M: Well, here we are again
Shrunk in the Wash
Tai, can you do me a favor?" the mother of Tai Kamiya asked kindly.
Tai looked up from his spot on the couch with a light frown on his face. In his mother's arms was a bucket filled of dirty clothes. He groaned lightly as he knew what his mother had in mind.
"AAAH mom, can it wait? The game's about to start," Tai whined.
Tai's mother put on an angry face as she walked up to her son. "Now listen here, young man. Everyone pull their weight in this house. And don't think just because you saved two world, don't you can get away from you're chores, either."
Tai just sigh and turned off the TV. He knew that there was no talking his way out of this, not when his mother's involved. So, he got up, and took the bucket from his mother. He then hurried over to bathroom, only to stop, and groan when he remembered that their washer had just broke down.
Tai sigh as he went to the door," Figure, I would have to go the laundry mat when a big game's on."
The sixteen-year-old quickly put on his shoes, and hurried out to see if he could do his chores fast, so he could get home and at least catch part of the time. Unfortunately, that proved to be harder then he first thought, as the closest laundry mat was at least a half of a block away. Another unfortunately twist was that since it was only laundry mat in this part of town, it was often a very busy place.
Luck, however, was with the young man this time. There was only about two others in the building at the moment and looks like they were using the dryers, not any of washing machines. That's when he saw it, and it caused his mouth to drop open. Directly in front of him, was the biggest wishing machine he had ever seen. It was easily twice the size of any normal machine, and has a lot of buttons on it.
"What the heck is this thing?" Tai wondered as he walked up to the washer, and been looking it over.
"That's the Wonder Wash," a voice said, startling Tai.
He looked to his right and a man, a few years older then himself, admiring the machine. Tai recognized the man as Kai Hino, the son of the man who runs the place. He's about as tall as Tai, with a slim body, and a small square chain. He his black hair, and green eyes, and is currently wearing a pair of black pants, a white shirt, and a pair of black loafers.
"Wonder Wash?" Tai ask curiously.
Kai looked at the teenager with a light smile. "Some big company in Korea made it, and as part of a promotional gimmick, our city was chosen to have the first one."
"Why, this place?" Tai asked curiously.
Kai just shrugged as he turned away from the young man. "I don't know, probably because of all of the monster attacks around this place. Oh, and be careful, that thing powerful. We already have complains about clothes being shrunk by that thing."
Tai watched as the older teenager walked away, and then looked at the machine. Taking a closer looked at the washer, he saw that it didn't have one of the fan-like things use to the do the wash. He also realized that the opening in the washer was big, big even to allow someone his size to easily get into the thing without be in any discomfort.
Tai just shrugged it off, and began to put in clothes. He was surprised when he put all of the colored clothes in at once. He then set the machine to low power, taking Kai's advice seriously. He then watched as a jet stream of water came out from the center, as the inside began moving.
To keep himself busy, Tai read the small information booklet that came with the machine. While must of it bored him, he did learn that the water in the machine was special. There was some kind of chemical added to the water, which according to the book, will help dry the wet clothes when expose to air. Tai really didn't understand it, and just threw the book off to the side, waiting for the wash to finish.
Tai was surprised when he found, even on low setting, it took only have half of the time it usually took to do wash. And just like Kai said, some of the cloths were shrunk. Luckily, the clothes shrunk were some of his sister's old clothes, the one his mom was planning on giving away to a charity drive soon.
"Cool! Just have to do the whites while I dry these clothes, and I might just make it for the game," Tai said gleefully.
He then went to one of the dryers, and put all the clothes he could into the machine, and then want back to refill the Wonder Wash. This time he set it to the lowest setting he could find, not wanting to shrink his lucky socks. The drying was done before the rest of the wash, so Tai was able get that out of the way, and waited for the whites to finish.
Again the young man was surprise that even on the lowest setting there was, it didn't take as long as he thought it was. He was so happy as he unloaded the whites, he didn't noticed another young man with a large bag, impairing his vision, heading toward one of the machine just pass Tai. He frowned when he saw one of underwear had fallen from the bucket and bent down to pick it up.
Tai stood up just as the other teenager walked by him. The other young man suddenly lost his balance, and knocked his bag right into Tai's face. Tai was knocked off balance, and suddenly found himself falling into the washer he was just using. He hit the back rather hard, and felt the lid to the washer closed when it touched his feet.
Momentary dazed, the former hero was barely aware when hot water started to fill the space. He came to his sense when the inside of the washer began to spin, unfortunately, taking him with it.
"HEEEELP!" Tai called through a mouth full of water. "HEEEEELP!"
A few seconds later, the machine stopped, and he could hear the lid being opened. Tai then felt someone grabbed his ankles, and he was pulled from the machine gently. He found out that his savor was Kai, who help him to a nearby bench to get a seat. Though a little dazed from his experience, he did saw that somehow the machine had been set to it highest setting.
"Are you okay?" Kai asked franticly as he began examine him over. "No broken bones? You're not bleeding, right?"
Tai gently pushed Kai's hands away and gave him a comforting smile. "I'm fine. I'm tougher then I look."
Kai gave the teenager a skeptical look and but quickly just shrugged it off. "If you say so man. Just be a little more careful, I don't think my dad can handle a law suite."
Tai frowned as he watched the older teen walked away. He suddenly sneezed, and looked down, noticing that he was soaked to the bone. He then looked at the window, remembering it was cold day out, and he would probably catch himself a cold wearing wet clothes. He looked around but couldn't find another to dry off with, so letting a light sigh; he got up, and made sure he wasn't injured. He then walked over to the dryer where he left the clothes he was just drying. He frowned when he saw that almost of all of the clothing belong to his sister.
"Weird, I thought some of my clothes were in here," Tai wonder to himself, and the looked around to see if anyone was around, glad that he was alone. "Well, I guess, I can't be picky in these kinds of things."
