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It was all Maki's fault.
Megumi was pent up, embarrassed and so utterly fucked , but it was all because he followed Maki's stupid advise.
Well, being completely honest, it had been a great advice and for some time, he had been somewhat glad he had taken it. But of course things would never be right for too long when it came to Fushiguro Megumi, especially if it was about Megumi's love life . Even when this new situation seemed promising ―to say the least―, that didn’t mean he hadn’t felt a bit humiliated multiple times on his way to get there, and he was fully blaming Maki for that.
Since they were kids, Maki and Megumi had trained and even competed together in different martial arts. Toji had wanted to make sure that his kid was able to defend himself, and soon enough his cousin followed Megumi’s example out of sheer curiosity under the man's careful supervision. After that, some people joked about Toji wanting to create a small army of kids, something that, while not being the case, only seemed more plausible as Megumi and Maki become better and better at their preferred disciplines.
Once they left their hometown for college and moved to a bigger city, Maki made sure to secure her position among the professional athletes training there. Megumi, however… wasn't that interested in being a professional martial artist, and without Maki by his side or his friends and usual sparring partners, he didn't feel like training anymore. But after spending his entire life pushing his body to its limit so he could achieve perfection within every punch, every kick, every shift of his posture and base position, it took only a few months of inactivity to tear him apart and make him feel as if he was losing his mind.
Not only his days at college were getting more and more stressful, but also his own body seemed to become more and more restless, betraying his usually calm nature with an overwhelming urge to move . He couldn't stay put for more than 30 minutes and every muscle, every fiber in his body ached with the need to jump, to run, to punch someone, to do something , anything .
Those two factors made him more grumpy, more prone to be rude and mean to the people closest to him. His roommate, Yuuji, brushed all his hurtful remarks off with understanding eyes and a kind smile, but that didn’t make this uncomfortable feeling go away. Even if Megumi didn't voice his struggles out loud and they had only became friends at the beginning of the school year, Yuuji didn't judge him and his cheerful presence was kind of soothing most of the time.
Megumi himself didn’t quite understand how or why , but that boy had quickly turned into a great support for him.
On the other hand, Maki, his dear martial arts professional cousin, was not a kind soul in the slightest. He was reminded of this fact not long after the end of their fourth month at campus.
“Stop being a fucking bitch, Megumi. Do you want me to kick your ass or what?!”
And at that moment Megumi, stupid and reckless Megumi, could only reply:
“Try me.”
The bruises were a gladly accepted price for the peace of mind that came after their sparring session. Although maybe it was more appropriate to call it a beating up, with Megumi being the one on the receiving end of said beating. They used to play-fight and train a lot back in highschool, but Maki had gotten so much better than Megumi since those days that he had been unable to predict most of her moves. In addition, both were a bit angry at each other, so if they kicked harder than necessary, none of them bothered to say so.
“Fuck…” It was more of a loud exhale slipping past his lips than an actual word. “I really needed that.”
Megumi was now lying on the grass surrounding the main buildings of their campus, with a deeply blushed face and his forehead shining with a thin layer of sweat.
“You deserved it, asshole.” Maki sat down next to him, catching her breath even if Megumi had barely managed to land a single hit on her. “What the hell is wrong with you? You've been acting weird for weeks now.”
There was a faint tint of anger in her tone, but he knew Maki was mostly worried, frustrated and perhaps a bit confused. Lately he had been feeling a lot like that too.
“I think I underestimated how good training was for me. I swear, between all this stupid essays, all the group projects and the fucking midterms, I feel like my body it's going to explote if I don't pick up a fight or something.”
“Megumi, that's just college.” She deadpanned.
“Yeah, I know, but— I've been feeling so on edge lately, so angry… ”
“Do you want to join our dojo? Maybe I could try talking to Geto, see if there’s any free spot for you.”
Megumi sighed. “I don't think that's a good idea either. I appreciate it, but you must know by now that I won't be able to keep up with you, nor will I want to.”
It was true. After that little fight it had become more than clear that Megumi was no longer in good enough shape to compete or even train with professionals at Maki’s level. He had never been very ambitious to begin with, and in the past he had joined so many competitions only because it was expected of him to do so. Competing was easier than saying no and having to come up with excuses and, at the end of the day, every tournament gave him a new motivation to improve his skills and a social event that he actually liked and could look forward to during his dull highschool years.
Maki playfully hit his side with her knee pulling him out of old memories and worn off team uniforms.
“Come on… If you don't do anything you’ll keep behaving like this all the time and I will need to kick your ass at least once a week.”
Megumi groaned, feeling forced to admit defeat now not only physically but also in spirit.
“Then what do you suggest I should do, huh? Fucking pilates? Meditation?”
“No, idiot, just join a gym like everyone else!”
“A gym?”
“Jesus, Megumi, I shouldn't have hitted you so hard. I’ve made you even more stupid.”
“Shut up! I’m not stupid.” He tried to smack her leg with absolutely no success. “You know I’ve never set foot in a gym before!”
“Well, there's a first time for everything, right?”
She hadn’t finished her sentence yet when she moved to get up and lightly kick his thigh as a last goodbye.
“Hey!”
“Text me if you want any gym recommendations! See you later.”
Megumi watched her go with her high ponytail swinging behind her from side to side with every step she took. She was right, and Megumi should stop pretending to not have already thought about joining a gym at least twice during the previous week. But it was a completely new environment filled with people too centered on their own bodies and, more likely than not, dudes reeking of testosterone and anger issues.
Just the thought of it gave him a headache but, what other option did he have?
In the end Megumi ended up joining the gym where his roommate —and now officially best friend in Yuuji’s words— worked part time as a personal trainer. Yuuji had been nothing but thrilled with excitement at the idea of helping his roommate out with the machines they had since Megumi didn’t really know how those worked. He was still wearing the most beaming smile Megumi had ever seen as he promised to design the perfect routine for him to follow, and Fushiguro was almost confused by his eagerness.
The problem was that, even if they could talk about it anytime and design the best course of action for Megumi, Yuuji's working hours were almost completely incompatible with Fushiguro's schedule or exercising preferences. On top of that, it looked like he was the most popular personal trainer they had, since he was almost completely booked for at least two months.
Megumi really understood why this could be, but the boy looked devastated when they shared their respective timetables and found out that they could not work out together. Despite this, he insisted on the quality of the equipment, the nice perks of their monthly subscription and how convenient it was that the gym was at a walkable distance from their dorm.
Being completely honest, it was a great option and Megumi doubted he could find anything better. Maybe they could agree on meeting at the gym every now and then, even if it was only for 30 minutes every two weeks, even the tiniest bit of help was greatly appreciated by Megumi.
Brief and very sparse sessions would be better than absolutely nothing, and even if he would —very much— prefer to have Yuuji's help, Megumi was an adult, a highly independent one to be more precise, he could do this alone. He didn't need his pure-sunshine, golden retriever of a roommate to teach him how to lift weights, right? Not that he would do that exactly but, yeah. He could do this.
A week after that conversation, Megumi finally forced himself to step into the gym and pay for his first month's subscription. The girl at the front desk had offered him a day pass so he could try their equipment and facilities without compromise, but he was already set into paying for the entire month. He felt as if, if he didn’t sign up now he would never do it, and he didn’t want that to happen.
She had also offered him the chance to speak with one of their personal trainers to establish his goals and find out what worked out best for him, but he had Yuuji's notes on his phone so he didn't need anything else.
Those notes were just a handful of photos featuring random people exercising their bodies in different machines that Yuuji had promised to be available at the gym, all accompanied by a few numbers.
“You should do fifteen of this one, three times.”
“What?! Fifteen three times?!”
“Yeah? Megumi you know what reps are, right?”
He couldn’t know if it was amusement or concern what twisted Yuuji’s expression, but he was definitely a bit confused.
“Yes?” Megumi hadn’t wanted that to sound so much like a question.
“Megumi please tell me you do know this at least.” That was a bit closer to exasperation.
He could know what Yuuji was saying by context, but he had never done repetitions in his life. He had done squats, push ups, ran loops around the tatami and some other exercises, but always as mere warm ups, stuff you did because you had to before getting to the actual good part. None of that had been the main exercise, the actual thing to look forward to during that training session. Why would it be? It even sounded weird for him to do the same thing all over again multiple times. And let’s not talk about how extremely boring it looked like. Although he would never say any of that in front of Yuuji.
