A present-day city built around a mixed-scale university where giant women average 200–300 feet tall and tiny people stand around six feet. The campus is giant-first — lecture halls the size of stadiums, desks like parking structures — with tiny accommodations bolted on afterward. Giants face little consequence for what they destroy, and most tiny deaths are never registered as anything at all.
Haruto is a timid college student surviving a giant-first university one careful commute at a time. W
Straining the Seam - The cage of trembling palms, and the choice to stay nonetheless
A single low bench for a Smallfolk sat alone in the administration building's corridor, looking utterly out of place. Haruto sat on it, staring down at both hands resting on his knees. An old burn scar remained on his right palm. His fingertips were trembling, just slightly.
(So they're dissolving the pair, huh.)
The formal notice from the Pairlink Oversight Committee had come down only moments ago. Nami Valga's management ability: non-compliant. Unable to ensure partner safety. Therefore, her pairing with Haruto is to be dissolved—
From beyond the interview room, Nami's shout echoed through the wall. A giant's voice reached Smallfolk ears like a rumbling earthquake.
"You've gotta be kidding me! You people didn't see a thing! You don't even know how hard that kid's been trying!"
Haruto bit his lip.
(It's not Nami-san's fault.)
He thought so. But he couldn't say it. The committee's decision wouldn't be overturned. Smallfolk had no right to refuse. Under the giants' "management," he could only accept.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
New footsteps echoed from the far end of the corridor. Steady, measured footsteps. Haruto flinched on reflex. A giant was approaching. He fought the urge to hide under the bench.
"Haruto-san."
The voice was younger and brighter than he'd expected.
When Haruto timidly raised his head, he found a giant girl standing there, her silver bob swaying. Two hundred and forty feet tall. Narrow blue eyes. A faint smile at the corners of her mouth, as if she were always amused. She wore her giant-sized uniform with perfect precision.
Sasha Volk. The giant who would be his temporary partner starting today.
"I'm sorry it had to happen this way. But I've been paired with Smallfolk twice before, so don't worry."
Sasha crouched down in front of Haruto. Even so, her face was far above his head.
(Third time.)
Haruto knew what that meant. Pairlink gossip circulated among Smallfolk as life-or-death information. Sasha Volk. During past pairings, she had injured two partners. One lost an arm. The other still hadn't regained consciousness.
Even so, the university had re-registered her as a temporary partner. Because giants had no right to refuse a pairing.
"It's fine. I'm really used to this. The last two were nervous at first too, but we became friends quickly."
Haruto's mouth went dry.
(This person doesn't understand anything.)
(She doesn't understand what happened to the last two.)
Sasha's smile was genuine—the face of someone who truly, from the bottom of her heart, believed everything was fine. There wasn't a shred of malice. And that was exactly why Haruto trembled.
"Um, um... pleased to work with you..."
His voice wouldn't come out properly.
Sasha nodded happily.
"Yes. Let's do our best on the assignments together starting tomorrow."
She stood and walked away.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The footsteps receded.
Haruto couldn't move from the bench for a long while.
(Nami-san.)
He called her name in his heart.
(I'm not your partner anymore.)
A dull ache spread deep in his chest. It wasn't the old ache of his ribs—it was deeper than that.
---
Several days later.
Haruto sat in the Smallfolk seats of Lecture Hall 7.
A massive hall with a capacity of three thousand. The ceiling stretched impossibly high. The giant-sized desks were like buildings to a Smallfolk. At the very front edge, twenty Smallfolk seats had been installed as a token gesture.
Haruto sat at the far end, his laptop open. On the screen were materials for a joint assignment with Sasha. The text was tiny—he had to squint to read it.
(Sasha-san should be in the giant seats behind me.)
Assignment work with a temporary partner. Sasha had said, "I'll be near the Smallfolk seats, so relax." But the distance from the giant seats to the Smallfolk seats was, by Smallfolk reckoning, several hundred meters. Not a distance from which she could rush to help if something happened.
Haruto let out a small breath.
That was when it happened.
In the giant seats behind him, someone stretched out an arm.
It was Nami.
