Volume 6 Chapter 3

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Edited by Kashima

♥

Generally speaking, sexual intercourse is an opportunity.

Well, even if we don’t call it an opportunity, it’s definitely a special event.

The fact that we designate words like virgin or inexperienced to sort people who have gone through it and those who haven’t, shows how much importance the world places on it.

However,

After experiencing it, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.

I certainly think it’s special, but not something that drastically changes your views or outlook in life.

I guess there was a part of me that… felt like it was a weird trial I had to go through, since I was inexperienced until recently. I was also afraid that I would become a different person after the fact… but that wasn’t the case at all.

I’m still me.

He’s still him.

Nothing has changed.

It was a precious confirmation of our feelings for each other by overlapping our skin on top of one another.

Well.

I guess.

Having said that,

I did say nothing changed… but that’s not completely true.

Gradually, but clearly, our relationship had begun to change since that night.

For example… at breakfast.

“Fuah… Good morning.”

“Morning, Takkun. I’m making breakfast, so just wait a bit.”

I woke up a little early and started preparing breakfast. He came out of the room a little later.

After greeting him, I returned my gaze to the egg I was frying in the pan, but…

Squeeze.

Takkun hugged me from behind.

“Kya… W-What is it?”

“Nothing much. I just couldn’t hold back after seeing your appearance from behind,” he said shyly and apologetically, but without letting go. “You look beautiful today too, Ayako-san.”

“G-Geez… What are you saying now? Anyways, I’m cooking, so please let me go.”

“Just a little more.”

“No can do. We need to hurry or we’ll be late.”

“…Fine.”

Takkun replied with a bit of a sulking tone and let me go. I continued making breakfast, but I was so overjoyed that I couldn’t help but hum a tune.

Or for example, after getting home.

“I’m home…”

“Welcome home, Ayako-san.”

“Takkuun…”

“Y-You look really tired.”

“Yeah… I’m really tired today too. I had three anime related meetings back-to-back-to-back…,” I complained, taking off my shoes. “I’m really tired.”

I suddenly got an idea and tried to make a sweet voice.

“Haaah, I can’t take it anymore. I have no energy left. I may… need to recharge my energy as soon as possible.”

“…Ah.”

Finally, Takkun seemed to have guessed my intentions and smiled vaguely.

“H-Here you go,” he said, opening his arms to me.

I jumped into his chest with a little momentum. His warmth and smell enveloped me, seeping into my exhausted mind and body.

“Thanks for your hard work today.”

He gently stroked my head while praising me. I felt a ticklish, pleasant, and an indescribable feeling of happiness fill my chest as he touched me with his large hands.

“Can you really recharge your energy like this?”

“Yes, I very much can.”

I also put my arms around him and hugged him tightly.

It hadn’t even been a minute since I got home, but we were embracing each other so passionately that it made me smile.

“Haa… Sorry that I’m the only one who gets to recharge.”

“Don’t worry. Looks like this charging system goes both ways.”

“Oh my, that’s impressive. It’s like a perpetual motion charger.”

“Yeah, a perpetual motion charger.”

“Fufufu, it’s a dream system.”

We were so absorbed into each other’s embrace, that our conversation was no more than flirting.

Our embrace continued for a while, without any particular outcome to our conversation.

Or for example… after dinner.

“The three biggest prefectures from biggest to smallest are… uh… what were they?”

The two of us were sitting next to each other on the sofa, watching a TV quiz show.

“The first one is definitely Hokkaido, the second one is… Iwate? And the third is…”

“Isn’t it Fukushima?”

“Huh? I don’t remember Fukushima being that big. It should be Nagano or… Ah, Fukushima was right. You’re amazing, Takkun!”

“Ahaha, I remember studying this in elementary school.”

“Oh right, you were in elementary school about ten years ago. As for me… it’s already been 20 years…”

“Ah… P-Please don’t feel down about that.”

“I-It’s fine, it’s fine! Alright, I won’t lose on the next one! So… what building is depicted on the 2,000-yen bill?”

“The 2,000-yen bill… what was it?”

“I know this one! It’s Shuri Castle!”

“Oh, looks like you were right.”

“Fufufu, I did it. But the bill is quite nostalgic to me. My mother used to give me those as pocket money, but I couldn’t spend them like nothing. What about you, Takkun?”

“Uhh… Sorry, I hadn’t been born at the time.”

“…Oh, right. They stopped printing the 2,000-yen bill over 20 years ago… Most young people today haven’t touched them…”

“Ah… Don’t feel down about that.”

Laughing and feeling down.

Whether we were happy or sad, we enjoyed our time together.

And as we continued to watch the program, suddenly…

Takkun put his arm around my shoulder.

He gently hugged me in a sitting position.

“…!”

For a moment, I was looking at him with a surprised face.

“O-Once I start watching a quiz show, I can’t stop.”

His eyes remained glued to the TV. He was acting like nothing was going on, but it was obvious that he was a little nervous.

