Back Flow 4 of 4

Tipping Point

Groggily, Jacob wandered into the kitchen, looking for a class of water. The apartment had electric heat, which meant that even in Vancouver’s rainy winter, the air got way too dry. So he always woke up parched.

He was staring into the fridge, debating between water and milk, when his chest got a bit itchy. So he scratched it.

Only to realise that it did not feel like it normally did.

Staring down, he realised his hand was... was currently touching a boob. A boob that was attached to his chest. It was... he was...

He couldn’t help but stare. Have those... it felt so strange. So... hypnotic.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Larka wandering into the kitchen.

“I just woke up. I didn’t realise--I’m not doing anything weird,” he stammered. “I’m going to wake Izumi up right now.”

Yet she didn’t respond when he pushed.

“She’s probably tired after being in charge all day yesterday. Her first time running a real body that long,” Larka replied.

“That... she... how long do you think she’ll sleep?” Jacob asked, trying not to think about his form right now.

It was... it was... not something a guy was supposed to think about, let alone have. It just wasn’t proper.

“I don’t know. Sometimes folks are out for days. Especially early on,” Larka explained.

“Days,” he said, after a moment to process that.

He’d be left like this for days?

Wait, no. Right. He could go back to the clinic. So... it would just be hours. A couple hours. Really, not all that bad.

He’d just get dressed and... and that would mean being naked. Which was--he was wearing a nightgown right now.

Where had Izumi gotten a nightgown from? It definitely wasn’t Larka’s. Those wouldn’t have fit, even if Larka wore them. The size difference was simply so...

“How much smaller am I now?” Jacob asked, staring up at Larka.

“I think you dropped about three centimetres?” Larka replied. “Do you want to see what you look like now?”

A well of emotions crashed in Jacob’s gut.

-

Larka wondered at just what was going on in Jacob’s head. His eyes seemed to be swinging about with a frantic energy she rarely saw in him.

Which was making her want to protect him. It was confusing for him to look so much like a woman right now. Especially a short adorable Human woman. They were just so cute. So soft... especially in Jacob’s case.

-

“I really... I... I guess I’ll look. To at least make sure I didn’t give Izumi too bad of a body,” Jacob said, after a moment of thought.

His body was so bad at being a guy’s. He was sure it couldn’t be very good at being a woman’s either. Still, he could hope it was at least passable?

So he followed Larka towards the bathroom. Feeling a strange... lightness to his body? Despite certain parts definitely feeling heavier.

Butterflies began to fill his stomach as he got closer to the mirror.

Until he saw the reflection. The girl there. How was... how was she so cute? Sure, she was pudgy, in a way that wasn’t exactly what people could consider ‘perfectly curvy’, but, still... so much better than he’d ever thought he’d looked as a guy. Especially with that face. Jacob could only stare.

Stare and feel an ever rising level of guilt at the joy it brought. A guy wasn’t supposed to feel joy at looking at a girl in the mirror. Surely it was a sign that something was wrong...

-

Larka watched Jacob’s eyes, and suddenly felt things sliding in place.

It wasn’t just sharing a head that Earthlings were a disaster about. They were weirdly archaic about something as basic as gender.

“You’re very cute, you know,” she said.

The whistling noise that escaped Jacob confirmed her suspicions.

She decided to lean in just a little, trying a little trick she’d learned with one of her previous relationships here on Earth.

“I will say, if you want to, I think you’d make a very good girl,” Larka said.

Another squeak from Jacob.

“That--I... that...”

And then Jacob fainted. It was a good thing Larka was ready, and caught her poor fainted roommate.

-

Jacob felt awash in a sea of chaos. Somewhere that didn’t seem real.

Floating there, Jacob noticed there was someone else there in the sea of chaos.

A woman. She looked young. An adult, but a bit younger than Jacob. She was also... green?

The woman opened her eyes, looking at Jacob. Her eyes were a sort of burgundy that felt familiar...

