Half Inch High: Alternative Chapter 23 (Patreon)

(first draft of the full chapter! May add more to it).

Chapter 23: Full set

Makoto didn’t know how to react. She thought Megumi was crazy for even talking to her, let alone wanting to become friends with her, after what she did and now this. Every sane bone in her body was telling her to just call the girl dumb and walk off but the sheer look of determination on Megumi’s face didn’t look like someone carelessly trying to make amends or something. Her lips quivered and Furyu’s menacing stare adding more pressure certainly didn’t help. So many conflicting emotions began running through her head and whether it was instinctual or a result of her nervousness, Makoto’s face began to contort into a smug and villainous grin. She had no idea what to even say but she knew that she had to say something.

“Interesting…” We’re the only words she that came out. The evil look on her face didn’t exactly make the situation better. After a second or two of awkwardness, Makoto bolted out of the room and made her way back to the gym with a look of pure embarrassment plastered across her face. She was trying to say how it was interesting that she’d say something so stupid but she completely dropped the ball. The other three planned on doing that too, but they needed to have a little chat first. Furyu stared blankly at Megumi. She couldn’t decide whether to be mad or bewildered by her decisions.

“What the hell is goin’ on in that head of yours.” Furyu sighed. She didn’t want Makoto to join and was glad that she didn’t flat-out accept her offer, but she knew Megumi was planning something so she wasn’t too angry. Regardless, she still needed to scold her. “You needa stop going solo on this kinda stuff. I know I let you go help that… girl, but that’s all I thought you were gonna do. Next time you wanna pull a stunt like that just inform ALL of us before jumpin’ right in, OK?” She said, very softly karate chopping her on the head. Smiling at Furyu, Megumi couldn’t help but be happy about how things were turning out. She didn’t exactly get the reaction she was hoping for but it was good enough for her. Being optimistic about Makoto eventually joining, her confidence about the future shot up. She couldn’t wait to tell everyone the news!

Happily agreeing with Furyu’s terms, she tied her hair back once more and jumped out of the infirmary bed. After that, she instinctively reached into Furyu’s pocket to give Rentaro some extra context, though she was quite surprised to see just how… empty he looked. Holding him gently in her hand she asked if he was OK only to be met with an odd silence. Thankfully, Megumi could still tell that he was alive but his unresponsive behavior started to worry her. Placing him gently on the bed, she slid over to Furyu to ask what happened while she was gone.

“Uh… I dunno. I didn’t really have time to process it since I headed straight over to you after finding him. I found him alone in the storage room with some girl from the other class and that’s pretty much all I know.” She shrugged, only now noticing how dead inside he looked. In her head, she was starting to feel bad about not being mindful of his situation.

“Hmmm, ‘alone in the storage room?’ Aha! I got it!” She said ecstatically. “Rentaro was probably counseling that girl and she probably said some things about herself that made him feel really sad!” She was completely wrong.

“The hell did you get that?!” Furyu yelled. “Regardless, before we head out we should probably comfort him. I ain’t good with emotions and shit like that so by ‘we’ I mean you.” She said giving her a light shove in Rentaro’s direction.

Looking down at him, she wondered what the best way to approach him would be. He didn’t exactly look sad or angry. The way he just stayed there silent reminded her of a dead fish and the mere thought of a dead fish almost caused Megumi to burst out in tears. Confident in her ability to comfort her friends, she just winged it and decided to use her classic technique.

“Don’t worry… everything’s gonna be alright~” Almost like a mother coddling a child, she brought Rentaro in close and very gently pressed him against her ample chest just like they did when she found him in the hallway on her first day of school. While it wasn’t exactly that long ago, the hug filled both of them with a nostalgic feeling. It took a bit longer than it did when they first met, but the sound of Megumi’s heartbeat and her loving embrace finally broke Rentaro’s seemingly empty trance. After a couple more seconds of hugging, Megumi pulled away and brought the traumatized tiny up to her face to see if he was ok. He didn’t look too happy which made Megumi a little distraught, but he was at least responding and moving again. Happy that Rentaro was somewhat back to normal and not wanting to get in trouble, she decided it’d be best if she asked him about what happened at a later date. After putting a few things back, the three of them went back to the gym but before they left, Megumi whispered something in Furyu’s ear.

