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@ryukoto Week

Day 2: Athletics

‘Are you sure about this,’ Makoto thinks to herself, would be a rather silly question to ask now. From the way Ryuji was already hurrying to the opposite end of the room, passing over the large foam mat at its center, to deposit his gym bag on a bench it was rather clear he was certain about what he was doing.

He’d been badgering her for weeks now, what began simply as questions about where she ‘learned to throw down like that,’ (as he put it) eventually turned to questions about which martial arts she had learned, which in turn morphed to questions about Aikido, which lead to questions about how he could learn Aikido which led, at last, to the inevitable question: ‘Can you teach me some killer moves?’

She would be lying if she didn’t admit a part of her felt flattered at how much interest he showed in a skill she was normally hesitant to share with others. She would, however, of course never let him know how flattered she was. That would just make his head even bigger than it already was, something which wouldn’t be good for either of them.

So here they were, early on a weekend morning, at a gym he’d picked (in truth Makoto had been keeping in shape in her own home for the past year and didn’t really know any gyms herself…but she was definitely not going to run the risk of Sae coming home to discover her sparring with a random boy who dyed his hair blonde) both in comfortable, practical, exercise outfits. Perhaps she was just misinterpreting her own feelings, but could it be that she was…actually excited for this? It had been a while, ages, since she’d ever actually gotten to spar with anyone and Ryuji made not the worst partner for this kind of thing.

“Don’t forget to do warm-ups first, even if we’re going to take it easy today, we still have to do it properly, I don’t want any-”

“Already busy Makoto, heh, this isn’t my first workout, ya know?” He was already stretching when she unslung her own tog bag from her shoulder, placing it next to his, and storing her phone and wallet in it before joining him on the mat with her own stretches.

“Of course, my apologies-”

“You don’t gotta apologize,” was something he said to her so often that by now the two didn’t even really let it interrupt the flow of their conversation.

“-did you used to work out here when you were still on the team?” She pulled an arm in front of herself, stretching it out, and hooking her other arm around it at the elbow, helping to push it out farther

“Nah, actually never used a gym back then, me and the guys just kept in shape on the field, no gym or anything,” Ryuji stretched both his arms up high above his head, causing his white top to lift enough for Makoto to catch a glimpse of his stomach. Ryuji had never been terribly out of shape, albeit at the beginning of the year he’d been more lanky than fit, but the benefits of his recent return to form and, she assumed, his time in the Metaverse had certainly done him favours. She felt only a smidge embarrassed when his words caused her to realize she’d been staring perhaps overly long.

“Me and Ren actually found it, we were looking for a place to work out cause…ugh, long story, not gonna bore you with it now, just, point is, me ‘an Ren found it, so now I come here pretty often,” if Ryuji thought she hadn’t noticed his own eyes lingering on her he was sorely mistaken. To his credit he was clearly making an effort not to ogle, but when she stretched one leg out far, she could definitely catch him stealing glances. Just this one, since she’d stared a bit herself, she supposed she’d let him off without a warning. This once.

“I see,” Makoto lifted one foot up behind her knee, feeling the strain on her quadriceps as she continued to speak; “I have been looking to get back into a exercise routine myself actually, do you think I could-”

“Heck yeah! I mean…uh, that would be, ah-hem, that would be good- fine…it’d be fine,” it was cute how he tried to contain his excited outburst, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. It was a very ‘Ryuji’ thing to do, it reminded her of the excited boy who’d stumbled his way through asking her to try out a new move with him, twisting his tongue into knots over the whole affair. It was, honestly, rather…cute.

Cute? Was that really a word she could use to describe Ryuji?

“Did ya think of somethin’ funny?”

“Hmm?” She was pulled out of reminiscing, by a puzzled look on Ryuji’s face.

“You’re smiling pretty big all of a sudden,” she was? Makoto hadn’t really noticed the corners of her lips curving upwards into a grin.

“Oh? No, I was just-”

“Excited, right? You wanna get started already, right? Man I get that, I’m super stoked as well! Like…Aikido, that stuff’s badass, once I mastered it I’m gonna be all over those Shadows’ asses…I mean, more than I am already, ya know?” Makoto didn’t really know but it was flattering anyway, obtuse, but flattering.

