L.A.W. - League of Anime Wrestling

Forgive me.

HAHAHAHAHA.

No, no. Keep a straight face. You’re supposed to be letting her concede. Let her say whatever.

Perhaps for a change, she didn’t mind the de-escalation in this situation. She really did need to relax and get this buggy feeling out that made her feel all sorts of crotchety. If this wasn’t Yuki she was dealing with, it would’ve been clear as day. But she still wasn’t going to give the bath up because Yuki was one twitch away from throwing another sucker punch.

Though this was all at the back of her mind, as was the mention of eating her eyes. That was next week’s thoughts, not for tonight. What was at the front: was that blush.

She smirked, perked her shoulders up and had a short laugh.

“Oh my goooood.” She said, swimming over to Yuki’s side of the pool. She propped an elbow up, made a fist and rest her cheek on it, turned at Yuki. “Ya really do feel somethin’ warm for me, Yuuuu-kiiiiiiii.” God she was smug now. She was hit with this childish excitement like she got a new toy to play with. She had to explore.

She let out a hum. After leaning more into her fist, she let her body go loose.

“Can’t run from it now. I saw that big red blush. It’s locked in my head.” She mimicked a key, turning it, then flicked away. "And stuck there forevah."

At the very least, Angelina wasn't denying Yuki's accusations. But that provided the Japanese girl with little solace, considering Angelina had shifted topics entirely. Perhaps she knew that she couldn't contest Yuki when it came to her intentions, or perhaps she just found the alternative approach to be more interesting - Yuki would've believed either in equal share, knowing Angelina as long as she had. But the new line of conversation was no less intrusive than the last - if not more.

All of a sudden, Angelina didn't feel like a looming, ominous tower of dread. She didn't feel like an uncontrollable monster that would tear Yuki limb from limb and devour her entrails at the first sign of weakness. Now, Angelina was convinced that Yuki had feelings for her. And she was rubbing that in her face, like a bully on the playground all the way back in grade school. And yet, it still cut deep into the girl's heart. It still meant the same thing - that Angelina knew she had pierced Yuki's armor, and was trying to claim her dominion over her. The absolute last thing Yuki wanted.

"Noooo, I do nooooot!!" Yuki whined. Her whole face lit up red, and she turned away from Angelina; for once, she felt safe shutting her eyes around her, and that was because the thought of looking at her now felt even worse than the threat of looking away. The worst part of it all was that there was a seed of truth to it - and that only brought Yuki shame. Yuki did have to admit it - Angelina was gorgeous. She had to concede that even before, and now that they were both naked and inches apart, the tension felt like it was squeezing her tighter than ever. But she hated that she felt this way. Angelina should've inspired nothing less than terror and hatred in Yuki. Why, then, was she so...aroused by the spectacle of her body? It was as though her own baser impulses were betraying her - and now, Angelina was making her keenly aware of that fact.

"W-Well," she finally blurted out, still quite pointedly not looking at Angelina, "it's not like you're helping here! Y-You don't need to make this weird!" She splashed at the water; it was her way of holding Angelina off, in the hopes that the Marauder wouldn't come any closer. Even the fact that she had come closer was making the hairs rise on the back of Yuki's neck - she'd invaded her personal space, both figuratively and literally, and she no doubt considered that a trophy.

It was indeed a trophy.

Emotions, to her, was like programming an outer face she wore all the time. It was dormant without written commands consciously executed. Then she learned how to make an easy interface for it, to help the inner face interact how it pleased. Smiles to hide the seething rage or the longing. A frown to show disgust or anger to get what she desired easier. Tears of sympathy, sorrow, remorse and looks of disgust to show power behind the feeling, when in-fact, there was just a void of nothing that she stared into and got content with over time.

She had control. Party thanks to her use of words and calming sets of faces. But also her body, it seemed. Of course, she had less control over that one. Somewhat. Diet, exercise. Cosmetic adjustments like the horns and red hair dye. Then there were things she was blessed with. A working metabolism, no health defects ( if the scars don’t count ) and a fair chest.

