Chapter 6 – Morning at Mecchen House

I didn’t wake with the expectation that the previous evening was all a dream. One look at the ceiling swiftly killed any chance of that.

I didn’t wake feeling renewed and refreshed. More like sweaty and stiff, on my head especially. Katsumi’s wig didn’t breathe.

I also didn’t wake up alone. Fortunately, it was just Ms. Ishida with a bundle of clothes in her arms. Some of them looked like mine. I sat up.

She flashed me a grin like a caught thief. “Sorry to wake you. Pleasant morning to you.” I assured her I woke up on my own, hoarsely returned the greeting, and asked her what time it was.  

“Six in the morning, or pretty close to it.” Earlier than I was used to. Surprising the sun was even up at this hour.

“Where are my… roommates?”

She tucked the clothes into a bag. “Nathan… I think he’s with Miki right now. And your other roommate is with Tara. Both are fine. Breakfast will be ready soon. Nana and Reiko are down in the kitchen right now. They offered to help with the cooking.”

“Must be a real talkative affair…” I muttered to myself. Ms. Ishida looked at me and asked, “Hmm? What was that?”

“Nothing…” I covered quickly. “I didn’t expect that, but then I just met them.”

“They’re both quite helpful,” Ms. Ishida assured me with a wink. “Now is there anything else I can do for you?”

Nothing else came to my still-foggy mind.

“I’ll see you downstairs when you’re ready then… Mr. Kelly.” With that, she slipped out the door.

I stretched up and out of my futon. My chest felt heavy. Katsumi’s paste-on breast forms were still there on my chest. I gave them a good tug. They weren’t budging. I gave them a much stronger tug and crumpled over in pain. I sure hoped that Katsumi had some solvent for these.

“Nope. Never got any. The glue will wear off soon though. It’s not permanent,” Katsumi was in her room, legs crossed in bed, with a laptop clutched to her. Her laptop had a nice, glossy-black paint tone. She had on the same thing from last night. I gave my unwanted chest another tug.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It’ll just distend your chest and give you real boobs when the forms finally fall off, girl.“ She slipped a hard candy in her mouth and rolled it around a few times. “That’s what I read… in a story I wrote…”

“What should I do till then…?” Probably the wrong thing to ask of Katsumi.

She flashed a white blade of teeth. “I know of a skirt and a tank top which will fit you perfectly. After all, since you’re gonna look like a girl for a few hours yet, why not go all out? Besides, you have no choice. I want it. And you are a girl.”

I sighed, “Why me? Don’t you have Nathan and Jamie to toy with?”

She narrowed her eyes and sucked on her candy. “The adhesive didn’t last this long with either of them. Besides, you kindle my girl-making imagination. You should feel honored.”

Feeling honored somehow eluded me. I was more unsettled, and the forms were weighing ever-presently on my chest.

I tried, “Is there any place where I might be able to buy a solvent?”

Katsumi shrugged. “Dunno. Besides… It’s just temporary. You know… Girls have them all the time without complaint.”

With narrowed eyes, I said softly, “Some girls do.”

[What Katsumi would look like if she used breast-forms or stuffed her chest, courtesy of Purdoy]

Katsumi’s eye twitched. Her fingers slammed at the keys on her laptop. After a minute, she looked at me again. “Well? Skirt and tank? Or did you have something else to say, Miss Kelly?”

I stepped closer. Not a good idea. I was still groggy and wasn’t used to having a weight on my chest. I lost my footing and stumbled forward. My first thought was for my glasses. My next was hope I wouldn’t break through and damage Ms. Ishida’s ceiling. I caught a blur in my peripheral vision and felt something like a warm, soft board underneath me. It was Katsumi.

She glared at me and squeaked, “Get off me. I can’t lift you.” She had my glasses on her face. I picked them up carefully and sat on my legs. Katsumi crab-crawled to her feet. Her laptop was upside down on the bed.

I watched her brush off her clothes with a light plume of animated dust. “I didn’t want those breast forms to get damaged.”

“Truly?”

“Of course! …Mostly. I don’t want the floor to get damaged either. Or you. Because…” She trailed off, coughed, and announced, “Well. You’re okay, right?”

I nodded.

“Alright, then. The skirt and tank are on the table by my closet. Good practice to wear a skirt. You’ll be wearing them all the time when I’m done…”

It was her standard line, but she uttered it without the same earnest intensity she had yesterday. I picked up the clothes. They would fit me. I looked over. Katsumi was back at her laptop. I snuck out without pestering her further for an explanation.

