8/17/22
Tokyo, Japan
Where can you go when your feelings are low? What refuge is there when you feel the weight of the world is crushing you mercilessly? Many people probably have many answers. For Yuna Saito the solution is merely a recycle shop. It's a place with untold useful items and possible treasures within, if you just knew where to look. Her week having been a rough, anxiety driven affair, Yuna needs the escape of second hand goods to recover.
Out on the crowded street dozens of people pass by, heads in their own little worlds. Even this serves to send Yuna's heart beating faster out of anxiety. What if they are taking notice of her? Wasn't that guy staring at her? Certainly she stood out in the crowd as she was many centimeters taller than most women around her. What must people like that guy think? That she's a freak, a woman who'll never fit into society because she's abnormal. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and she's just unfortunate enough to stick out beyond her control. Instinctively she slouches to obtain some level of normalcy. Even then she feels their imagined prying eyes boring holes into her.
Why wouldn't they? She's a sideshow at best after all. A joke even. A tall girl who always ended up being cast out of whatever circles she's been in. Sometimes it's her own doing and others by circumstances, but the result is the same. Yuna's someone who won't be accepted most places and will fail horribly when she attempts to do so. Why on earth would anyone want her to be around them? No! These thoughts aren't helping anything, she tells herself. An escape is needed - and just there in front of her is a beacon of hope. Its blue and yellow sign marking it as her place of solace: HARD OFF.
Her safe harbor is just meters away! With some deft footsteps she dances between foot traffic heading both directions, only to trip over her right foot. The Magic Princess is thrown forward by her misstep and the metal frame of a sign proclaiming a sale fills her view. For a short moment her mind’s eye fills with images of a blood covered face resulting from her impact with the advertisement. All the people around her would be staring at her, silently judging the freak for her clumsiness. Yet as those horrifying moments fill her thoughts, it doesn’t come to pass. Why? What happened to protect her? As she thinks this she realizes her arm is outstretched, balancing herself up against a glass door. Somehow she’s managed to avert disaster!
Yuna: ”Huh - that’s nice.”
Such an instinctive move catches her off guard; she’s always been convinced she’s not very coordinated despite evidence to the contrary. She wouldn’t be a wrestler if she didn’t have at least some control over her body, would she? With a sigh she reminds herself that even with that minimum amount of basic coordination, she’ll probably never amount to much more than a joke. Before anyone can gawk at her further, she leans into the door to push it open. A beat later her long legs carry her over the threshold and into the peaceful realm of cast-off items.
Again she sighs, this time out of relief. Here within the familiar confines of Hard Off, she doesnt’ have to worry about any of those things too much. Now she’s just another shopper looking for good deals on pre-owned items which were no longer wanted by their owners. Unsure of what she’s looking for, Yuna’s legs carry her past the cluttered home goods and row upon row of CDs. Things which people had fallen out of love with and sold for a pittance just to be rid of them. Cast off items which had been forgotten by most people, doomed to simply exist in a void until someone rediscovered them.
Yuna felt a deep kinship with these inanimate objects. She too is a cast off from normal society. No matter how hard she tries to finally achieve a breakthrough she’s doomed to simply exist and be forgotten. How many jobs has she had in the past five or so years? Too many to count. Every one of them has seen her cast off because she simply didn’t fit the expectations of a ‘normal’ employee or because here eyes were always elsewhere. Wrestling is her passion, but it too follows the sad pattern of her existence. No one would really notice if she stopped competing, would they? She’s just an unremarkable weirdo who’s been left at the recycle shop of life to be rediscovered when someone has a desperate need to fill a card. Her last appearance had been at the small Basement Monstar venue, a last minute replacement for someone who couldn’t make it in. As she turns a corner toward the clothes she nearly doubles over as her back tightens up.
A little souvenir of her most recent loss. Through gritted teeth she forces herself to stop, stretch and ease the pain a bit. In doing so she spots her reflection in the mirror - and for the first time today she actually doesn’t feel terrible. Sure the woman staring back at her is tall and out of sorts, but she’s cute. Yuna flashes a smile as she repeats this statement to herself a few times. Each time makes her tension ease a tiny bit more. Yet when she looks into the reflection’s eyes there’s something else there. For a moment her expression grows cold, imperious. Her faint smile flips upside down into a scowl that somehow manages to be beautiful all the same. Is that really her? As she leans forward to get a closer look at the stone cold beauty, she’s transported back to that crowded basement a few nights before.
