Putting Out Fire With Gasoline

Not that it mattered too much to Army what his family thought about his relationship choices, but he knew right away that Carmen would love Imugi. She loved to cook, loved to make food, loved to shove as much of that food into as many mouths as possible, and Imugi’s stomach was, well…

‘Black hole’. Those two words kept coming to him.

When he’d seen this place, he hadn’t thought much of it or expected anything too serious to go down here with Imugi. He’d been to Akamura’s a handful of times - never sat down and ate there, wasn’t super familiar with it, but it was a good place to order takeout when he was on the way from the arena a few times. Decent food, decent prices. He’d figured they would just eat a bit, she’d get full after half a bowl or something, and then they’d be on their sweet and merry. Quick and simple.

Not happening. Not even close. She just kept eating and eating and eating and eating. She just finished off her third bowl, and she looked like she had room for more, despite the fact that he was pretty sure she was close to eating about a tenth of her body weight at this point. As for him, he was still halfway through his first bowl, and had been halfway for the past, oh, three minutes. It was kind of hard to take his eyes off Imugi at the moment, and he found himself transfixed by the spectacle. She just kept going, gobbling it down.

Army rocked to the side when she nudged him with her foot, overselling it and making the stool wobble. He took one more spoonful, sipped it down, then swiveled around to face her head on. ”No, didn’t mention that. Get the feeling it won’t be the last time I hear it, though.”

He stuck his foot out and pushed her stool out, tipping it to the side, but not quite far enough to topple her over. Just playing with her a little while they talked. ”So. Question.” Army rubbed his hands together. ”You’re good. Real good. And tough as fuck. So you know your way around a ring. But what about a cage?” He pointed down. ”Underground.”

Even though Army was asking a question, there was a growing, knowing smirk on his face, like he already had the answer. Given how quick she was to throw down in a doctor’s office, he was making a safe bet.

“Whoawhoawhoaheyassault.” Imugi flailed her arms about as her chair rocked a bit to one side, exaggerating the complete control she had over it. Idol practice had given her a superhuman sense of balance. She probably could have made a run on the circus if singing and fighting ever stopped doing it for her. She recovered almost immediately and folded her hands behind her head, pouting her lips at him. “Gorilla man.”

This was nice. Imugi couldn't remember the last time she'd gone out to eat with someone that wasn't business-related. It was refreshing, welcome after the days of prep work leading up to her match tonight. She had her phone muted. Min-ji was probably flooding her with texts, wondering where she'd scuttled off to just minutes before her public Q&A.

Thank God for Armando Rodriguez.

“Shoot.” Imugi leaned back in her chair and stretched herself out with a nice arc to her back, giving her abs as much attention as she did those svelte legs propped up in front of her. She had a few ideas of where this question was going to go. He’d had a lot of time to reflect since they’d last seen each other, think back on their match and maybe do a Google search or two. Her agency had done a decent job burying whatever they could of her secret life, but there were still plenty of spaces you could tune in to see her in action. She’d done it herself on occasion, re-living some of her finer moments over a bag of marshmallows.

At the end of it, really, they’d only spent one night together. There was only so much he could have asked about her. And by far the most interesting part had to be laced in the thinly-veiled question and knowing smile Army slipped her way. Imugi caught it with a sidelong glance from her perch and returned it with one of her own.

“What? Come again? A sweet, dainty little pop star like me? In a cage?” Imugi chuckled and leaned in towards the counter, getting a quick gulp of her water before she slapped it back down. When she came back, it was with a wry grin stuck on one side of her face. “They don’t call me Imugi because I look good prancing on stage.”

Well, yeah. She did look good, but that was beside the point. She brought her legs down from the counter and pushed herself forward, resting her arms on the bar. She had a feeling about where this was going, but there was no way she was gonna rush the answer out of him. “You, though? Chopped Liver. Definitely.”

She forgot how awesome this was. She had to start slipping out more.

It was a little hard to talk and look at Imugi at the same time. He didn’t want to stare. Didn’t want to be that kind of guy - always looking at the woman he was with, always checking her out, always letting his thoughts drift in certain directions. Whatever was brewing between them, it was pretty obvious things would be traditional or lovey-dovey, nothing ‘normal’ - which was good. He hadn’t tasted that in years, and he wasn’t going back.

But, as he spoke and she listened, sitting there with those legs and those abs and that little smile of hers that was somehow both the cutest and sexiest thing he could imagine, his eyes took on a mind of their own. Which was probably what she was going for. She was already developing a knack for wrapping him around her finger.

