Uesugi residence, early morning…

"Onii-chan…"

"Hmmm…"

"Onii-chan, wake up."

"What's up…?"

After how heavy the tutoring and the midterm exams had been, that weekend Fuutarou wanted to get a few extra hours of sleep. He felt he'd earned them after all he had to go through so Yotsuba could pass. So when Raiha came to wake him up before dawn, his natural reaction was to cover his head with the pillow to drown her voice.

"Onii-chan!" the girl protested. "Okay, if that's how you want it, you leave me no choice!"

Yeah sure. Not even a bucket of cold water would get him out of the futon. It'd been a heavy week for him, and he deserved a break. And not even his sweet little sister would interrupt it.

"He won't get up, you do it," he heard her say.

Who was she telling that? His father? As far as he knew today he wasn't working extra hours today. Maybe his mother, if she wanted to bribe him with something for breakfast…

"UESUGI-SAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

The high-pitched screaming voice in his ear quickly made him jump out of his futon, and much to his jock, there was Yotsuba, wearing her usual silly grin. Fuutarou took notice of her clothes: she was wearing a sports hoodie with the numbers 428 on the chest, and looked like she'd gone out for a jog. And knowing her, that was probably what she'd done.

"Morning, Uesugi-san! Had a good sleep last night?"

"I'd be having a good sleep right now if it wasn't for you," he complained. "What are you doing in my room so early, and what's with those clothes?"

"Oh, this? Well, I came because you and I need to talk about something very important."

…

A few minutes later, Yotsuba was sitting along with the four Uesugis for breakfast. Raiha shared her slice with the girl, though she'd occasionally steal some bits from Fuutarou's when he was careless, and their parents, rather than scolding her, laughed at it, saying he had to be more attentive.

"So, you have yet to answer my question," he said. "Why'd you come to visit me this early? We don't have anything to study today, and if you have questions, you could have texted me."

"Well, it's just that I realized something during the midterms, you know?" the girl explained, still smiling. "You really don't have any physical stamina, Uesugi-san; if it weren't for me we'd been late."

"What happened?" Raiha asked with interest.

Before he could shut her up, Yotsuba was already telling them how things happened, and with plenty of details. Due to studying up late the night before (and Yotsuba getting up too early), they slept in, and when they woke up they had less than half an hour before classes began, so they had to run off almost with the sandwiches in their mouths to get there on time. Everyone laughed at it, barring him obviously, and while the others kept talking, he mentally reminded himself (again) to buy an alarm clock with his next pay, so that would never happen again.

"Hahahaha, my big brother has never been very athletic," Raiha said. "He's barely able to carry me."

"That's what happens when you overtrain your brain; your body eventually atrophies," Isanari added.

"You still haven't told me what you're doing here," Fuutarou spat, trying to deflect attention from his lack of physical capacities, of which he was fully aware and thus did not need reminders.

"Well, I figured that, since you're helping me study, I should help you get in better shape," Yotsuba declared. "That's why I came earlier, and since it's a day off I thought we could start today with something light."

"Hey, who told you could…?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," said Kazane. "Lately you've done nothing but study, and you could use some fresh air going out, to break the routine."

"Mom!" Fuutarou protested, but before he could add anything else, Raiha chimed in too:

"Do as she says, Onii-chan! With those skinny arms in a couple years you won't be able to carry me. And if you don't work hard, you won't have the strength to carry your bride at the altar, like Dad."

"You too, Raiha?" he exclaimed again. And why did she bring up the bride in the altar thing now? He didn't even have a girlfriend yet.

"Hahaha, that's so true, son! Too much study ain't good for you. Working out would do wonders to you, just look at me!" To emphasize his point, the man raised his arm and flexed his bicep as he patted it a few times, showing how hard it was.

"You see, Uesugi-san? Your family agrees with me. And the saying goes 'a sound body with a sound mind, right?"

"It's the other way around," he pointed, thought the reverse also applied, grudgingly as he admitted it.

"In any case, you'd do well working out with Yotsuba. Just look at her; she's always lively and full of energy, you could follow her example," his mother concluded.

Fuutarou exhaled a sigh. That marathon run they had on the day of the midterms was something he'd rather forget. He was grateful to Yotsuba for getting them in time and avoid being disciplined, but being dragged across the streets like traveling baggage was not his idea of fun.

Though it seemed he wouldn't be able to get away from it now. They were on a day off and, while he'd have preferred to sleep a bit more, it seemed destiny had conspired against him so that wouldn't happen. Although he still had one last card to play, desperate as it was.

"I won't have any workout clothes," he said.

"Oh, that's no problem," Yotsuba searched into the sports bag she brought, pulling out a blue and white tracksuit, with a pair of running shoes. "I brought this just in case."

"Well, that's a problem solved," Isanari said. "You better go out after breakfast, so hurry up. I hope you're sweating bullets when you come back."

That would be a no-brainer. Well, if he had no choice, he'd enjoy the remainder of his breakfast, to delay the incoming torture as much as he could.

…

Yotsub's idea of a 'light' training was that they went for some jogging. At first glance that didn't seem too bad, Fuutarou thought, until she told him they'd run twenty laps around a park extending no less than a three-block area, almost twice and a half what they had to do in P.E. class around the sports field. The boy felt stiff like stone in shock until Yotsuba snapped him out of it with a push, and they all started running.

'How the hell did I get dragged into this? I'm a high-schooler, not a marathon runner!'

"On your left!"

