Chapter 6 - Morning at Mecchen House (cont.)

Jamie cleared his throat. “I think we oughta head downstairs so we can get out of here as soon as possible… kusu.” Tara frowned. “Aww… But you have to say goodbye and hugs and breakfast. The best meal of the day! And we have to play one more game before class!” With those wide eyes, there was no chance for Jamie. He rolled his mouth line a little then finally said, “I promise… kusu. At least most of that kusu. What sort of game… kusu?”

Tara darted between the largest portions of junk with Mr. Snookums. “That's a surprise. Don’t worry. It’ll be so much fun!” We followed her back out and over to her room. If I were to replace every figurine in my room with something soft or stuffed, then perfectly organize it, my room would begin to approach the girlish magnitude of Tara’s room. It looked amazing. Her bed was a rounded square flowing with color, like a melted rainbow. She had gossamer drapes of cloth near the headboard. She laid her bra-wand beside a pillow.

A stalk of bamboo grew near the window. The window had star-patterned curtains. I saw a bookshelf, a small TV, and a perfectly-arranged closet. Excusing the feminine look, I wouldn’t mind having a room like it. Jamie’s eyes looked around the room a long time before finally saying “KuSU…”

Tara searched carefully through the closet, apparently in search of this game we were meant to play, and came out with a deck of cards.

She shuffled them and smiled. “You’ll love this. Sumi taught me how to play this game. You gotta try before you go. So much fun!”

“What game… kusu?”

Tara hugged the cards to herself. “Hehe, you’ll see. I’m gonna go see how Ms. Ishida is doing. Catcha’ downstairs!” Then she was gone through the door and we were left in a girl’s room.

Jamie smiled. “She actually seems rather mellowed compared with last night.”

“Oh, really?” I left that hanging for Jamie, who just arched an eyebrow in response. He went on ahead to the first floor, and I stopped to check Ami again. She was still snoring, and no amount of prompting would wake her up. I even whistled. I gave up and offered a little wave, just in case I didn’t see her later.

When I made it to the first floor, I encountered Sumi first, typing on the desktop in the little computer room. She swung around in the chair to look at me. She swirled a pen around in her lips like a baton and sucked gently on the end. I could tell she was looking at my phony chest, but her eyeline was quite good. As good as the more ‘clever’ guys I used to know in high school. She set the pen down languidly. She scratched at and combed her hair with her fingers. “Morning. Sleep well?”

“Decently. What are you up to?”

She grinned. “Not the sort of thing you’d expect if I was on a computer. That was last night. Right now, it’s just a bit of class work. Oh yeah, and hold still…” She slipped a slim cellphone out of her pocket, clicked a few buttons, then showed the screen to me. She’d taken a photo of the androgynous form I had in this anime world, accentuated by a rounded chest.

Sumi looked close at her phone. “It could use a little more light but now we have something to remember this by. I would ask you to pull your shirt down to show a little more cleavage, but I’ll save that for an area that’s better lit. How are the ‘girls’ holding up for you?”

“Ah… well. They kinda throw off my weight. They’re umm… peculiar.”

“In that case, I better check things out.”

I felt unsettled around Sumi for the first time. It was a unique feeling. Even when Carolyn wistfully spoke of boys making out with one another, I wasn’t as affected by the presence of a girl as I was in that moment.

She rose and wrapped her arms around me from behind with a gentle sigh. “Shame they’re only temporary. They’re so warm and soft. Kat-chan always uses quality items. I could really get used to them. Too bad I didn’t see the ones on your friends. I had a really busy night. I’ll have to thank ‘pumpkin’ for this… in my own special way. It looks like she had fun with the three of you. That’s good. It’s been a while since she’s found any males who would indulge her.”

She pressed against me in the same way I’d seen her do to Katsumi. I didn’t ‘squeak’ for her, but I did blush at the pressure of her chest against my back. Her fingers clenched around my stomach and she took a long whiff of my neck. “I also need that soap of hers a little more often.”

She slowly disengaged from me, picked up her pen, and twirled it in her fingers. “I need to go feed Pussy before I finish up in here. Nice to see you again, especially in such a state. Almost there…”

That time, I could discern a clear capitalization when she used the P-word. I had to ask, “Is your cat’s name actually ‘Pussy’?”

