A.N: I am absolutely sorry for delaying this chapter for an unprecedented three weeks! Being a university student sucks around March and finals are coming up for me so I haven't been able to find time to think or do anything I enjoy doing that takes longer than an hour or two to do, sadly enough.
With that in mind, I'd also like to announce that in this story's spontaneous sabbatical that I had come up with a very interesting idea that came to mind that will not affect this story until a bit later on when we start to get a bit more heavy into this. I'm not going to say what but it will involve death and fate. Take that with what you will.
I will not make any further promises to how I will be updating this story but I will say that I don't abandon projects ever so if I ever delay a chapter, there's a bloody good reason why I will and if I know what it is prior, you will all know.
As always, review, constructive critique, I love to hear feedback on how to make this story better! It's good motivation!
That said, enjoy the show!
/
Chapter 14: Rivalries
…and like a pillar crashed down from the Pantheon, I plummeted to the hardwood ground in a pool of my own sweat; at least I imagined it was my own sweat. Someone should really clean this place.
I didn't realize how hard the intermediate training protocols were going to be like before jumping in with my motivation of out-doing Koizumi in the ring being my driving force. Maybe that was my hubris, clamping my lungs and stealing the oh-so precious oxygen from me that I desperately need.
Still, it's better than over indulging into the program, not by a lot but enough.
''The First Session of the Intermediate Training Program is complete. Do you require any nourishment?''
Yuki Nagato; the Mickey to my Rocky. That was all I could hear from her, interrupted by me trying to maintain a balance between gasping and wheezing. I used as much fortitude as I could just to nod. How many more sessions of this program were left? Not that I'm complaining, I just want a way for my body to be prepared for my future ordeals besides the obvious ones.
Nagato replied to me; turning her back with a bottle in her hand to get some water from a nearby fountain. ''If you wish to complete this training program, it will take you 9 days without over exertion.''
9 days!? That's even longer than the basic program!
''The difficulty of the program will get easier as your body becomes more used to its environment.''
In other words, the stronger I become the easier it gets.
''Exactly.'' She kneels down and pours the cool stream into my mouth. I could've grabbed it, ya know? '' Because of the growing danger that may result from over-exertion of your physiological functions caused by the increasing difficulty of the program, I will be further resistant from allowing you to use the program more than once a 24-hour cycle. The consequences of doing such will result in a longer recovery time, intense hallucinations, and failure of your bodily functions.''
At this time, I was able to regain enough of my strength to use the muscles in my arms again, or I was motivated to bring them up again. I signaled for her to stop pouring the water down because I was curious about something; something I saw earlier. Hallucinations…
''Nagato, could you describe to me what kind of hallucinations are we talking here?''
I sat up from the wet hot ground, looking at Nagato at her level.
''From the basic program, the hallucinations would only be caused by repeated exertion and would include sensory disruptions, senses only heard from the program, and bleeding out effects.''
It was safe to assume ''bleeding out'' meant that whatever I felt in the program would come back into this reality.
''Yes and no. It would be true that you would start to feel events from the program in reality but you would also feel every injury, fatigue, or attack that you would have felt inside the program all at once.
According to several philosophers and evolutionists on your planet, humans try to avoid pain therefore, I will not allow you to suffer that consequence.''
Right, that file on compassion for me. It's good to know she has been able to maintain her ''junk files'' into an organized mechanism. I wonder what other files she has placed on me.
''Fair enough, what about feint glows of light? Earlier today before Tsuruya knocked me out, I swore I saw a feint glow of light appear from one of the stalls. It might have been my imagination but could that have been a hallucination?''
Nagato looked in the direction of Asahina and Tsuruya, who were still practicing martial arts away from us.
Tsuruya's ironic graces in her stances were a perfect contrast to her usually unstable attitude and the stiff movements of Asahina, trying to achieve the same form without the gift of balance on her side. I was preparing my ears for the iconic Tsuruya cackle. Instead she threw out her hand to Asahina and picked her up. She knew Asahina was serious about learning; serious about being able to stand firm, she wouldn't laugh at that. She then tried to do the same stance again and Asahina would again try to copy it, perfectly. I guess they both knew that no matter how many times you fall down; all you need is one success to feel pride.
