Toadette's Story: Book 1

Chapter 35 - Sneakers, Pedicure, Sleep

At the crack of dawn—not that we could tell, thanks to the black sky—the three of us stood outside the mansion. Lady Bow and a butler Boo had handed us two objects. First, I had an elusive box. With silver lacings and an ebony surface, it gave me fancy vibes instantly. Second, Penelope took the extra envelope and gave it to Minh T. Though the Toad was too scared to take the thing from the Boos themselves, at least she wasn’t scared to stare them in the face.

“The shoes, the seeds, you’ve got everything you need to be on your way,” Bow said.

“Not yet,” I said. “How do we get out of here?”

“Exiting the forest is super simple, ma’am,” the butler pointed us in the direction we came. “All you do is go in, make a random turn, and you’ll find yourself in Toad Town within minutes.”

It sounded too good to be true. But we were on a time limit, so I had to listen to these instructions. But before leaving the premises…

“Here.” I lifted my foot before the green ghost lady. “Lick my foot.”

“Miss Toadette, what are you doing?” Penelope froze.

“I have no idea. But she can take the offer or leave it.”

Bow chuckled, then disappeared. Suddenly, she reappeared in front of my foot, and her tongue… It expanded so long that it made my foot look tiny. I shuddered as the sliminess struck my heel and then pooled between my toes. A tingle went up my spine at the same time. Yuck, the number of germs on my feet was in the billions. But here she was, dining on pungent toes. After licking the tops of them, she backed up and fanned herself.

“Mmm… That was lovely, indeed,” she giggled. “Very rich in flavour. I could sample that again.”

“Okay! We’re leaving now,” I shouted, bringing the girls with me. As we went back into Forever Forest, we heard Bow’s cackle fade out.

Why did I let her lick my foot? She was the reason we were stuck there all night, to begin with. No, it didn’t feel good in the slightest. My foot feels gross when wet. Forget about that! Why the hell did I suck Minh T.’s toes last night? Was our room low on oxygen or something? The last time I pulled a stunt like that was just to practice this foot worship thing. I didn’t have that excuse this time.

“You okay, Toadette?”

Even within this dark forest, she paid enough attention to my blank expression. Telling her that my mind was just busy seemed to convince her, though little did she know my eyes remained fixated on her.

Exiting Forever Forest was simpler than navigating it. All it took was entering a random pathway. And once we took the first step into Toad Town, Minh T. collapsed. Whether she was crying or laughing was up in the air, but leaving the dreary woods put a smile on my face. At last, we could see a vibrant sky that changed colours. Time flowed.

“We’re not done yet, Ms Minh T.,” Penelope said, rubbing her foot on Minh T.’s back. “You both still have a delivery to make.”

Even after getting some rest last night, soreness radiated throughout my feet. It was like they were covered in blisters. So much so that I had to walk through Toad Town barefoot. Even putting on shoes caused my feet to ache badly. If anybody stared at them, screw them. I’d soak my dirty feet soon enough.

“Your Highness.”

On one knee, I presented the princess with Lady Bow’s box. The royal had two Toads open and bring it to her while she sat on her throne, dangling a high heel. Penelope stood by her side, still dirtied and barefoot. The moment Her Highness looked at the contents, my body stiffened. Meanwhile, the little girl maintained a smug smirk. Each second felt like it lasted a minute. Then our princess looked me in my eyes.

“Well done.” A smirk appeared on her face.

The gust of relief in my body spewed out. On my side, Minh T. also took a knee.

“Here are the seeds, Your Highness.”

“And here I thought at least one of you would’ve failed. The longer I keep you, the more I congratulate myself for accepting you, Toadette.”

“Thank you very much, Your Highness,” I said.

She signalled us to rise before stepping off her throne. Before I knew it, she towered over us in a few long strides.

“Get yourself ready. Mushroom City awaits us tomorrow.”

“What?”

