Climbing the Mountain

Eka checked her phone. There were still no notifications from the previous 32,915 times she had checked it in the last five minutes. It was not anxiety that caused her to keep consulting her glowing rectangle, or at least she did not think that it was that. Rather, she was a bit excited. She had won a match against a good opponent. But more importantly, she felt that she had gotten a monkey off of her back. The losing streak was nice to drop, but she had enjoyed wrestling for the first time in forever. And she really wanted to know the woman who had helped her in that journey, even if she was not aware of the depths of Eka's misery.

32,917, still nothing. Eka had gotten Harumi's cell phone number from her manager, and texted her, asking to meet up. The Georgian girl was honestly not sure if Harumi would even meet up. All of her finals were over, and she had a while to focus on her wrestling now, and Harumi had shown her a lot of moves that she had never seen before. Harumi pushed her very close to the edge while being fierce and fair. Eka felt that she had a lot to learn from her.

The dark-haired girl was sitting on a bench, facing the sparring ring. She had just gotten done with a little bit of running, and her heart was still beating hard. Her shorts were tight and bright green, and she was wearing a yellow sports bra. The dark circles that were etched under her eyes during that final stretch were now beginning to fade, but barely. A light trickle of sweat still wandered down the side of her face. The previous wrestlers had cleared out, and it did not look like anyone else was going to come up. Good. It would just be the two of them.

She leaned back a little bit, and rested her hands on the bench. Running, and not worrying about her papers anymore gave her mental clarity. She was going to have to be wide awake, because she knew that Harumi could pull crazy moves out of nowhere. And the Georgian girl wanted to give it her all, even in this spar that did not matter. And then she started wondering what the Judoka thought of her...

It had been a relatively pleasant start to the day. Harumi was woken up by the sun rise hitting her in the face rather than the alarm clock screaming like it was the end of the world. She had finally gotten a day off from her part time job, and she was not scheduled for any matches for the next few days. The young woman was set for a few days of peace. No appointments to run to, no fights to prepare for. Harumi could finally stay home for a bit and do some chores around the house.

Harumi stretched, threw off her covers, made her bed, and got up to make something for breakfast. She couldn’t help but let her mind wander around, reviewing what had happened in the past few days. The main thing that lingered in her head was probably her second match that had occurred just a few days prior. It was certainly an exciting battle, if a little confused at times. It was a fight where each one of the fighters put everything they had out there, leading to a match that would hopefully last in the memories of anyone who watched them. Harumi remembered how troubled her opponent Eka seemed to be at the time, and how she struggled at the start. It was nice to know that she was able to get rid of her funk and pull through in the match. The Judoka was happy for the Georgian and her win…though she had to admit to herself, she had a slight urge to try again and see if she could best her on the second try.

Suddenly, a shocking jingle ripped through the peaceful quiet in Harumi’s home. The sharp noise came out of the blue, and caused the Emerald eyed woman to jump in surprise, nearly spilling her coffee. It took her a moment to realize that it was her cell phone that had made the noise, alerting her that she had just received a message from a new contact. The cell phone had never really gone off before, as Harumi’s family were not very big on technology, and their rather withdrawn culture dynamic meant she hardly knew anyone outside of the family in the first place.  The only people who even seemed to contact her on her cell phone were from work, so it was not hard to imagine this was likely a business call. Perhaps someone called in, and they needed her to cover the shift?

Well, Harumi got a rather pleasant surprise. Instead of someone calling out, it was actually an invitation. It seemed to be a casual meet up with Eka, just the two of them working out for a little bit. Harumi had yet to do her daily workout, and she was interested in making some friends outside of work…perhaps this could be a great opportunity to get to know Eka a little bit better.

