Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a micro;

---

Fujo: is that really what you're opening with? You literally changed one word. Also, the line you're using doesn't make any sense given the context of the scene. 

Shuichi: Shut up!! It's called parody! Just because we're doing commentary, that doesn't give you the right to interrupt my narration. 

---

Comfortable and warm during the cold winter night, the main cast gathered creating quite the sight. In the house of a cherished friend, they did not want it to end. The night was still young with the moon in full rise, the falling snow creating a sight for sore eyes. 

As the snow fell, it became harder to keep warm. It was clear that this was no simple snowstorm. Checking the news, they were all faced with the blues, as the weather revealed that a full-on blizzard had hit. It was a sad thing for sure, but with the fireplace lit, and the kotatsu turned on, the reason for panic was seemingly gone. 

---

Fujo: A kotatsu, for those who don't know, is a Japanese low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a tabletop sits. Underneath is a small heater that keeps one's lower half warmed. 

Shuichi: Look it up if you still don't understand because it'll be an important plot point later on in the story. 

---

"Just because we're snowed in, doesn't mean we can't have fun!" Said the girl with white hair.

---

Fujo: I'm pretty sure it's more of a silver-ish color. 

Shuichi: Silver as snow doesn't make sense, and white as silver doesn't fit the theming of the special… 

---

And as her positive smile filled the room, each and 'everyone' there said goodbye to their gloom.

"Megumi's right! If we do something fun then this blizzard will be gone before we know it!" Rentaro smiled innocently striking the 'recently' lovestruck Sekira Sumehara straight through the heart (metaphorically, of course). As she stealthily watched him from across the room, her eyes fell on that smile of his, and the blush on her face and beating of her heart, grew stronger. No longer could she wait to have him alongside her. 

---

Fujo: Fun Fact, the author of this story contemplated for 3 hours straight on whether or not making Sekira fall in love with Rentaro was a good idea. 

Shuichi: I hope Labba's ok with that… Though since she's only interested in him specifically, it should be fine. 

---

As fun and as warm as the positive party was there was still a strange feeling in the air. A feeling of fear that wasn't really fair. There were three people at this shindig that didn't really care. In a party of people who cared for small lives, a nympho, a psycho, and yandere stood in sidelines.

"Are you sure it was OK to allow them to get in?" Asked the Micro Representative fearing the three fiends. She looked at them with a look of pure disgust as their lust and desire for torture created nothing but horror.

"It was invite-only, so when I invited Bunny she must have invited Nana, and Alice and Alice invited Sekira and Tsumi…" Megumi whispered to her. "But, don't worry, I'll protect you and everyone else, so just enjoy. It's Christmas after all." Her smile melted her worries away. With caution still on her mind, she calmed herself down. Choosing to trust and believe in Megumi’s plans for Christmas eve.

---

Shuichi: Hnnggg Megumi’s such a nice and cute person. I'm so glad that she accepted my confession! 

Fujo: Too bad you and her only interact in the prologue and nowhere else in the story... *wink*

---

With the fear kept somewhat in check, and Megumi looking out for everyone’s neck the focus was turned to the young boy and his fetishes.

"Ko-tat-su~ hehe..." Rentaro stared at the table with eyes of pure lust. Getting underneath it was definitely a must. But, why would he do something as dangerous as that? Well the answer was obvious, to be surrounded and hounded by the legs that confounded. A once a year opportunity with a slight chance of impunity. A heartful desire, with slight pervertedness. But, before he could act he was backed into a corner.

----

Fujo: I get what you’re trying to do, but this rhyming thing is really getting on my nerves.

Shuichi: You can’t have a holiday special without egregious amounts of rhyming. It's the holiday spirit and it's all about timing!

Fujo: Drop it, or I’ll tell everyone in class that you secretly tried to sneak a peek at Megumi’s panties but got stuck in her-

Shuichi: FINE!! I’LL STOP RHYMING!!

----

"Hey, Rentaro. It's pretty cold in here, don’t you think…? How about you and I get some alone time in the kotatsu..." Sekira crept close like a cat about to pounce. Her eyes trained on him watching each and every one of his movements.

"S-Sure I-I'd love t-" With his mind clouded by lewd thoughts, Rentaro's mind was a mess. His true desire would love nothing more than to be underneath a kotatsu as four pairs of legs surrounded him on all sides, but after his first interaction with Sekira, she knew that this girl was dangerous and that it definitely wasn’t a good idea to be anywhere near her. But, before he even realized that fact, his inner desire had done the talking for him. Luckily for him, his savior was right around the corner. Noticing how nervous he seemed, Ayame bashfully jumped into action.

"R-Rentaro! C-Can you help m-me with something real quick." The stand-offish girl with striking red hair tried to pull him aside, in an effort to rescue him from this situation. It was an impossible gamble, but there’s no way she’d try anything with Megumi and the others around. Right? 

"Hey bug, can't you see that we're kinda in the middle of something." She shot a menacing glare at the tiny Ayame, but her feelings for Rentaro were too strong for her to just back down. A bit shook up, Ayame stood her ground and continued to pull Rentaro away from the dangerous situation.

“I’m not doing this to save you, or anything! I-I just need your help! That’s all!” She whispered to him turning her head away. Holding hands with Rentaro, her heart started to beat faster and faster. The blush on her face was enough to put Rudolph to shame.

----

Shuichi: If you're wondering, where everyone’s favorite delinquent is, Furyu is in the bathroom, taking a hot shower because she got covered in snow and isn’t exactly the best at handling the cold.

Fujo: Isn’t fighting supposed to super effective against ice...

----

"Ignoring people is rude ya know…" She stomped her foot blocking Ayame's path. It was do or die, a heated situation in a place surrounded by the cold. She was cornered with no place to go. However, it wasn’t like that for long. 

"Hey, if you're cold you should probably go near the fireplace…" Megumi tapped her on the shoulder silently telling her to leave Ayame and Rentaro alone. She made good on her promise and even if it meant leaving Mai alone for a bit, Megumi was gonna protect every tiny at this party. No. Matter. What.

As the girl reluctantly complied, she shot one more threatening glare towards Ayame and joined Alice and Tsumi by the fireplace.

----

Fujo: Tsumi Yoshikawa… I recognize that girl from somewhere, but I can’t put my finger on it...

Shuichi: Wasn’t she first in line at your summer Comiket booth?

Fujo: Comiket booth?! What are you talking about? 

Shuichi: Oh yeah, you’re pretty secretive about your hen-

Fujo: Fun Fact about Shuichi. He once tried to sneak a peek at Megumi’s panties but accidentally got stuck in her-

Shuichi: FINE! I won’t try to reveal the fact that you're actually a secret hentai artist…

Fujo: He accidentally fell into one of her shoes and was trapped in her shoe locker for 2 hours until he was forced to call his sister for help. And now everyone in class thinks he has a foot fetish. 

Shuichi: I-I'm sorry for intentionally exposing your secret...

----

"Hey, Megumi…" Bunny whispered to her. "No offense, but it's getting kinda…boring. Do you have any fun suggestions?" She said pointing out the obvious while not trying to hurt her feelings. 

"None taken, and you're right. But, I have no idea what to do…pra” She said, trying to think of something fun until an idea finally hit her. Thinking back to her time at Okisana she remembered having a lot of fun telling stories, it didn’t matter whether it was Halloween, Valentines, or Christmas. Megumi loved hearing and telling stories, though she wasn’t necessarily good at it. “We should all tell stories to pass the time!” She exclaimed optimistically.

“That...sounds super fun!!” Bunny smiled excitedly. And just like that enthusiasm flowed back into the hearts of most of the people at the party.

“So, who wants to go first…?”

----

Shuichi: And thus the prologue of our little Christmas special! I hope you all enjoyed. From now up until Christmas day, we’ll be releasing a new short story every day until the 25th! Merry Christmas! Look forward to the next chapter!!

Fujo: It’s only just begun but I already want it to end...

      After debating who should go first, the group eventually just gave up and decided to do things the old fashioned way: drawing straws. Randomly deciding the order was the perfect way to make sure that nobody could complain, and at the moment it seemed like a really good idea. As the person who drew the shortest straw went up they would soon regret randomly deciding who’d go first.

      “Welp let’s get this over with…” Alice reluctantly got up and started to think of a good story. But, knowing her, that story was most definitely going to be something super insensitive. So, for the time being, Megumi decided to come up with a plan to make sure the aftermath wasn’t so severe.

----

Fujo: Where’s that glasses girl that’s always with them (them, being Alice and Bunny),

Shuichi: Nana’s not participating, because she’s trying to make sure that her sister’s OK. But, I doubt she’s getting any reception, since there's a blizzard.

----

      “Hmmm?” She struggled to think of a story until it finally hit her. Staring at the frosted street through the window of Megumi’s house she recalled a very nostalgic Christmas memory that she held close to her heart.

     A Christmas scene that felt straight out of a dream, with the snow-covered ground it was no time to be laying around. And as the Christmas Eve night felt longer and longer, her desire to see Santa grew ever stronger. For this is a story about the girl when she was just a mere child. A simpler time when she wasn’t as ‘wild’.

----

Fujo: Fine, I’ll admit it. The Christmas Rhymes aren’t that bad…

Shuichi: Yes! I knew you’d get into the holiday rhyming spirit eventually. In any case, you don’t have to worry because I’ll only do the rhyming thing at the start and end of each story.

----

-A few years ago-

      Late the young Alice stared at the shining moon above hoping to get a glimpse at Saint Nick and his sleigh. Getting up from her bed she was too antsy to sleep. Her heart was beating and there was an excitement in her soul. It was a wondrous holiday full of unrelenting cheer, and as the young girl quietly made her way to the living room she stared at the beautiful lights of Christmas tree as they shimmered and shined. But, something was strange. There were no gifts under the tree. 

      “I guess Santa didn’t come to visit me yet! I’ve been a good girl all year, so there’s no way he forgot…” She reassured herself looking out the frosted window. Wiping away the condensation she looked at the snow-covered street in awe. The gentle snowfall creating a fluffy blanket, cold to the touch yet so frail and temporary. “Sooo pretty…” 

      She scanned the street up and down, trying to see if Santa visited any of the neighboring houses but to no avail. As she looked down in disappointment her a peculiar little person came into frame. As they slowly made their way down her street, Alice couldn’t help but giggle at how pathetic they were...

----

Fujo: Wow! Who would've guessed that she was still like “that” even as a little kid? No wonder her house wasn’t on Santa’s priority shipping list.

Shuichi: After reading some of the comics featuring Alice, I realized how bad it must feel to be killed or tortured by someone whose cup size is smaller than D.

Fujo: You really are the worst… Actually, now that I think about it, you’re basically just the opposite of Rentaro. An actual pervert who likes boobs, and panties that always finds himself in accidental foot fetish scenarios…

----

      She watched the tiny person as they struggled against the cold winter wind. For her, or any other normal person, that wind was the equivalent of a gentle breeze. But for the micro, it must have been like walking through a hurricane. If anything, this just showed how unsafe normal-sized zones were for those of micro stature. And instead of helping them, Alice just stared blankly taking pleasure in watching them struggle so much against something as minuscule as the wind. She didn’t even question what they were doing, who they were, or even why they were there. And even to this day, it was a mystery because of what was about to occur.

      “Huh?” She looked as the micro’s puny resistance faltered against a slightly stronger gust of wind. Struggling to find where the wind had taken the tiny person, her eyes fell upon a small clump of snow that was blown onto the road. Amidst the small cluster of snow, Alice could just about see the faint struggles of the micro as tried their hardest to get out from underneath it. Though, getting out was the least of their worries…

      “Watch out little guy, you better get out before the street sweeper comes.” She looked off into the distance as the hummings of the vehicle grew louder and louder. Before she knew it the street sweeper was mere feet away from demolishing every slimmer of hope that was left within the sad micro. And as the bristles of the sweepers swept over that clump of snow, Alice couldn’t help but, crack a smile at just how pitiful their sad existence was…

----

Shuichi: So cruel… I bet even as a child her cup si-

Fujo: Say another word and you’ll be spending more than two hours in a “certain someone’s” shoe locker…

Shuichi: U-Understood!!

