Burgers and Black Eyes (Himeko and Chika)

[dlamp]

"Ane-san... you know I don't really like burger places."

"Yeah, and you need to eat more than just Japanese food, runt. Beside I'm paying, so stop whining." Honestly, Himeko wasn't one for these kinds of joints either. Restaurants in general were more a pain to her than not. Being an heiress of large business and with a strict schedule more often than not, the princess wasn't exactly used to waiting on her food. But today she had an odd craving for a decent burger and need the air. And after the promo went off more or less smoothly, dragging Reiko out to celebrate seemed appropriate.

"So... where's Onee-san?"

"... ..." The sharp glare Himeko gave spoke enough of the reason. After Himeko's announcement of the Gekokujo Challenge and the physical fight that soon followed, Senso no Hana's Warrior and Pillar was still pouting over having to actually work as a wrestler in a wrestling league, and the Princess couldn't scold Nanase further into seeing the truth. Himeko's calls were blocked, her twitter contacts were blocked, Nanase even locked the Princess out of her house and had the guards refuse her inside her manor. It wasn't anything new, the two have had arguments and fights before, but the cool down period was always awkward.

"Don't worry about it." She glanced to the side, watching as a waitress brought them their food. Himeko a large burger and fries combo, Reiko were a smaller burger and new fries. "Runt, you're twenty now. Stop order from the kid's menu."

"Nyeeh!"

Himeko rolled her eyes, but said nothing more as two girls finally chowed down on their meal.

[Vc0m]

"You are paying for the burger? Now I know you called me up to talk. What's wrong?", Clara would ask Chika as the two walked into the burger joint.

"Also is Kairi with---"

"My dad, yes. I asked him to get her from school and look after her for the night."

This wasn't regular for Chika, Clara knew, but this wasn't too...irregular. She did ask her dad, usually at least once a month, for a day outside of when she had matches to look after Kairi for a day off with her friends...or dates.

Today though, she asked for a psychological release after recent happenings in her life. Part of this actually involved calling Clara up to the place the duo were walking from, the Igarashi gym, as she reqested Clara spar with her to blow some steam off.

The two settled down on the table and Chika put their orders on the counter, and before long, orders of burgers and large fries, plus a refillable soda, arrived at their table!

"So...I fired my manager..."

"Oh no! She seemed so nice. What happened? Was it because of that match against...Himeko, I think?"

"Don't remind me...", Chika sighed. Remembrance of her old life came with plenty of nightmares and sleepless nights on her end...but not many people knew about her previous life. Whenever she talked about it, she talked about it as just that "previous life". In her mind, maybe it detracted her from the fact that yes, the first 16 years of her life were that bad.

"But yes. She was someone I used to know from my previous life. I...lost control. You know how I can get when I'm riled up..."

"Now you don't remind me...", Clara gave a tired giggle. She first fought Chika early during her Shadow Lord days in UK, with Chika still believing that silly gimmicks like that disrespected the ring. The headache Clara got from this match persisted for a month.

"We haven't talked for around a week while I recovered from the match for a little while. I don't actually recall how I got knocked out...last I remember, it was a blur of red..."

Chika shook her head:

"But whatever. It was a shouting match when I met with her again, and she defused things by saying maybe we weren't good for each other as manager and wrestler. It's a shame. I really did think she was a good person."

"Will you be looking for another manager?"

"Not going to lie, having someone looking out for me and handling my paperwork was..."

For a brief millisecond, Chika finally got a brief glimpse of someone who was sitting on the next table over to them.

She grit her teeth:

"Fuck...", she thought to herself.

"Ku---", she bit her tongue before she swore in Japanese. She looked away. More than likely, Himeko wouldn't have noticed that she saw her. Her and Clara could finish their burgers before...

...she quickly got her gaze back on Clara. Thankfully, she was slurping her soda during Chika's, now 3 second, pause:

"...was nice...yeah. Sorry the word slipped my mind for a moment, hahah...", Chika would try and defend herself, getting a slightly suspicious look from Clara, who knew her friends English was, by this point, incredibly fluent.

