“Well, if there’s one thing I’m thankful for,” said Sarah as she straightened out the standard Japanese school bloomers she wore, “it’s that we won’t have to worry about banging our heads on the ceiling during this period.”

“That’s assuming we don’t end up growing to the point where our heads end up making contact with them sooner or later,” countered Mei as she pulled down her plain white t-shirt.

“There shouldn’t be any worries over that sort of thing,” said Kaolla, securing the plain white sneakers over her feet.

“I hope you’re right on that, Kaolla,” replied Shinobu as she stuffed her regular clothes into the gym locker assigned to her.

Of course, what should be noted regarding the clothing for all these girls at the moment was that none of the standard school-issued or school-approved gym apparel would fit any of these lovely ladies, given that they were in the 8-foot-plus range in height.  Fortunately, Kaolla planned ahead and had printed out a set of gym-issued t-shirts, bloomers, socks (knee high or ankle high) and basic sneakers for all six of them (*remember, Motoko is at the neighboring high school as well).

There was also appreciation that the clothing was rather accommodating, on the off chance another growth spurt happened to pop up during the period.  While everyone minus Kaolla would have preferred more spacious and looser fitting gym uniforms to wear, Kaolla decided instead to create extra stretchy clothing instead, so that it would hug their lovely frames and stretch accordingly if another growth spurt were to occur.

The Molmolian supergenius was certainly putting her 3D clothing printer through its paces as of late!

Kaolla herself certainly enjoyed the view of such developed bosoms wrapped up in the plain white t-shirts and healthy, plump buttockses being hugged by the bloomers like a second skin.  Though she didn’t say anything, she was certainly grateful to witness such a delectable sight before her.  Just one more thing she cherished about her future sister-wives-to-be. 

For her part, Nyamo quietly sat on one of the nearby benches (thankful that it was sturdy enough to support her weight) while she waited for the others to finish changing.

The group of five requested that they change after all the other girls in their gym class had already done so and left the locker room, out of a desire for privacy given their size-related situation.  Deciding not to risk having an argument with a troop of amazons, the instructor acquiesced and had Kaolla and her fellow amazons wait outside the locker room while the rest of the class changed.  Once the locker room was clear, Kaolla and the others changed into the gym uniforms which Kaolla had brought along.

“I wonder what we’ll be doing today for gym class,” thought Kaolla aloud.

“I hope it's not dodgeball,” muttered Shinobu.  “At our size, we’ll be pretty easy targets.”

“It would be nice if it ends up being basketball,” joked Sarah.  “Even if we’re not exactly naturals at it, I’m sure that the other girls would be BEGGING to have us on their team.”

“Honestly, I’d just prefer for it to be something basic like jogging or running laps out on the track field or something,” said Mei.

“Well, we’d certainly stick out in a different sort of way if that ends up being the case,” chuckled Kaolla.  She certainly had a point there.  With their longer legs, the running gait among all five of them would undoubtedly be far greater than that of the other girls in gym class (or even that of other people in general).

“We’ll find out one way or another,” replied Sarah.  “Anyways, can we get out of here now?  I’d rather not give my neck any more cramping today if possible.”

Once again another reminder of how much smaller everything in scale was in an ever-shrinking world for the Hinata women, given that the ceilings in most of the rooms in the school (including the locker rooms) were “only” 7-and-a-half feet in height.  That of course meant that the Hinata girls had to bend either their necks, hips, or knees in order to stand as upright as they could, lest they decide to test the durability of the ceiling’s plaster and punch a hole through it with their heads.

As the group proceeded out the locker room and towards the gymnasium (thankful that they’d be able to stand fully upright), Shinobu suddenly popped a question.

“I wonder how things are working out for Motoko?” asked the blue-haired, blue-eyed maiden.  “I feel bad for her, given that she stands out completely over everyone at her school in the midst of all this.  At least we have each other to rely on, but for her, she has nobody to relate to what she’s going through.  It must be pretty awkward and uncomfortable for her.”

“I can only imagine,” replied Mei in full agreement.

“I wouldn’t worry too much for Motoko,” countered Kaolla.  “She’s a big girl after all.  Compared to sword fighting and exorcizing demons, what’s something like this in the grand scheme of things?”  Kaolla couldn’t help but inwardly chuckle at the whole “big girl” part of her response, given the obvious pun of her statement.

