Getting dressed for our shopping expedition was the easy part. I fretted over the makeup but thankfully, Mia had come prepared with more than just the clothes. Applying makeup to her standards was OTOH a different experience so I let her take over. By the time she was done, we both had very pale, almost white faces, thick black brows, ruby red lips and black eyes with lots of emphasis on the outer parts. We also wore pairs of the thickest and longest false lashes that I’d ever seen.

“There,” she pronounced.
“We could be sisters!”

She wasn’t wrong. I was very impressed at the skills that Mia possessed with makeup. She made my attempts at looking like Toyah look just feeble by comparison.

She gave us both black beauty marks on our cheeks. One on her left and one on my right. It just seemed fitting.

Her final act was to paint my nails black and red just like hers. I was a miserable failure at applying nail polish but once again, she did mine like an expert. At that moment, I didn’t want the day to ever end.

---

Our shopping trip was to my immense surprise, a lot of fun once I had gotten used to being photographed every few seconds, I relaxed and we even began to play to the crowd a few times with curtseys and even kissing for the cameras. I was the dumb one but Mia played to the crowd and was clearly enjoying herself. Our makeup provided the perfect mask that hid our real selves from the outside world.

We browsed for a couple of hours starting in Bond St and working our way east, until we found ourselves in Soho. My feet were starting to complain and my stomach rumble when Mia said,

“Come on darling, there is a shop I want you to see,” said Mia as she dragged me towards a plain blue door that was nestled between a betting shop and an Asian Supermarket.

Mia rang the bell and we were buzzed in. I hesitated but Mia grabbed my arm and almost dragged me up the wooden stairs. The door shut with a solid thud behind us. I hoped that it wasn’t too ominous.

At the top of the stairs, a door opened and an oriental woman emerged.

Mia said a few words in Japanese. In amongst it, I heard my name mentioned.

“Welcome to my humble store,” said the woman in English. Then she bowed.

I returned the compliment and Mia laughed.

“I am Aki. Mia and I are friends from Tokyo.”

"Pleased to meet you, Aki," I mumbled.

Aki led us into what I initially thought of as a shop but was more like a home, a Japanese home.

“Please sit,” said Aki.

There were no chairs to be seen but there were several cushions scattered about on the floor.

Mia and I sat while Aki made the tea. It gave me the chance to look at Aki. She was like most Japanese, small in stature, very, very thin but with well-defined breasts. From their movement, I guessed that she was not wearing a bra under her silk dress. What a dress it was. It seemed more Chinese in style than Japanese. From the high collar right down to the very tight skirt that ended just above ankle height. On her feet was a pair of black flats that seemed to be covered in the same silk as her dress. Her hair was pinned up like a Geisha. Her pale makeup was similar to ours.

Aki poured us the tea in silence. Only when Aki had taken a sip from her cup did Mia speak.

“Toyah knows about my time in Japan.”

Aki visibly relaxed.
“Ah. You wish to experience a Master at work?”

"I am not sure. Mia did not say what she wanted. All she said was that this was a shop that we should visit."

Aki laughed.
"Always the mistress of misdirection were you not Mia."

“I am a mere pupil when compared to yourself.”

"You exaggerate, my friend. You are as good as me."

Mia did not answer.

“How can I help you?” asked Aki.

“Aki, I have made my decision. I would like to become a Living Doll.”

I had no idea what that meant. Aki didn't react at all. Not one muscle moved in her body.

After almost a minute, Aki turned to me.

"Toyah, Mia embarked on a path to enlightenment when she was in Japan. I thought that she might had fallen off that path since she returned from Japan, but it is clear to me that she needed some time to consider her future in the world. I get the feeling that you may have cured her of her errant ways."

"I am sorry, Aki, I have no idea what you are talking about?”

"That is not a problem. It is clear that you are in the dark about our life and what she wants to become."

"Thank you for your understanding, Aki."

“Mia, would you like to enlighten Toyah as to what you want to do.”

Mia looked at me for several seconds before speaking.

