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An hummed happily to herself as she sauntered down the street, ready for another pumped up rehearsal with the rest of Vivid BAD SQUAD. She’d slept particularly well last night and the coffee she’d made for herself this morning was particularly energising. Truly, she felt on top of the world and nothing could stop her. In particular, she couldn’t wait to see Kohane and her adorable little face. They saw each other almost all the time but it was always the highlight of her day to be able to just smother her in a big embrace. Ah, how lucky she considered herself to have a partner like her.
As An neared their usual spot however, she picked up the sound of grunting in the distance. Was someone already there? It wouldn’t be too big of an issue if that was the case; they could always switch venues to WEEKEND GARAGE or even the SEKAI. As she got closer, she was able to recognise the grunting as being particularly strained, almost as if whoever was making the noises was in pain. Approaching the corner, she noted more details - namely how high pitched the grunts were and how it almost sounded like… Kohane? Kohane?! Oh no, was she hurt? Had she injured herself somehow? The thought of seeing her beloved partner hurt was too much to bear for An; without hesitation, she dashed around the corner in an explosive burst of speed.
“Kohane?! Is that you?!” An yelled, her nerves in overdrive. “Are you… okay?” she asked, trailing off as her eyes tried to process the scene in front of her.
Sitting on the bench was Kohane. At least, somebody that looked like her. A lot like her. Only, she was a lot bigger. As in muscular. Powerful. Robust. She was wearing a tank top that put on full display her well toned biceps and triceps. An’s imagination could only wonder of the rock hard abs she was hiding underneath. Her gaze drifted to her lean quads, suddenly unable to take her eyes off her legs… no. No, An, focus. Kohane, no, the girl that looked like Kohane was in the middle of doing dumbbell curls. An couldn’t help but notice the size of the weight the brawny blonde was lifting; she couldn’t even begin to fathom how heavy it was. More importantly, she couldn’t fathom that the jacked girl in front of her was Kohane.
“K-Kohane…?” An asked sheepishly, desperately begging to be proved wrong.
The girl lifted her head to look An straight in the eyes. Through a laboured breath, she spoke, “Oh. An-chan. You’re here.” Her ripped physique did not at all match the cutesy voice that came out of her mouth. She continued to pump the dumbbell, her form unyielding, her will to lift unbending. Oh God. It really was her. What in the fresh hell was this? An’s jaw was agape, her words completely failing her at this moment. No. No, she couldn’t accept it. She wouldn’t accept it.
“Who are you and what have you done with Kohane?” An asked incredulously.
Kohane finished her final curl and tilted her head at the question. “What are you talking about? I am Kohane. Did you hit your head or something?” she wondered. Kohane’s confusion was genuine, just as much as An’s was; she didn’t sound at all like she was teasing her. Everything about this whole situation was hellish.
“H-How the hell did you get so… so… big?! What did you do?!” An demanded to know.
Kohane put the dumbbell on the ground in front of her and sat back on the bench, her expression changing to one of exasperation. “I… worked out? On a regular basis? Following a strict routine?” she stated as if it was obvious. No, nothing was obvious about her sudden transformation from tiny, hamster-like Kohane to shredded, buff Kohane. The exasperated one should have been An, not her. An looked Kohane up and down and while she definitely didn’t find her new form unattractive, she was far more comfortable when she was petite and easily pounced on.
Flapping her arms frantically, An exclaimed, “You don’t just change overnight to… to this, though! What the hell is going on here?!”
“Oi, shut the hell up! We can hear you from the other end of the street!” a thuggish voice commanded. She’d know that voice from anywhere. Turning around, she came face to face with Akito. A bigger, more imposing, shredded version of Akito. Following closely behind him was Toya. A bigger, more imposing, shredded version of Toya. Both boys were now in possession of physiques that would have put even the most athletic boys at their school - heck, their teachers - to shame. They wore tightly fitting shirts that just barely contained their six-pack abs, their finely honed muscles threatening to break through the fibres at any moment. They had legs that could crush boulders and arms that could move mountains. An may not have liked it, but this is what peak performance looked like. Her mind was in a complete daze, her thoughts spinning around inside her head like a maelstrom. She almost wanted to curl up into a ball and cry at the surreality of the situation; why was she here with Akiswole Shinonowhey, Swoleya Aoyagains and Swolehane Jackedzusawa?!
Akito took one glance at An and nodded his head in disapproval, letting out a disappointed sigh. With a venomous tone, he snarked, “All bark and no bite, I see. With a body like that, how do you expect to surpass BUFF WEEKEND?”
