“Is fifteen minutes fine? I’d like to finish things before Yae is done with her bath, so I’ll be back when this timer hits zero. Please get dressed before then.”

That was what Ayame-san told me when she placed a full teacup atop Yae’s desk. I could see the steam coming out of the hot water as I stood near it. Looking up, Ayame-san smiled warmly at me while I stood like a doll in her daughter’s room. The tea cup wasn’t that big, roughly, half my height, but it did seem suitable for a bath due to its size.

“I don’t think soap and shampoo would be easy for you to use at this size, unfortunately,” Ayame-san frowned. “Would you be fine just washing yourself?”

“Ayame-san, you’ve got to be kidding me. I don’t really need a bath.”

I should not have said the second sentence as the moment I did, the woman crossed her arms and glowered at me. I immediately took a step back in worry.

“You shouldn’t say that around me, Touya-kun, unless you want me to wash you myself,” Ayame-san’s hand approached me from the side and grabbed me, immediately sealing the movement of my arms within her grasp. She raised me up to her face and with her other hand, jabbed my cheek with her index finger. “It wouldn’t be hard for me to clean you up in a sink, but I at least want to give you some dignity.”

The smile on her face told me she wouldn’t be leaving me with any dignity if I refused. She was more than happy to scold me, as she always was, but in my current state, her words were a lot more effective thanks to all the power she had behind her now. 

Ayame-san certainly had a lot more experience handling Reduced people compared to Yae, though. Despite being unable to move, I was not in any way uncomfortable. Her grip had just the right amount of pressure to hold me tight without squeezing too hard. The speed at which she raised me up wasn’t dizzying nor was I suddenly jerked around. 

“Please spare me a sink wash. I’d rather not be cleaned like one of Yuri’s dolls.”

“So you will take a bath in that cup then, won’t you?”

“Is there another choice? A bath like this is still kind of embarrassing.”

“Well, I’d suggest joining Yae in the bath right now, but I shouldn’t be offering that to a young man,” Ayame-san teased. “I’m sure you’d enjoy that, Touya-kun. Yae would too.”

Which was why she wouldn’t allow it. We were still underage. Despite taking baths together when we were kids, she definitely wouldn’t let me now. I’d be embarrassed over it too.

“Ah, but, how about one with me?”

“Eh? Ayame-sa- Mpfh!”

Before I could finish even calling her name, I was pushed into Ayame-san’s chest with her hand. I was literally being man-handled as Ayame-san held me close to her bosom gently. Though the softness was incredible, my face was being pressed between the beige sweater and her chest. I couldn’t turn my head so I was choking on wool and heat.

“I wouldn’t mind. It’s nothing your parents or I haven’t seen. Sure, you’re a lot older now, but you’re still a kid to me. And wouldn’t Yae be tomato red if I tell her this?”

“A-Ayame-san, please!” I struggled to shout when the pressure eased up enough. She told me to watch out for Yae, but now I was thinking I was in danger around her.

“Fufu~! Well, if that isn’t a funny reaction,” Ayame-san pulled me away from her chest with a laugh. “I’m sorry, Touya-kun. I was just joking. Of course I wouldn’t do that.”

Was that right? Yes, it was. Ayame-san’s tone had been playful the entire time. Just like how she so easily flustered Yae, she could also fluster me. Yae’s father had a strong character to be able to handle Ayame-san’s straight faced teasing. Or did she just tease us because Yae was her daughter and I was (almost) her son?

Whatever the case, I gave up. “Ok. I get it. I’ll take the tea cup bath. Did you really have to do all that, though?”

Placing me back down, Ayame-san shook her head with a smile. “You and Yae are simply so easy to have fun with. Just because I’m one generation above you kids doesn’t mean I’m a boring parent.”

When did we ever call her that?

In any case, I elected to take my bath after Ayame-san left. Ayame-san set the timer for 15 minutes because she said that would be enough time for me to get dressed and for her to come in and clean up before Yae finished her long bath. 

Reluctantly, while alone in the empty, expansive room, I undressed and soaked in the (slightly cooler now) water. II had heard of oil drum bathing but never tea cup bathing. It was a strange feeling to have what was basically an onsen bath in my childhood friend’s room. It was so spacious that I sure felt like I was outside.

