Work Text:
At twelve years old, Senju was already a handful. Her brother, Takeomi, would often leave her at the Sano residence to hang with Emma while he hung out with Shinichiro. He would leave Haruchiyo to hang with Mikey as well. That way he didn't have to entertain his younger siblings at an age when he was only concerned with bikes and girls. He was sure his wants were more important than watching over those two brats.
That had been the plan for this day. Haruchiyo and Senju were to be left with their friends to hang out on a hot summer's day. Emma had already gone out before Takeomi got there though; Gramps had taken her out for the day and they weren't expected home til later. Senju didn't mind. Baji and Draken were there too and Haruchiyo immediately challenged Draken to a Tekken Battle on the Playstation. Takeomi and Shinichiro took off for wherever, leaving the kids in the living room for the afternoon.
There is only so long that two 13 year old boys with martial arts training can watch Tekken without wanting to try the moves though and Senju was of a very similar mindset to Mikey and Baji. So the three of them went to the Dojo to train “Tekken style” while Haruchiyo and Draken continued their tournament.
They didn't bother with their training uniforms, only Mikey had his anyway. T-shirts were fine but Baji's tight jeans came off and he just rocked the underwear look so he could kick higher. Mikey's outfit was fine to fight in, a loose fitting and lightweight fabric tracksuit. Senju was also wearing loose fitting and lightweight fabric. In the form of a dress.
They worked together to work out the moves that the characters made in the game. Gave each other pointers on what they could improve in their form. The afternoon rolled on and got hotter and hotter. It was becoming one of those days that had even elderly Tokyo natives walking around with a fan pointed at their faces. Humid and sticky.
Senju was starting to get frustrated with the skirt of her dress. She was sweaty enough that it was sticking to her legs every time she threw a kick. The boys had removed their tops a while ago and she figured that if they could train in their underwear, then she could too. She took off her dress and threw it off to the side of the room, staying in her underwear and singlet she had been wearing underneath it.
“Ah, yes that's so much better.” She said, rolling her shoulders before taking a run up to the bag and letting loose with a flying roundhouse kick. The sound of her shin hitting the leather bag was intensely satisfying to her after she had been muffled by the fabric of her dress for the last two hours. She grinned proudly before turning to Mikey and Baji with her hands on her hips.
They stared at her for a second before sharing a look with each other. Senju thought they looked almost worried. They had definitely tensed up. Maybe they hadn't realised how good her kicks were under her dress and now they were scared. She scoffed at them.
“Come on guys! Whats wrong? Can't handle sparing with a girl now you know how hard she can really kick?” She called out to them.
Baji blushed a bit before shaking his head.
“Nah, I'm done for the day.” He said as he walked off the training mats. Mikey followed him.
“Yeah, I'm pretty tired. Might go have a nap.” He said, stretching his arms above his head as he walked towards the door. Baji stopped to put his jeans back on as Mikey grabbed their tops and shoes and then they left her alone.
Senju couldn't believe it! What scaredy cats! Pfft. She'd keep training a bit longer by herself then.
Haruchiyo watched his sister from the doorway, giggling in delight as she landed solid blow after blow to the bag hanging from the ceiling in the Dojo while wearing only her underwear. He felt bad, for her and himself, she had no idea what she'd done and he was going to have to be the one to tell her. Takeomi wouldn't do it.
Mikey and Baji had said nothing when they came inside. By the time Haruchiyo and Draken finished their fight, Mikey had grabbed his blanket and curled up on the couch, silent and pensive. Baji sat on the floor next to him, not really focusing on his hands in his lap as they toyed with a piece of paper.
“What's wrong?” Draken asked them, concern deep on his young face. Baji And Mikey looked at each other before turning back to Draken.
“Nothing,” replied Baji. Draken had already seen plenty of women in various states of undress, this wasn't something he would understand as far as Baji was concerned.
“Come on guys, tell me!” Draken told them. Baji was obviously lying.
Mikey took a deep breath, “Senju's a girl,” He blurted out. Draken's eyebrows shot up while Haruchiyo laughed.
“Are you only just noticing now? She's been a girl for her whole life, ya know…” Haruchiyo looked from one boy to the other. They were both blushing lightly. Baji scowled at him.
“No, we mean…” He held his hands in front of his chest, “we mean, she's a girl!” He said while bouncing his hands in front of himself.
“Ohhhh,” both Draken and Haruchiyo said in understanding. Baji and Mikey managed to tell the other boys what had lead them to this sudden realization, and Haruchiyo had reluctantly agreed that someone (her brother preferably) needed to talk to her so she could understand why she was getting too old to be stripping her dress off wherever she felt like it. Now he was trying to get the words right in his head before talking to her. He didn't want to upset her or make her feel embarrassed.
“Niichan! Watch me kick!” She yelled across the room when she realised he was there. Her enthusiasm made him smile. Haruchiyo tried to see her for a moment, as if not his sister. He needed to see what Baji and Mikey had seen so he could explain it to her better.
Her singlet was an old one, slightly worn and the creamy colour it was once had faded so much it had lost its opaqueness. That in itself wouldn't be an issue, she was just a child, but it was this moment when Haruchiyo was actually looking at her properly that he became aware that she had started developing breasts. They were small, of course. She was still only twelve. But there were definitely small lumps on her chest, with darker spots at their center. ‘Oh that singlet will have to be replaced’ he thought as he bent to pick up Senju's dress from the floor.
“Senju, I need to talk to you,” He said to her, grabbing her attention as she landed from another almighty kick to the bag. She ran over to him with a massive smile on her face. “Put your dress back on and meet me outside.” He told her.
When Senju sat beside him outside, 13 year old Haruchiyo put his arm around her and kissed her on the tip of her head. “Senju, you know I love you, but I need to point something out to you and I don't want to upset you.” He told her.
Senju looked up at him, “It's OK, Haruchiyo, you can tell me anything!” She told him with a smile.
Haruchiyo smiled back at her. “I'm sorry, but you're getting a little bit too big to play in your underwear now, Senju. You're starting to turn into a young woman, you know.” He squeezed her shoulder tight.
“I am not too big!” She squealed, jumping up to put her hands on her hips and stare down at her brother.
“It's not a bad thing, Senju.” He told her. “It's just that it would be rude at your age if you keep taking your clothes off all the time.”
“But they get in my way when I'm practicing…” she pouted.
Haruchiyo sighed. “You'll just have to plan for that and have training clothes with you when you want to practice then. It doesn't have to be a big deal, Senju.”
She sat back down next to him and put her hands in her lap. “Did Mikey and Baji get upset?” she asked.
“Not upset, they were just a little shocked is all.” He told her. “They'll get over it.”
They sat together outside talking together until Takeomi came to pick them up and take them home.
It would take a while before Haruchiyo made the connection, but that was the day that Senju started to hide her naturally athletic body under her clothes, avoiding showing her curves whenever she could. When he asked her about it a long time later, she simply said it was because she liked to train on a whim and this way she always had training gear with her. She only ever wore skirts or dresses when she was forced to for school or events. She kept her hair short as well and whenever someone mistook her for a boy, she didn't correct them.
Haruchiyo always wondered if he should have handled the situation differently whenever he saw her wearing something oversized and baggy. He hoped she would be okay.