Nihoooon- GO!

Mamouru let out an audible sigh at Cassie's words. This was going about as well as expected but he wasn't sure what else he could do. He had to keep things civil with her, at least. She had a match coming up."I never called or implied you were stupid, Cassie-san." Mamouru said, irritation in his own voice. She wasn't even giving him an inch.

"I'm going to send you some more film with some notes." Mamouru said. "It will detail some potential strategies and you can decide whatever you like from there. I really only called to check up on you. I am your manager after all." Her furrowed his brow. "And was worried aside from that. I'll give you another call in a few more days but please don't let this affect your match, Cassie-san."

Mamouru's sigh irritated the crap out of Cassie. She was not being unreasonable. He was. She was pretty sure.

"I'm pretty sure it's nothing I don't already know. I trained with Tomomi, I know what she does. She thinks she's tricky, but really she's just a brawler. She thinks she's better than everybody because she's famous and everyone just tells her how great she is, but it doesn't matter how many magazines she's on the cover of, she's not better than me at this." She wasn't even mad at Tomomi, why was she talking about her like that?

She took a deep breath, and then it was her turn to let out a heavy sigh. "I'll see you before the match, Mamouru. Afterward, we should talk."

She had to set some things right.

Mamouru furrowed his brow at Cassie's words. She was being really terse in a purposeful way. He really didn't like it one bit but she say she wasn't exactly acting unreasonable. When she was finished, Mamouru nodded into the phone. "Very well. I'll see you soon then, Cassie-san." He said and hung up the phone.

**********

After the match, he had not lingered too long. And after that, he had did his best to avoid Cassie. It's not like SHE would call him, anyway. He sighed at the thought. But, the day that her family was supposed to arrive, he showed up early at Cassie's apartment. He wanted to make sure he had some time. Time to make things up, hopefully. If things went BADLY, then he could come back with her family. He just hoped that this would help Cassie out.

Still, as he approached the house, he was slightly familiar with it. Cassie had decided to move in with Akashi after both of them had found themselves down a room mate. He had only been in the place once and it had been ... interesting.

As he walked up the walkway, he knocked on the door. He sort of hoped Akashi was out of town, but when the door flew open, it seemed like he was not so fortunate.

"Kooonnichi-wah?"

Akashi said as she tilted her head and looked at Mamouru. She had opened the door wearing a long towel and a bra. Cassie, it seemed, had not shared Akashi's affinity for going au natural whenever possible and after the first incident, they compromised on underwear, at least. Though Akashi remembered having to fight for that much. 'It wasn't any different than her ring outfit!' she proclaimed.

But, Cassie hadn't been her chipper self lately. By her standards, she had been downright bitchy, which surprised Akashi. She had tried to pry at the girl and the only thing she seemed to get out of it was whenever Mamouru came up, which seemed surprisingly often, that whatever mood she had seemed to sour.

When she opened the door, she wasn't sure what to expect, but whens he noticed it was Mamouru, she narrowed her eyes.

"Temee." She growled. Before Mamouru could even swallow or bow for an apology, Akashi grabbed him by the tie and drug him into the house.

"A-Ak-kashi-san-sama... O-Onegai!" He sputtered as he tried to bow and apologize and not fall over when Akashi threw him into the couch.

She then crossed her arms and scowled at him for a long moment before lifting her head up. "Caaaaasssie-chaaaaaan~<3" She said in the sweetest tone she could muster, giving Mamouru an evil look. "You have a visitor." She cooed.

Cassie's voiced wafted down the stairs "Okay."

After some rustling sounds and no fewer than two doors opening and closing, she padded down the stairs in jeans and a dark gray t-shirt with a pale blue heart on the front. Her short orange hair was a little messy, but she'd done a quick 5-second job with it, and at least encouraged it to not stick up more than usual. She looked a little tired, but not like she'd been sleeping. More like she hadn't gone anywhere in a while.

She fixed her eyes blankly on her manager.

"Hi, Mamouru." She said. Her eyes said that she wasn't at all surprised to see him, and that it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

She didn't stop in the living room, but instead she continued on into the kitchen and drew herself a glass of cold water before returning to face him. She had a terrible dryness in her mouth and a sick feeling in her stomach. She felt a little gruesome, but determined. Resolute.

"D'you want some water?" She asked when she couldn't think of a better icebreaker.

Mamouru turned his head when he saw Cassie come down the stairs. His heart skipped a beat. He was happy to see her but it wasn't just that. It was because e knew what he was in for. Suddenly it felt like he was in an interrogation room. With Akashi looming over him and Cassie casually walking to the kitchen, the feeling was amplified.

Mamouru tugged on his collar, running one finger along it as he heard the faucet turn on. When Cassie returned, he looked at her and nodded. He stood up and bowed his head. "Y-yes, please." He stuttered but was quickly forced bakc into a sitting position when Akashi clutched his shoulder hard and forced him back tot he couch.

He grit is teeth to keep from groaning out from the roughness. "No, Cassie-san." She said. "Mamouru-kun is fine. He doesn't want water, he wants to talk and sort things out. Isn't that right, Mamouru-kun?" When Akashi spoke, she only looked at Cassie, despite asking a question to Mamouru.

"Y-Yes, that's right." Mamouru said, wincing and turning to look at Cassie. "We should talk, Cassie-san." He then turned and looked at Akashi. "Can we have a moment, Akashi-sama?" He said with pleading eyes.

