An Acquired Taste

He couldn't be sure, but Taishirou Toyomitsu felt that he could feel the bass thumping into his bones a little more than he remembered. It could have been due to the fact that it has almost been a year since he let himself indulge in attending a house party with his fellow peers. Perhaps it could have been due to the fact that he was carrying a little extra weight on him since the last time he felt the hammering beat of Hizashi Yamada's music choices strike past his core and into his soul.

He was more than sure it was probably the latter, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little put out by it.

Standing against the wall with a small soda in his hand, his amber eyes glossed across the room of bodies that moved and gyrated to the music; an ache in his heart that wouldn't go away as he looked at some of the figures that had coupled off into pairs and were unabashedly throwing modesty to the wind with one another. Hands sliding up and down thighs, giggles and laughter ringing in between notes and some faces seemingly glued together by the mouth. His mouth twisted in a small frown as he couldn't help but watch them as his heart and mind twisted uncomfortably with envious want.

After all, not many people looked twice at someone his size.

Well, that wasn't entirely true; he had received a few double takes and some flirtatious looks when he was a size thirty-five inch waist and washboard abdominals on display. It was just unfortunate that his quirk didn't exactly cooperate with his desire to be trim and toned all the time.

It was hard, really, to not feel like the overstuffed goose when you're surrounded by a parade of peacocks; those that had no problems with their bodies reflecting and even enhancing particular quirks. But unfortunately for him, Taishirou's quirk relied on calorie absorption and a seemingly never-ending intake of energy that only food could provide. He was used to being close to the food table but tonight he just couldn't bear to be near it.

Frankly, the thing that he wanted more than anything was a kiss; just so he could be part of it all. He felt silly even entertaining that sort of desire; it seemed so arbitrary and superficial. Eighteen years old and never been kissed, while the rest of his classmates, and even the other students in their final year, all seemed to have had one, if not many, occurrences of hormonal activity together. He, of course, had had his fair share of crushes on a number of his peers, and while he could have taken the leap when he sported his fitter physique, it was not in Taishiro's nature to be so forward though, and carrying the extra weight he needed for his quirk only added to his shy nature when it came to relationships. His confidence was diminishing more and more every day as his waistline increased.

With a sombre sigh, he took another mouthful of his lemonade, beginning to regret the decision of his choice of drink as a cruel thought burrowed its way into his psyche of the sugary drink making him look like even more of a chub. The liquid tingled down his throat as the sweet lemon washed over his tastebuds bittersweet; the usual tang no longer appealing to him as he started to regress into the cloud of negativity pressing onto him.

"Maybe it's early enough to split outta here-"

"There you are!"

Taishirou's thought was interrupted as the grinning face of his friend Hizashi Yamada was followed by the loud call of his voice. Taishirou gave a small wave of acknowledgement and forced a mask of a grin to his face.

"What are you doing back here?" Hizashi asked, clapping a hand on his shoulder heartily as his eyes glowed almost maniacally behind the yellow lenses of his frames. "C'mon bucko, there's a whole bunch of people to talk to tonight!"

"I was taking a breather." Taishirou chuckled half-heartedly. "I uhh, didn't think that there was going to be alcohol here tonight, Yama."

Hizashi waggled a long finger as a Cheshire grin seemed to grow even wider and almost split his face in two from it. His golden shoulder-length hair swished to and fro briefly as he cast a glance to each side quickly before pulling the cheesecake-blonde in close.