A Series of Random 3-Part Koonago Stories

[Flippity-Floosy]

Howdy doodie, and I'm all kinds of looney. It's been a while since I've been on this site. I'm forever busy and forever tired because I'm forever busy. I have a ton of stories (all unfinished) that I need to finish and I think I'm still interested in finishing (especially Topsy Turvy, Small Matters, and rewriting The Pet Transition), but to be honest, long stories are time-consuming and as I stated before I'm busy. Especially since I'm about to a different country and working a new job.

Anyhoo, I've decided to experiment in creating a few weeb-based stories. Well, weeb maybe isn't the right word. If you guys are somehow woefully unaware by now, I'm an anime fan, but I've also had the chance to work in Japan for a few years as a TEFL teacher. Fun job, not a lot of pay, but definitely helped me with cultural immersion and gave me a bit of insight on Japanese culture (I'm no expert, obviously, but I have witnessed some things first hand and experienced some of the stuff myself. Those trains are so unfun during peak hours, I tell ya what). Now moving to Korea to do the same thing. Fun times ahead I hope! But I digress.

For those who don't know, there is a specific SW subsidiary called Koonago, which literally translates to small lady AKA the kink we all have on this site. I just decided to let my mind envision it in an anime/manga style in my head and decide to write it out because why the hell not?

They're mainly going to be short stories, 2 to 3 parts in lengths each. Some of them are explicit and some of them are SFW. Some of them are super duper wholesome, and some of them are not-so-wholesome. Some might be interconnected but most aren't. And I'll write them on a whim.

That being said, I always appreciate views, replies, comments, critiques and constructive criticism! And more than anything, I hope you all enjoy!

[Flippity-Floosy]

Story One: Little OLs make For Great Pets Actually: Part 1

Description: A woman finds her life irrevocably changed when a coworker decides she looks better on his own personal desk. (Caution, Part 2 has some explicit content and part 3 will be definitely NSFW)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“As you may have heard, Ms. Suzuki has been reported as missing as of last week.”

Around the boardroom, the words from their manager came as a shock to nearly everyone at the table. A few of his coworkers had been visibly aghast, some were a bit paler faced despite trying to hold a stoic visage, and others broke out into audible gasps and voiced their own disbelief.

But Hiro had been far from surprised.

If anything, he was surprised it wasn’t brought up sooner.

Her desk had been empty for several days now, and there had neither been any hide or hair of her for over a week now. Still, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable hearing the confirmation come out of his supervisor’s mouth. There had been speculations, of course, but directly hearing it from the manager himself had naturally stirred up conversation in the office.

Suzuki Hana was a strikingly pretty young office lady who had only started working for the company about three months prior. At 23 years old, with long black hair kept in a neat ponytail and a tiny mole by her right eye, she was a natural beauty that caught the eye of many who worked on the same floors as her, both male and female, young and old, as she walked the halls of the ninth and tenth floor of the building and diligently did her work. She was subdued yet cheerful, possessing a smile that would have easily made her the face of an advertisement on a billboard anywhere. Hiro definitely could have seen her as a model or an idol, becoming some sort of household name of some sort for herself. Perhaps she could have even found herself in a higher position at the technological firm they all worked at, given she had graduated from Tokyo University and from the rumors that had gone around, had been plenty active in the clubs she was in. She definitely was not short on any potential.

But ever since Monday of last week, no one had neither seen or heard from her since she had left the building that evening. She had lived with her aging mother and her grandparents in the Ikebukuro ward, often taking the train back before biking the rest of the distance home. It would have only been a few hours at most before someone in her family would notice something was amiss. After all, long hours were not uncommon for many people who worked in the heart of the city, but she would have phoned home or at least came back on the last train left. And her absence was definitely noticed since it was unlikely for someone who had started just working a few months in to become a “no call, no show” so soon.

And now with her whereabouts completely unknown to anybody, the natural balance of their daily work life being offset like an overarching stormcloud coming in without warning. Especially when Hiro’s direct supervisor had called everyone in for a meeting to break the news.

“According to the authorities, she was last seen leaving on last Monday evening around 21:30, and our cameras show her leaving the premises around that time. They believe that it was likely she was kidnapped sometime between leaving here to the time she usually gets home,” Mr. Hideyoshi Genji elaborated gravely. Although his voice and expression was composed and professional, the subtle knitting of his brow and the tight clenching of his fingers of his clasped hands on the table were telltales of his own consternation regarding the situation. “From what her family has disclosed, it is unusual for her to not be home by the next day and she doesn’t appear to have any apparent motive to take her own life. Right now, our company is working with law enforcement in order to help in locating her, so please be aware of that. They may ask you all questions individually and we ask that everyone cooperates honestly to the best of their ability.”

The chatter that commenced after that was filled with various quieted expressions of worry and speculation.

“That poor girl,” murmured Mrs. Takahata, an older lady who had been working there for over twenty years. “She had only been working here for a few months.”

“Do you think she has an ex-boyfriend that could’ve done it?” theorized Mr. Nakamura, a man in his early to mid thirties whose hair was prematurely thinning, “She looks like the type that might have a boyfriend.”

“Are they sure she didn’t take her life?” whispered another woman to her friend, “Just because this isn’t a black company doesn’t mean it isn’t uncommon for karoshi to take place.”

“Maybe she had a stalker? There are terrifying people who walk around in plain sight these days. It’s scary, really,” Hiro heard someone say further down the table.

The chatter continued for a little bit more, but Hiro made a point not to say a word. However, it didn’t take long for Mr. Hideyoshi to coral their attention back once more.

“We know this news may be a cause of concern to you, but we ask that none of you become dispirited. We will do our best in aiding with police in the search for Ms. Suzuki, but we ask that everyone stay focused for the time being. We will do our best to keep everyone alerted of any updates we receive regarding the situation.” He swallowed surreptitiously. “We ask that everyone, especially the women, to remain cautious and vigilant whenever they leave for the day and that to please take routes that are populated and heavily lit for everyone’s safety.”

The meeting, while pertinent, wasn’t long. He announced that for today, he would urge everyone to leave for home no later than 17:30 and that for the duration of the week, the police will come to the area to inspect cameras and continue their investigation. As to be expected, any questions anyone had couldn’t sufficiently be answered, when nobody seemed to have any information.

When they were all dismissed back to their stations, the atmosphere around the office naturally had been stirred. Whispered conversations in the office automatically were about the missing Ms. Suzuki, and while Hiro had done his best to try to ignore the not-quite-baseless rumors spreading about what may have happened to her or who would have been the one to kidnap her, he didn’t entertain any of them, trying to focus on his work so he would have a lighter load the next day.

Of course, Mr. Toya, a former upperclassman of his back in college and now his colleague that sat next to him on his computer, absolutely would see to it that Hiro would not be left out of the conversation. “They’re saying it might be an old lover or a person who works at this company. What do you think, Mr. Ito?”

Hiro had been hyper-focused on his screen, data-punching numbers in the grids, so he hadn’t initially registered that Mr. Toya had been talking to him until he heard his name. Even so, he kept his eyes glued to the screen, pausing to give it some thought before answering, “It’s hard to say. No one had known her for more than a few months, and I think she kept in touch more with the women. Maybe they have an idea.”

“That’s probably true,” Mr. Toya conceded, leaning back in his chair, “Still, a girl like that absolutely has got to have had some kind of boyfriend in the past that was absolutely crazy about her. The hot ones always do.”

On the other side of him, typing away at her own computer, Mr. Toya had missed the quick disapproving look Ms. Uchida had given him. But Hiro had definitely caught it, deciding to reroute the conversation to something that would garner less unwanted judgement. “With it happening after work, it's likely someone who had been keeping track of her for a while. Probably someone who knows where she lives.”

“A stalker then. Scary. These are the types of things that remind you of the world we live in.” Mr. Toya said with a shake of disapproval. “Pretty women sure do have it rough. But still, there are cameras all around the place nowadays. There’s got to be something somewhere.”

“Maybe. I’m sure the police will find something.” Hiro replied, “After all, it might become a high profile case.”

It was relatively quiet for a moment, with chatter kept at a quiet conversational tone, the tapping of keys and the distinguishable sound of the coffee machine sputtering into someone’s cup heard further in the kitchen that was closer to the back of the office. The sun was beginning to finally crest over the mountains as an array of colors adorned the morning sky. From the eighth floor, traffic could easily be observed from above, a single train flying through a raised bridge heading through a curved platform out of sight.

A deceptively normal early summer day in terms of both society’s and nature’s routine mundanity. At least until one were to look at the second to last desk located towards the office’s rear exit.

But, unlike the others, Hiro was mostly unphased whenever he glanced at it.

The day had gone on long at times and short at others, but it continued its inexorable march until the clock had finally shown the long hand on the six and the short hand on the five. With a long stretch, he powered down his computer and prepared to leave for the day. The good news about summer was that the days were long and there was plenty of sunlight for him to meander around and make a few stops. But truth be told, he had been eager to return back to his apartment as soon as possible.

He hid it well, but after wishing his coworkers a good night, he was extremely elated to find himself outside. It was hard not to show his eagerness the moment he had started making his way to the subway to get back home. In a way, the ride back home felt almost as twice as long as it normally did, but he could see his apartment in the distance the moment he was at his station and had a skip to his step once he rounded a street that was less populated than the others.

Before he knew it, he was already in front of the door, a big smile on his face as he fetched his keys out of his pocket and opened his front door.

“I’m back!” he called into his apartment cheerfully, flicking on the lights to his place.

Predictably, there was no response, but that was alright. He hadn’t expected one in the first place.

Perhaps that would change in due time.

His apartment was small but serviceable for someone like him. While relatively spartan outside of a few necessities, there was comfort in its relatively minimalist design. Of course, he had a few decorations in the form of Japanese and Western band posters and a couple of potted plants that he had taken care of in his agriculture club since high school, but for the most part, outside of basic furniture and a television and plug-in rice cooker, it was pretty quaint. Fairly clean and organized for a bachelor too. Hiro did pride himself on being tidy.

Now more than ever.

Slipping out of his shoes at the entrance and closing the door behind him, he padded his way into the main room of his apartment, going to his kitchenette to grab an unopened bag of melon bread.

Snack in hand, he made his way to his bedroom, the light flowing from his curtained windows momentarily blinding him.

His bedroom was just as tidy as the main room of his apartment, but had things to set it apart such as a futon with striped blue and green covers and blankets on a raised platform situated in the right side of his room, a round navy blue rug in the center of his room that covered most of the wooden floor, a small bookcase next to his closet that carried more console games than books, a black desk with a gaming computer and plush chair, and an end table next to his bed.

And, of course, a little simple low coffee table that had a conspicuous metal cage sitting right on it.

Seeing it made his smile broaden as he made a beeline for it, crouching down to look inside.

It may have appeared as a simple metal cage one would have housed a pet rodent such as a hamster or gerbil, but instead of straws, pellets and tubes, it housed something else entirely. Furnished with small, pastel doll furniture from bright pink drawers to pink tables, desks, and cabinets, it was reminiscent of a dollhouse bedroom, patterned with colors he was pretty sure made the “room” appear feminine and perky. It was a bit offset by the appearance of a bottle cap serving as a “water basin” and two medicine cups, one with bits of fruit and cooked meat situated on the table while one was in the corner, used for a far more natural purpose.

But of course, the main centerpiece that had garnered his full attention now was the tiny little 7 centimeter figure dressed in black business attire and sitting in a curled up fetal position next to the doll bed in the corner. One that could have been mistaken for a small doll had it not been for the way “it” seemed to curl in tighter when he neared it.

Well, “it” would have been far too preposterously inhumane to describe something so clearly female and very alive.

And still very afraid.

But of course, Hiro knew it would only be a matter of time for her to get used to him. After all, a week was a very short time in the grand scheme of things.

So he felt no ill will when he peered through the bars of the cage at his new object of interest, feeling a wave of possessiveness and adoration come upon him as his eyes looked tenderly at the little woman inside the cage.

The smile never left his face as he spoke to her in a voice that hopefully wasn’t too loud to her small ears.

“Hello there, Ms. Suzuki.”

—------

“Hello there, Ms. Suzuki,” came the booming voice from above that simultaneously made her bones rattle and skin crawl. It was uncanny how she was getting used to the way his voice seemed to rumble around the place she had been held captive despite the fact that cage walls gave an illusion as appearing “open” in a way most walls wouldn’t while at the same time cementing the fact she was definitely imprisoned against her will.

She hugged herself tighter, keeping her forehead to her knees as she both heard and felt the ground shake and the air get displaced around her as her relatively enormous captor shifted around into a more comfortable seated position from outside the cage she had been held captive in since last week Monday.

She didn’t want to look at him. If she could help it, she would try to give him as little of a reaction as possible.

Even if it was futile in the end.

It all had been a blur.

She had worked late that Monday, she had been only able to leave just as the sun was setting. Dusk had just given way to night when she had been about three blocks away from her family home, the streetlights and lights of other houses illuminating the path. The path was narrow and relatively secluded, nothing out of the ordinary. She knew it like the back of her hand, having walked this path since she had been a child. On occasion, she would see a person riding their bike on their own way home, but around this time of day, she was the main one who traversed it when it got dark like this.

So when a man wearing a face mask, ballcap and full sweats had come around the corner from behind, she hadn’t thought much of it until she felt something bounce off of her back.

She had turned around, wondering if someone had thrown something at her only to see a red gem suspended in mid-air, only giving her all of a second to gasp in utter shock before it emitted a brilliant glow that caused the very light around her to refract.

It had only lasted for a nanosecond but she was left incredibly disoriented and dizzy, everything molding and melding out of shape before her very eyes. The world was spinning, transforming, and oddly enough even rising. Higher and higher, it felt like everything was falling impossibly further, yet higher. The simple gates of a house seemed to become towering impenetrable walls, with the houses becoming imposingly massive structures that blurred in the distance. The quiet street under her feet had widened to that of a city block and extended so far ahead, she could no longer see the end of it. The grass that had poked through the small yards of some homes had now sported blades that were longer than some small trees.

By the time she had been able to orient herself, she hadn’t exactly recognized her surroundings at all. The world had looked so alien yet contrarily familiar at the same time.

Had utter confusion not arrested her disbelief, she would have had the mind to scream and panic, but just as she was about to process what had happened, the ground underneath her feet rumbled and quaked.

She was no stranger to earthquakes, having experienced several in her lifetime, but this felt different and unnatural, as it was followed by a pounding of something incredibly large impacting the ground. When an all-encompassing shadow had blocked out the light from behind, she had turned around and before she had even the notion to scream, something massive wrapped around her entire body, and before she knew it, she had been whisked away without being able to call for help.

