Struggling Diet Warriors Chapter 3: Indulgent lies (Revamped!) (Patreon)

A storm was coming.

Ryuuji stood by the window, staring outside. Through it he could see his fellow classmates still trickling into the school building as the warning bell sounded. The sun shone down brightly upon the student body. The skies were clear. Birds could be heard chirping through the window.

But a storm was coming. 

Ryuuji tried to dismiss the cold feeling that breathed on his neck, the feeling his mother had called ‘the breath of the Reaper.’ He didn’t lend much to that superstition, as he had felt it throughout his life, and told himself it was because he’d grown self-sufficient in his fatherless home. But when the feeling came crawling…

He turned away from the window. He didn’t have time for this. He had a test to prepare for, and such baseless distractions woul-

A hand thunked down on the edge of his desk, taking Ryuuji aback and causing him to look up at its owner with a wide-eyed “Eh?”

Ami Kawashima did not look well. Her fair skin was grimily pale, with bright beads of sweat dotting her blue brow. She held her eyes tightly shut, gasping as heavy breathes billowed out of her like an overweight oven with dough rising inside. The woman looked as if she’d run a marathon, which would be quite a feat given she hid beneath her… 

There was no garter.

Ryuuji gapped, looking at the swollen, overweight form of Ami Kawashima. She looked almost twice the girl he’d seen yesterday, the thickness in her thighs given a whole new meaning by her inflating stomach. Maybe the rips had damaged it, or more likely, it just didn’t fit around her flabby waist. The garment that had become the talk of the class had simply vanished. 

The sapphire beauty… well, sapphire gemstone if nothing else, was wearing her solid red gym uniform. The school standard turtle neck sweater with red sweatpants. She dressed as if these clothes were supposed to hide her true figure as well as the constricting garment, but they only accentuated her curves by displaying for all where the waistband of her sweatpants cut into her flabby stomach, or the fabric of the leggings stretching to its limits to cover Ami’s long, fatty legs.

“U-uh… good morning?” Ryuuji said, taken aback by the fine girl’s slovenly appearance.

Ami’s eyes flickered open, blinking twice before looking at his. “Oh… Sorry. Good,” she cut off, coughing into her fist. Ryuuji’s eyes widened as a groan emitted from the girls stomach. Behind Ami, two other classmates, looked up from their conversation. 

Maya and Nanako looked taken aback, both of the gravitated to Ami’s round ass. Nanako’s face tugged upwards into a smirk, but Maya’s own looked far more concerned. 

“Oh gosh…” Ami breathed heavily. “I’m sorry. Good morning.” 

Ryuuji looked around, trying to be sure he wasn’t overheard, but more than a few pairs of eyes were turned to them. He tried to speak quietly. “Are you alright? You look… tired.” 

Ami’s hand left his desk as her stomach moaned again. It hovered for a moment over the indented waistband before moving to her side. There was a desperation in her voice as she forced herself to not acknowledge it. “I know. I... I haven’t recovered from yesterday,” she replied, not looking at him.

“Oh,” Ryuuji nodded, thinking he knew where this was coming from. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would scare you so badly.”

Ami’s hair wavered as her footing shook, her long blue bangs tipping over one eye. She watched him for a moment, saying nothing as her tummy whined. Only then did Ryuuji realize it was not with hunger. 

It was a gurgle of digestion. Her stomach looked different suddenly, noticeably tighter than her flab should have hung as his eyes put her into an overweight puzzle.

“Oh,” Ami seemed to realize. “No. Not that.” She said, even quieter. Her face fell, and for a moment she looked nervous just remembering the encounter. Then her eyebrows fell making her face into a sneer. “Aisaka.”

Ryuuji remembered the end of yesterday’s events. How Taiga had walked off, with Ami struggling to her feet and chasing after her. He’d found her appearance ridiculous then. Wobbling after Taiga on her long, chunky legs, swaying from side to side like a girl who had never run in her life. 

