Haru's Growing Challenges

	A brightly dressed waitresses dropped a sagging tray onto the cold tile table. The noise of the plastic tray slamming into the table could be heard echoing throughout the restaurant. The head of every customer turned to see the commotion.
	“Thank you for your patronage,” said the yellow-clad waitress. “This is the Gravity Burger, a burger so large it has its own gravity well. If you manage to finish this challenge, there will be a special prize! You have thirty minutes starting now. We wish you the best of luck.”
	As the waitress turned and walked back to her counter, Ren Amamiya stared at the behemoth burger that sat in front of him. It was immense. It was bigger than his head perhaps several times over. He wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to hold such a thing. His stomach hurt just looking at it, but it was a challenge he couldn’t back out from, no matter how awkward it made him feel. Of course, what made it so awkward was the girl sitting beside him, looking so out of place. But she had insisted on following Ren around all day, to see what his life was like and he felt it was only fair to change nothing in his routine.
	“I… I wasn’t expecting it to be so big,” said Haru, holding her hand over her mouth in astonishment.
	Haru Okamura did not fit in with the cheesy, casual atmosphere of the restaurant. She sat in the booth beside Ren while wearing her usual pink turtleneck sweater and skirt, her posture straight and perfect, her every mannerism filled with class and grace. There was an aura of refinement that shone off of her like a thousand watt bulb and it was almost blinding to look at. Yet no one could say that she did not belong there as, with the passing of her father, she was in a sense the owner of not only this restaurant, but the entire Big Bang Burger chain.
	Ren took his eyes off his friend and back onto the burger in front of him. Every second he spent not eating was a second wasted, and he was going to need every second. He lifted the burger as best he could, which was a feat unto itself, and bit in. Or at least he tried. He mostly got an entire mouthful of the middle bun. This was going to be hard.
	“It is big, but I challenged myself to do this,” said Ren after a few bites. “I use these things to measure my growth.”
	“How does a burger measure your growth?” asked Haru, her head tilted slightly to one side.
	Ren grabbed his soda and washed down the last bite he took. “Well, it’s about testing yourself. It’s the guts to commit to doing something. The proficiency to eat properly and at the proper pace. To test your charm by learning to eat it all while maintaining your dignity.”
	Haru blinked. “I think I understand. It seems simple, but the way you describe it, there’s a lot more to it than just eating. It makes me a little ashamed that I knew so little about my own family’s business.”
	“I don’t think it’s exactly something worth knowing at all,” said Morgana’s voice, coming out of Ren’s school bag.
	“No, it is,” said Haru with enthusiasm. “Ren is right. You don’t grow as a person unless you try things. You have to challenge yourself and follow through on them.” And with that, Haru stood up and walked to the counter.
	Ren could not make out what she was saying, but he had his own work to get back to. He couldn’t believe how much burger there still was. He felt like he had already eaten a full meal and he had barely gotten started. He had to take a deep breath and pace himself. Be one with the burger. Focus. Bite. Chew. Swallow. Drink. Breathe. Repeat. Don’t think about anything else. If you did it right, it was almost like meditation. And so he continued his one mouth assault on the meat mountain known as the Gravity Burger.
	In fact, he didn’t even look her way when she returned to the seat next to her. He simply cleared his mind of everything except the task before him. There was nothing but burger before him. There was nothing but him and the burger.
	“Are you… quite sure, madam? I mean, I don’t mean to question you of course, this is-I mean, you’re the boss, of course and I would never ever talk back, but I was just making sure that you were totally okay with--”
	Ren was finally snapped out of his trance by the frantic chatter of a waitress who had appeared at his booth. The poor girl in bright yellow was flustered to the point of being near incomprehensible. She stared at Haru as if she were an attack dog poised to leap on her prey and make her into a chew toy, but the fluffy young heiress was equally as flustered.
	“No, no, it’s okay—I mean, yes, I am sure. I really want to try this! I hope it’s not a burden, I just wanted to give it a try. Please, don’t treat me special.”
	With apprehension, the waitress returned with a tray that was placed next to Ren’s.
	“In that case, This is the Comet Burger, a burger the size of a comet.” The waitress paused to steel her nerves. “If you manage to finish this challenge, there will be a special prize! You have thirty minutes starting now. We wish you the best of luck.”
