Early morning.
Ippo stood at the entrance of Heavenly Sunrise, wearing shorts and a plain white t-shirt. In front of him was Ying Zheng, wearing a black compression shirt and adjusting the blindfold over his eyes.
"Ready?" Ying asked.
The air was cool and chilling with the sun still not up.
Ippo nodded quickly, gripping his gym bag. "Yes! Though… why are we going to another gym? Isn't Heavenly Sunrise enough for training?"
Ying smirked and started walking. Ippo hurried to keep up.
"Heavenly Sunrise is for fighting. Real combat and maximization." Ying said.
"But for you to start boxing, you need a base, a foundation. Muscle, strength, and endurance, like I told last time and that's not what my gym is built for."
Ippo blinked. "So where are we going?"
"Silverman's Gym. The owner's name is Machio Naruzo, he's a really big guy, ridiculously big. You'll build your body there and to also learn how to lift the right way, that fisherman strength of yours needs a direction."
Ippo scratched the back of his head. "I don't know if I'm cut out for weight training…"
Ying tapped his shoulder. "You are. Trust me."
The walk took about twenty minutes through quieter parts of Yokohama. Stores were lifting their shutters, delivery trucks rolled past, and a few joggers gave Ying strange looks because of the blindfold.
They stopped in front of a modern building with large glass windows. Inside, rows of machines and free weights were already in use. A bold sign hung above the entrance.
Silverman's Gym.
Ying pushed the door open. A small bell rang.
Inside, a music played in a low but energetic way. A couple of girls were lifting near the benches, one spotting the other while laughing between reps.
Beside them stood a massive man. Broad shoulders, thick arms, with muscles stretching and wearing no clothes except for a brief.
Seeing Ying and Ippo he smiled and struck a pose.
"Welcome to Silverman's Gym!" he said loudly. "First time here? I'm Machio, head trainer."
Ying nodded. "Machio. It's been a while."
Machio squinted, then his eyes widened.
"Ying? The boss with amazing muscle from Heavenly Sunrise?" He laughed. "Good to see you, man! You bringing someone new?"
"Yeah." Ying said. "This is Ippo Makunouchi. He wants to box but he needs a proper foundation first."
Machio flexed once out of habit. "Nice!"
Ippo stared. "W-what was that just now?" Machio laughed. "Motivation. Come on, kid. Let's get you started."
As Machio moved toward the desk, Ippo leaned closer to Ying. "You know him?"
"Yeah." Ying replied.
"When I first opened Heavenly Sunrise, I needed a place to handle strength training. Machio's gym was also new back then, so we made a deal. My students train here for muscles and foundation, his come to me for fighting."
"That's... actually really cool." Ippo said.
Machio handed Ippo a form. "Fill this out. Boxing, huh? Nice choice. We've got everything you need here to train your muscles."
Ippo filled it out quickly, though his eyes kept drifting back to Machio's arms like they didn't belong to a normal human.
After the sign up they walked over to a barbell.
Machio then demonstrated a squat, showing a perfect form under a heavily loaded bar. Muscles bulging with every controlled movement.
Ippo stepped up next with less weight on the plate. He was shaky but his legs held better than expected.
"Good!" Machio boomed. "Now add weight."
As Ippo struggled through the set, girls started staring on Ying.
Two girls, one with twintails and one with long hair, were whispering a few machines away.
Every few seconds, they glanced over. The twintails girl subtly pointed at his arms, her friend nodding with wide eyes.
Ying ignored it at first, focusing on Ippo's form. But the stares didn't stop.
Finally, he turned his head slightly toward them. "Do you need something?"
They froze.
The twintails girl, Hibiki, Ying remembered from Machio's chatter, flushed bright red and waved her hands frantically.
"Ah! Uh, no, no! We were just talking about… workouts! Yeah! Your muscles looks super pro!"
The long-haired one, Akemi, was not listening at all. Her eyes were locked onto Ying's arms like she had just discovered buried treasure.
"Oh my… those biceps. The definition. The vascularity. You must do high-rep sets with progressive overload and those delts, perfect symmetry. It's like a sculpture made for fighting."
"H-Hey!" Hibiki nudged her hard. "Akemi! Snap out of it! You're doing the muscle thing again!"
Akemi blinked, then kept going anyway. "But Hibiki, you see it too, right? He's not just strong, he's handsome. That jawline, even with the blindfold... it's like a model walked out of a fitness magazine."
Hibiki turned even redder. "Akemi! Shut up! He's right there!"
Raising an eyebrow under the blindfold, Ying smirked.
Muscle fans, huh. That was new. Usually in my area of expertise it's all about who can fight well.
