Friendly Face to Face

Nami was watching Natsuko with wide eyed admiration, looking for any and every bit of approval she could get from her best friend. She had worked hard to get here... well reasonably hard. She had trained a whole bunch, gave up doing things she loved like sleeping a whole lot and playing video games. Pure sacrifice for her craft of... professional wrestling? She was pretty sure that is what this stuff was called. Something was wrong though, she could feel that awkward tension in the air. Natsuko opened her mouth and lofted a finger as if she were about to lectured about not finishing her geometry homework or something. Nami was wilting before the other girl's very eyes. Drooped shoulders, withering expression. She had come out here to kick ass and take names like the old times... or at least cheer on Natsuko and taste success vicariously through her.

"...Eh? R-really?" Nami blinked with clear surprise, going cross eyed for a moment as she peered up at the hand plopped on her head. That big smile of hers returned, though it seemed as though that momentary doubt had been enough to shake her resolve just a bit. Even though Natsuko's words of encouragement meant the world to her, there was some truth to all the cautionary words that came before it and now the slightest hint of pandering. Nami wasn't exactly the sharpest when it came to these sorts of things, but she new how to do basic mathematics and not everything was adding up. She always felt like she was a few steps behind, riding on the other girl's coattails. She had never minded before though. They had a shared sense of accomplishment when they had fought side by side. Natsuko's victories were hers as well. But she needed to be better now, stronger. Competition was going to be tougher here than the hall of their high school. These were professional fighters, not after school delinquents.

"Its okay. You've been busy." Nami remarked soberly, self aware with just how needy she could be. She had told herself before coming out here that she would do better... but being around Natsuko made it easy to fall into so habits. She was just so cool and pretty much everything Nami wanted to embody. "Maybe you were just... scared I'd kick your butt!" Nami suddenly sprang to life, swinging one of her arms up and around to try and capture Natsuko's head under her arm and apply the same sort of headlock she had been placed in moments ago.

As undeniably evident as it was from taking the most split-second of glimpses at the Arisawa siblings from side to side...as much as she idolized the big lug growing up, Natsu was most definitely not her brother. Who'd become her surrogate Father in a way and was the stalwart bedrock that kept the family from teetering out of control. She didn't have his nose, his chin, his propensity to walk around barefoot...or the heart to crush her bestie's spirits and become the prototypical finger-wagging grown-up. Her brother Goto had given Natsu herself the same spiel when she'd signed up for Tension without their consent, and it hit like a ton of bricks seeing how little faith he had in her not to be just another punching bag flung around the ring. It only made it that much tougher to digest when he was seemingly proven right after she'd taken the loss in her first match before she'd manage to scratch and claw her way out of obscurity. Well...Natsu was going to try a different approach. One more her speed and in-keeping with her sunny demeanor. Encouraging support~...Their might still come a day when Natsu has to tell it to her bestie straight, and when that time comes she'll woman up and do it. But for now she wanted to be there for a close fr-

"WhaHey!!!!" Natsu's blurted out before her bestie used her moment of solemn introspection to clamp on a firm side headlock and appreciatively lighten up the mood considerably. She squirmed and struggled from feeling just how much stronger her friend's gotten with time, flicking up a foot behind her and tugging at Nami's arm with just a twinge of awkwardness tossed into the mix considering she was nuzzling up against her bestie's bosom. Still, the schoolgirl was not about to suffer the indignity of being noogied in front of an (imaginary) world-wide audience. Using her time in Tension and experience spent in the same head-cranking position, she'd manage to wriggle out of the side headlock but hang onto Nami's arm and wrench it behind her in a hammerlock. "Nyuh-uh~...It'll still take you a thousand years of training to reach my level, young padawan~..." Natsu quipped like an anime badguy with a mocked villainous tone of voice before releasing her compadre and start bobbing up on her tip-toes. "Heh, looks like you're in the mood for a quickee spar right here and now. Whaddya say we have fun like old times, huh? First one to get knocked on their butt has to buy the loser a victory ice cream." Natsu suggested while limbering up, taking her fighting stance once Nami had agreed to their old stipulations or added any of her own.

