Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous.

Chapter 6

"Oh, hi, Aiko right?" The receptionist at Fat Gum's agency says with a friendly smile as I walk through the doors.

"Uh, yes, I'm here for Fat Gum. We had a lunch appointment today?" I answer politely and she nods.

Her smile brightens and she seems pleased as she says, "He's up in his office. Do you need me to show you the way?"

I shake my head, "No, I've got it. Thank you."

"Okay, go on up," she nods and returns to whatever work she was doing on her computer, allowing me free reign of the agency.

I guess Fat Gum must've told her I was coming considering how unsurprised she seems by my presence. Although it makes sense, she is the receptionist. She was probably the one who took my message.

Heading for the stairs, I see Suneater headed in my direction. He freezes when he sees me and turns to walk back the other way.

"Hey! Suneater, wait!" I call after him and he halts but doesn't turn around.

Nearly jogging to catch up with him, I stop at his back, not forcing him to face me if it makes him uncomfortable.

"Hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about before. A couple weeks ago when-"

"I know when," he says quietly, pulling at his hood.

"Right. I'm so sorry about that," I say with real regret, "I don't want you to think badly of me. Can we just forget that ever happened? I'm taking Fat-kun to lunch right now. You could come too if you want."

He seems to have built up enough courage to turn toward me finally, his face firm.

He's never been this close to me. I didn't realize he was so much shorter. Then again, my heels probably don't help matters much. Having only interacted with Taishiro and Fat Gum lately has spoiled me into thinking I'm not an amazon.

"No, no that's okay. Go with Fat," he says insistently.

"Are you sure?" I ask, "I don't mind. You can get whatever you want. You can show me more cool stuff with your quirk."

"I'm sure," he replies, his eyes shifting over my shoulder.

Noticing his attention change, I turn to find Fat Gum just stepping off the stairs, a broad smile spreading on his round face as his eyes land on us.

"Ai-chan," he says and I hear Suneater cough behind me, sounding like he might be choking on something.

"Hi!" I call, waving him over, "Sorry, I got caught up talking to Suneater. I wanted to invite him to lunch too but he said no."

I give a small pouting face to Fat Gum as he comes closer and he looks from me to Suneater.

"We could bring you something back," he suggests, "How does that sound?"

He looks to me for confirmation on this idea.

"If that works better, I don't mind. I don't want you to feel left out," I say shrugging as I look back to Suneater.

He nods, "That's preferable."

I'm still a little disappointed he won't come and also still feeling really awkward around him. I can only imagine that he feels the same, if not worse. But I can't push him if he's not comfortable around me.

So Fat Gum and I bid farewell to Suneater and head out on our own after promising Maki some food as well-- I would've felt bad leaving anyone out.

"So where are we going?" I ask, taking almost twice as many steps as his in order to keep up with his long strides. He must keep his pupils even busier if they want to match him. Thankfully, he's at least walking more slowly to compensate.