Chapter Text
Early August 20XX
Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Odaiba
This was shaping up to be the happiest day of Sumire Yoshizawa’s life.
It was a long time coming, of course. Years ago, while she was still a first-year student at Shujin Academy, a series of chance encounters had introduced her to a mysterious boy by the name of Ren Amamiya. She was able to look past all the damaging rumors that dogged him ever since he had been transferred to Shujin, barely a week since she herself attended her first classes there, and in turn, he had given her confidence. The confidence to move past an especially sad episode of her life, and the confidence to reignite her dedication to her life’s greatest passion: rhythmic gymnastics. Even her eventual discovery that Ren was, in fact, the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts did nothing to disrupt her feelings for him. On the contrary, when he confessed his love for her shortly afterwards, she gladly reciprocated. Eventually, his probation period came to and end, and regretfully he had to leave Tokyo, but not before conferring a promise to her. Together, they would take the world stage. They both understood to what he was referring.
She would win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
They both knew this dream would take lots and lots of work just to have a chance of achieving it. To that effect, Sumire redoubled her training efforts under the strict but helpful tutelage of her coach, Ms. Hiraguchi. With her help, she built her proficiency with all sorts of apparatuses. Her best one by far was the ribbon, which she had trained with ever since she had first taken up the sport with her dearly departed sister. After spending the following summer travelling around Japan with the other Phantom Thieves, Ren returned to Tokyo as soon as possible, visiting each of her training sessions that he could manage to provide her with much-needed encouragement. In between her training and studies, she attended competitions all around the world, slowly but steadily rising in the ranks. Then, one year, she finally managed a podium finish at the end of the world championship series, securing for her a qualifying spot at the Olympics. Sumire was the first Japanese gymnast to have reached this level of success, especially in a sport dominated by eastern European powers like Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. This distinction gave her something of a celebrity status, adding to the pressures that began to weigh on her mind. But with Ren’s mental and emotional support, she kept her spirits strong throughout every training session and exhibition in her schedule.
Then, after years of anticipation, the big day came. The Olympics finally arrived at Tokyo, taking the city, the nation, and the world by storm. The sensation of butterflies in her stomach had been a constant ever since she set foot in the opening ceremonies with all of the other Japanese athletes, but nothing could quell her desire to prepare her body and mind until finally, two weeks later, the rhythmic gymnastics events were at hand. Having secured spots in the finals for all four apparatuses -- hoop, ball, clubs, and ribbon -- in the previous day’s qualifying rounds, Sumire once again found herself in the Ariake Gymnastics Centre, warming and psyching herself up for the finals.
After concluding her stretches and giving a silent prayer to the spirit of her sister Kasumi, who had dreamed of sharing this very honor alongside Sumire, she steeled her nerves and took to the mat for her first routine. The hoop finals came first, followed by the ball, clubs, and ribbon events. Sumire completed her first three routines without any notable errors, but for all her efforts, she remained outclassed by the best of the best. She scored in the low 18s for the hoop and ball finals, barely missing the podium, and even worse with the clubs, managing a high 17. With all that out of the way, she returned to the warm-up area to prepare her mind and body for the last event, the ribbon final. She felt more confident about the ribbon, the apparatus with which she had the most experience, but winning a medal now would not be easy. At that point, the top score was a lofty 19.200, held by the same Russian competitor who had swept the previous three categories. Sumire had almost reached this score herself during yesterday’s qualifying round, so it was possible for her to surpass the leader. Perhaps the fact that Ren was watching and admiring her would be all she needed to push herself past her limits. As she strode her way towards the mat one last time, she turned her head and noticed him sitting in the front row of the audience. He smiled and flashed a thumbs-up to her as soon as they made eye contact, with Sumire returning the favor. Chasing all other thoughts out of her mind, she assumed her starting position and waited for the beep that would mark the start of her routine.
Over the course of the many performances put on display, both from Sumire and her rivals, Ren had time to reflect on everything that had led up to this moment, for her and himself alike. There were, of course, the personal reasons that brought him and her together. But what was it that kept him coming back to spend time with her? What else could have built up his interest for rhythmic gymnastics, in and of itself? If he had to be completely honest with himself, his first answer would be the intense displays of flexibility that went into each performance. Ren and his fellow Phantom Thieves had enjoyed enhanced physical abilities while fighting in the Metaverse, but what Sumire and the other gymnasts were capable of never failed to surprise and astound even him. There was a certain lustful appeal to it all, he wouldn’t deny; the acrobatic ways in which these girls were able to move their legs, their spines, and their necks provided countless imaginative ways for him to appreciate their bodies. And yet, it wasn’t just that base desire that kept him excited, though, but also the thrill of seeing a display of such talents, beyond the physical ability and even imaginations of most, that made it all the more exotic.