That had been eight long days ago.

Eight long, terrifying days since she had been held captive by her coworker, Ito Hiro.

If one were to look at Mr. Ito, one wouldn’t imagine him to be a kidnapper. He wasn't a model or anything, but he was boyishly handsome in a way with short brown wavy hair and had a gentle look to him that made him come off as more of a puppy-dog. He was reasonably fit and probably close to her age, but otherwise came off as an average person that wouldn’t stand out of a crowd. And she hadn’t gotten the chance to get to truly know him as much as she did some of her other coworkers, so he had been mainly off her radar except when they crossed paths in the halls or coffee room, their work stations were quite a bit too far from one another to mingle as much with one another.

So when the giant had removed the hat and mask to reveal himself to her, besides the unrelenting horror that had taken over her once she realized what had truly happened, she was massively bewildered that the coworker she had barely known and had only maintained cordial work relations was even capable of such a thing.

Not that it mattered now.

He was her kidnapper.

Her tormenter.

And with him quite literally looming over her, a giant monster under the guise of man.

One she had yet to find a way to escape from.

She heard him sigh, but it sounded like a huge gust coming from a wind tunnel. “So that’s how it’s going to be, huh? I guess it can’t be helped for now. After all, training takes time.” There was a loud crinkling sound that made her grit her teeth followed by a loud popping sound as he continued to speak, his voice and volume sounding powerful despite how casual his words and speech was. “I’m pretty sure you’ll eventually get used to your new life here soon enough.”

She pressed herself further into a ball. The words that came out of his mouth were disparaging, chipping away at her hope and sanity.

“I can also see that you’ve barely touched your food. That’s not good, Ms. Suzuki.” There was a sternness in his tone, as though he was chiding a young child rather than a grown woman. “I really don’t want to resort to force-feeding you again, but I will make sure you don’t starve on me.”

She didn’t respond, trying to tune out his voice. An impossible task, but if she could somehow get her thoughts together, maybe she could partially get her mind off of her frightening and dismal situation.

The silence was deafening between them, and while she refused to acknowledge him, she could feel his gaze boring into her.

“...Let’s try this again.”

The loud clang that signified he had just opened the latch made her look up with wide eyes.

Her heart dropped into her stomach.

As much as she loathed the surrounding bars of metal that had kept her from escaping, the latch and walls of the cage served as an illusionary barrier between her and him, but all it took was a simple action on his part to effortlessly dispel any pretense of safety in an instant.

But instead of reaching in as he did several times before, he hand retreated back to the table as he pointed to a spot in front of him, before notioning her with a finger. “Come.” He ordered simply. “You have thirty seconds.”

That had been enough to rouse her out of her fetal position and have her up on her feet. Over the weekend, he had told her that they were going to start her “training” and she had learned quickly that, while patient and pretty understanding of her initial fear of him, his expectations he had for her were not to be denied.

That same billboard-sized face that hung over her took on another level of intimidating and terrifying when the smile disappeared and it was evident he was displeased with her uncooperativeness.

As she pulled herself over the front opening of the cage and slowly lowered herself down with a grunt, she hastily made her way to the spot he had pointed to, and that had garnered a hum of delight.

“Now then, from the top,” he said before reiterating, “Hello there, Ms. Suzuki! I’m back!”

She trembled under his expectant gaze as she bowed, forcing her pursed lips to open as she spoke loud enough for him to hear her. “W-Welcome back… Mr. I-Ito…”

Those words felt like poison off her tongue, but it thankfully was all she had to say to keep her captor’s possible temper at bay. After all, according to books and documentaries, it was better to cooperate to the best of your ability with the kidnapper in order to maintain one’s self preservation.

And in this case, that sagely advice was more pertinent than ever before when she was approximately only the size of one of his fingers.

“Good girl!” He praised his massive hand shifting to move towards her. She stiffened fearfully, wary eyes watching as it approached. But instead of grabbing ahold of her, a single finger extended to pet her head, stroking her long hair gently for a moment before retreating. “You’re learning. That deserves a reward, don’t you think?”

With that, he reached towards a plastic green bag that housed a round, patterned sweet within, the sweetness of sugar wafting in the air.

Melon bread. The same kind she would get in any convenience store when she felt like it.

But now, it was huge. Bigger than a car to her now. If it were something that didn’t go bad in a short amount of time, it would have taken her months, maybe even a year to eat it all.

When he pinched a corner of the bread off, a part of her felt stupid in thinking he was actually planning to give her the whole thing as he proffered the broken off piece to her, with her slowly taking it from his log-sized fingers. “Here you go! Enjoy!”

With that, he grabbed the rest of the bread and began to eat the rest of it. She winced and turned away, finding the notion of eating something that large with such ease more than a bit unnerving.

After all, at her size, he could actually swallow her whole.

Trying to not think about it, she looked at the piece of bread in her hands.

To him, it was a tiny piece that was negligibly small, nothing more than a crumb. But to her, it was still larger in proportion to her than a normal size it had appeared to her before. She could see the sugar crystals atop of it which smelled a bit too sweet for her liking and the stretched dough felt sticky in her hands. Despite it being the same thing she had eaten on occasion many times, it looked so strangely unappetizing at this scale.

“Is this really the same thing I used to eat back then?” she asked herself, finding the thought a bit dismal in how so much can change now that she was the size of a figurine.

She grimaced, her fingers gouging into the bread as they balled into fists.

This was obscenely unfair. What had she done to deserve this? She certainly couldn’t recall anything she said or did to him in the scant few times they interacted with one another in the office. Let alone anything that would have earned his… well, it wasn’t exactly ire or anything that seemed like hatred. More like desire if anything, but even this was some form of perverted love and possessiveness that she couldn’t quite comprehend. She knew a part of her would be afraid if she could.

“What’s wrong? Do you not like melon bread?”

She looked up to see Mr. Ito’s eyes looking down at her. She couldn’t help but bristle from the look; even sitting down, he was extremely imposing.

Her lips quivered as she tried to get the words out of her mouth. With those enormous window-sized eyes on her, she found it hard to get her brain and vocal chords to cooperate, so when she could finally speak, her words were stuttery and fearful.

“Mr. Ito…. P-Please…” she pleaded hoarsely, tears gathering in the edges of her eyes. There was no helping the sheer depth of desperation leaking into her voice. “I’m begging you… p-please return me back to normal s-size. I-I promise I won’t g-go to the police. I’ll pr-pretend that nothing happened. S-S-So… So please… please…”

“No,” he told her sharply, his voice lacking the warmth that was there earlier and his expression becoming openly austere.

She froze.

This was far from the first time she had begged him to grow her back to her original size, and it was obvious he had grown tired of it. When he leaned in, she jumped and backed away as he brought himself closer into “her” space, looming more than usual as he blotted out the sunlight, looking even more imposing than he already was.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier to stop asking that?” he hissed, eyes narrowing. “This is where you belong from now on, Ms. Suzuki.” He paused, a quirk of his lip becoming the faintest of smiles, “Actually, no. We can do without the formalities at this point.” he pressed in more, making her drop the piece of bread she was given and fall on her back in surprise before scuttling backwards against the lower portion of the cage as he made an amendment. “This is where you belong from now on, Hana-chan. This is your new home and your new life. And in due time, once you’ve realized your place, it will become pleasant for you.”

She froze up, eyes wide with fear when he got so close to her, she could reach out and touch the bridge of his nose. His eyes were trained on her, watching her closely as she trembled under their harsh gaze. The pounding of her heart was painful in her chest and she felt like he was going to kill her at any moment.

“Apologize,” he commanded in a low voice that shook the air around her. “Apologize for not listening.”

She didn't hesitate, her heart seized by the feeling of impending doom. 

“I’m s-s-s-s-sorry,” she whimpered, gulping the bile that came with becoming nauseous with terror, “I’m s-s-s-sorry f-for not l-l-listening.”

The agitated frown that had been on his face was replaced by an appeased smile, and the relief that overcame her was enough for her legs to give out from underneath her, as she slid down against the cage wall to the ground.

“Good girl, Hana-chan,” he said amiably, “See, you’re not a bad girl. You just need some more training is all.”

She watched trepidatiously as he repositioned himself to sit down again and went back to eating the rest of the melon bread, with him pulling his phone out to check a few messages with his free hand. It took a bit longer for her to remember to breathe again, and once she did, she slowly pushed herself back up to her feet, needing to use the cage’s solid lower wall as leverage.

So far, she had acquiesced whenever his patience had waned with her the very few times she had inadvertently tested them since her capture. He had thankfully never actually been “mad” or “angry” per se, but he was quite intolerant to any displays, perceived or deliberate, of disobedience. When she had refused to eat anything on Wednesday, tossing her food on the floor when she had a meltdown, he had pinned her down on her back and nearly suffocated her under a finger, putting the food against her face when she gasped for air and only relented when she took a bite. Her chest had hurt for two days, and even now, there was a lingering soreness that sometimes made itself known at certain parts of the day.

That had been the roughest he had been with her. She dared not to push his buttons to endure anything worse.

It was quiet, somewhat, outside Mr. Ito finishing up the melon bread and tapping away something at his phone. She was trying to get herself together when Mr. Ito broke the silence.

“Speaking of the police, the boss announced that they’re looking for you now.”

That made her look up, eyes wide, but he wasn’t looking at her at all, his eyes focused on his phone.

“I don’t know how long it usually takes for someone to be reported missing, but a week is a long time, don’t you think?” He went on, tapping away on his phone, possibly playing a game or texting a friend. She had no way of knowing from her vantage point. “Either way, I thought the police would have come in today, but apparently, they’ve been searching the area closer to your home more than anything. I’m pretty sure you’ll be on the news soon.”

Her mouth slightly gaped, feeling heated by mixed emotions.

“You damn monster…” she whispered venomously, making sure she was looking down so he wouldn’t see her face.

There was a contained outrage as he spoke about her as he spoke about her own disappearance as though he wasn’t the culprit and she wasn’t the victim. Patronizing and condescending in a way that made her wish he could choke with the boiling hatred she had for this man. He was taunting her. As though she wasn’t human. And even more infuriating was the helplessness of her situation to defend herself.

What would he do if she cursed him? What would she do if she grabbed one of the doll paraphernalia in her cage and threw it at his face? Of course, whatever she could do to him, would be inconsequential, but the same absolutely could not be said if the reverse were to happen.

But her anger at his statement began to soon ebb away once it began to sink in the significance of what he was saying.

“They’re looking for me.”

A seed of hope began to embed itself into her subconscious.

Of course, people would have noticed. Her mother. Her grandparents. Her other coworkers. They would not just sit idly by and twiddle their thumbs. There was an active search for her going on right now.

“But…” she thought dismally, “Where would they know to look?”

She was only a few centimeters tall, no bigger than a capsule toy in a dispensary. It wouldn’t be like finding a needle in a haystack, but more so finding a needle in the whole countryside. Tokyo was as massive of a city as it got, and with her at an impossible size no human should ever find themselves at, how could they ever find her? Even now, she had a hard time even trying to believe she was actually shrunk to such a tiny size, let alone believe anyone to even conceive the notion of conducting a search for a tiny person.

“It actually made things stressful though, knowing that they could come in at any time and start the interviews up. Still, I guess I was fortunate that wasn’t the case, huh?” he said, pocketing his phone. “In any case, I actually don’t feel all that worried, you know. I mean, I guess I should but… to be honest, I think I’m just relieved that it doesn’t seem like they have a person of interest yet.”

Hot, smoldering fury flared up in her sternum.

More than anything, she wanted him to just drop dead then and there.

“Go to hell, you fucking piece of shit…”

“You’re angry aren’t you?”

She looked back up in surprise, only to see his eyes now back on her.

“U-Um… wh-what…?” She said, with a nervous quiver as the anger immediately gave way to confusion; but the confusion only lasted for all of one measly second before a spike of fear ran through her heart when she realized what he had said.

Had he been able to see her expression?

Was her body language that obvious?

She tried to push the rising panic down when she spoke once more. “N-No… I d-don’t… I m-m-mean… I-I….”

A cruel, knowing smile spread across his face as his eyes narrowed on her. “Don’t try to lie to me. After all, it would only be natural that anyone would feel some sort of way about their own disappearance from the public sphere.” He placed one elbow on the coffee table, making the whole thing jolt under her feet as he propped his head on a fist. Simple motions made awing and terrifying when a man who looked over forty-meters tall to her did it. “But believe it or not, I’m not saying all this to get under your skin, but to make something clear to you.”

He reached for something out of her view with his free hand and held it in front of her. When he held it up for her to inspect, she nearly had a heart attack when she realized what it was.

It was the same red glowing gem from that night. The same one that had floated in the air and presumably made her this size.

Although now it was no longer glowing, looking more like a ruby that had lost its luster. As though whatever had allowed it to glow as it did had been used up, like a battery.

“This was a gift from my father. He’s a retired archaeologist.” He told her, twirling the gem in his hand. “He had found these on one of the islands in the pacific. Apparently, they had thought it was just a normal piece of treasure until it's held under the light of the full moon. Then they discovered that’s how it activates its power: the manipulation of matter,” he threw it up in the air and deftly caught, “in this case, shrinking things.”

He dropped it on the coffee table near her and she scrambled from it, as though it would blast her again and reduce her to the size of a mite. But it simply rattled on the table and lay there ineffectively.

“Unfortunately, there were only a few of these things and there’s a one-time use only. Plus, the few they did find were used on animals and other things when some scientists got ahold of them,” he continued, “Meaning once they’re used up, that’s it. They’re done. They’re no better than fancy decorations at that point. At least they're pretty to look at.”

Hana didn’t say anything, trying to gauge where he was going with this.

“Dad had pocketed a couple of these, but by the time he retired, he only had one left.” His free hand had tapped on the gem, pushing it slightly closer to her. “But despite all the things they experimented with the gems on, they never did get the chance to return to the island and search for more since a huge tsunami had flooded the cave they found them in and probably washed them away at sea. It’s a pity really.”

His expression softened in thought as he pondered quietly for a moment before readdressing her, “Well, I guess that what makes it so precious if you really think about it. Which brings me to my point...”

With that, the free hand went in her direction, and she barely had enough time to let out a startled shriek when two huge finger tips latched onto her torso, the warm skin pressing into her sides uncomfortably before she found herself lifted right into the air. Her heart left her body as she was brought aloft in front of his gigantic face, feeling smaller than ever as his eyes bored into her.

