The next morning, Sakura was practically sprinting to practice. She had accidentally overslept by a few minutes, and was going to be late if she didn't hurry. She rushed to put her clothes on, but accidentally put her shirt on backwards in the panic, and put a piece of toast in her mouth before she rushed out the door, with the toast still hanging out of her mouth.
"Oooh, I can't believe I overslept!" she internally screamed. "Misaki and the others are gonna kill me!"
Eventually, she made it to the gym, panting her lungs out. But when she got there, she was surprised to see the other Berserkers standing outside, Misaki included among them. She scratched her head for a bit.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Someone locked our gym up. We can't get in." Misaki answered. "And I don't have any keys on me at the moment. So until Rio's helper comes along, we're stuck out here."
"Helper?" Sakura questioned. "Who is it?"
"That would be me." a male voice said. Sakura turned her head to the voice, and was shocked to see that it was the boy who saved her and Rio last night. He was wearing a black tank-top, red sweatpants, and black boots with red linings. His current attire left his toned arms in plain view, and Sakura also noticed three scars on his right forearm. But still, she blushed internally, thinking about what the rest of his body was like.
"Yoshi?" she asked, surprised yet still happy. Yoshi smirked and bowed.
"Indeed it is, milady." he replied politely. "I heard of your current situation, and luckily for you, I know how to pick locks."
"Great!" Sakura cheered. "But… how?"
"I have two sisters that like to keep secrets and lock me out of the house for the fun of it." Yoshi told her. "I had to learn in order to survive with them." The girls began to laugh a bit, making Yoshi's face grow red with embarrassment. "S-S-Shut up!" he yelled out. "You don't know what it's like to live with them."
Sakura calmed herself a bit before speaking. "I'm sorry. It's just that is pretty funny." Yoshi just looked at her with an annoyed expression. But he went over to the door and took out a hair pin from his pocket. He then started to pick the lock, holding his ear close to it to listen for a click. Rio watched him and noticed how focused he looked, and if she even made the slightest sound, he would shoot a sharp look at her and place a finger up to his lips, telling her to be quiet before he resumed his task.
Soon, Yoshi heard a click, and his face lit up. "Booyah." he said to himself as he took the hair pin out and put it back in his pocket. Then he opened the door and held it open for everyone to enter. As everyone entered, they thanked him as they passed by him.
"Thanks for the help… again." Sakura said with a slight laugh at the end.
"Hey, no problem." Yoshi said with a shrug. "If you need me, just let me know."
"Can do." Sakura said.
"Also… can I rest up in that tree for a while?" Yoshi asked. Sakura looked at him in confusion as to why. "I was doing some of my daily exercises and I'm a bit tired."
"Umm..." Sakura began, still unsure of how to answer the question. "I suppose so… but why?"
"I like hanging out in trees. It's calm up there, I get to see certain wildlife, like squirrels, up close, and it's a good ambush point in case Luciana tries to attack me." Yoshi explained. Sakura still looked at him oddly, but smiled and thanked him again for his help and went inside. Yoshi then went up into the tree and began to take a short rest.
As Yoshi was up in the tree resting, the Berserkers were inside, training. He could even hear two sparring against each other, but only very faintly. Yoshi let out a long sigh.
"If only you weren't such a coward..." he mumbled to himself. "If you weren't constantly holding yourself back… who knows how far you could go?"
But as he was talking to himself, he heard footsteps and talking down below. He carefully maneuvered himself so that he could see who it was. It was Luciana, Ayane, and Gracia. Yoshi glared.
"What are they doing here?" he asked himself.
"So, are you sure this is a good idea?" Gracia asked.
"Look, trust us; this will be a walk in the park. We already have several others on the inside. All we need to do is simply waltz in, Luciana gives those in hiding the signal to strike, and we rush anyone close to us. But, we leave Sakura to Luciana." Ayane said.
"But… what about Misaki?" Gracia asked.
"We've fought before… but she's too much for me to handle." Luciana admitted. "Even in spite of joining the Cutthroats, I still can't beat her. She's THAT good."
"Cutthroats?" Yoshi mouthed in confusion.
"But you've improved since your last match against her, and she doesn't have Juri to help her this time… as far as we know, anyways." Gracia said, trying to get Luciana to go for Misaki again.
"No. I only want Sakura." Luciana said firmly. Gracia let out a long sigh in defeat.
"Fine..." she said.
"Good girl." Ayane said as she patted Gracia on the head.
As Ayane and Gracia walked into the gym, Yoshi had to wait; if he attacked now, they could seriously harm the girls. He couldn't let that happen. So he had to sit and wait for his moment to strike.
