CHAPTER SEVEN

"Yes Ms. Hanabine?" Gakupo asked, leaning his head out of his office. So far, the day had been pretty average; no one had been injured or joined the gym today, so Gakupo was pleased. It was ok if nothing of importance happened, as every little mundane thing became just that much more evident. Gakupo Kamui had been trying to concentrate on the paperwork that had to be done before the end of the week, but he just could not gather the necessary concentration for this task.

"You have a call from a Luka Megurine. Should I take a message or would you like to take the call yourself?" Zumi asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly implying something about women and Gakupo.

Gakupo rolled his eyes at this look, replying, "Of course I'll take the call. Transfer it in here."

"Yes sir," Zumi said, turning back to the phone, grinning a little. It wasn't uncommon for Luka Megurine to call Gakupo. In fact, she called him about twice a month, just to check up on him, how he was doing, how the business was coming along, jovial things like that. This wasn't unusual, as they had been good friends for as long as each of them could remember, surely since childhood.

Closing the door to his office, Gakupo answered the phone. "Hello there Ms. Megurine. What can I do for you today?"

A soft and beautiful voice, filled with laughter came over through the receiver, "Oh, Gakupo. Such formality all the time. We've known each other for so long, you know you can dispose of those things when talking to me."

Gakupo sighed, it was just in his nature to refer to people in such a formal tone, but he made an effort. "Sorry Megu–Luka, I mean. How have you been doing lately?"

The smile on the other end was tangible, "I'm doing just fine, thank you Gakupo. I trust you're doing well also?"

"Yeah," Gakupo said, clearly straining to keep an informal conversation going, "I'm doing just fine. The clinic has been doing pretty well for itself, and a new location will be opening within a couple months. It's actually been pretty exciting around here as of late." He checked his watch, Meiko would be showing up for her appointment soon, and he really wanted to be on hand to help her personally. Gakupo was burning to see that beautiful woman again.

"Glad to hear it." Luka laughed lightly, "Actually that was what I actually called you about. You promised me some personal lessons a while back. I'm calling that favor in. I'll be in presently."

Normally, Gakupo would have put up a good fight of it, being all businesslike and politely asking her to reschedule, but this was different. He owed her these lessons from a long time ago, Luka was a great friend, and hell, she had caught him completely off guard. He spluttered, attempting to marshal some semblance of an argument, but nothing came to him.

"See you in two minutes, Gakupo, I'm just right down the street on a cell phone. Won't take me long at all to get there. See you!"

And with that, before Gakupo could say anything at all to the contrary, Luka hung up. Realizing there was absolutely nothing he could do about the situation, Gakupo brought his hand to his face, showing his exasperation. Quickly regaining his composure, Gakupo walked quickly and purposefully over to where the other trainers would be located. He would disarm the situation by getting one of them to help out with Luka so that he could help the lovely Meiko himself. As if to spite the very intentions he harbored at that moment, the woman who resided in all his present thoughts walked through the doorway of the gym, scanning around for him, exercise bag hanging from her shoulder.

Meiko Sakine was every bit as lovely as he imagined her to be, seeming to glow with beauty. Once again, Gakupo was stopped speechless, completely forgetting what he was about to do. He was only broken out of his stupor by her voice, "Hello there Gakupo, feeling well today?"

After a quick pause, Gakupo was able to say, "Y-yes Ms. Sakine. I'm doing quite well today, nothing seems to have exploded recently."

Meiko chuckled, "Yes, I imagine nothing exploding is a good thing to have happen in a gym like this."

Caught up in the conversation, Gakupo babbled, "Indeed so. Nothing is on fire here either, so you have nothing to worry about."

Still smiling, Meiko replied, "Good good. The lack of fire is something I find helps while exercising, which speaking of exercising, do you suppose we could start? I have an appointment coming up in a couple hours. I would like to be done and have enough time to get ready for that afterwards."

"Yes, yes. Let's get started immediately!" Gakupo exclaimed, "follow me! The mats are right over here where we can start by stretching out those muscles."

Meiko paused, then said, "Um, Gakupo, I need to change first."

Mentally kicking himself, Gakupo said, "oh my, I'm sorry, I guess I just got caught up in what I was doing. Changing rooms are over there to the right," he pointed to a series of doors. "I hope they are what you are used to."

