Pants

...What? Where... am I?

My eyelids flutter, adjusting to the sunlight as I regain consciousness. Fuck me-- too goddamn bright. I block the light out with my hands, moving to sit up.

...?

There was a weird, almost lumpy feeling by my tailbone, but it's gone now. Strange.

In any case... it seems like I'm out in an open field-- some sort of farmland? Strange. I could've sworn I was getting blackout drunk at a bar.

No, wait. I was being poisoned to death at a bar. Right. My head's still pounding as though I had gotten drunk, but I still vividly recall choking up blood and convulsing on the floor, so...

...Is this the afterlife? ...Gah. déjà vu. I quickly shrug off that stupid idea-- why would I still be in my uniform if this were my eternal rest? I know my job is my life, but I'd like to think I'm not that boring to be wearing kevlar for the rest of my existence. Though, I mean... I could've been sent to another world. It's a possibility, I guess, but I figured if that was going to happen I'd at least be consulted by a goddess first-

Wait a minute.

...

.......

............

Where the hell are my pants?

I swear to god, this feels like an elaborate prank being played on me. If not for the fact I vividly recall the tightness in my chest, I'd swear it was. Pick on the weird antisocial one just because he's better at his job than all of you, eh?

Speaking of tightness in my chest, though, what remaining clothes I do have feel... off, for lack of a better description. I guess the best way I could put it is if you accidentally took your sister's clothes during laundry day and put them on without realizing your error. That sort of... ill-fitting... sensation...

...

I glance down at my chest, gasping in surprise and confusion as I notice two things that weren't there before. Two... surprisingly big things that weren't there before.

"W-what the hell- !!!"

M-my voice, usually gruff and soft-spoken, appears to be leaning more on the softer side now... This is getting real weird, real quick.

...

...

My heart skips a beat, as the entire world seems to freeze around me.

...I-it's still there, isn't it...? Right?

It has to be.

...Right?

...

I gulp, forcing myself to look downwards, lifting up my shirt to get a better look.

...

......

Nope-

It's...

I-it's... gone.

What in the fuck.

Did the yokai at the bar do this to me, as well...? Can yokai even do genderswap magic? I'm going to have to see a doctor about this... probably.

Well, whatever-- I guess I'm just a woman now. That's something I'll have to live with for today-- especially since I still need to report to the station for my shift.

...On that note, I don't even know what time it is-- or where I am, since my phone isn't with me. Shit.

Well, I'm sure if I keep walking towards the streets I'll eventually find something to help me figure out where I've woken up. I'll just... have to be discreet given my current physiological situation.

After walking semi-aimlessly for probably a half hour, I eventually make it to the streets. Let's see... there's the restaurant from yesterday, off in the distance. Good. That means I'm not too far off from the station. Should just be a decent walk there.

But... hm. The fact that people are staring at me is really starting to piss me off. It's not even like the usual looks I get for being a cop or even the looks I would expect for being pantsless in public. With the former, you'd expect at least some admiration, and with the latter you'd expect at least some people to be cruelly amused at your indecency. But no, none of that. Everyone seems... terrified of me, if anything. As though they've seen a ghost, even.

Well, what the fuck ever. I hardly ever care for what others think of me, and in the time I've spent internally monologuing to myself I've already made it to the station.

As I approach the glass door, however, something funny happens. Well, not funny in the typical way, but- you get it.

The cop at the front of the station, calm and aloof Nakayama, jumps out of his seat, pointing at me first with only his index finger, then adding his middle finger as he prepares his own special 'two-prong' energy beam formation.

What the hell is he muttering to himself...?

'Yo'...

...'yo'...

...

...'kai?'

'Yokai?' Where...? I look around, seeing nothing. It's when I enter the station, however, when things start getting weird.

"G-g-g-get back, yokai! I-I'm warnin' ya!" He's still pointing his finger gun at me.

I groan, attempting to walk past him. "Jesus, Nakayama-san. Did you sleep like shit, or something? It's me, DUSK." He fires a blast at me, shaky hands causing him to miss. "Fuck! Friendly fire, dude! Friendly fire!"

"D-D-DUSK...?! Y-you were a yokai this whole time...?!" He screeches out with an unruly level of fear, preparing another shot.

"This whole- the hell are you talking about...?" My frustration is cut short as I glance back at the glass door, my reflection giving me pause as I realize what he's talking about.

Instinctively, I press a hand to my ear... or rather, where my ear was, as I realize in horror that the ears on the side of my head are missing, having been replaced with fluffy fox ears at the top of my head. My eyes, once hazel, are now a glowing bright yellow with black sclera. Furthermore, my dark black hair has been overwritten with a pastel pink, to go along with the fur on my new set of ears. I glance down to my exposed legs, suspicions further confirmed as I realize a massive, white tail with matching pink accents adorning the tip flows out the back of my body.

W-what the fuck...? I'm... a yokai now?! ...I guess that explains the lack of pants, but what the hell did that tanuki do to me last night?

Before I can even make sense of this, or even dissolve the situation, another officer shows up-- this time the more personable and laid-back Kobayashi. He, too, pulls out finger guns on me.

"F-Freeze, yokai!"

"L-look...!" I hold my hands up in an expression of submission. "It's me, DUSK. Your co-worker?! I don't know what the hell happened, but a tanuki slipped me some kind of potion to make me this way. They claimed to be an officer by the name of Bunko- p-put your damn guns down, already!"

The two of them look at each other, then back to me. Back to each other. Then back to me.

...They keep their guns out.

Fuck it. This isn't working. ...I could disable their guns with my magic, couldn't I? It'd use a lot of mana, but it'd give me more time to try and talk things out, right? ...No, fuck that.

I've got a better idea.