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major_kerinaAnd here we go with the last bit of this chapter! Wooo!
After all those questions, I figured Katsumi would ask a few of her own.
She asked, “Could you sit on the floor with your legs folded? This pose isn’t really working for me. And I shouldn’t have started in pen.”
Katsumi stayed on the same page of her notebook. I stood up from the chair and sat on the floor a few different ways until Katsumi liked the one which left my feet numb.
If her goal was to remind me yet again, without shouting it, that I was a girl, then she succeeded. The remaining lavender scent on my hands definitively contributed as well.
Katsumi smiled. “Great facial expression. Almost done.”
Akiko reached over for the towel behind Katsumi. It was Katsumi’s turn to sniff. She raised her head from the page and looked at Akiko, who stared back like a thief caught in the act. Akiko laid protectively on the pink blanket.
Katsumi bent to sniff Akiko’s fingers. “Sumi’s brand. A little strong for someone...who at least looks your age.”
Akiko looked between ten and twelve to me, but then I’d always been poor at guessing ages. I hoped it wasn’t strong enough that Katsumi could smell it on my hands.
She reached behind her pillow, fished out a small spray bottle, and had Akiko offer up her wrist. Katsumi didn’t need to tell her to sniff her wrist and I could smell it from here on the air.
It was a subtler scent, like licorice and raspberries. Akiko’s eyes and nose twitched. She took a breath and made the smallest little ‘chu’ sound for a sneeze.
Katsumi giggled and said, “So cute. I need to give you a few products to make sure you’re fully immersed in girlhood.”
It felt nice that she wasn’t saying such to me for once. Shame it didn’t last long.
She looked at me. “I have a few things for you as well. But make sure she uses what I give her.”
Akiko was still captivated by the first scent when Katsumi sprayed a different one on her other wrist. Akiko brought her wrists close and tried to sniff at them both. Katsumi smiled again.
As much as it was nicer to see Akiko like this compared with a toothy, dark fiend trying to eat everything up, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the still, silent dress on Tara’s bed.
This wasn’t a young girl. It just had the form of one. Hitomi was right on that. If given a choice, I would gladly take a black dress with red patches and Ami back to normal instead.
Akiko sniffed in my direction.
I cleared my throat. “How close are you to being finished?”
Katsumi set the spray bottles back down. “Pretty close. Just a little bit more.”
She scratched at the pad with her pen.
Akiko sniffed at us both.
Katsumi shifted her legs and asked, mid-scratch, “Before I forget, I had something I wanted to ask you.”
I eased off my numb feet for a moment. “Go ahead.”
Katsumi made marks like a metronome. “I was recently promised a number spots from Miki for the blossom viewing. Her family makes a big deal of it. They always camp out at some good spots.”
I settled back on my legs gingerly. “I heard that about her family. What are you asking me?”
I felt pins and needles from hell. I tried to keep as impassive as possible.
If the light wincing I made bothered Katsumi, she gave no sign of it and her pen didn’t rest.
“The blossom viewing is a vital, pride-filled, and beautiful community event. You must attend.”
The worst of the pins and needles echoed through my legs. “So…umm…you’re inviting me or something?”
Akiko blinked several times and her lids settled, only to dash open again a moment later.
Katsumi’s pen strokes became small and slow. “I’ve invited a number of people. I’d like to make it a Mecchen House tradition. We’ll see, I guess.”
I could hear a faint gust outside a window. “What about this storm that may hit us? That could wipe out the blossoms.”
Katsumi shook her head and looked me in the eye. “No matter what storm comes our way, I know the flowers will endure.”
A sudden knock came at the door. I gingerly stood, limped over, and opened it. Hitomi stood there with Keiko behind her.
“I need to talk to you,“ said Hitomi.
I looked them over, gave a nod, and said, “Just a few minutes here. I’ll meet you in my room.” I gestured to the wall.
Hitomi flapped her hand with a bit of irritation but gave a nod back. “Alright, my dear sister.”
Keiko said nothing but gave a small bow.
I shut the door and limped a little quicker back to Katsumi.