By the time he finished his first lap, Yotsuba had already run two ahead of him, and she didn't even break a sweat unlike him. His shins were killing him and the air failed by moments, but he made an effort to avoid stopping, slowing down just a bit to catch his breath.

"On your left!"

Again, he saw Yotsuba's silhouette overtaking him and disappearing around the corner. This was so humiliating, not so much because the girl was athletic, but because she rubbed it in his face like that. He wouldn't even be 'average' in terms of physical capacities, but never cared too much about it. After all, he'd never needed it before.

"On your left!"

Yet again. How many times did she have to do that? He was so tired he'd stopped counting the laps she'd gained on him, but he was sure she was close to the twenty they'd be making. Meanwhile, he'd barely made eight, and with a lot of difficulty. Well, at least now she could stop the…

"On your left!"

"God, can't you stop that?!" he screamed, already irritated.

"Not until you make your twenty laps!" she replied without stopping.

So it was that? Alright, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of humiliating him more than she already had. He's end those twenty laps before she could keep playing Captain America showing off his super soldier serum. In fact, come to think about it, it wasn't probably as farfetched that the ribbon girl could have taken something similar, as that would explain how she was able to do that despite having a slim build.

He'd think about it later. For now, he had a run to finish.

…

Fuutarou wasn't sure how he made it, but by the time he finished his twenty laps, he was completely beat. He could barely feel his legs, his lungs were burning, as if about to explode in any second while trying to oxygenate his body, and his head was pumping and spinning at the same time. Yotsuba had done over fifty laps before he ended his twenty, and she didn't go any further because at least she was considerate enough to stop and count his remaining ones.

Fortunately, she caught him before he collapsed, and she carefully took him to the nearest seat so he could rest. Said seat turned out to be a swing, which came out pretty handy as he could grab hold of the chains while he left his legs hang inert, waiting until he regained his sensibility in them.

"Here," Yotsuba said as he handed him a water bottle.

"Thanks." He grabbed the bottle and opened it, before downing it in almost one gulp. "Ahhh, I really needed this. I can't go any longer."

"You didn't do so bad," she said as she sat on the other swing. "And first time's always the worst. You'll get used to it over time."

"Get used to it? You're talking as if I want to do this again," he replied.

Yotsuba simply shrugged, and grabbed her own bottle to rehydrate herself, even though she didn't seem to have sweated as much. The morning sun was beginning to rise, peeking through the houses' rooftops. How long had they been jogging? He didn't have a watch or his cellphone at hand.

The boy looked for a moment at the shoes he was wearing, and remembered something he'd meant to ask before, but since he got forcibly dragged into jogging, he didn't have a chance to.

"How did you know my shoe size?"

"Huh?"

"These fit perfectly." He moved the tips of his feet to emphasize. "I don't recall having told you my shoe size, like, ever."

"Well…" The ribbon girl began laughing nervously. "Lucky guess?"

Fuutarou frowned. That sounded unlikely, and the girl's trembling face gave away her lie. Squinting his eyes, he glared at her to force her to confess. Yotsuba flinched slightly, still giggling nervously until the finally gave in to pressure.

"Well, I'd been meaning to ask you to do some workout together for a while," the ribbon girl confessed. "I didn't know if you had training clothes, so one night you stayed at our place, Ichika convinced me that we took your measures. Not just for the shoes, but for the tracksuit."

Fuutarou snorted; that definitely sounded like Ichika. And while he was a bit surprised that Yotsuba played along with it, it didn't quite come as a shock. Though he still wondered about a few things.

"Why did you bring me to do this?" he asked.

"I told you; you're too skinny and you need to build up some strength." The girl pinched his arm to make her point. "You never know when it can come in handy, like when you need to run because you're late."

"Getting up early solves that," he said. "But come on, there's more than that. Out with it, now."

Yotsuba looked away and took a while to answer. It seemed she was looking for a response he'd accept. This time she didn't tremble or look nervous at all, she just let out a resigned sigh. That was weird; to see her with such a solemn expression, seeing she always looked lively and energetic.

"Since we had nothing to study, I thought we could find another way to spend time together," the girl finally confessed. "You've helped me a lot with my studies, and I wanted to do something for you. Besides, working out is a lot more fun when you do it in company."

"You could have asked that to your friends. Or your sisters."

"Nah, it's different with you. Much more fun this way."

"You find it funny to see me suffer, because I'm gasping for air?" He glared at her.

"No, of course not!" The girl frenetically shook her hands in front of her. "But if you don't try, you'll never know what you're capable of. Who knows, you might even get to like it and all!"

The boy kept staring at her. Okay, he couldn't deny the girl clearly meant well, and while physical exercise was a torture for him, it wasn't like she forced him to do beyond what he could.

And to be honest, it hadn't been boring either. Maybe once he felt his legs again, he could do a few additional laps.

"You're not expecting us to do this on a daily basis, are you?" he asked.

"Of course not," she said. "Just once or twice a week is fine, when we're free of studies. Then we can increase it when we have more free time and you get used to it."

Evidently, she was already taking as a matter of fact that he would get used to it. Well, that confirmed it, he couldn't get rid of her, or the exercise. Admittedly, part of him wanted to get in shape a while ago, since when he had to do heavy work like carrying boxes, containers or other things in part-time jobs, he'd often get fired because he couldn't carry the stuff fast enough. And that was frustrating.

For things like that, building up some strength and stamina didn't sound like a bad choice.

"I guess… I could take a few more laps," he said, resigning himself to his fate.

"Yay! How about a race? If you finish before I do, I'll give you a present!" the ribbon girl proposed. "Otherwise, you give it to me!"