"A living doll is someone who lives with their person of choice. They are devoted to them, and the service, of them for the rest of their life. They are a servant, a sexual partner or anything that their owner wants them to be. They also appear to be doll-like at all times. For Mia, I know that her current look is not enough. With my assistance, she has ordered a new suit from Japan. It will be here in a few weeks.”
I didn't know what the term 'new suit' meant, but Mia with her already doll-like features and tiny waist, was good enough for me, but the term 'owner' did worry me. For a while I wondered if it was a new latex suit but then I was sure that she could have ordered one of them from a number of UK suppliers.

Then… a few of Aki’s words hit me right in the stomach.

“Hold on a moment, owner?”

"Toyah, there is a Japanese word for it, but it does not translate very well. Not owned as in having paid money for.”

“More like a guardian then?” I asked.

“Yes. That is a better word,” said Aki.
"Please continue, Mia,"

"My guardian would control every aspect of my life in return, I serve them without question. I am seen and not heard. I do not speak unless I am spoken to. At weekends, I would dress in traditional Japanese Geisha clothes unless my owner/guardian wanted otherwise or when I would be required to accompany her to an event or something. At other times, I would dress much as you saw me when we first met. I would wear the mask or my suit at all times if my guardian would permit it.”

She took a breath.
“I am to cook and look after my guardian and tend to her every need.”

“Hold on a moment. You have said her or she?”

Aki smiled.
"What Mia is saying is that she wants to be your Living Doll. Living Dolls only work with other women.”

I was stunned by those words from Mia. I knew that Mia fancied me, but this was, as they say, a whole different ballgame.

“I don’t know what to say,” I muttered.

"There is a financial consideration to be mentioned," said Aki in an expressionless voice.

“Hold on a moment,” I said.

The two other women looked at me.
"Firstly, Aki, I am not a woman. I'm still a man underneath all this."

"That does not matter, Toyah. You have the aura of a woman. I detected that the moment you came into my domain. In your heart, you are a woman. Am I right?” asked Aki.

"Yes, but…"

“Toyah…,” said Aki.
“My first guardian was just like you. Part of the job of a living doll is to make that person the best woman they can ever be. That person is now a companion and wife to a billionaire.”

“Money isn’t everything,” I said as I remembered how the marriages of so many people foundered over money.

"Indeed, it isn't. That is why you were chosen, to be the mentor for Mia. There is a Japanese word for it, but mentor, guru, a teacher is close enough. Please do not get it confused with someone like the Master of a Dojo. There is a difference," said Aki.

"I sense that I was lured, here today?"

“You are correct. I am here for one more week before returning to my duties as a living doll in a very remote part of Hokaido. However, I was sure that Mia would come here today. She confirmed it earlier with a phone call after you had agreed to go shopping with her.”

“But? You are free to do whatever you want?” I remarked.

“That is true. I choose to be with my guardian but I have duties to perform with the family of living dolls. My guardian is very supportive of those duties. If there was no one like me, then the family would die out. It nearly happened with the true Geisha. I am training one of my guardian's children to be my successor as head of our clan.”

“What do I need to do?” I asked hoping that a chasm didn’t open up beneath me.

Aki and Mia tittered like the chorus in the Mikado opera.

“Mia has been schooled in duties she is to perform. She will serve your every need from waking in the morning until you sleep at night. She will bathe you, dress you, cook for you, clean for you, entertain you in any way you desire. This, is her desire, a desire to serve."

I looked at Mia. She radiated happiness for the first time since I’d met her… Was that only one day ago? The change in her attitude and everything confused me.

“Mia, all those things you did at your parents and what you told me about them? Was it a lie?”

“I do not lie. I may bend the truth at times. If I am asked, directly, I must tell the truth. It is how I have been trained. The truth is that my parents are broke and want to marry me off to a rich music producer dude in return for a share of that producer’s business, or get me committed and therefore gain access to the legacy left to me by my grandmother.”

Aki looked a bit angry at her choice of words.

“Those were the very words that my father used. I do not lie. He was telling my mother about the plan but I listened in.”

Aki relaxed.

