“Have you been eating enough lately, Fubuki?”
Caught off guard by the question, the girl sitting across from Mio quickly swallowed before wiping at her mouth with a napkin.
“O-Of course! Where’s this coming from, Mio?”
“You’ve hardly even touched your salad…”
The ears on the fox girl’s head curled up slightly as her gaze darted to the side. The chatter of the surrounding tables covered up the enveloping silence between them as the atmosphere of the restaurant filled the air.
Reaching her hand across the table, Mio’s gentle smile was what prompted Fubuki to return her gaze, uncertain eyes meeting reassuring ones.
“You’ve been taking on more than you can handle again, haven’t you? If you need to talk about it, you know that I’m always here for you, Fubuki. You don’t need to try and hide it from me, I’m all ears.”
To accentuate the point, Mio’s ears flickered slightly, eliciting a small chuckle from Fubuki. Call it a coincidence or her motherly instincts, but there was definitely a reason why most of the other members within Hololive saw Mio as the mom of the group.
“Alright, you win,” Fubuki sighed, pressing her elbows against the table. “Between the radio show with Marine and my own streams, there have also been the recordings for the new Holo-Gras, others asking me to be a part of their 3D live performances, heading into the studio for practice lessons, advertisements…” She trailed off, popping up her fingers as she listed off her reasonings.
“And now you’re starting to feel overwhelmed and burnt out from it.”
“Exactly. I’m used to heavy workloads like this, but lately it feels like it’s just been too much.”
Bowing her head in defeat, Fubuki limply picked at the remains of her salad, her previous energy sapped. As much as she might complain, it was nobody’s fault but hers that she had to deal with this monster of a workload. All she could do now was grin and bear with it like she always did.
A look of concern marked Mio’s features before an idea came to her. “Hey, Fubuki…”
“Hm?”
“Since it seems like you don’t have the time to make your own meals, how about I make them for you instead?”
The offer had caught the arctic fox girl’s attention as she sat up straight, looking across the table with confused eyes. “Huh? No, I couldn’t possibly put you through the trouble!”
Mio chuckled in response, lightly waving her hand. “It’s fine, honestly! Compared to your schedule, I might as well be on vacation. Besides, it’d be fun to cook for someone other than just myself for a change. Here, we can come up with a plan for it…”
*** ***
“Eh? This can’t be right…”
Furrowing her eyebrows, Fubuki let the unbuckled skirt fall to the floor, joining a steadily growing pile of similarly discarded clothes before continuing to rummage through her closet. Since her little lunch date with Mio, Fubuki had been on the receiving end of her friend’s kindness through the daily wrapped meals she would prepare for the overworked fox girl.
They had established a system where Fubuki would head over to Mio’s place, pick up her package of cooked goodies, then take it back home and gradually eat up its contents throughout her day. Despite Mio’s insistence that she would be more than happy to deliver them herself, in Fubuki’s mind it was only fair that she would make the journey to and from Mio’s since the wolf girl was kind enough to prepare these meals in the first place.
It certainly helped that Mio was an exceptionally good cook. Despite the simplicity of her meals, Fubuki found herself looking forward to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, knowing that each dish was handmade with love and care for her well-being. The days blended into weeks as this sort of life had joined her already hectic schedule, and it had thankfully taken a small weight off of her shoulders.
Sighing, Fubuki stepped away from the closet, her confusion turning to frustration. Had she accidentally shrunk her clothes in the wash? Everything was such a blur these days that there might have been a time where she’d overloaded her washer with a torrent of clothes and forgotten to check on it.
“I should still have… Aha!” Checking her laundry basket as a last resort, Fubuki finally found something that she knew for sure would be comfy enough to wear, a pair of casual shorts and a shirt with a cute chibi design on the front. Relieved that she could finally stop wandering around her room and get herself dressed, the cheerful fox girl set her clothes on her bed before something in her bedroom mirror caught her eye.
Taking a step closer, Fubuki slowly looked over her reflection, her eyes gravitating toward her middle before letting out a quiet gasp. What was once a flat surface now had a more round appearance, her stomach having grown into a sizable ball of adipose. Sucking it in was enough to get rid of any traces of a dough ball her belly had become, but as she breathed out Fubuki couldn’t help her surprise as she saw how far it stuck out.
Quietly turning around, a hint of red dusted Fubuki’s cheeks as she took in the view of her rear, her fingers trembling as she placed a hand on it. The flat and fit frame that she’d been so accustomed to had suddenly morphed into two squishy spheres that jutted out behind her ever so slightly. A small crease was beginning to form where any bit of momentum would cause the dollop of fat to wobble for a few seconds, and the thickening of her thighs was making the space between them ever so smaller.
