The first lull didn’t happen until two hours in… How are there still so many people? It has all felt like one giant blur.

“You okay Claire?” Rae asks and she finishes putting some money away from the last customer.

“Yes… just goodness, I really should have slept more last night.”

“Okay, hey do you want me to go find some food? I think the panels started opening up so more people are going to be there.”

“Panels?”

“Umm, it’s like a presentation? Not that formal or anything. More like maybe they have a guest and they answer questions from the audience. Or they just talk.”

“Oh yah, they got a bunch of VOs for this one, did you hear they got both Loid and Yor’s VOs? That’s going to be packed. ” Shiko chimes in, that bit of news causes Rae to perk up.

“Oh wow really? Man if I wasn't so busy with school I might have made this one. That’s cool. But yah, panels could be like whatever, maybe a mangaka is there. Maybe they are showing off a new series, whatever gets people in the door I guess. There is probably a cosplay contest happening somewhere too.”

Shiko nods.

Rae then fidgets, I can see that she's trying to figure out how to excuse herself. “Umm, well anyways… I’m going to… go. You know, get some food. And stuff... Cya in a bit.” And there my awkward dolt slips out around the table to disappear down into the aisles of tables.

I don’t have much time to think before a new customer shows up. Shiko ends up helping them too, but after we finalize their purchase it looks like we have a moment of breathing room. She shifts her chair closer to mine, and gives me a cheeky grin.

“Sooo… how’d Rae score you. She’s not exactly smooth.”

“Oh I disagree, she can be very smooth when she isn’t trying too hard. But she’s adorable either way.”

“Yah, well you be nice to her, Kay?” The mirth drops from her voice.

“Of course! Are you suggesting that I wouldn't?”

“Cool, look you seem nice so far Francois-san, but like, I'm just looking out for my friend. She’s had it rough before.”

“Oh, do you mean about your… well the awkward love square as she called it.”

Shiko snorts, “That’s what she’s calling it? I suppose. Yah.” She leans back in her chair, letting it balance on its back legs. She seems to be rolling a thought in her head. “We made up… eventually. And thankful while we still could… but it was really bad for her for a while. She pretty much missed a month of school.”

What ? “I didn’t… she never mentioned that .”

“Of course she didn’t.” Shiko sighs, it's not judgemental. She just understands her.

Of course she never told those bits.

I sigh too, “It’s not surprising, she used to be so bad at being honest about her own pain.” I wish she had told me more. I knew she always made light of that moment, even from the first time she mentioned it… Even an idiot could see she wasn’t fine, and that was after years for her before.

Now…

“Used to? Last I checked she’s still doing it.”

“I… yes, I just meant… I’m trying to help her in that way. She’s bad and telling me no, and I sometimes… I know she’s worried about being out as a lesbian.”

“Yah… fucking Misaki… I can’t believe he did that to her. But fuck, we were all pretty stupid kids still.” She lets her chair fall back forward, and leans herself on her knees. “The whole school knew after that. And Rae pretty much lived in her room for that month. Even when she came back… she was struggling. Honestly it wasn’t till we graduated  and went to a new highschool that things got better for her. Middle school was ruthless after Misaki outed her, they never let her forgot. At least she got to go back in the closet in a new highschool, and that helped. New friends also helped. Misha was, is a good friend, and she was always cool with us.”

“Did you not also get… bullied?”

“Me?... Sure I guess a bit? I don’t know… it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t a big deal for me. Like I didn’t care and she did? She was just figuring that out about herself, and then it blew up in her face. It’s good that she’s with you, I just don’t want it to go bad. I don’t want it to turn out that you are just messing around with her, she’s just your phase, and you’ll move on.”

“Move on?” The edge in my voice catches her off guard and she turns to face me, “I’m. Not. Moving. On. She’s my everything, I couldn’t leave her if I tried. I will always be there for her!”

Shiko is momentarily stunned. “Uhhh… okay… wow, you're really serious?”

“Did I sound like I’m joking?” Calm down Claire. Shiko is just looking out for Rae.

“No… sorry, that just really caught me off. You know what, I think I do like you. What do you like about her.” And with that Shiko’s grinning again and she leans back.

“Oh goodness, do you want the shortened version? Well, superficially, she is very handsome, the way she fills out a suit and is completely oblivious to it, divine… She’s so cute and suave at the same time, it’s absolutely ridiculous. She’s so passionate about her hobbies, and so clever. I could just listen to her talk about anything honestly. She really tries hard at everything she puts her mind to. And it’s ridiculous how modest she is about herself now, she used to be confident and now she seems so unsure about so much, but she is still good at it. She should see how talented she is. And she is so devoted, goodness, the way she looks at me has never changed. I have no doubt in my mind that she loves me too when we look into each other's eyes. She’s amazing and she makes me feel amazing.”

Shiko blinks slowly, “uhh… used to be confident?”

Shite

Divert, “You also liked Rae…?”

That causes her to blush a little and her to pause. Perfect.

“You still do?”

She groans, “Look I know I have no chance with her, but yeah… she’s cute, I think I’ll always feel it a bit. She’s always going to be my friend though.”

“So that’s it…?” It’s hard to not think of every other woman; or the occasional man , who also seemed intent on chasing Rae in our past life. Even when I firmly established she was mine .

Shiko shrugs, “She’s not into me, not as anything more than a friend. I tried, a few times even. The first was probably a bad time… for many reasons.” She grimaces at herself. “But like, it’s not going to happen. And now that she's with you, that was never going to happen with me. Trust me. As long as you too are good, I’m happy with how things are.”

“Are you?” I can’t help but ask, I remember how long Rae was an idiot .

Shiko gives a light chuckle, “You’re good Claire-san. Don’t worry about me, seriously. I moved on, I just find her attractive still despite my better judgment..”

I let myself chuckle, “We can be doomed to fall for quite questionable characters, no?”

That gets Shiko to chuckle.

“I do love her, immensely.”

Shiko nods and hums in agreement, “Yah, it’s easy to see. Like you two seem to be moving fast, but like honestly, I don’t doubt you. And she’s bad at it saying it, but I’m pretty sure she is really into you too. You make her act weird. Weirder . And like by lesbian standards? I’m sure I know some who would have already moved together by now, Ha.”

Oh it was blisteringly slow in our previous life, I had to wait nearly a year for her to kiss me after she basically proposed to me.

“Thank you for being there for her, when she needed it. I wish I could have been there for her too.”

Shiko looks a little shy after, and tries to wave it off. “It is what it is. Did you know she writes fan fiction?” Now Shiko’s diverting, she’s trying to grin through her embarrassment.

“Yes, and she wont share it with me. It’s absolutely ridiculous.” It’s obscene .

“Ooooh?” Shiko's grin turns genuine and her glasses catch an angle of light. “I could share her tumblr and fanfic accounts.”

“Wait, really? I always wanted to read her writing.”

Shiko chuckles, “Yah why not. If that doesn’t scare you off, nothing will.”

“Oh don’t worry, that won’t. Ahh, how does this work? You said a tumblr ?”

“Uh yah, a social media site, I’ll text you the links, let's share numbers, kay?” She fishes her phone out and holds it up to accept my number. I have to double check my number on my own phone, at least she doesn’t think it too odd that I do.

“Awesome, I’ve always wanted to embarrass her when she finally did hook up with some


one.”

“Oh don’t tease her too hard, that’s my privilege .” We share grins. Oh this is delightful conspiratorial.

“Oh don’t worry, that’s going to be real easy when you read her fic. It’s so unhinged, I love it.”

“I…’ve had a notion.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We’ve talked a bit about it but she usually shies away from really getting into it.” Now.  “But she’s not exactly the book of secrets she thinks she is, especially now. Wait, this is based off another work is it not? Would… should I read that first? Rae said her copies are with her parents, otherwise she would have lent those.”

“Oh, you haven’t read Pray Love? You might get away with not… have you read any fan fiction before?”

“No.”

“Then… yah, maybe diving right into it would be… confusing. You can always get your own copy online and read it on your phone. There are online stores, you could even get a physical copy if you'd rather, it’s still in print I think.”

“Oh, I could read it on either? I… yes that makes sense. I think I would rather get a copy in my hands, even if I do appreciate reading on my phone. Rae showed me how to read Dungeon Meshi on it, and that has been quite excellent so far.”

“Hell yah, Kui-sensei is such a goat.” Goat? “That’s a great one to start with if you haven’t read much manga.” It sounds like she approves of the choice.

“I haven’t, it is my first, but I have been really enjoying it. I ended up reading it far too late last night.”

Shiko raises her hand, oh it’s for a high five, with a laugh I do my half of the motion. A customer shows up after that and that puts our conversation on hold for now as Shiko’s attention turns back to her work. She seems very relaxed and casual as she helps them, but is still quite diligent. She’s practiced at this work. The customer leaves quite satisfied and soon after Rae returns, carrying a fair amount of food that reminds me of what one could find at a fair. The smell causes my stomach to rumble nearly immediately.

“Hey, hope Shiko wasn’t too weird.” Rae says, just a little nervous as she makes her way to the table.

“Don't worry, I only shared your deepest darkest secrets.” Rae narrows her eyes, Shiko just laughs at her. “We just talked, relax Rae, your girlfriend is nice, I approve.”

Rae digests that news for a moment and then does actually relax, “Oh.. well good. Claire-chan I hope you don’t mind some greasy food.”

“You can drop the honorifics with your girlfriend Rae,” Shiko teases.

“That sounds lovely Rae, thank you very much.” I offer to avoid Rae from having to feel too self conscious. Chan is an improvement over sama afterall, so I consider it a victory already. And she really only uses it in public too, another improvement.

Rae finally slips back in behind the table with us, and starts passing out some food and drinks. It’s fried food, and it is just perfect for the moment. This will tide us over until we can have a more proper lunch later. Rae covers for Shiko and I and we quickly devour the food before returning to the task at hand. And just in time as it seems a new surge of people start to flood the venue floor.

It’s not quite as busy as the first wave, and it gives me more time to make proper observations. True to Shiko prior predictions, her stock of booklets, doujin , are diminishing. Have we already sold half of her wares?

Also the people moving about are very interesting; we are frequented by many women mostly, but we do get a fair amount of men. Some are a bit… off putting, to say so politely. Shiko treats them as respectfully as possible. Thankful nothing becomes too unbearable, but otherwise most of them seem fine. All the women are lovely though, and so diverse. There is a fair amount in cosplay, but even those not in cosplay have such diverse appearance, and Rae starts pointing out the little things. All the symbols, the little flags and what means what. I never realized how prolific such things were here. Rae always had a little rainbow flag on her desk back home, but now is the first time I can really feel the connection with a greater community that it meant to her. I find myself wanting to also add a bit of that to my life.

