"One... two!" I heard from the weight rack as roached.

  A broad-shouldered teenage boy stood over the familiar form of Albert. Albert was wearing a gray muscle shirt with his gut slightly exposed and a pair of bck athletic shorts. He was straining hard as he pressed the bar up to a standing position.

  It was strange seeing him w out, and not sitting in a library or in front of a puter. But I knew he'd been putting in work. Before we'd left ur zoned high school for Kaleidoscope, he had joihe wrestling team.

  His arms had been growing a bit thicker over time, but he was still ky and chubby.

  I'd been happy that Albert had been making an effort to improve his health and lose weight. But it was a long, hard road, and I wasn't going to nag him.

  "Three!" the other boy said.

  Albert grunted and groaned as he pressed up on the bar, lifting it to a standing position.

  "Four!" the boy said.

  I noticed that he looked like a slightly older Iaybe a year older. But he was also taller, and if I had to be ho, pretty cute.

  Ichigo's bruru had an athletic build with a powerful, mase jawline, and he had his hair cut in a short-cropped, crew cut.

  His hair was jet-bck, his skin lightly tanned. He wore a tight-fitting, bck t-shirt that plimented his well-muscled arms and shoulders. He had the same dark eyes and dark hair as Ichigo. He had an air of maturity that I didn't often see iher boys around e.

  He was only sixteen and around a fairly average height, but he looked like he could've been the main character of a Japanese fighting game. Suguru seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, and he definitely looked like someohat took care of himself.

  "Five!" the other boy said.

  The bar came down aed on Albert's chest. He struggled, grunting, and he pressed up again, slowly.

  "Lightweight! e on, you do it!" the boy enced.

  Albert groaned and heaved. I could see his arms shaking, and he was clearly straining.

  And then he locked his arms out a out a loud gasp, his arms shaking. The other boy quickly took the bar from him a ba the rack.

  "Nice job. A solid five reps," he said.

  "Th-Thanks..." Albert said breathlessly, ying ba the bend panting heavily.

  "Good job," Ichigo said cheerily, walking over to her brother. "Hey there Suguru."

  He looked up and saw us. "Hey sis, what took you guys so—"

  He paused, looking over at Stel. He blinked a few times, his cheeks flushing red, before looking back to his sister.

  "What took you all so long? And why does your friend look like she went twelve rounds with a brick wall?"

  Stel chuckled, shrugging.

  "You should see the irl."

  Albert sat up and looked over.

  He was sweating, his cheeks were red, his breathing was heavy. His eyes widened as he also caught sight of Stel's bruised cheek. "Criminy. Do I dare ask what happened? I know you guys took a long time in there, but did something go down?"

  "I don't really want to talk about it," I sighed.

  Ichigo chimed in, "Samantha Mazie and Stel got into it."

  "Samantha Mazie? She's here at Kaleidoscope?" Suguru asked.

  "You two know her?" Stel said, "I never heard of her until today."

  Ichigo sighed. "You don't even know how much of an impact you had on the rest of us, do you? Funnily enough, I didn't decide to take after my parents until Lady Matsudaira paraded you around. I mean, after you won the forty-two kilogram css Judo gold medal in the uhirteen tial tour, you were kinda in the news cycle for like a week."

  Stel just shook her head, rubbiemples. I could see a tinge of red on her cheeks, and she looked like she was in a lot of disfort.

  "Yeah. I was... it was just a sport, Ichi. It's nothing special," Stel replied.

  Ichigo rolled her eyes.

  "It wasn't just a sport, Stel. It's more than just a game, more than just a way to get fit. You inspired so many of us. The year I peted. I've never bee at grappling, and I'm better with boxing, but I ended up getting to fight her in the quarter-finals of the championship for the uhirteen, forty-six kilogram css," Ichigo expined. "I was nervous as heck, but I tried. She just beat the stuffing out of me in the end and I couldn't do anything. She won the gold and the belt that year, and the , and the year after as we all got bigger. She peted in kickboxing too, filling the vacuum you left. I was never even close to her skill level."

  "She really did a number on you too, I take it," Stel mumbled. "She got a really good takedown and then choked me out, and I'm still not feeling good from it."

  Ichigo looked over to Albert, who was still sitting up on the bench. She reached down, a hand. He took it, and she helped pull him up. He grunted, and stood up, his belly jiggling. He wiped sweat from his brow.

  "T-Thanks..." Albert grunted, standing up as Suguru rotated to take his spot.

