Chapter 9 – Reunions and a Recipe at Mecchen House (cont.)
The Fanatic Heaven shop appeared to our right. We stopped to debate what would happen if we used the forested path again, when Nana walked past it and said the next street led directly to Mecchen House from behind. None of us objected to that route.
The commercial area gave way to small, two-story houses with traditional roofs and little yards. We followed the sidewalk around a corner and then took another crosswalk around a rose-covered patch. Nana turned onto a path with short steps that climbed fast over a grassy slope. It looked much older and worn than the front path. She paused on a particular step. I glanced over her shoulder. On the step above her, planted sideways in the cement, like a gray line-tracing, was a child’s footprint.
I asked her, “What’s wrong?”
She said in a half-whisper, “Two voices speak with one heart.”
I voiced my confusion. She answered only, “It’s fine.”
[https://i.imgur.com/AYEO2Sm.jpg]
[Sketch of Mecchen House and area. Not sure who drew it.]
Soon, the path dwindled away into a rising, grassy area. Flowers, possibly the ones which Ms. Ishida warned Miki to avoid, appeared ahead. Over the incline, Mecchen House suddenly fell into view. Nana led us around the side to the door at the end of the hall. She jiggled it open, and we all walked in. We set our shoes in a small, lower area near the door, same as before.
A vacuum rested in the middle of the floor. I hacked once. The air had a thick veil of dust hanging about like a swarm of bees disturbed. My cough brought a patter of feet and Ms. Ishida’s face peering out from the junk room on the first floor.
She moved gently into the room. Her hair was covered by a blue kerchief. She was dressed in a long-sleeved, light-colored peach blouse with a burgundy tank-top sneaking a peek from underneath. Her pants were made of a soft material and the same color of peach.
Her seemingly ever-present apron was yellow this time, with velvet-brown straps and a bow tied snug at her waist. The apron traced around her and showed her mature figure better than what she wore last evening. She folded her arms in front of her, her palms slightly-open, and said, “My goodness. You’ve returned. And your hair! Is everything alright? Did you run into Katsumi along the way?”
Nana held the bag up. Ms. Ishida gestured towards the kitchen. “Oh, Nana, please put that on the counter.”
Nana walked away for a moment, then back. She bowed to all of us, then walked out. Ms. Ishida explained, “She has a break between her morning and afternoon classes, so she usually helps with whatever I can’t get to in one day… a-a-aACHOO!” Her sneeze seemed to rattle the door. She made a sweat-drop motion and sound followed by, “Sorry. I’m doing a good deal of cleaning, and the air is all dusty. I’m going to open up a few windows to ventilate and beat some rugs later. First, tell me how things went. Good news? Bad news? You’re still in this world, I see.”
I looked at her. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to encapsulate all which had happened, especially considering that Ms. Ishida’s role in it was unknown. It took Nathan to finally offer something, beginning with a bit of a bow and oscillating hair. “Ms. Ishida! Umm…the thing is. Well. Our hair is a long story, I guess. But we went to the path that brought us here, and it was just a normal path. We spoke with Nana, and she told us about strange, crossing-universe books which might help us…”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh! I know them. I borrowed them on her recommendation. It was a little odd. She was quite insistent. I’ve just started reading them. They seem similar to things I’ve read before. The act of observation has a substantial effect on the world. Et cetera. A few are older, from my father’s time. He used to be a professor of quantum physics. He kept all the books from his time teaching. I loved reading them, even if the equations were like a foreign language to me. They felt so special, like they were older than time. And they smelled like this area does right now. Heh.” She slid open a nearby window and continued, “My apologies for rambling. Nana spoke about these books? What happened next? Did Katsumi show up at that point with wigs?”
I coughed. The air was slightly better. “Actually, these are not wigs. They are our real hair. We don’t know how or why but, somehow, we seem to be slowly turning into girls.”
Her reaction was rather subdued. She tugged at her kerchief. “And it’s not Katsumi’s work?”
I shrugged. “We haven’t been able to rule out that she might be involved, but we really don’t know one way or the other.” Ms. Ishida moved over and pulled at Nathan’s lengthy locks. She inspected the roots and the back of his head. Then she moved on to Jamie and finished with me.
She looked surprised. “So far as I can tell, that’s your real hair. Something did actually happen to you. Is that as far as it… My goodness! Your eyes!” She was looking at Nathan’s eyes when she said that. Then, she noticed changes in each of us. We underwent another round of close inspections before she announced, “They’re not contacts. How strange! And…”
She held her hand out from the top of her head. She’d always been fairly tall, from a Japanese perspective. But then I knew anime tended to fudge things with heights. So far as I could estimate, only Tara and Nana really fit into the typical Japanese height. We exchanged centimeter tallies. Ms. Ishida was the same height as Jamie. I wondered about if we kept shrinking, would Ms. Ishida one day tower over us? Would Nana really look at us eye-to-eye? I thought back to the path. For a moment there, I really did feel like Nana was the same height as me.