“I’m gonna need to go.”
“I gathered…” Katsumi looked up at me and made a few more pen-marks. “Just so you know, we’ll be wearing kimonos under the blossoms.”
I wasn’t sure if that was meant to seal the deal or dissuade me. I tapped a hand against my hip. “I’ll consider your offer…uh…thanks.”
Akiko rocked a bit, her eyes drifting closed, and the blanket clutched tight. Her head nearly settled on the pillow before she bolted up again.
Katsumi put her free hand on Akiko’s back and looked at me, “It’ll probably be Friday. Feel free to bring her along too.”
Watching Akiko, she seemed to notice that we were talking about her. Her eyes sought me, seemingly curious as to what I’d say about her now. But then, perhaps it was just my imagination.
I gave her a nod. Akiko repeated the same nod a few times.
Katsumi held her pen aside the notebook and furrowed her mouth-line. “I won’t be done with this for a little while yet. You’re not…going far again…are you?”
I rested my hands together. “I don’t intend to. Hitomi just wants to talk. Then I figure I’ll just take a bath with Jamie and Keiko and probably go to bed after that.”
Akiko’s dusty-red eyes widened. She seemed to be listening to us but I couldn’t tell if she comprehended what we said.
Katsumi laid her notebook down with one last little pen-mark. She gave off a little a grin. “Actually, that works out perfectly. I should be done with the last one and have everything backed up by bedtime. The perfect lullaby.”
To her.
Katsumi set her notebook and pen aside. “One thing before you go…”
She put together a bag of feminine products on-loan for Akiko to use. Akiko stared into the bag when Katsumi handed it to her. She seemed captivated. She also let Akiko borrow the blanket for the night. With the tight grip she had on the cloth, it was a moot point.
Katsumi folded her arms in a rigid, yet flowing way. “I stuck in a few items for you as well. Maidens must be vigilant. Have a lovely bath, you two.”
I gave her a little nod and left with Akiko lingering behind me.
-------
Akiko clutched her bag of goodies close and leaned her face inside every few moments.
I poised my hand to knock on the door, then reminded myself that this was supposed to be my room. So I just slid open the door.
Hitomi and Keiko were both seated on the floor. I turned to Keiko. I was about to ask if she could go get Jamie, when Jamie appeared behind me, the books from before in his arms. Akiko snuck to the other side of me, her bag close to her chest.
Jamie clenched his fists and threw the books down. “You again! What are you doing here?!”
Hitomi seemed to relax in the face of Jamie’s rumbling fury. Keiko wavered, nervous and fretful. She looked to me.
I stepped forward. “Hitomi. You wanted to talk to me. Speak, be done, and go.”
Her purple eyes slanted and she blew a small breath. “I just wanted to talk to my sister. And perhaps see my sisters a moment before I went to bed.”
Jamie leaned in ahead of me. “You won’t find them HERE!”
She gazed down at her hands. “No. Not yet. But soon.”
Jamie clenched his teeth. “You…you hideous body-snatcher! You won’t win. I won’t let you!” He leapt at Hitomi, toppling her, and planting his hands on her shoulders like before. The floor creaked a moment but didn’t shudder.
Jamie almost pressed into her with his chest but quickly leaned back. His long, blond hair spilled onto the floor around the both of them.
Hitomi glanced at Jamie’s hands, planted to the floor on either side of her neck.
His arms quaked, flexed at much as his new muscles would allow.
Hitomi looked up at Jamie and said only, “You’re so beautiful, Kimi.”
“SHUT UP!”
I was sure Katsumi could hear through the walls and perhaps the entire house as well. Akiko peeked out from her fort made of the back of my shirt.
Jamie heaved a ragged breath. “You will turn us back into boys and you will give back EVERYTHING you’ve taken away. Or else…” His arms leaned inward.
Hitomi lay still on the floor. She didn’t seem the least deterred. In fact, she seemed relaxed.
“Harming me will only harm this physical body. It will only hurt Nana and, ultimately, yourself.”
I touched Jamie by the shoulder. He didn’t look at me.
