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Mecchen House - EpilogueEpilogue – Mecchen House with Memories and...Mecchen House - Epilogue4 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
A few days later
I cracked my fingers a few times over the computer keyboard after putting a period at the end of the last sentence. I read back over what I had written and gave a nod.
It wasn’t much of a diary, and it had been a good while since I’d done non-programming writing on a computer, but I felt satisfied with the results. It helped me to organize all the strange things I’d learned and felt in something resembling order. It didn’t solve my problems, but it made me feel a little more in control.
I clicked save and moved the file to the memory stick Tara had pic
Mecchen House - Chapter 20-3Chapter 20 - Hitomi & Akiko - ConclusionMecchen House - Chapter 20-34 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
After all those questions, I figured Katsumi would ask a few of her own.
She asked, “Could you sit on the floor with your legs folded? This pose isn’t really working for me. And I shouldn’t have started in pen.”
Katsumi stayed on the same page of her notebook. I stood up from the chair and sat on the floor a few different ways until Katsumi liked the one which left my feet numb.
If her goal was to remind me yet again, without shouting it, that I was a girl, then she succeeded. The remaining lavender scent on my hands definitively contributed as well.
Katsumi smiled. “Great
TG Anime of You - Part 1Anime of You – Part 1TG Anime of You - Part 14 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
“Neil…you gonna hang around the Dealer’s Room and stuff?”
Mayu poked me in the arm with her plush star.
“Yeah, I was thinking about a panel but I don’t want to miss the cosplay competition.” I gave her a smile.
With focused eyes, Mayu pointed her star. “You better not…for I will kiiiilll you…and then use my spell to resurrect you, only with cat ears.”
I grinned back and told her, “I’ll be there.”
Mayu had been working on her costume for this convention for weeks. She dyed her black hair just the right shade of red. She even dyed her sneakers
Mecchen House - Chapter 17-1Chapter 17 – Clues from Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 17-14 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
Jamie and Keiko were silent on either side of me. I thought I could hear Ms. Ishida moving downstairs.
I expected Jamie to speak first, but Keiko said the next words.
“But how?”
I told her the truth. “I really have no idea.”
Jamie stepped in.
“So… You expect us to accept what you said?”
“I’m telling you what happened.”
Jamie leaned forward, close enough to sniff me, and said, “…in a dream you had from taking a whiff of a bird.”
I shook my head. Well, when he put it like that, it was easy to dismiss. And it was understandable to
Mecchen House - Chapter 13-1Chapter 13 – The Dreams of Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 13-14 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
Perhaps I ran a little too fast. I could feel my pants slipping, despite the best efforts of the safety pin. I tried to stop even faster. I saw Miki with her arms behind her head. Then everything started tilting to the right. I slid across the floor, and my pants stayed behind. Hitting the floor hurt a lot more without a Katsumi to break my fall.
My glasses were fuzzy and tipped to one side in front of me. I slipped them back on and tried to regain my composure. I saw two of the girls standing over me. Nathan was there too. Miki asked if I was okay. Nothing seemed to be hurting. Miki and Nathan
Mecchen House - ProloguePrologue – The Way to Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Prologue4 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
I was tapping away at the keyboard when I heard Nathan approach behind me. I didn’t say anything at first. I just adjusted my glasses and continued typing. He took a deep breath.
“Dude, you really need some time out. How long have you been staring at that screen?” Nathan rested a beefy arm against a bookshelf. A manga book tumbled off. He coughed a little and crouched down to get it. “Sorry about that. I’ll umm… I’ll put it…” He aimed the book all over the shelf. Not a single inch was open. He glanced over at the other bookshelves. It was the same.
I smir
Mecchen House - Chapter 15Chapter 15 – The Blossoms of Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 154 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
And I certainly didn’t feel alone when I returned to the barely-contained ruckus inside Mecchen. Two voices vaulted over one another, climbing higher and higher.
We slipped our shoes off by the front door and peered around the corner at the cause of all the commotion. A lightning-bolt of yellow nearly toppled Jamie.
It was Tara.
She clung to Jamie’s chest and said, “Are you okay, Jamie-kun? I was worried about you. I missed you. I didn’t want someone to take you like they took Mildred!”
She had mentioned that name once before and said it was from a ‘TV show
Mecchen House Chapter 21-2Chapter 21 – ShardsMecchen House Chapter 21-24 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
I went inside first with the others close behind. Carolyn was tidying up. I smiled. He smiled back and said, “Welcome to our shop. Can I help you girls?”
Jamie ground his fist into his hips. “I’ve had enough of your teasing!”
