A Stroke of Bad Luck
[Whoa, calm down first.]
Calm down? Calm down? Tell me to calm down? With my now tiny hands, I yanked at the suddenly much heavier hair, screaming internally.
Do I look like I can calm down right now!
Gyaaaak.
"...Change me back."
Put me back in my original body right now. Not this pint-sized kid body! I tried to steady my voice as much as possible, but what came out was the cute whine of a little girl.
Agh, for real. My face scrunched up involuntarily.
[Unfortunately, that's not possible. Once a body has been reconstructed, it can't be returned to its original form.]
"Why not?"
You did this to me. So why can't it be undone?
[Because I've transferred all my power to you. I'm just an empty shell now, left with mere remnants—I can't do anything anymore. And besides...]
Was it my imagination? The wolf's voice sounded fainter than before.
[In about a minute, even my consciousness will fade away.]
Not my imagination, huh?
What the—
I realized the situation was far more dire than I'd thought.
"Why?"
Before the wolf vanished, I wanted answers to everything—why me, why do this, what happens to me now. I compressed all my questions and hurled them at him.
[It may have been forceful, but I assure you, it's not something that'll harm you. I guarantee it.]
Guarantee my ass. You see what I look like now and still say that?
[I can't say more—sorry. But in time, you'll come to understand naturally...]
"...".
[So trust me. I promise. You, of all people, will surely—]
"No, wait, what's the reason—"
I was about to press him when I stopped mid-sentence.
"Nya... guh...".
The heavy presence that had been rumbling in my head until just moments ago had vanished like a lie.
"...".
Now, the only things left in the room were the chicken boxes turned into trash and one tiny little girl.
And that girl was me.
"Ah."
What a life.
*
Straaain. Straaain straaain.
"Ow, ouch...".
Left all alone, I mercilessly stretched the white, squishy cheeks on my face. It hurt. Sadly, that meant it wasn't a dream.
What now? I had to go to work tomorrow, but how? No way I could show up at the office looking like this...
"...Ugh."
That damn wolf. Disappearing without a proper explanation—what kind of irresponsible bullshit is that? Stupid mutt.
How do you take the chicken I gave you and repay kindness with enmity like that...!
"Hoo."
I let out a deep sigh and plopped down right there.
I stared blankly at the upgraded window view, courtesy of that wolf bastard.
A full moon hung high in the cloudless night sky. Pretty.
A cool night breeze slipped through my hair. It tickled.
"...! Ke... r...!!"
Huh? Did I see that wrong?
Something weird caught the corner of my eye. What was that?
"Ke—r—!"
I rubbed my eyes and looked again, and the shape was even clearer now.
Ah, there it was. Right in the center of the high-hanging moon, a doll-sized thing about the size of my palm was screaming its head off as it hurtled toward me at insane speed.
...Hold on.
"Huh?"
No time to dodge.
Splat—!
"Guhk?!"
The unidentified flying object slammed right into the center of my stomach, and my already small body couldn't take the impact—I tumbled backward onto the floor.
"...".
Ugh, ow... it doesn't hurt?
I'd braced for pain and scrunched my face, but for some reason, there was none. It had hit me dead center in the gut, sure, and I felt the impact, but no pain at all.
Like a fluffy ball of cotton had flown in for a hug. Weird sensation.
"...".
Lying there dazed on the floor, I looked down at my stomach.
The doll thing that had been yelling earlier was sprawled on top of it.
"Finally found you! I knew you'd be hiding in a place like this... Huh?"
It lifted its head, and our eyes met.
"Huh...".
A moment of silence.
It blinked its button-hole eyes in confusion, then asked in a dumbfounded voice.
"Wh-who are you?"
"...".
That's my line.
At this point, the injustice was just absurd. Instead of answering, I just stared at the thing on my belly.
Up close, it looked even more like a doll. Come to think of it, weren't the mascots those magical girls carried around something like this?
"Ugh, I definitely smelled Ker’s magic power in here...?"
With me staying silent, it flailed its cotton-candy paws in the air, scrambling to get up.
Then it looked around, sniffed the air, and came back toward me.
"Weird, the smell's definitely coming from here."
Sniff sniff on my lower body. Sniff sniff on my stomach. Then it lifted my skirt...
Hey, hey, what the hell is this cotton ball doing?
"Stop."
I reflexively jabbed my finger into its forehead to stop it.
"Hey! Let go! I just wanna check!"
