Good Morning Beautiful

Junko blinked at Taylor's response. She then stared blankly at the girl. It wasn't until her kettle started whining that she shook her head and went to it. She steeped the mixture she had made while Taylor continued to speak. She then nodded along until Taylor finally got to her point.

She then continued to remain silent while she poured the hot mixture and with an unflinching poker face, she handed a hot cup to Taylor. "Drink this." She said and walked away from her and off towards the house. She was back a few moments later, seemingly with no change except for one hand behind her back.

She then pulled it forward and uncovered a dainty fan and held it up in front of her mouth. Despite her hidden face, it was quite obvious that she was grinning widely. "Fufufu." She chuckled and then closed the fan sharply.

"Diao-chan is on the case, Parker-san." She said slyly. "I won't rest until every ledger is properly filled out. Every location is booked and every title is won! This I swear to you." She said in a serious tone as she stared Taylor in the eye. After a few moments, she finally broke down and tried to throw herself at Taylor as best as she could without spilling hot tea on both of them. "Oh, Taylor-chan." She cooed pleasantly. "The years feel like they are melting away. I'm so honored." She said as she sniffled suddenly and wiped away a tear.

Taylor gave a relieved smile. She narrowly avoided spilling her tea, and one-armed a hug. She was about to start talking again when she noticed Junko was... crying?

Huh. She hadn't really thought about how much she may have missed her old role in the business. Her one big client was mostly faded away now, and her kids were grown up and moved on. And her husband was gone too. Taylor began to realize that maybe Junko needed this more than she did, and it seemed to change everything she felt about her mother in law.

She gave her a squeeze and let go. "One other thing..." She said. "I... I still don't really want to call you okaa-san..." Mom would've been better, but she just couldn't bring herself to call anyone that. It didn't seem right. "Can I call you diao-chan? At least for now? Ya know, since we'll be like, in the business and stuff."

Junko smiled at Taylor but she frowned a bit when she heard the girl say she didn't want to vcall her Okaa-san. She just couldn't help herself. No one wanted to call her that, it seemed. But she pushed it aside when Taylor said she wanted to call her Diao-chan. She grinned widely and chuckled.

"Fufufu~ Of course, Taylor-chan. It IS my stage name, after all. The beautiful maiden from war ravaged China." Junko said, throwing back a hand. "Torn between an adoptive father and the strongest man in all of the land. What a tale!" Junko spun on her heels and chuckled once more. "I will have to get a new kimono.' She looked at her fan. "Oooh, and a new fan. Fufufu." She beamed at the thought. "We'll have to discuss wardrobes. Not that I'd tell you what to wear, you're free to wear what you like, Taylor-chan. But, I'll have to find something that compliments your attire. Oh my~"

As Junko gushed, she flashed Taylor a look and excitedly headed for another room, already with ideas in mind. She stopped when she heard the door suddenly open and looked. In stepped Mamouru. Junko's mouth fell open. She hadn't seen her son in a while.

"Mother." Mamouru said lifting his head up, relieved that he caught her so quickly. "Good, you're home." He managed with a serious tone. "I'm going to be using your equipment for a while. I have a new client with a very important match and it will be best to train her away from the AFW facility."

He spoke not as though he were asking, but rather telling. Junko blinked once and curled her brow. "Hm." She said and lifted up her fan to cover her face. She waved it and looked at him with only her eyes visible. "Well, well well, if it isn't Higurashi Mamouru. Otherwise known as.... my son."

Mamouru sighed. "Mother, please." He said turning his head. He then stopped. "Wait... why do you have that." He said, suddenly noticing her fan. If anyone knew Junko, there was only one thing worth truly noting: Something mischievous was afoot whenever she carried that around.

"Fufufufu~<3"

Aurora wasn't entirely comfortable going with Mamouru to his mother's place. But it wasn't like she was going as his girlfriend. At least, she certainly hoped that wasn't the plan. She crossed her arms nervously as Mamouru entered the place and spoke with someone who she assumed was his mother. They said a few things one of which happened to be that he needed to train someone. She felt that it was her queue to enter and she calmly poked her head in. "Hello," she stated somewhat timidly. Aurora wasn't that shy, but it was always difficult introducing herself with Mamouru.

Taylor couldn't help but catch some of Junko's glow while she watched her fawn over visions of her new wardrobe. She hoped her ring gear would be good enough! She was always open to change, but she thought she'd found something that really suited her.

Then Junko went off to meet someone at the door. Taylor hung back and sipped cautiously at her tea. She wished it would somehow work instantly and suck the hangover out of her. She hated not feeling well. She found it so hard to hold herself back and rest. She hated being sick.

