“I’m home...” I had heard her say to her mother who was not the least bit fazed by her daughter suddenly gaining over 60 cm. I guessed that was to be expected who worked in a job that had Reduction and Magnification used on a daily basis.

It honestly felt lonely to be unable to do that at my own house. The fact that my house was a fair bit bigger than the Asano family’s actually made it feel more empty when I opened the door to the empty home.

“I’m back, huh?” I muttered to myself. There was nobody around to hear it. The old man and my mother were both going to be out for another long while. That was to be expected considering their jobs that made them fly around the country so much. 

Well, this was the life of a protagonist in some anime or manga, I joked. I had gotten so used to not having anyone at home that it wasn’t too much of a problem for me. I simply fell into my normal routine of washing my face and changing out of my uniform so I could then lounge around until I got hungry enough to go make dinner. 

I wasn’t lounging around at all, though. I ended up lugging several bags full of groceries home.

“I can’t believe I forgot to check the cabinets before I started frying. I should’ve realized I used too much when I was craving fried shrimp last time… Well, at least there was a sale today... ”

As I had promised Yae, I had started making her lunch. When I got changed into my casual clothes, I threw on an apron, rolled up my sleeves, and got to work. When it came to Yae, she was definitely my number one priority. I made the rice, the side dishes, and even the miso soup. The only issue I had, however, was that an important item was missing, preventing me from making the main course. I hadn’t bothered to check the cupboard before I started, and learned my house was out of cooking oil too late. I had to leave home and go to the store.

I shouldn’t have bought so much though. My arms were aching from the weight of everything I bought. The sun was starting to set because I had taken my time walking home. 

Ring! Ring!

As I turned off from the main road and into our neighborhood, my cell phone rang to the tune of the first single of an idol I liked.

“Hm…? A call?” 

Putting one bag down for a moment, I pulled out my phone. Looking at the caller ID, I saw the name was listed in my address book as ‘Kaa-san’. This was not my mother. There was no way she would call after all. I sighed as I answered the call. “Hello. This is rare, Akagi. Why are you calling me?”

“Wow. Last name basis there, Tou-san? I’m guessing someone’s nearby?”

Kasumi Akagi, the ‘mother’ to my ‘father’ in terms of how we nicknamed one another, was the one who had called me. I wasn’t exactly happy to have my fellow health committee member call me because that typically meant more work like how she had come to talking to me about replacing Matsu during lunch earlier that day.

“I’m outside. I’m walking home from the store,” I replied. “Don’t tell me there’s another problem you need me to take care of.”

“... Well, I did tell you I’d call if there were problems, but no. I wanted your thoughts on this old urban legend,” I heard from over the phone.

Purposefully, I slowed my pace and started to glance around. Morino lived in my neighborhood so there was a chance that Akagi, being her best friend, would be nearby. I didn’t see anybody, so I strained myself to pick up the bags I had put down with the hand that was already carrying things. I continued on my path, making a left turn towards the neighborhood playground. It was empty, so I took a seat on the bench overlooking the swingset and chatted with the girl.

“Urban legend? Oh. So I take it your club finished,” I frowned. Besides being a member of the health committee, Akagi was a fan of the occult and a member of such a school club. I always questioned how they had been able to become a club with so few numbers.

In any case, I understood what kind of call this was now. Akagi enjoyed sharing urban legends and ghost stories with others. This was one of her usual calls to try and scare me by practicing her storytelling skills.

“Yup yup!” Akagi’s cutesy voice really did not fit the subject she loved to talk about. “Earlier, Fumika-chan tried telling this story to Micchan but she wasn’t scared at all. I want your opinion on it.”

Considering I was used to phone calls from Akagi, I doubted I’d be scared too. Still, I allowed her to tell her tale. “So what’s it about?”

With my permission, Akagi’s sing-songy voice became serious as she started. “Have you ever heard of Hasshaku-sama?”

