Friends Like You

Just swing away, just swing away, just swing away.

Kaede was afraid. It was a natural, visceral fear, the sort of fear that any intelligent animal had to go through when its mortality was staring it in the face. The same fear a dear feels when an truck is speeding towards it on the highway - only, was it?

She wasn't freezing up. She was fighting. Every punch she threw at Yuki made her want to throw another punch. There was an effect, here. She had the bigger woman on her back, had her reeling, and while she knew, she had to know, that could change in a second, it didn’t seem to matter. Just punch and punch and punch. It really wasn’t that hard to knock someone out. People got knocked out by less all the time. It was just a matter of hitting her the right way, and then, maybe…

...why was Yuki smiling?

Kaede had all of one half-second to ponder that question before she was hit in the face by a Mack truck, in the form of Yuki’s skull, as she was choked hard and yanked right into it. The world went black for an instant, and Kaede was in mid-flight when her senses came back to her, in the process of being launched into the air by the twin tree trunks that Yuki had for legs. They sent Kaede’s flimsy body flying into the turnbuckle, shaking the ring with her impact.

And still she stood. Still she managed to take another step, then another, and-

”Fuck!” Kaede fell forward, flat on her face, coming down only a couple feet away from Yuki. Pressing her fists to the mat, she made an attempt to push her way up, only for her arms to give out after a few inches. Not happening. The mind was willing, but the body was fucking done. ”Fuckfuckfuckfuck.”

Yuki Kitashima was a wolf.

She’d gone by many titles before then, popular names and half-impressive allusions that she barely even cared to remember even in her heyday. Every new town, every new place was another name to add to the list. She was a fighter, she was a titan, she was a warrior. For so long, she couldn’t see the meaning behind those phrases hurled her way and echoing in her ear every time she stepped over the chalk. It was so much white noise and drunken ramblings.

‘Wolf’. The more she said it, the more it stuck inside of her heart, burned like an effigy on midnight’s peak. Less and less she remembered those days without conviction and hear the words beating like a trombone.

Crush my enemies.

The corners of her mouth twitched, her cheeks ached and yearned for release. But it wouldn’t happen. The smile seemed plastered on, otherworldly in its origin. And the weird thing? She didn’t even care. Didn’t even seem to realize. Her eyes were only focused on the human projectile she’d catapulted ten feet into the corner. Something was wrong. She didn’t revel in it. Didn’t take a moment to appreciate the sight of that insufferable spineless punk in agony, seeing justice dealt for even attempting to put on a serious fight.

There was no catharsis. Just blood and instincts. Her mind said there was no need to go all out like this. It wasn’t anything serious. It was a false alarm. A waste of effort. Why give it everything? It was just Kaede.

Just Kaede…

It didn’t matter what fiction her brain tried to coax her with, what relaxants it tried to pump into her system, how hard it tried to quell the beast within. Her body roared from the inside and moved with purpose. Kaede hadn’t even hit the ground yet before Yuki rolled herself back onto two feet. She charged the struggling karateka without remorse, her iron legs pumping with renewed vigor as she reeled one back and threw it straight into Kaede’s chest. Kicked her up off the floor, putting her upright and her head just close enough for Yuki to grab by the face and slam into the top turnbuckle. She’d pull back, then slam it again. And again. And again. Steadying the pole, shaking the ropes, eviscerating her enemy.

Yuki Kitashima was a wolf.

What happened next couldn’t have lasted more than five seconds, but fuck, it felt like hours

Time seemed to crawl by as Kaede reeled from the blow. More than enough time to process what was happening and guess what was about to happen. She was trying to kickstart her body, summon enough energy for even a basic attempt to grab the ropes and stop her fall, but she couldn’t even muster that much of an effort. Her body was done. It didn’t matter how much spirti she had, how driven she was, there was simply no energy in the tank.

She wanted to be proud of that much, at least. She’d given everything she had to give, thrown her entire being into it, she’d come so close to putting Yuki down. She could taste it. Could see that image in her mind, the picture of Yuki on the floor with a busted and bloody nose. She craved that and wanted to make it real, would’ve done anything for it.

But it wasn’t going to happen. The kick in her chest confirmed that much.

