Upside Down – Alternate Destiny

After the phone store, Mom takes us over to Pacific Swimwear.

“Sora, do you need help choosing a swimsuit?”

“No, Mom, thank you. Chinatsu and I talked about it last night, so I have a good idea of what I want to get.”

“Okay, just make sure you two don’t get anything too adult. I’m going to go look at some swimsuits for myself since you don’t need me,” she tells us. Then she heads off toward the adults’ section.

After forty minutes of digging through the racks of bikinis in my size, I’ve found five that I want to try on to see how they look. There would have been more, but they fell into the far too sexy and revealing category as far as I’m concerned. That I’ll be wearing a bikini is uncomfortable enough, and I don’t want to go any further out of my comfort zone than that, thank you very much. I look over at Chinatsu, who is still looking through swimsuits.

“Chinatsu, I’m going to the fitting room to try these on.”

She looks at me over her shoulder as she asks, “You don’t want to wait for me?”

“Umm, it’s not that far away, so I should be fine.”

I walk to the fitting room, step into an open one, and undress. I have two white ones, a black one, a dark green one, and a purple one. Trying them on one-by-one, I turn around several times with each one to get a good view of how they look on me.

The black is a definite no since, even though it says it’s my size, more of my boobs and butt are shown than are covered. One of the white ones is also too revealing, and the other white one, I didn’t realize how much of me would be shown, but the top was made like a bow tie, which I thought might be cute, and that’s why I picked it. Oh well, no again.

The green one’s bra is the most risque of them all, as it’s a strapless top. It fits well, but I’m afraid that if I move quickly in it, it might come off. Sadly, no again, even though the color is great for me.

The last one is purple. It’s really cute with about three centimeters of lace trim along the bottom of the bra and along the waist of the bottom. The bottom is cut a little high for what I want, but it’s less revealing than the others I’ve tried on. So, overall, I can live with the way it’s cut. If Chinatsu thinks it’s a good look for me too, then this is going to be the one I choose.

Stepping out, I look around for Chinatsu. I don’t see her anywhere. Is she in one of the fitting rooms?

Apprehensive, I call out, “Ch-Chinatsu?”

After she replies, “I’m in here,” I feel a rush of relief.

“Chinatsu, when you have a moment, can you take a look and give me your opinion? Does it suit me?”

“Just give me a second, I’m almost dressed again.”

Wow. That was fast. She had far more picked out to try on than I did. A couple of minutes later, she steps out.

She looks me over, smiles brightly, and tells me, “Oh, heck ya! That’ll do. You’ll be able to knock ‘em over with a feather when they see you.”

“I don’t care about that… I tried the others on but didn’t like them for one reason or another. So it was down to either this one or going back to looking through the racks. Which one did you pick?”

She holds up a white bikini that’s a lot like the black one I decided not to get.

“Isn’t that a little, uh, skimpy?”

“Hardly. I’ve seen girls our age with far smaller swimsuits. Although I do have to say I wouldn’t wear anything like theirs. This is about as small as I’m willing to go.”

“If you say so. I just couldn’t do it. This one has me self-conscious enough. Anyway, let me get changed, and we can track down Mom. Be right back.”

I head back into the fitting room and change back into my clothes. Then I pick up all of the swimsuits and step out. We take back the ones we decided not to buy to the racks to hang them up and then head off in the direction Mom went in.

As we’re walking, I ask, “Now that we have our swimsuits, when do you want to go to the waterpark?”

“How about tomorrow, after your checkup? As long as you aren’t too tired, and we have our phones with us, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You are coming with me?”

She looks surprised that I would even ask when she states, “Of course, I am. Why would you ever think I wouldn’t?”

I was hoping she would, but I wouldn’t try to force her to if she didn’t want to. I’m a lot more at ease when she’s with me, and that makes everything easier to deal with. When we find Mom, she’s idly browsing through some swimsuits.

“Hi Mom, we found our swimsuits, so we’re ready when you are.”

She looks at us, then at the swimsuits we’re carrying. “Sora, did Chinatsu pick that out for you?”

“No, I picked it out myself. Chinatsu and I talked a lot last night about how I should be dressing. Why, don’t you like it?”

“It’s not that, I’m just a little surprised. I wouldn’t have thought you would pick out a bikini. A really cute one at that. That’s a great color for you, too.” Mom glances at her watch. “Well, it’s past lunchtime, so let’s check out and go home to eat. I don’t know about you girls, but I’m a bit hungry.”

“Sounds good to me ‘cause I’m hungry, too,” I tell Mom. Actually, I’ve been hungry for a little while now. No idea why since I ate more than enough at breakfast.

“Food sounds perfect,” Chinatsu tells her.

Mom nods and motions for us to lead the way.