Keiko tentatively offered a touch on the other side.
After clenching his hands on the floor a few times, Jamie finally let Hitomi go.
She sat up.
Jamie shook his head. “You have done so much harm…”
Hitomi bowed her head. “I know…I accept that.” She leaned forward with her arms clutched around her legs like a ring. “The recipe didn’t go as I planned. And a few things are still…lumpy.”
Jamie smacked his legs with his fists. “LUMPY??? YOU CALL THIS ‘LUMPY’!?!” He seized upon the pronounced shape of his breasts, pulling at them a little. He twitched.
Hitomi smiled faintly. “No. I mean other matters. Don’t worry, I’ll deal with them soon enough.”
Jamie rumbled. “Explain!”
She stood with a whisper of sound. “Not yet. But soon.”
Jamie gave a smaller rumble. “You say that a lot.”
“Yes, I guess I do. I’ve heard it a lot.”
The rumble faded to irritation. “How about you start making sense?”
“I can’t say anymore about that than I’ve already told you. But I can say one thing more. And I’ll be ‘done’.”
She looked to me. Akiko listened with the bag and blanket beside her head.
Hitomi noticed her and her eyes flew to mine. I stared her down with my mouth-line drawn rigid. I wondered if Akiko was one of the ‘lump’s she meant.
Hitomi looked away after a moment and said, “I always loved seeing the blossoms with Toki…”
Jamie interrupted her, “You knew Toki?” Yes, this would be news Jamie, at least.
“I know The Toki. Her blossoms are always so perfect. Well, as close as a human world can get to perfection.”
Jamie folded his arms and Keiko listened intently.
I let the words drift into my ears as I helped Akiko set her bag to one side. She lingered near the bag, digging the items out like strange toys and setting them on the blanket. Some dropped on their sides and upside-down.
Hitomi continued, “I always dreamed of reaching her level of perfection. But my blossoms were like scribbled, disembodied hands. They were…lumpy…and flawed. I crumpled them up and threw them away.”
She stopped there.
I asked, “You draw?” It felt strange that drawing would come up.
“Not anymore,” she told me. “And that’s all I have right now. Have a nice bath, my beloved sisters. If you need me, I’ll be in the room at the end.”
Before even Jamie could object, she was gone, the door shut behind her.
Jamie groaned and said, “I am so through with this day…”
Akiko tipped the bag over and rest of the items spilled out.
Jamie fingered his sleeves and glanced at Akiko, “So, what’s her deal? Is she really…that monster thing you mentioned?”
I offered my best shrug.
I crouched beside Akiko as she turned the items over on the floor. I looked through them. Katsumi gave her a little orange brush. Aside from that, I picked out a body spray, soaps, and a shower gel in licorice and raspberry.
I took a towel out of the closet and put it in Akiko’s bag. She looked inside and picked up one of the items still on a floor. I shook my head and told her, “You have what you need in there.”
She looked confused. I tried to take the item from her but she made a loud grunt. I let go. She stared at the item, a pink spray bottle. She put it on the blanket.
Jamie sighed. “Are you sure it’s wise to get her near a tub of water?”
I expected he’d add ‘after midnight’ but I wasn’t sure if it was that late yet. It felt even later.
Jamie pointed at her. “I mean you could probably have Ms. Ishida give her a bath and she wouldn’t mind.”
It was a good point. And Ms. Ishida had helped her earlier with no problems.
And she probably knew more about how to use these soaps than the three of us and I figured she’d be glad to spend time with Akiko.
With a nod, I said, “Good idea.”
-------
I walked with Akiko down the scented stairs to the second story. Ms. Ishida was scooping up some lint into a dust-pan in the hallway. Tara was in the hall too. She twirled around in a golden robe which matched her hair.
Tara met me.
“Hi, Keli-kun! Hello, Aki-chan!” Akiko darted behind me with her bag and blanket up like magical wards.
I returned the hello and asked, “Did you take your bath?”
Tara gave a fast nod. “Yup! Oh! I put away the dress in a drawer with a few other outfits of mine. I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want the dress to get messed up.”
