Coal black eyes gazed out of the window onto the city lights gleaming. As the breeze gusted against his pale icy flesh, his lips parted in a supple smile. Looking from the summit onto the small buildings far beneath; he felt gigantic for the first time in his life.
Suddenly, huge hands pulled the curtains shut, stripping away his freedom. He backed away from the closed window, and could only see steal. Rods of cold metal caged him inside. Realization set on him.
He turned around and glared in resentment at the aloof interior of the pet shop he had spent his life trapped inside. Dozens of his kind enslaved and stacked over the shelves. They were smaller than a child’s Barbie; tiny in size and frail.
Like them, he had a petite body and an ‘insignificant’ soul. Why would he matter? He was a forlorn Chibi fated.
The real giants were the ones in command of his life. He would starve if the Chibi store's owner didn’t feed him. He would die if he ever tried to break out; Escaping was out of the question if he didn’t want to face the same end his mother had suffered.
He shivered as a cat peeked at him from outside the cage. The feline bared its fangs, forcing him to crawl into one corner. His heart hitched; face tainting in a hue of red. He was vulnerable and exposed.
That was when something snapped inside of him. He had had enough. Unfaltering, he decided that someday he would take the world by a storm.
He might have been small in size, but he swore he would never be helpless again. If his life would be the cost for bringing change upon, so be it. ‘One day’, he swore, ‘Chibis will get their revenge.’
Chapter 1
This was where she felt the safest. With every out breath, the knots in her body got undone a little more, and with every chilly lungful, her lips curved upwards. Frozen food, tins, cereal boxes, fruits, and bags everywhere. She wished her home felt as safe as a hypermarket.
“Nouri,” her friend repeated for the second time.
“Yeah?” Nouri let out another yoga breath.
The friend whined, “Are you done yet?”
“A few more things,” she steered her cart left, and headed towards the last aisle.
Nouri stood at one of the touchable screens, and began selecting her meal set. Sara, the friend, picked up the headphone that Nouri had ignored, and positioned one end against her ear. “Don’t skip the nutrition questionnaire. You eat too much fat.”
“I don’t need their recommendation. I already know what I like.”
“Even if it’s healthier?”
Nouri turned around and smiled at her friend oddly as she pressed to skip the warning video. She had watched it before countless times; The heaviest man on Earth, 160 kilos, complaining about his medical issues and how his life had fallen apart, and then doctors would come in with the gruesome description of how everything you eat rots you inside and out. The government had mandated that supermarkets to show warning signs, videos, or labels on food high in carbohydrates, fats, or sugar. It used to be shocking when it was first implemented, but somehow she had grown anesthetized. In fact half of the items in her cart had warning labels in red plastered all over them. She wouldn’t have the energy to care about every government warning even if she wanted to. In attempts to care after the public, the council had made it its mission to warn, so much that she believed she was starting to become allergic to red and all its shades.
She headed towards the check out desk, Sara following after and fuddling with her mobile.
“Is he going to be there?” Sara asked as she bit her lip.
“He?”
“C.M. Strauss.”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Nothing,” she chuckled. “You should ask him out.”
“Why do you assume I want to date him?” She smiled at the boyish looking cashier, whose ears had almost sprung up at the mention of Council member Strauss. He eyed the components of her cart, gave her one look, and then pursed his lips. She blinked a few times at his reaction, but quickly ignored it.
“Have you seen him?! He is a walking wet dream. All the girls want him.”
“Exactly.”
“Cut yourself some slack. You’re funny, and you look hot… when you brush your hair,” the friend strained.
“It’s the humidity! I brush my hair.”
“I believe you,” she handed the man her card, and watched as he clicked on his board. “Even if the humidity in section 78 is like 21% all year round.”
He handed her back a document to sign with the amount of calories in the food she had purchased, and disclaimer that she was aware of the dangers of a non-healthy life style, and that she agreed that the government would not cover any medical treatment costs incase of any linked illnesses.
“Do I have to sign this every time?”