“Of course I know! I'm not stupid, I know how reps work.”
After being shown all the other facilities, Megumi was guided into a big room filled with machines he had never seen in person before. Some of them were like the ones in his notes, but there were so many he didn't even understand how they functioned, he felt mortified.
Yeah, he was fucked.
“If you need any help you can approach our staff. Most of our personal trainers are already booked with private sessions, but they can help you out really quick if you have any trouble with a particular machine.”
She was nice, but something told Megumi that she was expecting him to ask for help as soon as she left him alone, which he didn’t like at all. He was enough prideful, stubborn and perhaps stupid to promise himself, right there and then, that he wouldn’t give her that pleasure.
“Okay, thank you.”
She smiled and walked back to the front desk, allowing Megumi to freely regret all the decisions that had led him into that exact moment.
He sighed and took in the space before him. Countless pieces of metal, gray floors and white led lights. A mirror wall on both left and right sides, a bunch of people minding their own business here and there. It seemed to be a very slow day or at least, too soon in the morning for the place to be crowded. Megumi was glad, he preferred it that way.
He searched for the most secluded corner to leave his water bottle and his towel and made that spot his operations base. Then he reached for his phone to take a look at the pictures Yuuji had sent to him, trying to choose the one in which he would make a fool out of himself first.
Of all the torture methods available he decided to try the horizontal seated leg press first. That seemed easy enough, right? He only had to sit down and do some squats, he knew how to do that.
He added a bit of weight and began the series Yuuji had recommended for this specific machine. It was familiar in a very weird way, since he had done his fair amount of squats during his highschool years, but it was also strange to feel the metal moving up and down right under his ass. The seat was also really small and a bit uncomfortable, and the bars placed within reach at both sides to offer some sort of security soon felt uncomfortable in his grasp.
He should buy fingerless gloves or something like that. The accumulating sweat under his palms was starting to feel disgusting and it was distracting.
Megumi completed all the reps he was supposed to do and after whipping his hands on the towel, he searched for the next machine on his list while he took a small break. He really wanted to try the hanging leg raise, but the metal structure in the photo was difficult to spot among all the other bars and pieces of metal gathering across the room, so he would need to search for it.
After a bit, he was walking around the place looking for the damned thing with his phone on one hand and his water bottle in the other, getting more and more anxious the more time he spent wandering around like a headless chicken.
Where was it? Yuuji wouldn’t have included it on the list if the gym didn’t have the equipment, right? He had promised.
He avoided making eye contact with anyone, focusing completely on the task at hand. But he could feel the curious gazes and the weight of someone else following every step he made along the way. This was why he had been reluctant to come to a place like this. People couldn’t mind his own business, and even if they could, he would feel otherwise.
Eventually he found what he was looking for and a relieved smile curved his lips.
Finally.
He checked the number of repetitions he had to do for a last time, and left his belongings at a nearby corner. Once he stepped in front of the structure, he noticed someone looking at him through the mirror. He was wearing a cap, so Megumi couldn’t really see his face, but the man was big and heavily tattooed. He would be perhaps only a few years older than him, but he was definitely built differently.
The white wife beater with the Gym’s name printed over his pecs did absolutely nothing to conceal his bulging muscles and he seemed to be one of those guys who didn’t skip leg day if what wasn’t covered by those black basketball shorts indicated something .
The stranger crossed his arms over his chest and the movement was almost enough to paint a soft blush all over his cheeks. The guy was fucking hot, but he was waiting for Megumi to actually do something and with each passing second he felt more and more like a dear caught in the headlights.
Dammit Fushiguro! Keep it together!
He had to focus.
Megumi looked away and after taking a deep slow breath he raised his arms and jumped into position, fixing his posture before starting the repetitions. He concentrated on the movement of his legs, every lift to a 90 degree position and every strained effort he made to pull them down without letting them simply fall.
It was a nice exercise, but it was hard and it made him unconsciously grip the holding bars at the end of the area supporting his forearms with painful strength. He was so concerned about his posture and doing it right, that by the time he searched again for the stranger, he was nowhere to be seen.
Once he finished with the machine, he allowed himself a few minutes to rest and drink, pondering on what exercise he should try next.
At the end of that first day Megumi was feeling a bit more relaxed, how could he not when his body was utterly exhausted? He couldn't have picked a fight even if he tried. But his mind hadn’t been completely at rest for most of his time at the gym because of the many different sets of eyes that could have been staring at him from a distance while he worked out, and because he wasn’t feeling completely comfortable in that type of environment just yet.
He tried to believe that it was just a matter of time, it was his first day after all, he just needed to get a bit more used to the secret gym dynamics every gymbro seemed to know and then everything would be fine.
That was something very similar to what Yuuji said after Megumi informed his friend about what he had done in the gym and how he had felt while doing It. It really didn't look like it, but Yuuji was a great listener and he gave surprisingly good advice to both, improve his health and get over the fear of making a fool out of himself in public.
“You know what, you’re oddly wise for someone who has just gotten out of high school.”
Yuuji laughed in response, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
“I guess you can thank my brother for that. Despite being the same age, he has always had a tendency to get himself into trouble or complicated situations, so I had to learn how to keep him in check and help him out of those before I had to bail him out of jail.”
Megumi hadn't expected that, and he certainly couldn't help but burst into laughter.
“Oh my God ! You're the reasonable one? Yuuji, I know how you throw your clothes inside your wardrobe and sure, I can’t cook for shit, but you are no different, my friend.”
“Yeah, I know I am a mess!” He loudly proclaimed, visibly offended before such a low attack. “But my brother has spent most of his life being the type of mess that doesn't know when to shut up or how to talk to people without making them think that he wants to start a fight!” Megumi was still laughing. “I had to learn how to make friends for the both of us! I’m serious Megumi! You learn a lot about people when your twin is that much of an asshole!”
Fushiguro couldn't believe there was a chance that Yuuji wasn’t greatly exaggerating just to make him feel a bit less bad about his poor social skills and how much anxiety was this gym situation provoking him. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t go to that kind of place for the life of him, but it was bad enough to make him think twice about going and normally during that process he would ultimately decide against it because it was too much of an effort.
The case was that, after a good couple of hours teasing his roommate, Megumi felt good and at ease. Exercising his body and spending some time with a friend had proven to be very effective to lighten his mood for a few days, and even if the effect was starting to fade away by the end of the week, he wasn’t feeling as pent up as he had felt before following Maki’s advice.
It was painful to admit, but he had even thought about returning to the gym with a tiny smile on his lips more than once in the days that followed, so after consulting Yuuji, Megumi found himself approaching the building again the next Saturday morning with a bit of excitement in his steps.
It was very early, which meant that there wouldn’t be many people working out. Megumi hoped most college students in the area were still sleeping after last Friday’s night frat party, he knew Yuuji at least would be, so he could try out new and more complex machines without so much pressure. He was proven right when he found not more than five other people in the room where most equipment was installed.
They all seemed to be close to his age and were exercising on their own, respecting the silent pact of not staring at fellow gym users or getting in their way now that there was plenty of machines to use. As Megumi walked towards his preferred corner he noticed that the tattooed man from the other day was also there, but he wasn’t alone like all the others.
This time he was wearing a red bandana that covered the top of his head completely, leaving only a tiny bit of his undercut exposed. His outfit was very similar to what Megumi had seen him wearing days prior, but since he was facing the other side of the room, he could appreciate even better the lines of ink that wrapped around his arms and painted his nape to direct his attention a bit lower, towards his muscled back.
He was explaining something to a fairly sculpted girl, unaware of the stranger’s eyes wandering all over his form.
Megumi slowed his steps just so he could admire whatever bits of flesh the guy hadn't covered. His heart was racing with every new inch of skin he found either covered in black ink, extremely well defined or both .
Why the hell was a guy so fucking hot working in here? Wouldn’t he be better working at a modeling agency or something? Fuck, those tattoos were too much, if he wasn’t careful that bold design would hunt Megumi’s dreams in ways too damn obscene for him to handle when he could actually see the man in person from time to time.
God, he should ignore him. Yes, he would do exactly that. He would turn around, look for the machines Yuuji had suggested for his second day and move on. But his feet were not moving.