He rolled his eyes; she'd only bet on that because she knew he had no chance whatsoever of winning. That was no fun. Better yet, he had to adjust the conditions on something that was humanly plausible for him.

"I propose another thing. If I can finish ten more laps without collapsing, we'll be done for today, and you'll owe me a favor. If not… well, you can ask me for anything you want, whatever it is. Even skipping out a whole day of studying."

"That's a deal!" the girl exclaimed enthusiastically. "Hehe, hope you're ready, because I have many things in mind I want to ask you!"

The girl began doing some stretches before running again around the blocks, while Fuutarou mentally congratulated himself. In her enthusiasm, the idiot agreed to his conditions not even stopping to analyze them. All he had to do was complete the ten laps without passing out. He never specified how long he had to take, or whether he should do it before her or not.

The key was to find his proper jogging pace so he could keep his breath, and slow down whenever it was necessary.

----------------------------------------

A few days later…

With no midterm exams pressure around, and taking a break from tutoring, Fuutarou had a few free hours, which he wanted to use to keep studying. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, as Yotsuba chased him around to keep working out together, and he subconsciously tries to get away from her. But whenever she caught him, he'd never find excuses to refuse, as his mother wasn't in need extra hands at the bakery for work, so he'd tried to find part-time jobs that could occupy his time.

'How did I get into this?' he wondered as he looked at the announcement board.

"Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba's high-pitched voice called out, emphasizing the "-san" by tackling him in the back, almost pushing him down.

"Huy! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" he exclaimed.

"Aw c'mon, aren't you glad to see me?" he asked with her silly grin. "But listen, I have something important to tell you."

"If it's to make me run another thirty laps, forget it," he said. He'd barely recovered sensitiveness in his legs and he still got cramps on the shin just by recalling those marathons.

"No, no, we're done with that," she said. "I've got something much better in mind. Check this out!"

The girl held a pamphlet up and almost shoved it in his face. It looked like the public announcement of a gym, showing the photo of a man and woman with bodybuilder muscles doing weight training. No need to be a genius like Fuutarou to understand what the girl was suggesting.

"No… don't even think about it," he preemptively said.

"Ah, come on, don't be such a spoilsport," she exclaimed. "Look, they're making a promotion campaign, a free week of membership in this new gym. And it's close to our school, so we can go after class when we don't have anything to study!"

"Speak for yourself, I always have a lot of stuff to study," he declared. "I can't get distracted or my grades will go down, and I have a reputation to keep, you know?"

"Your grades won't go down just because you try this," Yotsuba insisted. "Tell me, do you want to be a skinny wimp your whole life, or look like this?"

The girl pointed at the pamphlet, and sincerely, if he had to choose between looking like a wimp or a gorilla, he'd choose the former. At least his brain would keep him running rather than be consumed by the muscles like the people from the photo.

"I know what you're thinking," the girl added, giving him an accusing glare. "If you stay a wimp, before you realize you won't be able to carry Raiha-chan for play. You do know she's growing too, right?"

The boy frowned, but found himself unable to reply. As much as he hated to admit it, his sweet little sister wouldn't stay little for her entire life. The other day when he tried to lift her up to replace the ceiling lamp in the living room (they didn't have a chair at hand) he had to put a bigger effort to avoid falling over. When did she grow up so much?

"You could also be more useful at your mom's place," she continued. "They told me the other day you almost toppled backwards with a sack of flour. With stronger arms you can carry the ingredients for your bread in loads and without dying in the process."

Again, the girl had beaten him with her arguments. Sometimes, despite being so bad for studying, Fuutarou had the strange feeling that she was actually smarter than she looked, although never for important things.

He weighed his options. On the one hand, if the membership was free for one week and he ended up not liking it, he could simply tell Yotsuba he didn't want to go back. On the other hand, if it turned out not so bad after all and didn't interfere with his schedule, some strength training, as Yotsuba put it, could come in handy for when he worked at the bakery.

And it wasn't a joke; after a few mishaps that fortunately didn't have major consequences, even he knew he should avoid that. He didn't want to become a burden after all.

"*Sigh*, fine," he said before raising a finger. "But in exchange, we're doubling our study time to make up for it when we resume tutoring."

"Roger that, Uesugi-sensei!" Yotsuba exclaimed, once more making the military salute. Had she made a habit of that?

Before he could ask it out loud or say anything else, the girl kept running across the hallway and disappeared around the corner. He went in the opposite direction as he had to return some books to the library, and then a thought came to his mind: aside from helping his family, he'd probably be able to borrow the thickest and heaviest books without weighing down his backpack when he needed them especially if he had to take several at once.

From that point of view, maybe there were more advantages to doing strength training with Yotsuba than he imagined.

----------------------------------------

Later that day…

When Yotsuba dragged him to that aforementioned gym, Fuutarou admitted it looked quite a bit better inside than he expected. At first, he assumed it'd be full of sweaty, brainless macho-like gorillas using the machines, which gave him a rather unpleasant mental image. But in reality, there were many people their age, so they didn't stand out too much. All the better; he didn't want to be the skinny kid that stood out from the rest.

Fortunately for them, the gym had pretty good equipment for them to use, even training clothes available for rent for visitors like them. As he exited the dressing room he felt a little strange, since the sports shirt he wore felt a couple sizes too big for him.

"I think they don't have the size for wimps like me," he commented, pulling on the sleeves.

"Don't worry, with a little effort someday you'll fill it up."

