Stella was quickly made aware that she had ordered too much food. She ordered an amount that would have been normal in her old body, but this new one appeared to have much smaller limits. Not wanting to waste the food, she decided to take her time with it as she tried to figure out how she would approach the rest of the shopping trip.

While she had acted confident in front of Alex, she was actually fairly nervous. Normal clothes were one thing, but she’d need to buy underwear as well. Doing so alone just felt… wrong.

While Stella pondered this question, her attention was drawn to an argument happening a few tables down. A woman about Stella’s age was seated with a fresh plate of yakisoba, while a man a few years older was standing next to the table shouting at her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You really think what you did is okay?” The man shouted.

“I broke up with you already. What I do isn’t your problem.”

“Like hell I believe that. Just last week you were all over me, and now you’re already with some other guy? What the hell’s your problem.”

“Get over yourself. You weren’t that interesting, and I wasn’t feeling it, so I left and found someone else. That’s all there is to it.”

“What did you say you bitch?”

The woman looked away and started scooping her noodles onto her fork. “Can you leave? I’m trying to eat.”

“You fucking look at me when I’m talking to you.” The man slammed tray of food off the table and grabbed the woman’s wrist, pulling her up off her seat. “Think you can just play me? I’ll show you what happens when you fuck with me.”

At that, Stella stood up without thinking. This man was big, but she had dealt with bigger back home. She couldn’t stand seeing behavior like this.

As she made her way towards the two however, the woman twisted the man’s arm around, swinging herself behind him to get her free hand on a pressure point on the man’s neck, pushing him down to his knees.

Stella stopped in shock at the change in events.

The woman scowled. “Jeez, you got rocks for brains or something? Most guys stalk me until I’m alone, but you just pulled this shit in public.”

“Y-You bi-… AAARGH!” The woman increased her pressure on the man’s neck, cutting him off.

“You done yet? Either you walk away, or you go hang out with security.” The woman released her grip and stepped away. The man stood up, muttered something under his breath, and walked away.

The woman sighed and turned around. Her eyes met Stella’s, who was standing only a few feet away in awe. “Oh uh… sorry about that. Wait… do I know you?”

“Huh!? What?” Stella was snapped back from her awestruck state as the woman addressed her.

“That ribbon… oh shit, you’re the girl from last night aren’t you.”

Stella took a moment to think. “Last night… HOLD ON!”

Then all at once it clicked. This woman, with pitch black hair tied in two low, messy twintails that sat over her shoulders, was the same demonic looking woman that attacked Stella the night before.

Stella took a step back and assumed a defensive stance. “Y-You!”

“Relax, I’m not going to try anything. Got no orders today. Besides, I’m in no mood after that.” The woman gave Stella a tired grin. “Wait, were you getting up to come save me?”

“W-Well, yes. I couldn’t just let that man hurt someone like that. A true top star must dazzle for everyone, after all.”

The woman chuckled. “And what about now? If you knew it was me, would you have still stepped in.”

Stella thought for a moment before answering. “I would. Who you are doesn’t change the situation. His behavior was deplorable.”

Still wearing her somewhat ominous grin, the woman took a step forward. “Aww, well thanks for the thought. My name’s Ichika by the way.”

The woman, or Ichika, certainly didn’t seem hostile at the moment, but Stella’s guard remained up. “What did that man want with you?”

“Oh that? It’s got nothing to do with last night if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s just an ex of mine that got a little possessive. Not the first time its happened.”

“That’s… very unfortunate to hear. I’m sorry you have to deal with that.” Stella still didn’t want to trust this woman, but she couldn’t ignore that what she described was an injustice. Stella had dealt a lot with similarly aggressive guys in the past; it’s something that she had a particularly difficult time overlooking.

Ichika looked over to her yakisoba that had now splattered across the floor and sighed. “Man, why’d he have to ruin my meal?”

Stella’s eyes glanced back to her own burger that she was struggling to finish. Her mind weighed the danger of this woman with the injustice she felt over what she had just witnessed. In the end, her sense of justice won.