The hours start to move quickly and soon Shiko is shooing us out, to take a break, get some food again and finally explore a bit. “Make sure you show your girl a good time Oohashi.” She teases as we leave, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

There is something very nostalgic about wandering about the floor with Rae. It feels so much like our first outing at the school fair, only this time I’m the one finding every opportunity to cling to her. She is nervous, but I think the mask and hoodie are doing a lot to help her feel more comfortable.

We weave our way through the other amateur mangaka on the floor next to Shiko. Rae manages to pick out a few that catch her interest, and after some prompting concedes that I could read them as well. I do catch her trying to hide a few from my notice though. I have to push down the urge to tease her for it, it already feels like I have pushed too much in the morning. I’m sure I’ll get a chance to see them later. I must remember to be patient with her.

Soon we arrive in the artist corner as Rae dubs it and the people here are selling prints of artwork, large prints as well. As Rae explains it, much like books it’s easy to reproduce printed art. Much in the same way that we can share pictures across our phone, these images are easily printed to paper. And all the artists are able to work with a computer to produce this art.

It’s amazing how much work is being shown off, and the styles of the art are all so diverse. So much of art in Bauer was focused on realism, but here it reaches all corners. For every bright and vibrant piece, there is something dark and moody. Some look nearly like photos, some look styled in the same way as Persona, or Dungeon Meshi, and others are uniquely surreal. The passion of the community is beautiful and I even manage to find pieces I recognize from Persona and Dungeon Meshi. After some encouragement from Rae I decided to find a print. After some browsing I picked out a lovely… If somewhat provocative; only slightly so , piece of Marcille and Falin after her dragon transformation. The piece is haunting yet beautiful in a way I can’t describe. There is also the added bonus of Rae being absolutely ‘losing her mind’ over the choice. I also found a lovely print of the phantom thieves to add. These will be nice to hang up, I think.

After that we find ourselves with merchants; well stores, as Rae refers to them. More professional collections of merchandise. Some are selling video games, Rae is currently trapped looking at a collection beneath a glass counter. She mumbles something about having to look to see if she can find a retro title. I take the chance to look about freely. There is a wide collection on display in the small area, incredibly packed and busy. A treat of the eyes. Little figurines and models of many characters, and books, many, many books.

Do… they have Dungeon Meshi? Of course they do, I glance around, and see Rae is still trapped scanning through the collection. I could have my own copies… oh goodness there are fourteen volumes all together? Where was I exactly… Oh goodness. Checking my phone, I was already into volume six. There is still so much more to read. That’s exciting . I should just purchase them for myself. It’s a little awkward as I pluck all the books for the shelf, they certainly have many copies available. Hopefully they can provide a bag. It will be terribly awkward to have to carry these all back home later, or even now.

The man at the counter gives me a smile, he looks just barely older than myself. “Hi, you find everything you were looking for?”

“Ooh, actually I didn’t see it but would happen to have the book Pray Love as well?”

The man seems to run down a mental checklist in his mind, “Oh, Between Prayer and Love? That’s the girl love light novel right? I think we might have some in the back. That’s an older one. Let me check real quick. You can put your stuff on the counter.”

“Of course, thank you.” With that he disappears behind a curtain so I’m left to let my vision wander. Rae is still in the same spot, I think she must be double checking… I expect she had little luck initially. There are more shelves behind the counter, full of cases. I think Rae mentioned those held an object to either watch videos or play video games. As I place the books down on the counter I notice there is more goods below the glass top.

Oh, is that jewelry? I hadn’t expected to… Wait, these are styled after Persona?! They are, that’s the Phantom Thief mask! Their brand, a top hat sitting on top an eye mask, flames licking out the side and colored in red and black.

I hazard one more look at Rae, it looks like she's still busy. I could also… I could? Couldn’t I? It looks lovely, and Rae really does love the game. It would be like when she bought me the amulet wouldn't it?

Oh

I could… Oh


, I’m feeling a bit too emotional over the idea already. Would she even think that much of it? She’s never been much for such things in the past but this feels different. This feels right .

I have to.

“Hi, so we have a few, but it’s only the first, second, fifth and seventh book. If you want, you could come to our main store in Shinjuku and we could order the rest for you.” I was so caught up in the thought that the man surprised me with his return.

“Oh I see, I’ll consider it but I think just the first two books are enough for now, Thank you very much.”

“No problem, okay, are you ready to check out then?”

“Oh more thing, you have this pendant here, this is from Persona Five is it not?”

“Hmmm, oh yah, that’s the official limited edition one, did you also want that as well? It’s fifty-five thousand yen.”

That is a lot, isn’t it? That’s many meals… It’s not as if though I am a commoner anymore…  or whatever equivalent it would be here… middle class? True, Catherine did say I could pay large sums to my credit card if needed. I could try.

It's a special occasion.

“Yes, that will do. If I could get all of this, that would be wonderful, thank you again.”

The man gives me a polite nod and opens the back of the counter and pulls the pendant from the display with a case. He closes the case, pulls a box up, also with a Persona design on it to store the pendant and collects the books over at a cashier. The card makes no objection when I use it to pay for everything. Excellent . I’ll be more frugal going forward, this is being charged to Mother after all. And I did use it last week to buy clothes for Rae as well. I should probably talk to her about it next time we have a chance. Hopefully I don’t have to justify this to her later.

I will though if I have to. Rae is worth it.

I collect my bag and prizes and move to Rae, she’s still trying to find her prize. “No luck?”

She sighs… “No… I mean it’s not surprising… it’s kinda hard to find and old. I was just hoping it might be… oh well. Oh did you get something?”

I give the bag a shake, and pull out one of the volumes of Dungeon Meshi and grin.

“Noooo, oh god I’m so jelly!”

I can feel the smile spread across my cheeks. “ Oh ? How jelly?” I adore when her silly vernacular slips out.

“Oh these look so good.” I let her take the book from hand and she starts flipping through it, “Real Jelly. It was always hard to justify buying them, and the more that came out… it just meant paying more to get everything, I figure eventually when I was working… wait did you get everything?”

“Yes, I was already up to volume six, and I couldn’t imagine stopping now. I would be very happy to read them with you, or even lend to you once I finish my own reading.”

“Oh god please, I would love to read the hard copy. Did you get anything else?”

“It’s a secret.” You’ll see it soon enough.

“Oh… really?” She sounds a little suspicious. Always so perceptive.

“Yes, I’ll let you know later.”

‘Oh, well okay.”

“What were you looking for, by the way. Those were video games?”

“Oh yah,” She waves down to the glass case, it’s like the one that had the pendant, except there looks to be hundreds of very little rectangular objects. “These are cartridges for the DS, they slot into a small device about the size of your phone, and you can play the game on it. It’s older, I was still a kid when it came out, but I kinda got into it in highschool… I wanted to find a copy of Pokemon white.” Her eyes trail back to the counter.

“Pokemon?” That name sounds oddly familiar…

“It’s a game, I thought we… ah it’s not important, we are busy enough as it is. So you happy? Did you want to check out anything else or should we go get some food finally?”

“I think food would be good now, I think it’s been nearly forty minutes now. We shouldn't make Shiko-san wait too long.”

“It has, hasn’t it? Yah let's wrap up.” Rae pushes herself away for the counter “There's a cafeteria of sorts set up around the corner. Let's go grab our lunch and then head back.”

Today really has been lovely so far. Spending the day with Rae, the glimpse into an aspect she was alway passionate about but I never could be a part of before. And now I can make the day end perfectly. The pendant stashed away safely in my bag, I can’t wait till we have a chance to be alone and I can give it to her.

That I can let her know how much I love her again. That I love her, all of this, all of her.

It’s perfect.


“Oh my god, just say it already.” Catherine huffs annoyed, Claire has been quiet but her energy is very obvious.

Claire smiles, “How is it?”

“It’s good, happy?” Catherine, rolls her eyes.

“Very, so that didn’t take you too long?”

“Thankfully the socket was easy to adjust, and we had already custom ordered the new leg for Mademoiselle Catherine, afterwards it was simple to adjust it to suit her.” Lene informs Claire.

“Excellent.”

“It was custom order?” Catherine gawks.

“Of course, Mademoiselle Francoius would have little else. She was waiting a while for when you would be ready. It should be very reliable and it has a silicon finish to make it hard to distinguish from a normal leg.”

“Really?” Claire practically has stars in her eyes.

“She didn’t need to go that far.” Catherine just looks very uncomfortable, I sympathize. Hopefully Claire has some restraint with our shopping trip later.

“Nonsense.” Lene-sama just looks professional during the whole affair.

“Ahh, would it be too much to ask to see it…” God Claire is so cute when she is trying to restrain herself.

Catherine groans, “Fine but in the car, I just want to get home already.”

It doesn’t take much more after that, Catherine practically shoves us into the back seat, but she isn’t using the cane anymore and she is moving… well pretty normal. I can’t tell anymore. Once the limo is moving Claire is beaming at Catherine.

She doesn’t say much but I can see Catherine is under full assault from Claire’s smile, and she eventually groans again. She reaches to the bottom of her left pant leg and pulls it up to the thigh. And Lene-sama was right, it looks like skin, the tone even matches her skin.

Claire looks overwhelmed as she scans it up and down, and Catherine finally smirks. She pulls the shoe and sock and reveals a foot with toes. It seems to have some bend to it, it allows some articulation but I can see it’s not moving completely like a real foot is. But I guess I would only notice that because I know.

Claire hesitantly touches the thigh and sees that it has some give.

“You… you don’t feel that right? It's not a real leg right?”

Catherine laughs, “Nope, yah it does look convincing but we aren’t regrowing legs yet if that what you are thinking”

“Oh… I see, sorry if that was stupid question. The capabilities of this world always surprise me.”

“Nah, it wasn’t stupid. Here.” Catherine pulls the pant leg higher and I can see the seam above her knee, she fiddles with it a bit and then the leg detaches… oh wow. She passes that to a surprised Claire.

Claire holds the leg carefully but just looks stunned, doing very little but blinking.

“Umm, so you can walk comfortably?” I ask to try to break the silence.

“Yah, I can even run on it, Hell I might start jogging… that old one hadn’t been good to do that in a while. Here let me have that back.” She takes the leg back and reattaches it and quickly pulls the pant leg back down.

When she comes back up after putting her sock and shoe back on Claire surprises her with a hug, there are tears in her eyes. “Catherine, it’s so wonderful!”

“Oh, umm.”

“It’s so much better than I thought it would be, you can walk!”

Catherine doesn’t say much but she can’t really hide her smile either. She just hugs her back.

I feel like I am intruding.

Eventually Claire pulls back, a slight sniffle, “Sorry, I just… it really is amazing.”

“Thanks, I don’t know if I deserve it but thanks.”

Yah… same Catherine…


Okay.

Today’s the day.I just have to knock on the door and then Claire and I will jump on a train and be in Chiba.

She’s going to be there with me. Man, I really hope I don’t cry.

