Cute times ahead

The crowd had been eagerly awaiting the start of Friction's show tonight, it was a sold out arena and the atmosphere was electric... Well at least it was until the owner of AFW, Cassandra Sellers made her appearance at the top of the rampway, then everything went a bit frosty

She was dressed in her usual black business suit and held a large briefcase in her right hand. There was obviously some important business at hand, Cassandra rarely made apperances like this to the ring, usually opting (if she had to) to appear on the big screen backstage.. But in Lukretia's abscence, some things couldn't be avoid, Cassandra had had to go back to her roots and get her hands a little dirty which she had become accustomed to not doing.

The crowd gave Cassandra a welcome to match her own disposition, but she paid it little mind.. Simply scaling the steps at one corner of the ring and stepping carefully in through the bottom ropes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to AFW Friction." She spoke into a microphone that the announcer had handed to her, a table had been set up in the middle of the ring prior so this wasn't an off the cuff affair.

"I am sure everyone is keen for tonights action to start and so I will keep this brief." She placed the briefcase down on the table top and opened it up in front of the camera. There, laying on what appeared to be a pink crushed velvet linning inside the case, was the kawaii title belt in all its glory.

"I'm afriad due to personal reasons, Tsukasa Kurosawa has had to relinquish the kawaii title belt. This does however mean that there is an oportuinty for some kawaiis to get a taste of the gold." The crowd were a mix of emotions, they didn't know what to make of Tsukasa's unfortunate relinquishing of the belt, but at the same time the prospect of getting some kawaii competition going over the belt was quite appealing.

"That's right... Shortly I plan to examine option and make a final decision on just who will be competing to become the new AFW kawaii champion."

Claire had been hearing rumblings of it for weeks now, and there had been a strange, concerning silence coming from Tsukasa in the days leading up to what should have been the third match of their kawaii title series. With the two of them tied at one win each, it was still anybody's title to win, but now, it seemed, that phrase could be taken more literally than Claire would have imagined it would be. At least she had some advanced warning. While she had still been training in the gym all this time—and had had some interesting experiences while doing so—she had been left with no illusions that the title series between herself and Tsukasa would actually continue.

At least, it would not continue right now. But just dropping it forever left a bad taste in Claire's mouth. She didn't know what Tsukasa was doing right now. Ironically, she of all people was probably in the best position to know what her old rival was up to—no one was closer to Tsukasa than Claire, even if their closeness was all in a very negative sense. But whatever Tsukasa was doing, and wherever she was, Claire did not intend to forget about her or the series they still had to finish. She had left a message saying as much on Tsukasa's phone. "I don't know what's going on in your life, and I'm not going to blame you for having to drop out of our title series. But just know this: whenever you do come back, that belt which you liked wearing so much is going to be around my waist...and I'll be ready to fight you three more times to decide who truly deserves it once and for all."

And now, of course, it was Claire's time to claim the belt. As Cassandra made the official announcement to the shocked AFW crowd, Claire was waiting backstage, and, when Cassandra mentioned that they would determine who was going to compete for the belt, Claire would hurry up onto the top of the ramp. She was wearing a nice black dress with white polka dots, with a pair of white shorts just peeking out from underneath it, and strode down towards the ring with confidence, a spotlight shining on her almost immediately upon her arrival. She assumed they knew she would be coming.

Was she expecting a coronation tonight? No. But this belt was hers to fight for first, and she expected to be involved in the process of choosing her opponent. As she approached the ring, Claire would grab a microphone and begin speaking. "As much as I wanted to finish my war with Tsukasa, now that she's gone, I think it's only obvious that the number one contender is number one in line, isn't it? You all know that I would never be so presumptuous as to just crown myself champion outright, but since Tsukasa's absence is completely out of my control...it's only fair that the belt is mine to defend!"

Cassandra had just finished her little talk so it wasn't exactly an interuption by the the kawaii girl... But the owner of AFW still wasn't too keen on the fact that Claire had decided to come out to the ring uninvited. Perhaps the announcement that Cassandra Sellers would now be looking for new contenders for the belt could be construed to be an invitation in itself. Cassandra breathed out carefully so as to compose herself, she was far less cordial then her sister Melissa over on Tension.

"I am sure that if I were to ask half of the kawaii's in AFW, they would be keen to lobby themselves as being 'the obvious number one contender for the belt'..." Cassandra face hardened somewhat
"The decision is mine to make and I will do so based on who I think is best suited, not on who believes themselves to be the obvious number one contender... However, I do appreciate that you are not just looking to be gifted the title... Whoever eventually becomes the kawaii champion will have to work for this title... And I am well aware that you were the number one contender while Tsukasa held the belt..."