Yotsuba came out of the female's dressing room, also fully equipped for workout. The studious boy had to make an effort to not to leave his eyes fixated on a single place as he gazed at her from head to toe, trying to focus in her silly smile. Which, admittedly, wasn't quite an easy task.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Her outfit of choice consisted in a green sports bra and a pair of black knee-length pants, both of them rather form-fitting so they highlighted her bust and thighs rather nicely. Between both, her exposed waist showed a flat stomach with no evidence of excess body fat. A perfect hourglass figure; he couldn't deny the girl was in excellent shape, though it was more evident now than when she wore her daily clothes or her school uniform.

"Okay, you ready?" She grabbed him by the wrist. "Time for some warming up!"

The warmup consisted in five minutes of spinning on the stationary bicycle. Yotsuba fortunately knew how to use it already, and adjusted it on the lowest level of resistance so he wouldn't have it too hard. Not bad for a start; he had to admit it wasn't a torture like running thirty laps on foot.

However, compared to that, everything else was very different. Yotsuba convinced him to try every exercise machine to see "which one he liked", starting with the bench press. With Yotsuba spotting him, he lied down to try it, but he quickly realized that even with just the smallest weights he couldn't lift the bar, and they had to remove them.

"If it's too heavy for you, it can't be helped," Yotsuba said. "The bar alone weights twenty kilos, not too bad to start. See if you can make three sets of ten repetitions."

Fuutarou sighed in resignation, but nonetheless did as the girl said, as she held the bar to help him with the lifting. He completed the first set with a lot of difficulty, but on the second one he stopped by the seventh repetition, and for the third he only completed five. When he let go of the bar leaving it on the safety rack, both his arms dropped aside.

"How's that?" Yotsuba said cheerily. "Wasn't that too bad?"

"Ignoring my lack of air and my arms killing me… I guess not," he admitted, leaving the bench for her.

"Don't worry, this takes time," the girl assured, placing two ten-kilo weights on the bar to begin her own repetitions.

Fuutarou was surprised at how easily Yotsuba could make it seem, especially as she lifted twice the same height as him without much difficulty. He made a note of the girl's movements: she lowered the bar slowly as she inhaled, and then raised it again while exhaling.

Why was he looking at that place specifically? What the hell was he thinking?

"Oof, that was fun. Now, about some sit-ups?" Yotsuba suggested.

Sit-ups, that sounded less brutal than having to lift weight. First, he stood in front of a mirror for practice without the bar, and while it wasn't too bad at first, as he approached the tenth repetition he began feeling the pressure on his rear, which made him worry about being able to sit at school.

"God, this is tougher than it looks," he commented when he finished.

"Just a little bit, but you need to train the lower body too," Yotsuba explained, slapping her thighs to make her point. "If you don't you end up having chicken legs that can't even hold you up."

Fuutarou for a moment imagined himself with a super muscular upper torso, held by a pair of legs thin as chopsticks. After thinking about it, if the girl had more muscle mass under her slim figure than it looked at his first glance, suddenly her wide hips and thighs made more sense, since they should be able to support her. Not just for showing off attractiveness.

"You seem to know a lot about muscle training," Fuutarou commented.

"Nah, not really, just the basics," Yotsuba said modestly. "Now let's see how you fare with the bar. Don't worry, I'll be here to catch you if you topple over."

While he wasn't quite keen on throwing an additional twenty-kilo weight on his back, Fuutarou obliged and began doing the sit-ups with the bar on his shoulders. Yotsuba got behind him and counted the repetitions, cheering him on constantly. But if it was hard enough for his rear without the weight, now it was downright brutal. He barely managed to complete five and a half in a set, and Yotsuba had to hold the bar so he wouldn't fall over and collapse.

"Rest for a bit, we'll continue later," the ribbon girl said.

The following hour they tested one by one the gym's machines, always repeating the same pattern: Fuutarou never made the full set, and then Yotsuba showed him how it was done with additional weight. He couldn't deny it was humiliating that the girl surpassed him so easily, but since he hadn't reached his academic achievements without putting an honest effort, he figured she had done the same with her physique. She just had more experience and took to it easier.

Everything came down to effort, and that took time. Time he wasn't sure he wanted to waste on this, but he felt Yotsuba would drag him anyway.

"Come on, Uesugi-san, just one more round!" Yotsuba exclaimed as they tried a rowing machine.

Here, the boy could more or less see some utility: if they ever went camping somewhere with a river and did some rafting, he could make use of this. In fact, he hadn't gone out in quite a while. He barely managed to finish the repetitions, though Yotsuba was way further ahead of him and even managed to do it twice as fast.

Fortunately, he got some breathing room when Yotsuba needed to go to the bathroom, leaving him there waiting on the machine. He grabbed the water bottle to rehydrate, now that he evidently lost plenty of water from sweating with all they'd done.

'At least my family can't see me now,' he thought. 'They'd laugh at me nonstop.'

"Hey, hey, look at who I found here."

Fuutarou almost choked on the water upon recognizing that voice. No… it couldn't be him…

Yes, yes he was. Turning around, he found himself looking at a smirking face, framed by a blond wild hair similar to his father's, but closer to his age, and a pair of amber eyes who stared at him with a mixture of curiosity, surprise and mockery.

"Kintarou… what're you doing here?"

"Ha! I'm the one who should be asking that, cous'." He crossed his arms. "So you finally decided to work out instead of being just a skinny grumpy nerd."