8/14/22
Basement MonStar
Tokyo, Japan
Yuna Saito & Sawa Tanaka vs Tsuruhime & Chifu Kanzaki
In this tiny, crowded venue there's not enough space for emotions to escape. With the ring and fans taking up most of the area within they're more intense if anything. The warmth of even this small number of bodies in one place pushes Yuna's to the boiling point. Despair. Something she's felt before, but not quite as overwhelming as this. It drives her thoughts into overdrive even as her body is in agony.
Her opponent wrenches the Boston Crab and Yuna screams out in pain. The beating her back has taken in this match makes the hold very close to unbearable. She wasn't even supposed to be here tonight. Why did she agree to this match when she knew she'd be badly overmatched? What good is it doing for her to accept a small paycheck for an impossible fight? Yuna clenches her fists as she desperately tries to stave off her capitulation.
Tapping out is the best choice here. It'll relieve the suffering she's in and no one will care if she does. It's what everyone expects; she's 0-169 in a six year career, so it's not like she ever had a chance heading into tonight. Other girls would have the crowd clapping to encourage them to keep fighting. At most Yuna has 40 percent of this crowd behind her. They all know what she's reminding herself of - Yuna Saito was doomed to failure the moment she set foot in the ring. If anything she should release herself from the torment and head home early to lose herself in something more pleasant. Again her opponent wrenches the hold, drawing a scream from Yuna.
Tsuruhime: "C'mon, princess! TAP! TAP!"
Tsuruhime is right, she should submit. Yuna stretches her arm out as if to reach for the ropes, but her hand unballs from its fist. Let go, Yuna tells herself. Her hand hovers over the mat, ready to slap it thrice to admit defeat. Through sweat and tears she can see fans leaning forward in expectation of the match's end. Release from suffering is but a couple seconds away! Yuna's hand falls toward the mat and 0-170, but stops.
Everything freezes in that moment. The world fades out of focus and the pain grows numb. Is this the release of death? Has there been an accident in the ring? It would be fitting, but no. This is different - she feels as though she's watching the action rather than experiencing it. She senses new thoughts. How dare these people fail to appreciate the hard work she puts in! Tsuruhime is a fool for thinking that such a simple hold could defeat someone with the elegance and grace she posseses! Tapping isn't an option; she has to fight! The dreamlike state continues as she slams her hand down, fingers clawing into the mat. No surrender.
This new indignance fuels her as she claws into the mat with her other hand. Face contorted into one of scowling fury, Yuna pulls herself toward the ropes. To a gasp from the foolish crowd she lunges forward and grabs the rope! Tsuruhime keeps the hold locked in while the referee counts towards five. The insolence! Only the thought of punishing this woman fills Yuna's mind the hold is finally released.
Yuna: "You stupid little bird!'
Everyone is astonished at hearing the Magic Princess shout this at the top of her lungs. Good, they're paying attention. Yuna winces as her back is filled with pain, but she gets back to her feet somehow. Tsuruhime looks across the ring with a smug grin, which causes Yuna's scowl to grow. She wants nothing more than to cave that face in! With a scream of anger unlike anything she's felt before, Yuna charges in and boots Tsuruhime right in the face. The impact of the move shoots up her long leg and fills her with tremendous joy. Time for the other woman to suffer! That's when she feels a sharp pain in her back - a blunt object clubbing her there. Despite the pain she spins on her heels and glares down at Tsuruhime's tag partner.
The shock on her face is precious; like all of the idiots here she never considered that the last minute substitution into the match would be her doom. Scowl turning up into a sadistic grin, Yuna thrusts her arm forward and seizes Kanzaki by the throat. Another scream of righteous fury escapes Yuna's lips as she lifts the woman off the mat and slams her down so hard that she bounced! Shocked gasps from the crowd are music to her ears. But more is needed. Time for a very special move.
Yuna: "IT'S OVER!"
Her nimble hands dig into Kanzaki's hair and rip her off the mat. Feeling extra merciless she lifts the other woman up into position for an infamous finisher - the Devil Driver! Sending this pathetic fool to hell will be poetic justice for all the insults she's suffered in her career. Wait - what's she doing? Suddenly the dreamlike state fades out and she's fully present in the moment. Pain pulses through her back, which stiffens in response. Her arms become like jelly as she tries to remember how she got to this point. The weight in her arms shifts as Kanzaki slips out of Yuna's grasp.
Before she can fully regain her bearings, Yuna panics at feeling an arm wrap around her left leg. What now? To her horror the answer presents itself just as she falls backwards - a roll up pin! Countless things fly through her mind as her shoulders are pinned to the mat. What came over her a few seconds ago? She's never had thoughts like that before. When did she learn that move, whatever it was going to be? And - oh no, she's being pinned!
One.
Two..