But now, Ami’s appearance was overwhelmingly worrying. Almost sickly pale, Ami’s torso looked like she’d been stretched to her limit. The coughing would send throbs of tight jiggles all throughout her body. 

He looked around, feeling heat in his breath. “Did she hurt you?” he whispered.

“She poisoned me,” Ami replied in a dead tone. She leaned forward, pupils shrinking until they were the size of blueberries inside an unhealthy blue pie. “For hours… she kept me there. I couldn’t stand up, and just… sat there. Eating.”

Ryuuji blinked. “E-excuse me?”

Ami didn’t seem to hear him. “Chocolates. Candies. Sugar. So much sugar.” Her stomach moaned again, and this time her fingers couldn’t ignore it. She clasped her stomach, pinching the pudge through the fabric. “Bite after bite after bite. I couldn’t stop.” 

Ami spoke like a trauma victim, causing Ryuuji to picture her squeezed into an ill-fitting military uniform, shell-shocked and covered mouth in chocolates. 

“It was right… there,” she said through a thousand calorie stare. “Right in front of me. Entire bags of candy that she made me finish off. Bontan. Pinky. Puccho. So many chocolates. I can still hear the wrappers crinkling beneath my fingers, my mouth as I… as I…” her cheeks filled out into a pout and she looked slightly green as her stuffed belly cried for mercy.

She stopped again, quivering like the world’s fattest mouse, but through that comparison Ryuuji could practically feel Taiga invading his brain, changing the image. He could see the floppy pink ears bobbing through her blue hair, the soft curly tail twitching nervously behind her rounded bottom. 

He had to do something for the soft little piglet… but he couldn’t even begin to figure where to take the conversation, except maybe a therapist… or a dietitian…

“D-do you need to… um… maybe you should sit down?” he offered lamely.

Like something out of a horror movie, Ami’s neck snapped upwards, looking straight into Ryuuji with wide, dilated eyes. “Jumping jacks. Squats. She made me touch my toes.” Ami swallowed, her blue eyes shimmering. “Do you know how hard it is to touch your toes?”

“H-hey.” Ryuuji said, standing up and walking to her side. He placed a hand on her back, guiding her towards her seat. Several people were looking now, but quickly looked away when they met his glare. Ami leaned into his touch, resting on his shoulder and letting him guide her. Her stomach shivered, making him notice just how soft her whole body felt. “Come on, let’s get you to your seat.”

“I couldn’t even eat my breakfast on the way to school.” Ami whimpered. “I had to throw away those doughnuts for nothing.”

He was only just able to tuck away the scolding comment about doughnuts not being a real breakfast. “How can you be… erm…” he shook his head. “Well, it’s only a few hours. You’ll be fine.”

They reached her chair and she sat down into it, sniffling once and rubbing at her eye. Most people would probably die to have the luxury of sweets, but Ami was acting almost like a trauma victim. You’d have thought Taiga beat her up... But there was something about her right now, something that Ryuuji couldn’t bring himself to scold or speak against.

“You’re alright now,” he reassured, patting her on the back. “Just… calm down. Okay?”

Ami looked up at him. She looked puzzled for a moment, sniffed once, and nodded. “I-I’m sorry,” she said. Her head bobbed gratefully to him, “Thank you. I’ll be okay.”

“Alright. If you need something, just… Uh… well, tell me, I guess.” Ryuuji said. He turned to look at the desk next to them. 

Minori sat there, looking empathetically upset, her soft cheeks pulled down in a feeling-filled pout. She looked from Ami up to him before nodding her head once and giving a soldier’s thumbs-up. 

Ryuuji felt a slight boost, as if he’d done the right thing.

He then turned to see Yusaku standing at the same window that he himself had been gazing out of. The other boy was watching them through the reflection, bluntly staring with a thoughtful expression before he turned and silently sat down at his desk.

When Ryuuji returned to his own desk afterwards, Yusaku said nothing. He just kept a little smile to himself.