I didn’t resist either.

“Y-You’re right.”

I rested my head on Takkun’s shoulders.

“Q-Quiz shows are really interesting, aren’t they?”

“Y-Yeah, they sure are.”

“The next question is… ‘Today is Wednesday. What day is the day after tomorrow, yesterday, two days after tomorrow?’ Ah, yes, this type of question. The type that if you take the time to think about it, you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, you just need to take your time to think about it.”

“Yeah, you only need to think about it one bit at a time, it’s… uh?”

“Um…”

“…Ahaha, i-it’s quite the tough one.”

“You know, for some reason, I can’t think at all right now…”

We gave each other a wry smile. We were so close to each other that we could feel the other’s heartbeat.

My heart was pounding from this satisfying after-dinner moment, but I also strangely felt at ease.

For example, during those lucky moments.

“…Kya!”

“Whoa, I-I’m sorry.”

When I was about to take a bath, Takkun accidentally opened the door to the changing room.

I had finished taking off my clothes and was in my underwear.

I was exposing a lot of my body there.

If it had been like before, it certainly would’ve been quite the commotion.

I would’ve turned red and screamed, and Takkun would’ve closed the door in a hurry and left, leaving an awkward and nervous mood… That kind of big commotion.

A big event that would’ve definitely been illustrated if it were a light novel.

However…

“Geez… Be careful,” I said with a wry smile.

I didn’t panic, I just hid my chest with my arm.

“Ahaha, my bad.”

He only offered an apology, but didn’t seem to rush out of the room flustered with a red face.

If anything… he actually stayed there for a while.

Instead of walking away, he kept staring at me in my underwear.

“…”

“Uh… I-Is something wrong?”

“No, I was just… thinking that your underwear is really nice.”

“Hey… Geez, what are you saying now?”

I gave him a few rebuking words and hid my body, but I wasn’t really as embarrassed as I had been in the past.

Actually, I wasn’t displeased at it, but happy.

“Hmm, w-well, I bought new underwear for our cohabitation life.”

“…”

“I-It’s not for anything deep. I just thought… that it might be necessary in several situations.”

“In that case… I better look properly, right?”

“Wha?!”

“I mean, I feel like it would be rude not to take a good look if it’s all new underwear.”

“H-Hold on a second…! Y-You can’t… I did certainly buy it so you would see it, otherwise I would get sad… But I didn’t mean you should look at it right now!”

“If not now, then when?”

“Just not now! Alright, out, out, I’m going to take a bath here!”

I pushed Takkun, who seemed reluctant to leave, out of the changing room.

It was a fun exchange, as if the two of us were joking around together.

Even when he saw me in my underwear, it all ended like a daily conversation with a few jokes throughout.

It was a scene that would’ve surely been illustrated in a light novel, but here, it was just a common everyday scene for us without illustrations.

And so…

Well…

That’s how things are going now.

Nothing has really changed, but in a way, it kind of did.

How to say it, it’s like we’ve grown closer since that night!

Like a lot closer!

Like we’re really lovers!

But, well, it’s not like we weren’t close before, or not lovers.

Rather, in terms of innocence, we were probably more like lovers in a sense.

But if we were just students having an innocent relationship before… now it feels like we’ve taken a step forward into a mature and relaxed relationship!

Now we are a lot more open and skinship happens a lot more often, as if it were natural.

Haa… this is bliss.

I’m just so happy.

Is it okay for someone to be this happy?

“How to put this… It’s becoming very natural for us to be together. Ah, of course, we got along before too, but there was a part of us that was very considerate of the other… For example, when the conversation was over, we were both trying to find another topic to keep the conversation going… but now, we don’t mind it at all! We don’t force ourselves to talk, and instead, touch each other during those silent moments…! There are things that can be conveyed without words after all! It feels like we can express our feelings just by touching… Ah, of course, that doesn’t mean that words are unnecessary, we both value that area as well… R-Rather, Takkun praises me exaggeratedly, saying ‘I like you,’ and ‘I love you,’ over and over… Every day, I feel loved and happy… Ahaha, I’m in quite the predicament. What do you think, Oinomori-san?”

“…Yeah, I guess.”

It was a weekend night.

I was invited by Oinomori-san to have a drink with her.

We were in a private room at a bar we sometimes frequent.

I had become quite talkative because of the alcohol, but Oinomori-san on the other hand, didn’t seem to be in high spirits.

“Hey, what’s the matter, Oinomori-san? You seem down in the dumps.”

“…It’s just your imagination.”

“You were the one who forced me to come today, though. You were saying how you were going to get every little detail out of me, so I prepared myself to tell you everything about our current state.”

“…Then, let me make it clear.”

After downing the sake she had in hand, Oinomori-san firmly said,

“You’ve just been bragging about your love for a while!”

