Completed [Training Grounds] You Can't Beat Me Now, I'm A Man![Lenell]

[Kisetukai]

 9th Of Spring 506 AV
(Around Late Morning) 

Kise today your a no longer a boy, your a man.

This is what Kise's mother had told him, why she said this was unknown, but because they were going somewhere he had hated...He wasn't the happiest kid. "Mom...Don't normal kids celebrate their birthday by inviting family? Why not just stay home and invite grandpa and grandma?" Kise asked as his mother carried him on her shoulders, for she didn't want him to walk, why? Because she told him not to wear his shoes, but the grounds of Syliras weren't the cleanest, so this was the only option. As he sat there he was dressed in simple clothing, light snug black boxing shorts, tight on the waist but loose in the legs, resting barely under the knees. Atop was a light simple clean white tee, very loose and durable, but the best part inexpensive. He had come here to train a lot because of his mother, and he had lost a lot of shirts he loved, so white tees were perfect. As they finally made it to the training grounds Kise began to look around, it was noisy as always, the sound of metals and woods clinking. 

"Mother...Are we going to do more boxing training?" Kise said asking the inevitable question, predicting the inevitable training. "No Sir..." His mother replied with a small chuckle. "We aren't doing any training, you and your partner will though." Kise was instantly confused, fighting someone other than his mother? He probably would've chose a better shirt. He actually stood a chance at winning today, but better than that, he stood a chance at not receiving pain. "I will wait with you..." His mother said as she placed him down, onto the wide open flat land, the best section for unarmed fighters. "Until she comes. Then I will leave to take care of some errands." Kise immediately looked up at his mother, almost raising his voice, "She?! Mom who are you talking about? It can't be..." He stood up straightly as he gave her an annoyed look as he finally figured out the culprit. "You can't be talking about Lenell mom...You can't." Kise's mother gave him a playful look as well as a playful punch, smiling at him softly. "Correct my little knight, you are smart after all. Yes Lenell will be your opponent as of today...But there is a catch. If you don't win you won't be able to come home." She finished with a small giggle. "I bet you will finally beat her today, after all you are now a man, a big strong man." She gently licked her thumb, then rubbed his cheek a bit, a motherly quirk. This caused Kise to jump back, in agony as he felt her touch. "Mom...Not in public." Kise said as he looked shyly. "I'm sorry I'm just proud of you, ten years old is a big thing, I can see you getting bigger everyday. "Really?..." Kise said gullibly, flexing his scrawny arms, he wasn't always as big as he wanted to be. Standing about four foot seven, and weighing barely over a eighty five pounds, he was praying for the day he started puberty and hit a growth spurt. But for now, his mother's compliments would do. "Well...Now all we gotta do is wait for your friend Kise." His mother said holding his hand, again forcing him to jump away. "I'm sorry baby...Habit." 

[Lenell Belleste]

Lenell walked by her father's side through the busy streets of Syliras, her face so red with anger and humiliation that it almost matched her hair. This was so unfair! I mean, sure, she had beaten up on the boy they went to meet when she was a kid, but the last time had been at least a year ago (well, almost a year ago), and she was twelve now. She was a lady, she was practically a grown up, and she wouldn't think of doing such a thing anymore. Not that he and other boys weren't still smelly and stupid and awful and deserved to live in a muddy hole (especially her brother Bredan, but also especially Kise.)

Still, somehow one set of parents had contacted another through that mysterious parent network that seemed to exist. Her mother and father had always disliked her fighting with the knight's son, and she was sure the dumb grownups thought this was a good punishment for her. She rolled her eyes. As if she was still some stupid baby who would even want to pay attention to someone who really was still a stupid baby. And she hated these ugly short pants and this simple shirt. Ladies got to wear pretty skirts and scarves like her mother had. Oh well, she only had a few of her own so far, and they would've gotten ruined.

"Len?" her father asked. "Do you remember when you first met Kise?"

Lenell rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes."

"And what happened then? What started all this?"

Her father was looking straight at her for her answer, so she skipped the eye rolling and just sighed this time. "He took my doll. He wouldn't give it back. So I hit him." She couldn't stop the eye rolling this time. "I mean, I wouldn't do it now, though, so why this?"