And it didn’t bother him. Not at all.

”Okay, first thing,” He gulped down a quick sip of water he’d been on when she threw in that last bit. ”I can dance. Had to take lessons for footwork. Ask nice enough and I might take you out and show you sometime.” He bounced a bit in the stool, showing off some rhythm, then plopped his elbows down on the table to mirror her. Scooting over, he rubbed shoulders with her and spoke low. Nice and conspiratorial, because...well, it felt right. And he kind of liked being close to her, too.

”So, I might, maybe, perhaps, have heard about a few underground clubs. Places Tension wrestlers go sometimes, make a little extra money on the side, sharpen up.” He rolled his head around, just enough to tap up against the side of hers, before he brought it back. ”And one of these places, they could - could - be having a big open night soon. Possibly. Big cage, big purse, all-comers, free drinks, annoying-as-fuck announcer, heavy metal over the loudspeakers, that sort of thing.”

He abruptly pushed back and straightened up, dusting off his shoulder before he went back to swirling his spoon about in the bowl. ”But you’re just a dainty little pop star whoknockedmethefuckout, so I don’t know if you’d be up for that sort of thing. We could always…” He shut his mouth, thought for a second, then shook his head. ”I have no idea what popstars do for fun at night, so you’ll have to fill in the blank.”

For a moment, just a little inkling in time as they sat beside each other in this tiny little restaurant in the low lighting, the image of Army salsa dancing crossed Imugi’s mind and she had an honest to God laugh about it. It was a rare, cathartic moment where she felt her gut seize and the laugh that followed forced her to cover her mouth and look away for a moment. She couldn’t help it or even say why. Just one picture of this walking tank that had spent the better part of an evening throwing her around and slamming her into every surface within arm's reach shaking his hips in a night club just-

Another belly laugh slipped its way out into her palm. She shut her eyes tighter and bit on her tongue as she tried to regain her composure. She sat upright again and wiped away some moisture she felt welling up with a flick of her finger. "I'm so taking you up on that, Don Juan."

Thankfully it didn’t take much to regain her composure, because she really would have been kicking herself for missing Army’s proposal. Not that it was likely she would with how close he leaned in, getting all noir on her. It was fitting. He knew how to set the mood and get her attention as he drew her in with every word. He was more or less saying everything she wanted to hear, and the fact that the lower volume was bringing out his accent a little more played a subtle yet tantalizing part in that role.

Imugi had been meaning to scout out the underground scene herself for a while now, but that required knowing where to look now that she was in Japan. She’d have to network, dig around Tension and know who to talk to. Not easy a newcomer, less easy as a foreigner, even harder as a pop star whose supposed to keeping a low profile with her face plastered all around social media. Army’s timing couldn’t have been any better.

“Ohhh, I don’t think I have anything to be scared of. Not as long as I have this big, strong, strapping man whoIknockedthefuckoutinliketwoseconds protecting me.” She reached over and pinched him on the cheek with a couple quick tugs before she pulled away. “I like it. I just wanna be sure you’re sure. There’s not gonna be any padding or gloves. No scorekeeping. No referee. No one to towel you down or kiss your boo-boos. Just you. Me. And whoever jumps over that cage.” She leaned on the bar and rested her chin on her hand. “Think you can keep up, Armadillo?”

Army jumped back a little when Imugi burst out laughing, though he was quick to play it off as wobble with her chair to keep her from getting any more ammunition. The outburst took him by surprise, kind of amazed that a woman that small could make so much noise, and that she found it as funny as she clearly did. It wasn’t the usual forced ‘tee-hee’ laughs, either. Imugi was really cracking up.

Could kind of see why - if people had to write a list with the talents they guessed he had, he was pretty sure ‘dancing would never even make the Top 50. But he wasn’t bluffing. He could. And the idea of doing it with Imugi appealed, the more he thought about it. It would either be nice and romantic, or it would end up them falling flat on their asses.

Either way, a good time.

He rolled his eyes as she pinched his cheek, then leaned in just enough to whisper in her ear. ”Took a little longer than two seconds.” His words were playful, but there was more than a little edge to them, too, feeling that competitive spark that was always burning between them. He sniffed and went back to the previous position, settling in, nice and cozy.

