The high-pitched screams of despair that no one could ever hear sounded like shrieks in a small warehouse full of cleaning supplies with the remarkable smell of detergent in the air.

“Somebody please! Help me!”

With no one to help him, Nakahara Masashi saw his world turned upside down (literally) as a tremendous force far beyond what his burly constitution would allow him to control exerted complete dominance over his body, leaving him suspended headfirst at a considerable height above the floor.

“You can’t escape from me, you little bug!”

The lavender eyes of a gigantic girl pierced Masashi’s sensitive existence, leaving him defenseless.

“I-I’ll do anything! But please... don’t hurt me!”

“Anything...?”

“Did I made a bad choice of words?” he thought when he heard the innuendo being uttered in a macabre way.

“I swear it!”

“So... how about kidnapping you again? Will your parents be mad?”

“… I thought you would ask for something like that to be honest.”

“And then? What do you say?”

“Yukiko… you know it’s impossible for me to refuse that proposal, it’s too tempting…”

That was what happened the day before this story began...

The first rays of sunlight entered through the recently opened windows, the dust particles in the environment became visible when the previous darkness of the room was dissolved.

“Maasaaashii~ wake up now!”

“Five more minutes…”

“You’ve said that during fifteen minutes! If I give you another chance it is sure that we will be late!”

“Your breasts are a very comfortable place to sleep… it’s like being crushed between two giant beds with your body heat like… heating at a cold night…”

“I’m not your personal kotatsu!”

“Okay…” With a yawn, I stretched my arms out as hard as I could to wake up my muscles. “Can you help me?”

My name is Nakahara Masashi and I am a second year student from Hanichi high school, I am 16 years old and my eyes are blue next to my blonde hair, maybe I was a prince in my past life. The most important thing should be to mention that I belong to the part of the tiny population of this world being only half inch high.

“Whatever... if I let you do things yourself it will take forever and as you may have noticed, we don’t have so much time.”

The beauty with pink hair and ponytails acting as my mother is Yukiko Miyashiro, the beautiful girl I fell in love with. Glasses accompany her beautiful lavender eyes, long and fluffy legs, a slightly pale skin tone and a bust… quite decent for being the same age as me. She, however… is a bit special.

Pulling me from side to side, my massive 1.71 meters tall girlfriend was in full control of my movements throughout her room.

“Ready? Hmm? Hmmmm?”

“Waaaaaaait!”

I guess in the end it’s my fault for staying up late.

***

When we left her room, her family was waiting for us in the living room.

Miyashiro Seiichi, her little brother a year younger than her with hazel hair and dark green eyes, he is a little smaller than me.

Miyashiro Izanami, her mother with hair the same color as Seiichi tied by a ponytail and blue eyes, 1.78 meters enough to overshadow my existence by being even bigger than the girl I’m dating... and that’s saying a lot. I promised myself that I would never do something to make this woman angry.

Last is Miyashiro Orochi, a young adult who is the father of my girlfriend (and in a funny way, he is much less intimidating than her mother). Black hair and brown eyes with his centimeter of height being a little taller than mine.

Her younger brother and father were at the table eating while Miyashiro-san only saw them with a smile and a cup of coffee in her hand.

“Wow, you finally woke up… were you busy this morning~?” The implications behind those words were obvious, even more so when she let out a conscious laugh.

“I-is not what you thi-” when I tried to excuse myself, I was interrupted by the hasty voice of the girl leading me.

“Ready Seiichi!?”

“Onee-chan!” Nodding, the little boy looked up at her from the table.

“Very good! Come here!” Yukiko reached out the hand in which she was taking me to rest on the table where her father and brother were.

Taking his bag at his feet, Seiichi ran over to Yukiko’s hand and climbed onto the palm accompanying me now.

“Good morning Masashi-senpai!”

“Good morning Seiichi-kun.”

Her brother is very nice, despite the difference in age (and size) there have never been serious arguments between them... although I doubt that a boy of a single centimeter in height would want to enter a crossroads with his older sister more than 170 centimeters tall when she could easily obliterate him; jokes aside, their relationship is very good. I have rarely seen them argue and whenever they do it is due to fortuitous nonsense that after a couple of hours they forget.

Together we left my girlfriend’s apartment and headed to school.

This year Seiichi came to study with us, I can remember that on several occasions Yukiko tried at all costs to prevent him from choosing this place but after much insistence, everyone in the family agreed after seeing the excellent grades of the boy.

But why would they want to stop Seiichi from coming to this school?

Well... in simple and plain words, this place is a graveyard of tinies like us

Where people don’t care to watch their steps or verify where they are about to sit; obviously there are many people who care about us but then there appear those who murder tinies for apparent fun... because they believe that we are stupid animals or that we don’t think... or at least I want to believe that this is the reason why they kill us. If those people spend their time torturing and massacring us because they enjoy being able to kill someone without consequences… then that would worry me more; because then that school would be a breeding ground for potential psychopaths and serial killers.

In other words, my girlfriend’s little brother is in danger being here… no, even I live in constant danger of being killed. At first it is a feeling that you think you will not be able to get used to, even in my second year as a student there I have not gotten used to it at all.

***

“Seiichi… are you sure this is your classroom?”

“Yukiko-nee... whenever you bring me you ask me the same thing, do you have amnesia?”

“Come on Seiichi-kun, your sister only cares about the reputation of the school, that’s why she worries so much.”

Yukiko had an embarrassed look on her face as she looked at her little brother next to her indoor shoes; it’s kind of hilarious to see an embarrassed expression from someone so colossal directed at someone as insignificant as us.

“I’m sorry...”

“Don’t worry onee-chan... Thanks for worrying about me!”

The boy ran and tried to hug the shoe of Yukiko which was quite a cute sight, due to this a smile from ear to ear was drawn in the face of my girlfriend.

“See you later!”

“Fine!”

Seiichi ran to his classroom, leaving Yukiko and me at the entrance.

“And remember Seiichi!” She looked at him and raised her voice. “D-don’t do anything silly! If something bad happens, call me quick!”

With that act some of the students in the room turned to see us, making her feel a bit embarrassed. Seiichi turned halfway to see her with a crooked smile and nodded, continuing on his way. That was something that definitely only a mother would do.

“I’ll take you to your classroom now...”

I nodded seeing her smiling and beautiful face focusing her gaze on my small figure. She started walking, making the world around us move at giant steps from my perspective.

“How is your class? Do you think someone normal sized has their eye on you? That they want to do something bad to you? Remember… if someone wants to intimidate you, don’t object! Never try to escape, you must remain calm, you could never beat someone normal sized even if you ran with all of your might; we already tried. You just have to wait for them to leave you alone and come with me, promise me that you will never keep silent if someone threatens you... right?!”

After she finished spitting all that out like a hysteric, Yukiko must have been short of breath so she breathed heavily for a moment. The glare on her glasses from the hallway lighting made her look like a complete nerd explaining the most effective way to defeat the hidden boss of a JRPG.

“First… calm down, okay?” Taking seat on the soft palm of her hand I showed her my best smile.

To tell the truth, I don’t know what her brother’s attitude is regarding this whole situation, this school is like a seedy neighborhood for us tinies and he is no exception… one wrong step (literally) and you could end like a red stain at the sole of someone careless enough, not to mention the people who seek to murder us with all deliberate intent.

Therefore I don’t think that there is a micro in this place without at least a little fear, even though I do my best not to express my concern in front of Yukiko and make this more difficult for her, most of the time I am terrified that a giant body omits my existence and I end flattened against the ground like an insect... or worse, that one of those aforementioned tinies killers fixes its attention on me. Some time ago however I decided to stop living my life in fear, the best thing would be to go through that and if one day I must die, so be it.

What really worries me is my girlfriend... I don’t know if Yukiko could bear my death or that of her younger brother, if I’m not there to comfort her... I don’t even want to imagine what might happen. If that ever happens, I hope that at least Seiichi is there to comfort her.

I have always considered my existence inconsequential for her although she does not consider so, it is true that I love her and she loves me very much but I’m fully aware of the fragile and fleeting nature of my life, humans have always been shown as weak and fragile beings in fiction when compared to monsters like youkai, aliens, gods or the like. Somehow in fiction we are always able to prevail in adversity given our ability to think, that human nature makes us selfish and terrifying.

It’s this same nature that freezes each of us when someone over 100 times our size casually walks over us. This is not fiction, this is reality... is there a way for us to win against creatures as big as that? Creatures that even being at a total disadvantage against divine monsters can survive and win? Is there really any way to oppose variants of our own species... infinitely many times stronger and more capable than ourselves?

“I-I’m sorry…” She looked seriously sorry.

“Did something happen? Today you are a little more overprotective than normal... not that it bothers me, seriously! It melts my heart to know that you care about me... but I feel you’re behaving a little strange today.”

“Do you think?”

“Does it have to do with the reason why you whispered my name at dawn while I was sleeping?”

The blush washed over her face the instant she heard that.

“W-what did I said!?”

This morning something woke me up from my comfortable bed made up of giant breasts; a little sob whispering my name.

“’Masashi’, then I noticed there were tears escaping from your closed eyes...”

“Then you know...”

The ambient around us became a bit depressing, the students came and went since classes had not started yet, each one moving at dizzying speeds from side to side of my little body giving me a feeling of insecurity that was drowned out by the body heat coming from Yukiko’s hand.

“Let’s say… I had a nightmare, that’s all. Not that I think that kind of things come true but… it was a bit of an unpleasant nightmare so I couldn’t help but be more careful today… that’s it, okay?”

So a nightmare, I guess it was correct to imagine that something like that had happened… it was a bit obvious after all.

“Don’t worry Yukiko, we’ll be fine, Seiichi and I are tough guys, I promise we won’t be killed so easily~”

Even if I had directed those words to the huge girl holding my life in her hands, I also wish some of them would come back to me, an irresponsible promise like that was all I could build a false sense of security on.

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

But I lied for her sake, because I love her so much... but above all to avoid making her suspicious about the overwhelming pressure that this institution makes me live every day. All for the sake of my selfish love.

In the middle of our talk, Yukiko arrived at my classroom and proceeded to leave me next to her feet, when I jumped from her hand she rose by meters and meters until she stood up completely which left me in front of a girl that could be considered a divinity from my current perspective looking under her skirt, something so common for us tinies that it had already lost practically all of its charm for me.

“I’m working on changing from my class to yours to stay with you… I’ll do my best to achieve it and I won’t take a no as answer, okay?”

“There is no way I can argue with you, besides, if that is what makes you the happiest… I will also be happy with your decision.”

No, that was definitely not what I would have wanted to say, “Please! Do it as soon as you can, being under your care in this hell would be priceless for me! I beg you!” That, however, would only turn her time away from me upside down, I must not do something so inconsiderate with her when this girl has done everything she can to ensure my safety.

