Shipping the SDRA2 Cast With Each Other

Hajikei/Nikei Yomiuri x Hajime Makunouchi

After the fiasco with Iroha getting stuck under a statue, Nikei walked around the next morning with a grumpy expression on his face. He didn't feel like getting an interview, he was too caught up in his own thoughts.

During the incident, Nikei had tried to lift the statue off of Iroha, but was only able to achieve it with the help of Monocrow. A mechanical bird, of all things, that seemed to be stronger than him. The journalist normally didn't focus on his strength, but after Iroha was safe to leave the infirmary, he couldn't help but question it.

As inferiority festered in him, he tried to think of ways to make the thoughts stop. But when even Emma, a very frail-looking woman, was stronger than him, he loathed to admit that he was weak. But how to fix this? He could go to the workout room to exercise, but not even Utsuro could help him if he was caught by Hajime or Shinji, and he even lived with the guy!

Nikei made up his mind and started sneaking his way to the workout room, keeping an eye out for anyone nearby and preparing a list of interview questions in case he found somebody inside the room. To his relief, nobody was inside, so he slipped in, took off his coat, hat, notepad, and put down his pen, and he went over to the weights. He saw a big one and tried to pick it up, but couldn't even make it budge.

As Nikei struggled with pulling the weight off the rack, he didn't notice Hajime walking through the door at first. "Um, what on earth...?" He awkwardly chuckled.

Nikei was immediately spooked and whirled around. "Gah! Don't surprise me like that!" He scolded.

"Haha, sorry. Whatcha doing in here, Nikei?" The boxer smiled as the journalist backed away from the weights.

"I just wanted to see how heavy these were for an article on the Monocruise's facilities, in case another group besides us uses this place and needs a guide. I guess they're a lot heavier than I expected, haha!" Nikei lied, thankful for his acting lessons with Emma.

Hajime surveyed the room and noticed Nikei's discarded clothes on the floor. "Why is your coat on the floor then? Not to mention your notepad and pen, if you're writing for an article." He questioned. Nikei was silent, and Hajime continued "You don't need to lie."

"...Fine, I came in to try and exercise." The journalist grumbled, frustrated from being caught in a lie. "Didn't expect to run into anyone though, much less you."

"Must be a coincidence then. I came here to train too." The boxer mentioned. "Say, why don't we train together? I can help you out, if you want."

"And end up like Yuki? No thanks." Nikei harshly declined. "I've seen him and Shinji train a few times, and there is no way in this damn world that I'm doing the same shit that he goes through. And I've seen Sora train with you too! The amount you guys do would make me fucking pass out! I've not very keen on waking up in the infirmary, thank you very much."

"Right, you aren't as strong as Yuki or Sora...hm..." Hajime began to think for a moment, but then came up with an idea. "How about I make you a training plan? That way, once you hit your quota of things to do for the day while working out, you can relax for the rest of it? We can start with small steps, I won't make you push yourself."

"Smal steps? Heh, didn't know that was even in your vocabulary." The smaller boy chuckled. "Honestly, 'small steps' for you is probably making me pick up that heavy-ass weight off the top of that pile."

"No, no, I'm not gonna make you do that. Hate to admit this, but you have no muscle at all." The boxer replied. "I'm gonna make you start out with basic exercises that anyone can do, and we're gonna keep that up until you hit a certain quota of strength."

"Are you gonna measure my muscles?" Nikei cautiously questioned, slowly taking a step back.

"...No, Sora is proof enough that strength doesn't necessarily mean muscle mass. She can outrun me and keep up with my strength, yet she doesn't look like she's strong at all." The blonde explained. "You might have a fast metabolism like her, so it'll be more measuring how much you can lift. And by the way, the tiny weights are down there." He chuckled while pointing to the lower racks.

Nikei's face flushed red as he looked away from Hajime. "Just show me what to do, jackass." He grumbled.

"Haha, alright. You might want to take off your vest, it'll be easier to work out if you have less layers on." The boxer advised. "Now, let's get started with some pushups, maybe some jumping jacks, a light run around the island, and some stretching. That'll be your quota for today."

Nikei paled as he got on the floor, hoping that he could survive the next hour.