Author's Note: This is another "mini chapter" of sorts. Again, I just wanted to do something cute with Cube, because everyone loves Cube. :3 And this one actually stayed on the cute/silly side, so that's a thing.

Side Story: Exercising With Cube

Masaru took a deep breath as he finished another set of pushups. Okay, the dungeon wasn't as nice as his gym back home… But he'd found some large boxes that were good for bracing himself for sit-ups. There were also several small objects that made decent training weights.

Maybe the bars would be good for pull-ups… He looked up, studying them intently. Suddenly, he heard a familiar whirring noise, and Masaru glanced back down. There was Cube, rolling down the hallway towards him.

"Heya, Cube," he said brightly. "Did the others need something?"

Cube shook their head. Then, they typed the message, 'Lei sent me back here. There were two boys named Akira and Pogo.'

Masaru hummed as he studied the sentences. "Ah, maybe she thought it'd be better to go in a smaller group? I'm sure she'll come back and tell us if they find anything."

'Akira' was a new name to him, though. Pogo had been with the group earlier, but he'd left to gather the herbs shortly before they'd activated Cube. He'd be unfamiliar to the robot.

At any rate, Cube seemed to accept this explanation, as they nodded after a moment. That little whole-body bob was way too adorable… Masaru wondered if this Kato person had made Cube little more than a waddling sphere just to make them cuter. He shook himself; Cube had rolled into the cell while he was distracted.

"So," Masaru said, "what else does a robot like you do for fun, anyway? Shame this place is so medieval… We're probably not gonna find any Captain Square cabinets sitting around."

Cube held up their tablet after typing: 'Huey encouraged me to read. Might we find a library here?'

Masaru rubbed his chin. "You'd think most castles would have one, right? But we didn't see any when we were looking around earlier…"

'What do you like to do?'

"Me? Oh, I'm a professional martial artist," Masaru replied eagerly. "Lately, I've been into studying other people's styles. You know, learning their techniques and all that. Matches are always the best way to try new things!"

'So humans learn by observing and practicing,' Cube typed. 'I believe that is how Kato wanted me to learn as well.'

"Uh-huh! Well, I do, anyway—some people learn by reading and listening, but—" Masaru shrugged. "Not that there's anything wrong with that; I just do better with doing it. Although…"

He crouched down, examining Cube again. They cocked themselves to the side, curiously observing him in turn. (Ah, that was still way too adorable!) Finally, Masaru tapped one of their wing-flaps and leaned back.

"Not sure how much you'd be able to do with martial arts," he mused. "But that laser thing you did was pretty cool… Hm…"

Cube silently watched him for a few more seconds. Then, Masaru grinned as another idea occurred to him.

"About how much do you weigh, anyway? You look like you'd make a pretty good training weight. Mind if I try picking you up?"

'Go ahead.'

Cube set their tablet down nearby. Then, Masaru grinned and reached over to pick them up. Their hat slipped as Masaru straightened up; he caught it and set it on the musty old bed, though Cube was surprisingly hard to hold one-armed.

"Huh, you're heavier than you look," he mused as he shifted his hands. "Not that I mind… I do like a good challenge."

Masaru raised and lowered his arms several times, feeling a good burn from the effort of lifting Cube. Their wings and feet bobbed slightly as they moved up and down, and they whirred happily. Cube almost reminded Masaru of a little kid getting picked up by their parents, and the mental image was too adorable to shake off.

"Oh my God," he whispered again. "You are the cutest training weight ever. I'm gonna die."

Cube beeped in confusion. According to their calculations, Masaru was in perfect physical condition. They didn't know how being cute could cause someone to die.

But they could tell that the activity made Masaru happy. So after a few seconds, they decided that if they could be useful, then they were happy too.

Thus, Masaru spent a good amount of time holding and lifting Cube in various positions, and it proved to be a highly effective way of occupying themselves.