He then quickly strip down to his birth day suit, and then changed into a pair of tan kaki pants, and a pink sweater with purple sleeves, and a purple heart on the center. Strangely, they fitted Tai like a glove, which was weird, given the height difference between the siblings. Plus, he could also feel them starting to get wet from the water dropping off of his body. He better get home fast or he would have changed for nothing.
Tai let out another sigh as he gathered the dry clothes, and made his way back to the whites. He then transferred all of the wet white clothes to a bag that his mother keeps in the bucket, and dropped the clean clothes into the bucket.
"I don't care if mom yells at me, I want to get home before someone I know sees me like this," Tai muttered dryly to himself.
He lifted up the bucket, and noticed that it felt heavier then he remembered but just shrugged it off as he left the laundry mat. As he walked down the street, the bucket felt like it was getting heavier. Plus he was getting strange looks from other bystanders. Even stranger was that fact that everyone around Tai seemed bigger, for some reason.
"…It must because of the clothes I'm wearing," Tai said, not noticing that his voice had gone up a couple of pitches, making him sound Like a little kid instead of a teenage boy.
"Hey! Watch it, you stupid kid!"
Tai barely had time to jump into an alley, and nearly lost his balance due to the heavy bucket. He then watched as a kid from his building, just a year or two younger them him, rode past him on a skateboard. Strange thing about this kid, he looked twice as tall as he used to be when he used to closer to Tai height.
"Hey, little girl, better be careful around here when the boss's get going!" one of the kid's friends called as he ran by.
"Little girl?" Tai repeated in a mix of surprise and confusion.
He gasped suddenly when he finally noticed the bucket growing in his hands, getting heavier by the second. He put it down and watched it as grow by the second, quickly reaching up to his stomach, and still growing. He then looked around and saw that everything was growing, getting further away at a very rapid pace.
It was about this time that Tai realize something. It wasn't everything around him that was growing. It was him…he was the one who was changing here.
"…I'm shrinking," Tai gasped when he heard his voice. "My voice? What's wrong with my voice?"
Stunned, all Tai could do was watched as he shrunk smaller and smaller. He would look around from time to time, to try and get a grape of how small he has become, but he couldn't tell. At the same time, he could feel parts of his body starting to change, to shift around. He felt something growing on his chest, while something shrinking between his legs. He could also something happening to his arms and legs as well. But that didn't resister at the moment; Tai's mind was still on the fact that he was shrinking!
Soon Tai found himself only a couple of inches tall, staring at a large bucket that he held not more then a minute ago. He slowly looked around, taking everything in. Things that once seemed common place where now alien and frightening. That's when he spotted a broken piece of mirror, and got the sudden urge to check himself out. He took a step forward, and nearly fell flat on his face, from a new weight on his chest. Luckily, he caught himself by grabbing a hold of the laundry bucket. He looked down and saw two ball-like objects sticking out of his chest.
"Guess, I have changed more then I thought," Tai took an immediate notice of how strange his voice sounded as he felt the things on his chest.
Tai remember the piece of mirror he just saw, and became more determined to look at his reflection. So, taking in a deep breath, and letting it out slowly, Tai slowly let go of the bucket. He then took a step forward, cautious about the weight on his chest. As he slowly made his way to the mirror, he become aware that he clothes felt different. He could feel the cold breeze against his bare legs, and he felt something moving against his hips. He just ignored it as he moved closer to the mirror.
Finally Tai reached the broken mirror, and what he saw nearly cause him to faint. Instead of a sixteen year old boy, he saw a sixteen year old girl, with golden brown hair that went to the center of his, eeh, her back. She noticed that her face was a little more narrow and her cheeks slightly higher. She also noticed that her figure was a bit developed then other girls her age she has seen. Her new breasts were easily the largest she has even seen on someone her age.
Tai turned around to try and get a better looked at just how long her hair has gotten. It was actually longer then she first; it was down just passed the center of her back. Funny, Tai didn't think her hair was that long; did it grow when she changed? Facing forward, she continued to look at her hair. Her bangs, surprisingly, just looked like shorten version of her bang from when she was still a boy, with the largest bang close to her right eye. She also had an orange hair clip, shaped like the Crest of light, strangely, around her left ear.
Strangely, there was an orange strip, running down the right said of Tai's hair. The former boy then lowered her eyes to get a better looked at her clothing. Not only did they shrink with her, they had completely changed from what they were earlier.
The sweater had been split in half, with the body turning into a pink summer's tank-top with an orange Crest of light on it. The top showed more of Tai's new additions then she cared to admit. The rest had morphed into purple summer jacket. While the jacket fitted like a glove, the sleeves were a little long; they came up to the joints of the fingers.
The pants had morphed into a short skirt, which barely reached pasted the thighs. Tai ran her fingers against it, and found that it was the same martial as the pants; only it felt lighter, like some kind of summer wear. There even a belt, with the end hanging off of Tai's right side, that wasn't there before.
Finally, Tai's shoes had morphed into a pair of boots. These boots want about half way up the lower part legs, and were brown with a purple streak on the outer sides. Strangely, the left boot has a pink crest of courage engraved on the front of it, and the right one has an orange crest of light engraved on it. Finally she could see black socks, sticking out slightly from her boots.
Tai continue to look at herself in the broken mirror, a light blush starting to form onto her face. If she didn't know that she was staring at her own reflection, she would be totally digging on this sight. Suddenly, a powerful, well powerful to something Tai's size, breeze began to blow. Ironically, the breeze was powerful enough to lift Tai's skirt, revealing her lemon panties with pink hearts on it. Tai let out a girly shriek, as she thrust her hands down onto the skirt to push it back down.
"It had to be a skirt, didn't it?" an embarrassed Tai said.
The breeze, however, did serve another purpose. It remained the shrunken former boy that she was wearing summer attire. The cold wind easily ripped through the thin clothing that she was now wearing. Tai let out a faint sigh as she zapped up her jacket, and held it tight against her chest, blushing when the fabric brushed against her new "items".
Tai just tried to put it out her mind for the time being and focus on another matter at hand. She looked out the alley quickly, and realized that, at her new size, the trip home would take hours. She then looked at the bucket. She did have a cell phone on her when she went to laundry mat. There were only two problems she was facing that stopped her from using said item.
