Training Ain't No Bed of Roses

Haruka was many things, but never in her life would she be considered a massive gym-goer or a lover of fitness. Her body was still comfortable and is still a looker, even compared to other women. Most of the sex that she does pretty much burns the calories that she takes in, but it never made her ugly in the heart, always a happy person, though sometimes quite shy and she was comfortable with how she looked.

That is until she met with Sakura. From that one fateful evening, their lives have changed, for the better, both loving each other like never before. But most of all, the pinkette hasn’t gotten enough of her, especially in bed! It was true love, something she had been looking for a long time, needing nothing else and simply wanting to spend their lives with each other. Forever and ever is what they’d say! Nothing couldn’t be any sweeter than this and Haruka could get used to it.

Well, not too much, since Sakura decided to bring her along to the gym fir the first time in her life.

Haruka would not forget that fateful day, that very day when she first went into the gym. The Friction Gym, hearing stories how many have gotten into fights and even had sex in one of the gyms. But if there were anyone that would convince Haruka to bring her to the gym, it would be Sakura, someone she loved and knew that she meant with the best intentions to get her healthy. It started rough, but the day went even better when Sakura began teaching her how to wrestle. It wasn’t like the time she was with Johnny; this was so much fun! Who knew that wrestling could be so much fun!? She wished she met with Lucky before.

Time has passed, and since living with Lucky, she pretty much has been bitten by the gym bug. She found herself going to the gym often, getting fitter also and she found herself getting some muscle in places she didn’t think possible! However, it was with Sakura all this time, never going without her. Well, this time, this was the day when Haruka Kanami would go into the gym…by herself!

It was still nerve-wracking, but she had done her workouts before and knew what to do nowadays. Coming into the gym, borrowing Sakura’s orange gym bra and shorts since her stuff is in the wash. The pinkette figured that she would be able to cope well if Sakura was…well…” with her” in the gym. Taking off her pink hoodie, she rested it on one of the seats so that she could make her way to the mat area, getting some stretches done before getting some dumbells, ones that Sakura suggested for her and began to work on her arms.

Estelle wasn’t unfit for intense physical activity at all. Her past as a poledancer had her pit against extreme feats of the body, being proved that she had the discipline and perseverance to achieve the learning and practicing of complicated maneuvers. That made extremely painful to admit that her inexperience got the worst of her on the wrestling department. No matter how she tried to look at it she couldn’t help but think she fell short on both matches, paying a high price for her lack of actual wrestling training. She knew what to do when approaching sensual fighting, but not being able to apply powerful wrestling holds proved to be such a disadvantage. Looking at it in perspective she wasn’t ready for her debut yet, but at least she noticed and was determined to change that. And it is not like she didn’t get anything good out of those matches, she got to meet two wonderful girls.

The AFW Friction Gym was an amazing place. It had every kind of facility and instruments any wrestler could ever need. From threadmills and regular gym workout machinery to rings and mats for spar matches, making some stopovers in the sauna or the swimming pool, the place proved to be as big and well supplied to provide all of its wrestlers the perfect place for training. And that’s not all: if what Estelle had heard around the backstages the gym was the perfect place besides the ring to get to know beautiful fighters and well, some of the rooms had locks in them…

It was a lovely morning to go exercise. The climate wasn’t that warm but the sun was shining in the sky with no chance of an awful cloud to ruin it. Estelle always considered herself a morning person so as soon as she got up she decided that it was time for her to catch up with everyone else in the division with some training on her own. She got her working out attire, some black and golden shorts and sports bra with a glossy finish, and made her way to the impressive gym facilities.