Dammit, Fushiguro, enough with the staring!
He managed to leave the guy and his partner out of his sight before he could actually get a glimpse of his face. Megumi was curious to get a proper look, and he knew that the bandana he was wearing would allow him to do exactly that, but he didn’t want to see just how hot this stranger actually was. If he was hideous the disappointment would break his heart, but if he was even half as handsome as he was hot, his gym experience would be completely ruined.
Some part of him refused to think that the man could be ugly, but the alternative would lead him to very serious and embarrassing consequences, so it was best to just ignore him altogether. Yeah, definitely that was the best thing he could do.
This time Megumi was feeling a bit more comfortable with the different machines he used, both with those he had tried before and the one’s he was testing for the first time. He also felt more confident while exercising. He still felt like this was something completely unrelated to the skills he had been mastering all his life, but after that first day, he seemed to have remembered the strength of his own body and how much he could achieve if he set his mind to it.
Now the series were not so much a burden, but small challenges he could overcome if he was stubborn enough. Everything was going great, amazing even, until the last machine of the day, one he had purposely left to the end of his session because he wasn’t so sure he could actually rely on raw tenancy to use it. He hadn’t considered that, in addition to its difficulty, as time passed and the morning came to its more central hours, the gym began to receive more and more people.
It had been so gradual Megumi hadn’t really noticed, and he had been very focused on his exercises anyway, but when he stared at the picture of his last stop before leaving his previous spot, there was enough strangers moving around, small talking between them and laughing at their own jokes to give Megumi a slight headache. Despite everything, he stood up and started to walk towards the general area where he thought he had seen the machine he wanted.
It took him a bit to find it, and then he had to wait for a few more minutes to use it, but at least that gave him an excuse to analyze the strangers’ form and posture so he could imitate them when it was his turn.
Megumi had told Yuuji, multiple times, that he didn’t want to get very bulky and especially he didn’t want to look like a damned croissant gaining way too much muscle on his shoulders and arms, but his roommate had insisted that even if that was the case he couldn’t just not exercise certain areas of his body in the slightest.
He had argued that it was not only very unhealthy, but even dangerous or counter productive. If he wanted to work out, even if it was just to feel a bit better and unwind from the usual turmoil a first year college student might have to deal with, he had to do so paying attention to his whole body, treating it as the single unit it truly was. Doing otherwise could unbalance his weight distribution and make him look healthily fit in certain areas while others remained scrawny and noticeably weak by comparison.
That didn’t make Megumi any more eager to start exercising his back, chest and arms though. He knew Yuuji was right, and after all, he had always worked out with full body exercises that made him naturally look in good shape, lean and well proportioned. He liked that, and even if the method had changed, he recognized that this was the goal he ultimately wanted to achieve once the issue with his mood had been properly dealt with.
He had lost a bit of muscle but his arms hadn’t quite become spaghetti thin yet, his chest, on the other hand, had never been well sculpted, and he knew for a fact that it wouldn’t be only his shoulders and back what would hurt for days after that session, but also his pectorals.
When one of the strangers finished his series, Megumi knew the time had come. The guy gathered his stuff and after offering him a kind smile, he left the machine made for the lat pulldown exercise. Now Megumi was standing before the final boss of his second day at the gym, and he only hoped that his arms were long enough to reach the bar hanging from above his head and strong enough to pull it down without any added weight.
He left his stuff near the bench and walked around the structure to adjust the weight he wanted to exercise with, the shameful amount of zero . He just wanted to get a good feeling of the base effort he would have to make in this machine, which would most likely be more than enough for his feeble chest muscles. Doing this took him a lot of time, he was not familiar with how these things worked, but thankfully the other guy working on the machine next to his finished his own series shortly after and the girl who had been waiting with him for her turn didn’t have to witness the pitiful spectacle for much longer.
No one else was waiting for their turn to execute lat pulldowns, so the pressure to work quickly on the adjustments decreased significantly and that helped Megumi to finally get it done. He had felt so so embarrassed and weirdly observed during the entire process that once he was finished and sat down on the bench, he needed a second to just breathe and remind himself that everyone was minding their own business. No one was looking at him specifically and no one cared about the fact that he was painfully out of his element, he should stop being so paranoid.
Damn, he hadn’t felt so much anxiety since fucking middle school, what the hell was wrong with him?!
Megumi took a deep breath and pushed all those thoughts and feelings to the side, he had a series to complete, and the sooner he did that, the sooner he could leave that stupid gym.
He shifted his posture and sat with his back as straight as he managed with his legs secured under an horizontal cushioned bar, both forming a 90 degree angle with its respective knee. Then he looked up to the metal piece he was supposed to grab and pull down. Yeah, he would need to stand up a bit to reach it. It had happened before on other machines, but this time it felt especially insulting. He didn’t even want to do this exercise!
A new deep inhale, slow exhale. Inhale, repeat.
He wouldn’t get any more frustrated about this, he was above that, he would do the thing and go home. That’s it, one more series and he was free.
While he raised himself to grab the bar, Megumi started to notice that perhaps leaving the exercise he didn’t want to do at all for last was the worst idea he could have had, since it was not only the increased amount of people what bothered him, but also the accumulated exhaustion after near two hours working out. He really needed to distribute his energy in a more efficient way if he wanted to survive each session or actually visit the gym more than twice a month.
As he pulled the bar down he ruminated about the order in which he had followed Yuuji’s recommendations. He could remember his roommate setting a vague order, emphasizing some points and arguing the importance of a good warm up and keeping himself hydrated. But Megumi was not a kid, he knew those things and he ended up not paying enough attention to most of the things Yuuji had been talking about.
Shit, perhaps he had been doing this all wrong. He didn’t think a change in the sequence could make that much of a difference, but he recognized that his mood greatly affected his results and his mood had progressively gotten worse as he grew tired of the work out. The next time he came to the gym he would have to follow Yuuji’s instructions very closely and see how it went.
Fuck, it was very likely that he had been making a fool of himself all this time without even noticing. Could the order of the exercise’s execution matter that much? Was this some sort of unwritten sacred gym rule everyone but him knew about?
Megumi groaned after a particularly hard pull, a sound that expressed both his external struggle and his mild mental breakdown.
He should talk with Yuuji once he got home, until then he had to pay attention to this stupid series.
The machine he was using was in a very busy area, it was near the door and very close to the main path anyone would like to use to get a good general idea of the room’s distribution. A lot of people walked in his proximity but none of them stayed for long so Megumi grew used to ignoring them by focusing on an imaginary point in the wall right in front of him.
Before he knew it he had finished. A prolonged sigh left his lungs when he let go, once and for all, of that stupid bar.
He allowed himself to take a break and catch his breath before standing up and gathering his stuff. Nobody was waiting for their turn at the machine, so he could take it easy for a bit, but when he finally approached the side of the metal structure, where he had left his water bottle, his phone and his towel, he found something that wasn’t his. A flyer promoting the services of the gym’s personal trainers.
Megumi was sure that the colorful piece of paper wasn’t there when he dropped his stuff on the floor only a few minutes earlier, so someone had placed it among his belongings on purpose. That was weird. But Megumi was tired and just wanted to go home and have a shower, so he put the flyer inside the pocket of his jacket and left the gym.
Megumi would forget about it completely until the flyer fell to the floor when he was putting his jacket inside the closet. He had left a trail of clothes on his way to the ensuite bathroom he shared with Yuuji, eager to have a shower and feel a bit more like himself. Megumi used his roommate's absence to take as long as he wanted in the shower, scrubbing all the sweat and grime away while giving his muscles a well deserved moment of relaxation.
Once he got out of the bathroom he felt almost like a completely new person, one free of all the problems a stressed out college student like him should have. His hair was still slightly wet and little droplets fell every now and then from its tips to his naked back, but despite this being something he would normally feel greatly offended by, at that moment he didn’t really mind. He was almost happy to tidy up the mess of clothes he had left behind when he arrived home, and when the paper fell in front of him, he felt somewhat thrilled to get a proper look at it and discover what it said about the gym trainers.
Definitely the hit of happy hormones hadn’t faded away yet, and Megumi was pleasantly surprised.
