72 As It Turns Out, Some Things are Inevitable (End)

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I grunted as I did my last repetition of bicep curl. I was using the 4-kilogram dumbbells, two kilograms lighter than the ones I usually used. Hachiman knew how to work out. I had never felt this sore when I worked out by myself. It was great, though.

Turning to the side, I saw Hachiman bench pressing a 250-kilogram barbell. He was in his third set and seventh repetition. Everyone was looking at him like he was a monster. I knew that muscle density was sometimes irrelevant to strength, but I was sure what I saw was not normal. After all, guys bigger than Hachiman struggled to lift his barbell more than one time and some couldn't even lift it.

Clank!

Once he was done, Hachiman sat up. The male trainer spotting him handed him his towel and he used it to wipe his sweat which was not much. Slinging the towel around his neck, he ran his hand through his hair before standing up. He told the trainer it was his turn, but the trainer kindly refused. I bet seeing Hachiman bench a 250-kilogram barbell easily made him sick.

"That was awesome. How long have you been lifting?"

"Quite recently."

"No way!"

"That's what I say to myself every day."

I frowned as the female trainer talking to Hachiman giggled. Aren't you a professional? It irked me that they didn't even bother to subtly flirt with him. They would come to him after he did his set and said anything to get his attention. They usually began with comments about his regime before openly flirting with him.

If Hachiman was bothered, he didn't show it. Heck, judging by his owlish gaze, I was sure he couldn't understand why these female trainers were so interested in him. He should be a smart guy. I couldn't understand why he wasn't more self-conscious of his attractiveness.

"Done with your exercise?" someone asked me, causing me to turn to the left.

"Uh, yeah… I just need to finish my last chest exercise and I will be done," I answered as I took a look at the guy.

He was a brown-haired slightly buff guy with a roguish attractiveness. I could tell he was popular with the female populace and he knew about it.

"What kind of chest exercise you are going to do?"

"Bench Press with dumbbells."

"Do you want me to spot you?"

I smiled politely and faintly shook my head. He was attractive and all, but I could tell he was way older than me. My taste was not mature enough to make me feel comfortable around an older guy who was hitting on me. I excused myself and then went to the dumbbell rack. As I was picking up a pair of 10-kilogram dumbbells, I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and I found the same guy standing in front of me.

"What a coincidence. Do you mind if I do a Pullover between each of your sets?"

A frown quickly found its way to my face. The guy was as stubborn as Takahiro. A bitter smile crossed my face as I wondered why I was surrounded by stubborn guys like him. Sighing, I put the dumbbells back on the rack. I didn't want to exercise anymore.

"Oh, are you tired? Why don't we have a chat about—"

"Do you need something from my girlfriend?"

I turned around and looked at Hachiman in surprise. My face heated up, but I quickly ran to his side when I met his understanding gaze. The guy stared at Hachiman awkwardly as I stood at his side and slung my arm around his waist. I idly noted how big he was even though I already knew he was big.

"Ah, I was just offering her an exercise consultation," the guy explained awkwardly.

"Do you think you know more than me?" Hachiman fired back almost tauntingly.

"Well, you leave your girl unattended, so I figure you don't care enough about her to give her a consultation."

"I let her roam free because I believe she is capable on her own and knows what she has to do after consulting with me. Did you happen to see her do something wrong?"

Quite a lot of people glanced in our direction. Some guys were ready to step in and I was thankful for their initiatives. Hachiman was strong. The annoying persistent guy would suffer badly if a fight broke out.

"Look, man. I am sorry," the guy apologized, raising his arms placatingly. "I was just trying to broaden my network. Just recently got into the trainer business."

"You should change your approach. One lucky encounter and you will end up in the ER."

Hachiman's response made the guy's mouth twitch. The guy didn't confront Hachiman about his warning, though, opting to walk away with a polite smile. The people watching immediately looked away. I could hear their soundless sigh of relief.

Hachiman turned to me and put his hand on my head. "Next time, don't hesitate to say, 'Stay away, pervert!' People are inherently smart, but some decide to be stupid."

"Okay… thank you for saving me," I replied bashfully, unable to meet his eyes.

