The Handsome Boy I Saved from Getting Beaten on the Train… Turned Out to Be the “Prince” of an All-Girls School - V1 Chapter 20: D-Dying…

Chapter 20: D-Dying…

“Yeah, yeah—this is working. I can feel it.”

I was in a great mood, checking the tightness in my pecs after a good workout.

Even when you’re training the same muscle group, using different machines really changes how the workout feels.

That’s the fun part. It hits the muscles in new ways, and that always makes me happy.

Yep, switching gyms every now and then and giving your body some fresh stimulus is definitely the way to go.

“Still… Rei’s really taking her time.”

She’d told me, “I’m going back to grab my change of clothes—head to the gym first!”

Still a little annoyed from earlier, she had sent me off ahead.

So I came straight to the private gym inside the Hoshina family’s luxury apartment as a guest.

And by now, I’d already used three different chest machines.

“Sorry for the wait!”

“Oh, hey. You’re rocking the prince look again today, Rei.”

She showed up in a sporty outfit—

Cap, hoodie, and pants. Perfect for working out.

With the cap on, though, she gave off that edgy “bad prince” vibe.

“H-How do I look?”

“Yeah, you look cool as always, Rei.”

The contrast from her girly school uniform earlier made it stand out even more.

“…Was that supposed to be a compliment?”

Rei gave me a side-eye glare, clearly unimpressed.

“It was a compliment. When you dress like this, it overlaps with the image I had when I thought you were just a cool guy friend. Feels kind of nostalgic.”

That really was how I felt.

The impression Rei left on me that very first day was still strong.

“Hmm… So even after seeing me dressed like this, you still see me as just a guy friend?”

“W-What!?”

As Rei said that, she pulled off her cap and took off her hoodie—

And I was left speechless. I immediately turned my face away.

“Ah, you’re blushing, Saito.”

“I-I mean… You’re showing your belly!”

Under that oversized hoodie was a cropped tank top that left her midriff completely exposed.

And instead of the usual loose sweatpants, she was wearing yoga pants—so tight they showed off everything from her thighs to her hips in full detail.

This was dangerous.

Seriously not safe for a teenage boy’s eyes.

“I-I couldn’t help it, okay? This was the only workout outfit I had.”

“No way that’s true! You literally have gym clothes from school!”

“Mom did the laundry, and they’re still wet~ This was the only thing I could wear to exercise~”

Rei pouted, cheeks flushed bright red as she tried to justify herself.

Yeah right.

Also—what kind of high school girl even owns a cropped tank top like that?

Still… Rei did have some pretty toned abs.

I guess I could understand wanting to show them off a little.

“Though if that’s true, you sure took your sweet time getting changed and coming down here.”

“I-It’s not like I was hesitating because I was embarrassed or anything…! A-Anyway, let’s start with stretching! Saito, help me out!”

“Ah—look at that, changing the subject.”

There were definitely a few things I wanted to comment on,

But when it came to what she was wearing, I figured I should probably just let it go.

So, I agreed to help Rei with her stretching.

“Alright then. I’ll do mine in front of the mirror, so you go ahead and stretch on that mat over there.”

I’d already finished my own stretching earlier before training,

So rather than loosening up again, I switched to dynamic stretches—just to keep my warmed-up muscles from cooling down.

“Hey, Saito! That’s not how you do it!”

“What’s not?”

I was in the middle of doing lunges when Rei marched over, puffed up with frustration.

I was actually thinking about trying out the lower-body machines next.

“When friends stretch together, they stretch together! You’re supposed to do it with me!”

“I am doing it with you. Just right next to you.”

“That’s not what I mean… Come on, help me stretch. Push my back!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Honestly, you’re not really supposed to force stretching by pushing someone like this,

But I walked over anyway, stepping behind Rei as she sat on the mat in a straddle position.

Hmmm…

Since she’s wearing just a tank top, there’s no way to avoid touching bare skin.

“A-Alright, I’m gonna push now.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

I nervously placed my hands on her back and gently pushed forward.

“Nn… You can push a bit harder if you want.”

“A-Alright…”

With nothing but a tank top between us, I could clearly feel the warmth of her skin and the soft resistance beneath my palms…

“You’re totally blushing, Saito. Weren’t you the one saying I’m just like a guy friend or whatever?”

Rei’s tone was clearly meant to tease me,

But it was painfully obvious she was forcing it—her flushed face gave it away.

Not to mention, the big wall mirror in front of the stretching mat reflected everything.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

“Ehh~ But you could’ve pushed way harder, you know.”

“Pushing too hard during stretches can pull a muscle.”

Muscles won’t betray you if you treat them right—

But joints and tendons?

They’ll turn on you without warning and leave you injured.

That’s just basic gym wisdom.

“It’s fine. I’m pretty flexible when it comes to splits. Watch—”

“Whoa!”

