Chapter 4 - Room Hunting at Mecchen House (cont.)

Miki sighed and inquired, “So, no on the running challenge?” She focused on Jamie.

He sifted through a pile of clothes as he muttered, “No opinion, so far.”

Tara, still wearing the panties on her head, held out a box of Pocky for Jamie. He waved a hand and responded, “No, thanks.” Tara’s eyes went wide and moist. She sobbed into her hands. Jamie looked to me and Miki grimaced.

Jamie stammered, “Well, umm. My mistake. I meant. Thanks. Not that I’m hungry, but I’d love to… have some.” Tara sniffled and dried her eyes on the panties. She gave Jamie a wide look and leapt at his chest. She latched herself around him and looked up. “Honest?”

Jamie could just offer a stiff nod and a bit of a smile. “Sure, I’d love to have… whatever…this is.” He took out a stick and bit into it. I finished mine. Tara watched carefully as he smiled while chewing.

He nodded. “Actually, it is pretty good. I like chocolate. Thanks, Tara… chan.”

She buried her face into Jamie. “Oh, big sis! I’m so glad! I was worried you were mad at me.”

Miki smirked. “I guess you guys really aren’t from around here. Your names kinda give it away too.”  Some faux-pas, huh? Another trait from this anime world which lined-up with what I knew of Japan. I had one question though.

“Is there a family shrine?” Ms. Ishida led me to the closed door I noticed right before the ‘haunted’ bedroom and slid it open. The shrine itself was nice and there were family photos on the walls.

“The photos as you enter are so mom and dad can greet everyone who comes in the door with their warmth and spirit, even if they don’t come to pay their respects at the shrine. But most of the girls join me at least once a day.” She pointed to the bell. There was a serving of rice in front with a flower vase, candleholder, and incense burner nearby. The walls were lovingly decorated.

“I guess it’s not a stretch the room next door is haunted then…”

She chuckled. “Well, I suppose you could consider it a conduit to the spirit world, but this shrine is well taken care of, and only kind spirits come to visit. I wouldn’t mind being haunted by them.”

I walked back to the couch. Miki cleared her throat and went back to talking about baths while I sifted through the clothes a bit more.

“The second-floor bath is the best. You can get a half-dozen people in there. The whole floor routinely bathes together. Ami, Tara, and Ms. Ishida. I’ve even joined them a few times. It’s also across from the little study room which Ms. Ishida made for Ami. Perfect for fun, especially when Tara is around.”

Tara’s pensive spell had long since evaporated. “Yeah! We had Ami’s birthday party in it! I brought elephants!”

Ms. Ishida explained, “Stuffed elephants.”

“There’s a lounge next to the bath on the top floor. Great if you have a long wait. You just need to watch out for Mami. It’s a nice bath, but the second-story one is the absolute best.”

Ms. Ishida pushed one last box into the room. “That’ll do it for clothing. I considered taking down the wall to that bedroom to make it into another bath as big as the second-story one. If not for the ‘haunting,’ I might’ve. Leave spirits in peace. Besides, Katsumi would probably have a fit.”

Recalling the photo on the wall near the entrance, I inquired and described it to Ms. Ishida.

She looked at me patiently and nodded. “I know the one you mean. What about it?” I walked over to it and pointed to the girl with long, gray hair.

Squinting a bit, she shrugged and rubbed her mouth. “You found me out. I’m an alien.”

I blinked.

She giggled. “Apologies, a very weak joke. She was one of the neighbor girls at the time. My mom never told me her name. But she would visit them long before I or any of my siblings were born. She helped with painting the house.”

I wasn’t really going anywhere with this, so when Ms. Ishida was done speaking, I quietly nodded and walked back over to the couch.

-----

By the time Miki let out a languid yawn, I had enough clothes to get me through four days, if need be. She rocked to her feet.

“Everyone okay? It’s eight. I’d need to strap a rocket to my butt if I wanted to reach a farther store by nine when they close.” I half-suspected she might try that, if challenged.

Nathan had enough from Aneko’s father. The clothes were older but looked nice on him. He looked like a dad in an old-time show.

Jamie was quite picky but eventually came up with enough as well.

For me, I kept the blue top along with a fairly-generic plaid top, and a purple crewneck, which I swear I owned back home too. I also picked out a long-sleeved shirt in case it was cold. Jamie and I both picked gray tanks that didn’t feel gender-specific.

For the bottom half, it was a lot tougher, because even though I could set aside the skirts immediately, the jeans were harder to sift through. I got a pair of knit pants that didn’t look too bad. The size of the crotch was my biggest concern but none of them gave me any trouble when I put them on. There were some nice brown, cotton pants and a set of denim jeans. They felt a little close in the rear but not as bad as I was expecting.

We handed all our clothing discoveries to Ms. Ishida, and she took them to the washer near the bath room.

Tara, for all her energetic, continued nuzzling and sporadic comments on clothes Jamie looked through, seemed to be slowly fading. She was quite comfortable with her head resting against his stomach.

Miki stood and stretched. “Well, it’s been a lot of fun, but I really need to get set for my bath and call my sister.” Her fingers went to her top as she turned. Then, she paused and turned back around. “Oops, right. I’ll go change in my room.” Chuckling nervously, she darted away.

Nathan’s face looked bright red, and mine also felt warm. Jamie was a little too preoccupied with Tara’s affection to notice. He gently pried her fingers off and gave her the pillow at the end of the couch to hold onto instead. The trade worked and Jamie was able to get to his feet. She continued snoozing.

Ami gave a dainty yawn. “It’s getting late for me as well. Make sure you say goodbye when… Or if… You leave tomorrow.” Then she gave each of us a hug and made her way up the steps.