Aoi's music played as soon as Cassandra finished what she said as the blue haired Kawaii came onto the ramp. wearing a dark blue dress and raising a microphone to her lips, "W-wait just a second there Cl-claire if anyone deserves a title shot match it should be me.." Aoi still had abit of shyness but she was getting better cause of those hentai matches, "No offense but i never got a title rematch now did I?" Aoi looked at Claire.

"Miss Cassandra I would like an other chance at The kawaii title. No matter what it takes." Aoi added as she looked at Claire. She didn't want to look bitter but she has been bitter cause of the Kawaii series. Ever since she lost that title to Tsukasa Aoi had a shaky confidence, But she trained hard for a chance to get the title back. Examining Claire the blue haired girl saw she had a slightly larger Butt then her. She was abit angry at that fact but not bitter yet.

If they were to ever be in a smother match Aoi thought Claire would have more of an advantage. Shaking her head Aoi stopped thinking about possible matches and went back to what was going on. "I hope you don't mind that Claire." Aoi spoke to her fellow Kawaii, She wanted a chance for the title again she needed it.

Claire was a little bit annoyed by the way Cassandra responded to her. She wasn't asking for a unilateral coronation. She was simply pointing out that, through no fault of her own, her current contendership could no longer be pursued, and that, logically, she was the only one who right now had a legitimate claim to the kawaii title belt. Claire was ready to work with Cassandra and the rest of AFW's management to determine who her opponent should be for the next kawaii title match. She wasn't expecting any more, but she certainly wasn't expecting any less.

"I think that, since Tsukasa never eliminated me, I can't be eliminated as number one contender, can I?" Claire would ask, trying to build on Cassandra's last comment to get the owner to confirm her status as the leading candidate for a title shot in the Kawaii League. Claire was one of the most prolific fighters in the division's history to have never held the belt, having been cheated out of a title once due to interference, then now having lost her chance to win the belt from Tsukasa with her old rival's leave of absence.

And then, one of the girls least deserving of a title shot suddenly appeared at the top of the ramp. Claire didn't exactly dislike Aoi, or anything, but the girl seemed to think that she deserved to have a chance at winning back a title she lost fair and square before the rightful number one contender had her opportunity.

"You aren't owed a title rematch. You had the belt, won it fair and square, and lost it the same way. After that, if you want it again, you need to prove yourself," Claire would explain. "I was in the middle of fighting for the title. Clearly I can't be left out of the new title chase because my opponent had to drop the belt. And I feel like I should have some say in who my next opponent is."

Aoi didn't stop looking at Claire as she spoke saying how she didn't deserve a title shot and then had to nerve to say she should be the one to pick her opponent. "whoa whoa whoa are you saying you have the right to pick who you fight for that title now?" Aoi said. "It is true i lost the title fair and squire i have no reason to say so other wise but it not up to you to chose who you fight its up to management." Aoi added. "And i deserve a shot for the title again don't you think?"

Aoi didn't dislike Claire either but the girl was getting to big of a ego cause of her wins, which was natural for some of the wrestlers here when they have a impressive win rate, but she felt that they should still act modest like she was when she was Kawaii champion. Aoi may have abit of a bad record but she was getting it better. "I'm not saying you don't deserve the title either but its up to management to decide who get to be in the title match not use am i right?"

Aoi wasn't one to Argue with others and Claire may have been the number one contender for the title when Tsukasa was champion, but the title was vacant now so it could belong to anyone now. Thats what Aoi thought at least and she was determined to have that title back and have a longer reign with it then before.

Cassandra wasn't the kind of woman to be lead on a topic by a mere kawaii... even if it was true that as Claire said, she was not really eliminated as number one contender and perhaps she would have recieved a rebuff with some sort of excuse attached as a way of punishment at having to gall to even address the owner of AFW in public... Until Aoi decided to also come out.

Again Cassandra was none too happy about the announcement (which to all intents and purposes was already complete) being tail gated by a kawaii believing they should have a shot at the title. But upon seeing Claire's disatifaction of the idea of Aoi going for the belt, the wheels in Cassandra's head started to turn.

"On the other hand..." Cassandra said contrary to what Claire said "Claire, You did have a title opportunity and failed to earn the title before going up against Tsukasa... Perhaps by your reasoning, neither of you deserve the title." She gave them both a look, trying to ruffle their feathers a little. Then eventually she put her thumb and index finger to her chin in mock contemplation.

"It is food for thought... But in the mean time, seems the two of you are so full of energy and eager to come out to the ring while your boss is present... I think the two of you would do well to work off some of that excess energy in somekind of match tonight against one another." She spoke in a way that only thinly veiled the fact that this wasn't actually a suggestion but actually a demand

Claire would have been a lot more upset with Cassandra if the woman had continued to tease her with the possibility of being left out of the title race for essentially no reason. Claire was most certainly not arguing with the owner of the league—she was certain that the woman understood how important it was to keep Claire on as the top contender for the title, even if she was reluctant to do what was best and give Claire the title outright. Claire's last match, after all, had been a victory over the defending titleholder.