Moments before class bell rang, the palmtop Taiga came walking in through the entrance, wearing a blinding grin that was filled with bright pride. She glanced over to Ryuuji, giving him a tiny thumbs up as the bell rung, and the school day begun. 

******************************************************************************

Ryuuji halted his fingers on the keyboard for a moment, the earlier scene still on his mind. “Maybe I should go with the sugar free option…” he said to himself before typing in the appropriate code on the selector. 

The vending machine dispensed the can of Bozu, and it clattered to the bottom.

“So, aren’t you gonna ask?” came an impatient voice from behind him.

Ryuuji glanced over his shoulder. Taiga was nearly out of view, slender arms folded over her chest, still wearing that self-satisfied smirk. She was leaning against the waist high guard rail casually, but her expression was nothing but challenging.

Ryuuji stood up from the dispenser, and let the soft hiss of the can crack open. “Nope,” he announced before lifting the drink to his lips and sipping.

It tasted like sugar-free garbage.

Taiga’s smirk fell, along with her fluffy brown eyebrows. “The hell do you mean, no?”

Ryuuji shrugged. “I’ve got the feeling that I don’t want to know why she sounds like she had a nightmare about reaching her feet last night.”

Taiga’s hands found her hips. “You wanna know what that was about?”

“I just said that I didn’t-”

The tiger ignored him, growing cockier by the word. “I just told her she had to touch her toes.” She looked upwards, grin filled with sharpened teeth. “She’s the one that split her sweat pants. I told her she had to work out with me, or I’d send her waddling outside. She was so desperate.”

Ryuuji shook his head. “You’re so cruel.”

“I don’t think so. In fact, I’d say quite different.”

Ryuuji and Taiga looked over to see the approaching figure of Yusaku. He wore the same expression on his face from the morning, a soft smile that hid something more. He nodded once, respectfully, to his male companion before turning his attention to Taiga.

The tiny brunette suddenly looked half her size and twice as red at this sudden appearance. Her unbelievable crush on Yusaku was adeling her brain, causing her mouth to hang open to make short stammers without any words.

“Where did you come from?” Ryuuji asked, trying to cover for Taiga’s slack-jaw.

Yusaku stepped forwards to Taiga, ignoring Ryuuji’s question. He bent down to her level, a very serious expression now on his face. “Aisaka,” he said, “I’ve got a huge favor to ask.”

******************************************************************************

“You saw her, everyone saw her!” Nanako hissed. “She’s just a big fat phony!”

“It was hard to miss…” Maya replied before then shaking her head. “Anyways, does it really matter?”

“Of course it does!” the purple-haired girl retorted hotly. “Little miss model comes to our school and tries to rub our noses in her body, when she’s as big as my apartment?!”

“She might need help,” Maya shrugged, still frowning. “I mean, did you see how devastated she was? She was practically in tears… And this morning?”

“Uggghhh,” lamented an approaching voice. “Can we please not talk about this morning? Like, everyone seems to just be having a bad day today.” 

Ami approached the other girls, her gym suit flagrantly out of place in the hallway of students wearing simple school uniforms. Forging the mention that even the bulky outfit didn’t hide much once you knew what was there…

To the two girls, Ami now looked like the fattest girl on campus. But like hell could Maya just tell her that!

“Oh, yeah!” Maya said, straightening up. “We were just talking about the test. So rough! Right Nanako?”

Nanako looked away, cheeks tinged with red anger. “Yeah. Real rough.”

“Oh, I didn’t think it was that bad! I even forgot to study last night. I’m sure the two of you did wonderful as well!” Ami said brightly.

Maya could feel the cold coming off from Nanako as she replied, “I forgot as well. Too busy working out.”

“Anyways!” Maya interceded over Ami’s confused expression, “Let’s get lunch!”

