“And what about this one?” Jihu asked, turning to Sori.

“I will not apologize for standing up for Wonsik,” Sori told the adults, “but I am sorry for losing my temper. I will take whatever punishment you think it fitting.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Minji frowned, turning to look at the other shape shifters standing behind Sori, “for now I need to figure out what I’m going to do not that I’m down a teacher.”

“Independent study?” Jessica suggested, “Hyoyeon and I can supervise to make sure no one turns into something too dangerous.”

“Sounds good for the most part,” Jihu nodded, “but I’ll supervise. Sori, can you help the new boy? Does that work for you, Park?”

“Alright,” Minji nodded, “everyone, listen to Agent Kim.”

With that taken care of, Minji walked away, leading N and Sehun to a different part of the school. It wasn’t until he was walking away that Sori noticed the looks N kept giving her. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like a mix of gratefulness and something else. It didn’t matter, she didn’t stand up for Wonsik because of N. She stood up for Wonsik because Miss Choi shouldn’t have said something like that about one of her students.

“Have you ever tried to shift before?” Sori asked Ravi as she made her way over to him.

“No,” he sighed, “I didn’t even know I was a shape shifter until yesterday.”

“Well, the process is pretty simple,” she shrugged, “you just get a picture in your head of what you want to change into, then you let nature take its course.”

“I tried that,” Ravi explained, “it didn’t work.” Sori cocked her head to the side, looking him over head to toe.

“You’re eyes are green,” she finally said, “it’s possible that it isn’t working because you’re in a frustrated state.”

“What does my eyes being green have to do with my emotional state?” he asked, “do our eyes change colour based on our emotions?”

“When you’re still at the stage when you’re eye change colour randomly, yes,” Sori nodded, “beginners find it easier to shift for the first time when they’re calm.”

“Easier said than done,” Ravi muttered. He might have accepted the whole ‘supernatural creature’ thing easily, but that didn’t mean he was calm about it. No, the thought of turning into something kind of terrified him. Thoughts of not being able to turn back or hurting someone invaded his mind against his will and he didn’t know how to make it stop.

“We could always get your friend Hongbin to help,” she shrugged, “fae can manipulate emotions, so he could keep you calm. Plus it would be good practice for him.”

“If you think that will help,” he shrugged, not even attempting to sound hopeful. How could Hongbin get rid of his fear just like that?

“Come on,” Sori turned and started walking away. After a moment, Ravi started to follow after her.

--

“But I don’t know how,” Hongbin told Sori after hearing her request to manipulate Ravi’s emotions, “I’ve never done it before.”

“Yes you have,” Sori nodded. She was tempted to mention a couple of time he’d altered someone’s emotions without realizing it, but that would involve mentioning her telepathy. She liked to avoid doing that as it made most people uncomfortable. Even Luhan had been a little on edge at first when she’d told him and he was one of her closest friends.

“I can do it,” Luhan offered, taking hold of Sori’s hand to suppress the sadness he’d felt from her, replacing it with calmness.

“It’s as simple as that,” Sori explained to Hongbin, raising her and Luhan’s joined hands, “just focus on what you want the person you’re touching to feel. Built that feeling up and then push it from you to them.”

“That’s a horrible explanation,” a girl – Hyuna – giggled, earning a blank look from Sori that just made her laugh more.

“Play nice,” another fae girl – Yuri – scolded Hyuna, tapping her head lightly, “and don’t even dare do what you’re thinking.” Hyuna grumbled something about it being unfair that her dongsaeng was scolding her like that, but let it go.

“I can help if you want,” Yuri offered, turning to Sori, “I can walk Hongbin through everything better then you can.”

“Alright,” Sori nodded after thinking it over, “have him practice on Hyuna first. She’ll be able to feel his manipulation and can give him some feedback, too.”

“I’m going to enter your mind,” Yuri explained, “I’m a telepath, so I can see what you’re thinking and can help correct your thoughts.” Hongbin nodded, but everyone could tell he was a little uncomfortable having Yuri in his head.