Hasshaku? I was aware of stories like the kuchisake-onna, the slit-mouthed woman, but the name actually didn’t ring a bell to me. This was a new one Akagi hadn’t told me of yet.

“No. Not at all.”

“I see…,” she drifted off for a moment. “As you can probably guess by the name, Hasshaku-sama is eight shaku tall. Around 240 cm.”

That was certainly a tall height. When I left Yae earlier, she was around 220 or so centimeters, so she was getting there. I silently listened to Akagi’s description of the tale she had read.

According to Akagi, Hasshaku-sama had the figure of a naturally tall woman with long dark hair, often depicted with a white sundress and a white wide brimmed hat. 

The story was simple. A young boy visited his relatives in the countryside and encountered such a woman. At this encounter, the young man heard her laugh in a strange well, a distinctive ‘popopo’ sound.

“They say if Hasshaku-sama takes interest in you, you’ll die in a few days,” Akagi continued, adding more and more details to the tale.

The woman was said to be able to mimic his family’s voices to try luring him out. He had to escape or else he would be killed. 

“The villagers helped him leave the village. And because Hasshaku-sama was bound to the land, the boy was safe,” Akagi and targeted the young, children in particular.

Safe, huh? I stayed silent, waiting for the occult club girl to continue.

“However, many years later, after the boy’s grandfather passed, he didn’t return. The boy, now a young man, was still afraid of what had happened all those years ago,” she stated. 

I had been correct. The story wasn’t over. Akagi told the tale. Soon after, he received a phone call from his relatives. Hasshaku-sama was a landbound being, but what was keeping her bound? The answer was Jizo - a circle of Jizo statues had been built around the village to keep Hasshaku-sama within.

“They told him the impossible had happened. Of all of the Jizo around the village, one of them broke - the one pointing towards his house. Even to this day, the boy fears hearing the ‘popopo’ of Hasshaku-sama… looking for him… calling for him...”

It was an interesting tale - a youkai-like urban legend that targeted the young, children in particular. I wondered where the occult loving girl pulled the story out of and if there were any other variations. Most of the sorts of tales Akagi told me were by word-of-mouth so I was curious if this was the original or had she added or removed some parts in her telling. I opened my mouth to ask Akagi that question, but before I could start, a voice spoke up behind me.

“Popopo...”

I felt a presence behind me after Akagi wrapped up the story.

“Akagi… this again?” I frowned. I did not turn around, but I could tell something had shown up behind the park bench.

“Is something wrong, Tou-san?” I heard through the phone.

I frowned. Though I heard Akagi’s voice through the phone, I did not hear it behind me. She was not the one who had suddenly snuck up on me.

“Popopo~”

It wasn’t Akagi’s cutesy voice.

I sighed. If I were younger, I might have gotten spooked. I wasn’t exactly terrified in any way now though. The biggest problem, I felt, was that I knew the storyteller well. 

“It’s not a bad story, but I guess that old urban legend isn’t exactly a big deal anymore with Reduction and Magnification so common nowadays,” I hung up the phone and tilted my head back so I could see behind the bench. I continued talking. “So they actually approved you girls getting taller too, huh?”

Behind me was one girl who fit the description of Hasshaku-sama Akagi had given me. Clad in white sundresses and wide brimmed hats with their hair let down and free of their usual accessories was one of the two occult club members - Akagi’s best friend and accomplice: Morino. 

It seemed that they were allowed to be Magnified as well. Standing up, I confirmed that Morino was 8 shaku tall. I was just under Morino’s chest height.

“Such a dull reaction. You saw this coming, huh, Touya-san?” Fumika Morino frowned. “We lost again, Kasumi-chan. We still couldn’t scare him.”

Running over from outside the playground park, I spotted another girl in a white dress. I recognized her immediately as the Kasumi Akagi I knew… or rather more than that. Akagi, who was Yae’s height, looked 60 cm taller than me. 

“How’d you know?” Akagi frowned.

