The "I" in Idol Is For Inspiration

Boy. How long had it been since she’d stepped in here?

Masuyo Ai:

It was only her second time here, but there was a large enough gap between those two visits that saw most of her memories escape her. Masuyo couldn’t exactly remember what she first thought when she stepped into the Friction gym for the first time, but it probably wasn’t too far off from her impressions at this very moment.

Dressed in her usual gym gear, she took a moment to breath in the atmosphere and get a feel for the room. Lots of weights being thrown around. Plenty of stink and humidity in the air. Some encouraging shouts calling out occasionally from trainers and spotters left and right. Cries of determination and...moaning? Sounded kind of close by, too. Something was off about it though. She’d been in the Octagon long enough to tell the difference between a moan of pain and...the kind that was apparently coming from behind those doors. Her mind poked her to ignore it as she walked away from the gym wall and into the sea of busy bodies and working equipment.

The last time she planned to in for a workout, she was pulled into a tag title match in Russia. Kinda put a damper on her schedule. But that match was starting to put things into perspective for her. She was almost there. Almost at the peak. She just needed one more push. One more kick in the butt to reach the top.

Although, her performance as of late wasn’t doing wonders for the confidence. Ever since that hardcore match, things had been rocky. She needed a change. Needed to get her mind straight.

Gin wasn’t going to be around for a while, meaning the gym was going to be her best friend for these coming weeks. Although, it didn’t seem like Alicia was around today either, so no chance at a spar quite like the first time. Sucks. She could have used the advice, even if she knew it was going to be a bit blunter than she would have liked.

Masuyo kept walking with her bag slung over her shoulder, looking left and right for an idle station. Let’s see. Where to start? Where to start?

Sakura Hagiwara:

Misaki Toyoda:

"Come on now, one...two...three.....one...two...three....four....." Misaki said as she was busy focusing on training her pupil, Sakura Hagiwara. Misaki had a soft spot for Sakura, perhaps it was because she saw herself in Sakura's eyes. Like Sakura, Misaki too was a pop idol singer before she jumped to the pro wrestling world and when she saw Sakura sharing a similar path as her, the Berserk Ace decided to take Sakura under her wing and make her a better wrestler than Misaki ever was.

"Ooooh *huff*huff* Ahh~ Misaki-san, can we please take a break? I'm tired.....my body is so sore" Sakura said as she stopped kicking and punching the punching bag and took a small break, bending forward with her hands on her thighs as she panted out.

Misaki would rub her chin and looked around, she saw the pace the others were moving and looked back at Sakura. Misaki would sigh a bit, she felt bad for being so rough on Sakura because she really did have a soft spot for her new pupil. "Alright, I guess we can take five but don't get too comfortable." she would say.

Sakura would jump in excitement and clap her hands, her breasts jiggling slightly as her sports bra held them firm. Sakura would walk over towards her duffel bag and take out a bottle of water as she began to drank from it. She was quite hasty in drinking it, with the water spilling from her mouth down to her chest and sports bra. "Ahhhhh~ that should hit the spot" she would say while wiping her mouth with her arm.

Sakura would notice Masuyo make her way, she seemed like if she was looking for something or someone. For a brief moment, their paths crossed and Sakura blushed, she hoped that Masuyo didn't catch her drinking the water like that! "Oh Hai~" she would say with a wave.

Hm. Maybe she should have gotten here earlier. Masuyo wasn’t too familiar with the usual routine around here, but she didn’t realize just how much traffic the gym could produce. The place was huge, yet still managed to stay filled to the brim with hard-working talent. A good thing for the business, not so much for her at the moment.

Masuyo clicked her tongue. Guess she was going to have to make some changes to her schedule from here on.

She puckered her lips and sucked at the air as she walked, letting her mind idle for a moment as her eyes continued their search around the place. She took a couple mental notes, erasing the possibility from her mind of getting to a couple of the machines she wanted to try out today. Her gaze had been so taken that she hadn’t realized someone stepping away from the punching bags, coming close to bumping her as they exchanged glances.