Honestly, being naked in Yae’s room was the stranger feeling. I was fine being 37 cm tall, but I was 37 cm having a soak in a teacup on her table. I could climb out at any time because the cup was only half my height, but I stayed while I had time to collect my thoughts. 

Honestly, it wasn’t so bad.

The temperature of the water was surprisingly perfect. It made me want to go to a real hot spring. Maybe I should have asked Ayame-san to add bath powders and the like to improve the experience, though she did say she was worried about how soaps and shampoos worked at my size.

Speaking of Ayame-san, however, I leaned out of the tea cup over the rim. There was a trace of lip-stick from when she took a sip to check if the water was the right temperature. I didn’t know that the working woman and mother wore lipstick, but it made sense for her job. Honestly, I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t less than a fifth of my normal height. The small trace of lip-stick was barely noticeable to normal eyes.

“The size of this is incredible though. The mark’s almost the size of my palm,” I compared. It was closer to half the size of my face. The moment I thought about that, however, I paused. The thought of Ayame-san’s lower lip being half the size of my face meant both lips would completely cover it. If that was the case, how big would her mouth be? I was just centimeters from it earlier, but I was a bit too preoccupied by her scolding to notice.

I dismissed that line of thinking and got out. I dried off and finished getting dressed. After a while, the timer hit zero. 

Bzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzzzzt!

“Gah!”

I was immediately deafened by the close-range siren wailing into my ear. I buckled down and covered my ears for a good minute before Ayame-san came back in.

“Hang on, Touya-kun. I’ve got it,” she said as she turned off the timer. “Phew. Sorry about that. I didn’t think it’d be that loud. I must have been worse for you.”

It definitely was. My ears were still ringing. I was still standing in a daze before my senses noticed Ayame-san’s face directly in front of me. She had knelt down to be more level with me.

Pat.

“There. There. It’s okay,” I was told as Ayame-san’s finger landed atop my head. She ruffled my hair with just her index finger without the slightest hint of roughness.

After apologizing, Ayame-san removed the teacup and told me to rest up. She also said Yae would be coming in a bit. I couldn’t reply back before the door closed. I instead took the time to get reoriented and to get the buzzing out of my ears.

“Urgh… That hurt…,” I mumbled to myself. “Sounds are only going to be getting rougher as I get smaller too, I bet.”

I believed I’d be able to adapt as the Reduction program didn’t mention anything about auditory issues, but I didn’t think I’d be incapacitated by just a ringing alarm.

“Well, I guess it was one of those super annoying alarms everyone gets affected by,” I sighed.

With my bath done, I grabbed all of my things together and rested up. There was no getting off of the table unless I wanted to climb down to Yae’s bed or chair. I didn’t, so I simply waited and listened for the sound of water running through the pipes in the walls of the house. As I didn’t hear it, I assumed Yae had gotten out of the bath.

Women take longer in the baths than men, though. Yae came in ten more minutes later, fresh out of the bath with hair down and blow-dried. I was pulled to the sight and then the scent as a pleasant, flowery aroma entered my nose as she came close.

“Did I keep you waiting Touya?” Yae hopped onto her bed which was beside her desk. In her spink and white pajamas, she grabbed her pillow and sat up to speak to me. “Did you have to take a bath like Okaa-san said?”

“Yup. I had to brush my teeth in the bath water too, but it wasn’t bad. It was like an open air bath,” I smiled told her. “Maybe I’ll ask for a milk bath next time. I heard it’s good for your skin.”

“It wouldn’t waste much milk at least,” laughed Yae. She stood up and pulled the chair of her desk back. I braced myself for the shaking as she sat down and scooted closer.

Immediately, I was assaulted by the aroma of shampoo and body wash. Flowers and fruits entered my nose. I was washed over by Yae’s feminine scent. I normally wouldn’t be able to notice it unless I was brushed up against Yae, but considering how large Yae was in comparison to me, it was impossible to ignore unless I tried.

