Worrying About the Future

Yukina Aogami was in a bit of conundrum lately. As an up and comer wrestler in AFW, she wanted to make a name for herself, bringing herself to the same height as some other big names in the leagues, but months after wrestling in the squared circle, she had realized something about herself, and it worried her greatly.

She had realized that while she might be skilled and talented with her in-ring performance, the same couldn't be said about her communication skill. She had read some articles regarding herself on the Internet, citing her to be a potentially talented but ultimately forgettable wrestler due to her lack of charisma. And due to the competitive nature within AFW, she knew that someday, she would lose her relevance, and she knew that AFW wouldn't promote a product that couldn't sell well, which meant that her career would be a very short-lived one.

Fearing that it might come true, Yukina was very afraid of thinking what might wait for her ahead in the future. Due to her having no close associates within the league, she was left with her own device, and she couldn't just confide to her own parents about it, considering that bringing that up might make things more awkward between them. Asking her siblings was out of question either, as they didn't know much about wrestling.

Hello. Will you come to my place? I have something important to discuss with you. I'm sorry that it's so sudden, but you're the only one I can talk to about this matter right now. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

So, left with no choice, Yukina had sent a message to her friend, Haruna Takaoka, also known with her in-ring name Spring Tiger, so that she could confide to her about her dilemma. She had sent her a message asking her to come to her family dojo as well as the address. As the Aogami family was a rather prestigious martial artist family, her family dojo was a very huge one. Yukina would wait for Haruna to arrive, somewhat anxiously because she couldn't wait to discuss with her friend regarding this matter.

Haruna was finishing her usual afternoon training regimen when her phone buzzed. Her face lit up when she saw that the message was from her friend Yukina. Haruna opened her phone excitedly only to find a troubling message. It seemed her dear friend was concerned about something and she needed to talk to Haruna about it. While she was concerned for her friend, Haruna was also a bit happy that Yukina trusted her enough to confide in her. No only that, but Haruna would finally get to visit the Aogami families famous dojo. After sending a quick reply, Haruna packed up her things and made her way to the train station.

It was a long ride, Yukina lived in an area outside the city limits where many affluent families dwelled. Once she arrived, Haruna plugged Yukina's address into her phone's GPS and began walking up the street. Along the way she passed more than one large western style mansion and some modern looking apartments which made her feel a little out of place in her gym shorts and t-shirt. The sun was hanging low in the air by the time Haruna arrived in front of Yukina's home. It was a sprawling Japanese mansion complex complete with a tall wooden wall and large gate. Aside from Osaka castle and the famous shrines around Tokyo, Yukina's house was the oldest building Haruna Had ever seen in real life. Haruna had never really excelled in history class or school in general but she could tell that the Aogami Dojo was at the veary least built before the Showa era and she wouldn't be surprised if it weren't from before the Meiji era.

Haruna slowly entered through the large arch gateway and made her way toward the house. She stepped up onto the dark wood porch and approached the sliding door nervously. "Yuki-chan, I'm here!" Haruna said a little too loudly as her voice echoed in the empty courtyard. Haruna would stand there awkwardly awaiting a response.

Haruna would stand there for a while before someone finally came into view. It was Yukina, clad in soft blue kimono. Her light blue hair looked a little damp as she just came out of her bath, and when she approached Haruna, she gave her a polite smile. Holding her hands together on her lap, Yukina would give her friend a bow. "Welcome to my house, Haru-chan. I'm sorry I took so long to show up. I..." She twirled a lock of her hair. "I, um... f-fell asleep in my bathtub..." she spoke in a small voice as her cheeks were tinged with pink. That would make quite an adorable sight to behold.

Then, she would step forth and said, "Still, thank you for coming, Haru-chan. I'm sorry for the message, but there's something I'd like to discuss with you," she turned around and gestured at Haruna to follow her into the huge Japanese mansion. "Please follow me. We can discuss about it in my room," she would then walk, expecting her friend to follow her. Due to the sheer size of the mansion, there would be a lot of walking involved, and after going through several hallways, they would finally arrive at her room. Just like other rooms in the mansion, the room was a traditional-looking room, complete with a sliding paper door, or shoji and straw mat, or tatami. And the room was so spacious that even with all the decorations in the room, she still had a lot of spaces to spare.

"Please come in," Yukina invited her friend as she slid open the shoji. In contrast with the traditional Japanese aesthetic of the mansion, the interior of Yukina's room seemed more western in appearance, with fluffy bed and girly decorations. The room was mostly blue in color, and there were a few snowman-shaped cushions on the floor, and some snowmen plushies on her bed. "Umm... sorry, I didn't get any chance to tidy up beforehand..." she said, blushing again.

Haruna continued waiting outside the looming mansion. She was beginning to worry that she'd come to the wrong address when the door slid open revealing Yukina clad in a kimono. Haruna had been working hard to repress her awkward and confusing feelings regarding the beautiful martial artist and she believed she had been making headway. Now that Haruna saw the girl in traditional clothing her hair still wet from a recent bath, all her work to hide her feelings was wasted.

"Ah-Ah- Hi! I mean, Thank you for having me!" Haruna bowed, hoping to hide her own blushing face. She followed Yukina inside awkwardly shuffling into the house after removing her shoes in the entryway. Haruna walked behind her friend, silently admiring all the sights of the house. There were all sorts of of ancient heirlooms adorning the numerous rooms of the house. Haruna was glad to have a guide, knowing she'd become lost in a house of this size by herself.