“It might not be a life-or-death kind of thing, Kaolla,” replied Shinobu, “but it’s certainly not something that I’d want to have happen to me, that’s for sure.  If it was only me who ended up becoming like this, I certainly wouldn’t have come to school today.  A part of me still feels like I should have stayed home right now.”

“Aside from Kaolla, it’s a pretty safe bet that the sentiment is shared among the rest of us,” added Mei.  “I think even Nyamo would err on caution and stay home under these circumstances.  But given how insistent Kaolla was when she talked us into this, it’s basically a moot point now.”

“Could be worse, I suppose,” shrugged Sarah.  “At least nobody’s picking on us…aside from the occasional name-calling or muttering stuff behind our backs anyway.”

The group of five proceeded to enter the gymnasium, bedding through the double doors (which stood no higher than their collarbones compared to them) as they made their way into the building.  Upon entering, there was a hushed silence from the instructors and the students as they stared with bated breath at the troupe of amazons who had graced the room with their presence.  From the perspective of all the others, it was as if a squad of sexy juggernauts had just introduced themselves, even though everyone in class already knew who they were.

Just one more reminder of how much the size increase affected the broader world around the Hinata women.

“Alright now, ladies, that’s enough gawking,” said the female phys ed instructor.  “I get that you don’t see something like that everyday now, but there’s nothing nice about staring at somebody like that.  So all of you get into formation while I sound off attendance now, ya hear?”

“Yes ma’am,” said several of the students as they sat on the ground while the teacher went through the standard roll call.

Kaolla and the others got into position as well, seated on the ground with the rest of the group.  Of course, given their enlarged sizes, they obviously towered over everyone else while they sat on the ground.  It was only to be expected that several of the other students would peer over their shoulders to catch a glimpse of the Hinata girls.  After all, from their perspective, it was certainly out of the ordinary to see somebody who stood at eight feet tall or more.  Human curiosity being what it is, Kaolla and the other girls couldn’t really fault the other students for being a mix of both curious and in awe of such a thing.

Once roll call was completed, the teacher told the students what the day’s lesson would entail.

“Today we’ll be engaging in volleyball, ladies.  So if there are no further questions, some of you  go start with getting the nets set up while the others fetch the volleyballs themselves out of the equipment room.  Everyone clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” said several of the students.

With that, the class began to separate into their individual groups, with most fetching the nets and setting them up for the day’s volleyball session.  During this time, the Hinata girls kept to themselves, opting to not to interact or mingle with the other girls in the class unless it couldn’t be helped.  While Kaolla was somewhat insistent on joining in with the others as if nothing was out of the ordinary, the other girls (minus Nyamo, being the quiet type that she was) countered Kaolla’s suggestion with their own viewpoints.

“It would certainly be problematic if any of us ended up colliding against the other girls or - Heaven forbid - falling over them during gym class,” said Mei.

“Exactly,” added Sarah.  “And you’re the one who was going off about making sure we don’t come off as threatening or anything like that when we first arrived.  Better safe than sorry, right?”

“Aww, come on now,” countered Kaolla.  “I get that prudence and restraint are ideal at times, but do we REALLY need to walk on eggshells that much?”

“They DO have valid points in my opinion, Kaolla,” replied Shinobu.

“Nyamo, what do you think?” Kaolla asked her fellow dark-skinned beauty, hoping the Pararakelese girl would side with her on this.  There was a pause of a few seconds before Nyamo spoke up.

“It wouldn’t hurt to be careful, Kaolla-chan,” stated Nyamo rather bluntly.

“Oh fine,” pouted Kaolla in response, albeit somewhat playfully.  Not wanting to rock the proverbial boat and make waves between herself and the other Hinata girls.

Once the nets had been set up and the volleyballs were out, the class began to divide up into teams.  It was at this time that the phys ed teacher made her way towards the Hinata clique.

“Listen up, ladies,” said the instructor to Kaolla’s group, “in the sense of safety towards the others and all that, you five are gonna be playing volleyball on your own today, separate from the others, okay?”  It was somewhat remarkable that the teacher kept her calm demeanor when addressing the amazons who stood before her.  Most other teachers would be too nervous to so much as ask or request ANYTHING from these towering young women, let alone direct or instruct them.  Yet the gym teacher kept her composure, managing to maintain eye contact as she spoke to the Hinata clique with cool, calm, and collected composure.

