So Anxious

It did occur to Carmen that, in a small way, she was flexing her credentials to Akino, maybe trying a bit hard to impress her with the thoughts of travel. It wasn’t empty talk - it had been awhile since she competed in the Olympics, but she still had sponsors who could get her pretty much anywhere she wanted with the slightest excuse. The idea of taking Akino and whisking her away to the Bahamas or Cancun or even taking her home - it painted a lovely picture.

But she was getting too far ahead of herself. Thinking that sort of thing on the first date had messed up a few of her past relationships before they even began. Slow and steady won the race. Besides, a few things Akino said piqued Carmen’s deeper interest.

”You cracked him over the head with a…” She brought her arms up and imitated a swing. ”...baseball bat?” Carmen whistled and tried to hold back the incredulity on her face. She didn’t think Akino was the type to lie or exaggerate, but still, the image of her - soft, sweet, soothing Akino - getting so rough and violent. Then again, this was the same woman who nearly bent her in half with they were being playful. So maybe it wasn’t that big of a stretch.

”Sorry. I knew you wrestled men, I didn’t know you did it hardcore. It’s a little…” She glanced at the belt for a half second. ”...new for me. What drew you in the first place?”

Akino chuckled and grinned proudly at Carmen’s reaction. Most people would likely think the same about her at first glance. Especially when she was dressed to compete. A fairly petit girl in a maid outfit, shorter than most, plus the fact that she was half blind, and all in all it wasn’t a very intimidating sight initially. But anyone and everyone who had ever stepped in the ring with Akino knew just how rough she was perfectly capable of being.

“It’s not like I prefer hardcore matches. I just don’t mind them.” She shrugged. “With that match, I just happened to be booked in it. It was sort of the same thing when I first came here. My AFW debut was a hardcore match. Nothing ever really drew me to those kinds of matches, but I’ve got no problem slamming some chairs over people’s heads if I need to.” Akino said with another chuckle, then set her fork down so she could take a sip of her drink.

“If you’re just talking about wrestling in general, that’s a bit of a different story. It started with karate classes when I was little, then some other things as I got older. I loved fighting, and it didn’t take me long to figure out it was what I wanted to do for a career. There were lots of ways I could’ve tried going about that, but pro wrestling just seemed the most interesting.” she paused, and took a moment to just look at her lover. “What about you, Carmen-chan? It sounds like you come from a family of boxers, yes? What brought you to Japan as a wrestler?”

As Akino spoke, Carmen thought back to the first time they’d met, the night they’d shared, her first impressions of the one-eyed woman she’d seen in the still waters. It was a little hard to remember any specifics thoughts from that night out of the whirlwind of emotions that she’d experienced during their little session, but she distinctly remembered being surprised when Akino told her she could fight, thinking she could surely handle the woman in combat. But she couldn’t. Not there. Not then.

So now, when Akino told her how ready she would be for a hardcore match, she believed it. Every word. ”You don’t mind slamming a chair over people’s head?” Carmen’s head titled to the side. Just a little tilt. ”Even mine?”

She had a soft chuckle and stirred her fork around the rice, stirring it up a bit more before she took another bite. ”Respect, for one thing. Boxing isn’t like wrestling for women. We’ve made a lot of gains, but female boxers still only make a fraction of what their male counterparts do, and nowhere near the attention." She winked and nodded towards the television. “But people watch the AFW. It’s popular all over the world. So competing here, taking on men, it draws some attention. Shows what we can do.”

Carmen started to take another swig of tea, then held up a finger. ”Plus, I got the chance to open up my own gym here, something I always wanted to do. Train new girls, help the Japanese boxing scene along.”

Akino giggled at the question, and looked at Carmen with an almost mischievous little grin. “Perhaps, if I had to~” she answered. It was true, though in her mind Akino made a note to try to avoid hitting Carmen’s face if she was ever actually in such a situation. Partly because she simply thought her lover’s face was beautiful, and she didn’t want to be responsible for changing that.

She stopped eating for a moment and listened while Carmen educated her about the world of female boxing, while comparing it to the men’s side of things. For some reason, the fact that women regularly competed against men here and often won had never seemed like a big deal to Akino. Perhaps that was a testament to just how much AFW had done for women fighters. Nothing like that had ever crossed her mind before, but it was quite an interesting thought...

“You own your own gym? That seems incredibly convenient. I’ve only been to Friction’s gym once, but I’ve heard things can get ugly between wrestlers who train in the AFW gyms. Must be nice not having to worry about any of that. And training new boxers too? That’s impressive. I can’t even imagine how you manage all that yourself.” It might’ve sounded like she was just being flattering about it, but she was entirely serious. She’d already seen that Carmen was a great fighter, but she had no idea her lover had been making such a big impact. It gave her a whole new respect for Carmen.

”Honestly?” Carmen let her shoulders sagged, took a deep breath, allowed the exasperation to come out. Even though this was only her second time being with Akino, she could already tell this was a person she could open up with.

”It has a lot to do with the tradition. If you’re a Rodriguez and you’re a boxer, when you’re not boxing, you’re supposed to be training other boxers.” She leaned back and let her eyes follow the ceiling fan’s twirl. “”It can wear you out so fast if you let it. I love wrestling and I love boxing and I love working with the younger generation. But sometimes it’s good to have the gentle moments.”