“You know… Mai reacted the same way when I wanted you to join the club. And look how that turned out~” She giggled, running off ahead. While Furyu was still conflicted, her doubts about what Megumi was planning slowly began to fade. Getting back with little under 10 minutes left in class, all three of them were eager to change back into their normal uniforms, but they were met with a slight delay upon entering the gymnasium.

“WE’RE SORRY!!!” The boys playing volleyball yelled, groveling on the floor for forgiveness. As much as it hurt to get hit in the head with a volleyball she was completely ok with it. Not only did Megumi understand that it was an accident but thanks to them she got to have a private one-on-one with Makoto. Though, having almost a dozen boys prostrate themselves in front of her was more than a little awkward. Bashfully accepting their apology Megumi retreated into the locker room with Furyu and the other girls.

“Hmm, you said you found Rentaro in the storage room with some girl from the other class, right? Do you know what she looks like?” Megumi asked.

“Oh, I didn’t catch that good of a look but they had peach-colored hair and glasses. She kinda stands out so she shouldn’t be that hard to find…” Looking around the locker room, she saw no sight of the “girl” she saw with Rentaro. Tired of looking for people, she gave up relatively fast and shrugged, thinking they left early. When everyone got done changing and started to leave, she finally saw them. They were waiting sheepishly outside the boy’s locker room waiting for all the other boys to leave. While Furyu did find it odd, she didn’t really think too much of it and left after pointing them out to Megumi. They looked pretty nervous so Megumi decided that it would be best not to disturb them and left after picking up Rentaro.

The next class flew by and before they knew it, lunchtime had arrived. Eating in the club room, Megumi patiently ate with Mai, Furyu, and Rentaro while Tomoya had his eyes glued to the screen of his laptop and Shinako ate her lunch sheepishly behind a pencil case. Mutsuhiro, despite all his supposed passion and insistence from a couple of days ago, was out eating lunch with his friends. As Megumi made small talk, her mind was preoccupied with two things. The next step for the club and how long it’d take Makoto to join the club. With a smile on her face, she swayed happily side to side, unbeknownst to the fact that Furyu had revealed to the rest of the club that Megumi had essentially tried to scout Makoto.

“I thought I’d stop being surprised after the first few picks, but this is just bizarre.” Mai looked at Megumi with a face of utter confusion. To her, Makoto was just another cold-hearted bully like Alice or Sekira. After all the trouble she and her group caused for Megumi, Rentaro, and Tomoya, Mai couldn’t even begin to understand why she’d want her in the club. Tomoya also had his objections. Not only was he understandably spiteful towards her, Tomoya also just didn’t like “normie gals” like her to begin with. And while he did voice his negative opinions towards Megumi, his tiny complaints went largely unnoticed as his typical vulgarities were easy to tune out.

“Well, since almost everyone is here, I guess it’s OK if I explain why.” Poking her head out into the hallway for a quick second, Megumi checked to see if anyone was coming before sliding the door shut. After making sure no one outside could hear her she was ready to explain her reasoning.

“From a practical perspective it’s safe to say that a grand majority of the people here aren’t exactly the most sociable.” Megumi said bluntly looking around at everyone. “I’m new here so I barely know anything about anyone. And when it comes to you all, Mai’s position and dealings with the student council puts her in an odd position where she might not be here most of the time, Rentaro’s pretty good at talking to most people but I have a feeling that it’s hard for some people to properly open up to him, and Tomoya is too… uh unfriendly. Furthermore, Fujo is the same as me except she’s not exactly interested in people, and a lot of people are scared of Furyu for some reason so that’s out of the question as well.” She sighed, hoping she didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings

“And in you and your brother’s cases, I still need a little more time to get to know you all better.” She apologized, looking gently in Shinako’s direction hoping not to scare her too bad. She looked like she wanted to say something but quickly slunk back behind the pencil case she was hiding behind.

