A Day at the Mall (for Lunchador)uzz

As Blanco spoke, Kyo seemed to lighten up more and more as he dropped his guard. He smiled at Gato's offer, and chuckled a little at Blanco's mention of a clown nose. Whatever tension there had initially been between the two teams had finally dissipated.

"Well," Kyo said, "as it so happens, Doctors Without Borders is the first group that came to mind for me as well. I keep hearing about what they do internationally, and I know they've been heavily involved in the Fukushima and Kamaishi earthquake relief." he said. He extended a hand to Blanco. "Okay, you two have a deal. The fact that you're willing to extend a helping hand to our country and to help those in need means that I'll be all too happy to take you on in the ring."

At this, the crowd around them burst into applause and cheers. In an instant, the mood in the food court had turned into one of elation. Not only was there going to be a tag team match happening soon, but it would be one happening for charity-- something that would be a first in the AFW's long history.

"It's an awesome idea!" Makie agreed, before turning to glance at the crowd and adding, loud enough for them all to hear, "and I love the idea of getting the fans involved!" At this, the crowd burst into more cheering, and Makie grinned at them. "You guys want to place bets to see us do cool shit in the ring?" The cheers came back, this time all the more deafening.

"There's just one thing," Toshio cut in loudly, turning to face Gato and Holly. "There's three of us, and only two of you. Unless you two have a friend stashed away somewhere, it looks like this is going to be a two on two match. So..." he turned to the crowd with a big grin on his face, "it's up to you guys: which one of the Akamatsus do you want to see in this match?"

The crowd burst into a frenzied sussurrus of replies. Toshio began to visibly deflate a little as he heard the words KYO and MAKIE yelled over and over again by the crowd. Noting her brother's reaction, Makie patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay, big guy," she said, "you'll be getting the spotlight back on you before long."

"Yeah, Toshio," Kyo agreed with a nod. "Your turn in the ring will come. I'll make sure of it, I promise."

With a defeated sigh, Toshio rubbed the back of his head. "Ehh...it's not like I would have been of much help anyway. You two are the popular ones...so if you two draw a huge crowd for charity, who am I to complain?" His grin returned as he looked back at Gato and Holly. "So, is that cool with you two?"

Holly reacted with a start, at the cheers of the crowd. Blanco played it off a bit more casually, waving appreciatively towards them. She joined in, then, exhaling gratefully. For a moment, it seemed like their impromptu challenge might turn into an impromptu brawl. Still, it seemed her boyfriend did, despite all appearances, know what he was doing.

The newcomers took in the crowd's cheers, when Makie pitched them the idea of chipping in. Holly squeezed Blanco's arm, amazed at the reception they were getting. "My word," she said just loudly enough for the other assembled wrestlers to hear, "it's one thing when you're a fan or a manager ... Kind of intimidating, knowing they're expecting you to follow it up in the ring!"

"Don't worry, missus," Blanco said, "you're way more ready for this than you think. And just think of the donations we'll raise, right?" Then, he heard the crowd casting their votes on which of the Akamatsus they wanted in the ring. Win or lose, the couple was certainly going to have a lot of eyes on their AFW debut, it seemed.

He turned to Toshio, then, and said, "Sounds good to me. And thank you, man, that's big of you. Sportsmanlike. With an attitude like that, I'm sure you will get your moment in the sun!" He then turned back to the crowd. "So, what do you say, folks? Soon, we'll announce where you can make your pledges, and then you can let us know what you want to see! Want us to pull in some ladders? We'll take that fall for a good cause! You want to see Holly try to escape brutal submission hold after brutal submission hold?" Holly gulped, at that one; Gato gave her a wink, then continued, "She can totally do that, with the vote of confidence your pledge would represent! Want to see Gato Blanco pull off the fabled Michinoku Driver? You put your money to good use with a pledge, I will be looking up whatever that move is on Wikipedia tonight, so I can bust it out for your amusement and amazement! You guys see professional wrestlers pull off incredible feats every week. With your pledges, we can pull them off, and make a huge difference, at the same time!"

"He's in a bit of a zone, now, don't mind him," Holly said, to their upcoming opponents, "but thank you for this opportunity. We understand we're lucky to get this kind of first match, and we're going to do our best to give you a good challenge!"

The three Akamatsus watched in confusion as Gato suddenly went into full-on pledge driver mode, engaging the audience and selling the upcoming match as though her were airing a commercial. With all of the audience's eyes on Gato, no one seemed to notice the Akamatsu's sweatdropping, or Holly quietly sliding up to them and explaining that he was in a 'zone.'

