Keiko

by

Bobby


Part 1 Part 2

The 11-year-old Japanese girl walked dejectedly back from school, her head hanging down and a glum look on her face. She'd had a terrible day at school: she hadn't completed her math homework from last night, and failed a quiz in history. Who cared about Christopher Columbus anyway? Not to mention the fact that she had spilled a carton of milk in her lap at lunch, and was ridiculed for the rest of the day. One girl in her class, Lindsey Moore, was especially unsympathetic. 'Hey Keiko, what's the matter, forgot to wear your Pampers today?' she asked with a sadistic grin on her face. Of course, all the other kids laughed, and even Becky, one of her friends, couldn't fully suppress a smirk. Keiko had never been so embarrassed.

Now, to top it all off, she had to go to ballet lessons as soon as she got home. 'I hate ballet,' Keiko said, kicking a pebble down the sidewalk as she trudged along. 'Why does Mom make me go every week? She knows I hate it. I think she just likes to make me mad.'

She shifted her backpack on her shoulders and brushed the black bangs out of her eyes. After walking a short distance, Keiko had to stop and shift her backpack again, unaware that she hadn't fully zipped it up before she left school. The zipper was slowly working its way open as she walked, and her books kept sliding out more and more, until they finally tumbled out and landed in a large mud puddle near the sidewalk.

'Oh no!' Keiko cried as she quickly fished the books out of the muck. She wiped off most of the mud in the grass, but the books were still ruined. 'Mom and Dad are going to freak when they see what I did to these!' she moaned, banging her fists on the ground as she kneeled amongst the muddy books. She angrily shoved them into her backpack, making sure it was fully zipped this time, and stood up to get on her way, when something caught her eye.

It was under the hedge that bordered the other side of the sidewalk, something metallic, glinting in the light. She picked it up and examined it. It looked kind of like a TV remote control, but it only had a couple of buttons and a knob in the center. She twisted the knob left and right, and pressed the buttons, marked POWER and ACTIVATE, but nothing seemed to happen. She shrugged, slipping the thing in her pocket, and continued on her way home.

'Keiko, hurry up and get changed for ballet, honey, we need to leave soon,' her mother called from the kitchen as Keiko shut the front door behind her. 'OK, Mom,' she sighed as she turned to climb the stairs. 'What's wrong, dear, are you OK?' her mother said, coming out of the kitchen with a concerned look on her face. 'I'm fine, I just had a rough day at school, that's all. Mom, I was wondering, would it be OK if I just stayed home today? I'm really tired and I have a lot of homework tonight.' As she asked the question, Keiko already knew the answer, but it was worth a shot. 'I'm sorry, honey, but these lessons are important, you know that. The recital's coming soon and you need to be at your best. Dad and I can help you with your homework tonight, OK?' Keiko nodded and went up to her room to get ready.

She opened up her backpack and pulled the books out, now crusty with dried mud. 'I'm really gonna get in trouble for this, the school will make us buy all new books,' she said, dreading the confrontation with her parents. She quickly changed out of her school clothes and put on her ballet outfit, consisting of a pink leotard with white stockings and ballet shoes, and an ugly, in Keiko's opinion, pink tutu. When she picked up her school clothes to throw them in the hamper she felt a hard rectangular object in her pants pocket, and remembered the remote control thing she'd found; she'd forgotten all about it. She sat down on her bed to study it a little closer. 'Are you ready yet, Keiko?' her mother called upstairs. 'Almost, I'll be down in a minute!' she shouted, still looking at the device. She noticed a minus sign to the left of the knob and a plus sign to the right. She couldn't see any other markings. She turned it over and, seeing a small cover on the back, got a penny off of her dresser to pry it open. It was the battery compartment, currently empty. 'Two AA batteries, hmm, I can get them out of my Walkman,' Keiko said, and soon she was popping two AA batteries into the device. She snapped the cover back on and flipped the box over.