She looked at Yuki’s for a moment. Smaller. Yes, she hides them. She knew Yuki’s self-esteem was an easy thing to prod, so this was more a coil in the barbed wire fence. She just hadn’t really inspected it. Yuki was plain. But pretty, in the objective sense. Someone would definitely find a home in rousing her face into a red mess, only to see her stumble, bumble and tremble into a smile. Yuki's armour was shiny and big, but even a full-set usually had its gaps. Then you never forget them.

Bemused, Angelina commented, “Wow…” Then flinched when water was thrown up. Her hands guarded the face but the watery blanket easily found holes and thus… Her face was no longer dry. She said with pouty lips, “You’re the one yellin’.”

She held her breath and then sunk into the water, wanting to soak the remaining dry spots to get that part over with. When she popped up, she flipped her hair back and ran a hand between the horns to push the hair back.

“Say, Yuki.” She swam closer into Yuki’s space, standing on the tips of her toes and pushing the water aside with spreading arms put in front of herself. “Think that soft spot can make ya forget the past?” Her smile was devious and playful as she fluttered off the pool floor and letself float float around in a circle to find Yuki’s face. “Just think about that do-ovah. Different time and place. I coulda’ been ya friend. Or… something mooooore~”

In that moment, Yuki flinched. Angelina had broken her composure; invaded her moment of peace. It had tripped a switch, spurred on her instincts, and left her with no choice but to strike out. That impulse came in the form of her body kicking into action - how she brought her hand down to swat at the water; how the splash had shot up into Angelina's face. But just a moment later, when Yuki took in a breath and reassessed her situation, the color drained away from her face - her eyes went wide, and she could feel the slack set into the muscles that had been stiff with tension a moment before. For all she wanted to prove Angelina wrong - that she wasn't a psychopath; that she was only doing what she needed to do in the face of danger - she was slipping back into old habits. She was letting that fear and that anxiety get the better of her. She had been the one to throw the first blow. Just like the last time, and the time before that. And this time, it hadn't even been over anything directly threatening. Angelina hadn't threatened to attack her, or maim her, or strangle her, or anything that Yuki was afraid she might do. She just...insinuated that she liked her.

Yuki looked down into the water, a blush coming to her face. She didn't want to look Angelina in the eye - she didn't want to acknowledge what she'd just done, and have to confront it. "...sorry," she said meekly, in a voice that was barely any more than a whisper. It was more something she said for her own peace of mind; she didn't want Angelina to hear it, knowing that she would almost certainly use it as a weapon against her; that she would take it as proof that everything she was saying was true. And even then, the fact that Yuki had brought herself to utter that word to Angelina Tarrant, after all she'd done, after all she'd forced her into, made her sick to her stomach.

But Angelina drew closer. Almost too close. When she floated around to face her, and leaned in toward Yuki, she was asserting her presence, and the Japanese girl went tense, leaning back away from her advance out of instinct as she held an arm protectively in the space between their two bodies. Yet, she could still feel the warmth of Angelina's skin. She could almost imagine how it might feel if their bodies met, with nothing but a thin layer of water in between them. It made a blush rise to her face, and a tingle run down her spine. She almost liked it. She hated that she did.

"F-First of all," Yuki began, "I...never said anything about a soft spot..." Her face was still flushed red regardless. "But...what reason would I have to be...to be friends with you..?" She winced as she said that word - even more so, as she thought of what else had been implicated, but that Angelina hadn't said. "After all the people you've threatened? After all the people you've harmed? I can't stand people who do things like that - you know that."

And yet, even saying that, Yuki winced and bit the inside of her cheek. She knew well how little that meant. How worthless of an objection that was. At the time of their first match, Angelina hadn't done anything of the sort. In fact, Yuki barely knew her at that point. What was it that had driven Yuki to fight as hard as she did to keep her down? It wasn't vengeance. It wasn't righteous indignation. It was...little more than the fact that Yuki needed to win, to prove her own self-worth. It was desperation. And, as she realized that, she gulped. Maybe Angelina was right. Maybe they could have been friends, under better circumstances; at least, maybe their first impressions could have been better. Maybe Yuki was the one at fault. Maybe she had been the one who ensured all of this would escalate - that so many people would be hurt in the crossfire. She grit her teeth at that thought. No matter how warm the water was, she felt a deathly chill. But what was even more chilling than that was the fact that she was actually agreeing with Angelina.

