“…Masamichi! Masamichi!!”
Someone called his name from very close by, grabbed his arms, and shook him mercilessly—so violently that his whole body shook—and a sound of anguish escaped Masamichi’s lips as he exhaled.
Exhale, inhale.
He had a feeling he’d forgotten to do something that simple for a while.
The air he drew in was as cold as ice, and he couldn’t hold back the cough that immediately welled up in his throat.
“Ugh.”
He coughed and coughed, but the sounds his ears heard were pitifully frail and empty.
But this was no time to worry about it.
I remember now. Kagiroi did something to me, and—
The third eye buried between his eyebrows throbbed as soon as he recalled that.
The pain felt like the root of a terrible headache that squeezed his entire head, making it excruciating to open his eyes.
But he realized that it was Shino’s voice calling out to him, “Masamichi!” over and over, and he somehow managed to open his eyes.
Even with the pale light of the streetlight behind Shino, Masamichi clearly saw his gorgeous face.
The specter was usually detached, but now he was clearly panicked, which made Masamichi feel oddly happy.
“Hey! What’s going on here?!” Shino grabbed Masamichi’s arms painfully and questioned him in a rough tone.
Shino had come for him. He was worried about him.
That alone gave the young man much relief, but then he remembered Kagiroi and asked with a gasp, “Where…is Kagiroi?”
At the same time, Masamichi felt an uncontrollable sense of discomfort because of his voice.
It sounded awfully high-pitched.
Huh? Is this…what my voice sounds like?
For a moment, he wondered if it was the result of Kagiroi strangling him so tightly that he’d thought his throat would be crushed. While his voice might have become hoarse, it certainly wouldn’t have ended up sounding this high and clear.
As soon as Shino heard Masamichi mention Kagiroi’s name, his face turned sour, as if he had just eaten the worst dish imaginable.
“He was gone when I arrived, intentionally leaving a trace of his chi so I’d know he was here. What a disgusting guy. It isn’t as if he’s a dog out on a walk.”
The analogy sounded funny to Masamichi, and combined with the relief of knowing that Kagiroi had left without harming Shino, Masamichi tried to chuckle.
But…his laughter sounded unnatural.
It sounded as if he’d swallowed helium gas…
“Huh?!”
He noticed something else and screeched in an even higher pitch.
He was now sitting on the ground, and Shino was facing him. The specter supported his weight with a knee resting on the sidewalk, paying no heed to his fine trousers getting soiled.
But for some reason, Shino’s beautiful face seemed to be far away.
Even my perception of distance feels strange. What the heck is going on?
“Shino? I feel weird,” Masamichi said—in that strange voice. He tried to prop himself up, at least, and placed the palm of his hands on the ground…then finally realized that his sleeves were way too big.
And when he glanced down, he saw that his arms were swimming around loosely inside his sleeves. He looked around and noticed that his cargo pants and shoes were lying on the ground as if his body had disappeared.
He tried to move, but the duffle coat felt terribly heavy, and it was tough to maneuver his arms and legs around. And most of all—
—Masamichi was horrified by the small size of his toes, which peeked out from the hem of his coat.
“What is this?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Shino said sternly and then, as Kagiroi had done earlier, gripped Masamichi’s chin with one hand…no, two fingers.
Compared with Kagiroi, he considerately used much less force. Still, it was enough to make Masamichi let out a pitiful yelp.
“Shino. Is it possible that I—?”
“Didn’t you notice? You look like a child now. Indeed, just like the child I saw in my dream—you in the past—this morning.”
“…You’re kidding.”
Although he was slowly becoming aware of the situation, it was shocking when Shino pointed it out mercilessly.
Masamichi wanted to try touching his face, but he couldn’t manage to get his hands out of his sleeves.
“Shino, Kagiroi was here, and—”
“You can explain the details later,” Shino said curtly, appearing satisfied for the time being that other than shrinking in size, Masamichi hadn’t sustained any major injuries and was able to respond to his questions.
He let go of Masamichi’s hand, picked up the shoes and cargo pants that had fallen, and stuffed them into his servant’s shoulder bag, which was also on the ground.
Then he slung it over his shoulder, lifted little Masamichi, who was wrapped in his shirt and coat, and got on his feet.
Shino was providing Masamichi firm support with his elbow, but having shrunken to the size of a child, Masamichi found it frightening to be held by his tall master.
Perhaps sensing Masamichi’s fear, Shino said curtly, “I won’t drop you,” and began walking. “We’re going home. If someone saw us, I would surely be reported as a kidnapper.”
“A k-kidnapper…?”
He wanted to tell Shino not to be ridiculous. But imagining how they objectively looked, he could see that Shino would seem suspicious.
