L.A.W. - League of Anime Wrestling

The LAW locker rooms were full of activity, as the wrestlers prepared for the matches ahead of them; coming and going and gathering their belongings. With so many volatile personalities thrown together, it was no surprise that there was scarcely a dull moment around.

But on this particular day, there was one woman who wasn't invested in the chaos going on around her, and a face that many of those in attendance likely wouldn't recognize - at least not on the chance they didn't follow small obscure deathmatch promotions with incredibly niche audiences, as one does. In this case, a woman with short green hair, ragged clothes, and a look of utter apathy on her face as she sat back against the corner, watching things idly. Viper Hoshiwara hadn't been booked for any matches tonight; in fact, she hadn't even had her debut yet. But she seemed to want to be here. If she wanted her presence to be known, she might have said something - but she hadn't. As far as anyone was concerned, she was here just to be here. Nevertheless, it apparently worked, as everyone thus far had either been too busy or too intimidated by her to approach her, and that was something she was perfectly fine with. She didn't have the time for their bullshit anyway, even if she was doing absolutely nothing right now.

Taking the switchblade out of her pocket, Viper tossed it into the air and caught it on the way down just to amuse herself. So far, so uneventful.

Spoiler

There was one more person with no business to conduct in the locker room that day. The young ninja Homura had been called to record a promo about her debut match; however, the recording ended much earlier than she'd expected, meaning that she now had the rest of the day to herself.

However, she didn't want to simply change clothes and go back to her dorm. Far from that. When she came back from the recording and found the locker room so full of bustle, she decided it was the perfect opportunity to do what her fellow shinobi called "reconnaissance" - in short, meeting the other wrestlers and trying to learn something about them. You never know who you're going to face in the ring the following day... and besides, she couldn't resist the chance of spreding her own name around. She did come to this federation to show off, after all!

That's why, for the past fifteen minutes, Homura walked around the locker room introducing herself to others - smiling, shaking hands, and generally pestering anyone who seemed available. Not even the nasty looks from a few heels were enough to dissuade her, so almost everyone there had at least heard the rookie's name in one way or another. Almost everyone - with one exception.

Glancing at the corner, Homura walked up to Viper Hoshiwara. "Hey! I don't think I've talked to you yet, right? My name's Homura!" The noisy ninja was in her black casual clothes, and showed a confident smile as she looked at the other wrestler.

Spoiler

Sensing the commotion coming through the locker room, Viper turned her head up, noticing the new arrival. Even still, this wouldn't be enough to change her outlook or her attitude, no less her facial expression, she merely yawned a little and blinked, unimpressed. Here and there she would overhear a few bits of conversation as the girl seemed intent on introducing herself to every single person in here, even those who had other business to do and places to be.

And her voice was just so grating, too; it made Viper wince just listening to it. "Just what I need..." she muttered quietly to herself, shaking her head. With her current trajectory, a chance meeting between Viper and Homura seemed an inevitability at this rate. And it was a moment she was thoroughly dreading.

Sure enough, it came, as Homura now stood before Viper, the confident look on her face standing in sharp contrast to the green-haired girl's permanent look of abject boredom. She shot up a glare at her, though, not budging from her spot. "I get it, your name's Homura," she said flatly. "You've only said that, like, sixteen other times this same night. What do you want?"

So far, Homura had received a mixed response from those she pestered: some were friendly, some were terse, and from some she simply got a "Fuck off". She was fine with all of those. Even a short answer could tell a lot about a person, and it was likely that they would remember her later.

However, nothing compared to the glare she received from her new mark. "Wow, tough crowd", she thought. But what kind of wrestler would she be if she got intimidated by harsh questions alone? She kept her cool attitude, even as she eyed the switchblade in Viper's hand.

"Er, I just want to introduce myself! I'm new around here, so I thought I should meet some of the other fighters. You never know who you're going to face next match, right?" She extended one arm to shake her hand, already suspecting that Viper wouldn't accept this offer. "So what's your name, miss? You look pretty strong."

Even with Homura trying to introduce herself, Viper didn't move from where she had seated herself on the ground. She looked up at the new arrival with a blank look on her face, viewing the girl before her with a mixture of annoyance and boredom. But compared to what she had witnessed going on with the others Homura had approached, this encounter seemed different. Homura had usually only given them a quick and cursory greeting before, but with Viper, it seemed, she was trying to strike up a conversation. A conversation that the green-haired girl had no interest in engaging with, mind, but a conversation nonetheless. It looked like she wouldn't be backing down from this.

There were a lot of things Viper hated; it was a list that was probably longer than the things she didn't. But out of all those things, annoying people who couldn't stay out of her face had to be high on that list. She let out a loud sigh at the sight of Homura's hand held in front of her, but it looked like there wasn't any way out of this. Picking herself up to her feet, Viper looked over at Homura, glowering at her. She wasn't going to take her hand - no, she had other ways to make her presence known.

