Sophia had spent most of the day trying to get used to her tiger-girl transformation. Not only were her new body parts making her feel incredibly itchy, but thanks to the tail she now has, even as much as walking had become difficult for her because it was seriously tipping off her balance. By the time Sophia had at least gotten some basic proficiency, the sun was down already, and she was exhausted from all the training she had to go through with her new body.

"Haaaa~." Letting out a massive yawn after the group finished dinner, the couple was currently alone again, and Sophia made herself comfortable on Maya's lap and just wanted to relax. "Who knew that learning how to use a tail is so exhausting. I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep!" She even attempted to do just that, but the lap she was borrowing was unfortunately too small for that. Instead, she lay with her stomach flat down on it and her limbs sprawled out in every direction.

"You don't fit there like this." Maya was looking at the spectacle of the tiger trying to find a good position on her legs.

"I don't care! I make myself fit!"

"Are you a cat now or what?!" As a fellow cat-girl, she was well aware of the irony. She just had to make this comment when she saw how she was acting while being all over her lap.

"Actually~" Sophia concentrated a bit to move her tail and swished it around in front of Maya's face before gently hitting her with it a couple of times. Afterward, she repositioned herself a little and nuzzled the side of her head between Maya's thighs while trying to curl up her body around the cat's legs in a comfortable way.

"What a dork."

"Ehehe."

"What about the itch?"

"Itchy!" She gave an immediate response. "It's gotten a lot better, though. I think my body and brain are slowly accepting it."

"And your ears?" She looked at Sophia's head and her tiger-like ears. "I'm not so sure about the strong orange shift of your new hair color, but I really like the black accents."

"Hehe, I wanted to make it look the part, after all. My ears, huh? Not nearly as itchy. Basically, not at all anymore, actually. Maybe because I already had ears before, though slightly different? I mean, it feels weird, and my hearing has become different, but I'm strangely okay with the change."

"Your hearing has become different?"

"Yeah... not necessarily better, but it feels easier to locate the sound now? Kinda weird, but very cool." While she said so, her new animal ears twitched and turned to the direction of a nearby forest, making out some sort of noise.

"Right, you weren't able to move your normal ears on their own and individually, right? Pretty handy, isn't it?"

"Totally!"

"Still, a tiger, huh?" Maya looked at her girlfriend's new features again. "It feels like I'm forgetting something here..."

"Eh? You said they exist, didn't you?!" Sophia panicked at her wording.

"They do... but that's not it... what was it again?" She tilted her head while trying to remember.

"D-Don't tell me they're evil or something like that?!"

"No, something like an evil beastfolk race doesn't exist."

"That's a relief."

"Hmm... Well, it can't be that important if I have no idea what it was, right? Yeah, I'm sure I just mixed something up, don't worry."

"Okay?" Sophia was a little confused.

"Anyway, tail's still itchy, huh?" She changed the topic as she really couldn't remember.

"Yes!"

"..." Maya watched the orange and black tail that was moving around in choppy and twitchy movements in front of her face. She quickly got mesmerized by it and somehow got the huge urge to pounce on it.

"Hyaaah!" Sophia shrieked the moment the cat-girl had grabbed her tail. "W-What are you doing, Maya?!" While glancing over her shoulder, she stared at her with teary eyes.

"C-Cute..." Something seemed to have awakened in her. "W-What was that adorable scream?! And this reaction?"

"Y-You just surprised me!"

"Really now?" Maya was clearly up to no good as she readjusted her grip on the tail.

"HiYaaAh !" Her shriek was even louder this time.

"Oh, surprised again?

"T-That's... not... yaahn~!" Sophia wasn't able to finish her sentence.

"Tails sure are sensitive, aren't they?" She looked delighted right now.

"Y-You knew...? I-If so, please stop..."

"Mine's the same, after all... And so, it's time for some sweet revenge now~."

"N-Nooo-HiyaaAAAah!" The shrieking girl, unfortunately, had no sayings in the matter.

