{WIP INTRO}
ATTACK OF THE 30-METER MANGAKA
Osaka, Japan. A bastion of history on the island of Honshu, important to ancient Japanese culture for its myriad of castles dating far back to the 16th century. It's known primarily for the architecture of the beautiful Osaka Castle, surrounded by a moat and beautiful arbor in pink and green, a sight anyone would be able to enjoy. Its importance cannot be understated, serving as an important Japanese unification landmark under the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and helped pave the way for Japan's steady march into the modern era. A modern era, mind you, that traded the humble village homes for massive glass towers, and the katana in hand for the smartphone – the current setting of Osaka that seemingly clashed with the historical relic.
Indeed, for all its history, Osaka is known just as well for its modern culture, a culture that worships the nightlife, bustle, and entertainment arguably far more than its historic roots. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing. Giant electronic LED signs painted the sides of buildings, sitting above massive, moving plastic statues of crabs, octopi, Bishamon – you name it. It's a far cry from Japan's humble roots, but for the most part, it was innocent fun that the young, modern folk could have, walking about the city on vacation. With the Japanese government having sought to crack down on illegal yakuza and criminal group activity, Osaka was in a far safer age than it was back before and during the Bubble Economy days, and neon signs that once may have promoted more adult entertainment showed that of a much safer, more socially acceptable form of entertainment – idols.
Japan loves idols, and idols love Japan. The country is pretty much a poster-child for some of the biggest, most colorful idol groups, spreading pop music around the world to entice audiences young and old. One of these idol groups – or rather, the company behind multiple idol groups – is Hololive, a branch under the Cover corporation that promotes a vast array of girls across from across the nation, across the world – hell, even across time and space – to become musicians, streamers, entertainers, the works, in order to help share a dream and connect the world in their own special way. One of these groups is ReGLOSS, a musical group consistent of five women who live, breathe, and crave the arts, to unite the world under song, and spread their tunes across the Earth share the dreams of a one certain Hololive CEO. Another group would be holoX, another all-female quintet that also engage in musical arts, as well as more variety streams, but rather than unite the world in song, they'd rather subjugate the world under an iron fist, and rule through nefarious means – only a shame that they are quite awful at their non-performing-arts-based schemes. These two groups couldn't be any more different in their makeup, their members, their goals, their styles – but as musicians, they share a great sense of camaraderie with one another, and have no qualms about engaging with each other in shared interest of Hololive's raison d'etre.
In Osaka, in this particular time, both ReGLOSS and holoX are set to engage with one another to promote Osaka's cultural epicenter status to the rest of the world, streaming a two-week live taping across the district at its greatest sites for sights, before engaging in a live performance together at the Umeda Arts Theater. With their chaperone, Hololive's up-and-coming staff extraordinaire, Harusaki Nodoka, at the helm, both groups were primed to start the week all in good fun. The group decided to start off the journey humble and low-key, staying at the Palm Garden Maishima, a hotel complex that takes the concept of trailer camping and brings it to the next level, creating a park for those to stay under and watch the stars before they sleep, getting in touch with nature as the Osaka Bay's air flutters in through their nostrils and beckons them away to sleep with the sound of the waves. A relaxing, moderately remote affair, the group of eleven were all set to slumber and wake up in the morning refreshed, ready to seize the next fourteen days ahead of them with vigor, standing tall. There was only one, small problem...
“Uuu...UuuuUUGGUUUWWWAAAAARGGGHHHH!!!”
A certain member of ReGLOSS was spending the morning standing a little too tall.
Hiodoshi Ao was about your everyday woman. Well, everyday woman who was a performing idol, dedicated manga artist, dangerously handsome, and had bottomless cool charisma. Beyond all that, however, she was a relatively normal gal. She had a very normal upbringing under her parents, had a few traumas in life, was scared of a little too more than she'd be willing to admit, and preferred to take change slow and simple as it came – a relatively normal upbringing and humble standard of living for one who was so embroiled in the world of performing arts. And it was because she embraced all that was normal that she finds herself reacting quite adverse to the abnormal. And this morning was certainly abnormal.
It was a relatively normal night that had become a quite abnormal morning. Ao had retired early to catch her beauty sleep for the morning – she had just finished a light alcoholic beverage with a friend and tucked in after brushing her teeth and applying a light skin cream, falling into a deep sleep full of happy dreams. In her slumber, Ao had dreamt the oddest of dreams, imaging herself a caterpillar in a chrysalis of the deepest azure – she filled the expanse of the cocoon, pressing more and more against the sides of it, before shedding the hard casing around her body and emerging as a beautiful butterfly. She felt weightless, watched the world under her as she soared. Above the clouds, Ao saw all – the city under her, the brilliant lights, the electric circus of Osaka's nightlife that served as the basis of her very own Club Blue Fire, the epitome of her cool personality. As she felt her eyes part and the night turn to day before her, feeling nothing constricting the fair skin of her slender body, Ao smiled and stretched, leaning back and letting the sun shine upon her in this wonderful dreamscape...
But as the cool breeze tickled her nude body, and she felt cold sheet metal under her rear and thighs, Ao's eyes shot open, and her smile immediately shrank. She shot up like a rocket, darting her eyes around the scene – total destruction of her trailer, metal having scattered about the campground, rented out by Hololive for ReGLOSS and holoX's collaborative two weeks. She felt the sand under her hands run fine and malleable, yet coarse, like a puppy-dog's fur, and let her fingers travel until it hit the trunk of a palm tree. Almost as in a trance, Ao wrapped her fingers around the palm tree and held it in her grasp, like the stalk of a radish – and in one half-hearty tug, still trying to process the world around her as she awoke, Ao tore the tree out of the ground with such ease that one would think it was a radish. Ao stared at the tree and let it drop from her grasp – her pupils dilated, and the woman with hair such deep, beautiful blue had her face turn more and more red as reality sunk in.
And thus, the present scene.
“WAAAAAAUUUUUURRRRGGGHHHHH!!!”
The doors of the trailers were thrown open almost immediately by nearly every of Hololive's camping talents, each taking residence in one of the separate campers for sleep. All female, the girls were still clad in their sleepwear, ranging from cute patterned pajamas to sheer slumber-dresses that exposed skin around the upper torso. Gasps filled the air – nobody could believe what they were seeing – Hiodoshi Ao at a greatly expanded scale. Normally, promotional photography aside, the girls'd be mortified to let anyone see them in their sleepwear in a public, open-air setting, especially for those who choose to wear nightgowns that were nearly see-through – but everyone present, upon taking in the scene, would have agreed that the one with the worst of it was poor Ao, completely naked and forced to press pieces of scrap sheet metal against her body.
“A-Ao-tan?!” Todoroki Hajime – Banchou of ReGLOSS. Small and delicate in stature, her appearance belies a girl with a craving for physical activity, the heart of a tiger, and the desire to become the number one badass. Restless and forward, Hajime charges headfirst in the face of adversity – she's a rock that ReGLOSS' members look down upon to look up to, and prides herself to keep up on her ability to react cool and clear to any event to keep ReGLOSS strong and bright. Now, there was an event occurring that Hajime had no idea how to react to, she nearly tripped over her baggy pajama pants as she left the trailer and caught side of her bare-blue companion taking up more than half her peripheral vision.
“Th-That IS Ao-san, right...?!” Otonose Kanade – ReGLOSS' bubbly little gremlin of a musician. While not the brightest individual in ReGLOSS, Kanade shines very bright, without question – she dresses bright and girly, even in her poofy gold PJs, approaches nearly everything with a smile, and jumps into new things with passion and zeal. This was way, way too new for Kanade – how on earth was she supposed to smile over something as weird as this? A gigantic, naked Ao, screaming like hell in a wild panic as she tries to cover up – it's almost like some sort of odd, sick gypsy curse some strange person would conjure up out of grudge. Someone like Kanade. But though the girls yellow and blue quarreled over food, games, or Ao's flirting habits occasionally, Kanade would never dare wish something so strange and mortifying on her friend.
“Holy smokes, she's freakin' huge!!” Juufuutei Raden – a very odd duck in ReGLOSS, even Hololive as a whole, but one with the soul of an entertainer nonetheless. A woman with a history in curating museums, she debuted in Hololive wearing a Noh mask, shrouding her expressions in mystery, but the more she revealed herself to the world, the more it became evident she was a very passionate woman for the arts, and had a strong, loving friendship with her fellow members of ReGLOSS. Nearly as strong as her love of alcohol. Having downed a fine Yamazaki 12 the night before to kick off the Osaka trip the right way, Raden thought her liver finally gave out on her and her brain had melted, and she was in a drunken hallucinogenic stupor that'd make Willy Wonka look sane. She pulled up her camisole and pinched herself in the stomach multiple times, letting the pain run across her nerves to confirm what she was seeing was real.