“You see, the thing about those gems was when his scientist colleagues experimented on those animals they realized a bit of a problem. You see, not only did each gem can be used only once, but even if you were to use another gem on an organism that was already under its effects, nothing would happen. I guess they figured that it would make the animal smaller, but nope. They would stay the same size and it would just be a waste of a perfectly good “shrinking gem,” so to speak. And since they only had a certain number of them, they only experimented with them a few times before they didn’t want to lose too many for a single use.” He unpropped his head and lowered her into the palm of his other hand. She stumbled a bit on the warm skin under her feet before she simply collapsed on all fours, heaving now that she was no longer being held in such a tightly pinched grip. But the vulnerability of literally being in the palm of a giant hand brought upon another different sense of danger of its own.

Still, there was something else deeply bothering her as he told her the story of that gem.

There was something foreboding with the explanation of those gems and those animals. Something that made her begin to feel sick to her stomach.

He allowed her to catch her breath before he went on, “Now, my dad had me pretty late in life actually. He was in his forties when my mother gave birth to me, and this event happened about fifty years ago. He’s about 72 years old now. His memory isn’t so good anymore, and it pains me to say it but he might not even recall the whole story he told me about the gem when all those years ago,” he said, and there was a bit of wistful lilt in his tone as he went on but he hid it quickly, “That said, all of his colleagues that had been on that expedition with him are either dead or just as elderly as him. I can’t say, I don’t recall him remaining in contact with him. But now I’m getting off track, aren’t I?”

She latched onto his thumb as he raised his hand a bit higher up, closer to his face, She scrambled back, but the curled wall of fingers were as far as she could get as he watched her, amused at her little attempt to put as much distance between the both of them.

“Now, my little Hana-chan,” she felt her skin crawl when he called her that. “Taking into account that little history lesson I’ve just told you, what do you think that means for you?”

It wasn’t just a simple rhetorical question. And didn’t take long for the implications to settle in as she began to think of it.

That gem… he said that it was one of the last ones his father had uncovered.

And those experiments… according to his second hand account, whatever animals they had used them on hadn’t lost any more size than they should have.

But tellingly, they hadn’t gained any back either.

Her stomach roiled with dread as it began to occur to her what he had been telling her, an unsteady hand lifting to her mouth as the terrible realization fermented in her mind.

Those gems could only be used a single time, and they had been theoretically washed away into a vast sea to never be found again. Those who knew about them were of geriatric age or were no longer of this world to tell her, with the closest possibility to anyone who could actually help being too senile to be capable of recollection of the event that lead to finding such artifacts in the first place.

Which could only mean one thing…

“No…” she breathed as overwhelming despair rushed over her, an onslaught of anxious thoughts meddling her ability to think as she tried to desperately deny the fact he had been alluding to. “Oh, god… No… nonononono…”

His smile had never left his face, but now, there was such a cruel and sinister undertone that it made him look even more monstrous than ever before.

“That’s right…”

Especially now that, if what he was saying was true, then that meant…

“Consider your new size permanent. And since this how you'll be from now on, I think it's time for you to get used to your new reality…”

His voice was insidiously tender as he reached out and gently swept a fingertip under her chin to make sure they were as close to eye-to-eye as he spoke even as his words cut right through her like a guillotine.

“My cute little Hana-chan…”

[ensmallen]

Chills. Glad to see you back, Floosy.

[Flippity-Floosy]

Chills. Glad to see you back, Floosy.

Glad to be back, Smalls! Already working on Part 2 and outlining Part 3.

[court jester]

It's crazy to realize that this is my introduction to you as an author, I must express my utmost condolences. This is excellent!!! I eagerly look forward to more of your writing.

[Flippity-Floosy]

It's crazy to realize that this is my introduction to you as an author, I must express my utmost condolences. This is excellent!!! I eagerly look forward to more of your writing.

Hey, better late than never! I appreciate whenever a new reader takes a look at my stories! Especially this is one of the few times I have a short one. I'm about to post part 2 soon!

[Flippity-Floosy]

(Note: I wound up exceeding the word count so Part 2 is split into 3 posts)


Little OLs Make For Great Pets Actually: Part 2.1

---------------

It was raining outside.



The sound of droplets pelting against the window was a staunch reminder that there was a world beyond those four walls that she had spent now eleven days in this cavernous domain that was Mr. Ito’s bedroom.



A world she might never be able to return to ever again as a normal human.



She stared out the window with a strange sort of emptiness at the knowledge with that fact.



She felt numb.



Her new position as his supposed “pet.”



Memories of her life growing up filtered through her mind to ease her monotony.



It was just… inconceivable.



Hana had been many things growing up.



An exemplary student.



A dutiful daughter.



And a model citizen.



She credited all of this to her mother and now deceased father, as well as her very much involved grandparents who had done their best to instill the virtues and morals she held onto everyday from the moment she stepped out the threshold to the moment she returned to her room.



It hadn’t been easy, of course. Her father’s sudden passing and mother’s disability, along with the fact her grandparents were of an age where they couldn’t necessarily work efficiently meant that she was to find a means to balance school and work as best she could, and she did so without complaint, even when she had to give up playing tennis in order to do so.



Working at a bakery as a packager after school and picking up odd jobs around college would sometimes take a toll on her rest and body, but she had found the means to maintain her grades by portioning out her free time with her studies. And while it had cost her a great deal of sleep, she had managed to pass the entrance exam to even get into Tokyo University.



When she had received that acceptance letter, she had literally cried into her mother’s arms.



Unsurprisingly, she wound up working harder in college than she did in high school, but at the same time, was able to breathe more now that she had gaps between classes, so she had a modicum of a social life. Friends she could hang out with on the weekends, hobbies she returned to such as tennis and choir... all the things she initially put to the wayside to focus on helping support her family, now available to her that she had grasped a life for herself.



She was able to even have a long time boyfriend for a while.



Satoru had been a nice addition to her life. Mild-mannered, understanding and supportive, the days they had class together felt like they zoomed by. She genuinely had seen a future with him. It was unfortunate that he had moved to Switzerland to pursue his career to work in Nestle. Maintaining a long distance relationship proved to be difficult, especially with the time difference and his intensely busy schedule, so they had broken up amicably so they could pursue their own passions.



Although, when she thought about it, for all her accomplishments, her passions were relatively humble.



She had previous aspirations such as to travel and open up her own ice cream shop, and they had never truly gone away. If anything, they would just have to be delayed. But more than anything, she simply wanted her family to live comfortably in the family home she had been raised in.



They were her entire world. Without their encouragement, their help, and their love, she genuinely believed she wouldn’t have been able to be where she was today.



And now, all her hard work, her unyielding diligence, and her determination to see the rest of her family live the rest of their lives without financial worry…



…would now culminate into nothing when she was going to be the size of a doll for the rest of her life.



And now everything she had worked for had come crashing down before her very eyes.



“He’s lying…”



It had to be a lie. She told herself. She had to tell herself.



It was a preposterously outrageous lie.



There was no way what he said could possibly be true.



There was no way her reality could be this absurdly cruel.



“He’s lying...”



She clutched her chest, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. It was as if the air was running out of the room.



“He’s lying… he’s lying…”



He’s just trying to make her give up. He’s trying to scare her into further submission.



It was a lie.. A lie…



“You’re lying…” she whimpered, tears streaming down her face.



Someone. Anyone. She needed someone to tell her it wasn’t true.



Mr. Ito’s face softened significantly with mock sympathy as she began to weep, “Aww… Hana-chan, don’t cry…” he cooed, carefully wiping her cheeks with a massive finger tip bigger than most of her upper body. His touch was strikingly light for a finger that was bigger than her and had the strength to cave her head in if he wanted to, something she was acutely aware of. “It’ll be alright. I’ve taken great care of you so far, haven’t I?”



He withdrew his finger from her face, bringing it behind her to stroke her back. “Besides, I only told you this so you wouldn’t do anything drastic. I don’t want you to get hurt trying to do something silly like escape and get eaten by a stray cat or get taken to a research lab.”



She hiccupped, still unable to believe what she was hearing.



His voice became venomously soft when he said, “You know that’s what they’ll do to you, don’t you? Prod you with all kinds of needles and chemicals. Keep you pinned to a tray for study. You’ll probably never see the outside of a lab again if word got out about you.” His finger continued to trail down her back, but it brought her no comfort whatsoever. All it did was make her feel sick. “And since you’re the only human in the world your size, you’d be put up for display. A marvel. An attraction. Like a scientific wonder. I know you don’t want that do you, Hana-chan?”



Hana’s teeth chattered, her body recoiling at the mental imagery.



An assortment of gigantic men and women, dressed up in lab coats and blue scrubs looming from high above like statues under blinding surgical lights.



Her arms and legs tethered down by straps on a metal tray, tight against her wrist.


Her plaintive cries and pleas ignored as they ran her through clinical trial after trial, like a lab rat.



A future of nothing but testing that would push her body to its limits until it would mercifully give out.



And if not that, she would be like an animal in a zoo. For countless eyes to gaze in awe at as the world’s smallest freakshow. Televised as an anomaly to humanity. Never to be recognized as a person by the world at large.



The prospect was too much to bear.



Jitterily, she answered his question with a slow shake of her head.



“Of course not,” He declared in full knowledge of what she was thinking, and she let out a cry of fright when he began to push himself up, subjecting her to a wave of vertigo as he straightened up with her in hand. “Besides, I wouldn’t let something like that happen to my precious Hana-chan!”



It was at that moment that someone inside her snapped. The fear and confusion had felt before was swept over by an intensifying, boiling rage that was rapidly beginning to steam over before it could no longer be contained.



She had let out a powerful, anguished scream and threw herself at him in a furious, animalistic rage, every ounce of self-preservation thrown to the wind. Of course, from her position held up to his face, all she could swing at was his nose and he all but hummed in amusement as she punched, kicked, scratched at what she could reach of his face. He lifted his head slightly to make sure his eyes were out of reach as she continued to scream and attack with everything he had.



“Die!” she hollered as angry tears streamed down her cheeks, “Burn in hell! Die! Die!”



This man had taken everything away from her. And for what? She didn’t know, not that there was anything he could possibly say would justify such a thing.



And to rub it in her face? That he had done this to her… pretending it was some kind of act of protection after doing such a thing to her.



Oh god, she hated him.



She hated him.



She continued to curse him and his family, wish great death and harm upon him, yell about how much of a terrible human being he was. As she did, she never did stop punching and kicking him, doing what she could.



But at only seven centimeters tall, all her strikes were as harmless as being pelted by cotton. She was weaker than even mice and hamsters by a significant margin, and lacked the claws and teeth to do anything more than her strikes to do anything more than feel like light taps. Some even tickled him.



He didn’t do anything immediately to stop her to lash out against him for a while, even when she was at the point of exhaustion, when he decided to simply end it with him lowering her hand a bit, causing her her stumble somewhat, but before she could have another go at his face, he blew a small gust of air that sent her tumbling right on her back into the hollow of his hand. She didn’t even get the chance to stand back up when the index finger of his other hand came down and pinned her to his palm.



She grunted as she tried to pry the massive fingertip from her torso, but even if she wasn’t exhausted, the single finger was exponentially stronger than she was. It didn’t even budge.



“Do you feel better now?” Mr. Ito asked from above, leaning his head over so that she could see his face past the giant finger. “Do you feel like you got it all out of your system now? If not, I can give you more time.”



She panted as he spoke over her, as though he was trying to calm a troublesome toddler.



She bit the inside of her lip. He was taunting her. And it was obvious that everything she had thrown at him had not even left a sore, even after going all out to do what she could to hurt him. She had put as much power as she could muster in each kick and punch that landed on his face, and it had all been futile. Her assault had been as ineffective as the vocal condemnation of him had been.



He had allowed her to do what she did just to make her feel small and pathetic.



She sniffled, scrunching her eyes shut as her vision began to blur with more incoming tears.



No, right now, she was small and pathetic.



And if what he said was true…



She let out a quiet sob, and after a moment the giant finger lifted.



There was a rush of air as he whispered comforting words that were hard to discern as genuine or insincere, as though trying to convince her that somehow, after he had shrunk her, kidnapped her, and had now told her that she could possibly never go back to her normal size, that everything would be alright. That everything would be okay.



“Don’t worry, Hana-chan,”purred as he cupped her in his hand and went back to stroking her head as though he wasn’t the cause of her distress. “I’ll take such good care of you. I promise.”



That had been yesterday evening. She had probably passed out not too long after that from both physical and mental exhaustion as she didn’t recall what happened after that.



When she had woken up in “her” bed, it had been the next morning and he had already left for work. The container had been filled with a new batch of fresh food and her water replenished.



And when he wasn’t there, it was just her, the eerie silence within the vastness of his room, and her thoughts.



Several hours had gone by, but the downpour of rain had yet to abate.



While the cage she resided in had things for her comfort, it didn’t have much in the way of a distraction. Entertainment hadn’t been on his list of priorities, she supposed. Not that it mattered since her mind was occupied with something else entirely. Her rueful ruminations were enough to make the time go a bit faster today.



As she looked out the window with glazed eyes, all she could do was ask her a single question.



“Was this really going to be the rest of my life?”



This possibly couldn’t be her future, could it?



She was out of tears now, the hint of dark bags under her eyes serving as a remnant of how much she had cried not too long ago. At some point, she just couldn’t muster up anymore energy to do much of anything.



But the thought of spending the rest of her days like this allowed the tendrils of despair to wrap around her.



In the first few days, all her thoughts had been occupied by trying to escape. Getting out of the cage, climbing down the coffee table and trying to find a way out of his apartment to find help.



She had tried as much as she could to pry the cage door open. It was a simple latch, one that took barely any effort to open normally. Just a simple lift and pull (or in her case, a push) and it would’ve come down.



But the amount of strength it took to do such a thing at her size would require herculean strength to even get the hooks to dislodge from the white metal bar it was secured to. And she would need to climb almost two stories to reach it. She had tried to climb it a few times, but unfortunately, she had not a single modicum of luck in even budging the thing, let alone getting the door hooks to dislodge.



The bars were too thin also to even squeeze through. Even if she had starved herself into an anorexic state, she would probably not even be able to squeeze through or even possess the strength to do so. The most she could do was wiggle her arms through and even then, there was nothing in reach that could possibly help her in getting out.



By the time she had tried what she could to get out, she was left an exhausted and sore heap on the floor of the cage, becoming more and more demoralized after each attempt until she was thoroughly convinced there was no way she could get out of the cage on her own.



