Once again I was visiting my neighbors, the kind Tsukahara family. Because for reasons which I did not know—nor did I seek out—no father was present. Thus, time and time again I was recruited for yardwork and other labor, and likewise time and time again Ayako, the mother of the family, would reward me with one of her home-cooked meals. No matter how much I modestly refused payment (the exercise was payment enough), she would always insist on it.
I rang the doorbell, and swiftly I was met with Ayako herself. Her tall, motherly figure loomed before me, and her thin lavender eyes widened when she saw me.
"${name}! Glad you could make it! Thank you so much again for cleaning the pool!" she beamed as she gave me a welcoming hug, nearly smothering me with her gargantuan bosom.
"Well," I said as she let go, "I couldn't miss your meatloaf."
"It's still in the oven," she replied, beckoning me inside. "But make yourself at home while you wait."
I followed Ayako inside to her well-furnished home. Despite being a single parent, her high-paying management position lets her live nicely. From the corner of my eye I spotted the freckled face of Mari, the short-haired younger sister of the family. Despite being the sporty type, she was a bit shy, perhaps because her petite body failed to live up to the expectations set by her more voluptuous family members. Mari gave me a wave and meek smile, before disappearing behind a corner, likely to her room.
"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me," Ayako said. "Saya's in the living room. I think she was wanting to ask you something."
Wondering what she could be wanting, I went to find Saya. I stepped into the living room, and sure enough, Saya was there, watching what appeared to be a rather low-budget horror film. As I entered, she turned to me, giving me a slight smile.
"Oh, hey, ${name}," she voiced. "What's up?"
"Just more of the same, I replied, my eyes wandering from the TV to her face. I always found making eye contact with her odd, as her black hair covered one of her cerulean eyes. "What are you watching?"
"Ah, some goofy shit about a giant spider," she laughed, muting the TV.
"Sounds absolutely riveting," I responded in a deadpan voice. "You must be pretty bored to be watching something like that."
"Yeah, a bit. Oh, by the way," Saya said as she stood up, causing her massive sweater-clad breasts to jiggle as she dug through a pocket. "Mari found this rock and wanted me to ask you about it. You're one of those... 'rock nerds', right? She thought it looked cool and wanted to know what it was."
I was a hobbyist collector—not sure if 'rock nerd' was the right word, but I took a look anyway. She handed me a small, grey oval stone. The rock was unnaturally smooth, and a number of red markings made somewhat of an eye shape on one of its surfaces. A black cord ran through it, which Saya pointed out. "It must be someone's necklace."
I suppose she thought it was a natural stone, but no, these markings and this smoothness gave it away as man-made, or at least, man-altered. It certainly did look pretty neat, I did acquiesce. I hung the stone from its cord to inspect it in the light, and it carefully swayed like the pendulum of an antique clock, rocking back and forth rhythmically.
"It's definitely man-made," I relayed. "Must be someone's art project or something."
Saya, however, didn't reply, which was unusual for someone as sociable as herself. I looked over at her, and she was absolutely transfixed on the stone. Her gaze matched the swinging stone, fixated on the eye marking. Her normally-sharp face took on a blank expression, like the glazed-over look of a husband made to sit and watch his wife's favorite chick-flick.
I put down the stone and called out to her. "Saya? Earth to Saya? Are you there?"
With the stone hidden within my hand, she now slouched back and began to stare out into space. Her mouth lolled open slightly, and she still didn't respond.
"Saya? Saya?" I repeated, and snapped my fingers.
At the moment of that sound, she came back to reality. She reaffirmed her posture, and meanwhile her face and gaze looked as one would expect of any normal person.
"What's up?" she asked. "Do you know something about it?"
"Well, like I said, someone definitely made this," I replied, a bit indignantly.
Saya raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, like you said? This is the first time you said anything about that."
"Huh? I did say so, while you were staring at it."
She scoffed. "What are you talking about, dude? I looked at it for like, a second."
I paused. Apparently, she remembered nothing of what I said when she was in that stupor, or her stupor in general, for that matter. Maybe she just zoned out for a moment, but... I held the stone by its cord once more, letting it rhythmically sway again.
Like before, her gaze was transfixed on it, like a compass needle bobbing towards north. No manner of waving hands, joking insults, or pokes to the face did anything to break her from the trance. It was at that moment I realized this was no mere stone or art project—this was some kind of hypnotic device. Something I thought was complete fantasy, like the 'x-ray specs' one would find at the back of comic books, and yet, this seemed very real.
I put the stone in my pocket, and sure enough, Saya was still stuck in that glazed-over, inattentive state. If this was hypnosis, could I get her to do things?
"Saya, could you hold up three fingers?" I asked.
Her eyes, though still lacking of any sort of consciousness, turned towards me. Just as requested, she held out three fingers. "Now, stand on one leg."
Saya began to balance on one foot, remaining un-lucid.
"Okay, now stop," I said.
As instructed, Saya returned to a normal stance, albeit a slouched, lifeless one. I was absolutely shocked at the power that this stone held. At least it had fallen into semi-responsible hands, but... perhaps it would be alright if I had a little bit of fun with it. For a moment, I pondered whether I should continue with Saya, or see if the hypnotic stone worked on Mari or Ayako.