Nami was nearly as surprised as Natsuko when she managed to wrench h r down into a headlock, fumbling her grip to lock the move in. She had a moment of unparallelled pride that for once she had managed to get the upper hand in one of their exchanges. All there was next to do was seal the deal with a dreaded noogie. Her tongue poked out of the corner of her lips as she leaned into the hold, freeing a hand to bring it up with Jared knuckles, prime to deal the winning blow. It was All her friend needed though to slip from the uncinched hold, turning it about on her. She let out a help of surprise, driven up onto her tippy toes to release the pressure from her arm being twisted behind her.

She stumbled forward on release, taking an unbalanced hop to keep from falling. She whirled around, adopting a crane style pose that in no way confirmed to any martial art she was actually practiced in, facing down Natsuko's claims of being undefeatable with a long "choooooiiii" and a roll of her head. The offer of a spar though made her drop the act, blinking. "Huh, really?"

"I'd love some ice cream. It'll be even sweeter when you are buying… with extra toppings." Nami bounced from foot to foot, brimming with excitement at the idea. It had been over a year now that they had last seen each other. She had no doubt gotten better since her schoolyard days. The brunette reached up, tugging at her straps of her overalls to slide other arms out from them. She let the slack of the top hand free at her waist, acting now as just shorts as she rolled her shoulders with free range of motion.

"First one whose butt hits the ground. Got it." She gave her bestie a firm nod, separating her legs to slide her sneakers over the grass, wronging a fighting stance not terribly different than the one Natsuko used. "Ready when you are… to lose!"

The second Natsuko gave any indication she was good to go, Nami would charge forward. Unlike her paste jumps into the tray though, she didn't dive for Natsuko or even unleash a flurry of untrained punches. Instead she kept a safe distance, using her long legs to drive her offense. With a strong kick she swept her leg out, trying to catch either of Natsuko's legs to take her off her feet. Failing that she continued with her momentum into a spin, planting her first leg to send out her other behind her with a stiff side kick to her friends stomach.

Natsu had a sneaking suspicion that Nami was hankerin' for a good old fashioned throwdown between friends. She seemed to be way more hyperactive than usual with tons of pep in her step too, but Natsu figured her bestie had something goin here. Now was actually the perfect time to not only get reacquainted and catch up on old times, but see just how much farther the other's come along in their martial arts training since being separated. Granted it's only been about a year give or take, but in just those few months Natsu's been through up's and down's and turn around's...she definitely thinks she's upped her fighting game since they had their teary-eyed farewell. Still...that was the first time that Natsu could remember that Nami caught her so swiftly in a headlock like that. Granted it was when the schoolgirl was in mid thought-bubble...but it was still startling to be caught off-guard by her and very nearly on the cusp of getting noogied by her pony-tailed compatriot. No way was Natsu letting that happen. The spry schoolgirl unzipping her jacket and wrapping the sleeves in a knot around her waist, revealing her red leather sports bra underneath as she tightened the bandana on her head as well.

"Hope you brought some cash today...Just remember that I like sprinkles on my sundae~..." Natsu winked with a chipper smile before adopting her own honed fighting stance, a more lax and limber version of her brother's with gloved fists clenched and balanced off of her heels so she wasn't flat-footed. The sound of grass crunched and crackled beneath their feet as Nami, kinda predictably, came in swinging out of the gate first. Nattie smiling competitively watching her sparring partner's movements to see the low sweepkick coming and take a sidestep with one leg to avoid it, but opting to block the impending side kick with her retracting arm so it only smacked the side of her bicep. Natsu getting a taste of much more fierce those kicks of Nami's have become as she shirked it off of her arm. "Yeouch...not bad, Nami. See you've been keeping up with your training. So what else ya been up to? I tell ya I got this job at an arcade up in Akihabara? I'm thinking bout wrestling in my hostess outfit one day, just to see if it helps promote the place." Natsu offered some light-hearted banter to keep things chill between them, but not without shuffling forward with a leaping jump to attempt to drive her knee into her bestie's breadbasket.

Hooking Natsuko with her sweep had been wishful thinking, but the type she had hoped would come true to set her up perfectly for what came next. Failing that, she followed through with with throwing a stiff side kick to try and buckle her friend one might blow! She had put her weight into it, expecting some to dig deep into a soft midsection rather than a stoney block. The impact played havoc with her balance as expectations were dragged through the mud, making her stumble back to keep from falling herself.

“Like that? I told you I’m tougher than ever… I have been trying to find an apartment, so that’s something?” Nami found her footing again, nervously chewing on her lower lip as she circled her friend, trying to find a good in to attack again. She had really hoped to make headway with her opening attack to get the upper hand, not she found herself worried about getting tagged with a counter attack if she tried again.

