Misadventures in Shopping [Kiku]

William walked around in the city looking at the different shops before deciding to duck into one of them for a better look at their stuff. He had gotten some time away from the school, and now that he had proper control over changing his own gender he didn't have to worry about randomly turning into a girl while he was in public. He knew there was a risk of accidentally transforming someone else, but he was willing to take that risk. Had to, in order to live his life the way he wanted to.

He stopped to look at some clothes before moving on to look at the gardening stuff. He couldn’t have a garden at the school, but it didn’t stop him from looking at the gardening stuff and plants. After staring at a rose seedling he wished he could take back to the school he left the gardening section and went back to the clothes. He remembered that he needed some more clothes for when he turns into a girl, and went to the girls section. Nobody seemed to notice that a boy was checking out clothing for girls or maybe they just decided not to bother him or maybe they thought he might be looking for something nice for his girlfriend.

Once he was done staring at clothes, he was on his way out of the clothing section when he bumped into someone. For a moment he froze in sheer panic hoping his powers hadn’t activated since he hadn’t taken precautions like wearing gloves so he could blend in as seamlessly as possible with everyone else. He was afraid to look at first to see if whoever he bumped into had transformed, but maybe he could get away with it if he was helpful to whoever it was he bumped into.

Kiku sighed, staring at a pair of gloves before replacing it on the shelf. He refused to pay so much for a tool he would simply stop using after it gave out in a week or so. He reasoned that to an average gardener with an average sized garden, 'heavy duty' meant the gloves would last. But he wasn't exactly an average gardener...with an average garden. He paused and examined a few other tools, then moved on to seed packets, rejecting them all as he moved down the row. Nothing in the store seemed like it would hold up against his plants for more than a week, and though he could certainly afford to replace any tools that broke, he did not want to have to replace them on a weekly basis.

He had come to the shop after hearing from some of his customers about the quality of their gardening tools, though so far nothing had held his interest for more than a minute (save for the the gloves). He tried not to feel disappointment, reminding himself that he was not ordinary when it came to gardens, and that clothing stores that had a small gardening section weren't exactly known for their quality supplies. He had heard most of the positive reviews from wives and mothers, and now that he was standing a few feet from a formal gown, the praise made sense. 'They must have been clothing shopping and happened to notice the gardening section. I wonder if it is a seasonal display. Ah well, I will simply have to look elsewhere for my things.'

He turned to leave, maneuvering down the aisle past hoses and weed mats, all packed too tightly into a space definitely not right for displaying them. He rounded the corner, intent on simply exiting the shop and trying to ignore the women's clothes he passed on the way, when he collided with another person walking in the opposite direction. He stumbled back, catching himself just before he hit the weed mats. He straightened, tugging on his clothes to straighten them and bowing to the other man.

"Please excuse me. I was not watching where I was--" Kiku's hands flew to his lips, covering them as his mind finally processed that his voice was not his voice anymore. 'No...no it's my voice...but I most definitely sound like a woman!' He stared at the young man in front of him, his usually calm expression filled with panic and embarrassment. 'Have I...just been...turned into a woman?!'

William listened to the young lady he'd accidentally bumped into, and wondered if she'd always been a young lady. He also noticed that she seemed a bit flustered, and wondered why. He quickly understood why when she seemed freaked out by her own voice. He decided to pretend everything was completely normal for the moment, and hoped she wouldn't make a scene of this.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going either. Are you all right?" William said, and for a moment he wished he'd gone to the city as Ashley today rather than as himself. Then he could eventually change back and no one would be any the wiser that the genderswapping mutant is him. Well, he supposed that he could go to the city as Ashley from now on, but then there were some things he would need when he was a guy and it might be a bit odd to see a girl shopping for men's underwear for instance. Oh well. The cat was out of the bag now at least for this person, and he hoped like mad that they'd be a mutant as well. Transforming a human would be a serious problem.

He was worried that this person would out him as a mutant because mutants are not always accepted in society, and given the climate between mutants like him who want to live peacefully among humans and mutants who want to be acknowledged as being better than humans he didn't really want to be found by the Brotherhood. His powers would have some use to them even if it was just to disguise them on their missions, but he didn't want to join their group. He was quite happy being at the school and being around the X-Men instead.

"Are you sure you're all right?" William said. He hoped he hadn't hurt her, and although he wondered what her name was he didn't offer his own just yet. If she was a human she might get him into some serious trouble, and knowing his name would make it worse.

((My sincerest apologies for taking so long to respond to this D: ))

Kiku took a few shallow breaths, trying to compose herself once more. Panicking would do nothing other than cause the other young man in front of her to panic, though clearly this situation was his doing. Some other shoppers noticed the strange scene, pausing momentarily and beginning to whisper behind their hands to each other. Slowly, she counted to ten in her mind, her breaths becoming more even and her expression losing its panicked look. The last thing they needed was for people to ask questions. She attempted to smile at the young man in front of her, though she doubted the look appeared to be anything other than the mechanical lifting of the corners of her mouth. Still, the look did its job, diverting the attention away from the two of them as the patrons went back to their business.

