“... Yeah. It’s fine. The house can handle her. It’s not like you two stay here much anyways.”
“...Yes, Ayame-san will be checking in on us. She trusts Yae less than she trusts me.”
“... Hey, this isn’t a waste of studying time… Hrgh, just stop, okay? I’ve heard this a thousand times. Now I’ve got to go pick up Yae. I’ll talk to you later. Tell the old man I said hello too.”
I sighed after I finished packing things into my sports bag that morning. A phone call with my mother wasn’t welcome when she was trying to check up on me. I tried to push my thoughts to the back of my mind. I had other concerns that Tuesday morning as I looked at the clock.
“Yae’s not here yet, I guess I should go see how her night went.”
Considering she typically got up earlier than me, it was an odd feeling leaving the house without Yae around. It was going to be the other way around today apparently. I swung the strap of my sports bag over my shoulder, grabbed my book bag with my opposite arm, and left my house.
Today was second day of Magnification Week. That meant Yae had definitely gotten bigger since I had last seen her. Although I knew the precise maximum scale that the Magnification had been set as, it was still, as Yae often put it, surreal how the pace went. I recalled my own drops in height back during Reduction Week. While the pace was slow at first, it would escalate later.
I was actually a little hesitant when I knocked on the Asano family’s door, expected to be immediately greeted by an over 3 meter Yae. Instead, I met her 173 cm mother.
“Good morning, Ayame-san,” I greeted Yae’s mother who opened the door for me. “Is Yae ready yet?”
“Oh, good morning, Touya-kun. If you don’t mind, come in. Yae’s almost ready. She had a lot of trouble adjusting this morning.”
“How bad was it?” I asked curiously.
“Ah, well, you’ll see when you come in,” smiled Ayame-san. She put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide that smile, but it still showed through.
It was impressive how casually Ayame-san was speaking regarding her daughter’s Magnification. Her job of dealing with both Reduced and Magnified workers must have been this seem commonplace to her.
It certainly wasn’t to me. When I stepped inside and peered over into the living room, I spotted my childhood friend. It was a strange sight to see a 320 cm Yae sitting on her living room floor, especially with her 8 year old little sister for reference. Even with her butt on the floor, the 128 cm Yuri wasn’t even up to her chin. Just from looking, I could tell that Yae’s legs were longer than the girl was tall.
“Onee-chan, your socks are huge!” giggled the primary schooler who wasn’t the least bit intimidated by her older sister. She was holding one of Yae’s stockings which looked more like a trash bag in size. Much like her legs, the black thigh-high was longer than she was tall.
“Yuri, give that back. Touya will be here any minute,” Yae was hesitant to snatch her belongings back forcibly.
I could actually feel her weighty motions as she moved her arms and turned her body while seated. She was actually making things shake. I wondered how much weight she had gained after effectively doubling in size, though I resisted the urge to spark the raging fire that would be Yae’s weight worries. I was occasionally reckless but never a reckless fool.
Still, this was a treat. Roughly 160 cm of bare leg were sprawled out on the floor of the living room. Considering Yae was a fan of both pantyhose and thigh-high socks, seeing her bare legs was a rarity.
“Touya-kun, it’s rude to stare,” giggled Yae’s mother. My lecherous gaze did not go unnoticed.
“Eh?” Yae heard her mother and turned around to see me at the entryway. “Touya! You’re already here?”
The moment she shifted her body to turn around, Yae’s uniform skirt was lifted upwards when her legs swept across the room. My eyes were pulled to the sight of a pair of black underwear.
“Kyaa! Don’t look!” Yae screamed, forcing her skirt down with her hands.
“S-sorry,” I turned away, my nose tingling. I was sure my face was red.
I half-expected Ayame-san to shake her head and scold me for looking at Yae inappropriately, but to my surprise, she giggled.
“I told you not to get embarrassed, Yae. You’re wearing the Magnification Bloomers over your underwear aren’t you?”
“I-I know, Okaa-san. It’s just hard to get used to… These feel different than the ones we use when we play tennis too.”
“Well, those aren’t bloomers, so I suppose they would feel different.”
Bloomers? They looked just like a pair of panties to me. There were a number of questions I wanted to ask regarding how accepting Ayame-san was to having her daughter’s underwear shown, but now my mind was filled with thoughts on why it was okay to show bloomers that looked like underwear. The old school bloomers I read about in manga before were long since gone in the current day and age so their use confused me.
I did not have a chance to ask my question however, as my mind was distracted when Yae stood up after putting on her socks. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the sight of my childhood friend who was now twice her usual height. She had to bend down to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling of the Asano family home.
“U-Uh… G-Good morning, Yae,” I stammered. I wasn’t sure where to look. I was barely chest high with Yae the previous night but was around waist high now. Her legs were like utility poles - solid, tall pillars that I felt a brief urge to just wrap my arms around to get a feel of how thick they were.
