(Extra Unfinished Idea 46.5) Tape Removal (0.50 cm >0.45 cm)
“Nguuuu… Why did Senpai do that? This is really tough...”
“Mfffpt!”
“Hold still, Touya. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can...”
“Mgrk!”
“Uwah… Only half of it peeled off?”
Getting the tape removed from me was more of a struggle than Yae and I expected. After Senpai rolled me up in it and handed me to Yae, it was time for lunch, but before we could eat, Yae was doing her best to free me. Considering I was less than 5 millimeters tall now, I had no ability to fight the adhesive as Yae pinched my speck of a body between her fingers and tried to get me unstuck from the tape.
This was actually a problem. I didn’t know how much air I had left while wrapped up in the transparent tape. I was actually a little thankful to have shrunken a little more because there was now more room for me to breathe. Being in the center of Yae’s expansive palm, I frowned because being unable to break out of the sticky prison on my own was frustrating.
“It’s no use…,” Yae frowned, giving up. “Sorry, Touya. I can’t figure out a way to get you out of there.”
“Still can’t get him out, Yaecchi?” coming to the rescue was Nomiya. The gyaru approached, causing my view outside of the slightly opaque tape to fill with her tan face.
“No, Nomiya-san,” Yae shook her head. “Touya’s stuck really tight. And I’m afraid of getting a pair of scissors because it might hurt him.”
I was thankful Yae chose not to use that option. I didn’t want to be guillotined.
“Mgwaaah!” picking the ball of tape between her painted nails, Nomiya plucked me out of Yae’s hand, hanging me over her face so she could get a better look at me. Looking into her eyes that were blue from the colored contact she used, I felt as though I was being seen right through.
“Hm...” the gyaru mumbled as she inspected me. “He’s really stuck there. Hey~yo~! Kiri-shii! Do you want my help?”
I did want to get out, but I could tell Nomiya wanted something out of it. She was trying to make a deal with me. Considering I couldn’t actually talk to her, I wondered why she even bothered to address me.
“You have a way to get Touya out, Nomiya-san?”
“Mhmm,” she nodded. “I have some warm water and a brush to help scrape the sticky stuff away. I’ll help if you let me take some photos of Kiri-shii.”
As expected of someone who wanted to be a pro photographer, that was what she wanted. If it was just that, I didn’t mind at all, though it wasn’t in my power to give permission. It was Yae’s decision, and she allowed it - anything to get me out of the adhesive trap.
With her permission, the tanned girl took me and Yae over to her table where she had a thermos of warm water and a makeup brush.
“Are you sure this is okay, Nomiya-san?” Yae asked, concerned when she poured some warm water out directly onto the table.
“No idea. But tape usually gets weaker if you use water, right?” she shrugged.
So even she wasn’t sure? That wasn’t very encouraging. But I couldn’t say a word as Nomiya used her finger to roll me around the puddle on the table. I could feel the liquid spread around me and the adhesive. It was warm so it was less of a shock when it splashed on my face. I was, however, getting dizzy as I was rolled around beneath Nomiya’s long index finger.
“Urgh… My stomach…,” were the only words I could really say when Nomiya was done coating the tape in water. The liquid drenched my clothes. I felt heavy because of that. The tape, however, did feel a bit weaker. I was still stuck to it as though it was flypaper, but it was easier to fight its pull now.
That was when Nomiya pulled out one of her hair pins.
Slam!
“Hold still, Kiri-shii. I’m not as good as Shino-non when it comes to precision, but this shouldn’t be that hard,” she told me after pinning me down with her finger.
What Nomiya was doing was sticking the tip of the hair pin into the slight opening there was in the tape. I watched as an enormous rod slipped through the gap in the ball of tape and began pushing around. The unbreakable walls surrounding me were pulled apart dexterously by the gyaru’s hair pin.
I was able to breathe air again. Nomiya had successfully undone the mess of tape that had been stuck together all around me.
She wasn’t done yet, though. I was still clinging to it. When she took her finger away, I found that all of my arms and legs were spread apart and my face was looking up at the distant ceiling lights that were like the sun to me. All the while, both of the girls were peering down at me.
This really reminded me of a dissection table. The fact that Nomiya had a cat-like smile on her face while holding her hair pin in one hand and a brush in the other did not fill me with comfort. I knew she was helping me, but it was clear that my vulnerable size made me act on my instincts more than my mind. And my instincts were telling me to be fearful.
I didn’t have to be though. I had to appreciate that of all of the people to come to help, it was Nomiya. I had to admit my own faults - I misunderstood the gyarus because they were… well… gyarus… Nomiya and her friends were a very kind and friendly bunch. After the week was over, I promised I’d talk to them properly and maybe see if I could make friends with them.
In order to get me off the tape without hurting me, Nomiya slowly combed over me with her makeup brush. Well, combed wasn’t the proper way to phrase it from my perspective. Though it would probably be gentle enough to barely be felt by the normals, it felt like I was being smacked repeatedly with a broom. Each individual strand was thick compared to my minute size so I could feel each one hit me.
The first few passes were moderately successful. I was able to get my left arm and leg freed from the girl’s efforts. However, because the rest of me was still stuck, the gyaru had to take further action. “Yaecchi, you can clean Kiri-shii after this, right?”
“Well, yes. Sensei gave me a Cleaning Balm I can use in case Touya needs it.”
I wondered what Nomiya’s plan was, but immediately realized what it was when she dipped her brush in something. A powder roughly the same color of the girl’s tanned skin covered the brush.
“Oh jeez,” I closed my eyes and held my breath as Nomiya brushed the entire piece of tape and my body with her powder foundation. I did not want to breathe it in. I could feel my entire body coated in the tan colored dust. My uniform, hair, and face all got colored by Nomiya.
“Perfect,” I heard the girl before I was smacked aside by the brush. I was knocked off of the adhesive successfully, although now I was covered in powder.
Cough. Cough.
“Urgh… Wow… So she really got me out…,” I struggled to stand up. I tried wiping the powder clinging to my body, but there was just so much. The fact that I was wet from the water earlier also meant that the foundation was absorbing it. It felt grimy and uncomfortable. When I got enough of the dust out of my eyes, I looked up to see the gyaru and Yae give each other a pair of high-fives.
“You did it Nomiya-san!”
“It was totes easy, Yaecchi!” Nomiya smiled. “So that means I get a photo session, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course,” Yae nodded before turning to look down at me. I could see she was trying to hold back her smile and failing. “Pfft… Er… But maybe I should wipe off Touya first… Snrk!... He’s all tan now.”
“Heh,” Nomiya couldn’t hide her own snickers. She flashed me a peace sign. “Kiri-shii, you look good with that on you. Maybe you should let me do your make up for you. Or maybe nails too. I can give you a totes awesome sky blue coating like my toes.”
“Um… Nomiya-san, Touya’s smaller than your nail though. Wouldn’t you just completely cover him up?”
“That’s the point, Yaecchi. A blue man Touya would make a great photo, don’t you think?”
I didn’t want to be covered in nail polish or be associated with anything that was associated with the girl’s toes. As much as I was thankful to Nomiya for tearing me out of the adhesive ball of tape, I shook my head vigorously.
With that troublesome issue out of the way though, Yae decided to end things there and get me cleaned up. It was now time for lunch, and we didn’t want to miss a minute of that.