“What in the heck happened to Ao-kun?! Where are her clothes?!” Ichijou Ririka – accomplished entrepreneur serving not only as ReGLOSS' first national bank, but as ReGLOSS' forward-facing communicator. A bit ditzy and a complete and utter gal, Ririka still manages to be ReGLOSS' best member when it comes to communications, her honey-like voice soothing her friends and pulling them along on the most fun expenditures, with her expert command of vocabulary as her bait to catch the attention of others. For once, words completely failed Ririka – words were caught in her throat, threatening to bubble out, but nothing of value really was produced other than stammering noises, after she stated the obvious that Ao was indeed as naked as a jaybird. She put her fingers to her throat, trying to say something, before running them down to the exposed cleavage of her lacy, revealing nightgown and gulping in a large puff of air. She quickly cocked her head to the right and turned behind her, hearing the chatter of a familiar voice on a phone line. “Oi, Nodoka! Please tell us you're on the line with staff back home!!”
“Y-Yes! We're in talks right now!” Nodoka had the receiver of her cell phone cupped as she addressed Ririka, she looked completely panicked, by the lack of color on her sweaty face and the unkempt look of her ruffled striped pajamas. After taking over as one of Hololive's main faces of talent-and-staff relations, following the legendary Friend of Hololive's tenure, Nodoka had a lot of responsibility on her hands in protecting the talents, keeping them happy and healthy, and avoiding any scandalous events that could harm their reputations, or the reputation of the company as a whole. One of their most popular members, a known introvert, exposing herself in public while she was the size of a passenger train car definitely fell under the umbrella of “scandalous event”. Nodoka put her phone back to her ear, plugging a finger in her other ear to try and block out Ao's screaming. “Y-Yes, I understand...! Yes...! No, no, we have no idea what might have happened...! I promise, I'll get a doctor right away, and...” Ririka bit her lower lip, not envying the position her unit's chaperone was in at this moment.
“Poor Nodoka...”
“E-Everyone!!” Pulling the attention of the other members of ReGLOSS with the sound of her voice, Ao dropped from her knees to her stomach in a panic, pressing her arms holding sheet metal against her breasts and hips against the earth, and knocking her friends to their rears, now covered in sand. Ao's bandmates looked up into her eyes, welling up with tears, her lip quivering like a motorboat's engine. She was whimpering like a stray puppy, and it was very clear how scared she was at the moment, which wasn't exactly uncommon in the life of Hiodoshi Ao. Still, that was then, and this was now – past fears could have been avoided by simply turning off the game, or hugging her Mama, in this case, Ao was completely lost, and she was looking to her friends for emotional support. “H...Help me...!! I- I don't know what's happening to me...!!”
The smaller members of ReGLOSS covered their ears, with Ao's face being so close to their bodies. Ao's voice was usually very quiet and suave, sometimes going into an obnoxious chuckle to crack a joke, or a shrill war cry to take charge in an activity – this was nothing like that. Ao's voice was accented with a deep bass coming from her throat, like someone fed her an amplifier, hooked her vocal chords to it, and turned the boosting dial until the knob broke off and the potentiometer locked in place. It made the girls' heads ring, and Ao immediately took notice as they screeched in response, their faces furrowed. Horrified, she pulled her hands away from the metal covering her chest and crotch, and pressed it against her mouth. She looked ready to cry at any moment, afraid she just deafened her friends and destroyed their dreams of becoming real performing idols in one mistaken shout.
“I'm sorry...!! I'm so, so sorry...!!!”
“Aaaagghhh!!” Hajime's head was pounding, yet she managed to shake off the potential tinnitis to address her bandmate. True badass indeed. “Ao-tan... Try to lower your voice to a whisper...!”
“Y-Yes, Banchou...!” The advice wasn't that helpful – dialed down a few octaves, even still, Ao's voice sounded like it was coming through a megaphone. Something the ReGLOSS girls were going to have to learn to handle, given the situation currently underway.
“Wh-What on earth is going on here...?!” Getting over the loud shouts of the massive mangaka, the members of ReGLOSS lay witness to the voice of a cool, collected, yet concerned individual. Turning towards the trailers farther back in the campground, the girls had taken notice of their three approaching seniors, members of holoX – executive officer Takane Lui, R&D Hakui Koyori, and group muscle Kazama Iroha. Lui, with her hawk-like features and air of sharp professionalism, was dressed in a very conservative nightgown that looked as if it leapt out of the Victorian era, befitting her demeanor, Koyori, with so little inhibitions or shame, had basically walked out in broad daylight in her underwear, only hidden by a curtain of see-through silk attached to her bra, propped up in the back by her bushy tail, and Iroha, despite the noble air a samurai would normally present, had dressed herself in a hooded pajama outfit that resembled a cartoon tanuki, something a child would likely be seen wearing. The three girls could not be more different, in appearance, colors, and clothing, but like ReGLOSS' girls, all shared the same feelings of shock and awe at seeing the gigantic Ao before them. Lui, despite speaking first, upon truly taking Ao into view, had found herself speechless – Iroha was quick to pick up the slack.
“Gigantic!!” Eloquently put. “Hiodoshi-san's sprouted in size, I daresay!! And her body's so...!” Iroha's words hitting her ears, Ao blushed, whimpered, and curled into a ball, rolling onto her side and trying to keep as little of her bare body exposed as possible, unintentionally exposing her rear to her Hololive companions. Iroha's face went peach-pink, and her legs buckled as she nearly fainted – memories of Ao flirting with her in holoX and ReGLOSS' first collaborative event came flooding back to her, and Iroha pressed her palm to her fluffy-tanuki-clad chest, feeling like her heart was going to burst from her chest in an blitz of strange emotions. “H-Hiodoshi-san... So shameless...!!”
“Mmmff!” Lui shook her head, her eyes flashing her golden Hawk Eyes for a brief moment as she tried to compose herself. She slapped her cheeks with her palms, and took command of the situation, befitting her leaderly position, as holoX's de-facto head. “Okay – Ao-kun is a giant, that much is clear. If I had to guess...” Lui looked over the blushing giant for a moment, squinting and looking at what she could of her junior's body tucked into such a compact form. “...Thirty meters, give or take?”
“Buwh!!!” Ao choked on her own breath at Lui's words, coughing and spooking the heck out of everyone crowding around her. “Th-Thirty...?!”
“Thirty meters?!” Raden gasped, running the numbers through her mind. “That's just a few meters shy of The Redeemer in Brazil!”
“That's, like, three skyscrapers!” Ririka wasn't exactly a genius – but her statement painted some degree of seriousness to Ao's condition nonetheless. “H-How'd this happen in the first place?! She was fine when we left the welcoming party last night!”
“How indeed...?” Lui turned her head towards Koyori, flashing her an accusatory gaze – a situation such as this had her handprints all over it. Sensing Lui's probing goggle, soon joined by Iroha and ReGLOSS' smaller, less emotionally-scattered members, Koyori's ears and tail stood up, and she shook her hands quickly in front of herself, the palms rotating in rhythm with the bounce of her chest.
“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!! I have nothing to do with this, I swear!” Koyori took a look over Ao once more, looking past the prying eyes of her companions, probing over the shaking blue giantess and letting her scientific brain go to work. “I mean... I sort of have a clue how she got like this, I think...”
“Koyori-senpai, you...!”
The slam of a trailer door opening against the frame of the vehicle took the heat off Koyori for a moment, the noise breaking tension, soon followed up by a loud, commanding, albeit sleepy voice – what one would think uncharacteristic for the appearance of the person who possessed it.
“Would you quiet down?! I wanna sleeee~p...!!” Rubbing her eyes, a little runt with flowing silver and purple hair, in black pajamas too large for her teeny body, walked down the metal steps with fluffy slippers on her feet, under a set of large steel anklets worn as power limiters, and a massive plush toy of Tokoyami Towa – another of Hololive's idols – in her grasp. The runt swayed down the stairs of her vehicle, swaying side to side, letting her sharp, barbed tail scrape against the sand as she walked, her head bobbing side to side as if the massive striped horns on her head were dueling for which side to pull her down. This was holoX's founder, and for all intents and purposes, the true leader of the evil-organization-turned-idol-unit – La+ Darkness, or “Laplus” for alternative saying. Befitting her childlike appearance, Laplus was a grump, and not a great morning person – she had stayed up too late consuming sugary desserts at the campground's welcome celebration, passed out in her bed, and had a kid's equivalent to a woman's hangover, a poor mix of being groggy and having a tummyache. Laplus swung her plush about, commanding Towa-sama to slay the enemies who dare interrupt her sleep to regain her dark powers, as she complained through a massive yawn and slurred speech. “We're here to take Osaka by storm, and take over the world by means of Hololive! I don't need another one of our plots going awry due... to... your... negli...”
