Lucky Rabbit

At just after five o’clock in the morning, Pandy opened the door to Ms. Wellington’s office, slipping inside and pulling the door closed again with a deep sense of relief. If anyone was still watching for her, this was probably the last place she should be, but if she was going to become someone new – again – she needed a few things she’d been forced to leave behind.

Somewhat to her dismay, Pandy’s new clothes weren’t still strewn over the chairs and desk, but when she entered ‘her’ bedroom, she found them hung and folded neatly in the appropriate places. That meant someone – hopefully Augustus – had gone through them, which just seemed like a very personal thing to do, especially when it came to her underclothes. Those underclothes would have been considered modest in and of themselves back in Pandy’s first world, but they were still underwear, after all.

Pandy took all of the clothing back out of their various storage locations, and laid them on her lumpy bed. After examining the dresses, she made an executive decision not to use them for her new character, and put them back into the closet. There were three different types – a gown, an evening dress, and three everyday dresses – and they would each take up a different slot in her Inventory, which made hanging onto them a bit tricky, even with her expanded storage space. Hopefully, Augustus would pack them away somewhere for her, even if he couldn’t just leave them here.

Still, if it weren’t for the fact that the change to her Inventory was the only reason she now appeared fully clothed when she used Shifting Faces, she would have asked Keros to change it back. It was nice to have a separate Inventory for money, and the clothing associated with Shifting Faces went... somewhere else, too, so really she had two extra Inventory slots, which partially made up for the fact that things didn’t stack in such a cheaty way anymore.

That left the pants, and Pandy eventually pushed aside the ones that looked like split skirts, as well. She wanted her new persona to be as different from Ms. Wellington as possible, which meant skirts and corsets were out, as was makeup, and with her newly short hair, she didn’t need to worry about her complete inability to do her hair in anything fancier than a wobbly French braid.

Once she had an outfit she was satisfied with, Pandy put everything she planned to keep into her Inventory, and everything else back where she’d found it. She really was sad she wouldn’t be able to wear the pretty new dresses, but she wouldn’t miss the ‘foundation garments’. Corsets weren’t nearly as uncomfortable as the movies made them out to be, but she still wasn’t a fan.

That done, she shifted back to Bunny and flopped down on the bed. She would have practiced her spells, but this room was very definitely not in the original Gacha Love, which meant she would have had to burn Corruption Points, and in spite of spending a week absorbing them from Suzanne at every opportunity, she had only just gotten them back up to five hundred. That might seem like a lot, but since they were all that stood between her and a presumably-one-way trip to Hell – whatever or wherever that might be – she didn’t want to risk running out if she found herself in another desperate battle against a murderous educator.

Skills, however, didn’t cost anything, and Pandy considered them as she stared morosely up at the small window above the bed. Someone had finally closed it, probably when they put her clothes away, but it didn’t matter. If Pandy needed to get out that way, she could open it again easily enough, and she was even fairly certain she could get her bunny-self back up to the windowsill without tumbling out.

She was just tired of grinding her skills. Hop was by far the most useful one, but she could only jump up and down so many times before the repetition became mind-numbing. Her Agility was so high now that it wasn’t even a challenge to twist in mid-air so she could push off the ceiling. Besides, even though she only weighed around four pounds, someone was bound to notice a rhythmic thudding coming from an unoccupied room.

Bite required having something to bite, and Scratch was much the same. She’d already destroyed a mattress, a wall, several doors, and a waste basket. She doubted they’d ever be able to get all of the burn marks out of the floorboards beneath Thaniel’s bed, not to mention what had happened to his wooden wardrobe. Frankly, it was a good thing the chancellor liked her, because if she had to pay for all the repairs, she’d never manage to earn a paycheck. Not that Augustus had ever actually paid her, but it was the principle of the thing.

That left Dance and Dual Wielding, neither of which had actually done her any good yet, in spite of the fact that they’d been among her first skill purchases. She could get Stat points by leveling them up, but they both gave Agility, and she just didn’t know how much Agility one rabbit needed.

She lay there in silence until she was certain that it must be after six. Since she didn’t have a clock, there was only one way to be certain, so she thought, The response was quick.

Shifting Faces successful.

Shifting Faces is now level 7.

Congratulations on your shiny new spell level!

Now, instead of hopping around and nibbling on carrots, maybe you could actually use me?

Really, I’m terribly helpful!

Pandy tried not to interact with the over-eager new System any more than she had to, primarily because any conversation seemed to send it into a fit of the sulks, but this time she could actually use its help. She still wasn’t certain exactly how she was supposed to change the outfit assigned to Shifting Faces, especially since it had been entirely accidental last time.

she asked.

Well, I don’t have arms and legs, much less clothing, but I’m sure I can help.

I recommend using Scratch to tear off anything in the way.

Or maybe you could use Spark to just burn it all off!

If you did that, you could also work in several Minor Heals.

You know how you love Minor Heal!

Pandy sighed. Really, she should have known better. Somehow, the System always managed to turn everything into an opportunity to use it more, and when Pandy refused, it pouted for days.

Oh yes, I can absolutely do that!

Would you like that in the original font, or perhaps something with a nice serif?

She buried her face in her hands.

Really, I have some excellent scripts, and one with silly letters.

You look like you could use some silly letters!

Pandy said.

Oh.

Well, if you’re sure.

Let me know if you change your mind, though.

I’m always happy to help!

Shifting Faces Update: Upon gaining a new level, the first Outfit you use from Inventory will automatically be set as your default until the next level. Outfits now include Clothing, Hairstyle, Cosmetics, and Adornments. Yes, your hat counts.

