BECAUSE I SAID SO!

"Oh. Come. ON! Seriously? No way! I told that bitch to forget about it, on the... online thing. And with very good reason! She's a bitch! She sucks at fighting, she's a skinny little nothing from Jersey, and she wants Johnny's dick! Do you really think she's the one I should be wasting my time with? Did you see what I did in the ring last time? Do you remember what happened?


"I'm at the top of my game right now, and I really don't think that taking in some stray skank so she can roll her eyes at everything I say and talk shit all the time is what I need. Like, do you want the title? Because I do! And if she's here, I... I dunno, but like, nothing good!


"Mom... This is so stupid. This is stupid. Can't we just talk about this, so you can come to your senses and realize that this no-talent ass clown would be a horrible mistake? Give me one good reason why she's in. One. One good reason, and I'll say okay mom, you got it. Can you do that? Probably not, because there isn't one."

Taylor finally shut her mouth and took a breath. She was red faced and flustered, keyed up until her hands couldn't hold still. In times like this when she was indignant with anger, she felt like more and more of a teenager when she faced her calm and composed mother-in-law, standing there with her little smirk like she'd seen it all before. Taylor couldn't even deal with it.

Ninjette was not joining the dojo!

Junko waited patiently while Taylor continued to try and persuade her that Ninjette did not belong in the dojo. Junko had seen the match, of course, and she'd known all about the girl even though they had never met before. However, if she were to believe Taylor's accounts, then Ninjette was a psychotic she-beast only bent on destroying the Higurashi name.

Unfortunately for Taylor, while it had been her idea in part, it was Junko's home and Junko's dojo. She was having none of Taylor's attitude and when the girl seemed to finally run out of steam, Junko calmly adjusted her glasses and smiled at Taylor.

"Fufufu, my daughter, from everything you've said, it sounds like she would be the perfect candidate for the dojo."

Junko stepped away from Taylor, pulling out her fan from her sleeve and fanning herself coyly. "Don't worry, she'll be perfectly aware of the rules." She began and then turned back and looked at Taylor. "But you need people around you who can push your buttons. She sounds like a lovely young girl. Even if you don't think much of her, I'm sure she'll keep you on your toes. And if things get heated, well, we do have a ring, fufu."

Junko then began clacking away from Taylor but continued to talk. "Besides, I think sometimes it's good for a woman to have a rival in love as well. You will also have to keep your eyes on Junichi-kun and make sure he doesn't stray, fufufu~ Really, it's the best thing that could happen~"

Junko slipped through the doorway, heading back to the house proper and was gone for a moment before she popped back in. "While we're waiting, why don't you set the place up and clean. You may be the champ soon, but as long as you're in this dojo, your head will never be too big sweep the floors! Fundamentals are not just for beginners, Taylor-chan." Junko said, wagging her finger at Taylor with a teasing smirk on her face.

"She is naaaawwwwwt a rival, mooooom! She's just an asshole!" Taylor wailed. "What about that Gemma girl? What about Nik? And I am cleaning! I have to find a spot for all the..."

She paused, and drew two heavy breaths before hopping over the pile of new sparring gear they had received and jogging up to Junko.

"Hey," she said, more calmly and more seriously. "Dont joke about that. That isn't funny. That is never funny, okay? You can't joke about that stuff because..." She wrung her hands and shifted from foot to foot. "It really scares me. And Ninjette isn't making it any easier."

Junko waited as Taylor chased her."I'm excited for them too, fufu~" She still had a cool smirk on her lips even as Taylor spoke seriously. When the younger girl was finished, Junko grabbed the Taylor's cheeks in both her hands and brought her face closer.

"Taylor-chan, I'm serious as well." She began. "Do I trust my son? Of course I do. At least, Junichi-kun. Do I trust you? You're my daughter and I love you with all my heart. I'm rooting for you Taylor-chan. I might want grandchildren but I want them to be from you. I doubt that any of the other girls are as seriously committed. However!" She said sharply. "Complacency will be the death of us all. Let what comes come and let that fuel your heart. Take pride in knowing you have done what it takes to make sure he doesn't stray no matter the temptation. Do not loathe the temptation itself."

Junko leaned in and kissed Taylor. "It's a lesson for life, not just a lesson for love and you would do well to learn it a little better for the ring too!" Junko pulled out her closed fan and gave Taylor a firm hit on the head with it.

Junko pulled back and spun again, motioning for Taylor to follow. "Rosie-chan and I were quite the fierce rivals in love in our day. Oh, we were wicked to each other when it came to boys but we're the best of friends, fufufu~"

Taylor didn't even flinch when Junko whacked her on the head with her fan. Her scowl remained undisturbed. "No," she said stubbornly. "It's a stupid lesson. What's the point in that? It's like saying that if you're a recovering alcoholic, you should keep booze everywhere and enjoy being tempted. Nevermind that slipping up could ruin everything. If that happened, you wouldn't have a daughter, or grandkids, or a champ, and I'd be back waitressing in New York. So fuck that."

Besides, she thought cruelly. What did Junko know about being married?

She felt bad the moment she thought it, but she was in a miserable mood. She wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of a heavy bag until she or it broke down, but she dutifully followed along behind her manager.