Laplus trailed off, and her tired, sleep-sand-filled eyes shot open, the crust of rheum coming undone from her eyelids, as the living world was starting to be burned into her retinas. The first thing she noticed, past all her unit-mates and juniors, was a giant naked woman taking up her vision, her pupils focused squarely on her slender thighs trailing up right to her firm buttcheeks. The second thing she noticed was the mane of blue, jellyfish-like hair poking over-top the massive frame of flesh, which gave way to ocean-blue eyes staring back down into her her own golden demon-peepers. The third was the biggest source of loud noise that ruined her sleep in the first place, now sounding very familiar with a face behind it, and still assaulting her eardrums, despite the urge to speak softly.
“I-I'm sorry, Lap-chan...!”
Laplus retorted appropriately for her position.
“BUWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Laplus threw herself backwards and flung Towa-sama up in the air in a panic, the little toy devil responding with Newton's Law of Gravity upon Laplus' nose. The tiny demon shook the discomfort of terminal velocity felt on the bridge of her nose off, and gaped upon seeing the gigantic Ao before her, shaking and tearing up. She rubbed her eyes to wipe away whatever sleep may be left, then leapt to her feet, pointing at the giantess. “Wh-What the hell kinda sorcery is this?!?! The tall one got real tall!! Explain yourself – now!!”
“We're still trying to work that out, Lap-chan!” Hajime chimed in, putting herself between Ao and the short demon to defend her genmate. “Don't go screaming like heck at Ao-tan! She's scared enough as-is!”
“You dare talk back to me, lowly human? I oughta...!”
“Alright!” Koyori chuckled, bending over and putting her arms out between the two shortstacks to prevent them from getting in a fistfight. “Let's not lose our cool here! I was just about to present a hypothesis on how our Ao-kun grew up so much overnight! Ahem...” Koyori spun about on her slipper-bound heels and faced Ao, putting a hand on the giant woman's ankle to try and calm her – like a reverse veterinarian, given the difference in species. “Ao-kun, I'm going to ask you – did you happen to drink anything... strange last night?” Ao's breaths were starting to slow down, and she began to address Koyori in a far calmer manner, as the coyote's baby-smooth skin rubbed across her own.
“S-Strange how? I-I only remember having two alcoholic beverages last night... A small glass of champagne at the party, and a Blue Hawaii I bought back to my trailer...”
“Uh-huh. And did anything odd happen on the way back?”
“N-No – I was just speaking with Chloe-chan, and- wait a second...” Ao's brow furrowed, and she closed her eyes as she tried to remember the contents of the night before...
Hiodoshi Ao knew how to handle her alcohol well. She had to, given her stints as a host at Hololive's number one club for the talents and fans – even if it wasn't really open to the public. Nonetheless, the woman knew her alcohol – when to start and stop drinking, the alcohol content for a casual drinking affair without devolving into a drunken state of mind, and the proper flavors to make something sweet, tasty, and overall dynamite. That was Ao's current goal with the Blue Hawaii she held – retiring early from the party for beauty sleep, Ao bought the drink glass back with her, and was taking leisurely sips, intending to either finish the drink, or put it in the mini-fridge for later. Sipping through the funky straw that looped from the glass to her mouth, Ao, smacked her lips and held a free hand's grasp under her chin.
“Hmmm... It's missing some kick to truly make it an Osaka-centric experience... I'd like to be able to serve this to the rest of the girls at the climax of our trip, but it's just so... boring.” Ao sighed, rubbing the nape of her neck just above her black turtleneck. “I guess they wouldn't mind, but I'd like to help ReGLOSS really shine during this trip...”
“C'mooooo~n, danggit!!” Ao's musings were interrupted by the sound of a very irritated lady, accompanied by the sounds of electronic beeping coming out of a small speaker. Ao turned her head, and found herself a few paces away from another of the idols she was collaborating with on this little cultural trip. Uttering a noise of curiosity, Ao sauntered over with her drink toward said idol's trailer, which had a small table set up in front of it, with a small bucket the idol was using as a improvised chair as she leaned over-top the table. As Ao got closer, she could see the girl was using one of those fancy personal gaming devices built with the specs of a personal computer, but was compact like a tablet – used mostly for video games. As Ao got closer, she laid eyes upon a very familiar, very addictive game that was captivating the silver-haired lady's attention, and she could see the idol's teeth gritting, her red eyes fill with fury, as she tried to stack small balls of familiar faces on an island, and a cartoon pirate bobbed up and down in the corner of the screen. The familiar jingle of Ao's senpai, Houshou Marine's Bishoujo Muzai♥Pirates was coming out of the speaker, followed by a flurry of little voice clips from additionally familiar musicians and streamers in the organization she worked for – and it was driving the woman in the loose, frilly camisole and plaid skirt mad.
“Thank you for your hard wooo~rk~! Thank you~!” sang a happy-looking little bratty shark as she plucked the little head of Hinemori Luna, the Candy Kingdom's princess, out of the ocean with a trident, and rocketed off the screen. The silver-haired girl released her hand from the face buttons side of her console and smashed her fist down upon the desk.
“Son of a- Gyyyyyaaahhhh!!” Sakamata Chloe – the “Cleaner” of holoX, or more appropriately, an intern who does anything but, both in the implied sense and the very literal mop-and-bucket sense of the title. She was known for a lot of things – her great singing voice, her pretty face, her cute clothes, and her orca echolocation skills, for positive traits, but her negative traits in laziness, arrogance, irritation over losing games, and distaste for baths are far more known to many first-time and long-time acquaintances. Right now, Chloe was exhibiting the first and the third of the negative traits, as she was throwing a tantrum over a game, and it was just her and the game – nothing else – as she furiously mashed the retry button. “One more!”
“Oh – Chloe-chan!” Ao leaned over, brushing her hair with her free hand, trying to lay on her signature sense of style on Chloe, to charm her night up just a little. “Fancy seeing you here tonight, outside the party. Care more for the sparkle of the stars than of a champagne glass?” Chloe didn't even look at Ao, her face was trained on the game, but she mustered up enough energy to respond.
“No – stupid game! Taunting me since the flight! Leader asked me to keep watch, but then I started playing this and- mmmmffff!! Why do they have to rocket off the island like that?!”
“Ahhh, Treasure Mountain, eh? I think we're both unlockable in that now, no? Kanade-chan should be as well, I'm hoping the rest of my bandmates can also...” Ao trailed off as she saw Chloe was obviously not paying attention, her agitated face one hundred percent engrossed on the game. Ao sighed, then found her eye caught by something at the other end of the table, just past Chloe's gloved hands mashing on the tablet buttons. Ao crossed behind Chloe to the other side of the table and reached over, picking up a small, sparkling canister and holding it in her hands – the sensation made her gape in awe. “Ohhhh...!”
It was a canister that was both warm and cold to the touch, contradictingly enough. A shiny tungsten canister that held a glowing spring green liquid behind a glass enclosure was in her grasp, and it glowed with such a beautiful, shimmering radiance as Ao held onto it. She rotated it around in her hands, and was captivated by its luster, sloshing the liquid about the canister a bit before she held it up to her eyes closer.
“So pretty...! Chloe-chan, what is this? Is this what Lap-chan asked you to watch?”
“Yeah – important... stuff... Laplus is into the drink aaaarrghhhh!!” Ao only caught about half the context of that statement, unaware that Chloe had launched another of her tiny ball-shaped senpai into the digital shark-infested waters.
“Ahhh, Lap-chan's personal preference then! I just have to know the brand, must be Osakan-specialty...” Suddenly, Ao had an idea – looking at her Blue Hawaii, Ao's eyes trailed back to the canister, and she let a noise of positivity leave her lips. “Chloe-chan, do you mind if I borrow this for a second? I promise I'll pay Lap-chan back for it – on my honor.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure, go nuts.” Chloe handwaved Ao away, trying to keep focus on her game.
“Really? Thanks – you're the best!” With little time to think, Ao popped open the top of the canister and poured the contents directly inside her drink, before tossing the can in a nearby recycling bin, right outside Chloe's trailer. Humming a song to herself, she used the straw to swiftly mix the contents in her drink, turning it from a shocking blue to a radiant sea green, that fizzed and bubbled in a spectacular manner. Ao was captivated – the romantic had found herself falling in love with this cocktail, and wanted to spend the rest of her life with it. “How beautiful you look...!”
But alas, a long-term relationship was not possible, as Ao was thirsty. She stick her lips to the straw, and sucked in the contents. As it fizzed across her tongue, down her throat, Ao smacked her lips, taking in the sensation of the slightly spicy, slightly sour concoction that overpowered the dull sweetness of the former Blue Hawaii. Ao made a noise that approved of the yummy drink, and she went right to work consuming the rest of it, allowing it to enter her body in full and leave the glass fully empty. Ao set her emptied glass upon Chloe's table and pursed her lips, blowing a kiss to the night sky as a declaration of love for what she just chugged down.
