<s>Ekaterina Dmitrievna Kalinina</s> Viktor Dmitrievich Kalinina (with Wong Ha Jung and <s>Itou Hayato</s> Itou Jun)
Someday, Ekaterina thought, somebody's going to push Itou too far. The scary part was that they wouldn't even know that they were doing it until the second that it happened. The Russian herself found it hard to tell the difference between one of his rants and one of his, um. Corrective interjections. Yeah. That seemed like a decent way of putting it.
Just listening to how he was talking to Wong right then, Ekaterina guessed that this was probably a rant. Actually, she was pretty certain that it was. He was going on about the ridiculous misconceptions that his students had about the Japanese language, why they were ridiculous, and how even the Celestial Empire -wait, what?- would have educated children to know better. It was pretty coldly executed, almost in a monotone, but he also wasn't letting Wong get in a single word. Usually, the doctor found, Itou only said the bare minimum and left it at that.
She did feel pretty sorry for Wong, who was just smiling and nodding at everything the other teacher was saying, looking kind of stressed out by the entire thing. But she was also really glad that she didn't know any Japanese herself because this was not a lecture that she wanted aimed at her. If this had been any other person, Ekaterina might have told them that they were distressing people. But this was Itou, and if he wasn't going to glare at her in disapproval, then he was going to bitch. It might not have seemed like it, but Itou was really good at bitching.
So Ekaterina was kind of glad when something strange happened to break up the completely one sided debate. She was less thrilled about the sudden rain shower. Even with all of her layers of clothing, the water still managed to seep through to her skin. And then, as she heard the cries of surprise and horror echoing throughout the courtyard, she became even less thrilled to realize that she felt different.
There was a vaguely familiar squeak from behind her, and the doctor really did not want turn and see what had happened to Wong. Because it was one thing to see a bunch of unfamiliar students stumbling around in confusion -she was sure, absolutely certain, that some of those girls had been boys and some of those boys had been girls just moments before- but it was a whole different issue to see somebody that she knew in that state. Looking around her, however, Ekaterina was suddenly immensely grateful for the fact that she was required by necessity to wear such conservative clothing.
Reluctantly, at the sound of strangely accented Japanese, the doctor turned around to look at her colleagues. She did a double take and then, before she could help herself, burst out laughing. Disturbingly, the voice that came out of her throat was unexpectedly deep and distinctly masculine. Damn it. It still did not detract from the hilarity of the situation in any way.
"Kalinina, kindly cease." Even as a woman, Itou still had that icy sounding voice, only in a higher pitch. He, um. She hadn't changed too much. Her hair was longer and at chest length now but that was the most visible change. There was still that severe, pale look, it was just that some of the sharpness had softened out. There were some obvious feminine curves present now, too, but they weren't too distinct. Being one of the few people who had access to Itou's medical records, the doctor knew full well that she just wasn't healthy enough to support much mass. Itou as a man wasn't much more than a stick either. Still, with that uniform on, it looked like it would be pretty uncomfortable in the chest area. Since Itou seemed determine just to cross her arms at her stomach and glare at the sky, though, the doctor didn't see any reason to say anything about it.
Wong, though. Looking at Wong, the Russian felt a little jealous before immediately feeling bad for it. While Itou just looked slightly murderous, Wong had this expression of mixed embarrassment, terror, and confusion. The counselor had kind of folded in on herself, hugging her body tightly and half hiding her face behind her hair. It was kind of hard to get a good look at her but from what the doctor could see... Damn it.
Curiously, the doctor took out a compact mirror and peered into it. The person staring back looked a lot like Ekaterina but with a broader face and skin that seemed slightly stretched. The hair was still the same and as messy as ever but there was just something indescribable that had changed. It was more boyish, basically. As for the other things, well. They were pretty clearly felt -the absence of breasts, the presence of more bulk and other things. The doctor didn't really feel a need to do a more thorough check when it was already pretty obvious what had happened.
Damn it, Viktor thought for the third time that day. He offered the compact to Itou, who took it and grimaced at what she saw. Really, the doctor should have been more surprised to see the teacher pull a folding knife out of her boot but it just seemed so... So much like something that Itou would do, actually. As the woman began chopping off her hair, Viktor turned back to Wong.
"Are you all right?" he asked her, blinking at how unfamiliar his voice was now. Unless somebody came up with a cure for this sometime soon, he would just have to get used to it.
Wong looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. "Um, um. S-sorry, I think?" Her voice had gone pretty high and sounded very girly. "I'm just not -I mean, this. Ah-" She was bright pink in the face, too, and noticeably trembling.
"I think most of us look pretty silly right now," Viktor told her, trying to be reassuring. "It's no reason to be embarrassed. Some student was probably pulling a prank. It probably isn't permanent." Well, he hoped not, anyways. Personally, he didn't have any problem with being a man. Yet. But if this was permanent, there were going to be plenty of people who were going to be developing some serious issues. Like Wong, maybe. Oh dear. Now that would be a disaster, seeing as Wong was one of the most active counselors at the Academy, to the point where Viktor doubted that the others even existed, actually.
Wong gave a small nod, glassy eyed. "Y-yeah..." She sniffed and Viktor looked at her in alarm, really hoping that she wasn't going to cry. He never had any idea how to deal with people who did.
So Viktor just awkwardly patted the counselor on the shoulder, saying, "You'll be fine," before taking her by the upper arms and forcing her to stop hunching over herself. Just as the Russian had thought, Wong made for a pretty woman, with waist length hair and a noticeable figure. In fact, Wong was probably at least three times prettier than Ekaterina had ever been, a fact that Viktor found... kind of sad but understandable. The Chinese woman was still hugging herself, arms crossed in front of her now decently sized chest.
There was no way that Wong wasn't feeling even a little short of breath so Viktor pulled her arms apart, ignoring her squeak of protest. "You're wearing a jacket so nobody will notice all that much," he explained as he undid the top buttons on her shirt. He wasn't really thinking too much about what it might have looked like to people around them. He was just doing it because Wong looked uncomfortable it seemed like it would be faster if Viktor just did it himself. His gloves were still secure on his hands, so there was little chance of some horrible disease getting out of his control.
"Kalinina," Itou said, sounding uncharacteristically exasperated and causing Viktor to look at her. She had finished cropping her hair to shoulder length and the knife was now nowhere to be seen. "Do you even know what you're doing right now?"
Viktor thought for a moment, hands still on Wong's clothes. "Yes," he said blankly, indicating that no, he had no idea at all.
And he didn't get a chance to think much more about it either, because at that moment, he heard a loud, female voice calling everybody together. As Viktor was distracted by that -isn't that Lelei? And Jacob?- Wong shuffled away from him, going right back to hugging herself again.
Itou glared at the doctor, who looked back at her a little cluelessly. "I'm leaving," she announced.
"I think we should go over there," the counselor spoke up, very timidly, waving at the crowd that was gathering. She cowered as Itou turned the glare onto her.
"I'm leaving," the Japanese woman said again, in a tone that brokered no argument.
Viktor just shrugged to himself as Itou withdrew from the scene. Personally, he wanted to know what was happening. "Are you coming?" he asked Wong.
She looked at the people amassing around them and ducked her head in embarrassment. "Yes."