Original Story Here

By FoxFaceStories

A Commission for Chicagiensis

Haru and Yua have achieved their happy secret ending, and are now enjoying their life exploring the exciting and sensual digital secrets of the island of Tropico. But everything changes when two new video gamers, Max and Tom, are zapped into the dating sim, one as a gorgeous kitsune and the other as a handsome competitor for Yua’s affections. The dating game has begun again; what new secret endings will be unlocked?

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Part Three: Hiroshi and Mika

Hiroshi blinked. He hadn’t died from the fall. He hadn’t died at all. In fact, he felt healthier than ever, with the salty wind breeze blowing in his face and sending his white hair swaying across his vision in a rather overly dramatic fashion. The man smirked as he pulled on the rope and tied it on the starboard side, angling his yacht so that it glided gently into the bay. Numerous people were gathering upon the docks of Ocean Tides, and a good number of them were screaming women. Literally screaming women, most in their teens or twenties, a couple in their thirties, and all of them calling out to him.

“Hiroshi, we love you!”

“Hiroshi, please pick me!”

“Are you single, Hiroshi? I’m single too! I’m really mysterious!”

“I’m more mysterious! I can dump my boyfriend right now if you want me to?”

The confident, brooding man smiled. With ease, he tied the knots necessary to moor the yacht against the docks, then strode out onto the pier. Women gathered around him, but he marched right on ahead, his gaze steely and mysterious, brooding and dashing, entrancing and yet distant all at once. He knew the effect he had on women, but they were mistaken if they thought they could capture his heart simply by showing up as a screaming mob. He could enjoy their company, sure. Perhaps even have a passionate dalliance in the night or on his yacht to satisfy his playboy urges, but at the end of the day, he was an unattached bachelor who planned to stay that way. And so he quickly withdrew a number of roses from within his windswept coat, held them up in the air, and threw them behind him. The women screamed, eager to chase his favour, and they fell upon his gifts like savage animals, determined to be the one who received his gift. A literal smoke cloud with the occasional fist or head poking through it emerged behind him as the ladies fought. Hiroshi, however, simply remained calm, confident, and cool as he strode forth, observing the town of Ocean Tides where he planned to make his vacation stay. He took out a toothpick and chewed on it, a smile forming on his features as he considered all the fun he could have here, and then he-

Then he paused.

The man blinked, and suddenly a heavy bead of sweat fell from his left temple and splashed loudly on the ground in an overly-animated fashion. Memories rushed into him, and he suddenly looked down over himself, then ran to a shop front in a rather undignified fashion, observing his impossible reflection.

“N-no!” he squeaked, voice no longer debonair and suave. “It can’t be - I’m meant to be Hiroshi! I mean, I’m Hiroshi! Oh, shit! What’s happened to me? And where’s Max!?”

The man had been Tom, at least up until a few minutes of cutscene introduction ago. He began to hyperventilate in a panic, struggling up against a strange urge to show little emotion and act detached and faintly amused by everything. The last thing he remembered was careening down to this island, and now he was wearing the skin - and part of the mindset, it seemed - of one of the new DLC protagonists!

“This is too much. This is way too much! Where’s Max!?”

***

Mika strode down the mountainside, her pack tied up and slung over her shoulder at the end of a long stick, like some wandering hermit figure of old. The shimmering Tori gate portal to the Spirit World was behind her now, and she heard it fizzle to a close, the time of connection between this world and her own severed once more, at least for the next hundred years. This island needed a new shrine maiden. It was a beautiful paradise, but it had lost connection to the magical energies and possibilities that surrounded it, and too much of its people’s joy came from tourist attractions rather than the great natural beauty off the beaten track. This was why the kitsune was here, and she kept that purpose in her mind as she strode down the mountain side.

“You can do this, Mika,” she told herself during her descent. “You will introduce yourself as the island’s new kitsune shrine maiden, and they will accept you. Even if . . . even if you’ve never met a human before!”

