It was early morning in the HQ of the watchers of the multiverse. Most of the residents of the said place were still asleep, resting from whatever they were doing the day before and making sure they would wake up all well and rested. The HQ was really quiet because of it right now and this silence was more than enough to give everyone a long comfortable sleep. There was one exception among them, though. One of the watchers stayed up last night, doing the task she had occupied herself with yesterday.

The said watcher was J. The female watcher was standing in the kitchen all by herself, finding herself surrounded by the aroma of spices of the meal she was working on right now as she was possibly the only watcher not sleeping right now. The aroma of spices lingering in the air was more than enough to make her excited to try out the meal and more than excited to see the hard work she had put into it pay off. Her tired yet satisfied and happy eyes reflected on the light of the stove as she stirred the pot of chili simmering gently before her. 

She stepped away from the pot for a second, rubbing her hands excitedly as she was looking forward to seeing her fellow watchers try out this. If she was honest with herself, her chili was one of the things she cooked the best and people always loved it whenever they tasted it. No matter if they were people in her private life or people in her old job as a cook. She was really excited right now as she hadn't made her special chili for her fellow watchers until and knew this day will be special because of it.

The reason why she hadn't cooked her chili for them until today was because she wanted to wait for the right moment to do it due to this meal being something special to her and something she knew she was doing best. As she continued to wait for the perfect moment to cook this meal for her fellow watchers, she ultimately came to a conclusion of the six month anniversary of them being the watchers was the right time for this. She had stayed up all night working on this dish to make it perfect, but knew all the work she had put into it would be worth it.

Letting out a tired sigh, she leaned against the counter with a mixture of exhaustion and satisfaction evident on her face and thought to herself to  express how proud she was with herself and her work, "Looks like you've outdone yourself this time, J. The chili smells amazing and looks tasty as well. This is what happens when you keep it in the pot for the whole night and allow the ingredients to get to know each other. Just like you were taught by your grandma."

She stopped herself in her thoughts for a brief moment and looked at the tasty food in front of her, knowing now was the right moment to finally try it and see the effects of her hard work. She grabbed a nearby spoon and dipped it into the pot, pulling it out a few seconds later with a small portion of chili on it. She placed the spoon in her mouth a second later, tasting a spoonful  of the rich concoction. As soon as she tasted her chili, she smiled and her feeling of satisfaction with her meal grew.

J pulled the now empty spoon out of her mouth and placed it aside as she set her eyes back ont he pot. She nodded to herself with a smile on her face, having just gotten to know the taste of her chili and it was the taste she had grown to love over the years. The spices were just right. They weren't too overpowering and the watchers who hate spicy foods like T won't be harmed by eating it, but were enough to give it a kick and give everyone a feeling of how a good chili should taste like.

She shifted her gaze away from the chili a second later to look around the kitchen and saw the mess of ingredients strewn across the counter, leaving an obvious evidence of her culinary endeavor and who was responsible for it. . Tomatoes, beans, onions and garlic. All of those ingredients strewn across the counter right now. All of them were cut it one way or another, showing how much work the female watcher had put into everything in regards of her chili.

J shook her head to herself, cringing a bit at the view of it. Despite feeling the satisfaction of creating such an amazing chili for her fellow watchers, she hated the mess she left the kitchen in due to her work. She always hated working in a filthy environment. This is why she always cleaned up her kitchen whenever she was done preparing a meal. She always wanted to have her kitchen clean for the next time she will work there, no matter if it was in private or in a restaurant. She always made sure the other watchers cleaned up after themselves after working on the kitchen as well. Her best friend I was the best example of it. She was a really messy cook.

She pushed herself out of her thoughts regarding how dirty the kitchen was right now, knowing she shouldn't focus on it right now and should instead focus on her thoughts of her fellow watchers delighted expressions when they will try her chili. She shifted her gaze to the table in the dining room and saw all the bowls she had set up there, having already prepared herself to serve the food for her fellow watchers. Now she just had to wait for two things. For her chili to be prepared and for her fellow watchers to wake up and arrive in the dining room.

As the next few minutes of her stirring up the pot passed, she grabbed the spoon again and allowed herself to have one final taste of the chili, before nodding to herself in a satisfied manner as she knew the food was ready. She turned off the stove, allowing the chili to cool down for a bit and decided to kill the time of waiting for it to cool down by cleaning the mess she had made in the kitchen. It would make this mess stop bothering her and would make her free of this chore later.

By the time she was done cleaning up the kitchen, it was left spotless and perfectly clean. With how well she cleane it up, it didn't look like someone had spent an entire night working on food there and if she someone had just entered the kitchen, then they would think she had just arrived there herself. Letting out a yawn as she felt slightly tired due to her lack of sleep last night, she glanced over at the watch in the kitchen and nodded to herself after seeing what hour it was right now. The others should start getting up right now.

Now knowing what time it was and knowing she should probably start placing the portions on the bowl she had left on the table, the female watcher made her way to the pot and placed her hands on the side of it. With her chili still slightly hot, she decided to put on some chef's gloves to make taking the pot to the table easier and less hurtful for her. After putting her white chef's gloves on her hands, she grabbed the pot and began to carefully to take to the table.

Just as she neared the table, she felt a sudden need to adjusting her grip a bit and she was unaware it would be the worst thing she could have done in this moment. When she adjusted the pot a bit to get a better grip on her, she slightly lost her footing in her right leg for a second and it caused her to stumble for a bit. This single stumble resulted in her dropping her pot. What made everything worse for her was the fact that the pot landed upside down and her chili ended up completely spilled down on the ground below her, killing her hours of long hard work.