After a while, she thought long and hard about the other obstacles that would prevent her from escaping.



The table she was on was at least a dozen meters in the air with no way down. Even if she were to tie all her blankets together to make a rope, she would still be too high up from the floor to safely get all the way down.



He always kept his door closed, so there was no way she could go through there, and the vents were located closer to the ceiling instead of the floor.



The only way that she could see herself even being able to leave the room would be if Mr. Ito were to get sloppy and inattentive, but he had been rather circumspect in making sure she had no avenue out of the room, even when he was there and allowed her to roam around the desk and table while he played videogames or read a book.



Not once did he even chance her being on the floor, probably to prevent any possible tragic accidents from taking place quite literally underfoot. But also seeing to it that she had no way of making a break for it the few times he left her out of the cage with the door open, whether to grab a small snack, check his mail, or simply go to the bathroom.



Overall, escape didn’t look feasible.



If there was no way to possibly leave his bedroom, what could she possibly do to leave his apartment on the third floor?



The few days to follow had been spent hoping and praying that someone would sense that something was amiss, that somehow they would find wind that she was here. She would shout and scream for help, hoping if there was anyone on the other side of the walls or beyond the front door that could hear her. Of course, no such luck.



The hours he wasn’t there were monotonous, and the hours seemed to creep by at an agonizingly slow rate. But at least it gave her time to ponder, time to think.



It was when he had returned when the nightmare of her situation was brought into fruition.



The first day was filled with endless panic.



Seeing her coworker the size of an actual kaiju was enough to send her into a fit of terror, as she tried to run and hide in the confines of her cage when he had returned. He found her easily under her table, and she practically found herself screaming and begging for mercy, unable to truly believe how someone so gigantic could possibly exist until he had reminded her that she was the one who was the anomaly.



Every move he made caused her heart to spike. It was so frightening to witness something so gigantic move so fluidly and so quickly. Every time he spoke it echoed like thunder, and every time he moved, she could literally hear and feel the shifts in air pressure. She had been more convinced that he had grown giant rather than it being her shrinking down, at least until she took a look around the scaled up objects and furniture around her to remind her of the fact that wasn’t the case.



Even after several days, hearing those rumbling footsteps and seeing him loom above like a building would still make her breath hitch. Something so big moving like that was just so unsettling.



But even so, nothing scared her more than when he opened the door and reached in for her. Seeing a giant hand coming straight for her always sent her panic into overdrive. And not once had she been able to avoid his grasp.



For the most part, he coddled her in his hands as though she was some kind of really small kitten or beloved pet gerbil, petting her head or cupping a hand over in a cocoon that made her overheat from his body heat. He’d poke and prod her, dangle her between two fingers or hold her in a secure fist that kept her from moving her limbs.



He was careful for the most part, and it was evident that he was trying to be gentle. But of course, that was when she wasn’t being “obstinate.” Being suffocated under a finger for not eating or being dangled upside-down at what relatively looked to be over 40 meters in the air by one leg for not complying to commands on their first day of training had dashed any notions of trying anything against him until yesterday when she simply couldn’t contain herself after what he had told her.



It just was so unfair.



She blinked slowly, lowering her gaze to the floor as she balled her hands in her lap.



“Someone… please tell me it’s a lie. Please save me…”



Someone had to after all.



They were looking for her. Maybe there was a clue somewhere out there. Maybe there was a camera out there that could have captured the moment it happened.



She was impossibly small, yes, but if someone were to find her, she’d hope they take her to her mother or grandparents. They wouldn’t turn her away. And maybe, instead of experimenting on her, they’d find some way to return her to normal.



After all, she was still human.



That realization ebbed away the despair that had been getting its hold on her.



That’s right. She was still human.



For what he did, he would be thrown in prison for who knows how long.



And if he got into her mind that she wasn’t, that would be when it would all be over.



Even though the downpour had yet to abate, she could already see the silver lining. She could still see the horizon.



She had to hold on to ever fleeting hope.



She had to hold out for any semblance of justice.



Because if she didn’t, this would be her future.



And such a living hell like this would be too awful to envision for her life.



Her nails dug into her palms.



If that was the direction her life would go, then she would rather die.



There was the familiar sound of keys jingling in the distance and what had to be the sound of the front door opening.



“Hello, I’m back!”



She grinded her teeth. Her captor had returned and the jovial sound of his voice made her sick.



She wouldn’t give in.



She couldn’t give in.



As she heard the shuffling of him presumably putting away his umbrella and hanging up his coat, she reminded herself that she had to stay strong, even as the ever increasing crescendo of his footsteps made her almost waver.



It wasn’t long when he had opened the door to his bedroom, towering in the distance. She noticed that he was carrying a blue plastic bag in one hand as he approached the cage, seemingly growing larger and larger the closer he got. He set the bag next to the cage with a thump that rattled the cage and nearly made her fall over.



“I’m sorry I’m back a bit later than normal, Hana-chan,” he said conversationally, as though she had even noticed he was actually fairly late in his return. “I had stopped by a certain store to get you a few things actually. It occurred to me that I should’ve gotten some of these things ahead of time, but you know some things can’t be helped.”



As he spoke, he reached towards the latch to open the cage doors, allowing it to clatter against the wooden surface of the coffee table before peering in.



He smiled and with a gesture of his hand, he told her, “Come.”



She didn’t move. In fact, she was shaking with renewed anger now that she had an idea just how revolting of a person he was.



The smile on his face left when he noticed she wasn’t making any indication she was heading towards the opening of the door. He repeated himself more sternly, eyes hardening slightly. “I said, come.”



A part of her was afraid when he gave her that intimidating look, but not as much as her anger.



“...N-No…”



He gave her a bemused frown. “Excuse me?”



The back of her mind was screaming at her that she was being dangerously stupid. That if she apologized and did what she was told, she could avoid bringing upon his ire. But if she backed down now, it would just cement the fact she was less than human in his eyes.



No matter what was in store for her, she had to stay strong.



“I-I… t-t-told you, I w-won’t.” Tremulously but with some convincing confidence, she said, “I-I’m not… n-n-not your p-plaything, Mr. Ito.”



He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Really?”



She gulped, but held firm. With him looking down at her so intently and clearly unamused, her instincts were screaming at her to take back what she said.



“What are you doing!?” the rational part of her mind frantically demanded of her, “He can squash you like a bug! Say you were kidding and just go out of the cage! Maybe if you go out now, he’ll go easy on you!”



“Then it’s for the best,” the defiant part of her argued back. “It’s better to die than live my life as his damn pet, isn’t it? Besides, he won’t kill you! Not after all the trouble he went to kidnap you! Don’t give in!”



The dark look he gave her made her take an involuntary step back. “Despite the rain, I had a good day today. So much so that I decided to get you things I think you needed. I’m currently in a pretty good mood.” He leaned closer to the cage, his eyes narrowing sharply when he said icily, “Don’t ruin my good mood, Hana-chan. Be a good girl and listen.”



She trembled under the intensity of his gaze, very much wanting to just give in to acquiesce him. It would be the smart thing to do. It would be the safe thing to do.



But she was human. And if she faltered in her resolve, she would cosign herself to be his pet forever.



“Y-You can’t get away w-with this for long, Mr. Ito,” she stammered, but dared to glare back at him. “The p-police with find me. A-A-And you’ll go to p-prison for life!” She straightened her stance, and while she couldn’t stop shaking, she tried to appear braver than she felt. “And ev-even if they d-don’t, I-I’d rather be d-dead than sp-spend my life as y-your slave.”



She took a deep inhale before she openly glowered at him. “S-So do y-your worst.”



The pitter patter of rain against the window filled the deafening silence as he looked down at her with a dark look while she tried to keep her challenging gaze on his, even as everything in her body told her to run away.



Nothing was said for a few seconds before broke the silence, mouth pinching up in a humorless smirk. “That so? Well then.”



She braced herself, ready to be grabbed up in a tight fist for her defiance, but instead his open hand soared above her, blocking out the overhead light as it hung ominously above her like the Sword of Damocles.



She gaped up in fear as a sudden inkling occurred to her on what he was about to do. Her resolve disappeared in an instant.



“Well, then. If you really would rather die, then allow me. I’ll make it quick, Hana-chan.”



She took a few steps back, trying to get from underneath it but he kept it over her, trapping her in its five-fingered shadow.



Sudden, she began to hyperventilate as it occurred to her that she very much had doomed herself.



“No… nonononono…”



No way… he really was going to kill her!?



She didn’t think he would! She didn’t mean what she said! It was a stupid bluff!



When her legs hit the back wall of the cage, the hand was still overhead and it could drop down any second.



She didn’t want to die!



“This is goodbye, Hana-chan. At least I got the chance to have fun with you for several days. Too bad it ends here I guess. Now then.”



The hand came down quickly and she let out a cry of intense fright and as it was about to swat her. “NO!”



Before she could even make a move to jump out the way or brace for her incoming demise, there was a hard booming impact against the floor that sent her tumbling as air rushed at her on all sides.



She trembled terribly in a small heap between his index and middle finger that were widened a bit further than he had the rest of the fingers of his hand. His hand alone took up over a quarter of the cage, trapping her in the corner as it remained where it was before it began to retreat out of the cage.



It was apparent that he had intentionally missed.



“I’m alive… I’m alive…I’m alive…” was the thought that repeated ad nauseum in her head as she clutched her chest trying to get her hyperventilation under control. “I’m alive… I’m alive… I’m alive…”



“Aww, poor Hana-chan,” she looked up to see Mr. Ito giving her a faux-sympathetic look. “You really thought I would kill you, didn’t you? It’s alright, I knew you didn’t mean what you said.” The smile returned, mocking and sinister. “After all, I know you’re simply lashing out after yesterday. It’ll take time and effort to come to grips with something like that.”



This time, when he reached back into her cage, he did go to grab her, prying her from the wall before scooping her up. When he brought her out, he held her level with his upper chest. “Besides, I went through a lot of trouble procuring you in the first place. There’s positively no way I’m not going to kill you just because you had a little temper tantrum.”



She continued to tremble heavily in his grasp, no longer possessing the bite she had before.



He simply petted her head a few times before stating, “There’s nothing a little correction can’t solve. In due time, I know you’ll be so good for me, Hana-chan. Well, now that that is settled…”



Still coming down from her hyperventilation, she couldn’t even scream when he suddenly got to his full height, a wave of vertigo sweeping over her, but when he began to move, she frantically went to find something to hold onto. She gripped at the leathery skin beneath her as he turned around, grabbing the bag he had left next to her cage and began to walk, a scared mewl escaping her lips once she got a glance at just how high she was when he was standing, paling at the sight of the coffee table and floor now far below.



It wasn’t the first time, but it was not any less scarier than the first. While intuitively, she knew it couldn’t have been more than five feet given that she was now level with his chest, it might as well been nearly thirty meters off the ground and she felt like she was only one small move from plummeting to her death. Especially as he walked, crossing a relative distance that would have taken several minutes to traverse in only a few seconds.



Seconds felt like an eternity when he had finally reached the bathroom. This was the first time she had been in this room, and a seed of dread began to grow within her as particular ideas began to come to mind.



It was a standard bathroom with a sink and tub with a small bath stool and bench in the corner. Nothing that normally wouldn’t be out of the ordinary had it not been for the fact that just like everything around her, it was tremendous in size; the tub looked to be the size of a dry dock and probably could hold enough water to hold a small lake and the shower faucet was as big as a satellite dish and oddly was giving her a sense of acute trypophobia she had never possessed before.



With a cry of surprise, she swung her arms around the base of his index finger when he leaned down to pick up the bucket that had been sitting on the small bench before walking towards the sink. Gingerly, he lowered her to the small bench before grabbing the huge plastic bucket and going to the sink to fill it up.



An anxious jolt rushed through her body.



“No… oh no…”



“Now then, although I said that I’m going to take care of you, I haven’t been a very good owner now, have I?” Mr. Ito said more to himself than to her, “After all, you’re still wearing the same work clothes you wore when I got you. What kind of person would I be to permit you to walk around for so long in such things? That’s why I had to stop by a rather nice miniatures store in Harajuku.” He reached into the bag and pulled out a pink box, holding it out so that she could see the label.



From the plastic window she could see they were clothes set for 1/24 scale dolls. They were held in a packaging tray for full display so she could see it. It looked like some trendy Gyaru style fashion with a jean miniskirt, an off-shoulder black top with a chain belt hanging off the side. It was not something she wore, even when in her high school or college days; it simply had never been her style.



He whisked the box away and set it on the side of the sink, reaching in the grab a few more boxes that held even more clothes within. “Who knew clothes for dolls could be so expensive for something so small. A single outfit cost almost twice as much as I thought it would. Good thing I was saving up for this just in case. Still, I guess you would have to be the judge of the quality.”



After stacking all the boxes in a corner, he turned the faucet on, holding a hand under to test the temperature before putting the stopper in and began to fill the pool-sized basin of the sink.



She began to step back trepidatiously, looking around for any cover.



The moment they stepped into the bathroom, she had a notion of what he had in mind for her. And now there was no denying it.



Beforehand, she had greatly yearned for a long-lasting bath so that she could feel clean like a regular person. But at this very moment, she didn’t care that she hadn’t bathed in days.



Not if he was going to…



There were two nearby possible hiding spots in her immediate view. The silo-sized shampoo bottle and the bed-sized bar of soap were the closest things to her and didn’t look like they had much coverage unless she were to lie down and crouch. The boxes of clothes were on the other side and there was no way she could get over there without garnering his attention.



Right as she decided to try to make a run to hide behind the shampoo bottle, he turned the faucets off with a metallic squeal that made her cover her ears. When she looked at him, his eyes were already on her.



The single word that left his mouth made her freeze.



“Strip.”



—-----

[Flippity-Floosy]

Little OLs make For Great Pets Actually: Part 2.2

Hiro watched as the adorable little woman looked up at him fearfully when he said that.



It was actually painfully cute how little Hana had run the gamut of emotions within the past two days.



She had been scared of him, then went angry, and now she was back to being scared. It was all so amusing to him really. How could he possibly take her seriously when she was the size of a mouse? Of course, it wasn’t without reason. He surmised she had every right to be as upset with him and her situation. He wasn’t so incapable of utilizing a bit of empathy of understanding why she’d feel that way.



But not so much empathy as to feel bad for what he had done to her.



He had been eyeing her since the day she walked into the office that morning beside the manager.



As pretty as she was, it wasn’t hard for her to captivate him. And the trance hadn’t ended even after several days.



