Kawaiis Getting Coffee

Harmony was so kind, making such a big deal out of Claire's comparatively minor aches and pains. Claire was surprised by just how sweet this girl was—she really lived up to her name! "Oh, no, it really isn't that bad, don't worry. I get hurt in every match I'm in. I think we all do. Sometimes...it's a lot more painful than this," she admitted. "Or more embarrassing."

The young girl's mood seemed to turn around, as she did a little celebration over her victory, then, when Claire asked her whether she was trained in any martial arts, she practically choked on a cookie. Claire jumped to her feet when Harmony started to cough, but the girl managed to swallow it before it became lodged. "Oh, phew..." Claire sighed, relived. "Please, make sure to chew..."

And that Harmony did, but not before revealing that she didn't feel prepared at all for this. Claire shook her head and held her hands up. "You're much better prepared than I was. I had gotten into a couple of minor slapfights at school before I joined AFW. I wasn't even an athlete!" she said, making sure Harmony knew just how much further ahead she was compared to the young teenage Claire of years ago.

"And, you know...if you fight other kawaiis, many of the matches won't be so physical," she pointed out.

Chew your food. It was sound advice. Ideally, the first of many great tips that would come her way care of the champion... Truth was, Harmony felt like she wss going to need them all.

"In every match?" She asked, repeating Claire's words. "How do you.. Deal with it? The pain I mean. And... The humiliation." She wondered how she had gotten through her own trials. And yet... She had. "I'd like to see some of your matches! Maybe we can watch them together sometime! You don't think it's strange that I haven't yet, do you?" She smiled sheepishly, not wanting to offend the kind girl across from her. "I bet I'd learn a lot!" She added.

She nearly choked a second time as Claire confessed her relative inexperience when she started. However! She had chewed! Claire's advice was already paying off!

"Wait really? Then... Maybe there's hope for me after all!" She smiled as. Energy and confidence resurged within her. "I'm not afraid of bigger girls. I'm tough! But... I'm young. And well... I didn't know I'd actually be fighting... Or showing those parts of me."

Her cheeks flared up pinker than their cookies... And she was certainly a little embarrassed. But for some reason. In front of this lovely girl... She felt something else. A tickle... Just below her belly button. A tension that she couldn't explain... But it made her legs rub together under the table.

Claire was slightly surprised Harmony hadn't seen any of her matches—she wasn't so vain as to expect them to be required viewing, but Claire personally studied up on pretty much every new kawaii girl who came into the system. So she supposed that, for her, knowing what they looked like and how they fought was a given. Harmony had a lot in common with her, but she was younger, and they obviously didn't think exactly the same! And there was no problem at all with that.

"It's not strange," Claire informed her. "There's probably a lot you can learn, though there will also be a lot of...strange stuff, if you're not prepared for it." That was probably quite an understatement. "I don't fight larger girls too often, myself. I'm more drawn to girls of my own size, you know. I'll never be able to beat a giant, so there is no reason to put myself through the stress and heartache of trying. I am content to be the master of my own domain!"

She was munching on one of the sandwiches between sentences, while Harmony still seemed to be focused on the cookies. When Claire finished her sandwich, she did finally allow herself one of the cookies, a light blue one. She crunched it happily.

Harmony had been so enthused about the cookies that she'd actually forgotten about the sandwiches entirely! A slight she was eager to resolve! She snatched up one of the cute sammies and began to eat as she listened to Claire. Gone was the fervor with which she had been attacking the cookies. The rumble in her tummy had subsided and no longer provoked her to eat like a barbarian. Cute, dainty bites accompanied by cute dainty sips of her Americano.

"Strange stuff?" She asked from behind the rim of her mug. Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised after what had been done to her by Aphrodite... But she couldn't help but inquire. "Drawn to?" The words lingered on the tip of her tongue. There was something sweet and hopeful about those words. She then nodded nervously, doing her best to cover up her gaff. "That makes sense! I... Technically beat a larger girl." She sighed, her breath causing ripples in the coffee. "But... Well you saw what happened. I think I have a lot more growing to do before I can even consider facing even girls my own size." She frowned a bit at the thought. She wondered how pathetic she must have looked in that match... And reflecting on the fact that Claire had watched it made her heart sink just a bit. Heck... She had gone out there without a costume even...

