Moving at such speed, Neil closed his eyes to shield the wind. He could feel the wind changing direction through his closed eyes and assumed he was falling. Neil's crash-landed on something within a split second of this realisation. Though he was unsure what it was, the surface was completely flat and had no rough texture to his touch.
This had one little effect on Neil as he had nothing to grab hold off. Sliding down the slick, flat surface, Neil soon landed on what he believed to be wood. Landing in a hump of limbs, Neil began getting to his feet and examining where he had just landed. His assumption was correct. He had landed on something wooden, and from the angle and height of everything, He could tell he was on the floor.
Far before him, Neil could see Suki still talking to someone while continuing to play with her foot. Neil sights a breath of relief, happy to be out of her shoe and away from her foot. Then, taking in a deep breath of fresh none-foot air Neil noted the air tasted a little sweet. Curious, Neil turned around to see what he had landed on.
What he had first assumed to be a shoe or something, Neil was pleasantly surprised to see his reflection staring back at him. Stepping back, Neil took in the full view of the candy bar wrapping before him. The sweet smell filled the air was chocolate, but looking at the ripped end, Neil guessed it had been recently eaten.
As the smell filled his nostrils, Neil heard the sound of faint rumblings; putting a hand on his stomach, he wondered how long it had been since he had eaten. The last this he remembered eating were the grapes Sarah had given them when she had taken them back to her place, but then Mary-Jean showed up.
As his stomach roared again, Neil gave into his hunger against his better judgement and began walking to the wrapper's open end. Approaching the opening, Neil was reminded of looking into the shoe. However, this one was much, much smaller. Instead of the darkened wall, the silver interior shone with light. Squinting his eyes, Neil examined the surroundings and eventually eyed a piece of chocolate stuck to the inner lining.
Even better, it was not too far from the entrance; the last thing he wanted was to get too deep. Stepping onto the foil, Neil almost immediately slipped as he was not used to walking on such a surface, let alone with only one shoe. Quickly regaining his balance Neil slowly made his way over to the splodge of chocolate. Unfortunately, as Neil reached it, I found his socked footfall out of the form under him, and he fell face-first into the chocolate.
"Mmm, hazelnut, Nya. Great, now they have me saying it," Neil muttered as he pulled his head free from the chocolate, some of it sticking to him. Sitting down next to the splodge, Neil grabbed small hand fulls over time. He was not sure how long he was seated for; he could hear the girl's voice in the air and the distant sound of walking; he could even feel each step.
He kept an ear out for Nekoru, but there was no luck. Was she even in the building any more? Her voice was very distinctive compared to the rest of the Black Cats. Continuing to eat, Neil heard the sound of footfalls, but these were getting closer and fast. Getting to his feet, Neil ran to the wrapper entrance just as the footsteps thundered on either side of him, as the outside world was suddenly draped in darkness.
Shaking with a bit of fear, Neil popped his head out to see what had happened. On either side of him were two sizeable brownish boots; wait, all the girls he had seen wore black shoes. Examining around, he saw that all the darkness was caused by this gal wearing a long dress. Neil blushed as he looked up at the girl's long dress and got an eye full of her underwear.
This wasn't any member of the Black Cats. It was. "Girls, how many times do I have to tell you to clean up after yourself," Yamada said defeatedly; stepping back a bit, she knelt and started to pick up and shake the various sweet and candy wrappers to make sure no tinies were inside. Watching the display, Neil was unsure what she was doing, but he had not intended to find out.
On the other hand, Yamada beat Neil to the punch as she gripped the closed end of the wrapper and tilted it downwards. Neil was glad he was right beside the entrance; any deeper and the slide landing may have injured him. However, Neil felt the ground shake a little before he could get up as the wrapper was dropped back onto the floor.
Just as he was about to look back at the wrapper, Neil saw a flurry of motion as Yamada stood back up to her full height. Transfixed by fear and curiosity, Neil's breath flooded out of his mouth as he saw her reach for a broom that she had leaned against a nearby wall. Neil watched slowly as Yamada grabbed the broom and placed it on the ground. Then, suddenly getting his senses back, Neil got his heart pumping as he began to run in the opposite direction and heard the rattling sound of the broom being dragged across the floor. Despite how fast he ran, he could, but the wave of dust enveloping him signalled his fate.
As the dust wave hit Neil, it lifted I'm into the air; Neil soared into the air only to get caught within the broom's bristles. Neil grabbed the nearest follicle when he entered, not wanting to get lost in the broom. Holding onto the follicle was hard enough, but all the shaking and vibrations as the broom was moved around.
