Chapter Text
After years of working hard to bulk himself up and keep his weight up Taishiro Toyomitsu is not a fan of slimmer form. No matter what anyone says about it he knows his proportions are off without his fat. His torso’s too long, his hands and feet and head and eyes a bit too big, mouth definitely too wide. He gets chills easily without his blubber. Plus his body is quick to damage getting bruises and cuts and stubbed toes and scrapes at the drop of a hat. He’s also incredibly awkward in his smaller form being more used to the 11’2” height of his fighting fit form and the difference of perspective, reach, and stride in his skinny only 8’2” form just increases his chances of accidentally injuring himself. He also hates feeling defenseless which he more or less is while slimmed down. All that plus the extra expense of the sheer amount he needs to eat in order to properly bulk back up in as short a timeframe as possible is exactly why he doesn't want to use his Spear unless absolutely necessary.
But there are certain circumstances where being in his smaller form is useful.
Like taking public transit from his agency in the Naniwa ward to where his ex-girlfriend from high school lives in the Chiba Prefecture. If he were full sized the train ride would be an absolute nightmare. He’d have to basically fold himself double to be able to use the seats, stay crouched effectively the whole time moving on and off trains which is just murder on his knees, and he’d have to constantly be pulling other passengers out of him if crowded conditions meant that no one could give him enough space to avoid getting sucked in.
If the police or other heroes wanted him to be somewhere well outside of his territory, they at least sent a truck for him to ride in that was slightly more tolerable than trying with a train.
(And forget about buses when he was full sized, the doors were too small and the seats weren't much better if he could even manage to squeeze himself into the bus in the first place.)
As it is, taking the train while slimmed down isn't that bad. He might be chilly and have to duck under too low doorways and such, but it's not miserable. So he’s still in a decent mood when he gets to Tsugumi’s place.
It’s not like it was a breakup with any hard feelings or anything, Taishiro and Tsugumi just ended up going different ways after high school. Tai had his license for hero work and a territory that was ripe for the taking (ignoring that the Naniwa ward had so few competing heroes due to the will of his family) so he just kinda went for it. Not that it went terribly well in his first few years where he skirted the line with starvation while barely being able to keep himself afloat as a solo act before his brief foray into pit fighting to build up some funds. And then getting some decent publicity while working with his friend on the nonsense in Naruhata not too long ago. While Tsugumi went off to university to get her medical degree and a medical quirk use license. The two of them just kinda drifted apart romance wise even if they managed to stay friends. (And it's not like their sex life had been terribly active after that last growth spurt he went through…)
The Tsugumi that answered the door didn't quite match the girl in his memories from their high school days but Tai assumed that time and having a baby would do that. Her pointy ears, piercing indigo eyes, short cropped dark blue hair, and warm brown skin were all the same. But her figure is a lil taller and a good deal thicker. She looks good, especially with the extra weight, it makes her look more mature. The infant in the sling pressed close to her chest couldn’t be more than a few months old and stared at him with the annoyance of a small creature who’d been dozing comfortably until someone decided to knock on the door and make its momma get up.
“Damn, Tai, who kicked your ass?” Tsugumi snorted after taking a good look at him. Her sharp fangs visible in her grin.
Taishiro grinned back, her energy infectious just as it was in the past, “Did ya know there’s animal rights activists that focus specifically on octopi? More of ‘em than ya can shake a stick at either, had to show ‘em what was what when they started causing a ruckus in the seafood market. Burned up way more fat than I’d like, but worth it to keep all my favorite takoyaki places open and unmolested.”
“That’s a new one,” She stepped away from the entrance and waved him in, “come on in, we’ve got snacks if you’re hungry. Mom’s cooking a bunch ‘cause Tamaki’s buddies are coming over later to try and relax before the Sports Festival.”
Tai ducks under the too low doorway and kicks off his shoes, stacking them on top of each other to avoid taking up too much space if other people were planned to be over. He’s only been to this place twice after the Amajiki’s moved out of the Kansai region to be closer to Mr. Amajiki’s new job. The house is nice and in a pleasant neighborhood, but definitely too small for him even in his smaller form. And that’s probably why he hadn’t visited often in the first place, he didnt like having to duck all the time or worrying about being too heavy for the furniture.
Mrs. Amajiki’s snacks have always been a mixed bag, more on flavor than quantity. The Amajikis, other than the missus, all have quirks that either need food as fuel or require a lot of calories to use so they were all fairly big eaters for folks their size. It’s just that the Amajikis have the ability to eat just about anything and their natural resistance to ingested toxins gave them …odd flavor preferences. The savory sugar cookies are palatable even if they remind him of dog biscuits but the brownies with at least five different spicy peppers in them are certainly an acquired taste. He’s warned off of the oatmeal raisin cookies made with cement as they’re specifically for Mr. Amajiki’s acid reflux problems but he’s encouraged to try the fried bat wings and roasted beetle grubs.
They chat as they snack, catching up on life events. Taishiro finds out that Tsugumi’s baby daddy is not in the picture after the man fund out that the child is quirkless. His loss. He tells her about his sidekicks and the quirk counseling program that focuses on quirk caused hunger and cravings that Leech wants to start. Apparently, Tsugumi’s baby brother is in his second year at UA and she’s neither subtle nor shy about asking him to keep an eye on his performance at the Sports Festival and maybe give the kid a chance interning with him if he likes what he sees. He doesn't mind, he’s already got a ticket to UA’s Sports Festival and was planning to pick up an intern anyway.
Besides, that’s exactly what he likes about Tsugumi, she knows what she wants and just goes for it. And she wouldn't recommend her brother if he didn't have something going for him, she’s got more integrity than to try and get her baby brother coasting on some cronyism. She went to Shiketsu too and he knows that the Support course was held to the same standards as the Hero course.
After a while he bids her, little Toki, and Mrs. Amajiki a good night and leaves just as a gaggle of teens arrive. He takes a train to the Shizuoka Prefecture since he does have an apartment there for business purposes and he actually doesn't want to take more trains than he has too. UA’s Sports Festival started tomorrow and he wanted to be close enough to walk to the campus. His sidekicks had already been prepped to hold down the fort in Naniwa on their own for a few days.
The apartment is actually sized for him, for giants in general, so he’ll be comfortable there even if he bulks back up fully. Granted, he wouldn’t be back to full strength before the festival ended, he needs at least four days for that while the Sports Festival only lasts three.
He kicks off his shoes on the threshold and then flops down onto a couch that doesn’t creak under his weight and lets out a sigh of relief. He turns on the tv and digs his phone out his pocket to start placing orders for dinner.