“Aww, why do we have to do that, teacher?” asked Kaolla, obviously bummed that her group was being singled out from playing with the broader class.

“It’s nothin’ against you ladies,” replied the instructor.  “Just a matter of safety towards the other girls, that’s all.  I mean…not to be rude when I say this, but you lot ARE on the bigger side of things.  And we wouldn’t want for one of you to accidentally bump into one of the other girls and knock her over or heaven forbid trip and fall on one of them.”

“Ohh, PLEASE let us play with the others, teacher,” replied Kaolla, elongating the first “e” in the word “please” to emphasize how much she wanted to play with the broader class and act as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Come on now, Kaolla,” countered Mei.  “She’s only doing this for the safety of the group.  You can’t really fault her for making this choice.  I mean, I’d be a little intimidated if I was playing with somebody who was around three feet taller than me, whether they were on my team or the opposing team.  We can only imagine how that would make the others feel.”

“Mei’s got a good point there, Kaolla,” added Shinobu.  Sarah nodded her head in agreement, with Nyamo doing likewise.

“Oh phooey,” grumbled Kaolla.  “Okay, fine.  But Teacher,”  Kaolla turned towards the instructor once more, looking down at the woman, “if we’re REALLY careful today during volleyball, would you consider letting us join in with the others next gym class?  We’ll be REALLY careful, I swear.”

“I can’t promise anything, Miss Su,” replied the instructor, “especially with your condition and everything.  But if you lot are indeed careful in how y’all play, I might reconsider my position, understand?”

“Yay!” replied Kaolla, instinctively reaching out and wrapping her arms around the phys ed instructor and lifting her more than a foot off the ground while pressing the woman’s face into Kaolla’s generous bosom.

“K-Kaolla!” shouted out Shinobu, “what are you doing?  Put her down!”

Kaolla proceeded to do so a moment later, getting back to her senses as she gently set down the fully grown woman, who herself was rather flustered at being handled in such a way by one of her students.  Miraculously, the instructor wasn’t livid over the experience, merely surprised by the sheer strength that was just exhibited by one of these towering beauties.

“Sorry about that,” muttered a somewhat embarrassed Kaolla.  “I just got so…so…happy I guess would be the best word I can think of.  Did I hurt you?”

“N-no, Miss Su,” replied the teacher.  “No harm, no foul.  You just startled me a little is all.  Now then, if there are no further questions, you girls get yourselves set up.  Figure at your um…size, you should have little trouble with putting your net up and everything.  If you have questions, just let me know.”

With that, the phys ed teacher headed off to help the other students with setting up their nets, leaving the Hinata girls to get themselves ready and engage in a round of volleyball.

“So, how exactly should we do this?” asked Shinobu to the group.

“What do you mean?” inquired Mei.

“There’s five of us,” Shinobu stated.  “If we want things to be fair, then somebody will have to sit out so that it’s not two versus three.  I don’t mind being the one out and maybe just keeping score, if that’s okay with you all.”

“I don’t mind being the one myself,” replied Mei.  “Sports aren’t really my thing, if I’m being honest.”

“Oh, come on now,” said Kaolla.  “It’s not like we’re competing professionally or anything like that.  I wanna play with everyone here.”

“So how exactly do we make things fair then?” asked Sarah, feeling the need to address the obvious.

Ironically enough, at that moment, the doors opened up and in came one Motoko Aoyama, bending significantly in order to clear the doorway.  Rising up once more in all her glory, the black-haired beauty made her way towards Kaolla’s group.  Alongside Motoko was a staff member from the high school, a middle-aged woman who stood around five-and-a-half feet in height…which of course made her look comically small next to Motoko’s impressive height of nine feet even.  The top of the woman’s head was probably level with Motoko’s belly button or so.

“Motoko?” asked a skeptical Shinobu.  “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” began Motoko in a somewhat embarrassed tone of voice, “it’s a bit odd I know, but the staff at the high school felt it best that I engage in gym class with you girls, given the circumstances and all.  They felt that it wouldn’t be fair for me to be singled out at the high school during phys ed and since word has gotten out about…well…the whole lot of us and all, they figured that it would be beneficial for everyone for me to tag along with you girls.  What are you doing anyways?”

