“U-Um… I think the answer’s 90.52…”

“I got the same thing, so I hope so. Let’s put it down then.”

“Okay…”

“Oh right, Alice. You checked out that movie, right? How’d you like it? Wasn’t that ghost scene scary?”

“Scary…? O-Oh, that part…? Um… It felt a bit like an action series the whole time so I didn’t think it was scary…”

“Whoa. You’re pretty tough then. I pissed my pants when I watched that. If you can handle that, maybe I should give you some other recommendations. Do you want some?”

“Really? U-Uhm… I wouldn’t mind…. I really liked that movie… I never got to watch that many before, so it was real fun, Nikki…”

“Alright! We’re movie buddies then, Alice!”

“Haah… Ngfff… Haaah…” 

I never thought I’d be able to eavesdrop on a conversation from inside a boot. Whoever Alice was talking to was a very straight forward girl. She didn’t seem to mind Alice’s stutters and pauses and sounded really grateful to find someone who enjoyed her movie recommendation. I would’ve been much happier for my cousin if I wasn’t still smothered by her socked foot.

How long had it been? Getting grinded into Alice’s insole step by step during Alice’s trip and being forced to breathe in the stench of her hot and sweaty socked foot inside her enclosed and stuffy boot for all of that and an entire bus ride to the campus library was difficult for even a guy like me to handle.

“Damn… Mgff… It’s so hot…” The end result of being thrown about inside Alice’s boot with every movement she made was my body slipping into the gaps beneath her toes. There was just a little more room to breathe, and my body wasn’t always getting crushed under the weight of Alice’s foot. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t move.

Rumble…

“Whoa!”

Actually, that was wrong. I was moving whenever Alice lifted her foot off the ground. My legs were still pinned but I could somewhat move my arms when the pressure pinning me down lightened up. Even then, though, all I could do was try to push myself away from the sock fibers to get some form of breathing room.

“Oh right, we should get back to work. Do you want to do number 14 or 15?”

“Um… I think I know 15…”

There had to be something I could do to get Alice’s attention. Her sock was so thick that it seemed she never felt my body pressed up against her foot. Even trying to hit it didn’t seem to work. Alice was putting all of her attention on her friend rather than her foot, so I was staying unnoticed.

This was just how it was to be 3 inches tall. I already understood I was unable to do anything without the help of my giant cousin and sister while shrunken, but I never thought being under their notice would be so rough.

Buzz! Buzz!

“Hm…? A message? … Huh? Lori?”

“Oh, is it something important, Alice? Go ahead.”

“Thank you, Nikki…”

Stomp! Stomp!

“Mggrk! Mgfff!” 

In the end, my attempts had been so pathetic that they made no difference. It was Lori who rescued me by calling Alice. My cousin walked away from her friend to answer a call in an empty area of the library, unaware of me getting slammed into her foot with each step.

“H-Hello? … Lori?”

“Alice? Thank god you picked up.”

“Huh? I-Is something wrong? You sound panicked…”

“Yeah, I am. Is Remy with you right now?”

“... Remy? I-I haven’t seen him all day.”

“... I thought as much. Uh, if you’re alone right now, could you check your clothes and maybe your shoes? He might’ve ended up there.”

“W-What?”

It had taken Lori this long to confirm I wasn’t in Alice’s room and was likely on her person. Alice was completely stunned at what she had heard, but she understood the problem immediately. 

Rumble… 

“Haaah… About time… ”The weight crushing me disappeared as Alice took off her boot. With her foot gone, I could move properly. It was going to take a minute for my body to not feel as flat as a sticker, though…

Rumble! Rumble!

“Whoa!” Sadly, I was not going to get a minute. Before I could react, the floor became the ceiling.

Thump! Thump!

“Waargh!” Alice had turned her boot upside down and tapped it. I was knocked out of her boot like the same way she’d try to get a pebble out of her shoe. I landed on gray tile face first. “Ouch…”

“R-Remy?”

My name being called caused me to open my eyes. I found myself staring up at my cousin who was seated on one of the library’s sofa benches with the boot that had imprisoned me in hand. Her beige sweater and the royal blue dress she had picked for her meet up with her friend had a formal appearance to it so, with my hands on the ground trying to pick myself up, it looked like I was kneeling in front of my cousin who was sitting on a titanic throne.

“Uh… H-Hi, Alice,” for a second, I was speechless.

“I-it’s really, Remy…”

Over the phone, Lori was happy to hear that Alice had apparently found me. “You found him? Oh, thank goodness. Can I count on you to bring him home safely, Alice?”

“U-Uh… Yeah…” Alice hung up before Lori had a chance to say anything else. She was confused after seeing me fall out of her boot. “... R-Remy? What were you doing in there…?” 

“Um… I thought I’d surprise you and give you a little scare?” I considered lying, but seeing Alice uncross her legs and put her socked feet on the floor right in front of me made me an honest man.

“A scare…?” Alice was still confused but she tried to sort through her memories to get a better understanding. Just like Lori, she was pretty quick on the uptake. “I-Is that why Lori came into my room earlier…?” 

“Yeah. I needed her help to get inside. ”

“And that weird voice I heard before I left…” Alice connected two and two together. “You two wanted to prank me with a ghost scare?”

“No, not like that,” I vehemently shook my head. Alice leaned forward in her seat just a bit. At the same time, her feet slid across the floor towards me. I did not want to be bulldozed by them so I started backing up. “I was only thinking of surprising you by giving you a sudden tickle… But then I fell… What you heard was me trying to get your attention to get out.”

