Now that lunch was over, and his clones had finally finished internalizing the Vita spell, Kaeya figured it was time to put it to proper use.
He'd been putting this off for a while—not because he couldn't train, but because motivation was a fickle thing. He had the time. He had the means. He just... didn't like pushing himself unless he absolutely had to.
But even he couldn't deny that he was starting to stagnate. His mana control was progressing well, and his spell arsenal was expanding, but physically? He was coasting. If anything, he was getting a little too comfortable in this new world, Well, its not like he was serious about his physique even in his own world to begin with.
Anyways! It was time to fix that.
He decided on a light structure—three days a week, with one rest day in between each session to let his body settle. Though honestly, with water magic healing his muscle strain in real time, "rest" was more of a formality than a necessity.
His training plan was simple:
One hour of full-speed sprinting
Thirty minutes of one-arm pushups on each arm, under the crushing weight of a self-applied Vita spell.
Thirty minutes of one-arm pullups, again split between arms, with Vita multiplying his bodyweight several times over.
That made three hours total, all uninterrupted, all at his peak. And thanks to healing magic, no damage worth worrying about.
The sun was still out, the sky mostly clear, and the afternoon air held a faint breeze.
Kaeya stretched one arm across his chest, then the other. A few light rotations in his shoulders. It wasn't like he needed a warm-up, not with water magic on standby.
Still... he mentally prepared himself.
He let out a soft breath, crouched low—then blurred forward, vanishing into the horizon.
The first hour passed in a flash. Literally.
Each stride cracked the air around him like miniature sonic booms, his body cutting across the landscape like a silver bolt. Trees blurred, Dirt kicked up behind him like waves. And all the while, he channeled subtle streams of water magic through his muscles, keeping tendons cool and nerves calm.
Holding that velocity, minute after minute, while managing breath, stride, and mental focus. By the time the hour was up, he wasn't even panting—but he definitely felt the fatigue chewing at the edges of his stamina.
Good. That's what he wanted.
Kaeya returned to the clearing. He dropped into a one-arm pushup position and increased the El Vita spell's weight until his arm trembled slightly just holding him up.
And then he started.
One. Two. Three...
His mind wandered while his body worked.
Running was at least a little enjoyable, Just doing one arm pushups in one place is boring as fuck... But this is important.
The weight was crushing. If he wasn't continuously using healing magic then his body would have given out after around twenty one arm pushups or so.
Half an hour passed, then the next. He switched arms. Then came the pull-ups—gripping the stone bar he had created using Dona.
Originally, he had foolishly considered using a tree branch. It seemed convenient at the time. But after applying El Vita and feeling the multiplied weight in his limbs, he quickly realized the branch wouldn't hold up for even a single rep.
So instead, he'd shaped and reinforced a proper pull-up bar out of stone, grounding it deep into the earth with added mana to ensure it could take the strain.
By the time the third hour was ticking down, his muscles screamed with an ache that wasn't quite pain, and his breath came heavy even with magical assistance.
Sweat rolled down his neck, evaporating in the late afternoon sun.
He dropped to the ground, resting on one knee—not because he had to, but because it felt right to stop now.
Pushing himself so hard felt like shit, But the feeling which came after completing the task was very satisfying.
He had dismissed all the clones to properly focus all his mana on physical training, And with that ended his day of training.
He just sat below a tree for a few minutes, And then footsteps approached. Looking up, He saw Subaru waving at him with a smile.
Subaru soon approached and he waited for Subaru to start the conversation.
"Yo! Tough day, huh? Wait—whoa, this is actually the first time I've seen you looking this worn out! Did you go through some kinda extra-heavy training or something? Careful, man—keep that up and your bones are gonna give out before you even hit old age!"
Kaeya wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Don't worry," he said, brushing his hair back with one hand, "I can heal myself before anything serious happens… So, what brought you out here anyways?"
Subaru stepped closer, hands behind his head in a relaxed stretch. "Honestly, can't I just come out to check up on a friend, huh?"
Kaeya gave him a dry look.
Subaru chuckled. "Fair enough. The real reason is... I couldn't stop thinking about my date with Emilia-tan tomorrow. Figured training would help get my mind off it."
"By watching someone else train?" Kaeya raised a brow.
"Exactly!" Subaru pointed as if Kaeya had just understood some great truth. "I figured watching you suffer through a workout would be therapeutic. And hey, misery loves company."
"That's... an unusual coping mechanism, i guess?"
"Hey, if it works, it works," Subaru said, leaning back with his arms supporting him. "Besides, you kind of set the bar for overkill, you know that? What exactly are you doing out here?"
He continued, sitting down on a dry patch of grass beside Kaeya, and passed him a water bottle made of wood and leather—likely to make it waterproof.