Just being right beneath her, I could feel the humidity of the hot shower still encircling her body. Along with the flowery aroma, her body was still hot from her bath and the heat that escaped her spread into the air and me. I wouldn’t have imagined a living person could get so hot, but in reality, it wasn’t that Yae had taken a hot shower. It was that so little of her body heat was needed to envelop my body.

The combination of the Yae’s aroma and heat was astonishingly calming. I was overwhelmed at first, but it felt pleasant. 

“Touya?”

I was brought back to reality when Yae called my name. It was impossible to ignore her loud voice from above.

“Yeah?”

“You were just standing there and staring for a moment,” Yae told me. “Are you tired?”

“Tired? Well, I guess.” It felt embarrassed to have Yae noticed I had been distracted.

“Oh?” Yae wouldn’t let it go, unfortunately. She raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Were you distracted by my looks?”

“Yes, absolutely.” I immediately replied.

“Fufu~!” my answer made her smile widen. “I guess I do look a lot bigger, so did my appeal grow too? It’s so surreal. I guess I should tell you I’m getting distracted by how cute you look right now too.”

To prove her point, Yae brought her finger up to my chest and stroked it down slowly to my stomach. I looked up to see her gaze completely fixated on me. It was intimidating but also exciting knowing my entire body was in her focus, but I could tell she was being gentle. In fact, she also looked embarrassed, red in her ears. 

“How about we chat on the bed?” I suggested.

“I thought you were the one to told me to wait.” Yae replied to my answer with another smile. 

Unfortunately, that was all Yae would do. I had wondered why she was moving over to her desk instead of lying down and resting, and the reason why was to my left. When I glanced over, I spotted her other hand pulling out her textbooks and notebooks.

“Sorry, I hate to remind you, but we still have homework,” Yae told me, opening a math textbook I could walk on if I wanted to.

Homework. If that was how Yae was going to end the day, I had some bad news for her. “Too bad for you. We boys don’t have to turn our stuff in until next week, so I technically don’t have any homework.”

“What? That’s not fair,” Yae couldn’t believe it. “I thought you boys still had to go through classes like normal.”

“How do you expect the teachers to read work that’s this big?” I laughed, creating a box with my hands to mimic a sheet of paper. It’d be a paper scrap to Yae.

“Hm… How tall are you now anyways?” Yae asked but she was already moving towards the tape ruler she had in her basket of school supplies. I stood still as she checked for herself, pulling down the tape and putting it right next to me. I appreciated Yae not directly pulling me up to the ruler. “34 cm.”

“Definitely too small to do homework, right?” I chuckled. “I’ll just mess around while you work. I’m glad I snuck a game in my bag. There should still be battery life in it.” I took my portable game console out of my sports bag and pressed the power button. I was glad to see it still had 95% battery.

Misery loves company, unfortunately. Before I could react, Yae’s fingers came down and pinched the miniscule game console between them. She yanked right out of my hands and up out of my reach. I looked up at the pouting Yae who then lowered the console so that it was in reach. I jumped for it, but she immediately pulled it out of the way.

“Hey! No fair!”

“You’re not getting out of not doing your homework if I can’t, Touya,” she told me. “Either you help me out or you do your own work.”

“You’re kidding,” I frowned. I continued the game of keep away, but Yae continued to effortlessly pull my game console up out of reach until she kept her hand up, making reaching it absolutely impossible. 

A smile crossed Yae’s face when I seemed to give up. She pulled a pencil from her basket and forced it into my hands. It was essentially a spear I could use for fighting on my scale. I tried moving it around, but found it to be too weight-y for me to properly hold.

“So are you ready to work?”

I guess I had to. After I nodded, she seemed satisfied with herself and returned my game so I could put it in my bag. Once I did, she swept it away to the other side of the table like she would an eraser. She even placed a book vertically in the way to block it. I felt that was going a little too far, but didn’t complain further.

I relented to doing my own work as well. Since I had my own shrunken textbooks, I didn’t have to bother myself with walking around Yae’s textbook or trying to use the giant pencil. I also had a clear view of her answers so I could copy of her if I was behind or correct her if I was ahead. It was a little disappointing to have to end the day by doing school work, but it was at least enjoyable working with Yae.

