Niko hummed softly as she got out of the taxi car at the entrance of one of Malta's smaller, but much more tranquil beaches. Every beach was nice on the paradise island but this one in particular was known for having a bit less traffic than the bigger and more well known beaches on the island. It was for this reason that Niko and Tiki had selected it to hang out at and do some last minute training prior to her match against Hilda Goneril here in Malta.
Sure they could have done this anywhere but in a way beaches had become Niko and Tiki's... spot so to speak. Not necessarily a specific beach of course just the setting in general. The soft sand, cool water to soak in between work outs, and the fact swimsuits were surprisingly comfortable to wrestle in. Speaking of Niko decided to wear something different today. That being something more akin to a swim dress that revealed less skin, but enhanced her cuteness significantly. Spoiler
Now she had reasons for this as opposed to one of her usual bikinis but she doubted it would matter to her mentor. Speaking of which Niko looked around with a frown, a sun hat over her pink hair along with a beach bag over her shoulder that held some supplies they would need. 'Shit will she recognize me without all my goods out? I never thought that could be a problem.' Niko thought to herself as she scanned the hand fulls of people approaching the beach, no where near the throngs of people she saw flocking to beaches the other day which prompted this particular locale, so hopefully it would make it easier for Niko to spot her teacher.
Tiki Lowell was not on either card for either week of the ongoing Fight the LAW PPV, but she did still have a role to play. Her student, Niko Tomiji, was on the Main Card of the event's first week in Malta. Niko was set to fight Hilda Goneril, a dangerous yet very beatable opponent, in a few days' time. In the meantime, Tiki and Niko were planning to hit the beach for some training and preparation before the match. Tiki even had a surprise in store for her student's instruction. Tiki
Tiki spotted Niko on the outskirts of the beach about as soon as she got there, but noticed that she was wearing a much cuter and more modest swimsuit than she normally wore. The greenette had no clue that Niko was genuinely worried that Tiki might struggle to recognize her without an outfit optimized for sex appeal, but she was going to play directly into it to greet her.
"Excuse me miss, have you seen a woman named Niko Tomiji?" Tiki asked of the woman in question. "She looks exactly like you, but dressed much more skimpy. I'd think you were her, but I don't think Niko actually owns clothes that don't expose her stomach or cover her chest that well." The veteran was speaking in an obviously joking tone, circling around Niko in a show of faux scrutinization, "Are you an alternate dimension Niko who prefers cuteness over sexiness? If you wrestle too, maybe I could train the two of you as a tag team once I find my Niko."
Niko turned around upon hearing a familiar voice and smiled as she saw Tiki before her! Just as she was about to respond though Niko would realize what the older woman was doing and immediately pouted cutely in response, puffing her cheeks out as Tiki finished talking. "Ha ha very funny Tiki. Here I thought you'd appreciate me dressing more conservatively hmph!" Niko said with a pout while crossing her arms. "For the record I'm breaking this in for a special surprise during my match entrance." She said while sticking her tongue out before dropping the pout act. "But its whatevs. I'm ready to get to training. Especially on a beach this pretty!" Niko said while gesturing to the pristine sands and crystal blue water behind them.
"Hmm? Just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't appreciate people showing off their bodies," said Tiki. "I mean, have you seen some of the stuff I wear?" With that said, Tiki would pull on the waistband of her thong bikini bottom. "But you're right, let's head down to the beach. I do have some notes to give while we walk."
"I think your biggest problem as a wrestler is that you indulge your opponents too much," Tiki started. "Take the Sue Fisher match for example. You got into a position where she grabbed your pigtails while standing, and you just grabbed hers back. you turned it from a wrestling match into the kind of thing you see between two drunk college sorority girls in a catfight," she explained. "The only thing grabbing your opponent's hair like that does is occupy your hands with something meaningless. All hair pulling does is irritate the opponent's scalp. Sue left herself defenseless and anchored to you in close quarters. You have got to stick a combo into her jaw until she drops."