  "No problem," Ichigo replied, taking off a light jacket she had on and exposing a sports bra and tight shorts. I noticed Albert doing a double-take on her, and then his cheeks turned bright red aurned his gaze away.

  Suguru was ying on his back, and then Ichigo sat down on his stomad sat there.

  "H-Hey, what are you doing?" Suguru pined.

  "Ichigo?" Stel mumbled.

  Ichigo looked down at Suguru, and she grinned, giving him a little poke on his forehead.

  He grumbled and sighed. "You're a good warm up sis, but I already did a w set, I was just spotting the big guy. Get off me, Ichi. Don't be rude."

  Albert snickered, and Stel just sighed.

  "I said get off me."

  Ichigo grinned and got up. Suguru sat up, and gave his sister a dirty look. Ichigo giggled.

  Suguru sat back down on the bench, and he looked over to me. He gave me a quice up and down, and he smiled.

  I felt my cheeks turning a little red.

  He was a good-looking guy. irely my type. I preferred guys with more of a softer overall image, but I could still appreciate the fact that he was handsome in a rugged fighting game poster boy kind of way.

  "I'm Suguru, and I guess you already know my sister, Ichigo. You're...?"

  "Sienna, like in the group chat. And that's Stel. And you've met Albert."

  I shot Ichigo a look, w if he knew we'd already met him as Cw Currant.

  "I'm Suguru, and I guess you already know my sister, Ichigo. You're Sienna, and that's Stel, of course. And this is Albert I've been with."

  "Yes, that's us," I said. "o meet you. Officially. Outside of the group chat."

  "Likewise," he said.

  Suguru turo Albert. "You gonna do another?"

  Albert stretched and rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "I'm gonna pass, man. That st rep took a lot out of me. I don't ull something."

  "That's cool," Suguru said, patting him on the shoulder. Then, he looked at me.

  "You know how to bench?" he asked.

  I shook my head. "Not at all."

  "Want to learn?" he asked, his voice a little softer than it had been a few seds prior.

  I looked over to Albert. Albert just shrugged, giving me a nod of encement. I flushed, looking down at my twiggy frame, then back at Suguru.

  "S-Sure."

  He stood up, aured for me to y on my back. "e o's give it a go."

  I looked at the iron bar as Albert quickly moved to remove the weights on it.

  "Is... Is it safe?" I asked.

  "It is. Trust me, I'll spot you if anything goes wrong. I've do for my sister, and I do it for you." Suguru said reassuringly.

  "Go ahead, Sienna!" Albert cheered.

  Ichigo gave him a look of annoyance. "Dumbbells would have been a better first choice, you're sg her."

  "Dumbbells?" I mouthed, feeling a bit silly.

  Suguru frowned. "You know, you're probably right. I didn't wao feel wimpy using baby weights."

  I shook my head. "I don't mind feeling wimpy, I don't know what I'm doing. At all."

  He gave me an encing nod. "That's alright. We all start somewhere. e with me."

  Ichigo patted Suguru on the shoulder, and Albert followed us as we went to another part of the weight area. Dozens of boys were all over, doing various exercises, lifting, pushing, pulling. The smell of sweat aosterone was thi the air, and it made me feel more than a little intimidated and self-scious.

  I could tell some of them were staring att me me, Stel, and Ichigo, but I ighem, following Suguru as we went over to ay bench.

  He gestured to it. I sat down on it.

  "Here. These are twenty pounds each." He held out a pair of bck dumbbells that looked like they weighed nothing in his callused hands.

  I took them from him and lifted, feeling the weight of the dumbbell in my palm, and I realized just how much heavier they were than I'd expected. "O-oh. Wow. Okay. They're heavier than I expected."

  He nodded, his voice gentle and patient. "Yeah. They be. This is the best way to get started, I promise. Now, let's work on your form. Lie down on your back, with the dumbbells at your sides, palms fag your feet."

  I did so. My body sank into the cushioning of the bench, and I felt a bit weird. I'd never lifted weights before. I felt my elbows strain as I pulled my arms back.

  "Don't fre your elbows out! Tuck them into your sides, sciously pull your upper ba and bra the ground with ys," Suguru said.

  I nodded. "Okay." I tucked my elbows in. "Like this?"

  I tried to pull my shoulders bad brace my legs like he instructed, but I couldn't tell if I was doingn it correctly.

  "Good, er, we'll work on the arch ter. You're toht-backed."

  "Is that bad?"