It made her four tails twist around one another in nervousness, and her ears prick up at every sound. She kept stopping to inspect her appearance in small pools of water, making sure she looked appropriately beautiful, womanly, and respectful of the ancient traditions. Her hips swayed gently with each step, and she made sure to put one foot in front of the other in a very feminine and demure gait. Slowly, she approached the town of Ocean Tides, and she was glad for it, because it was a long walk and her legs were getting tired, and she wished she’d brought a wrap for her bosom, which was bouncing far too much and making her ache. 

It was only when she reached the entrance to the town itself, following the road that led up to the great Welcome to Ocean Tides sign, that she began to feel as if something was off. She knew that the people would be surprised to see her; most humans did not truly believe in the wonders of the spirit world, nor the magic of the kitsune despite the shrines and dedications to them across the island. And so it was that a number of people pointed. Two women wearing very little clothing emerged from the beach and gasped at the sight of her. Another cocked his head and checked the bottle in his hand. Another person had blood suddenly gush from her nose. She recognised this as a ‘trope’, but wasn’t sure what that meant.

“Wait, is that a real kitsune?” “No way, that’s not real. Magic isn’t real.”

“Of course it is! I saw that beautiful mermaid out at sea just last week, the one that looks like the rich girl! I bet this woman is a true spirit from the Spirit World.”

“Someone get a photo! Has anyone got a camera since our phones don’t work?”

“She’s unbelievably beautiful. I’ve never seen someone so striking. I must paint her!”

“Is she a shrine maiden? Perhaps she has come to bless us!”

Mika entered the main town square, her heart beating rapidly. People were gathering around her in a wide circle, easily over a hundred citizens of the town and more by the passing second. She raised her hands up, trying to ignore how her four tails shifted about nervously. 

“People of Ocean Tide!” she announced. “I am Mika, your new shrine maiden, here to bridge the gap between the material world and the world of the spirits. As you can see, I’m a kitsune, and-”

She paused. As if a long cutscene had suddenly opened to actual gameplay, the woman immediately felt a new sense of control and freedom sweep over her, and a sharp realisation too, one that chilled her to the bone. Her orange eyes bulged and she quickly looked down and cupped her breasts in horror, feeling how large and sensitive they were. It was enough to make her let out an involuntary moan. Why was she thinking of herself as Mika? Why did she have not just one, but four big fluffy fox tails? And fox ears!? Why was she wearing a shrine maiden’s dress? And why the hell did she have a petite yet busty Japanese woman’s body, complete with a complete absence of her male proud genitals between her legs!?

Mika looked around at the amazed crowd, her Max memories completely returned to her. She was in the game. She was in Ocean Tides, Tropico, and she was now stuck as one of the new DLC dating sim love interests; the beautiful and mysterious kitsune Mika!

The woman didn’t have any words. Instead, her tails all straightened in shock, her ears shot up, and she let out a horrified scream. It quickly drew the attention of an equally confused and deeply, deeply attractive man with striking white hair.

The realisation that she found him attractive was enough to make her scream all over again.

***

Haru and Yua were returning to Ocean Tides. Yua was giggling a little as she held onto her boyfriend’s arm. She was still getting used to having feet after swimming as a mermaid for hours, not to mention being pleasured as one too. Haru had lost his muscles as soon as they left the Hidden Beach, as it was known in the Player’s Guidebook, but she still found him deeply handsome; he was at perfect short height for her to go up on her tippy toes and rest her huge boobs on his head. She was about to suggest they go grab some rather expensive sashimi at their favourite sushi place when suddenly she heard a number of screams that caught both of their attentions. The first came from the docks in a loud roar; a number of women including Yua’s old rivals Akemi and Rin were engaged in a frenzy over a surprisingly handsome and stylish man who must have been the owner of the fancy yacht that had just docked. The other scream came from the main square of the town, and sounded like a lone woman. 

“Okay, we have to check this out, right?” she asked Haru.

