Rub off some of that tournament tension with some workout

Wonderful evening to break a sweat. Evelyn had this habit of her whenever she was feeling anxious or excited and it would consist in get to the closer gym and start working out focusing in doing some heavy stretches. She loved the feeling of her body stretching to the limit and coming from a gymnastics environment her limit was above the average. And why would this cheerful woman need to let some steam off in the first place?

The answer was simple: she had been invited to be the last addition to a tournament, but it was no simple tourney as it would be the first of its kind and a brand-new title would be on the line! Wasn’t that awesome? Evelyn couldn’t fit in herself from excitement so she decided to hit the gym for some training. Obviously even if the gymnast trusted her skills she had to admit that her previous experience as an indie wrestler could prove not enough for the kind of challenge she was going to face, but she decided that she would tackle it proudly no matter the outcome. She just wanted to give everyone a good show.

Evelyn groaned in satisfaction as she lay on the floor holding her hands against the mat as her legs spread in a full split. Her yoga pants and her training short t-shirt highlighted her body as she stretched. She liked her clothes flexible as she was. After some more stretches she decided it was time for some refreshment so she took out the sweat pearling her forehead with a towel as she trotted to the nearest water fountain. There she took some time to cool off and have some rest. She also took off her ponytail, letting her red mane cascade over her back. That was when she noticed him.

Among the crowd filling the gym there was this guy kicking a sandbag. Evelyn couldn’t spot where but she was sure she had seen that face before… But how could that be? She was relatively new in this league, even in this country and she used to see lots of faces when going to exercise so, why this face in particular? Well, he had quite the sweet face, Evelyn thought. The British found this guy cute and strong at the same time as she gazed at him still puzzled. Thank heavens he was so absorbed in his training that he didn’t notice the woman peeking at her. “Now I know!” Evelyn said out loud startling a woman who was drinking from the fountain. She could barely recall him because she didn’t know him… yet! Of course Red had seen his face in the upcoming tournament’s chart that was promoted everywhere! What was his name again…? Evelyn regretted not remembering, and there was no poster in sight.

“You know what? Why don’t I ask him?” she said to herself while giggling, and so she did. Without any kind of furtiveness she approached the sandbag from a way the unknown man could see her cheerfully walking at him until reaching conversation distance. “Wow, those kicks look really powerful. I wouldn’t like to be in the ending side of them…” Red wasn’t a woman to fool around so she cut to the case: “By the way I saw our face on the posters everywhere! You are participating in the Nekketsu Tournament, right?”

Grunting, feeling a small burning in his legs, the 19 year old Edward Sealgair threw another hard kick into the sandbag, taking some pleasure in seeing the size of the dent he made. Clad in exercise pants, a tank top, and shin guards to keep from injuring his leg, he had been training hard lately, trying to improve the strength of his kicks.

For good reason too. Young Edward had only just recently learned that he was going to be participating in a special Tension Tournament, one meant to crown the first holder of a new Championship Title to boot.

Since the announcement of the tournament and the brackets for each round, Edward had been... a little stressed. Several up and coming and established names were part of this thing, like Leah Shaw, Bryan Daniels, one of the Valkeries, and even former Tension Champion Ami Dasisuke, as well as a couple new people, of whom he had no idea how talented they could be.

If he was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure he could compare with those names. Not only was he the youngest fighter in the tournament and, aside from the new people, the least experienced, but he had the worst win/loss record of any of them, something brought up more than once during a recent interview done by AFW Magazine with the tournament fighters.

So here he was in the gym, trying to improve himself give himself some kind of boost. He threw another hard kick...and was interrupted by another voice nearby, surprising him. The blonde ponytailed teenager turned to see who had spoken to him...to see an absolutely stunning young redhead staring at him curiously, complimenting him on his kick, before stepping in closer towards him and asking about his involvement in the Nekketsu Tournament.

"..Bean àlainn..." he said aloud, literally saying "beautiful lady" in the irish tongue as he stared wide eyed at the woman for a moment. Despite his time in AFW, and several hentai matches in that time, his youth, general lack of social confidence with people, and the kind of raging hormones that came from being a young man in a world of sex and pleasure like AFW, caused him to still get...awkward around attractive people.

Noticing her confused expression, he coughed and continued in english, rubbing the back of his blonde head and giving her a confident grin, pointing at himself with his thumb. "Yep! I'm Edward Sealgair, tension superstar, and I'm in the Nekketsu Tournament. Just getting some training in before the first round starts."

