Lovely to see you again my friend.

[The_Soul_of_Kia]

Walking down the halls of the LAW arena, Riza Hawkeye whistled softly to herself as she made her way down the long hallways of the arena, clad in an Iron Maiden tank top and a pair of black cargo pants and tennis shoes, she kept an eye on the numbers on the doors she passed by, looking for a certain one.

It had only been a few days since the womans debut match in LAW, against a handsome social media star who put up more of a fight than Hawkeye had expected, though she was victorious in the end. The respect she had gained for the man through his efforts however, had eroded swiftly when he claimed that her win was nothing more than a fluke and ran off like a pouty child.

Hawkeye had a few pet peeves that ticked her off. People talking in the theater, People disrepsecting waiting staff in restaurants, but by far her biggest one was having her own skills and efforts disregarded, by anyone, for any reason. She had earned her win, fair and square, and having it brushed off as a fluke by her own opponent...just irritated the hell out of her.


Still, it was done, and while the fool Keith Fox continued to mouth off on twitter, Riza tried to be content with the knowledge that she could put him in his place another day, and focus on moving forward.

Like focusing on the reason she was here today, in fact. She'd gotten a message through a production agent that a woman named "Aika", wanted to meet her here today. Apparently, she was a manager of some kind, handling the careers of wrestling talent, and had an office in the buisness end of the massive LAW Arena complex.

Only one match in and she already had a manager waning to meet with her to discuss business. Having never had one before, Riza wasn't sure just what good a manager could do for her career....but just knowing one wanted to talk to her already was a good boost to her self-confidence for sure.

She checked another door, matching the number to the one she had been told to find.

2112. Yep, this was it.

She took a breath, and knocked on the door, waiting for a response from the other side.

[BlackAkuma]

Keith couldn't remember the last time he’d been this excited for a meeting. Probably never.

He’d had more than he cared to admit in his time as an influencer. The business turned out to be a lot more managerial than he’d expected, and it required him to jet set all over the world, meeting with old, stuffy men in overly pristine board rooms, talking about numbers and figures, and watching PowerPoint presentations. He understood the necessity of it all—when you want to make big moves and get big money, you must mix it up with the suits.

But god, he fucking hated it. He’d instead have been out there doing the crazy stuff, not talking about how the crazy stuff would appeal with test audiences, or how he needed to maximize his schedule for the best results, or trying to figure out how many product placements he could fit on his body. It was all so curated, so artificial, so boring, and he’d just wanted to get away from it all.

But this meeting was different. Keith could scarcely contain his excitement as he sat in Aika’s office, constantly swivling around in the chair. It had been about twenty minutes since he’d arrived, wanting to handle some paperwork with Aika before Hawkeye showed up, and he couldn't have been more hyped to get this going.

Aika noticed, too, and looked up from her desk, taking a break from printing off the last few documents. ”Are you sure about this? Really?” She asked him again. Had to be the tenth time now. ”You’re better a lot on her being a rational person, but you barely know her. She might not be too receptive after what happened.”

Keith had been busy checking his phone for the time, but looked up to smirk Aika’s way and wave it off. ”Don’t worry, I’ll get her to come around. You’re underestimating my charm. My animal magnetism.” He wiggled his fingers her way and winked. ”Trust me. They say time heals all wounds, right? Well, you know what heals wounds even better? Money. People forgive you fast when the wallet comes out.”

Aika was just about to give him a counterpoint, when a knock fortuitously came at the door, pausing their conversation. Eager, he hopped out of the seat, made his way to the door, and swung it wide open, greeting Hawkeye with a wide smile. ”Aw, sweat! You made it.” He stepped aside and ushered her in. ”Come in, come in.”

[The_Soul_of_Kia]

Well...she didn't see that coming...

The door in front of her opened, and, to her surprise, there was Keith Fox, greeting her with a wide smile and a much more polite attitude than the last time she had seen him, and inviting her inside, while inside the room, another blonde woman sat behind a desk.

"Umm...oooook...." Hawkeye said warily, slowly stepping inside the room, her curiosity, as well as her knowledge that she could take Keith in a fight, letting her feel secure as she entered, looking towards the woman sitting at the desk.

"...I'm Riza...I'm assuming your Aika, the one who contacted me? i'm...was under the impression I was invited here to talk business, but I wasn't aware that Mr Fox-Boy was going to be here..."

[BlackAkuma]

Yup, there it was. That look. The ‘Why Is This Guy Who Was Dick To Me Here’ look. Keith kind of saw it coming, figured this was a hurdle they would have to get over. No way around it.