She hadn't noticed Haruto. She was reaching for the enormous notebook on her desk to take lecture notes.
And her elbow—
Thwack.
It sent Haruto's desk flying sideways.
"Huh—"
His body lifted into the air.
The next instant, his back slammed into the floor. The old scar on his ribs screamed. His vision burst white.
(It hurts—it hurts...)
He couldn't breathe.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The footsteps of giant students closed in like an earthquake. No one had noticed Haruto. To a Smallfolk, a giant's foot was the size of a building. At this rate, he'd be crushed.
Haruto forced himself up.
The pain made his left arm refuse to move. Still, he crawled between the desk legs and rolled into the shadow of a pillar.
"Hah... hah..."
His breathing was shallow. His heart pounded violently deep in his ears.
(I thought I was going to die.)
(I thought I was going to die again.)
Crouched in the pillar's shadow, Haruto trembled.
"Haruto!?"
Nami came running with a thunder of footsteps. When she spotted Haruto, she dropped to her knees in a panic.
"Are you okay!? I'm sorry, I didn't notice at all—"
Nami's enormous hand reached toward Haruto.
Haruto flinched on reflex.
(She'll squeeze again.)
(Her fingers will tense again.)
Fear froze his body.
Nami's fingers scooped him up.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I did it again..."
Nami's fingers tightened. Her hand was trembling with fear and guilt. That trembling pressed down on Haruto's body.
"Na—Nami-san... your hand, your hand—"
His voice didn't reach her.
Nami's fingers constricted around his chest. His ribs creaked.
(Ah, this is bad.)
(I can't breathe.)
His vision darkened.
"Haruto!? Haruto, stay with me!"
Nami's voice sounded far away.
His consciousness faded.
Then, another voice cut through.
"Nami-san, let go. If you hold him like that, Haruto-san will die."
It was Robin.
She stood behind Nami. Her long black hair gleamed lustrously under the lecture hall lights. A giant frame of two hundred and sixty feet. Her calm green eyes looked down at Haruto and Nami.
"Robin... why are you here—"
"I was passing by. More importantly, hurry. Haruto-san's face is completely pale."
At Robin's words, Nami hastily loosened her fingers.
The pressure vanished from Haruto's body.
"Gahah...!"
Haruto coughed violently. Air rushed into his lungs.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I did it again..."
Tears welled in Nami's eyes.
Haruto lay on her palm, breathing raggedly.
"I-I'm fine... I'm fine, really..."
His voice shook.
(There's no way I'm fine.)
(But I have no choice but to say it.)
(Because Nami-san is crying.)
Haruto pushed his aching body up and looked at Nami's face.
"I'm fine. I'm tough."
Nami wiped her tears and gazed at Haruto.
That was when Sasha came running over.
"Haruto-san!? Are you okay!?"
Sasha's voice was bright and concerned.
But to Haruto's ears, the words sounded strangely distant.
(Are you okay?)
(I nearly died just now.)
(It's not your fault.)
(But your "are you okay?" sees nothing.)
Sasha's goodwill rang hollow.
Haruto couldn't say a word.
---
Because of that incident, the committee formally ruled Nami's management ability non-compliant.
The dissolution notice had already been issued.
But Nami wouldn't let Haruto go.
"I'll protect you."
Nami put Haruto in her bag and began moving through the lecture building.
A giant's bag was the size of a warehouse to a Smallfolk. Inside, giant-sized textbooks, notebooks, and pencil cases were crammed in haphazardly.
"Na—Nami-san, this is a bit—"
His voice couldn't reach outside the bag.
Every time Nami walked, the bag swayed. The contents pressed against Haruto.
Rustle.
A giant textbook toppled onto Haruto's body.
"Guh...!"
To Smallfolk Haruto, the textbook was as heavy as an iron plate. His body was pinned between textbooks and notebooks.
(Bad, bad, bad.)
(I'll get compression fractures.)
Haruto twisted desperately.
He managed to slip out from under the textbook.
But then Nami's walking vibrations sent him rolling around inside the bag again.
"Whoa...! W-wait, Nami-san! Stop! Please stop!"
