Darkness and Light, Into the Chaos!
It had been a full day after the day of the first round of the tournament. As a wrestling event, it was quite successful as it drew a good amount of fan-fairing and media attention. However, for Jacob Masters, today was a day of frustration, embarrassment and anger. Just yesterday he lost to Sakura Hagiwara- she made him say "I quit" and went on to the next round. He was so confident, that he would be the one to win the whole thing, that he would be the one to make Sakura tap and give her the first defeat in over a year!
He took a nice shower before changing into his brief, he stayed in the locker room, in his attire, not going out to train as he couldn't get the image of Hagiwara out-wrestling him.
Trent was curious if his student would show after yesterday. He knew Jacob thought he was in lock to win his match, and underestimated his opponent. Having not seen him come out of the locker room, the Dominion ace opened the door to said room and saw his protégé sitting on one of the benches. "Want to talk about it?" Trent asked, sitting next to Jacob.
Jacob knew a lecture was coming, either from Trent or Derek. It was Trent who came in the locker room and sat next to Jacob, who was still not in the mood to talk. "No, not really..." he said, looking over to the other side.
"At least tell me you understand what went wrong yesterday." Trent suggested. The boy was expecting a lecture, but that wasn't the only way to teach a lesson.
"Nothing went wrong, Hagiwara got lucky...thats...thats all..."he said, his cheeks flushed red in anger and embarrassment as he clenched his fists and teeth.
"Are you sure about that?" Trent asked, leaning forward slightly. "Or is that just what your telling yourself?" He saw the flinch and asked again. "What went wrong?"
Jacob would bite his lower lip in nervousness as he looked around. Trent was obviously not buying it. "Yeah...well, I'm not sure really." he sighed as he tried to calm down.
"Take a guess. I'll tell you if you're on the right track." Trent replied, patiently waiting for the answer.
"Ngh...I..." he was bit annoyed, Jacob wanted answers on why he lost and Trent was forcing him to figure out on his own, the impatient rookie would almost burst out in anger but he took a deep breath to calm down. "Okay so maybe...just maybe...I underestimated that woman."
"And what have you learned from doing so?" Trent pressed.
"That I wont make the same mistake again...next time, I will defeat the undefeated princess." he said as he got up from the bench and smacked his fist against his own palm.
Trent smiled, standing and patting his protege's shoulder. "That's my boy. Let's get to work. We both have a long way to go if we're going to beat our rivals."
Jacob would look back over to Trent and nod at his direction, before the two would head out to the gym area for their training and exercise routine.
...
Sakura was enjoying a coffee at her favorite café. She smiled as she thought of all the memories she had there. It was the place where she and Sweet Diva had celebrated her victory over Rio, where Berserk celebrated her defeat of Blue Panther, and really just where she went when she needed to relax. After her match with Jacob, that was exactly what she needed. She sensed more than saw someone approach, turning to face the intruder to her peace and asked, "Can I help you?"
Derek was the only wrestler from Dominion who had managed to win his match and carry the name of Dominion in the next round. He was just looking for a place to sit with a cup of coffee in his hand and found a familiar face in Sakura. "Oh hey there Hagiwara." he said as he approached her table. "Mind if I sit here?" he said as he took a seat. "You remember me, right? I'm Derek from the Dominion" he said offering her a handshake.
Sakura smiled slightly at the lack of hostility and nodded. "So you're Dominion's only chance at taking the top spot, huh?" she asked, "That must really put the pressure on you."
Derek would smile back at here as he nodded. "Yeah, I guess you can put it that way" he said taking a sip of his coffee. "You and Misaki are the ones left from Berserk right? Then there is Malcom too!" he pondered.
Sakura chuckled. "Yeah, two Berserk, one Dominion, and one wild card. That's the score. Knowing Misaki, she'll probably want to take you on herself which will leave me with the 'King of the Ring.' Nervous to face Berserk's ace?"
Derek would laugh and shake his head, "Haha nervous? Im not sure...I'll do my best and see how it fairs against Misaki but you have a score to settle with Malcom right?" he asked.
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. We ended up tying in Battle Gears, but that was due to exhaustion from the match lasting as long as it did. This time we're going at full power and I'm gonna kick his butt." she declared, smirking.
Derek would nod. "Thats quite interesting, Im glad you're confident. I think it will be a good match for sure. You both are undefeated or something?" he asked before Sakura had a question of her own.
The idol-turned-wrestler then decided to have some fun. "So, how are things between you and Rio? I heard you two have been out to lunch a few times." she teased.
"Ahh well...things are good haha, she's quite an interesting woman- tough on the outside and mushy on the inside I think but yeah we went out for lunch a couple times, thats all." he said scratching the back of his head.
Sakura pressed her attack. "Oh? Does someone have a crush? Rio has been talking about you a bit these past few days." Mostly strategies for how to beat him, but Derek didn't need to know that.
Derek would wave out his hands to her "Oh nonono we...we're just friends and rivals in the ring haha- thats all." he said with a blush. "Oh? what was she talking about me?" he pondered.
"Ph, this and that. I did hear her bragging about a match with you in the oil ring though." Sakura said, leaning back. She remembered Chinatsu telling her about it a while back, but didn't think much of it until it came in handy.
"Ah, interesting hehe. Oh yeah we did have an intense oil wrestling match...in fact...we have about a week left in the next round dont we?" he said leaning forward, putting his elbows on the table.
"Ah come on! I was having fun, why'd you have to go and change the subject." Sakura moaned in mock annoyance. Leaning forward and copying her fellow wrestler's posture, she replied, "That's right. Promises to be something to remember."
"Oh no, Hagiwara, I'm not changing the subject." he said as the two leaned forward, Derek would lightly touch his forehead with hers in a competitive scene, "Since you mentioned me and Rio wrestling in oil, how about you and I have a throw down? Oil wrestling or Sauna wrestling?. We have a week so itll be good prep"
Sakura did as always, weighing the options. 'It would be good prep. Plus there's the added bonus of getting a fix on his power and how much of Return Counter I'm gonna need to apply. Oil won't do any good for that, though.' she shrugged. "I guess a sauna match wouldn't be so bad. Haven't done one I don't think. But I have plans today so how about tomorrow? Say two o'clock?"
Derek would wait for her answer patiently, Sakura seem to think on his proposal and soon she agreed to a sauna match. "Sure, I do enjoy wrestling all sorts of types and that one is something I wanted to try as well. So 2 o clock tomorrow its a date- er I mean...match haha." he said shrugging his own shoulders.
"Don't worry, I won't tell Rio you used the d word." Sakura teased, giggling at Derek's rising blush before checking her phone. "Shit, is that the time? I gotta get going, see you tomorrow!" she called, paying her bill and rushing out of the café.