----

      A few hours later, young Alice found herself tucked tightly in her bed. And as the sun bled through the curtains of her room, she remembered the tiny one’s doom. Instead of rushing to see all the presents and gifts, her interest seemed to shift towards the events of last night. Going outside in she saw quite the sight. Laid out in front of her and partially faded, Alice couldn’t help but be a tiny bit jaded.  Right next to the road, there was a simple red stain, at the time there was no way it would click in her brain could. She was far too young to simply understand, for those were the remains of a small pathetic man…

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

      “So what do you guys think of my story?” Alice asked. It was exactly as the two of them feared. A completely insensitive and overly morbid story that completely killed the mood for everyone who actually had the heart to feel bad. 

     Silence befell the room leaving only the sound of the crackling fire. They were at a sheer loss for words. How could she do something like that, let alone cheerfully recall it at a Christmas party? It’s like she was intentionally trying to make everyone uncomfortable. Nevertheless, it was still just a story so it didn’t leave much of an impact on everyone in the room. Mai already knew that Alice was a horrible person and hearing that story definitely didn’t change that fact. As for Megumi and Rentaro, they still had a tiny glimmer of hope that Alice wasn’t completely rotten inside. Though, given how optimistic and kind their personalities were, it was kinda hard not to see the best in everyone.

     “Anyways, let’s move on!” Megumi laughed nervously, desperately trying to change the subject and brighten everyone’s attitude. And thanks to a certain mood maker, Megumi’s prayers were answered.

     “Looks like I’m next! I hope my stories not too boring or anything! Hehe~” Up next was Bunny, the shining example of innocence, and bubbliness. Letting out a sigh of relief, Megumi relished in the fact that this party was able to bounce back. And knowing Bunny, there was no way she’d tell a story as gruesome as the previous one.

----

Shuichi: So, if I’m a junior and Bunny’s a senior does that mean...

Fujo: Don’t you dare!

Shuichi: Wouldn’t that make her my… Bunny Girl Senpai?

Fujo: You genuinely disgust me sometimes. See you all tomorrow on the “Half Inch High: Alternative 20k Special”

    “Aaah~ Nothin’ beats a hot shower on a cold day…” Furyu walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, looking completely relaxed which came as quite a surprise to everyone there. Her wet hair was glistening with moisture, and there was a towel draped around her neck. But, most importantly was the fact that she was essentially half-naked. Dressed in only a sports bra and some short athletic shorts. Her toned body and lean muscles were center stage for all to see. If there were only girls at this party this may have been more acceptable, but even still she didn’t seem the least bit concerned at the fact that there was a boy just a couple feet away. Though it’s not like she cared about whether or not, a member of the opposite sex saw her in her underwear.

----

Fujo: Is it that big of a deal? I get that it's somewhat revealing but, I don’t see the problem. Don’t girls normally wear that kind of stuff when they’re working out?

Shuichi: I think it’s more about the setting rather than the outfit she’s wearing, or lack thereof. 

Fujo: I guess that makes sense. If someone dressed that casual to a party, I think I’d be a little uncomfortable.

----

    “A-Aah! Furyu?! I thought I said that you could borrow one of my shirts?” She said frantically trying to block Rentaro’s line of sight.

    “They were too big for me especially around the… chest area.” She said looking slightly embarrassed. Despite her tough exterior Furyu seemed to be overly self-conscious about one thing and one thing alone: her chest size. Saying that she had a ‘modest chest’ would be an understatement. She was flat as a board, and it’s been a curse that she’s always had to deal with. Given how sensitive she is about that particular region of her body, she gets extra violent whenever someone mentions how flat she is or mistakes her for a guy. 

    As Furyu sat down by the warm fireplace, it seemed as if Bunny was finally ready to tell her story. She looked around at all the smiling faces directed towards her and she couldn’t help but reflect a smile that was ten times brighter (still not as alluring as Rentaro’s smile though).

    Retelling the time of last Christmas Eve, a moment in which she had to believe! Hoping and praying for the hearts of true love. A couple of micros with their hearts intertwined, and Bunny in the middle as the main mastermind. In order to patch their stubborn love life, she was forced to put them through a minor stage of strife… 

----

Fujo: Yikes, this sounds like a matchmaker story? Ugh, personally, I hate people who try to force a romance between people. It just doesn’t sit right with me. So! For this story, someone else will be commentating. And that person is none other than the one and only... Kurome Hidoi!!

Shuichi: Wasn’t she expelled?!

Kurome: Merry Christmas Shuichi~ You look so lonely without your sister or that dense idiot, do you want some personal company *wink*

Shuichi: No thanks! I don’t want my life force sucked out of me. Get someone else you “slutubuss”

----

    It was night, much like tonight. The Christmas lights were flashing, the gentle snow was falling, and amidst all the holiday cheer there was a certain person who shined brighter than any Christmas lights. With a smile on her face and innocence in her heart, Bunny was more than ecstatic to be spending Christmas with all her friends. However, as the festivities died down, she couldn’t help but notice an awkward presence between two of her best friends. (to keep their identities a secret we’ll be referring to them as Otoko[shortened version of the Japanese word for ‘boy’] and Nanoko[Shortened version of the Japanese word for ‘girl’])

    “M-Merry Christmas, Nanoko!”He said anxiously, trying to casually wave at her. From how much he was fidgeting Bunny could very easily deduce that he was in love with Nanoko. It was honestly, super cute seeing just how head over heels he seemed for her. 

    “Y-yeah!” Nanoko averted her gaze and started to play with her hair. At first, Bunny thought she was just uncomfortable around him, but under close inspection, it was clear that she was also in love. But, something seemed off about this whole situation. If they were both in love with each other, why weren’t they doing anything about it? Were they just too stubborn to admit their feelings or was it something completely different? Bunny thought about it over and over and realized that maybe they just needed a slight push to get their lovey-dovey romance started. 

    “Hey, Nanoko!” Bunny pulled her aside and whispered something in her ear at just the right volume so that Otoko could hear her too. “Do you like anyone?” She smiled sweetly as Nanoko shifted her gaze towards the boy of her dreams who was standing a few feet away(proportionately).

    “N-Not at the moment! Why do you ask?” She laughed nervously, clearing lying to her. When Bunny turned her attention towards the Otoko, who was ‘inconspicuously’ listening in on their ‘conversation’ she was shocked to see that he had an extremely disappointed look on his face. Just from that interaction alone, Bunny realized that this was going to be a lot harder than she thought… 

----

Kurome: Young love is so precious, though, with my unrelenting sexiness, I never find myself in those awkward situations because all the people who are interested in me are so stricken with love that they confess on the spot.

Shuichi: Here’s a wakeup call for you. The only reason boys ever confessed to you was because they thought you were easy. You even mentioned how easy you were in your introductory chapter.

Kurome: Just because I called myself an ‘attainable’ beauty doesn’t mean I’m easy!! 

----

    Over the next half an hour, Bunny tried desperately to get the two of them to spend some quality alone time together but to no avail. It seemed as if them trying to get them closer together only drifted them further apart. It was almost as if their life itself was trying to make sure they never became a couple. Even if that was the case, Bunny wasn’t the type to just lay down and accept defeat. She was determined to get them together, even if it meant putting them in a tricky situation.

    “S-So um... how are you enjoying the party?” He said stuttering his words. Sitting on the edge of an empty plate he couldn’t help but notice just how cute Nanoko, who was sitting right next to him on the same plate, was.

    “I-It’s good…” She responded. And just like that, it was silent. Stricken by awkwardness the two drifted apart, both emotionally and physically as they slowly started to scoot farther and farther away from each other. 

    She couldn’t take it anymore! Bunny was fed up with how awkward the two of them were. At first, she thought the two of them just needed a tiny push but after seeing how bad it really was she realized that they definitely needed more than a push to get things going. That’s when Bunny decided to do something drastic. 

    Picking up the plate that the two of them were sitting on, she swiftly walked over to the kitchen and placed the plate in the sink. All while pretending not to notice their pleas. ‘Sorry, but this is for your own good.’ She thought, silently apologizing to them.

    Now in the sink, the two were beset on all sides by four shiny metallic walls with seemingly no way out. Under normal circumstances, this situation would be life-threatening, but thanks to Bunny’s thoughtful diligence there was no actual danger present (of course, the two of them didn’t know that). 

    “Crap, my phone died! I guess we’ll just have to escape the old-fashioned way!” He rolled up his sleeves trying to look cool in front of his crush. Trying to scale the sink walls, Otoko failed miserably gently sliding down the smooth walls. Instead of looking cool he only managed to embarrass himself. But, it wasn’t all bad, though. His pathetic display was enough to get a small chuckle out of Nanoko.

    “Before we resort to doing that let’s explore all our options first hehe~” She smiled sweetly at him. Pulling out her phone, she dialed Bunny’s number and tried calling her, but she would soon find out that it’d be a little harder than that…

    “Watch out!!!” Otoko yelled trying to save her from a falling droplet of water. However, his warning came too late and Nanako was soaked from head to toe in the leaky faucets frigid water. The water droplet did way more than just soak her, it also made it so that her phone was unusable for the time being.

    “So cold!!!” She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. This was Otoko’s time to shine. Thinking back to an old romance anime he saw a while back, he realized exactly what he had to do in this situation.

    “You should take off your clothes.” As the words left his mouth he instantaneously regretted every single decision that lead up to this point. Watching as she shot him a disgusted glare him Otako appropriately apologized profusely for what he said. This gave him an opportunity to correct himself. “Sorry! What I meant to say was, you should probably remove those wet clothes before you catch a cold! I wasn’t trying to be a pervert, I swear!” He said only to see that her white shirt had become see-through, revealing her lingerie.

    “Y-You’re right.” She started to undress only to stop midway through. “Are you gonna turn around, or will you just keep staring at me?” She shot yet another disgusted glare at him. 

    “Sorry!!” He quickly turned around, resisting the urge to see his half-naked crush. He looked down trying to think of something he could do to make her feel more comfortable. That’s when it hit him. “Here! It’s not much but I hope it makes you feel a little warmer.” Otako removed his jacket and shakingly handed it to her, making sure to keep his eyes closed the entire time.

----

Kurome: This is a touching story and all, but, how is Bunny in-universe telling this story? There's no way she could've known about anything that happened in the sink if she was waiting outside the kitchen in order to stop anyone from going inside. 

Shuichi: Yes.

Kurome: That doesn’t answer my question...

----

    “You can open your eyes now…” When Otako turned back around he saw the cutest thing he’s ever seen. Nanoko with her hair tied back, wearing a jacket that was a bit too big for her. He couldn’t take her eyes off her.

    “So cute…” He said causing the girl to blush.

    “You can gawk at me all you want later, for now, we have to think of a way out.” She smiled at him. They were finally starting to make some romantic progress, and as the two of them shared their first non-awkward conversation, that emotional distance between them steadily decreased. Though, no matter how hard they tried, getting out of the sink began to seem more and more impossible. And aside from waiting for help to arrive there was still one option left unexplored.

    “Get on my back, and I’ll try to lift you up.” He knelt down bracing himself. Otako wasn’t the most athletic person in the world, nor was he strong in any regard, though, none of that really mattered, because how hard would it be to lift a highschool girl who was a couple of inches shorter than him? 

    Lifting her onto his back Otako’s question was soon answered. “So heavy!!” he muttered under his breath trying to lift her up.

    “R-Rude!” She yelled in embarrassment trying to get off of him, unintentionally causing both of them to trip over.

    “I didn’t mean it like that!” He helped Nanoko up and apologized once more. 

    “It’s fine.” She sighed and tried to think of something else. “Here!” She knelt down signalling Otako to get on her back.

    “B-But-”

    “Don’t worry! I’ve got this.” Unlike Otako, Nanoko was fairly athletic and played multiple sports which meant she was far more capable than him when it came to this kind of stuff. That was extremely evident, once Nanoko managed to lift Otako with ease.

    “Try to grab on to that sagging dish rag!” What seemed so high up before, now seemed fairly reachable. Escape was in reach and the two had grown closer because of it. And as Otako climbed up onto the countertop he saw something extremely aggravating. Near the kitchen doorway he could faintly see what looked to be vibrant red ribbon poking out from behind the doorframe.

    “That girl…” He sighed, pushing the dish rag further down so Nanoko could climb up.

    “We did it!” She smiled tackling Otako and pulling him into a tight hug. Feeling her boobs pushed up against him, he soon learned that maybe getting trapped there wasn’t such a bad thing after all...