"And did he hit you back?"

"No,” she muttered, looking straight ahead at the crowds they threaded their way through.

"So why did you keep hitting him?"

She snorted, refusing to say the real answer, which was that her younger brother Bredan hit her all the time, and she always seemed to get in trouble for it, so it just seemed right that another boy should have to take the punishment. Plus, many of the kids they played with did hit her and tease her and for no other reason than that she had a funny foot. It was nice to have one person that she could beat up on.

She dropped her shoulders. "I don't know, Father. He could have hit me back if he wanted. I mean, he never was that much smaller than me."

Her father raised one dark blonde eyebrow. "Ah, but he didn't, did he? So what did that make you?"

Lenell thought of the general awfulness of boys, and almost answered "Smart." She bit her tongue on that one and gave the answer she knew he wanted. "A bully. A bully, ok? I mean, I get it. Do I really have to do this? Can't I have some other punishment? I'll apologize to him if you want."

Her father smiled. "Who said this was a punishment? You might be surprised at what this is all about."

Lenell eyes widened as they reached the training grounds. There were crowds, people of all ages practicing, the noisy grunts and clangs of metal on metal that signaled fighters practicing. She had been by the practice grounds before, had even stopped to watch several times, but she had never, ever thought she might be on them one day. Oh well, Kise might be a pain, but at least the little squirt was giving her a chance to play “a real Syliras fighter” for a day.

Her father gently patted her back, urging her forward, then walked over to talk to Kise's mother. Lenell looked out over the field and saw her opponent waiting, dressed to match her. He was barefoot, but apparently the horrible grownups in charge had thought she should be able to keep her cane and her boots. She wouldn't even be able to walk out to him without them.

She really had been avoiding him for the last several months, and her eyes widened when she saw him now. He had grown and his arms seemed more muscular. He was not happy to see her, but he wasn't shaking, and his eyes looked calm. She admitted to herself that she was impressed.

Well, ok. She was sure she was here to be punished, despite what her father had said. And Kise had a knight for a mother and had obviously been training. She was maybe going to get creamed. But she would be darned if she didn't give things her best shot. She made her way slowly to where he stood.

[Kisetukai]

 "Mom... Lenell is a girl, of course you already know this but...It's just." Kise couldn't find the right words to say to his mother, just any bit of words could've been useful, to slide him out of this situation. "Mom...She is a girl." Wait..That's the same thing. Kise sighed as he decided to be blunt with his mother, instead of beating around the bush in his normal behavior, he decided to be firm. After all, he was a man, and as a man he was allowed to do what was wanted. "Look mom!" He said raising his voice a bit. "I'm not going to fight her, she is a girl, she can't even-" He was silenced as his mother gave him a smile, a smile that had a message behind it, a message so dark that he wish he never thought about it. As he got the mental message and wrote down the mental note, he decided that he wasn't as manly as he thought. "Kise...I brought you into this world." His mom said as she kneeled down to his level, and gave him a kiss and whispered in his ear. "And I can also take you out...And nobody will know." She lifted herself back up with a smile, leaving a scared and stiff Kise. "Don't be so timid baby, stand up straight. Your girlfriend is here." She said playfully. 

Kise gave her a look of contempt as he responded, "Yeah mom, your right. Wait what?! Lenell?! She is not my...-" His voice faded of as he heard the footsteps, whether or not they were real, he was scared. Perhaps those loud thuds weren't footsteps but more of his heartbeat, his heart beating to exit his now broad chest. He was growing but, Lenell was older, so she probably grew more. As he turned his head, he saw her. The girl of his nightmares, she was a pain in his bottom since he could remember. Him never being able to beat her, because of her strength, her...Sex. She was a girl, wait no...He began to stare at her a bit as she walked up, his jaw becoming heavy for the inevitable drop. She was now...[i]A woman.[/b] Although she didn't have the features of a full grown woman, she definitely had something going, a bit of growth was evident. "Make sure to use your words baby." His mother said as she gave him a quick peck on his cheek, and met Lenell's dad halfway. "Goodluck."  She said with a small chuckle as she walked off, stopping and greeting Lenell's dad for a bit then finally walking off, her cloak floating. Kise stood with an amazed look covering his face, looking at the girl walk up, he finally snapped back to reality. "Get a grip Kise, she is almost here." A young K said in Kise's mind. Five steps away...Three steps away...One step... She stood in front of him, wearing simple clothes, perhaps she really didn't grow. Perhaps it was just....His imagination. Or perhaps the clothes did her no justice.

