A Drop in the Bucket

A shambling figure made its way down the simply lit backstage corridors. Shoulder dragging against the wall, boots shuffling in a staggering walk… given the time of year it would be understandable if someone were to wrongfully assume a zombie roamed the halls. But no, it was just a battered Kimiko.

With adrenaline long since faded, every ache and pain she had sustained during her latest match echoed through her body with a lingering soreness that had her walking like a little old lady. She wasn't upset though, quite the opposite. She was smiling, wistfully eyeing the ceiling with a carefree sense of whimsy about her. She had won the match, but that really wasn't that important, to her anyway. The important thing was she found out how right she was to come here looking for stiff competition!

She replayed the events of the match in her mind, taking in the movements of her opponent and the techniques she had employed. She was a fan of Ayane's all or nothing style, just throwing herself at Kimiko over and over again. She had intensity, skill, and one heck of a strong punch. The brunette also focused some attention to her own failings in the match. All the openings she had left open and sloppy hits she could have possibly intercepted. Overall, she was happy with her first foray into a wrestling ring though, even if a bit sad it ended so suddenly.

She leaned her weight into the locker room door, shoving it open with reckless abandon. Thankfully nobody had been there otherwise they might have been floored. She wasn't looking forward to her bike ride home, but the hot shower waiting at the end and a warm bed sounded good. She let out a pleased heavy with at the thought as she walked down the main path along the road of lockers. Something caught her eyes though in passing, forcing her to stop then slowly backpedal. A glimpse a red that stood out in the whites, blues and grays of the locker room. Leaning back she peeked around the corner like a small child. "Ayane?"

Ayane sat, nestled in the farthest most corner of the gym where the shadows often crept, trying to stay as FAR out of the way as humanly possible... She didn't want to see Kimiko... She didn't want to see anybody! All she wanted was to be left alone to sulk... Failure wasn't something she took on the chin, a punch to her face she couldn't just brush off! She was so close... SO CLOSE! SHE HAD KIMIKO RIGHT WHERE SHE WANTED HER AND SHE BLEW IT! SHE FUCKING BLEW HER OWN DEBUT! WHAT WILL EVERYONE THINK OF HER NOW!? Oh, just the thought of what they were saying, just the thought of what her name would MEAN... it chilled her too the core! She came seeking fame, aspiring for titles... and what she got was the WORST possible form of both! She was a LOSER... she was a FOOL and everyone was probably laughing...

Hell, Even that stupid clown Kimiko was laughing at her probably! Yeah, she was probably talking to some upstart journalist right now, explaining how it was all part of some 'big plan' to save face from her beating... She was probably usurping all her WELL DESERVED press-time and becoming the new golden Rookie of AFW. Ayane pulled her knees up onto the bench she was sitting upon, burying her face between them...

...None of that was true, though... Not really... Kimiko was too much of an airhead to come CLOSE to that level of insidiousness... She was too bubbly, too innocent. A fucking contradiction to what street-fighters were supposed to be... The sad thing was... she actually kinda liked Kimiko... She was... nice to be around, if a little frustratingly DENSE. There was no toxicity to her, just... playfulness and ignorance... Only made it even more painful knowing she was the one to take her debut match! HOW CAN SHE HATE SOMEONE SO... SO KIMIKO!?

Almost as if hearing her name through all the brooding, Kimiko poked her head around the corner of the lockers, calling for Ayane! The bandanna'd brawler SHOT her head up, her dark eyes shocked, red round their edges, her cheeks wet... It was obvious she'd been crying judging by the light tremble on her lip and the flush in her cheeks. She stared at the woman, as if not believing she was there... before her expression fell into one of anger, regret... and humiliation. She turned away from Kimiko, scooting around so that her back was to her before burying her face in her knees once again... Fucking childish, she knew but the LAST thing she wanted was to face Kimiko... at least, right now.

"Leave me alone..." She muttered softly. "I don't want to talk to you..."

"Hey! It is you, haha!" Kimiko slipped out from behind the locker with a wide grin plastered on her face. "You left so fast I didn't even have a chance to thank you or anything. I thought you had somewhere to be like a court date or maybe a date-date. I'm not use to that. Normally when I fight people, they don't generally get up and run off. They sorta stay on the ground for awhile, so this is a bit new for me." With a bit more pep in her step she hobbled her way over, clearly still kicking some of her wounds from their match by how she moved. She stepped over the bench, plopping down right beside Ayane.

"What did you say? I can't hear you when you mumble. I guess I am just so use to you shouting everything. Man, you have some crazy good vocal range… do you sing at all? You probably could sing pretty good if you tried." She glanced up, rubbing her chin in thought. It was plain to see she was trying to imagine it now. After a moment in her mind she shook her head, dismissing it.