“Actually… I ordered too much food if you want some of mine. I couldn’t exactly help you in that situation, so it’s only fair I help however I can.” Stella gestured back to her table and the half-eaten burger.

Ichika raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? I mean, yeah sure, if you aren’t going to.” She walked over to Stella’s table, took the seat opposite the one Stella had been sitting in, and started happily eating the rest of Stella’s burger.

Stella debating leaving the woman to eat, but her curiosity got the better of her. She sat down opposite Ichika, still trying to assess the woman. “You aren’t going to try anything, are you?”

“Nah.” Ichika didn’t look up from her meal. Her presence was very different from what Stella had seen the previous night. “I’m uh… not that dedicated to the whole power of darkness thing. I’d prefer to do my own thing. Last night was a special exception. Don’t take it personally.”

“I see…” Stella tried to think of something to say. She wasn’t sure how much of what Ichika said could be believed.

“If you’re planning on interrogating me, don’t bother. I don’t know much.”

“O-Oh, no that wasn’t my intention at all! I wouldn’t really know where to begin, I’m still trying to figure out this situation myself. I suppose I was just… curious about you.”

“Curious?” Ichika raised an eyebrow. “Look I just took a deal to get some power in exchange for doing odd jobs every now and then. I try to keep to myself. I’m not that interesting.” Ichika grinned and leaned in close, giving Stella a view down the cleavage of her v neck shirt. “Or what, did you have a crush on me?”

“N-No! I mean, not that you don’t seem nice. Although… you did attack me. Er well-… that is to say that I…”

Ichika chuckled. “Man, you are really fun to tease. Been a while since I’ve met a girl that I could fluster like this.”

“W-Well… I don’t know that I exactly count, per say.”

“Hmm? Being into girls doesn’t mean you aren’t a girl, you know?”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I umm… well, I suppose until yesterday I was male.”

Ichika still didn’t seem to fully understand. “What do you mean ‘until yesterday’? Did you like, have some trans awakening or something?”

“Not really. I just umm… turned into a girl. It happened shortly before you met.”

“Wait, seriously!?” Ichika had seemed fairly apathetic up to this point. However, that reveal clearly shocked her to attention. “You mean you didn’t look like this yesterday?”

Stella shook her head. “I did not. I was very much male. I was much taller, and my hair wasn’t nearly this long.”

“Huh… so that’s what I was picking up…” Ichika muttered to herself,  before looking to Stella with interest in her eyes. “Hey, I don’t think you told me your name yet.”

“Oh, how rude of me! I am going by Stella Stevens now! Please feel free to call me Stella!”

“Stella… so you’re going with a girl’s name already?”

Stella nodded vigorously. “Indeed! I’m determined to make the best of this situation! I figure this is an excellent opportunity to broaden my horizons and experience new things.”

Ichika took a moment to assess what Stella was saying. “Damn, you’re taking this way better than I would.” She swallowed the last bit of her meal. “So, let me guess, you’re here clothes shopping?”

“Why yes! The only clothes I have that fit are the ones I’m currently wearing. I was going to shop with my younger sibling, however they had to leave to cover a shift.”

Ichika sighed and stood up. “Well, I can stick around and help if you want. I owe you one for the meal.”

“Really?” Stella looked Ichika over to see if there was any ill intent. As far she could tell, Ichika’s offer was a genuine one. She did want to believe that Ichika wasn’t lying. “Very well, I would certainly appreciate the help!”

Ichika flashed a big grin. “Cool. You seem like the hopeless type, so I figure you could use my help.”

“I-I wouldn’t say I’m completely hopeless! Just perhaps… a tad out of my element.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s go.” Ichika chuckled at Stella’s flustered response as she started leading the way down the shopping mall. “Do you at least have a style in mind?”

“Not particularly, no. I suppose whatever you think would suit me best.”

Ichika smirked. “If you say so.”