At Hiyoko's feet chapter 2.

It had been five minutes, or has it been five hours? How long had she been staring at the ceiling? The now all too familiar ceiling of her little cottage. Was she going to spend her entire night there? Would she skip the party?

She might as well. The only fun thing about parites is the food, and she knew that enough would be left over for her. There better be, or else the big boned "leader" will be sorry he ever laid eyes on food.

Hiyoko couldn't remember how she got to her cottage, but considering the state she was in when she woke up, or rather the state of her soaked bottoms, she could deduce that after she had fun with Hajime, he brought her in.

"Wait a sec, fun?"

She hadn't spoken the word out, but she thought of it. She had "fun" with Hajime? Fun was when you smash something someone cares about, or hear the crack and pop of bones breaking. Fun was torturing others, not....whatever.

But then she thought about how she *did* torture Hajime, a lot, and she felt better about herself. And then she felt worse, a lot worse.

"I wanted to spend time with my friends. To spend time with you." Hajime's voice has been echoing for a while in her head.

"Aaaagh I HATE him!"

She shouted, exasperated, as she rose up, now sitting on her bed, clutching an her pillow. She decided to clear her mind with a shower.
She needed a change of clothes anyway. And at that moment she could feel something scrunch up against her injured toe. She looked down to inspect it. It was a plaster. Carefully placed right on top of the hole the damned sea urchin had made on her perfect foot. Did Hajime put it on her while she was sleeping?

And did he figure out she was lying about more spikes? Oh who was she kidding, of course he did. Even Akane wouldn't be dumb enough to believe her in a situation as that one. Hiyoko caught herself smiling, and tried to straighten her posture and flatten that smirk. She was going to that stupid party, and she'd have fun all by herself, eating and laughing at others as they break a leg trying to dance to the unsophisticated noise they call music. And if Hajime decided to talk with her, that would be okay. Yes, just okay. Okay is okay, nothing more. Out of all the blabbermouths, attention seeking sluts and braindead idiots, Hajime was...ok.

A quick shower and a not so quick hair styling later, she was wondering if there was even a party she was preparing herself for, as she avoided looking at the time ever since she woke up. But as she checked, it was just 22:30. She must have snoozed for quite a while.
It didn't matter, she'd be fashionably late, but that's what fashionable people like her do. But then she looked at the neatly folded kimono and the obvious came to her mind.

"Wait a second I cannot put it on by myself!!!"

Her years of being a spoiled brat had finally backfired. Here she was, all ready to go out, but without anybody to tie her Kimono, she was powerless. She couldn't go with just a bikini.
The weather was always great at the Jabberwock islands, so it wouldn't be too cold for her. But the thought of showing up with the same outfit that Hajime saw being covered in....No, nope. Not doing that.
She tried helplessly to put it on, but no matter how much she tried, she just couldn't make the thing look presentable, or cling to her the right way. She once again considered the bikini before she let out a disgruntled groan and fell back on her bed, arms spread wide.

It was now 23:00. She could try her luck with the other kimonos, but she knew that no matter which one she picked, the story would repeat itself. She felt so dumb now for picking nothing but a single swimsuit and kimonos to bring with her
to the academy. But then again, nothing beats traditional japanese culture in her eyes, and she deserves only the best.......
She was panicking. She wanted to go to the stupid party, it didn't matter why at this point, she decided she would go and she would have her way. So she picked her bikini, washed it as much as she could, and put it on. Now all she had to do was get her sandals and..... where were they? She didn't even think about it till now but she hadn't seen them since she woke up. This was the final straw for her. She was late, she couldn't wear the clothes she wanted and now she cannot even GO.


"Ugh, it doesn't matter anyway". She was far too small to attract suspicion. Noone is going to be afraid or worried about a girl as small as her.
She was going to enjoy her own company, the best there is. Hajime would find a way to have fun with the others, for sure. And then she started thinking about Hajime having fun with the others, with Sonia, with Chiaki, with Ibuki...And just like that she found herself desperately trying to find her sandals again. Under the bed, the entrance, outside at the porch, everywhere she could think of. And they were nowhere to be found. She felt a kind of desperation she hadn't felt in her life yet, something was tightening her chest and while this anxiety filled her up, she did the only thing that felt natural at this point.

"Hajimeeeeeee!" She shouted as loud as she could, sounding heartbroken. Not an ounce of anger in her voice.

Knock knock

Hiyoko recoiled from the sound as if she had seen someone sprint at her with a knife. She slowly approached the door, but didn't open it yet.
A few seconds passed, and a worried voice was heard from the other side.

Hajime: "Hiyoko? Are you in there?"

The girl didn't know if she should be happy or scared of the situation, but nevertheless she opened the door.

Hiyoko: "Umm...why aren't you at the party?"

She asked very bluntly, altho her tone betrayed her happiness to the situation.