* Inside the gym *
Ayane and Gracia walked into the gym with big smirks on their faces. All the wrestlers stopped what they were doing and looked over to see the two intruders, glaring at them. Misaki herself seemed especially annoyed, while Sakura and Rio looked ready to attack.
"What do you want?" Misaki asked.
"Oh… not much." Ayane said while twirling some hair on her finger. "Just a little thing called revenge."
Misaki rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You've never been able to beat me before, and I see no reason to feel this will end ay differently. We have you grossly outnumbered." The Berserkers all shouted in agreement.
"For now, at least." Gracia retorted while crossing her arms. Misaki now looked confused.
* Outside the gym *
Luciana pulled out her phone and called one of her wrestlers.
"Begin the attack. NOW!" she ordered.
"We're on it!" the wrestler replied back.
* Inside the gym *
All at once, several other wrestlers jump out and ambush the Berserkers, one for each of them. The Berserkers were caught off-guard, none of them expecting the ambush. But they still fought back a best they could. Gracia and Ayane made a break for Sakura and Rio, but unlike the others, they were ready. But once Luciana walked in, she made her rounds, attacking each Berserker with a hard hit to the gut, allowing the others to overpower them. With a wicked smirk, she then entered the ring where Sakura and Rio were fighting her comrades. She first helped Ayane take down Rio. Ayane had Rio in a Full Nelson, and Luciana attacked with a fierce thrust-kick to Rio's chin, and Ayane used that force to suplex Rio. Ayane went down and locked Rio into a chock hold, but it was mostly meant to hold her down.
"Rio!" Sakura cried out. "Hang on! I got you!" But before she could get to her, Gracia had wrapped her arms around Sakura's waist and German Suplexed her. Before Sakura had a chance to get up, Luciana mashed her boot hard into Sakura's stomach, holding her in place. Sakura struggled to get Luciana off of her, but Luciana had a bigger advantage.
"Surprised to see us, princess?" Luciana asked wickedly. Sakura growled in anger, still trying to get her boot off her stomach. But Luciana responded by grinded her heel into Sakura's gut, making Sakura wince and whimper in pain. She tried to hold her screams in, but it was getting harder with each twist of her foot. "You didn't think we'd let you of THAT easily, did you?"
"You filth low-lifes!" Sakura spat, her voice laced with venom. Luciana glared darkly and stomped Sakura's stomach very hard, forcing a scream to escape from her.
"The only low-life here is YOU." Luciana spat. "I've never seen a worse joke in my life; a stupid idol girl like you..." she began with her voice laced with disdain. "Thinking they can become pro wrestlers like us REAL fighters. And it's a joke that I'm freaking sick off."
"BULL CRAP!" Rio snapped. "REAL WRESTLERS DON'T AMBUSH PEOPLE FOR THE FUN OF IT! YOU AND YOUR 'WRESTLERS' ARE MERE THUGS THAT HAVE TO RESORT TO THE LOWEST TACTICS OUT THERE TO WIN!" Luciana's blood was boiling at this point. She stormed over to the white-haired wrestler and kicked her hard across the face. Sakura seized that moment to get up, but Gracia and Ayane intercepted her and each delivered a strong punch to her gut where Luciana had been hurting, forcing another pained scream to leave Sakura's mouth. She dropped to her knees, clutching her stomach, but the two wrestlers forcefully grabbed her by her arms and yanked her up.
Luciana turned her attention back on Sakura, striking her signature smirk and walking over to the weakened idol-turned-wrestler. Lucina grabbed her by the throat and made her look her in the eyes. Sakura had pain and rage burning inside her eyes, but was unable to unleash it due to her current state.
"I tried to give you a chance to leave wrestling and go back to your stupid idol friends." Luciana began. "And yet, here you are; at the Berserker gym, training." she shook her head. "You really don't have any sense… do you?"
"Maybe not..." Sakura admitted. "But I've got more heart than you do, you black-hearted, yellow-bellied b-" Luciana silenced her by slashing her left cheek with her sharp nails, managing to draw blood. Rio struggled with all her might to break out and give Luciana the beat-down of a life-time, but Luciana ignored her and focused on Sakura.
"I want you to remember this moment, fool; this is proof that you'll NEVER be ANYTHING but some stupid, prissy little idol brat!" she spat in Sakura's face as she reared her fist back to punch Sakura.
* WHISTLE! *
A lone whistle pierced the air, making Luciana look up, only to meet with a rock that nailed her right in the left eye. She let out a loud yell of pain as she clutched her eye. Everyone turned to the source of the whistle and the one who sent the rock flying at Luciana. Sakura and Rio smiled big when they saw who it was.