J looked down at the the ground below her, setting her eyes on the chili and how it dirtied the floor right in front of her feet. The female watcher stared at the scene in front of her with a blank look on her face, looking like their mind had yet to process what just happened as at first it refused to accept the fact that she had dropped her chili on the floor. As soon as the horrible realization of what just happened flew through J's mind, the female watcher reacted to it in an instant.

"No! No!" She exclaimed internally with pure desperation and despair on her face as she looked around herself and her eyes quickly caught the sight of the bowls she had set up on the table earlier.

Not wasting any time, she moved towards the table and got her hands on the first bowl she could grab and instantly got herself on her knees directly in front of the dropped chili. She grabbed the pot and rolled it to the side so she could place the dropped chili back inside. This move just made everything worse, though as whatever had remained inside the pot had spilled out of it and joined the rest of the chili on the floor which only caused J to despair more over the fate.

Knowing she had no time to wasted if she wanted to save her chili and the hard work she had put into it, she placed the bowl in the chili and quickly began to dig it back into the pot. She shook her head to herself, letting out a tearful noise of pure desperation as she saw how little progress she had made so far in her saving chili mission. Thinking quickly, she quickly got herself on her fours and continued to do her best to save her chili as she refused to accept her food was lost the moment it touched the floor.

As she continued to dig her chili back into the pot, J could feel herself getting more more dirtied up and stained with her chili. It had gotten everywhere on her body. It was on her face. It was on her clothes. It was on her arms and hands. It was even on her feet. She refused to acknowledge it, though and refused to pay attention of chili between her toes as saving her chili remained as the only thing on her mind right now. Her body and the way how dirty it became right now was completely irrelevant. 

"Man! I'm so sleepy and hungry I feel like I could..." T's voice rang through her ears a few moments later as the male watcher had just entered the kitchen. He wasn't the only one. He was accompanied by I, Y, L, S, U and C. She ignored it, though and continued on with whatever she was doing right now. His words died his throat a second later and his eyes caught the sight of J, "What the? J?"

"What are you doing?" Y asked, looking at J with a mixture of suprise and confusion on his face as he couldn't see why J was on her fours in the dining room right now. The others seemed to be wondering about the same thing right now as well. 

"J? Are you okay?" I asked with worry slowly becoming evident in her voice, receiving no answer from J and it just made her worried about her friend. Growing more worried for J with each passing second, she pushed herself into walk towards her, "J. Say something."

"She's right, J.  You're making us worried by staying silent." U nodded in agreement, becoming worried for her fellow female watchers as well and she followed I's example and pushed herself into walk towards I. Y, T L, F and C followed her example and all of them made their way to J. Upon making his way to her with the rest, all of them were greeted by the sight of J desperately trying to save her chili. She frowned sadly at the scene in front of her right away, "Oh..."

I gasped in shock at the situation J found herself in, "J..."

"My chili..." J muttered under her breath, her gaze staying on her chili and remaining kept away from her fellow watchers.

F crossed his arms at the view in front of him, unsure how else to react to what he was seeing and looked at J with a pitful look on her face, "Shit."

"Shit indeed." Y nodded in agreement, looking at the scene in front of him with a saddened look on his face as he knew how serious J was when it came to food and suspected how she must have been feeling right now.

"Poor J." C muttered under her breath, adjusting her glasses a bit as U and L exchanged glances with each other. U had a saddened frown on her face while L's expression remained as blank as ever. Everyone could tell he was feeling sorry for J, though.

I let out a saddened sigh, knowing she had to do something right now as she knew the chili was inedible right now and what J was doing right now was futile. She knew someone had to give her a harsh reality check and knew she would be the best person for it due to her and J becoming close friends over the course of the last few months of them being the watcher. She knew the talk would be unpleasnt, though.

The female watcher crouched down directly in front of J and looked at her with a gentle look on her face, before calling out for her, "J."

J looked up at her, stopping herself in what she was doing for a second and everyone around her saw just how close to crying she was right now, "I-I. L-Look at this. My chili. It all landed on the floor when I dropped the pot when I tried to adjust me grip on it..."

I slowly and gently began to reach her hand out towards J, intending to take the bowl away from her so she could stop with what she was doing right now, "J. Just stop with this. You know it's futile and you can't do anything about what just happened. I'll take this bowl away from you. Alright?"

"What do you mean? I can still save it!" J shouted in a tearful voice, remaining desperate about her situation and it made I cringe a bit due to how desperate her friend was. She turned away from I a second later, shifting her attention back to the chili and moved the bowl towards it in order to shove it back into the pot.

I shook her head, letting out a sigh as she grabbed J's hand which was holding the bowl and J looked directly into her pitful eyes with her tearful ones, "J. Just listen to me. Please. You know you can't do anything about your chili right now. You know I wouldn't be telling you this if saving it was possible. Just give it up. You're making yourself sadder by trying to save it."

"You're telling me I should just abandon this chili?" J asked, sounding on the verge of an emotional breakdown as everyone except for I exchanged glances with each other at her choice of words.

"You know you can make some new chili right?" Y pointed out to her, looking at her pitfully.

J looked up at him with a tearful look on her face, "New chili? I put my heart and soul into making this one! Do you know how long time it took me?"

T rubbed the back of his head, "What? You stayed up all night making it or something?"

J gazed down, looking more tearful than ever as she stayed silent due to her being too ashamed and emotional to admit it right now in front of everyone, "..."

T's eyes widened at this, "Holy shit. You did?"

"J. Why?" C asked, looking suprised by how long J stayed up to make this chili.

"I-I wanted it to be something special!"J replied, looking up at her fellow watchers as she was unable to contain her tears for any longer and bursted into tears in front of everyone. It just caused everyone to became sadder by her situation and feel bad for her more.