“You’re worried,” Luhan said as he, Sori, and Ravi watched Yuri work.

“It’s nothing,” Sori shrugged, “Miss Choi is gone. The council isn’t going to be happy.”

“What happened?” Luhan frowned, turning his attention to Ravi as he knew Sori wasn’t going to give him an answer. The fact she’d said ‘it’s nothing’ signaled she was done with the conversation.

“Miss Choi called me worthless,” Ravi explained, “Sori called her out on it and they started fighting. Sori changed into this demonic dog thing and then Minji showed up. She fired Miss Choi. I don’t get why the council would be unhappy, though.”

“That’s easy,” Hyuna explained, “each council for each species likes to have a teacher or two here that will go along with their beliefs and answer to them.”

“The fae, witch, fallen, nightmare, and nymph councils are pretty fair,” Yuri added, “They don’t mind if others of their kind befriend or marry someone from a different species. But werewolves, shape shifters, dragons, and vampires are a bit more traditional.”

“She means backwards,” Hyuna supplied, “they’re very against the mixing of species, so the teachers they approve are also like that. Miss Choi is one of the worst, though.”

“She gave Kris a week detention for correcting her in class last year,” Yuri recalled, shivering slightly at the memory, “he was really pissed. I’ve known him all my life and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that mad.”

“The council will want a good reason for why she’s been fired,” Sori told Ravi – and Hongbin who was now listening – with a slight frown, “if they don’t like the reason, they can pull some strings and get all the shifter children pulled out of school. They’ll also replace her with someone who’s agenda isn’t so blatantly obvious.”

“At least Sori can’t be pulled, right?” Hyuna offered, “the council has no control over our Sorinnie.”

“Sorinnie?” Sori raised an eyebrow and Hyuna started laughing, “I keep asking you to cut it out with that nickname.”

“You’ve been asking that since your seventh birthday,” Yuri giggled, “and she hasn’t stopped yet.”

“Come on, Sorinnie,” Hyuna laughed, “smile a little. It’s a cute nickname. Me using it should brighten your day.” Sori just ignored her, turning to Hongbin and asking if he was ready to try altering Ravi’s emotions.

“Just do what I told you,” Yuri encouraged Hongbin as he took Ravi’s hand.

Taking a deep breath, Hongbin focused on creating a feeling of calm within himself, picturing it as a ball light blue energy. Once he felt relaxed, he mentally pictured that feeling flowing through him and into Ravi through their connected hands. After a few moments, he let go of Ravi, hoping that it had worked.

“It worked,” Yuri whispered in his ear, “the only emotion I can feel off of your friend is calmness. Good work.”

“Thank you,” Hongbin grinned at the older fae, feeling proud of himself for succeeding with his task.

“With practice, you’ll be able to that without all the visualization,” Hyuna told him, patting him on the back, “but that was good for your first try. Better than mine.”

“Now you can try shifting,” Sori told Ravi, “remember what I told you. Picture what you want to change into down to the smallest detail. Then think about changing into that animal.”

“Alright,” Ravi nodded before shutting his eyes.

In his head, he pictured a kitten. A cute, harmless kitten with black fur and blue eyes. Once the picture had formed, he willed himself to become that kitten. Unlike the first few times he’d tried, Ravi felt power starting to flow though his body, starting in his chest and spreading out to the rest of his body. Then it started to fade, leaving Ravi standing there feeling exactly the same as before.

Had he done it? Had he changed forms?

“You can open your eyes,” Sori spoke up, “I’d offer you a mirror so you could see yourself, but I think I know what you’ll find.”

Opening his eyes as instructed, Ravi found himself looking up at everyone. Sori looked pleased, Hongbin looked really happy, Luhan flashed him a small smile, Yuri smiled happily and offered congratulations, and Hyuna rushed forewords to cuddle him and tell him how cute he was.

Ravi felt beyond proud of himself.

A/N: Congrats to Ravi!!!!!!! He’s shifted into a super cute kitten!!!