Even through the glass, I could tell that I would not like this place. Clothes of every shape and material imaginable filled the interior. Some were on mannequins while others hung on the long racks that lined the majority of the aisles. The sight reminded me of how large clothing stores used to sell their outfits, which would not be so bad except everything I saw had one thing in common: they all were distinctly feminine.

  Dresses, skirts, booty shorts. Each of which I did not want to try. “Is there a more normal store I can get clothing at?” I asked.

  “Not inside the building,” Xander sighed. “This place is the best place to go for any non-human clothes that one might need. It just happens that most of their customer base is female.”

  I nearly missed what he said because Ginger’s excited voice practically squealed as she spoke over him. “Nothing comes close to the selection here. Oh, I need you to try this one on.” A dress came flying at me.

  It would have hit me if not for Xander. He stopped it just before it smacked into my face. “Hey! Kyren does not have the reflexes the rest of us do.”

  “Sorry,” she called back from behind the rack just out of sight. Given that she tossed another piece at us, I doubted she heard a word he said.

  “What is with her?” I finally asked.

  “Oh, I didn’t introduce her to you, did I?” I shook my head, though I couldn’t tell if he saw it or not due to the skirt end that whipped him in the face. “That is my sister Debra.”

  “I told you to call me GINGER!” Apparently she could hear him, she just chose not to.

  Xander’s chuckle was light and nicer than I remembered. “She hates that name.”

  It took a minute for what he said to sink in. “Wait, that is your sister?” The two of them were just so… different. Where he was quiet and secluded, she was bubbly and practical a perpetual firework of energy. They didn’t even look like they could be related.

  “Yeah.” A pang of jealousy shot through me as he smiled in his sister's direction. “We get that a lot.”

  “Wait,” Ginger’s head popped through a rack next to me. Her eyes narrowed as she checked out my chest. The way she scrutinized me caused me to shrink in on myself as my arms wrapped around my torso.

  Xander must have noticed my reaction because he moved to put himself between the two of us. “Ginger.” His tone held both a rebuke and a warning.

  “Sorry, sorry. I just was wondering if she had any bras on. We were going to have to shop for some but if not that would need to be our next stop.”

  “While I offered some, you have to remember that she never needed one before. I doubt she put them on so soon after changing.” Xander sounded sure of his answer but he still turned just enough to check that he was correct.

  I probably should have answered but the thought of wearing a bra twisted my stomach. The feeling was enough to have me asking a question instead. “Can I just not wear one?”

  “Nope,” the hyper girl said before she vanished into another rack.

  “It’s not like I will wear the damn things after this,” I muttered to myself.

  Xander must have heard me because he spoke. “You might want to.”

  “Why?” I didn’t mean to spit the question out but it felt like I was losing control of my life one piece at a time. Even here, now, his sister had vanished as she picked out outfits she wanted me to try on while I continued to follow a guy I thought I knew. I mean, how much of a friend was I if I hadn't even known he had a sister?

  “They will help keep your breasts in place.” The matter-of-fact tone was enough proof for me to realize that he was just as out of his comfort zone as I was. “That might not be an issue when walking around, but could be distracting during a fight.”

  Okay, I could see where he was coming from. Even now, the stupid things bounced and jiggled with each step I took. Which was distracting enough on its own, but sometimes the sensitive flesh of my nipples rubbed against my shirt just right as if to remind me that they were there. “Fine. I’ll wear the stupid things.”

  “Great,” Ginger dropped a couple sets of underwear into my arms as she ran by. “Go try these on.”

  Before I could react to her command, she vanished again. Instead of yelling at her, I looked up at Xander. “Where can I try these on because I am not going to put on a show in public for the whole world to see.”

  His laugh was deep as he gestured for me to follow him. Two turns later, the racks stopped, leaving a decently large open space between them and a rather large pillar. It looked large enough to house a small office or even an apartment or two inside it. A counter encircled the structure. Behind which, a man and woman glared at each other.

  As soon as they noticed us, they both turned and focused on us. They spoke over each other as they rushed to greet us. “Welcome to...” “What can we…”

  The chick smacked the guy's arm as if to tell him to shut up. “Hey, you got the last one. You promised I could help the next.”

  He rolled his eyes at her. “What about the DragonKin yesterday?”

  “He only asked a question about if there was a bathroom he could use.” She scoffed, clearly not agreeing that he counted.

  “Oh, then why was I forced to let you take the slime girl a week ago?” Wait. There were slime girls? Just how did that even work? Then again, maybe I didn’t want to know.

  “She was utterly terrified of you.” Xander’s cough caused both of them to turn to look at us. “We will be right with you.” She acted as if we were the ones being rude. As she turned to say something to her companion, Xander coughed a second time.

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  This time he didn’t wait for her. Xander spoke calmly. Still, I could tell the guy was annoyed at the two of them. “Can we get access to a private dressing area?”

  Before his coworker could say anything, the guy tossed a key to Xander. “Room two.” The two of them went back to their bickering as we moved past them and into a short hallway. The turn at the end led into a well-furnished room with five numbered doors.

  Xander opened the door marked with the number two and deposited the pile of clothes he had onto the small table. “Do you need help or…” The sharp glare I shot him stopped his question mid-sentence. The door practically slammed as he moved to give me privacy.