First: the phone was in her pocket when she was knocked into that wash that no doubt caused her extreme change. So it might by damage from all of the water in that stupid wash. The second problem is less problematic. Her phone was in the bag with her wet clothes. She walked up to the bucket, and looked at it carefully. She put her hands onto a shirt sleeve that was sticking out, and tried to pull on it. She found, at her reduced size, it was hard to move the item in question. She gave up trying after a minute of pulling, and looked up. The bag, which held her wet clothes, and phone, were at the top of the bucket. She doubt that she could climb the massy pile of clothing, and still have the strength to rip open the bag.
Tai let out a light sigh, and looked towards the alley month again. "I just hope that no one steps on me. I also hope that someone I know would come by and give me a lift," the shrunken boy-turned-girl said hopefully.
(…)
Tai was ready to pull her new long hair out by the roots! She has been walking for nearly three hours, and barely got anywhere. Sure she couldn't see the alley where she left the clothes. But, because of her reduced size, she couldn't see any familiar land marks to see if she was close to her apartment building.
Plus, avoiding the giant feet was proving to more of a problem then she first thought. She found herself scared every time when she see a shadow, only to sigh in relief when it just turned out to be a small object, blowing in the wind. When someone was close to stepping on her, she made a mad dash to the nearest building. She had a few close calls, but always avoided being stepped on. Still, the day was starting to get late, and more people were starting to walk on the sidewalks, making it harder for the former boy to get around.
Plus it was starting to tire her out, running for cover like she has been doing. It was also starting to make her really, really hungry. It didn't help matters when some bystander and they were carrying a bag with food that Tai could easily see, making her that much more hungry.
Then there was the wind. It was already a cold and windy day before she shrunk, and with the coming night, it will be getting a lot colder. Tai frowned as she looked down at the attire that changed when she shrunk. They were far to light for this weather, and with the wind picking up speed; it felt like she would freeze solid at any time.
"Why couldn't I still have pants?" Tai asked sarcastically as another cold breeze rip through her.
The shrunken boy-turn-girl suddenly stopped, her shoulders tensing up. For reasons she didn't know, she felt like she was being followed. Maybe being so small was making her paranoid, but she felt like someone has been following her since she left that alleyway. She would look around, but at her new size, it was very hard to see if anyone would was indeed following her. After a minute, she would shrug it off, continue on her way.
Tai held her stomach when it let out another loud roar. "Man, I probably could eat an entire plate of one of my mother's meals, and that saying something. Huh?"
Tai looked up to see another foot coming down on her. More out of reflex, the shrunken former boy darted to her left, and avoided the foot. She watched as the person the feet belonged to stopped and probably looked around, for what she didn't know. The person then moved on, unaware of the girl literately at her feet. Tai let out a half frustrated, relieved sigh as she stepped away from the corner. That's when a familiar scent caught her nose. Running out a little further, she cold barely make out a sigh of a bakery she liked going too.
Seeing that sign caused Tai's hope to soar to the clouds. If this was her favorite bakery, then that means she was half way home. She made better time then she thoughts. But there was another reason why the shrunken boy-turned-girl was so happy. The wife of the man who runs this place, is hugely in love with cat, and would leave some milk for the strays to eat. Now, this wouldn't normally interest Tai, expect that Gatomon, her little sister's digimon partner would sometime stop here when she was on one of her city runs.
"I just hope that is one of her nights," Tai muttered hopefully.
She then hurried to the back, eager to see if Gatomon was indeed there. She missed that a pair of legs were standing right behind her, seemingly waiting for the former boy to move. The person, who those legs belonged to, smiled as he or she looked into the alley. The figure then turned and walked away from the alley in which the shrunken DigiDestind disappeared into.
Tai was starting to think this was a bad idea. When she reached the back of the store, she saw a bunch of cats, licking away at the saucer of milk that the kind lady leaves for them. There was about six or seven of them, all fully grown too. Unfortunately, she didn't see the cat-like creature anywhere.
Maybe I should get out of here, before one of those giant cats sees me and make me into a toy, Tai thought nervously.
She began backing up slowly, to try and stay out of the way of the hungry creatures' line of sight. Unfortunately, one of the cats did see her as it finished its meal. Curious, the orange cat walked up to Tai, who, unfortunately, become frozen with fear when she saw the cat moved closer to her. Within seconds, the cat was on top shrunken boy-turned-girl, and she began to sweat when she saw how big the cat truly was.
Great, just great. After all of the dangers I faced, I get taken down by a simple cat, Tai thoughts sarcastically.
"Well, there something you don't see everyday," a familiar voice said from behind Tai.
Tai gasped as she recognized that voice right away. Apparently, the orange cat knew too, because it become slightly afraid and hurried away from whoever the voice belonged to. She slowly turned around and saw, in all of her white glory, Gatomon, looking curious at the tiny creature in front of her.
"I never knew a human could get so tiny," Gatomon said in half joking, half curious tone.
"Gatomon! It's me! It's TAI!" Tai shouted happily.
The cat-like digimon looked at the tiny human in front of her, a curious frown on her face. She did see some resemblance to the older brother of her human partner, but last time she checked, he was much taller, and clearly a male. Curious, she lean closer to the tiny human and began to study her.
"If you're really Tai, prove it," the white cat said suspiciously.
Tai let out a faint sigh. She should have known things were going to be that easy, nothing was ever easy. So, with another light sigh, she lean up and whisper something in the cat's right ear. Gatomon's eyes suddenly snapped fully open, and she pulled her face away, to get a better look at the tiny human in front of her.
Now that she thought about it, she did indeed see a certain likeness to the human she consider a brother. She took a good woof of the tiny human, and found the same chestnut-like scent as Tai, only with a hint of lavender mixed in. But then if this tiny girl was indeed Tai, then that leave only one question on the cat's mind.
"…How did you end like this, Tai?" Gatomon asked curiously.