Sometimes I wonder... why would someone like her be with someone like me? I mean, I’m not an ugly boy, in fact I consider myself handsome but... I think it would be better to be with someone with whom she can talk face to face, a boy who can protect her, who can hold her hand and guarantee her safety... a boy with the one that she could relate intimately more satisfactorily.

Is it out of compassion? Because of the way we met? I never had the courage to ask something as reckless as that, it’s impossible for me to be tactful enough to raise that question in a way that would not offend anyone...

***

I remember the day we met, it was a mixed size elementary school. Unlike Hanichi high school, this school had a good reputation regarding the safety of the tinies, it was rare to see a murder and normal size children were always very kind to us, probably in the entire history of that elementary there have been only one or two accidental and unavoidable murders in an environment with people of such different sizes.

While talking to my friends of different sizes, I was challenged to sneak into the purse of the withdrawn nerdy normal-sized girl in our classroom; Miyashiro Yukiko. Between the sword and the wall of the childish attitude of an elementary school boy and social pressure, I decided to accept the challenge that, with the help of a normal-sized boy, was a success.

What was not successful was being trapped there for a whole day when none of those idiots had the courage to go looking for me and I had no chance to escape. As much as I had tried to hide in her books, Yukiko was (and still is) a very diligent girl so she decided to finish her tasks on time as soon as she got home. Unfortunately for me, the book I hid in was thrown on her desk, she placed heavier ones on top, starting to crush the part of my body that was still inside the book, luckily she heard my screams in time and she got me out of there… it was uncomfortable having to explain to her how I got there because even though I was a brat, I was always honest.

Yukiko decided to take care of me then so that I would recover from my injuries, committing an accidental kidnapping, we were both severely scolded by our parents.

From that moment on, she and I began to have more tact, occasional talks, mutual friends…

And confess my feelings for her in second year of our middle school.

***

This and more events of our lives crossed my mind after another day of having survived in this hell. Having finished my classes, I said goodbye to my friends who are now only boys my size and decided to embark towards Seiichi’s classroom to look for him. Taking out my phone, I wrote a text message to Yukiko telling her that I would go by looking for her brother to which she replied

“It’s okay! Be careful!”

To my surprise she was understanding, I honestly imagined that she would say something like “Don’t even think about it! I’m on my way!” But perhaps it is because the bad impression the nightmare left on her has already dispersed.

Nowadays it is difficult for me to try to relate to normal-sized people, the restlessness that has thrived in my heart when studying here has made me lose the previous sympathy that I could feel in the past for people of my age with that colossal size, the only giants that I’m able to trust now are Miyashiro-san and Yukiko. I got away from a lot of people that I related to in elementary and middle school, obviously Yukiko had no idea about this.

When I arrived to my destination, I found Seiichi talking to an interesting number of people of mixed sizes, girls and boys of both sizes talking in a group that expelled an amalgam of warm colors to my cold and fearful heart. When I texted his cell phone, the group’s chatter stopped for a moment and their gazes focused on my minimal existence standing by the rear sliding door of the classroom.

Anxiety began to eat me up from within, seeing so many boys and girls with piercing gazes falling from the skies like celestial entities judging my shameful existence… it made me want to disappear.

“Masashi-senpai! Takanashi-chan, can you bring him with us for a moment?”

A black-haired girl from among the group nodded with a smile and approached, eliminating the tremendous distance between us with just a couple of steps, crouching down she gave me an inevitable brief glimpse of her underwear before covering herself with one hand and reaching out with the another one towards me, offering me her palm as a transport platform.

I froze for a moment, this feels so natural when Yukiko does it… but how many years has it been since someone else offered me to ride their hand? Probably since middle school.

“Is something wrong, Nakahara-senpai?”

When I heard the girl’s gentle voice pronounce the title “senpai” next to my last name, I almost felt as if my whole world had shaken until I was about to shake off tears from within. It was then that I understood crass errors about my perspective on this world, those errors lit up so that I was able to hit them like a mole poking its head through a hole.

Giant people aren’t bad, it’s giant bad people who make the most noise in my own world.

“O-oh, thanks…!”

After climbing onto her hand, I was transported to the table where a group of tinies was standing next to Seiichi talking to the other normal-sized people surrounding us.

So much attention at first felt exhausting but I remembered a feeling that I had buried deep in my heart a few years ago.

Hell in this world was in my head the whole time.

If I know how to play my pieces wisely… I will survive!

I will not die! I will put myself ahead of adversity and show the world all the color that so many have been missing!

Look at me Yukiko, I’m strong enough! I’ll go through the adversities… I’m sure I’ll!

I’ll never let you alone, my love!

This is the real beginning of my high school live at Hanichi!

***

To Miyashiro Yukiko: Can you give me my sweet limbs back? Oh... with which eyes I’ll see you now?

The long black and tousled hair dispersed throughout the bed sunken in the dark of the thick curtains in the morning tickles me and brings back memories...

Seeing the hour at the screen of my cell phone I got out of bed without anything like the will to stand up one more day; I could say that every day since then I have gotten out of bed with the left foot.

My name is Miyashiro Yukiko, I am 17 years old and I’m a girl with a calm attitude and dull demeanor, I have long, loose black hair that reaches a little below my waist, in the past I dyed it pink and wore ponytails because my boyfriend liked it but as I stopped painting it the dye fell and returned to its original color. My irises are lavender in color and I wear contact lenses although I wore glasses in the past, my skin has become paler than it was last year, perhaps because now I spend most of the time locked in my room when I am not at school; my chest is approximately C cup and I’m 1.76 meters tall, I’ve recently lost some weight because I don’t tend to eat too much. I am currently in my third year at Hanichi high school.

Having finished preparing for school, I put on my thigh highs and walked into the living room where my mother was, caring as always.

“Good morning Yukiko~”

“Good morning mom.”

Taking the bento she made for me, I put it in my bag and without delay, headed for the exit.

“Yuki, won’t you greet your father?”

Stopping in my tracks, I turned to look at a small shape on the table that resembled some kind of vermin.

“Good Morning.”

“G-good morning Yukiko...”

With nothing else here to stop me I retraced my steps and put on my shoes before leaving through the main door of the apartment where I live, fortunately it is not too far from the high school where I study so the journey walking is short without the need of a bicycle.

Leaving the building complex I headed straight where I was supposed to go, one more day.

Taking out a small notebook on the way I could see other students with my peripheral vision walking side by side, boys and girls my age were happily talking about their daily life, about things like for example... what they ate, the latest highest grossing movie, trends, the most handsome streamer or the most beautiful model that appeared on TV recently. None of them approached me, instead, they all conspicuously avoided me, leaving a remarkable enough radius of empty space around me.

Checking out some familiar names listed in my little handy notebook, I jotted down a few new ones and looked wistfully at some others already crossed out.

Alice.

Sekira.

Tsumi.

Indeed, I have nothing pending with them… luckily for them.

***

When I arrived at the building with a cloudy aura around it and a putrid smell along with a thick dark mist inside, I took my indoor slippers from the lockers at the entrance and left the outdoor shoes in its place. Closing my locker I put on my slippers and tapped the floor with the tip to accommodate it on my feet and headed straight to my class.

Inside of the edification the attitude of the other students towards me didn’t improve but it got even worse.

Hearing whispers about me, there were guys my age walking out of my way like I was some kind of youkai or yakuza, mocking laughter from a few other people and a general weird atmosphere around me.

It is like this every day.

But it’s not like they harass me, in fact, I don’t find nasty shit next to my shoes at the lockers, there are no marks or strange things on my seat, the situation around me is a completely different one. They fear me.

A girl who was happily talking to her friends was at the entrance to my classroom, when I stopped, the motion of the movement beat my long black hair a little, allowing the girls to notice me… it’s not like I did it on purpose.

“M-M-MIYASHIRO-SAN!”

The group of girls blocking the front entrance of the classroom paled, each one with her eyes widely opened moved to make room before I could even ask for permission.

“It’s not good to block the entrance when the class is about to start…” Staring at them, I spoke calmly.

My voice was like a trigger that prompted one of them to shake slightly...

“W-we will not do it again! S-sorry!”

The trio of girls, terrified, moved toward their seats.

Taking my own seat, I set my bag aside and leaned my back against the back of the chair, letting out a small sigh.

“Good morning Yukiko-chan~!”

“Good morning, Inohara-san.”

The girl next to me with short white hair greeted me warmly as every day. Inohara Madoka; the only person I speak to recurrently at this school.

“I’ve told you over and over again not to be so formal with me! You can call me Madoka-chan! Or at least Inohara-chan!”

“I’m sorry Inohara-san... but this is my way of addressing people, I have no problem with you referring to me in such a confident way but don’t force me to be affectionate too.”

“Whatever…~” With a sigh, the girl who had so much energy by this time of the morning, changed the subject. “Have you already read the last chapter of the manga that I mentioned to you!?”

“For the who-know-which time, Inohara-san” I listened to her as I took out my books but when she mentioned that topic I stopped to address her. “I told you that I’m not interested in anything related to micros, can’t you understand that?”

“H-hell! I forgot... hehehe...”

Letting out a heavy sigh, I kept pulling a few things out of my bag.

“You should get examined, maybe you have amnesia or something... if you discover it early maybe there is something you can still do so go soon.”

“Hah!? I didn’t know you could perform a joke!” Making an unnecessary amount of noise, Inohara exclaimed so that at least half the classroom would know what we were talking about.

“I’m not kidding, Inohara-san… you probably have amnesia since I’ve told you the same thing exactly twenty three times and I want to believe that you seriously forget it and not that you do it to annoy me.”

“A-ah... ehm... the teacher arrived!”

Holding on to any triviality to escape her responsibility, Inohara sat up correctly in her seat when she noticed our teacher from this hour enter the classroom.

A centimeter-tall teacher with hands full of small books came through the door and everyone took their seats.

Our class delegate got up and helped the teacher to climb up on his desk, closing the door behind her. Every student got up and saluted.

The classroom went into the silence that any other full-size teacher would impose and was like that until it was over. In the same way it happened with our second teacher and the third, every one of them being micros.

***

When our lunch break came, I pulled the pretty bento box prepared by my mother out of my bag and opened it to glimpse tamagoyaki while my talkative companion kept talking and sniffing my food.

“You know… class 3C is the favorite one of micro-teachers… they move their schedules to teach here… do you know why?”

It is obvious that I know because I am the cause of this peculiar phenomenon.

With my mouth full, I nodded calmly as I tasted the soft flavors of the egg dancing in my mouth and then sliding down my throat. It was not too salty or tasteless, just the exact amount of salt, exactly how I like eggs to taste…

“You’re such a good person… they surely have you on a gold pedestal at the teacher’s room! I imagine all of those tinies wanting to jump on your breasts, to be carried by you... WHY I CAN’T BE LIKE YOU!?”