Kaeya took a sip of water, letting the coolness settle before answering. "Just some physical training."
"Physical training, huh?" Subaru's gaze shifted to the reinforced pull-up bar Kaeya had set up. "Wait, is that...?"
Kaeya glanced over, following Subaru's eyes. "Yeah, a tree branch would have snapped if I tried to train on it."
Subaru chuckled. "Makes sense. Though, it doesn't look like it could even hold a chimpanzee or something. Well, it's made with your magic, right? So who knows how strong it is?"
"Yeah, I made it with Earth magic," Kaeya confirmed. Realizing his small blunder, he added, "By the way, what's a chimpanzee?"
Subaru grinned. "Never mind. Just a weird thing from my hometown." He said. "Well, I'm just gonna relax over here with you."
Kaeya simply nodded, setting the water bottle to the side. He glanced at Subaru before saying, "My training's over anyway, so I don't mind."
Subaru's presence was a welcome change for Kaeya. He was bored with his usual routine, and the fact that Subaru had approached made the moment feel less solitary. Kaeya wasn't the type to approach others first for a long conversation, so it was a small relief. But then again, he would've probably trained some magic if Subaru wasn't here. Training in front of others felt strange, though, so he decided against it for now.
After a brief silence, Subaru couldn't help himself and leaned over a bit with a mischievous grin.
"So, hey—did you ever have a crush on a girl or anything?"
Kaeya blinked, caught off guard. "Huh? What brought that on?"
"Dunno, figured I'd ask while you're all sweaty and defenseless. You look more honest when you're exhausted."
Kaeya leaned back against the grass. "Well, I've never really liked anyone like that. Romantically, I mean."
"Seriously? Never?"
"Nope."
And honestly, he doubted he ever would.
Sure, he could appreciate a good-looking girl. Nice face, nice voice, nice... other features—he wasn't blind. But anything more than that? Nah. Commitment in that field was probably going to be a pain in the ass. And Kaeya was many things, but hardworking in romance was not one of them.
He liked the idea of liking someone more than the real thing. The fantasy was fine. The reality? Way too much maintenance.
Subaru stared at him. "You said it so confidently, I can't even tease you. Like, I was gonna say 'Oho, hiding something are we?' but nope, you've just completely shut the door. We can't have small talk like this!"
"I mean, you wanted a genuine answer, right?"
Subaru flailed dramatically. "Well, yeah. But give me something to work with!"
Kaeya shrugged. "Too late now."
Subaru groaned and flopped back down.
The conversation went on for a few more minutes before they went back into the mansion.
.
.
"Water bottles: Check. Bread for lunch: Check. The date's plan: Check. Handkerchief: Check. And lucky boxers: Check."
"Also, Alarm: Set." Subaru smiled as he closed the phone in his hand.
The boy quickly turned off the lights and dived into his bed to sleep.
Turning and changing positions multiple times, Subaru finally sat up on his bed with a conclusion.
"Ah, can't sleep. Oh, that's right! I know how to sleep!"
Subaru quickly lay back and covered himself with the cover.
"1 Puck, 2 Pucks, 3 Pucks... Wait for a second, I'm having a violent deja vu... I feel like something similar happened... And then I was cursed that night... "
Images of when he had died in the hallway in his past loop played.
"I shouldn't say that! Forget about Puck! I'll just... "
The distraught boy slowly closed his eyes and smiled softly.
"1 Emilia. 2 Emilias. 3 Emilias."
Subaru quickly sat up with a wide smile on his face. "Is this heaven! Crap, I also did this before... Guess I have to think of another solution... "
"1 Roswaal, 2 Roswaals, 3 Roswaals... "
Subaru sat up once again with a hand on his face as he tried to forget the horror he just witnessed. 3 clowns.
Sighing, the boy noticed his breath was visible from the cold temperature of the room. "Will the date go well with this cold...? Just when the kids went out of their way to show me that flower field, I hope it isn't withering... "
He flopped back into bed, half-covered and muttering.
"Also gotta make sure the kids don't interfere during the date. Can't have a little hand tugging my sleeve asking to play tag while I'm trying to be romantic."
He paused.
"Should I ask Kaeya to keep them away...? Nah, he'd probably say something like, 'Bleh, too much work for my old bones.'"
Subaru chuckled to himself.
He tucked himself in again, eyes fluttering shut.
"1 Kaeya, 2 Kaeyas, 3 Kaeyas—"
He blinked his eyes open slowly, then sat up once more.
"...Damn, I think this is kinda gay. Alright, No more counting people. I'll just… trust the universe."
And with that final thought, Subaru slowly closed his eyes.
Darkness.....
.
.