Say one thing, feel another.

Was it better to play to self-reflection? People threatened, people harmed. People, people, people. Trees in a dark forest. She didn’t have many thoughts about them. For most of them, really positive or negative. They were things than really something you feel bad for. Objects, like beach balls, a porcelain cup or a shabby bed frame. Things. Some were shiny, but many were not.

“They all treated me like shit anyway.”

“Same with you.” Though her smile didn’t change after that. It was like she was completely content with the facts and had at least an acceptance of that on the surface.

“So I hit back. I can see their eyes change as I take control. Call it threats and harm all ya like, they ask for it.” There was more to add to that, but her mouth and nose sunk beneath the water incidentally. She rose up, pinched her nostrils and continued. “If they got a problem, then roll ovah and stop playin'. Still, a few dorksticks will keep comin, so one can only go biggah. Ain’t it thrillin’, yooks? Me and you. We can push this right till we break, then...”

With both hands, she shoved the water to get Yuki back with a big SPLASH.

"Make a wave!"

Yuki was already tense, but Angelina wasn't helping to relieve that tension one bit. Even if she put aside the matter of her all-too-unwelcome attraction to the redhead, she was just as equally aware of what it was Angelina could do, and was willing to do - all of which felt like nothing less than a threat aimed right in her direction. Being alone and defenseless in the water with Angelina was really doing Yuki no favors. And while the Marauder was swimming around the pool, casual and carefree, Yuki was standing on high alert, watching at every moment for the signal if she would need to defend herself.

But it wasn't just the inherent threat of being locked in here with a Marauder that wore at Yuki's nerves. No, it was also what Angelina said - and, in particular, why she said she acted the way she did. That everyone had pushed her around, and that this was her way of fighting back. Yuki, of course, conceded that she couldn't trust a word out of Angelina's mouth, especially knowing that she'd apparently managed to convince herself that Yuki was the psychopath she was defending herself against...but supposing that there was some truth to what Angelina was saying, it stuck with her.

Yuki herself wasn't the most threatening of people, after all. Not with her slight frame, slender build, and quiet demeanor. She'd been picked on plenty of times by people who thought they could get away with making hits on an easy target. Not just in the ring, but at school and in her personal life. And yet, she was still determined to stand up to them - to take back power for herself, no matter who rose to stand in her way. She had chosen wrestling because it made her feel like there was something she succeeded at, and that she really could be something. Was that what Angelina thought, too?

As she thought about it, Yuki's eyes went a little wider, and she stared off into the distance as something coiled tighter in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she and Angelina weren't so different, after all - and did that mean that Yuki had in her all the potential to end up like her? That it was only an accident of fate that she had chosen another path? Yuki didn't want to believe she was anything like Angelina, or that she could ever have done some of the things she'd done. But...how true was that, really?

Yuki was so lost in her own terrible thoughts that she had let her senses slip away from reality for a moment. That was never a good idea when Angelina was around - but at least this time, Angelina's ambush would be relatively harmless. Just then, she swept up her arms, and a splash roared up from the water and broke over Yuki! The dark-haired girl let out a yelp as she reeled aside, putting up her arms to try and defend herself, but to no avail - the wave came crashing down over her! In the end, she was soaked from head to toe, and keenly aware of where she was and who she was with. "Gaaah-!! Would you cut that out!?"

Yuki needed a moment to collect herself after that, shaking some droplets of water from her hair as she caught her breath. But when her eyes settled back on Angelina, they softened, and her head tilted toward her just a little. The thought that she and Angelina might have had something in common frightened her. It was something she didn't want to believe. But...it also made her curious. And she drifted just a little closer. Her eye twitched at the thought of being too close to Angelina, but the gap between them began to narrow, just a little, nonetheless.

"...but...what do you mean? Who was it that treated you like shit? Who...asked for it?" She bit at the inside of her cheek, sure she wouldn't like the answer. But maybe she would at least begin to understand her opponent a little more. Maybe she wasn't an uncontrollable demon after all. Maybe there was a reason she was this way...