''Perhaps you are right.''
Great, I really am hallucinating.
''It just might be your imagination.''
It was bound to happen sooner or later. I was joining Haruhi into madness, maybe that's been why I've been more open to her antics of recent besides that other world.
Wait a moment! Miss Asahina was in that stall when the light appeared, I was never awake when she travelled through time. Does that time device release light before…
''I can not tell you.''
Of course you can't. It's no use asking Asahina because she will say 'it's classified' and if she does, what would happen? Those robots from Doctor Who will come and zap me? The Men in Black? Perhaps Tsuruya found out and before she met Asahina, she was a lot tamer and sound minded. Considering the SOS Brigade and its penchant for attracting the paranormal, we'll have a MIB agent in our group very soon.
''Your training is not yet complete, Kyon. Haruhi Suzumiya had told me to let you know that you are to spend approximately 30 minutes in the weight room and 60 minutes running on a trend-mill as soon we were finished our training program.''
So she decided to reverse it.
''This change of exercise was to slow down the time it would take for your body to get used to the exercise.''
It's only been a few weeks! I don't know much about kinesiology but I'm pretty sure it takes 2 months before you have to change things around.
And there's that laugh…and a giggle. You lift my heart again, my angel. Must control mind and mouth connection….
''I also have to train Itsuki Koizumi in Crowd Control is 29.34 seconds. Haruhi Suzumiya wanted to train each of you, personally.''
Ha! Koizumi is still trying to pan to the crowd and to Haruhi…who wants to do…what?
''It would be beneficial for you to eventually use that program as well because, according to some of the data I have downloaded, those who have good promotional ability can…''
For some reason, Nagato stopped talking almost toward the end of her argument. I became worried.
''What's wrong, Nagato-OOOOhhhh!?''
Luckily for me, no head trauma. Unluckily for me, I was caught from behind again by Haruhi. Note to self, never put your back towards a door without Haruhi in your cone of vision.
''Silly, Kyon. You should always be ready for when someone tries to take you from behind. That counts in wrestling and life!''
What is it with you girls and trying to give me a concussion? The only one who hasn't hit me in the head was Asahina and I only know it's a matter of time if Tsuruya is training her.
''Miss Suzumiya, may I suggest that we don't rough up Kyon too hard? He's already sustained enough damage earlier today and if one of us were to get injured before our match tonight, we may lose our titles.'' Koizumi calmly told her. Did Koizumi just back me up?
''Oh, you are completely right! But I can't help myself! I'm just so excited for tonight, and I get to train some of the laziness out of Kyon! I can't stand by and let my desires go inhibited.''
I am willing to ignore that comment about me being lazy, only because she has no idea what I've put my body through for the last few days. I rubbed the back of my head, hoping that I don't have any bumps anywhere, slowly bringing myself back up.
''I hope you've finished resting, Kyon. 'Cause I'm gonna beat the clay out of you until you're a bronze statue of godliness!''
What does that have to do with anything about sculpting!?
Haruhi put her hands behind her back and slowly walked towards Nagato.
''And Yuki, don't be too hard on Koizumi. He worked himself to the bone today. We need him fresh for tonight.''
He's doing a promo program! Throw some spears or something at him, make him sweat for every syllable he makes! Whatever, Nagato nodded and before I knew it, I was dragged by my collar outside of the room.
Besides Haruhi chanting some strange motivational hymn from her lips whilst dragging me away, I could faintly hear Koizumi yell out to me, ''Good luck with Miss Suzumiya!'' To be able to switch bodies right now….
/
The next hour and a half was very similar to Nagato's program except instead of having a bunch of virtual wrestlers try and beat me up until I could beat them all in very different ways, I had Haruhi yell in my ear constantly every time I didn't meet her standards of what I should be able to do.
