Okashina Futari Chapter 141~150

Author: Mashiro Yuh; Translator: ELIZA; Editor: Jaime

Chapter 141--2003.1.20

"What?"

The bride, whose lips were rouged, complained.

This was natural. His reaction was never in her mind.

She had, however, once heard a rumor. Some seasonal cab drivers who came from a rural area to the capital do not have a spatial sense, which is the most important ability for taxi drivers. Worse, some drivers ask their passengers the way and, furthermore, they are never polite to their passengers, for they had worked in the only taxi company in their own area and they had not "served" their passengers.

Ayumi, an ordinary. . . it might not be true now. . . schoolboy, had never taken a taxi alone. So she was completely surprised.

"Ah, well. . ."

The bride was confused.

She did not know what she should do.

The taxi I believed in and took says "I do not know how to get there." What should I do?

"Excuse me. . . but can I ask the way to get there?"

He said this and picked up a cell phone.

"Ah, yeah."

She hated her girlish voice, but anyway she replied.

The cab driver seemed to be in his early twenties. He was taking an atlas from the seat to his left 1 and making a call.

A, anything is okay, so hurry up!

The bride was praying.

Chapter 142--2003.1.21

Anything is okay, so leave here as soon as possible!

She was going to say so, but she stopped herself from saying the words.

For cars swarmed around here and they did not move at all.

. . . In the center of Tokyo. . . no, it is Kanagawa prefecture. . . the road from the large station, where express trains stop, has a taxi stand, but each side can have only a single row of cars pass. Why?

Cab cars have, of course, the same build as sedans. This means everyone around the cab car can look into it!

This made Ayumi, clad in a pure white wedding dress, look around.

I have never been "seated while wearing a dress".

The smooth clothes inside the skirt are so slippery that I cannot find where to sit on. Furthermore, both of my legs are completely covered by rough stockings and the difference between their feelings makes me. . .

"Ah, hello, it's me. . ."

The whole car was filled with the sweet perfumes of Ayumi's make-up.

It was never a bad smell. It might be, however, the smell of fake ladies.

And, although Ayumi did not know at all till she had worn one, dresses have particular smells of their own. It is hard to describe, but it is like those of krab2. . . Though it is not proper, it smells like "used rubber".

Ayumi was dealing with the huge bulk of her skirt, which seemed to fill up the whole of the rear seat.

Being in this figure, Ayumi often "looked down at herself".

She saw the bottom of her upper body, which was sprouted alone from the bulk of her skirt.

Her waist was tightened like a hourglass. . .

Ayumi was excited.

Though it was hers, she was excited at the body she was seeing.

Chapter 143--2003.1.22

H, how beautiful I am. . .

Ayumi felt this subconsciously.

N, no, but there is no way! Though my body is that of a female, my mind is still that of a male!

My waist is tightened like a hourglass and the drape of the dress is excellent. And the needlepoints covering the front of my upper dress are. . . And also I can see a line between my breasts from the open upper chest of mine. . .

Suddenly the car began to move.

Yes, . . . Finally. . .

She noticed the driver had finished his phone call and began to drive the car.

The traffic signals seemed to turn green.

Anyway, I managed to muddle though the marriage scene in a train car.

Just for a second, she looked back to the station.

There were many people staring at the taxicab to see "a bride taking a taxi".

Her earrings rang as she turned her head and looked at the other side of the road.

The same thing is happening there as well.

Students returning home, middle aged women wandering the downtown, et cetera are all looking back. . . Well, is not she wearing the uniform of my high school?

Finally the taxicab bagan to move a bit faster.

The onlookers were able to follow the car when the taxicab was moving slower than a tortoise, but now they were getting left behind, for there were too many people on the sidewalk.

The car had gone between fourteen and eighteen meters.

Ayumi could, of course, look around through the windows of the taxicab.

It meant everyone could see the bride in the car.

In most cases, almost nobody look into a cab, but it is true only when passengers in the cab wear ordinary clothings. No outfits attract more attention than a pure white wedding dress.

For Ayumi, it was just like running as a sandwich-person.

She once tried to drop to the seat but she immediately stopped doing so, for she felt it was not effective.

She felt the inquisitive eyes of onlookers like being tortured with needles and prayed that the taxicab would get her home as soon as possible.

Chapter 144--2003.1.23

Finally the taxicab went onto a wider road that had two lanes of cars going the same way.

Now, she felt like she was "just another face in the crowd".

She looked downward without a reason. Her veil also swung down.

It seems like it is a hallucination.

Is that bulk of pure white cloth real?

This is a particular smell of taxicabs. My smooth gloves are slipping on the driver's white seat cover.

. . . The taxi is stopping for a while, is not it?

She lifted her head up.

The taxi was on a road that had only a single lane of cars going each way.

Well, I live in a typical residential area, so my home town is small and quiet like it is here. Anyway, I am lucky not to live in a huge block of flats. . . I cannot think of running up stairs or going up to the fifth floor in an elevator with this dress.