"J. No one is going to eat that." L pointed out, "You know eating food off the floor is dangerous. If anyone will eat this, they would likely get bacteria or germs and I don't think it's something either us or N, Devola and Popola in the infirmary want to deal with."

"B-But, but...!" J tried to argue and struggled with her words as she had a bad time coming up with a good point to counter what L said. Deep inside she knew he and everyone else were around her were right. She just didn't want to accept this. She didn't want to accept all of her hard work went to waste in a matter of seconds...

Seeing how J was slowly starting to reach her senses and was letting go off the denial she had put herself in, I knew it was her time to do something. She slowly and gently reached out towards her and J looked at her with a sobbing questioning look on her face. I gently grabbed the bowl which was used by J to scoop the chili into the pot and took it away from her, before placing it aside where J won't be able to grab it again. Upon placing it aside, she was instantly greeted by the feeling someone's else body around her as J shoved herself into her and wrapped her arms around her in a tearful hug as she continued to sob.

"J. I'm so sorry for what happened..." She whispered into her ear, hugging her best friend back as she felt her sleepwear getting stained in the pieces of chili from J's clothes and body. She didn't care about it, though. She cared about comforting her friend.

"This isn't fair! I worked so hard on it....!" J shouted, crying more as she hugged I tighter and refused to let go off her.

"Relax. It's just a chili..." T tried to comfort J in his own way. His way of comforting her just made her more angry and sad with the situation.

"Just a chili!?" J snapped at him with a sobbing anger on her face as she looked up from I's shoulder at him, "It was something more to me....!"

I tried to stop J from snapping further as she rubbed her hand along J's back, "Shh. It's okay. How about we'll go get you washed up? You're still covered in it.."

"O-Okay..." J's anger quickly vanished from her tone as it became more tearful and emotional again. I slowly pulled away from her and gently helped J up. Upon finding themselves on their feet again, I wrapped her arm around J and began to take her out of the kitchen/dining room towards J's room as Y, U, T L, F and C silently watched all of this happen from where they stood.

------

I pinched the bridge of her nose, sitting on top of J's bed as she listened to J's taking shower in her bathroom.  The female watcher let out a sigh, waiting for her friend to finish with her shower which was taking a bit too long as J had been inside for about 30 minutes. If she was honest with herself, she was unsure whether her friend was showering herself or not right now. J's sobbing inside the bathroom and the running water was all she's been hearing from the bathroom during those last 30 minutes and she had no idea if her friend even tried to wash herself during them. 

The female watcher let out a sigh, thinking back to what happened today as she recalled how badly J was doing when she brought her into the room. J was a sobbing mess and kept muttering "My chili" under her breath over again. She even couldn't get herself some clean clothes and I had to get those for her after setting her down on the bed. She had trouble getting into the bathroom as well as I literally had to take her inside and turn on the water, before leaving her inside all by herself to give her some privacy.

She shook her head, finding herself thinking about J's behavior and how badly she reacted to her food getting wasted like this. She knew her friend was pretty serious about food from all the times they talked about J's interest in it and everytime she watched her cook, but had no idea her seriousness regarding this subject was to that extend. She had no idea her friend would react in such an emotional manner after dropping her food on the floor. She wasn't getting this emotional even when people joked about her flat chest.

She pushed herself out of the thoughts a few seconds later as she heard someone knock on the door to J's room. She looked in the direction of the door and began to wonder who was knocking on it right now, "Come on in!"

The door opened a second later and V walked into the room. From the look on her face, I could instantly tell her fellow female watcher was worried when she asked. She looked like she had recently woken up as she was still wearing her sleepwear, "So. How is she doing? I heard about what happened from U and L when I arrived at the dining room."

"Just as well as you can expect." I gave her an honest answer, letting out a sigh as she pointed towards the bathroom, "She's been in the bathroom for about half an hour at this point and I don't think she will come out of there anytime soon."

V sighed in understanding as she stepped closer to J's bed and sat down on it, finding herself seated next to I, "Have you tried talking with her?"

"I did." I confirmed it to her with a nod of her head. It was true. She knocked on the bathroom a few times over the course of the last half an hour and J's sobs were the only answer she had received from her, "She never answered to me, though. She keeps herself locked up in there and keeps crying...".

V nodded in understanding, letting out a sigh, "I see. It's really that bad as the others described it to me, then."

I nodded in confirmation, "It is. I haven't seen her like this ever since we got brought in to get this job. Honestly it really makes me worried. I knew she could get serious about food from all the times she told us about her job as a cook, but I had no idea it could get so bad."

"You and me both. If it wasn't for L out of all people telling me about this, then I would think it's something started by T to mess with me and the others." V agreed with her. She never thought someone could get this emotional over dropping some food. What happened already happened and there was no use in dwelling on it as much as J was doing right now. On the other hand, though. She couldn't tell how J was feeling right now due to her lack of cooking skills.  For all she knew, she could have reacted the same if she was interested in cooking as much as J is.

"Yeah." I replied, letting out a saddened sigh. If she hadn't seen it herself, then she would think of it as some joke from T as well. An idea popped into her mind a second later and she made sure to voiced it to V a second later, "Hey. Do you think we can check on her together? Maybe she will listen to us more if there'll be two of us instead of just me."

"Alright. Sure. Let's give it a try." V nodded in agreement of the idea and looked at I with a questioning look on her face, "How do you want to approach this? From over here or should we go straight into the bathroom."

I's eyes widened slightly at the latter part of V's question, "W-What? In the bathroom?"

