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Author's Chapter Notes:

AFTER 8 MONTHS THE STORY IS FINALLY BACK ON. Half Inch High: Alternative Chapter 20 is finally here and I deeply apologize for the long wait! And sad to say, chances are there might be another little break as I have to do a couple commissions. I'll try to focus on writing some more,  so you can count on that! Anyways, it might not be as special as many hoped for, but I hope you enjoy chapter 20!

An awkward silence ran cold through the room only to be broken by the worried gasp of all but one person in the group. Much to Rentaro's sister's confusion, she eventually realized that they were all staring at her foot. Setting the tray of drinks down, she lifted her foot to see none other than her brother stuck underneath the toes of her socked foot. However, unlike the worried expressions of everyone else, her face had a more annoyed look on it. Staring angrily as she peeled the tiny Rentaro off her sock, the group was relieved to see that he was still alive as well as surprised to see how she reacted to that fact. 

 

"Wow, did you wait at the front of the door just so you could be stepped on?? I didn't think you were that much of a perv! And even in front of your friends too? You really make me sick sometimes…" She said with a disgusted and angry expression as she grimaced towards her tiny brother’s flustered form as he laid there pathetically on the floor.

 

“Can’t you believe it was an accident for once, Rei? Why do you just assume that’s the case every ti-” He said, dusting himself off as he stared at the floor, ashamed. Before Rentaro could even fully plead his case, Rei had started to leave. Walking out of the room with a disappointed sigh and leaving the boy with yet another emotional jab. However, despite deciding to just take it on the chin and accept things as they were, Rentaro got some unexpected assistance. 

 

Staring at the ground with a disheartened expression, a vast shadow loomed Rentaro and with a gentle step towards the boy’s angered sister, Megumi placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. 

 

“I know I might be overstepping my boundaries but Rentaro is telling the truth.” Staring at her with a serious expression on her normally optimistic face. “I may not know a lot about your relationship but-” Getting ready to defend her friend, it was like Rentaro saw fire light up in her eyes, but just as fast as the fire was lit, it was extinguished as Rei turned towards Megumi with an embarrassed look on her face. 

“I-I’m sorry...” Looking down towards Rentaro, she murmured and bowed her head slightly, only to run off seconds after. Standing there confused, Megumi stood with her arm in the air where Rei’s shoulder previously was. Neither her nor Rentaro had any idea what just happened and the awkward silence persisted for a little bit until the group study session started to finally get back into the swing of things. 

 

Boredly walking over to the tray of drinks on the floor and stepping dangerously close to where Rentaro was, Alice let out a disinterested sigh as she grabbed a glass and went back to her seat near Bunny. And while no one noticed it, thanks to Alice, Rentaro was knocked off his feet once more. Shakingly getting up and dusting himself off, he couldn’t help but feel extremely terrified by what she had done. Despite thinking it was an accident, the boy’s mind lingered on her step. One or two inches to the right, and he would’ve been stomped onto the tatami mat. It was scary to him how hard she seemed to walk everywhere, almost like she was intentionally weighing down each of her steps. Thanks to his generally optimistic outlook, Rentaro barely noticed her malicious intent and shrugged it off with a sigh of relief. 

Still recoiling from the shock of almost being stepped on twice, Rentaro was surprised when he was suddenly swept off his feet and placed in the gentle palm of Megumi. Holding him in one hand and the tray of drinks in the other she walked slowly towards the table in the center of the living room, hoping to say a few things to the small boy before they arrived. 

 

“Sorry, I think I might have scared your sister back there.” She said bashfully with a slight pout. While that was the impression she got, Rentaro on the other hand didn’t think that was the case. And while he still didn’t know exactly why she reacted like that he started to feel as if he was at fault. “But I couldn’t help it! She was being mean to you when it wasn’t even your fault.” Megumi exclaimed, pouting cutely.

“Don’t worry about it too much~ That’s sorta just how our relationship is.” Scratching the back of his head, he flashed her a nervous smile before letting out a light sigh and looking down towards the ground that was Megumi’s smooth palm. “It’s my fault that we don’t get along, so I think it’s only fair that she treats me like that from time to time…” 

 

“What do you mean—” Before Megumi could ask any more questions, their private talk was interrupted as the two of them finally reached the table. 

 

“Thanks for bringin’ the drinks over Megumi!” Furyu said, standing up to grab a glass before placing it and the tray down on the table for everyone. 

