Chapter Text
Mr. Togata fills the silence of the car with what Tamaki believes is supposed to be distracting chatter. Mirio joins in occasionally but Tamaki can tell that the other boy’s heart isn't really into it. In their own ways Tamaki knows that they both feel a bit like failures. Even if both of them made it a lot farther in the festival this year than they had last year. Which is precisely why instead of going home they’re headed to the best all-you-can-eat buffet they know.
Just… putting off going home to his family just a little bit longer and filling his belly while he’s at it. It’s not that Tamaki is worried about his parents being upset with him about his performance on anything, they aren't that kind of parent. More that he doesn't want to be pitied or coddled right now and that’s exactly what they’d do. They’d tell him that he did his best and that he shouldn’t be ashamed and that when it comes down to the real thing he’ll be able to do what he needs to do. Tamaki loves his parents but they’re just a bit too…understanding sometimes. His sister would probably rag on him at least but he’s still feeling a bit too raw from his fuck up for that just yet.
Plus, he’s miffed at Tsugumi for sending some random ass pro-hero to talk to him! What part of extreme social anxiety sounds like he’d want to chat with someone new on an already stressful day? Ok, technically the guy isn't totally new. He vaguely remembers Tsugumi’s absurdly tall ex-boyfriend but that was years and years ago. And ok, maybe, he’d been at the house the other day but the guy hadn’t stuck around to chat.
The man’s business card is burning a hole in Tamaki’s pocket. He knows that when they go back to school he won't be hurting for internship offers. It doesn't matter how bad his last showing at the Sports Festival was or how ill suited his personality is to his chosen future profession, his quirk is powerful and flashy and limitless. Or it would be in someone else’s hands. Guilt gnaws at his gut as they get out of the car. Mirio won’t have nearly the same opportunities with his quirk and quirk control… he’ll be lucky if he gets one internship offer at all..
It's not fair.
Mirio stands next to him and brushes shoulders with him causing Tamaki to look up and shake off his thoughts. There’s an honest, tired grin on his best friend’s face and Tamaki returns it. For the sake of company, Tamaki can shelve his thoughts of doom and gloom till he’s alone in his room.
The Red Dragon’s Kitchen is a subsidiary of the giant focused Blue Oni Inc, a company that specializes in the production and distribution of affordable foodstuffs to oversized individuals. The company is also a good source of exotic or uncommon if pricier meats that’s been a godsend to Tamaki for training outside of school. The Red Dragon’s Kitchen being a specialty branch focused on cheap all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants for more average sized clientele. Just as an extra source of income apparently. The food’s good for the price since Blue Oni Inc. raises and butchers their own meat, most of what goes to the Dragon’s Kitchen being less desirable cuts too. Plus the place being effectively self-serve also helped keep the price down and make it more appealing to Tamaki in particular. He could just fill up his own plates and grill what he wants at his booth if he’s not interested in any of the trays of pre-cooked dishes and he doesn’t have to talk to a single waitress.
Tamaki ends up eating only three servings and notes how much his appetite has come down now that he’s no longer worried about how the Sports Festival will go since he’d been eating five servings of food for most meals just last week. Mirio manages to match him but ends up getting that uncomfortably stuffed look to him. Tamaki thinks his friend is lucky that he’s got the kind of metabolism that likes to turn excess calories into muscle bulk before anything else. …It’s probably how Mirio ended up so jacked, from being so damn competitive he’s been trying to keep up with the intake of a person with an eating based quirk for years like a dingus. If nothing else it makes Tamaki snicker.
Mr. Togata finishes maybe a plate and a half, more attuned to his limits than his son. Tamaki likes Mr. Togata, the man’s a lot like his son and practically an uncle to Tamaki. Unfortunately Mr. Togata decides to ruin the mood by trying to give both boys a pep talk about their performances today. Mirio laughs it off in that fake way that means he really just wants to get the conversation over with as quirky as possible. Tamaki just stares at his grease stained plates awkwardly until the subject is dropped.
……
It's not as much fuss being at home once Tamaki gets back. He’s able to talk his way out of having dinner with everyone and all the feel good motivational speeches that would incur. Partly by claiming that he’s watching his weight again and needs to lose the pudge he gained from stress eating lately. And mostly that he’s really damn tired and wants to go straight to bed. Which his parents buy given that they saw footage of him going kaiju from stress earlier.
—
Amaumi is glaring at Tamaki when classes start back up. She won first place at the Sports Festival and is one of the top students in their class. The reason she’s not the top student in their class is because Tamaki and Hado both score higher than she does regularly. In written exams and typically practical exams as well. Unlike Hado who had the cloud quirked girl’s begrudging respect, Amaumi really does not like Tamaki. And her dislike of Tamaki is especially prominent after Tamaki has an episode where his anxiety gets the better of him and he does poorly on something he’d otherwise do well in. So her glare today is probably because she doesn’t like how she won without being able to best Tamaki or best someone who’d actually bested him during the 1v1 matches.