Tai just let out another sigh, and rubbed the back of her head. "It's a kind of a lot story, and," Tai held her rumbling stomach," I'm kind of hungry. Can you give me a lift back to the apartment?"
Gatomon frowned at that request, something that Tai picked up on immediately.
"What's wrong, Gatomon?" the tiny girl asked in concern.
Now, it was Gatomon's turn to let out a sigh. She looked at Tai, trying to see just how tall she currently was. She would guess that Tai was somewhere around six inches tall. That was small, but there were other problems that the cat was thinking about.
"Tai, I don't know if that's such a good idea?" Gatomon said after a shout paused.
"Why?" Tai asked curiously. "I can ride on your back, holding onto your fur."
Gatomon just sigh, and moved closer to Tai. "That's just the problem. My fur isn't that thick, and you're probably would not be able to hold onto it if I ran fast."
Tai frowned and walked up to the cat-like creature. She then gently grabbed a hold of some of Gatomon's fur, and lightly pulled. She was right; the fur was shorter then Tai thought, and her tiny hands couldn't grab as much as she hoped. Letting out a sigh of defeat, Tai looked away from Gatomon, trying to figure something out.
That's when she saw it, by accident, really. Looking to her right, she saw the remains of a long pink scarf, caught on a nearby box, and flipping in the wind. She walked up to it, with Gatomon following close behind. She looked at the piece of clothing, and then at the digimon behind her. A plan quickly formed into the boy-turned-girl's little head.
"Gatomon! Help me with this!" Tai said eagerly.
The pint sized champion just nodded her head, and got beside the shrunken person. Within a few minutes, the two had fashioned the old piece of clothing into a makeshift chair of sorts. Gatomon had tired the scarf around her neck, and then carefully folded the area near her neck, making a sort of bucket for the tiny human girl to sit in. The cat lowered her body closer to the ground, to allow the shrunken boy-turned-girl to climb in. When she did climb in, she found that Gatomon has made some holes, allowing Tai to stick her legs and arms into them.
"Ready, Tai?" Gatomon asked.
Tai just nodded, and without a second thought, the cat-like digimon took off running. Much to the shrunken DigiDestind's surprise, her steed didn't go for the streets. Instead, she gracefully climbed some boxes, and got onto the window frames. She watched as the cat gracefully run across the narrow window frames like it was nothing. Tai couldn't help but stare in awe as she watched the scenery past her bye in a blur. She let out a soft giggle as she realized that this was actually a bit fun.
(…)
Kari Kamiya frowned lightly as she looked at the math homework. She wasn't really concentrating on the piece of paper in front of her. She was worried about her older brother, who hadn't return from his laundry duties. She let out a light sigh as she placed her pen on the deck and turned her head towards her clock. I have been three hours, and 49 minutes since Tai went out. Now, she knew her brother wasn't the best when it came to chores, but it doesn't normally take nearly four hours to do some laundry.
"Why am I getting a bad feeling about this," Kari mused softly to herself.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar tipping sound. Looking at her window, she could see her good friend, and partner, Gatomon, tipping on the glass. She smiled as she walked over and opened the window to let her in. Kari frowned slightly when she saw that her friend had something tied around her neck.
"Gatomon, what you got there?" Kari asked curiously, getting closer to look at whatever the cat had.
Gatomon just gave her human partner a sheepish smile, a really uncharacteristic move, as she lowered her head closer to the ground. Curious, Kari kneeled down to get a better look, when she saw something moving within the piece of clothing. Her eyes nearly fell out when she saw a tiny human girl climb out of the scarf that Gatomon was wearing. But more importantly, she recognized who the tiny girl was, even through all of the changes.
"T-Tai, is that you?" Kari asked in shocked.
The tiny human just put her hand behind her head and nodded sheepishly, a trait she knew all to well. At the point, Kari found herself trying to keep herself from fainting. She knew people just don't shrink or change genders for that matter. And yet, she couldn't deny the facts, either.
"…I think you need to tell me what happened," Kari said calmly, after regaining her composure.
Tai nodded, and prepared to tell her story, only to suddenly have a loud growl, loud enough for Kari to hear it, causing the tiny girl to blush even harder.
"Umm, before that, can I get something to eat," Tai muttered shyly, but still loud enough for Kari to hear her former brother.
Still in a bit of shock, Kari nodded, and then reached out with her right hand. Tai flinched slightly when she saw the gigantic hand reached toward her. Kari gave her shrunken brother-turned-sister a reinsuring smile as she gently wrapped her fingers around her, and lifted her into the air. Kari then walked over to her desk, and noticed that Tai seem in awe from what she was seeing. That brought a smile onto the young, yet taller, girl's face as she placed her new shrunken sister onto her desk.
The DigiDestind of Light then left to get her shrunken brother-turned-sister something to eat, leaving the smaller one to her own devices. No matter how much time has pass, Tai didn't think she would get use to being so small. She walked up to a digital clock and took a seat on it, instinctively crossing her legs so no one saw under her skirt. She looked around, in awe at the once familiar room now looked like some kind alien landscape. She could barely make out the burry imagine of Kari's bed and dresser.
"Man, everything so different when you're tiny," Tai muttered disheartened.
Tai instinctively pushed a loose string of hair behind her left ear, and got off the clock. She walked across the desk, noticing how eerie it felt walking across something that just a few hours ago wasn't even big enough to lay across. She then spotted the pen Kari was using before she and Gatomon got there, and became curious about something.
She kicked the pen close with her foot, and picked it up. It was heavier then she was thought it was going to be; still she managed to stand it up beside her. When she looked at it, she notice that she couldn't tell which was taller, her or the pen. She let out a light sigh as she dropped the pen back onto the desk.
"Just how tiny am I, anyways?" Tai wondered.
This question has been on the tiny teen's mind for a quite a while, actually. But, on the way home, she tried her hardest not to think about it. She knew if she started to think about it, she would try with all of her brain power to figure out just how small she has gotten, making her long trip home that much longer. But now that she was here, at the apartment, her curiousness had grabbed hold, and she was looking for anything to help her. Sadly, she couldn't find anything that might be of help.