"Eh. Call me Viper. Viper Hoshiwara, if you gotta be assed to get the full name. Now, don't you have somewhere else to be? You're in my way." Viper, of course, wasn't headed anywhere. But she'd certainly rather be anywhere but here.

With that kind of answer, Homura couldn't keep smiling. Viper was only slightly taller than her, but her aura of intimidation exceeded her stature. Speaking to her had been the wrong choice.

But now there was a reason she couldn't just apologize. Some of the other wrestlers in the locker room - the same ones she'd been pestering a moment ago - had heard the exchange and were now paying attention. "Hm, so that newbie is all talk and no guts?" Homura could swear some of them were thinking that! She had to at least show some attitude as well.

Plus, even if Viper was intimidating, what right did she have to treat others like this? Homura decided to respond in kind. "No, I actually do not have anywhere else to be. And I saw you sitting there for a good while with your empty look. You seemed pretty idle too, no?" She furrowed her brows as she spoke and stood her ground. "But I guess I was wrong! There you go," she stepped aside, opening one arm to show Viper the way in mock courtesy. "I wouldn't want to delay someone as busy as you." With this irony she hoped to get the last word; from the whispers in the room, it looked like she had left a tolerably good impression.

Homura certainly wasn't wrong to notice Viper's nonchalantness, it was something she felt more often than not. She didn't seem that concerned with denying it either, as she merely shrugged her shoulders in response. "Yeah, so? What's it to you?" she said. All the while, she kept her eye unwaveringly on the girl in front of her, not so much as blinking. This wasn't something she had any plans of backing down from, and she wanted Homura to be fully aware of this.

And yet, that jab didn't seem to do much for Homura, as she simply turned to walk away. Watching her as she went, Viper could feel her brow furrow. It was...honestly disappointing. She'd hoped that she could get a rise out of her, maybe, and put her in her place, to show her what she could expect from going around asking stupid questions. But she was just going to turn around like it was nothing? Something didn't feel right to Viper - it was like the opportunity to hold claim to her very reputation had been taken from her. And she would be damned if she let anyone get away with the last word on something. This would be no exception.

As Homura turned to leave, Viper finally left her spot, tailing after her. As she got in close, she went to shove at Homura's shoulders to pin her against the wall. "Hey. I'm talking to you," she said. Viper wanted her presence known, and she was going to get that.

At the tail of that short but tense conversation, Homura was satisfied that she could walk away with her head high. She had shown nerve, talked back, even engaged in a bit of a staring contest - that last one had been tough, for Viper looked at her more like an unblinking animal than anything else. But it was what she needed to keep her honor and reputation; maybe people would even talk about it later! For now, though, she only responded to Viper's last question with a dismissive shrug as she turned to leave.

But there was one person not yet satisfied with the exchange, and it was Viper herself. Homura's ninja instinct fired off soon after she turned, making her realize she probably shouldn't have shown her back to someone who was so much on the edge. One second later - BAM. She was shoved into the wall, feeling Viper's bodyweight pressing against her.

So this was how it was going to be, huh? Well, if Viper wanted a fight, she didn't intend to get pushed around, especially in front of all the others. "Ngh! Now you want to talk?" She shot one elbow to strike behind her, trying to escape from the pin and turn around.

Homura had certainly showed a lot of nerve, all right - and Viper had noticed. She wasn't one to take kindly to anyone asserting themselves with such confidence when she was around; she was here to make her presence known, and those around her would have to respect that. If they chose to simply walk away from her as though it were nothing...well, she would make sure she'd have a say in that, one way or another. In a flash, she was on Homura, taking the girl by surprise as she pinned her back against the wall.

Even despite Homura's resistance, Viper's demeanor still didn't change as she stared down at her coldly. "Sure, I didn't want to before. But if you're going to run that mouth of yours...I'm going to have to shut it for you."

She did, however, take a sharp elbow to her gut, causing her to stagger back with a cough as she bent over and winced, releasing Homura from where she had her against the wall. From this position, she would look back up at her newfound opponent with a narrowed gaze, assuming a stance and raising her hands. "You've made a big mistake," she said flatly, beginning to circle around Homura from a distance. The whole while she kept her eyes locked on her foe, waiting for her to move in so that she could strike at just the right time, like the animal she bore the name of.

What kind of person just shoves others into the wall like that? Homura's elbow drove away her assailant, and she turned around quickly to face Viper. She took on a stance to protect herself but, seeing that Viper was biding her time, she had a couple of seconds to think past the sudden danger of this situation.

Part of her thought it safer to quit and try to escape that obvious nutjob - but this part of her mind was seldom listened to, as she had long preferred to throw caution to the wind. She was a thrill-seeker at heart and couldn't resist the idea of wrestling down the heel that all the others wanted to avoid, especially in front of the very same wrestlers that had pretended to ignore Viper. Time to show off a little! "Hmph," she said as she resumed her confident smile. "And here I thought this would be a boring day! Don't mind if I do fight back, then."

Viper was expecting an attack, so Homura decided to play into her hand. She rushed forward to try and grab one of her arms, wanting to circle to her side and catch her with an arm drag towards the ground.