Chapter 15 – The Blossoms of Mecchen House

And I certainly didn’t feel alone when I returned to the barely-contained ruckus inside Mecchen. Two voices vaulted over one another, climbing higher and higher.

We slipped off our shoes by the front door and peered around the corner at the cause of all the commotion. A lightning-bolt of yellow nearly toppled Jamie.

It was Tara.

She clung to Jamie’s chest and said, “Are you okay, Jamie-kun? I was worried about you. I missed you. I didn’t want someone to take you like they took Mildred!”

She had mentioned that name once before and said it was from a ‘TV show’.

I asked her, “What happened to Mildred? Why did ‘they’ take her?”

She kept clinging to Jamie but turned to face me. “She was sick and she had to sleep for a very long time. But she was special, so they put her in a treasure box.”

That sounded rather morbid. Again, I had to remind myself that Tara was a teenager, even though she had the presence of a child.

Jamie gave her a careful smile and said, “I’ll be okay. There’s just a lot of stuff for me to work through and figure out. For now, I could use some better-fitting clothes.” He fluttered his top.

She beamed at him and clung as he searched through the clothing boxes. Ms. Ishida came by to help. Miki and Nathan were over in the kitchen. He was already arranging meals on plates and she was soaking a pan.

Nathan said, “Breakfast will be ready in just a minute, will you go tell everyone?” He had on a pleasant apron.

I nodded and went down the hall. Sumi and Reiko’s rooms were both open. I went into Sumi’s room first. She had on headphones. A pounding melody played, and I could just hear the lyrics. A female crooner spoke like she was moaning.

If you want me, you have to say pretty please. I’m a lady, not a tease;
What you want, I’ll hold you near, till you’re begging in my ear;
Your mouth waters, your face is red, you’re so soft in my bed;
Your sweet hand trembles, your head rises back, you’re such a lovely snack;
Your body, so warm to cup, my hand will hold you up...

I gave a quick cough, and Sumi turned. I tugged on my pants to keep them from slipping. She turned down the song.

“Breakfast is ready,” I told her. I looked around the room.

It wasn’t far from what I expected. Countless girlish figures covered the shelf space. I couldn’t tell if they were from shows or just presentations of ‘real’ girls. As Sumi alluded to, they were attired in removable clothing ranging from maids’ outfits to skimpy bikinis which seemed on the verge of falling off. The walls were decorated with what looked like photographs. In some of them, two or more girls were holding each other close. None of them were too risqué, but the room made me feel nervous.

I noticed a bit of filming equipment and cooking tools off to the side, as well as a few scattered books on the floor. She had a nice bed though it was not quite big enough for two.

She crossed her legs. “Is that so? Thank you for telling me.”

I gave a careful nod back and took a few steps towards the door. She rose and was beside me before I could retreat further. She took a long sniff and let out a slow, satisfied breath.

“You have the aroma of cherries. It’s a very pleasant, especially in this season. And I can tell you’ll be in full bloom soon.”

I set my face. “Listen. We are not here for your pleasure. We are here to find our way back home.”

She slipped back a little. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to offend. There are some things which are just so… captivating for me. But any beauty I drink in, I promise to give back twice as much.” Her fingers curled.

I bowed my head and left. Her eyes lingered after me.

Reiko was crouched over a desk. I heard a soft sniffle as though from a cold.

Her room was the most diverse of any of the rooms I’d seen in Mecchen. She had a scant few figures compared to Sumi’s and Katsumi’s rooms, but they were posed in even more seductive ways. Anime black and white photos were clustered in an area.

None of them looked particularly memorable. She had a laptop on a desk, but it was closed and looked rather dusty along the sides. Posters on her walls didn't follow a particular theme. Some looked dark and morbid with strange ciphers, and others were bright landscapes with flowing hills.

Her cooking implements were clustered together into one pot which overflowed with them like metallic spaghetti. A couple of professional cameras were set together in a row on one desk with sheets of music nearby. Dresses poked out of her closet.

The most conspicuous items in the room, aside from her enormous bed with blue covers, were a long bow set against the wall with its string beside it and a tower of notebooks in a single pile. No one trait seemed to stand out in her room. Part of it was organized, and part of it was haphazard. And none of the features pointed to a single, defining attribute.

