Going Places (For Deezcastforms)

[CaptainL]

Continued from here

"Is...this the right place?"

Spoiler

Mizuki stood in the middle of the LAW gym, looking quite out of place and feeling about twice as much so. Compared to even the lightweights, her slim frame and small stature was hardly even approaching what would be expected of a professional athlete, and she was quite aware of it; everyone she passed on the way in made her shiver at the thought that one of them might decide to pick a fight. If she was going to be hopelessly beat up, she at least wanted to be paid for it.

The girl got a few odd looks as she came through the halls, and her pace only hurried when she felt the stares of her fellow gym-goers singling her out. Still, she had come to the middle of the weight room, waiting for her friend and would-be trainer, Nikki Lane, to show up. After Mizuki had granted her a debut that went in pretty much the fashion one would expect from someone whose job here was to be a glorified punching bag, the blonde had offered to train her in the hopes of helping Mizuki stand on her own two feet, even if she wouldn't be able to measure up to some of LAW's finest. The potential was appealing, and Mizuki trusted Nikki. At least, she had, until the fact that Mizuki had been waiting here and Nikki still hadn't shown up sank in...

Mizuki gulped, taking a look around. Had Nikki set her up? With all the misfortune that had followed her in her life, she supposed it was only to be expected that the one friend she thought she had in LAW would bail on her. She reached into her gym bag and pulled out her phone, checking it for any messages she might have missed.

[deezcastforms]

Where is she? A girl like Mizuki can't be that hard to pick out in a gym, can she?

Spoiler

Nikki Lane had arrived at the gym on time, though she had been slowed down by some fellow LAW wrestlers congratulating her for her successful debut. She had come here to train with Mizuki, but at the moment was having a bit of trouble finding her partner. Mizuki having backed out did cross her mind, but she had more faith in her than to assume the worst. Eventually, she did manage to find Mizuki and shot her a greeting, "'Sup Mizuki! You ready?"

[CaptainL]

Soon enough, Mizuki's questions were answered - and much to her relief, Nikki did indeed show up. She let out a content sigh as her shoulders sank lower with the tension released from her body, coming over to take the blonde's side. "Hey..." she said, nodding to Nikki. She still kept a low profile, avoiding eye contact with anyone else so as not to draw undue attention to herself, but as she approached Nikki, she looked back up toward her, and a smile crossed her face.

"Yeah, I'm ready. How are we going to start?" Mizuki rubbed at her shoulder, getting herself warmed up. She didn't know what to expect, but at least this couldn't be much worse than gym class, she told herself.

[deezcastforms]

"Well I figure that we should start at the beginning. The stance you come out of your corner with when the bell rings is a big factor in how the match starts, and as a result, how it will end. The amount of wrestlers I see with god awful stances that put them in a bad spot before a move is even thrown out is staggering to me." Nikki explained as she got into her own stance.

"My stance is basic, nothing fancy. Shoulder width stance, favorite foot a tiny bit out in front, knees bent, you'll see this kinda thing in any sport. The only possibly tricky part, is how you lean. You want to lean forward so you can get low and really push against your opponent. It's a bit tricky to get it right though. If you're too far forward, you end up off balance and looking down at your opponent's legs instead of forward at their body. Too far back and even a weaker fighter can force you on the back foot. Finding the right balance for your stance is a touch different for everyone and definitely takes some tinkering." Nikki began to wrap up her explanation before remembering one more thing to say. "Oh, and one last thing. Do not arch your back forward to bend, keep it as straight as you can. When you bend, bend at your hips."

"Okay, now let's see you try. It's a lot of parts to put together at once, so take your time trying to set your stance." And with that, the training had begun.

[CaptainL]

"My...stance?" Mizuki blinked a few times, but she kept her eyes on Nikki, listening to her every word and nodding in agreement. After all, she told herself, Nikki was here to help her, and any advice could only aid her in her career. God only knew that she would use as much help as she could get. Still, she hadn't even realized that she had been making missteps from the moment the match began, and it was a bitter pill for her to swallow. Mizuki sighed, looking down. "Great...I can't even get the first thing right, can I?" She kicked at the ground nervously. "I'm sorry, I must be embarrassing you..."

Still, she listened to what Nikki had to say. "Okay...okay, uh..." What first caught Mizuki's attention was how many steps there were evidently involved in a good wrestling stance, and she took in a gulp. She couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed - even just listening to Nikki's description she was having a hard time keeping up. Would she be able to remember everything in the right order in order to replicate it?

There wasn't time to contemplate that - before Mizuki knew it, Nikki stopped talking, and it was now time to put it to the test. Gulping, Mizuki stepped forward, taking her place. "O-Okay...let's see..." She bent at the knees, putting one foot in front of the other as she walked herself through the steps in her head. "Foot out...knees bent...uh..." Mizuki wobbled slightly in place, raising her arms to center her balance. But already the gears were turning in her head. Was she doing something wrong? "And then, I bend at the hips...don't arch my-"

In the middle of her sentence, Mizuki suddenly felt herself falling forward, her balance giving out from under her. With a yelp, she landed on the floor, planting on her face. "GAH!" Rubbing at her head, she turned to get up onto her knees. Her face was blushing hard, and she looked up at Nikki, only to immediately avert her gaze at the thought of how disappointed the blonde would surely be with her. Mizuki winced, the thought alone enough to make her shudder. She didn't want to lose it all as soon as it began.

"Sorry..! I'm so sorry!"