"Yeah. This way we could talk directly with her." V looked slightly confused by having to explain this to I and asked her, "What? You haven't tried it out when you tried to talk with J before?"

"N-No." I shook her head, beginning to blush at the thought of walking into the bathroom while someone else is showering there.

V looked slightly weirded out by I having not tried this before, "What? Why? You know it would make it easier for you to talk with J if you were directly next to her instead of the other side of the doors."

"I-I just wanted to give her some privacy under the shower. I know I wouldn't like anyone to walk in on me taking a shower, no matter if they would be a woman or a man." I replied with a shy look on her face. What she said was half true. There was one person she wouldn't mind walking in on her having a shower. She was looking at the said person right now.

"I see." V said in understanding as she smiled at her slightly, "You really are sweet. You know that? J is so lucky to have you as her friend."

"T-Thank you." I replied, looking away from V with a blush on her face at her praising her and calling her sweet as she internally smiled widely at the praise she had received from her.

V smiled at her and got up from the bed, "Alright. Let's go check on her."

"Y-Yeah. I-I'll be right behind you." I nodded at her, her mind remaining on the praise she had received from V as she followed her example and got up from the bed as well. Not wasting any time, both of them made their way to the door to the bathroom in J's room and instantly heard her sobbing inside. The female watcher stopped in front of the door and knocked on it a few times in an attempt of gaining J's attention, "J. It's me again and I'm not alone here this time."

"Hey, J. It's me." V added, making herself and her presence known to J to make sure she will know she's here as well, "I heard about what happened in the dining room with the food you've prepared for breakfast. I'm really sorry about it."

J stayed silent as her sobs continued to sound in the bathroom.

"Listen J. Both of us are really worried for you and your lack of answer is not helping us." I began to say with worry becoming more evident in her voice with each word she had uttered to her. She gently grabbed the door handle and slowly pushed the door open, "Would it be okay for both of us to come in? We just want to check in on you as you have been there for a while now."

J once again stayed silent, giving her fellow watchers no answer as I and V exchanged glances with each other and nodded in a mutual understanding on what to do next. I fully opened the door to the bathroom and walked into it and V wasted no time and quickly followed her inside. The two female watchers quickly glanced at J's shower and saw the glass surrounding it was all foggy. It must have been caused by steam caused by the hot water. At least it stopped them from seeing J all naked under the shower.

The two female watchers looked around the rest of the bathroom a second later and saw J's filthy clothes on the floor. I and V nodded to themselves, knowing what it meant. It meant J actually took them off before going under the shower to wash herself. With the state she was in when I left her in the bathroom, she could have easily gone under the shower fully clothed and it would kind of kill off the purpose of this shower. They spotted the clean fresh clothes which I gave to J before leaving her in the bathroom as well.

V shifted her gaze away from the clothes as she walked over to the foggy glass of the shower and knocked on it, "J. We're inside. We just want to talk."

J once again remained silent and continued to sob to herself.

V knocked on it again, intending to keep doing it until she'll get answer out  of her, "J. Don't give us the silent treatment."

"Eaxctly. Please. Just say something to us." I said, stopping next to V as both of them kept themselves focused on getting any reaction out of J aside from her sobbing, "We're here because we care about you and you giving us treatment like this just makes us more worried. Allow us to help you in some way."

J refused to say anything, keeping to herself like she did ever since I left her in the bathroom.

V shook her head, letting out a sigh as she knocked on the glass again and continued to knock on it from there without any breaks, "J. We ain't gonna leave until you'll talk with us. I won't stop knocking on the glass until you'll tell us something as well."

J kept herself silent for the next few monents until she grew tired of V knocking on the glass and uttered her first words to them in a while. "...Just stop and leave me alone. Please."

"J..." I muttered under her breath, relieved by the sound of J's voice and worried due to the resigned and tearful tone of it.

V stopped knocking on the glass, keeping up with the word she gave to J and told her, "You know we won't leave you alone. Just talk with us. We're here for oyu."

"Exactly." I nodded in agreement as she added in a soft comforting tone, "J. Both of us are here because we want to help you."

"H-How can you help me?" J asked in a tearful tone as I and V could both tell she was still crying from everything, "Will you take back all the time I put into making that chili last night? Or will you you take me back to the time when I dropped it to stop me from dropping it?"

I and V stayed silent, knowing they can't do either of those things. While they were powerful as the watchers of the multiverse, they couldn't go back in time to certain moments.

J let out a tearful whine as she shouted out from inside the shower, "See! I'm right! If you can't do either of those things for me, then leave me alone! Nothing you will do will make me feel better! You never worked on a meal as long as I did and never dropped it just as you were about to serve it to everyone! I wanted today to be something special and I messed everything up, because I'm a fucking clumsy and weak woman!"

"Even if we can't do anything to make you feel better, it doesn't mean we can't comfort you." I pointed out with worry and concern evident in her voice as V formed a thoughtful look on her face as soon as J called herself clumsy, "Don't call yourself clumsy or weak. Stuff like this just happens. Even to the best of cooks. Like you."

"It doesn't change the fact that I wasted food!" J pointed out, "I told you how much I hate when good food is getting wasted!"

"If you hate this much, then we can help you make sure this will never happen to you." V suggested, voicing the plan she had just came up with it.

J took a small pause in whatever she was saying right now and spoke again a second later with interested mixed in with her depressed tone, "...W-What do you mean?"

"You dropped the chili pot on the floor right?" V wanted to be sure if this what really happened.

"Y-Yeah..." J gave her a tearful confirmation.