She sniffled again and rummaged through a stack of envelopes. They looked used.

I scuffed the carpet.

Her neck crooked to the side. She turned around to face me.

“Why are you in here?”

“I came to tell you breakfast is ready.”

“Alright. I know. Now leave.”

The area around her light-blue eyes looked rough.

“If there’s anything I can do to help…”

“There isn’t. Leave before I throw you out the door.”

There were plenty of nasty things I could say, but instead I bowed and said, “May you have a wonderful day. Take care.” I tried to keep sarcasm out of my voice. Part of me wanted to nip at her, but I restrained the urge.

I expected her to fuss like Katsumi or bite back like when Jamie was in a poor mood. Instead, she just looked at me and interrogated, “Why did you say that?”

“Because I want that to be so.”

“Why do you care? What does it matter to you if my day is terrible or worse? Why should ‘take care’ have any meaning to me?”

She certainly wasn’t making it easy for me to say something nice.

“Because I wanted to be friendly to you. I’m sorry if it wasn’t helpful.”

Reiko stood. “Friendly? What do you want from me in return?”

“Nothing.” Actually, I wouldn’t have minded some information from her about the key mysteries of this place, but I figured it was a bad time for that.

“You want absolutely nothing? Not that you were gonna get anything for a trite, overly-sentimental expression.”

“I just wanted to wish you well.”

Her hair was drawn tight on both sides. She loosened it a little.

“You’re pathetic. Your words can’t possibly change my day, and you can’t take them back.”

“So be it, and I wouldn’t want to take them back.”

She looked at me from head-to-toe. “I’ll be at breakfast in a few minutes. And I have nothing more to say.”

I nodded and took this opportunity to leave. I felt relieved when I was back in the hall. I doubted any of that made an impression on Reiko, but it was my best effort.

I climbed the steps. Their smell and warmth had risen like slow-baking cookies. I checked Ami’s room with a light tap. I heard some groaning. I opened the door a little and peered through. It was well-lit.

Ami was sleeping in the same place and position as yesterday. She didn’t look very comfortable. I saw the progress we had made last night was completely eroded away. The floor was buried again. I kicked at a bit of trash out of spite.

“Ami. It’s time for breakfast.”

She groaned again and said a rough, “Be there soon…”

She rolled, but went back to snoring after a few moments.

I stepped into the room. I hoisted up a mound of trash and moved it aside. I grabbed a small trashcan which was lying on its side and started stuffing items into it.

Ami’s bleary eyes opened wide, and she rolled to her feet. Her mouth hung in shock. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

I looked right at her. I felt bad doing this, but I knew, if I really cared for her, I had to do something. “Today, we are going to clean this room so it will never be like this again. The state of this room is sucking the life out of you. You can’t move in it. You can’t live in it. If we don’t do something, then you’re going to become a part of it, just another inanimate object doing and achieving nothing.”

She whimpered. “No! Please. I thought we were friends. Don’t do this to me. I can’t do it all at once. It’s too much. If I just leave it alone, I can manage. It’s okay. I can deal with it. It’s too early to dig through all this anyway.”

I stared. “It’s too early. It’s too late. It’s not the right time. It’s too much. You can’t keep going to excuses. I will clean this room today, for your sake. And I am your friend.”

She wrapped around the junk I’d moved. “I need time. There’s a lot of important things in here. I need to sift through it. Please give me time. It’s my room anyway! I can do whatever I want with it.”

I shook my head. “It’s Ms. Ishida’s room, and you’re only renting. Please, Ami. This is important.”

Her face was stern and tight. “It may be her room, but it’s my stuff. I will protect them. I won’t go to school today if you try to just throw it all out. I’ll stay here and guard it.”

“It’s just stuff.”

“It’s not! Every object is special. It has a unique identity. It has a life. Everything that’s thrown away hurts when it’s lost. I’d fight for you, I’d protect you from being disrupted and hurt. Why won’t you fight for what I protect?”