“Yo.” She raised an idle hand towards the woman, keeping pace before turning her gaze forward again. At least this was a pretty friendly morning she was having.

Masuyo kept walking, craning her head left and right, eyeing a couple open stations. Looked like the squat rack was open. Someone forgot their water bottle, though. Maybe they’d come back for it. Another person was getting off the bench press, too. Oh, maybe using the dumbells would-

And then she started backpedaling.

Walking backward, facing forward the whole way as if time had reached out a hand and yanked her back. She stopped once she reached the punching bags and snapped her head back to side at the dark-haired woman.

“E-excuse me?” She mustered a wide smile, the warmest she could manage even despite a few twitches from the corner of her mouth “Y-you probably get this a lot, but you look an awful lot l-like Sakura Hagiwara? A-are you two related, by chance? S-sisters? Friends? Shadow clones?”

The dark-haired woman was so lost in thought, she didn't seem to catch Sakura drinking the water in a rather rushed fashion, causing the water to spill over her chest. Still, she did her part and waved at the woman trying to distract her from the embarrassing moment. For a moment, it looked like it worked. As the fit looking woman raised her hand at her with and continued walking her own way.

"*phew* she would say, sighing in relief before turning back towards her mentor, ready to see what next can be done for her training. The woman who passed her suddenly started to back-peddle as if she noticed something quite peculiar. Sakura heard the woman's voice, she turned back to look over her shoulder, "Oh? Yes?" she said as the dark-haired woman asked for Sakura's attention.

Sakura would turn to face her, blushing a bit as the woman recognized her as Sakura Hagiwara albeit not thinking she was the real deal. "Well, I don't know about shadow clones...and I don't have a sister nor any friends that look like Sakura Hagiwara but yeah, I am actually Sakura Hagiwara *giggle* It's nice to meet you.....uh....?" she said, sort of feeling embarrassed that she did not know her name. Still, she extended her arm for a handshake.

Oh. A substitution. She probably could have just been a substitution, too. She’d heard that AFW had managed to add a few shinobi to the roster. She probably should have expected this kind of trickery from here on. Did the corruption of this industry know no bounds? That’s all this had to be right? There was no way she was real, right?

But she was. By the Buddha, she was.

She had that same smile, That same friendly demeanor that she’d seen in countless interviews in her otherwise brief career in the idol business. That same voice that echoed to thousands on national television. This was the Sakura Hagiwara. Sweet Diva’s center vocalist. The best pop icon to ever exist.

And she was talking to her right now.

“OH MY GOD!”

She took Sakura’s gesture with both hands, shaking it vigorously up and down as she retained eye contact. She didn’t bat an eyelash at the surrounding gym goers, who took a glance over at all the commotion before going back to their routine, slightly perturbed. Masuyo, on the other hand, was the very image of elation.

“I’m Masuyo! Masuyo Ai! Y-you should come eat at my restaurant sometime! I’ll get you in for free! I-I mean my family restaurant! I mean...I own all of your CDs, even the behind-the-scenes stuff! I mean...I mean…” Masuyo realized she was still shaking the woman’s hand. She shook her head and took a step back, taking a hopefully subtle breath and looking back up at Sakura.

“I meant...how’s your day going, Ms. Hagiwara?” She said with a nod. “Sorry for being so forthright. You’re just..you’re amazing is all. I just wanted to say that.”

Sakura felt just a little bit embarrassed by the way this woman looked at her. She was certainly much more fit than her, she certainly looked much more like a wrestler than Hagiwara, yet it was this woman who seemed to be quite impressed by Sakura's presence here where, it should be the other way around.

Masuyo let out a girlish shriek in surprise when the revelation hit her, that she was talking to the former pop idol, Sakura Hagiwara. Masuyo started to fan girl over Sakura, the former idol watched Masuyo with her eyes wide open and her mouth slightly open as she was dumbfounded. Her hand was shaken vigorously up and down as Masuyo seemed to be all over the place but somehow, Sakura was charmed at this.