Kintarou Uesugi, his cousin from the neighbor district who'd come to visit occasionally. In many ways the total opposite to Fuutarou: he wasn't academically inclined, instead being athletic (which was evident by wearing a shirt the same size as his, but his sleeves were a bit fuller), and he loved to sport a delinquent look, complete with the blond-dyed hair and spreading wildly.

Which also brought him a mixture of memories of a certain image of himself he didn't find particularly pleasant.

"I came because membership is free," Fuutarou said before downing another third of the water bottle. "And also because I was dragged against my will."

"Is that so? And who dragged you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Thanks for waiting, Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba's high-pitched voice called out as she returned. As expected, both the ribbon girl and Fuutarou's cousin looked at one another, and the latter raised his eyebrows making a gesture of interest, for he'd just been answered his previous question.

And Fuutarou knew by the way he smirked what he was thinking before he said it.

"Well I'll be, what a beauty my eyes are seeing!" he said smiling as he evaluated her from head to toe. "She's the one who brought you, Fuutarou? Oh, don't tell me you two…!" Without warning, he jumped to grab him into a headlock. "You sneaky dog, finally got yourself a girlfriend!"

"Let go, you moron!" he exclaimed, trying futilely to break free. "Let go, you're all wrong, she's not my girlfriend!"

The more he struggled, the more Kintarou tightened the grip, but at least he got the message across. He had the answer on the tip of his tongue because he knew his cousin would get wrong ideas. Kintarou however wasn't disheartened at all, and even after letting go kept talking.

"No? Does that mean she's available?" he asked as he approached to see her better. "Well then, pleased to meet you, gorgeous. What's your name?"

"Yotsuba Nakano, the pleasure is mine. Are you friends with Uesugi-san?"

"Nah, we're just relatives, unfortunately," Kintarou said. "What about you? If you're not his girlfriend, then…"

"She's my student," Fuutarou interrupted before Yotsuba could answer. "I'm being paid to be her tutor, since she urgently needs to improve her grades. Just that."

Kintarou stared at him, and then glanced at Yotsuba, who simply shrugged and smiled as she nodded. The blond seemed relieved to know this for some reason, and Fuutarou had already a clear idea of what he was thinking.

"Thank heavens; I'd almost think it was the apocalypse or something," he said. "But all the better, it'd be more fun to train with you guys here. How about we get to know each other, Nakano-san?"

"Oh, don't worry, I prefer to go by my given name. And no need for honorifics either."

"Okay, as you say. I can see you're in pretty good shape, girl," he said as he glanced at her curves. "Wanna have a little friendly competition?"

"Why not? I bet that will motivate your relative here even more, hehehe."

Suddenly Fuutarou felt a chill going down his spine as he saw the looks on both Yotsuba and his cousin's eyes. He could have endured being alone with her and the physical torture, but with Kintarou now in the middle of it, this workout day would go from simple annoyance he could tolerate, to a total nightmare. His cousin would always know how and when to push his buttons to drag him to compete against him, and then rub it in his face.

And today it'd be no exception.

…

If there was one good thing Fuutarou could say about his afternoon in the gym, it would be that it went much faster than he expected, though it left him even more beaten up than his jogging laps marathon. At least Yotsuba and Kintarou enjoyed their little competition, which after being evenly matched in practically everything, came down to compete who was able to run faster on the treadmill for the tiebreaker.

"Wow, you surprised me," the blond said. "You're the first who beats me in running. And not just that, I can't believe you kept up with me in every machine."

"Haha, it's pretty handy to get to class on time, right?" she said addressing Fuutarou, who simply shrugged.

"Excuse me if I'm too busy, trying to regain sensitiveness in my limbs," he said, trying to make an effort to walk.

"Ah, don't worry, tomorrow you'll feel them again," Kintarou said. "Along with the rest of the workout's pain, obviously."

He didn't need the reminder; that was what he feared the most. He was starting to seriously regret allowing Yotsuba to drag him to the gym in the first place. Tomorrow it was going to be hell to get back on his feet.

"Okay, it was fun to hang out with you guys," Kintarou said, approaching a motorbike parked nearby. "Need a ride, Yotsuba? I have a spare helmet."

"Thanks, but I'd rather walk home," the ribbon girl replied. "Besides, someone needs to make sure your cousin here gets back home safe and sound."

"True." The blond then put on his helmet. "Well, maybe another time. Catch ya later, cous'!"

He kicked the pedal to start it up and quickly rode off. When he said "Catch ya later" he probably meant it as "I'll be staying the night at your place".

"Your cousin seems pretty nice," the Nakano girl commented. "You could learn to be more sociable from him."

"Tch, everyone says that," Fuutarou commented. "My old man says Kintarou looks more like him than I do. Sure, just because they dye their hair."

"Well, you wouldn't look half-bad as a blond," Yotsuba suggested, with her hand on his chin. "Maybe also with a piercing or two."

Fuutarou gave the girl a look. Was she serious? From the way she talked, she seemed to like that type of guys.

"Sounds like you two could get along just fine. Why don't you ask him out or something?"

"Nah, I'd better not." She stretched her arms. "That'd take my time for other important stuff… like studying with you."

The boy titled his head, a little surprised at the girl's serious tone. Yotsuba was hyperactive and not exactly inclined to studying (unless he was nearby or told her explicitly to do so), so he found it weird she skipped on that chance. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about his pay being cut.

"Still, you can't deny it was fun to train all three of us together, can you?" the girl continued.

"Well… I guess it was fun when you beat the idiot in the treadmill," he admitted. "His face when the thread dragged him back was priceless."