"Say... Claire." She tapped a finger on the rim of her coffee mug pensively. Her eyes turned towards the front of the cafe, quietly bustling with customers.

"Do you think... I even stand a chance?" She didn't specify to what. That notion in itself was enough. It echoed her darkest feelings... A chance... At anything. She was alone for the first time in her life... It felt like she was drifting on an inner-tube in the middle of the ocean.

Woefully unequipped as she drifted through an alien world of ill-weather and alien predators. Her tiny hands balled into fists on the table... A reaction to her anxiety.

Harmony's dainty handling of the sandwich was adorable, and perfectly fitting to her personality. But things took a darker turn as Harmony's mood seemed to sour, and she let her eyes drift off, her coffee and her sandwich not quite finished, musing about whether she had a chance. Claire felt a pang of sympathetic sadness for Harmony, as the girl was clearly struggling with her self-worth right now. Claire didn't like to see that. It didn't affect many girls in this business, but those it did affect got hit hard, and rarely lasted.

And it would be such a shame to see such a cute, promising youngster go because she had all of these unnecessary doubts about herself.

"Stand a chance?" Claire repeated, setting down her own coffee and looking straight into Harmony's eyes. "Yes, I do. Of course I do." She leaned forward, letting Harmony look back into her blue eyes and see how serious she was being right now. "You drew just about the worst possible first match that you could have...and you survived it. Now you're in, and you get to start calling some of your own shots. If you can find it in you to stand up for yourself, they will listen."

She let out a soft breath through her nose. "You already have a much better chance than I did when I started. As I said before, most of my experience was in my head before I got here. Nothing could have prepared me for wedgie wars or getting spanked half to death...but being an athlete like you would have made the process a lot easier. So I envy you that."

She couldn't help but feel distracted by two words Claire had uttered. 'Wedgie Wars' she mouthed in surprise. Surely it was just a cute name. She shook her head, pushing away the haze of emotions conjured by the concept. She instead refocused upon the rest of what Claire had to say. Encouraging, kind words. Words that meant more than Claire could possibly imagine... Or... Perhaps she could. Perhaps there was a kind veteran who had looked out for Claire when she was a budding star.

Harmony's lip trembled and tears began to build in her eyes. She fought back the urge to cry, even though her expression looked like she was on the brink. "C-claire..." Her name slipped out from between her lips in reverence. She was so pretty. And powerful. And successful. And on top of all of it... Kind. "T-thank you so much!" Her hands shot out across the table, grabbing one of Claire's. She sandwiched that hand between her own and held it tightly. She kept it within her warm, soft grasp as if she was afraid Claire would simply float away if she let go. And that was because she couldn't bare to look at the wonderful woman across from her as the next words fell out of her mouth.

She found an especially interesting piece of woodwork on the wall and meekly asked. "I want to know how to use my body... C-can you... Can you teach me? Can you teach me how to use my body!?" She knit her eyes tightly in shame. Claire hadn't come all this way to be burdened with a rookie. Especially one who couldn't throw a simple drop kick. It was presumptuous of Harmony to ask... But throughout their conversation, Claire had been a light in the dark for Harmony. They were so similar in so many ways... And if Claire could do it... Maybe she could teach Harmony how to as well.

At the time... Harmony hadn't quite understood the gravity of what she was asking. Or... How appropriate her strange choice of words had been.

Claire never really thought of herself as someone to look up to, that sort of pretty, professional mentor that some of the other veteran girls—particularly those in the full-sized Friction roster—seemed to have matured into. But the way that Harmony looked at her, she was starting to feel that way. The younger girl looked like she was going to cry, as a matter of fact. Claire didn't want to make her cry...

She didn't cry, but what she did was just as moving, as she grabbed one of Claire's hands and made an impassioned plea for Claire to train her in the use of...well, her body. Claire blushed slightly at the words Harmony chose, though she knew that the girl didn't mean anything untoward by it. Claire took a breath and put a smile on her face, trying to project confidence and calm rather than her usual matter-of-factness. "I don't know nearly as much as you seem to think I do—but what I do know, I would be happy to teach you," she agreed.