The former Sweet Diva Idol would scratch the back of her head and smile, even laugh a bit with Masuyo, "I think I'll have to take you up on that offer to eat at your family restaurant someday" she would wink. "Aww, if you would have brought the CD's, I would have loved to sign them for you" she would said, with a pat on Masuyo's shoulder.

"Aw shucks, I'm not that amazing really....well at least not in the ring, I'm still learning the ropes with Misaki-san, she and I have been working real hard so that I can get better. What about you Masuyo-san?How are you doing?" she would say.

Shut your goddamn mouth, Sakura. You are so amazing. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

Oh Buddha, she touched her. Sakura Hagiwara just touched her on the shoulder. It was so quick, just a couple pats and nothing more, yet she felt like all the weight that she came in with had been lifted right off of it. Maaannnn, how she was freaking out over here! WHY did she not bring a pen?!

Okay. Stop. Just play it cool. Talk to her like a regular person, not like an idol. That’ll just scare her off. Masuyo breathed deep and put her hands on her hips, grinning ear to ear with a smile that nearly tore the skin from her face.

Goddamnit.

“Oh, you know! Doing great! Just hangin’! Having fun at the gym! Here for a workout, maybe lift a few weights, run the treadmill. The works, the works. Gotta stay in shape, right?! Ha ha ha!” Too excited, man. Pull it back. “But...uh. That’s just...that’s just my usual day. Except I forgot my iPod. Thought this day was going to be a bummer until...well, now!” She finally dialed back the smile, keeping it warm and cheery. “By the way, your singles are the best for workout mixes. Not even joking.”

God. She still could not believe this was happening. She met Sakura Hagiwara. In this very gym like it was nothing. She knew that this promotion was basically world famous now, something that was still kind of hard to believe since she’d watched the place grow from what was basically a small indie studio on the corner into a modern-day Colosseum. She expected to bump famous people, but doubt she’d know exactly who they were. But if she’d known Berserk’s rising ace would be here…

...oh yeah. Berserk’s ace.

“Hey.” She snagged her bag forward over her shoulder, noticing it slacken in her grip. “So...what are you doing here, if you don’t mind me asking? I thought you were working for Berserk. Figured you’d be on the rise after you beat Ele-I mean, Blue Panther. There’s no way they’d let you go.”

Sakura tried to downplay her own self, after all, she was standing in front of a woman who seemed much more in shape than her. Masuyo looked apart from Sakura, not the cute and good looking woman whos in the wrestling for the show but a serious competitor, something that Sakura only dreamed to be but ironically, it was Masuyo who seemed to be much more impressed by the former idol, despite Sakura not having the best of times in the ring.

Sakura giggled as she jumped up and down, clapping her hands "Oh yeah, totally! Me too~ aww thanks, I never imagined someone listened to my songs as a workout mix but I'm glad I was able to help you keep focus that way Masu-chan" she said, coming with a rather cutesy impromptu nickname for Masuyo.

Sakura placed a finger her chin, "Yeah, well I am training to be the best. I said I planned to become the best wrestler in the world and I intend to act on it. Misaki-san is training me, right now I may not be much but I'm certain I can get up to the top. After beating Elena, the Blue Panther, I left Berserk to find even stronger opponents after I found out Misaki san had been doing part time matches here" she explained.

"Hey you two!" Misaki Toyoda came towards the two ladies, wiping the sweat off her face with a fresh towel. Oh? It seems you found a new friend Hagiwara-san. It's nice to meet you, I'm Misaki Toyoda" she said with a warm smile as she extended her hand for a greeting.

Holy crap, she just gave Masuyo a nickname. That was her nickname. Like...for her. On the outside, Masuyo was managing to maintain what she felt was a good degree of composure. An upturned smile, a slight rise of the eyebrows, enough to show that she approved of it. But inside? It was like a million little fireworks going off at once. This was one of many dreams come true for her. She couldn’t wait to get home and shove this in Saaya’s face.

