Billy comes to, and Lucy is very disappointed

Lucy regarded Billy’s sloppy body, laying facedown at her feet. Toppled, destroyed. Her brightest student, her club legend, her boxing prodigy, her champion - sleeping off a gentle punch to the chin. Utterly, shamefully, knocked out. Lucy frowned.

He looked so fucking dumb.

“My god Billy, what HAPPENED to you?! That wasn’t even- shit! I didn’t mean to knock you out. You NEVER get knocked out! Oh, damn…”

Coach Lucy shook her head, confused and disappointed. What a sad, shameful way for a boy like Billy to get knocked out. By his female coach trying to make a point and teach him a lesson. But she didn’t expect him to fucking slumber!

“What’s going on with you? Slow, clumsy, fragile… That’s not who you are.”

Lucy sighed. This was all wrong.

She had always admired Billy for many reasons - chiefly, his incredible skills and his glorious chin. But it seemed like he’d lost both…

And so her champion just lay there. The greatest boxing prodigy she’d ever known just lay at her feet. Beaten by a girl in sparring, then knocked out by his coach. It was a long, shameful fall from who he used to be.

“G-Guhhh-uhh-hhh… F-Fuck…” Billy lifted himself off the floor, holding a gloved hand to his woozy, aching head.

“How do you feel? Take your time, get your bearings.”

Coach Lucy’s voice drew his attention. Slowly, he looked around, trying to get his bearings. Why was he in here? And more importantly…

“Wh-What happened…?”

“I knocked you out,” Lucy said, crossing her arms with a sympathetic expression. “Take it slow, the first time always takes you by surprise.”

“The first…?” Billy shook his head, trying to clear it and get those creaky, battered cogs turning again.

“Yeah, sorry to steal it from you, but better in here than in a match. Everyone thinks they’re invincible until their first time getting knocked out.”

Billy stared at Lucy for a while before he figured out what she meant. Oh. Right. She’s never seen him get knocked out before. As far as his coach knows, he was a part of the “never knocked out” club until just a few minutes ago. He had been a knockout virgin. Billy gulped.

“O-Oh. I get it… Y-You knocked me out. For the… First time…”

Lucy’s face softened. She felt bad, taking her best student’s first KO like that. Some athletes never recovered from their first time getting slept. Should she have held back? She had thought she did, even though she didn’t think she would need to. Ordinarily Billy’s mighty chin was the stuff of legend.

“I expected you to slip that punch,” Lucy explained, apologetically. “I didn’t think it was that hard of a punch anyway, but… I guess right place, right time. Can you stand?”

Nodding, Billy slowly staggered up to his feet. He didn’t look good. But it was good enough. Lucy sighed and continued.

“Obviously, nobody can know that I just knocked you out,” she said. “But we still need to talk, Billy. I never would have normally been able to land that punch on you. And you normally wouldn’t have been affected by it even if it DID land. Getting SLEPT is a big change for you. What’s going on?”

Bilky gulped. Teetering in place, he opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out was a long, stupid moan.

“Guhhhhhnnn…”

Lucy frowned. She waited a moment, but Billy didn’t make any attempt to say something else. Eventually, Coach Lucy decided she would have to.

“Okayyy…” Lucy said, raising an eyebrow. “Is that all…?”

Billy just let out a quiet groan. Lucy shook her head. Fuck, she must have obliterated his chin just now. He was still so fucked. But that still didn’t explain his shoddy performance against Carly…

“I’m going to refer you to a sports psychologist. We have to figure out what’s holding back your performance all of a sudden.” Lucy said.

All Billy could do was nod. Obedient and stupid.

“Okkaayyyygghh…” he moaned pathetically.

Some prodigy he was turning out to be. But everyone reacted to their first knockout differently - Lucy was sure he would be back to normal soon. He was just… Having an unfortunate reaction, is all. Maybe he was just particularly sensitive to this sort of thing.

Not everyone could take their knockouts with grace. Her champion must have been one of the unlucky ones. But goodness, he looked like a groggy mindless loser… It was hard seeing him like this. Like he might fall over any second…