Before my guests began to wake up, I had just enough time to drain a couple of bottles of water I had stashed in advance and take a shower — on the way out of which I nearly bumped heads with Fubuki rushing toward it.
"Don't look!" — before I had even managed to say "hello," the girl threw a towel at my face and vanished swiftly behind the bathroom door. "We're not close enough for you to see me in this state!"
"Ah..." — I had originally wanted to remind her of her dancing on the table and the fact that she had looked considerably more entertaining last night, but in the end I simply waved a resigned hand and returned to the main room. "Good morning, ladies." — I greeted the girls milling around the refrigerator.
Unlike her usual appearance, Mizuki had come to my birthday in perfectly ordinary everyday clothing — loose athletic pants and an equally loose t-shirt — and was still wearing the same now. Suiko's tanned body, on the other hand, was currently covered by nothing more than thin black underwear... though this circumstance seemed not to bother her in the slightest, since at my appearance she merely lazily raised her left arm to cover her chest, without even making an attempt to throw any clothing on.
"Hey."
"Good morning!" — raising her hand in greeting in her usual friendly and energetic manner, Mizuki drained roughly half a bottle before setting it down and exhaling loudly. "Phew... Garou, any plans for the day?"
"Besides recovering from last night?" — I shook my head with a smile, leaning against the wall, which bore several quite distinct holes from someone's fists. "Well, I suppose I'll need to call in the repair crew and arrange for all this mess to be cleaned up... I think that's it."
"How about a trip to the gym?" — Mizuki raised a questioning eyebrow. "I'm expecting a couple of new training machines today, made by the Hero Association..."
"New machines? I'm coming!" — Suiko perked up noticeably, once again forgetting she needed to cover her chest with her arm. "Umm... or maybe not?" — running into the gaze of Mizuki turning toward her, the master of the Void Fist pressed a finger thoughtfully to her nose. "Ah, right, I have plenty of my own things to do. I still need to... YAAAH?!!!"
At that moment a spread-out bedsheet flew into her at incredible speed, wrapping the squealing girl from head to foot.
"Young lady!" — a loud sigh came from somewhere in the direction of the sofa, apparently from Bang finally waking up. "Is it befitting of an S-Class hero to walk around in her birthday suit?"
"Ohhhh!" — instantly pulling off the sheet and a moment later wrapping herself in it like a cocoon, Suiko hopped toward the old man who was stretching his back. "So you'll recommend me for S-Class?!"
"I'll think about it when I get home." — suddenly remembering he was, in fact, an old man, Bang assumed his customary hunched posture and, hands clasped behind his back, shuffled toward the exit. "Good gathering, young people — I hope you'll invite me next time... yes, Garou, thank you for being so kind as to give up the sofa for me."
"Actually, you—"
"You have a very generous heart!" — giving a farewell wave, the old man put on his shoes and vanished swiftly through the front door.
"Of all the..." — seeking support, I turned toward the cocoon of bedsheet and the girl inside it. "Suiko! I'm not the only one who remembers how that cheeky old man refused to take a taxi home and beat us both up to claim the best sleeping spot, am I?"
"You are." — without batting an eye, the tanned girl shook her head vigorously. "And I'm going to be in S-Class soon!"
"Everything has a price..." — raising a resigned hand, I headed back to the refrigerator. "So..." — my gaze shifted to Mizuki, who was watching us with a smile. "To the gym?"
We arrived at our destination only a couple of hours later. Suiko was the first to leave my apartment, while Fubuki — having made herself presentable during her morning routine — decided to stay and help me organize the repair work. Once that was sorted, the three of us evacuated from my rented property and, saying our goodbyes, went our separate ways. Hellish Blizzard left to attend to her own affairs, while Mizuki and I finally headed to her personal gym.
Unlike ordinary establishments, this place had been set up in an entirely exceptional fashion.
Weights on machines that ordinary people — or even heroes below the very top of A-Class — could never have lifted. Incredibly precise force gauges to track progress. And numerous devices whose purpose I could only guess at. This gym didn't actually belong to Mizuki in terms of ownership — it belonged to the Association. But she granted access to heroes who met the minimum requirements and were considered "promising." During this particular period, essentially only my girlfriend fit that description, so she usually trained here in proud solitude. But not today...
We started with a standard warm-up. Then moved on to more serious exercises. Perhaps the most interesting challenge awaited us during the ab workout. I imagine no god knows what effort it cost me not to leap on her right then and there, during each of those moments when Mizuki's incredible body completed another cycle of sit-ups from a lying position... and, judging by the noticeable flush on the girl's face and her unusually disrupted breathing, I was far from alone in my desires...