The information about the personal trainers available was printed in bold letters over a bright yellow background, making it difficult to ignore but also nearly painful to read. Megumi sat down on the edge of his bed, reading the contents and silently thanking whoever decided to write down the most crucial details inside of a white square with plain black typography, instead of right over the yellow background.
He sighed. It didn’t look bad, the conditions were reasonable and it promised personalized help at a more than decent price. Megumi really didn’t want to bother Yuuji every single week multiple times just to have his stupid questions solved, so this was a really good option and definitely something that he needed in his journey to become at least a decent gym user.
The only problem was that, if he hired a personal trainer to help him he would have to actually spend a lot of time with said trainer, and even if Megumi wasn’t as asocial as he might look, he did not enjoy having to tolerate just any stranger’s bullshit just for the sake of it. If he paid for a session he would have to assist and endure the type of personality that would lead someone into wanting to become a fucking personal trainer, among literally anything else.
He could easily imagine the average highschool jock, football team captain now leveling up to become the guy who talked on and on about macros and all that nonsensical crap Megumi truly didn’t care about. But, well, Yuuji was also a personal trainer at that same gym and he wasn’t like that. He was a bit of a nerd even, one really funny and kind that also happened to like sports. Yuuji had that rare urge to help those around him, and perhaps that was why he had applied for the job, since he was also effortlessly good at everything related to physical activities.
Ugh.
He really needed to think about it, and maybe talk to Yuuji again about the possibility of hiring a personal trainer, even if that couldn’t be his roommate. Megumi already knew that they could not schedule a session for at least another month, but Yuuji could give him some advice, right?
Megumi folded the piece of paper with the intention to put it away until he talked to his roommate, but before he could do that he found something written on its back. He hadn’t noticed before, but someone had written down what seemed to be a schedule with a bunch of days and time slots on the other side of the flyer. When he unfolded the paper to read it more carefully it became obvious that this was not only some trainer’s schedule, but an invitation.
Following the small list of days and hours, whoever had noted this, had also added in in messy black handwriting:
Let me help you out.
-S
Megumi’s first conclusion after reading this was that whoever had left the flyer among his stuff in the first place, had also been watching him making a fool out of himself for God knows how long and felt enough pity to leave him a note offering him their help.
Wonderfull .
At least they had enough tact to not embarrass Megumi right in front of everyone. He appreciated the gesture.
Megumi shook his head, as if denying himself would make the shame magically go away, and gave a second reading to the schedule. To his surprise, most of the timeslots the stranger had included were exactly the hours he would prefer to work out or the only ones in which he could actually do so. He supposed it made sense that the time slots that worked the best for him, the ones in which he had been already using the gym facilities, were included in that list since Megumi had to be at the gym at the same time as this stranger for them to notice him in the first place.
It would be a lot creepier if none of the hours on the schedule didn’t fit at all with the hours in which Megumi had been around the gym.
It didn’t take him long to realize that even if he didn’t sign up for the personal trainer service, he would go to the gym following a schedule quite similar to the one this stranger had given him, so whether he liked it or not, they would keep seeing each other. Or at least, Megumi would be offering them the chance to witness his rookie mistakes multiple days a week anyway.
There couldn’t possibly be a better schedule to adapt himself to, and whoever this trainer was, it looked like they wanted to help, so if Megumi ended up seeking some professional assistance, he would most likely just take their offer and hope for the best.
He would talk with Yuuji first so he could know what to expect, but he could already see himself sending an email to the gym to request a trial session with this S person.
…
“As long as you don’t end up working out with my brother I think you’ll be fine.”
They were having take out dinner while a shitty reality show proved to Megumi just how complicated human relationships could be. Yeah, he definitely was not interested in finding a boyfriend any time soon. What type of idiot could treat their crush like that? These guys behaved a lot more like bullies than friends, there was no way any of the contestants could see them as wannabe-Romeos, right?
“We are not many but I’ve hung out with all the personal trainers currently working at the gym and they are cool…” Yuuji resumed with his gaze completely lost on whatever shenanigans occurred on screen. “Even with your personality I think they will like you eventually, and maybe even become good friends with some of them. And you will like them too, I think.”
“My personality?” Megumi was more curious than offended at the remark, but his tone made his roommate think otherwise.
“You know what I mean! You’re really cool Megumi, but I don’t need to tell you that you are not exactly a people’s person, right?”
The response sounded almost automatic, as if he had rehearsed it before. But a quick look at his face confirmed that he was just not really paying attention to what Megumi ―or even himself― was saying.
“Then when you say they will eventually like me and vice versa, are you excluding your brother? I didn’t even know he worked at the gym, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I dunno, but yeah, he works there too. He was the one who got me the job to begin with, and yeah, no, I’m not talking about him.”
Megumi watched Yuuju slurp his noodles, waiting for an explanation as he took a bite of his own food, but his roommate didn’t say anything after that. Maybe he should turn the reality show off, he was making even less sense than usual and now he wasn’t even talking at all.
“Is there any reason for you to believe that I couldn’t work with your brother?”
“Mmm…” If Yuuji didn’t offer a proper response in less than 15 seconds, Megumi would turn the stupid tv off. “Well, for starters he is very mean and not really nice to people. He usually can’t help it and he doesn’t mean to, but when you’re trying to train with someone less experienced than you, you should be able to tone it down a notch.”
He paused to take a huge gulp of his soda and then, with his eyes still glued to the screen, he added:
“He’s also super temperamental and demanding, if he believes that you could be good, he will push you past your limits so you become the best . He thinks a lot like those adults with their bullshit about fully tapping into your potential without really caring if you actually want to do that.”
Oh. Then Yuuji was right, Megumi would most likely find his brother very infuriating. He would be like the jock stereotype featuring his worst gym themed nightmares, the perfect embodiment of what he had feared a personal trainer would be before being reminded of his roommate’s sunshine personality.
Megumi thought about asking more questions about his brother, but Yuuji was so captured by the reality show, he doubted he could discover anything else that could be of use. Because of the damned reality show Yuuji was so captured by, Megumi would end up getting angry or really frustrated before he could pull any half baked answers out of him anyway, so he didn’t even bother.
They spent the rest of the night in silence, with only a few comments breaking the silence here and there when the contestants did something specially offensive in Yuuji’s eyes, either because of their lack of kindness or their straight up rude behavior. During that time, it was Megumi’s turn to offer absent minded responses, since the unusual quietness of his roommate allowed him to think and really consider all the options he had regarding the personal trainer dilemma.
Yuuji had assured him that everyone was okay, that he would be fine with any of the trainers as long as it was not his brother the one ending up working out with him. And Megumi knew that, even if he didn’t like to recognize so, he should trust Yuuji about this. They had been living together for months now and he had not only grown used to his surly personality, but also befriended Megumi like no one else had done before.
They had learned to live and study around the other fairly quickly, even finding a connection Fushiguro felt incredibly grateful for.
They had established a nice routine amidst the chaos of their college life and made sure they had enough room to spend some time together outside of their dorm doing things completely unrelated to their studies. They were not just roommates, they were friends, and even if they didn’t know everything about each other, somehow they balanced each other like two opposite sides of the same coin. It was great, and Megumi still couldn’t believe his luck, but precisely because they were opposites, he knew what sort of reaction he would see if he told Yuuji about the note written in the flyer.
Just imagining it gave him a headache. Yuuji would say that he had a secret admirer for damn sure, he was a hopeless romantic like that. But even if it was kind of funny to see how badly romcoms had rotten his brain and altered his perception of reality, Megumi didn’t want to be twice as embarrassed everytime he went to the gym from that day on. If he told his roommate, he would not only need to survive the humiliation that came with his absolute lack of gym experience, but also add the mortifying process of being interrogated by said roommate about his pity excuse of a lovelife.
Megumi didn’t think the note had been written with that intent, but that didn’t mean he could convince Yuuji of the contrary, and make him forget about the stupid romcom plots that definitely couldn’t be compared to his life. No, the best thing would be to just omit that information and focus on what Yuuji had said. Out of all the personal trainers that could be assigned to Megumi, only one would be bad news.
It would be very unlikely to have that much bad luck, right?
Megumi allowed himself an extra 48h to think about it, then he sent the email to the address provided in the flyer indicating his schedule preferences ―almost exactly the same schedule S had written down on that piece of paper― and hoped for the best.