Beyond that, seeing it all as part of a rhythmic gymnastics performance took it to a whole new level. Any contortionist or yogi worth their salt could pull off many of those moves individually. But gymnasts had to flow between many different maneuvers fluidly and rapidly, all while handling all sorts of props without fumble. And Ren, sitting on the edge of his seat the whole time, felt himself entranced by Sumire’s performance. Every leap, every spin, every flip, every wave of her ribbon captured the full attention of his senses until he lost track of all time. In his mind, it was as if she was dancing solely for him. It wasn’t until she landed her final stunt -- throwing the ribbon’s handle behind her, flipping backwards, and landing in a split before catching it -- that he was awoken from his stupor by the roaring applause of the audience. He joined in, bolting up out of his seat and shouting Sumire’s name at the top of his lungs, desperate for her to hear him. And she must have, for when she stood up and gave her bows, he could have sworn she gave him a knowing wink.
Sumire met Coach Hiraguchi in an enclosed sideline area, where each gymnast waited in turn to as their scores were announced. They hugged as the coach told her, “Well done, Sumire!”
“Thank you, Hiraguchi-sensei. I… Somehow, I have a good feeling about this one. I truly wanted to show my best for someone.”
“Ah, you mean Ren-kun?”
“Reeeh!?” gasped Sumire, regretting adding those last couple of words Once she recovered from her embarrassment, she answered, “Well, I guess… Yes, him too. Along with Kasumi, of course.”
“I’m sure she’d be very proud of you, Sumire-chan.”
“I know. It’s like… both of their spirits were with me, know what I mean?”
“Yes, I-- shh, your score’s up!”
At long last, her score was finally announced. Together, her difficulty and execution scores totaled to a sum of 19.250 -- enough to put her in first place for the ribbon category. The very instant this fact registered in her brain, she gave a hysterical scream of joy and launched herself into a hug with her coach. Ren also shared in the incredulous elation, yelling Sumire’s name even louder than he thought was possible. Hearing his cheers, Sumire looked up over her shoulder and waved in his direction, smiling ear-to-ear. Ren blew her a kiss, making her blush beet-red and hug her coach once more to get rid of the excited tension in her body.
There were still a couple of gymnasts who had yet to perform, but as expected, none of them could knock Kasumi off of her number-one spot for the ribbon. After the last competitor wrapped up and the final scores were confirmed, her total score from her four events was not enough to claim a medal. Instead, the same Russian girl who had very nearly swept the categories wound up winning gold, with the silver and bronze medals going to another Russian and an Israeli. However, Kasumi was more than content with how events had transpired. She had experienced her first Olympic competition, and come out achieving more success than any other Japanese gymnast had at that point. She had secured her place as a rising star in the rhythmic gymnastics world and, as she was concerned, had stolen quite a few hearts in the process.
Three days later
Teikyu Accessway, Shibuya
As Sumire was required to return to the Olympic Village afterwards, Ren didn’t get to see her again until after the closing ceremonies. Then, as soon as she was free, she started making plans to meet up with her fiance. He remained rather coy about the details, other than to meet up the following evening at the Teikyu accessway overlooking Shibuya Station’s entrance. Sumire stood waiting for him in the middle of that covered walkway, shielding her eyes from the bright sunset being reflected from the sleek buildings towering around her. She was trying to disguise herself, wearing her old black-and-gold tracksuit, a new pair of glasses, and keeping her hair tucked beneath a red baseball cap with the phrase “GET SMOKED” printed on the front. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts when a voice behind her said, “It’s showtime… Violet.”
It was Ren, who hugged her from behind and planted a kiss on the back of her neck. He had on his black polo short, gray slacks, and held a messenger bag over his shoulder which, for once, was not hiding his pet cat Morgana, whom he had left at home. When she turned around to get a good look at her lover, Ren had to chuckle at the sight of her hat, knowing that Sumire had, indeed, “smoked” quite a few competitors with her ribbon performance. Sumire giggled along with him and replied, “With pleasure... Joker!”
Taking her by the hand, Ren led her outside, both of them trying to look as nonchalant as possible, given the high profile they had garnered as a couple. Together they headed west along the main road, a direction he had never taken in all his many visits to Shibuya. Speaking softly so as not to draw attention, Ren struck up a conversation with his new fiancee. “So, how does it feel to be an Olympic champion?”