“Wha…”

“Sure, I did invite you, but I didn’t expect you to brag about it so much. Fufufu… how strange. I haven’t thrown up from drinking in a decade, but now my stomach is acting up.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to brag about my love life… I was just telling you how happy Takkun and I are right now.”

“If that’s not bragging, then what is?!” Oinomori-san retorted. “Fu… Fufufu. I wonder what this complicated feeling is. I should be happy that you guys are spending your time happily and without any issues… but deep down, there’s a part of me that can’t be happy about it.”

Letting out a sarcastic laugh, she continued with a sigh.

“I wanted things to go well for you, that’s why I gave you tips and took care of you. But, after seeing how happy you were… It stopped being fun!”

“Hold up!”

She affirmed it!

She affirmed that it wasn’t fun!

“I was getting impatient when your relationship kept stalling and went nowhere, but when everything was sailing smoothly, it became a little boring, don’t you think? I want you to like… show me your disputes or something unsightly.”

“How heartless…”

“Haaa… I guess I had the most fun making fun of you guys from an outsider’s perspective. Since you two ran into one trouble after another, it was worth teasing you. It was the most fun giving you appropriate advice, since you were unfamiliar with love, from a senior’s perspective…”

“…Aren’t you being a little too frank?”

“Katsuragi-kun, I know things are going well for you now, so it’s time that another problem shows up. It’s just the calm before the storm, right? Just another flag before your relationship gets messed up in the next episode, right?”

“Please don’t say ill-omened things!” I replied strongly.

Oinomori-san sipped a little of her drink again.

“Well, all jokes aside,” she said, with a voice that seemed to have regained her composure.

…Was she actually joking?

It sounded like she meant it.

“Glad to hear you’re enjoying your cohabitation life.”

“…Do you mean it?”

“Of course I do,” she said with a wry smile. Sorry, I was jealous of your happy life that I ended up saying some mean things… There’s just been a lot of things on my mind lately.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing important.”

She dismissed the conversation waving her hand.

I thought it was weird. I caught a glance of her face and she held a pondering expression, yet fragile too, very unlike her.

Yumemi Oinomori is someone who no matter what kind of trouble she encounters at work, just smiles in a nonchalant way as if she was enjoying the adversity, rather than get depressed over it.

What happened to her?

What could be worrying Oinomori-san so much…?

“Well then.”

As I was thinking, Oinomori-san ordered another bottle of sake and changed the subject,

“It’s getting late, so why don’t we take this conversation to the next level?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I want all the nitty gritty details.”

“I already told you everything, you were the one who said I was bragging too much.”

“No, I did listen to you. I’ve heard plenty about how happy you two are ever since you took that step forward in your relationship. And I’m certainly sick of your bragging… but it’s a different story if we talk about ‘that step forward’.”

“That step forward?”

I tilted my head and Oinomori-san leaned forward and asked, “Be honest, how’s your night life with Aterazawa-kun?”

“Wha?!”

“I’m quite curious. How wild you two lovers became after you crossed over the line.”

“W-What are you talking about?! Geez, this is sexual harassment! Sexual harassment I say!”

“I’m not asking as your boss, but as your friend.”

“Even as a friend, that’s a very private topic…”

“What are you saying now? When women over 30 get together to drink, all they talk about is sex with their boyfriends and husbands.”

For real?!

Is that what adult women do?!

Is that really what they talk about?!

“So, spill the beans. How’s Aterazawa-kun in that department? Is he satisfying you?”

“Hey stop that… Geez, I’ve told you many times that I don’t like to talk about those kinds of things.”

“Oh come on, don’t say that.”

“No means no.”

I’m not someone who gets swept away all the time.

Beyond that, this doesn’t just concern me, it also involves Takkun’s privacy. I need to set clear boundaries here.

“Mhmm…”

When I strongly rejected her, Oinomori-san let out a small breath.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then I won’t force you. It would be sexual harassment to go any further.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

And as I pat my chest in relief,

“In the first place, I don’t think there’s much to say even if I ask you,” Oinomori-san continued in a mocking voice. “You two are so serious and straight-laced to the core that it’s probably just normal stuff, right? It’s not even worth asking.”

“…”

“It’s probably something cute like in a shoujo manga. Just pure, flirting, with flowers in the background.”

“…”

“Haa, I don’t know why, but I feel sorry for asking about your night life. Yeah, it’s not like the usual stuff is bad, everyone enjoys sex differently after all. It doesn’t matter if it’s vanilla or on the spicier side as long as you’re both happy with it. It’s not like you’re going to show it to anyone. And since neither of you had any experience, it’s commendable that everything went without a hitch. Yeah, my bad, let’s stop talking about adult stuff here.”

“D-Don’t be ridiculous!”

I shouted, leaning forward.

I was so offended that my whole body got hot and blood rushed to my head, probably from the alcohol in my system.

“You don’t know anything about us, but you’re still assuming everything and saying whatever you want…! Just so you know, we have proper adult sex too! Not just shoujo manga stuff, but 18+ things too!”