She gave me a half-smirk. “Yes, her name is Pussy. But she’s not exactly my cat. I still love her though. Go get yourself some breakfast, buttercup.” And then she was gone.

I felt a weight ease off my shoulders with Sumi out of the room. The whole thing gave me a shiver up my back. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of her use of a nickname for me, so I decided to ignore it for the time being. I walked over to Miki’s room and found Nathan and Miki furiously doing one sit-up after another. They moved like colorful pistons on an engine, powering their way up and down. A timer went off and Miki burst to her feet.

“Eighty! Pant. What did you get?”

“Just seventy-seven. Pant,” Nathan replied, before turned his head and smiled at me. “Kelly! Good morning… Wow. Yours are still stuck on?”

Miki bounced a bit in place, catching her breath, then finally looked at me. “Oh my gosh. What’d she use on you? She keeps saying she only uses temporary glue, but if she put permanent glue on you, that would be so uncool. Here. Let me check it out.”

She touched me on the chest. We both blushed a moment, then she cleared her throat and asked if she could lift up my tank top. I nodded.

She gave a gentle tug on the breast-forms at first, then a harder one. I didn’t crumple this time, but I did feel weak in the knees.

She stopped there and pondered, “Okay, we need to think this through. The glue has a short sticking-time but staying on this long is not outside the realm of possibility. I remember Daiki. His name alone set Katsumi off. This was last year. The forms stayed on for a while. Eventually, I had to go buy a special solvent. I have it around somewhere. Daiki was actually really mellow with the whole experience. I can’t say for sure, but a girlfriend told me she heard he was working at a maid café… and making great tips. Sorry, that probably isn’t very comforting. Anywho, it means I do have something to help you out tucked away in my closet.”

That last bit did reassure me somewhat. I looked over at Nathan. He was sweaty, with a dark area traced on his shirt. Despite that, he looked nice in the clothes Ms. Ishida had given him.

Miki was dressed in the same style of gym clothes as Katsumi wore yesterday. It made sense if they all went to the same high school. Miki nodded when I asked if that was so. “We all go to Azako High School, except for Ms. Ishida of course. The term started just last week. We’re all in our second year. In fact, I should put on my uniform in a little bit. Sooo… I’ll see you in the kitchen in a few minutes. Awesome competition, Nathan. And Kelly… I will find a solvent for you. I promise. Seeya soon!”

We walked out of the room, and Miki closed the door behind us. I gave Nathan a friendly pat on the shoulder. “How is your morning?”

“Active. And fun. She is insatiable… I mean! …at competition!” He blushed brightly and glanced down at his feet. I gave Nathan another rub. “I’m glad. Come on, let’s see if there’s any food ready.”

Mami was spread out on one couch with her uniform on and a bookbag beside. Her eyes looked like narrow, brown slits. She gave a little arm wave. “Cartoons are on… still so… early.” She hugged the end of the couch and shut her eyes with flat, black eye-marks. Her uniform looked nice. The jacket seemed soft, and the brown material complimented Mami’s hair. All but the lowest golden button was clasped. She soon snored. I saw a bit of her white shirt under the elaborate, yellow bow tied at the front. It was probably a pain to tie. Her skirt looked like a pleated picnic blanket. I assumed all students wore the same uniform. I couldn’t help imagining how Ami looked in it.

I turned to see the TV. The show on wasn’t familiar but I couldn’t look away. We sat on the empty couch; our eyes transfixed. I was still aware enough to check to make sure nothing fell out of the tiny pockets on these knit pants.

The visuals were crude but interesting. They looked on par with Popeye or Peanuts. Backgrounds were well-painted but had very little presentation of depth. It didn’t have much of a plot. Soon, it ended and another one came on. This one looked more like what I expected from animation. It was clearly what I’d call anime. Sumi had used the term “anime” once. Did it mean the same thing? Also, what was the difference between ‘reality’ and animation here? Was there any?

I noticed the remote next to Mami on the floor. Since she had her head covered and was snoozing, I figured she wouldn’t mind.