There was one problem, however…Harumi owned a flip phone, and she could easily make calls or open up texts sent to her…but she had no idea how to send a text or even write one up. It ended up where Harumi was basically left staring at Eka’s invitation, having no idea how to get ahold of her number. The ID gave the first four numbers, but the Judoka was still new to phones and their uses, and so had no clue how to get the rest of the numbers. She was stuck leaving Eka wondering if she was going to show or not…it was not exactly the best impression Harumi wanted to set when trying to create a new friendship.

So, the Harumi ended up leaving early to meet up with her previous opponent. The gym the Georgian had suggested was not far from where Harumi resided, and so she was able to take a lovely stroll through the warm morning sun.

Harumi walked through the gym doors in grey track pants and a sky-blue tank top carrying a bag with a towel, water bottle, shampoo, and spare change of clothes. This was her first-time meeting someone at the gym. She was not sure exactly what to bring, and decided it was better to be safe than sorry. Despite being extremely nervous, Harumi walked the floor looking for her companion with a practiced stride, her face becoming a solid mask of cold beauty and discipline. Upon first glance, she would likely appear stuck up and rather cold, causing some to slink away from her hard stare until she finally found the tall Georgian sitting on a bench by the sparring ring.

The Judoka attempted to smile and wave at Eka, not quite sure what type of relationship her companion thought they had. Were they friends? Co-workers? Maybe even rivals? She was terrible when it came to these types of situations, but she would try her best.

“Hello Eka. It’s very nice to see you again. I hope you haven’t been waiting long, though I see you worked up a bit of a sweat.”

Just as before when they first met, Harumi was curt and professional, with her tone unintentionally being a little bit bossy, like a fussy older sister worried about her sibling. The normally silent girl’s smile was pretty, but seemed a bit forced, clearly showing her hesitation and fear of this get-together falling apart due to her actions. She wanted this to work, but feared her social skills were not up to the task.

For a second, she closed her eyes. There were a hundred different ways that this could go. The last time she had been in this gym, she had gotten kidnapped by a crazy lady. And the time before that, she did a total asshole move on someone who had just wanted to spar with her. In the eternity of the back of her eyelids, new worlds were created and folded in on themselves as the darkest and brightest parts of her imagination battled for supremacy. Hell, she might not even show up. And then what? Would Eka just go home? Find some random girl?

Eka opened her eyes again, and saw Harumi walking over. There was something distinctly off-putting about the look on her face, as if she really did not want to be there. Eka furrowed her brow. Maybe she was coming through to get some revenge. The Georgian girl buried that thought. If nothing else, the Judoka was doing her best to show off a non-threatening face. That was what the smile meant, she hoped. Her doubts were not put to rest by the tone of the woman's words, as pleasant as the actual verbiage was. Eka was an only child, and it felt like she was being chided by her mom or something.

But that didn't matter. Eka hopped up and hugged Harumi tightly. "It is wonderful to see you again as well!" Eka was beaming, her lilting Georgian accent riding the rollercoaster even higher and lower due to her elation. "Yeah, nah, I have only been waiting for approximately 3.47 seconds, yes?" Eka smiled. "I just got done with a little bit of running, it was nothing. Well, not so much, yes?"

Eka looked over at the ring, and over at the weight room. "We can spar if you want. We can also do weights. Really, whatever you like," Eka said as she scratched the back of her neck. Now that she had made it this far, she realized that she had no idea what she wanted to do around Harumi. Just that she wanted to be with Harumi, for whatever reason. Her awkward laugh did little to ease the tension, she thought.

Her eyes wandered over Harumi's body. The tank top was awfully becoming on her, Eka thought. And she loved the latent power that Harumi had in her legs, which was easy to see in those track pants. The Georgian girl realized how awkward she was being, and her smile turned a little bit crazy.

Harumi’s body language was extremely tense, yet respectful. When she approached the Georgian, who was sitting on the bench with her eyes closed, she did so in a manner that was like a student approaching their master. Her posture was immaculate, and each step seemed to be carefully planned as she approached with quiet finesse. Though she attempted a smile at Eka, pretending to be happy though unsure what it was she was happy about. Part of Harumi wondered how bad she might screw this up if she didn’t already. Judging by the slight shift in Eka’s posture after Harumi’s greeting, its possible she had simply made the woman more nervous rather then relaxed. The complete opposite of her intentions.

