「I'm thinking about doing some run to build up my stamina, you see.」
The trigger was these words that Yuu, who had been discharged from the hospital earlier this month, said to Martina.
Yuu, who did not join any sports club in middle school, was painfully aware of his lack of stamina.
Moreover, he was skinny and had little muscle mass.
What Yuu thought after being reborn was that he wanted to train his body.
It was not that he had a goal to become an athlete of sorts or anything like that, but if he was going to train, he thought he would like to start early and build up confidence in himself.
In that sense, he might have been dragging along the manliness values of his former world.
However, Martina was outright opposed to the idea of Yuu running outside, saying it was outrageous.
Midway, he also called Kanako and Touko and suggested for them to run with him, but neither of them showed a good reaction toward that idea.
「Leaving aside if it is just once or twice, if you were to make it a habit, there are bound to be those who wait for you and stalk you. I may have the confidence that I can repel them all no matter how many people are there, but I believe there is no need for you to purposely put yourself at risks, Yuu-sama.」
「I'm of the same opinion as her. Yuu-sama, I'm glad to hear that you want to run with us, but I'm afraid I cannot agree with your idea because it runs the risk of you going through scary experiences.」
Not only Kanako, but also Touko, were against it, so Yuu had no choice but to call the idea off.
Seeing that Yuu was feeling down and despondent, Martina bought him a treadmill instead.
Needless to say, Yuu was delighted that Martina bought him a machine that cost tens of thousands… no, maybe even more than 100,000 yen.
The moment he saw it, he hugged Martina and they exchanged a passionate embrace.
The treadmill, or more precisely, the running machine that allowed you to jog even when you were indoor, Martina had arranged and asked to be delivered.
Yuu had only seen it in TV commercials, but it had a 1.2-meter-long rubber running belt like those installed in fitness clubs, and a black-and-white monitor and buttons on the front that could be adjusted while running.
As he was not very confident with his stamina, at first, he tried starting with the slowest speed and distance of 1.5 km.
For some reason, Martina said that she wanted to see the figure of Yuu running, so he had been using it almost every day, twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.
Thanks to this, now that he had been doing it for three weeks, he felt like he had built up some stamina.
He had even felt the effect during the back-to-back sex he had in the student council office.
If he had remained as how he used to be, he might have run out of energy after having sex for one round.
Yuu thought that the reason why men in this world were not assertive in sexual activity was partly because they were no match for the women who were physically superior to them.
Yuu got on the running space and started the machine.
Today he decided to run at a speed of the third from the bottom of ten levels and a distance of three kilometers.
◇ ◇ ◇
「Huff, huff… phew, I'm done.」
When Yuu finished the run, he could tell that she was dripping with sweats.
Compared to when he was 40, it didn't seem to smell as bad.
As expected of a teenager.
Next, he did 10 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats each.
He did three sets with a short pause in between.
This, too, in the beginning, he couldn't rack up the count at all, which made him feel miserable.
So far, it was a light workout that lasted about 30 minutes.
If he had joined a sports club, he would not have minded torturing his body even more.
However, there was no need to overdo it.
His plan was to train steadily, little by little.
When Yuu looked at the watch, the needles were pointing at 4:40.
There was not much time left.
When Yuu went around to the kitchen, he saw that Akiko, who perhaps had already finished her chores, was having nothing to do.
Today she was wearing a red and navy blue checkered shirt and beige cotton pants.
She was wearing an apron with a chicken and a chick drawing on it.
It was modest, but she seemed to be properly wearing makeup, and he was glad that he could see more womanly charms from her than when saw her before.
Akiko looked at Yuu for once, but ended up looking away immediately when she saw that he was only in a tee-shirt.
From Yuu, who was an old man inside, there was something intriguing about a sweaty, light dressed girl.
What if the pattern was reversed in this world…?
「Akiko-san.」
「Yes… Is there anything I can help you with?」
「It's been a while, so, uh… I'd like to ask you for a favor. That treatment.」
Yuu approached her as he said so.
Akiko remained silent and did not change her expression.
With a small nod, she took off her apron, rolled it up into a small bundle, and set it aside.
And then, as before, she moved toward the sink.
All the while, she kept her face down, never trying to look in Yuu's direction.