Everyone in the home had had always wondered if Mero had any other styles of clothing beside her bikini tops and gothic dresses', and as Kimi quickly found out she didn't really.
Mero's room was the aptly named, waterproof room. it had a large window at the backside, and a small clothing rack inside the door, but the majority of the room was a large and deep square pool that had almost a meter of walking space on most sides. because of this, and the apparent lack of storage, Kimi had always wondered silently where Mero kept her limited clothing selection.
Thank you or helping me back to my room beloved, now let's get some clothes for you so we can leave, yes?" Mero said as kimi pushed mMero's wheelchair into her room and up to the side of the pool.
"Err, alright."
"Good, give me a minute!" Mero exclaimed as she tossed herself off her wheelchair and into the pool of water with a splash that seemed smaller than her size would warrant. The instant she hit the water she was gone beneath the surface, and a second later a series of lights underneath the water lit up with a pale glow. Kimi couldn't tell anything from another from above due to the waters refraction and it's depth, but she could make out Mero's form moving about and grabbing things from, somewhere. a few moments later, Mero's head and upper body popped out of the water near the edge of the pool where it was low and designed for her to get out, and she was holding a folded gothic dress over her one arm. "Here you go beloved, I know it won't fit very well, but it will keep you fine and wet outside the house without a problem!" Mero stated with a smile as she extended her arm out for Kimi to take the dress, weather she wanted to or not.
"Um, I don't suppose you have a dress that a bit more, casual?" Kimi asked shyly as she took the dress and instantly understood that the whole thing was waterproofed; it barely felt wet even though it had literately just been in the water. No wonder Mero's arrival hadn't increased the laundry loads much.
"I apologize, but I do not. Most mermaids only own a single garment for use above land and instead have multiple sets of clothing for use underwater. I have three of those dresses because I knew I would be doing a homestay and had two more made for myself." Mero explained as she drifted toward the centre of the pool with a smile. " I shall return once I don my own dress."
" Ah wait!" Kimi exclaimed a second too late, as Mero disappeared beneath the water again. " . . .. how do I put this on?"
Kimi sighed and sat down on the mass of her own tail, feeling a squish as the skirt she wore, that was complete soaked already after barely five, maybe ten minutes, got wedged between her tail and butt. after a few minutes it became clear that Mero was doing something and would maybe be a while, so Kimi unfolded the dress and looked it over, never having a chance, nor the reason, to have looked at Mero's clothing so intently.
the dress itself was made almost entirely of the same material most women's swimsuits appeared to be, but unlike a swimsuit, or the clothing she had been wearing recently, borrowed from Miia, the entire dress from the neck all the wat down to the bottom of its skirt was one solid piece of cloth. the lower chest area however appeared to be the only place that was different, and both looked similar to a corset that Kimi had seen in old films, and appeared to be made of a more rigid, yet soft material. the center of this section has a series of strings crossed like the laces of a shoe, and the upper area of the dress appeared be specifically sized to Mero's bust, and appeared to had a wide neckline as well.
" Alright, I'm ready we can leave now and . . . . . Beloved, why are you not dressed yet?" Mero asked as she surfaced at the edge of the pool and began pulling herself out of it with the railings and her pelvic fins. she was now wearing another of her gothic dresses, and it definitely suited her well, and the fact that it was custom made was extremely clear by the way that it did not even shift slightly on her body as her bikini tops could, and did.
" um, that' s. . . . . . how do I put it on?" Kimi asked, slightly embarrassed about the idea of being told how to put on clothing.
" Hmm? you do not know how?" Mero asked as she pulled herself over to her wheelchair and carefully slid up into it, making sure to not catch her dress on anything.
" uh, no. I'm only able to wear a skirt because I had Miia teach me, though these fins make it a bit more difficult." Kimi said as she glared down as one of her pelvic fins twitched slightly.
" I see. well you might have trouble with that skirt because it's not made to go around your pelvic fins. I'll teach you how when we get out shopping, but first let's get the dress on!" Mero stated as she rolled her wheelchair over and took the dress from Kimi's hands, unfolding it before she pulled up its lower section; " Here, take off that shirt and skirt and bend over this way!"
Kimi looked at Mero and sighed, submitting to her fate and reached down and undid the snap on the skirt, letting it slide down a section of her tail limply from how sopping wet it was. once she squirmed the skirt off of her, she slid the now similarly wet shirt off, and stood there for a moment breasted by her nakedness before she finally awkwardly bent at the waist toward Mero.
