Trish showed Asahi a few different stretching exercises, which required a partner, adding them to his usual stretching routine.

After he was done stretching, she asked him to throw a few jabs, straights and one-twos.

Looking at his punches, she smiled. ‘He looks sharper than he did on Monday.’

“Did you practice at home?”

He didn’t stop his combination. “Just for an hour or so this morning.”

“Alright, you can stop. I’ll show you proper uppercuts and hooks first, and when you get the hang of them, we’ll do some light sparring. We’ll do basic kicks on Friday.”

Asahi nodded.

As she showed him each punch in different angles, she purposefully didn’t try to adjust his form by touching him and directly guiding his arms. She wanted to see how fast he could learn without direct help, and she for sure got her answer.

In less than twenty minutes, the form of all his punches were nearly flawless. Of course, just the form itself wouldn’t dictate the winner in a real fight, it was just one of the numerous factors.

The boosts that Asahi gets from the System, were basically talent multipliers, which means that the more talented one was, the more effective they would be.

There were a few reasons as to why the bullies quickly gave up on him, and why he survived his horrific life without proper training.

One of the reasons was simple, a natural talent for violence.

Trish looked at him in disbelief. ‘He’s not a Savant type, no Savant type that I know of could show this amount progress in less than a day, let alone a little over fifteen minutes or so. It’s like each punch he throws is worth hundreds in terms of practice, maybe more. One thing is for sure, he has to be a Transcendent. Powers outside of us don’t grant learning capabilities.’

Upon finishing the sets of punches that she asked him to do, he rested for a couple minutes.

She then put on a pair of gloves, similar to the ones he previously bought. “Put your gloves and mouthguard on, we’ll do some light sparring so you can get used to dodging while attacking.”

“Okay.”

After he did, they stood a couple meters from each other.

“When you’re dodging, try to move as little as possible, just enough to not be hit. This is not only to conserve stamina, but to also to not break your stance.”

He nodded.

“Then, come at me. There is no need to hold back.”

She was being purposefully vague, and skipping steps.

He did as he was told. With his fists up, he cautiously moved towards her, then started throwing jabs to establish a rhythm.

She dodged his punches without even forming a stance, so closely that the molecules of his skin might as well be high-fiving those of hers.

He started using combinations of punches, but the result was the same. She swayed between his barrage of punches like she was just taking a stroll in the park.

She then threw a jab. It was fast and sharp.

This was something that he was used to, someone punching him. Combining that with the fact that he was a filthy boost stacker, made him able to dodge it. Granted, it was a bit of a clumsy dodge, nowhere near as elegant and composed as her.

‘Hooo, he dodged that?’

As he continued to press on, he started to get used to her movements, be it her dodging or occasional jabs. The thing that he found strange was that it changed nothing, he still couldn’t touch her.

She had an excited smile on her face. ‘You’re a god damn monster, but you still lack experience and a proper skillset.’

BAM

As he was going to dodge a jab, it turned out to be a feint, and a right straight caught him square in the face.

He stumbled backwards, falling on his butt.

She quickly approached him, giving him her hand. “Are you okay?”

He shook his head to shake away the dizziness, then took her hand to stand back up. “Yeah, I’m fine. We can keep going.”

She shook her head. “Your nose is bleeding, come here.”

She sat him down on a chair, and took a first aid kit from a shelf.

As she cleaned him up, she spoke apologetically. “Sorry, I got excited with your progress and went a bit too far.”

“Nah, it’s fine, it’s just a nosebleed. For how long have you been training? You seem to be around my age.”

“Since I was eight, so around ten years. My Dad is the owner, he trained me.”

“Cool. He must be really strong then.”

“Yup.”

“Do you have some free time this week?”

As she was about to finish treating his nose, she was surprised by his question, raising her left eyebrow.  “Are you asking me out?”

He chuckled. “No, I was gonna ask if you could give me some writing advice. I know that we barely know each other, but I don’t know another writer. It’s partially because I want to meet new people as well, I’ve been a loner for too long.”