She hadn’t exercised since her second match was over almost a week and a half ago so she decided to start with some cardio to get rid of all the rust on her body. She got into a threadmill just after taking care of her scatlet hoodie and started a jogging program. In between her exercising she noticed something: it is a common thing for gyms to have mirrored walls, but the amount and the placement of the ones in that place were all over the top. It looked like everything in that place was intended to emphasize the sheer beauty of the users of said gym. If only I hadn’t come so early I could have some lovely company…

As the Swiss was thinking that the doors opened leading a lovely pinkette into the gym. She was wearing a pink hoodie and Estelle could peak some orange shorts below through one of the mirrors. She moved and looked on her face like a scared deer, waiting for the smallest noise to run away never to be seen again. Even so she was a beautiful woman with a well-toned body and Estelle was involuntarily moved to make some contact with her. She decided not to do that right away. No matter how open the AFW was she didn’t want to be seen as a creep. She continued with her workout for some time, and after a complete session of cardio she would go to the mat area to get some stretches done. After a little of stretching she would decide to make her final approach. Seeing that the unknown pinkette was practicing with the dumbells she got closer.
‘Oh, another morning person! Do you mind if I join you?’ asked Estelle while friendly smiling at her counterpart.

Haruka would admit that it took a lot to temper her nerves before she stepped foot into the Tension Gym. While she has been slowly been going to the gym more and more, it has always been at Sakura's side. It was as if they were joined at the hip, many gym patrons have commented as such. Though it was less with laughs and sniggers, might be that she was the girlfriend of a Hentai Champion but since she has been putting in the work all those months, there was something earned now. She even made a handful of friends, ones that Lucky had introduced or helped get with.

However, that is all with the guiding hand of Sakura. She helped her out with a training plan, paired with the sparring they have been doing privately. Haruka was no slouch when it came to using sex as a weapon but her body was not in the same caliber of use. The pinkette was not one to be busting out a northern lights suplex or even to deck someone in the chin. It was like a whole new different world that her girlfriend introduced her to. One that she has been slowly starting to enjoy as more time goes on. She could look back at the time where she first debuted with zero skills under her belt and had to heavily rely on her sexual prowess to edge out a win. But Haruka recently came to terms with the face that she couldn't rely on those skills for ever match. There will come time time where she won't be able to edge out a win by pleasuring an opponent. One needs another set of skills to compliment her repertoire. One truck ponies seldom get far in the wrestling business, let alone a vast federation like AFW.

Still, it took much to wean herself from going with Sakura this time round, building up the confidence to go early in the morning. Lucky might wonder as to where exactly she would be when she wakes up but Haruka would have something to surprise her! As well as a nice breakfast in bed.

Haruka figured she'd stick to what she knows and that is going through the usual program that Lucky had, but since she's not around to spot for her, Haruka had to use lighter weights to compensate. She just had to stretch a lot so that she was really ready for the task ahead. Getting most of the links out, the pinkette is now used to any high intensity workouts so weighs would not be too much of a problem. She has to focus on reps than how much she was lifting. Should make it up for it.

Her mental planning was suddenly disrupted, Haruka taken out of her mind as a voice was called out to her. It wasn't one that she recognized, but the accent is familiar to the pinkette. European, that is as much she could figure out in the space of hearing the greeting from the mystery woman to turning her head to see said woman. She sounded pleasant, cheery so it wasn't as if Haruka had done anything wrong at all. The pinkette is going to use the dumbells, not gonna leave them unracked. She knew enough of gym etiquette to know not to annoy other gym goers.

Though as she turned to face the mysterious woman, she found herself looking at a pair of breasts contained in a black sports bra, all before she looked up at the taller woman. Brunette, tall, beautiful. "Oh hi!" Haruka grinned. "I dunno about morning person, hehehe. First time doing my workouts around that time." If only she went around that time in her first foray in the gym. Would have saved a lot of embarrassment.

"Oh and sure, you can join! You wanna use the dumbells too?" The pinkette asked, stretching her triceps and lats.

Since Estelle appeared on her first AFW promo she had gotten two matches booked immediately and being honest and thinking about it with some perspective tackling her debut at that moment wasn’t exactly the wisest of choices since even if her overall physical status was alright she wasn’t mentally and physically prepared for the challenge of professional wrestling so it was only logical that the Swiss started going more to the gym. Even so she hadn’t been at the facilities many times up until now so she was still getting used to all the placement and the use of different machines since the workout she was used to was a very different one from her poledancing days. That made her somehow insecure about the way she would proceed and being inexperienced in wrestling and not knowing how to apply any proper moves made the brunette anxious. That was one of the reasons she wanted to hit the gym more, being an extrovert she could easily socialize and get to know some other wrestlers and maybe some of them would be willing to help her with her situation! At first she thought that coming that soon was a mistake since no one would be training but now it could have been a very convenient happening since she got to meet this interesting pinkette.

