L.A.W. - League of Anime Wrestling

Spoiler

June shared a love-hate relationship with the sauna.

Well, she thought it hated her as it did everyone. Anyone or anything that made every fold in her body turn into a furnace must want her dead like old Nebuchadnezzar with those good Godly boys in the Bible. She dabbed beneath her breasts roughly with her towel before settling into place again on the bench. Her half of the relationship was certainly love-hate. June had spent more time in saunas than she would have cared to admit back when she had been forty pounds heavier and far less happy with her body. She loved the sauna because she knew it had helped her sweat so much of that troublesome weight away. She hated it because it reminded her of those times.

And because it was hot. Too hot. She made a sound like a steam engine. "Oh my God, what do they have this on!?"

Her head swiveled to try and read the thermostat, but it was, naturally, fogged so she couldn't see it. June blew a raspberry at it and stood to her feet. She had to shake down one of the attendants to make this place a little cooler. Had some ninety-year-old man been in here last who couldn't feel the heat anymore!? June had to wonder, and since she was the only one occupying the sauna room, she figured she could have the room the way she wanted it because the way her thighs tried to stick together when she popped to her feet told her that she wasn't being dramatic.

She flicked at the door only for it to stand fast. Thinking it was a fluke, she knocked it again, harder this time. It still didn't budge. She raised an eyebrow at it. Maybe they had locked her in here to kill her in the heat.

That was when the door pushed into her, and a man - a rare one, broader than June - walked into the gap. Ah, there was the source of the immobile door. June shuffled out of his way.

Broad and handsome, to boot. She looked him over.

"Hi," she said in greeting, smiling her brilliant smile. "I might have just shoved the door in your face. Twice?" The question held a hint of apology.

Being at the tale end of his wrestling career, Ryu Hiroshi found himself to be visiting the LAW sauna area's alot more than he would have liked. His body was not as youthful anymore and he required as much meditation, massages and of course sauna room visits as he could to detox, making sure he would do as much as he could to prolong his in-ring career, out of his love for the sport. He figured he would be alone today and took his time in the locker room to take a cold shower before changing into a pair of blue wrestling briefs and nothing else.

Ryu Hiroshi

He would move towards the entrance door of the sauna, just as he was about to approach it the door would shut in front of him but he was quick to hold it open. It then moved back to close for a second time, one again, Ryu would make sure to keep it open so that he could enter. He suspected someone was inside, perhaps trying to get out? Ryu would push the door open and was met with a beautiful blonde woman standing in front of him.

Sauna Room

He didn't expect it and was a bit take aback but maintained his stoic expression while she would apologize. He would nod his head, showing just a hint of a smile before entering inside to join her. "Hello" he said, bowing out of Japanese tradition before waving his hand at her to indicate that it was no trouble at all. "That's quite alright. No need to apologize...I also was not expecting any company" he said, walking past her and would sit on one of the wooden benches.

He would take a deep breath, already feeling his chiseled bronze body sweating a bit. "Hmm so what's your story? Are you hear to try out for some of the modelling gigs or a manager role?" he said, presuming that there was no way she was a wrestler.

He bowed. Not forgetting her well-ingrained Japanese manners, June bowed in response and realized late that she probably gave him an eyeful when she did. She raised her shoulders far more quickly than she had dipped them. He did not appear to have noticed anything... or he was just the stoic type. He seemed it with his response to her apology. Added to the allure and to the width of June's grin.

She was not expecting company, either, and with his joining her, it did not seem like the time for her to make like a Karen and try to change the room's temperatures to her needs. As he walked past, she lingered at the door, wishing she could wick the heat right off of her skin, but she closed the door. Gallant Kanako was not a wimp who asked for cooler air in the sauna... in front of a burly man.

She wandered back over to her seat across from where he had settled. "In that case, I'll try to be decent company," she said, plopping down and peering down at her feet. June could never sit in a room with someone and stay silent, but she could give him thirty seconds of peace? Maybe twenty? She would try, anyway, and she glanced over at him a few times to figure out if she recognized him.

To her surprise, he spoke first. Legs crossing as she settled in for conversation, she... puzzled at him. At first, she thought to laugh it off and explain that she was a wrestler, but the doubt behind his question hit her before she could say anything more. Did he think she didn't look like a wrestler? "No, no, I'm a wrestler." Her tone fell flat.