Looking down, Neil watched as the wrapper he was just in pressed against the broom's lower part. Neil suddenly felt the bristles jolt as the broom stopped before being lifted into the air. However, the flight was short as the broom landed down not too far away, just behind another wrapper.
Neil was forced to hang on the best he could. Yamada correlated all the loose wrappers into a single pile with each broom sweep. Once everything was in the stack, Neil pondered if he should use this rest time to climb high up the broom or drop to the ground, each with pros and cons. But yet again, the giantess chose his fate for him as Yamada gave the broom a short series of jolts and wiggles to get any loose wrappers out.
The first jolt was ok. Neil was caught off guard, but he was able to keep hold. The second jolt was just as nasty as the last, but he was ready for it. The third jolt was all he needed as he felt the bristle rip from his grasp as he fell onto the floor below. By some miracle, Neil had avoided falling into the pile of wrappers as Yamada brought out a dustpan and moved them onto it using the broom.
Picking up the dustpan, Yamada rested the broom against the wall as she left. The sound of her footfalls faded until they were unrecognisable from the loud chorus the other girls were making. Left alone, Neil took a moment to examine his surroundings. He was in the middle of the floor in a small corridor with a single large wooden door in sight.
Remembering where he was, Neil had only seemed to form this place within Fiona's scarf, so the door led into Nekoru's room. Salvation, at last, all he needed to do was get to her door, crawl under it, cross her room and climb into her desk. All before she got back, yeah, he could do all of that before she returned. So seeing he had a long journey ahead of him, Neil got up and began to walk across the hallway and to the door.
Neil had been walking for about 5 minutes, and his body was acting more than likely caused by everything the Black Cats had unknowingly done to him. Neil stopped momentarily to think about what he was doing. Was Nekoru the best option for him? Yes, she did say she would look after him, but how she described it sounded like he was more of a little pet to her. He did not want her to look after him, even if that didn't happen. He wanted to get back to Sarah and his dad; he wanted to return to normal size.
Even if Nekoru believed she had his best interests at heart, even if it was in her way, there was no guarantee she could look after him long-term. From what he had heard, the Black Cats even had issues keeping track of tinies that one they knew about, and two were bigger than him. But if he didn't want to stay here, then where else? With this whole shrunk human thing, it seemed like the Black Cats were the safest options.
"so that's it, then," Neil said with newfound vigour; he had to get to Nekoru's ear and make her take him back to Sarah, not back to Isaac, so he could fix all this. So, with a plan in mind, Neil resumed his mission to Nekoru's room. That was until he heard the sound of footsteps getting closer.
Looking around, Neil saw Yamada reappear at the end of the hallway, caring for something. Neil's face turned white as he saw what she was watching; he was so close he couldn't lose it. Picking up the pace, Neil began to run towards the door, as Yamada was distracted with plugging in what she was carrying. "come one, come one!" Neil stammered. He was so close, but his heart fell as he heard Yamada click the plug on, and the vacuum opened to live.
The thundering roars of the vacuum filled the air and drowned out any other sound he could hear. Neil could feel the wind playing up as air was sucked into the machine. This was not how he wanted it to end. He had survived being sat on, eaten, and so many other things, but now he would die inside a vacuum cleaner.
No, he had to survive if not for himself, then for his dad, for Sarah. Running faster and faster, Neil felt something a bit off. He was running, but he couldn't feel the ground. He was only airborne for a few seconds before he felt himself succumb to the suction. Then, flying through the air, Neil saw the vacuum getting closer and closer.
Getting closer, Neil saw a loose piece of wood sticking out from the floorboards, and it was in his path. With a stroke of luck, Neil was able to grab hold of the wood splinter and hold on he did. Then, like never before, he gripped, the suction getting stronger by the second. Within a few moments, the suction was at its apex as the vacuum was placed directly over Neils's spot.
It was like being in the rapture. Neil felt the fabric of reality violently shake and vibrate as the vacuum was held above him, but it did not move. Why wasn't it moving? Neil found his head lifted upwards while not being ripped off as he had on. It caused him to stare into the void that was above him. The main pipe of the vacuum loomed high above him, disappearing into the darkness above. All around, Neil could see dust, debris and another small thing that the broom missed rapidly being lifted and vanishing into oblivion. Then he felt it; the wood shifted under his grip, getting sucked up.
