Jun had walked in so many directions at this point, she was all turned around. She walked past a few more aisles, trying to get her bearings, before she remembered the signs hanging from the ceiling. There were many of them, some of which she had to concentrate hard to understand. She shut her heavily made-up eyes and thought of the best English words to look for.
"Entrance... Counter... eeto... Check... Checkout!" She reopened her eyes and looked around, finally spotting an oval-shaped sign with the word "CHECKOUT" and a helpful arrow pointing the way. She smiled, pleased with herself. She was getting better at English.
Or, wait, no... She was getting worse. English used to be her first language. She was just pretending to be--or had become--someone who was taking ESL courses. That was a sobering thought, but all the same, it sent a tingle of thrill from her toes up to her ears.
"Duh, that's what it says," came a new voice to her left. She spun around and felt her black hair brush her cheek. Two younger girls, maybe high-schoolers, were walking past and looking at her with...some expression Jun couldn't put into words, but it wasn't a kind one. "Congratulations, you can read as well as a second-grader."
"She probably has a hard time seeing anything with so much hair in her face. Must be allergic to hair ties."
The two girls giggled to themselves as they continued walking and turned a corner, not giving Jun the satisfaction of saying something mean back. Not that she wanted to. She was a very polite person. And besides, she had already lost track of which aisle they had entered. The hair in her per-- her side vision was too thick to see through, and moving her head so quickly to scan the area just made it cover her eyes more.
She used both hands to part the black curtain formed by her long locks and pulled the strands back behind her ears. Not all of it stayed hooked there, but it was enough. She could see straight ahead without trouble now. If only she was able to wear a hairband without it itching unbearly. She didn't notice she thought a wrong word just then, but what she did notice was that the hair felt heavier when she moved it.
She examined herself. It was a little hard to tell, since her dress was black also, but her hair seemed to spread over it more. It was... dense? Thick, yes, that was it. It was thicker. Why? She thought about it, sifting through her jumbled thoughts and memories. So much had changed. What was it that the girls said that could have caused this? Or had it happened a while before?
She shook her head, getting her mind back on track to leave the store. A few more hairs came loose and brushed her cheek. Continuing onward, she followed the signs. Even less of them made sense, now. She could make out smaller words like "Movie" and "Animal," and she still knew "Checkout," which was all that mattered in the moment. If only her English reading studies had kept pace with her vocal lessons.
Jun walked carefully onward, her posture as dainty as her appearance. In just a few more minutes, she finally came within sight of the front counter. The shopkeeper from earlier was nearby, tending to a rack of headbands with all sorts of things glued onto them. She looked over and spotted Jun.
I've changed so much that she won't recognize me, Jun thought to herself in Japanese. But to the goth's surprise, the woman's face broke into a delighted smile and she skipped--or maybe leaped--up to her. Her head slowly rotated sideways as her green eyes roamed around the pale, darkly clad figure. She was so close that Jun couldn't see anything but the woman's face, framed by her own hair on either side.
"Someone's had a lot of fun," she said. "Though you look more... anim___ than I expected."
"G-Gomen, what was that word?" Jun stammered. Too late, she remembered she should have curtsied.
The red-haired woman blinked, her smile fading for just a second, but it bounced right back, and perhaps was even bigger than before. "Aaah. You're really getting into the role, aren't you?"
"Yes, ma'am, it would seem. I've met a few people...my friends, and other customers. They didn't recognize me, but their words changed me. Even my memories are different, and I'm having trouble telling the correct ones from the fake ones."
The woman's energetic attitude slowly faded as she listened to Jun. "Things can get away from you really quickly when you're wearing a doll dress, especially if the people you hang out with don't know what the dress is capable of. It will all come back when you take off the costume. How are you feeling right now?"
Jun hadn't exactly been afraid, but she did feel relieved hearing the woman's words. And it wasn't just what she was saying. Talking with her was the easiest conversation she'd been able to have in a while. Somehow they both understood each other perfectly. A flash went through her mind, so bright it made her blink. The woman had switched to Japanese, and Jun had answered in her native tongue without even realizing it.
Oh, she had to be polite and answer the question. She considered her experience so far. The jumbled memories of her youth, her parents...language...what kinds of clothes she preferred to wear... She did have trouble expressing her thoughts through words, but everyone had still made an effort to listen to her and try to understand. It wasn't impossible to hold a conversation.
And she had met Kelan thanks to all this. That was really special.
Jun smiled, her narrow eyes almost glistening. "I feel okay, ma'am. I like this... at least, I'm pretty sure I do. But it has been disorienting trying to keep my composure when my memories are changing so much. Could you please tell me my real name? I remember telling you a name when I first came in, but in my head I just see myself curtsying and saying "Jun Sagato.'"
The woman furrowed her brow and shifted her green eyes to one side in careful thought.