“I don’t know if I’d call myself that, but…” she answered demurely, “Well, it’s still a great honor, for one. My story’s all over the news; no other Japanese has performed as well as I did in the Olympics. I still can’t believe all this happened.”
“Kasumi would be very proud of you, Sumire-san.”
She clutched at her chest as memories of her late sister, her rival and friend, flooded back into her mind. “I know… thank you, Ren. I still remember how we promised to go to international competitions and take the world stage together…”
“But it just wasn’t meant to be?” Ren sympathized. “Don’t worry about that. What’s done is done, and now, you’ve proven your own worth. Heck, I kinda feel what you mean. If I could overcome my own struggles, my bad reputation when I first came to Shujin, and everything that happened with the Metaverse and all, what you went through doesn’t sound so hard! I mean, I almost died more times than I can count!”
Sumire gave a chuckle as she brushed a single budding tear from the corner of her eye. “Oh, Ren… you wouldn’t say that if you ever tried rhythmic gymnastics for yourself. ...But you’re right. I have no regrets anymore. And yeah,” she sighed after a pause, “it would have been nice to win the all-around medal, but I’m fine with that. I’ve proven to the gymnastics world that Sumire Yoshizawa is here to stay. Now that I know what it takes, I’ll just work even harder for the next Olympics. I will take over!”
“Spoken like a true Phantom Thief,” Ren chuckled as he patted Sumire’s shoulder. “Take their hearts, Violet!” The two shared a knowing laugh with each other.
As the blocks passed along, the urban sprawl showed no signs of stopping, but the atmosphere here was… different somehow. At one point, Ren suddenly stopped to make sense of the map on his smartphone, after having noticed the signpost of a nearby bus stop.
“Dogenzaka”, it read.
Sumire furrowed her brow. She had an inkling of what Ren was getting her into, but she thought better of pressing her for the moment. For now, she followed as he turned off the main road and into an alley. He scanned the front of every business they passed. They all displayed the same kinds of information, listings of prices with labels such as “Rest” and “Stay”. It wasn’t long at all before she connected the dots.
“Senpai…” she asked, “are you taking me to a… love hotel?” Love hotels, she knew, were a special type of lodging that catered to couples seeking a romantic escape that was not always possible in modern Japanese life, where the confined living spaces and constant attention required by family members frequently precluded any chance for intimacy. The Dogenzaka neighborhood was infamous for its high concentration of these love hotels.
Ren stopped in his tracks, turned around, and stared her in the face as he answered, “...Yes, Sumire-chan.”
“And that means you’d like to…” She held up her hands to her chest and nervously tapped her index fingers together.
In their four years of being in a relationship together, Ren and Sumire had managed to remain chaste with each other, although not for lack of desire. He understood that getting her pregnant would take her out of training and competition for a long time, which she could not afford to go through on her road to the Olympics. Even now, she still had aspirations to compete in the next Olympic games, and given the fact that rhythmic gymnastics were no longer capable of competing at such a high level past the age of 25 or so, that could be her last chance of achieving her goal of an all-around gold medal. Taking all of this into consideration, Ren grew flustered. “I mean… if you don’t want to, we could always just, you know, have a romantic night together without getting… you know…” Trying to remain polite, he trailed off, anxiously reaching up to scratch the back of his head, before Sumire suddenly grabbed his hand.
“No, Ren-senpai,” she said defiantly, “I want to have sex with you.”
Ren’s eyes opened in shock. “Whoa, where’s this boldness coming from?”
“Well,” Sumire replied with a shrug, “it’s how I won the gold medal!” When all Ren could muster in response was to raise an eyebrow in confusion, she continued. “By being bold, silly! When I was little, the reason I was never able to catch up with Kasumi was that I couldn’t capture the boldness she expressed in her own performances. You remember how we talked about that, right?” He nodded. “Ever since I met you, I’ve spent the past four years learning how to be comfortable taking those kinds of chances in gymnastics, so it’s only natural I’d extend that to my everyday life!”
“But you weren’t able to… you know, do that with me because of your training. Don’t worry, Sumire-chan, I understand. And I know you still want to go to the next Olympics, but it’s okay. I brought some condoms with me. I won’t let you worry about that until after you’ve won that next gold and taken the world stage once more!”
“You’re right…” she smirked, “Thank you, Ren. I may be bold, but I’m not stupid. I’d never throw away my shot at the big time by getting pregnant, just because I fell victim to some young love. But now that the Olympics are finally over, I wanna blow off some steam! Let’s go, Senpai!”
