Upside Down – Alternate Destiny

[Sunday, May 5th]

“Mmm~”

‘Huh? Where am I? Before that, how did I get here? Wasn’t I at the mall?’ I sit up, rub my eyes to clear the sleep from them, and look around me. I don’t recognize anything. I look at a digital clock that’s sitting on a desk a short distance away, and it’s 3:35 in the morning. More than 12 hours have passed since the last time I remember! It can’t be any place bad since I was with Dad and Chinatsu. I’m still quite nervous though. What if something happened to them, and I was taken somewhere? ‘Okay, calm down, Sora! Dad is the toughest man you know. It wasn’t that long ago you saw him take down five people in a matter of seconds. You know he wouldn’t allow something to happen to you,’ I tell myself forcefully. I take a few deep breaths to help calm myself and stand up.

Walking to the door of the room, I open it and peek outside. ‘Nothing unusual here,’ I think. Then I notice the sign on the door across from me in the dim lighting, ‘Chinatsu.’ I let out a long sigh of relief. I’m at Chinatsu’s house.

Although, now that I’m no longer concerned about that, other issues make themselves known. One: I have to pee badly. Two: I’m thirsty. Three: I’m starving. And finally, I could darn sure use a bath; I feel gross. Umm… Okay, well, there is another issue as well. I’ve never used the bathroom as a girl. I mean, I know that girls have to sit to pee, but is that the only difference?

While I’m wondering all this and hesitating about whether or not to take the easiest option of waking Chinatsu, her door opens. I think, ‘Okay, she must be psychic or something. For some reason, she always seems to know when I need her.’

Looking at me with a concerned expression, she asks, “Why are you out here standing in the hallway?”

“Umm, I… uh… I need to pee,” I stammer out, blushing as I do so. This is so embarrassing. A teenager having to ask for help to use the bathroom, of all things! I know it’s my first time doing this as a girl, but still.

Chinatsu chuckles softly. “Alright, I got it. Don’t worry about it, come on.”

She takes my hand to lead me to the bathroom. Once we’re there, she quickly explains how girls ‘do their business’ and leaves me to it, telling me she’ll wait outside for me. After blushing here and there, I finish my business and wash my hands. I go outside and explain two of my other problems to her.

“That’s another easy fix. Let’s go to the kitchen,” she tells me as she takes my hand again, and carefully heads downstairs to the kitchen. Once we arrive, she opens the refrigerator, takes out several dishes, and begins to warm them up.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Do we have any barley tea?”

Chinatsu nods and pours both of us a glass. Placing the warmed food on a tray along with the drinks, she brings it to the table where I’m sitting. Then she sets the dishes in front of me and sits down next to me. Finally, she gestures for me to eat while watching me.

After finishing everything she placed in front of me, I sit back and sigh contentedly.

“Wow. You must have been really hungry.”

“I was, I didn’t eat yesterday.”

“Yeah. Well, you did fall asleep before lunch yesterday.” She says while putting all of the dishes on the tray, taking them to the sink, rinsing them, and placing them in the dishwasher. Then she comes back to me.

“Come on, let’s sit on the couch. It’s a lot more comfortable than sitting at the table.” She takes my hand to help me up, and we move to the couch. When I sit down, she curls up against me.

“Chi, you might not want to sit so close, I haven’t taken a bath.”

She wraps her arms around me and pulls me even closer. Inhaling deeply, she then looks at me and smiles.

“You smell good to me,” she tells me, which sets my face on fire in embarrassment.

“Chi, did you need to do that?” I ask her bashfully. But then I remember what I was thinking in the dressing room. Do all girls smell good? I know Chinatsu and Mom do, so does that mean I do as well? Tabling the thought, I ask, “How did I get here, anyway? The last thing I remember, I was at the mall.”

“Yep. Well, when we sat down with Dad, you leaned up against him and fell asleep a few seconds later. When Mom came out, she told us to take you home and put you to bed. Dad carried you rather than wake you up.”

“I thought it might’ve been something like that, but I wasn’t sure. I knew I was tired, but I didn’t realize I was that tired.”