"Did my nose smack you in the eye when you headbutt or something? You eyes are all red. Sorry about that. I didn't have a lot of control over it though." She pursed her lips, trying to think back what had hit her where during that part of the match but most of it was a hazy memory.

Either Kimiko didn't hear her, was ignoring her, or mocking her and Ayane couldn't tell which. Taking as graceful-a-seat as one could possibly expect, the taller, bubblier woman began a conversation that was severely unwanted, probing into just WHY Ayane was looking so disturbed, why her eyes were all irritated and so on... the smaller woman glanced up from her knees, glaring at Kimiko as she sat there so carelessly, the girl that humiliated her in one of the worst possible ways. Wasn't it obvious she wanted to be ALONE right now? She was here to SULK, fucking clearly! Nestled away in the darkest corner of the locker-rooms, her face all puffy and wet from the sobs of humiliation, her body-language so cut-off and tight that it was a wonder if AIR could get in...

...And yet, here was Kimiko, carelessly smiling and talking as if nothing was wrong! ...It must've been so liberating to be so disconnected from everything... Air-headedness had it's very limited perks... Ayane stared down her former opponent with a heavy, frustrated stare, the woman hesitant to open her mouth with how much her jaw trembled. Would her humiliation never end? Was this some kind of sign from God that she wasn't meant to fight competitively? What a cruel way to get a point across, sending one's tormentor down to rub it in... Especially one as dumb and cute as Kimiko was...

All the mixed signals.

"What do you want?" Ayane groaned a bit louder, somehow able to keep her voice steady, a blessing she quietly thanked god for. "Can't you see... I wanna be alone...?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I just wanted to thank you for the fun fight…" Her voice trailed off when she looked back to Ayane and really saw the condition she seemed to be in. With a passing glance she hadn't really noticed in this dim little section of the locker room but now, seated beside the other girl she could plainly see that there was more than the aftermath of punches going on here.

Kimiko shuffled in her seat, placing her hands in her lap and faced forward, setting her attention to the lockers even though she wanted to keep her eyes on Ayane. She was aware that staring at the other girl might not be the best idea at the moment… though that was the extent of her knowledge for a situation like this. Generally she solved most of her problems by punching them, so confronted with this scene was a bit out of her wheelhouse.

"Why do you want to be alone?" Kimiko asked slightly quieter as if the two were sharing secrets. Every so often, despite her best efforts she would glance over at Ayane for just the smallest peek before facing forward again. "Were you c- urm are you upset?" She really was clueless, a hapless bystander wandering into a minefield with a stick looking to clear a safe path.

Stupid questions after stupid questions... Why did she even care? Ayane watched as Kimiko quickly diverted her gaze away, keeping her from staring at the smaller woman's swollen, tearful face... a nice gesture if a shallow one. The last thing (right next to talking) Ayane wanted to do was to be gawked at... her humiliation observed and BURNED into the memories of the people watching... That kind of stuff wouldn't come out with ANYTHING. Not even brain-bleach would release that stain. Ayane, however, wouldn't break eye-contact, her gaze hardening... softening... then hardening again, the woman seemingly unsure how to FEEL about any of this... Kimiko didn't seem to want to rub it in... She wasn't laughing at her, poking her or even outright attacking her right now. Hell, she might've been painfully blunt and stupid about it... but the questions she asked and the tone she was taking... it seemed to indicate she cared... at least a little...

Great. Now she felt like an asshole for thinking badly of her before...

"N-no... I'm not...crying..." Ayane muttered, quickly rubbing her eyes, doing her best in the face of futility to hide the obvious evidence to the contrary. She might as well had been trying to hide her foot-prints with bright red paint for how much good it did her, the brawler's denial doing little to hide her overt expression of distress.

...An uncomfortable silence would fall between them if Kimiko said nothing, a few minutes of agonizing quiet hitting them like a hammer... before Ayane spoke once more...

"...That was stupid... I can't believe I lost like that... You just... laid on me... Everyone's probably just laughing..."

Oh thank God. She wasn't sure what she would have done it Ayane had actually been crying. Emotional baggage wasn't a huge thing for her, or her family really. It wasn't like children where you could make some funny faces or give them candy to stop them from crying. At least she didn't think so. Kimiko let out a sigh of relief, taking the other girls blatant falsehood as absolute truth. To her there was no real reason to lie about something like that, so of course there was a different explanation.

"Hm? Oh… yeah I can't believe it either. Wrestling is pretty weird, right? Sorry about that though. I didn't mean to cut our right so short like that, it just sort of happened when I wanted you to stop hitting me." Kimiko kicked her feet a bit, trying not to think too much about the pain still pulsing through her sides any time she turned to much in one direction.

"Laughing? I don't think so. I was out there for longer than you were since you ran off. People seemed pretty entertained by the whole thing but I didn't ask any of them what they thought though. Should I have? Is that normal?" The brunette slicked her fingers through heir hair, letting her hand rest of the back of her neck.