“Oh! Yes! I skipped breakfast today, but the cafeteria assistant told me we’re supposed to be having Tonkatsu!” Ami exclaimed excitedly. She turned and wobbled away, the two falling into step behind as she merged like a truck into the line of students making for the cafeteria. “I was up super late last night too,” Ami went on. “I actually worked out like a ton yesterday, so I feel a little sore.” 

That made Maya feel a bit better about the whole situation. While it had been… invigorating, to see Ami earning her just desserts, it was good to hear that the events of yesterday might have gotten through to Ami. Even if just a little, to hear that she’d spent the day working out made Maya feel a little comfier with her.

“I’m glad to hear you’re feeling okay. You looked a bit… off, this morning.”

“Oh?” Ami asked simply. “It’s probably cause I skipped breakfast, honestly!”

“I was gonna say you looked a little pudgy,” Nanako growled.

Ami looked over her shoulder. “Sorry? I didn’t hear you.”

“She said you looked a bit pale!” Maya laughed nervously. “Yeah, maybe it was all that working out?”

Ami turned over her other shoulder. She smiled, though it did look a little weary. “Yeah. Maybe. I’m fine though. I’d say good, even!” she tried to pump a little energy into her voice. Even her step gained a little extra pep as the girl turned around, which was not so flattering for the skin-tight uniform nor the bouncing body beneath. Her ass looked like two melons filling out either side of her hip, hypnotizing the other girls until they nearly smacked into her rounded butt when Ami froze with a gasp. 

Either girl had to lean to peer around her only to catch the lone figure of Taiga Aisaka standing in the center of the hallway. A good two heads under anybody else, it was awe inspiring to watch how the sea of students simply partted around the lithe girl, while she paid everyone else not a bit of her mind.

She was focusing all of it on Ami.

“Well? Are you ready for lunch or not?” Taiga’s voice pierced the surrounding hubbub of students like a sword, directed with harsh force at the sapphire girl. 

Maya and Nanako exchanged glances.

“Umm, excuse me?” Ami asked.

“You heard me. Or do you need to pour your flabby gut all over the snack cart first, you fat piglet?”

Ami stood straighter, talking a heavy step forward and raising her hands to her waist. “H-hey.” Maya could see the uncomfortable nervousness in Ami’s blue eyes when she looked over her shoulder at her and Nanako. “What I do for my lunch is none of your business!”

“If you’re good, I’ll even buy you some more ice cream, or did you have enough yesterday?” Taiga asked.

Ami quickly swept forwards, whispering harshly at Taiga. “This isn’t funny,” they heard her say.

The two girls looked at one another again. ‘Ice cream?’ Maya mouthed to Nanako.

“Fat. Phony.” Nanako retorted, softly annunciating the spite-filled words. She rolled her eyes and turning up her nose at Ami.

Maya looked back to spot Taiga’s hand wrapped in Ami’s hair, fingers interlaced down to her roots. The orange-haired girl twisted to see over Ami’s shoulder, spotting the miniature Taiga holding a large Polaroid, waving it directly in front of Ami’s face. Maya had only a second to see the image before Taiga noticed her looking and brought the picture down and out of sight. Even so, a second was just enough.

“U-uh, sorry girls!” Ami said, turning about quickly and bowing. 

As she leaned forwards, her rear stuck outwards and struck Taiga in the chest. The small girl grunted and stumbled backwards before hissing like an enraged kitten.

The blue girl straightened, her belly pressing against the gym clothes. A swollen red cherry with the shadow of her chubby navel. “I totally forgot!” she forced through the mask. “Aisaka asked me to have lunch with her today, after we got done working out!” 

Taiga was glaring at Ami’s butt, but hearing her name pulled her away. “Wha? We did frikin yoga, what the hell do you-”

Ami began clapping like a nervous seal, her blubber only liking the comparison. Other people turned, raising their eyebrows as Ami began waving and spun on her toes. “So, yeah! Sorry!! I’ll totally join you another day!” Then, just barely above the confused hubbub of the hall Maya could hear her whisper, “Let’s go you little twerp… It was too working out! I wouldn’t get tired from yoga...”

