Little Hands, Heavy Shadows
By @john1208
I died in a hail of bullets at a lavish engagement party, shielding the very rival who orchestrated my ruin. My foolishly forgiving heart was my downfall. But when I opened my eyes, I was hiding under a banquet table draped in tacky 1991 neon tulle. I hadn't just reversed time; I had swapped identities, trapped in the five-year-old body of Junie Hallow. My new parents are brilliant artisans but paralyzingly timid, drowning in debt to Kessler City's most violent loan sharks. With the infamous 1993 warehouse arson looming, I have to act fast. I weaponize my pigtails, using my adorable innocence to charm terrifying underground bosses into becoming my unwitting protectors. My first victory? Throwing a strategic temper tantrum to force my terrified parents to buy a barren dirt lot right before a massive, secret zoning change. But building an empire from a kindergarten classroom is deadly work. Especially when the brooding boy in the sandbox next to me shares the exact cold eyes of my adult murderer. Can my relentless kindness survive a dark underworld, or will my rival destroy my new family before recess?
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