Kai knocked on the door and shifted uncomfortably while he waited.
Nekoko opened it a bit and peeked through. "Oh, hey," she said groggily, her hair more disheveled than usual.
He lifted a bag full of groceries. "Tom sent me to buy you some stuff."
"Right, he told me," she let him in. "Sorry about the mess. I planned to get up early and clean before you arrived, but I guess I overslept."
The Oathless frowned as he entered the kitchen. The sink was stacked with dirty dishes, and the trash was full to the brim and swarming with flies. As he walked over to the fridge, he caught a glimpse of her room and noted that the floor was littered with discarded clothes. He placed the bag on the kitchen counter and caught a whiff of the oily pan that had clearly been left overnight on the unlit stove… likely more than one night by the smell.
He shouldn't judge her; he used to be just as bad, if not worse… but he judged her nonetheless.
"What did you get?" she asked, oblivious to his scrutinizing gaze, and looked into the bag.
"Everything you are going to need for your new diet, at least for the next few days."
"D-diet?" she yelped.
"I told you I was going to teach you everything I know about fitness, and the first two things are getting proper sleep and eating a balanced diet. Since you seem to be so proficient with the former," he smirked, "I figured we could start working on the latter."
"Ugh," she groaned.
"I'm not forcing you," he shrugged. "You don't have to do any of this if you don't want to." He opened the fridge and was surprised to find it clean and organized. "I thought I could help you set up breakfast since I am here anyway, but if you prefer, I can leave and meet you later at the gym."
"No, it's fine… I am actually a little hungry," she handed the bag over to him, and he began emptying it into the fridge. "So, what are you cooking for breakfast?"
"Ah, what makes you think I'll be the one cooking?"
She crossed her arms. "If you planned the diet, you do the cooking; those are the rules."
"Ah, yeah?" he chuckled. "Well, in that case," he rose, done with stacking the fridge, and closed the door. "For now, I'll cook… nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Of course not, nobody can cook in a kitchen like this. That's why we have no choice but to start by—" he pointed his finger at her. "Cleaning your room!"
"Huh?" She blinked.
"If you don't have the discipline required to keep your room clean, you have no hope of keeping your diet or a workout regimen."
Her shoulders slumped. "I mean, I get that, but… do I have to? I really just woke up."
He shrugged. "You don't have practice today, so you can take your time, but the sooner you start, the sooner we can move on to other things." He rolled up his sleeves. "I'm gonna take care of the kitchen while you take care of your room. I promise it won't take as long as you think, and by the time you are done, I'll have breakfast ready for you."
"Ugh… Alright," she sighed and went into her room.
Kai started by taking out the trash, expecting he would need it empty for the rest of the cleaning, then moved his attention to the countertop, the dishes, and the pan on the stove.
The dishes took longer than expected, but all in all, it didn't take him too long to whip the kitchen into shape. There were still some oil stains on the stove, and the sink wasn't sparkling clean, but at least things were organized.
He wiped his brow and started cooking, nothing too complicated or special—scrambled eggs with some spinach. After they were done, he set the two steaming plates on the small kitchen table and went to knock lightly on her door. "Hey, how are you progressing in there?"
"I'm done. You can come in."
Hesitantly, he opened the door and looked inside. The discarded clothes were gathered in a pile on the side of the room, and the floor—now visible—clearly needed sweeping, but at least the bed seemed made—though, covered with a mountain of plushies as it was, he found it hard to tell.
Nekoko pulled a spoon out of her mouth. "Is the food ready?" she asked with a mouthful of cereal, seated in her gaming chair by the computer.
"You are eating Stars N' Sparkles?!" he cried, noting the boxes beside her desk.
"It's my emergency food. I told you I was hungry."
"And you couldn't wait thirty minutes? You don't even have milk in that bowl."
"The milk is in the fridge, and you were cleaning—I didn't want to interrupt."
"Well, that's very… thoughtful of you," he sighed. The room wasn't big, and giving it a light brooming would have taken only a few minutes at most; then putting the laundry in the machine could have been done even quicker. Is this what she calls cleaning?
Vira, who had remained invisible even to his eyes, giggled in his ear. "Now you know how I felt when we first met."
He waved her off. "Anyway, the food is ready. Come eat," he turned around, then paused when he saw the poster beside the door. "BLOODRAGER," he smiled.
"You watch the show?" She jumped from her chair.
"Of course! I'm a big fan."
"Did you see the new movie?"
"Ah, no… not yet. I've been busy."
"Right… well, you should catch it when you get the chance; it's really good."
"You've seen it already?"
"Yes! But I've been meaning to watch it again, so if you want…" She blushed. "I could go with you."
"Ah, that'd be—" he paused, blushing as well. Did-did Nekoko just ask me out? He gulped. You are overthinking this. She is just being friendly, he shook the thought out of his head.
"You don't want to?" she asked, misinterpreting the gesture.
"Ah, no—I mean, yes, I—" his face grew redder. "Going with you… would be nice."
They sat down to eat, then headed to the gym.
***
Nekoko rose to a sit-up with great effort, breathing out, then slowly went back down, while Kai put his weight on her feet. They had spent close to an hour at the gym, with him giving her pointers and guiding her through each exercise.
She held her breath on the way up, then breathed out again.