	Sitting before Haru was the first burger challenge. While it was definitely smaller that the Gravity Burger in front of him, it was still a massive amount of food. Ren could not begin to calculate how many pounds of beef and bread must have been in it. The condiments alone were probably a few pounds on their own. All he could do was stare in disbelief. She was going to eat that?
	Unfortunately, this also completely broke his concentration. All at once it was like he was now aware of his full stomach. It was as if a lead weight had materialized in his gut, dragging him into the seat, and he still had about half of his meal to go.
	Haru held her hands up and adjusted her hair, bouncing the fluffy mass up and down before focusing on her tray. But as she went to grab it, she felt the stares of those around her. Ren, and even Morgana who had popped out of the school bag, were looking on in disbelief.
	She recoiled instinctively. “I-I just wanted to challenge myself as well. I feel like I’m not willing to push myself enough. So even if it’s a small thing, I’d like to try something new.”
	“Are you sure that’s really something worth trying,” asked Morgana.
	“If you guys are doing it, it must be worth doing!” countered Haru with enthusiasm.
	“Well, I don’t see the harm in it,” said Ren. It was just a burger, even if it was a big one. Surely there was no harm in it.
	Ren resumed his trial, not sure how much time he had left, but he had to soldier on. But his focus was never quite the same as he continued to look to his right, seeing the elegant girl beside devouring the burger before her. He didn’t think it was possible to eat any burger in an elegant manner, especially something so big, but somehow her posh upbringing managed to shine through. She ate quickly, biting, chewing and swallowing in one smooth movement, and she almost never got anything on her face. When she did, she would carefully dab herself with a napkin and continue.
	This distraction proved to be too much, and Ren was unable to continue. He eventually collapsed face first onto the table, losing all will to continue.
	“Congratulations! you’ve successfully completed your trial!”
	Ren finally snapped back to reality as the voice of a waitress could once more be heard at his table. But as he sat back up he could plainly see about half of his meal still sitting before him. Instead, the girls were talking to Haru, who sat perfectly still, her cheeks slightly flushed, in front of a spotless plate.
	“In recognition of your hard work, here is a badge to celebrate your victory.” A waitress handed a small badge to Haru who stared at her newfound prize with shining eyes. She had never really won anything before. Her life was not for lack of luxury, but there was a difference between having things bought for you and winning them yourself.
	“Oh, uh, th-thank you very much,” said Haru enthusiastically, her arms pumping in excitement.
	The waitresses were still a bit uneasy, but they seemed to have adapted to Haru’s earnest nature. And seemed a bit more at ease in speaking to her. “We hope you’ll come back again to try the next level of the challenge.”
	A few minutes later, the two of them stepped out into the streets of Tokyo with Morgana in tow.  The sun had begun to set and the streets were packed with people making their way back to the train stations.  Their breaths hung visibly in the cold autumn air.
	“I really had a lot of fun today,” said Haru. “I’m not used to doing things like this. My life has usually been a bit more…” she paused, trying to think of the right word, “structured.”
	Ren was still in a bit of shock. It had taken him months of training to finish the Comet Burger and she had finished it in one go with time to spare. Where did it go? His eyes were fixed on her slender tummy, which seemed to be the same as ever though it was hard to tell under her pink sweater and uniform. After several awkward moments he realized he was staring without saying a word and snapped back to attention.
	“Oh, uh, it’s fine. I enjoyed myself today, too,” he said as he pushed his glasses back up onto his nose. “Though I didn’t think you’d want to hang out at a place like this.”
	Haru shook her head. “My family may own the business, even if the direction the company will take is up in the air right now, but I’ve never really had much to do with it. I didn’t eat here and I didn’t really have a say in anything. So this was an interesting experience. And… I got to challenge myself at something new! It wasn’t that bad! It actually tasted pretty good, too.”
	She was all smiles and enthusiasm, and Ren could feel his heart warm as she showed true joy. It was an attractive look for her to see her let loose.
	“Maybe you should challenge yourself more often,” he said.
	She tilted her head to the side. “You know, you’re right. I’m going to do that more often. So, if that’s okay...” Haru stared at the ground, grinding her shoe into the pavement. “Would it be all right if we… had more days like this? Just hanging out? I’d like to challenge myself more, and get my mind off some of the things going on back home...”
	Ren nodded. “Of course. It was fun. Let’s do this again soon.”