She’s already seen you bawl your eyes out.

Shut up.

It’s going to be fine.

Yeah. Yeah.

KNOCK KNOCK. I give their door a few light taps.

“Just a minute,” I can hear faintly from the other side.

Soon enough the door opens and it’s Catherine. “Hey, Dork.” She smiles as she lets me in.

“Hi Catherine.” I can see Claire in the corner huddled over her desk. Is she working on something?

“Just a minute, Rei. I’ll be ready to leave soon.” She’s pretty into her work and doesn’t look up.

Might as well take a seat. I sit on the edge of her bed and try to peek at what she's working on. Black cloth…? Wait. “Is that my hoodie?”

“Wait!” She holds up a hand, pulling a string tight. Or is that thread? I hear a snip and then Claire holds the hoodie out in front of her and inspects it thoroughly. What’s going on ? She gives the cutest little chortle and spins her seat to face me, grinning widely. “Here, Rei.”

She hands the hoodie to me. Didn’t the sleeve get ruined ? I turn it over. “Wait, you fixed it?!”

Oh God, she looks so proud of herself. I love her so much.

“How? How did you do this?” The part that was frayed and ruined by the flames has new material filling in the hole. It’s a red and black pattern… wait, this is just like the picaro pattern on some of the personas. “Did you…?”

“I mended it. Of course . There was no way I was going to throw it away when it was such minor damage. If anything the fire damage was the least of it. Were you aware there was a hole in the armpit?”

Critical hit. “Uuuugh… it’s not like anyone could see that though…”

She quirks one eyebrow. “I noticed it.” She laughs softly. “I fixed it, and many other places too. It’s a well worn article and honestly without my help I don’t think it would have had much time left. But I redid the stitching in many places, better than before in my opinion. I fixed a lot of the fraying that was happening on the other sleeve and the lining should be better now.”

“ How ?” It's true, the other sleeve’s cuff was getting pretty torn. I had no idea it was something you could repair. All of the holes have  been filled in with the same red and black pattern. It honestly looks way cooler than it did before. “It looks better than when I bought it. What the heck?”

She crosses her arms and raises her nose. “ Of course , I didn’t spend decades mastering tailoring only to fall short here.” She cackles. God, I love her.

“When did you do this? This must have taken so long.” It’s barely been a week .

“I found time.” She relaxes a bit.

“She’s been doing it every night. She panic-called Lene for supplies when she came back that night.”

“CATHERINE!” Oh, that's a treat. I don’t normally get to see her frazzled like that.

There’s nothing but a hum from the sofa. Guess Catherine’s back in her usual spot.

“Thanks Claire… uhhh wow… I… I don’t know what to say.” It’s better than before . Am I tearing up? I have to swallow. The bed shifts. Oh, it’s Claire. She puts a hand on my knee.

“I wanted to surprise you. It’s not too much, is it?”

“I l-love it.” I'm not crying. Totally not. Liar.

“Good. It’s not the first piece of clothing I’ve fixed for us. And I promise, you will only have to say goodbye to it when you want to. It might pick up a few more patches here and there but I will make sure it’s always better for it.”

I’ll be better for it .

“Thank you Claire… is it okay if I wear it?”

“Of course, silly.” She leans over and gives me a tight hug. I can really feel the tears prickle as I hug her back. “I’m glad you like it, Rei.”

When she pulls back I pull off the other sweater I had on. It’s probably more stylish—it’s the one I used on our first date—but honestly I just want to wear this one again. It… it feels better than before. She said something about the lining? I run my hands over the front. The fabric feels smooth again and I can feel the pendant underneath. I’m glad I wore it today .

“Are you ready to leave, Rei?”

I run my fingers over the new patches on the sleeve. It’s smooth, soft… perfect. “Yeah, let's get going.”


“Hello?”

I open the door to our dorm room and there is no Misha. That’s good, she’s out and about then.

Probably with Yu.

“Looks like it’s just us Francois-san.”

She follows me inside and closes the door behind us, she lingers for a bit.

“Is it too soon… to use our first names?” She hasn’t been this shy yet, her glance is downturned. I… this is starting to feel very real. She looks so vulnerable, the request is simple enough isn’t it?

I’m overthinking it aren’t I?

Claire

“Umm, no I think it’s okay…… Claire-san.”

She looks up, and there is a small smile, “Well it’s better than Claire-sama.” The teasing is mirthful, I remember she said not to call her that the first time but I am missing a fair bit of context aren’t I? Did I just call her that before?

“I appreciate it Rei… chan, and please don’t feel like you have to rush anything on my part. I don't want you to feel like you are being pressured into this.”

“I’m not, really, I’m just weird. I have my own hangups about things and I don't know when I will get better about it. This is just very new to me. Umm…  Anyways this is my ever so humble room that I share with Misha.” It’s so very plain, at least it’s pretty clean. No clothes were left on the floor, I made sure of that before I left.

She… Claire is looking around judging the room, “It is rather humble isn’t it, I wasn’t sure but I had a feeling that mine was… well extravagant. I have to admit, I don’t have a good frame of reference here in this world for this sort of thing.”

“Oh yah, your’s is pretty nice, it's fine here. It does its job. Misha and I are mostly getting by on savings and scholarship so we can’t really complain.”

“I hope that didn’t sound judgemental, there was a time when I was very young and would have been… well condescending about it.”

“Oh don’t worry about it, F-Claire-san. Give me a moment to set up.” I pop my shoes off, and pull my laptop off my side of the desk. We can sit on the bed, it’s fine. The chairs sucks anyways.

So the laptop starts up and I drop it on the bed. “Also Claire-san, I did look up a bit about prosthetics, for Achard-san.

“Ohh?” She closes in behind me, I wasn't expecting that and I can feel a shiver run down my back from the proximity.

Calm down Rei, “YaH, so I think there are few places nearby, and there is a lot to consider, I think we would need to actually take her to them and figure out what needs to be done. It sounds like it's something that needs proper maintenance so routine checkups are normal. It will probably cost a bit but It might be covered? I don’t know, we would have to probably talk to her… guardian? You said something about her dad right?”

“Yes… He can choke.” Her voice is like ice.

I turn to face her, she looks like she is ready to kill him. It’s scary…

…but also kinda hot.

OH GOD REI SHUT UP

“I think my mother would probably be her guardian now, but I think I might be able to contact Lene, she is… our maid? Not a maid, but our butler I think. That’s weird to say, I know her from before too, she was my personal maid but Catherine said it’s not quite like that anymore? I haven’t really talked to her but I think she would know what we need to do. I have a feeling she would even manage it in the first place but I think Catherine might be a bit resistant to it… I have yet to suss out the exact reason…”

Oh, well that would make things easier. It makes sense, like I wouldn't really be booking this for her right? That's silly, what am I expecting? Is there anything I can really do then? I’m just a stranger and she has a medical history that I know nothing about, it’s not like I could just suggest a random clinic and we take her there, she probably has a doct-

“Rei, thank you, would you mind if I tried calling her now, I would appreciate it if you were there for it as I don’t know what I am talking about really.”

“Oh, ummm sure Claire-san.”

She smiles and sits down on my bed, okay I can still be useful, that's good. She starts the call and it rings a few times before a voice comes through on the speaker.

“Bonjour Mademoiselle Claire, how might I help you.” The voice is very formal, and her accent is more noticeable than Claire's.

“Lene! It’s great to hear from you.”

“Is everything all right?” She sounds a bit concerned, I would guess most conversations didn’t start like this before.

“Of course Lene, I am quite all right, but I was hoping you could assist me with something. Well Catherine more specifically, she has… well her leg has been damaged and she needs a new one I would say.” Claire-san holds the phone at chest height between the two of us, and her free hand fidgets on her knee.

There is a long pause, “Oh… Well yes we could look into that, she is long due for an appointment but she has insisted it’s not necessary. I… should she not be telling me about this?”

“Well as you said she has been stubborn about it, I don’t think it will be easy to convince her.”

“I could bring this up with your mother then, she might be able to convince her, I know she has wanted to get her a new leg for a while.”

“No, that’s not necessary right now, I think I can convince her, it is partially my fault it’s in its state it is in anyways.”

“Well if that’s the case I can arrange an appointment, I can pick her up probably next weekend. Would you want to accompany us or…?”

“Yes please, and would it be alright if I brought a… friend as well?”

Wait what?

“That shouldn’t be a problem, should I assume that you will inform Mademoiselle Catherine?”

“Yes, I want it to be a surprise, and I think it would be easier too to bring her that way.”

“I understand, I will text you when I finalize the details, do you require anything else Mademoiselle Claire?”

“No that will be all, Thank you Lene, I hope you have a lovely day.”

There is a short pause, “Of course, thank you Mademoiselle, have a nice day.”

The call ends, and Claire looks up at me, her cheeks drawn high from a smile and she grabs my hand. “We did it!”

I didn’t do anything though, but she is very happy, “Well you ended up doing most of it, but I’m glad for you.”

“Hush, you were important, thank you for being here with me for it.”

“So… did you want to bring-”

“Yes, could you come along too? I know I didn’t really ask you beforehand but I would really appreciate it if you came. It might be a bit silly but it’s less intimidating when you are with me.”

“I would die for you.”

She blanches slightly. Fuck, I wasn’t suppose to say that. That was a bit unhinged.

“Rei!”

“Sorry, that came out wrong I-”

She wraps me in a hug, “Please don’t, I’m sorry we have just been through a lot. I understand it's a non-serious expression but I don’t want to lose you.”

aaaaaaaAAAAAaaaaa

“Are you okay?” When did she let go? She is gently rubbing my arm and her face furls in concern.

“yUp, totally fine… Sorry about that Claire-san, it’s just my weird otaku stuff leaking out…”

“I… I don’t mind the mannerism Rei, I just want you to know I don’t want to lose you okay. Don’t think you need to sacrifice yourself for me okay? That just hits… a little too close.”

I, right, she lived through a revolution, even if it was mostly non-violent. I have to imagine things weren’t always safe in her old life. I am doing a bad job at this.

“Don’t worry Claire-san, I’ll be better.”

She gives one more squeeze of my arm before letting her hand fall away, “Don't worry about it too much either, I’m just glad you are here and your otaku-ness is charming.” She teases out a smile.

This can’t be real.

I clear my throat, “Soooo… um video games!”

She nods and I turn back to the laptop, I should grab the controller, “Feel free to get comfortable on the bed, I’ll just set it up.” I reach under the bed and pull out the box with the controller in it, and then grab the charging cable to plug the laptop in. When I turn back I see that Claire has decided to sit in the corner of the bed, laying down its length, I had thought we would sit across the bed… I was going to pull the desk to prop the laptop on. She just looks at me innocently.

She planned this…

We are going to be very close…

Oh god.

I can do this, don’t make a big deal about it.

Don't make a big deal about it.