I didn't get much yelling from her at the weight room; but that's only because me and Koizumi are perfectly matched in the weight training area. The only time I did was on the last set of a particular exercise. The worst had to be when I was lifting a barbell above my head.
''Come on, Kyon! Just 5 more, you can do it! Go lower with that, you need to make sure your shoulders feel every single burning sensation. Take the weakness out of you! Quit pausing and bring it back up! This is no time for rest! How do you expect to beat that giant with weak lifts like this!''
I would LOVE to see her try. The first thing that frightened me about this was the weight I was lifting, about 160 pounds standing up, overhead. Wouldn't be fun for me to drop that on the top of my skull. The second thing I noticed didn't strike me until I finished the work-out, but it didn't surprise me except for one particular presence: Haruhi's motivational yelling caught the attention of everyone in the weight room with only Fujiwara, the wrestler formerly known as That Sneering Bastard, still doing curls in the mirror. Does he do nothing but curls?
The first 3 sets of every exercise had been me and my thoughts, trying hard to lift as much weight as possible for how many reps Haruhi wanted me to. 5,10,15,25, it didn't matter. It was always a perfect set. I started to believe Haruhi was frustrated that she couldn't yell at me or was it pride masked with frustration? I'd ask her but she's too busy staring at her stopwatch.
Around the end of the final weight exercise which was deadlifts, Haruhi's expression went from intense to annoyed. What did I do this time?
''Was there something wrong?'' I stood up, letting the muscles in my lower back and hamstrings stretch for a moment.
''Have you ever noticed that that blond haired guy keeps looking at me funny?'' He's probably one of those guys that hit on girls at the gym, I would say that if he didn't creep me out as well. Strangely, I've never seen him look at me this time.
''It's absolutely creepy. If he wants to talk to me, he should have the gall to come up to me and say something.''
I would say that you could try talking to him, but I saw him wrestle. Wrestle, I should say kill…yeah, that's a better word, kill a guy during a match. He turned the Heavyweight Champion into a bloody-mess!
Haruhi's expression changed again! This time it went from annoyed to enthusiastic. She shot into my face and pointed at the guy from behind her.
''You mean he was the guy who fought the World Heavyweight Champion that night? I heard he was a tough guy. I bet he's weak compared to you or Koizumi! We need to show him who will be boss when we will face him!''
''What are you-…'' Swiftly, she grabbed my hand and started walking, not to the trend-mills, but to Fujiwara himself. Haruhi, what are you trying to do? She got up towards him as soon as he finished his set of curls. He didn't bother looking at her, choosing to look dead in the mirror in front of him instead.
''Greetings, I'm Haruhi Suzumiya, Chief of the…''
''Go to hell, busu (Japanese insult for female dog or ugly girl).''
Haruhi was shocked and so was I. Yeah, I've called Haruhi a bitch once but that was in my head and she drugged Asahina but this was completely uncalled for!
I think she was about to release all of her pent up rage on him, I didn't care he doesn't insult my friends. ''Hey! What's your problem, she was only trying to introduce herself.''
The Sneering Bastard gave off a smirk and slowly looked at me. He stood up and noticed Haruhi, her rage being controlled only because I'm taking the brunt of this storm. Normally, I wouldn't have stood up for her but this is not Haruhi's fault. He looked back at me with his steel eyes. I braced myself unflinchingly for him to hit me. I said I was gonna be ready for him. Here we go!
''I was all done anyways. I'll see you or the other guy soon.'' He re-racked the weights and went on his way.
Good, if he had said one more thing to Haruhi, I was afraid I might have lost it.
I turned around to check on Haruhi and luckily, she seemed contained but not by much. Her eyebrows were twitching and her teeth were near to grinding. I wish not to imagine what she would've done if he would have kept going.
''That guy…I don't care if it's you or Koizumi, if any of you get the chance to fight him, he loses! Got it?''
After that and the calyces growing from my unclenched hands , I completely agree.
