Chapter 9 - Reunions and a Recipe at Mecchen House (cont.)

I was almost done with the bento. I gathered up some of the scattered parts of the meal. I told Jamie, “Okay. I acknowledge it seems like she’s hiding something, but then Reiko seems like she’s hiding something. Katsumi too. Maybe even Mami. Also, just because someone reads something....like ‘Violent Killers’ does not make them what they read. You heard what she said… She has deep regrets. Something happened to her. Who says you and she are that different? Consider that with how you’re responding to her.”

Jamie gulped his food. “And the computers?”

“Eccentricity is not rare in this place.”

He turned to Nathan and asked, “You? What about you?”

A bit of meat was perched on his chopsticks. Nathan froze up and looked over at us with his majestically-long hair and wide, green eyes. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

Jamie fixed his hair again and asked. “What’s that?”

“Oh… Umm. Just thinking about how Ms. Ishida is cleaning the rooms. And they’re gonna be our rooms. This place could wind up being where we live.”

Jamie groaned. “Not if I have anything to say about that. I intend to get out of this world as soon as I can. I am not paying for rent in another dimension. And I will never reside in such a place of weird, cartoon chicks who could do who-knows-what to me while I sleep. It was bad enough tolerating one night. I gotta admit, though it’s too early to tell, it seems ironically like our changes are held in check at this place… This house of girls.”

I had one particular thought on my mind though, and it had been nagging me for a while. Jamie had brought it up slightly. I finished the last of my bento, brushed back a dangling, bright lock of hair, and asked, “What are we going to do if we do have to rent here? Katsumi said there’s a flat rate for services. I assume rent is going to be even more. If rent is comparable here as to back home, I’m gonna be short. I just have less than the equivalent of a hundred bucks, and it’ll probably be several hundred.”

Jamie crossed his arms with a smirk. “That should be all the more motivation to be of one mind about getting home to our apartment and checking accounts.”

I coughed and reminded him again of the times he’d been bailed out on paying the rent. He waved a finger. “That came up during Mami’s little demonstration of ‘voting ethics’. We’re square with the train ticket included.”

I knew the costs I’d covered for Jamie were much more than what he’d contributed here, but I opted not to belabor the point for now. We weren’t even sure of the pricing. The flyer which we’d wound up with didn’t list any prices. Perhaps that gave us some leeway.

The vacuum turned off. Nathan and Jamie were done with their bentos. I figured I’d have to pick up the scraps, but Jamie reached over and collected mine. He picked up Nathan’s bento as well. He took them over to the sink, cleaned them, and set them to the side. Ms. Ishida returned a moment later with the vacuum in tow. She thanked Jamie for cleaning out the bentos and told him where to set the ties around them, how to dry them, and where to put them away. And Jamie appeared to patiently listen to her instructions. For a guy who had to be prodded sharply to even rinse his dish, this was a remarkable sight. I could only imagine he was trying to butter her up for the lowest rent possible.

Ms. Ishida smiled and announced, “Time for the second floor.”

She pulled out an assortment of cleaning supplies and handed them to Jamie. She also found a mat that looked like the upper-story floors and said, “If you can fix that room’s floor and clean it, then you can stay in it.”

Jamie pondered it a bit, touching, but not twirling, his hair with his fingers. I figured this was as good a time as any to ask her about the rent. So naturally, being me, the first question I thought about was the college conundrum. Jamie was right. She was in a post-graduate program for computer science. I couldn’t help but feel impressed.

Asking that first made for an awkward segue when I next asked about the rent issue. She turned around with a kind look and said, “We can talk about it a little ways down the road. I mean you three are in a troubling situation on so many levels. The last thing I want is to stress you out further about paying rent at a time like this. I’ve given free room and board to friends, family of residents, and a few particular others for a week. It’s a rule Mom and Dad established. The situation needs to be exceptional but, I assure you, this qualifies. So, in a week’s time, assuming you’re still here, we’ll talk about rent again. Deal? Is there anything else?”

This would’ve been the perfect time to bring up Shiori and Carolyn or the strange phone call. Naturally, I missed it by shaking my head. But then Jamie didn’t follow through either.

Ms. Ishida sent me and Nathan up with Jamie. She said we were free to look around her room for the books and clean where we liked.

How much leeway did that mean for us?

She giggled. “Well, I’m hoping you won’t go through my underwear and dresses… unless you need a sudden change of clothes… or anything else private. If you can find the family album, that would be a plus. Just be careful of fragile items. When that’s done… well, we’ll see how things are then. Okay?”

We had no complaints. We ascended the chestnut-scented steps. The empty room was first on the left. Jamie set the patch to one side and looked the room over. He nodded as he surveyed it. “I was never really bothered by this room. Just the hole in the floor. Not bad. And good company on the floor too.”