“Let’s get too it then,” she turned to face him, moving to the center of the mat and he followed her lead, an infectiously wide grin on his face, practically beaming, reminding her of nothing so much as a puppy excitedly awaiting to be told it’d been a ‘good boy’.

Where were these thoughts coming from? Cute? Puppy?

“We’ll start with basics, obviously, before we can move on to anything complex, we need to establish your fundamentals. In Aikido controlled relaxation is pivotal, we can begin with some ukemi and then-” and she was losing him. She could already see it from how the grin drooped towards the edges and the way those eyes, normally practically sparking with vibrant energy, glazed over.  It was, of course, a look she’d seen many times from him, it was the look he wore whenever she began explaining some or other component of his school work he was neglecting.

“C’mon Makoto! Controlled relaxation? We just did warm-ups!” Ryuji seemed less than eager to start slowly. She supposed she should have seen it coming, since when had he ever been one to take things slow?

“You know I’m good for a fight, you’ve seen me in action! I think we can skip these baby steps and go full out! I wanna see what you got, in action! First hand! Experience is the best teacher, ya know?”

Makoto placed both hands on her hips and gave Ryuji a ‘look’. To his credit he only blanched under it this time, rather than the full-on wilt it normally reduced him too. With a crooked smile and a pleading voice he tried once more:

“Please Makoto-sensei?” How was she going to say no to that?

“Fine, fine, we’ll do it your way,” she relented with a sigh and a chuckle, shaking her head as Ryuji loudly whooped, bouncing on his feet, a dynamo of energy.

“But no more ‘sensei’, okay?”

“Got it, Makoto-sama!”

If looks could kill Ryuji would be dead, and he seemed to get the point, gulping audibly and holding his hands up in front of himself contritely.

“S-sorry! Makoto, j-just Makoto, my bad!” Was it bad that a part of her loved how easy she could make him squirm? Probably, but he was being a brat right now so she’d forego the feelings of guilt. Besides, she’d be proving her point shortly now.

“Alright then, you want me to just come at you? That it?” He nodded, crouching a bit, lower, his weight distributed evenly between his feet.

“Bring it! I wanna see what ya got!”

And so, he would.

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Pinned. Ryuji gave a grunt as he felt Makoto twist slightly on his arm. He was face down against the mat, Makoto kneeling above him, and out of the corner of his eye he could just make out the satisfied smirk on his face.

Try as she might to always act professional, even she couldn’t hide she was enjoying this. It made him feel…something warm.

“So? Was it as impressive as you hoped?” She still hadn’t released the pressure of her grip, and Ryuji couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’s said ‘no’? As it were, he was impressed, so there really was no reason to lie.

“Damn! That was fast Makoto! Holy crap!” Other boys might have felt upset at being so easily pinned by a girl, luckily Makoto knew Ryuji well enough by now that the boy meant every bit of his gushing over her. It could honestly at times be too much…but what was wrong with a little indulgence every now and then?

“Heh, well, to be honest it was mostly your balance that did you in there, and this is a fairly easy technique to teach, of course to learn it you’d have to go slower, master it in parts, mister ‘let’s just spar and hope I pick things up by osmosis,’” she released her grip on him, allowing both of them to stand up again.

Makoto’s eyes briefly wondered down to Ryuji’s leg, ‘that leg’. She’d made sure not to touch it or apply pressure to it during their bout. She knew he’d probably not appreciate that if she told him, would consider it her going ‘easy on him’ or nonsense like that, but she couldn’t help but be preoccupied with it. That last thing she’d want is to hurt him.

“What’s osmosis?” He cocked his head to one side, a quizzical look on his face, once more leaving Makoto with the distinct impression of some guileless, affectionate dog and- would those thoughts just please stop already? She didn’t need to keep comparing him to some adorable puppy or dog (Shiba-Inu, clearly).

“We’ll cover that when we prep for your biology exam,” she gave a small laugh as he groaned, the idea of studying failing to excite him the way their current activity was.

“Ugh, forget that crap, let’s go again! I wanna try something,” Makoto rolled her eyes. She’d hoped to humour him once, so that he’d understand just having someone practised in Aikido performing it on you repeatedly wasn’t teaching, but apparently Ryuji’s skull was slightly to thick to intake that from one defeat (shocking).