Check what? This is sexual harassment, you know?
"Grrr, don't push! I'm just trying to find Ker!"
I don't know who this Ker is, but common sense says he's not hiding in my panties.
"Ugh!"
It kept flailing its cotton paws desperately even as my finger pushed it away. Soft, harmless punches that weren't even threatening.
"You little brat! You know where Ker is, don't you? Where's Ker! Spill it!"
"...Brat?"
I furrowed my brow and grabbed it by the scruff, hoisting it up.
"What the—put me down! Let go!"
It thrashed wildly, dangling there and shrieking.
But its chubby body had ridiculously short limbs, so no real resistance.
"First off, correction: I'm not a brat."
At my words, it glanced down at my toes, then slowly back up. Our eyes met again.
"Aha."
"...".
Why am I getting pissed?
Should I just chuck it?
"Anyway, do you know? Where Ker is!"
"I do."
"As expected...! Where?! Tell me now!"
"If you mean the wolf-looking guy, I absorbed him. Wasn't exactly voluntary."
"...Huh?"
I said it flatly, and its face was a sight—pure panic smeared all over it.
Well, not a lie. Just summed it up lazily 'cause explaining in detail was a hassle. Plus, a little payback for calling me a brat earlier.
"Y-you're not a magical girl, are you?"
"Nope."
"Then how? No, seriously, how? That make any sense?!"
Tell me about it. It did, somehow.
"No, how... Uh, uh... What am I supposed to do now...?"
Pfft.
Its panicked flailing was funnier than expected, and a chuckle slipped out before I knew it.
Meanwhile, it started muttering to itself nonstop, then deflated into a total sulk. Not figuratively—literally. Like a doll that got ruined in the wash.
Makes it kinda cute like that.
"Ugh, uuu... What do I do now...?"
It fiddled with its cotton paws up and down, mumbling for a while, then seemed to steel itself and spoke up.
"H-hey, wanna make a deal?"
What now, out of nowhere?
"A deal?"
I echoed back at the sudden pitch, and it puffed out its chest with a determined look.
"That magic power you've got right now? Super dangerous. You know that?"
"Magic power...? Don't feel any."
"Argh, figure it out! Only spirits like me from the spirit realm can see it!"
"Got it."
Spirit realm? Probably full of things that look like this guy. Not bad.
"Ker isn't just any monster. He's the king of monsters! Know what happens if the king's gone too long?"
"What?"
"Portals open, and monsters swarm this world!"
Eek.
"The monsters without a king will come charging in, each thinking they're the new one!"
"...".
That mutt didn't mention that.
"Yeah, that's big trouble... but why tell me?"
Its dull purple body with black patterns everywhere didn't scream "good guy." Total villain color scheme.
"He's my close friend. Nothing's more important than friends...".
To my question, it answered surprisingly calmly. With slightly sad eyes.
"I see."
To save its friend, huh. Sounds suspicious as hell. The excuse is flimsy, but doesn't seem like a lie.
Decades of social experience told me—it was all truth. Liars always slip up, no matter how good the act.
"And, uh. You said it wasn't voluntary, right? So you wanna get rid of Ker too, yeah...?"
Oh, predicting that far? Not as dumb as it looks.
"...Fine, got it."
Can't ignore it if the city's at stake. Gotta hear it out.
"For real?! Deal's on then? Wooow!"
I nodded, and it lit up like it'd won the world, beaming with joy.
The wrinkled doll from before was gone; now it was puffed up like a balloon, zipping circles around me.
So excited it flew so fast, I almost swatted it thinking it was a mosquito. Annoying.
"You're the best part... er, partner! We get each other!"
"Not a brat."
One more time and I really throw it.
"Gah, got it. I get it."
It seemed to catch my menacing glare, slamming on the brakes mid-air.
Fidgeting its paws, it carefully settled on my shoulder.
Squish. Barely any weight.
"Alright, to seal the deal, introductions! I'm Popo!"
"Popo...".
"What's your name?"
I started to answer, then bit my lip. Honestly, my real name wouldn't fit this look. And hearing it from this little girl body? Creepy just thinking about it. Time for a fake name.
Let's see. What was that wolf's name again? Ker, so... hmm.
I rolled similar sounds around in my head.
"...Mir."
"Mir?"
"Yeah."
"Ooh, Mir! Cool name! Nice to meet ya, Mir!"
Popo rubbed its fluffy face against my cheek. The soft texture felt nice.