  "ly, but you're a little weak and unstable so ft. You won't risk mujury as a beginner but if you don't get a proper base you hurt your arms and shoulders when you start to bench more, especially once you have some strength and start to go up i. Just keep in mind that I 't fix your form in a day, so we're just gonna go for a light workout to see how things are, alright?" Suguru expined. "You'll get better at it in no time, don't sweat it."

  I nodded and he gave me an approving nod back. "Good. Keep your feet ft on the floor and push your knees up a little. Try to keep them bent at about a y-degree angle."

  I nodded. "Okay."

  "Now, keep your head back. Don't let it hang off the bench. Sometimes we'll subsciously want to raise our head if it's really heavy but that's dangerous for the neck. You're just lifting a couple dumbbells. Just press them up with a trolled tempo. Up, down, nid easy, slow. Keep your arms tucked to your side."

  "Got it." I nodded again.

  "Now, take a deep breath. Push them up. Up. Down. Slow. Don't rush it. Nid easy. Breathe out when you push up. Breathe in when y them down."

  I took a breath and pushed up. I could feel my chest and arms straining. The dumbbells were heavier than I expected.

  I pushed, straining, trying to push through it. My arms slowly went up halfway.

  "e on. Push through it. Breathe." Suguru coached. I breathed out. The weights kept pushing up.

  They finally went up, and I slowly brought them down, my arms straining.

  "Good job. Take a breath. Do that nine more times." Suguru enced me.

  I sucked in a breath. My arms were shaking.

  I pushed. Up...

  And promptly failed halfway.

  "Easy. Easy." He grabbed my elbows, holding the dumbbells steady. He helped guide me down as my arms struggled, and took them out of my hands. "Too heavy?"

  I didn't answer right away, feeling my cheeks burn. "I..."

  "It's alright," he said with a f smile. "It's your first day."

  Ichigo sighed, walking over to a rack of weights and bringien pounders. "Here. Ten pounders. I'm pretty sure she hahem. You were being a bit er, bro."

  "I..." I mumbled, embarrassed, feeling my face heat up even.

  "There's o feel ashamed," Ichigo said with a grin, "You'll be stronger in no time, trust me."

  Albert chuckled, "Yeah, I struggled with the bar too before we left Pewterstone and now I'm getting closer and closer to two hundred on the bench press. We'll all get better and stronger eventually."

  Suguru looked at him and smiled. "That's right, we all have to start somewhere. Now, go ahead and try again. This time, with these." He passed the dumbbells over to me.

  "Okay." I took a deep breath and lifted them up, this time feeling the weight, but not feeling like my arms would snap. It was still heavy, and I felt a bit better as I leaned bad tried to tuck my elbows in like he'd instructed. I felt a lot of strain on my chest, though, and my arms shook as I slowly lowered the weights down to a starting position.

  "There you go," he enced me, "Keep going, slowly and evenly. Breathe and exhale every time you push."

  "Alright..." I mumbled, taking another breath as I slowly pushed them up and lowered them down. I could feel my muscles burning.

  "Nice. Keep it up," Suguru said.

  "O-Okay..." I mumbled, trying to keep going. It got a little harder to do so the more reps I did.

  "You're doing well," he said, watg as I tinued. He stood behio make sure I was doing it right.

  "O-Okay," I said, panting.

  After twelve reps, my arms were screaming a like they were on fire. I slowly lowered them back down and tried not to let them fall, feeling like my chest was going to pop.

  "You okay? Need help?" he asked, his tole. He reached out to grab them, but I held them close to my chest, my arms shaking.

  "I'm good. I do more. Just need a rest I think." I panted.

  I sat up and hahe weights back to Suguru. He took them and nodded.

  "Yeah, take a breather."

  I looked around at the others. Stel was standing nearby, and I noticed her face was locked in a ptive frown, like she was deep in thought about something. She was biting her lip and rubbing her bruised cheek.

  "Are you alright?" Suguru asked, following my eyes.

  "Fine," she said.

  I sighed, looking at her. I khat look on her face, it was a look I knew very well, it was a look of frustration and ption. I didn't know her for all that long, but was like looking in a mirror when I was feeling frustrated about my grades in school, or when I was trying to solve a math problem that seemed impossible. It was like a problem-solving look. She was thinking about the fight with Sammy and how she lost.

  Ichigo was right. You had to squint, but our resembnce was uny when she had that expression on her face. But that wasn't a surprise. I'd noticed it too.

