Chapter Text
“Wow! These are amazing!”
“You—you really like them?”
You couldn’t help it when your face turned a dusty shade of rose as Taishiro popped another one of your carefully made takoyaki into his mouth. Sure, you had cooked for Taishiro before, but this was the first time you had actually cooked for him. And you had spent such a long time trying to get your recipe as close to perfection as possible. The fact that he enjoyed the efforts of your labor so much made you more than a little bit flustered. Hopefully, he couldn’t tell.
“Of course I love them!” Taishiro said, his signature big, bright smile spreading across his chubby face. “Your food is always spectacular.” The heavy-set blonde paused for a moment before setting down the box of takoyaki on the common room table the two of you were seated at. “But the fact you made these just for me…” The gigantic boy looked over at where you were seated across from him. His bright golden eyes glistened with sincerity and wisdom beyond his years. If you hadn’t been blushing before, you most definitely were now. You could barely keep from looking away in embarrassment as he stared deeply into your eyes.
Your breath all but caught in your throat as the young man stood from his chair, rising to his full height. He towered so far above you, sat in your little chair. To anyone else, hero college student Taishiro Toyomitsu’s massive height and impressive girth might have been imposing, but it didn’t rattle you in the slightest. After all, you knew best in the world that he was the biggest softie (no pun intended) you had ever had the pleasure of meeting.
“It… It really makes me…” Taishiro rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly with one of his massive hands. The simple white shirt he was wearing shifted and creased over the widest peak of his large, soft belly as he raised and lowered his strong arm.
“It makes me really happy.” He finished, kneeling down by your side. Even on his knees, he was still taller than you. Your chest felt tight and tingly as he ran one of his enormous hands over the smaller ones you had folded in your lap.
“I-I’m glad.” You managed to push the words out, but they were almost inaudible against your lips.
You both remained there in silence for a few beats, drinking in each other’s presence. It felt so nice to be so close. And Taishiro’s hands were always so warm and comforting. You were so lost in just existing next to him that you almost missed when the faint words bounced out of his mouth.
“Hey, uh… I-I have something I need to ask you.”
‘Huh?” You turned to look at the chubby boy with the beautiful blonde locks. You were surprised to find him blushing softly, his golden eyes angled at the ground.
“I-I just wanted to ask…”
“Yes?”
“Hey, you awake?”
“Huh?”
You raised an eyebrow as Taishiro asked the question. What in the world was that supposed to mean?
“Hey. Wake up, sleepy head.”
Taishiro’s face slowly began to drift in and out of focus as his voice steadily became louder, and the dream began to slip from your memory.
And suddenly…
You groggily fluttered open your eyes to a familiar pair of golden irises staring curiously back at you. As soon as the owner of said golden irises realized you were awake, a great smile spread across their face.
“Almost thought you were dead for a second. It took more than a few calls to wake you up.” Taishiro laughed, removing his hands from his knees to straighten up as you yawned.
“Where… “You blinked slowly and then rubbed the sleep from your eyes with the heels of your hands. Slowly, you peered around to take in your surroundings. This definitely wasn’t your dorm room that you had woken up in. As you groggily took in the dim room around you, you finally concluded that you were perched on one of the dorm’s common room couches.
Taishiro Toyomitsu was standing a little way in front of you, a cup of what you assumed was sickeningly sweet coffee in one hand and an entire box of assorted donuts in the other. He must have just woken up as well, considering the fact he was in his pajamas and had a pretty severe case of bedhead.
It was honestly kind of cute, though.
“Looks like you probably fell asleep while watching Hotaru and Junpei play Smash Bros. last night.” Taishiro positioned the box of donuts down on the coffee table in front of you and carefully took a seat on the couch. He alone took up almost two entire cushions, and the whole couch sank beneath his copious weight, causing you to slide a bit toward him on the large sofa. You didn’t mind, though. The common room was cold, and it was warm against his fluffy orange sweatshirt and large body. You did, however, try to be as discreet as possible when your leg brushed against his.
“Guess they didn’t want to wake you, so they left you down here.” Taishiro smiled as he flipped the lid of the package open. “I think I understand why, though,” he continued, peering down into the box as he spoke, his eyes never breaking away from his sugary breakfast. “You always look so peaceful when you sleep.”
