Part 11

I took a slow breath and rubbed my forehead. Allison scratched her cheek lightly and asked me, “Could you run through that again?”

After Allison mentioned her mother’s given name before she was married, I found my words. But they sounded like someone at the verge of panic, everything slurred together and my hands trembling. Allison listened. She nodded a little but she folded her hands, smooshed up her brow, and asked me that question.

Having blurted it all out at once helped me get over the shock of what Tessa had dropped on me.

I started from the beginning.

“Back in January, on the first day of class, I met a Kinrae walking around the nearby shopping center. I mentioned her, right?”

Allison nodded readily, commenting, “The heavy one who you smacked into because you were being all cutely curious about her and not aware of where you were going.”

I held my hands out. “Tessa…who looks nothing like that Kinrae…brought up the blue flowers I remember that girl carrying and she mentioned running into me. She basically said that she was that other Kinrae.”

Dipping her head back, Allison reflected on that before saying, “Okay…so she was wearing an imitation device then?” She held up the device controller for emphasis.

I chewed at my lip. “Unless she’s lying to me and trying to mess with my head by claiming what happened to some other Kinrae was what happened to her.”

Allison pointed out, “Quite possible.”

Then I added, “But…the kicker is this. She complimented us as a couple and she said it the same way that older lady in front of us at the home improvement store did the day I asked you out on a bookstore date.”

Arching her cotton candy eyebrows, Allison mulled that a bit before answering, “You remember exactly what that nice lady in front of us said that day? I just remember her saying like…we made a cute couple or something.”

I was sure of what she’d said. Pretty sure, at least. It sounded so similar. Why else would Tessa mention saying it ‘again’?

Allison posed the all-important question for that, “Do you trust this ‘Tessa’? Can you be sure she’s not just a stalker Kinrae who is trolling you?”

I paused a moment. But there was more.

“She made a watermark on her hands disappear. She knew about Theresa being my mother’s name. And she knew your name and she had your mother’s maiden name as her last name.”

Allison put her hand on my shoulder and reiterated, “Stalker. That’s all info anyone can get from likely anywhere…even…Oh! You said she’s in charge of the devices? What if they can listen to people who are using them? I mean it’s technology from the Kinrae. People have examined them but what if there are secrets no one has found yet…like a really good listening system? And also, if she knows the devices well then she must know how to make a watermark appear on herself.”

That was something to consider, especially together with the stalker possibility. But then again regular Kinrae couldn’t exactly go undercover. Too conspicuous.

Then there was the last thing, which I told Allison, “She implied that she was me…maybe from an alternate universe where I was a Kinrae.”

To this, Allison’s skeptical look showed as she noted, “Pleeeeaaase…you’d have way better boobs and hair than that as an anime girl.”

I couldn’t resist a smirk. The trembling stilled. I took a breath without quivering. Allison reached up to gently stroke my hair. It felt nice. It felt comforting. Aubrey had done it once a long time ago but idly, like she was bored and just fussing with it. Allison stroked my hair with calm, loving care.

She pulled me close and glanced to the western horizon. “The sun is setting….Maybe everything you thought you and the entire world knew about the Kinrae is wrong. Maybe they can give the NSA a run for their money. Maybe something you can’t even imagine about them is what’s up. But…for now…I would love very much to share a dance with you before we’re booted out by the park’s police geese or something.” She chuckled and rested her hand on my neck.

Looking into Allison’s evening-tinted eyes, I nodded. For now.

We didn’t have music but Allison provided a bit of humming for accompaniment. She showed me how to do bits of the foxtrot, posing my arms in the correct position. I only felt like I wasn’t messing it up till the end. I thought the waltz would be easier but it was just as intimidating. Eventually, after immense failure on my part, Allison settled into my arms with a hug and told me, “Slow dance.”

And so we did that. Just a hug and slow circles. She rested her head against me and I cradled her. She shut her eyes and I felt mine relax. Our time was short but I loved every slow swirl. I could hear Allison lightly say, “A happy day.”

It didn’t change anything. It didn’t make me forget the storm of words and questions which Tessa had torn through me. I still felt as adrift and anticipating the next wave as I did after my parents vanished from my life. But Allison was my rock. I clung to her warmth. I wanted to feel what she said. I looked out at the dim, red sun caught amidst the far buttes. I could believe a happy day.

