Harajuku Havoc

Taking in a huge breath of foreign air, Lucas exhaled a sigh of joy and relief, eager to have finally touched down in his destination of Tokyo, Japan. After four grueling years of enduring an undergraduate degree, Lucas wanted nothing more than to escape to a fantasy world. And what better place to splurge on than Japan, the home of his favorite anime and video games? For two whole weeks, he was ecstatic to dive headfirst into a life of no parents, no peers, and no responsibilities.

Lucas unpacked in his hotel room later that night, bringing out a Hawaiian shirt, a pair of large sunglasses, denim shorts, and an old-fashioned camera that could be hung around his neck. All of this combined made him look like a splitting image of a stereotypical tourist the next day as he roamed the streets and subways. He snapped photos of the scenery like anyone else would have, but he also took the lens to a few of the natives – most notably, schoolgirls.

There was something overwhelmingly captivating about them that Lucas couldn’t explain. Their uniforms, their knee-high socks that teased their feminine curves, their long, straight, jet black hair…everything about the aesthetic drove Lucas mad with a self-contained passion. The lust drove him to bars throughout the following nights, hoping that his light skin and blue eyes would help him stand out to the ladies amongst the crowd. Unfortunately for him, he was too skinny – even by Japanese standards – and uninteresting to evoke any emotions from anyone who could speak English.

A few awkward moments were nothing compared to the happiness Lucas had felt throughout his first week of vacation. He bought loads of merchandise, frequented themed cafés, played at arcades, and experienced sights that he couldn’t have imagined. The one week remaining notification on his phone regarding his flight back to the USA was the only thing that could sober his mood. Lucas decided to mix things up that early morning, as he was slowly but surely falling into a routine of doing the same activities. Even though he felt like he would’ve much rather played at the arcade for the 6^th day in a row, Lucas forced himself to sign up for an official tour of the city.

Lucas was treated to sights of the famous Imperial Palace, the Sensō-ji Temple, and multiple museums and shopping districts. Although the sights were marvelous and intriguing, the pace at which the day moved left a lot of the usual stimulation on the table. Many Japanese schoolgirls were present throughout the tours, and Lucas didn’t waste any time in admiring their beauty during and in-between his events. To his surprise and pleasure, one of them approached him by lightly grabbing his wrist when his camera was out. She looked up at him with an innocent smile and asked “Photo?” Then, she handed him her phone.

The girl quickly rushed back to a group of other schoolgirls – her friends – and lined up with them in front a temple. As Lucas rose the girl’s phone for the picture, they smiled and posed. Right after snapping the first photo, Lucas quickly switched to his camera for a picture of his own, and the girls didn’t seem to mind. With a cute, heavily accented “thank you,” the girl that had stopped him reclaimed her phone and left the area with her friends. He could smell lotion on his hand from holding her phone. It was almost time for Lucas to see another part of the city as well, but against his better judgment, he decided to follow the group of schoolgirls, rationalizing his fetish by thinking that delving into the daily life of a student in Japan would be its own informational tour in some way.

Only God knows what Lucas was expecting, but nothing extraordinary happened throughout the rest of the morning. The girls walked, ate at a café, and studied in a library. The girls noticed him watching, and often giggled to themselves, wondering what to do about the pesky foreigner. They joked that he must’ve fallen in love at first sight with the girl who’d approached him. Heading into the afternoon, right as Lucas was about to give up and begin to figure out where the heck he was, one of the girls rushed to get his attention. She was stunningly beautiful, and spoke better English than her friends. “Hi,” she panted, extending her hand, “You would like to join us, sir?”

Lucas blinked in amazement, more than willing to go anywhere with this girl. After leading him back to her familiar group of friends, she introduced herself as Airi, then introduced all of her friends after Lucas had told them him name. “Lu-cas,” Airi sounded out the syllables, smiling with how easily it came to her tongue. Most of the girls were curious to know what Lucas had been up to during his time in Japan, which he explained in great and exciting detail – although, a majority of the girls didn’t understand all of his stories, and the ones that did found it amusing that activities they considered mundane evoked this much excitement. Lucas then explained that he might’ve gotten lost in the area, although he failed to mention the reason he strayed from his course, naturally. Airi proposed an idea: “We can show you Japan, instead…!”

Lucas was red as a brick as he filed into a train, boxed in by a posse of schoolgirls. The train was packed so tightly that he could feel their arms and skirts press against him at times. The girls took him to visit Harajuku to see and wish at the Meiji Shrine while pointing out various streets and shops along the way. Airi stood by his side the most since the language barrier was at its lowest with her – Lucas became infatuated that much quicker, as she also happened to be the prettiest girl among the rest in his eyes. Lucas also found himself being the cameraman for many more photos of the girls who couldn’t get enough of their fun, silly poses.