Three!!!
Tsuruhime's music hits as Yuna's streak hits 170. The rest of the world just kind of exists there as Yuna lays on the mat staring up at the lights again. They twinkle through the watery filter of her tears like stars in the night sky. It's happened again. Of course it has. Even when something unexplainable comes over her, Yuna Saito can't win. It's impossible. Best to just roll out of the ring and head to the back so she can change. All these people are going to forget her anyway, so no reason to stick around in the vain hope of selling merch. She stumbles toward the back while doing her best not to attract attention to herself, but that's in vain too.
Just before she reaches the curtain, Yuna's eyes meet those of a middle aged woman. Her gaze is more intense than anyone Yuna's seen short of a fired up opponent. Is this fan going to start trouble with her too? Can't Yuna catch a break? There's a powerful aura about the woman that demands respect just by her presence. The last thing Yuna needs is to upset some random scary fan, so she falls back on instinct and bows apologetically. On the way up she catches the woman's gaze still fixated on her, and something else: a small hint of a smile?! And there's something familiar about her - she looks a lot like the legendary Tatsumaki Aoi. But obviously it's not the woman herself. That would be silly. Rather than linger there, Yuna escapes as politely as possible.
Seriously, now she's seeing legends in the crowd. What's happening to her? Tatsumaki Aoi indeed.
8/17/22
HARD OFF in Tokyo, Japan
That furious, indignant presence is what she saw in the HARD OFF mirror just now. Yuna still has no idea what that means if anything. Maybe she's just bottled things up a bit. Maybe she's seeing things again. Regardless, she's safe now. Whatever that imperious presence which overcame her was, it was gone now. Yuna takes a long, deep breath and grounds herself in the relaxing surroundings. No thoughts of wrestling, just looking for clothes. Even though it's a challenge to find clothes that fit her lanky frame, it's kind of a treasure hunt! A smile crosses her lips as she wonders just what she might find today. A nice dress? Maybe a brand name blouse? Tatsumaki Aoi?
Wait! Tatsumaki Aoi?!
Tatsumaki Aoi: “Saito Yuna-san.”
She says it as a fact rather than a question. Which in turn begs the question of how in the world this woman who very much resembles a legend of the sport knows who she is. No way could this actually be the woman who main evented at the Tokyo Dome! Nope, she told herself, this was just a woman who very much resembled Tatsumaki Aoi but had no actual connection to her. Yuna’s heart rate slowed down as she convinced herself of this. The taller woman stood there gazing down at the older woman, realizing that she hasn’t answered her own question.
Who is this woman? If she knows who Yuna is, then she must either have been to one of Yuna’s past workplaces or a wrestling show. Yuna clasps her hands in front of her as another possibility creeps into her mind. This woman is very sizable and has a powerful aura about her which promises danger to any who dare cross her. Were it not for her own training Yuna would be cowering behind the nearby rack of skirts right now. Could she be an enforcer for her father’s organization? Sent here to find the errant daughter and confront her about that escape a few years ago! Any confrontation like that will cause a scene here, and she really doesn’t want to make people like that upset. Moving to Tokyo was a clean split from that life and she’s got no intention of letting it go. Despite the fear that lingers in her heart and threatens to overwhelm what courage she has, Yuna bows respectfully.
Yuna: “I’m terribly sorry, but I have no interest in that business.”
The woman’s eyes narrow as she continues to watch Yuna’s every movement. What? Did Yuna say something wrong? Is this woman going to call her associates and arrange for some trouble? Cowering behind that clothing rack seems very enticing right now. Oh no, she’s reaching into her pocket! Instinct takes over and Yuna ducks behind the clothing after all. She has to hunch down quite a bit in order to avoid the top of her head poking out from behind them, but she manages. Her flexibility is very good thanks to her training after all. After a moment she wonders if the woman’s left, and much like a child Yuna grasps the end of the rack with her hands and peeks out to see what’s going on. A business card fills her eyes.
Tatsumaki Aoi: “What are you doing, Saito-san?”
Yuna blinks as she reads the card and only half hears the woman’s question. Atop the card is a cosmic logo with the words ‘Miracle Galaxy Pro-Wrestling’. Okay, so this woman isn’t one of her father’s henchwomen. She has some connection to a wrestling company or office? Maybe a last minute booking. Right now Yuna’s not sure she wants to even humor such an offer, but she keeps reading all the same. There, her name - this will settle the question of the woman’s intent once and for all! Tatsumaki Aoi. Wait, what?! Yuna’s eyes slowly drift up to the woman’s unamused face. This really is the legend herself - one of the greatest wrestlers of all time is right here, in this HARD OFF, holding a business card out to the woman with the worst record in Joshi wrestling. She rushes to accept the legend’s business card, bowing more in appreciation for the gift. Only when she feels those eyes continuing to bore a hole in her head does Yuna stand up to her full height.