"It's cool. Now, let's pick up your dumbbells and finish your exercise."

"Ugh…"

Hachiman was serious about training, I concluded. After picking up the dumbbells, we went to an unoccupied bench. Hachiman spotted me as I did my exercise. I thought after what happened, the female trainers would stay away from Hachiman. I was wrong. They still approached him even though I, his (faux) girlfriend, was around.

They asked him to spot them, trying their best to impress him with the weight of the dumbbells they could lift. It was both irritating and amusing.

Impressing the opposite gender with how much weight you can lift? What are you? Monkeys?

I might be just jealous for thinking that way, but don't you think it was weird? Females like strong males, but even then, strength is not the most attractive trait that females look for in males.

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Hachiman called, waking me up from my reverie.

"No. I am just tired," I replied dismissively, irritation dripping off my tone.

"All right. let's wrap it up."

Hachiman excused himself as he took my hand. I blushed a little at the action, but my face immediately turned sour as the female trainer gave him her number, saying that they should remain in contact and exercise together sometime. Hachiman took it politely. She then turned to me, acknowledging my presence for the first time, and handed me her business card.

If you wanted to have a professional relationship with my (faux) boyfriend, you should have given him your business card instead, you know.

I politely returned her business card, saying that I had my knowledgeable boyfriend to help me with my exercises. Her mouth twitched and I openly smirked at that. She shouldn't disrespect the cute girlfriend of an attractive boyfriend.

Hachiman and I cleaned ourselves in the gym's bathroom and changed into clean gym outfits before getting out of the gym. We were starving, so we decided to look for a place to eat. Thankfully, there was a food court near Palco Shopping Mall. When I suggested the place, Hachiman looked at his watch with hesitance. I told him that we didn't have to go there if he didn't want to, but he shook his head and said he was fine.

We arrived at the food court in less than a minute.

"Woah. A lot of families are eating here," I commented as I looked around the food court. "Do you think we should find a less crowded place?"

"We just want to fill our stomachs. Let's find a quiet café later," Hachiman shook his head.

Judging from his words, I was going to spend some more time with him. That made me excited, so I nodded my head with a bright smile. My cheerfulness confused him a little, but he quickly smiled softly at me. We chose a seat and ordered our food. As we waited for our food, we talked about what had happened at the gym.

He expressed his concern about the persistent guy. I told him that it was my first time seeing him at the gym and assured him that the guy would likely not be there soon. He nodded in relief but still reminded me not to hesitate to say no when I felt uncomfortable. I flashed a cheeky smile as I reassured him.

When our food came, we promptly dug in. We ate in silence. Hachiman opted to enjoy his food in silence, so I respected that. When we finished our food, Hachiman asked for the bill and then went to pay. I offered my money when he returned, but he waved his hand dismissively and said that it was his treat. I didn't contest him on that.

"Uh, wanna go shopping for a while?" I asked expectantly.

"…sure."

He looked a bit hesitant, but it still made me cheerfully exclaim, "All right, let's go to Palco!"

"Right…"

My female intuition was telling me that there was something he didn't want to see at Palco. I knew I was being nosy, but he would have vehemently refused to bring me there if it had made him that uncomfortable, wouldn't he?

When we were in the vicinity of Palco, a somewhat familiar mop of blond hair entered my vision. I doubted my vision until I saw my classmates standing near the guy. The blond guy's eyes lit up as he gazed our way. I instinctively turned to Hachiman and saw him scowling lightly. I scratched my head and looked at him apologetically.

He patted my head and smiled lightly. He didn't say anything, but I knew he didn't blame me. I felt bad for him. When we were close to the trio, the sole male greeted us.

"Good to see you here, Hikigaya-kun, Yamauchi-san."

"Hikigaya…"

"H- Hello, Hikigaya-san…"

Hachiman looked at the trio with a neutral gaze. He didn't say anything and merely nodded his head in acknowledgment.

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Honorary Mention:

Venerable Immortal Bowzr

Venerable Immortal Cris Venegas

Venerable Immortal JayJonnaJamison

Venerable Immortal Kkmoney

Venerable Immortal Solaz

Venerable Immortal Tomas Lopez-Familiari