Her ears pricked up at the conversation by the door. "Mamouru?" She set her tea down and went to go see. There he was, looking just about as mopey as Cassie had been for what seemed like decades. She brushed her blonde bangs to the side and out of her eyes. "Long time, no see, Mam."

Then someone new entered, a blonde. Taylor groaned inwardly, she could only be yet another girlfriend of Mamouru's. She resisted the urge to shake her head, but she couldn't help looking Aurora up and down once. She was in pretty good shape.

"Hey, what's up?" She said.

Aurora was surprised to see another woman at the house. She just assumed Mamouru's mother lived alone. And it wasn't just that. She was a blonde like herself. "Hey. My name is Aurora," she said with a smile. The woman looked familiar but she wasn't sure from where just yet. She seemed American, though, which was always good. "I'm uhh, his client," she said while pointing to Mamouru. She wasn't sure what else there was to say. "I actually haven't wrestled just yet."

Mamouru was quite surprised when he saw Taylor. When she greeted him, he nodded brusquely. "Nee-san." He said in a curt but polite manner and quickly turned back to his mother just as Aurora introduced herself.

He stepped back to give Junko room to inspect her. She would even if he didn't. "We just want to use the facilities Mother." He said. "Aurora-san will have her debut match soon and she intends to train seriously for it. She wrestled outside of the AFW but this is a different league entirely." Mamouru looked impatient while Junko strolled up to Aurora. "This is my newest client, Aurora, as she said." He then looked at Taylor and then to Junko. "This is Taylor Parker, my Sister-in-law and my Mother."

"Welllll...." She said, tilting her head. "She certainly is cute, fufufu~" She smirked as her eyes gleamed and she brought up her fan to cover her mouth. "I can see why your girlfriend would be jealous, fufu."

Junko then turned and looked at Taylor coyly. "But, I'm sorry Mamouru-kun. If you'd have called me then maybe we could have worked something out but, unfortunately, my facilities are already reserved."

Mamouru furrowed his brow."Don't be ridiculous, Mother. Who even knows about this place anymore?"

"Fufufufu~"

Junko looked at Taylor "Well, my lovely Daughter." She said, grinning widely. "What do you think of Mamouru-kun's new...." She paused. "[i]Client?]/i]"

Taylor gave Junko a tired-eyed smile. Maybe it was petty of her, but she didn't like this new chick, admittedly because of the implications it inevitably had for Cassie. While Cassie swore that she didn't like Mamouru and had no interest in him, it was a claim she made a little too frequently and too forcefully for it to be true.

She didn't like Aurora, but she was too hung over to do anything about it.

She wordless intoned the words "I dunno" with a shrug, and glanced at the blonde. "Good luck with your debut," she said, and turned to Mamouru. "Well, I've already got this place booked, soo... By the way, have you met my new manager?" She said, gesturing to Junko.

Mamouru heard what Taylor said but he didn't believe it. Not until Junko puffed out her chest proudly. "Don't worry, Mamouru-kun." She said beaming proudly. "I didn't manage a champion at first either. You're on the right track but you're thirty years too early to beat me, fufufu~" Junko winked at her son.

Mamouru lowered his head. "Mother, it's not a competition. I'm managing a rookie it's not like I'm trying to book Aurora against Nee-san." Mamouru shook his head. "Honestly." He then looked at Taylor and began to think.

"Why don't we both use the facilities? Taylor-san and Aurora can train together. That way both of them will have actual sparring partners."

Junko raised an eyebrow. "Well..." She said and looked between Aurora and Taylor. "That depends on the girls. Making a client as comfortable as possible is the manager's job after all. If Taylor-san says no, then I'm afraid you'll just have to take your client elsewhere, fufufu." Junko looked at Taylor and lifted up her fan. "What do you say, Taylor-san? I think that Mamouru-kun is just trying to learn some of your trade secrets for his girl, fufufu.~"

Mamouru gave Aurora an apologetic look and then sternly furrowed his brow at Junko. "Mother, you're acting like a child." He said as he crossed his arms under his chest.

Aurora nodded slightly. She was sure the lack of respect exhibited between the people was more of a family thing. She also didn't think she'd get use to it either. "I think I have plenty of my own secrets, thank you." As proud as she was, she also didn't want to offend Junko by saying anything more than that. Aurora didn't even look back at Taylor. Despite Mamouru's insistence that they weren't competitors, the reality was that they were.

"Come on, let's just find some other gym to train at."