Mondays used to be boring, paperwork chores; however, now Fatgum AKA Taishiro looks forward to them. Hinako Suzuki, is new girl who has moved into his apartment building, after a chance meeting they hit it off. Taishiro learned she's never followed heros much, so she didn't recognize him at first. She used to work as a nurse for a number of years in Tokyo but ended up leaving the position due to the stress, long hours, caregivers burnout is what it is known as. So she decided to go culinary school and do something else she loves.
Though they have been meeting up on Mondays, and both seem to like each other. Neither of them has out right said the word "Date" or the forbidden word "Girlfriend/Boyfriend", opting instead to say, "get together" or "hang out". One odd thing that Taishiro has noticed, whenever their conversation moves toward the topic of quirks, she often falls quiet or even begin talking about something else entirely.
He checks himself in the mirror before leaving his apartment. His clothes hanging a bit loose, due to all the crime on the streets recently. Due to his quirk, he is great at defense, however everytime he has to strikes back, it uses up a bit his stored fat. Though he isn't at his largest he is not at his thinnest either, he pops a couple of candies in his mouth as he leaves his apartment to meet up with Hinako.
His smile widens when he sees Hinako waiting in the foyer of the apartment building. She waves lightly at him, quickly tucking her phone away in her purse. Taishiro notices a moment worry, and panic as he enters the room, before she tucks the phone away.
"Everything okay?", he looks down at her, she's much shorter than him a little bit shorter than Tamaki.
She moves a piece of hair behind her ear, and nods, "Yeah, just work."
He nods, together they start out towards Restaurant Ally, offering her one of the candies as they do so. 'This will be the time I let her know how I feel... but...I don't wanna ruin what we have or make it weird..."
Looking up to see Taishiro, "Your looking a bit thin everything okay? Have you been sick since last week?", concern in her voice.
'She's really caring, worries herself overs too much.', Taishiro, shakes his head no, "Nah, nothin' like that... Um ... My quirk is best for defence, but if I use it to attack it can quickly burn through my stored fat.", knowing that she is sometimes is uncomfortable talking about quirks, he answers honestly. So that the subject can be changed.
"Oh, have things been busy lately?", It's evening and the street lamps are just starting to come on, in the evening night the beauty of the neon signs, decorative paper lamps, all shining, can be appreciated at this time. "Watch out!"
Taishiro has been watching the neon lights play off of her glasses and eyes, and not to where he has been going. her warning comes just a moment to late to avoid running into the street lamp. "Whoa!", he seemingly bumps it lightly, though uses his momentum rolls around it he is on the opposite side of the lamp. He laughes trying to play off the awkward moment, a metal sign hanging from the lamp comes loose falling directly on Taishiro's head.
"Ouch! Aw crap...", The metal decorative sign for the restaurant in front of it, now it lays on the ground with a dent in. Taishiro embarrassed, rubs the spot on his head where it hit, while picking up the sign.
"Oh my gosh! Are you hurt?", Hinako moves forward touching his arm, hoping up on her tippy toes trying to see the top of his head, but he's too tall.
'Crap, I actually felt that. Didn't hurt much but I don't have enough fat to protect my head! I'll eat a bunch of junk food tonight after dinner... And I made her worry more...dammit.', Taishiro, still rubbing his head, looks at the little pastry shop who's sign he has dented. "I'm alright didn't even feel it! I'll be right back, they know me I'm here all the time.", he heads into the store with the sign.
Hinako's hands clench her purse in frustration, but she nods. Taishiro walking into the small shop, waves at the baker behind the counter. Taishiro speaks to the owner, and is back outside only a few minutes later.
"There! No need to worry everything is alright! Com'on let's go get some BBQ!", He notes again, how quickly she tucks her phone away, but she nods and smiles.
As they start off again, he notices a bit of blood on his hand. 'Shit, maybe worse then I thought, don't wanna worry her more though...Crap she staring!'
Her dark eyes reflecting the neon lights as she seems to still be trying to examine the spot where he was hit. "... I know it probably didn't hurt you much, but... May I check it for my own ease" Taishiro sighs and reluctantly agrees to her caring request.