If Kaede had any breath to spare, that blow would’ve knocked it clean out of her. It sent her back, far and hard, right into the corner. A hand grabbed her by the face, and all she could was bite at it, one futile, final act of defiance before the inevitable.

She was struggling before the first hit. Not after.

The second reduced her to spasms and twitches and flailing arms.

She lost consciousness after the third, and that was was where time got tricky. She kept coming back to life, only to fade away the second she made impact again, so much that it was impossible to tell how many hits she’d taken.

Defenseless. Helpless. A ragdoll. Not that it would matter all that much, in the end - Yuki wasn’t going to stop.

Minutes, hours, days? All these relative concepts flew right by Yuki as she continued to slam Kaede’s empty skull into the flat of the turnbuckle again and again. Her movements didn’t slow once, not as the swat continued to build and glisten her bare body, not as her fingertips turned white and her arm trembled all the way up to the shoulder. She wasn’t aware of any of it. She only saw her enemy, what she was doing to them, and she liked it. She kept it up. She kept going. And going. And going.

Then it stopped.

The red faded away and the She-Wolf let out a lengthy, rasping gasp as she slammed the punkette’s head one last time. Then the pair collapsed, leaving Kaede to slump against the corner post as Yuki fell flat on her ass.

5-0. There was a hint of relief in that realization that she couldn't shake for the life of her. May have overcompensated for Kaede’s endurance, but fuck it, she was out. At least, she hoped. She looked up from the floor to find the pinkette still, her face slightly obscured from the bangs over her eyes. Furrowing her brows, Yuki leaned in and brought two hands to the girl’s neck and felt a thump straight away.

Still alive.

...alright.

She let out an indignant breath through her nose and leaned back, resting an elbow on her knee as her eyes watched the girl for a moment. Slowly, they trailed around the room and took in some features she hadn’t noticed before. The cracks in the wall, the discarded gloves someone was too lazy to put back on the rack. Eventually, her eyes came to the side and found the door. With a bit more effort than she expected to use, Yuki slowly stood up and walked to the other end of the ring. Sliding underneath the bottom rope, she walked towards the door but stopped a few paces from the handle, where she discarded her belongings.

She reached down and grabbed her bag, only she didn’t walk out the door this time. Didn’t even glance at it before she turned around and stepped back through ropes. She walked over to Kaede’s side and sat down, unzipping the bag in front of her and pulling out a clean white cloth, practically shining in the dingy atmosphere of the room. Typical Fumika.

Yuki wiped the sweat from her face, running it down her neck as she canted her head toward the ceiling. She let out a light, resigned sigh before slowly opening her eyes and looking back down at the still unconscious karate girl. She seemed a bit more at peace than before. Breathing easier, her features relaxed. Yuki blinked once her way, then reached over and slapped her on the arm with the cloth.

“Oi. Wakey wakey.” She slapped her again before she had a chance to respond. She could sleep when she was dead.

Needless to say, Kaede’s sleep wasn’t a peaceful one.

She’d been knocked out enough times that she’d sort of gotten used to it - a sad statement by itself, but it wasn’t without some advantages. She was accustomed to the weird half-sleep you entered when you were forced into unconsciousness. The half dreams. The muddled thoughts. That odd little headspace between the dead and the living.

It was comfortable. It was home. It was a strange, happy place. So, when she felt a little slap on her shoulder, she didn’t have much trouble coming out of it quick, though she was still startled. Not because of the shock, but because of the thing she saw when she woke up.

After the second slap, she jerked up fast, whipped her head around, and saw Yuki. Just Yuki. Sitting there. Looking at her. After being knocked out and waking up in this ring so many times, she’d gotten used to the pattern, so to have it suddenly broken on the fifth loss, to have Yuki still be here for whatever reason…

Yeah. Unsettling.

Her brow furrowed for half a second, then she hissed as all the pain in her face came rushing over her all at once, a grim reminder of what she’d just been through. Wrecked, thoroughly wrecked. She’d tried so hard, and for a second there it really felt like she could pull this one out, that she might have a chance, but no. Nope. Not happening. Fifth loss, which meant they were done, which meant that, as far as Yuki was concerned, she was a talking punching bag. Assuming the woman didn’t tape her mouth shut. Could never be too sure.

