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Today I met a really weird person… and my face hurts a lot!

Edited by: Trismegistus Shandy
Beta Read by: Yuki Kitsune, M A Thermidor

Supplementary Notes from your Kami: Yes, I’m a Kami.  Even until today, Aimi still refers to me as her ‘stalker’.  She really pisses me off, so I’ll tweak her nose and let everyone know what she’s caused by modifying her memoirs here and there to enhance the honesty of the work. Though honestly, I have to take some responsibility for something she did. I could never have imagined how much damage her ability could do.

All throughout Aimi’s adventures there was an outcry all around the Earth; particularly redneck Americans cried the loudest. Even I could hear the despairing keening.  My fault in part, but Aimi is mostly at fault here. If she wasn’t so often in mortal danger in her new world, those poor men wouldn’t have found their prized trucks demolished the next day.  Rumors of a frightening monster roaming throughout the world spread, and Aimi was more feared than even the ridiculous Slender Man, not that they ever found out her name, but I may decide to leak certain crucial information to them...

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I woke up the next day, and my face hurt so much. It was actually swollen.  I found out that Marigold-onee-sama had slapped me silly. I cried so much. I found myself in a large futon with really comfortable blankets over me.  That was nice and it comforted me a little. I curled up for hours until I felt better and could see, but after a while I noticed that someone was snuggling up against me.  I wondered if it was Marigold-onee-sama so I pulled the blanket off of the person and met someone new. She was really weird. At first I thought she was really cute. She was somewhat larger than me with short cropped green hair.  She drooled and twitched oddly, and Marigold-onee-sama at that time was nowhere to be seen.

Marigold-onee-sama hadn’t left me a note, so I got up and decided to explore this new environment.  The place was a single room. There was only one futon in the room. In the corner was a hearth with another one of those pots that Marigold-onee-sama used, or maybe it was the same one, hovering over the fireplace.  The fireplace had a mantle above it and assorted cooking tools were neatly stacked there, including a cast-iron frying pan. I walked over to examine things further. There were knives and implements and such. I smelled something and looked into the pot, finding the soup we’d had yesterday.  I assumed that she’d left it on the stove for me, or maybe also for the green-haired girl.

Speaking of which, I yelped when I felt something grab my ankle and then an odd moisture there.  I looked down beyond my shredded skirt to see that strange green-haired girl clinging to my leg. She was drooling and looking up at me with dizzy eyes. She shook and twitched and her eyes would pop open and closed with random frequency.

“Um… hi… I’m Aimi… Nice to meet you… W-who are you?” I asked her, kind of freaked out.  The girl started gnawing on my leg and that disturbed me even more. All she did was blurble and twitch.  I could tell that she was kind of lonely maybe, or maybe miserable. Why wouldn’t she be? I found out later that this girl had a horrible disease. At that time it never occured to me, so I didn’t react like I might have otherwise.  I yanked my leg away from her, and it was surprisingly easy to do so. The girl burbled and I knelt down by her. “Ummies… are you hungry? Do you want some of this soup?”

I waited for a response and all she did was slur and twitch. She scrabbled to my knees and leaned up weakly.  She flashed me a weird smile and commenced to licking my knees. My eyes widened, and I didn’t understand so I stood up and chewed my lip as I tried to brush the slobber off my knees.  I picked up a wooden bowl from the mantle and picked up the one ladle I could see. I dipped it into the soup and poured a small amount into the bowl. I lifted a copper spoon like the ones Marigold had with her, and I knelt down again and tried to feed the poor girl, but she was too deranged. All she’d do was burble and the only thing she would focus was on me. She only wanted to slobber on me.

I tried for fifteen minutes, and finally I had to give up on getting her to take some soup.  I climbed to my feet, and when I started to eat the soup myself, I found the girl shaking and clinging to my leg again.  I started walking slowly as I ate, pacing around the room, and the girl twitched after me, crawling. I can’t say I enjoyed that meal, but I got to examine the rest of Marigold-onee-sama’s home, and honestly there wasn’t much to say about it. There was a small shelf with books on it.  There were several packs in a corner. The place was pretty meager. Only one window allowed sunlight in. It was clear that Marigold wasn’t very well off.

I set aside the bowl when I was done eating.  There was a room off to the side that I discovered next.  It turned out to be a washcloset, and that was exactly what I needed.  I closed the door behind me to keep that girl crawling after me from following me.  I looked around, and it wasn’t long before there was a scrabbling at the door. The girl’s sad mumblings echoed through it.  I sniffled as I thought about the poor girl. Who is she? What’s going on with her?

After a while I focused on the facilities.  There was something that resembled a toilet, but I don’t think it had plumbing.  It was more like a chamberpot that I’d read about in fantasy books. I squirmed out of my ragged skirt and went.  The natural impulses hadn’t seized me since I had met Marigold-onee-sama. The biggest problem wasn’t going to the bathroom, exactly. There was a strange sensation behind me and I actually finally in this position discovered my tail.  I mean, Marigold-onee-sama had told me about it, but I hadn’t been able to believe it. I reached out to touch it and it twitched away from my hands. I squeaked as I chased it with my hands until I finally grasped it. It was like it had its own mind.

I stroked it and the sensation made me shiver from head to toes.  I squeaked and mewled. It was super soft and silky and the sensation of rubbing it made me feel strange.  I panted and squirmed and twitched like that girl as I discovered the joy of my sensitive tail. Meanwhile the scrabbling at the door had ceased.  I cleaned up after with a bright blush in my swollen cheeks. It was probably the highlight of my morning.