/
The one hour cardio me and Haruhi performed was more about her venting her anger and frustration than it was about me becoming fit, but I can tell you surely it was a close second. She used the trend-mill right next to me and didn't even bother to warm-up instead she instantly turned the machine unto mach speed and made sure I was either on a speed equal to hers or greater.
She would yell and chant and scream while running, any coherency came from her anytime I tried to grab the arms of the trend-mill or it looked like I was going to turn it down. She would glare at me and threaten me by forcing me to wear that impossible frog costume for our match. Safe to say, it worked!
In other words, I am completely exhausted and I am praying to every god there is that I will be optimal for my match tonight.
By the time I finished showering and getting my clothes put back on, expertly laid out by Koizumi in the locker next to his and before you ask,I didn't see him lay it there but he is the only guy in our group, I left the locker room and proceeded to join a waving and smiling Koizumi, sitting across from Nagato at a small circular table close to the front desk.
''Hey you two, where's the others?''
Nagato responded monotonely. ''Haruhi Suzumiya, Tsuruya-san, & Mikuru Asahina are currently in the ladies locker room, taking pictures of themselves and making Mikuru Asahina dress-up in different attires. ''
Nothing surprising there but I'm happy to know Haruhi is in a better mood than she was earlier.
''She also discussed about a human who insulted her and how you stood up for her against him before beginning to discuss different realistic revenge plans involving you and Itsuki Koizumi. Before that, she discussed revenge plans that involved all of us which included using Mikuru Asahina as bait to bring him into a sense of safety before unleashing a battering ram to crush him against Tsuruya-san's tank. The probability of events such as that would be 1.57 percent without the knowledge of medieval tools.''
1.57 percent, huh? That'll probably be another project we'll work on after we finish touring.
What else was I supposed to do if a Sneering Bastard like him were to insult anyone of my friends? Koizumi applauded.
''You really do care about Miss Suzumiya then.''
''Don't get excited, if it was any of you I wouldn't have stood by and let him do either.''
Damn that smile. ''Fair enough, but you do care about her, You wouldn't have defended her honour, if you didn't.''
''Are you still going on about this? Yes, I care about Haruhi, but I also care about the rest of the Brigade too.'' Happy now?
His eyes widened, positioning his hand towards his chest in a manner where one feels flattered.
''Even me, Kyon?'' Not the best choice of words, I provided.
''Don't push it.''
Back to the smile. ''You don't have to say it, but I will say that whatever you did for her, you stopped a possible Closed Space or Space Bubble situation from occurring.''
Nagato nodded in response. ''According to the data fluctuation, if you did not stand up to the one Haruhi referred to as ''That Pompous Ass,'' Haruhi's anger and violated feelings would have constructed a large amount of Closed Space to fill this city.''
I much prefer That Sneering Bastard but That Pompous Ass isn't that bad either, if not a little unrefined. I was still surprised about the size of what could've been that!
''That big? But it was only an insult! I know I've discouraged Haruhi before and it never caused that much of a problem.''
This time, Koizumi gave his retort. ''That is true but coming from you made Miss Suzumiya feel dispirited. Coming from an absolute stranger and a possible rival to our group would make her feel angry and frustrated, in turn appears to have made her further driven to succeed in her goal for recognition and victory.''
I can nod to that. She was practically planning an epitaph to write down for him after you or I have executed him in some strange ritual only Haruhi could've concocted.
I see not only does Koizumi enjoy death metal but also dark humour. What is your personality really like? I would never have guessed that you would be head banging in the middle of some mosh pit.
''I wouldn't imagine anything that dirge-like. I believe she would only want one of us to defeat him in a match. What are you still shocked that I enjoy death metal?''
''Are you kidding me? You, of all people, listening to death metal. You have the calmest demeanor of someone I've ever met. I would more likely see Taniguchi listening to that than you.''
''On the contrary, it makes me feel energized and pumped up. You do realize I need an extra motivator whenever a Closed Space opens up in the middle of the night.'' I personally never understood the enjoyment of death metal; it was too dark and grim for me to listen to but I will say the sounds can make a sleeping heart come alive, whether it likes it or not.
