The Little Lady of Momochi House
 
By Minako Tomoka
 
A Demon Prince of Momochi House Short Story
 
 
  Himari Momochi rose to her feet, wiping the sweat from her brow. She gripped the watering can and continued to water the rest of the sunflowers in the Momochi House garden. The summer heat was finally creeping in, and Himari had taken over the duty of watering the garden daily to keep up. Of course, in the seemingly infinite Momochi House, there was never any shortage of chores, even with Yukari, Ise, Aoi, and the other resident ayakashi to help out.
Himari exhaled, ready to take a break and head back to the house to grab some fresh cold water for herself.
 
  After finally finishing up her watering, Himari set the can aside and prepared to go back inside- until a sudden tap on the shoulder jolted her to attention. Her blonde twintails swished as she spun around, expecting to see Aoi...but instead it was someone quite different, a familiar, unfriendly face. A devilishly handsome, red-haired ayakashi dressed in a black suit, smirking and narrowing his sharp gold eyes at the young lady. "Well well, what a boring day we have here, hmmm?" he mused.
 
  Himari took a quick step back. "K-Kasha?! What do you want!? You are not welcome here!"
 
  "Aww, is that any way for the lady of Momochi House to speak to visitors?" Kasha sneered. "I merely wanted to say hello, that's all."
 
  Himari scowled at him. "As if I'd ever believe that. You only ever come here to cause trouble!"
 
  Kasha chuckled, raising his right hand. "It's summer break, isn't it? And yet here you are, out in the sweltering heat watering flowers? How dull...I know exactly how to help you out and make your summer just a little more exciting..."
 
  The resonating snap of Kasha's fingers echoed across the humid air, and in that split-second, he seemed to have vanished...but something was wrong. Himari was struck by a wave of unease, so dizzy she could barely stand up. Her head was spinning, and her surroundings were too blurry to make out. Unable to stay upright in the dizzying spiral, Himari collapsed on her back, gazing up at the blurry image of the sunflowers she had just watered towering over her. She laid there still, for what felt like an eternity. She couldn't make sense of the situation, not until her vision settled back into clarity. Her head pounding, she sat up, glancing around to get readjusted.
 
  However, the shadow of the watering can she had just used moments ago looming above her made her stare for a moment. Everything seemed...very large, too large, the sunflowers were usually rather tall, but now they towered above her like skyscrapers, each of the leaves the size of a car to her. Himari quickly realized that whatever had just happened, it was not normal. Everything was just way too big...something was very wrong.
 
  Himari stood up, walking among the towering sunflowers. "Hello?" she called. "Aoi? Yukari? Ise? Where is everyone?" Not a single soul was there to answer. Whatever Kasha had done, it seemed like it made everything around her incredibly large...or it had made her incredibly small. Perhaps it was an illusion? Either way, it was another one of his tricks, and the only thing Himari could do was get back to the house and find her way to Aoi so he could help her.
 
  Himari resolved to make her way back to one of the open side doors, navigating through the sunflower garden that felt more like a forest now. Despite her confusion, Himari seemed to be making good progress. That was, until she heard a distinct growling sound right behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she gasped at the sight of piercing yellow eyes with slit pupils gazing at her. Those eyes belonged to a huge striped cat lurking in the flowers. Not even a cat ayakashi, but merely a simple stray housecat...staring at her as though she were a mouse.
 
  Himari seized up, frozen with terror at the sight of the now-monstrous predator creeping up on her. She took off running right before the cat pounced, and she kept on racing ahead, even as the beast's thunderous footsteps pounded behind her. Not daring to look back, she continued to run with all her speed, her heart pounding and her lungs heaving. She couldn't slow down, not even for a moment...or else she would end up becoming cat food.
 
  Finally, she burst free from the sunflower garden, racing out into the hot sun and speeding across the clearing to reach the open side door. Thankfully in the summer heat, they left most of the doors open to allow fresh air in, since Momochi House didn't even have electricity, let alone air conditioning. With the last of her strength, Himari leapt onto the wood platform and rushed inside, collapsing against the paper screen door. She gasped for breath, allowing herself to settle once she realized the cat was no longer chasing her. It seemed being so small had made her a lot more agile, or at the very least speedier.
 
  But now that she was indoors, it was only half the battle. She still needed to find Aoi and let him know what had happened to her. Luckily, as she scanned the room, she noticed a freshly served, steaming bowl of ramen set on the table. If she could get up there, surely Aoi or someone else would come back for their food, and they would definitely notice her.
 