Of course Shino’s right. There’s no way that people would think I’m his child.
It wasn’t as if Kagiroi had killed him, but it was still a grave situation. It wouldn’t have been surprising if he panicked, but the strange thing about Masamichi was that he actually calmed down in situations like this.
“U-um, Shino? I’m sorry to ask you this after having you carry my bag, but—”
His tongue must have become less flexible, like a young child’s. He wanted to speak as he usually did, but he could only manage a slow, drawn-out tone.
Irritated, Shino clucked his tongue.
“What is it? Hurry up and say it!”
“Sorry. Um, over there?”
He moved his hands around frantically inside his coat sleeve and pointed to the paper box that had tumbled a short distance away.
“What is it?”
“I bought a Christmas tree. I thought I’d put it up to decorate the house.”
A crease appeared between Shino’s eyebrows. Masamichi expected Shino to scold him, like “Shut up. I don’t need anything like that,” but he said nothing.
Holding Masamichi in his arms, Shino approached the box, bent his knees as far as they would go without dropping him, and picked it up with his other hand.
With Masamichi in one arm and the box in the other, it looked as if Shino was carrying twins.
“I’m really sorry, Shino.”
“You can apologize when we get home. It’s because of the unnecessary detours you make that Kagiroi had a chance to spot and tail you.”
That sounded like a bit of a stretch, but Masamichi felt the tension that had been building up inside him after running into Kagiroi slowly loosen. He felt safe in Shino’s arms. He leaned against his master’s broad chest and smiled.
Sensing that, Shino asked with a stern expression, “What is it?”
“Nothing. I was thinking about how my mom used to scold me with similar words when I was little, like ‘It’s because you took a silly detour instead of coming straight home and it got dark that you fell into a ditch!’ you know?”
Shino looked even more irritated when he heard Masamichi’s confession.
“This is the second time today that I have to tell you that I have not become your mother.”
“I know that, but it brings back memories.”
“Shut up,” Shino said sharply, then started walking faster.
It was only for a short time, but Masamichi felt as secure in Shino’s arms as he was worried. He savored a peculiar warmth in the specter’s body, which should have been cold since it didn’t have a body temperature.
“Stand up straight… Hmm. You’re about one meter and three centimeters tall.”
With a tape measure that he usually used for work, Shino measured Masamichi’s height as he had him stand in the tea room.
Then in a fluid motion, he operated his smartphone and said in a low voice, “Hmm. That’s a little shorter than the average five-year-old boy.”
He had apparently looked up growth data for human children. Shrugging, Masamichi was impressed by Shino’s practicality.
“That makes sense. I was told I’d always been small since I was a baby.”
“Then you’re sure your current body is equivalent to what you were like at the age of five?”
Still standing, Masamichi looked apologetic and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know. You don’t think about whether your body’s average when you’re five. But seeing myself in the mirror, I’m certainly the kid—myself—who I saw in my dream this morning… I slept with my parents from kindergarten through my early years in elementary school, so I don’t think we’re too far off.”
“Hmph. Well, it doesn’t matter. All that’s happened is that my incompetent servant has been turned into an even more useless infant.”
Masamichi hung his head. He looked pitiful, especially with his small body.
The first thing that Shino had done when they’d returned safely to Bougyoudou was to prepare the bath…which Masamichi had been planning to do for his master.
Masamichi’s whole body was covered in dirt after Kagiroi’s rough treatment. He wasn’t seriously injured, but he had scrapes all over from falling to the ground.
Furthermore, Shino was very unhappy that Kagiroi’s scent was on Masamichi’s body, which led him to conclude that he should first take a bath.
However, because he had shrunk, Masamichi’s movements were precarious as he tried to bathe. In the end, Shino took off his suit and ended up bathing with him.
It’s my first time…seeing Shino naked. I always thought he had a beautiful face like a sculpture’s, but his body’s like that, too. Tokifuyu didn’t compromise anything as he created his vessel…
He wasn’t about to say that in the situation he was in, and Masamichi looked down at his own body in silence.
The house and the store may be stocked with mountains of vessels, but it had nothing in the way of children’s clothing.
He had to put on the smallest sweatshirt he owned. He’d folded back the sleeves, secured them with safety pins, and wore it like a girl’s dress, but there was nothing he could do about pants and underwear.
His legs weren’t unbearably cold since the bottom of the sweatshirt came down to around his knees, but his lower body was chilly, and he couldn’t relax without wearing underpants.
Masamichi had been forced to see himself—particularly his young face—in the mirror when he was in the changing area and during his bath, so he was well aware and had accepted the fact that Kagiroi had made him a young boy again.
Even so, it was inevitable that it seemed unreal.
Still unable to believe what had happened, Masamichi raised his small hand and touched his cheek.