They say there is a thin line between good and evil. The tiniest of margin that separates right and wrong. Whoever said that wasn't a wrestler.
Makoto Aihara always prefered a different metaphor. She believed that being a face in wrestling was like walking a tightrope with no safety net and nothing to help you balance. As long as you walked that thin rope you were on the high road, your reputation was good, and the crowd loved you.
However with just one misstep you could fall from that rope to the unforgiving ground below. If your reputation survived that fall it was a long walk back to the beginning where you would have to climb an old rickety ladder back up and start again, and pray that you didn't fall twice.
Makoto liked that metaphor. Liked the idea and shared it with her friend, rival, and tag partner Aigle. Every night before her matches she would imagine the scene. The other faces and herself on their tightropes walking before the crowd. She could see most of them doing tricks and stunt whether it be by skirting the rules and playing a bit dirty, or by just playing it up for the crowd taking risks for their enjoyment.
She could really only point to three of the girls that played it safe up this high. Miss spencer, herself, and Aigle. They each focused in front of themselves and walked on. Sometimes waving and showing their appreciation to their fans, but never did anything fancy. They just let their paths be true. Makoto loved to watch it in her minds eye. At least until the day her foot slipped.
She had fouled for the first time in a match. She broke the rules. It hadn't been on purpose, and her opponent knew that and had tried to defend her. But the damage had been done.
She didn't fall from her rope but all of the sudden it was very very shaking and her balance was off. After that was just a downward spiral of mess ups and fouls. She was slowly losing the crowd even as her friends tried to console her. It seemed to be the harder she tried to stay true to her path the easier it was for her to mess up.
She tried to be strong through all this. Put on a brave face if as the crowd started booing her. Only one person ever saw her cry and that was Aigle. Her strong warrior of a friend who was always there to help support her. Well until recently… Aigle wasn't having that good of a time on the rope either. Makoto had tried to help her but… she recently took a break from wrestling to try and get her act together. She hadn't seen her friend the entire really missed her.
Not that the break she was on was helping any. All it did was cement the fact that she running away from a single choice she knew she had to make. Keep walking the tight rope or let herself fall.
She was leaning very heavily toward staying the course. She still had a few diehard fans, and her friends still supported her. Though the biggest reason was Aigle. Her friend was honorable and true. She wouldn't just give up. If she just stopped trying Aigle would be disappointed. Might stop seeing her. She didn't want that. Especially since she deep down wanted so much more from the mongolian wrestler.
However she would be lying if she said she wasn't tempted to take the plunge. She had always been the innocent tornado. The one that would throw you around and twist you up without ever truly meaning you arm. The little girl that didn't quite know what was going on and was a little shy. She never really took charge of anything and always went with the flow. The only time she ever took initiative was when Aigle was involved like when she first got into wrestling in order to challenge the one person to ever beat her. The only person to ever beat her still.
She wanted to change that. She no longer wanted to be the innocent one. She wanted to
show what she could do. To take charge and be more aggressive. She truly wanted that..
But to do it meant throwing away everything else about her. To wipe the slate clean forcefully. To turn her back on her friends and fans. On Aigle.
No if she successful in becoming someone better she could force Aigle to recognize her as the rival she was. To show her just how strong the olympic gold medal judoist could really be., No holding back. Then maybe she could make a move she had been stopping herself from doing since they first started their friendly rivalry.
She could see it in her mind's eye. Makoto took a breath, closed her eyes, and let herself fall from the rope straight into the waiting and welcoming embrace of the earth.
It hurt a lot less than she feared. In fact it felt pretty good.
