"One... two!" I heard from the weight rack as we approached.

A broad-shouldered teenage boy stood over the familiar form of Albert. Albert was wearing a gray muscle shirt with his gut slightly exposed and a pair of black athletic shorts. He was straining hard as he pressed the bar up to a standing position.

It was strange seeing him working out, and not sitting in a library or in front of a computer. But I knew he'd been putting in work. Before we'd left our regular zoned high school for Kaleidoscope, he had joined the wrestling team.

His arms had been growing a bit thicker over time, but he was still chunky and chubby.

I'd been happy that Albert had been making an effort to improve his health and lose weight. But it was a long, hard road, and I wasn't going to nag him.

"Three!" the other boy said.

Albert grunted and groaned as he pressed up on the bar, lifting it to a standing position.

"Four!" the boy said.

I noticed that he looked like a slightly older Ichigo, maybe a year older. But he was also taller, and if I had to be honest, pretty cute.

Ichigo's brother Suguru had an athletic build with a powerful, masculine jawline, and he had his hair cut in a short-cropped, crew cut. His hair was jet-black, his skin lightly tanned. He wore a tight-fitting, black t-shirt that complimented his well-muscled arms and shoulders. He had the same dark eyes and dark hair as Ichigo. He had an air of maturity that I didn't often see in the other boys around our age.

He was only sixteen, but he looked like he could've been the main character of a Japanese fighting game. Suguru seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, and he definitely looked like someone that took care of himself.

"Five!" the other boy said.

The bar came down and rested on Albert's chest. He struggled, grunting, and he pressed up again, slowly.

"Lightweight! Come on, you can do it!" the boy encouraged.

Albert groaned and heaved. I could see his arms shaking, and he was clearly straining.

And then he locked his arms out and let out a loud gasp, his arms shaking. The other boy quickly took the bar from him and set it back on the rack.

"Nice job. A solid five reps," he said.

"Th-Thanks..." Albert said breathlessly, laying back on the bench and panting heavily.

"Good job," Ichigo said cheerily, walking over to her brother. "Hey there Suguru."

He looked up and saw us. "Hey sis, what took you guys so—"

He paused, looking over at Stella. He blinked a few times, his cheeks flushing red, before looking back to his sister.

"What took you all so long? And why does your friend look like she went twelve rounds with a brick wall?"

Stella chuckled, shrugging.

"You should see the other girl."

Albert sat up and looked over.

He was sweating, his cheeks were red, his breathing was heavy. His eyes widened as he also caught sight of Stella's bruised cheek. "Criminy. Do I dare ask what happened? I know you guys took a long time in there, but did something go down?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," I sighed.

Ichigo chimed in, "Samantha Mackenzie and Stella got into it."

"Samantha Mackenzie? She's here at Kaleidoscope?" Suguru asked.

"You two know her?" Stella said, "I never heard of her until today."

Ichigo sighed. "You don't even know how much of an impact you had on the rest of us, do you? Funnily enough, I didn't decide to take after my parents until Lady Matsudaira paraded you around. I mean, after you won the forty-two kilogram class Judo gold medal in the under-thirteen continental tournament, you were kinda in the news cycle for like a week."

Stella just shook her head, rubbing her temples. I could see a tinge of red on her cheeks, and she looked like she was in a lot of discomfort.

"Yeah. I was... it was just a sport, Ichi. It's nothing special," Stella replied.

Ichigo rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't just a sport, Stella. It's more than just a game, more than just a way to get fit. You inspired so many of us. The next year I competed. I've never been great at grappling, and I'm better with boxing, but I ended up getting to fight her in the quarter-finals of the championship for the under-thirteen, forty-six kilogram class," Ichigo explained. "I was nervous as heck, but I tried. She just beat the stuffing out of me in the end and I couldn't do anything. She won the gold and the belt that year, and the next, and the year after as we all got bigger. She competed in kickboxing too, filling the vacuum you left. I was never even close to her skill level."

"She really did a number on you too, I take it," Stella mumbled. "She got a really good takedown and then choked me out, and I'm still not feeling good from it."

Ichigo looked over to Albert, who was still sitting up on the bench. She reached down, offering a hand. He took it, and she helped pull him up. He grunted, and stood up, his belly jiggling. He wiped sweat from his brow.

"T-Thanks..." Albert grunted, standing up as Suguru rotated to take his spot.