”Fuck. So I-” She paused in mid-sentence, as she felt a little something jostling about her mouth. She rolled her tongue around her cheek, shook her head a bit, then spat out a chipped tooth to the side, with some blood to go along with it. An incisor, if she remembered the name for it right. Great. Awesome.

”Goddamn it…” She flicked the tooth out of the ring, then refocused on Yuki as best she could, looking through bruised eyes and running fingers through her disheveled hair. Waiting. If Yuki was still here, it was probably because she had something to say, most likely about what the next step would be. That was fine. But Kaede had something she wanted to say, too. Needed to say.

There she was. Knew she wouldn’t be staying out for long. Despite the relatively short time they’d been forced to interact with one another, Yuki had to admit, as much as her stomach wasn’t agreeing with her, Kaede was most likely one of the most durable people she’d ever met. There was only one other woman who without a doubt could top her in that respect. The only woman she’d sworn to follow to the horizon and beyond.

It was only to be expected that she’d stand back up after a brutal fall. It was the one thing that was almost certain with this girl. Whether that was a good thing or not, only time would tell. And soon.

“Yeah, you-”

Yuki blinked, her eyes making a quick confirmation of what the tooth on the canvas already told her. The she-wolf looked down at it, then back to the punkette. Durable may have been too nice. Part of her was bemused by the hint of anguish on her face, the  Yuki breathed out through her nose and leaned forward. She pulled Kaede’s lip down with the tip of her thumb, peeking through at her canines. In mint condition, save for the chip. Hard to believe all the shit that spewed through it sometimes.

“Nothin’ a crap dentist can’t overcharge you for. Quit moping.” Yuki leaned back and got comfortable on her seat on the floor again. Her hand went through her hair and down the back of her neck, wiping the sweat and tension away with a slow roll of her wrist. She closed her eyes for a second and recalled the past few weeks in her head, taking in all the data, all the little details her mind could recall. When she reached the conclusion she needed to, her eyes opened again. Tired and a bit more distant than before.

“Five fights. Five. And you couldn’t top me once. I don’t think you even know how big of a gap that really is. You seemed sincere about joining us, and I was right to have my doubts. You’re weak. No two ways about it, and I’m not impressed…”

“...but I ain’t pissed either.” She stopped talking for a second and just looked. Looked at Kaede and tried to remember what this girl was months ago, when she stared her down in their kitchen like a cornered stray. She breathed through her nose again.

“You’re not bad. You're not great. I wouldn't trust you in a scrape if my life were on the line. Still a gigantic pain in the ass too, but once you actually learn how to hit worth a damn…well, we’ll see what happens.” She nodded Kaede’s way. “But I wanna hear it from you. And for once in your life, think carefully before you say fuckin’ say something. What’d you get out all of this?”

Kaede jumped back, a quick jerk, as Yuki reached her way, a pure reflex, didn’t even think about. It was understandable, really - she’d been fighting this woman and thinking about fighting this woman and recovering from fighting this woman pretty much nonstop for a month. In the relatively short time they’d known each other, every interaction they’d had involved some sort of violence, typically with Yuki demolishing her, and when that wasn’t happening, Yuki looked like she wished it was. Kaede’s mind was just trained to register every movement she made as a potential threat.

But that wasn’t the case, here, and she settled as Yuki checked her teeth, her brows furrowing for a moment before she just relaxed and let her do her thing. In the back of her head, through the shit-ton of pain she was dealing with, she couldn’t help but note that this was probably the first time Yuki had touched without the intent to do damage. Weird, that.

She ran her tongue over the tooth, mulling the dental care options for a moment, while Yuki did whatever-the-fuck she was doing. Meditating? She’d never struck Kaede as the meditating type, and it didn’t last long, either. Soon enough, she was speaking up, and the things that she was saying were all too familiar. Kaede just stared, even-eyed, accepting it. It wasn’t anything she didn’t know, after all. She’d failed. Hard. Five times.

...but that was only the first part. Calling what Yuki said ‘praise’ might’ve been too generous of a word, but it was a damn sight closer to that than Kaede would’ve ever imagined getting. And it came with a question on the back end of it, too.

