The Lady and the Ladies' Man

Cassie closed her eyes and gave Mamouru a firm squeeze. She always felt like there was an energy to a good hug, like something was given or shared or something. It was just a feeling.

She stepped back. "If I'm so ridiculous for being so nice, then why do you look so happy about it?" She asked. "I must be doing something right." She told herself as much as Mamouru.

It wasn't easy, sometimes, for Cassie to be herself. Sometimes she just felt drained... She could only be so resilient, and give so much and be so optimistic before everyone else started to get to her a little. Those were just weak days, though, weak moments. She wasn't trying to act a certain way, she was just being herself, and she'd always relied so heavily on her family to help keep her going. She was feeling the effects of not having them around.

But there was something else, too. She was feeling something she could only think were growing pains... She'd always been the baby growing up, and everyone adored her and talked about how cute she was. That was good, but she felt like she needed to start thinking about how to be an adult. A woman, and not just some cute little girl.

"Mamouru, I'll tell you something now, too." She said, and looked at the floor. "Sometimes I don't like it when people call me cute. I know what they mean and everything, I know they mean well, but sometimes it makes me feel like a little kid. I'm not a little kid anymore, and... I just want to be taken seriously. Ya know, sometimes... I'm just me, that's all, I can't be anyone else, but I don't want people to think that I'm just some dumb Carebear. Is that... weird? Am I wrong?"

She looked at him with honest eyes and waited for his input like it mattered to her. She reached up and smoothed her short orange hair down. "I mean, I kinda dress... cute, I guess. Like my hat and this shirt and... but my hat is awesome, okay, it's the awesome-est thing ever, and this shirt... I just like them. I just dress how I like and it makes me happy and maybe I make other people happy doing it, and maybe that should be enough. I dunno. I bet you didn't think we'd be having this conversation now when we left earlier, did you?" She said with a smile. "Neither did I."

Mamouru chuckled softly at Cassie's gentle rebuke. "It's true, but... that's not exactly what I meant. Still... " He let the words trail off as Cassie continued. He was a little surprised when she too began to make a confession of her own. His eyes widened a little bit but he listened carefully.

When she was done, he smiled at her. He reached out and took her hand and held onto it and looked her in the eyes. "I understand perfectly. I guess there might be times when I don't want people to look at me a certain way, when I just want to be myself but I can't. It's my own fault for projecting myself a certain way. It's a little different for you I guess, though..." He smiled. "I don't know if cute accessories help people not look at you a certain way though."

Mamouru looked down for a moment. "But never the less, I understand the struggle of perception." Mamouru looked up again. "No, certainly not. I never expected it to get past the initial walk though, honestly. Well..." Mamouru said with a nervous laugh. "I guess if you said I'd be in a hotel room with you I wouldn't have thought it impossible... but not like this. I couldn't have expected this in a million years."

Mamouru let go of Cassie's hand. "For the record, Cassie-san. I don't think of you as a cute little kid. I definitely see you as a woman. And not just..." Um..." He blushed. "Well.. Let's just leave it at that, ok?" He said and chuckled softly.

Cassie's eyes widened once she realized what Mamouru was saying, and then they were both blushing. "O-o-okay." She stuttered. She studied her feet and wiggled her toes. "Thanks."

It was quite an odd little situation Cassie found herself in, standing there in an expensive hotel room across from a boy she'd just wrestled who had just disrobed to wrestle some more, and then re-robed following Cassie's horror. A boy who confessed to being a womanizer who manipulates girls to fill his own empty sexual needs, and that alone should've repulsed Cassie but it just wasn't in her to push someone away. What an unlikely pair they were. She felt more connected to him in that moment than most other people she knew in Japan.

"Well..." She said, trying to come up with what to do next so they could stop standing there like dorks. "Did you want to watch a... uh..." She trailed off. she was so tense it felt like she couldn't turn her head.

Mercifully, there came a knock at the door. "Food!" Cassie cried, a little louder than she intended. She took off for the door and flung it open. She took two trips to carry in the broad plates of sushi and the juice, and bowed awkwardly to the man while she dug for a few bills to hand him as a tip.

She stood frozen for a moment when her eyes returned to Mamouru, and then grabbed the food and carried it to the bed. Eating in bed was a good thing.

"C'mon." She said. "Forget the movie. Let's just talk. Or not. I don't mind either way. I think not talking to you is pretty good to. I mean, like it's comfortable. It's not uncomfortable to not talk to you. Er... you know what I mean, right? It's a good thing. Come eat, I'm starving!" She sat cross legged on the bed and grabbed a pair of chopsticks.

Mamouru was about to answer when a knock at the door came. He watched as Cassie darted off and shook his head as she bounced back and forth, getting the food. Once it was all inside the hotel room, he began to meticulously pull it out and make a nice plate for the both of them. "Usually, it's better to eat at a table." He said carefully as he set a large plate with dipping sauce int he middle. "But we've gone to such lengths, it would be a shame not to make ourselves as comfortable as possible.