Eka was quick to hop of the bench, suddenly moving towards the somewhat shy Harumi at a pace the surprised the smaller woman. Part of Harumi’s training kicked in, dropping her bag to the floor and trying to move her feet into an appropriate stance, but getting scooped up in Eka’s hug instead. Harumi’s emerald eyes were wide with surprise as she felt her comrades embrace. A red hue found its way onto the pale beauty’s cheeks, betraying her embarrassment. Harumi’s arm moved slowly, awkwardly patting Eka’s back, but her smile seemed to warm a little bit, looking more natural.

“U-um…yes?”

Eka’s sheer excitement was not something Harumi had been expecting, and it was almost overwhelming to the Judoka, who was used to a more…”hands off” interaction with others. Eka seemed to be ready and willing to do anything Harumi wanted, leaving the decision up to her as to what they would start off with. The decision was laid at her feet so quickly, Harumi hardly had any idea what to do. So many different things Harumi wanted to do, but what would be best to start things off?

Harumi could not help but notice Eka’s eyes looking her body over. It made Harumi nervous at first, but decided to pass it off as curiosity. After all, she had offered a spar…perhaps Eka was making sure Harumi was not suffering from any of the injuries of their previous bout. Surely, if that was the case then Eka would not mind Harumi doing the same, giving her opponents a quick once over. The Judoka immediately wished she hadn’t. For some reason, she had yet to notice Eka’s gym attire, that she filed out rather well. The small beads of sweat seemed to accentuate her curves while subtly reminding those of her musculature that blended well with her feminine physique. Eka seemed to have the body of a model, ad her beauty and kind attitude could easily land her that type of work. Harumi was envious of the Georgians friendly attitude and how kind she could come across…perhaps that is something she could learn from her.

“Well…we both seemed to have had a nice warm up, so why don’t we try a quick spar? Perhaps we could have a bit of fun and learn a bit from each other?”

Harumi moved towards the ring, setting her bag in one of the corners and hoping over the ropes. Harumi pried the ropes apart, offering an entrance for her companion, trying to build some comradery between them.

Eka sort of appreciated how stiff was. She knew the Judoka to be somewhat, err, standoffish, and she found it slightly endearing that she was ready to defend herself as Eka went in for the hug. This was a woman who was always on. There was something to be appreciated in that. That much was clear in her long stare, which Harumi noticed. It was the Georgian girl's turn to flush a little bit as she was embarrassed by how long she had spent looking at Harumi despite how much she enjoyed it in the moment. It looked like Harumi was going to take her up on her offer.

"Yes, that sounds very good." Eka followed Harumi to the ring, and grinned a little bit as Harumi held the ropes open for her. She graciously accepted the offer, dipping low before popping out on the other side, and taking a few steps to give Harumi some space. Perhaps she was a little ambitious to attempt a hug right away. The Georgian girl swore to herself that she was going to work her way a little closer next time. Make it a little bit more organic. She clapped her hands together, and the sound reverberated around the gym.

"So what shall the rules be?" Eka pulled one arm across her chest, and brought it closer into her with her other arm. She was mostly loose. Yet there was still some tightness in her arms that she thought she could get loose. Plus, there was some benefit in showing off a little bit. Her dark hair fell across her face as she switched to her other arm. The Georgian girl rocked back in forth as she did so, going from one foot to the other. Her entire body was positively teeming with energy, and she was not too shy to show it.

She brought her arms down, and rolled her head around. "I am not going to go for knockout only, Miss Head Kicks," she laughed a bit as she said it. One of the reasons that she admired the woman standing across from her was because she engineered a powerful enziguiri out of a turnbuckle and a whole lot of moxie. Eka wanted to see if she could that woman to come out, or even try to become that woman. At least for the time being.

