratches went deeper, the screen distorting from the sharpness of his talons, and the phone remained locked.
Suddenly, a part of Hiro was very upset that he’d never bothered to get a landline phone. As he cursed himself, his fate, and his dumb luck, he realized that not all hope was lost. There weren’t many around now, but there was a payphone he’d passed on his way to the convenience store. It wasn’t much, but it was a plan. He wasn’t sure how he’d hold the receiver, how he’d get the coins in his pocket into the machine, or how he’d explain his situation, but he was desperate. Briefly considering his bare breasts, Hiro returned to his jacket and tried to get it on, but he couldn’t manage to fit his wings through the sleeves. Irritated again, he made his way to the front door, ready to do another balancing act to escape the house.
Hiro hurried down to the payphone, trying not to notice the stares he was getting and focusing the sound of his breathing to try and drown out the concerned murmurs. After a couple of minutes, he was at the phone. To his relief, emergency calls were free, meaning he wouldn’t have to fumble with his pants to get the coins out. Still, he was at a loss as to how he was going to operate the phone. He needed to pick it up, then dial the number, but doing that with only his feet seemed impossible. There was no bottom shelf on the payphone, so he’d just have to leave the receiver dangling while he worked the buttons. As he tried to figure out how quickly he’d be able to grab the phone, he realized he was overlooking a very important benefit of his new body.
Unsure of how well it would work, Hiro started gently flapping his wings until he started to feel his legs lift off the ground. His heart was beating fast, not from exertion, but from the thrill of flying, if hovering a foot off the ground even qualified as such. Soon he was high enough in the air that he could grab the receiver with one foot, while his other was free to tap out the number for the police. It was a bit of a stretch, getting the phone up to his head, but he was so proud of puzzling out how to make the call that he didn’t even care. The crackly dial tone was interrupted with a solid beep with each press, and soon his ears were filled with ringing. “Hello, Emergency Services, how may I-”
A cheery voice was greeting Hiro when he suddenly had the wind knocked out of him. He felt his wings falter against immense pressure as he was tackled to the ground, a large body wrapping its arms around him. “The vandal has been restrained!” a soft voice called out, right before Hiro was flipped over onto his chest and a heavy knee was put against his back. “Good job, Tio! I’ve got it from here” another voice responded, and Hiro felt something wrapped tightly around his wings. The same happened to his legs, while another set of hands put something over his mouth, drowning out any protests he might have had. His world went dark as a blindfold was put over him, and then he was suddenly lifted and carried a short distance before being put on cold metal. The shock and fear of all that had happened finally took its toll on Hiro, and he passed out just before the van started moving.
Hiro had no way of knowing how long he’d been out, but when he finally came to, he was sitting in a chair, with his legs bound by the ankles and his wings bound behind him. He appeared to be in a nice, heated office. A lavish desk was in front of him, covered with stacks of papers and folders, and a tall woman in a suit was watching him from behind a pair of sunglasses. Off to his side, sitting patiently on a couch, was an even larger woman with caramelly brown skin, long light blonde hair, and a large horn in the middle of her head.
“W-where am I?” he managed to ask, still groggy.
“As good of a first question as any. I’ll answer it, but let me start from the top, alright?” answered the woman in the suit.
Hiro didn’t seem to have much choice in the matter, so he simply nodded.
“Good. I love it when they just let me talk.” The woman took a sip of canned coffee before continuing. “My name is Smith. You’re currently in my office after being apprehended by M.O.N., a special task force for extraspecies crimes, under suspicion of destruction of public property, in addition to the very obvious charge of public exposure. Looking through your belongings, though, it seems as though my agents were mistaken about the vandalisation of that payphone, weren’t they, Hiro?” she asked, holding his ID card up to her face.
“Y-yeah…” he responded, thrown off by how calm and collected the woman was in assessing the situation.
“W-we’re terribly sorry about the misunderstanding!” the woman on the couch stammered, bowing apologetically to Hiro.