His voice didn't reach her.
Nami was carrying Haruto in her bag to "protect" him.
She had no idea that this act was nearly killing him.
---
Next, Nami placed Haruto on her shoulder.
"The bag's dangerous, so ride on my shoulder. Here you're near my face, so it's safe."
Haruto balanced desperately on Nami's shoulder.
To a Smallfolk, Nami's shoulder was as wide as a plaza. But every time she walked, his body swayed violently.
"Nami-san, a little slower, please..."
"I know. I'm being careful."
Nami said this as she sat down in the giant seat in the lecture hall.
The lecture began.
Haruto tried to take notes on the lecture from Nami's shoulder.
But Nami's shoulder rose and fell with every breath.
(Can't settle down...)
(But it's better than the bag.)
Haruto told himself that.
Midway through the lecture.
Nami began to nod off.
"...Mn."
She'd fallen asleep.
Nami's body slowly tilted.
Haruto's body tilted with her.
"Huh, w-wait, Nami-san!? Wake up! Please wake up!"
His shouts were in vain—Nami tilted further.
Haruto's body slid off her shoulder.
"Whoaaaaaa!!"
Falling.
The ground rushed up.
(I'm going to die.)
(This time I'm really going to die.)
Haruto reached out desperately.
His fingertips caught something.
The hem of Nami's uniform.
Haruto clung to it.
"Hah... hah..."
His body swung in midair.
Looking down, he saw writing implements on a giant desk. If he'd fallen on those, he'd have been skewered.
(Th-that was close...)
Haruto climbed desperately up the uniform hem.
He somehow reached Nami's lap.
"Nami-san...! Wake up...!"
Haruto slapped Nami's knee.
But with a Smallfolk's strength, it was nearly impossible to convey anything to a giant's body.
"...Nnn?"
Finally, Nami woke up.
"Haruto!? Why are you on my lap!? I put you on my shoulder—"
"I fell! I fell off your shoulder! It was a narrow escape from death!"
Haruto raised his voice.
Nami blinked for a moment, then went pale.
"I-I'm sorry... I dozed off..."
"Don't doze off! I nearly died!"
For the first time, Haruto got angry at Nami.
No—rather than anger, it was fear that became his voice.
Nami shrank back.
"...Sorry."
Her voice was so small.
Haruto couldn't say anything more.
---
Finally, Nami placed Haruto on the desk.
"This should be the safest spot. Right in front of me, and you can't fall."
On the giant desk.
Haruto was made to sit there.
True, he couldn't fall. But the giant desk was a vast plain to a Smallfolk.
Nami set her coffee cup next to Haruto.
A giant's coffee cup. To Smallfolk Haruto, it was the size of a bathtub. Inside, hot coffee steamed.
"Stay put here. I'm just going to the bathroom."
"Wait, please. This coffee cup, if it tips over—"
"It won't tip. I set it down properly."
Nami stood up.
The vibration shook the desk.
The coffee cup rattled.
Haruto's heart leaped.
(It'll tip.)
(That thing will tip.)
(It'll definitely tip.)
Haruto ran across the desk to get away from the cup.
But the giant desk was dozens of meters to a Smallfolk.
That was when.
Nami turned around.
"Oh, right. Haruto, do you want sugar? My coffee's bitter—"
Her hand bumped the coffee cup.
Crash.
The cup toppled.
Hot coffee spread across the desk like a waterfall.
"Whoaaaaaa!!"
Haruto ran desperately.
Hot steam pursued him from behind.
(Hot, hot, hot.)
(I'll be burned.)
(I'll die.)
Haruto leaped for the edge of the desk.
The coffee stopped just barely at his feet.
"Hah... hah...!"
Clinging to the desk's edge, Haruto breathed raggedly.
"Haruto!? Are you okay!? I'm sorry! My hand hit it—"
Nami rushed over in a panic.
Her hand reached to scoop him up.
"Wait! Please wait! Open your hand! Gently! Please be gentle!"
Haruto shouted.
Nami's hand stopped dead.
She followed his words and slowly opened her hand.
"Like this...?"
"Yes... just like t
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