I couldn’t help but feel some envy he would be on the same floor as Ami. That left me with few choices. Nathan would be best on the first floor with Miki nearby. That left me in the company of the girl who was probably cursing my guts right then. Very nice…

Jamie lined up the patch over the hole and went back downstairs for adhesive. Nathan and I went across the way to Ms. Ishida’s room. The inside was beautiful. I wasn’t surprised to see all the bookshelves. She had a set of computers off to one side on a few desks, but they were unobtrusive and slight in their form. They looked a little bit older than the computer for the house. I noticed a few electronics tucked beside a small TV. Some of them seemed like video game consoles. One looked like a disk player. And a few I didn’t recognize. The lamps were set into the walls like much of the rest of the house. They spread pooling rivers of light. Makeup and other womanly-effects were clustered against one wall with a mirrored bureau.

The floor had a couple of rather nice rugs. The room was shaped similarly to the one across the way. Her walls were painted a calming, faint shade of blue. Her bed was like others I’d seen in the house and had a phone set next to it. It wasn’t elaborately-feminine, but it sure made up for it in size and comfortable sheets. It looked like everyone on the floor could sleep in it. I needed to remind myself, as I looked at it, that it was a visage of architectural design. That the colors spread around were the kind from a painter’s set. It didn’t seem as unnatural to me anymore. It still seemed special but also right. I wondered if it was like moving from a darkened place to a bright, sun-filled room. Had I merely adjusted to this world? What would it be like when I returned to the “real” world?

Nathan lingered in the doorway. I encouraged him to come help me. He seemed conflicted. I asked him what was wrong.

He shook his head, sending locks circling about in an arc, like an oscillating suspended swing ride. “I’m not supposed to be in a girl’s room.”

I shut my eyes and reminded him he was in Miki’s room earlier. He nodded but added, “Her room wasn’t very girly though.” He had a point there. I did remember some lip gloss though and a lot of posters, school spirit, and a goodly number of family photos.

“Still, it was a girl’s room,” I reminded him. “Is there something wrong with that?”

He still loitered in the doorway. “You’re right. I shouldn’t go in Miki’s room anymore either.” I’d known Nathan for all these years, and I’d never seen him respond like this. He’d been in Carolyn’s room.

He noted Carolyn had even more of a boyish room than Miki. I suppose he was right there, excusing the images of men holding each other close on the walls. I thought back. Nathan had been in plenty of classes full of girls. Surely he’d been in a girl’s room before? He shook his head. There were instances where he had to be polite, but they were brief.

But Nathan was even more gregarious than Jamie all the time…

He bowed his head. “For the sake of others.”

I sat down on the bed. I asked Nathan to lay it all out for me. Was he gynophobic? Did he secretly want to be a girl? What was it?

Again, he seemed conflicted around entering. Eventually, he moved enough inside so we could shut the door for the sake of privacy. I did remind him that the walls carried sound well.

He spoke softly. “You know my mom died giving birth to me. She gave her life so I could live. My dad always told me...she wanted a girl. She’d had enough of boys in our family. My dad even wanted an ‘hija hermosa.’ He wound up with me and a dead wife.

“My eldest brother, Fernando, always blamed me for killing mom. So, you see, I had a life-debt from birth. I always gave my everything around the house, cooking, cleaning, helping where I could even if I was laughed at, belittled, and called “niñita” by my brothers. I always forgave them. It turned out Felípe, who used the harshest words, actually was gay. He came out to me first. He cried so much. I felt glad I’d been kind to him, despite everything. Things got better at home after that.

“I used to love to role-play female roles, strong female roles especially. Strong women, like my mom. I always felt guilty when doing it though. So, I would mix in other roles. I wasn’t mad when you said I should be an actress. I actually liked the idea. But I knew it wasn’t for me. I wasn’t allowed. I figured out early on that girls were different from me. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t be that ‘beautiful daughter’ without wounding what my mother had given her life for. I couldn’t do that.

“So I devoted my life to learning how women felt, how they thought, what they needed. I gave myself to their protection in the hope that, one day, I could save lives with the life that had been given for me. I thought about medicine for a while, but I couldn’t stand how people had to be treated.

“But with my father’s gym, I could teach Carolyn self-defense. I could walk a girl home in the middle of the night. I could train them to be stronger. But it meant leaving any chance of being like them far behind. I never had any hope of that anyway. If it had been meant for me, then that’s how I would’ve been. I accepted it. I accepted that girls would always be of a world of which I could only catch quick glimpses. But now…”

He touched his long locks of hair. “I don’t know anymore. I can’t dare to consider that it might still be possible. If all this vanishes right at the last moment, then I’ll be as dead on the inside as Jamie claims to be. I wouldn’t have the hope to help anyone. I’ve held back. I’ve been cautious. Part of me hopes that whatever or whoever is changing us will leave you and Jamie alone and change only me. And I get nervous for ever hoping it. I try to just be still and ride it all like a wave. Maybe it’ll carry me where I hope, maybe it won’t. But so long as I don’t get my hopes up too high, it’ll be okay either way.”