He looked around, as if looking for something, patting his pants and chest, before rubbing the back of his head again, sounding a bit more awkward this time. "Um, I'm gonna be honest, I'm still pretty new to Tension, and you're the first fan I've actually met. I don't have a pen on me, but if you get me a bit, I can sign an autograph for ya...unless you'd rather have a picture?"

Evelyn had been gazing at the guy from afar for some time before she arrived. He looked younger than her, but had a cute aura around him. And no matter that he looked strong, his kicks had some power to them even despite his size and relatively low frame. He also looked like a diligent and dedicated fighter by the way he was training. He obviously had a great opinion on the upcoming tournament if he was willing to make that kind of workout before it.

At first Red only approached him because she thought she recognized him from the Nekketsu Tournament charts, but not even the over the top Bandit could expect such a reaction out of no one. Looked like this Edward Sealgair was not only some wrestler for AFW’s Tension division, he was also a little bit awkward around Evelyn for some reasons. After his first weird sentence in Gaelic he decided to talk in English and make a pose almost out of a cartoon show while introducing himself as a “Tension Superstar”. There was no smugness on his voice, only personality.

But what came later was even better. Then this Edward admitted being more like a rookie, and confusing Evelyn with a fan asking for some signature or photo! The Bandit liked this guy’s attitude. Something about him looked sincere and trusting while still funny and that awkward side of him was also fun to play with… And well, he had a well-toned body also… Red decided she wanted to play some more with this guy, so she would make a surprised face while she contained some fangirl screaming. “I knew iiiiiiit! It’s Ed Sealgaaaaair Oh my god oh my god you look even more awesome in person! We DEFINITELY have to take a photo together.” Evelyn reached for the cell phone she had hanging from her neck. If peeking, Ed could have a good look at the sports bra cladded breasts under Evelyn’s t-shirt.

“Okey dokey, make your best superstar pose!” Evelyn was having a lot of fun with this. She took her phone with one hand as she did a victory pose and had a brilliant smile for the photo they took together. When they were done she exclaimed. “Oh maaaaan this is amaziiiiing. I’m not ready to part ways, mind if I just stay here exercising and I look at you training? Pretty pleeeeeease?” Red would make her best puppy eyes at Ed while asking for this.

Ed blushed as red as the british girls hair as she squeeed over finding out who he was. Embarrassing as this was to admit, this really was the first fan he had ever met. Sure, he was sure he must have had SOME fans out there after wrestling on the indies a year and in AFW for a few matches, but this was the first one to ever come up and say it to him.

"Uh, yeah, a picture, sure thing!" He said bashfully, putting one arm up and flexing, smiling at her camera as her body pressed up against his, making his face go a bit red again.

This trend continued as she suddenly started requesting, nearly begging, to exercise near him and watch him prepare for his upcoming tournament, making him rub the back of his head awkwardly. It seemed...unusual to him...but then again, maybe it was normal? He'd never had a fan before after all...and those big sweet eyes gazing at him...and she was so attractive...

How could he resist?

"H-heh. Yeah, sure, you can watch me train. Just getting my kicks in, mixing in some stamina training, use the sparring ring to practice my flying moves. Gonna be a lot of tough fighters in that tournament, including a couple I've never heard of before, so I wanna be ready for anything, you know?"

He made sure there was plenty of space so she wouldn't get in the way, then threw another kick at the sandbag.

"Actually, you missed out on a real treat. My buddy Ryo, he wrestles too, was supposed to join me here today, we were gonna spar to prepare, but he had to cancel. I mean, I usually pin him pretty quickly, but would have been fun for you to see." He said casually, with a small grin, trying to make himself sound impressive to the cutie next to him.

In truth...he wasn't sure what to say. The girl seemed into him...which was quite an ego boost...so maybe he could flirt around a bit?

Evelyn had to contain herself not to burst into a silly laugh and ruin her act. Even if he tried to act cool flexing to the camera, the staggered reaction of Edward made her think he was so cute. “Oh maaaan I have to tell everyoneeeee!!”, said the British as she checked the photo and immediately sent it to some chat. Getting her phone back on its case she would return her attention to Ed as the man accepted her company as he was training. “Yayy! Let’s get to it!”

Evelyn restarted her stretching routine as she observed her partner hit the punching bag with several kicks. She had to admit that for his size he looked very skilled with his legs. Her muscles would tense at each hit with the straining force of movement as he exercised. She thought he was cute when embarrased like before, but also had a cool and strong angle, and he was quite attractive too...