I slide in next to her and prop the laptop up before us on my legs and open up the launcher for Pers


ona. Claire focuses on the screen.

“Is this good? Comfortable?”

She leans into my space just a bit, “Hmmh.”

Oh god, I can do this.

The intro starts and Claire leans in as the title menu appears.

“Oh this is the same as your hoodie right? You said that was also Persona right?”

“Yes.” I can’t help but feel pleased that she remembered that, “This is that.”

“This looks… different, this isn’t real is it?”

“Oh no, it's ummm, Ok so we talked about anime, or animation before right?. A video is basically just a bunch of images pre-recorded with sound and then it gets played back, each fraction of a second is referred to as a frame, more frames, the smoother it looks. The videos we showed you before do that by doing something like by taking a photo, but every fraction of a second. Animation does that but is hand drawn, and once we start the game there is a little bit of that so you can see it. This is sorta different. In games things exist sort of more like puppets I guess? And they follow rules that are programmed by the game, so in the case of the silhouettes you see there, they just stand and repeat the animation, but when I swap between the different menu prompts you can see how things change.”

I do so and she oohs slightly.

I….

Thank you god for this.

“That's so fascinating. How does one even do this? This isn’t magic?”

I can’t help but chuckle, “No it’s really not magic, but I don’t really have an easy or short answer for how they work, these are 3D models, umm three dimensional models. That means they can be seen from every angle, they exist purely in the digital sense. The ones in this game like this are, mmm, well simpler but they can be very complex and very realistic looking. I can show you some examples later but this one is meant to look like an anime.”

“Okay, this is very impressive, I didn’t realize this was possible.” She leans into me some more.

I can feel my heart thud, “Let's start the game.”

She nods.

The intro plays and the short anime scene plays, Joker jumps through the ceiling of the casino and Claire is intently watching it all. Once it ends and the game proper starts she finally asks her question.

“What is happening?”

“It will make more sense, but this intro jumps to a moment much later in the story, it will go back to the actual start and things will make more sense. Right now the heroes are trying to escape getting caught after pulling a heist.”

“The heroes are thieves?”

“Yes, sorta. It eases into it once we get into it but if something still doesn’t make sense please ask.”

“Okay… also did the person just turn into a girl?”

“Wha…?” I wasn’t paying attention, and I check the model for Joker. It’s definitely not him anymore.

I forgot I had this mod installed, oh fuck this is going to be confusing. “Oh shit, sorry I forgot I did that.”

“You did that? What?” Oh, this is just making things more complicated, isn’t it?

“Not directly, ummm, okay so some people are very talented at changing games, it’s called modding, short for modifying.”

“That's not really that much shorter?”

“It’s usually just called mods, modding is the verb, errrr, anyways some people make mods and they can change games, in this case someone made a mod that changes the appearance of the protagonist, he… they are called Joker, I hope that’s not too confusing.”

“That really is impressive, that seems like it would be like rewriting a whole novel.”

“Yah, kinda. Same idea at its core I guess. It’s a lot of work, and in this case the mod is not completely done, it mostly is just a cosmetic change and the plot doesn’t really change to match it. So you still get referred to as a guy.”

“You?”

“Uh, yah, you play… or control the protagonist, Joker, so it’s like you are in the story. These types of games are called role playing games, cause you are playing the role of the hero, plot tends to be a big feature for these types of games… usually.” Don't go off on a pointless tangent Rei.

“I see. It is unfortunate that it is incomplete like you mentioned then.”

“Yah, but I think it actually works in the context of the game in a weird way, the themes of the game are about rebelling against society, how the world tries to dictate who you are and finding your true self to break away from the norms, the game already had a element of the world treating you like a delinquent and adding in this idea that you are also trans just kinda clicked in my head. And you have to do some filling in the blanks yourself because not exactly everything lines up with that but there is a lot that does and it makes the game feel so much more queer when it really isn’t and… I’m rambling aren’t I?”

There is a soft chuckle from Claire and she weaves her arm around mine, god I can feel my heart thud. “Please ramble, this is so fascinating, I really had no idea that art could be like this.”

She called it art…

Rei, calm down and don’t geek out too hard.

“Okay, okay, thanks, yah… Anyways I don’t want to get too much in the way, so here.” I give her the controller to her and she just stares at it like it's an arcane device.

“What’s this?”

“It's the controller, you can play the game with it.”

“Me? but …”

“Don’t worry, it's easy, press the X button and the next line of dialogue will play.” She looks down at the controller and analyzes the buttons, once satisfied she taps the said button like an old person typing on a keyboard.

I am so lucky….

Don’t laugh Rei

The next line plays, “So who's talking?”

“They are part of your group, they will get slowly rolled out but right now the game is just teasing them.”

“Okay, this is an interesting way to introduce a story, I can’t think of many plays that have done this.” She presses the button as each line finishes, each time having to check the controller once more and then soon the dialogue is over. She looks a bit lost, “What now?”

“Do you see that stick on the left,” she looks down at it and nods. “Okay so put your hand around it like this, I guide her hands so they fit around the controller right, and show her where to place her thumbs, “Okay, now try pushing the left stick around, but look at the screen.”

She gives the stick one more look, as if she is trying to really commit its position to memory, and then hesitantly looks back at the screen. Joker moves as she tests the stick for the first time.

“She moved!” she bounces a bit in place as she gets excited, “It moves?!”

I can’t help but laugh again, oh god this is so adorable, I don’t deserve this. “Yes, you can move her around with the stick.”

Claire gives it a few more tests and looks quite proud as Joker moves around bit by bit, but soon she realizes she is stuck on the first platform.

“When you are close to the edge do you see the bit there on screen that says X to jump.”

She moves the model back to the spot, “Oooh,” she looks back down on the controller and finds the button once more and glees as she jumps over the edge. “Oh that is so neat.”

“Okay just keep going.”

It takes her a bit, she is pretty cautious but she starts to get more comfortable holding and using the controller by the time she reaches the first fight. She still has to venture a few looks to make sure her hands are in the right spots but I would be lying if I am not enjoying this a lot.

“Oh goodness what happened to that man? Is he a monster?”

“It will explain a bit better later, but yeah, that was not a person but a monster, or a shadow as the game calls them.”

“That’s not a thing in this world right?”

“Nonono, this is purely fictional, don’t worry about monsters here… wait did you have monsters?”

“Yes, but we could eliminate them with magic, here I would imagine they would be even more dangerous, so what now?”

I guide her through the first combat encounter, “You take turns going back and forth in this game so you can take your time, other games can require you to act fast but don’t worry about that in this one. You have different abilities or moves you can do, so try that first one.” She follows my suggestion, and after a few turns traded back and forth the first enemy is beaten and she has such a smug look on her face.

“ Trival for a Francois.”

I dont have the heart to tell her that it is a tutorial fight, “Good job Claire-san, lets keep going.”

We keep at it, and it doesn’t take long for the short intro slash tutorial to conclude and then Joker gets captured, Claire gasps as Joker is swarmed by policemen. “Did I do something wrong? I thought I won?”

“No that's how it’s supposed to go, don’t worry.”

She keeps watching determined, the rest of the intro plays and she glares at the men beating up Joker in the cell, oh god she is getting into it. Soon the difficulty prompt shows up, she seems stuck making a choice.

“I recommend easy?”

“Easy?” She does not like the sound of it.

“It’s fine, trust me you are going to have


 so many new things to think about, you don’t need to make the game harder for yourself.

She pouts a bit as she stares at the prompt.

She selects normal. Okay… It's okay, I'm here.

“I can choose a name?”

“Oh yah, so there is a default name, Ren, but a lot of games like this lets you choose your own name.”

“Can I name myself Claire?”

“Of course.” Oh this is so precious.

She slowly types out her full name, oh I love watching her figure it out in real time, there is so much focus on her face and she often overshoots on the onscreen keyboard.

Once done, the rest of the scene plays out. She is getting more in the swing of it now, paying attention to everything that is getting said. As it goes along I answer a few more questions, explaining subways and trains, letting her know the game is set in Japan, just not this exact city. The little bits about high school that come up.

I was worried this could be a dud but the hours start to slip by and she gets very absorbed in the game. Soon, she has finished the first day of the game.

“That’s probably a good spot to call it I think.”

“But I didn’t stop Kamoshida…”

“And trust me, even if we went for several more hours you wouldn’t either. It’s a big game, we can do more next weekend.”

She really leans into me and pouts, “Fine, you are probably right.”

I can’t help but chuckle, I know she wont get there at her rate, even if she chose easy, we are going to be at this for a while but I just feel myself looking forward to it.

“So did you like it.”

“Yes! This is so novel, you tried to describe them before, like many things, but actually seeing it is a world of difference. This is nothing like what I thought, and it is so interesting. I know I am missing a fair amount of context but I am really enjoying this so far, I hope we can continue.”

“I would lo- like to continue too.” She smirks from the side and hands me the controller.

“Also I do appreciate your choice, picking something set in your world is a clever idea.”

“I… it just made sense. And you would get to see things in a more natural way than if we just showed you… I don’t know, more educational videos again. There are other shows we can watch at some point too, and there are a lot of things set in not the real world too and those are worth watching just because they are fun and good… Umm but yah. Persona made sense. And I like it, even though I can complain a lot.”

“I look forward to having the context when that comes up then.”

I make sure her game is saved one last time, and shut down the laptop. I’m able to push it off but not really able to get up though.

Claire has wrapped herself around me.

I can’t complain but…

I have no idea what to do.

…do I do something?

“It’s around five thirty Claire-san.”

“Mhmm” She doesn’t make any effort to move.

“Okay.” I guess I live here now.

She sighs and tightens her grasp gently. “Thank you Rei, this was a very lovely day.”

“... Of course C-Claire-san, I’m happy you enjoyed it. I liked it too.”

I can feel one of her hands slowly creeping up my back.

What is happening?

I look at her and there is an intensity in her eyes. I gulp, I can feel my heart hammer. I swear it feels like there is an energy arcing from her into me. I can’t look away.

I don't want to look away.

I feel her other hand cup the side of my check, so tender but it firmly anchors the moment.

She licks her lips, wait did I just do the same.

What’s happening?

“Rei…?”

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

“Can I kiss you?”

…

…

“Rei?” she ask once more

…

I nod.

I can’t speak, oh god I can’t speak. Yes I want this. How is this happening? How did I get here?

She smiles, it's soft, it's fire, it's intense, it's gentle.

It’s…

Oh god I want this so much.

She pulls my face to hers, and her lips meet mine, a gentle kiss and I can’t help but gasp. How is this happening? She comes in for a second one and it’s more searing this time. I feel engulfed in her. She smells like vanilla and strawberries, she tastes divine. It’s all around me. She is all around me.

She doesn't break contact but she shifts her position and places herself on my lap, her legs wrap around me and she bends over me deepening the kiss again. She is all around me, and it's impossible to think about anything else. How long has it been? I feel like I am trapped in this moment. I could be trapped in this moment. I would be happy to be in this moment for the rest of time.

