Story: Anime Bimbo Outbreak

 

 Ayako Mitsuzuri was officially freaking out a little. This is quite the achievement, if you know her at all. She's a stubborn girl, pretty strong willed, not the sort given to panic. Nonetheless, something was making her panic just a little bit, something that others might have found mundane, but she did not, because hse knew certain things - or more precisely, knew a certain person.

Rin - that is to say, Rin Tohsaka - was skipping gaily along the street, smiling from ear to ear.

A horror story for the new generation, to be certain. But no, if you don't get that then you're lacking the context. Rin does not skip. Rin does not frolic. Rin does not prance around with a big goofy grin on her face. Also, Rin does not, upon seeing you, pull you into a snug embrace with her surprising strength, stroke your hair and comment on how pretty you look today.

So you can understand why Ayako would be worried. Deeply, deeply worried.

"That is the face of a girl in love," Himuro said, suddenly right beside Ayako. Who did not jump out of her skin at the sudden appearance of the self professed love detective. "How interesting. I wonder who has caught the eye of the number one most desired girl?"

"Oh, that would be silly!" Ayako said, dismissing the very idea of it. "Rin wouldn't turn all lovey dovey overni-"

"Heeeeey!" Makidera yelled, tackling Rin and, somehow, not knocking her to the ground. "So? So? Don't keep this gossip quiet! My ears are burning, is there a boy you like?"


Ah, Makidera, that hyperactive girl who couldn't help but butt her nose in. Ayako rolled her eyes, Himuro stared dead on, both of them were thinking the same thing. Rin's reaction to that sort of confrontation was obvious. It would make her knuckle down, put up her fists and defend herself from such baseless gossip at a moment's notice. Not least to keep her fanclub from mauling the poor guy -

"Shirou Emiya~" Rin sang, a sigh escaping her lips, and a little giggle that seemed to act as confirmation.

All three girls with her turned to stone on the spot. No, not really. It's not like Medusa herself had stepped out of Greek myth into Fuyuki (meanwhile, in the Matou residence, a certain someone sneezed) and cursed them with her infamous gaze. That might as well have happened, because it seemed more likely than Rin saying something like - like that!

The first to react was Makidera, of course. She began to vibrate on the spot, then ran off into the street to who knows where, cackling like a lunatic. Probably out seeking Emiya to tell him the good news. Or bring him here so that he could start dating the school idol.

"Emiya?! That guy?" Ayako hissed in Rin's ear. "Mister Janitor? The guy who I've been trying to get back into the archery club ever since he left? Rin, set your sights higher!"

"I can see it," Himuro said, her glasses gleaming. "They make an unusually fitting pair."

Ah, that was not helpful! In a situation like this, Ayako didn't know what to do at all! Should she support them? Talk RIn out of it? Give her dating advice? That was outside her area of expertise. And was it her imagination or...

"... You're not stuffing your bra to get his attention, are you?" Ayako whispered. "Hey, come on, that's a bit too obvious, isn't it? If you're going to do that, maybe try building up to it a little first."

Rin stopped mid-step, as if she was the one that had frozen in place. Her smile, which had been beatific up until then, suddenly grew more... frightful. Her head then tilted down, looking at her own chest. As if suddenly recognising something horribly embarrassing, a spell over her mind cast. It was like watching the fog lift from her brain, as her body language became much more Rin-like.

"Oh, now you tell me," she grumbled darkly under her breath. Funny, but Ayako didn't have the feeling she was the one being talked to here. "With me, now! Both of you!"

This did not brook any argument. Rin grabbed them both by the arm and frog marched them right back to her home, pushing both girls inside her home before either of them could recognise what was happening. Huh? Huh?! What was this? What was happening here?!

"Uh, Rin? What's going -" Ayako asked once she'd caught her bearings. However, that didn't last long, because her gaze had travelled down Rin's body to notice a couple of odd points.

Firstly, the school uniform. While it was sorta cute, it was also sorta plain. A muddy brown blazer over a white sirt, a black skirt that went down to the knees, nothing to write home about. Though Rin did tend to turn some heads regardless, due to her pretty face, slender physique and alluring personality.

However... Looking at Rin now, her skirt was most certainly not knee length. It was about the same length as the skirt she liked to wear when heading out after school. Furthermore, her blazer and shirt didn't seem to fit her anymore, because Ayako could see quite a bit of waist, and it seemed frankly impossible to consider the idea that those clothes with that much material could have ever possibly covered her waist at all.

However, she was fairly certain it was covering her a minute ago. She was pretty sure that Rin's uniform had looked fairly normal when they met up this morning.

<hr>

Hehehe! Makidera had just heard something amazing! Rin had a crush on Mister Janitor, and let it slip in a moment of weakness! Her responsibility was clear. Her mission, obvious! Track down Mister Janitor and set him up to be the most envied boy in school! Hahaha! It would be hilarious! Priceless! The look on Rin's face as she stammered out her denials.