“A new quest, perhaps?”

“Oh, I hope it gets me a lovely new dress!” Yua cried. She grabbed her boyfriend’s hand and began running to the centre of town. A small crowd had formed. Jin, the rather bland protagonist who Yua had nearly fallen for was there, looking concerned as he held the hand of Sashira, the cute dark-haired girl who was his one true love.

“Haru, my friend!” he declared. “I barely have time to see you with how much time you lovebirds spend together! Have you heard the legend of the mermaid that’s been seen recently?”

“Um, I guess you could say that,” Haru replied, scratching his head and going literally red in an over-the-top anime way.

“Well, there’s another bigger legend in the flesh! A shrine maiden calling herself Mika just turned up in town, and get this, she’s a beautiful kitsune!”

“Not too beautiful, I hope,” Sashira joked, and Jin joked indeed, the pair sharing a romantic look that was so sickly it made Yua go purple and gag. But Haru showed immediate interest. Ever since he’d become a huge Japanophile back when he was a man on Earth, he’d adored kitsunes, and had even written some romantic smut about them that he would never, ever share with anyone. His eyes sparkled. Literally, his pupils dilated and showed sparkling stars until Yua gently slapped him upside the ear.

“Did you just say a kitsune!?” he asked, gripping Jin by his collar.

“Yeah. And she started to panic out of nowhere, too! And then she met up and started arguing with that new rich guy who turned up in town. The weird thing is, he was yelling and saying weird stuff too.”

At the mere mention of him, several women made loud cooing noises. One even swooned and collapsed.

“Hiroshi,” Sashira said. “He was pretty handsome. But not as handsome as you, Jin!”

“They were yelling?” Yua asked. “What about?”

Jin shrugged. “It didn’t make sense to me. They were talking about not being from around here, and that their bodies weren’t right or something.”

Yua and Haru immediately shared a knowing glance. Newcomers? From the outside world? The world they had originally come from? 

“Where are they?” they both said as one.

“Oh, they’re in Yashi’s Sushi,” Jin said. “No one is going in there, though. The man with the fancy shirt demanded the crowd give them privacy, and who’s going to disturb a holy kitsune maiden?”

“I am!” Yua and Haru said, once more in sync. They darted forward, moving through the fascinated crowd until they reached the sushi place. With a powerful kick, Haru . . . slipped on a wet puddle and collapsed on his back.

“Your turn, dear,” he said in his adorably cute way.

Yua smirked, then turned the door handle calmly and strolled in, a rather embarrassed Haru following her. Within, the two newcomers were sitting at a lone booth in the corner, whispering and looking rather freaked out.

“What are you talking about? Don’t call me pretty! I’m meant to be a musclebound man, not some demure foxy shrine maiden!”

“Sorry, it’s these mental changes. I just feel so much more . . . confident. I see a beautiful woman, and I can tell her how she looks to me without fear. Look, I can turn my head and make myself look like a total heartthrob. See?”

“I - I - don’t do that again, okay! And don’t look at my stupid tails! Them standing up straight means nothing right now!”

Again, Yua and Haru exchanged a glance, followed by a series of expressions that silently communicated the following:

‘Should we say something?’

‘I think so?’

‘Fine you go. Men first.’

‘It’s women first!’

‘Fine, see how a fine woman does it!’

Yua strode forward, adjusting her hair and looking like a blonde Japanese goddess in her blue summer dress, her breasts threatening to spill out the low cut of her ensemble. The arguing pair of newcomers fell silent at her approach, and the deeply handsome man raised an eyebrow in serious interest. For just a moment, Yua felt like she had a frog in her throat, because the words just weren’t coming as she took in the sight of this stylish ikemen stereotype, his white hair falling over his forehead in a devil-may-care fashion, his gaze appreciating her form from her toes all the way up to her gorgeous hair. She quickly cleared her throat and banished her embarrassingly lustful feelings.