“Wait, you are working a job on the side too?” Nami blinked, trying to comprehend the level of dedication of her best friend. Not only did she wrestle professionally, but she had a second job? Nami’s own ventures into the world of gainful employment had been a rocky one, each ending in disaster. She was fired from a retail job after tackling a customer for attempted shoplifting… How was she supposed to know that the water bottle they were drinking from came from their purse? It was a mistake ANYONE could have made. Then there was the fast food job. They were short staffed and she got distracted covering the take out window. There may have been a small fire with some fries, but she was diligent and tried to put the fire out. How was she suppose to know dumping water on a grease fire was bad? That was a problem with their training routine!

Nami snapped from her internal lamenting of past paychecks when Natsuko came surging forward. Instinctively she winced, turning her head slightly away from the coming blow. Her arms snapped down, crossing at the forearms to intercept the knee strike. It was jarring all the same, throwing her briefly up onto her tiptoes from the force alone. With a small hop she dipped back, fixing her footing to stay loose.

“Does that mean you can get me free tokens?” Nami shook out her arms, working some of the sting out them as she bobbed in place, mindful to be ready to dip away should Natsu try to close in while her arms were down.  When she was good and ready, Nami put up her dukes again and threw out a few shadow boxing punches, warning of the storm to come. “Is there a friend and family discount or…” Nami turned to the side, taking a few quick steps backwards before circling back towards Natsuko. Two long strides then a leap from the ground sending a few stray strands of grass fluttering. Nami tucked one leg in, shooting the other out as she soared at Natsuko with a flying kick meant to hit her right in the chest.

Not to totally shatter Nami's starstruck admiration of Natsu after she'd professed to having taken on a side-gig in addition to her grappling day job...but Natsu's main reasoning behind suiting up at her local arcade was a decision born more out of necessity and adversity than anything else. That first loss really set her back something awful, and she was relegated to laundry duty and off television house shows whenever she could step one sneakered foot into the ring again. The schoolgirl wasn't exactly raking in the dough at that cavernous low-point in her career, and times were getting kinda tough back when that was her only source of income. She'd just about had her fill of eating television dinners when she decided to step into the arcade and apply for what turned out to be a hectic job at the beginning. Making announcements over the speakers, organizing fighting game tournaments, and fixing the claw machines whenever they were on the fritz. Luckily the other girls there were super helpful and eventually she was promoted to assistant manager. Although everyone there insists she's capable of becoming a full-fledged manager one day...which was flattering, but not quite the future she had envisioned for herself.

She'd be way more interested in continuing to pursue her fighting lifestyle and hone her techniques, which allowed her to thrust her knee into the shielding arms of her bestie rather than the tender stomach behind them. Which was cool, she'd manage to rattle Nami a little bit and have her start shuffling backwards. And remind Nami that the schoolgirl brawler also has some power packed behind her kicks as well. "Nyope. Sorry, no freebies. Company policy. But I can get ya some free swag we have in the back one of these days." Natsu offered while limbering up on the balls of feet, shaking the arm that had blocked Nami's kick to relieve it of the same stinging soreness that her bestie was dealing with. She exhaled through her pursed lips, reaffirming her fighter's stance with a fired up smirk while tossing in a curling index finger to signal to Nami to bring it. And bring it she did.

Natsu uncharacteristically taking a few retreating steps backwards from Nami's offense bull-rush, a probable first for her in all their numerous spars. But it was a nick to Natsu's pride that came with enough space and time to react to a jump kick straight out of an action movie. A spinning rotation on Natsu's part kicking up blades of grass and the errant pebble or two as she deftly avoided the kick by motioning to the side as Nami flew by, the schoolgirl's bandana whirling about in the wind until she came to a stop. When she sprinted forward to her BF from behind and locked in a standing version of her Sailor Strangle sleeperhold. Hugging her bestie close and torquing it in once or twice to being Nami to her tip toes as she her head affixed between Natsu's forearm and bicep, but leaving her capable of chatting back. Even if it was through wheezing breaths. "Pretty cool move, Nami~...But I’m betting you're done for now. And if you're looking for an apartment, you can always just crash at my place for as long as you want. It's the least I can do for not keeping in touch with ya~..."

