Chapter 3 – Joining Mecchen House

It was a huge hypothetical to consider. What if we made it back home and we’d been missing for all those months? At the very least, our rent would’ve gone unpaid. Surely our families would have given us up for dead. I could just imagine it now: “Trio of young men last seen going for a walk.”

Katsumi leaned over to whisper in Sumi’s ear. Sumi stood like a marble statue, then curled at Katsumi like a tiger, struck, “You wouldn’t dare!”

“I’ll do whatever I must. It’s your choice as to which.” She looked rather solemn. Did having us here really bother her that much? I had to put the question to her.

Jamie edged back as Katsumi targeted me with her eyes in response. Her sour look could kill a flower.

Katsumi folded her arms and said, “Imagine you’re trapped in an old building. All the openings are barred. There’s no way out of this place. Then, you hear echoing giggles. Like the sort Tara makes when she’s in a big room.”

Tara’s mood brightened from a moment ago, and she released just the sort of giggle Katsumi meant. Katsumi’s arm stretched out confidently. Her eyes were shut in curving, black lines and a subtle smile traced her lips. It was a look I could easily identify from my anime-watching experience. The only thing missing was the black, leathery wings which were often given characters in situations like this. Particularly in the eyecatch or chapter end.

Katsumi continued, “You hear this giggle. Your muscles tighten. Your eyes dart around in the dark. Meager light filters through the sealed windows. The shadows seem alive. You back up through an empty hallway. Cold air flows along your neck. You shiver. You know there can’t possibly be anything there. A soft shimmering flitters around you. You wonder about turning around. As long as you can’t see it, then you can’t fear it. But still, somehow, you find your head turning. Wide, hungry eyes stare back at you in the dark. Faces draw forth with a close giggle. You see more than a dozen. All young girls. All dressed in gentle lace with soft forms and flowing hair. They want something from you. Their hands fill with glowing light. They seek to embrace you as one of them. Your legs fly out from under you, one after another. Somehow you dart through the house, faster than you’ve ever moved. Your heart thunders in your chest. You know if they catch you then it will be the last moments of your existence. If they touch you, you know you will become something else. And from that fate, there is no escape.

“Your trembling hands hastily lock one door. Then another. Then another. But you’re in a bedroom. There are no other doors, only the ones leading out. You cower under the covers and pull yourself in as much as possible. You press on the bed, deep into the mattress, so the mark you leave is as small as possible. You dare not breathe.”

I found myself captivated by her tale, smirking a bit. She sure told it well, with sweeping flourishes. She held her hands like paws to her chin for the bed sheets. She mimed the run. She held her hands out like they were glowing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jamie edging closer to me. For protection? I’d felt like socking him a few moments ago (a feeling which was quickly fading).

Her tale went on. “All you can do is listen. You expect to hear the lock rattle, and they’ll go on their way. They’ll pass you over and continue to their next victim. You keep telling yourself this, but the sound of their voices grows ever closer. Impossibly close. But you dare not peek. You must keep hiding. The voices are just outside the door; you know it. They’re so close. You feel them in the room now. You hear a swooping sound and consider the impossible: they can move through solid walls. There is no safe place. They can move through your blanket as though it were a wisp of cloud. Impossible! You try to strike the idea from your mind, but its roots linger. You hear footsteps on either side of you. You smell flowery, gentle aromas permeating the air. The blankets seem to shift. You clutch them tight. Sudden light bursts out. Your covers are torn away. These young girls, though small, are incredibly strong. Your covers go flying. You are exposed. They stand on all sides of you. You still hold rigid in the hopes that playing possum will mean you get passed over. But what you don’t realize is that there are no passes. No man is left behind. There is no escape. And you’re next. The girls all leap onto you at once, and your life as a man ends… Instantly and forever.”

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Katsumi released a breath of air, and her hands spread out like flowing dust. She grinned. She’d clearly seen her share of movies. Despite that, I gulped when she finished her tale. Then I realized that Jamie was holding onto my arm.

I blinked and looked over at him. He seemed as surprised to see me there as I was to see him.

Sumi put her hands on her hips and remarked, “Aww… Isn’t that adorable!”

Tara chimed in too with, “So cute! Heheheh!”

Ms. Ishida blushed and put her hand on her chin as she looked at the two of us.

Katsumi seemed the most pleased with this result.

All in all, I didn’t think it was much of an answer to my question, but I wasn’t going to point that out to her. I could hear singing and prancing echoing on a floor above me.

Katsumi’s pleased look faded. She shook her head. “That girl better be on our side.”

Sumi glared at Katsumi. “Our side, doll face? What’s ‘our side’ anyway? I know you have something on her, but I thought we were friends. That means no blackmail.”

Katsumi put her arms above her head. “This is not blackmail. It’s just a warning. Like I said.”

Sumi pointed a finger accusingly. “Tossing out all my oldest girl–girl love magazines is not a warning, sweet-pea. It’s a tragedy!”