Fucking what? BUFF WEEKEND? Okay. If this was a prank, it was an extremely elaborate one. Any moment now, they’d come out of whatever suits they were using to achieve these special effects and this whole ordeal would come to an end. Yes, yeah, this had to be the work of that prankster Rui. She’d strangle the life out of him when this was over. Unless he was into that kind of thing. In which case she’d… she’d… give him a stern talking to.
An laughed awkwardly, saying, “Uh, very funny Akito. Look, you can stop joking around now, we’re all here so let’s get down to rehearsing… yeah?”
Akito made a noise out of disgust, giving An a menacing leer. With fire in his eyes, he said, “The only person joking around here is you, not taking these training sessions seriously. What do you mean by rehearsals? We’re not here to practice for some amateurish street performance, we’re getting strong enough to surpass BUFF WEEKEND. You know, the weightlifting contest that you don’t seem to be serious about?”
…Alright. An had had it up to here with their bullshit. She was ready to smack somebody. Just not any of these three or she’d probably pay for it with a bill for a broken hand. She noted that Toya was being very passive; he hadn’t said a word since he arrived. Okay. Suppose this was somehow real. Akito had a natural knack for sport so she could understand him. Toya’s family was very overprotective of him, no way they’d let their son anywhere near even a treadmill. She was kind of, sort of curious to see what outlandish story he’d come up with…
Walking up to the cool-headed musclehead, An wondered, “Uh, Toya? I thought you were terrible with sports? What’s uh… what’s with the bod, bud?” She gave him a light punch to his stomach in jest; to her shock, his abs felt very real.
Toya’s expression darkened. Uh oh. He rarely, if ever, got mad. Scoldingly, he replied, “Shiraishi-san, you know that’s a sore subject for me. In case you forgot, I used to be a weak, frail child. But you know that my dad’s a personal trainer, yes? One of the finest in Japan, actually. With both his help and Akito’s, I’ve become the man that I am today. I don’t know how you have the gall to joke around like you are now but I promise, I’m far more serious than you when it comes to surpassing BUFF WEEKEND.”
Yikes. An had no idea of anything that he had just said, but she still couldn’t help but somehow feel hurt. She was still more confused than anything though. Toya could never come up with such an unbelievably bullshit lie like that. An was beginning to wonder if she had been Isekai’d.
Brushing past An as if she wasn’t there, the pair of bros walked up to Kohane. As he approached, Toya’s face changed to one of approval. “Very impressive gains, Azusawa-san. Unlike a certain somebody,” he remarked.
“Yeah. Perhaps you’d be better off with a different partner. She’s only holding you back from your full potential,” Akito suggested.
With no hesitation, Kohane nodded her head. “You’re right. I’m far better off without her. Let’s go guys,” she said, standing up and taking her dumbbell with her. Having rested, she picked it up effortlessly and turned to walk in the opposite direction of An, the dudes walking on both sides of her like a pair of burly bodyguards. An reached out her hand in a vain attempt to get her to stop, trying but failing to speak the words she wanted to say. As the trio of bodybuilders walked away, Kohane turned her head slightly, leaving An with one final declaration.
“It’s leg day.”
An woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up in bed with the speed of a bullet. She put her hand to her chest, breathing heavily. The room was dark and quiet, the peaceful serenity disturbed only by her panicked breaths. No light slipped through the curtains. Reaching to her bedside, she grabbed her phone to check the time. 5 AM. Far too early for her liking.
Much as she didn’t want to think about it, her thoughts lingered on the horrendous nightmare she had just been subjected to. What in the everliving fuck was that? Had her insecurity regarding Kohane’s progress as a singer somehow been warped into that hellscape? No, no, better not to overthink it; dreams didn’t necessarily have to mean anything. At least, that’s what she told herself to make her feel better.
Regardless, there was no way she was getting any sleep now. She felt like she had to get it off her chest. No way could she ever tell any of the others, especially not Kohane. Besides, they probably weren’t awake right now. But she did know someone who probably was. Opening her messenger app, she found just who she was looking for conveniently near the top.
AN: haruka
AN: haruka, r u awake rn?
HARUKA: Indeed, I am.
HARUKA: Good morning to you too, An.
HARUKA: What’s wrong?
AN: can we talk later?
AN: i uh… had a bad dream and wanted to talk about it with someone
AN: i’ll buy u lunch
HARUKA: Of course.
HARUKA: Perhaps we could discuss a time later, however?
HARUKA: I’m just about to head out for a run.
HARUKA: Would you care to join me?
HARUKA: We can do some light exercise together.
HARUKA: It’s leg day. >:)
AN: NO.
AN: absolutely not
HARUKA: Hehe, okay sleepyhead.
HARUKA: I’ll talk to you later.
HARUKA: Oh, I’ll gladly take any tomatoes you aren’t eating. :)
AN: you got it, girl :)