Walking

“Yamamoto-kun, you’re surprisingly active, aren’t you?”

Out of nowhere, I recalled my one and only high school girlfriend saying something like that to me with a smile.

The reason Kasahara said that was probably because, when we walked home together, I was usually coming from the gym.

It’s not like I made Kasahara adjust her schedule to match my gym time.

Back then, Kasahara was always hanging out with this girl who was practically glued to the school, like some kind of queen bee… so by the time I finished sweating it out at the gym for a few hours, our schedules just happened to line up for the walk home.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I didn’t argue with Kasahara’s comment.

If anything, I’d always thought it was kind of ironic—people with my contrarian, stubborn personality usually seem like they’d hate exercise, but I was an exception to that rule.

The gym was one thing, but I didn’t dislike physical activity in general.

I enjoyed most sports, and walking… whether alone or with Kasahara, it wasn’t a bad time, all things considered.

Though, come to think of it, I wasn’t exactly a fan of gym class.

…Looking back now, I feel like Kasahara and I walked all sorts of places together on our way home, but I can’t quite recall what we talked about.

Why is that?

…Oh, right.

“So, like—”

Come to think of it, when we went on those walks, Kasahara’s conversations were usually about… the girl I’m walking to the gym with right now.

“It’s hilarious, right?”

Kasahara was always, always talking about Hayashi.

Happily.

Gleefully.

…Enviously.

Even though we’d built a relationship as lovers, I knew the truth.

It was painfully obvious who was more important to Kasahara—me or Hayashi.

I didn’t feel particularly jealous.

I’d never been the type to get hung up on someone else, and… well, I knew right away I couldn’t compete.

“I’m sorry.”

Why am I suddenly remembering Kasahara’s slightly lonely smile now…?

“Hey, Yamamoto. Are you even listening?”

“Yeah, not a word.”

“Got it. So, a slap or a punch—which one do you want?”

“Neither, thanks?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure it hurts as much as possible.”

“All I did was zone out, and the punishment’s that harsh?”

I mean, this girl used to suffer from domestic violence at the hands of her ex, didn’t she?

She of all people should know that using force to “teach someone a lesson” is the absolute worst thing you can do.

In the end, it seems like people can only learn through conflict…

“Yamamoto, you’re reciting some tragic poem in your head right now, aren’t you?”

“Nope. I was just pitying you in my head.”

“Oh? How much pity are we talking?”

“About as much as I pity my own lonely future.”

“That’s… a lot.”

She’s totally put off.

Her face went pale, and she’s so put off.

Isn’t that a bit harsh?

It’s almost like she’s saying my future’s rock bottom or something, and it’s kinda pissing me off.

Oh, wait, she is saying it’s rock bottom (got it).

“W-Well, I’ve finally made some friends recently, you know. Girls, but still. Things are gonna turn around from here. Girls, but still.”

Hayashi’s really hammering the “girl friends” thing, huh.

“So, how’s Nene’s studying going?”

“Hah. Flawless.”

“…Yamamoto-kun, you’re good at studying, giving diet advice, and pretty much everything, huh?”

“Why do you have to say it so sarcastically?”

Something’s off.

She wasn’t in a bad mood before we started this walk.

What in the world got Hayashi so grumpy?

Is it because I ignored her earlier?

That’s gotta be it…

“A-Anyway, how’s it going? It’s been a bit since you started your diet—how’s your weight?”

I decided to change the subject.

“Asking a girl about her weight? That’s low.”

“A girl who’s old enough to vote is still calling herself a girl…?”

“Huh?”

“…My bad.”

After my apology, our conversation completely died.

Yeah, this chick’s scary.

All it took was me stepping on a couple of her landmines, and she’s this pissed off.

I mean, if this were a battlefield, stepping on even one landmine would kill you, but still.

“…It went down.”

After a long silence, Hayashi muttered.

“It went down. One kilo.”

“…Whoa.”

I let out a sound of admiration.

“Nice, nice! That’s pretty good progress, isn’t it?”

“…Not really.”

Hayashi’s voice was heavy.

“Since I started the diet, I’ve been standing in front of the mirror every day. And now that I think about it, I’ve gotten really fat.”

“…”

“So, I want to lose weight fast. But… even after all this effort, it’s only one kilo… ugh.”

…I see.

Lately, Hayashi’s been snacking a lot. But since starting her diet, she’s cut out sweets entirely and taken up exercise, something she hadn’t done in a while. She’s probably feeling stress and fatigue she hasn’t experienced in a long time.

After all that effort, she’s managed to lose weight… but only one kilo.

Yeah, that could definitely hit hard.

“Hayashi, what do you think is the most important thing when it comes to dieting?”

“Uh… discipline?”

“Consistency.”

I continued.

“Discipline’s important, sure. But too much of it can be toxic to your body and lead to rebound weight gain. So, you set reasonable limits—restrictions you can actually stick to. And then you keep at it. That’s what matters.”

“…Hmm.”

“Think about it. If you push your body too hard and don’t lose weight, what happens?”

“Uh… you’d feel hopeless?”

“Exactly. That’s the trap a lot of people fall into when they fail at dieting.”

“Yeah… I’ve seen a few people quit their diets because of that.”

“Right? So, the key is to set manageable limits and stick to them consistently to lose weight over time.”

“…Yeah.”

By the time Hayashi finally seemed convinced, we’d arrived at the gym.

I was on a business trip to China until recently.

I thought I’d write something when I got back, but a week passed, and I didn’t feel like doing anything… so I finally updated this story.

I’ll probably go quiet again soon.