Instantly Mero moved forward and threw the dress over Kimi's head, carefully pulling it down her body in sections until her arms and head popped out the top." there, now we just need to adjust it!"
"Adjust it?" Kimi asked in confusion as she glanced down at the gothic dress and inwardly cringed slightly. I was long, but not heavy, but just the style felt wrong to wear so readily.
" Yes!" Mero exclaimed as she moved forward, and pushed up the dress's centre section a bit before grabbing an tightening the cords on the front. "Most mermaids clothing for outside of water can be tightened so that is will not slip off as easily. Because of that though, they can take a while to tighten and adjust. so just stay still for a moment as I tighten this." Mero added just before reefing on the string and causing a tight tug across Kimi's lower chest, right under her breasts.
"Aah, it's tight!"
" it has to be, otherwise it will slip." Mero said as she tied it and then moved onto the wide collar around Kimi's neck and began shifting it, before pulling out a thin hidden string that held it together at the desired width. " There, how does that feel for you?" Mero then politely asked as she rolled her wheelchair back a few feet.
Kimi stood fully back up and looked herself over in embarrassment. the dress went down to just below where here knee's would have been if she had legs, and was tight across her torso and open around her neck. it showed no cleavage, but just barely, and it felt embarrassing to be even wearing, especially since her smaller bust made the dress seem all the more, perfect for her body type. " embarrassing." Kimi finally answered as she passed a hand across the more rigid lower torso corset area. "Um, wouldn't tight clothing impede breathing? Through gills I mean."
"It would for other clothing, but aquatic clothing that has tight areas, or cloth that would go over gills has it made out of materials that breathe and hold water, so it's no problem." Mero replied with a smile as she turned her wheelchair and rolled it towards the door in a slightly awkward manner. "Shall we?"
"What?
"Shall we head out then and get you some more appropriate clothing of course."
Kimi felt her stomach drop at Mero's words, especially when she thought about the fact that Mero though a bikini to and skirt were appropriate for in the house. Not that she felt she'd actually be able to say it, considering how open liminals seemed to be about nudity and sexuality. " Alright, let's get this over with."
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There were a few places nearby that Mero and Kimi could have gone to look for clothing for kimi, and much to her thanks, Mero voiced a desire to check out the new liminal department store that Kimi and Miia had gone too, a store that was a short hours walk with Mero's wheelchair, but was far enough away that probably nobody would recognize them. Not that anyone would likely recognize Kimi in her situation, but she wasn't about to take a chance on that.
The sidewalks were rather empty considering the day and time, and there was nothing that occurred until they made it to the department store, much to Kimi's dismay.
As soon as they entered the store an attendant came up to them, the same young cat boy that Kimi had met when she came here with Miia, and apparently from the way he looked at her, he recognized her. Or at least thought he did for a moment before shaking his head. "Welcome ladies. Do you require an explanation of our stores organization today, or would you prefer to browse and find your way on your own?"
"We shouldn't need a full explanation, but if you could just direct us to the Aquatic liminal area we would be very thankful to you." Mero responded with a soft smile, causing the young cat boy to blush for a moment before composing himself and giving small short bow.
"Ah, of course, you would be looking for the third floor. That is where serpentine, aquatic liminals, and all of our swimwear is. You will find ramps at the stores center to ascend the floors, and between them is an elevator as well. If you require anything simply seek out my fellow employees on each floor's registers."
Mero thanked the boy as Kimi resumed moving her wheelchair, and once they had ascended the ramp up to the second level, she turned and looked up to Kimi with a smile. "He seems nice doesn't he?"
"I guess so. It's his job though, so some of it could just be a cover."
"I think he almost recognized you too. It's lucky that he decided he didn't because of you species change." Mero added with a smile as they began going up the next ramp to the third level.
"Yeah, I'll have to remember to avoid him in the future if we come again when this is all over."
"That would probably be for the best. Oh look here!" Mero suddenly exclaimed as she forcibly rolled her wheelchair forward toward rack of clothing when the two of them reached the third floor. Following behind her Kimi wondered for a second what Mero had found so quickly, and then regretted it. The entire rack, and the entire section behind it was aquatic liminal clothing, and the majority of it appeared to be pairs of bikini tops of various kinds, and matching skirts of various lengths. The patters and coloring on them all ranged from simple single color sets to pairs that looked tie-dyed, and the skirts appeared to range in length from barely a half a foot long, to over a meter.