She enjoyed her view stretching beyond the limits of most of the people inside the gym in a way that would highlight her body, but not in a sultry way. Then noticed Ed’s attempts of engaging in conversation and followed with her fun act. “Oh, come on! Let me say that your pal Ryo sounds like a party pooper! Booo! I’m sure he didn’t come because you would kick his ass!” She went to the ground in a full split while she stretched her body to the sides.

Suddenly she nervously got up, like something had struck her mind. “I know! You cannot neglect your training before the tournament, and I’m here so fate put me in here so you could train against… ME!” She pointed at her chest with her thumb as she said this. “Come on, what do you say to that? A little spar to help you focus?”, she used her puppy eyes again.

---

Meanwhile, in a place far from there, Kotaro was enjoying some music at home when his cell rang. He opened the chat app to see his fiancée posing with a flexing guy who looked like he trying so hard to hide how appalled he was. “There she goes again...”

Edward laughed at the red head's enthusiasm, loving the sound of her voice and accent as she put the mental image in his head of him beating up his lovable, but sometimes annoying friend, roommate, and sometimes boyfriend. "Yeah, I'd totally kick his butt!" he said, enjoying the rare opportunity to boast...when her next comment made him stop, gazing at her wide eyed.

"W-Wait...you want to...spar with me?" He asked aloud, as she made adorable puppy eyes at him again, those beautiful ruby red eyes gazing into his emerald green own, making him nervously rub the back of his head again. "Um...Um...well...it's a nice offer...and I don't want to disappoint you...but I mean...are you sure you can handle it? I don't want to hurt you or anything."

He said softly, unsure of what to do. He had no idea if this girl had any training or anything...but she certainly seemed fit...and was super attractive and seemed into him...Maybe if he just went easy on her, do just a little to impress her without hurting her...he had to admit, the pervert in him wouldn't mind rolling around with her...

Evelyn was having a fun time playing the fool. Not like she was doing that with an ill intent, just because she thought Edward looked quite cute when believing she was some kind of fan. But it looked like the charade would have to end soon since the man reacted mildly to her asking for a spar match, like he was scared she might get hurt.

“Oh come ooooon!” she nudged him in the ribs with a friendly elbow. “You notice where we are… don’t you?” Red realized Ed still didn’t get it. “Hellooooo? AFW Tension Gym? Earth calling Edward, please respooooond!” She teased the poor guy. Of course she was suggesting she was a wrestler without completely breaking her undercover. There was still some fun to get from that. “Come on, I can fend for myself. I will be ok as long as you don’t go all out! Let’s go find somewhere more private we can spar. I would hate someone spying on your tactics!”, she said while grabbing him from a wrist and dragging him in search for a mat placed somewhere private.

Though some may doubt it, Edward actually was quite intelligent. He was damn near a prodigy in wrestling, in mythology, even in language given how quickly he picked up english and had been picking up Japanese over the years since moving to Japan and going to high school here. Even learning to play the flute, a new venture, was coming along at a quicker pace than other newcomers to the instrument would have managed.

That being said, social interaction, picking up on social and personal cues, and especially those of women, especially beautiful and flirtatious women...well, that was all still new to young Edward. As a result, it honestly wasn't until she was dragging him to a spare mat that he finally got what she was subtly hinting to him.

This was the Tension gym. Aside from certain press or special events...fans weren't allowed in. Which means his "fan" here had...to be a wrestler.

Well...he was just stupid then, wasn't he?

Mentally slapping himself for not realizing it before, Edward became far calmer about the situation. This girl had to be some new Tension wrestler, so sparring with her would be perfect for the tourny. Luckily for them, the gym had multiple rooms to accommodate the ever expanding AFW roster, and it was on the south side of the gym, the farthest from the entrance, that they found a spare section that was entirely unoccupied, right next to a locker/shower room as well. Clutching the bag on his shoulder, Ed whistled as he looked around. "Huh...didn't realize this gym was so big..."

As his redheaded companion unfolded one of the big blue sparring mats, he glanced at the locker room, and looked at his own outfit. His tank top had sweat on it from his work out...and his gym pants weren't really meant for actually wrestling in. They were a little too loose, and the material trapped heat in, making his legs sweat too much. Sure, for just doing some weights or putting under his shin guards while kicking, they were fine, but they were too uncomfortable and distracting to roll on the mat in.

"Gimme a sec alright, I think I got some gym shorts in my bag, I'll go change real quick alright? There's a spare locker room there, you can change too if you need too."

He said casually, a bit more relaxed than a few moments before...at least, until he got into the locker room and opened up his bag, staring wide eyed for a few moments.

