Part 2, Porcelain Dreams
Falling, falling, falling... was it one of those dreams? No, Shino wasn't falling... everything was growing around her. But that didn't make any sense... unless she was the one shrinking.
"There you are... I can't wait to bring you home to my collection!"
What was he talking about? But then a dark shape reached down toward her, closed around her and...
The scene seemed to shift, and Shino found herself in a room... it seemed a typical otaku's room, filled with dozens of bishoujo figures and gravure posters. She couldn't really make out their faces clearly, but one stood out to her, on a shelf across from her.
"Asuna!"
That's right. Asuna had been captured and turned into a doll. It seemed like she had always known this, although she shouldn't have.
Asuna's skin was unnaturally pale, and had a matte look to it, and seemed like flawless porcelain. There was an empty look in her eyes, and her face was frozen in a blithe smile, with an exaggerated blush clearly painted on her cheeks. Even her joints were clearly artificial. Asuna looked so beautiful in her delicate red and white dress, with snowflake motifs and yellow trim that Shino immediately felt jealous, but the fact that her friend was now seemingly a soulless doll unnerved her. This had to be a nightmare, this had to be-
"Oh! Sinonon! You're here!" Asuna's voice rang out, singsong. "I've been wondering when you'd come."
"A-Asuna? What happened to you? We have to get out of here!"
"I'm fine, Sinonon. And that's funny of you... neither of us can go anywhere. But let's catch up about Kirito-sama when you're up here with me."
"Wait... are you saying..."
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her.
"Time to get you dressed... my cute Asada-san!"
Huh. That was weird. The guy sounded like Shinkawa for a moment, and for an instant he looked like him too, but her vision seemed to be swimming. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She had never really gotten a good look at her kidnapper, so... wait! Eek!
Before she knew it, he was holding her up to a mirror. "You look lovely like that, Asada-san!"
If her blush hadn't just been painted on like Asuna's, Shino felt like her cheeks would be burning red all the same. She had been dressed in frilly lolita fashion, with a white and pastel green dress with too many bows, matching shoes and stockings, and a small headdress. Her fingers, which were visibly jointed like a doll's, held an umbrella as an accessory, and her mouth was frozen in a small "o", while her hair was dyed the same color as her online avatar.
There's no way I can show myself like this. Shino thought. I tried so hard to be strong... and now I'm just a helpless doll? And these clothes... they're just too girly for me.
"I think they suit you just fine, Sinonon," Asuna interjected.
"Wait, what? You can hear me?"
"Of course I can, silly. How do you think us dolls are talking anyways? It's telepathic." She squealed with delight as Shino was lifted up an placed on the shelf next to her. "I've wanted so much to have a good conversation between girls! But it seems the telepathy only works if you were familiar with the person before they became a doll."
Everything seemed to blur, but Shino knew that years had to have passed, spent idly chatting with Asuna, standing still, and looking pretty. Really, it wasn't such a bad life... and Asuna was right... she felt like a princess in her dress. And whatever reservations she had about being a doll faded when Kirigaya Kazuto bought her and Asuna. She knew that he'd always take care of them, and she was grateful to him for saving her from that creep. There was no point in hiding it. Asuna would know if...
Wait a minute...
Asada Shino jolted up from bed, sweating. Shaking, she held up her hands in front of her.
They were flesh and blood, with ordinary joints.
She gave a sigh of relief. So it was all just a dream. There was no way something like that could be real...
"Be careful, Sinonon! You wouldn't want to break me on my first night among friends in five years! Unfortunately, I'm very fragile right now."
Asuna's voice echoed in her mind, but it was far more vivid than any conversation they'd shared in the dream. Was that a memory? The whole situation was so messed up that she wasn't sure anymore, especially after that creep had tried that hypnosis or whatever on her.
She pinched herself. It hurt. Okay, next step. She dialed Kazuto's phone number.
"Hi, Shino, what is it?"
"I didn't just dream that whole thing about Asuna being a doll, right?"
"No, that was real. You should get some rest, Shino, you've had a long day."
"Like I can get back to sleep now. I'm going to have nightmares about what could have happened to me, and what did happen to her! This is all your fault, you know."
There was a pause. Afterwards, Kazuto continued, "Asuna says not to worry about her. And please don't tell any of her friends before they see her first."
"They'd think I was crazy if I did."
"Good. It's settled then. See you later."
"Ugh... it's going to be a long night."
But soon, Shino had drifted off into a peaceful slumber once more, gently smiling as she enjoyed her rightful place in Kazuto's dream collection, with her best friend at her side.