You grab the die on the counter and the game board, which happens to still be floating in midair, and turn to take them back to storage, when what you think is an oversized dragonfly zips through the door and around your head. You waive your hand, the die still clenched inside, around your face to drive it away, and your tail wags in discomfort as well. After zooming around you a few times, the critter flits off towards the Game Master. Without missing a beat, the Game Master turns around as if expecting it.
"Welcome to my little Game corner, how..." the Game Master's twitches, and you can't believe what happens next. "...how late it is! My, my, we must be closing! I'm sorry, but you'll have to return at some other time!" The Game Master hurriedly corralled the creature, which you now see has a humanoid female shape with wings. While the fairy protested in a high-pitched voice, the Game Master skillfully herded it to the door and shuttled it outside. Quickly closing and locking the entrance, the Game Master exhaled in relief.
You are at a loss. You have never heard of the Game Master turning away anyone, as long as they were willing to play the game. However, the Game Master had looked disconcerted when he noticed the customer was a fairy, even worried. The Game Master finally noticed your confused expression.
"Damn fairies, more trouble than they're worth," he grumbled. "Trickesters and troublemakers, the lot of them."
"I thought fairies had their own magic," you ask, not sure how to approach the topic of the Game Master's discomfiture.
"They do, and it doesn't mesh well with other forms of magic," the Game Master replied as he returned to his shelf-cleaning, obviously still agitated. "They're also easily angered and not very bright, so if they don't get exactly what they want they do all sorts of irritating things," the Game Master stated dismissively.
"But won't she just come back angry since you pushed her out?" you wonder.
"Fairies are whimsical beings. Most likely by tomorrow she will have forgotten why she came here, and by the day after, forgotten that this place exists," the Game Master muttered, almost to himself. "To think there would be a fairy ring even in this place. What a nuisance!" Noticing your querying look, he continued, "Fairies have an affinity for nature. It allows them to create doorways between the realm of magic, where they normally reside, and this world, otherwise known as fairy rings. However, it should be hard to find one in a place as developed as the city."
You're still bewildered, but you don't inquire further. A small part of you wonders if you've found out something you can leverage against the Game Master somehow, given his apparent displeasure. Nevertheless, you still don't know enough to take action on it. The Game Master showed no intention of reopening, and waved his hand at you.
"Once you've put that away and updated the inventory, I guess you can leave. We won't get anything else done tonight," he sighed. The locked entrance reminds you of an earlier concern.
"Is there a back way out? The front door's locked," you ask.
"In the storage area, behind the 'M' shelves," the Game Master responded without even looking.
You complete your duties and change back into your school uniform, and find a rather unremarkable door tucked behind the "M" shelves. Upon exiting, you notice you are in the corridors which run behind the mall stores, and wonder once again at the size of the Game Master's shop. Shrugging, you check that your tail is tucked firmly inside your boxers, make a quick detour to the pet shop for a fur brush, and head home.
The evening passes rather uneventfully, as your mom leaves for work once you reach home, and since Bryan now knows about your tail, there is no point in trying to hide it. You find an old pair of pajama pants and cut a neat hole in the seat, threading your tail through. Bryan is still quite taken with it and constantly glances at it in rather open envy, but you have too much on your mind to worry about it. You are grateful you took the time to pick up a fur brush, however, and after your shower, you are amazed at how strangely enjoyable it feels to brush your tail. Weird as it is, you begin to gain an inkling of understanding as to why people enjoy transformation, to the point that you might go for it yourself, if dealing with the consequences in the real world weren't so troublesome.
You're still rather nervous about having your secret exposed at school, but your own troubles nearly slip your mind when you notice that Gina has come to school today. Under her skirt, she sports some rather loose sweatpants, and instead of her usual fashoinable footwear, it looks like she had on wide orthopedic shoes. By eavesdropping, you gather that she had claimed to have had some sort of allergic reaction, and was wearing the pants and shoes to cover the swelling and treatment. Although you spot her giving Traci pleading looks, it appears as though in class her best friend is ignoring her. Carl Mason didn't seem too interested either, despite Gina's rather impressive hair. At lunch, however, the two girls disappeared together, probably to find a location to hide and get their stories straight. Your tail still cramps every so often, but you're getting used to the sensation.
Relieved that two days of your week-long tail trial are over, you hurry to the mall and enter the store through the back. Getting dressed, you are no longer discomfited by the change, but seem to be accepting your male form. If you think about it, the fact that you have so easily accepted this change should be more disconcerting for you, but right now, you really don't want to ponder it over. You enter the front section of the store, and note the Game Master crafting something in a corner. As you straighten up around the shop, you look up to see...