Since their mom had left with the car, they had to take public transportation to the shopping center. Hanna stepped onto the very crowded bus. The alien disguised as her brother followed closely behind her.

She struggled past a few people until they reached an empty spot where they could comfortably stand.

Then the bus started moving. They reached another stop, and some people left, but even more, got on. Their nice spot became very crowded, and Hanna had to lean on Kyle to not touch other people.

Then they kept going.

That was when Hanna noticed the woman wearing a short pleated skirt nearby. The middle-aged businessman behind her was obviously rubbing his lower half all over her clothed backside. And the woman in the skirt, instead of saying something, slapping the man, or moving away disgustedly, began rubbing her ass all over his lower half.

Hanna sighed deeply. This was her first time seeing something like this since coming to this world, so she’d thought that perhaps public transportation was safe. She was wrong. Very wrong.

She saw a flash of middle-aged man dick before it disappeared under the lady’s skirts. The woman’s panties fell to her thighs. A low moan traveled through the enclosed space but it was easily hidden because of all the road noise.

She turned around to face Kyle and stood on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, “There is something unusual going on in this bus. Can you see it?”

Kyle’s gaze became focused as he seemed to scan the bus.

She was also curious about how much people actually saw in this world. We’re most people really as oblivious as she assumed, or were they just ignoring something very obvious to her.

When his eyes reached the couple, they seemed to gloss over them entirely. Soon he seemed to finish looking around.

She whispered, “Did you find it?”

“Okay, I give up. What’s strange here?”

“Over to our right. The older man and the young woman in the skirt. They’re currently fucking.”

His eyes grew wide, and he jerked his gaze to see them. She could tell as soon as he figured it out because his face turned bright red and he pulled her close. Her lips curved into a smirk and she almost laughed.

She’d been dealing with seeing random public sex for waaaay too long. Apparently, she really was the only one who noticed it.

The bus pulled to a stop at the shopping center and the two pushed through the crowd to reach the door and leave.

As soon as they were somewhat alone Kyle finally spoke up. ”Have you ever... wanted to try something like that?”

She was a little confused. Why was an alien asking her something like that? But since he wasn’t interested in humans sexually (she assumed), this was a chance to tease him!

”Nope. Getting caught would terrify me. But...” she pulled him to a stop then leaned in and whispered in his ear, ” if you were the one doing it with your... Well, then I’d change my mind. Too bad you’re not into humans...”

She laughed and started striding off towards a store she wanted to visit.

***

He couldn’t believe she’d just said that to him. He also realized that they had something of a misunderstanding between them. But he let that go. Since their previous incident would not happen a second time, having her think he wasn’t attracted to her due to their difference in species was fine.

And it wasn’t entirely inaccurate. His senses were partially shifted, and he had Kyle’s memories, feelings, and instincts downloaded into his brain. He didn’t know for certain that he wouldn’t be attracted to her with those things, but it was a very large possibility.

But since he was playing the part of her blood-related brother, the incident—that had only just happened—wouldn’t happen again.

Kyle, red-faced, quickly caught up to her. “So do you run into things like that often?”

“At least once a day.”

“And you just... Ignore it? You don’t speak up or try to stop it?!”

She raised a brow at him and picked up a purple basket at the entrance to the store they just entered. “Usually I’m in a crowded place where no one else notices. Frankly, until just now, I wasn’t sure if people were just oblivious or if they knew but were pretending.” She laughed depreciatively. “So, if they knew but we’re pretending, I’d be the asshole pointing out something everyone knew about and was ignoring. Or I’d be the one pointing out something that the oblivious parties wouldn’t want to see and the people involved wouldn’t want others to see. Basically, it’s been a lose-lose situation since I—Ah, never mind.”

Wait! What was she going to say?

Kyle reached out to her but froze as he saw where they were. In a large everything market store called Tar-Wall. On an isle that had pads and lubricant and condoms. As if it were the easiest thing in the world, she grabbed a box of condoms and a small bottle of lubricant and threw it into the purple basket. Then she kept going.

“Um... Hanna. What do you need those for?”

“Well, up until now, I believed I was just some random side character.”

“Side Character?”

”—in life. That I was inconsequential. But, apparently, sex could happen any time, any place. And I’m not going to risk getting pregnant when I have my whole life ahead of me!”

Then it hit him—she was preparing for the possibility of having sex with someone other than himself.

He really did not like that thought.

Not that they’d gone all the way...

“I’ll also need to call my doctor and schedule an IUD.” She laughed happily. “Having socialized health insurance is the best! Did you know that over in UUUSA country, they still have privatized insurance? So low-income earners there are all terrified of getting sick or getting into an accident?”

“I was aware. I have Kyle’s memories.”

“Oh, right.”

“Hanna, do you really need these? And such a large box?”

She turned to him, eyes like daggers, and poked him in the chest. “Better. Safe. Than. Pregnant.” She sighed. “Even if I never use a single one. Just knowing that I have them is a relief.”

“Then what about that?” He pointed to the box of lubricant.

“A girl of my species has needs, Kyle.” She grinned. “If you’re curious. I’ll tell you about it later.”

He realized that they were in the men’s clothing section. She grabbed a black XXL men’s sweatshirt and tossed it into the basket.

Getting even more irritated, Kyle asked, “Who is that for?”

“You. So I can steal it from you later.” She laughed at him with her eyes. “Actually, it’s just for me. It’s going to get colder soon and I want something big and warm to sleep in. I figured that I’d get it now while I was out.”

He thought about her current sleeping attire that barely stayed on her. A large form-hiding sweatshirt wasn’t a bad idea if he wanted to stay sane. Since he was acting as her—

“Brother?”

“Yes?”

She leaned in and whispered, “When will the real Kyle come back?”