V wasted no time when it came to voicing her idea, "How about we'll train you a bit, then? If you'll grow stronger with the training, then I'm sure you won't have any trouble with carrying hot pots. If you'll be strong enough to carry them without any problems, then you will never drop anything ever again and it will prevent good food from getting wasted. What do you think? I'll personally show you around the gym and show how certain exercises are done well."

"Yeah!" I quickly voiced her agreement with V idea, finding it to be quite good as she added her own part to it in an attempt of convicing J to leave the shower and push her out of her depressed state, "If you'll agree for this, then you can count on my support as well. Even though I don't work out much myself, I'll go to the gym with you to support you."

V's idea was met with a complete silence from J. She didn't even sob after this. I and V exchanged glances with each other after a moment of silence, worried this idea didn't help and and only caused J's state to become worse. Their worries turned out not to be true a second later, though as J got up from the floor and turned off the water. She afterwards turned around to face V and I and opened the door to the shower, letting out the steam which gathered inside and it covered her naked body which prevented her friends from seeing it.

"Y-You will?" She asked her in a tearful tone, wiping her teary eyes which were red from all the crying with her hands.

------

J stared at her reflection in the mirror in her room, eyeing herself in the gym attire she had put on herself a few minutes ago. Two days had passed since the incident where she accidentally dropped the chili she had worked on and today was the day when she would begin the training she had agreed for with V as her guide. Having completely collected herself from what happened with her chili two days ago and having gone through countless repetive conversation where everyone checked on her to see how she was doing, she knew it was perfect time for her to begin her training.

The female watcher reached her hand behind her, tying her long blonde her into a ponytail as she knew it would be for the best if she had it tied up fo her training. As she continued tying her hair, she felt wave of determination and nervousness go through her body. She felt determined to improve her own strength and nervous, because she had no idea how she will perform. She hadn't been to the gym in a long time and hadn't felt the need of attending it in a long time due to her never seeing the need of it until now.

She finished tying her hair a second later, nodding to herself as exhaled softly. She looked at the watch around her wrist a second later, seeing what hour it was and saw it was close to the hour she had agreed to met up with V and I at the gym today. Turning away from the mirror, she walked over to the bed and picked up the bag with the some of the thing she had packed for her training such as water for the breaks  she will take between trainings. Just as she was about to turn towards her door to her room, someone knocked on it.

"Go ahead!" She shouted, allowing the person on the other side of the doors to enter her room as she shifted her attention to it and saw the door being pushed open. It was when I appeared in her view and her fellow watcher had a gym attire on her as well.

I didn't walk into J's room and remained in the doorway to it as she smiled at I, "Hey, J. Ready for some gym?"

"Yup. I was just about to head out." J nodded in confirmation, smilling back at her a bit as she stepped closer to I and looked at her questioningly, "What about? Are you ready? I know you don't visit gym very often as well."

I instantly nodded in confirmation, seeming to be excited about something and J could have sworn she almost saw her drooling, "Of course I'm ready. I'm more than eager to spent time with you and V at the gym~."

J smiled a bit, "Let me guess. You just want to oggle V a bit?"

"N-No!" I shook her head to deny it in embarassment, beginning to blush as she turned away from J, "L-Let's just go. V should be waiting for both of us. I don't want to keep her waiting for us."

"Alright. Let's go. I'll be right behind you." J nodded in agreement, feeling her smile grow a bit at I's embarassment as I turned away from her and stepped out of the doorway, pushing herself into walk towards the gym. J wasted no time and walked out of her room, closing the door behind her before following I towards the gym. Now walking next to I, she walked to start a small talk between them on the way to the gym and asked her, "So. How was your day?"

I glanced at J, seeing her friend now walking next to her and quickly provided her an answer, "Pretty good. I had to go through my closet to find something good enough for the gym."

J raised brow, "Really? I thought you said you'll take care of it last night?"

I smiled at her sheepishly, "Let's just say my walk in the forest took a bit longer than I expected."

J deadpanned at her slightly, "I..."

"What?" I asked, her sheepish expression refusing to leave her face.

J crossed her arms, "Which one is it, when did this happen, since we've had this job? I stopped counting after the tenth time."

"Not my fault I tent to lose myself whenever I'm on the walk there." I tried to defend herself in a sheepish embarassed manner, "It's fun admiring the nature. Especially when you take off your shoes and feel it on your feet. It feels like you're one with nature when you do that."

"Yeah. Until you'll step on a rock with a barefoot." J pointed out.

"My point still stands!" I argued, beginning to grow embarassed as she didn't want to admit to J it actually happened to her more than once.

"Alright. Alright." J smiled at her, "When did you remembered you need to put a gym outfit together for today?"

"This morning. When I woke up, I got this feeling like I forgot about something and then it me." I explained and looked down at her gym attire with a questioning look on her face, "I think the outfit I put on with this limited time looks nice. What do you think?"

J didn't give I the answer she was waiting for straight away as she allowed herself to eye the outfit her friend had on herself right now before she'll give her the verdict. As she continued to eye her friends outfit, her eyes eventually wandered off to I's large chest and she set her eyes on it. Narrowing her eyes at it in a jealous manner, J let out a deep exhale as she kept her eyes in I's chest and compared it with her flat chest. The saying she was jealous of her friend when it came to this was quite the understatement...

"...J?" I's voice pushed herself out of her thoughts a few seconds later.

J shook her head rapidly, taking her eyes and her thoughts off of I's chest, "W-What?"

"You've dozed off for a moment here." I explained.

J nodded in understanding, "Ah, I see. Sorry..."

"It's okay. Happens to everyone." I nodded, unaware of the reason why J dozed off the way she did and asked her, 'So. What do you think about my outfit?"

J gave her a thumbs up, trying to act as if she wasn't just staring at her chest, "It looks good, considering you put it together on a limited time."