”And you know I can keep up. There wasn’t any of that stuff in the doctor’s office, remember?” Army sure did. He was pretty sure he’d remember that moment in vivid detail for the rest of his life.  ”I like the sound of that. All of that. Except the boo-boo kissing, maybe we can negotiate that. I’ll kiss yours if you kiss mine?”

Army had gone twenty years with saying the words ‘boo-boo’. This truly was a rare relationship.

They really should have just fucked in that doctor's office.

Cozy as Army’s bed was after they’d enjoyed each other, there was a bit of energy lost in transit from one place to the other. There were no regrets. Not a chance. Not even one. But there was that small, cradled image in the back of her mind of the two of them in that locked room. Primal and intimate, security seconds away from breaking the door down, marking the room with an irreversible stain of their shared essence.

But then again, no Street Fighter afterward. Real pity.

Maybe they could revisit that idea one day. For now she just listened to Army’s words and the proposal he’d laid out in front of her. She didn’t doubt his ability to hold his own, of course. She’d seen first-hand what he could really do, boxing gloves or no. Pushed her to the limit, made her work for almost every inch. She could only imagine what he’d do to some of the poor saps that hadn’t spent a second in the limelight.

The risks were what she was really thinking about. She didn’t know much about his past beyond the tidbits they shared. His expectations could have been off. Not just about the place, but about her. This was still a little early in their...was this a relationship? Something like that. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to muddy things but jumping the gun and expecting him to follow her lead.

It was a point taken either way once he brought up the doctor’s office, naturally. Imugi just let her gaze trail off to one side as he put the memory back on replay for her, silently conceding the point with a pair of pursed lips. Nothing she could say to that. Nothing PG-13, at least.

But she did have something for the next one.

“That’s a crappy deal.” She leaned in with a softer voice and a flutter of her eyes. “My kisses are way better than yours.”

Fuck, they should’ve fucked in that doctor’s office.

Army didn’t have a problem with public sex - hell, not having a problem with public sex was pretty much a job requirement for an AFW wrestler. His thinking had been along the lines of not wanting to be interrupted while they went about their business, but as he sat here, looking at this feisty, fighting woman who was rapidly growing on him, he felt they’d left a little of the heat in there. A hot, heavy thought, being in there, with all that sweat, still feeling the pain from their match and their rematch, their hearts beating out of control.

There hadn’t been any Street Fighter in that office, though, so that was a point against it. Didn’t matter. This was a perfect chance to make that magic spark flicker again, and judging by the way she reacted, he wasn’t the only one thinking that.

Army tilted his head to the side, watching as her eyes trailed off. He wasn’t much for invading privacy, but in that moment, he wished he could take a small peak in her head and see what was bubbling in there. Something hot and steamy, he imagined, and that imagining was putting him in a certain mood. A little off-topic, but…

”Are they?” He spoke low, too, keeping his eyes lidded and low as she leaned in. ”Are they, really?”

He moved in all the way and pressed the lips together in a slow kiss - not fast, not hard. Start with a peck and slide in, pull back then slide in again, and a light touch of the tongue around her teeth. All while he closed his eyes and brushed their foreheads together, rubbing right and left.

Army pulled away with a hot gasp, blowing more of his breath into her mouth as he returned to his initial position, sitting up nice and straight. He only broke away from his gaze to look to the side, where a new spicy pork bowl sat, ready to be consumed. ”Food’s up.”

It was only now that Imugi had started realizing how much she'd forgotten about Army's face, how much she loved staring at it. There were some subtle changes here and there that probably would have gone unnoticed by the average admirer.

But now that they had a moment to sit time and catch up, she'd almost forgotten how handsome he could be. He had a good face, strong and soft in all the right places, but it was those clear brown eyes with a gentle intensity that drew her in every time. Imugi didn’t know if this is what people meant when they talked about the “windows to the soul”, but she knew she probably wouldn't have minded sitting here for a little longer.

“Real-” Her words got caught in her mouth against Army’s lips pressed to her own. Her eyes fluttered wide for a moment before she relaxed into his embrace. She chased after his lips to little effect. He was controlling the pace of this little moment, and she drifted along willingly from start to finish, kissing back in the little places she could sneak in before they broke away with a soft smeck.

Imugi’s just sat there after their lips parted, eyes closed with a blissfully dumb expression on her face. When she finally opened them again, her dreamy gaze caught Army’s eyes. A faint blush stung her cheeks with a faint warmth. Her heart beat to a steady metronome, lulling her away from the waking world.

