Shock. Shock and denial. These are the things filling Hikari Noa along with unfathomable emotional pain. Inside of a training gym in Japan’s largest city, she isn’t alone, but might as well be considering the typhoon of things she’s experiencing. It’s well lit since there aren’t any windows looking out onto the street; all of those lights are artificial, nothing natural. Punching bags hang from the ceiling nearby, swaying wildly as various patrons slam fists and feet into them. She vaguely hears the buzzing of conversations around her, the clank of weights in use and the sharp impact of people hitting the mat of the sparring ring. For her it’s all a blur, almost an illusion that’s trying to barge its way into the cruel reality she finds herself in at this exact moment.
Her home of 3 years is gone. Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced that, along with other major promotions, they have been bought out by a foreign company. Countless hours of blood, sweat and tears which seem meaningless now. Hikari’s efforts in TJPW have only recently begun to pay off for her. Until this announcement, she’s become accustomed to thinking of herself as a big deal at long last. Now that’s no longer viable. From being a singles champion, she’s fallen to just being a plain idol who happens to have some wrestling skill. The likelihood of that earning her any opportunities in an international company is laughable. Like the patrons of this gym her former colleagues are still around, but they might as well not exist now.
She sits on the apron of a practice ring, thoughts racing at the news. All of her friends are moving on from pro wrestling or left for greener pastures that now no longer exist. What’s left for her? While her heart hopes this is all some bad joke or dream, she knows it’s real. So what does she do? Just getting a chance with the foreign company doesn’t feel like it’s at all possible. Hikari is very small, smaller than even a majority of her fellow Joshi wrestlers. Other than having odd colored hair she probably isn’t going to get anyone’s attention overseas. Not when they have all these tall, statuesque blondes to choose from. It’s not fair by any stretch of her imagination but it’s a fact.
Does she just let it go? Embrace her life as just an idol? UpUP Girls certainly will have her if she wants to go down that path. But she only became an idol to open the back door to wrestling. In her heart she knows that that’s hardly what she wants. So what is it then? Hikari lays on her back, emptily and aimlessly staring up at the ceiling. It’s an awful place to be, swimming in these thoughts. When everything else is leaving her behind, what does she have left? Instantly, an answer comes to her - violence. Even just the thought of pounding the stuffing out of one of these punching bags lifts her mood a little. Not the same as fighting another girl in a match, but it’s probably all she has available to her. The pity train is derailed as she realizes someone’s speaking to her.
<“You look like hell, kid. You ok? I know the changes must be a big shock.” >
Hikari slowly turns her head in the direction the voice comes from. Her rattled brain can’t produce any possible people who’d want to approach her. Not with what sounded like at least a baseline of understanding of who she is. A blank expression remains on her face as she tries to make sense of it. It’s a woman in jeans and a black t-shirt who has a friendly look about her. Slowly Hikari begins to ground herself a bit - at least there’s someone here who seems to care about her.
<“I’m not ok.. everyone’s gone. It’s over.. my dream is over.”>
Her words are hollow, devoid of intonation or emotion. It’s how the apparent end of her wrestling career has left her. To her surprise the woman’s look of concern morphs into one of determination. As the woman sits with her, Hikari realizes she’s got the build of a fighter; she carries herself confidently like one too. What is this? Someone else coming to join the pit of emptiness she’s stuck in? Yet what the woman tells her next will change her life.
<“It’s not over unless you let it be. I know who you are, Noa Hikari. Let’s chase your dream together.”>
A euphoria sets in as suddenly as the woman approaches her. She can’t believe that someone actually wants to join her, much less to help her keep the pro wrestling dream alive. For a moment she wants to hug the woman, but that doesn’t seem like a wise idea. This woman doesn’t look like someone who would appreciate it. Despite that, a warmth sets in which Hikari hasn’t felt for days now. Hope.
<”Let’s go! You’ve gotta keep that pace up if you’re gonna win! Knock her block off!”>
The shout drags Hikari forward in time back to the present. She’s still in a gym with all of the same furnishings as that one back in Japan. Punching bags, a practice ring, weights and other exercise equipment surrounds her. But the clack of metal on metal, rhythmic thud of bags being hammered by strikes and impact of bodies on the mat are merely background noise. Her whole focus is on her mentor as she prepares for her next match. Unfortunately the veteran’s attention isn’t on her, but rather a different woman. The one who suddenly appeared a few days ago and now has a monopoly on Kagetsu’s attention.
For a fleeting moment Hikari thinks that perhaps the comments had been directed at her. After all, she’s facing the crafty blonde cheerleader who teamed with Momo to beat herself and Jamie. Having beaten Muscle Barbie, Hikari is very eager to do what Kagetsu just encouraged - knock Julia’s block off. She knows she’s going to be disregarded by her opponent, seen as secondary to her partner in that debut match. To Hikari the only way to earn respect for herself is to unleash chaos and destruction on Julia. No matter how hard Julia tries to keep her down, Hikari will just keep coming at her.
It’s clear that Kagetsu is speaking to ACT; Hikari sighs and returns to her own training when she realizes this. Per her training regimen Hikari is in the middle of one last set of squats. She tries to focus herself on the burn her muscles feel as she attacks the set with gusto. Yet she can’t stop her spiraling thoughts. The one person who reached out to her and helped her out of that pit of despair was losing interest in her. A chill settles over Hikari as she sees Kagetsu coaching ACT. As soon as the older woman joined WLCW, Kagetsu’s been fawning over her.
Left behind? Hikari isn’t sure, but she doesn’t have time to worry too much about it. Rather, she has things she can turn that anxious energy toward instead. She finishes her last squat and turns her eyes toward a punching bag dangling from the ceiling. It wobbles slightly, taunting her to come try her luck with it. Though push ups are next, Hikari can’t leave the challenge unanswered. Not like Kagetsu will notice anyway. Each step toward the bag stokes the fires burning within Hikari. Nothing to do but unleash it all upon this inanimate object.
As she stares at it, a face appears - Julia, smugly looking down on her. Hikari growls and hammers the bag with a flurry of punches and kicks. Yet the image persists, asking if that’s all she has. Stiffer kicks answer the question, the chill from earlier slowly melting away as Hikari attacks. That same voice calls her weak, tiny, undeserving of friendship. Strikes aren’t enough to silence it, so Hikari changes tactics. She steps away from the bag and moves to the nearby practice ring, where she left some things. Briefly, she sees Kagetsu and ACT laughing together. The chill begins to spread again, and Hikari turns back to her own objective; she grabs a wooden bat and returns to the bag. Derisive laughter rings through her head as she sees Julia’s face on the bag again.
<”You are already dead.”>
Hikari lets out a primal shout and begins to hammer the bag with Mako-chan. Every sickening thud brings to mind the shattering of ribs and breaking of the other woman. The chill has been burnt away by Hikari’s assault on the darkness trying to swallow her. By the time the face and mocking voice disappear, Hikari sees bits of padding protrude from gashes she pounded into it. From behind her a voice calls out.
<“Hikarin, what-">
A psychotic glint sparkles in Hikari’s eyes.
<”That’s what I do.”>