"Are you looking for something, Tai?" Kari asked kindly, startling the shrunken girl from her thoughts.
Looking up, the female DigiDestind of Courage saw her little, yet taller sister, standing over her, handing a tray. Tai was so absorbed in her thoughts she hasn't noticed that Kari had entered into the room. Kari set the tray down, just outside of her homework, and Tai, remembering her rumbling stomach, hurried over. She saw a glass of milk for Kari, a saucer of milk for Gatomon, and a thimble of milk, no doubt for Tai. The shrunken boy-turned-girl mouth dropped open when she saw the other item on the tray.
"Where did you get that?" Tai asked in a mix of shocked and outrage, as she pointed to the two coco bars next to the milk.
Kari let out a light giggle when she saw her bother-turned-sister's face. She found it cute when seeing that shocked little face, like seeing the face of a toddler when they get their first piece of candy.
"Everyone's knows about your secret stash, even mom," Kari replied gleefully.
Tai grumbled a bit as she walked up to the one and broke off a large piece. Well, at least she learned why her stash of sweets was disappearing. She took a bit, and suddenly her eyes grew large with delight. She then began to devour the piece of coco in record time. While her face has become covered in chocolate, Tai's clothing was surprisingly clean. She then got another piece and downed it in record time again.
"Tai, what were you doing when I came in?" Kari asked curiously.
Tai swallowed before she reply;" I was just trying to find something to see how tall I was."
"Hmm," Kari look at her shrunken brother-turned-sister before opening the right draw on her desk.
Tai watched as her sister quickly searched, and then pulled out a plastic ruler. The shrunken boy-turned-girl understood without a single word being said. She stood up straight as Kari brought the ruler close to her. The taller, yet younger sibling frown a little when she saw her big, yet tiny brother-turned-sister was only about 6 and half inches tall. Tai noticed that frown, but said nothing as Kari put the ruler away, and took out a piece of paper, quickly writing a few things down.
"Tai, just how did you end up like this?" Kari asked in mix of curiosity, and concern.
Tai sighed, and look at her chocolate bar. She took another piece and quickly ate it. Then took a quick sip of her milk. Kari waited patiently for her new sister to finish, knowing full well that she was just doing this to get her thoughts together. She then looked up at Kari and with another sigh, began telling her tale.
After a five minute talk, Kari had the entire story, but was still confused as before. She looked down at the sheet of paper was using to record everything that Tai has told her, as she planned to get them to Izzy, to see if he could help. Unfortunately, there were just to many questions, and not enough answers to piece everything together.
"…You're saying that you fell into a washing machine and shrunk minutes after that?" Kari asked doubtfully. "And the cloths that you changed into shrunk with you?"
Tai, to busy with finishing off another piece of chocolate, just nodded. Kari frowned a little more as she looked at Gatomon. It seemed like a stretch and a bit unrealistic when she thought about it. People just don't shrink from falling into a washing machine. That's something out a cartoon or a comic book. And yet, she couldn't deny the facts when the proof was right in front of her.
But what can I do to help, Kari wondered to herself.
Kari felt a small tuck on her pants leg and looked down at Gatomon, who has been silent up to this point.
"Why don't we go and check out that washing machine that might help," the cat-like digimon suggested kindly.
Kari's face lit up as she realized that her partner was right. If she could get some of that water, maybe Izzy could figure something out. With that thought in mind, she gathered up her notes, and got up, gaining the attention of her shrunken brother-turned-sister.
"Going somewhere?" she asked curiously.
"I was thinking about heading over to that laundry mat, and getting some of that water you were talking about," Kari replied honestly.
"Can I come?" Tai asked eagerly.
Kari suddenly became hesitant, as she looked away from her older, yet tiny sister. She would like to bring Tai along, but at her size, there's so much that could go wrong. Unfortunately, Tai seem to pick up it and became slightly upset. She put her hands on her hips, in a motherly fashion, and glared up at her little sister.
"Listen, Kari, if I can survive a three hours trip, I sure I can handle a four minutes ride with you. Beside, you might need me. I'm small enough to probably get in the machine without a problem," Tai said logically.
Kari still looked hesitant, but could admit there was a ring of truth to what her tiny sibling was saying. Plus it was getting late; there shouldn't be a lot of people around. So, there shouldn't be to many problems. She let out a faint sigh and gently grabbed Tai. She then put her onto her left shoulder, and once she was sure her tiny sibling wouldn't fall, walked out of her room, with Gatomon following close behind.
Tai frowned when she didn't see her mother, in her usual spot at the kitchen. She looked around the best she could, but couldn't see her mother anywhere.
"Hey, where's mom, Kari?" Tai asked curiously.
"Mom said she was going to be meeting someone she who knew from high school this afternoon," Kari replied honestly.
Tai frowned angrily when she heard this. So that why she wanted Tai to do the laundry, so she could go out and hang with some old friend. If she done the wash herself, then Tai wouldn't be some six and half inch girl, wearing some cheap summer wear.
When I get back to normal, I'm going to give mom a piece of my mind, Tai thought angrily.
The three then left the apartment building and hurried to the laundry mat. The trio was largely unaware of the figure that was following them from the shadows, waiting for the prefect time to strike.
(A few minutes later)
Kari was right, given it late hour, the laundry mat was empty. And there was no sign of the owner or his son. But none of that matter to the DigiDestind of Light; her entire attention was focused on the machine in front of her. Tai told her it was bigger then most washers she had seen, but to actually see it in person, it was a little overwhelming. She slowly walked up to it, and began to study it. She still found it hard to believe that this thing was the reason why she now had a tiny sister instead of a normal sized brother.
After studying the machine for a few minutes, she found a panel, located near the water hose, which she suspected that where the chemical was. But when she tried to open it, she found it locked tight. She did, however, find a small hole, near the locked panel.
"Looks like I'm needed," Tai said cockily.