“This ‘dude’ is not a nice person. He has armed bodyguards and is involved with some not very nice characters in the drugs world. I saw for myself when he came to our house for dinner where I was introduced to him. That was when I knew where my true future lay. I have been delaying things for several months until… I saw you, Toyah.”

“Your parents are desperate to get control of you and by implication, your inheritance,” I said.

“Then you must marry Mia,” said Aki without a hint of emotion.
“Then they cannot get control of her life.”

I was motionless. My brain was working overtime and failing to make sense of all the much that it contained.

“It takes time to organise a wedding. Getting a license for starters. Then finding a place for the ceremony.”

"It is all done," said Aki.

I was learning that when Aki spoke, she was 100% sure about the truth of her words.

“When?”

“Today at four.”

“Today? What about getting changed? I can hardly get married looking like a schoolgirl!” I said with more than a hint of panic in my voice.

“That is not your problem. It has been organised. All that is needed is for you to sign a form that changes your name.”

“Change my name?”

"For you to be a guardian of a living doll, you must have a Japanese name. I have selected Tamiko Toyah Ando. Mia has already changed her name. That was done when she was in Japan when she started on this journey. Tell your guardian what it is?"

“From now on, I am to be called Yuiko Takimoto. That is the name on my passport but my parents do not know that. They know nothing about this and could not understand that I am doing what I want and not what they think is best for me.”

I glanced at my watch. It read 14:18.

“There is little time to waste,” said Aki.
She clapped her hands, and two traditionally dressed women appeared as if from nowhere.

“Let them make you look perfect for the ceremony,” said Aki.

That was it. I was getting married. The thought of it terrified me, but at the same time, I had to admit to myself I was pretty smitten with Mia or Yuiko as she wanted to be called. Smitten was the wrong word. I just wanted to be with her. If that meant doing this then I wasn’t going to argue against it. I did wonder if it was going to end in failure but as I was being prepared for my nuptials, it didn’t matter very much. Emotion is a powerful drug.

---

At five minutes to four, a taxi deposited Ali and myself outside the Westminster Register Office. I’d been transformed into a Japanese woman. My hair had been extended and was pinned up like a geisha. My face was totally white, my lips red, and I looked out through false eyelashes on top and bottom lids. My eyes were lined in kohl, which was something that I'd never managed to do properly myself. In my eyes were some contact lenses that made my eyes look a lot larger and much darker. My normal grey eyes were not striking enough. I'd been dressed in a traditional Japanese wedding outfit. I had to admit that I did look pretty good. I felt good as well.

Another taxi drew up, and Yuiko emerged with one of the women who had been charged with preparing us for the wedding. She looked radiant in her traditional geisha dress. She even wore white socks and wooden Japanese clogs that elevated her to my height. Her eyes looked even larger than before. The even bigger contact lenses that she now wore just made her eyes impossible to take your own eyes off.

The Wedding went off without a hitch. Well… I nearly forgot to sign my new name but I corrected myself in time. Habits are very difficult to break. I would have to learn new ones with Yuiko running my life.

Aki and her companion were the witnesses to our marriage. It was all very surreal, but I got there, and we left the office holding hands. Outside, I kissed my wife. She broke off after a second. Then she whispered.

"Later, my wife, later."

The tone of her voice held out a promise that things would be more entertaining later.

"What do we do now?" I asked, still at a loss about what happened next.

“We go to our new home,” said Yuiko.

“What about my old place?”

"That will be cleared and sold before the end of the month. Properties in that part of London sell very quickly. All your important things will be packed up and delivered to your new home," said Yuiko.

“Where is this place?”

“That is for later,” said Yuiko.
"Now, we must eat."

Neither of us had eaten much that day, so I didn't object.

A taxi took us to a Japanese restaurant in Mayfair. We were the only customers, but it was clear that Aki was known to the management so I sensed that it was all pre-arranged like the wedding.

The food was magnificent as I would have expected. What I didn't expect was that Yuiko started to feed me. When I tried to do anything, she tapped my wrist. It was all rather surreal, but a day as your wedding day should be, a day that I would never forget.