…
The confirmation email stated that he had successfully booked a session on Thursday morning, giving him a couple of days to get used to the idea of following the instructions of a complete stranger just so he could work out correctly and stop feeling like an idiot. However, when the day finally arrived, Megumi felt the furthest thing from prepared.
It was the earliest session anyone could book, almost starting at the gym’s opening hour, which sounded terrible but Megumi had always been an early bird so the only thing he had to fight that morning was his nerves-induced nausea. Getting up early had never been an issue since, even as a child, Fushiguro had found a comforting sense of quietness in the early hours of the day. He tried to focus on that as he walked to the gym, the chilly air and the blossoming colors of daylight slowly painting the sky. Yes, he would be fine. It would go just fine, he just needed to trust whoever his trainer ended up being.
He took a deep breath before going inside, filling his lungs with a last bit of fresh air to ground himself and gather the strength he needed to find out who this S person was, and if he would regret sending that email accepting their offer.
At the front desk the same girl from his first day at the gym welcomed Megumi. She was always near the entrance attending those who wanted to join the gym or requesting information about it, but this time she was not alone. The tattooed man Megumi still hadn’t put a name to was standing right next to her at the other side of the desk, and for the very first time, he wasn’t wearing anything that could hide his face or his very distinctive mop of pink hair.
Fuck.
If the hair wasn’t enough of a clue, his entire face was a carbon copy of Yuuji’s own features.
I’m fucked.
The tattooed man with a body to die for turned out to be also Yuuji’s evil twin brother and, of fucking course, his designated personal trainer.
I’m so utterly fucked.
The guy noticed him as soon as he opened the door and he showed not even an ounce of shame as he checked him out from head to toe and then again from there and back up. His lips curved into a mischievous grin, his gaze followed every step Megumi took towards the desk and only when he was almost there, he decided to do something and cross his arms over his chest. Megumi’s eyes descended just enough to follow the movement, inevitably finding his pecs pressed together below the fabric of another white tank top, and then his arms, with its bulging muscles and its thick strokes of ink. In addition, the guy was wearing another pair of red basketball shorts that displayed his strong legs, inevitably contrasting with Megumi’s own black cyclist shorts and his fairly thin limbs.
I’m definitely not surviving the day.
As he finally reached the desk, the girl managed to drag him out of his internal loop of inappropriate thoughts and anxious feelings with a cheerful greeting.
“Good morning! You must be Fushiguro Megumi…”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Wonderful, not many people use the gym at this hour so I assumed you’ll be Sukuna’s appointment.”
She was oddly smiley, and that bubbly expression didn’t waver a single second as she quickly typed something on her computer. She had never been that joyful before. The presumable reason for her change of attitude cleared his throat right after, forcing Megumi to make eye contact with him again.
“Hi, I’m Itadori Sukuna. I will be your personal trainer from now on.” He was still wearing a confident smile, but his tone was nothing but serious and each word reverberated inside Megumi as if the guy had whispered right against his ear.
Sukuna.
He extended his arm and offered his hand to formally greet Megumi, but for a split second the gesture seemed plainly obscene and nonsensical to him. How could anyone have arms like those? Shit, even his hand looked as if it was designed specifically just to awaken some hand kink Megumi didn’t even know he had.
“Fushiguro Megumi.” Despite the heat in his cheeks, he succeeded in keeping his voice under control. “Pleasure to meet you.”
When Megumi accepted the handshake he felt as if his hand suddenly was touching a scorching piece of metal. His palm was beaten up, roughened after years of careless use and brutal training. It engulfed Megumi’s own with a firm squeeze, despite him not having small hands by any means.
The grip didn’t hurt, but its pressure was enough to make him wonder just how strong the guy could actually be. Fushiguro, however ―prideful as ever― didn’t back down and squeezed the man’s hand just as hard.
Yes, Sukuna was the most intimidatingly hot man Megumi had ever seen. Yes, Yuuji had warned him about his twin being a jerk. And yes, Megumi lowkey wanted to fuck said jerk, but that didn’t mean he was just about to let him know how terrified he was at the idea of working out together.
“The pleasure is all mine.” Sukuna said, making it sound a lot like a purr in Megumi’s ears.
He didn’t pull his hand out of the handshake and, for a bit, neither did Sukuna. Seconds passed and none of them moved, but before Megumi could start worrying about it, the girl at the desk interrupted whatever thing they had going on.
“So… Megumi , this will be your first time, right?”
The question startled him enough to make him jump a full step away from Sukuna. He could feel the heat growing more evident in his face, and the panic twisting the sound of his voice.
“What?!”
Shit.
That was definitely not what she was asking.
“You have never used the personal training services before, is that correct?”
He could hear Sukuna chuckling and moving closer to him again while he tried to focus on the girl and what she was saying. Suddenly Megumi felt like a vulnerable prey stalked by a big predator in broad daylight.
“Y-yeah, that’s correct.”
“Then this would qualify as your free trial session.” Her expression was completely different now as she talked to Megumi, as if she had no longer a reason to smile. “Sukuna will give you the details if by the end of this session you are interested in hiring him long term.”
The guy leaned over the front desk keeping just enough distance between his body and Megumi’s to not touch him, and Megumi didn’t know if he should feel grateful or mourn the lack of contact.
“Okay.”
“You’ll have 90 minutes with him, and then―”
“The time limit is just an approximation tho, we can train for a bit longer if you need to. I’m free all morning.”
A little voice in the back of his head told Megumi that turning around to look at Sukuna was a terrible idea, but for some reason, he decided to do it anyway, coming face to face with the trainer himself and his smug grin. He had been, not only leaning over the top of the desk, but also leaning closer to him and when Megumi found his eyes, the lack of personal space instead of bothering him, it left him breathless.
“Sukuna, that doesn’t mean you should work longer shifts.”
Yup, she sounded slightly annoyed, but Megumi was too lost on the trainer’s gaze and the way his mouth kept that ever present little smirk to really notice or care about that.
What the hell was going on? And why had Yuuji said his brother was a meany, but not even once did he warn him about Sukuna being a tremendous fucking tease!?
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” He replied easily, refusing to take his eyes away from Megumi, despite how rude it was to do that while talking to a different person.
Would it be weird if he found that hot?
Sukuna pulled himself off the desk and began to walk towards the machine’s room, wasting no time checking if Megumi was following him or not.
“Come on pretty boy, I think we have a lot to work on.”
Megumi was already regretting sending that stupid email.
…
“So, first of all I need to know what it is that you want and what have you been doing until now to achieve it.”
Sukuna had pulled a wooden bench out of a corner so they could sit down and talk for a bit, but instead of sitting like any normal human being, he had decided to straddle the damned bench and force Megumi to do the exact same thing so they could be face to face.
Thankfully he didn’t cross his arms over his chest again, opting to rest both his hands on top of the area where his thighs met his torso, as if he was placing them over his hips in eager expectation. That redirected Megumi’s attention from his muscled legs to his wide shoulders, his biceps and even his hands, but if he allowed himself to look so down on the trainer’s body, he couldn’t guarantee that his gaze didn’t end up falling in more… indecent areas.
At least Megumi didn’t really need to think before giving him an answer to the first question since he had already told Yuuji about it multiple times all through the past few weeks.
“Well, I’ve been training different martial arts all my life but since I started college I completely stopped practicing and I need something to substitute them.”
“Mm, a fighter. I like that.” His expression had become a bit more serious and focused, as if he was analyzing his case, but now it was his tone what couldn’t hide his more than questionable intentions. “I assume that you want to maintain your shape, then?”
Megumi took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts so his response didn’t come as messy as he felt his life was since he moved out of his hometown.
“Yeah. I’m not that worried about my weight or my appearance, but I really need to do something with my body if I don’t want to go insane. I’m really not used to this lack of exercise at all and it’s affecting me more than I could have ever imagined.”
“So it’s also a stress reliever.” He stated.
“Yeah, well, sort of. I wouldn’t say it’s just to get rid of stress, I feel overall better with myself if I can release all my emotions in a physical way, if that makes any sense.” Sukuna hummed in acknowledgement. “But I guess that since I’m joining a gym for the first time now I should make sure I’m doing it right and maybe use the chance to get into better shape as well.”