She shifts again, runs her hand across my neck, I have to gasp again and a shiver runs through my entire body.

She teases out a soft laugh at my reaction. I am at her mercy in this moment, anything she would want I would give to her. It’s terrifying but it's right.

It’s so right .

It’s like I found what I was missing in my life and I never want to lose it again. I feel a hunger that seemed lost, forgotten… I want more of this.

I need more of this.

Her lips sear mine again, I can feel her breath roll across my skin, everything feels so sensitive now. Every nerve alive with her energy.

I am at her beck, her call.

She shifts her kisses, to the corner of my mouth, down my cheek, peppering down my neck to where she pauses just above the base.

She's making me wait, I can’t help the whimper that escapes, please don’t stop now, I n-

Her tongue runs over the spot and my whole body shivers, I feel the saliva linger, the spot sizzles. She breathes over it and I moan. How? What? What am I doing? What is she doing? How is she doing this? Then she kisses the sensitive spot again, gently, then I feel the pressure build to a delicious level before a pop, and is released.

She pulls away, looking down on me. Like a cat that caught the bird. She knows. She knows I am hers. She knows. She smirks and that almost feels enough to completely undo me, she runs a hand across her face to pull some hair away from her face.

“Rei… I love you. Always.”

This is true.

I know it because…

The realization is as terrifying as it is true.

I love her too.


I can feel some stirrings beside me.

I tepidly open my eyes, some light from outside is filtering in and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust.

I can feel a familiar weight to my side.

Rae…

Her arm is draped over me, and I pull her in tighter.

Oh how I missed these little moments of bliss.

The strain in my head, less so. It could be worse though. I know it could be much worse.

But Rae is soothing, very much so, and she stayed, bless her. Oh goodness she should have told me no, and I shouldn't feel so elated that she stayed. But I want this so much, just to wake up in my wife’s arms.

But you’re not wives… yet.

You just started dating.

God, this is so infuriating at times, how did Rae ever put up with this feeling for a year? I kissed her, I went on a date and I still want more. I need more. What was it like for her? How ever did she deal with this before we became betrothed?

I could have even a bit more if I just wak -

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

“FUCK!” Rae springs and dashes around for the source of the noise. Damned hells I hate alarms. She eventually finds it and shuts her phone up. “Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry.”

“Rae, Rae it’s fine.” Thank goodness the ache in my head is barely there.

“Sorry…” we are both sitting up now, calming down from the alarm. I watch the realization dawns on Rae’s face as she figures out where she is, where she woke up.

It’s delightful .

“ Morning Rae .”

She gulps, and her blush has been slowly seeping throughout her skin. “Morning Claire-chan,” She barely manages to say.

I find her hand under the sheets and give it a gentle pull, weaving our fingers together. I can’t help the giggle that escapes me, and soon Rae is giggling with me. I pull her into me laughing more and-

“God, please,” Catherine gags and we both still, “I’m here, I can hear and see you.”

I can’t help but groan, I peer over to her side of the room, and there she is, sitting on the edge of her bed. Looking very unimpressed. I don’t need you judging me this early in the morning Catherine.

There is a soft ‘sorry’ that squeaks out of Rae, and I sigh.

“Sorry Catherine, I haven’t had to worry about an audience since our girls grew up.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yah, sure. Whatever, I wanted to go for a walk, I will be out of your hair in a bit anyways.”

“Are you sure?”

 “Look, you two are bad enough when you're ‘studying’ I’m not going to be around playing third wheel today. Besides, gotta break in the new leg.” She tries to hide her grin and she peers down at the new leg laying at the side of bed.

“Okay… Thank you Catherine, sorry again.”

She just waves me off as she starts to put her leg on, and then gives it a test step and gets up. She is sure-footed. “I’m gonna get changed, and just… I don't know, keep it on your side .”

Rae makes a sound like she is deflating, I think I am well past being embarrassed by anything like this anymore though. “Don’t feel like you have to rush on our part.”

She just hums and she collects some clothes and goes to the bathroom.

And for a moment it’s Rae and myself again.

Alone.

“Raeeee.”

She groans, and huddles into the sheets.

“Raeeee.” I tease out again.

No response.

“We can do whatever we want today…”

I can just make out parts of her face as she buries herself, the skin is red.

Adorable .

My hand finds the top of her head, and my finger circles the top, massaging the scalp. There is a confused sound at first followed by a content sigh.

I missed mornings like this.

Soon the bathroom opens, and Catherine looks ready. She seems unsure what to make of my casual affections, but shrugs, probably deciding it’s fine. “I’m going to probably get a bite on my walk, so maybe an hour and a bit before I’m back? Sound good?”

“Of course, we shouldn’t be a disturbance by the time you come back, Rae, would you like to continue the game today?”

“Game?” I can hear her mumble from the sheets.

“Yes? The one from before…. Persona?”

“Ooooh” She finally shifts and sits up again, her cheeks still look slightly dusted but she does seem to have calmed down a bit. “Yah sure, I’ll check in with Misha in a bit.”

“Till then we have this place to ourselves. ” I laugh.

“I’m still here, people.” Catherine groans.

Rae's blush deepens again but I just laugh more.

Catherine makes her way to the door, gives us one last look and shakes her head, smirking, “I’ll see you later tonight I guess, bye.”

And then the door clicks.

We are alone.

I pivot on the bed, bringing myself face to face with Rae, she gulps.

“ Good morning Rae. ”

“morning claire…”

I have to smile, she is so cute, her face is so red, her eyes dilated, her breathing very staggered.

“Should we have some fun ?”

Her eye go wide, the gears in her head slowly tick, tick, tick-

“Yes?” She sounds so shattered, adorable .

“Yes?” I have to tease her.

“Yes.” She nods this time, so I start by pushing her backwards into the bed. She lays flat on the mattress and I crawl forward, looking down as she writhes in anticipation.

“Good Girl.” I whisper into her ear and she shivers. First I test her ear, a light nip and she moans instantly. She gasps and covers her mouth with a hand, surprised by her own reaction.

I, however… am not.

A second nip and then I move to her neck, peppering light kisses down the side to front causing her to writhe even more. I give a lick to the bottom of her chin and press my lips-

“Please no more hickeys!”

I pull back, I must be pouting because she looks panicked, in a bad way. Fine, I can make this concession, “Is it okay if it’s somewhere private ?”

“Private?” There is hesitation in her voice, I can hear her holding back a cheeky response. Rae… please take the bait. It was perfectly set up for you.

Oh well, time to teach. “If not here… how about somewhere like over here…” I trace my finger from the spot I was first targeting, slowly moving down the neck, past the collarbone and resting close to the left shoulder, just above the chest.

There is a hungry look in her eyes, “Private… okay…”

Perfect .

Now how to get to that point… “Rae would you rather I pull your shirt up… or down?”

“Down? Ummm, won’t that stretch… it out?” As if the shirt is more important.

“We all must make sacrifices.”

“Oh well if you… down… please…”, she looks apologetic.

I give her a kiss on the corner of her lips. “Rae, I can wait, I want this, but I want you to be comfortable first. Okay?”

She nods.

“Do you want me to?”

She nods again.

“Can you say it?”

She gulps, “Pleeease Claire….” she whines.

I pull the shirt’s collar over her shoulder, definitely stretching it out but that hardly matters. The skin now exposed, a spot only for me…

Delightful.

I do feel like being just a little cruel , “Please Claire… ?“

An exacerbated sound escapes from her, “please Claire… mess me up.”

Music to my ears.

I lean in and breathe over her shoulder, she shivers in response.

“Good girl” I tell her, causing her to whine, the anticipation is killing her.

Can't be too cruel.

She gasps as I run my tongue over the spot, circling it twice and then letting out another breath over the spot. She tries to stifle a moan.

Oh, you think you won't ?

I press my lips to the spot, now ready and suck on the skin, let the pressure rise and she writhes underneath me, trying oh so hard to not moan. I apply more pressure , pulling the skin just ever so… and then test a nip.

She finally moans , and I win .

I let the pressure build a little more, carefully, and feather the trapped skin with my tongue.

She moans again, and with a pop I release the skin, pulling back I get a better look at Rae. She is breathing heavily and her eyes are wide. Our eyes meet and she looks as if in awe.

No interruptions this time, “Rae… did you like that?”

She swallows, and finally blinks. “Yes,” she manages shakily, and I can’t help but smirk.

I eye the spot again and it’s bright, bruised, the barest ident of teeth.

Marked.

Perfect.

Enough there… I return to her face… she is so beautiful. I lean in, and our lips meet again. Careful, gentle at first. I am pressed close to her, I can feel her heart pound next to mine. I want to be closer.


Control yourself.

Yes, yes. Don't rush her… that can come when… it will come.

Instead I deepen our kiss. Hardly a poor concession and she writhes as the intensity shared between us grows. Eventually I have to pull back for air.

A much needed breath. Even I am breathing heavily alongside her.

“Woah.” She says softly.

“Yeah.”

She swallows again, I can see her thinking, and she hesitates…

“What is it Rae?”

She takes a deep breath, “Can… can I try…?”

Oh…

Excellent.

“And what would you like to try?”

“I… I don’t know… something… anything.”

I give her a soft kiss on her lips and let our foreheads lean into each other. “Of course.”

I can see her smile. “Kay, kay…” She gives me a gentle kiss and then starts to shift, moving out from under me, I move to the side and turn to face her.

She sits herself up, on her knees and looks over me. Her eyes scan greedily, a hunger she hasn’t really allowed herself to humor till now.

I missed this. I pull my gown collar low, exposing far more skin than just my collar bone and I can see her eyes focus.

“Claire-ch… that’s not fair…” The look in her eyes is intoxicating, air is less valuable to her then me.

“ Oh ? What are you going to do about it?” I tease.

That seems to give her enough motivation to make a move. She is still too cautious with her hands though, rooting them beside me on the bed, but not on me, but oh well. Little steps. She leans in and takes the initiative with a kiss, she tries to replicate what I have done to her, starting slowly and letting the tension between us build. Each move ripples between us, a union of push and pull.

Timidly she tests her tongue, and of course I allow her, parting my lips. Hers finds mine and she carefully tests the motions, as our tongues weave with one another.

When she pulls back; a breath needed, she is glowing, radiant and tinged with pride. I smile, she is doing oh so well, and so eager .

She gulps and scans my body again, I can see her eyes pause on my chest, my breasts. There is hesitation, will she? A hand rises… but it falls back and she looks unsure.

“Rae,” I say as softly as I can, “It’s okay, don't push yourself. We have time.”

“Umm, right, right….” She still seems unsure, there must be too many things going through her mind. Too many choices.

She needs some guidance, “How about we start small, let just start with the shoulder and above.”

