A Friendly Visit (for Kookio)

[CaptainL]

Continued from here

The latest LAW match had been a big moment for everyone involved. For the up-and-coming Young Lioness Reiko Masuda, it had been an upset victory, seeing her triumphing over a more experienced opponent and making a place for herself in the landscape of the promotion. For her opponent, Lacey Whitman, it was something even more - it was her first-ever match in LAW, an opportunity for her to demonstrate her skills in front of a whole new audience and to make an impression that no one was going to forget. The match had seen plenty of high spots, back-and-forth action, and climactic brushes with what seemed like certain defeat, and both girls had given it their all and showcased their talents. Both were trying to entertain the fans and to give them a spectacle worth remembering. And, for most of the match, the breakneck pace had everyone's rapt attention - that was, until the finish. At the very last moment, right when she had taken Reiko down with a spectacular reversal, and right when she was about to jump off the ropes to hit her finisher for the eager fans...Lacey had wiped out.

She'd missed her mark, coming crashing into the ring instead of her target, and hurt her leg in the process, the pain causing her to lock up - and to lock up for just long enough for Reiko to roll her up. The Young Lioness was using the very last of her energy, and she could barely even move - but that last bit of energy was all she needed to get the pin. And when Lacey herself was powerless to rise, that was all it took to end the match in her favor.

When the dust cleared, Reiko needed a stretcher to take her backstage, and Lacey limped out with the help of the paramedics, leading both to the infirmary. After a quick checkup, they told her to sit back and keep her leg elevated to help control any swelling. Lacey couldn't help but be a little disappointed at the thought that she had blown her big debut, and she looked down at the floor with a dejected sigh. But she was even more concerned about Reiko, who had shown just as much effort and skill, who was just as devoted to the fans as she was, and who was barely even moving. If she hadn't just blown her debut, but hurt Reiko in the process...Lacey didn't know what she would do.

"Ow, ow..." Lacey winced as she tried to move, but as she held an ice pack against her leg, she looked over at the stretcher where Reiko was laid. "Reiko, are...are you okay? I'm really, really sorry..." She bit her lip and sucked in a gulp, hoping Reiko wouldn't be too upset with her...

Spoiler

[Kookio]

Reiko wouldn’t respond for a bit to Lacey’s question. She was still out cold. But right when her friend would make that assumption, Reiko’s body began to twitch as she slowly awoke. Where was she? What happened? The last thing she remembered was managing to pull herself onto her opponent for the pin before she fell unconscious. Did she lose? She had guessed that she had lost.

“Did I lose..?” She asked in a breathless tone, her eyes barely even open while she was waking up. Everything hurt and she could feel that her bed was sweaty from the aftermath of Reiko being on it. She looked over at her friend and gave her a tired smile. “Its okay. I just won’t accept the win is all. I didn’t deserve to win that match. I never accept wins where I don’t win of my own strength. It might be a pride thing…” she replied, pulling herself up and joining her friend on her bed. Or at least she she would have had her muscles not collapsed underneath her the moment she got off of the bed.

She yelped as she fell to the floor. ”Owowowow! My legs feel like jellyyyy!” she complained. ”Can you stand?” she asked, looking at Lacey with a hopeful look.

[CaptainL]

When Reiko didn't respond, Lacey bit her lip, growing tense as the color drained away from her face. A million frightful thoughts began to rush through her head, and her breath quickened and she began to shake the more she thought about them. What if this was worse than she thought - that not only had she botched her finisher and cost herself the match, but put Reiko's safety, or even her career, in jeopardy by doing so? Maybe she shouldn't have countered Reiko's finisher; maybe then, she wouldn't have forced the blonde to work as hard as she did, and pushed her past her limits! Was she going to be mad?! What if she was in a coma, and it was all her fault?!

To Lacey, that moment of panic felt like an eternity. But it was only a few seconds before Reiko began to stir - and at that, Lacey let out a long sigh of relief. Among the first things Reiko would see was Lacey looking back at her, a grin on her face and tears of joy in her eye. "REIKO!! Oh, I'm soooo glad you're okay! I was really, really worried...oh, man, I almost thought I-"

Lacey stopped to pant for breath, and Reiko would just as quickly change the subject as the realization of what had happened set in for her. But when she did, the smile on Lacey's face fell away, and she turned her gaze toward the floor as she let out a dejected sigh. "...no, you didn't...you managed to pin me right before you passed out, so..." She sighed again. She didn't even want to say it - she knew how much of a disappointment she had been. She didn't even want to look Reiko in the eye to admit it. Compared to her bright and bubbly personality in the ring, seeing Lacey so dejected was almost unthinkable. But she really had thought she had let everyone down.