She looked at him quizzically. “You… want to be a writer?”

“Yes and no. I want to make games, and writing is an aspect of it. However, I also want to write novels on the side to get better, and make a bit of money to keep me afloat through University.”

She smiled, showing a hint of excitement. “Oh, cool. How does Saturday afternoon sound?”

“Sounds great.”

They exchanged contacts and ended their session there.

As Asahi left, she fiddled with the first aid kit, revealing a secret compartment at the bottom, which stored sample collection bags, where she stored the tissues with Asahi’s blood.

‘Friday will be a different kind of lesson.’

 

Upon getting home, he went to grab a beverage from the fridge, finding Mayumi in the kitchen, making a healthy sandwich. She had just gotten back from the gym and showered.

Looking at him, she noticed that he had cotton on one nostril, and walked up to him. “Are you alright?”

He nodded. “I’m fine. She got a bit excited and ended up hitting me. It’s just a bit of a bloody nose.”

“Oh, that’s good then. Actually, I have something to talk to you about.”

He put his backpack on the floor near the counter, and walked to the fridge to get a beverage. “Did something happen?”

“Yup. There is this second-year Biology student here in the building, Hiroshi, and we talked a few times already. I’m gonna have dinner with him tonight, and if things go well, we’ll come back to my room. Is that cool with you?”

He closed the fridge and opened the can. “Sure. You didn’t need to ask, just giving me a heads up would be fine.”

She got closer to him, and put her hands on his chest, then gently caressed it. “I know we talked ad nauseam about this stuff, but I’d still like to be on the safe side when it comes to us.”

He put the can on top of the counter, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “As long as you’re having fun, I’m fine with it. But still, I really appreciate how much you care about our relationship.”

She smirked. “Oh, the R word, huh. I thought you didn’t want one of those.”

He lowered his head, and touched her forehead with his. “I don’t, at least not one of those. But this, whatever it is that we have between us, it’s great.”

She rubbed the tip of his nose with hers. “Yeah, I think so too.”

He slowly moved his head to the side, and kissed her cheek, then her neck. As he gave her earlobe a little bite, he also squeezed both of her plump butt-cheeks, in a very erotic manner.

She was surprised, but visibly pleased.

He then returned his head to its original position, with a mischievous smile. “Now we’re almost even. Good luck not thinking about this tonight.”

Her eyes widened as she started to laugh, and lightly slap his chest. “You’re evil!”

He laughed and gave her butt a little slap. “Go finish your sandwich, I’m gonna go write. Tell me when you’re about to go out.”

She kissed his cheek. “Okay.”

 

Later, while writing, Asahi saw Mayumi’s hand on his peripheral vision.

As he turned to look at her, his jaw almost dropped. She was wearing tight jeans, a blouse with enough cleavage to tease the hell out of anyone’s mind, and a jacket on top. Her wavy red hair was loose, draping over her D-cups.

“Wow, you look stunning, almost literally.”

She chuckled, with a tinge of red on her cheeks. “Thank you. I’ll text you in case things go well.”

He nodded. “Good luck.”

And so, he went back to writing.

 

A couple hours later, he received a text from her.

(M)- It went well, I’m bringing company.
(A)- Nice, have fun.
(M)- ?
(A)- ?

He laughed and went back to writing.

Less than an hour later, he got up to grab some water. As he passed, by her room, he heard bouncy noises from her bed, and her moans, muffled by the door.

He smirked and kept walking. ‘Good for you.’

There wasn’t even a vestige of jealousy within him, he was genuinely glad that she seemed having a good time.

‘Good thing I jerked off earlier, otherwise I’d feel a bit awkward.’

After writing for a couple more hours, he went to sleep.

 

In the morning, he brushed his teeth and went to the kitchen.

Mayumi was already drinking her coffee, looking freshly showered. She had already made breakfast.

She grinned as she saw him. “Good morning.”