Nearby, Ippo was still catching his breath from the squats. He glanced over, completely confused by the scene unfolding next to him.
Before Ying could say anything, another voice cut in.
"Ippo? Is that you?"
A woman approached. Satomi Tachibana, Ippo's history teacher. She's wearing workout clothes with a towel draped over her shoulder, her face flushed the moment she recognized him.
"M-Miss Tachibana?" Ippo straightened instantly. "What are you doing here?"
She fidgeted with the towel in her hands. "I… I train here sometimes. For health! But please don't tell anyone at school. It's embarrassing if my students know what their teacher is up to."
Ippo nodded quickly. "O-of course! I won't say a word!"
Relief crossed her face. Then she glanced toward Ying. "And you are...?"
Ying extended a hand. "I'm Ying Zheng."
She shook it, her eyes widening slightly. "Oh, the boss of the gym Heavenly Sunrise that everyone's talking about lately? Nice to meet you."
Hibiki and Akemi were still whispering to each other, though much more quietly now.
Machio clapped his hands together. "Alright, Ippo! Next set! Let's build those legs!"
Ippo hurried back to the bar, still flustered from running into his teacher.
Ying leaned against the wall, watching.
Machio adjusted the plates while Ippo stepped back under the bar, still red in the face.
His grip tightened as he set his feet, trying to push everything else out of his head.
"Focus." Machio said, voice firm now.
"Doesn't matter who's watching. Focus on the bar, your breathing, and legs. That's it."
Ippo nodded and unracked the weight again.
Ying watched closely, arms crossed. Ippo's back angle was still a little off, but his balance was solid. Better than a beginner had any right to be. Years of hauling fishing nets showed in his body strength pushing through.
"Down." Machio said.
Ippo lowered himself, shaking but controlled.
"Up."
He drove through his heels and stood, teeth clenched.
"Good." Ying said. "Again."
Ippo did two more reps before his legs finally gave out and Machio helped guide the bar back onto the rack.
Clank.
Ippo stumbled forward, hands on his knees, breathing hard. "That… that was tougher than learning how to dodge in sparring…"
Machio laughed. "It's a different kind of pain. This one will stick around longer, be prepared for the soreness that will come tommorow."
Satomi, who had been watching quietly from a short distance, blinked. "Sparring? and Heavenly Sunrise..." she mused and then a lightbulb appeared above her head. "W-wait… Fighting?"
She looked from Ippo to Ying, clearly caught off guard. "Makunouchi… you're training to become a Fighter?"
Ippo froze, then straightened as if he'd been called on in class. "Y-Yes, ma'am! I mean Miss Tachibana! I'm just starting how to become a boxer, but… I want to try."
Her mouth opened slightly, then closed. For a moment, she just stared at him, as if trying to reconcile the shy, soft-spoken student she knew with the boy standing under a barbell.
"A boxer…" she murmured. "I never would have guessed."
Ying spoke calmly. "He has the physical base and the mindset. With proper training, he'll do well."
Satomi hesitated, then gave a small, nervous laugh. "That's… quite a path to choose. It's dangerous, you know."
Ippo nodded quickly. "I know. I've thought about it a lot."
She studied his face, then sighed, adjusting the towel on her shoulder. "Well… if you're going to do it, at least take care of yourself and don't let it interfere with your studies."
"Yes, Miss!" Ippo said, relieved.
Machio clapped his hands. "Alright! Squats are done. Let's move to deadlifts. With a rule of only perfect form or we'll stop."
Ippo turned back toward the bar, still a little flustered but more determined than before.
Satomi watched him go, shaking her head softly, a mix of worry and surprise on her face. "My student… a boxer." she muttered.
Ying leaned back against the wall again, unfazed, eyes hidden behind the blindfold as the training continued.
Hibiki peeked over from her machine again, whispering to Akemi. "See? Even the trainee looks intense."
Akemi nodded absently, eyes still drifting back to Ying. "That posture. Even when he's resting, his muscles are engaged. That's not normal."
Ying pretended not to hear them.
As Ippo shuffled toward the bar, Ying stepped closer and spoke quietly.
"The reason why you are doing this is not about lifting heavy. It's about teaching your body to move as a one piece. Boxing starts here, not in the ring."
Ippo nodded. "I'll do my best."
Ying nodded
He stepped back again, leaning against the wall, listening to the familiar sounds of iron and breath. Around them, the gym kept moving. Weights clanged, music thumped softly, people laughed and strained and pushed themselves forward.
For Ippo, this was the start of something new.
And Ying watched with the calm certainty that this path, brutal as it was, was exactly where the boy needed to be.
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AN: Very much a filler patch with Ippo as the center, I'm slowing down the pace so that I could charge out and push through later.
Word Count: 1,684