After swallowing, I responded to her annoying screams that attracted the attention of the few people who, like me, stayed to eat and chat here.

“I’m not interested in any of that, really.”

“I know... I know~ I just would love to have a harem of cute micro-boys drooling at my feet... but I have to be the one bringing them with me...”

“Perhaps because of that same sick behavior of yours they are moving away.”

“Eeeeh?”

“You know…” Starting to feel strangely irritated, I closed my eyes and raised my voice a little. “They are thinking and intellectual beings like we ar-

“Mm?”

Huh?

What did I just said?

“No, it’s nothing, do what you like... I’m not interested.”

“You say that but if I damage a micro… you’ll stamp my face against the pavement huh? Sure, it’s not like I want to harm any of those cuties in the first place! Perhaps I tame them with my aromas, perhaps the smell of...”

Losing myself in my thoughts I stopped listening to all the nonsense Inohara spat out. I just popped another small portion of tamagoyaki into my mouth with my chopsticks and thought about what I said just now.

“They are thinking and intellectual beings like we are.”

***

When I finished eating, my throat actually felt dry. Getting up from my seat I asked Inohara if she would like something to drink to which she responded with a stupid expression of disbelief and before I left, she yelled at me that she wanted some fruit juice that I could find.

Walking through the corridors I could see a small but noticeable stain on the floor, a blood and burst organs stain, nothing too out of the ordinary in the daily life at our beautiful Hanichi high school.

When I turned a corner, I found a girl about the same height as me, holding something tiny in her clenched fist.

“Going to be my next interstellar throwing! How deformed will your body get when you smash against the wall with my thro…?!”

I stopped suddenly when I saw what she was about to do, her face lost the mocking and macabre smile that it had previously and now there was bewilderment on her face.

“Are you... Miyashiro Yuki...ko?!” When she spoke that last syllable, the small body in her fist exploded into a mixture of blood and organs scrambled by the tremendous pressure of her grip.

This is not good... I’m going to lose control...

Crimson.

My eyes are stained with that color since that day...

Somebody help this girl before...

***

A year before. Hanichi high school, Yukiko Miyashiro’s second year.

Talking with some friends after the classes ended, I received a message from Masashi telling me that he would go to look for Seiichi which I thanked him, responding appropriately I decided to stay a while more exchanging interesting topics of conversation. Among the girls in my group was Nakahara Kana, Masashi’s older sister with just a couple of months of difference, a micro just like him. We both get along pretty well so it’s natural that being in the same class we have a lot to talk about. Fortunately this worry in my chest that had been haunting me all morning dispersed and I was able to chill along with the group.

About an hour passed in which I did not realize that I practically left my two boys waiting for me.

“A-ah... I have to go! Masashi and Seiichi must be waiting for me, see you tomorrow!”

“Will you kidnap your boyfriend again?”

“What do you two do when you’re are alone? You did ‘it’ already?”

“How you did it?!”

“Girls! I have to go! Although… I’ll answer your questions tomorrow… heh heh… see you Kana-chan!” Leaving the girls with an impish smile on my face, I took my bag and left the room listening to laughter and suggestive whistling behind me.

When I got to the classroom that Seiichi belongs to, I checked by looking at the ‘2A’ at the entrance; entering, I saw a few remaining students talking about various matters, some were apparently deciding which club to join. A black haired girl that I recognized as Takanashi Utaha, a friend of Seiichi, approached upon seeing me enter.

“Oh, Miyashiro-senpai!”

“Hi Takanashi-chan, have you seen Seiichi and Masashi around here?”

“Miyashiro-kun and Nakahara-senpai? They were here a while ago but about twenty minutes ago they said they would go to your classroom to look for you… didn’t you find them while coming here?”

A sudden twinge pierced my stomach causing both literal and metaphorical beads of sweat to start running down my face.

“Ah… no, since I was distracted I must have overlooked them, maybe they even yelled at me on the way… hehe, I’ll take a better look this time. Thank you Takanashi-chan!”

“No need to thank me~”

With a stiff smile I turned around and started my way throughout the shortest route from Seiichi’s classroom to mine, this time paying close attention to the floor. No matter how many times I traveled that same route, neither of my searches succeeded in finding either of the two boys.

Beginning to worry a little I decided to take out my cell phone while I leaned against the wall of the hall, tapping on the option “Call” of Masashi’s contact number, the call screen was displayed...

… Just to trigger the answering machine saying “That number is out of service.” My hands started to feel sweaty. I memorized Seiichi’s phone number and called him to get the same result as with my boyfriend.

“That number is out of service.”

Horrible ideas and infinite possibilities began to run rampant through my head as I simply stared at my cell phone screen with a blank stare. I felt the force leave my legs for a moment and I was about to fall, holding onto the wall so as not to land on the floor face-first.

Masashi had no choice, his precarious financial situation forced him to enter Hanichi. Seiichi on the other hand did it out of sheer stupidity, we have never had money problems since my mother has a good job she even bought Masashi a cell phone so that we could communicate at all times.

Feeling a throbbing headache, I looked up and put the phone with its now off screen inside of my skirt pocket as I walked at a brisk pace, careful where I stepped and watching everything exhaustively.

But no matter how hard I searched, I was unable to find them. The corridors, the halls, at the entrance...

My whole body was sweaty, the sun was beginning to set, I must have spent hours searching exhaustively in all places, I didn’t left a single door unopened, a room without checking...

Where have I not looked yet?

Did they go home by themselves? No… that’s impossible, they would never do something as crazy as that.

Are they playing a joke on me? Yes, that must be it... probably Seiichi talked to one of his normal-sized friends with the purpose of helping them hide... I’ll be very angry after finding them, I will scold them like nobody has ever done before in their tiny lives!

Trying to be optimistic... I couldn’t go five seconds without having a negative worst-case-scenario thought...

Both are…

A violent nausea took me out of my thoughts making me run to the girl’s bathroom when practically there was no one else at school; some teacher asked me what was I doing so late at school if I was not in a club, to which I replied that I was looking for my younger brother. I asked if they knew Seiichi and Masashi’s whereabouts but no one had the faintest idea.

After getting to the bathroom I had to lie against the door of one of the cubicles, with one of my sweaty hands in my stomach and another covering my mouth, I leaned my head against the door of the cubicle. My legs were barely responding to keep me on my feet with fragility and the throbbing headache was practically unbearable… only being able to endure it because of the adrenaline I’m being subjected to.

When I felt that my stomach was about to return my breakfast completely, I decided to open the door I was leaning on to enter and let it all out.

But I never imagined that opening that door could give me that heinous spectacle.

A living nightmare.

Hell on earth.

My ears buzzed for an instant, only to stop listening completely a moment later.

I stopped feeling my legs… my body was now floating on two trembling pillars of flesh that I could hardly tell belonged to me.

My eyesight went into a distant tunnel.

The stabbing headache plaguing me was completely gone.

My ragged breaths stopped, leaving me completely silent.

Motionless with my mouth and eyes open wide, I saw that gloomy panorama on the wall now in front of me.

My happy days of laughter, happiness and joy were painted the red color of blood from that moment on.

The happiness that characterized me all my life was fragmented into a number of pieces impossible to repair.

That horrible moment when my whole world was thrown into despair...

I found them.

A mute scream echoed in my head due to horror. My mouth was open but my vocal cords did not respond to me at that moment, I could only hear my soul screaming in fear, full of terror...

Slowly my eyes regained their ability to see with a strange sensation in them… as if they were injected with blood.

My head hurt again, hurt like it never had before.

My clenched fists began to ache, my manicured nails in a deplorable state... they were now broken, red moisture began to flow through my hand and drip to the floor.

Slowly the sound returned to my ears to hear a distant scream that gradually got closer and increased in volume.

Is that my scream...? The pain in my throat verified it, perhaps my vocal cords cannot support an intensity like that.

My heart aches, a lot.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

I’ll kill you, whoever and wherever you are.

After the shock of finding my little brother and boyfriend in such grotesque condition, I lost consciousness. That same night I woke up disoriented and lost, realizing that I was in my room, I opened my eyes wide.

A dream?

Yes, it was definitely that, there is no way I could have witnessed such a despicable act pulled out from the most twisted nightmares...

Wait... is it currently… dawn?

Looking at my chest as I searched for the sleeping body of my little Masashi, I couldn’t find him anywhere. When I saw my body, on the other hand, I realized that I still have my school uniform on so it’s impossible that I awoke in the morning… what time is it?

To verify that my fears were true, I tried to remove my phone from the pocket of my skirt, it was then that I felt a strange pain in my hand, when I brought it close to my face I realized that my palm was bandaged and my manicured nails were broken.

Striving to cast this fact into the corners of my mind, I checked the time at my cell phone and my heart skipped a beat. It can’t... it’s impossible, this can’t be happening... it can’t...

I entered the messaging app to find the last message I received from Masashi telling me that he would go to look for Seiichi at his classroom. Even so, that was not enough to convince me... starting to lose myself in despair, I entered the call log...

Unanswered calls:
> Seiichi.
> Masashi.

Was what I saw… real?

Dropping the phone on the fluffy surface of the sheets, I unwrapped myself and got out of bed, placing my socked feet into the slippers next to the bed.

Masashi and Seiichi are fine... that was just a nightmare... a nightmare... a...

As soon as I got out of bed in the middle of the darkness of the room I felt a slight pain in my knee, taking the cell phone to illuminate it with the flashlight, I discovered a bruise.

“Huh? When I fe..?”

That’s obvious, when I lost consciousness given the terrible scene I witnessed. A chill ran through my entire body, I got goosebumps and a lump formed in my throat, I also felt a pressure on my chest with that realization.

My throat burned intensely when I blurted out the whisper and my voice sounded terribly hoarse… do I need even more evidence?

***

Atrocious.

Attached to that wall, their limbs had been violently separated from their small and fragile bodies.

Their eyes ripped out of their faces, leaving an unsettling void in its place.

When I got close enough in silence, I was able to realize their identities.

Seiichi’s hazel hair, Masashi’s blonde hair.

And as if this nightmare had been telling me that there was still more to suffer, there was a red message written above them, letters written in blood.

To Miyashiro Yukiko: Can you give me my sweet limbs back? Oh... with which eyes I’ll see you now? I was a very bad boy for stealing your time...~
-With love, Nakahara Masashi.

I vomited.

“We are tough guys! We won’t die that easy~”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

LIAR!

YOU’RE A FUCKING LIAR, MASASHI!

YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WON’T EVER ABANDONE ME LIKE THIS!

 Why...? WHY!?

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!”

A putrid smell that almost makes me cough appeared suddenly.

A dense fog that almost forced me to close my eyes too.

My throat cannot stop emitting that ominous and loud sound, it hurts a lot.

My hands are bleeding, blood drops resulting from spiking my nails into my palms fall to the floor.

