Cage at the Fingertips - Fingers writhing at the bottom of the tank

Morning light seeped through the gap in the curtains. Yuuma awoke atop the cotton. His body ached everywhere—his back and hips especially. It was because he'd slept on the hard floor all night. No, to be precise, he hadn't slept at all. He'd doze off, then jolt awake at every little sound. Over and over again. He opened his eyes, and a vast ceiling stretched far above him. (...So it still isn't a dream.) Yuuma slowly sat up. He held his palm before his face. His fingertips were still tiny. Just as they'd been yesterday—no bigger than a fingertip. (Of course. It can't be a dream.) Yuuma let out a deep breath. The living room was quiet. The ticking of the clock's second hand sounded absurdly loud. Tick, tick, tick. A steady rhythm. Listening to it, Yuuma tried to sort out his situation. (I was shrunk by the ability of a girl named Minase Shizuku.) (The ability's name is unknown. A power that shrinks whatever she touches. Activation requires direct contact with the target and concentration during the shrinking.) (Restoration requires the same concentration as when shrinking, plus re-contact with the target. But last night, Shizuku failed to restore me.) (In other words, I'm still this size.) Yuuma pushed up the bridge of his glasses. The trembling in his fingers had subsided a little. (The situation hasn't changed at all.) Just as he reached that conclusion, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Yuuma's body went rigid. The footsteps slowly approached the living room. Then the door opened. "Ah, you're awake." Minase Shizuku stood in the doorway of the living room. A white blouse and a navy skirt. She was in her school uniform, ready to leave. Her black bob, which fell to her shoulders, was slightly mussed from sleep. Her amber eyes looked down at Yuuma. She smiled brightly. A dimple appeared on her right cheek. "Good morning, Yuuma-sensei." Yuuma tried to speak. But his throat stuck, and no sound came out. (This girl shrank me.) (My life and death depend on this girl's mood.) That fact, in the morning light, was driven home more clearly than ever. "...Morning." Yuuma managed to reply. His voice was a little hoarse. Shizuku entered the living room. Her footsteps traveled through the floor like tremors. One step, another, coming closer. Yuuma unconsciously backed away. (I'm scared.) (I'm scared of this girl.) His head understood that she was just a seventeen-year-old high school girl. But his body recognized the giant presence before him as a threat. Shizuku crouched down in front of Yuuma. Her face drew near. A giant face, many times the size of Yuuma's body. Her amber eyes stared fixedly at him. "Hey, sensei. When I get home from school today, I'll practice restoring you again, okay?" She said it innocently. "...Yeah." Yuuma answered briefly. (Again, huh.) (Again, I'm to entrust my whole day to this girl's whim.) Shizuku stood up. "Well then, I'm off. Be good while I'm gone." She waved her hand lightly and left the living room. The sound of the front door closing came from far away. Yuuma was left alone on the living room floor. Silence filled the room. Only the ticking of the clock's second hand echoed—tick, tick. Yuuma slowly sank down onto the floor. (Right now, I'm completely alone.) (I can't ask anyone for help.) (No phone, no internet, nothing.) (At this size, I can't open a door or get past a window.) Yuuma looked at his hands. Tiny, tiny hands. No bigger than a fingertip. (I'm locked inside this house.) (In the palm of a single girl named Minase Shizuku.) Yuuma breathed in deeply, then exhaled. (Don't think. If I think too much, I'll go mad.) He began to walk around the living room. He had no destination. He just felt that if he didn't keep moving, the anxiety would crush him. The carpet fibers on the floor twisted together like thick ropes. With every step, his feet caught in the fibers. Yuuma walked carefully across them. (This is no longer a room to me.) (This is a wilderness.) (A vast, unknown wilderness spreading out in a forest of giant fibers.) Yuuma walked to the base of the table leg. A black iron pillar. The giant leg he'd seen yesterday. Looking up, it seemed tall enough to reach the ceiling. (Could I climb this?) Yuuma touched the iron surface. Cold. Smooth, with almost no handholds. (No. I can't climb it.) He moved away from the table leg. Next, he walked to the bookshelf. A giant wall of wood. The book spines lined up neatly, like windows on a high-rise building. (Maybe there's something useful in there.) Yuuma peered into the gap beneath the bookshelf. Dark. He couldn't see a thing. (Too dangerous. I'll stay away.) He moved away from the bookshelf too. After circling the living room once, Yuuma returned to where he'd started—the cotton laid out beside the tissue box. (In the end, there's nothing I can do.) (All I can do is wait here for her to come home.) Yuuma sat down on the cotton. (Pathetic.) (A twenty-five-year-old graduate student, just waiting for a high school girl to come home.) (And that high school girl is the very person who shrank me.) Yuuma hugged his knees. Time flowed slowly. The ticking of the clock's second hand overlapped with the beating of his heart. Tick, tick, tick. Thump, thump, thump. (...I see.) A thought suddenly struck Yuuma. (Right now, I'm the smallest existence in this house.) (Smaller than a speck of dust.) (An insignificant existence no one would notice.) The thought spread slowly through his chest. (No, that's wrong.) Yuuma shook his head. (She definitely recognizes me.) (As an object of her curiosity, I definitely exist in this world.) (Whether that's salvation or a curse, I don't know.) Yuuma closed his eyes. And until she came home, he waited quietly for time to pass. —Evening. The sound of the front door opening. "I'm home!" Shizuku's voice echoed through the house. Yuuma tensed on the cotton. (She's