Workouts and First Acquaintances

It was another day with no matches scheduled. And Makie, unfortunately, knew what that meant: another day of needless training.

"Kyo, come on!" she huffed as she followed after her brother. The huffing was partially out of exasperation, and partially on account of the gym bag she was toting over one shoulder. "We don't need another training day!"

Kyo glanced over his shoulder at Makie, hauling his own bag with relative ease as they entered one of the wider rooms of the gym,one replete with training mats. Further beyond in the room, just past a line of weights, was a practice ring."You said you still wanted to improve, especially after losing to Melody," he said. "So, I'm going to help you improve."

"That was an unlucky loss, that's all!" Makie said, throwing her bag down. She was wearing a simple black tank top and grey sweats, while Kyo, in turn, was wearing a black Attack on Titan T-shirt (Mikasa vs a Titan) and matching grey sweats. "You've already trained me a hundred times already! Come on, you and Midori-san and Toshio all taught me everything I know, and everything I didn't learn from you I learned in the ring! I've already been a contender for the Tension belt once! So could you maybe, just maybe give me a little fucking credit?"

For a moment, Kyo was silent as he turned to Makie, before his typically aloof face melted into a smile. "Okay, I may have lied a little bit," he said as he knelt down in front of his younger sister. "I'm not doing this to help you get better, Makie. You're right, you're a much better wrestler than even I give you credit for sometimes."

"Okay, so why are we here then?" Makie asked again, clearly irritated by the whole process. "Wait, don't tell me, you came down to practice your pick-up lines on the ladies here."

The comment caused Kyo to go beet-red. "What?" he gasped. It didn't help that there actually were quite a few women in the gym today, of varying degrees of attractiveness. "M-Makie, you...you know I never..."

Kyo's reaction caused Makie to chuckle, as it always did. "Goof. But seriously, why are we here?"

Upon realizing that his sister had, as usual, been kidding, Kyo's usual composure returned. "Because sometimes a bit of training can help you out, emotionally and mentally, in addition to physically. I know you've been kicking yourself ever since you lost to Melody, and I want to help you get over it."

Makie stared at him as though he had just told her the moon was made of cheese. "Why? So I can be all zen and shit like you?"

Kyo laughed. "Don't knock it until you've tried it," he said, standing back up. "Now come on, let's pick a mat and get going." He turned around, looking to see if any of the other mats in the room were in use. Given the time at which they arrived, the room should have been empty...

Crista tapped her toe with impatience.

"I thought you agreed to scheduled this time slot?", she spoke, more than asked, into her phone. The answer on the other line didn't please her, but she was trying to be understanding. She knew not everyone could adhere to her training schedule, but while she stood waiting for the trainer who had agreed to be her sparring partner at this hour in her blue workout gear, she would have expected for the company's employees to keep their promises. Yet here she stood, without a partner, and the woman on the other line telling her that she wouldn't be coming in for another few hours.

Cordiality, she told herself. Stay cordial. She didn't feel it, and she would give the woman a talking to (and a few rough holds) later for wasting her time, but the only indication that she gave that she was upset was a breathy sigh. "Okay. I'll see you after a few hours, then. Please don't be late twice?" When the woman agreed, Crista rolled her eyes, but she told her bye nonetheless. With a shake of her head, she trudged back over to her bag on the edge of the mat and shoved her phone back inside.

Now what did she do? Crista, shape and tone on full display, trudged to the edge of the mat to glance around the rest of the room. Hardly anyone was here at this time of day, and it wasn't her place to interrupt their training, either. She imagined this was her time to train alone, then, for what that was worth. Her eyes sliding over a pair of individuals who had just walked in and stood a few feet from her, Crista frowned at nothing in particular and turned back to the middle of the mat, dipping low into some stretches to get herself limber.

As it turned out, there was someone still in this room after all. At one corner of the room, angrily shoving a phone back into her bag, was a tall, athletic woman clad in a tight-fitting blue two piece that left most of her fit frame bare to see. Kyo almost immediately caught himself staring at the woman's tightly-coiled thigh muscles, the firmness of her abs and...well, blushing, stopped almost immediately, because it was just plain rude to stare. As the woman walked away from her bag, looking exasperated, she seemed to notice him and Makie.

"Um...sorry, we're not interrupting anything, are we?" Kyo asked. It was clear, from her getup, that the woman was ready for a workout.

Before she could get wound into activity, Crista heard the man speak, and she whirled to regard the two individuals again. Perhaps they had heard more of her conversation than she had initially thought.

Crista briefly scrutinized them. The man was no giant, but he looked to be in fantastic shape, and broad across the shoulders. Probably a wrestler. Rather handsome, too. It was a little more difficult to tell with the woman since she was petite, but she looked very fit herself. Wrestlers? More than likely. Crista stepped over to the ropes and leaned over them to shake her head, but greet them with a small smile.

"Unfortunately, you are not. I was supposed to have a sparring session with a trainer, but I suppose she decided that she could cancel since my schedule didn't align with hers." She shrugged, thinking she probably sounded whiny. "But, it is what it is, as they say", she added.

As the woman stepped over towards them, Kyo now gotta a better look at her. She was Asian, somewhere in her late twenties, her long dark hair fixed back in a ponytail. She was also very powerfully built, her body meeting that perfect bridge point between slender and muscular, giving off the impression of speed and flexibility in addition to formidable strength. Her statement about a spar confirmed his suspicion-- this girl was a fellow wrestler.

