First Day Blues

Akane didn’t know what to think. This was her first full day at the AFW complex, and she was several parts excited, nervous, and overwhelmed. This place was MUCH bigger than anywhere else she’d wrestled, either in the US or Japan, and whilst she was looking forward to all the opportunities that fate would surely shower her with, there was still an element of culture shock which she found a little disorienting.

For instance, there was the stack of paperwork they’d handed to her at the front door. Disclaimers against in-ring injuries was part of the business, but when she glanced down the list before signing, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on here. ‘The undersigned affirms no liability arising to said AFW or associated parties for personal injury or related damages, including but not limited to… wrestling impact, weapon concussion, electrocution, repeated asphyxiation, prolonged exposure to handcuffs, or getting pudding in your hair.'

She was pretty sure some of those forms were a joke, but still, it was all a little disconcerting. Maybe it was a translation thing. Anyway, Akane had put her Welcome Pack to one side, and decided to check out the vast array of gym equipment the complex had to offer. Stripped to her red gym shorts and white tank top, she'd done a little cardio on the treadmill, and was now throwing a few angry palm thrusts at a punching bag. As she worked up a sweat and felt a few endorphins flowing from the exercise, she started to feel a little better about the paperwork. Opponents would soon be lining up and getting their asses kicked, just like this punching bag!

The departure of her mentor Akashi from AFW had shaken Miyabi, and the old Miyabi would have cried about it, knowing she was likely never to see the older, wiser sumo fighting in her mawashi again. But the new Miyabi, the one who had learned so much from Tanikaze-sama over the last couple of years, understood that it was only to be expected that your heroes would eventually retire, and that, rather than crying and bemoaning their departure, the best possible thing you could do was to take up their mantle and continue fighting in their honor. If Miyabi remembered not only the techniques which she learned from Akashi, but the important lessons about maturity and honor, as well, then it would be like Akashi was still here at AFW.

Miyabi was ready to step into her mentor's place as AFW's number one sumo.

She was virtually its only sumo, too, which was very unfortunate. She was, without a doubt, the only true sumo wrestler remaining here at AFW, but even trying to find girls her size, sumos or not, was difficult. Akashi was gone. Her good friend Sally was taking a pretty long break. Sarnai was dealing with some things back in Mongolia. Silver was in very high demand these days. Heck, Miyabi even would have taken a match against that stupid, mean Russian girl Oksana—she would have relished showing off her new skills, in fact—but she had no idea what that one was up to.

Until she found more opponents her size, Miyabi would keep training in the gym. Heck, maybe she would even branch out, the way Akashi had, and fight girls who were smaller than her. It would be a good way to hone her submission and professional wrestling techniques—techniques which she knew Akashi was an expert at, as well as sumo.

Miyabi walked into the gym from the locker room, wearing a white sports bra on top and her navy blue mawashi on bottom. It was relatively early in the morning, and, since it was a weekend, most girls were sleeping in. Miyabi would have done the same up until just last month. But now? She had to live up to the glorious reign of Akashi, and she could not afford to be lazy all too often. There was one girl at the far end of the gym working with a punching bag, but Miyabi would go over to the treadmills to start, setting a light jogging pace to warm herself up.

As sweat began to accumulate on her body in a very thin veneer, Miyabi's eyes drifted back over to the other girl at the far end of the gym. She squinted a little bit as she watched the girl. She was pretty big relative to the punching bag...almost Miyabi's size. And Miyabi hadn't seen anyone with that sort of hair in that sort of workout gear before. Miyabi would hit the button that brought her treadmill to a halt, then stared at the girl's back for just a few more seconds.

A smile crept over her face. There was no mistaking that the girl was sumo-sized. Those red shorts barely stretched across her wide butt. When her body turned slightly, Miyabi could see a thick tummy underneath that white tank top. It certainly looked like Miyabi had a new opponent her size to compete with!

Or...perhaps she would soon have a pupil of her own! The same way Akashi had trained her, Miyabi could train this girl. It was the least she could do to honor the memory of her retired mentor. She could craft a sumo wrestler nearly as good as herself out of this girl, have a worthy opponent, and take the league by storm, too!

Excited by the thought, Miyabi stepped off the treadmill, taking a moment to wipe her sweaty forehead with the back of her arm. Then, she would bound over to where the girl was still throwing palm strikes at the punching bag. For a new girl, she already had impressive technique. She was probably pretty strong. With Miyabi as a mentor, giving her the techniques and the code of conduct that she herself had learned from Akashi, this girl could be quite a force to be reckoned with! "Hello! Good moves!" Miyabi would say in a loud voice, as she closed the final few paces between herself and the new girl, at which point she would clap a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Welcome to AFW, new girl." Miyabi's English still needed some work, but she didn't know yet if this girl could speak Japanese.

