Chapter 2: A New Wardrobe

The other tenants are still standing there, and they are still in shock except for Su, who is still snickering to herself.

Naru brushes past them dragging a protesting Keitaro behind her, down the stairs, and into the living room. Kitsune is the closest behind them, and she says, "So what are you going to do, Keitaro?"

Keitaro turns her head, replying, "I don't know! I'm scheduled for another mock test to get into Tokyo University in a week – I have no clue what I'm going to do…"

Keitaro starts to panic as Naru turns around, eyes widening, because she's thinking the same thing.

Kitsune peers sternly into Keitaro's eyes and says, "You're going to have to deal with it." She laughs, adding, "The rest of us are going to have to deal with it too."

Motoko finally speaks up, "Well at least the RM of an all-girls dorm isn't a man anymore." She taps Keitaro on the head with her sheathed sword. "You're still a hopeless retard, that doesn't change a thing!"

The newly changed woman stands there, shoulders slumped, taking the abuse.

Kitsune, who was still in Keitaro's face, lets her eyes trail downwards.

"It looks like you're going to have to get used to all aspects, like wearin' a bra unless you want to attract more attention than you need." She giggles a bit, poking a finger into of Keitaro's breasts to prove her point. She assumes the classic thinker's pose as well, and says, "You're going to have to shave too, unless you want to disgust the rest of us."

Keitaro blushes a bit at the poking, and clears her throat loudly.

Kitsune raises an eyebrow, and says, "You'd better take care of it now, because you're gonna need to go out and buy some stuff right away. I'll help you!"

Keitaro raises her hands a little, backing away and putting some distance between herself and Kitsune, saying, "That's okay, I'd rather do it myself."

Naru belts her across the back of the head, retorting, "If you're going to be the way you are right now, you need to think about hygiene!."

The foxy woman nods, beaming proudly. "And appearance too - I'm the best dressed one in this Inn anyway, it would do you some good to have some classy clothes!" She winks at Naru and says, "I've got this one covered."

Keitaro mumbles under his breath, "Hopefully more than you sometimes are." She starts for the stairs.

Kitsune giggles a bit, and slaps Keitaro on the butt. "I heard that! I'll have you know that I'm not always trying to catch a guy's attention. It's second nature to me – I could attract attention in a potato sack!"

Naru clears her throat, giving the back of Keitaro's head another slap as she looks towards Kitsune. "What I meant was, we should let Keitaro clean him… err… her… ah – itself off and shave the necessary places."

Kitsune grabs one of Keitaro's arms and lifts it up to peer at the underarm. (SFX: Lion growling. Hehhh… Saw that in the movie "The New Kid".) She winces a bit at the sight, grabbing Keitaro by the shoulders and steering her back up to her room, saying, "I know you have a shaving razor, you can put it to use."

Naru folds her arms, and looks at Shinobu, and Motoko. Su had wandered off a while ago. Naru says, "I think we should call Miss Haruka and ask her-"

Haruka had been standing right behind Naru for quite some time, so Naru jumps when she turns around. "Ask me what to do about Keitaro's predicament?" Haruka finishes Naru's sentence, and continues with an answer. "Now that Keitaro meets all the requirements for being an RM here there should be absolutely not possible reason why she should leave."

Naru raises an eyebrow and replies, "Eh… Keitaro still has the mind of a man, should we refer to him, err… her… umm… it… as a woman?"

Haruka shrugs, lighting a cigarette and taking a long thoughtful drag. After a moment of smoky silence, she answers, "Might as well, she may never change back."

Motoko shakes her head in denial. "Keitaro is still the same perverted fool to me; I'm not going to accept it."

Haruka chuckles a bit, shrugging and walking away. "Suit yourself, Motoko. You'll have to deal with it on your own terms. I've said my piece on the matter, so I'll see you ladies later."

Naru, Keitaro, and Kitsune head upstairs to prepare to get ready to go get new clothes, and Su somersaults across the room, announcing that she might be able to lend a hand with the school part.

Motoko and Shinobu both bow a bit to Haruka as she walks away. Shinobu, having been able to keep her tears in check up until now, takes off running to her room sobbing.

Motoko continues to stand there in the living room by herself. She thumps her still-sheathed sword on the floor, and stalks up to her room to meditate.

Hours later, the three girls reach the clothing store. Keitaro has been completely silent, trying to come to grips with what has happened to him, while Naru and Kitsune fuss over clothes.

Naru holds up a gray shirt, showing it to Kitsune, and looks at the size tag. "What size do you think Keitaro is?"

