Chijinda breathed heavily as he kneeled onto the ground, his wounds finally taking their toll on his body. But a smile came to his face right after, he might have been in bad shape, but he did it, after dozens of times he did it, he defeated a praying mantis all by himself while on his incredibly diminutive size.
A smile grew on his face as he looked up at the hole in the jar he was in, a familiar emotionless metal mask looking back at him with a cold stare, those red eyes piercing him in a way he could never describe.
And then, she spoke, her sweet tones mixed with the booming characteristic to her enormous size made a combination to rock anyone’s hearts, especially for the one that has spent the last few years under her wing... Or thumb, if as he would say before.
“Very well done, Chijinda. I’m impressed with the development you had in the last few months. As your teacher, I must say I’m proud of how you became such a diligent student, taking every instruction I gave you to heart.”
Chijinda smiled as he got the praise he was looking for for the last few months, slowly he got up to gaze at Lady masque, his gigantic mentor with a slight blush on his face.
The ace detective, or at this point, ex-ace detective was under the care of one of his former enemies for a few years now after being defeated in one-on-one combat, where he was promptly shrunken and taken to her current secret base. For the first two years, Chijinda fought against his new owner, his pride and sense of duty not letting him give up so easily in his plans to stop the Advanced Science Society from shrinking the world and reunite with his childhood friend, Narue, who had gone missing after their first brush the A.S.S organization. But after two whole years of failed escape attempts after failed escape attempts, the detective's iron will be slowly cut even shorter by the sharp wits of his captor.
That was their entire story up until four months back, where Chinjinda felt he was a toy or trophy for his former enemy to gloat to her peers, but when he finally gave in to her demands, something on his heart changed, and his opinion on the masked girl shifter away from the role of a villain.
She did not want to do any harm to him, she didn’t revel in the opportunities to punish him, she did it because she had to. From the beginning, Lady Masque wanted to train him, having seen potential inside him when he first defeated her on their first encounter. After he realized that, he started to follow her training regiment, and he could see the results even in a short period. He had defeated a praying mantis all by himself only using his prowess in combat and a blade smaller than a splinter. But in the end, he defeated that monster without any teammates, and he was proud of himself, beaming with a wide smile.
“Now, with your last goal accomplished so quickly, we should discuss your next milestones. Right after we discuss your reward. You may ask me something, Chijinda, and I will give it to you.”
He was taken by surprise as she spoke again, knocked off of his daydreams of the past and off his feet in a more literal way. He was so small that even her voice could shake the jar he was in enough to knock him to the ground.
“That’s quite the offer... Can you give me ten seconds to think it out?”
“Naturally, just don’t keep me waiting.”
With a smile and a nod, the detective searched his memories to remember something he had been looking forward to. Maybe a cake? No, he wasn’t a child, he needed something better. A new sword? Not a bad idea, but his current one is holding up well, all things considered. Aha! He would ask her to grow him a bit! Being 10 mm tall was tough, everything could knock him to the ground, making even holding conversations with his mentor quite the difficult affair. But still, there was something he was eager to have, not an object or a change of status, but a sight his heart has been longing to see for weeks on end now.
Chijinda blushed just by thinking about it, scratching his now pinkish cheek to grow the courage to say it out loud.
“Your ten seconds are up, Chijinda. Tell me what you desire for a reward. Not only for your achievement in battle but also your good behaviors these last few months.”
“W-Well... I would like to see your face again... If t-that’s okay”
He knew he had stepped over a line when she went into complete silence, the air inside the jar getting heavy as he glanced over and the expressionless gaze of the iron mask, and its sight is even more menacing than most days somehow.
Chijinda had to act quickly, if he didn’t say anything to calm her down, Lady Masque would punish him severely for going over her boundaries. But before he could say a word, he lost his breath at the sight meters and meters above him. With delicate movements, the titan wrapped her slender, but calloused fingers around her mask, slowly pulling it up and away from her face, revealing the pale complexion of the woman underneath.
In contrast to her mask, her face was full of emotion at any place he looked at, from her red-tinted cheeks to her quivering lips or even her downward gaze. But none of those could capture his full attention, he was too busy gazing at her bi-colored eyes, one a deep shade of red, while the other was a calm blue, just seeing them from such a distance, made his heartbeat even faster than the adrenaline he felt when fighting the massive bug moments earlier. He had seen the beautiful eyes she hides behind her mask once before, but that was when he knocked it out of her face while trying to defeat the plan of her organization to shrink all of humanity. That plan, what end did it have anyway? He knew they were trying again, but ever since he was captured he ended never knowing if they succeeded in the end or not. But does that even matter now? He knows that humanity would be in good hands, he knows how well Lady Masque and her subordinates can take care of tinies, even down to medical treatment! But even if that were the case, just looking at that perfect embarrassed face made all of his worries melt away, he knows the world is fine, and even if it isn't, it's not his problem anymore.