“Our agents were out in the area patrolling for suspicious activity,” Smith continued. “As you may have heard, there have been a string of mysterious disappearance lately. Or, at least that’s what we’re telling the public. Doesn’t seem to be much harm in telling you now that isn’t the case. The disappearances are actually regular people, much like yourself, being turned into extraspecies by some unknown group. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to catch them yet, and they always operate in a different way each time. So, keeping in mind that I’m not asking for your life story here, is there anything suspicious that happened today before you changed?”
Hiro thought for a minute before telling the woman about his trip back from the convenience store, about the rustling in the alley and the sting on his neck. He felt silly once he’d recounted the whole story, certain that it was too mundane to be of any use. Smith stood up and walked over to him, peering close by his neck. She waved the woman on the couch over as well, and Hiro did his best to not blush while the two of them very intently looked at his neck. After what seemed like an eternity, they returned to their seats.
“Well, there certainly isn’t anything there now. Any evidence of an injection went away with the transformation. Damn, they’re crafty. And now they’re working in broad daylight. We’re going to have to redouble our patrol efforts, Tio,” she said, looking over at the other woman, who nodded.
“For now, though, we need to clean up the damage we do have, and that means getting you into a stable situation. Thankfully, we’ve already lined up a host home for you.”
“Can’t I just go back to my own home!?” Hiro blurted out, wondering why every part of his life had to be upended on top of all that had already happened.
“Unfortunately, no,” Smith said, bluntly. “Getting your current arrangements transferred to a new extraspecies is beyond even what we can do. Don’t worry, though, we’re doing everything we can to transition you back into a normal lifestyle.”
“You mean you can’t just change me back?”
“We’ve been researching ways to undo the transformation, but so far, no, we can’t. To cut off your next question, no, we don’t have any evidence of the change just ‘wearing off’ either. Now, can I continue?” Smith asked, glaring at him from over her sunglasses. Hiro simply nodded, feeling crushed.
“Now then, as I said, we’ve arranged a new living situation for you, as well as an identity as an extraspecies. I know having a new name will be quite an adjustment, but keeping your old name would raise too many suspicions. We tried to keep the name close, though, to make things easy on you. From now on, you’ll be Haru. And, in case you were curious, your specific extraspecies classification is raptor harpy.”
Hearing the name cemented the reality of the situation. There was no going back weekdays of shirking work and responsibility and lazy weekends of lounging and snacking. Those days were gone, and so was that person. Probably forever, from the way Smith made things sound. Haru was left with no choice but to accept herself, and everything that had happened. Sighing and resolving herself to the path in front of her, she looked Smith in the eyes and asked, “And the living arrangements?”
“We’ve actually set you up with someone who’s been in the same situation as you. She’s adapted to her new life very well, and she’s even had a request in to be a host for some time now, though you’re the first extraspecies that fit her requirements. Before we get into that, though, we should get you a bit more comfortable. And clothed. Tio, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Okay!” the giant ogre beamed as she rose from the couch. She went behind Haru’s chair and released the bonds on her legs and wings. Haru hadn’t even realized how much of a bother they’d been until they were gone, and she gladly took the opportunity to stand up, stretch her legs, and flap the soreness out of her wings.
“We’re going to get you into some more appropriate clothes, okay?” Tio asked. Haru didn’t have much choice but do agree, only wearing pants that were only held up by the change in her figure. Tio started by taking them off, gently squeezing her feet to get them free of the legs. The loose underwear were less of a problem. She walked over to the couch and came back with a pair of simple black panties and had Haru step into them before pulling them up. Haru felt goosebumps crawl up her legs as the woman’s large hands ran along her body, making sure the fit was alright.
She brought a pair of jeans over next, and had Haru sit in a chair while she worked them over her legs. They were already ragged and frayed there, which seemed to help them go on, and soon she was standing again so Tio could pull them up farther, letting them rest on her hips. As she led a belt with a jeweled ribbon through the loops, Haru noticed that the jeans also had fashionable holes in the front, right near the middle of her thighs.
