Akiko opened her eyes some time later, and blearily looked around the room. To her, everything looked like a blur, so she closed her eyes. Before falling asleep again, she thought she heard an unusual whirring noise.
Akiko awoke again later, and could see much more clearly. She simply lay there for a few moments before realizing she was lying on her stomach in the middle of her living room, wearing a schoolgirl’s uniform no less. She quickly scrambled to her feet, and gasped. Standing in front of her was one of the last people she expected (or hoped) to see.
“Chiaki?!” Akiko screeched, painfully aware of how childish her voice had begun to sound.
“The same.” Chiaki said smugly. “I should be the one incredulous of whom I’m addressing, though.” Chiaki’s second statement had the air of a comment one had been thinking of saying for a long time.
Akiko stared at her blankly. She noted, with extreme displeasure, that Chiaki was quite a bit taller than her now. She started down at her feet and realized she had somehow slipped off her platforms during the night before. She never felt more like wearing them than right now.
“Ryo sent me to make sure you’re okay and all that. I don’t know what I’m going to have to tell her, what with you passed out on your floor here.”
Akiko stared blankly again before looking back up at Chiaki and speaking. “What time is it?”
“Oh, about noon. I skipped class to come here, but that’s not important. How are you enjoying your second childhood? I heard that Asians don’t age well, but it looks like I was quite wrong.”
“Laugh all you want, Chiaki.” Akiko adjusted her skirt. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get changed.”
“Okay.” Chiaki said with a trace of a smile. “But you’d like to see this.” She held up a digital camera.
Akiko looked at the device apprehensively. “You didn’t...”
“I did. Several, in fact. Here, let me show this one. It’s pretty good, nice lighting and angle.” She fiddled with the camera and showed Akiko the preview screen.
It wasn’t the lighting and angle that Akiko was concerned about. It was a photograph of Akiko lying on the floor, as she was just a minute ago, and was very unflattering. Her mouth was agape, her hair disheveled, and her skirt was flipped up, exposing her white panty clad butt. “Chiaki!” She whined, looking up at her.
“I got all sorts of them, with you in all kinds of poses. They’ll be fun to look back on,” Chiaki said with a laugh.
Akiko looked at her, blood boiling. She made a wild grab for the camera, but Chiaki deftly moved it up out of Akiko’s reach. She brought her other arm down and grabbed Akiko’s arm.
“Bad girl,” Chiaki mocked, easily twisting Akiko’s arm behind her back. She put the camera down behind her, then proceeded to flip up Akiko’s skirt and give her one good thwack on the bottom. She pushed her away then grabbed the camera again. “See ya, little girl.” Chiaki laughed, and walked out the door, still with the camera.
Akiko was still rubbing her hindquarters as her “friend” left. Bitch, she thought. With that thought firmly in her mind, she went to get changed. In her bedroom, Akiko eagerly stripped off the uniform. She looked at herself in the mirror dejectedly. Her entire body seemed to have thinned considerably, leaving little evidence of the womanly curves she had sported only a few days before. Her breasts looked puny even in her smaller bra; she believed they had shrunk to a low B cup. Akiko sighed, and got out some clothes to put on. She slipped on a pair of pants, but found the legs of them extended a few inches past her feet, and the waist was rather loose. She grabbed a belt, put it on, and went to get the boots she wore as Smile to make up for her increasing shortness. As she started to zip up the formerly calf-high boots, she realized that they were now a bit above her knees. She was glad she was wearing pants; otherwise the boots would have looked weird. She moved her feet inside the boots, then sighed, having forgotten to stuff them with tissue. She did so, then turned to appraise the rest of her. Knowing that the bras in her dresser would be far too large for her now, Akiko continued to wear the one she found along with her uniform. Before tossing on a shirt, she jammed a few handfuls of tissue in her bra.
Akiko walked to the old man’s shop, somewhat clumsily in her tall-soled boots. Even with the addition of tissue, her feet were getting too small for her old footwear. She dare not step out of them though, as she grasped desperately to the viewpoint she had become accustomed to for so many years. She tried to put the thought in the back of her head that this was the tallest pair of boots she owned, and if she got any smaller, no amount of platform would bring that back. Despite her best efforts, she started thinking about how she looked, this girl who was barely a teenager, walking along in oversized clothes and gigantic boots. Her mind was confused, for she was wearing these big boots and wasn’t really any taller than before. She became self-conscious of other people’s stares in the street, and tried to rush quickly to her destination. More than once she almost tripped, the practice and expertise she had as an adult slipping away for the clumsiness and inexperience of a child. Finally, she arrived. She stepped into the store, and was immediately greeted by the proprietor.
“Ah, you’re here. We have much to discuss.” He motioned to a stool by the counter, and Akiko sat on it. Akiko started to feel her boots slide off her feet, but cancelled the motion by quickly jamming her boots onto the stool’s supports. He looked at her for a moment, taking her in. “I see the potion is still taking its effects. Let me ask you: can you remember what the instructions that came with the potion said?”
“Er, they said something about one capful will reverse a year.”
The old man looked at her, and inhaled deeply. “I’m afraid that those instructions lied to you. I have discerned that this particular formula will always regress its imbiber to an approximate one-fourth their age. Taking more of it will speed up the process, but the destination is always the same. From the dosage you took, it looks like you are going slightly faster than a year a day.”
“Can you reverse it?” Akiko asked quickly.
Again the old man took a deep breath. “I’m afraid not,” he said, and seeing the look on Akiko’s face, quickly continued, “Not right now. I have to know the exact formula of this potion to make an antidote. If you can find where this was purchased, or who brewed it, I can help you.”
Akiko looked at him evenly for a moment. “But how can I do that?”
“Ask yourself: who would send me something like this? There are other shops like mine about, perhaps they made it.” He again looked at her, concentrating. “You used to go to the college here, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then get in touch with my grandson, he will help you. His name is Jin.”
“Jin? Short, stocky guy? Has got kind of a mustache?”
The old man nodded.
“I know him. Alright, I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Thank you.” Akiko said, and the man nodded. She left for the park, to think about things.
Akiko sat on the bench, running suspects through her head. Could it be Chiaki? She enjoyed Akiko’s transformation quite a bit, maybe she initiated it. Maybe Ryo? She wanted her to come to the convention so much. She even enjoyed having a “little sister” around. Perhaps it was Jin? He did mention something about a practical joke that wasn’t really a practical joke. Or it could have been someone else, for some inscrutable reason. Her thoughts turned to what the old man had said. She was going to be six years old before this ended, if they didn’t find the antidote. Akiko sighed, resigning herself to her fate. They’d find an antidote and she’d be ok. There was nothing to worry about except the impending regression. She looked around the park, watching children play.