Kari just rolled her eyes, though she did smile to herself. No matter the size or shape, Tai is, and always will be Tai. She gently grabbed her tiny sibling and lowered her to the ground. Tai then walked up to the hole, and looked at it. She frowned when she saw that the hole was smaller then she was. After studying it some more, she learned that could get in there, though it was just going to be a tight fit.
"Is something wrong, Tai?" Kari asked in concern.
Tai just looked up at her tall, little sister, and flash her, a confident smile. She looked back at the hole, and her smile shrunk a little due to doubt. She gave her head a quick shake to rid herself of this doubt, and then removed her jacket.
I just wish I had something the tie this hair up. Don't want to get in my way while I'm doing this, Tai thought.
The shrunken boy-turned-girl handed her jacket to her sister, and in turn, Kari gave her tiny sibling a containment-like object that Kari had fashioned while on there way there. She looked at the hole again, and with a deep breath, proceeded to head into the hole.
Suddenly a nearby noise distracted the two, and draws their attention to the right. The siblings' danger senses were going off, telling them they were not alone. Kari looked to her right, and saw Gatomon disappeared into the shadows as she didn't want to be seen at the time.
"Is anyone there?" Kari called once her Digimon was safely hidden.
No one answered immediately, but Kari's instincts were telling her that someone was indeed there. She looked at Tai, and without saying a word, told her tiny sibling to stay put. She then cautiously stepped away from the machine, to try and get a better look. Suddenly, someone charged her, and grabbed her before she could react. She tried to break free, but found the person holding her stronger then herself.
Tai gasped, and stepped away from her hiding in the shadows of the machine. All of her brotherly and sisterly instincts were telling her to go and beat whoever had her little sister to an inch of his or her life. However, the size of this person was causing Tai to freeze up like a cheap Popsicle.
"Well, well, "how the mighty have fallen" as the old saying goes," a familiar voice said from the shadows.
Tai gasped when the person came out from the shadows, and she recognized the person right away. Otto Kujo, one of Tai's soccer mates. He's actually pretty good at the sport too. There's only one thing keeping him from reaching Tai's level of playing. Otto's has one big ego, even bigger then Tai's, if that was possible. He's also a ball hog; he usually tries to score by himself, thinking he's the best player on the team. This has lid to near losses for Tai's team, but they always manage to pull through. Otto, however, is always scolded by the coach, and for reasons she couldn't explain, he always blamed Tai for his own mistake.
Otto smiled as he moved closer to the shrunken boy-turned-girl, and Tai studied the person before her. Otto was dressed in his soccer training uniform with the jacket opened. He has a narrow face with small pointed chin, and a higher cheeks then one would expect from a teenage boy. He has sandy blonde hair, and deep red eyes, that glimmered with anger and hatred as he stayed down at his shrunken rival.
"So, Miss Tai," Otto said mockingly. "How does it feel being the one at the bottom? Doesn't it feel good?"
Tai backed up a little when Otto's feet came dangerously close to her. Otto suddenly bent down and reached out with his left hand. Tai's warning senses kicked into high gear, and she tried to make a run for it. Unfortunately, the hand proved to be faster, and was around Tai before she could get far. Otto tightened his grip more then he needed to, causing Tai to let out cries of pain.
"Oh, sorry, was I holding you to tight?" Otto asked as his smiled an evil smile.
He did, however. Relaxed his grip a bit, allowing Tai to breath. After catching her breath for a quick second, Tai glared up at her giant captor. This only seemed to make Otto's smile grow that much more wicked. Tai could tell that Otto was really enjoying himself.
"Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you!" Tai screamed angrily at the giant.
At this, the smile disappeared from Otto's face, and was replaced by a very angry scrawl. He tightened his grip just enough that Tai found it hard to breath.
"What did you do? You have the nerve to ask me that," Otto replied angrily as he moved to the front of the Wonder Wash. "Why does the entire team favor you when I'm the best player on the team? Why does everyone look toward you for the win when I'm a natural leader? Why do I get benched when you go on to lead the team in victory after victory through pure luck? Can you answer me that? CAN YOU, Little Miss TAI?"
Unfortunately Tai couldn't answer as Otto tightened his grip some more. This time Tai cried out as he felt pain exploded throughout her entire lower half. She tried to push open her captor's hand to try and lessen the pain. Unfortunately, she didn't have the strength needed to do the deed. Otto suddenly lessens his grip allowing Tai to breath. The shrunken boy-turned-girl looked up at her giant captor, wondering what was on his mind when she saw that he had that wicked smile on his face again.
"But I think I finally found a way to get back at you," Otto said devilishly.
Tai watched as his rival reached out and opened the door to the Wonder Wash. Her eyes widen when she saw Otto set the machine to high. It become clear, all of sudden. When she felt that someone was watching her, it must have been Otto. He must have saw the accident, and witness her transformation as well. Realizing what was about happen, Tai tried to break free once more, and once again, lack the strength to do so.
Otto's smile seemed to grow as he felt his tiny prisoner struggling to free herself. It felt good; to have someone who's truly beneath him to squirm.
"So you get it, don't you? I'm going to shrink you down so a flea would seem like a giant to you, Miss Tai," Otto said devilishly. "But first…"
Otto moved his free close to Tai's skirt, his smile turning a little prevented. The boy-turned-girl blushed deeply when she realized what was about to happen, and tried to kick the giant finger away. But like all of her other tries, the shrunken former boy lacked the strength to do much, expect for amusing her captor.
"Wait, stop!" Tai demanded.
Much to the boy-turned-girl surprise Otto did stop, looking at his tiny captive with a hint of curiousness.
"Oh, and why should I stop, Miss Tai?" Otto asked curiously.
"Umm…I will be your date for the prom?" Tai replied with a sheepish smile.
Otto paused to think about that over. Tai looked up at her giant captor, hoping against hope that her so-called rival would spare her for the time being. Suddenly, that devilish smile appeared on Otto's face, and Tai felt her hope dies.
"Right, and be humiliated for having the world's smallest date. Ha, now that's a joke," Otto replied sarcastically.