“Word choice, Tai.” You teased your friend as you carefully reached around his large body to nab one of his many donuts. He seemed slightly distracted by your comment as he raised an eyebrow in your direction.
“You’re implying you’ve seen me asleep before.” You smirked as you picked out a chocolate-glazed donut. “Have you, Tai?”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” Taishiro smiled mischievously back, his golden eyes following your hands as you held the donut to your mouth and took a bite.
“So,” You mumbled through your bite of donut. “Donuts for breakfast?”
“Plenty of people have donuts for breakfast,” Taishiro said with a shrug as he reached for a donut of his own—a jelly-filled one. “Plus,” He took a bite from his breakfast, the jelly spilling out slightly from the sides with a soft squish. “You’re eating them too.”
You stayed there just staring at him for a moment as he chewed. Taishiro was a beautiful eater, which might have been a bizarre thing to notice, but it was true. He was never sloppy, despite how much he ate, and the way his mouth moved was strangely captivating.
“Yeah, but I don’t eat like that every morning. Careful, Toyomitsu.” You pulled yourself from your mind and teasingly poked a finger into his soft side. The digit sank all the way into his squishy stomach. “You’re gonna start putting on weight if you keep eating like that.” You joked sarcastically yet good-naturedly. It was obvious he was far past the point of “putting on weight,” but it had become a bit of a running joke between the two of you at this point.
You were surprised when Taishiro didn’t laugh or make a snarky remark back at you like he typically did. The robust 2nd-year student had thick skin. Hardly anything ever fazed him, and you two teased each other frequently, so it was confusing when he didn’t react as was typical.
Taishiro glanced at the doughnut he had gripped in one of his hands before carefully setting it back in the box and looking over at you again. He had an unreadable expression on his countenance as his golden eyes met yours. It was quiet for a moment before his gaze tore away toward his wide lap. You watched as he placed a hand on the crest of his immense belly.
“What’s wrong, Taishiro?”
He looked back up at you sheepishly. “I don’t know. Sometimes I just wonder…” He adjusted himself a bit on the couch, causing the sofa to creak under his weight. Taishiro was silent for a few more moments, the air tense with confusion and questions. But as quickly as the usually cheerful boy went silent, he returned to his normal optimistic demeanor.
‘Don’t worry about it.” He said with a smile, picking up his donut again to take another bite. “I don’t want to waste your time. We have a busy day today, after all! You need to go get ready.”
“Busy day?” You asked, quickly forgetting about Taishiro’s strange behavior, not brushing it off but putting it aside to instead focus on his previous statement. If he didn't want to talk about it now, you could bring it up again later.
“Did you forget?” Taishiro chuckled, polishing off his first donut and moving on to the next. “Today is intense quirk training. Better make sure you have an adequate amount of bandages and icy hot in your bag.”
“Oh geez!” You hopped up from the couch, suddenly in a panic. “That’s today!” You shoved the rest of your donut as quickly as you could into your mouth and turned back to face Taishiro.
To your surprise, he was holding out another donut to you, a strawberry one, with a smile on his face. “Go get ready, okay? I’m going to finish my breakfast. I’ll be waiting here, as usual, to walk with you to the main campus when you’re ready.”
You nodded in thanks and quickly took the offered donut with a grin before racing as fast as you could to the dorm elevator.
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It was easy to say that Taishiro Toyomitsu was your best friend. You two had met on your first day as new hero course students at your college and immediately clicked. You had been just as intimidated as everyone else when you first strolled into your dorm common room to see the eight-foot-tall young man standing there. It wasn’t just his height that was impressive, but his build as well. He was covered from head to toe in an ample amount of plush, chubby fat. Until he introduced himself, his size made you assume he was just a particularly young parent helping move their kid in.
Despite the initial confusion, you and all your fellow dormmates and classmates quickly learned that Taishiro Toyomitsu was a playful and carefree fellow. He could get along with just about everyone who encountered him, so it didn’t take long for you to warm up to him as well. You two got along better than anyone else in your dorm and were stuck at the hip like white on rice. It was rare to find one of you without the other close by. As the weeks passed, the two of you only grew closer.
Now it was halfway through your second year of school, and the two of you were on your way to being full-fledged heroes. You were sure Taishiro would make one of the best heroes, too. He was intelligent, strong, and determined. You also loved to watch him work with the younger students on occasion. After all, he had the personality of a goofy, hard-working dad. It was downright adorable.
