Lost and Found

Rika immediately hugged Sarah around the waist once she got to her, much to Sarah's surprise and discomfort. "Oh Sarah, I knew you were here!" Rika cheered, nuzzling her cheek in Sarah's chest. "I missed you so much!" Sarah sighed and whethered through the hug, looking at Akashi as it happened. She wondered why she was here, as he had not encountere the woman in a while, although it was sooner than Akashi knew about.

"Rika, what are you doing here?" Sarah asked once Rika pulled away.

Rika grinned brightly. "I came looking for you! You dissapeared and left me all alone. Then I saw you on the TV and came here to see you. I'm a wrestler now! Oh, right. Sarah, this is-" She was about to introduce Akashi, but it seemed the two already knew each other. Sarah glared at Akashi, thinking she had a grudge with her or something, but then she blinked when she said she was glad to see her.

"You are?" she asked. "Why?"

Akashi smiled at Sarah's reaction. "Of course I know about your reputaion and how it has grown. I also know a lot of people have come to hate you. I've seen a few of your matches and you still haven't changed at all. Sarah-san, I am going to beat you because for me it matters that I beat those who are strong. And even if you had no choice but to play by the rules, you would still be strong. I don't think fighting dirty has kept you from being strong... but maybe it has allowed you to win some matches you may not otherwise have won." She quickly held up her hand so that Sarah wouldn't interrupt her. "That doesn't matter though. You will just say you do what you need to do to win and that is fine. It's exactly why I say I will beat you and whether it's the next time we fight or in a hundred years, it will still happen and it doesn't matter to me whether you gloat about it or not."

"The reason those other girls hate you has nothing to do with you. It's because they have things that can be taken from them. You still have my mawashi, I'm sure?" She asked. "Even if I beat you, you can keep it. There's nothing I have that you could take from me even if you beat me a thousand times. And I don't care to prove anything to you. I am only out to prove to myself." She paused and sighed slightly.

"So this is why I am glad to see you. I know the secret to your success and I believe it to be fleeting. As far as I am concerned I can look at you like a person and not like a monster as many others who faced you have because you're not intimidating, you're just a girl like the rest of us so there's no reason to be anything but happy." She smiled at Sarah and then turned to Rika.

"You might be right but that all depends..."

Sarah actually listened to Akashi all the went through, and while she was impressed by her determination, she was also annoyed by it. Akashi was making her out to be a joke, a passing flame in the fighting world. That was something that didn't really fly with Sarah.

"See?" Rika giggled, standing in-between the two taller women, not really understanding what was going on. "I knew you two would get along!"

"Right...." Sarah said. Then her scowl suddenly became a smile. "Actually, Rika. I don't really like Akashi. In fact, she's annoying me." Rika blinked up at her.

"Oh....really?"

"That's right." Rika sighed at that news.

"Okay," she shrugged. And then, without warning, with much more strength and speed than before, she'd suddenly spin on Akashi, throwing a devastating punch into her stomach.

Akashi wasn't really expecting to be punched so the blow took the wind out of her. She dropped to her hands and knees and clutched her stomach. Her eyes were closed tightly in pain and she painted. "Heh..." She managed. "If you're going to beat me up, get it over with so I can get on with my life. Nothing you do to me will change how I feel." She puased for a moment. Her mouth curled up into a smile. "Such a waste of good strength..."

Rika looked slightly regretful over what she did, but Sarah was all smiles. She walked up to Akashi, kneeling before her and grabbing her by her hair so she could look in her eyes. "I didn't meet you in the tournament, Akashi," she said. "Such a shame, you really could have won the whole thing. Except you looked a little out of sorts." She grinned maliciously at the sumo. "It's almost like someone roughed you up a bit beforehand."

Akashi winced as her hair was grabbed. She looked at Sarah with one open eye. "Yeah... if not for that... I probably would have won the whole thing." She knew what sarah was doing and she wasn't going to let it work. "I'm amazed I even made it through my first real match and yet somehow I made it through three of them. Even the last one I could have won. And all that with my head caved in." At this point in time she had a pretty good idea it was Sarah. She had gotten a chance to think about it and with what she pieced together, and what she was hearing now she was pretty sure.


"Whoever it was, I should thank them because I've never fought so tough in my whole life. I think if I hadn't been beaten then I still wouldn't have won and now I am sure if there was another tournament I won't loose. Besides... I'm not out of the running just because the tournament's over."

She grabbed Sarah's wrist and held onto it tightly. "I have a question... and please answer me honestly. Is it really satisfying to beat people up when you can get in cheap shots and sucker punches? Heh..." She said with a smile. 'I already know what the answer is."

She turned her head to Rika. "I'm sure you won't say anything because she is standing right here, but I wonder if this is the kind of strength you are looking for? None of it's earned... it's all hollow." She looked back to Sarah. "When someone finally jumps you and beats you up for no other reason but they feel like it, I doubt anyone will shed a tear of remorse for you because of what you've done... but I will... Sarah-san."

Sarah tilted her head to the side, still looking into Akashi's eyes, smiling mockingly at her. It was clear she knew that it was Sarah who ambushed her during the Friction tournament, injuring her thus dashing her chances for the championship, the championship Sarah had thrown away.

Sarah's other hand gently brushed away some of the hair from Akashi's face, still smiling at her. "You're a smart girl, Akashi," she said soothingly. "But you've got delusions of grandeur. You're tough, I'll give you that. But as long as I'm around the best you'll be is just be number two. Quit kidding yourself. You think anyone gives a shit about what you want? Don't make me laugh." She chuckled at Akashi's question. "Sure, it's fun. But what's more fun is beating them legit. Like I did you." Sarah knew for a fact that both of them went far past legit in their match but she didn't bring it up. "That way they know I can beat them either way."

Sarah looked over at Rika, who was standing by idly. As expected she didn't say anything, but ket her head ducked when both looked at her. Sarah's grip tightened painfull on Akashi's hair. "If I wanted people to cry for me," she sneered at her. "I'd beat the tears out of them myself."

Akashi smiled despite Sarah's words. "Beating me once doesn't mean anything. I'm glad you beat me that time, I've learned alot. In Sumo you face the same opponent many many times so one loss doesn't mean anything. Beating you once is fine with me as well, I don't want to spend anymore time with you than I must because of all the different challenges that are out there." She winced when Sarah tightened her grip on her hair. "It doesn't matter if you want it or not. I will do it. It is what must be done, for someone like you." She smiled. "How foolish of me... To say something like that. To speak of you in such a general way. You are you and no one else."

"Beating me once would be a miracle on its own," Sarah chuckled. Suddenly she'd headbutt Akashi in the face hard, letting go of her hair if she fell down. Then she'd stand back up, rubbing her head slightly afterwards. "But I'm not really one who likes to get beaten," she would say, smirking down at her. "Even if it does happen so little."

Akashi fell to her butt and rubbed her head. A head butt might just hurt Sarah as much and she had recovered from the wound from the tournament. She looked up and smiled. "No one likes to loose Sarah-san." She said simply and decided that she was going to stand up.

"It's not a miracle, it will happen. Whether or not it takes me many tries. I have said this already though." She paused, thinking about something. Really Sarah was kind of fascinating. "Exactly when was the last time you lost?" She asked, wondering if Sarah even knew.