The teen then resume his finger's trip up the boy-turned-girl's skirt. Tai could feel her blush returning as she tried kick away the giant finger once more. And once again, all it did was seem to amuse her captor endlessly. Tai felt her heart race up as the tip of Otto's finger reached the rim of her skirt.
Suddenly a white sheet covered Otto, and before Tai could think, felt something or someone, pull open Otto's hand, and gently grabbed her. The shrunken boy-turned-girl looked up and saw his sister, carrying her away from the nutcase.
"Kari? How did you escape?" Tai asked once she regained her composure.
Kari looked at her brother-turned-sister and replied," A friend help me out."
Tai frowned, slightly confused by her sister's word, and she looked up, and much to her surprise, saw Gatomon, wavering to her. In front of the white cat-like creature was the basket of cloth that she left behind when she first shrunk. She was surprised that no one had taken it. Behind the cat was Otto's henchman, sitting against one of the many washing machines, looking a little dazed but other wise okay. Tai did notice that there was a small open wound on the guy's right cheek.
Kari had just reached her partner when the trio heard the sound of a lid slamming shut, and they all looked towards the source. Apparently, in his struggle to free himself from the sheet, Otto had knocked himself into the Wonder Wash, causing it to close and turn itself on, just like what happen to Tai earlier today. While she found her teammate to be a jerk, she wasn't about to let him suffer the same fate as herself.
"GET HIM OUT OF THERE!" Tai screamed at the top of her lungs.
Kari, wasting no time, hurried over to the washing machine, and set her brother-turned-sister onto the ground. She then turned off the machine, and opened it, letting out some water, that Tai needed to avoid. Kari took out the sheet, but found it empty. Fearing the worse, the young girl carefully laid the sheet on the ground, away from the wash, and slowly began to unravel the tingled mass. She was half done when she felt a lump around the center of the sheet. She then quickly, but cautious unfolded the rest of the sheet, and gasp when she saw a tiny girl, smaller then her own brother-turned-sister, lying in the center of the sheet.
Amazing, he must have been in there just a few seconds and he's already smaller then Tai, Kari thought in amazement.
Tai, now having recovered, moved up to her self-proclaimed rival, and studied the new boy-turned-girl. Otto moaned lightly as she got into a sitting position, instinctively keeping her legs closed so not to show what was under her new skirt. She looked around as her head clear, and when she saw Tai, her anger cause her head to clear up enough to get her to her feet.
"Alright, Miss Tai, ready for-huh?" the former boy blinked twice when she noticed that she now only came up to the other former boy's breast line.
Breaking up a bit, Otto got a good look at Tai, and notice she must be two or three inches taller then she was. She gasped she realized what happened to her. She looked down and her face paled to a ghostly white when she saw the state of clothes. Her pants and shirt had merged together and the pants had turned into a white short skirt with a blue wave pattern running near the rim of said skirt. Her shirt had also changed greatly. The top of her new dress was sleeveless with a black undershirt semi-visible from under the dress. Looking down at her waist again, she saw that her training uniform jacket was now tied loosely around her hips. She couldn't stop the light blush, spreading across her cheeks when she noticed the logo for her school's gymnastic club. She looked at her shoe, and blushed even harder when she notice they were pink with scarlet hearts on them.
Otto then took a closer at her new body. While it was a little muscles on her arms and legs, prefect for someone in the gymnastic club, she realized that it was underdeveloped compared to other girls her age. In fact, say for her limbs, she didn't have a figure to spoke off. Her beasts were small, barely pressing against her shirt. The rest of her body was also flat. In fact, it almost looked like Otto was just some preteen girl, getting ready for puberty to hit her.
Otto gasped when she realized something. She was suddenly envious of Tai, and her more developed figure. She also realized that everything she been thinking lately has also been a bit girlish, which caused her to blush even more.
Great… not only am I a tiny girl, I think like one too. Can this get any more humiliating? Otto thought bitterly, looking at the sheet.
"Oh, OTTOOO…"
Otto gasped and looked up, to see a very, very angry Tai closing the gap. Suddenly, OTTO became very afraid, remembering what she was planning to do to her just minutes ago. She tried to back away from the angry boy-turned-girl, but found that, with her longer legs Tai easily closed the gap, and was staring down at the three inch tall former with a glare that could make a digital monster wet itself.
"Come on, Tai, it was a joke. You can take a joke, right?" Otto said with a nervous laugh.
But Tai wasn't laughing. Instead, and without a word, the shrunken former grabbed onto her rival's right wrist and began dragging her close to Tai's giant sister. Otto became even more afraid then before and tried free herself from her giant captor. Sadly, she found her rival's grip to strong and firm to break.
"Kari! Lend me your foot!" Tai called angrily.
"…Sure," Kari replied hesitantly, and brought out her right foot ever so slightly.
Tai, after slightly dotting task, mainly because of her rival struggling, and her sister foot size, perched herself on the edge of Kari's foot. She then hoisted her smaller rival over her knee, and lifted back her skirt. Tai couldn't help but grin when she saw that Otto's panties were a hot pink with a lemon colored hearts on them. She then pulled them down to Otto's ankles.
Otto began to struggle more violently when she realized what was about to happen. Sadly, with the taller girl's strength, and the fact that she couldn't gain any ground to break free, due to hanging off of the taller, younger sister's foot.
"Now, I'm going this for your own good, young lady," Tai said in cruel sarcasm.
Turning her head best she could, she saw, with growing fear, Tai's right hand slowly rise up, and began to struggle to break free again. Sadly, she just wasn't strong enough to break free from the slightly taller, tiny girl's grip.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!
Otto cried out as she felt the hand of her rival hit her rear end hard. She could feel the blow go through her entire body, like Tai's hand was made out of metal or something. She could feel tears threatening to fall but held them back. She was, after all, a man, no matter what she currently looks like.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!
Otto let out another cry as she felt her rival's hand hit her already sore rear end. She feel the tears running down her face but couldn't stop them this time, she was in to much pain. Suddenly every single misdeed she ever had done come rushing back to her. She realized just how much of a jerk she was and that just made her cry that much more.
