How to Make an Angel Class President Do Calisthenics

Worry. Her expression wore that emotion plainly. It was kin to pity, and yet entirely different from it.

I knew worry as a concept, of course — but had I ever actually worried about someone? Ah… right. I did, once. Not now, but the family I used to be with….

Lucia. Thanks to her, I had remembered what it felt like to worry.

"Um, Otonashi?"

Lucia seemed to have something she wanted to say to me.

"What is it?"

"Well… your scars. May I ask how you got them? It's not that I mean anything by it — I'm the class representative, after all… and if you're going through something difficult, or something you can't tell your family, I wanted to be someone you could talk to."

She seemed curious about the scars — the mark that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠set him so visibly apart from everyone else.

It wouldn't matter much if I told her, but I could predict exactly what expression she'd make once she learned how they'd come to be. This was the girl who'd flinched just from looking at them, after all.

"I'll take the thought as thanks. The details would hurt you."

And so, deliberately, I put up a wall between us. My story was probably a long way from the 'ordinariness' I knew.

"Hello… I'm Shiota Otonashi. I'm human."

The first time I saw him, I couldn't forget the look in his eyes. A gaze so cold it seemed to carry the loneliness of the entire world.

Shiota.

A surname impossible not to know at our academy — the name of a great family. One of the houses that stood as representatives of the humans who overcame the Age of Chaos through technology.

Even I, an angel, could feel the weight of the Shiota family's standing. But what kind of life must a person live for their eyes to turn out like that?

When the Age of Chaos descended, what humans lacked most was food. The elves' relief efforts solved survival itself, but it merely filled raw hunger — nothing more, nothing less.

The Shiota family, however, possessed the technology to produce seasonings and spices like salt and sugar, and with them they recreated the dishes humans had made before the Age of Chaos.

The current head of the family had existed since that very era, winning over even the dwarves with his liquor-crafting techniques and contributing to technological progress. The foundation of humanity's staggering technological advancement traced back to the prestige of the head of House Shiota.

That was why the Shiota family was a great house that had quite literally written history itself. And yet the young man before me carried a fragility that was impossible to reconcile with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the scion of such a renowned name.

The loneliness he bore alone pierced my chest in a way I couldn't quite explain.

The student beside him seemed to be cautiously asking about the Otonashi surname. When it came out that he shared a family name with our homeroom teacher, the other students flocked around him in a crowd.

He looked flustered, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Seeing that, my body moved before my mind caught up.

"Everyone, Shiota just transferred in today. Don't you think bombarding him with questions like that is a bit unfair?"

At my words, the area quieted down, and everyone — apparently ashamed of their sudden barrage — apologized to him and returned to their seats.

The next period was outdoor practical training. Even after he'd changed into his gym uniform and come back, his eyes were still closed. Was he sleeping?

So I decided to call out to him and wake him. It didn't seem like he'd actually been sleeping, but I could strangely sense the emotion gathered in those eyes.

I let him know about the next class and was about to head to the training grounds first — then it occurred to me that someone who'd transferred in today wouldn't know where the Outdoor Training Grounds even were.

So I went back to find him, but he was in the middle of changing into his gym clothes.

Compared to others his age, his body was clearly one that had trained hard, and for a moment I found it striking — but the scars covering it were far too alien for something belonging to a human.

Even at a glance: torn open, carved into, crushed beneath something — a wreckage of ruins….

And yet, carrying scars like those, this man was behaving as if everything were perfectly ordinary. What on earth had the man before me shouldered, that he came to the Academy like this?

On the way to the training grounds, the students' eyes converged on us.

The class representative — an angel, no less — personally escorting a transfer student was a spectacle in itself, and to top it off, the transfer student was a son of the famous House Shiota.

"That's him? From House Shiota?"

"He's got a pretty face, so why are his eyes so terrifying?"

The murmurs swirled around my ears, but he paid them no mind whatsoever.

As if he and I were the only two people in the world, he focused entirely on the ground of the training grounds and on his own breathing.

That very indifference, strangely, only made my heart more tangled.

And so we arrived at the Outdoor Training Grounds. Our instructor seemed to have already finished preparing for class in her athletic wear.

Seeing us arrive, she explained what we'd be doing. Today's outdoor class was a practical session focused on testing our abilities.

Apparently ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the class had actually been held before I transferred in, but she'd added that measuring us after I'd had time to settle into the Academy would give comparatively accurate results.