After we finished what needed to be done, it was time to go to sleep. We had decided before the program began that if I was going to be staying at Yae’s place, I was going to be sleeping in her room. While I had wanted the living room, Takahashi-sensei advised both of us that it would be best to be with Yae for my own safety once I had gotten small enough. She said I’d easily get lost or hurt if I was away from her. Ayame-san was initially reluctant, but seeing me today, she also agreed.

She also said that it was Yae’s decision ultimately because I’d be too small to refuse. I didn’t understand it then but I did now as I stood atop Yae’s bed. She had lowered me down onto the white sheets of the mattress while she cleared away her desk and packed her textbooks into her book bag. I couldn’t keep my eyes closed as her pajama-clad butt swayed to-and-fro as she hummed a song.

“Yae, can I help?” I asked, approaching the edge of the bed. This was as close as I could get to Yae despite her being less than a meter away. I could slide down her blanket onto the floor where she stood, but that wouldn’t be of any help to me or her.

“It’s fine, Touya. I think this’ll be too heavy for you to hold anyways,” she answered. She turned towards me and then knelt down, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was reaching underneath her bed.

Neither of us did, but that explained what Yae had pulled out from beneath her bed. My bed for the night was going to be a pink sleeping bag - child’s one specifically. It looked to be one meant for kids as it had a picture of a magical girl anime character on it.

“Wow. Are you trying to embarrass me or yourself? When did you get an anime sleeping bag?”

“When I wa-” Yae stopped and blushed. I could see her eyes glance away. “I-I mean, Yuri likes anime too. Are you sure this isn’t hers?”

“No. This is definitely an anime from ten years ago. You probably got it when they were still selling,” I couldn’t be fooled and, like me, Yae wasn’t good at lying. “You used to have a lot of the merchandise, didn’t you? I remember the staff, the mascot doll, and all the keychains. What was it again? Magical Meteor Heart?”

“Touya, your memory’s too good,” frowned Yae as she rolled it out over the floor and added a small pillow. “Maybe I should find something else so you can sleep.”

“Hey, I’ll take what I can get. Even if it’s a bit big, it’ll be bigger tomorrow anyways,” I told her.

Yae stood back up and started walking towards her bed. I was alert as her footsteps not only grew louder but her figure rose higher and higher up as she got closer. Her body blocked the lamp light behind her when she was directly in front of me.

“I guess you’re right,” Yae agreed, looking at how small I was compared to her. Even on her bed, I wasn’t even level with her crotch. “Still, it’s been a long time since our last sleepover.”

There were obvious reasons why a boy and a girl our age couldn’t sleep in the same room anymore. This Reduction Week really made an exception in those reasons.

“If it weren’t for this program, your mother definitely wouldn’t allow it.”

“Okaa-san keeps saying I’d try something,” Yae frowned. “It’s embarrassing when you think about it. I know better than that, don’t I, Touya?”

“Um… Well…,” I wasn’t exactly confident enough to answer that.

“Touya, I wouldn’t, right?” Yae didn’t like my lack of response.

Again, I didn’t answer, even with Yae’s face directly in front of me, her nose just millimeters away from my chest.

“Maybe I should sneak into that bag later tonight then,” Yae suggested, feeling spiteful. She was red in the face after stating that, but her pout made her sound serious.

“Well, I’d like to see you try, but I don’t think you’ll fit in that kid’s bag. You might squish me if you do too,” I opted to be the calm and reasonable one between the two of us.

“Mmm… You have a point…,” Yae sounded disappointed. “But would you like being crammed in the sleeping bag with me?”

I chose not to continue speaking as Yae’s hands approached, ready to take me to the sleeping bad.

Gently picking me up with both hands, Yae held me close to her stomach and walked over to the sleeping bag that was three steps away. She lowered me onto the pillow and I slid down onto the pink sleeping bag. Looking up, I did a double take. I was under knee high to Yae now, so she had certainly become a giant in my eyes. Each leg towered over me like trees. They were thicker than I would be able to wrap my arms around.