T, traffic signals. . .

Yes, the taxi was stopping at traffic signals.

Cars are usually comfortable, but they often have to stop. She felt that fact with her entire body.

Ayumi looked at the taximeter.

The sticker on the window next to the meter said "Fare: 660 yen or more", but the meter said the fare was more than 1,500 yen.

Ayumi looked around and found that she was in a quiet town. The taxi went through places she did not know, so she was not certain of the distance from here to her home, but she guessed the taxi was going near to her home town.

"To [FNORD], right?"

The driver asked her to confirm the location.

Chapter 145--2003.1.24

"Ah, yes. That is right."

"Where in [FNORD]?"

This question was only natural. Nobody could find her home with no information except the vague name of a location.

"When we come near the place, then I will tell you."

I really do not like this soprano voice of mine, but I cannot do any thing about it. I am a female now. It would be stranger if this body had a bass voice.

The taxicab was going through cozy town.

There were many one-story houses all over.

The taxicab itself might be odd in this town, to say nothing of the wedding dress.

The taxicab turned at a corner of a convenience store.

That convenience store has no parking lots. It also faces to the road directly. It should be the store for people around here.

Ah, I would like to go to the convenience store. . .

Ayumi said her desire as an ordinary schoolboy without intention.

She could not, however, go there with her wedding dress. First, her bag was gone.

My bag and my wallet. . . Where did my money go. . . ?

I could not find my bag in the train car, though I lifted up my skirt and felt under my skirt for my bag. . . But I might have left my bag in the train car. . .

The taxicab was going through a woody area.

No, a road next to woods.

There are many small parks and tree-lined roads in Kanagawa prefecture.

The taxicab was shaded, and climbed up a road that had about a 30 degree slope.

Ayumi wondered "Where is the taxi going to?"

However, the taxicab was surely going to Ayumi's house.

Chapter 146--2003.1.25

I think the station is three or four stations away.

The station I got off at was at the distance from my house.

I had never seen such a place, though it is not so far from my house.

Ayumi was staring at the street outside the taxicab.

She looked as if she might be encouraged by the fact that there were few people in the street.

The sun began to grow low in the sky. It was just a few minutes past three o'clock. Ayumi was getting to go home early because it was during an exams week.

"Where are you. . . from?"

Finally, the driver cannot help but ask the bride.

"Well. . ."

It is natural that he hesitates in asking me.

A woman in a wedding dress had run to a taxi stand next to a railway station. He would guess it is not normal.

>Ordinary women clad in their wedding dresses do not ride trains, nor run through towns.

He might think that I had run away form a chapel or. . . The driver would be very curious about me, but it would be very hard for him to ask me anything personal.

"Well, you need not answer me."

He withdrew his question. He is a good man.

Finally, Ayumi saw a place she had seen before.

The bride poked her head.

"Please turn at the next corner to the left."

She, with a voice she did not often hear, directed the driver to turn left.

She was reminded that her finger pointing at the corner was completely covered by a pure white glove.

She saw the plate that had the name and photograph of the driver. It said "Ken Yamaguchi".

"Okay, turn left."

Magazines that were stacked in the seat opposite the driver's collapsed silently.

Ayumi saw a magazine which is covered by a black and realistic cap gun. She guessed it was the driver's hobby.

I see. . . We are "a man and a woman" now. . .

At last Ayumi understood that fact. Until that time, she thought of herself and the driver as two men.

What does he think about me, his ridiculous passenger. . . ? It is difficult to say.

Ayumi saw her house.

Chapter 147--2003.1.26

Ah, finally I am going to be free from this annoying embarrassment. . .

Too long. It took too long to get here. . .

Now that I am here, I will remember this fondly in the. . . Nah!

"Ah, here."

Now the taxi was going to arrive at the front of the house.

Now new problems will arise.

In just a few moments, Ayumi had considered many plans and predictions with her brain, covered by her veil.

Though it will be a very hard task, I have to grab all of my skirt and go into my house.

There might be someone here but. . . anyway, I have to hide out in Satori's room.

When she gets home, everything will get better. If she does not. . . I must manage to memorize the number of Satori's cell phone. . . There is a table, which has all the cell phone numbers of my family, on the wall in my house. However, I do not remember all the numbers for they were put in my cell phone. . . And then I must manage to call Satori on the phone and tell her what was happening.

My mother, who saw me transformed and dressed into a girl with a sailor blouse, had taken me to be Satori. She will never believe that a bride dragging her train is her son.

. . . Well, the fact, that a bride suddenly ran into a house, will not change, though.

Finally, the taxicab had stopped.

Ayumi, clad in a wedding dress, picked up the 10,000 yen bill, stained a little with her lipstick.

The meter indicated the fare was about 2,500 yen.

Anyway, Ayumi had already decided what she should do.