"No problem," Ichigo replied, taking off a light jacket she had on and exposing a sports bra and tight shorts. I noticed Albert doing a double-take on her, and then his cheeks turned bright red and he turned his gaze away.

Suguru was laying on his back, and then Ichigo sat down on his stomach and sat there.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?" Suguru complained.

"Ichigo?" Stella mumbled.

Ichigo looked down at Suguru, and she grinned, giving him a little poke on his forehead.

He grumbled and sighed. "You're a good warm up sis, but I already did a working set, I was just spotting the big guy. Get off me, Ichi. Don't be rude."

Albert snickered, and Stella just sighed.

"I said get off me."

Ichigo grinned and got up. Suguru sat up, and gave his sister a dirty look. Ichigo giggled.

Suguru sat back down on the bench, and he looked over to me. He gave me a quick glance up and down, and he smiled.

I felt my cheeks turning a little red.

He was a good-looking guy. Not entirely my type. I preferred guys with more of a softer overall image, but I could still appreciate the fact that he was handsome in a rugged fighting game poster boy kind of way.

"I'm Suguru, and I guess you already know my sister, Ichigo. You're...?"

"Sienna, like in the group chat. And that's Stella. And you've met Albert."

I shot Ichigo a look, wondering if he knew we'd already met him as Claw Currant.

"I'm Suguru, and I guess you already know my sister, Ichigo. You're Sienna, and that's Stella, of course. And this is Albert I've been with."

"Yes, that's us," I said. "Nice to meet you. Officially. Outside of the group chat."

"Likewise," he said.

Suguru turned to Albert. "You gonna do another?"

Albert stretched and rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "I'm gonna pass, man. That last rep took a lot out of me. I don't wanna pull something."

"That's cool," Suguru said, patting him on the shoulder. Then, he looked at me.

"You know how to bench?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

"Want to learn?" he asked, his voice a little softer than it had been a few seconds prior.

I looked over to Albert. Albert just shrugged, giving me a nod of encouragement. I flushed, looking down at my twiggy frame, then back at Suguru.

"S-Sure."

He stood up, and gestured for me to lay on my back. "Come on. Let's give it a go."

I looked at the iron bar as Albert quickly moved to remove the weights on it.

"Is... Is it safe?" I asked.

"It is. Trust me, I'll spot you if anything goes wrong. I've done it for my sister, and I can do it for you." Suguru said reassuringly.

"Go ahead, Sienna!" Albert cheered.

Ichigo gave him a look of annoyance. "Dumbbells would have been a better first choice, you're scaring her."

"Dumbbells?" I mouthed, feeling a bit silly.

Suguru frowned. "You know, you're probably right. I didn't want her to feel wimpy using baby weights."

I shook my head. "I don't mind feeling wimpy, I don't know what I'm doing. At all."

He gave me an encouraging nod. "That's alright. We all start somewhere. Come with me."

Ichigo patted Suguru on the shoulder, and Albert followed us as we went to another part of the weight area. Dozens of boys were all over, doing various exercises, lifting, pushing, pulling. The smell of sweat and testosterone was thick in the air, and it made me feel more than a little intimidated and self-conscious.

I could tell some of them were staring att me me, Stella, and Ichigo, but I ignored them, following Suguru as we went over to an empty bench.

Stolen novel; please report.

He gestured to it. I sat down on it.

"Here. These are twenty pounds each." He held out a pair of black dumbbells that looked like they weighed nothing in his callused hands.

I took them from him and lifted, feeling the weight of the dumbbell in my palm, and I realized just how much heavier they were than I'd expected. "O-oh. Wow. Okay. They're heavier than I expected."

He nodded, his voice gentle and patient. "Yeah. They can be. This is the best way to get started, I promise. Now, let's work on your form. Lie down on your back, with the dumbbells at your sides, palms facing your feet."

I did so. My body sank into the cushioning of the bench, and I felt a bit weird. I'd never lifted weights before. I felt my elbows strain as I pulled my arms back.

"Don't flare your elbows out! Tuck them into your sides, consciously pull your upper back in and brace on the ground with your legs," Suguru said.

I nodded. "Okay." I tucked my elbows in. "Like this?"

I tried to pull my shoulders back and brace my legs like he instructed, but I couldn't tell if I was doingn it correctly.

"Good, er, we'll work on the arch later. You're too straight-backed."

"Is that bad?"