Maya saw the ferocity in Taiga’s face, the palmtop tiger grinding her teeth before she saw Maya. With a silent hiss she grabbed Ami by the wrist and began dragging her through the crowd, walking into Taiga-sized holes that were forced apart to become Ami-sized craters. 

“I sure hope they had a great time ‘working out’ together,” Nanako spat.

Maya scratched her orange head, her fingers unconsciously pulling down at a lock.  Her mouth had puckered as if she’d just eaten something sour. Her expression was freezing from a warm sense of concern into the frozen judgement only a late-teenage girl could muster. Her voice came out as smooth as ice. “Yeah. I’ll bet they did. She looked like she’d been working out really hard in that. Topless and eating a damn chocolate bar.”

Nanako’s eyes widened. “She was naked?”

Maya looked surprised before shaking her head. “Oh God, can you imagine? No, she was in her bra, but she was practically inhaling the bar. God. I can’t believe her!”

“I bet those magazines would kill for a picture like that… What a fat phony…”

Maya watched the model’s retreating sapphire hair. “Yeah. Well she’s not the only girl in this school that can play nice.” She turned back to Nanako, “If she wants to treat us like fools, maybe we should show her what having fools as friends can do.”

Nanako’s purple eyes lit up dangerously.

******************************************************************************

“What do you mean, nothing?” Ryuuji asked as the others unfurled their lunches.

“I said, I don’t have anything. God, just leave it alone.” Ami grumbled. She was obviously frustrated, leaning back in her seat with her hands crossed over her chest, looking away from the other three assembled lunch boxes.

“Do you not make your own lunches?” Minori probed.

“No,” Ami replied. “My dad used to… anyway, no. I don’t.” She shuffled in her seat, leaning onto the desk and putting her chin in her hand.

At the mention of her father, Ryuuji couldn’t help feel a certain resonation inside. He looked to the group, noticing that Taiga had also looked up from demolishing her own meal. 

Minori, however, shifted differently. She began to take large bites of her food, as if she didn’t trust her mouth not to speak, very obviously trying not to look at Taiga or Ami… 

‘What was that all about?’ he wondered Ryuuji turned back to his own meal, already moving without really thinking. ‘Damn Kitamura,’, he thought with a shake of his head and a sigh.

Without another word, he lifted the edges of the placement that held his food container, depositing it onto Ami’s desk in front of her. Ami turned to look at it. “Ehh?”

“Here, have mine. I’m not feeling hungry anyways.”

Ami squinted down at the dish before looking back to Ryuuji. “You’re not serious, right?”

“That’s really nice of you, Ryuuji!” Minori said, her smile ablaze. “I-I packed a lot too! Way too much for a diet warrior, even if it’s all low calorie.” She stood up from her chair, pointing up to some unseen scale of justice or truth. “The perfect weapon for a diet warrior to fight the enemy of hunger! You want some of my Konbu, Ami?”

Ami looked to Minori, then to where her finger was pointing. She seemed to see a much different scale as her eyes drifted back to Ryuuji, then down to the container. “I-I can’t… Umm...”

Beneath her track suit, her tummy squealed, silencing the girl’s refusal with an iron hammer. 

Her blue eyes were shifting, looking more than a bit suspicious over towards Taiga and then… pacified, Ami smiled. “T-thanks. That’s… nice of you,” she bowed her head to him. Another real moment, a glimpse at the chubby chin poking out of the skinny-woman’s mask.

Ryuuji raised a hand, laughing slightly. “Aww, come on. There’s no need for that. Really, I’m not hungry,” he lied. “I hope you like it.”

“Koooonnnbuuuu,” Minori tantalized, waving her fork in front of Ami’s face. 