Katsumi’s eyes went wide. “But… Why’d you say it?” Sumi scoffed. “Gorgeous, you should know by now expressing myself openly doesn’t bother me a bit. Did you really expect telling others I read girl–girl love stories would faze me?”

Katsumi looked suddenly lost. I couldn’t help but feel for her. For a second. She put a hand to her mouth then quickly took it away. “But, you said you didn’t want anyone to know about…” She strained and rubbed her head.

A laugh rose out of Sumi’s mouth. “I was calling a friend who said they’d seen the end of a recent manga I was following, dear. I see you’re still listening to me through the door. Bad girlie. I’ll have to think up an inventive way to...get you.”

Katsumi squirmed, and Sumi wrapped her arms around her. Katsumi blushed bright and ‘meep’ed a few times. “I’m so sorry.”

Sumi flashed a toothy grin. “What are friends for, buttercup? Forgiven. But, eventually, you’re going to have to wear the outfit I bought last week. Don’t worry. It has a great bust-enhancer.” I imagined that it would have to work miracles.

Ms. Ishida held her hands together with what seemed like a few small sweat droplets on her cheek. They were small, not the over-sized sort in some shows, but I knew what they meant. I wondered if my own face had shown any yet.

Jamie had let go of my arm, but his features were still transparent with embarrassment. His hair seemed a little longer too, but then I couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to the barber.

Looking up and around at everyone staring at her in Sumi’s embrace, Katsumi whimpered. Sumi gave her a kiss on the cheek and let her go.

A quiet moment passed between us all, which was rapidly broken by a sweaty but still energetic Miki bursting her way into the room. Her arms twirled and twisted. Her expression was gleaming.

“Dang it. I lost. Nathan, you are incredible. That was the best race I’ve ever had…Nathan?” Staggering into the room, absolutely drenched and trembling, was Nathan. His breath was fast and shallow. He held his knees and tried to take a few long breaths.

Miki moved close and crouched beside him. “Come on, buddy. You’ll be okay. Just take it slow. I’ll get you a chair.” She whirled over and grabbed a chair for Nathan. He accepted it gladly and rested. I moved closer and gave Nathan a pat. Miki joined in with another pat.

“Your friend is the absolute coolest. Usually, no one can take me on. But it was a photo-finish. He just edged me out. We need to plan a rematch when you’re fully recovered. Woo! I’ve never felt so alive!” Her tongue hung out. She looked over towards Katsumi and Sumi. “S-chan. Hey. You made it back. Did you find what you wanted?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Sumi nodded with a smile. Picking up on a question I hadn’t realized yet, Miki turned and told me, “I always call Katsumi ‘Kat-chan’ and Sumi ‘S-chan’. I know those two are cool with that from me. But maybe give them some time before you try that on them.”

I told her I would remember that, and she gave me a thumbs-up in response.

“So, what’d I miss?” Miki looked around, still holding her thumb up.

‘S-chan’ filled her in quickly with the most lurid details, including the cuteness of Jamie, the spooky tale, and the later molestation of Katsumi. Sumi gave Katsumi a pat on the back which made her cower.

I filled Nathan in on the passage of nine months since our walk. The shimmer in his eyes, which being physically-active usually gave him, clouded over. He didn’t say anything in reply. I felt a stab of melancholy.

Meanwhile, the bringing-up-to-speed of Miki continued.

Miki nodded throughout, with her arm on her left hip, and pondered it all like a defense attorney.

“So, you claim you actually read girl–girl love stories? Do you have proof?”

Sumi produced a rolled-up magazine from her jeans pocket. How it came from her jeans, I couldn’t tell you. The ever-present cat on her shoulder turned and hopped to the ground. It meowed once to her and padded off down the hallway. She listened and said, with a wave, “Sure.”

Miki coughed. “Sure to…?”

“Both of you.” She held the magazine up.

“And how are we supposed to know that magazine is yours?”

Sumi turned it around to display, in clear Japanese script (translated in my head again…), the words “Property of Takahashi Sumi.” To clinch the deal was a postmark with her name and address. She had a subscription.

Miki made a defeated motion of panic. But she brushed herself off and gestured to a closed hand with her upturned palm. “I have evidence that subscription ran out three months ago! There was once a ‘Last Chance’ cover on that particular magazine, I will testify personally to that fact. Also, that magazine is precisely three months old!”

She stretched her arm out at Sumi and made a rigid pointing motion. “Clearly, while you may have once read girl–girl love magazines, you don’t any longer. Thereby, Katsumi could not have been squished and nuzzled by you, since you’re not into that.”

Sumi folded her arms and slowly tapped her finger. “Ah, but didn’t you know I also recently renewed it. And I enter into evidence… This receipt from the publisher for exactly the price of renewal, addressed to me, for the term of two years. It’s marked January 2nd.”

Somehow all of this felt eerily like I’d seen it in a video game before…

Miki planted both her palms on the kitchen table. Her eyebrows curled with intensity. Her eyes focused forward. She seemed ready to tear into the logic like a minnow through water.