“Umm, by the way. Sorry I haven’t said it, but I hate what happened to you.” I begin to reply to her, but she cuts me off by continuing. “However, I love that you’re my sister now.” She kisses my cheek and hugs me closer.

“What do you mean, Chi?”

“Nothing more than what I said. I hate the fact that this happened to you. That’s my honest feeling, too. I know you’re bewildered and kind of lost with everything that’s happened to you. I get that, I do, and I hate that this happened because of that. But at the same time, I have to admit that I find this even better since you’re my sister now. I’ve always wanted one.” She tells me in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I…”

“Shush… You don’t need to say anything right now. This is just me stating how I feel. I love you. I always have, and I always will, regardless of whether you’re a boy or a girl. I always thought of you as my brother, and now you’re my sister, so that’s much better.”

I’m astounded. I mean, I knew she liked me, but she always thought of me as her brother. I had no idea. Well, I knew she was happy that I’m her sister now since she said as much at the hospital. The funny thing is, I always felt as if she and her parents were family. How could I not? They have always been there for me, and Chinatsu always seems to know what I’m thinking or feeling.

To tell the truth, I was always worried she would get tired of putting up with me. How do I explain it? She is athletic with a bright, bubbly personality. Outgoing, easily makes friends, and not afraid of anyone or anything. Not to mention how beautiful she is, which I’m sure she gets from Mom. She’s the same height as me, with fairly long, wavy brunette hair that reaches the middle of her back. Large, very bright blue eyes that seem to sparkle. A thin, straight nose with rosy, full lips. Long, sculpted legs, and slender arms. Small, perky breasts, a slim waist, a firm, apple-shaped butt, and lightly tanned skin. Honestly, she’s one of the prettiest and most popular girls in school.

My personality is the complete opposite. Quiet, shy, timid, insecure, and afraid to try new things. I’m friendly, but don’t have a lot of friends. I have a hard time dealing with crowds or talking to people I don’t already know. Not to mention, after all the abuse I’ve received over the years, I’m afraid of most boys. I think I’ve mentioned how they always said I was ‘too cute’ and ‘girly.’ Chinatsu always said that they picked on me because I was popular with the girls because I was cute and gentle.

“I’m very happy that you’re my sister as well,” I tell her while hugging her tightly for a few moments. “Umm, Chi, I want to take a bath, but…”

She quietly giggles. “No problem, I already told you that I needed to show you how to do that properly now that you’re a girl. Well, I suppose now is as good a time to start teaching you as any. Let me go get the bath ready. Be right back, okay?”

When I nod, she stands up, tells me, “Be right back,” and heads to the bathroom just down the hall.

While I’m thinking about everything that has happened since I woke up in the hospital, she returns to the living room.

“Okay, the bath will be ready soon, come on,” she says, beckoning to me. I stand up, and we head to the bathroom.

When we walk into the dressing room, I catch sight of myself in the mirror and stop dead in my tracks to stare at my image. I’m still amazed that this beautiful girl is supposed to be me. I’ve seen myself several times now, but it still doesn’t feel as if this is real. I step closer to the mirror, reach out my hand, and she does the same thing I do. I drop my hand and shake my head.

“Do you still find it hard to believe that it’s really you?” Chinatsu asks from behind me.

I turn to look at her and nod slightly as I reply, “Yes. This is like something you’d read in a manga or something, so who wouldn’t find it hard to accept? I wish this was a dream or even a nightmare. Then I could wake up to find out that’s all it was, but that isn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, this is all too real,” I tell her while my eyes get hot and tears begin to form. Wiping my eyes with my sleeve, I shake my head again. Crying isn’t going to help anything, but this is seriously depressing.

“I can’t change back, so like it or not, this is me now,” I say as I gesture to myself from top to bottom. “I’m a girl, and I need to learn to live as one.” Even upset as I am, I crack a small wry smile as I state, “Not that Mom’s going to give me a choice in the matter. Truthfully, if it weren’t for the three of you helping me through this, I’m sure I’d have already killed myself.”