Yae noticed my dropped jaw. Her nervousness disappeared immediately and was replaced by gentle laughter. “Fufu~ Good morning, Touya. What’s with the face?”
The best way to put it was that I was mesmerized. “This is strangely more attractive than when I was smaller…”
“Oh men,” Ayame-san sighed while smiling. “Don’t worry, Touya-kun. This is a natural response at first. You’ll get used to it slowly.”
The psychological effects of Magnification included us guys too. I tried to close my mouth and calm down again. I did so by addressing Yuri, who was barely at the level of Yae’s skirt. She was happily comparing her height to her sister’s leg.
“Yuri, you look pretty excited about this.”
“Teehee~” giggled the primary schooler. “Onee-chan’s cool and funny when she’s big. Onii-chan, you should sit in her lap. It was super comfy when she let me play games with her yesterday.”
I pictured Yuri playing games with her little sister in her lap. The thought of Yae’s breasts acting as a pillow was something I couldn’t get out of my mind.
“You want to give it a try, Touya-kun?” Ayame-san teased me.
“Absolutely, but not when we’re not in front of anybody,” I couldn’t deny my feelings.
“She also hit her head a few times going in and out of rooms. There’s actually a dent in the door frame of her room now,” Ayame-san remarked, pointing out the slight red mark on Yae’s forehead.
“Okaa-san, you don’t have to tell him that,” whined my childhood friend. “Let’s get going, Touya. We’re supposed to be the first to show up.”
At the very least, Yae was ready to go. She had everything she needed in her book bag and the sports bag she swung over her shoulder.
I started to turn around to leave the Asano home, but before I did, Yae’s mother called our attention.
“Hold on you two,” Ayame-san spoke up. Yae and I stopped. The firm tone of voice was identical to how she scolded me the day before. Thankfully, however, she spoke gently afterwards. “Yae, before you smack into the door frame for the tenth time, why don’t you use that band now.”
“Band?” I followed the woman’s line of sight which went down to my wrist. She was focused on the metal bracelet Akagi and Morino had given me and Yae. It seemed she knew what it was.
“But Okaa-san, it wasn’t working yesterday.”
Yae did too it seemed. Apparently, her mother had informed her.
“That’s because Touya-kun wasn’t nearby. Now that you two are close to each other, there should be a light that turned on, right?”
I glanced at the metal bracelet and confirmed what Yae’s mother had said. There was indeed a flashing light. I didn’t test it out before but there was actually a cover I could flip open on. When I opened it, I saw a display and a few buttons. In particular, the display revealed Yae’s normal height and current height along with my own. In English letters, the words: LINK READY were written above what looked like a three minute timer.
“What is this, Ayame-san?” I asked.
“Hm…? Touya-kun, you weren’t told?” Ayame-san was surprised.
“Akagi and Morino just snapped this thing on me yesterday night. They said Sensei forgot to give it to me.”
“It looks like that’s not all she forgot,” frowned Ayame-san. “To think she’d forget to explain it to you... Size-Link Bands aren’t easy to come by. And these ones seem more hi-tech than the ones I’ve used before.”
“Size-Link?” This was the first Magnification Equipment I had heard of. Was this something Sensei wanted us to test out because we signed the exemption form? I doubted this was something that would be given to every student.
“They’re devices that allow someone who is Magnified temporarily change their Magnification scale to that of the other wearer. They’re quite useful when a Magnification platform isn’t readily available. I’ve used it a few times at the company. Besides being able to fit through doors more easily, sometimes you need to get a bit bigger as well to do your job.”
What exactly WAS Ayame-san’s job description?
In any case, the Size-Link band required the cooperation of two people, one of which had to be either Magnified or Reduced. According to Ayame-san, if we pressed the top button in unison, Yae who was linked to me with the bracelet would return back to 1x-scale by temporarily overwriting the Magnification scale with my normal scale. Having the band definitely seemed like a blessing to Yae who seemed to be having trouble not hitting her head.
“So we just press it at the same time? Okay then. Here goes. Three. Two. One.”
Ping!
I kept my eye on Yae as I hit the button. For her to be brought back down to normal size so soon, I was admittedly a little disappointed. I was curious how large Yae could go considering the restrictions on Magnification were greater than Reduction. However, seeing Yae back at her usual 160 cm would definitely be a lot less intimidating…
… If the Size-Link worked like Ayame-san had said.
“H-Huh?” Looking in front of me, Yae was still twice as big as she had been earlier. “Ayame-san, I don’t think it… work… ed… Eh?”
I turned to Ayame-san when I questioned her, but when I did, I realized I wasn’t looking at the woman in the face anymore. I was looking at her stomach.
“Hm… Oh my, I was right that this looked more hi-tech. This is one of the new types that can switch Magnification to Reduction to maintain the scale difference,” she stated in a passive tone. There was no concern for my predicament at all.
