Your empty stomach

In that moment, you blinked, looking down at Toshiko and the clothes and food... and stepped aside. "Oh my goodness, thanks so much for bringing this, Toshiko, I didn't realize how hungry I'd been until just now!" You could smell the aroma of the food so sharply... cafeteria burgers never seemed so mouth-watering before!

"Oh, uh..." Toshiko nodded, bowing a little as she entered the room to set everything hastily down on the bed. "I just wanted to be sure you were okay. I'll get out of your way, I don't want to be a bother." Toshiko kept her head down and started to walk out of the room, like she was still fearful of Hotaru in that moment, that Hotaru might rise up.

"Hey, wait," you said softly, reaching out to Toshiko's wrist. "Please stay. I could use some company, I promise it's just me."

Toshiko sighed a little, and turned to look at you. "I'm sorry. **** of habit. Whenever I go into Hotaru's office to bring her something, I'm to leave as fast as possible so her work isn't interrupted for long."

You shook your head, feeling strands of your dark brown hair swishing about. "Well, that's not me. I don't know why anyone would want to push someone as sweet as you away." Toshiko gulped, looking at you for a moment, her face a little red. She eventually wriggled out of your grasp, before she took a seat on a nearby chair.

As you took the food, Toshiko watched with intense interest. You popped open the cafeteria box, and immediately reached for one of the french fries, biting down. Toshiko seemed in awe of this seemingly insignificant behavior, and you glanced her way questioningly. "Oh," Toshiko started, realizing her own behavior seemed a bit odd, "it's just that I've never seen Hotaru eat cafeteria food, I brought it as kind of a... a test, I guess. I knew you liked this stuff, she thinks it will destroy her body's figure if she doesn't control her meals down to the last calorie."

You took a deep breath, sighing in joy as you ate more fries, reveling in the salty taste, before hungrily taking a bite of the burger--getting a bit of ketchup and mustard on your chin and hospital gown as a result. "Yeah, well, if Hotaru really treats her body like that all to look good, her body doesn't seem to like it much. It's like she's denied all these urges and stuff, and now it craves just feeling good for once! I'm not going to follow a diet in any body, doesn't matter what she thinks."

Toshiko giggled a little at that, and took a napkin to wipe your chin. "You're almost unrecognizable as her... I mean that her body seems so much more relaxed, calm. The way your eyes look at me aren't like when Hotaru does, and with the hair down, and... well, the way you're eating now... it's nothing like how she would behave. Plus, your English being so good, you sound nothing like her either."

You frowned a little, setting down the box of food to the side. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I didn't sign up for this, though, so I'm not going to try very hard to pretend to be Hotaru if anyone asks. I'm going to live how I want, and so far Hotaru's mind hasn't made so much as a peep to try to stop me from doing anything. Like, eating these fries, nothing! I'd never even know she was in my head with me had I not heard the plan."

With a nod, Toshiko reached for the pile of clothes, taking off the top layer--pristine skirt and blouse--to reveal the t-shirt and jeans underneath. "That's what I suspected after this morning, so even though I brought you a choice of clothes, I figured maybe you might find these more suitable? Another thing Hotaru would never be done is being caught dead in something casual, but I went down to the store a block away to pick these out after peeking at Hotaru's sizes, and... I hope you like them." Toshiko nervously glanced at the clothes and back to you, like she was worried you were going to reject her initiative or scold her for her preferences. They weren't far off from Toshiko's own style, as when you unfurled the shirt, you saw the logo for the movie Dangers of the Deep II, and you couldn't help but notice Toshiko's own shirt under her partly unzipped hoodie was part of the original Dangers of the Deep.

You smiled at the shirt, and glanced at Toshiko with a nod. "They're perfect, just what I would've gone for," you said, much to Toshiko's **** relief! Hearing praise come out of your mouth, out of Hotaru's body, was an unusual event and Toshiko wanted to savor it. "Though, what do I do about the bra and everything?"

Toshiko blushed, and poked through the pile of clothes to find some simple black panties and bra. "I can... uh, help, if you want. With the bra. All the other stuff probably just will feel different but it's just a t-shirt." You nodded, and took the panties, sliding them up your legs swiftly under the gown with a little adjustment. Once you felt the fabric tightly against your hips, wriggling your butt a little to get used to the form-fitting fabric against you, you undid the knot at the back of your hospital gown again, tossing it away.