“The moment you told me the height, Kaa-san, I figured it out,” I forced a smirk. It was a little unnerving to have a pouting Akagi looming over me.

“Muu… ” Akagi huffed as she slipped on the green armband she was supposed to be wearing outside while Magnified. “And I got these dresses and everything ready for us to surprise you, too.”

“So we were too heavy-handed and messed up,” sighed Morino. “Well, we were planning on ambushing you at your house, but because I spotted you outside, we had to change things up.”

“Well, I’m at least surprised to meet you two around my neighborhood like this,” I told them. “And sorry, but it’s not scary when you two look pretty good in those dresses. It’s fresh to see you with your hair down, Morino. And Kaa-san, I don’t think I’ve seen your bare arms before since you usually wear long sleeved clothes.”

“What the heck… Spouting those natural compliments so easily…” At my compliment, Morino immediately turned her head away. She took out her spider-web patterned scrunchie to pull her hair back into her usual ponytail. “This was just for a prank. Don’t think I let my hair down for just anyone.”

“T-Tou-san, don’t look at me like that,” my compliment made Akagi’s cheeks turn pink. She wanted to hide her arms now that attention had been drawn to them.

To be able to be flustered so easily, the two girls were surprisingly simple. I did know Akagi was somewhat self-conscious about showing skin, but Morino’s reaction was a lot more defense than I expected. At the very least, it bolstered my confidence to know I could fluster my classmates who were two heads taller than me.

“It’s not that easy to scare me, you two,” I said and picked up my shopping bags from the park bench. “You’ll have to try harder next time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish my bento for Yae.”

“Hm?”

Yank!

“Huh? Whoa!” Before I could walk off. Morino outstretched her hand and grabbed my right hand. Morino was actually trying to pull herself towards me, but the opposite happened due to our weight difference and I was pulled towards her.

“Hold up there, Touya-san,” Morino held me firmly against her. It suddenly became impossible for me to move forward because she was holding me back. I could feel her chest pressed up against the back of my head. “You have two girls who came to see you, and you’re just going to leave us for Yae-san?”

“Hey, let go.”

Akagi joined in, grabbing my left arm and pressing her body into it. “That’s right. We didn’t come here just to try scaring you. ”

“Akagi!” Though I wasn’t scared of the ghost story earlier, I was actually frantic being manhandled by the two Amazonian girls.

“Why are you shouting so much, Tou-san? Kaa-san’s just worried you’re not taking care of yourself properly. That’s why we came to visit,” Akagi referring to herself by her nickname and taking on the concerned tone jokingly would have sounded cute, but her height actually made her seem motherly. 

“I know that’s not the real reason.”

“Actually, Tou-san,” Akagi told the truth when she forcibly put two things on my arm. First, she forcibly slid a blue armband up my left arm. Second, she snapped a metal bracelet to my left wrist. “Sensei told me to give you these. She forgot to hand it to you earlier. Yanase-senpai told her you lived near Fumika-chan, so they told her to bring them to you.”

“What are these?” I couldn’t actually move my arm while the girls held on to both of them, so all I could do was turn my head. I spotted identical words written down on both items. “Magnification Caretaker?”

“You and Asano-chan are a designated pair, so you have to wear this too,” Akagi explained. “The armband’s just for identification, but as for the wrist band, I’m not really sure what it is. We also have to go deliver a Magnified one for Asano-chan too.”

“I see. So that’s why you were in the neighborhood. Thanks then,” I thanked them for taking the time to run an errand for the school nurse. I hoped that would get them to ease up on the physical contact, but that did not happen. “Um… you two can let me go now.”

In response to my words, Morino and Akagi moved in unison, snatching the heavy bags of groceries out of my hands. They had no trouble lifting with one hand the heavy bags I had been straining my muscles to bring home.

“Don’t worry, we’ll help out, Tou-san,” giggled Akagi as she lifted the grocery bag up above her head, far out of my reach. “We saw you earlier. You looked like you were having a hard time. Let Kaa-san take care of you~.”

