[Silver Spoon]

Here's chapter 2. As usual, any comments or suggestions are welcome. I plan on making it only around 10-12 chapter long, so any ideas you have now might show up later. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Big Girl, Big Stuff

The next few days saw a lot of changes in Hana's life. For the first time in years she actually had to go clothes shopping, no longer have to wear hand-me-downs from her mother and older (and sometimes even younger) cousins. She also had to buy a bra for the first time in her life, which turned out to be a more annoying experience than she thought. She also found herself with a larger bed and sheets. And all through it her parents radiated with happiness.

"I never thought this day would come!" Hana's mother happily sighed as she put another shirt in the shopping cart for her 5'11" daughter to push behind them. "Isn't it nice, Hana?"

"Yep!" she said with a smile, though a faint one.

"Who knows? You may even have another growth spurt!" her mother continued, giggling to herself.

"Like that would ever happen", Hana assured her mother, noticing something feeling off about her clothes. Granted, it was her mother's biggest shirt, but it somehow felt even smaller than before. Her pants felt tighter as well.

"Honey, what's wrong?" her mother asked her.

"I think I grew again!" Hana said with a nervous look on the face, looking like she was going to cry.

"Then try these on first and tell me if they fit", Hana's mother told her daughter as she rushed to the newest dressing room.

Hana looked sick. She had just grown almost 2 feet in one day; she wasn't ready to handle more growth.

"It seemed like it triggered when Mom said something earlier", Hana said to her reflection in the mirror.

A nearby graph on one of the surrounding walls of the dressing room had a height bar. Hana placed her back in front of the wall to measure herself up. She was surprised to find out she had grown another three inches since she came into the store!"

"I'm 6'2" now!" she whimpered. "I just wanted to be a little taller, not the tallest girl in Japan!"

More and more she could see that those cartoons she watched growing up were right: growth isn't always awesome. Especially when you can't fit into any of your clothes.

"What did Mom say that made me bigger?!" Hana yelled at herself, wondering what triggered her growth. "It had to be something! Let's see...'you might even have another growth spurt!'.

And like last time, Hana grew just then again. Now she was 6'4".

"ACK! I'm still growing! What was the word that caused it? Was it have?"

Nope. No response.

"Another?"

That didn't seem to be it, either.

"Growth?"

Surprisingly, that wasn't it.

"Spurt?"

Bingo! Hana was now 6'5"!

"That's what makes me bigger!? But wait! I didn't grow yesterday when I said it! How odd..."

At this point Hana's head almost reached the top of the dressing room. Another few inches and she'd bump her head on it.

"Guess I might as well try on these shirts", she sighed to herself as she struggled to put on the very large shirts, which didn't seem so large anymore...


After Shopping


Shopping took longer than Hana and her mother thought, especially when neither was expecting their daughter to grow another 6 inches in one day!

"Wow, you sure are getting big, dear. And yet, you still look so great", her mother commented as she ran her hands through Hana's long, skinny legs.

"Mom! Stop!" an annoyed Hana said to her mother, feeling uncomfortable at the moment. She was lucky that the store allowed her to walk home in one of her XL t-shirts she had to buy.

"The people at the store said they'll bring over the bed tomorrow. I asked them to make it 8 feet long and 5 feet wide in case you get taller!" Hana's mother told her daughter, giggling a little bit between words.

"Glad to hear it. I guess I'll be sleeping on the couch until then.."


At Dinner

Dinner was usually Hana's favorite time of the day, but not so much anymore. For one, chopsticks were much harder for her to hold; she often found herself snapping them between her fingers. Also, since her family's table was on the ground, Hana had to sit with her legs crossed, which propelled her height to several inches above her parents. And since she was so much bigger now, she had to eat nearly twice as much as she did before.

"Look at her go", commented Hana's father, who had never seen his daughter eat so much in one sitting in his life. "Eat that much and you'll definitely grow again soon."

"Please don't mention 'growth'", Hana sighed as she continued to eat rice with her broken chopsticks.

Just then, though, the front door opened up, revealing Hana's two friends; Chisa and Ryo. She had forgotten that she was hanging out with them tonight!

"Hana-chan! You almost ready?" asked Chisa, who came into the dining room to see a much bigger Hana than she did just yesterday.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed as she walked up closer to her friend. "Hana-chan! You're even taller!"

Chisa lifted her friend's arm up as her way of telling her to stand up. The two then compared their heights, with Chisa having to focus her eyes upward just to see her friend.

"Wow! So this is what it was like for you all these years", said a startled Chisa.

"I g-guess so" Hana sighed as she stood up and put her plate away in the sink.

"Don't worry, we won't stay out late", Ryo informed Hana's parents as the three friends started to walk out the door.

"Have fun, sweetie!" her parents told her as their 6'4" daughter walked out the door with her friends.

I'll be home pretty soon if I grow again the unhappy girl sighed to herself as she walked out the door.


A Few Blocks from Hana's House


"Hana-chan, I heard you joined the art club! Is it true?" Chisa aske her tall friend.

"Yep! They were very surprised. They even called me 'beautiful'.."

"That's great! People are really starting to like you! It's like what you've always wanted."

"I agree", added Ryo. "Now they can see you for the special, gifted artist you are."

"Oh you guys!" Hana said as she hugged both her arms in her arms. When she was 5'11" it felt odd; when she was at 6'4", it was like being hugged by a wrestler. "I already have two people I really like! Right here!"

"Perhaps Ryo-chan might even ask you on a date now", teased Chisa as Ryo turned his head away from both girls. Hana also turned her head away, blushing at the concept of her dating her childhood friend.

"Ryo-kun is my friend. I can't date him", Hana pointed out.

"Why now? We dated for a while", said Chisa.

"If by 'while', you mean 'six weeks', then yes", corrected Ryo.

"We even kissed!" Chisa pointed out to the boy, who turned his face away once again.

"Was it romantic!?" a curious Hana wondered as she lit up in front of Chisa.

"Not really. I bought him some CDs of some of his favorite bands. And it was only a peck, on top of that."

"That's still sweet. I've never even kissed a boy", Hana admitted, blushing once again.

Before the conversation continued, Chisa took out a dime from her pocket and showed it to both of her friends.

"Then how about we play heads or tails?" suggested the bispeckled girl. "If heads, Ryo-chan has to kiss Hana-chan. If tails, you have to kiss him, Hana-chan."

"But we end up kissing either way!" gushed Hana, unprepared for something like this. "No! We're childhood friends!"

"I don't mind", Ryo said. "It sounds fun, actually. I've never kissed a girl taller than me before."

"Then let's begin!" Chisa announced as she flipped the coin in the air.

There was much tension as to what side it was to land on as it flung around in the air. Hana hoped that Ryo would be the one to kiss her (though her friend wants it to be the other way around).

To Be Continued