Yuna: “W-well, I. I- I’m not sure. Th-the hemlines of these skirts looked fancy, so I just had to have a look at them to make sure. And sur-”
Tatsumaki Aoi continues to not be amused.
Tatsumaki Aoi: “You were hiding.”
Yuna: “Y-yes I was. You startled me.”
The legend stares at her for a long moment, making Yuna wonder if she’s just ruined whatever thing she’s been approached about. It’d make sense if it did. What kind of idiot ran to hide when a superstar of the sport came to see her? Yuna Saito, the woman who shouldn’t even be a wrestler, that’s who.
Yuna: “How can I help you, T-Tatsumaki-san?”
Yet the legend doesn’t abandon her as a lost cause.
Tatsumaki Aoi: “I saw you at Basement Monstar, Saito-san.”
Oh no, that was Tatsumaki Aoi that Yuna had seen in the crowd! This was bad.
Tatsumaki Aoi: “I’m working on something brand new, and I went there to scout for talent.”
Ah, that’s it. She probably wants to know how to get a hold of Tsuruhime or Kanzaki.
Tatsumaki Aoi: “And what I saw in that match got my attention. There’s something strong in you, Saito-san. What you showed was just scratching the surface, and I think we can pull that out of you.”
Yuna’s about to offer their contact information before the words sink in. It’s her. Tatsumaki Aoi was here expressly to see Yuna Saito about some new opportunity. This couldn’t be possible.
Yuna: “Well I’m flattered, Tatsumaki-san, but I’m not the woman you want. I’ll just drag your new project down and make it a joke. Please reconsider.”
The legend is unmoved.
Tatsumaki Aoi: “No. I want you for Miracle Galaxy Pro. You might be weak now, but I’ll see to it that you get all the training you need to become strong. I only have one question: are you willing to swear yourself to protecting the purity of professional wrestling and defending justice in the ring?”
Yuna’s jaw drops at the offer. Why is she being offered this opportunity? What’s she done to deserve it? Her brain has begun to shut off, and instinct takes over.
Yuna; “Of course! You’ve got my word, I’ll do whatever it takes!”
She even clenches her right hand into a fist and pounds it over her heart. This gets a nod from the legend, who motions toward the exit.
Tatsumaki Aoi: “Good. Come with me, Saito-san, you’re part of Miracle Galaxy Pro now.”
2/1/23
MGP Dojo
Tokyo, Japan
Exhibition Match: Yuna Saito vs Hiromi Takeda
Becoming part of Miracle Galaxy Pro turns out to mean a lot of things. Since that fateful day in HARD OFF Yuna’s been hard at work every single day. Hours upon hours of intensive exercise and ring work the likes of which would exhaust even veteran competitors. At the end of the first day she wanted to fall over and die. After the first week she wondered how she was going to keep this up and if she was ever going to reach the level others seemed to see in her. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months. More and more women officially signed with the new promotion, each of them making Yuna feel increasingly insignificant.
Even now, in the Miracle Galaxy Pro dojo, Yuna couldn’t stop thinking about the constellation of talent around her. Each and every one of the women in the room right now has had more success and enjoys higher standing than she did. All of them have tasted victory, something which is a completely foreign concept to Yuna. It’s not hard to imagine that each and every one of them has a much larger fan base than the Magic Princess. Why wouldn’t they? They had potential, whereas she just exists and manages to minimize the supposed advantages her unnatural height grants her. Months of training, consistent inexplicable pain, and for what? Is Yuna really any better of a wrestler now than she was when she first set foot in this dojo?
Yuna circles the ring, staring at her exhibition opponent. Here too she finds herself overmatched, this in an incredibly frustrating manner. Hiromi Takeda is very new to the sport and her inexperience should theoretically give Yuna an advantage. Six years of wrestling experience do nothing for Yuna’s confidence. If anything the hunger and determination clearly displayed in Hiromi’s fiery eyes is off putting. This girl’s got to be more popular, right? Certainly she’s got more talent than Yuna possesses. It’d be one thing if Yuna’s role here was simply to serve as the sparring partner for the Galaxy Defense Force rookie. That’d be fine. Hiromi could get her reps in and Yuna wouldn’t have to disgrace the ring with her sad presence.