We were one of the last cars to leave before they sealed up the main gate. I drove back slowly. Allison told me to take the scenic route. There was a Basque market to the west which was open late and sold all sorts of spices and meats. I paid for everything, reminding her, “This is our first date, remember?”

She smiled but then drew it back with a pout, saying, “I consider that lovely night after Linnea our first date. I mean…I proposed marriage.” An older man, whose beard was turning white, chuckled at that and wrapped up our purchases. Then he included a bag of rice we hadn’t bought. He explained, “For young love.”

Allison walked the purchases back to the car in one hand and noted, “He could’ve been a disguised Tessa, you know. So coooooulllld I!”

I smirked at her and stuck out my tongue. It struck me then how odd it was that anime girls might be watching me while I was unaware. I wondered, when I was looking at Tessa or whoever she was by the florist, was she or someone else covertly paying attention to me? It gave me a slight tingle to consider despite all my worries.

Allison pushed her seat back a little and shut her eyes. She clutched her stomach with her arms and rested. I smiled at her and let her sleep soundly as evening settled into darkening twilight.

It was night, with the first stars emerging from the haze of the city lights by the time we pulled into the drive. Allison slept with a curling smile on her face. I leaned over and gave her a wake-up kiss on the lips. She didn’t rouse.

Then, she lifted a single, vast eye open and said, “First one didn’t work. Still asleep. Try another.” Her curving smile deepened as she closed her eyes again. With a laugh, I gave her another, lingering longer with my hand on her cheek.

Still, she kept her eyes closed. She offered after that, “Maybe a third is the charm to rouse a sleeping princess?”

And so I gave her one more kiss, trying to think of little scenes in fairy tales for how princesses were kissed before I decided just to have fun with it. At the end, Allison’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled a deeply-drawn smile before noting, “I figured three was enough for that silliness.”

She swung around the bags and basket as we made our way inside. Clayton and Malcolm got the non-perishable leftovers to divide between themselves. They both marveled at Allison as she went past and asked how “the date went”. Allison talked it up with all the positives, mentioning the dance and “just time to talk”.

After a quick and quirky match involving a Japanese racing game, Allison headed into her room to “get changed”. I lingered and stretched as I told Malcolm that we just had the one device now because Lissa got hers back. His eyes nervously flicked to an unaware Clayton as he remarked, “Ah. Cool.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

I didn’t toy with him further because I heard Allison’s feminine voice through the wall saying, “Sean? Could you come here?”

I wasn’t sure why he would ask for me, unless it was to try another kiss or two in male form. Not that I minded anymore. But he probably had a surprise for me.

I was right.

I opened the door and remained in the threshold. Standing before me was a girl. A human girl. Her clothes, what Allison had been wearing earlier in the day before he used the device, fit her awkwardly. She had Allison’s smooth skin but it looked even softer. She had his faint eyebrows. She had his face but it looked like any gender ambiguity had been smoothed out. And there was no questioning the swell of her chest under Allison’s shirt. Her figure wasn’t as outrageous as pink anime girl Allison. Her jeans were snug in some places but loose in others and looked rather uncomfortable on her. Her wide hips and feminine thighs were traced by the material. She looked at me with those golden-flecked green eyes and bit her lip. I shut the door behind me and stared.

The girl fussed with her clothes and swallowed. The device and the controller were together on Allison’s bed. I took a breath. I had no reason to believe the girl standing before me in Allison’s clothes actually was Allison after all the uncertainty Tessa had cast on everything. I had every reason to distrust the sincerity of those worried, familiar eyes. But first, I guided her to Allison’s bed and helped her sit down.

Trying slow breaths, the girl recounted, “It’s me, Sean. I came in here. I turned off the controller like before and slipped it off while I waited through the delay. But when the delay was gone, I was still a girl but like this.”

She clutched her hands together. She really looked like she needed a hug. I gave her one eagerly, despite my doubts. She held my shoulders. She shivered and swallowed. I’d never seen Allison so rattled. If she was Allison.

I sat down beside her and looked her over. She would need some other clothes. Fortunately, Allison had plenty of clothes in all sorts of styles to choose from. She clung to me and sifted through everything. Eventually, she found a shirt and pants which would fit her better. Without thinking, she slipped her clothes off and the other ones on. I tried not to watch. She seemed more comfortable as she sat back down on the bed.

