Backstage Shadows

Prologue

The dull thump of the training mat resounded around the room, mingling with similar sounds echoing off the walls. It smelled of sweat and exertion, the air humid with heavy breaths and beating hearts. Clangs of metal ricocheted off cement bricks, chains curling in on themselves as tension was suddenly released. The synthetic plastic of the mats stuck to skin, creaking as feet pounded across their surfaces and bodies landed heavily.

The gym was full today. Hazel eyes watched in awe as bodies arched through the air, twisting like airborne dancers before landing just to take off once again. Corded muscles rippled, contorting across the expanse of skin as they propelled energy like liquid fire throughout the body. She watched amazed as a young man performed three backhand springs followed with a back-flip and landed across a single steel bar, his feet shifting as he found balance. She watched another run fearlessly towards a wall jumping unimaginably high and latch onto the graffiti covered edge, hauling himself over only to skip across the top of the adjacent monkey bars. In a corner, two were sprinting on treadmills, their legs becoming a blur as their faces turned red and their cheeks and chests heaved. She saw a few stretching, but they didn't linger long before they, too, began the dance. Always moving, always flowing; it was a sort of focus she hadn't seen before. And through it all, she saw the only person there that shared her gender. Her eyes zeroed in on the sole female in the interactive gymnasium, watching her lithe body twist through the air in a serpentine fashion. She couldn't jump as high as the men, nor run as fast, heck she couldn't even pull herself over the walls as quickly, but she was there.

Mizuki tightened her grip on the strap of her handbag and gulped. And now, so was she. She felt silly now, dressing as she had. Strappy Roman styled sandals covered her feet, black leggings that cut off just below the knee covered her legs, and a stylish modified t-shirt with cut out sides adorned her torso. Her hip-length black hair was curled, hiding her netted hoop earrings like a parting curtain. When she put her makeup on this morning, she didn't think it was too heavy but now thought it weighed a hundred pounds. Rouged cheeks, cat-eye liner, fake lashes, eye-shadow, and glossy red lips—it was her routine. She cursed her lack of forethought now. Who went to a gym with makeup on?

"You looking for someone?" A breathless voice asked behind her. She turned around…and immediately craned her neck. The man was tall, enormous by her standards with bulky muscles and angular features. Sharp blue eyes peered down at her through tousled brown locks. A white towel was draped around his shoulders and he used it to wipe the shining sweat from his face. His smell hit her immediately, and her eyes wandered to the various places on his t-shirt where the grey color turned to black. Coming back to herself, she dropped quickly into a bow, and then froze. Cheeks turning scarlet in embarrassment, she shot back into an upright position. The man's confused and somewhat skeptical look caused the color to darken.

"Gome—sorry."

"For…what?"

"Um…how do you say? Not custom? To bow? You shake hands right?"

"Oh," he said shortly. "Oh. You're a foreigner, aren't you?"

"Hai."

"Yeah, yeah. We shake hands." He extended his right and she mirrored his actions. She awkwardly shook his much larger hand, marveling at how firm his grip was and how easily her hand was overshadowed. "So, where're you from?"

"Japan."

"Ah. That explains it."

"Explains wh—?"

"Mizuki!"

Mizuki whipped around at the sound of her name to see the woman from before walking towards her. She tilted her head at her arrival as well, belatedly realizing that she would just have to get used to being short.

Americans.

The blond haired woman looked to be around twenty with high cheekbones, full lips, and exotic shaped eyes the color of sapphires. Mizuki thought she was even more stunning than in her pictures. It was amazing to think that they were the same age. At sixteen, Mizuki still had a somewhat childish complexion.

"Mizuki!" The woman exclaimed, throwing her arms around the much shorter girl. Mizuki instantly relaxed glad to see a familiar face, though they were meeting in person for the first time. A smile quirked her lips as she remembered the tone of their letters and drawing a parallel to the woman in front of her. They weren't much different.

"Rachel."

"I'm so glad you came!"

"It would be a shame not to. I am in America after all."

"Of course that. I'd hunt you down if you wouldn't visit. But I mean I'm glad you came here."

She gestured to the gym around them, the occupants having stopped their workout to come see the commotion. Mizuki smiled nervously at them. "Aa. I'm here."

"So," the man before interrupted. "Rachel you mind introducing your friend."

"Oh, yeah sure. Guys," she looked around at the ring of young men gathering around them, and in some cases, up. "This is my friend Mizuki. We've been pen pals since our first year in high-school—well my first year in high school, she was still in middle school. She's from Japan and this is the first time that we've met in person."

Several hands were extended and Mizuki barely repressed the engraved knee-jerk reaction to bow. Old habits die hard, as they say. She shook each one in turn. The one that approached her first was Ryan, a brown haired boy with green eyes was Mike, a sandy blond was named Bryan, two identical twins were introduced next—Alan and Avery—and then the Pitt brothers John and George. And then of course Rachel.

"So," Ryan huffed. "You guys just here to catch up or…" he drifted off, rotating his hands in the air. "Actually," Rachel smiled, putting an arm around Mizuki and tugging her into her sweaty side. "Mizuki is here to work out."