“Volleyball,” answered Nyamo.

“I see,” said Motoko as she gazed at the net.

A net which topped off at no higher than seven feet in height, which in Motoko’s case was about 5 inches below the base of her neck.  Just one more reminder of how BIG she and the other Hinata women had become over the last few days.

Even in the case of the shortest women of the bunch the volleyball net was basically level with their mouths, which of course meant that all six of the Hinata women could easily see over the net at their current sizes.

“Well then,” said Mei, “how do you want to break up the teams then, given that there are enough of us to make things even?”

After a minute or so of thinking it over, the ladies decided to make it Kaolla, Shinobu, and Motoko against Sarah, Nyamo, and Mei.  Once the six had set up the net, they took their respective places and began the game session.

What turned out to be rather surprising - both for the Hinata women as well as everyone in the gymnasium during the class period - was just how athletically attuned all six women had apparently become in light of their growth spurts.  It was true that Sarah had some knack for sports over the years, Motoko had developed a history of strength and endurance training via her sword training, and Kaolla was energetic in general.

But surprisingly, against all manner of probabilities, even Shinobu, Nyamo, and Mei proved to be fairly competent in terms of keeping the game interesting.  What supposedly was just meant to be a friendly competition in the beginning slowly morphed into something…more, for lack of a better word.  When Motoko set up a serve, Nyamo stood at the ready to receive it.  After lobbing the ball high in the air (to the point it was nearing the ceiling), Shinobu lobbed it up for Kaolla to spike it, which she did.  Though Sarah was lying in wait to intercept it and slammed it hard onto the opposing side, scoring a point for her group.

Upon setting the volleyball during the next turn, Shinobu surprised everyone when she managed to make a quick dive and keep the ball in play when Nyamo made an attempt at spiking it.  Riding on Shinobu’s momentum, Kaolla lobbed the ball hard, which in turn was intercepted by Mei who lobbed it over towards Sarah, expecting the blonde to spike it once more and score another point for her team.  Sarah did indeed spike it, but it was caught by Motoko, who was expecting the ball to land in her area towards the back end of her team’s area.  The raven-haired beauty managed to intercept the ball, lobbing it up once more for Kaolla to spike it hard into the other side, which she successfully managed to do so.

This was how the game went, back and forth between the two sets of amazons, each member of the team giving it her all during the game.  While there was no animosity or serious frustration shown among the players, they weren’t exactly holding back either.  It was as if a sort of serious streak had sprung up among the whole lot of them, with each girl wanting to give her all and put in some serious effort into the game, while keeping things cordial on the whole.

At times, the other girls in the gym class could barely focus on their own game session, given that the match amongst the Hinata women was certainly becoming entertaining in its own right.  The way they moved as they played the game, the way their bosoms bounced and jiggled as they jumped and dashed about the court, the way they lobbed the ball so high up and spiked it with such force that it ricocheted so definitively off the gymnasium floor.  It was truly a sight to behold, bordering on that of professional volleyball players.

In short, it was as if a group of Olympian mini-giantesses had graced the gym with their presence as they went hard into their game session.

Back and forth the rounds went, with the two sides racing neck-in-neck in terms of keeping score.  Though admittedly, while Shinobu offered to be the one to keep score during the match, even she was becoming more enraptured into the swing of things than she originally thought she would be.  Before long, the Hinata girls were simply caught up “in the moment,” wanting to give their all for the sake of playing the game rather than just winning for its own sake.

By that point, the rest of the gym class had practically lost the effort to play among their own volleyball sessions, becoming too glued to the game that was happening among the six mini-giantesses who were jumping, diving, lobbing, and spiking the volleyball with a rather determined frenzy.  Even the phys ed instructor - who to her credit initially attempted to get the rest of the class to focus on their own respective games - was simply too awestruck to whip up the rest of the students into focusing on their own volleyball sessions.  After a good thirty minutes had passed, the rest of the class was glued to the match going on between the Hinata girls, with literally everyone else becoming spectators and watching these female juggernauts move across the volleyball court with a determination akin to that of professional athletes.