Nathan stopped there and rubbed his hands. He amended his speech with a quick, “I’m sorry. I know we’ve been friends for a long time. I didn’t mean to keep this from you.”

Looking back, I recognized the hints of what he was talking about. I hit myself for not putting it all together. I told him there was no reason to apologize. The fault was my own. He shook his head, but I held fast to this point. I apologized to him for not being a deeper friend through all the years. He bowed his head.

We were left in silence for a bit before I asked Nathan if he could help me look for the books. I knew it was tough for him, but Ms. Ishida gave us permission. It took a little while, but we were able to work out a system whereby Nathan dealt with tougher, less delicate stuff, and I took care of the rest.

When I looked at him, I thought back to the cumbersome motions he used to make with his bulky body. His form still looked strong but it seemed gentler. And it felt as though it was easier for him as well.

Despite what happened with my one-time mention of ‘actress’, I knew I had to say what Nathan couldn’t find a way to say. No matter if it meant karma bit me in the butt for saying it, I had to say it. “Nathan. You should be a girl. You should be able to look in the mirror and know that you’re meant to wear a skirt. Your name should be something pretty, like what… Katsumi suggested. Keiko. That should be your name.”

Nathan squirmed and rubbed his arms. “That’s very nice of you to say, but you shouldn’t say it. It could cause trouble. I’m sorry if you felt you had to say that because of all I said. I didn’t mean to get you to say it. You don’t have to say it. I just wanted you to know how I felt because I’ve been peculiar lately. I should be more enthusiastic and helpful to everyone. Sorry again.”

I rested a hand on Nathan… who I tried to think of as a ‘Keiko’ beneath that still-boyish form… and brushed a bit of his hair. “Keiko, I’ve been such a distant friend to you. I’m the one who should be sorry. Just please… Don’t be so rough on yourself. Do only what you can and don’t stress what you can’t do.”

He shook his head. “You shouldn’t use a girl’s name for me. I haven’t earned it. I’m sorry if I’m being difficult, but this is my existence.”

I wanted to pursue the fact that Nathan had done so much good for others that he deserved something in return, but I figured I would meet with the same deflection. So, I let it be and went back to sifting through the books and dusting.

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Time seemed to pass quickly in silence. Jamie joined us after a while. He glared at Nathan, who lingered to the side and dusted carefully. “You know, this would go a whole lot faster if everyone pitched in and helped…” I jabbed Jamie with an elbow. He turned the glare to me and jabbed back.

Before I knew it, it was past four according to the clock on the wall. There came a pattering of feet. They were soft and quick. A door somewhere slid open, then closed. Then the feet rushed back across the room and down the steps. I thought I heard a set of muffled voices through the floor. Some sounded familiar. Jamie was getting bored. “Are we sure those books are even here? I mean, I know they aren’t in the room I fixed and cleaned. What about those empty rooms up top and on the first floor? What about one of the other girls?”

He set his hand on her bureau and looked down. His eyes widened. Some of the feminine products were higher than others. He dug around them and came up with five books of varying lengths. He set them on the bed and flipped through the first one. A folded slip of paper like a bookmark fell out, the same with each of the books he flipped through. Nathan told him to put them back where he found them. He fanned his hand at him and read over the slips of paper.

I asked him, after a moment, “What are they?”

He shrugged and passed them to me. “Just some dumb recipes, I guess.”

I read through them. They were all the same. The name was cut off and the recipe made no sense to me. It said —

Ingredients variable. Include one full stock. One empty stock.
Combine ingredients. Wait till blended. Puncture and let fill
till full is emptied. Discard empty. Let simmer for nine m.
Prepare ingredients for intended dish. Introduce slowly.
For full flavor to emerge, arrange broth well and be patient.
Watch at all times. Stir when necessary. When ready, dump
stock and strain. Serves three.

I tried holding them all together like a puzzle. Jamie took them from me and stuffed them back into the books. “Clearly just pieces of waste paper for an improvised bookmark.”

It sure looked that way. He held the books close to him. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve found the books. We’re back on track now. We’ll be home before we know it.”

Then, I heard it. Stomps like a linebacker making his way across the floor. It put a chill through me. And other steps followed like an echo behind it. The door slid open.

Katsumi stood in the doorway with someone. She was home early.

I looked over her shoulder at the girl behind her. I recognized her quickly despite the Azako uniform she was wearing.

She was demure with chocolate eyes, a cute mouth-line, and dark-brown hair. She was the girl who caught my eye when we first arrived in this world.

Katsumi looked us over, smirked, and said, “Aww… You three decided to play dress-up without me? For shame. It won’t help, because I brought my ghost-seeing friend with me. We’re gonna exorcise the lot of you.”

The girl peered at us and said, “Hello. My name is Nina Metora.”