“Rules,” the cashier said before hissing under his breath.
She smiled at him like daubed wallpaper, and pointed at his nametag, “Adam, right?”
“Yes,” the man gave her a puzzled look.
She jotted down something one her phone, before smiling again, “Nice to meet you, Adam.”
The man gulped and tipped to the front, his eyes glued to the gadget in her hand. She tucked it in her back pocket, and extended her arm to receive back her card.
“The council cares for the public’s health, that’s why,” he explained, a little too late, why she had to sign the release. “Have a nice day.”
“I will.”
The two ladies began walking away, Sara using one hand to half-heartedly help Nouri with her cart.
“You freaked that guy out.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Sara raised both eyebrows at the other woman, “And you still managed to make his blood curdle?”
“I don’t have control over what he thinks I’m going to do.”
“So you’re not going to write about him?”
“I’ve bigger fish to fry.”
Both young women were on their way to the parking lot when they passed by a Chibi pet-shop.
“Hey! Hey! Let’s go inside,” Sarah pulled on her friend’s arm. “I want to buy one.”
Nouri Burgi, the messy brunette, had always been keen on the idea of owning one; however after she had calculated the financial cost, commitment obligations, and discipline needed to raise one, she decided that she should give it a second thought.
Strangely, she reconsidered the issue only to reach exactly the same solution. That was ten years before. Since then, the twenty-two year old had re-evaluated the situation every year only to decide to remain undecided.
None the less, she didn’t hate the idea of window shopping or scanning to be more precise. There was no risk in scanning after all.
Yet, taking into account Nouri had bought some items that needed refrigeration; she was less than enthusiastic to follow her friend’s whim. “Tomorrow. We can’t leave the groceries out here.”
“I know you. You go out once a week to buy your supplies, and then you hibernate in your place! Don’t tell me tomorrow, let’s go now!” The friend poked her finger in persistence.
‘I am never going to hear the end of this,’ Nouri sighed, “And just leave the carts out to be stolen, huh? Do you know how much these cost? And just when I finally found my favorite chocolate. No, no, no!”
“You could spare some calories. Damn your favorite chocolate.”
“I like chocolate, and I weight just 50 kilos.”
“I’m not saying you’re fat. I’m saying you have the potential to become fat,” the friend sighed. “Plus, I don’t get why you have to buy three cartons of bottled water, seven milk bottles, and-”
“Incase…” She said almost laughing. She had been aware of her tendency to stockpile groceries- most of which were sweets.
“Just in case of a nuclear catastrophe?!” Sarah mocked.
“Let’s see the freakin pets! We will leave the stuff with the security. If it gets stolen, I’ll lock you in my kitchen to work your way out of debt. You’ll meet Cinderella’s true step mom!” she hissed in faked frustration and anger. “And get off my back,” she murmured.
“Yeah, yeah- they’re all so tiny!” Sarah ran towards the shop’s window where tens of cages were piled.
All coops had only one Chibi resident, except for one in which two blood-soaked Chibis fought. One of them had locked his elbow around the smaller one’s neck, and was turning him red, blue and sweat. That particular cage had attracted a crowd of teenage boys who cussed and cheered as the underdog collapsed to the ground.
Nouri kept her eye on the cage as she pushed across the crowd and into the shop. It must have been a promotion, she thought. A stunt to attract attention, and it seemed successful. The hand sized human look- a- likes, Chibis, had been the world’s most popular pet for years. In fact Chibis were always used in promotions in stores, or used as living ornaments. They were also perfect for someone who wanted a pet who could double as a tutor for their kids, a couple who weren’t able to conceive, or an intellectual prick who wanted an intelligent pet to show off at social gatherings. Besides, they were also fit for perverts who would like to stare at their pets mate without waiting for them to be in heat, sadists who enjoyed watching pets combat each other till one had lost a limb, and childish girls who required someone to practice their love lines on.
