How would you like your training today?

Ísafold Hjalmarsdottir:

"OK, so they’ve got trainers here… That’s nice." Isa was heading down the AFW building to the gym, which was told her to be somewhere in the basement. What a useless instruction, she could've guessed that herself as well. And what was it with these Japanese not having proper English signage throughout, this was even AFW, a place where majority of wrestlers were not Japanese...

Isa was supposed to have a training session. She had been told AFW had some trainers that were available for the wrestlers to spar with, and thought it could be useful. While she had some experience, strength, and a couple of signature moves, AFW had many bigger wrestlers using a lot rougher moves than what she had used to. So it couldn't be a bad idea to let a trainer show her some new techniques. Carrying her gym gear in a small bag with her, she was also eager to have some working out. Setting up her exchange studies (the reason why she had come to Japan in the first place) had taken quite some time, and it was good to do something physical for a change. "Hmmm, that door's got a sign that looks like gym equipment..."

"OK, definitely not gym equipment" she mumbled to herself after coming out from a cleaning equipment storage room. Hoping that nobody noticed, she soon noticed a person coming down the hallway. "Darn, that red head looks like she saw me doing something stupid... But wait a minute, she looks kinda familiar though!"

Dressed for a workout, Alicia was heading through the halls of the Friction complex to the gym. She’d changed in the locker room, meaning she was in a plain sports bra and workout shorts but then, in this area of the building, that was hardly unusual gear for wrestlers. And most of the staff were just plain desensitized to seeing athletic women in skimpy gear – it was just a fact of life working here.

She’d had a long research session, working on her thesis draft, and she really needed to burn some serious energy. It’d probably mean working out rather than sparring but sparring with the trainers would just leave her even more wound up than she was already. They were just that bad, by her standards.

Thoughts elsewhere, Alicia didn’t really pay much attention to the other woman until they were pretty close. Not that the redhead was being rude, she just had other things on her mind – at least until something about the white-blonde hair, the style the other woman was wearing it in and her face twigged a memory from earlier.

Coming closer, Alicia was becoming increasingly sure that, yes, this was someone she’d seen around uni today. There’d been a lecture thing for the foreign students and – well, this woman’d stood out. Probably like Alicia herself. That said, she thought she’d know most of the AFW crowd by now, and she definitely hadn’t seen this woman around here before.

”Hey there,” She threw out a greeting as she approached, ”Did I see you around the university earlier?”

Alicia was never one to dance around the topic; ask a straight question and she felt she was more likely to get a straight answer.

As she came closer though, it gave her a closer look at the other woman’s expression. Well then, looked like she was definitely new around here.

”You lost?” If there was a tiny bit of amusement in her tone, then it was only because she’d found the same problem when she’d first joined.

Soon after Isa's thoughts the red head opened her mouth. Yeah, uni, right! There she had seen the girl. But apart from her face, she looked totally different now. Not wearing normal clothes but instead a skimpy gym outfit, Isa could see well her strong body. And wow, those thighs... This one was definitely a girl she didn't want as her enemy.

Well hi there... Yeah you've probably seen me there! I was actually thinking you looked quite familiar, but you look eh...quite different now than what I remember seeing at uni!" "I didn't really imagine running into same people there and here..." Isa said with a laugh. "And yes, it was probably a bit too easy to notice I'm a bit lost... I'm actually looking for the gym, but all they gave me was "downstairs"..." she continued. "Um, actually, your appearance tells me you should know where it is!"

At that moment Isa realised how dumb she probably looked, not having changed her gym gear already. Most probably she looked like a fancy girl dressed for a trip to the mall instead of an aspiring wrestler looking for a gym. Wanting to explain a bit her goofiness by being a newcomer, she said "I should actually have a sparring session with a trainer there, I'm new here so they need to tell me a bit about what it's like to wrestle in AFW!"

Well, whoever she was and wherever she was from specifically, Alicia was betting European on that accent alone.

”Yeah, if you don’t speak Japanese, this place is a maze.” Alicia had been there, done that, gotten lost once or twice herself. Easily done, particularly if the front desk hadn’t given good directions. ”And yeah, I’m heading that way myself. If you want, I’ll show you.”

Turned out the newcomer was there for a training session with one of the staff trainers and thought it was going to show her what wrestling here was like.

Alicia chuckled cynically at that, rolling her eyes slightly and starting to lead the way down the corridor.

”Yeah, well you won’t learn that from the trainers. Most of them… There’s a reason why they’re trainers and not wrestlers; mostly it’s because they suck. You’ll be kicking their ass, count on it, and they’ll be whining like sore losers.”