Yet they were faction mates. Equals on paper. In reality? As soon as the ring bell sound effect played, Yuna knew she was out of her depth. Every time she tried a move, Hiromi was just that much quicker or more clever. It’s been a few minutes and Yuna’s still alive at least, she’s avoided being pinned or tapped out. The longer this goes on the longer she wonders what it is that’s going to do her in this time. She’s out of her league here, surpassed even by the rookies! A dropkick knocks her back into the corner and the sharp impact of the turnbuckles slamming into her back staggers Yuna. For a moment she looks through tears of frustration as Hiromi eyes her sharply. Yes, this is going to be over soon - Yuna realizes now that she’s probably just wasting everyone’s time by being here. Perhaps her loss in the exhibition will convince Tatsumaki Aoi that Yuna Saito isn’t fit to be in Galaxy Defense Force.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Saito! Move faster or she’ll catch you in the corner!”
Those sudden words shake Yuna out of her regularly scheduled self loathing. Without thinking about it she spins out of the corner, leaving Hiromi to slam into the turnbuckles herself. Whoa! That’s new! In one of her many past jobs she’d learned to dance a bit, and now that footwork’s become part of her wrestling it seems. She can’t give up now can she? Not when the coaches believe in her enough to keep pushing her every single day. They’ve given her a chance to bring smiles to people’s faces through wrestling and wrestling alone, so she has to keep fighting. As Hiromi rebounds from the turnbuckles, Yuna rushes in with a fierce shout and connects with a bicycle knee! Okay, time to try something big.
Utilizing that dancer’s footwork she steps into position behind Hiromi, then locks her arms around the shorter woman’s waist. Time for a Kira-Kira Plex! But what if it doesn’t work? Her grip’s not always the best and she might not hit it with the right impact. Even when she does manage to connect with her best moves, people always kick out of them. Despair at a failure which hasn’t happened yet fills her even as she lifts Hiromi off the mat. Yuna’s head snaps to the side as she looks to the coach, Suzumi Mizuki, to see what she thinks of it. Mizuki seems confused, and then Yuna’s grip slips; Hiromi counters the Kira-Kira Plex and rolls her up into a pin.
1.
2..
3!!!
Defeat’s come again. It’s not surprising, really, and certainly it’s a constant companion for her. Losing is all she can do so she really should just accept this as just another in a long line of expected outcomes. As Hiromi hops up to her feet confidently, Yuna just lays there staring at the overhead lighting. This is it. This is the height of what Yuna Saito is capable of. Postponing the inevitable but always falling short of the mark no matter what the situation. Her life could literally be on the line and she’d end up perishing due to her inability to overcome the odds. Isn’t this pointless? Aren’t the others just laughing at her? The Magic Princess is a joke, so they assuredly must be. She shouldn’t be upset by that prospect, but yet she finds it distasteful. Not in so much as it hurts, but in that it makes her angry. Why does this keep happening?
Yuna sits up just in time to see Hiromi called over to her corner by Tatsumaki Aoi herself. In the past few months it’s become quite clear to Yuna that Hiromi sees herself as very special. She was hand picked by the legendary Tatsumaki Aoi, so how could she not be? Much as Yuna tries to write it off as youthful exuberance, she can’t help but be off put by the rookie’s insistence that she was some kind of prodigy. You could tell just by watching how she carries herself that the girl thinks ridiculously highly of herself. Sure she was chosen, but so was Yuna. And no one would mistake Yuna for any kind of special talent. The bravado of her faction mate just upset her - that inexperience would catch up to her some day, and then she wouldn’t brag so much would she? Just the fact of being pinned in an off the record exhibition bout fills Yuna with fury.
What if she goes over and humbles the kid a bit? Yes, that smug grin on Hiromi’s face really does grate on Yuna. Perhaps the kid needs to be driven through the mat to realize that she’s not so special. Not compared to the years of suffering Yuna’s been through. Reality hits hard and for a split second Yuna thinks she ought to hit the kid with it from behind. Really steamroll her and expose her inexperience in the face of ruthless attacks the likes of which she has never seen. Then she could beg at Yuna’s feet for forgiveness for all of those transgressions of ego. Wait, was does she feel like she’s watching a scene in a movie? What was she doing? There she goes losing her mind again. Yuna slaps the mat hard to banish the residual anger of whatever she was just thinking, then realizes that Mizuki’s talking to her.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Hey, Saito. What just happened there?”
Yuna scoots herself around to face the decorated veteran speaking to her. Even a year after her retirement, Suzumi Mizuki has the powerful aura of unshakable confidence about her. Yet it’s not as overwhelming and confrontational as that of Tatsumaki Aoi. In fact it’s much more subtle than that. Just something about her that suggests danger if you push her too much. It’s tempered by a kindness that Yuna’s not sure she deserves from such a prominent woman. She sighs and shakes her head in response to the question.