----

Kurome: How wholesome! But, do you wanna hear about my perfect love fantasy?

Shuichi: No.

Kurome: Well my perfect man is the type of person who'd accidentally grope a girl if they fall down the stairs. He doesn't have to have good looks, or be good at anything. All that matters is how kindhearted they are. But most importantly, they have to be dense as a rock when it comes to romance. That'll make obtaining their heart all the more satisfying. And having a handful of romantic rivals wouldn't hurt either. Sadly the perfect man only exists in trashy rom com anime. 

Shuichi: That sounds a lot like Rentar- I mean, that almost sounds like you want to fall in love with a harem protagonist. Haha. That's definitely a surprise for sure… 

Kurome: Would you mind finishing what you were about to say before? Sounds like you were about to say Rentaro. And now that I look at it, he is the only boy at this party and he looks super average. Could it be?! My soul mate goes to the same school as that other dense idiot!! I won't be beaten by her this time. I'LL TRANSFER THERE TOO!! 

Fujo: No thanks, we already have enough girls in this story. And we definitely do not need a slutty character! 

Kurome: Think about how much fanservice I can add to the story though. Come one please!!! Also, I'm not a slut so don't call me one. 

Fujo: You have 30 seconds to leave before I call security. 

Kurome: Fine! I'll leave… but, this won't stop me from pursuing my true love. I'll be a main character just you watch!!

Shuichi: Thanks for that Fujo. Anymore of her rambling and I may have gone insane. That girl's way too much… 

Fujo: Thanks for reading that's all for today!! Half Inch High: Alternative 20k Christmas Special Short Story Collection will return tomorrow with Tomoya Utsumi's story!! 

----

     “That was a really nice story! I can’t believe you were able to pick up the fact that they were in love.” Megumi looked on in amazement, with a somewhat exaggerated reaction. In reality, throughout the whole story, Megumi was completely lost on why Bunny thought Otako and Nanoko were in love but, was entertained nonetheless.

     “The best part is, they’re still a couple even to this day!” Bunny smiled. Looking at everyone there she began to feel a slight feeling of déjà vu after seeing how Ayame acted around Rentaro.

     “What would you have done if your plan didn’t work and they ended up hating each other? Hm?” An unfamiliar voice criticized. It didn’t sound like anyone she knew, and it definitely wasn’t anyone at the party.

     “Oh, right! While you were telling your story I tried calling one of my friends from the [SPOILER] club! I don’t know if you know him already but I’ll just introduce him anyways. He’s a junior from class B, and his name is Tomoya Utsumi!” Megumi held up her phone, showing that she was currently in a call with him.

----

Fujo: Wow, that’s a surprise! Tomoya doesn’t even have any lines in the actual story AND this isn’t even the Tomoya from chapter 7!

Shuichi: What does that even mean? Anyways, that doesn’t matter! This special’s not canon so who cares!

----

     “Good evening, Merry Christmas! My name’s-” Bunny went to introduce herself but was rudely shot down, almost immediately.

     “Yeah, I really couldn’t care less and plus it’s not like you even need to introduce yourself. Pretty much every micro at school knows who you are. Usako Asagiri otherwise known as ditzy b*tch!” He said with a blank and uncaring tone. It was so surprising that Bunny didn’t even have time to comprehend exactly what he said.

     “Wow, that’s a surprise I didn’t think I was that popul- Huh…? Ditzy b*tch?” She was in disbelief. How could he say something so insulting with such a mundane tone? Usually, if you’re trying to insult someone you’d at least try to sound somewhat spiteful. But the way he said it, it was almost like he was just reading out some commonly known fact, or he was used to talking like that. And much to Bunny’s dismay, it was actually both. Among many of the more ‘bitter’ and fed up micros at Hanichi, almost every normal student who has had at least one fatal encounter with a micro student was given some kind of heavily degrading nickname.

     “You’ll get used to it…” Rentaro looked off into the distance, remembering his own insulting nickname.

     “If Ditzy B*tch is there does that mean Siscon Nerd and B-Cup B*tch are there too?” He asked, now with a more sly and sarcastic tone. At first, it sounded like a genuine question but it was clear that he just wanted to say their nicknames out loud without facing any repercussions.

----

Shuichi: See! I’m not the only one to point it out! Told you! The cup size of your killer does matter!

Fujo: I think you’re reading too much into a dumb nickname.

----

     “The hell did you say about me!!” Furyu asked assuming that the last nickname was directed towards her.

     “Calm down there, blondie. Your boobs are way too small to be considered ‘b-cups.’ I think it was supposed to be directed towards Alice.” Sekira said slightly chuckling to herself. Alice, on the other hand, had quite the menacing expression on her face. 

     “You’re lucky that you’re not here right now, because if you said that to my face… Well, I think it’s pretty obvious what would happen.” Alice said in her typical ‘threatening psychopathic’ voice, trying to intimidate Tomoya. But, he wasn’t scared in the slightest. He knew that being in the sealed off computer room guaranteed his safety at school and that there was no way she could harm him at his home, so he was free to insult and belittle her without fear of being killed.

     “Wow-ow-ow!! I’m so terrified! Just kidding!!! A ***** like you could only dream of vanquishing the one and only Dark Flame of Annihilation!” He ridiculed once more. It was clear that things were getting pretty heated in here and Megumi was starting to think that maybe calling Tomoya wasn’t exactly the best idea.

     “Guys were getting a bit off-topic! Can’t we go back to what we were doing before?” She said trying to calm everyone down. “Hey, Tomoya, can you try being a bit nicer? Also, you shouldn’t be so open about your true identity. Awakening Megami takes a lot of work you know, and I might not have enough mana to protect you like last time.” She whispered to him.

     “You’re right.” He sighed. “Oh yeah! Did you still want me to participate in this short story thing?” 

     "Sure!" 

----

Fujo: That sure was an “interesting” opening

Shuichi: Tomoya’s an “interesting” person. 

----

     Our story begins with a young boy in Japan. And the moment that sent him to a faraway land. A world filled with adventure and magic. A fantasy classic whose ending is quite tragic…

     “My name is Kentaro Ritagawa. I’m an average, run-of-the-mill 2nd-year micro student. And other than my slightly above-average grades, I’m completely unremarkable in every single way. As much as that might sound like a bad thing, I was actually extremely contempt with the life I had. But, of course, things didn’t stay that way for long.”

     It was an average spring day, and Kentaro was making his way to class at a completely average pace. As he turned the corner he could faintly hear the feeble cries of a younger female student, or so he thought.

     “Help me…” The voice called. From the sound of it, they sounded completely desperate. Wanting to help out however he could, Kentaro followed the voice until he was met with a worrying image. Thanks to him absent-mindedly trying to follow some mysterious voice, he had wandered into one of the more dangerous parts of the school by accident. However, as the voice grew louder Kentaro realized it was too late to give up, and continued to follow the voice.

     Turning the corner he finally saw it. A young female micro student cornered by none other than the infamous bully, Arisu Nagayama. Normally Kentaro wouldn’t even bat an eye at something like that. It was the girl’s fault for being in such a dangerous place. But, as Arisu lifted her foot and prepared to step on the poor student, something came over him. A strange feeling that he couldn’t explain. All of a sudden, without even thinking, his body started to move on its own in order to save the young girl. Making a mad dash towards her Kentaro dived into her pushing her out of harm’s way. 

     “Thank you...” Were the last words he heard as his puny existence was crushed flat under the shoes of someone who was 100x’s bigger than him, or that’s what should’ve happened. When Kentaro opened his eyes he found himself in a strange room. Around him was darkness, as far as the eye could see stretching out for miles and miles. In front of him was none other than the girl he tried to save, but she was dressed in some weird toga(?). (she essentially looked your typical greek goddess, you know the deal I don’t have to explain it).

     “Congrats, Kentaro Ritagawa. You have been blessed by the goddess of the afterlife.” She said getting uncomfortably close to him. From this close, Kentaro could see every inch of her face. He could hear the subtle beating of her heart and feel her breaths softly land against him.

     “W-What do you mean…?” He tried to back away from the girl but, for some reason, he couldn't move an inch. 

     "Thanks to your kind and courageous deed, my earthly vessel was saved from destruction. As thanks for your sacrifice, I will grant you the chance of an after-life time haha… get it? Because you're not alive anymore. It's just a little bit of goddess wordplay. We like to have fun here." It was at that point Kentaro realized that this 'goddess' was a full-blown idiot. Nevertheless, the only thing he could do was hear her out till the end. 

     "I will imbue your body with the strength, courage, and charisma of a great hero and transport you to the world of Perpeterra. In which you will be tasked with defeating The Empress of Dark Shadows and her loyal servants!" She said triumphantly doing some stupid 'adventurer' pose. 

     "..." Kentaro was speechless. What did he just hear? Was she assigning him a task or was she reading out the plot of some trashy fantasy anime? It was essentially gibberish. 

     "Now! Go forth and save the world of Perpeterra from the Shadow Worlds’ evil intentions!!" She snapped her fingers expecting him to be teleported immediately. None of this helped with his confusion and the fact that nothing happened perplexed him even more. 

     "Oh, right that was changed in the recent patch. I guess we have to do this the old fashioned way…" She sighed and almost immediately started to grow exponentially, and in under a minute she was 100x's larger than Kentaro. "In order to send you to Perpeterra, I kinda have to ‘Re: Kill’ you.” Distracted by her sudden growth spurt, he failed to notice that this ‘goddess’ was a few seconds away from being crushed flat against the floor of this...room(?)

     “Re: Kill? Sounds like some Re:Zero knock of- AAAHH!!” He yelled jumping out of the way in the nick of time. “At least let me choose how I die, jeez!!!” Trying to calm his still-beating heart, Kentaro noticed a very foul odor coming from right behind him. Hesitantly turning around all he saw was the goddess’ sandaled foot. ‘There’s no way a goddess could smell that bad? It must be coming from somewhere else!’ He thought, covering his nose!

     “Wow! You have fast reflexes!! If you can avoid my onslaught of attacks for the next ten minutes I might consider letting you choose how you die!” She winked and for the next six hundred seconds, Kentaro barely dodged each and every single one of her attacks. But, as seconds ticked by the smell only got worse and worse. “If you can dodge my attacks then you’ll have no problem the shadow empress!! But, I won't be bested that easily...” She chuckled, slowly unbuckling her sandal.

     “W-What are you doing?! Ten minutes is up, right? Right?!” He started to back up feebly trying to escape the idiot goddess. 

     “I worked up quite the sweat trying to crush you, ya know?” Dropping her sandal right next to him, he realized that his earlier thought was completely wrong! The smell was coming from her, and it this point, thanks to him being an idiot and not wanting to take the quick and painless way out, he only made the smell worse for what was about to happen. “Now time face the might of my ultimate attack: Scent of Death!!!” As her putrid foot odor invaded his senses Kentaro found himself gasping desperately for fresh air but, no doing so only allowed more of her pungent aroma to enter his body. Blacking in and out of consciousness, the idiot goddess finally realized just how resilient Kentaro really was. This gave her an idea! If she kept putting him through deadly scenarios, slowly but surely his resistance, speed, and many of his other stats would gradually go up.

     She snapped her fingers and Kentaro, who was practically begging for death, was surprised as a shining red choker started to constrict around his neck. Once it had completely gone around his throat a strange pop-up appeared right in front of his face. “The Undying Choker: A mysterious SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSR class item that allows it’s user to magically survive on 1 HP forever. However, any damage taken after the user hits 1 HP is amplified by 9.9 x 101000000. Meaning that any pain felt after 1 HP hurt, a lot.” and at the bottom of the pop-up was a sentence written extremely tiny text. “EXP gain scales with the amount of pain felt.” After reading this pop-up, an assortment of strange symbols started to appear right before his eyes. Upon closer inspection, he realized that these ‘strange symbols’ were forming together to create some kind of videogame UI. Displaying his EXP, HP, Stamina, and other typical RPG stats. This would be cool, if not for the fact that he was slowly being poisoned to death.

     “W-Wait a minute…” He looked towards the top right of his ‘UI’ and saw that his HP was rapidly decreasing and once it had finally hit the dreaded ‘number 1’ the putrid odor became exponentially worse by an immeasurable magnitude.