She sighed. “I take it you’ve never been to the Star Festival then. Always hosted in that city, at least since I’ve been around.”

Mushroom City? Seeing the Star Festival play out would be cool. But my family was also in that city… Oh boy. Since I wasn’t avoiding this trip, the princess was correct. I’d have to not only prepare myself physically but mentally.

“I’ll see you on the big day, Toadette,” Minh T. said, shaking my hand.

“Ms Minh T., you’re coming, too!”

We all looked at Penelope, who was marching forward like she worked as a castle guard. Once standing in front of her mother, her voice maintained its confidence.

“If it wasn’t for Ms Minh T., I could’ve been hurt worse. And she’s the reason Ms Toadette and Daisy are even here. So she deserves an early trip with us, Mother.”

Her Highness was anything but amused by her daughter’s attempt to give commands. She glared at the child, with Penelope’s attitude swiftly switching to a more submissive style. You know, the style where you repeatedly apologise to your parent because you’re scared they’ll beat your ass in public. Fortunately for our little yellow demon, no spanking was to be found.

“That’ll be another ticket we’re paying for,” Her Highness growled. She then looked at Minh T. “But since you haven’t yet hindered Toadette’s progress in anything, I see no harm in taking you.”

Minh T. immediately danced in place, squealing like she snorted a pile of sugar. Although my face remained blank—lost in thought—hearing this news relieved some stress. At least I’d have familiar company to keep me from snapping on this trip. And unlike me, Minh T. had enough experience with the city to keep me out of the dangerous areas. What a strange duo we’d be. I knew how to survive on the streets but lacked good knowledge of Mushroom City’s culture. Meanwhile, Minh T. was as delicate as a marshmallow, yet her brain had no limits on any area she’d been to.

“Go,” Her Highness reiterated. “I need to make adjustments now.”

“See you later,” Penelope said, giving us both a hug.

After stopping by my room to change our clothes—because we looked crazy walking around here in nightwear—we headed into town. Yep, I was still barefoot, feeling all the sand and pebbles stick to my crusty feet. Those flip-flops were at the foot of my bed, airing out.

While on our way, Minh T. listed the things she needed to bring to the city. Those poor bags… She would murder them just to get her entire bathroom to Mushroom City. Yet as for me…

“I’m gonna need some sneakers.”

“You’d get by in some flip-flops,” she said. “Not every street is as dirty as the media would make you think.”

I shook my head. “I still want something closed-toed, and my flats need sleep.”

“Alrighty then. Sneakers it is.”

Our local shoe store wasn’t the most upper-class in the world. But it was just the way I liked it: simple and affordable. Minh T. advised me to select whatever they marked as having “great arch support”. Sounded logical enough, yet every brand claimed to sport that feature. On top of that, I needed shoes that would match my new attire. No more all-pink stuff for a while. If I was travelling to Mushroom City, reinventing myself was a must.

I scooped one pair. Then another, this one black and red. And eventually, I waddled to a seat with a tower of shoe boxes. Minh T. found herself giggling.

“What’s funny?” I asked, putting on temporary socks.

“Well…” She played with her fingers for a good while before following that up. “Nothing.”

“I’m reminding you of my brother again, hmm?”

Minh T. put her head up. As she watched my socked foot enter a blue sneaker, I forced a smirk on my face.

“He loved sneakers, I loved flats. A very closed-toed orientated family, we were.” I shut my eyes. “Remember that time we tried going to the beach and I walked out in sneakers like a clown?”

That memory got a good giggle out of her. She was obviously nervous talking about this, so I steered our conversation back to the shoes at hand.

“Feel my toes and tell me if you think there’s enough room.”

“No problem.” She dropped to the floor and pressed her fingers against the shoe, cooing. “That fits you perfectly. Walk around in ‘em.”

At first, the back of my heels popped out the shoes. But once I laced them tightly, they fit about as well as my beaten flats. In fact, four of the pairs fit me like a glove. A generic blue pair, a basic red and black pair, an ivory white pair, and this Splatoon-branded pair. That last one made me feel like a little kid because of its wild vibrance. It looked like kids had been blasting it with several paints.

