***

Maki peered out from under the kitchen counter, grinding her teeth in frustration. She had only barely made it before HE had come stomping in, like the giant oaf that he was. Now she was covered in dust and grime, her stomach still grumbling, and still no closer to getting something proper to eat than she had been back in her hiding place by the stairs.

A pox on that filthy, unreliable slob.

And he, he just stood there, in those ugly, worn out grey slippers and slacks, not even bothering to dress himself properly anymore, staring listlessly into the open fridge for what must be the third time within the past hour. What did the idiot think had changed from the last time he had checked?

He hadn't wanted anything then either, had just stared and stared, before slouching off, back to his living room to do god-knows-what, probably find an interesting bit of wall to stare at, or whatever.

Maki had yearned to be as big as a human for many reasons before - to kick a cat, to never be afraid again, to not have to spend her life in perpetual hiding, to be able to get as much food as she wanted - but for the past week, her dearest wish had been to just be able to give that giant oaf a good kicking, and shout at him until he finally stopped sulking.

She supposed, that might have something to do with not having been able to sleep properly for days, thanks to HIM.

It must have been, what..? Nine days now, since the human had stopped following his usual routine of leaving about mid-morning during most of the week, and just stayed home all the god-damn time. To make matters worse, he started lumbering through the house at all hours, acting utterly unpredictable. He would sit and stare at the TV like an idiot one moment, only to start on a cleaning frenzy of epic proportions the next.

Luckily, those never lasted long enough to seriously inconvenience or endanger Maki by revealing or destroying any of her hiding spots, but sadly he never actually managed to get rid of the dust and filth in the corners or underneath stuff either.

Still, being woken by that enormous hoover suddenly emitting its horrible, ear-splitting noise just a few feet from where she had been sleeping, and then coming seriously close to sucking up part of her bedding, ranked as one of the more terrifying experiences of her life so far.

In the past nine days Maki had had to put up with the Oaf getting drunk several times and falling asleep in the living room, on the kitchen floor, and on the stairs - about three feet from where she had made her home, snoring loud enough to make the house shake, only to get up in the middle of the night, loudly crash into things on his way to the bathroom, and then proceed to stumble through the house alternately sobbing, shouting and babbling incoherently,

-him listening to music turned up loud enough to almost make her eardrums burst,

-him creeping about the house so silently, that he managed to surprise Maki twice, only to absently stare at stuff for a minute or two and then wander off to stare at something else (the first time he had surprised Maki like that, he had almost stepped on her, but hadn't even noticed, lost in his thoughts as he was. Maki hadn't dared come out of hiding for almost a whole day after that incident, only her growling stomach finally compelling her to venture out again. She had had to face all sorts of dangerous situations before, but she didn't remember ever being as terrified as she was, when, turning to look up, she had seen that gigantic foot come crashing down towards her, missing her only by a fraction of an inch.)

-three attempts at cleaning every inch of the house

-sobbing at all hours

-shouting at all hours

and worst of all - apart from the Oaf not even bothering to go out shopping for food - her not being able to count on being able to get some of what little there was, because he kept appearing out of nowhere, forcing Maki to retreat back into hiding whenever she got close to snatching a bite.

Just as he was doing now. Yet again.

Maki didn't even know anymore if she was feeling angry, frustrated, exhausted, scared or just everything at once.

She was hungry, tired and filthy, ready to hit something, or cry, or both.

This place had been her home for so long. She liked it here, and even if she didn't really want to admit it, she even liked the Oaf. He was only a little older than herself, and fairly easy on the eyes, as far as humans went.

He used to be so nice and reliable, regular schedule, fairly cleanly - for a guy, that is - no loud, excessive parties, just his girlfriend over every other day, and friends during the weekends.

Maki had loved listening to their conversations, laughing along at their silly jokes, and maybe even secretly blushing a little when she overheard him say sweet things to his girl.

Maki had been alone for years and years now, she couldn't even remember the last time she had talked to anyone, but being here, watching the giant Oaf live his life, listening to him talk and joke and complain and laugh had made her feel... less lonely.