A loose-fitting white tank top with blue ribbons by the thin straps was brought over next, and Tio effortlessly slipped it on her. Before Haru could voice any concerns about it being a bit too light for the weather, Tio was already bringing over a white jacket with purple trim and carefully slipping it over her wings. While Haru was testing her range of motion in the coat, Tio came up from behind her and fastened something around her neck.
“There, all done!” Tio said, bringing over a small mirror so Haru could see the outfit on herself. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the large, gold and sapphire necklace Tio had put on last. She felt incredibly vain for thinking it brought out the color in her eyes perfectly, and quickly tilted the hand mirror to exam the rest of the outfit. She couldn’t fight back the feeling that she was being conceited, but she couldn’t help but conclude that she looked damn good in the clothes.
“Hmm, not too bad at all, I’d say!” Smith chimed in, grinning at Haru as though she knew exactly what thoughts were going through her head. “Those were actually picked out for you by your host. She’s got an unquestionably good eye for fashion. Speaking of, it’s about time we had the two of you meet. Tio, would you go out and get her, please?”
“Aye-aye, ma’am!” she responded before opening the door, leaning out of it, and waving someone in.
“Right, right, on my way,” came a deep, husky voice. Haru turned to the door as the woman walked through, though she had a hard time believing what was she was seeing. The woman was just as tall as Tio was, but instead of a dark caramel, her skin was a light red. Instead of a single large horn, she had two small ones on either side of her forehead, and her ears were long pointed, even more than Haru’s were. There was no denying her fashion sense, and not just because Haru had seen her in a fashion show earlier that day. She wore cute heels, an anklet, and jeans with an appealing wave pattern on the side. The simple, low-cut white shirt she wore with a black undershirt was simple, but trendy, especially compared to the extravagant coat she had on over it. The coat even had its own horns, and a fluffy white fur shawl was draped around them.
“Alright then. Haru, this is Rohe. You’ll be in her care from now on. We don’t usually have extraspecies look after other extraspecies, but you’re both special cases. With the extent of your changes, we need to pair you up with someone, but it would be a massive headache if someone else learned of your past or if you just changed back one day. Having you on your own is also flat out, because we’d really be throwing you in the deep end, considering you don’t have any hands.” Smith explained.
“Besides, I could use some muscle around me.” Rohe interjected. “There’re some real creeps at fashion shows these days, and I bet a set of talons like yours would go a long way to spooking the perverts off.”
“The point is, you both have something to gain from this. And so do I, because it means we won’t have to devote as many resources to keeping Rohe safe.” Smith grumbled.
Rohe’s boisterous laugh filled the room. “Aww, thanks ma’am! Love you, too!”
Smith sighed loudly. “Right, I just need the two of you to sign these papers and it’ll be official.”
Rohe went up to the desk first and signed through the stack before moving aside for Haru to do the same. She looked down at the desk, and then down at her talons. Picking up on it, Rohe quickly scooped up the papers and put them down on the floor with the pen. “I’ll meetcha halfway, partner.” She smiled while Haru worked her talons around the pen and messily signed the first paper with her new name. Rohe moved the next one under her and soon the paperwork was over. Rohe handed the stack back to Smith.
“Well, then, looks like we’re good here. We’ll be in periodically to check up on you, but Rohe has our number in case you need us.” Smith and Tio bowed, and Haru followed suit while Rohe simply waved. She then wrapped her arm around her wing and started leading her out of the office.
“I know it’s all new and scary for you right now, even more than it was for me, but you’re gonna be alright, Haru. Just don’t get too proud to ask for help, yeah?”
“S-sure.” Haru didn’t quite know what to make of Rohe’s laid back attitude, her disposition clashing with the presence of the woman she’d seen on television. Still, she was grateful to have some ally in all of this. Maybe, if she was lucky, a friend.
“And I mean ANY help, got it?” Rohe stressed, as she slipped a hand down Haru’s back and grabbed her butt with her large hand.
“Probably more than a friend, at this rate,” Haru thought as her knees quivered.
Hometown Publishing 