“This is seriously high up,” I frowned after our first class had ended. Getting down from the chair was not exactly easy unless I wanted to just jump down.

“D-Did you want me to help you?” I heard above me. Turning to my left, I saw Yae playing with her pink hairpin. She was still thinking over what happened this morning.

“If you don’t mind,” I chose to accept. With that, Yae’s hands wrapped around my waist and picked me up off the cushion and lowered me to the floor. I must have been extremely light to her because she did not seem to use any effort at all to pick me up.

Yae also noticed that as she was looking at her own hands. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

“I am a lot lighter while Reduced,” I informed her. “I probably weigh less than a newborn, right?”

“Yes. You’re right.”

“In any case, I need to use the restroom, so if you’ll excuse me,” I told Yae as I began to walk to the door. I realized there was a problem before I was even half way there, however. It wasn’t just my slow walking speed either. It was the fact that I was 57 cm tall according to the makeshift ruler we had taped there earlier in the week. 

“Um… Yae?”

“Huh? O-Oh. The door.”

When I approached the door, even jumping up, I couldn’t reach the handle so I could slide it open. I could see that Yae hadn’t expected the extra step, but she found the sight of me failing to open the door hilarious. I looked up her thick leg and at her distance face to see she was biting her lip to not smile.

“Thanks,” I told her with a smile. “I know you found that funny.”

“Fufu…,” Yae breathed out a quick chuckle. “But are you sure you don’t need help out in the halls? I can come with you.”

“I hope it’ll be fine. At least the restrooms don’t have doors,” I told her. 

I headed out and walked down the hall to use the restroom, at least with the urinals, my height didn’t matter. Using the sink was no hassle this time either as the restroom closest to the class had been set up with a proper step stool for students during Reduction Week.

Walking out in the halls and getting looks and hearing whispers from the students who weren’t in our class was mildly unsettling, but those 2nd years would be going through the same thing soon.

“Ah, shoot,” I found myself up against the same adversary as before again when I got back to the classroom. The door was closed again. I was not going to be able to reach the handle to pull it open and Yae wasn’t with me because I told her I’d be fine.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Looks like they can’t hear me either,” I realized my knocks on the lower part of the door were probably being drowned out by the conversations of my classmates inside. What was I going to do? Ask another student in the hall for help?

Stomp.

“Senpai, did you need help?”

I didn’t need to. The familiar shrill voice told me just who was walking by. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

“Yeah I do, but Okazaki, what are you doing here?” I asked.

Okazaki put her hand on the door handle, but didn’t open it. She kept it against there and stepped forward. I turned around and found myself between her and the wall. A minimized wall slam was my best description of the situation I was in. 

I steeled my face muscles and showed no reaction as I looked up.

“It’s no fun when you don’t have a reaction, Senpai,” frowned Okazaki. “Shouldn’t your heart be skipping a beat? I never thought I’d be able to kabedon someone.”

This wasn’t really a kabedon. There wasn’t any romance or shoujo manga cuteness anywhere. I was admittedly intimidated by my now imposing kouhai trying to pin me against the door with her hand and knee, but this being Okazaki, I was less worried about her purposeful actions than her any accidental one’s she’d make. She was enjoying having my attention. The only way to send her the message was to not react.

“Still, this really is amazing. I’ve been out here between classes all week looking at you all. You really are getting smaller.”

I supposed Okazaki was getting a kick out of being taller than others for once. My 145 cm junior was nearly three times taller than me, putting me below her waist. She was beaming and giddy, a terrifying combination on someone who looked almost 5 m tall to me. Her movements had a weight to them.

“You really shouldn’t loiter around just because you like being taller, Okazaki,” I told her. “You’re going to be considered a creep if you keep doing this.”

“Eeh? You don’t think I’m creepy, do you Senpai?” Okazaki opened the door for me, allowing me to enter.

“Put yourself in my shoes. How would you feel about someone just waiting outside your classroom waiting for a chance to pin you against a wall?” Stepping into the classroom, I turned around, looking up at the normally short freshman girl.

“Well, when you put it that way...”

“I appreciate you opening the door for me, but keep things in moderation,” I advised her. “I hope you’re properly helping out Sasakura-sensei.”

“I am,” Okazaki pouted. I could tell Yae was behind me because she then suddenly stepped back out of the classroom, remembering Yae’s scolding from before. “I’ll see you later, Senpai. Don’t get held up by any doors again.”

She really wanted the last word. I couldn’t respond to that. With Yae welcoming me back and asking me what had happened, I could finally relax my facial muscles from trying to act calm. With this, however, I had confirmed that we’d reached the point where leaving the classroom and coming back on our own was now impossible for us boys.

I probably wouldn’t be using any doors for the rest of the week.

The struggles only continued in math class. We boys were stuck on the cushions now that we were all sitting on the pillow booster seats on the desk. Unfortunately, we were still too short to see past the people in front of us. With Takahashi sleeping like usual, all I could see in front of me was her broad back. And this time, peering around her was impossible because as much as I leaned, I was still essentially in the same spot.

I looked around to see that a number of the other boys had given up on trying. I saw a few found work-arounds though. Eguchi was being given notes by his admirer seatmate, Yamaguchi. Nakano was being paid back by his seatmate for letting her use his book the day before as well. It was worth noting that their notebooks were less than a quarter of the size of their seatmates’. The gap between them was also huge seeing as both boys seated on two cushions were only chest high to the girls.

My workaround to not seeing past Takahashi was less offered to me and more thrust upon me by Yae.

“Sensei! Tou- Kirishima-kun can’t see the board,” Yae raised her hand, having seen my struggles and found herself unable to resist opening her mouth.

“He’ll have to get used to it for today. Well, unless you want to help him out yourself, Asano,” Yasuda-Sensei followed the Reduction policy of not helping the Reduced students out so the could experience the week properly. 

“...Okay.” Yae did not take that as a no. I turned to see her stand up and approach me. “Let me help, Touya. Here.”

There was no way I could fight back as Yae picked my 55 cm body up by the waist like a stuffed animal. I grabbed my things in my arms and dangled in the air as Yae walked back to her seat. She then sat me on her lap like a mother holding a baby. I found a soft headrest preventing me from turning my head because it was in between both of Yae’s breasts. 

“D-Don’t move so much,” she blushed. She clearly was pushing herself to do this, but she was certainly enjoying it. 

“Um… Yae, is there any reason why you did this?”

“I just wanted to do this. That’s all,” she answered. After yesterday’s hug, she was probably more open to the physical contact. “I’m sorry for this morning. Is it no good?”

“Well, we’re not dating yet,” I started. I could feel Yae’s muscles tense as she held me. It was clear she was currently stronger than me, so it was a little intimidating, but I continued to speak, unfazed. “But it’s not a bad feeling. I’m sorry, too. And I should be grateful for what you showed me this morning.”

“Touya...” I may have said too much. Yae’s grip on me tightened. 

In the end, I accepted my position in Yae’s arms. Sensei wasn’t bothered by her decision either seeing as this was all a part of Reduction week and Yae was helping me work. I sighed and relented, holding my notebook in one arm and writing in the other. I copied Yae’s notes as she wrote them down in front of me on a notebook. It was easy to see because the entire notebook was larger than any poster to me.

“Sheesh, you two sure are taking advantage of this week,” I heard Takahashi’s voice. I turned to see her with her head on her desk turned towards us.

“Now you wake up.”