Calm after the Storm

Continued from Here!

While Shinobu had only been fully unconscious for around a few minutes she continued to drift in and out of consciousness for the next six or seven hours, due to mostly in part to the amount of energy she had exerted in her grueling match with Sandy White. When Shinobu fully regained her senses she was in the AFW medical center, her right arm was in a sling and her forehead was heavily bandaged along with miscellaneous compresses and bandages on her bruised body. She had been changed into a hospital gown and her eye still stung a bit. She was relieved to hear that Maya was fine and would be coming along to see her shortly, Maya only suffered a minor concussion and should be fine with a weeks rest. Shinobu on the other hand was a little more worse for wear. Her arm wasn't broken but she definitely had some minor tendon damage, it also didn't help that Shinobu kept using that arm even after Sandy had given it hell. Her head was fine, only slightly worse than her previous matches in Platinum Nebula, the bleeding had since stopped and the doctors had advised her to keep the bandages on for another week. The worst injury she took in the match however was when she fell from the top of the ladder, she was lucky not to have cracked any of her ribs, despite that she still sustained massive bruising.

Shinobu felt bad asking, but she wanted to know how long until she could compete in another match with AFW. The doctor had been asked this numerous times by numerous other wrestlers. Every time some bloodied, battered and broken wrestler would beg her to let them return to the ring she would give them the same baffled expression. Shinobu however was happy to hear that she should be allowed to compete in "Less Reckless Matches" within two weeks. After the doctor left Shinobu laid back in the rather uncomfortable hospital bed, she was allowed to leave once all the paper work was processed which wouldn't be much longer, at least according to the nurses. The Raging Dragon rubbed her brow, everything still really hurt. Despite all the physical pain she felt, all she could feel consuming her was an almost dark wish that Sandy was worse off than she was. As soon as those thoughts passed through her head tears began welling up in her eyes.

"I'm... not like that..." She softly said to herself quickly wiping the tears away. Shinobu was ashamed, she couldn't help but ackowledge the dark thoughts she was having, a part of her wished that she had hurt Sandy more than she did.

"Dammit no! It's about victory and defeat! It's trying to defeat your opponent not destroy them!" Shinobu was getting incredibly upset. She needed to get some air, the stuffy hospital room was driving her crazy... getting changed into a set of her street clothes and decided to take a short walk around the lobby of the complex, Maya would be here soon so maybe she'd meet up with her there...

Aiko was stumbling through the lobby… if she just had to use these stupid crutches. They always came in her way when she wanted to do anything… She wasn´t able to go shopping, walking from shop to shop was a pretty hard job with these thing. Every 10 meters felt like a marathon for her. And that already when there were no stairs in her way. Stairs… her new biggest opponent. Only a handful of them could be a dame hard challenge for the poor Japanese woman and as soon as they would appear in a bigger number it was almost impossible for Aiko to overcome them. And carrying home shopping bags… she never thought that something so normally would become a challenge for her, but it happened.

And that was not the only thing that became hard for her. Cleaning, cooking and other daily normal jobs became hard as fuck since Sandy just broke her leg… That was still painful for her to think back to that match and to this end. The whole match Aiko didn´t stand the slightest changes against the bigger woman. It was like running against a soiled wall; head first, without a helmet. It was obvious that it would hurt but she still did it…
And the worst part wasn´t that she get hurt… it was that Shinobu wanted to take revenge for Aiko… that was a pretty nice move from that woman but still… it was no smart move. She directly went out in front of the afw crowed and called out Sandy… what ended in a brutal match between the two woman… it may have ended in a draw but still… Every hit Shinobu had to take during that match hurt Aiko was well just by watching it because she knew everything Shinobu was suffering right now was her fault. And in the end Shinobu was send into the medical center as well… all because of her.  

When Aiko was stumbling through the lobby she suddenly saw Shinobu across the room. She couldn´t fight her smile when she saw the sporty woman standing over there. “Hey Shinobu, over here… hey here!”, would Aiko scream though the whole lobby not carrying about all the other people around here. After finishing the calling AIko would start to stumble over to her friend as she could, what wasn´t so fast…

She would stop right in front of Shinobu and look over her friend… her smile started to disappear. , her right arm was in a sling and her forehead was heavily bandaged… no nice view for the small woman. She felt guilty for what happened… “Hey Shinobu, how are u doing… you dished out a pretty hard beating to sandy in that match… I saw it all and I was pretty impressed from your work there… You should have beat that fat pig all over the ring to show her, her place and teach her a lesson… I am sorry for all of this. This didn´t had to happen… ”

Shinobu smiled for the first time since waking up in the medical center, seeing Aiko again was nice, and hopefully in a little longer the two might be able to spar some time. Shinobu wrapped her good arm around Aiko and pulled the shorter woman close in a hug. "Don't beat yourself up about it Aiko. This isn't your fault, it was mine... I was selfish and needed to be the hero... I had to make this about me... and... and because of me... Maya got hurt..."

Shinobu let a few tears stream down her face. She was frustrated, at herself for butting herself in Aiko's buissiness and at her own inability to defeat Sandy.

"I... wanted to fight for you! You told me not too and... I may have made things worse..."