	But they didn’t do it again quite so soon. Not for lack of effort, but simply due to circumstance. Ren was quite busy, with many people to see and talk to. While nothing with the Phantom Thieves came into the schedule, there was still so much to do in the meantime. On the one day where Ren’s schedule was free, he actually did try to invite Haru out for another quiet day together, but she wasn’t on the rooftop where she normally hung out after school. The plants had clearly been tended, but their caretaker was nowhere to be seen. In fact, none of the thieves had even seen her over the past few days though Makoto and Ann had claimed she had texted them as always, so nothing seemed to be a miss apart from some conflicting schedules.
	With no chance to meet up with each other, a week passed with no contact between the two of them and life went on. Eventually Ren decided that it was time to give the Gravity Burger challenge another shot. It would have been nice to bring Haru along again, but there would be other chances. So after school he took his route to downtown Tokyo and made his way into the fast food joint. He approached the counter, ordered his food, and made his way to his usual table.
	However, the sight awaiting him at his personal spot just about left him breathless.  A familiar figure sat at the table, although it was clearly too different to be the same person. It couldn’t be. Could it?
	Ren didn’t want to ask, so Morgana popped his head out of the bag and asked in his stead. “Haru, is that you?”
	A head covered in curly, fluffy hair lifted itself up and met their gazes. “Oh, Ren! Morgana! Good evening!”
	Haru had changed a bit in a week’s time. Her loose, baggy pink sweater was no longer particularly loose nor baggy, though it did retain its pinkness. Instead the fashionable garment was tightly clinging to a massive, rounded stomach which pressed slightly into the tile table in front of it, like it was testing the idea of eating the table. But her stomach was hardly the only part of her that had grown. Her entire body seemed to have taken inspiration from her hair and become fluffier. Her ass had grown a bit and made her sit a bit higher in the booth and wasn’t quite covered by her skirt which had stubbornly refused to grow with its contents. Her thighs had thickened, stretching the floral patterns on her stockings. It felt like one wrong move would turn those nylon garments to shreds. And not to be outdone, Haru’s chest had taken advantage of the expanding shelf beneath them and had reached a point that even Ann would have turn green in envy. Even her arms had become thicker, making her sleeves cling to her arms and her face had rounded out significantly. In every sense, Haru had become softer.
	“I’m glad you guys are here,” said Haru, who had a large tray in front of her, but only a single bite of burger remained. She quickly picked up the tiny morsel and swallowed it, licking her fingers delicately. It didn’t seem possible to look classy while sucking condiments and beef residue off your fingers, but apparently it was. “We can try out a few new menu items while we’re here.”
	Ren took a seat next to her, moving largely on autopilot while his mind was still in shock. As such, it was once again Morgana who had to speak for him. “Haru, what happened to you? What are you doing here? You’re, uh...” He couldn’t bring himself to say the three-letter word on the tip of his tongue.
	She smiled gently. “It’s like I said. I wanted to challenge myself more, so every day I’ve been doing the Big Bang Burger challenges.”
	Ren shook his head. “I… did suggest you challenge yourself more, but I didn’t necessarily mean...” He stopped himself.
	A waitress came by, struggling to carry a tray that seemed like it was ready to snap in half. She dropped it onto the table with a massive thud.
	“Here’s your order. Please enjoy, and thank you for your continued help!” said the waitress.
	Was his order ready already? Usually it took quite a bit longer than this. But no, Ren looked and realized the tray had been set in front of Haru, who clapped her hands together and began to eat.
	“Haru, are you taking the Gravity Burger challenge again?” he asked.
	She stopped eating for a moment. “Oh no, I passed that almost a week ago. The Comet Burger wasn’t a problem, so the next day I came back and did the Gravity Burger. And that wasn’t really hard either so the next day I did the Cosmos Burger and finished all the challenges.”
	“Wait, you finished all of the challenges?” asked Ren. “Then what is this?” He pointed to the massive pile of meat in front of her. It made the burger he had yesterday look like an extra-small. If he were sitting opposite to her instead of beside her, he probably wouldn’t be able to see her with all that food in the way.
	“Now I’m moving on and helping them invent new challenges. First today we had a spicy curry burger, then there was the vegan mega burger, and now this is the french fry burger with the fries mixed into the burger itself. I’m trying them all out each day to see what works and what won’t. It helps the business too, while I challenge my own limits!” Haru beamed with pride as she felt the joy of helping others.
	Morgana winced. “Do you really need to eat the whole burger? Couldn’t they make, like, a small sample to try?”