“I don’t know which one I want, though…”

“Get ‘em all,” Minh T. said. “You’re the only girl I know who’d restrict herself to one?”

“You act like I have—”

Right there, I paused and dug into my pocket. I’d been so used to this poor lifestyle that it slipped me why I even worked at the castle. In addition to the free housing, it was all about the money. And I’d spread so many of my earnings across various pants just as back-ups. We both got wide-eyed when hearing the clinks and clanks from the swishing gold.

Minh T. poked me with a wide smile on her face. “You were saying?”

And so I left the store with 600 Coins spent. Not only with those sneakers, but a pair of black slides—those bulky sandals—and so many socks. Oh, and I got a strip of gum for Minh T. This was the happiest I ever looked after spending more than 100 Coins. I couldn’t wait to wear these! As a matter of fact, I instantly slapped on those slides. Even if my feet were sore, breaking in a new pair of shoes was so satisfying that I could withstand the pain.

Minh T.’s bubble popped on her face. “I’ll be keeping a mental timeline on how long it takes for those to smell like your feet.”

“Like hell, you will,” I said. “If you expect anything to get like my flats, think again. I gotta keep some fresh pairs.” But upon seeing my toenails in these shoes, my pace slowed to a crawl. It really sunk in just how bad my toes looked without any polish or care. “I’d better paint these before we go.”

“Good idea.” Minh T. spun me in the direction of her building. “I’d love to work on your nails for a change. Um, if you don’t mind, of course.”

What terrified me about this idea was her foot fetish. Either her hands would shake like an old person handling my feet, or she’d take all night. All because she’d be ten times more interested in sucking my toes than giving me a pedicure. But no matter what I said, she was pulling me anyway. And I was in a good enough mood to where I wasn’t going to resist. So aside from taking long, it wasn’t like she could make my feet uglier.

She quickly sat me in a rolling chair, where the leather was peeled like an orange. While she scurried off to grab items from her bathroom, I received a reminder of how messy her room could get. Even though the building’s ground floor was clean for her customers, Minh T. had food wrappers littered all over her floor. Everything from fast-food burger wrappers to plastic bottles. That wasn’t even mentioning the abundance of dirty laundry AROUND the hamper and… Gross. Nail clippings all over the place. Whether from her toes or fingers, who knew? They were all blackened.

“Ever heard of a—” I had to stop myself from making a rude vacuum comment. “Do you need help cleaning someday?”

“Thanks.” She returned with a hefty case of nail polish bottles. “I’m so busy, cleaning’s become the last thing on my mind. Anyways, colour?”

No pink. Green was opposite, but not a good kind of opposite. Maybe blue would suit me well. Wait – red could look pretty on me. But I’d already gone a week of having my toes painted red. Clearly, something more natural was in order.

“Black.”

“Purple would’ve looked cuter, but black works a-okay,” she said, dusting the bottoms of my feet.

She dropped a steaming bucket before me, then lowered my feet into the water. Having someone else give me a pedicure felt so surreal. Once the heat ate away at the dirt on my feet, my feet could better breathe again. That’s when Minh T. held up a… Oh-no!

“Tell me if I’m going to hard, okay?”

“KYAHAHAHA!”

In my laughter, I kicked Minh T. multiple times. BAM! BAM! BAM! It took over ten kicks—one of which had my toes break past her lips—before she thought of tightening her grip. While I tried apologising, her pumice stone brought to the forefront all the sweet spots on my feet. Grating away that hardened skin gave me the sensitivity of a baby. Was this how fast one was supposed to scrub their feet? Before, I’d always done it slowly to prevent this tickling torture.

“Stop it!” I screamed. Now the tool rubbed against the side of my foot.