Ami scooted slightly back from the healthy treat, her hungry eyes dribbling down to the much more equitable lunchbox. “Umm, sorry!” she grimaced at Minori’s wet chopsticks. “But… uh, there’s so much here! I’d like to show my appreciation and eat this, of course!” Her fingers deftly lifted her own utensils and picked one the bits of fried egg from the box, swooping it into her mouth. “Mhmm, see?” 

“The weapons of hunger are indeed strong,” Minori bowed her head like a sage. She turned her attention to Ryuuji, “Yo, Konbu me!”

A furnace heated up somewhere inside of his blood, a youthful heat flooding into Ryuuji’s cheeks. His mouth fell open before he started to pull back, the first instinct of adoration demanding a retreat from the red-headed foodie. “U-uh, I mean, I’d, uh.”

Pain spiked like a knife threw his leg as a small foot connected with his shin.

“Ahh!” he yowled, turning a glare to the seat across from him. Taiga’s returned it, with extra fury to spare, tilting her head knowingly at Minori. “Oh. Um. For sure. Thanks.”

Minori looked between the pair before letting out an awkward giggle. “You guys are so weird,” she laughed. “I just said to Konbu me! I can’t eat all of this junk on my own!”

He leant forwards, taking the small seaweed roll in his mouth from Minori’s offered sticks. She gave him a thumbs up, and he felt the furnace explode while his cheeks turned bright pink.

It took him a moment to realize that Ami was well enjoying the container he’d given her. To the point where she’d missed the entire exchange, using her sticks to procure huge, mouth stretching bites. She looked like she was savoring them, munching slowly and exposing her neck as she let her head hang back when she swallowed with a sigh. Another large chomp and her eyes seemed to focus on somewhere far off. 

“Oh gawsh,” she mumbled through a full mouth before her eyes dilated and she seemed to suddenly remember where she was. “O-oh,” she covered her mouth before awkwardly coughing. She pointed down at the container, “‘ou ‘ade this?”

“Oh, umm, yeah. I them this morning with breakfast.” He absently his hand behind his head, subtly enjoying the evident praise. “As for the Nattō, it’s just some soybeans that’ve been fermented, the carrots were peeled last night, and the cherry tomatoes are really just, you know, tomatoes.”

Ami expertly lifted the meat of the dish onto the seaweed roll, scooping rice to surround it and wrapping it closed. It was like watching an artist at work, an extra little touch to how she handled her food like she was… much more… experienced.

Oh no… If he kept thinking everything was because of how fat she was, he would turn into Taiga…

But Ami made it hard not to see the comparison, lifted the wrapped meat to her mouth. Her eyes closed before rolling a little, her weight shifting inward towards Taiga at her side. “Pork,” she mumbled pleasureful around the food, eyes still closed as she savored the taste. “It’s my absolute favorite.”

Ryuuji felt pride widen his smile before he was struck in the head with a warrior’s chopstick. “Gah!” he exclaimed, holding his hand over his temple. He turned to face Taiga, “What the hell?!” His hand found the thrown weapon before it could roll off the desk.

“God, you’re sickening. You’ve made me lose my appetite. Here,” Taiga shoved her container over to him, half emptied. “It’s not sweet enough anyways.”

“Mhm,” Ami interjected before lightly coughing. “‘Dish is ac’uly a bit too,” she swallowed. “Ahh, mhmmm. Uhm, it’s a bit too sweet. For me. I prefer spicy, really.” She went on, before scooping more into her mouth. “It’s still pretty good though!”

“Nobody asked you, piglet!” Taiga shouted. 

Several people from neighboring desks fell silent, turning to look at the commotion. Ami, for her part, was too busy eating to make much more than a response of pouting disapprovingly.

Taiga, seeing the newly formed shift, relented. “Whatever… I’m gonna get a juice from the vending machine.” The small girl slid out of her seat before walking out the class door. 

“Wow…” Ami was chewing, frowning more with her eyes than she could with her mouth. She mulled the food over, making her chubby cheeks turn cherubically puffy swallowing. “I don’t think I really understand how Aisaka operates.”

