Chapter 7: Countdown to the show

Flustered and worked up, Makoto made for the gym. She had to do something to get her mind off what she was shown back at the hotel. Along with the dirty thoughts that started to creep into her head, she couldn't help but feel a bit envious of Ayako. Whether it was a fling or if it would lead to something lasting, it was still something she had never had. Makoto had never been close enough to anyone to get to that stage. And now that she was putting more effort into her appearance and regarding other people around her as more than potential opponents in the ring, she was feeling like it was something she was missing out on. Be it the emotional or the physical.

When she got to the gym she resolved to work herself as hard as she could to get her mind off it all. She didn't skip a beat in getting into it. She wailed on the bag harder than she ever had, improved her max on every weight exercise she used, worked the posts, and ran the treadmill at its fastest setting. She even managed to talk one of the gym's trainers into being her sparring partner, even though he wound up being more like a whipping dummy. She beat that poor sap senseless…

Five hours, six bottles of water, two Gatorades, a bucket worth of sweat, and one thoroughly trashed personal trainer later, Makoto had finally felt relaxed. She had never put out an exercise routine that intense before. Gone were the thoughts that plagued her in the morning, replaced with a drive to improve and compete. She headed back to the hotel with a renewed vigor.

Makoto had completely lost all sense of the passage of time while she was in the euphoric state of mind during her workout. By the time she got back, it was long past lunch and no one from her team was there. She figured they were either at the stadium getting things ready for the weekend or they had finished working and had gone back to enjoying the fact that they were on a tropical island. Adrenaline still pumping hard in her veins, Makoto decided to continue with the exercise. She would take full advantage of the lap lane in the Olympic sized swimming pool the hotel that they were staying at had.

After a shower, Makoto changed into her swimming suit; a simple and conservative red one piece with yellow piping. A year ago, this instance would have been met with dread and apprehension. However, now Makoto was a lot more confident in her appearance, and was actually looking forward to any attention she might get from anyone at the pool. To her dismay, which actually shocked her a bit, Makoto was a little disappointed that she had the pool all to herself for the two hours she used it.

It was early evening when she got back to the room again. She figured that if anyone was back by then that she would at least be cordial and see if they wanted to go out and get some food. Looking at their rooms lined up down the hall, she could see that Ayako was gone, likely out on the town again with Dee Jay. Koji was out also. But her brother Ryo was there. While she could tell he was trying his hardest to be on his best behavior toward her, Makoto still had no intention of spending time with him unnecessarily. Even when Ryo was behaving, something about his personality just crossed her the wrong way.

With that, she resolved to simply call it an early night. The stadium was going to open for participants early, and Makoto figured she would squeeze in one last workout at the gym to loosen up before they left to go there. Early to bed, early to rise and all that jazz.


Author's Note ~ For those of you sensing a pattern; Yes. Makoto's favorite colors are yellow and red. The way I'm envisioning her, everything she owns pretty much will be yellow, red, or both. No, my version of Makoto isn't a huge Hulk Hogan fan. They happen to be my favorite colors too, particularly red. And since they seem to be an established motif for her (her scarf and sports bra) in the games, I'm taking it a step further.

Another thing you may notice is that sometimes, I crank out a relatively short chapter. That usually happens when I can't think of a way to connect one chapter to the next. As a way of apologizing, I will almost always have the next chapter posted that same day.