A talk with a newbie manager

"Cassie's fine," Megumi said to Mamoru, "I'm a professional, do you really think I'll let her get hurt? She'll wake up soon enough." She got up, dusting off her skirt, scowling at Taylor and at Mamoru. When he turned to leave, Megumi yelled out at him again.

"Where do you think you're going? We're not done here!" she said, attempting to push by Taylor and grab Mamoru again to yank him back. But then again she didn't need to, as when Mamoru opened the door Drake was standing there, hands behind his back with a wry smile on his face.

"Leaving so soon Mr. Higurashi?" Drake said, "Stay for a moment, I've got a few things to say to you." With that, Drake gently raised his hand, beckoning for Mamoru to go back inside. Of course, with Drake blocking the door, there was only one way for him to go.

Mamouru's words hit Taylor like a ton of bricks. The color drained from her face. "I... but, I just... I..." She stammered and squirmed in the agony of it all while tears, despite her best efforts, welled up in her eyes.

When Megumi tried to push past her, Taylor shoved her sideways as hard as she could with both hands and stepped in like she was going to hit her. She didn't realize that she even had one fist cocked back, but she hesitated.

"...We're not done." She snarled, her voice breaking. When she turned from the door and saw Drake she threw up her hands in frustration but didn't bother to stick around. She put her shoulder down and body checked him out of the way and took off down the hall to go see Cassie.

What was wrong with her? Why did she immediately try to start a fight instead of going to see if her friend was actually alright?

Mamouru stopped when he saw Drake and snarled. Before he could say anything else, Taylor bullrushed passed them and out of the situation. Mamouru shook his head. "Why shouldn't I just do the same?" He asked to neither of them in particular before turning back to look at Megumi. "A few moments ago you seemed almost proud to have destroyed her, now you're acting like it's no big deal? Which is it?" He said with a glare before turning back to Drake.

"If you want to do this now, do it quickly. I don't really feel like making a scene in front of Cassie-san with Taylor, so I guess I have a few minutes to kill." He said as he turned and walked back into the middle of the room, not liking that he was between the two of them.

As Taylor attempted to rush out of there, Drake didn't budge, rather his arms came up and he grabbed her, holding her back. "I don't think you want to do that Miss Parker," he said, "Your friend is safe, she will wake up soon enough. Staying a few more minutes won't hurt. Besides, I don't think you'll want to miss this." He let her go then, if she left Drake wouldn't stop her again. He said his part.

"Now, onto you Mr. Higurashi," Drake said, "Simply put, from what the people I sent to observe you have said, you're not ready. I've got two dissenting opinions to only one supporting one." Drake walked inside the room. "Please, sit down, all of you. All this standing is making me nervous." Drake himself sat down on one of the couches, while Megumi, still glaring and Mamoru and Taylor, sat back down in the chair in front of the mirrors.

"Just to let you know Mr. Higurashi, I want you to succeed," Drake said, "You've got ambition, and your heart is in the right place. Unfortunately you're a rank amateur at this. Luckily for you, Cassie isn't on anyone's radar right now. But if you had your way, she would be enemy number 1 to an extremely large number of people both inside the league and outside, do you understand me?" He leaned forward a little bit. "Unfortunately, I've already deferred my decision to those observing you, and like I said before, it's currently 2 to 1. So where does that leave us?"

Drake pointed at Mamoru, and then pointed at Megumi. "It leaves us with, really, quite a simple solution," he continued, "You have to convince her."

"Nothing will change my decision," Megumi replied haughtily, "He would have a better shot at convincing Hitomi. And she currently hates him more than I do. And who the hell is this third person I don't know about?"

Drake waved his hand at her, telling her to be quiet. "It's not for me to say and not for you to know," he said firmly, "But anyways, back to the main point. Convincing Megumi would be quite a momumental task for you Mr. Higurashi, but I'll give you a fighting chance. Literally." His smile widened. "You will fight Megumi. If you win, I'll consider Megumi's opinion changed, and you'll have full management rights for Cassie. If you lose, well, there's not much more to say about that. How about it?"

Taylor glared at Drake with a mixture of shock and barely contained violence. She clenched her fists, but restrained herself from actually attacking him. "You're lucky I'm going to let you keep your nuts, perv. Don't ever touch me again." She said.

She hesitated as she went to walk around him and leave. She wondered for a moment if maybe he had something to say that she should hear, but her need to see to Cassie's well being quickly won. She waved off the lot of them, gave Megumi a middle finger and stuck out her tongue at her, and then took off down the hall to find Cassie.

Mamouru watched Taylor blow past Drake. He wanted to see Cassie too but his business was here for the moment. He furrowed his brow as Drake made his proposition. He scoffed atthe words when he was finished. "Oh yes, it certainly looks like you have our best interests in mind. Public enemy #1, you say? From inside and outside? That sounds like a threat to me. I don't see any other girls being threatened. Why exactly is Cassie any different just because she's trying to be a bit more aggressive? Tch."

Mamouru shook his head. "I also appreciate allowing tis decision to rest solely upon those who utterly despise me and giving me an out that involves beating one of the top talents in the AFW. I'm definitely getting a square deal here." He aded with a tone of sarcasm dripping from his words."

