My Boyfriend Is Turning Me Into a Hollow?!

That sneak! That cheater! Ah-CHOO! He was using some kind of weird transforming magic to turn me into a neko-chan! I couldn't believe this! I had no choice but to break away from Kenichi as soon as possible, hoping the magic would stop doing… that… Ah-CHOO!

“What's the matter, Aya-chan?” Kenichi asked me. By now, his demeanor completely changed; no longer was he the sweet sweet Ishida-senpai that I always knew (for all of twelve days). He now wore an expression very reminiscent of that smug freak, Meteron.

“Oh, I don't know,” I told him while trying to fight both anger and tears. “This dance wasn't supposed to involve me being turned into a kemonomimi!”

“Well, I think you look even cuter with those feline accessories,” Kenichi answered. “They bring out your eyes.”

“I did not sign up to be turned into a furry!” I shouted at him. “Ah-CHOO! And for the record, I'm allergic to cats!”

By now, the rest of the school had taken notice of our argument. Several of the students had already pulled out their phones and started recording or taking pictures.

“What, would you rather I turned you into a disgusting mutt like your precious little Hollow?” Kenichi asked. How did he know about Aichi being a Hollow?! “I would at least like for you to stay cute.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about! Ah-CHOO!” I tried to wiggle my way out of this situation by lying. That worked with everyone else… Ugh… I absolutely hated being allergic to myself.

“Don't try to be coy with me, Aya-chan,” Kenichi replied. “Now hold still so I can complete your transformation. It's only temporary until I can remove your Flower Power from you.”

I tried to run, but somehow, all the doors and all the windows were locked. I was trapped, but more importantly, I was trapped with all my teachers and classmates…

Turning to face Kenichi, I asked, “Why are you doing this?! I thought you… liked me…”

“I do like you, Aya-chan,” Kenichi replied immediately. “Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me. But that pooch has thrown you into a war you can't win.”

I hated to admit it, but Kenichi did have a point… If I hadn't met Aichi that day, I wouldn't be in this mess right now…

“Rule #1 of your precious magical contract states that a Hollow can only be contracted to a human,” Kenichi continued to explain. “Rule #2 states that a human can only be contracted to one Hollow at a time, and vice versa. No human, no contract, no Flower Powers.”

So that was it… If I wasn't human anymore, my contract with Aichi would be null and void, and I would lose access to my Flower Powers. It would be all over… But was what Kenichi was saying actually true?

I put my hands up to my face to wipe away the tears, only to find out that my face was getting a bit fluffy. I wasn't just being turned into a catgirl… I was being turned into a cat… Ah-CHOO! And it was happening right there in front of the whole school! The embarrassment was just too much for me to handle. Even if the other students weren't laughing at me, I could feel their judgment. I was a freak…

But then, I remembered… Even if it would expose me as a witch to them, I had no other choice…

“Hide Away, Hide Away!”

Outside the school, I found myself all alone. What a relief…

… or so I thought…

“Well, well, well…” a voice quietly spoke to me, almost as if he had anticipated me. “Look what the cat dragged in ~woof.”

“This isn't funny, Aichi!” I cried.

“~woof, do you believe me now?” Aichi asked me. “That dude is evil and-”

Aichi suddenly stopped talking and began to look all around me. Whether he was just curious, concerned, or even intrigued, I had no idea. His ears would perk up or down depending on where he looked.

“~woof, he sure did a number on you, huh,” Aichi told me. “You're barely human anymore!”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” I shouted.

“It means this wasn't just any old transformation spell,” Aichi explained, “~woof this is unlike any magic I've ever seen before! Your new boyfriend seems to have a thing for Hollows.”

“He's turning me into a Hollow?!”

“He's turning you into a Hollow ~woof. This is uncharted magical territory! A breakthrough in the mystic arts, even!” Aichi began to ramble on about how exciting this development was. “Hollows can't be made like this, there's a whole complex birthing ritual and weird laws and-”

“Aichi, focus!”

“Right, uh… I have no idea how to fix this, ~woof,” Aichi admitted. “If I had to guess, you're about half-human, half-Hollow right now, with the ratio getting more lopsided by the minute.”

“He… he said something about breaking our contract,” I explained. “If I'm not human anymore, I wouldn't be able to access my Flower Powers anymore.”