All day long, Akiko could almost feel herself shrinking. She was quite aware that she was gradually getting shorter as the day went on, and that her bust was deflating rapidly. Evening approached, and she headed for home. As she was making her way home from the park, she realized how difficult it was for her to balance on her boots, and she had to walk slowly to avoid falling. She experienced the curious sensation of the boots crawling up her legs, and their weight becoming a burden on her feet. When at a crowded street corner, a salaryman brushed passed Akiko and caused her to fall, landing hard on her bottom. The man apologized, and helped her up. After that, Akiko chose to take off the boots and walk home barefoot.
Without her boots, she realized how short she now was. The eight inches she had lost before, coupled with today’s shrinking, had placed her in a world of giants. She had to constantly look up to meet people’s eyes. She passed several young children, noticing how high up they came on her. Akiko stared at the cumbersome boots in her hands, longing for the illusion of height they granted her, but knew she was getting too young for it. Her feet were just too small, and the boots too heavy for her to be able to walk in them, and it was only becoming more apparent with every year lost. They even felt heavy in her hands. She began to fear that someone she knew would see her in her diminished state, and quickly rushed home to avoid such a scenario.
Akiko was expecting a visit from Ryo in the evening, but it never came. Spending the night in solitude, Akiko went to bed early. She looked at her face in the mirror and hardly recognized it. It was rounder, more fresh-looking, and her nose had readopted the round shape of youth. She unconsciously lowered her hands first to her receding breasts, then to her boyishly-flat ass. Taking off her clothes, she regarded her skinny legs and her pubic hair, which had thinned dramatically. She went to sleep desperately hoping she could find the source of the potion.
Akiko awoke early the next day, eager to search for the answer to her mystery. When getting dressed, however, she encountered problems. Almost all of her clothes were simply too large for her skinny twelve-year-old body. Shirts were ridiculously baggy, pants were too long, skirts didn’t fit right, shoes were much too long and wide, and even her panties were a little too loose for comfort. Her breasts had shrunken to A-cups, and she had to stuff her bra with a good deal of tissue paper to even create the illusion that she had boobs at all. Rummaging through her clothes, she eventually settled on a formerly tight-fitting T-shirt (which now hung loosely on her) and a mini-skirt that functioned as a knee-length skirt. She put on some sneakers with a six-inch rise so she wouldn’t feel so short, stuffing the toe with tissue and tying the laces as tight as they would go to keep them on.
Akiko assessed her looks in the mirror. She sighed, a feeling of defeat washing over her. She realized she couldn’t go out in public looking as she did, as it would be too embarrassing. The fact she was getting smaller would cause her carefully fitted clothes to fall off her at some point, leading to more embarrassment. Instead, she phoned Ryo’s cell phone for help.
“Hello?” chirped Ryo’s voice over the phone.
“Ryo?”
“That’s me! And who’s this?”
“Uh, it’s Akiko.”
“Oh! Right! I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize your voice. Whaddya need?”
“Well, none of my clothes fit anymore. Why don’t you come over after your classes are done and help me out?”
“Oh, sure! Actually, I’ll cut class now, it’s not really that important.”
“Alright, if you say so.”
“Okay! See you in a bit!”
Akiko put down the phone and waited for her friend to arrive. It didn’t take long; Ryo was serious about skipping class. Akiko let her in the door. Ryo started to look forward, expecting the eye-line of Akiko to be somewhere in that region, but her gaze slowly moved downward to stare at her youthful companion.
“Oh my, Akiko. Look, honey, sit down.” She guided Akiko to a nearby chair, holding her by the shoulders.
“Hey, what? What’s this about, Ryo?”
Saying nothing, Ryo quickly tugged Akiko’s loose shirt right off her.
“Hey!” Akiko squealed, throwing her arms over her chest.
Ryo looked critically at Akiko’s bra, containing little but tissue paper. “Come on, sweetie, do you even have boobs anymore? Let’s get this thing off you.” With a little bit of grappling with her friend, Ryo slipped the garment off her, causing wadded-up bits of paper to come pouring out.
“Ryo!” Akiko squawked.
“Just as I thought,” Ryo said, examining Akiko’s diminished chest. “I’ll get you a training bra if you want, but that stuffed bra just looks silly on you.”
After a moment, Akiko nodded. “Fine, but I don’t need the training bra.” With that, she put her shirt back on, trying not to look down at the flat plain her chest had become. “Anyway, I’m going to need some clothes that fit.”
“I’ll say.” Ryo said, chuckling. “Finally, I get to go shopping for my little sister!”
“Yeah, great. Look, I’ve got some measuring tape...”
With some quick measurements, the pair decided on what size Akiko was now. Akiko instructed her to get something tasteful, and only to buy one outfit, as she would probably be too small for it soon anyway. Ryo left, and came back within half an hour with a shopping bag.
Akiko opened the bag, and wasn’t too horrified with what she saw. Ryo had chosen a bright yellow tank top, a pair of sneakers, and a pair of jean shorts. Akiko also saw that there was a package of white panties, in a size that would fit her. She went to her bedroom to change (she ignored the shoes, preferring to wear her platforms), and came back looking slightly embarrassed, tugging at the outfit.
“Oh my god!” Ryo exclaimed as soon as Akiko came back into view. “You look so cute!”
“Aw, be quiet.” Akiko said, a redness coming over her face.
“Anyway, little sis, we need to talk.” Ryo said, adopting a grave tone to her voice. “Chiaki tells me you were out drinking the other day. Passed out on your floor, she says.”
“Well, yeah, but...” Akiko feebly protested. “But did she tell you what she did?”
Ryo shook her head, and Akiko recounted the story.
“Bitch!” Ryo fumed.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” agreed Akiko.
“We’ll have to get even with her somehow.” She looked off into space for a few seconds, then continued. “So, did you go talk to the magician?”
“Yeah. He said he can make an antidote if I find where it came from. That’s the good news; the bad news is that it’s going to make me six years old before it stops.”
Ryo’s face distorted into glee at the “bad news”, but she quickly suppressed it. “Okay, so we’ll just have to find out who sent it. You have any idea?”
Akiko waved her thin arm vaguely. “I was thinking maybe Chiaki; she’s getting a kick out of it. Could be Jin, he’s a joker, and that old man is actually his grandpa.”
“Hmm, I see. Well, I’ll talk to Chiaki tomorrow and see if she confesses anything. If she doesn’t...” Ryo gave a wry smile, and Akiko didn’t want to know what she was thinking about.
“The old guy said that Jin would help me if I asked him, so we should talk to him this weekend.”
“Don’t you think it was Jin?”
“If it was, then there’s nothing to worry about. He’s a nice guy, and he’d be the first to admit it - if he did it. He did say something to me that kind of got me suspicious, though...”
“Really? What did he say?”
“Er, he said something about ‘sometimes a joke only seems like a joke’, and I thought he might be talking about the Youth Potion.”
