Glistening Sweat Similar to the Stars (Part 1)

(I'm still learning jp so please take this tl with a grain of salt!! also, sorry for the images not fitting on mobile phones,,, i still don't know how to fix that...)

Location: HAMA House—Training Room

Chief: (Everyone is training wholeheartedly today too.)

Muneuji: ? It's unusual for you to be here, Chief.

Chief: Muneuji-kun! Why are you here?

Muneuji: For training, of course. It's necessary to also have a strong and healthy body when you want to become an astronaut.

Do you perhaps also need to train, Chief?

Chief: Yep. I've been doing nothing but desk work lately. I'm planning to start building up my stamina from today so my efficiency at work goes up.

(Everyone in the Afternoon Squad are way too energetic, but…)

Muneuji: Hmm… I guess this means that you're a beginner then. Have you thought of a menu yet?

It is generally said that in training, the most efficient way to train is by doing stretches, strength training, aerobic exercises, and cool-down in that order however…

Chief: Oh~! If that's the case, I've already done stretches in my room, so does that mean that I should start with push ups?

Muneuji: I, I suppose so… If it's alright with you, would you like to do push ups together?

Chief: What, really? Thanks!

Muneuji: When it comes to strength training, you shouldn't just do whatever comes to your mind. It's also more efficient to start training at the lower half of your body and then to the upper half of your body.

Chief: (I see… That explains why his expression looked gloomy when I said that I should start with pushups a while ago.)

Muneuji: Let's start with doing squats. We'll do 3 sets of 15 reps. Feel free to go at your own pace.

Chief: Okay! Alright… one… two…

(Gh… This is, probably going to be tough…)

Chief: Twenty… nine… Thirty!!! *Pant*… *pant*…

So…Sorry I took so long… Huh?

Muneuji: …

Chief: (Muneuji-kun… is doing a seiza[1] with a calm expression on his face…?)

Are you done already…?

Muneuji: No, I'm currently at my tenth one.

Chief: (Hm? By ‘tenth one’ he means… he's done 10 sets of 15 reps already? Muneuji-kun’s pretty impressive…)

Muneuji: Looking at your pace, I think it would be better for you to move to the next exercise, Chief. The next one is plank, 3 sets of 30 seconds each.

Chief: Yes sir!

(Guh… This one is gonna be tough too…)

Muneuji: …

Chief: (Muneuji-kun looks so calm and collected… I'm gonna fall behind Muneuji-kun at this rate…)

Muneuji: Gh… Almost there.

Chief: (Eh? There's still 15 seconds left!? Ugh, I'm at my limit…)

I wasn't even able to last 25 seconds…

Muneuji: How about you start counting once you're almost done with one set? If you do that for a certain number of times and for a certain amount of time, your stamina will naturally increase. That's what I believe.

Chief: (I see… So that's why mine is set lower than Muneuji-kun…)

Muneuji: Alright, after this is aerobic exercises… Would you like to do walking?

Chief: Sure, let's do that! Trying to do what I can to the best of my capabilities… That's what's important.

Muneuji: Indeed. Therefore, there's no need for you to match my pace.

Chief: Muneuji-kun, if you think that I'm taking too long then you can go ahead without worrying about me.

Muneuji: Understood. Let's continue without overdoing it.

Location: HAMA House

Chief: (Thanks to Muneuji-kun's guidance, I was properly able to train. I also felt that I had a good night's sleep as well.)

Let's do our best today too!

Muneuji: Chief, are you also training today?

Chief: Yep! Thanks for the help yesterday! I feel like my training and work efficiency went up thanks to you!

Muneuji: There's no need to thank me. Your enthusiasm also made me think of wanting to follow your example... Speaking of which, are you aware about the concept of active rest, Chief?

Chief: I've never heard of that before…

Muneuji: The idea is that by improving your blood flow during cooldown, you can recover from fatigue quickly. In other words, it's best to sweat even during the cooldown period.

Chief: I didn't think there was a concept like that…

Muneuji: I plan to promptly put that idea into practice today. Do you want to join as well, Chief?

Chief: Sure!

(And that is how me and Muneuji-kun made training part of our daily routine.)

—End of Part 1

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Footnotes:

[1] Seiza is a traditional Japanese sitting style where one must first be kneeling on the floor, folding one's legs underneath one's thighs, while resting the buttocks on the heels. (taken from Wikipedia) ↑

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Next

Glistening Sweat Similar to the Stars (Part 2)

(I'm still learning jp so please take this tl with a grain of salt!! also, sorry for the images not fitting on mobile phones,,, i still don't know how to fix that...)

Location: HAMA House—2nd Floor Corridor

—A few days later.

Chief: I feel like I've been feeling more progressive about things outside of work recently. I guess it's thanks to training.

Muneuji: …I see. I thought that it's just a part of metabolism, but it seems like sweating can have benefits for both the body and mind.