"Oh, perfect timing — Lucia brought Otonashi with her~ Alright, everyone's warmed up by now, right? Otonashi and Lucia, go ahead and get stretched out~"

She called out cheerfully and went off to instruct the other students. In effect, she'd left me in Lucia's care.

I started on the ROK Armed Forces Calisthenics the instructor had taught me, to raise my heart rate.

"…? Shiota, what kind of exercise is that?"

Lucia asked, blinking wide-eyed. I answered calmly without breaking my rhythm.

"I saw it in a history book. It's called the ROK Armed Forces Calisthenics — apparently soldiers before the Age of Chaos used to do this rout—"

"Where in the world did you find that?!"

Lucia cut me off, incredulous. I looked back at her, uncomprehending.

Pre-Chaos era history was basically archaeology at this point, so I supposed she might not know it.

"But even if the form looks bizarre, nothing out there corrects your posture and raises your heart rate as efficiently as this routine."

At that, Lucia still wore a baffled expression, but I paid it no mind.

"Now that I think about it — Lucia, you angels have wings, doesn't that make your upper body heavy?"

Hearing this, Lucia began to frown, as if realizing her own shoulders did ache.

"Now that you mention it… my shoulders do feel a little stiff."

"…That's when you do these calisthenics. It won't fix you perfectly, but keep at it and your shoulders will feel much better."

I said flatly, settling into position.

"Alright, watch closely and follow along. ROK Armed Forces Calisthenics, leg exercises first. Ready — begin!"

Lucia found herself mirroring my movements before she knew it. Whatever fear she'd felt at the scars earlier was long gone; her face now was filled with pure confusion — what on earth is happening right now?

For a moment I wondered whether the routine could even mean anything for someone of a different race — but then again, her skeleton was that of a 'person', same as mine.

And because she was a person, I could guarantee it would work. Beside me, Lucia half-crouched and stretched her arms out awkwardly.

"Higher. Your elbows need to touch your ears for maximum efficiency."

I gave her uncorrected arm a light tap. This rough, human-bodied exercise must have felt unfamiliar to an angel like her, but the principle was simple.

Body alignment and elevated heart rate. I'd briefly wondered whether her greater upper-body mass might somehow balance things out on its own — but the moment I touched her arm, I knew for certain. It needed correcting.

This is an absolutely absurd situation.

I am willing to bet there is exactly one man in this entire world who would do jumping jacks with such deadly seriousness in a body covered in scars like that, and his name is Otonashi.

What am I even doing right now? I came here to guide him as class representative — not to copy some strange calisthenics routine on the training field!

But looking at the earnest focus in his eyes, the words 'I'm not doing this' simply would not leave my throat.

That said, I did learn that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my own stamina was lacking. Even after the final breathing exercise ended, I was still out of breath.

Even while I gasped for air, the transfer student's face remained expressionless. Watching him without a single drop of sweat on him, I felt a strange sense of defeat.

Is this man… actually a machine? How can anyone be so indifferent? He clearly taught me that routine out of consideration for me, and yet the result is me huffing and puffing all by myself.

Strangely, though, I didn't feel cheated. If anything, the spot near my elbow where his hand had touched felt like it was burning.

"Lucia, you should be all warmed up by now… Otonashi. What did you make Lucia do?"

Our instructor had come to collect us. But Lucia seemed just as winded as I was, having done the calisthenics alongside me.

"We did the ROK Armed Forces Calisthenics you taught me before."

At my words, the instructor let out a strangled gasp.

"Otonashi!? I told you that thing only exists in archaeology! Don't tell me you actually did the entire ROK Armed Forces Calisthenics routine?"

I answered her question.

"Yeah. I happened to dig up some pre-Chaos era records, watched them once, copied along, and it turned out to be pretty efficient."

"……"

Lucia and the instructor stared at each other in perfect silence. Had I done something wrong?

"Whatever, I get it — let's take Lucia with us. The others are already being measured."

With that, I reached out my hand to help Lucia up. Hm… something about this felt familiar, like I'd done it for someone before….

"I-I'm… fine… really…."

She answered between breaths. Then she drew in one huge breath and let it all out at once.

"…Thank you. Because of you, I now know my stamina is truly, unbelievably terrible…."

"Don't mention it."

And so we followed the instructor to the training grounds where the rest of the class was waiting.