Ryo seemed to digest this. “Oh yeah, where is the Youth Potion?”
“Uh, it’s still at the old man’s shop.”
“You dummy! How are we supposed to find out where it came from if we don’t have it?”
“Uh, well...” Akiko stammered, suddenly feeling very foolish.
“Come on! Let’s go get it!” Ryo said, slipping on her shoes. “Oh, but one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Could you take off those damn shoes?”
Akiko looked at her platform sneakers, which gave her a six inch lift. Even with them on, she was no more than a couple inches shorter than her friend. “Do I have to?”
“Yes. If you want me to help you, you have to be my little sister for a few days. Okay?” Ryo cajoled, with her usual sunny temperament.
Akiko conceded, taking off her sneakers with some reluctance. To her, it seemed as if everything got higher, including Ryo.
“That’s better. Yay!” Ryo said exuberantly, looking down at her shrunken friend, who was more than a head shorter than her. Akiko put on the shoes Ryo had bought her, and the two left for the magician’s shop.
Akiko did not enjoy the walk. It was like when Ryo had first found that she was taller than Akiko, but much worse. Ryo would often look down at her, and burst into a small fit of laughter. Akiko also found, to her humiliation, that she wasn’t receiving any of the male stares that she was used to; these were all directed to her companion. She looked up at Ryo and realized the sensations she were experiencing had to be on par with when she looked down on Ryo as Smile, but Ryo’s height was all natural, not platform enhanced.
The old man wasn’t in the mood to talk, so he gave them the potion without saying much. Ryo mentioned something about visiting other magic shops in town, and took the potion. Somewhat relieved to see her go, Akiko went back to the college to see if she could find Jin.
It wasn’t hard. Akiko simply waited by Jin’s bicycle, waiting for his classes to get over with. After less than an hour, Jin showed up.
“Uh, hi,” Akiko said, somewhat quietly.
“Um, hi,” Jin responded, not recognizing her.
Jin started to mount his bike. Akiko moved forward. “Wait.”
“What do you need?”
“Your grandpa said to talk to you.”
“My grandfather? Why? Who are you?”
“Um, I’m Akiko. Akiko Fubihara.”
A look of comprehension crept across Jin’s face. “Akiko? Really?”
Akiko replied with a nod.
“Oh, I see. That grandfather. I guess... you got the ol’ youth treatment? How?”
Akiko told him the story.
“Uh-huh. Look, you got nothing to worry about. Usually if someone sends a potion like that, like one that makes you that young without telling you, it means that they’ve got a grudge against you and they’re going to do something nasty once you’ve drank it. But nobody’s gone after you yet, right?”
“Well, Chiaki showed up and gave me a hard time, but she left soon.”
“Alright. Usually the sender would do something by now. I’m thinking, but I’m not sure, that they just got the instructions screwed up somehow.”
“Ah, okay.”
“So you’ve just got to figure out where it came from, and you’ll be good. There’s only so many places around here, in fact, in all of Japan, that do stuff like this. Here, I’ve got a list...” Jin fished out a small piece of paper from his backpack and handed it to Akiko.
“Wow, you’ve got everything covered,” Akiko awed, reading the paper.
“You wouldn’t believe how much I have to do this. Folks are always getting screwed up by this stuff.”
Akiko smiled. “And to think I thought it was you who sent it.”
“What? You did?”
“For a while. You do lots of stunts like that.”
“Heh. I only use magic in my jokes when it’s somebody I really don’t like.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” said Akiko warmly.
“Ryo probably told you, but you’re pretty cute like this,” Jin said, ruffling Akiko’s blue hair annoyingly. He swung his leg over his bike and rode away.
Akiko waited at the park, her designated meeting place with Ryo. Ryo came by in the afternoon, looking disappointed.
“Nothing,” she whined. “They were all fakes. It’s going to be impossible; there are so many places that think they sell magic stuff.”
“Don’t worry, Jin gave me this list,” Akiko said, handing Ryo the paper.
Ryo looked over it quickly, her eyes lighting up. “And these are all real magic shops?”
“Yeah. There’s not too many, you see.”
“Mm-hmm,” Ryo murmured, still absorbing the paper.
“So we should go check these out tomorrow, right?”
“No, that’s okay. Just leave the going to magic places to me, alright?”
“Er, if you say so.”
So they agreed that Ryo would be the one checking out magic shops and that Akiko would try to see if she could puzzle out the whole mystery of who sent it to her in the first place. Akiko was less than thrilled with this prospect, but at least it kept Ryo away from her much of the time. Or so she thought.
The next day, a Friday, Akiko’s body had lost all traces of puberty. Her once proud breasts had been reduced all the way to slightly puffy nipples. Her pubic hair had vanished completely. She had lost at least two inches in height since Ryo bought her clothes, so they were fairly loose-fitting on her now.
As she left the closet, she caught a glimpse of the Smile coat hanging in the doorway. Ryo had given it to her after the convention, and she had placed it on the coat hanger in the closet. She realized now that the coat was longer than she was tall, and that was with the boots she had worn! She closed the door behind her, thinking of how her cosplay days would be postponed for years if they didn’t find an antidote.
Akiko didn’t think that she was going to have much luck figuring out who her mystery potion-sender was, so she decided to spend the day shopping for fitting clothes. She purchased two outfits; one sized to her current body, and another smaller one for later. She also bought a pair of platform sneakers that fit her smaller feet, though she knew she couldn’t manage much of a thick sole, and only got them in a three inch height. The clothes she was wearing had become uncomfortably loose on her, so she ducked off to a restroom to change them. She came back out wearing a simple red shirt, black skirt, and the raised sneakers.
Later in the day, Akiko was sitting at a food court, enjoying some parfait, when she heard a voice shout her name. She twisted her head in the direction of the shout, and saw Chiaki jogging towards her. Akiko muttered something to herself as Chiaki took a seat across from her.
“I recognized the hair,” Chiaki explained, point to Akiko’s feathered blue hair. Akiko knew it really stood out in a crowd.
“Hi, Chiaki,” Akiko said evenly.
“I wanted to apologize for the other day,” said Chiaki, “But those pictures were too funny not to take!”
“I see,” Akiko said, without much forgiveness in her voice.
The two sat at the table for a while, Chiaki trying to make small talk and Akiko making it clear she was quite angry with her.
“So, how young are you going to get?” Chiaki said, changing the subject abruptly. “Can I look forward to changing baby Akiko’s diapers?”
“Not much more. I’m getting the antidote soon.” No use in telling her what she didn’t need to know.
“Ah. What’s it feel like, being little again?” Chiaki’s gaze lowered down to Akiko’s flat chest. “And to not have to wear a bra?”