He then smirked. "But you know what? I'll jump through your stupid hoops for now. I'll fight megumi. I'll fight your whole damn roster! Hell! You wanna pull in some bull dog from the men's league? I'll fight him too! None of you seem to understand what I'm trying to do to help Cassie-san and I'm willing to put as much work as she does."

Mamouru turned back to Drake. "When's the last time you got down and dirty and practiced with one of your girls? Can you even remember all their names!" He spouted in an irritated and petulant tone.

Drake frowned. "Those are some hurtful accusations Mr. Higurashi. Well, I guess it can't be helped. You don't really understand how this all works after all. And it would take far too long to explain to you every ramification. You don't need to know everything to do a good job," he said, "Besides, it's not like I picked three judges who all hate you. One supports you even now, and another would have had you not embarrassed her like that. Megumi on the other hand was the wild card... if you convinced her, I would have no qualms at all about giving Cassie over to you and even offering you a leg up in the game. As it stands, however..." He paused and shrugged.

"You'll fight Megumi? Good!" Drake said happily, as if Mamoru's attitude wasn't affecting him at all, "That's all I needed to hear." He turned to Megumi. "You accept this challenge?"

Megumi waved her hand dismissively. "If beating him is what it takes to stop this charade, then yes," she said. Drake nodded.

"Good! Good good..." He stood up as well, his full height towering over Mamoru by several inches. "We've come to an agreement then. I look forward to your match in the ring. May you both have the best of luck!"

"Oh, and for your information, I make it a point to know the names of every one of my clientele," Drake said, "It helps in the business you see. Also, I never practice in the ring with my girls. You see, I work under one rule: no dirt on my hands. There are others who are better at training them than I, so I use them instead. Perhaps training with them builds deeper bonds of friendship, but I don't need that. All I need is for my girls to trust me, and I earn their trust by never letting them down. Can you say the same for yourself Mamoru?" He changed his tone when he said the last sentence, addressing Mamoru by his first name as if he was a child. Drake wasn't very happy with Mamoru's attitude. He held himself in check though, not going any farther than that. He felt he revealed a little too much to Mamoru already.

Mamouru couldn't take Drake's attitude anymore. He clenched his fist. "that's iit!" He growled. "Maybe I don't have as much personal experience but don't sit here and act like I have no clue wat's going on! I've been around wrestling, and managing wrestlers in particular, my whole life!" He lifted up his hand so his thumb and forefinger were about an inch apart. "I've learned everything I know from the best and you're about this close to saying something regrettably insulting."

Mamouru let out a sigh and looked at Megumi. "I'm ready to get on with this so Cassie-san and I can get on with our business." He said finally.

Taylor was perhaps a little more surprised than she should've been to see Cassie up and around and walking down the hall like she was looking for someone too. It seemed like maybe she didn't give the sunshine-y little Canadian enough credit... or maybe her worry was exaggerating exactly what had actually happened.

After a brief conversation, Taylor found herself humbled and apologetic. She took Cassie back to the room where Drake, Megumi, and Mamouru were, and opened the door for her.

Cassie shuffled into the room, still in her ring gear. She had cleaned herself up, but it was still evident that she'd been crying. She looked around at everyone with a look of troubled consideration, and then she shuffled over to Megumi. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around her and gave her a gentle hug.

"Thanks, Megu, you were really great." It had taken most of her time spent on her cot, lying there while the medical staff checked her head, to muster the courage to say those words. She was human, after all; her first instinct was to be angry or crawl in a hole and cry herself to death. But that just wouldn't do.

She let go and stepped back, and looked up at Megumi. "I want to be like you." She said, and turned to face Mamouru, pausing at Drake for a moment. "Hi Drake." She said quietly, as if uncomfortable with him there.

She gave Mamouru a little smile, leaned in close and said very quietly "Next time." Then she looked at Taylor with a face that was kind, but expectant. Taylor squirmed, and reluctantly stepped forward. Her eyes were downcast, she looked embarrassed.

"Megumi, I just wanna say sorry that I... ya know. I just... you know how it is, I was watching the match, and... I mean, god damn... I shouldn't have got in your face like that, I know you didn't do anything wrong." Technically. "S-sorry."

Taylor gave Mamouru a look that said that she wanted to have a word with him, but not in front of everyone. She slipped in an utterly hostile look for Drake.

"So, are we done here?" Taylor asked hopefully, eager to be rid of the horrible awkwardness of the situation.

Drake was about to speak again when the door opened and both Cassie and Taylor came inside. Megumi immediatly stood up, looking concerned for Cassie. When the girl came over to hug her, she hugged her back. "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry for being so mean," she said, sincerely apologetic. It had taken a lot for Cassie to come here and make amends. It should've been Megumi going to make things up to her.

Drake clapped his hands together. "Yep, we're done here," he said, "Mr. Higurashi's gotten another chance to get Cassie's contract, and this time I think he will meet expectations!" He smiled at all of them. "Well then, I think we should get Cassie back to somewhere where she can rest. And we should give Megumi some room as well! Ms. Parker, Mr. Higurashi, it's been a pleasure." Drake gave a polite bow, and left the room.

Megumi clicked her tongue at Drake. She then turned to Mamoru. "I don't look forward to fighting you one bit," she said, "Anything you'd like to say Mamoru?"