Aoi, of course, came out to muck everything up, making a claim on the belt based on nothing more than the fact that she had been the belt's owner before Tsukasa had beaten her to claim it. As Claire glanced back to Cassandra, she let out an annoyed noise of dissatisfaction with the owner. Cassandra knew what the reasonable thing to do was. Claire was certain that Cassandra was not stupid. But Cassandra, apparently, was not so much concerned with fairness as she was with sparking exciting matches.

"By my logic, I would deserve the title and Aoi would not," Claire would explain, "because, after my first title match was interrupted and the referee failed to properly officiate it, I spent the better part of a year working my way through the kawaii roster and earning victories in order to get back to the same place I was in—a place which, to be clear, I only lost because of a serious interruption that went unpunished." Claire could occasionally be a little wordy, but she wanted her point to be very clear. "Aoi has made no such journey since losing the title. Trying to draw the comparison between her situation and mine is a false equivalency. Besides, I was robbed of my chance to win the title in the middle of fighting for it this time. Punishing me by forcing me to deal with her tonight is unfair."

Still, if Claire got too uppity, Cassandra might actually do something vindictive. This was the first time Claire had ever met the woman, and from what she saw Cassandra did not care about fairness or reason...and she seemed to put a high value on respect from her employees. "But, if I have to...can you at least make it clear that I am the top contender and she's the challenger? I'm not asking to be declared champion, and I'll fight her if I have to, but, with all due respect, I deserve that much."

Looking as Cassandra spoke Aoi felt guilty thinking that maybe she was over stepping her place with Cassandra, But Aoi didn't think Claire was deserving of the title since she brought up the fact she was cheated out of the title. Aoi felt Annoyed with Claire by this because it happened long ago and should be ancient History by now. The girl even went as far as to say Aoi had not made a journey to reclaim the title. Aoi had been wanting a chance back at the title since ever sense she got her self confidence again after losing it because she lost her first title defense.

"Claire no offense but you sound abit bitter because of one match mishap that happened a long time ago." Aoi finally spoke after the girl was done sounding like she was better. "I mean i would be made to if i lost a chance for the title because of a none seen disqualification but so what?" Aoi sighed. " you mainly sound like a spoiled brat now I have been training most of the time till i felt i was ready because some idiot decided to okay a what was three out of five series i mean how many chances did you want. " Aoi spoke. " im sorry but you did lose the first match of that series so that kinda mean you already lost a chance but because of the stipulation you had 4 more chances which isn't really fair to other kawaii's that also want the title. "

Aoi looked at Cassandra again, "I am Okay with fighting Claire Miss Cassandra and I'm willing to wait just so as long as Claire shut up about who is or who is not deserving of the title or deserving of the number one contender ship, it is up to you Ma'am not us after all." Aoi spoke and bowing to the owner, she would then crossed her arms at Claire. Aoi Really didn't wanted to wait but she knew it was the owners choice on who gets the shot for the title and would have no choice.

"Of course I was bitter about it," Claire would reply, jumping in again before Cassandra would have a chance to address her concerns or whatever Aoi was saying. "It was a poorly-officiated match that should never have been allowed to count. But you think I'm still bitter? I'm sorry, but you need to pay attention to the conversation. My whole point was that, after losing that match, I went on and won several matches to prove I still deserved the title. That counts for a lot more than just training." If Aoi wanted to jump in and try to insult her, she should think a lot harder about what was actually being said, and what she was going to say, before getting into it with someone as alert and erudite as Claire.

"And you don't seem to understand how a series works, either," Claire would say. She had never really had much interaction with Aoi in the past, but the girl was really annoying her right now as she tried to bicker with Claire. No reasonable person would put Aoi ahead of Claire in the chase for the kawaii title right now. No one could put anyone ahead of Claire. Aoi wanted to have a match? Fine, but she should understand that her inclusion was a courtesy, on both Cassandra's part and Claire's. "Losing one match in a series is equivalent to losing a fall in a match. If you want to argue that losing one fall in a five-fall match is the same as losing the whole thing, then go ahead. But if not, then don't try to make something up about each match of a title series being its own title match."

Claire almost felt bad about embarrassing Aoi this much by tearing apart any logic to what she said, but she had to do it. "And I think the owner has already made her wishes quite clear. She's clearly smart enough to tell when you're trying to suck up to her, so how about you just drop that, stop trying to argue with me—because you'll clearly lose that—and just wait to be told to do something?"