Akashi looked sternly at him. "No, I'll stay." She said and pulled away, taking a step back and crossing her arms under her chest. "I want to make sure you two sort everything out. And that Cassie-san doesn't murder you." She ten grinned evilly at Mamouru. "I want there to be something left for me if you mess things up." She added.

Cassie looked blankly at Akashi before handing the glass of water to Mamouru. She returned to the kitchen, poured another, and downed half of it. She left the glass on the counter and came back to the living room.

She looked at Akashi again, this time with what looked an awful lot like a glare, so out of place on her and more severe because of it.

"Hey. Beat it." She said. She knew how Akashi was and she loved her for it, but she didn't need help. "Well... maybe just over there." She relented, and pointed to a chair on the other side of the room. That would at least give them some space.

She stayed standing, curling her toes against the floor while she looked at Mamouru. She was very uncomfortable, but she didn't avert her eyes from the boy. She felt a small thrill in the pit of her stomach from standing near him, but it was probably just the... situation.

She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. It was obvious she had something to say, but was struggling to find the words or the courage to say it. The thought clawed at the back of her mind, demanding to be let loose, even with how wrong it felt to her. It was right, though, and she'd learned in her time at AFW that sometimes right things can feel wrong at first.

Finally, she drew a deep breath, stone faced, and tried again.

"I don't think we should be friends anymore, Mamouru."

They felt like the heaviest words she'd ever spoken.

Mamouru was thankful that Cassie seemed more reasonable than Akashi was being. He took the glass and thanked her with a nod and sipped it as she left for the kitchen again. His throat was much more dry than he had expected and and he ran his tongue along the roof of his mouth just to completely moisten his mouth.

When Cassie returned, Akashi watched her. The stern way she told Akashi to beat it, almost made her own stern face melt into a smile. But, she wasn't going to budge. Not wen things were becoming so serious. However, when Cassie relented, Akashi nodded and smiled softly. She retreated to the chair and watched from the distance.

Mamouru watched as Cassie remained motionless and tried to speak. He didn't break his gaze even as his hands clenched in anticipation. He hated this inquisition, particularly because it was silent.

But when she spoke, Mamouru felt his heart sink to the bottom of his foot. He had been so passive, especially with Cassie but suddenly he was out of his chair.

"No." He said it with finality as though he had ust decreed a law. "No, Cassie-san." He said and looked at her with his own firm conviction. "I didn't come here to stop being your friend, I came here to make sure that doesn't happen." Especially when there were already other things in motion.

He ran his hands through his hair. "Why?" He said. "Why is that?" He knew the answer but he wanted, no, needed her to say it. "Maybe I haven't been the nicest person to people but even Taylor-san is still my friend. What have I done to you that you've come to this decision!?"

Cassie breathed a leaded sigh. She looked for a moment like she was so heavy that she might just collapse.

"You haven't done anything. But you don't pick your friends just by what they've already done, Mamouru. It's what you want. Maybe you're being nice about it, but you're hanging around because you're hoping... Look, I don't like it. I'm uncomfortable around you, and I think you're a bad influence. I... I don't see how you can be my manager like that, so... I think you're fired."

She looked pleadingly to Akashi for help or moral support of validation or something to keep her from falling apart. Her hands were unconsciously closed into fists, and her toes curled tightly against the floor. She felt like she'd been underwater for too long, and she desperately needed air.

"So, I think you should go now."

Mamouru furrowed his brow. What Cassie was saying was making him angry. He WAS a charlatan but in this instance he was being accused for something he didn't do. He waved his hand in front of him.

"Quit beating around the bush, Cassie-san." He said in an almost growl. "You think that I only care about getting in your pants. That the ONLY thing I want is to stick my dick in your tight little Canadian pussy, right!?"

Akashi's eyes widened. It looked like she was going to come up with the chair in tow and beat him over the head with it. Mamouru turned his head and glared at Akashi. That wasn't going to stop the beast, he knew. He threw his palm out and yelled as loud as he could.

"HOLD ON!"

He was panting as he looked at Akashi. "If you want to beat me up, then beat me up when I finish. It's not like I can stop you anyway."

His head snapped back and he looked at Cassie. "I know you heard me. Everything was fine until then. Do you know WHY I said those things? Why would I say them to DARK ANGEL!?" He gesticulated at Cassie from his position. "What good does it do to for ME to say that to HER, do you HONESTLY think that would help me get in your pants!?" Mamoutru snorted through his nose. "She was fighting dirty, she was going low, trying to get to me. I had to make sure that she couldn't use our relationship against you."

Mamouru threw his hands up. "I guess it worked! Score one for that fucking bitch." Mamouru lowered his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Fine. If that's how you see it, then, I'll not bother you again. I just wanted to explain things to you.... I hope that you won't let this get to you during your match. It's my fault for allowing that woman to get me worked up. It is my fault for even allowing the seeds of mistrust to be planted within you."

Mamouru gave a bow to Cassie and then looked at Akashi, hoping to be let through. "Sayonara, Cassie-san." He said.

Akashi's eyes were widened at the scene. When Mamouru became suddenly so contrite, Akashi looked to Cassie. Should she really just let him go? She really wasn't sure.

"I... I..." Cassie stammered and looked at the floor. "Um... I'm not sure what I think." She said in a little voice.

She squirmed. She knew Dark... that girl was only trying to make her life hell, and it seemed to be working... but did that mean that there couldn't be any truth to what Mamouru said? Why did it feel to her like he wasn't just saying that to fight back in the war of words with that masked... jerk.

"Just... give me some time to think, okay?" She said. All her steel had melted away, and she looked like she might collapse and sink into the floor at any moment. "I just need to think."