I mentally-assembled the heights of the girls in comparison to our own. Ms. Ishida, Mami, and Sumi were all around the same height. Katsumi was just slightly smaller. In that sense, at least.
A few girls clustered near her height. Miki, Reiko, and Ami especially. I was sure Ami was taller than Katsumi though. Nana just below them, and Tara was the smallest by a good amount.
Ms. Ishida stretched up and then ducked down. She turned her head and rubbed her chin. “Okay. It’s pretty clear something happened to you, and Katsumi couldn’t be involved unless she’s really found a way to change gender. And, if that were so, there’d be a whole lot more girlish screaming and panic going on outside.” She finished that with a look like when I woke up and she was holding my clothes.
Jamie cleared his throat. “You say Nana recommended them? That’s interesting. She told us that she didn’t know where those books could be found, and they’re right here.”
Ms. Ishida lugged a broom out of the extra room and smiled. “Actually, there’s some truth to that. We haven’t been able to find the books lately. I’m not sure where they are. Some of the girls helped me look for them, but no luck. There’s still some time left on the loan so I’m not too concerned, but I wish I could find them. There’s this one part about the mind as a gateway to other worlds which sounded intriguing.”
That definitely intrigued Jamie, who burst forward and asked excitedly, “Where did you see the books last?”
Ms. Ishida took a quiet moment and finally said, “I remember them being in my room last, but I’ve checked all over and I’ve yet to find them. I’m cleaning partly because I wanted these rooms clean in case you three had to come back. But also I really do need to find those books. I know they’re hidden under something… somewhere. But first, have you three eaten anything since breakfast? It’s getting past noon. You still have your bentos, right?”
I’d completely forgotten about them, but there they were, under our clothes, nice and snug. Ms. Ishida set up the chairs in the kitchen for us and Nathan offered to help her carry the vacuum, but she smiled and lifted it. “I’m fine. Have a nice lunch. I’m gonna vacuum down the hall. Then you can help me clean where the books might be.”
I unwrapped my bento and asked her, “When will the girls be back?”
“Well. The school lets out a bit after three and then they have clean-up. Most of the girls get back by around five or six. Some have clubs, so a little later. Like today, Nana has Computer Club.”
No surprise there. She continued, “Miki has the lacrosse team and Track and Field on different days. She looks in on several clubs though. I know at a lot of public high schools, like mine, students are only allowed one club per year and they usually choose it for keeps. Azako has no limit except where the club schedule limits participation. Those who can’t keep up with a club are dropped from it. I had a big discussion last week with all the girls and their choices. Katsumi has Tea Ceremony and Flower Arrangement. But she said that she might need to drop one of them. Reiko has my complete respect because she carries four clubs. Choir she would keep above all others. She says she loves it. She also goes to a cooking club. She’s trying it apparently because Sumi is in it. They also share Photography Club. That’s Sumi’s most-talked-about. Reiko also has Archery Club, which meets every so often. Many of the girls have expressed an interest in trying archery as well. Those I mentioned are Sumi’s only clubs. She said she’s bored by cooking, but she wants to do better when it’s her turn to cook. I keep telling her that the meal she made really wasn’t that bad. It’s supposed to catch on fire. She just has to work on the fumes and the small explosions, and she’ll be fine.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
I wasn’t so sure about a meal described as having ‘small explosions’. I took out my chopsticks and dug into the bento. Ms. Ishida gave us some napkins and continued with clubs, “Not to imply that all the girls have problems with two clubs or more. For instance, Mami has shown a passion for her economics club and her debate club.”
Another big ‘no-surprise’. Ms. Ishida then turned to wipe a corner with a bit of cloth. “Ami takes Archery Club as well and Drama Club. They’re still choosing a play to put on for the cultural fest. I hope they choose a good one. Preferably one with dark scenes and violent beheadings.”
We looked at one another.
“And then Tara. She has Art Club and the Anime/Manga Club. She uses it to spread the love of Pretty Yumeko Hime Galaxy. I’m not in any clubs at my college, but I was in a book club for a time with some friends. Sorry for all those extra details. I still haven’t really told you when they can be expected back. Hmm… Well, Nana always gets back first. Miki and Reiko come back last. Sumi can be late, especially if she’s having supper away from the House with family, like today. Her elder brother just got a great job, so they’ll be celebrating, and she said she won’t be back ‘till way into the evening. Katsumi usually arrives a little before her. She has arrived with Sumi, although not very happily in those instances. Mami is usually here before them and typically in time for dinner when it’s still nice and hot. But, aside from Nana, Ami and Tara usually get home first.”
My head was pretty well flooded with information of all sorts, but I perked up from my bento on that final note. I noticed that Jamie did too. But I also had to ask her, before she started vacuuming, “Do Reiko and Sumi ever come home together?”
