(Chapter originally written by worstfailure)
Friday came and it was the day of your mother and sister's flight, which meant in just a short hour or two they'd be gone for the next eleven days. You'd really hoped you'd be able to spend the time with Mari but her grandmother had broken her hip and she and Rio needed to leave the state to take care of her. You'd felt awful when you heard and wished you could help or come with, even if it meant dipping into your low savings, but Rio said it was a family affair. That just made you all the more motivated to one day propose to Mari when the time was right. So you could always be there when she needed you.
The thought of being a married man within a year or two just made your mother's insistence on a "tiny sitter" all the more annoying. Some tinies couldn't do the things that you could do while living in a house made for regular-sized people, no matter how old they got, which was why when their loved ones couldn't assist them, tiny sitters were hired to do so in their place.
You prided yourself on being particularly self-sufficient for a tiny. You were able to scale almost any surface, you were able to travel from room-to-room in your regular-sized home unassisted, and you were even able to procure food for yourself. A lot of tinies couldn't do any of what you did on a daily basis, something you wished Rio appreciated more whenever she criticized you for being "careless." You'd taught yourself how to do all these things, partially to defend yourself from Jenna's "pranks," but mostly to prove to your mother that she didn't need to be so overly cautious and protective of you all the time. To think it'd only been a few short years ago that Lauren panicked at the sight of you climbing the kitchen counter to get something to eat. While a tiny apartment with proportionately-sized amenities would've been ideal if you had the money for it, you were still positive you could last 11 days on your own. In fact, the house would actually be much less dangerous with your mom and sister gone. Which was why it was so infuriating your mother had gone behind your back and scheduled a tiny sitter to watch you.
You tried to look on the bright side. At least your regular tiny sitter, Bethany, was perfect at her job. She was observant, careful, compassionate, kind, an excellent judge of when to give you independence or lend you a hand, and, above all else, didn't buy Jenna's innocent act for a second! She was a mother to two tiny children herself and so had plenty of experience. You hated to admit it, but you wished your own mother tried to emulate her example. Your only complaint about Bethany was that your mother hadn't hired her sooner, instead trusting... your first tiny sitter.
The doorbell rang and Jenna cheerfully called out, "I'll get it!"
You assumed that was Bethany now, but not wanting to take any chances, you hid behind a couch cushion when you heard Jenna approaching the door. Your sister had been in a suspiciously good mood lately. She'd been disappointed at first when your mom decided to let you stay home and even tried to use Mari's unavailability to make a second argument to smuggle you to the music fest, but your mom remained surprisingly firm on her decision. You'd done your best to avoid Jenna these past two days, afraid she'd attempt to smuggle you in secret then conveniently "discover" you once in California. But she hadn't made any attempt so far.
Maybe she'd found enough joy in the music fest itself that she didn't need to supplement her fun with your torment?
But you weren't taking any chances until Bethany walked through the front door. Hearing two women laugh and cheer as they greeted each other, you knew in your heart Bethany would never be walking through that door. Peaking out behind the corner of the couch cushion you saw another woman enter your home.
A beautiful 26-year-old Japanese woman stepped into the house carrying two suitcases behind her, with Jenna carrying two more, as if this woman was the one going on an eleven day trip. Her sleek black hair was styled into a bob, and her makeup from her dark red lipstick to the mascara around her dark eyes was applied impeccably. She wore a red ruffle, sleeved tube top and matching skirt with high heels, leaving her flat stomach bare. She looked like she'd just come off a runway. She certainly had a model's beauty and a model's curves, with her bust and hips only just shy of matching your Aunt Cass's.
Her name was Rika Inoue.
