A few days passed. Steven was still far from used to her new body, let alone the idea of possibly being stuck this way, but the initial shock that had returned each time she woke up for the first couple days had pretty much faded. Over this time, she had developed a taste for very spicy food, which she remembered from the manga as an Oni trait. It was both frightening and comforting; it was a part of herself she'd lost, since Steven had always preferred a minimum of capsaicin in his food, but on the bright side, it was, thus far, the only part of herself she'd lost, and something quite minor at that. If she had to lose something, at least it wasn't anything important.
And she was making progress, slowly. Bit by bit, she was at least starting to come to terms with her new body; she'd had to learn to use the bathroom as a girl the day after her change, and a couple days later she'd worked up the courage to start taking showers again. It had helped that her mother hadn't brought up the looming spectre of Life As A Girl since that first afternoon. Steven was still far from happy about her situation, but at least things were finally beginning to stabilize.
Steven was in her room, sorting through the bag of manga she'd bought that fateful night; she hadn't touched it since, and was only now getting it on the bookshelf. Things were going just fine until she finished the bag and realized she was a volume short. She double-checked the receipt against the contents of the bokkshelf; sure enough, one of her import items, a volume of Neko De Gomen, a series about a girl who is turned into a cat-girl by her mad-scientist father, was missing. It wasn't in the bag, and it wasn't in the car, either...so where could it have gone?
Steven was distracted from her conundrum by the sound of a car coming up the driveway. Looking out her bedroom window, she saw that it was the nondescript vehicle of the Men in Black. Well, there was no need to be secretive around them, so she opened the window and flew out, descending gently towards the ground in front of the car. Flying was the one thing Steven actually liked about her changes; it was actually much easier to get comfortable in the air, and she'd taken to floating in mid-air just about all the time, except during meals (at her mother's insistence) and sleep and bathroom usage (by necessity.) The downside was that regular clothing did indeed hamper her flight abilities, and so she'd had to switch back to pretty much just the tiger-skin bikini she'd been provided with and the ones she'd bought, but she felt it was a worthwhile tradeoff. Steven was still set on changing back, but she hoped she could retain this ability if possible.
It didn't look like Agent Fields was here to break any news about changing back, though; his expression, although almost as reserved as usual, was too grim for good news. He waited until Steven's mother had come out before acknowledging their greetings.
"Well," he said, "I think you ought to know that HQ has finished your official story, and you will be receiving it in the form of a medical case document shortly. But I'm afraid the real reason we're here is to ask for your help."
Steven and her mother gaped. "I'm sorry?" Steven's mother replied. "You? Ask for our help?"
Agent Fields allowed himself a half-smile. "It does seem strange, I admit," he said. "But we're a very specialized agency, and we can't always turn to other government offices when we have a problem we're not equipped to handle."
Steven's mother nodded. "I suppose not," she said. "Well, what is it that you need?"
Fields sighed. "We found a second victim," he said. "Same engine signature, and the timing confirms that it was the same group that changed your son. Not dissimilar to what happened to Steven, either, but she's undergone changes that are a lot harder to explain away. And unfortunately, her situation tipped her already strained relationship with her parents past the breaking point, so she can't stay at home."
Steven's mother got a compassionate look on her face. "Well, she can stay with us," she said. "Steven knows what she's going through better than anyone."
Fields nodded as Thomson opened the rear passenger door. "I appreciate the offer, but I think you should know that she's not taking this well. She may be...difficult to deal with."
Steven's mother shook her head. "No. We'll manage. And we have plenty of room and quite enough privacy out here to keep anything they did to her secret."
Fields smiled a little more. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Terrence, why don't you step out and say hello?"
A girl emerged from the car. She looked mostly normal, except for her angry, tear-streaked face, and the cat-ears and tail. Thomson walked over and handed something to Fields, who approached Steven. "She had this on her," he said. "We believe it's yours." He handed her the missing volume of Neko De Gomen.