Kita-Ku, Saturday, 7pm

Taylor first ignored Ace's timidity, chalking it up to general dorkiness. Ace was pretty dorky.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll translate," She said brightly, holding a hand up to Ace. "Kashi says: I'm a giant Japanese baby and I'm so upset that you bought me nice things." She turned to Akashi and switched to her language. <Akashi, you're bigger than this. It's hard to imagine, I know, but still.>

"But if anyone brought presents, they should be for Cass, since she was gone for her birthday."

"I don't need anything, really. I had a good birthday with my family and stuff. We went to the Toronto zoo and stuff. Bucky got me a shirt with his face on it like this." She did her best imitation of his goofy, suave, most-interesting-man-in-the-world smile.

Akashi growled at Taylor when she spoke to her <I don't expect you to understand. No one around here understands. That's the problem and I don't want to talk about it right now. In front of people.> She said nodding her head to Cassie.

Akashi then smiled brightly and put her arm around Cassie. "Cassie-chan! How IS Bucky-kun doing?' She said smiling brightly, ignoring Ace completely and Taylor for the moment. 'Did he like the poster?" She said. Akashi had sent Bucky a signed poster after her and Taylor got into playful verbal scuffle.

Ace gulped and attempted another half step back. Clearly she was the cause of Akashi being agitated, and worse, her and Taylor were starting to spat over it. She had been worried that something like this might happen, the blonde starting to regret her decision to come. It was Taylor's house after all, and Akashi was her big sister. If Kashi got upset, then Ace would be the one taking whatever the consequences for it.

"Ummm...Maybe I should just check out the food or something?"

She said, trying to excuse herself.

Taylor rolled her eyes.

"He's great! He's working now as a freelance designer with different things. Graphic design and video and stuff. And... he liked the poster." Cassie nodded.

<Maybe that's because it's your custom, and not hers. Or mine. Or Cassie's.> Taylor growled right back. Her Japanese wasn't as elegant as Akashi's, but all things considered she'd learned well in her three-and-a-half years in Japan, with the help of her husband.

Cassie looked back and forth between Taylor and Akashi and frowned. They were too busy squabbling to even acknowledge their guest. She didn't like it. Poor Ace. "So I'm the only one who hasn't had a match with-"

Taylor cut her off. "Hold up there, sister, Kashi was just going to apologize for trying to act like a total-" She looked over at Ace and noticed the girl practically shaking in her boots. "Okay, what is the problem? Did Cassie tell you a ghost story?"

"That's great!" Akashi said and smiled at the red head.

She waited until Taylor was finished and looked back at her. <And it's MY country! I don't expect someone to understand the way we do things, even I think some of the customs here are a little ridiculous but is it so much to ask for people to at least TRY not to piss all over the place that's taking them in!? And, I don't mean you or Cassie-chan. It's that girl.>

Akashi whipped her head around and stared at Ace. "Oooh, yesu, yesu. Engurish." She said, making sure her Japanese accent, which she had become pretty good at keeping subdued, was in full force. "I speak Engurish vely good! So vely sorry I speak in the Japanese!" Akashi reached out and grabbed Ace's hand. She gave it a two handed squeeze, trying her best to crush the hand. "Oh, yesu, yesu, beeg Yankee handushake! This is warum furendery shake, yes?! So solly. vely solly. We good furend now? yesu, yesu?"

Akashi turned and narrowed her eyes at Taylor. <better?> She said in a low tone. Akashi turned and looked at Cassie and her features instantly changed. "So, what were you saying, Cassie-chan?" Akashi said in perfect English with only a hint of Japanese accent.

Ace could only stare, wide eyed, as Akashi tried her best to crush Ace's hand, and for the most part succeeding, Ace having to bite her lip to avoid yelling aloud.

Even more shocking was Akashi's accent, dishonoring herself by intentionally sounding like a stereotypical Asian person from an old John Wayne movie, her intention to paint Ace as some kind of racist, it seemed.

When it ended, Ace could only stand there, in complete and utter shock. She had never been so utterly humiliated in her life, even her match with Akashi, where she was tossed like a ragdoll, powerbombed multiple times, and was said to be an insult to all of Japan in front of the entire crowd by the sumo weren't as bad as this. Ace honestly didn't know what to do.

"I.....I....I......"

She practically whimpered, holding her crushed hand while looking down at the carpet.

"Kashi, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Taylor shouted, incredulous at the ridiculous scene Akashi was making.

She would have continued, had Cassie not stepped in front of the sumo and savagely twisted her considerable left breast. She squared up to her with her hands planted on her hips, tiny in front of the brutish woman, and then raised a hand high up in the air and swatted Akashi's forehead and the bridge of her nose like she was spiking a volleyball.

"You," she scolded. "Are going to apologize. Right now."

Taylor gave Ace a humorlessly apologetic look and shook her head. "Kashi, this is messed up. You're acting like a total fuckwad right now." Then she added, to Ace, "And you, man, you're supposed to be a fighter. You're really just gonna fall apart like that the moment someone tries to get in your face? Sack the fuck up, dude. Tell her to go fuck herself or something instead of standing there stuttering like Sunderland's twin."