She twisted the knob back and forth but still nothing happened. 'That's weird, this thing still doesn't work,' she said. Then she remembered: 'I didn't turn it on!' She pressed the POWER button and the device came to life with a loud beep. The sound startled Keiko so much she almost dropped it on the floor. She could also feel a very slight vibration emanating from the box. She turned the knob to the right and was surprised to see an LED display light up just above the knob. It read +2, and as she continued turning the knob the number increased accordingly, until she stopped at +8. She turned it back to the left, and the number decreased until it hit zero, then it went through negative numbers. She saw that the numbers seemed to keep going up or down with no limit as long as the knob was being turned.

'This is pretty cool, but what does it do?' she thought. She pointed the device at her TV set, and pressed POWER, but it just turned the unit off. She pressed POWER again and it came back on, still displaying +10, where she'd previously left it. Pressing ACTIVATE did nothing either; the TV just sat there, silent with a blank screen. 'Who would make a remote control that doesn't even work on a TV? This is stupid!' Keiko said, somewhat frustrated that her new discovery was turning out to be much less interesting than she first thought. 'No wonder someone just threw it out.'

She tossed the device on her bed and stood up to get ready to leave, when she was overcome by a strong tingle coursing through her body. She stopped and placed her hand on the dresser to steady herself; her legs suddenly felt wobbly and unstable. 'Whoa, am I getting sick?' she asked herself, feeling her forehead to check if a fever had somehow sneaked up on her. She didn't seem hot, but she definitely felt very strange. Keiko shook her head to clear the dizziness that had set in, but to no avail. 'Ooooh, I have to sit down,' she said shakily. She slowly made her way back to her bed and sat down, holding her head in her hands. 'I really don't feel good, I'm getting scared,' she said nervously. Fear was creeping in as the woozy feeling wasn't subsiding, but getting stronger. Her heart was beating furiously, and she was starting to break out in a cold sweat. Keiko also noticed that her outfit was feeling tight for some strange reason, and was becoming uncomfortable. She happened to glance in the mirror over her dresser and frowned. Something was different about her face. She couldn't tell what it was, but something was undoubtedly different.

Just as Keiko was studying her face in the mirror, the queasy feeling passed as suddenly as it had come. She still felt the tingling, but the dizziness was gone and her heartbeat was slowing. After a moment she felt a little better and cautiously stood up, but as she straightened she heard a rather unpleasant ripping sound. She looked down to see runs forming in her stockings and a small gap at the seam where her right stocking met the leg opening of the leotard. 'Oh, this is just great. Now my leotard is ruined!' Keiko said in disgust. 'WHAT is going on? This thing fit fine last week. It's not like I've grown that much,' she said. As she spoke these words, however, an uneasy feeling came over her. Didn't her outfit fit her just a minute or two ago? This thought was accompanied by another rip as more runs appeared and the gap just below her leotard grew wider and longer. At the same time, Keiko became painfully aware of how much the shoulder straps and crotch of the leotard were digging in. She had to hunch over to relieve the pressure.

'Uh oh, this isn't good, this isn't good at all,' she said as she slowly turned to face her mirror. Looking back at her in shock was a girl who could easily pass for a 14-year-old. Her hair was shoulder-length and still growing as she watched, and the discomfort caused by the shoulder straps on her now ill-fitting leotard was causing her to bend over more and more, until she was looking sideways at her maturing reflection. 'What's happening to me?' Keiko groaned, as the leotard began to tear around her burgeoning hips and buttocks. The tutu was also becoming uncomfortably constricting as her figure developed.

The pressure being exerted by both ends of the (seemingly) shrinking leotard was so great Keiko almost passed out, when finally the shoulder straps snapped, allowing her to stand upright at last. 'Oh, God, that's so much better,' she said in a voice more suited to her 16 years. Her relief was short-lived, though, when she noticed the lumps on her chest that were further straining the already ultra-tight outfit. Her breasts were fast approaching A-cups and weren't showing signs of stopping just yet. She instinctively grabbed them, as if she could stop them from getting bigger, but she could feel them expanding in her hands. Her hands were also changing; her fingers and nails were growing longer.