That drawer sure had to be dark, but at least the dress wasn’t lonely. Still, the idea unnerved me. “Can you tell…that dress apart from the others?”
Tara smiled. “Sure can! I put a little ribbon on the dress to make sure. I have a few outfits the same color, so I wanted to make super-duper sure for you! Is that okay?”
“Thanks, Tara. Has Ms. Ishida taken her bath yet?”
Tara shook her head.
Perfect. I explained my situation to Ms. Ishida as she scooped up another flake of lint. She listened, nodded, and quickly agreed.
“I’ll take care of everything.” She smiled at Akiko, who stared back.
I walked away. Akiko made no effort to follow me, so I didn’t linger, except to wave goodnight to Tara.
-------
Jamie and Keiko were already in the bath when I went back upstairs. I put together a few things I needed and joined them.
Jamie fidgeted with his sleeves. Keiko slipped off her pants. Her underwear was cute. Jamie slid off his socks first and avoided the mirror as he tugged on his shirt.
I encouraged him. “Come on, you’ve done this before. No worries.”
Jamie grimaced. “Not like this. I feel so nervous.”
Keiko pursed her lips and quickly took off her top and underwear. With a quick reach-behind and a shrug, she was naked before us.
She held her hands out. “There you go. If I can do it, then you’ll be okay.”
Jamie held a hand over his eyes. “Surprisingly…that doesn’t help as much as you’d expect.”
Keiko bowed, a hand cupping her chest. “Sorry…” She slipped into the water up to her shoulders and gave a relaxed sigh.
Jamie gulped and pulled his shirt over his head. He held his shirt low in his hands and looked down. He fixed a bra strap, set the shirt in a corner and held a towel to himself.
I slipped off my shirt. I flexed my shoulders a bit. The water looked quite inviting.
Keiko’s eyes were shut and she had such a happy expression.
Jamie tugged at his waistband and slipped off his pants. He let the towel drop to cover at much as possible. I kicked off my pants and set them with my shirt.
I was about to undo the bra I was wearing when I heard a small sound from Jamie. He’d covered his eyes with his hands. He wasn’t crying but he was crouched a little. I went over to his side.
He took a few deliberate breaths and said, muddled through his hands, “I can’t do this…I...it’s so…it’s.” He tried a few more breaths before starting again. “I feel like a raw nerve. I feel everything and I just…want to cover it all up.”
Jamie trembled, despite the towel around him and the curtain of hair at his back. He set a hand on his lower abdomen.
He gulped. “But I can’t cover it all up. And what scares me is…what I feel right now doesn’t seem as strange and disturbing as I expected. That has to be Hitomi’s doing, right?”
I had plenty I could say about Hitomi and my theories of her but I doubted any of that would comfort Jamie. So I just put a warm hand on his shoulder.
His shivering calmed quickly. He pulled his towel away from his chest and proclaimed, “I’m not gonna bathe long or with anything Katsumi provided. I had enough of her stuff on the first night here.”
He pursed his mouth-line and reached around for his bra. With a single motion, he slipped it off and combined it with his underwear into a ball of cloth. His towel never slipped out of place, even when he held it with a few fingers.
I did likewise a moment later, only without a towel. It felt strange standing there and surprisingly cold. I shivered a little despite the warmth still in my hands. I pranced over the bath and sunk in.
All pain, desire, and fear slipped away.
I shut my eyes as well. For a moment.
Still, the thought of how things were going in the room just below us kept my gaze aimed downward. A female body rippled through the hazy water. I slipped down to my chin. The ends of my hair dipped like cautious fingers in the water.
Jamie slunk into the far-end of the bath, holding onto the towel till the last moment. His hands started to cling to his chest but the warm water seemed to affect his whole body like a tranquilizer.
His hair floated around him like pale kelp. I settled next to him. He glanced over, blinking long and heavy, and said, “It’s not…bad.”
Keiko floated a little nearer and smiled.
I had considered taking this private time to share what I’d learned about Hitomi and discover what Keiko had found as well, but the moment felt so pleasant and precious.
I remained silent and floated in the still, warm water.