“But… but don’t…?” Oh god she is adorable… and has much to learn.

“Trust me there is much we can do with just that.” I lock eyes with hers, “I will show you.”

Her breath catches in her throat, “uhhhh, k, k, right. Shoulder…”

I pull my gown farther and expose my left shoulder which causes her to freeze when she sees the exposed skin. Oh she is still so innocent.

“Shoulder… uh… can I?”

I nod.

She swallows and warily places a finger on the skin, carefully running it along the surface.

“O…kay…”

She then leans in and places little kisses across the shoulder, yes that’s good, she slowly makes a trail to the base of the neck. The kisses grow more experimental as she goes, she varies the pressure, and the shape… and then she pauses after a few kisses move up the neck.

“Can….” She is eyeing my neck like it is nectar, I know that look.

“Yes.”

“But I didn’t…?

“Trust me, it will be good.” I can see she worries, but I know that whatever she is thinking is tame compared to what we have done in the past.

She leans back, to the base of the neck again and then I feel her tongues touch and pull up along the neck… right to the jaw.

“ Yeeessss! ” Finally!

She pulls back looking surprised at my reaction.

“ Good girl ,” I wink to her and she blushes fiercely.

“Oh god… that wasn’t weird?”

“Nonsense. I loved it, did you?”

She nods timidly.

“Excellent.”

She seems a bit lost at what to do next, but I think she deserves a reward. “How about it’s my turn?”

“Oh…” she says, and eagerly nods. I rise and push her back down to the mattress. She shivers in anticipation as I loom over her again.

“Nothing below the shoulder,” I say to her again. She nods, “Let me show you what we can do then.”

I lean in and mimic her previous action, I run my tongue up along her neck to the jaw and she gasps. I love the taste, so I do it again but slower and she whines.

“See, it’s lovely isn’t it?”

“Fuck…”

“Language Rae.” I place a finger on her lips and smirks as she whines some more. It will be more fun if she thinks she has to hold that back.

I take a third lick, but this time my path is further back along the neck and makes way for her ear, she swears again as I lick the lobe, very surprised by her reaction.

I’m not .

I start to circle my tongue on the lob of her ear, playing with it till she writhes beneath me. After enough teasing I nip on the lobe and she moans and I carefully ply pressure-

The sound of the door unlocks and swings open.

Hells damnit! Catherine? This better be important. She knows we… “Catherine, go away.”

Rae feels like she has turned to stone, I really don’t want to look away, but… as Rae would say the mood is killed.

“Um Claire…” It’s Catherine, as expected.

“Catherine, can’t I just have some time to properly ravage my girlfriend?” I'm being quite curt but-

There is sharp frantic tapping on my shoulder from Rae, she is panicking now. I hear a laugh.

…That’s not Catherine?

“Manaria? Really now?.” There is another new voice scolding the laugh, and she sighs. “Claire?” The voice wants answers.

No… it can't…

Not like this…

“Claire please turn around…” Rae whispers.

I feel my blood run cold.

After what feels like eons, I manage to turn.

Catherine is there… looking very apologetic, and Sister Manaria is there, with a much too pleased smirk on her face.

And… the last person, looking at me very intently, standing tall, with long blonde hair, curled just like I used to.

“Mother?” my voice cracks miserably.

“Girlfriend?” She heard…

She heard…

It wasn’t supposed to be like, not in the middle of me acting like a lustful siren. I wasn’t supposed to be seen in near undress, a gown falling off my body, Rae ravaged and bruised by my teasings. I was supposed to be ready. I’m not ready! What am I going to say to her? What can I say to her? How do I explain this? What can I eve-

“Claire, are you okay?” Rae pockets my hand pulling me out of the spiral.

“I said we-”

“Everyone out.” My mother, Melia Francois, says with authority.

Oh god, I am ruined.

Catherine pushes Manaria out the door, not willing to argue with Mother. Rae just moves forward, acting as a barrier.

“Oohashi?” Mother asks.

“Yes….?”

“I want a moment to talk to my daughter alone.”

Rae just tightens her position around me.

Mother sighs, “I’m not… upset, I just need to talk to her. I’m sorry for… meeting like this. Please just let me talk to her.”

Rae turns to me, “Are you going to be okay?”

“No!” Oh god, a sob breaks out, I’m crying. How long have I been crying? “I…I…”

“Claire, Claire, it’s okay, I’m here. It’s okay.”

“But… But…”

Mother’s voice, “Claire…” She is above me, and I have to look up. It’s almost nostalgic… “Claire… I’m sorry, please can we just talk. I’m not mad.”

But I said…

She leans over and engulfs me in a hug, “It’s okay my dear, you can cry…”

“How…?”

“Shhhh.”

“I…I…” I’m a sobbing mess. It doesn't want to stop. What have I done, this is wrong, I should have sought her out already.

When I finally calm down, Rae is holding my hand, and Mother is holding me a tight hug.

“Are you okay Claire?” Rae asks softly.

I just nod weakly.

“Oohashi, can I have a moment now?” Mother asks her softly.

Rae looks to me, asking.

“It’s… It will be fine Rae…”

Mother has pulled back, and Rae takes the chance to lean and give me a hug herself. “I’ll be just out there, kay?”

I nod, and she reluctantly pulls away. There is a short look she shares with mother, but otherwise she quickly makes her way out too.

And it’s just me…

And Mother. “Claire.”

I can’t believe she is here… she looks so much like I remember her, but so different. Her clothes are all wrong, she is wearing a


 suit…

“So… that is your girlfriend?” She speaks in a different language now, but I can understand it.

“Yes…” I answer back.

She smiles, “She is lovely.”

“Yes…”

“Can… you tell me about her?” She asks softly, her hand strokes the back of my hand, I can’t cry again.

“Her name is Rae… Oohashi. I met her… I just met her a couple weeks ago. We just started dating.”

Do I…?

“Oh?” She remarks.

I have to swallow the lump in my throat, “I love her.”

Mother has such a conflux on her face, is it confusion? Disbelief, relief?

“I love her.”

“Claire, what happened?” She knows…

“Mother?”

“...mother?”

“I… I mean…I, I-” She knows I’m wrong.

“Claire, please look at me.” She says with an authority I haven’t heard in a long time. Her eyes are scrutinizing me, it takes all I have to not wither under it.

“I’m sorry,” Oh god my voice is trembling again. “I don’t know- I-I”

“Claire, take a breath, it’s okay.”

I try to do as she says.

“Good. Claire, you changed.” It’s not a question.

She knows. I’m not her Claire. I’m not her daughter.

“Can you tell me why?”

Can I?

“I don’t know…”

“Claire, you have shown more breadth of emotion in the last ten minutes to me than you have shown me in the last decade and half. Whatever it is, it’s not bad.”

“But… I’m not… I’m not…”

“Not what?”

“Your Claire…”

There is a long silence.

She doesn’t say anything, I don’t know what she is thinking, she just waits for me to continue.

“The… The last time… the last thing… I’m a different Claire.”

“Different?”

“I don’t know how t-to explain it. I woke up different.”

“And Mother?”

“I… umm?”

“You never called me mother before.”

“Because that’s what I called you, this me, not that Claire.”

“That Claire? What do you mean?”

“The last time I saw, was the last time I saw. You died… I said I hated you because I was six and mad at you and then you died and-and–d-d I-I-I, I’m sorry.” I grab her and hold her tight. “I never meant it, I hated myself for it, and your here now and I’m not your Claire and It’s not what happened here and-

“Sssshh, Claire…” She rocks me as she holds me back, “Claire, it’s alright, breathe… breathe...”

I do my best to follow her instructions. I feel like an intruder.

Eventually the rocking slows, “Claire, let me try… We talked just over a month and half ago.”

I shake my head. “Not for me.”

“Not for you… you were six?”

“Yes.”

“Claire, do you remember any of your therapy sessions?”

“No, you don’t understand-”

“Sometimes when pain is great we repress that pain.”

“What are you saying?”

“Claire you might have suppressed yourself, I don’t know-

“I haven’t!”

“Claire-”

“I haven’t! I can’t explain it… Mother I can’t lie to you, please believe me. I remember an old life in a different world. Things went very differently there.”

Is that pain, concern on her face?

“That's how I know Rae, I… we lived a life together. I grew old.”

“Claire-”

“The me here never talked to her before, but I woke up here and I knew her. I knew everything about her, because she was in the reverse position before. She told me everything about her life here.”

“She believes you?”

“And so does Catherine.”

She… she doesn’t believe me…

“I know that Clement Arachrd is responsible for the accident. It happened in my past life as well… father was the one who survived.”

“Dole…” That catches her off guard but I can't tell if it's helping or not. “Did Catherine tell you about that?” There is the authoritative tone again.

“No.”

It’s hard to be composed under her watch.

“Father was kind, clever but shortsighted. He had a terrible habit of putting duty before everything and was ready to march off to his death for that duty, but Rae saved us both. And… and he… we lived out our life peacefully afterwards. He was a good father and we both missed you so much. He spoiled me so much a child and… when Rae and I had children he spoiled them just as much. He loved them and I had to argue with him so often to not spoil them so… He always missed you. He said you were his sun and moon…”

Mother glances at the window. Does she…

Eventually she shuts her eyes and sighs.

“Mother… I’m sorry I stole her life-”

“You’re still you Claire, you didn’t steal anything.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I don’t think you are lying.”

“But you think I’m…”

“I don’t know Claire.” She sighs again and gives another hug. “Claire, I will love you no matter what. Please know that.”

I try to say yes but have to choke down a cry.

When she pulls away, she wipes away a few tears herself.

I understood my Father so well, but there is so much about Mother…

“I want to know you too, Mother.”

She smiles, “I’d like that too Claire, I’d like to know you too.”

Oh god, I am a mess, my vision is so blurred and my eyes must be so red.

“We’ll figure this out Claire.”

I know one thing at least.

Being with Mother feels safe.

Oh god.

Oh god.

Ohgodohgodohgod-

“Please calm down Rei-san” Catherine chides me, like she isn’t just as nervous.

“Soooo… Caught red-handed?”

Great… I have no idea who this other person is.

“Manaria, please… can we not?” Catherine is not ready to put up with her it seems.

“Oh but this is rather funny isn’t it, so who are you that Claire-”

“Manaria. Please leave her alone.” Catherine stares her down.

She pouts, before smirking. She is taller, the name is somewhat familiar, I am pretty sure Claire and Catherine must have mentioned her at some point? She has platinum hair cut in a short bob. I suppose she is handsome.

I don’t know if I like the attitude… but I am also in the middle of freaking out.

“Fine, Fine… Either way, I am Manaria Sousse. I am sorry our meeting was under such… tense circumstances.” She smiles and offers her hand.

“Oohashi, Rei Oohashi. Likewise.” I try to return the shake politely. I feel very exposed in Claire's sleepwear right now… God, I wish I had a chance to change before coming out.

