AN: First of all, sorry for not updating for soo long. I had this extremely big writer's block and nothing I wrote could remove it. Then I started getting stressed and I could write again (strange). But this chapter is really short because that was the only place I could find to end the chapter. Please forgive me.

By the way, in case you get confused, the first part of the chapter isn't set in the current time. It was the past, actually. Then after the line break, it's the current time again. ^_^

garasunomagnetic: Come on, bruh! Do the disclaimer!

Maki: First, don't call me 'bruh'. Second, why am I doing the disclaimer?

garasunomagnetic: 'Cuz you're sexy and I'm not, so people would like to hear the disclaimer from you rather than me.

Maki: They can't even see us! Ah, fine. gara -*cough* I mean- garasunomagnetic does not own Love Live! School Idol Project nor any of the characters mentioned in the story below.

garasunomagnetic: Except maybe that cushion Hanayo sat on.

"I think I may have forgotten to ask where she is specifically." Nozomi muttered to nobody in particular, as she looked around.

"This forest is so big." The six-year-old said,stepping on a stick, causing some birds to fly away in panic.

'Hmm, now that I think about it, a forest is kinda like a maze, right? All I have to do is go in one direction to get out of here.'

With that in mind, Nozomi turned in a circle and opened her eyes. 'Okay, this direction.' She thought to herself, choosing to rely solely on her instincts.

"I'm gonna have to leave markers..." She said as she picked up several stones and stacked them on top of each other.

The small girl walked, and walked, leaving stacked stones as markers along the way. She got tired quickly. She rested underneath a tree.

And when she awoke, she saw a goddess. The goddess spoke, but she couldn't make out the words.

"Wha-" Nozomi croaked, and suddenly she was aware that she was very thirsty. She wished to have a drink. The goddess gave her water.

Nozomi's stomach rumbled. She wished to eat. The goddess gave her food.

Nozomi wished to be back at her home. The goddess frowned, and her mouth moved.

"Where is your home?"

'I do not know.'

"I am afraid that I cannot bring you to your home."

'Leave me. I will find my way back.'

"As you wish."

And the goddess disappeared. No sparkles, no special puff of smoke that Nozomi was expecting. The goddess just disappeared, almost as if she was instantly erased from existence.

After she had found her way back home, Nozomi visited the forest again, hoping to meet the goddess again and thank her. She went to the forest many times, but each time, she failed to find her savior.

Nozomi wished to see the goddess again. Instead of granting her wish, the goddess gave Nozomi her name.

"Elichika." Nozomi whispered. It was strange to pronounce, but the name felt strangely comfortable on her tongue.

Hanayo stared at the broken village. It was beyond repair, and even if they could repair it, they wouldn't make it in time for winter. Many of the villagers died, and the ones that survived were in no shape for working.

Hanayo frowned at the debris as if it had offended her. She felt like screaming. The only village that accepted her was destroyed. And she didn't know who did it.

Holding back her tears, Hanayo stormed into a half-broken hut and sat down on a cushion with a grunt. Shortly after, Rin entered the hut as well.

"Kayo-chin, are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Hanayo answered, giving Rin a sincere smile. 'She only drops the 'nya' when she's afraid or worried. I'm guessing it's the latter.'

Rin plopped down next to Hanayo and hugged her.

"Tell Rin if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay." Hanayo answered.

Soon, Rin fell asleep and Hanayo was able to think in peace. She went through a list of people who were likely to have caused this incident. There weren't many.

'Rin? No. They would never let her do something like this, she'd be punished. Honoka? No. I saw her sleeping with my very own eyes. Which leaves Maki and Nico. Nico has a great amount of magical power in her, but the magic is pure and untrained, spread around her body and moving randomly, which means she probably doesn't know she has magic at all.' Hanayo frowned. 'Maki has a great amount of magic as well, but it's different from Nico's. Her magic is familiar with the patterns of her body's flow of energy, which means she uses her magic regularly. This wouldn't make sense, this amount of destruction would require an impressive amount of magic, that would take at least a week of storing magic. They had only been here for three days. So who did it?'

Gripping her head in frustration, Hanayo struggled to think of another possible suspect. Her eyes widened in horror. The only other possible culprit was... herself. She wouldn't be surprised if a demon like her was responsible for the destruction of the village.

AN: Yesh! Nozome and Eli finally appeared! And ooohh Kayo-chin is a demon.

Next time on Shapeshifters are Troublesome: Hopefully I pass my exams! Nya-nya and rice-fan gonna be demonstratin their powah. big-boobs and sexy-russian gon be absent, me thinks, unless me changes me mind. What kind of preview was this.

I know replying to reviews really bumps up the word count, and I feel like I'm cheating, but please don't hate me =(

Replies to Reviews

Chapter 4:

GAT-X105VividPanzer: Nice to see that you use google lol. Make sure you don't run into plants blindly, or you might get stung by some Dendrocnide moroides. I've seen some plants that look really similar to it in my local garden/park =( Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter! And thanks for taking the time to leave a review!

Death Gremory: Super late reviews are way better than super late updates. Look at me (you cant ofc). And if you want to see leopardtomato do cute things to niconii, maybe I'll write a one-shot for you. Maybe you can give me suggestions about what makitomato should do to her (cuz only stress lets me write)? I've given up on tumblr, it's too difficult for someone like me who doesn't really use the Internet much. ohohoh btw u were wrong about foxy bein russianbutt or ramencat.

Omake chapter:

GAT-X105VividPanzer: Damn. Couldn't you come up with a name that's easier to spell? I copy-and-paste your name anyways, so no worries, but how do I pronounce that? Answer to your question: yeah Nozomi is Rocket. Nice guess. But I think anyone could have guessed it (raccoon ears and lazer guns muahahaha zap zap zap).