She sat up for a moment before leaning back on the bed with a sigh to ask, “What do I do now?”

I wanted to comfort her and yet I felt held back by my doubts. I’d been struck by so much uncertainty. Now my rock had shifted and I had no idea what I could rely on. Hesitantly, with a pang of shame, I asked her, “Can you prove to me that you really are Allison?”

She sat up, eyes on the verge of sorrowful tears. I grimaced and looked away.

Softly, she said, “I don’t know. I don’t know if I can prove anything. But ask me whatever you need to and I’ll do my best.”

I tried to think of anything that would be private, which couldn’t have been watched. I considered the details of random marriage plans, which she answered swiftly and with the hint of a smile. But I had to discount that because of the influence of the devices. I had to look back. I dug up something which stuck in my mind.

“Tell me what I whispered in your ear about the first soufflé of yours I ate. What you called the cutest compliment I ever gave your food.”

It had been before Christmas, before I knew there would be a Kinrae-related class this quarter. Sure, I could've been watched even then but that would be paranoia out of all reason. It was the safest thing to try.

She answered instantly, “Superfflé.”

I felt a tingle on the back of my neck. No one else was present and, so far as I knew, Allison told no one. I could’ve doubted. I could’ve dug myself further into questions. But I thought about if I was in her position, changed and alone. And I realized it didn’t matter. To me, to everything I knew, this was Allison and she was afraid.

I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. I told her I believed her. She looked into my eyes and clutched my hand so tightly I felt as though I was losing feeling in it. I let her grip. Even though…holy crap she still had her strength. I winced and whispered, “Little softer…please.”

She gasped and eased up to the point of her hold merely resembling a boa constrictor’s. She asked, “What do I do?” I put my arm around her and rubbed her back. She leaned into me, her warm, human flesh so similar to but yet so different than what I felt touching that pink-haired Kinrae.

As I held her, I heard her halting sobs come in soft pieces. I wished I could do more. I wished I could do anything. Even if there were lingering doubts, my heart hated the idea of anyone in tears. I held her as long as she needed until she finally settled back and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

Her head down, I told her, “I’m here.” She nodded and breathed deeply in through her nose. Finally, she said, “Okay. When something changed last time, it seemed like I was a little softer all around. I couldn’t alter that. But the first change was my voice and I could change that. Maybe…this is like with my voice. Please let it be like my voice…”

She stood slowly. I trailed after her. She shut her eyes and it looked like she was focusing. I watched and waited. For several moments, it seemed like nothing was happening. Then, finally, I noticed the shape of her face was shifting from the girlish form to one more androgynous. Bit by bit, she changed.

Her hands subtly shifted. Her hair receded slightly into her head. Her hips dipped back down. Her thighs took on a slender, boyish softness. And her breasts melted away into a flat chest. As she opened her eyes, Allison’s face looked back at me and his body awkwardly wore the clothes meant for the girl before. After a quick look of relief, his next expression was a grimace of pain at his suddenly-uncomfortable clothes.

Before he could fling them off, he scrunched his brow and his lower half returned to girlish contours. With a delighted gasp, he declared, “It’s like my voice!”

After a quick change of clothes into something which stretched more comfortably both ways, Allison stood as a boy before me and focused again.

His androgynous face flowed to those feminine contours. His hair swelled past his shoulders. His lower half rippled back like the reshaping of clay. And his breasts bent the front of his top before she was a girl again.

And she cycled back to boyhood. The process from one to another and back took little more than a minute. She did find that when she arrived on her second trip to girlhood, she did so with a wobble in her legs. I supported her as she murmured, “A little too fast and I feel really hungry and sweaty.” She retrieved a bar of dark chocolate stashed away in her dresser, swallowed it whole, and downed an entire bottle of water from a package she always kept in her room. With a sigh, she settled down on the bed. I joined her.

After a minute of resting, she said, “That was both…amazing and exhausting. And here…I thought I’d be talking about something else altogether with those words and the two of us alone in my bedroom.” She gave a familiar Allison smirk and propped her head up with a pillow. I couldn’t resist a smirk of my own.

I asked her, “You okay though?”

Her breathing had slowed to normal. She answered, “I think so. Going back and forth is like…if I sprinted around that park. But it’s getting easier. Not as easy as tapping my foot or something but at least I know what to do and I’m not stuck. In fact, I love it.”