That feeling only gets worse as the minutes drag. Manaria decides to keep to herself thankful and pulls out her phone. Hey eyes do occasionally filter up.

Catherine and I are just stressing out here..

“They sure are talking…” I whisper to Catherine.

“Yah…”

“Do you think…?”

“....”

“You don’t think she will…?”

Catherine swallows, she doesn’t look like she has much faith that Claire can keep it a secret. Oh god what if her mom thinks she is crazy or something? Is she going to get sent somewhere?

The waiting is the worst, oh fuck… should I just go in? What would I even do? What can I even do?

Fuck I feel useless.

You're going to fail Claire because you should be in there and not out here .

Fuck it, I’m just going to go-

The door finally opens slowly, and I can see Claire and her mom there. Claire has changed out of her sleepwear, into day clothes and her eyes are red and puffing. She looks at me and smiles weakly.

Okay… that’s… not the worst I think.

“Oohashi? Catherine. How about I have a word with you two now?” There isn't much room for compromise in her voice.

Catherine looks pale, god neither of us are good right now. At least she nods.

“It’s okay.” Claire’s voice is hoarse.

“You okay?” I have to ask.

She nods, and moves out into the hallway.

“Come on girls.” Claire’s mom says and motions us inside.

So we follow as she guides us to the sofas and takes a seat on the opposing piece. I feel like I am on trial right.

Okay, two likely scenarios:

She is going to grill me, one reason or another. Either for being caught in bed with her daughter.

Or Claire spilled the beans and told her about that…

Fuck I don’t know how to deal with either!

Fuck what if it’s both.

“Please girls, just relax. I just need to ask you some questions.”

I share a look with Catherine. What are we going to do?

“Ummm, so Mademoiselle Francois-

“Please Catherine, Relax. Melia is fine.”

“Right… um, Melia, what did you want to ask us?”

“Well Claire told me something, and she said the two of you believe her.” She lets the statement hang in the air. That’s vague but very telling if Claire did say something. Is she fishing for more information, or did Claire tell her everything?

“Well, do you believe her?” She asks us.

We both pause… fuck it.

“Yes.” I say it first.

“Yes?” Claire’s mom feels like an inve


stigator.

“Yes.” I repeat. She is studying me very carefully. God this is excruciating.

“And what would that be?”

Catherine responds first, “What did she tell you?”

“Something that is very hard to believe.” Well Claire didn’t get her poker face from her mother.

“Ummm what's hard to believe?”  I try to back up Catherine.

She sighs, “Girls, do you think I wouldn't notice my daughter acting like a completely different person?”

Neither of us have a response to that.

“Oohashi?”

“Ye-ah?”

“When did you meet my daughter for the first time?”

A lifetime ago…

“Just… over two weeks now.”

“So why do you believe my daughter when she says is a different person?”

“I, umm? What are-”

“Look I can tell you two aren’t going to be forthright if I hide all the cards. Claire told me she has different memories, of another life and she insists they are real. She said the two of you believe her and I need to know why that is the case.”

She leans in, layering on extra pressure, “So Oohashi, what did she say to you to make you believe her?”

Claire really did tell her?

Like an echo in my mind I hear Claire again, It’s okay .

I take a breath, I have to have some faith in her.

“I do believe her.”

Claire’s Mother’s brow rises, I am to continue. Oh god. I can do this.

Claire needs me.

“Okay, Kay, Kay… so we were in class just one day… and she came up to me and just started talking to me… like she knew me, cause she did. It was wild. Not everything was right, because I guess she was used to the other version of me but when she realized what was going on… that she wasn’t where she thought she was, she started putting it together and trying to explain it to me. I thought she was fu- umm, playing a cruel joke at first but then she started dropping names that she had no way of knowing because I never saw her before we shared a class… she knew things about me from middle school. Things I didn’t really tell anyone except my closest friends…”

“Would that happen to include being… gay?” Her tone is very neutral.

Oh god… I can’t tell if this is a landmine. Fuck. Catherine? Please give me a look… anything!

Fuck it. For Claire.

“Yes.”

“What else did she know?” She doesn’t linger, I can’t tell what that means, but I can’t really afford to get stuck on it either. She needs something more concrete.

Okay, Misaki, time to help us again.

Sorry.

I pull out my phone and find an old photo of him… and I show it to Claire’s mom.

“This is Misaki. He was a friend from middle school.”

“He?” I understand the tone. He doesn’t exactly look like a he.

“Yes, He . Misaki was… is trans…” fuck…

“He was born wrong… and he couldn't be who he w-wanted to be… it’s been almost th-three years…”

Fuck I hate explaining this.

“And umm, she knew. She called him h-him… no one really knew except a few of us. It didn’t even really make much news, it was just a small shitty article that no one saw. It misgendered him. His parents kept calling him a girl, even on his grave…”

I stare at my knees, my hands are gripping my  legs and I see a few tears fall down. Fuck I hate this so-

She is kneeling beside me and hugs me, gently.

Fuck… I…

“It's okay, Let it out.”

So I do.

It’s so unfair. I feel like shit, I don’t know what to make of this feeling. Am I terrible for bringing up Misaki to convince Claire’s mom? Would Misaki hate me for it? Be fine with it?

I’ll never know.

That’s the worst fucking part.

I’m not sure how long it takes for me to compose myself once again but when I do Claire’s mom aligns me back and gives my arms a gentle squeeze, looking right into my eyes. She looks so kind. She looks so much like Claire. Oh god she looks too much like Claire. Fuck I’m so useless-

“So…?” Catherine draws our attention. She can tell, fuck, she doesn’t look impressed. It’s not my fucking fault Catherine that she looks so much like her daughter.

“Yes?” At least Claire’s mom isn’t noticing my gay panic, or if she is, she isn't saying anything. Fuck, just give me a bone already. Can I just not jump from one extreme to the next?

“Well, convinced?”

“You told her about your father.” Claire’s mom just says in response.

“We talked about it, she knew.”

“And you never told her about it before?”

“Have you… when? She never talked to me before!” Catherine loses her composure for a second. “Sorry, look, we never talked… before this. At least not since… we were kids. And even then…”

Claire’s mom sighs and shakes her head. “You believe her?”

“Yes.” Catherine says without any hesitation.

“And you don’t think it could be something else. That she is dissociating? She could be repressing? Amnesia?”

“That was years ago, why now?” Catherine counters.

“And there is no way she could have known… it’s not just that… she knows so many things about me… she even knew the type of fan fiction I was writing…”

“What?” Catherine says, taken off guard. I can’t tell if it sounds judgey or confused.

“Maybe, but I haven’t ruled out that you two are lying on her behalf.”

“If you think I made up-”

“Oohashi” The mom voice interrupts me again, “I don’t believe you made that up, but please let me ask my questions first. Catherine, one last time. You never told her about Clement Archard before?”

“No.” Catherine says assuredly.

“How did she convince you to finally replace your leg after I spent years trying to do the same.

“Oh… well she didn’t give me a choice.”

…

“Fine, I also felt guilty… she… it's complicated. When it first happened…” Catherine groans and puts her face into her hands. After taking a breath she composes herself and tries again. “The day it happened she came with Rei-san. She… a few days before she needed a sixth girl for a mixer, and I didn’t want to go but I did... For her. And it was miserable, she disappeared so quickly once we showed up and left me there alone, it was too loud and rowdy and at one point I got pushed and fell down, it messed up my leg and I had to limp back on my own. She ignored me for the next few days until that day and she came in all bright, cheery, happy to see me and she tried to tell me but I got so mad at her and I nearly walked out because I thought she was just trying to get out of apologizing or I don’t know, it didn’t make any sense and I was really mad… but then Rei told me and I listened to her… and we talked. I snapped at her and then she… s-she’s happy now Melia…” Catherine's voice just dies and the room gets quiet. Catherine’s eyes start to water.

For the first time Claire’s mother also looks fragile.

“I don’t want to r-ruin it…” Catherines voice wavers.

Claire’s mom leans down to Catherine and engulfs her in a hug. “I’m sorry Catherine. I thought this would be good for you two, that it would help… I’m so proud of you.”

I can’t see Catherine, but I can hear soft crying. I feel like an outsider. Catherine’s arm squeezes tightly around Claire’s mom.

“I’m happy you were here for her. And I’m happy she convinced you to take the new leg, you deserve it.”

“It’s too nice…”

Claire’s mom just hushes her gently, rocking them both.

Soon they unwind, and Claire’s mom returns to her original seat. She finally looks more unguarded. Tired, confused.

“I was not ready for this.” She says after shaking her head. “I wonder what Dole would make of this…”

“So…” Catherine tries once more.

Claire’s mom shakes her head again. “I don’t know… it sounds ridiculous… too convenient. Finding you Oohashi… a past life?”

“I don’t know, maybe it's some weird alternate reality thing? Another dimension?” Oh god they are both staring at me. Catherine definitely thinks i’m an Idiot, I’m not sure about Claire’s mom…

“Rei was it?”

Oh god… “YeS?”

“I wish we might have met under… under less strenuous circumstances. I believe Claire when she says she loves you, but she is also in a… precarious situation. I need to know you wont take advantage of her-”

There is a loud snort, and Catherine’s hand swipes up to cover her face. It scrunches, and she isn’t able to keep a straight face.

Wow .

“Is something funny about this Catherine?” There is the mom voice again.

She snorts a little and tries to calm down. “I really don’t think you have to worry about that. She’s so whipped.”

“Hey!” CATHERINE.

Catherine laughs, not even bothering to try to cover it anymore. “Sorry, sorry but Claire has been dragging her everywhere for the last two weeks. Rei is at Claire’s mercy.”

Claire’s mom does not


 look amused, and Catherine makes a legitimate effort to rein it in. “I see.”

“Umm for what it’s worth I understand your concern. I really want to help her… and this has been really fast but I umm…”, I can’t say I love her, that’s insane. I mean I am willing to accept that I am insane. I do love Claire, I’m an idiot and crazy, but I'm not stupid. “I really care for her. I know how hard this is going to be for her and I have been doing everything I can to help bring her up to speed and learn everything that differ-”

“What?”

“Huh…?”

“Bring her up to speed…” There is a pregnant pause, and Claire’s mom’s eyes go wide, “Don’t tell me…”

Fuck

FUCK

I fucked up, oh god she didn’t think about that.

“Yes Claire is missing a lot of knowledge…” Catherine voices, it feels like she is realizing the landmine I just stepped on too.

“But we have been teaching her everything…” Oh god this is going to be the thing that ruins it isn’t it?

Claire’s mom blinks. “But she was speaking perfect french with me?”

“Uhh, yah I’m not sure what’s up with that. I think she knows more languages now?” Catherine says, wait really?

“Huh?” I… I knew she was french… but I never really thought about the ramifications beyond that. But like how was that going to come up… it’s not like I was speaking anything but Japanese…

“Is there anything else she remembers?”