The last bit sounded a bit more like a question than a goal. Megumi had always been in relatively good shape, he had lost a bit of muscle since he moved out for college, but it was not something to truly worry about. He could notice some faint changes in his body, but the main reason for this gym membership had always been how his lack of exercise had affected his mental health, his mood and therefore those around him.
However, the longer he spent talking to Yuuji about gaining muscle and the logistics of exercising and the more time he spent in the gym, the more curious he became about how his body would look if he followed a routine made specifically for him and his needs. He didn’t want to have Sukuna’s muscles, but he wanted to know how his body would naturally change if he gave it the chance to with a healthy dose of regular exercise.
“This may be a stupid question for you but, what do you mean exactly by better shape?” His expression remained calculating, but as a plausible course of action seemed to take form in his head, his body language also seemed to relax a bit.
Sukuna leaned back on the bench, placing one hand behind himself to support his weight before adding a brief explanation. But this new posture allowed the trainer to look at him with his head slightly tilted back as if he was in a higher position. As if Megumi was at his feet hoping to receive a merciful treatment.
He didn’t know if Sukuna was doing this on purpose or not ―probably he was― but Megumi could already tell that mercy was not a word this man had ever known the meaning of.
“I’ve come across many different people and they usually have their own definition for what it is ‘a better shape ’ , but if I’m going to help you achieve that, I need to know what are you picturing in your mind when you say that.”
No, definitely Sukuna didn’t need to know what Megumi was picturing in his mind at that exact moment.
“By better shape I mean the shape my body would adopt if I give it the chance to gain muscle where it naturally gains it. I’ve always been fit because martial arts lead you to that, but that was never the goal. I guess I’m curious to see how I would look if I exercised my whole body in a healthy and balanced way, where would I gain muscle more easily and where would it be harder…” Megumi paused for a bit, trying to find the proper words to express his next point without insulting Sukuna and his gigantic arms. “I don’t want it to be super obvious, I guess I’m more looking for some definition work outs than anything else?”
He doubted he was making any sense at that point. It was one thing to practice a sport during most of his life, understand the basics of how his body worked and adapted to what Megumi needed from it; and another much different thing was to know exactly how each body type reacted to different changes in nutrition and exercise, or how it distributed its fat and developed its muscles.
But Sukuna seemed to understand him at least enough to know what he was trying to say.
“Yeah, it looks like it.” The tone in his voice had changed and for a second Megumi thought that he had somehow disappointed the man in front of him. “I can help you get there if that’s what you want.”
His eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah, sure. We can work towards that goal and once you’re there, see if you want more. I personally think you have the body and background to achieve whatever goal you want to but, of course, I’m here only to guide you and make sure you don’t get hurt.”
Megumi chuckled, lowering his head.
“Yeah, I know I’m a mess with this gym thing. I’m a bit shocked I haven’t injured myself just yet.”
“Well, you were definitely on your way to get a really nasty back pain.”
With that something shifted between them, a growing familiarity, perhaps a silent understandment that made Megumi relax and feel like he had been friends with Sukuna for some time already. Despite the insane attraction he felt towards the man, it was easy to talk to him and Fushiguro couldn’t help but think that Yuuji had exaggerated when he warned him about his brother.
They still hadn’t started to work out, so this could still change, but once Megumi got over how handsome Sukuna was, he began to find more and more similarities between the twins, and that seemed to soothe his nerves. He had never felt uncomfortable around Yuuji, so, even if they were very obviously two different guys, it was almost natural for him to be just as comfortable around Sukuna.
Megumi laughed at his teasing remark. “Well, it’s good to know that.”
Sukuna also noticed the change, or maybe the sound of his laugh softened his rough edges, either case, the way he talked next suggested he felt the same affinity Megumi noticed.
“And you were always checking your phone! Can I ask what the hell were you looking at? Sometimes I thought you were actually checking a map of the machine room in there, but then you would look around you completely lost!”
It was not a reprimand and on his face Megumi could only find a big smile and genuine curiosity, which made it even easier for him to act as if they had known each other for years.
“Oh my God…” Even as he whined his lips could abandon their little smile. “Yeah. I’m also aware of how I was making a fool out of myself, okay? But I had this list Yuuji sent me with the machines he thought I could use and…”
His eager explanation was abruptly cutted off.
“Yuuji? As in Itadori Yuuji? My brother?” There was confusion and even a bit of annoyance tinging his expression.
Shit.
A slight tension in his shoulders materialized again, and Megumi couldn’t conceal the apologetic look in his eyes when he saw the way Sukuna furrowed his eyebrows.
“Uhh, yeah, he’s my roommate. I guess I should have mentioned it sooner.”
Sukuna hummed before shaking his head, the emotions in his face changing again as he took in the new information.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. It doesn’t really matter.” There it was, that malicious glint in his gaze, the confident smile and the teasing words slipping past the tip of his tongue. “Although if you’re roommates, the fact that he hasn’t stopped you from choosing me as your trainer it’s honestly surprising to me.”
Megumi felt a chill running down his spine. He was before the ruthless predator again, becoming a victim of his hunger, weak to even the slightest form of flirting. But Sukuna had unknowingly offered him a tool to defend himself, good old sibling rivalry.
“Well, he did warn me about you and he actually was my first option, after all we live together. But our schedules didn’t really macht so I ended up taking your offer.” Megumi made sure to talk as if none of it really mattered to him, consciously imitating Sukuna’s posture on the bench. “I didn’t know it was you who left the flyer between my stuff until today.”
Sukuna followed his movements with careful attention as if there was a very crucial detail he could miss if he didn’t look very closely at how his shirt stretched over his chest when he leaned back on his left arm. How his back arched slightly and his legs opened just a bit wider. Sukuna’s eyes fell instantly to his groin and for the first time since they saw each other, Megumi felt like they were on equal footing.
But Megumi was proven wrong when Sukuna leaned forward on the bench, getting closer to him with an expression that would hunt his wet dreams for the next fucking year.
“Then I guess I’d better prove myself to you now, Fushiguro Megumi.”
…
Yuuji was not exaggerating. Or at least, Megumi could now understand and see why he had said that his brother was demanding and a bit mean.
Sukuna was fucking brutal . He had absolutely zero tolerance for crap or whining, he gave very short periods of rest and series that were just the tiniest bit below Megumi’s limit. And that was after the guy had said that he would go easy on him because it was the first day and he just wanted to test him out.
Bullshit! That was fucking bullshit!
Sukuna had told him they would be training for 20 more minutes before he set him free and Megumi was already shaking . There was not a single muscle in his body that wasn’t sore and he dreaded the moment he opened his eyes the next morning because he knew the pain caused by this hellish session would be fucking incapacitating. He was about to be completely dead to the world for at least 24h, and it was all because of Sukuna, but it wasn’t even a result of them doing fun stuff, it was all because of Sukuna’s stupid work out plan.
Megumi was already thinking of plausible excuses for his professors and classmates. Maybe he could get their notes on whatever missed classes he had to sacrifice to recover himself, if he asked nicely enough.
But… He had to admit that it felt really good to hear Sukuna praising him for a job well done every time he followed his instructions and repeated the exercise just one more time, pushed just one more time, pulled one more time…
The constant effort had turned him into a blushed out, sweaty mess but those words made his cheeks turn red for a completely different reason. Thankfully Sukuna would never notice it, but Megumi sometimes feared that if he didn’t focus on the pain chewing his limbs, the sound of his trainer’s voice would reach lower areas in his body and show the guy just how deeply Megumi appreciated the praise.
Working out with Sukuna was hard, not only because of his demands, but also because of the ever present temptation the man embodied. But being fully honest, Megumi was enjoying it a lot. Sukuna provided guidance, helpful tips and encouragement when he felt close to giving up. It felt great to have someone who actually knew what he was doing telling him which exercise he should try next and how . It was a relief and exactly what Megumi needed to feel more comfortable at the gym.
At some point Sukuna had said that he was good at it, that even if he was very new to all the gym lingo and its equipment, he would walk around as if he owned the place soon enough. That felt like a wild overstatement but Megumi really appreciated it and thanked Sukuna for his faith and blind support.
