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A few days after Aika lost the tree house she had been living in, Eclipse had another void ready to use against her. She was hanging out with Zira where her tree house used to be and as much as Hoshi would rather Aika not be living a normal life, they were there too to keep an eye on her.
Firing the void at Aika, he hit her this time. “Ow!” She said, less out of pain and more discomfort.
The effects of this void were unexpected. Rather than, say, harm her or turn her into a monster, she got smaller and smaller until she stood a mere four inches tall. Zira was shocked while Hoshi said, “I guess it’ll be easier to keep an eye on your sorry ass when you’re smaller than me, Aika!”
Zira said, “Whoa whoa whoa, how did this happen?”
Aika, treating it as an inconvenience and not life altering, sighed and said, “I felt something hit me from behind and now I’m this size,”
Hoshi thought about trapping Aika in a box like she did to them, but decided against it while not mentioning it. Zira was shaking as she reached down for Aika. Picking her up, they squealed. Her crush now fit in her hands.
Eclipse was going to take Aika from Zira, but they didn’t know he was there. And to his horror, a bear showed up, so he fled back to DeVoid’s lair.
“So how are you gonna go to school like this?” Zira asked.
“Ah ah ah, you need to come back with me now,” Hoshi said.
Aika, having never touched a way to grow back to her natural size before (meaning Hoshi couldn’t summon such a thing), still seemed burned out in Zira’s hands. A praying mantis came into view, looking at Aika as prey. She transformed into her magical girl outfit in an instant and held her staff up, saying, “Pretty pretty please, I wish, I wish, for a… sewing needle,”
Hoshi said, “Sounds good!”
They turned her staff into a sewing needle, something Aika used to stab the mantis until it died. When that happened, Aika went through the extended transformation sequence back into her normal clothes and said, “Feel free to pick me up, friend!”
Zira’s heart skipped a beat as she cupped their hands around Aika, picking her up. Putting her on her shoulder, Zira said, “How’s this?”
“Feels nice!”
Aika leaned against Zira’s neck, feeling her pulse speed up. Aika didn’t realize it, but she was Zira’s crush.
Zira said, “Want to come back to… m-my place?”
Aika said, “Sounds good!”
Letting Aika ride on her shoulder on the way back home, Hoshi following behind, Zira felt she was going to regret showing a messy room. None of them realized Eclipse was following Zira home and now knew where they lived. When Zira got to her room, though, Aika didn’t notice. Looking straight ahead but talking to Aika, Zira said, “Aika… I-I love you!”
Aika thought about some of the things Zira said and put two and two together. She said, “Well, you’re better than Eclipse. I’ll give you that,”
Hoshi said, “It’ll be good for her if you stick around,”
Zira, feeling awkward, raised her hand to Aika, who hopped onto her palm and let herself be held in front of Zira’s face. Zira asked, “Will… will you be my girlfriend?”
Aika said, “Sure, whatever,”
This was enough for Zira to collapse onto her bed. She ended up falling asleep, holding Aika to her chest. Hoshi said, “Wow, her room is messy,”
They fell asleep too and so did Aika. In the morning, she had returned to her natural size and cosmic cash came out from her back. Eclipse fell asleep in a bush too, but it was way less comfortable than a bed. Upon realizing the void that shrunk Aika was temporary and gave cosmic cash upon expiring, he left.