''What is this 'Death Metal?'' Nagato asked in curiousity. Oh dear, it's the glasses thing again.
''I'll show you when we get back to the RV after our matches tonight, Miss Nagato.'' I'm sure it won't disrupt her ear drums or anything.
''When is our match again?'' I wondered. I know Vance told me we would be facing him and a probably drunk Keiichi tonight but that's all I know.
''You and Itsuki Koizumi's match will begin at 8:00 pm while a possible match for Mikuru Asahina will begin at 7:15 pm.''
Alright, 7:15 pm for Asahina so it's…7:04 pm now! Where are the other girls too?
''Alright, SOS Brigade, stand tough!'' There she is.
''You too, Kyon.'' And there goes the admiration. I sloppily stood up and crossed my arms to notice our Brigade Chief.
''There is the possibility that Mikuru will have her match in 11 minutes, but we haven't finished making her look exactly Moe enough for the fight. So, I want you three to go to the Arena now and if someone calls our Mikuru for tonight and she's not there, I want Yuki to take her place.''
This sounds pretty lazy. It shouldn't really take long to make Asahina look presentable. Hell, she could come out to the ring looking like she just woke up and she could still look beautiful to the camera.
''What are you three waiting for? Don't wait for me, go get out there! We will be out there for the tag team match too, so be ready to kick some ass!'' She was doing an impromptu cheer with jumping to try and motivate us to get out there before she hopped away into the girls locker room again.
Way to inspire us, most dearest leader.
/
We arrived in the Arena in about ten minutes, so it was sloppy for us to finally get in and get prepared and despite being the champions; we were in a public locker room for the men. When do we get ours? The locker room was a lot more spacious than it was in Kobe but there was also more people changing here than before. I didn't see any sign of Vance but he's probably around here somewhere.
''Do you think we will be ready for our match tonight?'' Koizumi asked me, putting on his wrestling attire 50 minutes early. You do know we're not going out there anytime soon, right?
''I like to be prepared.'' Kiss-ass.
I had the new attire that Asahina hung up inside the RV, even her writing was cute the way she spelt my name was enough to bring a tear to my eye! I only hope it's less of an eye sore than Haruhi's artistic liking. Of course, I kept my eyes averted away from him just to keep me surprised.
''We should be fine. If Keiichi is drunk again, anyone of us could easily beat him. It's Vance we have to worry about.'' Koizumi seemed skeptical.
''I don't know, but I like your optimism. I believe whether or not he is intoxicated, we will still prevail!'' He lifted his hand up, obviously wanting a high-five. Alright, we are in a man area after all. I emotionlessly slapped his hand as the big screen TV turned on. Shaku was in the ring with a microphone. She was met with jeers from the audience and a female wrestler, lying on the mat. My heart steadied when I realized it wasn't Miss Asahina.
''There's only one thing in this world I loathe to the lowest inch of my core and that is wanna-be wrestlers who think that just because she's nice and pretty, she can walk around her and own the place.'' She spoke in a mock teenage girl voice from the ''just to the pretty.''
''The last time I was in this ring, I fought a Barbie doll that I should've ripped apart from her red-hair to her sweet little eye balls. But she's too much of a weakling to fight without back-up. I've already destroyed a plastic princess already, I want another one. Bring out any of those bitches from the SOS Brigade and I'll blow them away!'' She slammed the microphone on the ground, eyeing the entrance to the stage with an invigorated sense of anger and hate for any girl to walk in.
And there, that song played and the Brigadier will come out. Except it wasn't like our song, it sounds heavier, more heart thumping with the sound of metal banging in between the beats. It was better!
Bless my heart! Out came Nagato, draped in her Enforcer attire, sunglasses and all. She slowly walked towards the ring, not intimidated in the slightest by the beast of a woman standing before her. Nagato has faced far worse than this joker. You can do it, Nagato. Just don't destroy her.
