“Hi. I’m… Michelle Brown.”

*Ahem.*

“…Hi! I’m Michelle Brown! Wait… why am I giving her my last name? Is that too formal?”

The young woman apparently known as Michelle Brown stood outside the door of her single-story flat, seemingly rehearsing lines for an upcoming occasion. Waiting for her, just inside of her flat… was a date. After all, today was February 14th; none other than Valentine’s Day!

Michelle pulled out her phone and flipped its camera towards her, reviewing her appearance before she stepped through the door in front of her. After all, had spent almost thirty minutes making sure she looked presentable before she departed from work to her flat—she wouldn’t let all of that work go to waste at the last second. Fortunately, after her one last inspection, she felt pretty proud of the face that she was looking at.

Michelle Brown was a young Japanese-American woman of 20 years of age. She had light brown skin, characteristic of someone of such descent. However, this skin was notably pale, perhaps due to a lack of quality time outdoors. Her almond eyes were of a dark brown color, and they were framed by rather noticeable bags underneath. Her face shape was slightly angular, having a sharp and formed jaw while still managing to maintain the face of a young woman.

This face of Michelle’s was framed by rather long, black hair. This hair was styled into what could be considered a “Hime cut,” with blunt bangs that fell down to right above her eyes. These bangs largely obscured her eyebrows, making it difficult for others to tell how she is feeling in any given scenario. Her blunt sidelocks fell down to her chin, and in the back, her lengthy hair fell all the way down to her rear. It was clear that her hair was extremely healthy, and was very rarely cut down.

As for her current outfit, she had certainly made the effort to look classy for her big occasion. Well, as classy as one can be when they’re informed that they have a date less than two hours beforehand. Taking off from work as soon as she heard the news, Michelle headed straight to her local clothing store to purchase her current outfit. This consisted of a white shirt button-up shirt, overlayed by black suspenders. These suspenders reached down to a black skirt that stopped below her mid-thigh, coupled with black leggings that stopped before her ankles. These leggings gave way to brown boots around her shin. To top it all off, she was currently carrying with her a small, brown purse.

Completely unknown to Michelle, her choice of clothing didn’t serve to draw attention away from her chest. Her chest wasn’t too exaggerated; one breast was no bigger than her head, at least. However, she was certainly well endowed in that area, and it was easy to notice due to her attire. There were two large mounds visible on her thin white shirt, which stretched the shirt in between them and to the sides. Her black suspenders were directly on top of the hills, being stretched out even more than the shirt. To top off her unconventional body, Michelle stood at a whopping 5’11”—extremely tall for her phenotype.

However, this was of course all lost on Michelle, who was not only remarkably unaware of her own body, but was also too mentally occupied with the event at hand.

“Michelle Brown… Wait, no, don’t forget to greet her first.”

“Hello! Michelle Brown here! No, that’s way too enthusiastic. And why am I keeping the last name?”

Michelle stared blankly into her phone’s camera, until she finally settled on a greeting that she was content with:

“Hey, I’m Michelle! How are you?”

Drop the last name. Nice and simple.

With this, she dropped her phone into her purse, and opened the door to her flat, where her date was supposedly waiting. It was already 6:34 PM, and she was told that her date would arrive at 6:30. She would hate to keep her a moment longer.

…

Clara was hyperventilating. Badly.

It had been a normal day before this moment—no, not even that. It was looking to be a pretty great Valentine’s Day. A Valentine’s Day that was too good to be true… now that she thought about it.

For much of her day Clara, she wasn’t in a good mood at all. People coming in and out of the convenience store to purchase gifts for their significant other, sitting at the tables outside, slurping the same milkshake from separate straws. It all made her sick to her stomach… and though she would never admit this, it was all due to the simple fact that she did not have a lover of her own.

The 20-year-old Clara Chung was the daughter of an immigrant Chinese couple. Her parents started a convenience store to support themselves and their child while in the States, and rather than encourage their daughter to pursue her own career goals, they pressured her to work there. In all of her years of living, helping around the store was one of the few jobs she ever held.

As a result of such a menial yet demanding job, Clara had never formed close relationships with other people. Her parents kept her out of school just so she could man the register, and after all of these years, her family still had nowhere near enough money to put her through college. So, how could she have made any relationships? There were no possible outlets for her to do so. Even the people who routinely visited her convenience store rarely made the effort to connect with her, electing to forgo any meaningful conversation as they made her scan their groceries. Even if she tried to initiate conversation herself, her customers tended to nervously chuckle or half-heartedly respond. Indeed, it seemed as if Clara couldn’t even make friends with the people who relied on her almost daily.

This especially pained her when it came to one, specific customer of hers.

Over the past year, Clara had memorized the name and schedule of this particular customer. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a woman named Michelle Brown entered her store from 4:00 to 4:10 PM. From there, she would shop around for five to ten minutes, and after paying, would be on her way. What Michelle bought would vary from day to day, but the time at which she entered and left remained consistent.