Carolyn straightened up. “Oh… my sincere apologies. Uh… sir?” He gave a mystified-looking blink at Jamie. I could already tell something wasn’t right about all this.
Jamie brushed a sleeve. “That’s better. I suppose you want an update on our situation. We still seem to be… female. And this is the one responsible!” He launch
Mecchen House - Chapter 21-1Chapter 21 – ShardsMecchen House - Chapter 21-14 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
The chill became a sickly-warm feeling. “Took care of how?”
Hitomi staggered and braced herself against the wall. “With some difficulty.”
Countless possibilities burned through my thoughts. I leaned towards Hitomi.
“Did you kill anyone?”
She widened her darkened eyes at me in horror. “How could you think such a thing?! Of course not!”
At least she didn’t kill anyone. But there were far worse things than death.
I thought of Ami.
“Then what did you do?”
She stretched her fingers. “Something that was a lot harder than I expected.”
I was tiring of
Mecchen House - Chapter 13-2Chapter 13 – The Dreams of Mecchen House - Cont.Mecchen House - Chapter 13-24 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
I slipped into what now seemed to be my room and closed the door behind me. Just one futon remained. Most of the boxes were cleared out and the room had a stark, though beautiful, quality. I peeked around and slid open the closets. Once I’d seen all the spaces I could, I plopped on the futon and looked up at the ceiling. With all the items cleared out, it reminded me of my apartment room when I first started renting. I even considered decorating it like this back then but it turned out tatami violated the lease agreement.
I sat and stared at the ceiling for a little while. It was go
Mecchen House - Chapter 7Chapter 7 – Questions with Nana from Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 74 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
The wind seemed to push us forth along our way. It was calm, but vibrant. The trees nearby, with their triangles of green, barely moved under its influence. Jamie led, and I was in the middle. Nathan and Nana took up the rear.
My wallet and keys slid around as I walked on the pavement. I stopped a moment to stuff them both in the bag Ms. Ishida had given me. The sun shone bright in the east like the purest white paint. I shielded my eyes.
No one said much along the way. With Nana, that wasn’t much of a surprise, but Nathan and Jamie both looked subdued. I figured that was my faul
Mecchen House - Chapter 20-1Chapter 20 – Hitomi & AkikoMecchen House - Chapter 20-14 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
I could smell her.
Her presence surrounded me.
This… ‘Hitomi’, whose name I couldn’t even bring myself to think about with much confidence, saturated me with closeness. Nana’s smell was still there; Warm metal with an accent of clay. But it was surrounded by the traces of countless other aromas that flowed from her.
She took a step back but kept her hands on me.
‘Akiko’ peered around my side with both eyes out.
‘Hitomi’ dashed back and her hands pulled away.
“What is that doing here?” ‘Hitomi’ brought an arm in front, as though she were re
Mecchen House - Chapter 18-2Chapter 18 – Fragments and Mec chen House - Cont.Mecchen House - Chapter 18-24 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
Jamie bought me an all-day train pass then sat at the other end of the bench from me. She fussed with her hair a bit so she wasn’t sitting on it, then crossed her legs, folded her arms over her chest, and stared straight ahead.
I tucked my train pass away and stood to walk around before the next train arrived. The platform was busy. It felt like noon. I glanced through the vending machines at one end for an interesting snack, but everything seemed too expensive.
I looked back. Jamie was standing and rubbing her elbows. Other people were sitting on the bench now. I walked back over
Mecchen House - Chapter 9-2Chapter 9 – Reunions and a Recipe at Mecchen House - ContinuedMecchen House - Chapter 9-24 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
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.
Mecchen House - Chapter 10Chapter 10 – New Voices at Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 104 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
The next words Katsumi said were, “Okay, go ahead. Make them vanish. Or turn them into girls.”
This Nina girl looked at a loss for what she was supposed to do. Eventually she said softly, with a slight quiver in her words, “You do realize I’m not a priest or a mystic, right?”
Katsumi wobbled her head from side to side. “I get that. But I also know you have abilities because of… what we talked about.”
“Yeah. The ability to see spirits. Sometimes. As I tried to explain before, I think you want someone who is good with purification rituals. There’
Mecchen House - Chapter 17-2Chapter 17 – Clues from Mecchen House - Cont.Mecchen House - Chapter 17-24 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
It was calm and warm when we turned onto the road and crossed the street during an ebb in traffic. My fan-spirit made my eyes linger on the colorful sight of the anime shop, but we didn’t stop this time either. A group of men passed to our left. They looked quite tall and young.