For quite a while Mero rolled herself around and was picking at various pairs of clothing, but it became clear to Kimi that she wasn't initially looking for her, but for herself, when Mero turned to her and gasped. "Ah, oh dear, I apologize, we're supposed to be looking for clothing for you, not myself. Is there any specific style or color you're looking for? There are some pairs with cute tops over here?"
"Ah, um I do not want anything really, um, that would stand out I mean. Simpler is better. And the more it covers the better." Kimi explained as she moved over, doing her best not to look at anything too specific, in case Mero thought she was eyeing things she found interesting.
" Hmmmm, there wouldn't be many in water clothing that covers a lot because we need our gills uncovered, but I know that there should be, ah here it is!" Mero exclaimed as she rolled over to a wall covered In what looked like one piece dresses' of varying lengths. " These are one piece dress's that Eel's would commonly wear out of water, they are loose around the whole body to allow their mucus to not gathering one spot, and have ties at the waist and neck to make it how tight you ant at these points. Would that work for outerwear at least?"
"Um, I thought we were just getting a simple outfit for inside the house, I really don't need something for outside, especially if I'll be like this for only a week at most."
"No you should have an outfit for going out. Staying inside all the time when you're not used to being confined will hurt your mind and body, so you need to go out at least a bit, especially if you are wanting to get specific groceries yourself. Mero stated very clearly, somehow making it clear that she wasn't going to allow a no, despite not raising her voice in the slightest. "We should at least get you one pair for inside and out!"
Kimi looked on as Mero began pulling pair of clothing out and looking them over, attempting to gauge their size compared to Kimi's, then after a few moments she pulled a few out and placed them on her lap and turned to Kimi.
"I think these shall fit you well enough, but we'll have to ask a store attendant to take your size to be sure so let's go and- oh excuse me!" Mero suddenly called, noticing an attendant walking nearby, who came over as soon as she heard Mero's voice.
"Yes, are you ladies finding everything alright?" The female attendant who looked to be a Lamia, but with off thick green strands of hair, asked as she came over soundlessly. Her body's shape put Miia's to shame and the curve of her hips and of her body gave Kimi the feeling that she was at least the age of Miia's mother, and actually appeared to act like it, thankfully.
"Yes, my friend here hasn't had a sizing done for her body in quiet a while and has grown a bit, so were not sure exactly what sizes to look for her. Can you help us with this or will we have to look elsewhere perhaps?"
"Of course, please come this way and I can take the measurements in a few moments." The woman, who Kimi now realized was probably a medusa, due to the facts that her thick strands of hair ended in snakes heads, and that they oved free of each other, said as she gestured to a nearby doorway that led into a large room.
the room appeared to be a changing room ,and was complete with numerous benches of various heights and shapes, as well as numerous rails above their heads that appeared to be connected to curtains that could be drawn, changing the room to any require size. Once inside the medusa showed Kimi where to stand, and showed Mero a place where she could wait nearby, and then said the one thing Kimi had dreaded to hear.
"Alright, I'll need you to take off your dress so that I can take all of your measurements correctly."
"Ah, b-but that's, I mean it's-"
"Ah let me help then, Mero suddenly spoke up as Kimi mumbled uncontrollably. " My friend is still new to being on land, so she's a little shy and doesn't really know the clothing I loaned her that well."
"I understand." The medusa said as she deftly began loosening the cords in the dress's neckline while Mero began untying the lower cheat area, all while Kimi could only look on in embarrassment as the two women began undressing her.
"Um, is this really necessary, I mean, couldn't you just um, take my . . . size, with the clothing on?"
"No, I wouldn't get a correct measurement then." the medusa said with a smile. "You haven't gotten measured often with your modest size have you?
"Ah, no, I mean that is-"
"Don't worry I won't tell anyone. It's nice to see a large size liminal without our usual back problems!" The medusa said as she reached around Kimi's body, causing her breast to press against Kimi's back as the dress became looser and looser until it was deftly pulled straight off of Kimi's body before she even realized it. that alone was embarrassing, but it became even more so when the medusa pulled out a measuring tape and began wrapping it around her breasts at various points, causing her to let out a small squeak. "Ah, I apologize; I should have asked how sensitive you were. I'll be lighter in my touch, again I apologize."