Ryuuji shook his head. “You’re not the only one, sometimes.”

Minori laughed, smiling as bright as the star that she was. “Taiga doesn’t mean much by what she says.” She turned to Ryuuji, “You should have seen her when she’d realized that you didn’t have an individual bag for the event. I was just gonna give you candy, but she sprinted out of my house at like half-past midnight to come back with supplies. I’d thought she robbed a store to be able to get stuff so late!”

That took Ryuuji a few moments. “Really?”

“Mhmm!” Minori nodded, looking after the waves of brunette hair vanishing around the door. “She looked really worried for a bit… but, she sorta came back laughing like a lot. I figured it was some joke you two have!” 

Taiga had gone out of her way to make him a bag. Not just out of her way, she’d entirely deviated her day to do it. No wonder she didn’t walk to school with him that morning. It made him feel a little lighter in his chest, thinking about it like that.

Then he remembered what was in the baggie, and his face fell into a scowl again.

He then noticed the pair of sapphire eyes looking at him. No, not at him.

Ami was looking into him, and perhaps unconsciously or maybe even intentionally, he was able to see into her. She was considering him deeply, and he felt her see a frustration just as he saw something inside of her. 

There was an unmistakable sadness buried beneath those bright blue eyes. 

The pair continued to look into one another for a moment before separating, both feeling as if they’d seen something they shouldn’t. Ami launched herself into the meal, eating much quicker now, while Ryuuji pulled Taiga’s container to him and picked up the other chop stick.

After a few minutes, Taiga returned, and rolled a can of sugar-free Black Bozu across the desk to Ryuuji without a word.

******************************************************************************

Class finally ended after what felt like ages. Ami was sure she’d be twenty by the time she walked home. Whether it was the gym uniform, her constantly vibrating phone, or even the soreness in her legs or the ache of her arches, the sapphire beauty was immensely looking forward to taking off all her damn clothes and kicking back watch some television or do something online.

And for some stupid reason, she couldn’t clear her mind about that frikin lunch! It was yummy, sure, but Ami had eaten tons of yummy food! Why the heck did she keep thinking about that pork?!

Her phone buzzed again, but Ami forced herself to leave it inside her pocket. One of her fellow models, Hina Kiyomizu, had been texting her all day about the photoshoot and the charity event that she’d be doing on television tonight.

Ami hated Hina. She was a stuck-up chick was entirely two-faced, with passive aggressiveness spilling out over each text like a baked muffin top. ‘I loved modeling with you,’ ‘You always could make the spotlight hit you just right!’ ‘Why don’t you come up and we can host for the show together?’ 

“Bitch,” Ami snarled with repressed fury. She kicked at a loose bit of paper in the hallway, letting out a huff of frustration. 

She felt a smirk creep onto her mouth as her plan began to form. She was gonna go home, cook up a couple bags of popcorn, grab one of her soft serve cups out of the freezer, and then peel off these clothes before sitting back to watch that dumb bimbo, hopefully, trip over the stupid charity organizers table and ruin the whole show. 

“Stupid Kiyomizu. Stupid Greenheart Project. Stupid, cute, sailor outfit,” she mumbled to herself. She didn’t acknowledge the part of her mind that was trying, very hard and without much success, to squeeze Ami into a mental sailor suit. 

Except instead of bright blue and white, she’d wear a dark sapphire blue to mesh with her hair. The white could accentuate her figure, a skirt with bright frills that showed her legs and teased a view of her botto-

Ami rounded a corner and nearly smacked chest first into Minori Kushieda. Kushieda, much quicker on her feet, rolled around the side, her hands coming around and catching Ami by the torso, while the sapphire-haired girl’s feet clumsily caught on one another, sending her stumbling forwards with a startled shout.

“Oh, woah woah! I-I gotcha!” Kushieda grunted, heaving Ami upright. 