Yuna: “I d-don’t know, Suzumi-san. I just kind of blanked out for a second.”
Suzumi shakes her head.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Not just now, in the match. You had momentum, but then you just let it slip away.”
Yuna frowns at this, since she knows the answer is unlikely to satisfy Suzumi.
Yuna: “I can’t really explain it, I just-”
Yuna hesitates, not wanting to give voice to those thoughts. Yet Suzumi Mizuki presses the issue, arms folded across her chest.
Mizuki Suzumi: “You just what?”
Yuna sighs.
Yuna: “I just know that no matter what I do, it’s going to be countered or not hit right. Something’s always going to go wrong. It always does. It’s only a matter of time before the next mistake loses me another match. And I just keep thinking that I’m never going to get past this, that I’m just going to keep losing forever. No matter how hard I work, I’m never good enough!”
Her words become more impassioned with every sentence. Yuna’s vision becomes watery as tears fill her eyes again, and she realizes she’s made a fool of herself in front of another legend. Suzumi Mizuki should just go work with Yua, Kasey or Latoya instead of a lifelong loser like her. But the trainer does no such thing; instead she climbs up onto the apron and sits there, staring Yuna right in her tear-stricken eyes. That gaze is powerful, all consuming. Yuna wants badly to curl up into a ball and shrink out of Mizuki’s vision, but she has a feeling even then she wouldn’t be able to escape.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Saito, tell me something. How long have you been wrestling?”
Yuna blinks in surprise - shouldn’t an MGP trainer know this?
Yuna: “Six years more or less. I took a bit of a break my last year of high school, but I’ve been losing for a long time.”
Mizuki Suzumi: “Sure, but you keep wrestling despite that don’t you? If this was about losing, wouldn’t you have quit a few years ago? So tell me something else - tell me what keeps you going.”
Yuna stops to think. That’s a very good point, shouldn’t the years of losing have already made her want to hang up her boots? What is it that keeps the Magic Princess going in the face of constant failure? Her heart pounds as she thinks of the feelings she gets in the ring. Sure she doubts herself all the time and for good reason, but she gets excited too. Just to be in the ring, competing in front of fans and making them happy, that swells her heart with joy. Despite her abysmal record she truly does enjoy being a professional wrestler on her own terms.
Yuna: “I guess I just love this too much to quit. I love being out in a ring, fighting in front of a crowd and making them happy. If I can get just one of them to smile, I think it’s worth it. But that doesn’t help me win. It’s never going to happen either, I just don’t have any talent. Suzumi-san, am I an i-”
Mizuki’s arm shoots under the middle rope and seizes Yuna by the shoulder. For a moment Yuna worries that Mizuki’s going to get physical or something. DId she say something wrong? Yet Mizuki’s intensity remains mixed with a kindness that Yuna certainly doesn’t deserve.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Stop right there, Saito. Don’t talk yourself out of that joy. So you love wrestling, and you want to bring smiles to people’s faces. Your problem is-”
Yuna; “That I have no talent?”
Mizuki’s gaze turns to a vicious glare that makes Yuna flinch. It’s then that she realizes she’d interrupted her coach, which is the rudest thing she could’ve done.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Stop that. You have talent. You’ve been training here since last fall and I’ve seen you get a bit faster and better at everything every day. It’s not talent that you’re lacking.”
Yuna bites her lip.
Yuna: “And I’m weaker than everyone else.”
Mizuki raises an incredibly dubious eyebrow.
Mizuki Suzumi: “That knee you gave Takeda says otherwise.”
Yuna: “I don’t know.. I don’t see any of that in myself. I’m just going to lose no matter what I do.”
Mizuki’s other arm speeds into the ring and grabs Yuna’s other shoulder. She locks her gaze firmly with Yuna and only once Yuna’s attention is focused on her does she speak.
Mizuki Suzumi: “The only thing you’re missing is confidence. You don’t believe in yourself, you doubt what you can do, and that makes you hesitate. You’ve got to follow through and throw all those thoughts out the window. There’s no time in a match for that. Saito, you need to stop fighting with this-”
She lifts her right hand and points to Yuna’s forehead. Yuna’s very confused eyes follow the hand as it moves down and then points to her chest.
Mizuki Suzumi: “And start fighting with this. Your heart is stronger than you think, and you just need to trust it. You can do this.”
Yuna’s not sure what to think - it can’t be that simple can it? What reason is there for her to believe in herself when the facts are so clear? Her entire career is nothing but failure, or as she sometimes puts it, coming in second. Nobody’s better than her at coming in second. She shakes her head at the very notion that confidence is something she can have.