In fact, she might even have let Reiko down. When she heard the Young Lioness say she wouldn't accept the win, Lacey blinked a few times and looked back up. The last thing she wanted was to tell Reiko she shouldn't feel proud about a match she'd won. "H-Huh? No, no, no-!! You won fair and square! That's what the ref said-! You...you shouldn't be upset about that!" She tried to force the best grin she could, but her face still twitched nervously with the true intentions beneath. But she couldn't let Reiko know she was upset! That would just upset her!

Still, Lacey was happy to see that Reiko was willing to join her on the bed, and that made her breathe a little easier, knowing there were no hard feelings between them...at least, until Reiko proceeded to flop onto the ground crying out in pain! Lacey's eyes went wide and her hands flew to her mouth as a jolt rang through her spine, causing her to jump up straight in her seat. "Oh, gosh, Reiko-! Are you okay..?! D-Don't do that, you scared me..!" Taking a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down, Lacey nodded her head to Reiko as she asked if she could stand. "Yeah, just...stay there, okay? I've got you..." She slipped off the bed, leaning down to reach for Reiko in order to pull her back up - but, as she put pressure on her bad leg, she too stumbled and shuddered in pain, as the sharp sensation came flooding back to her. "Y-Yeeeow..!!" she cried, before shaking herself out and looking back at Reiko. "Sorry, sorry..! You're still okay, right?"

[Kookio]

“It only counts if I win be my own merits and actions. I didn’t give you that leg injury that allowed me to win the match so I didn’t win!” she replied stubbornly to her friend’s reply. She didn’t believe she deserved the win at all because all she did was just lay on top of her opponent while she made a mistake. That wasn’t even a pin since she wasn’t even holding Lacey down at the time!

As Lacey attempted to help Reiko get up she would be managed to lift her up half way until Lacey felt the pain of her foot and dropped Reiko, causing her to land back down on her tailbone which sent a shock of pain up her back. “Yeoooowwwowowowow!! she cried out in pain from the impact. Now the two of them were writhing in pain until a nurse came by to see the two dummies both writhing in pain and signed.

“A-A little help please? I wanna get on her bed for a bit.” she asked, pointing to Lacey’s bed and the nurse Sighed, picking Reiko up and putting her next to Lacey. “Hehe~ Thank you~” she said before happily wrapping her arms around Lacey in a way where she would press her body tightly up against her new friend’s.

“So its decided that we’ll just have another match, official or unofficial to determine who deserves to win that match yeah?” she said without actually talking about that beforehand.

[CaptainL]

Lacey might have blamed herself for screwing up at the very end of the match, and turning what should have been a moment of triumph to a wipeout that cut her momentum short right when it had reached a crescendo. But even if Reiko could well have gloated, even if she could have taken advantage of the opening to give herself the win...she didn't. She didn't want to. She knew that she hadn't earned victory on her own merits, and to that end she was willing to forego the glory. Hearing this, the green-haired girl smiled just a little as she looked back up at her, breathing a sigh of relief. Deep down, she still couldn't help but feel bad that what she'd done hadn't been enough. But at least Reiko was being gracious about it. If she was willing to pass up a victory that everyone had cheered her for, just to stand by her own principles, then she was a better person than Lacey could have ever asked to face in her first LAW match.

Of course, as happy as Lacey was to have a friend in Reiko, she was quickly brought back into reality - as the blonde's cries of pain reminded her that she had dropped her! She let out a gasp as she sat back up straight, holding her hand to her mouth. "Ohmygosh-!! Reiko! I'm so, so sorry..!" Coming right on the heels of her feeling closer to Reiko than ever, the thought that Lacey had hurt her, however accidentally, felt like a punch right to the gut.

Luckily, the nurse was around to come to their aid, helping Reiko back up. And, to Lacey's surprise, she set her right down on the green-haired girl's bed! Lacey hadn't seen it coming, but only seconds later, Reiko's arms were thrown around her, pulling her into a tight embrace! "Whoah-!" she cried out at first, blushing just a little as she felt the curves of Reiko's body squishing up against her own. But she soon let the tension out with a giggle, and she smiled back at Reiko as she gave her another squeeze to tighten their hug. "You wanted to join me? Thanks!" This just meant that she and Reiko were close enough to enjoy one anothers' company - just another sign they were becoming fast friends!

And when Reiko suggested a rematch, Lacey was just as quick to nod her head in agreement. "Totally! You did great out there! I'd love to face you again!" She smiled, only to soon frown as she realized how, after the grueling match, she was still disheveled and covered with sweat, and she could feel her skin sticking to Reiko's wherever the two touched. That didn't exactly sound pleasant for her new comrade.