Chapter 148--2003.1.27

If I decide to keep the change, I cannot take it to my house at all. For I cannot even hold the whole of my skirt.

I think clothing that restricts my movements is silly, but this dress is not designed for comfortable movement in daily life. It is an outfit that is worn just once, in a special ceremony.

It has no pockets, so, though I might carry bills, it is next to impossible to hold coins.

I had better give up on keeping all of the change.

"2,460 yen, please."

"Then, here you are."

The bride passed a 10,000 yen bill.

Though the fact itself, a wedding dress in a taxicab, is an unusual thing, a bride passing a 10,000 yen bill would be a more unlikely case.

The door had opened.

First, I have to move my torso outside.

She, with her weight on the layers of her skirt, shifted the center of her mass to the door heavily.

I can shift myself, but not my skirt I am wearing, very well. It might be possible for me to turn completely around without moving the hem of my skirt at all. It seems to be such a bulky thing.

"Then. . ."

The driver said so and began calculating the change.

"Ah, no thanks."

"What!?"

The driver is surprised. It is quite natural. The change is about three times as much as the fee.

"Anyway, no thanks."

Now everyone can see me from the windows around me.

She misstepped on the bulk of the train and, for many moments, was on the verge of stepping out of her high-heeled wedding shoe.

She struggled for and managed a stable step on the ground outside the taxicab.

At the same moment, the bulk of the skirt began to move.

Chapter 149--2003.1.28

I am having trouble putting both feet, no, both shoes on the ground, damn this wedding dress. . .

Anyway, she managed to put on her feet on the ground, rather than the hem of her dress. And then, she did her best to pull out the bulk of her skirts, just like a trolling fisherman.

For her hand grabbing at her skirt was completely covered by slippery and smooth gloves, so it looked just like "trying to grab an eel". She struggled and managed to pull out her whole skirt from the taxicab.

Though her skirt itself was a large bulk, "the tail" or the train was not a part of her skirt but a separate garment. Ayumi once regarded it as a long, long hem of her skirt but that was not true.

Ayumi learned a lot of trivia that never seemed to be useful in Ayumi's life.

I have once heard that "Juu-Ni-Hitoe"3 weighs about fifteen kilograms, but this wedding dress seems to weigh more than several kilograms.

Though a fairly firm pannier was on her waist, and was extending her skirt with a smooth curve, the weight of her whole skirt pulled on her skirt and the curve around her waist was straightened.

At least, it was obvious that the dress was as heavy as several or more gakurans, which Ayumi had been wearing just before the transformation began.

"Is it okay?"

The young driver asked.

"All right, all right."

Next, I have to pull up this skirt.

She rolled up her train, just a bit more skillfully than she did before, shifted it to in front of her from the attachment point on her back waist and lifted it up with her skirt.

The layers of the skirts were reinforced by the pannier and were much like a single skirt. She lifted the skirt from two points, which lifted all of the skirts.

Chapter 150--2003.1.29

"Thank you so much!"

Ayumi heard the voice she was still not used to.

"Are you okay?"

Though the driver would ignore the situation in most cases, this time he would be worrying about the girl, who had run away from a station in her wedding dress, getting out of the cab hurriedly.

Or he could think that "Am I helping another man's bride to run away?". . . or he might have thought so.

She turned back with her arms full of her dress.

Some of the hem of my skirt is still on the ground, but I cannot lift up any more.

Apparently, I am lucky for the entrance is not locked.

"Thank you so much!"

She said briefly and ran out immediately.

One of the reasons Ayumi declined the change was to express her gratitude.

She, clad in a wedding dress, ran to the Jojima house, rarely seen in Japan today.

She heard that the door of the taxicab had closed. She did not look back at the taxicab.

I feel it is difficult to walk with the high-heeled shoes, which compelled me to use the "Neko Ashi Dachi"4 style.

There is the entrance next to the top of the short stairs.

At this moment, I have to free my right hand and turn the knob.

This means there is no way to defend myself if someone finds me.

I am a bride, clad in pure white dress, and am invading on (I am not certain whether the word is proper.) a residential house. I will make the news of this neighborhood for sure.

Fortunately, I do not feel like anyone is in the neighborhood. Or they might be ignoring me.

She released the right side of her skirt she was holding.

She regretted it in that moment. I am holding the train up with my right arm.

The train fell off with a slurping-like sound.

Well, let it be!

I have a bouquet in my left hand.

She had some trouble, for the glove was very slippery, but she managed to open the door.

1:In Japan, cars run the left side of a road. So, most drivers sit on the right side.↑

2:Krab--Popular food in Japan; Pasted fish (mainly cods) that resembles crab meat in shape (and taste).↑

3:Juu-Ni-Hitoe--An extremely elegant and highly complex kimono that was only worn by court-ladies in Japan.↑

4:Neko Ashi Dachi--Special stance (or maneuvers) used in Goju-Ryu (a martial arts style).↑