Good Morning Beautiful

Aurora's right hand shot up from resting position at her side. It slapped across Taylor's face. That was all she needed to do. She didn't even want to follow that up with another shot. "Shut up." She was really starting to hate this person. She must have really thought she was hot stuff or something. All the things she said before were far over the line. She honestly thought Cassie was normal after what she did? And that reference to Talia earlier didn't help either. Maybe Taylor was the reason Talia wasn't talking to her. She didn't know or had any proof. But Taylor's personality seemed like proof enough.

Mamouru watched the two get catty again almost instantly after Junko left. He couldn't believe that Aurora actually slapped Taylor though. Part of him wanted to cheer her on. Another part of him wanted to do it himself. But instead he held back and merely stepped forward.

"Knock it off." He said to Taylor. "Why don't the two of you start training?" He asked, trying to push the two of them into something else. "If you want to compete, then do that. Compete with your training regiment so you're at least doing something productive with your time." He looked back Where was his mother? It didn't take that long to pull out beds or call Johnny.

Taylor's head turned sharply to the side with the sharp, stinging slap. Her grin faded, but didn't entirely disappear. A slight smile remained on her lips and she closed her eyes and breathed a heavy, weary sigh. She had been slapped by so many girls over the years. It was such a bitch move.

When she opened her blue eyes and set them back on Aurora, she put on a pretty smile. "You're quite a charmer. I can see why he likes you."

She gave her a hard shove on one shoulder as she strode past her. She realized she hadn't brought a water bottle with her, and today of all days she needed one in arms reach at all times. She looked helplessly at Mamouru and put a hand on her hip, hips cocked to the side.

She nodded. "Well... I can't say no. I've got to work out no matter what happened last night, but I'm not gonna lie I'm not going to be one hundred percent today. Don't worry, though, I've still got plenty for your girl." She gave Aurora a sidelong look and a wink.

"Well look, I'm gonna grab some water and we can put in a nice long warm up. Mom says no sparring, but that doesn't mean we can't still drill techniques, right?" She strode out of the room to get her water bottle.

Mamouru watched as Taylor left. It was good riddance as far as he was concerned. When she left, he turned back to Aurora and bowed deeply. "Aurora-chan, forgive me. This was not my intention." He said. "However, I feel like if you can endure this, then the fight with Cassie-san will surely be an easy task." He said, lifting his head and smiling hopefully at her.

Junko had just finished talking to Johnny and was pulling out the beds from the storage closet when she saw Taylor walk by. She followed her into the kitchen and stood near the entrance. "Fufufu, it seems the two of you didn't stop being catty. Well, it's good to have a little bit of tension during these sorts of things. It keeps the competition level high between girls. And yet, I think it will instill a sense of camaraderie if we keep it up." Junko shrugged. "Well, who knows. We're not here to make friends, after all. Either way, what are you thinking, Taylor-san?" Junko asked.

"What am I thinking?" Taylor echoed as she filled up her water bottle. She frowned, and waited until the bottle was full before she faced Junko and looked her in the eyes.

"I need your help," she said seriously. "I... That chick is a total spaz. She slapped me, man, for no reason. And I just want to go out there and say that I'll work with her on technique or something and then just fuckin' blast her and lay her out. Ya know? But... That's what I don't want to do to. I don't want to want to do that, but I know if I go out there with her, we're both gonna lose our minds and I'm going to end up kicking her ass. I don't want to be that girl."

She took a drink of water, and her face made it clear that she was very concerned about this. Her eyes pleaded with Junko as she continued. "So, um, Diao-chan, I need to to help me stay cool, okay? I don't want to end up fighting everyone I meet."

Junko tilted her head and looked at Taylor. "The Ice Dragons used to get into fist fights during training. I doubt anyone would believe me if I said it. They were best friends but every once in a while, they got a little too heated. They wanted to out do the other or one would flaunt her in ring accomplishments a little too loudly. And it happened. I certainly wasn't pleased." Junko shook her head and smiled.

"That girl in there, she only wants to do the same things you want to do. She may have different reasons but your goals are the same." Junko tapped her finger on her lipsfor a moment. "Here is the way I look at it, Taylor-chan." She said. 'If you do whatever you can to make her the best wrestler she can be and she does the same with you, then, in the end the two of you already have the perfect vehicle to showcase who has done the better job of achieving their goals. Do you want to win or do you want to be the best?" She asked and looked coyly at Taylor.

"But...." Junko said and stepped forward. She put her hand on Taylor's back and gave it a quick rub. "I will help keep you anchored. That is my job as your manager, after all. There's stirring the pot and then there's falling off the horse while chasing after things needlessly. You're growing up, Taylor-chan. Most hot headed girls never get to the point where they can see how their own temperaments may not always provide them with the best choices moving forward."

Taylor nodded along thoughtfully while she attentively listened to every word. Though she hadn't fully realized it, she was already putting more stock in what Junko said than she did with almost anyone else. Taylor was as much a daughter as Junko was a mother, and without having to think about it they easily fell into their roles.

"Thanks," she said. She frowned and thought for a second. "I don't want to be a hothead. I like having it in me, like, I want to be able to bring the fire when I want to, but I want to be... you know what I mean, right?" Of course she knew, she'd already told Taylor as much. "I... I don't like her, though. I don't like Mamouru right now, either, but I can tell you about that later if you want."

She took a long drink from her water bottle, topped it off again, and then put on a big grin. "If I can do this hungover, I can do anything, right?" She said, and headed back for the gym.