  "You sure?" I asked. "I mean, you don't look fine. You're frowning."

  She nodded, giving me a sad look. "Yeah, just lost in thought."

  "You wanna do a few sets of bench presses yourself?" Suguru offered. "Maybe with lighter weights? I spot you, if you want to do the bar?"

  Stel bit her lip and looked at me, and then Suguru.

  "Sure. I haven't been in a prym in a while, though. Just some m calisthenid mental exercises that my mom made me develop as a habit."

  Suguru raised an eyebrow and looked at her, then he smiled and nodded.

  "I guess you don't need my help then. If you know what you're doing."

  She shrugged. "Not really, no. Just a basic routine. But I could always use a spot. I'd like to see how much strength I have left overall."

  "Alright. Well, I help with that, too."

  I pyed around with the dumbbells in my hand as Albert walked up, g me on the shoulder. I looked up at him.

  "Hey, I've got you if you want to do more reps," he said.

  "Oh, sure." I replied, feeling my cheeks turning pink. Albert was the closest person to me, but it was still awkward even with him by my side. "Sure. Okay, thanks."

  He chuckled. "You okay? You look like you're having trouble with something. Do you o talk or anything?"

  I g Stel and then at him, and I shook my head. "Maybe ter. I think Stel took the loss pretty hard."

  Albert nodded, leaning in and dropping his voice to a whisper. "Yeah, what the heck happened back there?"

  "Ask me ter, it's not important."

  He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

  "Sorry." I whispered.

  "It's fine," Albert whispered back. "You talk to me about it ter."

  Ichigo also leaned in, blinking curiously. "Why are we huddling up?"

  "Just catg up, don't worry." Albert replied.

  I looked up at Ichigo, who was staring down at the both of us.

  "You got a good look at my brother's abs?" she teased Albert.

  He shrugged. "Your bro's huge, like damn. He could crush someoh those things."

  Iiled. "Heh. Yeah, he's strong alright. And ripped, but he be a real dummy when it es to being social. We're both kinda like that in our own ways."

  Albert gri her, blushing slightly. "Well, uh. You did throw me for a loop when you got over your ay around us. It's nice seeing you like that, Ichigo."

  "Hey, what I say? I'm a gal with a big heart. If I get over my stupid social ay I wear my heart on my sleeve."

  I sighed and shook my head, giving Ichigo a nudge as I lowered my dumbbells to my chest.

  "How many reps should I be doing with these, anyway? I'm kinda o all of this. How do I progress? More weight? More reps?"

  Albert looked over to Suguru, who was still helping Stel get set up on the bench.

  "Usually guys do sets of four to six reps for their sets. Girls do better with high rep, lower weight, and take loress, because we usually have a lot more slow twitch fibers that use oxygen more effitly, which is better for sustained effort and endurauff. Guys progress faster with low rep, higher weight work," she replied.

  "So... What should I do?"

  "Well, I'd say just stick with a couple of sets of ten reps with these. And by a couple I mean three or four. Add a rep or two every time you work out until you hit fifteen to twenty, then go up i and work back up," Ichigo suggested. "If it starts feeling like you could go for longer, it's probably time to add weight or move to something that you do at a heavier weight. But that's the basic idea, you ge it up however you like. Some guys do better with high reps, and some girls are fast twitch as hed do the reverse."

  I sucked in a breath, feeling a little nervous. Somehow, I felt even more ie pared to everyone else, especially after seeing Stel and Sammy fighting.

  "Yeah... Okay, let me give this another shot."

  Ichigo grinned, moving aside as Albert stood over me to spot.

  "You got this," he said encingly. "e o's give it ano."

  I sucked in a deep breath, pushing the weights up. My arms burned as I pushed them up. My muscles were burning and ag, but I pushed through. Soon, I pushed it up for seven, the reps, and then I couldn't anymore. I lowered the weights back down and sighed, panting.

  "Good job, Sienna. You did well."

  "Thanks..."

  "You want to try it again?" Albert asked. He had a big goofy smile on his face as I looked at him.

  I huffed. "Heo. But I'm gonna push through. Three or four sets, right?"

  "Yep. Three or four sets, whatever you feel up to," he said, nodding. "You've got this, I believe in you."

  I huffed and turned around, pig up the weights aing into position. This wasn't so bad, but it definitely hurt a little more than I thought it would. "Alright, let me give it a try. Don't judge me if I 't make it through the st one, alright? You'll have to help me."