It had been several hours after the grueling match had ended. Sandy was already awake - she had been for a while now, recounting the events of the match in her head. She made the mistake of assuming Shinobu had no options near the end, there. That the rookie would go down and accept defeat at her hands like many did before her. It's not even like that idea was very farfetched. Sandy did exactly that to little Aiko, to Harley Jackson, and she was sure to assert her dominance over a good chunk of the AFW roster in future matches. So what happened in her match against Shinobu.

"I underestimated her a little, there....Well, it's not like I lost. It was a draw. And that punk rookie is WAY more banged up than I am! Hahaha!"

Sandy voiced her thoughts as she traversed the halls of the hospital. Although she was walking of her own accord, she wasn't completely unscathed. She had thrown a fit not too long ago when the doctor approached her with his assessment. Sandy had needed a couple stitches for the head wound she sustained during the match, her thigh needed to be iced because of the bruise she got there, and finally, the fall off of the ladder gave her a mild concussion. But ultimately, the doctor concluded that she'd make a near-full recovery within a week, and that she'd be back to 100% within two. Miss White was offered bed rest for several days, but turned it down vehemently. After eating a meal and collecting her things, she'd ask the nurses:

"Which room is she in?"
"Who?"
"....Shinobu"

After making her inquiry and figuring out where Miss Kudo was, she'd make her way to the woman's room and appear in the doorway just a moment after Shinobu finished her thought. At which point she'd interrupt their conversation.

"Oh, of course it had to happen, little Aiko. The same way it happened to you. The same way it'll happen to anyone that steps to Sandy White!" Sandy began to boast. She anticipated immediate animosity from the two of them. But before they came to blows, she'd give a disclaimer: "Don't worry, girls. The doctors already gave me a stern talking to. If I were to jump you two right now, I'd risk jail time. So count yourselves lucky.Your pal Maya on the other hand...I can't promise that nothing will happen to her while you're stuck in that hospital bed, dragon-lady."

Abigail saw that suddenly a bigger woman appeared closer to them… someone she just knew too well and she didn´t wanted to see her again… Sandy… Aiko would keep standing there where she was, although she was pretty scared right now... the big woman broke her ankle the last time they met.
Aiko would try to look confident and stare right at Sandy. “What you want here… can´t you count… it is two of us and only one of you so better get out of here before we make your leave!” Tried Aiko to threaten the giant. But she knew as well that she couldn´t do much with only one leg… She hoped that Sandy would back away on her own.

Shinobu barred her teeth and approached Sandy grabbing a fistful of the taller woman's shirt to pull her close. "I swear to god if you lay another hand on her I will retire you from this organization, that is not a threat that is a promise!" Shinobu screamed turning the heads of everybody around. Shinobu didn't care, Sandy hurt Aiko and the love of her life, Shinobu was going to break Sandy if she so much as touched her.

Sandy would simply smile as Aiko and Shinobu protested her very presence, there. To her, it was amazing the kind of rise she could get out of the two of them. Technically, she hadn't even done anything wrong, at least not during this encounter, and the two of them were already at her throat. Shinobu approached her and grabbed her shirt. She looked up at the Giantess as she made her promise to retire her from her career at AFW. As all the civilians nearby turned their heads to see what all the yelling was about, Sandy would look Shinobu in the eye and bare her teeth whilst smiling arrogantly at the "Raging Dragon of Justice". Miss White didn't seem intimidated. She simply continued smiling and asked "Well then. Where is she?"

Maya had actually been watching the scene for the last couple of minutes, a little nervous to but in. Maya however at Sandy's request made her presence known.

"A-actually, I'm here." Maya said meekly. Shinobu quickly grabbed her girlfriend by the wrist and pulled her behind.

Shinobu was ready for war. "My promise still stands, White!" Shinobu was prepared for an immediate rematch, the second she recovered she was ready put Sandy into the ground.

"Sh-shinobu that hurts!" Maya protested.

Aiko didn´t wanted to back down from Sandy… although her whole body was screaming run… She didn´t wanted to give the big one this satisfaction… but as mean as it sounded Aiko would have to hid behind her new friend in this fight… there wasn´t much she could do right now… she tried to get a bit into the background.

As tensions continued to flare up at the hospital, Maya would make her presence known. Of course, she was instantly pulled to Shinobu's side. The Dragon was naturally interested in protecting her significant other, much to Sandy's amusement. The Brit's smile would only widen as Shinobu clutched her Maya's wrist and asserted that she'd deliver on her promise.

"Really, kid. How green are you? You're injured. You have one arm, and you wanna talk about retiring me? Ha!" Sandy would let out a quick laugh before continuing. "And you want to keep her safe? From me? Do you listen to yourself talk?! Maya would've been just fine if she never got involved in the match! You think YOU can keep her safe! From ME? Are you even cleared to leave this hospital? You realize I could just wait until Maya has to leave and jump her in the parking lot, right? I could follow her home and throw the little lady through her own window!"

She'd move closer to Shinobu, making eye contact with clear intent to threaten her and her relationship. "And after I do that all that, I could record myself having my way with her. I could show her how being pleased by a real woman feels like! Those are all promises I can actually keep. And that's a crapload more than I can say about the one you spat out, Shinobu...."