Yuna: “I can’t do this.”
Mizuki stands up at that and folds her arms over her chest again.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Then you’re just going to let Shuko MURDER-Gun beat you within an inch of your life and give GDF a bloody nose?”
The spectre of Shuko MURDER-Gun has also been haunting Yuna’s thoughts of late. Ever since the match was announced she’s wondered how she’s even going to survive the match. Two of the most violent women to ever lace up a pair of boots are waiting for her at Historic Big Bang Evolution. Both of them share their leader’s repugnant belief that might makes right and that any means necessary should be used to cripple the competition. She’s sure that they’re incredibly capable of breaking every bone in her body in a variety of highly creative ways. In this match she’s bound to suffer like she’s never suffered before. The worst pain imaginable isn’t enough to properly define what SAEKO and Cross are going to do to her. They’re determined to paint the ring with her blood. That’s not wrestling, that’s attempted murder! Yet the very thought of that violence meets resistance from Yuna. So much so that she shoots up to her feet and snarls a little.
Yuna: “Of course not! There’s a right and wrong way to fight, and they picked the absolute worst wrong way to do it. Even if I can’t beat them, I have to fight them hard so that Tatsumaki-san’s vision isn’t painted over with blood.”
Mizuki seems doubtful.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Really? But what about that ‘I’m not good enough’ story you were just telling me?”
Yuna shakes her head and sighs.
Yuna: “Maybe I’m not. But I can’t just let them have their way.”
Mizuki smiles and nods.
Mizuki Suzumi: “Good. So how’re you going to make sure they don’t?”
The answer’s as simple as it is impossible. Yuna gulps as she reaches an astonishing conclusion that she can’t believe has come to her. Despite the reality of 0-170, there’s only one way to make sure that Shuko Shiori’s unit doesn’t take over MGP.
Yuna: “Oh crap.. I have to win.”
Mizuki laughs and pats her on the shoulder. Small consolation for the imposing goal that Yuna herself just set.
Mizuki Suzumi: “There you go. You’re going to fight a couple of the most violent women in wrestling, but you’ve got confidence in yourself. There’s still a lot of work to do though. You ready to work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life?”
Harder? How could anything be harder than what she’s been through since joining MGP?! Yet she strangely finds herself pleased with the possibility that there might be something.
Yuna: “I’m ready to make some magic.”
Video uploaded to Youtube 2/14/23
Our first sight is that of a dingy nightclub the very sight of which might give you tetanus or some other nasty infection. It’s the seediest of seedy locations as the soiled bar, broken tables and chairs and overall atmosphere can attest. Surely a place where no legitimate business is likely to take place. Taking up space in the middle of the dance floor is a wrestling ring which is very low to the ground. Its canvas has several patches, its ropes duct tape patching spots where the leather has worn thin. As dust particles drift aimlessly within a singular spotlight, the towering figure of Yuna Saito appears with her back turned to the viewer.
Yuna: “This is where everything began for me. A thousand dive bars that any girl would be crazy to set foot in, all with their unique ‘quirks’. Every single one unsafe for a 16 year old girl who entered professional wrestling starry eyed and naive. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was surrounded by danger every time I got to wrestle. Dozens of violent, unsavory lowlifes around me every single week. My opponents were the least of my worries. With all that constantly on my mind, it’s not surprising I lost so often. And to be honest, maybe I should’ve quit once I got to a safer place.”
The club and its disgusting scenery fade out, but the ring remains. Where once there were tables, inexplicable stains and the presumed stench of mold, now there are some padded mats, a set of weights and a row of windows letting in natural light. While the ring’s condition has improved it’s still low to the ground. Now Yuna’s lying down in the center of the ring, limbs outstretched to the four corners of the ring.
Yuna: “But I kept on going. I scrapped, clawed and hustled through countless odd jobs just to make ends meet enough while I continued to wrestle. My life went from job to job, loss to loss. No matter how hard I fought in the ring, it was never enough to make any meaningful difference. You know, it’s not so bad if you think of it this way: it’s not losing, it’s coming in second! And no one comes in second more often than me. All of those experiences coming in second have taught me a lot about wrestling, but they also built up inside until even the thought of being second wasn’t enough.”
We hear a hand slapping the mat in a three count, followed by a bell ringing to signal yet another Yuna Saito loss. She lays there in the ring, staring aimlessly up at the lights and ceiling.