"Thank you." I smiled at her in a grateful manner. A playful look grew on her face a second later, "You know. I'm actually happy you'll be going to the gym with V now. Maybe you'll even lose some weight."

J's eyes widened instantly at this as she began to panic while eyeing her own body, "What do you mean? Are you telling me I'm fat!? Why didn't tell tell me about it? I would have started going to the gym sooner....!?"

I looked slightly taken aback by J's reaction to her joke and quickly clarified herself to her, "Relax. I was just joking. You're perfectly skinny."

"Oh, I see..." J replied, glancing away from her with an embarassed look on her face. Fortunely for her, her embarassment didn't last long as the view of the gym came to her rescue as she and I had just reached their destination, "We're here. Let's go inside."

I nodded in ageement, "Yup."

J and I wasted no time and made their way into the gym. Upon entering it, both of them were quickly greeted by the sight of V working out. She didn't see them enter the gym, though as she was facing them with her back. Their fellow female watcher was lifting up a large and heavy barbell which many people in the HQ would struggle with even picking up from the floor for a second with ease, resulting in J and I stopping in their tracks the moment they laid their eyes on her.

I and J kept their eyes on V as V remained unaware of their presence and them watching her and proceeded with whatever she was doing right now. As I and J continued to watch V workout, both of them reacted to it in their own ways. I's face was instantly covered with a massive blush, her eyes staring in amazement by how strong V while J stared at her in a silent awe, wondering if one day she'll be able to do something like this herself if she'll put in some hard work in her strength training.

V let out a deep exhale a few minutes, feeling sweat going down her body as she decided she had enough time with this barbell and set it down on the floor. Beginning to stretch her limbs above her head, she turned around and saw I and J staring at her. She raised her brow at the view of them, having not been expecting to see them watching her and offered them a slight smile.

"Hey, you two." She told them, smilling at them as she stepped closer towards him all the while still stretching her limbs. She shot them a questioning look as she asked them a second later, "For how long have you been standing there?"

"A few minutes." J gave her an honest answer as I silently stared at V with a blushing face, doing her best to stop herself from licking her lips out in the open.

V raised her brow at this, "A few minutes? Why didn't you just call out for me, then?"

"We didn't want to interrupt you in whatever you were doing. You seemed to be really into it." J explained, "Why did you start before we came here?"

V rubbed the back of her head as she gave her the explanation, "I thought about killing some time as I waited for you to come here and thought I could use a warm-up before I'll do my stuff with you two."

"A warm-up?" J raised her brow at V's choice of words and crossed her arms, letting out a chuckle. I continued to remain silent, her blush still evident on her voice as she kept staring at V, "You're probably the only person who would use that barbell as a warm-up."

"If you say so." V smiled at her and looked at her questioningly, "So. Are you ready to start your first workout with me?"

J nodded in confirmation, "Yeah. Let's get to it."

"Alright. Follow me. Let's start with a bit of a warm-up for you and I." V nodded back as she turned away from J and I and went further into the gym. J followed her while I remained where she stood and kept staring at V. V looked over her shoulder and shot I a questioning look as she saw her staring at her, "I? What are you doing? You ain't going with us."

"I-I'll join un a few seconds. Don't mind." I replied, refusing to glance anywhere else but at V as she felt her blush increase as she stared at the certain parts of her fellow female watchers. V's sweaty book just made everything way better for her.

"Alright." V nodded, failing to notice the way I was looking at her right now as she turned away from her and stopped in her tracks in the place where she wanted to begin J's warm-up. She turned to look at J afterwards, "Okay. Stop here."

"Alright." J nodded in understanding, stopping in her tracks as she kept a small distance from V to make sure both of them will have as much space as they need for this warm-up. Wanting to make sure she will be all ready and proper for this, she took off her bag and placed it aside before beginning to stretch her arms a bit.

V smiled a bit at J already starting to do something by stretching her arms and asked her, "I take it you're ready?"

"Yeah I am." J nodded in confirmation, "Let's do this."

V nodded back at her with a smile on her face, "Alright. You'll see. By the time we'll be done with your training, you'll be one of the strongest women around here."

J smiled back, feeling herself becoming more determined at V's words as she continued to stretch her arms, "Alright. Let's see if you're right."

------

Two weeks had passed since J began working out to built her own strength to make sure there won't be a repeat of the chili incident and the female watcher could easily say she was busy during those last two weeks. Keeping herself in the gym for all of her free time and only leaving it whenever she had to eat something or go to the bathroom, she worked herself out to the point of literally collapsing on the bed everytime she had arrived back in her room after a good workout. 

J let out a deep exhale, placing the dumbbells she had been picking up and stretched her arms above her head. Even though she felt tired from all the workout she had put herself today, she didn't think much of it as it was the good kind of tired. The kind of tired which was leaving her feel satisfied and wanting more instead of the kind of tired which was leaving her wanting this to end. If the female watcher was honest with herself, she now could understand why V and O were spending as much time at the gym as they did. It was really fulfilling.

Letting out a deep breath and stretching her arms above her head for one final time, J went down to pick up the dumbbells and began another series with them. Lifting them up over and over again, she smiled to herself as she felt how this task had become easier for her over the course of the last two weeks. When she first started, she struggled with them for a bit and now she was doing it perfectly fine without any problem and she knew it was a sign of her getting stronger.

As soon as the thought of her having grown stronger over the course of the last two weeks flied through her head, J felt a wave of satisfaction hit her. It meant the hard work she was putting into her workout was paying off and she was certain now she wouldn't drop her chili if she had prepared it today or tommorow. Even if she was certain carrying the pot will not be a problem to her now, it wouldn't stop her from training further as she knew she had to keep up with her workout to keep up with her form and simply because she wanted to continue growing stronger. It would give a way to hang out with V as well due to V spending a lot of time at the gym.

