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"Thi- this is a dumb idea," Chihiro stammered. She peaked behind the door to the girl's locker room. Hina and Sakura were already working out together there, Sakura using a benchpress while Hina spotted for her. "They look like they have a routine going. I don't want to impede o- on their time together."
Mondo scoffed. "Chi, just go, alright? If ya wanna start workin' out with 'em then just start doin' it! You know they wouldn't tease ya for wantin' to be stronger."
"I- I guess you're right..." Chihiro was glad to have brought him along for emotional support. Without Mondo's (albeit sometimes crass, and at first rather back-handed) reassurance, she didn't know where she would be. He was the first person she had come out to at this school after all, and he'd grown a lot since then. They both had. "I'm just... Sakura and Hina are both so cool. What if I'm annoying them?"
"Are ya kidding? Everyone fucking loves you. I don't think you've annoyed a single person in your life, ever."
"But..."
"Geez, and you call me dense," Mondo groaned, rolling his eyes. "I'm serious here, Chi! I'm sure they'd love fer ya to hang out with them!"
Chihiro huffed and crossed her arms. "Those two things are completely different. I call you dense because you are dense. I mean, everyone can obviously see that Taka likes you b-"
"You're deflecting," Mondo interrupted. "This ain't about me."
"Deflecting?" Chihiro smiled mischievously. "That's a new vocabulary word. I wonder who taught you that one."
"Yer still doing it."
"I know, I know!" The programmer buried her face in her hands. "I'm j- just so nervous. What if I make them uncomfortable?"
Mondo sighed, then put one hand on his friend's shoulder comfortingly. "Listen, Chi, if you're really this worked up about it, you can always just work out with me, okay? I know I already made the offer, but it still stands. To be honest, though? I don't think you want that either. You already said that trainin' with other girls would make ya feel better about the whole thing, so I think you should go for it! I know ya really want to do this, and it's about time you started doing what you wanna do, 'stead of just trying to fulfill everybody else's expectations. Life's a lot better once ya start listenin' to yerself... Trust me."
Chihiro took a deep breath, counting down from 10 in her head. She'd always been good at numbers- social situations were difficult, but if she could apply something familiar like that to them it wasn't as tough.
"Okay!" She finally said, a determined smile on her face. "I'm gonna do it!"
"Thata girl!" Mondo cheered. "You got this, Chi."
"Thank you, Mondo," Chihiro said. She gave him a quick hug, and he pat her on the back in return. "I'll see you after we're done?"
"Hell yeah! You gotta tell me all about how great you did."
The programmer took another deep breath. Moment of truth, she supposed. Aoi and Sakura were both super sweet. They'd probably have a great time together. However... Chihiro couldn't help but look back to Mondo one last time, in search for reassurance. The carpenter gave her a thumbs up and urged her to keep going. She smiled, nodded, and then stepped into the workout room at last.
"Chihiro!" Hina immediately called upon her arrival, voice bright and cheery. "Hey girl! How's it going?"
"Um I'm- it's good! Good!" Chihiro set her bag down behind her feet, trying to draw as little attention to it as possible. Maybe it would be best to just ease into this. She was fine with just watching Aoi and Sakura practice. Wait, did that sound weird? That totally sounded weird didn't it, ugh, she was so bad at this-
Her efforts seemed to have the opposite effect though, as Aoi noticed the bag right away. "Oh! Did you bring your gear? Do you wanna work out with us?" the swimmer asked excitedly.
Chihiro stared at the ground bashfully. "Um. Yes, I would, if that's al- alright with you two. No pressure, of course, I'm sure you guys already have a whole system going... I don't want to interrupt."
"Mm... This is true. We do usually follow a regimen." Sakura rose from her spot on the benchpress and began to walk over to the other two women. "However, when it comes to physical activity, changing things up can be good. Therefore you can work on skills that you tend not to usually prioritize."
"Yeah! Plus it's funner that way! It gets boring doing the same thing over and over again. That isn't to say you're boring though, Sakura! So no offense!" Aoi patted the taller girl's arm.
"None taken."
"Wow... You guys are so in sync," Chihiro whispered, eyes shining with admiration.
