Grace, Sorority, Economy

Shinobu felt like he had crawled all the way to the backstage area and when he got to his locker, just wanted to ease away the pain in his body and soul with a scalding hot shower. He needed to seriously talk to Fujiko about his wrestling attire and had the distinct feeling that it was not everything she claimed it be.

While he undressed, he had saw that his phone had a message  on it and checked. He expected it to be a phone message from Shikusu but instead, it was from Cassie. His eyes lit up and when he read it, he felt like he had a thousand showers! She wasn't dumping him at all! In fact, she even liked his look! If he ever had another match, he'd DEFINITELY wear it!

With a suddenly boost in his step, he texted her back quickly and told her he would be out in the lobby very soon. He rushed through his shower, scrubbing down quickly and changed into his street clothes. He tossed his new white and purple checked scarf around his neck and danced towards the lobby with a pep in his step that belied the humiliating butt kicking he had just received.

Fujiko tapped her foot as she stood next to Cassie and waited. She hoped that the damage control to Shinobu's ego wouldn't be too bad. There was going to be a lot to deal with, that was for sure. As she thought about it, she looked Cassie over. The girl didn't seem to be the same as she was when they first met. She still had that cheerfulness and coy innocence but she seemed a lot more.. growly around Fujiko... The agent couldn't quite place it.

"Honestly, I really DO hope this is a phase. I really don't think he's cut out for this wrestling thing." She said while she pulled out her phone and began looking through her news feed. Her thumbs were already busy typing away, trying to spin the outcome in Shinobu's favor. She'd also have to do something about that Ami Takeuchi and said as much out loud.

"Takeuchi-sah, though... I don't think I can let her get away with what she did to Shinobu. She pretends to be a classy lady when she's out doing her supermodel thing... hmmmm..." She looked at Cassie. "What about you? Are you going to wrestle her? Shinobu might be a gentleman, but he's not stuck in the old ways. I think he'd let you kick her butt for him if you wanted to." She said a bit off handedly. "I wonder what kind of publicity that would get us..." She said, pausing to think about it seriously.

"Mm." Cassie grunted in response. She didn't really see Shinobu ever being successful, or happy, as a wrestler, but she was proud of him for being brave enough to try something new. Wrestling was scary even for an experienced person, and she couldn't imagine walking into AFW having never competed before.

Though her attitude toward Shinobu was sunny enough, she still wore a faint scowl. She didn't much like Fujiko. The chatty PR woman just loved to talk about publicity and all that, how a story would make Shinobu look and how big it would get. She seemed more concerned with keeping Shinobu's name on gossipy women's tongues than with his personal best interests.

"Ami's a jerk," she said petulantly. "But no. I'll be nice. I don't need to fight everybody who's a jerk." She glanced at Fujiko and lowered her voice, as if she didn't want to admit it. "But I'd kind of like to. She's so stupid, and she's a terrible wrestler. She's just a skinny little... brat." Strong words, for Cassie. "I'd like to give her what we called an attitude adjustment."

Fujiko smiled at Cassie. "You're such a good girl, Cassie-san." Fujiko said, resisting the urge to reach out and ruffle Cassie's hair. She really was one of a kind and Fujiko was happy that Shinobu had found her. She hated dealing with starlets, as was the case with Miss Takeuchi.

As Fujiko said her last words, Shinobu appeared in the distance with a bright grin on his face, as though he hadn't just been in a horrible wrestling match. He bowed as he got closer and smiled.

"Cassie-chan!" He said with exuberance. "Hello! And.. thank you so much for your text! I was feeling a bit down, but you've cheered me right up!" He said. He then puffed out my chest. "Oh, and you should thank Fujiko-san for the singlet! It was entirely her idea!" He said, raising a coy eyebrow at Cassie. "I was worried it looked silly, but if you think it looked great, then that's what really matters.

Fujiko grinned proudly. "Oh, just the logo, really, Fujiwara-san." She said, waving it off. "And that was just taking something that already existed and slapping it on a singlet." She was a little surprised that cassie liked it. From the feed she was getting online, it didn't seem to be going over as much as she hoped. She just assumed that it was because he lost though.

"Mm." She grunted again.

Her face lit up in a bright smile when Shinobu appeared, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his body in a tight hug. "I'm glad," she said, and stepped back.

"Oh, heh..." She scratched the back of her neck and looked around sheepishly. "I... I think you'd look good in anything." Good save.

She tried to get more serious, and faced Shinobu with a straight face. "Shinobu, wrestling is really scary, and really dangerous, and Ami is a dirty cheater. It's okay that you didn't win, and I'm proud of you for trying. It takes a lot of guts for anyone to get in the ring in front of all those people. And... All Ami did was show what a stupid jerk she is, so as far as I'm concerned, you're the real winner."

Shinobu squeezed Cassie back and smiled. He was glad to see her smile and feel her arms around him. She was always so comforting.

He took her scolding like a dog who had gotten in the trash and turned his head, unable to look her straight in the eyes. "Ahh... uhh..." He tried to protest but lifted his head up. "I'm... actually.. C-Cassie-chan." He said, taking her hands in his. "Actually, the pain was the worst I've ever felt in my life." He said. "If you say Takeuchi-san is not a real caliber wrestler, than I can only imagine what might happen if I were to face off against someone who was experienced. I don't really want to know, if I'm truthful." He said.

"However... I can handle the pain, what I didn't like so much was the embarrassment. Being duped by Takeuchi-san..." He said. "That hurts more than anything she did to my body. If she had been honest with me from the start and simply demolished me with her skill, then I could have handled it." Shinobu smiled and removed one hand to brush a pretty lock of hair from his face. "The irony isn't lost on me, but I cannot stand two-faced people." He said and looked down at Cassie, smiling.

