Ok. SoI lied about not putting in any more Author's notes. Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Enjoy the insanity.
CHAPTER 3
In her room, Akiko flopped onto his-her bed. She just couldn't get used to the fact that she was a girl now. Why? She mentally reviewed everything she'd done today.
She- wait, she had been a he then (God, this was confusing), he had gotten up late, ate breakfast, and gone into the library. He had done some Kanji for a few hours, maybe two, and then he had gone over the family records to make sure everything was in order. That had taken an hour. He drank some tea, and then went outside to sit by the koi pond. Hatori had come outside to give him the medicine, and then he had transformed. Both of them had fallen into the koi pond. He-She-well, whatever, had taken Hatori to the bath, then pulled off the wet kimono and found- she winced.
She was pretty sure that she had been a boy before lunch, and a girl after she fell into the koi pond-wait, that could have caused Hatori's transformation! The only thing in between was the medicine, so that must have caused it.
She sat up, about to call Hatori when he knocked on her door.
"Akiko!" He called. "Kagura's here!"
Akiko gritted her teeth and swore mentally. She got up, straightened her skirt and hair, and left the room.
"Kagura, this is Akiko, Akito's twin sister." Hatori said. "She needs to go shopping for, er, underclothes."
"Yes, Ayame told me," Kagura replied, smiling cutely.
Akiko smiled back, although she would rather have clawed the smile off of Kagura's face. "May I speak with you privately?" She asked Hatori.
He looked confused, but nodded. She grabbed him by the tie, yanked him into the bathroom and closed the door.
"Hatori, it was the medicine."
"I figured as much"
"I have an overwhelming urge to hit you right now, but I have a much more satisfying idea."
"huh?"
Akiko jumped forward and hugged him, hard.
PYON!
Hatori the seahorse fell to the floor.
"Serves you right," said Akiko, picking him up. She filled the tub and dropped him in, and then picked up his clothes and left the bathroom.
Walking outside to the porch, she neatly arranged all of Hatori's clothes on the railing, in plain sight of the bathroom window (and the rest of the neighborhood).
PYON!
Hatori, in the bathroom, had transformed back. He stuck his head out the window. "Akiko, where are my-" he broke off, seeing his clothes. Kagura and Akiko were walking away. Akiko turned around and gave him a sweet and totally fake smile. Hatori groaned.
Kagura and Akiko walked through the mall, looking for a lingerie store. Kagura kept up a cheerful stream of chatter, which Akiko more or less ignored. They entered the store, and Kagura paused.
"What size are you?" She asked.
"What?" replied Akiko
"You know, cup size."
Akiko froze. "Uh, I don't know"
"You don't know!?"
"Well, it's the first time I've come shopping like this." She said. "Without one of my aunts!" she added hastily.
"Oh. Well, lets find out!" Kagura replied cheerfully. She grabbed a selection of differently sized but otherwise identical plain black bras. Shoving Akiko into a changing room, she thrust the bras in after her. "Tell me which one fits best!
A few minutes later, Akiko came out of the change room, and handed a bra to Kagura. She checked the size. "20B? you're tiny! Smaller than I am!"
Akiko glared at her. Kagura, oblivious, continued. "I mean, I'm B too, but I'm a 26!"
"That's nice. Can we get moving?" Akiko interrupted through clenched teeth.
"Sure! What are you looking for? Something fancy?"
"No. Just everyday wear."
"Aww, come on! lets get some of the fancy stuff too!"
"I don't... think my brother would approve."
"Oh, Akito? What does he know about female stuff?"
"He's learning fast."
Kagura looked at her oddly for a moment and Akiko returned the gaze evenly. Then Kagura shrugged and hauled Akiko toward the nearest rack. "What colour?" She asked, not really paying attention.
"Black. No lace."
"Ok."
Kagura whirled around the store, picking up sets of every colour and style, nightgowns, pajamas, socks, everything imaginable. Akiko lost track of it all, slightly dizzy. She honestly didn't know the extent of what Kagura had bought. Kagura practically dragged Akiko to the next store. The staff measured Akiko's pants size and height. She just stood there, dazed, as Kagura bought pants, skirts, overalls, shorts, stockings, blouses, shirts, sweaters, and anything else she thought would look remotely good on Akiko.
Next stop was a shoe store. Kagura shoved Akiko down in the chair and took the measurements. Then, leaving Akiko in the chair, she ran around the shop gathering shoes, all black, for her inspection.
Anything with a heel was out of the question. Akiko wound up with several pairs of strappy black sandals, ankle boots, running shoes, dress shoes, winter boots, and a cute pair of sandals with a little panda on each one. Those really caught her eye; they were the only ones she distinctly remembered. They stopped to rest, at Akiko's request, on a bench in the mall. Reaching into one of the shoe store bags, Akiko pulled out a pair of dress shoes that looked really fancy and had a slight heel.
"What'll I do with these?" she asked, holding them up.
"Why, wear them with a dress, of course!" Kagura replied
"But I don't have a-"
"To Ayame's!"
Kagura raced to a pay phone and called Ayame's shop. "We're coming over, ok? Akiko needs dresses, coats, and anything else you could possibly think of."
She hung up the phone and then called a taxi. Within minutes, they were pulling up in front of the shop. Kagura, struggling under the weight of all the bags, shoved the door open. Akiko followed reluctantly.
Fifteen minutes later, Akiko was the owner of several long, sleek black dresses, all but one of which met her approval as decent. The one that didn't was strapless, slightly above knee length, and backless with a plunging neckline.
"I am not wearing that." Said Akiko firmly, pointing at the dress.
"Take it anyway," said Ayame. " It may come in handy." He winked.
Akiko looked at him oddly for a second and then a slight smile touched her lips. She decided to take the dress. Everything was packaged up and Hatori was on his way to come and get her.
Hatori arrived in his car and chatted with Ayame for a few minutes while Kagura loaded everything into the trunk. Then Akiko and Hatori got in and drove off. Kagura would call a taxi home, she said.
"So, how did shopping go, Akiko?" asked Hatori.
"Well, the family fortune has significantly decreased." Akiko replied, not really joking.
Hatori blanched. "You bought that much clothing?"
"Kagura did. I was just dragged everywhere with her."
Hatori just shook his head. "Oh, by the way, I bought a little gift for you."
"Really?" Akiko brightened slightly. "Where is it?" She asked.
"In the back seat. Why don't you open it now?"
Akiko reached into the back seat and pulled out a shopping bag. Inside the bag was a backpack shaped like a panda, black and white. It was small, more like a purse and really cute.
"You're a girl now, so I figured-" Hatori began, but was cut off by Akiko.
"It's so cute, Hatori." She said in a sweet voice. Too sweet. "In fact, It's so cute I have to hug you!". She screeched the last two words, her voice going up about three octaves. Hatori immediately slammed his body against the driver's door, trying to stay as far away from Akiko as possible. He also tried to keep the car on the road.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Poor Ha-san. I'm so cruel to him sometimes. Especially later on.
Hatori (Lady Lit's Laptop): You're mean to me too!
LL: Sorry, dear. I'll try to be nicer and not abuse you.
Anyway, thanks again for reviewing and have a nice day!