“Excuse me, I have to go,” Akiko said, standing up and throwing the remains of her parfait away. Chiaki waved her goodbye, smiling.
Akiko didn’t see Ryo at all that day; she assumed she was visiting the magic shops. That was okay with her, because she wasn’t too fond of being in her regressed state around Ryo.
Akiko was hoping to sleep in on Saturday, but she was rudely awakened by a slew of doorbell-ringings. She got up to answer the door wearing her nightgown, the hem of which was dragging on the floor behind her. She opened the door and was unsurprised but annoyed to see Ryo.
“Hey, Akiko! What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just trying to get some sleep,” Akiko said testily.
“Aww, is somebody cranky?” Ryo chuckled, ruffling Akiko’s feathery hair playfully.
Akiko swatted Ryo’s hand away. This hair ruffling seemed to be happening more often the younger she got. “I thought you were going to magic shops today.”
“Well, I would, but they’re all closed. Seems none of them are open on weekends, at least that’s what Jin’s paper said. So you and I get to hang out all day!”
“That’s great.” Akiko said unconvincingly. “Let me get dressed real quick, okay?”
Akiko tossed on the clothes she wore the day before, which still fit reasonably well. Arriving back in the living room, she began interviewing Ryo.
“So, did you find anything yesterday?”
“If you mean anything about your potion, no. I did find some neat things, though,” Ryo said with one of her grins. Akiko didn’t ask about it, as she never did when Ryo flashed that grin. “So, what do you want to do today?”
Akiko found it didn’t really matter what she wanted to do that day (she wanted to go to the movies and other places that she wouldn’t have to be seen). Ryo took her about town shopping, eating, and partaking in other amusements.
“Here you are, Akiko-chan.” Ryo said sweetly, handing her companion an ice cream cone. She paid the vendor and began licking at her own ice cream.
“I ran into Chiaki again yesterday,” Akiko said.
“Really? What did she say?”
Akiko told her.
“Hmm. Maybe it really was her who sent the potion. She just loves seeing you like this, right?”
“Yeah, but so do you.”
“Akiko-chan!” (Ryo had recently started adding that suffix to Akiko’s name, and Akiko was quite annoyed by it) “You don’t think I sent it, do you?”
“No,” Akiko lied, “I’m just saying is all.”
“We should have tea or something with her and see if we can get her to confess.”
“I thought you said you were going to talk to her.”
Ryo’s face put on a puzzled look. “Oh yeah, I guess I did. Well, we should have her over for tea tomorrow and talk to her.”
“What makes you think she’ll admit anything? I think she’d have said something by now.”
“I dunno. I can be pretty persuasive sometimes,” Ryo said with a grin.
The two spent the rest of the day in idle diversions, and Ryo promised to invite Chiaki over for tea at Ryo’s place tomorrow.
Akiko slipped off her loose clothes to change into her nightgown. She took stock of her gradually dwindling body. She had begun to regain some baby fat, giving her a cherubic appearance. She threw her nightgown on, which fit like a tent.
“I wanted to be young, but not this young,” She sighed in her girlish voice.
The next day Akiko dressed herself in the smaller set of clothes she bought, which consisted of a white Hello Kitty T-shirt (it was the least embarrassing style she could find) and a pair of jeans. She went downstairs to make herself breakfast. Preparing meals had become an increasingly difficult task for the youthening Akiko, as she had to stretch and stand on the tips of her toes for items she would grab without a second thought when she was taller.
Akiko received a call from Ryo later.
“Chiaki’s going to be here at three to have tea,” Ryo said, “I told her you were coming, and she agreed immediately.”
“But I don’t want to come if Chiaki’s going to be there,” Akiko whined.
“But you have to! Trust me, you’ll want to be there.”
“Fine,” Akiko conceded.
Akiko went to Ryo’s at a quarter to three. She was surprised to find that Chiaki was already there, talking animatedly to Ryo.
“Oh hi, Akiko. Chiaki and I were just talking about you,” Ryo said, setting out teacups for them.
“Yeah, I’m sure you were,” Akiko said sourly, seeing the smile on Chiaki’s face.
“That’s a cute shirt you have there, Akiko-chan,” Chiaki said.
Akiko said nothing, but Ryo giggled. Bad enough that Ryo started to use that suffix, but it was more annoying when Chiaki did it.
“I hope you’ve been enjoying your week off.” Chiaki said, with a chuckle in her voice. “Old Kitabatake-san has been especially worried.”
“So, have you been curious as to how Akiko-chan arrived at this condition, Chiaki?” Ryo said pleasantly, pulling the teapot off of the stove.
“Yes, how did this all happen, Akiko?” Chiaki asked.
“Oh, you don’t know?” Akiko said, and Chiaki shook her head. “There was this ‘Youth Potion’ sent to me, and I drank it.”
“Who sent this potion?” Chiaki asked.
“It didn’t say, but I think I know who it is.”
“Yeah? Who?”
“Somebody you know.”
“Who?”
Akiko shifted uncomfortably, and Ryo interrupted by serving them all tea.
“Drink up, guys,” Ryo said, “New variety, supposed to be pretty good.”
Akiko sipped at her cup. It tasted absolutely foul. She set the cup down and looked to Ryo. “Ryo...”
“Shh...” Ryo whispered, drinking from her cup purposefully.
“Hey, this is pretty good,” Chiaki said, after drinking a healthy amount. She took another pull at it, and licked her lips.
“You have any idea about who could have sent Akiko that potion, Chiaki?” Ryo asked.
“What? No.” Chiaki said, putting down her cup. Akiko noticed something strange about Chiaki, but she couldn’t identify it... then it came to her: she was regressing! Chiaki looked to be about eighteen now, her face having lost some of its former twenty-plus maturity. As Akiko watched, she seemed to be de-aging more rapidly. Her features became thinner, more youthful, and her chest began to recede.
Chiaki’s full chest, which was displayed most prominently by her tight shirt, started to seem less impressive. She didn’t immediately notice this, but unconsciously readjusted her bra. Whatever it was that was causing this transformation continued to take its toll; Chiaki’s bust continued to shrink, her features became even softer, her legs and butt thinned, she became slowly shorter, and her hips surrendered their womanly proportions. About when she reached the physical age of fifteen, Chiaki noticed something was wrong.
“Guh, I feel weird.” Chiaki said, standing up. She was wearing a pair of low-riding, hip-hugging pants, and as a result of her decreased dimensions, they lost their hold on her and crumpled to the ground. Akiko and Ryo were afforded a brief view of Chiaki’s yellow panties before she hiked her pants back up. She looked down to see what had caused her pants to fall, and saw her diminished breasts. Letting her pants drop, she pulled her collar open and looked into her shirt. She was horrified to find her breasts, once plump globes, reduced to modest growths resting within the spacious confines of the bra they once filled. Chiaki quickly realized what was happening, and tried to run towards the door. She stumbled a bit on the pants pooled by her ankles. The stumbling allowed Ryo enough time to grab her by the arm.