	Haru shook her head. “That wouldn’t work. It’s not just about the ingredients, it’s about how it cooked. I tried the curry burger yesterday too and while the idea is sound, it wasn’t cooked right. It came out uneven. You have to simulate the way a customer will receive it.”
	Ren could relate to this. Having cooked batches of curry at Le Blanc, it wasn’t just a matter of ingredients, but the amount you were making could change the process. But this still seemed excessive, in multiple senses.
	With their questions answered, at least for now, Haru began to eat once more. She couldn’t actually hold the entire burger, so instead she put her hands under the front and gently lifted only a portion of it, which she dug into. It was honestly mesmerizing. So much so that when Ren’s meal arrived he almost didn’t notice it. And even as he ate, he had a hard time taking his eyes off the girl beside him who managed to make devouring a meal that could feed a large family for a week in a half an hour seem almost regal. And it excited him. He just couldn’t look away, even as he told himself he had his own meal to attend to.
	Half an hour later, Joker leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach, trying to suppress a belch. A quarter of his burger remained, but it was no good. He wasn’t there yet. Meanwhile the girl beside him had finished well in advance and was now going over a few papers for school. Though she did keep a tall milkshake at her side to test while she did so.
	She lifted her head from her notes and looked to Ren. “Oh, are you done?” She asked.
	Ren nodded, unable to move. “Y-yeah, if you want the rest you can have it,” he said jokingly, but it didn’t turn out that way. Instead the girl beside him slid his tray over and quickly finished the rest of it off. Ren watched in awe as it disappeared into what must have been a bottomless pit. Well, at least now he knew where everything she ate went. Which is to say it went everywhere.
	She leaned back before clenching her hand into a fist, covering her mouth and squelched a small belch. Her actions somehow managed to stay so refined despite her appetite and size. She settled into the soft cushions of the booth, took a deep breath and sighed contentedly. This was perhaps the final straw though as the zipper on her outermost layer decided it could take no more. The surging flesh underneath it forced the metal device to run upward, causing most of her sweater to open up, exposing a tight white polo shirt underneath. The hem of the shirt had given up trying to cover the growing mound underneath it and retreated upwards, resting several inches above Haru’s navel, which was on full display. The band of her skirt dug deeply into her flesh, giving a generous muffin top that seemed to be trying its hardest to escape from its confines.
	“Oh my,” said Haru nonchalantly and simply closed the flaps of her warm sweater. It didn’t cover everything but that didn’t seem to bother her.
	The image of Haru’s flesh was still burnt into Ren’s retinas. He couldn’t help but stare and after she closed the flaps of her pink turtleneck sweater he found his eyes constantly darting downward to stare at the pink flesh and the deep navel that stuck out between the cracks. He could feel his blood pumping and his temperature rising the longer he stared. Voices called out throughout the restaurant but all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
	“Did you hear me? Are you all right?” asked Haru.
	Ren snapped back to attention, realizing he hadn’t been listening at all. “Um, sorry, I was distracted,” he said truthfully.
	“I was asking if you thought I could continue to grow if I keep challenging myself like this,” she said.
	He knew he had to choose his words carefully. Part of him wanted to scream that she had already grown so much in such a short time, although maybe not in the way she intended. But saying this felt like reaching for the cheese in a giant mousetrap. It was an obvious trap.
	“I think you’ve done quite a lot of growing as it is...” whispered Morgana to himself, saying the words that he himself was purposely avoiding.
	“You really think so?” said Haru, clapping her hands together. “That makes me feel better.”
	A sigh of relief escaped from Ren’s lips as he relaxed.
	“Still, I’ve already finished all the challenges here. Is there really any point in continuing to challenge myself like this? I don’t mind helping out, but shouldn’t I try something else? Shouldn’t I try more new things?” she asked.
	Ren leaned forward and rested on the table. “I think you’ve got a point there” he said. “I was just using burgers as one means of testing myself, but it doesn’t have to be just eating burgers. It’s about getting out there and trying something, maybe failing, and to keep at it.”
	Haru nodded enthusiastically. “I see what you mean. The truth is, there’s so much I don’t know. I’ve… always kind of wanted to open a cafe on my own.” Her eyes met Ren’s and just as quickly darted away, her cheeks flushing. “I’ve always wanted to run such a place with… someone special.” Once again, with the subtlety of a bomb, she met eyes with Ren before forcing herself to look away. “And I know that I’m not ready yet. It takes a lot of skills I don’t have to run a business, so in order to make my dream come true, I have to be unafraid to try new things! And I won’t get there just coming here everyday.”