The leotard began to tear across the gap between her breasts and down the sides. The waist was the only region that hadn't started to rip, since it had stayed relatively thin compared to the rest of Keiko's growing body. Her stockings were fast becoming mere shreds of nylon as her thickening, lengthening legs were too much for the material to handle, and they had completely separated from the main body of her leotard. The gap between her thighs grew smaller and smaller as they filled out and widened to keep pace with her hips and rear end. Her feet were becoming so compressed in her ballet shoes that the outline of her toes could be seen through the tight material, as they stretched the shoes more and more. The straps which had wrapped around her ankles and part of the way up her shins had long since snapped, and now lay limply on the floor.

Keiko was now 18 and fast approaching 19. Her leotard had completely disintegrated across her chest and upper torso, leaving her upper body exposed down to her waist. Her breasts were now B-cups that filled her palms, and she could feel the larger nipples pressing into her hands. Her stockings were now just long strips of nylon piled on the floor, and her growing feet had torn her shoes asunder. She gazed with astonishment at her reflection as her transition from schoolgirl to woman continued. The rips that had extended up from her hips and down from her bust finally met, and the remains of Keiko's leotard, tutu and cotton panties fell away, leaving her 21-year-old body exposed.

She stood in shock as the growth came to a stop, staring at this strange woman who looked so much like her, yet so different. Gone was her bony, girlish body. She ran her long-nailed fingers over her new face, across her full lips, high cheekbones and longer nose. Her skin was flawless, smooth and soft, without a single blemish or imperfection. Her eyes flashed, dark and mysterious, as she examined her new 5' 4' body up and down. Her thick black hair had grown almost to the middle of her back. Her lower body had taken on impressive proportions; her smooth shapely legs widened into her full thighs, with no gap in between. Her hips and buttocks flared dramatically from her slim waist, giving her an impossibly sensuous hourglass figure. She gently cupped her full B-cup breasts, and shivered slightly at the touch of her hands against her nipples. 'How did this happen?' she asked her reflection, and covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes grew wide in surprise. Could that low silky voice possibly be hers? As scared as she was by her sudden, rapid growth spurt, she couldn't keep a faint smile from reaching her lips as she realized how beautiful she had become. She knew she'd have no trouble finding a man now. There were plenty who would wait in line just to get a chance to talk to her. Come to think of it, there was a real hunk across the street she'd like to get to know better. He hadn't paid much attention to her before, but now... Mmmm, she could really have some fun with him, she thought. Her smile became a devilish grin as the scenario played out in her mind. She'd run her hands all over that rock-hard chest and slowly make her way down to his...'HEY! Have you forgotten something? We've got a problem here!!' Keiko jumped as a voice from the back of her mind brought her back to reality. Her heart was once again beating a mile a minute. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and get back to the matter at hand. 'Come on, Keiko, just concentrate and you'll get out of this mess,' she told herself. She just wished she could believe it.

Turning away from the mirror, Keiko sat down on the bed. She started to think about what could have caused her transformation. She replayed the events of the last few minutes over and over in her head, but nothing came to mind. 'Keiko, are you ready yet? We have to go NOW.' Her mother's voice was accompanied by a sharp knock on the door. 'Oh no, I can't let Mom see me like this!' Keiko said under her breath. 'I know, Mom,' then coughing and trying to speak in a higher voice she said, 'I'll be done in half a minute.' She kicked herself for forgetting about her new low voice. 'What's going on? You sound strange,' her mother said. 'I just have hiccups, I'm fine.' 'Well, please hurry, you're going to be late.' She heard her mother's footsteps move down the hall, and let out the breath she was subconsciously holding. 'Thank God she didn't open the door,' she said. 'Hiccups, how lame can you get?'

As she shifted her gaze from the door, Keiko's eyes fell on the pile of muddy textbooks. The remote lay face down where she'd tossed it. One end rested against one of the books, and on that end, a small red light flashed on and off. A light went on over her head, and she slowly reached out and picked up the device. Turning it over, her suspicions were confirmed. The display read +10, and below that the word COMPLETE blinked on and off. 'When I threw this down, it landed on that book, and the ACTIVATE button must have been pushed in. This thing really works! It made me 10 years older, so I must be 21 now.' She held the remote with a newfound enthusiasm and genuine awe, and looked back at her reflection in the dresser mirror. 'Let's try it backward now and see what happens.' She twisted the knob back to the left until the display read -10, then pointed it at herself and hit ACTIVATE.