The group reached the shrine while the afternoon was still young. Although the shrine’s wishing well was usually busy, the girls were shocked to see that there were no lines to wait on, and eagerly rushed in with Lucas. “Touch the water and make a wish,” Airi told Lucas, as he was pushed to be the first one. Lucas nodded, filled with euphoria. He glided his hand through the water, closed his eyes, and silently wished for Airi to fall in love with him, for him to see Airi again, for Airi to move to the USA… it was hard to think and focus on one straight wish, but Airi was the main thing on his mind. The girls then took turns making their wishes. Some of them, including Airi, wished good health for Lucas and fulfillment for themselves in doing a good deed of escorting a foreigner. Others focused solely on their own families and studies, while a select few remained wary of Lucas and wished for him to either go away or for protection from him.

As everyone reconvened, the water in the well began to ripple. A light but sudden tremor rumbled beneath their feet for a split second. Lucas, Airi, and a few of the other girls fell to either one or both of their knees from an unexpected exhaustion, panting and holding their heads down. A knot twisted within Lucas’s stomach – something had begun to feel very wrong. The wishes of the group – as varied and inconsistent as they were – had combined into one large force that had changed the cognitions of several select individuals, and perhaps more…

“Kohaku?” Airi huffed, gripping Lucas’s shoulder as she tried to stand. “Kohaku, are you okay?” she asked, this time in full Japanese. The phrase was simple enough for Lucas to understand, so he replied “Y-Yeah,” as he stood, still out of breath. Airi sighed in relief, then suddenly unleashed a torrent of Japanese words to him that he couldn’t hope to pick up on. “Uhm,” he chuckled nervously, “English please?” Airi gave him an odd look, assuming that he must’ve really wanted to practice it, so she obliged and resumed speaking English to him. The girls chattered endlessly about what that tremor was while Lucas and Airi exchanged their own thoughts, then decided to get lunch with the group. Throughout the time it took to walk and find another café to dine at, Lucas’s body hair thinned, most of it reaching a point of nonexistence. A lot of his masculine edges, most notably around his jaw, also rounded out to give him an androgynous flair. He looked down at his sneakers a lot, wondering why he was taller than Airi, although he didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on it throughout the hustle and bustle of Harajuku’s streets.

A comforting warmth bubbled within Lucas as he sat down and ordered his food. He eagerly ordered a lobster roll and a crepe out of what felt like habit, despite actively staying away from seafood all his life. He smiled at the girls chatting in Japanese, wondering why he didn’t have the confidence to join the conversation since they were all sitting together. “Are you well?” Airi asked. “You do not look good.” Lucas replied, “Y-Yeah, I think I’m just a little dizzy. Food will help, thank you Airi.” Lucas sat up as he ate, unable to notice his skinny stomach shrinking and flattening even further as he ate. His waist slowly and satisfyingly pinched inward with the release of tension, and his clothes shrunk alongside his subtly diminishing frame.

Lucas’s short hair began to grow and lighten as he started his dessert. He naturally brushed lengthening bangs to the side as if he was used to having them in the first place. Although he was in love with the taste of his crepe, he began to feel even dizzier as he continued eating. He took deep breaths and held his hand still while his hands and fingers seamlessly slimmed to match his small, smoothened arms and wrists. Although he witnessed some of his morphing, he was only concerned about his shakiness and hoped that the other girls didn’t think he was acting weird.

But this isn’t right, either…? Lucas thought to himself, recalling the memories he had of himself coming off the plane for a vacation last week. Why do I feel like I know these girls? I didn’t take any drugs, did I? He licked some cream off of his fingers, thinking hard on whether it made sense for them to look and feel the way they did. It definitely felt right, but some unknown sense of dread was haunting him. Speaking to Airi, he said, “I-I’m going to restroom,” with the slightest trail of an accent. He entered the girls’ single occupancy room and locked the door, then looked at himself in the mirror.

Lucas didn’t know what to think or feel right away. His bright blue eyes had become brown, and his eyelids Epicanthic – although his skin was still pale white. His hair, which had fallen just beyond his shoulders, as well as his rounded face, both emphasized a lot of femininity. However, his brow, nose, and dry lips were still recognizable. His body had lost most of its height and girth, but he was only just beginning to develop some curves.

