Gym rats assemble

The ride to the gym was quite awkward, Ada instead of grabbing the handler behind the motorcycle like normal she simply hugged me from the back giving me a better feel of her chest, I felt awkward but I couldn't tell her not to grab me since she looked kind of scared, another reason why the ride was weird was that the streets were empty, literally, no cars were in the road, I guess having a bike in this train or bus reliable country is a big plus, eventually we arrived at the gym, I parked my bike in the bicycle place, the reason I did that was because I made a deal with the owner to use this for my bike since I don't have the money to pay for parking, but if I wasn't Akira's friend then he would have never allowed something like that

"Do you come here often?" I asked Ada, she looked confused

"Oh no! I don't work out regularly but I recently started coming here to do some running or even work out my legs, I also started plyometrics, my father told me that it will help me with volleyball so I figured I could give it a try" Ada told me as we both entered the gym

"Looks like it's time for us to part ways"

But before we left each other my gym bro approached us, he looked quite shocked

"Ada-chan? What are you doing with Hikita-kun?"

Wait what the hell is happening? Do they know each other

"Do you know him too Dad? Hikita-kun is a fellow member of the volleyball club, I met him today and I asked him to drop me here since he had a bike"

Ada explained, so Antony is Ada's dad? Things are starting to get confusing

"Looks like you finally met my older daughter, I'm happy you two are getting along and honestly it isn't surprising, Hikita-kun is an amazing guy and sooner or later I would have introduced him to you, we foreigners have to stay together" Antony said as he hugged me with his right arm

I'm still very confused but I will act like everything is alright

"I had my suspicions that Ada-senpai might be your daughter because you told me you had a daughter older than me that went to my school but I didn't want to be awkward so I waited for this exact moment"

Ada looked embarrassed when I said that

"Hey, dad have you been going around telling people about me?" Ada asked him angrily

"Well not really because most people avoid me..." Antony said as he laughed

It sounded harsh but that's his reality

"Anyways I will go to the lockers to change and I will start my sets, if we hopefully end our sets together then we can maybe go for some food, what are you saying? Are you in?"

I asked both of them, Antony accepted instantly but Ada seemed a bit skeptical, maybe she feels a little awkward hanging around with someone she just met

"I don't know about that... I have a lot of homework for tomorrow so I will have to refuse, maybe we can hang out on a Saturday"

I was sure Ada would say something like that but I can't really blame her, I would have done the same to Akira if he was the guest

After our talk I changed into my gym clothes and started my workout, today I had legs so I quickly started with a ten-minute run to warm up, I then used other various machines to train my legs and thighs, and before I knew it I was done, as always Antony was still not done yet, even if I start half an hour after him he will still finish after me, I honestly admire his persistence and D E T E R M I N A T I O N

After finishing my sets I headed to the showers, I took a quick shower and changed into my other change of clothes, honestly, it's a bit tiring having with me three pairs of changes at school but I can't help it

After some time of waiting outside Antony and Ada came outside, Antony nodded at me as soon as he saw me, I then walked up to them

"So where are you planning on going?" I asked Antony

"I have a place in mind, just let me give the place a call so we don't wait in line"

The place he wants us to go has a line? I hope he doesn't bring me to a fancy restaurant, thankfully Antony's plan was canceled for a rather bad reason

"My friend told me that he felt that his mother is sick so he had to go to his village to look out for him, you see this friend of mine doesn't have any siblings and his father is already dead so all he has is his mother"

Antony told me with a sad expression, Ada looked bothered about this fact too

"Really? This is the third time this year, I hope it's nothing serious..."

Ada said, I guess this person is a good family friend of theirs so it's normal to feel like that, I mean an African living in Japan has lower chances of finding friends than someone like me, thankfully I'm mixed so many people don't even notice that I'm an outsider

"I'm sorry about this Hikita-kun, but if like you can come to my house so I can make some traditional African food" Antony told me as he forced a smile on his face

"It's okay, there is no need to go this far for a friendly meal, I can simply go back home..."

