Souma watched Samantha in the weight training room for a couple minutes before he shook his head and dropped from a shadow near her, causing her to jump up and drop the dumbbell she had been holding behind her head. Somehow she managed to avoid her foot getting crushed by it.

“Dammit, Souma, don’t scare me like that!” Samantha scowled at him. Souma winced and bent down to pick up the weight.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting you to drop this,” he said with an apologetic twist to his lips. He rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t usually see anyone in here, since most of the lifting types have their own benches. What are you doing in here?”

Samantha sighed and started to stretch a little to get some of the tension to leave her shoulders. “I figured I should work a little on my body strength after seeing how buff a lot of people here are. I’m not weak by any stretch, but most of my strength comes from swinging my weapon. Gianna looks like she could snap one of my arms with ease.”

“I’m not sure she’d appreciate being called buff,” Souma commented, going to a set of bars and doing some pull-ups. “She’s still a woman, you know, and likes to think she doesn’t have masculine muscles.”

“That’s not what I was saying!” Samantha exclaimed, reclaiming her dumbbell and starting again with her string of reps. “I just meant she has very defined arms and shoulders. You can tell she’s really strong, that’s all. She’s not like those super muscle-y women you see on TV and stuff. She’s just very obviously strong, that’s all.”

“And you’re intimidated by it.”

“Of course I am. And that dude I fought before, he was strong. If I had been even a little slower or even slightly off with my weapon, I’d have lost. And that bothers me a lot, so I figured I’d run in the mornings and work out in the afternoons when I’m not meeting with Gianna. That’s all.”

Souma dropped from the bar and went to the wall to do a handstand next to it. Once he was sure he had his balance, he started doing push ups against the wall. “I understand that, I guess. I mean, I work out here any time I can so I’m not going to give you any grief. I keep some bars in my room for some personal training, but for weights I come here.”

Samantha put away the dumbbell and moved to one of the machines, frowning in thought. “Hey, when you are here… Do you think you could spot me so I could work with some heavier weights?”

“You sure you’re okay with a Kazegami watching your back?” Souma asked, pausing for a moment to focus on her.

Samantha smirked. “The way I see it, I’m just trying to make Kaguya’s older brother hang out with me so I can use him to get closer to his gorgeous little sister.”

Souma glared at her for a long moment before he laughed. “Yeah, that was definitely a silly question to ask you. If you’re willing to sleep with a Kazegami, how hard is it to trust one to watch your back?”

Samantha’s face went red in an instant. “I-I’m not sleeping with her!”

“Yet!”

“You said it, not me.”

Souma made a disgusted face. “Yeah, and it gave me an image I’d rather not have.”

“Serves you right.” Samantha stretched her back and neck, and then waved at him as she walked towards the exit. “Anyway, see you around I guess.”

“Sure thing,” he called as she left the room.

Samantha walked out of the building and started walking aimlessly, eventually seeing a familiar face and smiling a little. “Yo, Eliza!” she called, jogging to catch up to the smaller girl, who had paused and turned to look back with a little color to her cheeks once she realized who called for her. “So, how have you been doing lately?”

“I’ve been doing pretty well,” Eliza answered with a large smile. “No one has been messing with me ever since you beat up Lazlo from the Kazegami, and I’ve been talking to a lot of our Familia to train with them sometimes so I can get a little stronger.”

“That’s good,” Samantha told her, nodding as they started walking again.

They were quiet for a while, and then Eliza cleared her throat. “Um, Samantha?”

“What’s up?”

“Are you, um, seeing anyone?”

Samantha nodded, though she was hesitant to put it into words for a moment. “I am, yeah. It’s not an official thing, but I’m pretty involved in the other person.”

“I see.” Samantha saw the disheartened expression on Eliza’s face and winced. But then Eliza’s face brightened. “Well, I hope it goes well for you!”

It probably wouldn’t take long for Eliza to recover from this, since Samantha was pretty sure Eliza was mostly starstruck and confused because of her boyish good looks. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened, and she was glad she could keep things civil between her and Eliza. The girl was cute, but Samantha felt nothing except protective friendship for her.