He can't avoid inevitability forever.

Shuichi once again avoided his fuel gauge as he drove Peko and himself to the park, taking a risky shortcut through the RLD to save time and fuel that thankfully paid off. Once there, the two found Maki and Mukuro already stretching and warming themselves up.

“So, you’re not dead yet after all?” Maki remarked as she spotted them.

“Huh? What exactly is that supposed to mean?” asked Shuichi. “You didn’t really expect the Yakuza to come after me still, did you?”

“No, but the way you talked about that presentation of yours before it made it sound like it was going to be worse than going up against all the mob bosses at once,” she replied. It was a little hard to tell, but Shuichi could tell she was teasing him.

“Maybe I did build it up a bit more in my head than I needed to, but it still was a pretty big deal. Especially with the future of the company still up in the air,” he replied, starting to stretch with the two girls.

“Well, I don’t know a lot about your company, but with everything you went through these last few days I don’t think it does you any good to blow up the importance of it,” said Mukuro. “What happens to the company is up to the people in charge, not you, and they’d make their decisions with or without your presentation in the end. So take all that imaginary weight off your shoulders and relax.”

“I know you’re right, but… it’s a bit more difficult than that, Mukuro,” said Shuichi.

“Hmm… alright, I have an idea.” Mukuro finished her stretches, stepped onto the footpath that circled around the park, and pointed forward. “We are going to jog even faster than normal today, and do ten more of each exercise. That way we can work the stress right out of your system.”

“W-what!?” Shuichi gasped. “I think doing that would be more likely to kill me than anything else.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll thank us by the end,” said Maki. “But if you’re feeling unmotivated, then how about this? If you manage to keep up, we can reward you by letting you use our bodies as pillows for you to rest on.”

“Oh! That, uh…” Shuichi coughed nervously and blushed. “Sounds like a good reward.”

“And what about me?” asked Peko. “Am I not worthy to offer myself as a pillow as well?”

“You slept with him last night, so you’ve had enough skinship with him for now,” Mukuro pointed out. Neither one of them had actually mentioned to Mukuro that they had sex, but there was clearly no denying it either. “Though, we do have something special in mind for you.”

“That’s right,” Maki nodded. “We might have both beaten you once, but… we’ve decided that you deserve a second chance. You see, we like to spar every once in a while, and we think you’d make a good third partner.”

“You want me to join you in sparring? I’m flattered, but I left my bamboo sword back at Shuichi’s apartment, so I don’t think I’ll be able to start tonight,” said Peko.

“Don’t worry; we won’t be starting with weapons,” said Mukuro, cracking her knuckles.

“... very well. Challenge accepted,” said Peko.

“Perfect; I look forward to kicking your ass again then,” said Maki. “For now, though, let’s get jogging.”

About 1 hour and 15 gallons of sweat later, Shuichi collapsed onto the side of the park footpath and nearly passed out from exhaustion. Mukuro didn’t say a word as she walked over and sat down onto her knees on the grass next to him.

“So, how do you feel?” Mukuro asked as she placed his head onto her lap.

“Better… strangely,” he panted in reply. “I can’t believe it worked. Is it… just the exercise taking my mind off stressful things?”

“That’s part of it, but I always believed that exercise works something out of your system that just makes you miserable if you let too much of it build up,” Mukuro explained. “That’s why the most miserable people I seem to meet are the ones who sit around all day.”

“I see… I guess that makes sense.” After resting on Mukuro’s firm thighs for a moment, he lifted his head up and looked around the park. “Say, where did Maki and Peko go?”

“Over there.” Mukuro pointed to an area far off the main footpath, where both former assassins were intently staring each other down. “It seems getting their blood flowing made them eager to get their first sparring match going. Maybe Peko thinks being tired will slow Maki down?”

The staring contest between Maki and Peko finally ended with Peko trying to deliver a sweep directly to Maki’s legs. Maki dodged this easily and grabbed one of Peko’s arms, pulling her close and then putting her into a headlock. They fell to the ground together shortly after, where they struggled and writhed against each other. Peko still clearly had a lot of fury left in her, but it was obvious to everyone who had won already.