"I still have to put away the new shit and then I have to clean and get everything ready for our totally awesome dojo." She made no effort to hide her sarcasm.

junko's face firmed up. "No, it's nothing like that at all, Taylor-chan." She said in a serious tone. She knew the girl was just surly but she'd have to learn to suck it up and Junko wasn't going to argue with the girl. She didn't have to argue. She was the mom.

Junko shook her head and looked at Taylor. "Yes, please take care of the equipment. Don't just throw it about. It's a dojo and you have to be respectful no matter how trivial the task may be. I have to prepare some tea and if we have time before we begin, then you and I can work on some things together.

Taylor lifted her hands up to her face, and for a moment she was overwhelmed by how much Junko, and everything else in the world, was pissing her off.

"I WASN'T GOING TO FUCKING THROW IT AROUND!" She shouted. "Why the fuck would I do that? I'm the one who uses this shit. Gawwd, maybe for my twenty-fourth birthday you can stop treating me like I'm fifteen."

She rampaged back into the gym and torqued a savage roundhouse kick into a heavy bag as she passed, and left it swinging. She picked up a pair of shin guards, still in the clear plastic bag they came in, and made a show of carrying them as carefully as possible to the shelves against the wall, even though Junko wasn't there to see it. She grabbed the rest, moving to and from the pile almost at a run until she had neatly arranged the array of sparring gloves, shin guards, and headgear, each on their own shelf.

"Jesus fucking Christ," she muttered under her breath. Her blood was boiling. She wished she could get a shot at Angel right then, because she would rip her fucking head off. Ninjette had goddamn well better be on her best fucking behavior if she knew what was good for her.

Kozue felt like taking a walk. So, a walk she took. Just put on her dark blue workout shorts, strapped on the black workout bra that she bought yesterday, put on her running shoes and headed out

Part of it was to just get a feel for the neighborhood. She hadn't noticed it so much when she was living in the city, but Tokyo's layout was way different from Jersey. Different sort of suburbs, if you could even really call them that. No real 'sub' to it, just 'urb'. No front lawns, lots of sidewalk. More cramped up, narrower, tighter, almost like a maze. It gave everything more of a sterile feel that was hard to jive with. Quieter than her last apartment, though.

The other part of it was to clear her head before things started up. Kozue had met with Junko already. She was cool. Kind. Oh, she expected her to be a lot harsher when they started up - she wasn't playing about that 'I'll make you hate me' stuff, Kozue could tell -  but at least they were on good terms outside the training, so fa. Junko had welcomed Kozue into her home. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been welcomed anywhere.

What she really needed fresh air for was...

"I WASN'T GOING TO FUCKING THROW IT AROUND!"

...that. It sounded like Taylor was in a cheery mood. Yay.

Kozue winced at the screeching as she approached the gym, steeling herself for the plunge. "Remember what you're here for, you know what to do." She ran a hand over her face and wiped off the light layer of sweat she'd worked up during her walk. "Just don't be you for a little while, it's not that hard. And..."

She walked into the gym and saw Taylor straightening up. She looked like she was going to murder the first living thing she saw. Which would be Kozue.

"Hey, yo." Kozue gave her a little wave. It was already the most pleasant they'd had.

Taylor looked up to see her standing there, in the flesh, right there in her gym. Junko's gym. Whatever it was. Ninjette was standing there in the real world, in her world, and seeing her outside of Tension was profoundly unsettling. Nothing was sacred anymore.

She didn't respond right away. She went to get her gym bag where she'd left it by the door and brought it to the ring apron, and hopped up on the apron next to it. She fished out her mouthguard in a case, her black and red sparring gloves, and a pair of bright red shin guards with a white, circled lightning bolt down the side of the left one. She had liberally lifted and somewhat modified The Flash's logo, and it was starting to appear on her stuff.

She propped up one foot on the apron in front of her, her heel against her butt, and propped an arm on her knee. Her body was impressive in her red running shorts, notched on the sides, and white sports bra. Her slim but muscular build was put into perspective when she stood near a woman of more average musculature. The slight bulge to her shoulders before they squared off, the dramatic dip of her narrow waist, the cleft of her strong back, they all seemed to hint that the gym was exactly where she belonged.

She couldn't say the same about the little Jersey wait that had just wafted in the door. This was such a joke.

"So what did Junko say?" She asked, letting her indigo eyes coolly fall on the Jerseygirl. "Are we supposed to train now, or..."

'Hi, Kozue, how are you? Gosh, it's nice to see you!'

'Why, it's nice to see you, too, Taylor. Look at us, communicating like normal human beings!'

'I know, right? Let's get started!'

Kozue just filled in the casual conversation in her head. Somehow it made her feel better about apparently not being worth a simple greeting.

She did a few arm stretches as Taylor did her thing, reaching behind her back with one arm while the other pulled at the elbow. She'd already limbered up from the walk, but this gave her something to do in the incredibly awkward silence that followed, besides just standing around like a complete goofball. It helped her feel a little less inadequate, too, now that she was standing next to Taylor and the differences stood out. Just a little.

"Think so, yeah." She kept her voice cool and placid, not giving anything away. "How do you want to start off?"