It’s weird, but he can kind of get it. Granted at least she doesn’t get in Tamaki’s face about her dislike of him or annoyance about his anxiety like Mirio’s classmate Kenta does. Ever since the teachers started singling out Tamaki and Hado as ‘the most powerful students at UA’ the other boy’s picking on him had only gotten worse.
Still… Amaumi is glaring at him, he can feel it even when he turns away. He really hopes that she doesn’t come over to say things at him about why she’s glaring. Tamaki doesn’t have it in him to really deal with that at the moment. Maybe not ever.
Snipe-sensei puts a list of the top students in their class with the most internship offers. Tamaki really wishes the man wouldn’t do that every year. How is this helpful? All it seems to do from Tamaki’s perspective is inflame jealousy and resentment among his peers. Really why did all of this have to be a competition in the first place?
On the board is Tamaki’s name sitting in second place, his number of internship offers in the thousands. The thousands for an ok showing at best in the first two rounds and a complete catastrophic fuck up in round three that just so happened to show off how strong his quirk really is. Just… It's so absurd. He shouldn’t have any offers after doing so poorly. But no because he has such an amazing quirk that’s what people wanted even if the worst person to have it was attached to it.
Kobayashi claps him on the back in congratulations and Tamaki forces a wobbly smile to his face for his friend that he doesn't particularly feel. His other friends come over to his desk and chat excitedly when Snipe-sensei lets them. Tamaki recognizes the gesture as them wanting to include him in their socializing, and most days he’d enjoy it but today he just wants to go home and bury his shame in a pint of ice cream.
……
Mirio got an internship offer?
That’s… surprising. Not that Mirio doesn't deserve every chance in the world to help with his future prohero career, it's just… Mirio’s Permeation isn’t powerful. In fact it was the opposite, the quirk was potentially very harmful towards its holder. Tamaki would never forget the nightmares he’d had after hearing how Mirio’s grandmother lost her left hand from an accident with the Togata family’s shared quirk. Plus, while Mirio did make it to round three he didn't do particularly well in his match…
Certainly good for Mirio that he managed to land an internship this year. It's just… lots of people don’t tend to look past quirks. Especially not proheroes in his limited experience. The whole thing just gave Tamaki a bad feeling. Like someone had offered Mirio an internship for nefarious reasons.
But there’s no way he’d be able to vocalize it to his best friend without it being taken poorly. If there is one sore spot that Mirio has it’s people not having his back in his pursuit of his goal of becoming a prohero. Mirio would be sensitive about it and misunderstand what Tamaki was trying to say. Plus, he’d take the internship anyway since it’s his only offer. They’d even fought last year over the internship thing and Sports Festival performance and Tamaki had no desire to relive that. He hated when Mirio was mad at him.
“So who are you going with?” Mirio asks, looking genuinely happier than he’s had since before the Sports Festival.
Tamaki groans and covers his face with his stack of internship offers. Unfortunately it’s not enough to smother him and end his torment. He lays there on his back on the floor of the living room of the Togata household and sighs. The tv’s turned down low enough that Tamaki suspects that Mirio can only barely hear it. Mr. Togata is cooking dinner in the kitchen and Tamaki knows that father and son will invite him to stay for dinner if he wants. Meanwhile, his proximity with Mirio means that Tamaki can hear the other boy’s heart beat. It's steady and beating a little fast with excitement that still hasn't worn off.
Reluctantly, Tamaki picks himself up and actually looks through his offers. He takes a pen and immediately crosses out every agency he knows that’s in the top thirties of the hero billboard chart. He doesn't need that kind of publicity. Then he crosses out every hero agency that isn’t in the top one hundred of the hero board. There’s a few nice agencies like the Pussy Cats down there but interning with someone that far down when he doesn’t have to isn't great for his budding reputation. And as much as it still makes him feel like crap, he can actually afford to be picky about this.
Plus, he didn’t want a repeat of last year where he’d simply gone with the first agency on the list and ended up working with a hero that didn’t give him anything he was looking for in an internship. To this day Tamaki still isn't sure why His Purple Highness offered him that internship…
The Fatgum agency caught his eye. That was the dude… Tsugumi’s ex that had given him his business card at the Sports Festival. So they hadn’t been pulling his leg, that offer was genuine. On the one hand, the man isn't a complete stranger which makes the idea of working with him a little less daunting. On the other hand, Tsugumi liked Fatgum enough that they dated for years so the man’s personality was probably as grating as his sister’s. Maybe not in the same way since he looked a lot more bright and cheerful with his light colored clothing as opposed to Tsugumi’s more gothic and punk choices, (not that punk is bad, Mirio’s a bit of a punk) but if Tamaki knew anything about his sister’s preferences this Fatgum is likely an assertive guy down for verbal sparring. Plus he just oozes extrovert and confidence Tamaki notes while looking at the website for the Fatgum agency and the obnoxiously orange building shaped like its owner, (again, not a bad thing most of his friends are extroverted but it can be exhausting).
