After a Debut

[CaptainL]

Continued from here

It had just been a moment ago that Mizuki Sakura had finished her second match in LAW, and the first match that hadn't been a complete disaster for her. She'd still lost, of course. No one would ever have expected her to win anything, not even herself. But at least this time she'd lasted a little longer, and came away from it relatively unscathed. Even if that had only been due to Nikki offering to go easy on her in return for Mizuki selling her moves, making her look even more skilled and propelling her onward and upward in her path toward stardom. From the cheers Nikki was getting, Mizuki was sure she was doing that right. That enough was worth being proud of.

But what encouraged her even more was that Nikki seemed to think she had some potential in her. Mizuki didn't know if she'd agree. She didn't have any training, and she was just in this for the money. LAW's promoters needed someone they could throw to inflate the win records of their up and coming stars without having to think too much about it, and Mizuki was that person. But in the closing moments of their match, Nikki had offered to let Mizuki take on her finishing move, the Dragon Coil, at full power - and even though she'd barely lasted a few seconds, Nikki still seemed to feel that Mizuki's willingness to face it head-on was worthy of praise. Mizuki wasn't sure if she would agree. But if Nikki believed in her...that was encouraging. And when Nikki had offered to meet her after the match, she had to admit, she was curious to see what could happen next.

Spoiler

Mizuki had stepped out of the locker rooms into the backstage area, changed out of her gear. She rubbed at a sore spot in her neck, but fell into place by the wall and leaned against it as she waited for Nikki to show up. As she did, she fiddled with her glasses nervously. Mizuki wondered if Nikki was going to recognize her with them - she wore contacts in the ring, both to prevent her glasses from getting broken and also because she was too embarrassed about her career to want her identity known. But she was pretty sure when Nikki did arrive, Mizuki would recognize her, at least.

[deezcastforms]

Nikki had gotten her first win in LAW. It definitely came in a far different manner than she had expected, but her record was still 1-0 at the end of the day regardless. She saw Mizuki not as an opponent, or even a wrestler for that matter if she was being honest. What she saw in Mizuki was someone who needed help. If being in LAW was Mizuki's decision, then Nikki at least wanted to help her become someone who could be seen as a wrestler.

Nikki understood that she wasn't going to turn Mizuki into a good wrestler. Nikki was still a rookie herself, not a teacher. And even if she was Mizuki's skill ceiling was pretty low. She'd most likely still be a jobber for as long as she was in LAW unless Mizuki decided to devote her career to wrestling, which she clearly did not want. Nikki's goal was to help Mizuki become someone who could stand in the ring and be something more that helpless, and Nikki believed Mizuki could at least achieve that.

Backstage, Nikki began looking for Mizuki. She managed to find who she thought was Mizuki, but her appearance was just different enough that she had to ask, "Is that you, Mizuki?"

[CaptainL]

"Eep-!" Taken by surprise, Mizuki jumped a little as she heard Nikki's voice call out to her from down the hall - having grown so lost in her own thoughts, she hadn't even noticed the blonde's entrance. She looked around a few times before her eyes settled on Nikki, but once she did, she sank back against the wall and the blood rose in her cheeks as she shuffled her feet and crossed her arms behind her. Now that she realized Nikki had drawn attention to her, Mizuki was afraid of being recognized should anyone else be in earshot. At best, it'd be embarrassing; she wasn't exactly proud of her job being to lose to people. At worst, if someone like Natsuki had heard...

"Y-Yeah...yeah, it's me," she muttered in a soft voice, fiddling anxiously with her glasses. "Not...not so loud, okay..?"

[deezcastforms]

"Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't think I was being loud." Nikki was pretty confident that Mizuki was imagining thinks from nerves, but she just went with it.

"The reason I wanted to talk to you is because I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to train with me. If you've decided that wrestling is the way you're going to make money until you can get a real job, then you're going to need help. Even the weakest jobbers need to be able to defend themselves somewhat if they're going to last. At the rate you're going at, either someone is going to injure you, or LAW is going to drop you for being too weak to keep a match interesting. Now I'm not a teacher, I'm a rookie. But at the very least I can teach you the basics and be someone you can practice with. And maybe a little bit of submissions, too." Nikki knew Mizuki would have doubts and questions, but Nikki figured that she'd be able to convince Mizuki.