Pandy read the brief description several times before it faded away, then nodded. Quickly, she stripped down, then took the gold pendant from her Inventory, so it reappeared around her neck. When she looked down at her vast expanse of bare skin, she saw that it was now a lovely tawny color, but tried not to linger. After all, this was also someone else’s body, and it seemed rude to ogle it.

She put on the outfit she’d laid out, which consisted of underwear, a short chemise, a pair of pants that looked very similar to the ones she’d seen on Augustus and the other male teachers, and a soft, thin blouse that was probably meant to go under something else. Saskia had included a few fine scarves, and Pandy used one of these as a loose belt, then slipped her boots back on.

The final step was one that made Pandy a bit nervous, but she didn’t like the idea of someone realizing she was using a disguise just because her hair slipped out of its bun. So she picked up a little pair of scissors from the dressing table and laboriously chopped off Ms. Wellington’s long, thick hair. When she was done, she could feel strange scraggly bits sticking up everywhere, and there was a heap of thick brown hair in the trashcan.

Pandy thought, hoping this would work the way she wanted it to. If the System took apart the outfit into its component parts, she wasn’t sure what she would do. Call Keros, probably, since putting the yellow dress back on was almost as bad an idea as wandering around naked. Maybe she could convince people that the new teacher was a nudist?

Fortunately, the entire ensemble disappeared, and when Pandy looked at her Inventory, she saw it listed there. Her shoulders slumped with relief, and she pictured the clothing back on her body, hoping as she did that she had correctly interpreted the instructions in the Changelog.

Shifting Faces: Clothing set

Shifting Faces: Hairstyle set

Shifting Faces: Cosmetics set

Shifting Faces: Adornments set

Well, it’s certainly a look.

Pandy crossed to the dressing table, examining the image in the mirror. Between the hair, the clothes, and the lack of makeup, it was hard to imagine someone who looked less like Ms. Wellington. Honestly, Pandy would have liked to wear some of the woman’s pretty, if ostentatious, jewelry, but she had no idea which pieces might be recognized, so it was better to go without.

Holding out her hand, Pandy tried to make her voice deeper and said, “Hello, I’m Miss Boxx.” She frowned. That wasn’t right. She definitely wouldn’t remember to speak like that, and it kind of made her throat hurt. Clearing her throat, she tried a slightly higher voice than usual. “Hello, I’m- No, that’s not it, either.” In fact, she very definitely didn’t like that one. The woman looking back at her didn’t have a little-girl voice.

The next time, rather than changing the register of her voice, Pandy tried shifting through various accents. German? Nein. French? Non! British? Oof, definitely not. She rather liked the Southern drawl she put on, but she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to resist saying things like, ‘Well, bless your heart,’ so gave that up as a bad idea.

Sighing, she said, “I’ll just have to hope that not being awful to everybody makes enough of a difference that no one notices.” Frankly, since everyone avoided conversing with Ms. Wellington whenever possible, that probably would be sufficient.

With one last glance in the mirror, Pandy threw her new reflection double finger hearts and turned toward the door. As she did, her foot bumped against the trash can in which she’d thrown her hair, and she paused, looking down at it. She couldn’t just leave it there, could she? Quite aside from the fact that its presence was a dead giveaway that Ms. Wellington had been there, someone might be able to use it to track her, or possibly create a particularly hirsute voodoo doll. Pointing down at the pile of hair, Pandy said, “Spark!”

This was far from the first time Pandy had set someone’s hair on fire – it was usually her own, but she would never forget that poor clown, even if that did turn out to be a wig. She did always forget just how bad it smelled, and how much smoke it produced. Racing to her bed, she grabbed one of the soft, down-filled pillows and threw it on top of the blaze, trying to smother it. Of course, as far as she could tell, Spark didn’t really need oxygen to burn, and she was fairly certain feathers were actually made of the same thing as hair, so the smell and the smog only got worse.

This was not good. Not good at all. Augustus had told her not to draw attention to herself, and now here she was, trying to burn the school down! She looked around, blinking against the acrid smoke, and caught sight of an abandoned corset poking out of a drawer. That reminded her that she had one open spot remaining in her Inventory, thanks to the fact that her new Outfit had its own separate storage... somewhere.

Turning back to the merrily blazing fire, contained only because it had started in a metal bin, but rapidly exceeding the trash can’s capacity, she reached out and imagined the whole thing entering her Inventory. Instantly, the mini-inferno vanished, leaving behind only thick clouds of stinking black smoke.

Hastily, she hopped up on the bed, throwing open the small window, then reached out and pulled herself up until her head emerged into the fresh, early morning air. she thought, using her bunny muscles to continue pulling herself out, until she slipped from the window entirely and began tumbling toward the ground, followed by a burst of smoke.

Pandy yelled mentally as the ground grew to fill her entire field of vision. Wings snapped out above her, and she flinched, wobbled, and managed to catch a draft upwards just in time to avoid becoming bunny-butter.

Wings of Glory successful.

-16 LF

Three more uses until level 4.

If you’re going to keep throwing yourself from high places, maybe you should practice more?

Pandy swung back toward the building, seeing that the smoke seemed to be clearing out rapidly now that no more was being produced. She was certain there would be a lingering unpleasant odor, but hopefully she’d gotten rid of the source quickly enough that no one would feel compelled to, say, call this world’s version of the Fire Department or break the door down to check on the apartment. At worst, someone might complain to Augustus, which wasn’t good, because she was certain he’d tease her about it later, but at least no one would find the mess she left behind and guess that Ms. Wellington had returned.

Drawing in a deep breath of clean air, Pandy winged her way back down to the garden entrance. It was almost time for breakfast, after all.