Hi-gu Do-jo!

Alaina was sure her plan was working but had been taken by surprise when Julia rushed at her!

"Wh--omph!" Alaina grunted as she had her legs tripped up and ate a face full on canvass! Julia wasted no time putting her in a modified ankle lock! The hold impeded Alaina's ability to power out and the ropes were just out of reach. Alaina struggled as there was some pain, but the hold was highly secure.

Alaina let out a sigh of disappointment as she tapped the mat. "Shit...."

As soon as Alaina tapped, Julia released the hold and stood back up. "Woo! That was fun!" she said with a bright smile, before moving closer to Alaina and offering a hand to help her up.

"Need a hand?" she asked, giving her sparring partner a friendly smile. This was just a bit of a playful exercise, but Julia was already looking forward to the more intense spars they were sure to have together in the future.

Alaina wasn't too upset with herself for losing so quickly. She was worn out and had a decent gameplan but Jukia was fast enough, smart enough and skilled enough to get out of it. Sometimes you learned more by losing, and finding out what will and what won't work.

"Thanks Julia." Alaina said with a smile as she accepted the help up. "You are like, really fast!" Alaina added as an honest compliment. Julia seemed nice, which was a pleasant surprise in Friction.

After a moment Alaina looked over at Taylor. "So whats next?"

Nikolette hoped she wasn't late as she arrived to the Higurashi residence. She had a big gym bag slung across one shoulder. She had all her personal effects in case she ended up crashing at the place and was dressed in some baggy jeans and a baggy t-shirt that had Einstein sticking his tongue out on the front.

She gave the door a knock and soon Junko opened it up. "Fufu, Hello dear!" She chirped and ushered Nikolette in who took a moment to take off her big, clunky boots.

"Oi! Hope I'm not late! I hate havin ta rely on trains an taxis."

"Oh, it's fine. They are training in the gym. Go on ahead. Do you want some tea?"

"Ah, maybe later. I got some water packed away in my bag in case I need it."

Junko smiled and nodded and shuffled off to tell the others. She crept into the gym and looked around, seeing that there was a pause in the action. "Are you girls getting all sweaty? Fufu~" She chuckled. "Mmm, let me see!" She said as she slipped further into the gym, approaching the ring. She then turned to Taylor. "Nikolette-san is here." She said before tilting her head and looking at the sweaty form of the two beauties with a gleam in her eye.

"Oh, yes, fufu~"

"I think..." Taylor said, while idly dancing in place from her spot on the floor. "I might have explain what I mean by 'play'. But good job, guys. Alaina, I know you're tired, but good job sticking to it and adjusting. Julia, I'll know more when you don't start out with such an advantage. You learn so much more about people when the odds are stacked against them..."

She began bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet and grinned at the girls in the ring. "Now who's hungry?"

Junko entered the room behind Taylor and Taylor jumped up and spun to face her. She landed with her feet spread apart and an arm pointed at the older woman. "Oh, yay!" She exclaimed. She jumped up and kicked her heels up behind her gleefully, and trotted to the door to greet Nikolette.

"Mom, I swear to god," Taylor said ruefully when Junko oggled the girls. She gave Nikolette a big smile and a hug. "Hey, Nik! Wanna go eat? Actually, I wanted to talk to you, so like, maybe we can talk on the way. I was going to walk to the place. It's an American-themed diner! I'm really trying to learn to let myself ease up on my diet once in a while..."

"Fufu~" Junko only chuckled to herself as Taylor sprinted off. "Now then, ladies..." She said, pulling out her fan.

"Oh, Heya, Taylor!" Nikolette chirped when the feisty blonde emerged at the entrance. She blinked and looked down, as if checking her stomach and then began to slowly put her boots back on. "Sure thing! Didn't eat anythin in a while and I don't mind just talkin!" She said while she laced up.

"Yeah, I gotta mind fer healthy eatin too, but parta takin care is letting go... every once in a while." She said with a wide grin. "So, what's on yer mind?" She asked after she laced up and stood up.

"One sec..."

Taylor skipped back to the kitchen and peeled off her red tank top. She found a bright teal-colored t-shirt with a purple, stylized Mighty Yukiko silhouette on the front, and then added a faded-black Bouncing Souls hoodie, and left it unzipped.

Then she bounced back into the gym, and hung onto the doorframe while she leaned her body in, bringing her leg up straight behind her like a ballerina.

"Okay guys, we're going to Aka To Ao Cafe. It's like... three blocks that way." She pointed. "Can you find it? I'm gonna walk ahead with Nik so we can talk a bit before we get there. Okay?"

A moment later, she was out the door, skipping ahead of Nikolette.

[Continued in a thread somewhere else that I'll link here]

To Alaina the thought of food was too good to pass up! However, she needed to freshen up and change. She looked over at Junko and Julia and shrugged. "Guys, I really need to shower and change. Are you two cool with waiting up for me? It won't take long I promise!" Alaina said with as much chipper energy as she could. Truth be told, she was exhausted.

Alaina waited for their answer before bounding off towards her room. A hot shower and change of clothes would shake off the tired feeling of rope running.....

“Sure thing, Alaina! Take your time.” Julia said, waving to her as she headed off to shower and change. She was pretty hungry too, though she could only imagine the appetite Alaina had built up today.

While Alaina was off doing here thing, Julia went back to the bag she’d brought with her to the dojo and pulled her jeans and shirt back on over her training clothes, then went back to wait for Alaina.

Alaina quickly showered and threw on a pair of light blue jeans, along with an old black but tight fitting longsleeve shirt that said "rockstar" on it. Alaina ran out of her room with her things in her pockets, ready to go!

"Guys, thanks a million for waiting!" She said as they went out the door. She came to the realization that she and Julia really didn't know each other. Like at all.

"So Julia, what brought you to AFW? What did ya do before you came over to this wonderful, insane promotion?"