"I like free. Free is good." Nami remarked with each bouncing stride, forced to go a little extra distance due to her retreating friend. Her last leaping stride was a heavy one, displacing the dirt in a puff of dry earthy mist as she kicked off the ground. Tucking her left leg in the right threw itself out with toes pulled back to the heavens lead with her heel. Arms raised to the side for balance, bent at the wrist her hand were hooked like mantis claws. Had someone on hand taken a picture of the moment, the sunbeam that briefly sheened off her overall buttons would have made for a perfect moment to freeze frame… mostly because it had been done before, in "Revenger of the Unliving Masters: Zombie Impact Fists Ignite".

The difference, to the discerning movie aficionado was Riki Tai, the protagonist of the feature had defeat the forth undead master via decapitation with this very kick… Nami however managed to only slice the air in twain. Something that sounded more impressive than it really was. The exhilarating rush of wind in her hair and flapping of her loose overall straps wasn't enough to salvage the bungled move, and she landed with a stumbled set of hope and flailing arms, breaking the illusion of master like a glass pane dropped out of a third story window.

She made for easy prey with Natsuko slipping up behind her like the schoolyard ninja she was, cranking Nami backwards with one leg kicked up and a wobble for balance. The young girl let out a yelp with each crank, forced back into the exact position her friend wanted. Her palms clapped at the forearm and elbow of Natsu's arm, trying to jostle the locked in limb from cutting off her flow of blood or air. A devious trap indeed, but she couldn't give in so easily, even as she croaked to respond.

"Crashing with y-you would be… ech… awesome." Her shakey words slipped out through grit teeth, balancing as she was on her tip toes. Chest puffed out, back arched, there was nowhere left to go… in theory. Pushing off the ground with the last of her footing, her legs kicked themselves as high as she could manage, making Natsuko bear the full brunt of her weight. Before it became too much to hold to risk being dropped, Nami snapped her legs back down to the ground to try and swing momentum back into her favor. If all went according to plan, she would plant her sneakers solidly on the ground and lean her body forward with all her momentum to try and flip Natsuko over her shoulder.

Movie Night At The Arisawa Residence was one of those nostalgic callbacks to simpler and more easygoing days for the dueling schoolgirl brawlers. In fact, it only started becoming a Saturday night tradition right around the time Nami began frequenting their household so much that eventually she procured her own house key...somehow, and it just made more sense for Nami to leave her sleeping bag in Natsu's room rather than having her lug it to and fro. Goto, of course, courteously obliged like the stoic gentleman he was...even if it started becoming somewhat sitcom-esque with how often she frequented their domicile with a glide of their sliding doors and stacks of monster movie DVD's in her hands. To his own internal exasperation considering he'd always preferred that Natsu should partake in more ladylike hobbies, not scarfing down bowls of popcorn to glorious B movie schlock while the schoolgirls inserted their own Mystery Science Theater 3000 style commentary track. Which meant that Natsu would remember that zombie master decapitating stance anywhere. She just wished Goto was here so he could that see all those hours of late-night binge watching come in pretty darn handy.

"Heh, Revenger...always was one of your favorite flicks. I still remember...me tryin to peel your fingers off of yer eyes during our Nightmare On Maple Lane marathon. Oh, but I got a one bedroom, so yer gonna haveta crash on the couch if ya don't wanna dust off the old sleeping bag." Natsu's throttling sleeperhold made deliberations tougher, but was definitely getting the job down as Nami squirmed and struggled for some semblance of relief. She hugged her bestie tightly with renewed torque's that lifted Nami's feet off the ground each time before settling her back down, at times poking her head over Nami's shoulder to try and spot how fatigued her bestie was getting. Partially out of concern for not wanting to kayo Nami, but also to determine when was the right time to just sweep her legs out from under her and have her go splatting back first to the freshly cut grass. Except that Nami than opted to go vaulting backward in Natsu's direction to her yelping chagrin, the schoolgirl taking a step back to properly balance both herself and now all of Nami's weight before her friend catapulted Natsu overhead in a huge swing of momentum.

"WhaHo!!!!" Natsu was inelegantly chucked forward from the hip throw with only basic instinct stopping her backside from touching the floor, for now shakily balanced in a bit of a crab-walking posture with one hand propped behind her. A fidgety and dizzied schoolgirl cautiously taking her time in attempting to turn herself around and rest one knee on the grass before wearily getting back to her feet. Meanwhile, a fair number of children had began congregating around the awesome street fight taking place on this sunny day. The majority cheering them on equally...except for the kid on the slide Nami had shooed away. Booing her vehemently with childish taunts being tossed in regards to Nami's hygiene.