[dlamp]

Honestly, it had been awhile since Himeko enjoyed a decent burger. Most of the employees at her place only cooked the really expensive stuff or some intense, calorie-counted health shit that was meant to keep her body in good condition. A good call all things considered, but even the Princess liked to eat normal and even fattier foods every now and then. And seeing Reiko stare at western food like it was some alien technology was alwa-

"... ... ..." The... fuck?

She looked away the second they met eyes, but Himeko knew damn well who just entered the restaurant. Fuckin' hell... Well, her meal was ruined now. Actually, her day was ruined now. The fact that Chika didn't bother to just to around go to some other fucking restaurant with her foreigner friend was annoying enough. No, she had to sit right across from them too, where her and Himeko were practically forced to make eye contact.

"Ane-san?"

Himeko's eyes flicked over to Reiko, who was canting her head.

"What, runt?"

"You look super-pissed. Something wrong with your food."

"Aren't I always super-pissed?"

That got a scoff from Reiko, who just went back to eating. Himeko, however, had her eyes focused on Chika, staring at her expectantly, as if waiting for some kind of reaction or sign from her.

[Vc0m]

Chika quickly looked at Himeko, and tried to hear what she was talking about. The woman with her said that she looked pissed. That'd make 2 of them...although Chika managed to keep her emotions in check. With a quick exhale, she managed to keep her disposition at their table neighboor a secret...

...though Clara's expression told her something was wrong.

Shaking her head, Chika tried to return to the previous dialogue.

"Yeah, I am not sure. Handling contracts for matches took a lot of my time. It definitely would help if I could hire someone, but I don't like to actively ask for help like that."

"Um...I could potentially sort those out for you?"

Chika wondered for a bit, but then shook her head: "No...no. It's one thing to ask a woman who's job it is to handle stuff like that, quite another for a friend, a wrestling rival and my daughter's babysitter to pile on another thing on her plate for me.", Chika earnestly smiled to Clara.

"It really wouldn't be har---"

"Seriously, it's fine.", Chika tried to leave matter at that, as her vision once again wandered to Himeko sitting a good way away from her, Chika lightly gritting her teeth in her mouth:

"It's fine. We'll finish our burgers and leave for somewhere else. I will request a match with her tomorrow. I won't start anything in a restaurant...I will not...", she tried to say to herself in her mind, but the thoughts of anger, of unfinished business with the Yakuza heiress...they were overwhelming...

[dlamp]

Himeko's eyes shifted from Chika to Reiko as they ate. They were a bit too far for Himeko to hear, but the nice thing about being a crime boss's daughter is she learned a lot of subtle skills, lip-reading being one of them. And while translating the Chika's English was a pain, she could piece together bits of the conversation. "Tch," Though... only bits. Chika's English was surprisingly decent and the mental effort of translating a foreign language she could barely hear did the Princess no favors. Dammit Igarashi, tell your gaijin girlfriend to speak Japanese so I can sto-

"...andle stuff li... end, a wrest... ughter's babysitter t..."

"... ... ..." Did... Himeko translate that right? Her face remained blank as her eyes focused on Chika's mouth to confirm her translation, but the conversation seemed to end there. "Tch," Okay... either Igarashi's English is even more shit than Reiko's or-

"Ane-san, you're staring again."

Himeko's eyes flickered to Reiko, narrowing for a split second before relaxing.

"Is there something behind me or..." Reiko turned around, canting her head at Chika's table. "What a second, is that...?"

Himeko rose an eye at Reiko. Did she actually know Igarashi from some match or viewing footage?

"Oh yeah, it is. Gaster-san!"

Wait, what? Reiko knew the foreigner girl? No, that wasn't important, her cover was blow now. "Dammit runt, sit down." Himeko grabbed the back of Reiko's kimono collar, forcing her to face Himeko. "Stop causing a damn scene." Well, there went stealth. Hopefully whatever happened next wouldn't start some war between her and Chika. "Actually, stop wearing a kimono everywhere. It's fuckin' winter and me and Nanana get enough stares when we're with you."

