Hi-gu Do-jo!

“Oh really? Well thanks.” Julia said, laughing a bit and scratching her head after hearing Taylor’s comment. Definitely wasn’t the kind of thing she expected to hear from the champ, but she certainly wasn’t about to complain about receiving a compliment. And after Taylor got up and went to the stove, Julia turned to Junko and listened to her.

“I see. You must be really proud, Higurashi-san.” And from what she could see, Junko had every reason to be, especially considering the reputation the Higurashi family had. Being raised in that family seemed like an honor in and of itself to Julia, and she could only imagine how much work it must’ve taken to build the private gym in her home, and both raise and train her children through it, and now manage it all while taking on new pupils.

She then nodded in response to Junko’s last comment. She did feel there were some very talented people where she came from, but she understood exactly what Mrs. Higurashi meant. Nowhere else on the planet compared to the AFW, in either size or talent. It was something that made itself abundantly clear in the first paycheck Julia received, which tripled what she’d made from any one check back home. Not that she was in it for the money, of course, but it was still something that easily stood out.

“I understand. A few wins ain’t a bad start, but I know it’s gonna take a lot more work to really make it. But this place can help give me the tools I’ll need. I’m aware it sure as hell ain’t gonna be easy, but I’m ready.”

"She's not ready," Taylor chimed in from behind the others. She returned to the table with a teapot and three cups on a tray, and placed it carefully on the table. She looked back and forth between Julia and Junko. "She's not. There's no way."

She plunked back into her seat, and automatically her legs went back up on the table, one crossed over the other with her calf on the corner and her feet off the edge. "If she was ready, she'd be training me. I've got the belt, and I'm not ready. I mean, like... don't ever fool yourself into thinking you've got everything you need. It's a race, and you're either running or you're losing. Know what I mean?"

She poured the tea into each of the cups. "Anyway, I can't want to test you out. And... As far as I know Alaina is still running the ropes in there. She might be dead by now, I dunno. I should check on her, maybe." She looked in the direction of the door to the gym and swished her toes back and forth. She couldn't sit still long enough to think about tea.

Julia blinked in slight confusion at the sudden response from Taylor. And as the champ returned to her seat and spoke, she had a feeling she and Taylor weren’t quite referring to the same thing. But she did understand what she was getting at, at least for the most part. “Yeah, I think so.” she replied with a nod.
“Oh, someone’s already training in there?” Julia asked curiously, turning her eyes the same direction Taylor was looking. Her mind began to race with curious thoughts about what kind of things this other woman had been put through in that gym, as well as what Julia herself would be experiencing in there before long. Just thinking about it alone was exciting.

Suddenly remembering there was a cup of tea waiting for her, Julia returned her attention to the cup in front of her, and lifted it to her lips to take a sip. She’d only had tea a few times in her life prior to this, but she clearly liked it, and smiled as she set the cup down while glancing at Taylor again. “The tea tastes great, Taylor...or, should I call you sensei..?”

"Yeah. Alaina Sanders is your new best friend," Taylor said. "Bigger girl. Ridiculously nice. She's got a lot of potential. You guys are gonna get along great."

She sipped her tea, but really didn't have the patience for it. Without realizing it, she stood up and bounced on the balls of her feet. "So you're a flyer, huh? That's awesome. I'll be working a lot with you, and probably Akashi will work more with Alaina. ALL of us need to work with Cassie. Do you want to get started? I mean, you can finish your tea, or like... Mom, did you have anything else? We can talk more later, right?" She said hopefully, like she was asking her to stop for ice cream after school.

Alaina’s name hadn’t clicked immediately with Julia, but now it was coming to her. She’d seen a couple of her matches, and she definitely understood Taylor’s assessment that the amazon had lots of potential. Knowing Alaina was likely already training at the moment just made Julia even more excited to begin her own training. And as Taylor got up and started to bounce on her feet, Julia was feeling herself start to get antsy herself.

So when Taylor asked if she wanted to get started, it took all of Julia’s willpower not to burst out her seat and yell out “HELL YEAH, LETS GO RIGHT NOW!” And somehow, she instead manage a controlled “Sure! I can hardly wait!” She quickly drank down her tea and started to stand, only to stop and glance at Junko to see if there was anything she had to say before they got started.