Sure, Chibis were the all around pets with no laws regulating how to treat them. ‘Just have fun and bury them in your back yard when you are done,’ could as well been the shop’s slogan. They were just inferior to humans, and therefore they didn’t deserve or receive any sympathy. Oppression was an ugly fact which continued to be passed down for hundreds of years. In fact, it had grown into a culture that managed to silence the very few opposing voices. Nouri had considered writing a blog entry about her views, but many of her friends warned her this might get a rise out of her fans. She had tossed the topic aside, pending courage.
As soon as the girls walked through the shop’s entrance, the humid smell and icy chill of air conditioning just about smacked them in the face. The notion that such a cold atmosphere would be tormenting for the little things to live in passed through Nouri’s mind, but she shrugged the thought away. Pending courage, she thought. Her article would change nothing. It wasn’t a bad restaurant review that would discourage a few people from going. The beliefs about Chibis were so engrained, nothing she could write would change anything.
The girls loitered in front of a booth they came across as soon as they walked in. A large plasma screen was fitted in between the large posters decorated in a pattern of the store’s brand logo. The symbol was a minimal infinity sign with an S fused where the lines converged at the center.
On the screen, a documentary- or more like an infomercial- ran on loop recounting the history of how the government regime introduced and marketed the Chibi creatures as pets.
‘...The creatures were then tamed under the first council rule to serve their superior masters- us humans- becoming the world’s most popular pet,’ the narrator dictated in a steady voice.
The council in question was formed almost two hundred years ago as an alternative to the countries’ system.
The world had been rotting as if it had infected oozing limb. It was ugly and hideous like a woman that men could barely stomach touching even when chasing wealth or power, as Nouri read in one of the history books. The war was, perhaps, mass-suicide, one historian suspected.
It was in somewhere around the 1800s when the last world war happened. When the people jumped off the cliff of war, they hung to life even after hitting the ground with cracks. Their feet had broken off. The world had become, if possible, even more ghastly. The power countries, and their occupied affiliated countries, had fought each other into bankruptcy even during the time when the epidemic should’ve come as a first priority. The people marched down the streets, stomachs craved in, and hunger striking. First they ripped the elite apart, and then they just bit into everyone and everything like rabid dogs. At one point, the politicians stopped lecturing at the public and trying to moralize the war, and vanished. It might’ve made a lot of glorious sense when food was still on their tables, but once the people starved, the war was cursed.
After the devastating war, a party of thirteen loaded men, simply known as ‘the league’, decided that culture, society, and nationalism only led to conflict. They had a long list of promises to the people, and a plan that made a lot of sense. But that wouldn’t have mattered, because the people weren’t listening. The deciding thing was the food. It not was written in history where they had gotten the resources, and very little research was spent looking into it, but history described how two thirds of the world railed behind the men when they started promoting and sponsoring the notion of disbanding local governments around the world.
A new unified government was formed with a council of twenty-four members at the top of the hierarchy. Twelve of which were originally from ‘The League’. The remaining members were randomly selected- to avoid conflict- out of four hundred men and women nominated by the public. Since then, the council members positioned themselves as the troops of ‘ultimate democracy’, and the servers of the people.
Oddly enough, the council’s first mission was to promote Chibis as pets. The small creatures were vaguely known then. They were only seen in rare occasions, and in many accounts it was reckoned that only a handful of them existed.
Somehow the markets became overflowed with thousands of Chibis put up for sale as soon as the council rose to power. They were bred extensively during the following years. In addition, the council built arenas and venues specifically for related Chibi ‘entertainment’. The public swamped the stadiums to watch Chibi chases- a sport where a Chibi would attempt to escape hungry hounds, bloody fights, and miniature theaters.
Since then Chibis developed into pets more popular than dogs and cats. The council on the other hand grew in size to include over eighty members.
“Do you think...” Nouri began to speak, but then decided against it. She doubted that Sarah would appreciate or grasp what she was about to say. Sometimes, it was less troublesome to keep her thoughts to herself.
“Are you looking for something specific?” One of the shopkeepers popped out behind them, forcing them to look away from the screen.