He was in good company as many men, and even a few women, had taken notice of just how much she tended to shine brightly wherever she walked, even when she was doing the most mundane things. Natural beauty like that was hard to come by.



Many men would have wanted to ask her out.



Many would have jumped at the opportunity to kiss her.



Many would do anything to have their lips locked with hers.



But Hiro?



The moment he laid his eyes on her and watched her smile at him, something else entirely clicked.



He needed to owIt was raining outside.



The sound of droplets pelting against the window was a staunch reminder that there was a world beyond those four walls that she had spent now eleven days in this cavernous domain that was Mr. Ito’s bedroom.



A world she might never be able to return to ever again as a normal human.



She stared out the window with a strange sort of emptiness at the knowledge with that fact.



She felt numb.



Her new position as his supposed “pet.”



Memories of her life growing up filtered through her mind to ease her monotony.



It was just… inconceivable.



Hana had been many things growing up.



An exemplary student.



A dutiful daughter.



And a model citizen.



She credited all of this to her mother and now deceased father, as well as her very much involved grandparents who had done their best to instill the virtues and morals she held onto everyday from the moment she stepped out the threshold to the moment she returned to her room.



It hadn’t been easy, of course. Her father’s sudden passing and mother’s disability, along with the fact her grandparents were of an age where they couldn’t necessarily work efficiently meant that she was to find a means to balance school and work as best she could, and she did so without complaint, even when she had to give up playing tennis in order to do so.



Working at a bakery as a packager after school and picking up odd jobs around college would sometimes take a toll on her rest and body, but she had found the means to maintain her grades by portioning out her free time with her studies. And while it had cost her a great deal of sleep, she had managed to pass the entrance exam to even get into Tokyo University.



When she had received that acceptance letter, she had literally cried into her mother’s arms.



Unsurprisingly, she wound up working harder in college than she did in high school, but at the same time, was able to breathe more now that she had gaps between classes, so she had a modicum of a social life. Friends she could hang out with on the weekends, hobbies she returned to such as tennis and choir... all the things she initially put to the wayside to focus on helping support her family, now available to her that she had grasped a life for herself.



She was able to even have a long time boyfriend for a while.



Satoru had been a nice addition to her life. Mild-mannered, understanding and supportive, the days they had class together felt like they zoomed by. She genuinely had seen a future with him. It was unfortunate that he had moved to Switzerland to pursue his career to work in Nestle. Maintaining a long distance relationship proved to be difficult, especially with the time difference and his intensely busy schedule, so they had broken up amicably so they could pursue their own passions.



Although, when she thought about it, for all her accomplishments, her passions were relatively humble.



She had previous aspirations such as to travel and open up her own ice cream shop, and they had never truly gone away. If anything, they would just have to be delayed. But more than anything, she simply wanted her family to live comfortably in the family home she had been raised in.



They were her entire world. Without their encouragement, their help, and their love, she genuinely believed she wouldn’t have been able to be where she was today.



And now, all her hard work, her unyielding diligence, and her determination to see the rest of her family live the rest of their lives without financial worry…



…would now culminate into nothing when she was going to be the size of a doll for the rest of her life.



And now everything she had worked for had come crashing down before her very eyes.



“He’s lying…”



It had to be a lie. She told herself. She had to tell herself.



It was a preposterously outrageous lie.



There was no way what he said could possibly be true.



There was no way her reality could be this absurdly cruel.



“He’s lying...”



She clutched her chest, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. It was as if the air was running out of the room.



“He’s lying… he’s lying…”



He’s just trying to make her give up. He’s trying to scare her into further submission.



It was a lie.. A lie…



“You’re lying…” she whimpered, tears streaming down her face.



Someone. Anyone. She needed someone to tell her it wasn’t true.



Mr. Ito’s face softened significantly with mock sympathy as she began to weep, “Aww… Hana-chan, don’t cry…” he cooed, carefully wiping her cheeks with a massive finger tip bigger than most of her upper body. His touch was strikingly light for a finger that was bigger than her and had the strength to cave her head in if he wanted to, something she was acutely aware of. “It’ll be alright. I’ve taken great care of you so far, haven’t I?”



He withdrew his finger from her face, bringing it behind her to stroke her back. “Besides, I only told you this so you wouldn’t do anything drastic. I don’t want you to get hurt trying to do something silly like escape and get eaten by a stray cat or get taken to a research lab.”



She hiccupped, still unable to believe what she was hearing.



His voice became venomously soft when he said, “You know that’s what they’ll do to you, don’t you? Prod you with all kinds of needles and chemicals. Keep you pinned to a tray for study. You’ll probably never see the outside of a lab again if word got out about you.” His finger continued to trail down her back, but it brought her no comfort whatsoever. All it did was make her feel sick. “And since you’re the only human in the world your size, you’d be put up for display. A marvel. An attraction. Like a scientific wonder. I know you don’t want that do you, Hana-chan?”



Hana’s teeth chattered, her body recoiling at the mental imagery.



An assortment of gigantic men and women, dressed up in lab coats and blue scrubs looming from high above like statues under blinding surgical lights.



Her arms and legs tethered down by straps on a metal tray, tight against her wrist.


Her plaintive cries and pleas ignored as they ran her through clinical trial after trial, like a lab rat.



A future of nothing but testing that would push her body to its limits until it would mercifully give out.



And if not that, she would be like an animal in a zoo. For countless eyes to gaze in awe at as the world’s smallest freakshow. Televised as an anomaly to humanity. Never to be recognized as a person by the world at large.



The prospect was too much to bear.



Jitterily, she answered his question with a slow shake of her head.



“Of course not,” He declared in full knowledge of what she was thinking, and she let out a cry of fright when he began to push himself up, subjecting her to a wave of vertigo as he straightened up with her in hand. “Besides, I wouldn’t let something like that happen to my precious Hana-chan!”



It was at that moment that someone inside her snapped. The fear and confusion had felt before was swept over by an intensifying, boiling rage that was rapidly beginning to steam over before it could no longer be contained.



She had let out a powerful, anguished scream and threw herself at him in a furious, animalistic rage, every ounce of self-preservation thrown to the wind. Of course, from her position held up to his face, all she could swing at was his nose and he all but hummed in amusement as she punched, kicked, scratched at what she could reach of his face. He lifted his head slightly to make sure his eyes were out of reach as she continued to scream and attack with everything he had.



“Die!” she hollered as angry tears streamed down her cheeks, “Burn in hell! Die! Die!”



This man had taken everything away from her. And for what? She didn’t know, not that there was anything he could possibly say would justify such a thing.



And to rub it in her face? That he had done this to her… pretending it was some kind of act of protection after doing such a thing to her.



Oh god, she hated him.



She hated him.



She continued to curse him and his family, wish great death and harm upon him, yell about how much of a terrible human being he was. As she did, she never did stop punching and kicking him, doing what she could.



But at only seven centimeters tall, all her strikes were as harmless as being pelted by cotton. She was weaker than even mice and hamsters by a significant margin, and lacked the claws and teeth to do anything more than her strikes to do anything more than feel like light taps. Some even tickled him.



He didn’t do anything immediately to stop her to lash out against him for a while, even when she was at the point of exhaustion, when he decided to simply end it with him lowering her hand a bit, causing her her stumble somewhat, but before she could have another go at his face, he blew a small gust of air that sent her tumbling right on her back into the hollow of his hand. She didn’t even get the chance to stand back up when the index finger of his other hand came down and pinned her to his palm.



She grunted as she tried to pry the massive fingertip from her torso, but even if she wasn’t exhausted, the single finger was exponentially stronger than she was. It didn’t even budge.



“Do you feel better now?” Mr. Ito asked from above, leaning his head over so that she could see his face past the giant finger. “Do you feel like you got it all out of your system now? If not, I can give you more time.”



She panted as he spoke over her, as though he was trying to calm a troublesome toddler.



She bit the inside of her lip. He was taunting her. And it was obvious that everything she had thrown at him had not even left a sore, even after going all out to do what she could to hurt him. She had put as much power as she could muster in each kick and punch that landed on his face, and it had all been futile. Her assault had been as ineffective as the vocal condemnation of him had been.



He had allowed her to do what she did just to make her feel small and pathetic.



She sniffled, scrunching her eyes shut as her vision began to blur with more incoming tears.



No, right now, she was small and pathetic.



And if what he said was true…



She let out a quiet sob, and after a moment the giant finger lifted.



There was a rush of air as he whispered comforting words that were hard to discern as genuine or insincere, as though trying to convince her that somehow, after he had shrunk her, kidnapped her, and had now told her that she could possibly never go back to her normal size, that everything would be alright. That everything would be okay.



“Don’t worry, Hana-chan,”purred as he cupped her in his hand and went back to stroking her head as though he wasn’t the cause of her distress. “I’ll take such good care of you. I promise.”



That had been yesterday evening. She had probably passed out not too long after that from both physical and mental exhaustion as she didn’t recall what happened after that.



When she had woken up in “her” bed, it had been the next morning and he had already left for work. The container had been filled with a new batch of fresh food and her water replenished.



And when he wasn’t there, it was just her, the eerie silence within the vastness of his room, and her thoughts.



Several hours had gone by, but the downpour of rain had yet to abate.



While the cage she resided in had things for her comfort, it didn’t have much in the way of a distraction. Entertainment hadn’t been on his list of priorities, she supposed. Not that it mattered since her mind was occupied with something else entirely. Her rueful ruminations were enough to make the time go a bit faster today.



As she looked out the window with glazed eyes, all she could do was ask her a single question.



“Was this really going to be the rest of her life?”



This possibly couldn’t be her future, could it?



She was out of tears now, the hint of dark bags under her eyes serving as a remnant of how much she had cried not too long ago. At some point, she just couldn’t muster up anymore energy to do much of anything.



But the thought of spending the rest of her days like this allowed the tendrils of despair to wrap around her.



In the first few days, all her thoughts had been occupied by trying to escape. Getting out of the cage, climbing down the coffee table and trying to find a way out of his apartment to find help.



She had tried as much as she could to pry the cage door open. It was a simple latch, one that took barely any effort to open normally. Just a simple lift and pull (or in her case, a push) and it would’ve come down.



But the amount of strength it took to do such a thing at her size would require herculean strength to even get the hooks to dislodge from the white metal bar it was secured to. And she would need to climb almost two stories to reach it. She had tried to climb it a few times, but unfortunately, she had not a single modicum of luck in even budging the thing, let alone getting the door hooks to dislodge.



The bars were too thin also to even squeeze through. Even if she had starved herself into an anorexic state, she would probably not even be able to squeeze through or even possess the strength to do so. The most she could do was wiggle her arms through and even then, there was nothing in reach that could possibly help her in getting out.



By the time she had tried what she could to get out, she was left an exhausted and sore heap on the floor of the cage, becoming more and more demoralized after each attempt until she was thoroughly convinced there was no way she could get out of the cage on her own.



After a while, she thought long and hard about the other obstacles that would prevent her from escaping.



The table she was on was at least a dozen meters in the air with no way down. Even if she were to tie all her blankets together to make a rope, she would still be too high up from the floor to safely get all the way down.



He always kept his door closed, so there was no way she could go through there, and the vents were located closer to the ceiling instead of the floor.



The only way that she could see herself even being able to leave the room would be if Mr. Ito were to get sloppy and inattentive, but he had been rather circumspect in making sure she had no avenue out of the room, even when he was there and allowed her to roam around the desk and table while he played videogames or read a book.



Not once did he even chance her being on the floor, probably to prevent any possible tragic accidents from taking place quite literally underfoot. But also seeing to it that she had no way of making a break for it the few times he left her out of the cage with the door open, whether to grab a small snack, check his mail, or simply go to the bathroom.



Overall, escape didn’t look feasible.



If there was no way to possibly leave his bedroom, what could she possibly do to leave his apartment on the third floor?



The few days to follow had been spent hoping and praying that someone would sense that something was amiss, that somehow they would find wind that she was here. She would shout and scream for help, hoping if there was anyone on the other side of the walls or beyond the front door that could hear her. Of course, no such luck.



The hours he wasn’t there were monotonous, and the hours seemed to creep by at an agonizingly slow rate. But at least it gave her time to ponder, time to think.



It was when he had returned when the nightmare of her situation was brought into fruition.



The first day was filled with endless panic.



Seeing her coworker the size of an actual kaiju was enough to send her into a fit of terror, as she tried to run and hide in the confines of her cage when he had returned. He found her easily under her table, and she practically found herself screaming and begging for mercy, unable to truly believe how someone so gigantic could possibly exist until he had reminded her that she was the one who was the anomaly.



Every move he made caused her heart to spike. It was so frightening to witness something so gigantic move so fluidly and so quickly. Every time he spoke it echoed like thunder, and every time he moved, she could literally hear and feel the shifts in air pressure. She had been more convinced that he had grown giant rather than it being her shrinking down, at least until she took a look around the scaled up objects and furniture around her to remind her of the fact that wasn’t the case.



Even after several days, hearing those rumbling footsteps and seeing him loom above like a building would still make her breath hitch. Something so big moving like that was just so unsettling.



But even so, nothing scared her more than when he opened the door and reached in for her. Seeing a giant hand coming straight for her always sent her panic into overdrive. And not once had she been able to avoid his grasp.



For the most part, he coddled her in his hands as though she was some kind of really small kitten or beloved pet gerbil, petting her head or cupping a hand over in a cocoon that made her overheat from his body heat. He’d poke and prod her, dangle her between two fingers or hold her in a secure fist that kept her from moving her limbs.



He was careful for the most part, and it was evident that he was trying to be gentle. But of course, that was when she wasn’t being “obstinate.” Being suffocated under a finger for not eating or being dangled upside-down at what relatively looked to be over 40 meters in the air by one leg for not complying to commands on their first day of training had dashed any notions of trying anything against him until yesterday when she simply couldn’t contain herself after what he had told her.



It just was so unfair.



She blinked slowly, lowering her gaze to the floor as she balled her hands in her lap.



“Someone… please tell me it’s a lie. Please save me…”



Someone had to after all.



They were looking for her. Maybe there was a clue somewhere out there. Maybe there was a camera out there that could have captured the moment it happened.



She was impossibly small, yes, but if someone were to find her, she’d hope they take her to her mother or grandparents. They wouldn’t turn her away. And maybe, instead of experimenting on her, they’d find some way to return her to normal.



After all, she was still human.



That realization ebbed away the despair that had been getting its hold on her.



That’s right. She was still human.