“Hello there, I am Yua, the most powerful, beautiful, and frankly cultured individual on this island. This man with me is my boyfriend Haru. Don’t mind any clumsiness from him; he’s a comic sort, but you can trust him.”

“If - if you don’t mind,” the shrine maiden kitsune stammered, her tails shifting awkwardly behind her and they curled over the back of her booth seat. “We need to, um, work something really important out. Something really crazy that you w-wouldn’t believe.”

“Oh, I think we can believe it,” Yua said. She placed her hand on the table and leaned forwards, her giant breasts hanging like overripe fruit from her chest in a way that neither of the newcomers could ignore. “In fact, I might even dare to say that you came from far, far, far away, hmm? Perhaps while playing a game?”

The kitsune’s eyes widened. “You - you know about it? I tried to tell people here but I found I couldn’t. Hiroshi couldn’t either. I’m Mika, but that’s not my real name! I can’t even say my real name!”

“I can,” Hiroshi said. “She’s Max. She can say my real name.”

“Tom,” she said, tails straightening a little as she looked at the charismatic man opposite her. “He doesn’t - neither of us usually look like this.”

“Neither did we!” Haru declared, jumping forward in a dramatic and somewhat ridiculous fashion. “We were gamers. Yua here was Aaron.”

“And he was Mark,” Yua declared, before rising up and gesturing to her curvaceous form. “As you can see, I rather changed gender. Quite confronting, but I’ve gotten used to it. It’s an upgrade, I’d say.”

“An upgrade!?” the kitsune declared. Her four tails curled and her foxy ears twitched. “That’s - that’s insane! I don’t want to be a woman! I’m not even human right now!”

Haru gulped again, cheeks going red. “But you are a very wonderful creature,” he said. “Utsukushī. Beautiful.”

Yua shot him a sharp look. “Darling, you’re not wrong, but save the worship for me, will you?”

“Hai, sweetie!”

Yua folded her arms beneath her chest and she regarded the pair. This was easily the most interesting event since their own arrival on the island, or perhaps the night she had given over to her ouja self and made passionate love to Haru. Even being a mermaid was not so surprising as this!

“Tell us everything,” she said. “I’ll get you some of the best sushi.”

“How?” Mika said miserably. “The staff all left out of ‘respect’ for me being a dumb kitsune!”

“I have my ways. My family owns this place, after all. Let me make a quick call, and then you’re going to tell us everything.”

***

They sat in a booth, Yua and Haru on one side, Mika and Hiroshi on the other, and various marvellous sushi and sashimi offerings spread out before them. The staff had vacated once more, giving time for Mika and Hiroshi to tell their stories. The pair gave a detailed account of how the game looked when they turned it on, which amazed Haru and Yua, since it obviously showed that details had altered since they had tried it a year ago, indicating that they had somehow changed the ‘canon’ of the game with their secret ending success. Hiroshi was entirely honest, speaking of her life as Tom, a rather socially awkward man who went from obsession to obsession, with only jogging as his one mainstay. He was astonished to find himself as a brooding, stylish, and charismatic young man, Japanese in features and handsome too. Even as he told his story, Yua found it hard to imagine that a man with such a rich baritone and such confidence in his storytelling had ever been nervous and flighty. Indeed, Hiroshi himself was shocked by it; even his attempts to act like how he used to be were tinged with a kind of ironic sense of playing it cool.

Mika, on the other hand, didn’t give quite the same faithfulness in her own account. Despite all that had happened, she wasn’t willing to admit what a secret nerd she was, or that she had actually been massively excited to play Finding My Right Beach Girlfriend. Instead, she played up her previous manly, muscular, and Casanova-like nature, emphasising how revolted she was by her kitsune body in all its grace, femaleness, and otherworldly beauty. Her tails kinked at the end, especially ‘Righty’ as she thought of the one most to that side, whenever she lied, and she hoped no one noticed. Unfortunately, she couldn’t project the same level of confidence and deception she normally would have possessed; her new Mika self felt much more demure and truthful, and she found herself trying very hard to resist her own mental compulsions . . . which involved a physical attraction to both men at the table. Damn it all, she thought, this was a damn dating sim, and her character was finding herself blushing in the presence of dashing Hiroshi and cute Haru.