Gakupo waited for what seemed to him to be a year until something happened in the corner of his eye. This was bad. Any other time, it would have been fine for her to show up, so why did she have to show up now? Luka had at that moment walked through the doors and locked eyes with him immediately. Smiling and waving, dressed in workout clothes, she had clearly come prepared, and there was nothing Gakupo could do to stop her. After all, they were good friends and he didn't want to say something that could hurt her feelings.

The distance between them was relatively short, but Luka crossed it quickly, throwing her arms around him in a light embrace. Meiko picked this exact moment to appear out of the changing room, saying, "…perhaps the most posh changing rooms I've ever seen in a–oh." She stopped talking as she saw Gakupo and Luka.

Gakupo was horrified. The worst had happened. Meiko clearly thought Luka and he had something together. Well, Gakupo sighed, we couldn't have been anything anyway. That whole client thing is such a bother. Oh well, there's nothing for it.

The embrace from Luka had only lasted as long as an embrace between friends should have, but it had come at perhaps the most inopportune time possible for Gakupo, who turned to Meiko with a sardonic grin, his expression saying, 'sorry about this.'

"I'm sorry Ms. Megurine, I didn't have time to tell you over the telephone, but I already had an appointment right now." Gakupo said. Perhaps I can salvage this still! "I should introduce you two. Luka Megurine, meet Meiko Sakine.

"A pleasure," Meiko said, smiling and extending her hand politely.

"Oh no," Luka smiled back taking the hand daintily, "the pleasure is all mine.

Gakupo thought he could see a cold glint in Luka's eyes, but the moment he focused on it, it was gone, replaced by curiosity.

"Haven't I met you before somewhere before?" Luka asked.

"Perhaps you've seen me on television or perhaps on some of the Crypton albums. I model for them you see." Meiko returned.

Luka's face brightened as she brought her fist into her other hand with recognition, "That's got to be it! You see, my daughter works for Crypton as well! Hatsune Miku, have you met her?"

"The cute little girl with teal hair? I remember meeting her a few times around the studio. Never done any modeling for her albums though, she's a very pretty girl, does her own art pretty well."

"Small world, huh?" Luka smiled. "I'd love to have you over for dinner sometime, would you perhaps oblige me?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to be a bother, I–" Meiko was cut off.

"No, no I insist. Do you have plans tonight at 8?" Luka interjected, starting to scribble down the address on a piece of paper.

"No, I-I gues that would be just fine." Meiko said, stuttering a little. This woman was nice, but certainly had a forceful personality.

"Glad to hear it! I personally guarantee that dinner will be absolutely delicious." Luka beamed as she handed Meiko the slip of paper with her address written on it.

"I'll be there," Meiko said, accepting the paper, pocketing it without looking at it, their eyes locked.

Gakupo watched this exchange, nonplussed. It was strange enough that these two knew each other at all, let alone have them get along in any capacity. Maybe things would be alright after all. Still thinking, Gakupo frowned, something had changed. He looked up, startled by the change and found him being stared at by both women. "What?" Gakupo asked lamely.

"Are we going to get on with the exercising?" Luka asked politely, while Meiko nodded.

"Oh, that." Gakupo organized his thoughts.

"Yes, that." Meiko said, smiling. "You're clearly a busy man with much on his mind, and I would indulge you your silence, but I must be off in" she looked at her watch, "an hour and a half now."

"Oh! Follow me, please. Both of you. There's no reason why we can't do this as a group."

"I suppose it's for the best," Meiko shrugged.

Gakupo led the two women to the mat area where a few other people were stretching out, getting ready for more strenuous exercise. Walking to the front of the mat, Gakupo motioned for the two women to come and face him. Both of them stepped purposefully onto the mat, walking towards Gakupo, watching him intently. Taking off his slippers and jacket, Gakupo stood before them, centering himself. Suddenly, he said in a stern voice, "Ok, both of you; follow me to the best of your ability. Be safe however, I don't want you getting hurt on my account. Gakupo then launched into a series of tough stretches, all swift and precise, all targeting specific muscles. The two women attempted to follow his example, but they were significantly slower and tired fast. Breaking from his routine, which he had been repeating for a good five minutes, he strode over to Luka, putting his hands on her hips, moving them over a small amount. Squeaking at the contact, Luka faltered.

"Come on, you can do it. Just move this over here and that over here," Gakupo said as he made small changes to her posture.

Luka visibly sighed at the changes. "Thanks," she huffed, still doing the routine.