One thing was for sure, no matter what day it was, she always had that cane and those boots. Finally standing up straight, Kise gave her a small smile as she finally walked up to him. "Hello Ser..." He said to her dad, although he wasn't a knight, he still needed respect. He turned his attention back to Lenell, she obviously had changed a bit though, he could just sense it. Or was he sensing himself? "Hey...Lenell. I haven't seen you in like...Forever." He said a bit shyly, trying to hold back a blush he failed, quickly hugging her and holding it for a while to cool down. The hug felt so awkward he blushed more, letting go he turned around and acted like he was fixing up his clothes a bit. She even...Smells different. He turned around to face her, hopefully he wasn't giving off a bad impression, or he wouldn't hear the end from K. "Lenell. It's really nice to see you...How have you been?" He said as he looked at the ground, glanced at her, then returned to the ground. This was gonna be a long day.

[Lenell Belleste]

Kise was looking at her in an odd way. It...made her feel strange somehow. She couldn't figure out if she liked the feeling or not, but it made her heart beat a little faster. Was she scared? Well, yes, there was some scariness to the feeling, but she also wanted him to keep looking for some reason. He blushed after greeting her like a friend, and she blushed, too, dropping her eyes down to the ground, drawing small little circles in the dirt with her cane.

Suddenly, he was across the small space and hugging her. Lenell felt her eyes bulge out in surprise, and that strange, blushy, scary feeling spread to her stomach to make little flutters. He was stronger, and she was glad, because she felt like she might fall if he didn't have such a good hold on her.

He let her go and stepped back. She glanced quickly over at her father, wondering what he thought of all this. He was still there, leaning casually against the fence, but seemed to be looking the other direction, entirely uninterested. More strangeness. Her father usually watched her very carefully when they were out together.

Lenell swallowed and walked a step closer to Kise. "I'm ok. I've been um..." What did grownups say at times like this? "I've been busy." She drew a little closer still, suddenly wishing she had insisted on wearing one of her pretty new scarves at least. She watched him looking at the ground, and tried to think of what she wanted to say. What would this new Lenell, this Lenell that was a lady, say?

"I'm...I'm sorry, Kise. I'm sorry I was so mean. It wasn't you, really. The other kids, they teased me and hurt me and I guess I just got mad sometimes. If we still have to fight, ok, but I'm sorry anyway. Maybe we could kind of plan things out? If we have to fight? If we whisper, we could plan it."

He still wasn't looking up. She was surprised to find she meant her apology, was really ashamed of how she had acted towards him. What else could she say to him to show him she meant it? Suddenly, she remembered something she saw big girls do to boys sometimes. The boys seemed to like it. She glanced quickly at her father again, saw he still wasn't watching, then stepped right up to Kise before she lost her nerve, and kissed him on the cheek. She was shocked to find that boys tasted nice.

She stepped back again. "That's to show I mean it. Was it ok?"

[Kisetukai]

 "I'm ok. I've been um..." What did grownups say at times like this? "I've been busy." 

The words Lenell spoke were enough, more than enough, to prove him right. She had changed, she had grew, she wasn't a girl any longer. Perhaps she just wore clothes like that to make him feel better, but even so he didn't care of the clothes, he cared of what she was now like. She seemed also shy and tense but Kise couldn't notice it, not with his blood boiling from nervousness, his body already had enough going on. With all the changes, this was crazy, not something he was prepared for to say the least. He sucked up a bit of air and prepared to look up, but before he could speak and perform his actions, she beat him to the punch. Her soft voice canceling his instantly, just forced him to listen to what she had to say. "I'm...I'm sorry, Kise. I'm sorry I was so mean. It wasn't you, really. The other kids, they teased me and hurt me and I guess I just got mad sometimes. If we still have to fight, ok, but I'm sorry anyway. Maybe we could kind of plan things out? If we have to fight? If we whisper, we could plan it." Kise heard what she had said and began to contemplate, a bit embarrassed but not shocked at her mentioning of beating him up, after all it did happen. But nonetheless he just couldn't bring himself to look at her, he just couldn't. 