Not that she was still grumpy about the whole mess that she and Mikaela had found themselves in last year, oh no. But her opinion of the trainers hereabouts hadn’t ever been high. Clearly, she’d been lucky to end up rolling with Valley instead.

That had been one of her favourite matches since coming here and it had just been a sparring match. Ok, it had meant her first proper match had been a real let down but, well, things were improving.

”I suppose it’s an ok start though, if you’re new. I’m Alicia, by the way. Alicia Wells.”

Good news was, at least Isa got a guide now to show her the destination. Bad news was, apparently it was in the exactly opposite direction. Isa really didn't like looking stupid, even though deep inside she knew that her struggling to find the destination was pretty understandable in this situation.

Listening to the red head giving her opinion on the trainers did not make her feel any better. Even though the girl's logic about poorer wrestlers not making it into the ring sounded sensible, she didn't really fully believe her words. If they were trainers, they got to be some good, right? However, it was probably a good idea not to contest the opinion.

"Well nice to meet you Alicia. I'm Isa, Isa from Iceland. We've actually got pretty difficult names..." she explained her differing way of introducing herself. "So what are you doing at the uni? Looks like I won't be the only one here to pursue studying and wrestling at the same time" she laughed. "I'm actually supposed to be on an exchange... I study volcanology, and Japan is a great country to do that!"

Iceland. Well, that made sense, though it did leave Alicia a little curious what the full version of that was. Somehow, she wasn’t thinking it was anything as common as Isabelle. But her knowledge of Scandinavian names was on the limited side so she wasn’t about to throw in any guesses.

Well, she knew a couple. But nothing beginning with ‘Isa’.

”I’m not really at the uni – I’m doing a masters in ancient history – but I’m allowed to use the library there and stuff like that. Japan might be a great place to study volcanoes but it’s not so great for Roman history, you know?”

Well, Isa probably didn’t know but it wouldn’t be hard to guess.

”No,” She continued, leading the way but not having to slow – Isa was almost as tall as she was, ”I’m here for the fights. If it wasn’t for Friction, I’d be back in the UK somewhere instead of here.”

Not that Alicia had much against Tokyo, though she wasn’t looking forward to another summer here at all, but she didn’t like it enough to live here without Friction. If she couldn’t get the fights she was after, well, she might as well have stayed back in England.

”So, it’s the volcanoes you’re here for? Or both?”

Huh, Roman History... Definitely not something Isa would have guessed, based on both Alicia's looks, and the fact that they were in Japan. But it actually just made her seem more interesting, and Isa had to sneak another thorough look on Alicia's body to make her brain able to connect the body and the field of study. "Oh, Roman History, that's cool... Well at least you've heard of Vesuvius Pompeii then!" she added.

Hearing Alicia being in Japan for the fighting made totally sense. She definitely looked like a girl with a passion for such a sport. Almost frighteningly so, if her frame represented the standard wrestler of AFW... "Oh, me? Well the main reason is really the volcanoes... I just happened to..." she started, with the purpose to tell about her friends and the campus amateur wrestling league back in Reykjavik. However, she was hit by a thought that for all she knew, potentially Alicia could be facing her in the ring next week, and maybe it was best not to tell her everything. And besides, it was a bit embarrassing that her friends had made the application...

"I just happened to know AFW, and thought it could be fun to join while I'm here!" she tried to lie convincingly, but realising pretty soon that her statement only raised more questions than gave answers. So quickly, she followed with "I've actually done some amateur wrestling, so it's a little exciting cause AFW seems to be much more of a pro league..." Wanting to turn the attention away from her, she queried "So you're like a pro then? I mean at least based on your looks, you can probably..eh..kick a lot of ass!"

”Yeah, Roman history,” Alicia’s response was a touch on the frosty side, ironically enough – that comment, combined with the way Isa had just looked her over, had verged on assuming Alicia was a dumb thug. And, if you wanted to make Alicia Wells mad at you, treating her like a dumb thug was only one step away from calling her one. ”And yeah, I’ve heard of Pompeii – 79 AD, right.”

Really, she was more into the Republic but, well, who hadn’t heard of Pompeii? Even without the film, it’d been pretty famous as far as she knew.

As Isa began to explain why she was there, the redhead raised an eyebrow as she tailed off before striking back up with what was clearly a different reason. But, hey, none of her business and she was swiftly distracted by Isa instead diverting the topic to Alicia instead, who promptly shrugged.

”Ten years of kickboxing and MMA,” She revealed, coming to a halt outside the doors to the gym, a slight smirk curling her lips, ”So yes, I’m pretty good at kicking things, asses included. Here’s the gym, by the way.”

