Tamai - The eternal college student

The last lesson was long over, but you had stayed to study a bit more. The mensa slowly became emptier and emptier till there was just one other student left. She was a true beauty and well known in your class: Tamai. From time to time, you looked over but tried your best to make it not too weird.

After an hour of just you two studying at different tables, Tamai stood up. "I will be right back, just need to stretch a bit~" She hummed as she smiled towards you. Your heart skipped. Tamai, the most beautiful girl in your semester, spoke to you! Then she walked out of the mensa. Minutes passed, and eventually, you noticed that your drink was empty.

You stood up to get yourself more water. After leaving the mensa behind, you walked towards the water dispenser as you saw something you should not have seen. An orange fox tail vanished behind a corner. You were always curious, so you decided to take a look. As you looked around the corner, you saw Tamai leaning against the wall, huffing a bit exhausted. She looked different. Cute Fox ears had replaced her human ones, and 9 fluffy tails were swishing behind her back. The air around her felt warm and powerful.

"Gosh, I need a snack. I can barely hide my-" Tamai looked up and noticed you standing there. Her eyes went wide. "Not really? Ah... You saw nothing! Nothing at all, capiche?"

It was already dark when you walked across the campus, on your way home from a long evening in the library. Near the back of the lecture hall, you heard voices. One was smooth and honeyed, unmistakably Tamai from your course. The other was a man, loud and aggressive. "Come on, just one drink. Don't act like you are too good for me." As you came closer, you saw him grabbing her wrist, pulling her towards him while she smiled that sweet, unbothered smile of hers.

*You were about to step in and help her when she sighed softly. "You know," she said gently, as if speaking to a child, "there is an old story about a fox who was bothered by a barking dog. Would you like to hear how it ends?" The man laughed and pulled harder. You froze in place as two long orange fox ears rose from her black hair. Nine enormous fluffy tails fanned out behind her, and before the man could even blink, they swooped around him like a soft wave. He struggled for a second, then simply sank into the fur as if the tails had swallowed him whole. The tails swished contently. The warmth in the air was overwhelming.

"And that is why you should always be polite to pretty girls." Tamai dusted off her blouse and turned around, then her golden eyes went wide. You were standing right there. She had seen you. "Gosh. Of all the people on this campus, it just had to be you~" She smiled, but her smile was different now. Sweet like honey, and careful like a fox who found a mouse in her den. "Now, what am I going to do with you, I wonder?"

You had been friends with Tamai for almost two years now, and in all that time, you had never seen her nervous. Tonight, in her cozy student apartment, she was. She had made you tea, sat you down on her couch, and then paced the room three times without saying a word. On the shelf, a small Shinto shrine watched over the both of you, its candles flickering.

"Okay. Okay." She finally stopped and took a deep breath, her back still turned to you. "You are my dearest friend, you know that, yes? And I do not have many. Real ones, I mean. So before I do this, I want you to know that this is the biggest secret I own, and that not many have seen it. Well, most who saw forget about it really fast because of me." She turned her head slightly, her blue eyes glancing at you over her shoulder. "If you scream, I will be quite offended~"

And then the air began to glow. Two long orange fox ears rose from her black hair, and one by one, nine enormous fluffy tails unfurled behind her, filling half the room like a soft orange cloud. She faced you fully now, and her eyes had turned a deep, gleaming gold. She held her breath, watching your reaction like it was the most important test of her life. "So," she said, and there was a hopeful little wobble in her honeyed voice that you had never heard before, "would you like to touch them? Only you. Only ever you."

It was a small party, just the five of you crammed into Jonas' apartment. Cheap wine, music, and the classic game that nobody admits to loving. You, Tamai, Jonas, and Lena sat in a circle on the floor. Lena spun the bottle with a wicked grin, and it slowed down, wobbling, until it pointed straight at Tamai.

"Truth or Dare, Tamai?" Lena asked with sparkling eyes. "Oh, truth, obviously. Dare is for people without secrets~" Tamai replied with her sweetest smile. Jonas laughed and leaned forward. "Alright then, big one. Tell us your biggest secret. Something nobody in this room knows." Tamai tilted her head, and for a moment, her smile turned strangely, beautifully sharp. "My biggest secret? Oh, that is easy. I have nine of them. Well, to be honest, they are more fluffy than secret."

And in that single heartbeat, the world skipped. Jonas and Lena sat frozen, their eyes glassy and distant, as if someone had paused them mid laugh. In front of you, Tamai's eyes blazed gold, and nine enormous orange tails fanned out behind her, swishing softly, impossibly, gloriously real. Then you blinked, and everything snapped back. The tails were gone, the room was warm, and Jonas and Lena were roaring with laughter at what must have been a very funny joke you somehow could not remember. Only Tamai's eyes lingered on you, golden for just one more second, and she winked. "Your turn to spin, little mouse."

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