Chou pouted as she examined her outfit in the mirror. Without her armour, the rolls of her stomach and flabs of skin on the sides of her bust were clearly visible. She took a deep breath then sucked in her stomach as far as she could.
"What are you doing?" Inoki laughed, sauntering into her bedroom. Chou briskly turned to see her teammate walking through her bedroom door.
"What—Oh, Inoki! You're... you're early," she squeaked, embarrassed.
"Actually, I'm right on time," he said smoothly before gesturing at the clock and adding, "I told you I'd pick you up at ten for training with Shika."
Chou quickly looked at her cat clock, the tail swishing back at forth as the hands pointed to 10 am. Shoot, he's right! I completely lost track of time!
"Right. Um. Just one second. I'm not quite ready yet," Chou peeped before heading towards her closet to grab her armour.
"Take your time," Inoki mumbled, making himself comfortable on her queen-sized bed—she grew out of her old double bed at the ripe growth spurt age of fifteen.
Frantically, Chou flicked through the different tops hanging in her closet. She turned back to Inoki, who was now laying on her bed contently, his arms above his head. She tried to avoid looking at the little bit of his sculpted stomach that was exposed, and the little bit of golden hair that poked out.
Slowly, he sat up, and it was only then that Chou snapped out of her daze and realized her armour was laying on the bed beside him.
"Oh, were you looking for this?" He asked, holding up the sheets of metal.
"Yeah," Chou said quickly. "Can I please see it so we can get out of here?"
Inoki laughed evilly. "You're gonna have to work harder than that," he threatened, standing up and holding the armour above his head. Chou sighed exasperatedly. She wasn't the only one that had grown in the last couple years. Inoki had to be at least six feet tall.
"Inoki that isn't funny!" She complained, wondering if he had even noticed how unappealing she was without her armour.
"Actually, it's hilarious," Inoki corrected her, doing a silly dance while he held the armour as high as he could.
"Just give it back!" She raised her voice indignantly. Inoki stopped immediately and stared at Chou, timorous.
"Oh... um... Sorry, Chou... I was just kidding, I didn't mean to make you angry or anything," he apologized timidly.
Chou moaned, upset. "Just give me the armour," she demanded, snatching the armour from his hands and holding it up to her body.
Inoki looked her up and down, noticing the dejection in her body language. Worried, he touched his warm hand lightly to her upper arm. "What's the matter?"
Chou gazed at herself in the mirror, much more satisfied with her appearance with her armour covering all the unpleasant parts.
"Nothing," she responded quietly.
"Chou?" Inoki wondered, appearing behind her. Gently, he rested his hands on her shoulders reassuringly.
"I don't like how I look without my armour. I feel..." She sighed, for lack of a better word. "Ugly."
Inoki stifled a chuckle.
"It's not funny!"
"Oh, that wasn't why I was laughing," he snickered. Chou glared at him through the mirror, hurt.
"It's just, you always seem so confident. I've never seen you doubt yourself before," he explained, squeezing her arms a bit. "Plus, I mean... You're beautiful." He smiled lovingly.
Chou couldn't move. Did he actually just say what she thought he said? Did he actually just compliment her?
"Really?" She asked quietly, in almost a whisper.
"Absolutely," he replied, before slowly leaning down and kissing the top of her head. "But we should go if you're ready, I told Shika we'd stop by her house at ten-ish and we're already late. I can just see her sitting on her front step telling herself how big a drag I always am, picking her up late."
"Right, of course. I guess we should get going then," Chou agreed, nodding along.
"Shall we?" Inoki asked, sliding his large hand into her small, ample one.
Chou nodded again and followed longingly behind him (still latched onto his hand) until they reached Shika's house.