He knew the other kids teased her but...She took it out on him? "That little wench. She was beating you up the whole time to take out her anger?" K said sliding back in. "That's petched up...Kise we are stronger now...We should punch her. More than once. Real hard. Just knock her the petch out with a swift uppercuts, and tell her dad it was dehydration and then-" "No K...We can't do that. Yes it was wrong but she seems sorry." Kise said softly to his mental counterpart. "Words ain't crap Kise. Just because she says it doesn't mean she actually mean-" K's voice faded off as Lenell planted a soft kiss on Kise's cheek. "Ok point taken. Even I felt that." Kise's conversation with K stopped as he was immediately shocked. His jaw quickly dropping, a flow of feelings rushing to his mind, his face and...His other mind. As in down there. He quickly shook his head as he she spoke softly to him, causing a feeling that he didn't want to leave enter his body. 

She stepped back again. "That's to show I mean it. Was it ok?"

"....." Kise moved his mouth in a talking motion but the words never came out, exiting as small gasp as he looked around timidly. Quickly shooting his eyes to her dad who was looking away he quickly questioned himself. "How much did he see? I hope he doesn't think I'm trying to give her...Cooties? Oh dear gods. Do I have the cooties now that I have been kissed?" Kise shouted inside his mind. "Well if that's what the cooties feels like...I wanna get more infected." K said with a chuckle subconsciously. "Shut up K this is serious." Kise said once again dismissing the conversation. He quickly snapped back to Lenell, finally deciding to speak as he watched her. "Yeah...I..I understand." He said fidgeting a bit from the pleasure, the thought replaying in his head constantly. "So...You've been busy huh?" He asked trying to match her matureness. "Wait... Am I supposed to kiss you back?" He looked at her intently, his eyes getting bigger at his next question waiting for an answer. 

"Wait! Are we...Boyfriend and girlfriend now?!"

[Lenell Belleste]

Lenell watched as Kise grew quiet after she kissed him. She swallowed a funny, nervous knot in her throat. Kise seemed to be thinking. He had an interesting way of thinking, she had noticed it before. His face changed from looking sad to mad to happy very quickly. She supposed it was his was of talking to himself in his head. She did that too sometimes, when she had something hard to think about.

She held her breath, then let it out in a big sigh when his face settled into a kind expression. Things must be all right, because he was acting nice, too. He was talking like a grown up. She liked that. It made her feel like more of a grown up herself.

She sighed at his last question. Wouldn't it be great to have a boyfriend? None of the other girls her age had one yet, and "fighter" boys were especially valued for some reason. Still, she knew what she had to say. "I would like to be your girlfriend very much, Kise, but....my mother says I am a lady now, but that ladies don't get to have boyfriends till they are older."

She worried that maybe she had hurt his feelings with that. It wasn't her rule, she didn't like it, but maybe it still hurt. He seemed to have liked the kiss. She tried to think of other things big girls and women did to make boys happy. She could remember her mother and her aunt laughing privately together one day about "stroking the male ego." Well, she didn't know what part of a boy was his ego, but it seemed to be stroked by compliments. Ok, she could try that.

"You are a gentleman now, of course. You must have been a gentleman before I was a lady. That would be the only reason you didn't beat me up as a kid. Of course you could have won, always. I mean, you are very strong and brave." She shyly looked back down at the ground and fiddled with her cane again. "You know, I have some new pretty dresses now. i think they are nice, but Father wouldn't let me wear one to come here. I wish he had, so I could show you. " She glanced at her father again. He was still looking away. She began to blush. "I...you don't have to kiss me back, but you can if you want. I think that would be nice."

[Kisetukai]

  "I would like to be your girlfriend very much, Kise, but....my mother says I am a lady now, but that ladies don't get to have boyfriends till they are older." Lenell had never spoke more relieving words, as Kise let out a silent sigh, he couldn't help but have another conversation with K. "You heard that?" Kise asked K happily. "Heck yeah! We are off the hook!" K said happily. "I thought when she kissed us that we were gonna have to get married!" "Yeah...Then we were gonna have to get a house and buy a baby..." Kise said. "Wait...Where do you buy a baby?" "Beats me...Seriously." K said, admitting defeat. She then spoke again, causing his heart to thud a bit harder. 

