Sea Turtles & Stars: Akari Ito & Kimiko Nagasawa

[Misfit_Alien]

It was fairly early in the morning and a familiar raven-haired woman awoke in her bed with a stretch and a yawn, being greeted by the warm sunlight peeking through the blinds of her bedroom. Akari Ito woke up and dragged herself out of her comfy bed. As much as she wanted to sleep, there was important work to be done. Another day, another chance to succeed. She ran through her usual routine, making some tea for herself in the background as she put a kettle on, preparing her shower, and getting a light breakfast out. So much for the wrestling DJ to do, but where to start? There was nothing incredibly important on her to-do list, no immediate deadlines. Today was actually the closest she'd be to having some semblance of a 'free day'.

To keep things focused, she decided that she'd be productive and go to the gym at least. If the Sea Turtle wanted to keep her lovely physique all nice and tight and up-to-code, then she'd have to make sure that she never skipped a day. She hops into the shower, gets clean, dries off, and gets dressed. She puts on a casual outfit consisting of a deep green colored t-shirt, black gym shorts, and black sneakers, nothing fancy. She grabs a muffin and puts her tea in a to-go bottle, eating on the go as she makes her way out onto the city streets, making sure to grab her gym bag on the way out the door.

Almost half an hour and one long, but relaxing, walk later...Akari was now in front of the doors to the LAW gym, a pretty nice place to get in a hard day's worth of work done in just a couple of hours. Given how expansive and successful the company was, the gear and equipment here were top-notch, only a few other places rivaled this gym in terms of efficiency, and Akari LOVED it. She went straight to the locker room and set her stuff down beside the wall on a bench, picking out her gym clothes and changing into them in the back. When she stepped back out, she stood in front of the mirror, admiring herself and grinning.

"Yup, still rocking it~"

Akari's Gym Attire

[TriggerBunny]

Kimiko was forcefully awoken by the blare of her bedside alarm. Sluggishly she lifted her arm up and softly pressed down on the snooze button. She rolled over and let out a belabored moan into her pillow. "I forgot to turn off my alarm last night, my morning class got canceled today" she thought to herself. "I shouldn't have stayed up so late working on that paper, I only got 2 hours of sleep. You're such an idiot, Kim." Kimiko thought there would be no use trying to sleep in. Besides, she just joined LAW and wanted to check out the competition at the LAW gym she heard about. Kimiko slowly got out of bed, her core still sore from yesterday's workout, and started to get ready for her gym routine. The morning was cold so she put a jacket and sweatpants and stuffed her gym attire into her workout bag as she headed out.

It took a while to walk to the LAW gym, but the exercise woke Kimiko up plenty. She was amazed by the upkeep of the gym, practically spotless, the best gym she's ever been in by a mile. But she couldn't ogle too much as she hurried into the locker room to avoid being seen without her mask. She entered into the locker room and began to strip, putting on her full wrestling outfit. Once she finished, she looked at herself in the mirror, this was the first chance she had to try it on without fear of her roommates stumbling in on her. Seeing herself in the mirror she immediately felt validated, as if a weight was dropped off her shoulders. It was a bit tight around the chest and waist, but Kimiko thought it fit perfectly. She felt she was meant to wear it.

Kimiko's Gym Attire Reference

Kimiko was fixated on her appearance but suddenly jumped when startled by the noises of someone on the other isle of lockers. She gathered herself and halfway stuck herself out around the row of lockers. She saw a woman about her age in a beautiful dark jade wrestling outfit. She wanted to introduce herself but she was too shy and stuck just looking at the woman's uniform around her body. "Wow, she's really rocking that" Kimiko said to herself. Realizing what she said and that the woman could hear her, she panickily covered her mouth. Her heart started racing and her face began to turn a flush pink from embarrassment. "She heard me!" She thought to herself.

[Misfit_Alien]

Akari was stretching and posing in the mirror, indulging in a little bit of vanity as she was getting limbered up before her usual workout session. After all, there's no use in exercising if you aren't going to do it right. Akari continued to prepare herself physically and mentally as she spoke to herself, telling herself a few good mantras and proverbs in Japanese to put her in the right headspace, the usual "positive mental attitude" and all that~. However, in the midst of preparations, she heard something from afar, a compliment? Was there someone else in the room? She hadn't heard anyone come in. Caught off guard, Akari's face slightly reddened...someone had seen her do ALL of that just now, how embarrassing~

"Hmm?" She said, reacting curiously as she looked around the room, then tilted her head toward the direction of where the sound came from, her gaze immediately locking on the bright white and blue colors of something in the corner of her eyes. Much to her surprise was a peculiar sight standing not too far away from her. Partially hidden behind the lockers was a young woman, roughly a year or two younger than her, sporting a mask, a basic but personalized wrestling outfit, and some cute, star-shaped glitter marks up and down her thighs. Akari had found the source of the compliment, was she watching her, or did she just so happen to be in the room? From the looks of it, and from the way she was standing halfway behind the locker in her gear, it was probably the latter. Akari simply smiled and waved, greeting the woman with a warm welcome, playing into the moment.

