The end of summer break meant a return to school. The happy vacation times spent with my childhood friend Yae came to an end when we were forced back to school and made to turn in our summer assignments that we had been procrastinating.
It was the start of another long stretch of the school year. It was the time of post-vacation debuts, the time of getting caught copying homework at the very last minute, and the time of getting back in gear while the summer heat was still around beating down on us.
“So how do you feel, Yae?”
“It feels like I’m wearing some crazy heels, but it doesn’t seem too different yet.”
“You sure about that? You’re already a good bit taller than usual.”
“How much have I grown already?”
“Hm… 13 cm, if you can believe it.”
It was also the start of Magnification Week for the second year girls in our school - a week that would be filled with more antics than a vacation abroad would ever have.
“So I’m 173 cm? Wow, You’re right. I can’t wait to get the same height as you, Touya. And I’m going to be getting taller all this week?”
“Yup. Now you’ll know how I felt constantly changing size, though you’re going in the opposite direction. It’s a bit unfair.”
“That’s because I’m a girl after all! Fufu~!”
Our class had known this week would come for a few months now. After the boys went through the aptly named Reduction Week where we were slowly shrunken down to learn what being at different sizes would be like, the girls were now getting their government mandated experience of slowly growing over the next week. That included my childhood friend, Yae.
“Still, just two weeks after we got back seems a bit too quick to be doing this already,” I told the school nurse, Sasakura-sensei.
“Thankfully, we planned all of this back in June,” chuckled the infirmary nurse as she finished signing the paperwork she had been filling out. “I thought you were looking forward to this, Kirishima. The two of you signed the special forms and everything. 5 days and four nights contractually obligated to be with your girlfriend again. Isn’t this an all expenses paid trip for a couple like you two?”
“We’re not a couple yet,” Yae retorted out of habit.
“And if only they were five normal nights,” I laughed. As a member of the health committee, I was expected to help out, so I would’ve been around Yae either way. With the exemption forms we signed, though, we had a bit more alone time because Yae would be getting special treatment with me around. “I’m experienced now, Sensei. I did a lot of studying up since that week. And since I helped set up most of this, I know what I’m in for. Well… mostly...”
“I know you were quite happy to have more say in this week than Reduction Week, kiddo, but you’re not allowed to tell Asano and co anything until it happens, okay? No spoiling the surprises,” Sasakura-sensei told me as she approached Yae. She frowned seeing the normally shorter girl now taller than her. “Just to be clear, though, Asano. You’re not allowed to strong-arm Kirishima into telling you things, okay? His blatant honesty is refreshing, but I’d rather you girls experience the magnification program with a fresh mind.”
“Okay. Sensei,” she nodded. “Still, this is going to be surreal. I can’t imagine myself growing taller, not even after seeing Touya get smaller.”
The school nurse walked over to me and handed over the forms she had in her hand. “It is hard to imagine your own viewpoint changing, but that is part of what this week’s about. Also, while Magnification Week may be similar to Reduction Week at its base, things are a lot more involved considering how big you’ll be getting. Even with the exemption, you’ll be receiving the full course because we can’t just have a giant girl running around the city.”
Sensei was right. There was no way Yae was going to just be able to stay at home with me like I had with her because of how big she’d get. There was less free reign for the girls for safety’s sake.
I thought this as I sat next to the suitcase that had been Magnified along with Yae. Yae was holding onto a sports bag filled with a lot of items already, but this was a second container for her belongings. It seemed the idea that girls often had more luggage than guys was true, but in actuality, it was also because of how the program warned the girls beforehand to pack enough things. The other members were going to have to bring it outside later before it got too big and heavy.
“As long as Touya’s around, that should be fine. He’s going to be my caretaker, right?”
“Attendant is probably going to be the more accurate term.” It would be a bit strange calling me a caretaker when Yae was going to be a lot taller than me.
Sasakura-sensei checked the clock, seeing we had been talking for a bit too long. “You go on back to class, Asano. Kirishima will be back when everyone in your class gets magnified.”
“Okay. Touya, don’t start getting attracted to the taller girls, okay?”
“I prefer girls who are shorter than me anyways. You of all people should know that by now,” I told Yae as I watched her leave.
To think that she was already 173 cm from the first Magnification. By the time I got back, she was sure to be taller. It was amazing for the government to allow size-changing to become so commonplace. All of us second year boys and girls were going to be learning about how this technology was used whether we liked it or not.
As my fellow health committee members brought in the next student from our class after having been Magnified, I glanced down at the clipboard I was holding with a packet labeled Magnification Mid-Week Moving Itinerary. I sighed. Even though I knew how big they were going to get, I did not feel prepared enough to deal with a class of literally growing girls.
I was going to have to get used to it though. I was, after all, the committee’s observer.