I will never forget that sight...

Two of the people I loved the most were taken with horrible appearances from this world straight to the deepest hoop of hell.

And then my world went dark.

***

Almost in panic and with tears about to flow, enduring the urge to scream intensely, I quickly left my room and went into the living room.

A hauntingly realistic scene awaited me there, striking the finishing lunge right in my chest.

My mother sitting by the table with a shocked facial expression was talking with two micros on top of the table. When she heard me arrive she took her eyes off them and directed towards me.

What does this mean?

The expression on my mother’s face is… too sad… I… I’ve never seen her like this.

Suddenly she got up from her chair, leaving my father and the other micro of unknown identity to me and she pounced on me, wrapping her arms around my body.

“Yuki...”

Using the affectionate nickname that she always calls me by at specific times, my heart fluttered at the tone of her voice and the meaning behind that hug. Her voice with regret and the force with which she hugged me made me wake up from the placid dream that I had been having until now.

The dream in which Masashi and Seiichi were still alive.

They are gone.

A couple of minutes later, my mother released me with the corners of her eyes full of tears, somehow it seems that she was holding back the urge to cry...

“Are you okay?”

“Mom...”

My hoarse voice struggled to pronounce those words that hurt when trying to get out of my chest.

“Honey! What happened to your voice!?”

“Seiichi… Masashi…”

Her expression previously impressed by the hoarse tone of my voice was once again a downcast look of resignation.

“Yuk-“

“…”

I pulled away the arm that my mom dubiously reached toward me with a loud clap, then turned and ran to my room.

After slamming the door, I threw myself on the bed and hugged a full-body pillow, crying hard. There’s nothing I can do about everything that is happening… they… my brother and my boyfriend… they are both…

“A-aaah...”

My weak voice emitted a sob drowned out by the pillow that was put in my mouth, letting my feelings that were paralyzed until now flow, I could not believe everything that was developing so fast... if it weren’t because I saw that grotesque scene myself...

A gentle and delicate voice that at the same time was masculine spoke into my ear after I could feel the bed partially sag to one side which I didn’t paid much attention to. That voice however was as familiar as mom’s.

“Yuki… honey… can you… look at me for a moment?”

Hearing my father’s voice at first I did not want to turn my head for him to see my pathetic face full of tears and snot with a shameful expression… however, a moment later I changed my mind due to a simple factor. My brother and boyfriend just died, but for Miyashiro Orochi, his son was brutally murdered by someone hundreds of times his size.

Closing my mouth, I pulled my face away from the pillow I was hugging and directed my face towards him, standing on the mattress very close to my head.

“Wow... look at you... there are many snot and tears on your cute face. This reminds me of when you were younger and you cried about any number of things…” Dad forced an awkward giggle.

I didn’t know what to answer, I just want to cry… I want to mourn the death of two of the most important people in my life… there’s nothing that I can say at this moment that is worthwhile, so pouting, I nodded softly.

“You know... Yuki” getting closer and closer, dad approached so much to my face that it got complicated to see him, I could feel his hands touching my wet cheek just to fill his own hands with tears that at his scale must be a big water source—. Do you know that if a micro and a normal-sized person were trapped on a desert island… and the regular person cried, the micro would never have to worry about water? —His barely perceptible little hands caressed my cheek covered by tears that did not stop flowing.

Somewhat surprised by his sudden question, I did not see fortuitously answer something related.

“Aren’t you sad...?”

That was the last thing I wanted to ask him, but for a moment I felt a bit angry… your son died in a grotesque way! This is not the moment for... questions like that...

“Yuki... your mother and I have been preparing for this moment since we met you...”

“Huh...?”

When I opened my eyes more than before, surprised, I sat up in bed without clearly understanding the meaning behind his words, crossing my legs I sat down and took his tiny shape between my thumb and index finger with extreme delicacy to release him on my free palm a moment later.

“Uoh, thanks.”

Then I raised my hands to bring him to the level of my face to see and hear him clearly.

“Yukiko, I’ll be honest with you ... we’ve never told you this but... the day Seiichi was born as a micro, we didn’t celebrate his birth... instead, we cried for him.”

They… cried?

“You... didn’t you loved him?”

My mother now in front of me shook her head in silence as my father spoke with his masculine voice contrary to his small size.

“Of course we do... we loved him like you have no idea, Yukiko, as much as we love you.”

His fragile figure standing on my hands made it difficult to imagine that this tiny person was the father of a person like me since I surely look gigantic from his perspective, just by forming a fist I could...

“So… why…?” Focusing my gaze on him, I brought my face full of doubt closer, probably bathing him in my irregular breathing from crying.

“That’s because... your mother and I know perfectly the fate of micros in this society... the cruel fate that many of us have... that’s why from the day Seiichi was born we began to prepare for this moment...”

“But no matter how hard we try, it’s impossible not to suffer, darling, losing a son is not something you can prepare for even after a lifetime repeating to yourself ‘this is probably the last day of your child’s life’” the voice of my mother broke, falling silent and looking down.

Then I understood what these two people were referring to...

Some time ago, just when I started dating Masashi, my parents told the two of us about the day they met. Apparently when my father was in high school and my mother in college, a normal-sized girl was about to end my father’s life, that’s when my mother (who was just passing by, visiting an ex-teacher of hers in said high school) appeared to save him. My mother always hated the inequality between micros and regular people. Since then he fell in love with her… I can’t blame him… when she saved his life she probably looked like the most beautiful and kind person at his eyes; at first my mother was not very interested on him but after a while he managed to captivate her heart after hanging out during a couple of months. It was then that they both started dating.

That’s why they know the fragility of the life of a micro in this world... it’s because that was the reason that brought them together, the inequality that exists between the two sizes that a person can possibly have.

Not being able to bear it anymore, I delicately brought the hand with which I was holding dad to my face and closing my eyes, I pressed him softly against my cheek... to which he responded with a barely perceptible hug.

My sobs broke out again, I couldn’t hold it back any longer and I burst into tears once more now with my father on my cheek. My mother hugged me protectively as soon as I started to cry, sobbing weakly next to me and leaning her head from mine.

I… miss you…

“A-aaaaah...”

But they will not return.

***

The micro that was next to my mother and father in the living room was a professor at my school, he explained more details about what happened with Seiichi and Masashi but although I didn’t want to listen, I forced myself to recognize their cruel fates.

As I knew, their bodies were in gloomy states, however, the unknown fact to me was that both corpses were covered in a transparent, sticky liquid with a characteristic smell. That was horrible information that I wish I hadn’t known because it brought me a little closer to knowing how agonizing their final moments were...

***

Back to present. Hanichi high school, Miyashiro Yukiko’s third year.

“Are you... Miyashiro Yuki...ko?!” When she spoke that last syllable, the small body in her fist exploded into a mixture of blood and organs scrambled by the tremendous pressure of her grip.

This is not good... I’m going to lose control...

Crimson.

My eyes are stained with that color since that day...

Somebody help this girl before...

Before I knew it, my body moved quickly towards her, raising my arm quickly, my hand took her throat and I hit the girl against the wall with a blow from her head. An enormous force took control of my body and then I began to choke her.

“W-what the...” Trying to speak, the words could not come out properly due to me tightening her throat, realizing this, I lightened my grip a little, keeping her pressed against the wall behind her.

Realizing that I was able to control my own impulses, I sighed deeply in order to calm myself a bit.

“Sekira… isn’t it?”

“W-what’s your problem!?” Coughing a couple of times, I didn’t pay attention to her even though a bit of her saliva landed on my face.

“Do you find fun... killing people?”

“Huh? People? Ah… you mean those pests?”

“… Yes.”

“Don’t tell me you’re another one of those defender of micros...” Smiling in a devilish way, she spoke arrogantly. “Although… it makes sense, with what I’ve heard from yo-“

“Huh? And what is that shitty smile about?” Her smile irritated me. “Uuh? Do you think I’m afraid of you? Too bad but I’m not a miserable centimeter high so you can’t make me explode under your slippers… but… you know what? You should be the one afraid... if only I knew that you are the damn piece of shit that ended the life of my boyfriend and my little brother... I would start to dissect you like the damn horrible frog that you are...”

The smile on her face faded.

“What are you talking about...? I-it’s not easy to hide the death of someone my size, besides, you would become a murderer!”

“Murderer? Haha... hahahahahaha...” I could not help laughing from the bottom of my heart, turning the expression of the girl in front of me in a dismayed one. “Look who’s talking, is the great Sekira afraid and started to babble? I don’t give a shit about being caught, I’ll kill myself before those idiots arrive, I would kill you and then I would suicide...”

“Wh...” I could hear a lump down the throat of the girl, panicking.

“But I’m not interested in you... I know what you do, I know about all the pipsqueaks you’ve killed... you and all those fucking psychotic girls are crazy, I know your history very well, you bitches... but I’m not interested, it’s not you who I am looking for, I have verified that you didn’t killed them” when I released my grip on her, her legs trembled. “But make sure in case you know who it was… tell him, or her, or they… this, ‘Miyashiro Yukiko, the girl whose life you ruined is going after you. I swore on my life that I’ll kill you, you piece of garbage, I’m going to open your guts like a dammed frog and expose your organs at the school entrance... then I’m going to vomit on them and I’m going to kill myself... I’ll make your disgusting death as miserable as the one you provided to those two micros you mercilessly killed... after or before using them to masturbate...’”

The expression on Sekira’s face was difficult to describe, a mixture of fear and confusion filling her trembling countenance.

“And you... I don’t care if you kill someone just because they’re small because that seems to be normal in this shitty world...” I could feel my eyes burning with rage as I spoke.

“What the hell happens wit-!?”

“But...” A blow stopped any replicas, throwing her to the ground. A punch strong enough in the face to send her straight to the floor, luckily, this place was alone at the moment and there was no one around who could witness this spectacle. “If I see something like what you did before happening again, I assure you that something worse than this will happen to you...” Without giving her time to reply, I turned around and continued on my way.

Am I the only human in this hell?

Why is no one else showing their frustration? Why aren’t they mad at someone like her?

She’s a killer! Do something! I know that micros can’t do anything against her but… what about the rest? The people that lost somebody important to them due to psychos like her?

Was that blow… unjustified?

“HEY! T-THAT HUR-!”

Her voice was silenced as I pulled something out of a small purse in my pocket and tossed it next to her, without even turning around, I spat out a few last words.

“Oh, and if something from this meeting comes to light... prepare yourself because tomorrow those photos of you will be hanging even at the entrance... so consider well what suits you best before saying unnecessary things.”

“Huh?”

A variety of small photos of Sekira about to kill micros were scattered on the ground in front of her. Photos taken at the right time that serve as evidence for many unsolved cases of missing or murdered micros.

“H-how…?”