We spent that night in a top London Hotel. Yuiko made love to me for what seemed like hours. It was the most sensual thing I had ever experienced. Her very slow and passionate lovemaking was something the likes of which that I’d never experienced before.

The next morning, once again dressed and made up to look like twin sisters, a car took us to our new home. Yuiko had me put a table tennis ball in my mouth to stop me speaking. I was learning just how my ‘Living Doll’ was in charge of me and my life. While in the presence of others, she would remain silent unless asked a direct question but when it came to organising any journey or event then that was her domain entirely. I would get no say in the matter. That was just one of the many little things that I’d have to learn to live with.

---

Our new home was located just outside of Oxford. There was no mortgage as it had been bought by Aki for us. She had also furnished in traditional Japanese style. The exception was the converted garage. That's where Yuiko reigned supreme and was where she was able to break free of her self-imposed living doll lifestyle and practice her bondage on me.

I wanted for nothing. The mistress of our house was Yuiko. She would go for days without speaking, but there was no mistaking who was the boss. Her eyes did the talking for her. I was learning Japanese much to the enjoyment and often titillation of Yuiko. She refrained from commenting on my bad accent. It was not her place to do that. I let her be free in what she wore each day. No matter what clothes she wore, she was always masked, unless we needed to talk or go out of the house.

When her suit arrived from Japan, it was a day of great excitement for Yuiko. She acted like a little child as I opened the box.

Inside was a full-body suit complete with a full mask and hair and even hands. The wearer would be encased by it.

I watched with awe as Yuiko put the suit on. I was involved only at the very end, where I closed the seam at the back. Her face was the same as the anime mask, that I'd seen on that first day but different. It was more accentuated in every respect especially the eyes.
The suit was very much intended to be worn for long periods. The mouth part could be opened allowing the wearer could eat and drink. Other receptacles catered for the use of the toilet.

After an hour, I released Yuiko from the suit.

“How was it?” I asked.

Her beaming smile told me everything I needed to know.

“The breathing tubes that go up my nose tickle, and my vision is very limited, but I'll get used to them in time."

I looked at the inside of the mask. I could see the breathing tubes but was not totally convinced about them.

“Will those tubes work for you?” I asked.

“They will in time. It is just a matter of getting used to them.”
The tone of her voice told me that they were her final words on the subject. My wife was a woman of few words but those words generally had purpose.

Part of the delivery from Japan were a package of contact lenses. These made our eyes look even larger than with the other lenses.

Over the next few weeks, she wore the suit for longer and longer periods. Her choice of clothes for us to wear on a daily basis was very much like those worn by the Japanese teenagers we saw on YouTube. I began to love looking like a schoolgirl and being looked after by another schoolgirl. Her suit allowed us to have sex but without the danger of Yuiko becoming pregnant. It seemed that everything had been thought of in the design and construction of it. The exception was on a Sunday. Then she’d dress me in a kimono with all the trimmings including wooden shoes. Some might have called it extreme dressing up but it was our life. Yuiko’s final act was to bind my arms in a prayer position behind my back. Then she’d take delight in feeding me Sushi.

The rigid bounds that my life had become took some getting used to but I grew to like living within those limits. I had a sense that there was a goal to the way our life together was evolving but Yuiko was as just enjoying the moment as my ‘guardian’.

I started learning the art of embroidery. Soon, many of our day costumes had little embellishments. Mostly they were of the many flowers that were native to Japan.

My Japanese tuition proceeded well, and Yuiko was left to criticise me on my appaling Tokyo street accent. After six months, we simply gave up speaking English to each other. I knew that I was still making simple mistakes but her patience with my sometimes dismal failures made me love her even more.

---

Yuiko’s parents eventually tracked us down. We both knew that it was inevitable and had prepared ourselves for the confrontation.
Their demands were centred around one thing which was that they wanted their daughter back and then to control her life.
I explained that their daughter was now my wife and that they were welcome to visit, but not to expect her to speak. I explained that it was not her place to speak, out of turn. As she was wearing her suit, it was not her role to speak to anyone but myself unless I gave her permission.