You are a gentleman now, of course. You must have been a gentleman before I was a lady. That would be the only reason you didn't beat me up as a kid. Of course you could have won, always. I mean, you are very strong and brave. 

His arms and legs immediately felt stronger, more reinforced with her kind words, he could feel it. Her words were kind but were they true? Were they the truth? "K...Are we really stronger? Sure..Have gotten a little bigger but..." Kise asked with his voice fading off. "Of course we are, be confident. Girls often go for the confident cool guy like me, so be more like me." K said boasting his personality. 

 "You know, I have some new pretty dresses now. i think they are nice, but Father wouldn't let me wear one to come here. I wish he had, so I could show you. " ....... Kise really did want to see her in her adult clothes, after all she was older now. But why him? Why would she still like him, he was just a kid and she was a woman. He wasn't even the same age as her, and she was always just that older girl. She was always ahead, always mature. Even if she did beat him up a lot, she was still.... Lenell 

"I...you don't have to kiss me back, but you can if you want. I think that would be nice." 

Kise's heart turned into the drum of a thousand drums, beating and thumping, pumping blood everywhere. His body became more active at the thought and he pretty much began to like it. His body reacting to the thought of kissing her, returning the favor she had so nicely gave to him. He couldn't take it...Even if it was wrong he wouldn't want to be right. Maybe a kiss is not so bad...Maybe the cooties don't exist. Maybe...We should get married?...

"Do it Kise...We can marry her and then take her cookies. I think it's a good plan..." K said with his arrogant voice. "Haha stop K your silly. I'm gonna do this ok? We are...A man now." Kise said as he dismissed K. He quickly looked at her dad, he still was looking away, and took a step up to Lenell. "You know...It's only fair if I do it back." He said kicking a small rock to the side. "I promise I will make it quick." He looked at her dad once more, and leaned in, planting a soft kiss on her right cheek. Instantly he was lost in bliss, it felt so right yet it felt so wrong, it was nice...It was...Amazing. He then opened his eyes to find he had been kissing her for more than five seconds, his little warm soft lips almost clamping at her cheek, this was no peck. Shyly he pulled away and stepped back, blushing a bit and looking at her dad nervously. "So...How was it? Do you feel different?" He looked in her eyes to see if she changed hopefully, they could both get over their shyness and actually talk. Before hearing her response he came with another question. "So...Watcha wanna do now? I mean we gotta do something." Not the coolest line, but atleast it got the ball rolling.

[Lenell Belleste]

Lenell's eyes bulged as Kise's lips touched her cheek. It seemed to last a long time, but she didn't move. She felt her cheek grow all warm and the warmth spread out. Her toes began wiggling in her boots, even the ones on her funny left foot. She couldn't breathe till he stepped away.

She thought about his question. Did she feel different? Well, yes she did. She had never understood why bigger girls wanted to do something so gross as kiss a boy, but now she could. It was confusing, but it did make you feel nice. Maybe not quite as nice as getting a new dress or presents or a big cake, but still nice. It must depend on the boy, though. I mean, her brother was so awful she was sure no girl would ever want to kiss him. Yuck.

She turned towards her father again. He was still looking away, but he seemed to be smiling. Had he seen? Well, he had been smiling since they left the house. She loved her father, he was usually fun and nice, but he had been mean today, not even telling her why she was coming here to meet Kise or what she was supposed to do. She felt her face go angry red thinking about it. Suddenly, she had an answer to Kise's question of what they should do next. She stepped within whispering distance of the boy.

"That felt nice, Kise, and yes I do feel different. I am a lady who has been kissed now, so that makes me even more grown up. You, too, I think. And I am really mad at my parents for treating me like a stupid baby with all this. I mean, I don't know about your mother, but my father wouldn't tell me anything about what to do today. And that's just like a parent, treating us like little kids by keeping secrets. It makes me mad. So here's my idea. We should fight, but, like...make it up like I said before. My father's not a fighter, he won't know if it's real. You are the real fighter, so you tell me what to do. We make it so you win. I think that's best. And I do think you should be in charge, but make sure we get our clothes really dirty and torn up. Parents hate that, but it will be their fault. This was their dumb idea, so they can't get mad at us about it." She looked at her cane. Her parents always complained about how expensive the carvers made them, and Lenell was always careful with hers, but....her mother and father couldn't expect it to remain fine if she and Kise were supposed to fight. "Oh, and break my cane. Yeah, that will make it look really good."