Having survived that, we moved on to pulling various weights. We decided to finish with boxing — or simple bare-knuckle fighting, which Mizuki had been actively training in for the past several months. I usually employed something a bit more technical, but I had perfectly adequate brawling skills of my own, so we spent several hours on these sparring rounds without a single break.
Mizuki confidently demonstrated the techniques she had already mastered, occasionally asking me to correct her stance. In those moments, carefully and almost accidentally touching my hand or shoulder. Each such contact between our bodies was almost like an electric shock. We both knew how this day would end, but we continued our respective games, filling ourselves and each other with the sensation of anticipation.
During the endless sequence of rounds, the girl came close enough that I could feel the warmth and scent of her tanned skin — a mixture of light perfume and sweat, which for some reason struck me as the most captivating fragrance in the world. Keeping myself in check, I tried to stay calm and focus on the movements — but the moment Mizuki stepped back, I would catch my breath, trying to steady my racing heart. And judging by how she looked at me, she was experiencing something similar every time as well.
That said, it didn't stop either of us from hitting each other quite genuinely. No — if we hadn't been doing that, things would only have gotten worse.
Her movements were simple yet sharp and precise, each strike drawing admiration from me. Catching her lunges on a block or deflecting them aside, I watched Mizuki's body — her tensed muscles, the way she moved across the ring with such ease, as if her every motion was deliberate and perfectly calibrated. In those moments Mizuki was a true embodiment of strength and grace, and I felt heat rising inside me, simple desire transforming into something completely uncontrollable. It seemed as if, gradually, even the air between us grew thick and heavy with everything we weren't saying aloud but were conveying to each other through our strikes.
At a certain point I became clearly aware that we had both practically stopped blinking. I simply couldn't take my eyes off Mizuki's body. Looking at her ordinary yet impossibly alluring short shorts, resembling underwear more than athletic wear, and her simple short top — I watched her chest bounce and her firm hips sway with each particularly sharp movement. Despite all my mental efforts and acts of will, the fabric of my shorts in the area of my groin was stretching more and more...
Suddenly, seemingly forgetting that we had agreed to fight with fists only, Mizuki landed a spinning kick aimed at my head. For a moment, an entirely new view opened up — her slender, toned waist, the firm muscles of her thighs. But most importantly, I caught a glimpse of her inner thighs. And if my eyes weren't deceiving me, Mizuki's shorts were already damp — and not from sweat.
Having blocked the kick on pure reflex, I looked at my partner questioningly. What I got in return was a slightly flustered yet guilty expression. It seemed the girl herself didn't quite understand why she had broken the rules.
Our eyes met again. Without saying a word, Mizuki gave a brief smile. A challenge flickered in her gaze.
"Come on, Garou!" — she teased, stepping closer and pointedly drawing her leg back for a new attack. "Don't fall behind!"
"You brought this on yourself." — smirking, I accelerated and managed to strike first — into the girl's shoulder, sending her down onto the mat.
"Is that all?" — her smile grew wider, carrying something imperceptibly warm and at the same time terribly bold. "At this rate I think I might catch up to you!"
Rising slowly from the floor, Mizuki smiled again — as if testing how long I could hold out. It was the smile I loved seeing on her pretty flushed face, and right now it looked especially provocative, if not outright seductive. Both she and I understood that what was happening between us had long since stopped being just training — it was closer to a prelude — but both stayed silent, as if afraid to shatter the fragile equilibrium and break too soon, before reaching the peak.
And yet it couldn't go on forever. During the next exchange, Mizuki's gaze dropped for a moment lower than usual — traveling across my chest and the muscles of my stomach — and she suddenly discovered that very bulge in my shorts. However quickly she tried to redirect her eyes, I caught it. Mizuki visibly swallowed, and that was the trigger I needed.
"Tell me honestly..." — settling into my stance as usual, I suddenly put a question to my ring partner. "You've been waiting for this too, haven't you?"
Such a sudden, direct, and seemingly ill-timed question clearly caught Mizuki off guard. But that was exactly what I was going for. The very moment she froze in place with her mouth slightly parted in surprise, I closed the distance between us in an instant and covered her lips with mine.
It was sudden and breathtaking — like lightning striking directly in the chest. Our second kiss was decisive and demanding; I could literally feel something inside me finally slip its leash. And Mizuki... overcoming a split second of stunned stillness, she effortlessly matched my pace and returned the kiss with equal force.
My hands found her waist on their own, and I pulled her beautiful body toward me.
All the tension that had accumulated over those two years, all the restrained glances and unspoken words, had now become this kiss — burning, long-awaited, and absolutely inevitable...