Kimi could only nod and try to hide her face in embarrassment, something that became impossible when the medusa came around her and lowered herself down to her waist and began measuring it.
"Oh, I always manage to forget, Aquatics don't often wear lower undergarments do they." she commented casually, causing Kimi's face to turn as red as a cherry while Mero gave a light laugh.
"No, the kind that serpentine liminals use do not work for us and would float away, so we don't." Mero explained as the medusa finished measuring Kimi's waits, and much to her surprise began measuring her hips and the bases of her pelvic fins.
"um, I thought we were just getting the measurements for my, um, breasts."
"Yes, but aquatic liminal clothing has measurements for their skirts as well so they can fit the best correct?" The medusa asked as she finished and stepped over to a bench and swiped a pad of paper off it and began writing.
"Yes, having all your measurements will make everything easy for when you try things on!" Mero exclaimed in a happy tone, one that caused Kimi to blush even more.
"Wait, try them on? As long as they should fit I shouldn't really need to right? I mean its like-"
"No! You need on try them on otherwise the size could be wrong!" Mero stated as the medusa handed her the slip of paper with a smile.
"There you all, all of her measurements. As she's already undressed would you like some help finding some thing's for her to try on?"
"No, we have a few options with us already." Mero said as she lifted up the pairs of clothing she had grabbed. "We should be fine now, so thank you."
With that the medusa nodded and left the changing room, leaving Mero in her wheelchair with the pile of clothing, and Kimi who stood naked with her hands over where she felt she probably should leave them.
"Okay, let's get these on you and find one or two you like!" Mero exclaimed after a few second of awkward silence.
"Ugh, can't we just, find a few by size and just get them?" Kimi asked in a worried tone as Mero placed the pile on a bench from her lap, and plucked one of the pairs of clothing, a black Bikini with dark purple edging and a matching skirt of roughly half a meter of length, and rolled over to Kimi.
"No, if you do not wear them then you will not know if they fit, and now is a good time to teach you how to wear a skirt properly with your pelvic fins."
"Oh. . .Those things do get in the way of normal skirts."
"Yes, so please put it on and I'll help you." Mero stated as she handed Kimi the skirt first, and kept the top in clear view.
Taking the skirt with a sigh Kimi looked it over, found what side of it was the front as well as found the snaps on its side and began wiggling the end of her tail through it. From being a Lamia she had already figured out the annoying complicated way of putting on a skirt, though its base principal was no different for any other species probably. With some more wiggling of her tail she finally pulled the skirt up to where here pelvic fins were, and because she had to use both hands, she was twisting her body away from Mero as much as she could, though she was not consciously aware of it. "Okay, so do I just close the skirt under the fins then?"
"No," Mero said simply as she rolled over to Kimi, who was awkwardly now trying to hold up the skirt with one hand, while covering her chest with the other. "On the skirt, where there would normally be pockets I'm told, there are two extra straps of cloth over the skirts upper edge." Mero explained as she took the skirt and opened the two straps she mentioned and held them there. "You slip your pelvic fins into these spots, and then close up the skirt. Your pelvic fins will help keep the skirt in place because of this, and it stops them from getting in the skirts way. Give it a try. I'll hold them open for you."
Kimi swallowed hard and looked down to her hips where the skirt and Mero's hands holding the pelvic fin spot open were. It was a strange feeling, and very embarrassing, mostly because of the location, but also because she wasn't wearing anything other than a half on skirt. She hadn't dealt with the pelvic fins in the least since she had turned into an eel. They mostly had just seemed to get in the way of clothing, but she hadn't considered dealing with them at all, and now she had no choice. She tried to move the pelvic fins a bit and found the feeling to be very strange. They were like legs, but not as her legs were still a full length tail. It was like she was trying to move a set of legs that were short and not her own, or that were just tacked on. After a few seconds of experimental twitching Kimi found that she could indeed move them with a surprising range of movement and only slight difficulty, then carefully fed them through the openings that Mero was still patiently holding open for her.
"There now you just snap or zip up the skirt and you're done!" Mero exclaimed with a smile as she rolled back a bit as Kimi did exactly as she said and snapped the skirt shut around her body, quickly bringing an arm up to her chest as she finished.