     “For being of such a high rarity the undying choker sure is a harsh item! I mean, I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for you hehe~! My foot isn’t even that close to you and you look like you’re in soooo much pain. I wonder what would happen if I put you between my toes or stomped on you. Of course, you wouldn’t die so I suppose it’d be ok…” Her sweet uncaring smile was the last thing Kentaro saw as he was thrust into a life of unending pain and suffering. And that pain would continue until he had reached level 100 which would take quite a while. Luckily, for Kentaro, thanks to time moving differently in the “after-life” even if it took a month or even a year to reach max level, he’d still have plenty of time to take down The Empress of Dark Shadows. No matter how much he begged and pleaded the goddess wanted to be 100% sure that Kentaro was prepared to fight her, which meant getting him to max level.

     Over the next month and a half, Kentaro was, drowned by the goddess’ toxic foot sweat, stomped on, pasted to the bottom of her foot as ran in place for an hour, sat on, used as personal ‘you know what’ tool, eaten, digested, crushed flat in between her breasts, stretched and pulled apart...etc. But, as a plus side to this horrific torture, Kentaro’s pain tolerance had gone up extremely, his poison resistance was at the point in which he was effectively immune to all toxins, his physical defense and strength had gone up, he was now more agile, and all his other stats had maxed out completely aswell. 

     "Now! You are finally ready to start your new adventure in Perpeterra! And as a reward to make sure you aren’t… such an empty husk, I’ll revert your mindset to how it was before we started ‘training.’ With the snap of her fingers, Kentaro was back to his usual positive self and ready to take on whatever obstacle that stood in his way. “Oh, and you can keep the choker!”

     “NO THANKS!!” 

----

Fujo: Wow, just wow! I was baited. I was tricked! I thought this was going to be some generic isekai power fantasy but, boy, was I wrong!

Shuichi: Don’t worry. The first three episodes are the only ones that break the mold. After that, it just becomes your typical isekai story. (if you can guess what anime Shuichi is referencing you get a special reward!)

----

     “That was such a good story Tomoya!” Rentaro yelled out to him! “Now how much do I owe you?” He pulled out his phone and opened an unnamed cash transfer app.

     “The commission prices are all on my main page, but since your my friend, I’ll give you a slight discount!” As the two discussed prices Megumi finally understood why the main protagonist sounded so familiar.

     “Oh! Kentaro Ritagawa is just Rentaro’s name with the first letters of his given and surname switched!! Haha~ That kinda reminds me of how my friend Fujo names her characters.” She reached into her bookshelf looking for one of Fujo’s doujins. “Aha, here it is!” She pulled it out, and on the cover was a very lewd drawing of what looked to be a well endowed white-haired girl with a micro sandwiched between her breasts and the title read: “Oppai Sugoi Doki Doki Heart-Stopping Fall Collection! Featuring NEW CHARACTERS: Meguri Shiroe, Akane & Shuchi Rhinko, Testuyumi Saiko, and many more! Illustrated by Fuzue Shijo.” 

----

Shuichi: Is that really your pen name? Fuzue Shijo? Do you have no sense of identity preservation? Also wow, that title’s a mouthful!

Fujo: Shut up! It was the only thing I could think of at the time and it’s way too late to change it now. And the title doesn’t matter! My art is so good that I don’t even need to think of a good title, because as long as my name is on the cover you can add a couple dozen 0’s to the total sales.

----

     “Wait, YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH FUZUE SHIJO?!?!” Tsumi got up and started to interrogate Megumi about her relationship with her. It was clear that she a big fan...

     “Y-Yeah! Why do you ask?” Megumi uncomfortably backing away. Typically she’d be more enthusiastic about talking about her number one best friend, however, Megumi was still incredibly wary of the girl in front of her. Even still, she’d be a hypocrite if she decided to straight-up avoid her. Gathering up all her courage Megumi decided it’d be best to just follow along with her mad ramblings. 

     “I’m a super huge fan of her work! Since you’re friends with her or something I was wondering if you could get this signed for me?” She handed her a book with a pure white book sleeve. Typically, Megumi would be overjoyed to get Fujo’s autograph for someone, but after misplacing her phone and unintentionally ghosting all of her Okisana friends she’d feel way too embarrassed to speak with them all of a sudden.

----

Shuichi: Huh..?

Fujo: Wow, you didn’t know I thought you were Megumi’s boyfriend. Under those kind double E’s lies the brain capacity of a dense airhead with no knowledge of social cues.

Shuichi: She… was just too embarrassed?! Is that really the reason?! I… I’m honestly super relieved. 

Fujo: I bet you thought she hated you, or something! Haha! You really are an idiot!

----

    Looking underneath the book sleeve Megumi saw the one cover she absolutely did not want to see. “Gore Galore!! The Terrotic(Terrifying + Erotic<3) Torturing Succubus Kurumi Hideo!!” Otherwise known as the most graphic Fuzue Shijo doujin. Even if Megumi didn’t understand the romantic elements of it, Megumi was undoubtedly scarred by the contents of that specific doujin. She wasn’t the only person scarred by it. The negative reception of the doujin was so bad that Fujo had to take it off the market and re-release a heavily censored version. To this day, less than a hundred copies of it remain in the hands of her most dedicated fans.

    “Wanna know the best part about this copy of GGTTTSKH(The ironic acronym her fans use to refer to the doujin)?” She slowly started to remove the book sleeve. As more of the cover was revealed, Megumi saw all she needed to see before she was able to deduce that, Tsumi Yoshikawa was the proud owner of an incredibly rare uncensored comiket copy of the forbidden doujin. [THE FOLLOWING SCENE WAS SKIPPED OVER IN ORDER TO SAVE ON TIME! Here’s a quick summary: Tsumi revealed that she had not one but three mint-condition copies of GGTTTSKH, Megumi was expectedly hesitant and returned the doujin to Tsumi saying she couldn’t give it to Fujo because she “didn’t have the time” to go all the way to Fujo and get it signed. She was understandably disappointed and returned to not caring about anything that was going on. END OF SCENE].

     “Hey, Megumi. You said that this short storytelling thing was supposed to help us pass the time, right?” Rentaro asked pointing at the clock. Fearing the worst Megumi turned her attention to the clock and was shocked to see that only half an hour had passed since they started telling stories She wasn’t the only one to notice either. It seemed like almost half the people in the room had their eyes glued on some kind of clock. The only ones who seemed genuinely interested in this whole thing were Megumi, Bunny, Rentaro, and… Megumi’s pet fish Shiromi. 

----

Shuichi: Who?

Fujo: How do you not know about Shiromi? He’s been in literally every scene!!

----

The boredom was steadily creeping its way into the room and it seemed as if nobody even wanted to tell a story. Megumi didn’t know what to do! She wasn’t mentally prepared enough to tell her story and it was starting to get extremely quiet once more. Silently panicking to herself she turned to face Furyu, who was cuddled up trying to make the most out of the Kotatsu. Staring at her with puppy dog eyes, Megumi tried to telepathically ask Furyu if she wanted to tell a story.

“Stop staring at me! The hell do you want!!” Furyu yelled at her, heavily creeped out by Megumi’s display of cuteness.

“Please. Tell. Story.” She blinked to her in morse code, thinking that she’d understand.

“Do you have something stuck in your eye?” She stared at Megumi trying to make sense of what she was doing. It was no use, Megumi’s actions were way too confusing to understand and the fact that she was being completely silent didn’t help in the slightest.

“Please…” She muttered, creeping towards her.

“Megumi.” Furyu placed her hand on Megumi’s shoulder. Her expression was that of an extremely worried mother going to visit their child in the hospital. “Is your head OK?” She asked thinking that Megumi had gone insane,

“Just tell your story already!!” She grabbed on Furyu with a desperate look in her eyes. “Can’t you see that I was trying to tell you the entire time?” Megumi sighed.

“How the hell was I supposed to know that!!!” 

----

Fujo: I don’t know what Furyu’s talking about. I thought it was super obvious.

Shuichi: Yeah, sure… 

----

      An overprotective sister and a sibling seeking for adventure. What’s the worst that could happen?

      It was a warm spring day and amidst the mundane day to day of the humble students of Tomodori Middle School, was the up and coming track star Chihiro Tsubasaki chasing after a micro girl who definitely shouldn’t have been in such a dangerous place. 

      “Think you can run from me you little-” Mere inches from catching the girl. Chihiro was stopped dead in her tracks by a very interesting person.

     "Lovey-Dovey Heart Breaking Clothesline<3!!!!” The girl ran towards her extending her arm out. As her sights were lasered in on the tiny she failed to notice that she was about to run straight into the girl’s arm and within a few seconds, Chihiro found herself laid out on the ground after running straight into the one and only [SPOILER]’s(For the time being, we’ll call just call her Taka) patented special clothesline. “Jeez, Haryu why do you always have to be causing trouble. Do you know how worried your sister was?” She kneeled down opening her palm for the micro girl to get on.

      “Well, when big sis accidentally brought me to school by mistake, I… fell and got lost. Haryu Mitsukabe was Furyu’s little sister. Even at her micro-only middle school, she was always getting into trouble and when she was around normal people that trouble-seeking attitude definitely didn’t change.

      “Can’t pull the wool over the eyes of this middle school idol! It’s totally easy to tell how much you’re lying right now <3! And knowing you, I can tell that you probably snuck inside Furyu’s bag in order to see what Tomodori Middle was like. I get that you’re curious but, you shouldn’t go around starting trouble.” She guessed correctly causing a nervous expression to appear on Haryu’s face. Taka was definitely a champion when it came to breaking through people’s lies, you could even say that it was one of her special skills. 

     “Tch, I never guessed you’d figure it out that quickly!” She sighed. “Fine! I’ll admit it! I did sneak my way into big sis’ stuff. And just so ya’ know I only started trouble because that bimbo was talking smack about my big sis!” She pouted. It was almost strange, the degree in which she idolized her sister. From talking like her to acting like her, Haryu wanted to be exactly like her super strong and courageous big sister.

----

Fujo: She’s pretty much the exact opposite of Megu-chi

Shuichi: Megu-chi? Oh! You mean Megumi’s younger sister. (Authors Note: The word younger is boldened because Megui [otherwise known as Megu-chi as a way of differentiating her name from Megumi’s name] is a normal-sized girl). I never really thought about it before, but she really doesn’t follow Megumi’s footsteps at all. I mean, she’s super sarcastic, gets super bashful at the slightest mention of romance, and worst of all… she’s flat as a board!

Fujo: Dude, she’s like 14 years old. I’m pretty sure at that age it’s perfectly acceptable, though I do get what you’re talking about. When Megumi was that age I’m sure hers were C’s at least!

----

      “In any case, Chihiro totally deserved what was coming to her so it’s a win-win…” Taka tried to laugh it off but was stopped as she sensed a menacing presence from right behind her. It was none other than everyone’s favorite middle-school delinquent Furyu Mitsukabe and she seemed pretty pissed that Haryu would do something so stupid.

     “You gotta lotta’ splainin’ to do when we get home!” She quickly yet, carefully snatched Haryu’s hand and started to walk away.

     “Wait, are you seriously leaving? Lunchtime just started though. I don’t wanna eat alone..!” Taka tried to stop her.

     “Deal with it! I gotta get this idiot home before she gets killed. If you wanna come with you could always cut classes and tag along.” Furyu tucked Haryu into her shirt pocket and walked to the school gates.

     “School Idols don’t cut classes so I think I'll pass. Thanks for the offer though and make sure your little sister gets home safe. I'll try to cover for you, but don't complain when you're called in for cutting classes!" She waved goodbye, in hindsight, if Furyu told the administration that her micro sister had stowed away they'd probably allow her to leave early anyway. 

-to be continued-

     Back at home, Furyu was getting ready to lecture her sister for endangering her own life. It was then Furyu’s fatal weakness was revealed.

     “I’m sorry it’s just that… You’re so cool, big sis!! That’s why I snuck into your bag! Because I-I thought if I could be with you at school I’d learn how to become just like you! And when that runner girl was talking about you behind your back I… I just couldn’t stand for it!!” She yelled passionately, looking at her with puppy dog eyes. She was practically on the brink of tears. Of course, it was all fake but the performance was really convincing. So convincing in fact, that it was enough to turn Furyu’s previously unbridled anger into bashful modesty. 