"I was tryin' not to worry you, it doesn't hurt but there may be a cut." He says, sitting on a bench, Hinako moves around the back of it, finally getting to see his head. He feels her hands part through his hair, the sensation of moving fingerstips on his scalp. 'That feels good... she's cute...', Taishiro clears his throat as he tries not to get light headed daydreaming.
"The cuts not deep... though maybe we should just eat in tonight? Follow me." Hesitation in her voice as she asks him to follow.
He follows her with his eyes before he gets up from the bench, for a brief moment Taishiro feels a cloud roll him, shaking it off he follows. She heads into a little 24hr convenience store, heading over to the frozen snack section. "Hmm, frozen is better..." she murmurs to herself. "Which frozen bun do you like better?" Her tone less worried and more bright now.
"Um..." he shrugs, "Anything sweet really, but...", before he continues she grabs a frozen strawberry sweet bun, and rushes to the bored looking cashier. She pays in cash, shoves the bun in her purse, and leaves the store quickly.
Taishiro hurries after her, "What's all this about?"
"Not here." Her voice panicked a bit, she takes a deep breath, slows her pace and continues, "Sorry, I'm going to keep the bun hostage until we get back to my place. It's taken a bit, but I finally have my apartment all sorted.", her attitude and tone completely change as the two head back to the apartment.
Taishiro nods, smiling as he does so, "Sounds great to me! Besides ya' don't have to hold a bun hostage get me to come over", The two of them hurry back to their apartment building. On the way back the reverts back to the casual fun that it was at the start of the night.
Opening the door to her place, the inside smells sweet, like inscents have been burning. The place is tidy, some of the shelves have cute figurines on them, new and old. A few arty prints of classic dancing geishas redone with pop art colours, in the the common living area. The kitchen sparkles like new with kitchen wear and appliances Taishiro has only ever seen in restaurants before.
"Come on in.", she hangs her purse on a hook as she kicks off her shoes stepping up into the main area of the apartment.
"Most of the units are the same, but you have yours lookin' like something out of a magazine from Tokyo.", he slips his shoes off as he follows her in.
Hinako giggles softly, facing away from him she falls silent as she sets her phone in the top shelf of a cupboard in the kitchen. Taishiro cocks an eyebrow at this, 'Weird place to put your phone, but okay...'
She motions for Taishiro to move into the common living room, as she retrieves the frozen sweet bun from her purse. "Sorry I acted weird, I wanted to help but... in general I hate using my quirk... it's so...", she winces before continuing, "I have a restorative healing quirk..."
Sitting down on a cushion on the floor, "Healing quirk! That's amazin', those aren't all that common. Oh, is that why you became a nurse?"
His genuine, friendly support, and curiosity, leave her without words for a moment. "Umm... I wouldn't say amazing, more cringeworthy." She removes the sweet bun from its wrapping, "I am able to absorb food through my skin..." rolling up her sleeve she places the sweet bun on her skin, and with a shimmer it sinks into her flesh, disappearing without any trace. "... My body begins to heat up the food so it can easily be broken down, I can disrupt this process taking it out early. When I do so, as long as the food is hot, it has healing qualities..."
Taishiro, nods slowly, intrigue plays across his face, "Hmm... ya know I'm tryin' ta think 'bout how that would be weird but, it just seems like a pretty great quirk. There some sorta backlash?"
She looks away from him as she nods, her face beat red with embarrassment. Hinako removes the sweet bun from the spot she put it into her arm. "There's more to it but... maybe later. Here, if you eat it, you head will be healed up shortly."
The sweet bun is warm to the touch now, it even has a light shine to it not unlike the simmering that happened before. Hinako gets up from her kneeling position beside him in the living room, heading back to the kitchen
Taishiro pops the whole sweet bun in his mouth, 'perfectly heated all the way through... better than any microwave for sure... though I still don't get what's embarrassing about it, shouldn't pry though.'
