The sound of birds in the distance as wind blew through the shrine stirred him awake. Mathew's tiny heart fluttered in his chest, almost as though he could still feel the sweat from Sandra's slimy soles plastered across his skin. Slowly he sat up, looking around at what appeared to be a shrine. There were a few women off in the distance who wore a uniform he had recognized nearly instantly.

White tops with a long, soft looking red skirt. They were shrine maidens, but they were quite different than what he imagined they would look like. One had feline ears and a long, slender tail while the other's ears resembled more of a canine. The second sported a bushier tail, and both were quite busy with their ritual cleaning of what seemed to be a relatively spiritual place. He was smaller than normal today, his body only measuring around a centimeter or two as he gathered his bearings on what was going on.

Behind him sat a pair of well used sandals. He looked them over, the tatami material was bending slightly from what he assumed was years of use. Long enough for him to see the imprint of toes in the distance. He wasn't on the sandals yet, just the floor nearby. Bringing his fingers to his forehead he tried to soothe an agonizing headache. Each pulse of his heart sent another bolt of pleasure through his midsection in reflection of his time with the young Dogfish. Before he could recover, he heard movement off in the distance.

"Yes, one moment! I'll be there shortly." The voice shouted, but it wasn't in English. The tone was definitely Japanese, a language Mathew didn't understand at all.

"What...?" He groaned, looking up to see another Miko woman walking towards him as he waved his arms. Trying to get a higher position, Mathew climbed up onto the sandal and began to hop in place. "Hey!"

She was adorable, her fluffed tail swishing as her hair fell over her shoulders. A little chipmunk, studying in the shrine's magics. All of his cries fell on deaf ears as she stepped over him. Her Tabi sock lifted over his form high enough for him to see the darker bits of dust outlining her toes and sole where all the pressure was. In an instant he was forced to his side, arm pinned down beneath the toe of her sock as pressed him into the sandal's heel with ease. He began to pant once more, his little heart pulsing as adrenaline and pleasure rushed through him. Clearing his throat to shout again, her motions were too quick. Her sock lifted once again, showing off every bit of dust and dirt caked to the sole of her well used sock. Laying in the indention made by her heel, Mathew gasped for air and writhed in both agony and pleasure.

The ball of her foot landed on the arch as she slid on her sandals, her heel gently patting down on its unwitting victim. Mathew squeaked as the fabric pressed down on him to no avail, his lungs compressing under the chipmunk girl's solid heel as she shifted herself. The weight was quick and sharp, enough to immediately pop the little one's intestines from his side but not kill him outright. Her heel idly lifted, innocently showing off his twitching, bug-like form on her sandal before shifting her weight back onto the tiny victim. Mathew screamed to himself as the air in his lungs was pressed out fully.

"Ready!" Natsuko shouted as she turned to run towards the woods.

Her quick motions obliterated the little creature beneath her, grinding his body into the fabric of her Tabi's heels. When she approached her friend off in the distance she stopped, bringing her hands innocently to her front as she looked to her with a gentle smile. "So what is this spell you spoke of?"

The Chipmunk girl took a slow step forward, only lifting the heel of her left foot - unwittingly showing off the stain that was once a person on her Tabi sock. Nearly a year prior, a spell she attempted had gone awry - with no consequences to speak of. Neither of them knew that Mathew's entire journey started as a result of her magic, attempting to pull a human soul through to her world where humans no longer existed. This would not be his last encounter with her, nor would it be the last one ending in sheer pain. As her heel settled back into place the last bit of Mat's life was crushed from his body, sending him into another reality and away from his only hope.

Perhaps she could be the one to stop this in the end.

Or perhaps the magic is too powerful for a single shrine maiden to control.