Ooo Cassie-deaaar...

Mamouru stumbled back when he was shoved and then furrowed his brow. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from Cassie. They were impossible words but then, suddenly, he could see Cassie begin to falter. Mamouru frowned but not because he was upset with Cassie anymore. It was because he didn't want to see her this way.

When she was finished, Mamouru took his jacket and swung it so it rested on her shoulders. He then leaned down and pressed his hand against her back gently. "Cassie-san." He began in a gentle tone. "Those emotions... are perfectly ok to have. All of them. The anger, the sadness, the longing, the loneliness." He sighed. Maybe that wasn't the best way to start off his point.

"But, you're NOT alone and that selfish little girl isn't going to change who YOU are no matter how angry she makes you. You are not alone, Cassie-san. Taylor isn't that far away just because she's not living WITH you now. Weren't you separated before? Didn't you find her again? She's still close. And what about Akashi-san or Junichi-kun? I'm sure you've met others as well." Mamouru turned his head and closed his eyes for a moment.

"And your family is always with you in spirit, even if they are not with you physically. I don't know what they would say but if they are like you describe I believe they would want you to see things through."

Mamouru stood up and walked around to face Cassie. He looked down at her and held out his hand. "That girl is nothing but an obstacle keeping you from reaching the top. Another hurdle to climb. When all is said and done, you know it will be worth it to continue and after you've left her in the dust she'll just try and find the next person she thinks she can break and the Cassie-san I know is anything but weak."

He tried to smile. "Come on now. Why don't you at least change out of your outfit? If you want to be alone and gather your thoughts, maybe that would be for the best? Or maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea just to give your family a call to tell them how you're doing but, if you want." He said. "I'll take you anywhere you like, my treat. Sometimes the best way to prepare yourself is to just get your mind off everything."

Cassie looked up at Mamouru and gave him a little, red-eyed smile. He could be so sweet, especially for a... no, Cassie couldn't bare to muster up any negative thoughts about him. It just wouldn't be fair. He was who he was.

Her eyes drifted away along with her smile, and she stared off into space for a moment before shaking her head. "No..." She said. "Thanks. But I just want to call home."

She pulled Mamouru's jacket more tightly around her and stood up. "And I have to change before people think I'm nuts. Maybe you can walk me home?" She said, and then paused, looking at Mamouru with inscrutable but adorable puppy dog eyes. Then she hurried back inside and headed for the locker room to change.

Mamouru closed his eyes and nodded. He was just giving her options and he hadn't really expected her to take him up. Clearly she needed some time to clear her head, he just knew she needed to do it on her own terms and not Dark Angel's. That's why he had intervened.

Mamouru smiled at Cassie's words and gave a simple nod. "Of course." He said. "I'll be waiting in the lobby until you've finished, Cassie-san." he slowly followed her into the building as she darted off. He then took a seat on one of the lobby seats and pulled out his phone. He'd need a whole copy of that promo and he was curious to see how Dark Angel had exited the arena as well.

As life left Dark Angel's body, she went limp and collapsed back onto the steel ramp. She was completely unaware of what Cassie had done after. As soon as the girl had released the hold, Angel breathed in but it took a minute for oxygen to get back to her brain. Cassie had left by the time Angel finally started blinking and became aware of her surroundings. She swore under her breath as she looked around. Of course no staff had come to either break up the two or check on her health, they rarely did unless they weren't needed at all. Her face went red with embarrassment but fortunately the mask hid that.

Still, Angel managed to get to her feet with her head up. Even after that, she didn't want to look weak. She hadn't realized how much credit the other two had given her off screen. All she could think about was how stupid that had been. Sure she wanted to make Cassie mad, but getting choked out like that wasn't nearly what she had in mind. As badly as Cassie had taken it off screen, Angel was afraid she had lost all her momentum going into her rematch. That just made her clench her fists as she left the arena and made her way toward the locker room. Regardless, she wasn't about to give up. She had plans to train at levels she hadn't before.

Now that she had drive and a purpose, that wasn't as hard as it sounded. But her pride was still hanging there hurt, so she spent less than a minute changing and packing up to go home. She didn't want to hang around long enough for someone to laugh or confront her. Angel put on a simple gray hoodie and black tights. With the hood already up, and the mask still on, she left the locker room quickly and even took the shortcut through the lobby to get to the bus stop. She really needed to go home at this point. However, the moment she stepped into the lobby, someone caught her eye. There was Johnny sitting there. It made her pause mid-step, what the fuck is he doing here? Fortunately, it wasn't actually Johnny, just his brother. Just his brother. Fuck.

Angel had met Mamouru awhile back at Cassie and Taylor's old apartment. He seemed fine then, but that wasn't the problem. The issue was that he clearly had a thing for Cassie. And that brought up the possibility of more conflict. Now that she was already looking at him and walking by, she couldn't just stay quiet. That'd just make her look humbled or nervous; and that just wouldn't do. But at the same time, Angel hadn't met Mamouru, Talia did. So she couldn't be obvious. "Sup douchebag?"

Mamouru was busy watching the feed from the match. It seemed that Dark Angel had only woken up and slunk off. He supposed that there was really all there would be to it. He closed his phone up just in time to hear someone say something rather unpleasant. A woman;'s voice. He looked up to see Dark Angel standing near him.