Junko nodded as Taylor skipped off. "Alaina-chan is sweet as pie. Maybe the nicest girl I met..." She paused. "Though... I don't know how healthy that is..." She said and paused. "Hm.." Junko waved her hand suddenly.

"Anyway, that's neither here nor there. There's just one thing I want to check before we get you into the gym." Junko said and smiled mischievously. "Take your shirt off, fufu." She said with a gleam in her eye. "I want to see what I'm dealing with here. No doubt you have seen how muscular my daughter's body is. It's quite defined. Alana-chan as well. However, muscles don't necessarily make the girl. If you have a talent, I'll be able to find it by giving your youthful body the once over, fufu."

“H-huh??” Julia said, a mixture of surprise and confusion overtaking her features as she listened to what Junko said. “Wait, Higurashi-san...are you serious, or...?” She then quickly looked back in Taylor’s direction as if looking for confirmation, and then back to Junko again. Julia wasn’t generally a shy girl, but the mischievous look Junko wore while talking about giving her the “once over” seemed...a tad suspicious.

...Or maybe Julia just completely had the wrong idea. After all, taking her shirt off now wouldn’t be much if any less revealing than her training clothes. So, she shrugged and grabbed the edges of her shirt, then started to pull it up and over her head to take it off as asked, but moved slowly and cautiously enough while doing it that hopefully someone would stop her if she didn’t really need to do it. But if no one did, then in a brief moment the luchadora would be standing there shirtless with only her bra covering her chest.

Junko's face froze in a mischievous but serious look as Julia balked. She didn't bat an eye while the blonde tried to discern how serious the older woman was. Finally, Julia's shirt came off and Junko gave her a pleased nod. "Mmhmm. mhm." She hummed and began to look over the rookie.

She let her finger slide along the ridges of Julia's stomach and pressed into the abs to see how taut they were. Her hand slid around Julia's waist and she squeezed both sides when she was behind the blonde, treating her much like she was sizing up a rack of beef. Indeed she was, to some extent.

"You have a nice Body." She said simply. "I think you could use a bit more definition, but... maybe not too much."

While she spoke, she knelt down and squeezed Julia's thigh, pushing it off the ground and nodding. "You are a high flyer? That will be fun." She mused and stood up. "Well, I've seen all I need to see without the full body inspection, fufu." Junko's glasses flashed behind Julia as she spoke. She then gave the blonde's rear another good smack.

"Go change and hit the gym. I'll be waiting for you. I need to get my whistle, fufu~" Junko strolled past Julia and motioned to where the changing room was before she strolled pleasantly into the gym.

Taylor put a hand to her brow and shook her head while Junko did her prodding. She was certainly thorough... But poor Julia. Her first day.

"A'right, c'mon. You can check her out in training. Let's go get warmed up, and see if Alaina is still upright." She pulled off her black sweatshirt and was left in her workout clothes, black leggings to mid-calf, red sneakers, and a tight red tank top that showed off her cut shoulders and sported a white lightning bolt in a circle logo on the front.

"Right this way, ma'am," she said to Julia with a lopsided grin as she led her off to the gym. "And dude, for the record, I have never trained with a girl that didn't have boobs like twice the size of mine. I mean like, come on, at some point... I figure that's what gives me my edge, though, right? Less to worry about. Alaina, still alive?" She laughed, and pushed open the door to the gym.

Alaina was thankful, now moreso than ever for her old cross country days. She knew the others would be gone for a while and ran the rpoes as quickly as she could! At first it was great, she was going fast, learning where everything was with muscle memory not just vision and still going strong!

Then.... no one came back. She was told to go as quickly as she coul d for as long as she could. Alaina did just that. However, at the start she looked slow next to someone like Taylor. Now she felt exhausted. Her lungs were on fire, and she had to control her breathing to keep from being light headed. She kept going, doing her best.... which was barely faster than a walk.

It was then that Taylor and company entered. Alaina wanted to say hello.... but she was too tired to even do that! Instead she kept plodding on like a determined snail, slowly going uphill....