-------
When Keiko took her turn to wash, the soap she picked looked like the cucumber one I’d seen earlier. I floated to the edge of the tub and leaned my arms over it. It seemed like a neat pose. Or rather, it was neat and desperately uncomfortable to hold, especially with the side of the tub against my chest.
“Keiko…what did you and Hitomi do in Nana’s room?”
She picked out a sponge and applied an easy lather. “She needed some of things moved around, those computers mostly. I was glad to help.”
That made sense. “Did she say anything…odd or notable or strange?”
Keiko was soon covered in suds. She paid careful attention to her arms. “There were some things. When I placed a few of the computer consoles, she would look all around and either shake her head or say ‘that’s right’. It was like she had a plan for where they were supposed to go.”
Jamie cupped some water and splashed his face with it. “We should go in there and move them around so that’ll screw it up for her.”
Keiko picked up the spray nozzle. “She talked about several backups for her ‘work’.”
Jamie sent quakes through water with his fists. “Our lives are not her twisted plaything!”
I dripped some water through my hair. It seemed a shame that we weren’t going to wash each other’s backs.
Keiko turned the spray on the nozzle to a low-setting and sprayed it against the tile floor. She curled a bit of water in her hands and watched it dribble down the drain. She said, “I gathered the impression…that she means well. I mean, I’m scared about losing my family and all I care about…but if she’s right then we could’ve lost a piece of ourselves. And I can understand the desire to do anything to get back those you care about.”
Jamie slunk into water. “Don’t go sympathizing with someone like her. She means well?…Like fun! She’s a deluded, brain-muddled demi-god who has destroyed our lives and cast us in some twisted attempt to get her lost family back.”
My area of water felt like it was getting warmer. I floated a little over.
Keiko sprayed her hair and sighed. “For me, she seems a little like Nana…I mean, Nana always felt so empty and with Hitomi…it feels like that emptiness has been covered in something fractured and broken…” She blushed and rinsed her hair once more. “I dunno. It’s just a feeling.”
Jamie sent underwater tremors through the bath with his hand. “I’ll buy she’s messed up. And as for Nana, there’s a good example of what’ll happen if you think about helping Hitomi. She’ll swipe your body.”
Keiko shivered a little and settled back into the water on the far side. She said only, “Sorry…”
The three of us sat in the warm water till I figured it was my turn, since Jamie wasn’t budging. I chose a soap which smelled like an orange and had a strange name. I squeezed it onto a clean sponge and lathered up just like Keiko.
The sponge was slippery. I nearly lost it a few times. The soap I picked had a potent affect-effect which left my skin tingly.
I had to remind myself how strange animated soap bubbles were. They felt normal to just look at them.
Jamie cleared his throat and asked, “So what have you learned about Hitomi?”
I figured that question was coming. So I unraveled what I had gleaned since Hitomi showed up.
Such as that Hitomi knew Toki.
Jamie shrugged. “Those trippy visions suggested that.”
I noted the books.
“Well, I’ve never read them either.” Jamie stretched his arms out of the tub.
Keiko softly said, “I can remember reading Carl Jung. I think it was for a class.”
Her hands curled in the water like a dancing ballerina to stir up her memories.
“Umm…I remember reading about the anima. The unconscious, female component of the male mind. There’s a lot of stuff about dreams and the unconscious. The self is a circle…”
Keiko’s hands settled. She shrugged and bowed her head.
Jamie pushed a wave through the water.
I mentioned what Hitomi said that one of the Mecchen girls left has inside knowledge.
Jamie lifted one of his legs out and dipped it back in. “Reiko or Sumi. That’s my guess.”
Keiko couldn’t come up with a guess.
I rinsed and mentioned the figurines.
Jamie coughed. “So…she turned anime girl figurines into a turtle, a bird, and snake? And you wonder why I question her sanity? Any of this story about ‘you put them there’ is moot…”
Jamie pushed up in the tub, grimaced from hitting the side, and settled back down. “Ow…I just had a thought. A simplification, maybe. What if…being this weird spirit thing…she wanders around, suddenly sees those particular figurines and is like ‘Those look like my long-lost sisters! Those three must be them’. And the rest follows with her delusion.”