“Stick around for a bit, we got some questions for ya.” Ryo said, addressing the scared-looking fourteen-year-old. Chiaki was shrinking rapidly, suffering from a reverse growth spurt. Her shirt billowed on her, slipping down to cover her flattening ass. Her legs became thin and boring, her little breasts became even littler and melted into her chest, leaving her bra hanging uselessly on her small shoulders. Freckles began to spread across her youthful face. The process stopped, leaving her an awkward, small eleven-year-old, feebly struggling in Ryo’s grip.
“Okay, now tell me. Who sent that potion to Akiko?” asked Ryo.
“I don’t know!” bawled Chiaki. “Change me back!”
“You don’t know? You’re sure it wasn’t you?” continued Ryo.
“No!”
“If you don’t tell us, I’ll make you younger! You’ll be calling Akiko-chan ‘big sister’!” Ryo threatened, shaking the younger girl.
“I swear, I don’t know!” Chiaki answered, still twisting in Ryo’s grasp. Her movements disturbed her panties’ tenuous grip on her body, and they came sliding down her legs.
Ryo dragged her body over to the table, and grabbed a cup of tea. She forced the liquid down Chiaki’s gullet, and observed the changes. Chiaki shrunk even more, causing her shirt’s collar to slip over her shoulder, revealing a flat nipple.
“Stop!” Chiaki wailed in her high-pitched voice.
Akiko, who had been watching in stunned silence, approached. “Ryo, stop. That’s enough.” Akiko thought it quite a shock to be regressing as slow as she was. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like in Chiaki’s position.
Chiaki, who looked to be no older than seven now, wiped her eyes on her now-lengthy sleeve.
Ryo looked ahead blankly for a moment, then let go of Chiaki’s arm. “Er, sorry Chiaki. I guess I got carried away.” Ryo paused for a bit. “You’re sure you didn’t send it?”
“Yes!” Chiaki sniffled.
“Can you change her back?” Akiko said quietly.
“Yes, but...” Ryo said, scratching the back of her head.
“But what?”
“I thought it would be best to leave her like this for a while, to see if she’s telling the truth.”
Akiko looked to Ryo’s hopeful eyes, then to the pitiful Chiaki, clad only in her overlarge shirt. She was about to ask Ryo for the antidote, then thought of the camera incident a few days previous. “Okay,” she said to Ryo, and then whispered to her, “Make sure to get pictures.”
Some time later, Ryo and Akiko were seated across from each other, drinking tea (a new pot that Ryo had made). “I guess you got some stuff from the magic shops,” Akiko said, taking another sip of her tea. Ryo nodded. “And you put it in the tea.” Ryo nodded again. “And why weren’t we affected?”
Ryo put down her teacup and slowly wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Well, the potion I got only works on white people. The magician made it that way. I think he was a bit of a racist.”
“Weird.” Akiko said, draining the last of her tea. She got up, waved to Ryo, and headed to the door. “It’s been too strange. See you later.”
Ryo waved back, and then turned her attention to the youthened Chiaki.
Akiko continued to regress the next day, much to her chagrin. She was starting to get truly small, and was having difficulties with formerly pedestrian tasks due to her decreased height and clumsy, tiny hands. Her once long nails were now flat stubs on her fingers.
She got a call in the afternoon from Ryo, who informed her that she was going to check more of the magic shops. “What are you doing about Chiaki?” Akiko asked.
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll be fine.”
“You’re not worried she’ll go and tell people what happened or something?”
“No, don’t worry about that. It’s fine.”
Akiko chose not to press the issue any further, and said goodbye to Ryo. Turning off the phone, she looked at her clothes. They were fitting poorly lately, which was starting to annoy her. She wondered if anybody would think it strange if an eight-year-old girl bought clothes by herself, without any adult with her. She reasoned that they probably would, but nobody would say anything. Akiko laced up her platform sneakers, and was slightly reassured by the meager height boost they provided.
Akiko walked down to the train station, she became increasingly aware of her reduced stature. Everything seemed huge to her, people doubly so. High school kids she used to look down upon now loomed over her, large and frightening. Older people flashed her condescending smiles, which she thought of as both comforting and infuriating. When Akiko arrived at the train station, she couldn’t bring herself to board it. It was filled with people who were gigantic to her. She knew it was stupid to be afraid of the train; she had ridden it many times, but was still unable to get on it. She rushed home, leaving the intimidating world beyond her front door.
Akiko kept shrinking throughout the evening, increasing her desperation. She wondered if she would ever return to her proper age. She worried that Ryo was purposefully not finding the antidote to keep her young. She thought about how she was going to catch up in her classes if she ever returned to adulthood. Akiko went to sleep with these troubling thoughts.
Waking up in the morning, Akiko got dressed in her baggy clothes, but not before looking at herself in the mirror. She had acquired something of a tummy overnight. Her limbs and face had also become childishly pudgy. Had she not been so worried about her predicament, Akiko would have thought she looked rather cute.
Akiko fixed herself breakfast with some difficulty, making quite a mess as she went. She often had to stand on chairs to retrieve ingredients, and her small hands made manipulating cooking utensils difficult.
As she kept shrinking throughout the day, Akiko’s clothes became even more inappropriate for her size. She eventually stopped wearing her oversized pants, allowing her shirt to act as an impromptu dress. Late in the evening she received another call from Ryo.
“Hello?” Akiko said, cradling the phone in two hands.
Ryo didn’t answer for a moment, as if taken aback by Akiko’s childish pitch. “Akiko, I’ve got some bad news.”
Akiko’s heart raced. “Yeah? What is it?”
“Well, I visited every store on that list, and none of them said they’ve sold any age-altering magic at all in the last month. The closest was a place that sold an aging tonic six weeks ago. I had to do a bit of pressuring to even get her to admit that.”
Akiko was at a loss for words. “I... see,” she squeaked.
“I guess we’ll just have to try something else...” Ryo said. “Hey, how are you doing? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Akiko looked at the kitchen, which was still a complete mess. “I’m fine. Still getting younger,” she said with a small chuckle.
“Uh-huh. Say,” Ryo said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, “How young are you now?”
Akiko glanced at herself in a nearby mirror. “I’d say about seven,” she said, with a bit of nervous foot-shuffling.
“‘Kay. I’ll be over to your place tomorrow. We can discuss things... and stuff.”
“Thanks Ryo, you’ve been a big help.”
“Anything for my little sister,” Ryo replied, then hung up.