Chinatsu’s eyes open wide with a frightened expression. I step close to her and wrap my arms around her while resting my head on her shoulder. I continue, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything like that. I’d never purposely do anything to hurt you three. You know that, don’t you? I love you all too much to do something like that. Even before Mom and Dad adopted me, I considered you three my family.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I thought my heart was going to stop when you told me that. I know you said you wouldn’t, but please, please, don’t even think of doing that. It would kill me if something ever happened to you. I couldn’t take losing you.”

I feel her tears getting my shoulder damp. Not that I’m not crying too. I’ve cried more in the last day than I have in the last five years. Even when I’d get beaten up, I never cried. Now, it’s all I seem to be able to do. I don’t ever remember being this emotional before. Nervous? Yep. Scared? Definitely, but I was never like this.

We stand there as we continue to hug each other tightly for a minute. Finally, she steps back, blows out a big breath, wipes her eyes, and smiles awkwardly. “Alright. Enough of that. What do you say we get you cleaned up? You’ll feel better once we have… Oh! We need a change of clothes too. What color do you want?”

“Color?” I ask as I attempt to puzzle out what she means. It takes a moment, or two, but it finally dawns on me.

“Hmm, how about green to match your eyes?” she asks with a grin. As if I care what color it is. I don’t worry about things like that. As long as it fits and is comfortable. “Yes, I know, you don’t care about things like that. Okay, go ahead and start undressing, I’ll be back in a minute.”

I begin to take off my nightgown and stop. I know I’m going to have to get used to my new body, but it’s simply not that easy. Simply the thought of seeing myself naked is enough to make me blush furiously. However, here we are again. Either I get used to doing it on my own, or Mom will force the issue. Knowing my luck, she would take all of my clothes and make me run around nude until I get used to seeing myself.

Taking a deep breath, I pull the nightgown over my head and look at myself in the mirror. Sure enough, I’m blushing furiously. What 13-year-old boy wouldn’t when confronted by a gorgeous, nude girl? I refuse to tear my eyes away from the mirror. ‘This is me,’ I tell myself repeatedly, trying to convince myself. I slip off my panties and drop them and nightgown into the dirty clothes basket. Turning back to the mirror, I look closely at myself. I’ve always said ‘she’ or ‘her’ when I’ve seen my reflection so far, but this is me. This might sound vain, but darn, I am gorgeous. A beautiful face, slender with an excellent figure, and soft, unblemished skin. Not to mention, long, well-shaped legs. Then it hits me, unblemished skin? That can’t be right. I should have a nine-centimeter-long scar from just under my left arm that runs down toward my stomach, but there’s nothing there. Did the nanites remove that as well when they changed me? ‘That’s amazing,’ I think as I continue to look for the other scars I had. Nope, they’re gone as well. Unbelievable.

When I hear a giggle behind me, I look up into the mirror and see Chinatsu standing in the doorway behind me.

“Good, you undressed yourself. I was going to tell you that Mom told me not to do that for you anymore. Oh, I’m still allowed to help you get dressed, at least until you’ve learned how to do it correctly anyway, but she said you have to put on your underwear. Did you know that you aren’t even blushing standing there naked while I’m talking to you?” she says while grinning, and then she begins to undress herself.

I’ve taken tons of baths with Chinatsu over the years, so it doesn’t even occur to me to be embarrassed. Even if the last time we bathed together was when we were 10. Clothed or not, it’s Chinatsu, so nothing we could ever do together would ever embarrass me. We were all of 7 or 8 when she showed me hers and I showed her mine.

She looks me up and down, then sighs dramatically. “You seriously have a great figure. I wish I had breasts like yours.”

She has a nice figure as well, and if memory serves me correctly, which it always does, her measurements aren’t much off from mine. It’s no wonder she’s so popular at school.

“Why? You’re perfect the way you are.”

She looks at herself for a moment, shakes her head, then grins. “You’re just biased,” she says, which causes me to laugh. “Whatever, let’s get you cleaned up.”

She takes my hand and leads the way into the bathing area. Pointing to the shower chair, she orders me to, “Sit.” I take a seat as she turns on the shower to warm up the water. After the water is warm enough to satisfy her, she wets me down, beginning with my hair, and starts talking.