Kaede opened her mouth, then shut it just as quick, heading Yuki’s words. She did need to think about this. Why was she here? Why was she doing this? Why had she deliberately thrown herself into a rabid wolf’s cage five weeks in a row? There was the bullshit answer, the one she’d thrown out to save her skin, but that didn’t explain why she kept coming back. For all Manami talked about, the Dire Pack weren’t actual fucking wolves. If she ran away and went somewhere else, it wasn’t like they could sniff her out. Assuming they’d care enough to try in the first place.

Why?

After about thirty seconds of thought - eternity for Kaede - she spoke.

”So,” Kaede began, her words quiet, speaking with a solid, measured tone that even she wasn’t used to hearing from her mouth. ”After our match, Manami drags me back to this room and starts taking me apart. She breaks bones. She crushes me. She...don’t have to tell you.” She shrugged, knowing that, if anybody could picture it, Yuki could. ”And it’s brutal, and it’s crazy, and it’s…”

Kaede closed her eyes and shivered, rubbing her shoulders to get the heat back as the memory took hold. ”Beautiful.”

Kaede paused for a moment after that, not even sure where that word came from, but there it was, and it felt right. So right. Roll with it. ”It’s like she’s not human. Like she’s…” Kaede shook her head, not even able to find the words to do it justice. “My whole life, I’ve been fighting and training and thinking I have it figured out. But then I see her. I see you. I see what you can do.”.

She held out her hands, shaking a bit, before she steadied her breath, just staring at them. [color=Pink]”What we’ve been doing this month, the fights - I could feel it, what a real fight felt like. Not the play matches Friction puts on like, 99%. Real, true fighting. Every time I woke up, I wanted more. Mamani, the Wolf Mother[/i],” Kaede had to pause when she said that title, loving the way it sounded. She’d never said it out loud before, but... “All of you, you’re what I’ve pretended to be for years, without even knowing.”

She shook her head as she looked up at Yuki’s eyes, daring to lock gazes with her, if only for a moment. “I won’t go back to that, being a sheep. I can’t. And I don’t want to just be part of the world you’re making, I want to help make it. And it doesn’t matter if I get put into the dirt a thousand times, I’ll rise up a a thousand times for that to happen.”

That done, Kaede sat back, palms flat on the mat, waiting for the response. She wasn't sure if that was the right answer, or if there was ever going to be an answer with Yuki, but that was the best she had. The most honest one, even if she hadn't realized it until just now.

Yuki watched. Yuki waited, having no expectations in particular of the response she would receive. While she hadn’t cared to lavish Kaede with praise, she didn’t exactly deny the level of growth that had been on display these past five weeks. She was experimenting with some off brands here, adding chemicals that probably shouldn’t have ever mixed. At the end of the day, she knew next to nothing about Kaede after all. That same kind of appraisal was probably the same thing that made her think she could stand in a ring like AFW and come out the other end standing tall.

The punkette had never failed to disappoint her in the past, so Yuki settled on that feeling while her little trainee thought it over. Her eyes remained as still as ever, not even taking a moment to blink as she stared at the karate girl through half-closed slits. Cold and uninspired.

That didn’t change even after Kaede spoke, at least right away. But the more that came out, the more she seemed to enrapture herself in the savage sentiment flowing across the room, the more saturated her true colors became. Conviction, desire, all that gusto on display seemed to stem from somewhere deeper. A root that hadn’t been touched in some time. Seeing it blossom in front of Yuki’s eyes. Well...it was a sight, at the least.

“Oh?" Yuki’s eyebrow raised an inch. “Not bad.” She was starting to get it, just a little. Whatever false pretenses Kaede came into their apartment with all those days past, whatever impressions she took that bloodstained oath under, it seemed like she’d sharpened them to a closer understanding of what this month was really about. Some clarity could only help. She’d earned that much. Maybe.

“Weakness is nothing but a choice.” She crossed her arms beneath her chest and straightened herself. Her stoic gaze looked Kaede through, catching a flicker of the growing fire inside. “Strength emanates from the core of one’s resolve. We owe our ability to march forward and grow bolder with each step to the burning conviction we feed and nurture every day. Every thought, every drop of blood is a sacrifice to our burning will.” Her voice almost seemed to be reciting from a mantra, a lesson she could faintly recall from days she didn’t particularly care to recall. Even she couldn’t tell if they were her own or not, only that she felt drawn to them.