Akashi would have continued but she had honestly not expected Cassie to grab her. Her eyes widened when Cassie twisted her boob and she yelped, falling into position where Cassie could smack her hard. Akashi fell to the ground and rubbed her face, listening to Taylor.

"I won't." Akashi said in a softer tone. "I won't apologize." Akashi lifted her head, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. "If you want to kick me out, then kick me out. I know you think I'm acting like an asshole and maybe I am but..." She pointed at Ace. "That face... That's exactly how she made me feel!"

Akashi stood up slowly. "A hundred and fifty years ago if she had done what she did to me, I'd have had to cut my stomach open. You can't understand that and I don't expect you to. I'll apologize to Taylor-san for doing this at her party but that's it. Not to her." Akashi shook her head. "If she wants to take it up with me, then we can go outside and punch each other until we're all bloody."

Akashi pulled her hand away. "She's got a head start." She said as she looked at her blood covered hand. "Otherwise, I'm going to get some ice, a drink and head home. I'm sure Cassie-san won't mind staying here for the night." Akashi said and turned her big body. The conversation really sobered her up in the worst possible way.

Cassie's sudden admonishing of Akashi snapped Ace out of her stupor. Here she had been trying to be polite, trying to stay out of Akashi's way, and tiptoe around her in order to not offend her, and it had beyond failed, yet Cassie was smaller than Ace, and had no issue drawing blood from the sumo. It wasn't hard to tell to see why people kept telling her about how great Cassie was just by watching her.

Ace found herself shaking as she listened to Akashi, finding herself getting angry. Ace had made a mistake, having meant no malice, and Akashi had already gotten her revenge for it, but felt that wasn't enough it seemed. She had to pile on more guilt, give Ace more shit, humiliate her again, over a misunderstanding.

Getting more and more pissed off by the second, at Akashi, at herself for not standing up for herself, even at Cassie for having the gall to do what Ace hadn't, Taylor's words echoing in her head, Ace had finally had enough, moving forward to block Akashi's path as she turned to walk out, getting in the woman's face.


"FUCK YOU!"

She yelled, actually considering punching her square in her face, body trembling as she continued.

"I cannot BELIEVE you! I made a MISTAKE! I made what I thought was a good gesture, and I fucked up! I admitted it! I apologized for it! You could have tried to explain things, tried to actually teach me that your culture is against that sort of thing, BUT NO! God forbid Akashi lower herself to explaining something to an ignorant foreigner!

No, you have to whine and bitch about your honor, and how I so insulted you, even though it was a misunderstanding! Not only that, but the high and mighty Sumo, so concerned with respect and honor, has to go out of her way and humiliate and dishonor me in public, telling all of Japan how, compared to precious Cassie, I'm just some selfish racist, looking her nose down at every proud Japanese person in the crowd, and how I'm such a horrid bitch that I don't even deserve to represent my own country!

Even when you have the damn match won, you can't just go for a pin, nooooo, that's not enough, so you have to prove how superior you are and make sure everybody knows how much honor you have by piling more damage on! Then, for some fucking reason, that's STILL not enough for you, you have to make a big scene here and make a complete ass of yourself, just to humiliate me again!

I made a mistake, on that I completely regret, and I have tried to be polite and stay out of your way since our match, and all you've done is be even MORE disrespectful, try to humiliate on purpose, multiple times, and all your doing is dishonoring yourself in the process! I am NOT putting up with this shit from you! If you wanna keep pushing this issue, then lets go outside and fucking settle it already, OR you can GET OVER YOURSELF,stop being such a BITCH, and we can move on already!"

She finished yelling, panting, wide eyed, chest heaving as she stared at Akashi, not even noticing Cassie or Taylor behind her, so caught up in her own emotional state that she didn't even remember that she was at a party, with other people either having seen, or at least heard part of, her outburst. All she did was stare, ready for Akashi's reaction, hands clenched into fists.

With Ace's initial outburst, Taylor looked like she was ready to tackle her. But then she began to rant and rave and go on and on, and Taylor could only wait. She folded her arms across her chest, put one hand in the crook of her elbow and put her forehead to her other hand, exchanged looks with Cassie. What a drag.

When she was finally done, Taylor pushed her and herded her back up the stairs and toward the front door. "This was a mistake," she said. "Just go. This is clearly not going to work."

Cassie followed along behind Akashi in silent shame. She was horrified to see the results of just smacking her on the head. She really hadn't mean to hit her that hard, but that was quickly becoming the story of her life.

She quickly went to get some napkins from over by the food, and came back to guide Akashi around the corner and into the laundry room. She stepped in front of her and put a hand on her chin to steady her while she gently wiped away the blood, and then guided her down to sit against the wall across from the washing machine.

Cassie sat down next to her. She didn't say anything, but she put her arm around her.