Angelina passed the moments by working on trying to develop a doggy paddle. Hand goes down, then the other. Kick, kick. That was the theory anyway, but she never grasped it. Or she just wasn’t goo. Both are true. That’s why she stayed on her tip-toes, limited, but she did enough to keep that from being noticed, so it seemed. Then when Yuki drifted closer for a change, she let her arms float to the side and lounge on the top. Steam wrapped around it and made her feel like it was still submerged.

She raised her brow, glanced up to ponder, “Lets see…” Then looked at Yuki directly, smiling. “I started out here bein’ another girl’s fuck doll. I had no experience. Some Loo-nara girl. I was also put on a loud chick’s torture table post-match. Then a rich blonde sodomized me in front of thousands and showed me off like a pet. I’ve had my leg broken, been taken prisoner, pulled dozens upon dozens of glass shards from my back and I’ve been set on fuckin' fire for this.”

Yes, this is a planned thing for her continuity. It just hasn’t happened in direct writing yet.

Angelina didn’t seem too glummed about all that though. You can almost see a faint pink starting to show up as she reminisced about her experiences in LAW. Some golden treasures that now were photographs in the expanse of long-term memory. She let her foot go flat, stood wider and let herself sink just a bit more.

“I’ve come so close to breakin’ a ceiling, only to break a hand. Every slip in this run, I’ve upped the stakes and grabbed a sharpah knife. Because that works. And it feeeeeeels…” In through the nose, out the mouth. “Pretty fuckin’ good. My fortune has finally turned around. And I got…” Her hands raised in front of her and wiggled them. Small, slender and porcelain. “Just these hands to thank for it.”

Yuki could feel her heart beating faster in her chest as nervous energy rose through her body the closer she drifted toward Angelina. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this - that she was actually, willfully, getting close to her. Angelina, she knew, wouldn't hesitate to unleash all sorts of grievous bodily harm of the sorts that Yuki couldn't even begin to comprehend if it so crossed her mind to do so. And Yuki saw no reason that she could trust her - not after she tried to manipulate her family, and to turn the world against her; to make her look like the psychopath she so called her in front of everyone. Or was that what Angelina genuinely believed to be true? Yuki didn't even know what to believe...but it was that very fact that tugged at the strings of her curiosity and made her want to look deeper into Angelina's eyes; into her soul. To see what made her this way. What made her tick. Why she was the Marauder she'd become. Could she trust a word out of her mouth? That, Yuki wasn't sure...but perhaps, at least, she'd have answers.

And perhaps what alarmed Yuki most of all...was the fact that when she heard what Angelina had to say, she actually related to her. The dark-haired girl froze, reflecting on all she'd been through and all she'd experienced. She had had her fair share of crushing defeats and ignoble humiliations in the ring. Falling just short of a title victory. Having her body bent into a shameful position and her crotch held up for the world to see. Falling to her anxieties and letting them cost her the one goal she had been working toward in the Lightweight Classic. Angelina, it seemed, was no stranger to those same woes...and if anything, in some ways she might have had it worse. Even if it was Angelina talking, Yuki still couldn't help but wince at what she was hearing. But even more so, she winced at the thought that if Angelina had been through such things, and they had turned her into the person she was today...could the same have happened to Yuki, in another world?

But there was a difference, Yuki knew. There was a difference, and the knowledge of that kept her grounded even as her mind began to wander into the abyss. No matter how much the two of them had suffered, there was still one important factor that set them apart. Yuki still had a conscience. She still knew that what Angelina did was wrong, and that she wouldn't dare go down the same path. Sucking in a breath and clenching her fist to steady herself, Yuki rose a little higher in the water, her eyelid twitching. She knew full well that what she would say next could end up backfiring in a fiery explosion. But she had to at least try - she had too much on her mind to let it all go unsaid.