“Oh?”

“Sure, it was a little awkward at the beginning… but we keep improving the more we do it! It’s not just lewd… it’s full-on erotic!”

“Uh-huh?”

“Takkun… may have made some mistakes at first, but he’s amazing now! He isn’t serious… he’s more like a beast. As if his youth was exploding… B-But he isn’t just intense, he’s gentle and kind too… so I’m getting more and more addicted to it…”

“Mhm.”

“I-I’m also trying… yeah, I’m doing all I can! I try to uh… be of service, or rather, service him. I’ve been studying on my own and learning a lot of things from Takkun…”

“Oh, really?”

“Y-Yes, really! Just yesterday, Takkun asked me for it, so I used my breasts…”

“Uh-huh, you used your breasts to what?”

“I-I used my breasts to, uh, well, that…~~~~~?”

And that’s when I realized… that I had been set up.

Shoot!

She royally screwed me!

She completely toyed with me!

I spilled out everything I didn’t want to say!

“Uh-huh, I get it now. You’re having really passionate nights. I’m glad you wanted to tell me the details.”

“Uuuuuhhh~~~!”

“Ahahaha, you’re really cute, Katsuragi-kun.”

While staring at me writhe in agony and shame, Oinomori-san seemed to be enjoying herself as she laughed and drank. She was using my silliness as the perfect accompaniment to her drink.

“…You’re mean. The worst. I hate you, Oinomori-san.”

“Fufu, sorry, I won’t do it again,” she said, without a hint of guilt in her voice.

Despite her saying this, I’m sure she’ll do it again.

I know her.

“Aah, I’m still jealous, though. I haven’t found a good man in a while. I wonder if there are some lying around somewhere…,” she said, sighing. “I think I’ll follow your example, Katsuragi-kun, and find myself a 20-year-old youngster.”

“Please don’t. Going for a 20-year-old at your age is basically a crime.”

“You’re not so different, are you? Once you’re ten years apart, it looks wrong.”

“T-That may be true… but we’re fine. Because we l-love each other…”

Uwaah, I said something really embarrassing.

I have to stop.

I can’t do it anymore today.

I feel that no matter what I say, it’s going to be something embarrassing.

“Fufufu, you’re right. You two are meant to be a couple, I hope you both live a long and happy life,” she said, as if understanding something, and then continued. “Well, that being said, please try to enjoy your nights in moderation. I don’t want you hustling night after night and not working at your job.”

“Y-You don’t need to tell me that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. You’ve had some muscle pain these last few days, right?”

“Ugh…”

She hit me right where it hurts.

That’s right.

After that night, I’ve suffered plenty of muscle pain.

Unfortunately, I’m at that age where muscle pain comes a bit late.

I realized that I don’t do enough daily exercise.

Well, I technically do. That counts as exercise, right?

After experiencing it, I found out that… Night life is a full-body sport.

I got muscle aches all over my body.

“I think you should exercise more, Katsuragi-kun. For Aterazawa-kun’s sake too.”

“I-I know that. I’ve thought about doing various things to keep my body in shape too.”

Well, that’s easier said than done.

I was thinking of losing some weight, with the mentality of ‘Okay, I’m going to get amazingly beautiful for Takkun while we’re away!’ But now that we’re living together instead, my diet plan went to the dumps.

Aaah…

If I had been living alone, I could’ve lost weight.

I would’ve lost a lot of weight in those three months.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” said Oinomori-san. “Sure, working out is necessary to stay in shape and live healthily… But there are huge advantages for couples when women exercise and get in shape.”

“Advantages?”

As I tilted my head, Oinomori-san came up to me and whispered something in my ear.

Why is she whispering it?

We’ve been talking openly for a while in this private room for a while, so I was wondering why she was whispering now.

“…?!”

I was astonished after hearing what she said.

It was something that definitely needed to be whispered, even in the private room of a bar, and it was also information that I couldn’t ignore.

♠

After living together for two weeks, there’s a lot of stuff that you get used to.

In a good sense, the novelty of living together disappears and you get used to each other’s presence.

For example, when coming home.

At first, we always welcomed each other.

Even if I was in the middle of making dinner or cleaning the bath, we would stop, wash our hands and run to the door just to say ‘welcome back’ to the other and the one who came back was also conscious of that and patiently waited for the other to come and welcome them.

Of course, I liked doing this and it was a unique aspect of living together.

But well, we gradually stopped after two weeks.

It’s not that we got bored or became cold towards each other… it’s more like we had become more natural with each other and stopped forcing ourselves.

I don’t think it’s a bad change.

It’s as if we’ve taken for granted that we’re a family, so it’s natural for us to be together… Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. It’s still too early to say we’re family. Yup.

“I’m home.”

“Ah, welcome back, Takkun.”

It was around four in the afternoon.

When I came home from my internship, I heard Ayako-san’s voice from the living room. But she wasn’t running up to welcome me, so I was taking off my shoes without waiting for her.