It had almost felt like she was a part of it all.

She had grieved with him, when his Mom had called to tell him that his dog had died, had been interested in his studies, blushed along with his girlfriend (she might even have snuck a peek at him while he was changing, just out of curiosity of course) shared his nervous excitement, when his best friend decided to open a business and the Oaf went to work for him, and also shared his elation, when the new company had its first successes.

Of course.. Maki could never truly be part of any of this. This was not her life, not her friends or family, and the giant human whose house she shared never even knew she existed.

But that was alright. Watching was enough.

Because, compared to the utterly soul-crushing loneliness of the years before, all that awful time since she had lost Dex, just being able to watch, to hear friendly voices again, felt like bliss.

She loved this place. It felt like home.

But the way things were now..

Maki might have to leave.

She couldn't continue to stay here, if the Oaf kept up his erratic behavior. She needed to be able to sleep and eat. She needed to know her hiding place was secure, and she needed her host to have something at least resembling a regular schedule, so she would know when it was safe to come out and collect what she needed.

She just couldn't go on in this mad, eternally hungry, sleep-deprived state. With her nerves worn down like this, sooner or later, she would start making mistakes, and when you are five inches tall in a world of giants, mistakes get you killed.

Maki banged her head against a nearby support in frustration, tears stinging her eyes.

'Stop sulking and pull yourself together already, you bloody, filthy, stinking idiot-human' she moaned into the wood of the kitchen-counters support.

She had to concentrate hard to keep from sobbing. Maki wasn't the type to cry, but in her sleep-deprived state her emotions where all over the place. She had felt herself on the brink of utter madness caused by exhaustion and frustration for the past few days, always just inches away from snapping.

She just wanted some food, and sleep, and for things to go back to normal.

The Oaf, meanwhile, had finally decided, that nothing new had grown inside his fridge, since the last time he checked and closing the door, turned away to stomp off and stare at something else.

Maki was just about to sigh in relief, when a strange sensation on her back, and a movement at the corner of her vision made her turn, bringing her face to face with an enormous black spider, one of its long, hairy legs already brushing against her.

It must have crept up on her while she had been distracted, watching the Oaf, lost in her thoughts.

Its disgusting pincers moving menacingly in front of its maw, it was making ready to lunge at her and paralyze her with its bite, the gland at its back already trailing bits of the glistening sticky substance it would spin about her unmoving body.

Maki stared for a second in utter horror, fear and disgust..

..and just snapped.

Screeching and screaming like she never had before in her life, she threw herself out from under the kitchen counter, scrambling to her feet in a mad panic, as the spider lunged after her.

Oh god, that thing was fast.

''I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die''

Maki ran with all she had, but it wasn't enough.

Her screams rose in pitch as she tripped and fell, tried to get back on her feet, but just slipped again in her panicked scrambling.

She turned, the spider almost on her now, its long, disgusting legs already reaching out to pull her in,

when from far above her a gargantuan grey-slippered foot came crashing down at speed, hitting the ground right in front of Maki at full force, crushing the spider beneath its heel with a deafening THUD, the impact making the ground shake.

Shocked into silence, Maki just stared.

The Oafs foot, barefoot in his enormous, ugly slippers, had landed mere millimeters away from her own tiny body, snuffing out the spider in the blink of an eye.

So close to her.

She started breathing again, each breath coming a little faster and shorter than the next.

Just millimeters away.

Miss by an inch, and it would have been her body.

The giant, so close..

Crushed, flattened on the floor.

... close enough to touch..

Stuck to the sole of his shoe.

Maki barely even heard the Giant's exclamations of ''Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck'', as she got ever closer to hyperventilating.

When he hastily stepped back (''Oh fuck oh fuck I scared you fuck I'm sorry, holy shit, this can't be real'') the place where his foot had been, revealed a bloody smear on the ground where seconds ago the spider had been. A few of its now flattened legs could be seen, while the rest of its remains was probably stuck underneath that ugly grey slipper.

The sight made Maki giggle, then laugh hysterically, until her crazed laughter turned to hysterical screams.

Then, just like that, Maki passed out.

***

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