Sure enough, the tingling feeling washed over her again, along with the dizziness, although it wasn't as bad this time since she was expecting it. She watched her breasts shrink and retreat back into her chest. Her hips and thighs narrowed, her hair shortened, her face became rounder and more innocent, and her height decreased until she was back to her old skinny self again. 'This is awesome!' she beamed, glad to hear her old childish voice again. Then, that same devilish grin appeared on Keiko's face again as she thought, 'You know, this is just too good to keep to myself. I think it's time for some fun...'


Keiko

by Bobby

Part 2

Keiko quickly dressed in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and got ready to go, slipping the device into her pocket. Luckily, she had another leotard and pair of shoes in her closet, which she carried under her arm as she went downstairs. Descending the steps, she could hear the car keys jingling in her mother's hand, a sure sign she was getting more than a little impatient. When Keiko rounded the corner into the kitchen, her mother's expression changed from one of frustration at her daughter's utter lack of regard for punctuality to a mixture of disbelief and anger. It wasn't a pretty sight.

'Keiko!! What are you doing?? Why aren't you dressed? We're already running late as it is!' 'I know, Mom, I'm really sorry. I was just feeling tired and I was taking too long to get ready, so I thought I'd just change in the ladies' room at the studio. I'm sorry,' Keiko said apologetically. 'Well, we don't have time to discuss it now. Let's get going, and we can talk about it on the way.' In the car, Keiko found it difficult to concentrate on what her mother was saying; her mind was racing with all the possibilities now open to her with her new device. She even made up a name for it: 'The Age-uster'(yes, it's very lame, but she's only eleven, right?). 'Young lady, are you listening to me?' her mother demanded. 'What? Oh yes, Mom,' Keiko said sheepishly as she hunched down in the seat, her face flushed crimson. 'Keiko, sometimes you just exasperate me so. You're such a bright girl, why can't you get your head out of the clouds? I swear, when I was your age my parents taught me to always meet my commitments. If I was supposed to be somewhere at a certain time, they made sure I was there.'

'Yes, Mom.'

'And you've made a commitment to your ballet instructor for these lessons, so I have to make sure you meet your obligation. Do you understand?'

'Yes, Mom.'

'Good,' Keiko's mother said. She continued in a less serious tone, 'How are your lessons going, by the way?' 'Oh, they're OK, I guess. I just don't like ballet that much anymore.'

Her mother raised an eyebrow. 'Really? I thought you were doing rather well.'

'I'm doing all right, I guess. It's just that everyone else seems to be getting better faster than I am. I mean, when we started out I was one of the best students. But now a lot of the other girls are really getting good, and I feel like I haven't gotten much better. It's just not as much fun as it used to be. I think it's boring.' 'Well, you have to work at it, Keiko, just like everything else. I'm sorry if you're having some trouble, but you can't give something up just because it gets a little difficult. It takes a lot of practice to get really good at anything, and that's what you've got to learn.' 'But it's getting REALLY boring, Mom. And Miss Perdue always gives me a hard time.'

'Keiko, remember what I said about commitment. You have to see this through and give it your best shot. And Miss Perdue wants you to try your hardest.'

'But, Mom, it's no fun anymore,' Keiko was becoming frustrated at her mother's lack of sympathy for her situation. 'Why should I keep doing it if it's no fun? I hate ballet, I hate it!' 'Now don't start whining, Keiko. You're getting to be a big girl now, and you're acting like a kindergartner. You're going to finish your ballet lessons and that's final!' Keiko knew her mother's patience was wearing thin, so she stopped complaining and just stared out the window with her chin resting in her hand, sulking. 'You know, Keiko,' her mother continued. 'I took ballet too and wasn't very good at it, but I made the best out of it and ended up enjoying it very much. Maybe you should take the same approach.'