He stood up and tried to keep an even face on he looked at Dark Angel's mask. "ahhh... no one would notice you without your mask. To keep it on even when leaving the building must mean that there is something insufferably pathetic hiding behind it." He said with a simple tone as he folded his arms behind his back. "Did you really just come to try and bark at me or do you have a point to make?" He then smirked. "Cassie-san will be back soon, I'm sure you've blacked out enough times today, right?"

Angel hadn't seen the more sinister side of Mamouru before. He certainly had a better tongue than Johnny. Much better than Johnny. Enough that she had to take a deep breath to not say something stupid just out of the urge to respond. Really staying quiet would be better in that case. And she barely managed that. She just shook her head and laughed. She took a few more steps towards the door. Fortunately, he brought up Cassie which gave her a little more breathing room with her insults. Now...hopefully...it wouldn't be suspicious to make a joke about her.

"You should keep a leash on that bitch. She's snapped at me twice. I think after three strikes they have to put dogs down."

Mamouru looked Dark Angel as she tried her best to continue her little insults. This girl. She was nothing. The more she talked, the more pathetic she seemed. He actually felt angry that she was able to hurt Cassie so much. But he didn't show that. Instead, lifted his head and laughed. He laughed right at her and when he was finished, he smiled cruelly at the masked girl.

"You've been playing around with chihuahua's too long Tenchi-chan." he stared her down. "Cassie-san has fangs and you better figure out that she can bite before you loose too many fingers." He stepped forward, trying to use his height to further intimidate her. "And you had better understand that if you keep messing around with my family, I will do something about it personally." He lowered his head closer so he could speak in a low tone. "And I am not nearly as nice or as forgiving as they are." He added in a cold whisper.

The way Mamouru just laughed off her threat didn't deter her overly so. After all, that was Angel's go to strategy...just laugh at them. But at the same time, the reason she always did it was because it worked so well. She bit her lip, not wanting to show too much weakness and reassure Mamouru of his claims. "I'm not too worried about her bite. I've had to deal with it already." More than Mamouru knew. "You, on the other hand, should be worried about mine," she added with what sounded like a growl. This animal analogy may had gotten a little out of hand.

But Angel was far too obsessed with this new personality of hers to stop. It made her feel invincible, despite blacking out earlier. "You saw what I did to her. If she's part of your family, you should be concerned for her well-being." Despite the rather clear height difference, she looked right up at him with defiance. She even leaned into him. But something was off. He was clearly...well...more articulate than Johnny. And his words had legitimate heat to them. He was more like Taylor than Cassie. "What's your deal with her anyways? Since when do cold-hearted, sinister bastards like yourself care for naive girls like Cassie?." But right after Angel asked her question, a smile formed on her face.

"Nevermind...I get it..." at that very moment, she wished Mamouru could see her smirk from up close. "You want to tap that Canadian ass don't you?" a legitimate laugh escaped her mouth. That was actually amusing to her. Even though she had known it beforehand, just to bring it up like this made it monumentally hilarious to her. Why else would Mamouru treat Cassie so different from everyone else? "Don't worry, I'll leave that part of her unharmed for you."

Mamouru stared at Dark Angel as she continued. His only regret was that this little standoff was happening in the lobby. it would be much easier to deal with if it were somewhere less public. His fists clenched when she spoke about how he and Cassie were. Things between himself and Cassie were much more complicated than him just wanting to get in her pants. Getting into a girl's pants wasn't something he even had to try with. If he were serious about it, or solely committed to that and only that, then he would have either succeeded or failed by now.

He grit his teeth and stared into her mask. Hiding her eyes, she was absolutely pathetic but he couldn't just assault her her. After a moment he leaned back and threw his hands up. "You've figured it all out, haven't you, Tenchi-chan!" He said as though she was the smartest person int he world. "Clever girl. You're right. I just want to fuck her!" He said it as though he were proclaiming it to the world.

He then leaned closer so he could speak only to her again. "I just want my dick deep inside her tight little Canadian pussy. You got me there, Tenchi-chan." He growled the words and then reached up and grabbed Angel's collar tightly, scowling at her. "Listen, you pathetic little nobody. Cassie-san's a lot smarter than you. Please keep underestimating her. Please keep trying to piss her off. If you're lucky, you'll still be able to walk when she's done with you. After a few months in the hospital and the end of your worthless wrestling career. And if she doesn't finish you off..." He leaned his head in and whispered into her ear. "I. Will."

Cassie was about to round the corner to the lobby when she heard Mamouru arguing with someone. Sort of. He sounded upset. She slowed to a stop to listen, and her face first drained of all color before turning bright red.

She hadn't cried during the whole ordeal with Dark Angel, but standing there before the lobby a tear rolled down her cheek. She sniffled and backed up a step, pushed her short orange hair out of her face and zipped her yellow winter jacket up all the way to the top. She wished the zipper would just keep going and she could zip herself into a cocoon and hide from the world. She wanted to disappear.

She drew a deep breath and unsteadily let it out. She could just pretend she didn't hear that part, but suddenly she realized what she'd heard after that. He had to be talking to...

She rounded the corner. She could see Mamouru and Dark Angel from the side, and she came from slightly behind the masked girl. Peripheral vision probably wasn't her strong suit, and if Cassie wanted to she could probably sneak up on her and choke her out again for messing with Mamouru, but... she didn't want to.

She didn't say anything until she stopped just behind Dark Angel and to the side, her hands in her pockets.

"Hey." She said impassively. "You guys should knock it off, okay?"