Shuichi works out with Maki

After eating some dinner, Shuichi arrived at Kokai Park right at 9 PM, where he found Maki already there waiting for him in red work out shirt and tight black shorts. Her keen eyes spotted him almost instantly and she did her best to wave in a non-threatening manner as he walked over to her.

“Hey there, Maki. It’s good to see you again,” Shuichi greeted. “Are you ready to get started?”

“Yeah, I am.” Maki paused for a moment as she looked Shuichi up and down. “Did something happen today? You look different.”

“Huh?” Shuichi looked down at himself, thinking or a moment that he was still wearing his new clothes but quickly realizing that he was in his work outfit. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s a lot of subtle things, but… it’s mostly in your eyes,” Maki replied. “You look like someone who somehow lived through a car crash they didn’t expect to survive.”

“Oh, nothing that dramatic happened, I promise,” Shuichi explained, doing his best to sound casual. “I just… went on a really weird date is all.”

“… do you want to talk about it?” Maki asked after a moment.

“Yeah… I do,” Shuichi replied.

The ex-assassin sat down on next to a nearby tree and pat the ground next to her. Shuichi sat down on that spot and the two began doing sit-ups, though Maki was completing them four times faster than he was.

“So, what exactly happened on this date to make it so weird?” Maki asked, not even panting even though she already completed forty sit-ups.

“Well… it’s… kind of a long… story,” Shuichi grunted as he built up his own rhythm. “I guess the short version is… a coworker of mine felt sorry for me, so he hired a sex worker to pretend to want to go on a date with me. Her name was Pandora, and she-“

“Wait, did you just say ‘Pandora’?” Maki stopped her workout in its tracks. “Did she have blonde hair, pig tails, and black shirt?”

“Yeah… do you know her?” Shuichi asked curiously.

“Kind of,” Maki replied. “We only briefly met once, when she sold me my schoolgirl outfit, but I have heard Johns and other escorts talk about her. She’s apparently known for her sadism and manipulating her clients. Rumor has it that she’s given more men clinical depression than orgasms. She… didn’t hurt you, did she?”

“A little bit, but…” Shuichi turned towards Maki and smiled confidently. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“… well, that’s good to hear at least.” Maki returned to doing her sit-ups.

“So… how was your day?” Shuichi asked, still struggling to keep pace with his brunette friend. “Did you get to do anything exciting too?”

“No, not really,” Maki replied casually. “All I did was have sex with clients all day. One of them had me show him my throwing-axe skills, one of them had me treat him like a hostage, another had me pretend to ‘poison’ his food with aphrodisiacs. Boring stuff like that.”

“Oh, y-yeah, that does sound pretty dull,” Shuichi agreed, though he obviously thought that sounded pretty exciting. “So, does that mean you didn’t do anything fun today?”

“…I’m still not really good at fun yet.” Maki blushed like beat as she spoke.

“That’s okay,” Shuichi replied. “You’ll get better at it with time, I know it.”

“Thanks…” Maki blushed a little bit more before standing up off the ground and stretching out her limbs. “Alright, that’s three hundred sit-ups. Let’s move onto the jogging now.”

“Eh!? But I haven’t even gotten to fifty yet!” Shuichi complained.

“Yes, but we need to make sure you get in some cardio as well. Otherwise, you’ll keep tiring yourself out too fast with other workouts.” Maki replied, still stretching her legs. “… we can slow down a little if you want, though.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Shuichi panted as he stood up. “Let me just… stretch myself out too.”

Wobbling a little, Shuichi stood up and did his best to copy Maki’s stretches despite how sore they made his muscles feel. Eventually, they both jogged a few times around the park and returned to where they started, where they kept exercising until a little after 10 PM. By the time they were finished with their routine, Shuichi was even more of a sweaty mess than he was after having sex, while Maki didn’t have so much as a hair out of place in her twin ponytails.

“Alright, I think that was a pretty good start, but next time let’s try to do even more,” Maki said after taking a drink out of a red water bottle.

“M-more? But my body… already feels like… it’s going to fall apart…” Shuichi panted, his hands on his knees as he almost keeled over.

“I know it’s hard now, but trust me, you will get used to it.” Maki handed the office boy her water bottle, which he eagerly drank from. “The pain you feel now is just the price of getting a healthy body.”

“Healthy body, huh? I’ll take your word for it.” Shuichi wiped the sweat off his forehead. “I doubt I’ll ever get mine to look as good as yours, though.”

“Idiot…” Maki blushed and frustratedly stroked one of her ponytails. “I told you before, there’s nothing wrong with the way your body looks. Don’t put yourself down like that, even if it’s to compliment me.”

“Yeah… I guess I have some **** of habits that I have to overcome myself.” Shuichi smiled softly and placed a hand on Maki’s shoulder. “But thanks for doing all this with me. I’m really glad I get to spend time with an amazing woman like you.”

“Jeeze… now you’re just sounding like sap,” Maki replied, though even in the dark Shuichi could tell she was blushing even brighter now. “So, I guess I’ll see you the same time tomorrow then?”

“Yeah, see you then!” Shuichi dusted himself off. “B-but before you go, is it okay if we… you know…”

Maki rolled her eyes and dashed over to Shuichi with surprising speed, in the same way a lion would close in on its prey. But instead of attacking him, the brunette placed her soft hand under Shuichi’s chin, leaned forward, and pressed her lips softly against his. For just a moment, all the stress they had felt that day was gone, and the only thing left in the whole world was where their mouths met.

“… thanks,” Shuichi said after the kiss broke.

“No problem,” Maki replied before turning around and heading towards the park exit. “Goodnight, Shuichi.”

“G-goodnight to you too!” Shuichi called out before heading back to his car. When he finally made it back to his apartment he knew he probably should have showered, but instead he went straight to his bed and collapsed, his body more than willing to pass out and finally give him a peaceful end to his chaotic day.