The answer became apparent when Neil's grip failed him for the last time. "Nekoruuuuu!" Neil screamed at the top of his lungs as the floor almost instantly fell away as he was sucked into the darkness of the vacuum. The abyss swallowed him, and all light was gone as he ventured deeper into the machine. At least it was silent at least.
Wait, why is it silent? Neil thought it wasn't just because He was dead. Everything had gone quiet, and to make matters stranger, he had stopped moving. Then, almost as fast as he was sucked up, Neil started to fall, not as quickly as when sucked up but still fast. Neil was nearly blinded as the light returned; adjusting his eyes, they shot open as he saw the flaw hurtling towards him.
With a slight thud, Neil heard and felt his ears ringing due to the vacuum created by the machine. Then, with his head spinning, Neil could listen to something— loud voices, so they had to be close. Neil's eyes sparked with hope as he listened to the one voice he had hoped to hear.
"My apologies, lady Nekoru. I did not mean to intrude like this. If you didn't want your room cleaned, you should have just told me," Yamada said, apologising for her actions. "it's ok, Yamada, you did not know I should have told you. I recently found….." Nekoru paused, looking around a bit before resuming in a hushed manner. "… a unique tiny, unlike the one we are looking for. It is quite an oddity, and until I learn more about it, I would like it under lock and key." Those last few words pained Neil to hear them, but he continued listening.
"while the tiny is still in the room, I would assume it would be running around. You know how tinies are. They end up in the weirdest of places. And given this one…. special protection is my top priority. So if you were to please keep out of my room for a while and keep the other girls out. you know how they get when we run low on tinies." Nekoru stated, pacing the hallway a little.
"I understand completely, my lady; I make sure neither you nor the little one is disturbed." With that, Neil heard the machine groan as it was unplugged and lifted into the air. Neil just watched, huddled on the floor, as Yamada and the vacuum left the corridor and out of sight. Soon Neil was left alone, alone with Nekoru standing over him just a ways away.
"NEKORU! NEKORU!" Neil shouted at the top of her lungs as he ran towards her towering form, waving his hands. His heart skipped when he saw her head shift, but it dropped as he saw her change in her entire body. Skidding to a halt, Neil began to back up, fearing whatever movement Nekoru would make next. However, to his relief, Nekoru would not endanger his life.
Moving gently to her bedroom door Nekoru produced a key from her pocket and placed it in the lock. Then, with a swift turn and a soft clicking sound, she withdrew the key, rattling the door handle to ensure it was locked. Lettougn a small sigh Nekoru turned around, placed her back on the door and slid down onto the floor. As Nekoru came to rest, Neil was lucky enough that he was nowhere near her when she landed. Instead, he was between her open legs, looking up at her from the floor. The girl looked defeated, maybe related to what Fiona had said early.
Walking between her feet, Neil could see Nekoru's torso towering above him. From down here, her chest looked a lot bigger, Maybe not as big as Sarah, but that did not make it much more inviting. Looking either side of him, Neil saw one of her legs arched upwards while the other was flat on the ground.
Seeing there were a few options to start climbing her, Neil was not quite sure it was a good idea to climb the bare skin of her leg. The last thing he needed in that situation was for her to mistake him for an itch or, worse, an insect she may kill. But that gave him one other choice he was not fond of. Looking ahead, he saw Nekoru's shorts-clad crotch before him. While yes, he had been stuck in the crotch part of Sarah's jeans, it was not like she was wearing underwear under her skirt. Neil felt uncomfortable near the crotch of a girl he had just met, let alone climbing it. Plus, there was no way to know how Nekoru may react to finding it there.
If she found me there, Neil mentally palmed himself as he remembered how easily she had seen him. "HEY NEKORU, BETWEEN YOUR LEGS, IM THE SHRUNKEN HUMAN YOU FOUND EARLIER!" Neil wanted to shout up to her, hoping to get her attention. But almost as soon as he opened his mouth, Nekoru did the same.
"Why are we losing so many tinies, we take care of them, and we are the safest place for them", her whispers took Neil back; she had dropped the cat act. Was she speaking from the heart?. "now that I have found that new strange one, how many more like it have we missed? So many, it has to have been so many." Nekoru's voice rattled as she tried to hold back her emotions. "Just how many have we killed while trying to save others."
Neil was speechless at what he was hearing, he had been around so many people while being small, but this was different. Despite only seeing tinies at pet-like, she cared for their wellbeing and wanted to protect them. As Neil continued watching, he saw something falling towards him. "Crap!" Neil shouted as he quickly dodged out of the way of the falling tear.