    “Sh-Shut the hell up! Just don’t do somethin’ stupid like that ever again!” She scratched her head in embarrassment. Other than her flat chest, her sister was both her greatest strength and weakness. A double-edged sword that could encourage her to fight, while at the same time having the ability to stop her dead in her tracks.

     “Now that we have that settled, we can all move on and enjoy the rest of the day!” She wiped the fake tears from her eye and thought of something to do. “Ooh! We should take a bath together, big sis! It’s scorching outside, and I’m all sweaty after running from that girl.” 

     “What do you mean by ‘we?’ Why do I have to take a bath too?” Sighing, Haryu made her puppy dog face once more in order to sway her opinion.

“B-But I’d be lonely all alone…” She said, looking extremely downtrodden.

“Ughh, fine!” The Furyu sauntered into the bath with Haryu in hand.

----

Fujo: There’s a lot of irony in that sentence.

Shuichi: Oh! Because Haryu has Furyu in the palm of her hand metaphorically, but Furyu has Haryu in the palm of her hand literally!

Fujo: Thanks for pointing out the obvious…

----

     As they started to undress the difference in body types was extremely apparent. While Furyu was flat with a toned and lean body, Haryu had a slightly above average physique with at least some semblance of boobs. Though due to Haryu’s ambition to become like her sister, she dismissed her own chest size typically trying to hide the fact that her chest was (proportionately) bigger than her sister’s own.

     “Before you woke up, Mom wanted me to tell you that she was coming home late, again,” Furyu said with a disappointed look in her eyes. This was mostly because she knew exactly what kind of stuff their mom was doing after hours. 

     “Huh? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you, the running water was too loud.” She asked slowly watching the bath fill up with water.

     “Nevermind.” She dropped Haryu onto a tiny water floatie and started to get into the bath herself. “I think it’s better if you don’t know.” She muttered, feeling the relaxing heated water wash over her lean muscles. 

     “What was that?”

     “I told you to get to sleep early tonight!” She lied, trying to protect her dear sister from witnessing their sorry excuse of a mother after she’s slammed down a seriously unhealthy amount of alcohol. 

     “If you’re going to sleep early tonight, then I will too!” She smiled, leisurely playing around in the water. Despite, her uncanny manipulative abilities, Haryu was still a kid at the end of the day and her innocence would always shine its way through her imitation delinquent persona. And as the two of them enjoyed their warm bath it was hard to deny the fact that they were truly inseparable as sisters.

----

Fujo: Haha! You thought you were gonna get a forced underaged fanservice scene but, it was I, serious family drama and wholesome sisterly development.

Shuichi: And, you say my references are awful.

----

     As the group complimented Furyu on her touching family story, Rentaro used the distraction in order to do something, both incredibly stupid and “erotic.”

     “In any case, she’s gonna be graduating into Hanichi next year so if any of you try to mess with her… I’ll kill you.” She cracked her knuckles looking specifically at Alice and the three other bullies. Thinking about it more, that probably wasn’t just an empty threat… Nonetheless, thanks to Furyu’s story, life was brought back into the room.

      “Yay! Isn’t that great Rentaro..?” She looked around, scanning the ground up and down. “Huh..? Rentaro?” Where did he go?” Frantically looking all over the place Megumi stared at Sekira who was cutely enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but, if anyone wanted to kidnap Rentaro, it’d probably be her. Before she decided fully suspect her, Megumi needed to do some investigating. 

[INVESTIGATION START]

     Rentaro was too small and thus wouldn’t leave many clues, which meant the best course of action was to… ask the witnesses!!!

     “Witness: Ayame Kibishi. Age: 15. Relation to the Victim: Child-hood friend.” She started to interrogate her. “Ms. Ayame Kibishi, is it? I take it you’re close to the victim?” 

      “U-Um I’ve known for a little over 5 years… Though, I wouldn’t say that we’re close. So, don’t get the wrong idea!!” She bashfully turned her head. “Wait, victim?! Did he really- H-How could he have… d-d-d-d-d-d-” She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Rentaro meant the world to her and to learn that something happened to him tore her to pieces. 

      “I never said anything about any incident involving the victim. It’s strange that you’d be so quick to think that something would’ve happened to him. Maybe, you know more than you’re letting on…” Megumi grilled the girl, staring at her with an inquisitive glare. Typically worrying about a friend’s well being was a normal reaction. However, Megumi’s seen and played way too many detective games/movies to take what she said at face value. 

      “W-Well I mean… Rentaro told me that he’d be right back, and since those three are here I just assumed. You will not believe how relieved I am to here that nothing has happened. Ah- I mean, I’m only worried because it’s the right thing to do! I-It’s not like I l-like him or anything!!” She hid her face in embarrassment. 

[CLUE OBTAINED: “Rentaro went somewhere”]

      “What do you think about this information, partner!” She looked at Mai, trying to think of where Rentaro might have gone. It was a real mystery scenario, but Mai’s mind was already dead set on making Sekira the culprit.

      “It’s obviously her! Who else would’ve kidnapped him?!”  she crossed her arms and shot a hateful glare towards Sekira, who was sitting in the kotatsu with Alice, Tsumi, and Bunny. As much as Megumi wanted to suspect her, something didn’t feel right. She was the obvious culprit but, deep in her heart, she knew it wasn’t her. ‘You can’t prove someone’s innocence with just a gut feeling!’ She thought and sat by the kotatsu in order to question her. 

      “Suspect: Sekira Sumehara. Age: [UNSPECIFIED]. Relation to the Victim: Has a crush on him.” With all signs pointing to her being the culprit, Sekira was surprisingly calm. Though, with her track record, she was probably used to being under suspicion. “Given your unhealthy obsession with the victim, suspicion naturally falls onto you. Furthermore, you’ve been seen stalking him on multiple occasions! So I ask you this, for both his and your sake. Did you happen to know the whereabouts of his location?”  She slammed her hand down on the desk like a hard-boiled detective.

      “Why would I know where he went? If anything, shouldn’t you know where he is? You did promise to ‘protect everyone’ didn’t you?” She snarked at her dealing heavy damage to Megumi’s resolve. It was true! Megumi promised to Mai that she’d protect all the micros at this party, and it was her lack of caution that caused her to lose sight of him. Slowly she started to break down, feeling that it was her own fault.

      “Megumi! Calm down and think logically! You’re only one person after all.” Mai sighed.

      “You’re right. I am just one person, but still! I made a promise to you guys… wait a minute, there’s one thing I haven’t tried yet!” Her confidence started to come back.  And as she made her way to the kitchen she realized exactly who to call in a situation like this. A studious girl who was accustomed to situations like this. But, before we get into that, how about we go back to a few minutes before all of this went down.

-Half an Hour Earlier-

      “Hey, Rentaro. Where are you going?” Ayame asked in response to seeing Rentaro sneaking away during Furyu’s story. He was mumbling something strange with a strange flushed expression on his face. 

     “N-Nowher- I mean to the… restroom.” He looked left and right trying to not act suspicious while looking extremely suspicious. However, since Ayame didn’t want to be a burden, she reluctantly dismissed his strange behavior. ‘I feel sorry for lying to you, but this is a once in a year opportunity I can not pass up!’ He thought silently chuckling to himself. As he stealthily crept towards the kotatsu, crawling under the blanket he mentally prepared himself for what was coming next.

----

Shuichi: crap…

Fujo: Hm? Is something the matter Shuichi?

Shuichi: N-No nothing’s the matter! Nothing at all!!

----

     “I never would’ve thought that a person like you would be interested in manga.” Alice looked at Tsumi, who was enjoying the warmth of the kotatsu along with Sekira and Bunny. Considering how bland and mundane she typically acts it was strange to observe how passionate she was about Fujo’s doujin. 

     “Just erotica…” She responded absent-mindedly flipping through the pages of Fujo’s latest doujin. Compared to what she just said, her nonchalant tone and utter lack of interest effectively killed the conversation before it even took off.

     “Y-Yeah I read erotica once haha.” She awkwardly looked over to Sekira hoping to change the subject.  

     With all four of them by the kotatsu, it was prime time for Rentaro to indulge his fetish to the fullest. Four pairs of legs all snuggled up and warm it was truly a dream experience for any “leg enthusiast.” Beset on all sides by soft to the touch plump thighs, warm socked feet. This was heaven, but as enjoyable as this situation was… there was one problem that was quite apparent. All except one of the girls at the kotatsu weren’t exactly the best at being friendly towards micros. Meaning that if he chose the wrong girl, there was a high likely-hood of merciless capital punishment. You’d think the risk would be too much but, this was a once in a year opportunity he could not pass up!! 

     At this point, the only thing Rentaro wanted for Christmas was to indulge himself on some heavenly legs without being caught and/or killed. And with all the good karma he’s racked up from being in the MicroRep Support Club, there was no way his situational bad luck would trigger, right? 

     “This the choice of a lifetime! If I mess up this ¼ I might actually die so I’ve gotta think…” He looked around at all the girls trying to see if there were any hints as to who was who, but sadly it was pretty hard to tell who someone was from their legs. And thanks to the heat from the kotatsu combining with his intense lust for legs, Rentaro’s head wasn’t exactly in the right state of mind to be making logical decisions, like, crawling out of the kotatsu and quickly checking which girl was which. “Well, when in doubt just let fate decide! Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers let him go Eeny, meeny, miny moe!!!” 

     Through random decision making, Rentaro found himself walking towards a slender pair of legs wrapped up in some very enticing black thigh-high socks. Hoping he made the right decision he began to “indulge” himself. For some reason, Rentaro was more worried about the pervertedness of his actions, rather than his general well-being.

----

Kurome: Ooh! Very interesting indeed... Hnnng! He’s sooo cute! I can’t take it! I love him! I love him! Hehehe! He’s so selfless even when he’s being a pervert.

Shuichi & Fujo: Why are you still here!!!

Kurome: Well I was about to leave, but when I saw that little guy I just couldn’t contain myself. If I promise to be a “good girl” can I stay? Pretty please!!

Shuichi: No wa-

Fujo: Sure. Just don’t try anything you “suttubus.”

----

-Back to the present-

     “Ugh! Stupid blizzard!! I just want to make a simple phone call! Is that too hard to ask!!” Nana desperately waved her phone in the air trying to get signal. (I just realized that it’d probably best to just leave this link here so you guys could get a better idea of who the Half Inch High: Original characters are so yeah… it might be a bit late but, whatever http://labbacomics.com/characters/. Anyways back to the story!)

     “Hey, Nana. I see you’re having some trouble there if you’d like, I could lend you my phone. I did just get off a call with Tomoya so I’m sure calling your sister wouldn’t be a problem.” She offered her phone to her, smiling sweetly. 

     “You’re an angel!!” She graciously went to take it from her only to be denied, as Megumi swiftly pulled her phone back.

     “But, first I’d really appreciate it if you’d help me out!” She clasped her hands together hoping that Nana would help her out.

     “Uh, sure. What’s the problem.”

     “Well, Rentaro’s kinda gone missing and I’m he wasn’t kidnapped or anything like that. So, since you have a micro sibling, I was kinda hoping that you’d know what to do in a situation.” 

----

Shuichi: Fun fact- Much like how the last chapter referenced one of Labba’s comics, in terms of structure, this one also follows the same structure of one of Labba’s earlier comics titled: “Where’s my brother?” If you’re interested you can check out http://labbacomics.com/comics-and-art/ if you haven’t already! Labba’s a super talented artist and their work is truly exceptional!

Fujo: Yeah! Labba’s great because unlike Weeb(RI_Weeb is the abbreviated version of, Random Internet Weeb, By the way) they know how to kill off a character when it counts. And they’re art is really good).

----

     “Well, typically for teenage boys the first thing to do is, check if he’s looking up anyone’s skirts but, you’re the only girl here who’s wearing a skirt so that’s out. Do you know what he’s into?” She asked putting her hand on her chin.

     “Gimme a second.” She went into the living room and gently carried Ayame to Nana. Asking her the same question Ayame promptly responded in a very helpful way.

     “W-Well, it’s not like I know much about him or anything, but contrary to popular belief, Rentaro is kinda a leg man. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s a bit of a masochist…” She didn’t want to reveal Rentaro’s fetish, but if it was to potentially save his life she’d probably do anything. 