"You're here again?" She pushed herself out of her thoughts and looked in the direction of this voice and saw T and K standing in the doorway to the gym with questioning looks on their faces. This question came from a female voice, making her believe this question came from K.

"Yup." J nodded in confirmation, smilling as she didn't stop with her series with dumbbells because she didn't want it to go to waste and didn't want to start it from zero. She kept counting her series in her head as she kept her etez on K and T.

T crossed his arms with an impressed look on his face. "Really? Wow?"

"For how long were you here?" K asked with genuine curiosity in her voice as she pushed herself into walk toward J. T looked at her, seeing her walking towards J and followed her.

J shrugged her shoulders and gave her an honest answer, "I dunno. Stopped looking at the clock a while ago. What hour is it right now?"

T rubbed the back of his head, "About 2 pm."

"2 pm?" J wanted to be sure if she didn't misheard him and T nodded in confirmation, "Alright. If that's the case, then I was here about almost four hours now."

"Four hours?" T asked with an impressed look on his face and K looked impressed by it as well, "Nice. If you'll keep going at this, then you are going to break V and O's record of the amount of hours spend at the gym in a single day."

J chuckled, "Maybe someday."

"Have you thought about doing anything else other than working out and strength training?" K asked, "You know I could give you some martial arts lessons if you wanted to."

T shifted his gaze to K and smirked at her, "What is it, Yumi? Diid you feel a sudden need of showing off your mad skills to someone?"

"Shut up." K glared at him and punched him in the shoulder as T grunted, rubbing his arm a bit with a pained look on his face.

"Not again." He muttered under his breath painfully.

K shifted her attention back to J a second later, "So. What do you think?"

"Maybe some other time." J politely declined K's offer with a shake of her head, "For now I just want to focus on getting stronger and building my body."

K looked slightly disappointed by it, but at the same time appeared to be understanding of it, "Alright."

"Focus on building your body?" T took notice of J's choice of words and a great idea suddenly popped into his mind. He smirked internally and instantly decided to put this plan into action, "You know. I would watch out if I were you."

J raised her brow in confusion, "What do you mean?"

T looked at her with a fake suprise on his face, "What? You don't know about it? I thought V would warn you about this."

"T. What are you doing...?" K began to ask him with narrowed eyes. She had no chance to finish what she was saying, though as T instantly placed his hand over her mouth, cutting her off and preventing her from saying more. K glared at him, silently demanding him to uncover her mouth, but T ignored her and went further into his explanation.

"People who tend to work out as much as you did for the last two weeks tend to lose their hair. It happens pretty quickly as well. I saw this happen in real life as well. I've seen lots of people thaf worked out too much having their hair fall out until they go bald. I heard they won't even grow back." T explained with with a serious look on his face, making himself look as believable as possible even if he was laughing internally. K looked at him like he was crazy when he uttered those words.

J raised her brow in confusion, "What do you mean? V works out daily and yet she still has her hair."

T quickly came up with a fake explanation for this, "It's a wig."

"W-What?" J stuttered out in shock, her eyes snapping open.

T wasted no time and nodded in confirmation, "Yup. I overheard her talking about it with O where she complained about having to use a wig everyday to cover her bald head."

J's shock grew bigger at this, "W-What? V is bald? Why she didn't tell us about this?"

"Beats me. She must have been too ashamed to admit this to everyone aside from her gym bro." T shrugged his shoulders, "I would be worried about you if I were you. If you keep going on like this, you'll go bald in no time."

J's shock was replaced by panic in an instant at this, "What do you mean I'll go bad? Is my hair already falling out? Be honest!"

T nodded in confirmation as he decided to further the joke, "Yeah. You saw to have fewer hair now that you I look at you."

J dropped her dumbshells on the floor as she grabbed her blonde hair, clutching it almost as if she wanted to desperately stop her hair from failing, "W-What? But I don't want to go bald! Why didn't anyone tell me about this when I started working out!"

"I thought you knew." T told her with a serious look on her face, even if he was laughing on the inside as K rolled her eyes at him, her mouth still covered by his hand, "I would go talk about it with V If I were you. All of it could have a scheme from her to make you go bald." 

"You're right! I need to go talk with her! I'll kill her for not telling me about it!" J nodded at him as she wasted no time and rushed out of the gym in the blink of an eye, continuing to clutch her hair as she did so to stop from hairs from falling out.

T watched her J rush out of the gym, desperately trying not to laugh as he would know it will make her realize she had been played by him. He continued to hold back his laughters for the next several seconds, waiting until J will be out of the hearing range and bursted into laughter after they passed. He pulled his hand away from K's mouth, clutching his stomach from the laughters as he couldn't stop laughing at his own joke and at what just happened.

K deadpanned at him in an unamused manner, "Was this seriously funny to you?"

"Hell yeah it was." T nodded in confirmation without hesitation in his voice, pulling his hand away from his laughter as there was no end to his laughter and he looked like like enjoyed himself way too much right now, "Have you seen her face? She looked on the verge of a panic attack when she bought my story. I wish I was there to see what will happen once she'll find V and confront her about it. Just thinking about it makes me laugh again!"

K shook her head, "You're an idiot."

"Yeah. Yeah. I know." T smiled, getting an eyeroll out of K as he stopped to laugh for a second and wiped humored tears from his eyes. His tone and expression grew normal again a second later, "You know. With how much she has been working out recently, I wouldn't be suprised if she surpassed you in strength soon."