	The two of them got up from their seats, Haru a bit more slowly as she navigated the booth, and made for the door. The streets were once again mobbed, but they still had some time before they had to go back.
	“Thank you for your advice once again,” said Haru. She took a deep bow, and Ren couldn’t help but stare at the way various parts of her hung off her torso. The lower she went, the higher her skirt sat on her thick thighs, and he was sure from another angle he’d have quite the show. He felt his blood pumping once again.
	“I-it’s alright. It’s pretty enjoyable to hang out like this,” he said. He had to avoid staring as bits of her jiggled when she stood back up. “If you ever feel like trying something new, to try and push yourself in other ways, just let me know.”
	Haru’s cheeks flushed, and her expression seemed to shift rapidly between joy, shock and embarrassment. “Th-that sounds lovely, although...” She paused, as if fighting herself, trying to say what she didn’t want to. “I think… I need to try some things on my own first. But let’s do this again sometime, okay?”
	With everything said, she turned and jogged away, her hair far from the only soft, fluffy part of her that bounced as she did so. He also confirmed that indeed that skirt definitely was not long enough, as he got quite the sight as it bounced upward, and there was quite a lot of pink to see. This sight however filled him with a bit too much excitement. He adjusted the strap of his schoolbag to cover his groin and briskly walked to the train station.

	“I think it’s fine,” texted Ann. “People should eat what they want!”
	“I mean, there are limits,” said Makoto in response.
	Ren rolled over in bed, adjusting his pajamas as he scrolled down the text program. “As long as she’s happy with it, I think it’s fine,” he typed. It had been a few days since his run in with Haru at Big Bang Burger and by now everyone on the team had seen that she was now, well, fat.
	“Ain’t that going to slow her down?” said Ryuji. “I mean, when we do thief stuff?”
	“I kinda doubt it, the Metaverse already supercharges our physical abilities,” explained Makoto. “We can jump higher and run much faster than a normal person and it seems to have little to do with our actual physical attributes.”
	“I guess if Futaba can keep up with us, it’s not an issue,” said Ryuji.
	“You wanna fight?! (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ )” typed Futaba, joining the conversation.
	“There is a certain appeal to girls like that,” said Yusuke joining in.
	“What the heck? You into chubby girls?” asked Ryuji.
	“Don’t ignore me ( ｰ̀εｰ́ )” said Futaba.
	“Throughout the ages, people have admired various forms of the human body. Art from different civilizations have had varying features that have been deemed attractive depending on geographic area and the era. It can be important to appreciate many different forms and shapes that people may take to better understand the nature of beauty.”
	“Of course it’s about art,” said Ann.
	“Plus, she’s got some huge ones now. They’re like BOING BOING,” said Futaba
	“What are you talking about?” asked Makoto.
	“Never mind!” said Ryuji.
	“I bet even Ann is jealous,” teased Futaba.
	“I am not!” she denied.
	“I totally am,” admitted Futaba.
	“What has this discussion turned into?” asked Makoto.
	“Anyway, it’s fine. She seems to be okay. And she’s still our cute little Haru!” said Ann. “She’s a tough girl no matter what.”
	“She’s still tough and cute,” Ren texted back.
	“Whoa! Joker is into thicc girls too?” exclaimed Futaba.
	“Wait, really? Isn’t that a little weird?” said Ryuji.
	“Are you calling Haru weird? You saying she’s not cute?” said Ann.
	“What? No, I’m not trying to insult. Argh, whatever. It’s fine, okay?” Ryuji said in his defense.
	“It’s not really weird. I think she’s cute. She’s like a big teddy bear you just wanna squeeze,” said Futaba.
	“Who is?” asked Haru, who had popped into the conversation.
	“Oh crap! You’re here!” said Futaba.
	“Wait, is something wrong?”
	“How long have you been here?” asked Makoto.
	“Oh, not long. I was just getting ready for bed. Did I miss something? Who are you talking about?” asked Haru.
	“Nevermind, it’s not important, good night everyone.” Ryuji signed off.
	“Yeah, good idea. I need to get ready for tomorrow.” Makoto signed off.
	“Later everyone.” Ann signed off.
	“I need to turn in as well.” Yusuke signed off.
	“Laters, everyone. Good night, Ren. Good night BOINGY BOINGY lady.” Futaba signed off.