Today, Ayako-san came home earlier than me.

It seems like she came home right after having a meeting with someone from the anime industry.

“…Huh? What are you doing, Ayako-san?”

She was in the room wearing an unfamiliar outfit.

Spats and a tank top that seemed to be glued to her skin.

There was a bead of sweat on her forehead and a large balancing ball under her ass.

She spread her arms to balance herself while sitting on the silver rubber ball.

“I was just doing a bit of exercise.”

“Exercise?”

I had actually prepared a bunch of stuff for the trip to Tokyo, like exercise clothes and this balancing ball. So, I decided to exercise during my free time.”

“Oh, but why all of a sudden?”

“…N-No particular reason, I just kind of wanted to,” said Ayako nervously. “You know, I’m getting old so… I thought I should lose some more weight.”

“Aren’t you worrying too much? I think you’ve got a good figure, Ayako-san. You don’t need to force yourself to lose any weight.”

“…T-That may be so, but there are other reasons…”

“Other reasons?”

 “I-It’s nothing! Anyhow! There’s nothing wrong with exercising! When you’re in your 30s, you get conscious about exercise! Yeah, that!” she said, in a forceful tone.

Hmm…

Well, there’s nothing wrong with exercising.

I’m not personally concerned about her figure, and in fact, think she’s more attractive as a woman if she’s as carefree as she always is… Ah, wait, don’t get me wrong. Those are not my tastes.

Anyways.

Looking at things objectively, she is lacking some exercise. Especially since most of her work is sitting behind a desk.

As her boyfriend, I’d rather encourage her to work out for her health.

“If you want, why don’t you exercise with me, Takkun?”

“Okay.”

I had no reason to refuse, so I readily agreed.

After changing into something more comfortable, I came back to the living room.

“So, what are we doing?”

“Hmm, would you like to try this?” she said and sat in the balance ball.

She lifted both legs in the air and spread her arms to balance herself.

“Hup… The… uh… ah…”

After holding her balance for about five seconds, she collapsed on the floor.

“Haa… that wasn’t so bad. What do you think?”

“Huh? What do I think?”

I was confused by what Ayako-san said with a smug face.

“I did pretty good, didn’t I? After practicing for an hour, I finally got this good at balancing.”

“…”

“It’s your turn now, Takkun. Fufu, well, it’s natural if you can’t do it well at the beginning, so don’t worry. I’ll teach you until you can.”

“…”

Without saying a word, I sat in the balance ball.

I lifted my legs and spread my arms.

Then 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds…

Even after 30 seconds, I was totally fine… but Ayako-san’s expression was revealing more and more shock, so I decided to stop there.

“Huh…? H-How can you do it so well?!”

“Well, I can at least last that long… We have one of those at home.”

“O-Oh… No wonder you’re so good, you practiced a lot at home. Yeah, that’s why. Otherwise, it would be impossible. You have no idea how many times I fell down in the living room at first…”

“No, it was actually my mother who bought it, I’ve only used it like once or twice.”

“…I-I see.”

Ayako-san got understandably depressed.

“…It’s fine, I get it. There’s a fundamental difference between the body of a 30-year-old woman that works a desk job that doesn’t do exercise and the body of a 20-year-old that plays sports at his university. It’s that, right? Like how our torsos are completely different or something like that, right…?”

“P-Please don’t sulk.”

And that’s how my training with Ayako-san began.

Though I said it began, she didn’t have any other training equipment. Apparently, Ayako-san had only brought that balance ball.

Well, that’s fine.

If her goal wasn’t a full-body transformation, but rather, to correct her lack of exercise, self-weight training should suffice.

So we began with sit-ups.

“Okay, here I go.”

“Uh…”

“Mmm… Hnng~~.”

“Hold on…”

“Hnnng~~! One… Haa… Haa… Haa…”

Ayako-san, lying on the ground, put her hands behind her head and raised her upper body.

She managed to do this once, and then went back down immediately.

She had raised her upper body completely.

I-I uh…

“Haa, Haa. What a nice feeling. I can tell I’m working my abs.”

“…Um, Ayako-san.”

I wanted to tell her,

‘Aren’t you too tired after doing a single sit-up?’

But I repressed the desire to tell her and warned her about the more important thing.

“You’re doing sit-ups wrong.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re not supposed to raise your upper body completely.”

“No way… B-But aren’t sit-ups meant to be done like this?”

“I thought so too… but a long time ago they told me that doing sit-ups raising your body all the way up could cause pain in the lower back, so you should not.” TL/N: This is half truth. The pain comes from bad posturing, the real reason you don’t go all the way up or down is because you want to keep tension on your abs all the way through.

“R-Really?!”

“The proper way to do sit-ups is like this.”

I laid down on the floor with my knees flexed.

I didn’t raise my upper body entirely, but lowered it half way down.

This counted as a sit-up.

“You do it like that…?”