“Well, you really did scare me just now, Remy…” Alice couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She put her hand on her forehead and shook her head in disbelief. To me, it looked like she was ashamed at a little brother’s actions. Afterwards, she got off the chair completely to get down on the ground. Before I could react, my body was pinched between her thumb and forefinger. With her other hand, Alice pointed at me, scolding me with, “Never do that again, okay? Bad, Remy…”

This reminded me of a child getting lectured by a mother, although Alice’s last line sounded more like scolding a pet. “Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson. I don’t want to end up trapped in your boot again.”

“M-My boot…” Alice looked at her boot that she had put down on the ground. She scrunched her toes, likely thinking about how tight of a fit her boots were. “... Are you really okay? Did I hurt you? How could you survive there?”

“The effects of that shrinking machine helped, definitely,” I answered. “Although it was definitely hard to breathe with how stuffy and smelly it was with your sweat and socks. It really stank.”

“... Remy, I don’t think you should tell someone their feet smell,” Alice took offense. She grabbed her boot with her other hand. It worried me if she was going to drop me back in or not because I could smell the stuffy odor coming out from the boot when it was held directly beneath me. At the same time, Alice narrowed her eyes. Even then, each one was as big as my head, making her gaze piercing because she could literally see every part of me.

“Well, in any case, I’m glad you found me. Can we go home now?” I asked.

“… Can you wait until after I’m done? Nikki and I are still working.” As it turned out, my safety wasn’t a priority to Alice.

“Come on Alice. This has been rough enough.”

“Remy, I-”

“Hm? Alice? What’s that?”

“W-Wah!”

“Mgh! Woooah!”

Alice’s hand covered my entire body. Her arm instantaneously moved almost out of a reflex, so the speed at which I was jerked in one direction was disorienting. All I could tell was that I was being forced downwards.

“Ugh!” When Alice let me go, I opened my eyes to find her arm retreating upwards out a lone hole in darkness. After having gotten so familiar with the stuffy heat and pungent odor, I realized immediately where I was. “Wait, seriously? Again?”

Alice had thrown me back into her boot to hide me from her friend. It would have been very hard to explain why her 3 inch cousin was wandering around the campus library, let alone in her shoes.

“Whoah. That was a shout. Did I startle you?”

“Y-Yeah… A little…”

“My bad. You were taking so long, I thought I’d see what was the matter. Who were you talking to?”

“Lor… My housemate just called me… I took something of hers without realizing…”

“Oh, that’s bad. You better return it then when you get back.” 

“I-it’s not a big deal…”

“Not a big deal? Well, okay.” 

Alice covered my presence up easily. When she said that it wasn’t a big deal, she was being honest because of how small I was. She just had to tilt how she was holding her shoe, and I tumbled out of sight towards the toe of her boot. 

“By the way, why’d you take off your boots in the middle of the library?”

“A-Ah… There was something in them.”

“Ouch. I hate that feeling. Getting a rock in my shoe is so annoying. When I can’t take my shoes off, I always have to roll it around until it’s between my toes.”

“Y-Yeah… I didn’t really feel this one, but it was there apparently…”

A rock between her toes? That comparison was too apt. But hearing Alice tell her friend that she didn’t actually feel me reminded me of just how insignificant I was to her. 

“Well, come on. Let’s head back. We only have a few problems left.”

“Alright, Nikki…”

Rumble…

The one light from the entrance was suddenly eclipsed. It was then that I saw the outline of Alice’s foot snaking its way into the boot.

“Huh? Wait, Alice don’t-” I realized that Alice’s friend was likely waiting for Alice to put her shoe back on. She didn’t have much of a choice but to put it on or else the girl would realize something was wrong. I tried to get as far back, but there was no time before Alice’s foot overtook me. “Mgaahff!”

Once again, I was smothered by my cousin’s sock and toes. This time, I at least had one hand free, but I was still unable to move it because of the all-encompassing pressure of Alice’s weight spread over my body. 

“Is it the rock still in there, Alice?”

Scrunch!

“Ugfff!” I groaned as Alice wriggled her toes to try and check for my presence.

“I-I don’t feel anything…”

“Great! Then let’s get back to work. My Papa’s visiting and I have lunch plans with him, so I want to get this done ASAP.”

“Okay…”

Stomp! Stomp!

“Mgak! Uffgh!”

With Alice having to get back to work with her friend, she had to follow her along. I was at the mercy of my gigantic cousin’s footsteps once again - trapped between her toes and flattened into the insole of her boot. This time, however, Alice knew I was inside. She was shifting her foot and toes around inside her boot, trying to drag me to a place where she could somewhat feel me which, unfortunately, resulted in my face being smothered by her toe.

“Sorry, Remy…,” Alice tried to apologize to me knowing that she had purposefully thrown me into her boot this time. “I didn’t have much choice. I’ll get you out later…”

“Hm? Did you say something Alice?”

“O-Oh, I-I was just thinking how much you like your dad…”

“It’s a little embarrassing when you say that out loud.”

Alice’s attention had to be redirected to her friend. As crushing as it was for me to be squashed inside her boot again, there was nothing that could be done about it. For us to make sure her friend didn’t realize, she had to act natural. At the very least, for Alice, it would be easy for her to keep doing things without thinking about me because I had so little presence.

It was my own fault anyways. I was the one who intruded on Alice’s room earlier and had now interrupted her study group. My plan to prank her went wrong, and this was the consequence. I was just going to have to wait and endure again. This was just how it was going to be until we got home. I certainly learned my lesson this time, though.

I wasn’t going to try to prank my cousin while she didn’t know I was there ever again. If I ever chose to mess with her, it had to be when she knew I was around.