“Fufu~!” Yae giggled. “Maybe I should tell Aoi-chan you were in a MagiMeHa sleeping bag tomorrow.”

“She’ll figure out it’s yours too, y’know,” I told her. If I was going down, she was going with me. Sweat trickled down my neck as I looked up. I had been atop tables for so long that the view from the floor was more than a little intimidating. I hadn’t seen Yae’s full height until now. She was a giant instead of the little Yae I knew a few days ago. 

“I’m going to turn off the lights then. Are you going to be fine here for tonight?” Yae bent down with her hands on her knees to ask me. I stumbled back from the sudden force of her titanic body dropping down. She didn’t seem to realize she had been the cause as she looked curiously down at me on the sleeping bad. “Touya?”

“I think this should be good,” I answered. She was still the size of a building despite having squatted down. “This bag’s big enough to be a room on its own to be honest.”

“It doesn’t even fit me any more though,” My comparison made Yae smile as she pushed her hair behind her ear. “I hope it’s warm enough.”

I waited for Yae to stand up and turn off the lights, but for a moment, she didn’t move. She stayed motionless, as still and as large as a monumental statue. Her gaze was fixated on me, and I could tell every part of my minute form was being examined by her.

“Yae?”

“Huh,” Yae snapped back into reality when I called her name. “A-Ah. Sorry, Touya. I was just thinking you’d actually be able to fit on my bed while I slept.” 

With the red blush on her face, it was easy to figure out what she was implying. I had joked about it before and when she had suggested sneaking into the sleeping bag earlier, she had been joking, but here, she was clearly serious. 

“I know how you feel, but if you roll over, I’ll be smothered. Let’s not,” I told her.

“Y-Yeah. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” Yae nodded and returned to her full height, swallowing her saliva. “But still...” 

Yae really was getting bolder. She wasn’t as willing to refuse now that I wasn’t in much of a position to myself. If I was going to be able to go to sleep safely, I’d have to take matters into my own hands. I’d have to satisfy Yae or do something to get her to forget about her request.

“This is only a one time thing,” I mumbled as I walked up past Yae’s left foot and towards her bare leg. Despite her having taken a bath, I could still smell the odor of her sweat coming off of her body. I placed my hand on her leg. 

“Touya? What are you doing?” Yae was confused as to what I was doing, but she tried to stay still to not kick me away accidentally.

“Just let me off with this tonight, Yae,” I told her as I leaned in to the girl’s towering leg and gave her a kiss. The taste was salty yet strangely sweet.

“K-Kyaa!”

Upon finishing, I took several steps back and looked up to Yae’s face. It was clearly burning red. “Good enough, Princess?”

“Y-Y-Yesh...” Yae slurred. I stood my ground as Yae stumbled back to her bed, her heavy footfalls, shaking the floor. What was three steps for her looked to be a few dozen meters to me. She absentmindedly threw herself onto her bed with a strong thud.

I didn’t think it would have worked at this size, but this was one of my trump cards I had been saving. I didn’t think I’d be kissing her lower leg and I hadn’t wanted to use it so soon, but if it made Yae happy, I couldn’t complain.

A few minutes passed before Yae broke out of her daze. She rolled over on her bed and waved with one hand while reaching towards her lamp with the other. She was telling me she was fine.

Seeing this, I crawled deeper into the sleeping bag. Yae’s pillow was too large for me to use and it was out in the open. The pink sleeping bag was soft all around, so I didn’t need the pillow anyways. I pulled the sleeping bag as best as I could to wrap it around me.

“I can’t even see you in there now, Touya,” Yae remarked before turning off the lights.

Yae turned off the lamp, turning the entire room dark. I heard her shuffle into her bed. Despite being just a meter or two away, she sounded distant. Still, this was Yae’s room, and here I was, sleeping in it - me, a second year in high school with my female childhood friend.

Thinking about it, there was no way I was going to sleep easy. I doubted Yae would either.

“W-Well, good night, Touya,” I heard her stutter. I was right.

“Sweet dreams, Yae,” I said to myself, not shouting to get Yae to hear.

I closed my eyes. Even if I was nervous, tomorrow was going to be the fourth day. I was going to need all of the sleep I could get.