Hina laughed bashfully. "Oh, why thank you! It's just cause we do this so often. And you're welcome to join us whenever you'd like!"
"Agreed." Sakura smiled and nodded.
Chihiro was almost starting to get a little choked up over this all. She'd always been easy to make cry (although she was nothing when compared to likes of Taka). "T- thank you. You two are s- so sweet-"
"Oh, no, don't cry! Was it something I said?" Aoi waved her hands around in Chihiro's direction, as if attempting to calm her down. She looked concerned. Worrying over Chihiro was really nice of Hina... It only made the smaller girl want to cry more, because everyone was being so kind to her and she didn't know how to handle it.
Sakura stayed silent for a moment, staring at the two of them in contemplation, as if trying to gauge their emotions. Finally, she put one hand on Aoi's shoulder and spoke. "I do not think that she's upset, Hina." Her gaze turned to Chihiro, warm and welcoming. "And it is alright, Chihiro. You may take your time."
"Th- thank you. I really appreciate it- this. All of this, a lot, really." Chihiro's sentences were barely cohesive in this state, but she hoped that her message was getting across at the very least.
It seemed that they were both able to understand her well enough anyway.
"Of course!" Hina said. She bounced on her heels a bit, rocking back and forth excitedly. "So! What should we start with first? Stretches, right? Ya gotta stretch if you wanna do a good work out. Otherwise you're gonna pull a muscle or something. One time I forgot to do stretches before a swim meet and I was like super sore afterwards. It totally sucked. But we'll make sure you're super good at stretches so you don't gotta worry about that!"
"Training your body to handle continuous amounts of physical activity is a process, yes." Sakura nodded, her eyes closed as she thought. "It would be best to start with simpler exercises and work up from there. It will start off rather slow, but it's all to ensure that you do not overwork yourself. You must understand that many of the more stereotypical activities, like weightlifting, will come later."
"I'm alright with that!" Chihiro said. Part of her was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't get to lift anything yet, but she trusted that Sakura and Aoi both knew what was for the best. They were practically experts at this, after all. Chihiro was miles behind them... She hoped that they weren't slowing themselves down for her sake.
Meanwhile, Aoi was already moving a few yoga mats to the floor. The swimmer was quite the busy body, Chihiro had noticed over their time together. She was always zipping from one activity to the next, moving around in place and using her hands to gesture while she talked. Chihiro found it rather endearing. It was fun to see Hina in contrast with Sakura, who stood as still and sturdy as a statue. She supposed that the quiet and stoic nature of the martial artist added to her mysterious and wise allure. However, on occasion Sakura would break from her shell with a soft smile or a laugh. Chihiro could quite fondly remember the first time she'd made Sakura giggle.
WHAM! The last yoga mat thudded onto the floor as Hina let it go. She turned back to her companions with a triumphant smile and a thumbs up. "All good to go! Let's start this thing, huh?"
Chihiro smiled excitedly. "Y- yeah! I'm ready when you guys are!" She looked up at Sakura, and the taller girl nodded in agreement. Enthusiasm washed over the programmer, and she repeatedly stepped in place, her shoes making a little pitter-patter sound on the tile. She was just so hyped up to be finally doing this!
Aoi plopped down on the left side mat. She pat the one beside her, motioning for Chihiro to sit down. The smaller girl did so, and Sakura followed close behind by sitting on her right.
"Sakura? What do you think we should do first? You're kinda the expert when it comes to this sorta stuff," Aoi asked the martial artist before looking back at Chihiro. "I've always been more of a go-getter than a good planner," she explained.
"I think some shoulder stretches would be most suitable." Sakura reached to the left with her right arm, then hooked her elbow underneath it, therefore holding it in place. "Like so."
Chihiro studied the pose for a moment, then mimicked Sakura's position. She couldn't go as far left as Sakura had though, no matter how much she tried or wanted to.
"There ya go!" Hina said encouragingly. She was also in the same position now. "And you don't gotta push yourself either, okay? Remember, me and Sakura are both trained athletes, so we're gonna be more flexible from all our previous training. It takes time for your body to get used to this."
"Oh- right." Chihiro stopped straining herself, falling into a more comfortable position. "Sorry."