She'd been your first tiny sitter, the one who watched you all the way to your senior year of high school, and she'd made every time spent watching you a living hell. To your mom and other adults, Rika was a perfect, polite angel who could do no wrong. To you, she showed her true self, a spoiled, proud, vain, haughty bully who looked down on and degraded tinies. Rika had let Jenna get away with all sorts of "pranks" on you growing up and even gave her suggestions at times. When she wasn't letting your sister do whatever she wanted to you, Rika forced you to act as her own personal servant, forcing you to paint or file her finger and toe nails, give her foot and back massages, feed her snacks by hand even though doing it herself would've been easier for the both of you, and just forced you to serve her in any demeaning way she could think of to satisfy her massive ego. If you ever failed or disobeyed her, retribution would be swift and brutal, with her favored punishment being putting the SIT in Tiny Sitter.
The first time she'd treated you this way, you were convinced your overprotective mother would fire her in an instant, but instead you'd been horrified to discover your mom, for the first time in your life, had taken another person's side.
It turned out Rika shared your mother's love of fashion and the two had genuinely bonded over it. It also didn't help you that Rika's mother was substantially wealthy, one of your mom's best clients, and bought Rika whatever outfit she wanted your mother to design. It also also didn't help you that Rika's dream job was to be a model herself and her icon happened to be your Aunt Cass. It also also also didn't help you that Jenna saw Rika as the big sister she'd always wanted and both girls acted the picture of innocence when you'd tried to tell your mom what they did, so it was your word against theirs. Sure enough your mom just believed you were resentful over needing a tiny sitter in the first place, and from that moment on Rika could essentially do whatever she wanted to you so long as you were in one piece by the time your mom got home.
Luckily, since the Fuertes women were around, your mom only called Rika whenever they were unavailable. You'd hoped she'd also call less once Jenna got older, but whenever your mother needed to go out of town for business, your diabolical little sister would just so happen to have "unbreakable" plans, forcing Rika to be called in anyway.
You'd been delighted four years ago when Rika finally graduated Weston and moved from Oakland across the country to California to pursue her modeling career. You'd been likewise heartbroken two weeks ago when your mom told you Rika was moving back into her parents house because she hadn't been able to make a living off of modeling. You wondered if the reason for that was her prima donna attitude, because there certainly wasn't anything wrong with her looks.
But why was she here when Bethany was scheduled to watch you?!
"Rika!" your mom said, hauling her suitcase down the stairs. "Thank you so much for doing this! You're a lifesaver!"
"Lauren!" she said, giving your mom a hug. "It's no problem! I'm just so happy to see you again!"
Rika wasn't lying either. Unlike most people who she treated nicely because she wanted something from them, Rika genuinely liked every single member of your family... except you.
"I'm sorry for calling on such short notice. I have no idea why Bethany thought the festival was next weekend instead of this one. I gave her the date myself! Doublechecked with Jenna and everything!" You slapped your palm to your face. "She's normally a bright woman. But between you and me, I've always liked you more. She's so serious all the time. Every time she comes over she acts so overly cautious you think she was afraid of breaking something with every step." You facepalmed again. "I just know Matt will have so much more fun with you!"
Jenna cleared her throat and nodded towards the couch. Rika's dark eyes followed her and found you peaking around the cushion. With an undignified "YEEP!" you ducked back behind the cushion.
Rika's heels clicked on the floor and you felt the ground shake beneath you slightly as she approached your hiding space. Seeing no further point hiding, you stepped out behind the cushion into clear view on the armrest of the couch. Rika bent forward to address you, placing her hands on her knees, showing off her absolutely massive chest that was still visible under the ruffled fringe of her tube top. You pointedly averted looking, even though what you saw out of your peripheral vision made your cheeks turn red. Instead you focused on Rika's eyes, which were black and mocking.
"Hello, Matt, I'm so happy to see you again! Why, you've grown up so much! I bet you don't need me at all, do you?"
"Not even a little."
Rika's smile only grew. "Well, be that as it may, I'm so happy we have this time to catch up, just the two of us. I hope I can make our time together unforgettable for you."
She lowered her palm for you to climb on. You knew there was no point resisting, knew Rika and Jenna had already won. Though as she lifted you up you couldn't help but wonder if it was too late to be smuggled to California.
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