Yurui The Cursed One

The training room is enormous. Then again, that seems to be the standard around here. It would appear that someone high up at Miracle Inc has some kind of religious objection to small spaces. The sheer amount of open floor makes the place feel more like an open arena than a training room. Ominously, the thick panels lining the walls were deeply covered in scattered dents and scratches.

My eyes catch on a particularly deep crater near the wall on the far end of the room. I make a mental note to avoid whatever caused it, while Marcus walks straight past it without batting an eye and heads for the middle of the room, rolling his shoulders as he goes.

“Anyone haven’t warmed up yet ?” Maya asks

Oba nods.

Maya sighs.

“You know there’s a reason we warm up. I’m getting tired of explaining this every single day.” She says as she rubs the upper part of her nose.

“What’s the point?” Oba asks. “You know I can heal.”

“That is completely beside the point.” She shoots back, clearly annoyed.

Marcus waves her off.

“Warm-ups, shwarm-ups. We’re all Blessed anyway. It’s not like we’re going to—”

Maya drives an elbow into his side before he can finish. Marcus folds over with a strangled wheeze, clutching his ribs.

I’m not going to lie, it felt very satisfying seeing that jerk getting what he deserved.

Maya turns away from him with another sigh, and I remain near the edge of the room while everyone begins getting ready. It takes her a few seconds to notice that I am doing absolutely nothing.

“You should probably warm up too.”

I hesitate. “That matters before transforming? I mean, I’ve never done anything like that before, and I was fine.”

The room goes noticeably quieter.

Narun pauses mid-stretch, while Marcus slowly straightens, whatever amusement was on his face disappearing.

Maya studies me for a second. “How many times have you transformed?”

“Three times,” I reply without a moment's hesitation.

Marcus stares at me.

“And you just… went for it?”

I frown. “I didn’t exactly have time to stretch first while people were trying to kill me.”

Marcus opens his mouth, looking like he considers something for a few moments, then closes it again.

“Okay. That’s fair.”

I could feel my heart pounding.

“I mean, I’m not going to die or anything, am I?"

The others exchange looks

Oh fuck. This can't be good.

Maya gestures for me to come closer.

“Your blessing doesn’t replace your body, Yurui. Whatever happens when you transform, it still has to work with what’s underneath.”

Marcus leans a little closer.

“Basically, no matter how good your blessing is, you still want to keep yourself in shape. Partly because being stronger normally is useful on its own, but depending on how your blessing works, some of that can carry over when you transform.”

He spreads his hands.

“Don’t get me wrong. You’re not going to exercise your way from useless to godlike, but if your transformation builds on what you already have, training gives it, like, more to work with.”

That actually sounds reasonable. More reasonable than I expected to hear from Marcus, anyway.

As if determined to ruin that impression immediately, he bounces once on the heels of his feet and starts jogging in place.

“Alright. Who’s joining me?”

Maya gives him a suspicious look.

“Didn’t you just complain about having to do warm-ups like a minute ago?”

Marcus shrugs without breaking stride.

“I complain about lots of things. Doesn’t mean they’re bad for me.”

Maya nudges him into the side again, and Marcus goes back to the hunched-over position.

“Don’t pay the idiot too much mind" Maya says and immediately frowns.

“The important thing is that your body still has to withstand whatever strain the transformation puts it through.

Her expression turns more serious.

“If the transformation demands more than your body can handle, something is eventually going to give.”

I look around nervously,

“But it means that it’s possible to get stronger by doing basic exercise, as… that one has said." I point a finger at hunched-over Marcus, who was now breathing heavily.

While I was never the physical type, I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t at least somewhat tempted by the notion of being able to get stronger. I mean, who wouldn’t?

Narun answers while stretching one arm across his chest.

“Technically. The stronger your normal body is, the more your blessing has to work with.”

“Does that work the same for everyone?” I ask, glancing between them.