Eventually, it became apparent among the Hinata clique that all eyes were on them at that point, given the lack of sound coming from anywhere else throughout the gymnasium.  It started when Mei began staring and scanning the room, which of course made her teammates question what had pulled her attention away from the game, and then seconds later Shinobu doing the same thing as she herself scanned the room, looking amongst the other students who stared at (and of course UP) at the towering Hinata ladies during their volleyball match.  Once that happened, the Hinata girls abruptly stopped their match and looked about the room, with some of them feeling rather awkward and self-conscious now that all eyes were focused on them.

“Ummm,” began a somewhat nervous Shinobu, “is something wrong?”  Her question went out to everyone else present in the gymnasium, even though it was intentionally meant for the phys ed instructor.

“Yeah, why is everyone staring at us?” asked Sarah, feeling a tad bit claustrophobic now that she and the other Hinata girls ended up becoming the center of attention.

“Nothing’s wrong, ladies,” replied the gym teacher.  “We all just ended up losing focus once we saw the whole lot of you going hard at it during your match, that’s all.  I must confess, it was certainly something to see the bunch of you really giving it your all.  You all looked like professionals in the middle of a heated match.”

That comment made pretty much all the Hinata girls blush in embarrassment at such praise, minus Kaolla and Nyamo who simply took it in stride with big smiles.

“Oh…uh…well, thanks I guess?” replied Mei, who was tied with Shinobu for the strongest blush at that moment.  Given how dainty, delicate, and withdrawn both she and Shinobu were by their very nature, it simply wasn’t in them to expect praise like that, especially for something in terms of raw physical ability.

Checking her wristwatch, the gym teacher noted that there was about ten minutes left before the period formally ended.  Figuring that she had to take into account putting away both the volleyballs and the nets as well as allotting time for the students to head back to the locker rooms to change (as well as making extra time for the Hinata clique to change separately), she decided to err on caution and wrap things up.

“Okay, girls,” hollered the instructor, “time to call it a day.  Start dismantling the nets and get ‘em back to the storage room, pronto.”

“Yes, ma’am,” replied several of the other girls as they proceeded to do just that.

Following suit, the Hinata girls started dismantling their own volleyball net, which seemed somewhat comical given how short it was relative to their enlarged bodies.  From an outsider’s perspective, it was like a parent putting away a volleyball playset for their prepubescent child, given that the top of the net was no more than mouth high among the shortest of the Hinata clique.

Within minutes, as the nets were being put away along with the volleyballs, things seemed to be ending on a relatively high note, all things considered.  No drama, no name calling among the other girls in class, no physical incidents, nothing that would warrant intervention by the gym teacher or another member of the school staff.  All things considered, the day was wrapping up rather well.

Until of course…a certain familiar feeling decided to make itself known amongst the Hinata girls.

Sure enough, as the other students started making their way towards the locker room, the Hinata girls were hit by a collective wave of euphoric pleasure, resulting in them suddenly feeling rather warm along with increased heart rate, sweating, heavy breathing, and slight shivers coursing throughout their bodies.  Narutally, this got the attention of literally everyone else in the gymnasium, as the assembled group of middle schoolers and their teacher gazed upon the Hinata clique, who had fallen to their knees and started panting rather distinctly.

“N-no,” moaned Shinobu, “not now.  Not NOW!”

“K-Kaolla, it’s happening again,” said Mei through heavy breaths.

“Yes I’m quite aware of that, Mei-chan.  I appreciate the update,” replied Kaolla with her own playfully snide remark, trying to keep things light-hearted in spite of the development.

“Kaolla,” grunted Motoko, “are these clothes going to be able to handle it?  Last thing we need is a…ooh…a wardrobe malfunction in a crowded room.”

“Assuming a…ahh…a mild increase in size…then there should be…no…ooh…no cause for concern,” answered Kaolla through moans and panting breath.

“Assuming?” asked Sarah, clearly irked that Kaolla was going off of mere assumption by this point.  “You meant to…ooh…tell me that…[pant]...those pills of yours might not…rrgh…work?”

“If my…[pant]...calculations are correct, then there shouldn’t be…ooh…anything to worry about,” Kaolla responded, doing her best to thwart the waves of pleasure crashing upon her psyche, as was almost assuredly the case with the other Hinata ladies present.