K's gaze grew cold at this as she instantly replied to this by punching him in the shoulder. After punching him, she crossed her arms and glanced away from him, "Idiot."

T looked at her with a suprised look on his face as he rubbed his arm painfully, "Ouch! The hell was that for?"

"For saying stupid stuff like this. Unlike J, I trained since I was in my pre-teens and there's no way she will surpass me." K told him with an utterly serious look on her face and utterly serious tone in her voice.

T was taken aback by how serious K was when she uttered those words and glanced away from her, "Alright. Alright. I was just joking. Geez."

Unaware of the conversation going on between T and K right now, J proceeded to make her way through the HQ as she continued to look for V. She got some weirded out glances from everyone she passed on the hallway, but ignored all of them and focused herself on her task of finding V and confronting her about what T said to her. She nodded to herself, thinking about V and what she will do to her when she'll get her hands on her. 

The female watcher shook her head to herself with an enraged look on her face, keeping her hands on the side of her head to keep her hair from falling out as according to her some of if had already fallen out and she didn't want to lose more as she couldn't believe V would keep such an information away from her. Why would she do it? Was she tired of being the only bald woman around and decided to make her join her little club. Even if it meant tricking her? She thought V was her friend. Why would she trick her like this?

She found the person she was looking for a few minutes later as her eyes caught of V. She saw her together with V. Both of them appeared to be in the middle of a conversation with each other and neither of them noticed J straight away. Pulling her hands away from her head and clenching them angrily, she stepped towards them. Her head became fllled with theories at the view of V and I together. What were they doing? Were they conspiring against her and her hair together?

"Girls..." She called out for them in a completely serious and deadset tone.

I stopped the conversation she was having with V right now and shifted her gaze to J. She smiled as soon as she laid her eyes on her, failing to notice the look she had on her face right away, "Oh, hey, J."

V turned to look at J as well and smiled at the view of her, "What brings you here? I thought you'll be at the gym."

"Me too." I nodded in agreement.

"It was like your second home for the last two weeks, after all." V added in a joking manner, getting a giggle out of I.

"Can you stop?" J asked, "I'm not here to laugh."

I raised her brow in confusion, "J?"

"You okay?" V asked, having just taken notice of J's behavior.

"We need to talk." J explained.

V looked at her questioningly, "What do you want to talk about?"

J let out a deep exhale and released what she had to say to V, "Why didn't you tell me about hair falling out if you work out too much?!"

"...What?" V asked in genuine confusion in both her voice and on her face as she took a few seconds to process this due to how stupid and absurd it was.

I looked equally as confused by this as V was, "What do you mean, J?"

"Your hair hair falls off if you work out too much!" J filled them in on what she meant and demanded from V a second later, "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"What?!" V exclaimed with a confused look on her face, having no idea what was J talking about.

"J. What are you talking about?" I asked with pure confusion in her voice.

"Don't lie to me!" J shouted, keeping her attention on V as she continued to glare at her, "I know about it! T told me this! Why didn't you tell me? Were you trying to make me go bald for your personal amusement?!"

"What?!" V exclaimed, looking almost offended by the thought of J thinking she would do such a thing.

I's confusion only grew more at this, "J? What are you talking about? Why do you think V would so something like this? Where did you get this information in the first place?"

J crossed her arms with an angry look on her face, "T told me about this a few minutes ago."

V blinked at J, "T told you about this?"

J nodded in confirmation. "Yes. He did."

V sighed, putting her hand on her face, "I swear, I will rip his ass into two."

"What? Are you saying he lied to me?" J wanted to know if she understood her correctly.

V nodded in confirmation, "Yeah." 

"Why should I believe you?" J narrowed her eyes at her with suspicion evident in her voice as she remained skeptical about it.

V looked at her like it was the most obvious question she's heard in a long a time, "J. T isn't exactly a reliable source of information."

"Really? T lied to me? If he lied to me, then you wouldn't be wearing this. Right?" J retorted as she reached up and grabbed V's hair, beginning to tug and pull on it in an attempt of proving it's a wig.

"Ouch. The hell?!" V shouted with a pained look on her face, feeling how tightly J was pulling on her hair and she felt like her fellow watcher will actually rip it out if she won't stop her.

J kept on pulling on V's hair for a few seconds until she realized it will not come off. She pulled her hand away from her hair and looked at V with a confused look on her face, "...Wait a second? It's not a wig?"

V looked at J like she was an idiot as she reached up to rub her hand along the top of her head to stop the pain, "No, it's not a wig you idiot!"

J glanced away from V in a mixture of shame and sheepishness, refusing to face her as she slowly started to realize everything, "...Wait. Does that mean T lied to me?"

"Yes, he did." V nodded in confirmation,

J began to blush in embarassment as she buried her face in her hands, "...W-Why do I keep falling for stuff like this? Why am I so stupid?

V and I stared silently at J while J continued with her embarassed rambling, looking like she wanted to delete herself from existance as neither of them knew how to react to what just happened. J pulled her hands away from her face a second later and looked up at J before shoving herself towards her and wrapping her arms around her in an apologetic hug. J buried her face in V's clothes, muttering apologies into her over and over again as V looked down at her and let out a soft sigh.

Wanting to show how she didn't hold this against J and knew it was T's fault for feeding her those lies, V placed her hand on the back of J's head and rubbed her hand on them back of it in a slow and gentle manner as she reassured her how she wasn't hungry at her for it. V shifted her gaze to I a second later and I shrugged her shoulders with a sheepish look on her face. Letting out a sigh, V became certain about one thing as she continued to comfort J after this embarassing situation.

T was going to suffer the next time she'll see him.