“Gosh, you’re really easy to tickle.” Minh T. wiggled her index finger between my toes. “Coochie coochie coo.”

“AHAHA!” In that moment, I almost wet myself from the sharp sensation. “Just please finish scrubbing them! Please!”

The number of times I fidgeted or giggled because of this girl sat in the hundreds. Fortunately, Minh T. had scraped all the roughness off my feet within five minutes. Then she trimmed my nails to a presentable length, miraculously avoiding cutting me. Although, the way she applied a coat interested me.

“Why are you doing it so lightly?”

“Dries quicker,” she said, carefully painting my big toe. “Reapply it two more times, and we’ll be out here in a pinch.”

I nodded. “Wow, I suck at giving myself pedicures then.”

“Your toes always looked pretty regardless of how you got ‘em that way.” She backed up and looked at her own feet. “Think I wanna paint mine blue.”

No matter what colour she flaunted, guys would always get boners to her. Her busy schedule must’ve taught her to multi-task or given her incredible time management skills. Just 15 minutes after my nails dried, she had completely dried her toenails and fingernails. Either I needed her to teach me, or I needed this girl to paint my nails weekly. Clearly, she was a pro.

“You like how yours came out?” she asked me with a blush. When I nodded, she immediately threw another question my way. “How do mine look?”

I shrugged. “Cute.”

“Wait, say that again.”

“I said they look cute.”

She covered her mouth and burst into laughter. “Why, thank you. Yours are very cute, too.”

As Minh T. gathered her stuff, I mainly stood behind her. Not because I was even talking with her the whole time, but because my eyes focused on something. Her soles. I glazed over her admittedly flawless nail work, noting how meaty her heels were. It was as if someone filled them with the juiciest oranges in the world. And they were as clean as could be.

No. Stop thinking weird! I looked away, trying to remember some boring topics that’d keep my mind off this stupid fetish. Paint drying. That’d put anyone to sleep. Paint drying, drying on Minh T.’s toes to form a cute blue— GAH!

“Your toes,” I said, clueless to what I even blurted out.

“Hmm?” She turned around. “What now?”

Great. Now I had to come up with an excuse. I just had to think of something reasonable… “I just wanna compare ours,” I said with a weird smile.

She beamed in return. “I think yours will win in the pretty department, but no prob.”

When we placed our feet side-by-side, it highlighted the differences in our toes. Mine were skinnier than Minh T.’s while also being longer. They were like weird fingers the more I stared at them. Yet Minh T.’s toes were shorter and chubbier. Although they weren’t child-sized, she had the smaller feet. Aw, if only I had those. Less people would’ve mocked me growing up.

“Be happy yours are smaller,” I said. “My feet are ugly in size.”

“But that’s why they’re nicer. Yours are all curvy and skinny. Be happy they’re not fa— PORKY!”

I shrugged. “Not the word I’d use to describe your feet. They fit you well, okay?”

“Well, gracias,” she said, rubbing her toes against mine. When the contact ended, she returned to murder her suitcases. One was so stuffed that the zipper cried in pain, and the other felt bloated. But if you were something Minh T. could shove stuff into, she would use all your available room. Interestingly, she didn’t bring many shoes. Aside from high heels, likely for the festival, and a pair of fluffy slippers. Of course, her dirty flip-flops joined us as she left the building.

“Not gonna say goodbye to your plants?” I asked as she locked the door.

“I did,” she said blankly. “Maybe you didn’t hear me.”

When we were in the garden, my eyes were working at their best. I saw her from every angle I could. Guess my hearing failed to function.

“My mom’s got them whenever I’m gone, you know the deal. They won’t miss me that long.”

“How long will we even be gone for?” I wondered.

She rolled her suitcases onto the sidewalk, panting. “We’re about a week and a half early, and I imagine we’re heading back as soon as it’s over. Mini vacation time.”

“As long as you’re with me, it’ll never be a relaxing vacation.”

“Don’t gotta be relaxing to be fun, though.”