Akane was grunting to herself as she thumped the bag over and over, when she suddenly heard a voice right behind her. She was a little startled to be brought out of her reverie, and turned around, a little bewildered as the other girl complimented her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

The lightly-panting Akane swallowed, a little taken aback. “Uh... thanks,” she spluttered, clearly caught off guard. She looked the welcomer up and down, raising an eyebrow at two observations – firstly, that this girl seemed quite similar to her, in that she was big, buxom, and pretty young. And secondly, she seemed perfectly comfortable wearing a sumo loincloth to the gym. Was that normal? Akane wasn’t sure if she should ask. Eventually, she realised it might be a little rude to just be staring at the other girl’s crotch, so she looked up and smiled.

Feeling a little awkward, she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. “Yeah, pretty basic moves, but thanks. I’m Akane by the way. Ass-kicking Akane! Nice to, uh, meet you!” She held out a clammy hand.

Miyabi chuckled as the girl spluttered a reply, clearly a little surprised to be approached like this. She was clearly very new, or else she would have learned already how welcoming a place AFW is for new wrestlers! Coming to the gym was almost like begging to have an interesting, fun, or crazy encounter with some girl or another. It really was wonderful how so many girls from so many different places and of so many different means could mingle like this here.

Miyabi could tell right away that this girl did not come from the same place that she did—at least, not exactly. The girl did have Japanese features, that was for sure. But she also had an exotic appeal—and it was most certainly appealing—that Miyabi couldn't quite figure out. By the sound of her voice, she was a native English speaker, much more proficient in the language than Miyabi. But, with her Japanese heritage, perhaps she knew some of Miyabi's native tongue, too? The sumo would test her on that. Even if they came from very different places, though, up close, what Miyabi had observed was only more clear: the two of them were very similar in size, and they were both very young, too. They were a good match...Miyabi was now more excited to see what the girl had than she was before!

"Yes, yes. Very good moves, but basic. Basic, normal things," Miyabi would chirp. She couldn't help but giggle at the cute nickname that the girl had for herself—"Ass-Kicking Akane?" It really did roll off of the tongue, and it was adorable.

"My name is Miyabi! Takiyama Miyabi!" the sumo girl would say in English, before she decided to see how Akane did with Japanese. <Nice to meet you, too!> She would extend her hand to shake Akane's firmly, giving it a hard squeeze and a powerful pump to show off a little bit of her strength. Then, Miyabi would dip her head, in a brief, polite bow for her new acquaintance.

Akane smiled as Miyabi giggled, a pleasing sound, and Akane was pretty sure she wasn’t being made fun of for her self-appointed nickname. This girl seemed sweet and genuine. Maybe the AFW wasn’t such a bad place after all. It’d be good to strike a friendship on her first day.

With a wry grin, Akane squeezed Miyabi’s hand right back, more than a little prepared for a subtle little show of strength herself. She was less prepared for the more traditional Japanese greeting, frowning a little as her brain rushed to remember her language lessons.

“Nice to meet you, too!” she replied, a little stilted, and bowing somewhat awkwardly. “Sorry, am only half-Japanese.”

Akane ploughed on in her second language though, she supposed she would have to start using it at some point.

“So, yes... basic moves, but I do much better in the ring. Going to be the next great AFW star!” she beamed proudly.

Miyabi made an understanding noise and nodded when Akane, in very rusty Japanese, explained that only half of her heritage was of Miyabi's own full-blooded homeland. <Your name is Japanese, and one half of you is Japanese, but you speak very good English! Where are you from? Are you from the United States? California?> Miyabi would ask in Japanese, smiling at Akane as she did, and getting a little excited, too. This girl was positively adorable, exotic and, yet, familiar at the same time!

On some level, Akane definitely reminded Miyabi of herself barely a year ago, when she first came to AFW and began training with the illustrious goddess of sumo, Akashi Tanikaze. This girl might have more experience than Miyabi did at that time, and she definitely had a nicer tan, but the similarities were there.

Miyabi was confident that she had met a friend today, but maybe Akane could be much more than that. It was, after all, Miyabi's duty to nurture any new sumo wrestlers who joined AFW, now that she was the senior wrestler in the style. And, more than that, Miyabi didn't mind training girls she found cute even if they weren't strictly sumo wrestlers. Akane seemed to be brimming with confidence—a very good candidate indeed!

<I think you can be a star! When I started training with Akashi Tanikaze, I was completely new to wrestling, but now I am pretty famous! Since you're new, maybe you should train with me! I can teach you all sorts of excellent techniques for winning matches—both sumo techniques and fun things like stinkfaces!>

“Yeah, I grew up in LA. Always wanted to see Japan though,” Akane smiled. She raised her eyebrows, though, when Miyabi kept gushing on… about Akashi, about training, about stinkfaces…

Akane pursed her lips, trying to hide her annoyance. Miyabi was acting like a big shot, but Akane doubted that the youngster had any advantage over her, experience-wise… and she definitely wasn’t as famous as she was trying to make out. Akashi, on the other hand, WAS a household name… one that Akane had hoped to meet and train with, rather than this upstart! The fact that she hadn’t been able to get any sumo tuition always irked Akane, so she was bristling with irritation now.