Naturally, the first thing I flipped to was a feminine hygiene ad with an anime girl bending and stretching this way and that.

Click

Another ad. Bishounen in the mountains making BBQ and drinking beer. The icy splash looked like something I’d seen a million times.

Click

A disturbing ad with a cute little yellow thing wishing to get swallowed and eaten by an anime woman working in an office. Nathan thought it was cool.

At least TV didn’t change too much in this world.

Click

Horror show. It looked especially good in anime.

Click

A redecorating program with anime girls lugging furniture about and feeling gleeful to paint walls.

Click

Some mystery program with dark shadows and black cloaks.

Click

A high-energy game show with tons of flashing colors.

Click

A news program. I paused here. It would be good to get some further information on this world and examine any congruities with our own. It had a ‘Live’ caption in the corner and a ticker at the bottom. The newscaster had lovely, sharp shadows on the ends of her bluish-black hair. She wore a suit half a tone off the coloration of Mami’s jacket. Her glasses were incredible. I loved how the lines rippled as she turned from one monitor to the other. Everywhere I looked, I could find anime. For such a huge fan like myself, that still hadn’t gotten old.

The ‘living’ anime flesh and the ‘created’ anime shows were hard to tell apart but, ultimately, it seemed to come down to quality. Living anime appeared to be ‘drawn’ with little regard for budget or cost. The anime shows I saw in this world dropped frames and had cheats in animation that felt like they wanted to do better but were limited.

I tried to focus on the content more than the presentation for a moment. The script on-screen seemed to leave little doubt we were in a country at least similar to Japan. The ticker mentioned peace talks in a faraway land ‘falling apart.’ Government investigations into waste and bias. A new music-playing device released. Protests. Politicians screaming into microphones and pounding on tables.

I couldn’t help but feel disheartened. It all felt so… normal. No rockets to space, no magical spells, no giant robots… Sure, it was a world of anime. But, beyond that, it was just like home.

I clicked the channel back to the cartoon station that Mami had been watching. I looked over at Nathan and sighed, “Same stuff, different universe…”

He flapped the edge of his shirt. “Well, I guess that’s good. It means we didn’t get pulled far from our world. It’s similar to where we came from. We just need to get the way it looks right…”

That gave me a bit of enthusiasm. I stood up. “True. Thanks. Let’s go see how breakfast is coming along.”

-----

We found Tara flying around Nana and Reiko in the kitchen. All three had colorful aprons on. Tara’s cloak and hat were set to one side. Nana looked right at me. Reiko kept her attention on her pan.

“What are you making?” I asked.

Reiko flipped something in her pan. She coughed but didn’t say anything more.

So, I posed the question to Nana.

“Breakfast.”

What sort of breakfast? “For all.”

I tried ‘What items are being made?’

“Food items.”

I had to wonder if she was intentionally messing with me. She sure had a good poker face for it. Tara helped a second later with, “We’re having natto, rolled omelets, miso soup, pickles with sour plum, grilled fish, nori, and plenty of rice! A hearty meal! I’m helping with the bento boxes.”

She took a plum and mixed it around a ball of rice with a bit of seaweed. Nathan looked at everything steaming and frying and asked gently, rubbing the back of his neck, “May I help with anything?”

Reiko looked at him and said a terse, “No.”

Tara stuck out her tongue at Reiko and smiled at us. “You can help me with the bentos. You both can! Then we can eat and play cards afterward! If you help, we’ll get to play even more!”

We were both slower combined than Tara by herself, but she didn’t seem to mind. I caught Nana glancing over once or twice.

I finished up a placement of asparagus when Ms. Ishida came in with a mop and took it to one of the storage rooms. She returned and rinsed her hands. She smiled at me. “I’ll still work on the spare rooms today, even if you three aren’t coming back. They won’t be out on the market ‘till next week, so you have time if you change your minds.” She leaned over Reiko’s shoulder and whispered something softly. Reiko looked intensely-focused.

I thanked her for that but said, “I think we really should at least look for a way to get home. Check out that path again…”

[Courtesy of Alexis Rillera/Anirhapsodist]

Nana stepped closer. “I will go with you.”

Did she want to leave with us? If so, I had to ask why.

“I will go. You need assistance.”