Chapter Five- Shopping

"You're not offended that Kuwabara won't fight you anymore, are you?" Keiko asked.

"Nah. I know he's more of a student and that he doesn't fight girls. He did say he was sorry this happened."

"Of course. He's still your friend, too."

"I know. My friends and customers are still friendly toward me and will get used to me as a girl."

"You better get used to it too. It is your body, after all."

"Gee, thanks for reminding me," Yusuke said sarcastically, eyeing her hands as they walked down the sidewalk. It was difficult to forget she was a girl. She was reminded every time she spoke, looked in a mirror, or looked down. Speaking of looking down, she still wore yesterday's clothes and they reminded her of her offer. She tugged her wallet out of her back pocket. "Keiko, I want to repay you for the clothes."

"Put it away, Yusuke. It was a bit of an emergency and I was happy to do it."

"All right, but I'll buy my clothes today."

"Clothes and essentials."

"Essentials? Like what?"

"Uh, deodorant, razors, shaving gel, and pads, for examples."

Yusuke ran her fingers along her jaw. Hairless. Why would I need…oh, the legs. Girls shave their legs. How could I have forgotten? "Right," she said as they entered the clothes store.

Keiko immediately went to where she had seen the outfits yesterday while Yusuke drifted to where they had bought her jeans and shirt. She draped different jeans styles and colored shirts, the latter lacking girl colors. She paused at a pair of slacks and lightly felt the material. It was light and smoother than the jeans. This would be nice for dinner with Kurama's mother.

"Yusuke? What are you doing?" Keiko asked as she came over.

"Well," she said slowly, already anticipating Keiko's reaction to her next words. "I'm having dinner with Kurama and his mother in two weeks."

"You have a date!?"

"It's just dinner. I've met his mom before."

"Yes, but now you're Kurama's girlfriend and need to make a good impression. You can't wear jeans and a shirt to that kind of dinner. You need slacks, a blouse, stockings, and dress shoes."

"I'm not wearing some frilly girly blouse," Yusuke stated firmly.

"Not all blouses are filly or girly," Keiko replied. She held up a plain white blouse that Yusuke found she liked and accepted it along with the slacks she had felt. A few pairs of socks and a pair of stockings later and both girls left the store. "Now, we need bras and panties. After that, shoes and essentials," Keiko said.

Yusuke sighed. She had been right about the shopping being torture. I shouldn't have mentioned the dinner date; it just slipped out. Now I have an outfit to wear to it and Keiko insists on appropriate shoes.

They entered the undergarment shop and bought more bras and panties and even a few pajamas. Yusuke felt awkward in this kind of shop. She hadn't felt that way yesterday as the time spent there hadn't been long. This time, they weren't in a rush and Yusuke tried to move about the store normally. I shouldn't feel awkward as I'm a girl and belong here.

"Yusuke, what's wrong?" Keiko asked as they stopped for lunch, decided to get essentials and shoes afterwards.

Yusuke felt like lying but instead she said, "I'm having trouble adjusting."

Keiko nodded. "It's only been a little over twenty-four hours. You can't expect to adjust overnight."

"Yeah, but I don't want to adjust either." She picked at her food and found she wasn't hungry.

"So, you want to adjust but at the same time you don't."

Yusuke nodded. "I know it sounds confusing, but that's how I feel."

Keiko smiled as a thought struck her. "I think I've got an answer. Just act like you always have and just get used to your body."

Yusuke looked at the table thoughtfully. She had to admit it: Keiko made a lot of sense. Her mind, personality, and mannerisms hadn't changed. She still acted the way she always had. Her physical appearance was the only thing different. She couldn't regard it as a temporary thing. There are things about being female I need to understand and, lucky for me, I have Keiko right here.

She looked up. "That makes perfect sense. Maybe you could explain a few mysteries to me about girls."

"Like?"

"You keep mentioning pads. What are they for and why is it important?"

Keiko stared at her incredulously. "You're kidding me, right?"

Yusuke shook her head. "No." She paused as she took in Keiko's uncomfortable shifting. "Is it something you don't like to talk about?"

"Yusuke, no girl talks about it except in vague terms. It's a rather personal thing."

"Oh." Yusuke lowered her head. Okay. Personal. I guess I could ask Mom…whenever she comes home. She was startled when Keiko dragged her chair next to hers and plopped down.

"I can whisper it in your ear, though," she said before leaning toward said body part. "Pads are used when a girl is having her…period. It's a thing we get once a month that can last for a few days."

"Period?" Yusuke asked, barely whispering.

"We leak blood between our legs among other things. The pad is put on the panties to catch it as we can't control the flow."

Yusuke felt her face pale. "Oh, man. That's awful and every female goes through this?"

"Yes." She smiled in sympathy at her friend's pale face. "It's one of the bad thing about being a girl aside from shaving."

Yusuke winced. "I can imagine. I sometime nick myself shaving. But that was just my face, this is two legs and a lot more area to work on."

"Yeah, you're right. It also takes some time as you have to go easy and lightly with the razor."

"Keiko, these are things I need to know. I mean, it does involve the body."

Keiko looked into Yusuke's softer brown eyes that seemed to be pleading for help. It really hit her with the harsh reality: Yusuke was a guy trapped in a girl's body and it frightened her, thought she wouldn't admit it. She wanted help to understand her body's functions and Keiko was the only one she felt comfortable asking for help.

"All right, I'll help." She smiled at Yusuke's relief. "You seem to have become freer in expressing your emotions now."

"I noticed. Is that part of being a girl?"

"It could be. Some girls can conceal them as well as any boy can."

"Yeah, I've seen that." Yusuke popped a fry into her mouth, her appetite returning as her feeling became calmer from talking with Keiko. She also felt a connection to Keiko that was different from the love she once had for her and told her as much.

"I think that's a feeling of sisterhood," Keiko said. "I have to say I'd like us to be sort of sisters."

"We could. I never had a sibling." Yusuke stood and Keiko followed. "Let's finish shopping…sister." The teen girls headed off, ready to finish Yusuke's wardrobe…at least for now.