“In any case, she’s gonna be graduating into Hanichi next year so if any of you try to mess with her… I’ll kill you.” She cracked her knuckles looking specifically at Alice and the three other bullies. Thinking about it more, that probably wasn’t just an empty threat… Nonetheless, thanks to Furyu’s story, life was brought back into the room.
“Yay! Isn’t that great Rentaro..?” She looked around, scanning the ground up and down. “Huh..? Rentaro?” Where did he go?” Frantically looking all over the place Megumi stared at Sekira who was cutely enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but, if anyone wanted to kidnap Rentaro, it’d probably be her. Before she decided fully suspect her, Megumi needed to do some investigating.
[INVESTIGATION START]
Rentaro was too small and thus wouldn’t leave many clues, which meant the best course of action was to… ask the witnesses!!!
“Witness: Ayame Kibishi. Age: 15. Relation to the Victim: Child-hood friend.” She started to interrogate her. “Ms. Ayame Kibishi, is it? I take it you’re close to the victim?”
“U-Um I’ve known for a little over 5 years… Though, I wouldn’t say that we’re close. So, don’t get the wrong idea!!” She bashfully turned her head. “Wait, victim?! Did he really- H-How could he have… d-d-d-d-d-d-” She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Rentaro meant the world to her and to learn that something happened to him tore her to pieces.
“I never said anything about any incident involving the victim. It’s strange that you’d be so quick to think that something would’ve happened to him. Maybe, you know more than you’re letting on…” Megumi grilled the girl, staring at her with an inquisitive glare. Typically worrying about a friend’s well being was a normal reaction. However, Megumi’s seen and played way too many detective games/movies to take what she said at face value.
“W-Well I mean… Rentaro told me that he’d be right back, and since those three are here I just assumed. You will not believe how relieved I am to here that nothing has happened. Ah- I mean, I’m only worried because it’s the right thing to do! I-It’s not like I l-like him or anything!!” She hid her face in embarrassment.
[CLUE OBTAINED: “Rentaro went somewhere”]
“What do you think about this information, partner!” She looked at Mai, trying to think of where Rentaro might have gone. It was a real mystery scenario, but Mai’s mind was already dead set on making Sekira the culprit.
“It’s obviously her! Who else would’ve kidnapped him?!” she crossed her arms and shot a hateful glare towards Sekira, who was sitting in the kotatsu with Alice, Tsumi, and Bunny. As much as Megumi wanted to suspect her, something didn’t feel right. She was the obvious culprit but, deep in her heart, she knew it wasn’t her. ‘You can’t prove someone’s innocence with just a gut feeling!’ She thought and sat by the kotatsu in order to question her.
“Suspect: Sekira Sumehara. Age: [UNSPECIFIED]. Relation to the Victim: Has a crush on him.” With all signs pointing to her being the culprit, Sekira was surprisingly calm. Though, with her track record, she was probably used to being under suspicion. “Given your unhealthy obsession with the victim, suspicion naturally falls onto you. Furthermore, you’ve been seen stalking him on multiple occasions! So I ask you this, for both his and your sake. Did you happen to know the whereabouts of his location?” She slammed her hand down on the desk like a hard-boiled detective.
“Why would I know where he went? If anything, shouldn’t you know where he is? You did promise to ‘protect everyone’ didn’t you?” She snarked at her dealing heavy damage to Megumi’s resolve. It was true! Megumi promised to Mai that she’d protect all the micros at this party, and it was her lack of caution that caused her to lose sight of him. Slowly she started to break down, feeling that it was her own fault.
“Megumi! Calm down and think logically! You’re only one person after all.” Mai sighed.
“You’re right. I am just one person, but still! I made a promise to you guys… wait a minute, there’s one thing I haven’t tried yet!” Her confidence started to come back. And as she made her way to the kitchen she realized exactly who to call in a situation like this. A studious girl who was accustomed to situations like this. But, before we get into that, how about we go back to a few minutes before all of this went down.
-Half an Hour Earlier-
“Hey, Rentaro. Where are you going?” Ayame asked in response to seeing Rentaro sneaking away during Furyu’s story. He was mumbling something strange with a strange flushed expression on his face.
“N-Nowher- I mean to the… restroom.” He looked left and right trying to not act suspicious while looking extremely suspicious. However, since Ayame didn’t want to be a burden, she reluctantly dismissed his strange behavior. ‘I feel sorry for lying to you, but this is a once in a year opportunity I can not pass up!’ He thought silently chuckling to himself. As he stealthily crept towards the kotatsu, crawling under the blanket he mentally prepared himself for what was coming next.