The woman was definitely someone who would catch Estelle’s attention. For starters she looked stunningly amazing with a round face and some beautiful blue eyes. Her body was also impressive as everything was in its proper place but she had also enough to get a good hold at it and her orange sports bra and shorts left few things to imagination. Estelle couldn’t avoid having a sneak peek at her while the other woman stretched, her muscles marking and properly defined in a way that showed that she was indeed a dedicated gym person. There was something though in the pinkette’s way of avoiding eye contact and body language that gave the Swiss the cue that the woman was quite shy, but her friendly response also acknowledged that she knew this and tried to overcome it, maybe when the partner was the adequate one? In summary, the first impression of Estelle about this nameless pinkette was a good one, and she had trusted her instincts about girls for some time so the Swiss wanted to keep more conversation. The game is on!

“Sure! Some dumbells would do me some good, but I’m not sure about how to properly use them so I would love to get some pointers if necessary, and I see you know what you are doing very well!”, said the brunette while getting two modest sized dumbells and starting exercising close to the pinkette but without invading her space. In between series of lifting she would attempt more conversation. “I said the morning person thing because this is always quite empty this early and honestly sometimes a girl just wants to be in a place that is not buzzing with activity, right?" Another series of dumbell lifting. "Am I doing this correctly? Don’t want to end up getting an injury because I didn’t exercise properly.” Estelle tried to reassure the girl's knowledge without overwhelming her. From past experiences she knew that introverts usually had confidence issues and it is so difficult approaching them, but giving them some space and confidence usually was good to get them to open, but an overcharge of conversation could prove bad because they get stressed easily around active people as the brunette. Putting it simply: she tried her best to make the pinkette comfortable with her, she did that because she honestly thought that the woman could be a good acquaintance to make.

When it came to doing anything physical, one’s body and mind need to work together as one. And that is especially true when it came to wrestling. Having a can-do attitude is all well and good, but if your body can’t do what the mind wills it, then you will be in massive trouble. Which is what was Haruka’s problem when she had her debut before she would build her wrestling ability to be something close to satisfactory. Though unlike Estelle, Haruka was forced and pushed into it by management while Estelle dived headfirst into two matches before being more prepared. Still, they both had something in common, even if they haven’t known each other than just meeting for a few seconds. Both being on the same boat, Haruka could easily understand her plight. She spent the time to get used to most things wrestling, finally gotten into the gym more and more and with her girlfriend’s help, knows how to use more new moves! Sure, they may be somewhat basic but she was learning more and more!

The pinkette isn’t one to be so extroverted, somewhere along the lines of ambivert and introvert on some occasions. But now, with her new, stronger, better body, she was more confident in handling herself without having a lot of self-doubts. It’s amazing how much benefits there could be when one works out and she was kicking herself that she didn’t try it sooner! And she looked pretty good when she came wearing Sakura’s gym wear. It was as if it gave her strength to carry her through with this gym day alone. Gone are the days when she would cover herself more and not reveal too much skin. Now, she isn’t as afraid to show it off, knowing that is part of showing femininity that so many other women had done in her previous league. And she got as to why they like flaunting what they got, genetics or earned with taking care of one’s body.

Haruka felt that having a companion like Sakura would make this day even more fun so she would indeed let Estelle join in, always looking to make a friend! Haruka didn’t need to give the taller Swiss woman her dumbells, managing to get her pair before coming towards the pinkette. “Oh, sure! I used to feel the same when I was introduced to these things but now, I like them.” Said Haruka as she came up towards the tall Estelle, bringing one dumbbell in hand. “Okay, so how I do it, you lift it up and as you go down, try to control it rather than just dropping your arm after you bring it up. You’ll get more out of it if you do, of course, use a manageable weight if this one proves to be too heavy.” She remained patient, knowing that Lucky had been patient with her and now it’s time to do the same. Though she’s kind-hearted and it does her well to see Estelle doing well and accepting Haruka’s help. The pinkette showed the way how to do it, lowering it slowly for a harder workout. “Also, remember to target your triceps as you bring it down, but don’t lock your elbows. The good thing about this is that it’s not a race; you don’t have to rush. You can always take your time to get the best out of it.” Some more advice to give, hoping this helps her new friend enough.