No shorts. Sure, some bottled water, a spare tank top, a couple towels, some tanning oil...and a speedo. Oh great. His mind flashed back to just earlier that day, Ryo agreeing to meet him later at the gym...and Edward telling him to take his shorts out of the wash and dry them before bringing them to him.

Of course. The tangled web woven when one did the gym and laundry day at the same time. Fuck.

Left with no option, the blushing Edward soon left his locker room, coming back shirtless, with nothing on but the slim red speedo, blushing the same color and awkwardly rubbing his head. "H-hey, I'm really sorry about this...I forgot to bring my gym shorts, and since I was going to visit the tanning beds after this, this was all I had to change into...you uh...still want to spar?" he asked, nervous about what his new...friend? What the beautiful redhead would think about all of this.

Evelyn loved the kind of guys that got so heavily flustered when a cute and hot woman gives them attention. It always was the same: a really smart dude becomes suddenly silly when they see themselves in front of a steamy girl. It reminded her to her husband a little and about how they first met so she was having fun. Not like she did this with ill intentions, she just wanted to make new friends since she was quite new at the AFW.

It was so funny for her seeing how Ed struggled to point the actual reason she might be in the gym. It took him some time but in the end he realized. “Good job Edward! You got it. I’m a new wrestler in AFW but I have my experience in an indie league, so we could spar without you being afraid of huring me.” Red giggled while guiding her companion through the complex facilities. It was a very big gym indeed and Edward stated how not even he knew the complete extent of it. “C’mon, think of this as some kind of tour for the new girl in town.”, she said while dragging him through the corridors.

Eventually they found a cool spot to practice in an empty sparring room. Evelyn released Edward as she focused on finding a wrestling mat they could use. While she was setting it her companion dissapeared into the lockers room next door to get changed. It’s not like he wasn’t properly dressed but maybe he wasn’t feeling comfortable about getting all sweaty in front of someone like her. She giggled at him.

But no matter what kind of idea Evelyn might have about Edward, she absolutely wasn’t expecting to see him appear wearing the speedo he was wearing when he stepped out from the locker. He was looking as bright red as his own speedo or Evelyn’s hair and the woman had to repress her laughter. “Whaaaaaaaat? Come ooon Edward! You have to be kidding meee! Are you trying to impress me with that outfit?” Honestly, the man was fit enough to shine in the speedo, but he didn’t have the attitude nor the self confidence not to look embarrased so the effect was cute and funny.

The circumstances had put him in a strange situation and escaping without being embarrassed was impossible for Ed now, and few he knew of what Evelyn had in mind. “By the way, I wanted to let you know before we spar, you were just so funny but I’m no fan. I’m a contestant for the Nekketsu Tournament as well, but you were SO CUTE when you thought I admired you that I couldn’t help it… Hope you understand I did nothing with bad intentions.” She said with a smile of mischief before getting her hands to her hip. “And since you want to wrestle like that I have to make things even…” Then Red got her t-shirt and her yoga pants out of the way, revealing the skimpy black bikini she was wearing below that. “Now we can start out little spar, don’t we?” she giggled at how staggered Ed must feel now.

The following moments were very confusing for poor Edward. Not only was he embarrassed about just popping out of the locker room nearly nude in front of this new woman he just met, though she at least seemed to enjoy the sight, she quickly revealed that she was not only a wrestler, as he himself had realized, but was a potential opponent of his in the Nekketsu Tournament! He had heard the tournament would feature a couple new comers to the league, but he hadn't expected he'd run into one like this! Wait a minute...red hair...british...This was...This was Evelyn the Red from the british indies! He'd seen her on the Nekketsu Tournament poster! Idiot! Why hadn't he recognized her!?

Had she come to scout him out? Test him? Wear him out before the tournament? No...no that couldn't be it. This felt a little too...random to be planned like that. She could have just asked for a match against him in that case.

Edwards thoughts on it were interrupted though, as Evelyn decided to make herself "equal" with him...by stripping her clothes off entirely, revealing a skimpy bikini underneath all of that, his jaw dropping at the sight of her uncovered body.

"...Wow..." he said aloud, wide emerald eyes openly gazing at the beautiful woman before him, clearly and very obviously checking her out...while a noticeable bulge began to appear in his speedo.

"Er uh!" he stammered, trying to regain his composure. "S-Sorry, I'm just...you kinda caught me by surprise, Miss Evelyn, I should have realized it was you...your...you have a really amazing body..." He said, rubbing the back of his head bashfully, speaking a little too honestly. "But yeah, I'm, I'm ready to spar if you are."

With that, he stepped to the center of the mat, holding his arms up in position, offering the british woman a standard lock up.