Things seemed to be winding down. Ms. Ishida wiped the detergent from her hands. It was just her and us again, like how we arrived. “The clothes should be done in around two hours. I can show you the other empty rooms and maybe you can make a final decision?” She pushed the boxes to the side.

Nathan promised to help her put them back.

“Oh, that’s quite alright. I’ll probably put them in one of the storage rooms. I needed to clear out all the unused rooms anyway this week.”

She led us up the steps and explained, when I asked about the chestnut smell, “I’ve been trying a couple of fragrances because it usually smells like feet. Do you like it?”

I nodded. Jamie rubbed his nose. Nathan took a curious whiff.

Ms. Ishida opened the first door on the left and showed us the empty room. The door was brown, like most. Her own room was across the way. I could see Ami’s room down the hall. Her door was still open. I wished I could come up with some reason to say hi to her again, but nothing came to mind.

The room was slightly larger than the one on the ground floor, but I saw where the floor was weak. There was some light spilling through the material. I could hear a pair of voices through it. Reiko and Sumi? There was some giggling, from both. I figured it wasn’t my business to listen further. Jamie put his ear to the floor.

Ms. Ishida pointed up. “Mami is right above, just so you know. She sometimes plays music and sings along to it. Aside from the floor, that’s why this room isn’t inhabited right now. Okay. Shall we tempt the lioness?”

I gave a little laugh and followed her up another set of chestnut steps. At points along the way, it almost smelled like freshly-baked cookies. The hall was quite familiar. Nana’s room was at the end.

Ms. Ishida explained, “Nana’s room is the largest of all, surprisingly enough. Twice the size of the unused one up here. It’s the largest bedroom in the entire house.”

She immediately went to the first door on the right and knocked. I had a feeling whose room this was and backed away. It was painted purple. The door slid open and a face darted out. That face belonged to Katsumi.

My first thought was, ‘My gosh! She actually looks cute like that.’ And she did. A little.

Katsumi had on a pair of silvery glasses, like a miniature version of my own. Her head was wrapped in a bee-hive-like towel. For a moment, before she noticed we were around, it was like when we first met in the kitchen. Her eyes were affectionate, soft, and concerned. There was gentle warmth to them that seemed to mirror the look in Ms. Ishida’s eyes. Then, the fire danced over us.

“We’re going to look at the empty room,” Ms. Ishida explained.

Katsumi stepped into the hall. She had on a pink robe now. She folded her arms and her nostrils flared.

After a fair amount of posturing and silence, she finally said, “I’ll have none of them in the room next to me. You’ll have to find them another. Non-negotiable. I’ll concede to letting them in the same building, for the night. But unless they leave their manhood behind as they enter, they are not allowed in that room. They are not allowed a slender wall away from me. No way. Ever.”

She actually seemed a bit calmer, all things considered. But she stood, resolute. Ms. Ishida folded her arms. “Alright then, they sleep in your room.” Katsumi’s eyes rose and her towel tumbled off her head. She flailed to put it back on as she hissed, “Utterly impossible! Ms. Ishida! Can’t you just put them on the couch on the ground floor?”

She held out a hand and counted. “Two couches, three guys.”

Katsumi drew the towel tight on her head. “They were going to use futons anyway. There’s enough room on the floor for a futon. It’s a softer floor than I have. It’ll be fine. No one will complain, will they?” She gazed squarely at us.

Jamie stepped forward. “I’ll complain. Why do you have to be such a meanie towards us?” That took us all a bit by surprise, especially Katsumi. ‘Meanie’ sounded like a word Tara would use.

She quickly shook it off and said, “Meanie? You haven’t seen the beginning of ‘meanie.’ And, besides, I’m not a meanie! I just don’t like males! If you try to get in that room or my room, I swear, I’ll shoot you full of… Girl-hormones, like estrogen! I have tons of medical estrogen available to me.”

Nathan rubbed his head. “What are you doing with medical estrogen?”

“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Her fury was back in full bloom. I somehow suspected it was an empty threat.

Ms. Ishida put an arm on Katsumi’s shoulder, but she shrugged it off and said, “Ms. Ishida. You know I respect you. Deeply so. I also respect the vote, criminal injustice that it is. But if you leave these three up here, then I assure you, you will have them back as girls. I guarantee that.”

Jamie rubbed an eye. “With estrogen?”

“You better believe it!”

“Estrogen doesn’t do anything. Especially over one night. Androgen-blockers, on the other hand, will do something. But they need to be used over a prolonged period in conjunction with estrogen.”

I had to admit, that was a bit more knowledgeable than I anticipated Jamie to be about hormone-replacement therapy. But then his mother did have a hysterectomy not too long ago.

Katsumi stammered, “Oh, yeah! Well, I have magic! So, you better watch out! And kung fu too! I’ll spank your butts and turn you into a pair of my underwear. You shall not sleep up here now or ever. I may have conceded the house but this floor is a maiden realm and you shall not trespass upon it for a moment longer!”

Discussion with Katsumi closed after that. If we planned to use the empty third-story room, it wasn’t going to be on Katsumi’s hawkish watch. Ms. Ishida tried to reason with her a little more, but she still wouldn’t budge on this. Nathan even gave it a try, “We have nothing but honorable intent.”

“If you, in particular, stay, then I’ll make sure the change goes way beyond a few little bows. I chose you, and I promised no one would even think you were a boy when I was done. I will keep that promise.” I could see Nathan waver, but he held firm.

“You can do whatever you like to me, but please, let my friends stay here. I took them all this way. I got them lost in this place. I deserve to suffer consequences. I gladly accept any blame you might place on them be upon my shoulders.”

Nathan stretched his arms out like an offering. “Do with me what you will.”