 

“O-Oh! No problem!” Flustered from not being able to finish their conversation, Megumi just smiled and decided to continue their discussion later. Putting Rentaro down gently on the table she grabbed one of the glasses and started awkwardly sipping from the straw as she tried to figure out what Rentaro possibly could have done to negatively impact his relationship with his sister in such a way. Considering the fact that she doesn’t exactly have the best relationship with her own sister, she didn’t have the experience to even understand how it could’ve got so bad. ‘Maybe that’s just normal. The hero from the fantasy anime I was watching didn’t get along with his little sister either before he got transported into that fantasy world so it’s probably not that big of a deal.’ Mentally reassuring herself and getting lost in her thoughts at the same time she brushed off whatever worried thoughts she may have had and focused on the topic at hand: Studying! 

 

Placing Rentaro down safely on the table she cleared her throat and rummaged through her bag trying to find her study materials. When she was finally situated and ready to review her exam materials, Megumi looked up only to see that Rentaro had seemingly vanished from sight. After briefly scanning the surface of the table, a cold sweat ran down her brow and she slowly started to panic.  Not wanting to cause panic, she kept her concern to herself and tried to discreetly search for the tiny boy. Looking under papers, in their school bags, and even at their chests! The dense Megumi’s brain drew a blank as she frantically tried to think of where he could’ve gone. As she gave the room a quick once over, her mind went to a dark place. Staring at the glasses of ice tea in everyone’s hand her heart sank. While it was impossible to see how he could’ve even ended up in someone’s drink, her conscience couldn’t help but think that was a major possibility. 

Breathing heavy, yet still trying to compose herself, Megumi did a really good job at being the least discreet person in the room. With Fujo, Furyu, and Mai staring at her strangely she flashed a nervous smile and tried to reassure them that everything was fine. And while she didn’t exactly do the best job at reassuring them, the girls decided to just dismiss her behavior for the time being. Starting to hyperventilate she looked around again, but this time, she decided to look at the two most suspicious people in the room. While Alice seemed to be preoccupied with talking to Bunny, Sekira on the other hand had quite the interesting expression.

 

Distracted, with a blush on her face, and an averted gaze it looked like she was trying her best to whistle while fidgeting with something using her legs. She didn’t exactly look malicious, oddly enough. Despite that, Megumi took a look anyway, and upon taking a peek beneath the table a huge wave of relief washed over her.

 

Sandwiched between the soles of Sekira’s white socks was none other than the tiny boy himself. And while this seemed like a super dangerous situation, Rentaro didn’t exactly look scared or alarmed. He seemed pretty relaxed all things considered and any worry Megumi had hanging over her head was instantly gone at the sight of a relaxed Rentaro. 

 

“Aha!” Plucking Rentaro out from between Sekira’s sole, she was met with a light ‘eep!’ from the two of them.  Placing Rentaro back on the table she saw that both he and Sekira had a heavy blush on their faces for some reason. Stammering at the fact that she was found out, Sekira quickly tried to think of an excuse, but as she’d soon find out, any rational thinking would go out the window upon hearing what Megumi would say next. 

 

“Oops! Sorry, Sekira, I didn’t mean to tickle you.” She apologized, lightly holding the boy while he averted his gaze in embarrassment while he stood crouched on her palm. Sekira didn’t look too good herself. A severe blend of extreme confusion and embarrassment was plastered on her face. Cheeks flushed with red and a nearly blank stare. Sekira figured the girl was a little dumb from the rumors she heard, but this was on a whole other level. 

“What were you doing down there anyways, Rentar-”

 

“Ok! That’s enough. Let me stop you right there, Megumi.” Eyebrows furrowed, and a piercing stare directed straight towards Sekira from the opposite end of the table, Furyu glared in disbelief that Megumi could misconstrue something as obvious as that. “You're not even gonna question why the hell he was down there?” Skeptical and fed up she sat there waiting for whatever unconvincing explanation the bully could give. 

“Yeah, I’d have to agree, Megumi. Stuff like that doesn’t happen often, especially with girls like her! Given the type of things she’s done before, there’s no way you can overlook something like this…” Mai said, coldly looking at Sekira from afar with a disapproving gaze. 

 

Staring down at Rentaro a nervous droplet of sweat rolled down her brow before she took a deep breath to compose herself. Looking towards Alice and averting her gaze from the tiny boy for the first time this study session, she took yet another breath before looking at Furyu with an annoyed expression.

 

“What’s it to you, blondie—“  Before she could finish whatever rude statement she had cooking up, Rentaro decided to muster up whatever strength he had to step in to explain the situation. 

 

“It was my fault!” Rentaro yelled out, tapping against Furyu’s finger as it rested angrily on the table. Bowing his head he tapped on her finger once more to get her attention. “I accidentally dropped something, and when I went down to get it… I got a little too comfortable.” Saying the last part with a murmur, he blushed, holding on to the tip of her finger tightly while bowing his head in embarrassment. Clicking her tongue, Furyu looked down at the tiny boy with disappointment in her dark grey eyes. With a sigh, she pulled her hand away and stood up from the table.  

