"We are going to test your endurance and strength today. So you will be doing some warm ups in pairs. After that, a 6-minute run, pull-ups, and push-ups is all we are doing for today."
Aoi, seeing that Miyako is a little worried, approaches her. "Miyako, would you like to pair up with me?" Miyako agrees and they warm uptogether.
"Is there something on your mind?" Aoi asked her.
"Unlike you and others, I'm not good at sports. So it seems like I will be attending this class for a while."
"Count me in too." Takuya was holding his back.
"What happened to your back, Takuya?"
"He hurt his back while stretching."
"Ms. Akira! But how? It's not common to get hurt while stretching, as far as I know."
"It's my fault. I made him do some extreme moves."
"It's not your fault, Byakuya. It's just… I've never done stretches before."
"I knew that my bro was going to attend this class for a while, because he never trains."
"But when you see that Miyako is bad at sports too, you start thinking that some geniuses really don't care about their own health, huh?" Reika and Renji were talking about them while warming up.
"Alright everyone, gather around. Now, I want you all to start running on the track when I give the signal. You will run for 6 minutes. START!"
Miyako was out of breath in 3 minutes, Takuya ran for 5 minutes and gave up. Reika and Renji ran for 6 minutes and got 700m and 800m. Aoi and Byakuya did great and got around 1400m and 1600m. After confirming their scores, Akira praised Aoi, who was able to keep up with Byakuya.
First place went to Aoi and Byakuya. Other students did average, but Miyako and Takuya ended up failing.
"We will be doing pull-ups and push-ups now. For boys, you should at least do 15 push-ups and 5 pull-ups on average to pass. If girls can do 10 push-ups and 3 pull-ups, they pass."
"That's impossible for someone who's never done it before!" Miyako was talking to herself. She collapsed after 5 push-ups and didn't have the strength to do a single pull-up.
Akira approached her and said, "You can't even do one pull-up. Take your head out of those books of yours and start doing some basic training with me and Byakuya, or your belly will be sticking out all the time!"
"My belly is not sticking out!"
"Your belly's sticking out all the time at home, you silly!"
"I think she looks cute that way though," Aoi chuckled.
"You finished already? How many push-ups did you do and where are your classmates?" Akira didn't see them around.
"I did 80 push-ups and 20 pull-ups. If you're asking about the others, they're counting Byakuya's reps."
"Huh?"
"Yes, after Byakuya did 90 push-ups, our classmates gathered around him and started counting his reps. They're at the pull-up bars." She pointed toward her classmates.
They saw Takuya, Renji, Reika, and the others circling around Byakuya.
"38… 39… 40!" The voices grew louder, the closer they got.
"Byakuya, are you an elite athlete or something?"
"No, I just do training at home."
"Are you serious? Not even athletes can do 40 pull-ups!"
"Is it really possible at home?"
"Yeah, if you are consistent with your training, you can do even more than that."
"What's all this fuss about?" Akira asked Takuya.
"You won't believe this, Ms. Akira. Byakuya did 120 push-ups and 40 pull-ups!"
"And how many reps did you do, Takuya?"
Takuya's mood dropped. "12 push-ups and 1 pull-up."
Akira smiled at him and said, "Ok. You failed."
Akira got other students' reports too. Expectedly, almost all of them passed, only Takuya, Miyako, and some of the girls failed. They would be attending extra training with Ms. Akira after school. Sports class was over for the day. Akira treated Miyako and her group to a cold drink for their hard work. "Thank you, Ms. Akira."
After that, they ran into Ms. Shion in the hallway.
"So these two are Mio's kids?" she asked.
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Shion. I think you're talking about our mother, Mio Kanzaki. Did you know her by any chance?"
"be casual when you're talking to me, sweetie" Shion interrupted Miyako.
Miyako stopped for a second and continued, "Ahem… ok then, can you talk about your relationship with her?"
"Why on alert?"
"It's no harm to play safe against someone like you."
"Oh, don't worry, sweetie. I don't have any reason to harm you."