"Eh...I kind of noticed that, yeah," Makie said.

"Is he always like this?" Toshio quipped.

As Holly quietly gave her thanks, Kyo turned and looked at her in surprise. "Wait, you two haven't even had a match yet? I could have sworn that you two looked like experienced wrestlers." This was a half truth, of course-- while he could tell that Gato was an experienced professional, Holly seemed more like a nervous rookie than anything else. He didn't mention that to her, though-- he didn't want to diminish whatever little confidence she had, especially since he would be facing her in the ring soon. He gave her a warm smile. "Don't mention it, I'm sure you two will give us a hell of a fight."

Holly smiled, as Toshio quipped to them. "He has his moments," she said, voice warm. "I told him we should have a high-visibility first match, so ..." However, the subsequent comments made Holly stop. Blushing, the Brit quieted down, and let things play out around her.

She looked at Kyo with an expression that betrayed her inexperience. She bit her lip, glancing once more around the arrangement of fit young wrestlers that she'd just put herself up against. She nodded appreciatively toward Kyo's last, sporting comments, but still seemed rather uncomfortable.

Blanco looked back at all of them, still in the midst of his pitch, and changed his tone. "What about bears?" he added, leaning back into the crowd with a wide, open posture. He almost seemed to be inviting mockery, now. "All of the all-time greats, they've wrestled bears," he said, with a smirk. "Who here wants to see Kyo Akamatsu beat up a bear? We can call Toshio back, have him beat up a bear ..."

"Oooo-kay, there, mister," Holly said, laughing, her shoulders scrunching up against her chin as she pulled Gato Blanco away from the crowd. "I think we've given them enough ideas! The rest is up to them."

Blanco looked back to the Akamatsus. "Fair enough," he said, lowering his voice, still grinning from ear to ear. "So, I guess we'll have your people call our people? All that fun stuff? Just let us know when the pledge drive officially starts, and then the match, and we'll get down to it. Really glad to have you guys on board." He glanced back to Holly, then added, "As far as debuts go, this is going to be a good deal. Should work out well for a lot of people. Thank you."

Smiling back at Gato, Kyo gave a courteous bow. "You're very welcome," he said. "Anything for a good cause, right? And besides, we'd be all too happy to help give a new tag team the spotlight they deserve."

"Plus, we'll be getting the fans involved!" Makie piped up. "So, worthy cause, helping out a new team, letting the audience weigh in and tell us what they'd like to see...it's brilliant! The management would be total idiots to pass up on this opportunity!"

Toshio gave a sour look as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, worthy cause, fans, right, uh..." He glanced uncertainly back at Gato. "You were kidding about the bears, right?" At this, the crowd chuckled, causing Toshio to redden a little. "What? I'm serious!"

Ignoring his brother's antics, Kyo nodded to Gato again. "We'll mention this to management, and see what we can set up on our end. You two are in the AFW directory, right? Because we are if you ever want to discuss the details of that match further. Either way..." he extended his hand to Gato "do we have an agreement?"

"Yeah ... joking. Yeah ..." Blanco said, a slight smirk visible beneath his mask, as his eyes darted from side to side.

"He is joking," Holly added firmly, with a sardonic grin. "And yes, we are listed in the directory. I do hope management doesn't mind us taking the initiative, like this. I don't know if they would have preferred to call us to set up a first match or not."

"I think Makie's got it about right, there," Gato said, "this is a pretty singularly great opportunity. I don't see them getting too cross, right? This is the sort of shenanigans they signed us on for, anyways. I hope." He accepted Kyo's outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake, sealing the deal.

Holly nervously extended a hand to Makie, in turn. "Fan input should be interesting, right?" she asked. "I don't really know what AFW fans are like, but I'm sure they'll be pretty creative. And hopefully not too ... weird, right?"

Gato patted Holly on the shoulder, before widening his attention to the entire Akamatsu clan. "It's not like we have to do eveything they suggest, we just need to do as much as we can for the charity. And thank you all again, for this. It really should be a great show. We'll be in touch, so let us know if you've got any questions or concerns. In the meantime, take care of yourselves, and I guess we'll see you in the ring!" Again, Gato and Holly raised their hands to the Akamatsus, and to the crowd, drawing a loud cheer. Wheels were in motion, and hopefully this would lead to something special.