Chapter 5 - Baths, Dress-ups, and Good Nights at Mecchen House (cont.)

I blinked once. She seemed to remain.

I moved around a little, and so did she. I moved closer. My face looked soft. At least, I wouldn’t need to worry about Katsumi and her razor. I looked down. My arms seemed really silky and felt even more so to the touch. I felt silky everywhere. My arms, my side, and my legs especially. It was like… an absence. An absence of the fluttering of air across my body and, at the same time, a heightening of sensation.

I absentmindedly noted this, and Jamie grunted a quick, “I know! I know! I’m trying to forget it.” I touched softly at my chest. Something was wrong there. Sure, the hair was all gone, but there was an odd feeling to it. My chest seemed especially soft and the nipples were highly sensitive (and brightly drawn). Nothing too surprising for recently using a depilatory and a strange new soap but still, I lingered on my chest until I was reassured it was normal. After rinsing a bit more, I slipped into the bath once again.

Jamie was the first out. He wrapped the towel around his body from his chest to his legs. He squeezed his hair and looked over in the mirror. His eyes lingered on his reflection. With one hand holding his towel closed, he brushed away the condensation.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

He took a moment to answer. “That Katsumi is messing with my head or something. Whatever. I’ll be outside.” He slipped through the door.

Nathan dunked his head underwater a moment and rubbed his eyes.

“How you feeling, buddy?” I floated closer to Nathan.

He slicked his hair back and looked over at me. “Alright, I guess. This isn’t really where I figured this would all end up. I feel like I betrayed Jamie or something.”

“How do you figure?”

Nathan shrugged. “Look at how upset he got with me.” His voice cracked a little and rose. “I just don’t want to hurt him. That’s the last thing from my mind. I know I said it was forgiven but I can’t forgive myself that he feels these terrible things when looking at me.”

I put a hand on Nathan’s broad shoulder, “Listen. We’ve been friends since as long as I can remember. Welcome sign.” He snickered in a small voice and looked at me with a bowed head. “Yeah. That’s true.”

I kept a hold on him. “You are a good person. You’ve always been. You wouldn’t hurt anyone. You’re a protector. I’m honored to know you.”

All he said in reply was, “But what about Jamie?”

I shrugged. “Jamie is Jamie. You know how he is. I mean he did apologize and everything. And you said it was cool.”

He nodded several times. “I know. But that’s this time and the last time we worked it out too. But I know it’s just gonna happen again. I don’t know what I can do.”

I leaned back in the bath. “Jamie isn’t an easy person to get along with. You know that. There’s nothing wrong with floating in our own little circles and sharing the same space. It looks like a number of the girls around here get along fine by themselves. Reiko keeps to herself. Nana, too.”

Nathan shook his head. “But… it doesn’t feel right. Why can’t we be friends? I’m friendly with people who I’m much more distant with at the gym. It’s who I am to get people excited, active, and together. I just don’t understand why Jamie responds to me the way he does. I could never hurt him.”

I splashed my face a little. “Someone stronger will always be seen as intimidating to someone.”

He brushed his face softly. “I’m proud of my muscles and how I can use them to protect those who are weaker. I’d be helpless without them.”

I rose from the bath and grabbed my towel. I looked back at Nathan. “You’re more than just your muscles. I remember you before you had them. You’re a good person, Nathan. Don’t worry about it.”

Looking through the door, I slipped the towel around my waist. The hall was empty. I dried off as best I could and walked over to Katsumi’s door. I took a deep breath and peeked inside. There were two girls in the room. Katsumi sat on her bed with her legs and arms folded. On a chair sat a girl I didn’t recognize. Her hair was long and blond. Her face looked especially lovely. She was wearing a pink top and a pair of silken pajamas. Her fingernails were a pretty pink to match her top. She had a better chest than Katsumi but that wasn’t saying much. There was something in her eyes though that gave me pause. I lingered on them, ‘till it came to me.

“Jamie???”

The ‘girl’ gave me a weak look and nodded once. Katsumi handed me a silken robe. “You’re next, missy. Don’t worry, all boys eventually fall and are made into soft, pretty maidens.”

[The original vision of Katsumi, as depicted by AiSAKU]

-----

Nathan joined us a moment later and had to wait in his robe and look over in wonder at the lady Jamie had become. Jamie tugged at the wig Katsumi had put on his head.

“I’ll add permanent glue if you don’t stop messing with it…” was all Katsumi said, still turned towards me.

She soon went to work on me. Things touched at my face and arms like feelers, both slick and rough. Squirts and sprays, too. I shut my eyes and let the sensations come.

I must have fallen asleep because, next thing I knew, she was done and clapping near my ear. She had an outfit for me too. A short, lacy camisole and a pair of panties. I looked at her a moment.

We stared each other down ‘till she relented and handed me a pair of silken boxers and a pajama bottom. I tried to look at the image in the mirror as she put something on a pair of objects which looked like pink potatoes. It took me a second to realize what they were.

I naturally objected. “You never said anything about this!” She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, come on, she didn’t complain a bit…sorta.” Katsumi gestured to Jamie, who was trembling and looking down at his rounded chest. She sure had taken him down a few pegs.

“And besides, it’s not very big. I need to get bigger and better ones someday. It’s a ten-hour adhesive.” She didn’t give me any chance for protest as she smacked both of them on my chest. I winced. My chest was definitely sensitive and having something directly on it didn’t help one bit. She adjusted my top and directed me to the mirror.

