Chapter #42In and Out of Character by: rugal b.   You're taken aback by words like that coming from your cousin's mouth and in shock you can't help but to pull back. "What the hell!?" you gasp.
That simply causes Umeko to laugh. "Surprising right?" she grins. "There's a lot about her that you don't know."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
But she simply shakes her head and puts her finger in your face. "I told you, get a mask onto K.C. first. You do still have the stuff in Jelena's room don't you?"
"Well sure; yeah."
"Then do it when you see her. Then tell me." She looks thoughtful for a second. "Switch into her mask actually, don't just rig it on her with your stuff."
"Okay, and then what? And why?" you ask.
"Like I said, get in touch with me and we'll figure something out. As for why?" She gives it another few seconds of thought, tapping her finger against her chin as she does. "Well, that's who you wanted to grab in the first place right? So it'll work out for both of us."
"That's what I'm asking about," you counter. "Work out for both of us? What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll just have to wait and see! Sheesh, you're always so impatient Will, you know that?"
Again it's hard not to think of this girl in front of you as anything other than the real Umeko. Everything is so accurate and on point, a far cry from how down and out of character Sydney was yesterday. It's thrown you completely for a loop. "Okay, fine. I'll get it on her the first opportunity I can. But there's still a third roommate here," you state.
"Right, Zoe," she replies. "Fit her with a mask too, so long as we're on a recruitment drive. Use my stuff in it that way we'll be even on 'recruits' and all. Plus she'd be useful to switch into if we wanted to remain in basically permanent contact or something comes up for Umeko."
"Sure, okay," you mutter quietly. It's hard to ignore what just happened after all and you feel that all you can do is just go along with it. Everything else so far has been in character but what she did? Well you're glad she dipped a bit out of character for that. "So I guess under a new identity whatever was making you uncomfortable about, you know, is gone? Because it's not Sydney doing it but Umeko?"
"Hehe," Umeko giggles. "I guess so, huh? Being able to submerge yourself in another identity just changes you doesn't it? Makes you do things you never thought about doing? Because like you said, it's not me doing it but this other person, right?" She reaches over and pinches you softly on the stomach through the thin shirt you're wearing. "Like you were on Friday night. Consider us even."
"So then why don't we keep it up?" you ask as you grab her hand and pull her in close.
Jelena's a girl of merely average height but is still tall enough to where the shorter Umeko has to look up at you. And you look down at her. You want to lean down and plant your lips directly on her own and yet you feel like you're frozen. Jelena's feelings are very strong. She finds Umeko's energy and her upbeat attitude charming. Her short height, slim frame and neotenous face the picture of Japanese kawaii aesthetic. And it's because of those strong feelings that you find yourself unable to do anything more than look.
Because for as cool and composed as Jelena usually is, around someone who truly sets her heart racing she feels as awkward and nervous as Will Prescott around a pretty girl.
Umeko, seemingly expecting something, can instead do nothing but smirk and pull away. "I just stopped by to show you that I'd gotten it all," she says as she turns towards the door. "I've got lunch with mom and dad... with your aunt and uncle, soon. I told them I had to run a quick errand after church so they're expecting me." She gives you another look before opening the door. "Next time I see you, I want you wearing K.C.'s face. Trust me, it'll be for the best."
* * * * *
As it's near lunch and you're feeling bored once your girlfriend-turned-non-blood-related-cousin has left, you finish the brunch you were making for yourself and see who's available for lunch. You get open responses from two people outside the Westside sphere in Nadine Martin and Roxanne Hurley and decide that a lunch with them is a fine enough way to kill time.
You meet the two of them at Milagro (Nadine likes its vegetarian options) and are actually rather thankful that today is one that K.C. has off. Remembering what Sydney had said about a "recruitment drive" however you decide to take time, as you sip a latte and converse, to evaluate your companions.
Jelena knows Nadine, an Eastman girl, quite well as she's the drummer in Sienna's band and in fact the two have been playing together for a number of years. She's an androgynous sort with her slim, boyish figure, masculine manner of dress and her close cropped and neatly styled hair. Yet her face is still distinctly feminine and her voice is soft and pleasant and her personality as well is, though a bit quiet, also relaxed.
Roxanne meanwhile also cuts her hair short but in a more feminine pixie kind of way and indeed she lacks the androgyny of her... well, even Jelena isn't quite sure of their relationship. They're more than friends and at times seem quite serious about one another, at others less so. Roxanne is also much quicker with a snappy and sarcastic remark than her companion. Something she employs as she tells you a story from Friday of having to talk some boys out of being duped into being booze mules for a girl named Mary who was looking for a way to sneak some on campus.
For Roxanne, as Jelena's mind tells you, is a student at St. Xavier's: the snootiest collection of teenagers in the entire county, hell possibly this section of the country. Though Roxanne herself is merely a local who got in through a scholarship and so lacks the kind of self-assured arrogance that comes from families with wealth that goes back generations.
That said you enjoy your time with them and you make mental notes. Oh, they're not necessarily guaranteed additions to your coven; your Sisterhood of Baphomet, perhaps. But they might make good additions all the same. Roxanne especially is a tempting target and you might bring her up to Sydney once you're a bit more settled in and have a better idea as to what you're doing.
After parting you decide to head back home. K.C. you're happy to see, is in while this time Zoe is out (at work, according to K.C.). You ask her if she's going anywhere any time soon and all she can do is shrug and give a non-committal answer saying that she hasn't decided yet. You realize, then, that this is the opportunity you've been waiting for.
You head into Jelena's room and grab one of the blank masks and the container of sealant. You also grab one of the containers of gray goop (marked with your name because Sydney, it turns out, is diligent about this stuff) and a brush from Jelena's art supplies. Without a word you head back out into the living room, walk up to K.C. and press the blank mask to her face.
* * * * *
You stand half-nude in that bathroom as you examine yourself. On the surface your body is nothing particularly special. Like Nadine's it's slim with not much in the way of curves either though your ass does stick out just enough to be inviting in the dark skinny pants you're wearing. Up top, however, you're completely bare and you can see a tight stomach, yes, but the breasts are small (smaller than Jelena's) and there's not much in the way of muscle tone.
On your sternum, just under and to the side of one of those breasts is a tattoo. Nothing fancy, instead it's a series of numbers; a date that's very important to K.C. and plays into why she she's all but legally tossed away her full name. There are more tattoos as well. On your right shoulder blade for instance is a design that incorporates a sparrow which K.C. has taken on as something of a personal symbol as it symbolizes things like hard work, productivity and creativity.
On your left bicep is a larger piece that for K.C. means quite a lot as it's one of Jelena's design. Among other features it mixes the flag of where K.C. was born and a rainbow one. Not that K.C. herself is gay but it is instead something to show a bit of solidarity for her friends who are as well as with her sister.
Your face, though, is quite cute and you can see the resemblance, though a bit faint, between K.C. and her younger sister. She's a decent looking girl to be sure but not a head turner. Nothing like Sydney or Umeko. No, it's not looks that draw people to K.C. but, as you'd noted a few nights ago, her charisma. Her casual and approachable demeanor, her accepting and open-minded nature, her lack of desire to do things solely to conform or fit in. That's what brings her to peoples' attention.
And as you think that, as you probe K.C.'s mind, it hits you like a truck. You actually have to grasp onto the sink because the revelation is so surprising to you. Because now?
Now you know exactly why Sydney, why Umeko, was so insistent about you wearing K.C.'s mask.  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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