	“What was that all about?” asked Haru. Ren could feel her confusion through the phone.
	“It’s nothing,” he lied. “Let’s hang out again soon, alright?”
	“Oh, sure! I’m going to try some stuff on my own, but we’ll make it a date.”
	There was a short paused as Haru realized what she typed.
	“I mean, I don’t mean a date date, but we’ll definitely go out sometime, okay?”
	“That sounds great. Good night.” Ren signed off.

	Another week came to pass. Nearly everyday Ren would go to the roof of the school and he would find the plants tended, but the caretaker was nowhere to be seen. On his way back he would pass by Big Bang Burger and take a quick peek inside but there was no Haru there either. He could text her and asked where she was, but it didn’t feel right. And so he continued about his business, knowing that it was only a matter of time.
	A few days later Ren was walking home as he felt the pangs of hunger kicked in. Seeing as it had been a while, he decided it was a good day to give the Gravity Burger Challenge another go. He walked through the rain, umbrella in hand, down to the restaurant and made his way inside and approached the counter. But as he waited in line, he could feel a stirring coming from his school bag. Morgana rustled around and spoke up.
	“Joker! Joker! Look behind you!”
	Joker turned around and noticed that most of the restaurant was looking at the same thing. Nearly every head was staring at a single booth in the corner. When he saw what was causing the commotion, he had to do a double take to ensure he wasn’t seeing things.
	Haru was there sitting in her cushioned booth, but the sight of her immediately raised a million questions. The first of which was how she had managed to fit into that booth in the first place. The last time he had seen her, you could have called her fat. Now, that word was an extreme understatement. She had become absolutely huge.
	In her hands was the last of what had been an immense burger, but now was but a few bites which were quickly done away with. She covered her mouth to stifle a small burp and took out a napkin to dab away a few traces of ketchup and mustard that stained her lips. Her work completed, she rested for a moment, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths that she earned after nearly inhaling her food.
	 Ren couldn’t stop staring at all of her and there was so much to stare at. Her gargantuan stomach was a multi-tiered pile of rolls which didn’t merely press into the table, it threatened to devour it. Beneath the table, the bottom rolls of fat hung down past her knees. Her skirt had become so useless that he was sure her hanging gut was the only thing keeping the enraptured audience from a wide open view of her lower regions. Speaking of her skirt, it had almost entirely disappeared thanks to the growth of her backside. The top and front of the skirt were entirely engulfed in Haru’s extensive belly rolls, but the back fared little better, pressed into the cushions of the booth. But the cushioned seats had nothing on the cushions of her ass, which seemed to take up her entire seat. From the side you could see almost the entirety of her enormous rear end, and if she stood up there was no way that skirt was going to hide much of anything.
	And then there were her breasts. The word big did not do them justice. Huge would be an understatement. Ren may have been tempted to compare them to overripe melons, but that wasn’t cutting it. They dwarfed her head They rested upon her gut, jiggling with every breath, shaking back and forth with every motion. No store was going to sell a bra to hold those back. What size would that even be? The alphabet would have taken a look at those cup sizes and run the other way.
	Her bra was not the only thing that would have had to have been customized. She wore her usual outfit, but she must have either ordered a new set or had the old one adjusted because it clearly had a few square meters of fabric added. Yet even with the additional room, it still clung to her, bulging at the seams. Her sweater was snug, her skirt was scant and her tights were tight.
	It seemed as if she agreed. After finishing her latestest conquest, she began to fan herself with her hand, unaware of the stares of those around her. She reached down and unzipped her sweater. She struggled for a moment, fighting to pull the sleeves over her soft, bulging arm flabs, but she managed to remove her outer layer. Instead of a white uniform underneath it there was instead a tight, white camisole. This succeeded in helping the poor girl calm down, as she sighed in relief as the cool autumn air met her sweat-covered skin, but it warmed up everyone who looked on. The way the spaghetti straps dug into her flesh, the way her top did not even begin to cover the bulging rolls of stomach fat that dangled before her and the fact there was more breast meat on display than the poultry section of a butcher’s shop filled the minds and loins of every man present.
	“Uh, hey there, Haru,” said Ren hesitantly.
	Haru’s eyes opened wide and finally focused on him. Immediately the cheeks of her rounded, double-chinned face became as pink as the rest of the flesh on display. “O-oh Ren, what… what a pleasant surprise! I didn’t expect to see you today.”