Why do I look so weird and different? Lucas thought with emotions welling up. This can’t be how Airi sees me, can it? She would’ve said something… Just as he was about to leave the restroom and rejoin his friends, a paralyzing tingle shot down his spine. Intense warmth filled his lower body as his blocky hips began to broaden. The cracks and gurgles were intimidating at first, but it felt so good – Lucas found himself leaning against the wall with heavy breaths, simply reveling in the moment. What little remained of his manhood fully withdrew as his young thighs grew shapely in contrast to his calves, which slimmed and shortened even further. It didn’t just feel good, to Lucas it felt normal.

Cramps plagued Lucas’s lower body as womanhood fully developed in between his legs. His hardened facial features transitioned, becoming younger and rounder, as he awkwardly squirmed against the wall with elongating nails clacking against the ceramic tiles. The warmth within him turned into a searing hotness as his skin glowed with a faint yellow hue, which soon became dominant over his Caucasian heritage. The slight humps of budded nipples could be seen under his shirt, which clung to him tight with a cold sweat. What really felt odd, however, was the fabric of Lucas’s pants against his thighs. The thick denim shorts morphed into thin cotton, and parts of the pant legs melded together to create an outline of a skirt. As Lucas huffed steadily, comforted by the very slightly increasing weight of his chest, the fabric folded and molded into a complete schoolgirl skirt, hiking all the way up to reveal most of her Asian legs. With the pockets being eliminated, Lucas’s phone, wallet, and keys dropped to the floor, and they began to subtly change as well.

Tension slowly evaporated from Lucas’s body. He was able to pull himself away from the wall as his nose flattened into his face, and as the small amount of fat in his body finished redistributing. His white socks had turned dark and were crawling up his calves, ending just below his knees, as he made his way to the mirror again. He watched his T-shirt rip in half down the center before quickly reforming itself into a dark blue blazer. A tiny bra and another undershirt materialized around his body at the same time, clinging tight. Lucas looked back, spotting a pink-cased phone and a small purse on the ground. Yes, he thought, those are mine. Things are making sense again.

Lucas picked up her belongings and went back to the mirror, noticing that she now had a light layer of lipstick on. Her cheeks were also flushed with foundation and powder. I don’t remember putting makeup on, she thought, but then again, why wouldn’t I? Lucas hadn’t even realized that she was thinking to herself in fluent Japanese. With a hazy head, she patted her skirt down and made her way back to her friends, hoping that she hadn’t kept them waiting too long.

“There you are, Kohaku,” Airi smiled. Lucas rejoined the table and chattered in Japanese with her friends throughout the rest of lunch, then returned with Airi to her house, realizing that she was Airi’s adopted sister. Lucas spoke with her foster parents, played and studied with Airi, and ate dinner with her family as routinely as any other day. She was finally able to gather her thoughts alone when she was in the shower. She looked down at her soapy, golden body. Everything looked and felt normal, why was she doubting herself? Something within her felt alien and it was impossible to determine what it was.

Later that night, Lucas talked to Airi about her doubts: “Airi, is there something wrong with me? I’ve been feeling so off today. Not sick, just, like, I don’t know…maybe I’m forgetting something? Maybe I’m not realizing something?” Airi shook her head. “You know, I had a similar feeling earlier. It all started when we found a foreign stranger. I think his name was Lu-cas? Oh, but you didn’t meet him since you came later.” Lucas smiled, intrigued by the story. Airi continued: “A lot of us showed him around since he looked lost like a sad little puppy. After we made wishes at the Harajuku shrine, he decided to go off on his own, and that’s where you found us!” “But why did I come to Harajuku?” Lucas wondered. Airi looked at her funny, as if she were asking a serious question. Airi replied, “Because I texted you to come, silly. Are you sure you’re going to be OK?”

Lucas looked at her phone, sure enough finding a text from Airi telling her to come to Harajuku to meet up with her friends. Once she saw the message, she vaguely began to remember receiving it. Gaps in her memory quickly filled themselves in. Lucas remembered what she’d eaten for breakfast that morning, the slumber party she had the weekend before, and the creepy freshman who tried hitting on her while she made her way to the trains. With her doubt clearing, her heavily weakened masculine instincts were fully erased. Everything about her, from her dainty body to her fashionable closet to her tendency to rely on the tall and beautiful Airi for serious matters, truly felt right.

Lucas, now fully convinced she had grown up as Kohaku, flawlessly lived her Japanese schoolgirl life. She fit in with her peers, excelled at her studies, and never missed a chance to join Airi and her friends for food and activities. She often daydreamed about visiting other continents like the Americas and Europe, and found herself competing with Airi on crushes for anime boys. During an outing several months later, Airi spotted another lost foreigner and brought him back to the group of girls. Without thinking about it, Kohaku recommended that they visit the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. Airi smiled. “Great idea!”