Kitsune thinks for a moment, and replies, "Well, she's about my size, more or less. She's pretty stacked, as a girl, I might have some competition." She giggles, eyeing Keitaro, who is sitting in a chair with the air of someone who has lost her own identity

The transformed woman looks up at Naru and Kitsune, and blinks her eyes. "Wha?" She tilts her head at the exasperated reactions of the two helpers and wrings her hands in nervousness.

Kitsune looks down at Keitaro, and in a moment of seriousness, says, "Your style as a guy was horrendous, but now that you're not a guy your style might improve. For the time being, I think we should only get you basic clothes."

Naru nods in agreement, not saying anything.

Keitaro clears her throat, standing up and gathering the clothes that were picked out for her, hiding the bras and panties that Kitsune and Naru picked in the pile. She nods a bit, swallowing nervously and says, "Thanks." After an awkward silence, she heads to the changing room.

She walks into the changing area, and picks the stall at the far end of the hall, in an attempt to get as much privacy as possible. Locking the door when she steps inside, she sets the clothes on the floor, and leans against the wall across from the full-length mirror. Looking herself up and down for a moment, she chuckles to herself, "At least I'm not chubby or anything." Blushing self-consciously, she strikes a model's pose and observes herself in the mirror.

Shaking her head, Keitaro leans down and takes a couple of shirts, setting them on the shelf-seat and picks up the series of bras, setting them on top of the shirts and separating them by size. "Let's find out how big these things are," she says while looking down at her sizeable assets.

Naru and Kitsune sit in waiting chairs outside of the changing area, Kitsune reading a magazine with the words "New Popular Styles" emblazoned on the cover. Naru fidgets nervously, blushing slightly as she thinks about what Keitaro could possibly be doing in there. After a moment, she shuts her eyes, and clenches her fists, mumbling, "That pervert better not be doing anything he shouldn't." Kitsune raises a finger and points it at Naru, "He's a she now." Naru looks at Kitsune and hisses, "I don't care, she's got the mind of a guy." Kitsune shrugs, and goes back to reading as she replies, "Suit yourself."

In the changing room, Keitaro blushes heavily and sighs as she realizes that the bra she is currently trying on is too small. Moving on to a larger size, she recalls Kitsune saying that this is one that she herself would fit into, and tries that one on. It's basically a good fit, but still a little too small for comfort. "Why did they have to be this big?" she thinks to herself, cradling her large assets in her hands and hefting their weight. Realizing what she's doing, she immediately stops and slaps herself across the face for Naru. The bra at the bottom of the pile has adjustable straps, though, and it fits just right. Gathering the others back together, she puts them at the bottom of the pile and starts trying on panties. "More comfortable than boxers, I never knew." She pauses, blushing so deeply a tomato would have gotten jealous, and then begins trying on the clothes.

Naru is the first to look up as a still-blushing Keitaro walks back out of the changing room with the clothes in hand. Noticing Keitaro's rosy cheeks, Naru kicks Keitaro's shins out of reflex. "You're such a pig," she says.

The new woman hops around, dropping the clothes and rubbing her shins. "Owwwww! I couldn't help it, I don't see girls naked all day long, you know."

"I bet you'd like that, though," chuckles Kitsune, which doesn't help the situation at all. She still has her nose buried in her magazine, so she doesn't notice how angry this makes Naru. "I take it you found your size, right?"

Keitaro looks around self-consciously and nods, blushing even more. Naru sees this, and balls up her fists, stomping away before she loses her temper really bad and makes a scene. Keitaro sighs, and walks back to the undergarment section to pick out bras of her size.

Kitsune absently puts the magazine down and begins rifling through the clothes. "I was right, her style did improve. I wonder why she picked such dark and gothic colors, though." She hums a bit to herself, still not caring very much, and picks up her magazine to read it some more.

After a couple minutes, Keitaro returns with severall of the appropriate-sized bras and nods at Kitsune to let her know that it's time to buy the clothes and go back to the Inn.

Kitsune puts the magazine back on its rack and snaps her fingers at Naru to get her attention, pointing at Keitaro and then the front of the store. Naru nods in response, and then they walk towards the checkout counters.

And working the cashier they pick, is none other than Mutsumi Otohime.

She looks up at Naru and Kitsune, smiling. She puts a hand to her cheek carelessly, and says, "Hello there! Taking a new friend shopping?" She looks questioningly at Keitaro. "Have we met?" she asks curiously.