"and then there's- there's these back and forth strike battles you do," Tiki continued. "You and your opponent just hit each other in the chest over and over again, until something happens. And I think you were on the losing end of the exchange both times you did it. I was gonna bring it up after I saw you do with with Charlotte Fleury, but then you did it again with that Haruhi girl a week or so ago and you almost got three counted immediately."
"But speaking of that Haruhi match, phew," Tiki exhaled. "I don't know what to say about how that turned out. I'm glad you won, of course. But I'd have a lot more praise for how you won that if it was actually a hentai match. Though I suppose in that case, what you did was a win condition. Even if you were almost as into it as Haruhi was." Tiki paused a bit as they walked a bit further before she finished, "Didn't know you went that way though. Maybe you'll have to bring your new girlfriend to training sometime."
Niko blew out a little puff of air at hearing what Tiki said. "You kinda did when we first met." Niko said with a dead pan expression on her face before rolling her eyes at Tiki as she showed off her own sexy bikini. "So for what its worth I'd say your closet choices have been my influence on you." Niko said in a playful tone while sticking her tongue out at the woman before the two turned to start heading into the beach.
Though as they did Niko was already bracing herself for a lecture the moment she heard Tiki mention 'notes' for her. 'oh boy.' Niko thought to herself as sure enough Tiki began to unload with criticisms for her. Most notably that she gave in to her opponent's whims and fought on their level. At least that's how Niko interpreted it. But it only continued from there as Tiki then moved to her match with Haruhi, the mere mention of the girl's name bringing a blush to her cheeks.
Now admittedly Niko could admit that she may have made a little mistake there. But it was hard not to get swept up into the challenge and fiery passion of that bout! "Ughhhh Tiki!" Niko exclaimed with a pout on her face.
"In that Sue match grabbing her hair back was just the most instinctive thing to do! Besides it worked out! Same for the Haruhi match! And for the record I was on the verge of winning the strike contest there but Haruhi flipped the script last second!" Niko said matter of factly before blinking in sudden realization at the last part of what Tiki said.
"Wait you never realized I was Bi?" Niko said with a blink before shrugging. "But yeah! Win is a win and yeahhh me and Haruhi both were pretty into it. Really it was a symptom for the whole week chop battle and stuff. Its hard not too want to meet her in a challenge." Niko said, looking off to the side with a slight blush before turning back to her mentor. "I'm not sure if I'd say she's my girlfriend... yet at least but I'm sure she'd be down for meeting and training with you. Especially since you trained me." Niko said with a nod, perfectly fine with introducing the two.
"Did I?" Tiki asked when Niko accused her of being an outfit stickler in the past. "To be honest, anything between us from before we started liking each other, I've mostly pushed from my min as much as possible. id I ddo it at the punishment training session or our second match? If so I was probably trying to mock you or something."
"Just because it's instinct doesn't mean it's right," Tiki countered. "Obviously instinct is needed, and there are times when it's right, but a big part of training is trying to unwire wrong instincts, and position your mind to take control so you can respond with something better than you would otherwise."
Tiki rolled her eyes a bit at Niko's next defense. "Niko, how long have you been my student now?" she asked. "'It worked' is not a valid justification when the thing you're trying to justify is poor decision making. It just means you were fortunate that your opponent wasn't strong or well equipped enough to punish you for your mistake. The only thing that you have complete control over in a match is your decisions. If your opponent tricks you, or you get a call wrong because of insufficient information, that's one thing. But there's absolutely no good reason to willingly give yourself a worse chance of winning the match. Even if you think you can win a showdown like that, why settle? Why not o something that will give you better odds than doing what your opponent wants."
"Having said that, if anybody less than a pro Keijo player challenges you to one of those contests, but fought with your butt or breasts, you have my blessing," said Tiki. "Yours' are powerful enough that if somebody does try to test you like that, indulging them is probably up there on list of best options. Furthermore," Tiki paused to put and arm around Niko and pull her in for a side hug, "you are still having an amazing year. I'm proud of you, Niko."