"Not exactly, but you're a little weak and unstable so flat. You won't risk much injury as a beginner but if you don't get a proper base you can hurt your arms and shoulders when you start to bench more, especially once you have some strength and start to go up in weight. Just keep in mind that I can't fix your form in a day, so we're just gonna go for a light workout to see how things are, alright?" Suguru explained. "You'll get better at it in no time, don't sweat it."

I nodded and he gave me an approving nod back. "Good. Keep your feet flat on the floor and push your knees up a little. Try to keep them bent at about a ninety-degree angle."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Now, keep your head back. Don't let it hang off the bench. Sometimes we'll subconsciously want to raise our head if it's really heavy but that's dangerous for the neck. You're just lifting a couple dumbbells. Just press them up with a controlled tempo. Up, down, nice and easy, slow. Keep your arms tucked to your side."

"Got it." I nodded again.

"Now, take a deep breath. Push them up. Up. Down. Slow. Don't rush it. Nice and easy. Breathe out when you push up. Breathe in when you bring them down."

I took a breath and pushed up. I could feel my chest and arms straining. The dumbbells were heavier than I expected.

I pushed, straining, trying to push through it. My arms slowly went up halfway.

"Come on. Push through it. Breathe." Suguru coached. I breathed out. The weights kept pushing up.

They finally went up, and I slowly brought them down, my arms straining.

"Good job. Take a breath. Do that nine more times." Suguru encouraged me.

I sucked in a breath. My arms were shaking.

I pushed. Up...

And promptly failed halfway.

"Easy. Easy." He grabbed my elbows, holding the dumbbells steady. He helped guide me down as my arms struggled, and took them out of my hands. "Too heavy?"

I didn't answer right away, feeling my cheeks burn. "I..."

"It's alright," he said with a comforting smile. "It's your first day."

Ichigo sighed, walking over to a rack of weights and bringing me ten pounders. "Here. Ten pounders. I'm pretty sure she can handle them. You were being a bit overeager, bro."

"I..." I mumbled, embarrassed, feeling my face heat up even.

"There's no need to feel ashamed," Ichigo said with a grin, "You'll be stronger in no time, trust me."

Albert chuckled, "Yeah, I struggled with the bar too before we left Pewterstone and now I'm getting closer and closer to two hundred on the bench press. We'll all get better and stronger eventually."

Suguru looked at him and smiled. "That's right, we all have to start somewhere. Now, go ahead and try again. This time, with these." He passed the dumbbells over to me.

"Okay." I took a deep breath and lifted them up, this time feeling the weight, but not feeling like my arms would snap. It was still heavy, and I felt a bit better as I leaned back and tried to tuck my elbows in like he'd instructed. I felt a lot of strain on my chest, though, and my arms shook as I slowly lowered the weights down to a starting position.

"There you go," he encouraged me, "Keep going, slowly and evenly. Breathe and exhale every time you push."

"Alright..." I mumbled, taking another breath as I slowly pushed them up and lowered them down. I could feel my muscles burning.

"Nice. Keep it up," Suguru said.

"O-Okay..." I mumbled, trying to keep going. It got a little harder to do so the more reps I did.

"You're doing well," he said, watching as I continued. He stood behind me to make sure I was doing it right.

"O-Okay," I said, panting.

After twelve reps, my arms were screaming and felt like they were on fire. I slowly lowered them back down and tried not to let them fall, feeling like my chest was going to pop.

"You okay? Need help?" he asked, his tone gentle. He reached out to grab them, but I held them close to my chest, my arms shaking.

"I'm good. I can do more. Just need a rest I think." I panted.

I sat up and handed the weights back to Suguru. He took them and nodded.

"Yeah, take a breather."

I looked around at the others. Stella was standing nearby, and I noticed her face was locked in a contemplative frown, like she was deep in thought about something. She was biting her lip and rubbing her bruised cheek.

"Are you alright?" Suguru asked, following my eyes.

"Fine," she said.

I sighed, looking at her. I knew that look on her face, it was a look I knew very well, it was a look of frustration and contemplation. I didn't know her for all that long, but was like looking in a mirror when I was feeling frustrated about my grades in school, or when I was trying to solve a math problem that seemed impossible. It was like a problem-solving look. She was thinking about the fight with Sammy and how she lost.

Ichigo was right. You had to squint, but our resemblance was uncanny when she had that expression on her face. But that wasn't a surprise. I'd noticed it too.

"You sure?" I asked. "I mean, you don't look fine. You're frowning."