Chief: Activities that can make you sweat! So, what kind of sweating activities should we do today?

Muneuji: Well, how about—

Location: HAMA House—Entrance

Nanaki: What are you doing?

Ushio: …Muu-chan has been going out a lot recently. Don't know why though.

Nanaki: …In that case, it seems like he's often hanging out with the Chief.

Ushio: Ha? Why is a fully grown adult taking a high school student from one place to another at night?

Nanaki: If you're that concerned, open the door and go see it for yourself outside.

Ushio: … *opens the door and goes outside*

Chief & Muneuji: —Sei!!! Hah!!!

Ushio: …………

Chief & Muneuji: Hiyah!!! Sei!!!

Ushio: …… *closes the door and goes back in*

Chief: *Pant*... *Pant*... Turns out that dancing can also be an aerobic exercise.

Muneuji: It was a new attempt, however it wasn't bad. Let's go take a bath before our bodies get cold…

Ah, I've run out of neutral bicarbonate balt salts.

Chief: What, that's bad news! Even though it's a necessity for our sweating activity… How about we go buy it together then? And since I'm getting hungry, why don't we go eat some ramen?

Muneuji: That's a great idea.

Location: Ramen Shop

Chief: Mmm! This extremely spicy ramen is extremely good! I'm glad that you're able to eat spicy food, Muneuji-kun.

Muneuji: In order to become an astronaut, I try to not be picky with anything.

Chief: I really can't stop respecting that part of you~

Chief: Ah, your face is red right now?

Muneuji: You're wrong. This is just my sympathetic nervous system being dominant because I ate something spicy… Isn't your face the one that's red, Chief?

Ramen shop owner: (Damn! Youth sure is nice…!)

Muneuji: Thank you for accompanying me today.

Chief: Thank you as well. We were able to eat ramen and buy bath salts… Speaking of which, what scent did you choose for your bath salts, Muneuji-kun?

Muneuji: I bought the dynamic cosmos scent… Ah. It seems like I left the bath salts on my seat at the ramen shop. Could you wait here for a little while?

Chief: Sure, be careful.

(Cosmos, huh… Muneuji-kun's future dream… is being an astronaut after all. I have a dream that I want to accomplish as a member of HAMA Tours, but Muneuji-kun's dream is wonderful as well.)

(Come to think of it, Muneuji-kun said that he's training in order to become an astronaut. But the purpose of his current training… is it really for Muneuji-kun’s?)

Thug A: Hey you~ You should come with us~

Chief: Ah… I'm good, thanks.

Thug B: Don't say that~

Muneuji: Apologies for making you wait.

Chief: Muneuji-kun! That was quick.

Muneuji: Phew…

Thug A & B: !?

Thug B: Woah… That's one extremely beautiful girl…

Thug A: Wanna come play with us~?

Chief: (Is… this development going to be alright!?)

Muneuji: …It would be best for your own good if you quietly leave.

Thug B: Oh, you have the nerve to come fight us equally?

Muneuji: It seems like you're prepared. Then, come.

Thug A: …Tsk, don't get too cocky!

*Whoosh sfx*

Chief: (...They got defeated instantly.)

Muneuji: I sure worked up quite a lot of sweat today.

Chief: I was sweating because of something else though…

Muneuji: Have I made you break out in a cold sweat? Apologies.

Chief: …

Muneuji: …Chief? Did they do something to you?

Option 1: They haven't done anything to me

Chief: You quickly arrived and saved me so they haven't done anything to me! I was just… thinking about something.

Muneuji: Thinking about something…?

Chief: Yeah. Well, you see…

Option 2: …

Chief: …

Muneuji: If they did do something to you…

Chief: …Sorry, my bad, I just remembered something that was sorta bothering me.

Muneuji: ?

Chief: The training that we're currently doing is mainly activities that make us sweat, but I think that it may not be the training that fits what we're both aiming for…

Muneuji: …

…Chief, did you know? That in the past, the stars served as guideposts for people who lost their way?

Chief: The stars as guideposts…?

Muneuji: Yes… I have times where if I were to push forward, things would go in a strange direction. At times like that, I am grateful to have someone act like a star that stays with me and shows me the direction of where I should go.

Chief: All I did was making you wander with me, though…

Muneuji: …To be honest, I already noticed it halfway through. However, I had so much fun doing the sweating activities with you that I wasn't able to say anything.

Chief: Eh…!

Muneuji: I didn't want to lose you, as you were one and only sweating activity companion that I had…

Chief: (So Muneuji-kun also noticed it… But, I'm glad he said that he enjoyed the time we spent working up a sweat together.)

Muneuji: I would be glad if you continue to join me do sweat activities like this from time to time.

Chief: Muneuji-kun… Of course! Let's continue to train together as fellow sweat activity companions!

Muneuji: Of course. Let's continue to do so.

Speaking of which, I found a video of a simple full-length marathon at home…

—End of Part 2

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