Chapter 14 – The Hopes of Mecchen House

Ms. Ishida was the first to rush into the room. I tried to get out an apology for the glass, but she had me in her arms before I could say anything. Miki came next, assessed the situation, and went looking for a dust broom.

Ms. Ishida took a couple of first-aid items out of the closet in the corner of the room, led me over to Katsumi’s room, and sat me in a chair. Katsumi was sitting on her bed and didn’t offer anything in the way of protest. Ms. Ishida kept hugging me until it felt like she’d squeezed all the tears out.

When they were gone, the embarrassment set in. Ms. Ishida wouldn’t let me apologize though. She just said, “Sit. Collect yourself. Don’t worry about it. I will take care of it.”

She gave me a little kiss on the cheek.

I tried a few breaths then finally said, “Umm…Good morning.”

She smiled and answered, “Good morning to you.”

I felt a little less shaky. She turned her attention to Nathan and Jamie, “And good morning to you two as well.” She then turned to Katsumi and asked, “You don’t mind if our friends stay in your room a little while to collect themselves, do you Katsumi?”

Katsumi shook her head. She surveyed the three of us. She covered her mouth with a hand.

Ms. Ishida gave me a tissue to dry my face and blow my nose. She rubbed my shoulder then went over to Nathan and Jamie. She asked them how they were. Both looked a little shaky, but only Nathan accepted a hug from Ms. Ishida. Jamie hugged the wall instead and watched the floor.

I balled up my fists in my lap and turned to Katsumi. “I had a dream. I think it could be related.”

Katsumi looked back at me. I noticed she was still wearing a nightgown, it was lavender and soft. She asked, “What happened?” My roommates and Ms. Ishida turned to listen.

I tried to put myself back in the dream and grab hold of the fading details. I pressed those little fists deep into my soft legs. “I was near Nana’s room. The door opened and I saw a vortex in front of me. A voice said, ‘This is all for you. You’re going to be returned to your real home.’ There was a high tone like on the phone at the library when we tried to call home, and the voice said, ‘My sister’. It was distorted. There was a figure standing there too. I remember that. It looked just like Nana, but something told me it wasn’t Nana. It just felt wrong. Then it faded away as the dream faded. Then I was shaken awake.”

I took a long breath after all that. I turned to Jamie. He leaned against the wall. His legs crossed and he dipped his hair back. The pins were gone. My brain struggled to associate this face with Jamie. It rebelled. It didn’t know this girl.

Ms. Ishida tugged at my arms and rubbed something wet against them. I looked down.

She explained, “You have a few small scratches. I don’t want them to get infected.” I saw the red spots here and there. They weren’t oozing. They looked like mosquito bites. She dabbed the area, dried it, and put on a couple of bandages. Miki came in with a dustpan. She announced, “I have the glass all cleaned up. Do you need anything else, Ms. Ishida?”

She shook her head. Miki looked eye-to-eye at Nathan. Nathan held his hands in front of him like Ms. Ishida sometimes did. While Jamie was dressed in a fairly-generic tan, two-piece set of jammies, Nathan wore a silken blue number. It fit him well. The sleeves were short, and so were the pant legs, which curled close around his thighs and ended at the knee. Nathan seemed to shrink even more under Miki’s gaze.

A quiet moment passed between them. Then Miki asked, “So, what happened?”

Nathan looked over at the two of us. Miki’s eyes were on him. He brushed his slender hands together and began, “Well. I umm… I remember. Tara and I had some fun with music and looking through what she’s collected. I felt sleepy. So, I went to my bedroom, and I got clothes to wear overnight. I took a short bath. It was really quiet. I wondered if I should’ve bathed up on the second floor. But I went right to bed. I slept. I didn’t dream like Kelly did, but I woke up and…”

His head dipped down every so often, then panned around to see who was looking at him. He brushed some hair away and continued, “And I rubbed my eyes and got up to look around. No one else was up. I was a little concerned I was up too early. I went over to the bathroom, and I froze when I passed the mirror. My face was a stranger’s face. My arms were not the arms I remember. Nothing else had changed then. I rushed to go see if you two were alright. I stopped in Jamie’s room first. He was sleeping deeply. I wasn’t sure how to wake him. I didn’t want to yell too loud because of everyone else. I rushed to Ms. Ishida’s room. She was up. She helped me wake up Jamie. Then I felt like I was sinking. I nearly fell…”

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He looked to Jamie, who picked up the story. “I saw Ms. Ishida catch him. She was taller than him. That really woke me up. I rushed for the nearest mirror. I felt like I was gonna get sick. I undressed a little to check everything. After a bit, I grabbed Nathan and had to see how you fared.”

I contributed my part to fill in the rest of what happened. He didn’t ask what I yelled, so I decided not to mention it for now.

Miki nodded. She looked at Nathan, who’d taken a few steps back. She added, “Well, I was up already, and I followed Ms. Ishida in checking out what happened. I passed Mami when going for the dust broom. She looked pretty bleary and annoyed. I think Ami is still sleeping. I know Sumi and Reiko are sleeping. Tara and I are making breakfast today, so I know she’s probably up. No clue about Nana. You alright, Nathan?”

She moved closer. He fidgeted and said, “My image in the mirror is scary. And I’m worried…”

“What are you worried about?” Miki looked concerned.