Keiko said nothing in reply, and just kept staring outside. She was thinking, though. Thinking about how her mother never paid attention to her feelings. Her mother always knew better than she did, and never took her seriously. 'If you like ballet so much, why don't YOU go to the lesson?' she thought to herself. At that moment, an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning. No, she couldn't do that to her mother, it wasn't right. She knew her mother meant well, she just got stubborn sometimes. Well, really stubborn. Hmm, it WOULD just be for a little while, right? No major damage done. And just for a few minutes. Yeah, that's all. No big deal. Keiko glanced at her mother out of the corner of her eye as she ran her right hand over the rectangular object in her pocket. Yes, she would do it. She'd be careful though, very careful.

They got to the ballet studio with a couple of minutes to spare, but Keiko's mother was so obsessed with being on time that she considered them late if they weren't there fifteen minutes early. 'Maybe I'll stay for a while and watch your lesson,' her mother said as she switched off the engine. 'I'd like to see how everyone in your class has progressed since the last time I was here.' 'Well, OK, if you want to,' Keiko said, trying to sound annoyed. Inside, however, she was about to burst with excitement. 'This couldn't be any better if I planned it all out,' she thought with a secret smile.

As they entered the studio, all the other girls in the class were ready to begin, and Keiko could feel their stares of derision and amusement. They knew Keiko was in for an extra dose of admonishing by Miss Perdue. Their instructor did not take kindly to anyone holding up her class, especially Keiko, who, in her opinion, had been getting rather difficult lately. Miss Perdue eyed Keiko with obvious disapproval. 'We're terribly sorry, Miss Perdue. We were late getting out of the house. It won't happen again,' Keiko's mother said upon seeing the instructor's expression. 'I certainly hope not,' said Miss Perdue, condescendingly. 'We have much to do today and I can't afford to wait for stragglers.'

'Geez, give me a break,' Keiko said under her breath as her mother ushered her toward the ladies' room. 'Hurry up and get changed, dear,' she said.

'I can't afford to wait for stragglers,' Keiko said in a mocking tone as she closed the ladies' room door. 'What's her problem anyway? She's so stuffy I don't think she's ever been a kid. She's just been an old lady all her life.' Struck by another bolt of lightning at her last thought, Keiko smiled again. 'Yeah, I can teach HER a lesson, too,' she said to herself.

The lesson proceeded as usual, with Miss Perdue barking commands to the girls. She was especially rough on Keiko, due to her tardiness. If she detected any slight error or misstep on Keiko's part, she was swift and merciless in her criticism. Normally Keiko would have been reduced to tears by the end of the lesson, but she kept her mind on her plan and made it through. When the lesson was over, Keiko's mother wanted to stay for a few minutes and talk with Miss Perdue, so Keiko went back toward the ladies' room to change into her street clothes. She checked to make sure neither of the women was paying attention, then she ducked into a small closet near Miss Perdue's office and grabbed one of the spare leotards that Miss Perdue kept at the studio, and went back into the ladies' room. She set the second outfit down on the sink, quickly changed and cracked the door open slightly to see her mother talking with Miss Perdue, apparently still apologizing, judging from her mother's expression. As she pulled the 'Age-uster' (I know, I know) out of her pocket, she studied both of the women carefully to determine how much of a 'lesson' each should get.

Her mother Sumiko was a very attractive woman, 5' 3' tall with a slim delicate build. She worked out regularly and was in excellent shape, except for the slightest bulge at her waist. Try as she might, she couldn't get rid of it, and chalked it up as a symptom of forty-one-itis. Her hair, solid black except for a few stray gray hairs here and there, was a bit below shoulder length, and framed a face that still turned some heads. A few faint lines around her eyes and mouth did little to detract from her beauty. When she made herself up and dressed for an evening of dancing or a dinner party she was positively stunning, and even dressed conservatively for work she was nearly so. Since she had come home from her job with a major investment banking firm in order to take her daughter to ballet class, she still wore her business suit. It was navy blue and consisted of a jacket over a white blouse with a knee length skirt, nude pantyhose and low heels.