"The only pants I'm wearing are hakama and you can't stop me, so nyeh!"

"I'm going. To punch you. Runt." For a number of reasons.

[Vc0m]

"Alright. If you are sure about that...", Clara would tell Chika, before both women took a bit out of their burgers, Chika taking a peek at what Himeko was doing...namely staring at her:

"Leave it...just eat, and go...I won't start anything here..."

"Um hey...actually..."

Chika's attention returned to her friend:

"I was thinking recently...I've noticed that my frie---"

"Oh yeah, it is. Gaster-san!"

Clara's attention shifted as she heard her name called, turning around to see who was calling her.

"...screw it.", Chika thought to herself, deciding not to wait. As Clara's attention shifted, she swiftly got a piece of paper out of her bag, one she brought with her for authographs for folks who didn't have anywhere to sign them on. She wrote a single word on it in Japanese:

"Um, Clara...I'm going to go outside for a second. I thought I saw a familiar face pass by...", Chika excused herself, right as Clara was about to turn around to see who recognized her:

"Um, yeah...no worries!"

Chika stood up, and went towards the door, passing by Himeko as she gave her a mean look. Discreetly, she passed the paper right at her, trying to make sure her friend didn't notice it.

Once Himeko took a look at it, she would see what was written on it:

Outside

From there, she quickly left the restaurant, going in a specific direction to make sure she ended up going around the building...

Clara meanwhile, finally turned around to see who was calling her name...sadly, with their back to her she couldn't quite see who it was:

"Um...hello?", she tried to address the black haired, dark-skinned woman...

[dlamp]

Yup, stealth just came and went in a flash. The foreign girl turned around see what was up, and Chika... surprisingly came forward. Okay, she was actually going to the door, but the sharp glare she gave Himeko was a clear indication to follow her. Not to mention the small note that slip onto the table as she passed her and Reiko. Huh... Himeko leaned back, glancing of the note, then at Reiko who looked a bit perplexed at the foreigner's confusion.

"Oh right, don't have the dye and contacts." Reiko gave a sheepish expression, quickly grabbing two ends of her hair and pulling them up in makeshift pigtails. "You've only seem me in demon-mode, but this is what I look like outside the ring. I'm Maizono. Y'know, Amano Jaku an-"

Himeko soon left the two after that, moving after Chika. Okay, she's either gonna' jump me or talk to me, and I can handle either or. Besides, she was in the mood for a fight about now anyway. Here's hoping it was the former.

[Vc0m]

Clara wondered as she looked at the supposed stranger...before Reiko finally introduced her by the name she knew better:

"Ooooooh! It's so nice to meet you Ama--sorry, Ms. Maizono!"

Clara tried to keep up with the news in the Lightweight division for obvious reasons...and she has kept up with the recent news on Amano Jaku quite a fair bit. 2 matches of her's in particular - her title match and her hardcore match vs Yuki Kazikura. Both matches showed her that Amano wasn't a woman to be taken lightly, taking the champion to her limit, while her match with Yuki showed her that she was able to inflict...and bring out, immense violence.

Reiko's buddy would leave for a bit, and as such, Clara didn't pay her much mind, not even catching her face as she passed by:

"So ummm..."

Starting conversations with co-workers, ones that you have just met and not even fought, was quite awkward for her. At least in the hospital things started out with a simple: "How'd you get here?".

"How are you doing? ...damnit, feels like I am being an interviewer asking this, but you've been on a roll with recent matches!"

__________________________

Chika meanwhile took to around the building, waiting at a corner till she saw in the side of her eye that Himeko was outside, sliding behind the building.

This was a familiar site to Chika. On occasion, this was her home for days, at times weeks...but she couldn't stay at places like this for too long, with fears that the police or rival gangs might fight her. Even then, the briefest sleeps she got at nights were followed by waking up, and checking her body for anything missing...material and physical alike.