And there was no avoiding the fact that Taishiro Toyomitsu was attractive. Maybe not in the conventional washboard abs and rock-hard jawline sense, but it was indisputable. His fluffy blonde hair and sparkling golden eyes could pull just about anyone in, especially you, and when paired with his amazing personality and the way he could make you feel so safe, it was hard not to fall for him. And you were getting pretty darn close to doing just that. Maybe you already had. But you weren't entirely willing to admit that just yet. Not before you knew where the crush in question stood on the whole matter.
The two of you had started walking to classes together around the middle of the foremost semester of your first year and had done so ever since. His large frame was comforting in a way you couldn’t quite describe or understand. You felt so safe beside him, and in the winter, you sidled up close to his flank for warmth on your walks to class. It made both your puffy jackets rub together, and the static electricity caused his pretty blonde hair to stand on end.
It was only slightly chilly out today, though, as the two of you made your way to the main campus of your university. You had your coat tightly buttoned up on your body, whereas Taishiro had his coat draped over his elbow, hardly affected by the chill.
“Are you excited for intense quirk training today?” Taishiro said with a big smile as the two of you meandered down the sidewalk, side by side. He looked down at you, his superior height making it so he had to look rather far down in order to meet your eyes.
You answered with a groan, and he chuckled. “Come on now. Intense quirk training may be hard and tiring, but that’s the point! You can’t improve if you always stay within the confines of your comfort zone. That doesn’t just go for quirk training, but anything really. It’s just science.”
“I don’t need any of your happy-go-lucky attitude right now, Tai.” You said with a sigh, but you couldn’t help but smile. He always knew just what to say to you, didn’t he? “You get to work with Minato the whole time, whereas I’m stuck with Kosuke.” You complained.
Taishiro raised an eyebrow curiously, but there was a small smirk on his face. “What’s wrong with Kosuke?”
“Don't be coy. You know full well what's wrong with Kosuke. He’s just…” You paused. Kosuke Mochizuki was a tremendous flirt and could be a bit of an ass at times. He would torment just about any carbon-based creature who he deemed was slightly attractive, but after you had kicked his ass to the curb more than a few times, he had developed a bit of a grievance against you. “He’s just kind of annoying.”
“Your quirks are beneficial to each other’s growth, though.” The tall blonde reasoned. “And don’t tell me that you don’t have at least a little fun showing him who’s boss.” Taishiro smirked down at you, and you returned a smirk of your own.
“I guess that’s a fair point.” You sighed as you both made your way up the stairs of the main building and into the structure. “Any idea what Professor Botan will have you doing today?”
Taishiro shook his head. “Not really sure. My guess is it will probably be the usual. She did say Minato needs to work more on their punches since they always focus way too much on their feet. She’ll probably assess how much they can push their quirk while I try to stretch how much kinetic energy my fat can store. After all, I don’t think I’ve ever really pushed past my limit yet. Might be a good idea to test that out.”
“Just be careful, okay? You’ll be spending your entire day getting punched in the gut.” You said as you patted one of his strong arms sympathetically. Even if your classmate Minato’s punches weren’t as strong as their kicks, they were still nothing to sneeze at. You’d been knocked out more than your fair share of times in one-on-one battles when they got in a lucky hit. Each and every time you had woken up with a brain-splitting headache. Not to mention that each punch they landed on your body left a painful bruise afterward.
As the two of you entered the classroom, you were greeted by a few of your other classmates who had already arrived. Two of them, two girls, were talking to each other at the front of the room. The third student, a boy, was seated at a desk in the back.
One of the girls standing towards the front of the room was small and mousy, with a wild mess of dusty brown hair that was pulled up in a hasty bun on top of her head. The second was taller, with jet-black skin, glowing yellow eyes, and long, red-orange ombre hair that seemed to flicker and float behind her. They were two of your friends, Natsuki and Hotaru.
The boy in the back, with dark black hair flecked with gold, however, who looked up from the book he had been reading, was not your friend. Not in the slightest.
He was Kosuke Mochizuki.
“Well, well, well.” Kosuke closed his book and stood from his desk. “The whale and his pretty little tag-along are here. Are you ready for a beating today, fatass? I’m hoping Botan will finally let me shove you around a bit.” He smirked, his inky black eyes flicking in your direction. He seemed pleased with himself for his new “funny” little nickname for Taishiro.