Considering how much of a showoff Kintarou could be (it was a family thing, and Fuutarou was proof of that), it was nice to see him beaten for a change. While the blond took it in stride, Fuutarou felt some catharsis at the fact that Yotsuba was more athletic than him, if just a little bit.

And another thing… the image of the girl working out in those form-fitting clothes wasn't a bad show to look at. He wouldn't mind returning to the gym just to see it, but he would never admit that out loud. Not in this life.

"Well, you better rest tomorrow," Yotsuba said. "You still have a few days of free membership, and you surely can build some muscle in that time."

Fuutarou saw that as improbable, though while his annoying cousin didn't come uninvited, maybe he could bear with it. If only to admire Yotsuba's physical assets.

'Geez, what the hell am I thinking?'

----------------------------------------

Asahiyama High library, days after…

Fuutarou was happy he could return to his usual activity pace. The school library definitely was his sanctuary, the place where he could work his mind out, where he felt more at ease doing what he enjoyed the most: studying.

Or so it would be, if it wasn't because his arms hurt so much he could barely lift the books, and he felt a sting all over the hand, extending across the forearm whenever he tried to write. Walking to school took him a similar effort, and while his legs weren't numb and could still hold him up, his rear end was still complaining. When did the library chairs become so hard?

'At this rate, I won't finish the practice exercises for Yotsuba,' he thought, making an effort to move the pencil.

Maybe, if he had spared some time to do some exercises in the past rather than just study, now he wouldn't feel as pained. On the other hand, he wondered if he should have let Yotsuba convince him after beginning to train. While the subsequent times weren't as annoying… the pain still remained similar.

"Uesugi-san!" the girl's high-pitched voice called out from the library's entrance, coming over as cheery as ever. "What are we going to do today?"

"I'm thinking," he answered. "Just give me time until I can feel my limbs again."

"Oh, you look terrible," she gasped, covering her mouth. "Was that workout too much for you?"

"Just a little bit." He tried to move his fingers to write as the girl sat down. As soon as she did, he looked at her and noticed her cheery expression had dimmed down notably.

"I'm really sorry," she said in an apologetic tone. "I just thought… we could spend more time together, to have some fun. I mean, I do like studying with you, but…"

"Save the apologies," he replied. "It's not your fault I'm a wimp who can barely lift a bar without weights."

"Don't exaggerate, you could do that much," she said. "But hey, many professional athletes get to be good in their studies too, right? Surely you can too, if only a little."

"I appreciate the thought," he laconically said. "But really, I don't think I'm the mood today for…"

"Ah, Nakano-san, I finally found you."

Both turned in the direction of the voice. A rather creepy female voice, and from what Fuutarou saw, it belonged to an equally creepy-looking person. It was a girl dressed in a tracksuit from the school's track club, with long hair tied in a ponytail and slightly tanned skin. Said girl then approached their table.

"Ah, Eba-san," Yotsuba said, providing a name for her. "Something's up?"

"Yes, I've been looking all over for you. The track club needs urgent help, and you said you'd be available if we needed a replacement, right?"

"Errr… yeah, I said that."

"Splendid! Because one of our runners has just been transferred to another school, and we're short a member for the relay runs. Could you help us?"

She spoke with a voice Fuutarou almost thought sounded like a ghost movie. If she were a little paler, he'd almost believe she'd come out of the netherworld.

"Er, I guess I could. When…?"

"Right now!" she exclaimed, holding her wrists. "The sooner you come, the better!"

Yotsuba glanced in Fuutarou's direction. For a strange reason, the boy had the feeling that, instead of asking "Can I go?" she was trying to say "Help me!", and frankly he couldn't blame her, especially with the appearance of that Eba girl.

However, his rational part said that, at least in his current state, there was little he could do to stop her, so he spoke in a resigned tone.

"I don't think there's much we can do today," he said. "You may go, if it's just a temporary thing."

"O-okay," Yotsuba said. "A-alright, Eba-san, let's go!"

Eba and Yotsuba left the library, and Fuutarou had the oddest feeling that he'd come to regret this decision. But at least for now, the pain in his limbs ended up silencing those thoughts.

He barely had the strength to turn the pages on his books.

----------------------------------------

Uesugi bakery, a bit later…

It was hard to enjoy his classes with his arms and legs in pain, and Fuutarou felt a huge relief once he could finally go home. The walk to his family's bakery served to alleviate somewhat those sore muscles. Maybe eating something would help him feel even better.

Or so it would have been, if it wasn't because, right before he reached the entrance, a motorbike roared and honked near him, startling him.

"Whoa!" he yelled angrily, and then immediately recognized both the bike and its rider. "Ah, it was you, I should have guessed."

"What's the matter? Is that any way to greet your favorite cousin?" Kintarou pulled out his helmet to look him in the eye, showing off his big toothy grin.

"You're my only cousin," Fuutarou pointed. "How long are you planning to stick around?"

The last part was a rhetorical question, of course. He knew exactly why he was still here, and while he would have loved to kick him out of his house, his parents wouldn't allow it.

"Oi, you seem in a worse mood than I thought," Kintarou said, giving him a pat on the back. Fuutarou had to hold back a scream. "Ah, sorry, still having sequels with the training?"

"What do you think?" Fuutarou tried to rub himself to alleviate the pain. "But Yotsuba isn't done yet. She still wants us to train more."

"Bueno, it's not like you don't need it," Kintarou admitted. "Speaking of her, why isn't she with you today?"