”Aika Sumeragi, pleased to meet you.” She stood and extended her hand for a shake, throwing a quick frown towards Keith as she did before she let that trademark smile return. ”And yes, that was sort of the idea. He figured you’d be much less eager to meet if you knew he was here.”

”Which is perfectly understandable. Don’t blame you.” Keith held his hands up, defensive, as he made his way over and sat on the edge of the desk, once again getting that frown from Aika, but she was getting paid way too much to complain.

”I’ll apologize, straight up. Know I was a bit of an ass after the match, but that was just me working you some, playing the role. Nothing personal. You were fucking awesome in that match. Props.”

[The_Soul_of_Kia]

Riza shook Aika's hand, nodding in response to her greeting. If nothing else, she seemed professional and respectable, given her glare she shot towards Keith.

The big surprise though, was Keith geninuely apologizing for his earlier behavior, even complimenting her performance and claiming he was just "working" her.

Interesting...interesting...this whole situation had taken her from mildly curious, to very confused, to now intruigued, as she turned to face Keith, deciding to deal with his statement first.

"Alright...look, I dunno what is going on here exactly...but since this doesn't appear to be the...weiredest excuse ever to sneak attack somebody, I will admit, I am at least curious about whatever this is...so here's my questions, I would appreciate simple, straight answers"

The former soldier held up a finger, then a second, and a third, as she spoke.

"First off...is this woman, Miss Aika, a real manager actually interested in my skills, as opposed to some plant you've hired?

Second off...you say your bad attitude towards you fair and valid *defeat* in our match was you playing me...Why, for what puprose, would you fake such a reaction to a clean and honorable defeat when you had fought well and had nothing to be ashamed of?

Third, related to the first, is this some dumb prank video for your legions of "tik-tok-ers" or is there a legitmate reason for me being called here?"

She finished her questions, not looking or sounding angry, but crossnig her arms and looking passive, but intense, clearly willing to listen and hear them both out, but not willing to accept any kind of bullshit responses or find out that her time was being wasted.

[BlackAkuma]

Good, she hadn't run away at the first sign of weirdness. That was a great step, Keith was relieved. But now, she wanted simple, straight answers. Perfectly understandable.

First question. Easy one.

”Yeah, she’s real.” He looked her way and gave her a wink and a thumbs up. “Aika’s one of the best, believe me. I mean, she can speak for herself, but she’s got a whole resume working with wrestlers and actors and talents.”

Second question. Also easy.

”I could’ve just shook your hand and walked off, yeah…but that’s boring. That’s forgettable. That doesn’t get people talking.” He leaned in and smirked. ”I went back after the match and checked my feed, and sure enough, there was already a ton of content worldwide, making the rounds. I’m an asshole, you’re the badass who took me down. Our first match in LAW, and they’re already talking about our next.”

Third question. Easy, but now came the fun part.

”Simple answer: I want us to make money together. Like, a lot of money.” Keith rubbed his hands together and pushed off the desk, so he could take a short walk around the room and cook. ”Elevator pitch: I want us to feud. A fake feud. We pretend to go at each other on social media, have some backstage scraps, make promos against each other, really play it up, and we go out and wrestle each other.”

”Real matches.” Aika held out her hand, quick to add on. ”We’re not asking you to throw anything or hold back.”

”Exactly.” He snapped his finger. ”Once we’re in the ropes, it’s 100%. Maybe play it up a little for effect, you know, get the crowd against me on purpose, but we wrestle for real and we just work off whoever wins and loses. We build interest, we put more eyeballs on us. That leads to more matches. That leads to sponsors. That leads to interviews. That leads to advertisements. That puts money in our pockets, much more than we’d have gotten if we’d just shook hands and parted ways. And all you’ve got to do is wrestle me a few times and make a few tweets. Printing money.”

[The_Soul_of_Kia]

Hawkeye stayed quiet, her arms crossed over her chest, never letting her posture relax or rest, nor her eyes lose their slightly intimidating, inquisitive look, making it clear she was listening, but they better make their point simply and quickly.

And they did! And as Hawkeye took in the full idea that was laid out to her...she had to admit...it wasn't half bad.

"Hmmm..." She finally said, making a show of rubbing her chin as she thought the idea over. "Hmmm...a fake rivalry...but real matches...Well.. I have to admit... That DOES sound pretty intruiging honestly."