Celia Perdue was a different story. Although just a few years older than Sumiko, the difference was striking. She looked much older than her forty-five years, with her graying hair pulled back tightly in a small bun, and she wore no makeup. She had sharp features, with a pointed nose, and resembled a myopic bald eagle, thick-lensed glasses balanced precariously on its beak. She towered over her students and even Keiko's mother, standing 5' 10' tall, with almost toothpick-thin arms and legs. The severity of her features matched her teaching demeanor, as she exhibited little patience with students, and even less with those unfortunate enough to find themselves lacking in the talent department. However, despite her deserved reputation for being less than civil, her ballet school still had more students than any other for tens of miles around, a testament to her knack for bringing out the best in her charges. Although dancing had been her life, due to her height she'd had difficulty finding a position with a ballet company other than fill-in roles, but she found her niche in instruction, and had become quite successful with it. Her gangly frame belied the grace she still possessed. Even now, when she demonstrated techniques for her students, she danced with a fluid ease of motion. Still, she regretted not being able to become a star ballerina, and unfortunately her students bore the brunt of those regrets. Celia was wearing a powder blue leotard, similar to the one Keiko's growth spurt had destroyed, but without a tutu.

Now, Keiko knew how hold her Mom was, but she had to guess at Miss Perdue's age, and that was tough. 'Let's see, she looks pretty old, so I'd have to say she's...um...fifty?' She turned on the unit and twisted the knob to the left until the display read -40. 'OK, that would make her about ten.' Satisfied with the setting, she pointed the remote at Celia and hit ACTIVATE. She grinned as the teacher suddenly staggered for a moment, then quickly grasped Sumiko for support. 'Are you all right, Miss Perdue?' she heard her mother ask. After a few seconds, Celia appeared to feel better and she released her grip on Sumiko's arm to stand on her own again, although she still looked slightly dazed. 'Yes, I think so. Something just hit me suddenly,' Celia murmured, wiping her brow. Keiko smiled as she set the 'Age-uster' to -31 and pointed it at Sumiko. 'That's one down, and one to go,' she said, pressing ACTIVATE.

Sumiko staggered slightly and put her hand on her forehead, as Celia had. 'Are you quite all right, Mrs. Watanabe?' Celia asked, approaching Sumiko.

'I-I'm not sure, I'm so dizzy,' Sumiko said groggily. Her head was spinning and she could hardly stand. Celia offered her arm for support. Just as in Celia's case, Sumiko also felt well enough to stand on her own again after a short while and turned to Celia to thank her for her help, when a strange look came over her face as she stared up at the teacher.

'What is it, Mrs. Watanabe? Is something wrong?'

'I'm not sure, Miss Perdue. You just look...different somehow.'

'Different? Whatever do you mean?'

Indeed, she was different. Keiko watched eagerly from the ladies' room and could already see the gray was almost gone from Celia's hair. Sumiko noticed that Celia's features didn't look quite as sharp, either, but maybe she was just imagining things. No, it really was happening, she thought, as Celia's face seemed to be getting softer and softer as she watched. The lines in her face were quickly fading; even her lips weren't as thin as before. Sumiko's changes were starting to show as well: the few gray strands in her hair had completely disappeared.

Keiko smiled as she watched her two subjects retreat from middle age. 'Mrs. Watanabe, please tell me, what do you mean?' Celia asked again. Even her voice was softer now; it had lost the harshness of just a minute ago. Her hair was now a solid chestnut brown, and Sumiko could see it...growing? Celia's bun was getting loose and strands of hair were falling down to her shoulders and around her face. She was now in her early thirties and still going. 'You're getting younger,' Sumiko said in a voice that was almost a whisper. 'This can't be true...' she trailed off, refusing to believe what her eyes were telling her.

On the other hand, Celia's eyes were getting wider all the time as she watched Sumiko's own changes. 'Me? Y-you look younger, too,' she stammered. Sumiko was now in her late twenties. Her hair had crept down below her shoulders, and traces of any lines on her face had vanished. Her beauty was really shining through as she hit her mid-twenties. Her eyes sparkled with energy. 'Really?' she asked, raising her hands to her face. Her voice was slightly higher and she coughed as if to clear her throat.