“Splendid! Simply amazing! I need to give Lap-chan my thanks!” Not long after this statement though, Ao's stomach started to feel odd, like it was doing donuts about the inside of her body in response to what she just took down. “That's... That's a heck of a reaction...! I better get to bed, lest I get too tipsy...” Ao turned to make way for her trailer, but turned to Chloe one last time flashing her biggest, most handsome grin she could. “Thank you, Chloe-chan! Let's hang out more together on this trip!”
“Got it, bye. No problem.” Chloe waved without breaking eye contact from her game, and soon enough, she was punching the desk again, screeching in a high-pitched squeal that sounded like a window being wiped.
“Oof... This is... Huh.” Ao broke into a light power-walk back to her trailer and quickly went inside, feeling like she needed to get to bed immediately. She was beginning to sweat from the forehead, and was feeling an aching sensation pulsating through her muscles, across her whole body. Whatever she drank, it clearly wasn't agreeing with her body – perhaps it was too frail for that sort of drink-booster, or perhaps Osaka's local brews just kick the hell out of non-natives. Whatever it may have been, Ao just needed a rest. “Just... Just a regular sleep, and I'll be all better by the morning... I hope.”
Ao disrobed from her fashionable leisure suit, and clad herself in a dark, sequined nightgown atop her blue underwear, her usual sleep ensemble. She sat upon the bed and took two chewable antacids she bought along with her on the trip, from her own personal emergency travel medicine kit, and combined it with small headache pills. Ao put on her skin cream and brushed her teeth, her usual nightly hygiene to keep up on her beauty routine, making sure every corner of her porcelain skin and phosphorescent white teeth were accounted for and coated in the best product she had. To settle her stomach, she took down a shot of ginger ale from the mini-fridge in the trailer, set it back in the unit, and threw herself back upon the bed. Curling into a comfortable position, Ao felt an invigorating warmth spread through her body, and she quickly positioned herself to spoon a hug-pillow on her bed, letting a large grin overcome her face as she felt the rum take effect and pull her into the world of dreams.
“So... goooo~d...”
Ao drifted away, ready to dream and let her mind be inspired once more – completely unaware of what was about to occur the next morning...
“Th-That was about it, I think... It must have been your odd drink, Lap-chan...”
Ao spoke as normal as could be, but didn't really understand the gravity of what she just recounted. The other ReGLOSS girls had a decent idea what may have happened, but with the secrets that holoX keep as a unit, it was hard to confirm. As for holoX's unit proper, the four active, awake members looked horrified. They had known exactly what Ao was doing that caused her sudden gigantism overnight, and the look on all their faces said it all – management was going to kill them. While the other members didn't know what to say, Laplus, the great founder, gave the most appropriate response of her station, given what she had just heard.
“Y-You drank WHAT last night?!?!”
“Girls – I was on the phone with management, could we please use our quiet voices? At least keep the shouting to a minimum?” Nodoka had rejoined the group, having just finished her phone call, and trained all eyes on her, like a leading staff member should command. Nodoka looked around at the mix of confusion and guilt across the faces of ReGLOSS and holoX, respectively, and immediately felt a palpable sense of worry rise up into her throat. “Oh no – did something happen while I was on the line?”
“Our senpai were just about to share the reason for Ao-tan getting so huge with us.” Hajime responded politely, before turning an accusatory gaze upon the evil organization caught red-handed. “Weren't you, senpai?” Nobody in holoX wanted to speak up, before Lui – in true former office worker fashion – took the initiative to throw herself on the proverbial grenade and manage business relations.
“Well... Given the circumstances... We have reason to believe that Ao-kun may have consumed some... very, very potent, um... radioactive waste...” Lui almost squeaked the final words out, and for good reason – everyone else present not a member of holoX were horrified the minute those two words hit their ears.
“I-I DRANK WHAT?!?!”
“Radioactive waste?!?!”
“WHY?! Why did you have that?! HOW did you get that?!?!”
“It's, uh... actually surprisingly easy, I daresay...” Iroha spoke, trying to bring levity to the situation. “We have a contact who has access to a lot of black market materials, and they're out Osaka-way, so...”
“Radioactive waste...!” Ririka guffawed. While not particularly smart in the math-and-science department, being an entrepreneur, she had a pretty good concept of worldly goings-ons, and what was in the news. “That's illegal, right?! They just arrested a yakuza in America over that, didn't they?! It was, uh... Ebi... Ebisa...”
“Ririka's right – that's beyond illegal! This is scandal-worthy on every single possible level!” Nodoka leaned over, putting her hands atop her head, she could feel her eyes receding into her skull. “I'm going to get so fired for this, if Yagoo-san finds out...!”
“H-Hold on, Nodoka-san!!” Koyori spoke up, holding her hand aloft. “I'm a scientist – this is my forte! I can help Ao-kun out, I promise you! We can turn this into a positive situation!”
“It doesn't really feel positive already...” Kanade mused. “I mean, just look at Ao-san – she's in a panic...!” Ao had curled like a pill-bug once more, rocking back and forth and muttering to herself as she tried to process the information she received.
“Radioactive waste... I had a radioactive waste cocktail...!”
“No, no – Koyori's right, we can spin this.” Laplus spoke up, trying to take command of the situation. “We're idols – putting positive spins on things and making lemonade out of lemons is our job. Lemme think, lemme think...” Laplus rapped her horn and swayed her tail from side to side as she grumbled and thought her hardest. “...Aliens. Aliens did this.”
“Aliens?” Hajime responded, befuddled.
“Aliens. Meteors. Space crap – I dunno! Something cosmic made Ao-kun big – that's what we go with! Aliens pretend to be yokai in Osaka anyways, it just makes sense.”
“That's Gantz...” Raden replied, “You just don't want to get in trouble for committing a federal crime, don't you?” Laplus shot a look of defiance at Raden, hissing and shaking her tail like a rattlesnake. Lui was quick to put herself between the two.
“Now, now! We'll go with aliens – it could probably work! Right, Nodoka-san?”
“I mean... It wouldn't be the first time we had space aliens invade the office, I suppose...” Nodoka folded her arms and thought it over, before turning to her giant talent-to-manage. “Ao-kun, are you okay with this?”
“Mmmmnnnnn...” responded the giantess through her hands, pressed up against her face.
“Didn't sound like no! It's settled then!” Laplus commanded, standing tall and eliciting applause from holoX – and only holoX. “Now, next business – where's Sakamata?” Ao stopped moaning and groaning at the sound of Chloe's name, and muttered to herself.
“Sakamata...”
“She hasn't gotten up yet? Could she still be sleeping?” Ririka asked.
“Only one way to find out. Her trailer's just behind mine – follow me.” The small gang left Ao behind, curled up in her own little world, as they followed Nodoka past her trailer towards Chloe's. As they gathered, Koyori pressed her large ears up to the metal door – sure enough, the sound of loud snoring was coming from within, and a look of disappointment fell over Koyori's face.
“Oh, for the love of- she's been sleeping through all of this!”
“Here, I have the master key. Just let me...” Nodoka produced a key from her pajama pocket and twisted it into Chloe's door-lock, opening up the camper for all present. As expected, the trailer was a mess, with the girls having just barely settled down on the campground – spare clothes were thrown asunder, and empty sports drink bottles and snack bags were thrown about the floor. Upon the bed slept Chloe, who hadn't even bothered to remove her clothes as she slept, or tuck herself under the covers of the bed. She snored with her mouth open, with a big, dopey grin on her face, revealing her sharp little fang, as she lightly kicked her legs about her bed, having a wonderful dream whilst all the chaos was occurring outside. Chloe giggled as she talked in her sleep.
“Sure thing, Marine-senpai – I'd love to take your ship for a joyride...!”
“Seriously?” Kanade mused as she poked her head into the trailer with a few others, each adopting a look of exasperation.
“Move, wait outside – I got this.” Laplus entered the trailer and hopped up on Chloe's bed, crawling atop her subordinate and grasping her camisole straps in both her hands. In an instant, Laplus began to shake the hell out of Chloe, rocking her back and forth, up and down, as she shouted at her cleaner to awake. “Sakamata!! Wake the hell up!! You're in a lot of trouble, girl!!” Slowly, Chloe stopped snoring, and the grin turned to a curved gape of discomfort, as the orca-girl's eyelids opened to reveal her scarlet peepers. Chloe blinked a couple of times and looked directly into Laplus' gaze, the latter looking none too pleased to see her subordinate fast asleep after the massive screw-up she caused.
“Ah, morning Laplus. What's up?” The nonchalant answer only served to infuriate Laplus further.