He smiled. “Good morning. I know the answer, but I’ll ask anyway. Did you have fun?”

“Yup. He’s a chill guy and fairly good in bed.”

He started to make a cup of coffee for himself. “Nice. How many times?”

“Three. I wanted a fourth, but nothing I did got his dick up again. He was already a bit tired when we met for dinner. At least those three felt really good, and lasted a good amount of time. After almost six months without getting any, I really needed it.”

He laughed. “I see, that explains your thirst when I moved in. No wonder you were ready to jump the scrawny dude you had just met.”

“Oh, come on. You know it wasn’t like that, right?”

As he waited for the coffee, he walked over to her and kissed her cheek. “I know.”

She caressed his face and smiled. “Good. Oh, my mom texted me, saying that she wanted to go shopping this afternoon, so I won’t be home. I’ll be back before dusk though.”

He nodded. “Okay. What do you want for dinner?”

She made a pensive expression for a few seconds. “How about sukiyaki? It’s been like a month since we had any, and we have the ingredients already.”

“Sukiyaki it is.”

 

In the afternoon, while Mayumi was with her mother, he went to the gym, which was fairly empty.

As he walked from one machine to another, he heard a voice to his right. “Oh, shit, shit, shit…”

Looking the direction of the voice, he saw a 1.67m curvy girl, around his age. With her hair tied in a ponytail, she wore leggings and a t-shirt, and was doing squats with a surprising amount of weight. She had an ample plump butt, thick thighs and impressive G-cups.

She was having difficult lifting the weights back up to the hooks that would hold it in place.

He promptly put his water bottle and towel on the floor and ran to help her.

As he helped her put the weight back on the hooks, he asked her. “Are you okay?”

She was visibly in pain. “Ow, thank you. I got a cramp in the middle of a squat.”

Hearing that, he lowered himself. “Come on, let me help you sit on a bench”

She wrapped her arm around him, to use him as a crutch. “Thank you.”

After helping her, he went to grab his things, then sat beside her. “I’m Asahi. Do you know how to do a cramp massage?”

“I’m Fumiko. Nope, that was the first time I got one while working out.”

“May I? I’ll stop immediately if you feel uncomfortable.”

She nodded. “It’s on my left thigh.”

He gently touched her thigh, trying to ascertain where the pain lied, then started to massage it, and extend her leg once in a while. “Are you a Tokyo U student?”

“Yup, Comp-Sci. I only came back from vacation yesterday. You’re new here, are you gonna start your freshman year?”

He nodded. “Game Development.”

“That’s cool. As much as like to play them, making them is not for me. I’m more into encryption.”

“Nice, you’re into games too. Are you busy after finishing here?”

She looked at him suspiciously. “No… why?”

“Would you like to come to my place and play some video games?”

“Uh…”

He shook his head. “That’s not a line, I actually mean play video games.”

She sighed, then chuckled. “Sorry. We just met and I thought you were already trying to get me into bed.”

“Not a fan of beds huh, how about the couch then? We can play on my friend’s console instead of my pc.”

She laughed. “Sure, I’d love to have someone to play with. My roommate is not into games, and the few friends I have that are, are really busy right now.”

“Great. What kind of games are you into?”

She smirked. “I’m quite flexible. Just pick something co-op, otherwise I can’t guarantee that your self-esteem will be intact.”

“Hooo, did I just see a gauntlet being thrown? Oh, we’ll see about that. How are you feeling now?”

She had an excited smile on her face. “Much better, thank you. Let’s exchange contacts, I’ll text you after I take a shower. I’ll also bring some snacks and drinks.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

On his way back, he texted Mayumi that he had invited someone to play video games.

 

A little over an hour later, Asahi’s doorbell rang.

Opening the door, he saw Fumiko wearing tight jean shorts, that went up to half her thighs, and a black t-shirt, with her hair tied in a bun. She carried with her a couple of bags, with snacks and drinks in it.

“Come on in, let me help you with those.”