Once Eka hopped inside the ring, she gave Harumi some space to work with before clapping her hands and asking what type of rules the two of them should use to spar with. Harumi felt more like she was a guest in Eka’s home rather than someone who just met someone else at the gym. Eka was being awfully polite, basically giving her Judoka companion free reign for the time being, letting her pick both the activity and the rules to said activity.   As Eka stretched her arms, she did put in the stipulation “No knockouts”, which made more than enough sense to Harumi. Not much point in trying to be friends if you knock them out before you could really do anything with each other.

Harumi seemed to blush a bit and look away upon receiving a nickname, scratching her cheek nervously as she recalled what had happened in their previous match up. Harumi knew it was meant to be a joke, and she awkwardly smiled at Eka, laughing quietly.

“Yeah. We won’t do knockouts, perhaps something else?” the idea of calling Eka little Miss Kimura popped in her head, but she decided against it. “Let’s try something light…what about a simple pin victory condition. We can stop when one pins the other or when one of us is verbally submits.”

As Harumi spoke, she did some light stretches across form Eka. Truth be told, the teal tank top wearer already had done some stretches when she woke up this morning and before she walked to the gym. She felt fine, but did not want to give off the impression she was underestimating her foe. As Eka stretched her arms, Harumi was working on her legs, then moved to her torso, then arms. Once the two of them were all settled, Harumi got down low into a Judo stance, her eyes becoming focused on the spar to come, but letting a small smile rest on her face.

“Are those rules acceptable? If so, we can start whenever you are ready.”

Eka was genuinely pretty happy when Harumi giggled at her joke. It seemed like the Judoka was a tough nut to crack, but Eka was working away at it, bit by bit. She was more than looking forward to something light, wherein she could try and figure out how to deal with a strong woman like Harumi while staying on her own two feet. Eka watched eagerly as Harumi stretched, taking an academic approached to the little spar. There had to be something in the way that she was stretching that would tip the Japanese woman's hand, and provide the Georgian girl with a path forward.

"That is a very good plan, yes?" Eka got into her own stance. Her legs were wide, and her center of gravity was quite low. Her long hair flowed over her shoulders on both sides of her head, and a look of intensity came over her. Even now, with nothing really at stake, Eka was going to do her best to honor herself.

"Ding ding," she let out, indicating to Harumi that she was up and ready to go. The Georgian girl started inching forward at a glacial pace, moving from side to side as she did so. Harumi seemed like a fortress in her stance, and Eka was going to have to find a way through the door.

Suddenly, she lunged at Harumi's leg, going for a single leg takedown. "Hyah!" She yelled as she did so, slightly too loudly, trying to drum up some energy for their little bout. Her dark hair streamed behind her as she darted forward and down.

So far, the two women were getting along just fine. They may have been a little awkward at first, but once the stiff greeting was exchanged and their plans set in stone the pair of them both seemed to loosen up if only just a little bit. If one were to take any kind of interest in how the pair of them were acting, they might think that the two of them were a pair of old friends who had not gotten together for quite some time, perhaps even something closer if one’s mind began to wander around the pair of fighters.

Though Eka’s playful “Ding ding!” was just a playful way to let Harumi know she was ready to start, both fighters seemed to get more intense, the atmosphere around them turning from a friendly, if a bit awkward vibe, to a far more serious and focused atmosphere. While the taller Georgian seemed to focus on her foe’s movements, Harumi’s gaze became as sharp as steel. She shifted her positioning, trying to predict what her foe might use to start off the match.

Harumi’s emerald eyes watched and waited carefully until Eka made her move. The Georgian charged in like a rhino, as if she was ready to smash right through the Judoka. Harumi’s muscles tensed, and just as she was about to move to counter Eka’s charge, the Georgian dipped down and wrapped her arms around of one Harumi’s legs. It was a leg takedown, and a very good one at that. It was all Harumi could do to turn her body sideways, just in time for Eka to snatch up the Teal tank top woman’s leg.