“I don’t know where to start,” Sarah surveyed the store with her eyes, liking the variety and the quality of the pets; It was a brand pet store after all.
“Well, we have an in-store test which can help you limit down the options. For example, how old would you like your Chibi to be? Physical features, personality, talents, and so on... Do you’ve a specific price range to work with?”
Nouri started to wonder off while the man conversed with Sarah . When the shop-keeper noticed that he had been ignoring the girl, he prepared to pounce on her like a hyena. She didn’t seem very eager to buy, however he had been trained to manipulate people into buying.
“How about you? Do you have a specific idea of how you would like your pet to be?”
“Oh, I am just here with her.” She answered, “Did you choose one? The ice-cream is going to melt.”
“Still looking-”
“If you both get Chibis, I think I might be able to get you up to twenty five percent discount.” The hyena jumped in again.
As soon as the words parted with the man’s lips, Sarah made her mind to help her friend buy one. She had always known Nouri to be scared of change and taking risks. But it was going to end that night, she decided.
The twenty five percent meant that she could go out three times with her boyfriend to their favorite restaurant; they were used to splitting the bill.
On the other side of the store, a frowning young-looking male Chibi watched as the two customers walked into the store and started a conversation with the store-keeper.
He sighed; it was tedious to see how dumb the free humans were, while he- more competent than them- had to spend his life imprisoned. If only he had his freedom, he would have changed the world, or so he believed.
That attitude was exactly why the pet shop owner had decided to keep him in for mating instead of selling him. The man didn’t want to ruin the shop’s brand equity by trading in mulish and stubborn pets that don’t know their place in the world. Tatsuo was better off working as a stud.
Black orbits trailed the girls with jaded curiosity. He could make out that the brunette was clearly uncomfortable as the shop keeper endeavored to make a sale.
He smirked gazing at her while she shifted on both feet noticeably uneasy making on-spot decisions. As spiteful as it sounded, he enjoyed watching her tense.
“You should get one too! You wanted one for now.”
‘Peer pressure, huh.’ He thought.
“I’ve to think about it some other time. They’re a life long commitment. Seventy years. They live up to seventy years.”
“Come on! Be impulsive. If you don’t like the one you get, you can always return it in a few days.” Sarah insisted.
“Chibis are not toys. They’ve feelings. I can’t just buy one only to return it the next day.”
His eyes widened in shock. It was exceptional for a human to think of Chibis as anything other than toys. ‘She is probably just self-righteous...’ The doubtful pet figured.
When she turned to look at the cages, He smirked proud of what he believed to be a faultless judgment. ‘Oh, now she changed her mind.’
He started mumbling her thoughts as her eyes moved from one cage section to the other, ‘Baby Chibis are cute. I can raise them up exactly the way I want them to be. No! No, they’re a pain in the neck to take care of. They might wake me up, and ruin my beauty sleep. I should stick with a Chibi my age,’ he mimicked mocking her.
She pursed her lips zipping eyes between the girls and the boys’ cages.
‘Pick a guy. You know you want to... All girls want a handsome Chibi guy. As if you’d ever fall in love with one. You giant bubble head!’
She turned to face him and the guys on the racks close by.
The Chibis began to cheer, each soliciting her to buy him and not the other. A teenage girl was always better than a middle age woman. Plus, a warm home was much better than the arctic-like store they lived in.
They wanted her.
She smiled at each of the cute and sexy Chibis as they attempted to flirt with her, trying to get her to take them home.
‘I knew it. She’ll pick a guy. Which pretty face will it be this time?’ Tatsuo crossed his arms, leaning against a metal pole.
She started reading the specifications display tags under each cage. When she finally made it to Tatsuo’s cage, she scanned the black haired boy with her jade eyes, and then his specifications.
“Do you really have a 160 I.Q.?” She doubted the ‘specification’. He was far too discounted to have had a talent or a superior intelligence.
“Go away,” he hissed glaring up at her. He had learned before not to be intimidated by the giants. That was his nick name for humans. If they were going to label him as tiny, he was going to dub them as ‘giants with pea-sized brains’.