“'What's up' is that you screwed up real good, Sakamata! I gave you one job – one job – last night, easiest job in the world – and not only did you louse it up, you got us one huge problem on our hands!!”
“Screwed up? Screwed up... Ah – you mean the you-know-what I had to watch? That got away?”
“Yes – the you-know-what, the one that sprouted legs and got away.” Laplus headbutted Chloe, forcing a yelp out of her subordinate.
“Yeowch!!”
“Idiot! You have absolutely no idea how badly you messed up, don't you?! We could've gone to jail if the wrong person nabbed that waste, you're lucky that it was Ao-kun who found it! Oh – but you aren't lucky at all, are you?! You'd know how unlucky you are if you poked your head out and took one good look at Ao-kun!”
“Ao-kun? What about Ao-kun?”
“Hey, guys?! Ao-tan's coming over!” Hajime was quick to bolt with the rest of the group from the vicinity of the trailer right after she warned the two inside. Laplus' eyes went wide as she felt the sensation of quakes growing ever closer to the trailer – the trailer she was still trapped inside.
“Oh crud.” Laplus quickly dismounted from the bed and hit the floor as the quaking stopped, and she tried to run out the door. Right as she reached the door, Laplus saw the ground beyond the door quickly recede, and she was thrown backwards as the trailer was lifted into the sky. Laplus and Chloe's stomachs churned as the trailer was pulled upwards in one swift motion, and their ears were assaulted by the sound of one very loud, large, angry woman.
“Sakamata...!!”
“Cheese it – every girl for herself!!” Laplus ran and dove out the open door, trying – and failing – to stick a five-point landing as she fell towards and rolled across the sandy ground, groaning all the way. Chloe was confused by what was going on, and looked about in a panic, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Who?! What?! Where?!”
As Chloe gyrated her head about in a panic, she was treated to the sound of shearing metal above her. A pair of giant fingers pierced the top of her trailer, and like a can of sardines, her trailer's roof was peeled backwards, and the daylight was hitting her dead in the eyes, forcing them shut. As Chloe squealed and tried to adjust her eyes to the light, her lids suddenly shot apart, as her eyes adjusted to the light, and a massive shadow stared down at her. As the shade dissipated against the sun, Chloe's vision became clear, and she was subject to the visage of a giant, angry Hiodoshi Ao – naked from the collarbone down.
“Sakamata...!! You did this to me...!!”
Chloe blinked, twice, thrice, and in a short burst, completely silent. Then, she scoffed, letting a snort out of her nose, and a dopey grin come over her face.
“Ohhh, I got it, I'm still dreaming. That makes sense.” Chloe yawned and fell back to her bed, this time, pulling the covers over-top her, wrapping herself like a bagworm and squeaking in joy under the warm, comfy blanket. “I'm gonna nap some more. G'night, giant Ao-kun.” Ao's threatening facade completely melted away, having been hand-waved away so nonchalantly by Chloe's lack of a reaction, and she gasped in surprise and offense.
“H-Hey!!” Frustrated, Ao threw a tantrum, shaking the ever-living heck out of the trailer, forcing Chloe awake, who was now screaming as she grabbed onto the bed and held on for dear life.
“EEIIIYYAAAAHHHH!!!”
“Sa-ka-ma-taaaa!! Don't ignore me! Take some responsibility, dammit!” Ao kept shaking and shaking the trailer, faster and faster, ignoring all else around the world – including the ocean breeze across her bare body.
“Ao-san! Stop shaking the trailer! Your body's all...!”
“Eh? UUWAAAAHHHH!!!” Ao stopped shaking Chloe's trailer and released the vehicle the minute she realized she was putting her full nudity on display. As soon as the trailer hit the ground with a resounding thud, Ao was soon to follow, dropping to her knees and pressing her arms against her breasts and crotch to hide her lady-parts – it was a miracle nobody was around to take pictures the way she was screaming and making noise, sticking out like a sore thumb. As Ao shrieked in embarrassment, her face getting pinker and pinker by the second, Chloe was finally left alone, and found herself crawling out of the trailer, as pale as death, head rattling and eyes witness to a dizzy world around her. Her fellow members of holoX joined her, standing above the clumsy orca as she tried to come back to reality – Iroha dropped to a knee to try and help her genmate.
“Are you alright?”
“I think... Hic! …I'm gonna hurl...!”
“Alright!” Nodoka clapped, urging the attention of everyone towards her. “Seeing as Sakamata-san is up, I'd like the chance to speak with you all. We'll be having a long discussion between some members about trust between employees later on, following our trip.” Nodoka looked towards Laplus and Chloe both, the former looking guilty and glancing off to the side, the latter looking confused, unaware of what wrong she may have committed. “But, for now, I would like to discuss the contents of the trip with you all. Not long after we got up, I called staff back at the office, upper management included, to discuss the emergency of Ao-kun's condition.”
“How did that go, by the way?” Ririka asked. Nodoka folded her arms.
“Well, I tried to explain it to them as best as I could, but I don't think they really understood it when I told them Ao-kun got so big. I was a bit panicked too, so I doubt that helped matters much... But for what it's worth, they understand the situation here is serious.”
“Oh no...” Ao spoke up, prompting attention from the others. “We won't... We don't need to cancel the Osaka trip because of me, d-do we?” Ao bit the lower portion of her lip, looking downtrodden by the sound of where Nodoka was going. The brunette responded to the bluenette by shaking her hands, trying to alleviate the idol's fears.
“No, no, no, Ao-kun! It's not like that! In fact, the opposite!” There was a confused murmur from nearly everyone present, curious what Nodoka implied. Clearing her throat, she continued. “To clarify – they understand that when I said 'Ao-kun got big', it meant she got big. Not the first time one of our talents grew to a larger size. To that end, they suggested we should 'use this to our advantage', and utilize Ao-kun's newfound bigness to, um, 'enhance' the trip experience.”
“'Enhance'? That's pretty cold, even for management!” Raden chided. “They could consider Ao-kun's feelings just a little bit! Does Yagoo know about this?”
“No, the CEO wasn't party to the call at the time, but I'm sure he'll be aware, if he's not been told already...”
“If I may,” Lui spoke up, “If I had to get into Yagoo-san's head-space for a moment, I think he would be the most adamant about trying to continue.”
“Lui-senpai, you can't be serious!” protested Ririka.
“Hear me out – the dream of Hololive is to bring the world together with the power of idols, no? Our trip is to spread Osaka's culture around the world to hundreds of thousands of fans, and at the end of it all, we make the night special for fans in Osaka with a stage show at Osaka-Jo Hall. An employee's health consideration is important, but so is their dream. Ao-kun's been looking as forward to this performance as you all, and frankly, she's not sick, just big. Why sacrifice her dreams so quickly?”
“Lui-senpai, that's a bridge too far!” Hajime retorted defensively. “You can't just assume Ao-tan's gonna just go along with-”
“I-I'll do it.” The sudden response prompted the attention of ReGLOSS's teenier members.
“Ao-tan?”
“I'll do it... I'll still perform.” Ao repeated, looking determined in the face of Lui's reasoning. “It's as Lui-senpai says – it's all our dreams to perform on stage for those who love ReGLOSS. I don't want to deprive our fans, but I can't deny my friends their dreams, either...”
“Ao-san...!” Ao smiled sheepishly at Kanade, looking ready to start the waterworks at any moment. The other members looked somewhat hesitant, knowing who Ao typically was, given what they had witnessed.
“Ao-kun, are you sure? We won't hold it against you if you want to sit this out.”
“I... I'll be fine, Raden-chan. It's only a two-week trip – I can tough it out.” The rest of ReGLOSS looked at each other and gave an affirming nod to one another, signifying they were all okay with the decision. The soundless agreement, however, was soon broken by the sound of Ririka's loud gasp.
“Omigosh!! But what about Osaka-Jo Hall?! Can we fit Ao-kun inside?!” The mood immediately turned somber – whatever confidence Ao had was quickly leaving her body. Not helping matters much was Laplus' matter-of-fact bratty behavior.
“Ayup – ain't fitting her through that roof, that's for sure.”
“Laplus!” Lui chided, smacking her leader on the back of the head in disapproval.
“Ouch!!”
“I'm on it.” Nodoka quickly responded, pulling out her cell phone. “It's going to be a hassle, but I'll see if we can get the venues changed. We put the security deposit down weeks ago, but if I act now with the staff, I think we can get this pulled off with minor inconvenience to the fans, and our flexible budget contingency.” Nodoka was quick to put the phone to her ear, and walked off towards an area with better reception, in order to try and speak with as many people in booking as she could, as quickly as she could. The life of a production staff was not one to be envied in moments such as these. Converse to Nodoka's serious thoughtfulness and acting behavior, Koyori clapped her hands and leapt up and down in place, looking like a happy child.