It was no secret that he was green with envy over the fact that you always hung out with Taishiro and never him. He could never understand why you favored the “fatass” when you could be hanging out with someone like him. Kosuke always tried to pretend like he couldn’t care less about you, but it was blatantly evident he was still head over heels for you. He probably would have asked you out about a hundred times by now if it weren’t for the fact that Taishiro was always with you.
You chose to ignore Kosuke as he sauntered over, and instead, you made your way toward the two girls standing at the front of the room. If you were going to have to deal with that flirty asshole all day anyway, there was no way you were putting up with him right now as well.
You could hear Taishiro saying something to Kosuke as Hotaru called your name in greeting, her yellow eyes lighting up even brighter in excitement. You smiled at her in turn before turning to greet Natsuki as well.
“Good morning.” You smiled happily. “Are you two ready for intense quirk training today?”
“Duh!” Hotaru’s wide smile stretched across her dark face. “I’ve been waiting for this all week.” She cackled evilly as she pounded her fists together. “I can’t wait to light some shit up! BahdaBOOM!”
You and Natsuki chuckled as Hotaru darted around the classroom, pretending to take out phantom opponents, providing her own animated sound effects to add to the display. She even threw a few fake kicks in Taishiro’s direction, who playfully guarded in turn. Kosuke seemed to be highly offended that his and Taishiro’s conversation (whatever they had been talking about) had been interrupted by mere horseplay. The dark-haired boy let out a huff before stomping back over to his desk.
“I w-wish I could be as excited as-as Hotaru.” Natsuki chuckled softly at your side. “I always dread intense quirk training.”
“Come on now, Natsuki.”
The two of you turned to meet Taishiro as he walked towards you both, Hotaru having moved on to bounce around another pair of students who had entered the classroom.
“You’ve got a strong quirk and a good head on your shoulders to match it.” The massive boy continued as he smiled down at his itty-bitty classmate. “You just need to work on those delicate nerves. Have faith in yourself and your abilities.”
“He’s right, you know.” You placed your hand reassuringly on Natsuki’s shoulder, and she chuckled softly.
“Toyomitsu is a-always right.” She sighed.
Taishiro wiggled his eyebrows goofily, his signature wide smile shining down at you. His chubby, round cheeks bunched up at the corners of his eyes, making the golden orbs shine brightly.
He really was kind of adorable.
“Now don’t give him too much credit.” You stuck your tongue out playfully at Taishiro, trying to combat the foreign warmth that was spreading on your face. “We wouldn’t want to inflate his ego any more than it already is. His head might pop.”
All of the students had gathered in the classroom by now, and a few of them laughed good-naturedly. Taishiro chuckled right along with them. Natsuki seemed to be feeling a bit better as well.
“It seems everyone is feeling quite spritely today.”
Any students who were standing all quickly scrambled towards their seats at the sound of the voice, yourself included. You then turned to face the doorway as your hero training professor, Professor Botan, entered the room.
Instead of her usual magenta pantsuit, the pink-skinned professor was dressed in her flowery hero costume. She sauntered slowly towards the front of the room, her tight, fuchsia curls bouncing along with her, and stared her students down over the rim of her glasses.
Then her rosewood-colored lips split into a wide, playful smile.
“I hope you all will bring that same energy to your quirk training today!”
The students all whooped and hollered in excitement as the professor excused them to head to the dressing rooms and change into their training uniforms, then reconvene on the training grounds.
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It didn’t take you long to change into your simple training uniform. The dark blue tracksuit fit your body well and was easy to move around in. Perfect for training.
Despite all your earlier complaining, you were a little bit excited about quirk training today. They might drain you, but they always produce results. It was fun seeing how far you could push your limits. You were eager to get to the training grounds as swiftly as possible.
You quickly made your way out of the dressing room and towards the training grounds, stretching your arms over your chest as you walked. Your brain was so focused on getting to the training grounds that you completely forgot to wait for Taishiro.
Kosuke noticed.
He was the lone student standing by the gate of the training grounds when you arrived. Seems you two were the first ones there.
He didn’t say anything to you at first, simply watching as you did a few more basic stretches and double-checking that your shoelaces were properly tied so they wouldn’t come undone.
