Iino listened to Fujiwara as she spoke into the microphone in a monotone, matter-of-fact tone.
"Hello? Miyuki? You're studying? Well guess what, this is more important."
Iino watched Fujiwara slip the phone around revealing a Miyuki Shirogane, who, well, let's just say that his glare wasn't exactly very subtle today. Iino wore a look of concern as she shifted her gaze to Fujiwara.
"Are you sure you should be calling him like this? It looks like he hasn't slept in a week."
"Meh, it's fine. Besides, I'm doing a quick lesson on empathy today!"
Miyuki rubbed the back of his neck, spinning around in his chair.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see~ In any case, do you know why I called you?"
"Care to enlighten me?"
Fujiwara looked at Iino expectantly, prompting her to clear her throat and begin explaining.
"Well, I was trying to exercise but Fujiwara-senpai was having trouble helping me, so she thought that you might be able to teach me a bit better."
Miyuki rolled his eyes, waving his hand dismissively.
"And you got me specifically to teach her?"
Fujiwara nodded, prompting a sigh from Miyuki.
"Alright then. I'm not sure I see why this is something that needs teaching in the first place, but I suppose I have a few minutes to spare to get her started."
"Oh, it'll be more than a few minutes."
Miyuki gave Fujiwara a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You worry too much."
A vein popped out of Fujiwara's head.
"Alright then. Why don't you two start training now?"
Miyuki gave a serene smile, interlocking his fingers in front of him as he placed his hands on the table.
"Seriously, you're just worrying too much, Fujiwara. After all, what could possibly go wrong?"
###
Miyuki was significantly less smiley now.
How can one person be so uncoordinated? It's like I'm watching a horse try to climb a ladder!
Fujiwara's gaze flickered between Miyuki who seemed as though he was on the verge of several mental breakdowns and Iino who looked like she was trying to invent a new style of interpretive dance. It had been like this for several different exercises. From doing a chin up with one arm in front and one arm in the back to doing a squat while holding her knees, no exercise was safe from the disfiguring touch of Miko Iino!
"So, how'd I do?"
Miyuki seemed to freeze on the spot. Even if she had spent 21 seconds on a 50 meter dash and flailed like a fish out of water, her smile was one of the utmost confidence! Miyuki would have to be some sort of malignant narcissist to wipe that off of her face!
"Y-you did great, Iino-"
"What did you just say?!"
Fujiwara was absolutely furious. Miyuki and Iino both cowered in her wake as an aura of malignance emanated from her.
"You're being way too nice! How can Miko-chan ever hope to improve if you're not giving her any criticism? You have to recognize where she can improve and let her know!"
"Yes, of course…"
Miyuki looked at the ground and contemplated for a moment before recomposing himself.
"Well, Iino, there were definitely places where you could make improvements. For one, your coordination. Instead of swinging your hands around, this time, try to focus on moving them forward and backward instead of left and right, ok?"
"O-ok then."
Fujiwara and Miyuki watched, anxiety filling their eyes as Iino got ready to run. Fujiwara grabbed a stopwatch, announcing:
"Ready, set, go!"
And then she ran. It wasn't particularly pretty; she had her head down and her form wasn't the best, but when she reached the end, Fujiwara held the stopwatch in her hand, her voice taking on a hushed tone.
"12 seconds."
The gymnasium was silent. Not one person moved for a moment before all of a sudden, a tear formed in Iino's eye along with a massive smile on her face as she rushed forward, wrapping her arms around Fujiwara.
"I did it! I actually… I actually managed it! Yes!"
Fujiwara gave a wide smile, patting her on the head a few times while Miyuki simply looked on with a smile.
"Well, of course you did! After all, you've got some amazing people teaching you!"
The three of them reveled in their celebration before Miyuki cleared his throat as if to get back on track.
"Now then, why don't we get started on some pushups?"
Iino popped up with a salute.
"Aye-aye, captain!"
She dropped into a pushup position. And she did a pushup. At least, she tried to do a pushup. Fujiwara was pretty sure that that was more of a wiggle. A look of despair creeping into her expression, she let out a sigh, saying:
"Looks like we're back to square one, huh?"
Result of today's battle: Fujiwara and Shirogane lose.
###
Fujiwara was not alone in her despair: Miyuki was now beginning to understand the horror that was teaching someone with zero talent and infinite will. Nevertheless, they persevered, continuing the cycle of managing to complete one of each exercise before utterly butchering the next. Nevertheless, over the next few days, with criticism and encouragement flying in from both Fujiwara and Miyuki, Iino managed to complete every exercise with at least a semblance of ability.
"Looks like we're finally done!"