For what he did, he would be thrown in prison for who knows how long.



And if he got into her mind that she wasn’t, that would be when it would all be over.



Even though the downpour had yet to abate, she could already see the silver lining. She could still see the horizon.



She had to hold on to ever fleeting hope.



She had to hold out for any semblance of justice.



Because if she didn’t, this would be her future.



And such a living hell like this would be too awful to envision for her life.



Her nails dug into her palms.



If that was the direction her life would go, then she would rather die.



There was the familiar sound of keys jingling in the distance and what had to be the sound of the front door opening.



“Hello, I’m back!”



She grinded her teeth. Her captor had returned and the jovial sound of his voice made her sick.



She wouldn’t give in.



She couldn’t give in.



As she heard the shuffling of him presumably putting away his umbrella and hanging up his coat, she reminded herself that she had to stay strong, even as the ever increasing crescendo of his footsteps made her almost waver.



It wasn’t long when he had opened the door to his bedroom, towering in the distance. She noticed that he was carrying a blue plastic bag in one hand as he approached the cage, seemingly growing larger and larger the closer he got. He set the bag next to the cage with a thump that rattled the cage and nearly made her fall over.



“I’m sorry I’m back a bit later than normal, Hana-chan,” he said conversationally, as though she had even noticed he was actually fairly late in his return. “I had stopped by a certain store to get you a few things actually. It occurred to me that I should’ve gotten some of these things ahead of time, but you know some things can’t be helped.”



As he spoke, he reached towards the latch to open the cage doors, allowing it to clatter against the wooden surface of the coffee table before peering in.



He smiled and with a gesture of his hand, he told her, “Come.”



She didn’t move. In fact, she was shaking with renewed anger now that she had an idea just how revolting of a person he was.



The smile on his face left when he noticed she wasn’t making any indication she was heading towards the opening of the door. He repeated himself more sternly, eyes hardening slightly. “I said, come.”



A part of her was afraid when he gave her that intimidating look, but not as much as her anger.



“...N-No…”



He gave her a bemused frown. “Excuse me?”



The back of her mind was screaming at her that she was being dangerously stupid. That if she apologized and did what she was told, she could avoid bringing upon his ire. But if she backed down now, it would just cement the fact she was less than human in his eyes.



No matter what was in store for her, she had to stay strong.



“I-I… t-t-told you, I w-won’t.” Tremulously but with some convincing confidence, she said, “I-I’m not… n-n-not your p-plaything, Mr. Ito.”



He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Really?”



She gulped, but held firm. With him looking down at her so intently and clearly unamused, her instincts were screaming at her to take back what she said.



“What are you doing!?” the rational part of her mind frantically demanded of her, “He can squash you like a bug! Say you were kidding and just go out of the cage! Maybe if you go out now, he’ll go easy on you!”



“Then it’s for the best,” the defiant part of her argued back. “It’s better to die than live my life as his damn pet, isn’t it? Besides, he won’t kill you! Not after all the trouble he went to kidnap you! Don’t give in!”



The dark look he gave her made her take an involuntary step back. “Despite the rain, I had a good day today. So much so that I decided to get you things I think you needed. I’m currently in a pretty good mood.” He leaned closer to the cage, his eyes narrowing sharply when he said icily, “Don’t ruin my good mood, Hana-chan. Be a good girl and listen.”



She trembled under the intensity of his gaze, very much wanting to just give in to acquiesce him. It would be the smart thing to do. It would be the safe thing to do.



But she was human. And if she faltered in her resolve, she would cosign herself to be his pet forever.



“Y-You can’t get away w-with this for long, Mr. Ito,” she stammered, but dared to glare back at him. “The p-police with find me. A-A-And you’ll go to p-prison for life!” She straightened her stance, and while she couldn’t stop shaking, she tried to appear braver than she felt. “And ev-even if they d-don’t, I-I’d rather be d-dead than sp-spend my life as y-your slave.”



She took a deep inhale before she openly glowered at him. “S-So do y-your worst.”



The pitter patter of rain against the window filled the deafening silence as he looked down at her with a dark look while she tried to keep her challenging gaze on his, even as everything in her body told her to run away.



Nothing was said for a few seconds before broke the silence, mouth pinching up in a humorless smirk. “That so? Well then.”



She braced herself, ready to be grabbed up in a tight fist for her defiance, but instead his open hand soared above her, blocking out the overhead light as it hung ominously above her like the Sword of Damocles.



She gaped up in fear as a sudden inkling occurred to her on what he was about to do. Her resolve disappeared in an instant.



“Well, then. If you really would rather die, then allow me. I’ll make it quick, Hana-chan.”



She took a few steps back, trying to get from underneath it but he kept it over her, trapping her in its five-fingered shadow.



Sudden, she began to hyperventilate as it occurred to her that she very much had doomed herself.



“No… nonononono…”



No way… he really was going to kill her!?



She didn’t think he would! She didn’t mean what she said! It was a stupid bluff!



When her legs hit the back wall of the cage, the hand was still overhead and it could drop down any second.



She didn’t want to die!



“This is goodbye, Hana-chan. At least I got the chance to have fun with you for several days. Too bad it ends here I guess. Now then.”



The hand came down quickly and she let out a cry of intense fright and as it was about to swat her. “NO!”



Before she could even make a move to jump out the way or brace for her incoming demise, there was a hard booming impact against the floor that sent her tumbling as air rushed at her on all sides.



She trembled terribly in a small heap between his index and middle finger that were widened a bit further than he had the rest of the fingers of his hand. His hand alone took up over a quarter of the cage, trapping her in the corner as it remained where it was before it began to retreat out of the cage.



It was apparent that he had intentionally missed.



“I’m alive… I’m alive…I’m alive…” was the thought that repeated ad nauseum in her head as she clutched her chest trying to get her hyperventilation under control. “I’m alive… I’m alive… I’m alive…”



“Aww, poor Hana-chan,” she looked up to see Mr. Ito giving her a faux-sympathetic look. “You really thought I would kill you, didn’t you? It’s alright, I knew you didn’t mean what you said.” The smile returned, mocking and sinister. “After all, I know you’re simply lashing out after yesterday. It’ll take time and effort to come to grips with something like that.”



This time, when he reached back into her cage, he did go to grab her, prying her from the wall before scooping her up. When he brought her out, he held her level with his upper chest. “Besides, I went through a lot of trouble procuring you in the first place. There’s positively no way I’m not going to kill you just because you had a little temper tantrum.”



She continued to tremble heavily in his grasp, no longer possessing the bite she had before.



He simply petted her head a few times before stating, “There’s nothing a little correction can’t solve. In due time, I know you’ll be so good for me, Hana-chan. Well, now that that is settled…”



Still coming down from her hyperventilation, she couldn’t even scream when he suddenly got to his full height, a wave of vertigo sweeping over her, but when he began to move, she frantically went to find something to hold onto. She gripped at the leathery skin beneath her as he turned around, grabbing the bag he had left next to her cage and began to walk, a scared mewl escaping her lips once she got a glance at just how high she was when he was standing, paling at the sight of the coffee table and floor now far below.



It wasn’t the first time, but it was not any less scarier than the first. While intuitively, she knew it couldn’t have been more than five feet given that she was now level with his chest, it might as well been nearly thirty meters off the ground and she felt like she was only one small move from plummeting to her death. Especially as he walked, crossing a relative distance that would have taken several minutes to traverse in only a few seconds.



Seconds felt like an eternity when he had finally reached the bathroom. This was the first time she had been in this room, and a seed of dread began to grow within her as particular ideas began to come to mind.



It was a standard bathroom with a sink and tub with a small bath stool and bench in the corner. Nothing that normally wouldn’t be out of the ordinary had it not been for the fact that just like everything around her, it was tremendous in size; the tub looked to be the size of a dry dock and probably could hold enough water to hold a small lake and the shower faucet was as big as a satellite dish and oddly was giving her a sense of acute trypophobia she had never possessed before.



With a cry of surprise, she swung her arms around the base of his index finger when he leaned down to pick up the bucket that had been sitting on the small bench before walking towards the sink. Gingerly, he lowered her to the small bench before grabbing the huge plastic bucket and going to the sink to fill it up.



An anxious jolt rushed through her body.



“No… oh no…”



“Now then, although I said that I’m going to take care of you, I haven’t been a very good owner now, have I?” Mr. Ito said more to himself than to her, “After all, you’re still wearing the same work clothes you wore when I got you. What kind of person would I be to permit you to walk around for so long in such things? That’s why I had to stop by a rather nice miniatures store in Harajuku.” He reached into the bag and pulled out a pink box, holding it out so that she could see the label.



From the plastic window she could see they were clothes set for 1/24 scale dolls. They were held in a packaging tray for full display so she could see it. It looked like some trendy Gyaru style fashion with a jean miniskirt, an off-shoulder black top with a chain belt hanging off the side. It was not something she wore, even when in her high school or college days; it simply had never been her style.



He whisked the box away and set it on the side of the sink, reaching in the grab a few more boxes that held even more clothes within. “Who knew clothes for dolls could be so expensive for something so small. A single outfit cost almost twice as much as I thought it would. Good thing I was saving up for this just in case. Still, I guess you would have to be the judge of the quality.”



After stacking all the boxes in a corner, he turned the faucet on, holding a hand under to test the temperature before putting the stopper in and began to fill the pool-sized basin of the sink.



She began to step back trepidatiously, looking around for any cover.



The moment they stepped into the bathroom, she had a notion of what he had in mind for her. And now there was no denying it.



Beforehand, she had greatly yearned for a long-lasting bath so that she could feel clean like a regular person. But at this very moment, she didn’t care that she hadn’t bathed in days.



Not if he was going to…



There were two nearby possible hiding spots in her immediate view. The silo-sized shampoo bottle and the bed-sized bar of soap were the closest things to her and didn’t look like they had much coverage unless she were to lie down and crouch. The boxes of clothes were on the other side and there was no way she could get over there without garnering his attention.



Right as she decided to try to make a run to hide behind the shampoo bottle, he turned the faucets off with a metallic squeal that made her cover her ears. When she looked at him, his eyes were already on her.



The single word that left his mouth made her freeze.



“Strip.”



—-----



Hiro watched as the adorable little woman looked up at him fearfully when he said that.



It was actually painfully cute how little Hana had run the gamut of emotions within the past two days.



She had been scared of him, then went angry, and now she was back to being scared. It was all so amusing to him really. How could he possibly take her seriously when she was the size of a mouse? Of course, it wasn’t without reason. He surmised she had every right to be as upset with him and her situation. He wasn’t so incapable of utilizing a bit of empathy of understanding why she’d feel that way.



But not so much empathy as to feel bad for what he had done to her.



He had been eyeing her since the day she walked into the office that morning beside the manager.



As pretty as she was, it wasn’t hard for her to captivate him. And the trance hadn’t ended even after several days.



He was in good company as many men, and even a few women, had taken notice of just how much she tended to shine brightly wherever she walked, even when she was doing the most mundane things. Natural beauty like that was hard to come by.



Many men would have wanted to ask her out.



Many would have jumped at the opportunity to kiss her.



Many would do anything to have their lips locked with hers.



But Hiro?



The moment he laid his eyes on her and watched her smile at him, something else entirely clicked.



He needed to own her for himself.



His father had given him this gem hoping he would study it further when it had been announced that he had dementia. He had hoped that Hiro would continue the research that had been abandoned so long ago after the flooding of that small island. Maybe he could uncover more about it than he did in his own lifetime.



Hiro had no such intention.



From the moment his father had told him about its properties, he immediately knew what he had planned to do with it.



He loved father, he really did.



He tolerated everyone else. From his friends, his coworkers, and his colleagues.



Sure, he had girlfriends in the past that he felt something for and that could have been the one he would have used the gem on, but after some time he grew tired of them for one reason or another and simply decided against it in the end.



Like Umie.



He was glad he hadn’t used it on her. As beautiful as she was, she had been irksome with the way she demanded he be a bit more romantic or the fact she overshared her social media status too often, bragging about how many more followers she had over another girl or that. Had he used the gem on her, he was sure he would have eventually thrown her in the garbage or flushed her down the toilet.



There were also complete strangers that made him almost impulsively use the gem on them, but then he would staunchly remind himself that they were only one use and he didn’t want to waste it on someone who simply irked him for being too chatty in the train.



He would just wait until the time was right.



Until the person was right.



After biding his time for about six years, all it took was a look at Suzuki Hana for his mind to confirm to him, “She was the one.”



And now, after eleven days, he was still more than happy he had selected her.



Even if she was amply struggling with her new position as a pet. And while he understood it, he didn’t care much for her hesitation.



Like it or not, she was his now.



And she was going to learn her place soon enough whether she wanted to or not.



And right now, he could see she was struggling with the order he had just given her. Rather than anger him, it amused him.



“A-A-A-Ah… Wh-What?” She asked with a nervous smile, playing dumb.



His smile widened as he hovered over her with a leer. “You heard me. Strip.”



The look on her face was so precious, he would’ve taken a picture on his phone if it didn’t risk implicating himself.



“I-I… I, um, need privacy first…” she called up anxiously. “Pl… Please…”



Of course she would ask for that, as anybody would in her position.



But she was his now, and everything about her would operate on his terms.



“Nonsense.” he told her, denying her request. “So you could try to climb down and hurt yourself? Or drown without me knowing? We can’t have that, now can we?”



He could see her eyes flitting about, definitely planning to make a run for it. He bet she probably couldn’t even tell he knew what she was thinking.



“I… I promise I w-won’t run. S-So… If… If you c-could just give me s-some space… Please, Mr. Ito…” she began to plead, and then it finally occurred what was bothering him. She kept calling him by how she usually addressed him. Using san each time. As though they were still equals. He’d have to quickly rectify that. “I… Th-There’s no n-need for th–”



“Sorry Hana-chan, but no,” he deftly told her, the smile never leaving his face. Now incentivized, he twiddled with her in his grip, making her cry out. “As your owner, I think it’s about time to get used to your new position fully. You do belong to me after all,” he held her higher up, hearing her tiny little gasp as readjusted his grip around her. “While we’re on the subject, let’s drop the casual honorifics. From now on, you should be addressing me as Master.”



She looked at him, dumbfounded. As though she couldn’t recognize him. Given the mask he put on at work compared to the one at home, it was no wonder. It was only last week she had known him as merely a fellow salaryman. To her, they were acquaintances more than anything, she only knew surface level things about him.



There would have been no way she would have known how much he knew about her.



How much he had been watching her.



He knew about her mother and grandparents.