Sumire waved Ren along as she dashed down the alley, only for Ren to immediately pull her to a stop. He pointed to a place they were already standing in front of, which called itself the “After School Inn”. Inside the front door was a tiny lobby with no staff to be found anywhere. In the interest of their guests’ anonymity, they all worked in a separate building, coming over only for tasks like cleaning and room service. Instead, there were a couple of touchpad terminals for the customers to check in and out with, alongside some pneumatic tubes for money to be exchanged. Ren strode over to one of these consoles and began to tap and slide his way around its menus as he explained, “I chose this place in particular because of a certain room I had my eye on. I even called them before we met today, to make sure it would be available…”
As he said this, Sumire focused her vision on the touchscreen, and tried her best to examine the preview pictures for each room as they scrolled by. Befitting of the hotel’s name, each room was themed around places one would find in a high school. The photos were not comprehensive, but based solely on them, the rooms all seemed small but nicely-kept, with nothing less than a double bed in each. She figured that high-school was a popular theme for bedroom roleplay, for reasons of nostalgia as well as fetish. But, she wondered, why would Ren be interested in that sort of thing…?
“Got it!” As soon as Ren called out, Sumire had her answer. His finger stopped on a listing for a room called the “Taisojo Suite”. Much to his relief, it was listed as vacant. This room looked considerably bigger than the others, and it was priced to match. The overnight “Stay” rate, whose icon Ren’s finger was currently hovering over, was just over ten thousand yen. “Senpai”, she blurted out instinctively, “would you like me to chip in anything?”
Ren shook his head. “No no, it’s fine. This is my treat for you, my little champion!” And with that, he flashed her a smile as he placed some bills into the capsule and sent it up the tube. It returned about a minute later, the money replaced with their room key. Smiling with anticipation, he snatched it up and led her upstairs to the room where they would spend the night together.
They opened the door to their room, and were stunned at what they saw. It was even more spacious than the preview photos let on. The name meant “gymnasium” in Japanese, and true to its name, it was decked out with objects that one might find in a school gym, or a gym storeroom. Along with the usual hotel room furniture, there was a rack of wooden barres along one wall, a trapezoidal vaulting box in another corner, and a wide space in the middle of the room which was left open and covered with a soft white mat. The bed was located on the far end of the room, and faced a flat-screen TV, a mini-bar, and even a pair of karaoke microphones hanging from the wall. Despite the lack of windows, the polished wooden floor and soft golden-yellow walls gave the room a warm glow.
Sumire gasped in rapturous joy as she took in the sight of it all. “A gymnastics room? Aww, this is sooo cooool! Senpai, you shouldn’t have!” She gave Ren a brief hug of gleeful affection, then added, “You don’t suppose guests actually work out on this stuff, do you?”
“Actually, I think they use it for S&M play.” Instantly realizing and regretting what he said, Ren nervously backtracked, “I mean, n-not that we have to do that stuff ourselves, just… w-whatever you’re comfortable with… Sumire?”
But Sumire’s interest had apparently wandered elsewhere. She took her glasses and hat off, unfurling the deep crimson ponytail hidden underneath, kicked off her shoes, and slipped away to see the bathroom. Ren followed her, and was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. There was a jacuzzi bathtub big enough for both of them together, a massage table, and a shelf lined with a wide array of soaps, oils, and bath salts. “That’s impressive,” Ren thought aloud as he browsed this shelf, reading and mentally registering the labels of each bottle, until he heard Sumire’s voice from outside.
“Woooow… Senpai, look at this!” Rushing back out to the bedroom, he found her standing beside the bed, beckoning him to look at it with her. A medley of artificial flower petals was arranged in a design atop the sheets: rose petals formed the rings of the Olympic logo, and cherry blossom petals were laid out on the bed to spelled out “omedetou”, the Japanese word for “congratulations”, inside the rings, with “Sumire and Ren” similarly written below it. “Senpai…” she quivered as Ren hugged her from behind and kissed the back of her neck.
“Just a little treat I had them arrange for us,” he said nonchalantly. “I admit, I had this arranged before you won your medal, but I would’ve kept it up no matter how it turned out. I’ll always be proud of you, Sumire-chan.”