“Izumi?” Jacob asked, feeling like that fit.

Especially since she looked rather like the face Jacob had just seen in the mirror. The face that had left such strange feelings.

She nodded. “Yep... and... um... Jacob?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Huh... I thought you were a boy?” she asked.

“I... am?” Jacob replied.

Izumi gave Jacob a once over. One that felt deeply piercing. Jacob’s eyes followed hers down to a body that was... quite female looking.

“Is it... isn’t it like that because that’s how my body is now?” Jacob asked.

“Then why would I be green?” Izumi replied.

“Uh... well, since you’re not from my body? I... honestly, I’m surprised you don’t look like you do in the manga. Also, where are we, anyway?”

“I look like this because I like your body... and, well, being human. As a girl. There’s still some little things that feel wrong about it, which is why I’m green and I’ve got a shell in here, but--did you not pay attention when Gzanzik explained how things worked?” Izumi asked.

Jacob took a moment to try to remember, before having to offer a weak, “No. I... uh... I was kind of trying to get used to being in the back seat and how funky that felt, so I didn’t really pay attention to what he said.”

“Mhm, well, we’re in... I think it was called ‘thought space’? A place where we can talk face to face. Sort of like VR? But using just our brain,” Izumi explained. “I don’t really understand how it all works. I’ve told you basically everything they told me.”

Jacob nodded, processing the words, but not quite wanting to process what they meant. At least in regards to the body Jacob currently had in here. What it meant about long ignored desires.

“I shouldn’t... a guy shouldn’t like to have a female body,” Jacob mumbled.

“Maybe, but it’s normal for a girl to?” Izumi replied.

“But I’m--” Jacob started.

Before remembering all that news coverage about aliens lately. About how they chose their own genders as their coming of age ceremonies. People on the news had made a fuss about it, the more reactionary elements saying it was proof aliens were immoral and not to be trusted.

But, also, stories Larka told about her childhood. About the surprise of which of her childhood friends ended up men or women. And how Larka had spent time as a kid thinking she might be a boy... lesbianism wasn’t frowned upon by her people in the slightest, but it was still generally a bit less common than heterosexuality. So, being attracted to only girls as she was, she’d been unsure for a little while.

And, well... if Larka could think she was a boy for a bit and then realise she was a woman... maybe Jacob could do the same?

Maybe it wasn’t so wrong?

Jacob could be a... she could be a girl.

“If you’ve figured things out, I’m going back to sleep,” Izumi said with a yawn.

“Hey! This is an important moment in my life!” she protested.

“You’ll probably still be a girl when I wake up,” Izumi mumbled, before closing her eyes and fading out of this ‘thought space’.

Jacob let out a sigh, before trying to figure out how to get out of this place herself.

Something that was apparently initiated by the simple process of wanting, as she then found her eyes opening to look up at Larka’s concerned face. Well, Larka’s face and also the ceiling, but that definitely grabbed her attention less.

“I’m a girl,” she said, before realising that was an odd opener.

While she tried to work out what to say to make that less awkward, Larka nodded.

“Thought so, with how your eyes sparkled,” Larka said.

“Oh. Right,” she mumbled, blushing.

“Now I just need to ask... do you like taller girls?” Larka asked.

She had to blink at that. “Pardon?”

“You’re very cute,” Larka replied.

She felt her cheeks go incandescent with that, they were so hot. She’d forgotten just how shamelessly straightforward Larka got sometimes. Along with any of the other Kobaroians she’d met.

Which.

Wait.

Was she asking her out?

“You’re nice, thoughtful, and now you’re adorable,” Larka said. “So, yes. I’m asking you out.”

“Oh. I said that out loud,” Jacob mumbled.

“You did,” Larka replied.

She blushed more, which was surprising. She hadn’t thought that was physically possible.

“So... is that a yes?” Larka asked.

“A--uh... that... you... you’re sure?” she squeaked.

“Yes,” Larka replied.

