Simmering to a Cool

[Dubski]

Mihoko kept her eyes off of Freezer as she began to respond. Her brow furrowed as Katakura remarked that she was beautiful. Her thoughts instantly went to the way that her former opponent had been teasing her throughout the match as her face twitched slightly remembering it. But she did look back at Freezer as she moved into her view. Mihoko's cheeks flushed as she looked at her, listening to her laying it on even more just how beautiful she was. She didn't believe it--she couldn't believe it.

And even as Katakura had a finger under her chin, looking into her eyes, Mihoko was shaking gently as she tried to tell her to not be afraid. Unfortunately, that's all that Mihoko felt. Afraid, confused, uncertain, paranoid, and certainly not believing that Freezer would mean what she said. Abruptly, Mihoko let out a whine and moved a hand to push away Freezer's, staggering back a few paces as she held her hands to her chest. "Y-you're teasing me again! Why!? Didn't you get enough!?" said Mihoko in a shout that was only slightly above a whisper, on the defensive again.

[BlackAkuma]

Freezer had expected a reaction from her touch, but even she was surprised to get that much out of it. She looked at her finger for a moment, as if electricity had just come from her fingertips. While she wasn’t used to having wild effects on the women around her, she had never experienced one so visceral.

She folded her arms and stepped around Mihoko, taking care to get close, but not too close, like she was trying to approach a bird that might flitter off at the first sign of trouble. ”Mihoko, if I was teasing you, I would be much more blatant about it. I don’t know if you noticed, but I am rarely subtle.”

Freezer leaned against a locker and crossed her legs, sliding her cowboy boots along each other as she ease back. ”Do you not watch your matches back? Ever? You don’t see how amazing you are in that ring?”

[Dubski]

Mihoko looked at Freezer cautiously as the girl got closer to her and gulped, keeping a very cautious eye on her. She didn't know what angle Katakura was coming at her with, but at the very least Katakura had a little bit of a point that she wouldn't be so subtle if she wanted to really tease her. Her brow furrowed as Freezer had posed another question to her, now even more confused about the entire situation as a result.

Keeping her eyes on Freezer, Mihoko shook her head stiffly and spoke in another quiet tone, but she seemed more reasonable now as she spoke back to her former foe. "...No. I don't... I mean, I don't, no." She had rarely ever watched herself back. She found it difficult, and almost like an out-of-body experience a lot of times. "What does that have to do with me being beautiful or not though?" asked Mihoko nervously, as if she was afraid to even pose the question to Freezer.

[BlackAkuma]

”Because you are poetry in motion.”

Freezer answered that question as if it was the easiest one anyone had ever asked her. Maybe it was. That only made HEAT’s confusion more baffling, and perhaps a little sad.

”I’ve faced so many opponents. I wouldn’t call myself a veteran, but I have a lot more experience than most, and you, HEAT Mihoko? You are one of the best I’ve faced. Definitely the most energetic. I’ve never wrestled someone so aggressive, so wild. When you had me going in the middle, it felt like I couldn't do anything to stop you. You were so aggressive and powerful, you didn’t let up, you just kept coming and coming…”

Freezer shivered at the thought of it, but kept herself under control, not wanting to make HEAT any more uncomfortable than she was by default. ”Sorry. But you were quite beautiful and fierce and wild. Which makes it odd to see you like this, now. The ring changes you that much?”

[Dubski]

Mihoko looked worried as Freezer spoke, even despite such kind and flattering words. She swallowed hard, considering what her frosty foe was thinking before taking a deep breath. "...Mihoko Tanaka," stated the girl softly. She would then clear her throat and glance up at Katakura again. "...My name is Mihoko Tanaka. You don't need to call me... HEAT..."

Shaking her head, Mihoko thought for a bit more about what Freezer said. "Th-thank you for saying that... I think. I was just... trying to win," explained the girl, rubbing her arm as she glanced down, biting her lip. "And that's the only way I really... know how. Even though I really don't win..."

She would then pause and look back at Freezer Katakura, narrowing her gaze as she put her hood back down, seeming uncertain. "What... do you want, exactly?" She thought to ask it bluntly now, very confused. She was used to being ignored or shunned, and yet Freezer was taking plenty of time to compliment her, talk to her, acknowledge her. She wasn't sure what to think now.

[BlackAkuma]

Freezer’s smile softened at the mention of HEAT’s full name. ”Mihoko Tanaka. I’ll remember that.” She touched her chest. ”Kokoro Katakura, though if that’s too hard on the tongue, ‘Koko’ is fine.”

