Winners and Losers

Huh. Blade must have had a fever coming on.

It wasn’t like Chizuru had a complete dictionary of all the times every Wrestle Angel in their old league blushed indiscriminately - she was only about twelve pages of transcripts in, and she hadn’t even gotten around the Riyu Kikuchi’s matches yet. People like Mika were more the blushing type. The kind who couldn’t rock the whole cool and aloof look like Uehara whenever they wanted.

Chizuru’s face took up a bit of momentary concern, just a flash of it as she raised her hand from the bench to ponder a touch at Blade’s face. She stopped on a dime though when the aerialist’s incoherent rambling gave way to an actual question. One that made Chizuru bring a finger to her chin as she looked down at the floor. She actually hadn’t been thinking much on what she would be doing tonight. She was too stuck down with her loss to really consider much of anything else, that was until Blade gave her a much needed bonk on the head.

She shifted in her seat to face the traffic, still looking down as her gaze shifted to the small space between her feet. Things were calming down now, getting a little quieter and letting her think a little better on her answer. She supposed the first thing was…

“Mmm, nah. I think dad is watching his stories about now, and mom likes to hide the ice cream until after we eat dinner.” She brought her finger away from chin, resting her one free hand against her chin.

“Well, after convincing dad to not hunt you down and kick your butt...” She was reciting that mostly from memory, reciting the verbiage as if she didn’t fully understand what it meant. Given how he reacted to slight cuts and bruises, she could only imagine how the eye was going to be received. “...I guess I’ll be telling them both about how I lost the prize money I was going to use to buy an apartment and won’t be moving out until I get another match...whenever that is.” Chizuru sighed and slouched a bit in her seat, closing her good eye tight with a sheepish frown.

“That’s going to be really awkward, actually. Aw man. They even went through the trouble of packing all my stuff when I told them.”

*...M-Musta been those jalapeno poppers I had last night. Yeah the uh...the poppers...gotta...gotta cut back on those...* Blade internally rationalized as to why her heartbeat suddenly started thumping like a jackrabbit on his third cup of coffee, the flummoxed high-flyer becoming sorely tempted to ask Chizuru if they could take turns using that ice pack. A scraggly clearing of her throat while pulling on the collar of her tracksuit showcasing how verklempt Blade was becoming until she noticed a bottle of water at her feet. Something that must have fallen off of a catering truck passing by earlier, and a sight for sore eyes as the Okinawan reached down to start guzzling it. Hydrating her and easing Blade's heightened tension until she was back to her interpretation of normal. She overheard every word of Chizu's answer, and couldn't help but almost have a minor spit-take at realizing that the seasoned wrestler was still crashing at her folks' house.

A dribble of water being wiped from the side of Blade's mouth as Chizu continued answering. The Okinawan having moved out of her Father's house straight out of high-school and having never looked back aside from birthdays, holidays, or times when he needed some extra helping hands around the house. Still...it sounded like Chizu was at least making major headway in finally flying out of the nest, until her plans for financing the big move ran into an Okinawan sized hurdle. Blade pondered something deep within herself, furrowing her brow and glancing down to the tiled floor before settling her resolve on what appeared to be the best way she can set things right. Blade's arm than reaching behind Chizu's to pull her in close for a chummy side-hug.

"Well...never fear Chizu ol'girl, cause it looks like today's your lucky day~...well, aside from losing the match and getting one helluva shiner, of course." Blade merrily stated while demonstrating the vast work she needs to do towards learning how to cheer people up. "I think I know how to solve your moving issues, AND hopefully keep your pops from sending armed hit-men after me. I just so happen to live in a fairly upscale apartment over on Yaesu avenue. A swanky little place not far from the stadium, it's got a banging view...aaaaand...get ready...it's a two bedroom apartment~... Risako and I used to bunk up back when we we're tag-partners, same with Kishima too. But that was ages ago back in the W.A. days. Since I moved back to Japan though, it's just been me schlumping around there. But...if you're willing to chip in on the rent...And ya don't mind having a certain scruffy-haired high-flyer as your roomie...And ya don't bring any pets that'll leave hair everywhere..." Blade would continue to sheepishly mutter random rules...for some reason too nervous to just outright ask if Chizuru wants to live with her.