While he did avoid the impact, he did not escape the splash. "yuk", muttering under his breath Neil found his trousers completely drenched in Nekoru's tears. He was glad none of the liquid got into his mouth; that was one taste he did not want. Then, as Neil went about getting up, he heard the sound of another splash. Looking up, Neil was met with the sight of a barrage of tears falling towards him.
"NEKORU!" shouted at the top of his lungs, Neil trying his best to be heard over the sound of the falling tears. But, running with everything he had, he kept finding his path blocked by a splash. This repeated many more times until, in confusion about where to go, a tear landed just behind him, launching him forwards. Noe drenched head to toe, Neil began to cough and splutter. As he did, he heard the sound of splashing cease as a new sound was heard. "Why are you out here, little one?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Neil looked upwards to see Nekoru staring back down at him. "YES, NEKORU. THANKS, YOU" He Shouted at the top of his lungs, happy that he was finally being saved. "Here, climb on…." Nekoru cooed as she lowered her index finger onto the floor. "…Nya, it's ok your save with me, remember."
Rolling his eyes a little, hearing her return to strange speech, Neil could argue and approached the finger. While yes, he had climbed up many girls before climbing, one finger was to him. Being this small, Neil could make out the details of her fingerprint. Gripping the skin in his hands, he accended until he was on her finger. Luckily she had placed her hand upside down, and he doubted her fingernail would provide much grip.
Speaking of grip. "you better hold on, little one." Nekoru said as she began to lift her finger. Feeling his stomach drop, Neil gripped the skin as much as he could. Being on her fingertip meant Neil could get an extra grip from the indents of her fingerprint. Despite all of this, Neil was not ready for what she had in mind; not just was she picking him, but she was also getting to her feet.
Watching her stomach race, Neil was soon in the shadow of her chest just before the finger came to rest just before her. Looking up at her face, Neil was too time to notice as the finger he was on bent. Then, letting out a small squeak of surprise, Neil slid and rolled down the length of her finger until he came to rest firmly in her palm.
"Nya, that you on more stable ground; what are you doing out here?" Nekoru cooed under her breath, resisting the urge to begin rubbing the little one's head with another finger. Looking closer, she could see it looked a bit different. "I didn't know tinies were smart enough to make clothes, did you?"
Neil was a bit scared to examine him Nekoru had brought him closer to her eye, with was eclipsing his field of view. "Nya, you need a name; what should I call you?" Nekoru said; Neil's voice was drowned out by her own. But, of course, that was if Neil was trying to talk. Being this close to her mouth as she spoke, Neil was forced to cover his ears and reduce his hearing the best he could. The sound issue was not helped as Nekoru lowered her hand a little, letting it get closer to the source of the sound. After Neil heard her voice die down and her hand came to rest, he opened his eyes and was met with a scarily familiar scene.
Feeling his face pale, Neil fell backwards and stared at Nekoru's massive mouth. Memories of being in Valerie's palm mere moments before she ate him flooded back into his mind. Looking ahead, Neil saw that at least her lips were closed, the long pink valley between her lips. They were pristine and still well-kept while not having lipstick on. Not a single speck of debris could be seen on then.
Having seen just her lips, Neil was more than ready to die happy, having seen this much of her mouth. But as if the universe hated him, Nekoru insisted he saw more as her mouth started to open. So the first thing Neil was met with was the blast of air coming from within her. Like a gentle morning breeze, Nekoru's breath flooded out of her mouth, washing over Neil and her palm. Though strong, it was not powerful enough to blow him away; he felt his clothes getting blown around.
Another thing he noted about her breath was how nice it was; it had a powerful minty smell and was warm. It was like an early summer breeze. Neil honestly wouldn't have minded Nekoru enveloping him in her breath, but sadly the warmth of it was only a sign of where it came from.
Gulping nervously, Neil stared into Nekoru's mouth as her opening lips slowly revealed more of what lay within. Strings of saliva extended from the roof of her mouth to its floors; most broke while the ones further back remained. Her tongue glistened as light poured into her mouth. At least compared to Val's mouth, her teeth were spotless, with no traces of what she had eaten before.
But what scared him the most was what lay far behind all those. Neil felt himself shake increasingly as he remembered the sheer terror of being consumed by Val and disappearing into her throat. Subconsciously Neil began to crawl backwards, all the while unable to tear his gaze away from Nekoru's gaping maw.