“Yeah, I get you. It’s so peaceful. I get why people get stuff done early in the morning. They aren’t so stressed out when they do their workouts.”

Estelle stopped exercising and then listened carefully while Haruka methodically gave her some good dumbbell advice. She payed attention as the pinkette would detail how to get the best out of her workout, optimizing her moves to achieve better results if applied some extra effort. The woman even stopped her own training to lean closer to the Swiss and help her getting the correct posture and grip to be sure she made her repetitions without any danger of harming herself and with the best result possible. “Wow, you are right! I can feel how it gets harder when you go down with your arm slowly!”, the Rose said as she was helped with the first drills. Haruka’s touch on her arm was firm since her sole image inspired some physical and inner strength, but it was also delicate, her skin feeling soft and moist.

Estelle cheerfully smiled at the woman. Not only was Haruka fit, extremely beautiful and sexy, she had also a kind heart and her attitude was just so lovely! The Swiss felt so happy about going to the gym at that exact time and then reaching out to the pinkette and being able to push her a little bit out of her shell. It was true also that once she gave the pinkette her cue Haruka didn’t retract and the conversation between them became lively and fun. Scarlet started exercising by her own in the way Haruka just showed her and noticed how she was quite true: the exertion needed to make the repetitions properly was bigger this way, but she also felt how her muscles were working harder and that would eventually pay off. She was quite proud of her strength on her legs, a gift from her past practicing pole dancing, but she felt that her arms could catch up so it was a good idea to make some dumbells, and in between the series she could continue her conversation with Haruka. “Yes, being here earlier makes your body feel even better when you have a good healthy breakfast after some sweat, and the privacy is also appreciated but sometimes you just need to practice with someone else. For example: I would have been here alone working out wrongly if I hadn’t talked to you so I’m glad I did!”

Their training kept going, being harder on her arms as time advanced. Estelle started huffing and puffing and after some time she stopped for a break while heavy breathing. Looking at her workout partner besides her she would observe impressed how Haruka’s arm muscles looked while in the middle of a series of lifting, and she didn’t look tired at all. She was, though, so the Swiss took her time to regain her strength while having some fresh water. After a couple of minutes she would feel a little fresher and more eager to continue her drills as she started again. That was the moment she realized about a very important thing she omitted when dealing with Haruka. “Oh, how rude of me! I was here talking and I didn’t take time to introduce myself. I’m Estelle Arnault, I’m quite new at the AFW Friction division so sorry if I bother you with questions…”

It took a while for her to realise that when it came to weights, it was not a race. She wasn’t in a rush to do as many reps as possible, especially when it came to working with a very heavyweight. No, it was all about the correct form. Working the correct muscles and getting the best out of the exercise. So Haruka could take her time and relax, be patient. Focusing on the form is important and she was fine with giving the Swiss woman some valuable advice. When it came to the public gym, ego stops people from growing, where they all start from somewhere. Haruka remembered where she came from, having a much softer body that wasn’t anything like the body she has right now. If only Estelle could see her back then. It could make for some good motivation for anyone starting in the gym.