Yoshi Hirano with his slingshot.
Luciana looked over at Yoshi, still clutching her left eye while she glared a dagger at him with her right eye. She said something to him in Spanish with anger in her voice. Yoshi merely shrugged it off with a "pfft".
"You must REALLY love that stupid toy, huh?!" she asked. Yoshi smirked big.
"You could say that, yeah." he replied bluntly. "Besides… it makes up for all the years of your bullying when we were living back in Mexico. Yeah… don't think I forgot about those days." he said with anger in his voice.
"Please… I'm a member of the Cutthroats, and they only accept the best of the best." Luciana taunted. But all the Berserkers coughed out "bull crap". "And I know you didn't do so well growing up. I remember seeing you in the ring, and I remember how many times you got your butt handed to you."
Yoshi glared and a short growl escaped his mouth. But it only lasted for a few seconds before his smirk returned. "I was younger and weaker then. But now, I'm older, more experienced, and I'm tougher than ever. Plus, I've beaten you many times before. So if you think THIS will be any different… think AGAIN." Luciana merely laughed his comment off.
"Please… you're not even in the league. How can I believe you or take you seriously?" she asked mockingly. "Then again… I doubt they'd allow an autistic retard like YOU into the league anyways."
Those words…
Those… two… words… "autistic retard"…
Those words struck Yoshi deep.
For many years, he had been bullied because of his quirks, and most of them came from Luciana. He had tried many times to be normal like everyone else, but he always slipped back into his natural mannerisms. His mom had taught him to embrace his true self and to not let what people said get to him, but he still found it hard. But he's been called by those two words too many times, and he's had enough.
Yoshi's smirk was replaced with a gritted teeth and glaring eyes. He began to see red, and he clenched his fists so hard his knuckles became white. He looked like he'd could make Wolverine shake in his boots. He began to slowly make his way towards the ring, not saying a single word. Tensions among the other wrestlers were high. Especially Luciana, who actually looked worried; as she had seen this side of him before.
Once he was in the ring, Yoshi placed both his palms together and closed his eyes, deeply inhaling through his nose, and exhaling through his mouth.
"Oh, what's the matter?" Luciana asked mockingly, masking her true emotion; fear. "Are you trying to be a big boy and not cry? Do you need your mama?"
No reply.
Yoshi just kept taking deep breaths.
"Or are you praying that I don't beat your sorry tail?" Luciana asked him.
Finally, she got an answer.
Once Yoshi had calmed down enough, he interlocked his fingers, reared back, and swung hard at Luciana, dropping her to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The Berserkers winced and shouted in empathetic pain; they've experienced blows like that.
"OH-HO! DANG! THIS GUY JUST WENT FROM 0 TO 100 REAL QUICK!" Rio shouted excitedly.
Luciana soon picked herself up, rubbing her nose in pain and even wiping off some blood. She looked over at Yoshi with anger in her eyes. Yoshi just stared back just as intensely.
"I see… I've struck a nerve with you, huh?" Luciana asked.
"What do you think?" Yoshi asked in a "did you seriously JUST ask that?" manner. Luciana smirked once more.
"So… what say we… have a little tussle?" she suggested. "If you win, we'll leave peacefully."
"I'd rather not." Yoshi admitted.
"Pfft. A guy like you with the blood of two professional wrestlers running through your veins NOT wanting to wrestle?" Luciana asked. Sakura and Rio was shocked.
"Wait… your parents are wrestlers?" Sakura asked.
"My dad's a wrestler from Japan, and my mom's a luchadora from Mexico." Yoshi replied. "They trained me to wrestle since I was a little kid. And like Luciana said, I didn't do well in Mexico when I lived there. But I was younger then, and even THEN, I still did pretty well for a guy in my weight-class."
"So what's holding you back here?" Rio asked, curious as to why he's not in a wrestling league.
"Me." Yoshi replied. "I'm holding myself back. This isn't Mexico, my dear; this is Japan. The playing field is much different. I don't feel I'm good enough to go pro."
"Well then… how about we find out if you truly ARE ready." Luciana suggested. "A wrestling match to find out, once and for all, which of us is the best." Yoshi did find her offer intriguing.
"So… you're saying if I agree to face you in the ring… we can finally put our rivalry to rest?" Yoshi asked, just to be clear.
"Uh-huh." Luciana asked. "This Saturday."
"Where will we fight?" Yoshi asked.
"Why not here?" Sakura asked.
"No, no, no." Luciana denied. "I want it to be public. I want our fight to be KNOWN."