[CLUE OBTAINED: LEG FETISH]

     “Hmm, Leg fetish… Wait, you have a kotatsu right?”

     “Yeah, why do you ask?” As the three of them made their way to the living room, Nana was thoroughly shocked to see that all three of the bullies were sitting at the kotatsu. 

     “This is bad…” Nana stared on in absolute terror at the thought that Rentaro would be so dumb as to even try to be a pervert around those girls. 

     “T-There’s no way, right?” Ayame asked, her voice shaking from fear. “He’s an idiot, but he’s not that big of an idiot.” Denial filled every part of her being. Thinking that her childhood friend and crush was dead, simply because she decided not to be a burden filled Ayame with an unimaginable amount of regret. 

     “I’ll destroy those bad thoughts with the power of positive thinking!” Megumi placed her safely on the floor and made a mad dash towards the kotatsu. Lifting up the blanket there he was, or rather there they were.

[Mystery… REVEALED!!!]

     “Just because you’re one of Megumi’s old schoolmates, or whatever, doesn’t give you the right to peep!!” Rentaro yelled grappling with a very familiar-looking micro to the ground. 

     “If we’re going by that logic… Just because you’re one of Megumi’s new school mates, doesn’t give you the right to peep.” A boy, incredibly average in both looks and personality, yelled struggling successfully against Rentaro’s firm grasp. I was none other than the one and only Shuichi Shinko who was also at the party for… some reason.

----

Fujo: Eeehh!! What the- Huh? That doesn’t make any sense at all! Why are you there, and I’m not! Do you think you’re funny Shuichi? Huh? Acting all depressed about not being able to talk to Megumi and there you are getting invited to her Christmas party! I’ll never forgive you!!! Hmph!

Shuichi: I wasn’t exactly invited… Just keep reading you’ll see why I’m there in just a bit.

----

     “And, for the record. I WASN’T PEEPING!!” They yelled in unison.

     “Ha! There’s no way I’m believing that. Unlike you, I was just waiting for Megumi to sit down so I could… uh, surprise her!!” Shuichi fumbled trying to think of a ‘believable’ excuse.

     “Yeah, right! Unlike you, I was, um… trying to enjoy the warmth of the kotatsu.” Rentaro looked around trying to come up with something credible that could support his case.

     “This my once in a year opportunity! Stop trying to ruin it for me!!” They yelled in unison once more. The two of them really were two sides of the same coin. Thinking the same, and acting the same while at the same time, having wildly different interests.

     “Umm, Shuichi? I-It’s really nice to see you and all but, why are you here?” Megumi looked at him with a confused expression. In all honesty, she was ecstatic to see him but, now wasn’t exactly the time for a happy reunion. 

     “Busted…” The two of them sighed and gave up their struggles, reluctantly choosing to turn themselves in. 

     In order to explain how this situation even occurred, we’re gonna have to go back to 30 minutes ago when Rentaro first entered the land of his dreams… 

     “Thigh high socks! A heavenly piece of cloth created by the gods themselves in order to provide ultimate pleasure for thigh and feet lovers. Though, personally, I’m more of a post-workout gym sock guy but, I cannot deny the true beauty behind those threads.” He said to himself rubbing up against the soles of the girl’s foot. Even if it wasn’t that warm, Rentaro could still faintly feel the moisture of her sweat as it leaked through the fabric. ‘I love being this size!’ He celebrated, shoving his face deep into the thigh high-sock. Luckily for him, his bad luck didn’t trigger, allowing him to enjoy the moment without being discovered. Unluckily for him, another less life-threatening obstacle stood in his way.

     “Beep!!” Shuichi’s phone went off causing him to panic. “Crap!” He swiftly turned it off letting out a small sigh of relief. As he put his phone away he caught a glimpse of the one and only Rentaro Kitagawa sniffing up the sock of some “random” girl. 

     “Who are you? And… what are you even doing?” Shuichi asked catching Rentaro in the act. 

----

Fujo: We’re gonna end it off here. The rest will be explained in tomorrow’s chapter! Only two more chapters remain. I can’t wait to see how you talk yourself out of this situation…

Shuichi: hehe…

----

     “The real question is: who are you?” As far as Rentaro knew, he was the only guy at the party, so seeing someone else was honestly pretty worrying. But, for the time being, the only important issue was why he was underneath the kotatsu. And thus, Rentaro’s hypocritical fight to protect the privacy of all the girls at the kotatsu began.

     “Well, if you have to know… My name is Shuichi Shinko!! A student of Okisana Academy and the one and only boyfriend of Megumi Shiro!!” His haughty attitude wasn’t all too unjustified. Getting through the impenetrable density that was Megumi Shiro’s romantic awareness was no easy feat and almost every guy at school straight up didn’t believe him when they found out that his confession actually got through to her.

     “I bet you must be really proud of yourself. I mean, trying to sneak a peek at four girls you don’t even know, is soooo boyfriend-like.” The sarcastic tone of Rentaro’s voice reeked of disapproval and those words dealt a massive blow to Shuichi’s ego. So much so, that he didn’t even know how to respond for a second.

     “W-Well, first of all: I’m not peeping! And second of all: you’re one to talk, you... you foot pervert!!!” It was true! What Rentaro was doing was, perverted and wrong. There was no denying it! And yet, no matter how wrong it was those thoughts still lingered in his head, perforating his desires. He wanted to feel that sensation once more. He wanted to experience the heavenly feeling, and take in the unmatched aroma.

     “Shut up!! I know it’s wrong! It’s just that… This is a once in a year opportunity I could not pass up!!!” Rentaro collapsed to his knees. 

    “I understand what you mean, but that’s just going too far, don't you think? I’m all for indulging your desires, but trying to get your **** all **** on someone who’s completely unaware is a bit weir-”

     “You might want to watch where you're standing by the way.” 

     “Huh?” Under the dim orange lights of the heating lamp, Shuichi could faintly see a large shadow looming over him. His heart sank, or at least it would have if this situation wasn’t all too familiar for him. As he looked up, all he could do was let out a depressing sigh before the foot of a girl he didn’t know quickly lowered onto him. It wasn’t enough to hurt him in any capacity(due to the softness of her socks, as well as the softness of the carpet), but it was enough to completely pin him against the floor. 

     Shuichi has always had a knack for getting himself into a very particular kind of trouble. Ever since he started attending school Shuichi was constantly getting himself into very compromising and perverted situations. Whether it was falling down the stairs, or tripping near the shoe lockers, Shuichi always found himself at the feet of some girl. This cycle wasn’t exclusive to micro-schools either. One time at the start of his freshman year at Okisana, Shuichi decided to spend his study-hall free time roaming around the classroom floor(secretly hoping to catch a peak at some girl's panties). After narrowly escaping death by falling eraser, Shuichi was surprised to see that the girl who had dropped it in the first place, started to reach for it with her feet. This eventually lead to him getting stuck to her sock and stuffed inside her shoe. Luckily for him, he was found eventually… after about an hour. This ‘streak of bad luck’ was purely a curse brought about by Shuichi’s vapid pervertedness, In reality, if Shuichi just tried to go through life like a completely average law-abiding high school student he probably wouldn’t find himself in such compromising positions. 

----

Fujo: A fitting curse for someone as disgusting as you!

Shuichi: It’s a perfectly healthy teenage boy interest!!

-----

      “Why does this always happen to me!! Curse this rotten luck!!” Shuichi yelled struggling against the massive weight of the foot that was currently pinning him to the ground. Rentaro tried to help him escape but, as he heard him curse what he’d personally consider a blessing, his motivation to help him slowly faded away. Nevertheless, he did end up helping Shuichi escape.

      “How dare you take something like that for granted. You’ve been blessed! Unlike me, who only finds himself stuck in some girls boobs.” Rentaro placed his hand on Shuichi’s shoulder gave him an earnest thumbs up. Shuichi was in disbelief. How could he say something as blasphemous as that?! However, it was clear that neither person had what you'd call healthy interests. 

      “You’re joking, right? How the hell could you consider getting stuck under some girl’s foot a blessing? All while saying that getting stuck in their cleavage is a curse?!” Shuichi criticized trying to look for his phone that must have fallen out of his pocket during the incident. 

     "Oh, here let me get that for you." Rentaro kindly said grabbing his phone off the ground. Much to his surprise, upon catching a glimpse of his lockscreen wallpaper Rentaro was thoroughly disgusted. "Ha, it's pretty hypocritical to call me a pervert... Mr.Sneak Photographer!!" Holding up his phone it was clear that for some reason Shuichi had a blurry picture of some girl's panties as a lockscreen wallpaper. As the two pf them argued and argued, it eventually lead to a full-on brawl over their difference in opinions. Which brings us to the present.

----

Fujo: Not even gonna ask.

Shuichi: I think that's for the best.

----

     “Umm, Shuichi? I-It’s really nice to see you and all but, why are you here?” As long as no one knew what had occurred underneath the kotatsu it was gonna be fine. And upon being caught, the two of them silently signaled to each other: ”‘Keep quiet, please!” before reluctantly lying about what had actually happened.

     “Merry Christmas Eve Megumi!! Megui invited me over to surprise you and it was really cold so I went under the kotatsu…” Shuichi was very clearly lying, and yet Megumi was too either too dense to realize or just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

      “Merry Christmas! You do not realize how happy I am to see you~ I just wish you gave me a little warning.” She gently picked him and placing him in her palm, in turn leaving Rentaro alone to face the consequences of his actions. “This is Shuichi Shinko! He’s one of my classmates from Okisana, and I guess we’re kinda boyfriend and girlfriend or something.” Megumi blushed a little, reassuring Shuichi of the fact that the two of them were in fact, a couple.

      “You idiot!” Ayame yelled pounding her fists softly against Rentaro’s chest. After seeing the tears in her eyes Rentaro was honestly touched by how worried she was. “Next time you wanna do something stupid like that then… you can just ask m-me.” She yelled, very quietly murmuring the last part. Typically during this interaction, the harem protagonist(Rentaro) would either say something like, “Huh? What did you say?” or he wouldn’t have heard it in the first place, but since this a non-canon Christmas special we can overcome those cliches!!

     “You really mean it?” Rentaro grabbed Ayame’s hand only to be punched straight in the gut.

      “Ha! That was j-just a t-t-test! Jeez, now I know you really are a pervert!” Trying to hide the intense blush on her face, Ayame ran away before Rentaro had a chance to recover from her punch. 

      Moving right along, the conversation turned to Shuichi and her relationship with Megumi and after a few minutes of idle chit chat, Megumi eventually began recalling a cherished memory from her past.

----

Fujo: I forgot this was supposed to be a hmjshort story collection.

Shuichi: Haha, very funny! 

----

      One year ago on a relatively cold night, a stunning girl with white hair slowly walked down the street admiring the pretty Christmas lights and stopping at every donation box on the way to her destination. By the time she reached the house of a certain student council president, she was practically flat broke.

      “Bzzzt!!” Upon ringing the doorbell Megumi was greeted by the one and only Akane Shinko. Perfectly beautiful and perfectly dressed, she held her brother Shuichi in the palm of her hand. 

      “Welcome! Make yourself at ho-”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Actually, wait! Nevermind. I’m not mentally prepared to tell that story yet!!” Megumi turned her head in embarrassment. In all honesty, her memories from that time weren’t exactly the clearest due to a certain accident that occurred while they were opening presents. In short, Megumi ended up accidentally eating a bunch of liquor chocolates and the rest was history.

----

Fujo: Saying she ate “a bunch” is most definitely an understatement. In reality, I think she ate almost a dozen of those things. That girl really pigs out when it comes to sweets so, it’s no wonder she got shit-faced drunk.

Shuichi: Not gonna lie, Megumi’s super hot when she’s drunk.

Fujo: Is it me or is your pervertedness turned up to 10 or something?

----

      “U-Uh can I get another minute to think about my story.” She let out a nervous laugh. “A-And plus, I need to give Nana my phone so I can’t participate just yet!” Scrambling for an excuse Megumi pulled Nana into the kitchen. It was kinda funny how even in a casual setting like this Megumi still found a way to be overwhelmed by the pressure of speaking in front of a crowd. 