Gakupo then made his way over to Meiko, who was faring a little better, but still not as well as he would have her be faring. Making a few adjustments, Gakupo stepped back, looking at their progress. He could see they were quickly growing tired and would not be able to sustain this routine for more than five more minutes. Quickly calling a halt to the exercise, Gakupo motioned for them to stand, "Keep moving. You need to keep moving! Walk in place if you have to, just keep the heart pumping as it is right now!

Gakupo worked the two women pretty hard, putting them on the same training schedule he used himself, only altering it slightly for the female body, focusing more on flexibility than strength. Thoroughly exhausted at the end of the session, Meiko and Luka laid on the mats, breathing heavily. However, Gakupo extended a hand to each of them, frowning, "Get up! You must not lie down after a hard exercise, it's very bad for you! Even if you only walk around, you must keep moving!"

Each having taken his hand, Gakupo pulled them to their feet through his strength alone; they were just too tired to do anything. Nearly collapsing as they got to their feet, Gakupo helped them to walk around a little and regain some control over their legs. After thanking him for the training, each of the women made their way to the changing rooms, each containing a shower and personal steam room. Gakupo made his way to the front desk where Zumi stood, grinning slightly. He could tell where this was going before he even got to the desk.

"Two women at the same time? I'm impressed Mr. Kamui. You should be proud of yourself."

Gakupo gave her the dirtiest look he could manage, boring an imaginary hole in her forehead with his stare.

"Woah now, I was talking about personal training! You should be proud that you could train two people into exhaustion like that. I've never seen someone do that before." Grinning from ear to ear, Zumi added, "I don't know what you were thinking about."

Gakupo rolled his eyes vigorously, Zumi knew all of his buttons. It was impossible to escape her use of innuendo and sarcasm. He no longer even tried to argue with her. It was pointless.

After bout twenty minutes, Meiko came out of the changing room, dressed once again in her stunning red outfit, clearly dressed to impress every single person she met. It certainly worked as it intended, Gakpo mused. Once again, he found himself losing himself in Meiko's beauty; it was hard not to, she was just that beautiful. This time, however, Gakupo pulled himself out of the trance he was slipping into. He needed to actually talk to her, rather than just stare. Staring was bad. "I hope you had a good workout, Ms. Sakine. Thank you so much for coming. It really was a pleasure having you here."

"Oh no, Gakupo, I really enjoyed myself here. I'll definitely come back next week for another lesson." Meiko replied shakily, clearly still exhausted from the workout.

"Same time next week?" Gakupo asked, flipping through his schedule.

"Yeah, if you can fit me in. Thank you."

"Not a problem, Ms. Sakine. There's always an open spot here for you. Come on in anytime." Gakupo replied with a wide smile.

Flipping closed his notebook, Gakupo watched Meiko walk steadily out of the gym, clearly still sore. He felt a little badly about how hard he had worked such a beautiful woman, but he clenched his fists, this was the best and fastest way to get in shape! It would hurt a little at first, but soon enough it would be routine for her and she would look better than ever! Still keeping an eye on the woman walking away from the gym, Gakupo let his mind drift lazily. She really was lovely. Locked in daydreams, Gakupo felt eyes watching him, and swiftly turned around to see Luka stepping out of the changing rooms, staring at him.

Slowly walking up to him, she said, "Gakupo, thank you very much for including me in the exercise. I'm sorry about coming on such short notice, but I needed to make sure I got in today. Anyway, it seems as though I'm having a get together at my house tonight. Ms. Sakine is coming, and Miku is having someone else over. I–" Luka paused, "I wanted to ask you if you would like to come over as well."

Dinner at Luka's house? If there was one thing that was impossible to forget about Luka Megurine, it was her cooking. Gakupo would never turn down an offer for a meal at her house for any reason, her cooking was just that good. Plus, Meiko would be there. "8pm right?" Gakupo asked.

Luka nodded, serious.

Gakupo smiled, "Of course I'll be there. Thank you very much for the offer!"

Luka beamed, "Excellent! I'll go home right now and start getting ready!"

Gakupo watched her walk quickly towards the doorway, when she turned around and said, "Oh, thank you again for letting me come and work out! I really enjoyed it!"

With that she was gone, walking briskly out of the door, towards the grocery store.

This day really is great. I can't wait for 8 O'clock. Gakupo thought dreamily, his thoughts focused completely on Meiko.