Nagato took her jacket off, revealing a sleeveless shirt with the SOS Brigade vaguely seen on the center of her shirt, a blue flannel vest covering the shirt, and a leather vest, opened up over that. Kind of over doing the gimmick a bit.
Shaku seemed to be smiling; drooling at the idea of crushing another victim and avenging her loss to the SOS Brigade. Asahina, she would have help and martial arts training (I HOPE!) or Haruhi would annoy you to death, but Nagato is the real deal.
''I wonder if Nagato realizes that she forgot to take her sunglasses off.''
I don't think she'd have to, Koizumi. I smirked in delight.
The bell rang and Shaku ran impatiently after Nagato. Rule 1 of Yuki Nagato: Never underestimate her size as weakness.
She instantly spins around and smacks Shaku's face off the top turnbuckle, knocking her down while Nagato walks towards the ropes across from her. Shaku instantly got up, face agitated and red with anger. She lept after Nagato with feral instincts in play but it only weakened her resolve. Nagato performed a spin kick to her gut at the perfect opportunity.
''She's playin' it stiff! What a brute!''
Some of the other wrestlers were commentating. Stiff?
''It means her strikes are inflicting too much damage. I don't think Miss Nagato realizes how strong she really is.''
I don't think she does either, Koizumi.
Shaku screamed in pain, and Nagato was watching, emotionlessly. Nagato slowly walked toward her. Shaku was able to recover on her side, barely. She started punching Nagato in the gut, trying to inflict damage on her. Needless to say, it didn't seem like it was doing much. She quickly got up and ran to the other side of the ring ropes; looking like she was going to tackle her. If it were that simple.
Nagato leapt over her and kicked the tired brute in the gut.
She took her head and placed it in between her thighs and brought her up on her shoulders. This is too surreal. Think about it: a girl of Nagato's size and frame, lifting a girl who had to be about 155 pounds on her shoulders from the legs! This is too good. That's what I first thought, before she started spinning around with her on her shoulders. The crowd even started counting.
1…2…3…4….5…6….7…8…9..10!
Now you're just toying with her.
She stops and, with the anticipation of an avalanche, Nagato slams Shaku on to the mat before lying on top of her in a pin. The referee fell and counted it.
''1…2…3! Ring the bell!'' She decimated her!
The ref tried to raise her hand but Nagato chose to lift her left one toward the ropes instead, sunglasses still on.
''Here's your winner, representing the SOS Brigade, The Enforcer Yuki Nagato!''
''What a squash!''
''She didn't even sell ta her, she only had a match not even a minute before.''
''Don't get mad at Nagato because Shaku challenged anyone from the SOS Brigade.'' I told some of the members of the peanut gallery. Great, me defending Haruhi and Nagato's name on the same day. What's next, I save Tsuruya from an army of sharks commanded by Mr. Arakawa?
''Whatever, man. You should be prepared for…''
Then one of the other wrestlers told him to shush and be silent. What does that shush mean?
''You'll find out, kid. Enjoy your title reign.'' A snarky grin met mine before his eyes peeled away from my vision to their lockers.
I really didn't like that shush, now.
/
A.N: Well, that's the end of this chapter. Again, my apologies for the lateness and I hope this was satisfying to you. The next chapter will be the tag team title defense and you'll also find out what the wrestlers are shushing about. I think I've made it pretty obvious but what have you. As for Mikuru's outfit, the girls always come out with the guys. That's all I'm saying.
Oh, and the move Yuki did to finish Shaku off is called a Spiral Bomb. It's like a powerbomb except one spins them around several times before dropping the opponent. If you want a video, go look up any match by Michael Elgin. That's his finisher.
The song for Nagato only isn't anything out but I imagined it was a more rock version of Hare Hare Yukai, minus the lyrics with metal banging in between certain beats. To emphasise on her Enforcer gimmick that she's not here to play around, only to damage.
Props for those who caught the Prince (The Musician)/Goldust reference.
With that, I will cancel the poll and the result will be what Koizumi's move will be called if it was mature enough.
Until next time, good night and good luck!