Sometime the next day Akiko realized she had stopped regressing. She wasn’t sure how she knew. It was as if she was missing a certain feeling, a vague feeling of shrinking. She was a little six-year-old now, innocent and helpless-looking. Knowing she was incapable of doing most of the tasks she had barely been able to accomplish the past few days, Akiko didn’t try. She ate snack foods she had in her kitchen, and made messes without bothering to clean them up.
True to her promise, Ryo arrived in the afternoon. Akiko struggled to open the door, using both hands, but Ryo let herself in after noticing Akiko’s struggles. Akiko looked up at the towering Ryo. When they had last seen each other, Akiko at least came up to her friend’s chest. Now, her head was parallel with Ryo’s waist.
Ryo looked down at Akiko with an expression that was equal parts surprise, adoration, and desire to hug. “Oh my god! You’re so cute!” Ryo squealed, reaching down and lifting Akiko in a sudden embrace. Akiko’s cheeks burned for the whole half minute that Ryo squeezed, petted, and nuzzled her.
Upon finally being set upon the ground, Akiko said, “Nice to see you too.”
Ryo squatted down to speak to her. “I’m sorry that you’re stuck like this for a while, but I certainly enjoy it.” Ryo said, rubbing Akiko’s cheek and ruffling her hair.
“Hey, stop it!” Akiko protested, batting away Ryo’s hand.
“Okay, okay,” Ryo said agreeably. She stood up and looked around the house. She noticed the mess that Akiko had made. “Wanna go out for food? I’m kind of hungry.”
“I thought we were going to figure out who sent me the potion,” Akiko said, crossing her arms. She was trying to look intimidating, but realized it wasn’t quite having the effect she wanted.
Still, Ryo looked guilty. “Er, about that. Listen, Akiko. No magic place near here is ‘fessing up about selling it, and we have no idea of who could have sent it. The chances of figuring out an antidote are pretty slim.”
“What?! So that’s it? I have to stay like this forever?” Akiko shrieked, tears forming in her eyes.
“No, no.” Ryo said hastily, bending down to comfort her. “Some of the places said they could make an antidote, but it would take at least a year, and it might cost a bit.”
“A year?” Akiko wailed.
“That’s better than seventeen years. You could make some excuse to the college, and be back to your old self this time next year.”
It took another few minutes of Ryo’s reassuring comments to calm Akiko down. Though still determined to solve the mystery, Akiko was almost prepared to deal with the possibility of staying like this.
“I can’t go,” Akiko said. “I don’t have any clothes that fit, this was actually my shirt.” Akiko tugged at the border of her shirt. “And I don’t have any shoes.” She raised her tiny foot.
“That’s okay.” Said Ryo. “That shirt will do until we get some better clothes, and I happen to have some shoes.” She reached into her backpack and produced a pair of little shoes. Akiko slipped them on and found they fit quite well. They were children’s shoes, with a very flat sole. Akiko sighed and longed for the days when she could wear a thick sole.
On the way to the clothing store, Akiko convinced herself that it was Ryo who sent the Youth Potion. How else would she be so prepared? And it was obvious she was just making a show of going to the magic shops. Then there was the matter of how she had acquired the potion she used on Chiaki. Akiko was supplied with fitting clothes at the store: a light blue summer dress. Ryo gushed over how “cute” it was on her most of the way downtown, while Akiko thought up ways she could force a confession out of Ryo or find the antidote.
“Wait out here for a second; they don’t like kids in here.” Ryo said. They were stopped outside a small teashop. Akiko replied an affirmative and watched through the window as Ryo browsed through the store. She soon tired of this, and took to looking at the window displays. A certain display caught her eye, it said:
New “Agnitio” blend! Available non-caffeinated.
Then something occurred to her. She stole a glance through the window to see that Ryo was occupied, then ran off towards her home.
With the energy and tirelessness of the child she was, Akiko sped back to the college complex, stopping by her house to retrieve one thing. Though she wasn’t getting tired, it took much longer to cross the campus with her little legs, another reminder of her reduced position.
Knocking lightly, Akiko stepped timidly into the office. The elderly man, seated at a desk strewn with papers, looked over his thick glasses at Akiko. “Can I help you, little miss? Are you lost?”
“No, Kitabatake-san. I’ve come to ask you a question.”
“A question?” He asked quizzically. He thought for a moment, then said. “Who are you?”
“It’s me, Akiko,” Akiko said, advancing towards the desk.
“Akiko?”
“Yes. Akiko Fubihara.” She took out of her pocket the portrait of herself she drew in Kitabatake’s class and slid it towards him. She figured he wouldn’t have recognized her with her youthful look, but the blue hair wasn’t helping either.
Kitabatake reeled backwards in his chair. “What? How did this happen? Oh dear...” He replaced his reading glasses with another pair to look at Akiko better. “I’m truly sorry about this. Shall I explain?”
Akiko nodded politely.
“I’ve been dabbling in Youth Potions for years. I noted your concern over your wrinkles, and thought I could help. Obviously I sent the wrong potion.” He shrugged. “My sight isn’t what it was.”
“Do you have an antidote?” Akiko asked, her mind dreading the possibility of a negative answer. This was the million dollar question.
“No, I don’t.” Akiko slumped, looking like she was about to cry. But Kitabatake continued. “But talk to my potion-maker.” He scribbled an address and a name on a sheet of paper and handed it to her. “I’m terribly sorry about this.”
Akiko quickly brightened up, glad that a resolution was at hand. “It’s all right. It’s been fun, in a way.”
Kitabatake smiled. “I’ll clear your absences with the administration. It’s the least I can do.”
“Thank you.” Akiko said, and bowed to him. She left his office and looked at the paper. The potion-maker went by the name “Dr. A”, and was located not far from the college. Akiko realized his name wasn’t on the list Jin had, and wondered about that.
Dr. A wasn’t a particularly old man, nor was he a particularly young one. He had a genial look about him, almost grandfatherly in its benevolence. His large glasses had dark black frames, and he had great furry white sideburns. He had thinning white hair, and a smart English-style jacket. Akiko guessed him to be of European upbringing himself, until he spoke.
“Hello there,” he said, inspecting a tube of some red liquid. “What can I do for a fine girl like yourself today?” He had a noticeable American accent.
Akiko looked around the room. It wasn’t stocked with mysterious magical bric-a-brac, but rather with scientific equipment. “This doesn’t look like a magic shop,” she blurted.
“No, it doesn’t,” he said patronizingly. “I study chemistry here.”
“I was told it was you who makes potions.”
“Indeed?”
“Kitabatake-san got a Youth Potion from you. I drank some of it, and...” She gestured to herself.
“Ah, I see. I thought I detected a presence of intelligence and maturity from you. I suppose you’d like the antidote?”
Akiko nodded.
“Very well. Do you have the formula with you?”
Akiko shook her head.
“Do you remember what kind of effect it had? Were there any instructions with it?”
“It came with the wrong instructions. A magician told me it made the drinker one quarter their normal age.”