She might've even stayed at this place at some point, but the buildings around the city changed quite a bit, so by this point, more than 12 years after she forgot about this life, it was hard to tell which places had been her home.

She propped herself up against the wall, still unsure of how to approach the entire situation - fight...or talk, followed by fighting...but at least for now, she wasn't planning to jump Himeko. She was far enough from the corner to see if the Princess of Steel were to jump her, however.

[dlamp]

"Heh," Reiko let her hair down, quickly straightening it back to normal. "Don't worry, I'm fine with Amano too." In all honesty she preferred her wrestling contacts stuck with her wrestling name, but explaining that to Clara would be a pain, so... best to keep it in the back of her head for later. Though... Clara was definitely a much more awkward woman than she imagined, especially given few bits of her Reiko saw during her Shadow Lord days. She already had a decent idea of the woman's personality secondhand, but actually seeing the shy awkwardness was... kind of cute.

"Hey, you're doing pretty decent yourself. Glad to see you back in Japan after that hiatus of yours." She said, giving a grin as her face started to blush a little. "I kinda' miss the mask though... Gonna' be honest, I got the oni mask idea for my outfit after watching a few of your old matches..."

_____________________________________

On Himeko's end, it felt like an eternity before she finally got a good few paces behind Chika and rounded the corner with her. And to her complete lacking surprise the two were now in some kind of alleyway behind the building. In any other situation it'd be the perfect place for a street brawl. A dirty spot in some forgot area of the city with no witness. But... also the perfect place for a private conversation away from curious listeners like Reiko and likely Chika's foreigner friend. For now, Himeko would play along, but just in case...

She pulled her pull phone, nice and slow so Chika didn't pull anything or assume she had a weapon on her, but soon quickly pulled up her contacts to make preparations.

• Dad
• Nanana
• Nanana (Emergency)
• Maizono
• Yamamoto

Anna Miller's. 30 minutes. Code White.

With the safety net in place, Himeko shoved her phone back into her pocket. "Alright Igarashi, you've got a half hour to say your shit before the runt starts eating my burger. What do you want?"

[Vc0m]

The conversation started pleasently enough, even if Clara was her slightly awkward self, but Amano seemed nice enough. It was definitely not what she expected from the woman given her 2 biggest matches in her career...then again, comparing Clara between either of her in-ring personas, be it GASTER or even herself, was like night and day.

Clara blushed at the praise from Amano: "Wow...thank you! I've actually been thinking of using it on occasion...though maybe with a twist...mweheheheh...", Clara would add coy with Amano in regards to potential future plans.

_______________________________________

Chika saw Himeko rounding the corner. She stood up as she saw Himeko take something out of her pocket:

"Is she seriously about to...?"

Thankfully, she was proven wrong. It was just her phone. She didn't know who she was calling, but a chill went down her spine. A second later, she explained that the two had half an hour for...everything:

"Hm..."

Where to even start? She was staring her past right in the face? Perhaps it was best to start with something more recent:

"Runt...so weird you refer like that to her. She seems childish, but she already challenged the champion for a title. But I suppose you have to look down at everything and everyone beneath your family's bloody foot..."

But she needed to be concrete. What did she actually want from Himeko. For her to leave LAW? It barely made a difference to her either way. In the back of her mind, she still existed. Even if somehow, she convinced her to exit wrestling...she didn't suddenly solve anything, not issues between them, lest of all Yakuza issues in Japan...

A full 5 seconds after her last words, she just skipped the pretenses. It wasn't just the issues between them.

The fight from the few weeks back wasn't done.

"<Fuck it. Thought I had something concrete to say, but I just want to smear your face against concrete.>", Chika would explain, approaching Himeko, but leaving a good bit of distance away from them. Her sense of fairness was going to be the end of her, but she wasn't a rogue theif anymore. She was a pro wrestler:

"Get ready, Taishuya..."