“I'm next! I'm next! I wanna be in charge of getting Ao-kun some new clothes to fit her big body!” Given Koyori's usual actions and personal tastes, the ReGLOSS members reacted with skepticism, most notably Ao herself, who recoiled back and hugged herself tighter.
“N-No way! You're just going to make me wear something weird!”
“Ao-kun...” Koyori responded, with a smarmy grin and offputtingly saccharine tone, “I think you misunderstand my intentions – I would never do something that would make another member of Hololive uncomfortable under my watch. But if that doesn't convince you, please keep in mind – I'm the one with all the Assistants at beck-and-call to make you some clothes.” Koyori probed Ao's slender bare body from head to toe with her eyes, and that, combined with Koyori's thinly-disguised threat, put Ao in a state of discomfort. Sheepishly, she tucked into herself, pressing her arms harder against her privates and letting a hot blush overcome her face.
“...Y-You promise it won't be weird?”
“Cross my heart!” Slowly, Ao shook her head in affirmation, and Koyori leapt up and down in joy. “Oh, yippee! Yippee!”
“D-Don't do that! It just makes me think you are going to do something weird!” Koyori's simple response was merely a giggle, poking her tongue out from between her lips in the process. Ao sighed – it was going to be a long two weeks. “I-In any case, is there any way I can have something by today? I don't really want to spend the whole day n... naked...”
“Well, I mean, we gotta get your measurements first, and my Assistants need some time to craft, soooo... That'd be a no, sorry.” Ao elicited a noise halfway between a squeal and a groan, in response.
“Hold it!” Ririka shouted, raising her hand skyward, “Why not use some curtains and bedsheets? You know – like in the old movies!” Ririka produced her smartphone in her hand, her most important tool of the trade, and scrawled through the internet search engine briefly before pulling up an image of a poster. “There! Look at this, Ao-kun!” Ao leaned in as much as she could manage, squinting her eyes to try and read the teeny-tiny screen of Ririka's teeny-tiny phone.
“...At...Attack of the 50... Foot Woman...?”
“Yeah! Big American classic! It's referenced everywhere! The lady in it gets huge, throws together a bedsheet-bikini, and rampages through the town! It'd be perfect! Y'know – except without the rampage.” Ririka turned and showed everyone else her phone as she spun about, eliciting some “ooh”s and “ahh”s from some present.
“Ahhh, I've seen this one before!” Raden said, stroking her chin like an old-timer remembering the glory days of cinema. “It was campy, and not as well-shot as The Fly or The Blob, but it's still got some classic shots! The ending with the power lines was well-choreographed!”
“Oh – the skirt should be shorter on Ao-kun!” Kanade chimed in, “Or, actually – cut the skirt, but use the extra cloth to make cute bows on the bikini bottoms!”
“O-Oi...!”
“Actually, why not a fundoshi and sarashi?” Iroha asked, leaning in with a passionate grin. “There's no better a way for Hiodoshi-san to exemplify Osaka's traditional cultural values by dressing in traditional garb, I daresay!” To Ao's chagrin, her genmates were shaking their heads along to this, murmuring in approval.
“Oi!”
“I don't see why we gotta think so hard.” Chloe interjected, “Just put on some trailers like battle armor – less work tying, more giant robot fans watching!” Laplus smacked the back of Chloe's head again. “Oi!”
“We're trying not to destroy any more property today, Sakamata!”
“Oi, girls! Please!” Ao protested, garnering attention back to her. “I like wearing clothes that cover me as much as possible, let's not subtract more cloth, please! I-I'll just make a longer dress sort of like the poster has. Just let me... Oh.” Ao looked down at Chloe's trailer she dropped, eyeing the discarded bedsheets whipped asunder from the busted bed inside. Ao leaned over and maneuvered her body to hide her breasts from view as she grabbed the sea-blue bedsheet inside the tin can, before leaning upright and holding the material against her chest to get an idea of how much it would cover her body. Suffice to say, it wasn't much. Sighing, she resigned herself to her inevitable scantily-clad fate. “Or... Maybe I'll just go with the poster's design... C-Could you all share your bedsheets? And a sewing needle?”
“Leave the sewing to me, Ao-kun!” Lui responded with a smile, befitting her role as the de-facto “Team Mom” of holoX. “I promise to make sure your temporary outfit is tasteful and durable!”
“I'll get the mea~surements~!” Koyori spoke in a sing-song tone.
“Right – everyone! To your trailers! Help Ao-tan out!” Hajime commanded, befitting her Banchou role.
“That means you lot, too! HoloX – move out!” Laplus commanded, holding her hand forward towards her subordinates.
“Yes, Banchou!”
“Yes my Dark!”
The girls were all off to the races, scrambling to their trailers to get dressed and get Ao what she needed – all with exception of Chloe, who was effectively room-less. Looking back at Ao and letting out an uncomfortable squeal, remembering the shaking that happened not long ago, Chloe turned and scrambled after Laplus, following her around like a puppy.
“Hold on, Leader! Take me with you~!”
Ao sighed and looked once more at the small piece of cloth in her hands, feeling a sense of sheepishness overcome her once more, thinking how much skin she'd end up showing by the end of this all. The antithesis to her entire sense of fashion, Ao envisioned herself at a massive scale, wearing a makeshift swimsuit in which just about anyone could look up her skirt, and took a deep breath, trying to steel herself for what was to come.
“I hope I made the right decision...”
As the morning went about, and the chaos was seemingly winding down, the smaller women present upon the campground managed to get themselves all dressed and ready for the days to come, and were primed to assist Ao in the difficulty surrounding her mutation. The bedspreads of the campground were sacrificed in order for Ao to make an outfit that would fit her and cover her extremities, at least until Koyori was able to have her robotic Assistants back in holoX's main office craft whatever fresh hell Ao was fated to wear. The outfit she had been crafted was primarily held together by the strength of Lui's needlework – strong, tight threads, layered in multiple weaves, linked together each piece of the blue bedding, colored to compliment the nearby Osaka Bay, and allowed Ao to don a costume without worry of a wardrobe malfunction at the most inopportune time. Ao was grateful, though, she wished that the outfit would provide more cover for her skin.
When all bedspreads were combined, much like Nancy Archer before her, Ao was limited to the cover of a silk bikini, wrapped about her body in the important areas of her chest and hips, with another layer about her pelvis, to ensure enough full cover to avoid being charged for public nudity. For a woman who preferred to wear thick, baggy, stylish clothing that left a world of imagination available to those who bore witness, a bikini seemed to suit Ao well, the colors complimenting her pale skin and bringing attention to her smooth clavicles, her slim stomach, and long gams that seemed to go on for miles – now more literal than ever. Ao was a beautiful woman who loved to dress and masquerade as a man – and it was this very reason that her fluorescent face was quickly turning pink with embarrassment, with the ogling eyes of her fellow idols probing her up and down, soon to be joined by the eyeballs of Osaka's native population, and the scores of Hololive's fans watching all across the internet the content that they were about to put out. The thought mortified Ao, who held a hand to her forehead, as she bent over the ground, adopting the downward dog position.
“Haaah...”
“What's up, Ao-san?” Kanade poked her head up, looking down past her bandmate's small pond of ocean-blue hair. The blond musician was propped up on Ao's behind, sticking up towards the sky, as she was in charge of getting Ao's waist and hip measurements, assisting the other ReGLOSS girls from atop Ao's body. Holding a wheel with a very long strip of tape attached, used for landscaping – a purchase from a nearby FamilyMart – Kanade was the anchor for one end atop Ao, as Hajime and Raden were holding the other ends of the tape under their embiggened friend, Raden atop a ladder to help her reach. Ao looked back at Kanade with an uneasy expression, clearly not comfortable with her mischievous little friend being so close to her buttcrack.
“This just isn't something that I expected to happen to me, is all. Like, ever.” Ao grumbled some more, feeling a tickle in the back of her throat at the thought of her smaller friends crawling all around her, like insects she was oh-so terrified of. “A-Are you girls done yet? I don't want Kanade-chan standing atop my rear any longer than I can avoid...”
“Juuuust aboutttt~...” Raden stated, holding the landscaping tape up just right above Ao's skirt-draped crotch – which bothered her to no end. “...1,105.”
“1,105...!” Ao coughed as she heard the number out loud. Her measurements were her own private information, and she took pride in the fact she maintained her numbers at a nice, even, two-digit number, not too large and not too small from standard rates. Not only were her fellow idols getting the numbers live, but said numbers were inflated by a freakish rate.
“Woah – that's big.” Hajime stated, amazed by the large number.
