...Little Turtle in a Big Pond?...

[Misfit_Alien]

It was another bright and early morning as the sleepy-headed Japanese woman awoke with a heavy yawn, a satisfyingly lengthy stretch, and a brush-through of her bed-head hair. Akari Ito looked out the window of her apartment to see the city already bustling just beyond the crack of dawn. Then again, this city never really slept now did it? There was always something to do, sights to see, people to meet, and so on-...especially for a professional wrestler, in Akari's case. The truth of the matter was that the Sea Turtle had been stagnating a little. Despite an impressive win record thus far, Akari hadn't truly left her mark here in the LAW federation. She had made friends, allies, a rival or two, and come across a new love...on top of becoming a mentor to a bright new star.

However, Akari hadn't really broken through many of the glass ceilings that hovered over her, and time spent overseas to work on her music production and DJ'ing passion kept her away from the ever-expanding competition. It left her feeling worried that she was falling behind. New talent was being signed every day, exclusive deals were being given to more active wrestlers, and all types of matches to highlight who would be the next big thing and potential future face of LAW's divisions...Ultimately, it meant fewer opportunities for people like Akari...who lingered around and stepped away for too long...Things were becoming more...'cutthroat'...so to speak. Akari couldn't just come back without a plan in mind, so as soon as she returned, she wasted no time, getting straight to work with her preparations to have a proper return to get back into the swing of things in the halls of LAW.

First things first, the Sea Turtle hopped out of her bed to get into the showers, going through her usual routine as she washed up and prepared herself for the day, eating a light breakfast while reading up on the latest LAW news, trying to catch up on everything while gearing up for her walk over to the gym. Almost half an hour later, Akari jogged out of her home, heading down to the city streets, moving with a purpose as the hurried pace in her step carried her forth, the wind blowing a gentle breeze through her raven-black hair as she smiled brightly. Eventually, she reached the LAW gym, looking to check out and use its newest facilities to try and improve on her usual regimens. Akari wanted to start back on her journey with a bit of a boost in an effort to make up for lost time. After some preliminary stretching, the Sea Turtle got to work with the basic exercise routine...crunches, push-ups, pull-ups, planks, etc...a lot of your typical movements and drills to get her properly warmed up and get the blood pumping!!!

Akari's Gym Attire (Normal Akari hair, not braided)

[Fairy Dragon]

The gym was never quiet, even when no one was talking, something was happening. People usually played some music or some machine was working, followed by the sounds of everyone doing their own thing. Even so, you could find a place to be calm and focused like Kyoko was jogging on an treadmill in an incline to keep up her stamina. The challenges to her reign were getting a little tougher and some people had tried to use numbers to take her down, so Kyoko needed to be ready to endure against more than one person and make sure she was capable of always being ready no matter how tired she was. Her rhythm was matched by the person beside her, Wisteria Khan to all of LAW, Sheena Akan to her. Kyoko had rarely spoken to her in this building or anywhere around LAW to reduce the chances of anyone finding out who Sheena was before Sheena was ready to tell them, or until her dad was ready to hear it since he was the primary reason Sheena used the name change. Here the noises around them allowed them to talk about LAW without needing to be secretive about it, since no one felt the need to question it. It also helped that when Kyoko was working out she had a history of being a little helpful, she been spotted and worked as the spotter for anyone working on weights who needed it, or anyone brave enough to ask and doing so meant that it didn't raise any questions why Wisteria might be willing to workout with her.

Spoiler

"Now's a good time to stop. It looks like more people are coming in so I want to get a weight bench before someone sweaty asshole gets there first." Kyoko said, turning off the treadmill and staying on it until it fully stopped, then taking her towel and wiping herself off a little while she walked over with Sheena in tow. They didn't need to start working on the bench now, Kyoko only needed to be on or near it so that people knew it was occupied and would keep anyone from trying to ask if they could use it. "You any closer to telling Uncle the truth yet? If you win a championship before you do he's going to see your name on a billboard somewhere and he's going to be pissed." Kyoko asked, asking the question she's probably asked a dozen times already.

[Bare]

Sheena huffed slightly as she ran on the inclined treadmill along side her cousin. It was always hard work training with Kyoko, matching the woman's own routine and keeping up, but the rewards were always worth it. Honestly Sheena wished she could work out with the woman more often. It had been entirely too long in her opinion, but that was the unfortunate side effect of her dual identity in LAW. After all if she and Kyoko hung out as much as they could around the company grounds it would be rather obvious who she was. Still this was a good loop hole Kyoko had found and she was going to make the most of the time.