“Oh my gosh… this is so beautiful! Sorry, I just need a moment...” About to cry tears of joy, Sumire turned herself around, squeezed Ren tightly, and indulged in another lingering kiss. They held the kiss long enough for her to regain composure, after which she stepped back and said, “Senpai… You’ve done so much for me. Thank you for everything. But now, I have my own surprise for you. Just sit back on the bed-- oh, hold on!” Before Ren could ask her anything, she swiftly whipped out her smartphone and took a picture of the bed and its floral message. “Would be a shame to get rid of this so soon, no?”
“Of course. Good thinking, Sumire-chan.” Ren cleared away a spot on the bed for him to sit on, then nodded to indicate he was ready. With her phone already out, Sumire prepared a song on its music player and set it down on a bedside table, turning the volume up just enough for the soft, jazzy, bossa-nova tune to fill the room. “People come and they go, some people may stay with you though…” went the opening lyrics. Ren recognized this song almost instantly; it was performed frequently at the jazz club in Kichijoji, where they had gone to on many dates. They had shared mocktails and thoughts alike at that club together, indulging in a sort of verbal intimacy.
He was snapped out of his nostalgic memories when he beheld the sight of Sumire slowly stripping off her jacket, revealing a leotard underneath. This wasn’t the fancy, dress-like leotard she had worn to the Olympics or other past competitions, but a simpler one with a white body and purple sleeves. More tantalizingly, it seemed higher-cut at the hips than her other leotards, but the track pants she still had on made it difficult to imagine its exact lines. As if to address that question, she turned to the side and slid them down to the floor, bending forward at the waist without buckling at the knees. Indeed, it was a highleg leotard; its cut curving above her hip bones and down her buttocks at a steep angle.
Once Sumire slid her pants down, instead of standing back up, she kept her hands and one foot on the floor while lifting her other leg up to a standing split, letting her knee bend and her foot drop above her head, like a scorpion’s tail. Then she lifted up her torso, keeping her legs in place, and turning her head towards Ren to flash him a sultry smile. This simple glance lit a smark that made his heart rate accelerate. He had thought many things of Sumire over the course of their relationship, but until now, “sexy” had never come to mind. Her performance to him revealed a side of her he had never before known, but could now claim exclusive witness of. Much as he had done for her Olympic routines, he surrendered himself to the moment and watched her dance with silent appreciation.
In contrast to her professional performances, this particular dance was slower and more casual, with the stressors of competition gone and replaced by one sole desire, to please Ren. She played up her sex appeal by taking moments to allow him to appreciate her body, gesturing and sliding her hands around to emphasize some of her curves, but sacrificed none of her gymnastic mastery. After all, that’s what made Ren love her over any other girl. In the limited space she had to work with, she demonstrated all kinds of frontbends, backbends, and splits, incorporating them into pirouettes and handstands. In one trick he was especially spellbound by, she did what looked like a forward flip while keeping one foot on the ground, pivoting the leg in place. He still couldn’t work out the mechanics of it, but that just made it look more magical.
For her finale, she dropped to her knees and curled her spine as far back as it could go, until her chest rested in between her legs and her butt squeezed firmly against her upper back. This pose, called a triple-fold, was one of the more difficult contortion maneuvers. Not even pro gymnasts incorporated it into their routines, due to the degree of flexibility required, and even Sumire herself had only perfected it a couple of months ago. After embellishing her climactic pose by spreading her arms out to the sides, she looked up at Ren while keeping perfectly still, her tense breathing pushing her tautly-stretched skin up and down.
Ren sat in silence, his jaw slackened. His mind had become so absorbed in the moment that he was left speechless. As his faculties gradually came to, he spoke with a quiet reverence. “Oh my God, Sumire-chan… you are amazing.”
Sumire pushed her chest back up and knelt normally. She could see a few small tears forming in Ren’s eyes. Concerned and confused, she asked, “Did… did you like it, S-senpai?”
Ren wiped his tears away. “Yeah, it’s just… I’m touched that you did all that just for me. It was wonderful, it was beautiful, it was… how did you even have the time to practice that, on top of your four Olympic routines? Your mind must be as sharp as your body!”
“Heh… thank you, Senpai. That was just a little something I’ve worked on, in what free time I had outside practice. I didn’t know when I’d have the opportunity to show it off, but now felt like as good a time as ever, right? After all… well… I love you, Ren.”
“I know… and you know what? I love you too, Sumire Yoshizawa.” He stood up and lent a hand for Sumire to pull herself up with. Then, with a sharp yank, he brought her close to him, embraced her with a firm but tender grip, and kissed her once more, far longer, far deeper, and with far more passion than he had ever kissed her before. “No more what-ifs,” he whispered. “Take my heart, Violet.”