  He ughed. "Yeah, no sweat. You got it. Let's see you do some of these, and then I'll help you if you ."

  I took another breath, and then I started to push.

  Ichigo giggled. "You know, Albert. You have really nice legs."

  "Wait. Wh-What? Really?" he stammered, looking up at her.

  She grinned. "Yeah. I've never seen you work out before, but you've been doing good work with them, I think. Those calves are nice."

  He chuckled nervously. "I... Thanks?"

  My arms burned, and my legs shook. I fought down the urge to giggle at Albert's sudden embarrassment as I struggled to push through.

  "You're wele," Ichigo said with a coy grin, her eyes sparkling.

  He turned bright red. I felt like I was about to die as I tried to keep my ughter inside.

  Ichigo tinued. "Seriously. Those calves could crack walnuts. I bet ys are as strong as your arms. How much you curl? You were pressing a hundred seventy-five with those arms earlier. How much could you press with those thighs? Could you crush a watermelon? How about an e?"

  "I... don't know what to say to that," Albert said, his cheeks flushed. "I guess getting fat and losi does that to a guy? Plus a whole bunch of running from zombies...?"

  "You could also say thank you. And maybe that I have nice legs, too," she giggled.

  "I... I, umm... Thanks. And you do. I guess.You do have nice legs. They're like... they're like..."

  "Go on. Say it."

  "Like a gazelle's?" he replied awkwardly.

  He turned even redder, his voice trailing off as he realized just hoard the pliment was. I felt my stomach cramp as I tried to stifle a ugh. My arms were shaking as I pushed the dumbbells down and up for the tenth time, my face turni red as I fought against the burn, and the temptation to giggle.

  "Aww thanks. That's the sweetest thing you could have possibly said." she patted his arm. "A gazelle. That's a new one."

  "I'm sorry, that was weird."

  "Yeah, but I like weird," she replied, grinning at him. She turned her gaze down at me, giving me a cheeky wink.

  I tried to hold it in, but I failed miserably.

  I let out a giggle as I fihe set and my arms gave out.

  The weights dropped from my hands, g together, and I broke down into a fit of ughter, holding my ag ribs as Albert turo look at me. He was beet-red, his mouth open, and he looked fused and embarrassed and mortified. "I-I, uhh."

  I couldn't speak through my ughter as Ichigo gri Albert, who was looking down at me, pletely fused and mortified. She just giggled.

  "Ichigo, I..." Albert stammered, pletely lost for words.

  "Oh e on. You do it, Albert. Tell me I have pretty eyes. I won't ugh at you," Ichigo said.

  Albert looked like his brain had pletely short-circuited, and he just looked at me with wide eyes, pletely fbbergasted.

  "I... I-I," he mumbled.

  I finally stopped ughing, and took a breath, my sides ag. I looked up at them with a smile.

  "You guys are cute," I giggled, trying to ignore my own burning muscles.

  Ichigo wi me. "Hey, like I said. Heart on my sleeve, girl."

  She turned and gri Albert. "So. Wanna go do squats? I wanhose thighs of yo to work."

  "I... uh, um," he stammered.

  Ichigo spped him on the back. "Oh lighten up big guy, I'm just teasing."

  She smiled at the mirror as I sat up, and Albert looked down, pletely red and staring at his shoes.

  "She's right, though." I agreed. "Your calves really are great."

  "I'm going to do just that. Go do. Squats," Albert said quickly, and then he walked away, leaving the two of us in a fit of giggles.

  "Albert, don't be such a sourpuss! You're so easy to tease." Ichigo said with a giggle.

  "Hey! Don't tease the puy." I scolded.

  "He knows I'm pying, don't you big guy?" she said as he turned around. She wi him. He blushed harder.

  "e on, Albert. We were just pying!" I added.

  "Ugh, just leave me alone," he groaned, and he walked away, leaving us to giggle at each other.

  Then, I put on a serious fad leaned in to whisper to Ichigo.

  "Hurt him, and I'll break you," I hissed.

  Ichigo broke away with a flind surprised blink, before smiling warmly at me. "I wouldn't dream of it."

  "I mean it. If you hurt him, or make him feel like shit in general, you and I will have a problem."

  "Oh, don't worry about it. He and I are just having fun, and I'd never want the big fel to feel down."

  She just gave me an catlike smile, and a pyful wink. I could practically imagine her now ent tail moving behind her as she put her arms behind her head.

  "I love my big sweet dorks, after all. And besides, I've already decided we're gonhe bestest of besties."