Oh no…
Haru said she would count to three and close the door on three. So, I tried to shrink my body as much as possible when she reached three. But Haru didn’t close the door on three—she closed it on two.
“Huh…?”
I stood there dumbfounded, watching my tooth fly away. Then, the pain hit me. Of course, it would hurt when a tooth falls out.
“Wow, it came out clean, huh?”
Haru picked up my tooth while saying that. Tears welled up in my eyes. Sure, the pain was bad, but I was more upset that Haru tricked me and closed the door on two.
“Haru, you liar!!!”
“Huh?”
I screamed and ran outside. I wanted to tell everyone that Haru had tricked me. I rushed to the office and frantically grabbed Bora. Holding her arm, I said:
“Bora! Bora!”
Bora was staring at her monitor with tired eyes. She didn’t even notice me until I was right next to her. Normally, she’d notice me before I even got close and pat my head, but…
“Huh? What’s wrong, Hana?”
At least she still patted my head. I was enjoying the head pats when I remembered why I came here. I almost forgot because the pats felt so good.
“Haru tricked me!”
“Why would Haru trick you?”
“She said she’d pull my tooth on three, but she did it on two! Look! It hurts so much!”
I showed Bora the empty space where my tooth used to be. With one front tooth missing, I looked like a goofball when I smiled. I didn’t like it, but what could I do? It was a baby tooth—it had to come out eventually.
“Well, it came out clean. Isn’t it supposed to hurt when a tooth falls out?”
“Uh…”
Bora was right. Of course, it would hurt when a tooth falls out. But Haru had tricked me… and she had never lied before, so I trusted her even more.
“Hana!”
Haru came running after me. I pouted and refused to look at her. I wasn’t going to talk to her until she apologized.
“Hana, I’m sorry! My parents used to do this to me when I was little, so I wanted to try it…”
Haru knelt down and apologized. If she was going to humble herself like this, I figured I could forgive her.
“Really?”
“Yeah, next time I’ll count to three.”
“Okay then!”
I ran over and hugged Haru. Her embrace was warm and soft, and it made me feel the best. Maybe it’s because she has the biggest chest among us.
As I leaned into Haru’s embrace, she said:
“Hana, look at this!”
“Huh?”
What Haru showed me was my tooth. The tooth that had served me so well. I looked at it with a nostalgic gaze. I’d never see it again.
But Haru saw something different. She flipped the tooth over and showed me the root. There was a tiny sprout growing from it.
“What’s this?”
Bora, who was watching from the side, chimed in.
Haru explained:
“Don’t you usually throw pulled teeth onto the roof? I was going to throw it onto the building’s roof, but I felt something strange on the root. When I looked, there was a sprout growing from Hana’s tooth.”
I examined the tooth Haru handed me. Just as she said, there was a tiny sprout growing from the root. Instinctively, I knew what to do.
“We have to plant it in a pot!”
“Really?”
At my words, Bora got up and brought over a pot. She even brought soil, so we immediately planted the tooth, making sure the sprout was facing upward.
“I’ll take care of it!”
Holding the pot with my tooth planted in it, I smiled brightly and headed back to my room. I didn’t know what kind of plant would grow, but it sounded fun, right?
I placed the pot on a drawer next to my bed where the sunlight was strong. Looking at the tiny sprout, I smiled. What kind of plant would grow? I hoped it would be something tasty. Instinctively, I felt like it might grow into a fruit.
—
“Hmm…”
I stood there, staring at the wall. There were pen marks on the wall in a straight line.
Lately, my biggest worry was, of course, my height. I wasn’t growing at all. I was stuck at 135 cm. My weight had increased a little, though.
“Why… isn’t my height increasing?”
It was so unfair to stay this short forever. I searched online for ways to grow taller. Most of the information was useless, but occasionally, I found something useful, like a pearl hidden in the mud.
On NewTube, there were three ways to grow taller: drink milk, go to bed early, and exercise or do stretches.
“Aha!”
I finally understood why I wasn’t growing. I wasn’t doing two out of the three things NewTube suggested. I preferred cola over milk, and I had never exercised or done stretches.
According to NewTube…
The only thing I was keeping up with was going to bed early at night.
I decided to start with some exercises first. Working out seemed tough where I was. I searched on NewTube and found a stretching exercise video to grow taller. A cute character appeared and kindly taught me how to do the exercises.
“One, two, one, two.”
I followed the exercises from the NewTube video exactly. It was a bit embarrassing, but if I wanted to grow taller, I had to endure it.
I stretched my short arms and legs as much as possible. With a chimney-like desire to grow taller, I followed along diligently.
[Now, follow along! Let’s move on to the next exercise~!]
But as the video went on, the exercises got weirder. It started to feel like I was practicing some monk-like meditation. I followed along but started to doubt it, so I rewatched the video.
Turns out, it was an unverified, strange exercise video. It was a Shaolin Temple-exclusive workout. I searched for another video. This time, a slim, fit woman appeared, demonstrating the exercises.
I liked the vibe of this video, so I hit play. I gathered my focus and got ready to exercise.
[One, two, one, two!]
Following the woman’s commands on the screen, I started the stretching exercises to grow taller. This time, it felt good. I could feel my growth plates being stimulated. My back and waist felt stretched as I continued.
So this is what exercise feels like…? I could almost feel myself growing taller. As I was diligently following the NewTube video, the door opened.
Bora and Haru walked in, holding a bag in one hand.
“Hana, what are you doing…?”
“Is this some kind of performance art?”
The two looked at me with eyes that clearly didn’t expect to see me doing stretching exercises to grow taller. I glanced at them with a pitiful look and said,
“I’m doing exercises to grow taller.”
I was still stretching my arms and legs, working hard. Maybe this exercise was so profound that it just looked weird to ordinary people.
“Um… cool?”
“Right?”
Bora complimented my exercise, saying it looked cool. Haru, standing next to her, awkwardly smiled and joined in. Yeah, this is what exercise is all about.
“Hana, we brought something…”
As she said that, Bora pulled something out of the paper bag. Inside was a rolled-up height-measuring sticker.
“Wow!!!”
The sticker Bora brought was a fully armed Lumi standing tall. For Lumi, she was a bit taller than usual… but anyway, it was a rare sticker that could measure up to 170cm. I smiled as I watched Hana and Bora stick it on the wall.
“Should we stick it here?”
“A little lower…”
The room was pretty empty, with just a desk and drawers. But with the sticker of the Little Magician Lumi’s illustration, it felt bright and lively.
Once the sticker was fully on the wall, I jumped around the room in joy. It was exactly what I wanted.
“Hana, come here for a sec.”
Bora called me as I was bouncing around the room. I quickly ran over to her.
“What’s up, Bora?”
“Stand next to the sticker for a moment.”
Bora made me stand next to the Lumi sticker. After a moment, she placed a magnet from the sticker on the top of my head.
“135cm… same as what we measured in the lab.”
I stared in disbelief at the result.
“Bora! Why isn’t my height increasing?”
It had already been over a month, and my height showed no signs of growing. Surely I’m not going to stay this height forever, right?
Bora laughed at my reaction and said,
“No, Hana, you’ll grow. If you eat well and sleep well, you’ll grow tall like me, okay?”
She patted my head as she said that. I replied,
“Then I’ll keep doing my exercises! And I’ll drink lots of milk from now on!”
“Well then, we won’t buy the cola and orange juice you like anymore, huh?”
“Ah… no!”
My firm resolve wavered in just one second. I couldn’t give up cola and orange juice for milk.
“Th-that’s not happening! I’ll drink both!”
I answered like that, and Haru and Bora laughed.