"You like what you see~?" She said teasingly. "I appreciate the comment though, sincerely~" She started to walk closer and closer, that upbeat and friendly personality radiating from her smile. The Sea Turtle was a person with an attitude that was as warm as the sun, and as charming as the shimmering sea. She couldn't quite recognize who this person was, while she herself had only been around for a couple of months, she was fairly up-to-speed on who was who, and she had NEVER seen anyone remotely similar to the woman in front of her, meaning...SHE MUST BE NEW!!!

A new face around LAW meant a new friend to be made. Being the sociable, extroverted, friendly type of gal that she is, Akari offered a sort of "olive branch" by sticking her arm out, gesturing toward the woman for a handshake to start things off with her on good, casual terms. "The name's Akari, Akari Ito. A pleasure to meet you-..." She trailed off, silently asking for the girl's name so she could fill in the blank.

[TriggerBunny]

Kimiko awkwardly stared at Akari's outstretched hand a slightly uncomfortable amount of time but quickly snapped back into reality after realizing what she was doing. Kimiko softly touched her outstretched hand. "Kimi-" Kimiko began to say her name but sharply caught herself. "YOU IDIOT! DON'T SAY YOUR NAME, NOBODY CAN FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE!" She internally scolded herself. "I MEAN--..." she sputtered. Kimiko's face turned to an even more beaming red. Kimiko never considered herself a people-person, but this was a new low even for her. But seeing Akari's open and warm demeanor softened her up a bit.

She took a quick breath in and straightened her back, making her chest puff out confidently. "H-Hello, Akari. It's very nice to meet you. I'm Star Power..." she paused, "But you can call me..." Kimiko in desperation quickly tried to think of a cover name but panicked and blurted out "Kim!", immediately regretting her decision. "And yeah..." she chuckled looking down and loosing up her posture "I'm new around here, a bit of a rookie. Just got into LAW yesterday." she softly laughed, timidly looking back up at Akari. "How about you? You look like you've been here a while- I mean you look experienced, like you know the ropes."

[Misfit_Alien]

This girl sure was something, she seemed innocently sweet and timid...the sight of the masked mystery woman reminds Akari of her younger sister, Miya, a similarly timid girl but a bright and hardworking person deep down, Akari could already see the similarities. After a few seconds of awkward silence and an impromptu staring contest, Akari's handshake was reciprocated, and she ALMOST got a full name but for some reason or another, the girl decided to stop short. Akari wasn't going to ask, perhaps she came on too strong?

The masked girl then gave a bit of a more confident introduction, puffing her chest out and everything, Akari could respect it. It was her way of boosting her own self-esteem and getting rid of all those feelings of shyness, it was a commendable effort. "Star Power, huh? Interesting ring name, I like it...that AND Kim, both are lovely names~." She said, returning Kim's nervous chuckle with a more heartfelt, sincere laugh to ease her nerves. "So then 'Star', you say you're new to LAW huh? Well, you've made a smart decision by coming to the gym on your first few days. Being a part of this place gives you so many benefits off the bat, this facility and its equipment are just a couple of them. I wish I had made the same decision earlier, while I won my debut match fairly clean, I would've loved to have spent some time here, this place is amazing for my routine~"

"Also, you're right on the money, I AM fairly experienced. I've been wrestling here for a good while now, about...half a year now? Give or take some weeks. As a whole, I've been wrestling for a couple of years, I was a rising talent in the indie leagues and then I got the call-up to come here. I'll tell you this now, LAW isn't a place for people without the spirit and the drive to succeed. If you wanna be here, you've gotta have more confidence in yourself and your abilities. How can you call yourself 'Star Power' if you don't let yourself shine?" She asked in an encouraging manner. "I know it sounds cheesy...well it IS cheesy but-...my point is, don't beat yourself up on your second day, leave THAT to your future opponents." She teased. "Just focus on getting used to the place and preparing yourself. As a heads up, you can often find details on people you're matched up with online or in the LAW database somewhere. In case you wanna research your opponent and scout their moves, it never hurts to get a leg up on the competition, it's like studying for an exam in a way."

[TriggerBunny]

Kimiko felt much more at ease now that she had warmed up to Akari, adopting a lax pose and slightly playing with her hair. "Thank you, Akari. I actually didn't know that, but I guess it's kinda obvious, huh? I'll have to scout out the competition then. It makes me wonder what LAW has to say about me!" Kimiko giggled. "And really, thank you for the words of encouragement. The past few days have been a bit... overwhelming. But now that I'm in LAW I simultaneously feel a weight off my shoulders as well as so many opportunities available to me. It just feels right to be here, you know?"