	He took a seat in the booth beside her, setting Morgana in a seat to himself. There was a lot he wanted to say, but the words didn’t come to him.
	Morgana popped his head out of the bag and stared in disbelief. “Didn’t you say you were going to try new things, not just keep doing the Big Bang Burger challenges?”
	Haru clapped her chubby hands together and smiled. “Oh, I did stop taking those and started trying new things.”
	“Uh, then what are you doing here?” asked Ren.
	“Oh, instead, I started going to every restaurant in the area every day and trying all of their menus. It gives me new foods to try and I’m learning a lot about the culinary arts that I can apply to my dream cafe while I test my limits!” She smiled brightly. “Isn’t that a wonderful idea?”
	Ren slumped over in his chair. “You know, when I said meant try other things, I didn’t necessarily mean--” he looked at the bright smile that beamed off of Haru’s face. “You know what, nevermind. If you think it’s working for you, I support it.”
	He blushed, unable to keep eye contact. This was in part because the purity of her smile was simply too beautiful to look at, like a perfect solar eclipse, and partially because when she put her hands together like that, it squeezed her chest, producing a valley of cleavage so amazing he was afraid he might get lost for days in it.
	“You know, I get what you said, but that doesn’t really explain what you’re doing here,” said Morgana. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere else, like Wild Duck Burger or something?”
	Haru looked away. “That’s true, but I had something else in mind for today.” She quickly looked at Ren before averting her gaze once more. “Because I realized something when I was out there.”
	“What was that?” asked Ren.
	“The challenges were a lot of fun, but it wasn’t just pushing myself that was fun, it wasn’t just the act of trying something new. It’s also about...” She paused and licked her lips. “It’s about who you’re with. I mean, these sorts of things are more fun with a friend, right?”
	Ren nodded.
	“So, I was headed… somewhere… and I decided to stop in here when the rain started. And I thought maybe… I was hoping that maybe you’d drop by,” she said.
	Ren didn’t know what to say. He had a number of thoughts competing to escape all at once, but they seemed to get jammed up in his throat.
	“So, would it be alright if we went to your place?” she asked. She quickly realized what she said and immediately performed a verbal retreat. “That is, I’d like to go to Le Blanc! I mean, you live at a cafe, right? So I’m sure Sojiro would be able to give me some good advice, right?”
	A smile grew in Ren’s heart and sprinted to his lips. “That sounds alright. Why don’t we make it a date?”
	Her chubby cheeks turned into one of her famous rooftop tomatoes. “Ah, yes, but not a date-date of course, just a--”
	“No, a date-date,” said Ren with conviction. He felt the results of all his challenges surging through his guts. He could feel his courage hitting its maximum level.
	“Oh.” Her entire body shook and trembled as the realization hit her like a truck. “Oh!” Her eyes widened and she threw her hands over her mouth. “Um, that’s… I mean, that sounds wonderful!”
	Ren stood up from his chair and offered her his hand. She quickly accepted and she tried to stand up. The beauty of the moment was somewhat dimished by the fact that Haru was apparently quite stuck. Her pink stomach pushing into the table and her ample ass throwing its considerable weight into the seat made it a difficult task to dislodge her. All he could do was wonder how she had managed to get in there in the first place. But eventually, with quite the effort, she freed herself from her fast food prison.
	Morgana hopped out of his school bag and walked to the door. He looked back and smiled as much as a cat could smile. “Why don’t I let you two have some time alone together.” And after another customer walked in, Morgana darted out into the streets.
	Ren and Haru left a few moments later and stepped out into the concrete jungle of Tokyo. It was unusually quiet as the rain kept all but the most determined pedestrians off the road.
	“Oh, I didn’t bring an umbrella,” said Haru.
	Without a word, Ren pulled his out and held it over the large girl. This was a bit difficult, as he had to lean quite a ways into her and it seemed like no umbrella would be quite large enough to protect her completely.
	Still, an opportunity was an opportunity. Haru put her hand over his holding the umbrella and pulled him in close. He could feel so much of her. His arm was wrapped in various crevices, her warmth spreading into him. Every part of her was soft. Every part of her was fluffy. And it was all Haru. It was a bit overwhelming for both of them, but they each enjoyed the feeling.
	“Come on, let’s get going,” she said with an eager smile.
	Ren was quiet, but he returned her smile as the two of them walked through the misty streets of Tokyo.