“That’s incredible!” Haru exclaimed, referring to how she’d emerged from a portal atop Mount Isha, west of the central volcano. “It sounds like a new DLC area opened, or perhaps a new game plot! Either way, I’m sorry you ended up this way. Yua took time to adjust to being female, but trust me when I say you - you look incredible! A real-life, or game-life, kitsune! I can hardly believe it!”

Yua looked over to her boyfriend, momentarily taking her eyes off of the handsome Hiroshi, who was flicking a coin through his fingers artfully as he took in his friend’s story with a calm and thoughtful demeanour. Haru looked to be far, far too interested in Mika for her own jealous tastes. 

“Haru, a word?” she said, and she snapped her fingers as she left the table for the other side of the room. The man joined her quickly.

“Is everything alright, honey?”

“Is it? I don’t know! After all, you’re staring at that fox woman with far, far too much rapt attention for my liking!”

Haru blushed, little red crosses appearing on his eyes for a moment. “I was just - I always liked kitsunes, that’s all!”

Yua rolled her eyes. “Just tone it down already, will you? I need to get some fresh air. I suddenly feel far too unfashionable next to Mika.” She said that last word rather derisively, then exited the store. Hiroshi, who had never once in his life approached a woman even close to Yua’s beauty, and would probably have tired of a nervous heart attack if he’d tried, found a rush of confidence hit him. He rose and followed Yua out.

“Needed a smoke break,” he said, and he drew a cigarette out and lit it in a way that was far, far too cool for such a bad habit. And, because this was an anime world, it didn’t smell bad at all. Instead, he took a puff and smiled at Yua, warming to his own newfound charm. “He’s a funny one, that Haru. Did you end up with him because he was the only other human?”

“N-not at all!” she declared, turning away and folding her arms. “We love one another! Of course, who wouldn’t love a woman like me?”

Hiroshi knew it was wrong. He tried to fight his mental changes. But everything in his being told him that as a suave and charming man of wealth and style, it wouldn’t hurt to flirt with a woman who was already in a relationship. This was a dating sim after all, wasn’t it?”

He placed his hand on her upper arm and brushed it lightly. “Hey,” he said. “Tell me more.”

Yua smiled, and brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she faced him again. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the company of someone nearly as wealthy and cultured and . . . attractive as myself.”

Hiroshi smiled. He could barely believe this was happening, and because this felt like such good luck, he didn’t try to stop the flirtation that was coming.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, however, Mika was already gripping Haru’s hands across the table back in the restaurant. Her nails were sharp, a little-talon like, but she was surprisingly gentle with Haru, who couldn’t stop being transfixed by the new Japanese woman’s unnatural beauty, her grace, and the way the red and white shrine maiden outfit accented her slim form and lovely bust. She was not nearly so curvaceous as Yua, but who could be? But she was still quite amply blessed where it mattered, and her soft orange eyes searched his with a desperation that made his heart melt.

“Please,” she said in her waifish voice. “You seem like s-such a good man. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but some part of this stupid new mind of mine w-wants you to help me, Haru. You seem so much nicer than her, and . . . and this new me feels a need to be nice. You know all about kitsune and game rules and everything, much more than anyone else! Perhaps . . . you could help me figure a way out?”

Haru swallowed. He tried to bury his unfaithful desire for her, but he felt it nonetheless, and was grateful that the table was hiding his lap, which was already at full mast and straining to rip open his shorts. Mika had lied rather badly about not knowing about games and anime tropes, but he didn’t even notice.

The game had just gotten dangerous, and it seemed that new attractions were forming already, for all four of them. And this was just Mika and Hiroshi’s first day on the island of Tropico . . .

To Be Continued . . .