Minh T. fought an exhausting battle getting her luggage to the castle. By the time she reached the front door, she was already tuckered out. And upon reaching the dreaded red stairs, the Toad was ready to pull her hair out. Which reminded me…

“My hair!” I screamed, nearly causing her to tumble backwards. “It looks ratty, doesn’t it?”

“If I squint and do a handstand, it looks pretty neat,” she said. “It’s about as long as a Piranha Plant’s stem.”

“Could you—”

“Say no more,” she said, tugging on my frizzy hair. “Give me an hour, and I’ll surprise you.”

Minh T.’s refusal to cut my hair facing the mirror terrified me, as I couldn’t see what she was doing at all. And the girl wouldn’t tell me. I asked multiple times, and all she could say was, “You’ll see.” That’s not trustworthy. That’s not safe. For one hour, I just felt scissors snipping away at my hair like foliage. Once she pulled me off the toilet seat, she pushed me in front of the mirror.

“Oh. My…”

I pounced on her, sending us both to the ground. But we rose excitedly. My hair hadn’t felt this soft and curly in years! It looked so much more professionally done than whenever I played around with the scissors. Again, I needed to pick up some tips from this girl.

“I look so much better!” I squealed, hopping against the sink.

“Hehehe. Well, I always try my best.”

This energy rush followed me all the way into the shower. I painted myself in soap with so much force that I hit the wall repeatedly. How could a day be so good when yesterday was so awful? I almost busted my ass trying to exit the shower without drying myself. But after fixing myself up a bit, I left the bathroom with nothing but a shirt and panties.

Minh T. showered next, and I ensured the loud water ran before my body drove me to complete this next experiment. With so much energy built up in me, I took the risk. I picked up Minh T.’s pink flip-flop and pushed it against my nose.

SNIFF! SNIFF!

Though its odour was incredibly minimal—it had no chance of rivalling my flats—I backed up with a feverish blush. And I felt so tingly. Why was I doing this? I couldn’t find an answer. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop me from continuing to smell her shoes until the water turned off. But before getting in the bed, I made sure her pillow lay even closer to where my feet would be. Because that way, due to her awkward sleeping habit, her feet would be right in front of my face. Not because I loved them. No, feet are feet. Weird and gross. I just wanted to study them a bit more.

When she climbed into the bed, I lay on my side to face her feet. Don’t worry. I put the covers over my face a little so that she couldn’t tell I was observing them. Them and their very toes.

“Tomorrow’ll be fun,” she said, snuggling a pillow. “But, Toadette, don’t feel bad. I’m a little nervous about going back there, too.”

“How come? You’re not the one who ran away.”

“Different reasons. I think you’ll know when we get there, okay?”

I nodded, preparing to shut the lamp off. “Can I ask something silly? I know you have your whole foot fetish thingy, but how’d you react to someone doing things to your feet while you sleep?

“What kind of things?”

“Um… Like touching them or kissing them. Creepy stuff like that.”

She giggled, pushing her feet a centimetre closer to my head as she twisted. Now I had a front-row stage to her soles. “Well, Toadette, if it’s someone I’m friends with, it’s only half-creepy. It’s kinda cute if someone’s too shy to tell me upfront. But… But it’s always better having full knowledge ahead of time.”

“I think it’s creepy as hell no matter what,” I flatly said. “How do you find it hot?”

“It’s flattering. Put it that way.”

With that, the room went dark. She began snoring in a couple of minutes, and that’s when my testing commenced. I poked her foot a few times, even wiggling my finger, to test if some tickling would wake her up. Nada. Not one reaction. Then I shuffled a little closer to her legs until our legs were intertwined. Just like last night, I ended this night with Minh T.’s toes in my mouth. Only this time, multiple got to explore me since they were as clean as soap. While her cold, fresh-scented feet covered my face, I questioned just what was wrong with me. But it wasn’t enough to deter my fun for tonight. Just had to make sure nobody knew.