Unfortunately, I wound up having to just go back into her room a few moments later to ask if it was okay to use the bath.

“Mami and I are both done with it. Go ahead. Oh and…” She handed me another bar of that girlie soap. “Can’t forget this, missy…”

Then, she went back to her laptop.

How early did she actually wake up to have already taken a shower/bath?

I took my shower similarly to last night, only I made extra sure to scrub at the forms attached to my chest. I still tried to tug at them but gently. It made no difference, because they clung like they were a part of me. I slipped more than once but caught myself. I thought about what Katsumi had done for me.

Why didn’t she just watch me tumble, laughing all the way? Why had she been…considerate? I set the wig to the side, rinsed my hair, and splashed my face.

-----

When I was all done, I still felt like crawling into my futon to nap.

I pawed at the choices in clothes. I considered the tank and skirt for about a minute. If we really did find a way home, I wasn’t interested in arriving back in such a state. I did compromise because it wasn’t a bad tank that Katsumi had given me. I paired it with the knit pants I found last night.

I combed my hair in the mirror, although it looked best unkempt. Trademark spiky hair. The pockets were a bit annoying, because my wallet kept poking out, along with my keys. They were far too small for carrying anything of note. I assumed whoever made them expected the wearer to be toting a purse, but it didn’t keep me from grumbling.

It took ten minutes of searching for my shoes to realize they were at the entrance. I gave myself a well-deserved bonk on the head for that.

I looked as decent as could be expected with breast forms stuck to me. I folded up the remaining clothes and left the wig behind with them. Katsumi didn’t burst out to correct me as I walked past. I stopped and listened. Just the steady clacking of keyboard keys.

I made my way down the fragrant steps to the second floor. Tara was in the middle of the hallway. She had on a slick, red cloak and a hot-pink witch’s hat. She held a plastic wand in her hand. It matched her outfit and bore a mouse's head at the top. The mouse had Xs for eyes. Jamie was there too. He had cat-ears on his head and a sour look on his face. He brightened a little when I showed up, blurting out, “Finally! Let’s go! You bathed, right?”

Tara tapped him on the head with the wand. “You’re the mascot character! You haven’t learned to speak yet. For now, you must say ‘kusu.’ It’s cute!”

Jamie let out a barely-audible “Kusu…” then chewed on his lip. Tara danced around him, swinging her wand and chanting, “A touch of velvet, serpent’s coil, and cod liver oil. Bend and lean, are my hands clean? There we go!”

Then, she tapped him on the head with the wand. “You can speak now, but you have to finish every sentence with ‘kusu.’”

Everyone seemed pretty spry for this hour. I rubbed my eyes and asked, “What’s going on?”

“This one wanted to play before she got ready for class… Umm… kusu.” Tara twirled in place with her eyes curled in happy arcs and her wand clutched close. Jamie’s eye-line dipped. “Yours are still on… kusu? Mine fell off when I woke up kusu. At least you ditched that dumb wig too kusu.” He mussed his hair as much as the cat-ears would allow.

Tara traced where Jamie was looking and her eyes shimmered. “Wow! Katsumi succeeded! Yay! Remember, you’re supposed to wear a bra. You only get a pass if you’re like Katsumi-chan.” Then she looked around, leaned close, and whispered to me, “...Her boobies are too small for one.”

I smiled and nodded gently. She clapped her hands. “Aww, your chest is so pretty! If you need a bra, I can loan you one. I have some with zoo animals.”

Jamie used her attention on me to sneak over to my side. But this only meant that Tara was perfectly-positioned to hug both of us at once, which she did. Then she scampered back to her room. The door wasn’t painted like some I’d seen, but it did have her name written in small script on the front.

Jamie and I turned to one another. I went first, “When did everyone wake up? Everything seems so animated for this time in the morning.”

“Animated?” Jamie raised an eyebrow. I glared back and pointed out I’d just woken up.

He shrugged. “Well, Miki came to the door first and said ‘good morning’ to Nathan. She was doing wind sprints around the building, again. The sun wasn’t even up. He didn’t join her at that point, yet. But it was the beginning of just about every girl in the house saying hello, except for Ami. She’s still sleeping, last I heard. But, anyway, we took a quick bath since we'll be walking a lot today, I assume. Flatsumi popped in to do a chest check and was rather disappointed. You pleased her and didn’t stir from snoring for an instant. You did have this weird bubble coming out of your nose for a while. Gross. So…I did some walking and waiting and ran into Tara waking up. She wanted to play. I didn’t have anything else to do…” He gave another shrug.

I brought him up to speed on my morning, then asked, “Where’s Nathan now?”