“Okay, well… thanks, but believe me, I already win matches… and don’t talk to *me* about stinkfaces. I finish off *so* many losers that way…” Akane was still smiling at that thought, but the warmth was fading from it. “Aren’t you a bit young to be offering to train people, anyway? Even if sumo is basically just shoving…”

Akane had placed her hands on her hips now. Her eyes had narrowed, and she was looking at Miyabi with some scepticism. “And did you really get to train with Akashi? The actual champion?” Akane’s expression suggested she doubted this celebrity connection.

Miyabi had no idea that Akane was as consternated as she was as Miyabi spoke about her own experiences, from training with Akashi to becoming an AFW star. Had Miyabi won a title? No, but she certainly was famous, and no longer solely because of her association with the suddenly-retired sumo legend. She had helped to open up an Avalanche PPV event. She had competed in the Friction World Cup, and advanced deep into that tournament. She had taken on girl after girl just as big as her—some bigger—and won against many.

Plus, she had an infectiously upbeat personality which the fans loved. But she was not willing to let mean girls slip by without being punished. All she was doing was offering to train Akane and giving the Japanese-American girl an opportunity to receive some of the knowledge passed down to Miyabi by her legendary sensei—something which Akane clearly valued. But then the brunette had the audacity to doubt Miyabi! She even thought that she knew everything there was to know about stinkfaces!

Miyabi made a loud grunting noise and puffed her cheeks slightly, putting her hands on her hips as well as she stared down the big new girl. Since Akane had switched back to English, so would Miyabi. "Hmmph! Sumo is very more than...shoving! Sumo is great and sumo has tradition and honor and power!" she would insist, trying her best to think of all the words she needed in Akane's native language. "Akashi would think you are stupid if you say that sumo is just shoving!" If Akane held Akashi in high regard, she should have known better than to insult Miyabi's sensei like that!

"And also," she would continue, letting a smirk slowly spread across her face, "you are too young to say to me that I am young. Akane is like a baby and Miyabi is an adult! It is very good that only Miyabi will stinkface Akane, because Akane's stinkface is very, very stinky, like a big baby!"

Miyabi knew her taunting was a little infantile, but that was the best she could do in English. So she switched to Japanese to take a more cultured shot at the presumptuous newcomer. <Do you think you have more experience than me? You haven't been here in AFW stinkfacing all the losers I have! And you haven't had training with the greatest sumo wrestler to ever live! If you want to learn some of the things that Akashi personally taught me, then you should be nicer and ask me for training!>

Akane felt a flush of irritation, but it was still tempered by sheer bewilderment, so she stopped short of reacting *too* rudely just yet. Instead, she pinched the bridge of her cute little nose, and let out a deep sigh.

"YOU'RE too young to say that I'm too young to say... ugh, never mind."

She ran a hand through her hair and tried to collect her thoughts. This girl seemed to simultaneously be friendly, and spoiling for a fight. Maybe the switches between languages, which Akane was *just* about managing, were causing the friction. The name-dropping of Akashi made her want to preserve this relationship rather than push her away just yet.

<"Okay... I DON'T think sumo is stupid - not many girl sumos, is the problem - and I do actually want some training. Maybe we train together after all?">

She smiled hopefully. "I have wrestled a lot, back in the States, but I've been struggling to find anywhere that will teach women, so I would be interested to see what Akashi passed on to you personally." Akane's hand-on-hip, raised-eyebrow stance made it clear that she was open to the offer, but perhaps a little skeptical. "Though if you're messing me around, you might just find out about my stinkfaces after all..." she added with an impish grin.

Miyabi didn't really want to fight with the new girl—she actually would be happy to train her, and there were only so many girls her size on the AFW roster—but Akane's doubtful response to Miyabi's bona fides raised the Japanese sumo's hackles a bit. Maybe she responded with a little bit more taunting than was necessary, though she could tell on Akane's face that the girl thought some of what Miyabi said was untrue, and that was absolutely ridiculous!

Miyabi took a deep breath and closed her eyes, puffing out her cheeks some more, then slowly letting them deflate as she blew out the breath, tilting her head upwards a bit. Akane was a little abrasive to start off, but she actually responded pretty evenly to Miyabi's slightly more aggressive tone, and actually agreed to Miyabi's initial offer. If the tan American girl could calm down, so could Miyabi, and after taking another breath Miyabi would smile, and even giggle a little, as she felt the release of more than a little bit of tension.

<You're right, there aren't very many sumo girls, not even around here...even other girls as big as me are usually not trained as sumos,> Miyabi would observe, thinking about how few true sumo-style bouts she had actually fought in. <There was Akashi, there was a cute Mongolian sumo, and there was me. Now I'm alone. I always wish there were more...so maybe we can train you into a good rival for me!> She gave Akane a grin and a friendly slap on the shoulder before switching to English for the cute Californian's convenience.

"We can start training you right now, young friend!" Miyabi began, sticking her tongue out as she reasserted Akane's youthfulness. "You try to stinkface Miyabi if you want, but if you try...you will be getting very super stinkfaces in your face! Now, let's go!"