The Fatgum agency is also practically on the other side of Japan from where Tamaki lives. Which means that if he fucks up outside of costume, he won’t really run into anyone able to identify him… Plus most of the people working at the agency seem to have eating related quirks… Not too many people working there but also it’s not a small agency either… Standard heroics with some experience with folks that have experience taking down drug and human trafficking rings, things that don't tend to be super public, maybe it’s a good match?
“I think… I think I’m going with the Fatgum agency,” Tamaki says, finally answering Mirio’s question after an unusually long pause.
And thankfully, Tamaki’s best friend knows him well enough to not be bothered by him taking so long to make a decision.
……
Tamaki ignores the smug look on his sister’s face as she looks over his shoulder while he fills out the forms. He can’t wait for her maternity leave to be over so she’s not in the house getting on his nerves as often.
—
The train ride is long and the well wishes of Tamaki’s friends can only warm his heart for so long before his ever present anxiety worms its way through to gnaw on his gut. The idea that his sister and her ex set all of this up as a mean prank is unlikely but not unlikely enough that the thought doesn't pick at him. The thought of not being able to keep up with or being good enough to stand alongside actual professionals with eating quirks also nags at him. How much would he need to eat for patrols? Does his stomach have the necessary capacity? What if he eats too much and throws up?! There’s no way they’d keep him for the whole week if he overdoes it and throws up. Will they ask about his food allergies? Will they make something of it?
For that matter, what about bathroom breaks? Will he be timed?! He hasn’t practiced speed pooping or anything like that, what if he ends up holding up a patrol? He has a spray so that he doesn’t stink after but one of Fatgum’s employees is listed as having an enhanced sense of smell… they’d know if he pooped and how bad it was. And it’s not like summer camp with UA, there’d be no outhouses, he’d have to use the same bathrooms as everyone else and they’d hear him! He’d die of embarrassment!
Not to mention he’d be living with these people for a whole week! Strangers! How will he fall asleep without chemical aid? No doubt UA put the poppy incident in his file, they probably won’t let him near any poppy seed anything. And none of the over the counter stuff works with his metabolism and how his liver processes ingested chemicals. Not to mention that most of the people working for the Fatgum agency are giants, the furniture is all going to be too big for him.
It’s been almost a decade since Tamaki last lived on that side of Japan. What if he misunderstands something because he forgot the local dialect? Misunderstood someone due to their accent? What if he got interviewed by a reporter after an incident on patrol? Ugh, he might be able to hide behind Fatgum but he has no idea if the man would want to encourage him to talk to peopl—
Wait— how much and what did Tsugumi tell Fatgum about Tamaki and his issues? Like, knowing about Tamaki’s anxiety was a given due to his catastrophe at the Sport’s Festival… but how much did Tsugumi say? Was this all a trap?! Some kind of forced thing to make him work on his anxiety (not that he didn’t want help, it's just…)? Or was it some kinda nepotism (? cronyism?) thing to get him hooked up with folks that will take it easy on him (he doesn’t want to be coddled either, it’s just…)?
All too quickly the train reaches Tamaki’s stop and obligations force him to get off and start walking towards the agency’s address.
……
‘Hey, that kid’s here. He’s staring at our door,’ An electronic voice buzzes out of the speaker on Fatgum’s desk. He turns off the heat for the takoyaki station on his desk and scarfs down the ones that are cooked enough to pick out before hauling himself to his feet. He hums, pleased that Tsugumi’s lil bro actually did choose to work with him.
He bounds down the stairs two at a time to get to the main lobby.
…Turns out he hadn’t needed to run since Tsugumi’s baby brother was just staring at the door. Had been staring at the door for like five minutes already, according to Tatsuyo. They could clearly see that the boy was thinking hard about something through the one-way orange tinted glass of the agency’s front doors.
“So. The anxiety is bad bad huh?” Tatsuyo’s text to speech device said as she looked up at Fatgum with a sardonic expression.
“I mean Tsugumi also has anxiety, makes her come off as standoffish, but some medication and working on herself and you’d never know now you’d just think she’s some punk,” Fatgum replied, “I'm sure we can whip this kid into shape. Be a waste not to with his potential.”
“Is his quirk that good? Or are you just doing a favor for your ex. I did hear that she’s single again.” The mute woman asks with her device. Fatgum knows his friend and secretary enough to know that she’s not intending to be judgmental, just blunt.
“Not just his quirk, takes some real guts to have gotten as far as he did in the Sports Fest especially with anxiety that bad. At the top of his class too, which hey, is a lot better than me when I was in school,” Fatgum shrugs, “I could do a lot worse with a cronyism based pick for an intern, at least I’m pretty sure the kid will pull his weight. Hell, he’s got his shit together a lot more than I did back when my aunt gave me this side of Osaka to run. And I’m not opposed to this causing Tsu to maybe consider starting things back up with me, she is kinda rocking that mom bod…”
Tatsuyo makes a face at him, the very specific ‘Disgusting’ face she makes whenever anyone brings up their sex lives in the office place. Fatgum smirks back at her.
The door’s bell chimes as youngest Amajiki finally makes up his mind to come in.