---------------------

Around 20 minutes passed, or an eternity, depending on which girl one would ask before Maya finally let go of Sophia's tail again.

"Haa~, that was a fun exercise."

"I-It was... haa... not!" Her opinion on the matter was very different. "V-Violated! I've been violated! I need an officer over here! Or a guard… or whatever!"

"Now you know how I felt earlier, huh?" The cat-girl had gotten her sweet revenge.

"Uuh... Nobody would want me anymore now..."

"Ahaha, don't worry, I'll gladly take you."

"Y-You're so mean, Maya..." Sophia's eyes were still filled with tears.

"D-Don't make me the bad girl here... Y-You're the one who started it." Thanks to her reaction, the cat-girl was starting to feel bad. "H-How's the itch now?"

"I only feel shame... and embarrassment..."

"Urgh, You can be such a pain to deal with."

"Don't say that to a girl you just violated!" Sophia wasn't giving her any slack.

"You're just doing it on purpose now, aren't you?" This was too much, and she noticed what was going on.

"Ah, I got caught..."

"You cheeky little-" Maya attacked her tail again and showed no mercy this time around.

"Uuh... Even more violated now... I was mostly serious before, okay? Just a little extra dramatic... To get toyed with so much..."

"Want me to do some more? I'm up for it. You have no idea how much of a great time I’m having here."

"N-No, thanks!" Sophia had enough. "Is your tail really that sensitive, as well?"

"I developed a bit of resistance during my life, but more or less, yes."

"I'm sorry for playing with it so much earlier."

"As long as you understand. Well, I don't dislike when you touch my tail. I-It feels good, but... You got a little too excited... and s-stimulating."

"Y-Yeah. It was... somehow nice before it became, uhh, o-overwhelming." Sophia started to blush when she recalled the feeling when Maya was being gentle with her tail.

"We got a little too excited there..."

"Say-," Sophia then touched one of her new tiger ears and looked confused. "I didn't feel anything when I touched my own tail, either."

"Well, it's probably like how you normally can't tickle yourself."

"Fair point. So, about our ears?" She had gotten curious about them.

"Can I-, Can I touch them...?" Maya sounded timid all of a sudden.

"Uhh..." After what happened earlier, she was slightly reluctant about it.

"I'll be gentle! I wouldn't dare to treat your ears rudely!"

"Right... Oh, wait, you did say that the ears are really important to the beastfolk, especially for the feline ones... Only your partner was supposed to touch them, right?"

"That's the case, yes."

"A-Are they really that sensitive to the touch of others?"

"Sensitive? In a way, they are, I guess?" The cat-girl's response was slightly cryptic.

"Uhh... Well, you are my partner, so it would be pretty rude on its own if I were to say no, right?"

"Nonono! If you don't want to, it's the last thing I would force!"

"Now I've gotten curious... I trust you, so... yes, please go ahead and touch them."

"O-Okay." Reluctantly and very carefully, Maya then proceeded to reach for the tiger-girl's ears.

"Mmng~" Far from a shriek, something akin to a moan escaped Sophia's lips the moment Maya's fingertips came in contact with her ears. At the same time, something resembling a strong electric current shot through her and caused her entire body to shiver in response. "W-W-W-W-, What was that?!" She had gotten incredibly flustered in an instant, her face completely red.

"..." Maya had taken a lot of damage from the girl's reaction. "W-While sensitive isn't technically wrong... a s-sensual sensation might be the better fit here, isn't it?"

"Y-Yeah... Wait, what?! What happened just now?!" Sophia couldn't keep up.

"Well..." She went ahead and caressed her ears some more.

"NnnhH~." She was unable to hold back yet another moan.

"S-Sophia, your voice... it's..." The sweet moaning was doing things to her.

"W-Whose fault... do you think... that iIs~?" Sophia's breathing started to become slightly unstable. "W-What is this feeling?! W-Why is it so strong? M-My whole body is trembling! Just from a light touch..."