But she would give him the benefit of the doubt, and she perked up again. "Is it because I'm too cute to be a wrestler? Should I take that as a compliment?"

Always putting traditions and customs first, no matter who is in front of him, the Dragon would bow to the beautiful woman in front of him and she would do the same in response. Ryu didn't think she was Japanese but there was a hint of suspicion there, regardless though he appreciated the gesture. After that brief exchange, he would walk past her and sit on the bench. The blonde would then do the same, walking back across the bench and sitting opposite to where Ryu was sitting. The positioning made it so that the two would be looking right at each other, making it a rather awkward moment of silence, one that was broken when Ryu decided to speak up.

"Oh you are? Hmmm" he said, brushing his short, damp hair with a stroke of his hand as he leaned back into the wall and took a heavy breath. "Oh no no its because....well, I have been in this business for quite a while and usually I can spot a fellow wrestler when I see them. You looked more like you were here for a modelling gig than a wrestling one." he explained. The blonde would then speak up again, putting Ryu on the spot a bit. "Well you can treat it however you like Ms....? Sorry, I didn't catch your name. My name is Ryu Hiroshi" he mentioned.

"Also, I noticed you were trying to do something around the door? If you want, you can reduce the steam or heat of the room. I don't mind. I just assumed a girl like you, isn't used to working up a sweat" he added.

June had put her foot in her own mouth so many times. She quickly accepted that the stranger had done the same thing and, as she had said, meant it as a compliment because he was saying she was pretty rather than brutish like so many other wrestlers. And June did love being called pretty. Of all the doubts one could have over her wrestling ability, "you're super pretty so I wasn't sure you beat people down in a wrestling ring" was one of the least offensive ones.

But if this was him shoving his foot in his mouth, he was shoving it deep - and doubled down. As a frustrated tic, June ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek, but she told herself again to understand that they might just be having a communication issue. Hell, he was still being friendly enough to introduce himself. "Then it sounds like exactly what you're saying is I'm too cute to be a wrestler." She winked at him. "Maybe that's why I win so much. No one expects the beatdown from me." Sure, she was laying it on thick, but she wanted to assure she knew her value as a wrestler. "I'm June Kanako."

For all of her effort to take his words in stride, a fire ignited in her kind eyes with his added words. June opened her mouth twice to say something before realizing she was too annoyed to say anything, her irritation cutting right through to her downturned lips.

"Ha. Ahaha." The laughter carried no mirth - he had pushed a button now. "I'm only here because I worked to sweat another whole person off of me in the last seven years. And what is a 'girl like me,' anyway? Is there something lost in translation here? Because I speak Japanese."

Being an old school wrestler and one who thought that women weren't as talented as men in the ring, sometimes his ancient way of thinking would no doubt pass as quite rude to the female wrestlers who would work just as hard, if not harder, than their male counterparts. He still had to get used to the whole idea of wrestling a woman and them being equal to him in the ring when most of his life he had been involved in the male dominated area of the sport. His words stung her but she did well to keep her calm, initially that is. She would take it in good spirits at first, mentioning that her good looks were the reason why many underestimated her and ultimately lost.

He thought that perhaps she was being sarcastic, there was no way this woman would win so much- that is even if she was a wrestler. He chuckled when she mentioned she won alot but soon her tone got a bit more serious when she took offense to his suggestion that she was not used to sweating or the use of the phrase "a girl like me". Ryu would raise his eyebrow, leaning forward a bit more while looking at her direction.

"Well you know, a pretty blonde girl who thinks she knows how to wrestle....who thinks she can wrestle a real wrestler. I've seen many pretty faces like you who think they can sweat it out in the ring." he said, standing up to a full height and approaching her. "I am a former champion, I dominated the competition in my league. I'm willing to bet the only prize you have eve won, is in a beauty contest? That's what I mean by a girl like you" he said.

June understood the strategic games people played backstage better than most. Or understood they existed, anyway. She had made it her goal to be the type of woman who put an end to the worst of those games by standing up for the weak and crushing bullies. She was tempted to think he said these things to her as a way to intimidate her for his own fun, but no, she could tell by the way he was reiterating that he actually believed what he spouted. And judging by the way he stepped toward her, he thought she would back down and accept it as truth.