But what helped Haruka isn’t just the benefits she sees physically, but also mentally. Helping out someone like this isn’t something she would have expected, Sakura’s love of fitness has rubbed up on her and now she was probably rubbing it on Estelle, though she already looks to be fit and toned. What had she been doing to get such a good form? It wasn’t just the upper body, but the lower body looked great. Especially her legs. Probably wouldn’t have much trouble when it comes to squats! “Yeah, many people would drop it down, rather than controlling the weight on the way down. It’s not just all about the lift, which is a rookie mistake, something that I, admittedly, done when I first came into the gym.” That and almost getting crushed to death in the squat machine. But let’s not talk about that. The pinkette watched as she saw the Scarlet Rose work her arms the way she showed, and she can see the muscles that are beginning to work now. No body-part deserves less work than the other. Everything must be balanced. And that is what she wants to teach as well. So many lessons can be learnt here. “I’m starting to see that. In my mind, I thought I would feel the same regardless if I workout in the mornings or the evenings, but I see the difference, you feel like you’re ready for the day after getting a good workout. Perhaps I should do this more often. I might find more that need help doing exercises correctly.”

She kept at it, having done it many times not to be huffing too much early on while Estelle would be taking a break. She wasn’t one to admire and brag how good she looked but she saw her biceps bulging with each lift and she would never have thought she’d had gotten to that point. It was wonderful. And hoped to be a great example to those that are just starting. Knowing her limits, the pinkette would pause, seeing the Swiss taking a break as she regains her strength for the next set. Haruka wouldn’t start at the same time as Estelle, mostly just checking to see if she got it right this time. Although in mid-set, the Rose would eventually seek to right a wrong that Haruka herself didn’t think about. “Oh! Well, nice to meet you, Estelle. A lovely name!” Not too sure if she would be best using the honorifics in this situation, but this was to be lax, nothing too formal. Make her feel welcome. “I thought you would be new here. Explains the many questions actually. Hehehe…” She chuckled slightly, starting to warm up more to the Swiss. “Haruka. Haruka Kanami. I have been in the division for a long while myself. How are you finding Friction? Had any matches?”

Estelle took a good sip from her water bottle and readjusted her ponytail as she observed her now unofficial training partner make some reps. She noticed how her arm muscles clenched when making the final downwards movement, marking the fact that they were indeed working hard just as the pinkette showed her. She still needed some time to catch her breath so she studied the other woman’s technique trying not to be unsettling. After all, Estelle was aware that forcing oneself to follow another person’s rhythm could only lead to an awful injury. The pinkette had her training rhythm and she had hers, there was no reason to make a fuss. The Swiss was there to beat her own goals, not someone else’s.

And she was achieving that. She had been a couple of times in the gym after her second match, but never shared any word with anyone as she always went too early. Now the Rose was noticing how unfortunate this was as meeting a more versed wrestler could prove very useful thanks to all the advice she could get. Only that small lapse of time of training had been more fruitful than her two previous sessions alone, and the company that the pinkette offered was also a welcome one. After her small break the Swiss would resume her training, taking specially into account what her partner had explained to her. She put all of her focus in mimicking the movements she had been explained, forcing her muscles to work the dumbbell down instead of just dropping her arm. It was harder that way, but the burning sensation coming from her biceps when doing so meant that her muscles were working harder like that. She smiled in satisfaction when managed to properly make a full rep at the best of her skills before replying to the pinkette. “Oh, you should definitely do that! You are a wonderful teacher and I’m sure that more rookies like me would just get the help you are giving me now!”, she said with a warm smile while looking at her counterpart’s eyes.

One more repetition. This time it was the other woman the one who was just having some rest as Estelle exercised. She noticed how the pinkette was silently observing how she made every move, so she made her best to properly execute the rep. It was a little difficult but she felt more confident now than before now that she had the know-how. “Nice to meet you, Haruka. Such a beautiful name. Am I pronouncing it properly? I’m doing my best in learning Japanese but I’m still too new in this country that I struggle a lot with the language.”, the Rose giggled as she humbly accepted how difficult it was being for her to adapt to her new life in Japan. “Oh, I have had two matches already. Seeing them with perspective I think that I wasn’t fully prepared for them, that’s why I’m trying to train some before tackling a new rival. Even so every rival I have faced has been nice with me.” She said smiling, remembering how her two rivals had been kind and attentive to her. “You are the third face in Friction that I get to name, and you are being so considerate with me as well. And a veteran, no less! I must be so lucky.”