“I’ve been some time doing my work, I’m only asking you not to do nastiness as you did just now, in front of me... I’m fine with just that…” Raising one hand I waved a goodbye and walked away from the perplexed girl still rubbing the place where she received the blow.

I’ve been able to control my impulses better lately, the fact that that girl received just one hit is living proof of that and I’m happy with the hold I’ve gained over my emotions lately.

On my way to buy a drink for me and Inohara, the babbling from Sekira stayed behind while the only sound accompanying me was my slippers crashing on the floor and eventually the voices of other students.

How have I gotten so arrogant in this last year?

***

A year before. Miyashiro Yukiko’s apartment.

A couple of tall guys standing in front of the entrance of my house blocked my way as I was about to leave. Without understanding what was happening, I just stood there staring at them.

“Miyashiro Yukiko?”

“That’s right...”

“We need you to come with us for now.”

This can’t be happening...

“You’re detained due to...”

My head hurts.

“... Being suspected of the murder of Miyashiro Seiichi and Nakahara Masashi.”

My ears, ringing once more.

“…rder of… na…”

My vision is distorted.

“...tack... “

This is a joke… it has to… it has to be… this is impossible… I… I…

Please, stop it…

After crying a lot, I took a couple of days to feel ready to go back to school... after all, I feel like now I don’t have a reason to go back to that nasty place... not now that there is nothing worthwhile for me.

Or that’s what I thought the first few days, because deep down I know that even though my little brother and my boyfriend have died, there are still many things I must do in this life.

“Mom, dad, I’m leaving...”

“Are you sure about being okay, darling?” My mother had a slightly worried expression.

“You don’t have to force yourself... going back there must be something traumatic for you Yukiko... you can take a few more days off, we won’t blame you if you want to wait some more time” standing on both cupped palms of my mother, my father tried to persuade me.

“No… really” I denied, forcing a smile in my face. “It’s okay, I can handle this.”

Although my mouth was saying one thing, my swollen eyes and my numb heart said something else entirely.

Hitting the tip of my shoes with the floor to adjust them to my feet, I saw the palm of my hand where two people should be like the rest of the days I left for school, a pressure dominated my chest. Sighing deeply to keep from crying, I shook my head briefly and opened the door.

“I’m leaving...”

My stiff smile disappeared as soon as I turned my back on them and changing to a sour expression, I got on my way.

***

As soon as I stepped foot inside the school building, the entire place was filled with a thick mist accompanied by a pungent smell so intense that I almost avoided coughing. I wasn’t able to identify what kind of smell was this... but more importantly... nobody else seems to feel the mist or smell, everybody walk with their faces full of energy in their lively teen and youth filled lives of high school. Am I the only one who can see and smell this?

Now that I remember... it appeared for the first time just when I found the bodies of Masashi and Seiichi... does this have something to do with it?

However, my attention is so distracted from my surroundings and my spirit so subdued that I decided not to continue paying attention to it; filling my lungs with the unpleasant smell that I could only describe as “disgrace”, I changed my shoes for the indoor slippers and headed to my classroom where classes were about to start.

Paying the minimum necessary attention to the path so as not to crush some micro student while walking, I ignored anything other than that.

Upon reaching my classroom, I took a seat ignoring everyone and everything and resting my head on both arms on the table.

It wasn’t long before I heard a familiar voice reach my ears, a voice that clearly belonged to a micro… a voice that I had hoped I wouldn’t have to face today.

“Yukiko…”

I opened my eyes as wide as I could as soon as I heard her, lifting my head, I saw a tiny body standing in front of me on my table. That body and that voice belonged to no one but my best friend, Nakahara Kana.

“K-Kana-chan...”

The manner and tone she used to refer to me left me cold, feeling strangely distant since Kana always used the ‘chan’ to address me.

“Never call me that way again...”

Oh no…

“K-Kana-chan… liste-!”

“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOU!”

Despite being sparse in terms of size, Kana’s scream managed to focus some of the gazes in the classroom on us, something I wanted to avoid at all costs at this point. The stridency of her scream made me react by opening my eyes in shock again and sitting upright, as if I was being scolded by an imposing old man.

“Dad… dad, mom and I entrusted my brother’s life to you… you… you promised that you wouldn’t let anyone hurt him… you swore you would protect him…” As she spoke, Kana’s voice had highs and lows, breaking occasionally while tears spilled from her eyes that had a sad expression at first. “BUT NOW MASASHI IS DEAD!” And now they were filled with hatred, with exemplary rudeness and strength that were shot like flames at me.

Having internally understood Kana’s state, I decided not to reproach her for anything and just let her vent to me by nodding slowly… after all…

“AND IT’S YOUR FAULT!!”

Aaah... she said it...

Nodding silently once more and trying to erase any emotion from my face, I looked like a robot shaking my head up and down as Kana spat venom at me.

“IT’S YOUR FAULT THAT MASASHI DIED!”

I nodded.

“YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD PROTECT HIM, BITCH, YOU’RE A LIAR!”

I nodded.

“Are... aren’t you ashamed? HOW CAN YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE AGAIN?!”

I nodded again.

“YOU’RE A MONSTER”

I nodded once more.

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF HOW I FEEL!! WHY DO YOU KEEP NODDING?! DAMN!!!”

And I continued nodding.

Her exasperated voice let out an almost animal cry, dropping to her knees in front of me as she cried out loud. Still, I didn’t stop nodding.

Yes, you’re right... I don’t know how you feel, someone has taken the life of your dear brother... I... I have no idea how you feel...

Yes…

Because I don’t have the slightest right to reproach or contradict you... since I am a lying monster.

One of our normal sized friends approached with a nervous expression seeing the commotion that was taking place on my table.

“C-come on Nakahara-chan… calm down a bit… Miyashiro-chan also went through a lot…”

Ignoring her completely, Kana continued crying as if her life depended on it.

“Miyashiro-chan… do you want me to take her to her place?”

Silently, I nodded once more seeing the friendly girl a little taller than me with a stiff smile on her face.

“Well... come on Nakahara-chan...” Taking her carefully, Kana who despite being taken without her permission, doesn’t seem to have given it much importance in the midst of her misfortune.

Everyone in the room went about their business as if nothing had happened... naturally, not only because those who died were practically unknown to them but they were two micros... who cares about a couple of micros that died in a grotesque way? After all... in this school the death of micros is something daily and normal, is not like that can cause a great commotion, at most it will serve to have a topic to talk about when there’s nothing better to discuss.

“Hey, do you already know? A couple of micros died the other day”

“And what’s so special about it? It happens every day!”

There’s no sense... on thinking about it.

***

“Nakahara-chan… I think you went too far with what you said to Miyashiro-chan earlier…”

“I went too far!? Because of her… because of her my brother is dead!”

The classroom had only been left with a small group of people at lunchtime, among whom a group of girls was talking about the same subject, “the discussion between Kana and Yukiko.”

“You don’t know the whole story… do you?”

“Huh...? What are you talking about?”

“Ehm…” Another of the girls in the group put on a complicated expression when she decided to explain to Kana the big mistake she had committed. “You may have been a little wrong when you told her that she doesn’t understand how you feel...”

“But is tru-!

“Nakahara-chan… your brother wasn’t the only one who died that day…”

After swallowing, another girl spat out the terrible words.

“Her little brother, Miyashiro Seiichi was found dead next to Nakahara-kun…”

“H-huh…?”

“Apparently the scene was quite grotesque and unfortunately it was she who found them… the truth is that I feel bad for Miyashiro-chan…”

Kana felt a sudden pain seize her stomach, a pain that told her that she had done something terribly wrong, it was her conscience that made her feel terribly guilty.

“I asked a teacher and that’s what he told me… it was a really complicated case, that’s the reason because she was absent these last few days. In fact I thought she would be absent for longer, I was surprised to see that she returned to school so soon...”

Kana’s heart trembled, a lot of emotions vibrated roughly inside of her, her expression remained perplexed and her body immobile for the rest of the conversation, only nodding or specifically answering certain questions that were asked.

After a few minutes, the girls who were with her decided to go out for a drink, Kana decided to wait in the classroom while they returned. However, they weren’t the only ones to leave, most of the students at this point had already left the room, leaving the micro girl alone with her guilty thoughts without even being able to apologize since Yukiko, like the others, had left the classroom a while ago.

“I… I shouldn’t have said that…”

Amid her regrets, a shrill feminine voice sounded from her left, turning to see who it was, Kana froze in place.

“Trash should know its place... doesn’t talking to a human like that seem ridiculous, dwarf?”

Two fingers approached at high speed and held the fragile body of the tiny girl without any care, her previously numbed heart began to beat like crazy as the breakneck speed brought her in front of the gigantic girl’s face with a wicked smile.

“Muraoka-san!”

“You know... I hate micros... but you know I hate more?”

They were both silent for a moment until Muraoka Yumiko finished her sentence with a sinister voice tone.

“Little trash like you who thinks it’s at our same level...”

Terror seized Kana, with nothing she could do, only destiny was able to decide her fate.

***

The thick unpleasant mist does not disperse... the smell is still there as horrible as usual, I would say that I was lucky to be able to eat without vomiting while the pungent smell of death filled my nostrils, my rest time, being hardly a rest came to its end once I decided to go back to my classroom.

In no mood to keep wandering around, I opened the sliding door of my classroom to find only one undesirable person whom I have decided to ignore most of the time in my school life. Muraoka Yumiko, her unpleasant personality makes her arrogant but that’s not the worst, it’s her terrible behavior regarding micros. Many micro murders are attributed to her, of which she always manages to get away simply due to lack of evidence... it is like that most of the time with all the psychopaths in this school. The same will surely happen with Masashi and Seiichi murderer.

Crossing through the empty room, I arrived to my place and tiredly fell on my seat, exhausted from this day and from this suffering, I just wanted to rest a little...

*Sploch*

“...”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

A strange sound came from my seat when my butt made contact with it, it was then that my heart stopped, at the same time a disgusting laugher came non-stop from behind me.

Getting up slowly from my seat, I turned to verify the origin of the sound... the moments that took me turning felt uncomfortably long but when I turned around and took a look...

A red stain on the seat ended my rational thinking while the mocking laughter went on and on and on.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT WAS SO EASY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.”

My face tightened, even so I felt that I was not making any facial expression, looking up at the place where the laughter was coming from, I felt as if my vision darkened and my thoughts stopped.

The last thing I remember was her face of terror and fuzzy screams suddenly appearing.

“STOP, MIYASHIRO!”

“MIYASHIRO!”

“STOP IT, NOW!”

An impact.

Two hits.

Three and four…

Five.

The impacts didn’t stopped.

The eventual damp sensation on my knuckles felt so gratifying… as if it released all that tension that the last few days have produced in me.

This flow of violent emotions that overflowed inside of me consequently can no longer be stopped.

I forgot the rest of what happened then.