“Did you invent anything before?” She wondered a bit amused by his stance.
“Caged in here; Yeah, I discovered how predictable humans are. You can buy him,” he pointed at a blond in the cage next to him. “He will look really pretty in your purse next to your Chihuahua.”
“My Chihuahua? Are you serious? A Chihuahua would eat him, Thumbelina!” She laughed, knowing that her casual demeanor was enough to drive anyone out of his mind.
It stung. He instantly frowned mulling over her statement. She had rubbed salt on an open wound. Not to mention, she was mocking him. ‘Humph! At least be original about your insults.’
She smiled kindly noticing how much she had upset the male. “You have no interests listed.”
He snorted looking away. Actually, the clerk had chosen not to write down Tatsuo’s interests. You see, although many Chibis stated that their interests were to make their masters happy or maybe ‘music’; the pale stubborn boy stated that his interests were to free the Chibis from the dominance of the despicable humans. Something about the boy’s declaration was deemed as inappropriate by the clerk.
However, her grin carried a chill that he couldn’t exactly decipher. Afterward, she crossed to the other end of the store, and started picking out some tiny garments.
“I want this, this, and this.” She pointed at some outrageous outfits starting from Elvis’s sparkly suit, to a cliché hip hop styled outfit complete with the bling-bling.
‘I pity the fool she’ll force to wear those retarded outfits!’ Tatsuo huffed.
The clerk offered her a variety of basic and advanced care sets. Some included only a bed, and some even a bathroom. Quite a few included basic punishment tools.
She picked the one. It was a clear-cut one with orange and black tones. An instant later, she then turned around to look at Tatsuo with a devious beam on her face.
“I want the clothes in his size,” she declared.
After a moment of shock that left Tatsuo’s brain incapable of functioning, her words set in.
‘Not in a million years! I am not going home with her! I am not going to wear that! That! THAT! You crazy sadist! No! No! NO!’ He snapped inwardly, some rage leaking onto his expression.
Walking up to him, she winked, “I hope you like orange. A-”
“Miss, I am sorry but he is not for sale,” the store manager appeared next to her.
Her eyebrow twitched. She could have sworn the man materialized out of nowhere. “Why?”
The crocked-nosed manager heaved a deep sigh, “He is very stubborn, and customers usually return him in a matter of a few days. We don’t want you to have a bad experience because of his idiocy.”
“It’s okay. I like a challenge,” She smirked as she peeked at his furious expression. Even though Nouri was always afraid of change, she had a sadistic strike in her.
“As you wish. We accept returned pets up to ten days after the purchase.”
“Great. Can you dress him in the orange hot shorts, and the purple fishnet for the ride home?” She asked politely receiving a nod.
“No!” He finally burst out unlike his silent self.
“Oh! And the cute lace panties!” She added flouting him.
For the next hour, she packed her friend’s car with the bags and boxes. When she was finally done, she got inside and instantly rolled her shaded window up. She only lowered it later on when the security guards -who watched over the compound she lived in- approached the car.
“Bye!” She waved as her friend drove away.
“S-should we help you with the bags, Miss. Nouri?” One of the security guard asked while still panting from emptying out the car.
“I can handle it,” She faked a small smile. She had always felt uneasy with the abnormal amounts of attention the security dedicated to her. ‘Shouldn’t they be out protecting the one they are supposed to be protecting instead of following me around to carry my bags.’
“Are you sure? They seem very heavy-”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Before the man had a chance to object, she shifted on her feet intentionally trying to communicate her distress.
“Ah,” The man nodded fretfully when he got her point, glancing up at the empty building. “We will be at the gate-”
“Thank you!”
As the men walked away, she turned around. The cartons and various plastic bags on the side walk earned a disgruntled looked from her. She was looking at a hernia waiting to happen; her back was as good as broken.
“Maybe I should have accepted their offer,” She sighed.