“Girls’ skin is very delicate, so you have to be gentle when you wash. If you scrubbed down like you did when you were a boy, you would damage it, and we don’t want to do that. You use this sponge for that. Oh, because your hair is so long, we’ll have to wash your body first. If we shampooed and conditioned your hair first and then washed your body, the body soap would get into your hair and damage it. We don’t want that because you have beautiful hair.”

“Well, let’s get it cut then. Short hair is easier to deal with anyway.”

“Huh? Do you want Mom to have an aneurysm? The day you woke up, she carried on and on about how long and beautiful your hair is. Even Dad said something about it, and you know how seldom he hands out compliments. After all, red hair is scarcely seen in Japan, so do you think she’s going to allow that? She barely allows me to keep my hair this short. Anyway, I think long hair suits you much better than short hair ever would.”

The whole time we’re talking, she’s gently, but quickly washing me. Even as gentle as she’s being when she washes my breasts, it’s uncomfortable. I suppose they’re still tender. Hopefully, that goes away soon. When she finishes, she picks the shower head back up and rinses me off. She moves in front of me, then wets down my hair again and picks up a bottle, showing it to me.

“This is our shampoo; make sure you don’t use Dad’s. His is in the blue bottle there.” she says, pointing to the bottle. Then she presses the pump on ‘our’ shampoo several times and begins to wash my hair, gently massaging my scalp with her fingertips as she does so. Then she proceeds to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. She picks up another bottle and shows it to me.

“This is our conditioner. You don’t have to use it every day, just when your hair is dry, brittle, or getting damaged. Since I’m on the swim team, I have to use it all the time because the chlorine is so hard on hair. Your hair is fine for today, but you ought to use this once in a while under normal circumstances because it helps prevent split ends.”

She winds my hair up on top of my head and pins it into place with a hair clip. She also winds her hair up, picks up another hairclip off the shelf, and clips her hair in place.

“I bathed earlier, so I’m only going to soak with you in the tub.”

She stands while holding her hand out to me, and helps me up. She climbs into the tub first, and I get in and sit down in front of her. She wraps her arms around me, pulls me back against her, and lets out a contented sigh.

“I love baths, but I think they’re going to be a lot more enjoyable now that you’re here.”

“Thanks,” I tell her, then sigh due to the comfortable heat, and the feel of her soft body behind me. I scoot down a little more so that I can rest my head more comfortably against her and relax within her arms.

“You know, I’ve been thinking. I’m happy that Mom and Dad adopted me, not only because I wouldn’t want to be sent to live with any of my relatives or to an orphanage, but because I love the three of you. I’m simply happy to be with you. I don’t want to worry you three either. No matter what I want, I’m not a boy anymore, so I’m going to do my best to become a proper daughter for them and sister for you as quickly as I can. I believe that’s the best thank you I can give all of you,” I tell her. Then I glance at her and see tears streaming down her cheeks. Alarmed, I jerk upright and hug her. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you!”

She pushes me back slightly and shakes her head. “That’s not it. I’m not upset at all. It’s quite the opposite since I’m happy to hear you say that. I’m happy to have a sister. Especially since that sister happens to be you. Listen, I feel the same way, I couldn’t care less about the rest of this as long as you’re here with me.” She kisses my cheek and hugs me tightly for a few moments. “Come on, let’s get out and dry off so that we can go to bed. I’m sure Mom will have things for us to do tomorrow. Oh yeah, they said they wanted to talk with you, too.”

We get out and towel ourselves dry. She then takes another towel and begins drying my hair, which doesn’t last long since my hair saturates the towel quickly. Reaching under the sink, she takes out a hair dryer and finishes drying my hair with it while brushing it to help keep it from tangling. Going to the shelves on the opposite wall, she picks up our change of clothes and hands me mine, which consists of a pair of emerald green low-rise bikini panties and a white, silk nightgown that falls to mid-thigh. Hers is the same style, just in pink.

“Do you want to sleep with me?” Honestly, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about trying to sleep alone. So, I quickly smile and nod in reply. She grins for a moment, then continues, “Good, I was hoping you did. It’s been a while since we last slept together.” Taking my hand, she leads the way back upstairs to her room.