No, Thank You!

"Whoa! This water is totally freezing! Come on already, Nishi!"
Yamaguchi Minami playfully splashed armfuls of salty seawater toward her best friends, her eyes gleaming with mischief and excitement.

"Minami, stop splashing! You're gonna get it in my mouth- glurg, glurg!"
Unfortunate enough to be in her line of fire, Sakai Akinari found himself drowning in sea water above the surface.

"I'll join when Tan-Tan finishes changing."
Nishi couldn't keep his eyes off the women's changing rooms at the edge of the sand. He gulped in anticipation, he could feel excitement coursing through his whole body. He wondered what kind of swimsuit Tan-Tan would choose to bless him with, his imagination was running rampant.

"S-sorry I took so long. I hope I don't look weird in a bikini."
Stepping out of the dressing room, an absolutely stunning 4-foot-4-inch tall goddess took the club members by surprise. Her slender limbs were unblemished and as pale as fresh snow, her face on full display as her long, silver hair was tied back in a childish ponytail. The dark forest green fabric of her two-piece bikini tastefully outlined her youthful body with a hint of womanhood.

Nishi could feel his nose start to bleed, he let out a sharp gasp and immediately turned his head from the shiny display of cuteness before his very eyes. Covering his nostrils with his beach towel, his voice stuttered pathetically.
"Tan-Tan! Y-you... I mean... just, wow!"

Hiding her own red cheeks, her eyes averted Nishi's and toward the lovebirds in the water. Her gaze landed on Sakai Akinari's grinning mouth, his lips curling a silent message.
"I told you Nishi likes the color green"

She nervously held up a thumbs up by her exposed hip, only to be met with a sly 'OK' finger gesture from Akinari.

Noticing the two's discreet hand gestures, Minami densely blurted out.
"Whatcha two doing?!"

"I'll tell you about it later. For now, take this!"
Akinari couldn't resist showing his playful side to his crush, showering Minami in handfuls of frigid water.

"Kya! You'll pay for that, Aki!"

Sitting by the ocean waves, Kuromoto Nishi sneakily took some pictures of the two teenagers splashing in the water. His signature half smile and relaxed eyes showed signs of affection toward his comrades. Tucking her arms beneath her bottom, Tan-Tan tilted her head against her knees, giggling at her crush's carefree expression.

"What are you taking pictures of, Nishi-senpai?"

"Aki and Minami. I want to use them as a reference for the manga I'm working on. There's nothing better than watching youthful romance blossom before your eyes, right?"
He smiled in her direction. He knew she had been thinking the exact same thing, after all, she lived for moments like these.

Tan-Tan nodded, her long silver hair bobbing up and down.
"It's a scene straight out of a shoujo manga."

He chuckled. His eyes met hers, respectfully admiring her cute doll-like face.
"I'm struggling to find a title for my manga. Something that relates to romance in a manga club."

Tan-Tan's high pitched laugh echoed through the beach. She tapped her bottom lip as she pondered cute sounding titles.

"The Romance In My Club Room?"

"Romance Invading My School Club?"
Nishi scratched his scalp with the back of his pencil.

Tan-Tan locked her half lidded eyes with Nishi's. The sun cast a bright glow against their sweating skin.

"Romance Plagues The Manga Club?"

He laughed and immediately began scribbling down the title on the front page of his sketchbook. Scooting closer to Tan-Tan, Nishi rested his notepad on both of their thighs. Before them was a sloppy outline of what appeared to be manga versions of Sakai Akinari and Yamaguchi Minami holding hands. The title above the image read 'Romance Plagues The Manga Club'

Nishi did his best to hold back a creeping giggle.
"I suppose their love is kind of like a plague in the way that they shamelessly flirt in front of us."
The two shared a long bout of laughter.

"Gather around, children of the manga club! I, your humble teacher, bought yakisoba with my hard earned money!"
Tetsunori Shinpachi juggled armfuls of steaming hot yakisoba noodles, beautifully encased in plastic clam-shell style takeout boxes.