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Shuichi: crap…
Fujo: Hm? Is something the matter Shuichi?
Shuichi: N-No nothing’s the matter! Nothing at all!!
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“I never would’ve thought that a person like you would be interested in manga.” Alice looked at Tsumi, who was enjoying the warmth of the kotatsu along with Sekira and Bunny. Considering how bland and mundane she typically acts it was strange to observe how passionate she was about Fujo’s doujin.
“Just erotica…” She responded absent-mindedly flipping through the pages of Fujo’s latest doujin. Compared to what she just said, her nonchalant tone and utter lack of interest effectively killed the conversation before it even took off.
“Y-Yeah I read erotica once haha.” She awkwardly looked over to Sekira hoping to change the subject.
With all four of them by the kotatsu, it was prime time for Rentaro to indulge his fetish to the fullest. Four pairs of legs all snuggled up and warm it was truly a dream experience for any “leg enthusiast.” Beset on all sides by soft to the touch plump thighs, warm socked feet. This was heaven, but as enjoyable as this situation was… there was one problem that was quite apparent. All except one of the girls at the kotatsu weren’t exactly the best at being friendly towards micros. Meaning that if he chose the wrong girl, there was a high likely-hood of merciless capital punishment. You’d think the risk would be too much but, this was a once in a year opportunity he could not pass up!!
At this point, the only thing Rentaro wanted for Christmas was to indulge himself on some heavenly legs without being caught and/or killed. And with all the good karma he’s racked up from being in the MicroRep Support Club, there was no way his situational bad luck would trigger, right?
“This the choice of a lifetime! If I mess up this ¼ I might actually die so I’ve gotta think…” He looked around at all the girls trying to see if there were any hints as to who was who, but sadly it was pretty hard to tell who someone was from their legs. And thanks to the heat from the kotatsu combining with his intense lust for legs, Rentaro’s head wasn’t exactly in the right state of mind to be making logical decisions, like, crawling out of the kotatsu and quickly checking which girl was which. “Well, when in doubt just let fate decide! Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers let him go Eeny, meeny, miny moe!!!”
Through random decision making, Rentaro found himself walking towards a slender pair of legs wrapped up in some very enticing black thigh-high socks. Hoping he made the right decision he began to “indulge” himself. For some reason, Rentaro was more worried about the pervertedness of his actions, rather than his general well-being.
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Kurome: Ooh! Very interesting indeed... Hnnng! He’s sooo cute! I can’t take it! I love him! I love him! Hehehe! He’s so selfless even when he’s being a pervert.
Shuichi & Fujo: Why are you still here!!!
Kurome: Well I was about to leave, but when I saw that little guy I just couldn’t contain myself. If I promise to be a “good girl” can I stay? Pretty please!!
Shuichi: No wa-
Fujo: Sure. Just don’t try anything you “suttubus.”
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-Back to the present-
“Ugh! Stupid blizzard!! I just want to make a simple phone call! Is that too hard to ask!!” Nana desperately waved her phone in the air trying to get signal. (I just realized that it’d probably best to just leave this link here so you guys could get a better idea of who the Half Inch High: Original characters are so yeah… it might be a bit late but, whatever http://labbacomics.com/characters/. Anyways back to the story!)
“Hey, Nana. I see you’re having some trouble there if you’d like, I could lend you my phone. I did just get off a call with Tomoya so I’m sure calling your sister wouldn’t be a problem.” She offered her phone to her, smiling sweetly.
“You’re an angel!!” She graciously went to take it from her only to be denied, as Megumi swiftly pulled her phone back.
“But, first I’d really appreciate it if you’d help me out!” She clasped her hands together hoping that Nana would help her out.
“Uh, sure. What’s the problem.”
“Well, Rentaro’s kinda gone missing and I’m he wasn’t kidnapped or anything like that. So, since you have a micro sibling, I was kinda hoping that you’d know what to do in a situation.”
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Shuichi: Fun fact- Much like how the last chapter referenced one of Labba’s comics, in terms of structure, this one also follows the same structure of one of Labba’s earlier comics titled: “Where’s my brother?” If you’re interested you can check out http://labbacomics.com/comics-and-art/ if you haven’t already! Labba’s a super talented artist and their work is truly exceptional!
Fujo: Yeah! Labba’s great because unlike Weeb(RI_Weeb is the abbreviated version of, Random Internet Weeb, By the way) they know how to kill off a character when it counts. And they’re art is really good).