She found herself too flustered to speak. She did manage to nod though. Quite a bit, finding she couldn’t stop.

Until Larka leaned in and kissed her.

A kiss that made her very glad she’d realised she was a girl. Those teeth of hers... and her alien tongue soon making its way into her mouth. She might not have had much familiarity with this level of kissing, but she was sure a human tongue wouldn’t feel like that.

When they finally broke to breath, Jacob was smiling from ear to ear.

At least until something struck her.

“I definitely need a new name,” she mumbled to herself.

“You do?” Larka asked.

“Yes. ‘Jacob’ isn’t exactly a unisex name,” she replied.

“You could always be a trendsetter?” Larka offered.

She looked up at her new girlfriend, judgment in her eyes. Apparently there were still things about Earth she needed to learn.

-

The next morning it was Izumi’s turn to wake up. In Larka’s bed. In a hug from Larka’s large beefy arms.

There were definitely much worse places one could wake up. After everything Larka had said the day before last, while watching other anime, Izumi felt rather sure she was... interested in girls. Whether she was bi or a lesbian she didn’t know... and she did still find people in the real world a bit too detailed. It felt strange.

“Mhm... how are you this morning?” Larka mumbled.

“Izumi.”

Larka sat up. “Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Izumi said softly. “Actually... I think I liked it...”

“Oh. That makes life easier,” Larka said, smiling and laying back down. “I’m happy to hug both you and J.”

-

-

The small traditional Japanese home sat in front of them in the forested valley. There was snow on the ground here, even if there wasn’t in Vancouver. In the reality outside.

It made Ai Zhang shiver a little. She’d never been great at the whole winter thing. She was a Lower Mainland girl through and through. Or the islands, she could handle those. But up the mountains? Or the rest of the country? She’d always frozen.

At least the valley had colour, now. Feeding the computer an OVA had fixed that little issue. Even if you could barely tell, with it being winter.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” she asked, turning to Izumi.

It was so strange to see her there, beside her.

Also, seeing her green again, even though her and Ai were otherwise basically identical. That was also a little strange. Not that she had anything against green... her girlfriend was also somewhat green, after all. It was just strange to see someone so identical in that colour.

Though, also, it was weird because they all looked animated right now.

“It’s been a couple months. I miss everyone,” Izumi replied.

“We could have let you be more of a kappa in there,” Larka said, following behind them.

“I know,” Izumi said, while walking forward and knocking on the door.

A moment later the door slid open, a university aged young man behind it.

“Hello?” he asked, his voice nervous as his eyes drifted over to Larka. “I... there’s enough girls here, you don’t have to--”

“I’m just here with her,” Larka said, gesturing to Izumi.

“Hello, Ichiro,” Izumi said.

“Uhh... hi?” Ichiro replied. “Oh, wait... you’re green too... why is it never normal girls...”

“We’re not here like that,” Izumi said, her voice flat. “We’re just visiting. We were hoping to--”

Ichiro was knocked forward by a busty vampire pushing past him.

“Ha! Loser!” the countess shouted, before slamming into Larka.

A moment later a scantily clad Oni woman charged out, shouting about perversions and waving a giant metal club. Only to stumble to a stop as she spotted the assembled crew.

“Oh, we’ve got company. Hello,” the oni girl said.

“H-hello,” Ai said, cheeks going bright red.

Dang. Her crush on Chikara was even worse now that she was seeing her at actual size.

“I see you have a type, dear,” Larka said, leaning in with a smile.

“Uh... w-well...” Ai mumbled. “That was why I picked this series.”

“Wh--who’s all this, then?” a soft voice asked, a nervous thin young girl poking her head out from the door.

Larka and Ai both felt a wave of nervousness wash over them. They’d both forgotten to remove the programmed Izumi. How was their Izumi, Izumi Zhang, going to respond to--

She stepped forward, pulling the small kappa girl into a hug.

“You poor little thing,” the more real Izumi said.