She nodded, giving me a sad look. "Yeah, just lost in thought."

"You wanna do a few sets of bench presses yourself?" Suguru offered. "Maybe with lighter weights? I can spot you, if you want to do the bar?"

Stella bit her lip and looked at me, and then Suguru.

"Sure. I haven't been in a proper gym in a while, though. Just some morning calisthenics and mental exercises that my mom made me develop as a habit."

Suguru raised an eyebrow and looked at her, then he smiled and nodded.

"I guess you don't need my help then. If you know what you're doing."

She shrugged. "Not really, no. Just a basic routine. But I could always use a spot. I'd like to see how much strength I have left overall."

"Alright. Well, I can help with that, too."

I played around with the dumbbells in my hand as Albert walked up, clapping me on the shoulder. I looked up at him.

"Hey, I've got you if you want to do more reps," he said.

"Oh, sure." I replied, feeling my cheeks turning pink. Albert was the closest person to me, but it was still awkward even with him by my side. "Sure. Okay, thanks."

He chuckled. "You okay? You look like you're having trouble with something. Do you need to talk or anything?"

I glanced at Stella and then at him, and I shook my head. "Maybe later. I think Stella took the loss pretty hard."

Albert nodded, leaning in and dropping his voice to a whisper. "Yeah, what the heck happened back there?"

"Ask me later, it's not important."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Sorry." I whispered.

"It's fine," Albert whispered back. "You can talk to me about it later."

Ichigo also leaned in, blinking curiously. "Why are we huddling up?"

"Just catching up, don't worry." Albert replied.

I looked up at Ichigo, who was staring down at the both of us.

"You got a good look at my brother's abs?" she teased Albert.

He shrugged. "Your bro's huge, like damn. He could crush someone with those things."

Ichigo smiled. "Heh. Yeah, he's strong alright. And ripped, but he can be a real dummy when it comes to being social. We're both kinda like that in our own ways."

Albert grinned at her, blushing slightly. "Well, uh. You did throw me for a loop when you got over your anxiety around us. It's nice seeing you like that, Ichigo."

"Hey, what can I say? I'm a gal with a big heart. If I can get over my stupid social anxiety I wear my heart on my sleeve."

I sighed and shook my head, giving Ichigo a nudge as I lowered my dumbbells to my chest.

"How many reps should I be doing with these, anyway? I'm kinda new to all of this. How do I progress? More weight? More reps?"

Albert looked over to Suguru, who was still helping Stella get set up on the bench.

"Usually guys do sets of four to six reps for their sets. Girls do better with high rep, lower weight, and take longer to progress, because we usually have a lot more slow twitch fibers that use oxygen more efficiently, which is better for sustained effort and endurance stuff. Guys progress faster with low rep, higher weight work," she replied.

"So... What should I do?"

"Well, I'd say just stick with a couple of sets of ten reps with these. And by a couple I mean three or four. Add a rep or two every time you work out until you hit fifteen to twenty, then go up in weight and work back up," Ichigo suggested. "If it starts feeling like you could go for longer, it's probably time to add weight or move to something that you can do at a heavier weight. But that's the basic idea, you can change it up however you like. Some guys do better with high reps, and some girls are fast twitch as heck and do the reverse."

I sucked in a breath, feeling a little nervous. Somehow, I felt even more inadequate compared to everyone else, especially after seeing Stella and Sammy fighting.

"Yeah... Okay, let me give this another shot."

Ichigo grinned, moving aside as Albert stood over me to spot.

"You got this," he said encouragingly. "Come on. Let's give it another go."

I sucked in a deep breath, pushing the weights up. My arms burned as I pushed them up. My muscles were burning and aching, but I pushed through. Soon, I pushed it up for seven, then eight reps, and then I couldn't anymore. I lowered the weights back down and sighed, panting.

"Good job, Sienna. You did well."

"Thanks..."

"You want to try it again?" Albert asked. He had a big goofy smile on his face as I looked at him.

I huffed. "Heck no. But I'm gonna push through. Three or four sets, right?"

"Yep. Three or four sets, whatever you feel up to," he said, nodding. "You've got this, I believe in you."

I huffed and turned around, picking up the weights and getting into position. This wasn't so bad, but it definitely hurt a little more than I thought it would. "Alright, let me give it a try. Don't judge me if I can't make it through the last one, alright? You'll have to help me."