Seeing that her cousin was slowing down though Sheena would do the same before stepping off the treadmill with the current double champ. "Sounds like a plan Kyoko." Sheena said, dabbing some sweat off with a towel before draping it over her shoulders and following her cousin towards the weights area of the gym. When asked about telling her dad the truth about herself though Sheena would look down. "Not... really. He's been so stressed with work lately I worry he'll have a heart attack if I tell him. Besides after my performance in Apex I don't think I'll be in line for titles anytime soon, so its not really a priority issue there." Sheena said softly with a small blush.

But not for the reason one would normally think of embarrassment, bur rather... who her opponent at Apex was and what had happened after. Something that she actually hadn't told Kyoko yet. Mostly cause she wasn't sure how the older woman would take it. But for now she was going to try and change subjects. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to do half as good a job as champion as you Kyoko, so far you're probably the best middleweight champion LAW has ever had." Sheena said with a smile, depreciating herself but at the same time her appreciation and admiration of Kyoko was completely genuine.

Spoiler

[Misfit_Alien]

Akari had wrapped her warm-up routine, having done all the necessary stretches and basic exercises to wake her body up and get it into the right condition. The raven-haired beauty was feeling great! She would her shoulders and neck, feeling how good her muscles and bones felt as she was properly loose, limber, and light~!!! With nothing stopping her, she decided to head to the weights section first, looking to pump a little iron to build up her arm and leg strength before moving on to her core later. She'd grab her things, take a drink from her water bottle, and move on toward the weights, walking over with her earbuds in and her music at full blast to get herself in the right mindset to lift. Her heart was thumping and her veins felt like adrenaline was surging through them!!! She was so eager to get started.

However, as she turned the corner to reach the weights section, she was surprised with something totally unexpected. Those strong muscles, that soft lavender hair, that serious expression...her fired-up heart suddenly went aflutter with butterflies in her stomach as that adrenaline turned to ice in her veins. She froze up as her heart skipped a beat and she happened to lock eyes with the most beautiful gal in all of LAW...her girlfriend, 'Wisteria'...or as she knew her personally, Sheena Akan. A soft reddish color would stretch across her cheeks as time seemingly slowed down and Akari was allowed to behold her partner's body in such a beautiful light. Every time she looked at Sheena she was just amazed. One thing Akari disliked about her was how quickly she was to dismiss her own talent and beauty. Akari wanted Sheena to see herself in the same way she did...like the goddess she was~...

[Bare]

Sheena sighed softly in contentment with Kyoko, even as she waited for a response from the older woman it was just nice to be around her big cousin who was more like a sister to her. Especially if it was going to be in service of her training and betterment as a wrestler. Honestly the only thing that could make the day better for her would be if.... "Akari!" It was as if the universe recognized Sheena's thoughts and manifested them into reality with her girl friend now being just in front of her... her and her cousin who for the moment forgot was there as her gaze locked solely onto the dark haired woman before her.

Even sweaty and in gym clothes she looked amazing. Fit, confident, brimming with energy. The picture of perfection with passion unlike any she ever encountered and more positive than almost all the wrestlers in LAW, her light. It left Sheena in stunned silence, aside from uttering her name, at the sight of her in such an unexpected encounter. So discombobulated was she at the moment did Sheena not even think of the fact that Kyoko had no idea who Akari was, or that they were dating... and once again that Kyoko was right next to her as right now here attention was centered solely on her girlfriend.

[Fairy Dragon]

Hearing about her uncles stress made Kyoko roll her eyes, not that she didn't care about him. The bigger problem is that Sheena always seemed to find a new excuse to not tell him, and given she was a woman on her own now that got more and more irritating. At first she found the Wisteria bit fun, but it almost seemed sad to hide who you were now, especially since Sheena decided to go maskless which would make the charade way easier. Still the only good thing about the training was getting to hang out with her cousin, something that became less frequent as they got older. Sheena couldn't travel due to being too young when Kyoko started wrestling and spent several years in the States, since then times like this became less frequent even when Sheena started wrestling too, she hoped those gaps would end soon. "That's been clear since my win over Tina, if not when I won the thing already." Kyoko said, taking in Sheena's praise, she was ready to keep going when she heard her mention a name and saw her staring at another wrestler, who was staring back at her.

Akari Ito. Kyoko knew who she was, she was a Middleweight challenger and one of the Apex winners who went 0 for 2 at winning championships. That wasn't important, what was important was that she beat Sheena to win Apex, it was the only reason Kyoko even payed attention to the match and the fact that Sheena clearly had something going on with her. Naturally Kyoko was aware of it even if Sheena never told her for fear it would give Akari bad luck. But now the two were looking at each like like deer in the headlights right in front of her. No one made a move, not until Kyoko spoke up. "Is this staring contest going to end soon we still need to secure a bench?" Kyoko said looking at Sheena and then Akari. "Enough gawking lady." She said in her direction, hoping to get a move on as soon as possible.