“You only need to raise the upper part of the body while exhaling and looking towards your navel. It’s important to do each sit-up carefully and be mindful of the load on your abdominal muscles instead of trying to do as many reps as possible.”

“Oh, you really know your stuff, Takkun.”

“It’s nothing big, I learned it all in the school club.”

“…I see. So they taught it to you at your club.”

Ayako-san’s expression became indescribable.

“This type of thing is quite common, isn’t it…? What was common knowledge and sense in our generation turned out to be wrong in the generations afterwards.”

“Well, that does tend to happen.”

“In our generation, the sit-ups I did were the norm. On rainy days, all the sports club members did their abs in the hallways. I can’t believe those sit-ups were harmful for our backs.”

“…”

“What’s done is done, but I can’t help but feel a little saddened by it.”

“You’re right. They also told you not to drink water while you exercised, right?”

“…Not quite. During my time, everyone was well hydrated. It was further back in the Showa era that they said that, but I was born towards the end of it and lived during the Heisei era, so…”

“Ah, s-sorry.”

Ayako-san looked depressed as she explained.

It looks like my comment was quite tactless.

Next up is squats.

“When training at home, you definitely gotta do squats. They’re easy to do, don’t take much space and are really effective.”

There is a reason they’re called the king of lower body exercises.

While it is a lower body exercise, it doubles as a full body exercise that works the abs and back muscles. And it consumes a lot of calories, so both the muscle training and dieting communities say that if you ever wonder what you should do, you can’t go wrong with squats.

“Is there a proper way to do squats, Takkun?”

“There’s many, but the most important part is that your knee doesn’t go past your toes.”

“The knees…?”

“If you squat with your knees forward and your heels up, you run the risk of hurting your knee.”

“Ah, I see.”

While I was explaining several precautions to her, I told Ayako-san to do one squat.

“Yes, like that… Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and don’t let your knees go forward… If anything, it’s like sticking your ass out.”

“My ass… L-Like this?”

“Just like that.”

“T-This is kind of embarrassing… Are you sure that it’s done like this?”

“Yes, keep focusing on your abs and don’t raise your heels.”

“Ah, this is quite hard…!”

Ayako-san squatted with the proper posture.

She seemed to be having a hard time with it, probably from the lack of exercise.

Despite it being her first one, her thighs were shaking.

“One… Haa, this is hard.”

“You can do it, come on, you only need to do this ten times.”

“T-Ten times…?!”

“Well, you don’t need to push yourself that much if you can’t.”

“…No, I’ll do my best.”

Ayako-san said with a determined look.

“Oinomori-san also said that squats are the most effective.”

“Oinomori-san?”

“Ah.”

“Did she give you some tips on muscle training?”

“Um… Y-Yeah, something like that.”

“…”

“L-Let’s keep going! Twwooo!”

She changed the topic in an unnatural manner and then resumed her squats.

I was a little intrigued… but immediately after, Ayako-san pushed her ass out too much and ended up falling back, screaming, and then that intrigue completely disappeared somewhere else.

Next up was the handclap dance. TL/N: Google “ハンドクラップダンス” to understand better.

“What about this one, Ayako-san?”

I showed her a video on my phone.

On the screen, several people were dancing to the beat of the music.

“I was looking for good workouts for couples and this came out.”

“Oh.”

“It’s called handclap, do you know about it?”

“Oh… I think I’ve heard of it.”

Hand clap dance.

It’s basically a dance in which people move their arms and legs a lot, jumping up and down.

It may be a simple choreography that even beginners can do, but it consumes a lot of calories, so it became a hot topic for a while as an exercise that can be enjoyed at home.

“Um, can I do it? I’ve never danced before.”

“The choreography is easy, so I think you’ll be fine.”

“…In that case, let’s try it.”

I placed my phone over the table and played a video.

There were hand clap videos, but I picked one easy for beginners.

“Hnng… Haa… Haa…”

We had to touch our left and right feet in turn while jumping to the rhythm of the music.

After touching them from the front, we had to touch them from the back.

After that, we had to turn and give a clap above our heads and then jump again.

“Haa, haa. If it’s this easy, then I can do it.”

She seemed to be enjoying herself while jumping up and down, despite panting heavily.

“Hah, hah… but I guess, it’s really hard to keep doing it after all…”

She kept jumping around.

“Ugh… B-But I need to try my best!”

Ayako-san kept dancing desperately… but I gradually came to a stop.

I was watching the screen and dancing along to the dancers on the screen, but my eyes moved onto Ayako-san without realizing it.

“H-Huh…? What’s the matter, Takkun?”

“…Let’s take a break, Ayako-san.”

“Why? Are you tired already?”

“It’s not that,” I said, holding back the embarrassment. “Y-Your boobs are causing a serious problem.”

“…Huh?!”

“They’re bouncing so much… that I can’t stop looking at them, or rather, I can’t help but look at them.

They moved violently.

