See You At Work

The next morning, early in the hours before the rest of the world started their day, Akio waited outside the gym across from the office.

Miyo groaned as she approached Akio. "Good morning."

Akio looked her over and offered a small smile. "You look rough. Not a morning person?"

"It's too early for this." She yawned.

He handed her a bag. "Everything you might need for today is in this. You ready?"

Miyo sighed. "I guess so."

-

The gym wasn't as crowded as Miyo imagined, though it was just as overwhelming as she expected.

Miyo took a few steps back. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all."

Akio gently caught her wrist before she could retreat further. "We're already here and so is Shinichi." He nodded his head across the gym to a familiar figure before turning back to Miyo. "If you want to leave, we can. But he's right there and this is a chance for both of you to see each other in a different light."

"I don't know if I can do it."

Akio slipped an earbud in one of his ears and then handed the other to Miyo. "If you need help, I'll be right with you."

Miyo gazed at Shinichi for a moment before hesitantly taking the other earbud. "I'll try." She took a deep breath as she made her way across the room.

As Miyo walked over to Shinichi, Akio made himself busy on a nearby treadmill.

-

"S-Shinichi?" Miyo said as she approached.

Shinichi turned, surprised. "Miyo? What are you doing here?"

An awkward laugh escaped her lips. "W-Well after the other night I figured I needed to exercise more."

"Ask him to help you." Akio's voice whispered from the earbud.

Miyo jumped slightly at Akio's sudden voice. Her eyes darted around the room, quickly finding him on a treadmill.

"I didn't take you for a gym person." Shinichi chuckled, bringing Miyo back to the conversation. "You're full of surprises these days. First drinking, now this?"

"W-Well you're right. I'm not a gym person. I have no idea what to do here." Her fingers fidgeted around the bag strap. "D-Do you think you could help me?"

Her eyes caught movement in her peripheral vision - Akio giving her a thumbs up that was far too enthusiastic for her liking. This is so embarrassing...

Shinichi's smile met his eyes. "Of course I can. What are you wanting to work out?"

"Huh? Uh... Everything...?"

"Not sure about doing everything on your first day." Shinichi's laugh filled Miyo's chest with warmth. "Let's see what you can do. Come try this."

Akio focused on the treadmill, only stealing occasional glances at Miyo and Shinichi - distracted enough to give her some privacy but aware enough to step in if she needed him.

Shinichi led Miyo through different machines, explaining and demonstrating how they worked before then spotting her as she tried herself.

"This is a lot harder than it looks." Miyo said as she attempted the exercise.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Harder than carrying me up those stairs?"

"Saves you the trouble of bringing it up yourself. Now would be a good time to mention it." Akio said through the earbud.

Miyo glanced at Akio briefly before turning back to Shinichi. "A-About that. I-I didn't carry you up those stairs..."

"I figured as much." Shinichi's voice lowered. "Did... someone help you?"

"A friend did."

"Hmm. Is that so?" Shinichi fidgeted with his water bottle. "I hope I wasn't too much trouble. I would hate to cause you any issues."

Miyo quickly shook her head. "It wasn't any trouble for me. He's the one that carried you-"

"He?" Shinichi flinched slightly. I guess that makes more sense... 

He cleared his throat before continuing. "Did I do anything... odd to this friend of yours? I wouldn't want to make things awkward for you both..."

Odd? Awkward? Miyo tilted her head. "No I wouldn't say anything like that happened."

Shinichi let out an awkward laugh. "That's a relief. Thank you again for taking care of me that night. I'm glad you were there." He leaned forward, brushing the strand of hair out of her face. "Also thanks for telling me."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Y-You're welcome."

Shinichi gestured to the next machine. "Shall we?"

By the eighth machine, Miyo had lost her energy. It's only been an hour and I'm drained. How does he do this for three hours every day?