"So, what was your relationship with her then?"
"We were friends in high school," Akira intervened.
"She was more than a friend though. She was like a big sister for all of us. (Seeing her children like that, they look just like her. But the boy… that bastard really did that to his own son, huh?)."
"All of us?"
"(Sharp, huh?) Yes, your homeroom teacher Ms. Eiri — four of us were friends from high school."
"So this means that all of our mothers were friends from high school?" Takuya was surprised.
"Ms. Eiri is your mother?"
"Yes, she is. My bro didn't tell you about that, did he?"
Akira and Shion had a small talk about their childhood. After that, the group left and arrived at class. Ms. Eiri came in and distributed the test papers. Looking at the test results, Byakuya's mood changed. He had failed English and got 20/100. He looked at the others and saw that Aoi was upset.
"What happened, Aoi?"
"Ugh… I got 30 points in English. I need to take extras now!"
"I failed English too."
"Let's take extras together then."
"You two are looking happy, aren't you? Not to mention that you failed the mock exam!" Ms. Eiri scolded them for talking during class.
"We are sorry!"
After class was over, Miyako, Aoi, Byakuya, and Takuya took extra lessons. They told Renji and Reika to go home before them. After their extra lesson with Ms. Eiri was over, Byakuya and Aoi went to meet Miyako and Takuya. Exhausted, Miyako was lying on the ground. Takuya collapsed after his last rep. Byakuya put Miyako on his shoulder and Takuya under his arm, carrying them home. All of them were so tired that they didn't even bother questioning anything.
After taking Aoi and Takuya to their home, Byakuya returned home. Three days passed, they took their extra lessons but their progress was slow. At the weekend, while studying, Miyako got an idea to invite Aoi and Takuya to train and study together. Her plan was to help Byakuya and Aoi with their studies, along with Takuya, while also receiving training from them to increase their own reps and endurance.
"Sis, I understand what you mean, but I don't know if we can help you two."
"We will be helping you in your studies too, just help us increase our reps."
"Anyways, it's no harm training together, right?"
"Yeah, you have a point."
"Okay, let's go to the training hall then."
"You have a training hall at home?"
"Yes, big sis and I train there."
"Big sis? You mean Ms. Akira?"
"Yeah, she is our auntie, but she hates being called aunt, so we call her big sis."
"Ok then, let's wear something more comfortable and start training."
Aoi and Byakuya changed into their sports clothes. Byakuya was stunned, seeing Aoi's cute outfit. He was staring at her for a while. Aoi, blushing: "Byakuya, c-can you stop staring at me like that? It makes me feel embarrassed."
"EH? I'm sorry… turns his face You were looking so cute that I was just—"
"HEY! Stop flirting and come help us train properly!" Takuya tried to embarrass them.
"WE ARE NOT FLIRTING!"
Aoi helped Miyako and Takuya with their warm-ups and taught them how to avoid injuries during warm-ups. On the other hand, Byakuya was teaching Takuya how to do pull-ups properly and was helping Miyako with assisted pull-ups.
"Sis, you should use bands to do assisted pull-ups, and you should do four sets with the maximum reps you can do."
"Yes, and for Takuya, you should do the same. Make sure to rest between sets for four to five minutes."
"Are you sure this is the fastest way?" Takuya asked them.
"Actually, there is no fastest way to do it. You need time to build muscle. But you should be fine, because if you train consistently you'll increase your reps. So, just don't get your mood down and make sure to train with someone. Training with someone will keep you motivated."
After sending Aoi and Takuya home safely, Byakuya came back and saw Akira. He requested her to spar with him and teach some moves in the process. Akira accepted his request. They trained until midnight. Meanwhile, Miyako prepared the table and called them for dinner.
"So, how are your after-school lessons going, Byakuya?"
"Not bad, surprisingly it's fun."
"Isn't it because you're attending it with Aoi? You really like her, don't you?" Miyako teased him.
Byakuya flustered at first but gave a proper answer. "Yes, I like her."