“So? Makoto’s rep got trashed. I doubt she’d be any better at dealing with people than us.” Furyu responded.

“While that is true, Makoto seems pretty knowledgeable about the inner workings of this school and its students. She’d be a great asset… and for what it’s worth, I think she’s a good person at heart.” Megumi smiled. Despite thinking it through in her head, Megumi felt like she didn’t really give the best argument and she hated referring to people as just the sum of their best parts or how they’d be useful. It was one of the habits she learned during her time in Okisana’s student council that she was hoping to get rid of.

Looking with pleading eyes at everyone in the club, she waited patiently hoping they wouldn’t immediately reject her idea. It wasn’t unanimous, but after a couple sighs, the rest of the Micro-rep support squad reluctantly agreed on the condition that they’d keep her at arms length until they felt like they could personally trust her to be a member. For Megumi, that was more than enough and she happily finished the rest of her lunch with everyone before impatiently staring at the door like a dog waiting for its owner.

“There’s no way she’s coming toda—” Furyu said only to be immediately disproven as Megumi slid open the door to reveal a very nervous looking Makoto pacing outside in the hallway. Looking at how everyone was just quietly staring at her, Makoto had half a mind to cut her losses and run away but decided against it. Taking a deep breath, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked right in. With a forced smug smile on her face and an overly a walk of exaggerated confidence, she pulled back the first empty seat, plopped herself down into it while crossing her arms.

“Long time no see, shrimps.” She smirked, looking at Tomoya and Rentaro. Oddly enough that smirk quickly faded as her eyes shifted towards Shinako. Makoto quickly regained her composure though, and (after telling everyone to clear out of the way) slammed her feet onto the table. After the uncomfortably long awkward silence, this action was enough to cause Furyu to speak up.

“Look girly…” She glared at her. “If you’re actually dumb enough to accept Megumi’s offer than you’ve gotta start playing by our rules. First of which is only I’M allowed to do that.” As if to assert her dominance, Furyu also started to rest her feet on the table after which, the two of them started glaring at each other, menacingly. Needless to say, Rentaro was having a hard time containing how flustered he was as the shadows of both their legs fell over him…

“Ahem!” Clearing her throat, Megumi tried de-escalating the situation after thinking that Rentaro’s flustered expression was one of fear. Her method was a little unorthodox but she hoped that it would work regardless.One by one, she hugged both of them tightly. Furyu was just confused but appreciated it nonetheless, but Makoto’s reaction on the other hand, was quite different. Makoto blushed, her face started to look a lot like Rentaro’s and after Megumi let go she took her feet off the table and sat with a polite posture. Smiling at her compliance, Megumi cleared her throat once more before walking over to the other end of the center table.

“We can finally start doing stuff as a club and helping people out!” She exclaimed. It took a second to sink in but once it did, expressions of shock filled the room.

‘Wait, what? What do you mean by ‘finally?” Makoto asked everyone. They looked back at her with semi-shameful expressions and let Megumi explain things.

“Eheh… aside from dealing with you we haven’t been able to do much in terms of actually helping out around micros around the school…” A look of shame and slight embarrassment fell upon most of club’s faces. Makoto sat there pretty astonished, though it started to make sense to her the more she thought about it. Despite seeing how optimistic and driven Megumi was, expecting her to fix up the school when she not only just transferred but also just started a club was asking a bit too much. It’s also not like she could be too disappointed as she was partially to blame for any difficulties the club may have come across. With a sigh, she sat back in her chair and watched as the Micro-Rep Support Squad’s first official “micro-focused” meeting began. Just as soon as it began, however, the meeting soon brokedown.

“How about we roam around the halls durin’ class and beat up anyone tries to bully micros trying to use the restroom!”

“We can’t use our club as a way to skip class.” Mai sighed.

“What if we do a shoe inspection to make sure no micro-students have fallen in anyone’s shoes.”

“That’s a great idea—” Megumi tried to say but was cut off by multiple people in the room.