The sight was certainly something to behold for everyone - both the other students and the teacher - as they watched the six young women slowly enlarge.  It was like watching a large balloon slowly inflate.  Even while either on bended knee or in a crouched position, it was easy enough to tell that the Hinata ladies were slowly but surely getting taller.  While some quietly muttered things like “Oh my god,” or “This is unreal,” as they witnessed the growth spurt, the majority simply stood there in silence with bated breath, with a “deer in the headlights” look on most of their faces.  Even the instructor was at a loss for words, not even able to instruct the other students to stop staring and head towards the female locker room.

After two or three minutes passed from when the growth spurt began, it had eventually run its course.  The Hinata women began to calm down and their breathing became less pronounced and heavy.  Wiping the sweat from their foreheads and getting their bearings, the Hinata women stood up once more.

And looked further down at the rest of the gym class with a mix of dread, worry, and/or frustration on their faces as they took in their newly elevated heights.

“Kaolla,” groaned Shinobu, “we’re even bigger now.”

“Well yeah, my dear Shinobu-chan,” replied Kaolla.  “That was kind of safe to assume given what we were all feeling just a few minutes ago.”

“The only question I really want to know is just HOW MUCH did we all just grow right now?” asked a slightly irked Sarah.

“I suppose once we find out, we’ll have a better idea as to whether or not Kaolla’s little countermeasure pills had any effect,” added Mei.

“At least we didn’t burst out of our clothes anyway,” said Motoko with relief in her voice.

“When I get the scanner out of my locker, I’ll be able to give you all an answer to that,” declared Kaolla.

“Umm…” said Nyamo, deciding to speak up for the first time in a good long while.

“Yes, Nyamo-chan?” inquired Kaolla.

“If we all just got bigger…then does that mean that the others probably got bigger too?”  Nyamo asked innocently.

“That’s probably a safe assumption to make, given that we’ve all been having these growth spurts at the exact same time, since we were all in the hot springs at the same time when this whole thing began,” said Mei thinking aloud.

“Anyway, why don’t we head back and get changed so we can find out,” suggested Kaolla.  “I’m rather curious to see how much of a height difference we’ve just had.”

“I’d personally prefer no height difference whatsoever at this point, Kaolla,” replied Shinobu, “unless it involves us shrinking back down to our original sizes…or at least something in the six-foot-range anyway.”

“I second that sentiment,” added Motoko.  “I can only hope my sister isn’t indoors right at this moment…or if she is indoors, that it’s somewhere where the ceilings are high enough.”

Once the growth spurt had run its course, the phys ed instructor took command of the situation and instructed the other girls in the class to head towards the locker room on the double, so as to provide adequate time for the Hinata clique to change separately in peace and privacy.

Fast forward to a few minutes later with Kaolla and the rest of the Hinata girls, including Motoko at this point.  After making their way into the locker room (again having to endure the inconvenience of having their heads pressed against the ceilings of both the hallways and the locker room itself, no longer being in the gymnasium), the Hinata ladies changed out of their stretchy gym clothes.  They couldn’t help but notice that their buttcheeks started to playfully peek out of their bloomers somewhat, with the bloomers themselves hugging their asses more tightly like a second skin even more than before the latest growth spurt.  The same could be said for their chests, with their bosoms becoming more pronounced within the rather snug confines of their short t-shirts.  The sleeves of the t-shirts seemed to shorten, originally ending at around the elbow to now ending at around the middle of their biceps.  The lower hem of the t-shirts also stretched up somewhat, exposing an inch or two of skin around the lowest area of their stomachs, while the upper hem of the t-shirt became more taught as their larger necks stretched them somewhat, with their necks themselves poking slightly more out from that area to boot.

After some mumbling and muttering amongst members of the Hinata group as they changed into their regular school uniforms (which fortunately were still spacious enough to accommodate their larger forms), Kaolla had sifted through her bag and pulled out her fancy little tracking device.  After scanning each girl (including herself) and tapping a few buttons, Kaolla showed the changes in height among those present for everyone to see:

Shinobu: 8’2” to 8’6”

Kaolla: 8’0” to 8’3”

Sarah: 8’0” to 8’4”

Mei: 8’2” to 8’6”

Nyamo: 8’3” to 8’6”

Motoko: 9’0” to 9’3”

“Oh great, another 3 inches on top for the day,” groaned Motoko at this latest revelation.