He knew about her Tokyo U. alma mater.



He knew she had a single ex-boyfriend named Satoru.



He knew her favorite colors were blue and pink. He knew she liked to collect Dragon Quest keychains. He knew her favorite book was Manazuru, which had brought her to tears on two different occasions. He knew her favorite place to eat was a small family-owned restaurant that had her favorite udon. He knew she didn’t like spicy food. He knew she had a phobia of frogs and toads. He knew every chance she got, she would go to Shibuya to go bowling and play ping pong with her friends. He knew she always got herself mocktails at bars and izakayas and only drunk alcohol on very special occasions.



He knew her father had died from an aneurism, he knew she was an only child. He knew she was the main breadwinner of her family. He knew that her grandparents were devout shintoists, but both her and her mother were agnostic. He knew that her third-year homeroom teacher had been named Fujiwara Kenzo who had died a year after she had graduated high school due to sleep apnea. He knew her best friend in college had been Tanakawa Rin, who was now working as a department store clerk in Shibuya.



In the few months she had been working at the company, he had followed and listened to her in secret and learned so many major and minor details about her he couldn’t help but feel proud.



And now, with her in his possession, she was going to learn more about him.



Starting with where he drew the line.



“So, Hana-chan…” he said with an air of authority, “Are you going to strip? Or would you like me to assist you?”



She shook her head slowly. “No, please, Mr. Ito! D–”



He dropped two hands on each side of her, making her jump. “What did I just say?”



She looked shaken up as she corrected herself. “Please don’t… M-Master,” she uttered pathetically. “I-I’m sorry for not listening before! I’m sorry for saying what I said!”



“What are you going on about? You mean your little tantrum earlier?” He said, trailing his finger to prod the side of her face, which she winced at. “We’ve long moved past that, Hana-chan. I’ve already forgiven you for that. Now we’re moving on to now.”



He lowered his head until he was right over her “So, will you undress on your own or…?”



Her tiny overwrought expression was enough of an answer. Her lips were moving, whispering at a volume too quiet for him to hear.



When she did finally speak up, all she could do was whimper as she took a few tiny steps back, and he could tell she was already positioning herself to make a break for it.



“U-Um… I-I… I c-can’t—”



Without even finishing her sentence, she bolted, trying to run behind his shampoo bottle, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. She had to have known that was a poor hiding spot and that there was nowhere to run.



Effortlessly, he cut her off with a single hand and gripped her in between his middle finger, forefinger and thumb before whisking her up to his face with a little scream.



He held her up to his face where she thrashed uselessly in his grip, shrieking and pleading with him.



“No! Noooo! Please don’t do this Mr. Ito! Please! Don’t do this to me!” She squealed.



“Didn’t I tell you to start calling me Master?” he chastised, but he wasn’t all that upset.



He licked his lips.



He had given her the chance to do it the easy way.



Now that she had squandered that, she could do it his preferred way.



With his first “serious” relationship, he had learned there was an art to undressing. It was Ichika, the girl he had lost his virginity to, that had told him so.



“It’s not guzzling a cheap can of beer or downing a shot glass. You want to take it slow like a fine glass of wine.” Were her words verbatim, as she had grazed his chin with her slender fingers, lightly trailing his jawline in a way that made him flushed back when he had not been used to the touch of a woman. He staunchly remembered the way callipygian form always made his head spin when she was on top. “Drink it all in and savor it slowly. Bit by bit. Sip by sip. That’s the difference between an alcoholic and a connoisseur after all.”



There had been truth in her words as he remembered how smooth her shoulders looked under the dimmed lights of her bedroom. The gloss of her pursed lips as they pressed against his own. The way her long brown and curly hair draped down above him as she leaned down to kiss him from atop his hips. The small divot of the sides of her waist that separated her slim torso and shapely hips that felt heavenly under his touch.



While the relationship hadn’t lasted, she had definitely made certain that her lessons had stuck.



And now that he thought about it, Hana had looked a lot like Ichika.



With the obvious differences of course. Ichika had brown hair while Hana’s was black. Ichika had been rather short for a woman while, previously, Hana had been a bit taller than most of the women back in the office. Ichika was a hairstylist while Hana was an office woman.



And of course, the main difference between them had been that Hiro’s relationship with her had been between equals.



But there was no such absurd notion he had for Hana-chan. Nor did have any intention of giving her any illusion of them being on the same level.



Perhaps that’s why he didn’t feel any ounce of guilt as he slowly reached up and pinched the hem of her black pencil skirt. Immediately, she redoubled her efforts to escape his hold, but all it did was make it easier for him to get a better grip of the garment. As she screamed, begging him to stop, he began to tug it down slowly, trying not to tear the fabric, although truth be told he didn’t care if he did.



It simply added to the challenge not to.



From his experience, usually those types of skirts had a zipper in the back, but at her size, there was no point in trying to fiddle with that.



With a few simple tugs, he had managed to get it down to her knees, which made her thrash around like a worm, before he simply pulled the thing all the way off. He dropped the skirt to the side of the sink, not bothering to watch it flutter down to the floor as his eyes traced her mostly revealed lower body, taking the sight of them in earnest.



Hiro considered himself a leg man.



Whenever he spotted a good pair, he’d always take a nice surreptitious glance at them in appreciation. Some would say it would say it was a bigger fixation for him than any other part of the feminine form.



Earlier last week, Suzuki Hana stood at 169 centimeters tall, which objectively made her rather tall for a woman. That had made her rather long legs noticeable to all who chanced a glance at them as she walked or swiveled in her chair. She usually wore them with sheer, professional stockings, but with the rise in temperatures of the incoming summers, that would have been too much. He had actually liked the way the stockings had made legs glossy sheen that complemented them so well.



Not that it mattered much now that he could see the totality of them in all their glory.



And damn did she have some nice looking legs.



He remembered overhearing a conversation that she had played tennis once upon a time, and he had known that she went for an early morning jog before she started her day at work. Even for as small as she was, he could both see and feel the definition of them, and her activity showed in just how strong yet shapely and soft they looked. They were still on the thin side, but it was obvious she was someone who kept active. And seeing how her thighs seemed to illuminate somewhat under the light began to stir him up.



Her blouse was rather long, and it hid it from his initial view until he tilted her up a bit further. But barely, just barely, just barely, he got the smallest glimpse of her satin pink panties that contrasted so heavily with her monochrome uniform. A spot of color amongst black and white.



His expression became lascivious, eyes in a trance.



“Not yet,” he reminded himself, resisting the urge. He had to be patient. Like sipping fine wine. “Not yet.”



There would come a time in the future he would simply go straight for it, but he had to savor this for the first time. What fun would it be to rush things?



There was no lack of time after all.



She was still kicking in the air, but he decided to adjust his grip so that she was leaning at a slight tilted angle in his palm, pinned against the center with a thumb as he carefully gripped her calves between the fingers of his other hand, rubbing his thumb up and down her leg appreciatively, which earned a cry of indignation.



He said it before and he’d say it again: she truly was beautiful.



And soon enough, those eyes that were looking at him in terror would eventually beg him for that earnest touch.



He’d make sure of it.



He released her legs and reached for her blouse, but she brought her hands up to try to push his finger away with all her. Those tiny hands wouldn’t even be enough to cover the surface of his fingernail, and although he could see her struggling with all her might, her arms straining with exertion, it just felt so weak. So fragile. He could easily break both of her arms if he wasn’t careful.

[Flippity-Floosy]

Little OLs make For Great Pets Actually: Part 2.3

It was always a passive thought in the back of his mind, but as allowed her to struggle under his touch, it made him think.



It was a rather peculiar thing how those gems had worked. Humans weren’t made to be so small after all. Their bodies were made to operate at the sizes they always had been. Physics and biology had made the genetic determinations of the parameters of the species. Even accounting for outliers, certain sizes just weren’t made for the humans to exist at. By all means, this should have been something out of a fairytale or science fiction.



This should have been an impossibility.



She should have been an impossibility.



And yet, that red crystal had somehow managed to do so without any apparent physical side-effects while maintaining the biological structure of whatever, or whoever’s, shape and form.



And just as he carefully snaked his fingertip between her arms and lightly pressed against her bosom, it didn’t matter to him at the moment if it was some sort of advanced technology supplied by aliens or an ancient civilization or if it was simply magic.



As he gingerly took hold of the collar of her shirt between his fingernails, he was simply glad it gave him this opportunity to quite literally have her in the palm of his hand.



She writhed in his grip, shouting up at him. “Stop! You have to stop, Mr. Ito!”



In her panic, she had forgotten to call him master again. Figures. It would take time.



But as punishment, he didn’t bother with even trying to preserve the integrity of her blouse, and he diagonally pulled down in an angle, revealing the pink and white bra strap on her now bare left shoulder. Funny, he really figured she would have been the type to wear an undershirt. Then again, who was he to judge, especially knowing the humidity in the area when it was warmer than usual last week.



He leveled his hand, making her fall backwards, partly hidden by the cage of his own fingers. He couldn’t see her face but clearly heard her little yelp as he began to lightly pull at her top once more, her hands went from her finger to her blouse as she tried to hug it to herself, trying to keep any more from tearing away from her body. Of course, all her efforts were for naught when he decided to simply pull back the blouse as though it was a lollipop wrapper holding on to the stem, popping off all but the lowest button and peeling it down to reveal her torso.



His mouth opened slightly in awe. What a sight.



She really could have passed for a gravure model.



Proportionally speaking of course; now she was too small to be anything at all really, but that didn’t change the fact that her body was the type he saw on websites and magazines.



She had a svelte figure, a trim waist that tapered between her rounded hips and soft upper-chest.



Even with the blouse and blazer, it was easy to tell she was fairly stacked. But with her cleavage in full view, he didn’t know just how much she had hid under those work clothes until now. With a pair of satin, lacey pink and white brassiere, he could see how much they filled out the fabric, and when even if it was so hard to see, he could make out the tiniest little dot situated right below the indent of her clavicle, more than likely a mole above the crevice of her breasts.



For some reason, he thought, the small imperfection made her look all the better as he methodically wormed a nail behind her struggling form to pop the clasp. Hana scrambled to hold onto before he peeled it away but he was much too quick and too strong for her before her entire upper half of her body lay bare before him, revealing her chest in its entirety as he took in the sight of her bright pink areolas, with even tinier nipples.



It was not his first time seeing breasts whatsoever, either with his previous girlfriends or in explicit media forms, but the allure never diminished of course.



She hugged her arms around her chest and bent forward with a miserable howl, trying to hide herself from him as much as possible.



If he listened closely, he was pretty sure he could hear her weep. Not that it mattered; she had cried numerous times ever since he had brought her to his home, it didn’t deter him in the slightest.



Also, he was too focused on how her long dark hair flowed down her back. With a finger tip, he ran her ponytail through his fingertips. It truly was as soft as silk under his touch.



Would the other hair around her body feel the same way?



In time, he guessed he would find out.



“I’m just readying you for a simple bath, Hana-chan,” he assured, although he knew it sounded insincere to the scared woman. And if he was honest, he sounded insincere to himself too. Especially since he hadn’t been able to quite hide the desire in his voice. He traced his finger down her spine, feeling her stiffen up at the contact, until he was able to see the hem feel the featherlight fabric of her panties. “Just a nice, little bath.”



Pinning her arms against her, he drew her out of her fetal position with two fingers and pulled her back, watching with apt interest at the way her bare breasts jiggled with the motion and the curve of her back tilted. He could make out the tear streaks on her reddening face, but he simply ignored them as he forced her into a hanging kneel, using his pinkie nail to hook the hem of her panties.



“N-No…” she begged in unsteady pants, and it was clear she had no more energy left to fight him. “P-Please… M-Master…”



So she did remember.



Not that it would sway him at the moment he managed to get a good hold of them, he pulled the last remaining cloth on her body down her legs, allowing his knuckle to caress her soft bare behind as he pulled her further up into the air before pulling down them fully down and off her bare feet.



Now the only thing she wore was the ponytail holder that kept her hair from hiding the look of open shame and distress on her face.



He couldn’t avert his gaze, able to see her in her full nude glory.



The majority of his male coworkers back in the office probably dreamed of being able to see this with their own eyes.



He was fortunate to see it in reality.



He would be the only one to ever be able to see the small mole above her breast, the pronounced dimples of venus, and the way her body flushed red around her shoulders and sides, almost all the way down to the curvature of her buttocks.



As small as she was, she was still one of the sexiest things he had ever seen in his entire life.



The perfect living doll.



He felt himself begin to press up his pants.



That’s right. From here on out, Suzuki Hana was an actual doll.



His doll.



For him to play with whenever he wanted and however he wanted.



As his right as own her owner.



And as he lowered her to the water of the sink, feeling his groin press harder against his pants, he realized that he was eager to truly acquaint himself with her in a way that would truly cement what she was to him.



And as he lathered and caressed her body, he was pretty sure it was going to be sooner rather than later. her for himself.



His father had given him this gem hoping he would study it further when it had been announced that he had dementia. He had hoped that Hiro would continue the research that had been abandoned so long ago after the flooding of that small island. Maybe he could uncover more about it than he did in his own lifetime.



Hiro had no such intention.



From the moment his father had told him about its properties, he immediately knew what he had planned to do with it.



He loved father, he really did.



He tolerated everyone else. From his friends, his coworkers, and his colleagues.



Sure, he had girlfriends in the past that he felt something for and that could have been the one he would have used the gem on, but after some time he grew tired of them for one reason or another and simply decided against it in the end.



Like Umie.



He was glad he hadn’t used it on her. As beautiful as she was, she had been irksome with the way she demanded he be a bit more romantic or the fact she overshared her social media status too often, bragging about how many more followers she had over another girl or that. Had he used the gem on her, he was sure he would have eventually thrown her in the garbage or flushed her down the toilet.



There were also complete strangers that made him almost impulsively use the gem on them, but then he would staunchly remind himself that they were only one use and he didn’t want to waste it on someone who simply irked him for being too chatty in the train.



He would just wait until the time was right.



Until the person was right.



After biding his time for about six years, all it took was a look at Suzuki Hana for his mind to confirm to him, “She was the one.”



And now, after eleven days, he was still more than happy he had selected her.



Even if she was amply struggling with her new position as a pet. And while he understood it, he didn’t care much for her hesitation.



Like it or not, she was his now.



And she was going to learn her place soon enough whether she wanted to or not.



And right now, he could see she was struggling with the order he had just given her. Rather than anger him, it amused him.



