“What a nice lady,” Frank said as we left Elyssa’s hut. “She was so nice that she made me all horny,” he said with a grin while pointing at his horns.

“That was… a terrible joke,” I replied, deadpan.

He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I blame you!” He pointed at me. “You keep turning all the good jokes into reality, so I have to improvise now.”

“I mean… fair.”

“Sooo… Which way do we go? Do you happen to have some kind of built-in sonar for the portals?”

Oh… Right. Now that he mentioned it, I did. I’d completely forgotten about it. I’d never really needed it that much, after all. Although, I could have tried visiting some of the other portals yesterday…

“See? See? That’s why I have to make terrible jokes!” Frank threw up his arms.

“You can sense the portals?” Casey casually asked me.

“Yeah, I… When I’m in this form, I can sort of tell where the portals are.” I glanced in the direction of a random portal.

“And when you turn back, you can’t?”

“Nope.”

Casey frowned. “So… The portals have something to do with your true form, then.” She nodded to herself. At my questioning glance, she elaborated, “In this form, you don’t get shocked and you can sense them. It’s almost like you were never supposed to interact with them normally. Only in this form.”

“That’s… a good point.”

“Aaand, the plot thickens.” Frank rolled his eyes. “Is the plot twist that you are the descendant of some legendary clan of portal-opening foxgirls or something?”

“I, uh. Don’t know? You think my ancestry has something to do with this?” I asked, thinking about my late grandparents.

“Why are you asking me? I’m just tossing random ideas around! Maybe… maybe you’re the first esper on Earth! And your ESP is the ability to see weakness in multi-dimensional space-time and rip it open!”

“That… could also be it?” I replied, rolling that idea in my head. It wouldn’t explain the fox part, though.

“Or… what if your mom is secretly an alien! And now that you are slowly coming of age, you are unlocking all your alien powers!”

“The hell?” I looked at him, appalled. “What do aliens have to do with portals to a game world?”

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“Hey, I’m just theorizing. Maybe everything I just said is bullshit.” He shrugged. “Or maybe –” He said in a slower, deeper voice whilst widening his eyes. “– maybe all of my theories are correct!”

I groaned.

“Well, whatever it may be, we can be sure that these portals are tied to you and you only.” Casey shrugged. “At least until we find someone who can also see them.”

That much was true, at least.

“Maybe…” Casey looked up with a hand on her chin. “What if these portals don’t even exist? Or wouldn’t exist without you? What if you subconsciously created them yourself?”

“I… huh?” I blinked, startled at the suggestion.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to think about that. I had created the portals subconsciously? Why? How? And anyway, if I was the only one who could see them, it would make no difference in the end anyway.

“You know, all these mysteries and conspiracies…” Frank said as he put his hands on the back of his head. “Definitely not what I expected from your invitation.”

I scratched the back of my head, not sure how to respond.

“But I’m glad you showed us all of this! This is the start of something amazing! I can feel it!” A huge grin appeared on his face. “I can’t wait to meet all the other alien portal-opening esper foxgirls!”

I groaned.

“Frank… Are you trying to make it happen by saying it out loud?” Casey stared at him.

“Aww, you got me.” He poked his tongue out. “I was hoping this guy would activate his power to turn my jokes into reality again.”

I grit my teeth as he spoke. I wasn’t sure why at first, but soon realized it.

“Frank… Please. Don’t call me a guy… At least not when I look like this.” I glared at him.

“Oh, uh… sorry…” His eyes fluttered around. “I… just…It’s a force of habit, you know?” He scratched the back of his head.

I sighed. “Yeah, well… I get it. But still.”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong! You definitely look and sound like a girl! But at the same time, I know it’s you inside there. So, uh, I guess my brain just gets confused?” he tried explaining.

I didn’t like how he worded it. Were ‘me’ and ‘a girl’ that mutually exclusive in his mind?

…

What was I even thinking about? It was almost as if I wanted me being a girl to be a permanent deal.

…

Did I?

“Frank, you’re such an inconsiderate ass sometimes,” Casey spoke up.

“Hey! I didn’t mean to upset hi– uh, her.”

She sighed. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

Uncharacteristically for her, Casey came over to me and gave me a one-armed hug. “I don’t know if you noticed, but a true form transformation turned our friend into a girl, while the two of us are still more or less the same. What do you think that could mean?”

I froze after she finished speaking. Of course, a thought like that sometimes appeared in my mind, but I mostly ignored it. Why? Well, simply because…

“This isn’t my true true form, though. Like Elyssa said,” I mumbled.

“Yes, but she also said that it’s closer to your true form than before.”

“I… I mean… That’s true… but…” I went silent for a second, trying to sort out my thoughts. “Well, maybe my true form is a foxboy?”

From the looks of it, Casey wasn’t amused by my reply.

“Really? If your true form was supposed to be a foxboy, then why the heck would you turn into a girl halfway through if you’re supposed to be closer to it?”

“Well… I mean… I just…”

I went silent as I stared at the ground.

Casey sighed at that.

“Listen, I’m not gonna be like Frank. You clearly need some time to figure it out yourself. I’m not gonna push you. Just know that…” She paused for a second. “I wouldn’t mind continuing to treat you like a girl. Forever, if you wanted to.”

I didn’t say anything to that, just kept silently walking forward whilst thinking about what she said.

A moment of silence later, I simply said, “Alright.”

After that, not even Frank broke it, and we eventually made it back to the portal.