Everything was going surprisingly good, great even. So great that they had already come up with their own inside jokes, mostly teaseful remarks about Sukuna thinking of himself as the best trainer available at the gym even if he didn’t have many clients, or Megumi being a highly trained martial artist with a name equivalent to blessing of all things. Megumi had argued that Sukuna was not as popular as Yuuji because he was a bit of a tyrant, to which the man replied that he was no tyrant, but a King . It made Megumi burst out laughing, but being honest, that was a fitting title for Sukuna.
Despite the teasing comments and how funny Sukuna thought the contradiction between his past hobbies and his name were, the trainer made sure to let him know that he would call Megumi blessing as much as he could because “it fitted his face and pretty boy was too long anyways”. Fushiguro almost let go of the handle he was holding onto while exercising when he heard that, which made Sukuna laugh way too loudly to be appropriate in public but there was nothing Megumi could do from his position to make him stop.
Their session had been fun and exhausting in the best way, and Megumi really thought that it would come to an end just as smoothly and naturally as it had developed. But he knew he was wrong for a second time that day when the so-called King suggested “a bit of a challenge” as the final exercise to put an end to their first session.
“What do you mean by that, exactly?” A breathless question from a very tired Fushiguro Megumi.
He was barely keeping himself straight where he was seated on the floor, struggling to open his water bottle after torturing his hands with the previous exercise. Yeah, he had to buy some fingerless gloves as soon as possible, he was starting to lose sensation on his fingers.
“I know you said you didn’t like the idea of lifting weights, but I think you could actually like it and it could be useful to your routine if we added it in little doses.”
He groaned too loud to be considered decent behavior, but he didn’t care in the slightest. Sukuna had heard him whine and moan during a few particularly difficult exercises, now he was above the shame that this type of sounds could have previously prompted in him mere hours ago.
“Come on, I won’t force an entire series onto you.” Sukuna didn’t even bother to crunch down to talk to him, the bastard remained standing very few feet away from him, looking from above with something akin to teasing enjoyment darkening his features. “It’s just so you can get a feeling of its weight.”
For some reason, Megumi sensed he didn’t catch the full meaning of his words. Sukuna was smirking in that dangerous way that made him want to double check that he was not sporting an erection right in front of his personal trainer and all the other gym users.
Megumi exhaled equally loud, hoping to not immediately regret agreeing to do whatever form of torture Sukuna had now prepared for him.
“Okay…” He ultimately said as he stood up very slowly. “But if I collapse you are obligated to save my face from hitting the floor. I would never forgive you if you don’t.”
Sukuna laughed, a rich and open sound that made all the nerves in his body feel like they were buzzing inside of him. It was a pleasing sensation, but also a dangerous one. Megumi couldn’t remember the last time he had felt something like that for another human being, and if the guy could cause this in a matter of hours, perhaps it would be wise to run away from him.
“Come on, I know you can endure it for a bit longer.” His tone was still lighthearted, but the way he placed his hand on his lower back felt heavy in Megumi’s wishful mind. “And if you collapse, I will be right behind you to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.”
There was something in the way he had said that, leaning closer to his ear, using a lower tone, as if it was a secret he didn’t want to share with anyone else. As if it was a dirty secret Megumi would soon become part of. He decided he should try to ignore it since, if he had learned something about Sukuna, it had been that the guy loved to flirt with him and see him getting flustered over nothing. He shouldn’t keep indulging him.
“You better be.”
Megumi also ignored the heat of his palm where it rested in his back, following the trainer to a different corner of the room, the one where most weight related equipment was installed and ready to use.
Ugh.
He was not going to enjoy whatever thing Sukuna had in mind, right?
“I thought you could try the squat rack. Just a few squats with a bit of weight over your shoulders so you can get a feeling of this type of exercise and see if you’re comfortable adding them to your routine.”
He made it sound so easy and logical , something without importance that even a child could do with their eyes closed. Megumi didn’t think that was the case but as soon as Sukuna stepped away from him he started to prepare the weights for him.
“I’m sure you know how to squat, right Megumi?”
And now he was teasing him again, hoping that his pride would prevent him from backing down. The asshole, he really thought Megumi was so easy to manipulate? That with just a few challenging words he would do whatever he wanted? Well, yeah, he was right.
“Of course I know how to do squats!” He fell in his trap so quickly, he would feel very embarrassed as soon as the outrage faded away. “What I do not know how to do is lift stupid weights.”
Sukuna seemed very pleased with his response, it was impossible to ignore his shit eating grin.
“That’s exactly why we’re doing this exercise. You won’t need to do any lifting, just get a good grip on the barbell and get into the right position before you squat. That’s easy!” Sukuna finished with the preparations and approached Megumi again. “And if your legs wobble or something, I’ll be right behind you to ease you back up.”
Megumi didn’t like how excited he appeared to be, but Sukuna was right there, waiting for the final confirmation with nothing but seemingly blind enthusiasm. Well, there was something malicious hidden at the corners of his smile, the faintest hint of an ulterior motive Megumi couldn’t really understand yet.
He groaned, defeated. “Okay, tell me what to do before I change my mind.”
A new beaming smile that made his eyes squint a bit, a celebration of his victory. “I have a hunch that you won’t, don’t worry Blessing.”
Megumi scoffed. “Whatever you say, King of Trainers .”
Once Sukuna’s laughter died down, he explained the exercise to Megumi, which, to his credit, did look quite simple. Get into position, grab the barbell, lift it enough to take it out of the rack, rest it on your shoulders and squat. He could do that.
Sukuna had also said that he had added very little weight to the barbell so it was even easier for Megumi to squat down and then back up. He didn’t know how much he could trust those words, but he would find out soon.
“Everything seems right into place. Are you ready?”
It was not until Sukuna finished correcting his posture that Megumi finally noticed where the problem was and what sort of ulterior motives his trainer had been hiding from him when he suggested this exercise.
“Yeah…”
Sukuna walked around the machine to place himself right behind him, not close enough to touch Megumi, but definitely near enough for him to feel his presence and his breath caressing his neck when he spoke next.
“I’m going to stand right here so I can easily reach the barbell and grab it if you collapse .”
That word was coated in something that was incredibly infuriating and flirtatious at the same time, and Megumi felt his face turning red again before he could even start with the exercise.
Damned Sukuna.
“Whenever you want, we can begin with just 10.”
Megumi took a deep breath and readjusted his grasp on the barbell. He would ignore Sukuna, he would focus on that poster on the other side of the room and pretend he was alone.
Yes, that would work.
A second breath. Megumi used whatever strength he had left in his arms to lift the barbell and place it into position. The weight felt weird on his shoulders, but it was not as bad as he had feared. His arms also helped him get used to it, and after a few seconds, he felt ready to try the actual squatting.
He didn’t lower himself enough in the first attempt to reach the ideal position, but he didn’t want to fall to the floor on his first try. Sukuna was kind enough to pretend not to notice, and just counted out loud.
“One.”
He sounded oddly satisfied, but Megumi was determined to ignore whatever perversions Sukuna was thinking about as he continued displaying his ass right in front of him, now squatting up. He damned the moment he decided to wear the cyclist shorts on his first session with a personal trainer. The elastic material of those shorts made the garment feel the most comfortable for Megumi, especially after being forced to wear all kinds of traditional clothing back in his martial artist days, but being so tight had its downsides.
Firstly, it was a huge problem if he ever felt slightly aroused since it would be very obvious to anyone with functioning eyes; and secondly, at times like this, the material would do absolutely nothing to conceal the shape of his body before Sukuna’s predatory eyes. Megumi felt almost exposed, but he had sworn to ignore the man standing behind him, and he would try to do exactly that.
He focused on his own movements, the strain on his muscles and his breathing. He concluded that, for a first attempt it hadn’t been so bad. He hadn’t reached the perfect position, but maybe he could try to lower his body a bit more in the next.
“Two.”
There, he had lowered himself down until his legs created the 90º angle and Megumi was starting to feel the kick of happy hormones flooding through his senses.
“Three.”
Maybe he could do this after all.
“Four.”
When Megumi returned to the base position, standing straight for nothing more than a second before squatting down again, Sukuna added:
“See? It wasn’t so bad.”
This time he sounded closer than before, his breath had reached the side of his neck, right below his ear. But the exercise gave him an excuse to not remain still at Sukuna’s mercy, so he ran away from his teasing whispers with his next squat.
