All The Things I'm Not

Taylor made herself comfortable in the chair next to Gabbie, slouching down low and propping her legs over the chair in front with her small plate of foot in her lap. She couldn't help but smile listening to Gabbie.

"Gabberrrs..." She teased. "Are you asking me on a date?" She laughed and nudged Gabbie in the ribs.

"No, but seriously, making friends is really hard if you're serious about wrestling. At least... For the really passionate, dedicated types, like us. I mean, the bitchy, psycho-competitive types. Like us. But some people have it easy, like... Dixie, I think, and they're just friendly and everyone likes them. But you and me, we're always five seconds from butting heads, know what I mean?" She absently took a bite of her chicken wing and chewed to fill time while she thought. "I think that people like us sorta get like an inner circle of people we're really close to and we trust, and we aren't so good at casual stuff. But if you want to go out on the town, man, just say the word."

"N-no! What?"

Gabbie immediately flushed at Taylor's teasing and shook her head fervently. She listened to the rest of what Taylor said, occupying herself with eviscerating more eggrolls for their delicious innards and trying not to blush.

"Yeah... that sounds about right." Gabbie said. "Nikki has it so easy. She has no issues making friends at all. I think she could make friends with anyone if she wanted to. I'm... It's different. It's not like I try to be unfriendly..." She looked at Taylor. "But, I have priorities in my life and I guess it's hard for people to accept or maybe it's hard for me to not be that way."

Gabbie took another bite of her food. "I don't mind anyone here and I don't mind the rest of the dojo girls, but it's still kind of weird. It's hard to get close to people that you think you might have to fight one day even though that's also a good reason to want to be close to them." Gabbie knit her brows together. "I don't even know if I'm making any sense. I 'm glad we can be friends though. I guess we're that, right?" Gabbie said a little insecurely. "Either way, I would like to go out some time."

A faint blush returned to her cheeks.

Taylor smiled warmly and bumped her shoulder against Gabbie. One little Canadian had taken care of Taylor before, and now she felt a little like it was her turn to take care of the next little Canadian.

"Well then we'll go out some time. Anything you want to do and anywhere you want to go, as long as it isn't fighting-related. Like, me and Johnny have stupid amounts of money laying around, and the worst part about it is no one will let you spend it on 'em! Fuck your pride, man, we can afford to spoil you a little bit."

She thought about Mamouru and Aurora and little Megumi, and she really hoped that they weren't stressed or anything about money. She would feel so selfish if she was living it up in Hamamatsu while her inlaws were scraping by the next town over. Which reminded her...

"Hey guys?" She turned around in her chair so she could face everyone. "I was just thinking about something lately, like... I was gonna dedicate the Brittany match to my mom, my real mom, but I guess I learned my lesson before about dedicating a match to someone before I win." She tried to laugh. "But... It's just that I say things all the time about how lucky I am to have such great fans and that they've given me more than I ever thought I have, and my life is so crazy, but like... My mom's probably back in Staten Island working three jobs and pulling her hair out, and I just can't... That can't be a thing."

She looked down at the floor and rubbed the fuzz on her head while she thought. "Soooo... I dunno. I gotta fix it."

"O-ok." Gabbie said, smiling just a bit. She didn't like the idea of being spoiled, but it wasn't like she could afford it. The outfit alone had set her back pretty well.

By the time Taylor addressed the group, everyone was all settled in. They listened to her closely but Junko felt a bit uneasy. She understood that she didn't give birth to Taylor, but hearing her say real mom made her wince a bit on the inside.

However, she stepped forward and looked at her daughter-in-law. "Taylor-chan, if you need to go find her and take care of her, I think that you should." She said, nodding to the girl.

Taylor glanced twice at Junko and tried to figure out if she had a tone when she said it.

"Yeah, well, most of my life I've always felt like... poor Taylor, life sucks and it's all mom's fault. But mom was in a shitty situation back then, and who knows, maybe things would've been different if she wasn't always broke and if things were better with dad, and if... I was a little easier. I don't think she's an angel or anything, she was a total bitch, but I know she needed help, and... Now, like, wrestling aside, my life is really amazing, and I think I can help."