Now I was certain Akagi was taking advantage of her height to poke fun at me. Though she called me ‘Tou-san’ like a father, she was certainly treating me like a child. The fact that I couldn’t reach the grocery bags even while jumping made that clear to me.

“Touya-san, how about letting us hang out for a bit? I think it’d be a good idea to fix the shift schedule anyways since Shinohara-kun’s out of commission. It’d be easier to discuss this in person, wouldn’t it?” Morino gave another reason for them to tag along. She did the same as Akagi when I targeted her. Both girls were playing keep-away with me.

I sighed. I was unable to get my groceries back and Morino did have a compelling reason. In the end, I gave up.

“Fine. But no one’s home. I’m sure you know how bad that can be right?”

“Oh, we’re not worried, Tou-san. It’s not like you’ll be able to do anything to us like this, right?” Akagi waved off my warning, confident in her strength while Magnified.

Honestly, I was the one who would be worried given the current situation. Though it wasn’t because I was being strung along by these tall girls.

I sighed. “Feels like I just got caught by two youkai women here.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be good,” chuckled Morino.

“Popopo~” laughed Akagi.

I groaned as I started walking to my house. With Morino and Akagi holding my things, I couldn’t exactly go home without them. They followed me slowly behind, sometimes stopping because their strides were longer than mine, making them catch up to me by accident. I hoped not to catch any attention as I had a flower in both hands walking with me.

“Touya-kun?” “Touya? Fumika-san? What are you doing?”

Unfortunately, I did. As I rounded the corner, I was spotted immediately by my neighbors who were watering the flowers in the pots in front of their house. I didn’t need to turn my head to see who had spoken up. It was obvious enough who they were. 

“Hey there, Yae-san!” “Hello Asano-chan! Oh, is that your mom? Hello ma’am.”

Yae and her mother had seen us.

“You were too slow, Fumika-chan! Now come over here. There’s got to be a secret by this shadow.”

“You two… You came here to talk about the committee, didn’t you?” I sighed watching from the kitchen as Morino and Akagi played video games in my living room. When I finished putting away my washed frying pan, I spoke to the third girl in my house. “Sorry, Yae. Those two are a bit of a handful.”

Yae sipped the glass of iced barley tea I had poured for her. “It’s fine, Touya. I know how Fumika-san gets. And I’m sorry for Okaa-san… She really scolded you, didn’t she?”

“... Let’s forget about that…,” I frowned.

That was right. I had been scolded by Ayame-san when she saw me bringing Morino and Akagi to my house. The fact that nobody else was at home and I was a teenage boy bringing home girls set off Ayame-san’s parental instincts. I got lectured harshly before Morino and Akagi had a chance to explain things and hand Yae what they were supposed to deliver to her. It wasn’t even my fault. Those two were the ones who barged their way into my house.

“They’re quite the pair, aren’t they?” Yae asked me, glancing at the two 250+ cm tall girls seated on the floor in front of the television. She was seated at the dinner table, inspecting the metal bracelet the girls had given her, when I approached. It was telling to see that even seated she was taller than me. “Why are they wearing matching dresses?”

“They were trying to scare me earlier by mimicking an urban legend,” I explained as I sat down across from her. “For occult club members, they really don’t look or act the part, do they?”

Fiddling with her pink hair clip, Yae giggled in agreement. “They really don’t.”

“Well, I won’t complain more than I have to. They helped me lug the groceries home and I was able to make your lunch and my dinner,” I told her.

“Thank you, Touya,” Yae was grateful I was upholding my end of the deal. However, she drifted off when she looked at the bento box I had used. “But… Isn’t it too much?”

I had packed a three tier bento box for Yae with an accompanying thermos of miso soup. She was a small eater, I was aware, but despite knowing this, I had made plenty of food for her - one tier was pure rice, the next were the side dishes and veggies, and the last was the meat.