Kimiko realized she was talking too much about herself and tried to steer the conversation back to Akari, shifting her weight to her other hip. "So Akari, I just want to say that you look- well... amazing! What exactly is your training routine here may I ask? Do you spar with others or do focus on other types of training?"

[Misfit_Alien]

Akari was happy that she was able to help a new face around the organization get settled in. Making others happy and lifting them up made her feel good in turn, Akari supposed that it's true what people say. You put good out into the world and good will come back to you. She was glad that her words of encouragement boosted the mystery girl's resolve, now that she had a little more faith in herself it would up to her to continue to carry that faith and prove her skill in the ring when the time came, only she could write and define her own story while she was here, it was up to her to make the most of it.

"I'm glad I could help 'Star'. It was my pleasure, really~" She said, giving her newfound acquaintance a little bow of respect. "And thank you for the compliment, I try very hard to look my best. I'm no runway model but I never leave the house without making sure that I at least look put together, y'know?" She said, laughing softly. She then tilts her head out of intrigue once Kim had asked about her training routine, a smile began to curl upon her lips, it was obvious that the masked woman's words had set something off, there was no going back on it now.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do a bit of both actually, at least when I can find someone to train with. There's no shortage of staff members and trainers here and you can usually bump into another competitor training around the facility and you can ask them to a little spar if they're not too busy. Personally, I always do my exercises and warm-ups first, getting my usual solo routine done. Then, depending on what I feel like, I might call a friend or find someone who's free for a spar and ask them to give me a challenge. Some days I practice my boxing and other days I practice my wrestling. Regardless, I always make sure to do my fundamentals...strength, aerobics, cardio, the basics~" She spoke with such confidence, going on and on into detail but keeping it casual and brief in a sense. "I also do a bit of breakdancing in my spare time, I'm a DJ outside of wrestling so music and dance is like my big hobby outside the ring~"

[TriggerBunny]

Kimiko was happy that she was making a new friendly acquaintance so early after joining LAW. She always thought wrestling was marred with disputes and conflict. But her first real interaction in LAW was turning out to be quite the healthy opposite, much to her surprise!

"Oh wow, really?!!" Kimiko said surprised. Kimiko was really impressed, the last thing she expected was for her to be a breakdancer. But now that she mentioned it, she could see that fitting quite well. Kimiko knew very little about the topic, but she knew that you needed strength, flexibility, and agility to be a breakdancer, all things Akari seemed to obviously posses upon looking at her more. "You do a lot of exercise, no wonder you're in such amazing shape!" Kimiko exclaimed. "I'm much different, as you can probably tell. I'm not as cut as you." Kimiko looked down at her body, grabbing and pressing her soft stomach with both hands. "I basically only do weightlifting. I'm not into cardio- I just get so out of breath! I need to branch out my workout routine. Maybe I can find a sparring partner or trainer here to help me out!"

[Misfit_Alien]

"Yup, that's right, I went to school for audio and musical engineering, that's how I got into being a DJ, hip-hop and EDM are some of my favorite genres, so when I discovered breakdancing it was like a mixture of all my favorite things put together, plus it's GREAT for my core~" She said, her cheeks reddened when Kim complimented her figure again. "You're such a flirt, Kim~...you're making me all red in the face. Don't sell yourself short though, you're just as beautiful. I can tell you do your best with what you know, I'd say you're in perfectly healthy shape for your build, but if you wanna get as physically fit as some of the others here, you'll reach that goal in no time, but if cardio's what you're struggling in, I can suggest a few stamina-based exercises to help make it easier down the line so you don't run out of breath so fast."

When the masked gal mentioned how she wanted to branch out and find a sparring partner, Akari giggled, laughing at that statement as her eyes lit up once more. "Uh, 'Star', did you forget who you were talking to by any chance~?" She teasingly asked. "Why look any further when you've already found a person to spar with?" Akari said, giving the woman a teasing wink. "I'll be your training buddy today AND your sparring partner. How about it? You wanna try to tussle with the Sea Turtle~?"

[TriggerBunny]

"R-REALLY?! You'd do that?" Kimiko paused, "With ME?!" Kimiko's face began to blush once again. This was all a bit overwhelming for the natural introvert Kimiko. This was the first time anyone offered to train against her, especially in a friendly manner. She was deeply excited, but also a slightly intimidated. She could tell Akari was physically superior to her in nearly every way, and really experienced on top of that!. But those insecurities melted away when Kimiko realized again how abundantly friendly and outgoing Akari had been. Kimiko couldn't contain herself any longer and exclaimed "I'd love to train with you!"