“Oh,” Was all that Masaru responded with, not knowing what to do with the information.
“Should we continue?” Nagisa questioned uncertainly. “I feel like we weren’t even getting anywhere.”
Before Masaru could respond, a familiar, muffled voice sounded out above the two of them. They both immediately snapped their attention to it, straining themselves in attempts to block out the numerous gurgles and groans that overpowered the voice.
“You guys-” The voice started, but was promptly drowned out by the ambiance of the stomach.
“Kotoko?!” Masaru yelled. “I-Is that you?”
“W-we should stand up,” Nagisa turned his attention to Masaru briefly. “The closer we are, the better we’ll hear her.”
“B-But the ceiling is too low! We can’t!” Masaru reasoned, a mix of panic and hopefulness in his tone.
“Stomachs stretch you know, if we put some strength behind it, we can push upwards,” Nagisa explained.
With a nod (that Nagisa did not see in the darkness), Masaru lifted his arms, gradually standing as the squishy wall lifted above him. Feeling more space above him now, Nagisa stood up too, using his arms in the same fashion as his friend to push upwards.
“Eeep!” The two of them suddenly heard above them, “A-are you guys pushing? Don’t do that, you’re gonna hurt big sis!”
The two of them shot an incredulous look at where the voice came from. They knew it was Kotoko, though they were confused about her concerns.
“Sh-shouldn’t you be a bit more worried about getting us out of here?!” Masaru retorted. “We’re gonna get digested or something if you don’t hurry!”
“Huh? Oh yeah! Sorry! I just wanted to give you guys a heads up that Komaru’s back to her normal self now and she’s super duper sorry!” Kotoko chirped happily. “So just hang tight, we’re gonna get you out! There might be a bit of ‘turbulence’ so you’re gonna want to be sitting down though.”
With that, the boys heard Kotoko promptly scamper away, the feeling of someone on top of them vanishing. They both sat down, their fears diminishing considerably at the promise of getting out of the stomach.
“What do you think she meant by tur- woAH,” Masaru was suddenly cut off as the space shifted and turned once again, seemingly returning to the original positioning.
Nagisa and Masaru briefly situated themselves in the new orientation before the entire space began to sway slightly. It was rather rhythmic, and sort of felt like a swinging hammock to the two of them.
Masaru let out a soft laugh, finding the swaying motions somewhat humorous as he and Nagisa moved with it.
“Wh-what in the world is so funny?” Nagisa questioned fearfully as he struggled to stay in one place.
“Pff- Sorry, this is just kinda fun is all!” Masaru chirruped happily, leaning into the swings.
“U-ugh… I think I’m gonna be sick if this swinging doesn’t stop…” Nagisa mumbled sickly. “I have no idea how you are finding this fun.”
“Well now that we know we’re gonna be ok, we might as well enjoy ourselves!” He chuckled with a smile. “I think it’s actually pretty cool. Hey! You’re mister scientific, don’t you find this interesting or something?”
“Not in the slightest.” Nagisa deadpanned. The fear factor of the entire situation being way too much for his young self. Though he had to admit he was feeling a lot better after the promise of freedom.
Masaru shrugged. “Suit yourself mopey!” He teased playfully.
The swinging soon came to an end, indicating their big sister had finally arrived at whatever her destination was. Masaru and Nagisa held their breath in anticipation, waiting for Komaru to stick to her word and somehow get them out of their imprisonment.
Their held breathes were suddenly knocked out of them as the stomach walls tightened around their forms forcefully. Fear shot through the two boys, thinking something had possibly gone wrong. They both let out choked gasps for air as the stomach kneaded into them, they couldn’t move in the slightest, much less breath. Some sort of strong force suddenly pushed them upwards, where they were squeezed through the same ring of muscle they had been earlier. Before they knew it, the squishy, pinkish walls were replaced with a hard marble floor. They dropped onto it painfully, falling on top of each other as they rolled a few feet (at least to them they were feet).
A loud cough above them overpowered their own coughing and gagging, struggling to regain the air they lost from when it was knocked out of them. Once they’d finally gotten enough air into their lungs, they weakly looked over to their right side, where they both felt the presence of someone their own size.
Kotoko was looking at them with a worried expression, her legs shaking slightly as she looked at their soaked bodies. She was holding towels, which she promptly handed out to her friends after seeing them recovered enough to do so.
“Th-thanks Koto…” Nagisa choked out, using the rare nickname that Kotoko had assigned to herself a while ago.
Despite the situation, Kotoko couldn’t fight a smile. “You’re welcome!”
Kotoko’s eyes wandered elsewhere after she finished speaking. Nagisa followed them (Masaru still coughing too much to do so too) until he was looking directly up at the giant that loomed over them. He couldn’t help but be terrified at the sight, despite how worried and sorry his big sister looked. He shivered as a giant finger descended and lightly brushed his cheek, but he didn’t shy from it.
Komaru began to bawl at the sight of her children, her chin resting on the counter of the sink as she did.
“I-I’m so sorry,” She barely managed to choke out from the tears. “You kids t-trusted me and I just- o-oh God! I-I understand if you guys can’t forgive me… I..I..” Her words soon devolved into mumbles plagued with gasps that surfaced every few seconds as she buried her head in her arms.
“She’s really beating herself up for this…” Kotoko mumbled, staring at Komaru with eyes full of pity. “It wasn’t even her fault…”
“How so?” Nagisa questioned simply.
“There was this sort of chemical that got her going like that earlier. I’ve really only heard of it before, but that was definitely it. When I was in her pocket, her heart was beating like crazy, I think it’s some type of airborne aphrodisiac.” She explained thoughtfully.
Nagisa shuddered, hating the implications of the explanation. If they were shrunk and the chemical was released at the same time, then it likely meant the entire thing was done to them purposefully. There was someone out there that wanted them dead.
“Yeah… I don’t like the implications either…” Kotoko said, noticing his face.
“So it’s really not her fault… huh?” Masaru piped up, looking up at Komaru guiltily.
“Nope.” Kotoko shook her head solemnly.
With a new determined look, Masaru stood up and slowly hobbled over to the giant hand still hanging down into the sink. He looked at it for a moment, studying the way it flexed through Komaru crying. He carefully brought a small hand to the skin before hugging the hand entirely. He squeezed it tight and snuggled his small head into it as a few tears slipped from his own eyes. Kotoko and Nagisa joined in, taking the other sides of the hand.
The gesture got Komaru’s attention. She sniffled a little before picking up her head to look at the children.
“...kids?”
“It’s ok big sis,” Masaru started, looking upwards at Komaru as he rested his chin on the vertical wall made by the hand. “We know it wasn’t your fault. So there’s nothing to be sad about, see! We don’t hate you or anything, we’re just a bit shaken, is all.”
“Wh-what he said…” Nagisa stumbled out with a blush, as he wasn’t the best when it came to thoughtful words. “The important thing is that we’re all ok now, so there’s no reason to be worried.”
“Ye- wait…” Kotoko was about to join in on the encouraging words before she stopped herself, suddenly remembering something very important. She whipped her head around in a small panic. “Where’s Jataro?!”
End 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (True End)