"Oh," Ryan raised an eyebrow, appraising her attire. Mizuki cursed her choice of outfit for the thousandth time. "Do you have a change of clothes?"

"Hai. In my bag."

"Alright-y then! I will leave you," he pointed to Rachel, "With her," the finger switched to Mizuki. "And the rest of us will meet you out here when you're done." He made a swirl motion in the air and the group broke. Several grins were shot her way before they turned their backs. She watched some of them race back to the equipment, pushing each other the whole way. Rachel clapped her hands. "Okay then, let me show you to our locker room!"

Mizuki nodded her head and they both made their way towards some oak colored doors with white lettering going across the vertical edge of the door. Mizuki tilted her head to read the characters, knowing it said "Women" but wanting to make it out for herself. After going through the surprisingly heavy door, the room opened up into a spacious chamber with short carpet. The central area was the locker room, lockers arranged in an "E" shape with benches between each row. To the left the carpet abruptly ended and tile began, signaling the beginning of the shower room and adjacent bathroom. And to Mizuki's great surprise, to the right an entire wall of glass equipped with a glass door led to a sauna, steam billowing around the chamber.

"We're the lucky ones," Rachel said, nodding her head to the sauna. "Most gyms don't have them, but they're heaven after a particularly difficult workout. You most of all will appreciate them."

"Why?"

"Well," Rachel smiled. "What we do isn't exactly easy. You're going to pull quite a few muscles."

Setting her duffle bag down, Mizuki looked up to her long-time, yet new, friend. "How long did it take you? To get to where you are?" Rachel shrugged, sitting down on the bench while Mizuki unzipped her bag and pulled some gym clothing out. "Hard to say. I quit for a while, you know." Mizuki nodded her head, pulling her shirt off and throwing it on the bench. "But, honestly, I don't really know. All I cared about was achieving the next step, you know? It's easier to focus on the small victories." She gave the smaller girl a large grin. "That way you never stop."

Mizuki smiled back, grateful that at least she wasn't the only girl doing this. After she finished changing, she carefully looked over her outfit and compared it to Rachel's. Rachel wore baggy sweat pants that were tightly strapped around her hips, the crotch sagging around her thigh area. At the ankles, the fabric was tightly bound with white wrappings that extended down and disappeared into her black tennis shoes with deep grooves. She wore a tight, racer-back sports bra that was neon green with black swirls. Over that was a t-shirt that had been cut with a plunging v-neck and no sleeves so that massive gaps appeared at the sides. Her hands were wrapped as well her wrists and her long blond hair was up in a high ponytail.

Mizuki herself wore a simple black sports bra with neon pink outlining, and a pair of grey bike shorts. Her white tennis shoes had shallow grip in comparison to Rachel's and her black hair was swept up into a ponytail as well, her earrings stuffed into the recesses of her locker. Rachel looked her up and down critically, then smiled. "We'll have to go shopping for proper clothing."

"Is what I'm wearing not okay?" Mizuki frowned worriedly, looking down at her outfit. "It's fine for today," Rachel assured. "But after a few days I think you'll find this stuff more comfortable." She gestured loosely to her clothing. Standing, the tall girl stretched before planting her hands on her hips. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Rachel?"

"Hmm?"

"What…what am I supposed to do?" Rachel smiled gently, her blue eyes softening. "Don't worry about it." Mizuki blinked in shock at hearing her native tongue. Rachel grinned at her reaction. "You don't really think that I took two years of Japanese only to never use it, did you?"

"No. I guess not," Mizuki chuckled. Rachel grinned in return, making her way towards the locker room door. "We'll start with the conditioning phase. Get your muscles loosened up and increase your flexibility as well as slowly strengthening your muscle density. You will get heavier when this happens but don't freak. Muscle weighs more than fat and I can assure that you'll be anything but. After that we'll move to mobility. During that stage we'll get you comfortable in your own skin, teach you how to move around various objects, and teach you the proper way to land from a fall or high jump."

Rachel suddenly stopped and turned around to face Mizuki, expression serious.

"Two things. One, you're going to get scarred. You'll be landing on mats, cement, rocks, bricks—your skin will get scratched and burned. Get used to seeing bruises and calluses forming but nothing major unless you have an accident. Are you willing to accept that?"

Mizuki nodded her head. She was proud of her skin, really she was. Having it soft and smooth, nearly entirely blemish free was something few could boast. But Mizuki always wanted tougher skin, something to show that she'd done something in life. Eyeing the various hairline scars that marred Rachel's hands and arms on top of her corded muscle made Mizuki green with envy. Rachel showed that a woman could be capable and beautiful, and seeing all those scars reinforced the fact that Rachel truly loved what she was doing. "I've got this. What's a couple of battle scars?"

"Battle scars," Rachel smiled. "Funny you say that. The boys call them battle scars, but whenever I get them they suddenly switch to calling mine 'victory kisses'. I imagine they'll do the same to you."

"Really?"

