After our morning workout, we head into the woods. I've been thinking about upping our routine in one way or another, but we also have too many other things going on to adjust. Despite my concerns, it's clear my stamina is still increasing. We start walking into the forest when I hear someone calling for us.
"Hey, kids!" I recognize the annoying tone of voice and turn to see that annoying girl from yesterday.
"I'm sorry, I never got your name."
"What?" she responds with a confused expression.
"Your name?"
"I-I told you yesterday. My name is Shinobu."
"Oh, I guess I forgot. Sorry. Anyway, what's up?" My chest aches a little as I see her shoulders slump. There's nothing to do about it at this point, so I try to move the conversation forward.
"Um, I was wondering if I could come with you today?" Her voice trails off near the end of her sentence. I feel bad, but it isn't safe to bring her along with us. I don't trust her enough to introduce her to the fairies, and we aren't strong enough to fight off the beasts of the forests on our own yet.
"I'm sorry. I don't trust you enough to show you our secret defensive measures, and we aren't strong enough to survive in the forest without them." I try to remain as vague as possible during my explanation.
"Okay, I understand." I can see her eyes water as she turns around and runs back to the safety of the palisade.
[Well, nothing like a dose of self-loathing to start the day.]
I sigh and continue towards the forest.
"She looked sad." Josh's words spear me through the chest.
"I know."
"Why did you make her sad."
"Her expectations were too high. She didn't consider our situation and was disappointed when we declined."
"We didn't say no; you did." Sakura hits me from the side as well.
"What if she hurt Woohee or any of the other fairies? How would you feel then?" Both of the kids lower their heads. "It doesn't feel good, but we have people depending on us, which means we need to be careful with who we introduce to them."
"There has to be some way to make it up to her." Josh's firm expression digs deeper into me.
"Well, she's in our class, so we can try to be friends with her there."
"Okay! Let's do that!" Sakura jumps up excitedly. We chat lightly on the way to the fort.
"What are you two going to do with your money?" The only time I've seen them spend money was when we bought armor. If I had money when I was a kid, I would usually buy a video game, but that's not an option here. In fact, I haven't really seen much that kids can spend their money.
"I saw a dress that looked really pretty, and I was going to buy that."
"Makes sense." I nod my head as I respond blankly to Sakura. Josh looks at her, moving his eyes from her head to her feet and back again.
"But you look pretty right now." I can see Sakura's face flush as she jumps on Josh's arm. She nuzzles her head against his shoulder with a huge smile on her face.
"I want to look even prettier for you."
"Okay," Josh responds flatly.
I can feel bile rising in my stomach as I struggle to hold in my breakfast. I change the subject to avoid vomiting all over the side of the road from their sickly sweet interaction. "What about you, Josh?"
"It's a secret." I'm taken aback because he doesn't disclose what he wants to spend his money on, but I drop the subject. We spend the rest of the trip talking about various snacks and sweets we'll buy if we're successful again today.
"Nick!" Woohee flies out to meet us.
"You're supposed to wait for my signal."
"No," she says as she crosses her arms.
"...well, there's not much I can do about that."
"Leader was really happy when Woohee told her that we killed nine mean stars yesterday," the fairy says excitedly.
"I'm glad she appreciated it. We're going to lift today, and then we'll head back and take out some more."
"Yaay!" Woohee flies in circles around my head as we descend into the cave.
I'd like to focus on our bench press form today. As we increase in weight, our technique becomes more and more important. We're just focusing on our main lifts right now, so we aren't improving as efficiently as possible, but we're doing enough new exercises concurrently that I'm not too concerned about it. I'll talk to Josh about making some smaller weights next week.
"Alright. Watch how I do this."
"We've seen you bench press before. We know how to do it," Sakura replies. I can tell she's a bit annoyed based on her tone.
"I know. I don't doubt your ability. This is just a refresher. There are so many competing movements that there will always be something to improve upon."
I grab the bar above my head and lift it slightly to ensure it's balanced before setting it back down. I move the balls of my feet just below my butt, directly under the bench. After taking a few breaths, I lift the bar and bring it to my chest. As it touches my chest, I drive my feet into the ground, causing my back to arch, raising my chest to meet the bar. By pressing upward with my chest, pushing the top of my back into the bench, and squeezing my shoulder blades, I can use my chest to press the bar up. This mitigates the downward momentum and helps to start pushing it back up. This point in the lift is known as "the hole." When one fails a lift, it's usually because they failed to get the bar out of the hole. Now that my back is arched, I squeeze my elbows inward to activate my laterals—the muscles on the side just below the arm. I concentrate on activating all of these muscle groups simultaneously and push the bar back up. I do a few more reps and rack the weight.
"Did you get anything out of that?" I ask as I stand up.
"No."
"Nope." Josh and Sakura respond with disinterest.
"Okay, well, why don't you two lift, and I'll give you some tips."
"Fine." Sakura sulks over to a bench and lays down. Josh follows her without complaint and gives her a spot. I'm a little shocked by her attitude, so I walk over to confront her.
"Do you not want me to give you any tips? I'm just trying to make sure you don't hurt yourselves."
"I don't care."
"If it bothers you that much, then I'll stop." It wouldn't make sense for her to be upset about getting advice, so it must be something else that's bothering her.
"I said, I don't care."
"Then why are you upset?"
"I'm not upset!" Sakura yells as she starts her exercise.