“Yeah, that's rule #1, unfortunately,” Aichi replied. “Okay, I may have a temporary fix. Just transform!”

“Strategizing?” a deep baritone voice asked us. “Or running scared?”

I turned around to see Kenichi had found us.

“Ayame! Transform now if you want to stay human, ~woof!” Aichi shouted.

“Flower Power! Rise Up, pretty pretty please!”

In no time, fancy transformation sequence and all, I found myself in my magical outfit and fully human, or at least… appearing fully human.

“Impressive,” Kenichi told me. “You're even more beautiful in the traditional costume. Unfortunately, you're also a lot more dangerous while wearing it.”

“Me and Aichi can handle any magic you throw at us!” I boasted.

“I would love to see you try,” Kenichi replied. “Summon Hollow.”

Summon WHAT?!

A little bunny Hollow appeared right beside Kenichi, cackling away in absolute triumph.

“I love it when a plan comes together, ~nanoda,” the little bunny told us.

“Hideaki!” Aichi shouted. “~woof I should have known you were involved in this!”

“Involved is such a weak word, ~nanoda,” Hideaki corrected Aichi. “I prefer the word masterminded.”

“You… This was all your idea?” Aichi asked, unable to believe his little puppy ears. “Wait… I thought you hated humans?”

Hideaki then turned to Kenichi. “Don't listen to my little brother, Kenichi. He lies. Shall we?”

“Hideaki, let's rock!” Kenichi replied. “Flower Power! Rise Up, pretty pretty please!”

Hideaki leaped onto Kenichi's head and drew a sunflower sigil around him with his paw. The sigil glowed brightly, raining down sunbeams and sunflower seeds onto Kenichi, giving him a yellow kimono with sunflower seeds embroidered on it and a black and white striped hakama. His weapon of choice was the katana. It wasn't a bad choice, honestly. A blue bow appeared on his collar, completing his ensemble.

With his transformation complete, Kenichi put a clenched fist up to his bow and said, “I am the Dark Master, the one who will conquer the world, Magical Maestro Himawari.” How ironic, considering the brightly colored outfit. Huh… He didn't add anything to that introduction.

Immediately getting into a defensive stance, Aichi and I were ready for the so-called Magical Maestro's next move. Instead of trying to attack us with magic, he went for a more physical approach, slashing away at us, although it could have been more at Aichi than me, with his katana. All the while, I couldn't help but wonder… Could Hideaki have been manipulating him? Each attack I quickly parried away. His responses grew faster and more ferocious. The whole fight lasted about ninety seconds, ending with him slicing my staff clean in half and forcing me to the ground with a very rough kick.

I was defeated… Unable to sustain my transformation, I was forced to revert back to the way I was before.

“Ayame!” Aichi shouted as he ran between me and Kenichi. “Pulse Field!!”

“Solar Rage!!” Kenichi responded, shooting a powerfully warm light at Aichi. Both of them were very strong magic users. However, it was quickly made apparent that Kenichi's evil rage was too strong for Aichi's barrier. Before he could react, the fury of the summer sun broke through Aichi's barrier. A blinding display of bright yellows, fiery reds, and sizzling oranges filled the area.

Once the light show faded, Aichi had disappeared.

Not even wanting to know what would happen next, I decided to run. Where would I go? I didn't know, and I didn't care. All I knew (or cared about) was getting as far away from this nightmare as quickly as possible.

Granted, that was a lot easier said than done considering my body couldn't seem to decide whether to run on two legs or four… The curse was spreading rapidly…

“Gotcha!” Shōko shouted as she grabbed a hold of my not quite either human or Hollow self. I was still instinctively trying to run, but my feet? Hands? Paws? were no longer in contact with the ground. We were flying!

“Shōko?!” I asked in shock. “But how did you…?”

“Sachiko was kind enough to teach me how to fly before we left for the dance,” Shōko replied.

“Where were you?!” I asked, trying to fight back more tears.

“I'm sorry, Aya…” Shōko replied. “You and Kenichi were having such a good time I decided to leave early. I shouldn't have let my guard down!”

“Let's just get out of here!” I told her. “I think Aichi has been hiding something, or rather, someone… that I need to talk to.”