"No need to apologize," Sakura hummed. "I can understand your eagerness, though. You show potential."
"You really think so?" Chihiro asked genuinely.
"Yes. And a less wise individual wouldn't heed our advice at all." Sakura then moved to a similar position, but with her other arm. Chihiro mimicked it. "Many people give up on physical routines once they realize how much time has to go into it."
Chihiro blushed. "Well, I don't know about wise..."
"Are you kidding? You're like super smart!" Hina piped up. "With all that computer-y stuff and numbers? You're practically a super hacker from a comic book!"
"Chihiro, are you quite alright? Your cheeks look a little pink. If you are getting overheated or you need to stop then-"
"No!" Chihiro interrupted Sakura. "I'm- I'm good, thank you." Even if the whole overheating thing was true, it wasn't likely due to working out at all. Chihiro chalked her flustered state up to not being used to compliments again. Although, she usually never got this bad when Mondo or Taka complimented her... Hm.
The two athletes moved into a different position, and Chihiro followed diligently behind. Hina smiled at her, giving a thumbs up, and Chihiro smiled back. Maybe a little overheating was fine after all.
---
By the time the three girls had finished their training session, Chihiro was famished. Sakura and Hina had offered to take her to dinner with them, but she thought that maybe if she did that she'd die of heatstroke. Besides, she had already planned to meet up with Mondo afterward. So they said their goodbyes, Sakura congratulating her on her decision to start working out with them and Hina reminding her to come back any time she liked.
Chihiro was still grinning from ear to ear when Mondo came around the corner.
"Hey Chi. Sorry for bein' late. Traffic's like hell at this time of day." The biker stood beside her, offering his hand to take her bag for her.
Chihiro was a little sore from the workout, so she was happy to hand the blue bag over to him. "It's no problem. Did you have fun on your date?"
"Yeah, it was nice." Mondo glanced to the side, a fond smile on his face. He then fumbled, catching on to his own slip-up. "It- it wasn't a date though! Or, at least? I don't think it was? Taka didn't say it wasn't but he didn't say it was but I-"
Chihiro laughed at him, and Mondo grumbled, attempting to hide his blushing face behind her bag.
"Sorry, sorry," the programmer said, trying to contain her amusement. "I'm glad you had fun on your date-not-date, though."
"Thanks." Mondo looked like he was going to die from embarrassment if they kept talking about this. "Enough about me though! How'd things go with working out? You look pretty tuckered out, it musta been good."
It was Chihiro's turn to smile fondly. "It was fun! And it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. Sakura and Hina were both really careful to make sure I wasn't overworking myself or anything. They were really sweet, and even helped me figure out a routine of stretches I could do by myself in the morning and stuff- oh! Sakura said that if I keep it up then we can probably start doing some small weight training stuff soon! And Hina told me all about the sports teams here, though I don't think I'll be joining any of them. You know how much I hate competition. S- sorry. I'm rambling, aren't I?"
"Yeah, but there ain't nothing wrong with rambling," Mondo reassured her. "Sounds like you had a good time though, Chi. I'm proud of ya."
Chihiro stared down at the floor sheepishly. "It- it's nothing, really, though. I should've started doing this sort of thing a lot sooner. I've wanted to for so long, but I was so scared and now I'm behind..."
"Hey. You're here now, though. That's what matters." Mondo stopped as the two of them finally arrived at the cafeteria. "You were scared, yeah, but you still did it. And I think that's what being brave is? People who say they ain't afraid of anything are either liars or idiots. Take it from someone who's been both, yeah?" He chuckled a bit, then looked up to meet her eyes.
"You're the bravest person I know, Chi. Don't you forget that, alright?"
Bravery was something that Chihiro valued greatly, and she knew that it was something Mondo did as well. She used to be jealous of him, of his courage and his confidence and his strength. Over time, as they got to know each other more, that jealousy had turned into admiration and then into a genuine friendship. But now the programmer could see that maybe it was the other way around too. It was weird, to think that someone she used to idolize could be envious of her for the same traits that she'd been envious of him for. But it made sense, in a way. Like fixing an error in a line of code so that everything else fell into place. Maybe she and Mondo had a lot more in common than she had previously thought.