      In the meantime, Megumi had unintentionally left Mai, Rentaro, Ayame, and Shuichi all alone with what might have been the most infamous bullies in school. But, there was no need to worry because both Bunny and Furyu were still there. However, there was a slight problem. Furyu was asleep on the sofa, while Bunny was still hung up about the fact that Shuichi and Rentaro put their lives in danger over a simple act of pervertedness. So hung up about it, that she decided to personally lecture the both of them. If you couldn’t tell, Bunny isn’t exactly fond of perverts.

      “Why would you endanger your own life just to sneak a peek at some girls?! I mean, honestly, what’s wrong with you??” Bunny slammed her hand down on the kotatsu in front of Shuichi and Rentaro. Megumi may have believed their excuse, but Bunny very clearly knew the gist of things.

      “I-I wasn’t peeking at anythin-” Shuichi attempted to lie his way out of the situation while Rentaro on the other hand, was slightly more “truthful” about his intentions.

      “It was a once a year opportunity we could not pass up!!” Flashing a sly smile this may have seemed like his way of very blatantly throwing Shuichi under the bus but in actuality, Rentaro just didn’t want to something as detrimental as that on his conscious. No matter what punishment came his way, Rentaro at least wanted to deliver an honest answer, because unlike the many bad luck accidents he’s found himself in, he was actually being a pervert this time and deserved to be treated like one. “I’m genuinely sorry for what I’ve done, it’s just that… your thigh-highs are the best!!!” He yelled assuming that Bunny was the mystery girl he “indulged” himself on.

      “Thigh-highs? What do you mean?” Looking down Rentaro saw that Bunny had a pair of grey wool socks on. Looking around at the other three girls, Rentaro was shocked to see that fate may have lead him actually lead him astray in this case.

      “Thigh-highs? What do you mean?” Looking down Rentaro saw that Bunny had a pair of grey wool socks on. Looking around at the other three girls, Rentaro was shocked to see that fate may have lead him actually lead him astray in this case.

      “Gross, there’s some sticky stuff on my socks…” Sekira said, looking at the sole of her socks. Finally realizing what happened Rentaro profusely apologized once more, hoping that no one else would find out about what had actually happened under the kotatsu.

     After all their attempts to pass time, it was clear that they couldn’t wait out this blizzard with mere stories. Following Furyu’s example, almost everyone agreed that the best course of action was to get some shut-eye and hope that the blizzard goes away by morning. 

     “Hey, Rentaro~ I’ll keep you safe during the night, so why don’t you and I get some... alone time?” Sekira stared at him, practically salivating at the chance to sleep with him. Initially, Rentaro didn’t think much of this very blatant sexual approach.

     “Sure! As long as you’re OK with it, I don’t see a problem.” Rentaro, who has always slept with his younger sister when she was little, didn’t see a problem with sleeping with normal people. However, to any normal person and/or tiny, it sounded like he had a deathwish.     

     “Cut it out and leave him alone, you minx!” Ayame forcefully pulled him away, shooting a hateful glare toward her. She wasn’t just mad at Sekira most of her anger was towards Rentaro. ‘That idiot! How dense can you be?!’ She thought, clenching her fist.

     “Why don’t you learn your place, bug? Unless you want to end up a stain on the floor, accidentally of course.” She provoked, trying to intimidate the tiny girl. But, she wasn’t having it. After seeing(or hearing) Tomoya’s very bold interaction with Alice and the other girls, Ayame was filled with some newfound confidence in herself, even if it was a bit unjustified.

     “You think some empty threat like that would scare me?! As if a ***** like you could eve-” She was cut off by Sekira as she slammed her fist down a few centimeters away from crushing her.

     “What was that?!” In a mere moment, every single ounce of Ayame’s confidence was shattered. 

     “You guys…” Bunny feebly tried and failed to stop their confrontation, but gave up after realizing that none of her words were getting through.

     As Mai stared on, she began to feel an intense melancholic feeling befall her. It was always the same. No matter what, without fail! Against the minuscule resistance of a micro, there really was no way of standing up to someone who was 100x's larger than you. And as the school's micro representative she's seen and experienced that time and time again.

     Those stupidly brave people with naive hearts, who try to break the status quo either end up ignored and embarrassed or smashed flat against the floor, violently killed off in a fraction of a second. However, to say that those people were stupid would be the definition of hypocrisy. For Mai was exactly that kind of person. Stupidly brave, with a heart of pure ambition. She may have been humiliated and ignored in the past but there was no way in hell that she'd take it sitting down. Deciding to do some self-reflection Mai thought back to a time in which her determination and justice prevailed against the tyranny of the normal students at Hanichi High. 

    1 year ago…     

     Amidst the cold winter air, was the young micro-representative Mai Ogasaki. With a megaphone in hand, she yelled her lungs off for the sole method of protesting against the injustices her fellow students had to face daily. Though, as loud as she may have been, her striking words fell upon deaf ears. As both micro and normal students idly passed her by. 

     "Um, I think that's a good sign that we should stop." One of her fellow council members consoled, silently hoping to be freed from the hateful and annoyed stares of some of the normal students that walked by.
     "Lunch just started! It's way too early to stop now."

     "But no one is-"

      "That's not the point. The point of protesting is to bring attention to serious issues and express our opinions. As long as our words stick in the heads of these students, then that's all that matters!" She looked at him with a determined smile. It didn't make sense to him at first, but he soon realized that Mai was right! Soon the boy would even find himself protesting, and as shaky or nervous his voice may have been, Mai deeply appreciated the help! 

     "HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WERE IN OUR POSITION!?! I bet you wouldn't…" For some inexplicable reason, he decided to stop protesting outright. Seeing what the commotion was about, Mai turned to see the boy completely frozen with fear.

    "No, I don't know how I would feel if I was in your position, and honestly I don't care!" An annoyed passerby said, as she slowly approached the scared boy. "Now would you mind quieting down a bit?!" Grabbing him by the arm, the girl attempted to crush the megaphone that he had held so tightly in his hand, but as she tightened her grasp things didn't exactly go as planned.

 
     Mai was helpless to stop the girl. As she shakingly brought her megaphone closer to her mouth, she wanted to yell out for help but she couldn't find the words. Struck by intense fear and worry her throat dried up, and any words that did surface were jumbled, stuttered, and shaky. As she finally obtained the courage to speak up, all that courage was shattered as the boy let out a blood-curdling scream.

 
     "Oops~ I was trying to crush just the megaphone, but I guess I put too much pressure on your arm. Sorry, but it's your fault for being so delicate…" Wiping the blood off her finger, the girl let out a sickening giggle as she dropped the boy roughly onto the ground. He squirmed in agony grasping at his arm that was no longer there. As blood gushed rapidly the boy found himself fading in and out of consciousness. 
Looking at how pathetic he was made the girl super uncomfortable, and deep down she felt a little bad for him. 

     "Here I'll try to put you out of your misery…" Trying to think of a method to humanely kill the young boy, the girl remembered that a very sad and lonely micro in her class once said, that if given the option, they'd rather be crushed by a girl's barefoot rather than their shoe or sock. It seemed easy enough and the girl wasn't wearing socks, to begin with. It was the least she could do after what she had done.

     Lowering barefoot onto the boy, she tried crushing his puny body with the ball of her foot only to realize that the boy had rolled out of harm's way at the last second, or so he thought. As he looked down all he saw were the crushed remains of both of his legs. Unable to react, the pain emerged suddenly and the boy let out yet another blood-curdling scream.

     "Jeez, what were you thinking? Well, know that you brought that upon yourself. This was supposed to be quick and painless, but you decided to add some more suffering to the mix. Are you a masochist or something?! In any case, take solace in the fact that you were killed by a beautiful girl like me~" She lowered her foot once more, crushing what remained of the sad boy's body under the weight of her toe. As Mai looked on in horror, she soon realized what was about to happen. 

    "Crap, I forgot that they were two of you… I don't wanna get expelled or something so, I guess it's your turn to die. Nothing personal." As the girl approached Mai, her heart started to beat rapidly. She couldn't believe that her death was going to be so imminent and she didn't believe it was her turn to die. Fueled by pure adrenaline, Mai yelled furiously into her megaphone with every bit of strength she had left.

 
     "HEELLLLLPPPPP!!!!!" With enough volume to completely kill her throat, Mai's wishes were answered in the form of a nearby teacher quickly rushing to her rescue. Her speed at which she jumped into action, was honestly staggering. Masterfully pinning the murderous girl to the wall the teacher felt a huge wave of regret after seeing the boy's crushed remains. 

     "I'm sorry I wasn't around earlier to stop this from happening…" She tightened her grip around the girl's wrist in pure anger. Looking down at Mai she apologized profusely once more before unnecessarily tightening her restraint on the girl, once again. 

    "It's fine… Ms.Shizuka." Mai let out an incredibly pained smile, massaging her exhausted throat. "What's most important is that you stopped her…" Staring at the boys crushed remains Mai felt an intense feeling of depression followed a huge sense of duty. With her cry for help, she was able to properly avenge the boy and bring his murderer to justice. 

    "Ogasaki, before I alert the authorities, would you like me to take you to the nurse's office?" It was clear that Mai was in no condition to even be talking, let alone protestesting. That scream took everything out of her and as much as she wanted to continue, going to the nurse was the only option.
    A few minutes later, Mai was staring at the ceiling of the Micro nurse's office thinking about what had happened she felt a little more comfortable knowing that she was able to bring the hammer of justice down on someone as awful as that girl. The next day, Mai stayed home to let her throat heal. And upon returning to school, she learned that the girl had been expelled.

     "We heard what happened and honestly… You're amazing Ogasaki." As she received praise from her fellow micros, she couldn't help but feel completely dissatisfied by every single compliment that came her way. It was partially her fault for not taking his advice to heart. She didn't need compliments or reassurement, all she needed to do was keep fighting to make sure something like that would never happen again… 

     Thinking back on that moment filled Mai with all the courage she needed to break up the fight that was currently going on at the Christmas party.

     "Bunny, how would you feel if you failed to save someone's life?" Mai asked blankly upon seeing how she was struggling to get a word out.

     “I’d probably feel really sad, and regret not being able to save them…” She looked down, thinking about depressing situations like that, really wasn’t healthy for someone as positive as her. But, as she looked at the scene in front of her she finally realized how much of a fraidy-cat she was being. If she didn’t help out, one of her friends could be hurt, or even worse… 

     She didn’t worry about getting a word out anymore, in fact, she didn’t even need words to deal with this situation.

     “Stop fighting right now!!!” She yelled softly tackling Sekira into the carpet. “A party is no place to be fighting so just drop it… please!!!” After all the commotion she had stirred up, there was no way anyone would be able to discreetly harm anyone. Taking initiative, Bunny then took all the micros into Megumi’s room so they could rest peacefully. And after a few minutes, the situation had finally died down to the point of which everyone was comfortable enough to get some shut-eye.

     “Guys, I think I’m finally ready to tell my story…” As Megumi and Nana got back to the living room, they found that everyone had gone to sleep. Furthermore, it seemed as if Bunny had the hindsight to leave a note, saying that micros Megumi’s room.

     “Well, I guess it’s a bit late for that…” Nana chuckled giving Megumi her phone back before finding comfortable spot on the sofa. “Good night!” 

     “Zzzz… So soft, and squishy.” Furyu mumbled grasping at something in her sleep. In her hands was an incredibly squishy and bouncy… ‘ball-like’ object. Groggily opening her eyes, she stared at the sleeping Megumi before smirking playfully. “Wake the hell up, it's Christmas!!” Laughing she gave Megumi’s bosom a hefty slap, jutting her awake.

     “I’m up!! I-I’m awake! Merry Christmas!” Her startled reaction was enough to wake up the other girls, who were sprawled across the living room floor. Glancing outside at the snow-covered street the sun was gleaming against the pure white snow. Before even greeting everyone with a cheery morning greeting, Megumi ran upstairs checking to see if all the micros were safe and sound.

     “Goooooood morning!!” Opening her bedroom door, Megumi came face to face with quite an interesting scene. Piled up cuddling together, it seemed as if Mai and Ayame had rolled soundly in their sleep straight onto Rentaro. With a faceful of Mai’s bountiful bosom, and a handful of Ayame’s average breasts from Shuichi’s perspective Rentaro was in heaven. Looking on in depression, Shuichi realized just how lonely and he was.

     “There's no point in living anymore..." Shuichi curled up into a fetal position. Absolute jealousy filled every inch of his being. And as Megumi struggled to grasp why he seemed so downtrodden. 