  Making her way across the room, the fibers of the carpet squishing beneath her feet, Himari crawled into the valley of a cushion and reached up for the edge of the table. Thankfully, the table was very short, only a handful of inches off of the ground. It allowed her enough reach to grip the edge and pull herself up, summoning her strength to drag herself onto the table. She rolled over on her stomach, taking a few deep breaths to recover. Himari was a skinny girl, but this was way too much exertion even for her. Climbing back upright, she felt the heat of the ramen bowl as she approached it. So all she could do now was wait for someone to come along...
 
  It seemed like a miracle to her when after only a few minutes of waiting, Aoi Nanamori entered the room. The gentle black-haired, blue-eyed young man paced across the room, sticking his head out of the doorway to search for Himari.
"Himari!" he called. "Are you still out there? Lunch is ready!"
 
  Meanwhile on the table, Himari called for Aoi. "Aoi!" she shouted. "I'm right here! Please, just look down here!"
 
  Aoi moved on as though he had heard nothing at all. He sat down at the table and lifted his chopsticks, ready to dig into his meal. Panicking, Himari made one last desperate attempt to catch his attention. She climbed up onto the edge of the ramen bowl, waving and calling out once more. "Aoi, please! I'm right here, please notice me! I'm down her-"
 
  Her words were replaced by a gasp as she lost grasp of her balance, and with nothing to grab onto, she plunged directly into the bowl of ramen. Spitting out mouthfuls of hot, salty broth and fighting among tangles of noodles, she panicked and flailed, whimpering and helplessly struggling. Sure, she was only a few inches tall, but Aoi had to notice her for sure now...right?
 
  To her horror, instead of dipping in his chopsticks, Aoi lifted the bowl and raised it to his lips, tilting his meal toward his open mouth. Struck by a blast of moist, humid breath, Himari shuddered as she gazed into Aoi's open jaws.
 
  "Aoi, nooooo!" she shrieked. In a mad dash to escape, she started frantically swimming through the soup, fighting against the current with what meager strength she had left. But her legs became entangled in the mess of noodles, and it was only a matter of time until she and a mouthful of ramen noodles spilled into Aoi's maw, slurped up and sealed shut in the darkness.
 
  Drenched in broth and saliva, and still struggling in the tangled noodles, Himari flailed blindly, her mind gripped by panic...especially when she felt Aoi tilt his head back. Sliding across his tongue alongside the noodles, Himari squealed, realizing she was about to slide right into his throat. She felt her feet brush against the sensitive flesh, and it quivered at her touch. The opening was expanding to accomodate the meal, but Himari was determined to not end up as food. She clawed at the base of his tongue and screamed out to her boyfriend. "Aoiiiii! Please, don't eat me-"
 
  A single large, thunderous gulp silenced her screams and sucked her down into the abyss.
 
Engulfed by walls of rippling muscle, Himari whimpered and squirmed weakly as she descended deeper and deeper into the darkness. To her, it was like a descent into hell, but to Aoi, it was the simplest thing imaginable, the nearly unconscious act of swallowing one's food. Tears welled up in Himari's eyes. He likely never even saw her or felt her at all, and now with the next place she was going to end up...
 
The trip down Aoi's throat felt like an eternity, the world's slowest water slide, but in reality it was likely less than a few seconds. At last, Himari was freed, sent forth into a much roomier space, where she plopped into a puddle of sour-smelling liquids, alongside the rest of the noodles and broth that came down with her. Himari was drenched, her soaked clothes clinging to her skin, and she felt disgusting, but knowing where she was now...she was at a loss for what to do.
 
Aoi's stomach rumbled and churned around her, the echoing growls filling Himari with unsettling dread. Not long after, another rain of ramen noodles and broth splattered upon her from above. He was just casually eating his lunch this entire time...completely unaware that she was fighting for her life inside his belly. But Himari was nothing if not determined, even in her weakened state. She began ramming against the walls of his gut, slamming his shoulder into the thick flesh. Aoi! Please, listen to me! Can't you hear me?! Can't you even feel me!? I'm in here, please! I'm not food! I don't want to be digested!
 
Her cries soon turned to weak sobs, and when even all of the ramming didn't work, she soon collapsed, flopping against the side of Aoi's belly. Was this really it? Would she just be stuck here forever, without even catching Aoi's attention? Himari's exhaustion caught up with her, her heartbeat and breathing slowing down, and the sound of the stomach growls lulling her into a state of near-unconsciousness...
 