“W-Wow. So when I get back to normal, Touya gets Reduced? That’s really surreal, Okaa-san,” Yae couldn’t believe it either. “What would be the point of that?”
“I assume you two were given this because you two are a pair. That way you’re always bigger than Touya for the entire week, Yae,” hypothesized Ayame-san.
I would have appreciated the warning. I checked the Size-Link Band’s display again. It now listed Yae’s height as 160 cm, but by cutting her height in half to return her back to normal, my 180 cm was now down to 90 cm. My entire world had doubled in size, only Yae who was already doubled remained the same proportion to me.
“Awawaaaaa~h! Onee-chan’s normal, but Onii-chan’s smaller again!”
“Uooof!”
Wham!
I was immediately glomped by Yuri. The 128 cm girl knocked me off my feet, but before I fell to the floor, I was stopped by the wall. She was absolutely enthusiastic to see me a head shorter than her, she held me tightly. The eight year old’s strength exceeded my suddenly diminished self’s. I was lifted firmly off the ground, my feet dangling in the air.
“Y-Yuri…? Grk!... That hurt…,” I grunted.
“Hehe~ Sorry!” Yuri let me go, allowing me to drop to the floor. She was not as apologetic as she sounded.
I frowned as I found myself looking up at all three of the women of the Asano household. This was not what I had expected to happen during Magnification Week. This wasn’t in the plan at all. Sasakura-sensei was going to have to explain to me why she had given Yae and I the Size-Link Bands.
“It looks like you were caught off guard, Touya-kun,” Ayame-san remarked as she ushered Yae out the door. “Don’t worry. This is a temporary deal for when Yae has trouble fitting through doors and such. You’ll change back when the timer hits zero.”
That explained the three minute countdown on the bracelet’s display.
“That’s good. I kind of put down my bags…,” I looked at the items in question that were still on the floor. The bookbag and sports bag were still normal sized instead of Reduced like I had been. When I picked the bookbag up, Yuri started snickering.
“Nishishishi~ Onii-chan, you look like a little kid trying to be an adult,” she laughed.
“I don’t want to hear that from the actual kid,” I frowned. I was well aware that at 90 cm, I was more of a toddler than a higher schooler in stature. Trying to tell off a primary school girl I was chest level with was not exactly a good idea.
Yuri grabbed me from behind when I started to move out to the door. I was jerked backwards as she held me close. “Okaa-san, can we keep Onii-chan like this or make him even smaller? I’ll take good care of him.”
“That’s not funny, Yuri.” Yae and I were in agreement.
Ayame-san seemed to take her youngest daughter’s words in stride. “Now, now, Yuri. You shouldn’t treat Touya-kun like a pet or anything. He’s your Onii-chan, remember? And Yae’s already asked that before. When was it again? Her last year in middle school? I think that was when Sumire-chan still lived nearby. The answer I told her was no, and I’m sticking to that.”
“I-I only asked that once!” Yae did not appreciate her mother reminding the two of us of our awkward history.
“And you were scarily serious about it,” Ayame-san held her ground. “I don’t want any member of my family to even think of misusing Reduction and Magnification equipment.”
“Yuri, you don’t want to be lectured by your mother, do you?” I couldn’t forget the four hour scolding Yae and I had received back in middle school.
“Aww...”
I was thankful that Yuri let me go. Nearly three minutes passed while we were talking, so I was back to my standard 180 cm shortly after. I was relieved to no longer be the shortest person.
Of course, I wasn’t the tallest considering my return to normal scale meant Yae’s return to her magnified scale. All I could see from the entryway was the girl’s legs and a bit of her stomach. I had to actually walk out to see the rest of her.
“Phew. I’m glad that’s over…,” I sighed. “Let’s not use that unless we really have to, Yae. You’re supposed to stay Magnified all week. Getting back to normal at the push of a button seems unfair.”
Considering the use of the band required our cooperation, Yae frowned. She had actually been happy to get back to 160 cm for a moment. “I guess you’re right, Touya. But it was cute seeing you smaller than everyone else.”
My childhood friend bent her knees and put her hand on my head to ruffle my hair. “H-Hey, cut that out.”
Yae blinked. That action had been reflexive. “Ah. Sorry. It just slipped out again.”
“It’s quite a habit to want to do that, isn’t it?” giggled the experienced Ayame-san. She then turned to me. “Touya-kun, you two should get going if you don’t want to be late. I’ll be trusting Yae to you tonight, so make sure to be on your best behaviors. Make sure Yae doesn’t take advantage of you.”
There it was - Ayame-san’s pot-shot at Yae. “I’ll do my best, Ayame-san.”
“Okaa-san, I wouldn’t do that!” Yae frowned. Though she said that, she and I both knew that was actually a possibility.
With that, though, the two of us realized it was time for us to get going. Ayame-san and Yuri said good-bye to the both of us and we waved them farewell as well. The day had only just begun, and I had already gotten an adrenaline rush from the Size-Link Band’s surprise. Just what was next?