***

After the incident between me and Muraoka Yumiko, I was suspended from school for a whole month for the serious offense I committed.

A couple of days later, my parents went out for work while I remained locked at home as is now customary for me, hugging my pillow with my mind in the clouds.

It was approximately 3PM when I heard knocks coming from the apartment door. Getting off the bed, I left the room and headed for the entrance but what I found when I opened the door froze me.

A couple of tall guys standing in front of the entrance looked at me as soon as I finished opening it. Without understanding what was happening, I just stood there staring back at them.

“Miyashiro Yukiko-san?”

“T-that’s right...”

“We need you to come with us for now.”

“W-who are you...?”

“Police” said one of them as he took a badge from his pocket and placed it in front of me. “You’re under arrest for being a suspect in the murder of Miyashiro Seiichi and Nakahara Masashi.”

“What...?”

“For the murder of Nakahara Kana...”

My vision is distorted.

“And for attempting against the physical integrity of Muraoka Yumiko.”

“This... has to be a joke...”

One of the subjects took my arms and put handcuffs on them, the cold metal and the sound of the chains hit my consciousness, sending me to a parallel world inside of my mind.

Is it possible... that the tears keep coming out of my eyes?

Is this my punishment for what Kana told me before she died?

***

In a solitary cell, I lay in the middle of the cold night without even a blanket to cover me.

Convincing myself of the guilt that I deserve for the afternoon and the rest of the night, I remained in fetal position in a corner watching my bare and trembling feet, the tears that dried in my eyes no longer came out and my heart was reeling in agony filled with pain I couldn’t describe as physical.

I think that was when something definitely started to change… no, the correct thing is to say that something broke inside of me.

***

The Nakahara family… or what was left of it, blamed me for the murder of their children, Nakahara Masashi and Nakahara Kana. On the other hand, Muraoka Yumiko’s parents brought charges against me due to the deplorable state in which I left their beloved daughter.

However, midway through the trial, it was stated that someone who “testified on my behalf” was found. Apparently a girl in my class saw how everything happened when I assaulted Muraoka...

From the looks of it, this Muraoka girl took Kana ahead of time when her group left class and placed her in my seat before I arrived with nobody else close to look. The girl felt so scared that she was unable to intervene until she saw I started hitting Muraoka. It is unknown if Kana’s silence even when I was about to sit on her was due to her being unconscious or dead as such, so I will never be certain if it was I who killed her.

Additionally, thanks to the fact that my father knew the judge from their high school days and they were very good friends, the trial went in my favor, everything resulting in a ‘terrible accident’ witnesses also appeared saying that I was not guilty of the death of my brother and my boyfriend... I really don’t remember so much of the case but the only thing I can remember clearly is the crying of Masashi’s parents when I was declared innocent.

They kept telling me things like “monster” or “demon”... not that I can blame them after all the suffering I caused to their family.

In the end, I never knew for sure what would happen to Muraoka since she ended up being held responsible for the murder of Nakahara Kana but I don’t know if thanks to what I did to her, her sentence would be lightened or something like that.

I seriously think that I should have been found guilty that day, if that way I had made them happy after all the pain they went through... I think I would have been more satisfied with that result...

Crimson…

The crimson tint on a suffocating canvas that robs me of my freedom causes me to suffer powerful arches that contort my entire body.

And again. The unpleasant sequence repeated as if it had no end.

The grotesque image that I witnessed the day that destroyed my world, it repeated in my head over and over.

Stop...

Please... stop now.

...

When I woke up, tears streamed down my face from my recently opened eyes without even giving me the opportunity to wake up completely, by pure instinct I went to wipe my face with the back of my hand.

So vivid… so repetitive…

The stormy dreams that have haunted me since that day continues torturing me, giving me mornings that I prefer to quickly forget as I prepare to go to school. Dreams that repeat in my head over and over, things that I prefer to forget, guilt that does not move from my heart.

You could have avoided it.

You’re a monster.

You didn’t protect them; you broke your promise.

Worse yet... you’re a murderer.

There is not a moment in my life when those ominous voices do not resonate in my head regardless of what I think, do or say.

***

“Good morning, Yukiko-chan~”

“Good morning, Inohara-san.”

I answered harshly while looking for things in my bag for the class that was about to start.

Inohara Madoka, the only girl who didn’t seem freaked out by my listless demeanor, contradictory to the furtive glances and whispers around me.

Despite having her invasive presence near me reluctantly… I don’t consider her a nuisance, at least not totally. In effect, it’s like having some background noise; giving me the feeling of company from time to time.

After all, Inohara is not a bad girl; it’s just that...

“Shima-kun, come closer, come here!”

… She has something like a sick obsession with micros.

In all the time that I have known her, she has never really hurt one, she doesn’t risk their lives and tries to be careful around them so as not to hurt or step on them by accident; even so, her attitude towards them is even worse than with me.

While I’m a person her own size and I still feel somewhat pushed by her invasive attitude, a tiny human close to being an insect has no chance against her hyperactive behavior.

Holding them without permission, petting them like animals… the spectrum of invasive activities I have seen her perpetrate against her victims ranges from innocent (but terrifying), repetitive greetings, up to harmless kidnappings.

“Enough, Inohara-san” I say without looking away from inside my bag, using my hands to continue rummaging through the numerous things inside.

“But Yukiko-chaaan~ I’m not doing anything wrong!”

“Maybe not, but it’s creepy.”

For a moment I felt something curious in my chest, like a cobwebbed feeling being revealed… if I had to express it in some way.

“Still… wait, Yukiko-chan worries about me?”

“Huh?” Finding what I was looking for in the bag, I turned to see her stunned expression.

“Yukiko-chaaaan!”

Almost jumping, Inohara invaded my personal space, hugging me and tightening her arms on my back while rubbing her smaller chest on mine.

“Hey! Stay away!”

“But Yukiko-chan is worried about me! That’s a reason to celebrate!”

“What the hell is wrong with you!?”

Having enough of her nonsense, I grabbed both shoulders of the frantic girl violating my personal space and pushed her a few centimeters away, attempting to calm her down.

“W-wow, it’s true what they say, you’re pretty strong…” Apparently taken by surprise due to my strength as I held her, Inohara calmed down a bit.

Feeling that the storm of her ridiculous frantic mood was gone, I let go of her shoulders and resumed a normal position in my seat.

“Please don’t do that again.”

“You don’t like body contact?” Sitting down again, the white-haired girl questioned.

“Body contact...?” Repeating her question myself, I arranged my things on the table and thought of a suitable answer. I don’t really know, just being affectionate is not something that I think is necessary, I don’t need it, it’s all.

Yes, exactly… it’s not that I hate contact with other people, it’s just… that I don’t need it, I can ignore it while necessary.

“But we all need it... having friends and be attached to others is a very nice feeling, you shoul-”

“I don’t need it.”

A different intonation, perhaps aggressive or perhaps intimidating, escaped from my lips as my vocal cords tightened a bit in response to the ridiculous proposition of the girl sitting behind me.

But whatever the nature of my tone of voice at that moment was, Inohara’s torrent of words and intensity faded considerably.

“Sure… understood” she said, speaking in a noticeably lower voice than before.

As soon as we finished our conversation with that awkward turn, our teacher arrived to kick off the first period of the day.

***

“Aaaah, finally we’re free!”

At the moment our last period of the day ended when the bell rang throughout the institution, I took all my stuff and put it in the bag that accompanies me daily.

“Are you leaving? Hmm... you’re not in any club, are you, Yukiko-chan?

“I’m not interested and if you’re going to take me to look for clubs, I’m not interested either.”

Her previous smile fell apart in an instant as my words stabbed her.

“W-wait! You can’t be serious!”

“Do I have a clown face? Why would I lie?”

“Hey… are you seriously just going home for the rest of our third year of high school?”

Starting to walk away from my seat, I gave her my answer with simple actions.

But contrary to what I imagined, when I walked away I heard her voice saying to wait for her, at one point she caught my step leaving our classroom and walking through the hallways of the school.

“That was rude!”

“Uh… I’m sorry.”

Considering her behavior and my attitude, I think that even if she’s somewhat hyperactive, leaving someone talking alone is not the most polite thing you can do.

“Either way… you can’t spend the rest of your high school life just going home after classes! There are many different clubs, fun things to do! You have to enjoy your yout-”

“Inohara-san” I stopped in my tracks, having enough of her monologue.

“Are you going to come with me to see clubs!?” She stopped in front of me, clasping her hands in front of her chest in excitement.

I would rather not use an ominous speech like this... I would rather not say this kind of thing to anyone, much less someone as kind as Inohara, but at this point even I feel some deep pain in my chest when she tells me those insensitive things.

Enjoy your youth.

“The reason why I keep studying at Hanichi High School after the incident that took place, that incident that I’m sure you are aware of… the only reason I’m still in this hell despite that is because I plan to find that person… the person who massacred my younger brother and my boyfriend.”

Inohara’s face had drawn a serious expression as she listened to my words, waiting for me to finish speaking.

“And once I find that person...”

“What will you do once you find that person?”

“I’ll kill that person.”

Silence.

Between the two of us a deep silence reigned after I had finished pronouncing those forceful words, such a heavy meaning was said with such simplicity… I think that would be the most shocking thing behind its meaning.

On the other hand, Inohara’s face remained confused, an expression that didn’t show seriousness, concern or disbelief, simply as if she had not understood what I said... but at the same time, as if she understood perfectly what I was talking about.

“I see…”

Her really complicated expression disappeared from my sight when the platinum-white haired girl turned her back to me, staying in place.

“Saturday…”

“Mm?”

“This Saturday, would you like to go out with me?”

Turning to me again, a slight smile spread across her face, her eyes closed, waiting for my answer.

“Go out? Where?”

“And where else? To a mall, to see nice clothes, eating… a date I mean.”

“A date huh...”

Although I am used to hearing that term... I am not used to hearing it between people who do not show a romantic interest in each other; obviously nowadays interpersonal relationships are much more flexible and people are free to say more things to each other without it meaning something weird, even so, I felt a bit strange when she said it that way.

“Mm... could it be that Yukiko-chan misunderstood the meaning of my words?”

In response to my extended silence, it seems that Inohara figured out… partially, what I was thinking.

“M-misunderstood…?”

Capturing the meaning behind her crooked and mischievous smile, I instantly understood that she was trying to play a prank on me to embarrass me... sure, that’s the kind of person I’ve been able to see Inohara being in class with our classmates, be they regular sized or micro.

Sighing, I decided to give the best possible answer to deal with matters like this.

“I have no interest, thank you for your invitation... but no.”

“Huuuuuh? Have I been rejected...?”

Just saying that, a strange expression appeared on her face again, one that I couldn’t explain clearly... while her face was slightly smiling, her eyes looked up as if she were thinking about something.

“It doesn’t matter… not for now.” Turning around, Inohara got away.