"Ok. But how… may I ask… do you intend to test to see if I'm good enough to go pro?" Yoshi asked as he leaned against a turnbuckle, crossed his arms, and folded one foot over the other.
"Like this." Luciana answered with a smirk as she snapped her fingers. "AYANE! GET HIM!"
"With pleasure!" Ayane said, charging at Yoshi. Yoshi's eyes widened and he ducked out of the way. Yoshi grinned big.
"Well… time to see if my words ring true. IKU ZE!" he yelled out while getting into a fighting stance.
Luciana, Gracia, Sakura, and Rio left the ring, leaving Yoshi and Ayane to themselves.
"I hope you're ready!" Ayane yelled.
"Let's see what you can do!" Yoshi retorted.
Ayane charged at Yoshi again, but Yoshi ducked out of the way again. Ayane stopped and turned to face Yoshi before running to him once more. Ayane tried to clothesline him, but he ducked behind her, looped his arms around her waist and German Suplexed her. Ayane growled as she got up, then tried to throw another punch at him, but he caught her arm in an arm drag, slamming her back down. As she was down, Yoshi ran in the other direction, waiting for her to show a sign of getting up. Ayane finally stood up after a few moments, and Yoshi immediately seized the opportunity and charged at her. He looked like he was about to drop-kick her, but he instead wrapped his legs around her neck, contorted his body a bit, and flung her.
"The Hurricanrana. Ya gotta love it." Yoshi said smugly as he got back up. The others watching were impressed by his speed and just how effortless he's making it look in there.
Ayane got back up and looked over at Yoshi.
"Don't get too cocky, boy." she told him. Yoshi just shrugged his shoulders in mock understanding.
"Jeez… this guy can be fearless, huh?" Rio asked Sakura.
"If what he said is right, I'd imagine so." she replied back.
Ayane rushed Yoshi trying to throw a punch, but Yoshi dodged it and tried to throw a punch of his own, but she was expecting it and dodged it, then attacked with a blow to the gut. Yoshi clutched his gut, but Ayane took advantage of his current position and Power Bombed him. Yoshi struggled to get up; that Power Bomb hit him hard. Ayane smirked and ran up to a nearby turnbuckle, getting up to the top. She looked down at Yoshi, who was still wincing, and let out another smirk. She then jumped off, attempting to attack with a flying press, but Yoshi folded his knees inwards so that he was covering his stomach. Ayane only had a few short moments to regret her decision before crashing down on his legs, hurting Yoshi slightly, but dealing a heavy blow to her. Yoshi got up and dusted below his knees off. He pulled her up by her arm, but she punched him in the face when she was on her feet, making him stagger back. Ayane then grabbed him and threw him against the ropes, then caught him on the rebound, attempting to perform a backbreaker, but he managed to catch her head in between his legs, and he threw her with another Hurricanrana.
Yoshi decided to try something new. Ayane rushed him and attempted to throw a fierce right hook, but he barely dodged it; the punch just barely grazed his face. Yoshi caught her arm and threw her against the ropes, then he waited for her to come back on the rebound, then he attacked with a swift and hard thrust kick right to Ayane's chin. The wrestlers watching all winced and shouted; that attack hit hard. Yoshi smiled down at Ayane victoriously then ran to the ropes, jumped up on one of them, then Lionsaulted off the ropes and crashed down on Ayane. Yoshi was up on his knees for a few seconds before he laid back down on her, pinning her. Moe decided to count the pin-fall.
"One! Two! Three!" she counted, then made a few dinging noises. "And the winner is… YOSHI!"
The Cutthroats yelled in protest and defeat, while the Berserkers cheered in victory. Luciana growled and slammed her fist on the bench she was on. She got up and stormed over to the ring, jumped inside, and pulled Yoshi off Ayane.
"Don't let this give you a swollen ego." she snapped. Yoshi just stared at her with an "I don't care" face. "I'm still gonna crush you this Saturday."
"I'll be waiting." Yoshi simply told her. Luciana pushed him away and called her teammates to come with her. One by one, they all left the gym, until Luciana herself remained.
"Are you sure you wanna fight against me? Because it seems to me that you can't do crap without your little goons to help you." Yoshi stated. "I took down Ayane, and now you're ALL retreating with your tails between your legs." Luciana looked back at him, then turned and left, shouting something at him in Spanish.
Soon, all the Cutthroats had left, leaving the Berserkers and Yoshi. Yoshi went to one of the turnbuckles, climbed up, and sat on the top of it, crossing his legs figure-4 style. He let out a long sigh, partly because he was a bit tired, and because he was hoping for more of a challenge.