Nathan turned away. “I want to help more. I just feel so useless lately. Before, I helped at my father’s gym. I made sure everyone was okay. I took care of all the toughest stuff in our apartment. But it was my effort at helping which caused all this to happen. I thought I could make up for it by helping here, but I feel paralyzed. Then I started losing things. I lost my mother’s face. I lost my muscles. I lost everything that makes me able to help. I feel like I failed, and there’s nothing I can do to fix it.”

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Miki bowed her head. “Listen…” She pulled Nathan into a hug. “I’m here for you. You’re my friend. You don’t always have to give your strength to say you care for someone. Sometimes you just give them a smile or a pat on the back. I saw something special in you from the moment we first met. If I just saw some muscular guy, I wouldn’t have bothered to challenge you. I saw someone who I knew was my match, so I had to challenge myself. And I bet you’re really limber now. We gotta try a flexibility test, and… I will bet money you’re an awesome swimmer with a body like that. You’ll just cut through the water.”

Nathan blushed from the hug and offered a tentative smile. “But what about helping others?”

Miki grinned and said, “Imagine how fast you’ll be able to clean. You can get in anywhere quickly. You can sneak your way through. Those arms of yours are still really toned. So many things require skill and speed over mere brute force, sports especially. Your tennis game is gonna be fiery!”

Nathan looked down at his hands. “You really think so?”

“Think? I know girls with that kind of body who routinely kick my butt at sports. I mentioned the smallest girl in our class, right?” He nodded but asked, “What about my face?”

“I think your mother would be really impressed with you, no matter what you look like.”

Nathan gently drifted away from the hug. “She did say… well, my dad said she always wanted a girl… with me.”

Miki rubbed his shoulder. “You don’t have to be all things for everyone.”

I noticed Katsumi, still in bed, was listening closely.

Jamie nudged his way into the conversation. “Do you expect that feel-good tripe to work on everyone?”

Miki slipped around from Nathan with a sigh and offered, “I wish I could do more for all three of you.”

Jamie, doing what felt like an impersonation of Reiko, said, “You can keep wishing, but until you know a way to really fix us, then it’s just empty words. Our faces have been mutilated. Mine feels like it’s been cut off to the muscle. I can barely stand to look at it. I know Kelly doesn’t enjoy it all either. But I figure the one on the bed is just eating this all up, huh? This what you wanted? See a bunch of boys reduced to pain and suffering?”

Katsumi looked at him but didn’t say anything.

He continued, “I bet it is. Well, I’m not gonna be your toy for whatever crazy fetish you have.” He walked out of the room, shaking his head.

We were all left in silence ‘till Tara crept in, looking at us and back down the hall. She asked, “Is everyone okay?”

Ms. Ishida encouraged Tara to come in. She looked up at Nathan. She was still four inches shorter than him, but it was a big difference from when he towered more than a foot over her. She turned her head a little and looked at me too. She seemed confused.

“Hello?” She looked to Katsumi. Ms. Ishida explained it to Tara, who gasped, “Wait! Does that mean Jamie-kun was just walking out?”

Ms. Ishida nodded, and Tara rushed out the door. We returned to silence.

Katsumi sighed. “You know I have to change for class, right?” She folded her arms and blew a bit of hair out of her eyes. She reached behind herself and picked up a camera. Nathan looked surprised when she took a photo with a quick flash. I made the most unfeminine frown I could imagine. Of course, she chuckled and said, “That was a cute one. Can I take another?”

I stared at her. She shrugged. “I bared my soul to you last night, and you gave me very little in return.”

I made a “photo-for-grandma” smile and she snapped another one.

“Okay. I’m satisfied. But don’t go far. I bet I could make you look even prettier.”

I pressed my legs again with my hands. At least my cuts weren’t oozing through the bandages. “I don’t want to be pretty. I want to be me. I’m not pretty. I’m not meant to be pretty. I’ve always just been some guy who lives a quiet existence. This doesn’t happen to me. I just go about my life in a plain, normal way. I watch stuff with excitement. I read about it. I don’t live it. And I’ve always been fine with watching the crazy stuff go on around me and happen to other people. It’s safe. I don’t have to worry. But somehow, something picked me out, picked me and my friends up and took us somewhere strange. It’s doing something to us… or this place is doing something to us. I don’t want to be what it’s making me into. It feels like I’m losing myself. Can’t you understand that? Can’t you understand being pushed into being something you’re not? Please tell me you can understand!”

A figure lingered by the doorway. I looked. It was Mami. She rubbed her eyes. “I can totally understand that, but please keep it down so I can eke out a few more minutes resting my eyes.” Then she left.

Katsumi shrugged and cracked her neck. “I get it, but again, I want this to happen. As far as I know, I’m not causing it, so I can’t undo it. And if I were doing it, I doubt I could muster up the will to want to undo it. And, so far as looking pretty, there’s really no chance at this point of anyone thinking you’re just pretty boys. You’re far too girly for that. If you don’t want my kind of help, the door is over there.”

I set my face, not knowing what appearance that would give, and said, “I don’t want your help.” I stood. Ms. Ishida looked between us. Miki rubbed Nathan’s shoulder.

Katsumi stood up from her bed. “Then we really don’t have anything else to say, do we?”

I shook my head and turned to leave. I left Katsumi’s room and found myself in the hall looking out. Ms. Ishida lingered behind me. I wondered if Nathan would stay and take up Katsumi’s help at being “pretty.” Just because she couldn’t do it for herself didn’t mean she could play out her issues with me.

I strode towards Nana’s room. If not for the dull pain in my arms, I would’ve wondered if I was still in a part of the dream and I would open the door to another strange vortex.