As Katsumi dug around her closet, I looked at the girl she’d turned me into. My manliness was seriously on the decline. What Katsumi had done made my face indistinguishable from any girl's face. I’d read this cross-dressing manga somewhere, I knew it. But those never really seemed to end well. Also, it still sounded like someone else was doing the voice over work for me.

Katsumi plopped a cherry-toned wig on top of my head and pulled it snug. She made sure all my hair was tucked in and then brushed it a bit.

“Wow! Nana was right! I asked her which wig would fit you best and she just said, ‘red.’ She also recommended a lovely blue wig for our pretty little Amazon.”

-----

I was added to the set of girls on the bed and Nathan took his turn. Neither I nor Jamie were ever highly-masculine guys. I’d been collecting a bit of a paunch from all my coding work of late. Jamie wasn’t too far off either. Nathan though, despite the soft motions and how he looked in the bath, could never be mistaken for a girl. Somehow though, Katsumi worked her ‘magic’.

Nathan wound up with a gown that managed to give curves to his body. His face still looked tough, as did his arms, but in the right light, you could imagine him as a swimmer for the girls’ varsity team. She finished the transformation with a long, dark-blue wig which had an almost-purple tint to it. She made sure Nathan’s chest was sufficiently-padded. “Gotta be proportional,” she gave as a reason.

Then she seated Nathan down with the rest of us. She looked from left to right with the widest smile I’d seen on her. “Wonderful! Turned out better than I could’ve hoped. Okay, you three girls are welcome on the third floor. Hmm… Now you just need names. You said your name was… Jamie… You need a much better name than that! Like Sakura or something. A really pretty and flowery name. But Sakura is too common. Darn it! I suck with names.” She turned to me but said nothing. Then she turned to look at Nathan. Still nothing. Eventually, she let out a breath of resignation.

“I can’t think of anything good tonight but be warned. You’re all girls, so if you so much as think in a boyish way, I will catch you. Don’t ask how. I just will. Now have fun in your room, you three girls… But no pillow fights! Just kidding, you can do them, as long as you do it girlie. Now off to bed, fair maidens!”

According to Katsumi’s clock, it was only ten in the evening. Later than I expected, but still a bit earlier than my regular sleeping time.

-----

We ambled out of her room as a group. Jamie lingered at the back as we made our way to the spare room. At least we finally got to see it. There was some furniture placed around in an improvised fashion and a few boxes, but it was larger than I expected. The futons were rolled out like white dominoes laid flat. There were closets on both ends and a fresh scent in the air. I stepped lightly across the floor. It seemed much sturdier than the second-story room. I still would’ve taken it though. Who wouldn’t want to share a floor with the likes of Ms. Ishida, Tara, and especially Ami?

Jamie closed the door behind us and pulled at the wig on his head. He kept tugging to no avail. Then, he went after his chest. That sure looked painful. He plopped to the floor. “I’m sure as heck not wearing this all night.” He wrapped his arms around the top and hiked it up. The door slid open and Katsumi’s head peered in.

“I guess you three got off too easy. I’ll have to add a little something like ornate bows or corsets.” Jamie put his hands behind him.

Katsumi smiled. “That’s better. Now, remember, I’ll be peeking in on my three newest ladies from time to time. So, you all better be nice now.”

And then she was gone again.

Jamie flopped over on his futon. “We should just go to bed. Then, this’ll be over with sooner. We can leave and be gone from here.”

I reminded him of the adhesive on the breast forms. He tugged at it again. “There’s got to be some sort of solvent. Maybe when she’s asleep I can sneak in and get it. She’s not really gonna look in on us all night.”

Through the wall facing the stairs, I heard Katsumi’s voice answer, “Actually, yes, I will.”

I couldn’t shake the curiosity about how Katsumi came into possession of all these items. I inquired through the wall and heard back, “Making maidens is me! It’s who I will always be. I must equip myself with every tool which I can use to facilitate maidenhood. My tools are crude now but… one day, I will be able to aim a device and, an instant later, a fully-formed girl will stand before me. SHE WILL BE PERFECT AND IT WILL BE UTTERLY PERMANENT! She will be soft and gentle for the rest of her days and I will have made her!”

I could hear Katsumi getting yet another chewing out, this time from Mami. I crouched by the wall and listened in.

“Time is money and if I wake up late then I will lose out on potential business. You’d owe me that business. Remember that!”

Katsumi brought out her “Greenie” trump card again, and Mami grumbled something else, rather incoherent, about the nature of business. I soon lost interest and so did she, it seemed, because I didn’t hear anything intelligible after that, just shuffling around the room.

Jamie pulled the futon’s blanket around him and looked out at the floor. “I’m still going to bed. Could you turn down the light?”

Seeing as there wasn’t much to entertain ourselves with, and I wasn’t much for chatting with an ear listening so closely, I pressed off the overhead light.

My eyes adjusted to the dark quickly. A thin strip of illumination shown around the crack of the door. It filtered over the room. The overhead lamp looked like it was swimming underwater. The whole room had the appearance of an aquatic painting. I chose the futon next to Nathan.

I gave him a little pat on the shoulder.

It didn’t take either Nathan or Jamie long to begin snoring.

Doors slid open and closed as the night wore on. Ours even peeked open an inch. Katsumi checking on us. Her head looked around. I thought I saw a smile cross her face. And the door slid closed.

It took a long time for me to fall asleep but, when I did, no dreams came.

That wasn’t unusual. I’m not the sort who usually had dreams. Or, if I did, none of them were memorable. I was just unconscious for a period of time.

And, when I awoke, sunlight was glimmering through the window.