"What were you thinking? Were you at all?" Mara was so furious, she could barely think herself.

"I was thinking about winning the match. What else would I think about?"

It only made her more furious that Kota seemed genuinely confused by her anger. "Do you think hurting yourself will bring him back? That doesn't work. Believe me, I know."

"I did not mean to hurt you."

"And I wasn't talking about us. None of which changes the fact that I don't want to see you kill yourself. Are you all right?"

"My eye hurts. Only that. You would have helped me?" He took a step closer to her. Out of reflex more than anything else, she took one back to compensate. He looked surprised - even hurt, maybe. "You are afraid of me now?"

"I don't think fear's the problem, mate."

He was right; it wasn't fear at all. But she was very happy to see Robbie anyway. And to feel his arm around her shoulders. "You know he doesn't understand a word you're saying."

"He does. He understands just fine."

She thought it was probably the look in Robbie's eyes that he understood. Whatever it was, Kota finally nodded and walked away.

"I'm sorry. I know what you must - "

He kissed her quiet. "What I must think is that you were worried. Hell, so was I. I don't know how he can move from the fucking neck down right now. But if you go looking for him again, I'll have to punch him. So don't?"

"Promise." She kissed him back before someone came along who would grumble. "Would you really punch him?"

"Hard as I can."

"You can't stop talking dirty to her even at work? Come on, we've got a presser in the works. United front, whole club." Tama considered Mara for a few seconds. "Come along. Stand there on your man's arm and make every guy who sees hate him."

"Oh, I don't think so. Besides, I've seen the women who hang around you guys. I'm not all that."

He gave her a teasing look up and down. "You're enough."

She turned to Robbie. "Do you want me to?"

"There you two go with the dirty talk again. Can I watch?"

Robbie flipped him off with a big, cheerful grin before turning back to her. "Only if you want to. It's too late for it to be starting things, but it's going to escalate them."

Things were, as he said, already started; she'd been coming to terms with that. It had been bound to happen, if she could excuse herself an enormous pun. He was at the gallery most nights either to watch her perform or to meet her after. Eventually someone photographed him there, and then them together, and it was on: NJPW Wrestler Dating Kinky Bondage Performer. She'd let Robbie take the lead on how to deal with it; it wasn't going to hurt her career, but she wasn't really certain what it would do to his - help, harm, or nothing at all. He veered between "Fuck off" and "You don't know the half of it" as his responses to questions before finally settling on something along the lines of "Sure am. Sucks to be you and not have one of these."

"Would it do you any good, like he said?"

"It wouldn't hurt. Let them all burn their eyes on you."

She didn't think she was much of a firestarter in a tee and jeans, but why not? Someone else had already forced this door; why not just kick it all the way open? But she could do it her way. The show is all about speaking with your body. So do that.

It was easy enough to do, and without going full-Miho about it - less theater, more this man fucks the hell out of me and I can't wait until we're away from all of you. So she met the murmur over her arrival at Robbie's side with a smile, and his arm around her by leaning into the contact like a cat looking for more petting.

She almost made it. Most of the reporters were shying away from speaking either of or to her, though they were merrily snapping photos. They were busy with nearly the whole ranks of Bullet Club there to contend with, as well. But one finally broached the subject of her presence.

"Do you plan to accompany Bullet Club to ringside in the future?"

A translator leaned toward her. She shook her head. "I understand. Thank you." She turned to the reporter who'd asked, and answered in Japanese. "No, I do not plan to. I have seen the work of the cameramen here where women are involved, and I already know I do not have colon cancer."

There was a clear collective gasp from the press corps. Fale doubled over, howling laughter. Gedo walked away a couple of steps so no one would be able to photograph him laughing, too. Ishimori just looked at her like he wasn't quite sure where she came from; now that she thought about it, that was probably so. Everyone else looked varying states of confused until Fale started circulating among them, gleefully translating. That pretty well marked the end of the press conference.

"You don't happen to have a sister who married some lowlife from New Zealand, do you?"

Of all the ones in the group to give her fits, Jay was usually the one to make her the most nervous. She wasn't even sure why. "I don't have a sister at all."

"Cousin, then. That must be it." He smiled, maybe the first genuine one she'd seen from him. "The idea of the pair of you plotting things is terrifying. Also very hot in a needing safewords sort of way."

She watched him walk away, doing what she usually did when she crossed paths with Robbie's teammates - wonder what he was doing with them. You've got to be the nicest guy I've ever known. They're...not. Sooner or later one thing's going to start pushing against the other.

"And what have you been getting up to in the two minutes since I last saw you? Surely something?" Robbie was grinning at her, which was a relief.

"Sometimes I open my mouth and just fall right in. Sorry about the next three months of lots and lots of your taint on TV."

He laughed until he just finally gave in and leaned up against the wall and let it have its way. "Do you have any idea of what I'm going to do to you the moment I get you alone?"

"If it's theme night, we'd better stop at Land of Lube first."

It set him off again. She didn't mind. She loved seeing him laugh like this. It was like a reminder that he was a happy person, and somehow still wanted her anyway.

It was still a wonder to her that given how they'd started off, he was willing to take things at a more sane and normal pace now. Neither of them was about to pretend that there hadn't been sex, or that they didn't want to go right on with that, but they weren't rushing toward anything else, and it was a relief to her. He was getting used to the idea of what she did, and that he didn't need to save her from it, not any more. She was getting used to the idea of someone in her life who had the right to think about saving her from things, and who was prone to jumping off high places in a way that made her wince and try to remember that he didn't need saving, either.

They were at each other's places most of the time, but they were still separate places, and he seemed to realize how much she needed that for now. In her work, she gave up control to all sorts of others - Hideo controlled who and what reached her, Atsuo controlled her body, the spirits controlled everything else. Having something away from work that was hers to decide everything about mattered to her maybe more than it would to most people. And if half of her closet was occupied by Robbie's clothes? Well, it was her choice to let that happen, and half of her stuff was at his place, too. He'd started referring to them as the summer cottage and the winter home, swapping out which was which at random as far as she could tell. Whichever one it was, she was ready to get there.