“Trust me. You’ll be finishing this whole thing,” I guaranteed her.

“I’ll get fat, Touya, but thank you,” Yae frowned but accepted the box I had packed for her. 

“Aww… How sweet. A loving lunch box from your boyfriend,” interrupted a voice. 

“Uwoh!” Something heavy bumped into my left shoulder, shoving me to the right. I tried to hold my ground but the weight was too much. “A-Akagi… get off…”

“Teehee~ Tou-san, you shouldn’t be having affairs when you already have me,” Akagi laughed. She had left the living room and snuck her way over to where I was. She took a seat adjacent to me and started leaning onto me.

Using those motherly and fatherly nicknames in front of Yae was not good for my sanity. I tried to push Akagi back to no avail. “Akagi… Those jokes are in poor taste, especially with Yae around.... Urgh… Heavy… Yae, help…”

Unfortunately, she did not. I could have sworn I saw her eyebrow twitch for an instant, but Yae only nodded with a frown. “Kaa-san… Tou-san… You two sure are close to be able to call each other like that...”

“... It’s not what you think, Yae,” I was a little nervous at the thought of a jealous Yae. She pestered me so much when she first learned of the nicknames back during Reduction Week. “Akagi just likes to nickname people and she settled on this one for me.”

“That’s true, but you were one who called her Kaa-san back,” Morino interjected, digging my grave deeper as she pulled up the chair to my right. To my dismay, she did the same as Akagi and started pushing on my right side. I was glad to no longer be shoved in one direction, but now was sandwiched between both girls. “Touya-san, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do, don’t you?”

“Morino… Please don’t add fuel to the fire,” I groaned. “I’m going to have to be with a big Yae all week. You don’t want her mad at me.”

“And if I said I did?” she chuckled. “Yae-san, you want to know too, right? All the stuff about the committee he’s been hiding from you?”

“I do, Fumika-san. Touya hasn’t told me a single thing about how he’s apparently popular there.” Sweat ran down the back of my neck as Yae agreed. To my relief, however, she was more concerned about how close the two girls were physically to me. “But can you please give Touya some room? It’s surreal seeing him stuck between you two, but you’re both way too close.”

“Alright. Alright,” I was thankful Morino relented and stopped pushing. Akagi did too because her friend had stopped. Neither of them shoved their chairs away however so I was stuck between both of them. I could feel their thighs brush against my legs with how close they still were..

“Pfft… Somehow, it looks like Tou-san’s my kid. Asano-chan, if you don’t want me to be the wife, can I be the mother?” giggled Akagi. She ruffled my hair.

“I’d be okay with that,” Yae smiled. “And you’d probably make a better mother than Touya’s anyways.”

“That’s a bit rude, but I can’t deny that. Akagi would at least be around,” I sighed. Did Yae have to bring that up?

“Is something up with your parents, Tou-san?” frowned Akagi.

“It’s nothing worth mentioning. They’re just married to their jobs so they’re barely at home,” I explained while shrugging my shoulders. “Why do you think I can cook so well? It’s out of necessity when I’m not mooching off of Yae and her family.”

“Ah. I know the feeling. Papa’s usually doing business overseas so he comes back only once or twice a month,” Morino shared her own experience. “I’m usually home alone until Kasumi-chan decides to barge in. It’s kind of lonely coming home to an empty house honestly.”

“You feel my pain, huh, Morino?” I suddenly felt a lot more closer to the occult club girl knowing that.

Sniff. Sniff.

“Fumika-chan… you never told me this before,” Akagi sniffled.

“Shouldn’t you have realized after all the time you’ve been at my house?”

“Akagi can be a little ditz- Mphff!?”

Before I could finish my sentence, my face was smacked by the 248 cm tall girl’s breast as she reached over the middle chair and grabbed Morino.

“Wah! Kasumi-chan?”