"It was pretty silly in hindsight how it all ended, but that sorta stuff just happens sometimes." Kimiko scooted slightly closer to Ayane, giving her a small nudge in the arm with her elbow. "You aren't upset because of that, are you? You are a crazy tough girl. I should know more than anyone else in AFW. You don't really have anything to feel bad about, especially not in our fight. You were great."

Ayane found herself at a loss for words as Kimiko laid out her view of things, admitting that she, in fact, as just as in shock over her win as she was! The smaller brawler looked over at her former opponent and tilted her head, observing her curiously as she admitted that her pin wasn't even meant to really get her... Only to STOP her from pounding her in! Surprising... She didn't even WANT to win just then... She just... she wanted to keep the fight going... Ayane could only stare in silence for a while, her legs slipping off the bench, dangling just as Kimiko's were... opening herself up a little more...

When Ayane remarked how everyone was just LAUGHING at her now... Kimiko simply dismissed the idea! While they were having fun, enjoying the bout, it wasn't like they were enjoying themselves at HER expense! They came to see someone win! Not to see someone lose! Again, Ayane stared at Kimiko, the woman who had beaten her... humiliated her... all those negative feelings about her dropping away one by one... She couldn't help but smile slightly...

"Heh..." She smirked softly, a little grin cracking through that mask of distress... Kimiko commented that Ayane was a CRAZY good fighter, that she was GREAT... the woman's smile growing wider and wider... It was like she knew just what to say...

"I am pretty good, aren't I...?" She snickered softly, nudging right back at the taller woman with the offering of a friendly grin. Her expression wasn't the dark, brooding face of a girl who had been rendered useless by her crowd... but the smile of an exhausted warrior that had been beaten by a worthy foe. Ayane would offer her hand out to Kimiko for her to take, a small competitive glint in her eye.

"You're right... I guess I just don't like to lose..." Ayane admitted with a light chuckle... telling only the partial truth. There was no WAY she was gonna say how badly it actually hit her. "...Thanks, Kimiko... You're... a good person."

"Mhmm!" Kimiko gave Ayane a firm nod confirming that she thought her fellow fighter was pretty remarkable. Their bout alone had gotten the brunette even more pumped about joining AFW. If one of her fellow rookies was this tough, just how badass were all the champions?! She could hardly contain her goes knowing so many more tough battles were to come.

"A lot of people don't like to lose… or get hit… or eat broccoli. That sorta stuff has to happen eventually to everyone though. It's just part of life. Like… when I was young I scraped my knees up all the time or fell off stuff. It hurt then, I may have cried about it at the time. I don't really think about it now cause I've moved past it. I scraped my knee when landing a really impressive jump or I jumped really far off the swings and face planted." Kimiko put her hands together, idly twiddling her thumbs as she just said whatever seemed to pop into her head.

"The point is, so what if you lost tonight? There are going to be other nights to win. When I look back to our match, do you think I am going to think of that time I fell on somebody and won a wrestling match or am I going to think of that time first time I met my friend Ayane." She reached out, taking the other girls hand in her own to give it a firm shake… though she winced a bit at the motion. Everything hurt.

Well... even if it was true that Ayane hadn't been bawling her eyes out like some kid who face-planted off a swing (as Kimiko so described with all the elegance that could be expected), the girl certainly was now! She wasn't breaking down or anything... but this kind of... blunt-club-level kindness that this girl was giving to her, despite having JUST MET AND STUFF... it touched a lot deeper than she could've ever expected! Kimiko was really the one she wanted to impress out there in the ring, the person she wanted to have look up to HER as a fighter! Out of EVERYONE involved in her fights... it was her opponents that were the real score when it came to approval. To have the people you punch out aspire to be like you, to have the people you fight want to learn from you... THAT was the real reward and stuff! Yeah, it was a bit of an ego-builder but... to be the big-sister is... like... the noblest role out there!

...and Kimiko was doing everything she could to keep it like that!

It would be the very last thing that girl would say that would stick with Ayane... for... a long time, the woman remarking that she would look back on their match NOT was a goofy little win or the day she would BEAT her... But the day she met a new and awesome friend... God, if her words were fucking projectiles, she would've shot Ayane right through the heart, the PANG within her chest almost simulating what could have been! Her eyes fluttered lightly at that last comment, her hand suddenly grasped as Kimiko took it, Ayane's eyes tearing up once more....

"I.... H...heh... You're weird, Kimiko...." The smaller brawler muttered, her gaze flicking back down at the floor, finding it hard to meet the eyes of such an innocent. Small dropletts fell from her lashes, lightly splashing upon the tile below... Fresh tears of... almost joy and release rolling down her cheeks. "....Thanks, though..."