Yuna: “Every day I ask myself why I keep fighting so hard when the result is a foregone conclusion. Everyone, especially the kind of women who join a group like Shuko MURDER-Gun, must be wondering if I’m just an idiot who doesn’t know when to quit. That I must just be a masochist who’s out there to collect a paycheck for failure. After all they say the definition of insanity is to try the same thing repeatedly and expect a different result. But I can’t let myself lay down and give up on being a wrestler.”
A disembodied voice calls out her name, as if a single fan is rooting her own. The listless expression on her face transforms to one of high intensity and she slaps the mat angrily. Empowered by this one lone voice, Yuna kips up and looks right at the viewer.
Yuna: “My entire existence is frustrating, and yes I want to cry some days. Success might never be a thing I get to enjoy, but this - all of this from the ring I stand in to the people in the crowd to the feeling you get when the opening bell sounds and the fight is on - all of this is sacred to me. Knowing that I get to step into a ring is a special feeling. Even though I’m afraid of losing, I know that this is the best place to make my dreams come true. Here I’m not just some strange tall girl who stands out like the biggest nail that screams to be hammered down. Here I’m a magic princess who can bring joy and hope to others.”
She manages a smile despite the anxiousness otherwise filling her face.
Yuna: “I shouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to be here for Miracle Galaxy Pro’s first show, let alone in as special a place as Kourakuen Hall. Legends and heroes of the sport have fought some of their most impassioned battles there. And then there’s Yuna Saito, a girl who’d be an afterthought if she wasn’t thrust into such a prominent match. By every possible consideration, I shouldn’t even be here. But I am. Tatsumaki Aoi-san has given me the greatest opportunity of my life to do what I’ve struggled my whole career to do. And I know what I have to do.”
Yuna takes a deep breath.
Yuna: “If I want to bring smiles to people’s faces and give them happiness through pro wrestling, I have to fight. I have to fight harder than ever before to show every single person watching who’s ever thought they didn’t belong or that they were a joke that they’re wrong. As long as we keep fighting for what we believe in, we can change that. But for that to be possible, Miracle Galaxy Pro has to stay a safe place for dreams to become reality. Yua-san has placed her trust in me, and she believes that I can do better. She’s going to do her very best to defend the Ring of Dreams, and so will I.”
She turns to look at the opposite corner and her smile turns to a frown.
Yuna: “This isn’t just Yu-2’s debut, it’s a fight to protect everything that makes MIracle Galaxy Pro Wrestling special. Andrea Cross-san and SAEKO-san are two of the most violent, dangerous women in professional wrestling. They think that might makes right and that what we believe in makes us weak. I know they have to be thinking that facing us is an easy win, a joke. They have to be assuming that they’ll just batter the two of us so badly that they have plenty of blood to paint the ring with. It’s horrifying to think of. Their goal - Shuko MURDER-Gun’s goal - is to turn this special place into one where fear, intimidation and violence rule.”
Yuna shakes her head in disgust at the thought.
Yuna: “SAEKO-san was a newcomer like me once, but anger’s corrupted her to the point that she’s become a monster. Anyone who defies her risks having their face bloodied by that nail bat she carries around like a scepter. I’m sure she wouldn’t think twice about using it to try and cripple myself and Yua-san. Andrea-san? She just loves causing pain and it’s terrifying to think what she’ll do to us just to prove the point she can do whatever she wants. The two of them are the perfect representatives of the repugnant goals of Shuko MURDER-Gun - domination and blood. If they get their way, this one of a kind Ring of Dreams is going to become a Ring of Nightmares.”
She clenches her fist tightly in defiance.
Yuna: “And I can’t let that happen. I can’t see Miracle Galaxy Pro become a galaxy of death. So even though I’ve never been able to win a match, I’m going to promise SAEKO-san and Andrea-san one thing: as long as my heart’s beating, I will keep clawing my way back up to defy you. You can bash me, batter me, break my bones and draw my blood, but I’ll never let you and your ideas win. Even with my history in the ring, there’s a first time for everything. At HIstoric Big Bang Evolution I’m going to fight through whatever hell you can put me through in order to get my first win. Not for myself, but for everyone who needs that hope and inspiration. I’ll be their hero by stopping Shuko MURDER-Gun from having their way. SAEKO-san, Andrea-san, my heart is strong and full of passion, and you’ll have to stop it from beating to stop me. As scary and violent as you are, that’s not something even you can do.”
Her cautious smile returns.
Yuna: “Tonight, Yu-2 will defend the galaxy of miracles against the darkness. Let’s get ready - GDF, take off!”
Yuna snaps to attention and fires off a jaunty salute; though her ending words are playful, the intensity in her eyes promises she means everything she said. This will be a war.