Quickly, the Judoka set to work on countering the takedown, hunching herself over so that the top half of her body was sprawled on top of Eka’s Shoulders and back. Next, she would try to wrap her arms underneath Eka’s furthest arm pit to keep her in place. If the Judoka was successful, she would fall back into the takedown, but dragging the Georgian down along with her. The snagged leg would act as a spring, helping push Eka over in a classic Sumi Gaeshi attack, hopefully freeing her while giving Eka a nasty tumble of her own.

Harumi tried her best to banish a shameful thought that seemed to linger in her mind. Even through her sweatpants, she could feel the softness of Eka’s orbs rub against her leg, and a bit of the silent Samurai’s shyness came running back to her, hoping Eka did not notice that such a thought had even appeared in the normally stoic woman’s head.

Like water snaking its way down the mountain, Eka flowed. Her plan, if it could even be called that, started off just fine. Eka's hands found Harumi's leg. For a split second, she marveled at the strength that was in Harumi's leg. She stood, implacable, like a great cliff that directed a powerful river. Eka's momentum carried her forward, and if there truly was a point of no return it had long since been trespassed.

And all the worse for Eka. The Judoka did not go down as Eka had intended but instead twisted around her attack. Eka honestly did not know how to react as she felt a certain body weight coming down across her back. Those inchoate thoughts began to coalesce a little bit more when Harumi seized her armpit, as Eka started to realize that she was in a lot of trouble. Once Harumi started falling back everything started manifesting itself and the Georgian girl was deftly thrown up and back in a brilliantly executed and daring move!

Eka bounced on her back once, twice, before coming to a halt. She had done hundreds of takedowns in her life in practice and in the ring, but she had never had to deal with a counter such as that. For a second, she was in wonder of the deftness of the move, but the dull ache in her back quickly reminded her that there were far more pressing manners in had. Despite the power of the throw, the match was still young. The counter had taken something from her, but she very much felt that she was spry and eager and could right back into it.

The darkhaired girl tried to roll over and scramble away. She loved the feeling of having Harumi's legs in her arms, but she wanted it to be on her terms. When Eka looked up at Harumi's face, she saw the same stoic look that she had seen often before, but she could not help escape the feeling that there was something else there. For a second, her brow furrowed, before the look on Eka's face dissipated entirely.

It was game time. Should Eka manage to scramble away and get up in time, she would approach Harumi once more. Only this time, somewhat more slowly, with her hands out and at the ready...

The counter had gone just as planned. The move happened within a split second, with Eka and Harumi standing one second, and Eka being flung over Harumi the next. It was a simple move, more used to get out of the hold Eka had planned for Harumi rather then dealing any damage to the powerful grappler. Eka would be back up in seconds, but Harumi was willing to bet she would be far more cautious against her Judo savvy foe.

Harumi kipped up to her feet with the grace of a trained pro, looking more like a trained dancer in her grace rather than a professional fighter. Her silky black hair trailed behind her like a streamer, as if illustrating how textbook the arch of her kip up truly was. When she turned around, Eka was once again rising to her feet, looking ready to go for round two of their lockup. Eka’s expression was furrowed, like she was a bit confused. For a split second, Harumi wondered if there was still a blush remaining on her face from her impure thoughts from earlier. She tried to smile it away, acting like she was proud of the counter to hide whatever could be on her face.

“When your opponent is bigger than you, you have to be faster than them. Right?”

Eka was approaching, stance wide and arms out. She was making sure Harumi could not pull any of her tricks, less the Georgian counter them quickly and effectively. Harumi was not too sure with how to proceed. The silent woman decided a simple approach would be best, moving in to deliver a simple strike to the chest. Since this was only a spar, Harumi had no interest in harming Eka or going for her face, so she intentionally held back on her strike. After all, she was there to make a friend, not an enemy.