“At least you only went up 3 inches,” joked Kaolla in an attempt at light-hearted humor.  “Half of us here went up 4 inches after all.”

“Kaolla, we don't need to get any bigger.” Shinobu countered.  “We’re big enough as it is!”

“I second that opinion,” sighed Mei in total agreement.

“Well, in my defense,” replied Kaolla, “this shows that my countermeasure is having an effect on our rate of growth at the very least.  As you may all recall, we were growing at a rate between…what, 6 to 12 inches per session?  So compared to that, this is a step in the right direction.”

“Not much of a step,” grumbled Sarah in response.

“In any case, once we head back home, I’ll head to my lab and check on the latest batches for a possible counterserum or antidote to see if I can come up with something to stop our growth spurts…or at the very least slow down both their frequency and intensity even further.”

“I appreciate your candor on that, Kaolla,” replied Motoko, “but even if you get it to the point where we are only growing an inch per day, that’s still a foot increase in height every twelve days.  Do you know how much of a height increase that is in the span of a month?”

There was a pause of a few seconds as Kaolla quickly did the math in her head.

“Two and a half feet per month, assuming a 30-day month of course,” replied the Molmolian whiz kid with a smile.

“My god,” muttered Mei.  “We’d all be over ten feet tall by that time, assuming we ONLY grew that much and that frequently of course.”

“I’d be in the eleven foot range by that point, along with my sister and Amalla,” Motoko groaned quietly in equal parts embarrassment and dread.

“Aww, come on now,” said Kaolla, trying to get the other girls’ spirits back up.  “Don’t worry about it so much.  I’ll make sure to get to work on coming up with a countermeasure to turn this whole thing around.  I figure that by a month from now, I should be able to come up with something more permanent and long-term to put these growth spurts to rest.”

“I appreciate the optimism, Kaolla,” said Shinobu.  “I just hope you’re being sincere and not just saying that to keep us from fretting over this whole thing.”

Kaolla simply leaned over and gave Shinobu a rather endearing smooch on the lips (no tongue involved in the kiss).  It was the Molmolian’s way of saying “Trust me” through sheer body language.  If the look on Shinobu’s face was any indicator (after wiping off the shock from such a sudden impulsive show of affection), the message was received.

With that, the Hinata clique made their way out the locker room and in a semi-crouched walk through the hallways.  It was nearing the end of the day at this point, so school would be over soon enough.  While they were making their way towards their lockers, there was a notice over the school’s intercom system, read slowly and clearly.

“Attention.  Attention.  The following students please proceed to the principal’s office: Shinobu Maehara, Kaolla Su, Nyamo Namo, Sarah McDougal, Mei Narusegawa, and Motoko Aoyama.  Those students are to report to the principal’s office immediately.  No need for a hall pass or permission slip is required.  Please report to the principal’s office at once.  That is all.”

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” groaned Mei after hearing that announcement.

“Far as I know, we didn’t do anything wrong,” said Sarah, thinking over the day’s events.  “None of you girls started anything, did you?”

“There was that little incident between Shinobu and the other students in her math class,” thought Mei aloud, which of course made Shinobu slump her shoulders and fill up with worry.

“That ended without any physical altercation, so I doubt this is about that,” stated Kaolla.  “Let’s just head on over and see what this is about.  As long as we come off as non-threatening, I’m sure we have nothing to worry about.”

“I hope you’re right, Kaolla,” said Motoko.  “Last thing I want to worry about is being expelled or even having the police show up when we get there.”

“I agree with Kaolla,” stated Nyamo.  “Let’s just keep calm and make our way there.  The more we wait, the more that’ll complicate things.”

“Exactly,” said Kaolla with her usual cheery grin.

“Alright then, let’s get going,” said Sarah in a nonchalant, “matter-of-factly” tone of voice.

And with that, the slightly larger Hinata women made their way collectively towards the principal’s office, minding where they stepped so that they wouldn’t accidentally bump into any students or school faculty on their way over and risk inadvertently knocking them down…as well as crouching all the while to keep their heads from scraping against the hallway ceilings as they navigated through the school.