I said but Antony didn't listen, he really wanted us to eat together

"I insist! I don't want to cancel everything just because of something bad that happened to a person you don't even know, so don't worry, I know his father and I can assure you that this man won't fall before he hit 100 years, he is simply this tough"

Antony told me with a genuine smile this time, I now feel more comfortable going but I'm not sure Ada feels the same, she has a troubled look on her face that she can't hide with her smile

Antony said that his house was nearby so we simply walked there, and he indeed wasn't lying, his house wasn't even five minutes away from the gym, once we arrived at his house he used his beat-up key to open the door and then we all entered, I quickly took off my shoes before entering the house and placed them on the near the door

"Seems like you are used to Japan's little "rules", Ada had a very hard time getting used to all of those rules"

Antony said as he laughed but Ada on the other hand seemed pissed, and it's understandable, I don't know why parents feel the need to embarrass their children in front of others, but I bet I will understand in the future when I become a dad

"Can you not talk about me dad?" Ada said annoyed as she started to climb up the stairs

"And... There she goes, I don't know how you usually act around her but I suggest you stop talking about her past too much, especially in front of others, or at least try not to do that when she is around to hear it"

I told Antony as we both entered the living room

"Oh come on now! We are friends so who cares? Anyways, this is the living room, take a seat and turn on the TV so can watch something as I ready up my specialty"

Antony said as I sat down on the couch, it was a big comfy couch that stretched across the room, once I opened the TV I saw some interesting news, the news was talking about the current tourist problem in Japan, most specifically they talked about the how the tourists overflow Japan at summer and some other things about destroying the culture and manipulating the Japan population to have relationships with foreigners than their own kind, the whole thing sounded like a bad joke and I wish it was but the whole thing was broadcasted at one of the biggest channels in Nagano so it's not a laughing matter, but rather a serious topic about Antony's family and me, demonizing us to the Japanese people is not something I can let happen but I can not change it either so I have to let it happen and deal with it, I just hope that most of the people know that this thing is bullshit

"Oi Hikita-kun you have been staring at the TV a bit too hard, honestly, it's kind of creepy!" Antony suddenly told me

"W-What? Is it time for food?" I asked as I smelled this tasty food Antony was making

"Not yet but it will be ready in a minute, do you mind calling Ada here to eat?" Antony asked me

"Not really, I just hope I don't interrupt her studies..."

I then climbed up the stairs and I easily found Ada's room since her door had a sign saying <Ada's room> in English, I knocked at the door once and she told me to come in so I entered, her room didn't look extraordinary, it was a simple room filled with plushies, I don't know why I thought that the room would look crazy but I did...

"O-Oh it's you Hikita-kun! What's the matter..." She asked as she hid a book she was reading

"Um... The food is ready so when you finish whatever you doing head down so we can eat together"

I awkwardly said as I closed her door, I don't know what she was studying but I managed to look at something like a chart, I guess it's not my business but I can't help myself from wondering what the book was about

After some time the food was ready and we all sat down at the table, Antony cooked a food called "Asaro", it was a meal with peppers and tomatoes and some other things I didn't hear. The atmosphere around me and Ada was a bit weird, thankfully Antony was here to make us feel at ease, but after some time of eating he realized that something wasn't right

"What's wrong? Did you guys fight up there?" Antony asked confused

Ada quickly replied "Not it's nothing like that! I'm simply tired from all this workout, maybe working out this much suddenly tired my body"

She covered what happened up there pretty well or is she really tired?

"If you don't feel okay feel free to take your food to your room"

Antony said and that was what Ada did, when she was getting up the stairs I noticed something, her waist was very thin...

"Antony-sama can I ask you something?"

"Sure what is it?" Antony asked cluelessly

"Have you noticed how stressed Ada-san is?" He looked at me kind of weirdly when I told him that

"What do you mean? She looks fine to me, she simply is tired because of the gym"

"Your wrong! Ada-san is not just tired physically but mentally too, it's hard to notice but when you figure it out then it's crystal clear" I told him as I stood up, Antony simply laughed

"First of you don't know Ada so don't act like you know what or how she feels, and secondly Ada was always the type to hide the hard work she does even though she puts hours on whatever she is doing, but she would never hide something like her feelings, she is always straight forwards about her problems but she always tries to solve them by herself, that makes her one of the best children, no... one of the best people I have ever seen and lastly Ada is a person that will chase her dream no matter how hard it is and as her father I can assure you that she is alright so try not to worry this much"

I didn't expect him to tell me that, honestly I imagined that because he is a father he wouldn't really realize the struggles of a teenage girl but I guess I was wrong, maybe I should be more careful about the things I say to people I barely know

"Sorry about that, I simply misunderstood her actions" I said as I bowed my head, Antony then patted my head with force

"Come on don't apologize on the lunch table, plus it's not your fault, anyone would have said the same thing, well anyone that cared..."

Antony told with a bright smile, the moment felt magical but a phone call made me realize something

"Oh shit! I forgot to inform Hikita-chan about this"

Antony laughed as he saw my expression, I quickly walked up to the entrance door to pick up the phone, I hope she isn't very mad at me...