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

Back at home, Chinatsu and I are cooking lunch while Mom supervises. It’s another Western dish, but one that’s easy to make, and everyone loves them, hamburgers and french fries.

In the middle of this, Mom asks, “Are you tired, Sora?”

“A little, so I wouldn’t mind taking a nap, but we also need to order the rest of my clothes, and I want to have a say in what we get me.”

She seems a little surprised that I want to help pick them out. I have a reasonably fair idea of what will look good on me after Mom picked out those clothes for me and I tried them on, but that’s just a start. I still have a lot to learn to properly develop my fashion sense. Then I need to work on finding out more about girls. For example: what they normally enjoy, what they talk about, etc… I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface in that respect. Taking all of that into consideration, I think I should take charge in choosing my clothes.

“I’m happy that you want to do that since they’re for you. Go ahead and lay down after lunch, I’ll wake you up in a little while.”

“Sure. You know, I’ll be glad when I don’t have to take naps because I get tired so easily.”

“You’ll get there, Sora. Remember, you’ve been through a lot, so it’s just going to take some time. Trying to rush it could make things harder for you. Come on, let’s sit down and eat.”

After eating and cleaning up, Chinatsu heads to the bathroom while I head upstairs to my room to lie down. A few moments after I sit down on my bed, Chinatsu pokes her head in.

“You don’t want me to lay down with you?”

I smile and shake my head. “As if. I knew you would come up once you were done. You’re just as much of a snuggler as I am. Plus, I sleep better when you’re with me.”

Smiling, she steps in, closes the door, walks over to the bed, and crawls across me. Pushing me down, she snuggles up against me and, as usual, lays her head on one of my boobs. It takes just a few minutes for her to fall asleep, and I drift off soon after.

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

A knock on the door wakes me, and Mom says, “Girls, it’s time to get up. Sora, when you’re more awake, come down, and let’s order what you need.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

I glance at the clock, which says that it’s 4:00 in the afternoon. It wasn’t a long nap, but I feel much better. While sitting up and stretching, I feel Chinatsu slip her arms around my waist and bury her face in my hair.

“You smell good,” she tells me. I must be getting used to her saying things like this, as I don’t even blush this time.

“Ha~ I use the same body wash, shampoo, and conditioner you do.”

“I know, but it’s different. I don’t know how to explain it. You do smell like cherry blossoms, but there’s something else along with that. It’s kind of a sweet, musky undertone. I like it.”

Shrugging, I reply, “Whatever. I’m happy you like how I smell, but let me go. I need to go help Mom order my clothes. Are you going to help?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Do I even need to say it? You know I do.”

“Then, sure. I’d be happy to help,” she tells me. Then she stands up, takes my hand to help me up, and we walk down to Dad’s office, where the computer is.

I won’t go into all the details of everything we ordered for me, but suffice it to say that the next two dizzying hours flew by for me. It wasn’t because I just stood there and let the two of them pick everything out for me either. There were colors and styles I didn’t care for and told them so. Many styles looked too androgynous in my view, or I simply thought it wouldn’t look good on me. Surprisingly, more often than not, my opinion decided whether we ordered the item or not.

Mom did allow me to buy a couple of pairs of shorts, but what she calls shorts, I found out are called hot pants. If they fit me like they do the girls in the pictures, they’ll be quite snug and very short. I withheld my complaints about them when she showed me the babydoll blouses she wants to pair them with. The reason is that they fall below my butt. They aren’t quite what I had in mind when I said I wanted shorts, but I think the result will be quite cute.

We also ordered a couple of party dresses for me. One of them is a short, dark green linen wrap dress, which I chose for obvious reasons. The other, Mom chose for me. It’s a lavender, silk, off-the-shoulder, cape dress, which I think I’ll look good in too. She also ordered two more pairs of 7.5-centimeter ankle strap heels to go with my dresses. Apparently, all of us will be attending business-related parties that Dad has to go to fairly often. I’m simply going to say that I don’t look forward to it and leave it at that.

Other than that, we ordered many more blouses, skirts, dresses, bra and panty sets, and some more shoes for me. I was even allowed some sports shoes (although, I’m still not allowed to wear them until I prove that I’m proficient in walking in heels).

We also placed the order for my school uniform. I’ve seen it before. It’s a black jumper skirt. A white sailor collar blouse with the collar stripe being colored. The color of the stripe depends on your year. Green for first year, blue for second year, and red for third year. It also has a bow tie-type ribbon that’s the same color as your stripe. It’s a cute uniform. But I’m not saying that just because I’m a girl now; I thought the same thing when I was a boy.

