Lucina cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses, which she didn't really need. "So, let's recap what happened to you," she said in a calm, measured tone.

"Yesterday, on your way here, you felt a sharp pain all over your body, which eventually settled in your lower back." Lucina walked back and forth in front of the empty blackboard, holding a piece of chalk in her left hand but not writing anything on the board.

"Toward the end of your birthday party, you felt an agonizing pain right above your butt, from which a tail resembling that of a fox grew." I nodded along, still feeling the weird tingle in my fingers.

"Because it was getting quite late, and you had church with your family the next day, we didn't get a chance to investigate your transformation. Instead, we focused on a short-term solution to hide your tail from your mother." I shuddered at the memory of how stressful that was.

"Then, you woke up the next day with your favorite ring missing, so you decided to put on this new ring you've never seen before?" Lucina asked, tilting her head.

"Yes." I answered nervously, it was a cute ring, how could I not wear it?

"During church, you bumped into a woman wearing that very same ring, and she disappeared when you tried to confront her about it," Lucina continued.

"And I haven't been able to take off the ring since," I added, trying to pull it off my finger to no avail.

Lucina held her chin in thought. "Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"Well, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I've felt a weird tingle in my hand since this morning," I said, picking at my fingers. "It feels like someone is gently stretching them. And my hearing seems to be getting worse too, along with a headache."

Lucina's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Hearing loss... Maybe you're developing fox ears to go with that tail?" I sighed, realizing that Lucina's weeb tendencies were only going to make this situation even more bizarre.

Lucina slapped her hand on the blackboard, destroying the chalk and making me jump slightly on the couch. “SO! Our plan for today is to visit the library.”

“The library?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes! The library is bound to have something, the one in the city is quite large. We should also collect some light novels, manga, and anime about transformations. We’re in unknown territory here, and they might shed some light on what’s going on with you.”

Surprisingly, that made some amount of sense, yet I’m sure she only wants to read some light novels and watch some manga.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“Alright, I suppose we should get going,” -I said as I moved to put on my shoes- “Oh, and take your phone with you so that we can look at the internet as well.”

We took Lucina’s car. Unlike me, she can drive, and I’ve never been that good at it, so I’ve never seen a reason to get myself a license. We made our way down to the city, as Lucina and I lived outside of the city. The library is relatively easy to find as it’s a huge one. The biggest library in this region, I think.

“Alright, here we are. Let’s get to it. I’m sure we can find something here.” She paid for our stay since neither of us had a library card, and Lucina is much wealthier than me… Not that it’s any difficult since I don’t get much of an allowance.

We arrived at the library proper, greeted by the towering bookshelves and rows of desks filled with students and researchers. We headed straight to the occult section, searching for any information about fox spirits and curses.

As I pored over old, musty books and scrolled through pages on my phone, Lucina took a different approach. She grabbed a stack of manga and light novels, hoping to find any clues or information about transformations that might help us understand what was happening to me.

After hours of searching, we found nothing concrete. Just bits and pieces of information that didn't quite fit together. But a mysterious lady caught my eye as we were about to give up and head home. She looked familiar. Wasn’t she the one that I bumped into during church?

She was sitting alone in a secluded corner, surrounded by books and papers. Her long, black hair obscured her face, and she wore a black cloak that seemed out of place in the brightly-lit library. As I approached her, she looked up and met my piercing green eyes.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice low and smooth.

I hesitated for a moment, taken aback by her sudden appearance. But I couldn't shake the feeling that she knew something important.

"I-I was just wondering if you knew anything about fox spirits," I stammered, feeling foolish.

She smiled slyly. "Oh, I know a great deal about foxes. They're fascinating creatures, aren't they?"

I nodded, unsure of how to respond.

"And what about curses?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

My heart skipped a beat. How did she know about the curse?

"I don't know anything about curses," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

The lady leaned closer, and I could smell a faint scent of jasmine on her breath. "Are you sure?" she whispered. "I think you might have a connection to one."

I felt a chill run down my spine. How did she know about the curse and my connection to it?

“You know… Your grandmother quite liked foxes as well.”

Before I could ask what she meant by that or ask any more questions, the lady stood up and slipped away, disappearing into the stacks of books.

I turned to Lucina, who had been engrossed in her manga. "Did you see that?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"See what?" she asked, looking up from her book.

"The lady in black. She knew about the curse," I said, feeling more anxious than ever.

Lucina raised an eyebrow. "The curse? What curse?"

I explained what had happened, and Lucina's expression turned serious. "We need to be careful. Whoever that was, she knew something important. We need to find out more."

But as we continued our research, I couldn't shake the feeling we were being watched. Every time I turned around, I felt like the lady in black was there, lurking in the shadows.

As we left the library, I glanced back at the stacks of books, wondering if the answers we needed were hidden among them. And I couldn't help but wonder what the mysterious lady knew about my curse and what other secrets she might be keeping.