Once Clara became aware of Michelle’s extremely rigid schedule, she insisted to her parents that she man the register from 3:00 to 5:00. She wanted to catch a good look of Michelle whenever she could. Staring at this woman from behind the counter was more than enough for her, given that the two of them could never, well…

Clara was very confident in her identity as a lesbian. From the men that she saw around her store to the ones that she saw on the street and the internet, she had never found a single one of them attractive. However, it was a different story for women entirely. Ever since she was a teen, she found herself attracted to women of all kinds, whether they be through her computer screen or in her store.

And throughout her many years of living, no woman had elicited such a reaction as Michelle. Her distinct facial structure, healthy hair, soft eyes, and the fact that they were both Asian and around the same age—this woman who suddenly started appearing in her store seemed like a dream come to life. And that was to speak nothing of her body—Michelle had a pretty impressive chest for both of their phenotypes.

However, Clara was rather confident in her appearances too. She believed that they could be quite the power couple if circumstances were different. Clara’s skin was decently darker than Michelle’s rather pale complexion, evoking the tone of a warm frappé. She wore her black hair in a neat bun, with her hair tie visible around it. Two prominent bangs fell on either side of her face, down to her chin. However, her forehead was largely exposed. As opposed to Michelle’s angular face, she had a rounded face. Notably, she did have a slightly strong chin. Upon this face of Clara’s sat two hazel-colored eyes.

Her body was average for her phenotype—if not a little more on the fit side due to a career of carrying and lifting things around the store whenever she wasn’t working the register. However, she was nowhere near as curvy as Michelle, nor was she as tall, as she stood at a mere 5”7”.. Still, she believed that she could have pulled her—or any other woman for that matter—if it weren’t for one simple reason…

Unfortunately, Clara’s parents were vehemently homophobic, which she discovered from an extremely young age. During one particular instance in her youth, her parents had kicked a lesbian couple out of their store. From that point onwards, her parents would go on anti-gay and anti-lesbian rants from time to time.

Clara relied completely on her parents for food, shelter, and financial support. And what’s more, they were extremely strict. There was no doubt in her mind that her parents would strip all of this away from her and kick her out if they found out she was dating another woman—just like that couple all those years ago.

And so, she never made her move on the love of her life.

This is why Valentine’s Day left such a sour taste in her mouth. It served as a reminder of something she could never have. However, this all seemed to change after a customer she had never seen before entered her store, hours ago.

…

“Hey, you work the register during the afternoon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. What of it?” Clara responded as she looked at the young woman in front of her. This woman was Asian just like her. In fact, she looked a little bit like…

“Great! Then you must know my little sister, Michelle Brown. Am I right?”

Clara’s eyes widened as she became far more interested in what this woman had to say. So she wasn’t a random customer, after all.

“Yes!” Clara uttered a bit too enthusiastically. “I mean… yeah, sure I do. Why?”

“Oh, she just talks about you a lot! And I mean, a lot. So I just wanted to come by to see what you’re like!” Michelle’s older sister took a moment to look Clara up and down, and then made eye contact once more. “You know… I think she has a crush on—”

Clara practically leapt over the counter in front of her, and ushered herself and this woman out through the store’s door. This wasn’t a conversation she could have inside, where her parents may hear.

Clara had to take a few seconds to gather herself once they were outside. Was she hearing this woman correctly?! “W-Wait… your sister has a…”

“From what I’ve heard, yeah! She says you’re super nice to her, and that she would love to spend more time with you. Honestly, I came here to see if you were any good…”

Clara’s eyes went wide as she realized exactly what this was. Shit, she was being evaluated by her crush’s sister. What if she didn’t earn her blessing?! I mean. she did practically just push her out of her store.

However, the sister continued speaking. “…And I can now say that without a doubt that you seem lovely! So, how would you like to go on a little date with my sister later today?”

Clara’s heart fluttered in her chest upon receiving the sister’s blessing. For a moment, she completely forgot about the situation with her parents, and believed that she had a shot of entering a relationship with the girl of her dreams. The fact that her crush was apparently a lesbian—or bisexual—was just too fortunate of an occurrence to fully dismiss. The possibility that Michelle was straight had always lingered in the back of Clara’s mind.

However, after about five seconds of her internal celebration, Clara’s mind did turn to a brand new subject.

“I-I’d love to!” Clara responded first and foremost. “But… why didn’t she ask me herself? I mean…” Clara realized that she might be blowing her shot with this question. But, she just had to know.

“Well… she’s actually really shy. And awkward. If I had left it up to her, she never would have asked you out.” The sister chuckled sheepishly as she looked off to her side.

That was the case, huh? Customers already don’t talk much while in her store, so Clara never realized that her crush may have been on the awkward side. Oh well. It’s not like that would diminish her desire to be with her.

“Oh! Well, that’s fine! I’m sure I can bring her out of her shell.” Clara announced confidently now that her doubts had been cleared. “Where would we be meeting?”

“Well, she was thinking of meeting you at her apartment, and then driving you out to some fancy restaurant. Here, I’ll give you her address. And, oh, my name is Aleena!”

Clara and the woman apparently named Aleena exchanged contact information, so that Aleena could send her Michelle's address, as well as the time they would meet. Afterwards, Aleena bid Clara farewell, and walked off.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Clara bolted back into her parent’s store. However, rather than returning to the register, she rushed upstairs, which was where she and her parents lived. She entered her room, and began sorting through her favorite clothes. She would look exceptional for the occasion.