“Denied.” Understanding Rentaro’s intentions they very quickly dismissed his idea leaving him pretty disappointed.

“What if, any time we see someone being being an waste of space or trying to compensate for their sorry, depressing, insecure lives by bullying anyone, we threaten to expose their internet search history and reveal any private social medial accounts they may have to ruin their social standing and future employability!”

Tomoya’s suggestion was ignored.

“Ooh! I have an idea! What if we offer to clean the micro-only cafeteria!” Initially this seemed like a great idea to Megumi but the state of Hanichi complicated things a tiny bit.

“W-We don’t have a micro-only cafeteria here…” Shinako spoke up, unexpectedly. “And would it be ok if we avoid any ideas that have to deal with cleaning? If we’re looking to make a change we should be tackling problems that can’t be easily solved.” She said, meakly peeking her head out from behind the pencil case. Megumi and rest of the club didn’t expect something so insightful from the tiny girl but her request really made them think more deeply about what the Micro-Rep support squad could actually do.

(Fujo was absent but after getting a text from Megumi about what they were doing her suggestion was “creating and distributing a raunchy doujin to spread awareness for the ‘actual’ way to caress and please a micro. Megumi didn’t quite understand what she meant but, due to past experiences and considering how no one in the club had any outstanding art skills like her(that she knew of), she denied it because she wasn’t a fan of Fujo having to do so much work all on her own).

The meeting went like this for quite a while. Whether it was violent suggestions from Furyu, borderline illegal suggestions from Tomoya, or impossible structural changes from Megumi, pretty much everything suggested was denied. Even the suggestions that could be considered “good” had many flaws that made them impractical and unfeasible, or were just so minor that they wouldn’t actually help anyone out. Eventually the club fell silent as they could no longer think of anything that wouldn’t get immediately shut down. Makoto was genuinely surprised by how difficult this whole process seemed to be. ‘Does helping tinies seriously gotta be so complicated?’ She thought, sighing and resting her head on the table.

“If you’re having so much trouble coming up with stuff to help out tinies, why don’t you just, like, put a suggestion box out front and have them give ideas to you…” She murmured. The room went silent for a few moments. It was so obvious they were all disappointed in themselves for not thinking of it sooner. Megumi, on the other hand, wasn’t all that disappointed. Quite the opposite actually. After hearing Makoto’s idea, she stared at her with a big childish— almost smug— grin. She continued to smile that way as she silently walked closer to Makoto. Happily, she went up behind her and gave Makoto a big hug, unintentionally gently pushing her against the table.

“G-Get off me, weirdo!!” Makoto yelled, blushing slightly.

“I was right to trust in you…” She giggled, whispering sensually into her ear. Makoto’s blush deepened, and she placed her head down on the table once more  in embarrassment.

“Huh…” Looking down she saw an “unlucky” tiny’s legs poking out from under her chest. Lifting her bosom off the table she grabbed Rentaro by the waist and brought him closer to her face. “Hmm, I can’t believe that dumb rumor’s true.” She snickered, poking Rentaro’s dazed body.

“You’re lucky you’re, like, super cute. Not a lotta guys get a privilege like that~ Though, I can tell you’d probably prefer a certain other body part.” She teased, seeing how Rentaro didn’t seem turned on at all after almost being smothered by her boobs. This all, for some reason, seemed to agitate Furyu a little.

“Ahem! Why don’t we focus on that suggestion box crap you talked about.”

“I agree. As much as I’d hate to admit it, that was a good idea Makoto so how about we try implementing it today and sort through it tomorrow.” Mai spoke up. “I’ll go around and let some of the micro-3rd years know about what we’re doing. Luckily, we don’t have to let the student council know about this, but I expect the lot of you to pull your weight in spreading the news as well.” (Mai was mostly looking and Rentaro and Megumi when she said that). Looking at the time, she tuned her tiny megaphone and shot a quick glance toward Megumi. After sharing a nod, the two of them exclaimed in unison.

“Meeting adjourned!”