A quiet weekend passed, and soon it was Wednesday of the following week.
Yoru had been dieting for a full week.
At the moment, he was standing on a white scale, looking a little serious and nervous.
"Phew..."
He took a deep breath, dressed in only his thin pajamas, barefoot, and stepped on.
The LCD screen on the scale jumped rapidly.
140 kilograms.
280 pounds.
"I lost seven kilos in one week!"
Yoru clenched his fists in excitement and punched the air hard as he stepped off the scale.
Even though much of the weight loss was probably water, he was still a 280-pound fat guy.
But he really had lost some weight!
His progress was better than expected.
"At this rate, I might be able to lose at least 15 kilos in a month. It'll get harder after that, though."
Still, Yoru was thrilled and happy.
He jogged to the kitchen, reached into the back of the fridge, and pulled out a small bar of sugary milk chocolate. He broke off half as a reward.
"Let's call this a cheat meal. Professional bodybuilders have one cheat meal a week during prep, right?"
"This is my way of acknowledging and rewarding the effort I put in this week!"
He treated the tiny piece of chocolate like a treasure and popped it into his mouth.
The sweet, silky chocolate melted instantly, forming a rich stream that flowed down his throat.
He closed his eyes, savoring the moment.
Thinking back on all the sweat and effort he'd put in this week to lose weight.
It was all worth it.
His body and mind were slowly improving, and he was starting to build discipline.
He wrapped up the other half of the chocolate and put it back in the fridge.
Then, just like every morning, he made his bland and difficult-to-eat diet breakfast and lunch.
Before heading out, he gave San-san, who was still asleep on the couch, a big pet from head to tail and cuddled her tightly.
The weather was as gloomy as ever—looked like it might rain heavily at any moment.
"Morning, Gabriel. Have you been waiting long?" Yoru greeted Gabriel, who was waiting for him outside.
"Not really. You look pretty happy today." Gabriel noticed the faint joy radiating from Yoru.
"Yeah, I've been dieting. It's going well." Yoru locked his door and walked with her.
They had agreed to go to school together in the mornings.
"No wonder. I felt like something was different." Gabriel didn't really notice much change, but to avoid hurting his feelings, she chose to lie.
To lose weight, Yoru had also started controlling his diet and quit playing regular games. He only used Nintendo's VR fitness games for cardio.
"How about you? How's school?" Yoru remembered Gabriel was from another country and asked with concern.
"Not bad." As they walked, Gabriel thought of the two demon classmates from Hell.
She'd had a brief interaction with one of them and found her surprisingly nice.
They chatted casually on their way to the station.
Passing a shopping street, Yoru stopped Gabriel and bought them each a portable umbrella.
After morning homeroom, the first class was Classical Literature with Hiratsuka.
Yoru listened intently and took notes.
Seeing his serious attitude, Hiratsuka gave a satisfied nod.
Time flew, and the morning classes ended.
During the lunch break.
After eating his diet lunch, Yoru went out and bought a bottle of black coffee.
It had become a habit—one bottle a day to stay alert and boost his metabolism, helping with weight loss.
When he returned, a group of people had gathered around his deskmate Yumiko, forming a typical normie clique.
They gathered like this every lunch break to chat, and they always left school together too.
"Ugh, we have swimming for PE this afternoon, and I forgot my swimsuit," Yumiko complained.
"No worries, Yumiko. Sometimes people leave swimsuits in the changing room. They're clean, so you can just use one of those," Yuigahama smiled in agreement.
"No way, I have a cold. I don't want to swim. Hayato, come help me ask the teacher for leave."
"I've got a match this afternoon anyway. Might as well save my energy. I'll stay on the sidelines with you."
"By the way, Yui, why haven't you been hanging out with us after school lately? You've been showing up really late." Yumiko asked while checking her phone.
"Ah, actually, I joined a club," Yuigahama replied.
...
"Swimming this afternoon, huh."
Yoru, silently scrolling through news on his phone, frowned slightly when he heard Yumiko mention swimming.
In Japan, physical education was taken seriously.
It was already April, and summer was coming.
This semester's PE classes would likely focus on swimming.
The girls would wear dark blue, very conservative school swimsuits.
The boys would go shirtless and wear loose swim trunks.
A moment of benefit for the boys.
But...
Yoru looked down at the rings of fat around his stomach and imagined himself in loose swim trunks, in the same pool with the rest of his class.
It made him feel extremely uncomfortable and anxious.
---
Second period in the afternoon.
Swimming class.
Shuchiin Academy had its own indoor swimming pool, comparable in size and quality to one in a luxury hotel.
A specially hired female swimming instructor was guiding the students to line up.
Because of his height, Yoru stood at the far end of the last row.
After a brief warm-up and a few safety reminders, the teacher instructed them to go change.
"You can dodge for a while, but not forever."
Yoru, looking miserable, followed at the end of the boys' line into the locker room.
At the very least, it was good for weight loss. Swimming was an excellent aerobic exercise.
The boys' locker room was noisy. Changing clothes inevitably came with rowdiness.
As shirts came off, they began comparing physiques.
One guy would touch another's abs, another would pinch a tricep. It quickly turned into a lively crowd.
Yoru stayed in the corner, looked around briefly, then struggled to put on the school's standard-issue loose swim trunks.
He tied the string and fastened the button.
Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from a group near the door.
Even the girls in the neighboring locker room could hear it.
"Mine's the biggest!"
"No, clearly mine's bigger!"
"Bullshit, yours can't even be seen."
"Hahaha—!"
Another round of laughter followed.
Yoru knew what they were comparing. He held his waistband and tried to sneak past quietly.
But things didn't go as he hoped. Tobe Kakeru clapped both hands on Yoru's shoulders and, with the help of a few others, shoved him right into the middle of the circle.
Almost all the boys had gathered.
In the center was a boy who was a quarter foreign. He looked average, but now he wore a proud and smug expression as he glanced at Hayato, his eyes full of condescension.
Hayato wore an awkward smile, inwardly cursing Tobe.
It had started as a muscle contest. As a soccer club member, Hayato's muscle definition was decent.
But then someone suggested comparing "dignity."
Most of them were the same ethnicity—there wasn't much difference, and doing comparisons through loose trunks didn't mean much.
Then this mixed-race kid came forward, clearly on another level.
That immediately made Hayato lose face. Normally, with his good looks and sunny personality, he was the most admired boy in class.
But in the locker room, side by side, he fell short.