After seeing his grandfather off, Rinji washed the dishes and flopped onto the couch to rest.
His dad had already warned him about what kind of man his grandfather was. And from childhood memories, Rinji had a pretty good idea.
The only time Grandpa was ever truly "behaved" was probably back when his dad was still in school. Back then, Grandpa could be kept in check. But once his father became independent, the old habits came back.
Rinji and his father didn't inherit any of Grandpa's bad habits. They were both serious about relationships.
And yet, despite their seriousness, the number of "victims" they'd left behind… well, it was too many to count.
If you really thought about it, the only "normal" one of the three generations was Grandpa. Other than being an old pervert, at least he hadn't killed anyone.
In short, this family never really produced a good guy.
"Hello? Grandma? Yeah, Grandpa ran off... No, no, I didn't let him go, don't worry. I've got his location under control. I'll keep you updated... Eh? Where do I live? Uh—oh! The signal's cutting out, Grandma! I'll hang up now. Wishing you good health, goodbye!"
After hanging up, Rinji let out a long sigh.
Whether it was Grandpa or Grandma, dealing with the older generation just wasn't his forte.
Buzz~
"Hm?"
He felt his phone vibrate and saw that it was Ishigami calling.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Takamine, I probably won't be able to come over today. My family's going out for dinner."
"Got it. Have fun!"
"Thanks."
After the call ended, Rinji put the phone back in his pocket.
With Ishigami not coming over at noon and his visit to the student council president's house being in the evening, that left him with free time...
He picked up a gym flyer lying nearby and checked the address.
"Perfect time to hit the gym."
---
"SILVERMAN GYM... this should be the place."
With a gym bag slung over his shoulder, Rinji arrived in front of a massive building. At the top was a ridiculously flashy statue of a muscle-bound man.
It was the closest gym to his home and had a great reputation.
The reason he came here was to work on his physique. If he could bulk up, it wouldn't matter if his face was on the prettier side—he could still look masculine.
"Let's go check it out."
The gym was spacious, the floors were spotless, and the hallways were well-maintained—overall, a clean and professional environment.
"Hi, I'm here to take a look around."
"You must be Takamine Rinji, who called earlier?" the receptionist greeted him with a professional smile.
"Please follow me. I'll give you a tour of the training room."
"Thanks."
When he pushed open the door, he was greeted by an entirely different scene.
A group of shirtless, muscular men were hard at work training, grunting loudly as they lifted. The air was thick with sweat and heat.
"This is a newly opened branch. SILVERMAN GYM has over 3 million members across 28 countries. Many who train here are professional fighters or bodybuilders."
"Hm..."
"Are you interested in training here?"
"Yes, sign me up for an annual membership."
Seeing all the muscle-bound guys in the room confirmed to Rinji that he had come to the right place.
He envied muscles. Deeply.
After filling out a quick form and receiving his membership card, Rinji returned to the training room—this time greeted by a young man with black hair and a blue tracksuit.
"Hi, are you the new member, Takamine-kun?"
"Yes."
"I'm your trainer, Machio. Are you here to observe today, or are you training?"
"I'm here to train… By the way, are you the only trainer?"
Rinji had his doubts about this guy named Machio.
To put it nicely, Machio looked... clean. Not at all like the burly, bear-like instructor Rinji had imagined. He seemed almost skinny.
"Maybe he's just a theory guy?"
"There are other trainers, but they're currently busy," Machio said with a smile. "What kind of training would you like to focus on today?"
"Muscle building."
Rinji pointed at a group doing bench presses. "I want to build muscles like them."
"I see."
Machio glanced at Rinji's physique.
He was on the skinny side for a guy.
"Let's start with a physical evaluation."
"Alright."
…
"Hmm…"
Looking over the report in his hands, Machio's face showed a trace of confusion—an uncommon reaction from him.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you already have a background in fitness?"
"No, but I've always been fairly active."
"That explains it."
Machio laid out the report for Rinji to see.
"Height: 175 cm. Chest: 85 cm. Waist: 70 cm. Other than looking a bit slim, no major issues."
"So what's the issue?"
"Your weight. You look like you should weigh under 55 kg, but you're actually 80 kg. And most of that is bone and muscle. Your body fat percentage is extremely low."
"Is that not normal?"
"Not unheard of, but still pretty rare."
Machio set the report aside and smiled again.
"Alright, let's start with a basic training test."
He walked over and picked up a dumbbell labeled 10 kg.
"For your size, I'd normally recommend starting with 3 kg. Too heavy and your form can suffer. But given your unusual stats, I've tripled it."
"..."
Rinji expressionlessly lifted the dumbbell and put it back.
"Too light. It wouldn't even be effective."
"Fair enough. Feel free to pick something more suitable."
"Okay, I'll take this one."
Without another word, he picked up a 50 kg dumbbell from the bottom rack—effortlessly.
It was the heaviest dumbbell in the gym. Anything heavier required a barbell.
"Hmm... I can kind of feel the weight. I'll go with this."
When he turned around, he saw Machio standing there with his head lowered, face unreadable.
"Machio-sensei, what's wrong?"
"Nothing... I just need to completely redo your training plan."