Once my shower was finished, I stepped back into my room and went to my closet. If I was going to be working, I would need my uniform. I slipped my arms into the shirt and was surprised to find that it was too short for my arms. Hmm. I buttoned it up quickly, and looked in the mirror. It was too shirt for my torso.
What, had I grown? I mean, my bra was a little snug around the chest, and I had it on the last hooks. But I had just put it off as an old one. Is this shirt really mine?
Yes, there's the cranberry stain that I got on the shirt one time. So that rules that out. Okay, the pants. I pulled them on easily enough, but once I had them zipped I found that it was too large but too short. "What's going on?" I asked my reflection, looking at the too small clothes. These had fit perfectly before I left. Now what?
Oh well, I'll just have to fudge it. I grabbed a belt and used it to hold the pants up, then folded up the bottoms to make Capri's. I did the same with the shirt, but that was a little harder since it was tighter on my arms. Good, that will have to do. I tied my hair up in a messy bun at the back of my neck and grabbed a knit cap to cover my ears.
And from the sounds coming from downstairs it was definitely show time. "Wish me luck." I asked Mafin, fluffing up his fur as he gave my face an encouraging lick. Blessed with Dog Spit, I made my way out the room and down the stairs, feeling a great weight fall on my shoulders with every step I made down.
When I finally reached the kitchen, I could hear Ryou and Keiichiro talking in the waiting room. "…And she's adjusted well as far as we can tell. She's compliant and willing to work with us. And so far, we have not seen the entity inside her come out. But be on your guard. She's manipulated you before and you can tell it's her because Shokora's hair changes. Understood? We need you on your best behavior, yes Zakuro I'm talking to you, so that we can keep her here long enough to get her back to normal."
"You make it sound like I've lost my memory or something." I said, coming into the room with a sheepish smile on my face, my mind racing as I took in the others reactions. Zakuro immediately tensed up, muscles holding her rigidly up as she looked at me with cold eyes. Mint's eyes narrowed as she glared at me with a look of mistrust. Lettuce flinched as I came in, looking like she was sad for offending me, though she had said nothing. Pudding had her head tilted to the side, looking at me with her usual grin, though her eyes showed concern. And Ichigo turned away from me, looking at something on the other side of the room. "I'm still me, through and through. I just look a little different."
"A little?" Zakuro mumbled, turning away but keeping her rigid stance.
Keiichiro looked at Zakuro with as much a glare his normal happy self could muster. "Be nice." He warned.
"Whatever." She sighed, slipping off the table with a grace that makes her a world renowned model. "I'm gonna go do something…elsewhere."
"I'll help." Mint said quickly, hoping up from her chair quickly and following quickly behind.
"Pudding, why don't you and I go and clean some dishes?" Lettuce asked, a nervous tone marring her happy words.
"Why? And where are those two going?" She asked curiously, being tugged into the kitchen by an insistent Lettuce.
And that's how I was left with Ichigo, Ryou and Keiichiro. And Ichigo had yet to even look at me. Oh boy.
"Look, if it's too soon I can go back up to my room and-"
"No," Ryou said, "We need you to get accustomed to your old life, and the only way to do that is for you to reunite with old friends." An exasperated look crossed his face. "How do girls normally bond?"
Well that threw me off. "Umm, well, truthfully? I don't know."
"How do you not know?" Ryou practically yelled, his face flushed a cute deep red. "You're a girl! You should know!"
"Just cause I look like one doesn't mean I'm suddenly the expert!" I replied.
"Shopping." Ichigo said, though she had yet to look at me. "Girl's like to go shopping."
"Good! That's good! Do that!" Ryou said encouragingly, a big smile. "I'll pay."
Ichigo quirked her head toward him, a calculating look in her angled eye. "Fine." She said at last. "I'll go change." For the first time, she looked at me, a sad gleam in her eye. "Then we'll go."
"Good, good." He said, rubbing his hands together, completely oblivious to the exchange between us. "Come on, Shokora, let's go upstairs and get you something else to wear, something that fits." He eyed the straining buttons on my shirt with an amusing look.
I followed quietly, folding my arms across my chest as we stepped upstairs. Finally, I said, "I don't think this is such a good idea."
"Why?" He asked, plopping down on my bed as I ravaged through my closet for something big and loose fitting that might actually fit me.
"Because you obviously have no skills when it comes to deducing a girl's mood. Ichigo can barely stand to be in the same room as me let alone go shopping alone! Can't I take Lettuce too?" I turned toward him, hands held out in a begging gesture. "Pleeease?"
"I suppose we can spare her." He said with a sigh, falling back on the bed and throwing a pillow over his eyes so I could change. "But you had better come back happy or else I'll…"
"You'll what?" I asked with a laugh, waiting for an answer as I unbuttoned my work shirt and struggled out of my work pants.
"I won't kiss you for a week."
I paused, bent over to take the pants off my legs. "You really think you can resist me for a whole week?" I pulled a cami over my head, and a pair of basketball shorts that once dangled to my knees but now went halfway up my thighs.
"If that's what it takes to get the two of you to be friends again, I'm willing to make that sacrifice."
While his eyes were covered, I snuck around the bed, leaning over so I could place a soft kiss upon his lips. The corner of his mouth quirked up but he returned the kiss willingly. "Still think you can go without?" I whispered against his mouth, trying not to laugh as he pressed his lips harder against mine.
But without warning he pulled away, leaving me bent over and confused. "Now I can." He said mischievously, the pillow still covering his eyes but his tongue slithering out and tracing across his lips. "Now the question is, will you be able to resist me?"
"Easily." I said with a sniff, turning away and slipping on a pair of flip flops that were, of course, too small. But they were the only thing I had for now, so it would do. "Oh, and just so you know now, I'm going all out for shopping. It would appear that none of my clothes fit me anymore."
He took the pillow from his eyes and looked my outfit over once. "I don't know. I'm kinda liking the tight look on you." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Well too bad. Besides, I thought you were trying to resist me." I added an exaggerated smoky tone to the last words, puffing my cheeks out and batting my eyelashes rapidly.
It had the right effect when Ryou burst out laughing, but it ruined my look as I melted into giggles with him. "Go." He demanded, handing me a credit card that I slipped into a small hand purse. "Before I decide that you are no longer worthy of spending money on."
"Yeah, right. You would buy me the world if only I asked for it."
"And that, my dear, signifies that you know me too well." He hugged me to him once, briefly, before stepping back and shoving my knit cap beanie back over my head. I made a face, fixing my hair and making sure my ears were tucked safely under the edges of the hat.
"Oh, and while you're out, make sure to pick up something nice, something formal." He said, hanging out my room as I made my way back downstairs.
"Why?" I asked, stopping and turning back to look at him. "Are we going somewhere?"
"On a mission, yes. And you'll be coming as well. So make sure it's nice. And get something for the other girls as well. Ask Keiichiro for dress sizes before you leave. And be sure to keep an eye out for the Aliens. I need you safe, and if I can't be there with you, you'll have to do it for me."
"Can do, Chief." I said, saluting him with a serious expression before running down the last of the stairs and informing Lettuce of the change in plans for her day. Stopping briefly only to get the dress sizes from Keiichiro as asked.
And then we were off. Three girls. One Mission. And a platinum credit card.