“There. There. If you want, I’ll be your Mama too along with Tou-san…” Akagi hugged her best friend. With me in between them, I found myself unable to breathe or move as my head was crushed between both girls’ chests.

“No. I’m fine. Really, I’ll pass on the hugs. Also, it’s Papa that I miss. I don’t need another Mama.”

“Mggh! Mmfff!” I struggled to push Akagi off of Morino and me, but it was like pushing a brick wall. Though her breasts were soft, they were solid. She wouldn’t budge. I knew I hadn’t gotten any weaker because I was still the same 180 cm me as I always was, but the extra height on Akagi contributed to her weight. I was helpless between the girls.

“T-Touya!” Yae panicked and stood up straight when she saw my struggling. “A-Akagi-san, you’re choking him!”

“Huh?” Akagi eased up her grip, freeing me from the pillows that had nearly suffocated me. She seemed to find my exhausted face humorous. “Fufu~ Sorry, Tou-san. But this is a reward for you, right?”

“I’m not sure I’d call it that anymore. My face isn’t bruised is it?” I was worried considering I had already gotten a nosebleed from falling onto Hozuki earlier that day.

“No. I think you’re fine,” Yae walked around the table and pulled my chair back so I could get away from Akagi and Morino. She knelt down so she could look me in the eyes. I stiffened up when she put her hand on my forehead and lifted up my bangs. “Yeah. I’m glad you’re not hurt, Touya. Pain~ Pain~ Go away~”

“G-Good....” I glanced away, realizing how close Yae’s face was to me. “Y-Yae, I think I’m a bit too old for that line, don’t you think?”

“Huh?” the girl blinked. “Uwah. Sorry. That just came out.”

My embarrassment did not go unnoticed by Morino and Akagi.

“Well, I guess in the end, Yae-san’s the de facto mother for you, Touya-san,” Morino chuckled.

Akagi playfully pouted. “And I thought I gave Asano-chan the wife position. Now she has to steal the mom position too? Tou-san’s so spoiled. I can see the two of them doing some spoiled child-play in the future.”

“P-Play?!” Yae choked on her saliva and stumbled back until she hit the wall. “No-no-no-no. I’m not into that at all, Akagi-san. I just did what came naturally there.”

I groaned but was silently thankful the girls had distracted Yae. I could calm my heart down again. “This must be one of those psychological effects of Magnification. The same thing happened during Reduction Week.”

“Oh yeah. I remember that. Though would that mean we’d all start acting motherly to the guys?” frowned Morino.

“Akagi’s already part way there, isn’t she?”

My remark seemed to offend Akagi. “How rude, Tou-san. I only do this to you because you’re the easiest to mess with… Though I guess I wouldn’t have hugged you like that if I weren’t this big so you might be right.”

“So you admit you’ve been doing this to mess with me,” I sighed.

It was to be expected though. Since it was difficult for her to scare me whenever she tried anything occult related, Akagi always made an effort to get a reaction out of me. In any case, with me free to move again, I decided it was time to take a break.

“Let's just give it a rest, girls. I made enough food for all of us, so let’s just end things here and have dinner, alright?”

Grumble. Grumble.

“A-Ah...” “That was...” “That sounds like a good idea.”

Almost in unison after being reminded of food, I could hear three stomachs growling. With an end to the conversation and an invitation they couldn’t refuse, chuckled as things finally calmed down. The day ended with my entire pot of ready-made curry emptied along with the rice in my rice cooker. Yae left after dinner, being expected to stay with her family for the first day like all of the other girls, and Akagi and Morino left after they talked to me about the week’s plans. 

I could only shake my head when they were all gone. I hadn’t expected to have visitors after I had gotten home let alone two Amazonian health committee members and my Amazonian childhood friend. The entire first day had been eventful enough, but I knew my troubles would continue as the girls got bigger and bigger.

And yet while I knew the speed of their growth was only going to get faster and faster, I didn’t think there would be further changes either.