So much so that I could hear them going ‘boing boing.’

This is bad.

That way of moving was really bad.

Even though they were not exposed at all, I could only think of this as an 18+ scene.

The hand clap dance involved intense movements going up and down… so for a woman with Ayako-san’s glamorous body, this became an unexpected hurdle.

“N-No…”

She embarrassedly held her chest.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice at all.”

“Don’t worry about it…”

It’s not something worth apologizing for.

If anything, I’d like to thank you.

But, of course, I’m not going to say that out loud.

“I was wearing a sports bra just in case… but I guess it wasn’t enough. If they move so much, guess I’ll have to tie them up with something.”

“…Sounds like they’re a lot of trouble.”

“They are. I’ve always had a hard time exercising because of them… They’re heavy and they hurt if they shake around too much,” she exhaled gloomily. “Haa, I wish someone would just hold them while I exercise.”

“What?”

“What?”

We looked at each other after she let out that comment.

“W-What’s with the serious face, Takkun…?”

“…Well, if you insist.”

“No, no, no! I was just joking! Stop trying to hold them!”

“But it’s for your own sake.”

“No! No means no…”

After an amusing exchange, we resumed the dance.

This time, she wrapped her chest with a piece of cloth.

I was happy and sad at the same time.

And so, we both worked out happily for an hour.

“Haa… I’m spent.”

Ayako-san exhaled, tired, and dried up her sweat with a towel.

“Good work today.”

“Thanks… You seem to be completely fine.”

“Well, it wasn’t that much.”

“Young people really are amazing.”

“Please don’t sulk.”

I hurriedly tried to cheer up Ayako-san, who was pouting. I don’t think it’s a matter of youth, but of daily exercise… but better not to open my mouth here.

“By the way, what will we have for dinner today?”

“Ah… I may not have any energy to make it today.”

“Then, do you want to go out to eat something?”

“…I may not have the energy to go out to eat something.”

She looked really tired.

“Then… should we order a pizza?”

“…Can we? Won’t we regain all the calories we lost?”

“I-It’s fine! If we pick a relatively low calorie one, there won’t be any issues!”

And so, we decided to have pizza for dinner.

I called and ordered a seafood pizza. Probably not low in calories, but that’s fine. We can make it up by having oolong tea as our beverage.

“I should change my clothes before the pizza comes.”

“Yes, you should… but, Ayako-san,” I suddenly remembered and asked her. “Why did you want to exercise all of a sudden?”

“…Huh? N-No particular reason. I just wanted to… You know, I always said I wanted to exercise, didn’t I?”

“That you did… but you’ve been saying it for so long and not doing it that it felt kind of weird.”

“Ugh…”

“Even when I suggested it some time ago, you agreed to it, but you didn’t do anything in the end.”

“Uuugh…”

“Well, that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with exercising.”

I’ve been a little concerned about Ayako-san’s lack of exercise for a while.

I didn’t want her to lose weight at all, but since she works behind a desk, I was thinking she should exercise a little more for her health.

That’s why I’m happy that she decided to do it voluntarily today,

But…

“I was just curious as to why you suddenly decided to do it.”

I was curious and wanted to know the reason to keep her exercising actively.

“U-Uuh… the reason?”

Ayako-san was clearly agitated.

“D-Do I have to say it?”

“If you don’t want to, then that’s fine, but… Hm? Is there a reason you can’t tell me?”

“N-Not really.”

“You mentioned Oinomori-san before. Did she tell you something?”

“…W-Well, if I had to say if she told me something, then yes,” she continued, blushing and twirling her fingers. “Oinomori-san… t-told me I should do it for my boyfriend’s sake.”

“Your boyfriend? For me?”

“Yes… She said that if I exercised, it would make you happy.”

“It does make me happy… but you don’t need to do it for me. As I said before, I’ve never thought you were fat. Though, I do think it’s good that you’re exercising for your health.”

“Ah, I didn’t mean that… Doing exercise to maintain your figure and health is fine, of course… but Oinomori-san meant something else.”

“Something else?”

“U-Um…”

Ayako-san hesitated to talk.

And I also started to get impatient.

“I’m only gonna be more and more curious if we stop here.”

“Uh… D-Do you really want to know?”

“Yes.”

“No matter what?”

“Yeah.”

“…You won’t laugh?”

“Probably not.”

“…You won’t be put off?”

“Most likely not… Come on, spill it! I won’t know unless you tell me.”

“Uuh~~… F-Fine.”

While hiding her blushing face, she started talking in a whisper.

“O-Oinomori-san told me that… Women should exercise their body appropriately… to work out their abs and lower body…”

And then she said in a voice that sounded so embarrassed that she could die

“…S-So it gets tighter.”

At first, I didn’t get what she was talking about.

“Tighter…? What do you mean?”

“…Tightening is tightening… That’s all I’ll say.”

“Um… What will tighten?”

“W-What do you mean what? Uuh~… T-That… d-down there…”

“Down there?”

