Your girlfriend shifts behind you again, gently putting her hands on your shoulders. You feel so short...even though she's only three inches taller, you are still aware of how much you've shrunk since being a guy.
"We'd better come up with a new name for you," she says. "Yuki sounds nice, doesn't it?"
You sigh. You realize it's a good idea to use a different name, something that's not only gender-appropriate but culturally appropriate too. But the idea of shrugging off your real name, even for a little while, is a tough pill to swallow.
"Yuki works fine, I guess," you say. "Nobody would believe us if we used my real name."
"Glad you approve," she says. "Let's do some shopping for a little while. It'll be fun to show a foreign exchange student around."
"A foreign exchange student?" you respond. "Is that like my cover story?"
"Sure! It'll be play acting. We'll have a good time, you'll see." She briskly pats your shoulders, making you wince and wobble slightly.
"But first things first...we have got to do something about your accent."
"My accent? I don't have an accent." You gasp when you hear a slight Japanese inflection in your voice. You look at your girlfriend and see that her pupils are glowing again. "Eh! My voice changed!"
"Yeah, that's a pretty thick accent all right," your girlfriend says teasingly.
"Waat? It's not tick, just risten..." you stop abruptly, surprised and scared by the strange words coming from your throat. "Megan, caam ahn! Changie mai voice back!"
"I know you're upset that you never learned proper English, Yuki," your girlfriend says in a mockingly reassuring way. "But hopefully you'll pick up some grammar while you're here."
"Grammahr? Mai grammahr fine! It mai accent that probrem!" As you protest, your speech gets worse and worse, bending to the will of your girlfriend.
"Oh that is simply dreadful! I can barely understand you. But don't worry about it. I know you're really an intelligent girl. I'll be right here to help you deal with the speech barrier.
"Yuki good speek! Megan-sama fix Yuki vaoice prease!" You concentrate really hard on what you're saying, but no matter what, you realize that you've forgotten how to speak proper English. The funny thing is, you still don't know much Japanese, either. Only a few honorifics and phrases. You're locked in a sort of stereotypical speech mode halfway between languages. The funny thing is, you think in another time and place you'd find the accent adorable. But right now, to you, this isn't much fun at all.
"You wanted this, Yuki, remember that," Megan winks at you in the mirror's reflection. "Okay, let's pay for this new uniform and get back to shopping. You're gonna love Christmastime here, Yuki!"
"Megan-sama!" You follow Megan out of the dressing room, not thinking to retrieve what's left of your original clothing from the floor. You're much too concerned about your new role as your former girlfriend's foreign female friend.