Uh oh. Was that depression she was feeling? Sure hurt like depression.

An unintended consequence of Blade’s encouragement to look towards the future and leave the crybaby Chizuru Nagahara in the past was that she now had to come to terms with grown-up Chizuru Nagahra and her soon to be disappointed parents back home. The German-Japanese girl suddenly felt the unrelenting weight of reality bearing down on her, pulling her by the shoulders and tying a knot in her stomach. Her gaze flickered off the side for a second as she was forced to ponder briefly on the future that lay only a train ride away.

What could she say? What could she do? It wasn’t as if they wouldn’t understand. They’d support her every step of the way. Even so, that didn’t help to dull the strain that clenched around her heart the more she thought about it. She was starting to feel like such a burden and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.

She was nearly so wrapped up in her feelings that Blade’s words almost went unnoticed. But Chizuru caught them from the first utterance and turned her attention straight to her proud rival. Her eyes filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder. She tried to picture every detail from the picture Blade painted for her. The place she was describing sounded a lot better than the one Chizuru had picked out; a dingy little corner at the corner of the city famous for mice and that would take two transfers just to get to downtown. She couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of her co-worker, but even more than that, she felt inspired.

“Wow, Blade! It sounds like you’re living in a really nice home with a lot of convintently free space!” Her wide-eyed gaze narrowed a bit as she quirked an inquisitive brow, bringing a finger underneath her chin as she looked to the Okinawan with a sidelong glance. “I don’t know what all of that rent and stuff has to do with me, though. Unless you want me to move in with you or something.”

The German girl blinked a few more times, perplexed and ever-mystified by the bombastic high-flyer. What could she be getting at, she wondered?

Blade could have probably started her own tango and foxtrot classes in that very hallway what with how she masterfully she was tip-toeing and dancing around this subject. A veritable Fred Astaire, she was. But she presumed that not even he took this long to get to the grandiose finale...which for her was just spiting it out already and uttering the damned question. Instead of just blathering on about living conditions, the merits of sharing a rent bill, and all this junk that Blade just than realized was merrily flying over the childlike mind of Chizuru. Subtlety...clearly not being the suplexer's specialty as Blade balked from how upfront she spouted it out without a second's hesitation. Blade recoiling sharply and retracting her arm from around Chizu's shoulder, scratching the back of her head while fixating her attention down and to the side...rosy complexion on her cheeks blooming again and not quite having it in her to look Chizuru in the eyes right now.

"W-Well...I mean...yeah. If-Ifyouwanna...sjust...yahknow...can be kinda rough moving outta your parent's place at first...thought I could help ya with...with the transiton-RAH!!!YAHKNOWJUSFORGETIT!!!" Blade stomped up to her feet in a huff, frantically ruffling up her hair in scrunching frustration...needing a second or two to compose herself before breathing out a huff and digging both her hands into her jacket pockets. "I'm...I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to ask. You've probably got like, twenty other friends from Wrestle Angel alone who you'd have a much better time shacking up with than me, like Rei or Kanai or sumthin. Look...I just wanted to swing by and check up on yah, and make sure you weren't taking the loss too hard. Sorry if I came off as weird. I'll see ya around alright~..." Blade worked up her best smile and wave goodbye before bidding Chizuru adieu, spinning around on her feet to start walking back down the hallway she came from. Internally berating herself for coming on too strong and not knowing that Chizuru probably had an entire phone book of closer friends who would be better choices as roommates for her.