Tai, noticing the tears on her rival's cheek, and couldn't help but smile. She figures Otto had learned her lesson. So, wrapping her arms around the smaller shrunken former, Tai jumped off of her sister's shoe, and help to her rival to her feet. Tai let out a silent giggle as she watched her so-called rival pulled up her panties, moaning slightly as they irritated her sore butt.
"Now, are you going to be a good small girl, aren't you?" Tai asked in a sickly sweet motherly voice.
"Y-Yes, M-Miss T-Tai," Otto replied, sounding like a scared child who just got spanked for the first time.
"Good, now get out of here," Tai said with a victory smile.
Otto then hurried off, not needing to be told twice. Kari, who had been stunned silent by her former brother's action, watched as the other shrunken former ran to her friend's side. The normal size girl noticed that Otto was running a little awkwardly, and figured it had to because of her irritated rear end. Otto's henchman, who has just recovered, watched as the tiny girl ran toward him, and somehow knew who she was.
"Boss? How did you get so tiny and cute?" the guy asked stupidly.
"Just get me out of here…please," Otto said hastily.
The henchman just nodded and reached out with his left hand. Otto gasped as she watched the giant hand closed in, and took everything she had not to run away from those giant fingers. She suddenly groaned lightly when she felt her henchman's pinky brush her sore butt.
"OW, watch with the finger, you oaf! I'm a little sore!" Otto screamed in a mixed out anger and embarrassment.
The henchman just nodded as he stood up. He looked at Kari and her brother-turned-sister, before hurrying out. Once she was sure they were alone, Kari looked down at her former brother.
"Tai, are you okay?" Kari asked in concern.
"Yeah, why?" Tai asked innocently.
"…Nothing," Kari replied and then looked at the washing machine, the whole reason why they were here. "Let just get what we need and leave."
"You mean this?" Gatomon said, suddenly appearing beside her partner, and hold a vial of clear blue liquid in her right paw.
"What's that and were did you get it?" Kari asked curiously, taking the vial and staring into it.
"Around," Gatomon replied while avoiding her partner's eyes.
Kari turned a suspicion eye to her partner, and then looked at the machine. She figured that Gatomon got the stuff from there. But how, was the real question on her mind. So, she stuck the vial in her pocket, and walked behind the machine. While her partner was busy, Gatomon walked up to the shrunken former boy, and held out her left paw.
"I believe this is yours," the cat-like creature said kindly.
Tai looked at the object in Gatomon's paw and saw it was her jacket. Kari must have lost it during all of the confusion. Tai give the giant cat-like creature a grateful smile as took the piece of clothing and put it on. Suddenly Kari came back, looking angrily as she stare down at her partner, like a mother angry at her child for something.
"Gatomon, why did you do something like that?" Kari asked in a semi-angry voice.
Gatomon just gave her human partner a light shrug and replied," I'm sure they could fix it."
Curious, Tai broke into a light run, and ran to the back of the Wonder Wash. She nearly gasped when she saw that the panel in the back of the machine had been ripped open. She could see why Kari was upset the way she was. The entire upper right corner was completely bent outwards, and it was hanging off the hinge.
"Sometime, I forget just how strong that cat can be," Tai muttered dryly to herself as she rejoined her giant sister and digimon partner, who was arguing at the moment. "Umm, can we please get out of here? I really don't want to be here more then we need to be."
Kari, clearly getting angrier by the second, turned her glare to her shrunken brother-turned-sister. Tai took a step back, seeing the face of her mother in sister's stare. After a moment though, Kari dropped her glare with a light sigh, and looked at Gatomon with a "we're not done with this" kind of look. Gatomon, in turn, just smiled, knowing that she had one this one…for the time being.
She then looked at her shrunken former brother with a soft but uncertain smile and Tai knew what she was planning without any words being said. Tai nodded her approval, and the uncertain disappeared from her sister's face. Kari kneeled down slightly and reached out with her right hand. Tai, despite having something like this happening before, couldn't help but flinched a little when she saw the giant hand coming towards her. Still, she didn't move as the fingers gently close around her, and she was lifted up into the air. Tai felt the air rush out of her as her giant, little sister moved her onto her right shoulder. Tai got herself into a position where she knew she wouldn't fall while Kari walked, and nodded towards her giant sister.
Kari returned the nod with a smile, and then headed out of the building. Once outside, she got her bearing, and then headed into the direction of Izzy's place. She also thought about calling Ken, for some extra help. But as she was walking toward Izzy's place, another thought popped into her head.
"…Umm, Tai?" Kari asked uncertainly, looking at her shrunken former brother from the corner of her eye.
"What's up, Kari?" Tai asked curiously.
"Where you serious about going to prom with that Otto guy?" Kari asked uncertainly.
"Hmm…" Tai thought about it for a moment, playing with the rim of her jacket's right sleeve, "Why not? I have a killer figure, so why not show it off while I have it, right?"
Kari looked away to the left, to hide the disturb expression that was quickly growing on her face. She was certain, without any doubt, that the longer her brother remain in that form, the more girlish Tai was acting. She quickly her pace slightly, wanting to get to Izzy's place and see if he could do anything to help Tai.
Tai, however, was oblivious to her giant, younger sister's worries, she was to busy with playing with the right sleeve of her jacket, wondering small things, namely where she could fine a prom dress in her size. She was also wondering if she could get some warmer clothing, she was freezing her little head off.
Gatomon, on the other hand, walked silently beside her partner and her shrunken brother-turned-sister, with such a small grin that no one could see. She found this entire thing quite funny, despite feeling a little concern for Tai herself. And why she was also hopping that the poor creature could be cured soon, she couldn't help but think, in the back of her mind, that if this could just last a little longer, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad, right?
(Author's Corner)
Me: Okay, I left this story open for two reasons. First: I wanted the reader to imagine their own ending. Second: I officially open this story ending. If anyone wants to write an ending or even want to extend this story, you have my permission to do so.