He laughed. "Yeah, no sweat. You got it. Let's see you do some of these, and then I'll help you if you need it."

I took another breath, and then I started to push.

Ichigo giggled. "You know, Albert. You have really nice legs."

"Wait. Wh-What? Really?" he stammered, looking up at her.

She grinned. "Yeah. I've never seen you work out before, but you've been doing good work with them, I think. Those calves are nice."

He chuckled nervously. "I... Thanks?"

My arms burned, and my legs shook. I fought down the urge to giggle at Albert's sudden embarrassment as I struggled to push through.

"You're welcome," Ichigo said with a coy grin, her eyes sparkling.

He turned bright red. I felt like I was about to die as I tried to keep my laughter inside.

Ichigo continued. "Seriously. Those calves could crack walnuts. I bet your legs are as strong as your arms. How much can you curl? You were pressing a hundred seventy-five with those arms earlier. How much could you press with those thighs? Could you crush a watermelon? How about an orange?"

"I... don't know what to say to that," Albert said, his cheeks flushed. "I guess getting fat and losing weight does that to a guy? Plus a whole bunch of running from zombies...?"

"You could also say thank you. And maybe that I have nice legs, too," she giggled.

"I... I, umm... Thanks. And you do. I guess.You do have nice legs. They're like... they're like..."

"Go on. Say it."

"Like a gazelle's?" he replied awkwardly.

He turned even redder, his voice trailing off as he realized just how awkward the compliment was. I felt my stomach cramp as I tried to stifle a laugh. My arms were shaking as I pushed the dumbbells down and up for the tenth time, my face turning beet red as I fought against the burn, and the temptation to giggle.

"Aww thanks. That's the sweetest thing you could have possibly said." she patted his arm. "A gazelle. That's a new one."

"I'm sorry, that was weird."

"Yeah, but I like weird," she replied, grinning at him. She turned her gaze down at me, giving me a cheeky wink.

I tried to hold it in, but I failed miserably.

I let out a giggle as I finished the set and my arms gave out.

The weights dropped from my hands, clanking together, and I broke down into a fit of laughter, holding my aching ribs as Albert turned to look at me. He was beet-red, his mouth open, and he looked confused and embarrassed and mortified. "I-I, uhh."

I couldn't speak through my laughter as Ichigo grinned at Albert, who was looking down at me, completely confused and mortified. She just giggled.

"Ichigo, I..." Albert stammered, completely lost for words.

"Oh come on. You can do it, Albert. Tell me I have pretty eyes. I won't laugh at you," Ichigo said.

Albert looked like his brain had completely short-circuited, and he just looked at me with wide eyes, completely flabbergasted.

"I... I-I," he mumbled.

I finally stopped laughing, and took a breath, my sides aching. I looked up at them with a smile.

"You guys are cute," I giggled, trying to ignore my own burning muscles.

Ichigo winked at me. "Hey, like I said. Heart on my sleeve, girl."

She turned and grinned at Albert. "So. Wanna go do squats? I wanna see those thighs of yours go to work."

"I... uh, um," he stammered.

Ichigo slapped him on the back. "Oh lighten up big guy, I'm just teasing."

She smiled at the mirror as I sat up, and Albert looked down, completely red and staring at his shoes.

"She's right, though." I agreed. "Your calves really are great."

"I'm going to do just that. Go do. Squats," Albert said quickly, and then he walked away, leaving the two of us in a fit of giggles.

"Albert, don't be such a sourpuss! You're so easy to tease." Ichigo said with a giggle.

"Hey! Don't tease the poor guy." I scolded.

"He knows I'm playing, don't you big guy?" she said as he turned around. She winked at him. He blushed harder.

"Come on, Albert. We were just playing!" I added.

"Ugh, just leave me alone," he groaned, and he walked away, leaving us to giggle at each other.

Then, I put on a serious face and leaned in to whisper to Ichigo.

"Hurt him, and I'll break you," I hissed.

Ichigo broke away with a flinch and surprised blink, before smiling warmly at me. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"I mean it. If you hurt him, or make him feel like shit in general, you and I will have a problem."

"Oh, don't worry about it. He and I are just having fun, and I'd never want the big fella to feel down."

She just gave me another big catlike smile, and a playful wink. I could practically imagine her now non-existent tail moving behind her as she put her arms behind her head.

"I love my big sweet dorks, after all. And besides, I've already decided we're gonna be the bestest of besties."