Finally they arrived at Yukina's room. After seeing the rest of the house, Haruna expected her friend's room to be equally traditional, but when Yunkina slid the shoji open, Haruna was greeted to the sight of modern and surprisingly girlish room. Yukina apologized for not tidying up beforehand but Haruna didn't notice anything out of place considering how unkept her own room was at home. "Ehhhh~ your room is so cute Yuki-chan!" Haruna said, picking up a plush snowman.

Yukina was blissfully unaware of Haruna's reddening cheeks as she led her to her room. And then she blushed when Haruna called her room cute before she giggled when Haruna picked up one of her plush snowmen. "That's Leonardo-kun," she said, telling Haruna the name of that particular snowman. Then she started telling her friend the names of other snowmen. "And that one is Michelangelo-kun, that one is Picasso-kun and that other one is Toranosuke-kun." No one was able to tell how on earth can she differentiate between the snowmen, considering that all those plushies look exactly the same. "There are others like Vinci-kun, DiCaprio-kun, Obama-kun and Putin-kun, but they are in my closet," she informed Haruna.

Then, her smile was replaced by a worried frown as she remembered the reason why she called Haruna here to her house. "So, Haru-chan, there's something I want to talk to you about," she said. "I..." She looked down. "I just figured out something after my last fight in AFW. And then I read some blogs on the Internet about wrestling, and there are some tidbits about me..." She held her hands together as she sat on her bed. "Umm... w-well, you see..."

Looking a little flustered, she would look at her friend's face. "I'm worried that I may not last long in AFW. Some people said I'm dull and charmless... and I don't even know how to speak to the crowd. Some even said I'm boring," that particular fact hurt her more than what she expected. "And... I'm sure that AFW won't be selling products that don't appeal to everyone." While she knew that there were a few cases where wrestlers didn't have to use mic skills to be appealing, and some others basked under the heat coming from the crowd. As long as they sold well, AFW would see them as valuable assets. But a boring asset would make a very poor asset. The appeal for quiet, mysterious-looking waif usually didn't last long.

Haruna giggled as Yukina named off all her identical snowmen plushes. She wasn't sure whether her friend was joking about the funny foreign names or being able to actually tell the identical plushes apart. Haruna was going to ask but then Yukina turned serious, her smile replaced by a worried expression. She explained that she had read negative blog posts regarding her lack of charisma. Haruna frowned and sat down on the bed next to her friend.

"Hmmm..." Haruna said, squinting and holding her chin between Her finger and thumb after a few moments. Haruna never read other people's opinions of herself on the internet. Haruna loved her fans but she didn't really value the opinion of those outside the ring. That being said, she didn't feel like that's what Yukina wanted to hear right now so she thought hard about what to say next."Well... I don't think you're charmless, I think you're really cute!" It didn't come out as intelligently as Haruna had planned in her head. She was happy when Yukina said she needed her help but now she was starting to realize she might not be the best person for this. Haruna was energetic and friendly but she was aware that she wasn't veary smart, a fact that really hadn't been a real problem until she met Yukina and was forced into emotional situations.

Haruna hadn't considered the possibility of a wrestler being let go from a company because they lacked charisma but it sort of made sense when she thought about it but she couldn't accept a great wrestler like Yukina being given a smaller role or fired because she was quiet and reserved. "Yuki-chan! I won't let you get fired!" Haruna stood up and placed her hand on her chest. She wasn't sure what she could do or if there was anything she could do but she was serious in her dedication to her friend.

The dark haired girl glanced around her friend's room. She looked at the snowmen again and then at Yukina's blue hair. Haruna blinked. "Ah!" she shouted suddenly. "Yuki-chan I have an idea!" Haruna was really happy with her plan and she hoped her friend liked it too because it was the only idea she had.

Yukina looked at her friend worriedly as Haruna glanced around. When Haruna seemed to have come up with an idea, her face brightened. She was right to ask Haruna about, and she was glad to have a friend like Haruna who was willing to help her out to deal with her problem.

"What is it, Haru-chan?" Yukina asked. "Tell me, tell me," she said eagerly, coming close to Haruna, waiting in anticipation for Haruna's suggestion.

"You need to play to your strength!" Haruna replied to her friend beckoning. "Everyone likes the ice queen archetype, you just need to play it up more! You need to be an alpha bitch— err— if you don't mind me saying..." Haruna had come to the conclusion that Yukina needed to turn her natural quiet demeanor into a gimmick.

Yukina blinked in bewilderment as she heard Haruna's answer. "Ice queen archetype? Alpha bitch?" Yukina parroted Haruna's words from earlier. "Umm... will you elaborate? How can me being myself help me to be charming and popular?" She thought of herself to be rather dull and uninteresting, so there's no way people were going to buy it.

"And... it's not like I appreciate your answer, but... umm, maybe you can explain to me more?" Yukina added. She had taken one of the plush snowmen, specifically Michelangelo-kun.

"It'll be great, I'll show you!" Haruna was getting excited over her stupid idea. "Stand up," she would beckon. "Now tilt your head back and squint your eyes— eh, not quite that much..." Haruna looked Yukina over rubbing her chin. "Hmmm... you need to put the snowman down, it's not very intimidating." Haruna would laugh. "Ok, Now try saying something condescending like: 'You really think you can defeat me?'"