Chizuru felt herself reel back when Blade suddenly popped to her feet with exasperation. The whites of her eyes spaced out a little further. The Okinawan’s attempt to add a little clarity to the situation only made Chizuru all the more bewildered. Her head felt more swimmy now than it ever had during their entire blood-pumping, high-flying, person-throwing match they’d just put one another through not even ten minutes ago. All that seemed to come out of her mouth was talk about ‘rents’ and ‘apartments’ and 'shacking' and...

Wait.

Things were suddenly starting to piece together in Chizuru’s scatterbrained mind. There were hints in Blade’s tone that she couldn’t help but pick up on when she suddenly took a somber and regretful tone. Tugs of empathy and sincerity played at her heartstrings, forcing her mind, absent logic, to follow the emotion behind her words. To discover the true meaning behind them and picture the reality the Aerial Punk was trying to piece together just for the two of them. No way. Could she? Was she? Dare she? How she?

The realization hit the young wrestler like a lightning bolt. Her mouth fell agape as her eyes widened. She stood from the bench and watched the scruffy-haired flyer behind strutting away with her head hung low. Resigned. Nary a glimpse of hope in her amber gaze once alight with such passion. For the first time since she’d known her, Blade looked well and truly lost.

That was when Chizuru rushed in and grabbed her from behind!

“You AAAAAARRRRREEEEEEE!” The German Suplex Girl shouted happily before throwing herself back and faithfully German suplexing Blade into the linoleum surface. She rolled backward and popped up to her feet, beaming with a positively radiant smile as she looked down at the Aerialist's upturned buttocks, seemingly unaware of the potential damage she’d done in her state of glee.

“You are asking me to move in with you!” Her fists curled tight and close to her mouth as she started jumping on perched toes from one to the other, barely able to contain her excitement. “You are! You are! You are! You are! I’m going to move in with Blade! I’m moving in with Blade!”

What an unmitigated disaster. Forget going down in flames...the freaking plane never even made it off the runway intact from how clumsily Blade felt she botched that one up. Of course Chizuru would rather go bunk up with one of her old Wrestle Angel cohorts, not some scruffy-haired tomboy who's about as feminine as a used jackhammer...and who, thanks to their last match, just so happened to clock her in the face like she owed her money. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for future camaraderie. Blade somberly exhaled and started scratching the back of her head with her other hand dug deep into her jacket pocket, shutting her eyes as she waltzed onward...not really knowing what came over herself to make her so deluded into thinking that scenario was going to turn out in any other flavors except bitter and sour. Offering Chizu a place to shack up just seemed like a natural reaction to where the conversation was heading and-

"...*gasp*..."

The loss of breath and dilation in her stark-wide eyes denoted a flustering heart skip in the Okinawan. From what Blade initially interpreted as an impassioned embrace from behind, Chizu hugging her tighter with the swelling softness of her breasts comforting the departing high-flyer from behind who was now frozen in time, as if it were a scene set to a dimming sunlight upon a cascading beach lifted from a sappy soap-opera, or from the cover of a thickset romance novel one would typically see stocking the shelves of airport bookstores...but than the terrifying truth shattered Blade's amorous whimsy when she remembered who she was dealing with here. That dawning realization not dawning fast enough as Blade's frightened vision captured the hallway ahead of her, to the fluorescent lit ceiling, and finally to the upside-down sight of the hallway behind her before being implanted squarely upon her head and shoulders by the best in the business at it. Yet another perfectly executed German Suplex on a night where Blade really, really hoped she'd never have to endure another for quite some time, her scrunched face grumbling gibberish as her legs remained bent at an angle and shapely ass jutting upwards. A twitch to her foot her or there, but it was clear to even the passerby's that Blade was well and truly stuck.

"...H...HoOOrAAAay..." Blade participated in Chizu's jubilation as best she could considering she hadn't the foggiest notion what they were celebrating, just that she was simultaneously feeling both joyfulness, and a palpable sense of unease from not exactly knowing what she just signed herself up for...