Haruka watched closely and carefully at Estelle, monitoring her form when doing the exercises shown. While she likes to encourage letting them get used to better motions, the pinkette had to make sure she didn’t run into injuring herself. Wouldn’t do much for her first-ever person to help out and give advice in the gym, this was something that opened her shell, thanks to Estelle herself. Plus, Estelle is a newcomer to the federation and Haruka couldn’t have someone being forced out of competitive action because of her negligence. Her consciousness wouldn’t handle that. She couldn’t bear letting someone down again. Not like last time. However, her watchful eye and Estelle’s understanding not to go too hard made such a thing highly unlikely. There was no point in running someone else’s race but your own.

Haruka wouldn’t have known too much about Estelle’s plan on jumping straight in without being prepared before, but now that she did, Haruka understood Estelle’s plight. Haruka could realise that having gone something similar but her losses only stopped at the debut match. Since then, things have gotten better, especially now that she has her newer, more definite form. Not that Haruka herself intended to go in head first, she still had to be trained by AFW staff before she would be thrust into the pack of wolves. At least the debut was with another rookie. It could have been much worse than that. “Oh! Well, I guess I could be.” Haruka blushed at the idea of being a personal trainer. With her being on the gym hype, she was enthusiastic to talk about health and her experiences to help others. Being more comfortable in her skin, her confidence shows a bit more nowadays, having a new passion for talking about. “I haven’t thought about it as a potential career.” Not that Haruka herself would predict that she would be like this.

With the pinkette taking her rest, she can keep an eye on the taller brunette, seeing that she was getting more confidence and less nervous about such movements, not overthinking on it. “Yes, you pronounced it well. Japanese, like over languages, takes time getting used to. Especially our other dialects.” Which are countless but she’d instead not make the Scarlett Rose panic. “Oh, you have? That’s nice, at least you are getting experience. Though I would advise that anyone new would seek proper preparation. I had something similar happening to me, but I think that is more the league pushing me when I was still raw. I kind of made it work, but I could have made do with more development. It sounds like you do have a plan and that’s good. And you haven’t run into one of those that are nasty. That wouldn’t be the best start to this at all.” Haruka sat on the bench, folding her legs over. “It is my pleasure. Just as one of the trainers have been kind to me, I also must do the same. I wouldn’t say I am a veteran; I haven’t had many matches, ehe.”

Estelle paid attention to everything Haruka told her as she was going through another session of lifting. The burning sensation coming from her arm muscles told the Swiss that the workout session was indeed working as her now strained body was being pushed to its limit. Something inside her made the brunette feel satisfied about this, at last she was starting to get some fruits from all her efforts. As she told Haruka, it had been a little bit impulsive to jump into her two first matches without the proper training, and she still had a lot to learn but at least she managed to get on the right track.

“Well, I guess I was lucky with my rivals… I don’t know what would I have done if I had got to face someone meaner...” Estelle was no starry-eyed naive and knew that the AFW Friction league had some good people like Haruka herself but also had more mean intended wrestlers who revel greatly in destroying rookies or more inexperienced fighters like her. The fact she had never crossed paths with one of those is just pure coincidental and she would have to step her game up if she wanted to have a chance in the eventuality that she is booked for a match against some heelish wrestler.

“T-thanks… I’m sure I’m not that good at it but I try my best. I always liked learning new languages and it helps me keeping my mind clear when I’m homesick.” Estelle tended to be modest when talking about her language skills, but she was indeed quite good at them thanks to her upbringing and her properly placed birthplace. She humbly smiled at Haruka while accepting the praise.

She would finish her current series of lifting with some huffs and puffs. She was pushing to the limit to get the most our from this workout session but she wan’t fool enough to overexert herself so she decided it was time to get some rest. She would sit in the bench next to her rival but without invading her personal space. “Oh come on, don’t be that modest, Look at me, you took a clueless rookie and helped her so now she can exercise without injuring herself. You would make an incredible personal trainer! You know how to encourage people without being over the top and I’m sure a lot of people would be thankful for that attitude coming from their trainer. Gosh, I would love you to teach me more! I still have a lot to learn...”, she finished firing a warm smile at Haruka.