"That should be enough for now," he said. "Now, let's hit the treadmills."
Her shoulders slouched. "There's more."
He smiled. "Just a little bit. I like to run before I'm done for the day, so this will be the last thing we do."
She rose with a sigh and followed him onto the treadmills.
"I've done this all before, you know…" she said as they started running. "But I can never keep it up."
"You are not alone in that. Consistency is where most people fail. They work hard, but sooner or later, for all sorts of different reasons, they lose motivation and stop dieting, exercising, or both… I think that to not fall into that trap, you have to start thinking about your fitness plan kinda like…" He took a moment to think of a good analogy. "Like marriage."
"M-marriage?" Nekoko stumbled but managed to regain her footing.
"It's a lifelong commitment—your sleep schedule, your eating habits, your workout routine. If you want to reach your fitness goals, those things can't just be something you do; they have to become a part of your lifestyle, a part of who you are… Honestly, it's something I still struggle with myself, but I think that's the right way to look at it."
"Where…" she asked between huffs. "Did you learn… all this stuff?"
A smile stretched across his face as he thought of Bella. "I had a good coach."
They finished up their session and separated for the showers. Kai was done first and waited for her by the gym's entrance.
"My everything hurts," she shuffled to stand beside him.
"I know how you feel," he smiled. "It means you're doing it right."
The automatic doors slid open, and a figure stepped into the gym. "Well, well, look who it is," Felicia untied her red scarf, letting it hang around her neck. She wore a long beige coat lined with white fur (synthetic, of course) and tight black gym clothes underneath.
"Felicia? I didn't know you were back," Kai blinked. "You train here, too?"
The fox-girl laughed, as if he had made a really good joke. "Train? Silly, darling. No, no," her eyes went past him, further inside, and locked on a jacked guy lifting weights. "I'm here for the view; there's barely anyone at the beach anymore."
"Ah…" His face sagged. She can be such a creep sometimes.
"K-Kai," Nekoko pulled on his sleeve, unable to take her eyes off the gorgeous redhead. "Y-you know this woman?"
"She is, ah… a friend."
The fox-girl's attention fell on the VTuber.
"Who is this disaster next to you?" Felicia clicked her tongue, her fluffy tail swishing left and right. "I go away for a while, and this is the quality of people you hang out with? I would think you'd have learned to keep better company by now."
"Disaster?" Nekoko muttered.
"Hey!" Kai took a step forward. "Don't insult her."
"Please, please, I'm just teasing, you are acting like…" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Wait, don't tell me this is your new girlfriend."
"What?" They both blushed.
"No, she—"
"We're not—"
"What happened to Maria?" The fox-girl cut them off, crossing her arms.
He pursed his lips. "We broke up."
"You mean she dumped you?"
He gritted his teeth.
The fox-girl sighed. "What did you do?"
"That's none of your business."
"None of my—You got laid thanks to me."
"Huh?!" Nekoko turned to Kai.
He scoffed. "You are giving yourself way too much credit."
"Oh, darling," she snorted. "If it weren't for my help, you'd still be a vi—"
"Okay!" he yelled over her, and grabbed the VTuber's arm. "We are leaving now, great to see you as always, Felicia."
"Hold on a minute!" She moved to block their way. "As your professional stylist, I cannot allow you to be seen in public with someone who looks like that."
"Oh, yeah?" He grimaced. "And what are you going to do about it?"
The fox-girl strutted to tower over the VTuber. Her sharp claws combed up a few locks of messy black hair between slender fingers, and her golden vixen eyes narrowed on the woman. "You, darling girl," she purred. "Are coming with me."
***
After two hours spent visiting a beauty salon, a make-up shop, and a few clothing stores, Felicia was finally satisfied and allowed the two to head back home.
As they took a seat in the tram, Kai gave the 'makeover-ed' VTuber an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about Felicia, she can be quite a handful sometimes."
Nekoko shyly played with her hair—which was now thick, flowing, and silky, as opposed to its usual messy, disheveled state—and shook her head. "It's alright, I never had someone to do all that girly stuff with, so… I didn't mind it."
He gave her a light smile and had to admit that she did look better, though with her thick glasses and beaked nose, she still looked a bit like an owl… it was kinda cute.
As the tram stopped at one station, then continued to the next, the silence between them grew awkward, and Kai sought desperately for something to talk about.
"Ah… So, when do you plan to leave Aura City? Immediately after the Expo?"
"A week after. I want to spend some time in the city without the stress of the performance hanging over my head. My hometown doesn't have as many attractions as this city offers."
"Ah…"
"What about you?"
"Me? I live here."
"Yes," she chuckled. "But what are you gonna do when the Expo is over? I don't think Tom intends to keep you—no offense."
"No… I know," he blushed. "I was actually thinking of making VTuber models."
"Really? That's cool."
"It would be, except I don't know anything about it."
"Erm... I can help you with the basics if you want."
He gave her a quizzical look. "I thought your model was made by someone else."
"It was, but the first model I had, I made myself."
Kai thought back; she had a number of models over the years, all keeping generally the same concept but with differing styles and quality.
"It wasn't very good," she admitted. "But I learned a lot from it, and I'd be happy to show you what I know."
"Then it's a deal," he smiled. "When can we start?"