'So, I am now a woman. Perhaps this young man has mutant powers, and his powers are to...swap genders? That is the only explanation that makes sense for my sudden change. Still, is he aware that I too am a mutant, or does he believe he has turned a human? Perhaps I can convince him that I have no powers of my own. I will also need to figure out how long this change is, or how to reverse it if there is a way to do so.'

She observed him for a moment, ignoring his question (and inwardly asking for forgiveness for her rudeness). He seemed to be ignoring her change, or rather, pretending it did not happen. Kiku could understand not wanting to have attention called to oneself; she (normally he) had been hiding all her life, steering clear of the organizations and, aside from the flowers she sold, staying off the radar for humans. After the incidents in her youth--the plants in the parks had moved all on their own--she could understand all too well the unkindness shown towards mutants by those who did not comprehend that they weren't evil or malicious. She continued her observation, trying hard not to appear to be staring, sensing his apprehension.

She gave him a true smile, or as true a smile as she could muster with her nerves still on edge. "Ah, I apologize. I was not watching where I was going." She bowed politely to him, looking down...only to quickly wrap her arms around herself to cover her chest. She blushed deeply, embarrassment over her now obvious (though small) breasts that showed through her shirt. Inwardly, she prayed to every god she could think of that he had not noticed, though another voice in her head reminded her that the man didn't necessarily have to look very hard, seeing as they weren't standing all that far away from each other.

William had also noticed the shoppers staring at the two of them, and he hoped that they would stop eventually staring and go on about their business if he kept this looking reasonably normal. Hopefully they won’t realise he’s a mutant either if he keeps everything as relaxed and chill as he can. The last thing he needed was extra attention from anyone other than the young woman standing in front of him, and even more so if they were humans who hated mutants.

I know my powers have activated, but it's really not that noticeable of a change, right? Her clothes still fit her well even though she doesn't seem entirely comfortable in them, and it is only for two hours so surely she could just relax and try to enjoy the change? On the plus side, at least she didn't faint like I did the first time I transformed.

He finally decided the best course of action now was to try to leave the situation with some dignity, and although he felt a little bad about denying what he’d done by transforming this person he felt it was best to just move on and get on with his day. And if this girl decided to follow him hopefully they’d be able to talk somewhere where there wasn’t people staring at them.

“It’s all right, I wasn’t paying enough attention to where I was going either.” William said. “Anyway, I’d better get on with my shopping now. Have a good day!”

He turned around and started to walk away. If she decided to follow they could always talk in a quieter area of the store with less people around. He would’ve explained the transformation was only temporary, but there were so many humans around that he didn’t want to explain anything and just wanted to leave before anyone could suspect or accuse him of anything.

((AGH I AM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE...AND SO AWFUL TOO *sobs in a puddle on the floor and prays you'll forgive her* D: ))

She continued to smile at him as he bid her farewell, though inwardly she had begun to panic. She had no idea what had happened to her (aside from being turned into a female, of course), or if it would reverse itself at all. And the young man with all of the answers was heading towards the door of the shop, soon to disappear onto the bustling streets of the city. She could still feel the embarrassed flush dusting her cheeks as she continued to try to hide her breasts, though thankfully most of the shoppers had gone back to what they were doing. Her blush deepened at the thought of going after him, and though she disliked being so forward she realized she wouldn't have much of a choice if she wanted any answers at all.

Sighing in resignation, Kiku waited a few seconds, then ducked down another aisle. She did her best to ignore the few patrons who did happen to stare, keeping her expression as neutral as possible and heading casually towards the door. She glimpsed the young man whenever the aisle parted for a moment, and she carefully kept pace with him while attempting to appear disinterested in the stranger. Finally, she reached the exit, about the same time the stranger was coming to the end of his aisle. Kiku debated whether to call out to him, then decided against it. There was no point in making more of a spectacle of this than had already happened.

Instead, she waited until he was almost out of the door, then rushed forward. In an uncharacteristically forward (and rather impolite invasion of personal space, in her opinion), she grabbed his wrist and dragged him from the store. The noises of the busy city immediately assaulted her senses as she pulled him out onto the sidewalk, the blush still firmly painting her cheeks a bright rose. Thankfully, the people around them seemed far too immersed in their own business to pay attention to the two, or they were too used to seeing an irate woman dragging her boyfriend (or husband, or some other form or relation) down the street to care.

Still, she was careful to keep her voice to a level that only he could hear. "This is your doing...and I demand that you take responsibility for this!"