"Thank you, Mondo. You're the bravest person I know too."
Mondo seemed surprised by the statement, and for a second he looked like he was about to object. He paused for a moment, though, as if rethinking things. "Thanks," he said finally. "It- it means a lot."
"I'm glad."
Mondo's stomach grumbled, and Chihiro giggled at him again. The two of them picked up some dinner from the cafeteria, and then went to sit down at their usual table. It was weird eating here so late, when almost no one else was around, but Chihiro found that she liked the quieter atmosphere a lot more than the noisy one during lunch in the same place.
Mondo took a bite of his food, and then looked back up at her. "So, what kind of stuff did ya'll do? You said you don't get to do weights until later?"
"Yeah! Sakura and Hina said that it would be better to work up to it. That way I don't strain any of my muscles or anything." Chihiro bit into her onigiri and waited to speak again for a moment. "That's why you have to practice frequently."
Mondo raised his eyebrows. "Really? Shit, I didn't know that. Glad you ended up going with them 'stead of me then. I guess it makes sense for them to know all that technical stuff, being professionals 'n all. All I do is lift the thingie, ya know?"
"You do stretches, though, right?"
Mondo picked at his teeth. "Uh... Not really?"
"You're supposed to stretch first!" Chihiro gasped, pounding her fists on the table in exasperation. "You're going to pull something! You know, one time Hina forgot to do her stretches before swimming and she was super sore. You don't wanna be super sore, right? You have to make sure your body is prepared!"
"I used to do 'em!" Mondo raised his hands up defensively. "But I just fell out a habit, I swear! 'Sides... it's a waste a time if you're trying to get shit done fast. I got gang meet-ups to attend! Or... I guess I- I did. But now I gotta go to woodshop and shit! I'm a busy guy!"
"You have to be more careful!" Chihiro insisted, incredulous at her friend's lack of proper technique.
"Oi, you the one who's a coach now? What, you and Nidai gonna start teaming up on me? Make me do yoga or some girly crap?"
"I might!" Chihiro huffed, crossing her arms. "And yoga is a genuinely good and relaxing activity. I think you could learn something from doing it."
"Yeah, right."
"I'm serious. It can help with focusing and anxiety- and even improve your sleeping habits! Plus there's a bunch of different types that focus on different things, so you could probably find at least one you vibe with."
"Really?" Chihiro nodded, and Mondo paused for a moment, staring down at the table. "Huh. I'll look into it, then, I guess. And, uh, I'm- I'm sorry I called yoga girly crap."
Chihiro smiled. "I accept your apology on behalf of yoga."
Mondo grinned, and their conversation carried on. Chihiro explained some different types of exercises to him, Mondo occasionally nodding along with what she was saying. Eventually the programmer ran herself out of fun facts that Aoi and Sakura had told her, and pestered her friend into telling her all about his date-not-date. It was pretty late at night by the end of their little meet up together, and Chihiro waved to Mondo as she headed back to her dorm.
There was a skip in her step as she did so, and a nearly permanent smile on her face. Chihiro had no idea how she was supposed to sleep tonight, with this bubbly feeling in her chest. She was just so happy with how everything had gone today. And to think that she'd been so nervous this morning! She supposed that her worry wart tendencies had made things out to be a lot scarier than they actually were. But maybe Mondo was right- maybe bravery wasn't about not being scared. Maybe it was about facing what made you scared. She guessed that, by that definition, she was a lot braver than she'd believed before.
Chihiro entered her dorm and closed the door behind her. She stood there for a second, before stomping her feet in place again, shaking her hands and squeeing like a school girl who's crush had asked her out.
She flopped down onto her bed, disturbing the many plushies there. With a sigh, she practically melted into the comfortable mattress. Despite her excitement, she soon found herself to also be exhausted. Maybe it was from working out, but the emotional rollercoaster of the day certainly was a contributing factor. Normally, now was about the time that Chihiro would do some work on her programming, but right now all she could think about was how soft and warm her blankets were...
Soon enough, the little programmer was fast asleep, dreaming of the new adventures that awaited her.