"Himari, are you alright?" The voice that echoed around her was...different, yet familiar. Deep and slightly rumbly, like the voice of a god. To be fair, that was the best way it could be described. Himari recognized the voice immediately. It wasn't Aoi...it was Nue. The white-haired, red-eyed alter ego of Aoi, Nue was a beautiful ayakashi known as the Omamori-sama, the true master of Momochi House, the border between the human and the spiritual realms. His job was to expel wicked ayakashi and demons from Momochi House, to prevent them from spreading into the outside world. Aoi was normally gentle and mild-mannered, but when he transformed into Nue, he was quite stern and serious, noble like a prince...the demon prince of Momochi House.
 
  Aoi, or rather Nue's stomach, which was pitch-black only a few moments ago, was now alight with a bright white glow. "Nue...?" Himari asked. "Is that you?"
 
  The deep, echoing voice of Nue regarded her once again. "I am here, Himari. Please, don't be afraid. I promise, you are safe now."
 
  Himari let out a sigh. "Oh, thank goodness...Aoi really did notice me after all."
 
  "I noticed your presence, but it immediately triggered my transformation to protect you," Nue explained. "I did not know until I felt you struggling in my belly...I am very sorry, Himari."
 
  Himari could hear the twinge of regret in his voice. "I-I promise, it's okay. I'm sure you weren't expecting to accidentally slurp me up in your ramen noodles today...but are you sure I'll be alright in here? Your stomach was growling a lot...I think it was about to start digesting me."
 
  She gulped as she forced out the words, then felt a light stroking sensation from outside the gut walls, clearly the feeling of Nue rubbing his belly to soothe her. "I assure you, you have no need to fear my stomach, little one. Ayakashi like myself often prey upon humans, but we can choose when we wish to digest our meals. But you are no meal to me, so my stomach acids will never touch you. But how did this happen to you? How did you end up so small?"
 
  Himari clenched her teeth. "It...it was Kasha! I was just watering the sunflowers out in the garden, but then Kasha appeared out of nowhere and cast some kind of spell that made me shrink down somehow. I had to run away from a stray cat just to get in here, and I was trying to get your attention, but I fell into the bowl and you...swallowed me. That being said, I can't believe you just ate me like that! I won't forgive you for this, you know!"
 
  Nue let out a rumbling chuckle, a laugh that gently shook the insides of his stomach. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you for feeling that way. Perhaps you were simply too tasty for me to notice anything was amiss until you were already in my belly."
 
  Himari folded her arms and pouted. "Well, I don't think this is funny at all...when am I going to get out of here anyway? Will I ever turn back to normal?"
 
  "It concerns me that Kasha so casually appeared on the grounds of Momochi House to pull such a meaningless prank," Nue said. "If he were here right now, I'd give him a piece of my mind. But I no longer sense his presence, so his dark magic will fade with time. By tomorrow, you should be back to your normal size. Of course, I will make sure you are already expelled from my stomach when that happens."
 
  "So uhh...how is that gonna work?" Himari asked. "I'm uhh...not going to go deeper, am I? I'd rather not leave through the other end...are you going to throw me up?"
 
  "Neither," Nue assured. "My magic will remove you from my gut when I command it. However, I would rather not allow you to roam freely at such a small size, in case another stray cat or hungry ayakashi comes around looking for a snack. Besides...I quite enjoy your presence like this."
 
  Himari bit her lip, blushing slightly. "So...you like having me inside your stomach? Is that why it took you so long to notice me?"
 
  "Who can say?" Nue teased. "I have my own desires as well, you know."
 
  Himari shook her head. This was just like Aoi. He was always a cuddly and physically affectionate person, and she had many mornings where she'd woken up with him fast asleep in her bed alongside her. "Well, if you really wanted to be that close, you could have just said so...but thank you. Thank you for saving me..."
 
  Himari was no longer able to contain the loud yawn she'd been holding in. All the panic and chaos of the day had drained her. At least Kasha lived up to his promise of giving her an exciting day. "I can't believe it...I'm tired enough to fall asleep in your stomach."
 
  "You may sleep," Nue said. "When the time comes, I will return you to your bed. But for now, you can rest within me. I will always be here for you, Himari."
 
  Despite the awkward situation, Himari was far too exhausted to question it anymore. Aoi was keeping her safe in the form of Nue. Even being so small, it felt...nice to be cared for like this. She rested down on her side, enveloped by the squishy softness of the belly walls. There was a soft rumble from below, as if to reassure her. Her eyelids too heavy to keep open, she soon fell asleep, drifting off into a peaceful slumber. Sure, she had nearly tasted death several times today, but now it was time to rest, and when she woke up the next day in her own bed, it would be like it had just been nothing but a chaotic dream...
 
 
The End...
 
March 27th, 2024.