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” well, if it was what he wanted…

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So, she pinned him again. And again. And again. And…well, again. He definitely did improve, slightly, but that still didn’t change the inevitable outcome every time.

This time he’d managed to almost twist out of her grip on his arm, but it hadn’t been quick enough to stop her unbalancing him, sending him down to the mat, on his back this time, as she straddled him across his chest, pinning his arms to either side of his head.

“Gotcha, again,” she had a catlike expression of superiority. By now both of them were glistening with perspiration, clothing clinging to their bodies as they breathed heavily from exertion. Beneath her Ryuji was wide-eyed, almost a deer-caught-in-the-headlights sort of expression, staring up at her intently, his mouth open as he sucked air through it.

He’d been growing progressively quieter and quieter with each new pin. She’d almost feared he was maybe growing sullen, or pouting, at the constant losses but…that didn’t really seem like something he would do. He’d still kept up his gushing praise and enthusiasm for it all, so she’d just assumed he was getting deep into his thoughts, it was honestly somewhat attractive…although she tried to bury that deep down.

This time, though, he seemed to be struggling a bit for words and, so, Makoto spoke first.

“You know, if I didn’t now any better, I’d think you liked getting pinned under be with how much you keep asking for it,” she hated herself for saying it at once. It was crass and playful and it made her cheeks burn red.

What had she been thinking (she hadn’t been)? It’d slipped out in the heat of the moment, as people said, but Makoto hated the heat of the moment! She wasn’t a heat of the moment kind of gal (not true at all).

Before she could even try to say something to excuse it, though, Ryuji blurted out his own answer.

“Y-yeah…”

There was a silence in the room. The sort of silence where two people both realize they’d said more than they’d intended too, and now had to process a fundamental shift in how they perceived each other. Makoto remained on top of him throughout.

“Ryuji-”

“Oh shit! Dammit! F-forget it! What the hell? Ughhh! I’m so effin’ dumb! I w-was just joking Makoto! It was just a joke! A stupid joke! Real stupid! Hehehe! Ya’ get that right? I mean I’m always tellin’ dumb jokes, right? S-so just ignore it! Please!” Makoto was suddenly reminded once more of that exchange at the subway station, of how quick he’d been to disparage his own idea, to assume she must hate it. At the time it had strangely…hurt.

Did he really think she resented his opinion that much? So, he admitted to enjoying her being on top of him, it wasn’t that insulting was it? It was weird, sure, and it…it suddenly made her intensely aware of how her thighs wrapped rather nicely around his chest, but…it was just an innocent outburst, she didn’t mind it that much (did she mind it at all).

“Ryuji!” She silenced his further blubbering with a curt word that made him wince as if he expected a blow. She sighed.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize,” she actually took some satisfaction from being able to finally say it to him, rather than endlessly being on the receiving end of it, “-I…I don’t…I don’t mind…actually…” and she didn’t. As she said it, she acutely understood that she didn’t mind. It didn’t make her uncomfortable at all to know that. In fact, if she were being 100% honest with herself (which she rarely was) it actually made her feel…good.

“No way…” Ryuji gawked, the disbelief on his face feeling almost pointed as it stabbed into her.

Did he just assume there was no way she could ever be interested?

“W-well that’s…that’s up to you…whether you believe me or not I…” she lifted herself up and slid backwards, sitting down on the mat, and twisting her face away to try to vainly hide the blush, and hurt, now on it.

“No! Sorry, damn, sorry! I didn’t…I didn’t mean it like that! I believe you, totally, I believe you!” He scrambled to undo the damage his foot-in-mouth disease had caused (a common enough occurrence for Ryuji) and braced himself on his elbows, looking at her.

“It’s just…w-well I…I just thought…you’d be creeped out, me just saying it like that…ya know? It’s…kinda weird and, uhm, p-probably not normal,” she chuckled at that.

“I won’t deny that inviting me to teach you Aikido as a pretext for me to pin you multiple times is perhaps a rather unconventional form of flirting-” his head dropped and once again Makoto could not help but imagine a dog’s ears drooping sadly.