‘I hope you break your back carrying them!’ Tatsuo gritted his teeth, feeling the panties give him a wedgie.
“If looks could kill, yeah?” She smiled at him.
‘Stop smiling when you clearly don’t mean it!’
“Miss. Nouri!” A throaty voice called out.
She turned to face the voice, her eyes landing on a striking young man in his late twenties running towards her. He was panting as if he had just run a marathon. But no worries, the glazing sweat only added to his charm.
“Hey Masa! I told you; just Nouri. We’ve known each other for two years.” She said less formal than the dirty-blond haired man standing infront of her.
The man smiled sheepishly blushing a deep shade of red. “Do you need a hand with-” He paused. The groceries had seemed much less seen from his pent-house’s balcony.
“I know. I tend to overbuy.” She added as if she had read his mind. “But I don’t want to be a burden. You’re already exhausted.”
“It’s not a big deal. I was just working out.” He lied. He couldn’t possibly admit he had been waiting for her all day in his terrace.
In fact, he had gotten worried when he hadn’t found her in her place earlier that day, since he knew she worked from home. He smacked himself inwardly; how could a well respected and feared council member like him be so sappy infront of the girl he liked? Ministers shivered in their shoes infront of him for God’s sake!
“Plus, lifting weights is good for the health.” He mumbled.
“Really, I always plan to work out. I even got an exercise tape, but I ended up half unconscious on my couch watching the skinny women jump up and down after less than five minutes. I should really work out...” the last statement she addressed to herself.
“Y-y-you are...” He whispered ‘just perfect’, but she was too occupied with her dwellings to hear him. ‘Get a grip Masa Strauss! Don’t stutter! Remember the army sergeant you broke until he was in tears yesterday! You are the council’s face for God’s sake!’
“Did you see what I bought? I mean, it’s a little bit impulsive,” She went on and on as she reached her hand into the cage trying to pull out Tatsuo who was hanging on to a metal bar. “Oh, here he is!”
Masa’s powder blue eyes widened at the scene. She was waving a tiny man dressed in a bizarre outfit. “Nice sense of fashion... You bought a Chibi?” He asked with some hidden concern and confusion in his voice.
“Wait till you see what I have in the making for him!” She chirped. “Are you thinking about buying one?”
“Ah, no. I am more of a dog person.” He added struggling to lift the ten heavy plastic bags at the same time, while pushing the boxes up one stair at a time. Gladly, by then the fatigue had buffered the nervousness.
“I love your dog! Maybe we should get them to play together. He loves dogs too. He was just saying he wanted me to buy a Chihuahua.” She teased the pet who was giving her the silent treatment.
“A Chihuahua? It would eat him.” He answered sincerely concerned for her, but not the Chibi. He wasn’t sure if he hated the thought of getting rid of the pet.
“I told him so. I guess he is just too social,” She mocked peeking glances at the irritated little thing.
“Ah, here we are.” He laid the bags onto the floor. “Do you need help getting them through the door step?”
“It’s okay. I need to build up some stamina,” she nodded at the serious man.
“...”
A few seconds of awkward silence echoed through the staircase.
“Ah wait right here!” She suddenly spoke. She ran inside, and came out after the man had heard a melody of bangs and thuds sound from inside her place.
“Here you go,” she panted, and she handed him a box.
“For me?”
“Yeah. I watched that show you were on. You said you missed home cooked meals, right?”
He blushed rubbing the back of his golden hair. He was quite embarrassed to have her see that cruel side of him that always appeared around other people. In fact, it was his public-relations manager who advised him to claim that he missed home cooked meals in order to seem more human. In reality, he was a great cook. Even better than any stay at home mother. He would love to eat her food anyway. He was touched by the gesture.
“Thank you.”
She giggled, “I am not used to cooking, so don’t eat it before you go to some important meeting, okay?”
He smiled almost uncontrollably as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. Once he had closed his door, he sighed in relief and glee. Suddenly, pain shot up his spine.
‘I should have used the elevator!’ The poor guy just wanted to spend more time around his crush.
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