She was writhing in shame explaining it to me, but I didn’t quite understand… So I started thinking, and thinking, and thinking desperately… and I finally got it.

“…Huh?!”

That’s what she meant?!

Down there, as in, down there?!

And by tighten, she meant that tighten?!

“Hold on, Ayako-san… Uuh… Huh…?”

“D-Don’t be so put off by it, Takkun…! Geez~…! This is why I didn’t want to say it!”

Ayako-san had a bright red face, it looked like she was about to cry.

Well, this was quite the surprise.

Quite the unexpected reason to work out.

“D-Did Oinomori-san tell you that?”

“Yes… When we went out to drink the other day.”

“…S-So you do talk about that after all.”

“N-No, that’s not it! She told me all of that on her own! And what do you mean ‘after all’?!”

I’ve heard that women’s talk is sometimes worse than men’s talk… No, I guess that only happens when you add alcohol into the mix.

Hmm…

But thinking about it calmly, it makes a lot of sense.

Right… This kind of training was a hot topic.

“…Oinomori-san said I should work out since it would make you happy… I thought she was half joking… but then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

I was still stunned while Ayako-san spoke with a sad face.

“I’ve never had any experience… and I didn’t know much about it. I was also becoming self-conscious about my lack of exercise… I couldn’t stop thinking of what would happen if I couldn’t please you anymore, Takkun…”

“Ayako-san…”

Ah, shit.

Why did I react so negatively?

I’m so pathetic.

Ayako-san wasn’t kidding.

She was being serious. She was thinking about me seriously.

Just like me, she had no experience, and that’s why she was worrying over things she couldn’t understand and tried to overcome them.

I felt bad for finding her efforts adorable, but I couldn’t help but love that part of her.

With my heart beating fast, I hugged her.

“Uh…? T-Takkun?”

“…”

“H-Hey, I’m covered in sweat now…”

“Thanks a lot.”

Not minding the sweat, I kept hugging her tightly.

“Thanks for thinking about me.”

“That’s… not something you need to thank me for. I did it willfully…”

“It’s fine,” I said.

I was embarrassed, so my tone was slightly aggressive.

“Ayako-san… you’re fine.”

“Huh…? I’m fine…?”

“You’re fine.”

“…You mean the, uh, tightness…?”

“I-I mean that you’re fine.”

Ah, shoot.

What were we talking about again?

“A-Ah… r-right… I’m fine…”

“Yes. You’re fine. More than fine.”

“Y-Yes… I’m more than fine…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…H-Hold on, Takkun. It’s scary when you’re quiet… and even more when you’re quiet and hugging me.”

“…”

“Could it be that…”

“That’s right… I can’t hold it anymore.”

To put it bluntly, I was a little turned on.

But it can’t be helped, right?

My beloved girlfriend is thinking about me and it’s about something lewd.

Plus, maybe because we had just finished working out, the temperature transmitted from the hug was hotter than usual, and the pheromones in the air felt somewhat thicker, probably from the sweat.

Is there a man that can hold himself back in this situation?

“W-Wait, Takkun! I-It’s still too early… and we haven’t eaten yet.”

“But I can’t hold back anymore.”

“But I’m all sweaty… and I haven’t taken a shower.”

“…I prefer it like that.”

“What do you mean you prefer it like that?!”

“Can’t we?”

“…W-We can’t… because… Ah, geez, stop looking at me like that…”

Ayako-san refused, but it sounded like she wasn’t completely opposed to it.

I thought all I needed was a little push, but…

“L-Look, the pizza is almost here!”

Those words brought me back to my senses.

“…Ah… right…”

Shit. I ordered a pizza.

It’ll be here in 20 minutes.

Aaarrgghhh… Why did I have to order a pizza? Fuck…!

“See? So calm down a little.”

“…Okay.”

Ayako-san escaped from my hug while I was trying to calm down.

I couldn’t stand up for a moment, so I fell on my ass.

It was a little difficult to do, since I was completely excited.

I even thought that I could manage with 20 minutes, but I restrained myself and thought to myself that it wasn’t going to work.

Trying to do something in such a short amount of time just felt as if I was using her to relieve myself.

As a man, that would be pathetic.

…Ah, but, but you know… aahhh…

“Well then, I’m going to take a shower.”

“…Okay.”

“I’ll leave you the pizza payment. You can take money out of the living expenses purse.”

“…Okay.”

“Y-You don’t have to be so down…”

Ayako-san seemed a little taken aback at my inability to stand up while I held my knees.”

However,

“…Geez.”

She let out a sigh and crouched beside me.

And then she whispered in my ear.

“…I’ll do my best at night.”

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Yo. I know I’m a few weeks late, mother’s day and a few other things delayed the release of this (like how long this chapter is). The rest of the chapters should be shorter, since we have 6 to go and we’re halfway done with the volume in terms of pages. That will be all, hope you enjoyed the chapter.