"She's got things to do with the track club." Fuutarou shrugged. "Though that's a relief for me; I need to stop feeling pain in my body before we can resume our tutoring sessions."

"Hey, cous', no pain, no gain." Next, he wrapped an arm around Fuutarou's shoulder, albeit carefully to avoid hurting him. "Between us, that girl's a real hottie, you shouldn't pass the chance, eh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, you think I haven't noticed? That girl's crazy for ya, and you don't give her a damn!" the blond protested. "I'm telling you, girls like her are one in a million, you might not have another chance!"

Fuutarou felt tempted for a moment to say that Yotsuba had four identical sisters, but held back. He didn't need Kintarou to get weird ideas or something, especially under the off chance that Yotsuba wasn't the only one attracted to him.

It wasn't that he disliked them, but none of them was the type of girl he'd like for himself.

"Tch, what a spoilsport. At this rate you're gonna miss out your best years and regret it." He put his helmet back on. "Well, if you change your mind, just give me a shout and I'll gladly give you advice."

"Sure, whatever you say," Fuutarou shrugged.

Without further words, Kintarou started up the bike again and left. They were going to meet each other again soon enough, since he was staying at his place. And enduring his snores in his bedroom didn't help his sleep time.

Well, he didn't have to care about him for now. He'd just go for his usual snack when he stopped by his mother's bakery…

"Uesugi!"

Until a voice abruptly stopped him. All of a sudden, he was dragged by the shirt and dragged against his will. By the time he came to, he was pinned against a wall, with a pair of black butterfly ribbons in front of him, and a pair of blue eyes giving him an icy glare, chilling enough that he almost thought he'd be frozen to death.

"N-Nino?" he said once he regained his speech.

He was about to ask what she was doing there, but upon looking down he saw her wearing the place's apron uniform. That clearly told him she'd accepted his mother's offer to work part-time there. Great, but other things urged for now.

His rational part managed to calm down and find another route. "May I ask why you dragged me here?"

Indeed, upon looking at his surroundings, he realized he was in the bakery's employee room. And since he wasn't an employee at the time, he technically should not be there.

"Sorry, I hate to do this, but I need to ask you something important," the second Nakano said, in a tone that sounded dead serious. "And I don't wanna make a scene in the place."

"If Mom finds out, we'll both get into trouble," Fuutarou pointed.

"She's out for a minute, she doesn't need to know," she replied. "I'm just asking you a quick question, don't worry about it. And this better stay between us, are we clear?"

"What're you talking about?" he asked without a clue.

"One word to Yotsuba or any of my sisters, and you're a dead man. Got it?"

Fuutarou swallowed, but nodded, if only to preserve his physical integrity. What had he just gotten himself into? What was so important for Nino to threaten her this way?

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, just don't kill me," he said trying to not give away how terrified he was just by looking at her eyes. "Now, are you gonna tell me what's so important or what?"

"Promise!"

"I promise, alright, but just get it over with!" he exclaimed.

Nino took a deep breath. The two didn't have the best of relationships, so it was probably something important for her to come to him, or rather, for her to drag him that way. Was it something grave?

"That… that bad boy you were talking with a while ago," she finally said, in a much calmer tone. Fuutarou also noticed she began fiddling with her fingers and blushed slightly.

"Who, Kintarou? That's my cousin, what's up with him?" he asked, confused.

Nino bit her lips, as if having a hard time saying the words, but finally spilled them out. "Can you introduce me to him?"

"Eh?"

His brain was momentarily frozen as the words he heard finally sank in. Alright; amongst all things he thought she could have asked him, that definitely was not one of them. She wanted him to introduce her to Kintarou?

"Didn't you hear me? I asked if you could introduce me to him."

"For what?" he asked, still without fully understanding. Nino scowled and almost strangled him, but somehow managed to keep her cool and let him go, as she twirled her ribbon's strand around her fingers, avoiding direct visual contact.

"Saw you two talking through the glass," she said. "So his name is Kintarou-kun, huh? Well, he's got a bad boy look, just like I like them. And he even has a bike; I'd love to have a boy like him taking me for a ride sometime."

"Huh? Oi, are you telling me…?"

"Shhhh, yeah, it's exactly what you're thinking, genius." She emphasized the sarcasm in the last word. "I hate to ask you this, but if you two are family, it could be my only chance to meet him."

Fuutarou crossed his arms, staring at the second Nakano sister. It was unusual to see her so flustered, and certainly hostilities hadn't ceased when he went to the apartment for his study sessions with Yotsuba.

Maybe this could be the perfect chance to get some payback, making her suffer a little bit.

"I don't know… Yotsuba and I ran into him at the gym, and he seemed to like her," he nonchalantly commented.

"Eh?! No, please don't tell me he…!"

"Of course, he still doesn't know Yotsuba has sisters," he immediately added, smirking to get her to calm down. "And knowing him, I'm sure he'd be happy to know that."

"Then…?"

"He's staying at our place for a few days," Fuutarou explained. "There was a gas explosion at his school, and while damage is being fixed his classes are suspended, so he's staying with us a few more days.

"I could put a good word for you, tell him how delicious your cookies are, and tell him you're working here so you two can meet. But if I do that, you'll owe me a favor, and I'll be calling in the tabs one day. I always pay my debts, and I'm always expecting others to pay theirs."

Nino burrowed her mouth, biting her lip as she tried to held back the urge to utter a swear or scream in rage. Fuutarou could almost hear the mental debate happening inside the girl's head: he knew she disliked him, and asking him for a favor wasn't a pleasant thought for her.