“Huh?”

“See you tomorrow, Yukiko-chan~”

Weird… definitely weird.

Inohara Madoka? The super nuisance giving up on a simple ‘no’? Nah… something’s wrong, I don’t think she’ll give up so easily, right? After all... that girl is really annoying, I would not say that she is a stalker... but she has a really intense and insistent personality, she’s not one of those people who gives up without first begging you several times even if they know that their pleas won’t have results.

Realizing that I was left watching her figure disappear into the crowd in the distance as I posed myself standing in the middle of the school corridors, I shook my head slightly before moving from my place to home.

Either way… that’s it for today, I’ll take care of whatever this girl has in mind tomorrow.

***

“Eh? A boy in our class disappeared?”

“Yes… apparently a week has passed since he was last seen.”

As I put the material I used in the last class back in my bag the day after I had received that strange request from Inohara, I could hear murmurs from some of the students who were still in the classroom talking to each other... when that topic came up.

“But... things like that always happen, right?”

“That’s it! Why would a specific case have a special relevance?”

Although I wouldn’t be able to share the disregard for human life that these seemingly innocent high school girls expressed for their tiny sized classmates, I’m able to understand their words to some degree; I mean... we study in a school where the abuse of people because of their size is something daily and from harassment to murder... the situations where these acts are penalized shake in fear in comparison to the situations where they go completely unnoticed by the authorities.

If someone asked me, I think I would expose it as ‘unilateral anarchy’, they can do with a not exactly small (no pun intended) group what they want but not the other way around.

Going back to the main point, under what circumstances does one of these cases turn into a word of mouth on Hanichi? Well... there are several factors that influence this matter; generally, one of these situations is when the victim is a popular person, be it between micros or regulars... the other situation is when the victim was a partner of a regular sized.

“X-chan’s boyfriend was killed”

“Hey, haven’t you noticed that X-chan is no longer with Z-kun?”

Being obviously, X-chan a regular girl and Z-kun a micro boy.

However… there is a third influential factor that can go into making a disappearance or death a topic to talk about among Hanichi’s regular students.

“I don’t know... but yesterday I heard it from a kouhai... can you believe it? A girl from another class knew that someone from my class had disappeared a week ago while I had no idea!”

“Hahahaha! You sure are clueless!”

“I don’t think it’s her fault, they are so insignificant that I don’t think anyone would notice if someone else didn’t mention it.”

And this third factor is kidnapping.

I believe that anyone who has lived with others in an environment such as a high school knows this, no matter how isolated and marginalized they are. Gossips in a school spread like a virus; and in matter of a couple of days, the declaration of love of a popular boy may be the main topic of conversation in the halls of the school, a hot fuss about a girl selling inappropriate pics can be heard in the bathrooms and a teacher being expelled for having an improper relationship with a student can even appear on information boards.

It’s exactly the same with rumors.

Let’s say X-kun is an average completely average micro student.

Y-san is a regular student but like X-kun, she’s perfectly average, she doesn’t stand out, she isn’t popular... although this quality is a variable to tell the truth.

One day, Y-san kidnaps X-kun and generally this realization will not reach the ears of regular people who might take it as something relevant. Maybe X-kun had a friend who was the couple of a regular girl, and this boy could comment something about the subject to his girlfriend… but that’s a separate subject that I will not include in this hypothesis.

A reasonable time later, Y-san talks to Z-san, a regular classmate from her class.

“Hey, have you seen X-kun? I heard he hadn’t attended classes for some time now.”

Clearly, the phrase ‘I heard’ is of vital relevance in this formula; by implying that she heard it from someone else, Y-san denies the suspicion of being involved as Z-san will believe that this rumor has already circulated for some time to reach Y-san’s ears.

Likewise, Z-san will spread this rumor with her acquaintances and such a rumor will spread at high-speed... until it becomes a fact when people realize that X-kun has indeed disappeared.

Was he kidnapped or did he just stop attending class? Usually, people will seek to sensationalize the story that has spread, changing details and turning it into some kind of fantastical story, in some cases, totally different from what Y-san said in the first place.

“I heard someone kidnapped X-kun”

“What if he just stopped coming?”

“A friend of mine said she saw him being kidnapped!”

“No way!”

...

“Although... that was not the only thing my kouhai mentioned.”

When I finished gathering my things, I got up from my seat to go home and left behind the whispering of the girls... or that was what I intended until certain words caught my attention.

“Are you referring to...?”

“Mmhmm, what happened three days ago, you have to know, right?”

“Of course I know! What planet do you think I’m on?”

“I wonder what happened to that Tamanaha boy…”

“Tamanaha? Who’s that?”

Tamanaha Yuu… that name, a sensation in Hanichi High School.

Apparently, Tamanaha Yuu, a second-year micro disappeared three days ago without a trace... and it’s something that I would not expect from someone... from a micro that I, of all people, am aware of.

Popular, good grades, athletic and very sociable. For a micro... all his goals are feats, whether between micros or regulars, the boy is as iconic as untouchable for our nice group of regular psychopathic killers... but why is that?

For developing a system that made him able to oppose people with strength and influence hundreds… no, thousands of times greater than what he could dream of, using a technique so simple and unconventional that it earned him the fame he has.

“IT CAN’T BE THAT YOU DON’T KNOW WHO HE IS!”

To be honest, I can’t think of a way for someone to get close to him and, at least, intentionally, manage to hurt him... and although there is always the possibility that it was a simple accident, with Tamanaha Yuu that is not an explanation and both what is heard and what I saw yesterday, it is definitely not the case.

The boy did not disappear by accident and every time I think about his case my skin crawls, not precisely because of empathy but because I’m sure that something terribly sinister looms after the disappearance of a person... and that terribly sinister "something" will be looked down upon and buried alongside a mountain of rumors and youthful gossip.

Putting those nonsensical thoughts aside, I decided to finally get up without first taking a look at Inohara’s seat.

She left without making much of a fuss today huh… maybe she wasn’t in the mood to joke around… and it’s not that I care anyway, if I don’t have to deal with her annoying personality, it’s a plus after all.

However, barely leaving the classroom... my hopes were brutally destroyed when I ran into her.

“Yukiko-chaaan~”

With a leap, the white-haired girl standing behind the door clung to me in a forced hug that made me recoil.

“Hey! Let go!”

“But it’s very nice to hug you!”

Trying to struggle to get Inohara off of me, something made me stop when I heard her whisper words in my ear in an unusual tone of voice for her.

“Are you still opposed to coming with me on a date this weekend...?”

Taking advantage of the fact that there were hardly any people in the hallway, I left her stuck to me when I heard her speak… anyway, if I could avoid playing along it would be the best for me. Still, something about her voice made me slightly uneasy… mainly because this time when she said it, it didn’t feel like she was asking me, instead, it felt like she was threatening me.

“Inohara, I don’t want to, I won’t go wi-“

Before I could finish my curt reply, the girl whispered in my ear at an even lower volume than before.

“But there is someone I really want you to meet~”

When I finished saying those words, she let go of me and took a couple of steps back while smiling at me with her usual silly face, but... I could see that this time there was something different in her smile, perhaps a product of my imagination that caused me restlessness.

“What are you talking about?”

Then Inohara in response to my confused voice, pointed towards the classroom; the restless whispers of the girls inside were still heard. We both remained silent listening to their energetic talk.

“But… honestly, for a micro, he’s quite handsome.”

“You mean Tamanaha-kun?”

“Of course, if he does show up again, I think I’ll gather my courage and confess to him.”

“Why confess to him if you can make him go out with you?”

“Hahahaha, you’re right!”

It took me a moment to understand what Inohara was referring to… but when I realized it, I felt the color leave my face and my fist shook.

“I’ll wait for you at that popular store where they sell tapioca close to the school, do you know it?”

Hearing Inohara’s quiet words, I nodded head down. Wait... what does this mean?

How did my thought process got me here?

Leaving me alone just like yesterday, the sound of Inohara Madoka’s footsteps lost their force with each iteration until I stopped hearing them. My world somehow re-dyed that vivid crimson hue.

For every person in the world, there’s a moment when life demands you to take uncomfortable decisions, ideas you oppose to with all your might, however, although life according to many people is focused in being happy, you can’t wait for every part of it to happen as you’re expecting to.

This day for example, is one of those days when life forced me to make things against my will, there wasn’t better reminder of it for me than hearing and seeing the hustle around me a midday saturday, moment when I’m supposed to be in home, despite that… with a transparent empty cup of tapioca on the table without any other guest except from me, the wait of half an hour kept extending without an apparent reason in an establishment close to school whose flagship was its unparalleled tapiocas in all the city. Despite my mood being floor-leveled, I should admit that the taste was certainly singular and unique from the place.

“Yukiko-chaaaan!”

The acute voice from the long awaited individual made its way from the entrance to what my response was no moving a single muscle, looking at the aforementioned girl walking hurriedly towards the table and taking the opposite seat to me.

“Sorry for making you wait!” Gathering both hands on the table, she closed her eyes and lowered her head in an apologetic way.

Inohara Madoka, the girl right before me wore a dark blue long skirt with straps, reaching just a bit above her knees, almost to the point of being black with a vertical pastel-multicolor striped above a white long sleeved blouse. On her white hair was a small bow of a soft purple tonality combining perfectly with her natural colors; lastly, a pair of semi-open heeled shoes with lavender socks reaching her ankles.

Her appearance, even her clothing was perfectly suitable for the situation of a date while I was wearing a black hoodie and a short skirt with a pair of black boots, practically the clothes I wear for every situation that isn’t school.

“If you went far enough to threat somebody to have a date with you… won’t it be common sense to get to the designated meeting place before?” Looking at the ceiling, I spoke while using my fingers to play with my hair.

“Threat? I would never threat Yukik-”

“Stop that” irritated, I released my hair and stared at her. “Let’s do this quick, you know perfectly why I accepted to come along so don’t act all idiot now.”

Letting a sigh out, she looked at me with an obviously faked sadness expression on her face.

“Probably something in your mind got twisted…” Dropping her mocking behavior for a moment, Inohara focused her sight on mine. “But I’m not that kind of girl.”

Something hurt, undoubtedly something inside of me moved fiercely when I heard her speaking such words with a sinister meaning.

“Huh? ‘You’re not that kind of girl’…?”

“Anyway” getting up, Inohara got closer to me. “Probably you’re tired of this boring place, come on, I’ll buy you something to compensate all I made you wait for me.”

“But…!”

“Be patient, eventually we’ll reach that point… but all in due time, sounds good?”

Swallowing my own words, I felt as if Inohara Madoka… no, as if the image I have of the platinum-haired girl collapsed, as if the innocent and energetic girl hide a twisted personality behind that ‘self-imposed’ hyperactivity and joy.

For a moment I clenched my fist, I felt… I felt the need to hit her in the face with everything I had, for some reason.