"W-why are you staring at m-my eyes so much? It's embarrassing..."
"O-oh, sorry..."
"Just sorry? I admired when you had wittier commentary, Chijinda."
He didn't know what to say now, he had no one-liners to make her laugh in this situation, but he did have something he wanted to say.
"You're beautiful"
He says in between whispering from not having too much confidence to talk to his teacher like that and shouting to make sure his way bigger teacher could hear him clearly. He knew he probably made the situation way worse by complimenting her, he knew his relationship with Lady Masque was purely professional- actually, he isn't sure about that either... What kind of relationship do they have? Are they just teacher and student? Are they friends? Or perhaps, more than friends?
Just as the thought crosses his mind, a loud noise breaks his concentration. As he looks around he notices Lady Masque with her mask on once again, but her blush was so intense that even her ears had that red hue to them.
"T-t-that's not something you s-say to y-your mentor, Chijinda!"
Her massive hand comes and grabs hold of the jar, lifting it in the air before tilting it towards the table. Chijida immediately lost his footing on the slippery glass and goes flying towards the hardwood table. Luckily for him, he falls on something soft, and that breaks his fall. A slightly sweet fragrance crosses his mind as she looks down at his saving grace, seeing that it was nothing more than a white handkerchief folded onto itself two times.
'This… this cloth has such a peculiar smell. But I've noticed it somewhere else before.'
"Don't g-go day-dreaming once again, detective! H-how dare you play with me like that?"
"W-what? I wasn't kidding, your face is r-really gorgeous!"
The shrinky could see his enormous master recoil from his words alone, her hands trembling with anxiety as she looked down at him behind the safety of her metal mask. Her stammering got even worse, she could only repeat a single word over and over, unable to process the sudden change into being so straightforward her pupil had just gone through. First asking to see her without her mask on, and then playing with her heart like that? Unforgivable! He probably noticed how impressed she was when he defeated an apex predator of the bug world using only a shrunken down sword, so now he was trying to sweet-talk her into letting him go. Yeah, that was it, there's no way he actually meant it in any way whatsoever.
She clears her throat before speaking, cutting off whatever excuses or lies the former detective was throwing around to save himself for what would come next.
"E-even if your d-display of swordsmanship was impressive, I cannot… I cannot let you try to manipulate me like that!"
Her hand moved towards the handkerchief, lifting it up into the air, the iron mask looming over the detective, like an obelisk. Even if the one wearing the mask was conflicted on what to do, the mask didn't show any sign of it.
"Wait… before you… d-do whatever you're gonna do. Could I ask you one last question?"
Masque was taken aback, she could tell by his expression and tone that he was being serious, it was no lie or deceit to make her not punish him, it was sincere, and even though she was more than 100 times his size, she felt nervous when answering him.
"Sure, what do you have to say?"
"What am I to you? Am I your friend?"
She pauses, not knowing what to do as she scanned his body language. He was before a titan, a goddess in the flesh from his perspective, and even so, he stood there on her handkerchief with his head held high and a posture to back it up. This was the same guy who defeated a praying mantis by himself, the same person who defeated her years back in the society's bade. And most of all, this was the person she fell for.
"I… I don't know, Chijinda."
She said with a calm but insecure voice, seeing his expression full of doubt and fear just like her. It made her feel butterflies on her stomach, just like she felt every time she could watch him fight an enemy. This was a duel like any other, who would win was entirely up to who gives up first. Yes, Masque knew what this was, a moment of clarity dawned on her mind as she spoke to him again.
"We are… We are more than friends, I have no doubt about that."
She moves her head forward, bringing the handkerchief and the one on top towards her. With one quick moment, she readied herself to kiss him, her pillowy lips would smother him in a gentle embrace as she did what she felt like doing back when they first met, she would finally realize her wishes from all the way back when he defeated her in combat. This was it.
The kiss went on for a few seconds, a few seconds of pure catharsis as she held it for as long as her heart could take. But weirdly enough, she didn't feel his body at all, why would that be? Has she made him too small?
The shock of revelation hit Masque like a blow of a powerful enemy, immediately pulling back from the "kiss" to inspect the damage she had caused. Her eyes looked worriedly at the flattened speck from behind her visor.
"Chijinda, are you OK?"
When she got no response she quickly panicked, as she had just smushed him against her iron mask instead of her soft lips. This situation was bad, her precious moment crumbled away like nothing as her worry began to grow inside her.
She got up from her seat and went running out of Chijinda's training room and towards the shrinky infirmary she had created just to take care of him and his wounds from battle.
But even if that first loving interaction was a total failure, something in both of their hearts changed. Now, they were in a duel, a duel neither Chijinda nor Tesuko wanted to lose. For love is after all, if nothing else, a decisive battle.