“Big, indeed! Ao-kun, I'm jealous! You have me beat by aces, girl!” Ririka held her smartphone up to take a picture of Ao in her impromptu yoga pose, with the other members under her, and Kanade up top. Noticing Ririka's phone and seeing the camera LED flicker, Kanade smiled and held the handle of the wheel aloft as she repositioned her foot atop Ao's butt, trying to channel Theodore Roosevelt charging up San Juan Hill. The digital click of the camera reached Ao's ears, and she squeaked in response.
“O-Oi! No pictures, Ririka! This is embarrassing!”
“I hear that right? 1,105?” Koyori asked, standing off to the side of the front of Ao's face. Clad in her usual getup with her labcoat and work clothes, a clipboard and pen in hand, Koyori almost looked like a doctor checking in on her patient's condition – but Ao knew whatever Koyori was scrawling on the clipboard was going to be some horrid, revealing outfit that was going to be made just tight enough to show off all her curves. Koyori giggled as she scribbled on the paper, muttering lord-knows-what to herself, putting Ao in a state of grand unease. “Alright! Perfect! And the waist?”
“860 for the waist.” Ao squealed as Raden spoke the number aloud – the sort of number no woman would ever want to hear as their waistline measurement.
“860? Wow, Ao-kun! You must really be big-boned, hee-hee!”
“Stooooop-p-p-p!!”
“Alright, Kanade-chan, you can get down from Ao-kun now!”
“Roger!” Responding to Koyori's words, Kanade chirped and leaped over the back of Ao's booty, riding down her soft mounds of rear and down the supple flesh of her thighs.
“Hiiiiieeee!!” Ao shrieked in a shrill, high-pitched tone as Kanade slid down her legs, to meet Raden and Hajime at the ground.
“That was fun! We should all give that a try!”
“Hey, Ao-tan! Let me up next! I want a ride!”
“I'm not a fairground ride!!” Ao broke her pose and pushed herself back up, putting her hands to her hips and looking down at her friends. She held a grumpy look on her face, painted with a blush that revealed her true feelings. “C-Can we be serious already?! I'll take my chest measurements myself – hand me the tape.”
“No need, Hiodoshi-san!” Ao and the other girls looked around as Iroha's voice seemed to come out of nowhere, and as if responding to the others' thoughts, Iroha popped out of Ao's cleavage, like Momotaro from the peach, with her arms up, hands balled into fists, and a joyful grin on her cheeks. She leaned forward and draped her arms over Ao's chest-cloth, calling down to Koyori. “I've taken the initiative to measure the bust myself, I daresay! The number you need is 1,123, Koyo-chan!”
“Wha- I-Iroha-chan!!” Ao tossed her arms against her chest, shaking to and fro to try and remove the invader of her very personal space. “G-Get out of my bra!! This is beyond inappropriate!!”
“1,123... Good! I'll have this scanned, sent back up home, and we're good to go! Be right back~!” Koyori turned to walk off towards her trailer, holding the clipboard to her chest to hide whatever design she was sketching on the paper.
“Ah! Hold on, Koyo-chan, let me join you!” Iroha leapt from Ao's bikini top, unbothered by the shakiness of her ride, and landed on the sandy ground with perfect accuracy. She joined Koyori's side, trying to sneak a look at whatever was on the clipboard with innocent curiosity. ReGLOSS watched the dysfunctional evil admins saunter off and wondered how they were ever able to collaborate with them the first go around.
“How is it that they seemed so normal the last few times we did streams?” Ririka asked, not particularly expecting an answer.
“Oi. We're doing our best here to help, watch your tone.” The girls were soon joined by Laplus, drinking the last remnants of a slushie from a big gulp container – obtained with the tape from FamilyMart. She had Chloe walking at her side, acting as if a personal assistant, holding bags-worth of official Hololive video and audio equipment – either a punishment from Laplus from failing in her waste-guarding role, an olive branch extension to help Nodoka and avoid serious trouble, or both. Either way, Chloe didn't look too happy, but she was in little position to complain.
“Lap-chan,” Hajime responded, “You're still partially responsible for this happening in the first place, you know. Don't expect us to drop to immediate 'thank-you's.”
“Biggest mistake I made was putting Sakamata in charge of the radio-waste, not me getting it.” Laplus argued back, sneaking a slurp in from her cup. “Definitely not going to be making that mistake with the other cans...”
“Hang on – you have more?” Laplus' eyes went wide at Raden's probing, and she immediately clammed up and sucked down on her drink in an effort to hand-wave the issue away. Raden didn't look impressed, folding her arms tighter and narrowing her brow. “And how 'bout you, Chloe-chan? You got something you wanna say to Ao-kun?” Chloe looked sideways, trying to avoid the gigantic Ao in her line of sight, as every centimeter seen of her massive body only levied more guilt upon her shoulders.
“Umm, sorry, I guess.”
“Sorry for what?”
“Sorry for, um... not paying attention, and stuff, I guess.” The members of ReGLOSS reacted with irritation, and Laplus herself was not as happy either, giving Chloe an annoyed glance. “L-Look, point is I'm really sorry, okay?! I'll carry all your stuff the whole trip, so let's all make up and have fun! Okay?”
“Okay!” Nodoka, dressed to the nines in her business-professional attire, with her tired-yet-positive attitude, was the perfect remedy for the tense mood between ReGLOSS and holoX at the moment. Having driven the tour bus right up to the edge of the campground, Nodoka was lightly running over, panting slightly in her speedy stride, trying her best to rally the troops and salvage the Osaka trip. “I managed to finish speaking with the staff at Osaka-Jo – they weren't particularly enthused, but we managed to recoup our security deposit. I'm in talks now to reserve a new stadium to play the ending show at.”
“That's good,” Ririka commented, “Do you have any ideas yet?”
“One in particular – and the conversations are going surprisingly well.” Nodoka pulled a flier from the bag at her side and unfurled it before the ReGLOSS girls, Laplus, and Chloe. As all focused their eyes on the small poster, they all gaped in awe, realizing the gravity of what Nodoka was suggesting.
“Nagai Stadium?!”
“The rugby stadium?!”
“It's a tall order...” Nodoka continued, “But we have a tall, tall person who could really use the help. We'd be upgrading from 16,000 seats to 47,000 seats, so in the long-run, we'd be able to seat a lot more fans, and sell a lot more tickets to help recoup the costs. More importantly, it'd give Ao-kun a lot more space to sing and dance. There's no reason to leave her out of the festivities just because she grew up a little overnight – I've spoken with management, and they're all on-board with this, ready to help us out with anything we need. It'll be a bit costly, but we have a nice contingency surplus to work with.” The girls were all quick to break out in joy, sharing squeals and high-fives with one another, at the lucky turn of events.
“Way to go, Nodoka!”
“Nagai Stadium... Talk about a real lucky break!”
“Woah, woah, hold on, girls!” Nodoka protested, trying to calm everyone down. “I'm still in talks with the Stadium's staff, but I have a proposal being worked on double-time back at the office, and it'll be in the Stadium's hands by end of the day. There's still a chance they're going to turn us down, and we need to send out the emails about a venue change right after – we're going to be down to the wire on this, but don't celebrate too early.”
“Ah, right.” Ao spoke, rubbing the nape of her neck in guilt. “S-Sorry for all the trouble, Nodoka-san, and to everyone else, too...”
“C'mon, Ao-san, be your confident self again!” Kanade spoke, looking up with a grin. “Things'll work out, just watch! We got two weeks!”
“Indeed – Kanade's right. More importantly, we have the rest of Osaka to tour! And Ao-kun can still continue enjoying the trip with the rest of you all! I'm sure that everything will turn out fun and fine at the end of it all, trust me.” While not as excited as the initial Nagai Stadium announcement, the girls still adopted a positive mood in response to Nodoka's rallying. “On that note, we'll be rearranging some of the trip locales as we start the trip proper. First up on the list will be Mount Tenpo, the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, and the Tempozan Ferris Wheel. It's close enough to our campground here, our little 'base of operations', and considering the height of Mount Tenpo...”
“Ahhh! We're going to leverage Ao-kun's height against the height of the mountain itself, right?”
“Bingo, Raden-san! We'll be leaving in a couple of minutes, once Koyori-san and Iroha-san join us.”
“Hold on, Nodoka-san.” Ao spoke up, raising her hand. “I get you'll all be riding the tour bus, but what am I supposed to do? Walk? Swim? I don't want these sheets getting too wet, and I'm not too comfortable with the idea of being seen by a lot of people en-route...”
“I thought about that, Ao-kun, so we talked it over, and arrived at a solution.”
“'We'?” As Ao spoke, an 18-wheeler flatbed truck pulled up behind the Hololive tour bus, absolutely dwarfing the bus' size, as smoke billowed from the front exhaust pipes, speaking to the power of the engine. The driver laid on the horn, eliciting a sound similar to La Cucaracha as it was played in short bursts. Rolling down the window, the girls saw Lui behind the wheel, flashing her grin, like the beak of a hawk, at the group, an inviting warmth in her eyes.
