He really just wanted to be taller. Was that really so bad?

Apparently it was, according to his irate coach when Shirabu arrived to practice wearing stilts.

When asked why, his only response was:

"I wanted to be taller."

It had only gotten worse from there. The next day, he showed up in stilettos.

Upon seeing him, Tendou had burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter before complimenting his legs and running into the locker room. Shirabu, stunned and slightly miffed, had thrown said shoes after him.

Day after day, Shirabu continued to find new ways to gain height, one time bringing in a stool to stand on whenever he stood with a taller person.

Wakatoshi looked up. Shirabu, smug as ever, looked down. He was perched on a unicycle.

"Look out-!" yelled Goshiki before a stray ball hurtled into the wheel, sending a wide-eyed Shirabu crashing to the gym floor, the unicycle falling atop his prone body.

"Shirabu!"

Wakatoshi scooped up the setter's body as if it weighed nothing, carefully looping his arms under his arms and knees before heading to the nurse's office. The rest of the team sat in stunned silence, staring at the broken unicycle still spinning from its location on the floor.

When Shirabu awoke, it was already late afternoon.

"Where-" he began, before the nurse interrupted.

"Nurse's office, dear. Your knight in shining armor is just outside."

"Knight in shining armor?"

"You should have seen him, sweeping gallantly into the office with you in a bridal carry. Ah, the joys of youth!"

Shirabu deadpanned before attempting to get up. His ankle protested the movement, twinging painfully as his bruised ribs made themselves known. Moving out from under the covers, he discovered a multitude of colorful bruises decorating his pale skin, blues and blacks peeking out from under crisp bandages.

"Hm." Shirabu sighed before sliding fully out of bed, putting on his shoes before he noticed the note and cup at his bedside. Opening the note, he began to read.

Shirabu

If you want to grow taller, there are safer ways to do so than by using artificial means. Enclosed are a few websites that have lists of calcium rich foods. I would also advise swimming.

P.S.

Enjoy the milk. It's my favorite brand.

-Wakatoshi

Shirabu sat for a bit, processing the information. Glancing at the table, a small carton stood by the glass, a cheerful cow mascot front and center on the label. Drink milk, grow taller! advertised the packaging.

A small smile grew on Kenjirou's face as he poured half the contents of the carton into a glass, then asked the nurse for another.

Stepping into the hallway, he spotted Ushijima on a bench with a book in his hand. Quietly, as to not disturb him, Shirabu padded over to the bench and sat next to him, silently offering one glass to him.

Wakatoshi looked up, smiled and accepted the drink.

Every practice going forward, the fridge in the lounge area was always stocked with several cartons of milk or yogurt, and the entire team knew not to touch those with the cow label.

Those were for Shirabu.

A/N:

Hm, maybe there was a bit of slash. You know, this started out as a crack-fic, but Shirabu is just too precious for that. Also, he is probably super annoyed that despite being senior to him, Goshiki is still taller. I didn't want to make it angsty though, so it turned into this thing.

Eh.

Hope you enjoyed it anyway!

As always, favorite, follow, review!

-WorTri