back.) (What's she going to do to me now?) His heart began to pound in his chest. Shizuku came running into the living room. Still in her uniform, she tossed her bag onto the floor. "Sensei! I'm home! Were you waiting?" She crouched down in front of Yuuma. "...Welcome back." Yuuma answered, feigning calm. Shizuku smiled brightly. "Hey, sensei. At school today, I thought of something fun." Her amber eyes sparkled. A chill ran down Yuuma's spine. (Something fun.) (What this girl calls "fun" is what I call "terror.") "Come here a sec." Shizuku held out her palm in front of Yuuma. A pale, large palm. Yuuma stared at it. (She's telling me to get on.) (Do I even have the right to refuse?) Yuuma slowly climbed onto Shizuku's palm. Her palm was warm. Soft, and slightly damp. Shizuku stood up with Yuuma still on her hand. Yuuma's field of view shot upward all at once. The floor seemed impossibly far below. (If I fall, I die.) Yuuma clung desperately to her fingers. Shizuku walked toward the living room table. "Hey, look at this." On the table was her pencil case. A navy cloth pencil case. The zipper was open wide. Shizuku brought Yuuma to the opening of the pencil case. "Sensei, try going inside." Yuuma was speechless. (Inside the pencil case?) (What is this girl thinking?) "...Why would you want that?" Yuuma asked in a low voice. Shizuku tilted her head. "Because it seems fun, doesn't it? I want to see what you do inside a pencil case." She said it without a hint of shame. (Seems fun.) (That again.) Yuuma bit his lip. "I refuse." Yuuma said flatly. "Ehh, why?" Shizuku pouted in displeasure. "Because it's dangerous. If I get shut in, I won't be able to get out." "It's fine. I'll let you out properly afterward." "And where's the guarantee of that?" "A guarantee? Hmm... my mood?" Shizuku giggled. Yuuma felt his body tremble with anger. (What does this girl think I am?) (A bug, or something?) But Yuuma couldn't let his anger explode. (What would getting angry here change?) (If I ruin her mood, I'll only suffer worse.) Yuuma swallowed his anger hard. "...Fine. I'll go in." Yuuma said in a low voice. Shizuku's face lit up. "Really? Yay!" She brought Yuuma closer to the opening of the pencil case. Yuuma peered inside. Dark. Pens and erasers lined up like giant pillars, crammed together. (So I'm going in here.) Yuuma steeled himself and stepped into the pencil case. In that instant, Shizuku's finger pushed against his back. "Okay, you've arrived!" Yuuma tumbled into the pencil case. And then the light vanished. The zipper had been closed. Darkness. Complete darkness. Yuuma lay on his back at the bottom of the pencil case. (Pitch black.) (I can't see anything.) Yuuma tried to get up. But something struck the top of his head. (The lid is closed.) He reached out and pushed against the lid above. It didn't budge. (Of course. There's no way my strength could open a zipper.) Yuuma stayed still in the darkness. (I'm scared.) (It's dark.) (It's cramped.) (I can barely breathe.) Yuuma tried to steady his breathing. But the air was thick with the smell of pen ink, so strong it made him choke. (Calm down. Calm down.) Yuuma told himself. (This is just a pencil case.) (I'm inside a pencil case.) (That's all.) Yuuma closed his eyes. In the darkness, only the sound of his own heartbeat rang out, absurdly loud. How much time had passed? Suddenly, light poured in from above. The zipper had been opened just a little. "Sensei, are you okay?" Shizuku's voice rained down from far away. Yuuma looked up toward the light. Her face was peering through the gap in the zipper. "Hey, how does it feel right now? Dark? Scary?" She asked, brimming with curiosity. Yuuma didn't answer. "Oh, are you maybe angry? Hey, let me see your angry face." Shizuku said, laughing. Yuuma bit down on his lip in the darkness. (Of course I'm angry. Obviously.) (But if I show her an angry face, she'll just say it's funny.) (This girl treats my emotions like toys.) Yuuma forced his face into blankness. "...I'm not feeling anything in particular." Yuuma said coldly. "Ehh, boring. You should be more scared, or more angry." Shizuku said, sounding dissatisfied. "Then next time, let's do something even more fun!" She closed the zipper again. Darkness returned. Yuuma trembled slightly in the dark. (Next time, something even more fun.) (What will she do to me next?) (Am I just this girl's toy?) Despair spread slowly through Yuuma's mind. —More time passed. Light poured in again. This time, the zipper was opened wide. "Sensei, come out!" Shizuku's fingers reached into the pencil case. Yuuma clung to them. Shizuku lifted him out of the pencil case. Dazzling. Yuuma squinted. The living room lights shone like the sun. Shizuku set Yuuma on the table. "Hey, next is this!" She pointed at something else on the table. It was a fish tank. A small tank set in the corner of the living room. Two goldfish swam lazily inside. Yuuma's expression changed when he saw it. (No way.) (She's telling me to go in there.) "Sensei, want to try swimming with the goldfish?" Shizuku said innocently. Yuuma's voice shook as he spoke. "Don't be ridiculous! I can't swim!" Shizuku blinked. "Huh, you can't swim? Even though you're an adult?" "Adult or child, that has nothing to do with it! If I go in there, I'll drown and die!" Yuuma shouted. But Shizuku just tilted her head. "It's fine. I'll rescue you right away, properly. Come on, let's just try it a little." She pinched Yuuma between her fingers. Yuuma's body lifted into the air. "Stop it! Let me go!" Yuuma struggled. But Shizuku's fingers held him firmly. "It's fine, it's fine. It'll be quick." Shizuku carried Yuuma over the fish tank. Below him, the water's surface spread out. Clear water. Inside it, goldfish—dozens of time

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Episode 2

Name: Cage at the Fingertips
Author: Novelia

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