He then climbed onto the bed and sat int he traditional Japanese style and offered Cassie some chopsticks and a juice. There was quite a feast before them. Fatty Tuna, shrimp and some sashimi. Some rolls and lots of different dipping sauces. Mamouru smile at Cassie and made his short prayer, holding his sticks in front of him.

"Itadakimasu."

He then grabbed some Sashimi and began to eat carefully as he dipped and ate and repeated."Let's just eat for now." He said and quietly ate in slence with Cassie, occasionally sparing a glance and a soft smile for the red head. When they were finished, he removed the plate and set it aside and then looked at Cassie. He looked around nervously and then lowered his head.

"I suppose now we can just... do as we wish?" He asked. He let Cassie take the bed and he sat in a chair and looked her over. "Surely there must be more we can talk about?" He said and laughed a little nervously. "I suppose I'd prefer it to watching a move. It's like sitting in silence but with noise and I'd... rather just sit in silence..." Mamouru turned his head and blushed a little. "If it's with you." He muttered, under his breath a little.

Cassie tried to hold back, but she ate voraciously. She worked up quite an appetite over the course of the day, and the food was awesome. She didn't want Mamouru to think she was a pig, but... He probably wouldn't. Maybe he would. She wasn't one, though. Just hungry.

When she had finished, she adjusted herself into the middle of the bed as Mamouru went to his chair. "Yeah." She said awkwardly to nothing in particular. She didn't know what to do. She sort of wished Mamouru hadn't gone over there, but she wasn't going to say anything. She sat paralyzed by indecision for a moment while her eyes flicked back and forth between Mamouru and random parts of the room.

She broke into an awkward grin, dispelling some of the tension. "So..." She said, trying to come up with something good to talk about. She wanted to ask him more about his girlfriend, but though that would give the wrong impression.
"Do you have a favorite wrestler? Like in Friction. Or Tension. Or something. Other than me, of course..." She said with a silly little laugh.

"Ahhh..." Mamouru said softly as he looked over Cassie. "Hmmm... I never really thought about it too much. I've been involved in wrestling my whole life but I never thought about having a favorite. Other than Aunt Rosie..." He then blushed. "But... um... I've known her my whole life so I don't thin she counts. I more or less have to say that for fear of reprisal from both her and my mother."

He chuckled nervously. He wanted to sit over there but he had to prove to Cassie that he could be a gentleman. But WHY did he have to prove that to her? He didn't know.

"I suppose I like Mutoh-san. I find her interesting and it feels like she is tougher than her partner, Yuuki-san. I suppose it would be her if you had to pin me down. I mean, aside from you, obviously." He said with a chuckle. "You should promote yourself better, Cassie-san."

Mamouru found himself suddenly standing up. He went over tot he bed but didn't sit down. Instead, he looked down at Cassie.

"You have the wrestling skills to not have to worry about losing a match. Really, you should feel confident that most matches are yours for the taking. You just need to get the fans behind you. Do you realize how much potential you're wasting right now? If you had some killer instinct, I bet you could rise quickly. You just need a little fierceness. You're too nice int he ring. Honestly I think the best thing for you to do is to start off as a heel. Really, you could probably play yourself up as some kind of villainess. It's ok if the crowd boos at first. We want you mean and nasty. You don't have to use illegal moves but really get the feel for being a bad guy. Once you get a real feel for what it's like to not hold back int he ring, it'd be easy to do a face turn. That way you'd have a fan base already from being a heel and you would attract even more when you turned face. You'd achieve accolades for certain, better purse money and garner quite a bit of fame. You could show off your technical acumen properly that way. Honestly you could probably go for a belt too."

Mamouru looked like he was int he zone. Truthfully, he was in his wheelhouse. His mother had been a wrestling promoter all her life and it had definitely rubbed off on Mamouru. Despite being the better wrestler, Johnny was probably more cut out for wrestling life. He was more like their aunt and Mamouru was more like his own mother.

"Take that ring attire for example. It could easily be tweaked to giv you more of a superhero or super villain look. The fans love that too. Flashy stuff... it just isn't around that much these days. You could really bring it back, you know?"

Cassie hopped up to her feet when Mamouru stood up without really intending to. She just didn't know what else to do. She looked up at Mamouru, wide eyed and speechless, while he spoke.

It seemed so weird, what he was saying, but... was he right? Cassie could never be mean like that though. But... she did feel like she was too nice in the ring. It was competition, anyway, there were no hard feelings or anything. She wasn't in it to hurt people, just to compete. She wanted to win. In Jiu Jitsu competitions she always won, and she was proud of it. He parents were proud of her too. She was very good at it. Uncommonly good. She'd picked up a lot of pro wrestling in a short period of time, and she did feel like she could have a real career if only she could...

She'd feel like such a fool, though! What was she going to do, come out and insult the local baseball team and apologize to the fans all the way down the ramp? It seemed so silly, but she couldn't deny the appeal of the idea Mamouru was offering her.