Hajime: "Oh, well...I thought you'd need these if you were to come"

He revealed a pair of worn sandals in his hand. They were hers, sure as the dark imprints of her soles on them, they were definitely her sandals.

Hiyoko: "What were you doing with them? Why did you have them?"

The poor boy flushed a slight red and quickly moved his hands in a panicked manner.

Hajime: "N-nothing, I just-"

As always, he was interrupted before he could voice himself. But not by words, but by the hand of his friend grabbing and pulling him inside the cottage, the sound of the door behind him shutting close followed.

Hiyoko: "It doesn't matter. I need you to do me a favour and as your mistress, you have no choice but to obey right?"

It didn't matter how many times he heard those words, he never knew how to respond.

Hajime: "What do you need?"

Hiyoko took a moment to think her next words carefully. She knew she had to say them, but it would be bad if this simpleton got the wrong picture.

Hiyoko: "I need you....to help me dress..." With that, she pointed at the kimono laying on the bed.

Hajime went from slightly red to positively crimson at this moment. He didn't know how to put a kimono on, but more importantly he didn't know how to stop himself from melting from embarassment at the mere thought of this.

Hajime: "I am sure one of the girls could help you with this, I-I am not, this is a bit...."

Hiyoko: "Yes, sure, you are late to the party, and many of the people are surely suspicious of you, but go ahead and ask one of the girls to follow you outside. I am sure it will go very well".

The sarcasm was tangible and the poor guy felt a distinct sting. And he felt this sting for the rest of this interaction as he accepted the situation for what it was and decided to help, even if it made him nervous.

Hiyoko: "Needless to say, if I see you peeking in any weird places, there will be a class trial waiting for everyone soon, got that?"

Hajime nodded with the lack of confidence that was expected of him.

The bossy girl grabbed the kimono and pushed it into Hajime's hands, then turned around, still in her bikini, and started to explain exactly what he had to do. She might have not been able to put it on herself, but she knows the procedure. Her servants always helped her though, so she never learnt how to put it on her own body.

It took all of Hajime's focus to listen to and follow his lady's instructions. The folding required was quite unusual for normal clothes. Requiring very delicate and precise movements as to not ruin the fragile yet beautiful fabric. From that point of view, the traditional japanese attire trully fit his little mistress.

And thankfully, she was very happy with the results. Checking herself in the mirror, she couldn't find a flaw anywhere. Of course she expected
nothing else out of herself, but she didn't expect Hajime to do such a good job. She was so pleased in fact, that she lost herself in her giggly state enough to not notice Hajime's eyes on her. Seeing her so happy as a result of his effort made his heart flutter.

Hiyoko wasn't done with him yet, however.

Hiyoko: "You did such a great job! I think you deserve a reward!" She sat again at the edge of her bed and raised her leg up, then wiggled the toes of her still bare feet.

Hajime tried to look calm but his attempt was for naught, as he stared directly at the little plump digits that a few hours ago were violating him.

Hajime: "B-but we should get going, we don't want to be late, right?"

Hiyoko chuckled mischieviously, the smugness of her smile had reached a new level.

Hiyoko: "We will go when I say we go, now do your duty. Or would you rather make such a cute girl cry?"

Hiyoko was much like Hajime. She couldn't help herself. She couldn't help but want to tease him, want to push him to his limits. To watch him fumble his words and stumble over himself as he did his best to please her. Oh how stupid he would look when she revealed to him that all she meant by this was that he was supposed to put her sandals on her feet. He looked so dumb as he approached her all flustered, and so cute when he knelt for her.......Cute!? No, the word was pathetic, yes, of course. What else would it be? The way his hands cupped her foot so delicately as if he held his very own child in them. The way his breath felt against her toes. So utterly c-....c-...

She couldn't do it! She pulled the foot back and thought to kick him to push him away but having been looking at his face so long, she couldn't bare to hurt it.

The bed gave a slight creaking sound as Hiyoko's trembling fingers pushed against it to lift herself up.

Hiyoko: "Haha you perv, you were supposed to dress me. You are so silly."

Hajime knew that something was off. Her laugh was clearly fake, and "silly" is way too light a word for her vocabulary. Not to mention her voice was so shaky, it was as if she was about to cry.

He had a minute to think about that as he watched her open a drawer, and take a pair of white tabi socks out of it. Hiyoko's mind games were so engraved into Hajime's psyche at this point that he didn't know if she did expect him to know to bring the socks to her or if she had planned this all from the beginning. His trail of thought was short lived as the mesmerising view of the fabric slipping down the sole of the young lady came fully into view, finishing with a gentle snap as the elastic material smacked against the heel when it was over.

His fascination with that scene was so strong as to make him forget they should be going. And as he was about to stand, he felt an arm interlock with his and pull him up.

hat same arm didn't let him go, as the two of them left the little house, and headed for the party in silence. Their rosey cheeks telling a thousand words for everyone who would soon see them.