Why I Fell for Tiny You: Volume 1 Chapter 24

24 The Day I Fall for Tiny You

The two of us walked down the road to school.

Koto-chan walked a short distance ahead, and I followed a little way behind.

Our school prohibited commuting by motorcycle, so we'd left Koto-chan's moped at a nearby parking area.

"That reminds me of something."

"What is it, Toochika-kun?"

"When we first met, why were you on a train that packed during the morning rush? I was heading out early to line up for a new dessert I'd had my eye on."

"That was why? I was on my way to pick up Rou-kun."

"Oh, I see."

"His original owner had to go to the hospital that morning, so I was going to pick him up beforehand."

"That makes sense."

Right. Rou's owner had gotten too sick to keep him.

"It was my first time going to pick him up, so I wanted to psych myself up. I even stocked up on energy drinks beforehand."

"Just don't drink a whole bunch of them, okay?"

Those aren't meant to be chugged.

"I worked hard this morning too, so first things first—time to recharge with one can."

"Hey."

Koto-chan pulled an energy drink from her backpack and cracked it open with a sharp hiss.

She stuck a straw in and started sipping away.

"Hey, not that stuff first thing in the morning again. Nonoa-san already told you you're drinking too much, didn't she?"

"It's just one in the morning, one at lunch, and one at night?"

"That's what 'too much' means. Here, hand over the rest. I'll drink it."

"You eat too many sweets too, Toochika-kun! You need to cut back on energy drinks!"

Koto-chan and I started wrestling over the energy drink.

Koto-chan was surprisingly strong, and with how small she looked, I couldn't bring myself to wrench it away by force. Somehow, that left us evenly matched.

Our bodies bumped together, and I could feel her soft chest and the squishy feel of her body.

As I kept fighting for the can while trying not to let a girl's softness distract me──

"What are you two doing!?"

A car suddenly pulled up right beside us, and a beautiful older woman stepped out.

Or rather, it was a patrol car, and the woman who emerged was a uniformed police officer.

"D-Doumyouji Ichigo-san?"

"Oh, it's you... We only met once before. I'm impressed you remembered my full name."

"I never fail to show proper respect to those older than me."

"...You just remember the names of beautiful older women."

Koto-chan muttered under her breath.

That's exactly right. So what?

"More importantly, it's you two again... Wait—you there! What are you doing dressing an elementary schooler in a high school uniform!?"

"We're not doing some weird role-play!?"

Just like that, I'd been cast as the bad guy.

"Ma'am, I'm actually a high school student. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you last time."

Koto-chan held up her driver's license again.

"A-A high school student...? I-It's real... No, I'm the one who owes you an apology."

Doumyouji-san was shocked, but she seemed to accept it.

Getting that moped license really had been the right call.

"That aside, were you two fighting over something? Even if it wasn't groping, I can't just ignore violence."

"It's fine. Toochika-kun is basically like my boyfriend. We were just... flirting, I guess."

"Your boyfriend..."

Doumyouji-san looked me up and down with obvious suspicion.

I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but one wrong word felt like it might get me arrested for real this time.

"That's a good thing. Being honest about liking someone is wonderful. Do your best."

Doumyouji-san patted both Koto-chan and me on the shoulder, then got back in the patrol car and drove off.

Was she out patrolling this early in the morning?

"Doumyouji-san is a good person."

"...Yeah."

Her habit of jumping to conclusions still bothered me, but once she learned Koto-chan's real age, she stopped suspecting me despite how young Koto-chan looked.

Koto-chan said she was a good person, so Doumyouji-san probably was.

"Oh, I'll give you the energy drink, Toochika-kun."

"What, you're giving it to me after all?"

"This is kind of like when we first met. We ran into a police officer, and I gave you an energy drink."

"To tell the truth, I still have that energy drink at home. It was something a stranger gave me, after all."

"Yeah, of course. Sorry I just handed it to you out of nowhere. But I'm not 'some elementary schooler you don't know' anymore, right?"

"You're a tiny girl my age who's the exact opposite of my type."

"I'm not your age. Right now, I'm one year older than you. I may be tiny, but I'm an older girl.¹"

"A-An older girl!? I-I see... Somehow, that really doesn't sit right with me."

"You're still insensitive. But I guess I'm troublesome too."

Koto-chan touched her index finger to her smooth cheek and smiled.

"You're going to be dealing with a tiny, troublesome girl again today, so make sure you're charged up."

"............"

"Come on. Let's start the morning with some energy."

Her twin tails swayed as Koto-chan laughed and gave my chest a light bump with her head.

I'd thought it countless times by now, but Koto-chan was cute.

Then a thought occurred to me──

Maybe thinking someone was cute and liking them were closer than I'd realized.

I'd always thought the feeling of liking someone only existed for me when it came to tall, mature-looking older women.

But the feelings that had always pointed straight toward older women were starting to be pulled toward Koto-chan by her overwhelming cuteness.

I couldn't deny that anymore.

Maybe──

Could the day come when I, a guy who loves older women, end up falling for tiny you?

Translator's Notes

¹ Older girl (お姉さん): Koto calls herself an “older girl” here because her April birthday makes her temporarily one year older than Sora, whose birthday is in October, even though they are classmates.