His alarm went off at the regular time of 5:15am, but his eyes were slower to replace his dream scene with the reality of his bedroom. Gone were the accusatory eyes, and slowly he began registering the familiar posters and furniture neatly arranged for maximum space efficiency. His room was small, it had probably been his mom's office once, but he had thoughtfully place everything with precision and purpose so that not an inch was wasted.

"Up up up!" he told himself, forcing his body to move and begin circulating some blood. He curled his fingers in to a first as he walked towards his weight sets, warming up his grip. As he walked passed his favourite inspirational poster, the black panther watched him with those dangerous yellow eyes as the quote leapt off the page at him "I started with nothing, now I stop for nothing". He fist bumped the panther's dark nose, and grabbed the jumping rope to begin today's workout routine.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lip as he felt that familiar warmth spread through his body. His muscles quickly woke up and engaged. Maybe his mind wasn't the sharpest in the class, but dammit he was working hard to improve and perfect what he did have. Today he had three 20-minute AMRAPs that would target every part of his body, with just two 4-minute rests in between. The phrase "I stop for nothing" began weaving and repeating like a mantra through his thoughts as the sweat began gathering at his temples and trickling down his cheek.

A second alarm went off at 6:45am, reminding him to cool down before he got ready for school. A quiet groan escaped as he breathed and released through each stretch, but it was a sound of satisfaction and of a job well done. Heading to the shower, he stripped down and looked at himself critically in the mirror. Big, strong, tall and toned. He flexed a bicep and was pleased with what he saw in his reflection, but there was definitely a lot of work still to be done.

He heard his mother call to him as he was towelling himself dry: "Your breakfast is ready, my sweet boy."

"I'm coming, maman" he responded. He was quick to get dressed, all his movements a reflection of efficiency and intensity. He grabbed a bit of hair gel before heading downstairs, giving himself his usual front flip while the dark brown side hair was kept buzz-cut short.

Throwing on his favourite red hoodie and grabbing his school bag as he ran downstairs, his mother had readied them both a morning protein shake. "I added some fresh blueberries for you, birthday boy" she smiled at him lovingly and reached as if to mess up his hair.

"Maman!" he cried and stepped back slightly with a look of mock fear on his face, but his eyes were dancing with amusement knowing that she would never dare. Realizing what she had said to him, his eyes quickly turned serious. "Thank you for the birthday wishes, but I won't be inviting my friends over for cake this year. I just don't want to lie to them any more."

"You can't keep your age a secret forever," his mom advised wisely, but she shook her head with understanding. Her son wasn't good at keeping secrets, and she was amazed this one still hadn't found its way out of the bag. But he had made this choice over 10 years ago, and she respected his decision. "Have a good day at school, however you choose to spend it."

"Merci, maman" he responded, picking her up in a big bear hug. Now that he had reached a full 6 feet, he easily lifted his mother's little 5'5" frame off the ground. She let out a little squeak of surprise, and then laughed at her own reaction. His own amusement rumbled through his chest, and he kissed the top of her head as he set her gently back on the ground. Grabbing his protein shake, Kim headed out to the door and started walking to school.

-xxx-

A/N: Reviews and comments are always welcome!

I've got a whole fun story with some of my fav side characters laid out and ready to go in my mind, I just have to write it. Not sure if updates will be on a regular schedule or in bursts so be warned.

Rating for M because I fully expect my characters to curse on occasion, and to be free to talk about lots of mature topics. All regular MLB personalities will be present, but our regular two main dorks will definitely be secondary characters during this arc.