"The girls in the Kawaii League won't be as strong as your first opponent. You really will have plenty of advantages. The problem with kawaiis is that we tend to be a pretty smart bunch, who know how to make the most of what we can do. Sometimes it isn't pretty. I can teach you the basics, and help you prepare for that."

Harmony trembled as she awaited Claire's response. It took everything in her power to look away from the wall and at Claire. To show her she had what it took to at least face the challenge. Her heart was beating uncontrollably fast as the anxiety of Claire rejecting her flooded her mind. But then... She didn't! All of the darkness was washed away as the Kawaii Champion met her burden with a smile and some kind words. Relief replaced the anxiety, though it was no less jarring. It left her short of breath as her hand, cold and clammy from her overactive nerves, fell away from Claire's as she sighed in deep relief.

"Oh gosh! T-Thank you!" She erupted as she threw her hands up in enthusiastic celebration! She nearly knocked over her coffee in all the excitement. The mug spun precariously as the hot contents sloshed from side to side. It settled upon the edge of the table, defiant of physics as it hung over the edge!

"B-but... Where do we even start?" She asked as she leaned forward upon one elbow, bracing her chin against her open palm. Her fingers curled against her lips, her other hand taking up the daredevil coffee mug, completely ignorant to the danger it had been in. "What even are the basics?" She appraised Claire momentarily before chirping naively. "What do you think is the most important thing for me to learn?"

Harmony's gratitude truly warmed Claire's heart, though as that coffee cup spun for the edge of the table Claire felt a sharp pang of anxiety, and reached out to try to catch it before it went over. Thankfully, it settled down of its own accord, Claire's hand stopping short, her suddenly pounding heart beginning to slow again, the elder kawaii girl breathing a sigh of relief. A little part of her wondered just what she was getting into with this boisterous, enthusiastic, yet largely unsure-of-herself girl!

Harmony, totally unfazed by the near-disaster with her cup, now leaned in, propping up her head, giving Claire a tilted gaze as she asked what the basics were and how they would begin her training. "Well...we could try basic wrestling holds," Claire decided. "A Boston crab, a camel clutch, a schoolgirl pin. Easy for bigger girls to escape, but if you fight other kawaiis, they might just earn a tap if you utilize them at the right moment." She paused, then added: "And we can talk about the sorts of catty tactics you might experience. They are usually the sort of things a bully might do to you in school, if that makes sense."

But Harmony had also asked what the most important thing she had to learn was. Claire thought about it, about what Harmony's existing skillset was and about all of her own early matches and what she had learned from them. "If I had to give you one single piece of advice..." she began. "...it would be that you must learn to accept and overcome humiliation. Because it will strike over and over again as a kawaii."

Harmony nodded along with Claire's words. She pursed her lips and committed those moves to memory. She... Didn't know what they were. Not by their name. And she wondered if Aphrodite had done any of them to her... She recalled the many times she'd wanted to tap in the match. How much her back had hurt! And her neck! And her legs! And... Worst of all, she hadn't even worn proper wrestling attire. Most of the terrible positions she'd been bent into had also left her dress sliding up her legs, exposing her panties. An act that she never got used to, no matter how long the match had gone on.

By this point, her eyes had gone a little dark. It was clear to Claire that Harmony was in her own head. And while her expression was frosty, her cheeks were warm and bright red. She was embarrassed of the memory. Embarrassed wasn't the right word. '-come humiliation.' Claire's words snapped her out of her stupor as they ran parallel to her own thoughts. She worried at her bottom lip and subconsciously let out a whimper.

"H-how do you mean?" She asked, her glasses fogged up by anxiety and concern. She took them off and began to wipe them clean with a microfiber cloth that she took out of her breast pocket at the same time. She cleared her throat cutely and put them back on before Claire could answer. "I meant... Can you teach me? Please? I... Being a wrestler is really important to me!" She placed her mug back down on the table, a stand-in for punctuation.

"I want to be prepared for everything! I want to do more than suffer! I want to fight! So please!!" She reached out to take Claire's hands in her own. If she was able, then Claire would be able to tell how clammy her hands were. She was a kitten in a lion's den. She'd never make it out alive the way she was now.

She pushed out of her chair, causing it to screech on the floor and make a bit of a scene. A hand came up to the bridge of her glasses to hold them to her face as she bowed, prostrating herself before the other girl!"Please show me everything!!"