[deezcastforms]

As Mizuki started practicing the stance, she looked alright, if not a little unsure. But that was to be expected. Nikki could tell Mizuki was trying to work through all the moving parts as she set her stance. Her legs looked alright, maybe a little under-bent for Nikki's taste but it wasn't wrong. Then she started trying to lean forward and began wobbling. Nikki could immediately tell she was way too far forward and knew Mizuki was about to faceplant. Nikki tried to catch her, but she was just a tick too slow. Nikki was taken by surprise. She'd seen people struggle with balancing their stance before, but this was something else. She couldn't let Mizuki see it on her face though.

Nikki helped Mizuki to her feet as the girl began apologizing for her mistake. "Calm down Mizuki, these things happen. So what went wrong was how little you bent your knees, combined with how much you leaned forward." Nikki began to explain. "Either thing on its own is fine, but together you get that. If you want to lean that far forward, you've gotta really bend your knees and get low. If you want to just have a small knee bend, then you need to lean less and stay taller. Either way is perfectly fine, now let's try again."

[CaptainL]

Mizuki's face was blushing a vivid red as she toppled off her balance. She couldn't imagine how many people might have seen her fall, and how many of them had to be laughing at her misfortune now. She couldn't even bear to face Nikki, too afraid that the blonde might think any less of her for her mistake. When Mizuki felt herself being lifted from the ground, she went tense. Her heart thumped and her stomach churned as she faced the thought of having to meet Nikki eye to eye, and to hear the one friend in LAW she truly had reprimand her. When she finally worked up the courage to turn back toward Nikki, she looked at her with the wide-eyed stare of someone facing their impending death.

Only...Nikki wasn't reprimanding her at all. Mizuki stood there for a moment, pausing. It was a few seconds before she let out a breath and her shoulders deflated at her sides. Nikki was forgiving her. She understood. It was okay. Rather than yelling at her, she was giving her actual advice she could use; she was genuinely invested in helping her improve. Her expression softened, and she looked back at Nikki with a smile.

"Okay...okay. Thank you..." She nodded her head in determination, her brow narrowing. Now that she knew what she had been doing wrong, Mizuki wasn't going to let it happen again. Nikki had given her a second chance, and she wouldn't waste it for the world. Clenching her fists, Mizuki bent slightly at the knees, leaning in a little bit toward her trainer. She teetered a little bit, and she sucked in a breath, holding a gasp in her throat. Her whole body went rigid at the thought she was so close to falling, and she braced herself...but she didn't fall. She stayed right where she was.

It was as though a wave of relief washed over Mizuki. She let out her breath and looked up at Nikki with a grin. "Nikki! Look, look! I'm doing it!!" She couldn't remember the last time in her life she had been this excited about something!

[deezcastforms]

"Yes you did. Good work Mizuki." Obviously the stance wasn't perfect, as shown when Nikki instructed Mizuki through a couple of minor adjustments. But it was good. It was a stance worth using in a real match. "Now I just want you to hold that position for awhile. Make sure it's comfortable, make any adjustments you think you want, and just letting your body get used to it."

Mizuki would do as instructed, and as Nikki examined Mizuki, she could tell that the girl looked stronger now already than at any point in their match. "Alright, I'm going to test your balance with this stance now. It's alright if you stumble or need to step back, what matters is staying on your feet and getting back to your stance."

With that, Nikki would begin to lightly push Mizuki in various areas. Her chest, stomach, back, and her side. Nikki wasn't trying to knock over Mizuki, and she wouldn't as long as Mizuki's stance was truly solid.

[CaptainL]

"I...I did it...I really did it..." Mizuki's voice carried a dreamy tone, and her eyes began to mist up with tears. A moment later, she would feel embarrassed and ashamed of herself for getting that excited about something so simple, but right now, Mizuki was too happy to care. She had really gotten something right, and Nikki was praising her. She could feel her heart quicken in her chest as her smile spread wider. Maybe she could improve after all!

She listened to Nikki as she described the next steps. "Hold the position...okay," Mizuki said. She began to nod her head, only to freeze and hold herself stiffly in place as she realized she would be breaking her stance. It felt like an eternity as she stood there, doing nothing. She gulped, hoping she was doing something right. But she didn't move a muscle. She couldn't - this was too important for her to let it slip, even if by just a little.

Eventually, Nikki came forward, testing at Mizuki's balance. The brunette flinched at first as she felt her hand press against her body, out of instinct. She half-expected Nikki to hit her, even if she knew better. But the punch she anticipated didn't come. All Nikki did was try to steer her backward. Mizuki balled her fists even tighter and bit her lip, trying to stop herself from trembling. She couldn't let herself slip. Not now.

In fact, through her sheer force of will, Mizuki didn't even budge as Nikki tested her stance. At least, not until she felt Nikki push at her from behind. Then, she fell forward a half-step, catching herself on her feet, but still letting out a gasp in surprise. "Gah-!" she cried, only to suck in a breath, clearing her throat. "Uh, s-sorry...did I do that okay?"

[deezcastforms]

"Yes, you've done well. You aren't meant to be like a statue, movement is to be expected. What matters is keeping balance when that movement does happen." Nikki was honestly surprised and impressed by how well Mizuki was able to keep her balance. Obviously this was nowhere near a ring, but her balance was legitimately good.

Mizuki was still clearly quite down on her abilities as a wrestler, and that opinion had merit. But when she had that look of determination and excitement in her eyes after she managed to keep her balance, Nikki thought that maybe, just maybe that Mizuki could leave LAW with wins to her name.

"Obviously you'll want to practice your stance at home, in front of a mirror. But for now I think we can move on. Is there anything specific that you want to work on? It's alright if you don't, there's plenty of things I could move onto. But I'm curious if there's an aspect of your wrestling that you're looking to focus on." Nikki was interested in Mizuki's mindset here, but if she didn't have anything, they would move onto submission defense.