“Wow, Maki sure isn’t showing any mercy,” Shuichi marveled.

“Indeed,” said Mukuro, pretending not to notice the bulge that had just appeared in Shuichi’s pants as he stared at what Maki was doing. “My guess is that now that she’s finally tasted victory, she’s growing addicted to it. Such a shame that’ll end the moment I join them.”

“Big… talk!” Grunted Maki. “I can still take you easy… as soon as we’re done!”

“Sigh… hold on, Shuichi. I’ll be right back.” Mukuro gently pushed Shuichi off her lap and headed to where Maki and Peko were wrestling.

“Wait, what are you doing?” asked Maki. “Wait, hang on a se- ah!

To Shuichi’s amazement, it took Mukuro only 10 seconds to pin both Peko and Maki to the ground underneath her.

“Excuse me, I don’t think I heard you correctly earlier,” Mukro said, her tone of voice extra flat to rub in the humiliation. “Did you say something about being able to defeat me?”

“Grr… fine! Uncle, uncle!” Maki slammed her fist desperately on the ground. “I’ll beat you… one day, I swear.”

“And I look forward to seeing you try; but for now, we should probably work more on your fundamentals,” Mukuro told her.

As Mukuro began to give both Peko and Maki tips, Shuichi crawled over to the nearest tree and rested himself against it. He was a little sad to have lost his lap pillow so quickly, but he was still more than satisfied watching his friends work out until it finally got dark enough for the stars to start shining.

“Well, even if I lost, that still was pretty fun,” Maki said as she packed her gym bag, still a bit winded. “I’ll see you all tomorrow then, okay?”

“Of course,” Shuichi said, turning to leave as well only to find Maki blocking his path.

“And you’ll go straight home, right? No side adventures or being **** by aliens, or anything of the sort?” Maki said, her arms crossed and a cute pout on her face.

“Not to worry; going home is the only thing on my mind,” Shuichi told her. “Plus, I’ve got Peko with me! She’ll make sure I go straight back, right?”

“You have my word.” Peko bowed to Maki. “If he even thinks of doing anything stupid, I’ll stop him.”

“Very well.” Maki turned and left the park. “We’ll see if you can keep that promise.”

“Heh, right…” Shuichi laughed nervously. “See you both next time. And have a good weekend!”

With that, Shuichi got into his car and began driving home, once again taking a shortcut through the RLD. However, since it was later at night, the traffic was a lot more congested there, and he found their pace slowed to a crawl. And then, the moment he was dreading finally happened - his engine sputtered and a warning light flashed on his dashboard. There was no denying it now; there was no way he had enough fuel to make it home.

“Shit…” Shuichi gripped the wheel tightly as he pulled into the nearest open parking space on the side of the road, turning off the car. There, he sat there next to Peko in the cold of the night while sex workers and Johns walked by on the sidewalk, as he desperately tried to figure out what to say to her. “Look… Peko, I’m so-”

“There’s no need to apologize, Shuichi,” Peko said, putting up her hand. Given the look on her face, it seemed as though she wasn’t the least bit surprised that this had happened. “I just need your permission to go and get you some more gas, using my own money.”

“Sigh… fine,” Shuichi relented. “But I’ll pay you back, I swear.”

“Of course, sir.” Peko got out of the car and shut the door behind her. “The nearest gas station is pretty far away, just so you know. It’ll take me a while, but I’ll still try to be back with a canister as soon as I can. You just make sure to stay right here… okay?”

“Don’t worry - I don’t think I’ll be paying for any fun tonight, let alone a hotel room,” he told her. “I’ll just… keep an eye on the car.”

“Good. Be back soon.”

Peko began walking as fast as she could, her running shoes standing out quite strongly on a street full of high heels. And as she left, Shuichi sank down into his seat, doing his best to disappear so far into his seat cushion that even the heavens couldn’t see him anymore. But, despite his best efforts, someone was going to find his shame, and find it very very soon.