Keiko's smile faded to a look of wonder as both of the formerly middle-aged women returned to their twenties. Celia's bun had come undone and her hair fell down past her shoulders. Although no one would have any trouble recognizing her, she nonetheless looked remarkably different. The years of frustration and regret had molded her face and made her features sharp and stern, but when the time was stripped away, it revealed the fresh face of a young woman just starting her professional career. Keiko thought she was pretty, almost beautiful now, as she re-entered her teen years. Her leotard was gradually loosening as she began to slowly lose height; her stockings were starting to wrinkle and sag. 'You look like a high school student now!' she said to Sumiko, as her own voice was starting to rise in pitch, losing some of its mature qualities.

'What's going on?' Sumiko cried as the sleeves of her jacket started to creep over her wrists. Her skirt reached below her knees now, and her hair was losing its wavy curls and becoming straight. 'You can't just suddenly get younger, it's impossible!' Her voice was cracking as she went from seventeen to sixteen. Gaps formed between the back of her shoes and her feet as she grew younger and her feet started sliding forward in her shoes. She looked more like Keiko's older sister than her mother.

'I know it's impossible, but it's happening! Look at us!' Celia was now fifteen. She was completely unrecognizable as the uptight ballet teacher of just a few minutes ago. She took off her glasses, since she could see better without them. Her leotard was comically large now. The shoulder straps were just barely hanging on to her slimming shoulders, and her shrinking breasts were almost exposed as the neckline sank lower and lower. Soon, however, there wouldn't be anything to expose, as they were only A-cups to begin with.

Sumiko had gotten much shorter, as she passed through her growth spurt in reverse. She was now only an inch or so taller than Keiko. Her makeup was starting to look odd on her increasingly girlish face. Her jacket was about to slip off her narrow frame, and she had to reach down and hold her skirt to keep it from sliding off her thin hips. Her hair had shortened to just above her shoulders, and her once well-fitting pantyhose were bagging severely around her skinnier, shorter legs. 'Can't somebody stop this?' she said as much to herself as anyone else in the room. Her bra was hanging loosely on her flattening chest. Gone were her B-cups, now reduced to a couple of bumps capped with swollen nipples. The sleeves of her jacket reached a few inches past her hands, and the hem of her skirt was halfway between her knees and ankles.

Celia had already lost well over a foot of height, and was getting shorter and shorter all the time. Her leotard was crumpled and baggy, being designed for a body much taller than hers. The stockings were pooling on the ground at her feet.

Meanwhile, Sumiko's regression was almost complete, as she passed backward through her eleventh to her tenth year. She had shrunk an additional two inches and was now smaller than her daughter, more like a younger sibling. Her once alluring face was framed by short straight black hair and had become round and innocent, an odd contrast to the stud earrings and makeup she still wore. Her small hands tightly gripped the waistband of her skirt, in fear of being completely embarrassed should it slip to the ground and reveal her bony legs and knobby knees. It hung just above her ankles. Her pantyhose and had slid off and rested in a pile around her feet, as well, and her panties weren't far behind. Her feet were swimming in the oversized heels. Her jacket was now so large it didn't rest on her shoulders anymore, but against her upper arms. Her blouse had slipped off her left shoulder, exposing half of her flat chest. At ten years of age, the changes stopped.

Keiko figured Celia would stop getting younger any minute now, but she was still going. She must not have reached ten yet. But an uneasy feeling came over her as the teacher lost even more height and became shorter than Sumiko. Keiko tried to stop Celia's changes, but the remote wouldn't respond, other than with a flashing 'IN PROGRESS' message. 'Come on, stop!' she pleaded under her breath. 'Hey, why am I still getting smaller?' the frowning eight-year-old asked Sumiko, her hands on her hips. 'I don't know, Miss Perdue,' said Sumiko quietly. 'I don't know why any of this is happening.' She looked sympathetically at Celia's shrinking figure, still partially stunned by her own changes. 'Well, this better stop soon! I don't wanna be a little kid!' Celia cried. Keiko was frantically trying different combinations of settings on the 'Age-uster' but nothing was working at all. She looked up and saw a six-year-old Celia trying to untangle herself from her enormous leotard. Her brown hair was getting short and curly, and her arms and face were starting to get pudgy as her baby fat returned. 'Stupid shoes,' she said as she kicked her loose ballet shoes away in frustration. Thankfully, the regression stopped when she reached five.