They ranted and raved, but got nowhere. Yuiko stood silent with her head bowed all the time they were talking. When they'd run out of steam, I said,

"Yuiko, please tell your parents what you told me yesterday."

Yuiko raised her head and spoke from behind the mask. Her lips didn’t move.
“I am happy here with my wife. I love her and look after her every need. I want for nothing. Please leave us alone to live our lives in peace. We might not be a normal couple by western standards, but it is our life to live as we please and in peace. The daughter that you wanted to marry off to that fat producer who is old enough to be my father is long gone. I have rejected that life for good.”

Then she dropped her head and refused to speak again.

Her parents left fuming a short while later.

When they had gone, I said to Yuiko,

"Well done, my wife. I think that you deserve to let off some steam."

She responded with a curtsey.

Then she led me downstairs and into her domain.

---

[one year after our wedding]

After much debate which sometimes got a little heated but we compromised just as any married couple would, we ordered another suit from Japan. Yuiko responded by buying me some totally black lenses for my birthday. They made me blind but with her looking after me, it didn’t matter. We trust each other implicitly so these games and situations might seem strange to us but for us it was just normal.

Our rule at home was that other than in the garage, one of us would be suited at all times. I began to understand the life that Yuiko was crafting for us. After the debate about my suit which I learned later was settled by Aki telling Yuiko that she was wrong to deny me, we never spoke a cross word to each other. There was no need. Our lives were defined by a set of rules. I began letting Yuiko speak for me when we were out and I was in my suit. The re-introduction of the table tennis ball told us who was the boss for that trip. Not being able to speak was strange at first but it only served to reinforce my belief in my wife and her belief in me.

My first trip outside with both of us wearing our suits was interesting. Lots of people took our picture as we walked through the centre of Oxford holding hands.

Our life was nowhere near the norm for most people, but it worked for us. Two dolls living together and happy. Even when we were not wearing our suits, we made ourselves up to look like either dolls or schoolgirls. It was just a way of life for us.

Aki came to visit us after we had been married for just over a year and a half. She pronounced herself pleased with our life as dolls and offered us the chance to move to Japan where we would train two sisters who wanted to become dolls themselves. Aki told us that she was proud of us and how our life had evolved and that was the reason for the offer to train two more ‘dolls’.

We agreed in a flash. We didn’t need to discuss it between ourselves it just made perfect sense.

Before we took up the position in Japan, we both had surgery to make our faces appear more Japanese like and to look like twins without our suits and makeup on. The only differentiator was that Yuiko now has a small mole tattooed on her face just to the left of her mouth while I have one on the right. Our suits were modified in a similar manner. When I had recovered from that surgery, I had my breasts done. Yuiko pronounced herself satisfied by the results. That was the only praise I needed.

When we flew to Japan, we appeared to look like two adolescent schoolgirls. Two men on our flight tried to hit on us, but the sight of me giving Yuiko a long passionate kiss, sent them packing.

Our new home is on the island of Hokkaido but a long way from a major city. We spent a month preparing it for our students. The two sisters that we were to instruct, turned out to be a brother and a sister. That made us uniquely qualified to teach them the roles that they would play in their life.

I must end now as Yuiko is preparing a new kimono for me to wear. We are going to a wedding as two sisters and naturally, we have to be perfectly dressed for the occasion. It is a wedding of a Living Doll and her mistress. All the mistresses at the wedding have been told what to wear down to the decoration of their hair including the flowers. Mine is now just about long enough to take the hairstyle required. I am proud to be going to such an event even though I will see none of it.

Yuiko and I had a bet over how the two dolls we were training would fare when Aki came to inspect our work. I lost. My penance is to wear black contact lenses as well as some lenses that make my whole eye appear black for the day. Yuiko will guide me for the whole day.

Life as a living doll would never be boring with Yuiko in charge.

[authors note]
This story was inspired by the articles that appeared in the press in 2017 about Lulu, a living doll in Japan
https://pop-japan.com/culture/lulu-worlds-first-living-doll-...

I see it as a slightly different twist on stories about bodysuits and yes, there is some artistic license when it comes to the marriage part and things like passports and visas. A bit of fantasy never hurt anyone now did it?