"So, that's it? Just a skirt but with those two holes for the fins then?" Kimi asked with a sigh.
"Yes it's that simple, does it fit alright? Do you like the length? It isn't too tight around your hips is it?" Mero asked inquisitively as she rolled to the side and was looking over Kimi's skirt with a small gleam in her eyes.
"no it's its fine, I think. the length is fine, and its tight, but not painful, I think." Kimi responded, not entirely sure if she was answering correctly.
"Good that means it fit's fine, and because your pelvic fins will stop it from shifting, we can go ahead and have you try on some tops now!"
"Oh." Kimi said in horror as she looked and noticed that Mero had primarily grabbed what appeared be bikini tops of various sizes, colors and styles.
It was going to be a longer day than Kimi had worried it would be.
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Mrs. Smith sighed as she sat down in the driver seat of her car and sighed. She had completed most of her business for the moment, but still had one last thing to do, make a call. The only problem was that she wasn't sure how the one she needed to call would react to the, unfortunate, information she would be giving her.
Letting out a sigh she flipped out her phone, dialed the number and waited.
Click. "Hello you've reached the LTS research facility japan branch, this is the head of LTS blood research, Ai speaking." Came the phone before it even had a chance to ring, not allowing Mrs. Smith to compose herself as much as she would have liked.
"Hello, Ai, its smith. I'll-"
"Ah Kuroko! How are you! Thanks for sending those blood samples to the lab, they are helping us a lot in our research!" Ai's chipper vice rang over the phone, stopping Mrs. smith from even finishing her introduction.
"You're welcome Ai, but I unfortunately have some bad new related to that."
"You mean that three of the seven samples you sent have turned into the mutant strain?"
". . . . . How did you guess that so perfectly?"
"Because the LTS coding in the blood samples mutated just a few days ago, probably slower than the people they changed, but still. I'm guessing you'll be sending some new blood samples for those two of them then?"
"Yes, I've already sent one, and I'll be sending the other two in . . . . Wait, why are you not wanting all three of them? I can have them all sent in the next two days."
"True, but it's been so long since I was home, so I want to get one of the blood samples myself."
"Ah," Mrs. Smith exclaimed with a slight nod. "Then you realized that-"
"Of course I know my Kimihito caught LTS. You sound like you think I wouldn't recognize my own son's blood. I'd be an insult as a biologist that specialized in blood if I didn't!"
"True, but we both know that's not how you noticed."
"True I suppose."
" . . . .Should I tell Kimihito that you will be coming by at some point then?" Mrs. Smith asked over the phone as she pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil.
"No that's fine. I don't want him to get his hopes up, or attempt to clean the house before I come. Not that it's going to be the same shape anyway."
"Ah, so you know that-"
"Of course I know you've had modifications done to it, I get reports overtime it gets done. I'm willing to guess you handed him quite a few studies from the number of alteration reports, right?"
"A few yes. May I ask when you will be going to see him then?"
"Nope, I don't know actually. Our work is going well, but with the sudden appearance of the mutant strain we've had to work extra. So I don't know when I'll be able to go say hi. I'll call him before I do though."
"Ugh, please call me as well; I'll need to know for some paperwork."
"I don't care about that paperwork; I'll tell you if I remember." Ai's voice said with a snicker as the sound of papers flipping came from the background. "Oh, and don't tell him we talked okay? I don't want him to try to prepare anything until the last minute!"
"Very well. Goodbye Ai, I'll send the other blood samples in the next day or two.
"Okay! talk to you later!"
suthors notes:
Ya another chapter up, and yes I', prepping for Kimihito's mother to pop up, because after all, its stated they work away from home (technically overseas), but we've never got anything else about them, so I figured it'd be fun to eventually bring her into it :3
Now onto questions!. The same question has basically been The only one asked, about Mon and weather Kimi would change into some of them. so here's the answer.
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Kimi/Kimihito will become a couple of the Mon species as well as some other species not in his house, but some species will not be done because of the biological standpoints of them, Zombie or Jiang-shi being the obvious ones because they are only really pseudo liminal as they were humans who died and came back because of the virus, and I'm not going to kill Kimi because then LTs would not have a body to alter so it' be permanent. So no zombie forms, sorry.
As before thanks for reading, hope you liked the chapter, feel free to ask any questions you might have, and look forward to Kimihito's mother eventually coming.