Rei slid into a near-perfect 180° split,

Lowering not just her hands but her chest to the mat with ease.

I couldn’t stop myself from blurting it out.

“D-Dang, you’re seriously flexible.”

“Heh, just a little leftover talent from my younger days.”

She flashed a smug grin at me through the mirror.

“…Wait, if you’re that flexible, does that mean you didn’t need my help at all?”

“Ugh—uhh, n-no! It’s because you helped that I could stretch this far! A-Anyway, now it’s your turn! I’ll push your back!”

“No thanks. I don’t want to cool down my muscles with static stretching right after warming up.”

“S-Static (性的)!? W-We’re doing that kind of thing* in a public gym!? Is that even allowed!?”

“Why’d you suddenly switch to polite speech!? And you know that’s not what static means!”

Honestly…

Her brain’s so full of dirty thoughts, she ends up twisting everything into something indecent.

Rinna’s the same way, too.

Is this just how girls are at that age?

[TLN: 静的 (seiteki) = static (as in static stretching)

性的 (seiteki) = sexual]

“I’m gonna work on my lower body next. What about you, Rei?”

“I-I’ll do it with you!”

“Alright then. Since there’s two of us, let’s spot each other and do some squats.”

“Yup♪”

[30 Minutes Later]

“D… Dyying…”

“Yep. You haven’t really trained legs until your lower half turns to jelly, right?”

Rei lay sprawled out on the cooldown mat like a dead fish,

And I looked down at her with a satisfied nod—

Though her reply was barely a whisper.

“Heehee… So, like, there was this romance advice video that said if a girl wears yoga pants and shows off her hips while doing squats, boys fall for her instantly… But Saito didn’t react at all, so I just kept going… set after set…”

“I treat squat time as sacred. No impure thoughts allowed.”

“Wait—so I did all that for nothing!? No waaaaay…”

At first, I’d been totally caught off guard by Rei in her workout gear—

But once the barbell squats started, any distracting thoughts were crushed beneath the weight.

Because when it comes to squats, especially when you’re spotting,

There’s no room for distractions.

“Here, your drink.”

“Thanks.”

“A protein bar with a full-time staff, and they even serve BCAA drinks… This place has some seriously top-tier gym facilities.”

“Fuu… Yeah, it’s really nice. Ahh… finally starting to feel human again.”

Rei, who had been completely wiped out just minutes ago, seemed to recover a bit after finishing her drink.

“Still, Rei—you really pushed yourself hard, even though you’re a girl. Your squat form was clean, too.”

“Yeah. I used to do this kind of training before.”

“You mentioned that earlier—‘leftover skills’ or something. Did you play a sport or something?”

“Yup. I used to do figure skating. Believe it or not, I was pretty good at it.”

“Figure skating, huh? Yeah, that makes sense. You need solid lower body strength and core stability for that. Are you still skating now?”

“Nope. I quit back in middle school after I got injured.”

Rei gently placed her hand on her ankle as she spoke,

Her tone soft and a little lonely.

“S-Sorry… I didn’t mean to bring up something sad.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“But even with an old injury, were you really okay doing that kind of intense squat training today?”

“Yeah. The doctor said it wouldn’t affect my ability to exercise anymore.”

And it’s true—

Watching her during the barbell squats, she didn’t seem to be favoring one side or struggling with any awkward movements.

Still, it made me wonder…

If she could still move like that,

Why did she really quit figure skating?

“More importantly, how about it, Saito? Now that we’re cooling down, doesn’t my yoga pants look do something for you?”

Rei bent over and grabbed one foot behind her back, arching gracefully into a perfect ring shape with her back and leg—the classic Biellmann pose.

She gave me a cheeky grin while clearly emphasizing her hips.

Even to someone like me, who knew nothing about the finer points of posing,

I could tell her form was incredibly balanced.

She said she quit figure skating, but clearly, her flexibility hadn’t faded one bit.

“If you can still hold a pose that puts that much strain on your leg, That means we didn’t push hard enough. Let’s do one more set of squats. After that—deadlifts.”

“Nooooooo, I don’t waaaaant to!!”

“Come on. If you power through, you’ll get a reward protein shake from the protein bar.”

“Why do you turn into a drill sergeant the moment muscles get involved, Saito!?”

And so, after Rei was fully destroyed and could barely stand,

I gave her a piggyback ride all the way back to her room.

(And yeah… having her on my back was a little slice of heaven—but that stays a secret.)

-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-:+:-+:-+:-+:-+:-+

Squats really are amazing…

Compared to the pain they bring, most of life’s problems start to feel manageable.

Also, thank you so much for all the kind messages about the award for my other work, “Wanna Marry Me When I Become a Shogi Master, Sensei?” I’m really happy to hear that so many of you are also reading it on Kakuyomu!

I’ll keep doing my best moving forward!

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