Now that the hood was down and the names were out, Freezer dared to come a little closer, taking tentative steps in with her arm behind her back. ”It’s not a bad strategy, I think. It knocked me back, despite our size difference. That’s not nothing.” She looked off to the side for a second, then shrugged. ”You just have to learn when to pull back. Control the pace. You rushed in after I hit you with that kick, and you left an opening for me to exploit. If not for that, you might’ve had me.”

It was no exaggeration - she could still feel the pressure of being in that corner, of having Mihoko all over her, but that kind of insane aggression did have drawbacks.

”I digress, I don’t mean to lecture you. As for what I want, well…” Freezer leaned in and dropped her voice. ”Maybe I just enjoy talking with a colleague about a good match. Isn’t that enough?”

[Dubski]

Mihoko smiled slightly when Freezer had mentioned her whole name, nodding to her. She didn't even cower when Kokoro had stepped closer to her, describing the turning point in their match. She needed to pull back. She needed to be more careful. All things that Mihoko had been told before. No new suggestions there, but Tanaka always felt there was no solution to that. She simply wasn't able to pull back her aggression like that.

She did warm up when Katakura mentioned they were colleagues. Almost like she was considered on equal footing with her--something that Mihoko rarely ever felt from the fellow wrestlers here. She may well have just not even existed at all to them. "...Colleagues?" mused Mihoko for a moment, smiling softly as she glanced down.

And she cleared her throat, looking back to Kokoro. "Thank you for the advice. I can't really pull back like that though. I've tried but I just... can't. I'm sorry. I would like to, if I could, but I'm just not able to," explained Mihoko, glancing back down, looking conflicted. She wasn't certain if she should say more, but Kokoro was being nice to her, so she thought she owed it to her to be kind back.

In just above a whisper, Mihoko mumbled out loud. "You're beautiful too.." She didn't seem to have it in her to say it any louder, though. It seemed like it was almost a struggle to say it at all for her.

[BlackAkuma]

Strange as it might have seemed, Freezer relished this, the opportunity to talk a little shop with a fellow wrestler. It didn’t happen often - most didn’t want to talk to her at all, and when they did, it was usually to flirt or finish what they started in the ring. Neither of which she minded, but having a chance to talk about the mechanics of a match, what went wrong and what went right, was a small treat. She was out to improve as a wrestler, and this was a good push along that path.

”Colleagues. Co-workers, though that sounds too formal, I’d say.” She nodded along at Mihoko’s assessment and gave her a sympathetic sigh. ”I suppose it isn’t easy to stop all that momentum. All that adrenaline, all that speed. So intense.” She held up a finger. ”But, maybe, there are ways to work with that?”

The wheels in Freezer’s mind had only begun to turn when she caught Mihoko’s last words, uttered so softly that they could’ve been muffled by a gust of wind. Even so, it was enough to warm her heart, and she thumbed back toward the door. ”Would you care to take a little walk with me while we talk? I intended to take the train home, but I’m not short on time.”

[Dubski]

Mihoko considered the idea of working around it, but she really wasn't sure how. She had very little self-control when she was in such a frenzied state, but she needed that to compete. She couldn't imagine being able to control or harness it in any other way.

But even though Mihoko would dare not look at Kokoro after saying she was beautiful--or rather mumbling it--it seemed like Katakura reacted positively about it. This was evidenced by Kokoro offering to walk with her. A soft smile appeared on Mihoko's face as she nodded. "Yes... I can walk with you," said Tanaka before grabbing her bag and then moving a little bit closer to Kokoro, ready to flow her.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Mihoko curiously, not quite sure why she even wanted to talk to her in the first place still.

[BlackAkuma]

All the effort Freezer had put in here, all the awkwardness she had endured, even all the pain she had taken in the ring, all of it was worth it just to see Mihoko’s smile.

It was such a small, cute thing, but to finally get it out of this woman - a real, genuine, tiny small - felt like a vast accomplishment. It was clear that she kept her emotions in check, so getting her to peek out of that shell, even for a second, was no small feat, and not one that Freezer was bound to take for granted.

Freezer opened the door for Mihoko, letting her slide out first, and followed right behind her, staying close as they made their way down the hall. She did a quick check to make sure that her fanclub had followed her instructions and left for the night, scanning both sides of the area, but it seemed they had taken her words to heart - a good thing, because the last thing she needed was one of them scaring Mihoko off just when the woman had gotten semi-comfortable.

”I’d like to talk about you, if you’ll indulge me. I’m frankly full of questions. You’ve piqued my curiosity.” She threw a quick wink Mihoko’s way. ”For starters, how did you get into wrestling in the first place? And LAW of all places? Please, don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t seem to like unsolicited intimate contact, and that’s exactly uncommon in this promotion.”