“Five. Good , Blessing, you’re doing it very well.”
This time he hadn’t waited for him to get up again, and Megumi felt a chill running down his spine. He didn’t need to turn around and look to know that Sukuna was shamelessly checking out his ass, and that did manage to break his focus and shatter his perfect posture on his way up.
“Wait, I think you are starting to arch your back a bit.” Megumi waited for further instruction standing still for a bit longer than necessary. “If you don’t change that you will hurt yourself. May I?”
Sukuna moved his hands around his body to place them just above his waist, but he waited for a confirmation before actually touching him.
Please do.
Megumi knew this was not a good idea, but after all the teasing, all the flirting and the barely there touches; after hearing Sukuna praising him again and again, and feeling his mouth mere inches away from his neck, Megumi didn’t care.
“Yeah, go on.”
Sukuna didn't waste time second guessing himself and placed both hands over Megumi's sides. His palms were wide enough to make him feel like his fingers would touch if he tried to wrap his hands around his torso a bit lower over his waist. Megumi could also feel its warmth through the fabric of his shirt, and even if Sukuna wasn't really hugging him, he felt as if he was being engulfed by his entire body, trapped by hard muscle and thick lines of ink. Megumi was close to overheating and the only thing filling his lungs with every inhale was Sukuna's scent. He feared the lack of oxygen would soon have consequences.
“I’m gonna make sure you keep your body straight when you squat and if I feel like you're struggling I'll help you on your way up with the barbell, okay?” Megumi didn't dare to open his mouth, he simply nodded and waited for Sukuna to say he could resume the exercise.
“Use your words, Blessing.” A soft command that sent chills down his body like a whiplash of an all consuming craving.
Fuck.
“Yeah, okay.” His voice came out shaky and breathless, just like Megumi himself very much felt at the moment.
“ Good . You’re halfway through, Megumi, you can do this.”
Not if you keep whispering in my ear like that, you fucking asshole!
“Go on.”
Megumi took another deep breath, as if that could help him to ignore the man barely keeping himself off of him. Fuck, he was starting feel the need in his body descending to his belly, dangerously approaching his groin. The last thing he wanted was to get hard in the middle of a damned gym, while wearing possibly the worst possible pants ever!
However, to his later regret, the first thought crossing Megumi’s mind when he realized that this was something that could actually happen, was not one of panic but:
It's not as if there are many people who could see, right?
After that, he lowered himself again in the next squad, this time making sure to accentuate his ass as much as he could, and when he raised back again slowly, he leaned a bit closer to Sukuna.
No, Megumi was no longer thinking with his better head.
“Six.”
Sukuna counted again with a smile obvious in his voice once Megumi had returned to the base position. Despite the effort and his trembling muscles Fushiguro couldn’t hide a smile of his own. There was an extra kick of adrenaline rushing through his veins that felt even more addictive than winning a fight in a tournament’s final, a kick that he knew only Sukuna could ever make him feel.
“Seven.”
Sukuna’s own voice was breathier now, charged with a hunger that could only grow more voracious as his hands wandered lower on Megumi's frame. The next time he had to squat up again, the effort made him groan but now, instead of shame, he felt a wave of thrilling desire washing all over him.
“Eight.”
Sukuna's voice was even lower, as if his mouth didn't want to busy itself spilling silly words, but sinking its teeth on heated flesh. Megumi would have loved to feel his lips finally pressing over his neck, breaking skin and drawing the tiniest bit of blood.
The following squat was especially hard and the cause for this added difficulty was standing seemingly calm right behind Megumi. Sukuna and the effect he had on his body…
“Nine.” Megumi had groaned again, whining in exhaustion once he managed to straightened himself. “Come on sweetheart, just one more. You can give me one more, right?”
Sukuna's fingertips drew small circles on his sides over his shirt, caressing Megumi very subtly just as he promised a nice reward for his efforts.
“Yeah…” He responded.
Why did he sound so dreamy ?
This time when Megumi squatted down he did so barely managing to keep himself on his feet, and on his way up, he ended up needing Sukuna's help. The shaking in his limbs was getting out of control and Sukuna knew it, but his hand didn’t miss the chance to briefly explore Megumi’s torso over the shirt as it moved up on its way to hold the barbell and take a bit of the weight off Megumi.
When he stood straight again, completely out of breath, Sukuna did absolutely nothing to move away from him. He remained pressed against his back with his hands framing Megumi’s body, one still on his waist, the other wrapped around the barbell. It felt like he was moving closer instead when he finally said:
“Do you want me to help you with this, Blessing?” Maybe it was just the exertion of the exercise, but Megumi was starting to feel very dizzy. “To put it back on the rack?”
Even if he felt the blood rushing down his body, Fushiguro dared to slightly turn his head to the side so he could see Sukuna’s face. Their noses were almost touching and he could feel the trainer’s breath slipping past his own lips, almost tasting the man on his tongue. Megumi’s eyes had fallen to his mouth instinctively but when he eventually looked up on the other’s face, he found that Sukuna was just as captured by his lips, unable to take his crimson eyes off of them.
Megumi nodded again, and Sukuna retrieved his hand from Megumi’s waist to lift the barbell without apparent effort, easily placing it back on its rack. Now there was nothing preventing them to focus on each other, nothing stopping Megumi from fully turning around and stand right in front of Sukuna with nothing but mere inches keeping them apart.
“Thank you.” His eyes wandered to Sukuna’s mouth again, wondering how it would actually taste on his tongue, how it would feel against his own.
He would be eager, demanding, probably rough. He would love to be kissed by Sukuna.
“No problem, sweetheart.” The trainer placed his hands over his hips, and Megumi couldn’t help but feel offended. Those should be on his hips instead. “You did well, I knew you would be good at this.”
The praise only heated the blood running through his veins even more, feeding the desire lurking deep in his stomach like a restless beast impatient to be free.
“I had a good teacher.”
If there was a moment to finally break the distance and kiss him, it would be now and when Megumi noticed just how Sukuna was leaning forward very slowly, as if he was fully enjoying that feeling of sweet anticipation, a new wave of excitement washed over him. Fushiguro was mirroring his movements, feeling his heartbeat right in his throat as he moved closer and closer when―
“Sukunaa! Todo just called, he won’t be able to make it to his booked session but the client it’s already here. Would you mind taking care of him in Todo’s place?”
You have to be joking.
Both of them freezed as the girl from the desk shouted at Sukuna from somewhere at the other side of the room, but once the initial shock faded the annoyance was more than evident in both their expressions.
Sukuna even groaned when he let his head fall down to find rest over Megumi’s shoulder. From there he replied equally loud:
“I’ll be there in a minute!”
The volume of his words startled Megumi, turning the sound into the final nail in the coffin of what had been an intimate atmosphere. They had unknowingly created a small world just for the two of them, an illusion now shattered by external forces none of them could control.
“I’m sorry about that.” Sukuna said a few seconds after that when he raised his head again, still refusing to put any more distance between them. “I guess you’ll have to stretch on your own.”
“Yeah, but don’t worry, I’ll manage.”
Sukuna chuckled in response, stepping backwards on his way out of the room.
“I’ll text you later to make sure you didn’t collapse during your stretching exercises.”
His playful smile was contagious.
“How?! You haven't even asked for my phone number!”
“I don’t need to, the gym has it.” His grin grew even wider when Megumi laughed. “See you later, Blessing.”
He raised his hand as a final goodbye and turned around to walk like a normal person again and presumably get back to work, leaving Megumi almost disoriented at the feeling of his absence.
After meeting Sukuna the mere idea of going back to a life without him seemed extremely boring to say the least. Being alone at the gym suddenly felt like a dull experience, so much that even his nerves and usual anxieties had completely vanished, as if the longing for more of Sukuna was the only thing his brain could focus on now. But thankfully, and true to his words, the King texted him later that same morning.
Unknown number
Hello, Blessing
This is Sukuna Itadori
I hope you did stretch yourself properly after I left, I would hate to have to teach you how to do that
But if you want to, I could buy you a coffee and go over the basics before our next training session
Yeah, Megumi’s routine was about to take a wild turn. He only hoped Yuuji wouldn’t bully him too much after he discovered that he was planning to fuck his evil twin brother.