"Oh, sorry I'm all sweaty...I really need to take a shower after that..."

[Kookio]

Her opponent seemed far too worried about her. Her cry of pain didn’t really help that worry as she could see the worry within her friend’s eyes. ”Oh no. I’m fine. Really!” she tried reassuring her friend while the Nurse helped her up like a baby trying to get into bed again. In which, her curves would press up against her new friend’s. She was happy here.

But she was also completely and totally oblivious to the mental war going inside Lacey’s mind at the moment. Instead, she was living in pure oblivious bliss having a nice moment of cuddling with her new friend. Of course that obliviousness Reiko had was coupled with her curves pressing more tightly against Lacey’s as she would soon find herself practically laying straddled on top of her friend with her head against Lacey’s collar bone.

A part of her felt like she needed some time to hug and cuddle. She hadn’t had anyone to do this with since she joined LAW so the want to cuddle had overcame the girl the moment she had gotten some alone time with someone she considered a friend.

It wouldn’t come to mind that they were both absolutely drenched in sweat until Lacey mentioned it. In which, Reiko would pull herself off of her friend and sit straddled on her lap while examining herself. They were both sweaty and thanks to Reiko’s cuddling, her wrestling uniform had became drenched enough to where it was sticking tightly to the Young Lioness’ body, leaving basically nothing to Lacey’s imagination.

”Oh yeah. Would ya look at that. Oops.” she said while getting off of her friend. They needed to get to the showers. But Reiko’s legs felt like jelly still. She was just going to have to power through it.

The girl puffed up her cheeks and pulled herself off of the bed… Only to collapse immediately. Fortunately though, she was able to get back up on her own this time.”Okay. I’ll help us get to the showers”. She said while grabbing onto Lacey and using all of her strength to try to pick the girl up Bridal style. Her muscles were burnimg again but she would manage to do it if Lacey let her.

[CaptainL]

In her mind, Lacey was still weighing whether or not her debut match in LAW had been an accomplishment or a disappointment. She'd gotten to make a splash, and she'd gotten the fans to rally behind her, but all of it had come crashing down at the end, all because of one mistake. She could hardly imagine what might be going through the heads of all her supporters, and what they'd take away from this. Were they mad at her? Did they understand? She was sure those questions would be answered, in time, but until they were, that open ending still gnawed at her and left her uncertain.

At the same time...Lacey was having a hard time getting lost in her own thoughts when Reiko was so intent at pushing herself so tightly against her.

The green-haired girl giggled a little as she felt Reiko's breasts mushroom around her own, and her arms pulled a little tighter around her midsection to guide her even closer. She wasn't expecting her first opponent to be so touchy-feely, but she didn't really mind it either. Reiko was soft, inviting, and something about her told Lacey that everything was going to be okay, and she didn't need to worry. She really needed that, right now. Of course, it also made a blush tickle her cheeks as she thought about how she could feel practically every inch of Reiko's body, and the warmth that passed between them. It felt...nice. She did have to admit that Reiko had a very nice body. She wasn't entirely sure if she was into girls or not; she'd never thought about it that hard. But Reiko was doing a good job of making her give that some more thought...

Or, at least, she was. Soon enough, Lacey was broken out of her introspection by the sensation of her skin sticking to Reiko's by their sweat, and that was enough to make her wince just a little. On one hand, it made her feel just a little closer to Reiko...and when her eyes wandered over to see how tightly Reiko's outfit hugged her body, the white parts starting to show hints of the flesh beneath, that just made her blush a little harder before she glanced away out of respect...but she knew she'd feel a lot better after cleaning herself off. Something Reiko evidently agreed on, as she tried to get up...and when she fell over, it made Lacey wince all the more. A moment ago, she could've forgotten about how rough a shape the two of them had been left in, but this brought everything back to the front of her mind.

Lacey sat back up, leaning over the edge of the bench. "Are you...okay, Reiko? You really don't have to if you can't-" she began - but she was quickly cut off, as Reiko swept her into the air! Taken by surprise, Lacey let out a gasp, but she hugged her arms around Reiko all the same to hold herself there. "Uh, t-thanks-! But really, don't push yourself if you don't think you can make it-! I can handle myself fine-!" That was a lie. But she didn't want Reiko to have to go out of her way for her.

[Kookio]

The entire time, Reiko was still pretty oblivious of the tension growing within her friend that she was inadvertently distracting Lacey from. The Young Lioness was mainly worried about how long the two of them might be out of commission for. She knew herself might need a day or two off, but looking at her friend’s ankle, she thought it might be some sort of sprain or something. A week off maybe? Reiko wasn’t a doctor so she wasn’t sure.