"You wanted BBQ right?", She grabs them both a beer from the refrigerator. "Do you mind ordering on your phone? I don't even want to look at my work chat right now.", she hands one of the bottled beer to Taishiro.
"Sure no problem, mind if I ask what it's about?", Pulling out his phone, he clicks the contact for his favorite place.
Hinako sighs, "... It's an retirement home, the odd death isn't out of the ordinary. When I left this morning, we had one death but within the span of the afternoon there have been 4 more.", she wipes away a few tears before they fall. "I knew that was going to be part of the job, but it's just brought back bad memories."
The tears that well up in Hinako's eyes, tug directly at Taishiro's heart strings. "Sorry to hear... I... don't know what else to say...", He cracks the beer she handed him, holding it up and out to her, "Ta bein' alive, in good company."
Hinako looks at him, seemingly a bit dumbfounded, she cracks her beer as well, "To being alive...", a smile working it's way back onto her face, as few tears fall from her eyes. She wipes them away, quickly as she taps her bottle to his, "...and in good company.".
Together they eat, laugh, and sharing TV shows that they enjoy. Hinako shares a baking show, crime procedural, as well as the first episode of a cooking competition show. Taishiro, shares a couple of sitcoms shows, a quirk based game show, and the first part of a horror movie.
Taishiro drinks a couple more beers, but Hinako only has the one. It quickly becomes later than either of them ever expected, Taishiro only alerted to the time as his phone alerts to low battery, the only sound that will chime through the Do Not Disturb mode "Oh man! Its after three, shit I gotta get too...", he looks down at Hinako, who was watching the movie with him. She sits, leaning in him, her head resting on the roundess part of his belly. A light but deep breathing sound comes from her, though she faces away from him toward the tv, he knows she is asleep.
'Can't wake her up now... I'll just rest my eyes a bit and be off in the mornin'...', placing his large hand on her upper back, Taishiro closes his already heavy eyes.
~~~
Taishiro wakes abruptly, as a small hand shakes his shoulder gently but also with a sense of urgency. "Taishiro...Taishiro... We fell asleep, I gotta get to work..."
He jolts up, startling the petite Hinako, "What time is it?!"
"About 7:30 I wasn't sure how long I should let you sleep, but..." She looks sheepish, trying to be as polite as possible, asking him to leave without saying it, letting it be implied between the lines.
"Crap I gotta get goin' to!", Just as Taishiro starts moving to stand up, Hinako red in the face leans in and kisses him, before his lips are out of her reach. His expression blank for a moment as he enjoys the suddenness of the kiss, he leans into it lightly, just as she pulls away.
Her face stays flushed, "It was a lot of fun, I think we should do it again... maybe sometime we don't have to be anywhere?", wordlessly Taishiro nods, as he quickly glances over her small but plushy feminine frame.
Without saying to much more, both still flushed from the realization of each others feelings. The pair exit her 3rd floor apartment, her rushing out the door in her double breasted chef uniform and him quickly darting off to his apartment to change before heading into the office.
He abruptly is brought to a halt, he finds a small crowd of people from the building gathered around the hall just before his apartment. "What's goin' on here?".
"It's HIM, Officers, Sun-Eater, It's Fatgum!", an elderly man who lives down the hall yells out from the crowd. Fatgum stands befuddled a few places away from the crowd.
"Fatgum!", Tamaki, in costume comes racing out from Taishiro's opened apartment door. Sun-Eater pauses, a moment to look Fatgum up and down, scanning him for injuries. "Your okay! Why didn't you answer your phone?", Sun-Eater's question for the first time that Fatgum has heard is bold, demanding an answer.
"What's got everyone like this? Was out last night, so had it on 'do not disturb' well I was... out.", Sun-Eater looks frustrated with the answer, "what's goin' on? I ain't even late to open the office?", looks past Sun-Eater at the officers that are also exiting the apartment.
The crowd parts to allow Taishiro through, "Fatgum, glad your okay! We got a call early this morning about some graffiti on your apartment door, we sent an officer over to check in, when you didn't answer the officers knocks, it was decided to do a welfare check.", The concerned officer shows Fatgum the exterior of his apartment door.
