Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous.

Interlude: Fatgum POV 4

"Fat-kun," Aiko's voice pulls my attention away from the food I've been enjoying since getting back from the buffet, "I wanted to introduce you to one of the other girls at my agency. Manami, this is Fat Gum."

A sweet-looking girl with light brown hair bounces next to her, her blue eyes lit with excitement.

"Hi, Fat Gum-san. It's so great to meet you! I went to your old junior high!"

"Oh?" I say excitedly, "You did?"

It's always great to meet underclassmen and bond over our more youthful years.

She nods, going on about the school and some of the teachers and how they talked about me.

My eyes unintentionally wander to Aiko, like they often do, as she sets a glass of wine in front of me.

God but does she look gorgeous tonight. When she walked into my room in that little cocktail dress, I nearly had a heart attack. And the way she undressed me to get my costume off... it was like she was... shy.

I've never wanted to kiss her more than in that moment, her cheeks so pink and her looking at me like I usually expect her to when I'm thinner.

That couldn't be right though, could it? I just want to believe she's looking at me like that so that's what I'm letting myself see.

Aiko waves me on to keep conversing with her friend as she sits on the opposite side of the table.

I obey and turn back to Manami, continuing our conversation.

It's actually pretty enjoyable discussing my old junior high with her. She tells me what she knows about all of our old teachers and how some of the clubs I used to be in were doing when she was there.

Then we move on to talking about the high schools we went to. Obviously, she didn't go to a hero school and she's just as interested in hearing about what it was like as Aiko was.

When I crack a joke, as I usually tend to do in conversation, we both laugh. Manami's cracking up so hard, she's almost doubled over, having to put a hand on my shoulder to stay upright.

When she finally calms and we can continue the conversation, I notice she doesn't remove her hand from my shoulder, even when it's clear she doesn't need to hold onto it for balance any longer.

The way she's smiling at me...

"I'd like to go dance," Aiko says, standing abruptly.

Does she seem agitated? Her voice sounds hard and cold.

She barely even looks at me when she asks, "You'll be okay here without me for a little while?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I tell her, not wanting to ask her to stay if she's upset about something. I'll have to ask her about it later, when she's less likely to clam up.

So she goes, moving her way into the bodies on the dance floor. I can still just barely see her so I'm not worried that she's going without me. I can't be glued to her side all the time. I get the impression she wouldn't want me to go with her anyway.

"Right, so like I was saying..." Manami goes on without missing a beat, her hand still on my shoulder, that smile still on her face.

She really is a joy to talk to. She's very personable and open. She has a different aura about her than Aiko but still holds herself with the same grace and poise. It's clear they're both in the same profession.

"So... Fat Gum-san, I was wondering..." Manami finally pulls her hand away to poke her fingers together shyly. The first shy thing I've seen her do so far. "Are you seeing anyone right now?"