But seeing no other means, she swallowed her pride and came directly to him.

"Alright, you win," she grudgingly admitted. "I'll owe you this one, but it'll be just a one-time thing, got it?"

Both of them sealed the deal with a handshake. Fuutarou had the feeling that Nino intentionally tried to crush his fingers, and while it hurt a little bit, he refused to stoop to the same level. Though he wasn't sure whether it was because Nino wasn't as strong as Yotsuba, or maybe because the latter's workout gave him some pain resistance.

Whatever it was, he'd fulfill his end of the bargain. The rest, whether things turned out well for Nino or not, that wasn't his business, he couldn't care less.

----------------------------------------

A few more days later…

Day in, day out went one after another. Yotsuba was right to say the first time was the worst. The next times the two went to work out together, his body wasn't in as much pain as the first day once they were done. Though that was just marginally truth: the difference of pain between the first day and up to that point was minimal. His arms and legs still killed him, and if he sought to increase his pain tolerance, he still had long ways to go.

At some point Yotsuba convinced him to go jogging with the rest of the track club, which he grudgingly accepted despite the bad vibes coming out of their captain, that Eba girl (he couldn't look at her in the eye without getting the chills). That said, while they left him behind several times, he managed to complete the run, even though at the end of the day, Yotsuba had to take him home and practically deposit him in his bed because he couldn't move anymore. As a result, he promised to be twice as harsh in their next study session.

But, said session wasn't today. Once again it was a day off, and since they'd finished their share of schoolwork, he had no compromises that prevented him from joining Yotsuba running a few laps around the park. Although this time they began during the afternoon, to finish during sunset, and like the first day, they ended up resting by sitting on the swings.

"You improved your record today, Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba exclaimed as she handed him the water bottle. "You finished your thirty laps much faster than the first day."

"If that's worth not feeling my legs," he said. Indeed, both his legs were numb after the run.

Accepting the bottle, he downed it in a single gulp after he was left dripping in sweat with the run. Even he could feel the progress, small as it was, but he still didn't like it. Physical effort definitely was not his thing.

A while later, Fuutarou was left looking around the park they were at. The previous times they finished their little exercise run in this same place, he hadn't seen anybody else coming to annoy them. From that perspective, it was a quiet place to take a break.

Or at least, it'd be if she hadn't suddenly decided to stand on the swing and balance on it, screeching the chains.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she replied. "Look, when you swing this high, you get a great view of the city, especially at this hour!"

"You don't say…" he replied, incredulous.

"Really! Go on, try it!" the girl insisted.

He paid no heed to her, simply being content by looking at her as she swung around. Sometimes she behaved like a grown little kid, how immature.

Even so, she was clearly having a lot of fun.

A few minutes later, once she reached high enough, Yotsuba jumped off the swing, flying through the air and landing a good distance ahead of him. For a moment he was worried she'd get hurt or something, but she made a perfect landing, getting back up immediately and raising her fists in the air triumphantly.

"Haha, I broke my personal record!" the ribbon girl explained, making him feel on equal parts annoyed and relieved. So he couldn't do anything but shrug.

"You behave like a little kid," he said dryly as she sat back next to him.

"Hehe, the others always say that," Yotsuba said. "I'm the only of us five who hasn't matured. That's why I was suspended from our old school. And maybe that's why I still come here."

The last part was said in a nostalgic tone. Unsure as to why, he turned to see Yotsuba as she slightly lowered her gaze, before grabbing the chains and swinging again, albeit not with the same enthusiasm as before.

"Sometimes, I like coming here when I'm feeling lonely or sad," she said. "It's my special place to escape from everything and everyone."

"Well, it's rather quiet and peaceful here," he admitted. "Your sisters don't know about it?"

"I don't think so, we just came here together once," Yotsuba said. "Maybe they don't even remember. But that's fine; like I said, I like to have this place for myself."

Fuutarou stared at her once more. It was weird, but that nostalgic tone in the girl gave him a feeling he couldn't understand inside. He couldn't call it bad, but it wasn't quite good either. For all he knew, the five Nakano sisters shared practically everything, and it was strange to think Yotsuba had something she only wanted for herself.

And even weirder perhaps, that she shared it with him, who compared to her sisters, was practically a stranger. Well, maybe not quite a stranger, but still…

'Why am I thinking about this?'

Despite the grievances she gave him, either body pains with training, or headaches when they had to study, they couldn't call themselves 'strangers' or 'acquaintances'. If during the study sessions they were teacher and student, the roles inverted when they worked out, with her being the one showing him the ropes. Even though both things annoyed him at first, as the days went by it became more and more tolerable.

Ichika had said they could be friends, and she clearly was willing to be. Was that the case with Yotsuba? At first glance it seemed that way: the girl wanted to spend time together beyond school and study sessions, maybe because she wanted to have fun as friends.

And while she was annoying, ditzy and loud… he found himself unable to hate her. It didn't seem too bad to spend time with her after school or studying, if he was sincere.

"Okay, break time's over!" Yotsuba exclaimed, quickly regaining her usual sunny and energetic demeanor. "How about a marathon back home?"

"Marathon?" he asked. "You're not thinking about…"

"Of course not," Yotsuba said. "We're doing a light jog, so you don't get too tired. That way we'll take the scenic route, and it's not too late yet."

That was good for him. At least now he'd rested enough to jog back home. Though if Yotsuba escorted him, probably Raiha would want her to stay for dinner.

It'd be a long way home, but at least it wouldn't be boring.

To be continued…