"Aw, that sucks," Makie said. "That's a dick move, them bailing on you like that." She leaned forward and offered the woman a handshake. "The name's Makie, and the guy gawking at you right now is my brother Kyo--"

"Wha--?" Kyo started, not realizing he had been gawking and embarrassed at being put on the spot like that by Makie.

"...and we came here for a bit of training ourselves." Makie tilted her head to the side as the looked the other girl over. "Are you in the AFW?"

Crista had to nod slowly in agreement, even if she didn't want to sound whiny, when the woman spoke. Calling it a "dick move" was probably the right way to put it.

Regardless of her feelings on the matter, she pushed them aside when the woman stuck out her hand. Crista took it, and while the woman introduced the two of them, she looked between them. Makie, and...Kyo. Gawking? Crista's eyes lingered on the man when his sister mentioned it, and Crista supposed that he had been staring quite a bit. His hesitation gave him away, too. Crista stifled a snicker. She didn't mind at all, but she didn't want to embarrass him overly much. He was quite attractive himself, anyway. Instead, she regarded him with an unreadable, but friendly, smile. "So I see", she told his sister.

Makie posed the question everyone seemed to be asking her, since she was the new face that everyone was curious about. She at least hoped she did look like a wrestler, in amongst these competitors. "I am. Not for long, but I've been in a match or two." Both of which had been...interesting. But she had rematches soon enough. At risk of thinking on them too much, she brought herself back to reality. "I'm Crista. Nice to meet the two of you. I take it you two wrestle, then?"

Makie nodded in response to Crista's question, and beamed proudly. "Yeah, we do, both of us. And right now, we form one of the hottest tag teams in Tension right now, don't we Kyo?"

"Well, I would say we're pretty good, even though we haven't yet become contenders for the belt," Kyo replied matter of factly. "As to whether we're the best, well, we still have yet to face the Takeuchis, or the Ishiis, or the Wrights, or--"

At this point, Makie laughed exasperatedly and did a facepalm. "Kyo, you're really not helping right now."

Ignoring Makie's antics, Kyo straightened up a bit, putting his previous embarrassment aside. "In all seriousness, though, Makie and I have both been part of the AFW for a while ago." And they both had their fair share of wins and losses, he mentally added. "Welcome to the AFW. I'm sure that those two matches you mentioned will just be the first of many."

Makie nodded. "We were just here to get some training done. I've gotta ask, are you still looking for a sparring partner?"

These two were comical.

Crists's smile broadened while the two debated their quality as a tag team. Based on Makie's description of them, Crista was close to apologizing for not recognizing them, but she ended up silently listening to the two of them in amusement instead. They certainly made for cute siblings, whatever their proof of worth as a tag team.

Only once Kyo welcomed her did she interject. "Thank you. That's the kindest welcome since I came here." They were making a far greater impression than the wrestlers Crista had met previously. 

...And that was before Makie mentioned a sparring partner. Crista raised her eyebrows. Was that an offer? 

Not risking jumping to a conclusion, Crista only nodded and answered. "Yes, definitely. I had planned to work on some things I can't practice with a punching bag. Mainly my ground game and submissions. But I wouldn't want to interfere with anyone's plans."

Makie gave a good natured laugh at Crista's comment. "Actually, it's no trouble at all," she said. "I mean, I'm still working on perfecting my ground game myself..." She paused, then, looking Crista over up and down. "...against opponents of all shapes and sizes. And Kyo here is practically an expert at submission fighting."

"Er.." Kyo began.

"So, we'd be all too happy to help you out!" Makie finished, beaming.

Sighing, Kyo rubbed the back of his head modestly. "Well, I'd hardly call myself an expert," he said, "but for what it's worth, Makie is right: we'd be happy to help you out, especially since you're now without a sparring partner." Like Makie, he too gave Crista another quick look over, sizing her up. "Which of us would you like to take on, and how many rounds would you like to go?"

Makie did mean that they would spar with her. Excitement in her eyes, Crista glanced between her and her brother. After what had happened between Crista and Anesthesia, she supposed she hadn't been clawing to interact with too many more of the other wrestlers for fear they would want something from her, the same as the doctor. But these two appeared genuine, and Crista could not imagine a better recompense than to trade a trainer for a pair of true wrestlers, who sounded like they would be invested in the sparring, themselves.

Crista made a mental note that she would have to repay them for their kindness, but she did not bring it up. With all their niceness, they would likely tell her that it was not a necessity, and she didn't want to hear that. She did, however, sound thrilled. "You two are making my week." It was far from exaggeration. With all that had gone on, if she had not been able to prepare herself better for the next match, her disappointment would have been palpable to anyone around her. "I do...so appreciate this."

Hesitation stopped her at Kyo's question. Leaning back and resting her hands on her hips, Crista tentatively glanced between the two of them and twisted her mouth. Who did she fight? She almost wanted it to be both, after what had happened to her days before.

...Perhaps it should be both. That might be exactly what she needed.

She pointed at both of them with two fingers . "Both of you", she announced, unable to stifle a smirk. "I know it sounds overconfident, but I would like this for practicality's sake. I.." She probably shouldn't get into the story. "..always want to be prepared for anything. If I have to fight two people someday, why not learn now what chance I have, and with a quality tag team, no less?"

Crista hoped they said yes. She stuck up three fingers. "Three rounds to submission?"