The stunned fox girl shook her head, thinking that it must have been a trick of the light or her mirror being faulty. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, only to be met with the same layer of softness that now rested comfortably on her body. It didn’t seem like it was a matter of shrunken clothes at this point…
Clearly she had been overdoing it on the meals that had been prepared for her, it didn’t take a genius to figure that out. Add that with the lack of any sort of exercise and spending her days at her computer streaming, it was no wonder that she’d started to blow up like she did. She would need to have a word with Mio about this, cut down on the portions she’d been receiving, for sure. Maybe she could even start doing some Ring Fit Adventure streams?
Any further thoughts about her current situation were quickly snuffed out by a loud growl from her middle. She hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and her tummy was demanding to be fed.
“The next time I visit Mio, for sure…” Heat radiated off of Fubuki’s face as she quickly changed, heading towards the kitchen to prepare for another busy day of streaming.
*** ***
Heavy breathing could be heard from the stairwell, footsteps echoing in slow, rhythmic time. They stopped after another moment or two, the owner of these sounds having reached the floor of their apartment level. They were hunched over slightly, hands on their knees, catching their breath after what was most likely the only bit of exercise they had gotten that week.
Standing in front of the door of her apartment, Fubuki took another deep breath, exhaling slowly, and took a minute to compose herself. Of all the days that the building’s elevators were out of service, it had to be today, much to the lament of the fox girl. Granted, with how much heft she was lugging around her these days, small instances like these were something she desperately needed.
Any thoughts or silly ideas like a diet that had entered Fubuki’s head weeks prior were dashed once she’d brought up the idea of cutting back on her meals to Mio. The kindly wolf girl was worried beyond belief that the food she’d been making wasn’t to Fubuki’s liking. Waves of guilt washed over Fubuki like a tidal wave when she’d been told that Mio would work harder to make something more suited to her tastes. The final nail in the coffin was the quick insistence that not only was Mio’s food incredibly delicious, but that instead she’d like more as long as she was fine with it.
The effects that all of these extra meals were having on her couldn’t be more obvious. Having outgrown almost all of her wardrobe, Fubuki was dressed in her traditional outfit, a white top with arm sleeves and a black skirt with ribbons to match.
The loose, open top that acted as a small window to show off just a bit of her stomach was now completely separated, presenting her belly for the whole world to see. The pillow of a tummy she sported wobbled with the slightest movement, despite her best efforts to hide it. A bit of a roll had been developing recently, giving her a plush sort of look that was especially visible when she was sitting. In some twist of fate, her chest had been hit the least by her weight gain, though it did strain her top just a tad.
With all of the gaining that was happening on top, Fubuki’s lower half had also been taking it in stride. The width of her sides gave off the impression of a muffin top that oozed over the edges of her skirt, enough so that you could pinch much more than an inch of the creamy flesh. Thick, meaty thighs were constantly fighting for space as the workaholic fox girl’s thigh gap had completely vanished. The legging she wore on her left leg couldn’t make it up past her knees these days, the constant stretching of the material having finally given up the bigger she became, and the small belt that she wore on her right had been benched indefinitely due to how tightly it clung to her.
The weight had spread to all the corners of her body, and as much as she wanted to deny it, she had to face reality - she was fat.
Safely within the comfort of her own home, Fubuki began to make her way towards the bathroom to take a nice, well-deserved shower when a familiar smell entered her nostrils. A low grumble emanated from her belly as she changed course, her feet on auto-pilot as she moved towards the kitchen. Peeking her head through the entryway, a woman dressed in an apron was standing in front of a stove, dipping her spoon into a pot before bringing it to her mouth.
“Mio?!”
“Eh?!”
A jolt was sent up Mio’s spine as she whipped around, holding the spoon she’d just used to taste test out in front of her before lowering it back down. “Fubuki, don’t startle me like that! Sneaking up and surprising me like that was pretty rude, you know!”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t know that you were in here,” she replied, stepping into the kitchen proper as she peered into the pot. “What are you making?”
The black haired wolf girl looked at her for a moment, unamused, before responding, “Did you forget already?” Mio tutted, grinning as she went back to stirring her broth. “I came over to make lunch and catch up with you. It’s been a while since we’ve chatted, just the two of us.”
Memories of a previous conversation came flooding back into Fubuki’s mind as she let out a small “Oh!” of realization. With her frequent visits, it’d been hard to pass more than a few words between the two of them before Fubuki would end up leaving with her day’s worth of food in tow.
