Chapter 2: — “Chaos”

The first thing I felt that morning was… cold.
The second thing I felt was slimy.

Something wet was sticking to my cheek, and for a second, half-asleep, I thought maybe I’d drooled on myself. But then, something wiggled.

“...Huh?”

My eyes blinked open slowly, adjusting to the dim morning light leaking through the curtains. My couch, the blanket, the soft puddle against my face—

And then I saw it.

“Poyo—?”

The sound that left my mouth turned into a groan halfway through, because the realization hit me: my alarm clock was missing. The nightstand beside the couch was empty.

“Oh, no…” I sat up, my hair a mess, looking around. “Poyo? Where’s my alarm—”

I froze.

Right in front of me, sitting like a guilty toddler, was Poyo. The little pink blob was wobbling slightly… and there, halfway sticking out of its translucent mouth, was the edge of my alarm clock.

I stared. Poyo wobbled. The silence between us stretched.

“You…” I pointed at it. “You didn’t.”

“Poyoo…”

It tilted slightly, as if unsure if it was in trouble. Then its body rippled, and my worst nightmare came true.

The alarm clock shot out, drenched in slime.

“OH MY GOD—” I scrambled back as it landed with a wet splat on the couch cushion. “You actually ate it!?”

The smell of… plastic and whatever weird jelly scent Poyo had hit my nose. I gagged. “Ugh, that’s so gross!”

Poyo just blinked at me, wobbling as if it was proud of its accomplishment.

And because the universe likes to mess with me, the clock suddenly beeped, loud and shrill.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I yelped, clutching my chest. “It still works!? How!?”

Poyo flinched at the sound, bouncing slightly like it was startled too.

“Okay, okay, okay... just... just stop yelling at me!” I grabbed the slimy clock with the edge of my blanket, fumbling to hit the button with my elbow since my hands were covered in goo. “Ugh, I’m gonna need bleach for this thing…”

When the noise finally stopped, I just stood there for a moment, staring at my life choices.
Adopt two mysterious talking slimes? Check.
Wake up to one eating my alarm clock? Double check.

I sighed, pressing my palms to my face. “Good morning, Hanae. You’re living the dream.”

That’s when I noticed it.

My pajama bottoms felt… damp.

“Wait—” I looked down, frowning. The couch cushion beneath me was wet, too. My first instinct was horror. “Oh no, please tell me that’s just water from Poyo…”

I hesitated, sniffed the air, then regretted it immediately.

“…Oh, come on!”

My voice cracked with disbelief. “I just cleaned the place yesterday!”

I looked over to the other end of the couch. Mochi sat there, small and round, eyes wide and trembling. The way its little body quivered told me everything.

“You… didn’t.” I pointed, whispering like a teacher trying not to lose it. "You peed on me?"

Mochi sank slightly into the blanket, making a tiny squeak that sounded suspiciously like sorry.

I froze. My irritation wavered. Ugh, of course it looked guilty. Its little eyes were shiny, its shape drooping like a sad pudding.

I sighed, my frustration deflating like a popped balloon. “…No, I’m not mad. It’s okay. Just, don’t make this a habit, alright?”

Mochi’s body pulsed softly. “Mmm…”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, rubbing my forehead. “It’s fine. I needed to do laundry anyway. Totally fine.”

Spoiler: it wasn’t fine.

Ten minutes later, I was in the bathroom, sitting in a half-filled tub while two slimes treated it like an Olympic pool.

“Stop splashing me,” I said flatly, as water slapped against my face again.

“Poyo~!”

Another splash.

I closed my eyes slowly. “I said stop.”

Mochi was floating beside me, quieter, occasionally making tiny ripples but mostly just wobbling happily. But Poyo... Poyo was chaos incarnate. It bounced, flopped, and belly-flopped into the water like it was born for this.

“Poyo! Poyopoyopoyooo!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You like water,” I muttered, scooping my hair back as another wave hit my shoulder. “Glad you’re having fun while I’m questioning my life choices.”

Another splash. Right into my face.

I slowly turned my head toward Poyo, water dripping from my bangs. My expression said everything.

Poyo froze mid-bounce. “...Poyo?”

I took a deep breath. “…You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Poyo blinked. Then, like the gremlin it was, bounced again, sending another wave right over the edge of the tub.

Slap!

I stared at the puddle forming on the tile. “…You’re doing this on purpose.”

Mochi made a small sound from the corner of the tub. “Mmm…”

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered. “You’re innocent. You can stay. He, she, whatever Poyo is, though…”

I groaned, grabbing a towel and dabbing my face. “I swear, if the bathroom floods, I’m sending you two back in that box.”

Poyo froze at that, body flattening slightly. “...Poyoo?”

I sighed again, guilt immediately bubbling up. “Okay, maybe not the box. That was mean. Just… behave, please?”

Both slimes bobbed up and down in unison, like they were agreeing. For about five seconds.

Then Poyo cannonballed again.

Water splashed everywhere. The wall. The mirror. Me. Even Mochi looked offended, its usually soft wobble turning into a slow blink of betrayal.

“…You’re unbelievable,” I said quietly, deadpan. “Completely unbelievable.”

By the time I drained the tub, the floor looked like someone had held a water fight in my bathroom. My hair was plastered to my face, my towel soaked, and the slimes were still bouncing like it had been the best day of their lives.

I leaned against the counter, gripping the edge. “I’m twenty-one years old,” I said to myself. “And I just took a bath with two blobs of sentient jelly.”

Mochi made a soft squeak, pressing gently against my leg.

Poyo hopped beside it, chirping proudly.

“…Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, kneeling down with the towel. “I know. You had fun. Glad someone did.”

I reached out, drying them off as best I could. They didn’t have fur or anything, just soft, jelly-like bodies that absorbed water in weird ways. It was like drying off pudding with a towel.