*giggle*

Her head snapped to the side, spotting the tittering Japanese girl behind the counter, covering the Cheshire cat grin tracing her lips from ear to ear with the width of her hand. Imgui nearly leaped from her seat and slapped her hands to linoleum. “Shut up, Sachi! You still think Hiro gave you cooties!” She shouted over the counter, watching as the giggling misfit sped behind the kitchen door and disappeared into the back.

Imugi sat back in her seat and took a pair of chopsticks to the borth, quickly stuffing her face with as much noodles and soup as her puffed cheeks could handle. With one mighty gulp she forced it all down with whatever humiliation she could take with it. “So when’s this dinner date? Made reservations?”

Army tried to take a step back for a moment, have an out-of-body experience and imagine this from another perspective, see this whole scene from a few feet away. It was kind of sweet, or as close to sweet as anything could ever be when he was involved. The two of them kissing each other, blushing, starry-eyed, looking like  a couple of lovesick highschoolers on their first date.

Cute. Really. You’d never guess this was a relationship built on the two of them beating each other to a pulp.

The giggling made him whip his head about, surprised that Sachi was still there - not that he should’ve been, but he’d just taken for granted that the pork bowl hadn’t appeared out of thin air. Not that he had a problem with public displays of affection, came with the AFW territory. And hey, he found out that cooties weren’t just an American thing. Learning new things every day.

He sat back for now, content to table that little argument for now and feeling that he came out ahead in the debate. Imugi could’ve probably had about the same effect on him, he’d just had the advantage of beating her to the punch, but that wouldn’t take away from the bragging rights.

”Nah, no reservations, more like a first come, first serve kind of deal. Show up, put up your money, get in the ring, go. A lot of Tension wrestlers pop up when they’re looking for a little side cash, shouldn’t be any trouble getting in.” He propped one foot on the stool and bounced it, getting anxious the more he thought about the prospect. Fighting in front of Imugi, Imugi fighting in front of him, maybe even fighting each other with a real pit fight.

”And we’ve got like an hour and half before they kick off. Not sure that’s enough time to digest, like, a third of your bodyweight.” He reached out and gave her iron abs a little poke, checking to make sure all that pork hadn’t softened them up. Nope, still hard enough to grate cheese on. ”But we’ll see.”

...God damn it, now all she was thinking about was kissing Army.

Imugi went into it fully expecting to command the moment. Army was good and she had no problem admitting that, but as the one who set up the challenge the blowback was probably three times what it should have been after he caught her off guard. Just one second, a single breath, and she found herself off-kilter. A swift one-two punch worthy of a heavyweight boxer. Memories from the medical room floor started flooding back; his apartment moments after. They really had been away from each other for too long.

Phooey.

She took in another mouthful of noodles as Army spoke. That wasn’t helping her regain her balance on the stool, so she opted for taking in the whole bowl, downing the savory broth in a few long swigs. She placed the bowl down and took in a breath, noticing she still had a bit more to go. Least her mind was on straight a little. That meant she was thinking clearly when she felt completely down for this little late-night escapade.

Two fights in one night might have sounded much for the dainty flower she portrayed herself as on her social media accounts, maybe even for a normal wrestler. Imugi was far from a stranger when it came to double-dipping, though. Wrestling was the most intense thing she’d ever done, but the underground was where she thrived. A concrete circle was as familiar to her as her apartment bathtub. She was going to be making her way out to one eventually and she was curious to see how Army handled himself without a ref watching. Two birds with one stone.

“Huh.” She flicked her phone on, taking a peek at the time. “Timed that pretty well, considering.” She took a few last gulps from her soup bowl, which turned out to be a solid test for her core strength when Army poked her, and she didn’t so much as flinch. She wiped her lips and revealed a coy smile with the back of her hand. She couldn’t lie about how excited this was making her by the second.

“It’s cool. I can jog it off on the way...” The Korean girl stood up and stretched her arms to the ceiling, casually letting them fall around Army’s neck as she leaned in and draped herself over his shoulder with a yawn. Her voice dropped to a near-whisper. “...if you remember who's paying for all this bodyweight.” Her lips came to his ear. “Three deluxe bowls and a ramune. In case you missed count.”

She gave a light slap to his other cheek before she untangled her arms and withdrew. Whipping her phone back out from her pocket, Imugi’s back rested against her stool, pushing it back into the counter while her hands kept busy with the screen. “What’s the address for this place again? I’m making a list.”