 

“Tch, whatever. I’m gonna go take a leak.” She said, brutishly storming out of the room. 

 

Despite telling her the truth, Rentaro felt awful inside once again. Feeling like he caused this whole mess he held his head in his hands and sat down on the table, dejected and upset with himself. 

 

“Ehehe… clearly this wasn’t the best idea,” Bunny said, forcing an awkward smile. “I think it’d be best if we left for now. Sorry if we caused you guys any trouble!” She bowed her head. Megumi tried to reassure her that it really wasn’t her fault, but Bunny had already decided that it would be for the best. Grabbing Alice’s hand, she walked out of the living room and out the front door of Rentaro’s house. Being the odd one out, Sekira could feel that all eyes were on her, and despite things not exactly going as well as she wanted, she felt that it’d be best for Rentaro if she stepped out as well. Looking down at the tiny boy, she mouthed the words ‘sorry’ and grabbed her belongings before heading out the door. Wanting to be disappointed about not being able to spend more time with him, she just could not wipe the excited grin off her face. That feeling of holding his delicate tiny body between her soles will forever be ingrained within her head, and she left the Kitagawa estate feeling pretty satisfied, all things considered. 

 

“And then there were five...” Fujo sighed, feeling the awkwardness fill the room for the third time today. “Don’t beat yourself up over this, Megumi.” Wrapping her arms around the silver-haired girl’s waist, she gave her a warm hug hoping that she wouldn’t be too distraught about all the bad things that happened today. 

 

“No, it’s fine… Like Bunny said, it was probably for the best.” Running her finger along the rim of a glass of ice tea, she stared at the floor in low spirits. “I just wish things could’ve gone a little better.” She pouted and took a quick swig of ice tea before pepping herself up once more! 

 

Standing up straight and stretching her arms she let out a restrained shout before giving herself a soft slap in the face. However, odd this may have looked, it was clear that it was helping her cheer up a little. After her odd routine, she seemed to finally be back to normal. Smiling as brightly as ever with a glint of sunshine in her eye, she kneeled down and faced the sulking micro boy to make sure that he cheered up a little as well.

 

“Well, the past is the past. At the end of the day, we still had fun with everyone in the club, right?” Smiling brightly towards him, she laid her hand out in front of him. “So, before the day’s completely over… how about we go check on Furyu.”

 

Staring at her cheerful face beaming down brightly in front of him, Rentaro couldn’t help but be infected by her contagious energy and stepped onto her hand. 

 

“I’m sorry that things-” Not even giving him a chance to apologize, Megumi shook her head and pulled the tiny boy into a gentle hug. Flung into her soft cuddle, the rest of his apology went muffled as the cloth of her casual blouse silenced it and calmed the boy’s heart with a familiar plush embrace. With the beats of her heart ringing out with a soothing tone, Rentaro was effectively cheered up as well. And that was far from the end of it. Filled with happy energy, Megumi could barely contain herself and before long, she picked up both Mai and Tomoya to bring them into a hug as well. Smiling joyfully alongside Megumi and Rentaro, Mai happily accepted her embrace. Feeling her soft bosom release any tension she may have felt for having to be in a room with two of her most feared enemies. However, for Tomoya, it was quite a different story.

 

“S-Stop! Let me go!! Y-You… you— “ Blushing red, and frantically flailing his arms the cynical tiny struggled against her boob. Steaming from embarrassment and he stammered nervously, trying as hard as he could to come up with some insult. Pushing against the soft surface, his hands sunk into them like marshmallows and his face erupted with embarrassment and became even redder. He tried to face away but before long he was gently pressed into her hug. 

 

“Hey, don’t forget about me~!” Fujo said, resting her head gently against Megumi’s chest, making sure she was extra careful as to not harm any of her tiny clubmates. And as she pressed her head against Megumi’s ample bosom, she could just about hear the panicked yells of desperation from Tomoyo. Cracking a smile she snickered and pulled away, and tapped the overly affectionate Megumi on the shoulder. 

 

“There’s still one person left without a hug, ya know.” Patting her on the back she plucked the shivering Tomoya from Megumi’s hand and pushed out the door. “I’ll look after him for the time being. It looks like your hug melted his brain.” She giggled, pointing at flustered red face. Glasses were misaligned, and hair frizzled Tomoya was practically steaming from embarrassment at this point, and while he thought being saved by Fujo was a blessing, he would soon realize that it would end up being a lot more than he bargained for.