"It's really, uhh, intense, isn't it?"

"That-, That doesn't even... begin to describe it..." She had problems staying sane. "W-Wait, when I was playing so, let's say, excessively with your ears... shortly before we started dating... w-were you actually... feeling the same... I currently am?"

"Mhm..." Her only response was a slight nod with a blush on her cheeks.

"W-What a bold girl..."

"W-Well, your reaction seems s-stronger but still... D-Do you now understand why? Why touching your ears is only supposed to be done by your partner?"

"P-Partners?! This should be limited to, uhh... long-term couples! N-Not to mention behind closed doors. T-This feels more intense than tou… ing... yourse-" Sophia abruptly stopped herself while her face was so hot that it seemed like steam would rise from her head. "I-I-I... I mean, it feels very intense..."

"Y-Yeah..." The cat-girl decided not to comment on her implication, mostly as not to get caught up in friendly fire because her face was in a similar state. Especially after what almost happened in the inn the other day.

"U-Uhm..." She felt the need to change the topic. "W-Why do I feel so strongly in the first place? A-And get excited...?"

"B-Because I'm the one touching you...? I hope?" Maya got even more embarrassed when she said so.

"W-Wow, that was smooth..."

"T-Thanks..."

"No, I mean, yes... that's probably the reason it-, it feels good, but that's not what I meant. Why am I feeling it so intensely?"

"Uhh, because that's how the bodies of the beast folk work, after all...? The feline type, at least."

"Yeah... I get that and all, but I am not a beastperson, though? I only altered the look of my body. I'm just a slightly eccentric girl that wanted to look like one... Huh?"

"Ah, you're right... Eh?" The girls had gotten themselves confused.

"I had no idea that one's ears and tail are weak to the touch of others, and yet... the same rules you obey are true for me as well."

"Hmm... There's also your new directional hearing... your tail throwing off your balance. The cat-like behavior on my lap before, and your sensitivity that's just like mine..." She seemed to be onto something.

"M-Maya...?" Sophia didn't like where this was going.

"Err... can you try to look around in the area and tell me what you see, please?"

"It's already pretty dark, though? My eyes aren't that good in the da-, eh?" Once she actually paid attention to it and actively looked around in the vicinity, she seemed surprised. "I-I can see pretty well, actually... W-What is going on?"

"Please look at me now."

"Okay...?"

"A-Ah." After Maya got a better look at her eyes, her expression turned somewhat awkward.

"W-What's wrong...?" Her already bad feeling became even worse.

"Uhh," She had no idea how she should explain that Sophia's eyes were slightly glowing from reflecting the light of their surroundings or how she suddenly had slit-like pupils that looked just like those of an actual cat. Basically, an exact copy of Maya's right now, safe for the color. The glowing dark blue of the cat-girl, compared to the luminous greenish turquoise of the other girl.

"P-Please talk to me! I'm getting scared over here..." The bad feeling was becoming stronger and stronger.

"When-, When you transformed your looks to your previous world one's... you know, the super hot one. What exactly did you do when you activated your magic?"

"Huh? I just thought about wanting to look like my old self. Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?'

"So far, so good. Okay, so when you changed to your current tiger look... What did you do, then?"

"Well... I imagined a tiger, your beastfolk or cat features, and all that. Then, I thought about wanting to become a tiger-girl?"

"..." She'd gone silent.

"S-Seriously, what is going on?!" Sophia was properly panicking now.

"A-Are you sure you used the right magic, Sophia...?"

"Yes...?"

"You wanted to become a tiger-girl?" Maya put extra emphasis on her wording.

"Yeah...? I mean, that was the whole plan?" She felt like she was missing something here.

"You really wanted to become a tiger-girl? Not just look like one?"

"..."

"..." The whole area turned silent for a full minute.

"H-Huh...?" Sophia's expression turned blank once the words finally registered.