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Miyori Ogimura was used to skirting curfew. 

She did a lot of things after school. Club activities, for one thing. She was a student council member. She spent a lot of time there studying. 

Then she'd sometimes follow a friend home to study, or order a drink course while her friends ate and chatted at a fast food place or a family restaurant. 

Or, like today, she'd go to study in the library when everyone else headed home. It was really her fault that she'd lost track of the time, and napped at her desk until one of the librarians had woken her up at closing time. 

She'd meant to study for the midterms—they were coming up fast, and none of her friends seemed quite as worried about them as she was. Last year had been a bit of a challenge to keep up with, but she'd ended up adjusting well. 

She wasn't as sure about this year yet, but the this first round of tests would give her a good benchmark. 

It was still bright till fairly late this time of year, but darkness was starting to fall as she left the library and started home. The walk home was also very familiar by now. The same turns, the same streets that passed quickly under her feet, the weight of her bookbag on her shoulder. Smells of smoke and cooking oil came from the pub on the corner, the hiss of frying mixing with the hum of the streetlamps, which brightened overhead as the store signs dimmed. 

She caught glimpses of her neighborhood overhead as she walked—the dry-cleaning place between the bank and the bakery, the bar that occupied the narrow space between the pachinko parlor and the theater, stacked up on top of itself for two stories. Her kind liked to build tall—the real estate was cheap, and it kept them from collisions with the humans below. 

It was her watching the play of lights inside the top floor of the bar that distracted her, and she bumped into something unpleasantly warm and solid. 

They were humans, she was pretty sure—though you could never judge by appearance alone, it was the safe guess. Three of them, tall and solid and smelling of alcohol and unwashed bodies. All significantly older than her and at least twice her size. 

She went to apologize, only to duck out of the way when a large hand reached for her arm. "Hey!" 

"Whoa there, sweet thing," said the owner of the arm, leering down at her. 

The man beside him leaned down, all smiles. "It's getting pretty late. You ever had a drink before?"

Great, she was being hit on. "I'm not interested—" 

The third man stepped closer—longer and thinner than the others, he still effectively blocked off her escape. "Don't be like that, come hang out with us." 

She didn't like this at all. "Leave me alone!" she yelled, making herself look as big as she could. 

The three men laughed, not giving ground at all. "There's no need to shout," the first man said, condescension dripping from his words. "You'll find we're perfectly friendly." 

She clenched her fists, considering her options. The street was empty, but that didn't mean there was no one around. She decided on a classic strategy: "If you touch me, I'll scream. Get out of—" 

"Hey!" 

She couldn't see who'd spoken at first: the men closed ranks around her as they turned, looking for the newcomer. 

"She said she doesn't want to go with you," the voice continued. It was light and young. "Leave her be." 

"I don't see how it's any of your business, kid," the second man said. He shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning out of the way to catch a glimpse of whoever he was talking to—and Miyori saw her chance. 

Dropping her bag to the ground, she jumped straight into the air and let her enlarging spell break. In the span of a few seconds, she shrank in size from a (nearly) full-sized human down to about the length of a human palm. Her wings unfurled from her back in the same instant, and she hung briefly in midair, gathering momentum, before swooping up and over the man's head. 

"Whoa!" he said, jumping back. "Pixie!"

"Yeah," she said, "pick on someone your own size, creep." 

"Rude," said the first man, apparently not willing to take a hint. "And you," he said, turning to the boy at the end of the shopping street. "I think you kids have the wrong idea." 

The boy was in a hoodie and jeans, but something about him was familiar. Miyori flew over to him, and she saw his eyes flicker to her face, then widen with recognition. She was right—this was one of her classmates. 

Instead of saying anything to her, though, he stepped forward. "I know harassment when I hear it," he said, voice carefully neutral. As he spoke, he dropped his own bag to one side, stepping forward purposefully. "This doesn't have to be a big deal. Just walk away."
The three men stared at him for a moment. The boy tilted his head as though daring them to interfere. 

Instead, they swore at him and stepped back. Miyori watched, worried they might still try to rob her, but they left her bag alone as they slunk away to wherever they decided to try their luck next. 

Miyori flew back past the boy, alighting next to her bag. "…Takasu-kun, right?" 

He retrieved his own bag, stepping forward. "You're…our class rep, right? Was it Ogimura-san?" 

"Yeah," she said. "Just—one second." Concentrating, she muttered a trigger word under her breath. The gigantic street seemed to shrink to a more manageable size as she assumed her human form again. 

"I didn't realize you were a pixie," Takasu said, looking apologetic. 

"Don't worry about it," she said, standing…and then stumbling forward, as the world refused to stay steady. 

"Whoa!" Takasu lunged forward, grabbing her arm and saving her from face-planting in the street. 

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, even as he pulled her the rest of the way upright. 

"It's fine," he said. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah," she said. Oh, this was embarrassing. "It's just, uh, it turns out changing sizes can make you a little dizzy, and—" 

Her stomach rumbled, revealing her lie. She felt herself deflate. "And I'm late for dinner," she said. "I really needt to head home." 

She bent over to pick up her bag. It felt heavier than it had before she'd turned her enlarging spell on and off again, wasting energy. It had been a long, long time since the school lunch, and she was feeling every minute of it.

Takasu was still watching her, wary. "I can walk you there," he offered. "I'll carry your bag if you want to shrink down again. And, uh…let me know if this is rude, but you can ride on my shoulder or something if that'd be easier for you?"

Miyori could feel herself turning red, but it was a very generous offer, even if it was embarrassing. "I'll take you up on that," she said. "Thank you." 

She shrank down again. Takasu looped his own bag over one shoulder and hers over the other, and she sat on the strap. 

"Mind if we take one quick detour?" he asked, already ducking out of the shopping street, in the opposite direction from her house. "Two minutes, I promise."

She frowned, but somehow she doubted he was going to kidnap her after helping her. "Sure." 

"Great. It's just around the corner."