"I think that's why I am so infatuated with you, Cassie-chan. You're incredibly genuine." He smiled and then turned his head. "I... wouldn't mind trying again, though." Shinobu said. "Maybe against someone who isn't just out to ... humiliate me."

Fujiko inched away from the two, giving them a bit of room but smiling and looking on from a safer distance.

Cassie nodded sympathetically. She wondered what her own attitude toward it would be if she hadn't grown up with martial arts. She would probably have the same attitude about pain.

"I don't like them either," she nodded in agreement. "Taylor and Akashi and Johnny are my best friends because they always say what they mean. I don't like people who try to just... Well, like Ami. But I can fix that, because it doesn't matter what she says when I get my hands on her. Jiu Jitsu solves everything."

She turned to stand side-by-side with Shinobu, and noted Fujiko lingering with some trepidation. "We can find you a nice opponent, maybe. And we can work on things in the gym. Now that you know what can happen in there, maybe you'll work harder." She poked him in the ribs and slipped him a curly little smile.

Shinobu smiled at Cassie's words. "They are good people." Shinobu added and looked at her with a bit of surprise in his eyes. "Cassie-chan... Will you really fight her? I imagine you could handle her quite easily..." Shinobu said.

Fujiko interrupted a bit and adjusted her glasses. "I'd like to have my say in the matter personally, but I think that you could probably do a much better job of it than I, Cassie-san." She smiled. "At least, much cleaner. It'd be a bit of a messy affair if I got involved."

Shinobu shook his head and put his arm around Cassie. "I would... like that..." He said but then his eyes widened a bit. "B-But, Cassie-chan! My workout routine is exceptional!" He said and flexed his muscles. He was trim, no doubt, and there was nary a bit of fat on him, but when it came to a wrestler's build, he was more than a little lacking.

"I can... help with that, probably... finding a new opponent, I mean." Fujiko said, turning her head a bit. "I really don't want to witness a repeat of that match again, to be honest."

Shinobu smiled and was about to speak when his phone suddenly rang. He pulled it up and looked at it and his features blanched a bit and he gave Fujiko a hard stare. She raised her eyebrows and then looked at Cassie and quickly yanked the phone away from Shinobu. "I'll take care of it."

She cupped her free hand over her ear and spoke in loud, clear English, "I'm sorry, but he's busy right now. He just finished his match and he isn't ready to talk just yet. Call ME back and I'll arrange things with you, ok?"

Fujiko winced and went silent as she listened to the voice on the other end. She then began speaking in Japanese rather quickly, glancing at Cassie as though she was making sure the girl wasn't listening or couldn't understand.

Shinobu nervously tried to endure what was happening and squeezed Cassie tighter against him with his arm that was around her. When Fujiko hung up, Shinobu opened his mouth to answer but Fujiko was quicker on the draw.

"Sorry about that, Cassie-san. Sometimes you get overeager reporters looking for a scoop. I don't know how they get hold of him directly but we have to constantly fight the good fight when it comes to that sort of thing. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't gotten any attention yourself."

Shinobu lowered his head gratefully. "H-Hai."

Cassie cocked her head at Fujiko and gave her an obviously skeptical look. Who did she think she was fooling? Cassie wasn't some floozy. She was probably way smarter than Fujiko.

And she had just said how much she didn't like it when people didn't say what they really meant!

She turned and directed her gaze at Shinobu, more questioning than condemning this time, but she held her tongue.

Shinobu opened his mouth to speak and looked at Fujiko. She turned her head away and raised her eyebrows. She then looked at Cassie and gave a shrug. She adored  Shinobu and as her agent would do most things, but even she found the situation weird. They all found out, eventually but Fujiko usually didn't care. A lot of girls fell for Shinobu and not all of them were as kind as Shinobu was. Cassie was a decent girl and, objectively speaking, somewhat of a PR goldmine for her client so she went along with it. Shinobu would give in and tell Cassie and then she'd be out of his life and Fujiko would be left to pick up the pieces but that didn't mean she could stop him. He needed to take care of his business.

"Fujiko-san..." He said, turning and looking at her. "Please, give me a moment."

Fujiko nodded and looked at Cassie. "Try not to be too mad at him. he only did it because he likes you a lot." With that, she strolled off, taking out her phone and beginning to scroll through its contents.

Shinobu turned back to Cassie and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked her in the eyes and then sighed. "I... haven't been entirely truthful with you, Cassie-chan." He said, lowering his head a bit.

"There is... another woman in my life and.. she takes up much of my time. I didn't want to tell you because..." He said, turning his head. "I wanted our relationship to thrive and grow and I didn't think it was possible if you knew about her."

Shinobu looked back at Cassie and sighed again. "I have a sister. Her name is Shikusu and... she lives with me..."

Shinobu let his hands drop from her shoulders and bowed deeply. "Please forgive me, Cassie-chan!"

Cassie stared back at Shinobu with the blank attentiveness of a deer in headlights. When he told her, she almost didn't react. All she said was "Oh."

She wasn't upset. She was a little confused. Really, it just raised more questions, not the least of which being why had he felt it necessary to hide her from her? And which one was he hiding from which?

But she vaguely recalled a voice, a high, angry, Japanese girl's voice chewing her out in Japanese, though Cassie couldn't understand a word. The call had come from Shinobu's phone, too.

"She called me a thief," she remarked. She blinked once, and looked back at Shinobu.