[Bare]

Sheena was admittedly definitely caught like a deer in headlights which for what its worth, was for multiple reasons. Both the stunning beauty of Akari had gotten Sheena, but also the fact that she had never formally introduced or even talked about Akari to her cousin. Hell even when going over her Apex match she barely used the girl's name during the conversation.

Now all of a sudden she was in a position where she had to either introduce the two here and now, or pretend like she didn't know the Sea Turtle, something that just wasn't in Sheena's genes. So when Kyoko broke the silent staring contest between them Sheena would blink and blush slightly in embarrassment before clearing her throat. "Oh um.. sorry Kyoko I didn't mean but uh.. this is well.. this is Akari. We're... actually dating hence the... staring contest. We weren't expecting to see each other today." Sheena said, a tone of nervousness clear in her voice as she officially introduced the two.

[Misfit_Alien]

"She-." Akari began to reply before being cut off by Kyoko Akan, Sheena's older cousin. Akari had been well aware of her long since before she and Sheena started dating. It was women like Kyoko Akan and Charlotte Ravel who really made highlights out of LAW's Middleweight division, Kyoko, especially with that 'Belly Queen' moniker and title of hers, on top of now being the current Middleweight Champion. She was the total package, alright-...it was obvious why she was the title holder. A well-earned prize for such a powerful, ruthless competitor, albeit slightly rude from the sound of her tone. Sure, Akari shouldn't have been caught staring silently, freezing up in front of Sheena at the mere sight of her, but she definitely shouldn't have made such a dunce out of herself in public, in front of Sheena's cousin, the champion, no less. And to make matters worse, neither she nor Sheena told many others about their relationship at this point, making this a painfully awkward introduction on Akari's front.

"Sorry for staring-...That wasn't very proper of me. I don't normally freeze up like that." She said, clearing her throat and apologizing, wanting to get off on the right foot and hopefully reset the situation so they could smoothly introduce their relationship to Kyoko. "Forgive my less-than-ideal introduction. It's nice to meet you, Kyoko. Sh-...Wisteria-...speaks very highly of you. It's an honor to meet you." She said, making sure to NOT use Sheena's real name. She knew how hard she tried to keep her secret a SECRET, and while Akari would prefer her to come clean about it, she wouldn't rob Sheena of being able to reveal her activities to her father on her own time whenever SHE was ready to do so.

"I figured I would just get a bit of training in today. I was going to call you later, but-...seems like things worked out." She said, trying to lighten the mood as she smiled.

[Fairy Dragon]

The two were broken from their spell by Kyoko's words with Sheena finally introducing Akari to her and that they were in a relationship which Kyoko was not made aware of before now even if she suspected something was up. Akari almost mentioning her name in public also got Kyoko to give her a shady look, thankfully she recovered and avoided making a scene. While she was sure no one was around them the less anyone said her name the better. Kyoko would bring her hands to her hips and then slowly start to walk around towards Akari, getting face to face with her and looking her in the eye.

"Wisteria you have odd tastes. She looks like an athlete for sure but I don't see any of the necessary fire to be a star in her eyes. How'd you let this one beat you?" Kyoko asked briefly looking back at her cousin. Kyoko respected the wishes of any of her family members when it came down to who they wanted to date even if she didn't like them, but she was never afraid to speak what she thought of any of them even if it was right to their faces. So despite what she just said to Akari the Belly Queen still brought her hand up to shake. "I guess it's some better than some rude cocky bitch, not that I think you find that type attractive. Hideo could learn from you." Kyoko joked to Sheena while shaking Akari's hand.

[Bare]

Sheena admittedly couldn't help but hold her breath in a bit as the introductions happened between Akari and Kyoko. While it was bound to happen she had to admit that she was always a bit nervous about them meeting, after all they were similar, yet also starkly different so Sheena had no idea how the two would interact. Especially since Kyoko could be a bit... judgmental.

Thankfully at least Akari had saved herself by calling her Wisteria rather than Sheena since the two were out in public which would earn her some points with Kyoko. "Yeah I'd say so." Sheena would say to Akari before turning to Kyoko, gulping slightly at Kyoko's rather blunt statement, saying that Akari didn't seem to have any fire to be a star, and asking how she could have beaten her.

"You.. you haven't seen her in a match yet Kyoko, trust me, she can actually get as fiery as you when it comes to wanting to win, and she doesn't hold back at all." Sheena said, trying to stick up for Akari a bit before smiling slightly as, in her own way Kyoko gave her approval, saying that Akari was better than Hideo's new girlfriend Piper, although admittedly that wasn't a high bar, but it was still something. "She's really quite wonderful Kyoko, I think you two will really get along if you got to know each other." Sheena said while looking between the two of them hopefully.