It relied on a lot of assumptions.
He rubbed his shin through the water. “It was just a thought. Is that all she told you?”
I shook my head. “She seemed to say Ami started as a dress. The dress from Keiko’s vision.” I told them about what Hitomi said about the dark being too.
Jamie scoffed. “Sounds like her plan is more full of holes than her head. Again, I figure on self-reinforcing delusion.”
He glanced at his dropped towel beside the tub and drifted over there as I finished the last of my scrubbing and rinsing.
I slipped back into the water as Jamie darted out with an undulating splash and a flash of jiggles before he sealed them in his towel.
Heaving a sigh, he concluded, “We must stop her, or it won’t matter. We’ll just be at her whim.”
I tried curling my legs. It worked better than leaning against the edge, though not by much. I asked Jamie, “So what do we do to stop her?”
He picked up a bar of soap but no sponge, shook his head slowly, and said, “I wish I knew. Maybe…? No. We have to persist and be watchful for an opening.” He scrubbed with the soap while trying to hold the towel. The towel failed in the process.
Keiko’s mouth opened gently and the words, “You’re so beautiful…” dripped out.
Jamie lamented, “Not…helping.”
-------
With awkward grabs and crouching, Jamie managed to scrub and rinse with a towel shield. He kept far clear of his groin region and only cleaned his chest through soap run-off.
I gave Jamie the courtesy of the male pronoun until he considered himself differently in much the same way as with Keiko’s shy, affectionate feeling about the female pronoun. For myself, it was much harder.
I stepped out and dried off with Keiko soon following me. I wondered if Akiko was done with her bath yet.
The pajamas were nice and fit me well. When I left to check on Akiko, Jamie was still soaking by himself and Keiko was nearly dry.
I padded barefoot down the hall, slowing as I passed Katsumi’s room. I gave a few loud taps with my left foot. She didn’t emerge.
Mami’s door was just ajar just a crack. I opted to check on them both on my way back.
-------
Before then, I met Katsumi leaving Ms. Ishida’s room with a stack of papers. She leaned towards me, gave a sniff, and remarked, “Nice choice.”
She presented the papers to me and said, “All backed-up and this is for you: a complete female change.” Katsumi looked quite satisfied with herself.
I accepted the papers and bowed slightly. I heard some splashing from the bath.
Katsumi coughed and asked, “Are you going to look at them?”
I figured she meant ‘now’, I held them up, and riffled through the pages.
They were well-ordered and not terrible artistically.
My main complaint was she drew the original male form with a menacing sneer and exaggerated facial hair. Her lines looked rather strange as well, like she was trying to scratch them into the paper.
In the next image, the guy wore a girlish outfit, a stunned expression, and a red wig. He was restored to a masculine appearance in the next drawing with a ‘whew…I guess that’s over’ sense of relief on his face. It was more caricature than portrayal though.
I was impressed by the fourth one. I could see Katsumi grinning out of the corner of my eye. The doomed male figure’s clothes were loose on him and at risk of falling off.
With the one after that, Katsumi began to combine changes. I didn’t mind. The figure’s facial hair dots and other marks of body hair were gone. Not only that, but he clutched at his throat in bewilderment with one hand while his other tried to hold up the pants sliding from his smaller waist.
I gave Katsumi a nod and turned the page. Despite the fact I went through it, I could appreciate the work Katsumi put into the drawings.
She combined changes again with the pants falling all the way down to reveal girlish legs with cute arms trying to pull them back up. The face looked also looked more like the one I had now.
For the seventh one, she was rather clever. Katsumi shortened him even more so his oversized shirt went to his thighs. And she made some action lines around the groin with crossed legs and the most indescribable expression on his…now likely, her face.
For the penultimate sketch, the female figure clutched her new chest in shock. Katsumi made size of the chest more comparable to the one on Jamie than the one on me. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be flattered.