Nothing from this life as far as I could tell.

Catherine doesn’t say anything else.

“Merde…” That… she doesn't sound thrilled…

“She’s been picking it up really fast-”

She puts a hand up silencing me, “This conversation needs Claire now… give me a moment. This is only getting more and more complicated and Manaria does not need to be here for it.” She gets up and moves to the door.

Fuck. I fucked up.

“Hey… she would have realized it sooner than later.” Catherine says.

God I don't want to lose Claire.


Wow.

“There’s so many people here.” The building housing the event looks large, and even now before the event is set too open many people are gathered and milling about. I think I can even spot some costumes already. Is that person green ?

“Uhh, yah these can get pretty big, I think the last one I was at was bigger?”

“Really?”

“Yah, but this is def on the big side. This should be good for Shiko. You ready to work?” Rae is doing a pat down of herself, her usual check to make sure she has everything.

“I think so, it just in- Wait what is that?” I can’t help but jump at what looks like a monster, or wait is that knight with bug eyes?

“Hrmm? Oh that’s Kamen Rider, it’s an old Sentai, well not really a Sentai I think but same thing.”

“Sentai?”

“It's a show about heroes in suits, they fight monsters. It’s kinda… err cheesy?” She strikes an absurd pose, hmm, I’m quite sure I have seen her do that before.

“Wait this is what costumes are like, oh goodness that person has wings?” There are even more costumes on display over there past the crowd.

Rae snorts, “Yah, people go hard on the costumes.”

“How do people afford such extravagant costumes? These must cost a small fortune.”

Rae just chuckles a little more, “Some might be a bit expensive, but most people just make them themselves, it’s probably not anywhere as expensive as you imagine Claire. People are just good and resourceful at it. They make them from pretty normal things, and do a good job of making it look as good as it is. Like that armor is not going to like actually stop anything if that’s what you were thinking.”

“Oh, that is really quite impressive. Oh there are more over there, amazing. Then these are all characters from something right? A show, manga or game?”

“Yah, I mean sometimes people do original costumes, but most of the time it’s not though. People like popular characters, you know? Like it’s fun when people know who you are. We might even see some people do the Persona characters today.”

“Oh! Really?” That's exciting.

Her eyes glimmer, “Yah, I’ll point it out, there are a lot of party members you haven’t seen yet, there is still Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba and Haru to find. And I guess Sumire too, sorta.”

“Oh, that many… I didn’t realize. Wait, were those the people at the beginning of the game. From the casino?”

“Yah, don’t worry we will see them soon, once you get through the first palace. I think you’ll get there next time we play.”

“We should play again tomorrow for a bit then, I’m not sure when. I am to have lunch with Manaria tomorrow.” Cutting into my Rae time.

“Oh, yah, sure. I should be good whenever. Hey look.” Rae gestures to a group of people and-

“IS THAT FALIN AND MARCILLE?” Oh goodness, they look so spot on, I can’t believe it. They have taken the art and turned into a reality. They look so cute.

I can see Rae grin, even behind the mask, “Want to ask if we can take their picture?”

“Oh we can do that?”

“If we have permission, yes.”

“Yes, oh goodness they look so good.” I let Rae lead me to them, and there is the rest of the group as well in the crowd. Laios, Chilchuck and Senshi. They are talking to a girl… she has cat ears? And a tail? That can't be real?

“Hey, would you mind if we take a picture, my friend just started reading.”

“Hi, Of course, go for it, just let us pose.” The Laios says, oh this is so wonderful.

The group organizes and gets into a pose, that includes the cat girl… is she a character I haven’t seen yet?

Rae starts taking a few pictures with her phone, oh right, I can do that too. I love this phone. I start taking a few pictures as well of the whole group but it's obvious I am favoring Falin and Marcille rather quickly.

After taking quite a few, the Falin speaks up to me. She tilts her head and her eyes are nearly closed, oh she is really good at her mannerism, “Are you a shipper?”

“I beg your pardon?” Where have I heard that before?

“Shipping is liking two characters together, relationship, ship. And yah, she likes Farcille.” Rae says.

“Oh! That’s why you came up with Relaire?”

Rae blushes behind her mask, “Aaaa, yah? Hahaha.” I can’t help but grin, it’s delightful tracing back all her eccentricities to this life.

The Falin smiles, “Great, here.” She leans in and places a kiss on Marcille's cheek, ohhh. “You can take a picture.”

“Oh right, sorry this is new to me.” I take a few more photos, oh they look so cute. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem, enjoy the event you two.” The Marcille giggles and they wish us off, and soon they are posing for other people to take pictures.

“We should start making our way to Shiko’s booth before it gets really busy.” Rae starts directing us to the building entrance.

“What? It’s going to get busier?”

“Oh yah, it’s still early, here put this around your neck, it’s our pass. We will probably see more Dungeon Meshi cosplay too. I wonder if anyone is going to do Dragon Falin. That would be a hard one but sooooo cool.” Rae tiptoes to look over the crowd a bit better in front of the entrance.

“More people might be cosplaying her too?”

“Oh yah, it’s pretty popular. Don't sweat it, you’re new to this but you can pick what it’s like pretty fast after today I think..”

“I… okay, Let me know if I do anything rude or untoward. Who was the last girl in that group? Was she a cat person?”

“Oh yah, that was Izutsumi. You will see her quite soon, I think you have seen her in fact. It just wasn’t obvious.”

“Oh… is it also popular to… ship characters? Did I say that right?”

Rae nods very eagerly. “Yah, that was right, and yes it’s popular, I think Farcille is the most popular ship of the series. God bless Kui-sensei for it.”

What?

“Sorry, Ryoko Kui, she’s the mangaka, that’s author and artist. I just love her stuff. It’s so queer coded and ND.”

“Oh.., I see, It has been really good, it’s just getting harder to pace myself.”

“Oh you are so lucky to be able to read it all at once, maybe? I was reading it one chapter at a time when it was releasing. It was agonizing when Falin disappeared again, and then again when she showed up. Chapters only came out once a month, which is normal but gOd the wait…”

“Oh, that’s interesting, we didn’t have anything like that. A book would be released as a whole if it was made.”

Rae leads me through the crowd to enter the building. “Hmm, makes sense, some stuff releases like that still. Okay, just follow my lead, they need to check us in.” Rae finds a shorter line on the side, and some staff check us over and guide us to the venue hall. It’s full of stands, tables, and improvised walls for hanging stuff on. It looks like many are still in the process of setting up. Thankfully Rae seems to know the way, so I just let myself take in the sights. Some stands have art on hanging, some look to have various goods, various knick knacks that I couldn’t even begin to place. I notice a fair few are setting up with books.

Rae stops in front of a stand, it has a bunch of boxes littered about. It looks like some are in the midst of being unpacked, a large collection of thin paper books being set up for display.

“Shiko?” Rae calls.

“Hmm?” A head pops up from behind a wall, “Oh hell yes, you two made it. Thank. God. These all need to be unpacked and set up. The boxes on the front can go on the table, but the boxes on the floor should stay on the floor but need to be set up so they can be accessed easily. Can’t show those off unless people ask for them specifically. That’s the eighteen plus stuff.”

This must be Shiko. She has messy long black hair, pulled in a loose tail, wearing sleek stylish spectacles. And a very toothy grin. She looks plainly dressed; except for a tee-shirt with yuri written on it in English, ready for work.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Claire Francois.” I offer her my hand.

She looks at me, pauses as she takes in my appearance, then grins again and shakes my hand.

“Holy shit Rae, she is hot.”

“SHIKO!” Rae beams red.

Oh that is brazen. I think I like her. I can’t help but laugh. “It’s nice to finally meet you Shiko-san. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have?” Shiko eyes Rae.

“Uhhhh, sorta?” Rae offers, “Look, we talk about stuff okay. But we can talk more once we


 get this set up, you have only half an hour till the floor opens up.”

“Fuck, your right. Okay, Rae, you start unpacking, Claire I’ll give you the rundown okay?”

“Of course.”

Shiko blazes through a description of the types of manga, or doujin she is selling. It’s an uneven split between original work and mostly fan work. There is a lot that’s mostly appropriate for casual viewing, and some that’s not. Those are risqué and stay under the table unless asked for.

And I was not anticipating some of the more extreme ones. We were always… experimental in the bedroom, but honestly I could have never expected what was featured in some of Shiko’s more extreme works. She says they aren’t her favorites, but they are popular and always sell out. Really? Can’t say I understand that appeal, but I can’t really judge. It wouldn’t be fair, especially since people thought Rae and I were baseless deviants merely because both of us were women.

Not that any of those rubes needed to know what we did in our own bedroom.

Otherwise, Shiko’s works are quite varied, some are more wholesome and cute. Some seem to be quite dramatic at a glance. And most of the more explicit ones are more what I was expecting. Some of these even cater to some of Rae’s and my own tastes. The only collective thread is that they are all sapphic, they are all yuri.

Honestly I’m intrigued. Shiko is obviously proud of her work, and she should be.

“Okay, and no haggling prices, they go for what they are marked as, as we get close to the end of the day I might cut prices if we have a lot of stock left but I don’t think we will have that problem, any questions?”

“I don’t think so, it’s fine that I’m not familiar with the works right?”

“It should be fine, We won’t leave you alone, so you can always point customers at me, or Rae if I’m not around. We will take a few breaks, get some food and snacks etcetera, but one of us should be around at least so we won't leave you alone.”

“Okay, right then I think I should be good, do you really think you will sell most of this? There must be a couple thousand books?”

“Yah, I keep printing more, and I keep selling out. I’m a bit of a known quantity on the doujin scene and people always come by now. Especially when I have new stuff, and I do today. And people tend to pick up a bunch of books when they come by, they're not big right? A book can be ten, twenty, maybe fifty pages on the off chance. If you want any, feel free to take a copy now. Chances are good the hot stuff won't be left over.”

“Are you sure? I can at least pay for it.”

“Don’t you dare, you two saved me, and I’ve seen you eyeing them.” She wiggles her brow, It’s not like I was trying to hide it, unlike some other people.

Bound certainly has caught my eye. It's aptly named and looks deviously fun.“Oh well thank you then, I am glad to help. Honestly this sounds like it will be fun.”

“It’s going to be exhausting, but it’s usually enjoyable. I love getting to see people and fans in person, and I bet there is going to be sick cosplay on the floor. And you two can take a longer break together around lunch and walk the floor too if you want. I bet Rae wants to do that.”

“I wouldn’t mind…” Rae says sheepishly.

“Then we should, oh this will be exciting.”

“ Attention, the floor will be opening in five minutes. Thank you.” A loud voice booms over what must be a speaker machine somewhere.

An energy washes over the whole floor as everyone makes their last minute efforts to read themselves.

“Shit, get ready.” Shiko flashes a toothy grin.