"Really. But back to business," She held up her two of her fingers. "Two, don't be intimidated. That's a tall order, I know, but you seriously cannot let things discourage you. You lose your will you lose your drive and you'll end up quitting like I did. I'm just glad Ryan knocked some sense into me. The boys will always be faster, stronger, and more powerful. They will jump higher and run faster. Their muscle builds quicker than ours. It's how it's been and how it'll always be. But don't let it bring you down. Just because they're stronger doesn't mean we can't do it. Focus on self-improvement. Can you do that?"

"Yes," Mizuki responded. Rachel's little talk was starting to freak her out a bit, but she was determined. This was something that she wanted to do. Rachel grinned again, showing a row of perfectly straight, white teeth.

"Well then, I think we'll have some fun." She turned around and pushed open the door. The sounds of the gym immediately assaulted Mizuki's ears, surrounding her in a cacophony of equipment noise. She eyed the men nervously. She knew she'd get along with Rachel just fine. They both speak Japanese and English and have been communicating through letter for a full year and a half. But the boys were a different story. They were much, much taller than her and that frankly scared her but they were strangers as well. And in this place she knew she'd make a fool of herself before she managed to impress any of them. She looked to Rachel, eyeing the confidant strides with a spark of respect and jealously.

"Any last tips?" Rachel paused, looking at the boys around the gym. They were friends to her, and she figured that Mizuki would feel pretty scared of them. Heck, Rachel was too, when she first came. And at that time she was the only girl. But, they were immensely supportive. The blond girl smiled, looking down on the newcomer.

"Don't be surprised if one of the boys decides to give you a hug attack."

"Hug?"

"Yeah," Rachel laughed. "As you can see, not a lot of girls come into this sort of thing. And because we usually need so much more help and encouragement because we are, as a fact, physically weaker, they take a liking pretty quick. I'm like a little sister to them and we regularly go to dinner with each other. We're real good friends."

"But…hug attack?"

"They randomly decide it's time to hug you. Or pick you up. Whichever suits them at the moment. Especially the twins, Alan and Avery. They'll tag-team you."

"You ladies ready?"

"Yeah," Rachel called, seeing Ryan jogging up. He smiled, his face a little red from the exertion he put himself through. "Okay, then. Mizuki, I'm going to have you work with Avery and Rachel over there," he pointed to a large, mostly abandoned mat. "You'll be going through a series of stretches first before we begin building some muscle, okay?"

"Yes," she nodded her head. The corner of Ryan's mouth twitched slightly at her accent, he had a feeling that the guys were going to like her. She was four-foot-nothing and probably weighed less than a sack of potatoes. Who could resist that kind of potential?

"Sweet," piped Rachel, already jogging lightly towards the mat. Mizuki followed easily, noticing a tall stranger join Rachel and assumed it was Avery. The instant they reached the mat, they all sat down. Rachel spun on her butt to face Mizuki as Avery collapsed onto his back, his chest heaving. Rachel poked his forehead and he wearily raised a hand to swat it away. She laughed in response while shaking her head.

"Avery here's been working on his endurance." She said it as if it explained everything, so Mizuki just nodded her head. Avery, however, was peering up at them strangely. He wrinkled his nose and addressed Rachel. "You speak Japanese?" She only gave a smile in response. Turning to Mizuki she gestured for her to straighten her legs. "Can you touch your toes?" Mizuki obliged, the tips of her fingers brushing to the tops of her toes on her flexed feet. Rachel frowned. "Is that as far as you can go?" Mizuki wordlessly leaned a little further, even though her muscles, mostly her back strangely enough, protested. Smiling, Rachel straightened her own legs out and placed the soles of her feet against Mizuki's. Reaching forward languidly, she stretched her hands outwards. Mizuki gaped as her wrists easily passed by both of their feet and kept going. When she had stretched to the point that the middle of her forearms were at their toes, she clasped her hands around Mizuki's wrists and carefully, slowly, began to pull her forward.

Mizuki's eyes widened as she felt her muscles stretch, and then keep stretching. The pulling was relentless and her body reacted instantly by slightly bending her knees. Mizuki instantly stopped and loosened, but it was a short respite. Suddenly two hands were firmly placed on top of her knees to keep them down and she looked up to Avery, baffled. Then the pulling resumed.

She looked incredulously at the two of them, both sporting mischievous grins. Rachel laughed at her horrified expression even as she pulled her forward a little more. Her legs screamed.

"Welcome to Parkour."

She was infinitely glad for the horrible torture of those lessons, because now, as she was literally running for her life, they were coming quite in handy. Sure she was swinging over branches instead of bars, and yes the rocks had mean, sharp points rather than the nice, uniform cinderblocks that she usually hauled herself over, but that wasn't such an issue.

And playing tag wasn't an issue at all, either. In fact, she played tag all the time with Rachel and the guys. It was part of the training. But it wasn't Rachel chasing her, and it wasn't one of the boys either. No, she was being chased by a creature about the size of a fairly large car with really, really sharp teeth framed by a pair of pinchers, three eyes the color of pee, and it was screaming at her to hold still as it obliterated trees that she just jumped or swung off of milliseconds before.

Needless to say, Mizuki was quite confused.