For the last one, it was as she alluded to. The now-girl was sitting effeminately and wearing a nicely-detailed kimono which fit her well. She blushed a bit and held her hands in her lap. That, I could tell, Katsumi borrowed from Keiko and applied to me.
Despite her own twists on reality and the little drawing flaws, I liked it and I told her such.
Katsumi held her hands together in front of her and blushed a little herself.
The door to the bath then slid open and Ms. Ishida stepped out in a pale nightgown with Akiko clutching her side. She was dressed in a little, light nightgown herself. Their hair looked damp.
Katsumi bid them goodnight with a smile, thanked me, and scampered off with spry energy. Her footfalls sounded lighter than usual. I figured that was a good thing.
I tucked the papers under my arm gently and crouched by Akiko. She still had the pink blanket, though it seemed damp as well.
I reached my hand out to her. She looked at it like a curiosity. Ms. Ishida crouched as well and smiled at me.
I asked how things went.
Ms. Ishida said, “We had a little trouble at first, she didn’t like the soap or the water one bit. I cleaned up the mess though, so it’s quite alright.”
I could only imagine.
“So she’s ready for bed? I think I still have a roll-out upstairs where she can sleep.”
Ms. Ishida made a little ‘oh’, looked to Akiko, and said, “Well…actually. If you don’t mind it, I was thinking she could share my bed. She seemed to enjoy it when I was picking out a nightgown for her.”
I looked at Akiko. She watched me like a stranger. I stood. She dashed behind Ms. Ishida. I rubbed my legs with my hands and nodded.
“Sure…if she likes that.”
Ms. Ishida bowed. “I’ll take care of her. Promise.”
I nodded again and bid them both good night.
-------
Mami’s door was still open when I went upstairs again. I peered in.
She was curled in her bed, her regular clothes still on and her legs and arms crinkled close around her. I sighed. The cover was down, so I pulled it up until it covered her.
Her expression, a jagged frown, softened as she clutched the blanket. The strange sensation returned for a moment.
I closed her door the rest of the way but left her light on.
When I got back to ‘my’ room, I plopped on the futon with my arms out. The floor creaked under me. I sat up, folded Katsumi’s drawings, and tucked them into a pajama pocket.
I listened to the room. I could hear Katsumi ambling around through the wall. I could hear a constant breeze against the windows. They rattled occasionally.
I heard a door slide open. I dashed to the door and looked out.
Jamie stood there in a pair of gray pajamas.
I said a quick, “Hi…” which he repeated back.
Jamie looked into the bath and said, “I dried what I could. And I left the water in the tub, just in case. Is that okay?”
I had no idea but I felt hot in my cheeks. Here I had bolted off to check on Akiko and Jamie had cleaned up after us.
He shrugged as I stammered out an apology. “It’s okay. We have bigger things to worry about.”
My eyes automatically drifted to the ‘prominent’ appearance of his chest through the material of his pajamas. He blushed, gave me half-serious glare, and said, “I mean Hitomi. Are you sleeping up here?”
“I guess. You?”
His hair looked like the world’s largest tangle. He picked at it with a towel. “I’m sleeping in uh…my room. Nathan is down on first in…his. He helped some with drying.”
That made me feel even worse about bolting.
Jamie pointed a finger at me. “You don’t have to be up here, you know. Who knows what having Hitomi near will do to you…?”
He had a point, which I countered with, “But this way I can watch her for weird stuff.”
He stared me down. “From three rooms away?”
Another point.
Jamie gave me a half-smile and said, “Strength in numbers against that psycho-girl. Come on.”
I had no real reason to protest, so I nodded and before long I was lugging my futon down to where Jamie was staying.
It was even easier to hear the wind outside from this room. Strange, considering if the weather from coming from the seaward side and we were facing the other direction from this side of Mecchen. I rolled out my futon with a shrug, careful to avoid the patch in the floor, and watched Jamie sit down on his.
I cracked my neck once and noticed a stack of boxes set firmly against the wall. I was sure they’d been set off to the side before but then it was Jamie’s room to rearrange how he liked. I curled back the blanket and comforter.