You turned to see Toshiko's face beet red. "W-wow, those are... your body... it's so..." you didn't know if Toshiko was simply shocked by your nudity or if she actually was attracted to Hotaru, but you were so used to just taking off a shirt that it barely registered to you that you needed to cover up your upper half. Maybe Hotaru would've been more modest, but she apparently wasn't available at the moment!

You put your hands on your hips. "Okay, now, the bra."

Toshiko nodded, and hurriedly stepped to you, holding the fabric. But, for the moment, she wanted to use her hands to give a quick demonstration. "Okay, so we're going to put this on, and the fabric is going to lift, and compress somewhat, so you're going to have some serious cleavage with that chest..." With slightly nervous hands, Toshiko cupped your breasts. You inhaled sharply, her hands were cold! She realized quickly that your nipples were hardening at her touch, but she kept going, just with a little shiver of her own. Her hands hefted your chest, pushing it inward. "It'll be like this. So with the fabric in place, we will replicate this, and then we'll adjust the straps. It should be firm, but not so that you cannot breathe."

You nodded, blinking a bit as Toshiko helped your arms through the straps, and then she had you hold the cups to your chest as she fastened the hooks in place. Carefully, she adjusted the shoulder straps until she said you could let go. Curiously, you shimmied your shoulders back and forth, in front of Toshiko, before smiling up at her. "Hey, not bad, I'm not flopping all over like I was earlier! It's a bit tight, but it's not terrible."

A blushing Toshiko nodded, silently handing you the rest of the clothes. She seemed to avert her eyes, but then peek back from time to time, as you continued to dress, slipping on socks and then jeans next. "I wish I knew what I was going to do about this translation thing though," you said, as you wriggled your legs and rear into some tight jeans, inadvertently shaking your rear at Toshiko. "I don't think I could just magically make myself understand Japanese even if I've got a whole brain of it in me. Like, it's there, but it's... not."

"That's where I've been asked to help," Toshiko said, sitting down again as you slipped into the shirt next, tugging it into place. "There is a theory that some immersion into things Hotaru is familiar with might start that process. I've been asked to try to guide you through a few experiences and things that might start the process but not overwhelm your mind so she fully takes control. If we do things slowly, and spark a memory at a time, it might create a bridge between you and her memories and knowledge. That's, uh, also why I brought you these things--they would not spark memories in her, and I wanted to see her for a day without her being so difficult."

You glanced over at Toshiko, holding your arms out when the shirt's on. "Well, this definitely is her not being difficult, I think. How do I look?" Toshiko smiled, and reached up to help straighten your hair out a little, brushing some of it behind an ear.

"I'd hoped at one point Hotaru and I could've been friends. I dreamed about something like this, because there are not many women like us working here for Shaw Sciences." Toshiko glanced away, nervous once more. "I, uh, learned quickly that she and I are not compatible. But she still looks lovely, even in her business attire. But like this... I think I like her better. Even if it is for a short while, I am thankful I get to see this result."

Listening to Toshiko talk made it seem like she had been longing for something from Hotaru that she would've never been able to find. Through all the impossibilities, though, a chance has emerged for her--and, frankly, for you to know Toshiko better beyond just her taste in monster movies. You looked at her carefully, watching as she occasionally glanced at you, unbelieving that the body you were currently in would dress the way you'd agreed, and then she would blush and glance away. But, as cute as it was, you needed to know what was to come next.

"So, it's nearing the end of the day, and I don't really know what I'm gonna be doing all on my own when I leave here..." you said, a bit nervous by the idea of leaving this little room where people would see you, people who knew both you and Hotaru, and the world at large.

"I asked your supervisor about it, and he said there are three options," Toshiko said as she gathered up the extra bundle of clothes. "You can go back to your own apartment like normal, and probably there will be no immersion, so you might end up delaying making those important bonds in your mind. You could go back to Hotaru's apartment, as all the things in there might start sparking memories and creating pathways in the brain, but that runs a big risk of her mind taking over if we do that too early. And then, you can come back with me to my apartment, where I will try a few ways to induce memories without pushing too hard."

Toshiko's voice quivered a little as she described the last option. You knew which one she hoped you chose. But you now had three options: go home and just be yourself in a new body for a while to acclimate in your own way, go to Hotaru's place in the event that you actually did want her mind to take over to end this whole silly experiment, or trust Toshiko to help guide you through some things.