Miyuki and Fujiwara meekly celebrated along with Iino, all 3 of them dripping with sweat by this point.
"Great work, Miko-chan…"
Iino checked the scorecard that Fujiwara was keeping for her times/reps before her expression fell.
"I'm still not that good at this, huh?"
Fujiwara saw the dejected look on her face before giving her a quick pat on the back.
"Hey, don't worry about it! You've improved a lot and it's only been a few days!"
Miyuki nodded along.
"Yep. Honestly, I didn't think that we'd get this far, but you're improving a lot faster than I expected."
"I guess so…"
Iino still seemed somewhat dejected, shuffling on the spot.
"Hey, Miko-chan…"
Fujiwara walked up to her, a somewhat worried expression on her face.
"Why exactly are you trying so hard for the sports festival? I mean, you weren't this pumped last year, so what changed?"
Iino's face went a little bit pink and she scratched her cheek as she averted her gaze.
"Well, I don't want to let my team down…"
Fujiwara leaned in close, a certain suspicion growing in her mind.
"Is Ishigami-kun on your team?"
Upon hearing his name, Iino's face burned bright red as she turned away, loudly denying this accusation.
"W-why does that matter?!"
A mischievous look appeared on Fujiwara's place and in a flash, she hung up on Miyuki and dialed Ishigami who picked up within 2 rings.
"What do you want, Fujiwara-senpai?"
Fujiwara snickered internally at the anxious look on Iino's face.
"Well, I'm in the gym right now and I was planning on getting some exercise in for sports day. Could you swing by and help me out?"
They heard a sigh from the phone speaker.
"Why do you want me to help you?"
"Oh? You're the only person I know who really works out."
There was a pause and they heard some shuffling of paper before the speaker crackled back to life.
"Well, I've been pretty busy this week since Iino hasn't been around as much, but I think that I can spare some time. I'll be down in a few."
With that, he hung up and Fujiwara gave Iino a wide smile.
"So?"
Iino, however, seemed to be off in her own little world, unaware of Fujiwara's current shit-eating grin.
"He just agreed to it? Just like that?"
Fujiwara blinked twice before her usual cocky grin returned.
"Yep! He's easy like that, isn't he?"
Iino elected to say nothing in response, instead closing her eyes and appearing as though she was in deep thought.
Ishigami's usually only busy when I give him extra work and I already handled all of my presidential duties for the week which means that he's lying about what he said. Why would he do that unless…
A look of realization flashed across Iino's face before that was replaced with a gentle smile.
He just wanted to help out?
Meanwhile, Fujiwara watched this whole display with a blank smile.
"I don't know what's going on in your head, but I don't like it."
However, after this, a second realization hit Iino Iino like a truck. She clutched her head in despair as her mind was flooded with possibilities!
Oh, right, Ishigami's coming! Dammit! What's he going to say when he sees me fail at doing a sit-up? I'm so screwed!
Slowly, an image began to coalesce in Iino's mind as she kneeled in horror.
"Ah? You can't even do something this simple? You really are quite cute."
"Seriously, it'll be fine, Miko-chan."
Iino's eyes went wide as she felt Fujiwara speaking in a tone that she had never heard before: it was a warm tone that almost took on a motherly feel to it.
"I've already heard loads from the other TGC members about how much he carries you in games, so this is no different, right?"
Something dawned on Iino's face as her expression went from blank to sheepish.
"Yeah… but honestly, he's been doing so many things for me from carrying me in gaming to student council work that I feel like I'm not doing enough for him, y'know?"
Fujiwara raised an eyebrow before speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.
"In that case, why don't you just give him less council work?"
"Are you out of your mind?! He'd totally just go home and play video games!"
A sly look appeared in Fujiwara's eyes as she put her phone in her pocket.
"Well~ I heard from Kaguya-san that Ishigami-kun's been pretty open about how much work he's getting and about how he'd love to talk to a certain someone if he just had a little bit more time~"
Iino's eyes went wide and her mouth opened in shock as the gears in her mind turned, coming to the conclusion that:
He's trying to meet with someone else?!
Miscommunication is Iino's middle name.
"I'm getting the feeling you didn't quite get what I said, so I'm gonna say it loud and clear for you:"
Fujiwara leaned in close to Iino, saying:
"He wants to spend time with you~"
Iino's face flushed bright red, and upon seeing this, a wide grin generated onto Fujiwara's face as she waltzed out of the room.
"Well, I'll see you later, Miko-chan!"
"Y-yeah…"
The moment that she left, Iino heard the door on the opposite side of the gym open to reveal Yu Ishigami wearing a tracksuit that was identical to hers along with an expression of shock.
"Iino?!"
Result: inconclusive (so far).