The spot I’d picked felt especially soft. The mattress felt so nice. I blinked my eyes several times. I heard Jamie say something to me but the words were lost in darkness.
I fell asleep right then and there.
In the still, drifting dark, I received no new dreams or visions. But from far across the void, I thought I could hear soft words.
They said, Sleep now, dear sister. For soon, you will truly awaken.
I knew it as Hitomi’s voice and yet it soothed me to hear those words.
And so I slept.
-------
Waking came with steady, slow pounding against a wall. It sounded like a hammer on wood.
I sat up. The comfort and blanket were placed around me. I looked at Jamie with a smile.
His hair looked like a pale-gold, feral beast he’d flattened in his sleep. His pink mouth hung open and crooked with a clear touch of drool.
I stretched on futon and peered out the half-open door. A yellow blur dashed past and skipped back. It was Tara dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Something seemed amiss.
She bowed to me. “You’re finally awake, Keli-kun. I’m glad.”
“What’s going on?”
She clutched her hands together. “Umm…it’s the typhoon.”
I could hear the hammering again.
Tara gave the same look as when she spoke about Mildred and said, “It turned.”
-------
I roused Jamie from slumber once Tara had filled in the details.
The typhoon had shifted on its track. It was going blow right into downtown Ogawa and it was gathering moisture too.
As Jamie sat up, he unleashed the feral beast in a dust-like plume. I left Tara, gleeful to see Jamie, behind to get him up to speed on events. I dashed upstairs to change. All doors were open. I looked in Katsumi’s room. She carried around a box of items.
She looked at me and asked, “You’re finally awake?”
“Yeah, Tara filled me in…a little.”
Katsumi sighed and put a glass item inside the box with a bit of paper. “It arrives tonight. We still have a lot to do. Miki, Sumi, and Keiko are outside putting up shutters to reinforce the weaker areas and Ms. Ishida and Mami are putting bracing tape on some windows. The rest of us are storing breakables and doing what we can.”
The dresser was flush against the far wall.
She turned around a crystal figurine in her hands. “Looks you won’t have to worry about my offer. This storm will blow away all the flowers. There won’t be anything left.”
I grimaced and wanted to offer some words of encouragement but Hitomi appeared in the doorway and called me over.
Her purple eyes were ringed in gray. Her steps were heavy and she coughed a little before she spoke. It seemed as though Hitomi had been up all night and then some.
She wore something around her neck.
She breathed slowly and said, “Hello sister. You slept well, I gather.”
I had a sneaking suspicion. I leaned forward to get a better look at her necklace. It was banded and brown like chocolate. It looked somehow familiar.
“Where did you get that?” I asked her.
She held it up with her fingers and said, “Why…I made it myself. Don’t you like it? It’s a wind charm. A very special one.”
A chill curled up my spine and, for some reason, I thought of Nina Metora. I had to find her. Now.
I glared at Hitomi and asked her, with an edge of panic, “What have you done?”
Hitomi seemed so at ease as she said, “Don’t worry, dear sister. I took care of the ‘lumps’. I took care of everything.”
Copyright 2006-2007 Sarah Jody Lathorp
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 01:41 pm (UTC)Shouldn't the "couldn't" be "could"?
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Date: 2007-07-23 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 05:37 pm (UTC)Thank you, Musa ^_^
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Date: 2007-07-23 06:15 pm (UTC)Your writing is always amazing. The only real problem is that it always leaves me wanting to read more of it right now!
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Date: 2007-07-23 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 07:22 pm (UTC)Akiko is actually developing a "shy little girl" personality, isn't she? The Nameless didn't seem to really have any personality as such in the scenes it was in. It just had an insatiable "I will feast on you" sort of thing going.
I wonder if Hitomi is a bit too stressed out...
I like the personality that Keiko is showing. I think it was always there, hidden because she didn't feel worthy of even wanting to be a girl.
Jamie seems just to be in denial. *shakes head* She is just making it harder on herself.
And Kelly seems more of a middle ground between them.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-24 12:06 pm (UTC)That makes me feel pity for the Unnamed. However, said pity would not keep me from wanting to stop them.