She wasn't great with submissions, that was a fact both girls knew even before they considered the term to even be a thing. Back in the day when they would play fight, it normally always ended with Nami trapped in a headlock and saying "Uncle". Natsu really didn't even have to try back then,  the gap in their skill might as well have been the expanse of space from the earth to the moon before Nami actually started training to fight for real. Some things however, never really change even with time and improvement. She was small and nimble, made for avoiding the fray not becoming entrenched in it. While the spunky brunette had learned a few new tricks, it was clear that the sleeper hold had presented her with a serious problem, one that might have done her in if not for her spur of the moment acrobatics.

"I wasn't scared, I just got popcorn butter in my eyes." Nami croaked on shaky leg as she hunched forward, resting her palms on her knees for support. She was lying of course. The over the top gore and body horror perpetrated by the fork fingered hands of Jeremy Skulker as he haunted the dreams of every teenager on Maple Lane had left her positively terrified. Their weekend sleepover had become a double all night that ended with Nami freaking out and accidently hitting Goto with a broom so he wouldn't steal her soul… she still felt bad about that. It was a hash memory, mostly due to the exhaustion but she was over it now. She just disliked cocktail forks for other unrelated reasons.

"Also the couch is fine." Nami huffed, pushing herself upright to the surprising sight of their audience. It was like they were back in school again… only taller and all the other kids were shorter. Yeah… these kids were way younger and had really questionable parentage if they were being allowed to watch two strange girls fight in a playground. Still, it felt familiar. Putting out her chest a bit, strutting before all of her new fans, trying to do the impossible and look like a badass in overalls. With a flourish brush of her hand she swatted her long braid from where it dangled to over her shoulder, striking a pose for effect. The one sour note that made her hair stand up on end  and teeth grind however was the very distinct boo from the back of the children. With narrowed eyes she scouted him out, making a disgusted face of her own right back to him. The little turd.

"Go on and get out of here you little weirdo!"

Nami wasn't great with submissions, this was a fact Natsu was acutely familiar with due to their rampant roughhousing and sparring drills from the aforementioned sleepovers. Unfortunately, it kinda felt like insider knowledge Natsu was beginning to feel guilt-ridden about taking advantage of considering your average everyday opponent wouldn't know anything about that. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was have Nami accuse her of cheating or something with that pouting face of hers. But the fact that her BFF was really bringing her A-game here meant that the schoolgirl would only be dishonoring her sparring partner if she didn't reply in kind. Hmm...that was most definitely Natsuko's brother talking just than. Sometimes Goto's teachings just get rooted inside of her head and tended to resurface right in the middle of a fight and when she quite frankly needed them the most.

...Natsu stifled a giggle from reminiscing further about those sleepover's and her poor brother getting a faceful of broom when all he was trying to do was check up on them. The flashback to the good old days suddenly became a flashforward back to reality though when she wound up being practically judo-flipped over Nami's shoulder for what would have been the spar's shock finish had Nattie not ended up planting her feet on the ground first. She wavered in a perilous position as if she were on the cusp of losing a limbo competition on a cruise-liner before scarcely managing to flip herself over and take a knee. *Sheesh...that was waaaay too close. Nami really has actually improved since we last met. Huh...I wonder if she's even noticed it yet though...* Natsu perked her head up to make sure her bestie wasn't barreling towards her for her next offensive volley, but instead took notice of what had just been outside of her periphery vision.

All of the children that were previously scrapping knees, whisking down slides, and scaling jungle gyms had all of their hyperactive attention honed in on their spar, each one rallying behind their favorite as Nami began enthusiastically playing to them. Well, except for that one kid in the back who kept blowing raspberries at Nami. Nattie raised an eyebrow and wondered what that was all about. Somewhere in the middle of it all though, she imagined Nami in a genuine wrestling ring getting all that applause and adulation in a cascade of flashing camera lights. A part of her feeling immense pride for her bestie...but another part of her getting her competitive fire reignited at the thought. Natsu pushing off from her knee in a sprinting dash towards her friend still chastising that booing kid in the back, a nimble hop having her perched atop Nami's shoulders with her thighs strongly tightened around her head with ankles crossed. A twisting flourish intending to hurricanrana her amigo clear off of her feet and crash land her backside first on to the soft patch of grass.