"Ooh! Didn't expect you to be this bold!" Akira was surprised at his answer.
"So what do you like about her?"
"I… don't know. She looks cute and she's kind, like our mother. Maybe that's the reason I've fallen for her."
"You have a point. She's like our late mother, kind and caring..."
"I don't know who she got that part of her from. She's the opposite of her mother. Her mother wasn't like that in high school," Akira added.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Shion always bullied me and Eiri."
"Teachers didn't do anything about it?"
"She always sweet-talked her way out of it. But one day Mio saw her bullying Eiri. She stopped Shion right on the spot, told us to leave the classroom, and scolded her for 30 minutes. We don't know what happened in that classroom, but after that day she apologized to us and started clinging to Mio."
"I didn't think the principal could be someone like that in the past."
"Back in our days, she was a complete troublemaker."
—
At home, Aoi and her mother were sitting and watching TV.
"Aoi, when are you going to start dating Byakuya?"
"Not yet… WHAT?" Aoi got flustered.
"Huhhh? You're not dating yet? Why?"
"What are you talking about, mother? Where did you get that idea?"
"Ms. Eiri told me about it. She said you two were being clingy during the after-school classes."
"We were not being clingy! I was just asking him a question!"
"Is that so? I would like to see you being clingy then," she teased her even more.
"MOTHER! Stop that! Even if you say that, there's no way a guy like Byakuya would like me."
"Why? You're cute and you've got good style. Why would you think like that?"
"He keeps his distance from me. Even during training, he avoided eye contact with me."
"He's just a shy kid. It's not like he hates you. He's just being careful around you. And there's a chance you got him flustered by your outfit."
"HUH? So you're saying the reason he avoided eye contact with me is because my outfit was too appealing?"
"Exactly."
"Uhhh…"
"You like him?"
"Yes. A lot."
—
The next day, Aoi and Takuya arrived at the Kanzaki house. Today Takuya and Miyako would be teaching Aoi and Byakuya. They rang the doorbell. Akira opened the door and welcomed them. They sat down on the sofa, waiting for Byakuya and Miyako to wake up. Soon after, the two came downstairs — still in their underwear. Yawning, they saw Takuya and Aoi sitting on the sofa. Embarrassed, they ran back upstairs.
Takuya asked Akira, "Is this the first time?"
"No," Akira replied.
"AKIRA! Why didn't you tell us about Takuya and Aoi's arrival?"
"Is that the problem? Don't you think you should start wearing something before coming downstairs?"
"I would like to apologize for showing you our embarrassing side."
"Oh, don't worry about it. It was a feast for our eyes, right Aoi?"
Aoi was blushing bright red. "Huh?... umm… yes!" She tried to cover her face with her hair.
"Anyway (I'll take my revenge!), let's start studying after some dessert."
Miyako served the cake she baked last night. While eating, Aoi asked Miyako:
"Miyako, do you like cooking?"
"No, I just cook desserts and cakes for my brother. He's into sweet things."
"Byakuya likes sweet things, huh? (Maybe I should cook some for him next time we meet...)"
After eating and getting their energy up, they started studying. Miyako asked Byakuya and Aoi about which parts they failed and began explaining them. Aoi was listening carefully, but Byakuya's eyes kept staring at her. Seeing that, Miyako looked at Takuya. Takuya understood the situation and said:
"Byakuya, come here. We'll teach you separately."
"Huh? Okay!"
Takuya whispered to Byakuya, "Stop staring at Aoi and study properly, or you'll be attending after-school classes ALONE!"
"Ugh… okay."
After Takuya's scolding, Byakuya finally started listening properly. Byakuya had problems with essays, while Aoi struggled with grammar. Miyako and Takuya taught them for 6 hours straight. Aoi had trouble staying awake but didn't give up. Byakuya started dozing off every 30 to 40 minutes. Miyako prepared coffee for everyone, and they studied for 2 more hours.
After that, Byakuya sent Takuya and Aoi home safely. They continued studying and training with the same schedule for 2 weeks.