They were dressed in a different color scheme than the Azako uniforms. All four of them had that pretty-boy look we also had when we first emerged from the forested path. One had slick-back black hair with a harsh frown, another had a soft crown of feathered-blond hair and light-grey eyes, another looked confid
Mecchen House - Chapter 8Chapter 8 – Messages Away from Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 84 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
Of course, the next question was “when were they checked out?” The lender’s information said three days ago. The books had been checked out only this one time. They’d been first stocked by the library early last August. Three of the publishing dates were thirty-years ago. The other two were brand-new, just published when they were stocked. No publisher given. Edited by Chosha Ikamono. This guy sure wrote a lot. His name was on all five of the books.
As the librarian moved back to close the window on the screen, I asked her about the author. She looked at me with those lim
Mecchen House Chapter 23-1Chapter 23 – Mecchen House RebuildingMecchen House Chapter 23-14 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
Jamie pressed his hands together and shook his head. “Why didn’t she fix us? Why? Wake her up and ask her!”
Reiko bent forward with her legs holding fast to the floor. “Why does she force me to continue to exist in torment?! Ask her that!”
The questions came in fast waves. Aneko wanted to know about her mother. Mami asked, “What did she mean about ‘papers’?”
Miki seemed equally-curious about Hitomi’s words. Only Keiko and Tara didn’t offer a question to the rising torrent.
Tara stepped in front of me with her hands out. She smiled softly an
Mecchen House - Chapter 18-3Chapter 18 – Fragments and Mec chen House - Cont.Mecchen House - Chapter 18-34 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
The message repeated at this point. Jamie cracked her neck, audibly so. I figured now was the time to ask since we weren’t going anywhere for a while.
“Tell me the rest of your vision.”
“You still on that? I told you all the critical details.”
The train lurched forward slowly.
“All I know for certain is you met a cat with weird fur and a crooked tail and went to a particular residence, formerly owned by the Ishidas, which is now Carolyn’s barber shop.”
“That should be enough.”
“I told you everything that happened in my vision.&
Mecchen House - Chapter 14Chapter 14 – The Hopes of Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 144 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
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 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
Mecchen House - Chapter 6Chapter 6 – Morning at Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 64 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
I didn’t wake with the expectation that the previous evening was all a dream. One look at the ceiling swiftly killed any chance of that.
I didn’t wake feeling renewed and refreshed. More like sweaty and stiff, on my head especially. Katsumi’s wig didn’t breathe.
I also didn’t wake up alone. Fortunately, it was just Ms. Ishida with a bundle of clothes in her arms. Some of them looked like mine. I sat up.
She flashed me a grin like a caught thief. “Sorry to wake you. Pleasant morning to you.” I assured her I woke up on my own, hoarsely returned the greeting, and as
Mecchen House - Chapter 2Chapter 2 – Meeting the Girls of Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 24 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
After shaking off my confusion, I paused at the last step on my way back to the first floor. That delicious chestnut aroma enveloped me. I really was getting hungry. I planned to have something microwaveable after I finished my coding, but the udon which Ms. Ishida was warming up sounded a lot better. Of course, it was probably gonna be microwaved as well.
I peeked at the room I thought of as the living room. Katsumi had finished her job on Nathan’s hair and was blowing curling, white steam off her curry rice. Her mouth made a perfect, pink circle. Nathan was bright red with a sextet
Mecchen House - Chapter 1Chapter 1 – Arrival at Mecchen HouseMecchen House - Chapter 14 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
I pulled Jamie out from under Nathan. He didn’t fight… Much. The color in his face was only now beginning to return.
“My arm hurts…” was all Jamie could manage in a monotone.
The pieces started to come together for him.
“You only hurt if you’re awake…”
One plus one would then equal…
“I was gonna get in front of a bus. I would’ve died…”
I didn’t know if Jamie’s life was passing in front of his eyes, but I knew that he would be passing out soon enough again if I didn’t intervene.
“Jamie, I know this is toug
Mecchen House Chapter 23-2Chapter 23 - Mecchen House Rebuilding - ConclusionMecchen House Chapter 23-24 years ago in Fantasy More Like This
Downstairs, Hitomi had just woken up. Questions came at her from everyone in continual bursts. Reiko fired the hardest. She reached over to shake Hitomi but I stepped between them.
Reiko glared at me with her teeth bared. Hitomi covered her head protectively from Reiko’s advance. When she realized I’d stepped in her way, Hitomi’s lavender eyes looked up at me brightly.
“Sis!” She reached a hand out to touch me.
I took a step back and out of reach. Hitomi’s mouth slipped open and she reacted as though slapped.
I cleared my throat and said, “You have a lo
Sta.sh