“Excellent. I can have an antidote for you in a few hours. You don’t mind waiting, correct?”
Akiko nodded and took a seat on a stool by the doctor’s counter. She watched him work, then asked him: “How did the magician figure out what kind of potion it was? I mean, if he was a magician, and your potion wasn’t magical...”
“Technology,” said the doctor. “Sufficiently advanced, it is indistinguishable from magic.” He let a compound boil on a hotplate, then spoke again. “This formula will make you age at the same rate as the other, just in the other direction. You’ll have to drink it all, and it will make you a little sick.”
A couple hours later, Dr. A was finished with the concoction. It was a whitish substance, which he gave to her in a vial. Akiko thanked him, bowed, and left the building to her home.
At her house she found Ryo waiting. “Where have you been? You had me worried sick!” She shouted, rushing out to meet her.
“I got the antidote,” Akiko said.
“What? You did? Where?”
Akiko told her the story. Ryo was impressed. She tried to stay around for a bit, to enjoy Akiko’s youth while it lasted, but Akiko sternly (or as sternly as a six-year-old could) told her to leave so she could consume the potion. Ryo agreed reluctantly, leaving Akiko by herself. She regarded the pale liquid, and quaffed it swiftly.
A horrible feeling came up from Akiko’s stomach. It felt as if something there was expanding, threatening to make her vomit. She fell down, and more sensations assaulted her. It felt as if her crotch was getting moist, as if she was peeing herself, then the moist feeling spread to the rest of her body. She felt terribly cold, and began to shiver. Then, suddenly, it stopped. She was dry all over. She was groggy, and had trouble balancing. Stumbling to her bedroom, she crawled into her giant bed and slept.
Akiko awoke feeling even more tired than she felt before she slept. Feeling a peculiar constricted sensation about her body, Akiko realized she must have grown quite a bit while she slept. She twisted onto her back, sat up, and pulled the covers off herself. While she did this, she heard a series of ripping sounds. She looked down and saw her dress splitting apart at the seams, falling off her enlarged body in tatters. Her feet felt sore, and a quick glance confirmed the reason. Her feet had lengthened and burst rather uncomfortably from her child-sized sneakers. Looking over her body with satisfaction, Akiko guessed her age to be ten, maybe eleven already.
Groggily shambling around her room to find suitable clothing, Akiko noticed the clock. It was six in the afternoon, and it was a Sunday. She quickly calculated, and realized she had slept for four days, but more importantly, she was ten now. She found the outfit of clothes she had purchased for this body, and put them on. Passing by a mirror, she was that her hair had been growing much faster than normal. Her natural color was showing through, the blue dyed hair only accounting for a small percentage of her hair now. She would need to get a haircut once this was over. She then went tiredly to her living room and watched some television to pass the time. About three hours later, while watching some documentary on sentai shows, Akiko fell asleep.
Awaking to see the television blaring some nonsensical anime or other, Akiko sat up quickly. She felt well-rested now, and was eager to see what the day had to offer her. Peeking into her shirt, she saw that her nipples had become swollen. She recognized that she would soon be going through puberty again, albeit in a rather short time, and that thought pleased her. It was eight, she noticed, and she knew Ryo had classes.
For much of the day, Akiko busied herself cleaning the mess her younger self had left in the kitchen and elsewhere. It was still difficult in her eleven-year-old body, but not as impossible as it had been a few days ago. After finishing these duties up, it was almost three, and Ryo would be finished with her classes soon. Akiko decided to pay her a visit.
It was an especially nice day, and the campus was quite a pleasant sight. A light breeze rustled the grass in an attractive fashion, and the air was alive with the sounds of near-springtime exuberance. This splendid image is what greeted Ryo as she walked outside. That, and the sight of Akiko standing next to a tree, waving at her. Ryo rushed to her, embracing her excitedly.
“Hey! What’s the occasion?” asked Akiko, confused.
“You’ve been out for five days! I was worried about you!” Ryo explained.
“Four days by my count. I woke up yesterday.”
“I checked on you every day! You just kept sleeping, and nothing I did could wake you up.”
“Didn’t you check yesterday?”
“Well, yesterday, I was a little busy,” Ryo said, twisting a lock of hair around her finger.
“Busy with what?” Akiko asked curiously.
“Well, it had to do with Chiaki...”
“Why? What’s happened to her?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s fine.”
Akiko seemed to accept this, and didn’t speak for a few moments. Ryo broke the silence.
“So, I see that antidote’s working.”
“Yeah. He said it was going to age me at the same rate as the last one, but in the other direction.”
Ryo nodded. Akiko spoke again. “Hey, I got nothing to do tonight. Let’s go get something to eat, you and me.”
Ryo looked hesitant. “Err, I don’t know.”
“Why? What’s up?”
“It’s about Chiaki...”
“Again? Why?”
“Umm, maybe you better come over to my place and see for yourself.”
Akiko followed Ryo to her house, expecting the worst the entire way.
Ryo led Akiko into a room, continually telling her to promise not to get angry. There, near the corner of the room, was a baby’s crib. Akiko believed she knew what this was leading to, and looked into the crib apprehensively. Lying in it, snoozing peacefully, was an adorable infant. She was maybe a year and a half old, and was dressed in nothing but a white cloth diaper. Akiko noticed the child’s curly head of blonde hair, and turned to Ryo.
“Ryo!”
“What?”
“Is this who I think it is?”
“Err. Umm. Who do you think it is?” Ryo said evasively.
“Is it Chiaki?”
Ryo nervously twisted her finger, and ran a hand through her hair. “It is,” she said ashamedly.
Akiko just shook her head.
“I wasn’t planning on doing it! But I kept giving her more doses of the potion, I couldn’t help myself! Eventually she ended up like this!”
Akiko looked at her balefully. “How long has she been this old?”
“Actually, since that Sunday.”
“What?! She’s been stuck in this body for a week?”
“Well, yeah. She doesn’t like it.”
“I would think so, yeah!” Akiko said angrily. She wasn’t sure why she was so mad at Ryo for doing this. Maybe it was because she truly understood the difficulties of being younger against one’s will. “When are you going to change her back?”
“Well, I was going to really soon, but she kept threatening to do all sorts of things to me, and I didn’t want her big so she could actually do them...”
Akiko thought for a bit. She certainly remembered that Chiaki did have something of a vengeful streak. “Well, maybe after I grow up, she’ll be more afraid to try something if I’m around. Maybe.”
Ryo looked doubtful. “In that case, could I wait until you get a little older?”
Akiko gazed upon the slumbering baby. “Alright. She is kind of cute.”
“You should see her when she’s awake.” Ryo said happily. She scooped Chiaki up out of the crib and began cradling her gently. Chiaki’s little eyes slowly opened, revealing their bright blue shine.