The Berserkers were talking among themselves, commenting on the match. When they were done, Rio stood up and entered the ring. She stood a few feet in front of Yoshi and made a gesture with her finger, beckoning him to come to her. Yoshi obeyed and jumped off, walking towards Rio. When he was right in front of her, Rio raised one hand up. Yoshi was confused and looked at her hand, only for her to slap him right across the face.
"HEY! WHAT THE HECK?!" Yoshi yelled in anger.
"What the heck are YOU talking about, not being good enough to go pro?" Rio asked him. "You absolutely man-handled her. You made that fight look so easy!"
"So?" Yoshi asked, not understanding what the big deal was. "It was just Luciana. I've handled her many times before." Rio face-palmed.
"I guess I wouldn't expect a guy to understand." she stated.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yoshi asked, curious as to what she meant.
"Those were Cutthroats. They've quickly become one of the most ruthless, aggressive, and nastiest wrestlers in the league. While most rely on dirty tactics, there are still those that have honor and fight fair… and fierce." Rio explained. "Ask Misaki." Yoshi looked over at Misaki to see her nodding her head.
"It's true. While most have to resort to cheap tactics, the ones that fight fair are some of the best wrestlers I've seen recently. Me and Juri once fought against Ayane and Gracia, and while we won that fight, it was still tough." Misaki explained to Yoshi. "They're sort of in-between the fighting fair and cheap tactics spectrum. Though they tend to lean more towards fighting fair." she added.
"And keep this in mind; Misaki is a title-holder, and Juri can rival her. If YOU can handle one of them by yourself, you should be fine against Luciana." Sakura explained.
"I… I suppose so..." Yoshi said hesitantly. "But… I still don't know… I mean, like I said, this is Japan. And… I don't think I'd be good enough, playing with the big boys."
"If I let that stop me, do you think I'd be where I am today?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms.
"Last I remember, you were about to quit after your 50th loss." Misaki pointed out. Sakura's eyes widened and she turned her head towards Misaki, who was now smirking a bit. "Yeah, don't think I didn't notice that letter of resignation when I called you to spar with me."
"Look, I want to join the wrestling league… I really do… but… it's just that I… I..." Yoshi said, stammering nervously. "I just… don't want to let my parents down. They were such magnificent wrestlers, and they taught me all that I know. But when I was in Mexico, I lost just about every single match I fought in. And while it's true that I'm better now than I used to be… I just fear the others will be better."
"Well… what if we can help you out a bit more?" Sakura suggested. "We can help to train you. We can be your sparring partners."
"We could start tomorrow." Moe added. "With our help, you'll be more than ready for that fight on Saturday. And after that, it's your choice as to whether or not you'll join the wrestling league."
"But that's even IF we can assign a match for me and Luciana." Yoshi pointed out. "How are they gonna arrange that?"
"I'll handle it. Don't worry; it'll be in good hands." Misaki told him.
"Are you sure?" Yoshi asked, still in doubt.
"Positive." Misaki assured him, crossing her heart. "Now run along. We have to train, and we're behind schedule."
"Ok." Yoshi said as he bowed to them. "See ya around." As he left the ring and made his way to the door, Sakura stopped him and gave him a slip of paper that was folded up.
"In case you decide to call us to help you spar." she told him. Yoshi looked at her in confusion before he opened the slip of paper. Inside was a phone number; Sakura's number.
"And if not… do I give it back?" Yoshi asked.
"No. You can keep it. I mean, if you decide you just want to talk or hang out, you can give me a call." Sakura told him with a smile. As she rejoined her group, Yoshi noticed a few "oohs" in the crowd. Then he noticed Rio smirking at him, followed by her purring in a suggestive manner. Yoshi was confused, but thanked them again and turned on his heel to leave.
Once he was gone, Misaki turned to Rio.
"Did you record that?" she asked. Rio smirked, shaking her phone a bit.
"Oh, heck yes." she said. "No way I was going to let this fight go unrecorded."
"Good. Forward it to me, and I'll handle the rest." Misaki instructed.
"You got it, ma'am." Rio said.
So now, the sands of time were pouring for Yoshi. On Saturday, he and Luciana would finally have their big match to settle their rivalry once and for all.
Who will win?
That answer will come another day.
* HOLY CRAP! This one was even longer than the last one! I'm honestly not even trying to make them this long, either. But given the nature of this series, it should be expected that the chapters will be long. Anyways, if you liked it, be sure to let me know if you want, and also let me know what I need to work on in future chapters and stories. And if you'd like to see more with Yoshi, tell me.
With that said, I'm Foxboy614, and I'll see y'all next time. GOD BLESS YA!