Keitaro looks up after setting all the clothes down on the counter, and then backs away waving her arms nervously. "Oh no, but I do get that a lot!" She laughs nervously.

Naru sighs, digging her heel into Keitaro's ankle. Keitaro yelps, which she immediately stifles by checking to see if her shoe is untied, while Naru replies to Mutsumi, "Yes, this is Kei…" She trails off. Kitsune looks at Naru like she's lost her mind, and says, "This is a friend of mine from …Osaka. She's replacing Keitaro as the RM of Hinata Inn. Mutsumi, this is Kei…" She trails off as well, only marginally better at lying than Naru is.

Mutsumi raises her eyebrows. Puzzled, she says, "I thought that Keitaro was going to Tokyo University, why would he leave now?" She gives Keitaro another puzzled glance, wondering where she had seen that face.

Naru speaks up, vehemently, "He went away to discover himself spiritually. He said he wanted to be alone." She finishes, blushing nervously at such a boldly spoken lie.

Mutsumi, as usual, does not pick up on that and nods understandingly. "He does seem confused about himself a lot, doesn't he?"

Keitaro stands there, biting her lip as she tries not to say anything.

Picking up the clothes and ringing them up, Mutsumi smiles at Keitaro and tells her, "Nice to meet you Kei. Do you have a last name?"

Keitaro blinks nervously, glancing at Naru and Kitsune. Their reactions indicate that they aren't going to come to her aid this time, so she replies on reflex, "My last name is Urashima." She places a credit card on the counter, which Mutsumi picks up and swipes, handing it back.

Mutsumi smiles happily, "You're related to Keitaro then!" She hands a receipt for Keitaro to sign.

"Umm, yes, I am a distance cousin …by adoption," Keitaro says. She looks down at the receipt, wondering what to write. "Oh yeah, My name is Kei Urashima now. I should remember that, it's going to be important." She scribbles her name down on the receipt, purposefully trying to change her handwriting as she writes it. Mutsumi glances down at the receipt as Keitaro hands it back, but pays no heed to it and slides it into the cash register.

Naru rubs her eyes and says, "Thank you Mutsumi, we have to get going now." She grabs Kitsune and Keitaro by the arms and leads them away from Mutsumi. Once they get close to the front of the store, she looks at them and says sarcastically, "Nice guys, we all lied to Mutsumi. Especially you, Keitaro, nice going, just lay it on really thick and cheese it up so no one gets suspicious." Keitaro opens her mouth in shock, shutting it and opening it as she tries to find words to reply with.

Finding none, she huffs, snatches the bags away from Naru and Kitsune, and exits the store. Shouldering open the doors, she walks down the sidewalk, turning up her coat collar to help against the snowy wind of the blizzard. As she rounds the corner, a clattering of footsteps behind her signify that Naru and Kitsune are running to catch up.

Naru grabs Keitaro's coat sleeve, stopping her in mid-step. "Keitaro, I'm sorry I said that."

Keitaro loses her balance on a patch of ice, and pitches forward. Landing on the ground, she rolls over and gets up, gathering up the bags. "Thank you for your help, Naru." She turns stiffly around and continues walking.

Kitsune and Naru exchange glances, and Kitsune shoves Naru towards Keitaro. "Try again!" She laughs, as Naru slip-slides back towards Keitaro. Catching Keitaro by the coat sleeve again, she regains her balance and pulls Keitaro to a stop. Naru looks at Keitaro's face, noting how much different it looks from when he was a man, and focuses on the eyes. "Keitaro, I am very sorry." She bows her head sheepishly, "I did not mean to say it that way."

Keitaro looks at Naru for a moment, her face devoid of expression. She bursts out laughing a second later, saying, "Wow, that really does work! I wasn't able to do it before."

Naru blinks in confusion, and then realizes that Keitaro had been faking being angry. Or was she? Nah, doesn't matter. She snatches one of Keitaro's bags, and swings it full circle. Kitsune ducks to get out of the way, and on the return the bag slams into Keitaro, causing her to slam into the building and slide to the ground in a crumpled heap. Keitaro sits up against the wall, her hood falling back. Naru and Kitsune don't notice, but Keitaro's face suddenly twists in anger for a moment – it goes away just as quickly, though.

Kitsune puts her hands on her hips, laughing into the heavy downfall of snow. "Like always!" Helping Keitaro back up, and prying the shopping bag from Naru's fingers, she leads them back to the Inn.

-End Chapter Two-

Tadah! Chapter Two. R&R please!