“-but…I mean, I asked Ren to pretend to be a fake boyfriend so I’m probably not the best judge of what is, or isn’t, normal when it comes to flirting,”

“Yeah,” Ryuji snorted, and Makoto playfully reached out and lightly punched his shoulder.

“I’m being candid with you now, don’t laugh,”

“What’s candid mean?” Makoto couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“But seriously Makoto I…I’m sorry if I made things weird, I didn’t wanna! I seriously asked ya hear just to show me your moves! Honest! This wasn’t a plan or anything,” Makoto might have distrusted him, if he hadn’t added on that ‘wasn’t a plan or anything,’ what could be more trustworthy from Ryuji than an admission that he had no plan and just charged into situations half-cocked?

“You’re just…I mean just…you’re…ugh,” he groaned, looking to the roof as if hoping the words, he was looking for would be written there (They weren’t).

“I’m just…what?” When had she begun holding her breath? Should she really let this be dragging on? Shouldn’t she nip it in the bud?

“You’re so cool! Like…seriously! Ugh!  You’re amazing! You’re awesome, you’re smart, you’re strong, you’re almost as good a leader as Ren, and you damn sure plan things further ahead! I just…ya know? You’re so amazing and then you spend time with me and-”

“Ryuji,” she reached a hand out and placed it over one knee, prompting him to go quiet, lifting himself somewhat from the mat to look at her again.

“I enjoy spending time with you. This isn’t a chore, it’s fun. You’re fun. I like spending time with you. I liked coming up with a ridiculous action move with you. I like working out with you. So if you even think of saying that I shouldn’t be spending my time with you then, well, we could move straight on to me demonstrating that iron fist of mine you’re always going on about,” being a burden. Makoto knew exactly what it was like to feel as if you were nothing but a rock around the neck of the person you cared for most. She would do anything to stop a friend from feeling like that.

“Heh, yes ma’am,” he gave a weak chuckle but his genuine smile had returned. “S-sorry-” she gave him the ‘look’ and he cleared his throat loudly; “I mean…uh…s-so good session?” She gave him an approving smile.

“It was a good session,” and she meant that honestly. “But I think that’s enough for one day, besides, we have some more talking to do,” she stood up and reached a hand out for him. He smiled and clasped it, letting her pull him up.

“Talk?”

“Yeah, I thought after we shower, we could stop by some place to catch a bite, I’ve worked up quite the appetite,”

“Oh! Oh yeah! Sure, sure, I can take you to Ogikubo! It’s a great place, been there with Ren and Yusuke before, you’ll love it!” Luckily Ryuji was able to go from low on fuel to full energy in a matter of moments, already excitedly gushing once more after his brief melancholy.

“Fantastic, we’ll shower up, meet outside, then head on over,” she moved to her tog bag, already picking it up.

“Great! It’s a date-” the words caught in Ryuji’s throat and his eyes went wide. “I-I m-mean not a date! N-not a date! I was just…it was just…it slipped out and…I d-don’t mean a date! I just mean a…uh…a-”

Why did he have to make torturing him so fun? Was she bad for enjoying this (a little, maybe)?

“You can call it a date Ryuji, we’ll discuss the particulars over ramen,” she let him sweat a bit before giving him a half-smile as she passed him by, one hand reaching out to lightly brush his own, watching with satisfaction as his face remained blank, gears turning in his head, as a blush began to slowly spread from his cheeks across his entire face.

He. Had. A. Date.

“YES! Uh…s-sorry! Yes! I’m…particulars and ramen…sounds good! I’m just gonna…gonna go…uh…ramen then shower…and we can…discuss the uh…the particulars of the…the…date!” He babbled as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, trying his best to stop a massive grin from dominating his face, but failing horribly.

It was cute.

So cute that Makoto couldn’t help but briefly lift on her toes, and put a kiss on his cheek. That was what people did in these situations, right?

“Okaybyetalkinabit,” she babbled and hurried off for the showers, face crimson.

Behind her Ryuji remained there, frozen for a good few minutes, as the reality of what had happened slowly, slowly, sank in. When it finally did he opened his mouth and-

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The resultant outburst of  ‘Yeah!’ was so loud he was, kindly, asked to leave the premises for disturbing the other clients. Makoto surmised this would not be the last time in their relationship the two were asked to leave the premises of some or other facility.