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Shoutarou wasn’t sure when it started, if he was being honest. Philip had come back after a year of being gone, and the two of them were closer than ever. But ever since he had come back, Philip was being very irritating, and the worst part was that it wasn’t even his fault . No, instead of being something he could control, it was something that he couldn’t help.
Philip was growing.
Growing taller than Shoutarou.
This was not fair .
Akiko had noticed, of course, both complaining how it was harder for her to bonk Philip with her slipper and how if Philip had grown taller, this meant Shoutarou was now easier to get. Shoutarou did not appreciate this logic in the slightest, thank you very much. Why couldn’t Philip just stay a little shorter than Shoutarou?
“Because I am younger than you, and therefore have more years to grow. Also, genetics clearly dictate that I am taller than the average Japanese man, which you are as well,” Philip said, cutting into Shoutarou’s thoughts.
“What?” Shoutarou asked, caught off guard.
“You asked why I couldn’t stay shorter than you.”
“I did?” Shoutarou hadn’t realized he had said it aloud.
“Yes,” Philip replied, a slight fond smile on his lips.
“Oh...well stop that nonsense.”
“That….nonsense?”
“Yes, stop growing!” Shoutarou knew he was being ridiculous but couldn’t help it.
“I cannot if my genes say so, at the age of nineteen, I still have a few years of potential growth. While most women are done growing by the age of fifteen or so, men can keep growing until their early twenties,” Philip said calmly.
“So you’re saying there’s hope?”
“There’s a small chance you could grow taller, but the chances of you growing taller than me at this point in time is incredibly small, considering you are two years older and would have to grow over three centimeters in a short amount of time.”
Shoutarou pouted. He had liked having Philip be a little shorter than him, and had also enjoyed it when they were the same height, but now Philip was the one bending down to kiss him.
“Shoutarou, are you being ridiculous over something I can’t help?”
“He’s being half-boiled!” Akiko yelled from where she was sitting on one of the red chairs. “He wants to be the tallest because he’s not the oldest! That would be me!”
“Your husband is older than you!” Shoutarou shouted back.
“He’s not here right now, so I’m the oldest one here!” Akiko said smugly.
Shoutarou made a face and looked back at his typewriter. He had been typing up a case (yet another lost pet, why couldn’t the citizens of Futo keep track of their pets??), but now his motivation was gone.
“Mou…” he groaned, pushing away from the desk.
“Are you going out?” Akiko asked. “Buy us some lunch if you are, but keep it cheap, Mr. ‘I need everything to be Windscale’!”
“Who said I was going out?” Shoutarou snarled, making his way out of the room.
Once Shoutarou was in the room with the pool tables, he set one up for a game. This, at least, was a hard-boiled game. Get the balls into the pockets, leaving the 8-ball for last. Philip had been obsessed with it for a week and then lost interest, as he so often did. Shoutarou, on the other hand, had always liked it ever since the Boss had taken him in. He chalked up a cue stick and aimed.
“I had a feeling you’d be in here,” Philip’s voice came from behind him, startling him and causing his shot to entirely miss the cue ball.
“Philip!” Shoutarou exclaimed.
Philip just raised an eyebrow at him. Shoutarou sighed, figuring his plan of playing pool was now moot, but to his surprise Philip chalked up his own cue stick, motioning to Shoutarou that he should start. Shoutarou raised his eyebrows but did hit the ball, sending the others spinning out.
The two of them played in relative silence other than the sound of the balls going into pockets, but it wasn’t as awkward as Shoutarou would have guessed. Philip was of course beating him, able to calculate his angles much better in his head than Shoutarou, but Shoutarou was used to that. When Philip pocketed the 8-ball, Shoutarou made a face but accepted his fate.
“Are you really that upset over my growing taller?” Philip asked as he put away the cue sticks.
Shoutarou looked at the ceiling. He didn’t want to have this conversation but knew that they probably should.
“...it’s dumb, I know,” Shoutarou admitted. “But I’d rather have you back and taller than me than not have you at all…”
Philip looked surprised for a second before smiling. “How half-boiled, Shoutarou. Besides, there are ways of making yourself taller.”
“What, with shoes?” Shoutarou snorted. “Like Akiko wouldn’t get me even more with the slipper if I tried that.
“That’s one way,” Philip agreed. “Another is…” he started moving towards Shoutarou, causing him to back into the pool table behind him.
“Philip?” Shoutarou asked, confused. Philip motioned him to get up, and when Shoutarou didn’t get it, he lifted him up onto the pool table so that he was sitting on it.
“There, now you’re taller than me,” Philip said brightly.
Shoutarou rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. He brought Philip to him and tilted his head up so that Philip could see his intentions. Judging by his slight smirk, this was exactly what Philip wanted, so he bent down and kissed him, appreciating the fact that he did indeed have a genius as his one and only partner.