“With Miki still, I guess. Doing running and whatnot. Challenges. Crazy stuff. Katsumi cushioned your fall, intentionally?”

I affirmed that. “I’m not quite sure what to make of it.”

“She’s secretly got the ‘hots’ for you? Isn’t that how it always goes?…So far as I’ve seen.”

That earned a roll of my eyes. “I very much doubt that girl could get the ‘hots’ for anyone without the benefit of girl-making involved.”

He gestured to my chest. “Clearly.”

“So, you’re saying, without these glued to my chest, she would’ve let me crash into the floor?” I gave them a bit of a tug to test the grip. Still as firm as ever.

He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. The 'catboi' look made me tempted to take a photo for Carolyn. He smirked. “I’m not saying anything. It’s interesting to think about it a little. Especially if you consider her and Sumi. Just you know… considering that.”

I folded my arms. “Oh, really? Since when have you been the type to be so subtle in your suggestions?”

“I got a good night of sleep, and we’re getting out of here soon.”

Tara darted back into the hallway and over to us. “I have one for you!” She still had on her witch’s hat and cloak with her wand in one hand, lowered.

She held out the bra, clenched like offering up a fish for dinner. It was blue, shimmery, and had no obvious feminine details. It seemed more like a sports bra. It was actually rather nice. I had to flatly reject it though.

“I’m honored you’d share with me, but I figure if I don’t wear a bra then they’ll probably be gone faster.”

Tara turned her head like a pendulum on the upswing. “You want them gone? But then you’ll be just like Katsumi again.”

I felt myself blanch. Again, with the comparisons. But it was hard to get upset at Tara. “They’re fake. And they really upset my balance.”

Tara centered her head. “Oh! Then you want for them to be real! That’s easy!” She lifted her wand and aimed the dead, plushie mouse head at my chest. “Prestidigitorium! Boobs!”

They didn’t change, fortunately. Tara giggled. “That spell still needs some work. Next time!”

I had to ask Tara something which was lingering in my mind. “Last night, you drew a face and said ‘Sir Walter Raleigh.’ What does that mean to you?”

Tara blinked and shrugged. “It was just something I made up. Like my spells. It’s for fun. Now I gotta go wake up Ami!” She wrapped the bra around her wand. For safe-keeping, I guess.

She ran to the pink door and dived in. I followed behind her, with Jamie trailing after. I looked in.

Ami was stretching and blinking. She had on a pair of pink pajamas that matched her hair. Her room truly was a heap of junk. It cascaded and arced throughout the room, one piece connected to the rest like a strange, self-supporting scattered pile of cards. There were underclothes of all sorts spread about like lacy confetti. She had oodles of old bags and a couch in the back, which she sat up from. Shelves camouflaged in junk towered around the room and wires with clothes on hangers crossed the ceiling. Closets were ajar and overflowing. A TV was gathering a gray coat of dust in the corner. There seemed to be posters here and there, but their placement was more akin to a chaotic splatter of paint.

Ami coughed once with pink hair feathered all about from sleep and waved to us. “Morning. Hi, Tara. Hi… Jamie? Hi there… Miki. What’s up?”

She was looking at me. At least she hadn’t thought I was Katsumi. I started to correct her when she caught her own mistake and tumbled onto a pile of junk with a gasp.

“Oh, my! Kelly! I am so sorry. I thought for sure… Umm… What?”

Ami looked just below my eye-line. Tara pointed her wand to my chest. “It’s my magic! We have a new girl!” Ami rubbed her eyes a few more times before she finally sighed. “Katsumi… The girl doesn’t quit. I do actually have some solvent for that type of glue. Somewhere… Others might too.” She glanced around the floor and rubbed her hair.

I helped her search the room for a while, finding richly-drawn bits of flotsam, but nothing that looked like solvent. Before long, Ami curled up on a particularly-soft bit of clutter and was snoring lightly. I settled on a bit myself, but it jabbed me in the back. Tara dove at a pile, like plunging into a frozen wave. She came up with a faded teddy bear with an abnormally-long tail. She held it high, while still clutching her bra-wand.

“It’s Mr. Snookums! How are we, Mr. Snookums? Oh! That’s right! You’re Mr. Snookums Yamamoto. He and Miki are married. I concentrated the union!”

“Consecrated?” I asked.

“That too. And what are you doing without your wedding dress, Mr. Snookums? Why at least put on your kimono, or you shall bring shame to all your ancestors and descendants for ever and ever and ever. Snap to it!” She giggled and mimed the bear running through the air.