Her spitfire spirit and her frustration had her standing into the space he tried to occupy, her chest bumping into his, without her thinking through what stepping up to him might lead to. She shoved her face at his, glad that her American half helped her be nearly the same height, and she pushed onto her tippy-toes to be that much taller and shove her face into his. Her finger jabbed at his upper chest while she berated him, the cutesy softness in her voice still there even if it remained flat. Sometimes, she wanted a more intimidating voice. "Why are you being such a jerk!? Now you're not only insulting me, but all the good wrestlers I beat to get my own championships! You don't know them or me."

He did guess right about the beauty pageant, though. With the mood he had put her in, June wanted to use that as more fuel to her argument. "And I've got championships and a pageant title to go with it! A lot of people would say that makes me pretty flippin' cool."

Perhaps he had been a bit too harsh on the girl. She looked to be in her prime wrestling age, she had a good physique, good looks. It was perhaps not fair to compare his own achievements to that of the woman before him. It was a bit too late to back track now though because he had already made his way towards her. He stood to his full height, looking down on her while mentioning exactly what he meant when June sought clarification. Instead of shutting her up though, it seemed he had done the exact opposite. The blonde would then stand to a full height, she was already close to his height but would push up to her tip-toes to get a bit more height and would press up against him without any fear.

Their foreheads pushed into each other, going head to head, chest to breast, nose to nose and face to face. There was less than an inch of space between the two as they were full on engaged in a staredown, Ryu would look into her eyes with a stoic expression as he did not move an inch. She would explain how he had insulted her, the wrestlers she had beaten to win a championship of her own. "You? Beat someone to a championship?" he reiterated with a straight face.

"Hmph, don't be so naive Kanako-san. I'm sure those 'championship' meant a lot to you but aren't real championships- at least not to a real wrestler" he said, pushing back into her more so their frames grinded. Their sweat slicked bodies, pushing against each other. "But I'll indulge you then. If you are the champion...then what would you say to a challenger like me? Would you defend your championship in a match against a real champion?" he would say, throwing the gauntlet down.

June's cheeks puffed. People back home knew that she was not a happy camper when her cheeks puffed, but Ryu wouldn't. He probably wouldn't care, either, but June had to force herself not to do something particularly naughty like knee him in the balls or stomp his foot with hers. She was not the sort of woman to take a cheap shot, but there were limits to her patience. She could feel herself reaching those limits, blood boiling, as he put her down again, put her old promotions down again, and made it clear he didn't have an ounce of respect for her or maybe anyone.

As he pushed into her, she had to sharply reel it in, at risk of giving up ground, when she felt his chest against hers. In a lot of situations alone in a sauna with a guy who was objectively good-looking, the touch of his skin against her breasts would have gotten her pretty excited. But the only heat was the sweltering sauna and her own reddening cheeks and shoulders with the rage building inside of her. She let her calves hit the bench before she steadied herself to hold her ground.

When he finished, she, pursed-lipped, banged her forehead into his. "I don't need any championship at stake to want to put some respect in you!" The hands that had been folded into her crossed arms shoved into his chest with half of the strength she could muster, which she figured would be enough to get his sticky skin off of hers and tell him to bring it.

By now it was quite clear that there was only one resolution to his conflict and that was to settle this in a wrestling match. Should they talk to management and meet in the ring? or had it gone beyond that and developed into a much more personal affair. Ryu would suspect that it was the latter, considering what was said and what the pair had been doing, breathing down each others neck in the sweltering heat of the sauna. He noticed her cheeks puff, was she trying to be cute? He wasn't sure what the gesture meant until she would press her forehead into his and would not let him bully her back.

She made it clear that there needn't be a championship at risk in this case, she just wanted to put some respect in him. "Hmph. You can try but that ever happen" he would respond before she would give him a slightly firm shove to push him back. "Ngh" he grunted, being pushed back a couple of steps and finally parting from her sweat slicked body. It was clear that she was ready to wrestle him and he would not disappoint. Ryu would raise his arms up, challenging her to a collar and elbow grapple.

"Come then, lets put you through the test" he said, lunging at her to clinch.