Sure, her parents would still kill her if she found out. But this opportunity was practically given to her. She could forget her position in this world for just one night.

…

Aleena had told Clara that Michelle wanted to meet at 6:00, and Clara had arrived at her flat right on the dot. 

However, once Clara knocked on the door, Michelle wasn’t the one who opened it for her. Instead, it was… Aleena herself.

“Hey! Welcome in, Clara!” The sister smiled brightly as she stepped aside to allow Clara in.

“O-Oh… I didn’t think you were…” Of course Clara was rejected. She expected some alone time with Michelle; she didn’t plan on her sister breathing down her neck the entire time. Was she really that protective? No, surely she would leave eventually.

“What, you didn’t think I’d be here? Well, Michelle isn’t back yet… so I figured I’d keep you company until she is!”

Perfect. This woman fortunately had enough self-awareness to not burden the two lovebirds with her presence during their date. Clara supposed that she was here just so she wouldn’t feel awkward all alone in a flat that wasn’t hers.

The two women walked into the flat, which looked pretty normal all things considered. From Clara’s position at the door, there was a couch to her right, a coffee table right in front of her, and a single chair behind that table. To her left was a kitchen area, and on the other side of both the table and chair was another door. This must have led to her bedroom. Underneath this all was a simple, wooden floor. Clara supposed that she expected her long-time crush’s place of residence to look more distinct, but if this was how Michelle liked her space, then Clara liked it as well.

Clara took a seat on Michelle’s couch and began fiddling with her clothing. Similarly to Michelle, she made the effort to look presentable—if not a bit more eye-catching than she usually dressed. She was currently wearing a black, sleeveless top that was turtlenecked. This top served not only to expose her arms, but it displayed quite a bit of midriff as well. For bottoms, she wore tight, black leather pants. These pants hugged her rear and legs rather tightly. These bottoms finally gave way to black, high-heeled boots that rose up to her knees.

This was certainly far more risqué than Clara tended to dress—she recalled that she had only worn this outfit twice in her entire life. But she had to dress to impress her date, right? Even if it was likely a one-time endeavor…

“So, when do you think she’ll be getting here?” Clara spoke to Aleena, who had for some reason walked behind the sofa she was currently sitting on.

Clara started to shift her head to face her crush’s sister, but before she could fully turn around… she felt a cool surface connect with the back of her head.

“Don’t move.” Aleena demanded in a far less cheerful tone than she had spoken with earlier.

Clara immediately froze up and began to sweat. That object behind her head… it was small and circular. Wait, was it the barrel of a gun?! Was Aleena truly not okay with Clara dating her sister after all? And did that warrant her holding her up with a firearm?!

Before Clara could ask any questions, she heard Aleena press down the trigger behind her. However, instead of immediately dying… she felt a cool sensation run throughout her body, from head to toe. Her vision became hazy before she passed out, mere seconds after the trigger was pulled.

…

This brings us back to our present time. At 6:34 PM, Clara was still hyperventilating from the events that occurred over half an hour ago. She was aware of the fact that she had lost consciousness right after Aleena unleashed fire on her. She could also grapple with the fact that she was lying on the wooden floor when she woke up, rather than on the couch. Indeed, her main problem was the state she found herself in once she woke up.

She didn’t know her exact size for sure, but Clara Chung was now 0.225 centimeters tall. This was less than a tenth of an inch.

How in the hell did this happen?! That gun that Aleena had put against her temple must have not been a gun at all. There was no way that shrink ways existed in the real world… but well, what else could have caused this?

Clara’s first instinct upon waking up was to call for help, but she quickly realized that her phone was gone from her pockets. Luckily, this meant that her clothes had shrunken along with her. However, her keys, wallet, and practically all of her loose belongings… they had disappeared. She knew that she had them on her beforehand, so what happened to them?!

It was when Clara noticed that her belongings were that she truly realized that there was an antagonistic force at play. Aleena… she had intentionally shrunken her down, and then confiscated all of her forms of communication and identification. But, why?! The two women really did seem to hit it off when they first met, and Clara didn’t believe that she was lying when she told her that Michelle was interested in her. Was this truly the woman’s sick, twisted way of protecting her younger sister? Or was there another reason behind her doing this?

The Chinese-American young woman was all on her own for more than thirty minutes after she had shrunken, pacing around on her own as she tried to plan out her course of action. Working at the convenience store for years had made her rather resourceful, but this was unlike any matter that she had ever dealt with. She… she supposed that she could still find her way to her parent’s store at this size, right? They would know what to do, right? She would just have to be careful on her way there, right?

Clara began making her way to the massive door before her. It was truly a mere two feet away from her, but to her, it seemed like a mile. Her first mission was to simply open this door, and then she could go from there…

However, after her first few steps, the door suddenly swung open, causing her to stagger backwards. Once the gust of displaced wind subsided, Clara turned her head upwards to view who was entering the room.

There, towering seemingly hundreds of feet above her, was Michelle Brown, the object of her affections.