She did her best to dial it back and focus on what Sakura was saying. This was a chance to get to talk with someone she long admired after all, excited as she may be. Despite being the younger one between the two of them, Sakura had seemed to have done so much with her life and accomplished even more. She was a national sensation, a pupil to one of the best wrestlers in the country, and now quickly climbing the ladder to take that name for herself, and she’d just barely scratched her second decade on this Earth. She may not have been a big name around AFW yet, but if there was anyone a fresh, young rookie like Masuyo could look to as an example, it was her. She nodded along to pop star’s words, words that very much proved the point she was making. Already she was striking out on her own and aspiring for bigger and bigger things. Her potential seemed endless.

“Cool! That’s actually kinda what I did. Not to compare, but I think it’s really big of you! From what I can tell, AFW is a real step-up from Berserk, but if there’s anyone who can make it here-”

Before she could get away on another gushing tangent, though, a voice caught her attention from behind the former idol. Coming up right from behind was Misaki Toyota, as if saying her name had just poofed her into existence. Her reaction this time was less one of gleeful surprise and more looking on in esteemed awe. Berserk’s ace. One of the finest combinations of skill, technique, beauty, and passion there was in Japan. Masuyo was seriously running into both of them on the same day? At the same time? She was almost thinking this was all a setup. Then again, she was standing in the middle of one of the best wrestling leagues on the planet so...

“Misaki?” She caught herself gawking for a second and snapped out of it quickly enough, eagerly taking the woman’s hand. “I-it’s a pleasure to meet you, too! I caught some of your matches when I was starting out. You were a big part of my decision to go into wrestling. Arigato.” She looked between her and Sakura after she let go of the handshake before settling her eyes back on Misaki. “So...you’re both signed on with AFW? Was Berserk seriously alright with that? You two are their top members right now. Nobody, there’s worried the federation might try and steal you two away? I mean, the pay’s definitely better.”

Sakura just made it up on the spot, it rolled off the tongue pretty nice and it was a cute sounding nick-name and being the former idol that she was, she was used to making cute sounding names all the time. Masuyo, as beautiful as she was, was more like a fit, toned and athletic wrestling warrior rather than a cutesy girl, which is why Sakura hoped she didn’t take an offence when she referred to as Masu-chan. She was relieved when Masuyo didn’t mind it, raising her eyebrow with a smile.

Sakura explained her actions and was quite happy to know someone was actually listening about why she wanted to take up wrestling rather than just shoot her down of being a model that turned into a wrestler, who would never make the transition. Sakura smiled brightly and blushed as she nodded her head and grabbed Masuyo’s hands with both of her hands. "Whoa! You really think so? Gee~ thanks! I’m sure it took a lot of guts from you too! I mean running a restaurant and pro-wrestling, I guess you don’t have to worry about having a nice meal after a good work-out huh? Tehehe!~”she would giggle.

Misaki was loitering around the gym as well, until she looked around her shoulders to see Sakura lagging behind. Walking over towards the two ladies, Misaki interrupted their conversation as she introduced herself to Masuyo "Ah~! Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you……” Misaki paused before Sakura introduced her new friend, "Masuyo!”she would say gleefully “Right, Masuyo!” Misaki smiled as the two shook hands.

Misaki nodded at Masuyo's intelligent question, “Well, yeah….I’m more part-time here but Sakura wants to make a full transition and I help her out from time to time. Berserk was okay with it…I mean they didn’t seem to mind match since AFW is a bigger promotion and having Berserk wrestlers there would mean….well good for them too hehe” Misaki would say with a nervous smile while scratching the back of her head.

Misaki would pause for a second before continuing “But yeah……I mean look at you Masuyo! You’ve kept yourself in amazing shape, have you had a chance to wrestle in AFW’s shows as yet and put that body of yours to the test?” Miskai would wink, poking Masuyo’s hard abs with her finger.