 

Meanwhile, walking amidst the empty halls of Rentaro’s vast and impressive house. Starting to regret brazenly walking out, the girl roamed alone and lost. Surrounded by what seemed like a maze of traditional screen doors, tatami mats, and immaculately polished wooden floors Furyu was pretty intimidated, to say the least. Even after she began opening doors and peeking within the house’s assortment of rooms, the bathroom still eluded her. As time went on her impatience grew more and more till she finally decided to give up and hopefully get directions from the Kitagawa family’s maid. But looking back only caused more confusion for the delinquent, as the area around her seemed to blend in her mind. With no recollection of which path she may have taken, she had no frame of reference for where she even needed to go to find anyone, let alone the maid. 

 

“Damn, do you really need this big of a house for five people?!” She yelled out, frustrated. However, as her voice echoed through the vast hallways, the brash girl received something she never expected: a response. From around the corner, a voice called out to her answering the question she had asked out of frustration.

 

“It’s four actually, well more like three. Ms. Tsukikage, my brother, and I are the only ones who actively live here. Mom’s always out on business, and our dad…” Trailing off, she came out from around the corner. “Anyways, don’t feel so bad about getting lost. This place is stupidly big, you get used to it though. All the ‘important rooms’ are out near the front of the house since we had to remodel a bunch of stuff to accommodate my older brother’s size! Here, let me show you to the bathroom.” Grabbing her hand, she led her through the halls and towards the bathroom.

 

“Speakin’ of which… is your bro always like that? You know, always apologizin’ for shit he didn’t do?” Furyu asked, still angry about how he acted.

 

“Well, sorta…” Placing her hand on her chin, she started to get lost in thought before looking back at Furyu. “I guess it started around the time he finished middle school. I don’t remember that much about how he was before then, but for the most part, he’s been a massive— or should I say tiny— pushover ever since. I think it makes him feel like a good person, you know? Taking the blame for others, and stuff like that…” She sighed. 

“But why though? That sounds kinda shitty. Does he think everything’s his fault or somethin’?” Furyu asked.

“Beats me, that’s just how he is. I get how you feel though, I do wish he would stand up for himself more often, though as a tiny that’s sorta hard to do, as you can probably imagine.” Rei said. “Don’t get it twisted though, his pervy ass still pisses me off!” She pouted, before letting go of her hand. Just ahead of them was the restroom, but before Furyu could get close she was suddenly tackled by what felt like an overly soft pair of airbags. 

 

“Waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!! We missed you so much, Furyu!!” She wailed, clinging to Furyu’s comparatively flat chest. 

“Get the hell off me!!” She said, lightly pushing her off. Smile on her face, she looked at Rentaro and Mai tucked safely in one of her pockets, and let out a sigh. “Don’t just tackle people like an idiot when you’re carryin’ people.” Lightly chopping Megumi on the head, she reached out towards the pocket and plucked Rentaro out. 

 

“Look, I’m sorry if what I said made you upset back there.” He said, resting on the palm of her hand. But before he could say anything else, he was met with Furyu’s massive finger pressing lightly against his face.

 

“Don’t go apologizin’ for everythin’! But I do wanna say it was wrong of me to walk out like that. I probably shoulda realized that you were still a little scared after bein’ put between that bitch’s socks against your will…” She apologized, slightly bowing her head. But upon receiving an awkward averted gaze, she started to realize that something felt fishy. But instead of investigating herself, Furyu’s suspicions were answered as the boy’s sister chimed in. 

 

“Oh wait, that’s what you thought he was taking the blame for?” She asked, laughing awkwardly. “Well, considering his gross foot fetish, chances are he was apologizing for something he actually did.” 

 

Staring at Rentaro with a blank yet disappointed glare, she quickly placed him between Megumi’s cleavage and stoically walked to the restroom, mumbling obscenities on her way there. 

 

“Well… all's well that ends well, right?” Megumi said, a nervous drop of sweat rolling down her forehead as she fished Rentaro out from between her two orbs.

 

-TO BE CONTINUED-

 

Chapter End Notes:

Again, apologies for the wait, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this story. I still have a lot more in store for HIH:A so please stay tuned. Thank you for the continued support of my story. 

Special Thanks: Everyone who patiently waited for this chapters fated arrival.

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RandomInterWeeb

 

//PREVIEW?????//

Wow, it's been quite a while hasn't it? Well, hopefully you guys have a chance to brush up on the story so far, because... Next time, on Half Inch High: Alternative a couple underused characters will take the spot light, and maybe some new faces will poke out from the shadows. As always, thanks for reading!

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