“Okay, you’re clean. Ish.” I tossed the towel into the laundry basket with a wet thump. “Let’s just… try not to destroy anything else before breakfast, alright?”

Poyo and Mochi both chirped, almost in sync.

“Somehow I don’t believe you,” I muttered, but couldn’t help a small smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.

I grabbed a mop and sighed. “Alright… time to clean this mess before it floods the whole bathroom.”

Poyo and Mochi watched me curiously for a moment, then, without me noticing, they wobbled off quietly, slipping past the doorway and into the living room.

I didn’t see them leave. I was too busy wringing out the towel and mopping up puddles of water, muttering under my breath, “You’d think cleaning up two blobs of jelly would be easy…”

By the time I finally finished and wiped my hands on a towel, I had no idea that the slimes had already claimed the entire living room, as their new playground.

The moment I stepped out of the bathroom, towel still draped over my shoulders, I froze.

My living room looked like a battlefield.

Blankets thrown off the couch. Pillows on the floor. One of my socks was hanging off the ceiling light how!? And somehow, my laundry basket had tipped over. And there, right in the middle of the chaos, were Poyo and Mochi.

Poyo was bouncing proudly on top of a pillow like it was a throne. Mochi was tangled in a sheet, flopping helplessly like a trapped dumpling.

I just stood there. Processing.

“I was cleaning the bathroom for ten minutes,” I said slowly, in the tone of someone staring into the abyss. “Ten.”

“Poyo!”

“Mmm…”

“I don’t even wanna know how you got that sock up there,” I muttered, walking over to free Mochi first. “Come here, you.”

I gently pulled the towel from around Mochi’s squishy form, and it immediately pressed against my arm like it was saying sorry.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said softly. “You’re forgiven. Mostly because I don’t have the energy to stay mad.”

Poyo bounced nearby, letting out a cheerful trill like it had done nothing wrong in its entire life.

“You’re on thin ice,” I warned, pointing at it.

“Poyo~!”

“...You’re lucky you’re cute,” I muttered again, scooping up the blankets. “Both of you are. It’s unfair.”

By the time I finished cleaning up (again), I was sweating, tired, and running on exactly one brain cell. But when I turned around, both slimes were sitting neatly in a row on the couch, Poyo on the left, Mochi on the right, just… watching me.

They looked so oddly well-behaved that I burst out laughing. “Oh, now you decide to act innocent? Sure. Perfect timing.”

“Poyo!”

“Mochi!”

“Yeah, I bet you’re hungry, huh?” I sighed, heading toward the tiny kitchenette. “Alright, let’s see what I can feed you this time.”

Last time I tried jelly, pudding, and even milk. They liked milk, but it made them bounce for two hours straight. Not repeating that.

I opened the fridge, mostly leftovers, eggs, and a few slices of sandwich bread. I grabbed the bread, a bit of lettuce, and some cheese. “Okay, this is simple enough. Sandwich time.”

A few minutes later, I had three sandwiches: one for me, and two tiny ones for them. I cut theirs into bite-sized pieces, or, well, blob-sized pieces, and set them down on plates.

“Alright, breakfast is served.”

Poyo and Mochi approached cautiously, wiggling curiously at the food.

“It’s not poison,” I said. “Probably.”

Poyo poked the bread, then pulled back, then leaned in again and… slurped it up.
The entire piece disappeared with a soft pop!

My jaw dropped. “You… just ate a sandwich. Whole. No crumbs.”

“Mochi!”

Mochi followed suit, slowly absorbing a small square of bread until it dissolved inside its body, leaving a faint shape for a moment before fading.

I blinked. “That’s… actually impressive.”

For once, they were quiet. Calm. Eating peacefully like two polite little kids.

I sat down across from them, picking up my own sandwich. “So you can behave,” I muttered, taking a bite.

The bread was a bit stale, but after this morning’s chaos, I didn’t care. Watching Poyo and Mochi tilt toward each other, making little content squeaks between bites, was… honestly adorable.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I said, smiling despite myself. “You two are way too cute for your own good. This is manipulation.”

“Poyo~”

“Mmm.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep pretending you don’t know what I’m saying.” I leaned my chin in my palm, just watching them eat. “You two are trouble… but kind of worth it.”

I chewed another bite quietly, the soft hum of the morning filling the air, the fridge buzzing, birds outside, the faint splash of rainwater still dripping from the balcony. It felt… peaceful.

The apartment was messy, my hair was still damp, my bank account was crying, but somehow, it didn’t feel so heavy anymore.

Then Poyo burped. Loudly.

“...Charming,” I said flatly.

“Poyoooo~”

I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh. “You’re impossible.”

Mochi let out a small hiccup sound, almost like it was copying Poyo, and I couldn’t hold back the grin that spread across my face.

“Great. Two little gremlins,” I said, reaching for my phone on the counter. “Might as well document my downfall.”

I opened the camera app, leaning on the table. The two of them were sitting there perfectly still, side by side, each with a tiny crumb of bread inside them. The sunlight through the curtain gave them this faint glow, like little blobs of jelly candy.

“...Guess I’m really doing this, huh?” I whispered, smiling softly as I tapped the shutter.

Click.

The sound echoed in the quiet apartment, followed by a faint wiggle from Poyo, as if it knew it was the star of the shot.

“Don’t get used to the spotlight,” I muttered, scrolling through the photo. It was a little blurry, but… warm. Real.

I looked at them again. “Alright, you two. You win. I’m officially invested.”

“Poyo!”

“Mochi!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get too excited.” I finished the last bite of my sandwich and leaned back in my chair, exhaling slowly. “Summer break can’t come soon enough.”

The two slimes wobbled happily in response, like they somehow understood.

Maybe they did.