"Nya, I'm I scaring you?" Nekoru's said in shock upon seeing Neil's action, quickly closing her mouth and lifting her palm a bit farther away from her head. "Nya, I am so sorry it was insensitive of me; I have no idea what you have been through. But maybe I can show you I mean no harm Nya?"
With his heart still racing, Neil was confused about what she meant. However, his confusion was soon put to rest as Nekoru began to move. "Wait, what are you doing? " Neil shouted, falling onto his back as to what she was doing. Puckering up her lips, Nekoru slowly lowered her lips onto her palm. Looking around, Neil saw nowhere to go, and these few moments of confusion cost him.
She could do nothing as Nekoru's lips landed on her palm. Her upper lip completely engulfed him. But he wasn't consumed; Nekoru was experienced with tinies after all. While it may seem like she was pressing her lips into her palm from the outside, it couldn't be any further from the truth. Neil felt the warm presence of the lips engulf him, but to his surprise, he found He could move; looking around, he could see a very thin gap between her lips and skin. However, they were still pressing down on him gently. Neil had to admit this was the first time he had been in contact with a giantess's lips, and they felt nice. Pressing down on him, they felt like a marshmallow. It was soft to the touch with a little watery coating but not enough to be any real hassle to him.
"NYA HEY NEKORU! I GOT YOU SOMETHING."
Nekoru quickly spun around to see the source of the sound before she stood a fellow Black Cats member Hanako. "What…you did?" Nekoru said, still in a state of shock, and this was not helped by the fact that the tiny that was just in her palm was now gone. She couldn't feel them on her lips either, and then that only felt one possibility. "Nya…thank you, can you put it on the…the.. cabinets over there?" she said, pointing over her shoulder as she paid Hanako tiny notices as her eyes darted all over the floor.
"Nya, did you lose something?" Hanako said, confused, as she placed her gift onto the cabinet. "Nya, don't move any closer….you may stand on it," Nekoru said, rapidly raising her hand in a stopping motion. "I dropped something…something small and…delicate. It's not a tiny, just something personal I don't want you to step on it and break it accidentally." Sensing the panic in her voice, Hanako slowly backed away, giving her leader some space. "I hope you find it, Nya" Hanako walked away to provide Nekoru with some space.
When the unknown girl suddenly spoke up, Neil felt Nekoru's lips rapidly rip from the palm. The slight saliva coating allowed the lip to grip him momentarily. However, I thought it was only for a second as the sheer speed of Nekoru's head turn broke the lip's grip and sent him flying. "NEKORU!" Neil screamed as he sailed through the air, seeing her further away; her focus was on the new girl rather than him.
Speaking of the new girl, Neil soon found his vision of Nekoru replaced with the view of Hanako as he soared towards her. Neil had no idea where he could land, but as he began to drop, he saw, while he was falling towards her, his trajectory was not her but rather what she was holding. A steaming cup of tea!
Seeing the steaming cup getting closer, Neil tried to avoid landing in it. Swimming through the air, Neil released a sharp gasp as he felt the heat of the stream overcome him as he entered the smoke cloud. Closing his eyes, Neil knew what was happening, and he would fall into heated liquids below. The waters would boil him alive; he just knew it. Even If he wasn't killed in mere moments, it was not like he could just climb up the sides.
But for once since coming here, it seemed like the universe was throwing him a bone as Neil landed on something soft and solid. Rolling to a stop, Neil's head was spinning from the landing, his eyes watering from the sheer amount of steam present. Through teary eyes, Neil tried to work out where he had landed, but all the heat and moisture were playing with his head.
Worse, he suddenly felt whatever he was on shift beneath his feet in response to the tea waves produced by Hanako setting the cup down. Neil had to cover his ears cause of the sudden ringing sound caused by the cup being put down. Neil could hear Hanako move away through ringing ears while Nekoru did something.
After a minute or two, the steam started to fan out, allowing Neil to see his surroundings; all the while, he could hear Nekoru looking for him. Calling out to him and shuffling around on the floor, he presumed. So at least she is looking for him, but how long would it be before she concluded that he landed on the other girl? Then what.
Trying to calm himself down, Neil noted the scent in the air, mint and lots of it. Getting an idea of where he was, Neil knelt and felt the ground. Despite being in a hot pool of tea, the ground below him was nowhere near as hot. Feeling its texture, Neil soon realised he had landed on a leaf inside this cup of mint tea.