Then she pointed down the corridor a bit.

”And there’s a changing room over there. There’s lockers and things for guests or people who need somewhere to leave their stuff.” She had to admit, she’d be looking out for Isa in the gym. She was a little curious to see what this Icelandic girl brought to the table, what she looked like under her fashionable clothing.

It was never Isa's intention to assume Alicia was dumb - she knew very well that looks could easily decieve. As Isa heard Alicia tell the correct year for the catastrophic events at Pompeii, she could hear slight irritation in her voice, and decided it was best not to underestimate Alicia's amount of knowledge anymore. Instead, she just noddingly approved her answer. The subject of Vesuvius and Pompeii would always trigger her want to talk about Campi Flegrei, the monster volcano right next to the infamous pair that nobody seemed to know about, but decided that this was not the place and time for such lectures.

"Uh, ten years? Wow....", Isa commented hearing about Alicia's fighting history. Kickboxing and MMA... Well she really didn't want to become Alicia's enemy! She definitely didn't have skills on those... Then, before she knew it, they had arrived at the gym.

"Well thanks so much, Alicia! I really wouldn't have made it here on time without you! Have a nice workout then, and I'm sure we'll run into each other again!" Isa thanked the helpful Alicia. She had no idea about Alicia's plans to spy on her training...

Isa then headed into the changing room, as obviously there was no need anymore for the gym-dressed Alicia to join her. She had considered using her standard wrestling attire for the training, as it was nothing really spectacular, but after seeing how Alicia had dressed, she decided to use her equally blue-colored, very short and tight gym shorts and sports bra.

Leaving her stuff at the lockers, she then headed out to the actual gym. There seemed to be a couple of training rings and a lot of gym equipment. It was pretty apparent she wasn't yet familiar with the gym, so it was easy for her trainer to spot her, and soon they were together in the ring. The trainer appeared to be quite an average sized Japanese girl, although probably somewhat stronger, and kind of made Isa recall Alicia's comments about them being aspiring wrestlers, who just haven't made it yet.

As the trainer found submission moves to be Isa's strongest area of moves, they soon proceeded to go through various kinds of them. The trainer had some good arm locks to teach Isa, and she got quite a few ideas how she could utilise her upper-body better. It soon became obvious for the trainer that Isa's lower body was her strength, and basically just encouraged Isa to use it to her advantage as much as possible. In the end the trainer let Isa to practice her finishers on her, which she found to be a very useful exercise.

As their training session came to an end, Isa cheerfully thanked her trainer. She had found the hour of training different moves fun, and at least somewhat useful. As the trainer left the ring, Isa decided to stay there just for a little while. She was testing the ropes, how they felt on her body, how it was to bounce off of them and how hard the turnbuckles actually were. In general, just familiarizing herself with the AFW ring. Even though the training had been fun, she had to admit to herself that it hadn't really prepared her for the actual fight, heat of the moment, different tactics and vicious opponents.

Returning a nod as Isa disappeared into the changing rooms, Alicia headed off into the gym and was soon busy doing her own exercises.

But she kept an eye on the entrance, curious, and was rewarded shortly thereafter when Isa reappeared in an icy-blue set of shorts and sports bra. The newcomer was probably best described as toned rather than superfit, her body taut rather than overly defined. Her lower half was pretty damn curvy though with the sort of big, solid thighs that resembled Alicia’s own.

Pretty impressive for a newbie, and that was before the redhead saw them in action which she did shortly thereafter.

In truth, Alicia wasn’t intending to spy on Isa. She was more intrigued and, as they were both going to be in the gym, wanted to see what the other woman brought to the table.

As a result, as she went through her workout, she kept half an eye on Isa’s match in the ring. And it was going as the redhead expected. She’d not sparred with that particular trainer, so she didn’t know how good she was, but it was – at best – a submission clinic.

And when they went freestyle a couple of times and Isa got the trainer underneath her, well… This was why Alicia didn’t have nice things to say about trainers. They were mobile workout bags, who were a bit more fun to squeeze.

As Isa had clearly found out.

Shaking her head, the big kickboxer finished up her set, grabbed her towel and made her way over to the ring.

”See what I mean?” She leant against the side of the ring, casting a dour glance the way the trainer had gone, ”All they’re good for is practicing moves on and they don’t even do that well. Could she even take half pressure?”

If she could, Alicia would have been completely flabbergasted. Now that she was up close, Isa’s legs were as close to her own in size and development as anyone she’d met in Friction and she’d be willing to bet the blonde had a ferocious squeeze.

Which, newbie with massive holes in her ground game (to say nothing of her standing game) or not, made Alicia definitely want to like her.