The dried, but once dripping red gelatinous substance, possibly blood, is smeared on his door.
Deadgum
"When the officer got inside...", Fatgum jaw drops, his eyes wide in horror.
"Holy HELL!", Fatgum looks about at the damage to his apartment, not only is every surface splashed with the same red stuff as on the door but nearly every item of notable worth, T.V, speaker system, his laptop, are all smashed.
But the thing that has a chill run through his fat, is in the bedroom. Whoever did this went through the trouble of stuffing his hero costume full of pillows, and with a rope they made a noose, hunging it from the ceiling. Posing the dummy hanging victim so that if someone walked in the dark room they may believe the worst has happened. On his hero hoodie once again is the word, Deadgum, in the same red that is splashed everywhere else.
Sun-Eater stands beside his mentor, as the large hand takes him around his opposite shoulder, "Sorry 'bout out there... I... you've only been doin' this less then a year, ya' shouldn't have to see somethin' like this."
Fatgum, hears Sun-Eater sniffle a few times, as he leans into Fatgum's soft stomach. Softly he says, "They called me when they weren't able to get through to you... I let U.A know that I wouldn't be at school today... What do we do?"
Tip toeing, to his closet he checks for another costume. "Aw man, whoever did this wrecked all of 'em. Well first I gotta get into the office to see if whoever did this visited there too."
"Mr. Fat, please be careful, whoever did this... has sent a clear message. This isn't his M.O but Stain the hero killer has been sighted in the nearby city. ", Fatgum nods.
"Thanks officer, let me know when your finished collecting evidence, I'd like a copy of any reports when they're done.", he feels weird, speaking in authority to police well not in costume. "Sun-Eater let's head into the office, I should have a spare costume there."
They say their goodbyes to the officers, many of which remark how glad they are Fatgum is safe, there is even one who gets a bit teary eyed as he says so. With that the two heroes are off to the office in haste.
The outside of the office doesn't appear to be vandalized, so the two unlock the door and go inside. Fatgum locks the door behind them, not yet being ready to open the office, he doesn't flip the open sign. Sun-Eater removes the hood of his costume, "Fatgum... where were you?"
Grabbing his extra costume from the closet, "Ya' remember Hinako from a few weeks ago", Tamaki nods, "Well I ended up staying over at her place last night." He speaks loudly so he can be heard through the bathroom door as he changes.
Tamaki, pauses a moment but speaks up before his believes his mentor may continue, "I never expected you... um... are you sure you should be telling me this?"
Freezing for a moment, as he catches onto how Sun-Eater took his words. "Not like that! Geez. We ended up doing take out at her place..." he hesitates a beat, "N...nothin' riské got that, we just fell asleep watchin' a movie. Don't have such a dirty mind!", He pauses a moment, a warm smile forms unconsciously, as he thinks back on how she felt pressed into him, and the short kiss they shared. Zipping up his signature hoodie he back out into the main part of the office.
His student stands ready, a bit restless to do something after what he saw this morning. "Now! Let's get out there and find this Asshole!", Fatgum smiles broadly, allowing Sun-Eater to take in some of the recieve some of the BMI heroes confidence.
~~~
Hinako's cellphone beeps every block on her way to work. It sits in her purse, she does her best to keep a calm pace as she walks but as the beeping quickens, so does she. The large modern building that she works in overlooks a small park with a stream running through it. Hinako walks through it on her way to work. Glancing around, to make sure she is alone she removes the cellphone from her purse.
-im sorry about the last text I... (the notification preview trails off)
-im lonely you lonely
-out being a whore?
-look I'm sorry about it you know...
-ANSWER ME YOU BITCH!
Hinako, removes the phones battery, the sim card, then throws the pieces in different garbage cans. Readjusting her purse as she walks into the building, modren yet elegant sign in smaller writing a calming though morbid haiku for those who enter.
"For me going
for you staying here
two autumns."