“Actually, I’ve got nothing…” Her face was awash in nervous droplets. Though I had nothing riding on her ‘victory,’ I still sensed that the motion called for all to flop on the ground in humorous exasperation. I guess not all anime clichés were followed to the letter in this place.

Katsumi shook off her embarrassment and grumbled. “Enough of these delays! We need a vote now to toss these boys out of here!” She held her fists in front of her like a boxer ready for a fight. It still didn’t stop Sumi from trying to nuzzle her a little more. But this time Katsumi was prepared and deftly rolled out of it.

“Ah-ha!” She looked smug.

Miki stretched her arm out. “Objection! …Come on. These boys are cool. What do you have against them? We just met. Why not just let them share a room here, for the night. And, when morning comes, they can go looking for where they came from and such.”

It wasn’t a bad notion and it was one I was seriously considering until the nine-months issue came to light. Now, I wasn’t sure what we should do. What if entering the pathway caused another nine months to pass? Now that I thought about it, I was sure I’d seen it in an anime show: two worlds with their time out of sync.

Katsumi wasn’t biting though. “This is a house of maidens. They are not maidens. They cannot stay the night. Unless… I make some major changes to them. But we WILL put it to a vote. A vote which I’m fully-confident will be unanimous.”

Miki frowned. “Kat-chan. I love you as a friend. I think you’re wonderful. But I can’t vote to toss them out. I’m sorry.”

Katsumi leaned against the wall. “I know Reiko and Sumi are in my corner. And Reiko isn’t even really a friend. At most, we’re study buddies. Miki, I need you in my corner too.”

Things didn’t seem to be shaping up well for us. Jamie had found a quiet corner to linger. His former, bold indignation had faded to a wounded quiet. He’d never been much for a long struggle. Despite his protests about staying here, I knew he could use some time to rest and absorb all this.

Nathan didn’t seem too far off that point, but for reasons of exhaustion. He edged over to his lukewarm udon and finished what he could. I gave him a rub on the shoulder, and he flashed me a friendly glance.

I sensed in Nathan, under his muscles and exuberance, a truly warm heart.

I sensed in Jamie, beneath his apathetic shells, a fierce flame of determination.

And what did I sense in me? What lay at the core of my curiosity, skepticism, and rationale? Was it hollow? I couldn’t know for sure, but I did sense one thing. I couldn’t let Katsumi push me around as she pleased.

“Corner? What do you think this is? Another one of your games? My friends and I need a place for the evening. You’re the only person I hear protesting and, particularly, blackmailing people into tossing us out. And for what? Because we’re not exactly what you want here? I am who I am. Aren’t I? Aren’t we? We don’t want to bring harm to you. We don’t want to offend you. We just need to get our heads in the right place and figure things out. If you still can’t deal with that, then we’ll graciously leave and find an inn for the night.”

Never mind I didn’t even know if this area had inns and how much they would cost. I felt myself trembling. I still had no interest in finding out how much power grumpy anime girls could harness at any particular moment. Also, I’d never really stood up for something like this. But I knew we were on the right side.

And Miki sure seemed to be with me. “He’s right. This is not about corners and deals and who is friends with whom. Something happened to these fellas. They need help. They need something from us. Just a little something. Nothing we can’t easily spare. And it’s not just the space. It’s our hospitality. I’m sure Ms. Ishida understands.”

Ms. Ishida hadn’t said much for a while, but I could tell she was watching and listening. She was like Jamie a little in that sense. I had to give her that. Jamie rarely listened to that intuitive and watchful sense of himself though.

He rubbed his hand along the table. The motion seemed to embolden him, like static from a comb, because his head darted up and he challenged Katsumi, “Why do you dislike boys and favor girls so much? Are you a lesbian?”

Personally, I would’ve directed that question at Sumi but, knowing her frankness, she probably would’ve uttered a quick and no-nonsense ‘yes.’ Sumi took a sizable step sideways.

Katsumi’s head lolled forward, and her hair fell over her eyes. Her voice sounded like her throat was clenched tight and she was speaking out her nose. “WHAT WAS THAT?!!? A new girl wants to join the club in the most DIRE way POSSIBLE!!!”

Her aura thundered over me as well. “And YOU! You have offended me. You’ve been warned, and you haven’t left. Threaten me in leaving? I threaten you with panties IF YOU DON’T LEAVE! I don’t care where they came from! They don’t belong here in this house of girls. They’re ungrateful visitors who don’t understand the history. They don’t honor the past. They just want to use us because we’re convenient for them. AND I WILL NOT ALLOW IT! As long as I have breath, I will see them consumed by maiden flame…”

She heaved a few times and coughed. Ms. Ishida reached Katsumi’s side. Her hand brushed her shoulder and patted her back. She gave Katsumi a quiet look. Katsumi scowled at the floor, then up at us.

“OKAY! We’re doing this vote! NOW!”