[CaptainL]

At hearing Nikki's apology, Mizuki glanced back and forth a few times just to make sure the coast was clear before she spoke up again. "It's, uh, not that," she said. "I'm sorry, I just...worry about people knowing that I'm here, and thinking that I'm..." She shuffled her feet and glanced down at the floor, afraid of what she would have to say next, but she finally let the words slip with a sigh. "...an easy target."

However, she heard Nikki continue, and she raised an eyebrow curiously. Slowly but surely, Mizuki looked up to focus her gaze on the blonde, and a smile grew across her face. "You...would really do that?" She sighed, hearing Nikki talk about where her career would go at the rate it was, but the reason it hurt as much as it did to hear was because she knew everything that Nikki told her was right. Mizuki wasn't good for anything other than being a body in the ring to demonstrate moves on. But Nikki had seen something in her. She'd seen that when her opponent had praised her bravery in being willing to take on the Dragon Coil, and that had come as a shock. But this was something even bigger. Maybe, even if by just a little, she could improve.

Of course, the more she thought about it, the more the doubts crept in, and she looked off again. "You...really don't have to do that, you know-! I don't want to drag you down...I don't think I'll be able to learn much, either..."

[deezcastforms]

Nikki had assumed that Mizuki's doubts would lay somewhere along those lines. As much as Nikki didn't want to listen to someone talk about themselves like this, at the very least Nikki was prepared for it. "You won't drag me down Mizuki. As long as we both put in the honest effort to improve, we'll grow more together than we will alone. That's how training as partners works." Nikki said with a warm smile before moving onto her next point.

"Now as for you. I'm not promising or even offering to mold you into a contender, or even a winner. You'll probably be a jobber until you move on from LAW, but you already know that. What I am offering you, is the chance to survive. To be strong enough that a match isn't decided from the moment it's booked, to be tough enough to get through a submission hold without begging for mercy. Before this match, I said you don't belong in a ring, That hasn't changed. But I want to change that fact with you."

[CaptainL]

Mizuki had already accepted that she wasn't going anywhere in LAW, but that didn't make it sting any less to have it spelled out to her. She sighed again, and as her body deflated she leaned back further against the wall, staring down at the floor. But even if Nikki couldn't turn her into a competent wrestler, she could at least turn her into more of one. It was true that Mizuki had barely any training, and while she had hoped to improvise in the ring, she never even got the chance to do that when her opponents tore her apart before she got a single move in. It at least paid the bills, but she knew that any real wrestler would laugh at how pitiful she was.

Any real wrestler, that was, except Nikki.

Slowly, a smile started to cross Mizuki's face as she looked up toward her, her eyes meeting hers from behind the misty lenses. "Thanks...again," she began. "You're really nice! I mean, I bet you get that a lot, but...no one's ever been this nice to me. I really do need to repay you..."

[deezcastforms]

"All I ask in return is that you take this seriously. Honestly, I'm not sure what to expect out of this myself, but I can't imagine that it'll be easy. That is of course, assuming that you accept my offer?" It had sounded to Nikki like Mizuki was on board, but she wanted to make sure there wasn't any confusion.

Nikki certainly hadn't pictured this as how her first match would go, but she was glad at how it had turned out. She knew this would probably be a unique experience by LAW standards, but a unique experience just meant unique opportunities.

[CaptainL]

Mizuki nodded her head in response to Nikki, a smile spreading over her face. She didn't expect anyone in LAW to show this much courtesy to her, and certainly she didn't expect it from her opponents, but she would welcome it all the same. Her job might not have been the most glamorous, but the fact she could make friends here and not enemies would at least make things a little bit easier.

Holding a hand out, Mizuki offered a handshake. "Of course I will," she said. "I don't know how good I'll do, but...if you believe in me, I don't want to let you down. It's a deal."

[deezcastforms]

"You'll do great. Here's my number, hit me up sometime and we'll meet up." Nikki said as she handed Mizuki a slip of paper with her phone number written on it. Then she pulled Mizuki in for a quick hug before starting to walk off to exit the arena and head home, "See ya later!".