While Shinichi demonstrated the next machine, Miyo couldn't help but marvel at how effortlessly he used the machines with so much weight and how good he looked doing it. A blush crept to her cheeks as she watched him. I could get used to seeing him like this more often.

"Yo. Stop ogling him." Akio murmured in her ear, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Miyo nearly choked on nothing. I was not-

"Your turn." Shinichi said, stepping aside for Miyo.

"R-Right."

Miyo sat down, trying to ignore the warmth still lingering in her face. 

Shinichi stepped closer. "Pull the handles down toward your chest."

Miyo brought the handles towards herself. "Like this?"

"You need to engage your back more." He gently placed his hand on her back between her shoulder blades. "Imagine you're pulling toward where my hand is. Now try."

Miyo's brain started to short circuit. This is normal. Totally normal.

She pulled the handles down again.

Shinichi's hand pressed a little harder against her back. "Much better. Do you feel it?"

"Y-Yeah." This is not better. Very much not better.

"You having fun over there?" A smirk heard clearly in Akio's voice through the earbud.

Miyo dropped the handles, the weights clanking together almost as loud as her heartbeat.

"Woah. You okay?" Shinichi leaned down. "You're a little red. Are you forcing yourself too much?"

"I uh..." Being so close to him made it impossible for her to think straight.

"Sorry. We did too much for your first day. You should take a rest." Shinichi handed her some water. "I still need to finish a few exercises, but I won't be long."

All she could offer was a small nod. Shinichi soon disappeared into the gym to finish his work out.

Miyo sighed as she rested on a bench. "That was a total failure..."

"On the contrary. He was really attentive on you." Akio replied through her ear.

Miyo looked up, finding Akio near the exit. 

"I'll see you at work." He offered her a casual wave before leaving the gym. A moment later, the earbud disconnected. 

See you at work? 

-

By lunchtime, Miyo's body weighed more than the weights from the gym. 

Shinichi tried nudging Miyo's cafeteria food tray closer to her. "You really should eat to replenish your energy." 

Miyo groaned, resting her head against the table. "I don't have the strength to lift my chopsticks, let alone eat."

Shinichi's eyes flickered with concern. "I'm sorry. I pushed you too hard today."

Before Miyo could even think of a response, the chair next to hers scraped and a familiar voice broke through the cafeteria noise. "Hey Miyo. You okay?"

Ack. I know that voice. She slowly raised her head to see Akio sitting with her and Shinichi. Is this what he meant by 'see you at work'?

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you." The glint in Akio's eyes gave Miyo an idea of why he was there.

Shinichi shifted slightly, his gaze flickering between the two of them. "Miyo, who is this...?"

"Akio." Akio answered as he started eating. "Mind if I join you?"

"Akio who?"

"Just Akio is fine." He titled his head. "Shinichi, right? Mind if I call you that? I'm not one for formalities and we're all colleagues anyway."

Shinichi's polite smile tightened ever so slightly. "Sure." He turned to Miyo. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"Y-Yeah. He is." Miyo started fidgeting with her fingers, unsure how to handle the situation.

Akio leaned back casually, his gaze lingering on Shinichi. "Yeah Miyo and I are pretty close."

Before Shinichi could respond, another chair scraped. "Now who do we have here?" Kenta sat beside Shinichi; his eyes narrowed on Akio.

Akio looked between Miyo and the new figure before him. "Akio. I'm a friend of Miyo's."

Kenta titled his head. "I wasn't aware Sanada-san had any friends besides Shinichi."

Miyo stiffened. Ouch.

"Kenta." 

"Hey."

Shinichi and Akio's voices overlapped, slightly sharper than usual. 

Kenta blinked. "Woah. Sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean."

Miyo let out an awkward chuckle. "It's okay Watanabe-san."

"Kenta is fine." Kenta turned his gaze from Miyo to Akio. "You can call me that too."

Though they all had smiles on their faces, Miyo couldn't help but notice the suffocating tension between the three of them. I have a bad feeling about this...