“Not exactly.” He shrugs. “Every blessing works differently. Some build directly on your natural strength, while others barely depend on it at all. Until we know how yours works, it’s safer to keep your base body in shape.”

That makes sense.

I copy the stretch, somewhat awkwardly.

So it's not out of the question then. Useful to know

Marcus starts jogging in place. “Come on, quit with your bickering already, let's go !”

“Alright. Who’s joining me?” Marcus says, bouncing in place like a kid with severe ADHD.

Maya gives him a suspicious look.

“What got you so eager all of a sudden? I usually have to drag your ass out here to do even the most basic exercises."

“A man's got to take initiative from time to time.” Marcus sighs as a wide smirk stretches across his face.

“Oh for fucks sake… Don’t tell me you are trying to show off in front of the new girl ?!” Maya snaps, driving another elbow into his side.

“Gah—Maya, what the fuck?” Marcus gasps, hunching over.

My cheeks were blushing so hard I could feel the warmth as if my face were on fire. I think this might be the first time I was ever getting this much positive attention—well, if you could even call it that.

“Seriously ?!” Maya shouts out as she looks pissed as hell and strolls off to the side to gather herself while murmuring under her breath.

Marcus reaches after her with one hand, putting on his best wounded expression.

“Noooo! Maya, wait! Don’t go! What am I supposed to do without you? Who’s gonna tell me how to wipe my ass?”

Narun snorts as he walks over. Maya responds by sticking out her tongue and raising her middle finger in Marcus’s general direction, unfortunately catching Narun and me in the crossfire.

Marcus straightens up and gives Maya a smug look.

“So after all that preaching, you’re not even gonna do any exercise yourself? What a great example you’re setting for the new girl.

“Fuck you, Marcus.“ Maya hisses as she makes her way back towards us.

From the looks of it, her short break did very little to calm her nerves, and she looked like she was about ready to snap.

“That’s the spirit !’’ He shouts loudly.

Marcus taps two fingers against the side of his head and proclaims:

“Healthy body, healthy mind.”

Maya stares at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

“Fine. Just make it quick.”

Marcus’s grin returns immediately.

“As quick as you want, honeycomb.”

Maya’s expression goes completely blank, and his confidence visibly falters.

“Okay. That sounded better in my head.”

She answers by kicking him sharply in the calf, sending him stumbling sideways with a yelp.

“Shut up and run,” Maya responds while looking down at him as if he was a pile of garbage.

“I was about to start when you fucking kicked me, you fucking do–woman!” Marcus says through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, well, maybe learn how to keep your mouth shut and keep some distance from me while you’re at it. I heard it helps from getting kicked in the legs“ Maya retorts flatly.

Marcus curses under his breath as he spurs into a jog. Narun laughs as he starts after him, and even Oba joins quietly, to be fair, he kind of looked like he was looking forward to it for a while now. Maya waits until the three of them have moved ahead before looking back at me.

“You coming?”

I hesitate only long enough to realize I do not actually have a reason to say no.

“Yeah.”

I fall in beside her.

Exercise has never really appealed to me. I was never going to become an athlete, and all the vague promises about living longer or being healthier had never been enough to make running in circles sound particularly worthwhile. Apparently, being told it might make me better at turning into a monster is considerably more motivating.

Still, I expect to hate it. Running laps around a room feels vaguely embarrassing, especially if I’m supposed to take it seriously.

For the first minute or two, I mostly pay attention to how ridiculous I probably look. Then my breathing settles into a rhythm. Shoes strike the reinforced floor around me in a steady series of taps, Marcus and Narun drift farther ahead, and somewhere along the way I stop thinking entirely, letting the sound of my breathing and the beat of my steps swallow everything else.

For the first time in a very long while, my head is completely quiet. I just keep running, and to my surprise, I actually like it.

It takes me a moment to realize I am smiling. The discovery is embarrassing enough that I immediately glance toward the others, but thankfully none of them seem to have noticed. By then, they are already beginning to slow, and I nearly run straight into Maya before realizing the warm-up is over.

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