Then she was quiet. There were so many feelings, buried so deep for so long that they had sprouted and grown up into other things, and to dig them all up again was... overwhelming. She knew it would get harder the closer she got to the epicenter of her upbringing, but she was who she was because she didn't let things like that stop her. She was scared to death of going back home, she hadn't been in over five years, but fear wasn't going to change her mind.

Junko let her gaze shift to the ground. After a moment, she took a seat next to Taylor and took her hand. The bespectacled older woman stayed silent for as long as she could before it became awkward. She had an idea of how things might go, but, as her mom, Junko had to let Taylor go do it, even if she was completely wrong and...

"You do whatever you have to do, Taylor-chan." Junko said, squeezing Taylor's hand and smiling. "If you went, how long do you think you would be gone?" That was the toughest thing for Junko to ask and she swallowed hard after.

Taylor wondered that herself. She again silently shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, not wanting to overburden her herself with too many problems at once.

She turned to face Johnny. "Babe, you wanna go start the movie? Might as well, right?" She said with a smile. It would be a welcome distraction from the many difficulties they were facing.

"What time are Julia and Alaina coming?" She asked no one in particular. "Or... I dunno, would they still come together? We've gotta figure out what to do with them still, right? If it was up to me, I'd throw 'em both out before they turn the Dojo into the Coalition. Fuck 'em. That's how I feel."

"Yeah, I'll get it." Johnny said and made his way to find the remote that controlled their massive system. After a moment of searching for the right button, he pushed it and everything that was still whirred to life.

Junko frowned suddenly at Taylor's words, not expecting them. "I... uh..." She said, pausing. "Hmm. I could send a message to Nik-chan, but I'm a little worried about the answer. She said she would stay back and wait for them and come out as a group, but, she didn't seem very pleased about it..."

Junko sighed and ran her fingers through her short locks. "They're good girls." Junko said. "But they're still young. Julia-chan's never really had to work for much of anything, so it's understandable that her success is going to her head." She turned and gave Gabbie a quick look, though the blonde wasn't watching.

"And Alaina-chan..." Junko sighed again. "Well... Alaina-chan is... I don't think she was prepared for all of the drama that comes with being in a wrestling league. I don't think anyone is really, but Alaina-chan probably should have chosen a different profession aside from wrestling, even if she has a great body for it... I'm not getting rid of them though." Junko said as if that were the end of it. "At least, not now. Let's see what happens once everything settles down with them before we go down that road."

"They aren't anything like Conway-san's band of thugs." Akashi interjected with her own frown. "Though Alaina-chan sure does like to ask questions... and I don't know if they are the productive kind..." Akashi scratched her head at her own words.

Taylor frowned apathetically and shook her head. "Nope. I saw what they're really made of, and even if they turn into the very best in the business, I'm not interested. That's it."

She put her hands behind her head while the opening credits rolled. She figured that there was no time like the present, and she might as well speak her mind. "I think I'm quitting the dojo. Like, sorry, but I think this is the end of that for me. All the best in the future." And then she added "I wish Nik was here, though."

Junko frowned at Taylor's casual way of doing things. "I don't think that's very fair at all, Taylor-chan." Junko said. "After helping me put it together to quit so casually, that's not alright. Even if you have problems with Alaina-chan and Julia-chan, and even if you're serious about quitting, to say it like that and to not address it properly in front of all the girls. No, that's not right at all."

Junko stood up and shook her head. "I'll be upstairs." She said. "I'll call Nik-chan, don't worry." She said and marched out of the room.

"Babe..." Johnny said softly and then looked back as his mom went up the stairs. He thought about going up after her but decided to stay.

Gabbie knit her brow, but didn't say anything. Her feelings now didn't change just because Taylor was quitting the dojo. Whether it was there or not wasn't going to keep her from achieving her own goals and speaking up about it wasn't going to help anything.

Akashi, too, turned her head. it was a difficult situation for her to watch, but she could understand how Taylor felt and how Junko felt. She would have to talk to Junko eventually, but she doubted talking to Taylor would do much good. At least, right now. Maybe after some time, but she just quietly ate her food and watched the movie as the flickering light of the movie and all its sounds filled the room's silence.