I walked over to a nearby mirror over a washstand.  I was seized by a sudden desire to discover more about myself.  My eyesight was a little bleary. I could see that my body looked a lot like it always had.  I was wearing my school uniform, but it was ragged, and it had become even more raggedy due to that strange event on the Plains.  The Stylidium Lilies had messed up my already messed-up uniform. My midriff was exposed and one breast was slightly visible. My skirt was ragged and barely protected my dignity.  I touched the mirror and realized that my hair was a stark white or maybe silvery color. Maybe the things I had gone through had made my hair go white. I was terrified that I was old for a moment, but I noticed that despite how messed up my face was, I was still young. I turned before the mirror and giggled a little as I saw my tail in its splendor, and on top of my head were cat ears!  I reached up to touch them and squirmed at the sensation. It was almost as good as when Marigold-onee-sama had scratched them. I smiled at the mirror and small fangs were visible. I licked my lips and I meowed cutely.

“I-I’m a cat…”

Two days later you finally realize it. Idiot.

I squeed. “Stalker-sama!” I cried out. “Were you watching me pottying? Are you a pervert?  You can talk to me no matter where I am!”

Ugh, let’s just not discuss it… go check on that poor girl. She’s wandered outside. Go!  Stalker-sama’s voice sounded exasperated.

“Ah, that girl… how did she? Isn’t the door too high for her to reach? She seems too weak.” I turned to the chamberpot and found that what I had left in it was gone.  I blinked and chewed my lip again. More things I couldn’t understand were happening.

Go idiot! Don’t obsess over the disappearance of your waste!

“Y-Yes, Stalker-sama!” I blushed as I cried out and darted out of the washroom into the main room.  I looked desperately and found that girl gone. The front door was ajar. H-How?

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I gasped and ran outside, beholding the world again.  The sun blinded me. Villagers stared at me as they walked past me on their business.  A few of the men I saw grinned in a way that bothered me.

“Poor girl…” I heard a woman murmur.  I darted towards that woman, and she flinched in response.

“That girl… with the green hair. Where did she go?” I asked, my voice panicked.  She’d bothered me with her slobbering, but obviously onee-sama was taking care of her, and it fell to me to look after her since she wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“U-um… What are you doing in a human town, Bushi girl?  Aren’t your kind usually shy around humans? Aren’t you taking a major risk?” she asked me, looking concerned.

“Th-that girl… where did she go?” I asked her.

“W-well… she’s probably eating grass over that way… she…” She looked away from me. “J-just go that way.  Take care.” She turned and walked away.

I watched her go with a perplexed expression.  I didn’t understand her reaction. I smiled and shrugged as I ran after the girl.  I found her where the woman had directed me. I barely paid attention to my surroundings as I ran, but I saw the buildings looked western-style. They seemed like something you might see in old Europe, but the people here sleep in futons, or maybe they sleep in beds too?  The girl was in the square and the eyes of villagers were avoiding her as she was browsing grass in the square. She was flopping, twitching and slobbering as she tore at the grass and ate it insatiably. She shook her backside in a strange way.

Marigold-onee-sama reappeared after a while.  I didn’t know what to do with the girl. She seemed so happy I didn’t want to stop her, but eating grass couldn’t be good for anyone, right?

“Aimi!” Marigold smiled as she walked over, looking gallant in her armor as she had before.  “I’m sorry I left you alone. It was very important,” she told me. “Help me with Iris, and please forgive her. She’s not in her right mind… I hope you’ll take care of her when I’m away.  Thanks to you, she’ll be fine soon. I’ll take care of you too, Aimi-chan,” she said with a motherly expression that made my heart flutter. I scurried to her side and helped her pull the girl onto her shoulder. The girl twitched with a silly expression and snuggled up against Marigold-onee-sama like an affectionate but insane baby. The way she twitched and spasmed, Marigold-onee-sama had issues holding onto her, so I supported her by holding Iris’ legs.  It made it easier, at least. When we were almost back to Marigold-onee-sama’s home, Iris spasmed and her rear slammed into my face. My face hurt more, but it was kind of nice actually. Her butt was cute and kind of nice to look at. Should I have been looking at a poor invalid like that?

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Aimi’s notes about today:

It’s not easy looking after a weird person that can’t function well.  Thankfully that didn’t last for too long! I learned that the Stylidium vines that Onee-sama was able to harvest were the main ingredient for a healing elixir that would cure lots of weird conditions like Iris’.

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Notes from Marigold:

I’m so sorry I left you alone with Iris, Aimi! I had to deliver the vines as soon as possible to the apothecary.  He was happy to have the extra tendrils we’d harvested thanks to you. I was going to spend my savings to see that Iris could be restored to her normal self, but now I didn’t have to!   I made sure to put the soup back on the fire for you before I left! I knew you’d be hungry! Also, I’m so sorry I beat you!

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The notes of Kami:

I’ll clarify things a little more.  It seems that Marigold was traumatized by her work as a waitress when she saved up for her Adventurer’s License.  If someone gropes her butt without her permission, she has an automatic reaction. She had to suppress it for so long that once she no longer had to work as a waitress, her stressful experiences gave her something like Tourette's Syndrome.  It wasn’t really your fault exactly, Aimi, but this wasn’t the last time you made this mistake, was it? Try to learn from it and wise up a little!