“Yo, where’s the fatso?” The dark-haired boy asked after a few moments, his black eyes flicking around suspiciously.
“Oh, uh…” You instinctively looked to your side, only to find that Taishiro wasn’t there. “Guess he’s still getting changed.”
“Wonderful.”
You raised an eyebrow as Kosuke sauntered closer to you, a curious expression on his pale face. He stopped within a few feet of you. He was so close, you could smell his obnoxiously potent spray deodorant.
“What is that supposed to mean?” You said, trying to resist the urge to take a step back. He was way too close for your comfort.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something for a while now.” The young man spoke quietly, as if he were trying to be charming or seductive. Maybe it would have come off that way for somebody else, but to you, it just appeared creepy. “But that obnoxious fatty is always hogging you for himself.”
“Stop calling Taishiro names.” You said calmly, but your blood was boiling beneath your skin.
“I don’t know why you’re always defending him.” Kosuke snarled slightly, his underlying douchebaggery peeking through his charming exterior. Kouske wasn't an absolutely awful guy; he did have his good traits, but when it came to your relationship with Taishiro, it seemed to bring out the worst in him. Jealousy was not his strong suit. “Don’t you ever feel smothered by him? Wouldn’t you like to spend time with someone who’s… I don’t know… easier on the eyes?”
“Stop it, Kosuke. That’s so mean.” You said, your eyebrows creasing deeply. “I don't know what you think is happening between Taishiro and me, but stop dragging him into this.”
Kosuke took a deep inhale, attempting to calm his steadily rising anger. “Listen, I’m sorry for being an asshole, but come on, I’m so much better than Toyomitsu! What do you even see in him anyway?”
“Kosuke, I’m sorry, but I- listen. Just leave Taishiro out of this. He has nothing to do with this.” You mumbled, your anger mixing with confusion and embarrassment.
“If he has nothing to do with it, why does he follow you around like some freakishly oversized lost puppy?” Kosuke shouted back, throwing his hands up in the air. “Can’t you see he’s--”
“Why do you care?”
“Cause I still like you, damn it!” The dark-haired boy shouted, his voice echoing over the training grounds. “A lot! But you never leave that idiot’s side!”
“Kosuke.” You took a deep breath and looked into the boy’s dark eyes. “I’m sorry, but I don’t return your feelings. You know that. And I’m sorry, but nothing is going to change that, whether Taishiro is involved or not.”
“So you would rather have some disgusting fatso over me?” Kosuke took another step towards you, closing the distance between you two even more. “You and I would make such an attractive couple.”
You weren’t really sure what happened next. What you did know is that one second Kosuke was standing in front of you, and the next second he was grabbing your hand and pulling you towards him.
By the time you shoved him away, it was already too late.
You caught movement out of the corner of your eyes as you separated from Kosuke, and the two of you turned to see Taishiro standing a little ways away, his golden eyes wide with an emotion you couldn’t read.
He seemed to be frozen for a beat, unsure of what to do. Then he quickly looked away as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Oh, uh, sorry. Am I interrupting something?”
“No! No, you’re not! This isn’t what it looks like!” You quickly scrambled for your words as Kosuke glanced back and forth between the two of you. He stepped away, seemingly ashamed of his actions, but refused to make eye contact with you or say a single word more. A few more students were starting to funnel into the area as well, gathering around to see what was going on.
You gave Kosuke one last angry nudge before quickly jogging over to Taishiro’s side. But the blonde young man couldn’t seem to meet your eyes either as you approached him.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, Taishiro.” You rambled, placing a hand on his arm. “Kosuke was just being Kosuke. Don’t worry about it.”
Taishiro looked down in your general direction but didn’t meet your gaze as he nodded slowly, the gears in his brain evidently still turning. His eyes flicked in Kosuke’s direction from time to time as you tried to explain the situation.
“Really, Tai. He was just being a whiny asshole. I’m gonna make him pay a million times over in quirk training today, so don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. Well…” Taishiro’s golden eyes focused on you for a moment longer before they flicked away, and his goofy grin returned, though it felt somewhat forced. “If you say so! Let’s get—“
One moment your eyes were focused on Taishiro, and the next everything was shaking, and you felt your feet shift.
The ground had quite literally collapsed beneath you.
All you could do was scream as Taishiro’s golden eyes widened in panic. He tried desperately to reach for your hand, but it was too late.
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