Once the topic shifted to sexuality, Tiki felt like she was justified in not knowing Niko's. "Well before Haruhi, most of the time you had a match that got especially frisky, it was usually with somebody you really didn't like," explained Tiki. "So their weren't exactly sparks there, nor had I ever seen you making goo goo eyes at a woman outside of the ring either. You. . . you know what I like. Come to think of it, I'm worse than you on this, aren't I?" Tiki laughed. "I consciously chose to throw a wound in a best of 3 because i wanted dick! Haha!" Tiki then slowed down as she began to ponder something. "Although, it's not like anything other than that is especially attractive to me compared to a woman," she said. "As long as a big and strong enough toy is involved, i don't think I'd have an issue with either sex either. No clue if you're attracted to me, but we could test that sometime if you want. Your hips are definitely strong enough to thrust hard enough to get me going, in theory."
Sweat dropping a bit at what Tiki had said in regards to her feelings relating to their first match along with their follow up punishment session likely being when she did so which sounded about right for Niko. "Yeahhhh sounds about right, but I can't exactly blame ya on either front." Niko said with a wry smile before shrugging.
Unfortunately however that little detour hadn't been enough to take Tiki's mind off of her critique of Niko's recent in-ring performances. Unfortunately Niko just didn't really have any reasoning or comebacks for her teacher in regards to the criticisms. What Tiki said was unfortunately true, arguably Niko's biggest weakness was her ability to let things get away from her and get into these intense contests with others.
Really she had no idea why, maybe it was the culture around it and how normalized it was in LAW and Japanese wrestling in general. Who knows? But at least Tiki gave Niko her blessing to go into it if it involved her breasts or butt since those were nearly unmatched bringing a small smile to Niko's face in the process.
One that only got larger along with surprised wide eyes Tiki pulled her into a side hug and reiterated that she had been having a great year regardless and that Tiki was... proud of her. Something that made Niko burn with happiness and pride as she looked up to her mentor. "I... Thank you Tiki! It really means a lot coming from you!" Niko said beaming up at the woman with a smile.
Still as the topic shifted yet again Niko's eyes would get wider and wider as Tiki spoke. Obviously absent mindedly to herself, but it was a gold mind for Niko. "I meannnn yeah that's true most frisky moments I've had were against people I dislike, but part of why I'm comfortably getting into that stuff is cause of how open I am in terms of sexuality. I kinda never cared if that makes sense." Niko said with a shrug, trying to keep the conversation somewhat normal as she made her way to the part she really wanted too starting with sticking her tongue out teasingly at the older woman at her self deprecating joke.
"Seeeee we all make mistakes!" Niko shot sharply before batting her eyes at Tiki. "Normallyyyyy I'm not that into older woman though BUT if I ever made an exception to that it would DEFINITELY be you." Niko said earnestly before smirking while looking off to the side. "That and the idea of dominating you in bed with a toy is wayyyyyy to tempting to pass up." Niko said in a smug voice and expression.
"I'd hope I would be the exception," Tiki replied to Niko's comment. "I'm only old on my documents, after all. I'm in my 20s in bed." Then she chuckled at her student's picturing of how sex between them would go, "I bet you would. You always do seem to inflate a little bit more than usual when I'm the one you get to be on top of on a mat."
"But let's save the bedroom for later," Tiki said, "because now is time for the beach. And on that note, I do have one last thing to talk to you about. A surprise, waiting for you here on this beach." The Brit would let the suspense build a bit, perhaps giving Niko a chance to take a guess at what it was before it was revealed.