[Kisetukai]

  Yes she liked it...That's good.

Kise had become more confident after Lenell had told him it wasn't so bad, seeing her nice blushed face was more than enough to be sure, after finally calming down she got closer and whispered. Telling him that this fight could be planned and safe, nobody would get hurt, and it could be completely staged. After all her dad wasn't a fighter... He was. Looking at her dad with that smile on his face, he prayed to the gods that he didn't see such a thing. He then looked back at Lenell and whispered, hoping she would understand and follow correctly. "I understand... I have a plan." He turned his gentle hands into more gentle hesitant fist, he really didn't want to hit her, so he spoke as clearly as possible. "Well...Here goes nothing." K said to kise.

"Lenell I want you to dodge my first punch by ducking, then I'm gonna tack you to the floor ok?" He sighed a bit. "Then...Your gonna roll me over so your on top and I can get dirty... After that, you tell me what you want to do." He gave her a smile, hoping she understood it all. "This is all for now so you can understand everything, we will keep going once your on top, then you give the plans." He gasped a bit. "Oh and your cane.... It looks fancy but I will break it last ok?" He stepped back a bit and replaced his gentle nature with a fake fighting face. "Alright! Are you ready to be beaten Lenell?! I'm not gonna take it easy on you!" He ran up and charged at her with a swift right straight jab, it was weak with no speed, he just gave the illusion of quickness. Shooting his fist at her, if it made contact or not, he would then go for a tackle. Landing on top of her, hopefully she would follow the plan from here, for he wasn't that heavy. "Goodluck..."

[Lenell Belleste]

Yes, thought Lenell as Kise agreed to her idea. This would be fun! She was never going to get to be a fighter lady like Kise's mother, but today she would pretend a bit. She was glad Kise had liked her plan. She didn't want to really fight anymore, not after the kissing stuff, but wrestling around would be more like playing.

She heard Kise give his battle challenge. Well, she should say something back too, right? She tried to think of something good. "Me, neither!" she yelled. Ok, it wasn't the best war cry ever, but it would have to do. "Good luck to you, too," she whispered, then ducked as his fist flew out. Wow, he was fast. She liked that.

With her bad, clumsy foot, she'd had lots of practice at falling, and he seemed to be careful with his tackle, so it didn't hurt much at all. She fought the urge to grin and laugh. It really was fun, this! She made sure to squirm about under his tackle, so it looked like she was fighting to get up. Really, she just wanted to make sure to get her clothes nice and dirty.

They were gaining a small audience. Neat! She heard people start to shout advice. One man yelled, "Go for it, boy!" She wondered what Kise was supposed to go for.

She knew they would soon spin around so she was on top. Should she make some noises like it hurt? Maybe, but not too much. "Ooh, ooh, Kise," she moaned. The man who had told Kise to go for it began to laugh hysterically for some reason.

She felt the signal from Kise to shift as one of his arms relaxed. They rolled over. The weird man yelled something even more confusing then. "Ah, a lady who likes to be in charge," he said. "Figures, for a redhead. Lucky boy!" What was with that guy? She decided maybe he'd been kicked in the head by a horse or something.

She put a mean face on before she leaned in closer to Kise to whisper, so people would think she was threatening him, not planning their next move. "Ok, Kise. You should get on top again, but let's have you push up till we're sitting and then put me on my back so we're the other way around. I'll throw a punch up, on the right, you dodge, then let's roll and roll really, really quick. Then we can throw lots of punches, hit the ground with them, but no one will see where they land, they'll just hear the noise, and we can make sounds like we're being hurt sometimes. Oh, and when I pull back in a second, say something mean and loud so people will think I've been whispering things to you to try and scare you." Lenell pulled back up, fighting hard to keep on a mad face. It really was hard not to giggle when you were having such a good time.