"So...this is all you...striking back? Looking to be powerful?" A gulp slithered down her throat as she said that, and as she realized how much of that she could say just as well about herself. "But it doesn't...have to be this way. Does it? I've been in a match with you, and I've seen what you can do. You're good at wrestling. Like...you have talent. You've pulled off some really impressive moves. You could succeed just as well on your own merits. You've come a long way - I'd argue you're main event quality." A lot of that fame and attention came from Angelina's...antics, of course, but Yuki could still recognize potential when she saw it. "Why do you feel you have to...do these things to people? Like...like you did to Shimmerlace?" Even saying the words made her cringe from all the memories they dredged up. But Yuki knew she had to say it.

What Angelina hated most about that response was the name she used. Her smile started to fidget to keep calm and docile as it had been. Her thoughts boiled for about ten seconds, imagining herself putting Yuki under the water surface and holding her there until the memory of Shimmer was squeezed out by pending brain damage.

“Mmm….” Angelina closed her eyes, rubbed them and pretended to ponder the question deeply.

“I told ya, already. She is dead to you.” Now decide… Decide. Do you really want to do something about it here or what? Yuki probably wouldn’t expect it. But she also probably knew this would be a sore subject. And with how on-guard she is normally around her, she can’t say Yuki wasn’t prepared at the moment. Then the other question was there. Was she even strong enough with her malaise to even win such a battle? Maybe when she turns her back. We could…

Angelina let her hands down.

“It’s how Legends are made, Yooks. That’s the game.” Angelina tilted her head, forcing a smile again. “This ain’t some revenge for how I am treated. I’m not some insecure dorkstick lashin’ out. I know there are limits on what my body can do. Someone can come along tomorrow, be more talented, more charismatic, more everything in some way. I bet dozens already exist.” And it was the exact kind of thing that Angelina felt excited about. “But no one will match how hard I try, how hard I fight or the depths of what I am willing to do or endure, just to take what they have.”

Main Event quality. Midcard. Upper-Midcard. Enhancement talent. She despised categories. She wanted one of her own.

“Everything ya see is my merit. It’s this way because it was always going to be this way, because that’s what it takes to break a ceiling.”

So, that was all it was. What was it that had driven Angelina through all the chaos and commotion she had brought in her wake? What was her end goal? Nothing more than her desperation to be remembered. To make something of her life. To strike out on her own.

Hearing it, Yuki's body trembled, then went stiff. Her mouth hung open. She was ready to voice some interjection, some rebuttal. It was almost perverse, she thought. It wasn't right. All this brutality, all this mayhem, all the ways she had hurt people and broke people and all the laws she had flirted with if one was being charitable, and all for such a vapid, simple goal? The thought of it should have turned Yuki's stomach.

But any words she might've thought of died before they could even make it to her throat. Yuki, she realized, was no one to judge her. In fact, as much as she would like to deny it, as much as she would like to call what Angelina had just said the ramblings of a madwoman...she knew she understood her all too well. More so than she would ever hope to. She didn't want to ever conceive of such words...but what Angelina was saying made perfect sense.

After all, wasn't that what had driven Yuki herself to such heights? The desire to be something - to find her niche in the world? She could have chosen any walk of life she wanted. And yet, she chose wrestling. Knowing full well the risks and the dangers. She chose to stick with wrestling, even after the injuries, even after the desperate pleas of her family. All because she wanted to have something worth being proud of in her life. Maybe she wasn't taking it out on others quite as much. But the motivations were still there - and Yuki should have been the first to know that they were strong enough to motivate her through even the most disastrous of threats. Yes, when she looked at Angelina in front of her, the smiling face looking back at her wasn't quite as inscrutable as it had been a moment ago.

But then, the dark-haired girl stopped to shake the thoughts out of her head, her face contorting in a grimace. No matter how much she saw herself in Angelina - how much it helped rationalize Angelina - she couldn't forget there was still one important thing that separated the two. Yuki was still a decent person. She had her limits. She knew when to hold back. She sucked in a deep breath; even after she stopped, she stalled a few seconds longer. She was almost afraid to put her thoughts into words. She didn't know how Angelina might respond. But she couldn't just let them go unsaid, she knew. She had to put them out there.

"But then..." she began, "why do you have to do it...the way you do? You're tough, you're acrobatic, you're willing to defy danger..." All things, she realized, that could well be said about herself. "You could be as big and successful as you say you want to be, without even needing to maim anyone. So why that?"