“A-A-A-Ah… Wh-What?” She asked with a nervous smile, playing dumb.



His smile widened as he hovered over her with a leer. “You heard me. Strip.”



The look on her face was so precious, he would’ve taken a picture on his phone if it didn’t risk implicating himself.



“I-I… I, um, need privacy first…” she called up anxiously. “Pl… Please…”



Of course she would ask for that, as anybody would in her position.



But she was his now, and everything about her would operate on his terms.



“Nonsense.” he told her, denying her request. “So you could try to climb down and hurt yourself? Or drown without me knowing? We can’t have that, now can we?”



He could see her eyes flitting about, definitely planning to make a run for it. He bet she probably couldn’t even tell he knew what she was thinking.



“I… I promise I w-won’t run. S-So… If… If you c-could just give me s-some space… Please, Mr. Ito…” she began to plead, and then it finally occurred what was bothering him. She kept calling him by how she usually addressed him. Using san each time. As though they were still equals. He’d have to quickly rectify that. “I… Th-There’s no n-need for th–”



“Sorry Hana-chan, but no,” he deftly told her, the smile never leaving his face. Now incentivized, he twiddled with her in his grip, making her cry out. “As your owner, I think it’s about time to get used to your new position fully. You do belong to me after all,” he held her higher up, hearing her tiny little gasp as readjusted his grip around her. “While we’re on the subject, let’s drop the casual honorifics. From now on, you should be addressing me as Master.”



She looked at him, dumbfounded. As though she couldn’t recognize him. Given the mask he put on at work compared to the one at home, it was no wonder. It was only last week she had known him as merely a fellow salaryman. To her, they were acquaintances more than anything, she only knew surface level things about him.



There would have been no way she would have known how much he knew about her.



How much he had been watching her.



He knew about her mother and grandparents.



He knew about her Tokyo U. alma mater.



He knew she had a single ex-boyfriend named Satoru.



He knew her favorite colors were blue and pink. He knew she liked to collect Dragon Quest keychains. He knew her favorite book was Manazuru, which had brought her to tears on two different occasions. He knew her favorite place to eat was a small family-owned restaurant that had her favorite udon. He knew she didn’t like spicy food. He knew she had a phobia of frogs and toads. He knew every chance she got, she would go to Shibuya to go bowling and play ping pong with her friends. He knew she always got herself mocktails at bars and izakayas and only drunk alcohol on very special occasions.



He knew her father had died from an aneurism, he knew she was an only child. He knew she was the main breadwinner of her family. He knew that her grandparents were devout shintoists, but both her and her mother were agnostic. He knew that her third-year homeroom teacher had been named Fujiwara Kenzo who had died a year after she had graduated high school due to sleep apnea. He knew her best friend in college had been Tanakawa Rin, who was now working as a department store clerk in Shibuya.



In the few months she had been working at the company, he had followed and listened to her in secret and learned so many major and minor details about her he couldn’t help but feel proud.



And now, with her in his possession, she was going to learn more about him.



Starting with where he drew the line.



“So, Hana-chan…” he said with an air of authority, “Are you going to strip? Or would you like me to assist you?”



She shook her head slowly. “No, please, Mr. Ito! D–”



He dropped two hands on each side of her, making her jump. “What did I just say?”



She looked shaken up as she corrected herself. “Please don’t… M-Master,” she uttered pathetically. “I-I’m sorry for not listening before! I’m sorry for saying what I said!”



“What are you going on about? You mean your little tantrum earlier?” He said, trailing his finger to prod the side of her face, which she winced at. “We’ve long moved past that, Hana-chan. I’ve already forgiven you for that. Now we’re moving on to now.”



He lowered his head until he was right over her “So, will you undress on your own or…?”



Her tiny overwrought expression was enough of an answer. Her lips were moving, whispering at a volume too quiet for him to hear.



When she did finally speak up, all she could do was whimper as she took a few tiny steps back, and he could tell she was already positioning herself to make a break for it.



“U-Um… I-I… I c-can’t—”



Without even finishing her sentence, she bolted, trying to run behind his shampoo bottle, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. She had to have known that was a poor hiding spot and that there was nowhere to run.



Effortlessly, he cut her off with a single hand and gripped her in between his middle finger, forefinger and thumb before whisking her up to his face with a little scream.



He held her up to his face where she thrashed uselessly in his grip, shrieking and pleading with him.



“No! Noooo! Please don’t do this Mr. Ito! Please! Don’t do this to me!” She squealed.



“Didn’t I tell you to start calling me Master?” he chastised, but he wasn’t all that upset.



He licked his lips.



He had given her the chance to do it the easy way.



Now that she had squandered that, she could do it his preferred way.



With his first “serious” relationship, he had learned there was an art to undressing. It was Ichika, the girl he had lost his virginity to, that had told him so.



“It’s not guzzling a cheap can of beer or downing a shot glass. You want to take it slow like a fine glass of wine.” Were her words verbatim, as she had grazed his chin with her slender fingers, lightly trailing his jawline in a way that made him flushed back when he had not been used to the touch of a woman. He staunchly remembered the way callipygian form always made his head spin when she was on top. “Drink it all in and savor it slowly. Bit by bit. Sip by sip. That’s the difference between an alcoholic and a connoisseur after all.”



There had been truth in her words as he remembered how smooth her shoulders looked under the dimmed lights of her bedroom. The gloss of her pursed lips as they pressed against his own. The way her long brown and curly hair draped down above him as she leaned down to kiss him from atop his hips. The small divot of the sides of her waist that separated her slim torso and shapely hips that felt heavenly under his touch.



While the relationship hadn’t lasted, she had definitely made certain that her lessons had stuck.



And now that he thought about it, Hana had looked a lot like Ichika.



With the obvious differences of course. Ichika had brown hair while Hana’s was black. Ichika had been rather short for a woman while, previously, Hana had been a bit taller than most of the women back in the office. Ichika was a hairstylist while Hana was an office woman.



And of course, the main difference between them had been that Hiro’s relationship with her had been between equals.



But there was no such absurd notion he had for Hana-chan. Nor did have any intention of giving her any illusion of them being on the same level.



Perhaps that’s why he didn’t feel any ounce of guilt as he slowly reached up and pinched the hem of her black pencil skirt. Immediately, she redoubled her efforts to escape his hold, but all it did was make it easier for him to get a better grip of the garment. As she screamed, begging him to stop, he began to tug it down slowly, trying not to tear the fabric, although truth be told he didn’t care if he did.



It simply added to the challenge not to.



From his experience, usually those types of skirts had a zipper in the back, but at her size, there was no point in trying to fiddle with that.



With a few simple tugs, he had managed to get it down to her knees, which made her thrash around like a worm, before he simply pulled the thing all the way off. He dropped the skirt to the side of the sink, not bothering to watch it flutter down to the floor as his eyes traced her mostly revealed lower body, taking the sight of them in earnest.



Hiro considered himself a leg man.



Whenever he spotted a good pair, he’d always take a nice surreptitious glance at them in appreciation. Some would say it would say it was a bigger fixation for him than any other part of the feminine form.



Earlier last week, Suzuki Hana stood at 169 centimeters tall, which objectively made her rather tall for a woman. That had made her rather long legs noticeable to all who chanced a glance at them as she walked or swiveled in her chair. She usually wore them with sheer, professional stockings, but with the rise in temperatures of the incoming summers, that would have been too much. He had actually liked the way the stockings had made legs glossy sheen that complemented them so well.



Not that it mattered much now that he could see the totality of them in all their glory.



And damn did she have some nice looking legs.



He remembered overhearing a conversation that she had played tennis once upon a time, and he had known that she went for an early morning jog before she started her day at work. Even for as small as she was, he could both see and feel the definition of them, and her activity showed in just how strong yet shapely and soft they looked. They were still on the thin side, but it was obvious she was someone who kept active. And seeing how her thighs seemed to illuminate somewhat under the light began to stir him up.



Her blouse was rather long, and it hid it from his initial view until he tilted her up a bit further. But barely, just barely, just barely, he got the smallest glimpse of her satin pink panties that contrasted so heavily with her monochrome uniform. A spot of color amongst black and white.



His expression became lascivious, eyes in a trance.



“Not yet,” he reminded himself, resisting the urge. He had to be patient. Like sipping fine wine. “Not yet.”



There would come a time in the future he would simply go straight for it, but he had to savor this for the first time. What fun would it be to rush things?



There was no lack of time after all.



She was still kicking in the air, but he decided to adjust his grip so that she was leaning at a slight tilted angle in his palm, pinned against the center with a thumb as he carefully gripped her calves between the fingers of his other hand, rubbing his thumb up and down her leg appreciatively, which earned a cry of indignation.



He said it before and he’d say it again: she truly was beautiful.



And soon enough, those eyes that were looking at him in terror would eventually beg him for that earnest touch.



He’d make sure of it.



He released her legs and reached for her blouse, but she brought her hands up to try to push his finger away with all her. Those tiny hands wouldn’t even be enough to cover the surface of his fingernail, and although he could see her struggling with all her might, her arms straining with exertion, it just felt so weak. So fragile. He could easily break both of her arms if he wasn’t careful.



It was always a passive thought in the back of his mind, but as allowed her to struggle under his touch, it made him think.



It was a rather peculiar thing how those gems had worked. Humans weren’t made to be so small after all. Their bodies were made to operate at the sizes they always had been. Physics and biology had made the genetic determinations of the parameters of the species. Even accounting for outliers, certain sizes just weren’t made for the humans to exist at. By all means, this should have been something out of a fairytale or science fiction.



This should have been an impossibility.



She should have been an impossibility.



And yet, that red crystal had somehow managed to do so without any apparent physical side-effects while maintaining the biological structure of whatever, or whoever’s, shape and form.



And just as he carefully snaked his fingertip between her arms and lightly pressed against her bosom, it didn’t matter to him at the moment if it was some sort of advanced technology supplied by aliens or an ancient civilization or if it was simply magic.



As he gingerly took hold of the collar of her shirt between his fingernails, he was simply glad it gave him this opportunity to quite literally have her in the palm of his hand.



She writhed in his grip, shouting up at him. “Stop! You have to stop, Mr. Ito!”



In her panic, she had forgotten to call him master again. Figures. It would take time.



But as punishment, he didn’t bother with even trying to preserve the integrity of her blouse, and he diagonally pulled down in an angle, revealing the pink and white bra strap on her now bare left shoulder. Funny, he really figured she would have been the type to wear an undershirt. Then again, who was he to judge, especially knowing the humidity in the area when it was warmer than usual last week.



He leveled his hand, making her fall backwards, partly hidden by the cage of his own fingers. He couldn’t see her face but clearly heard her little yelp as he began to lightly pull at her top once more, her hands went from her finger to her blouse as she tried to hug it to herself, trying to keep any more from tearing away from her body. Of course, all her efforts were for naught when he decided to simply pull back the blouse as though it was a lollipop wrapper holding on to the stem, popping off all but the lowest button and peeling it down to reveal her torso.



His mouth opened slightly in awe. What a sight.



She really could have passed for a gravure model.



Proportionally speaking of course; now she was too small to be anything at all really, but that didn’t change the fact that her body was the type he saw on websites and magazines.



She had a svelte figure, a trim waist that tapered between her rounded hips and soft upper-chest.



Even with the blouse and blazer, it was easy to tell she was fairly stacked. But with her cleavage in full view, he didn’t know just how much she had hid under those work clothes until now. With a pair of satin, lacey pink and white brassiere, he could see how much they filled out the fabric, and when even if it was so hard to see, he could make out the tiniest little dot situated right below the indent of her clavicle, more than likely a mole above the crevice of her breasts.



For some reason, he thought, the small imperfection made her look all the better as he methodically wormed a nail behind her struggling form to pop the clasp. Hana scrambled to hold onto before he peeled it away but he was much too quick and too strong for her before her entire upper half of her body lay bare before him, revealing her chest in its entirety as he took in the sight of her bright pink areolas, with even tinier nipples.



It was not his first time seeing breasts whatsoever, either with his previous girlfriends or in explicit media forms, but the allure never diminished of course.



She hugged her arms around her chest and bent forward with a miserable howl, trying to hide herself from him as much as possible.



If he listened closely, he was pretty sure he could hear her weep. Not that it mattered; she had cried numerous times ever since he had brought her to his home, it didn’t deter him in the slightest.



Also, he was too focused on how her long dark hair flowed down her back. With a finger tip, he ran her ponytail through his fingertips. It truly was as soft as silk under his touch.



Would the other hair around her body feel the same way?



In time, he guessed he would find out.



“I’m just readying you for a simple bath, Hana-chan,” he assured, although he knew it sounded insincere to the scared woman. And if he was honest, he sounded insincere to himself too. Especially since he hadn’t been able to quite hide the desire in his voice. He traced his finger down her spine, feeling her stiffen up at the contact, until he was able to see the hem feel the featherlight fabric of her panties. “Just a nice, little bath.”



Pinning her arms against her, he drew her out of her fetal position with two fingers and pulled her back, watching with apt interest at the way her bare breasts jiggled with the motion and the curve of her back tilted. He could make out the tear streaks on her reddening face, but he simply ignored them as he forced her into a hanging kneel, using his pinkie nail to hook the hem of her panties.



“N-No…” she begged in unsteady pants, and it was clear she had no more energy left to fight him. “P-Please… M-Master…”



So she did remember.



Not that it would sway him at the moment he managed to get a good hold of them, he pulled the last remaining cloth on her body down her legs, allowing his knuckle to caress her soft bare behind as he pulled her further up into the air before pulling down them fully down and off her bare feet.



Now the only thing she wore was the ponytail holder that kept her hair from hiding the look of open shame and distress on her face.



He couldn’t avert his gaze, able to see her in her full nude glory.



The majority of his male coworkers back in the office probably dreamed of being able to see this with their own eyes.



He was fortunate to see it in reality.



He would be the only one to ever be able to see the small mole above her breast, the pronounced dimples of venus, and the way her body flushed red around her shoulders and sides, almost all the way down to the curvature of her buttocks.



As small as she was, she was still one of the sexiest things he had ever seen in his entire life.



The perfect living doll.



He felt himself begin to press up his pants.



That’s right. From here on out, Suzuki Hana was an actual doll.



His doll.



For him to play with whenever he wanted and however he wanted.



As his right as her owner.



And as he lowered her to the water of the sink, feeling his groin press harder against his pants, he realized that he was eager to truly acquaint himself with her in a way that would truly cement what she was to him.



And as he lathered and caressed her body, he was pretty sure it was going to be sooner rather than later.