But thinking said thoughts would distract her for a bit and unlike Lacey, it would be kinda clear what Reiko was thinking because she would be staring right at her friend’s ankle for about half of the walk. She wanted to think more about it, but she needed to focus on carrying her friend to the showers though.

Also unfortunately, Lacey’s attempt to have Reiko not push herself fell on deaf ears. Telling her not to push herself was like telling a dog’s tail not to wag back and forth. It was instinct for the Young Lioness by this point in her LAW career.

”Uh, yeah. Okay.”

She replied absentmindedly, finally looking away from Lacey’s ankle to focus on carrying her friend to the showers. They were in the hall way now and attracting some looks because of how Reiko was carrying her friend, but Reiko just greeted them with a cheerful smile and kept on walking. One time she had thought she had gotten lost, she asked one of the staff members where the showers were and they directed her towards it. Thankfully the showers weren’t too far away and after taking a turn around the corner of the hallway, Reiko would see the showers entrance down the hall.

“Ah! There it is!”

She yelled, her walk turning into a run while she carried her friend. Thank god, she didn’t know how much longer she could. Seeing salvation had given Reiko a second wind and it would only be a few seconds before the two of them entered the private showers together!

[CaptainL]

For as much as Lacey tried to get Reiko to pace herself, it was quickly growing apparent that the blonde wasn't going to take no for an answer, and all Lacey could do was hang on as Reiko carried her down the hallways. At the very least, it didn't seem like her aches and pains were bothering her much any more, now that she was capable of maintaining a steady pace - though Lacey still clutched herself close to her side, just in case she lost her footing, and she clenched her teeth nervously every time it felt like Reiko came down on the wrong foot. Even the odd looks they were getting as they headed down the hall wasn't doing much to slow the Young Lioness down. Lacey did feel a little bit awkward as she passed a few gawking passers-by, but she did her best to smile and wave to them. "I'm okay-!" she said, trying to brush off any lingering doubts, though people still stared. She had, after all, taken a pretty nasty wipeout not long before, and there was video evidence of it. Not many believed her.

But for as awkward as it might have been, and as much as Lacey was worried for Reiko's well-being, she couldn't lie - she was grateful for the help. She was seeing good things in Reiko. She was a kind soul, she had her heart set on doing right for her friends (even if she had only met them moments ago), and she wasn't going to let anyone else's thoughts or judgments get in the way of doing what she felt was right. She was just the sort of person she had wanted to meet, having moved to a new country she was still getting used to. And when she wasn't sure how far she could walk on a leg that still ached when she moved it too much, she couldn't say she didn't appreciate a hand. "Um...I just wanted to say, thank you," Lacey said in a softer voice once they were away from the attention. "This is really nice of you to do this for me..."

Moments later, though, Reiko saw the showers in the distance - and she broke out into a run, taking Lacey along for the ride! All of a sudden, the green-haired girl felt things rushing by her, and she was reminded of the concern she had expressed for her newfound friend a moment ago. It felt like she was on a roller coaster, and that roller coaster could crash at any minute! "WHOAH-! Reiko..! Easy! I don't want you to slip-!!"

When Reiko reached the showers without a slip, Lacey let out an audible sigh of relief. That could have gone a lot worse. Still, she rubbed her head a bit, still coming down from the rush. "Okay, okay...don't...do that again, all right?" The door opened into the locker room, with benches along the walls for people to sit at and tie their boots. "You can set me down on one of the benches there," Lacey explained. "I'll be okay."

[Kookio]

When Reiko was walking, she was stumbling about every ten steps. But every time she managed to barely catch herself and continue walking forwards. In response to her friend’s gratitude, Lacey had smiled at her. She had usually worked well with a lot of people. She was always the type to say hello to others because she thought a smile and a cheerful attitude was always a better way to live than treating others with disrespect. But she got along with Lacey even better than normal.

This was mainly because unlike her, Lacey was someone she had her career together. Even more, Lacey had that aura where Reiko felt like she wanted to push herself past her limits and strive to do everything for her so she can keep wrestling with her.

”Eheheh… Oops.” She said while looking at her with the obvious notion that she had realized her mistake and was trying to shake it off with a smile. She walked the two over to the bench like she was told and placed her friend down on the bench and then sitting next to her.

“There you go. Finally! I can take off these sticky outfit!” she cheerfully, grabbing onto her wrestling out which she was still wearing since they went from the ring immediately to the recovery room. Without thinking too much about the fact that she was about to strip right in front of her friend, she grabbed onto her straps around her shoulders and would begin to attempt to pull them off of them, threatening to strip right in front of Lacey if she was not stopped.