She looked from the floor back up to Mamouru. He was full of surprises, really. He was smarter than she gave him credit for. She cracked a smile. He was sort of funny looking, too. In a good way.

She had no idea what to say. Without thinking, she hopped up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Immediately, she felt weird about it. It felt wrong.

"Er, s-sorry." She said. She felt weird. She took a few steps away.

Mamouru looked at Cassie with wide, hopeful eyes as he gave his spiel. Earnestly he was certain that in his hands, Cassie's career could really take off. All she needed was the right manager and a few tricks. Mamouru could easily put her on the winning track. His mind was so focused that he barely even noticed Cassie pushing herself forward.

When she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, his eyes widened and his cheeks turned bright red.

"i.. uh... er..." He said and turned his head. He could feel the dampness of her lips and touched his cheek softly.

"Cassie-san..." He said quietly and slowly swiveled her head to look back at her. "Ah... it's ok.." He then tried to ease them both with a smile. "I'll assume that means you think my advice is at least worth considering."

Mamourui the sat down next to Cassie and swallowed hard. He exhaled sharply through his nose and then fell back with his hands tucked behind his back. He looked up at the ceiling. He felt relaxed and calm and yet his stomach was knotted up tightly.

"Cassie-san." He said without looking at where she was or might have been. "If I didn't have a girlfriend..." He figured she could guess where this was going. "And things were like how they are now... um.. I guess... even if you knew everything you know about me." Mamouru suddenly shut his mouth and turned his head.

"Ahh... It's nothing..." He said and then closed his eyes. No sense in pushing things like that. Obviously there wasn't anything between them. Obviously. Cassie was just a nice girl who was willing to look past all his bad qualities. He wouldn't want to ruin that with a dumb question.

Cassie swallowed hard. She was nervous and excited and scared to death, and she was tense enough that she had to tuck her chin down against her chest to keep from quivering. Why was she so nervous? She knew why, but... that wasn't a good reason.

She sat upright on the very edge of the bed. "Oh, um, yeah." She said. They should probably just forget about... whatever question Mamouru was going to ask. "You do have a girlfriend though." Then she added barely above a whisper. "Even if you don't care about her at all."

She fidgeted with her thumbs and wiggled her toes and peered around the room at nothing at all. For some reason, as nervous as she was, she also felt just a little bit angry. She wasn't sure why.

"Why did you have to do that?" She said without thinking. "I mean why did you have to get this girlfriend that you don't care about, except to use her for money and... sex, and stuff. Don't you see what that does? It's not fair to her, and it's bad for you and everyone else." And it's not fair to me. "So, here I am, in a hotel room with a guy I can't trust. It's not fair. Why can't you just be a good guy? It's like... I dunno what, but it's... frustrating. What a waste, ya know? You're so full of stupid, bad stuff that you don't have any room left in your life for anything worthwhile. I hope you have a lot of fun coercing girls to have shallow sex with you, because that's all you'll ever have."

Cassie got up from the bed and crossed the room to the window. It wasn't like her to get so angry. She took a few slow, deep breaths and tried to calm down while taking in the view of the city lights.

Mamouru laid calmly on the bed , as calmly as he could be considering. His exterior was cool but his insides were knotted up a bit. For some reason he expected things to pass in silence. Even after Cassie's subtle acknowledgement of his aborted question.

But then suddenly, Cassie seemed to explode. Mamouru sat up, as if awoken suddenly by a large bang and looked at Cassie as she assaulted him. His eyes were wide, not in complete disbelief but sensation overload. When she was finished, Mamouru stuck his hand out as if he could reach her. His mouth hung open but he retracted it and turned his head. What defense did he have against her accusations?

It was true that he had been flirting with the idea of whether or not he really liked Cecelia or not and he did to an extent. More than he had with other girls but in the end it was still a choice to be considered and weighed over and pondered.

His hand dropped and he clenched his fingers into a tight fist, even while the rest of his body remained slack.

"Cassie-san, I..."

He lowered his head in shame. Suddenly he clenched his other hand and stood up. He looked at Cassie and his muscles tightened.

"It's not like I planned out everything to this exact moment in time, alright!" His voice was firm, and a little angry but not at her. "What do you think it was all part of my master plan to show up in a hotel room with one of the most amazing girl's I've ever met? Someone who was willing to look past how much of an asshole piece of shit I am and just be forced to suffer through it? Oh yes. My grand plot to just torture myself and make me feel guilty forever that I might just be looking at someone who I could actually care about and give a damn about and that's it. That's just it. Watching. Finally hoisted up by my own petard! It was my plan all along!"

Mamouru was shaking, he'd never felt like this before in his life. He felt like a wreck and like he had no control whatsoever and he didn't like not having control. "I know ... all that crap... alright? I have to live with it. " Mamouru was panting softly. He turned his head and flopped back onto the bed and ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a deep sigh.