Ami’s startled yelp turned into a gasp as the air was sucked out of her chest. They ended with both girls panting, partially wrapped around each other with Kushieda’s arms on Ami’s shoulders. They looked into one another, both embarrassedly chuckling in an awkward half-hug 

“Phew!” the red head sweat, “For a second there, I thought we were both going timber.” She squeezed Ami around the shoulder, a soft girly affection. 

Ami let out a short laugh. “Yeah, I guess I’m a little klutzy. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it!” Kushieda exclaimed, straightening up and saluting.

The mental sailor tried to salute in return, but the stiches popped off the central point of her dress and the explosion of pale whited out Ami’s mind.

Searching for anything else to focus on, Ami then noticed the Minori’s change in apparel.

Kushieda’s red hair brushed over the collar of her own gym uniform, the red jacket and red pants looking positively vibrant on her and making her hair shine as bright as her grin. Unlike Ami, Kushieda wore her jacket open, exposing the light t-shirt she wore beneath. 

“Oh?” Ami asked, “Are you doing exercises after class?”

Kushieda put her hands on her hips, increasing the warmth of her red-giant smile. “Yup! The student council’s cleanup session is today, remember? Kitamura was asking for volunteers towards the end of class.”

The white fluff in Ami’s mind ran back to the classroom, reviewing the events of class closing out. “Oh, I must have missed that. A… friend, was texting me. I got a little distracted.”

Kushieda raised a finger. “Naughty, naughty!” she chided with a smile. “Ms. Koigakubo would be very disappointed if she knew you were texting in class.” She turned from side to side, as if checking for others, then turned back to Ami. “You should help us with the cleanup. It’ll put some extra good karma in your favor,” she winked.

Ami could just barely keep herself from scoffing at the idea. She tried to play it off as sweet an innocent rather than making her stomach turn. “Umm, no, that’s okay. Going around town picking up trash isn’t exactly my idea of a fun afternoon... Plus, I’m like, really busy. One of my best friends has a show tonight and I promised I’d watch and support her, ya know?”

Kushieda tilted one hand over her back. “Aww, that’s too bad. I’m sure Taiga, Ryuuji, and I could have really used your help!”

Ami felt something rise inside of her, as if a small beast just perked up its ears. “Takasu is going?”

“Mhmm,” Kushieda affirmed. “He was even the first person to volunteer. He’s been doing a heck of a lot more lately! He used to be kind of a loner.” 

Ami furrowed her brow at that. Takasu didn’t seem like a loner, not at all. 

In fact, every time she had seen him he’d been with someone, usually Yusaku or that… that palmtop bitch.

The great beast inside of Ami’s gut let out a huff and the heat of anger rose from its hungry pit. The memory of the subjugation, of the torture, that Aisaka had subjected her too was a slight that her tummy would remember. If Takasu was going, then chances were that Aisaka would be going as well… 

“You know,” Ami began, slowly thinking, “I could use a bit of karma in my favor. I think I might be able to make some time, to tag along. Plus, it’d be good to learn the area better, right?”

“Really?! That’s right!” Kushieda excitedly agreed. “Ooo, and you now what? We can stop and get dinner as a group too, once we’re all done!”

Ami, who’d planned on nothing else besides popcorn and ice cream for the evening, found the beast of her belly gained a little more pleasure with that thought. If nothing else, a full meal with some company might be nice.

Just like lunch.

“Come on!” Kushieda said, sliding her arm around Ami’s waist before starting off at a skip. “Let’s get going!”

“Wah! Wait up!” Ami stumbled after her, held tight by her fluffy side. She found herself struggling to keep up with the redhead’s ferocious pace, causing the top to catch on her sides and, very slowly, begin ridding up. Ami’s tummy couldn’t be tucked into her sweats, and soft pale flesh came jiggling out. Small, light white stretchmarks dotted her, highlighted as she took awkward hops to keep up. But even the excited movements couldn’t totally distract her from a flicker of memory that had slowly drifted over her mind.

‘I hope you like it,’ he had said. 

And he smiled.