“Hey!” Chiaki said angrily, looking up at Ryo. “I was having a good sweep. Sleep.” She continued in her babyish voice. Chiaki seemed to have trouble pronouncing certain things around her small mouth.
“Aww, I’m sorry. Look, someone’s come to visit you.”
Chiaki looked to see Akiko standing nearby. “Oh no, not you. Wait, how’d you get so old?”
Akiko shrugged. “You look cute.”
“Change me back now!” Chiaki shrieked, flailing her little limbs impotently.
“I will soon if you do me a favor.” Ryo said, bouncing the little girl gently in her arms.
“What?”
“Akiko and I-“ Ryo started, then stopped. She ran her hand along the fabric of Chiaki’s diaper. “Did you wet yourself? I changed you at lunch break.”
Chiaki’s face turned bright red, and she glanced at Akiko. “No I didn’t.”
Ryo wasn’t convinced, and inserted a pair of fingers into the diaper, ignoring the protests of Chiaki’s feeble limbs. “You did! Hold on, Akiko, this will only take a second.”
Akiko giggled in spite of herself, and watched Ryo lay the infant down on a changing table. Chiaki was thrashing spiritedly, but Ryo seemed used to it. Ryo quickly undid the diaper and threw it into a bin. Chiaki threw down an arm to cover herself, but Ryo pushed it away, and starting drying her with a cloth. She flipped the protesting child over and did the same to her little butt. After a couple sprinkles of baby powder, Ryo bent down, lifted a package of disposable diapers and began opening it.
“This is what I needed to get yesterday,” explained Ryo. She proceeded to diaper Chiaki in one of the crinkly plastic diapers.
“What’s this?” Chiaki squeaked indignantly. “What happened to the cwoff ones?”
“I don’t have any more of the cloth ones, sweety,” Ryo said patronizingly.
“You would if you washed them.” Chiaki said sullenly, crossing her arms over her chest, which served to look comical. “And don’t call me sweety.”
“Anyways, I have a deal for you. Akiko and I are going to go out and eat, and I don’t want to leave you here. If you come with us and behave yourself, I’ll change you back on, uh, let’s say... Friday.”
“Fwiday, I mean Friday, when’s that?”
“It’s Monday, so four days from today.”
“Fouw days!” Chiaki exclaimed, not bothering to correct her pronunciation.
“Take it or leave it.”
“Fine. But don’t tell anybody about this, wemembew?”
“Of course not,” Ryo said, pulling out a camera and snapping a picture of the angry little Chiaki. “Not a word.”
The three sat at a corner table in a moderately-priced sushi bar. The place wasn’t well regarded for its sushi, but rather for its atmosphere and service. It was tastefully decorated, and the waiters and waitresses were notably polite. Ryo shifted about continually, smiling at Chiaki occasionally. Akiko had a relaxed look about her, and would assist Ryo in cooing at Chiaki. Chiaki, dressed in a jumper for the occasion, looked like she’d rather be swallowing hot glass while washing it down with motor oil.
The waiter came by, and served their drinks. Akiko sipped at her soda, wishing she were old enough to order a stiff drink to unwind after the stress of the past week or two. Ryo ignored her sake to try to feed Chiaki her milk. Chiaki was making it difficult.
After she had forced Chiaki to ingest a satisfactory amount of milk, Ryo watched their waiter walk by. “I bet he’d make a cute kid.”
“Is that all you think about now?” Akiko half-teased, half-scolded. She was of the opinion that the waiter would make a cute kid, though. He was handsome as a twenty-something, and had a charming sort of nervousness to him.
Akiko and Ryo ate their sushi, and Ryo congratulated her on finding the antidote. It was an overenthusiastic, slurred congratulation because Ryo had drunken a great deal of sake before their sushi was ready. Akiko nervously tried to quiet her and they ended up leaving before they planned to.
It was late afternoon, and Akiko nearly had to drag the drunken Ryo home, while holding on to baby Chiaki. Ryo passed out on her bed when they got back to her house, which left Akiko to tend to Chiaki.
“Come on, just fall asleep so I can go home.”
“Why do you need me aswee, asleep?” Chiaki responded, pacing testily in her crib. Well, not really pacing, but walking back and forth in a wobbly gait.
“Ryo would kill me if she knew I didn’t put you to sleep.”
“Well, that’s your problem then. I’m not sleepy.” Chiaki said, sitting down defiantly with a crinkle.
Akiko noticed Chiaki’s peculiar annoyed expression. “Did you mess yourself again?”
“No!”
“If you don’t go to sleep, I’ll have to change you.”
“Don’t!” Chiaki said, mortified, as she backed up to the corner of her crib.
“Fine, I won’t.” Akiko said. She sat down in a nearby chair and watched Chiaki’s uncomfortable shifting. Eventually it got to be too much for Chiaki.
“Okay, change me,” she whispered in her little voice.
“What’s that?”
“I said change me!” Chiaki shouted.
“Hmm, I don’t know. I will if you go to sleep.”
Chiaki’s face turned scarlet, out of both embarrassment and anger. “Fine!”
“That’s more like it,” Akiko said kindly, lifting Chiaki out of the crib and onto the changing table. She unfastened the plastic diaper as Chiaki lied there resignedly. Akiko cleaned her up and powdered her. Chiaki’s face was red the whole time. Pulling out a fresh diaper, Akiko suddenly thought of something. She put the diaper back down and walked over to Ryo’s sleeping form.
“What awe you doing?” said Chiaki, who was lying on her back, naked. Akiko said nothing and came back holding Ryo’s camera. A couple quick flashes captured the image of the embarrassed child. “Hey, stop that!” she said, holding her pudgy little arms up as if to defend herself.
“That’s payback for the ones you took,” Akiko said coolly, diapering her.
Chiaki fell asleep a half hour later, but not because of her agreement with Akiko. She was genuinely tired.
Akiko left for her home, admiring the starry night on her way back. That wonderful sight, and the realization she was growing up again and her rival was in diapers made her jubilantly run and jump the rest of the way home. When she got home, she felt a semi-familiar pain in her chest. Excitedly she stretched open the cuff of her shirt to look at her bosom. Though they weren’t much, they were there: beginnings of breasts. Akiko tore off her shirt and felt their mass, a feeling she hadn’t known for a while. They were stinging mildly because she had been running without any support on them. This didn’t bother her much, considering. Akiko put her shirt back on and went to make herself some tea.
Akiko didn’t go to sleep until late that night. She stayed up late watching television or reading, while periodically checking on the status of her breasts. They grew from mere little bumps to a decent-sized A-cup in the span of a few hours (which was almost a quarter of a year in her body’s reckoning). Akiko went to sleep looking forward to wearing a bra again.
Not having much to do that day, Akiko slept in on Tuesday until about noon.