He guided her to the kitchen where they sorted out the snacks.

While they played in the living room, they talked about themselves. That gave Asahi a feeling that was new to him, but it wasn’t hard for him to figure out what it was, nostalgia.

This was how he got to know Mayumi as well, the first experience in his life that could evoke that feeling for him.

Fumiko was from Toyama, a city far west of Tokyo. She had two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, and her parents owned a medium-sized computer store.

She basically grew up around computers, but she chose Computer Science because coding was her true passion in life.

From the way she spoke about her family, it was quite clear that she was super close with them, and loved them very much.

Before Asahi talked about himself, he prefaced with the fact that his current life was great, to soften the blow.

Although Asahi’s past did surprise Fumiko, she was more or less used to those type of stories, since she used to volunteer in an orphanage near her home.

While they were on a snack break, Asahi asked. “What prompted you do it? Volunteering, I mean.”

“One of my friends was adopted when she was eight, and before that, she lived in an orphanage. Her life was pretty rough before being adopted, so it made me want to help out, even if it was just a little bit.”

He nodded. “I asked because I don’t think I’d be able to do it, to many bad memories. Your friend, is her family nice?”

She smiled and nodded. “They’re great. Nowadays she’s as happy as one can get.”

He smiled. “Good for her. There is something else that I’m curious about. You seem to be really close to your family, to the point that I’d think that you would go to a Uni near home. If so, why Tokyo U?”

She nodded. “You’re right, coming here was actually a compromise.”

He raised his right eyebrow. “Compromise?”

She sighed. “It’ll sound like I’m bragging.”

He chuckled. “It’s fine, you don’t seem to be the type to genuinely brag or boast. You just wiped the floor with me in three different games, and instead of rubbing it in, you helped me improve.”

She smiled, with a tinge of red on her cheeks. “I did want to go to a Uni near my home, but my mom was adamant that I picked one of the top Unis that offered me a full scholarship. Not just for the education, but the life experience as well.”

“How was Tokyo U a compromise? Isn’t it a great university?”

“It is, but in terms of Comp-Sci, as much as it improved, it’s still behind MIT, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge.”

His eyes widened. “You… got offered full scholarships for all of those?”

She nodded.

He looked at her quizzically. “I want to preface my question by saying that I’m not trying to imply that you didn’t work for it, but how much of a genius are you?”

She displayed a pensive expression. “That’s a complicated question, since genius can be interpreted in many different ways. My IQ was clocked at 158, I do have an eidetic memory, and I can read almost 15,000 words per minute, if that is what you were looking for. But IQ is just bullshit in my opinion, because it doesn’t measure true brilliance.”

He blinked in disbelief. From what he knew, people that intelligent usually had low EQ, but she wasn’t anything like that.

“Holy shit, okay, yeah, you’re probably a genius.”

She chuckled. “Actually, between the Tokyo U students that live in this building, I don’t stand out that much. Your roommate, is their family rich and influent?”

He shook his head. “Her family is upper-middle class as far as I know.”

As far as he knew. He did get incredibly close with Mayumi, but trust issues are hard to shake off.

“Then, she’s probably a genius in one way or another. The students that live in the apartments owned by Tokyo U here, can either be considered geniuses in their field, or are from powerful families, sometimes both. Not that either matters to me, though.”

He smirked. “And then there is me, with the boo-hoo sob story scholarship.”

She shrugged. “I know that you’re joking, but I honestly don’t think the type of scholarship matters. You got yourself into the top-100 in the national examination, despite how much shit you had to go through without any support, of which I probably don’t even know the worst parts. If I were to put my money on any of the Tokyo U students in this building, you would probably be by far the safest bet.”

He displayed an awkward, almost uncomfortable expression, and his cheeks started to redden.

She frowned slightly. “Sorry, did I say something I shouldn’t?”

He snapped out of it. “No, no, you’re fine. I’m just still not used to have my efforts acknowledged like that, specially from someone I just met.”

As he said that, he heard the front door opening.