The warmth returned to her face as she brought her foot back into the picture, letting her toes slide over the contours of Akino’s calf, feeling the tight muscles underneath her skin. ”You come to a club, expecting just a little kinky fun, and you meet this amazing woman with blue hair, and everything just…”

Carmen paused as her eyebrow arched. ”That reminds of a question I’ve been meaning to ask you - a little personal, but…” She pointed at the top of Akino’s head. ”Your hair. Is it naturally that color, or…”

Tradition, huh? That got Akino thinking. She’d heard plenty of stereotypes about how Asians were supposed to be nothing if not the walking, breathing definitions of “tradition.” Yet very little about her own life had been traditional. Her parents owned a business that had nothing to do with any other generation of the family. Akino was her family’s first professional fighter. Basic manners that anyone else learned in Japan were about the closest thing to real tradition she’d ever been familar with. Yet with Carmen- no, the Rodriguez family as a whole, it seemed tradition was of chief importance.

But the feeling of Carmen’s toes against her leg brought Akino right out of her thoughts, and a grin tugged at her lips, followed by a little giggle when her lover asked about her hair. “Yes, that’s just how it is. Must seem a bit strange, I’m sure. But I bet you’ve seen plenty of stranger things here in Japan, haven’t you?” Even if Carmen had traveled the world, Akino had a pretty good feeling this place was likely significantly different than her lover’s home. Especially with AFW itself factored in.

Her tone remained perfectly conversational, but underneath the table one of her feet began to glide right along Carmen’s and slowly travel up the side of her leg.

Carmen had been trying to keep things as light and sensual as possible, and the foot traveling up her leg helped out with that immensely. But when Akino said what she said, she couldn't help but have a nice, full laugh, a stark break from the usual calm tone she spoke with.

"Let's see." Her eyes wandered as she tried to compile a quick list. "Okay, hentai matches in general, a thing unknown to me before I knew what the AFW was. Very strange. Oh, and King. Extremely strange." She groaned at the mention of the name, even hating to think about him. How management had let such a digusting person roam free in Tension was beyond her.

"And there was the time when a couple of brats broke into my gym and challenged me to a fight for the 24/7 title because they didn't like the fact that I was tall. Or something."

Carmen brought one hand under the table and grabbed the foot that was making its way up her leg. She took hold of it like it was a precious gem, carefully cradling it, and started to gently rub away for a sensuous massage.

"And now I'm having dinner with a beautiful, blue-haired, one-eyed seductress who once bent me like a pretzel, because I asked her to." The other hand reached for her glass and held it up for a toast.

"To strangeness."

She could only imagine how much of an understatement her question had seemed like, but the laugh still caught Akino somewhat off guard. Partially because this was the first time she’d actually heard Carmen laugh out loud like that. She’d heard her chuckle or giggle a few times, maybe, but this was different. Not that she minded, of course. The infectious sound drew a giggle out of Akino, and made her smile grow a little brighter.

The one-eyed maiden began to understand what was behind the laugh more and more as Carmen explained. Though she hadn’t yet competed in a hentai match herself, she could understand where her lover was coming from. The whole concept was...unique, to put it lightly, in comparison to anything else in professional fighting. She also hadn’t had the “pleasure” of making King’s acquaintance, but from what she’d heard of him that was probably a good thing.

But the story of how Carmen wound up becoming 24/7 champion was perhaps the strangest thing on the list, and just imagining the scene brought a look of mild bewilderment to her face. Lots of questions popped into her head, only to disappear into thin air when she felt her lover masterfully massaging her foot. Akino couldn’t help but purr and practically melted into her seat.

As Carmen held up her glass, Akino raised hers as well. “To strangeness~” she responded, then brought the drink to her lips to drink what little was left of it.

Carmen could hardly call herself a foot fetishist, but she had to concede, she was rapidly starting to realize the appeal. She couldn't see Akino’s foot, obscured as it was by the table, but her fingers painted a pretty enough picture. It was an immaculate, smooth piece of flesh, and Carmen could only how hope her worship was giving it the proper amount of attention. Speaking of which…

Carmen looked around the table. Drinks were getting close to emptied. Plates were nearly cleaned. Small talk was beginning to run out.

It was almost time.

”Querida,” Carmen whispered her favorite pet name for Akino, letting it slip over her lips as she finished off the glass and gently sat it aside. ”I'm glad you enjoyed the main course. Really - there's no higher compliment for a chef. But…” She reached out and ran her fingers down Akino’s arm, letting her nails skim over the skin. Just enough to tickle. Not enough to hurt. ”...I believe it's time for dessert.”

Her full red lipstick glistened, showing her mischievous smile well in the dim room. After a moment, she stood up and began to make her way to the fridge. ”Hope you have a sweet tooth.”

Akino wasn’t any more of an enthusiast for feet than Carmen. But this was now the second time the latina had tended to her foot solely for the one-eyed girl’s pleasure, and it felt just as exquisite now as it had the first time. A low hum escaped Akino’s lips as she simply sat back and enjoyed the wonderful sensation.

She was almost disappointed when the massage stopped. Or at least, she might’ve been if not for Carmen’s words which immediately followed, and the feeling of her nails lightly skimming over her arm. “That sounds perfect.” she replied, catching the mischievous smile sent her way.

Akino kept her gaze locked onto Carmen as her lover made her way over to the fridge, particularly her hips. Only once Carmen spoke again did Akino look back up toward her pretty face. “I certainly do. What did you have in mind?”