“The difference in that will is what separates the weak from the strong, what sets us above everyone in this federation. That feeling in your gut? Everyone’s forgotten it.”

Yuki dusted her hands and uncurled her legs, standing up with a push against her knees. She stood tall in the middle of the ring, her ripped form still glistening with a thin veil of sweat and excess amidst the humid air. Her eyes downcast to the punkette still sat in her corner.

“And that makes them prey for you to slaughter. There’s no right and wrong to it. It’s your right. That’s just how things are.” She placed a hand on her hip, cocking her head to the side as she rubbed her neck. Her gaze still fixed and indifferent. “A thousand times, huh?” She pointed to the ceiling. “Try one for now. Then we’ll see.”

At the start of these five weeks, Kaede didn’t really know anything about Yuki, at least nothing beyond some basic facts. She was strong, really strong, she hated her, and she respected Manami above all things, revered her with a passion that most people would’ve saved for their gods. That last fact was never in question, and at the start of this, Kaede couldn’t quite make heads or tails of it.

And after Yuki spoke, she probably still couldn’t stay that she did. But she was definitely coming closer. A lot closer.

It wasn’t what she said that really took Kaede’s attention, so much as the way she spoke. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen anyone with so much conviction, so much strength behind the things they said. There was no doubt in her words, no fear, not a hint of hesitation. She spoke like this was gospel, and Kaede could only look on with this growing sense of awe welling up in her. This was right. This was what she’d been looking for without even knowing it.

Kaede took a moment to look Yuki over as she stood, her impressive frame on full display, her shadow shooting across the ring. What she saw standing there was a clear image of what she could be one day, something to strive for. No, she wasn’t there yet, not even close, but she’d taken a step. A small step. But it would do for now.

Biting her lip, Kaede bent forward, pressed her hand to the mat and pushed her way up. It wasn't the easiest ascent, rising with shaky legs, but she made it. Spine aligned. Feet flat. Standing tall. She took a deep breath and nodded at Yuki with a raised head. She didn’t have anything to add to that - Yuki had laid it out, plain and clear. But there was just one more matter to deal with.

”Speaking of rights,” Kaede gave her stomach a solid smack. ”I remember the rules. Five knockouts, none for me, so I’m your punching bag. When and how?”

It wasn’t exactly something she was going to look forward to, but she agreed to this, and this was the consequence. She wasn’t going to run away from it. She wasn’t going to run away from anything. Not anymore.

Yuki still didn’t know what to think for the most part.

Every feeling she’d had since she’d met this girl had never steered her wrong. Kaede was cocky. Kaede was stupid. Kaede had no talent. Her impressions only grew stronger over time, supported by a stronger foundation made up of silent observations and begrudging moments of contact. There were insects she’d crushed beneath her heel that she held in greater esteem.

But insects knew when to stay crushed when she stomped on them, dashed across the ground without a second thought. Some twitched, some festered, but they all stayed dead sooner or later.

So what was with this one? Why did it keep rising higher with that faux sense of purpose? What was it trying to reach? Glory? Heaven? Yuki hated not knowing. Not being able to figure it all out. That was why she was here, what she was brought to do. Her gut and her mind were in their own little war and all the while those two pink eyes stared with anticipation. A longing, burning deep down. And most of all, she didn't like how much she seemed to recognize the subtle features in Kaede's face all the more. The sharpness in her gaze, the harshness strewn across those rounded features. She'd seen them the same time every morning. Right in the mirror.

No. She didn't like that at all.

There was only so much weight her indignant glare could cast upon the rising karateka as she struggled toward the summit. When she finally met Yuki there, she'd find no prize waiting for her. The wolf didn’t nod back. There was no reply to her words. Not a crook upon that furrowed brow inched even slightly out of place.

“No clue what the fuck you’re on about.” Her eyes trailed down as she ran a finger underneath her nose, catching a streak of red before it trailed too far and snorted back some blockage. The blonde bruiser turned her mighty body round and rolled out of the ring, slipping her bag out and hoisting it over her shoulder as she made for the door.

“I’m catching the Yamanote back.” She looked over her shoulder as she grabbed the latch. “You coming or just gonna keep staring at my ass?"