Before she could mutter a small word of apology, a spoon was held up to her mouth, looking up to see Mio’s gentle smile ushering for her to try it. A surge of flavor lit up Fubuki’s taste buds as she swallowed, a mix of pork and vegetables registering on her tongue.
“I’m glad to see that you enjoy it,” Mio chuckled, the dreamy look on Fubuki’s face a good sign to continue with her dish. “Go ahead and settle down in the living room, I’ll bring everything out in a few more minutes.”
*** ***
Standing alone in her bedroom, the reflection in the mirror staring back at Fubuki was completely different than the one she saw not even a few months ago. Her iconic outfit was holding strong, but the threads keeping it together threatened to split apart any day now. The edges of her face were rounded off and soft to the touch, with the makings of a double chin that could be seen from any angle no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
Turning sideways, the blush on her face deepened as she raised one of her arms, tentatively poking it with a finger and grimacing at how far it sunk in. Although she originally wasn’t muscular or anything else of the sort, what was once lean and lightly toned was now covered by smooth, buttery fat. The bingo wings she had for arms stuck out slightly when resting at her sides, and a crease of fat bulged out from her armpits when she did. It seemed the only exercise they got nowadays was lifting up and shoveling more food into her mouth, and the results were as plain as day.
It’d be one thing if the weight was spread more evenly across her body, but her chest remained modest, stubbornly refusing against the sea of fat that now weighed against her. They sat comfortably atop her globe of a belly, by far the clearest example of what her constant eating and snacking has done to her figure. Packed full from the monster of a meal that Mio had made previously, it stuck out alarmingly far, much to her discomfort, and she was dreading how much fatter she was going to get as the calorie bomb sat and digested within her gut.
Bringing her hand lower, Fubuki cringed as she tried but failed to cup her rear into her hands, quickly letting go only to watch it jiggle and quiver for a few moments before coming to a stop. A single chair almost seemed too big for the fox girl months prior, but her recent developments have given her such a comfortably large marshmallow for a butt that it was starting to get hard to justify the need for only one. Armrests were starting to become a natural enemy for her, and more than once she had found herself so snug in her seat that she was embarrassed to think that the time had finally come when she was well and truly stuck.
Fubuki had finally gotten over the brunt of the work that she’d signed herself up for, returning to a more casual schedule of daily streams, but by this point the damage to her figure had been done. It was hard to hide just how big she’d gotten whenever she had to visit the Hololive office, much to her embarrassment, and despite the fact that she could handle making her own meals from now on, she couldn’t find it in herself to tell Mio to stop. She had gotten so used to having her meals taken care of for her that she reasoned to herself that it would be fine if it kept going. After all, it didn’t seem like Mio was against the idea of stopping…
“This is bad...really bad. Forget fox or cat, I’m more like a whale at this point…”
...It would be fine, right?
“Fubuki, dinner will be ready in-” Mio cut herself off as she entered the room, her gaze locking onto Fubuki’s as they stared at each other in silence. A heavy blush made its way to their faces before the silence was broken by a deep growl.
Both sets of eyes shifted towards Fubuki’s middle, the growl turning into a prolonged groan as it churned away to digest the food lying within it. Before she could stop it, a loud b e l c h had escaped Fubuki’s throat, and her eyes widened as she quickly placed both hands over her mouth.
Mio could only stare, dumbfounded, at her once thin friend, now turned butterball, before letting out a hearty laugh. “Well, at least I know that you still enjoy my cooking!”
Completely mortified, Fubuki could only offer a meek nod in response. She watched as Mio walked over, giving her belly gentle pats with one hand and placing a finger to her mouth with the other, winking.
“Don’t worry, this’ll be a secret between the two of us.”
Waiting until Mio left the room, Fubuki placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart, trying but failing to calm herself down. It was one thing for her to look like a complete fatso, but to act like one too?! And in front of Mio, no less!
The growing worry welling up within her slowly began to dissipate as the smell of food entered her room. Shutting her eyes closed, Fubuki let out a quiet sigh as she tried to envision it within her mind. Beef, pork, onion… was Mio making hamburger steak?
The mental image alone was enough to draw out more noise from her belly, eager for more food despite the previous meal. Looking down at it with a pout, Fubuki eventually shook her head, a small grin on her face as she left the room. It’s not like the weight would be going anywhere anytime soon.
She could stop whenever she wanted to, so she might as well enjoy it while it lasts.