Only one problem. She didn't know where Mister Janitor would be right now. He could be just about anywhere on the school grounds helping someone out, or not arrived yet, or maybe off sick. But no matter! The Black Panther of Homura was on the case!

If she couldn't find Shirou himself, then she would instead track down the next best thing. Someone who associated with him often! An example was in front of her now. Sakura Matou, her smile looking especially forced yet gorgeous today. At her full pace, Makideru charged right at Sakura to get her attention - and found herself running into the wall nearby as the girl sidestepped without having seemed to notice her until that very moment.

"Owowowowow!" Makidera rubbed at her head while sprawled out on the floor.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked, leaning over to look at her. Giving Makidera a pretty good look at the bulges in her chest area. Kuh! This girl might be younger, but she was truly mighty! Still, the girl offered a hand to help Makidera to her feet.

"I'm fine," she said. Brushing herself off. "A little lightheaded for some reason, teehee, but I'm fine."

Teehee? A giggle like that wasn't like her. No matter. She was on a mission, and so she put her hands on Sakura's shoulders, feeling her eyes gleaming with excitement as she asked the question.

"Have you seen Emiya today?" she asked. "I have some exciting news for him, and I cannot wait to share it!"

"Ah... Emiya?" Sakura asked, staring blankly at Makidera for a moment. Weirdly, it felt as though the very pits of her soul was being stared into, like if she said the wrong thing she might vanish from this world in an instant and nobody would ever find out what happened to her. "I can take on a message for him if you like."

"No, no, this is something that I must tell him in person!" Makidera insisted. "If you see him, tell him that the Black Panther of Homura is after him! He'll know what that means!"

Do note that this was a delusion. While this was the nickname she wanted for herself, the one that people actually used was Maki. Regardless! Makidera embraced Sakura and ran off into the school in search of someone who might have seen her prey.

Little noticed that a hole was being bored into her back by the seemingly gentle Sakura, who slowly furrowed her brow.

"Maki's hair didn't used to be blonde," Sakura pondered aloud. "Could she have... changed it to try and impress senpai?"

<hr>

One of the key principles of living as a magus was to keep your personal life and your magical life separate. Your true personality, the magus you were, had to be able to hide behind a mask that you wore out in public, to keep people from thinking you were strange, as those involved in magic often developed unusual personality quirks to help cope with the really weird things they experienced on a daily basis.

Rin's mask was slipping. Hard. When Archer had sent that message to her telepathically, it had taken her a few seconds to properly register what the word 'contagious' meant. Which was a bad sign. Her intelligence was being influenced by this... whatever it was. Furthermore, her interactions with Ayako and Himura meant that the two of them were probably affected as well.

In fact, yes. She could see it on Ayako. Her hair was lighter than Rin's, and it was turning lighter still. She probably hadn't noticed yet, but she was twirling a strand of hair around on the edge of her index finger, looking so fucking cute and - Guh! Rin slapped her own hand away, as she realised she was doing the same thing!

"When did you, like, dye your hair?" Ayako asked. "It really suits you. Super cute!"

"Dye my -" Rin asked, then rushed to a nearby mirror. Oh no. Oh no! She looked - She looked really stupid! Also, for some reason, she was having an instinctive desire to punch her reflection, as if she was being reminded of a future enemy that she hadn't met yet. "Oh no, this is worse than I thought! Ah! My chest really is bigger! How do you two feel?"

"Kinda horny from watching your bare tummy..." Ayako said, then slapped her hand over her mouth upon realising what she'd said.

"Hrm... note to self, Ayako is into girls..." Himura said to herself, but perhaps not as quietly as she might have thought she had. "So, Rin? It seems as though something strange is going on. Do you have any explanation?"

Damn. Damn! Ordinary people weren't meant to know about magic!Oh, but Rin could feel her body transforming right in front of them. There was a distinct spike of pleasure as well, enough that if she had been an ordinary person she'd have given in and done something really, really dirty to the two of them just now. As it was -

"Gangnir!"

And down they dropped. Rin rushed over to check on them, while Archer hovered around the top of the stairs leading down to the basement, only making himself visible once they were down.

"Do not let me leave this building," Rin said. "No matter what happens. Got that?"

"Understood," Archer solemnly said. "This is a great crisis. It might be a higher priority now than the Grail War. I can already see signs that these girls are changing. Call in sick today at school, and we'll spend today investigating this matter. I will try to keep you from getting distracted by - whatever this is working its magic on your body."

"Right," Rin said, though in the back of her mind she was scared of just one thing. What if she gave in? Used a Command Seal? Or what if Archer wasn't as immune to this as it first seemed? No. don't think like that. Not yet. She automatically called school, then called Kirei to tell him there was a dangerous magical contagion at her home, and that nobody was permitted to access it while she researched the effect. Looking down at her unconscious friends, she might well have the chance to watch the change happen in real time, even as she struggled to fight it off herself.

Although, truth be told, she had this weird feeling like she was forgetting something. She hadn't encountered anyone else out there today, had she? The streets had been pretty empty. Nah, never mind. She was sure she'd remember if there had been someone else out there.

Right?