**
"Go-Go, Koji!"
Spirited cheers reached Koji's ears as he felt his veins coil, nearing the verge of implosion. With each inch he moved his wrists up, the more he could feel the weight of 135 pounds bear onto his bones.
Around Koji were various buff men- as many would describe them -watching in earnest. Each one had their own scars of the gym plastered onto them, whether it be bolstering veins, sweaty pores, or red hot faces.
Yet, each one watched as a young man out-worked each and every one of them. They felt ashamed.
But also invigorated.
Finally pushing the bar up and above the ever so far looming rack, Koji sat himself up.
His back was full of sweat, and his arms were visibly strained.
He ignored Akari and reached for a protein shake which Jones had gifted him.
"Good job Koji!"
"Yeah, yeah… Thanks…"
It was hard for Koji to breathe, but he felt that Akari had deserved her due props.
After all, she had sat with him through nearly 2 hours worth of training…
Yes, Koji lifted for nearly 2 long, arduous hours. At first he was driven by encouragement, whether it be Akari's praise or Jones' expectations. But the more he lifted, the more he found himself to enjoy the act itself.
As opposed to basketball, where he had metaphorically pushed weight off his shoulders, he had actually pushed weight off his shoulders in the gym.
And, the next day he would be pushing weight off his legs.
Akari's training was actually quite intense from what Koji could tell. While he was given more breaks on the weekdays, the weekends were full with strenuous strength training(s) which were devised specifically for basketball players.
Each workout focused on smaller muscle groups, which were used more commonly on the court than on the streets.
But, even being the majority of smaller muscle groups, Koji was very, very strained. So much so that he was positive tomorrow would be full of regret.
But, Koji had left regret in the past. With the regret of physical pain was also the relief of mental stress.
"Well, that's it for today… Seriously, good job, Koji…"
Akari had disengaged from her cheer to check the tab which was listed as [Friday].
"So, what now? We just gonna go home..?"
Koji had a growing hint of sorrow in his voice. It was almost as if he didn't want to just "go home".
"Nope!"
Well, thankfully for him, Akari had not planned to do so regardless…
**
Koji clasped the handles of the large glass double door with layers of tissue encompassing both hands. He felt the sweat seep through towards his hands, and so he pulled the door open in one fell swoop.
Him and Akari successfully made it out.
"So, what are we doing exactly?"
Koji and Akari walked side by side, the sun hitting both of them. Although, its power slowly diminished the longer the day dragged out.
"You'll see…"
Akari was busy typing on her phone, not looking up for even a second since they left the gym.
"Another surprise..? I think I'm good on those for the day…" Koji's voice was filled with an uneased chuckle.
"Don't worry… You'll enjoy this one…"
This unnerved Koji a bit. Akari wasn't exactly one to be upfront with her words…
Who knows… there could be many underlying reasons as to why she thinks he'll enjoy this new surprise…
"Anyway, we're gonna have to wait a bit… Wanna get ice cream?"
"Huh..? Oh, yeah… Sure."
'Yeah, ice cream… Definitely not something that can be misconstrued…'
And so, the two made their way to the ice cream store across the street.
The shop was packed between two larger shops, but the smaller of the three stood out with its glamorous decorations.
Koji turned to Akari;
"Have you ever been here..?"
"Nope. Me and Yuki usually hang out at that cafè."
The front of the store had a large wooden board painted with an icy blue. In large white letters, it read: [Ice Cream To Make You Slim].
'Is that… the shop's name..?'
Indeed, that would make for quite an… odd… name. A long one at that.
And suddenly, Koji felt a pang of foreboding cross his mind. As if he had been in this position before… Just recently, at that.
The two walked in, Akari leading. Behind them the glass door shut and the bell rang.
In front of them was an assortment of flavors and comforting blackboard signs which better displayed their options.
It seemed the store proudly sold home made ice cream which supposedly was a healthy alternative to store bought- hence the name at the front.
Akari promptly ordered her own waffle cone and plopped two scoops of Crazy Vanilla.
It was an… odd… choice of flavor. It was basically just vanilla with a variety of swirled colors which seemingly represented a rainbow.
"What..? Something wrong with my choice?"
Akari had caught Koji staring at her… interesting… choice.
"No… It's just… very eccentric…"
Koji continued, changing his tone from one of confusion to one of teasing sarcasm.
"…Much like you..!"
Akari pouted, then pretentiously licked her ice cream as if it was the best thing in the world.
"So… what're you getting, Mr. Ice Cream Connoisseur..?"
"Hm? I just worked out and you think it's okay for me to have ice cream..?"
"It makes you slim, doesn't it?"
'What the hell is she talking-'
[Ice Cream To Make You Slim]
'Ohhhh…'
Koji snapped out of his line of thought:
"Are you stupid?"
**
The two sat down on little decorated chairs which were painted a sky blue. Within the confines of the small ice cream shop, they looked out the window.
Koji licked his Crazy Vanilla reluctantly, as he pouted and side-eyed Akari.
After calling her stupid, she took it upon herself to choose Koji's flavor. As punishment, she chose Crazy Vanilla…
'Bastard…'
Koji thought for a second…
'Is it normal to call a girl "bastard"..?'
Koji shrugged, ignoring his odd thoughts. After all, there was a much larger problem looming…
He looked back out the window, wondering what it would be like if someone he knew saw him and Akari like this…
Sitting alone in an ice cream shop on a Friday afternoon, eating the same flavor of eccentric ice cream. Even worse, what if it was Ren or Lucas who saw…
Koji closed his eyes and sighed.
'It's better to not think about it…'
Then, he opened his eyes again. Now peering out the window, he saw three distant figures walking on the opposite side of the street.
Three, very recognizable people…
And suddenly, Koji found himself hunched below the large windowsill. His eyes were wide with fear, as he looked up to Akari.
He tried to promptly get her to hide by waving downwards to her, but instead she just looked at him in puzzlement.
Then, she stood up and started waving out the window, alluring the three familiar figures.
'No, no, no!'
"Akari..! Stop it..!"
Koji screamed in lowercase as Akari kept signaling.
Then, the bell rang, and the door swung open…
Koji looked behind him, still on all fours hiding.
There they were…
**
End Chapter 14:
Unpleasant Surprise… Again