  A long sigh left my lips as I moved to set my part of the pile on the empty half of the table. While I could refuse to accept what was going on, it would be counterproductive to my goal. If I wanted to even have a chance of reaching the gods so I could demand they reverse the change, I would have to go out and fight. To level up and join the front lines. I couldn’t do that if I was too afraid to wear properly fitting clothes.

  With my goal in mind, I looked at the full-length mirror. Neither of the bathrooms I had used had a mirror long enough to show anything past my waist and the reflection in my window had lacked in many ways.

  The woman in the mirror moved her eyes up and down as she scanned over my body. As she took everything in. A set of fox ears stood slightly raised. Almost as if the animal they belonged to were only half listening. Out of curiosity, I pulled up my status page to see what had changed.

  While I had expected it, the change in my race was a bit of a shock. It was as if the system was confirming that I was, in fact, no longer human. As my eyes continued down a frown creased my brow at what I found.

  What had happened to my stats? Where did all that experience come from? It wasn’t like I killed the damned demon or his minions. Thankfully, it only took me a second to search through my logs to find out the answer. The demon’s defeat gave me a shit ton of experience and that was with it only being a single percent of the amount awarded. But even if I ignored that, most of the rest came from my fights with Victor, Patric, and Jeremiah. Those three alone net me seventeen thousand experience.

  My discovery must have caused me to make a noise because someone knocked on the door. Ginger gave me a second before simply opening the door and bouncing inside. “Oh come on…” Her eyes rolled as she took in my completely dressed state.

  As she moved toward me, her arms reached for the hem of my shirt. My hands went up as I took a step back. “What are you doing?”

  “Well,” her smile grew as my back found the wall. “I thought, since you were so hesitant, that I should help you.”

  “What would make you think that I would want anyone's help?” My voice was tinged with anger as I tried to bat her hands away.

  To my surprise and relief, she stopped what she was doing. “I just thought that… well my brother said…Are you not just playing coy?” She sounded truly confused.

  “Why in the hell would I be playing coy about getting dressed?” I demanded. “What did your brother say to make you think that.”

  “From the stories he told me about you, you have always been kind of…how do I say this?” Her eyes went to the ceiling as she stopped to think of a word.

  With a roll of my eyes, I said the word that I knew she wanted to but couldn’t. “Effeminate?”

  “Yes, that.” Her head dipped in agreement. “Now though, with your change, you no longer have to fight to prove that you are a man. Hell, most people would be hiding as they explored their new body…”

  “Well, I am not most people,” I grumbled. I was still unsure if I should feel disgusted or excited at the thought of exploring my new body. “But what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”

  “I just thought that you were maybe a bit afraid of what he would think if you embraced your new body.” Ginger’s voice was fast as if she couldn’t hold herself back anymore.

  “And you thought to get me to open up and be myself was to force me to dress up?” She flinched at my tone.

  “I didn’t think about how what I was doing might come across.” Her voice was quiet, nearly inaudible if not for my sensitive ears.

  Xander must have heard what she said as he spoke up from the other side of the door. “She means well. She just has issues with figuring out where the line is and when to stop.”

  We stood there. Her eyes were on the ground as I watched her. Finally, though, I let out a soft sigh. “Fine, I will try on some outfits…” She visibly perked up but I held up a hand to forestall any outbursts. “But, I get veto power on any outfits and you and Xander need to help me find my dress.”

  Her eyebrows creased in confusion. “You already had a dress?”

  “Long story.”

  “I sent it off to get repaired,” Xander’s voice had a fair bit of annoyance and shock mixed in. “Do you know what that damned thing is made out of?” He didn’t let me answer. He sounded a bit annoyed as he continued. “Moonlight Fox fur. I don’t know where you got the damned thing but there are few people out here skilled enough to repair the damn thing and even fewer with any material to do the job properly.”

  Ginger’s eyes were wide as she mouthed the words ‘Moonlight Fox fur.’

  “Let me know how much I owe you,” I said as I turned around to face the mirror. Deep breath in, hold, release. I could only put off what I needed to do for so long. I had to try on some of what was here eventually. With my eyes closed, I lifted my shirt off and tossed it onto the bench.

  Thankfully, the room was moderately warm. Still, a soft breeze from the side caused the skin on my breasts to prickle and my nipples to harden.

  Before I could work up the courage to open my eyes and locate the first bra, someone, likely Ginger, pressed a piece of fabric into my hand. It felt thin and soft, almost like satin. Eyes down, I opened them so I could look at the piece of cloth to figure out how to put it on.

  There were two straps for my arms to go through and a clasp that clipped together on my back. All things that were fairly common on bras. I had experience in removing them but I had no clue how I was supposed to put the damned thing on. I mean, how were we supposed to work a clasp that we couldn’t even see? Were we supposed to just go off feel?

  A soft chuckle from Ginger reminded me that I wasn’t alone. “There is a trick to putting bras on.” She took the material out of my hand. “Simply put them on backward.” I felt my cheeks burn from embarrassment as her arms reached around me. She moved slowly enough to give me time to push her away but I didn’t. I held still as I let her continue. Her hands expertly worked the clasps by feeling alone. She rotated the whole bra around a moment later.

  I wanted to smack my head at the simplicity of the solution. A few more movements and adjustments later I found myself standing in front of the mirror. The bra prevented my breasts from moving with each breath as the soft fabric held them in place. They even managed to keep the sensitive skin from rubbing up against anything. So what if the damned thing made breathing a touch more difficult?