Denying my own instincts, inhaling and exhaling and eliminating all the negative thoughts from my mind, I decided to go along with this girl, well... someone’s life could be in danger if I decided not to go along this game of hers.

Even though I refused to care about someone else’s life again...

Despite having given up such attachment emotions, I...

“Come on!”

Huh?

While I was still immersed in my gloomy thoughts, the sensation of a hand grasping my wrist crept through my nervous system, bringing me back to reality.

By the time I got back to the real world Inohara was standing next to me, holding my wrist with her right hand and a splendid smile on her face.

Am I misinterpreting this girl’s actions? Is it possible that she is such a good actress?

Still I felt peace...

I felt peace and joy in her grip for an instant.

Getting up, I kept up with the girl who dragged me out of the store where I was waiting for her previously.

***

“What do you think? Does this looks good on me?”

Somehow, I was dragged by Inohara to various places in the shopping district, wandering from store to store, we ended up at our current destination; a clothing store.

In front of me, Inohara lifted a blouse against her body trying to align it with her figure. Either way I didn’t had my head focused on it, instead, with my arms crossed I looked away while my brain was a jumble of negative thoughts.

What did she meant? She… she was certainly talking about the kidnapping of Tamanaha Yuu, that famous micro that the girls in my class were talking about. It was undeniable that she wanted me to believe that, however...

“Don’t ask me that…”

“Come ooon~ Yukiko-chan, don’t be so mean!”

Dragging my eyes regretfully to her figure, I gave her a slight glance.

The pale pink long-sleeved blouse resembling the cherry blossoms in full bloom gave an air of freshness to her innocent appearance; large enough to cover up to the waist and quite comfortable in appearance. Blending in with her white hair and silver eyes, a mixture of soft and solemn colors that brought to life the embodiment of innocence and tranquility formed, if I’m supposed to describe it somehow.

“Uh, it looks good on you… I guess.”

“You could have tried harder, but…” Pushing the garment aside and dropping it into a basket dangling from her left wrist, she gave me a contented look. “But even if it was rather simple, receiving a compliment from Yukiko-chan is very pleasant~”

“Tsch.”

She may have just fooled me and everything is planned in advance, that’s it... Inohara Madoka does not look like the kind of girl who would do that kind of thing, it’s true that she’s usually a nuisance, but to reach the level of a kidnapping... why would she do it? Just to attract me? Does she have ulterior motives?

But then there are her constant ‘reassuring words’ suggesting that this is not what I am thinking... What am I supposed to think?

I guess the only way I can find out is by doing what she tells me, after all... I wouldn’t want someone to get hurt...

Although there is also that factor...

Why am I concerned for the safety of one of those vermin? After all this time…

“Ufufu…~ Who would think that the pink looks good on you too? Although you used to have pink hair so it wouldn’t be that strange, hehe...”

While I was distracted with all kinds of worries in my own world, Inohara came up from behind and placed the same blouse that she was trying on herself before, now against my body, wrapping her arms over my shoulders. It’s the second time I feel like she’s dragging me out of my thoughts today.

In front of us there was a mirror so I could see myself in it... with that same blouse.

Obviously it was slightly tight in the chest part since she initially chose it for herself and since the difference in height between Inohara and me is about nine centimeters, the garment did not cover me as much as it did with her... but for some reason, when I saw myself in the mirror...

“Get off me!” Shaking myself a bit, I managed to push the annoying girl away.

“Awww… but it looks great on you!”

When I thought I might dress that way again, the hair of the Yukiko in the mirror in front of me was dyed a melancholic pink color and funny ponytails appeared… likewise, glasses came out of nowhere.

It was almost as if everything that reminded me my version of the past did hurt my chest.

“I don’t care, is that what you’re going to buy?”

“Well... I had planned to try some lingeri-”

“I’m leaving.”

“W-wait!”

Before I could leave the place, she grabbed me by the sleeve of my hoodie.

“Fine, fine! We’ll go to that place... let me finish buying this first.”

After releasing me, I saw her heading to the cash register while I shoved my hands into the pockets of the hoodie, waiting for her to finish paying.

And so, we both left the clothing store and began to walk to a destination that was unknown to me.

***

“You lied to me”

“Haa?! B-but I even bought you an ice cream!”

To my sur... well, not very much to my surprise honestly, instead of ending up in the place I was hoping to get to, we both stopped at an ice cream parlor where my current partner bought a strawberry ice cream for herself and practically forced me to reveal my favorite ice cream taste to her.

“Anyway, I don’t care, I guess I have to thank you for the ice cream”

I glanced at the ice cream that I held in front of my mouth, the pleasant taste of rum and raisins that brought back memories chilled my tongue as I shyly let it out and licked the white, cold and milky ball with black spots.

“Still... it was a surprise to learn that you liked the rum raisin ice cream... hey!” She continued talking even when she opened her mouth and, contrary to me, pulled out the slimy pink muscle without shame to attack the pink, strawberry-flavored ice cream ball. “D-don’t tell me I’ll experience a scenario where you unexpectedly get drunk thanks to the ice cream, you open to me, let your feelings flow and then I have to carry you home on my back while you sleep!”

“… I assure you that won’t happen.”

It is impossible for such an absurd cliché as having a character eat a rum raisin ice cream and then get them drunk since underage drinking is illegal and light novel authors are often looking for ways to get their characters drunk.

“M-my head! Graaah!!”

Yet another cliché did end up occurring when Inohara held her head with her free hand and began to agonize over the classic among kids, having your brain frozen from eating ice cream too quickly.

While the girl I sat with at the circular table under an umbrella in a group of equal outdoor tables made me feel ashamed for behaving so childishly, I looked away seeing two persons... more specifically two girls and two micro guys that were occupying a table close to ours.

Losing myself in my sight towards the apparent double date, I began to wander imagining what kind of life those micros would have, if they would be happy, if they had future plans or what kind of relationship they would have with the two regular sized girls they were accompanying. My mind was filled with ideas and statements that probably turned my gaze into a creepy one... I hope they didn’t notice.

But while I was still gawking, a certain someone in front of me had already completed her stupid shameful act.

“Do you have something to do with them?”

As soon as I heard those words, I looked away and looked back into the distance, away from the double date or Inohara herself.

“Nothing, I don’t know them” I subtly shook my head as I licked my ice cream once more.

I was surprised that she had the delicacy to speak in a volume moderate enough so that the distance did not let the previous focuses of my attention hear that we were talking about them... honestly, Inohara seems to be the type of person that just start speaking super loud something like “EEEEH?! WERE YOU LOOKING AT THEM?!” as she gets up throwing her chair back, making a lot of noise and shamelessly pointing at them with the finger.

“Nothing huh... hmm… why were you looking at them then?”

“No particular reason, they just caught my attention.”

“What was the reason that your attention was drawn to them?”

“Huuh?” I pushed the ice cream away from my face, seeing her with a somewhat confused expression.

It is not natural that Inohara is so interested in that kind of things, right now it even seems that she is interrogating me, leaving her almost finished ice cream aside.

“Is there a reason?”

“I don’t know... there is? I was just rambling, don’t those things happen to you? I saw them and thought about what kind of relationship those two micro guys would have with the regular girls who accompany them.”

“Do you think that if those micros weren’t there, the regular people at that table would have caught your attention by themselves?”

“Excuse me?”

“Is there something wrong?”

“I mean, you’re interrogating me right now!”

“Am I?”

“You are!”

Indeed, she is.

“You even left your scandalous character somewhere else, do you have a fragmented personality or something?”

“I see, sorry about that... hehe, sometimes I focus too much on a specific thought and I can make the ambient feel a little weird with other people.”

Just a little? I’d say even too much, I’ve been too lenient with Inohara since this ‘date’ started but this time it really made me feel uncomfortable, like she wanted to reach some conclusion by asking something so trivial.

“Whatever!” Suddenly, the girl in the strappy skirt regained her previous aura of inexhaustible energy and took a couple of bites from her ice cream, eating it whole.

As expected, with some delayed effect she began to hold her head now with both hands.

“Hyaaaa, this is terribleeee!!”

Shameful.

***

As soon as I finished eating my ice cream, I almost had to force Inohara to end this nonsense as I was exhausted not physically but mentally. This girl is so energetic and frantic that I can feel my own vitality being drained by being with her. The two of us then headed to the place that was the cause I couldn’t stay home this saturday.

“You didn’t let me buy you any clothes… why do you have to be so impatient?”

“I appreciate it but I’m not interested, all I want is for you to show me what you know I want to see.”

“What I know you want you to see huh... certainly, I won’t say I don’t know what you’re talking about but I’m sure that thought has been inflated in your mind.”

Inflated... for some reason... until now Inohara acted as an annoying girl and rather silly in my eyes, that kind of girl that throws at you and hugs you just by walking into the classroom... because she’s literally like that. Today, however, I discovered a completely different side of her than that silly one... what was hidden behind that solid mask?

“You mean giving it too much importance?”

“Who knows?”

The rest of the way was silent until we arrived at a residential complex that included some buildings four floors high. Reaching up to the top floor of rooms, I followed Inohara from behind until she stopped in front of one of the doors and inserted one of the keys in her key ring into the door lock which subsequently was pushed back. She came in and kicked off her shoes, setting them aside before turning to look at me.

“You can come in.”

“Excuse me…”

I shyly walked in and closed the door behind me, kicking off my boots before stepping onto the clean wooden floor, Inohara rushed to turn on the lights before the only remaining light source entered underneath the door.

“My parents aren’t at home, follow me.”

I do not know why she wanted to clarify the detail that her parents were not... or would not be at home during my visit; I don’t know if it has to do with the nature of what she was going to show me or something totally different. Inohara walked in the direction of a door which she opened stepping aside to let me pass.

An ominous feeling turned my stomach with more intensity than before… what was I supposed to see as soon as I entered?

Today during all the day I have felt slight dizziness that had put me in a bad mood, a familiar smell of death haunted me throughout the day and a funereal mood that I cannot drown with other thoughts keeps taking over me. Passing her I hurried through the threshold of the door that almost seemed to exert some kind of putrid force that repelled me.

Once in her room I found the darkness of four walls without almost any source of light, the AC that cooled the place beyond the slightly comfortable to a bit cold claiming its silent presence when I felt the temperature change and the light dimly finding its way through curtains over the window as well as shyly flickering out of a monitor in suspension mode connected to a computer that was the only source of a slight noise from the place.

“Welcome to my bedroom~”

The sound of a switch was followed by an artificial light that illuminated the entire room, increasing my ability to appreciate the details of my surroundings.

It was then that I realized a detail that I had overlooked completely moments before.

A detail that made my blood run cold.

“T-Tamanaha… Yuu…”

In that same place I found the reason because I had been dragged to various places on a day that should have been quiet at first.