"You are getting a guest teacher today," Tiki said. "And I think I see her now. Lei!" Sitting in the sand was a woman who appeared to be in meditation. She didn't seem surprised at having her name called out at all. She just calmly turned her head back at Tiki with a cocky grin on her face. She jumped up to one leg, striking a martial arts pose as she greeted the two. Lei Kugo
"Hey Tiki! Nice to finally meet you in person," she said. "Can I assume that the person with you is Niko?"
"Yes," Tiki responded before turning to Niko. "This is Lei Kugo," she said. "Lei is the shifu of the Earthen Heart school of Kung Fu. LAW has an online community for its members who are involved with teaching and instruction, which is where I met her. She recently came to LAW from China in hopes of spreading her kung fu to a global stage."
"That's right," Lei said to Niko. "I was trying to ask around for good ways to find students, and Tiki offered me the chance to help you prepare for your upcoming Fight the LAW match by teaching you some kung fu. And one thing I want you to know before we start, the movies get kung fu wrong! Kung fu gets shown as 90% punching and kicking, with maybe a throw or two tossed in, so that's what everybody thinks it is! But let me tell you, kung fu has real deal grappling as well, so don't be surprised when you get locked up with your face pressed down into the sand! Heh, so Niko, you ready?"
Last edited by deezcastforms on Wed Jul 16, 2025 9:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Niko pouted slightly at Tiki's words. "I literally said you were." Niko replied kicking some sand as she did so before moving to catch back up with her mentor again as she nearly pulled ahead of her, but she did so just in time to hear what the woman said.
"Huh guest teacher?" Niko asked in surprise before turning in the direction that Tiki had pointed in and saw the woman that they were walking towards.
'Well damn.' Niko thought to herself, seeing the tall red head who looked as if she had seen some REAL fights and not just wrestling bouts. "Whoa!" Niko said in surprise as the woman then suddenly struck a martial arts pose before them.
"Uh hi Ms.Lei." Niko said with a wave to the woman a with a light gulf with how intense she seemed off the bat and made even worse when both women announced Niko would be sparring her!
"Oh! I see! Well that makes sense." Niko said before Lei got closer and began ranting about how kung Fu in movies was all wrong. 'So movies lied to me again!?' Niko thought to herself depressingly before perking up at Lei as the woman asked if she was ready.
"Yeah yeah absolutely! And trust me if it comes down to grappling you'll be the one in trouble, only you're face won't be pressed into the sand hehe." Niko said with a giggle as she mentally prepared herself. 'This is my chance to test THAT training out.' Niko thought to herself as she took a stance and got her hand up in preparation for the bout ahead.
"Lei is fine," she said after Niko greeted her. "If you were a full time student of the Earthen Heart Dojo, I would make you address me as 'shifu,' but I don't see that as necessary for a one-time thing. Hell I just called the my master, previous shifu, 'old man' most of the time! Haha! Though I think your regular teacher is lucky enough to escape the 'old hag' allegations!" Lei and Tiki shared a laugh before the kung fu master moved on to the lesson.
Lei smirked when Niko said that she would have the red head in trouble when it came to grappling. The she said, "I'm glad you said that, because the first thing I have planned to teach you is designed to end with the victim face down. So I'll get a good laugh out of it once I do it to you!" Lei then took her own stance, prepared to begin teaching.
"Earthen Heart is about both the strength of its legacy, and the growth of its future building upon it," Lei began. "I fulfilled my obligation as a student by learning the pinnacle of Earthen Heart's techniques. Then having built my foundation through learning, I was met with my first obligation to create growth as shifu once I made the decision to spread the discipline by joining LAW, by figuring out how to adapt Earthen Heart to a wrestling setting."
"I'll lead with what I'm the most proud of," Lei said. "It's meant to counter the Double Legged Takedown I see used frequently in wrestling as a means to start an attack, and it's a killer move that can win a fight on its own!" Pride bubbling as she envisioned teaching a move that she had created for the first time, she gave Niko a look akin to an ambush predator awaiting its prey. "So, Niko, begin by coming at me with a Double Legged Takedown."