"Wow, Sensei. I didn't know you had it in you to be so kind. I want the one with extra pork!"
Minami sprinted from her watery playground toward the sandy shore.

"They all have the same amount of pork, idiot."
Tetsunori set the boxes down on a beach towel, snagging one for himself that very clearly had more pork than the others.

"Sensei, meat is good for a growing girl! Stop being so stingy."
Minami wrestled the noodle box in an attempt to steal it for herself.

"Growing?"
Everybody looked at Tan-Tan as she spoke. They could see the defeated, vacant look in her eyes.

"Oh, right... H-here Tan-Tan-chan, have some of my pork."
Minami used her chopsticks to slide a few strips of pork belly into her noodle pile.

"Ditto"
Akinari followed suit, offering up a few chunks of the savory protein.

Nishi did the same, all of them silently apologizing for bringing up height differences.

"So, what's with your height anyways, newbie? You got some sort of condition?"
Tetsunori Shinpachi slurped up a mouthful of warm noodles.

"Do you really think I have a condition?! You think I asked to be this size?!"
Tan-Tan's voice rose louder than anyone had ever heard before. Shock filled the faces of the manga club as everyone glared at Tetsunori for making such a rude comment. She tossed her noodles aside, sprang to her feet, and ran away.

"Tan-Tan!"
Nishi jumped after her, his long legs easily catching up to her in the midst of her justified tantrum.

"Sensei... That was uncalled for."
Minami gave Tetsunori a menacing once over, her eyes narrow and dangerous. She brushed the sand off her bottom and ran after the pair.

"Tan-Tan, wait up! There's nothing wrong with your size!" Nishi exclaimed as he sprinted alongside her.

"How can you say that?! You don't know what it's like to not be able to reach a top shelf! You don't understand what it's like when people call you a midget and a freak!"
Tan-Tan stopped in her tracks, falling to her knees as she held back spilling tears.

Squatting next to her, Nishi gently tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. The familiar feeling of their first encounter eased her pain ever so slightly. Now staring directly into her crush's handsome brown eyes, she allowed the floodgates to open. She sobbed against his bare chest, her muffled whimpers causing Nishi's heart to sink with each sharp gasp.

"You're right, I don't know what it's like. I'm sorry for Tetsunori-sensei's comment. He's a bit of a wild card, I'm sure he didn't mean to come across as rude."
He wrapped his arms around her quivering torso. Gently, he stroked her exposed back with his fingertips, offering as much comfort as he could to the distraught girl.

"Tan-Tan-chan, are you okay?!"
Minami dropped to her knees beside the two, her own arm caressing the girl's tiny shoulder.

"Minami-chan... Am I a freak? What's wrong with being small?"
Tan-Tan's snot created a sticky string as she pulled her face away from Nishi's chest.

Minami hugged her, allowing her friend to release her perspiration onto the fabric around her breasts.
"You're not a freak, you're my friend. For the record, I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever met, small stature and all."

"Tan-Tan, have you, by chance, been bullied about your height in the past?"
Nishi tilted himself into view, his eyes glazed with concern and a hint of anger. He studied her face, watching her bottom lip quiver as she hesitated to speak. Once that gentle whine of sorrow escaped her lips, his suspicions were confirmed. The child sized girl wore the face of someone who had been through hell and back; through traumatizing exclusion and mockery from her peers. Nishi immediately joined the group hug, surrounding Tan-Tan in a warm embrace alongside Minami.

The tall teacher himself approached the grieving students, his hand awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck in regret.
"I'm sorry newbie, I didn't mean it like that. I guess I brought up a sensitive subject without realizing."
Tetsunori hesitated to gaze down at the crying girl beneath him.

Tan-Tan sniffled. She raised her head to meet the remorseful eyes of the manga club advisor. Shaking her head, she spoke softly.
"You didn't know. I'm sorry for shouting at you, Sensei. I forgive you."

He smiled and reached his hand down to her, his eyes softer than usual.
"I'll buy you another yakisoba, okay?"

"With extra pork?"
She grabbed his hand with hers, her skin feeling so fragile that it might snap between his fingers.

"Yeah, extra pork."