Thankfully, we now have everything I need, at least until fall. I ran the total up in my head for everything we’ve bought me between all the shopping trips and this, and my jaw just about hit the floor. I’ve figured out that girls’ clothing is much more expensive than for boys, even more so since Mom orders a lot of silk, satin, and linen items, but the total is outrageous as far as I’m concerned. We’ve spent over ¥600,000 simply on clothing and shoes for me. I’m not even going to take the furniture in my room into account. This is already enough to make my head spin.

I glance at the clock on the wall. It’s 6:15 already. Dad should be getting home soon.

“Mom, shouldn’t we start dinner? Dad will be back soon, won’t he?”

“It’s fine, I made a cream stew. It’s been simmering this whole time, so it should be ready.”

I’ve had her cream stew many times before, and simply saying that it’s delicious is a major understatement. She also usually makes a loaf or two of homemade bread to go with it. I want her to teach me how to make it all. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to why.

“Before I forget. You have your check-up tomorrow morning at 9:00. Make sure you two are ready by 8:00, alright?”

“Oh, that also reminds me. We want to go to the waterpark tomorrow after her appointment. Is that alright?”

“If your father says it’s okay, then sure. Just be sure to stay with Sora the whole time, and I do mean the whole time. You are not to leave her alone, even just to go to the restroom,” Mom tells Chinatsu, then turns to look at me. “The same goes for you. You are not to leave your sister for any reason. Oh, and keep your cell phones on you. I don’t want you to leave them in the dressing room.”

“Of course. Dad did tell us to keep them with us at all times. That’s why I made sure that they were waterproof, too.”

“Good. Well, let’s set the table for dinner. Your father should be home any minute. You can ask him about it after we eat.”

We leave the office and go to the dining room to complete preparations for dinner. While we’re just finishing setting the table, I hear the front door open and close.

“I’m home,” Dad calls out to us. He walks into the dining room with a smile. “Ahh, one of my favorites, cream stew and fresh bread.”

“Welcome home,” the three of us tell Dad.

Mom walks over and kisses Dad on the cheek. Chinatsu and I give him a quick hug. If you can’t tell, our family is a little different than you would normally expect for a Japanese family. Hugs and other small signs of affection are openly given between us. My parents neither hugged nor kissed each other in front of me, nor did they hug or kiss me once I got into elementary school. That’s not to say they didn’t love each other or me, it just wasn’t done in my house.

“Go ahead and sit down. Dinner is ready.”

We eat while telling Dad about our day. When I told him what I did to the boys at the cell phone store, and how they reacted, I thought he would fall off his chair because he was laughing so hard. After he was able to regain his composure, he told me, “Sweetheart, be careful doing that. Some boys will take that as an invitation.”

I have no idea what he means by that, so of course, I ask, “What do you mean by an invitation?”

He glances at Mom, who shrugs, and then turns back to me. “I mean an invitation to approach you. To ask you out. That kind of thing.”

Am I just clueless when it comes to interacting with people? Why, yes. Yes, I am. Totally, unabashedly clueless, but I get what he means. So I quietly murmur, “Oh… Yeah… Umm… Okay.”

Thankfully, the subject is dropped, and we move on to less embarrassing subjects.

I find out that Dad never really talks in detail about his work. A lot of it is private or sensitive information. Understandable, in my opinion.

After we finish dinner and clean up, we move to the living room with Mom and Dad on the couch and Chinatsu and I together on a large cushion on the floor.

When we explain what we want to do tomorrow after my appointment, Dad nods his head. “Chinatsu, go get my briefcase, please.”

Chinatsu says, “Okay,” and gets up to go get it. She hands it to him when she returns and sits back down beside me. He sets it on the coffee table, opens it, and takes out two small boxes.

“These are for you two.” He hands a box to each of us. When we get them open, they contain a pair of very stylish, matching watches, with each of our names engraved on the back. “Those are to be worn by you two at all times. They are waterproof to 300 meters, so don’t worry about getting them wet. They are a little special since they have trackers built into them as well as a panic button feature. If you press the two buttons on the right side for two seconds, then press the upper left button once, it sends out an emergency signal to both me and the police. This might seem a little paranoid, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

I have no idea what to say about that, so I merely nod and say, “Thank you.” It reminds me of when I overheard Mom last night. I want to ask about that man, the company, and what they might want, but I still get the feeling that my questions wouldn’t be answered. Plus, I feel like I wouldn’t like the answers even if they were given.

“You two can go to the waterpark tomorrow, and keep your phones near you. Do not, for any reason, take off your watches.” He looks back and forth between us to drive home his point. “Am I clear?” We nod in reply, and then he continues, “If Sora gets overly tired, I don’t want you two to try to take the train home. Call, and one of us will pick you up, alright?”

Chinatsu replies, “We will.”

“Thank you. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I think it’ll be a lot of fun.” I tell them with a smile so big my cheeks hurt a little. Even the thought of them taking my blood tomorrow isn’t enough to dampen my mood.