She finally said, letting her words hang before finally acknowledging that the idea had caught her attention. Her entire goal here in this league was to prove herself the best, in all aspects, rise to the top, by any CLEAN means...but this wasn't a dirty method, now was it? The matches would be real, her effort and skill would be real, she would just be pretending to hate a jerk while not actually hating said jerk.

If this got big, then she'd get more attention, more attention meant getting booked more by the LAW higher ups, which meant gaining more fans, more attention, title opportunities....she could see it, all falling in line for her...

She nodded. "Alright, I admit, you have my attention, I would be on board with this idea. Like you said though, REAL matches. Im fine pretending to hate you, even if your the right kind of blonde, but I take pride in my ability, and i don't want to cheapen that by not giving my best, or my opponent not doing the same. You fight me as hard as you did today, everytime, and this'll go smoothly, with no hard feelings over wins or losses...but if I sense your slacking off in the ring, I WILL come down harder on you than any drill sergent and make you regret it...Do you agree?"

[BlackAkuma]

‘The right kind of blond’.

Keith didn’t miss that little part of what Hawkeye said, centering in on it with some keen interest. He had no idea what the ‘wrong kind of blonde’ was, but he was glad he hadn't made that list. The Army Girl struck him as the sort of person he could get down with on a friendly level…maybe even something a little more fun than that, but he didn’t want to push things too far, too fast.

”Got it. 100% all the way.” He gave her a salute, smirked, then brought his hands down to shake her hand. ”Since this is just between us, it’s a no-paperwork sort of deal. Aika’ll keep us honest.”

”That’s the idea.” Aika nodded as she slumped back in her chair, finally relaxing. ”The media is pretty ravenous, but I’m certain I can keep a lid on things. More than a few LAW fans think wrestling is fake, anyway.” She rolled her eyes at the notion.

Keith snapped his fingers. ”Speaking of which.” He pointed her way. ”You won the match, so you get to choose the stips for the second one. What’ll it be?”

[The_Soul_of_Kia]

As Keith extended his hand, Hawkeye, quickly, but not aggressively, clasped it with her own firm grip, and shook it, turning to do the same with Aika before the agent sat down snd spoke about her task of keeping fans out of the know about the arrangement. Hawkeye didn't know the woman at all enough to judge her skill at her job, but she certainly seemed professional enough.

She had been about to make a joke to follow up Aikas comment, when Keith cut her off, bringing up the last piece of business. To go over...the rematch type.

For some, this decision would have taken much time to decide. Not Hawkeye. She had her mind made up on what she wanted when the match was still going going on!

"It'll be...a hentai match" She said calmy, though immediately holding a finger up before Keith could respond.

"BUT...let me explain *why*" She said, crossing her arms as she spoke. "When I joined LAW, I was fully committed to making wrestling, succeeding in wrestling, at EVERYTHING the league had to offer, and becoming the best at all of it, my main goal. If we have an alliance now, I need to know my secret partner is as committed and passionate about this career as I am, not just coasting to give tiktok fans content. So it can be any hentai match you like, but I expect you to make it a proper Fight, like you did today. No slacking, no taking it easy and just enjoying the orgasms, or taking the loss. Treat it as a fight, and show me your as committed to this career as I am."

She then turned to Aika and smiled. "I don't know if you wrestle too Miss Aika...but I wouldnt mind offering you the same match, if you feel inclined to try..." She said with a smile and obviously flirtatious wink

[BlackAkuma]

While he’d left the choice to Hawkeye, Keith had all kinds of ideas on what she would choose, salivating at the thought. He figured she would go for something on the wild side, maybe a cage match, or even Hell In A Cell, really flex that budget. Or she could get technical, go for a submission match, or even an I Quit match. He’d been working on his submissions, he was itching to give them a real tryin a match, especially with someone who knew what they were doing.

…or a hentai match. Okay. Didn’t see that coming.

There was no hiding the surprise on Keith’s face - yeah, it was pretty clear that there was some attraction here, and he was all for it, but even he wasn’t used to be moving this fast. But Hawkeye laid out her position, and he could see the sense in it. Yeah, it would be a challenge, not just in doing a matchtype he had no experience with, but in not just laying back and letting her go to town on him.

”Okay…” He nodded, then straightened up and put a little more bass in his voice. ”Okay. It’s on.”

Aika, meanwhile, looked back at Hawkeye with a sighing laugh and waved it off. ”I was a wrestler, in another life. I’m retired.” She held up her hand and let her wedding band flash in the light. ”And married. Happily so. If it’s all the same, I’d like none of that to change anytime soon.”