She put her hands on the sides of her apron. “Sometimes. They usually hang out.”
Naturally, that begged the next question. I thought back to the peculiar room migrations of the two of them last night. “What are they to one another?”
The facial expressions of an anime character are usually easy to read but, in this world, I’d found particular subtleties that made things difficult. Or maybe it was just me. Either way, she answered with a look of co-existing calm and anxiety. “They’re close. I can’t really tell you more. They’re private, and I do my best not to intrude… too much.”
I was willing to accept that. Whether Reiko and Sumi were snuggling together at night was pretty low on my list of unanswered questions. Part of me wondered if they were plotting something more pertinent to our situation, but I had less evidence to support that than Jamie’s theory of Nana.
Ms. Ishida remained a moment after. I was ready to ask her if something was wrong, when she spoke, “I just want to say, oh, it’ll probably come out weird and the wrong way, but I’ll say it anyway. I’m glad you three came back. I am sorry you couldn’t find your way home yet. If those books will help, I’ll do whatever I can to find them. I’m rather stunned by the changes which have happened to you three, but I’m rather intrigued as well. That’s all. Enjoy lunch.”
A few seconds later, I could hear the vacuum rumbling. I vaguely recalled Ms. Ishida’s mention of reading about travel between worlds and similar subjects. I didn’t think it was too important at the time though. I also remembered she used to do computer work. Many years ago. Yet she was still in college and she didn’t look much older than us. Granted, anime-forms seemed to take off a couple of years. We looked closer to our teens.
Wait… had she said she finished college or was still in college? I remembered her saying she graduated when Nathan first spoke to her with grandiose reverence. Then, she said she was a part-time student. And just now she said she went to college.
Jamie wasn’t too bad with chopsticks. He hadn’t made much mess with them either time, especially considering his history. He griped about something spicy and got up for a glass of water. I asked him, with his back turned, “Are we going to tell her about that Shiori girl and Carolyn?” I looked to Nathan as well. He was poking at his food.
Jamie coughed and said, “Why not? I trust her. I'd rather keep them a secret from Nana.”
“I thought you were over your suspicion of her.” The look he gave Nana sure seemed like a motion towards acceptance. It was more than he usually gave someone.
He shook his head. “She’s still the prime suspect in all this. I mean, look at it. She suggested the books to Ms. Ishida. Sure, she was technically right about not knowing where they were, but she sure as heck could’ve been a lot more helpful than she was. And then all the weird stuff. I keep feeling like she’s around or something, watching me. Less now, but after she left us by the path, I definitely felt it. And then there’s how she saved your life back at the intersection.”
I hiccuped as Jamie sat back down. The sound of the vacuum meant we could talk covertly at a normal level. “What about it? I figured she just noticed it was coming.”
Jamie shook his head, sending hair whipping around him. “I saw the angle. There was no way she could’ve seen that truck coming. It’s just impossible. She’s got some sort of voodoo magic. I’m still convinced she’s responsible for what’s happening to us.”
I offered up what I recalled with regards to Ms. Ishida. Jamie clanged down his chopsticks. “That’s the best you can come up with as a reason for her being the one responsible? I know plenty of people like that. They’re college graduates but still part-timers in classes. Sure, they’re usually older housewives, but it’s not a stretch. Also, have you considered she’s a graduate student?”
Despite the fact he made a good point, I wasn’t willing to concede yet. “Alright, if you want to discount her, then what’s your proof that Nana is the one who did it?”
He cracked his knuckles and counted on his fingers. “First, tons of computers. Whenever someone has a ton of computers it either says geek or evil mastermind. Or evil geek. Every evil lair has a ton of them so evil-doers can plot their schemes. Second, she shows so little emotion. I swear she’s like robo-Nana or something.”
“Need I remind you of a little something you keep saying about yourself?”
He threw up his hand in dismissal and tossed his hair. “Oh, hush. That’s different. She’s clearly a robot, and I can at least fake some measure of emotion.”
I got in a quick, “Enjoy tossing your hair?”
He glared. “Hush. Tossing is the appropriate word. I’d love to trash-can it, but apparently it doesn’t want to go. I wonder if they have blow torches in this world…”
“You’re not gonna put a blow torch next to your head…”
Nathan jumped in with, “You’d burn yourself! I won’t let you.”
Jamie ate a sweet plum. “Oh, relax. I wasn’t considering it seriously. This cursed hair. I swear it’s digging roots into my brain. I wasn’t even conscious that I’d made that motion. That’s such a girly move. Arg! I don’t want to think about it. Anyway, I was at three. Third, she read those books about dimension travel and free-your-mind junk. Who knows what she could do to us? And the rest you know. Clearly, there’s something up with her. Why can’t you acknowledge that she’s hiding something?”