"You must have had a nightmare, haha!" She assumed, gently picking him up. Wanting to make him feel better Megumi slowly brought Shuichi, closer to her chest. "Don't worry! I'll keep you safe until you feel better!" On one hand, he enjoyed being so close to her monolithic mammaries. On the other hand, Shuichi didn't feel all too comfortable being babied by someone who was technically younger than him(he was 2 months older than her). Nevertheless, Shuichi was still happy to get in some quality 'physical contact' with his girlfriend.

     Letting the three of rest a little longer Megumi decided to very quietly exit the room with Shuichi in hand. However, as the loud startled screams of both Mai and Ayame echoed from her room, Megumi soon regretted leaving the three of them alone. Thinking that something had happened, she hastily opened the door only to see a battered and bruised Rentaro, with two bright red slap marks plastered square across his face. Upon seeing this Shuichi finally realized that Rentaro wasn’t exactly as ‘lucky’ as he seemed. After profusely apologizing to the girls, Rentaro was fully awake and ready to enjoy this wonderful Christmas day! 

     As Megumi made her way downstairs, she was surprised to see that Bunny, Alice, Nana Sekira, and Tsumi had left early. Considering how they weren’t even supposed to spend the night in the first place, it made sense as to why they left early. As disappointed as she may have seemed, Megumi was kinda relieved that they left, mostly because she didn’t have enough gifts for everyone at the party. 

     “Speaking of presents… I hope you guys enjoy the gifts I got for everyone!!” Megumi set everyone down and brought out everyone’s presents. 

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Fujo: In all honesty, we really had no idea what to put here so as a New Year/Late Christmas present. So we’ll just be giving you guy’s a sneak peek at two upcoming stories. (Vote for what you want to see first, in the comments).

Shuichi: The first story follows the adventures of the pure-hearted Mecha pilot as he protects his country from the other-dimensional parasites known as “Injectors,” which latch onto women and turn them into monolithic giantesses called Crowns. When all hope is lost Yamato is chosen to lead a team of “very interesting” individuals. 

Fujo: Here’s a sneak peek of the first chapter of GTMECHA: SS!!!

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     The silent hum of the elevator created a melancholic feeling of uneasiness. After not being in contact with your own mother for the better part of a decade, who wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Yamato Issunkyoji is a second-generation mecha pilot and the only boy in a family of 6. Unlike his 4 other sisters, he didn’t have any special skills or shining brilliance. But what he lacked in general talent, he made up for in determination and ambition. Yamato was not only extremely eager to help whenever he was needed, but he also had an extremely pure-heart. 

     “So… how have you been?” Trying to break the awkward silence he desperately tried to start a conversation with his mother. Exchanging idle chit-chat with someone as intimidating as her, was a pipe dream and if she wasn't his mother, Yamato would be scared to death by just talking to her.

     “I appreciate your concern, but I’d prefer if you went over the mission briefing.” If you couldn’t tell Yamato’s mother, Maya, wasn’t exactly the friendliest person. In fact, she was very much the opposite. Maya Issunkyoji was a needlessly strict, and harsh person who always seemed to put work above anything else. Typically this wouldn’t be the best trait to have as a mother, but considering how important her job was it was blatantly clear as to why. Maya is a lead commander and head of the injector extermination organization known as EXTRACT. Which means, it’s extremely important. In short, EXTRACT is responsible for eradicating and stopping the otherworldly parasites known as, “Injectors” before they infect any living creatures.

     “R-Right…”  Pulling out his phone, he stared blankly at his emails trying to find the “briefing” she was talking about. But, no matter how hard he looked he couldn’t find it. Other than a few messages from former team members, and the initial email requesting his presence there were no signs of a briefing or any “official” summons.

    “Well, I don’t see it right now… but I’m sure it’ll all be explained to me in no time.” Flashing a naive smile, Yamato thought maybe acting as he did back when he was a kid might cheer his mom up a bit(though, if you were to compare his younger attitude to his attitude as an “adult”(turned 18 a couple of days ago) you’d struggle intensely to spot the difference).

     “You really are hopeless…” She sighed handing him a needlessly thick stack of documents. “Everything you need to know is in that stack of papers. I expect you to read them before we arrive at our next stop.” 

     Looking at the elevator, Yamato was still amazed by how deep this facility went. A few minutes ago they were on the first floor of EXTRACT facility SH-140 and now they were nearly 50 floors down. His amazement was almost enough to distract him from the extremely impossible task that was just assigned to him. 

     “I’ll give it my all!!” Flipping through the documents, he was bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information. Graphs, schematics, diagrams, x-rays, and of course, nearly 200 paragraphs of unfamiliar words and scientific terms. Giving up halfway through the first page, Yamato desperately tried to change the subject. “Oh looks like we’ve arrived!” Quickly exiting the elevator, Yamato finally realized where they were, as he was hit with a comforting wave of nostalgia. 

     “Wipe that stupid smile off your face and let's get going.” She glared, walking out of the elevator. 

     “Sorry, it’s just that, this place looks exactly like the mech hangar they had back at the old EXTRACT trainee facility. Brings back a lot of memories ya know…” He scratched his head looking at the long stretching hallways and futuristic looking doors. Though as much as it looked similar something seemed… weird. The ceilings and doorways were unusually tall and large, and there only seemed to be 1 actual mech repair station as opposed to the usual 5. That wasn’t exactly weird per se, but what was weird was the fact that the other 4 stations seemed to be replaced with labeled doorways that were nearly 100 meters tall (300 feet). “Makoto, Satsuki, Lillith, and Aria. ‘Those must be the nicknames the pilots gave to their mechs!’ He thought.

     “Those rooms belong to your new team members.” A very soft and kind sounding voice came from behind, followed by a light tap on the shoulder. “Long time no see, big brother!” Right behind him was a girl, very petite and short in stature. Dressed in a slightly over-sized lab coat, her short yet ergonomic hair accented her cutesy exterior perfectly, while her bulky square-rimmed glasses complimented her pure-white lab coat creating a stereotypical scientist vibe. It was hard to believe that this girl was in her mid 20’s, though, if you ignored her height she’d fit the part perfectly.

     “What do you mean by ‘big brother?’ Aren’t you 3 years older than me?!” He laughed pulling her into a friendly hug. “Honestly though, it’s really nice to see you Shizue!” 

     “Same, but I gotta say, I thought you'd be more flustered after hearming me call you big brother.” Her cheerful giggle was more than enough to heal Yamato’s heart after that terrifying elevator ride. “I guess we’ll be working together.” She extended her arm shaking Yamato’s hand. Seeing her act this professional was weird but unlike a certain other person, she actually seemed happy to be here.

     “Shizue, your idiot brother doesn’t even know why he’s here. So, before you act all professional towards him, I’d suggest you fill him in on the details.” Talking with a cold expression and stern tone, she rudely grabbed the papers from his hands and walked into the elevator once again. “I expect to see the two of you in my office once you’re done!”

     “Moving right along…” She took his hand taking him into her lab. “I’ll be giving you a brief explanation of what your role here is. In short, our new team of recruits aren’t doing so hot in the teamwork department, so we’d like you to help ‘bend them into shape.” She tapped away on her computer, turning the screen so it would face him. On the screen was some security footage of 4 normal-looking teenage girls as they did mundane activities in the comfort of their cozy rooms. 

     “Seems easy enough!” Yamoto was kinda a natural born leader, which meant he was always doing stuff like this.

     “Well, you won’t be thinking that for soon.” She looked at her watch and changed the screen so that it would be displaying the footage from the hallway. 

     “Warning! Warning! For safety purposes please evacuate the hallways immediately!!” Soon after the loud sirens and warning, loud thunderous sounds almost in the rhythm of footsteps started to reverberate from the hallway outside the lab. As the door labeled “Aria” slowly opened, one of the girls emerged. Her long dark blue hair long was long enough to cover an entire city block, and even with a slim body she probably weighed more than a ton.

     “Huh..?” Yamato stared at the security footage in awe with a terrified expression. 

     “Welcome to the GTMECHA program! It’s nice to have you aboard.” She smiled slyly almost as if she was pleased to see how shocked he was

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Fujo: A classic mecha story with giant girls! What more could you ask for!

Shuichi: Yeah, but that’s not all. We have another upcoming story to show you.

Fujo: “Are you willing to fall in love with a girl who’s 100x’s your size, even if she's a cutie?” In a world ravaged by rampaging giantesses, one “completely normal” high school student is tasked with stopping their spree of destruction… by having them fall in love with him?! Join Ren Hasegawa as he learns the trials and tribulations of falling in love with girls that are taller than most buildings.

Shuichi: We don’t have a title for this one yet so we’ll just call it GTLOVERS for the time being!

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     Standing in an empty city, Ren’s heart shuttered as a rhythm of thunderous ear-splitting footsteps slowly approached him. How did he find himself in this situation, or rather, why did he choose to participate?

     When Ren Hasegawa found out that he was virtually invincible due to a 1/100,000,000 gene called “aelineam” he thought he’d actually be safe against the endless onslaught of giantesses as they assaulted and destroyed the populated cities of this world. But, much to his dismay, he was scouted and appointed as the last bastion against a threat that was many times bigger than himself. He remembered the words he was told as the cute nurse took his vitals before the mission. 

     “You might agonize in excruciating pain, but at the end of the day if you calm that ‘girl’ down you would be saving hundreds of thousands of lives.” He couldn’t disappoint that adorable smile and those perky boobs, for the sake of her and all the other cute girls, he was gonna accomplish this monumental task even if it meant coming face to face with certain demise.

     As the giantess approached the city Ren stared at her in awe as her immensely tall legs shot up to the heavens. She was a slim looking girl, whose height was 357 meters tall(1154 feet). She had a head of fiery red hair that stretched all the way down her back, and bust that wouldn’t quit. She was definitely cute, heck, some would even call her sexy but, as she stood now, she was nothing but an instrument of destruction playing the song of terror for millions of people. 

     ‘They’re the same as normal girls. They’re the same as normal girls.’ He closed his eyes repeating the same thing to himself over and over again trying to calm himself down. As he slowly opened his eyes he noticed that the area he was standing in was a lot darker for some reason. Looking up, Ren’s heart sank as the sole of her shoe descended onto him with the force 1000 tonnes of TNT. Under her massive weight, Ren felt every single bone in his body splinter and shatter in mere milliseconds. The pain was more than excruciating but after a few seconds, he had fully healed. 

     “Tch, all these buildings are empty. I was hoping to have some fun.” She sighed, casually destroying a nearby city block. Her official name was M14a, but a lot of people just call her Mira. She’s an infamous giantess known for sadistically crushing cities intentionally striking fear in anyone that caught her eye. All the more reason to have Ren stop her.

     “W-Wait!!” He yelled. Look I know what you’re thinking, ‘how could someone so massive even hear a tiny person like him?’ well the answer’s pretty simple. As soon as the giantess enters the area, small drones fly up and attach to their heads acting as cameras, or in this case, speakers that connected to a small (durable) microphone embedded in his throat.

     “Huh?” She looked around confused as to where the sound was coming from.

     “Over here! I-I want to talk with you.” He yelled once more shooting a flare up into the air.

     “How cute! Though, why would I want to talk with a pathetic thing like you?” She looked down on him(literally) smirking at his minuscule display.

     “Because-” In an instant, her foot had descended onto him once more. Stomping on him with all her might she rubbed her shoe rapidly up and down using the surrounding roads and buildings as a doormat. With a twisted giggle, the giantess thought she had completely exterminated the tiny pest. Much to her dismay, Ren wasn’t the type of person to just die after being crushed by over 571 tons of pure bodyweight. “I-I think you’re kinda cute. And I was hoping that I cheer you up!” Crawling out of the crumbled rubble he shot out one more flare.

     “C-Cute?! How the hell are you even alive?” She stared at the speck, shocked by just how durable he seemed to be. “Actually, it’s better that you’re still alive. Think of all the fun I could have with a durable toy like you.” She giggled maniacally grabbing the incredibly small Ren. As her sharp nails dug their way into his chest he realized that he was in for a world of pain. 

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Fujo: vote for which one you want to see and that story will be one that gets written after HIH: Alternative!!

Shuichi: I hope you enjoyed these sneak peeks!

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