I couldn’t make sense of why she was so attached to these material objects. Most of it didn’t seem to have any particular value. And those which did, like clothes and books, should just be put away. Why did she cling so closely to these things?

She trembled and looked right at me. I bowed my head. “I’m sorry. I just want to help you. Things can’t stay as they are. We have to do something.”

After a few long breaths, she said, “I appreciate that. But I can’t just throw it all away so easily. I promise to make an effort to change and I’ll let you help, with my supervision but… I just need some time first. Please.”

I nodded. “I’ll see you down at breakfast.”

She let her grip on the junk ease and smiled at me. She offered a nervous laugh. “Well. I guess I’m awake now. Sorry for freaking out. I’ll see you in a few.”

I walked out of the room, wondering if I’d done the right thing.

After one more set of pleasant steps, I came to the closed-door trio of Nana, Katsumi, and Mami. I opted to go with Nana first, since I’d talked to her not so long ago.

I was actually able to find her without much trouble. She was seated at the table with a series of cords and the headpiece set beside her. I made my way to the other side of the table and told her, “Breakfast is ready downstairs.”

She looked up at me. “I see. Thank you.”

I turned to leave. A bit of cool air played against my ear. I turned back to look at Nana. Her attention was on a tangle of cords which had taken on the form of a snake coiled in upon itself.

“Nana?”

“Yes?”

“I just wanted you to know I would go after you if you left or were ‘gone’. I didn’t quite tell you that before. I just… wanted you to assure of that.”

She bowed her head. “I understand.” She pulled at the circle and made it straight and orderly.

Since I’d left Katsumi on less-than-ideal terms, I figured it would be less painful to rouse Mami first.

I gave two short knocks. A moment later, Mami peered half an eye out the door.

“Breakfast?”

“Breakfast.”

“Thanks…” She shut the door.

That sure went quickly.

I turned around to face Katsumi’s door. I knocked the same way. Twice. Finally, on the third try, she slid the door open. She still had on her sleeping clothes from before.

“Got something more to say?”

“Just here to tell you about breakfast.”

“Did you cook it?”

“No, it was Tara and Miki.”

“Ah. Well, I’ll be down in a few.”

She began to shut the door but I leaned forward and wedged in. “I’m sorry. I know there are certain things you care for. I don’t understand them, but I know they’re important to you. It still really disturbs me that my face doesn’t look anything like it should. But, since it’s not really my face, I guess I can let you play with it a little. To a certain extent.” I felt a little light-headed. I leaned against the wall for a second and reestablished my footing.

Katsumi opening the door again was a positive sign, but then she rushed away. When she returned, I saw a camera flash twice. I blinked. No after-images, at least.

She stepped closer. She was taller than me, by a good deal. Measuring it out in my head, I had to be as tall as Nana now. My pant legs were on the floor, and my sleeves clustered around my fingertips. Nathan was the tallest of us again.

Katsumi was very pleased as she looked me up and down. “You’re in luck. I have some old clothes of mine which should fit you just right.”

I suspected they would be a little more girlish than what I’d been wearing up to this point.

I was right.

She laid the clothes across her arm with a grin. She held a top and a pair of small jeans. The top had a modest, triangular neckline. It was orange and ringed on the edges by white and purple stripes. The jeans were definitely girl jeans. They at least had pockets on the front but buttons with no zipper.

I looked at Katsumi. She smiled. “I figure, this way, I can lure you into a false sense of security before I lay something ultra-feminine on you when your breasts fill in.”

I shivered at that comment but accepted the clothes. They fit very well. I didn’t look long in the mirror, but I definitely looked like a young girl who hadn’t started developing yet. Katsumi chuckled. “I think you look very nice. Now it’s time for me to get dressed as well. See ya at breakfast.”

She ushered me out of the room but with something approaching her variety of gentleness.

At least my duty was done and I received some nice clothes out of it.

I hopped back down the steps to the ground floor just in time to see the last of the plates set on the table. Only the third-floor girls were absent.

Sumi was the first to notice my changes in attire and height, though I tried not to draw attention to myself.

“You’re quite the petite one now. Like a younger Katsumi. Come sit and let me get a real good look at you.”