“I'll be Ao-kun's personal driver for the rest of this trip.” she stated, kind and caring. “There's a tarp on the back for privacy and cover, should the sun beat too hard, the rain come, and to avoid pictures from prying eyes. I can't make any promises about no pictures when we're on-site, though.” The girls were in awe, amazed by what they were seeing.
“Lui-senpai, you can drive a trailer-truck?!” Hajime shouted, excited at the size of the steel beast she drove. “That's so badass!!”
“Something I learned back during work before holoX.” Lui calmly replied, as if it were a known fact.
“Oi, Lui! How come I never knew you drove something like this?! We could've used it for so many schemes!”
“You never asked, Leader.” Laplus stamped her foot, ready to chide Lui for keeping secrets from the rest of holoX.
“Oh! Lui's driving a trailer again! Neat!” Koyori and Iroha joined the group, admiring the look of the truck. Laplus cocked her head in her subordinates' direction, astonished they both knew something she didn't.
“The model looks mighty and sleek, I daresay! Lui-san, where did you acquire such a vehicle?”
“There's a warehouse around the area I was able to ask permission for the truck. The company head's kids were Hololive fans, so I took some photos and did some autographs, on top of a small rental fee. They were really nice.”
“I see! Very resourceful!” Laplus was dumbfounded and speechless. Chloe leaned into her leader to try and garner her attention.
“Lap-chan – Leader – can I get on the bus now? This equipment's starting to wear on my shoulders...!”
“...Yeah, whatever. Let's get on already.” The two holoX members left, flanked by Iroha, taking notice of the duo, who slinked in close to chat with the both of them.
“Koyori-san!” Nodoka called, prompting Koyori to turn around as she approached. “I trust you finished with Ao-kun's measurements for her giant-sized costume?” Koyori flashed the “OK” hand gesture, tilting her head at Nodoka with a smile.
“All done! Everyone else did a great job helping me! We trust now in the brigade of Assistant-kuns, and Ao-kun'll look real pretty for the rest of the trip!” Koyori looked past Nodoka, flashing Ao a teasing grin. “Look. Forward. To. It!”
“Please don't say it like that...!” Ao shuddered, hugging her body tight. “It's bad enough that you made everyone know my measurements at this size...”
“Oh! Speaking of, does everyone want to know a fun math exercise? Ao-kun's currently 30 meters, or 3,000 centimeters tall, and she used to be 171 centimeters – that's 17.54 times larger! So if you divide her bust-waist-hips size by that number-”
“Stopstopstopstopstopstopstop!!”
“We'll be counting on you, Koyori-san. For now, let's enjoy the trip. I'll be driving – to the bus we go!” Koyori giggled and followed behind Nodoka as she walked onto the bus. The ReGLOSS girls trailed behind slowly, to give Ao some space as she lifted herself from the ground. Standing at her full height, Ao walked towards the truck, quaking the ground as she walked the short distance, and knelt down as she reached the flatbed. Ao moved the tarp off the flatbed to inspect where she would be resting on the drive – it seemed big enough for her, luckily enough, a miracle, seeing as the vehicle manufacturing industry doesn't typically make trucks with the idea they would be ferrying giant women to and from sites around a city.
“Is this really going to be safe?” Ao asked, the thought of what to do if the trailer makes sharp turns in her mind.
“Trust in my driving, Ao-kun.” Lui responded, fixing the rear-view mirror and flashing a thumbs-up. “You'll feel just like riding a wagon in your youth – I promise!”
“Alright...” Slowly, Ao got up upon the truck, fearing she would bust up the back just by sitting on it. She must have weighed a little over 9,000 kilograms at this size, distressingly enough, but luckily for her, 18-wheelers are well-built to handle weight limits up to 21,000 kilograms in transit, and no such breakdown occurred. Ao hugged her knees to her chest, and was joined at truckside by her bandmates, looking up at her all-smiles. “Sorry again about this, everyone.”
“What are you talking about?” Hajime asked. “You'll be getting us Nagai Stadium like this! I know you didn't mean to grow on purpose, but this is great news!”
“I always wanted to play a massive sports stadium – you made a dream come true, Ao-san!” Kanade beamed like the sun, and couldn't help but put a smile on Ao's face.
“I guess that makes me feel better, that's true. Thanks, Kanade-san.”
“Just keep up what you're doing, and everything'll be alright, Ao-kun!” Raden responded with a cheerful pep. “Two weeks, and we'll be back at the Hololive office, and we can try to shrink you right after! Koyo-chan'll have her lab, Shion-chan's got her magic, Iofi-chan's an alien who can, like, probably reverse-Nancy you – we got a lot of options to work with!”
“Yeah! So keep your chin up! ReGLOSS isn't gonna be any different after this! Smile!” Ririka held up her smartphone and took another picture of Ao, starting a collection of photos of her friend as a giantess. Ao blushed and complained once more.
“Hey, I said no pictures!”
“C'mon – you'll want 'em all framed after you're small again! We'll see you at the site – happy travels!” The rest of the ReGLOSS girls sauntered off to the tour bus, where Nodoka was waiting at the door, hanging out the side of the stairwell.
“Ah, Ririka-san! Can I talk to you for a second?” Nodoka let the other girls on the bus, as Ririka stayed behind.
“Hm? Sure, Nodoka, what's up?” Nodoka left the bus and touched the ground, leaning into Ririka and whispering to her.
“Um... How do I put this? You are rich, right?”
“Hm? Ah, I guess I am, in a sense. Ichijou Corp. is on the up-and-up, and I got some coffers to work with. What's up? Need Nagai Stadium funds?”
“Oh, no – Hololive will be covering all the costs on that. It's just...” Looking over the two destroyed trailers in the campground, and the others deprived of the bedding, Nodoka turned back to Ririka. “I spoke with the owner of this campground, and we will need to be reimbursing some costs for him. Given Ao-kun exploding out of one trailer and smashing up another...”
“Ah, it's no trouble! We're bandmates! How much do you need?” Nodoka produced her smartphone and held up a notes app on her phone, logging down expenses that couldn't be business recouped. Ririka looked at it with a grin, but her face soon melted upon seeing the price, her eyeballs nearly popping out of her skull. She looked back at the trailers. “For these...?! Seriously?” Nodoka shook her head. “Woof. Well, if it's for Ao-kun...” Producing a checkbook from her handbag, Ririka took a pen and got to writing. Ao watched from her flatbed in curiosity, wondering just what the two were discussing as she affixed the tarp over her body.
“Still a bit worried?” Lui asked, poking her head out the window.
“You aren't, Lui-senpai?”
“Nah – I've seen stranger and more distressing situations both before and after I joined holoX, you'd be surprised. Like Raden-chan said, just tough it out, and you'll be shrinking in no-time.” Lui put her head back inside the window and took the truck out of park, ready to drive as she noticed Nodoka and Ririka enter the bus and close the doors. “Ah – just word of caution: Don't go to Koyo-chan for a shrinking solution. I can almost guarantee you that you'll be running around a petri dish if she has her way.”
“Believe me, I'm aware.” Ao shuddered as she thought once more over what sort of costume Koyori's Assistants were hard at robotic-work on.
Soon enough, both the vehicles' engines had started fresh, and the Palm Garden Maishima Campground was temporarily behind them. The girls were treated to a beautiful sight of the bay as they were bussed from one location to the next, the crisp salt-air flooding through the windows and kissing their nostrils. For Ao, however, it was different – the faint stench of the air was there, but she was basically in darkness as a tarp covered her, from one location to the next. She didn't like it, but what was the alternative? Have people taking photos of her in a crummy makeshift bikini? Out of the question. Ao closed her eyes to think as she held herself tight, trying not to think of the troubles regarding her conditions, instead focusing on the happy thoughts of enjoying the trip with her friends.
“It's only two weeks, Ao – only two weeks. Things'll go great, you'll get to perform, and this whole experience will just be one strange memory in the back of your mind.” Ao thought over everything on the itinerary she would be attending with her friends – Dotonbori Bridge, Super Nintendo World, Shitennoji Temple, Osaka Castle – all accommodating of her increased size, even if she wouldn't be able to do everything at each locale. Ao let herself relax – it was only going to be a couple minutes over the Konohana Bridge, and then it'd be time to get active with Osaka proper. Across the city, across the web – across the world, people were going to bare witness to her big body, like it or not, and it was going to be up to Ao to sell herself once more to a world that was expecting her. Not as Hiodoshi Ao, manga artist, idol, and virtual streamer, but as Hiodoshi Ao, giant-sized manga artist, idol, and virtual streamer.
“What could go wrong?”