Rules: Victory by pin, submission, knockout, count out, or disqualification
Before the match: Ayame and Yukina
However, Ayame was only given four days' notice before the match. Not realizing that LAW was not strict about weight, Ayame did what people typically do in the MMA world: she cut weight. Now, normally Ayame walks at around 140 lbs---to qualify as a 'lightweight', she would have to weigh in at 120 lbs. Since Ayame figured that the weigh-ins would be about twenty-four hours before the match, in her mind, that gave her just three days to shed twenty pounds.
Thus, Ayame began her weight cut. She started by drinking copious amounts of distilled water over the course of two days, making her body believe that water was abundant and discouraging it from retaining water. On the third day, Ayame stopped drinking water altogether. Even though Ayame was no longer drinking water, her body still continued to shed water so she started losing water weight.
Unfortunately for Ayame, that was not enough to get her weight down to 120 lbs---she still had ten pounds to go. Ayame was going to have to sweat the rest of the weight off. To accomplish this, Ayame put on multiple layers of sweatshirts and sweatpants. After doing so, Ayame did various exercises such as running and shadowboxing. In addition to that, Ayame also spent a lot of time in a hot bath.
Just twenty-seven hours before her match, Ayame was laying in her bathtub, soaking in extremely hot water. Barely conscious, Ayame picked up her cellphone and called Yukina.
Ayame and Yukina's conversation
"今 僕等 空高く君を守ってく!" Yukina's phone rang, playing a Japanese rock song. Glancing at the caller ID, Yukina saw that it was Ayame. The last time that Yukina had talked to Ayame was when she told Ayame about the match. Immediately after reading the caller ID, Yukina answered her phone.
"Hi Ayame. Do you need something?" asked Yukina.
"Yuki... na... when's the... weigh in?" said Ayame. Yukina could hear that Ayame was having trouble getting her words out.
"Weigh in? What do you mean?"
"You know... I'm fighting at lightweight..."
"You know, weight cuts aren't a thing in LAW." After Yukina said that, Ayame went silent.
"Ayame? Are you there?" On the under end of the line, Yukina heard splashing water and the sound of someone rising out of a bathtub. Then, footsteps.
"Yeah, I'm there," said Ayame. Slowly, Ayame walked towards the front door of her apartment. "Listen... I'm going to need some help. Come here and bring some drinks..."
"I don't think you should be drinking alcohol."
"Sports drinks. Electrolytes. Please."
"Oh. Got it," said Yukina. Immediately, Yukina started to head out to the convenience store just outside her apartment building. "Stay on the line, okay?"
Meanwhile, Ayame was trying her best to put on a strong face for Yukina. She did not need Yukina getting worried and calling an ambulance. The desire to hide the extent of her bad condition gave Ayame the momentary boost in energy she needed to make her way to the front door. Upon reaching the front door, Ayame sat down against the wall and on the floor.
...
Five minutes later, Yukina had bought a six-pack of a common sports drink brand. Thankfully, from the convenience store to Ayame's apartment was only a five-minute walk.
"So who am I fighting?" asked Ayame, life starting to come back to her voice.
"Some girl with MMA experience. Her name was... Blair Yuen," responded Yukina.
"Dammit. I should've known. Look, cancel the match with Blair," said Ayame. In hindsight, Ayame should have figured that Blair could possibly be her opponent since there weren't too many lightweights with MMA experience in LAW. Then again, it's not like one can consider everything.
"Is there a reason for that?" asked Yukina.
"Training partners don't fight training partners."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do."
...
A short while later, Yukina was greeted at the door by a nude Ayame. While Yukina was initially surprised, she quickly stepped inside and gave Ayame the sports drinks. Yukina watched in shock as Ayame finished all of the sports drinks in one sitting.
"So what exactly... happened?" asked Yukina.
"I'll explain after I get dressed."
...
While on the phone, Ayame found out that her opponent was supposed to be Blair Yuen. However, Blair and Ayame were training partners and training partners tend to avoid competing against each other. Because of this, Ayame requested that Yukina cancel the match. Thankfully, Yukina was able to cancel the match without much issue.
By this point, Yukina had realized that both she and Ayame had done a poor job of communicating---she would have to do better in the future if she was to be a good manager. The weight cut and the last-minute match cancellation could have been avoided if the two had communicated better.
After Yukina confirmed that she had canceled the match with Blair, Ayame immediately asked if Yukina could get her another match. While Yukina initially refused, Ayame kept insisting. Eventually, Yukina acquiesced.
Yukina then contacted some of the other managers to see if there was any wrestler (managed or independent) that could take a match on short-notice. Eventually, Yukina found an opponent for Ayame: Da Xia.
Before the match: Claire
However, the morning of Ayame's match, Claire received a text from Ayame saying that her opponent had been changed to a woman named Da Xia. Moreover, Ayame stated that she was not feeling well so she would not necessarily be at her best during the match. Sensing that something was off, Claire called Ayame and Ayame filled her in on the details.
After hearing the hell that Ayame put herself through, Claire decided to cut her trip short and head back to take care of Ayame. While Claire was on the train, she did some research on Ayame's next opponent, Da Xia. Claire read articles, watched interviews, and watched some of Da Xia's past matches to get an idea of who Da Xia was. Unfortunately for Claire, many of those matches were explicit, resulting in her getting yelled at for "watching hardcore lesbian porn" on the train.
Three accusations of public indecency later, Claire had a good idea of who Da Xia was: a mean and sadistic woman with a penchant for humiliating her opponents. Moreover, despite often humiliating girls and leaving them sobbing in a pool of their own cum, Da Xia never showed any remorse or regret. In fact, all Claire could see in Da Xia's eyes was malice.
For a moment, Claire questioned whether Ayame really was that much different from Da Xia. However, Claire quickly dismissed that thought---Ayame's cruelty came from a place of pain and a desire to take control in a life where she felt that she had none. Cruelty was not inherently a part of Ayame's personality---sure, Ayame could be cold and callous but that was just a mask that she wore to avoid getting close to others.
After thinking about Ayame for a moment, Claire refocused herself and continued her research.
Unfortunately, the brutal (and unnecessary) weight cut had taken its toll on Ayame, greatly diminishing her strength and stamina. Oftentimes, fighters can recover quite well after a weight cut. However, in Ayame's case, the speed and manner in which she executed her weight cut meant that she was unable to recover well. In spite of this, Ayame was still going to fight: she would not avoid a match just because she was feeling a little suboptimal. Ayame continued down the ramp amidst the lukewarm cheers of the fans---unlike her roommate Claire, Ayame was not particularly popular with the fans.
Entrance Music
"Do your best, okay?" said Claire. Had Ayame been at full strength, Claire would have felt pretty good about Ayame's chances against Da Xia. However, because Ayame was greatly weakened from her weight cut, Claire was worried that Ayame would lose---badly.
In response to Claire's words, Ayame gave Claire a faint smile. Ayame could tell that Claire was worried about her and Ayame appreciated that. Hopefully, Ayame would be able to put Claire's worries to rest once she got into the ring. After waving goodbye to Yukina and Claire, Ayame climbed into the ring and waited for her opponent.