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“Well, typically for teenage boys the first thing to do is, check if he’s looking up anyone’s skirts but, you’re the only girl here who’s wearing a skirt so that’s out. Do you know what he’s into?” She asked putting her hand on her chin.
“Gimme a second.” She went into the living room and gently carried Ayame to Nana. Asking her the same question Ayame promptly responded in a very helpful way.
“W-Well, it’s not like I know much about him or anything, but contrary to popular belief, Rentaro is kinda a leg man. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s a bit of a masochist…” She didn’t want to reveal Rentaro’s fetish, but if it was to potentially save his life she’d probably do anything.
[CLUE OBTAINED: LEG FETISH]
“Hmm, Leg fetish… Wait, you have a kotatsu right?”
“Yeah, why do you ask?” As the three of them made their way to the living room, Nana was thoroughly shocked to see that all three of the bullies were sitting at the kotatsu.
“This is bad…” Nana stared on in absolute terror at the thought that Rentaro would be so dumb as to even try to be a pervert around those girls.
“T-There’s no way, right?” Ayame asked, her voice shaking from fear. “He’s an idiot, but he’s not that big of an idiot.” Denial filled every part of her being. Thinking that her childhood friend and crush was dead, simply because she decided not to be a burden filled Ayame with an unimaginable amount of regret.
“I’ll destroy those bad thoughts with the power of positive thinking!” Megumi placed her safely on the floor and made a mad dash towards the kotatsu. Lifting up the blanket there he was, or rather there they were.
[Mystery… REVEALED!!!]
“Just because you’re one of Megumi’s old schoolmates, or whatever, doesn’t give you the right to peep!!” Rentaro yelled grappling with a very familiar-looking micro to the ground.
“If we’re going by that logic… Just because you’re one of Megumi’s new school mates, doesn’t give you the right to peep.” A boy, incredibly average in both looks and personality, yelled struggling successfully against Rentaro’s firm grasp. I was none other than the one and only Shuichi Shinko who was also at the party for… some reason.
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Fujo: Eeehh!! What the- Huh? That doesn’t make any sense at all! Why are you there, and I’m not! Do you think you’re funny Shuichi? Huh? Acting all depressed about not being able to talk to Megumi and there you are getting invited to her Christmas party! I’ll never forgive you!!! Hmph!
Shuichi: I wasn’t exactly invited… Just keep reading you’ll see why I’m there in just a bit.
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“And, for the record. I WASN’T PEEPING!!” They yelled in unison.
“Ha! There’s no way I’m believing that. Unlike you, I was just waiting for Megumi to sit down so I could… uh, surprise her!!” Shuichi fumbled trying to think of a ‘believable’ excuse.
“Yeah, right! Unlike you, I was, um… trying to enjoy the warmth of the kotatsu.” Rentaro looked around trying to come up with something credible that could support his case.
“This my once in a year opportunity! Stop trying to ruin it for me!!” They yelled in unison once more. The two of them really were two sides of the same coin. Thinking the same, and acting the same while at the same time, having wildly different interests.
“Umm, Shuichi? I-It’s really nice to see you and all but, why are you here?” Megumi looked at him with a confused expression. In all honesty, she was ecstatic to see him but, now wasn’t exactly the time for a happy reunion.
“Busted…” The two of them sighed and gave up their struggles, reluctantly choosing to turn themselves in.
In order to explain how this situation even occurred, we’re gonna have to go back to 30 minutes ago when Rentaro first entered the land of his dreams…
“Thigh high socks! A heavenly piece of cloth created by the gods themselves in order to provide ultimate pleasure for thigh and feet lovers. Though, personally, I’m more of a post-workout gym sock guy but, I cannot deny the true beauty behind those threads.” He said to himself rubbing up against the soles of the girl’s foot. Even if it wasn’t that warm, Rentaro could still faintly feel the moisture of her sweat as it leaked through the fabric. ‘I love being this size!’ He celebrated, shoving his face deep into the thigh high-sock. Luckily for him, his bad luck didn’t trigger, allowing him to enjoy the moment without being discovered. Unluckily for him, another less life-threatening obstacle stood in his way.
“Beep!!” Shuichi’s phone went off causing him to panic. “Crap!” He swiftly turned it off letting out a small sigh of relief. As he put his phone away he caught a glimpse of the one and only Rentaro Kitagawa sniffing up the sock of some “random” girl.
“Who are you? And… what are you even doing?” Shuichi asked catching Rentaro in the act.
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Fujo: We’re gonna end it off here. The rest will be explained in tomorrow’s chapter! Only two more chapters remain. I can’t wait to see how you talk yourself out of this situation…
Shuichi: hehe…
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