Keiko's face was as white as a sheet. Staring down at the device, she hadn't realized until now how dangerous her new discovery could be. 'I've really gotta be careful with this,' she said. She slipped the device back in her pocket and entered the studio.

'Mom?' she said with mock astonishment. 'What happened?' 'I don't know, Keiko. All of a sudden we just started getting younger, and ended up like this! Please, you have to help us!' 'OK, Mom, I will, don't worry. First we have to get you dressed, since those clothes won't do you any good right now, OK?' She produced the second leotard from behind her back.

'What's that? I'm not wearing a ballet outfit!' Sumiko objected. 'But these are the only clothes here. What else can you wear?'

'Well, I won't wear that!'

'Come on, Mom, there's nothing else here. Just put this on, please?' Sumiko fumed for a moment before admitting to herself that Keiko was right. She'd have to wear the leotard for the time being until they could figure out what to do. Grudgingly, she took the outfit and loped into the ladies' room, holding up her skirt with one hand and the leotard in the other, and shuffling along with her pantyhose and underwear dragging at her feet.

'And you might want to wipe off your makeup, it looks kinda weird,' Keiko called after her. Sumiko turned and gave her a baleful look as she closed the ladies' room door.

'What about me?' asked Celia, staring up at Keiko impatiently. She reminded Keiko of some spoiled little rich kid, who wasn't used to waiting for anything or anyone.

'Oh yes, Miss Perdue, I forgot all about you,' Keiko said. 'Do you have any leotards that'll fit five-year-olds?' 'I am NOT five years old! I'm...well, I'm older than YOU!' Celia said irritably while stomping her right foot, her face flushed in childish indignation.

'Oh, excuse me, Miss Perdue,' Keiko said sweetly, while bending down so her face was level with Celia's. 'You may be older than me, but right now, I'm bigger than you, so why don't you just do as I say for now, OK? I don't think you should be arguing with me. Now, do you have any leotards that will fit five-year..er, somebody your size?' 'In the closet,' Celia said crankily, pointing at the closet next to her office.

'Thank you, Miss Perdue, or should I call you Celia now?' Keiko said, still smiling sweetly. 'Or Cece! Yes that's even better. I'll call you Cece.' Celia responded with a nasty face and stuck out her tongue. Keiko laughed and got a child-sized outfit from the closet, complete with shoes. 'Here you are, Cece. Now be a good little girl and go get changed in the ladies' room, or do you need me to help you?' Celia once again extended her tongue in response.

After a few minutes, both of the girls stood in front of Keiko, who was having a hard time suppressing a smile. They were so cute, she thought, with their matching outfits and tutus. Cece was especially adorable, as she stood with her arms folded across her chest tapping her foot. Even at five, she refused to let go of her adult attitudes, although they were clouded by her childish instincts. Keiko was surprised to see how much alike she and her mother looked. It was as if she were looking in a mirror. Young Sumiko's facial features were almost identical to Keiko's, although she was slightly smaller, being only ten. With her makeup off, the innocence of her face was striking.

'So, what do we do now?' asked Cece impatiently. 'Yes, Keiko, do you have any ideas?' Sumiko asked hopefully. Before Keiko answered, she took a moment to think. Should she tell them about the remote now and just change them back? After all, here they were in their ballet outfits, and that had to be pretty humiliating for them. She didn't want to be cruel. Maybe she'd done enough already. And yet, while her mother seemed to at least be trying to deal with the situation calmly, Cece was just as much a pain in the butt as ever, maybe even more so since her childish emotions seemed to be taking over. Her experience didn't seem to have much effect on her personality, and she really wanted Cece to learn a lesson. Another consideration was the aftermath of all this. She knew she would most likely get in serious trouble, big time. This was a little more serious than getting mud all over her textbooks. She'd been so frustrated about everything that had happened today that she hadn't thought about the consequences of her actions, and now it was all hitting home. Her indecision paralyzed her, and it must have shown in her face, because Sumiko asked, 'Are you all right, Keiko?' 'Um, yeah, I'm OK. Just thinking, that's all.' 'Well, would you care to share your thoughts?' Sumiko asked. It was very odd to hear a ten-year-old speaking like a psychotherapist. 'Well, let's see...'

End of Part 2